#usually in a case like this i would simply just *point at canon character* and make adjustments as needed but | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

xviiper-rents-houses · 2 years

Text

Avatar... way of the water..YANDERE? P2

Neytiri

I'm going with the premise that you are a human. It was when she saw you in the woods with Grace and Norm. She would have killed you if it weren't for Grace being there particularly. (I think that Neytiri had a connection with Grace, like teacher and student).

Anyways.. Neytiri grew curious about your behaviors. Her decision to not kill you led her to want to learn more about you. It was then, Neytiri decided she would go to the Sky People's base.

When approaching, Neytiri spied you doing your normal tasks. Something about you fascinated her. She just couldn't place it. Neytiri would probably stalk you for a long while before making any sort of contact. When she does make contact, though, it's probably in the case of an attack.

Neytiri in the newest movie was like: insane murder mode. She was unstable in that moment but determined. Dragging from that, I'd think Neytiri would take you as a hostage at first, pointing a knife to your neck. The rest is just history ✨ 💅😈

Jake Sully.

You probably met Jake on base. A cripple. "A meal on wheels." I could see Jake meeting you and you just ignoring the fact he is bound to his wheel chair.

When Jake got his avatar body, however, that's where I think things would get interesting. Perhaps you are doing one of your tasks and Jake just up and lifts you off the ground.

This would lead into spouts of arguments. Either teasing or genuinely irritated, whatever the case. You decide! (Perhaps I'll do some canons on how many Na'vi character likes to hold you? 👀).

When Jake left to go into the woods, you had a feeling something was off. You then learned he fell in love with the ways of the Na'vi.

Jake wanted you to share that bond as well. In the revolt against the humans, Jake Sully wanted you to stay by his side during this battle. To work together.

Spider.

My headcanon for Spider is rather interesting. I felt that we did not get enough of him in the movie though, I could be biased.

In any case, Spider strikes me as the extremely hard headed and protective yandere. Maybe Spider made you uncomfortable multiple times. Forcing you to go outside with him when you didn't want to. And you probably hurt yourself in those cases.

Spider would simply laugh at your misfortune, not aware you were genuinely wounded. It would most likely take him some time to recognize your pain. Then, he would feel extreme guilt.

Spider does care for you though. Deeply. He'll try to take you under his wing and teach you things he has learned. Spider wants you to see what he sees. Spider is fierce in his movements.

He knows what he wants and he thinks he knows what you need. There are times where he doesn't know, though. And that's where you come in. Your words fix anything he doesn't feel sure about.

Ao'noung

Like Spider, you were human when you met Ao'noung. The Na'vi always saw humans as weaker than his own kind. It was bad enough having the Sully kids around and Spider. Now, there is you?

My brain likes to think that Ao'noung personally hated you for a long time. This hatred turned into a sort of obsession when Ao'noung followed you around. I think he would do this because he wants you to know he's not leaving you alone. Making fun of your slow speed in the water.

Calling you names in Na'vi. Poking and prodding at you. If you weren't able to learn Na'vi, Ao'noung would take full advantage of this.

It's probably at a moment when you felt particularly upset when Ao'noung continued his usual antics. Perhaps flat out crying or growing extremely mad at him triggered something inside the male.

That's where I think to think he got used to the Sully kids and their odd fingers. Ao'noung would get used to you and try to make it up to you by being a lot nicer in the future.

Roxto

Now, we didn't get enough of this guy in the film but, I do have some small ideas. (Sorry if it's short, but if I let myself rant: I 👏 will 👏 RANT...p.s., lemme know if y'all want a big rant from me or not).

Roxto seems to be rather unsure of himself in the movie, usually following what the others do. Roxto needs the support and encouragement from others to feel like he belongs.

He was heard saying in the movie after Ao'noung saying: "He asked if you're a freak?" His tone sounded rather uncertain. So, that adds more curiosity to what type of yandere he could be. DEFINITELY the uncertain, unpredictable type.

Like, Roxto might feel major guilt for the stuff he does to you and whatever. Maybe he tries guilt tripping you into liking him? Perhaps your first interaction was of Roxto following along with Ao'noung's bullying.

But, maybe he didn't really like the idea of doing that to you. Maybe he wanted to learn so much from you before but did not get the chance to. So, in his own time, Roxto would maybe try to speak with you to learn more?

#yandere Na'vi #yandere awotw x reader #yandere avatar James Cameron #roxto #neytiri #jake sully #Ao'noung #head canon #spider #x reader #way of water #avatar 2

443 notes · View notes

flamedraco · 2 months

Text

OCs in Fandom

This is something I've been thinking about more but why is the DSMP and MCYT fandoms specifically more OC repulsed than other fandoms?

Like this is a very strange trend I've noticed where when I introduce an unnamed, unimportant character meant to fill a role (usually to die or get droned in Aurelia's case) why does everyone ask "oh who was that btw?" or "ooo I wonder who this character was! You said she was a woman so she has to be one of these select few characters from the series!" Like. No? No that's not how that works.

In every other fandom I've been in I see art and stories surrounding the OCs that people make. Original Characters with their own powers and abilities, their own relationships to the canon characters. OCs made to fill roles in stories that other characters in canon simply cannot fill because they already have a role in the story somewhere else or because it wouldn't make sense.

This is a behavior that is present in a lot of fandoms. Especially in places like BNHA (the fandom I was in before DSMP). But for some reason not here? And I find that weird.

I'm not judging anyone for this btw I just find it strange because us viewers are CANON to a lot of MCYT mediums. My friend @emi-writings pointed out that the viewers are CANON to the DSMP. We were the ones who voted in the L'manburg election. We are The Voices in Techno's head. We're Phil's flock of crows.

And when you think about it we're canon to other MCYT mediums too. Any time "chat" is brought up in lore, that's us. Any time our suggestions make it into our favorite series and becomes part of the lore? That's us. We're here. We're existing. We're canon.

So why aren't there more OCs? I'd expect a lot more of them seeing how we are quite literally canon.

And yeah, there are a lot of characters to pull from in these mediums so maybe the need for OCs to fill plot points in our fics aren't as needed. But sometimes they are? And I find it so strange that they're kinda frowned upon or not normalized because you go to any other fandom and sometimes you can't tell an OC apart from an actual character in the lore!

In YWNTMBAH, for example, I wanted to give the readers more insight into Quackity's backstory in the AU. And so I decided I wanted to introduce a small handful of OCs as his family because I couldn't lean into the generally accepted family (head?)canon of Sam being his father because Sam already had a role in the fic. And I had already established that Quackity got his shrike wing power from his mother and there's not 'mother' character in that specific family canon. So what am I to do? Make OCs.

Right now I'm considering making a Minecraft Diaries AU as my next major multichapter fic. But Diaries has so many characters with very specific roles that half the cast of the DSMP is pretty much useless to me because they don't fit into these roles I need. Obviously a Diaries AU wouldn't be one to one because the characters are different with different personalities and temperaments, it's a completely different setting I'm throwing the DSMP characters into. But I also don't want to use certain characters unless I absolutely have to especially when the DSMP cast is so large I don't even know the lore and personalities of half the characters. And hell, some of the people whitelisted on the DSMP never even participated in lore or were just there and didn't really roleplay so I wouldn't use them to begin with. The answer here is to use OCs. In any other fandom everyone would tell you to just make some OCs to fill the roles you need or use the characters that were already present in Diaries (which isn't something I'd want to do because I want to create an AU not a crossover).

But for some reason in this fandom that's just...not a thing? Or at least that isn't a thing most people would recommend or do because I rarely see it. And readers will look at some unnamed, undescribed character, and assume I intended for it be someone in the DSMP cast. Had a specific character in mind for it.

And...no. No I didn't. That's just some dude that Wilbur killed. That's just some random ass hero Quackity plucked out of the cell to experiment on. That's just a character meant to fill out the world and make it feel more alive.

I guess the point of this really is just...make OCs more normalized in this fandom? Like it's not everyone's thing obviously and you don't have to if you don't want to. If someone in the DSMP cast fits the role you need then hey, less work for you as the writer, right?

And I'm not saying that this is a huge problem or anything because it's not. There are other people that do use OCs as writing tools or hell, collectively accepted OCs that the comment section of a fic will adopt because the concept of there being this one specific dude everyone bullies is funny. I remember a fic being inspired by YWNMTBAH and it was a story about someone's OC that they made and I thought it was cool as hell that my fic inspired someone to make an OC!

But I just think everyone should be more aware that it's okay and normal to make OCs in fandom. Hell, my take on Wilbur, Sally, and Sapnap are all pretty much OCs at this point. I made the Fridge an actual character with the help of Em. Me and Double added OCs in Arsonist's Waltz to fill out the DSMP Pantheon more because it wasn't explored enough in canon.

I think we should have more OCs. I think it should be normalized. I think the general expectation shouldn't be that every last character mentioned in the story is someone in canon. OCs are a really useful fanfiction writing tool and they aren't even hard to make really! You don't even have to name some of them! I never gave Q's parents in YWNTMBAH names, just descriptions! Half of Wilbur and Quackity's drones in Aurelia are unnamed OC characters they just yoinked off the streets!

OCs are things you can pour a lot of time into, give backstories, give cool concepts. But they can also just be easy writing tools when you need to kill something off but don't want to use one of your more major characters. They can just be there, chilling, making your world more alive and more full.

Because not every viable character in the canon cast can be used for the roles you need.

#mcyt #fandom #writing #fanfic #ocs #ocs in fandom #original characters #dsmp ocs #mcyt ocs #flame ramblings

20 notes · View notes

boyfridged · 4 months

Note

Do you have any more thoughts about Alfred and how to make him a more interesting character? And there's this tag "Alfred Pennyworth is a Saint", got any opinions about that? And what about some different portrayals like the Gotham Tv version, the multiple versions from comics (usually either harsh, sarcastic and emotionally repressed stoic or openly affectionate, offering actual advice and kind), or the super nice and kind ones from the various movies (live-action and animated)?

there's a lot of contradictions when it comes to alfred's character, even within the scope of individual works (that including current canon... post-mortem too): he's supposed to be both harsh and kind, extremely competent and yet - out of picture to a degree, both fundamentally against the idea of batman (mocking it at times) and supportive of it, professional and a parental figure, conservative in appearances but progressive in acts... most importantly, he plays a role of a "sage" -- he is supposed to be simply right.

but you probably already know -- i'm very interested in characters being wrong.

and i'd say the best angle to approach alfred is simply based on the question of who he needs to be in bruce's story for it to work at all. and one of these requirements is that he is not really there. he cannot enter the action too often, even if writers want you to believe he's invincible. he cannot truly make the residents of the manor a family -- there ought to be some distance, because it's bruce's job to be a father (this is interesting in moench's pre-crisis run also... where it is very clear that alfred leaves raising jay to bruce.) and, most importantly, for bruce to become batman -- alfred ought to fail him to some degree.

and i reckon that's why we don't see much of bruce's childhood. there are some conflicting narratives irt leslie and alfred, even in the 80s - on the one hand, it is suggested that they *both* do not know how to handle bruce as a child; on the other hand, you're supposed to believe that there was no way to do that (and to absolve them of their fault). but i'm interested in a compromise... in acknowledging that none of them were equipped nor ready to take that responsibility, but also realising that there was more they could do. because i think that, for example, alfred's conservatism did intrude on the task of providing care. for example -- in some versions of bruce's childhood (isn't it fascinating that we don't even have one official version at this point in canon... it's always so elusive. but that's a topic for another post) he is sent to a boarding school. and that works. he's an old british guy, of course he'd think sending a child even at age 8-10 would be not only normal but also a good idea.

also -- alfred at times comments on bruce's inability to perform house chores, which is obviously a comic relief. but it's interesting because it's alfred who raised him. if bruce does not do his own laundry, or can't cook - that's quite literally on alfred. and again, i do believe it is plausible that alfred would not teach him any of these things. once more, the reason for that is his conservatism.

what i just said does not negate that alfred is a father to bruce and family to other children raised in the manor. however, i think that his own realisation that it is the case should come with some regret... &that his biases and the role of bruce's enabler are flaws that could make him interesting if it was take seriously.

however, there's still plenty of gaps that are hard to fill - for instance, why alfred is a butler at all, given his background (there were obv some attempts at explaining it -- i wouldn't say they were very successful). i know some of it is simply a matter of editors and writers throwing bits of amusing/surprising lore into the story without really considering the wider picture, but it is frustrating. his development was, after all, quite strange -- if you read first issues of batman/tec, you will notice he himself was mostly a comic relief. the whole concept of his links to military, for example, came later... so i had quite high hopes for pennyworth (the show) in that regards, but it did disappoint me. i wish we simply got a well-written mini?

a complete sidenote -- i also quite like how close alfred & damian grow to be. it makes a lot of sense (i do think alfred would be partial to the "biological" child + the way alfred carries himself & the routine he sticks to would be comforting for damian i think...)

#outbox #i do know the tag. i think by now you know i don't like it!#sorry for not getting into each adaptation... i don't quite have energy for it

27 notes · View notes

mayfay · 5 months

Text

Hardening Analysis

To preface this, this will be my first proper analysis of a canon character, so be patient with me here. Also Kirishima Did Not cooperate on this one. 2 days and multiple hours of digging and research for Just this.

To start with a brief overview, Kirishima has a transformation quirk called Hardening that allows him to “harden” his body. This is usually indicated by his body becoming a series of flat edges, with incredible durability and strength added on. When pushed to the extreme in his “Unbreakable” form, sections of skin rise up and overlap each other as well as gain “cracks” all along his body resembling the metamorphic cleavage lines of some minerals. Another aspect that should be brought up is that his quirks limit is based on stamina drain. The “harder” he becomes over more area, the greater the drain on his stamina. Damage to these hardened areas also eats into his stamina pool, though it seems like by training his quirk he becomes more efficient and has a larger stamina pool to drain from (as evidenced by his growth between the Sports Festival and the Overhaul arc).

Now this all seems like it lines up very well. No inconsistencies, no strange happenings to pick at, just a simple consistent transformation quirk. Well Guess What! I Got his ass! There is More to Hardening and I have Found it!

First off there are some minor inconsistencies. For one Kirishima's Unbreakable form has raised skin all over his body, and yet this doesn’t cause him any damage and goes away after de-transforming. Also the lines that appear during hardening aren’t given any explanation, they’re just there and act to highlight how far hardening has spread. More damningly is the Overhaul arc though. In it Kirishima fights Rappa, who severely damages him, to this point that he’s missing a large section of arm. However that section doesn’t experience Any bleeding, whereas the wounds on his slightly hardened face do. And after the fight ends? Kirishima Just had a large section of arm torn off and doesn’t have access to Any healing quirks, and yet he Lives. He lives and doesn’t have Any physical therapy afterwards. No lasting damage, no bleeding out, Nothing.

So how? How does he do it? Well the only explanation I can think of that doesn’t require a bunch of coincidences is if “Hardening” comes with an extra healing aspect to it. But wait! How the hell does “Hardening” = Healing?! Well what if Kirishimas quirk Wasn’t Hardening. What if it was something incredibly similar but with far different mechanics? What if he had, for lack of a better term, “Crystallization”. More specifically what if Kirishima's quirk allowed for some measure of control over the atoms in his body. The ability to change them into a more crystalline pattern and Keep them there.

This would certainly explain some things. First off keeping everything together would cost energy, which his quirk processes his stamina to produce. And as crystalized sections are hit? As an outside force tries to Shatter him? His quirk would fight back, Forcing the atoms to stay put and unbroken. This kind of power would take energy, energy that would need to be taken by the quirk in the form of his stamina. If Kirishima had simple hardening this likely wouldn’t be the case, damage simply hurting him rather than eating away at his limit. His healing is in a similar situation. Regular Hardening wouldn’t grant any form of recovery, but if his quirk is forcing everything into predetermined shapes then inconsistencies would need to be patches, inconsistencies like wounds. Of course this would eat away at his stamina pool and we can’t risk the damage from outpacing his healing. If that were to happen then sections of Crystallization would need to be dropped or the whole body might fracture. How to combat this? Well if the body is forming crystal structures, it would be ridiculously easy to simply shave off sections if too much force to counter is applied. By shaving off sections of damaged tissue the underlying sections would be exposed, but could be quickly crystalized in specific areas to limit bleeding until de-transformation when the stamina pool can be safely drained for emergency healing. Of course this implies that Crystallization also redirects damage across crystalized sections to prevent internal damage, but considering the hits Kirishima takes throughout the series that’s not really up for debate (barring his Whole body crystalizing, but that would take stupid amounts of energy and the lack of blood from the arm wound during the Rappa fight indicates crystalized sections don’t operate as fully as they do when de-transformed).

Crystallization also explains some more minor inconsistencies, specifically his strength and overlapping skin in Unbreakable form. The strange skin formations could be Crystallization increasing the area's volume, but not having the required space. This could be handled by “lifting up” and overlapping over other sections of skin, creating the effect seen in Kirishima's new form. The strength aspect has ties back to the “reset-healing” aspect of Crystallization. By “resetting” his muscles they would spring back, causing the associated movement. This would cause a massive increase in speed and strength at the cost of potentially damaging the muscle. However, when combined with the healing portion of Crystallization this damage from hysterical strength would be healed up without trouble, and potentially even leave the muscle Stronger than before seeing as micro-tears in muscles cause an increase in their strength.

Now of course while this Seems like an upgrade from Hardening, and it certainly Is, there are some weaknesses Kirishima's quirk brings with it. The first one would be that Crystallization offers little protection against more elemental powers. Don’t get me wrong, he would certainly be better at taking a hit than a random passerby, but powers like electricity or mental quirks would still have some level of effect. This is actually supported in canon as the One(1) non-physical quirk Kirishima goes up against is one called Meatball, which immediately incapacitates him. Now this isn’t Entirely fair seeing as this was meant as a moment to make Bakugo shine and Meatball directly counters Crystallization (even more than it would Hardening), but it’s worth bringing up.

The second and equally important weakness is that the body was Not built for straight edges, and that has consequences. The first one is very hypothetical, seeing as I don’t believe Crystallization goes to far below the skin when possible, but if the lungs were to crystalize they would be Far less effective at delivering oxygen. Specifically the alveoli are a small circular portion of the lungs that’s responsible for oxygen distribution to the lungs, and that circular shape is to maximize how much is distributed. By crystallizing they become all sharp edges, reducing oxygen efficiency. At first this low oxygen would simply cause cells to produce energy without oxygen, known as anaerobic respiration, which produces lactic acid. Lactic acid sets off nerves like Crazy, which is that burning sensation you feel when exercising. As things intensify though Kirishima would begin to suffer from oxygen deprivation, which has a variety of symptoms but most notably includes wheezing, disorientation, and confusion. Very similar to his state after the Rappa fight, though that’s explained by the adrenaline crash and likely concussion.

Now the second major body weakness due to Crystallization I found was in the eyes. See, the eyes are circular for a reason, mess with that and light reflection gets wonky. More specifically, while flattened (as seen in the Rappa fight) the outermost sections of eye, known as the cornea, would reflect light further back instead of where it’s supposed to, leading to farsightedness. And the cornea isn’t the only part away from the iris, you also have what’s known as the anterior chamber. Flattening this chamber causes its own issues, but most notably its been found that prolonged flattening of this specific region causes damage to the organs in the eye. Now this Would be handled by Kirishima's healing aspect (further supporting its existence), it does mean that prolonged transformation risks worsening vision if healing can’t keep up.

Now every quirk comes with natural mutations to better handle it, but Kirishima is quite lacking in this department. The only major mutations I could think of is potentially thicker skin to give Crystallization more to work with, a larger mouth/lungs to more efficiently take in oxygen when fighting (especially if Crystallization affects the lungs), and some sharper teeth. Now the teeth could very easily be a vestigial mutation from a family member, but it could also be an expression of his Crystallization, with his teeth being permanently crystallized. This would result in them being far harder and sharper than average teeth of a similar shape, and potentially slowly train his quirk over time as it keeps up the mutation.

Some quick side notes that didn’t easily fit in elsewhere. Thanks to how hardness is measured, how much flakes off when scratched, Kirishima's quirk keeping everything together when possible means that he would have a Much higher hardness than his skin would naturally have, even while transformed (so “Hardening” in a sense) (he would also be highly resistant to fire for a similar reason, as heat wouldn’t be able to vibrate the atoms to damage or melt him as planned). He also displays some control over his hardening on the bus to USJ when he sharpens his fists rather than bulks them up, something I never caught him doing in battle when it might harm someone. It’s also worth pointing out that higher Crystallization levels might be an indicator to the quirk to up the healing in that area, rather than being an automatic process. This is most supported by the fact that while the arms were heavily crystallized and suffered no bleeding, his face was only lightly crystallized and Did bleed.

#quirk analysis

29 notes · View notes

jiangwanyinscatmom · 6 months

Note

Can you tell me why you like Lan Xichen, if that doesn't bother you?

I know why the fandom at large like him, but I disagree very hard with the "N°1 Wangxian shipper, best wingman, the only person in this cast that has eyes" thing they've got going on because all of this is directly contradicted by canon, and I'm just not a fan of blissfully ignorant characters that are fine with staying blind to the faults of others depending on how convenient it is for them.

I may be exaggerating a bit, but his "You were his only mistake" speech while advocating and protecting and giving the benefit of the doubt to Jin Guangyao made me a little bit salty, and the implications as to how he participated/supported the siege and Lan Wangji's punishment didn't really help.

I usually enjoy your takes and often agree with you, so I figured I'd ask, maybe you'd provide some insight in his character that I missed?

Hello anon,

I think part of this does simply come down to personally what type of person I myself am able to tolerate and want to see the potential of capability and being better. I do agree on with Wei Wuxian as he observes Lan Xichen's faith in Jin Guangyao, is that he unlike him was able to interact with memories of Nie Mingjue and the only reason he himself was able to believe that Jin Guangyao wasn't what he presented as. Lan Xichen isn't presented as a character to despise even in his ignorance which yes, is a factor of his one comfortable position, yet he is a kind simple man.

Simple kind men, are not meant to be politicians and should not be as they are easily manipulated. Yet the people that Wei Wuxian commends and listens to are simple, kind people. He understands very well where Lan Xichen himself comes from as a party close to Jin Guangyao and as an outside party to Wei Wuxian. They don't know each other, Wei Wuxian also is not a grudge holding person for slights against himself because they are wrong. Why would he himself care for what is not true? He knows who and what he is, whether it's liked by outsiders or not. He knows how to work with either reaction and is not sensitive to what is said about him, he also doesn't need others to take up that mantel in his stead, what he appreciates is those that trust in him as he is to support that.

Wei Wuxian also understands the casual misunderstandings perpetuated, some of which he did continue once he came back and hid for a time as Mo Xuanyu. He didn't think his unconscious love from when he was you g would reawaken, he WAS fucking around to disgust Lan Wangji to abandon him. He did not expect Lan Wangji to be caring and as loving as he was because the man hadn't so openly been anything like that in their youth.

Lan Xichen had the privilege of knowing this about Lan Wangji, hence his protectiveness and assumptions. While Wei Wuxian did not. It's a case of great misunderstanding on part of what Lan Xichen knew against what Wei Wuxian knows. As the audience we DO have a greater privilege than either of them because we get insights into both's actions and thoughts the other has no idea of. They are outside observers of the other.

Do I think Lan Xichen held a grudge towards Wei Wuxian either? No, but he was weary of Wei Wuxian's intentions to his brother given the outside view he had of them. Subconsciously yes we see that Wei Wuxian greatly loves Lan Wangji, but that is not apparent for Lan Xichen given the history he had seen. He had at one point thought a friendship with Wei Wuxian would be good for Lan Wangji who didn't ever seek companions, yet the only thing he was seeing and told was the hurt and struggle Lan Wangji struggled with. He had no investment or friendship with Wei Wuxian to think of other context.

Wei Wuxian also gets this, it is why he is terrified of the potential hurt Lan Wangji had been put through unintentionally because of himself and the assumptions of outsiders as well that influenced both of their hesitance to be open of their growing feelings, trust and love.

We all want to think of the best in those close to us. Wei Wuxian understands how that becomes so natural to the point of blinding yourself to the worst. It is what he did when it came to Jiang Cheng who continued to escalate his hate and actions towards Wei Wuxian who gave Jiang Cheng the benefit of doubt until he no longer could. And it is what Lan Xichen is faced with when it comes to the whole of Jin Guangyao's crimes exposed. Wei Wuxian was the perpetual stain and hurt for Jiang Cheng and did take the blame Jiang Cheng put upon him while reasoning with himself that Jiang Cheng had such a right and what good would it do for him to complain.

Lan Xichen trapped himself in the blindness of wanting Jin Guangyao to be reasonable in his choices in a very unfair world that condemned his class. He did know that Lan Wangji loved Wei Wuxian, he was weary of that love due to not knowing the whole. And why at the end he is disgusted, horrified, hurt in his own self snd yes embarrassed with his stubborn assumptions and blindness. He is not proud of that and what he is torn up over at the end. It's not the great tragic friendship he supposedly lost, it is his own stubbornness and ignorance he let overcome him and what he allowed to go on for too long. He is forced to see his one sided idea of Wei Wuxian was wrong, he has no hate over that, he to a point had seen Wei Wuxian as an influence for Lan Wangji to open up, yet lost his own faith in that due to his assumed biases.

He to a fault is coddling to the point of it being offensively infantilizing to Lan Wangji. Wei Wuxian understands the why of this and also is completely logical in understanding as to why Lan Xixchen thinks as such. He thinks Lan Xichen is a good man, because he is, whether we the audience like it or not in the logic of their world Wei Wuxian understands the mechanism of Lan Wangji's punishment as well and the cruelty it was for the society they are stuck in that is slow to change. Simple kind men are not made to be in a world of intricacy and conspiracy because it is more complicated than they know. Good intentions and offer of protection is dangerous when you have not been exposed to cruelty that can personally hurt you and take advantage of you when you are ignorant to the extent of the backlash.

I think this is also why Wei Wuxian in the end does respect Lan Xichen he had been there as well. He can't condemn something that he had been a part of at one point and had been taken advantage himself by multiple others.

#mdzs #mo dao zu shi #lan xichen #wei wuxian #also wei Wuxian doesn't want sanctimonious speeches in defense of himself #he would like support nothing more than knowing someone else understands him #he doesn't crave the world to want him #only those that are able to and want to understand him effortlessly

31 notes · View notes

skaruresonic · 27 days

Note

So Sonic 3's trailer finally dropped today. Any thoughts on it?

I had zero hype for this film because I didn't like the previous two and had no reason to believe this one would turn out any different. Lo and behold! ...it doesn't.

There's so much I could talk about.

• The shameless digging up of the corpse of my favorite Sonic game just to dress it up Norman Bates-style. Why yes, I love getting butchered adaptations of SA2 shoved down my throat. Keep 'em coming.

• The fact that the overly-furry aesthetic Paramount chose for Sonic and the other anthros still looks plug-ugly to my eyes no matter how much I try to get acclimated to it. In fact, it somehow looks even worse here than it did in previous movies.

• The fact that they ripped off a scene from Matrix Revolutions. Interesting choice, lmao.

• Jimbotnik continuing to register as "Jim Carrey in a costume" and not as Eggman.

• Agent Stone continuing to be a nothingburger of a character aside from being a living footstool for Jimbotnik. I thought everybody said he was going to be 3's main antagonist. Why is he even here.

• Jimbotnik calling Gerald "Pop-Pop," cutesy-ing it up for no real reason, when Eggman simply called him "grandpa" at most in the games. What, is his grandfather Mike Ehrmantraut now?

• The original game's "fuck the police" angle now being ignored in favor of maybe making GUN look like the good guys (what?).

• The fact that the ARK, an iconic location, is nowhere in sight is making me more than a tad apprehensive. Idk if this thing is supposed to replace it:

• This one really steams my hams: the fact that Paramount portrays Jimbotnik's weight gain via hateful stereotypes of fat men which the games do not employ in their overall portrayal of Eggman. It reflects a fatphobic attitude I could have told you was the case years ago judging by the fact that they cast a thin man in the role.

Games!Eggman is stylish and immaculately groomed, but Jimbotnik has to be a slob who dresses like The Dude just because he gained a little weight. Of course. 🙄

It really bothers me because Eggman is quite possibly one of the only examples of positive fat male representation I can point to, and they can't even let him be a little fat onscreen without literally exposing his belly with the intent to make fun of him in ways the games seldom do, if ever.

God fucking forbid he actually weighs the 281 lbs. he does in canon; Paramount would probably portray him like Fat Bastard from Austin Powers.

In lieu of being portrayed as dumb and weak, as is usually the case for fat male characters, Games!Eggman is portrayed as cunning, intelligent, powerful (physically and mentally), and stylish in a way that commands respect, despite whatever this Chili's says to discredit him. Eggman is fucking cool, and y'all are tripping if you don't think so.

• The fact that this movie is probably going to be cringe on the basis of its constant bathos-inducing insistence on making the characters crack mistimed jokes during serious moments.

• Doing a double take when Sonic called Shadow an "alien," possibly realizing that "alien" is the film universe's designation for anthros, then promptly short-circuiting and catching on fire. Can we not.

• Why does the trailer insist on making Shadow look like a wet cat? They did not deep-freeze my boy like they did in the games. Games!Shadow emerged from stasis minty-fresh, whereas Movie!Shadow looks like a newborn kitten yeeted straight out of the womb:

Disgustang. Stop that.

• The fact that everyone gives '06 flack for aesthetic whiplash but thinks Shadow looking like a muppet beside an irl little girl is fine, actually:

And the fact that said little girl may be killed just making dead Maria jokes 10x more uncomfortable than they need to be.

• They missed an opportunity for a fun visual gag by having the bathroom sign read "occupied" instead of "eggupied" or "hatching" (as in hatching a scheme. or a shit. maybe both, lol). Something like that:

They can pay homage to the Akira bike slide and the Super Burly Brawl from Matrix Revolutions, but God forbid we actually allude to Sonic games :v

---

...But most of this can be boiled down to "Paramount gonna Paramount."

All in all, I'm likely to continue my time-honored tradition of seeing the movie when it releases in theaters because deep down, I'm still a Sonic whore and subsequently pretending the films don't exist thereafter lol

#asks #spoiler warning

14 notes · View notes

paintedhyenadogs · 5 months

Text

Just because Im lowkey pissed that people don't understand the archive warnings on AO3 and get mad at the author because of their own lack of understanding:-

Here are what the archive warning tags mean and what each apply to:

No Archive Warnings Apply

This means the fic doesn't have any of the content that fit into the other warnings

Still tread with caution, especially if there are no other tags, as in 0. No relationship tags, no character tags, nothing, nada. It means the author might be really new or just was too lazy to use any tags or warnings. Know the risk or play it safe and don't read.

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

This means the fic might have none, some or all of the listed warnings. This is the warning. You might end up reading triggering material, or reading a fluffy sweet fic. It's a toss up, so if you aren't willing to take the risk, DO NOT READ.

If you've filtered out any of the other archive warnings and see this one, make sure you are ready to encounter something that might be triggering, that you've filtered or just avoid it. Even if the other tags don't indicate it, be wary and stay cautious, remember that this is still a warning.

Graphic Depictions of Violence

The content of the fic features graphic violence, as is stated. But if the creator chose not to tag what happens specifically that is violent, be ready for anything ranging from a bloody fist fight, to cannibalism to eroguro to violent torture.

Rape/Non Con

The fic will contain rape/noncon, which I've also seen include dubious consent/dubcon. It can be a major plot point in the story of the fic, or be smut. Read the additional tags to get a gauge of if it is one or the other. If there are no other tags, and you only want to read a story driven fic that may have rape/noncon, play it safe and don't read.

Underage

The fic has pedophillia and just like the rape/noncon warning, can be either a plot point or part of smut. Just like the above, if you do not want to read smut, play it safe and do not read if it has 0 additional tags. Honestly just filter it out all together, it's a good idea.

Some people also might use this tag when the fic involves sex between two underage characters (usually when the show is set in a high school), please keep this in mind if you aren't filtering the underage warning altogether. Also serves as a, "Always read additional tags!" note.

(Just in case someone gets on my ass and says "omg why would you say it also has smut under it ewww, are you a pedo?!" because I know someone will: I am simply saying that, the reality is, it's on the site. I don't wanna see that either, but it's there and I can't do a thing about it, just please be aware that you could be stumbling into a gross fic if you are not reading the tags properly.)

Major Character Death

A major character in the fic dies. This could be an OC, the reader, or a canon character.

If anyone feels I should revise and/or add these explanations, please tell me.

Additional words for newbies for ao3

AO3 is an archive site first, fanfiction hub second. It isn't for readers, it's for authors to archive their work and be able to label their work accordingly (or just not label it).

As a reader you should be respectful towards the authors and their work. You have no right to demand for a new chapter of a work you may like, you have no right to insult the author because of your own lack of knowledge or ignorance. Be grateful you're even getting any work from these people. Again, these people. These authors are real people like you and me, writing you fanfiction to read at no additional cost.

If you plan on posting on AO3, you should tag it, just so people can filter it, it's nice to be nice. I don't write on AO3 so I don't know what else to say on this part.

24 notes · View notes

general-cyno · 8 months

Note

Sitting here thinking about Luffy's blind faith in Zoro. I can tell a thousand reasons why Zoro's devotion makes even more sense, I mean, it's not like Luffy doesn't spend every moment unintentionally proving that Zoro was right to trust him. But Luffy's faith? Is it entirely based on the strength of Zoro's spirit? And I find that amazing. Crazy. Insane. Because Luffy canonically has no interest in those who don't have dreams but the only thing Zoro had when Luffy met him was his own dream and the conviction to hold on to it? And that was what struck Luffy the most, even before he knew that Zoro was actually a good person? And that Zoro is, for Luffy, probably the definition of invincible. Because he never gives up on his dream, because his way of joining the Straw Hats or sacrificing himself is to never give up on his dream but to make other dreams (Luffy's dream) part of his? I-

sorry for the late-ish reply anon! and hmmm. it may sound like I'm arguing semantics here but I don't really think luffy's faith in zoro (or anyone, for that matter) is blind per se. huge? heartfelt? intense? yeah, just not necessarily blind. for all that he's very trusting and prone to falling for tricks/underhanded methods, luffy is usually a very good judge of character and if he ever extends his trust or faith to someone it's bc he's got a reason for it or simply believes in their potential. if they fail to meet his expectations, it's their loss, not luffy's. he can take care of himself, and even if he's in danger he relies on his crew to back him up.

now curiously enough I've seen the "it doesn't make sense" argument for both zoro and luffy wrt each other, also that their relationship isn't very reciprocal from luffy's side and it's not something I really agree with. while their relationship does rely on more subtlety than people would think at first glance, I'd argue that as early as zoro's recruitment into the crew we can see why luffy trusts and believes in him as much he does. it's not solely about strength (mental or physical) because as interested as he may have been in zoro's reputation, luffy himself said he'd only ask zoro to join him if he turned out to be a good guy. though zoro had a cool dream, luffy wasn't exactly happy about how dismissive he seemed to be about pirates at first. ultimately, what persuaded him was witnessing first hand that zoro's the kind of person who'd eat dirt if it meant repaying someone's kindness, that he places great value in honor and is a man of his word even if those around him (like helmeppo back then) don't give him the same courtesy or mock him behind his back.

a dreamer just like luffy, someone who stays true to what he promises, who protected luffy, called him captain, became his first crewmate and long lasting companion, regarded him as his friend right away, pledged his dream to luffy's etc etc, how could luffy not have faith in him? not to mention zoro proved to be on luffy's crazy wavelength (to the point he understands luffy's reasoning and motivations to do xy without having to voice them out loud) and that he's as much of a dork too, on top of all that. if luffy's demonstrated why he's earned zoro's trust with his actions, either towards zoro or in general, zoro's also shown why luffy's had plenty of reasons from the beginning to have that much faith in him in turn, and those have only fortified with time, sometimes without luffy being aware of it (ie thriller bark). I've also mentioned it before and this kind of applies to his overall relationship with each member of the crew, but luffy's belief in zoro's strength, dream and so on is a reflection of zoro's in him. it's one of the many reasons I don't really see their mutual respect/devotion/loyalty as blind in either case. I love that about these two so much! everything about their relationship is so intentional, built brick by brick, sprinkled all over the story and their characters. so good.

#tp #replies #thank youuuu sm for this ask I'd been thinking abt these two again (always) but my brain's been kinda fried #so this gave me some inspiration #zolu

30 notes · View notes

pollyannawog · 3 months

Text

⭐️Polly’s writing commissions ⭐️

Hi there! I decided I’d just go ahead and make a writing comms post because well. I need the money. So if you want something written, especially a fanfic, read below!

About me

I am a 23 year old artist/biologist with a decent amount of literary classes under my belt due to my liberal arts education. You can find samples of my work on my ao3, with my more recent works being the highest quality. I love writing fanfiction, especially of the series I’ve already written for, but what I make for free would naturally be less polished than what I would write on request!

Pricing

My base rate is $1 USD/100 words, with a minimum word count of 1000 ($10 USD). As of now my policy is to pay half of the estimated price up front (more on that later), with the remainder paid upon completion of the work.

Commission rules and guidelines

Things I WILL write:

Angst

Fluff

Ships

Horror

Gore (Including character death and torture)

Mildly suggestive themes

Original fiction

Fanfiction

Things I will NOT write:

Smut

Ships between adult/minor, incest, or anything that doesn’t pass the vibe check (can be discussed if unsure)

Fandoms I am uncomfortable with/simply don’t know enough about*

Anything that promotes hate, bigotry, or otherwise problematic stances on groups of real life people and places

*If you would like me to write for a fandom I am not in, I may be willing to for an additional ‘research fee’, dependent on the story concept and complexity/length of the media of origin. That being said, here is a list of fandoms I am almost certainly willing to write for, and the ones I will NOT write for, period:

Will write:

Pokemon

Digimon**

Kirby

Fire Emblem**

Viva Piñata

Sonic the Hedgehog

MOTHER

Splatoon

Dungeon Meshi

Hunter X Hunter

Fullmetal Alchemist**

JJBA**

The Legend of Zelda**

Kid Icarus

**May not be knowledgeable about specific canons

If a specific fandom isn’t here, still feel free to ask if I’m willing/interested so long as it isn’t on the “will not write” list! That being said…

Will NOT write:

H*rry P*tter

H*talia

Att*ck on T*tan

F*af

S*uth P*rk

V*vziep*p shows

Like before, there may be other fandoms I’m uncomfortable with writing for, and I will let you know up front.

Strengths

While I am willing to write just about anything not on my exclusions list, I am most comfortable and well-versed with stories featuring themes of self-discovery, identity conflict, manipulation and control, speculative biology, and interpersonal conflict. Therefore, I am more likely to accept a commission with these themes as I am more confident I can deliver a satisfying product.

Those reading this page may already enjoy some of the works I have written in the past, including ones that I have stated could hypothetically have sequels at some point in time. If you are interested in paying for said sequel to be made, I may be willing to consider a slight discount on pricing given that I already have ideas (and in some cases early unfinished drafts) for said stories. In other words, if you want me to write a sequel to something, you can guarantee I will through commissioning!

Art

I often incorporate artwork into my fanfics, and for additional payment I can add art to your commission as well. My base price for these pieces depends on number and complexity, so it would be worked out on a case-by-case basis. Additionally, if you have artwork you made/commissioned from others that you want featured in your writing commission, please let me see and it will usually not be a problem or cost extra!

Terms and conditions

I reserve the right to decline or cancel a commission for any reason. In cases of cancellation (exception below) or if I am unable to finish a commission due to unforeseen circumstances, you will receive whatever I have already written and refunded the remainder if under half of the originally agreed upon length. If unfinished work is greater than the original payment, you will not be charged extra.

You may request that I not post the finished work publicly, in which case it will only be given to you as a pdf or word doc. However, I may use snippets of the finished product for advertising purposes later, but never the full thing. If this is a concern for you, we can discuss more in detail. I also reserve the right to not post a completed work to my socials, in which case you may do so but only under the condition that you keep my involvement anonymous (I don’t foresee this being an issue, but it is better safe than sorry.) In the case that the work is published to ao3, I request no mention be made on site about the work being paid for/commissioned, as site policy has rules against this!

I often ask friends if they will beta my work, and as such if you are adamant that the commission remains strictly between us that may incur additional cost depending on complexity. This is not, however, a guarantee that anything I write will have a beta reader. Upon delivery of the final payment, you will receive my final draft and may put together a request of minor edits and changes to be made that must not exceed an additional ~2 hours worth of work.

If the final product is +/- 1k words from the original agreed-upon estimate, you will not be charged or refunded for the difference. Anything under or over this amount will be refunded to you in full or will be added to your final payment amount. I will communicate to the best of my ability as soon as possible if it seems that the story will be shorter or longer than originally anticipated (though it will likely trend towards longer) and we can decide how to proceed from there. In some cases, additional payment or the removal of desired plot points and themes may be necessary as I prefer not to deliver a sub-standard work.

Do not use any of my works for training ai language models. If I find out you have any involvement in creating ai tools using stolen or scraped artwork, that is grounds for immediate cancellation of your commission without delivery of the unfinished product and without refund. I do not take that kind of thing lightly.

By requesting a commission, you agree to be held to these terms. Thank you.

Timeline

The timeframe of delivery of the finished project ideally would be ~1 week for works 1-5k in length, 1-2 for 5-15k, 2-3 for 15-30k, and so on. These are estimations, however, and depending on other factors may be completed more or less quickly. Progress reports come in the form of chapter snippets and synopses, in which case after the completion of a chapter I will send you a few paragraphs and a summary of events. You may make requests and adjustments, with the knowledge that time spent revising increases the time before the piece can be completed.

Depending on the length and complexity of the commission, I may close down additional commissions until completion. Additionally, I may close commissions if time is limited. Chapter length and number is up to you, with the acknowledgement that longer chapters mean fewer updates. Chapters must also be a minimum of 1500 words, so commissions under 3000 words will be written as one shots.

Contact and payment

Please DM me here on tumblr to discuss any potential commissions, and payment will be made through PayPal. No writing will be done before initial payment is received, and full refunds will only be available in the first 24 hours after payment is made.

Thank you for reading! I hope to work with you soon!!

~Polly

#Polly writes #commissions #commission info #writing commissions #writing comms #fanfiction commissions #fanfic commissions #artists on tumblr #:3 I hope I can make some cool stuff for people!!!!

11 notes · View notes

fromfiction · 4 months

Note

(excuse the slight lengthiness of this ask pls 😭)

um hello! i’ve seen you answering questions on this blog, so i hope you can answer this one! /nf

i’m entirely new to the term and idea of “fictionkin” but ever since i found out about what fickin was and what it meant, i figured it might be me but i couldn’t be 100% sure because of a smaller thing.

for a bit more context which i feel may be important: i pretty much spent all my life mentally viewing myself as literally animated, as animated medias have always been a special interest since i was little (i’m now diagnosed w/ autism which is why i used that term btw). though i never truly viewed myself as any canon character, i always viewed myself as my self insert sonas growing up, my finest examples of this through the years would be self insert sonas of mlp and eddsworld. nowadays, as my main special interest is my own work (as a writer and artist) i mentally view myself as my persona, i always have during these current years and i believe i always will, to the point where i don’t even associate myself with my body or face physically bc i’ve always viewed myself as some sort of fictional version of myself and in my mind that’s how i look to myself. to put this in terms of an example, i once told someone that my physical body is like a car because i like to decorate it and make it look nice and i use it to get around in this world, but my persona is the driver because in my mind, that’s who i am and i’m simply using this “car” to get around (remember this is an example i don’t literally think my body is a car lmao)

but yea, the reason i’m very confused is because i always see fictionkins identifying as canonical characters from a media, or ig even self inserts as i’ve heard somewhere (correct me if i’m wrong) but i never hear about people identifying as their OWN characters if this makes sense. in my mind, a fictional character is a fictional character, which would include my persona that is very much fictional in every way (atp my persona is a developed character with fictional lore, other worldly traits (like magic), and is always a part of little scenarios or short stories i make up for comfort or outta boredom, just happens to resemble me irl in most ways but is basically how i view myself mentally down from personality to clothes that i really connect with but don’t really wear irl)

but anyway yes, i’ve tried and tried to research for anything that might be similar to my case but i don’t really find much at all.

i hope this ask was okay to send, ik it might be lengthy ik you weren’t asking for my “life story” it’s just that i’ve always wondered what was wrong with me in terms of this topic and why i viewed myself as being a fictional character, and now that i feel closer to a possible answer it’s very relieving but still confusing since i don’t know if the label really fits what i go through. i can’t help but wonder if it’s also maladaptive daydreaming or multiple things/something else but i prob can’t expect much advice or help w that on this blog which is perfectly okay lmao

again, if you read this or even answer this, thank you i’ve really needed to ask this desperate question to someone who seems to know a lot about this subject for possible help so i came here bc i saw that this blog was active for the most part! i’m also sorry if i asked things that weren’t okay to ask or have said/assumed things that weren’t okay either, again i’m very new to fictionkin as a whole.

have a great day and thank you <3

Hey friend. No worry about asking!

It sounds like you're asking if you can be fictionkin of an "original character".

The answer is absolutely. There are plenty of people who are kin of their own ocs, you just don't usually see them talking about it, mostly because their posts don't end up in fandom tags.

#fictionkin #fictionkind #fictionfolk #alterhuman

11 notes · View notes

lover-of-mine · 2 months

Note

Usually I don’t engage on discourse on here (the block button and the not interested buttons are my best friends lol) but I saw a post earlier that said Aisha and Kenny doing that con (the infamous one) next year is same thing as the cameos that Lou was doing. And while I understand their point at face value, it’s just not the same. I think I would understand it if it was another main cast member doing cameos similar to how Lou was, but that’s not the case here. Lou was charging almost $200 dollars per cameo when he’s barely had 30 minutes of screen time altogether to spread head canons about his character/the show. Like I get what they’re saying, but I feel like they’re forgetting a key aspect to their point, and that is that who Lou plays, isn’t a main character on the show, hell Tommy hasn’t even had his own scene on the show without another main character being the focus of the scene. Meanwhile Aisha and Kenny play literal main characters on the show, their characters have had both multiple episodes be specifically dedicated to just their characters, if anyone has a right to speak on the show (especially at a fandom based event), it’s them. And that’s ignoring the fact that at a con setting you wouldn’t have to pay someone per question every single time you want an answer for something, because like I already said, they’re two completely different things, so why even try to compare them.

I also saw something being said about how people were paying $5 dollars for that extra part of the Q&A Ryan did on that podcast and how that’s also the same thing as what Lou did with his cameos. Which again, I see where they’re drawing their conclusions, but they’re missing the fact they’re two different things, cause like comparing $5 dollars for someone’s Patreon to get an Q&A segment and early access to a podcast episode to having to pay once again, almost $200 dollars per question is insane. Plus that podcast wasn’t even really about 9-1-1, so again, two different things.

In summary, I understand what they’re saying, I truly do, but at the same time, I think since they’re choosing to ignore the certain thing about the situations, they’re essentially making their point invalid before it even has substantial grounds. I don’t even have an actual opinion in regards to Lou/Tommy because they’re sorta just there, like they hold no weight to the show and I think that’s what brothers a lot of them, to them Tommy/Lou holds a lot more weight because of the cameos he did at the beginning. And that simply is not the case.

Sorry for rambling, usually I don’t let that stuff I see bother me, but those takes I’ve been seeing have kinda annoyed me lol.

-The Yapper

Hi my love 🩷

I did not see them trying to compare a con to the cameos, but a con setting is very different than the cameos, sure they are offering the packages with the personalized videos and stuff, but Aisha and Kenny, as leads from the show have a lot more liberty to discuss their characters in a fandom setting when they've been actively developing these characters for 7 years. I guess, sure, you're paying for access to them but at the same time we are talking about someone who played a main character for over 100 episodes doing a con and engaging with fans within a controlled environment and someone charging 100 something dollars to film a video agreeing with the message you sent them when they never had a scene about themselves. Understand the frustration but at the same time... And the Patreon thing is not comparable AT ALL tho. Simply because Ryan is not the one getting the money. You're paying for extra content from the podcaster, Ryan just happens to be part of the content he's putting out.

I do feel you on the "they just want them to have a bigger impact than they actually do" part, so they are just grabbing onto anything they can.

#911 #i really need a tag for asks #anon 😌#the yapper anon #<- i love this btw

10 notes · View notes

rad-hound · 8 months

Note

Skullface character analysis. Could even be bullet points if you would rather create a separate post for a more in-depth analysis.

THESIS.

If you've either played Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes—or opted against doing so due to some of the... unsavory, disrespectful, and frankly disgusting contents within it, in which case I completely understand why one might not want to so much as graze it with a yard stick—or Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, which, to me, contains the more memorable (as insufferable as it can become) depiction of their titular antagonist... of whom I can safely assume was universally recognized as such, you and your fellow man may come to similar, near-identical consensuses in regards to aforementioned character's most ineffable traits.

Perhaps, as either a gamer or a mere onlooker, seeking to simply absorb the story, you felt yourself either taken or disgusted by the antagonist's appearance... or perhaps you found yourself inadvertently fauning over his voice—provided by actor James Horan—only to later slap your own hand. Or, maybe neither such sentiments ever crossed your mind, and you found yourself parts-amused, parts-ashamed that a simple one-off character was shoehorned into one of the most important roles in the series; his presence now highly-implicated through the whole of the Metal Gear series's canon upon his own pilot, with no semblance of question or doubt to the canonicity or legitimacy of such implications.

The character in question being, of course, Skull Face, whose identity throughout Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain's development no doubt underwent a multitude of bouts of trial-and-error to arrive at the 'alpha' version of the character we know—and hate—today. And so, before I get into the nitty-gritty of the character in question, I would like to take a moment to reflect upon these bouts of 'trial-and-error,' the art direction which led to the base version of this character, as well as aspects which may have initially been left out, or dropped entirely, between the conception of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, and whether or not core facets of said character underwent any major (or minor) changes between the progression of aforementioned games.

DEVELOPMENT / PRE-GAME CONCEPTUALIZATION.

The very earliest—if not painfully vague—hint the public was ever given about the conception of Skull Face as a character, would be within the gameplay / cinematic trailer dedicated to Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, released in mid-to-late 2012. With the phrase, which was later utilized within the trailer for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, "From FOX, two phantoms were born," alongside a very brief glimpse at the back of the character's head, for a duration of two seconds, or so.

The earlier quote, "From FOX, two phantoms were born," of which was later believed to have implicated both the protagonist and antagonist of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain; Venom / Punished Snake, and Skull Face, both mere phantoms of not only FOX as a whole, but of one another. A sentiment which is greatly accentuated throughout the duration of the game within which they are both present, especially between aforementioned characters in their every interaction.

Coupled with the release of Ground Zeroes, as though to break tradition in regards to how extra information / concept art was usually released alongside or a year or so after the initial release, Skull Face—despite his initial debut being within Ground Zeroes—appears to have not been featured within any sort of official artbooks. At least, not until the release of The Phantom Pain a year or so later, in 2015.

Though, this could easily be because of just how closely linked Ground Zeroes and The Phantom Pain were in both theme and in conception; the former being described as nothing more than a "prologue" to the latter, whose IP later received an official artbook. Which, predictably, consisted of concept art for both games, despite the 'uneven' distribution of said art between them; the latter receiving a lot more than the former, likely due to Konami Digital Entertaiment's own priorities at the time.

And, only within the shallows of the artbook's contents are we granted but a glimpse of how the character's appearance—and perhaps the very fabric of the character, both in concept and in execution, in its entirety—may have differed from its base version, given the very few minute footnotes concept artist Yoji Shinkawa left sprinkled neatly across the page. (Rough descriptions of each image are available within each image I.D.)

Even still, I believe there is only so much information we can gather from the concept sketches—and the hand-written footnotes which accompany them—alone. However, if I were to wager a guess, if any, I would come to the assumption that Skull Face, as a character, was meant to be far more different than what we may perceive him as today... for better or worse.

For example, the sketch at the right-hand side of each image, encompassing the notably smooth, scarless visage of Skull Face from another plane entirely; one of which—located within the second image, just to the left of the sketch embodying Skull Face's 'beta version'—is accompanied by a blurb of hand-written text, which reads the following: "WASP" / "アングロ," a possible acronym for the term "White Anglo-Saxon Protestant." Which seems a little strange to me, given Skull Face's own background as a man born in war-torn Hungary. But, admittedly, it is interesting to learn about how things could have been, rather than how they turned out.

Allegedly, in the same manner—while his name in both the preliminal concept art and within Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain's game files was "WASP," his unit being derived of the very same moniker—I believe his initial name was meant to be "Scar Face," at least outside of the game's North American release. Likely due to the phonetic similarities between it and "Skull Face," as per an interview between Japanese video game magazine, Famitsu and Metal Gear creator, Hideo Kojima, in 2012.

Though, the already-existing information we've been bestowed regarding Skull Face's past, the hardships he was subjected to endure, and the nature of his... 'upbringing,' as it were, should prove to be equally as intriguing. At least, if we are to follow after the release of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain... where we are then provided a much fuller picture as to what kind of a man he truly is. To delve into his mind, so to speak.

BIOGRAPHY / PHYSIOGNOMY.

Skull Face, legal / real name unknown, is said to have been born to two lower-class bomb factory workers in a remote village in northern Transylvania, which at the time had already endured a number of power struggles; at points being caught in the crossfire of both Nazi Germany during World War II, as well as the Soviets during the Cold War.

With this information, it is but a given that Skull Face likely never experienced a day of peace throughout his entire childhood, of which was horrifically interrupted the moment the factory within which him and his family worked tirelessly—located in Almásfüzitő, a rural village in Hungary—was carpet-bombed by the Allied forces in World War II. The... 'franticism' which resulted from this attack, this commotion, resulting in Skull Face being doused in searing rapeseed oil; the resulting wounds not only exacerbated by the mobs of panicked escapees trying to outrun the worst of the attack, but by foreign hands later in his life. Presumed to have been colonizers.

This exact moment, I would identify as the primary turning point in his life, as tragic as it may be. Not to say that Skull Face's own situation, or... 'the cards he'd been dealt,' were anything but convenient, but when we take a moment to regard the nature of the injuries he endured after the bombing, one would have to be blind to not unanimously recognize how such an event would no-doubt traumatize a child beyond compare. The scars which so ornament his body weren't acquired when he was an adult, no... he was but a child when his flesh burnt and rotted away. And, worse yet, they were only added upon as his home country was... 'passed between hands,' so to speak.

In the worst fashion possible, only to be accentuated upon by colonizers, the very precipice of his childhood—and, by definition, his identity—had been stripped away from him in a near-instant.

Within the contents of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, we can very clearly bear witness to how he may have coped with such intensive trauma. Adorning nothing but a domino mask upon his visage—likely symbolism, more than anything else, given its absence in Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes—and claiming to have "[worn his] broken visage — [his] skull, out in the open, so that [he] may never forget what [he's] lost," in a bitter conversation with his superior. Likely not only just referring to the gnarled burn scars which adorn his visage—stripping him of any sort of visual genetic traits—but also in reference to how—with the near-constant colonization of his home country—Skull Face never truly had a home language; having been forced to learn new language after new language as his home country of Transylvania, later-Hungary was overcome with war and annexation.

I also feel that his upbringing served to be a great influence to the sort of 'character' he puts on; not only the metaphorical—and very literal—mask he wears upon himself to camouflage his deeper trauma or intent, but his manner of wardrobe and style, all the same. Of which consists of primarily dark, mute, and moody colors, underscored by the very clear Western influence that is present within his apparel, complete with a sort of 'Big Iron' of his own; a custom lever-action rifle, whose basis is said to have been upon that of the 'Mare's Leg,' a shortened rifle of the same caliber which is used by actor Steve McQueen's character, Josh Randall, from the television series, 'Wanted: Dead or Alive,' which aired between 1958 and 1961.

Even outside of references to pop culture, there are even instances in-game—or, more particularly, between the likes of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain—where third parties or flat characters acknowledge such a unique trait in regards to both Skull Face's unsettling appearance and his style. Even going so far as to, at some point, jokingly refer to him as "just a Republican"; likely not a jab at his intrinsic, terroristic nature, but in primary regards to his style, of which also leads Skull Face—within the very same context—to being described, wittily, as a "costume party."

In lieu with this very discernible influence to his style, and—by default—his identity, I could also reasonably come to the assumption that Skull Face likely intended to come across as some sort of lone-wolf, lone-ranger-type character. If we were to combine both his wardrobe's Western facets, and the very gloomy color scheme which was chosen to compliment it, it is no surprise that Skull Face is also regularly referred or compared to the Grim Reaper, as evident by the line of dialogue, "that grim reaper lookalike," present within Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes.

Such comparisons being drawn may also be evident within Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, as well, outside of the otherwise humored dialogue which was present within its predecessor; in reference to the words Skull Face speaks—in Hungarian—to one of the diseased bodies within the Devil's House, before proceeding to shoot the party of reference in the head, "I accept your grace, your sorrow, unto myself. Rest in peace."

However, I firmly believe that it was due to Skull Face's own unapproachability—a neat splicing of his physical, mental, and tactical traits—which segue into those around him holding otherwise varying views about him at a first glance. The intentional and tonal differences and implications between "costume party" and "that grim reaper lookalike," as it were... as though his innate lack of identity is so misleading that those around him simply do not know what to make of him. Whether or not to take him seriously, or to take the piss out of his wardrobe. Even if it was more than likely that his actions spoke louder than his words.

STRENGTHS / VICES.

A core facet, and theme, of Skull Face's being—of which I believe to be both a strength and a weakness in its own rite—would be his undying, harrowing thirst for revenge, of which regularly reiterated and built upon within dialogue between himself and several of the game's characters, but whose interactions were most prominent around the likes of Big Boss, Venom Snake, and his superior, Major David Oh, all of whom Skull Face claims not to hold any animosity towards, despite his actions—in this case—speaking louder than his words. And, if anything, allows his thirst for revenge to overcome any kind of abstinence he could have exercised, and thus, resulted in his downfall.

However, despite this very clear flaw, it would be disingenuous to claim that Skull Face was a sloppy, uncoordinated individual, both in the flesh and in the battlefield. Even in his youth, it was said that he was quite competent in the realm of reconnaissance and espionage; particularly in the Soviet Union, where it is rumored that he was responsible for the death of Eurasian dictator Joseph Stalin, in an act which Skull Face sought as a means to have "gotten revenge for his people," for the erasure and destruction of his culture and first language, the blame of which already fell partly upon the Soviets, the fact of which likely emboldened Skull Face to have made such a move from the beginning.

This instance, alongside several others, helped to sow his otherwise terrifying reputation in the battlefield, with how discreetly and effectively he performed not only assassinations, but interrogations, as well; to the extent where any and all ethical concern was thrown completely out the window, as though his own moral bankruptcy knew zero bounds—even going so far as to resort to lechery—so long as he could 'fish out' the information he sought. Whether such a trait would be a strength, or a weakness, is up for your interpretation.

Such a harrowing presence in the battlefield—in particular regards to Skull Face's skills as both an assassin and spymaster—was what initially drew together both him and his future superior, Major David Oh, who found himself quite taken by not only the man's talents, but his outward appearance, in its own rite. Already having had a tendency to recruit oddballs, as they were... it seemed almost inevitable that the Major would later promote the man to be his very own Executive Officer; at the time, beneath the jurisdiction of the British Special Air Service, only to later resign and stem off into his own covert branch of operations beneath the American CIA — FOX. And tightly woven they appeared to remain, even as the Major's priorities begun to change.

One priority of which Skull Face grew to loathe, despite claiming to have not felt such antagonism towards the subject at all: Operation Snake Eater, or rather, how much time and energy the Major appeared to have put into the project, all the while treating FOX's covert support team, later turned strike force, XOF—of whom Skull Face commanded—as a little less than cannon fodder. Or, rather, perhaps Skull Face simply needed a character—or, rather, a kind of personification or physical manifestation of all he hated about language as a means of executive communication—to inflict his inward, aggregated spite upon. And Major Zero—given his English background, and his ploy to unify the world through information control—appeared to be the perfect scapegoat, despite Skull Face's seemingly heartfelt proclamation that, "[The Major] never left [him] to die," and that, "[he] owe[d] [the Major] [his own] life," upon concluding his interrogations of Paz Ortega Andrade. Yet another one of his own weaknesses on shameless, open display: his hypocrisy, of which is a recurring trait of his that is rather difficult to ignore.

This alone, the mere presence of the Major within his life—the grievous sense of revenge which lay dormant deep beneath Skull Face's bones, only to later take out upon this once-former superior—would prove to be both his greatest strength, and his greatest weakness. A strength, because of the sole fact that Skull Face was successfully able to 'pull the wool over Zero's eyes,' taking it upon himself to finish what his superior had begun so many years ago... but a weakness, for not only falling short of his genocidal goal, but being so foolish as to believe that the Major—a spymaster of his own caliber—simply didn't think to have a backup plan, let alone such a multitude of them, given how he'd already safeguards in place in the event that his XO betrays him. Such a flawed, heavy-handed means of underestimation eventually coming back to 'take an axe to Skull Face's knees'... literally.

However, despite all of his flaws, it is well-observed from a variety of angles and perspectives that Skull Face himself was a rather eccentric, charismatic character; a likely explanation as to how he grew to hold such unwavering influence over not just the mind of his own superior, or the minds of his very own unit, but entire regions of war-torn countries, as well. His unit of whom, while terrified of him, also looked up to him as a leader for both his tact and his efficiency. Of which was accentuated and amplified tenfold throughout the events of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, as Skull Face appeared to pull every possible stop to put an end to Snake's life, even going so far as to deploy the world's first and only bipedal, self-operating weapon upon him. And, if Skull Face had gotten his way, the entire world would have likely crumbled before his knees, or died trying.

PHILOSOPHY / TRAGEDY.

If I were to describe Skull Face in theatrical terms—in all of his imperfections, trials and tribulations, his wrongdoings, and the actions of which he performed out of genuine good will, no matter how grotesque, bankrupt, or questionable—and if I were to place him upon a scale between both a theatric comedy, and a theatric tragedy, you likely already know which term I believe would best suit the progression of his life. Though, despite all of his quirks, it isn't as though anything within his life would have constituted as a comedy, anyways, even upon his very conception.

Every instance within his life, ever since his birth, appear to have done nothing but inconvenience him; tempting a deep, broiling hatred to stir within his soul... and thus, if I were to briefly put myself in his shoes, would it be incorrect or bankrupt to state that his anger was justified? Throughout the duration of his life, hand after hand, he'd been shown nothing but animosity by his fellow man, and thus grew accustomed to, or perhaps comfortable with the sensation of it; of both being resented and holding equal-parts resentment towards others.

Upon the violent, abrupt loss of his cultural identity, instead of simply losing his linguistic faculties, they were simply replaced. Replaced with a language of nukes, of spite and hatred towards the world and its inhabitants. A kind of sadistic nihilism, of which made no reservations for any sensations of hope. Of which he found to be nothing more than a survival skill—akin to mankind's tendency to try and predict events to better assimilate themselves with the unknowns of the world—and thus, did not regard it as important. Likely due to the fact that he himself had lost the ability to feel, and thus no longer held such anxieties about the world as his fellow man does.

Though, at the time of his inevitable death, as though to plead for one last kindness from a world which so abandoned, abused, and betrayed him, he was granted with a bullet to the skull upon request, thanks to the lingering, almost pitiful obedience of that of Emmerich. One of the few people which—even with his own unapologetic evils—Skull Face sought as nothing more than scum-of-the-Earth, impossibly lower beneath his own standards. The revelation of which brings me to believe that, even a man as lowly and morally-corrupt as Skull Face still cultivated some kind of moral superiority over others, and thus, likely viewed his own incentive as nothing more than him acting upon what he thought was right and just. Just as his superior, Zero, truthfully believed his acts of evil were simply an extension of his late friend's will, rather than a power grab. Rather than a simple, misunderstood exchange of words.

But, even after Skull Face's death, yet again he appeared as a phantom within Venom Snake's peripheral; Mother Base's own phantom pains never having eased, even after the object of their collective resentment had been purged from the Earth. And, given Skull Face's once-similar convictions towards those who dealt him a bad hand within his life, I truthfully don't believe that he would have ever been satisfied, in the end. As evident by his carefully-chosen words to Venom, as they encountered one another for the second time, "You hope hatred might someday replace the pain, but it never goes away."

With this, it is only fitting and appropriate that Skull Face's tragedy be recognized for what it is; a tale—doomed from the start—of an individual, tainted and torn from his elders from the very beginning, only to be excaberated upon as the years trudged by. Only to result in being downtrodden beneath the heavy rebar of a steel platform, begging for release... as though he hadn't spent the majority of his adulthood tormenting others, in a manner near-identical to how he himself was esteemed.

Because, as per the scholarly definition of a tragedy, Skull Face was nothing more than the architect of his own demise.

CONCLUSION.

To reiterate the material present within this analysis's thesis—of which already breached any sort of reasonable limit for thesi, and so I find I must at least attempt to reasonably cut back upon my own rambling—Skull Face as a character is most definitely not without flaw, within both an internal and external point of view. While a lot of his more unsavory, frankly cringeworthy traits may simply get passed off as nothing more than an error upon the writer's behalf, or as 'non-canonical,' I feel it is still important to acknowledge it all; the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Given his broad, but very understandable controversies and vices within the fandom, do I believe that there should have been any chance of redemption or reconsideration in regards to mending his character, or at least in regards to how his most fatal flaws were executed? Yes, I do, without a shadow of a doubt. I find that the... particular manner within which he's written in his pilot is nothing short of shameful and grotesque, and that it all could have been handled with a lot more care and delicacy. Does this mean that the remainder of his character was handled with the same largess of sloppy carelessness? Not necessarily.

Were I in the position or shoes of the primary antagonist, would such a scenario bring me to better sympathize with or understand the perspective from which Skull Face comes? Perhaps not, as I can't say for sure whether or not I'd even hold the mental capacity to do, or want to do, so. Though, I wouldn't mind forming a sort of open discussion about the topic, so long as it is metered. I would prefer it if discussions surrounding this character remained appropriate, were they to occur, but I don't at all mind any sort of speculation / theorizing. In fact, I'm a sucker for it.

But, I digress, as problematic as he is, it is difficult for me to deny how taken I am by him and the dilemma which surrounds him. Perhaps that is simply the appeal; to bear witness to a kind of 'forbidden fruit,' from an outsider perspective, and to provide my insight as to what it truly means. To be unafraid to hold these discussions, and to provide my criticisms with utmost care, as opposed to simply 'dogging upon' and dismissing a character entirely, despite their flaws and strengths alike. As though the whole of the Metal Gear series isn't already bountiful with a plenty-problematic cast of its own.

After all, what could possibly be more problematic than a franchise whose main villains—and protagonists, in part—are war criminals? Such, as it is at this moment, shall be left up for debate, as that is simply another topic for another time. And I'm all out of time.

So, I want to thank @miz-orque for this very contemplative, but very controversial ask, of which I wanted to handle with as much care as I possibly could. So I hope this shall suffice.

#text #rambles #ask #miz-orque #metal gear #mgs #metal gear solid #mgsv #metal gear solid v the phantom pain #skull face #character analysis #essay #headcanon #(??? maybe?)#reading comprehension #media literacy #fandom #puritans

16 notes · View notes