#rather than “how do i make them all look cohesive together”

[chrisrin]

Is there a thought process behibd which gentrolls have horns and which don't?

i gave it to the ones that i thought needed it to complement the design, or where it felt really significant to have them included! or if i could fit it in there without it being too disruptive to the rest of the vibe.

so like, for eridan and kanaya as pearls I think it would've been a bit off on them, but for someone like vriska where aquamarine already had the little ribbon-bits, it was easy to shape that into her horns!

[yeonban]

It's lovely when I read a book and some random paragraph in it hits me in the face like a train at mach speed

[kpop]

K-Pop Spotlight: DAY6

Come one, come all to a K-Pop Spotlight that is sure to dazzle and delight ’til the final curtain. This week, all eyes are on DAY6 following the release of their eighth mini-album, Fourever, and brand new title track, "Welcome to the Show." We caught up with the band to discuss their goals as they approach their 10th anniversary and their ever-growing connection to their fans through their music. Check out our full interview below!

Tracks like “Welcome to the Show,” “The Power of Love,” and “Get The Hell Out” seem to have very different themes. Can you tell us a little about how these songs relate to each other and what aspects make this album cohesive?

SUNGJIN: As we pursue the idea of being a 'band that sings every moment,' it seems like our albums, including the recent one, prioritize diversity in songs and situations rather than unity. Consequently, our albums contain various genres and narratives. However, there seems to be a commonality in most songs, depicting situations that everyone has either gone through or might experience.

Young K: First and foremost, I would say this album is a compilation of the best songs we could create. There's definitely a theme of love running through it. "Welcome to the Show," "The Power of Love," and "Get The Hell Out" all talk about the concept of love.

What goes into creating titles for DAY6 songs and albums, especially those that don’t come directly from your lyrics? Do you find it hard to condense the intentions and themes of a song into a title?

Young K: While there have been cases like that, all the songs on this album came from the lyrics. Sometimes, when choosing a title, we select the one that best describes the song—other times, we choose to give it a twist or make it more intriguing.

WONPIL: Naming songs involves a lot of deliberation. We often contemplate which title will catch the eye and capture the song's essence. Usually, we try to take it from a verse in the chorus. This can be a challenging part of the songwriting process.

Is there a creative project you’ve always wanted to work on but haven’t gotten the chance/found the time?

SUNGJIN: I'm very curious, and have a principle of "trying to experience as much as possible." There are so many things I want to try musically and personally, especially among the things I know but haven't tried yet.

DOWOON: I hope we can have a song that we can collaborate on with My Day, like a choir.

What does your work/studio setup look like? Where do you feel the most creatively inspired?

DOWOON: We try to keep the studio as tidy as possible and make it comfortable for practice sessions.

WONPIL: When working on songs, we talk a lot. We get inspiration from little conversations, joking around, sharing stories, and listening to music from various eras regardless of genre while giving opinions. We also try to build emotional connections with the songs. There’s a lot of communication going on. The songwriting process takes place in the studio of our long-time collaborator, composer Hong Jisang, with whom we've been working together since our debut.

How do you want to evolve as a musician/producer?

Young K: I want to be eagerly anticipated and awaited as an artist. Without those who wait for us, we wouldn't release or even step onto the stage. So I’m always thankful for My Day.

WONPIL: My biggest goal is to make good music for My Day and the public, so I think I'll continue to ponder. When working on songs, I pour my sincerity into them. I constantly strive to express this sincerity musically, fully capturing the emotions I want to convey. I hope to create songs that can still be listened to even after 10 or 20 years.

Design your own Tumblr blog: choose an aesthetic, a blog name, and would you be a frequent poster or lurker?

SUNGJIN: I think I’ll use it to catch up on friends' updates. For the blog name, THUMB BLUR sounds good to me. I might end up being a lurker who never posts.

DOWOON: Maybe a blog for plants? I think I'll post it like a diary.

Want more DAY6? Check out their new mini album Fourever and the music video for the title track “Welcome to the Show,” both out now!

[idolomantises]

when designing characters, whats ur thought process behind them?

My first thought is personality, then occupation. Then try to incorporate that into the design. I’ll use my Beelzebub redesign for example. (Pulled this from insta because I don’t have the file on hand):

She’s described as a party girl and an animal trainer, so I tried to mash the two designs together. The typical uniform with fluffy boots and a uniform that is pulled back rather than around her body

Because she’s described as an animal trainer and very close to the hellhounds, I implemented animal elements while still keeping the bee design. A long tail to both emulate an animal’s tail and a whip (hence why it’s so skinny), She has tiger stripes instead of regular bee stripes to simulate animal patterns, 4 limbs instead of 6 when relaxed (like the hellhounds), and her wings function as a big cape when in its relaxed mode.

Big white fluff to emphasize the performer element, but also because Bees are very fluffy themselves. I wanted her to look like a Bee (even gave her a thorax in some very rough sketches), but decided not to go all the way, keep that animal/demon aesthetic to her.

Skull in the back as a badass design but also because the original Beelzebub fly had skulls on his wings. He was also beefy as hell as a human which is why (gestures to the left side).

Spiral eyes because… well tbh that was just pulled from my own lore. Spiral eyes represent power in Monsters in Girls, also they look cool.

Her hair turns into fire in her “big” mode because fire looks aggressive and powerful compared to the relaxed lava lamp vibe.

Her hair changes colors depending on emotions, to emulate those lava lamps that change colors

Shes also taller than Vortex because well. I mean come on she’s a female bug. She gotta be taller than the male.

I actually wanted to do an animal hybrid alt where she’d be a lion with lava hear, but making her half look would have made me alter the design way more than I had time for, because I still wanted to make it cohesive.

I also tend to do some sketches to really figure out how I want a character to look. Some roughs for example while planning out the design:

(I wasn’t kidding when I said I really enjoyed doing this)

[dailyadventureprompts]

DM Tip: Creating a Campaign Skeleton

Learning to be a better dungeonmaster was a protracted process. A younger me was often so stressed out by the desire to be a better artist that I'd have legitimately mauled a person if it would've revealed to me the wisdom I sought (with my hands or even an actual maul given the chance).

One of my biggest hurdles was the idea of a universal framework for d&d adventures, a guideline that would tell me if the things I was creating were on the right track. It was sorely needed, I loved the process of being creative but without an understanding of how my creative energy was best used I ended up sinking days, weeks, or even months worth of energy into projects that went nowhere. Worse yet, when I DID get a chance to put my ideas into practice at the table they'd frequently spiral out of control and crash, resulting in even more stress.

Over time I learned from these mistakes, I got better, and then I got good. I moved from conscious incompetence to competence, and I ended up having a run of absolutely stellar campaigns that were everything my younger self could have dreamed of: stable, enjoyable, meaningful, and most importantly an absolute delight to my players. Routinely I'd have people, including folks that'd only played with me a few times, mention that getting together to roll dice and listen to me babel on in silly voices was a highlight of their week.

It was as one of these campaigns began to wind down (three years! a satisfying conclusion on the horizon!) and I started looking for a followup scenario that I decided to study all my really successful campaigns and figure out what connected them. The end result was something I'd been looking for for nearly a decade, a reliable format that I could build campaigns around.

I want to preface this section with the understanding that while this information is laid out in a vaguely chronological fashion there's no guarantee that these ideas will occur to you in any particular order. Inspiration is a funny thing, and each idea flows into the others to make a cohesive whole. Due to foreshadowing and setup reasons you're also going to need a pretty solid idea about all of these when starting a campaign, though exact details will likely change/ can be vague up until the moment they're needed.

The Reason: Who are we and what are we doing?

Gives your players a solid background to build their characters around and give them a reason to travel together, rather than having to ad lib one on the spot. Likewise sets expectations of what the campaign is "about" that you can build on or subvert in time. The reason doesn't need to hold true for the entire game, just long enough to serve as a framing device. EG: The Witcher starts out as a "monster of the week" setup and then uses that framework to pivot into politics and prophecy once we've seen the premise play out.

The Pilot/Crashtest Adventure: What's first?

I’ve already written about these, but the general concept is to give your party a mostly contained first outing that doesn’t have any larger bearing on the plot so they can focus on learning how their characters play/building the party dynamic.  By the time the party's finished this first adventure they'll have already started putting down roots in the world: they'll have in jokes, npcs they've started to care about, an understanding of what's on the horizon, and an idea of where they want to go next.

The Central Gameplay Pillar: How does this all work?

It's important to have an idea what your campaign is going to be about in a mechanical sense in addition to its plot and themes. There is a difference between an adventure that has the party delve a dungeon, and a dungeoncrawling focused campaign. I like to lead with these outright during the campaign pitch so that players can know what they're getting into. Your playgroup will likely have strong opinions about what they like and dislike, even if they don't have the words to describe it, so you might need to explain the ideas for them.

The Hub: Where are we?

I think every good campaign has a hub, some kind of settlement that the party returns to between adventures to offload loot, pick up supplies, and sift through the latest gossip to look for the next questhook. Letting the party return to the same place lets them build up a relationship with it, clarifying the picture in their mind as new details are added and they grow more and more attached. It's possible to have multiple hubs over the course of a campaign, but I'd advise really only having one per arc to best concentrate your efforts. Fill up your hub with distractions and side adventures, shorter stories that the party can get tangled up in while the larger adventure slowly reveals itself. Returning to the same hub also means returning to a familiar and expanding cast of NPCs, which helps your party become more and more invested in the setting

The Main Event: What's going to happen?

Here we get to the meat of the issue, the big story you want to be telling using this campaign. To pull off the sick narrative kickflip you wish to perform, you're going to need to lay a lot of groundwork, seeding in details left and right as well as giving the party a chance to stumble across evidence of your schemes without ever realizing the whole thing. To do this, you're going to work in the building blocks of your big reveal/twist/pending disaster into the setting along with those side adventures from the hub. This will give your party an idea that something is going on, but with more pressing matters to take care of they're going to be distracted up until the moment you decide to pull the trigger.

The Setting: What's over there?

While things like genre and tone are definitely things you should have a handle on from the outset, I personally feel like the details of a setting are best constructed on an ad hoc basis, either in a direct response to something required by part of the narrative (be it side story or main event), or pencilled in at the margins as the party explores the world.. That said, creation of the hub and setting often go hand in hand because it's important to match the settlement to the environment and then shape the environment to the quests inside the settlement. As for what's beyond your hub, I happen to have just written something about building out settings.

Now, this next option is one that I recommend you start thinking about only once your campaign is fully underway, so it doesn't clog up your creative process by focusing on something that you might not even get to

The Change: What the fuck?

A little while after the main event has kicked off and your party is off on the quest that will turn them from mere adventurers into heroes, they start to hear rumours of strange happenings. It's certainly not related to the present scenario, it may even be an unexpected windfall, but it's not something they have time to look into. Time ticks on, the land is saved, and the party is able to enjoy their victory lap as well as some dearly needed time off. Before they can get comfortable however they're slammed by some strange occurrence that they could have never predicted that changes the state of the world. A neighbouring kingdom invades, an important ally is murdered and they're blamed for it, a dragon starts rampaging through the realm. Its important that this event is outside the party's skillset, not necessarily diametrically opposed, but counter to what they were planning

artsource

[withlovelunette]

How to construct character psychology!

– Introduction

Hello hello! :D I’ve been very slow with my writing lately due to uni work (and some unforeseen health issues), but I’d like to still be able to make content and be interactive in the writing community, so I’m here again to share some advice based on my own experiences! One of my favourite things about writing is writing characters, specifically constructing a character’s psychology. I’d like to preface this post by saying that while I’ve had formal classes in psychology, I’m by no means any sort of expert within the field, and I also don’t believe that every aspect of how a character is written needs to be rooted in realism. However, I do want to share some insights that I got from it, and also because I feel like “character psychology” has this very mystified weight to it that makes it seem a lot bigger and intimidating than it needs to be.

So! My goal is just to share some advice on how to break down a character’s psychology and work from there! If you like what you read and would like to read more, I’ve also written a post about creating “complex” characters, which you can find the link to here! Aaand yes I think that’s about all I have to say beforehand, I hope you enjoy :,)

What do I mean when I say psychology?

Before getting into the nitty-gritty, I’d like to start with the basics, just to make sure people are on the same page when reading this post. When I’m talking about psychology here, I’m specifically referring to a character’s cognition, as in how they process information and act on it/make judgments. I’m not necessarily referring to personality in this case (although personality is an aspect of psychology, but I’m more so referring to personality as a consequence of cognition here, rather than as a collage of traits and behaviour).

Another thing I want to clarify is that exactly how much of human behaviour is nurture vs nature is a hotly debated topic that I’m completely under-qualified to take a stance on, but for the sake of this post; I believe both are equally essential aspects of human behaviour, so just keep that in mind! (I’m looking at any behaviourists in the chat rn). That being said; I’m not really comfortable treating psychology as “nature” (as such rhetorics are often used in gender-essentialist and other bigoted ways of thinking), so my main focus will be nurture, since that’s what is most readily observable!

Determining character motivation

If you’re working with very little or bare minimum characterization, my recommendation is to consider; what motivates a person to act? And by this, I’m not referring to the external quest or goal behind the character, but rather, what’s the core of what motivates your character to act at all? Even in grand, epic adventures of good vs evil, where the external goal is as simple as “putting an end to whatever evil the bad guys are doing”, there needs to be a reason a character is specifically on the side that they’re on. Multiple characters can be on the same side, but they might find themselves on that side for vastly different reasons, even when their exterior goals are the same. From there, you’ll want to consider what informs this motivation in particular.

One technique I love to employ, when still figuring out my character, is to have them make some sort of bizarre decision, a decision I’d initially think to be improbable for this particular character, and then try to list off various justifications or variables that would allow for this character to make this particular decision. There’s a couple of reasons for why I do this.

1) It removes some of the pressure to have a perfectly cohesive, perfectly put together and neatly defined character from the get-go. The drafting process isn’t just for plot and story structure’s sake, it’s also there for you to experiment with characters! Having your characters make story altering decisions that possibly challenge or contradict themselves is a great way to make sure that you’re writing active characters as opposed to more passive ones, and I think the first couple of drafts should really be a playground for you to see just how far you can stretch your characters based on their characterisation.

2) It helps me clarify what is and isn’t important in my character’s decision making. I’m a firm believer that most decisions/actions aren’t inherently in or out of character; it just depends on whether or not the readers/viewers can understand the character’s thought process behind their decision, and this ultimately comes down to how well you, as the writer, conveys the character’s priorities when they make decisions. If you’re established that a character acts based on a code of honour, an exterior source to morality and conduct, then the justifications and reasonings they would use to justify murder would likely be very different than a character who acts based on their own convictions. This is also a great way to show character development; by showing how a character’s decisions gradually change as their cognition change as they develop.

3) It allows me to explore nuance and make note of potential contradictions within the character’s way of thinking—which is often the most interesting aspects of a character’s psychology, at least in what I enjoy to write and read. Most real people don’t have perfectly cohesive morals, and most people can’t always act congruently with their morals either, so allow for your characters to make some bizarre decisions! See how far you can stretch their cognition! These decisions don’t have to be canon to the story, but it’s a good way to actually solidify what line of thinking your character makes when faced with difficult and potentially morally indicative choices.

Work your way backwards!

If you already have the overall traits and behavior of your character pinned down, you can always work your way backwards! As a pantser, this is a very common occurrence for me. I have a character with a clear goal and defined characteristics, but they’re completely uninformed so far, as I usually discover the cause of their motivation and characteristics as I write the story. As such, most of my characters don’t have any sort of backstory established until I’m much further into the process, as I discover it as I go along. So here’s some things I look out for in my character writing when creating a backstory after I’ve already established a character.

1) What are some things the character is often drawn towards? Humans are typically very habitual, a lot of us enjoy some sense of familiarity (to varying degrees depending on the person), and taking note of what your character tends to gravitate towards can be a great stepping stone to fleshing out backstory. An example could be a somewhat cold, stoic character who’s incredibly picky with their relationships due to trust issues (pretty common characterization) has a tendency to let their guard down more when around elderly people. Why is that? Maybe they were raised by very old parents, or even grandparents. Maybe it’s a cultural thing to treat elderly with more respect. Maybe it’s a religious thing. Maybe it’s because elderly people have treated them with more kindness in the past, etc. Note that this can be flipped too! Maybe this character feels uneasy around people closer to their own age, or even people who are younger than them.

2) How does your character socialize? The way a character approached social settings can often be very indicative of how they were raised, as that tends to affect how people form attachments (according to attachment theory in psychoanalysis, at least). Are they very sociable? If so, why? Is it because they’re accustomed to being around a lot of people? Maybe they had a very large family, or maybe they had a family that took part in a very active social sphere. Maybe this character just comes off as sociable because they understand the value of social connections. Why’s that? Maybe their family have a political influence, or maybe they have a business they want to sell, etc. Or maybe it’s the complete opposite; maybe this character grew up with little to no family at all, and that’s why they want to make friends and connections. If so, then maybe that affects how they make decisions, leaving them incredibly loyal and somewhat co-dependent. Even the smallest character traits and behaviours can be expanded upon to inform you of how that character was possibly raised, it’s really just about digging into said behaviour!

3) How receptive are they to new experiences or other people’s perspective? This is also somewhat linked to attachment theory, but it doesn’t have to be approached that way! The reason I bring this point up is because I find that a character’s receptiveness is often a good way to gauge their relationship with their parent. For example, a character with very strict, traditionalist parents might adopt that outlook on life because it offers them a sense of stability and security. They weren’t raised to be adaptable or to adjust themselves to new experiences, and thus have a difficult time accepting things outside of their established paradigm. This would suggest that this character likely didn’t rebel much to their parents’ outlooks on things (or if they tried, they failed), since they adopted said outlook for themselves. Another way to write this character (with the same premise) is to have them react in the opposite way; maybe they are super open and receptive because the rigidness of their parents prevented them from ever experiencing anything. Maybe the status quo bored them, or maybe they see their parents as narrow minded. This characterisation suggests that there’s possibly more tension (not necessarily in a negative way) between the character and their parents.

Interplay between morals & behaviour

A character’s morals and behaviour don’t always have to align. Like I mentioned in an earlier point, humans hold a lot of contradictions, and how people cope with those contradictions can vary. However, how do you determine if a contradiction is purposeful rather than a case of out-of-character writing?

Let’s say you have a character who views all animals as sacred, and this is something they were raised with. Suddenly, this character is thrust into a situation in a different world/kingdom/region/etc. where eating animal meat is the only viable food option to survive. They decide to do it, despite their morals directly conflicting with this behaviour.

One way this character might justify this is by thinking “well, my intentions matter most, and my intention was never to hurt animals, so while I feel bad for killing an animal for food, my intentions of doing so respectfully makes this action more acceptable to me.”

But another character in the exact same situation might not be satisfied with such logic. Maybe they see intentions as irrelevant, and only care about the consequences of their actions. If it’s been established beforehand that a character is consequentialist, then this action, paired with the justification above, would feel incredibly out of character, because the logic behind the justification is not intuitive to the reader.

Whether a contradiction feels purposeful or out-of-character ultimately boils down to what information and how much of it you’ve given to the readers, so that they have the information necessary to break down the interplay between the character’s morals and behaviour. 

Using other tools (cognitive functions, socionics, enneagram, etc.)

As I’ve mentioned before on this blog, I’m very interested in various types of typology (mbti probably being the most popular and well known one), and while I consider all forms of typology to fall under pseudo psychology, I often use these tools to help me better understand my own characters better! I personally gravitate towards cognitive functions (which is not the same system as mbti, even though it uses the same letter system) as they help me put into words my character’s cognition, and enneagram, which describes behaviour and motivations that arise from a person’s upbringing and coping mechanisms. There’s other things you can take into consideration as well, like socionics, temperaments, attitudinal psyche, etc!

I’m not suggesting you use these as replacements for developing characters, but they can be great supplements when trying to dig deeper into your character’s psychology! I’d also argue that you get more out of putting these systems into use if you learn about typology and analyse your characters yourself instead of taking a test for them, but I’m also very biased in this regard, since I enjoy analysing my characters myself :,) And there are times where I’ll take a few tests to help solidify my breakdown if I’m having a difficult time labelling my character correctly. Honestly, just have fun with it!!

– Outro

Sorry for yet another lengthy post! And sorry it was a bit later than I’d anticipated, I had a much busier weekend than I thought I’d have, so I kept having to squeeze writing in anytime I had enough spare time to sit down, and then I stumbled across a series of health complications that I’m still trying to sort out. Which, speaking of, thank you so much to everyone who’s been wishing me good luck! I’m still working on figuring out what’s wrong, but I’m making progress!

As usual, my asks and messages are always open, so feel free to shoot me a message about anything! Even if I may be slower with my replies ^^; Thank you for reading! <3

[thefanficmonster]

Hiii could i request a nate hardy x reader for the video in the Yorktown Memorial hospital?? People have had like earrings ripped out and i was thinking maybe on the solo investigations the reader gets their earring ripped out and scream and nate freaks out?? srry if it’s too much details 😭😭

Hi sweetie! Thank you so much for your request, hope you enjoy how I've executed it ❤

Hostile Presence

Pairing: Nate Hardy x Reader (Gender Neutral)

Warnings: Paranormal Investigations, Aggressive spirit activity, Minor blood warning, Swearing

Genre: Hurt/Comfort, PRF (Real Person Fic)

Summary: see request above

The light from the camera covers less than seven feet ahead, just enough to light the group so you are visible on video and nothing more. Everything around you is washed out in complete darkness. Your eyes are playing tricks on you each time you try looking past the circle of light and try to pinpoint where the random noises you're hearing are coming from.

Shadows are merging and forming rather terrifying shapes, footstep-like sounds are echoing off the walls and the five of you have to maintain some sense of calmness. Still, none of you can remain completely still when a particularly loud crash comes from behind you, causing all hands to lift off of the planchet as all five heads turn to seek out the source of the terrifying sound. What you all fail to see is the few millimeters the planchet moves without any sort of physical contact from any of you.

"Whaaat was that....?" Sam rarely lets the fear he feels bleed into his voice but it's clear he is pretty shaken up.

And so are you, past the point of being able to express it into words. You'd be completely freaked out had your boyfriend Nate not been there. His unoccupied hand has been comfortingly resting on the small of your back, letting you know that despite how charged things get, you're safe and have him by your side.

Suddenly, you hear what you can only describe as a heavy sigh directly in your left ear. Startled, you whirl around to look at Seth, hoping to God it was him you heard but your hopes are quickly nipped in the bud when you see he's taken a few steps into the darkness, shining his phone flashlight around the vicinity to see if there may be a bat flying around, making all these sounds.

Before you can raise your concerns regarding the strange noise seemingly only you heard, you feel a sharp sting in your ear, causing you to hiss through your teeth.

"Oh shit!" Just as you reach up to touch the aching spot you all collectively hear a clink of something small hitting the floor. Looking down to find the dropped item is futile considering you see nothing but darkness.

However, a quick touch to your earlobe and a flash from Seth's phone confirm that your earring has somehow unclipped itself and fallen from your ear.

"No fucking way!" Nate is the first to voice his confusion and shock as he bends down to retrieve the small earring and examine it between his fingers. "It's not even unclipped! What the fuck?!"

Pulling your hand back, you find a small droplet of blood on the tip of your finger, "Oh my fucking God...." You can't even find it in you to panic out loudly the way it sounds in your head. Instead, you're barely stringing words together, muttering them semi-cohesively.

Luckily, Nate is quick to pick up on what's put such a tremor in your voice. And hands, and entire body at this point. "Fuck....ok....Hey, hey, hey, let me see." He can see the pure panic that's hollowing out your gaze into a thousand yard stare. He's doing his best to keep you grounded and stable while he too is shaking. He moves your hair to the side to have a look at your ear, wiping the little blood that's left. "What just happened...?"

"Didn't he say people would have earrings ripped out on tours and stuff?" Colby asks, referring to their tour guide who is still hanging around outside the premises in case of emergencies, "This place is known for physically hostile activity." You try and focus on the rationality of his words and calmness of his tone but your heart is thumping too loud in your ears to be able to hear anything else.

It only slows down once you feel Nate's arms wrap around you, your cheek resting on his chest. You hear his own heartbeat racing, pounding against his ribcage but it is a calming sound you can focus on rather than your heavy breathing. Focusing on any of your overdrive-set bodily functions would be a recipe for disaster.

Instead, you find comfort in Nate's warm and safe embrace. You can barely make out the reassuring words he's whispering in your hair but just hearing his voice and knowing that he's got you no matter what, it's enough to slowly settle your heart into a somewhat normal rhythm.

"It's ok. You're ok, baby. I'm here." It may take a minute, but you will, indeed be ok eventually. Your three best friends and your boyfriend are here for you and although they can't physically do much to protect you, the emotional comfort is more than enough for you.

"I know, I know..." You mutter, your voice muffled by his shirt but he still manages to hear you, acknowledging your statement with a kiss to the crown of your head.

In a couple of days it'll be nothing but a cool story to look back on and tell people. In a week you'll once again visit another haunted place with Nate, Seth, Sam and Colby. In a year you'll have forgotten it. Or maybe not.

Then again, how many people can say they've had an earring ripped out by an angry spirit?

[jedimasterbailey]

WARNING! AHSOKA SHOW RANT DOWN BELOW! SPOILERS!

Furthermore, I’m going to be completely honest in this review so if you’re someone who truly enjoyed the show, you’re a Rebels stan, etc. then this post isn’t for you. Haters will be blocked immediately so take your negative energy elsewhere. You have been warned!

For everyone else, buckle up because I’ve got a lot to say and I’d love to hear your thoughts on this as well. All comments are welcome so long as they are respectful to everyone.

Okay, so now that the show is done for now. I’m going to be listing some major talking points. We’re there some aspects of the show that I enjoyed/appreciated? Absolutely! But overall, I’m leaving this show very disappointed, confused, and frustrated. The finale left me feeling empty and never have I personally been more silent after a Star Wars show. Now mind you I think this has a lot to do with the fact that I love Ahsoka’s character dearly as well as the Clone Wars and the prequels so there is bias here. Furthermore I am pretty indifferent with Rebels so going in knowing that the Ahsoka show wasn’t going to be…well about Ahsoka but rather a Rebels sequel, that already put a bad taste in my mouth and I was very nervous how this show was going to go and well…it was exactly what I expected from a Filoni/cheap Disney production. Without further ado, here’s a list of all my beef.

1.) Lack of a Coherent and Cohesive Story

So I’ve mentioned this in a previous post, but my main issue with Dave Feloni productions is that the story seems to be going all over the place and there’s a lot of moving parts that don’t necessarily meld well together. I often think to myself that Ahsoka is an example of a poorly written fanfiction brought to the screen. So the plot of the show initally was focused on Ahsoka bringing Ezra home. Okay, that’s simple, there’s many different ways we can make that cool and interesting but that’s not what happened here. We’re just filled with a ton of confusing information and we’re in for a very boring journey heading for a very anticlimactic and unsatisfying ending.

For starters, we the audience are informed that Ahsoka and Sabine had started an apprenticeship (which I have ALOT of issues with but that’s for another talking point) but they got into a tiff (which we never find out about and/or see) and now things are just depressing and weird between them. First of all, anyone who has seen Rebels KNOWS that Ahsoka and Sabine literally had very little to do with each other; I can’t recall a single conversation those two have had in the past, nor was it ever eluded to us that Sabine is Force sensitive.

Second we see that Hera and Sabine don’t have anything to do with each other for some reason? Which is weird considering all that’s happened and their history but okay suddenly Sabine, a grown ass 30+ year old woman is Ahsoka’s responsibility, which again why? We don’t get any background information, we’re just expected to accept and go with it.

Third, Ahsoka and Hyuang are reunited and working together immediately but again do we know how that became to be? No. We see none of that.

Fourth we are told that Morgan Elsbeth, a one off antagonist from the Mandalorian that Ahsoka fought is suddenly a Dathormirian woman even though she looks nothing like one besides her outfits in the show nor was that eluded to previously.

Fifth, we are introduced to these two new…I don’t even know what to call them “dark siders” “non Jedi” Shin and Baylan (who is apparently a former Jedi from the Clone Wars but did we see that or see how he knew Ahsoka and Anakin? No.) but we aren’t given any reason to care about them other than they’re in Ahsoka’s way of completing her mission. They end up being more like time fillers that anything else and end up walking away from the big conclusion. Like…why are they even in this show and why should we care?

Perhaps Dave Feloni has this big grand story in his mind but he’s so far up his own ass that none of us get to see this story. It’s like seeing a little kid play with their action figures and they’re super passionate about it but as a outsider you have no idea what’s going on. Now this isn’t good not only for the sake of good storytelling but it’s bad for business too.

Disney wants to make as much money off of Star Wars as they can. That’s extremely obvious. However here you have a show that isn’t going to pull in a casual Star Wars viewers (they would have to watch so much content to catch up on whose who and what is going on) nor is it really going to pull in fans of Clone Wars and Rebels because while they overlap, the fandoms are different and Feloni hasn’t done a good job melding those worlds together thus the divisive opinions on this show. This leaves for an incredibly small niche of people and honestly I think whatever toy sells they make from this show will do better than the actual ratings. I would be shocked if they greenlit for another season because I’m pretty done with this story as is many of the people who would be willing to watch.

All in all this is embarrassing how Feloni and the gang with all the money and resources can’t pull off a simple and epic show when there are thousands of unpaid fanfic writers that could pull off a much better story and build these beloved up characters, which leads into my next point.

2. The Characterizations of Ahsoka, Sabine, and Hera Are Bad

Now I have mentioned previously how much I love Ahsoka but damn it upon watching this show, she may as well be dead. Ahsoka has been given the Luke Skywalker treatment in that Ahsoka has been stripped of everything that made her lovable in Clone Wars and Rebels and is left as a sorry shell of who she once was. Her dialouge is hollow and lifeless not like the lively Ashley counterpart that made us all love Ahsoka in the first place. And no don’t give this “well she’s older now” bullshti excuse because Obi Wan Kenobi never lost his cheekiness and charisma as an old man, neither did Yoda, or Leia, etc. Just because you age doesn’t mean you have to be lifeless. Maturity does not equate to emotionless. Secondly for a woman whose well into her fifties and still acts very much like a Jedi Ahsoka’s views on the Jedi and their philosophy seem very warped and the audience is again left confused as to where she stands on the Jedi. I mentioned in a previous post how I couldn’t stand Ahsoka’s negativity towards the Jedi and how nobody seems to matter but Anakin (even though he’s put her through a ton of trauma and has tried to kill her as Vader) because it’s just so distasteful to the people who raised her and loved her that died by genocide no thanks to Anakin. Ahsoka has zero character development other than she seems to forgive Anakin for his wrongdoings despite the nonexistent apology. For a show that has her name on it, she sure is boring. Makes me miss Ashley and old Ahsoka even more.

As for Sabine I probably could write a whole thesis on how unlikeable she is but I’ll keep it short. One, I find it sick on Feloni’s part that he’s having a grown 30+ year old woman act like a teenager and be snarky with just about everyone. Ezra, who annoyed me immensely in Rebels, was WAY more mature and grounded. And again I’m sick and tired of the Mandalorian excuse of you getting to be an asshole because youre Mandalorian. Shut up. No one is above manners and decency. Sabine’s actions in this show have been far from Jedi like and thanks to her immaturity, she left Ahsoka for dead once and is indirectly responsible for the death of New Republic officers who were trying to stop this very dangerous mission that could possibly bring Thrawn and the Empire back ensuing more death and destruction of innocents. Ahsoka deserves to be angry with her for her words and actions, but of course Sabine gets a free pass and her bad behavior will continue to be enabled.

As for Hera…when did she become such a Karen? Just because you’re an officer doesn’t mean you get to abuse your power for your own personal agenda. That Senator was right about her. Finding Thrawn is a threat to the galaxy and using resources and putting lives at risk for it is a big deal. Hera was depicted as honorable and responsible in the Rebels series and I swear I was watching a different person on screen. Also she is a major Sabine enabler and that needs to stop. Sabine is grown and needs to grow up and fix her attitude.

3.) Anakin’s Role In the Show

Now don’t get me wrong, I love Hayden and I love Anakin, I have the dude tattooed on me for Force sake so don’t come at me for that, but I had some issues on how his character was used here. First, I’m tired of Ahsoka’s relevance to Anakin being the only defining trait about her. Second, I’m continuously annoyed by Anakin’s lack of accountability in these shows; he never once apologizes to Ahsoka for all that’s happened, he never once’s has a meaningful conversation with her; he just basically beats her down until she finally lets go of her past. Did I love the Clone Wars flashbacks! YES! They were my favorite part of the entire show and I want MORE of that; but I so wish Anakin could have been reflecting on his own actions with Ahsoka instead of being like “Is ThAt WhAt ThIs Is AbOuT?” Like come on 🙄

4.) Ahsoka’s “It’s Time To Move On” Line

Are you kidding me Ahsoka? There is still so much more to unpack with her past such as all the other relationships she’s had that completely changed her trajectory like BARRISS and REX and she could also be a mentor figure to Luke and Leia, etc. But nope the only thing that matters is getting over Anakin and all is well despite being stranded in another galaxy and Thrawn being unleashed back home. Like THIS IS NOT OKAY!

5.) The Cheap Ass Production of this Show

I’m not normally one to comment on production but it was so obvious in this show how many corners were cut. For one characters like Thrawn look god awful. Dude looking like a blue Elon Musk instead of an intimidating villain. The use of fog and the volume were very obvious and the places we went to were so boring minus the red leaves forest. The worlds of Star Wars used to be so cool and otherworldly but that’s not the case nowadays and it’s sad. Also why does Force ghost Anakin look better in the 2000’s than it does now? I prefer quality over quantity so I really wish Disney would quit churning out these cheaply made productions and have the audacity to rise their Disney plus subscriptions and not pay their people well.

6.) THE RACISM

I’m so fucking tired of this y’all! 🤬 of course make the Jewish actor in the shipyard be greedy and power hungry. Of course make the Asian Senator the asshole and not any of the white protagonists. The antisemitism and racism against POC is unacceptable to me and it should be unacceptable to you too.

Conclusion

I’m sure I’m missing some talking points but these are my biggest grips and as an Ahsoka fan I’m disappointed. Being a miserable Jedi not Jedi responsible for bringing a new evil into the galaxy but being content being stranded in another galaxy is not the future I believe Ahsoka deserves and I sincerely hope they don’t continue this story. It’s just bad all around. Except for the Loth cats… the Loth cats can stay. And Clone Wars flashbacks.

[kerizaret]

Hello everyone and welcome once again to my brain! Today I want to ramble a bit about

✨️ Tsukasa and Rakunosuke (Emu's grandpa) parallels ✨️

Because I feel like we don't talk about them much. Or at all actually

Now, I'm not pulling this out of nowhere. It's quite literally stated at least once, outright, in the game, that Tsukasa is really similar to Emu's grandpa (or even twice – but the other time I'm unsure 100% whether its about Tsukasa specifically, which I'll get to later). That's not to mention the other little things throughout the stories that I think similar between the two

So here's just some thoughts I've had on the topic after rewatching some events, more or less cohesive

1) Tsukasa's PXL auditon & WMS speech

Starting at the very beginning, we've known ever since the wxs main story that there's something in Tsukasa that has drawn Emu in to him already the first time she's ever saw him, at his audition for PXL, which made her hire him herself. She says "found you" at that moment, as if she's been searching for someone exactly like him. Out of all the possible candidates who applied who she might've seen, why Tsukasa specifically?

It could be just about him boasting about making fantastic shows, which of course is a part of it. But I feel like this isn't all, that there was something else that she noticed, that maybe she didn't fully realise at that moment

Then later, in Wonder Magical Showtime, after Tsukasa's motivational speech, Emu specifically thinks back to that audition and how she felt something special there. And, most importantly, she thinks it as if she's talking to her grandpa – like he's somehow tied to it, to her realisation that Tsukasa is the one

Putting aside the fact they were fighting for Rakunosuke's park, which obviously makes Emu think back to him, there's something more. Emu doesn't think anything of the sort about Rui, even though he was the one who came up with the night show, or about Nene. Nor did she mention any kind of this strong feeling/conviction about having them on the Wonder Stage in the main story

She's focused on Tsukasa, because he's the one that brought all these people together and gave them the last push they needed to fight for PXL. He's the one they listen to, he who understands what this park was all about and why they need to save it. He's standing on the stage her grandpa built, looking at all those people working here, and he's leading them, telling them this dream CAN be made a reality and it's more important than anything else

And I feel like she could have looked at that and been reminded of her grandpa a bit, with how much he loved the park he built and brought people together with the same ideals and love and made dreams come true

2) Miles

Speaking of WMS, I'm sure we all remember Miles, the sorcerer Tsukasa played in the night show in WMS, and how he was a character very clearly based on Rakunosuke. It's not very surprising it's Tsks who got this role, but it's still interesting to me. It feels like no-one else would've been able to get this character right and neither would Emu as Shao with someone else playing Miles

I won't get into what "Miles" Tsukasa says in the play, because that's just the script and not a representation of Tsukasa himself, but I do want to draw attention to the specific scene where Emu's father is watching the night show and looks at Tsukasa, then says this:

This is the first time that – i suspect – Tsukasa is outright "stated" to be like Rakunosuke. Here I say "suspected" since I'm not 100% sure of it for two reasons. One of them being that as we know, the ensekai translation is sometimes often bad. For that I looked up the original text as well as an old translation of the event on YT to check for differences

The line ends up being similar in meaning, more or less, but a bit more vague. That also ties to my second doubt though, which is that Emu's father might be referring not to Tsukasa himself, per se, but rather to the character of Miles he's playing

I feel like both can make sense, in their own way (and the event is a Tsukasa focus for a reason, too), but for here I'm throwing it more as a hint than any kind of outright proof. Food for thought

3) Tsukasa and Rakunosuke's deams

Then, as we reach Popping in my Heart! and learn more of Rakunosuke from Riley's pov, there's another interesting thing that pops up. That is, the fact that Tsukasa and Rakunosuke share the same dream

And then, that's when Emu confirms what I've talked about before – that this whole time, she's felt something about Tsukasa being so reminding of her Grandpa

So Tsukasa has all this time "carried the same spirit" as Rakunosuke – which is possibly the reason why Emu has been feeling strangely drawn to him from the beginning

4) The Wonderland SEKAI

Hey. Hey. Remember this line?

(tl by tsukasa's #3 fan on YT)

Yeah, this one. The same reason why wxs even has "Wonderlands" in their troupe name

You know what else has Wonderland in its name?

That's right! Tsukasa's SEKAI!

Tsukasa's SEKAI. A different world that's created from his feelings, that's a place born from his desire to make everyone smile with his shows. A world that just recently expanded to include plushies representing all those different shows – different worlds – wxs created as a troupe. It's a world that Tsukasa, in a way, made by himself (albeit unconsciously)

Oh did I mention the Wonderland SEKAI is also, primarily, pre-wl, a theme park? With a big ass ferris wheel and several stages and a castle and a train and a merry-go-round, a rollercoaster and more? You know, kind of just like Phoenix Wonderland? Which was built by Emu's grandpa?

Do you ever think about that? That both Tsukasa and Rakunosuke "made" their own "Wonderlands"? That the SEKAI is so similar to PXL? Because I do

Anyway. Those were the main similarities or references I noticed, but I still have some few other miscellaneous thoughts i had aside from that that I'll sum up a bit quicker

Tsukasa and Emu's grandpa both care more about the shows (& pxl) themselves and the effect they have on people to make them smile than any kind of fame or recognition

A reminder, too, that despite the movie's popularity, nobody really knew that Rakunosuke worked on "Smiley" (or that it was even a Riley Entertainment movie at all)

There's also the fact that both tsks and rknsk get stuck more on the excitement they want their audiences to feel rather than on the technical sides or worries about how it would be possible – as seen with Rakunosuke convincing Riley to include all his dreams and ideas in "Smiley" without focusing as much on the budget and all to install that wonder in the viewers, and Tsukasa doing anything to perfect his acting, and also agreeing to most of Rui's stunts and experiments and production ideas as long as it gets the audience to become more immersed

I noticed as well that they're both people who wear their hearts on their sleeves, who easily get emotional and enthusiastic, who empathise a lot with the others' emotions and struggles, becoming happy when something good happens to them

^ he cried here. And later at the fan festa seeing nene sing confidently and happily he teared up again

And also just *gestures vaguely at pandemonium event and Rui's "tsukasa's friends' happiness is his own happiness" line*. Yeah

Most importantly, Tsks and Rknsk both care so, so much about shows ending with smiles and not tears

And overall about everyone smiling and being happy. Like Tsukasa telling Emu in the main story, on the ferris wheel, that when her grandpa meant making EVERYONE smile, it included Emu, too, and he wanted to make sure she's happy as well

There's also everything with Emu, too. The way she's very clingy with Tsukasa, always throwing herself at him (not that she isn't with everyone, but she does seem to jump at him the most often)

She's also implied to open up a bit more around him – in Smile of a Dreamer, when wxs expressed their worries about emu hiding her problems, KAITO implies that its unusual she "hasn't told EVEN Tsukasa"

And it's Tsukasa who first understood that, despite how it may seem that "she always is so optimistic and says whatever's on her mind", in the end "the bigger the problem, the less likely she is to talk" (paraphrased quotes from smile of a dreamer). And also underdstood what's the most important to her and how to give her a push to voice her worries to them

It's Tsukasa who Emu first got so scared of leaving their troupe and her behind

I simply feel like Emu is aware of the similarities her grandpa and Tsukasa share and, subconsciously, trusts him a lot and gets attached to him easily

Anyway. This is just a bunch of thoughts that came to mind that I wanted to share and hear your thoughts on maybe too. I love emukasa so much they have such a great dynamic, and I feel the implied similarities between Rakunosuke and Tsukasa add a lot to that too. I'm really curious if it'll be something they'll explore more in future events. Because I feel these parallels are there for some reason

[smeddiemunson]

I know this has been done to death now but Eddie, Steve, Chrissy and Robin all in a band together.

Eddie plays lead guitar obviously. Chrissy is the singer and plays a little rhythm guitar. Robin plays the bass and Steve is the drummer. They all write songs but it’s mainly Eddie and Robin on the music and Steve and Chrissy on the lyrics. They share all the royalties equally.

Chrissy is the perfect front woman for the band, she’s cute and charming and not quite as abrasive as Eddie or Robin tend to be when asked the more rude questions. She has patch work tattoos that stand out from her pale skin. While her guitar is featured on every song on the recorded version, when she’s playing live she’d much rather just have a microphone and the ability to dance around and have fun with her friends.

Steve never talks in interviews. He’s happy to sit back and let his friends talk about what they’re passionate about. Eddie and Robin know so much about the technical side of music and will go on and on about it for hours, and Chrissy just loves performing. When Steve does speak it’s to wax poetic about his love for everyone else in the band. He develops a little bit of a cult following and doesn’t really know how to handle the outpouring of love from the fans; he doesn’t want to let it go to his head like popularity did in high school. But he knows Robin would never let that happen.

Eddie was made to perform. He was going to anyway, with corroded coffin or otherwise. But Robin and Chrissy came to him with the idea and he can’t say no to his favourite girls. He’s a little more what people expect from their band’s sound. He looks like he would be the creator behind heavy guitar riffs and aggressive drums. No one really expects him to be as fun as he is, always joking around on stage and always hanging out by the stage door just a bit longer than his band mates to talk to the fans that stayed.

Robin looks effortlessly cool. She’s still neurotic as hell and worries a lot but as soon as her bass is in her hand she goes to a different place. They all like to joke about who has the most fans, but it’s Robin by a mile. She oozes sex appeal and mystery while she’s on stage, and she’s such a dork off it that people can’t help but be endeared. There’s even a Twitter account dedicated to finding the clothes she wears because she has the best style in the band and is definitely responsible for making sure they’re cohesive. She’s the glue that keeps everyone together.

When they win their first Grammy for Best New Artist, Robin gives an impassioned speech about finding your people, always being yourself and doing what you love. She shares the message for anyone that’s struggling that it does get better and she’s proof of that, all four of them are proof of that. They preform at pride every year and regularly do stuff for queer charities. Each piece of their merch has a different charity that a percentage of the proceeds go to. The badge set donates to helping homeless teens and the key ring donates to an eating disorder charity.

Their shows are Gay™️. Someone from the crowd will throw a pride flag on stage every show without fail and Chrissy will dance around the stage with it, wrap it around her shoulders and make sure everyone hears her when she sings about wanting to fuck hot girls.

She dances with Robin while she sings and Robin gets on her knees while she’s playing and looks like she absolutely worships Chrissy (which she does) and the only thing stopping her from getting her head under Chrissy’s tiny skirt right then and there is the looming threat of indecent exposure charge. But she doesn’t wait long to satiate her need when they get back onto the tour bus after the show and meet and greats are done.

Eddie is so active on stage. He really gets into the music, so it’s no surprise that he has to take his shirt off after the first song. He always drapes it around Steve’s shoulders and pinches his cheeks in between his fingers so Steve’s lips pucker and he can kiss him. Steve blushes bright red but goes straight into the opening of the next song.

Steve and Eddie like to tease one another. Everything they do on stage is to entice each other. Steve being on the drums means he’s at the back of the stage but the band knows the fans are obsessed with him and make sure to have a camera on him at all times that feeds into a livestream that hangs over the stage. Sometimes Eddie will get distracted between songs when he’s supposed to be bantering with Chrissy because Steve’s getting too hot and just poured a whole bottle of water over his head to cool him down, and all he can think about is licking up every droplet of water dripping from his hair onto the slope of his neck.

They like to change up the set list a lot so the fans are always surprised by what they get to hear. It’s the best part of touring when they hear the screams when a favourite is played.

There’s one song that Eddie and Steve wrote together that’s only played once a tour. Those shows get an adult content warning. Because they can’t help themselves. They wrote it in bed after spending all day wrapped up in one another, taking turns to write notes or lyrics on each others skin. When they finish, Eddie gently places his guitar on a stand and climbs up the dais the drums are on so he can straddle Steve’s legs, wait for him to open his mouth so he can spit in it then lick it up from his tongue, and filthily make out with him to the sounds of their fans screaming. It’s all caught on Steve Cam.

At all times, Steve and Eddie, and Robin and Chrissy are seconds away from fucking on stage. All the endorphins and energy just get to them.

They’ve had multiple articles published about them being vulgar, degenerate etc etc by religious groups. There was even a short time where a petition for them to be banned from performing went around. But that only seemed to get more people to check them out.

They put out a Rumours style record and the fans get so worried that their favourite band is breaking up, but actually no they were all arguing about stupid stuff and channeling their feelings into music. They’ll never break up, they’ve been through too much together.

They take a break after their fourth album in as many years. They’re still making music, always making music, but they need some time just for them. Robin and Chrissy road trip around Europe so Robin can flex her language skills and Chrissy can take Robin to every cool historical monument she’s ever wanted to see. They try new foods and every local beer they can get their hands on, document it all on their instagrams. Chrissy’s pictures are super artful and captioned with really deep thoughts, how grateful she is to be alive and thriving. (Their good friend and journalist Nancy Wheeler wrote an interview where Chrissy was able to speak candidly about her mental health troubles, eating disorder and how finding music and love helped her, continues to help her get through it). Robin’s pictures are always of Chrissy, complete candid, laughing or pointing at something with a caption in the local language saying how in love she is or how beautiful Chrissy is.

Eddie and Steve spend all their time in the fishing cabin Eddie got for Wayne with their first big paycheque. They don’t need to see anywhere else, they just want the quiet. They spend their mornings cooking together and their afternoons writing songs or reading books. In the evening they’ll dress up fancy and have candlelit dates inside the house, speak softly and tell each other how much they love each other.

Fans speculate what Eddie and Steve are doing. They haven’t been seen since the last show, haven’t posted anything on Instagram, and there are rumours that Eddie’s been checked into rehab (his drug use is wildly over reported. He smokes a joint after a show and nothing else. He’d seen what meth did to his parents and he wants no part of it, no matter how “rock ‘n’ roll” it may be.)

It’s not until Chrissy and Robin get back to the states that Eddie and Steve come out of hiding. Robin posts a video of them doing karaoke together, clearly a well practice routine where they do ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart’ by Elton John and Kiki Dee. And after the freak out by the fans over Eddie knowing a song like that, how in love they are, and how glad everyone is to know that Steve and Eddie are alive and apparently thriving, the fans notice something.

Steve’s wearing a ring, which is strange because Steve never wears rings. The only piece of jewellery Steve has ever worn is a gold chain with a guitar pick hanging off it that matches a silver chain around Eddie’s neck.

Steve waits three weeks after that video to post on Instagram (which he never does) to tell everyone that he and Eddie got married the day Robin took that video. It was a small ceremony, just their friends and family in attendance. Claudia Henderson (a surrogate mother to both of them) officiated. He posts a picture of his and Eddie’s hands entwined, Eddie still has rings on every finger but the single band on his left ring finger matches the one on Steve’s exactly. Steve has an extra ring under his wedding band, something simple and almost cheap looking. It’s not until years later that it’s revealed that Eddie bought the ring three months after he and Steve started dating; way before they had internationally famous band money to spend.

The other pictures that come out were all taken by Jonathan, another close family friend who is usually seen doing pictures for art houses in New York, or occasionally photo reporting for his wife because no one else is able to capture her vision the way he does.

Steve and Robin are pictured crying as they slow dance, captioned ‘father-son dance’. Eddie is captured crying at what looks like a speech from Chrissy. Robin stands up for Steve and Chrissy stands up for Eddie, but Eddie also has his old band mates with him (who still fly the corroded coffin flag and let him record the guitar on their albums) and Steve has a group of 20-somethings stand up for him that someone points out are all people who are making waves in various scientific endeavours, and how the hell does Steve know them?

They come back for their fifth album bigger and better than ever, and their fans don’t even know why they worried. There’s clearly nothing in this world that the four of them would rather do.

[deinocheirus]

how do you come up with such creative alien designs? they feel so cohesive but all so unique!

Honestly don’t think my alien designs are strong (not that I don’t like them, but their designs are a perpetual works in progress right now and there’s so many cool artists rn who have such great ideas with aliens.). I have not shared the majority of my ideas for Blue Moon and its species here yet.

My main design process in mixing together a bunch of animals (or other organisms) I find interesting. I recommend people trying to design aliens to look into real life organisms for inspiration rather than exclusively from other works of science fiction (tho obviously that can also be an influence).

More in terms of general alien ideas although I haven’t talked about it much here, is trying to think about how something being radically different from a human would impact their culture, sense of ethics, worldview etc, as well as where can they and humans find common ground. Exploring “alien morality” is something that I find interesting, but generally find it’s usually only used as a means to make aliens hostile unsympathetic antagonists.

[conkorse]

Can I ask how you pick your colors? I'm very fascinated by it and how well it works with your style

sure i will try my best 2 explain !!! >_<

typically i start drawing my main subjects on a grey colored background. this makes it so my color range is alot larger than if i sketched and colored on a white/lighter background because the colors that surround your piece will affect how they are perceived. i will attach an example below:

as you can see the drawing on the left (which is a wip i havent posted this drawing yet lulz) heavys skintone changes to match the context of the colors in the background which when you compare that bg to the bg on the right it is much darker in comparison. i also simply wanted to play around with colors coz i try not to restrict myself in any capacity. coloring is the most fun part of drawing to me and part of that fun comes from imposing zero limitations on myself which is why alot of my art has the most stupid ass color combinations u will eva see #live #laf #lov

this is what my drawings typically look like once i finish the actual main subject of the piece as you can see scout n pyro are in a grey void gidbles them. i typically do backgrounds last (which is something i should prbably change up sometime soon) because i tend to create them around the main drawing and it makes it easier for me to make everything more cohesive in the end because i can make the background however i want to fit the main drawing. i do not recommend doing this 24/7 becoz then u will struggle with environmental backgrounds/perspective shit and other stuff which is something i want to get better at but struggle with alot hashtag supaaa mega sad hashtag noob lyfeee

as for coloring itself and choosing colors its really just a combination of experimentation (and by that i mean i go through so much of the color wheel before i decide on something) and intuition. i already have an idea of what looks good together well in mind because well ive spent quite alot of time fine tuning ermmm idk what 2 call it i guess my color sense ??? hallppp but anyways i really recommend not just using bright/neon colors exclusively! the best way to make colors pop is to couple them with more muted ones so the contrast is better evident btwn the two. OH ANDD i tend to try not to use straight up black and white/grey to portray those colors. for example if a character has ermm lets say a white shirt i wont use white or grey colors to depict it but rather maybe a light cyan orrr yellowy green :p

i also overuse textured brushes and patterns in my art alortttt (see abovee) HALP so maybe try that??? i use clip studio paint and there are so many rly awesome textured brushes that i overuse coz they r SUPAAAA epik. IDK im just rambling but your biggest take away from this should be to GO EXPERIMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!! and have fun anddddd mix "ugly" colors 2gether coz u just can never know what will and wont work unless u try :33

ALSO I ALMOST FORGOT play around with this feature in csp if u have it coz its another way i create textures (my heavy mii shown as an example) and here is a link to a tumblr post where i link all of the brushes i use in csp 0 .o I HOPE THIS HELPS SOMEWHAT!!!!!!!!! SOZZZ I AM NOT THE BEST AT EXPLANING >_<

[beneathashadytree]

hello! could i have HCs of mista and a fem reader who adores the sex pistols? she likes to feed them, play with them, and maybe even knits them little hats that look like mista’s because she loves them. but she makes a mistake when she tells them she has a crush on their stand user, because they immediately snitch on her to mista (😭)

SNITCHES GET… GIFTS? - GUIDO MISTA X READER

Warnings : this is pretty cheesy and not proofread, reader identifies as female!

Genre : tooth-rotting fluff <3

Word count : 1.0K words (oops)

Additional notes : Thank you so much for requesting! I thought long and hard how to get to this, and I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out. I have a soft spot for the entire Bucci gang and their stands, as you could probably see🫣 Hope you enjoy reading this, anon!💗

Requests : Are open! Check the rules over here.

Want to support me financially? Here’s my CashApp.

Masterlist

It seemed like a sort of unspoken rule that every stand user that somehow found their way into the Italian mafi ended up on either Bucciarati’s squadra or Risotto’s squadra

It was to ensure both confidentiality and cohesion of the group working as one unit, which could only be achieved when all of the squadra consisted of stand users

With her luck, she winded up on Bucciarati’s turf, her stand another weapon to add to their arsenal

Mista was rather nonchalant about the new addition; he never really minded getting to know a new person as long as they proved themselves to be useful and trust-worthy

He does his own thing anyways and always pulls up in any pinch they find themselves in, regardless of how the others react to their missions

But for some reason, he found himself actually quite enjoying her company even when they’re not doing anything in particular

The same—and more, actually—could be said about her; she soon realized that she was almost making up excuses just to be in the sharpshooter’s presence, and to learn more about him whenever they sat together

His likes, his dislikes, his quaint tetraphobia, his unique sense of humor and wit, his sharp intelligence; everything about him was something she wanted to discover bit by bit

And with coming to know him so personally, she of course had many interactions with his stand, the Sex Pistols, and slowly grew increasingly fond of them

They truly were like a bunch of rowdy kids each with a vastly different personality from the other, and it was hard not to like them

Hardworking as they were, they were almost always hungry and in need of attention and affection, things she was more than willing to provide whenever she was available and in the vicinity

More often than not, the six little guys were found trailing after her, happy smiles on their faces as they nibbled on pastrami and cheese mini sandwiches she’d prepared for them, cheeks stuffed and delighted smiles on their tiny faces

Even the scruffy Number 5 couldn’t help but feel happy whenever she made use of her time off to play with them, despite Mista’s protests that she didn’t have to

Her insistence that she actually wanted to spend time with them didn’t go unnoticed, flustering both the stand and their user

Come Christmas, already more than a few months had passed since she first started having feelings for Mista

Feelings she clearly was oblivious to them being reciprocated

Considering herself an almost-caretaker for the Sex Pistols whenever Mista himself wasn’t fussing over them, she decided to make them a gift herself

Seeing how much they absolutely adored the gunslinger, she decided to knit them tiny hats similar to the one he wore all the time

As for Mista, she decided to make him a scarf that perfectly matched his usual outfit, decked in his favorite red and blue, while she secretly made herself matching gloves

She already readied herself to excuse it as her simply liking the design if anyone questioned her about it

Thankfully things went relatively smoothly the entire time she spent knitting the set, but that ignorant bliss around her didn’t last long

Just a couple of minutes in showing the Sex Pistols her gifts for them, Number 3 found himself tripping over the box she’d thought she’d so cleverly hidden under her bed

After a few flustered stammers, a furious blush to the tips of her ears, and pathetic lies that not even a two year old would believe, she slumped over in defeat and admitted to the fact that she’d knit matching gloves and scarf for her and Mista

Ever perceptive, they shared a glance before Number 1 bluntly asked her if she had a crush on their favorite guy, to which her flaring blush only affirmed

No words were needed, the Pistols sharing mischievous smiles that spelled something foreboding to her

She begged them not to tell Mista, her earnest and horrified expression causing them to feel a little sorry for her, silently deciding to stay quiet… for the time being

As soon as they spotted her handing him his gift, though, they were quick to cheekily grin up at him

The man himself was stunned by the sweet gift, expressing his gratitude as best as he could and hugging her gently

Honestly, the smile and slight flush on his face should’ve been a clear indicator that he had it bad for her as well, and that her thoughftul handmade gift had made him happier than he could ever admit

“She knitted matching gloves for her too, because she likes you, Mista!”

Mista’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as he stood there stunned by the words Number 2 had blurted out, earning a nudge from an alarmed Number 6

They all stood with baited breath, watching as a mix of horror and embarrassment made its way on the woman’s face, whereas Mista’s face turned every single color under the sun as he slowly processed the words he’d just heard

His loud and boisterous laugh of disbelief had them a little confused, and her face began to fall, before he quickly threw his arms around her, bringing her in for a tighter embrace than before

The expression on his face could only be described as blissful, and her scrunched up countenance melted into a relieved one

“You’re… alright with that?” she hesistantly asked him, only to have Mista squeeze her waist, open affection in his eyes as he smiled at her

“About damn time you noticed I like you too, geez!”

“Not like you’d noticed I had feelings for you, either…” she mumbled under her breath, rolling her eyes despite the blush on her cheeks that betrayed her

They were only interrupted when Number 7 pointed out, “Hey look, mistletoe!”

Before she could glance up in the direction he was glancing at, Mista took the chance to swoop in and softly kiss her

Too enamored by the all-consuming kiss, she was too busy to notice that there wasn’t anything above their heads, and that the Sex Pistols had snuck out, giggles remaining in their wake

Taglist: @mrsgiovanna @boorishbrambling @blondeboyfriend

[tempvstas]

No no that's completely fine I understand!!

I can request something different!

Can I request Vil falling in love with his limited time fashion designer for a certain amount of time and how he would react to them leaving after the time ends? Oneshot fic is preferred!

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Content Warning(s): somehwat angsty yippee

Character(s): GN!Reader(no pronouns mentioned), Vil Schoenheit

Authors Notes: hey thanks so much for understanding and tysm for waiting! I’m so so sorry that I took forever to get to this. I can most certainly do this, hope you like this!

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I Fell for You Before I Knew It

To Vil a romantic relationship was a completely foreign concept.

I mean sure, don’t get him wrong. He’s had to play the role of handsome suitors for the various roles that he’s acted for. He’s even had some relationships before, but never did it cross his mind that it would even be possible for someone like him to truly fall for someone and pursue a relationship without having thoughts of the person only being with him because of some ulterior motive.

But then you showed up.

You showed him that maybe, just maybe, not everyone who crossed his path wanted something more from him.

It all started on the first day that you arrived. You, in your simple clothes, rather unassuming but still, unphased by everyone staring at you. You were contracted by Vil's company to help one of his shoots a clothing company that he was promoting. Vil was somewhat skeptical of you at first, eyeing you up and down. But to his surprise, you didn't flinch in the slightest under his gaze, instead holding it steadily, an air of calm indifference surrounding you.

Despite that your eyes were gentle, and your hands even gentler. Vil found himself entranced and swimming in your gaze.

He found himself falling hard for you.

Maybe it was the way your hands would smooth over his clothes, making sure nothing was out of place. Or maybe, it was the way you would work tirelessly, mixing and matching each article of clothing so that it would go together cohesively. Or potentially it was the way you hunched over your notebook, sketching out new outfit ideas for him to try out. He had to resist the urge to press his hand against your back to straighten it out.

Regardless of what it was he found himself charmed by you.

Vil knew that his time with you was short, but despite all that he still couldn't help the blossoming feelings he harbored for you. He figured it would be for the best if he didn't say anything, for both of your sakes, there was only so much heartbreak available to go around. Vik would find himself thinking about what his relationship with you was as your contract deadline drew closer. He figured that you would move on. After all, this job was merely just a job for you. A crush like this, a silly one-sided crush was completely unfathomable to Vil, yet he still couldn't help the way his eyes would linger on you tidying up his outfit, prepping him for shoot after shoot.

Vil wanted nothing more than to take your hand in his, hold it close, and press a lingering kiss to the backside of it. Were your hands soft like he envisioned? The warmth and fervor you exuded when working with him, he found himself drowning in it. You were like a siren's call to Vil, calling out to him and threatening to drown him.

When your time was up, he watched you pack up your things, walk to the door, and never look back.

He would miss you.

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[astxroiid]

being married to jaskier // headcanon -- from this request

navigation

❥ first things first: the proposal.

it was more beautiful and well thought out than you thought possible. -- he’d rather excitedly led you out to the forest and into a field. -- light from the candles he’d placed on stumps danced across the grass, though the light from the full moon would’ve sufficed. -- Jaskier had flowers placed in a circle around a large blanket on the ground and a basket full of foods set atop the blanket and beside and ornate bottle of wine. -- you both ate and drank first, though you had no idea what was coming. -- he spoke of old times and adventures you’d went on together, you admired his charm. -- when he took a knee, you were shocked enough that you dropped your bread on the blanket.

❥ his speech was heartfelt and absolutely beautiful. -- naturally after you said yes you kissed him which turned to something heated as you made love on the forest floor.

❥ he’s a sucker for clichés, so he definitely carries you through the door much to your dismay.

“Jask! Put me down! M’not a child!” -- “But, my love, it’s tradition.”

❥ he’s an absolute gentleman.

massaging you after hard days and bringing you a drink while he does. -- some mornings he brings you breakfast in bed and some days you do the same for him.

❥ it’s a cohesive and fair relationship and the best one you’ve ever been in.

❥ he’s an absolute sweetheart when you’re sick

“are you sure you’re okay, darling? I can get you more soup or a warm towel or—” -- “—Jask. Honey, I’m okay. I promise, I won’t die.”

❥ begging you for a child.

"But imagine a mini us? They'd be adora-" -- "that sounds like a nightmare, jask. Not right now." -- secretly your pregnant.

❥ your house is amazing.

you have infinite time to decorate and design. -- candles everywhere, cozy furniture strategically placed. -- the fireplace almost always burning because jaskier had to choose a cold place to live. -- it's fine though, you enjoy the cold (most of the time).

❥ having geralt over all the time.

you've trained him to take his muddy shoes off before coming inside, but figuring out what to do with his blood soaked clothes is another thing. -- he always compliments your home. -- geralt is the sweetest to you. -- "jaskier, your wife looks especially lovely this evening, wouldn't you say?" -- "i would say she looks especially wonderful every day." -- there's a designated room in the back for geralt to crash in, and a designated box for all the clothes he brings in covered in gods-know what liquid. -- it's Jaskier's job to wash them. -- "why must i?" -- "because. He's your best friend, and you get to clean up behind him." You smile.

❥ having a small farm with plenty of sources for food.

you gave each of the hens nature-themed names. -- the two cows got named daisy and dandy. -- your favorite group to harvest will always be the strawberries, stealing some to eat in the moment being a habit by now.

❥ jaskier got a dog to heard the sheep.

he named him Bailey and taught him how to sit, lay, and shake within the first 2 weeks. -- he cuddles up to the two of you at night, keeping you both warm. -- his best friend is a brown sheep named Jack. "Jaskier, your dog just farted." You say, half asleep in the dark of the bedroom. -- "no, love, that was me." He says apologetically.

❥ going on vacations and making geralt take care of the house and animals for you.

"And where is the dog's bed?" geralt asks, begrudgingly. -- "oh he sleeps in the bed with us usually." Jaskier quips. -- "great." -- and even though geralt seems displeased with Bailey, everytime you leave and come back home you find the two cuddled up together in bed. Fast asleep.

❥ vacations to the beach every summer.

there's a little hut jaskier build a couple years back that you share, usually opting to sleep under the stars anyway. -- swimming together every single day your out there. -- catching and cooking seafood. -- always bringing home extras for Bailey and geralt. -- you collect a sea shell each year you go, making a memorial wall for all the trips.

❥ the love songs jaskier writes during married life are some of the best in his career.

every new song gets massive cheers and applause from any crowd in a tavern that hears it. -- of course every song is about you. How you'll they not be? -- Jaskier hasn't wrote a sad song since the day he said his vows.

❥ he's a total bed hog.

jaskier and Bailey both, though mainly Jaskier takes up almost the entirety of the bed, tangling himself in the blankets. -- and yet, he feels bad every morning he wakes up and sees you on the edge of the bed, curled in a ball. -- you never mind, staying asleep for all of it.

❥ and somehow, the most obnoxious man you ever met became the best man you'll ever know.

omfg I'm so sorry that took me so long to write for you, love! that writers block came from nowhere jfc.

[prettycottonmouthlamia]

I saw an ask about whether you could do a remake of F/SN in the style of FF7R and I agreed with the responder's take on the matter but I wanted to bring my own two cents in, because a lot of people when they think of "sequel", they think of the kind of sequel like Shrek 2 for instance. Mechanical sequels, where one follows directly after the other in terms of time and plot. Shrek 2 happens after Shrek 1. It's simple stuff, and this makes the vast majority of sequels.

Rarely however do we talk about thematic sequels, and I don't mean the idea of a spiritual successor (although, personally, some do count). Often times a spiritual successor is not in direct conversation with its predecessors, but often fits in a more referential or sometimes even reverent position. Many times spiritual successors aren't even in the same franchise; this is how you get games like, for example, Signalis. For an example of what I mean, let's look at the Silent Hill trilogy.

OH YEAH BABY ITS THE FUCK BLOOBER TIME OF THE POST but no really, Silent Hill 2 is often not considered a sequel at all, it's often considered a standalone entry into its franchise and while there is a lot to be understood and appreciated from the game by itself, it's not meant to be standalone. There's a 2 there. It's in direct conversation with Silent Hill 1. Part of why Silent Hill 2 worked so well for so many people is the fact that James' journey has a twist to it. It mirrors Harry's for quite a long time on purpose, before revealing that this was a trick!

Silent Hill 3, while being a mechanical sequel to Silent Hill 1, also does this. It sets itself up where it seems like its going to follow the same path as Silent Hill 2, playing along the lines of guilt, before nope! Sike! It's Silent Hill 1 baby, except we're not here to feel guilty, it's time to get revenge and end the nightmare and kill God. It's a trilogy, and the works complete each other more when combined with each other.

Fate/Stay Night is a lot like that. It's a bit more obvious in terms of what it's going for in that it is one work instead of three, but given the amount of discussions about which route is canon and what not I assume a lot of people missed it. This is why Hollow Ataraxia is the way it is. Which route is canon? Fate/Stay Night is canon, because these are NOT three standalone routes that can be enjoyed separately. They have their own merits, but they're meant to be interpreted as a package, which I understand is hard this game is really fucking long y'all.

The game disguises this by having the routes branch from each other in a pretty similar way to a normal visual novel, and presents them as a result of your choices rather than as a cohesive unit. The game also does kind of giveaway the game though by not letting you play the UBW route (with one very minor exception that leads to a bad end) or the Heaven's Feel route early. There's an order to these, you must stick with it.

These routes are, obviously speaking, thematic sequels. There's no need for the Heaven's Feel route to rehash the character development that Shirou receives in the Fate route or in the UBW route. The game knows you've read those already, and its coming in with a baseline assumption of who Shirou is. The Shirou as Heaven's Feel begins and establishes its hold over the narrative is a lot closer to the Shirou at the end of UBW than it is the Shirou at the beginning of the Fate route. We aren't grappling with Shirou's realization of self, because he's already gone through that, we need to test his ideals now and make him realize that there are things and people more important than his dream.

The three routes together represent Shirou's journey as a hero, his hero's journey if you will, and how his ideals mature and his image as a person is forged. He comes out of Heaven's Feel complete, almost as if he's lived through three different versions of those I think 20 days it's been a bit, and maybe its only through the medium of a visual novel and its mechanical framework that this journey can even be completed.

You can't make an FF7R style remake of F/SN, because F/SN is already that. It's already got two similarly styled sequels built into itself, and it even has the wacky sequel already done in Hollow Ataraxia.