#ever since his character story that alluded to his origins

[gemkun]

hi good morning @defiedlife sent me a thread about veritas ratio being the last of his kind ( similar to aventurine ) and now i will just go insane actually

[vgperson]

What Did I Do In 2022?

Game Translations That Aren't YTTD: 1. Okay, maybe 1.5.

----

First of all, while I didn't add it until later in the year (not entirely unmotivated by the Stability of Platforms), my site now has an RSS feed for notable updates of any kind! I mention this upfront because I'm mostly just going over the things that are already listed there. It currently retroactively covers everything back to 2020, but I might add more past stuff over time so it can better serve as a general "everything I've ever done" page.

In February, I translated Kenshi Yonezu's POP SONG (and an interview). Noel The Mortal Fate Seasons 1-7 also got a revamped version on consoles (Switch, PS4); the console versions include a new Season 3.5 translated entirely by me, and the rest of the seasons have a revised script which is more thoroughly edited by me than even the redone Steam translation was.

In March, the update adding Kai to Your Time To Shine came out. Yes, he is Kai.

In April, I finally finished up my unofficial Japanese translation patch for Petal Crash. たのしいね、クラッシュ！ It actually just got some extra attention after the Petal Crash run for RTA In Japan about two days ago, which is kind of wild. Is this what it's like to be famous...? (clueless)

In May, I translated Kenshi Yonezu's Shin Ultraman theme song M87 (interview, interview), and the coupling song from the single, ETA. And there was an article about the 10th anniversary of his debut!

Also in May, the Ib remake came out on Steam in English! Told you they'd contact me. It was later announced to be coming to Switch, scheduled for March 2023.

In August, Your Turn To Die was announced to be coming to Steam. It's planned for early 2023, but to be clear, it'll release first in Early Access still with no final part, though with some exclusive mini-episodes and character profile sheets. Apparently once that's out, the actual completion is estimated for 6 to 12 months later... but, you know. Estimates are hard.

In September, I put together a guide for and officially "released" my Custom Translation Engine plugin for RPG Maker MV, the one I made for the Ib remake, and back-implemented into Your Turn To Die shortly after I was contacted about it coming to Steam. It's fancy (in-game language switching!), convenient (minimal direct editing of code!), and you can use it for your own translation projects if you want!

In October... well, I didn't do anything new for it, but I'll take credit for The Witch's House MV coming to consoles. (Switch, PS4, Xbox) I also translated everyone's favorite Chainsaw Man opening KICK BACK, associated interviews, and the single's coupling song Y'all Should Be Ashamed.

Finally, in December, after lots of spending my time elsewhere and indecision about how I should go about returning to doing some dang free game translations, I concluded that what I'd really wanted to do all year was translate Uri's PEDESTAL.

I think some people latched onto specific parts of Uri's original explanation for why it wasn't being translated, such as the cultural aspects (I honestly winced at her blunt remark that the story was "no good at all"), but while Uri indeed had those doubts at the time of release, the only real reason it wasn't translated at the time is that I did a less-than-ideal rushed playthrough that slightly hurt my overall impression of its quality, and I felt too busy at the time to work on something with lots of text that was likely to be divisive. So similarly, me finally feeling up to it was the reason it did get translated. I probably should've come back to it quite a bit sooner (after I was made to give up a certain other translation, say), but as I alluded to in last year's post, I was self-conscious about "my big return to free game translations" being something that might not have wide appeal. Uh, glad to be past that, hopefully.

Oh, and ever since finishing PEDESTAL, I've been working on all sorts of overhauls to my site, but like... not the kind that actually majorly changes any part of the visible design and annoys people (and if something did change in an annoying way, it's probably accidental). Some of it's just better consideration of mobile browsing (stuff like images or tables sticking out of bounds at mobile resolutions), or making things more convenient for myself behind the scenes (did you know I made a program to add "br"s to every line of all lyrics content before considering I could just have the page code do that, and also better?).

Some more major observable changes include general renovations to the lyrics page (bigger font size, buttons that hide individual languages to aid in side-by-side comparison), and more convenient navigation of OSTER's tweets, such that I could actually imagine someone reading through them all the way from the start without it being too much of a hassle.

----

While I'm glad to be over the PEDESTAL hump, I don't... necessarily have any definite plans for upcoming free game translations. I mostly just have some stuff on a list that I may have to make myself check out soon enough. Also, Game Atsumaru (which you may know as The Site That Hosts YTTD's Japanese Version) is ending in June??? So uh, might have to accelerate checking out stuff on there, though I guess it depends on how many creators are able to migrate. (Nankidai does plan to put YTTD's Japanese browser version up somewhere else.)

As I mentioned, Your Turn To Die's Early Access release on Steam should be coming up early next year with those mini-episodes and character profiles, and the game might be completed within the year. No promises. I mean, I don't have anything to promise, it's not my game.

Speaking of my game... also no promises. But I'd really like to release one. We'll see what happens. There's also a different kind of original project I recently returned to trying to make real, which could come early in the year, but who knows. As should be apparent, I'm working on a lot of different fronts here, so I frequently feel bad about neglecting such-and-such type of creative work, which sometimes means nothing actually gets done and released. Ultimately, though, it's probably better to follow what I most feel like doing, rather than force focus on one thing and end up not actually getting much done.

Which is to say: hoping to finish something in the new year!

[nikethestatue]

Firstly I love yr blog♥️♥️. Sorry this is just a bit of a rant. In regards to the “dolls kissing” and realising characters don’t have/do have chemistry comment in sjms recent interview. Sjm did a YouTube live in mar 2020 and in a question about hunt @ about the 19min mark she literally talks about this exact scenario happening, as we all know Bryce was originally going to have a diff L/I but the wording/explaination in the live about what happened with him and then hunt was so similar, almost identical in places, to her recent interview. To me, it’s clear this was what she had in mind when making those comments. I honestly think anyone who took that comment and applied it the the az/el/gw bonus chapter is being deliberately obtuse. Sjm didn’t write the az/el (who are both central characters) part all steamy and stuff and go you know what, actually that didn’t wk/they dnt work, i could/should just not include it, but nah imma leave it as is and just immediately have him go to another character and have her be his next love interest, that’s super hot right?? people will dig that right?😂😂😂. Come on now. Plus she then decided not to go back and start making it clear, dropping hints in the ACTUAL book that perhaps something is happening/brewing between az/gw after the bonus scene was set🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️ and start alluding to what their story arc would be and how gw would have connections to the next books plot, for all 190+ countries in the world that didn’t even get the bonus chapter🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️.

Thank you!

Oh, of course. She wasn't even probably talking about ACOTR or Elriel. She was discussing CC in general, and as you mentioned, in that interview, she said that she was gonna be matching Bryce with someone else but then during the interrogation scene with Hunt, it was just too good a chemistry and she changed her mind. i suspect that she was meant to be with Tharion. Not sure why, but the fact that he became so aimless as a character tells me that there was something else initially planned for him. Once he was no longer with Bryce, SJM sort of semi-gave up on him.

But with Elriel--it's not the case at all. There's been consistent, steady build up and then it culminated with an almost-kiss.

IF there was any kind of serious LI change and Azriel and Elain were moving apart, then obviously, SJM would've introduced more scenes between Elain and Lucien, and between Az and Gwyn. Especially with Az/Gwyn, it would've been hilariously easy, since they are hanging out together, she is Nesta's friend, they are training, and basically all live under the same roof. It would've been IN the actual book, since Nesta would've been able to observe it all. Instead, Nesta watched the other priestesses go all mooney eyed over Azriel, and Gwyn is like 'I wanna cut the ribbon!' Zero interest. From both of them. Nothing happens, other than he is tormented more and more over Elain. And almost every scene with him is strangely tied to Elain --what happened with Elain? Watching Elain. Worrying about Elain. Elain should not be exposed to the Cauldron (btw, he was so right). Elain smiles at him. Has he EVER asked after Gwyn? Nope. He legit forgot she was in the Blood Rite. Elain got into a fight with Nesta and he was about to fight Nesta.

SJM had said this a couple of times, how she changed her mind about a few of her couples, but Elriel is certainly not one of them. Slow and steady is what they've been.

[odin-den]

Then he died.

Characters: Simon 'Ghost' Riley, Captain John Price, John 'Soap' MacTavish (mentioned)

Relationships: None (unless... 😳)

Summary: Three times Price thinks about Ghost, and one time he thinks about ghosts, a.k.a. if activision won't give me Price/Ghost backstory I'll make it my damn self.

Word count: 517

Notes: Alludes to Ghost's original/comics backstory but nothing explict since who knows whats cannon in the reboot. Dates are eyeballed assuming Ghost joined the SAS in his early 20s and his now early/mid 30s.

Price first met Simon Riley in 2013, and he first met Ghost in 2017. Simon earned the title of Ghost quickly, he always seemed quiet, avoiding small talk between missions, and was near silent when he was working. Quite a feat for a man of his size. They were friends as much as Simon would let them be and, as Price learnt more about the man, he understood why he kept his distance. But Simon had found a way out, he had survived, and was ensuring the good parts of his family did too. He was endlessly optimistic in small moments, a mission was never a lost cause, and a rare missed shot was merely an opportunity for a joke. Price could forget others found him intimidating when they got bored during stakeouts and competed to tell the worst dad jokes. It was a testament to the strength of their friendship that they were able to overcome even such high barriers as Simon being from Manchester.

Then he went home for leave over Christmas 2016, and Ghost returned with the new year. The mask was nothing new, he'd long worn a version of it on missions and frequently on base. But, after those fateful weeks Price didn't see him without it for nearly 5 years. Something happened to Simon, Price could read the reports and medical records to learn the events but what they did to his friend.... That was a story only he could tell, and he never did. The hardest part, Price thought, was the watching. Watching Simon be erased from Ghost's eyes a little more each mission, watching no one else see it happening, watching Ghost still hunch his shoulders the same way Simon had when he was nervous. Ghost hunched his shoulders a lot more than Simon ever had. The quiet that accompanied Simon on missions was practical, with Ghost it lay heavy, something unspoken always hanging in the air. 

Then Las Almas brought a bit of Simon back. A new version even, with new friends who hadn't yet heard his terrible jokes so many times they circled around to be funny. Slowly, in the months that followed Price accepted that he was never getting the old Simon Riley back and that this new version might even be an improvement, the tension that had always lined his edges finally lessened. Simon was gone again barely a year later. Price could never tell a soul that he lost two men that day, and one for the second time. 

Then, one cold morning after November 21st Price was hit, with startling clarity, by the realisation that Soap would never know how funny Simon used to be. Then he wondered if Las Almas was the only time Soap saw Simon, not 'the Ghost'. He wondered if Soap left behind two ghosts, one admittedly far more literal as he saw what parts of Simon that had been rebuilt crumble. Later he will wonder if he left behind three. He will take his revenge before then, and it will not be enough to bring any of them back.

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 21/12/2023

Lifelike Waterway

Season 4 Episode 1 Featured on: FIRST STRIKE ~ SiIvaGunner: King for Another Day Tournament Original Soundtrack VOL. 1

Ripped by l4ureleye

Every since the year the King for Another Day tournament came to a close, the Christmas season has always brought back memories of it. It was such a huge event, and only really happened to land around the Christmas season due to delays in production, yet it all felt so befitting - the kind of comforting, communal feel of the holidays just fit a tournament of this ilk so well. And while yesterday, with 11 Minutes of City Pop, I wrote about the tournament's beloved silver medalist, today we're going lower down in the ranks - to a combatant many thought went out before he could've shown his true potential.

To say that Cave Story means a lot to me would be an understatement - I alluded to it earlier this month with Whip Fortress, but its a game whose aesthetics and music have stuck with me and thousands of people all over the world for so many years. We all knew Quote would have bangers in the tournament, yet by the time he was up to bat, he'd barely had any arrangements up on the channel to truly show his stuff. That's not to mention the fact that his source list even included other early-2000s indie games, yet...before that could be taken advantage of, the voting was settled and he was out for the count. When his catalogue of arrangements started to finally be rolled out, there was an era of...sorrow, in their comment sections. And Lifelike Waterway was no exception to that - to me back then, it was the moment that it truly sunk in that Quote was down and out.

The dour circumstances of the rip were not something that the team could've ever planned around - the arrangements were obviously made far in advance before the voting actually happened. Yet as also happened with Geno and DEARLY BELOVED..., his loss added a magical form of ambience to the music, a secret spice to turn a chill arrangement into a full-on tribute in his memory. I've talked at length about l4ureleye's ripping prowess on the blog before with rips like Hopes and Divinity+ and SICKO TALE - she has an unparalleled ability to create entire worlds and galaxies in your mind, out of nothing but her sound. From the mashups to the remixes, she's uncontested in the art of lo-fi, music that sounds relaxing yet simultaneously gives off the feeling of venturing into an endlessly-deep cavern. With KFAD, she was able to flex her powers to absurd levels, and if you've been listening along you may already know what I mean.

The original Lifelike Waterway already marked one of the most intense emotional points of Cave Story, yet Lifelike Waterway is able to spin that melody, that soothing yet haunting tune into something else entirely. Its far from a faithful arrangement, yet the new atmosphere it creates is just so...gripping. Its hard to put into words the emotions it makes me feel, yet its palpably a blend of the feelings I still have from Cave Story, and the feelings from Quote's fallout in the tournament - yet, the arrangement doesn't fill me with sadness, either. Its more like...the feeling of taking long, deep breaths. The feeling that everything's going to be okay.

...Look, it's difficult to find many specifics to comment on with an arrangement that's as thorough and all-encompassing as this. All of this is really just to say, that Quote's part played in the tournament really highlighted just how emotionally attached many of us have become to this silly little music project, how SiIvaGunner has brought new emotional meaning to characters they didn't even create - and, most of all, that l4ureleye is a genius.

[booktomoviebrawl]

We are not judging how bad the movie is, we are judging which adapted the book the worst. There are good movies that are bad adaptions.

Propaganda below the cut (spoilers may apply)

Fahrenheit 451:

The attempt to modernize the story to include the internet really didn’t work. Neither did replacing the book people painstakingly preserving knowledge with dumb technobabble about rewriting a bird’s DNA to include the text of every book ever written. Worst of all was what they did to Clarisse McClellan; turning her from a blithe spirit who inspires Montag to be a better person into a traitor selling out the book people. They also aged her up to make her a love interest for Montag because of course they did.

Okay so I don't remember the plots that well since I only watched the movie once in middle school BUT I do remember how VISCERALLY ANGRY the movie made me feel. For one, they didn't stick to the plot of the book AT ALL. The movie killed the protag, Guy Montag, at the end, when he got to live and rebuild society in the book. In addition, there was a character, Clarisse McClellan, who was a teenage girl (and possibly a daughter figure to Montag) in the books, but then was aged up to be Montag's LOVE INTEREST in the movie, which felt incredibly gross to me. There are probably other things that I'm missing, but these are the two that I remember.

The original book is a perfect example of what happens when you suppress the written word. It focused less on the relationship with humans and technology and more on the freedom of press access. In a world only a few books are allowed, that would also mean only a few ideas would be.

Now I’m talking about the modern movie by HBO. The wife is gone, who stood as an amazing parallel to Guy Montag’s thoughts of her just being okay with living in her dystopia while Guy questioned it. The girl is now a love interested, while in the book she was there to help Montag explore his worldview more. Also, books was more about censorship than human’s relationship with technology. Yes there are themes of it. But the movie makes Montag into a social media star.

Speaking of Clarisse (the girl), she’s a traitor to the resistance in the movie, she tells Montag where the books of the old lady are. It’s the resistance against a world where free speech is limited. And the old lady goes “heres the code word” *sets herself on fire* while in the book after the books are set ablaze she just burns with them.

the books are also in the DNA of a bird.

Like what the fuck is this movie Fahrenheit 451 is an A-B type of story! If it ain’t broke. Don’t fix it

World War Z:

The only thing from the book in this film is a two minute scene with a guy with the same name as a character from the book who gives basic exposition and only vaguely alludes to the stuff he did in the book. It’s just a bland Brad Pitt action movie that wanted to trick fans of an interesting book into seeing it. I wanted to go see Pacific Rim but my cousin dragged me to this shit instead. And yes I am still mad about it.

It shares almost nothing with the book except the title, the zombies, and a couple of locations

It took a genuinely interesting, anthology-like book that featured incredible scenes (of surviving the zombie apocalypse), and used its name to create a generic snoozefest action movie with Brad Pitt because he wanted to be the main character of a story with no main character. There were like 20+ zombie scenes in the book that I still remember to this day and IT USED NONE OF THEM. Battle of Yorktown? The blind Japanese guy and his shovel? The castle? The zombies crawling on the ocean floor???! NONE OF THEM IN THE MOVIE!!!!!! When will this get rebooted into an anthology TV series we deserve???? WHEN?

[pushovermediacritic]

Hunchback of Notre Dame 2 Review

Hunchback 1 is my favorite Disney Musical, but I never watched Hunchback 2, so I decided to share my thoughts on the direct-to-video sequel that no-one ever talks about.

The MacGuffin of this movie is a huge bell with gems encrusted on the inside. You'd think the ringer would BREAK THE GEMS, but I guess not.

Oh GOD, the animation is so much worse! The characters all look like their stunt doubles! Also, ew, there's a "funhouse mirror" gem in the bell that reflects Quasimodo without his deformities, and he looks cursed and I hate it. Man, the movie looks so bad at points, it's actually corrupting my memory of the first one.

Zephyr, the son of Esmeralda and Phoebus, does not look like Esmeralda at all and he is so annoying.

Sarousch is the villain of this movie, and the plot is an extremely cliche "guy wants to steal something, so he has his female assistant seduce the main character close to the thing he wants to steal, but the main character is so charming that he wins her over" story I've seen in a billion other things. Honestly, Stuart Little 2 did it better (and wow, this and that both came out in 2002, bad year for originality).

Sarousch's relationship with Madellaine is just a copy of Frollo's relationship with Quasimodo, they both adopted the other off the street and have convinced them that they wouldn't make it in the world without them. Which rings more hollow because Madellaine is a pretty woman without any of Quasimodo's disabilities. Sarousch is just a generic narcissist magician thief, he really sucks compared to Frollo, and the climax of the movie is the most anti-climactic thing I've ever seen.

Honestly, though, props to the movie for having Madellaine take one look at Quasimodo and nope out of there because he's so hideous. She's not some pure innocent mislead saint, instantly able to see through imperfections. Shame that Madellaine is in a story with such bad writing, because her voice actress is really giving it her all.

So, the movie confirms that the Gargoyles being alive is magic. No-one else but Quasimodo, Madellaine, and the goat can see them move, but Madellaine can see and hear them.

Festival De L'Amour sucks, Ordinary Miracle sucks, I'd Stick With You sucks, Falalala Fallen in Love sucks. There isn't a single good song in this film.

Why does Phoebus have to apologize at the end? He didn't say or do anything wrong. He was completely right to suspect and then accuse the circus workers of stealing stuff, because they were stealing stuff. It was entirely Esmeralda who connected his suspicions to gypsies and made it sound like he was being bigoted, she's the one who twisted his words.

Speaking of Esmeralda, she is USELESS in this movie. She gives some advice to Quasimodo, judges Phoebus for distrusting people who turn out to be distrustful, and hangs on Phoebus' arm any time she's not judging him. Her independence as a character is GONE.

There are some interesting lines from Sarousch when he's first talking to Madellaine, lines like "a girl like you could never make it out there", similar to what Frollo would say about Quasimodo's physical disability. I guess what those lines were supposed to be alluding to is that Madellaine was a thief when she was 6 (which is a really stupid thing to be ashamed of).

But what I thought when listening to those lines is that Madellaine was going to have some sort of mental or intellectual disability, to mirror Quasimodo's physical disability.

I think I'll adopt that headcanon, since it instantly makes the movie a lot better, especially the montage where Quasimodo is showing her around Paris and how to experience it with other senses than sight. If Madellaine has Autism or something like that, that scene goes from a ham-fisted "ugly things are pretty on the inside" metaphor (just like that stupid bell) to something a lot more beautiful.

[the-monkey-ruler]

Even in games like HIB do mention buddha like its as simple as that

Hell if they don’t want to literally names dropped him, they could have alluded d to him by saying his tittle like “the enlightened one.”

Its the dissonance that makes lmk stands out more so than the others jttw adaptations. Especially when we the audience doesn’t know IF swk is a buddha here. (He might be a bodhisavtta but since they have yet to name dropped guanyin, i dont think they will)

Jttw as whole does balance these two religions and able to showcased them as is. The refusal to allude other religions besides daoism just raised eyes on lmk n their decisions in this aspect. (Esp when swk IS the victorious fighting buddha and great sage equal to heaven. The way that characters goes out their way to avoid saying his actual name or his better well known tittles is bit weird. Esp when it very important to his character moreso than being the monkey king ever was)

like imagine building up to this title that you ever accomplished in life only to never be refer to that bc they see your first job ever first and the rest never to be acknowledged.

Like hell buddha and swk does have a connection here that in lmk seem to be nonexistent to uphold the narrative of JE is bad!! (When that just a poor dude in head management of a corporation.) it a questionable decision esp it seem like recon (bc lmk did mention buddha in like s1 and the usual narrative of how havoc on heaven goes. Like swk being trap in the furnace.)

His lmk character feels like hes just another flanderized goku. Hes just a messed of a character once you look past his goofiness and compare him to others swk. He does not uphold well—for this to be known as westerners first introduction to xiyouji (apart from OSP) it just sad that he could not be as complex as he should have been.(he can be something other than goofy-other than traumatized mess but he can do so good as much he had harmed)

Its kinda sad for being a protector of children, he had ended up being portrayed as irresponsible n a threat(bc of his various blunders)

Rip swk pissing in buddha fingers scene. You shall be missed

I think they could have done a lot with Lego Monkie Kid Wukong if they have given him the time he needed. They have a strong foundation of a plot to show Wukong has a mentor role but it looked like they rather a sacrifice character building for drama and shock value...

I’m not sure if he does have his other titles but considering I saw someone say that the “Great Sage” title was a reference to Xiyouji rather than that being his name… insane really. Like... just now knowing that is his NAME!

I'm not trying to bank on LMK on teaching people about Xiyouji like it's not meant for that... but at the same point, it's crazy to me to think that a Xiyouji piece of media is making 'references' to the original media despite it being in the same universe where everything happened like... of course it's going to reference the original source material. It is literally canon in the story that it happened.

And yeah them brushing off Wukong is also a monk and a Buddha... it's more strange than anything cause he is immortal... and the rest of the pilgrims should have also been immortal so I hope they touch why THAT isn't the case but... I feel like there are just going to be a lot of plotholes left unanswered for 'the reader's interpretation.' Like why did Wukong go on the journey if it wasn't his redemption arc for him to finally see that he had gone too far? Or why have the Jade Emperor defeat him when it just shows that it was about strength and not about ideologies? Again I've seen bad guy Jade Emperorbefore and here it looks like they are trying for a 'there is more going on' angle but... idk... just so many things that are not being played out or being far too rushed to be really fleshed out.

Which I feel like is the show's biggest weakness with Wukong. They are so busy rushing the plot they never give time to flesh him or even other characters out. He isn't the one that suffers from that which is a shame cause the show does have a lot of charming characters too!

I don’t know… I like the show but I think I'm going to just enjoy that I can and hopefully... things might get better this time... but maybe I just got to accept that they are never going to give their own characters the development or time they need.

A real shame.

[voraciousvore]

17 and 18 for the ask game :D

Ooh thank you for the asks! Sorry if this is a bit long but I love to ramble about my stories xD

17. My current WIP is The Giant and the Princess, which has a lot of lore behind it. The human world that Jackie comes from mirrors our own, yet is different due to the existence of magic and large fantasy creatures in the medieval past. As the story goes, the giants have trouble finding food and hunt most of the larger beasts to extinction, so they turn to attacking humans to feed on them instead. A brutal war between the giants and humans breaks out as a result, and ends with the human wizards banishing the giants to an alternate realm, which becomes the Land of Giants, sacrificing themselves and draining all the magic in their world to nothing in the process.

Ajax in this story is very young for a giant, only about 20 years old, whereas in The Giant he is very old, around 800 (Chester and Jasper, his sons, are closer to 300). So he is practically a different character at this point. This story seeks to explain how he became the bitter, jaded man he is in the current day, why he hates humans, the details of how the war between humans and giants started and his role in the war, how he lost his eye, and the details of his ill-fated romance with a human that he alludes to in The Half-Blood Giant (also, though technically the ending has been revealed, there might be a surprise twist there! What he told his grandson may not be the whole truth).

I like to use basic concepts/ stories and put my own g/t twist on them, so for this story I was thinking of Romeo and Juliet as the base. This is the tale of a forbidden love that blossoms between a giant and a human, natural enemies that are predator and prey, that we know will end in tragedy. This story was supposed to be short but I keep adding things so it keeps getting longer. I'm very excited to share! Anyways, next question:

18. Ooh, it's hard to choose just one passage, but since I'm already thinking of The Giant I have to talk about one of my favorite scenes I've ever written: the chapter where Chester first eats Jackie. This scene changed the plot entirely. Interestingly enough, this chapter was originally just supposed to be a nightmare that Jackie had, and wasn't supposed to be a real event in the story! Chester was going to be much nicer, and was not supposed to eat Jackie for real: The scene was merely a reflection of her inner fears.

However, after I wrote it, I realized it was too juicy to be nothing more than a dream. I realized I had struck gold, by creating the perfect and most disturbing conflict: Jackie is essentially a captive, and is relying on a dangerous, hungry, man-eating giant for protection in a very hostile world to humans. The dynamic completely changed between the characters, from one of benevolence to a more insidious, toxic relationship. It made the romantic element more interesting too: They fall in love, but their love is tainted by the fact that Chester could easily kill Jackie if he succumbs to his ravenous urges. I really enjoy darker themes of passion and temptation so I was very happy with how the story ultimately turned out!

[idril-la-wiccan]

Mermay 2023 - 4th Week and last three days

Day 22 - Zodiac

Well, with a prompt like this one, it was a little too easy to go with the Aquarius for Mermay. But... the thing is I have a certain attachement for this astrological sign in particular.

Day 23 - Tradition

And here is "Mahu", the dumbo octopus merfolk from day 21, once more ! I had vaguely alluded to it, but "Mahu" won't be their name, even if this is what I had planned initially. I'll explain why.

You've probably noticed that all of the merfolks I made for Out of the Abyss are strongly inspired by polynesian cultures, the most obvious ones being Hawaiian and Maori. And "Mahu" is in itself a concept of the Hawaiian culture : a third gender of which the name translates litteraly to "in the middle". Mahu people had an important role in Hawaiian society. They taught spiritual and social traditions, which included, among other things, teaching the hula.

And so, for me to have the idea of naming them "Mahu" to begin with, you've probably figured out that it's because this is what they are, traditionally speaking. But as I thought about it, I realised naming them by what they are would be like naming a cat, well, "Cat". It's a bit dumb.

Basically, I want to give them a new name. I'll certainly keep a two syllables name to at least keep things simple.

Hmm... In fact, maybe I could find them a name that has something to do with traditions ?

Day 24 - Zaddy

I made this character on the spot as I wasn't really inspired by the prompt. But I think I managed well with it nonetheless.

Day 25 - Food

No matter his form, Humphrey will always be a big glutton. (Even if, thankfully, he doesn't have the same voracity as when he used to be an actual whale.)

Day 26 - Jewel

"Shiny... For me... ?"

Day 27 - Halle Bailey

Ok, I'm not gonna speak on the matter of the Disney remakes as I believe everybody knows and that everybody roughly agrees about it.

No, here, the subject is Miss Bailey. I think no one can deny it, her voice is magnificent. And no matter the state of the movie, if she took pleasure in playing Ariel's role, then I am gald for her. And I also wish her a good continuation in her career.

Day 28 - Sailor

Alright, I might be cheating a bit with this prompt here. But the idea had been floating in my head for a while now and I finally had an excuse to put it on paper.

I don't know if I was the only one to have this idea, but I saw no one imagine the Captain Caviar ending up with a merman form as a result from being cursed by Black Pearl.

And yet, I saw many people draw him as a merman, so I'm surprised I haven't already seen this idea roam around...

Day 29 - Barbie

I loved the Barbie movies when I was a kid, especially the Fairytopia series. Here, I drew Elina, main character of this movie series, who takes on a mermaid form for a good part of the movie "Mermaidia".

Day 30 - Blue

I had mentionned this on day 21, but I'll have to reiterate it for this prompt. Leviathan is a blue whale merman.

It's in fact for this same reason he's the tallest amongst his peers : blue whales are the biggest mammals known in the world. Even Humphrey, a little humpback whale merman in comparison, is no match.

Well, perhaps that under his original form, Humphrey could have surpassed Leviathan.

Day 31 - Good night

I never would have guessed that I needed to see Dino-sour be a father figure to a half dinosaur baby cookie in my life.

Yes, the previous sentence makes no sense out of context.

I no longer play Ovenbreak ever since... well, ever since even before what happened with Yogurca (the less we talk about it, the better), but I'm still trying to follow the stories on YouTube. And honestly, I think that Pond Dino is the best thing to have happened to the "Rise of the Blue Dragon" update. I get how their design bothers some (it's rather overloaded, let's admit it), but... Just...

Baby... <3

Baby that sleeps like an otter. <3

*****

*~ Third week ||

Like my art ? You can commission me !

Buy me a coffee ?

[sokkastyles]

Hi,

Thank you for your previous answer on The Southern Raiders. Please continue to talk on it.

I was wondering something. In Zuko's flashback in "Zuko alone", we could see that Mai had a crush on him, but no reactions from Zuko, even in the later flashbacks to his past in Book 3. It makes me wonder that while Zuko knew Mai, he was not that friendly with her. And it creates a problem because if they had a prior relationship which I think was stated in the show, then Mai should have been conflicted when she decided to go with Azula to hunt Zuko, and it could have also made their relationship interesting.

I would like your thoughts on this.

Hi!

It's not stated in the show that they had a prior relationship. It's not even clear that they ever even interacted as children other than that one scene in "Zuko Alone," going by just the show. The only source that alludes to them even being friends or playing together as children, that I'm aware of, is the "Going Home Again" comic that is supposed to take place in between books 2 and 3.

And even then, it's really ambiguous, and that's coming from a source that is only supplementary to the original canon that most of the audience isn't going to read. Zuko says he "missed seeing this side of [Mai]," Although truthfully I'm not sure which side he means. The side that delights in throwing things at his face? Despite Mai's comment, I don't think that much has changed, actually, if we go by this comic. And their banter with each other could mean that they played together as children, or it could mean that Mai was strictly Azula's friend and throwing mud at Zuko was just a side hobby.

If we go by the main series, Zuko barely seems to acknowledge Mai's existence, and doesn't even notice that she has a crush on him in the flashback.

This is a problem because the show didn't even bother to show us how they got together (and this comic doesn't make it better). We have no idea what their initial meeting after Ba Sing Se was like. Did they greet each other as old friends, childhood sweethearts, or acquaintances? We just don't know. We have very little idea what Mai's perspective is as it is, but even less from Zuko's on their relationship.

We do get Ty Lee making the comment to Mai about how it would be "interesting" seeing him again, which implies that Ty Lee knows about Mai's crush, but we get no real reaction from Mai other than a little smile. And because we have so little, we can only guess about what that means. I know that Mai is supposed to be a character who doesn't show her feelings, but the thing is that with fiction, you still have to have some way of relating those feelings to the audience. I agree that it would have been interesting to see Mai (and Zuko) conflicted upon meeting each other again, especially since they start out on opposite sides in book 2. What DID Mai feel about hunting down Zuko, other than smiling because she might see him again? That smile tells us very little because even though it tells us she still has feelings for him, it doesn't tell us how she feels about hunting him down. Which leads us to assume that she doesn't care, because at a certain point, if the story doesn't show us how a character feels, we can only assume that they feel nothing. It seems that Mai would have gotten equal enjoyment out of hunting down and capturing Zuko vs being in a relationship with him.

And, since we don't know how Zuko felt, either, we can also assume that he didn't think about her at all prior to getting together with her in book three. Would he have thought about her if Azula had captured Zuko as was her original plan? The show doesn't give us any indication any which way, so I'm guessing no.

Also, how did Mai feel when it turned out that Azula had decided to bring Zuko back as an ally? Shouldn't she be at all suspicious of Azula's manipulation, since the way Azula gets Zuko to come back with her and arranges things so that Zuko is at the mercy of his sister's "generosity" is very similar to how she manipulated Mai in Omashu? Shouldn't Mai be a bit more concerned about this circumstance instead of acting like Zuko's being overdramatic for being worried?

There's also the issue of Iroh, and I keep bringing this up in relation to Mai and Zuko's relationship because Zuko's most important relationship is with Iroh, but it seems Iroh and Mai have no relationship whatsoever. Even Azula knows that Zuko is visiting Iroh in prison, but Mai seems to have no reaction to Iroh's imprisonment even when she is dating Zuko.

It's like the show goes out of its way not to include Mai in any of the meaningful parts of Zuko's narrative. Even when she is included, it's in a negative way, like the critical comments she makes about his life in Ba Sing Se in the above referenced comic.

[jadecrusades]

“Confrontation on Caprioril,” by Joe Corroney. “Star Wars: Gamer” Issue #5. July, 2001.

In May of 2002, during Star Wars Celebration II in Anaheim, Jade Crusades interviewed illustrator Joe Corroney who had these memories to share:

There's a funny story about this illustration. All of the other Emperor's Pawns were featured in the Gamer article except Mara Jade, because she was being featured in other Star Wars content at the same time. They didn't want to make a special section in the magazine just for her. I was bummed because I was hoping I'd get to draw her, and I thought, "How am I going to work her into this article?" I talked my art director into the idea of having one of the other Emperor's Pawns battling Mara in an action scene in the beginning. Just so I could draw her, basically! Author Abel Peña and I came up with the idea of having Mara and Lumiya encounter each other on this planet and go at it because they're at odds. So that was how I was able to illustrate Mara even though she wasn't supposed to be in the article at all.

Author Abel Peña recounted his work for the “Star Wars: Gamer” article on Star Wars.com in 2006:

I wrote a short fiction vignette to introduce the article, in which Mara Jade recalls meeting Lumiya for the first time, and their immediate hate for one another. This scenario inspired the cover illustration for the article, “Confrontation on Caprioril,” a story Joe Corroney and I have been dying to tell ever since.

“Mara Jade could barely contain her rage...He said I was the only one, the extension of his will.” So begins the opening vignette for “The Emperor's Pawns.” Originally titled, “Jaded Perceptions,” here appears the first reference to the, at the time, second most famous Emperor's Hand, Roganda Ismaren, who was introduced in the novel Children of the Jedi (1995, Bantam), with which this vignette shares its chronological placement. Mara's recollection of Grand Admiral Thrawn's taunt about additional Emperor's Hands not known to her is from Dark Force Rising (1992, Bantam). The character Lumiya, originally appearing as Shira Brie in the Star Wars comic Star Wars #56, “Coffin in the Clouds” (1982, Marvel Comics) and reprinted in Classic Star Wars: A Long Time Ago Vol. 4 (2003, Dark Horse Comics) reappears here in the Star Wars universe for the first time in many years. Both this confrontation and the second future one alluded to between these two women are new. Mara's residence at the site of the second encounter, however, the planet Caprioril, comes from Dark Force Rising (1992, Bantam).

[wolfbetweenrivers]

Thoughs on RWBY V9C2 (Spoilers)

In C1, Team RWBY found themselves on an island in another world after being thrown into the void by Cinder when trying to save the Kingdom of Atlas. They were quickly reunited and caught up on what happened as far as Weiss knew, as she was the last of the 4 to fall. As they went deeper into the island, with help from a talking mouse that Ruby named Little, they found a collection of otherworldly biomes, with a giant tree in the center, prompting Blake to conclude that Team RWBY are in a Fairy Tale.

In this chapter, despite Weiss’ attempts to find a more logical explanation, all the evidence supported Blake’s conclusion that they were in a fairy tale. Specifically, they were in the Ever After, a world that was famously mentioned in a Remnant children’s fairy tale, The Girl Who Fell Through The World. So they agreed that the best way out was by following the path of the story, which would now lead them to Jinxy Peddler, a talking raccoon that stole Yang’s arm and was selling it at an auction. The auction ends in an altercation between the team and the soldiers of a character known as the Red King, as the soldiers originally wanted Yang’s arm to gift the King for his birthday. During the auction, Ruby also found one of Penny’s swords and took it with her as they escaped with Yang’s arm as well. When the soldiers catch up to them, Ruby decides to continue following the path of the story, and convinces the soldiers to take them to the Red King’s birthday party, by offering Penny’s sword as a gift with a description of the sword that doubles as a eulogy for Penny. The soldiers agree to lead Team RWBY to the Crimson Castle, where the Red King lives. 

First of all, I love how meta this Volume is proving to be with regards to how the series is known to allude to fairy tales and literary tropes while also subverting them. In this Volume, Team RWBY have found themselves in a literal fairy tale and have to use their knowledge to try and get out. I love that Blake is further stepping up as someone leading the group and being the most hopeful as she tries her best to follow the path of the book. We see the instances of the show getting meta about it, with Yang pointing out the immorality of the story’s protagonist, Alyx, while Weiss responds by pointing out that it was only for survival, scoffing at the simplistic nature of these old stories’ morals. 

Were also getting more Bumbleby moments! Blake is proving to be so goofy when flirting with Yang, but she’s speaking the latter’s language with the use of puns. Also when their hands brushed up against each other. Nice to see that even Weiss has been waiting for this. But poor Ruby is too caught up in her own despair to notice, let alone celebrate. 

But Weiss is still in a lot of pain over what happened before they fell. She lost her home Kingdom, and she feels she couldn’t do enough. And on top of that, she had to deliver the news of Penny’s death to Ruby. I’ve also noticed that every time the topic of the events at Central Location are brought up, Weiss’ face is hidden, either facing away from the viewers or her head off screen all together. It feels like there’s more that’s bothering her about what happened. 

Despite that, Weiss still ended up being one of the most comedic things about this episode. She is trying so hard to give a logical explanation for a place where logic is out the window. She’s constantly in the background muttering about how much she hates this place when something insane happens. This is the most animated she’s been so far, and it’s great. She’s so done with it all.

As I guessed from the previous Chapter, the main characters are gonna be forced to confront the issues that hold them back the most. Yang, is a girl who suffers from abandonment issues, and has only recently found love in Blake. She also has a lot of self-sacrificing tendencies. Ever since she was a child she has always put others before herself because of her circumstances in her broken family. She has only recently found love in Blake, the one who came back to her. When she lost her arm, it was because Adam saw how much Blake loved her. And to be loved was all Yang ever wanted. But when she tried to get her prosthetic arm back from Jinxy, he charged her with the feeling of being loved, something that Yang could not leave. I feel like this is gonna be relevant again and brought up between Yang and Blake.

At the auction, Ruby saw a green marionette and was drawn to it for some reason. She later found that the marionette was an illusion and that it was actually Penny’s sword. But before that, when Ruby wanted the marionette, Jinxy charged her with enough hope to fill a jar. Ruby was once a hopeful girl. But she lost all that hope when Penny died. Ruby has had a problem, which is that she would often avoid the feelings that troubled her in favor of being hopeful and trying not to let anyone down. But with everything that’s happened now, it’s gotten harder and harder to commit to that emotional avoidance. She feels as though she’s failed and she’s lost everything. Her final line about no longer pretending to know what they are doing, hit very hard. Even the rest of her team seemed to noticed a shift in Ruby’s demeanor after she delivered a heart-wrenching eulogy for Penny. 

So now, Team RWBY must meet the Red King, and “beat him at his own game” according to Blake. We don’t exactly know how it will go. Despite Ruby’s eulogy for Penny, she’s still missing an important piece of the story of what happened after she fell; the fact that Jaune was the one who helped Penny sacrifice herself. And Jaune is still nowhere to be seen, and is the only person who can tell Ruby. But he himself is suffering from the guilt. Blake mentioned having to encounter a Rusted Knight at some point. There is a Rusted Knight in the opening, and his armor resembles Jaune. But if the Rusted Knight existed before Jaune, then why do they have similar armor? The Jabberwalker is still out there and we still don’t know exactly why Yang was going after it before she reunited with her team. Neo is also still out there and is also a major threat to the team, wanting to kill Ruby. 

Things are starting to pick up in this Volume and I’m looking forward to what will happen next. One thing’s for certain, it’s gonna be the heaviest Volume so far, emotionally.

[dallonwrites]

Hello! My writeblr is @duckiewrites and I was wondering if you had any tips on getting over the fear of sharing your writing in public spaces, and how to conquer the fear of any unpublished works getting stolen? (I’m brand new to the writeblr community.)

hi and welcome to writeblr!

in terms of plagiarism and work getting stolen, it is very unfortunately the risk that comes with sharing your work online; it's a fear we all have. whilst i want to say that i think it happens less than we fear it will, that doesn't take away from the fact that it is a possibility. it's up to your own research and discernment on whether or not you want to share your work because of that, and how you share you work. this post is a few years old now but it's advice i've made sure to remember in case someone ever does steal my work. i also see people put disclaimers on any posts about their work reminding people that this is their original work and that plagiarism won't be tolerated (i keep! forgetting to do this lol!), just as another little way to remind people in the actual post that this is your work.

for generally sharing your work, remember that you get the final say on how much you share, what you share, and you do not have to share anything of your work to be on writeblr . sometimes you can easily get caught up in a pressure to share things like excerpts, character stuff, intricate details etc because it may feel like that's what will get people's attention, but you as the writer can put up any boundaries you like and don't have to share anything you don't want to. nobody is entitled to any part of your work. i know people that don't share their titles, for example (one thing i've seen is to name your wips by a project name instead of a title, like project x or y wip. i've done this before too, one of my wips goes by "ammonite wip" online). i've also seen people redact specific info like place/character names when they share excerpts, or post screenshots that are partially censored so only what they want to share is visible. it is really up to you what you share and don't share of your work.

personally, since i started publishing short fiction, i made the boundary recently that i won't share anything i plan to publish in the future. i may allude to a short story in a writing update post, but i try to avoid too many details. with novels, i currently don't share any that i plan to publish. i do share stuff about my personal projects but i still keep a boundary. i usually just share the premise, character info, and i make sure any excerpts i share don't reveal too much plot wise. i personally love being able to document my process of drafting a novel online, mainly for myself tbh, so i try to focus update posts less about the story and more about my experience writing it. those are just the boundaries i feel comfortable with to try and have that balance of "sharing my work is fun" and "sharing my work is vulnerable" and "not everything is entitled to all my work". it really is up to you what you share and don't share, and your online experience isn't determined by how much you share!

[golbrocklovely]

i'm gonna rant about this for two seconds just bc i saw a lot of stuff about it on twitter and don't really feel like bitching about it there lol

so the teen wolf movie… i knew from the get go this was gonna end up being shit the moment dylan wasn't gonna be in it sksks

but what i've heard about this movie (bc highkey i ain't gonna watch it sorry), it somehow is worse than imagined.

i used to love teen wolf. literally watched it as it was airing. used to have a blog dedicated to it, used to do live recaps on my personal tumblr. i loved that show. but i started to not care about it around season 4/5ish. basically, they introduced too many characters and i just didn't care about a single one of them. hilariously one of the characters i despise is now loved deeply (theo) so… go figure.

but what i don't understand is… why are any of you surprised that jeff davis did what jeff davis does best and fucked up teen wolf?

like this man was notoriously hated for years in the fandom after season 3 bc everything he did to the characters sucked ass. and then topping all of that off, the queerbaiting. that man originated it (not really, but you get my point) so why are you guys surprised that he basically did all of this again just a decade or more later??

of course this movie was a cash grab and not really meant to bring back the love or respect the fans' love for this story. it was just to make money and keep the property rights going.

personally, if i was going to make a teen wolf movie, this is what i would have done:

the overall theme of the movie - letting go of the past.

assuming you could get most of the cast to come back, this is how the movie would have went: after everyone graduated high school (at least the main cast like scott, lydia, stiles, malia, that group), they all immediately left BH. maybe even make it seem like it was a supernatural reason or something, like something pushed them away from BH but they didn't know it at the time. years later, scott is starting to see visions of allison again, like how this movie alluded to it in the trailers. have the others start to see it too. maybe they even see past monsters coming back and haunting them, which makes them all go back to BH. imagine it kinda like in "it" where all the adult versions of the kids didn't remember their old home town, but once they are told about it, they are drawn back. kinda sorta like that.

they get to BH and everything seems okay-ish. hell, maybe you can even make it where it's their 10 year hs anniversary or something just so you get to see all the familiar faces. all of sudden, old monsters that they have fought and killed before come back. bring out all the old hits, maybe some new ones - idk. then, have allison appear. but she's not how she used to be.

she's now void!allison.

each of the main characters has to go on their own journey and fight their own battles - past monsters they once faced they now have to deal with again. there is a bigger monster controlling all of the older monsters (maybe it's void!allison or maybe it's someone pretending that it's her) and if these monsters aren't defeated by the red moon (or some other bs werewolf lore shit that can be made up idk) these monsters will ACTUALLY come back and start killing all the citizens of BH bc in the current period they are only half as strong as they could be. and make it bc, as deaton had mentioned oh so many years ago, BH is a beacon for the supernatural. and something buried deep in BH is drawing this Main Monster to create and resurrect all of these old monsters.

and the whole point of the movie is showing that even tho they moved away from BH and continued living, none of them ever really moved on from what happened to them. you can have malia have to face off against her mother again. lydia maybe is back in eichen house or something. as for derek and scott, they are facing bigger issues.

scott - he has to get over losing his first love, allison. especially since in this state, she is trying to constantly kill him and his pack. he never truly got over her death, and so in the end… he has to kill her. bc realistically allison wouldn't want to be fighting him or trying to kill him or any of her friends. and more she is "alive" the less like her she is being. she is becoming more and more a monster, and scott knows that that isn't something she would want. maybe even have it where the Big Monster offers him the chance to have her be actually resurrected and not just used as a puppet if he relinquishes his powers to the Big Monster.

derek - he has to face his fears and forgive himself of his family's death (along with his first love's death as well). just a lot of forgiveness on his part, especially since now he has a kid. his kid shouldn't inherent the trauma that derek has had just bc he never truly got over it. have derek face off not only against past monsters, but maybe against himself. the Big Monster might try to persuade him to die and give up his powers bc he'll at least be with his family again. maybe derek finally realizes that he isn't alone in this world bc he has family living rn. and this makes him want to keep fighting.

and this would be a great time to note that if dylan didn't want to come back like he did irl, you can blame it on him being a human and not a supernatural being. or idk, come up with a bs reason like he's overseas taking care of the kids that he and lydia clearly and definitely had bc they are meant to be together.

they are just able to defeat their past demons, and they all band together and defeat the Big Monster in some way or another. all the other side characters that have existed can be included in each of the main casts' stories in one way or another. maybe have them be each other's tether or whatever. idk, i'm not working out all the kinks bc i ain't writing this.

in the end, they all live, maybe one of them can have a moment of almost dying - but they all make it out in the end. allison is still dead tho, bc she is meant to be dead. even tho it's heartbreaking, it's a part of life that scott can now finally accept and move on from. much like the rest of the characters and their past. they are finally healed.

see… wouldn't that have been better than whatever the fuck happened in the movie lol

[slbakershomosexualagenda]

The thing about writing in the Lovecraft Universe is that not all the monsters and gods are public domain or fair use. You'd actually be surprised--- I know I was because I assumed everything I'd ever seen included in like, a TTRPG was fair game. Nope.

Part of me writing this series has been me checking every single thing I want to include for who wrote it, when, has their estate made a public comment somewhere, or for the still-living contributors, what does their website say.

Copyright law/license shit is kind of a minefield, and I'm not going to pretend like I know everything about it, but here's kind of how I've gone about it:

Because this project is using these characters as a form of "critique and commentary" (it's a black comedy, so, duh) I could insist it's all protected under parody law. Though a lot of the estate holders are American, I'm not. Parody law isn't as well protected in Canada, and regardless, this is supposed to be a low-stress little side project for me, I'm not only not interested on dying on that hill, I don't want to go near it if I don't have to.

Names of characters are not copywritable, but likenesses are. If a character doesn't show up, it'd be reasonably safe to mention they exist by name at least. Still, I've aired on the side of caution with some copywrited Lovecraft Universe characters depending on what context I'm mentioning them by not using their proper name, just alluding to them. Example: "Cthylla/The Hidden One" as "Daughter of the Hidden Deep", "Secret of Secrets." (Note: that's actually the funny thing about authors who convert their old fanfic into original lit. The often don't actually remove the content that makes it possibly copyright infringement, lol. 50 Shades was similar enough to Twilight Stephanie Meyer probably could have sued--- the only issue being that neither works were unique enough to have a super strong case . . . And E.L.James really exploited that with her cover art choices and stuff like that.)

Some characters are TECHNICALLY inventions of Lovecraft, so likely public domain (though even that's kind of jumbled), but it gets murky since a lot of the lore written about them was from different authors. There's not really a good answer when it comes to characters like this (Sidenote: did you know that in Oz The Great and Powerful they had to be careful as to what specific shade of green they made the wicked witch because she's not actually green in the original books? But, you know, people kind of expect the wicked witch to be green now even though MGM still holds the copyright on that version of the character. I dont know why that was never an issue for Wicked, but, whatever.)

It was Lovecraft's wish that writers keep adding and expanding to his universe and concepts even before any of his works entered the public domain (though IP law was a lot different back then) but that doesn't mean every creator that contributes feels the same way. I've hunted down every public statement on the matter I could find to see if they express any opinion on that matter. I've seen some sites state that certain creators are "very understanding" as a secondhand account but unless I could find a direct statement from the creator themselves, I've taken that as a no. So for some characters, out of respect for the author, I've tried avoiding using their creations all together unless I feel it's kneecapping the intent of my storyline (the premise of my novellas is kind of hinges on the metacommentary of living manifestations of fear) where I insert whole new creations that I hope evoke the spirit of the monster/God they're based on. My headcanon is that they're avatars or manifestations of the characters, but different enough that I'm not stepping on the authorial wishes of their creators.

I know personally in the extremely unlikely event someone wants to use a character or concept I've created as an addition to the Lovecraft Canon in their roleplay or story, movie, video game whatever, I'd be very excited. That's part of the fun of the Lovecraft property, I'm just happy to be included, but. Respecting artist IP is important.