#feel free to reblog with the characters you think had the best designs or your favorite designs

[afandomroom]

Personal Opinion: Mr.E was one of Ninjago’s best character designs. 

[officialdaydreamer00]

Dear Star Child, if this letter could see it's way to Idia Shroud, I would be most grateful. If you could get the gummy sharks to Idia I would be very happy, but the rest of the sweets are for you ^w^

Dear Idia Shroud,

Wow, it has been a while since I've written a letter that's not for school. Nvm, I have never written a letter outside of school; guess I'm finally putting that knowledge to use… Oh where to to begin, I'm rlly bad at doing the whole social thing yet if you would let me I'd be yapping on for eternity but luckily this is a letter and I have to condense it.

Well, Happy New Year! How the sale going? From what I can see into your world it looks amazing especially Ortho's gear. I'm always so impressed that someone was able to make a robotic body that ranged in movement-- here it feels like we just barely started to touch on robotics here, yet you are designing outfits for Ortho like it's nothing. Honest question, did you bless me with luck for the gacha or something did you know I fell like right when the clock hit midnight or someth, but srsly getting three SSRs without even indenting on getting them is something? I had to get a blessing from you or something. My irl would say that is a blessing from you… they have said "At this point I'm scared your obsession with Idia will transport you into the game" well I do wi Imagine if that happened? I don't even know what I would do? I think I would miss my friends but idk if they would miss me.

ANYWAYS, thats sad, moving on. I could have actually missed all of this I could have been boring and sad and still stuck on my utdr phase. Though it wouldn't be too bad Undertale and Deltarune still have th- WAIT YOU ARE A PURE SOUL-- FREE FROM UNDERTALE SPOILERS. Well I know whats happening if I ever get isekai'd. Gosh I would love to actually sit beside you and watch you play games. It's almost fascinating watching someone who is good at games play… Ehe.. I rlly don't know how to end this? Thx for existing please continue to do that.

P.S. Rlly srry for an typos, I wrote this at like 3 am cause I woke up n couldn't go back to sleep.

~ Your moonlight

(HELP ITS 4:30)

oh I LOVE THE BLUE THEME!! had a bit of oopsie delivering this letter but it's all good!! ( ^-^)/ *

Hey Moonlight.

Ugh nvm that sounds cringe please ignore that-- You know I'm not good with this thing either, so I'm gonna ramble if you don't mind. (I hope you don't or it'd be so embarrasing hhhhhhh)

I guess because of our worlds' differences that you'd find Ortho's gears impressive. I mean, I still do, and he's my brother now, he's gotta have the best tech to accomodate his needs. Your world sounds lowkey slow if they haven't even scratched the basics of robotics yet. Still I gotta hand it to them for making a kinda gateway connecting our worlds together.

YOU GOT? THREE?? SSR CARDS OF ME??? IS THAT WHY I KEPT FAILING GACHA EVENTS?? BC MY LUCK WENT TO YOU???? /j but congrats ig. Hope my cards been helping you through the game(?) By the Sevens, that is so weird knowing that I'm just a game character in your world.

But anywho, ignoring that blatant spoiler of fandoms I've never heard of before, for some reasons, I don't exactly mind having someone like you playing games with me beside Ortho. Maybe it'd be easier to breathe than going out and socialise with normies ugh.

Help how do I end a letter Happy New Year, may you be blessed with luck through the gacha system ig.

Idia Shroud

tags: @identity-theft-101 @twistwonderlanddevotee @ameleii @vioisgoinginsane @cave-of-jade

remember to reblog if you enjoy my works!! ^-^

[juicezone]

Hi! I'm TL, and I do agere/petre art requests! You can find my queue and open status on my header! Please read the rules below, thank you! It helps to reblog this to spread it around :D

you must obey the dni of this account. especially please do not request or reblog if you are k!nk, nsfw, generally not safe for kids. you will be blocked.

If reqs are closed, you may DM me and ask me to send you a message/heads up when I re-open then!

please be kind when asking :) these are not commissions, i am not required to do them!

if your request is something i’m not comfortable with doing, i’ll priv answer so you have the option of sending another if you’d like! (this is easiest to do if you're not on anon/you leave an @ of your sideblog! If it's a nameless anon, it's likely to just be deleted, sorry ^^'

please put separate requests in separate asks! IE: if you ask for Character from Fandom A and character from Fandon B, please send two asks! (Unless you want them together which is fine :P)

not a rule but feel free to give suggestions! IE: “Can you draw character with a green paci” or “can you draw character as a fox pet-regressor?” or “can you draw character and character as cg + regressor?” "character in a dip" (just make sure to specify who is who!) Honestly, detail helps a lot with being able to draw and do the req!! (NEW 4/28) I will draw stuff like characters being upset, crying, ect. I'll draw characters in dips but atm i'm not necessarily comfortable drawing accidents themselves (unfortunately, i had a problem with one post i made + deleted being basically immediately snapped up by unsavory blogs ): so)

I’d prefer to not draw your persona/sona/ect! I don’t mind drawing in a “blank/YN” type character, but I no longer would like to draw personas/sonas/ect. Sorry! (NOTE: THIS IS EXEMPT FOR FRIENDS LET ME DRAW YOUR AGERE OCS/INSERT SO BAD)

Requests may take a while! I work 30-40 hrs a week on top of being a full time student. I might get it done immediately, it might get done in three months or longer. Usually I do them in order, but not always! If you come into my inbox and repeatedly ask abt it (esp if ur rude) i will delete it. and i will block you.

FANDOMS I'LL DO

I'll do most any media! It's REALLY best to just ask me!! Bluey, MCYT (characters ONLY. *), Star Trek, Pokemon, FNAF, Warrior Cats, Nintendo, Disney - Honestly, it's best to just ask! As long as the media isn't primarily NSFW in the 18+ way, I probably don't mind! Complex chars like in Genshin Impact are fine as long as you're okay with me simplifying/putting them in different clothes (free free to request them in diff clothes even!!)

*Will not do dsmp at this time. May do people related to DSMP (ie philza for ex [i think? i dont know the people of that group]) but i will not do: Wilbur/soot or d/ream.

FANDOMS I WON'T DO

Harry Potter, Hetalia, IRL People (as in the Content Creator - see below for more detail), Attack on Titan, Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss, Country humans/Country balls/Anything based off the countries, Rick and Morty TBA

ABOUT IRL PEOPLE

Will do: MCYT for example! Because my design is based off their MC skin. It's like actors v their characters if that makes sense Won't do: Things like Sanders Side or Marki/plier ego stuff, because it's like. there's nothing there for referencing other than the literal person. idk its hard to explain TLDR: thats just my comfort level sorry ^^''

[possumdrawsstuff]

THAT SCAR REF SHEET I WAS TALKING ABT FOR JIM!

all of these r based off stuff that happened in canon, if you think I’ve missed any cool opportunities then feel free to point them out! I add them because I believe that while they probably couldn’t have been included in the show for the pg rating and some of the ways he would’ve gained them being somewhat violent (even for trollhunters). I feel they add to his character and in how they would grow over time show how he would gain more and more experience as a trollhunter, yet also gaining more and more pressure and experiences that are probably not the best on jim mentally.

(Ps. I have no lightning scars In my design because lichtenberg scars, while cool looking, don’t usually last)

(Ps ps, the model I used to plan them out is from sketch fab somewhere but as I had originally not made this to post I didn’t save it, if anybody knows the creator, or is the creator, feel free to hit me up and I’ll credit you in the post.

ANYWAY MOVING ON TO THE SCARS AND MY SILLY LITTLE REASONS FOR THEM BEING THEREEE!

This is prolly gonna be angsty but I have an angsty ao3 background (to whoever read my Peter Parker nwh fic yall know ,and I am sorry I haven’t updated lol)

face/ eyebrow scar: I love that they gave him a scar in the movie, however, I didn’t like how it looked very much, especially with how he got it. I mean ARRRGHHH! Literally punched him so hard (love him Frfr but bro was not messing around even w Jim) that stone on stone had enough force to scratch some off of his face, this is why I usually make it look messier and more like scratchy scars rather than the clean cut from wizards/the unspeakable movie

2. GOBLIN/GENERAL SCARS: ok y’all I haven’t seen many other people do these but they are ver important to me 😌. Just scars from sparring could be all of these, the heroes forge has literal flying axes like ?? and in earlier seasons he didn’t always have his armor on or have a helmet at his disposal so I think he would to have had to have been nicked pretty good at least once or twice. Then there’s the goblin scars, In my version they told Barbara that it was racoons that got him , but the idea is that for Jim to have landed in the hospital he must have been hurt pretty badly that night, so, I would imagine that even while facing nomura Jim was fighting against the effects of blood loss also.

3.Angor rot: if you couldn’t tell by the photo it doesn’t show up in this! HOWEVER in my silly little side project (I’m sure some of you can probably guess what it is and if you can’t, idk look at some of my reblogs and you’ll probably find it, BUT! because it takes place after canon (yes including the movie) but also has some crunchy plot twisting In the background, the angry rot man face thing (I cant remember the name of it right now for the life of me please) will show up whenever he comes near to Jim, even if time is messed up, angor rot is back and technically hasn’t died yet so yes Jim gets the spoopy glowy thing.

4.amulet scar: idk if anybody remembers but when the arcane order took Jim’s amulet, he got scars from it right? It can be seen on his beast design is all of the tendrils leeching out from the indent of the amulet, my thinking is if his human form also got scarred by ARRGHHH! Why didn’t this scar translate too? Then again it could’ve but Jim is obviously a big fan of blue jacket*tm* so we will never know, I think he did but idk 🤷‍♀️

5.Bellroc- HEY SO ANYBODY REMEMBER WHEN BELLROC LITERALLY IMPALES JIM ON HER FLAMING STAFF!?! AND HE JUST KEPT GOING AFTER GETTING THE ARMOR!?! LIKE HE DIDNT JUST GET IMPALED? (This is partly why I think he gets like an adrenaline rush magic thingy as seen in some fic i read at some point PLEASE TELL ME IF ITS YOUR FIC I LOST IT PLEASE) YA that’s gonna leave a mark! the wound I’m guessing instantly cauterized so while yes it would hurt really bad I take that as why he was just running around after the armor.

6.burnt hand, another thing that happened in the movie but didn’t really get wrapped up in the end, Jim burnt his left hand on the gaggletac (idk how to spell it) and it just stayed bandaged for the rest of the movie, so it is also included on this list

7.back scars from bular: this one is probably the stretchiest one in this list but I think that it would have been an AMAZING addition to the plot character development wise. In one scene we see bular literally crushing and sliding Jim up the bridges interior wall and Jim is literally like silently screaming in this scene (thank you Guillermo /im sad for my son) and I like to think that after rushing over and doing Romeo and Juliet, Jim got off stage, practically ran over some people trying to get home because he can feel it, the whole play. This gives him some insight on the dangers of troll hunting. Yes I know this was a lesson beforehand but this is in the arc along with the goblins where Jim is learning he’s going to have to make personal sacrifices to keep up this troll hunting thing, including his mental health probably , it will serve as a very physical reminder of the constant danger he is now and will probably forever be in (in case y’all couldn’t tell that I’ve watched Spider-Man nwh like 8 times I’m out for blood on this one)

8.face scar from morgana: slinging the mood back around and also calling back to the “scars gained while Jim is a troll also get applied to his human form”, in like one of the last episodes maybe 2nd to last or the very last one in the final battle with morgana, she scratches Jim’s cheek with a throwing dagger and from what I can remember I thought it actually stayed on his face throughout the end of the series, I could be deluxe but I still like to add it for some reminder of the OG final battle.

not mentioned here- little pit in the amulet indention from the dark shard, and various scars from the dark lands.

if you read that entire rant I’m sorry , enjoy!

[whowhatifs]

⋆｡°✩ Infamous MC ask game ✩°｡⋆

Infamous by @infamous-if has got my mind buzzing and me humming, so I put together this little ask meme to develop and get to know our MCs, if anyone would like to play!

These are mostly focused on things that would have been established by the start of the story, but there may still be a spoiler or two.

★ MUSIC  ★

Band name: How did they and the others come up with the band name? Has the name changed since it was founded?

Albums: What are some of the albums the band has released? Are they a consistent style? What themes did they explore?

Favourites: Which song of the band’s is your MC’s favourite? Which is the fan-favourite?

Training: How did they learn to sing? Have they had any formal training? How do they continue to maintain and develop their singing voice?

Retro: What was the first CD they ever bought with their own money? Do they still have it? Do they still like it?

Full circle: What is the first song they ever wrote? Played? What’s the most recent?

Songwriting: What’s their process? Is it different than it was when they used to write songs with Seven?

★ PERSONALITY ★ 

Beginnings: When and how did they know they wanted to be a professional musician? Was there a deciding factor?

Performance: What are they thinking and feeling while they’re performing? How do they act on stage?

Persona: How does their day-to-day personality compare to their on-stage persona?

Stage name: Do they or have they ever had one? How did they choose it? 

Professional: How seriously do they take their singing career? Do they consider themself a professional?

Quitting: Have they ever come close to quitting their professional music career? When? What brings them back?

Change: How has their personality changed since Seven left the band? Are those changes related to Seven leaving?

★ RELATIONSHIPS ★ 

Bandmates: How do they feel about the members of the band? Would they still be interested in stardom if they weren’t with that group?

Hero: What is their favourite thing about G? Why is your MC such a big fan?

Fans: How is their relationship with their fans? Do they go out of their way to interact? 

Manager: Do they get along with Orion? What do they think of him as their band manager?

Besties: What’s their friendship with Rowan like? What are some things only he knows about them?

Baby: How do they feel about Jazzy leaving? How are they coping? What are their plans to stay in touch?

Tattoo: Did they keep the tattoo with Seven’s initials? Why/why not? What was that decision/execution process like? (Bonus: What do they think of Seven keeping their tattoo?)

★ CREATION ★ 

Development: How did you come up with your character? Is their design still evolving? How do you think they might develop through the story?

Voice: What does their singing voice sound like? Do you have voiceclaims(s) for them?

Lyrics: What are some songs you associate with your character? Any specific lyrics that really scream your character?

Fame: Do you think your character will enjoy fame? Do they think they will? What elements do you think they might struggle with? Do you think they’ll be happy at the end of this road?

Storybeats: If you could design one scene to happen in the story, what would it be? How would it change your character? What would make it so satisfying for the character arc?

Wild card: Tell us something about your MC! Feel free to really just roll us over with an emotional steamroller and crush the souls out of our bodies, if you’d like. (You’re also welcome to choose one of the other questions to answer!)

Seven: Do you have headcanons about their friendship and/or romantic relationship (past or future)? What do you imagine some of their best memories are? What do you think some of Seven’s favourite things about your MC were/are?

To keep the game going, please send an ask to whoever you reblog this from (if they’re playing)! And feel free to tag me in your answers, time permitting I’d love to check them out. Have fun! ♡

[scarecrowwizard]

League of Legends Lore Ask Game!

It's finally here! If you reblog this post I'll send you a few myself to get things started :D There's 35 questions, so I'll put every question after these first few under the cut. General Lore

1- What's your favourite champion biography? 2- Favourite non-biography short story? 3- Favourite skinline/alternate universe story? 4- If you had the chance to rewrite any character, who would you choose? What would you change? 5- Your opinion on the lore of a character the asker chooses? (If the asker doesn't specify, just pick at random!)

6- What's your favourite lore fun fact? (ie a champion's favourite food, something small like that) 7- What character(s) do you think are underrated and/or underappreciated? Tell us about them and their lore! 8- Favourite canon relationship? (Romantic, platonic, familial, enemies, anything goes.) 9- What's your favourite region, and why? 10- What's your favourite character from a region of the asker's choosing? Why?

Headcanons/Fanworks

11- Give us a headcanon of your favourite character! 12- Any queer headcanons? Tell us! 13- What's your favourite non-canon relationship? (Again, anything goes; (queer)platonic, romantic, etc.) 14- Any headcanons about your favourite region? Cultural, political, etc; anything that comes to mind! 15- What's your favourite League-related fanfiction? If you can't pick, feel free to answer with multiple! 16- Favourite rarepair? As with the previous relationship questions, this doesn't have to be interpreted romantically. 17- Do you have any canon-compliant headcanons? Share them! 18- Alternatively, any non canon-compliant headcanons? 19- You get to retcon one piece of currently canon lore and replace it with a headcanon of yours. What do you pick? Why? 20- If you got to add voicelines to a character of your choosing, what voicelines would you add?

Character Design/Worldbuilding

21- What character do you think has the most fitting visuals for their lore/personality? Why? 22- What character do you think has the least fitting visuals for their lore/personality? Why? 23- What character's abilities (either in League or LoR, if applicable) fit their lore the most? 24- What character has the most fitting voice/voice delivery for their character? Alternatively, for non-speaking characters, best sound design? 25- What region do you think has the best worldbuilding?

Skinline/AU

26- What skinline/AU has the best lore, in your opinion? Why? 27- If you were to make another band in the Riot Records universe, what characters would you pick and what genre of music would they make? 28- If you were to add a character to an AU/skinline, what and who would you pick? What would their role be? 29- You get to make your own skinline. What kind of lore would it have, and who are you giving the skin(s) to? 30- Crossover time! You get to make a crossover skinline with a non-League media of your choosing. What media are you picking, and what characters from both medias would be in it?

Just For Fun

31- Hug, marry, kill with three characters of the asker's choosing. "Marry" can be taken platonically. 32- You have to be roommates with a champion of your choosing for one year minimum. They're not allowed to physically hurt you or kill you, but they'll act the exact same otherwise. Who are you picking? Why? 33- Any song(s) you associate with a particular character? 34- Any characters you associate with someone? ie a mutual, specific artist, irl person... anything like that. 35- You're stuck in an elevator for an hour with a character of the asker's choosing. No phones/other distractions. How are both of you doing?

[surfclangen]

Good and Bad news

Howdy guys! I don't talk to y'all one on one too much, but I want to keep you in the loop.

To start off, I am so super thankful for the support this comic has received!! This is my first real venture into comic making, I am so incredibly grateful to have such a positive reception.

Onto the bad news, y'all may have noticed my posting speed has slowed. I'm very busy in college (graduating with my AA this summer!) between a radio show, being president of the creative writing club, and keeping up with homework, which means I don't have a ton of time to work on personal projects, and when I do, I try to chase what gives me the most dopamine. This isn't super relevant, however, just a peek into my creative process.

The Bad News

Surfclan is going to go onto hiatus after the next two posts so I can work on the overarching story I want to portray. These two posts will finish Arc 1 of Surfclan, which I am happy with and have ironed out, but the draft I have for the rest of the series is kind of cobbled together and not satisfying, certainly not work I'm proud of. If I'm going to dedicate so much time to something, I want it to be work that I am proud of. As a writing student too, it's not right to put so little effort into the writing.

I went into Surfclan without a plan. I wanted a coastal set of clans to worldbuild with, but I had no idea for plot. I let the generator decide what that plot would be, which is fine! But I wasn't given much besides a clan that grew at a decently steady rate and got into occasional shenanigans. I need to put those pieces together properly and figure out how to best portray the themes I want in a respectful manner (right now, there's a heavy theme of colonialism that I just don't think I'm quite ready to handle tactfully.)

If you aren't using Surfclan, can I?

Absolutely! Please feel free to use Surfclan as background characters or cats to fill out gatherings. I am always happy to organize plots in DMs and weave it into Surfclan's eventual finalized script. As long as my babies are kept relatively in character, I have no issues with making it canon. If they aren't, no worries! It just won't be canon to Surfclan. Think of it like an AU!

When will you be back?

I'm not sure, but I'm always happy to answer DMs if you want to chit chat, and I will make a post announcing Surfclan's return when I am ready.

What's the good news then?

Surfclan was always designed to be a "for fun" project that I didn't put too much effort into, hence the scattered upload schedule and art styles, but now that I've experimented a bit, I'm ready to get into comic making more seriously. While I brainstorm ideas for Surfclan I will be shifting focus towards a new Clangen blog loosely based on marshmallow_cat3's Dark Forest challenge and @gray-thistleclan .

Cottonmouth Clan has distinct win and lose conditions and a solidified plot with mysteries to discover. I'm currently working on world building and character design that will be posted to my main blog, @antlermoss. I will have a post up there when I have my details organized with the rules for the challenge, of which you are welcome to use in your own games and comics!

I will reblog Cottonmouth's starter post here when I am ready.

I appreciate your patience and understanding, and hope you guys enjoy the new project (:

[lovebugs-and-snakecharmers]

LBSC Sprint Challenge April 2024

The LBSC Sprint Challenge is now open for writers and artists! The prompts are:

1. "Guess what I just did?" 2. “I knew she was the one when she tried to flirt and ended up breaking my nose.” 3. When Luka's new single drops a few days ahead of Jagged's, for one shining moment he was #1 on the charts while Jagged was #20, and Luka will never let him live it down. 4. Hawkmoth is standing right there & you can't transform. What's a desperate superhero to do? 5. "I wish I had princess energy instead of feral gremlin energy but here we are." 6. Wildcard - pick any previous challenge prompt, or play LBSC Smooch Roulette to generate a prompt!

You have until Wednesday, May 1 to complete your 3 15-minute sprints/45 minute art sprint and post the results. Once you’ve completed the sprints, you have 24 hours to edit (which can include some new writing to smooth transitions and make it feel complete, and whatever work you feel appropriate to get your art to a state you consider ‘finished’).

Please note you may sprint in the language of your choice, and you can either translate the final fic before posting, post it in the original language, or both as you choose. You can join us on the LBSC discord or sprint on your own! Just be sure to tag @lovebugs-and-snakecharmers in your final post so we will see it and reblog it. The rest of the rules can be found here under the cut.

Rules!

We’ll post a beginning and end date to the challenge, and a prompt.

Writers, If you choose to participate in the event, write for that prompt in up to three 15 minute sprints. No writing outside the sprints until you have completed all three! After the 3 sprints are complete, you have 24 hours to edit (which can include some new writing to smooth transitions, etc). You can also choose to break that 45 minutes up differently if you find a different split works better for you.  After those 24 hours, post what you’ve got. Tag your posts with @lovebugs-and-snakecharmers so we can reblog it to the LBSC blog. If you post your work on AO3 or somewhere other than Tumblr, you can leave a link in our ask box or in the appropriate discord channel so we can be sure to promote it. After the designated challenge end date, we’ll compile a listing of the submissions and post it to the LBSC blog.

Feel free to sprint in whatever language is most comfortable to you! You can post it in your own language or translate it before posting, or both!

Artists, you have 45 minutes to sketch and 24 hours to do any cleanup or coloring you’d like to complete. You can split your 45 minutes up however you like, or not at all. There’s no requirements on your finished piece, just aim for whatever goal seems challenging but achievable to you.  Tag your posts with @lovebugs-and-snakecharmers so we can reblog it to the LBSC blog. If you post your work on Instagram or somewhere other than Tumblr, you can leave a link in our ask box or in the appropriate discord channel so we can be sure to promote it. After the designated challenge end date, we’ll compile a listing of the submissions and post it to the LBSC blog.

If you’re wavering as to whether or not you think you can accomplish anything in 45 minutes, we really encourage you to give the challenge a try. You may be surprised what you can do! Feel free to join us in the discord linked above so we can encourage and cheer you on.

Obviously, this has to run a bit on the honor system and we won’t be tracking your times, but please do your best to honor the spirit of the challenge! If your sprint fic becomes an Entire Thing (these things happen sometimes) and you want to continue it, feel free! However, please still post whatever you’ve got after your 3 sprints with the tag. No fair busting out a fully polished fic or art without showing us what it looked like at the challenge stage!

We want to keep this a positive space and event! This does NOT mean that you can’t write or draw anything critical of a character or episode, but it isn’t the space for character bashing or hate either. Please keep the characters in character and save the more speculative work for another time. NSFW sprint works are permitted but must be tagged appropriately (please use “NSFW LBSC sprint challenge” for easy filtering on the blog) and with appropriate warnings.  (More FAQ about the process here)

This is a Lukanette blog and a Lukanette event, so while Lukanette does not need to be the main ship, it needs to at least be included or referenced and considered endgame (in other words, they don’t have to be together by the end of your work, but the intent is that they’re headed in that direction). The decision about what qualifies for reblog rests solely with the LBSC moderators. If a piece hasn’t been reblogged within a couple of days, either the mods felt the piece didn’t meet the criteria or it was simply missed; you are welcome to reach out in the asks to inquire which. There are plenty of other spaces out there for other ships and OT3s, and people are welcome to use the challenge rules and prompts to write for their own ships! They just won’t be reblogged to the LBSC blog, and we ask that you please not use the event tag (a modified form is fine - “InsertAlternateShipName sprint challenge” instead of “LBSC sprint challenge,” for example).

Happy sprinting!

[innerchorus]

Gurgin for the ask game, pick and choose whatever numbers you want! It's a free-for-all! :D

I probably am gonna ask you about Shapur, Isfan, and Kubard later too because of course I am

I said I wanted to answer every question for him and I wasn't lying. Thank you for enabling me! (Ask game post is here, for anyone else who wants to send something in / reblog it themselves. I have a few others to answer already which I'll get too asap now this post is done, but feel free to send in more!).

My first impression of them

Just one of a handful of evil masked guys. Best mask design by a long way, though.

2. When I think I truly started to like them (or dislike them, if you've sent me a character I don't like)

I first got curious about him when I read about his backstory and found out about his shared past with Farangis. Honestly I'm not quite sure how I got to the point where I love him as fiercely as I do now, but I know I started shipping him with Zandeh after seeing art by @strangeshipper and it built from there. I don't know. I just find him really interesting.

3. A song that reminds me of them

I know I've mentioned You Are The Blood by Sufjan Stevens before, but also Don't Worry, We'll Be Watching You by Gotye (POV: you are being recruited by Team Zahhak).

4. How many people I ship them with

Always with Zandeh. OTP status for sure. I have considered other stuff (such as the Zandeh/Gurgin/Parizad OT3) though. And Hilmes/Gurgin in Mage Hunt AU. And if anyone wants to suggest other ships for him, I'm listening.

5. My favorite ship of them

Zandeh/Gurgin, obvious answer is obvious.

6. My least favorite ship of them

I don't know whether anyone actually ships it but Gurgin/the Master.

I won't lie, it's crossed my mind, but my headcanon is primarily that although the Master was once interested in stuff like that he's been alive for so long that he doesn't really have those sorts of urges any more (overlaps a bit with my thoughts on how the type of magic that Team Zahhak use might affect sexual desire, I don't think I've directly mentioned that before but the basic concept is that it can warp it from its baseline just as it warps their bodies, and results vary from person to person, but it's quite common for it to be either dulled or switched off completely and kind of goes hand in hand with the headcanon that their magic renders them sterile).

Gurgin in Sacrifice AU falls into that category, he doesn't completely lack interest but his focus is dominated by his work for Team Zahhak and by the time the AU picks up his story afterwards he's also underweight and depressed so his sex drive is basically 0. And then he meets Zandeh, and gets better, and realises what it's like to want someone so badly you can't think of anything else, lmao

(My headcanons for Gurgin vary a bit in this respect depending on the AU, though. There's probably an AU out there where his desire never returns or he never had any in the first place but even in that case I still see him and Zandeh as life partners and feel they'd work it out somehow.)

7. A quote of them that you remember

What he says when he's rallying his comrades at the end of Book 7 after their Master is (temporarily...) killed: "Let those who do not respect the Snake King Zahhak boast of their victory! Three years, just three years is enough. At that time, they will fall from the peak of joy to the bottom of the valley of despair. The higher they climb, the further they fall!"

It's primarily the last line that sticks in my mind. If I ever make the Gurgin playlist that I daydream about so often, I'd definitely title it 'The Further They Fall'. Anyway, that's actually the last line of dialogue from the final scene of Book 7 (the last book before the timeskip). A very ominous way for it to end, right?

8. Your favorite outfit of them

He has One Outfit. (He would've worn something different when he was a trainee priest, but there's no description of it. A manga flashback to that time feels much less likely now, but you never know, maybe Arakawa will decide to reveal a little of Farangis's backstory before the end… my one hope…)

9. Your least favorite outfit of them

One Outfit, and I love it so no complaints. But I wish Arakawa had planned to adapt the second half so I could see him getting drenched by the rain in Soleimaniye.

10. Describe the character in one sentence

My blorbo who did lots of things wrong.

11. What’s the first thing you think about when thinking about the character?

Huh, this question made me realise that in the mental picture of Gurgin that first pops up when I think of him, he's not wearing his mask. His hood is up, though, and he's in Team Zahhak black. Maybe it's because I've been thinking about the Magical Healing AU more recently, where his appearance is often like this.

12. Sexuality hc!

He doesn't waste much time thinking about it, but he's mainly into men. However, I do headcanon that he had a crush on Farangis when he was young.

13. Your favorite friendship they have

This question makes me sad because I don't see him as someone who's ever had many friends. I don't think his peers at the temple liked him that much (though honestly I think he probably felt quite indifferent about this). There were a handful of other trainees he spent time with, but his closest friends were probably his brother and Farangis. There's certainly no real evidence of friendship between any of the Team Zahhak disciples.

He deserves more than having one-sided conversations with winged apes! Was that mainly for exposition purposes in canon? Perhaps, but it's also a result of a lack of human contact — the novel makes it clear that the mages feel loneliness as their numbers dwindle, and at that point Gurgin is operating alone and hasn't heard from his remaining comrades for a while.

(He absolutely does talk to Hamkar from time to time in Sacrifice AU before Zandeh arrives on the scene, too.)

14. Best storyline they had

Is there anything about his canon trajectory that I really wanna label 'best' lmao? I mean, I wish things had turned out different for him but I do find his loss of faith / corruption arc interesting. Though that's because I also love to think about a future for him where that all gets reversed.

15. Worst storyline they had

His involvement with what went down in Oxus, probably. Oof.

16. A childhood headcanon

You know, I haven't spent much time thinking about what his childhood was like (aside from Mage Hunt AU specifics that differ from whatever a general /baseline headcanon would be). I guess the only thing I feel certain of is that he and his brother had no other siblings, and whatever region they grew up in didn't have much to offer in terms of creating a better life for themselves, and that's why they ended up at the Temple of Mithra in Khuzestan. (Tentative headcanon is that he grew up in / near the Nimruz mountains.)

Aghriras entered the priesthood because of ambition, and that reasoning makes sense for Gurgin, too (they're azat, freeborn commoners aka the lowest social class above slaves, and if they want to climb above the few opportunities that affords to them then it's either joining the priesthood or proving their merit on the battlefield) but I do think that to a certain extent Gurgin followed his brother.

lmao I can feel a backstory headcanon forming even as I type this.. like, what if their father died or left them when they were young (Gurgin probably doesn't remember him much) and they were raised by their mother, who wanted them to have a better life than she had? She wouldn't have wanted them to face the horrors of war, so she encouraged them to work hard on their education so that they could find their place in the priesthood. Perhaps she, too, had passed away by the time they left for the temple, so at that point they only had each other. I feel like Gurgin didn't have any close family after his brother died.

Oh no Gurgin, are you desperate for recognition from your Master because you never had a father figure? Fuck.

17. What do you think their first word was?

Eh, probably some variation of 'brother' or 'mother' (with the headcanon above). I feel like most first words are… not that interesting.

18. How do you think they were as a kid? (Like, were they shy, noisy, wild, etc)

Curious and intelligent! Asked a lot of questions. Easily frustrated when things didn't go his way. I imagine at school he had trouble making friends as he both sought approval from his teachers and thought himself superior to others who were not as clever as him, plus he could be impatient with others. (He was, in general, a bit better about all of this at the time he joined the priesthood, but when he's with Team Zahhak all those negative traits are brought to the fore.)

19. The most random ship you've seen people have with them

Well, I'm not sure this really counts but sometimes I'll ask my boyfriend really weird ArSen questions out of the blue, and recently I asked him "give me a Gurgin ship" and usually when it's something like that he'll try and pick something at random that he thinks I won't like… He said Gurgin/Farangis.

(No, he didn't remember that they knew each other. And I can't think of a way this would work but it sure gave me a whirlwind of feelings to think about. The thought of something happening between them because of shared grief, years after they last saw each other? It's so angsty and messy. If something did happen I think Gurgin would feel immensely guilty for it, but I'm not sure about Farangis. I feel like she might be able to compartmentalise it as something that happened that shouldn't have done, and move on. She'd handle it better than Gurgin, at any rate.)

Wait, my Hilmes/Gurgin ship is pretty random I suppose? Think of that as an alternate answer. Zandeh/Gurgin probably qualifies too given that they don't ever meet in canon, but I can't see it that way now, not after spending so much time thinking about them together.

I've also had very vague thoughts of yeeting Gurgin back into the past, but would I ship him with anyone in that circumstance? Eh, not sure.

20. A weird headcanon

I'm sure I have many! The 'he likes hot baths' headcanon is a pretty random one that came from 1. reading that the real Mount Damavand has some pretty nice hot springs near it (which in ArSen verse are probably disgusting bubbling sulphurous poison mud pits but whatever), and 2. the fact that he probably had a bad time during the flooding of the Dark Temple and it amuses me to imagine him enjoying water in a different context? I just want to let him relax from time to time? He works hard, he deserves it.

I want to write a bath scene for him in Interlude (Magical Healing AU). Or I keep thinking about a comedy scene of him at one of Ecbatana's bath houses with a gaggle of bird-faced beasts for company, because it amuses me.

Here's another headcanon: he's pretty bad at archery. It was taught at the temple, but it didn't interest him much and he wasn't that motivated to work on his skills, even though Farangis tried to instruct him. As far as weapons go, later on he uses a Team Zahhak-typical knife, which he wears strapped to a thigh like Farangis. (He still has it in Sacrifice AU! Chekhov's Snake Knife lmao.)

21. When do you think they were at their happiest?

When he was at the temple with Farangis and his brother, before things went wrong. Other than that, he was pretty fucking ecstatic in Book 16 when the Master said that he would be his successor (disregarding the fact that it's because there is literally nobody else left at that point lmao). I'm not sure I believe the Master was ever planning on stepping aside, but whatever.

22. When do you think they were at their lowest?

After his brother's death.

23. Future headcanon

The whole of Sacrifice AU, I guess. Just anything where he makes it out of Team Zahhak and tries to lead a different life.

24. What do you think is a secret they have that they never told anyone?

I love this question. I wouldn't necessarily know the answer for every character but I do have a headcanon for this for Gurgin, and that is that no matter how vehemently he protested his brother's innocence, a small part of him wondered whether Aghriras really had done it. I don't think he'd ever admit that to anyone (except perhaps to Zandeh in Mage Hunt AU, where Gurgin's backstory adjustment gives him very good reason to hope that Aghriras had killed that particular person). The fact that Aghriras's innocence was later proven only makes it much worse.

25. When do you think they acted the most ooc

I don't think any of his canon scenes are OOC? Is that what this question is asking? I may not like what he does, but none of it feels unbelievable.

26. When do you think they were being "themselves" the most?

Maybe I'm picking this just because it's before he went down a dark path, but I think the conversations he used to have with his brother back when they were at the temple are pretty typical of his true self. The little flashback conversation we get in particular gives the impression of someone who's curious about stuff he maybe shouldn't be, and is attracted to power, but it also shows that he was willing to listen to his brother's guidance. I don't think he'd have ended up with Team Zahhak if his brother had lived.

Otherwise, his Book 16 decisions that get him killed are unfortunately also peak Gurgin, at least in his Team Zahhak era.

27. If they could meet a character from another show/movie/etc, who would be the most fun for them to meet?

Either (or both) of the Devil Forgemasters from Castlevania, 100%.

28. The most unnecessary thing they ever did?

Killing the dog at the temple. Or lashing out and cutting off the hind legs of a winged ape (a creature that is on his side, and under his command!) when his plans started to go wrong in Book 13.

29. How do you think they would be as a parent? (and if they are a parent, how do you think they would be if they weren't?)

Honestly, not great but not as bad as he might think. But it's not something he wants. Thoughts of having a family aren't really on his mind (except for AU instances where he's worried it's something Zandeh might want that he won't be able to provide).

30. The funniest scene they had?

Okay, Gurgin's not actually present in this scene but it's hilarious to me so I'm choosing it: after the winged ape attack on Soleimaniye in Book 13 was thwarted, Kubard and Narsus are discussing what happened. They don't know that Gurgin was the one in charge, but Narsus's opinion is that it couldn't have been Ilterish (the usual commander of the demon army) because Ilterish would've done a better job, lmao. Sorry Gurgin but your inexperience is showing.

Anyway, that's the end of the questions! Not sure how many people are interested enough in Gurgin to make it this far, but like... if anyone does want to talk about Gurgin with me... my inbox is always open...

[townofcadence]

Rules

I tried to bold the important bits for anyone who'd prefer to skim. I know there's a lot here, but it's mostly the basics and some explanations! Please don't let it intimidate you too much, I promise I'm just an anxious little creature who's likely eager to meet you! I just want to make sure you know what you might be getting into ^^

-I am tracking the tag townofcadence! My ooc tag is #tristan rambles

-This is an in-character rp and ask blog for my OCs, with a focus on Artair as my main! Please don't take my OCs designs or adopt them as a muse for yourself, unless you have my explicit permission (though a writing gift would be entirely fine!).

-Reblogging my art is totally fine! You'll probably make my day if you comment on it in the tags. If it's something I don't want reblogged, I'll turn off reblogs or tag it with #do not reblog . Otherwise, feel free to interact with it!

-With RPs, if it's something ongoing with another blog that isn't yours, please don't reblog it! It doesn't bother me, but most rpers can be upset by this, so as a respect to them, I would rather avoid the issue. You can reply to rps in the notes, or send me asks about them! But please do not reblog the rp post itself! If the post is open, however, then feel free to jump in as you want if you are an rper and have a muse!

-My social anxiety is really bad-- if I follow you, I definitely want to interact! But also, I really struggle to initiate conversation. If a person reaches out I'll happily interact with them though; I'm kind of a social-vampire, and feeling invited in helps a lot. On the other hand, once I'm spoken to, I talk a LOT, so I apologize in advance and hope it isn't too overwhelming. Feel free to tell me to tone it down!

-I don't feel comfortable writing with muses that are real people. Faceclaims are fine (not for me personally, but i don't mind rping with someone using them), but rping as the actor/actress or someone else from history themselves is uncomfortable for me because they were a real person. Similarly, I don't want to do rps that revolve around real world events, historical or current.

-I think communication is vital to a hobby like this. If you have a question or issue, please let me know! Also, If I do something insensitive or hurtful, please let me know and I'll try to do better next time.

-If you softblock or hardblock me, that's fine! I will not take offense. I may be a little sad if it happens out of nowhere and i thought we had a rapport, but I will respect the boundary. I will not reach out and I will not chase or confront you in any way. I will delete any of our drafts/asks I have and move on. Your dash is free to curate how you'd like. Please feel free to unfollow or block and make your space the best one for you, and if you're afraid of a reaction for doing so, this is my gentle reminder there won't be any.

-However, to me both soft or hardblocking actions say "I no longer wish to engage with you in any capacity" just to varying degrees. So I will not chase you, i will not cross that boundary, and I will not refollow you if i was only softblocked, because I have been shown to be unwanted in your space. Especially if you did not communicate with me beforehand. If you wish to reconnect, you will have to reach out first, because you chose to sever interaction and until otherwise shown i will assume that's still what you want. So if you use this as a test of some sort, me not chasing doesn't mean I don't care. It is just me choosing to respect the implications of your decision.

-I am a person who deeply enjoys horror threads and dark themes, so please be aware there will be threads and art/writing containing that on this blog. It can involve things like blood, torture, injury, gore, kidnapping, mutilation or dying and lots in between, so please take care of yourself! I will tag things too!

-Related: this blog does not condone any bigotry, and I refuse to write anything depicting incest or pedophilia.

-Anything potentially triggering I will try to tag. The format for tagging will be ‘#cw *insert trigger here*’. Example being #cw injury. I will try to be consistent! Please feel free to ask me if I need to tag anything!

- I’ve been writing Artair for years, so Artair has a lot of background history that might get alluded to, but not actively explained. If you have questions, feel free to throw them my way and I’ll answer what I can! Additionally, I tend to keep my muse's backstory and abilities hidden, so they can be revealed naturally in threads. But if you want to know more, please hit me up and I can share whatever you'd like to know, or even the whole story! I'm happy to share and it's not a problem to ask, I just think it's fun to reveal things via narrative too.

-I am 25+, and may do mature threads, but sexual threads will not happen here. I'm fine with them, but not on this blog, I have other spaces. Here will get the fade to black treatment.

-I likely am going to be semi-selective in what I rp. I will answer asks and reply to things from anyone, so feel free to send in! But while I want to interact, I also only have so much energy. I have the right to refuse to answer RPs or starters or asks.

-I am also chronically ill in a few different ways, so sometimes I will disappear to recover or not have much energy. I have no problem waiting for replies to rp or messages, and I hope we can be patient with each other as needed to have a fun time. Take your time, and I'll get to you as soon as I'm able, too.

-A given, but No autohitting, godmodding, or metagaming. If you want something to happen specifically, talk to me and we can work out why or how.

- I can be particular about how some conflicts/issues in rp get resolved. Everything that happens to a character is important to who they become, so a fix that just undoes something important without real effort might bother me, if it's not something we agreed on and planned together. In the same vein, if I'm building tension in a plottier thread to challenge the muses and you just resolve the issue in a reply, that can really kill my interest in the thread. I don't want you to downplay your muse's abilities! But if you know it's something that would be easy for them with their skillset, we can talk and find ways to make it still an interesting struggle for both muses, or I can switch mental gears to this being a showcase of your muse's strength!

-Reiterating this, I want you to play your muse as you intended, and I'll do the same! Please don't hold your muse back, I as the mun will not take it personally whatever yours may do, and I encourage you to let your muse act as they would in the situation without worry! Mun =/= muse, so I'd rather you play them as authentically as possible. Break up with my muse! Punch them! Flirt with them or follow them around! Be free! I won't hold mine back either; hopefully it'll make for some interesting interactions!

- I will always give at least a paragraphs or two in an rp response but even if you give me several pages, my reply may be more succinct. I'm trying to break the habit of backtracking dialogue in a thread, since it gets confusing really fast. I totally get wanting to respond to everything, but doing so to every talking point ends up with the muses having like six differing conversations at once. So I might skip things I want to respond to, to avoid that, and my replies may be smaller to keep the flow of interactions smoother. Hopefully I'll give my partner enough to work with. If not, let me know!

-Please understand that if you DO rp with me, I do not ship characters unless it develops naturally. If something happens, it happens, but I won't pair anyone unless the muse legitimately develops feelings over their interactions. Those actions do not need to be written necessarily, and do not need to be on Tumblr, but they need to happen first. I feel it’s only safe to let people know, since some muns are looking to ship as their primary goal.

-All Icons I use I either have permission from the artist to use, or made myself! I will likely use icons sometimes as I begin to amass them, but I don't expect anyone to use them to write with me. I also don't format my posts except for fun on rare occasions where it feels fitting. I don't expect anyone to match my format, and I hope my simplicity won't be an issue for anyone!

If you read through this, then thank you very much! I hope to interact with you soon, and if not, then I hope your day is great and I appreciate you looking at my blog! If you want to break the ice, you can send me the password '*Gives the Trimst a scritch*'!

[cfv-week]

CFV Prompt Week 2022 will be held October 10th–16th!

The official hashtag for the week will be #cfvweek2022

(More info below the cut!)

We are proud to finally announce the date as well as the prompts for the Cardfight Vanguard Prompt Week 2022!

If you have never participated in a prompt week, let us explain how it works:

Every day is assigned 2 prompts. You can chose what prompt you want to create a contribution for, or even combine them if you want to.

On the day that the prompt is assigned to, post your work on your tumblr blog, using the hashtag #cfvweek2022. Additionally, you can tag this blog if you want to make sure we see it!

During the week, we’ll go through the tag and reblog all posts onto here (feel free to follow so you can see all the content in real time).

Any and all sorts of contributions are welcome. Fanart, fanfictions, edits, memes, playlists, headcanon posts, gifs etc.

Any fanfiction you write can also be posted to AO3. We made a collection called “CFV Prompt Week 2022″ specifically for that!

If you end up missing the date of the prompt, don’t worry! We accept late entries as well.

Please note that this week is specifically for the original CFV, CFV G and the V series reboot (which includes Shinemon and IF). This means no Overdress. Apologies to Overdress lovers, but it’s the former series that we want to keep alive in the present age.

Now, let’s take a closer look at the prompts:

Day 1: Fluff // Favorite Character

Soft moments, gentle smiles, scenes so sweet they make your teeth rot. That’s what Fluff is all about! Create content where the characters are happy and just having fun!

Alternatively:

Make a tribute to your favorite CFV character! Show us why you love them so much.

Day 2: Fantasy AU // Favorite Clan/Deck

Whether it’s an epic fights with dragons, a DnD-inspired magic system or just what’s happening on Planet Cray right now —  we want to see our beloved characters in a fantasy setting!

Alternatively:

With 24 Clans to chose from, it might be hard to pick a favorite. Still, we’d love to hear if and why you favor any of them! Is it for the aesthetic, the lore, or just because you like the character that uses it? Or maybe, you even play Vanguard yourself, in which case, let us know what clans/decks you use and why!

Day 3: Role Swap AU // Favorite Card/Unit/Ride

Despite the varied content we received from CFV over the years, most of us will at some point find ourselves wondering: “what if...?” Today’s prompt lets you explore some of these ideas by swapping around the roles characters play in the plot. What if Kai was the one who locked himself away on the moon in Legion Mate? What if Gyze picked a different vessel? What if someone else was the protagonist or villain? How would this end up changing things?

Alternatively:

After years and years of running, the anime and card game have amassed hundreds, if not thousands of different cards. The question now is: which one do you like the best, and why? Is it the cool design, the great effect, the interesting lore? If that’s too hard to answer, you could also think back to the units the characters rode, and tell us who looked the best in their ride’s outfit. ;)

Day 4: Angst // Favorite Season/Episode

Sometimes you go to fiction for wish fulfillment, for happy thoughts, for laughs. Sometimes you go to see your favorite pairing finally realize all the tension they’ve had in canon. But sometimes, you go to see your favorites suffer. This day is dedicated to the last one. Make your faves cry, be unfair to the poor characters, and play the villain for once. We support you.

Alternatively:

The original CFV had 4 seasons and a movie, CFV G had 5 seasons and the CFV V reboot had 2 seasons and 2 spin-offs. This makes 14 pieces of media to chose from for today’s prompt (not to mention all of Mini Van): favorite season! If you want to be extra ambitious, you can also pick a favorite episode in particular (instead).

Day 5: Comedy/Crack // Favorite Pairing (platonic or romantic)

Did yesterday’s entries weigh you down a little bit? No worries, because today is entirely dedicated to funny things. Despite how serious this franchise can get, it’s also plenty ridiculous, and now is the time to showcase that! It’s not good to be too serious, so let’s entertain some of our more out there ideas, and most important, have fun along the way!

Alternatively:

Who doesn‘t love themself a close character relationship? Whether it’s romantic, platonic or familial, the characters have formed all sorts of bonds throughout the show. Now, share what pairing in all of CFV is the most important to you and what you love about them! Also, we’re both multishipper and polyshipper friendly here~

Day 6: Crossover AU // Favorite Match

Even if all of us love CFV, most of us will have a lot of other franchises we love equally as much. So what if you combined some of them together? What sort of chaos might transpire if some CFV characters were transported into a different world and/or met the cast of another anime or game franchise? What shenanigans would other characters get up to in the world of CFV? Time to get creative!

Alternatively:

In all of the years of the anime’s run time, we’ve been treated to some very epic match-ups. After all, just as people duke it out with their fists or magic in other shounen, in CFV they will challenge each other to no less fierce card fights. Whether it’s because of the intensity, plot/character arc significance or unexpected outcome, which of the many cardfights is your personal favorite? What turn made you hold your breath, which “Final Turn” announcement sent chills down your spine, which trigger pulls made you shout out in frustration? Which victory might have even been undeserved in your opinion?

Final Turn: FREE // Favorite Memory

Just like the FREE square in the very middle of a bingo card, this day doesn’t have a dedicated prompt and can be filled with whatever you want to round out the week with! Maybe another take on a previous prompt? Some OC content? Or simply some CFV must have we somehow missed? Whatever it is, let your imagination run wild!

Alternatively:

All of us care deeply about Cardfight Vanguard and its small, but dedicated fandom. That’s why we create this week in the first place. So let’s celebrate our love for this niche show by recounting our favorite memories we made. Is it a scene you love especially? A piece of fanart or fanfiction that touched you deeply? A friend you made? A tournament you played in? Whatever it is, let us know how CFV impacted your life.

We can’t wait to see everyone’s creations!

Don’t forget to use the hashtag #cfvweek2022 when posting your contributions so we can find them easily!!

Additionally, you can tag us if you’d like!

Lots of Love, the mod team

[ask-de-writer]

WIND MEETS THE ROM : Part 12 of 27 :

MLP Fan Fiction

Return to the Master Story Index

Return to MLP Fan Fiction

WIND MEETS THE ROM

Part 12 of 27

by

De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)

Cover art by @wind-the-mama-cat

54212 words

© 2023 by Glen Ten-Eyck

Writing begun 06/01/18

All rights reserved. This document may not be copied or distributed on or to any medium or placed in any mass storage system except by the express written consent of the author.

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Copyright fair use rules for Tumblr users

Users of Tumblr.com are specifically granted the following rights. They may reblog the story provided that all author and copyright information remains intact. They may use the characters or original characters in my settings for fan fiction, fan art works, cosplay, or fan musical compositions.

All sorts of fan art, cosplay, music or fiction is actively encouraged.

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New to the story? Read from Part 1, here!

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Black Lotus was going over the harness with a light oil of some kind and making some small adjustments to it. Hoof Dancer was going over Wind, checking for chafing and wear points, which she treated with a lineament. She carefully checked Wind's hand and her feet as well.

Satisfied, they had the foals bring water around to all the horses, who were still in harness. In only a few minutes more, they were back on the road.

As she leaned into the harness, Wind was appreciating the cunning leather work. The harness not only gave her good leverage for Pulling, it also provided her with excellent support and assisted her in maintaining the best posture for the long lasting work of Pulling.

Wind was appreciating something else, too. Not merely the amazingly solid and smooth road underfoot, but the fact that the placement of the trees alongside, though seemingly natural, provided a fine balance of light and shade. She realized that the tone poem about the roads was exactly what this was all about.

Besides the Rom singing, she could hear the song of birds and smell the mix of vegetation alongside the road. Along with the songs, she fell almost into a trance, a meditation, breathing deeply and feeling as if she was one with the caravan and the caravan was one with the road.

She was actually surprised when they turned off into a Wayside to make their lunch.

Hanar nuzzled her back to alertness. “You have done amazingly well, Wind! Are you sore or stiff anywhere? Blisters on your feet, or anything?”

Wind gave an experimental stretch and pronounced, “Not really. I can feel where the harness bore on my shoulders and at my hips but it did a great job of spreading the load. I need to thank Black Lotus for it. She did a great job designing it.”

Wind's hearing picked up something totally unexpected from the guards. “I had my doubts, Hawkwing, Sir. That carnivore pitched right in and worked with the rest of them. I don't think that I could have pulled that load along side that filly. She is strong as a horse, and I mean that exactly.”

“So, Greenforest, you been watching and thinking like I suggested? What have you seen?”

Wind was helping to stow hitch parts as she listened.

“As part of security, I checked that Waller Left Leg's bill of lading after I saw that filly Hanar, the same that put me by the trash bin, lift the wagon up for the jacks. His load was SIX TONNES. She wasn't showing off or anything and not a one even noticed while she held it until the jacks were set. She had to lift at least THREE TONNES and hold it to do that! No pony except maybe Twilight Sparkle could manage that lift. Once I got over my butt hurt about that Waller being let into their camp and given meals, I saw that they did all that for him just because he wasn't rude and had something to offer for the cook pot. I was watching. They did not even charge him for the wood and glue that they used. I looked at that too. That was expensive, tight grain, knot free wood.”

“You are right, Greenforest. Here is something that you have not had time to find out. In seven years, I have never seen them buy any sort of lumber from anypony. It is like they have some magical source for the best woods in all of Equestria.”

Meal fires were lit and goodies baking. Wind was happily working up dough with her one hand. And watching Hanar dance while Tia played a tune for her on her new moro lyre.

Her attention was caught by the guard again. Thoughtfully, Greenforest pointed out, I used to think that the Rom were lazy, just sort of flitted about from fair to fair. This walking with them is opening my eyes. Those caravans, they call them, are heavy, even with those big wheels that they use to help them roll easy.

“Then there is here. They were pulling all morning. It puts all that dancing and music into a new light. I don't doubt that they are having fun. Thing is, they are practicing for their fair acts. That red roan mare is watching those pegassi that she took in. She is making more of those little boxes to sell too. The old donkey, over there, looks like he is working on more jewelry.

“Besides lunch, I see them packing away stacks of those Ka'chek pastries that they make into that big chest.”

Major Hawkwing's voice replied, “You are getting it, Sargent. And get this, so far, the only uncanny thing that we have seen is that Laying of the Stones thing. Most would not see anything too odd about it. But after you have seen it a few times, trust me, there is something strange going on.”

Wind's attention was pulled away by Tia pointing out, “I think that we have enough done, Wind. It is time for us to eat.” She casually took a large pot of the Rom black tea and poured it slowly into a machine that Black Lotus slowly cranked. Finely crushed dark colored ice poured out of a chute and into a collecting tub. Black Lotus's magic scooped up some and filled the bottom of a cone and then topped it with a ball of more tea made into ice.

She offered the first cone of tea ice to Wind. “You have been working so hard for us. Here, enjoy!” Wind did, sucking the cool tea ice and reveling in the sheer pleasure of it.

Following their well established routines, the band had their lunch, cleaned up, and broke out the hitches. They had not been long on the road before Wind fell into that near trance like state, carefully balancing her pull to Hanar's to keep the stress and load even. Not only did She follow, but sang along too. That was part of the whole effect. At the same time that it was heavy, sustained work, it was very peaceful and soothing.

Only a few hours down the road, the whole caravan came to a brief stop while Marchhare showed a pony at a road gate their contract. The gatekeeper made his needful notes and lifted the gaily painted red and white road gate bar. They all entered the access road to the Haymarket fairgrounds.

Wind's ears caught some resentful muttering from the guards. “What did he mean, calling us a clown act?”

That was answered in Hawkwing's voice, “Better than coming out and telling everypony that their Highnesses are here. They wish to stay incognito.”

Wind snickered and shared what she had heard with Hanar, who was seized with a fit of giggles, though she never broke pace.

Wind quickly found that setting up for a fair was very different from the setup at a Wayside.

Their campsite was back behind the rows and spaces laid out for booths or tents. As soon as their hitches were stowed, Hanar opened a different locker beneath the deck of her caravan. Together, they pulled out long parts, poles, ropes, stakes and rolls of a brightly colored but durable looking fabric.

Hanar verified her booth location with old Marchhare, who had their fair contract with its space reserved for the Rom. Together, they moved her things to be handy while they set up the booth. Wind's eye was taken by the light but sturdy panels that made up the sales counter. That was set up first, because some of the basic poles to support the awning were attached to it.

The awning was unrolled and lifted over the ridge pole that spanned above the sales counter and dangling ties secured it. Poles to support it went into rings of rope with metal centers. Ropes strung from the poles to stakes were loosely set while the balance of the fabric sides were attached.

Hanar had Wind hold the corner or side opposite to where she was expertly tensioning the ropes to stabilize and tighten the structure. Unpacking cases in her caravan's snug interior, she trotted out with a folded measuring table and racks.

Her many bolts of fabrics in a wide array of colors and weaves were put out on the racks. They closed the awning front down to close the booth until it was time to begin sales.

Hanar promptly led Wind down the Midway a bit to where Rose was setting up her display of boxes of all sizes. Wind chuckled as she realized that Rose packed smaller boxes into larger boxes and carried them all in a few chests, which were also for sale!

Rose offered, “My setup is under control. Both Myest and the Sky Dancers can use some help.”

Wind went to lend her simple strength to assisting the Sky Dancers, who were struggling a bit with the poles and canvas for a musicians shelter and resting place between their strenuous sets. They already had a roped off area for take off and landing.

Wind spotted the cause of their difficulty at once. She sidled up to the orange unicorn who was watching them with amusement. His horn was lighting up with barely visible green magic, which matched his eyes. Each time that it did, some small thing went wrong for the Sky Dancers.

Her hand laid gently against his neck, under his chin. She flexed her claws out into his flesh. “Stop messing with those foals.”

“Ow! They is just Rom! Peggesis what abandoned being good ponies!”

Wind released his neck, shifting her grip faster than he could dodge. She wrapped his muzzle in her hand, securing her grip with extended claws. She dragged his face around, forcing him to stare into her enraged, narrow vertically slitted eyes. Predator's eyes, so unlike the horizontal pupils of ponies eyes.

Curling her lips away from her fangs, she declared in a flat voice, “I am Rom.”

They were interrupted by Marchhare's familiar bray, “Warrior Wind! There you are! The healers want to know if you remember anything of the battle after the Berserker Rage took you.”

Wind saw Black Lotus behind him give her a wink and slight head toss. Wind paused, still gripping the orange muzzle, she remembered that Marchhare sometimes did demon stomps, as he called them and pretended confusion, “It is all hazy. Something about a minor demon king, wasn't it?”

Agreeably, he asked, “Do you remember losing your sword and arm to the dragon?”

Realizing that, though said to sound like fierce battle, the question was literally true, Wind replied, “I know that I did, but don't remember anything until I woke up in the Healer's house.”

Black Lotus put in, “The healers said to tell you that they never want to try operating on the arm of a catter in a Berserk Rage again! They did say that they will have you a replacement arm ready for fitting in a month or so.”

Marchhare offered, “Do come with us, please, Warrior. Seeing you try some of our vegetables and fruits, we made bold to fix you a nice savory stew of mostly meat and some of our vegetables that you liked.”

Wind followed meekly but absently “forgot” to let go of the orange unicorn's muzzle. Feeling both her claws and the raw strength of her grip, he realized that he had two choices. Follow until she let go or be dragged along like a sack of oats. He followed.

Short of the camp, he suddenly began to struggle in Wind's grip. To no avail. A unicorn of the Royal Road Police, in his midnight blue uniform had him, capped his horn, hobbled him and snapped a lead to the straps holding the horn.

As orange was led off, Black Lotus commented, “You are a quick study, Wind.”

Wind, sitting in some nice shade, was balancing a stew bowl and her tea mug on a tray. “Thanks. You guys are pretty sharp too. You put me in a deadly battle without ever actually saying that I was in one. Why?”

Marchhare tapped his big ears and replied, “There were a lot of ponies watching Chugg mess with the Sky Dancers. I think that a couple might have interfered if it had gone on much longer. Point is, you got there first.

“Everypony there saw your sashes and harness and when you stopped him you declared that you were Rom. We just gave you a backstory that contained no lies, though I admit that the truth was a pretzel!”

<== PREVIOUS ~ NEXT==>

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[bitchfitch]

Hey man, so.. i am a furry, have been for a while, but i havent been super involved in the community. ive been thinking abt actually marketing as a furry artist. How does one delve into such a market? Ive done a handful of commissions but its an entirely new area for me 😅 (also i totally get if you’re not ok with sharing, feel free to ignore!)

so I haven't been very active in the furry community since like, 2016? 2017? Nothing really caused that I just got busy with college n work n stuff and had to drop a lot of what I was doing on the side. Couching all of my statements in that.

Step 1 is to draw. like I'm serious. Just draw, draw your fursona, draw random sonas, do fan art of furry media characters. No amount of good marketing will help if you don't have a good portfolio already up and ready to be scrolled through.

step 2: Tag those posts and cross post to the platforms you want to market on. Furry amino and Tumblr were where i mostly posted but the markets changed a lot and I don't have a good idea of it anymore.

step 3: make your comms info readily available and easily parsed. and consider doing things like adopts.

step 4: interact with other accounts. Leave comments and on Tumblr, reblog and tag things, that's the Best way to get people to follow you and see and spread your stuff. This isn't fishing, baiting the water isn't being part of the community and what's best for you is what's best for everyone. Lift your fellows up and they'll lift you up too.

last step is to just like, be chill, be nice, make content that makes you happy whatever that content is. That's what's going to catch eyes and attract like minds who dig the same stuff as you and thus who might want to buy what you're selling.

like my final tip is if you want to be Really serious about this, pick a fursona to be your Brand. Use them as a proper persona that you try to keep everything in line with, not really in an RP way but in a vibe consistency way. Match your infographic colors to them and set up your account to Vibe with their energy. so that way you aren't selling a polished version of yourself which is Horrible for the mental health, your selling an aesthetic built around a design you like. it puts a little separation and can really help with that parasocial online behavior.

Also it gives your following something to immediately identify with you and makes everything a little easier to remember and keep in their noggins when they have a 'face' to associate things with.

[woolydemon]

All your ninjago art reblogging has hit me hard with a realisation of fucking why do people bother to make Zane black if their gonna just give him the whitest blonde hair and blue eyes. It would be one thing if his hair was dyed but they put no effort into showing that it is, and he still has the brightest blue eyes ever. I get that they like the colour contrast, I get that they wanna show his ice connections, but if you wanna make a character black then at LEAST drop the euro centric beauty standards oh my god.

i do agree that I actually would like to see more of Zane with light hair that resembles actual bleached hair + brown eyes if he's going to be depicted as black.

Though I do think for the blue eyes part it is largely based on him being a robot, so like he's got led eyes that glow blue. maybe I'm not the best person to ask if this is bad or not, but I'm personally ok with this. It's not like ppl are supposed to think that's realistic (they're glowing robot eyes) + if ur depicting the other characters with non-eurocentric eye colors (like please. they're like all asian ....) as it further shows it's simply a robot feature (You can also argue his hair not resembling dyed hair is also bc of robot stuff like. Artificial hair ig??? Idk how I fully feel abt that one though)

but even then he does occasionally don looks where he's supposed to blend in with humans, so blue eyes can be a bit odd for that (in s8 though his human disguise had blue eyes in it... But whatever).

Another thing that would be cool actually for Zane to have light hair + blue eyes is for him to be an albino black guy. I do not see a lot of ppl depict characters in general like this, so it would be, as I said, Cool to see that. Still doesn't mean u can skimp out on making sure his features aren't eurocentric in this one as he's still black here

grain of salt for my takes on this since I'm not black I'm just passionate abt diversity in character design, feel free to wreck my shit or add onto it if ur more qualified to talk about it <:] ,,

[bookshelfdreams]

I posted 2,492 times in 2022

That's 419 more posts than 2021!

422 posts created (17%)

2,070 posts reblogged (83%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@swords-n-spindles

@mikimeiko

@bookshelfdreams

@snake-snack-stede

@knowlesian

I tagged 2,449 of my posts in 2022

Only 2% of my posts had no tags

#our flag means death - 1,010 posts

#esc - 340 posts

#message - 101 posts

#crafts - 101 posts

#thoughts - 74 posts

#ofmd reader - 68 posts

#german stuff - 51 posts

#!!!! - 47 posts

#anonymaus - 41 posts

#fic - 31 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#baby. theres spinning wheels for over 1000€ what makes you think you're gonna be met with thousands of ppl starved for things they can buy

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

random ofmd thought: I love that Stede is so cringe.

He's just. Awkward. Ridiculous. Unapologetically weird at all times and he never gets any cooler. Every episode has at least one Stede moment that causes me physical pain and I love that.

Because usually, if a character is this embarrassing, their arc is about learning to be less so, to be like anyone else, to be more normal, and Stede never does. He learns to be more confident, yes, but he never stops unapologetically being his awkward self, and that's so good to see? He's fine the way he is? He doesn't have to become less himself, he just has to learn how to own it better and that's so healing to see

2,133 notes - Posted May 14, 2022

#4

ofmd reader

aka Holy Shit Everyone In This Fandom Is The Smartest Person On Earth

aka a collection of my favourite meta, feel free to add your own faves!

(note that most of these don't actually have titles, I just tried my best to sum up the contents)

✬ On masculinity in ofmd by @edwardsilkheart

✬ The different genres various characters are in, and how they clash and synthesize by @fuckyeahisawthat (THIS is required reading and the reason this show works so well, all these different & contrasting flavours combined into something truly delicious. If you read nothing else on this list, read this)

✬ yk that Stede didn't actually have an evil plan to leave Ed all along right by @polyamoryprincess (on what really happened in Stede's head that night)

✬ these two posts by @mikimeiko about Ed and the mortifying ordeal of being known

✬ How does Ed like his eggs? by @forpiratereasons (on mirroring, learning how to be yourself and self-acceptance as the path to true love)

✬ Listen, I know everyone and their mother disliked Ed without the beard but I actually loved it. by @ruletogether

✬ Izzy Hands and the tenderness of violence, directed at him but not perpetuated by him by @ellicler with additional tags from @knowlesian

✬ Another one about Izzy, internalized homophobia, and subtextual queerness by @knowlesian

✬ The thing that ACTUALLY made Stede run away by @quillyfied

✬ Ed and the language of face-touching by @amuseoffyre

✬ anachronistinc costume design as a sotrytelling device by @ambassadorquark

✬ The Bathtub Scene (analyzing Ed's body language) by @orangechickenpillow plus this follow-up. I also recommend their post on clothes sharing

✬ beard media by @all-chickens-are-trans

4,851 notes - Posted April 11, 2022

#3

Crocheted Important Blue Internet Checkmark. Because why the fuck not.

(Pattern under the cut)

See the full post

4,982 notes - Posted November 11, 2022

#2

A brief conversation I had with @mikimeiko on their lovely meta about the motive of loss and abandonment made me think about miscommunication some more, and how horrible Calico Jack was to Stede.

When Stede meets Calico Jack for the first time this is what he says to him:

Who's the big gal?

Off to a terrible start, and it only goes downhill from there.

As others have pointed out, this is a very mean thing to say in general and absolutely unacceptable to say to a queer man in particular, and Ed knows that. He's trying to do damage control

See the full post

7,364 notes - Posted April 13, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

oh but I adore how everyone in this stupid pirate show is just a guy

I haven't seen ppl talk about it much but. the absolute lack of shredded abs. people show tummy and cleavage and there's not the barest hint of muscle definition anywhere

obviously some of them are very fit but it never leaves "works a physically demanding job and happens to be naturally thin" territory

and guys are fat! guys have bellies and rounded shoulders and chubby cheeks and imperfect teeth and thinning hair and are styled weirdly (that's a whole different post but the crew especially look so unprofessional styled it's great)

and they are still all hot! they are hot and desirable and find each other hot and desirable and I love that

I love to see it! nobody in this show looks like they had a personal trainer. and not just the side characters, not just a token fat guy - obv Taika Waititi is the most beautiful man you've ever seen and that little bit of tummy pudge spilling out of his crop top made us all lose our collective minds. but it's everyone else too; and it's not the extend of it either. no other show would have let black pete within 10 feet of a romance arc, much less been this sweet and sincere about it

this show is so comfortable with the human body in all it's glorious imperfection and I am in love with it

29,716 notes - Posted April 3, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[demonsfate]

Jin Kazama, a fantastic protagonist, soiled by eventual bad writing.

INTRODUCTION...

I've had many posts about why I love Jin, or why I hate Tekken 6's depiction of him. But those are all separate posts. I want to attempt making on Mega Post on the subject of Jin's character. Here I will be talking about why he was such a good (and even relatable!) protagonist. How he was ruined and why he can't be an antagonist. How the writers, including adaptation writers, completely misunderstood what Jin was originally supposed to be.

Please remember, this is all my personal opinion. Whilst I feel strongly about them, you are free to feel whatever you want! You are also very free to reblog this if you agree with it! Heck, even if you don't agree with it. (Although, I'll likely won't counter anyone's disagreements. Just because I've had enough debates on Reddit regarding Jin's characterization, and it usually goes nowhere.)

JIN'S ROLE AS THE HERO & HIS STRUGGLE WITH MORALITY...

I was drawn to Jin at first because I thought he had a cool design. But I think the moment I fell in love with Jin's character was when I played his arcade in the first Tekken Tag Tournament. Although it is a noncanon game, his ending is very crucial to his characterization, and what his character originally meant.

Jin has the chance to kill his father, he withdraws his fist to do so. Yet... then he stops, gasping. Afterwards, he drops his father and falls to his knees - in absolute shock as he stares at his shaky hands.

Because there's no dialogue, people have and still continue to debate what this ending truly means. I notice a popular theory is that Jun stops him from delivering the final blow, or that his Kazama blood prevents him from doing so, and therefore he's wondering why he can't kill Kazuya. I disagree with this depiction. Because if this was it, I feel we would've seen Jun flash on the screen or even be present - much similar to Jin's canonical Tekken 4 ending. But we don't. So, I personally think that Jin simply couldn't bring himself to kill Kazuya. It's easier to kill Ogre who appears more beastly than man, but it's much harder to kill your own father. Jin, also having been raised to be pacifistic - when he comes to his senses, he's... shocked by what he was about to do. He was about to kill someone out of his own anger - he let his anger take the best of him, and he's disturbed by this.

And that's when I started loving Jin. He's a good guy, he tries to be one - but he still struggles with morality. Things aren't black and white, and he doesn't always know what is the right thing to do. On one hand, if he kills Kazuya - that'll be saving so many from being harmed by his actions. On another hand. Jin is taking away Kazuya's chance at redemption, and risks himself of being just as bad by going down the slippery slope of "justified" murder. It's a decision that can't be easily made. And it's also why I probably prefer this ending over Jin's Tekken 4 ending. Which, is still a good one. But the fact that in Tag that Jin chose not to kill Kazuya by being disturbed by his own actions, rather than having someone else (Jun) convincing him not to. But nonetheless, both endings still convey the same thing of what Jin should be: a hero who struggles with doing the right thing, and sometimes lets his rage blind him.

Some may be asking, "but isn't that how he's like in Tekken 6? He's trying to do the right thing, but coming up short?" ABSOLUTELY NOT THE SAME. But I will have my own little section for Tekken 6 because that's a whole can of worms. Which before we move on, speaking of Jin's future role as an antagonist vs his initial role as the protagonist...

Some fans try to argue, and insist that it makes sense for Jin to be a villain. They usually claim it's because his goals are always solely based on revenge and nothing more. Revenge is a slippery slope for anyone, after all. But this is actually a mostly wrong statement. While it's true for Tekken 3, his debut, that's the only time this really applies to Jin.

Jin was motivated by revenge in Tekken 3 because the main antagonist, Ogre, had "killed" his mother and destroyed his home. Jin felt weak, and full of grief because of this - thus, desired more power. However, after Tekken 3, following Heihachi's betrayal - Jin's motivations change.

Now, Jin's motivations are to kill his family, then himself. Although this may seem like a revenge plot - as Heihachi had betrayed Jin - it isn't, or else Jin wouldn't feel the need to kill his father (who has personally done nothing to him other than being absent) and himself. Because he discovered that his family is apparently part demons, except for his grandfather, who still shot and killed him, Jin reached the conclusion that his family must be evil - and that the devil within him will only harm innocents. Jin's main goals now is to save the world from his family's curse. This shows Jin as a more compassionate person who really does care about the world, and the innocent lives in it.

Yes, the idea of him committing murder - suicide is a moral debate itself. But it's not anywhere near genuine evil, nor is it something that involved so many innocent causalities, that Jin is still irredeemable despite his intentions being "good." (looking at you, Tekken 6.) Some people may even think Jin's in the right for this, given that the only people he's targeting are very evil people who have committed many horrific crimes. Heihachi, whose crimes include child abuse, inhumane experimentation, murder, and kidnap. Kazuya's streak of crimes are also similar to his father's (albeit not all the same, but still has murder and cruel experimentation, among other things, in there.) Whilst Jin may be taking it too far with wanting to kill himself as well simply because he's too afraid of his own demon, it's understandable why Jin would want to kill these people - to stop them from hurting any more innocents. Whilst it's arguable if this is the best solution, it's still heroic.

While Tekken 5, unfortunately, sets up Tekken 6's story. Jin is still shown to be compassionate, and that he still wants to save the world.

Because while he dropped the goal of killing Kazuya (not Heihachi, as Heihachi is supposedly dead.) He's now focusing on eradicating the evil force that is the spirit possessing his great-grandfather, Jinpachi. He also urges Xiaoyu to return home, as the tournament is "too dangerous."

So, yes, it is actually WRONG to say Jin's goals have only been revenge related - when that was really exclusive to the third game.

Jin was intended as an "unconventional" hero - as a good guy who isn't perfect. Jin is a bit antisocial, he isn't the warmest hero, he rarely smiles, and sometimes he can be a bit mean (telling people to "don't get in his way.") But he's also shown as compassionate, merciful, and that he cares about the sake of the world, as well as his friends' safety. In fact, it could be said that Jin pushes away his friends because he doesn't want them to get hurt by the devil within him - something he struggles to control.

This is actually what makes Jin relatable. As yes, we all may have a difficult time relating to an unsmiling, very powerful, stoic badass. But it's Jin's story that makes him relatable. I'm sure we've all struggled with doing "what's right" no matter how small or big that action is. I'm sure we've all also been tempted to do the wrong thing (such as intrusive thoughts of murder, being cruel, or listening to our own "demons.") Jin also has a story of not breaking his family's vicious cycle. Jin is determined to not be cruel or power hungry as his family was. He's determined to stop them, too. Many people with horrible families can relate with not wanting to end up just like them. Jin feels real because of his flaws, and remains likeable because of his desire to do good. Jin was intended to be the One Good Mishima - the protagonist who strays from his family's evil history, albeit struggles from time to time. The one who would NEVER turn evil. So... what happens when he DOES? Well, that takes us to...

TEKKEN 6: WHERE IT ALL WENT WRONG, AND WHY JIN DOESN'T WORK AS A "VILLAIN"...

For whatever reason, Tekken 6 decided to turn Jin into the antagonist. As far as I'm aware, the writers never gave us a real reason why they went with this decision. All he got was from the art book, where they insist that they intended to "make Jin the villain from the start." Which I highly disagree with, and I think they're just lying (something Harada & co. are known to do.) Since I've explained above Jin's role as the protagonist, and his compassionate side. Nothing really shows that Jin was ever meant to swap sides. Yes, he struggles with doing the right thing - but the right thing was more so "is murder ever justified?" or "is my rage going too far?" and there's also the existence of Devil Jin. However, canon has both depicted Devil Jin as a separate person / character who gets offended at being mistaken for Jin, but also has been depicted as a corrupted Jin. Due to Devil Kazuya having been a separate entity before his merging with Kazuya, I am taking Devil Jin as a separate entity, and therefore he doesn't affect Jin's morality. So, nothing of Jin's actions are never to the extent of what Tekken 6 did. Which, unfortunately, has done permanent damage to Jin's character, and the reason why no one can properly like him as a protagonist anymore. Since we don't know why they made Jin an antagonist. I have a few theories as to what was behind their thinking process

1 - They wanted a plot twist story. After all, it worked for Tekken 2 - right? When they suddenly made the protagonist (Kazuya) the antagonist of the story. So, why not just be lazy and reuse the same plot twist! Even if it makes less sense for Jin to take on this role! Don't think about it much!

2 - Lars Alexandersson. Bless Lars' heart, but I do think he could be a reason why Jin is an antagonist now - because of Lars' introduction. Why Jin was replaced could be for a few reasons of itself. 1) the devs just got bored with Jin and wanted to try something new. 2) they thought Jin wasn't selling well as the protagonist, and thought a shiny brand new one will do better. Therefore, to assure that people like the new protagonist and not miss Jin - Jin became a victim of character assassination. A very common method by authors who either hate the character they're writing, or they want to prop up another character by taking down the other. This is evident by how Lars' kindness is emphasized, and how Jin's SUDDEN cruelty is emphasized. (Lars going against Jin - Lars calling a medic when he defeats an opponent vs Jin telling them they're "pitiful" or a "joke" - Lars being compassionate towards other fighters vs Jin telling them they're about to be "dead." Lars offering a hand to Alisa when she trips vs Jin coldly looking at Xiaoyu when she trips and doesn't help.)

Anyway - whatever the reason is, the writing is bad no matter how you look at it. While most fans consider Jin to be a villain, there are some who still consider him to be an antihero. This is because of the RIDICULOUS loopholes the story tries to write in order to make Jin appear as though his actions were actually well intended. I don't know why they did this when they made Jin so cruel, that he feels like Kazuya 2.0 and not even like Jin anymore. In fact, Jin is so far removed from what he used to be, that I often refer to him as "Jin" (with quotes) because he doesn't feel like Jin to me. I get the idea may be to fool the players into not seeing that Jin is actually a plot twist antihero (lol) rather than a plot twist villain. But it still doesn't make sense for Jin to be so cruel that he's talking down on everyone, including his friends - and he's also threatening to kill people. Also, no matter how you look at it, in the end, he started a war which resulted in the death of MILLIONS, including a new character's SISTER, and that's the whole story of the new character. Which that has prevented me from fully enjoying Miguel's character - just because his story is, sadly, very insulting to Jin. As Jin became our protagonist because a monster took away the one he loved the most. Only for Jin to become a monster to take away the one someone loves the most. Sure, this could be poetic - but when it's forced upon, and doesn't even make sense for the character, it's just insulting to Jin. Sucks, because I really like Miguel's personality and design.

First, let's really get into the detail of Jin's motivations in Tekken 6 - which makes no sense at all and quickly falls apart when you do try to make sense of it. Jin's apparent motivation for starting a war is to awaken an ancient beast named Azazel. First, Jin's motivations seem solely selfish as he wishes to destroy the Devil Gene, as Azazel is the apparent source of the Devil Gene. This is the equivalent of someone thinking if they killed their mentally ill father, then they won't have the mental illness he passed on to them. But apparently there's more to Jin's motivations. Apparently Azazel once ruled earth but was overthrown by humans, and sealed away with le ✨✨magic✨✨ However, it is said that once humanity reaches its lowest point - Azazel will awaken and take over. Doomsday. And apparently, only someone with the devil gene can defeat Azazel. Therefore, Jin fears that when Azazel does awaken in the next hundred years, he'd be dead by then and no one can save humanity. SO. What is Jin's solution to this? Good Guy Jin? It's to find a way to control his devil gene, have kids, and then train them for when this inevitably happens, right? Maybe to try to help better the earth and humanity, so it doesn't come to Azazel's take-over? No, no, no... those are things original Jin would've considered. This "Jin" grand scheme is to ESCALATE THE DESPAIR OF HUMANITY BY STARTING A WAR, TAKING OVER NATIONS, AND KILLING MILLIONS OF INNOCENTS TO AWAKEN THE BEAST. But you know, it's okay! Because if he hadn't done this, then EVERYONE would've died! /sarcasm.

But that's not all. Apparently there's more "goodness." As, Jin was also taking down oppressive governments who ruled with an iron fist that the smaller people fear. Uhhh... except, Jin becomes JUST AS BAD AS THESE POWERFUL PEOPLE WHEN HE'S A POWERFUL PERSON WHO'S LITERALLY BOMBING OTHERS AND KILLING. The plot of Jin in Tekken 6 is so ridiculous, it's hard to even speak about it professionally. I just can't even comprehend what the writers were thinking. It appeared they wanted Jin to be very bad, but also they wanted to still convince us he's good. Except it backfired immensely - not only do most people now view Jin as an antagonist who deserves to die, most people view him as worse than Kazuya. (Which I personally think is highly debatable given Kazuya's own actions in Tekken 6, 7, and 8.)

And even IF we all accept that Jin ABSOLUTELY HAD TO DO THIS - that he had no choice. Why not depict him with actual remorse for his actions? Why not when Lars calls him out, Jin actually acts very guilty, and sad about what he's done? But no, he barely acts like he even cares, just him saying "I have no other choice." And he still acts UNNECESSARILY RUTHLESS towards people. How is he supposed to tell Lars he's trying to do good, when he just, earlier, mocked Alisa after she "died"? It's like the writers didn't even know what they wanted to do with Jin's character.

For a further example of just how bad Jin has gotten, and why he's WILDLY INCONSISTENT with what he used to be, and why I don't view him as Jin - let's compare two scenes. One from Tekken 5, and the other from Tekken 6.

If you play as Jin in Tekken 5 - he apologizes (polite!) for failing to keep his promise of a proper fight against Hwoarang (someone who appears to be his friend!) Hwoarang gets offended by this and thinks Jin found someone stronger. Jin immediately says this is wrong. Therefore, this shows Jin respects Hwoarang's strength, and respects Hwoarang in general - he doesn't mock him here, he's apologetic, and he denies there is anyone stronger. Now let's check out an interaction in Tekken 6...

Suddenly, Jin no longer respects Hwoarang. Now he's mocking him and his strength, when before he wouldn't do that - he believed in Hwoarang. Now he's being smug, no longer apologetic, and just sadistic to Hwoarang (not even telling him about Baek.) If this was the same Jin from before, if Jin was absolutely forced to do what he did in Tekken 6 - he wouldn't behave like this. Instead, this conversation would've gone something like Hwoarang accusing Jin of hurting his master, Jin apologizes, admitting he doesn't know Baek's whereabouts, and that he's sorry Baek could've gotten caught in the crossfires. Hwoarang, in utter disbelief that Jin would do this, then questions Jin's motives. Jin, again, apologizes, and says he can't explain much - other than he has to in order to save the world. Then maybe a fight is broken out because no matter how much Hwoarang cares for Jin as a friend - Jin has gone too far. Jin, who's reluctant, is forced to fight Hwoarang.

But no. This isn't the Jin from before. The Tekken 3 - Tekken 5 era Jin would never do any of this. His character was changed drastically for lazy, bad, "shocking" writing. And it's why I would never accept this as Jin. It's inconsistent with what he was and how he was. In my belief, Jin was never meant to be a villain. He was meant to be a flawed hero. One who was definitely the Mishima who'd never go bad - who may nearly cross the line, but is always pulled back. He struggles because of his family's history and his own devil gene, but Jin always rises again.

Now everyone thinks the whole point of the story is that "THERE ARE NO GOOD MISHIMAS - THEY ALL JUST HAVE DIFFERENT BRANDS OF EVIL." And maybe that's what they're trying to go for now. As even Harada once said (around the SFxT era I think) that Tekken has "no room for good guys." Which... some people may call me childish for this... but I don't like that bleak storytelling. I'm sorry, but I don't. I loved Jin because he was hope personified. He showed that you don't have to become just like your problematic family - you can break the cycle if you try hard and never give up. You don't have to be your intrusive thoughts. Jin was a good hero because he was given horrible circumstances, but always remained compassionate, and always carried on despite his flaws. He wasn't perfect, but he was still good. That story is always far more powerful to me than "they're all evil lol. the world sucks." Plus, I always felt Kazuya was meant to be the result of someone repeating the vicious cycle, rather than bettering themselves as the result of their abuse and tragedy. Meanwhile, Jin is the opposite - he's someone who refuses to let his tragedy makes him bad. They are two sides of a coin. But Jin going bad makes him boring because we already had Kazuya - it's just the story being repeated.

Also, I do like Lars. And I do believe Lars and Jin can COEXIST AS THE "GOOD MISHIMAS." There doesn't need to be only one. In fact, to make Jin a good fake antagonist but NOT REALLY an antagonist would be to make Lars think that Jin either killed someone he loved, or was the one to summon Azazel. Lars spends all the game hating Jin until the end where this misunderstanding is resolved, and turns out Jin didn't do any of this. They forgive each other for this misunderstanding, and they unite together as the Two Protagonists of the series to defeat the real main baddie (Azazel?) and then they can bond over both being the only good ones in their family, and having absent fathers. It would've been sweet, and way better than what they did.

There may be a silver lining to the end of this... HOWEVER. Before finishing this very long analysis or whatever, let's get into the...

INTERLUDE - JIN LACKING EXPRESSION, AND WHY IT'S A GOOD THING...

I wasn't a fan of Netflix's anime adaptation, Bloodline. Which I felt in the minority, as it was praised by most fans. There are many reasons why I didn't like the anime, and one of them was Jin's depiction. Which is also funny, as many fans praised Jin's depiction - some even going as far as to believing it improved his character. I strongly disagree with this. Because it goes against the reasons why I say I love Jin so much. As always, I'll give the reason.

1 - Being emotional doesn't mean having a personality, and not being emotional doesn't mean lacking a personality. An expressive character can be just as boring as an inexpressive character, depending on how they're written.

2 - Being emotional doesn't equate to being a "good person" and lacking emotion doesn't equate to being a "bad person." Especially since many neurodivergent people tend to struggle with emotions and expressing themselves.

3 - Jin is a flawed hero, which I why I love him - he has substance. By making him sociable and warm with everyone at the tournament just makes him feel more like the Typical Hero (which I felt they were striving for.) The only flaw Jin has in the anime was having a bad temper and sometimes going too far in fights because of this. Meanwhile, in the games - Jin must have a temper (how Devil Jin takes over) but he expresses it differently than anger is typically depicted. This makes him more interesting.

4 - Heihachi and Kazuya are already expressive with outward tempers - Jin being more of a stoic makes him stand out from his family. It makes him unique! Jin was also raised by a mother who's also inexpressive. Seriously, whilst Jun does smile more than Jin - in most of her pictures or scenes, she still has a rather... blank face. She doesn't smile at all in her Tekken 2 ending when she's with all the animals, she doesn't smile in her Tekken Tag Tournament 2 ending. Therefore, it makes sense Jin would take after his mother in this regard.

Seriously, this art from Tekken Tag Tournament 2 looks way more like Jin than he does in the anime.

I think Jin's stoicism and lack of expression is what makes him fascinating. It's especially better for future games where he must view emotions as dangerous - as it seems like if he loses his temper in any way, the Devil can take over, and wreak havoc. So, overall, it just makes a lot of sense for his character to be this way, and I think it adds to him.

And finally we reach the conclusion...

HOW TO FIX JIN, AND WHY NAMCO IS ALREADY TRYING...

The good thing is that Namco has clearly realized their mistake with Jin. Although, there are many fans who dislike Jin now, and view him as Pure Evil. Namco still received enough backlash for Jin's characterization in Tekken 6, that Namco must've heard, for they already seem to be doing Damage Control. From Jin being the main character in the anime who was presented as Such A Good Guy, to Harada finally acknowledging the backlash of Tekken 6, and calling him an "almost villain" (even though when Tekken 6 came out, they claimed they always intended on making Jin a vilain.) And then there's Jin's portrayals in Tekken 7 and Tekken 8.

As in Miguel's ending in Tekken 7, Jin is apparently is so miserable about his actions, he tells Miguel to just kill him.

This contrasts the Jin in Tekken 6, who said to Miguel, "I don't need forgiveness from a man who's about to be dead." Or something along the lines. Jin is also making promises to stop the war. And whilst Tekken 7, unfortunately, kept in his "Power is Everything" and "You're a Joke" intro and win animations - they did omit a good chunk of the Tekken 6 ones (the "pitiful," evil smirk, "fear the wrath of god" ones are all gone in Tekken 7. Thank Fuck.) Hopefully, in Tekken 8 - they'll omit the Power is Everything, and You're a Joke ones. As well as readd Jin's "forgive me" win animation from Tekken 4 and Tekken 5.

Aaaand the Tekken 8 trailer did have this line from Jin...

This feels just like the pre-Tekken 6 Jin. This confirms this is a much more compassionate Jin who really wants to help - but struggles, and has his failures. This sounds like the flawed hero I loved to bits. But... let's address the elephant in the room again. Tekken 6. With Jin returning to his Old Self again, how are we going to explain Tekken 6? After all, the events of Tekken 6 did so much damage to Jin's character, it's like 14 years old, and most of the fans see Jin as irredeemable because of Tekken 6. Well, I have two solutions that will better explain "Jin's" actions, and make him not really accountable for the events of Tekken 6. Here are my two ideas-

It wasn't Jin, but instead Devil Jin - a theory / headcanon everyone who follows this blog knows damn well. Devil Jin has been depicted as different than Jin. Not only that, but Tekken 7 introduced the idea that a Devil can take over their host whilst retaining a human appearance. As Kazumi was meant to kill Heihachi - but eventually, she fell deeply in love with him and couldn't bring herself to do so. She later starts growing physically ill, and soon her devil took over...

Yet she still looked like Kazumi and not her devil form. But this is definitely Devil Kazumi as... why would someone so reluctant to kill her husband be suddenly mocking him, and laughing about it? And immediately after - she reveals her true devil form. Heihachi said to her, "you're no longer my Kazumi..." and in Tekken 4, Heihachi also got confused when Devil Kazuya showed up. He accused Kazuya of not being his son, with Devil Kazuya replied, "I'm the one you call Devil..." therefore - the Devils are different from their hosts, and have their own goals and desires. So...

Maybe that's what happened to Jin in Tekken 5? After being defeated by Hwoarang - Jin grew ill like Kazumi did. And not long... Devil Jin took over. It would explain why Devil Jin beat Hwoarang near to death, and then why Jin smirks evilly in his ending, despite the fact he seemed caring and softer in most of Tekken 5. Like the change is so sudden in the ending. Maybe all hosts will succumb to illness so that the devil can carry out its destiny. Devil Kazumi was destined to kill Heihachi, and Devil Jin was destined to bring the world to hell to awaken Azazel. Devil Kazumi's goals to kill Heihachi actually lines up with Azazel's plans, too. Because even though Azazel is referred to as "the most evil thing" or whatever - Azazel seems to want to keep humanity in check. As he used to rule over humanity before they overthrew him. And then he only comes back because humanity put themselves into such despair and destroyed their world, that Azazel punishes them all for their "sins." Therefore, maybe the devils are soldiers that made sure humanity stayed in check - maybe Devil Kazumi was trying to give humanity a chance by killing the one man and family that may doom humanity. But she failed, so Devil Jin is here to end humanity.

The reason why "Jin" (Devil Jin) was claiming to do it for Good Reasons, is because he wanted good people like Eddy and Lars to work on his side - it was his way of manipulating people. This goal would also match Devil Jin's desires much more than Jin's. As unlike Jin, Devil Jin was always far more sadistic and craves ultimate power. "Jin" in Tekken 6 behaves way more like Devil Jin. Therefore, we can say that it was actually Devil Jin in control, tricked everyone, and planned on betraying his creator in order to steal his power and have the world to himself. But unlike Kazumi, at last minute - Jin was able to take back control of his body, and defeat Azazel. I think this would be feasible, and I'd be happy with it. Now on to the second excuse...

Jin was literally brainwashed by Azazel, and wasn't in control of his actions - Since Azazel was literally talking to Jin via telepathy, what if he was also controlling Jin's mind? It's possible since Jin has the devil gene that Azazel can brainwash him. If telepathy is possible, why not brainwashing? Then maybe like with my Devil Jin theory, Jin was somehow able to fight back, and break free of Azazel's brainwashing at the last minute - and he defeated Azazel.

There is actually canon evidence that could help support this theory - that this might be what Namco will go with. Since in the Tekken 8 trailer, and in Kazuya's Tekken 8 design in general - Kazuya is actually wearing AZAZEL'S FACE ON HIS TIE -

Now, why would Kazuya be wearing Azazel? Isn't that kind of... out of character for Kazuya? After all, he seems to be concerned with having power for himself - being the leader as he's been the head of Mishima Zaibatsu, and G-Corp. So, why would he be representing someone else on him? This could be hinting that Kazuya is also under Azazel's influence. After all, Azazel is still alive, being kept in Zafina's arm. So maybe both Kazuya and Jin were / are brainwashed. Therefore, this will exempt them both from the blame of the war - and whilst Kazuya will still have his past sins (all the murder he did in Tekken 2, as well as 4) but he won't be on War Crimes level of bad anymore. Maybe Azazel will return as the Big Baddie, and Jun will free Kazuya of Azazel's influence - and they'll all fight to defeat Azazel once and for all.

Even though I liked my Devil Jin idea better as it gives more character to Devil Jin, and gives us more ideas on how the Devils work. But I wouldn't mind this one at all, and I feel this might be something they're leaning toward. Just because it IS highly suspicious that Kazuya has Azazel on him. Which, I wouldn't mind. As long as Jin can be a Good Guy again, innocent of the war, and written in a feasible way - I am happy!

Anyway, this concludes my Mega Post on Jin's characterization, why I think he's so fascinating, why I don't think he could make for a good villain, and what I hope for him in the future. I hope you liked it, because BOY... this took forever to write!