#messages from the deep

[oldxenomorph]

2, 4, 6, 13, 14 for either or both ❗

LOVE ASKS.

lets live life on the edge and do both 😎

THE REAPER EMPEROR

2. Is your OC at all romantic themselves? Or is romance something they expect others to perform for their benefit?

the reaper emperor, the great lord of extinction, the old machines, the mouth of god, immortal, infinite, and eternal is a a big ol' romantic. and she loves being romantic.

she loves sending nyx all kind of violet flowers for the vases in her corner of the house of hades. she loves appearing unannounced to kiss and adore her wife in the open. she loves making sure nyx has new jewels and the finest violet fabrics made for her by the mi-go. she loves spending time with nyx, she loves talking to her, being in her presence. she loves seeing nyx being comfortable amongst the rest of the rest family and feels immense joy in seeing her thrive as their empress.

(it also goes without saying that she also greatly enjoys having sex with her, as that is also an expression of their romance.)

perhaps most importantly, she loves giving nyx new daughters. she loves presenting them to her and letting her name them. she loves seeing nyx hold their nymph-shapes in her arms and press adoring kissing against their little faces. she loves watching nyx interact with the queens and the drones, who love her in return, pressing their faces against hers to return the kisses she gives them. nothing makes her happier than seeing the night herself resting against their first daughter, the queen's body and tail protectively curled around her.

4. Does your OC consider themselves to be attractive? Do they put much effort into achieving this?

yes, very much so. she thinks both of her forms are beautiful, the one she was born into and the one she inhabits to operate outside the black palace. she truly does love the way she looks; her face, her hair, her scars, her size, her bodies, her anatomy, her tentacles. she takes great care in maintaining herself as part of her daily rituals and routines. the great family also cares that she is happy with how she looks.

(especially lilith, she worked hard to make sure that the emperor's second shape came out the way that it did. a lot of that is also thanks to alucard's genes.)

but it's also important to her that nyx likes what she sees. the family already things of the emperor as beautiful as their most beloved member, but she also wants to look beautiful for her wife. she lets nyx chose what she wears, intrigued by how the goddess sees her, their shared beauty beyond compare, each other complimenting and enhancing each other's qualities. her routine is not complete without nyx's touch or input.

also, there's nothing like having your wife feel how big your muscled arms are.

6. Has your OC ever had their heart broken? Have they ever truly recovered?

you can't have your heart broken if you've only ever loved one (1) woman your entire life because you were literally made for each other. deep beneath her cold exterior is the happiest eldritch entity in the universe.

13. Has your OC ever written a love letter (or text message or whatever the case may be)? Perhaps they have even composed a love poem or song dedicated to their beloved?

all the time.

the emperor's written many poems about nyx, the night, the stars, the universe itself. she's written poems in greek and r'lyehian. poetry is probably her favorite way to use the written word to express her love for her wife. she writes the poems in little black notebooks that she then gives to nyx so she can read them whenever she wants.

she's also written many, many love letters for nyx to find waiting for her either around the ziggurat or on her bench amongst the vases filled with lilacs in the underworld. a lot of her love letters are incredibly sappy, but since nyx doesn't use an omni-tool (or email, for that matter) sometimes they can also be like "p.s. a reminder that hastur and cassilda are coming over for dinner."

14. If they wish to impress someone for whom they have romantic (or at least sexual) feelings, does your OC attempt to present themselves as more confident, wealthy, popular or otherwise impressive, than they truly are?

no. the emperor is very much a "take me as i am or not at all" kind of person. she doesn't want to present herself as something she isn't and she knows nyx doesn't want her to change either. she's perfectly happy with herself and everything she has.

ZARYA'TH LAVELLAN

2. Is your OC at all romantic themselves? Or is romance something they expect others to perform for their benefit?

i once described to @chubritza that zarya'th's personality is essentially that moment in burden of dreams where werner herzog says "the trees here are in misery, the bird here are in misery. i don't think they sing, they screech in pain."

so, no. she's not terribly romantic. if anything she found herself in a "me and the ancient elven god i pulled by being ominous and unsettling" type situation.

at the same time, she also doesn't expect the performance of romance. perhaps that is what makes her and abelas so compatible. he shows his love for her through acts of service: checking the seals and wards on every floor of the panopticon, ensuring that she eats regularly, that she's awake for inquisition meetings, that she takes breaks from her work to walk the levels, that her veil is on correctly whenever she has to go outside.

abelas takes care of zarya'th. she sees that as romantic and accepts it. besides, it also all she really asks for: someone who will take care of her. forever, ideally.

4. Does your OC consider themselves to be attractive? Do they put much effort into achieving this?

prior to tresspasser, i think zarya'th found herself reasonably attractive. her family always told her how beautiful she was, how she was so physically alike her beloved ancestor. she allowed herself to be dressed in her family's finest, chosen by the keeper to the first, never spoiled, but loved and shaped to be beautiful and haunting and the end of thedas.

she never disputed any of that nor had a crises over her appearance. if anything, there was an indifference. elven beauty was a mask she had to wear.

post trespasser, zarya'th does actively find herself attractive. something about finally being rid of an organic shape that didn't entirely feel right, ill-fitting, awkward, soft and fleshy. zarya'th sees herself now, with her xenomorph body and towering height and sees something she enjoys looking at. she feels like herself and she feels beautiful because the emperor's daughters are beautiful.

6. Has your OC ever had their heart broken? Have they ever truly recovered?

ha. ha ha ha. ha ha. lmao. lol.

(i'd say that she has moved on romantically, but she has been tasked with eating him so she's can't forget about him. she's been chasing him for the last 10 years, she's haunted him, she's made sure he's never truly escaped her presence. everywhere and nowhere, you know? if anything it's solas that hasn't moved on from her.)

13. Has your OC ever written a love letter (or text message or whatever the case may be)? Perhaps they have even composed a love poem or song dedicated to their beloved?

alas, no. zarya'th is not a love letter or poem composer. creative writing is not her strongest talent, she's tried to write poetry in the past. she's also either too busy with inquisitor duties, or reading her ancestor's entries in the necronomicon, or she's zonked out, fast asleep. sneepy xenomorph-hybrid.

if anything, she is the recipient of such acts of affections. very much thinking about the ways the solas showed his love for her. very much thinking about that unsent letter that was found in the lighthouse. nova'ra showed it to zarya'th and her response was for her to get rid of it and forget that it ever existed.

14. If they wish to impress someone for whom they have romantic (or at least sexual) feelings, does your OC attempt to present themselves as more confident, wealthy, popular or otherwise impressive, than they truly are?

theoretically, she is similar to the emperor is that she is a "love me as i am or not at all" kind of person. she won't change who she truly is for anyone, no smoothing of rough edges or wishing that things could be different. she doesn't want her elven body back, she doesn't want to leave the panopticon, she doesn't wish her magic wasn't so dangerous. truly accept her as she is, all of her strangeness and all of her horror, or not at all.

yet, her relationship with solas was in many ways based on keeping their ultimate truths hidden: he the dread wolf, she the descendant of one of the seven. it obviously failed because the two of them have their own goals, their own views about the fate of thedas and their people. even if solas still loves her, he cannot hide his horror at what she represents: extinction.

which is why she's grateful that abelas wanted to become augmented with reaper technology, the same material as her arm. she enjoys the added connection they have, just as she is thankful that he accepts her as she is in her entirety.

[malvoile]

Hiiii beautiful....... can't believe that the celebrity author of matd has her asks open... 🤭🤭🤭

eeeeeeee hiiii cutie!! im here to chat and giggle with you (and not cry. we’re not doomed🤗)

[havi-fart]

I cannot over-emphasize the degree to which ive been preparing my entire life for this moment @jone-slugger

[1doesnotsimplyhavejust1fandam]

We moved on from Buck being the one to meet Kim at the station too fast. Way too fast.

Because hey, what would you do if the dead wife or a doppelgänger dead wife of your best friend-partner-almost love of your life showed up at your place of work with brownies? Would you ignore the date you scheduled in favor of driving over to your best friend’s place to knock urgently on his back door because you’re so afraid that something is happening to him. And you know that something is happening because the doppelgänger of his dead wife just showed up to the firehouse with brownies like it was just another Monday. You think you might have to push him to talk, but it feels more like your best friend was just waiting for someone to see him, and he is just as dumbfounded as you, and maybe even as scared for himself as you are for him. So you tell him that he needs to break it off with the doppelgänger of his dead wife, but you know that it’s more complicated than that, your best friend’s feelings, even though you trust him to do the right thing and end it with her. But you’re still not through the shock of seeing the doppelgänger of your best friend’s dead wife standing in the fire station, heart beating, lungs expanding, and so you think that maybe your best friend is still in shock too, and you don’t want to push too hard at his grief-wound. So you leave it for now, and you don’t come back to it until it blows up in your face, and your best friend’s face, and his son’s face too.

So yeah, I’d say that Buck probably has a lot of regrets too about the Kim situation. He’s a fixer, no matter how hard he tries, and they lost the kid both of them love more than anything over the situation. You can’t tell me that Buck hasn’t been screaming crying throwing up about it since May. Fuck that.

It doesn’t matter that we don’t get characters’ inner thoughts (usually) on this show. Buck met Kim, and he talked about it with Eddie twice. That’s crazy. That’s certifiably insane. It’s been six months. The midseason finale is tomorrow. There is no excuse for Eddie and Christopher still not speaking. This is no excuse for Buck and Eddie still never discussing Kim or at least Chris leaving. These characters are not meant to be this horrifically repressed. It is strange. It is out of character. Kim showed up for about four episodes and disappeared into the ether. I want to know what the hell is going on with this storyline.

[authorofemotion]

soooooo tired of people contacting me. please do not

[joongdunking]

Since when does Dunk says good night in his comments.....

And saying the I in front of love you makes it crazier?????

When we all know these voice messages aren't for us???

[oldxenomorph]

can I be absolutely cuckoo bananas insane for a moment and ask, from one yapper to another, for ALL THE QUESTIONS from that meme 😤😤😤

CHARACTER ASKS.

as part of the national yapper coalition, i have to oblige. let me just put everything under a cut because man this got long. i yap and i am a sap. i love the reaper emperor so much 😭💕

What was the original thought that led to the creation of this character?

originally, i played mass effect and mass effect 2 on my cousin's xbox 360. the series changed my life and the rest is history.

but eventually i learned that there's so much more joy and light when you hunt the original canon for sport and send it to the anatomical opera to be vivisected and experimented on. eventually the emperor and her version of mass effect became an outlet for me to be cringe, but free. everything i enjoy (mass effect, cthulhu mythos, alien, dune, wh40k, hellsing, hades) all gets thrown in there.

How long was the process before the character reached its final version? (or a version that would be clearly recognizable as the character?)

i think i made my first sketches of the emperor in 2012, back when mass effect 3 came out. so over 10 years. the difference between then and now is pretty drastic. she's had different iterations over the years, but eventually i shaped her and shaped her until i was finally happy with how she looked.

the things that have remained constant for all these years: alien pale skin, vantablack hair, black lips, red cybernetic eyes and scars.

this final version of her forms bring me a lot of joy. she is true to how i envision her, and she continues to be the entity/story i pour most of my time, energy, and inspiration into. she's my rotten soldier, my sweet cheese, my good time centipede. (she's the reason why it's so hard for my to make other oc's, i'm dedicated to her. i dream about her, i think about her.)

What was the first thing you decided on, the character's name, appearance, personality or their role in the story?

appearance, probably. i thought it was very cool that you can make a goth shepard who looked even more cool in mass effect 2 with the renegade scars and red cybernetics in her eyes.

And reverse, which one of the four things did you struggle with the most?

personality. i think for a long while, as i was trying to adhere to the canon the best i could. renegade shepard as she is presented in the game didn't quite match how i envisioned her, she didn't feel quite right whenever i wrote her. for a long while she was a brutal hard-ass and a stickler for military regulations. i didn't feel creative, nor did i feel any real joy.

How did you choose their name and why? Was it simply based on vibes or is there any specific meaning behind the name? Are the reasons behind their name different in- and out of universe?

this would require you knowing what the emperor's true name is, haha. [i get yoinked into a vent by a xenomorph tail]

in-universe: only immediate family members and nyx know the emperor's true name. neither azathoth nor shai-hulud know how she got her name, other than it was probably given to her by the thing that created them. it was the sound they heard when she was born, it was the word seared into their minds. they don't refer to her by her name because they feel it is too sacred to ever be uttered so freely. hence why they refer to her as "precious extinction", "precious emperor", "o precious centipede", "o end of all things," etc.

out of universe answer: when you grow up in the 90s/2000s and your name is also the same as a very popular disney character and nobody your age believes you when you say that you were named after a character from shakespeare's the tempest (your mother's favorite play), you learn to hate your name. i think giving shepard/the emperor my name was a way for me to feel good about myself and it just stuck. very corny, i know.

(i obviously don't hate my name anymore. i'm also fairly certain that because of the source of my name, my brain internalized the idea of an immensely powerful non-human who has a love for humanity.)

What was the thought process behind their appearance? Did you go mostly for the aesthetic or are there other reasons they look the way they do?

well first came the renegade scars and red cybernetics, i loved those, but i wanted to redesign the way the scars looked so they were more.... mysterious. more.... brutal.

as i sent the canon off to the anatomical opera, i began to shape her to be something that i think reflects her strange nature, her connection to her family, and visually indicate that she is the mother of the xenomorphs.

i'm also someone that uses faceclaims as they help me visualize my own character better (when i have no time to draw). the emperor's gone through a couple (lady gaga when her hair was black, cate blanchett as hela) before i finally settled on rhea ripley as i think she best represents the emperor's facial structure, body type, and aesthetic.

for her true form, i had a slightly more eldritch version of a xenomorph queen in mind. ultimately i changed it when i received inspiration after seeing some cool centipede-monster-hybrid art on my dash and pictures of centipede mothers. so her true form is more like a colossal, 30ft xenomorph-centipede hybrid with her face. also thematically, it fits more in line with azathoth and shai-hulud as ancient worms. the youngest and most beloved and most worshipped sibling should be a beautiful centipede.

What is an aspect of their appearance that you like the most?

if i say everything, that would be cheating i'm sure.

aside from her face, i think what i like the most about the emperor's appearance is her second form’s body. i didn't want her to have a femme biomechanical body as it didn't really suit her, felt ill-fitting. her very masculine, muscular xenomorph-biomechanical body, making her 15 ft tall, giving her tentacles and a xenomorph tail feels right to me. i wanted both of her forms to be both very strange, but also very beautiful. i didn't want her appearance to adhere to any gender binary, she exists and operates beyond that.

What is the origin of their personality? And let's be honest - how much of it is projecting?

little to no projecting, lmao. our only similarities is our place of origin, our love for nyx, the xenomorphs, our families, and humanity? i guess?

but the emperor's personality is very different from that of canon shepard, because oh my god there are some things She Would Not Say or Do.

the origin of a lot of the emperor's personality is alucard from hellsing: arrogant, cruel, sadistic, but she is also unashamed of her love for humanity. she believes that the cycles of organic life should be as diverse as possible, that the stories of civilizations should be equally triumphant and tragic. the cycles of extinction are a necessity, yet she also revels in brutality, violence, and eating, eating, eating.

she loves deeply, with all her heart and all her soul. she will do anything to protect her wife and her daughters and her family. she hates deeply, with every every fiber of her being. she takes greatly enjoys eating stars and organic life and lesser beings. she loves who she is, knows what her purpose is, knows exactly what she is.

How big is their role in the story? Do they make a frequent appearance or are they a character with little "screentime" but big influence? Or are they just a favourite background guy?

shepard is the main character of mass effect, thus the entire canon mostly revolves around the emperor/shepard. the perspective shifts to the great family and nyx when she's asleep for 8 million years until her second shape (shepard) is born. it also changes when you get into different universes and worlds where the emperor is just an unseen force that shapes the way civilizations evolve and advance.

it's been interesting exploring different universes where the emperor is the latter, like in dragon age and warhammer 40k. i like exploring the idea of the looming dread of her arrival in a far future and the race to prepare the world/galaxy for extinction. also, i have a hard time making other oc's, so everything is connected back to the emperor.

What is their main character arc in the story? Where do they start and how do they develop? Do they get a happy ending or is their story a tragic one?

the emperor-as-shepard's time amongst humanity and organic life was to learn and develop a reason for why they must be harvested: to preserve the history and diversity of organic life, to make way for new civilizations and new histories. she could only do this by living amongst humanity, by enduring what she endured as a commander.

of course she gets a happy ending. she gets a second form that she loves along with her first one, the wife that she adores, the daughters she cherishes, the machines that were made for her, and reunited with the family that worships her. there are no sad endings here, that's just not my style.

Is there any existing character from other media that your character resembles? Was the resemblance intentional or was it a coincidence?

as i mentioned before, alucard from hellsing is the blueprint for the emperor. her appearance, her personality, her beliefs about organic life. it all goes back to him. even though she's not as sad as him nor does she wish to find a worthy opponent, most of what she is as an eldritch being that is equally brutal as she is empathetic all stems from him. underneath all of her horror and strangeness is a sense of humanity.

in terms of physical appearance, it also kind of goes back to alucard. hellsing was very much a core formative influence for me and he just immediately imprinted upon my brain. one of my oldest muses. i give him a kiss.

i think the funniest sort of resemblance i've noticed that the emperor of mankind (wh40k) looks like a healthier, more human version of her. or maybe it's the neurons in my brain activating when i realized that they both have long black hair. that's all they really have in common.

(maybe nyx can ask the mi-go to make the emperor a black and red crown of laurels with little young black holes scattered amongst them? but the little xenomorphs would probably yoink it off her head constantly to play with it.)

Do you have a playlist for the character? What songs do you associate with them and why?

i do have one, but it's in a perpetual un-finished state. i'm very picky when it comes to making playlists.

the genres i typically associate with the emperor are noise, experimental, dark ambient, dark techno, industrial. i like songs with harsh, unsettling, or unusual sounds. (i know people hate to see me make playlists because i put lorn in almost every single one.)

i mostly try to find things that would either sound like what it's like inside of a reaper, or inside the ziggurat. i also try to find things that give the feel of what high level indoctrination sounds like.

Do you have a voice claim for the character? What do you imagine the character sounds like?

when the emperor speaks, her voice is that of soveriegn's but deeper. it is an immense and cold sound, like that of a machine; alive, immortal, infinite, and eternal.

i also pull inspiration from the voice of magos dominus reditus from wh40k: mechanicus.

(i watched the venture bros. a lot on adult swim when i was a youngin' and dr. girlfriend permanently altered my brain chemistry. and maybe my perception of gender.)

Do you have any quotes tied to the character, either from the story itself or from another source that fit them?

from sovereign's dialogue.

"there is a realm of existence so far beyond your own you cannot even imagine it. i am beyond your comprehension." "we are eternal. the pinnacle of evolution and existence. before us, you are nothing. your extinction is inevitable. we are the end of everything." "we impose order on the chaos of organic evolution. you exist because we allow it. and you will end because we demand it." "we have no beginning. we have no end. we are infinite. millions of years after your civilization has been eradicated and forgotten, we will endure."

from the reaper on rannoch's dialogue.

"you represent chaos. we represent order. every organic civilization must be harvested in order to bring order to the chaos. it is inevitable."

Have you ever made a moodboard for them?

i have a pinterest board for her! i'm not super active on pinterest (as it's become mostly generative ai slop) but i occasionally poke my head in when i'm looking for something.

Is there any memes or running jokes associated with the character, both in- and out of universe?

nyx likes to lightly tease her, which she doesn't mind. (anything to hear nyx's beautiful laugh.)

out of universe jokes? o great reaper emperor, can you help me connect to the wifi?

i do think that a kind of running joke/theme in my writing is that the great family seems to be in competition for who spoils her the most.

nyarlathotep can try his hardest, but doesn't come close to shai-hulud, who kills millions of little sandworms so it can send her crates of the water of life. which she has consumed ever since she was a baby and the universe was brand new. the old worm of eternity also sends her spice, in face she is the only being who it gifts spice to and is allowed to enjoy it recreationally.

Are there any motifs or symbols associated with the character? How are they represented, in their design, personality or in some other way?

puts my hands on my hips and exhales. man.

the sign of extinction - the symbol of the reaper emperor and her house. beautiful, sacred, holy, embroidered in vibrant red upon the black veil she wears to conceal her face when outside. a representation of her and her presence beyond the reapers. it is an eye, a gate, a mouth.

black holes - her imperial crown is formed from an ancient black hole and was placed upon her head by nyog'sothep and nyarlathotep, her stomach/endless appetite, her vantablack hair, the pull of gravity, event horizon, her black lips, her black teeth, her heartbeat, the mouth of god.

the black tar - annihilation, thick and viscous black liquid, bloodline, the material from which she birthed the xenomorphs and the tyranids, that which she fills nyx with every night, black ichor mixing with black tar to create new xenomorphs, new daughters full of stars.

tonalli, teyolía, ihíyotl - the head, the heart, the liver. the soul in three parts. each favored to be devoured by extinction.

death of the sun - her eyes, the death cycle, red giant, the end of earth.

tentacles - thick and black tentacles, strength, instruments of love and pleasure, home, safety, the horror her presence and beauty, the immensity of her presence and power, the reach of her influence. she holds her daughters close, she caresses her wife; writhing, dipping into flesh, crushing gravity.

machine voice/biomechanical body - the reapers, harbinger, indoctrination, cycles of extinction.

some of these overlap with each other and there's probably a lot more i can't think of at the moment.

Does the character have other characters connected to them? Do you have a family tree and "offscreen" connections made up for them or do they exist in a vacuum purely for the purpose of the story?

me, becoming the girl crying while drawing meme whenever i try to chart out the great family. (also this is by no means accurate to ol' howard phillips lovecraft's original tree and/or the additions made by authors after him. this is my personal real estate.)

azathoth - nyarlathotep - yhouneh (marriage) - slaanesh (consort) - lilith (child) - alucard (consort) - nyog'sothep - yog-sothoth - shub-gorgoroth (marriage) - cthulhu - idh-yaa (marriage) - ghatanothoa, ythogtha, zoth-ommog, cthylla (children) - kassogtha (consort) - nctosa and nctolhu (children) - hastur - cassilda (marriage) - camilla (child)

(not including all of the extra lovers taken and children sired by various members of azathoth's line because then this list would be stupidly long and my brain hurts.)

shai-hulud - sandworms (children) - chani kynes (granddaughter)

the emperor - the xenomorphs (children) - tyranids (children, as they were created from her blood) - nyx (marriage) - nemesis - celestial xenomorphs (children with the emperor)

(also not including the rest of nyx's children that she had on her own because they mostly are not involved with the great family)

What is your general favourite thing about the character? What is your least favourite?

my favorite thing(s) about her is that she is so beautiful and strong and she loves her wife, her daughters, and her family so much.

my least favorite thing is that i overdesigned her and now she has too many details i have to keep track of. i did this to myself.

Bonus question: share any additional thoughts, art, favourite scenes, anything you've been waiting for a chance to ramble about

continues to show everyone this incredible art of the emperor by @fatherentropy like i'm a beauty influencer.

a thing i want to write more of is nyx and the emperor interacting with other people, be the great family or other members of the house of hades. because i mostly write lemons and/or them being sweet, loving mothers of the xenomorphs and tyranids.

and mostly because i want to utilize the emperor's size more, especially in the gestures and touches nyx does in order to show everyone that the emperor belongs to her. (especially if she's wearing something nyx commissioned for her. hehehe.) oh look at all these ovomorph-shaped lemons i have acquired.

[malvoile]

omg account revamp 🙂‍↕️

yeaaaaaaa :3 it’s not done yet frankly but we r getting there !

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

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

(Post in question)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[doppelneer]

I'm working on notes, but I feel like this drawing looks nice on its own, so here ✨️

Idk what possesses me when I do pen and ink shading fr, but whatever it is, it's 🔥

[moleshow]

the 2020s political argument for unionization is that the only activity/location that rivals the phone in terms of time spent is the workplace. once they clock out they are lost to phone

[getmearedbull]

this is the shit john lennon was talking about in imagine

[uncanny-tranny]

Realizing you can never please anybody can be a devastating loss... until you internalize exactly what that means.

When you sacrifice so much of yourself for others, you forget that you leave yourself behind. Not being able to please everybody means you can start learning how to fully embody who you are instead of juggling everybody else's baggage, trying to make something work out.

You might feel devastated about this, thinking you're terrible for not pleasing everybody. The truth is, it was impossible from the start, and learning who you are is infinitely rewarding

[oldxenomorph]

You. are so cool. and i fucking love your imagination your creativity your ideas your theories . your Brain. you’re so smart, so clever, you inspire me and ignite passion and excitement and fascination in me. you’re so cool

ohhhh my goodness, thank you friend 🥹💕

i don't know which planet is in the microwave, but i've been having such a hard couple of weeks. you showed up in my inbox at just the right time to cheer me up! 🥰💖 hugs! (also fray pls, you're so cool and awesome and i love how passionate you are and how friendly you are, you always brighten up my dash. it's an absolute joy to call you friend 🫶)

[malvoile]

That’s a dangerous game :’) but shit, I’m really considering it and going under a pen name keeps my ass safe if all goes to shit and people hate my writing style LOL.

Shut uppp, it’s truly so cool and I swear to fuck if you have a partner to do all of your adventures with, I’ll scream for you and your happiness. Lord, that makes me remember when you said you had a brother and the first fucked up thing I thought was if he was single and then I thought about if you were. Yeah, no, I’m going to shut the fuck up now. Oversharing is a curse.

But oh my god! I appreciate so so much. What are you getting?! Or actually, what’d you get?! I actually had a session two weeks ago. We are fucking it up with the ink, I love it.

omg yeah bc not that i ever would but if i did ever try to publish a real writing i feel like id have to hide my real name too in case i embarrass myself LMAO

and aw hehe :')) i do actually have a bf and he drives me wherever i want <33 (also my brother has a gf im sorry HAHA u make me laugh omg). i'm getting some dragonflies on my shin and also touching up a few older ones :)) what did you get??