#i love waka

[feliciadraws]

*WANDERSONG SPOILERS*

I wanna talk about Audrey, the so-called 'Hero.' Now I'm not that good at writing or posting meta but man oh MAN Audrey is actually so much more interesting than I initially took her to be; she's actually deeply insecure about not only herself but how the world perceives her AND has a skewed, dare I say, SUPERFICIAL, idea of what it means to truly be the hero. She primarily sees it as a role she has to play or fulfill, rather than something someone chooses to be, and while she "knows" herself to be the hero, she doesn't actually BELIEVE she is A hero in herself. Even further is that she WANTS to be The Hero but is so dyed in the proverbial wool in both her insecurities and her perception of her role as The Hero that she doesn't want to stop, she wants to fulfill the role she was given so bad that she broke her promise to the Bard when she said she wouldn't kill anymore Overseer spirits upon killing the King of Hearts because, how she sees it, 'that's how it is.' What was interesting is that Audrey spoke about her dislike of being told what to do and where to go when Eyala was acting as her guide, that she found it demeaning that she couldn't think or act for herself, but was that her interpretation of being told to back down by Eyala? After all, Eyala did mention to the Bard that when she warned Audrey, Audrey felt that Eyala was 'taking something away from her', and that something was the role of The Hero, without which she would still be a nobody that no one saw or knew or cared about.

She wants to be the Hero and is so attached to that role and the adoration it had brought her and wants to fulfill that role because she believes that what truly makes her and that without the title of Hero and the Sword and the powers, she can't be A hero. Her insecurities tell her that she can't be A hero outside of being THE Hero, and she can't understand not only how the Bard had gotten so far but how he continues to have hope, despite his own innate feelings of despondence and his own melancholy. But he keeps going because of his hope, hope that he can still save the world and that there is always another, better way, a way that one can choose. A different way to be a hero, if you will. And I personally think that the Bard's approach to being a hero, it's confounding to Audrey for many reasons, one of those being that he wasn't chosen by anyone or anything to be a hero per se, but he chose to be a hero HIMSELF, despite everything acting against him, including Audrey herself. The Bard admitted he's jealous of Audrey being chosen to be the hero and her sword and her powers, not knowing that his innate goodness and his CHOICE to be good make him a hero, without the need for a sword or a title or a higher calling.

I honestly love how Wandersong toys with the definition of the word 'hero', and not only subverts the typical fantasy RPG hero archetype with Audrey, right down to the outfit and the magic sword, but DOUBLE subverts her; she could have been a twist villain who was simply a villain masquerading as a hero, but even this was subverted by making her not a hero, but not quite a villain either, but an insecure girl who sees herself as a nobody and is so obsessed with fulfilling a role that makes her a somebody that she's going to end up destroying the world and herself (both figuratively and literally), but is blinded by her self-perception and insecurities so that she can't see anything within herself that's heroic, making her both a mirror and a foil for the Bard.

I'm not sure where I was going and I know Wandersong isn't the first game to do this but I love how it was done here so far (I'm starting Act Seven), not least because I hated Audrey at first but she's actually growing on me, as much as I hate to admit it, not least that she actually resonates with me much more now this revelation has come about. I was pleasantly surprised and now I want to study this girlfail mess of a human being under a microscope.

[kantokraze]

more okami busts

[ravenmoodle]

I bring you Waka from Okami.

in case you didn't know. i love him.

Many more character's/media to go on my 'favorite media bingo'.. what?? I didn't forget about it. I would never.

[eliseliedl]

Okami 6 / ?

[merakiui]

thank you, sebek, for coming home promptly within the free tenfold!!! ♪(๑ᴖ◡ᴖ๑)♪

[pacska]

idk if any of these are good or not but im havin a blast ill say

[cyber-digibeat]

kotatsu!

[nakanotamu]

[knbposting]

i need to see a wakamatsu vs kagami showdown but also if wakamatsu is there, aomine is DEFINITELY there, and aomine would have to be seriously ill before he lets WAKAMATSU??? take the attention off of HIM???

[feliciadraws]

A little birthday gift for the lovely @that-tiny-feral-artist, featuring her absolutely beautiful human Ammy design! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! To be honest this is one of the only human Ammy designs I actually genuinely like, and it kinda makes me wanna come up with my own hehe

[follerys-trash-blog]

just a couple of clowns, all of em

(work clothes and not-work clothes)

[wakasaz]

[lesbiannishiki]

Saw someone say that Ryo Aoki is a boring/dull villain and I can’t stress enough how upset it makes me when people just reduce Aoki to a “rich kid abusing his dad position” or “what no pussy does to a mf” because clearly you weren’t paying attention to the story.

Aoki is such an interesting character because of his internalized ableism. He was born with everything anyone could want but was setback by his illness. He was bound to a wheelchair since birth which lead to him believe that he is weak and cant do anything on his own without someone's help. This is the reason why he wanted so much power, he wanted to prove he wasnt “weak” anymore. He always acts like his old “weak self” never existed because of how much self hatred he feels looking at his “pitiable” self.

I am in no way saying Aoki’s actions are excused or that you can’t dislike him because yeah, he’s an asshole, but you can’t call him boring or a bad villain. The final chapter of y7 rlly goes to show that the toxic masculinity, widespread ableism and predatory capitalism of the yakuza and japanese society in general are really what broke Aoki. He was shown from the very beginning to be a lonely, unhappy boy, angry at life because he was born disabled, who turned into a monster because of society’s standards. Yet you cant see all that because “wakas boring so i didnt care about the ending”.

[ammyandissunbesties4lyfe]

issun disability theory moment

[eaglefairy]

Where's that post about old fandom interests never dying but just going dormant. I thought of Okami for the first time in a while today and it's like seeing storm clouds on the horizon

[lordrandreaming]

WIP of Reza in the rain!

This is a digital art piece that has more to it than shown here! I have so much to do to it, but I'm too proud to not post it!

I've dreamed of making art like this, ever since I was a little kid. The beauty of expressionism, vivid colors and gorgeous portrayal of character is something all artists strive for.

I never thought I'd get to this point. That this is a minimal detail work currently, and will be a ongoing project. Hopefully ill finish it before my birthday!

Till then, I'll let it rest before touching it up. I have art trades and a couple commission's to do~!

Maybe when it's done I'll offer it as a style of commission. Given that this was started at 9pm and whem I stopped was 1:30am, it's going to be alot of work! Every thing you see is(of course) hand drawn, colored, and filled. No fill bucket, no super fancy gimmicks!