#a homage to her mechanic interests

[thevulturesquadron]

#x men #rogue #anna marie #not really show version but #x men 97 #for ref #my own take of her uniform #a homage to her mechanic interests #and more of an 80s vibe #myhandslipped #drew this a while back so just putting it together in a piece #marvel

[memyselfandmya]

Notes on the JWCT Trailer

This will include spoilers and also my possible theories for events that will happen in the show so if you don't want to read that then keep scrolling.

Why is future Brooklynn always shoving her face into cameras?? Fits her character, I guess. In all serious, I love her new design even if it's only for a few seconds, the hair suits her face really well.

ALSO SHE'S DEAD????? I mean I had a feeling that if it were to be one of the campers it be her, but to have it confirmed is insane.

I secretly believe she's not dead and I might make another post about that. Unless we actually see her die I won't believe it.

Darius is never going to escape this guilt and the pressure of being responsible for the lives of others, is he? Give my baby a break.

Also I'm so used to referring to the campers as my babies but now they're grown ass adults that are significantly older than me, like what?

I'm excited to see what's actually going to be on Dark Jurassic bc we know people are tracking dinosaurs but I want to know all of the crazy conspiracies.

Why are they after the campers? That's my biggest question. I truly can't wait to see who's hunting them and why.

AHHH the rest of the campers are 100% confirmed. It was kind of obvious after the leaks and the show description but actually seeing them is making me feel some kind of way.

YASAMMY. As for if Sammy and yaz are still together, that's what I'm interested in. The way Ben was talking, it seems like everyone is separated, which would include Sammy and Yaz. It's possible that they could be physically together but I feel like that it would also make it way more easier to track everyone down if two of the three people were already with each other. This doesn't necessarily mean that they're now separated, they could always just be doing long distance or whatever. My theory is that Yaz and Sammy broke up at one point--Why? I don't know--just to make the separation/isolation between the campers more drastic but then that classic thing will happen where the two characters part of a larger group have broken up but are forced to regroup with everyone else, and therefore each other, and it's awkward at first, especially with the close proximity but then they begin to rekindle their relationship and make amends. Sometimes that ends with one of them dying at the end but praying that won't happen. If they're not together then this is the only alternative I'll take. Sammy and Yaz do seem to be very cutesy in the later scenes so it doesn't seem tooo out of reach.

The scene where Ben's van is driving along a road is giving major Texas vibes -> Sammy?? My guess is that she's the first they go to find.

I love Sammy's new design; her outfit just feels like her and the pink hair ends are everything I need. An homage to Brooklynn maybe? We all know Sammy was her biggest fan.

Also the clip of her seems to be like a fair or something which makes sense but it also looks like a couple of things are knocked over like a pole and a bucket. Also she's taking up a defensive stand. Could there have been like a county fair that was attacked by dinosaurs? That's what I'm thinking.

Kenji's design is cool. I don't have much to say about it but it feels like him enough. My boy is also getting active, I see. Is that his coping mechanism? Such a stark contrast to the lazy boy we once knew.

Yaz's new design I like. She's my favorite so I feel like I might me most critical about her design. Her hair is super cute but it's also taking a bit to get used to because in one clip she reminded me of Marinette from Miraculous Ladybug and I can't unsee it but it looks great in her first clip. I love the bangs. I'm curious about the background in that clip, I wish we got to see more of it. It looks sort of like a metal fence so could she be in Texas with Sammy. Later, I'm going to propose a theory that might oppose this idea though.

The next scene with the mysterious man is interesting. Is he one of the guy hunting them? The phone also seems to pink which does't seem like a color he would have. You want to know who would have a pink phone?? BROOKLYNN. I saw a theory by @snaileo which I like, that it's Brooklynn's phone which seems plausible. Perhaps it could be directly after Brooklynn's been attacked and sent that video to the others (Ben?) to warn them. So now the campers would know they're being hunted or whatever which could be the potential "problem" the guy is talking about. Just an idea.

I can't fucking wait until May 24th

The next scene definitely has to take place on Sammy's ranch. It's got that Texas terrain and there's also those pasture fence things and Sammy's in the scene. (And Bumpy too??? FUCKING YESSS). She also kind of moves in front of Ben and Darius like, "who the fuck is coming to my ranch??" Maybe I'm just overanalyzing that but we do know Sammy gets defensive over her ranch. Ben and Darius probably went to her first by the looks of it as Kenji and Yaz aren't pictured. Anyways, I'm so excited to see this place that Sammy committed corporate espionage for.

The scene with Ben in the kitchen place area talking about the raptors has a bunch of boxes in the background. I'm thinking this might still be Darius' cabin but the walls and general atmosphere seem a lot lighter. It could just be because it's day in that scene. Whoever's place it is, the boxes likely either mean that somebody's just moved in or that whoever lives there is prepared to leave at a moment's notice which is why I think it's Darius' cabin. At the same time, the door that's seen for a split second on 0.25 (yes that's the speed I'm watching it at, they're lucky I can't go slower) doesn't seem like a door that would belong in his cabin. It kind of reminds me of an RV. I do have to go and re-watch the teaser trailer to remind myself of what his cabin looks like. But if it's not Darius' place then who could it be? It could be Kenji's place because he looks all comfortable on the bed but then again, it's Kenji, he'll make himself comfortable anywhere. Maybe it's where Ben is staying. I'm probably looking way too deeply into this location but I need to know every detail until the show comes out.

The next scene obviously takes place in Sammy's house/ranch. One, she's there. Two, the overall home has that western/southern vibe to it, like with that swinging door thing. Three, if you look closely enough, there's a sign that says, "love hard, ranch harder," which, honestly that's definitely something that would be in Sammy's house. Four, if you still need proof, the thing she knocks over is a pitch fork thing which is very farmer-y. Also that door that she runs out of? That is a southern-door if I've ever seen one. Im jk but also I'm not. I wonder if this is happening before or after Ben and Darius arrive there. I want to say it's after because of the, "they found us," that precedes the scene but if so, where are they in that moment? An idea I have is that this scene happens first, and as she's running, she stumbles upon those two which is where we have that other scene where the car is driving up which could be the people who are handling/using the raptors. Edit: probs wrong bc the sky/times don't match

I cannot read maps for the fucking life of me. Does anybody know what it's of? I wonder where, when, and how Sammy acquired that map from Brooklynn because it could likely mean that Brooklynn had more contact with people before she "died." I just really want to find out the mystery surrounding her death/disappearance. What does the note say, hmm?

I ran out of space so I have to make a Pt.2 lmao

#jurassic world chaos theory #jurassic world camp cretaceous #jwcc #jwct #jwct spoilers #ben pincus #darius bowman #brooklynn jwcc #(what's brooklynn's last name will we never know?) #kenji kon #sammy gutierrez #yasmina fadoula #yasammy #i'm spiraling #can you tell #somebody sedate me #analysis #looking way to deeply into stuff

[aspoonofsugar]

Ruby's Volume 4 Character Short

Ruby's Volume 4 character short is a great piece of foreshadowing of our Little Rose's arc as a whole. Let's see why.

Little Red Riding Hood Meets Wolves

First of all, the short clearly references the Red Trailer and it is LRRH in a nutshell.

Ruby wanders in the woods aloneand finds some Beowolves preying on people's homes. She immediately goes to fight the monsters, so that people can be saved.

This is the crux of Ruby's character: a LRRH who fights the wolves hidden within the shadows thanks to her ability to see the beauty of the world (Silver Eyes). It is her innocent and hopeful self, which makes her "the best Huntress of all".

The short pays homage to this idea while exploring other important elements. For example, the town destroyed by fire and Grimms clearly calls back to Beacon:

Which leads us to another recurring theme in Ruby's arc. Grief.

From Nevermore to Idol

Ruby sees a place resembling her lost school and rushes in to help. This shows how our girl deals with grief. She never stops to face her feelings, but rather she pushes forward and fights. So, the short starts with a metaphor of Ruby's own coping mechanism in the face of loss.

It is full of symbols linked to death:

Ruby looks like the Grimm Reaper. She wears a cape and has a scythe, both symbols linked to this mythological character.

She rides a Nevermore, which embodies grief, as its name references Edgar Allan Poe's Raven. This poem is about a man mourning a girl (the famous Lost Lenore) and crying he will see her nevermore.

Ruby lets go of the Grimm and lands on a statue. The statue is clearly a religious idol. So, Ruby crashing on it and symbolically taking its place hints to this:

Ruby: It's all… so… heavy… It's the only thing I can feel anymore… and it never, ever goes away. The feeling of not being… enough. Blacksmith: And how would you measure “enough”?

Ruby: Mom?

The whole sequence shows how Ruby is dealing with Summer's death. She is literally wrapped in death (the cape which resembles Summer's) and struggles with grief (the Nevermore). Finally she decides to deal with this complicated feelings by becoming an ideal, just like Summer:

Past Ruby: Mom was the best… but even she failed.

She steps in the fallen hero's shoes. This is why the statue really looks like Summer herself. After all, it is a white hooded figure:

Dorothy Meets One-Eyed Monkey

So, Ruby chooses to overcome Summer's death by becoming like her mom. Still, she meets 2 enemies in her path:

Beowolves and a Beringel. Both tie with 2 different fairy tale allusions.

The Beowolves are Little Red Riding Hood's enemies. This is why Ruby meets them in the Red Trailer, as well.

The Beringel is Dorothy's enemy, as it references Wizard of Oz's Winged Monkeys.

So, Ruby going from the Beowolves to the stronger and more intelligent Beringel shows that she is stepping into Dorothy's role. She is gonna fight the Evil Witch of the West:

Not only that, though, as this specific Grimm has some interesting similarities to another one of Ruby's greatest enemies:

Just like Cinder, the Beringel only has one eye:

It also shows itself to be smarter than the Beowulves, which launch stones to Ruby:

It instead makes use of other Grimms:

Just like Cinder manipulates even her own allies to defeat her enemies:

Finally, Cinder seems destined to turn into one of the Evil Witch of the West's minions:

So, to link her to a Winged Monkey seems just perfect.

In other words, Ruby metaphorically fights Cinder in a town filled with flames. How does their fight go?

Fall And Rebirth

Ruby fights the Beringel on the roof of a church. this setting is interesting because:

It ties into the religious symbolism Ruby herself has - she is an idol and a messianic archetype.

The tower of the church vaguely resembles Beacon Tower - this place is important for Ruby, Cinder and their relationship. There they have their first and second dances and there they will probably have their finale one.

In any case, the Beringel eventually has Ruby fall:

And roars victorious.

Just like Cinder succeeds in sending Ruby down into the Ever After:

And gloats about her victory after Atlas.

Still, this isn't the end.

Ruby symbolically breaks in many pieces:

But is eventually reborn:

Just like in the Ever After she goes through a process of Destruction:

And Re-Creation:

Ruby comes back and defeats the Grimm. Similarly, she is now back to fight Cinder again. I don't think their confrontation will go like Ruby and the Beringel, though. Rather, our Dorothy will turn into her LRRH's self and see the person inside the monster. She will save the Child swallowed by the Wolf, like the Huntress she is.

Light After Dark

The short ends with a reminder that Ruby isn't alone:

JRN are with her and her teammates are fighting their own separated battles, as well:

The final frames of Weiss, Blake and Yang tie the girls to some of their respective motifs. Weiss is associated with the moon and the night (like Ruby), Blake with the twilight (where light and shadow meet) and Yang with the sun and the day (Sunny Little Dragon). At the same time, their order of appearance is used to convey another key idea. The protagonists are moving from the darkness towards the light. From the night to the day. From the Fall to the Dawn.

#rwby #rwby meta #ruby rose #greenlight volume 10 #cinder fall

[bearmemesreviews]

FotW: SDMI - In Fear of the Phantom

Welcome back to Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated, and now we're getting into a problem many reboots and adaptions face - what happens when you try something different. Today's episode isn't really that special, serving as a bridging point between the next stint of episodes focused on the gang's love lives.

Except for featuring the Hex Girls of course.

Not to overshadow the main villain, which would be extra funny considering their backstory, but come on that's what y'all are here for.

Yeah, they got a bit of a redesign since their last few appearances in the two billion direct to DVD films. Fans DID NOT like this, and in a later episode they had to actually address the backlash while also scrapping these outfits for the original ones. They also steal Luna and Dusk's hair dye and gave Thorn's highlights a diminished role.

My personal opinion? Eh, I would've preferred a middle ground between the two, but for reboots I encourage designers to go all out since it's their own thing. So for Mystery Incorporated I would've either kept the redesigns or gave them completely brand new looks a second time. The OGs have a more cohesive aesthetic, but I like how MI experiments by giving each girl their own Alt style. It's probably Dusk who could probably use a new outfit though, since her Tank Girl getup doesn't mesh as well as Thorn's "Pagan School Girl" and Luna's "Lesbian Thespian" outfits do. Actually, maybe one of those Scene Kid reconstructions of School Uniforms would've worked better?

Oh yeah, this nerd.

Backstory: Like most lesbians Velma is a massive fan of The Hex Girls, snagging front row tickets for the Scooby Gang just in time for them to witness a "Phantom" try to murder Thorn on stage. As with every mystery the gang decide to take it upon themselves to do the cop's job to keep the concert going while protecting the band.

This leads to an exploration of the show's two main ships, Fredphe and Shoob - again, yes really.

This show is really good trust me on this.

Scooby outright calls Shaggy a cheater for going to prom with Velma instead of hanging out with him like they always do, and replaces Mathew Lillard with a wooden dummy much to Shaggy's chagrin.

Fred meanwhile comes out as nonbinary a teenage boy with emotions as he finally grasps Daphne's romantic interest in him. All thanks to an entire song written by Daphne where she uses Fred's special interest to get through to him.

Behold, one of the best songs made for a television show in history.

Before this spectacular moment of audio interposed with occasional Zelda CDI-level animation (to be fair are you even looking at the animation in the first place) we got some Phantom shenanigans. Mostly him responding to Scoob and Shag's ability to warp time and space by just setting them on fire, probably the most effective thing one these guys have attempted so far.

Design: Obviously a homage to The Phantom of the Opera, and as we go through the series, you'll start to notice a lot more homages that Wikipedia will kindly point out for you. Though you can also see a bit of Comic Supervillain in his design, so much so that he doesn't seem to fit with the show's own aesthetic. He wears a black full body suit with a gigantic, taller than his own head, Dracula collar and grim reaper-esque hood. He has a fabricated piece of his outfit that goes over his shoulders like Football Pads, but with a sleeker design as it attaches his cape to the main costume. His cape is black but its interior is lined with a sparkling holographic material.

His mask, belt, boots, and glovers are all made of golden mechanical pieces, as they actually allow him to charge up bolts of electricity to fire at the teens in our show. This tech is never explained, and he really only uses it a few times before forgetting he has these weapons at his disposal.

His mask is the best part of the outfit, legitimately cool while evoking a gas mask. It's almost like it was made out of several pieces asymmetrically stuck to each other with large bolts, like if C3PO was mangled in an accident and put back together with recolored bits of R2-D2. There are several short, cylindrical ports on his gauntlets, boots, belt, and mask that occasionally glow green.

Reveal: Shaggy, with an extensive knowledge of obscure musical groups as we'll be shown time and time again, recognized the shiny material of The Phantom's cape as belonging to a One-Hit Wonder named Fantzee Pantz. And once that's discovered it's pretty obvious that the other suspect, The Hex Girl's manager, is not the culprit as he was just as responsible for Fantzee's obscurity as THG.

No, the true culprit is the girl's songwriter, who first attempted to sabotage them through badly written songs but was thwarted by the girl's talent and popularity - So he then turned to just trying to kill them, and Daphne. He ends up taking Scoob's dummy to jail with him, but the original duo patch things up by then - letting us look back at Velma who got sidelined so badly this episode.

2/5 Goofy as hell design for a goofy character, probably the most "Villain of The Week" we've encountered so far. In fact, he'd probably fit in better in Miraculous Ladybug than this show. Not that bad otherwise, just not as impressive.

#bmoreviews #scooby doo mystery incorporated #scooby doo #mystery incorporated #bmoreviewsmysteryinc #the phantom #phantom of the opera #the hex girls #Youtube

[mllemaenad]

The Magnus Protocol: Pet Project

This one seems to be about the illusion of control in almost the opposite direction to Futures. In Futures you were looking at someone who was obviously deluding themselves from the start. Even without the supernatural aspect, Darrien's little plan was almost certainly going to crash on him eventually – and with it, he was always, unquestionably, monster food.

Alyssa, though, has reason to think she knows what she's doing. This is her job, and the first half of the statement is just a cool, competent assessment of what she finds, and what she needs to do about it. It's only when the situation turns weird that she finds herself flailing and out of control.

What's especially interesting, though, is the inference, never outright stated, that maybe she should have known how to deal with this. She just missed the signs and treated it as an ordinary squirrel problem, rather than a supernatural snake-vomiting problem.

Chester/Alyssa Dad, this is for you, for everything you taught me, everything you shared. I need you to know what happened and I know you’ll believe me. Don’t blame yourself for not answering the phone. It’s not your fault. It’s not your fault. – The Magnus Protocol: Pet Project

First, the implication that Alyssa's father is somehow especially qualified to understand what has happened to her, and the fact that she seems to have called him first when she knew she was in trouble. The police are her fallback option when she couldn't get through to her dad. And honestly, what are the police going to do, even when they get there? She's already infected.

That was such an odd little piece that I hopped over to the wiki to see if there were any Becks I had forgotten in The Magnus Archives. There don't seem to be, but a) Beck could be Alyssa's married name, or she could simply have a different name to her father for other reasons or b) this is a new universe, so it's entirely possible this is the introduction of an entirely new dynasty of monster experts.

The whole thing feels like something of an homage to the Jordan Kennedy and Jane Prentiss situation, though: the exterminator turning up to a normal job that abruptly turns into a horror story; the whole range of potential contaminants in the place (rodents, mosquitoes, spoiled food, ants); the spread of infection by a scratch, like poor Harriet; the itching; someone basically dissolving into an animal mass.

I don't necessarily mean that there's the same kind of entity at work here – presumably the ones in this universe don't work exactly the same way – but the similarity is nevertheless striking.

So, what then? Well, the noteworthy thing about Jordan Kennedy is that he eventually came to work for the ECDC.

Jordan Kennedy At the time, I didn’t really connect the two. I was too busy trying to comprehend what had just happened. And when trucks from the ECDC showed up to put me in quarantine, it slipped my mind entirely. They were surprisingly forthcoming about Jane Prentiss and what had happened, and after an extensive debriefing, they actually offered me a job. Apparently, disease control and pest control often go hand in hand, and I’ve been working for them since. Most of the job’s been mundane – a couple slightly weird, but nothing like those two. – The Magnus Archives: Pest Control

In The Magnus Archives, the problem of monsters and eldritch gods was at least well enough understood that major institutions had some mechanism to deal with it, even if it wasn't discussed openly. Everybody needed at least one person on staff who wouldn't freak out if some many-headed sharp-toothed horror careened down the corridor toward them.

In The Magnus Protocol we know that (for good or ill) the OIAR fills a similar function, and presumably there are other examples we haven't yet got to. Should Alyssa have known about this, because her dad was the guy who won't freak out?

Chester/Alyssa When I unsealed the shop floor, the shopkeeper seemed obsessed with continuing his sales pitch to the pair. He was adamant that they purchase a snake and pretty much ignored me entirely. It made me a bit uneasy, so I hung back to watch. Thinking back, I should have noticed he was… off. – The Magnus Protocol: Pet Project

Second, Alyssa berates herself for not noticing that Anthony Walker was "off". But the thing is ... she did notice.

Chester/Alyssa Requested shop to be cleared of customers for full inspection. Client’s agitation increased, presumably due to business worries, resulting in a brief altercation. Kept mentioning “his burden” and grabbing at my sleeve. Received slight scratch by accident, but no escalation or violence, so no need for full incident report, although anyone following up should be advised there may be a mental health problem. – The Magnus Protocol: Pet Project

Things Alyssa noticed about Walker:

He had a bunch of weird scratch/bite marks on his neck

He said things that made no sense ("his burden")

He was excessively agitated about the whole situation, which, from Alyssa's side of the job, boiled down to "squirrel got in through open window"

He became violent when Alyssa requested that he ask the customers to wait outside

Alyssa saw all of this, but attributed it to mundane problems (mosquitoes, money woes, mental illness). Is the suggestion perhaps that she had all the information she needed to make a very different kind of assessment? That "off" does not mean "mentally ill", but rather "infected with something supernatural". And had she put it all together earlier, would she have perhaps called her father (or someone else with the right toolkit for this) much, much earlier?

She didn't seem to recognise The Magnus Institute, though, although it would still have been up and running when this happened.

So whatever Alyssa should have known, she got it from a different source.

And it's all relevant because, when Chester finishes speaking, it becomes apparent that he was probably telling this story to Gwen.

Sam (quietly, to himself:) No. No. Could be any institute. Gwen The letters, you mean? Sam Jesus! (catches his breath) Don’t sneak up on people like that! Gwen (putting bags down) I didn’t “sneak up.” It’s not my fault if you’re distracted. Sam When did you get here? Gwen Just now. (swivels on the chair) Seems pretty straightforward to me. Snakes, not sure what the collective noun is, horde, maybe? Cross-link with infection, too, probably. I wouldn’t have thought the letters have any bearing on the classification. – The Magnus Protocol: Pet Project

She's clearly been there for most, if not all, of the case: she knows how to classify it, and she can state with confidence which bits are relevant and which aren't.

Chester's got a point to make, here, it seems. Gwen, too, knows her job. It's a point of pride with Gwen that she is very good at reviewing and classifying the cases.

Alice Zombies would have been fine. Gwen A) no it wouldn’t, and B) there’s at least three pages of subclassifications for zombies. He’d be here for hours. Alice And I’m guessing this dedication to detail is why you’re so behind? Gwen It’s why I have the highest accuracy rate in the office. – The Magnus Protocol: First Shift

She's also an old hand at the OIAR, and aware that there is something, well, off about the place.

Gwen What do you think we’re actually doing, here at the O.I.A.R.? Alice Apart from mortgaging our mental health for a wage packet? Gwen We’ve both been here long enough to know this place. We’re not doing good. We’re not just – sifting random data. There’s something wrong here. Alice What are you getting at? Gwen You never wonder what the point is? Who benefits from all this awfulness? – The Magnus Protocol: Getting Off

She's been meeting with Externals, and people have died. And in this episode, specifically, Lena is unhappy with her. What has Gwen done now? It sounds as though Chester is saying that Gwen has all the information she needs to make a determination on something – the OIAR, the Externals, monsters in general. She knows all the classifications, and their sub categories. She's seen the monsters with her own eyes.

And maybe, just maybe, it's important that her last name is Bouchard.

Then there's Alice. And ... well, I hope they go somewhere with her soon. I mean, I get it. This is deliberate. It's not simply that she deflects with humour, it's that she's obnoxious about it. Her jokes tend to be slightly cruel, or at least mocking. She's overbearing with her wit. I honestly don't find it charming at all. And I don't think I'm supposed to.

People do small talk with Alice, or some light banter, but they don't really talk. If the conversation goes in a direction she doesn't like she'll turn it into a bit. And then you have to put up with the bit until she gets tired of it ... which is frankly exhausting to contemplate. You also have to put up with this at 3 AM because you work a night shift. So best not to risk it.

The trouble is that it works. I also tense up when people try to talk to Alice, because it's going to be awkward and irritating.

It's a contrast with John back in The Magnus Archives. He was undoubtedly also quite obnoxious, specifically in the early seasons, but you spent a lot of time in his head, so the process of understanding why was smoother. We never hear Alice's internal monologue – only the rubbish she talks to avoid saying anything.

I don't mean that I'm unsympathetic. Alice is a main character, she seems to be in some distress, and she's intriguing in many ways. Just ... ohhhh I hope they do something with her soon, or I'm just going to die of second hand embarrassment.

#the magnus protocol #the magnus protocol spoilers #the magnus archives

[dumpy-dump]

ffxiv villains

Nael Van Darnus is the english localization team's greatest adversary apparently the unhinged garlean legatus responsible for slam dunking the moon into the ground. she's a big fan of bahamut, sephiroth, and majora's mask, among other things, you see, and decided to incorporate her interests into her work. she dies but doesnt.

Gaius "such devastation" Baelsar is a verbose fantasy nazi who's favorite color is social darwinism. he dies but doesnt, after getting epically pranked by a kingdom hearts cosplayer. later, his many adopted lizard children die. this all causes him to suddenly realize that fascism is not very poggers. it's all very cool and makes sense, you see. gaius "garlean man's burden" baelsar was already slightly less racist than his peers anyway so he's basically a hero.

Nero's not a villain, he's just based.

lol Lahabrea 🍞🔑🗡

Thordan is catholic.

Nidhogg was totally valid actually, but he needed to speak to a dragon grief counselor or something.

Zenos is megatron but sad is a sadistic bishonen who based his whole personality on "the most dangerous game." he's a twisted fuckin cycle path, less a person and more a weapon for the emperor to wield (at least until late stormblood). he's mostly just doing what he was born and raised to do, yeah, but it's not like that makes it fine. he dies but doesn't, as overstaying one's welcome simply runs in his family. he then spends most of his time in early endwalker trying to invite the wol to a nice, romantic, candlelit fistfight in the wendy's parking lot, by pissing on the moon (of course). that, and doing a whole lot of napping, apparently (way to beat the boring allegations, zenos). he helped cause the apocalypse because he's depressed (and very, very battle horny), but it's not like depression makes it all fine.

lol Varis 🗡😱🪦

Emet-Selch is the ceo of fascism, and was a funny and extremely likeable villain who stole the show everytime he showed up, until he wasnt. he stalled in the grieving process and decided to make that everyone else's problem by comitting mass genocide (he kins nidhogg you see) across multiple worlds for thousands of years in an attempt to bring his people back. but he's depressed (about his own ppl, he didnt seem to feel too bad about the everything else), so it's fine. genocide is his coping mechanism you see (very relatable). he dies but still has a ton of screentime and importance even after death because overstaying one's welcome simply runs in his family.

Elidibus more like elidibitch, ayo! was the convocation's little pogchamp who was sacrificed to become zodiark's heart, instead of any of the older members of the convocation who could have made that sacrifice (no, no, by all means, let the lil guy do it). he keeps desperately fighting for reasons he doesnt even know anymore, all while donning his best ff1 warrior of light cosplay (you're doing great, sweetie!). he can also apparently help you travel back in time, even though that's not how that worked when they sent the crystal tower through time initially but yeah okay sure (i kinda already did the twinning broski, cid's funky time robot is gone, how are you doing any of this? dont answer that).

lol Valens 🥛🐄💪

Fandaniel is become zodiark amon hermes a mentally ill funky little jester who is fought three goddamn times, one of those times being in the afterlife after you've already killed him once. one might assume that he may be related in some way to emet and his family based on how he, too, overstays his welcome. but no, he's just one of emet's annoying coworkers. yet another twisted fuckin cycle path, he helped cause the apocalypse (twice technically), but he was depressed, so it's fine. one of two characters whose existence slightly detracts from the whole hope vs despair theme of endwalker (imo).

Meteion is Necron a sad space bird, there to act as an homage to other final fantasy games that also have some random last minute bullshit as the final boss, not acknowledging of course that that is usually one of the worst parts of all the games that do that (i like ff4 but zeromus mcpalpatine-reference is lame). she's trying to destroy all life, yes, but she's mostly just doing what she was born and raised to do, so it's fine. she's also there to connect to the hope vs despair theme, but that is slightly undercut by the player charitably helping a violently mentally ill man die his preferred death (but like in a fun way) right after the big hope overcomes despair moment.

#ffxiv spoilers #nael van darnus #gaius van baelsar #nero tol scaeva #lahabrea #thordan #nidhogg #zenos yae galvus #varis zos galvus #emet selch #elidibus #valens van varro #fandaniel #meteion #long post #a realm reborn #heavensward #stormblood #shadowbringers #endwalker

[riverpiracy]

oh my godd bro yes i'm sorry for secretly recording a voice memo on my phone when you took me out to culvers with your parents and pretending to be really interested in your mom's job so I'd get enough audio from her that i could use to train a text-to-speech model with and then use the model to generate dialogue for a companion/love interest character in the game-sized fallout new vegas mod i'm contributing to and yes i did know that other contributors were working on pregnancy mechanics when i sent the files in but it's a group effort and also the discord server for it has been weird as fuck lately and i don't want to catch a ban but like for real it's really weird in there like i think the guy who's writing the a boy and his dog homage side quest is actually trying to get everyone to meet up at his property in north carolina and help mill out 80% lower receivers but anyway yeah sorry that nexus users are gonna be able to get an ai shade of your mom pregnant

[no-where-new-hero]

⭐ I"M READY

Thank you for asking @batrachised!!!

This was actually kind of hard because my lovely readers have been very good at noticing all the shiny parts I particularly want them to notice (in terms of lines and stuff), so there isn’t exactly any area that makes me want to point and yell “Look! See how clever I was there!” It’s also a bit hard because so much of what I do is just canon rewrite, so the kicks I get out of my stories are just me wallowing about happily in the color of my prose (to quote a professor’s critique of my work) rather than any great plot movements or choices that need explaining.

That being said, there’s one part of The One Who Takes I want to mention:

But there were nights when neither a new game nor an old book could hold him, and he would go out alone, coming back with the scent of other people’s fear and other people’s blood under his cologne. And there were nights when he merely lay on the sofa and drank glass after glass of that throaty, bubbly drink from the airplane, which made his eyes go dark and slack as though he were falling down from the brightly lit apartment to somewhere deep and empty inside himself. As she poured out cascades of golden liquid on his command, she wondered if everyone else in this city carried caverns in their chests that they never showed to anyone. She knew she didn’t, not anymore. When she finally decided to run away from home, the first thing she did was implode the most important ones, to bring down the roofs and fill the cavities with rubble, and she no longer cared to look at what lay buried in the wreckage.

When I wrote this, I immediately sent excited screenshots of it to @blackcatwalking (my treasured first reader) because I knew I found the soul of the story. It was a moment of framing both of the characters at a distance, half Yu-ri’s POV and half-omniscience. We learn something about Rang (he has bad coping mechanisms) and it suggests a very characteristic attitude for the girlies to imagine. We learn something about Yu-ri (she has a superior attitude scorn and thinks she was smart enough to avoid this human way of being hurt) that will inevitably change. And the image of the internal caverns was an unintended homage to Virginia Woolf and her advice for building well-rounded characters. Though accidental, it worked both within the world and in a metanarrative way: Yu-ri was killing her old self by collapsing the cavern of her past. But I was also killing the cavern of Yu-ri as written in canon by making her my own. Every fanfic writer’s first act of creation is destruction.

I know there are objectively better and more interesting moments in the story, but this passage was when I had the aha moment that I was doing the thing, the thing was happening, the Frankenstein monster was beginning to breathe. I get that infrequently enough, but when it does come, it reminds me that yeah actually this writing thing is pretty cool after all.

Fanfic Writers: Director's Cut Ask

#writing life #blake's asks #blake's mail #blake's last braincell

[foxgirl-fluff]

Been neglecting to upload the rest of my art here so I decided I should just upload a bunch of my Caelyn art at once and turn it into a little history lesson on her design through the years!

Before Caelyn as a character was really solidified as my persona I had a lot of ideas about what she could be. I've been obsessed with the concept of a self insert character even before I started using the internet. If I really wanted to go back to the beginning, I could probably argue that I had one back when I was as young as 4 years old. Starting from my teen years, I bounced around different fandoms with my own self insert ocs, though I mostly kept it to myself.

Shown here is the earliest piece I have where I started to actually keep my persona somewhat consistent: my first fursona. Back then I lurked about the furry fandom but since one of my new friends at the time was a furry I decided to make my own sona. Obviously, it's a fennec fox, but I decided to incorporate some of the markings of turquoise-browed motmot as an homage to my heritage. At this point, I had no name in mind for this character I had created, and only drew it once after the fact.

Shortly after I got into League of Legends, I came up with an idea for an oc for it. She was a Lhotlan Vastaya with the power of Oneiric Reality Manipulation who couldn't control it. This has since been a recurring theme in Caelyn's backstories, inspired by my tendency to get caught up in my own daydreaming and vivid dreams.

Next up is when I finally got back into Dungeons and Dragons. I wanted to ease back into roleplaying with a character most like me so I could focus on learning other mechanics of the system. She was first played in a homebrew setting where she and her party had been sent off to an island to explore uncharted territory. Thinking back on it, I probably could've just went with making her a wild magic sorcerer, but I went with a homebrew class called the Dreamwalker.

After that, I tried to change up the design and her backstory a bit, but then decided it was a bit too much for my liking. I even had plans to stream my art and make her into a v tuber for myself, but it's been put on hold for a bit now.

Finally is her most recent iterations where I've played her in Pathfinder Second Edition. It took a little experimenting, but realized I could make her a psychic with the wellspring mage archetype for that power incontinence flavor without using any homebrew. It was really tough with the tiny amount of spell slots you're given, so I might actually give the dreams mystery oracle a shot from Oracles+ when I play her next. It was also when I "came out" as a furry so I reverted her back into my fursona, lol. I drew her here in her casual comfy clothing she dresses up in when painting, in her adventuring outfit, and her formal outfit (which I dont take design credit for, it's just this coordination).

Anyways, if you've read up to this point, I thank you for taking an interest in my character!

#Caelyn Dewflower #character design #dnd #furry #original character #pathfinder #pf2e #fursona

[handypolymath]

Friday meme - tagged by @crankygrrl

Last song: currently listening to myNoise, "Sea Organ" (custom settings should be embedded in the link):

Songwise I've been spinning a lot of 70's Dolly Parton these days, but mostly running podcasts and ambient -- music is not running hot for me right now, but I expect in another few months I'll be curious and hungry for it again.

Favorite Color: I love a good phthalo green, but I adore plum purple:

Last Movie Watched: First time watching Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. This number was the highlight for me -- from her upside down cross looking earrings to the little black cuffs on their wrestling spankies.

An interesting cultural piece that's for sure, and I may revisit it wrt mid-20th-century meditations on mercenary heterosexuality. For example, in all the allusions and homages to That Pink Dress & Tuxedos musical number, I'd never clocked the chandelier giving Legend of the Overfiend vibes:

Currently Watching: 30 Rock, for the quintillionth time, tending my funky little rock garden of headcanons.

[e.g., Floyd DeBarber is the most insidiously terrible guy Liz ever dates -- and the alcoholism is none of it -- I really do worry about Caitlyn's mental health and physical safety, and I'm glad she has the "well fuck you too buddy" example of Liz doing Bible Mad Libs in the midst of her nuptial mass]

[oh he's gonna kill da wabbit alright : / Meanwhile, Liz subverts the genre by sailing through danger like Mr. Magoo]

[the danger in this case being 1. think you're marrying a peer 2. get your dreams sacrificed to resolve the two-body problem 3. sacrifice your body pumping out more student body for St. Prep's or whatever 4. get upgraded when Floyd makes partner]

[least. satisfying. Land of Cleve. montage. ever.]

Sweet, Spicy, or Savory: Savory, yes please.

Relationship Status: is Addams. Best friend, playmate, true co-parent, intellectual equal, and great fun to break a bed with. A few decades ago we met under an ausipicous sign:

Last thing googled: Mechanical keyboards. My typing is self-taught on a '67 Smith Corona electric and I have never been able to retrain my fingers to strike softer. I miss the satisfying typewriter thunk and tactility of Making Words Manifest.

Current Obsession: Exploring life outside of a survivial mindset.

Curent/Last Read: Blood in the Machine by Brian Merchant; Doppelganger by Naomi Klein; Feeding the Other: White Privilege and Neoliberal Stigma in Food Pantries by Rebecca de Souza; Bloom County by Berkeley Breathed (rereading); Unmasking Autism by Devon Price; The Will to Change by bell hooks; Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily and Amelia Nagoski (re-reading); Happiness Becomes You by Tina Turner (read in April, considering re-reading); The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber and David Wengrow (rereading); doesn't include the ones I'm truly stalled out on or in queue.

Looking Forward To: being able to hang with friends again; cherry season; fireflies; new glasses; my first tattoo; making more art.

Tagging in all who'd like to play!

#ask me anything

[9w1ft]

wait wait did she just…

is…

so… if… so… 🤨 pretend the stage is an eye 🤨

no no wait back up a sec

as you all know i’ve been thinking on the fact that there are a “psychotic amount of easter eggs” in the bejeweled video, and the idea that a lot of those easter eggs are hidden eyes. because i’m a lost cause and whatnot 😆

but no, i really think there are.

here’s an example

there’s an eye pattern on the fan in the opening scene. and i listed up a whole bunch more towards the bottom of 2022 eye theory year in review update if anyones interested. there are some very obvious undeniable ones like the use of an actual lovers eye ring etc.. it’s not all abstract.

so yeah… i have an idea for one more 🥴

ok back to the start. the stage: looks like an eye, right?

with the stage lights at the top and the stage lights on the bottom giving eyelash vibes and such, and the roundness of the bottom and framing of the drapes giving the whole thing that almond shape look.

or alternatively, the cogs in the backdrop form an arch and the bottom cog on the stage rounds it out. go ahead take your pick.

and the idea of women dancing around in her eye is on theme, and the stars on stage as well mimic the sorta.. eyes full of stars, starry eyes sparking up my darkest night of it all.

anyhow abstract points aside, the clock she rides down on is sorta like, you know, the iris, the pupil…

don’t you think the whole thing looks like an eye?

and you might be thinking, 9w, come now we all know this is clock themed.. to which i say, yeah, okay, this mechanical gear filled stage is reminiscent of the inside of a clock, as we see in the mastermind lyric video… right? alright! if so, so let’s add in here the idea that she’s a mastermind and it was all by design…

and speaking of things done all by design… i think there’s something to the choreography here that.. 🥴speaks to the spirit of the eye theory, the physicality of the idea of taylor replacing an eye with another.

because think about what taylor actually does:

the gear in the middle of the stage is seen turning to the right at the beginning of the scene, and taylor herself does do a turn with her choreography, so there’s this idea of rotating horizontally… flipping..

and when she gets to the stage, 🤨 she disappears the clock behind her.. just up and removes it!!

and by the final pose does she not also recreate a round shape in the middle with the dancers??

all her dancers were dressed in a diamondy white color with white fans, and she’s sparkly blue… so when they flock around her with the fans… her blue bodice stands out and… with the angle of the lighting… is… is this not an eye shape??

i mean… is this video not an entire eye theory homage?? and what does it say that she randomly connects the visuals of this video with the mastermind lyric video?? what’s up with that??

#all eyes on us #don’t mind me i’ve just got a piece of sand in my eye 🥹🥹

[queerfables]

Thoughts on 911, start of s3

3x01-3x03

I really like these big city wide disaster episodes. There's lots of room for high stakes, low resources and unexpected complications

Jeeze this show is really written to pull on parental heartstrings. I really like how much of a focus they put on the characters families and how the kids get to be fleshed out characters. But also I think it's clear (and interesting!) how the target demographic of this show is a little older than a lot of the action-y shows that get popular in fandom.

Tbh my feelings on Buck and Eddie through s2 have been like, "sure they're both pretty and they have a few moments but I'm not quite feeling that 'spark'"

But there really isn't anything more profoundly meaningful than "there's no one I'd trust with my kid more than you" so. There's that.

Buck loves Christopher like crazy it's really important to me

I would like to see more of Buck and Eddie quietly losing it over the other one being in danger though. Like not every episode. Obviously they are both extremely competent firefighters who trust each other's skill and experience. Just, you know, occasionally.

3x04

Oh Chimney, don't make this about you. Of course Maddie is going to freak out sometimes if she's reminded of her past relationship. She knows you're nothing like Doug (she wouldn't be with you if she didn't know that) but her brain and her body are wired to protect her from a situation she's not in any more. Just give them some time to catch up.

I really appreciate how this show will show Maddie is traumatised without making her seem fragile.

Oh my god they replaced Buck with the lady I'm pretty sure is Eddie's new love interest? That's hilarious.

Wow the Buckleys are not batting a thousand this episode. Buck do not sue the city because your boss wants you to take a little more time off work, there are approximately a hundred other ways to deal with that which don't burn every bridge in your life down? And Maddie don't stalk your caller and really don't RUN A MAN OVER that is UNHINGED. If nothing else, what if you're wrong??

Was Buck actually fired? I really thought he was just on leave?

3x05

Buck's lawyer is really tearing into everyone

Jesus this is miserable

Buck you're a dumbass what did you think was going to happen

Wow I'm extremely fucking gay for Eddie's new lady friend

Buck and Eddie having a domestic at the grocery store is extremely funny

Eddie doing some dumbass fight club thing what a dork

3x06

Oh we're doing movie homages for this Halloween episode? Delightful

Don't be mean about the bird, Chimney, crows are great

I do feel like Bobby was a bit overprotective with Buck in not letting him come back to work (even though Buck massively overreacted)

Buck what the hell did you expect after suing everyone come on now it'll take some time

Oh Eddie is pisssssed at Buck

Maddie I know you wanna help but all of this is a BAD idea

Maddie I'm sorry but Chimney is super right this whole thing is so bad you have GOT to stop

Lmfao Eddie is SO mad

"I'm not mad," says Eddie, madly.

Aw thank God both Buckleys are doing a little better. Now I just need Eddie to find a coping mechanism that isn't underground cage fighting

#911 abc

[pastel-junkyard]

Some Ninalotte Headcanons,

because now that I finally have a break I cannot stop thinking about Them, and they need more content!

Series

• Lotte fell for Nina the same way she fell for Karl (or thought she did, depending on your headcanon) - it began as an anthropological fascination based on surface features and was able to progress deeper thanks to their friendship and acceptance, having a "click" moment some time in where she looked at them differently. As seen in the show, she quickly gets invested in both of their stories and tries her best to help them - that'd be her love language.

• Nina was very slow to fall for Lotte by contrast - she struggled to see herself as someone worth loving in that way, fearing that it may be dangerous for anyone who gets too close to her. (In general, I believe she is inexperienced with romance and never really connected with the few she accepted a date from in school.) I believe she only accepted it or was able to express it fully after the events of the series.

• That said, Nina ended up staying over at Lotte's house after the dance party fiasco, so she ended up meeting her parents and seeing Lotte's bedroom before insisting on taking the couch to sleep on.

• The sound of Lotte's voice and her scent are a source of comfort that helps Nina ground herself in the present moment. It all started in the hypnotism sessions and was something she only really realised in Prague.

(More under the cut...)

• Lotte found the gun and bullets when searching through Nina's bag for new clothes to leave the hospital with, but it was only when she walked in on Nina cleaning it that she dared to ask anything.

• Despite all her efforts to separate from everyone at the second departure from Munich, Nina still had a little thing (not sure what yet) Lotte gave her that day when she left. She couldn't bring herself to throw it, so it ended up at the bottom of her travel bag instead and maybe got a little smile out of her on the way back to Munich.

• Lotte was understandably worried at every point of the series, especially at the above point and Rühenheim. She had trouble concentrating on her work with all the new developments and so had to get help from the lecturers and perhaps an in-house counsellor like Dr Geitel. Your mileage may vary on the extent of this, but I think she may have used religion as a coping mechanism for the uncertainty, praying for Nina's safety and for her to not have to use her gun. (Really just extrapolating from the references to God she makes in ep. 32/ch. 61 here. But certainly by Rühenheim I can see even a more secular Lotte making an appeal to the Divine.)

Post-Series:

• Long-distance relationship for a good while, with plenty of carefully-worded letters and emails updating each other on events in Munich and Heidelberg. They take turns visiting each other's cities and are trying to figure out a way to live together while still paying homage to their regional identities. (That's apparently fairly important in Germany, as people who may travel a lot may still want to bring up their kids and end their days in their home region. Well, it may be less so now. Anyway--)

• Phone calls are where they feel most free to be affectionate when not face-to-face - no paper trace means no snoop can go through their (more likely Nina's) bins for an exclusive. They are still somewhat careful not to let anyone overhear, so prefer to call in the evening or night.

• They both like sending little gifts with their letters and pictures with their emails (when that becomes a thing). Nina likes sending brochures and article clippings of things relevant to Lotte's interests, like medieval history or cultural exchange events. Lotte sends pressed flowers and leaves, as well as little doodles of her original characters.

...that's all I've got for now.

#pastel's posts #naoki urasawa's monster #nina fortner #lotte frank #ninalotte #lottenina #(just in case anyone's still using that one) #gun cw #religion mention

[thewickedkat]

the last thing the internet needs is another asshole with an opinion, but i have a tiny corner of the fandom swamp and it's mine, so i can sound off if i wanna. you don't have to continue if you don't wish to; i'm not your dad.

seen some opinions about the possibility of Laudna staying dead, and how that would apparently do everything from be narratively compelling and interesting to sucking hyena dick. i think both points are valid, honestly. would it be sad if she stayed dead? yeah, i'd miss her; i quite enjoy the unhinged humour juxtaposed with the whole 'i was a casualty of someone's beef with a band of heroes' darkness that Marisha is bringing to the table. but would i lose sleep over it? mmm, probably not.

see, i too think that it would be interesting if the Bells found no way to properly rez her, or if something went wrong due to her Hollow nature, something the Bells weren't expecting. how, then, would the characters adapt in the aftermath? how would Imogen cope with more noise in her head without Laudna's music? would FCG adjust their therapy toolset to help Imogen? would Fearne feel a sense of guilt out of revivifying Orym as opposed to Laudna? would Ashton be able to handle losing another friend, or would they get angrier as a defence mechanism? would Orym's sense of survivor's guilt deepen? would Chetney maintain and do upkeep on the little house he made for Pate and Sashimi as an homage to Laudna? how would Delilah (disrespect upon her name) adjust and adapt without a vessel?

these are all things that are interesting to me, the bones upon i like to cronch as i'm falling asleep.

'but Kat!' i hear you say, 'would you be saying this if it were Fearne or Orym who lay wrapped up in that carpet like so much baggage?!'

i'm delighted you asked! why, yes! yes, i would! because if it were Orym who were still and dead, then how do the Bells even carry on his investigation into what happened in Zephrah, if they even choose to? do they relay their findings to his boss? do they contact Dorian and tell him (and how would he react?) do they go to Yios in an attempt to find more information? do they send Orym home like they sent Bertrand to Whitestone, or do they accompany him for a proper memorial? how does Fearne specifically cope in Orym's absence, as she was closest to him for longer (and quite possibly viewed him as 'hers' because of her fey selfishness)?

or take Fearne: how would Orym do? would Ashton miss the little theft battle he had going with Fearne? would Chet mourn one who got away? how do the Bells tell Birdie and Ollie about their daughter's death? does Morrigan find out, and if so, what's her reaction?

see, the thing about death is that it leaves ripples, even if a person is brought back. it's about picking up the pieces in the nightmare wake of it, about finding the capacity to hold on to one breath to the next without losing your ever-loving mind. 'oh, but Laudna's arc isn't done; she didn't have a proper 'chance'--' no, she didn't. and neither would Orym have done, or Fearne. 'their stories aren't finished--' again, no! they're not! but that's why death is called Death and not A Rest-Stop On A Turnpike.

Molly's death in C2 was abrupt and unexpected and his arc wasn't done. neither was Vax's, really, in C1. why do you think VM kept saying 'i do not accept this' when it was his time? because death robs everyone, to some extent. even if one comes back.

if a person is so concerned about Laudna's arc being 'unfinished' or 'how she never got a chance to be herself,' then answer me this: are you just as concerned about the other six bodies that were hung on the Sun Tree? two of which, i remind you, were children. were their arcs not cut short? were they not robbed? were their deaths not just as monstrous and needless? or is it just because Laudna happens to be a PC? i am asking this sincerely.

i've done a lot of thinking since ep33 when all this shit started to kick off, and i still don't know where i come down 100%, but that's fine. i don't need to. i am just watching a game that i am not participating in directly, and i realise that my opinion matters less than a fart in a hurricane to the players. i'm just saying that i am interested in the next storytelling beats. because if death in D&D is just a stumbling block, the way some people seem to think it is, then i also ask: why are the players so visibly worked up about it when a party member falls? they know it isn't cheap, and they don't treat it flippantly. they know that even with all the right planning and all the diamonds and spell slots, sometimes things just don't work. and they adapt.

we should, as well. we can hope and pray, and in worst cases, mourn, but above all we adjust. we have to.

#critical role #cr spoilers #long post #cr meta #cr discourse

[chattegeorgiana]

Hello! Hope all is well. I will admit that did not initially notice the symbolism between Karin/Sasuke & Naruto/Sakura and after going through your explanations it makes too much sense which is why it is disappointing in the “creative shift” didn’t follow through. Karin and Sakura really are a yin & yang to each other which why I’m kind of more excited to see their story in this than Naruto & Sasuke (I know it will be great too). I went through your older post about the U twins and their twist and I have a guess on what that will be lol. Can’t wait for chapter 13 and chapter art too I can never predict it so that excites me!

Hi there,

Thank you so much for your kind message!

As for Karin & Sakura being a foil to each other, well, it's simply Kishimoto's story mechanics: yin & yang mirroring.

Kishimoto often said that whenever he thinks about Naruto, in the back of his mind he also thinks about Sasuke. They were always tied, always connected to one another, mirroring each other's paths.

That alone gave us an insight into how Kishi's creative mind works, and thus, this is how you can tell that the things they had him say like "it was all a red herring" and all that stuff, is BS, because you can clearly see the inconsistency with his creative self.

If you look at many of the plots of Naruto that are happening, they're all a mirror of each other, just different elements that give them their uniqueness, despite the creative process being the same. :)

And I have to admit, unconsciously, that's how I built Sakura's and Karin's stories too in Kaika. And I say unconsciously, because at some point I did realize I was doing that because at the end of the day, what i'm doing is nothing more than mimicking the original authors' style, which is something that I intended in the beginning because I wanted to give it that feeling of familiarity that people had.

And from the reactions I'm getting on the manga chapters, apparently I'm managing so that makes me happy, honestly. :)

Because despite this being a fan project and me being disappointed in Kishimoto's choice of ending and being mad at him in the past, with the passing of the years I came to terms with everything, and now all I wanna do is give my own homage to the story I love so dearly, in my own way, alchemizing all that pain and betrayal I felt once into something peaceful and beautiful, and offer it to those people who were in the same predicament I once was, too.

Basically, Kaika is my way of making peace with all that Naruto's story meant for me, but done it in the way I do best - in a creating manner, since, after I'll be done with Kaika, I'll wanna fully focus on my own original story, too!

Those 7 books won't be writing themselves, lol.

Anyway, to get back to the second part of the question because I got carried away a little bit there, well, the twist with them i know it's not hard to guess. I'm being elusive for the funsies of it.

What I DO HOPE it will be interesting & intriguing is the way I'll go about it, the way I'll write them into the whole plot, especially in the context of a generation that had nothing to do with the Infinite Tsukuyomi & the aftermaths of that. I have a little twist that I'm proud of, to be honest, because I know everybody expects that twist related to the twins themselves.

But, like someone who tries to stay true to the original story's feeling, ya know as they say, it's about the underneath under the underneath, hehehe.

As for the arts, to be honest, I never try to be unpredictable. I just go with the flow & try my best to have it represent the things that I'm gonna touch in that respective chapter.

Anyway, thank you a lot for your interest in Kaika.

You'll be happy to know that I already know what I'm gonna be writing in chapter 13.

Hope you guys will enjoy it!

#kaika saisei #kaika au #naruto #naruto fanfiction #naruto fancomic #u twins #sasukarin

[feral-lore-creature]

oh boy oh boy oh boy am i here to tell you how much that was not rhetorical.

i guess the best place to start wpuld be simply with HR Giger and his rise to fame with his biomechanical artwork. Biomech, as it sounds, is the combination of organics and mechanics, most often represented with human/animal anatomy where joints are replaces with gears and pistons, but infused with muscles and tendons. Gigers art was particularly inspired by Salvador Dali, HP Lovecraft, and Alfred Kubin

(some examples of their work in order of who was listed)

(The Temptation of St. Anthony ,The Shaggoth,Homage to Rimbaud)

Giger was enlisted to the design set by Ridley after he viewed Giger "Necronimicon IV", for which the Xenomorph was designed after.

"Giger's design for the Alien evoked many contradictory sexual images. As critic Ximena Gallardo notes, the creature's combination of sexually evocative physical and behavioral characteristics creates 'a nightmare vision of sex and death. It subdues and opens the male body to make it pregnant, and then explodes it in birth. In its adult form, the alien strikes its victims with a rigid phallic tongue that breaks through skin and bone. More than a phallus, however, the retractable tongue has its own set of snapping, metallic teeth that connects it to the castrating vagina dentata.'"

The Alien is meant to incite sexual horror in men specifically, between ita phallic shaped head/inner tongue and vaginal secondatry mouth, whule still maintining no sexual dimorphism (except feom the queen) so you cant tell if its a male or female.

"however, he could not conceive of an interesting way for it to get onto the ship. Inspired after waking from a dream, Shusett said, "I have an idea: the monster screws one of them", planting its egg in his body, and then bursting out of his chest. Both realized the idea had never been done before, and it subsequently became the core of the film. "This is a movie about alien interspecies rape", O'Bannon said in the documentary Alien Evolution. "That's scary because it hits all of our buttons." O'Bannon felt that the symbolism of "homosexual oral rape" was an effective means of discomforting male viewers."

after this point all of my thoughts devolve into a garble of pointing and hand flapping so enjoy what i was able to provide and i hope we become moots bc i wanna talk abt alien w ppl so so bad

BY THE VOID, THANK YOU! This is so well done. I fucking LOVE IT. I'd LOVE being moots! 😭 I need somebody to info dump on, too!

Putting my own thoughts below the cut so nothing gets too long.

I always thought the idea of making (usually cis) men uncomfortable via graphic, fictional representations of rape was SUCH a good change of pace. It's refreshing, not just in terms of "flipping the script", but the way it's presented is often beautiful, and grotesque.

I remember watched the "horror" (read: fetish) movie "Don't Breathe" with my FATHER not knowing the plot twist (because that's the point of watching the damn movie...) It made me so fucking uncomfortable. It's just a fetish film, honestly. It handles extreme, very real events with no grace or creative liberty. It's horrible.

ANYWAY! Back to Aliens, I think that's also why I fucking LOVE the hive system the Xenomorphs work in. I know some people don't enjoy these terrifying, eldritch organisms being "reduced" to something so earthly as a hive system, but let's be honest, it's effective way to reproduce/gain numbers, and it's still just as scary.

That's the reason I adore the QUEEN herself. Her design is powerful, and elaborate. She sure as hell plays and looks the roll of queen. She's the epicenter of the species who commands all those under her as she "births" more of the monstrosities to destroy worlds in her children's wake. She's the only feminine being binding the hive together into an organized destructive force, and she doesn't even need a male to fertilize the eggs. (<- also a detail I really like.) She's quite literally an evil girl boss LMAO I love her.

These are the main reasons (and I'm sure there's more,) as to why I love HR Giger's original art work, and how it was shown in the first two movies, then later beautifully presented again in Prometheus 2012. (<- somebody please be obsessed with the Engineers with me, I love them, and need to bang one asap LMAO)

It's an amazing example of art that's meant to "comfort the disturbed, and disturb the comfortable."

#tw rape mention #h r giger #alien franchise #alien 1979 #aliens 1986 #alien movies #h r giger art #hr giger #autistic stuff #favs tag