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mst3kproject · 5 years

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623: The Amazing Transparent Man

You know, when I think about it, it seems like a ‘transparent man’ should be a different thing from an ‘invisible man’. An invisible man you can’t see… but there are a lot of transparent things that you can see. Glass, water, quartz, or clear plastic are transparent, but you can still tell where they are because they bend the light that passes through them. So shouldn’t a transparent man be more like the cloaked Predator, in that as soon as he moves you notice the distortion? I’m just saying, that would look way cooler.

As the movie begins, some thoughtful person has arranged for bank robber Joey Faust to escape from prison. Upon arriving at a ranch in the middle of what appears to be a nuclear wasteland, Faust learns that his benefactor is retired Major Paul Krenner, who wants to take over the world with an army of invisible soldiers. To that end Krenner has forced his pet Nazi, Dr. Ulof, to build an invisibility ray, which he uses on Faust so the latter can steal tin cans of radioactive macguffin for him. Faust, however, has other plans. His invisible ass has banks to rob… if he doesn’t die of radiation poisoning first.

Like The Thing that Couldn’t Die, The Amazing Transparent Man is a one-trick movie. All it’s got is an invisible man moving things around (and the innards of an invisible guinea pig), but it works a little better here since it never dangles anything else. The effects aren’t nearly as fancy as Griffin’s empty clothes skipping gaily down the lane in The Invisible Man (made nearly thirty years earlier), but they do their job and I quite like how we briefly see the guinea pig’s skeleton and circulatory system. It’s too bad they couldn’t do the same thing with Faust, which I’m guessing was because they didn’t have the money to do it in motion when he reappears in the bank robbery scene.

The minimal nature of the effects suggests that this is a film that’s supposed to be carried by its story, which is great! Unfortunately, the story attempting to carry it is rather confused. For starters here is, yes, another movie in which there’s nobody to root for! With the sole exception of Maria Ulof, who never even speaks a line, every single named character in The Amazing Transparent Man is a villain or at the very least an asshole. The result almost works, though, because they’re assholes working against each other. We have at least a basic idea of what each person wants and how they’re hoping to achieve it, and therefore we understand how and why they’re at odds.

We’ve got Krenner, who is the most explicit bad guy of the movie. He’s bitter about being discharged from the army, so he became a deranged megalomaniac with Nazis in his attic, and he’s going to show them, show them all, with his invisible army (which I have to say is slightly more practical than an army of werewolves or mutant fish-men). He trusts nobody, and therefore bringing this plan to fruition requires keeping his associates under control, and he has things to hold over each of them. For Faust, it’s the threat of turning him in to claim the reward. With Julian the gun-toting thug, it’s the promise of someday getting his son back. With Ulof, it’s the life of his daughter. His Femme Fatale for Hire, Laura Madsen, he simply slaps into submission. He’s a terrible person on every possible level and we’re glad to see him blown up at the end.

Faust isn’t much better, and one of the most important places where the movie fails is that we know less about Faust’s goals than Krenner’s, even though Faust is the point-of-view character. Like Krenner, Faust is a bitter criminal. He cares about nothing but money, to the point where we don’t even know what he plans to do with the money he’s going to steal – he seems to want to rob a bank just because it’s what he does. We do understand his antagonism towards Krenner, at least: having just escaped from jail, what Faust wants most is of course freedom, while what Krenner is offering him is just a different sort of imprisonment. Good riddance to Faust, too.

The character this movie wants us to feel sorry for is Ulof, which is really weird when you think about it because this man is a fucking war criminal. He tells us he tortured prisoners in a concentration camp and only came to regret it when he realized one of them was his wife – whom he apparently never recognized even though her only disguise was a hood. So he doesn’t know her body and build at all? He never heard her voice? She never heard his and tried to find another way to communicate with him? Where did he think his wife was while all this was going on? I find myself entertaining the horrible thought that the daughter he so adores probably wasn’t conceived in the standard way, since she must have been born only shortly before her mother’s death… ew.

The fourth character who does much in the story is Laura, and I really can’t tell what we’re supposed to think of her. The way Krenner and Julian treat her make her seem like a victim but there’s no backstory about how she got into this situation. She’s kind of Faust’s love interest but not really, since she mostly seems to be trying to use him to get away from Krenner – and frankly, Faust doesn’t treat her much better than Krenner does. I get the impression that the movie doesn’t know what to do with her, and she dies at the end mostly to get her out of the way.

So we have these four players plus Julian and they all hate one another. Laura despises Krenner and kind of wants to run off with Faust but can’t let Krenner find out she’s going to do that. Faust’s going to squeeze every possible cent out of Krenner and Krenner resents it. Ulof wants to spring his daughter and go hide out in Argentina with old friends, and hopes Faust can help him do it. These various storylines do start to go places, what with Ulof almost tricking Faust into opening the door, and Faust taking Laura to go rob banks. Just as that starts to look like the plot, though, it gets interrupted by Faust’s radiation poisoning and everything comes to a halt.

This isn’t exactly a bad plot turn, but after the movie took the trouble to set up the relationships and conflicts between the various characters, it’s a bit out of left field to realize that the only resolution we’ll get is the isotopes blowing up as Krenner and Faust try to strangle each other. Faust never even gets a chance to try to deal with his impending mortality before it all goes up in a mushroom cloud. Kind of convenient that the deserts around the ranch already looked barren and lifeless, isn’t it?

Of course if we’re going to talk about the movie, we have to mention two other pieces of fiction that contributed significantly to the inspiration for it. One of these, very obviously, is H. G. Wells’ The Invisible Man. The main character of that story, Griffin, goes mad with power (and toxic chemicals affecting his brain) and declares himself King Invisible Man the First – he fails in part because he’s also Invisible Man the Only, and I suspect that what if he had a whole invisible army though? was part of the inspiration for The Amazing Transparent Man. It ended up back at only one invisible man because the sweeping horror epic that question inspires was just way too expensive.

The second, equally obviously, is Faust. There are real people whose last name is Faust, but it’s the sort of name that’s so closely associated with a particular piece of fiction that it never occurs in others except as a reference. Having the name just there would be like having a character whose last name is Frankenstein and not doing anything with it. So how does The Amazing Transparent Man draw on Faust?

Faust is the sordid tale of a medieval scholar who sold his soul to the devil in exchange for unlimited knowledge, magical powers, and of course, sweet, sweet pussy. Goethe ends his play with Faust’s redemption, but the legend he drew on told how Faust’s hubris damned not only himself but everybody around him. The obvious reading of The Amazing Transparent Man is that Krenner is Mephistopheles and Faust is… well, Faust. Actually, I don’t think the references is quite that simplistic. Instead, I would argue that all four of the major characters here are Faust. They have all sold their souls, and in the end the devil claims them… except the Nazi scientist, even Satan didn’t want him.

Krenner wants power and revenge and doesn't care what he has to do in order to achieve that – people are nothing but tools to him, and his plan actually relies on killing some to keep the rest of his future subjects in line. He has taken leave of all humanity. Faust wanted money, and had to sacrifice his own soul, in the form of his relationships with his wife and child, in order to get it – and he learned nothing. Dr. Ulof wanted knowledge and gained it at the expense of human lives, and now that he seeks to escape his past he finds he cannot. It has followed him across the sea and now, with his identity out, it will follow him to his death. Exactly what Laura did is a mystery but her attempts to escape and ultimate death follow the same pattern.

All this suggests that like The Beast of Hollow Mountain, The Amazing Transparent Man started off with somebody having a really good idea and thinking about it very thoroughly, but then budgetary constraints reared their ugly collective head and it all went pear-shaped. The movie that results is bland and confused and never as interesting as it thinks it is, which is a shame. I kind of want to see the movie they started out with.

#mst3k #reviews #the amazing transparent man #60s

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nicolepremier · 5 years

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Nano’s Knife

I’m currently writing a Nano/Akira fic and it occurs to me that I need to explain to everyone what’s really going on with Nano’s knife and its mysterious inscription that appears on so much iconic TnC merch. I was planning to write a brief summary in the author’s notes, but I wanted to go into a little more detail here, since I thought some of you might be curious.

Fandom lore would simply state that Nano’s inscription reads “wish” in some mysterious language, a symbol that he “wishes” to meet Akira again, and leave it at that.

It’s a lot more complex than that. And spoiler alert - the inscription on that knife does not literally read “wish” in any language.

For starters, there is some confusion in the translation from Japanese to English. The word the Japanese use that is translated to English as “wish” is 願い (negai), and that word has another meaning, a meaning that contextually makes a lot more sense. “Negai” also means “prayer,” and the context that it is used in throughout Nano’s route suggests that “prayer” would have been a more accurate and appropriate translation. For example, when Akira finds Nano sitting alone in the church with the black kitten, Nano says that he is there because he is “wishing” for another person’s happiness (obviously Akira’s, though that goes completely over Akira’s head) because it’s the only thing left to one whose fate has already been determined (referring to himself). What he’s actually doing is praying for Akira’s happiness. You don’t go to church to “wish,” you go to “pray.”

This distinction becomes very important when translating Nano’s knife inscription.

The inscription on Nano’s knife is written in Elder Futhark, a pre-viking Norse and Germanic rune system. (Though popular perception today simply refers to them as “viking runes.”) Being of Scandinavian decent from a family who loves anything and everything to do with vikings, I recognized the writing immediately since the same runes are on a ton of decorations all over my family’s home.

If you try and translate Nano’s runes phonetically, you get “hingath,” which is complete rubbish and means absolutely nothing as far as I can tell. It most certainly does NOT mean “wish.”

There is some additional complication due to the fact that N+C is horribly inconsistent with the runes from one set of merch to the next (presumably because they mean nothing to the designers), and the designers sometimes write them in ways that make the inscription even MORE nonsensical.

I actually sent a number of the different versions of the inscriptions to a professor friend who studies runes in several dead languages, and he came up with exactly the same nonsensical gibberish I did - it’s badly written Elder Futhark mixing several time periods that says nothing. He said it wasn’t all that uncommon for people to write nonsense runes on all sorts of stuff just because they like the look of them. For example, a well-known rune translation guide book has runes going around the cover which translate to “These runes don’t say anything, but they sure look cool, don’t they?”

But I wasn’t satisfied.

Elder Futhark is not purely a phonetic language like the Latin alphabet. The god Odin “sacrificed himself to himself” by hanging on the world-tree Yggdrasil for nine days and nights, receiving no form of nourishment from his companions. At the end of this ordeal, he perceived the runes, the magically-charged ancient Germanic alphabet that was held to contain many of the greatest secrets of existence.

The fact that the runes have, since their conception, been thought to be imbibed with magical powers is the reason they have been so extensively used by modern Neopagans in so much of their ritual practice. Simply the act of inscribing the runes, or keeping inscribed objects close, can confer power and blessings. Each rune has multiple meanings, but keeping that in mind, I believe I have cracked the code of Nano’s mysterious knife inscription.

The knife isn’t a “wish” or a symbol of a “wish” - it’s a “prayer.” It’s a prayer to the old gods.

Name: Hagalaz, “hail.” Phoneme: H. Meaning: destruction, chaos, change, invocation

This is a common invocation to begin a prayer to petition the gods.

Name: Ingwaz, “the god Ingwaz.” Phoneme: Ing or ng. Meaning: male fertility, the beginning of something, the actualization of potential via sacrifice

He must offer a sacrifice. The old gods don’t work for free. One must give something up in order for one’s prayer to have a chance of being answered.

Name: Ansuz, “an Aesir god.” Phoneme: A (long and/or short). Meaning: prosperity, vitality.

He’s calling on one or more of the aesir gods for help - Odin, Thor, Frigg, Tyr, Loki, Baldur, Heimdall, Idun, and Bragi.

Name: Thurisaz, “Thor, Giant.” Phoneme: Th (both soft and hard). Meaning: danger, suffering, solitude. (Note that this rune is often written with shorter vertical lines so that it looks more like an angular D. Both versions appear on different TnC merch.)

He wants an end to his suffering and solitude. His prayer is a desperate cry for help.

To be clear, I do not believe that Nano is a time traveling viking, or even of Norse decent - if he were, he might have written a more sensible inscription that actually meant something in one of the Scandinavian languages - all of which use the roman alphabet nowadays, and that is NOT the alphabet that Nano’s book uses, since Japanese use romanji as well and Akira has never seen those sorts of letters before. No one writes books in Elder Futhark these days. Here is what I believe happened:

Nano was the son of academics. He mentions in Kou Un (his official afterstory) that his father whose face he can’t remember made the knife. That’s not a normal skill, and even a rudimentary knowledge of Norse runes (and Norse gods) isn’t common knowledge among the general populace. This is consistent with how Nano dresses and presents himself - he isn’t the sort of person who puts a lot of thought into his clothing, but he likely tends to subconsciously gravitate towards what some part of his brain still registers as “normal” - things his father might have worn, and which he probably wore himself as a child before he was taken to ENED. His primary hobby is reading, and his eloquent speech and precise pattern observation makes clear that he’s quite intelligent, despite his naivety and eccentricity.

I headcanon that Nano’s father was an engineer, and his mother was a history professor (probably NOT in Norse studies), both of whom worked for a Russian university with government funding in South eastern Russia, in close proximity to both China and Japan. His father may have been involved in the design or manufacturing of weapons during WWIII. Likely both parents had an interest in historical reenactment and were eager to involve their children. Nano likely spent a good deal of time with his mother as a child since his father would have been kept extremely busy during the war. He was almost certainly taught to read at a very young age and given books on his mother’s favorite subjects to keep him occupied while she worked. When he developed an interest in vikings and Norse mythology as a young boy, he was almost certainly encouraged to pursue it. Therefore, although he was raised Russian Orthodox Christian, he was aware of (and likely fascinated by) mythology from various cultures. His speech in the game illustrates that he does indeed have a distinct interest in Christian mythology in particular, and likely that of other cultures as well, given that his only known possession was a knife inscribed with Elder Futhark. His father likely recognized his interests and made the knife for him as a gift, then let him help inscribe it with a prayer. To a little kid who really liked vikings, that was probably very exciting, so it isn’t surprising that the knife would become his most prized possession, even after his memories were altered and he could no longer remember anything else about his family.

After Nano’s family was killed, he was put into an overcrowded Russian orphanage, then later taken away by the Japanese for use as a nameless test subject in what was often lethal experimentation. At that point he was so scared that he was willing to try just about anything. Having no control at all over his own fate, his only recourse was to pray for salvation. When no one answered his prayers and his circumstances kept going from bad to worse, he almost certainly started to lose faith in the Christian god, and tried to invoke the old Norse gods in hopes that maybe he was just praying to the wrong god and there was still SOMEONE out there who would listen. He may even have forgotten what the inscription on the knife actually meant, only recalling dreamlike bits and pieces. It was a prayer. To be completely honest, I find it completely unrealistic that Nano could have kept that knife hidden for so long from ENED, given that it’s fairly large, he had no privacy, was watched 24/7, and only wore a medical gown inside the facility. I think it is slightly more likely that he was allowed to keep it, given how submissive he was to the researchers, since the end goal was to brainwash him into BECOMING a weapon himself.

In the end, when Nano had lost all hope and knew he was about to lose even himself… the sacrifice he made to invoke his final desperate prayer WAS the knife itself, his last remaining possession, the last reminder he had of his humanity, and with it his last remaining hope of salvation. He gave it all to Akira, in hopes that maybe one day, they would meet again.

Now, Nano’s fate, and his salvation, depends entirely on Akira.

#Togainu no Chi #Nano (TnC)#Nicole Premier #headcanon

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rovalent · 5 years

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‘After keeping all plans of their first comeback aside, Royal has finally decided to move things along. Luxe’s performances on the Samsung New Year Special brought them a lot of attention and most certainly gave them a lot of buzz. Positive or negative, every new comment under their performance videos only made them rise on the pages of famous websites and search engines. Using this to their advantage wouldn’t be too hard.

Their first comeback also means their first release as a 5-member group. Im Nayoung’s official stage name was officially confirmed to be ‘Zoe’ through an official statement by a Royal representative only a week ago. Together with the other 4 original members, the group will make their comeback with their mini-album ‘Fantasy’ on February 24th. This means there are a lot of things to get done and the girls should put their all into it.

The practice schedule will be completely focused on the final preparations for the album. Dance practice will start right away and be the biggest focus for the members. If they don’t have anything more important to do then they should probably be learning the choreography which will be thoroughly taught by Yoo Jaekyung and her fellow dancers. The songs that were given three months to learn should all be recorded on February 8th. Members will go into the studio in order of age to record their parts. When they aren’t recording, members are expected to be practicing.

As a solo schedule, Cheri will take part of the recording for ‘My Love From Another Star’ from February 2nd. She will be expected on set for 9 hours (7 to 4pm) to get her makeup and wardrobe done in the morning. Filming for her day scene will last from 10am to 3pm. After filming for the scene concludes, she will get cleaned up, return her costumes, and return to her idol schedules. The script for this scene will be mailed to her one week prior to filming. She will also get one hour of rehearsal with the lead actor before official filming starts.

To match with their concept, members will have to change their hairstyles according to the company’s orders. Those whose current hairstyle doesn’t match the one seen below will go together to the same salon on February 10th to get their hair done for their comeback.

Cheri - Long, straight, black (reference)

Yena - Long, wavy, blonde (reference)

Ella - Long, straight, black (reference)

Xayah - Long, straight, brown (reference)

Zoe - Long, wavy, black (reference)

On February 13th, a photo shoot will occur in a small set in the Gangnam district for both the photobook that’ll come along with the CD as well as the photocards. There will be two different sessions: one for the pure side of the album and another following their sexy concept. The photocards will follow the same pattern (use this photocard as an example and a darker version of it for its counterpart). When they aren’t being photographed, members are allowed to practice in a spot of the set that doesn’t get in the way of the staff or in the changing room. They won’t be explicitly told to do so and they should also avoid getting sweaty or ruining their makeup.

Finally, the music video for their title song will be filmed on February 15th and February 16th. A full film crew is provided by Royal, including camera staff, wardrobe and makeup/hair staff, lighting staff, catering crew, and a director. You may, at any time, ask for guidance from any of these members of the production. On the 15th, the first section of the where they pose in white (0:00-0:16) and dance scenes in the white outfits (as seen in 0:56 and 2:33) will be recorded. On the 16th, scenes with the light background (as seen in 0:19 and 0:28) and the brick wall (as seen in 1:42 and 3:17) will be recorded.

As the first variety appearance with the full group, Luxe will record an episode of Weekly Idol on February 18th. This will follow the events from TWICE’s part in Episode 228 which can be seen here. All mentions of debut should be changed to it being their first comeback, and any quotes and the performance of ‘Like Ooh-Ahh’ should be changed to ‘Confused’. Any other changes should be made accordingly (such as their personal introductions and showcased talents) to fit in with Luxe members. Luxe’s appearance will only be enough for half an episode, and the other half will be filmed by a different group. It should be also taken into account that the MCs will be the current ones: Lee Manseok, Shin Beomsu, and Ryu Seojun as the IC equivalents of Nam Changhie, Jo Seho, and Hwang Kwanghee. This episode will air on a Wednesday, February 27th.

On the very same day of the recording, February 18th, the first teaser will be released for their comeback on Luxe’s official social media.

As a special surprise to the fans and a tease on itself, all 5 members will come together to hold a Vlive in their dorm on February 19th. They are instructed not to spoil anything regarding their new album and help Zoe get used to how it works. Apart from that, the members are free to interact with the viewers however they’d like as long as they keep up with their image.

No matter how busy their month will be, nothing will beat February 24th. Luxe will have their debut stage on the same date as their album release on Inkigayo. They’ll get there a 6:30am as usual, but instead of staying until late for a live performance, they’ll pre-record it at 9:00am instead of having a rehearsal. The members will then prepare themselves for their showcase which will start at 6PM, the same time as the album release. Fans present will get to watch the MV for the first time in the audience, followed by a live performance of ‘Confused’. The MC this time will be the well-known Lee Jonghyuk. During the showcase, Luxe will also perform their debut song ‘I Feel Good’, ‘Luv Me’ and ‘Under The Street Lights’. The time in-between will involve the members explaining their title track and album as well as their concept, a profile introduction of each member, and then the showcase will end with a second performance of ‘Confused’.

The following is the music show promotion schedule for Luxe’s ‘Confused’ activities:

2/24, 3/03, 3/10: SBS Inkigayo

2/25, 3/04: Arirang Simply K-pop

2/26, 3/05, 3/12: MTV The Show

2/27, 3/06, 3/13: MBC Show Champion

2/28, 3/07, 3/14: Mnet M!Countdown

3/01, 3/08, 3/15: KBS Music Bank

3/02, 3/09, 3/16: MBC Music Core

On February 28th, Luxe will record their dance relay for ‘Confused’ to be uploaded on the same day during their time waiting for M!Countdown (you can use this to see how it works).

Music show promotions will last for a total of three weeks this time. Programs will begin pre-recording early in the morning and groups are expected to stay at the broadcasting station until the live broadcast takes place later in the day. Although music shows in real life follow varied recording schedules, for IC writing purposes, the schedule for every music show will follow this consistent pattern (except for February 24th):

06:20AM: at broadcasting station: basic first rehearsal on stage; no makeup, casual clothes.

06:45AM: head to salon: get makeup and hair done.

07:45AM: return to broadcasting station: eat breakfast, nap in dressing room/space.

09:00AM: dress rehearsal on stage; stage outfits, makeup on.

09:20AM: return to dressing room/space: rest, eat, nap.

11:00AM: final camera rehearsal on stage; stage outfits, makeup on.

11:15AM: greet senior artist groups at their respective dressing room/spaces, accompanied by a manager. you may not sleep during this time, up until the live broadcast.

07:00PM: live broadcast; when not performing, must stay in dressing room/space until the ending stage of the show.

08:00PM: line up in waiting room area to formally greet producers, director, and senior staff.

09:00PM: meeting time with fans who attended the recordings.

10:00PM: return to dressing rooms to clean up, change back into casual clothes.

11:00PM: arrive back at dorms.

You will gain +5 POINTS TO DISTRIBUTE AS YOU WISH, +3 DEBUT POINTS and +2 ACHIEVEMENTS for completing the written requirements explained on the idol tier page. As this is a song promotion month, one of your chosen achievements must be relevant to the above schedule and all required content should be written about activities listed on the above schedule for the month of February. Posting about March activities will not account for February points (more information for their March promotions will come on their March schedule). There is a capped maximum of five solos, sets of starters and/or partnered threads you may write to collect this month’s points.

To clarify, the only form that needs to be submitted at the end of the month is a verification form for your debut points and achievements. Any SP points earned can be collected as soon as you finish the requirement for them. At the end of the month, as you did with your previous evaluation forms, you will submit the following form to the Points Verification blog:

IDOL’S NAME - ROYAL ENT - FEBRUARY SCHEDULE (for the March 6 verification form)

PROOF OF ACTIVITY: [ x ]

POINTS: +00 SP [ distribute these however you like ]

TOTAL POINTS EARNED: +00 SP +00 DBT

+1 WK ACHIEVEMENT #1 [ NUMBER OF TIMES TAKEN + CURRENT LEVEL ]

+1 WK ACHIEVEMENT #2 [ NUMBER OF TIMES TAKEN + CURRENT LEVEL ]

NEW DEBUT POINTS TOTAL:

**** For participating in a total of 20 music show performances during this promotion period, Luxe will earn 20 EXP for their overall group experience. Their appearance on Weekly Idol will give 1 EXP, their VLive 1 EXP, and the dance relay another 1 EXP. Cheri’s solo schedule gives 1 EXP making it a total of 24 EXP.

* Rookie and trainee characters are allowed to attend pre-recordings and fan meetings to interact with idol muses if they choose to do so. Just be realistic about the scheduling; trainees who skip too many lessons to support idol muses will be noticed by their company staff!

#rkluxe #era:fantasy #luxe:feb19

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okmica · 6 years

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Love Sick | Lucas

Hanahaki: disease in which the victim coughs up flower petals when they suffer from one-sided love.

Soulmate au

Pairing: Lucas x reader

Genre: Angst (happy ending though)

Warnings: mentions of blood and death

Word count: 3,665

Aside from the increasing downpour of rain, your bike ride home from work was as it usually was. The unchanging pattern of buildings appearing after each couple of pedals, the familiar cracks and potholes in the road, left turn followed by a right. The routine sometimes felt too recognizable, each day being eerily identical to the previous one. But it could always be worse.

In response to the pelting raindrops, you pedaled faster. Although knowing it was best to stop and wait out the storm, you pushed forward. Your apartment complex was only a few more blocks ahead anyway and there was no point in biking back to the flower shop. Staying in a random store wouldn’t do any good either because your mother had explicitly affirmed the dangers of doing so. She warned you for as long as you could remember about your disease along with setting rather excessive precautions. You suffered from Hanahaki; the disease that occurs when suffering from a one-sided love with a side effect of coughing up flower petals. Sometimes it was referred to as the out-of-luck syndrome when used as slang. Although more of the population is being diagnosed, it is still very uncommon. It’s usually genetic, like your case, but there are some slim chances when unlucky mutations occur.

Your aunt was pretty unfortunate with this disease because it was the reason for her death. Her case was so strong that she eventually began throwing up whole flowers, not just the petals. Due to the rarity of the syndrome, doctors were no help. The problem only worsened as time went on, she just couldn’t let go. One night it got really bad. Too bad. She woke up in the middle of the night unable to breathe. Your mother, who was fourteen at the time, had witnessed the whole scene. After seeing her sister’s state for a while, she had grown accustomed to the occurrence; a few minutes of intense hacking and then nothing, just a raw bloody throat. But that night was different. Her coughs were more intense and longer than usual. When her fit finally ended, your mother went to check up on her only to find her motionless on the bathroom floor. She had choked on a full rose, decorated with thorns.

Needless to say, your mother didn’t take it well. Once she had you, her obsession with your safety was never unrecognized. Home school was the only option for you. Fortunately, it helped keep away stupid teenage crushes, but it also hindered friendships from forming. Reading was one of your favorite ways to cope. Oftentimes you found yourself replacing character names with yours just to get a taste of what friendship felt like. You also had a number of fictional crushes, a great way to get around the disease since it was only activated when feelings for a real person is present. Some precautions your mother took could be qualified as overprotective, but you knew it had good intentions. Besides, you haven’t coughed a single petal in your life.

The soaked fabric on your dress was now clinging to your thighs as you reached the bike rack outside of your apartment. It was fortunately under an awning allowing you to relish in some form of dryness. An unfamiliar voice stopped your actions.

“Hey, um, could you do me a favor and please open that door?” Turning around you found a face to match that voice. He nodded to the first door on the left which was cracked open with a cell phone. His breathing was staggered due to the large box nearly weighing him down. Looking past the tiredness and redness on his strained face, he was actually pretty attractive and the rain only complimented his looks more. His drenched hair covering his eyes created a soft image contrasting with his manly physique.

“Please.” The plead ended your train of thought and forced you back to the task at hand.

Rushing in front of him you held the door open wide and flattened yourself against the wall to provide him as much room as possible. He struggled getting through the doorway because of the size of the box. After multiple failed attempts you eventually helped him. It took lots of squeezing, lifting, and yelling to get into his apartment. Once successful, the two of you collapsed on the floor. Huffing and breathy laughs filled the air.

He interrupted the exchange of breaths with an introduction. “I’m Xuxi by the way.” A sweaty hand was shot towards you.

“(Y/N),” you replied while accepting the handshake. The cool air conditioning reminded you of your drenched clothes.

“Do you want a towel to dry off? You can come to my apartment. I don’t think you want to rummage through all these boxes right now.” His nod accepted your offer and the two of you made your way next door.

Reaching in your jacket pocket, you fished out your key. While unlocking your door, you noticed how close he was to you. It wasn’t to the point where it was uncomfortable, just new. The only human interactions you made took place at the register where you were limited to spit out prices and perform the occasional small talk. This was much more than that. No amount of reading could prepare you for this.

“Here’s a towel,” you tossed the small piece of cloth toward him which he caught effortlessly. “I’m going to change real quick, but please make yourself comfortable.”

Walking in your room, your head was overwhelmed with thoughts. How should you start a conversation? Would this make you friends? You tried to think of possible conversation starters that would, hopefully, not lead to any awkwardness. You caught a glimpse of your appearance after pacing unintentionally. The sight was not a great one. Your hair was a frizzy mess and some of your makeup ran very noticeably. Sighing you quickly fixed your appearance as best as you could before facing Xuxi again. There weren’t many instances when you cared about your physical appearance, your whole life was centered around being ignored, but today

The sight while walking out of your room caught you off guard. Xuxi was sitting on your sofa shirtless. One hand drying his hair and the other fiddling with his phone. He looked like a scene in a movie.

“Oh, um.” You were shocked. Yeah, you asked him to get comfortable, but you didn’t expect him to get that comfortable.

Sensing your slight discomfort, he chuckled and reached for his shirt. “Do I make you nervous?” His eyes were staring into yours with such intensity, it felt like you were burning. Jumbled thoughts were whizzing through your mind leaving his answer unanswered. A sudden burst of laughter came from his mouth. “I’m only playing with you.”

Your shoulders relaxed a bit since the unbearable eye contact ended. Taking a seat on one of your stools across from him, you waited as he put on his shirt. Were you supposed to have a conversation with him? Were you supposed to shoo him away? You wished you had experienced something like this before so you could approach this situation leisurely, but alas, you were stuck.

“So tell me about yourself.” Once again, your thoughts were racing through your mind. A blush rose to your cheeks from embarrassment. It annoyed you how such a simple task seemed impossible.

“You’re not really good at talking are you?” You shook your head in surrender. He thought for a moment before continuing. “Well, where do you work?”

“I work in my mom’s flower shop downtown.” It felt weird saying that out loud. How ironic your job was considering the disease you have.

“Wow a flower shop. Don’t hear about those everyday.” You giggled at his playful tone. “So do you have a favorite flower or do you just like them all?”

“Cherry blossoms.” The answer came to you without thinking. Growing up, they’d always been your favorite. From the shape of the petals to the fragrance they emitted had an uncanny connection to you.

It was crazy how easy Xuxi could whip up a conversation. He was able to make you, the most socially impaired being, comfortable with talking. You two continued your conversations for what seemed like hours. Laughs sprinkled the room because of his unreal sense of humor.

Maybe you two were supposed to meet. The two of you were very compatible and he was, hands down, much better than any fictional character in any of the books you’ve read. Not to mention, he wasn’t bad looking either. Dumbly, you were silently fantasizing about future encounters with him, hoping your growing friendship could lead to more.

“Are there any nice places to eat around here?” His question terminated your reveries.

“Well, there’s a new burger place nearby: Benny’s. It has this whole 1970′s retro theme; neon lights and everything.” You smiled, confident in your answer.

“That’s perfect! My girlfriend loves vintage places. I don’t really see what’s so great about them, but she’s obsessed.”

“Girlfriend?” The word slipped out of your mouth subconsciously.

“Yeah, my girlfriend lives on the other side of town. I moved here because of an internship I got accepted in. It sucks that we don’t get to see each other often anymore, but thank you for suggesting that restaurant. It’ll be the first place I take her when she visits.”

Your heart stopped. Time stopped. It felt like everything was crashing down on top of you all at once. You felt your chest tighten and your breathing became shallow. Did you hear him correctly? Fear washed over you. What did you get yourself into?

“Speaking of my girlfriend, I should probably call her so she knows I moved in fine."

The rest was a blur. You remember being courteous while leading him out of your apartment, but that was it. All you felt after shutting your door was fear. Of all the years you lived in caution, today was the day you slipped up. You hoped and prayed that nothing would happen. You couldn’t fall in love with someone within an hour of meeting.

The inability to reach for air refuted your hopes. Tears sprung from your eyes as you doubled over. Your chest kept tightening and all you were able to do was choke. It was as if the irony of this situation was taunting you. The damp petal that came from your mouth belonged to a cherry blossom.

Waking up was far from pleasant. Your throat felt swollen and itchy. The glass of ice water offered some relief, but was not fully satisfying. It was hard to get ready for work when the irritation from your throat kept distracting you.

To your disadvantage, Xuxi’s presence met yours as you exited you apartment.

“Hi neighbor,” he gave you that blinding smile of his that churned your stomach. “Off to work?”

“Um, yeah.” Your reply was weak, almost inaudible, but Xuxi understood you.

“Me too. I can give you a ride if you want?”

“No it’s fine. I’d rather bike.” You felt bad for turning down his offer, thinking you had been rude, but it was the best option considering your current state.

“Okay, whatever you say. Oh and by the way,” he came to you and gave you a handful of, what seemed like candy. “I heard you coughing last night. Maybe you shouldn’t have stayed in the rain yesterday.”

Unraveling your hand, you found that the “candy” was actually five cough drops. You looked at them in your hand apprehensively. His kind gesture was not what you needed right now. It would only cause you to become worse.

“Please take them. My girlfriend packed them for me, but you obviously need them more than I do. You know how couples are always worried about each other.” You didn’t, but you still gave a curt nod before parting.

The rest of your day was a blur. Potential coughing fits were all you could focus on. Breathing became a chore. When you weren’t worrying about choking flower petal, you were thinking about Xuxi. You wanted so badly for him to be with you. Not only to cure your disease, but because you enjoyed his bubbly personality. It tore your heart more knowing that someone else was able to hold all his love.

It was hot. Not just hot; scorching. One of those days where humidity and heat collaborated to create a sticky, uncomfortable atmosphere unbearable to many. Luckily, you dug around your storage closet and found an electric fan your mother bought you for this specific purpose.

You were sprawled on your leather couch wearing shorts and a tank top; the outfit you wore the night before. Your hair was tied up tight so your neck could feel the slight breeze from the fan. Weekends like these brought you comfort; relishing in a novel while snacking on sugar coated strawberries. Reading always calmed you, transporting your consciousness to another dimension, a better dimension.

It also acted as a break to your miserable situation. A week has passed since you last encountered Xuxi. It wasn’t intentional, the both of you were just busy. Being apart from him didn’t end your coughing, in fact, it seemed that your case was becoming worse.

A knocking at your door tore you away from your novel. Internal complaints filled your head as you waited for the knocking to go away; it didn’t. You ended your contemplation with a surrendering sigh as rising from the sticky leather couch. Reaching the door, you found a sweaty Xuxi wearing glasses and holding a laptop.

“Hi neighbor. My air conditioner shut off and I am dying in the heat. Can I stay for a bit? I just need to finish up a project and I’ll stop bothering you, I promise.” You could tell he was genuine. His face was red and sweat dampened his hair. You didn’t want him to suffer a heat stroke, you let him in.

“I’m really tired.” That was a lie. “I think I’m gonna go to bed. Feel free to stay as long as you can though. You can call me if you need anything.”

“Aw, I thought we could’ve hung out. So I can stay awake while finishing this boring thing.” He pouted. “But if you’re tired I understand”

Sighing, you joined him in defeat. “I guess a few minutes won’t hurt.” A smile spread to his face. “As long as you’re not annoying.”

Spending time with him was a risk. A really enjoyable risk. You almost forgot about Hanahaki while talking to him. Jokes and teases drowned in your never ending conversations. He eventually finished his project, but fell asleep in the process. His strong features softened in his slumber. You had to stop yourself from reaching out to caress his face.

You hurried to your room once you felt that same queasiness bubbling in your body. Curling up in your bed, you tried to control your breathing. Your chest tightened with every second passing. It was a surprise that sleep came to you before a flower did.

Last night was bad. Three buds left your throat in a bloody pile on the floor. You thought it would never end. Your throat stung and your chest felt sore. You couldn’t take it anymore.

Only three days passed since Xuxi shared the night at yours and your suffering increased exponentially. To make matters worse, you found Xuxi waiting outside his room as you returned from work.

“I asked my girlfriend if she wanted to eat at Benny’s with me. She said maybe next time, but knowing her I’d probably be waiting forever. So do you just want to eat with me? I’m really in the mood for a burger right now.” As much as you wanted to join him, you couldn’t. Eating brought you pain. Spending time with him brought you pain. Everything brought you pain.

“I'm not really hungry right now so-”

“Come on please.” He cut you off your excuse with an obvious desperation in his voice. Rejecting him would only bring you guilt.

“Alright,” You gave in.

Benny’s was just as it was since the last time you remember visiting. The neon framed exterior perfectly depicted the intended vintage image. It retained its aura on the inside as well. While walking through the doors your feet met the black and white checkered floor. Xuxi picked one of the many bright blue booths filling the exterior.

You could tell he was trying his best to talk to you. The effort he put in all his conversation starters didn’t go unnoticed, but you couldn’t return his energy.

“Are you sure you don’t want anything to eat?” You did, but you couldn’t. You loved the food at Benny’s and not being able to eat it only added sorrow to you.

“I told you I wasn’t hungry.” You statement, unintentionally, came off as a jarring growl.

Anger filled his face. Or maybe it was disappointment, you couldn’t tell. He was experiencing difficulty in his life and did not appreciate your negativity.

“You already know my girlfriend is ignoring me. It kind of hurts that you’re doing the same.”

The rest of the evening with him was filled with silence.

You heard loud noises coming from Xuxi’s room that night. Coughing, crying, and a lot of ruckus. Oh no, you thought, does he have it too? It would make sense according to his situation; his girlfriend becoming more distant. But he showed no sign of awareness toward the disease. If he had it, he would’ve lived a more cautious life. Maybe he was part of the unlucky few.

Unable to tolerate his suffering, you walked out of bed and headed next door. You paused before knocking on his door. Maybe he didn’t want consolation. Maybe he just wanted to be left alone. Hesitantly, you tapped his door. After waiting for a few seconds, you believed this idea was a silly one and began to head back to your apartment. The sound of the door creaking open halted you. Turning back toward him, you were met with a fiery expression. Xuxi was furious. You didn’t know if it was because of you or his dilemma, maybe both?

“Can I come in?” His facial expression was quite uninviting, but he obliged to your request.

You stood apart from him awkwardly. The atmosphere was filled with tension. You noticed three wet petals on his carpet and a faint blood stain on his shirt. Noticing the shape and color of the petals, they identified as rose petals. The worse kind of flower to have in this syndrome. If he wasn’t fixed there was a high chance of him ending up like your aunt. And then what would that make you?

“I’m fucked.” He followed that sentence with a chuckle which definitely didn’t lighten the mood.

“Don’t say that.” You tried to calm him down, but he was too infatuated with his own emotional state to focus.

“How would you know?” He snarled. Your solemn expression was enough to act as an answer. Realization hit him. His anger was now replaced with guilt.

“You have - was it because of me.” Again your actions spoke louder than words. You wanted to explain that it ran in your family, that it really wasn’t his fault, but you couldn’t seem to synthesize your thoughts to form a complete answer.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” A few cries escaped his mouth before continuing. “How bad?”

“Answer me please.” You couldn’t answer him. You didn’t want to lie; however, there was no way of doing that without hurting him more. “That’s why you didn’t eat, isn’t it? I knew something was up.”

The rest was of what he said was muffled apologies. He eventually curled up on his couch shaking. He looked so defenseless. His cries were a mix of guilt and fear; a combination that hurt enough to witness. Impulsively, you approached his withering self and pulled him into a reassuring embrace.

“It’s okay,” you whispered into his ear.

Then, without warning, he kissed you. Hard. Every ounce of pain was put into that kiss. You could tell because of the way he pulled you close grabbing a fistful of your hair, closing the gap between the two of your bodies. Your cheeks became wet with his tears. His lips were as plush as you imagined, better even. But you didn’t reciprocate. You couldn’t. Knowing the true intentions behind the action, it was hopeless.

“I don’t think it works like that,” you argued breathless.

“I don’t care,” his tears were now uncontrollable. This situation really shook him up. It pained you. Of all people why did fate choose him as a victim of this curse? “We’re gonna get through this together. I don’t care if it gets worse. I just want you to know that I’ll be by your side the whole time. Okay?”

His grasp was constricting, but not in a bad way. You could feel all his emotions with his touch. All this time you thought he was the one you needed to go on, but this moment showed the opposite; you were the one he needed most right now. He was depending on you to mend his wounds.

“Okay,” you finally replied. Relief and fear flowed through you, but at least you weren’t alone anymore. No more excuses for cancelled plans. No more secret nights choking into a pillow. No more crying alone. Vulnerability also accompanied those hopes. What if it does get worse? Why waste your time trying? You were up for the adventure, nonetheless. You've gone this far, why stop now?

After a few more moments, his wails softened to low sobs. Once he calmed down enough, he called your name.

“Yes, Xuxi,” you replied.

“Can you stay with me tonight?”

“Of course.”

And in that moment, your chest felt a bit lighter.

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georgesmithddayear2infographics · 6 years

Text

Arts & Culture Infographic

03.10.18

Last week we were given the task of creating an infographic about one of four subjects. They were: Arts and Culture, Food, Unusual (I think) and Historical. Were each assigned a number corresponding to one of the said topics, and I got Arts and Culture. I can’t say that I was ecstatic about this topic, but as I went on, I gradually became more accepting of it, until, by the end, I was rather pleased with the final result.

Sketchbook Work

Higher quality version that you can zoom in on.

I started doing some research on art and culture of UK only to find hardly anything to make an entire infographic on, so I sought the assistance of my tutor, who reassured me that it was quite the broad subject, and it wasn’t strictly limited to culture and arts, but anything to do with these topics. I began researching artists of Britain, to which I came across two of which I’d heard of before and two that I was very interested in upon researching them. These were Banksy and Bridget Riley, whom I’d heard of before, and then Thomas Phillips and JMW Turner, who I had not.

Anyway, I’ll start with the right page. I started drawing little illustrations to do with each artist’s respective area of expertise. For Thomas Phillips, I drew a portrait of a man in a frame, which I thought was a solid idea. As for Banksy, I drew a brick wall with his name in a messy font. I also drew a man in some shady-looking clothes and glasses and a moustache, this was in reference to the incognito icon which you can see on Google Chrome. I decided on this since Banksy is to this day a man surrounded in mystery and anonymity, which I find really interesting. I also drew a spray can. Bridget Riley’s illustrations are across the middle of the page, and they consist of an eye with a swirly pattern inside, as well as a box with a face on each side... or is it a silhouette of a grail in the middle? Who knows. It uses the art of negative space. Finally, for JMW Turner’s (who I will be henceforth referring to as JMW) section, there’s a little sketch of a landscape of mountains and some trees, very serene, as well as a palette and a bucket of paint.

For the first page, it just goes into a little detail on what I was thinking. For starters, the font would most likely be sans-serif, since I’m a fan of those smooth and blocky fonts (most of the time) as opposed to serif fonts. I thought the colours I’d be using would be more on the desaturated side of the colour spectrum, and I was more or less right in the end. I do think that one shade of a neon colour like red can go really well with black though, an excellent example would be the artwork for Persona 5, which does this really well. Anyway, I briefly mentioned that I would like to incorporate the Union Jack somewhere in the infographic, whether that be the actual design of the flag, or just the colour scheme, regardless, I’d planned on using red, blue and white from the start anyways. Finally, I mentioned that I wanted to have a balanced layout, which gave each artist equal spotlight. I thought it may look like a list infographic, and would have elements of a hierarchical infographic, like the information pertaining to each artist. That was it for the sketchbook work.

It was time to start on the graphic. I headed on over to Adobe Illustrator to start making things which I thought would look nice. I started by making a black header at the top, which I wrote the subject in red, blue and white, and gave it a nice glow effect using each respective colour. I made that palette I was talking about earlier, but added it to the header instead. It’s just some ellipses and a blob made using the pen tool which I coloured red, blue, green and yellow, to make purple? I just wanted to include purple, since it’s my favorite. I made some brushes using the pen tool as the stick, and then a warped circle as the head. Then I added a red strip across the bottom of the header to make it pop.

Next I made the black header look as though it is shining, by adding a grey section to the left. I made these grey boxes in the composition where the artists and their info would go, and also some red and blue lines on the header, no particular reason, just thought it would look quite stylish. I gave them all a glow. As I mentioned, I wanted to have a hierarchical system that showcased all the artists, so I made sure they were all of equal size and distance away from each other.

Next, I made some small crosses and spread them out across the header, another stylistic choice on my part. I made those boxes black and continued the shine from the header onto the top left box. I also made the background blue, just to continue with the Union Jack colours. I did this by creating a box behind the black boxes and colouring it blue. The composition was starting to look quite modern in appearance, which is kind of a juxtaposition, since I’m including artists of a long time ago, such as Thomas and JMW.

Next I moved onto the graphics of each section. I started with Thomas Phillips, and carried out that portrait idea I had. This was relatively easy and probably the most fun part of this task for me. I just used basic shape tools as well as the pen tool, and added a frame around the portrait, with a gradient to try and make it look shiny. I also made a background of mountains behind the portrait (could this be foreshadowing of JMW’s section?) Next I moved onto Banksy, who was probably my least favorite part to make, the former part at least. I made that wall I was talking about, but it just doesn’t look good, the gutters which divide the bricks just don’t look good with the wall colours, but I tried a lot of other colours too, to no avail. Even the ‘Banksy’ text doesn’t do it any favors in my opinion. However, the incognito/anonymous icon that I made does look good and goes well with the composition in my opinion. I just used the shapes and pen tool once again to make it, and chose greys for the colour scheme. Oh also, I changed the title of ‘Arts and Culture’ to ‘Artists of Britain’ at the suggestion of my tutor.

Next I created JMW’s graphics, which consisted of that mountain scene I mentioned, which was easy, I just made some triangles and made them slightly rounded and added some clouds made using the ellipse tool and also duplicated the palette I made for the header, and changed the colours on it to match with the mountains. Finally, for the last section, Bridget Riley’s, I went over to Photoshop because I already had an Idea that I wanted to try and pull off, which was to make a square with some wavy lines inside, to look like an illusion kind of thing, and then I went back to Illustrator to make the eye with the swirl for the iris. Then I made the thing with the grail or human faces illusion, which I did simply using the pen tool and the square tool for the box.

Lastly, I needed to add the text. I had already done some slight research, which was just their birthdays as well as their area of specialty. I had a lot of space for information on Thomas Phillips, so I did some extra research and added it, same with JMW. On the other hand, Bridget and Banksy didn’t have a lot of space to spare, so I simply kept it at their birthdays and art specialties. I think I like that more than Thomas and JMW’s sections, since it just looks more clean and shorter. I made sure to keep with the Union Jack colours once again with the text - I made all the text kind of random in amounts, for example, each section has some red text whereas only one (JMW’s) has blue text. It was just a stylistic choice again, and also I like the red a lot so I wanted to put it in more places. That was it for the infographic.

Final Piece

Higher quality version that you can zoom into.

Here’s the final version that I made, I’m actually quite pleased with the result and I think the colour scheme looks really good, the black goes really well with the blue, red and white, as well as the outer glows that I added to, well, just about everything. The graphics are good in my opinion, except for the Banksy wall, I just don’t like it at all really, but that’s alright I guess, maybe someone does.

Overall, I enjoyed this mini-project, even though at first I thought it would be difficult to get done in a week, and at the start I was a little hopeless since I was completely stumped with what to do with my subject.

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fantroll-purgatory · 6 years

Photo

@sarkiesark

sorry for sending two so close so each other!

No worries I enjoyed the last one and I’m having fun with this one!

FIRST: Alternia with a different empress

Name (preferably include how you came up with it and why): Veveni Phobos - Veveni is very loosely based on the word vicious, and Phobos of course is the name of one of the two Gods of fear in Greek mythology.

Age: 7 Sweeps

Strife Specibus: Whipbladekind - She relies on manipulating from afar, but when she has to get close, she isn’t afraid to use her Urumi.

Fetch Modus: Hue Modus - Objects are sorted by color in stacks, and all items of one color are ejected at once. A… hassle.

Love it. If you wanna go a step further you can make it so it’s sorted in stacks based on blood color, with items that land between suffering weird consequences (only part of the item being ejected, etc.)

Blood color: Purple

Symbol and meaning: It’s meant to represent DNA, and it reflects how she views each caste- as being biologically inferior.

It kind of looks like Gemgo, the yellowblood sign of The Original, with an assignation of Prospit and Space. That, in addition to her colored eyes, gives me an idea…

Trolltag: contagiousCacophony [CC]

Quirk: S-HE S-PEAKS L-IKE T-HIS T-O I-NDICATE S-OME W-ICKED E-MPHASIS.

Special Abilities (if any): She has a mutation that leaves her eyes permanently hued in her blood color. This gives her particularly potent chucklevoodoos, and strangely she finds it hard -not- to use them to get her way.

If you’ll allow me to sell you on this, I feel like this might be a fun idea: Veveni is a goldblood who is clawing her way to the top of the (landdwelling) hemospectrum. You can still endow her with the belief that she is innately biologically superior (as goldbloods apparently think of themselves as the smartest person in the room). She can pass her oddly-colored eyes off as a fortunate mutation that means her chucklevoodoos manifest physically rather than as a hypnotic gaze.

Lusus: A small horselike creature with four eyes and tightly curled arm horns. ((loose reference to the four horsemen of the apocalypse

…arm…horns…WHAT ARE ARM HORNS. Wait does this horse. Does this horse have horns that look like flexing arms. I love it. If you wanna keep her a purpleblood you want them to be a seadwelling mammal so maybe keep that but make her a mermicorn. If you want to go with my idea that she’s a social climbing goldblood…(ʘ‿ʘ✿) she may have to kill or abandon her lusus to keep her cover.

Personality: It’s easily said that, among her friends, Veveni sticks out as probably the most vicious. She was praised by the cult for her potent abilities from a young age, and since torturing lowbloods equalled respect for her, it was no surprise as ‘incidents’ of harmed or worse trolls pointed more frequently in her direction. At her current age, she’s more interested in writing about such things as lowbloods have long since steered clear of her direction, but she still makes a habit of terrorizing her less fortunate friend’s dreams particularly. Not that they know it’s her. Outwardly towards them she’s extremely laid back, almost tired, but when a situation calls for it she has very fast reflexes.

I think this is actually a good sell for her being a goldblood because purplebloods are supposedly EXTREMELY driven and will stop at nothing until they reach their goal, however whimsical it may be. Goldbloods, on the other hand, apparently tend more towards boom-and-bust cycles of showing off and then wearing themselves out. This is especially relevant since a bloodthirsty purpleblood would likely have their eye on being made a subjugglator to come in contact with yet more rebellious lowbloods, and this does not seem to be the case for her.

I’m also just a fan of this rework because having potent psychic abilities with no check risks making her overpowered; this reimagining would give her the hidden weakness of being psychically susceptible (though if she’s successfully infiltrated the subjugglator cult then it’s unlikely anyone would suspect as much).

Interests: Literature, Writing, Torture, Online Roleplay, FLARP

Title: Heir of Blood

I don’t know that that title even fits your original character? I mean she’s definitely Prospit but I don’t know that her character has much to do with loyalty…given that she often heralds others’ death, you may want to give her Maid of Doom? Which would make her a Caprimino.

I am aware enough of my own biases to know that I’m trying to shoehorn her into a Space role so I can retroactively justify the narrative thread I’ve woven here, but…I feel like I can make an argument for Prince of Space. With the new backstory, she’s literally destroyed others in order to carve out a space for herself in the hemospectrum. Much as Dirk’s destruction of the self was tied intimately to his self-involvedness, Veveni’s destruction of spaces can lay in her own scrabble for purchase.

Land: Land of Drought and Lemonade [LODAL]

If you want her to be a Doom purpleblood flip those two (LOLAD) and you’re GOOD. Her quest could be to fix the draught (because right now all the poor consorts have to drink is lemonade).

If you want to go with the Space goldblood It’s pretty easy just go Land of Lemonade and Frogs (LOLAF). The lemonade would also be great bc it would remind her of her lowblood status much as Karkat felt his planet was mocking him for his mutant blood.

Dream Planet: Prospit

So. I got a little carried away with multiple sprites (for which fan-troll gets most of the credit for bases), but I promise I have my reasoning. From left to right, these are: a sprite based off your original drawing (surrounded by assorted symbols depending on if you want to modify the existing one or pick one of the two canon EZ ones if she was truly a purpleblood), the yellowblood version, a hypothetical transitional stage in which she is waiting for her hair to grow long enough to cover her second pair of horns while quietly swapping out clothing that would identify her “true” blood color (using an edited sprite from naphal), and her Final Form as a subjugglator.

This if for if you want to keep her a purpleblood because tbh she doesn’t need to have a mutation to be exceptionally powerful; we’ve already seen that purplebloods can be bloody-minded in every possible way. Let’s go top to bottom.

Horns - I wanted to make them mimic the hourglass shape inherent to both your created symbol and to the goldblood one I assigned her; this just meant making them symmetrical to look like the bottom half. The teeny tiny second set is eventually covered with hair to successully complete her transformation into a purpleblood.

Hair - It’s just the hair you gave her. I couldn’t tell what you wanted the bangs to look like so I tried my best to make it look dynamic.

Eyes - I followed your design cue and gave her two lashes on the bottom outer corners of her eyes. Her redesign just uses one full color for each eye in keeping with goldblood design.

Mouth - both goldbloods and purplebloods tend to be toothy castes, so I gave her some teef.

Symbol - like I said, I gave her Gemgo, The Original, as a starter sign. The fake one she’s got at the end is Caprilo, which I initially picked just bc it looked like a coiled Urumi but is the sign of The Multifaceted. It tickled me, especially because it’s a Heart sign and she is very much using it to disguise her Self.

Outfit - most of these are just palette-swaps of your original outfit for variety, but I wanted to address the final one. If we look at the spread of purplebloods we have so far, even Gamzee, the soberest one (ha!), has an outfit that noticeably diverges from his peers’ in that it uses a polka-dot patterned pajama pant where even Feferi still uses colorblocking. The shirt and shorts seemed a bit tame for that, so I gave her a tutu and extended her boots out to look like clown shoes. Based on the purplebloods we’ve seen so far, bright yellow is a relatively common accent color, so I added that to the tongue of her boots and gave them a gold underlining as a nod to her original blood color.

So that concludes my review of Veveni! I’m a fan tbh.

-TR

#sarkiesark #veveni phobos #veveni #phobos #purpleblood #goldblood #review #redesign #tr review #submission #yellowblood

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