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#anyway me when im normal about designs/characters...

eliasdrid · 1 year

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A thing about me is that if I like a character design I end up taking notes on stuff for myself so here's some of that because it might be useful to someone else?

Also Dante's clockhead design reminds me of the Doomsday Clock so there's a brief explanation + expressions based on that

#elias.txt #dante limbus company #LCB Dante #elias plays limbus co #not sure what to tag exactly </3 #anyway me when im normal about designs/characters...#i simplified a couple things so it isnt perfect but hey

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pangyham · 3 months

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been thinking about the liyue gang and how id draw their physical builds so here are some thoughts i had for xy cy and gm in particular

- xingqiu, unsurprisingly, would be quite lanky. i like to think he has broad-ish shoulders, like a thin athlete's build? hes a long boy to me haha, long face, neck, limbs, fingers etc, so naturally hes stands (comparatively) tall at 5'6" or 5'7"

i like to think hes most physically attractive one and has that handsome princely and boyish charm to him because it adds a lot to his fuckass duality LOL

- chongyun is a lot like xiao imo! short stature but with muscular arms. he seems nimble and flexible because of his normal attack animations (which bears a lot of similarities to xiao's actually! this + the fact that chongyun's normal attacks create gusts of wind further reinforces my hc that xiao trains him). sometimes i watch high energy choreography vids on youtube and some dancers look incredibly light on their feet, almost like their body is inherently bouncy? and i imagine chongyun to have that agility to him. chongyun has a delicate face and aura and i let that bleed into my hcs for his fighting style and physical capabilities hahaha. hes kind of like a cat who's deceptively strong. as for height.. just a few inches taller than xiao, so perceptibly short at 5'4"

- ga ming my new beloved. pretty much similar to chongyun but more muscular and stronger just because he wields his claymore with ease. theres a noticeable weight different between cy and his claymore the way he lugs it up after he swings (or even other claymore users like razor who, on his last hit, bounces from impact). meanwhile ga ming literally slams his to the ground LOL. i love his movements though hes very swift and expressive and radiant.. if cy has delicate movements then ga ming's is fierce and (charmingly!) assertive

ga ming is wonderfully charismatic though, i know hes not well known in liyue harbor yet, but he seems like the type to gain a reputation from his friendliness. how could no one adore him hahaha. 5'5" for height! just between xy and xq

#tangy talks genshin #chongyun gets analyzed most my bad #this was super fun though #while thoughtful ; genshin chara designs will always look distinctly gacha and flashy so a lot of the designs kinda blur together in my hea #this is why i really like looking into their animations particuarly their normal attacks #i think it conveys their personalities really well! it's always something to look forward to when new characters release #i gravitate towards swords polearms and claymores most though because i like the act of swinging and slashing hah. it also requires a lot o #body movement and reflects a lot of irl martial arts fencing and other combat techniques #sword users are always really fun to watch because theyre inherently graceful hahah. i will admit it gets kinda repetitive #i think my favorite NA animation has to be albedo's.. very simple clean and refined. he stands elegantly and puts his arm behind his back o #his 2nd attack which ive been transfixed by since be first came out in 2020 LOL. i love albebo #wow these tags are long as hell #but anyway i actually have more thoughts on xq's physical appearance but its just me rambling about how i think hes funny as fuck #im a proponent of dashingly pretty princely xingqiu not necessarily because i want to bestow upon him desirable traits #but because i think its funny knowing hes just a bit of a loser under all that #hes well known (mr worldwide one might say) and the heir to a prestigious guild and chivalrous talented and prolific #but he writes self insert novels hates carrots had bad handwriting sings really bad #hes just a teenage boy #as always i will 100% have more to say about chongyun but ill save that for another post #ga ming on the other hand.. i dont have anything substantial to say but hes super fun to think about #hes such a likable character #wow these tags are LONG as fuck ill stop now.

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asleepinawell · 8 months

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sorry if this seems a bit out of the blue, but ever since youve been posting about fallen london, im a bit curious about it! What is the game about and where can I get it?

oh no worries! I'm happy to ramble about it

fallen london is a free to play browser game you can find here. the basic premise is that sometime in the 1800's the entire city of london is engulfed in a swarm of bats and then falls through the earth into a cavern a mile below. this is the neath, a huge underground cavern where london sits on the shore of a vast ocean. queen victoria is still around locked in her palace being a typical shitty british monarch, who, amongst other things, decided that 1900 was cancelled and we were just going to have 1899 for a second time

things are a little...different down there. humans are far from the only ones running around. there's devils, rubbery men (think mind flayer vibes), clay men, and the shadowy cloaked figures running the bazaar (and the city) called the masters. death mostly isn't permanent and the dream world is a little too real. also, most importantly, cats can talk! and there are tons of them! and tigers too

it's got victorian, gothic horror, dark humor, lovecraftian vibes. also it's extremely queer as is everything the dev, failbetter games, makes. something I especially appreciate is that you don't have to give your character any particular gender (though you can) and some of the little avatars are very gender neutral:

since it's free to play it comes with the normal things that type of game has such as real money transactions (completely optional and unnecessary for enjoyment (though some of the bonus side stories you can buy are extremely cool)), limited number of actions you can take (max of 20 at a time and refills 1 per 10 minutes). it is definitely grindy too though there's so many things to do (cannot emphasize the insane amount of content enough) I will usually just switch things up every so often

it's single player for the most part but you can ask friends to assist you in certain actions and there are some specific items that can be sent to other players

(if you like the setting but not the free to play part you can check out mask of the rose which is a visual novel they just released set right after london fell. it's a romance but with full aro and ace options (which I actually preferred) and a murder mystery. that one is a normal just buy the whole game deal and I think it's on most platforms. there's also sunless seas and sunless skies which take place in the same world but are a very different type of game and would require their own post. all of these have great writing in them)

but back to fallen london. it works based off of 'storylets', or little short stories when you usually do a skill check to accomplish something in return for advancing the story, levelling your skills, and reward items. you unlock more and more things as you go and get access to new stories and areas. here's an example of one of the little activities and its resolution

since it's a game designed to be able to play endlessly there isn't really a way to lose or game over. you can die but dying is just a minigame of its own and sometimes even a thing to do purposefully. (the only actual way to die is the notorious story called seeking mr eaten's name which you may have seen me post about, which is a very unique story that will permanently erase your character at the end. why you'd ever want to do that would also be its own post. it's pretty hard to stumble on accidentally I think and extremely well-marked as a thing with severe consequences that you probably shouldn't do. or should you...)

anyway I'd definitely recommend giving fallen london a try if you're interested in the premise and aesthetic

#fallen london #flmp #mp #asks

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sopuu · 3 months

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Imma be real for a second and say I love the way Jesse has scars on your art??? Love it when someone gives a character who's been through a lot of physical (and mental) trauma some kind of scar. It just emphasizes to me that they went through that. And the effects of that stay with them.

Sorry I'm rambling

Tldr mmm scar art prettyyyy

exactly!! jesse’s gone through so much that i’d be surprised if he didn’t have any scars. and i like to think he’s confident enough to show them off not as injuries to his body but as a part of who he is, like a collection of experiences and battles he’s overcome. hence why i have his sleeves rolled up most of the time (and also rolled sleeves…so gender…)

he’s got a bunch of other scars i never get to show off so here’s some scar headcanons as a treat! i wanted to give each major one a backstory so it’s not just there for aesthetics. the others are normal battle scars tho

ramblings about the f-bomb scar and the face scar under the cut bc there’s a lot oops. ty for the ask!

can we talk about the damage the f-bomb did to him in game. or the lack of damage even. because there’s no way this man got out of a close explosion from the strongest bomb with ONLY ringing ears for a few seconds?? not that im complaining i’m glad he’s okay bfjkfh

either the order��s armour is made of impressively strong cloth and metal or minecraft block people are very tolerant to damage. although the logical explanation would probably be the damage can’t be shown realistically within the limitations of a minecraft game (not just on the pg side of things but also they are. made of a few pixels) idk it’s something interesting to think about lore/game development wise

if it weren’t for canon depictions i’d probably have the scar cover half of his body,, but i like keeping designs close to canon depictions so a big shoulder scar it is! i had it cover more of his back since he turns when being fished down to try and shield himself

as for the face scar! i’ve debated for a long time whether to have that as the origin bc i thought it was too cruel but it stayed in the end- it’s probably the hardest one he’s had to overcome despite it being the smallest major scar. every time he looks in the mirror he’s reminded of how he failed reuben. how can it be that he only gets a small scrape while his best friend loses his life? all because of jesse’s mistakes?

some OLD art incoming so shield your eyes but these are a few doodles exploring that! i was also testing the f-bomb scar on the face for funsies

eventually though, as he learns to accept his many scars he comes to see this one as a mark of the turning point of his life, both the good and the bad, and how much reuben and jesse meant to each other that they faced the world’s end together, knowing full well of the consequences. in a sense he carries reuben’s memory through that scar :]

anyways this is so long i’ll shut up now LOL

#asks #mcsm jesse #sopuuart #my doodles

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ahfrickenfrick · 1 year

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dsmp as a play? hold my fucking shit, I’ve been thinking about this for TWO YEARS (as someone who did theater for like 12 years)

I absolutely adore the idea of some people seeing the audience and interacting with them and some don’t.

Especially the people who talk to chat a lot during the lore. (Techno, Phil, Tommy, etc.) but I also adore the thought that they gradually become more aware of the audience.

Like Niki for example, she doesn’t talk to the audience or like make them feel involved with her until she’s burning down l’mantree

I want Connor to be in the audience audibly reacting to everything on stage, maybe he even throws popcorn when like Wilbur presses the button and Charlie is just chilling observing everything and becoming more and more aware of the show

Whenever Eret is on stage it’s soft music playing, building up the more they are on until the betrayal happens, subtle and not really noticeable

a Technoblade monologue being performed to the audience, it’s articulate, it’s attention holding, the lighting is dramatic, and Tommy is to the side trying to figure out who tf he’s talking to

Pogtopia Wilbur gets a little more ragged every time he comes on stage, the lighting gets more and more eerie, and it’s the same lighting used in the control room.

DONT GET ME STARTED ON EXILE OH MY FUCK

I think Tommy would talk to the audience more during exile, becoming more aware of them the longer he’s alone. Maybe Dream catches him talking to the audience and takes away his tools again, but they are the only consistent thing in his life, so he continues talking to them.

THE YHINGS I WOULD DO TO DESIGN ERETS COSTUMES

The EGG DUDES, slowly through scenes they grow more and more obvious, maybe it starts out with a simple rose that grows vines and AHSHWKDJDI

SAM NOOK. Making Sam Nook a hand puppet that the actor who plays Awesamdude uses.

There are definitely so many like sad and angsty stuff to put in but like im just thinking about funny stuff.

Tubbo constantly looks at the Audience and gives them the Jim from the Office stare™️, but only until he becomes president and then he suddenly stops doing it.

Ranboo would also be really interesting, cause they talk to themselves a LOT, like their character specifically. Maybe when they aren’t talking they are watching the audience, pulling out their notebook to take notes.

God have you guys looked at stage fighting? Like genuine good stage fighting? Imagine that with the dsmp. I’m so normal about this and everything

When Techno goes into retirement he literally gets off the stage and joins the audience, tsking at stuff and writing shit down in a book, but never getting involved until he gets pulled back in.

DOING THR SCAR MAKEUP WOULD BR SO COOL SNDKEEJR

Anyways yes im ranting and not really sober rn so i hope this makes sense

#dream smp #AS A PLAY #DO YOU HEAR ME YELLING #it’s literally a rant im so sorry #technoblade #tommyinnit #niki nihachu #wilbur soot #connoreatspants #charlie slimecicle #sam nook #eret myct #ranboo

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r-g-d2 · 3 months

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Mini (not rlly—) doodle dump! :)) yey

‼️This doodles have some time alrdy (3 months I think??)‼️ and might have some English errors, sorry by now if so! 🙏

First, this ones, That I did principally to "study"(? kinda???) a little Scrabby, I mean— Scarab :)) 1/2

there u go

Office Au!! 1/2

Well—

Now that I look at this doodles, like, now- that I draw better ig, it are not rlly well hahA— But I still like them actually! and it can give u a little context of this Au, that I plan to draw more! :)) Bc I rlly like this Au 💛 is the first one I made of PWish <33 like- Im not the first one in doing it but— u get it

note: This is actually more a "Normal Life Au" of more characters of Ooo/At/F&C(idk) than just Cosmic Entities!! :)👍 Hope u like the future content I'll make of this Au! That I dont rlly plan to like— Work it soooo much, Is just a fun Au I like :]

Anyways there u go—

Uh— Cosmic Owl?? idk, uh- Dudes in the Time Room 👍 1/1!

I just wanted to draw Cosmic Owl (aka Cosmo here) w Prismo and this doodles (I mean the ones below) came out!💛 I feel like when Prismo got depressed Cosmo and him got distant, well- Prismo more than Cosmo :(( So I thought that them like- After the events of F&C, they reconcile :))💛 Idk- bc Prismo got more happy again! smthing like that, so they become the besties that they were ones <33

I rlly like drawing they Friendship! you could see it in the Office Au doodles too haha ✨🦉💗 You'll see more of them!!

And the doodle above those uh— Idk, I just feel like, Cosmo and Scarab doesn't like eachother NATURALLY lmao! feel like their personalities wouldn't fit at all w eachother haha less w all the things that Scarab did or tried to do to Prismo 😅 Cosmo defending his Bff hshA-

U can see that idea in the Office Au too hahs :))

So, they dont like eachother and u cant change my mind

WELL I WROTE TOO MUCH— haha sorry I like yapping about my drawings HAHSHSA 😭

see ya! hope u like this kinda old doodles :))💛

seconds images of Offcie Au and Scarab's (and Prismo) doodles, idk why but Tmblr didn't let me upload them beside the first ones?????

OH YEAH! Have my Prismo Human design as a little extra for u all!! is as old as the other doodles (kinda more actually) Probably gonna make a remake, anyways look this version for now!

Didn't draw him w the jacket/vest(????? on, To have the actual clothes clear to see :))

But he normally have the jacket on!!

Now yes see ya!! Hahahs

byebyebyeeee

#cosmic owl #prohibitedwish #prismo the wishmaster #adventure time #fionna and cake #the scarab #scarab the god auditor #prismo #fanart #💛'sart

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jesterable · 10 months

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am i danganronpa posting in the year of 2023? yes. i am. anyways sdr2 will forever be one of my favorite casts of characters and i love them all dearly. so i basically just drew all of them as stylized as i could.

these were 90% done from memory except for mahiru bc i forgot what she looked like entirely besides her color scheme.

thought process for all of them under the cut in order of when i drew them

mikan: my brain went to that one sprite of her as it does. and she’s purple and honestly doesn’t have enough specific craziness to have more than one color so she’s very one-color

kazuichi: very sharp. very square. very pink as well, but just pink didn't feel right. he has to have that gross green

akane: i couldn’t see her colors being changed v much but not so much that its. too normal.

teruteru: very proud of his face. he's very oval. and still not crazy enough for many colors

hiyoko: it was a very specific vision to have her with the UGLIEST yellow hair. also i don’t like the banana shape so i tried several other pigtail shapes to be normal about

gundham: took me about 3 tries to get his drawing right. i still have a crush on him. he’s mostly magenta but i felt like that was too little so i gave him red eyes

ibuki: i am proud of her. needed her to look fucking radioactive

sonia: silly girl! she's relatively normal looking but she is not a normal lady. very :3 coded

chiaki: im sOOO proud of my color choices for her. idk why but the dull pink and blue combo is my fave. also i completely went off base with her design on purpose bc i don’t like her actual design. my girl is a GAMER. let her look like one.

mahiru: i don’t know much about her i actually had to google just her so i knew what her hair looked like. ok bowl cut you eat that up!

nagito: he’s fucking insane. don’t like how his hair looks ingame so i made it better. i also totally forgot his outfit if you couldn’t tell. love giving crazy people neon eyes

fuyuhiko: made him accidentally smaller than the rest but i think it fits. baby face... little fucker

peko: tried to make her colorful but at the same time incredibly gray. she gives gray to me. she radiates gray

monokuma: i don’t like the strictly black and white design so i might it alot more red, and just made all the extra bits bright fucking red

imposter: i didn’t know what to do with him but my brain told me to make him orange so i did.

nekomaru: originally he was just gonna be blue, but my brain was like no... give him a more prominent smile. so i did !

monomi: had to make her soo pink and silly coded... gave her a closed eye, a tongue out, and made her folded ear just tilted down a bit more.

hajime: i tried to make him the most normal looking out of all of them. he just had to be.

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foxenclockwork · 27 days

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ermmmmm okay so i dont usualllyyyyyyyy make fandom-talky posts but i cant get it off my mind and ive already talked to my friends about it sooooo yk….. here we are.

SOOO anyway i feel like i see a lot of people talk about how katniss and peeta were sort of like. Destined for each other and that they would have still gotten together regardless of the games happening or not and im gonna be real, as much as i love them, i really disagree.

i just feel that given their circumstances katniss just would not have allowed it to happen. her whole like,, Arc in the story is her becoming able to allow it. even if peeta did approach her, even if she did like him back, she just wouldnt have allowed him to get close, or opened herself up to him, due to that fear she has. this is not a world where she could live a normal life or get married or have a family. she doesn’t have time for love when she has to take care of her mother and sister. she can’t open the possibility of future children in her life when there is the constant threat that they will die, either through the games or starvation. it’s just not something that would happen.

like, i like the concept of soulmates as much as the next person and i see where everyone’s coming from. i Know that there’s some sort of romeo and juliet parallels happening here, especially with the “star-crossed lovers” thing, but, i’d also like to note that a lot of that came from the capitol observing their romance, not,, their actual love. a lot of people bring up the “this would have happened anyway” line, but i feel like that line is still more in reference to the outcome of the games happening.

but, i feel that this doesnt like,, Cheapen? or weaken? or invalidate their love. if anything, i feel that it makes it better, more interesting.

in fact, i’d argue that katniss and peeta are the Opposite of soulmates. i think there’s just something so interesting in the fact that katniss and peeta weren’t supposed to love each other.

they were supposed to hate each other. they were supposed to want each other dead.

everything about their circumstances was designed for that. they are from a district in which their classes are divided and have spite brewed between them, they went into the hunger games where they were meant to be adversaries, they were meant to resent and kill one another once again after peeta got hijacked.

everything was aligned perfectly so that there would be hate and resentment and bitterness between these two, and they defied all of it. and i think this is the part where a lot of people would then view this as them being soulmates— that no matter the circumstances, that no matter what’s thrown at them, the outcome will still be that they find each other. it’s written in the stars.

however, i feel like it’s actually much more powerful when it’s interpreted that they weren’t supposed to be together. it wasn’t written in the stars that they would find love— they chose it. they fought tooth and nail to be together. and i honestly think this is way more impactful than the concept that they were meant to be.

because they weren’t. however, it’s Their lives and they aren’t going to let the universe control them. they’re going to put in the effort and work to be together in spite of everything else. not only is it a good message in general, but i also feel that it’s especially fitting, for two characters whose world has attempted to revoke their autonomy time and time again, that the person they chose in the end was entirely their choice. and like idk to Me that’s way more meaningful and romantic i guess ??? idk. shrug emoji

#frankly this same thing could be argued and probably has been argued about romeo and juliet but i digress #also btw this isn’t meant to like shit on anyone who thinks they Are soulmates or is meant to suggest those people are stupid #i 100% see where people are coming from and understand it i just personally disagree and wanted to speak my thoughts idk #someone’s probably already talked about this before but Whatever we ball #anyways. i go back to my hole BYE #the hunger games #katniss everdeen #peeta mellark #clock speaks ig

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miutonium · 8 months

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Saw @mango-mya 's si/oc inspo post (lmk if you want to be untagged its ok!!) and decided to make a seperate post instead since I'm going to ramble about Chloe and I dont want to clog the main post with my infos (anyway the post is here if anyone wants to reblog with their char's oc inspo :3)

Here's some inspo for my s/i oc Chloe! I don't really have a lot of inspo as oppose to others but I do have a bit detail about it and ahshskaja I think it's fun for me to pick on so the rambles undercut! (Like, im not kidding all my points are everywhere hsksksk)

When I was making an early concept for Chloe, I used Ima (Sedusa) as my early reference for her design. There's a lot of unique body figure of woman in PPG but I am mostly attracted to Sedusa's frame and I cannot stress enough that I love love LOVE her design! Her design is the exact opposite of Utonium (curvy and circle as opposing to Utonium's rectangular and sharp edges) so like I wanted her design to be the opposite of him. I love the idea of opposite attracts and I refered to this idea a lot when I build her character. More on that in just a bit.

When I created her, I was working as a service crew/waitress and I wished it theres something that could swoop me from my boring job so I thinkered with the idea that she found love at the dinky diner she worked at. So one day, I discovered Suzanne Vega's Tom's Diner and I loved this song! What's so interesting to me about this song is that it's an acapella so like I'm able to focus on the lyrics and it basically captured the essence of what I want Utonium and Chloe to be except Chloe would be the one greeting him every morning and give him hello kissies and hhh thats basically the catalyst for their story.

For most of her inspo, mainly personality and clothes, I refer a lot to The Nanny's Fran Fine. I grew up watching The Nanny and I always love how her character is someone that's street smart, extroverted, cares about others and charismatic at times so I based Chloe's personality off this. I also refer to Fran's outfits a lot whenever I draw Chloe in other clothing so if you take a hard look at any of my previous art you may recognize some of her clothes that I used as reference.

For Chloe's hair, I want a distinctive short hair for her and P3's Yukari Takeba was my first choice for a cute short hair cut. I love how her bangs just swoops to her sides and the end of her hair just curls outwards its just so cute to me. I added the heart curl design on her bangs because I really want her hair to be the main focus for her design so that when she wears any other clothes, her hair will remain the same and recognizeable. The heart curls that sticks out of her hair was added veryvmuch later during design process and it almost didn't make it. I'm so glad I keep it, I think people mostly recognize her heart cowlick the most.

While I did say Fran Fine is my main inspo, I did have Bojack's Pickles as another of my personality inspo. She's bubbly, energetic and sometimes ditzy and I never mentioned this but Chloe's a bit ditzy and has a valley girl accent. I have not think of a voice claim yet but the voice that I think that would fit Chloe rn is ATSV's Lyla. There's a significant age gap between Utonium and Chloe and I really want to show how both of them came from different generation (Utonium's a boomer while Chloe's more of Gen X so I want to play around their understanding of trends and how they act with their age accodingly hhh)

Overall, what I want to achieve for Chloe's personality and appearance is someone that would compliment Utonium's personality and appearance in the opposite way because like I said, I love the idea of opposite attracts. Where she lacks education, she makes them up for her communication skills. Where Utonium is big on being a book smart person, she is street smart, she knows how to handle things by her way.

I have no intention to make Chloe have a cool career like Utonium because I still want her to be normal. I always make elaborated backgrounds and jobs for my other s/i ocs so for Chloe, I want to relax, I want her to be normal, have a normal job, nothing interesting. I don't want to rely heavily on those points but instead focus more on building her personality.

When I think about it now, I think its good thag I make Chloe normal. She is really the normality that Prof and the girls needed in their family. She doesn't have any special skills, any benefits directly to them nor any interesting history that makes her unique, she's just some woman that just walks into their life yet unintentionally becomes someone significant to the family's life.

#anyway lmk if you want to be untagged its ok!!!#oh almost forgot one more point hhh her name came from Joji's first album Chloe Burbank #i picked it because it sounded like a cute classic name #i swear my reasoning isnt complex at all I just want to make a cute extroverted gf for Utonium ;w;#asuka speaks #asukart #selfship #selfshipping #selfship talk #selfship art #self insert art #self insert oc #self insert #selfship headcanons

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istherewifiinhell · 2 months

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IS FLYING GENDERED?

On the masculine default, typifying gender in genre, and women as the other in the transformers cartoons.

question for the ages

once again i said back in the halcyon days of watching g1 (aka 5 months ago) i was like. Nooooo, decepticon is NOT a gender that's Silly. It's funny, but as a Read Of The Text, I thought it largely unneeded. (The concept came about, as a joke, involving dismissing the bad guys using the same language you would abt women (sexistly) that they're emotional [heh, flighty], vain, and shrill) after all. If in the 80s era there are 5 whole named/speaking woman tfs, its only ever gonna get better from here right? (<- booboo the fool)

anyway

Let's consider the axiom that the assumed default gender is male, that maleness is often seen as LACK of gender, and femaleness and gender variance are the PRESENCE of gender. In certain reasoning and worldviews, of course (See Androcentrism). Then add that, for transformers, the assumed default thing a transformer turns into, is car. (Autocentrism, if you will)

(The most general term for what a tf turns into is "Alt mode" as some of them are not vehicles at all. The other mode is "Robot Mode", whether its humanoid or not)

So I will be laying out why I believe the cartoon iterations support: non standard alt modes = non standard genders. This is in spite of the fact that FIRST lady tfs were all cars. Sleek cyber cars, but still. For whatever reason, (possibly, the reason for everything in tf, toys) they might as well not exist for how woman tf characters presence in the cartoons progressed over time.

And, to be clear, this is a reading of how these works of fiction are created, not a new unified bioessentialism but for robots aliens I'm proposing for like. In universe lore reasons. I hate that idea.

That said, alt modes in order of most to least gender: Spider, motorcycle, flying (in general, with rotors, jets), tank, and then FINALLY, car. (water and space crafts are already too marginal to rank, but they too can be assumed in relation to default maleness, AND that in making one a woman, would still qualify as othering her).

The NUMBER one reason for this is the bizarre need to have an ESTABLISHED woman tf character before making new ones. AS YOU MIGHT IMAGINE. With a g1 gender ratio something like.... (counting even the most marginal cases for the ladies) 9:120? (That's a rough count from a quick scanning of the tf wiki g1 char list) Shits dire out here.

The second is, ofc, character design based. cis people [stand in phrase for the hegemonic world view] are not okay, and their opinions about how tf gender must need be depicted visually is. uh? Im not a fan. Size and shape dimorphism in general is a given, and specifically having women tfs as far more humanoid and curvy in specific. Also general cartoon lady face syndrome but, whatever. I think there's exactly one character here who doesn't have "lips" or "lipstick" as a distinguishing factor. I'm so tired.

Third is generally, the idea of The Girl Of the Team. When there's The Girl, she often isn't JUST a normal character, who happens to be a girl. See, of course, the Smurtfette Principle. But in my view there's also a trend to give The Girl "special traits" on top of "Girl", maybe even to directly combat the idea that the Girl Character has no other traits? To stop this from being a General Primer on Woman in Media, my explanatory focus is things specific to the tf franchise.

(A phrase I use for thinking about normative modes [in general, not just the Alt ones] in within the tf universe is "unique transformerdom" or, even more clunkily, "A transformer of unique transformerdom". The excessive verbosity is amusing to me personally. All I mean by it is to have an umbrella term for any of the ways tfs can be made unique from their peers in the non allegorical realities of the fiction).

I could, and do, and greatly want to, speak about this AT LENGTH. But it keeps spiraling away from me. So I'll say for now were looking at ways a character is being depicted different from her peers, not because she is the only woman (which she likely is), but cause she's a different kind of transformer, AND if she's othered for it.

(IN SOME forms of the lore. Being a transformer woman, IS A UNIQUE KIND of transformer unto itself. Let's just say I hate it and move on)

Fourth, is the gender of villainy. There is much to be said about gender presentation of villains, the ways they are allowed to be aberrant. We will get to it. There is also all the tropes specific TO evil women, and the modes of villainy open TO female characters. But a general thing I think impacting the gender ratios of the factions is the how "Good" and "Evil" female characters are written. I'll generalize and call this the "Damsel vs Temptress" dichotomy. (See concepts like the Madonna-whore complex). Transformers, is by and large, an action franchise. Unless special reasons are made, characters who can impact the action– have more screen time, and likely more memorable, and iconic presences. A villainous woman can be unchaste, violent, aggressive. While a heroic woman, even if not a literal damsel are more likely to be in a support role. The secretaries of the action genre: medics and techs.

(Another factor is that tfs are giant robots, and the good guys are often friends with tiny squishy little humans. These make very good damsel fodder, and can be taking up the spots on the roster that might, in a different franchise, go to women. Additionally, while woman characters in transformers overall is an interesting topic. When I say tf women, I'm referring to ones that are in fictionally, transformers.)

SO, now understanding our points of attack/obstacles for getting woman into transformers. (Getting established, gendering the designed, uniqueness of existence, and general villainy). Lets go over those alt modes, and the characters that have em, in more detail.

Spiders

The "Beast Era" (1996) intro-ed the spider ofc. And what don't we have with this one. She's a villain, but shes also misunderstood, the era and design style let to these more organic shapes. And they used them to make sure she was very sexy. She's genre aware, she's quippy, she's an absolute icon. So naturally. She gets ported to other later shows. Which means we just have sexy spider ladies running around when everyone else is a fucking truck and shit.

Her own origin is, well think of her as a "Bride of Frankenstein" to the resident evil scientist, also a spider. She was designed for, and manipulated by him in multiple ways. Her protoform (A blank robot base), was supposed to be one of the good guys (a Maximal), but was reprogrammed into a bad guy (Predacon). Even then, she eventually joins them, for her own reasons. She's not even the first predacon to do so, the difference? Well the characters are a lot more NORMAL about his autonomy. Both of these characters stress that being a predacon is an identity they still see as important. But only the woman is told that really, she is was was always MEANT to be a maximal. And while that's true in a sense. There's also a plot were she's forced (by plot contrivance, not the other maximals) to get corrective robot surgery for it. And when they think she died from, everyone's more sad for her boyfriend than for her. Ouch.

The second spider, in the 2007 show, is now one in a world where she is the only "techno-organic" transformer, hence, she is spider, everyone else is a vehicle. Similar to the first, her narrative is very gendered, but less in the way were, like, I do literally think the first was was experiencing in universe sexism from other characters. Here, they really focus on the "techno vs organic" narrative, and the tragic circumstances on how that happened. In this case its just real world sexist writing.

THIRD SPIDER, (2010), instead of misunderstood and tragic evil, this ones just super mega likes to cause pain evil. She also occupies a strange place between the typic vehicular tfs, and the insecticons. This is because she has a helicopter alt mode, and her robot mode is just, a lady with spider characteristics. And, more than just a passing bug like similarity, she has the power to control the insecticons (you know, cause evil woman mind control). However, she doesn't fit in with them either, as the insecticons are at the most insect like they've ever been, in look, living in hives and that most don't even speak.

They may vary in exact character, relationship to the story's moral conflict, and design. But they stay comfortably established, dimorphised, flirty and flirting with villainy. And bonus points, always, for black widow spider trope.

SO. SPIDERS. Established: ✅️ Gendered designs: ✅️ (Extremely!) Unique: ✅️ Othered: ✅️ Villainy: ✅️

Motorcycles

Tooooo my knowledge the first bike lady was in 2004, and fairly minor, in the actual plot, but rest assured, they did go the previously established woman route, by being pink, though, which one shes named after varies by language. But neither were previously motorcycles. (And yes, there is also this problem of mixing together or swapping out one woman tf for another. As if we have the ladies to spare). Even though motorcycle men also exist, this one just stuck for a bit. Maybe something to do with Those Movies. I think the Gendered Existence of a motorcycle is pretty evident though, general sex appeal, being smaller, the mode of riding a motorcycle is different, more physical and intimate. Mainly this ranks so high for the level of grossness they can pack in. Just how objectifying it can be, particularly with two instances where the human rider is an annoying teen boy. Naturally, I've also never seen a male and female motorcycle in the same room, but the approach to design tends to be different. And yeah most of em are Arcee, who's first alt mode was cyber car, but it's not just her.

Established: ✅️ Gendered designs: ✅️ Unique: ✅️ Othered: Depends on iteration, I do NOT like the way one gets called "tough, for a two wheeler". Villainy: ❌(they wouldn't need to be motorcycles if they weren't making them the Special Girl Autobot, after all)

Flying

General: It just tends to stick out when your one girl is only flyer in the group, even she's otherwise tactfully done. Only flyer of the Maximals, a falcon, only flyer of the dinobots, a Pteranodon.

Rotors

I can barely even figure this one. Maybe it's just a general, aesthetics and use case of the actually vehicles, the associations? None of these ladies (and special case) are very connected otherwise. As previously mentioned, the spider helicopter. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

A big one for this is the preschool demo shows, which are rescue team focused. In the first one the only woman on the human response worker team pairs with the helicopter, they mention she does medical at times. The helicopter is male, like the other tfs. But also he's afraid of flying, and while not the first case of a flyer with a fear of heights, their personalities are, pretty different. As he's both fearful AND effeminate, fine as character traits go but, with the tone of humour used, marks him as Other.

In the second, Whirl (pointing to icon) becomes a girl for the first time, now with standard humanized face. I assume as move to keep with the previous show of having a girl one, as there's no human team mates. She's also the only one who really likes rescue school. Aaaand that's all know of her. What more do you want from me.

Helicopters: Unique: ✅️ Othered: ✅️ (milder than some)

But why'd I call this section rotors instead of helicopters? That would be because one of the latest Sole Female TF we just put in everything™ is a VTOL jet with rotors. She'll tend to be the only jet of her type, which is also smaller than the type of jet used for the villains.

And, of course, aside from alt mode, the thing that makes her stand out most in the cartoons? That she's very clearly a comics character. (I find the emphasize that she's "fan created" over done, as it only controlled minor aspects, and irrelevant cause tfs get completely overhauled in new versions all the time). From her design, which is a bit busier than most characters she stars with. And also uses Japanese aesthetic signifiers in ways that I think are a bit misappropriated and untactful. (VERY USamerican comics). Also, when she stars next to a guy, also from comics employing Japanese aesthetic, you can tell its not deployed in the same manner. (E.I she has hair and makeup, he has armor). Either way, her depictions have her either as badass sword lady on mission from god who's constantly getting hit on by an annoying guy. Or have her be from a different planet and has special telepathy.

Do we see how both her gender AND the cultural signifiers are having affects here? That the main woman tf in a series can be a literal alien even among our alien robots, with cultural signifiers they don't have?

Ratings Established: ✅️ (made the comics to cartoon jump) Gendered designs: ✅️ Unique: ✅️ Othered: ✅️ (SO SO EXTREMELY, using methods in fiction and real life)

Jets

I think my association of jets with tf gender is stronger, than some of the above examples, even if there's less reason to it. And why is that? Well, lets get socratic. Here's another question.

Is This All Starscream's Fault?

No. He's not real, he can't do things. But. His legacy as THE main stay transformers character that gets to subvert gender? Yeah. (Sure, the G1 autobots have their own effete, but he's not in every single cartoon they ever made now is he? Plus now that I think about it, he is a FLYING car...)

From the get, he's not a Man's man. He's shrill, he's manipulative and duplicitous, petty and emotional, cowardly and wheedling. He is, of course, the Perfect character. Now naturally, the 80s cartoon was not concerned with your paltry logics. Starscream and his ilk are the jets, but every decepticon can fly. The gun, the cassette player, the camera, the cassettes.

And each to a last, more masculine than he is. Vocally or behaviorally, physically. Every one of them fit the gender expectations more than he does. Even being a small time grunt, is a masculine trait, after all, more so than unchecked ambition. So its not femininity from flying, from jets. But direct relationship, reference, and descendancy from Starscream that makes it. I've yet to see female versions of Jet fire and or the aerialbots, for example.

So what to do when an effeminate male villain was less maltese falcon and more that man has effeminate hips? Well. We had to start getting his ass for being effeminate, explicitly. They made the female clone of him, which yeah, is an offensive joke stemming from the various The Gender Anxieties. (Transmisogyny, homophobia and sexism. General relation toxic masculinity. A heady mix of all and more).

But I mean. It's free girl tf... Once given a name in extra canon materials, she start's showing up in other things. Once you're in books, video games, comics, and most importantly, toys, you're real. And then eventually, her first non clone appearance in a cartoon, and how her presence shaped it.

That being, Cyberverse. Which is a cgi show, you need to know this for reasons of production. Making new models is expensive. This has always been the reason you just make recolours of Starscream and name them different things. Chicken or egg on this one, I don't know, But because CV has Slipstream, and the only difference between her and the generic "male" decepticon jet, is a more feminine face; Suddenly, any random decepticon goon can be a woman.

An absolutely revolutionary take for striving to populate a fictional world with gender parity. By at large it also means they're way more lady villains, and specifically flying model of villain. The show has other woman, but none who get the same androgynous body mold treatment.

Established: ✅️ Gendered designs: Mildly to NO. Unique: By design, no. Othered: Yes for the clone, and Screamer himself, I suppose. No, otherwise. Villainy: ✅️(That's, the whole idea)

Tanks

It needs to be said. Sometimes, when doing things that transgress a norm, anteing up is less subversive. This is another reason why gender variance, female agency and overt sexuality are more common traits of villains. When already defying strictures of society. What's one more.

That's Right. TANKS ARE THE BUTCH WOMAN OF TRANSFORMERS.

Alright. Let me back up. Strika is the stone cold knock out undefeated champ of lady tf designs that, actually has a reoccurring cartoon presence. She is, admittedly, only a reoccurring to minor character.

Her introduction is in another show with techno-organics, this one involved in the struggle between well, the techno and the organic. Strika as we see her, and as the design that will go on to be iterated, is not in her normal transformer body. She has been transferred into a 'vehicon' body. Without a preexisting essence contained in one, vehicons are not considered alive, in the way a transformer is. Visually, they lack the more human body plan, a standard face, feet and hand like appendages.

To further contrast Strika against the two techno-organic woman. Both of them are tall, and slender. Their softer organic shapes designed towards elegance or beauty, whatever your subjective opinion of that result might be. They both have romance subplots too. By the way. Or honestly one subplot and one main plot. Strika. In contrast. Is built like a brick shit house. Her face is. Minimal. And her goal: protecting her planet... by terminating the heroes.

Now, existing as a character that can be referenced for other media, and given the detail that she was a "Famous general", it's off to the races. She makes a wonderful big tank menace that can fill out a background shot, too.

Without her I hardly think we could have Clobber, also from CV. Who is. The true goat. The finest thing, the achievements of all we could ever hope for. A big fuck off woman, gender swapped from a previous male design with minimal faff, with now even more personality and show presence. Friends, wants, desires. Emotions. Thank God for Clobber, Thank Clobber for Clobber. Thank Randolph Heard and Mae Catt for Clobber.

Established: Depends if you want to count that Strika had so much swag they kept drawing/modeling her Gendered designs: FUCK NO Unique: ✅️ Othered: only originally Villainy: ✅️

Cars

So now you have the final piece of the puzzle. In transformers, Autobots are Cars. Yes, there are plenty of autobots that are NOT cars, and there are cars that are not Autobots. But they're exceptions, they're aberrances. They're unique. And Autobots are the norm. They oppose the Decepticons. Decepticons are Villains. And Decepticons can fly. Modal simplified binaries and false dichotomy abound!

And the thing about those original Autobot woman, the one's who largely did not influence all of this? They were cars, it's true, but not like how the men where cars. They've not been designed from transforming car toys, with a shellac of humanoid gender over top. Their designed in the way of human gender. With the car on top.

When the preexisting clause leads to the original designs to be revisited, which, has largely only happened in more recent years. They aren't car woman robots. The cars are literally not part of their bodies, they are additional. Instead of a unifying identity of a robot who is a car, its Arcee and her backpack. Parts of cars get grafted onto their petite lady bodies, and placed anywhere out of the way.

In order to make a transformer a woman, they have to give her a gender, not understanding that that's always been the case. And to give her a woman's gender, she's got to LOOK like a woman, not a transformer. And to look like a woman, she's got to act like a woman. She must be heroic but reactive instead of active, or else, villainous, conniving and or self centered. To be a woman, we must have some other previous woman to explain her presence, or else explain it anew with her unique, strange, or exotic origin. How could she ever be a woman if she simply, existed, looked average, talked average. How could she be a woman if her body is hunks of ungendered car. How can she be a woman if she's everything we expect a transformer to be.

A woman is transgressive, a woman is not normal. Autobots are normal. Autobots are heros. Autobots are men. And Autobots do not fly.

#some shit #its not called cisformers #<- IT SURE ISNT FOLKS #a note on how im using citations here u can read BEFORE getting into the post proper #I'm writing this in mind that someone might have NO idea about tf. or. god forbid.#the general perspective of media trope analysis im working from.#So the links can be considered additional or further reading with intent of 1. if a more thorough understanding of a concept might help #2. something im eliding the name of for search reasons 3. a referential example of what im saying #4. a specifc reference/bit of info that might be unclear. in which case im usually linking to a SECTION of the page #5. JOKE #ALright now normal tag talking space.#THIS IS. serious media analysis done casually for fun! in that. I mean it. genuinely. But also im here for silly fun and im not trying #to be SOOOO academically rigorous that its still not. Posting. u know?#MUCH inspired. or i suppose u might say. encouraged to completion and whole hearted commitment by (fandom) silly serious analysis and #math theroying thematics #i have NO idea if this thing will be searchable with all the links and the words i used. but i prepared for it it case it is #AND I PUT A LOT OF WORK INTO IT!!!!!!!! SO its okay if anyone reads it!#but im also braced for bad faithing inwhich case. I will not be held responsible for my actions. thank you.#i have been told to tag this #maccadam #transformers #if someone tryies to kill me for it im not taking responsibility

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eggsploded · 10 months

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moar you say.. why then gregor and rodya of coarse....

where would i be without rodigor. where would WE be, without rodigor.

first impression: THE fuckin guy. this dude owns. (insert 50 invasive questions about cockroach anatomy and behavior) i was peeved his roach arm resembled more of a beetle horn than a arm

current impression: when chef greg dropped i got so horny i went to bed lightheaded i still love gregor dearly but my love for him has mellowed like the fondness for a favorite pasta dish.

favorite moment: literally every old fart moment he has. when he forgets names when he berated sinclair for not cleaning his plate when he goes uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh in his dialogue because he doesnt know where hes going with this

story idea: despite his deep frying and boiling during hells chicken i think the bus kinda Likes this guy. gregors a bit of a hot commodity. hes just a fella you can Jive with. a real Stand Up guy. now let him be loved, if obliviously through his own self consciousness. a friendly heathcliff rough slap on the back delays his depressive episode by 15 minutes

fav relationship: oh boy where to start!!!! rodigor. enough on that. meurgreg, not really romantic to me but i like the art of it that is. it revolves around a big fella carrying him under his arm so automatic slay. ive seen a little gregcliff action on the TL but its more of a 'work got me friends with people twice my age like whats uncle greg up to' ordeal to me. now lets get insane. gregsang is incredible to me because yi sang is the only mf on that bus EASIER than gregor. gregor got game? that hes aware of? while stuttering the whole journey? its kind of crazy. i dont actually have a reason why they would even like eachother yet but put rodya in there somewhere to toy with them if you want true crackshipping fun

fav headcanon: hes a little chunky

RODYA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! my favit

first impression: me furiously searching for her height on the wiki + nodding my head sagely deciding woman with sleepy eyes is peak character design (faust included). i trust her wholeheartedly even if she leads me hand in hand into a woodchipper

current impression: waiting for projmoon to drop more lore on her desperately because i know canto 2 wasnt everything. i feel a disconnect with the fanbase about her because i see rodya characterized sooooo differently than how i think of her. the gambling thing and her effortless confidence for example isnt really questioned like how it is with dons bravado. i see her gambling as an outlet for her complicated views on money. she feels as though being financially 'secure' as the lone survivor as a betrayal to all the deaths she caused. gambling not only aligns with her current im the hottest shit attitude but also is a way for her to not be responsible for money. the hoarding of wealth is what caused her community to starve, why would she want to do something that seems to harm others? shes very self destructive, and feigning as slots star is just one of the ways she forces herself to 'stay in the cold'. ummmmmmmmm anyway im really normal about rodya and think about her a normal amount also her love for decadant food really resonates with me as someone who was poor in childhood because the difference between eating to live and living to eat is Astronomical

favorite moment: shes started branching out and calling other people than greg pet names and it is so exciting. faust has now reached babe status!! good for her!!! also when she infantalizes sinclair its terrible for him but REALLY funny for me when he responds back and reminds her oh right this is a 22 year old man. also her random interjections that are socialist ideology are really funny because they always feel so fucking random and like projmoon is remembering why crime and punishment was written and going drop this bomb ass line itll go so hard guys

story idea: i want her to play poker against yi sang because hes weird and also his poker face is like. genuine and dear adoration for being able to play with his companions because deep in his soul is gardens and butterflies. she would be so freaked out not only because this guy agreed to playing poker but also because he is invasively (he didnt mean it) staring into her SOUL to find solutions

fav relationship: my thoughts are half the bus are in love with gregor and the other half with rodya with cases of overlap. rodya is so epic because shes seemingly got it together to the more deranged sinners but to anyone else its like oh my god this paper mache bitch the former being more faustish the latter being more ryoshuish. faustya is cute because faust initially wanted to absorb more Bad Bitch Strategems and then kinda got a crush and is hardcore malfunctioning also kurokumo ryodion got sumn GOING yall crazy love is love though

fav headcanon: shes actually really short for Lobotomy Corp Backstreets Russia and everyone there is just freakishly tall (see: sonya)

#egg art #egg asks #limbus company #rodigor #rodya #gregor #went a little overboard

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kani-miso · 12 days

Text

mini fugue es and fugue jackalope character design analysis

tw: mention of uncomfortable topics such as child neglect and child abuse

appreciate @hectorthedoggo for making this series and also please appreciate the illustrator!!! (im not sure if they have any socials yet)

ngl i sound like an english teacher when analyzing , also idk if i over analyzed some parts so sorry if did (i know the ties shape isn't important but i just needed to include it)

note: some will be copy pasted from a previous analysis!

fugue es

starts from top to bottom

hat : omg!! i love the hat so much!! ok, anyways. their hat is presumably a peaked hat. peaked hats are usually used by soldiers or armed forces, their hat is blue so they're a part of the air forces (referencing the fact that their room is on top of the tower, in air?). peaked hats have embroidery on their crown that are usually called scrambled egg(s). the scrambled egg is supposed to determine their ranks and/or organization, their scrambled egg is a key hole. that perticular shape can possibly fit all kinds of keys, referencing how naive and how easy it is for the abusers come to their life to abuse them < if the keys symbolize the abusers. (also i think its silly to think they're in any organization). the ropes connecting to the keyhole,,,, you murdered me with this one,,, ropes symbolize tangibility of physical or emotional capture in the embodiment of a rope or lasso. even worse that the rope is given by jackalope (the rope is possibly brighter and more saturated than the one given by the past abusers because jackalope acts as the light in es' life).

keyring : haha, theres alot to say. lets talk about what the keys represent first. the individual keys represent past abusers, and the keyring as a whole represents jackalope (also everytime es thinks negatively about abuse and jackalope, their head starts to ache in pain. are their thoughts controlled by jackalope so they wont have a negative view on him?). why would jackalope be the whole keyring you may ask, i have the answer for you curious creatures. jackalope has abused es in many ways, such as verbal abuse, neglect, physical abuse (?), possibly domestic abuse based off the 10 chairs in dining room, emotional/psychological abuse, being toxically overprotective and possibly child exploitation. since all the keys represent past abusers, jackalope is just all of them as a single entity. well, which key represent which abuser? this is from left to right btw. -key n1/ household mortice key, mortice keys are normally used on internal doors to improve security. personally, i think this is symbolism for toxically overprotective parenting, they are locking the internal doors of a child to improve the security they have around them. -key n2/patio double glazing key, patio double glazing keys are used to lock windows, these locks are strong and cannot be opened once locked. personally, i think this is symbolism for physical abuse. once they are with the abusers, they're locked with them forever until someone opens the lock. -key n3/master key, master keys are used to unlock several locks. personally i think this is symbolism for domestic abuse. once your abuser finds out about your partners, friends, family, they will unlock that lock to continue their abuse. -key n4/first level security key, first level security keys are used to secure a lock shut. personally i think this is symbolism for neglect. once you're with your abuser, there's no other place to go. you stay with your abuser or rot in the streets.

outfit (top) : not much to say about this but i'll try to make something out of it. their outfit heavily resembles a uniform. uniforms are distinctive clothing worn by members of the same organization or body or by children attending certain schools. i find it suspicious they're wearing a uniform instead of normal clothing (< its even mentioned in the fic itself) when they're not even in any organization, especially that jackalope gave it to them made it even more suspicious. but what type of uniform are they wearing exactly? i think it might be a waitress uniform, that's the closest i can get to identifying their uniform. it hurts that they're wearing a waitress uniform,,,

belt and tie : the main point is analyzing the tie so here we go. tie shape = (copy pasted from prev analysis with additional notes) 'who gave this to them?' i suspect it might be from their past abusers(i have a theory that there are 4 past abusers by the number of keys on their keyring). 'what's the purpose of it?' the tie on their waist is tied into a knot. many cultures including japan use knots to symbolize unity. es and their past abuser will always be tied into a knot together because no matter where they go, the abuse stays. it either continues from another person, or the previous scars of abuse never heal (both physically and mentally). the knot also seems tight, a tight knot means to maintain a close and secure hold on something. it can be used figuratively or literally. in a literal sense, the phrase can refer to tying a knot that is difficult to undo. you can think of it as es being a rope that has been tied tightly to their abusers, because of that its hard to undo/untie them from their abusers because of how close they've become to them. 'the tie has 2 ends, what's the meaning?' : the number 2 usually symbolize the duality of two subjects, the ones that are important to note are : yes/no, true/false, and yin/yang. yes/no, true/false are self explanatory, yin/yang on the other hand. 'yin' represents coldness and darkness (< es' uniform overall colorscheme is cold representing yin, mind you this is give by jackalope). and 'yang' represents light and warmth (< es' tie on their waist is a warm color, this is given by their past abusers). i wonder if this is implying that es still cares and resonate warmth from their past abusers and feels coldness and a sense of darkness when getting taken care of by jackalope..(no wonder pain is nostalgic for them) also, in japan, 二 (ni). It represents creation, time (past, present, and future). 'why does the end of their tie look like a teru teru bozu?' a teru teru bozu is a traditional japanese talisman used to bring good weathers and to stop or prevent rainy days. rain is essential when growing crops, so it symbolizes the growth of a new family (found family and biological). the fact that they are using a teru teru bozu that prevents rain implies that they are being held back in finding a "new family" :( (also this might not be important but teru teru bozu's are dolls that are hung by the neck). tie color= the color gold is the symbol of the sun and of the god's power and mercy. gold is often used in temples and shrines. due to the desaturation and discolorment of the tie, it has a different meaning. desaturated colors or dull colors are usually associated with poverty and aging. seems like that tie was given from a long time ago (more material for the past abuser theory) especially that seems like the edges of the end already looks like it's semi-decaying. if we still use the gold symbolize the sun and of god's power and mercy, then they are barely at god's mercy, it sort of references what abuse victims go through if they speak out their voice. if you speak out, some god's will respect you, some god's wont (god's as in people in society). perhaps they're in a world where abuse victims more often get shunned away, they are barely at god's mercy.

cape : their cape is just normal imo, the thing that interested me is the galaxy in their cape. a galaxy can symbolize aspirations and the patterns of tomorrow you are shaping through your beliefs. their beliefs are specifically centered around their abusers and abusers only. the tomorrow they're going to shape is just the same as yesterday, they wont stop the cycle of abuse because to their "own" beliefs what they're enduring is not abuse, but discipline. their cape is most visible on the left side of their body. the left side usually represents femininity, they embrace the traditional femininity by being vulnerable and having puffy cheeks

boots : their boots have more of those rope thingys. those ropes are the ones given by jackalope, not the past abusers. the rope that is given by jackalope is thin and easily broken, meaning they could just be "re-sheltered" by someone else. thats why there's little restraints on their boots. there are 2 restraints on each boot, which again symbolizes duals/duos. the duo being es and jackalope. also, on the top of their boots, there's a gold colored leg warmer (< that are on boots). the thought of their abusers keeps them warm, thats why their keyring warms up whenever they think about them.

fugue jackalope

starts from top to bottom

antlers : oh my. his antlers are just his usual antlers, the only difference being that there's ropes wrapped around it. i want to point out that the ropes warp comfortably, and not made into a tight knot (< like es). i find it interesting that there are 4 parts that are branching out of the base antler, because es has 4 keys on their neck and jackalope has 4 secondary antler parts (idk what they're called). every rope on the branched out antlers connect to each other, it makes me have a suspicion that all of the abusers knew each other. they're all not tied in a knot together because they are simply lurking and not uniting together. also i think, gold is being used as the color of the abusers because they're supposed to feel grandeur, luxurious, rich, and sort of unbearable is smart. gold is treated like the superior color, the one everyone loves and likes. es color is presumably dull navy blue which is associated with trust and loyalty. dull colors are also treated as poor colors so es has to cling to their abusers to seem presentable to the world.

hat : AUGH the symbol,, his hat is just like es' hat, its a peaked hat. the only difference is his scrambled egg. his scrambled egg symbol is an eye, referencing that he sees all. eyes usually are associated with clairvoyance, omniscience, and a gateway to the soul. the eye symbol has a dull orange color which shows his lifelessness. eyes can also mean vigilance, intelligence, moral conscience and truth. it hurts because in this situation it's a total lie. he's literally trying to brainwash them into thinking all he says is only truth, making them base all adults off of him.

sash : this wasn't really important but i just had to. the sash he's wearing doesn't really look like a sash, it just looks like es' keyring without the keys, although there's a difference in length and width. i think jackalope has not been involved with the past abusers because he doesnt have any keys, anywhere. also his sash looks lifeless.

cape : i think i got a heart attack. the only thing im analyzing is the symbol btw. i cant find anything similiar with that symbol anywhere so the closest i can get is the Illuminati symbol. if im not mistaken, the Illuminati symbol can be found on the all-seeing eye/eye of providence. the all-seeing eye is supposed to represent god. this references the fact es sees and treats jackalope like their god no matter what they endure because of him, they must bow down as he is the all knowing all seeing man. and i might be crazy, but i think there's no symbol on the left side of his cape, what does it mean? the right side is the masculine side, he embraces the masculinity by assertive, controlling, and aggressive behavior. also it might be a play of words, right side, right=correct. (maybe its just because the symbol is hidden idk) with es leaning more to the feminine spectrum and jackalope to toxic masculinity, it shows the huge power imbalance in their relationship.

thanks for reading, i will go back to yappington. have a reward for staying alive