I wish I still had more credits to go so I could see mr hot teacher again
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RW Headcanon: Goodnight, Moon
AHHH YESSSS, now that that Lilypad essay is done I can FINALLY share these—!
Hey, @ghostlycoze! So you remember a few months ago how I made that drawing acting on the Moon beepsnort headcanon, and how in my last reblog I eluded to the possibility of drawing out some of your headcanons again? Well, it looks like that time has come, and this time I've got not just drawings, but lots of additions to another headcanon of yours!
This time, it's from your tags in these three posts, which I also saw a while ago! Yet for some reason I began thinking about it again recently, and as is my nature with ideas I like, I decided to develop it further, and even draw it this time!
Also, just to preface, you'll see I did a bunch of notes beside the actual drawings as well. I'll share the picture and roughly type out the notes (in case my handwriting is a bit hard to read) as well as whatever info I couldn't fit on the page. Some of the text also just says "robots" rather than "iterators" because some of these ideas are stuff I actually imagine applying to robot characters in general! Maybe I'll make a post on that someday...
With all that out of the way though, the actual headcanon is under the cut! Hope you like it!
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What are iterators like when they’re sleepy? Do they even get “sleepy” the way we humans do? This headcanon answers that question with a focus on the iterators’ puppets. Much of this info is also framed in the context of a hypothetical “worm-off-the-string” scenario, since I believe that’s the main situation where sleep and getting tired would actually matter to the iterators.
Firstly, when iterator puppets are low on power, until they find a place to recharge they usually enter a power-saving state where, to conserve what’s left of it, their energy is temporarily redirected away from some of their less-important processes. The side-effect of this, however, is that iterator puppets show symptoms of drowsiness kinda like humans! Whereas humans may yawn, stretch, or rub their eyes when sleepy, iterators will often make sloppier/less precise movements, close their lenses a little, and may even have a harder time thinking, since they sometimes shut off some processors and other cognitive functions until they can recharge. The most common symptom, however, is slurred speech, coming from less power given to their speech-forming software.
Another very-common sign of iterator sleepiness is frequent beeping, often in place of words. This is because, like slurred speech, beeps take much less energy and processing to make than analyzing data, formulating a complex response, then vocalizing it clearly. Beeps are thus far more efficient for conveying simple emotions and reactions than words. Looks to the Moon in particular gets super beepy when she’s tired because she and other early models relied more on beeps for communication — they were made back when things like vivid emotion weren’t as taboo in Ancient society, and iterators were meant to be more friendly and openly interactive with their citizens — so she’s more used to beeping to easily express her emotions.
As a side-note and mini-headcanon (wow, real headcanon-layering action here), while even the newest iterator puppets can beep, the older iterator models, as a result of this design influence, also have a much greater “beep-vocabulary” with a wider range of sounds that shrunk with the generations. Their beeps are thus a lot more expressive as well, with some sounds even being similar in nature to animal noises or regular speech! I imagine the entire range of their beeps would closely resemble shorter versions of the “droidspeak” sounds of the astromechs in Star Wars.
But, back to sleepy iterators.
When it’s hibernation time, iterators enter a “sleep-mode”, where almost all of their systems are shut down and recharging becomes the primary objective. However, compared to how I imagine other robots, iterator puppets have a unique way of recharging. Rather than shutting off completely and absorbing power from an external source, iterator puppets have a few key systems within them that remain on even during sleep-mode. These systems, just like those in their superstructures, are capable of converting nutrients into power directly. They emit a soft, rather comforting whirr while the puppets sleep — the only sound iterators make while sleeping, and comparable in nature to stomach sounds during digestion. Otherwise, though, the only other systems remaining on during sleep-mode are a few basic senses, and a program that decides when to “wake up”. The presence of this program also means, uniquely to iterators again, they can wake up on their own, rather than having to be powered back on by someone else like other robots. Overall, these systems are yet another aspect of iterator designs that make them far more biological than many iterators (*cough* *cough* Pebbles *cough*) would like to admit. And in my imaginings of a “worm-off-the-string” AU, systems like these are one of the main sources of both physical and internal conflict for these characters.
Also, since most of their systems are off during sleep mode, iterators sleep, both figuratively and literally, like statues. Whatever position they fall asleep in is the position they remain in the entire time unless a.) someone moves them or b.) they wake up and move on their own. This also means (unfortunately, if you thought these ideas would be cute) that iterators do not snore, shift around, sleepwalk, sleep-talk, or dream while in sleep mode.
That’s about it for this headcanon as it applies to iterator puppets overall. Now, I’m gonna get into how I imagine Looks to the Moon specifically likes to sleep.
In addition to getting very beepy, Moon also gets very cuddly when sleepy, though some of this comes from her affectionate personality. However, it's also due to a lasting trauma from her collapse. Of course she's learned to tolerate the rain over time, yet after spending so many cycles being rapidly drowned over and over in her can — with endless disorientation and senses so out-of-control from being disconnected from most of her superstructure, no one around to comfort her save for the occasional wandering creature, and the knowledge that her own beloved brother was responsible for this — it’s still left a fair amount of bad memories with her, especially from those cycles most recently after her collapse/revival, and this general unease often resurfaces with the sound of the rain. Therefore, whenever the rain comes, this trauma serves as another, more internal reason Looks to the Moon always wants to fall asleep holding onto/being held by someone, or at the very least while sharing the shelter with someone she loves.
On a more positive note, since I’m now officially a Lilypad shipper, I imagine that No Significant Harassment is Moon’s default choice of cuddling partner! It can be a little hard to get in position — I imagine Moon always likes to be the little spoon despite her being slightly taller than him — but they manage! Moon pretty much always falls asleep first, because, as the oldest model of the group, and having sustained the most damage post-collapse on top of that, she simply doesn’t use power as efficiently as the others do and therefore gets tired much more easily. In some ways, the poor thing even feels a little guilty about it; she’s supposed to be the leader of this group, and yet here she is, tiring out after less travel and growing drowsy before the rain even starts! Luckily, Sig makes an effort to ensure her she’s more-than worth keeping around, because after every awful thing the world has thrown at her kindness, the least she deserves is some quality guilt-free nap time! And sometimes, if they want a little alone-time (or if Pebbles gets too fed-up with their lovey-dovey gestures), it’ll be just the two of them, and perhaps their slugcats, cuddling together in the shelter.
And speaking of slugcats, Moon’s second choice of cuddles is Rivulet! Being very soft, warm, and equally cuddly, she makes another good source of cuddles for Moon. And sometimes, if Hunter’s also around and willing, the two join forces with Sig and Hunter for a big, soft, cuddle-filled slumber party!
Still, though, Sig is definitely no. 1 provider of snuggles for Moon. But he loves her dearly, so for the most part he doesn’t mind! Since she falls asleep first, some of his favorite moments each cycle are from just watching her and holding her close as the rainfall echoes from outside; she always looks so beautiful when she’s relaxed, and having her in his arms makes him feel like he can protect her no matter what. So he never really minds when Moon, slurring her words, tiredly asks for him to hold her while she enters sleep mode.
That is, except when this happens and he’s stuck in that spot for the next several hours…
A few more ideas to this headcanon:
Moon’s third choice of cuddles is Five Pebbles. It’s a bit interesting, because in basically all other scenarios Pebbles insists on sleeping alone in a separate shelter, even though he’s actually rather touch-starved (though it'll be a while before he admits it). Moon is one of the only people he’s actually willing to sleep with, besides occasionally Artificer (in which the feeling is mutual and no one else must be in the room). If I someday decide to ship Pebbles with someone, I imagine he’d also be willing to sleep with them, again, only if no one else is around to see it.
To elaborate on the last point and shift to Five Pebbles’ perspective, the reason why Pebbles always wants to sleep alone is because, as I imagine the worm-off-the-string story so far, Pebbles’ biggest internal conflicts are learning to accept all those “worldly attachments” the Ancients so strongly rejected, and overcoming his god-complex and fear of relying on others. And one of the main ways this manifests is him being so deeply embarrassed to be dealing with these basic survival needs — like yet another one of the savage beasts roaming the world, after having been a vast mechanical god so far above those primitive creatures — that he refuses to let others, even his friends and family, observe him in such a “pitiful” state whenever possible, and resolves to try and overcome it alone.
To further continue this idea, this is why Moon sometimes insists on sleeping with him. Even though he’ll have to overcome these conflicts on his own, it doesn’t mean he has to be alone while he does it. She makes an effort during these and other moments in this scenario to assure him that it’s okay, no one’s gonna judge or punish him for living this way, and she’ll always be there if he ever decides to accept some help. Pebbles always falls asleep with his head buried in her chest and holding onto her very tightly.
The iterators often like to sleep with their slugcats, who in the AU also stick around a lot to help guide them as they figure out the ins-and-outs of organic survival.
Both Moon and Pebbles tend to sleep in a curled position. It's actually very similar to how slugcats generally sleep!
Pebbles is quite the workaholic in general, but it also means he has a hard time falling asleep — not because he doesn’t get sleepy, but rather that he often denies it or its significance in an attempt to get more done that cycle (and because, again, he’s “too advanced” for animalistic things like sleeping). The group often has to literally drag him to bed to get him to sleep, and Sig often teases him when his lenses start drooping and his syllables begin to stretch.
In extreme cases, where almost all of their power has been exhausted, iterators won't just slur their words anymore, but their speech will often lose coherency overall, like a spoken case of very drunk typing .
When sleepy, Moon not only slurs her words, but has a tendency to say rather strange and very silly things. It’s another side-effect of less power being used to actually think through her words. There have been many instances where the whole group erupted in laughter after Moon made a really out-of-left-field comment!
Oh, and here's one last quick doodle based off one of the ones above:
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Aaaand that's all for another headcanon! Even though it took me a whole week to do the drawings, it was SO fun getting to develop this idea, especially since sleepy Moonie is such a cute concept! I am so glad that you shared that little idea, Ghost!!
And speaking of which, if you've made it all the way down here, Ghost, may I invite you to add any more ideas to all this, if you want? I'd especially love hearing ideas for the other iterators' sleeping habits (how fast they get tired, what position they like to sleep in, who they usually sleep with, how they wind down before bed, etc.)! I mainly focused on Moon and a bit of Pebbles at the end, since I'm still trying to get a read on Sig and Suns's personalities (especially Suns), so it'd be fun to even further expand on this idea in that regard! Of course, you don't have to, but it's a proposition!
But regardless, I hope you and anyone else who made it to the bottom enjoyed my contributions to the idea! And be sure to keep the adorable headcanon ideas coming!!
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Bonus: Here are the full sketchbook pages, in case anyone was interested in seeing the completed layout! I think I'm gonna be making more of these kinds of drawing/explanation combo artworks!3
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Hiiiiiiii Nick, so sorry if you've already answered this somewhere, but I couldn't find it. I was wondering if you have any recs for leftist literature that's somewhat digestible for people who don't usually read a lot of academic papers/journals and the like? Basically, theory for beginners, I guess. I've been wanting to start reading more theory and while everything you posted about The Authoritarian Personality was super interesting, I think that trying to read a 1000 page book right now would kill me 💀
(also definitely don't feel the need to answer, I just thought you might appreciate getting an ask that's not star wars related asjdjdjshdjdhsjdjfj)
oh god yeah do not start with authoritarian personality that thing is insane
There is a Marxism archive that has a page for beginners here (ignore the advice to read Capital. Like try if you want to but it’s not accessible at all in my experience lol, so I would not start there). That website gives you free access to a lot of theory, you can poke around there and see what you might want to read (if you scroll to the bottom of the page I linked it has a link where you can search by subject - so if you want to learn more about leftist feminism, or colonialism, or etc, you can do so). I’m not the most well read marxist unfortunately so I can’t give you detailed recommendations from the lists they give. I have read a bit of Lenin and found him to be quite funny. Also sorry this is skewing communist, I have only read a few bits of anarchist literature and wasn’t impressed with it (not a dig at anarchism in general, I just did not have a good introduction to it and because of my schooling I tend to spend most of my time with more critical/marxist lit). So don’t let that sway you, this is just my own bias and theoretical instincts.
Why Marx Was Right by Terry Eagleton (this is a book, sorry I don’t have a link) is fairly accessible, as is Capitalist Realism by Mark Fisher (this is very short, like under a hundred pages).
Also I KNOW I keep bringing this up but Discourse on Colonialism is such a fantastic essay (you can skip past the introduction in this pdf if you like and go straight to the essay). You don’t need to know all the theorists Cesaire is talking about or get all of his references. I think this is a very good introduction to colonialism as a force in the world. Cesaire is a fantastic writer, extremely witty and scathing while being incredibly insightful, truly a level of hater we should all aspire to become
There’s also the communist manifesto, which is very short and easy to read. You don’t have to pay too much attention to the historical stuff they bring up imo. This just answers the basic question of like “so what do communists believe exactly?” Even if you’re not a communist I think it’s useful to see these beliefs articulated in plain language.
If you want a book to read, there is Black Jacobins by CLR James about the Haitian Revolution (~200 pages). This is a history book written from a leftist perspective. I find reading about history very instructive because it alerts you to a lot of the problems with mass organising, all the sticky ways that class conflict manifests at all levels of society, and gives you context to a lot of leftist thought that, when detached from its historical circumstances, may seem weird or abstract.
I hope this helps!
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tuesdaypost year in review
this year brought to you by viewers like you. thank you! i still do not know how to thank everyone for their incredible generosity during the Late July/Early August Moving Catastrophe Badtimes and im still feelin some kinda way about it. thank you.
took eight weeks completely off, more than any other year so far
overnight traveled for work for the first time
moved cross country with Mack to face dangers untold and hardships unnumbered
bought an actual for-real couch and not a futon
got Phil
(unrelated to Phil) i got spayed after almost ten years of begging and pleading various medical professionals, (also unrelated) got covid and RSV back to back
listening
fallow weeks: 8. i almost always have a tuesdaysong bc i am almost always listening to something. all of the tuesdaysongs are here:
particular favorites were Peel Me A Grape (Anita O’Day), top spotify song of the year Yeah Yeah Yeah (Blood Orchid), Yeah Yeah Yeah’s Wolf remixed by Sextile, Father Finlee (Spence Hood), A Minha Menina (Os Mutantes).
the very last tuesdaysong of the year is Sugar Rum Cherry by Duke Ellington, one of the few christmas songs i tolerate.
special shoutout to the austin underscore walker universe of podcasts, bc i mainlined A More Civilized Age (clone wars/star wars rewatch) while packing, and devoured P/alisade (the newest scifi season of F/riends at the Table) this month.
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reading
fallow weeks: 11. pleased that i am killing the invisible rules in my head and including more articles instead of feeling guilty about Not Reading A Real Book!!! every week when i sit down to write the tuesdaypost. read a fuckton earlier this year bc i was procrastinating moving prep, have not read much since i moved.
article sources:
inoreader (the best free RSS feed/app imo)
The Markup (gold standard usage of data to show how various technologies are being used to harm the public good: you may have heard of the recent American bills to equalize internet service and fix organ donation grift. that was them)
Web 3 Is Going Just Great (crypto disasters)
404 Media (technology reporting, internet culture, also break a lot of data/legal/privacy scandals)
Remap (formerly Vice's video games division Waypoint, more active on podcasts and twitch but do have great personal essays about gaming longreads)
Retraction Watch (an important academic service but platformed a particularly virulent transphobe and let the comments devolve into a free for all. yes im still mad about this)
Krebs on Security (~once a month extremely long and thoughtful infosec writeups)
Data Colada (cover academic data whoopsies, currently being sued for their journalism)
the two authors i spent the most time with this year were Alexis Hall (romance novels and novellas) and Raymond Chandler's noir detective novels. i read 90% of Raymond Chandler's work in march and went insane about yet another sad bisexual man. Philip Marlowe the cat is named after his pet detective, the human Philip Marlowe.
march was kind of a banger for this category bc in one of what i consider the best tuesdayposts this year, i tried to break down why i fucking hated Frank Miller's Sin City comics so much.
other comics, but ones i loved: Spy X Family, Berserk, weird noir DC miniseries The Human Target.
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watching
fallow weeks: 10
notable stuff i watched for the first time (according to letterboxd) that will stick in my head for a bit. some (The Night of the Hunter) i am so glad i watched once but do not feel the need to revist. some (Slipstream) fascinate me with how good they could have been. some (Twilight. all of them) were fun bc of the people i watched them with. the two i went particularly deranged over are The Big Sleep and Day of Anger. still feel very normal about them.
very heavy on crime and courtroom films this year!
television: very excited for s2 of Blue Eye Samurai, Interview With The Vampire, Spy X Family.
i should loop back and finish Black Lagoon, Adventure Time (completely forgot i rewatched most of that this spring), and The Big O. that last one is throwing me a little bc (since i last checked) there is no freely available version with subtitles (i cannot find subtitles Period) and i'll be damned if i have to import a dvd. i can find the dub with subtitles but! i want to hear spike spiegel as mecha-batman :(
sort of lukewarm eh-i'll-get-around-to-it about s/tar wars shows. i have not watched a/hsoka At All or wrapped up the animated Resistance show. i'll pay attention when ando/r is airing again.
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playing
fallow weeks: 10. way fewer than i would have guessed!
the trouble with this category is that it is exceptionally hard to find new good games (either ones i already own or ones that are free). it is almost completely prohibitively exhausting to trawl through the free category on steam. there's simply a lot of cruft out there. a very good thing (but also incredibly timeconsuming thing) i started this year was throwing games into various folders so the eight bajillion libraries i have are less overwhelming. i can safely ignore 80% of my epic games library, for example. the itch.io library is a whole separate weekend project i think.
got back into genshin for good or for ill, which took up most of the back half of the year.
go play ABZU. i am no longer asking.
i would like to go back and finish the RPG Gamedec, un-softblock myself in the RPG Weird West, and finish the visual novel Dead Man's Rest. i think i stalled out in Call of Juarez: Gunslinger bc there was a mexican standoff that my reflexes are simply not fast enough for/too much to pay attention to. i am excited to pick up that spooky fishing simulator DREDGE when i have fun money again.
completely forgot i spent most of jan/feb/march being annoyed at fallou/t 4 but having some fun in Far Harbor, also forgot i spent an entire month playing through Wolfenstein: The New Order but i am not compelled to play through it again. it was fun! but like many games after one playthrough my time with it is done!
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making
fallow weeks: 17 (unsurprising, pretty low energy year as a whole as i recovered from covid rounds 1 and 2 and the frankly insane stress of moving).
wrote exactly one fic: some matters at the heart of cowboy western snap shirts: why they are so and some of the implications of their being so, i would like to write more next year but i don't really have the brainpower. i hope this changes soon.
the baby blanket i started last year is still not done but the baby is still under a year so i have a very narrow window of time.
dyed some couch covers im still very pleased with
wrote an extremely long but very well received gallery wall guide
recipes: 12. sort of shocked by this? i am becoming an incrementally better cook and slowly finding recipes i both like and can successfully execute. found the fortitude to caramelize onions, for example. quick pickled red onions, for another thing. big year for protein or greens on top of beans and rice. faves included: cuban-style pork shoulder, hellofresh peruvian chicken, red lentil soup, white bean/kale/rice bowls
i would like to be less terrified about cooking fish. i would like to eat more fish.
and of course, the biggest project of all, acquired Phil. here is my very favorite photo ive ever taken of a cat
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TBB S2E14, Tipping Point & Self-Discovery Under Repressive Regimes
There is a lot of torture in this episode, and I've seen takes that argue Crosshair embraces this as a form of self-punishment. I will argue the opposite and use the thematic developments of the two seasons of TBB + some of TCW to make my point. (mention of a spoiler for the season 2 finale ahead)
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A core theme of TBB is the toxicity of self-sacrifice. The Clone Army was created in order to be "expendable", but as far as I am aware, TCW only touched on the moral implications of that on rare occasions (Slick comes to mind). TBB on the other hand fills exactly this blank space and puts the ethics of a Clone Army front and center, as we see with the Clone Rights story thread, but also with every individual Batcher.
So far, several Batchers have used suicide as a tool of problem solving, every time with disastrous outcomes. Echo sacrificed himself in TCW in an act that later turned out to be inconsequential only to then be tortured and abused by the Separatists. Crosshair attempted to commit suicide by avenging Mayday, and torture ensued. Tech sacrificed himself in order to save the squad, which was instrument to Hunter's arc: Hunter, the frustratingly passive main character, realizes only after this loss that self-sacrifice isn't the way to go if they truly want to leave behind servitude of the Republic/Empire. (that's a future essay, but I am very excited about Hunter's development)
And Hunter has been demanding sacrifices from himself and the squad a lot for two whole seasons. Sacrificing Crosshair, for example.
You know who else is big on sacrifices? The Empire. I'm not deep enough into the Star Wars lore to know whether or not this is a common motif, but watching how Imperial fanatics kill themselves with suicide pills seems to me krass enough of an image to interpret this as a deliberate point. People within the Empire see themselves as expendable. If the Bad Batch truly aims to detach themselves from the Empire's ideology and develop an alternate moral model, they have to stop sacrificing themselves like the proverbial lemmings. So far, Echo is the only Batcher to spearhead this revolution, with Omega firmly on his side (and Hunter loves Omega, so he will pivot too, eventually).
And there is one Batcher who has been sacrificed by his brothers and understands they have to stop committing the Empire's cruelty to themselves: Crosshair.
I know this may sound hard to believe at first glance, but despite the things that happen externally, Crosshair's arc in season 2 is a positive one if we look at his internal development. In The Solitary Clone, Crosshair's arc could still go either way: either towards self-acceptance or towards self-destruction. In The Outpost, Crosshair comes to terms with his Clone identity just in time to find he no longer has the choice but to pick self-destruction. When this doesn't kill him either, there is no way but forward. In the Tipping Point, he is truly self-actualized to the best of his ability given the crushing circumstances. He is calm and perceptive. His eyes are open. This is not the demeanor of a self-hating man. This is someone who has come to terms with himself and his values, and acts accordingly. Building on the self-acceptance he developed in the interactions with Mayday, Crosshair now allows himself to care for the Batch again and sends them a warning. He knows the price he has to pay, but does it anyway because he finally acts according to his own convictions. Think back to his unusually relaxed expressions; despite being afraid of the torture, he doesn't show desperation, even when he's alone. He is at peace with his decisions, for the first time in a long time.
tl;dr:
Crosshair's internal arc culminates in Tipping Point with successful self-discovery and restored personal integrity in the face of extreme adversity. The Crosshair he is now would never stay 32 days stranded on a platform on Kamino. I mean, the episode is called "Tipping Point". What more can I say? Next step in season 3 is his external arc of mending his broken relationships and to find meaning outside of coercive systems like the Republic and the Empire.
I don't believe Crosshair will die in order to achieve "redemption", and I don't think Tech is dead either. The message of the Bad Batch, ever since TCW, seems to be: Self-sacrifice is not the way.
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(★。・:*:・゚☆Enlarge for better detail - there are about 30 characters/faces here!!!☆゚・:*:・。★)
FOR CONTEXT!!! I drew this insane picture as my milestone picture for 1,000 watchers (followers) on DeviantArt - and I only just realised I never posted it on Tumblr!!! So here it is XDDD
REBLOGS ARE APPRECIATED!!! (Lots more information under the cut ^^)
This picture holds a character from nearly every fandom I have ever been in or am still in (the only fandoms I can think of that aren't referenced here are LOTR and Harry Potter... I could be wrong though ;^^) But the ones that ARE included here, with their respective characters, are;
How To Train Your Dragon - Bewilderbeast
Undertale - Sans, Frisk, Flowey, Gaster Blaster
Deltarune - Kris, Susie, Ralsei, Spamton NEO, Lancer (and the cool box)
Pokémon - Morelull, Litten
Gravity Falls - Bill Cipher, Waddles
Miraculous - Ladybug, Chat Noir
Arcane - Jinx
Jurassic World - Tauro (Or "Toro" according to the Wiki... but I refuse to spell it like that >:T)
Star Wars - Captain Rex, Ahsoka, Omega, Loth Cat
Marvel - Moon Knight (RANDOM BULLSH*T GO!!!)
Steven Universe - Spinel, Steven, Lion
Horizon - Aloy
Avatar: The Lat Airbender - Appa
And of course, me and my kitty cat, T'Challa!!! (Written as Challie on the page on my desk there XD) (Also, the drawings on my desk are other milestone pictures I have drawn in the past!!!)
I wrote a whole essay about the development and details of this picture on the actual post on DeviantArt that I posted in May, so if you're actually interested in reading more about it you can read about it here!!! (Same link as above btw)
Hope u guys like it here too, tho <333
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Oh no, I’m participating in Star Wars discourse.
Uh, so there’s a post floating around that I’m not reblogging mainly because it’s just this person’s headcanon and, whatever, people can have headcanons, but the main points they make in the midst of talking about their headcanon that I’ll be addressing are:
Leia and Han getting married and having kids is the most boring thing you can do with Leia
Leia should be a Jedi like every other dang Skywalker because somehow continuing an assumed dynasty isn’t the most boring choice you can make for her
Leia is more cut out to handle lack of attachment than Luke which we know because of her lack of response to Alderaan being destroyed
Leia and Han shouldn’t get married or even be around each other much because Han is a wandering soul and needs to travel and go places
Leia never expresses a desire for marriage or children in the OT, so removing these things won’t contradict George Lucas’ canon
And, look, these are just…missing the point of the character growth that occurs in these two during the OT.
(there's just a whole-ass essay below the cut if anyone cares to read about the many thoughts I have on Leia Organa and Han Solo.)
So, I'm not saying existing or past canon/EU has done it right, but I disagree with the statement that having them marry and live kind of basic lives is the most boring choice. If that's all there was to it, sure, but those two choices by themselves show a monumental amount of character growth for both Leia and Han. (I mean, frankly, I think "Skywalker = Jedi every time no matter what" is a pretty boring choice storytelling wise, but I also think the Jedi on the whole are incredibly boring characters, so, uh...I'm biased.)
Leia was never going to live a quiet life even if Alderaan hadn't been destroyed. Like, she did not have that option, period. She would have either remained in politics or taken over as queen, may or may not have had to marry for political reasons, and may or may not have been involved with the Rebellion. Her life was chaos starting as a teen and she had no reason to believe she wouldn't die living a hectic and chaotic life.
And then she loses everything. This isn't emphasized in the movies obviously because they are fun family romps and not gritty dramas, but, good night, in a single second, she loses every family member, nearly every person she knows, every place she finds most familiar and comfortable, everything and to top it all off, the guilt that it's happened because of her unwillingness to give up the Alliance will probably always be there. She was tortured, they lost lives in battle, and, yeah, they destroy the Death Star, but at the end of that day, literally all she has left is the Alliance and those three pilots who managed to unlock her cell door without too much trouble.
I don't know about you, but I'd be straight-up shut down emotionally at that point. Like, I don't think PTSD even covers what Leia probably has going on in her head. And I think that's kind of what we see in ESB (I know the filmmakers weren’t thinking in terms of PTSD, but there are still hints of it there regardless). She's angry, she's afraid of losing people (she's obviously pissed Han is leaving after he said he'd stay, but also, there's a scene that was cut -- a good move in my opinion because the dialogue is beyond dramatic and Carrie seems out of it, but it stands that this was the intended source of Leia’s frustration -- where Luke is telling Leia he's leaving the Alliance for Dagobah and she is extremely upset that both he and Han are leaving, goes on a whole rant about how she should know better than to trust anyone but herself, etc.), and when she finally lets Han in, she promptly loses him and nearly loses Luke.
And then the events of ROTJ happen and she finds out that the man who tortured her, who stood idly by while her entire planet was destroyed, who tortured the man she loves and handed him off to the space mob to be murdered, who cut off her brother's hand and nearly allowed him to die, who has terrorized the Galaxy in general, that guy is her bio dad. And that guy is the entire reason she's Force-sensitive.
Leia stopping her Jedi training in the new canon was for a dumb reason, I agree there. Leia not wanting anything to do with the thing that, from her point of view, nearly ruined her life and the lives of those she loves about a thousand times over...I dunno, I think that's way more interesting than her just going, "Ope, I'm a Skywalker! You know what that means! Gotta be a Jedi!" And as far as her being more of a natural at it...do we know that Leia is better at healthy non-attachment than Luke? Like, any response to a planet being destroyed could easily just be a trauma response. Is shutting down like that good, actually? Or is it just going to cause problems down the road, Anakin-style?
I don't know, I just think that after living through all of that as well as a freaking war, girly might want a quiet life -- that she gets to choose -- with a husband -- who she gets to choose -- and kids -- who she gets to raise without the threat of the Empire or her nightmare of a biological father looming over their lives. And the very fact that she's able to open herself up to that sort of love and affection when the fear that it might all be ripped away from her is likely ever-present is a big deal. Her having kids knowing they'll likely be Force-sensitive even though that aspect of her biology terrifies her is a big deal. And as far as her not expressing a desire for marriage and kids in the OT...I mean, Leia isn't given the opportunity to express her desire for much in the OT, let's be real (she also never expresses a desire to become a Jedi in the OT either. We can't use what Leia didn't express in the OT to dictate whether she wants or doesn't want something is what I'm saying). They're at war. She's a military leader. She probably can't even hazard wishing for anything beyond waking up the next day. But that's not to say she didn't want such things or grow to want such things once she felt it was safe to do so. We literally don't know, but I don't think the absence of that expressed desire is indicative of anything.
As far as Han goes, I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure in every iteration of his story, his itchy feet weren't like...a part of his personality. He had a highly traumatic childhood that left him with few options and ended up living a transient lifestyle out of necessity. He actually seems remarkably easy to keep around if you don't treat him like garbage. I mean, he's given exactly one day of friendship, and he sticks around with the Rebellion for three years before some run-in with a bounty hunter makes him realize he needs to take care of his debt with Jabba. He's not leaving just for funsies or because he's bored or just really needs to be a smuggler again...and he seems legitimately sad have to leave when he's not busy getting pissed at Leia for not having the emotional response he wants her to have (first half of ESB Han is being a big ol' baby and I'm perfectly fine admitting that). And what character growth to see Han "I'm in it for the money" Solo learn to care for his friends, learn to support a cause, learn to love Leia when he's spent so much of his life unattached. Han making boring life choices is indicative of character growth and learning to care about others more than himself. What a lovely thing for this man to learn.
The call for Leia and Han to remain living separate lives but still committed to one another kind of demands that they move backward in character growth in my opinion. We have two people who are in rough places due, by and large, to trauma, who eventually open up to one another and seem better for it and then they...just go back to what they were doing before except they occasionally see each other? Why would they want that? They've grown as people, they've won a dang war, and they're finally able to live somewhat securely. Why wouldn't they want to live basic lives when they were denied the privilege of such choices for so long? And how is them making choices based on their love for another person — love that they had a heck of a time coming to terms with — boring?
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Nothing is more amusing than to see someone make a really well thought out post, critiquing a specific media (or a specific genre); citing multiple examples from the source material(s) about the racist/ableist/sexist themes and biases included in a work (or genre), which may or may not be intentional on the creator(s) part, but especially if it was unintentional, points out how it's showing the creators biases and speaks to the power of structural inequality in society--
Only for someone who insists that 'The Curtains Just Are Blue And That Does Not Mean Anything At All' to come in, and with all the personally-offended scoffing of a middle schooler who doesn't understand why their teacher is making them read The Great Gatsby and doesn't know why a green light across the channel is so significant to come in an exclaim "Nu-uh!!!"
The "Nu-uh"-er then usually goes on one of two paths:
"It's just a story, stop thinking so much about it! it's not that deep! Aesop stop telling those funny little fables about plants and animals, don't you know it's just nonsense for kids that means nothing!?"
"This is a really shallow/surface level reading of the text :/. (I am ignoring the fact that a true surface level reading of the text would come to the exact opposite conclusion I am arguing against, because I only care about what a text tells me , and don't care to look deeper into what the text shows me, (including unintentionally) about the events and world within the text and what it reflect about biases in the real world and society at large.")
It should be noted that both kinds of responders will either absolutely refuse to cite examples from the source material, or when they deign to respond to direct quotes from the text used by the OP's essays, they will inevitably completely fail to understand what the quotes are literally textually spelling out to the reader, and come away literally proving the OP's point and show their complete lack of credibility, by showing literally anyone following them just how bad they are at comprehending really basic text.
(They also, inevitably, also refuse to actually try to refute individual claims, because they refuse to think about the content of a text deeply enough to formulate responses to direct quotes from the source material; their usual excuse is the "Uno Reverse Card" of trying to say "If you think x work is racist/ableist/sexist, you're the real x-ish for thinking that way!!!" )
Literally, nothing makes me drop a fandom faster than fans who not only refuse to engage critically with the source material, but specifically go out of their way to demonize anyone who does analyze the media with a critical lens, if that critical lens sheds new, unpleasant light on their favorite character/institution/franchise/creator/show/etc.
This is why I love the Faction Paradox Fandom (completely unafraid to speak up about the racism/exotification of Native American tribes present in the early 2000's The Book of the War)
and Steve Shives on Youtube (Actually addresses and talks about all of the ways that the Star Trek Universe is not as progressive as it presents itself, instead of thoughtlessly defending the Federation and the racist + antisemetic caricatures that are the various aliens)
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One of Russia’s most famous 20th-century novels has returned to the Silver Screen. Infamously difficult to capture as a motion picture (more mystical observers even speak of a curse), Mikhail Bulgakov’s “The Master and Margarita” is back, reinterpreted by American-Russian filmmaker Michael Lockshin. The new movie stars Evgeny Tsyganov and Yulia Snigir in the titular roles and features German actor August Diehl (Gestapo major Dieter Hellstrom in Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds”) as the story’s demonic character Woland. Meduza reviews the controversy surrounding the film’s director and funding, the book’s cinematic history, and Lockshin’s adaptation.
The political controversy
Michael Lockshin’s “The Master and Margarita” averages an impressive 7.9/10 rating with more than 43,000 reviews at KinoPoisk and leads Russia’s box office in its opening week after earning 57.3 million rubles ($640,000) on its first day in theaters, but the director was making enemies before his film ever sold a single ticket. Self-described patriots denounce Lockshin as a Russophobe, a traitor, and a neoliberal besmircher of the intrepid Soviet secret police. They call him a hypocrite, too, in light of the fact that this new adaptation of Bulgakov’s classic was made (in 2021, before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine) with 800 million rubles ($8.9 million) from Russia’s Cinema Foundation, the state’s key funding agency for the domestic film industry.
Lockshin, who now resides in the United States, declined to answer Meduza’s questions about the backlash in Russia, saying he’s not yet ready to comment on the situation. On Telegram, pro-war channels have circulated screenshots of Facebook posts that are now hidden from non-friends where Lockshin shared independent reporting about the war in Ukraine, wrote that he’s donated to Ukrainian organizations, warned that future generations of Russians will be paying reparations for the “tragedy they brought to Ukraine,” and compared the Putin regime to Nazism in Germany.
State propagandist Tigran Keosayan has advocated criminal charges against Lockshin, while Trofim Tatarenkov, a host on Russia’s state-run Sputnik radio (who admits that he hasn’t even seen Lockshin’s movie), called the filmmaker “scum” and fondly remembered how such “enemies of the people” were shot during the Stalinist era.
Previous adaptations
In May 2016, poet and literary critic Lev Oborin wrote an essay for Meduza answering several “questions you’re too embarrassed to ask” about Bulgakov’s “The Master and Margarita,” including the most shameful of all: Can I just skip the book and watch a movie version instead? The short answer is, yes, you can always skip the book. In fact, unless you’re a student or some other kind of hostage, you can skip the movies, too. But since you asked, there are at least two previous screen adaptations of “The Master and Margarita” worth knowing about.
The better-liked version, at least until now, has been Yuri Kara’s 207-minute film, made in the mid-1990s but not released until August 2011. Meanwhile, in 2005, Vladimir Bortko created a miniseries for Russian television that was criticized for uneven casting and even worse special effects. Unfortunately for Bortko, the 10 episodes drew deeply unfavorable comparisons to his beloved 1988 adaptation of Bulgakov’s “Heart of a Dog.”
It’s also tempting to contrast Bortko’s miniseries with Kara’s adaptation — particularly how the two portrayed one of the novel’s most visually scandalous scenes: Satan’s Grand Ball. Filmed almost a decade later and made for TV, the sequence in Bortko’s series “looks almost puritanical” compared to Kara’s film, noted Lev Oborin. In raw terms of nudity and violence, this assessment is hard to contest:
So, is Lockshin’s adaptation any good?
Anton Dolin (a prominent Russian film critic who might be best known to casual Internet users as the interviewer who provoked Ridley Scott into saying, “Sir, fuck you. Fuck you. Thank you very much. Fuck you, go fuck yourself.”) liked Lockshin’s adaptation quite a bit. In a review published by Meduza, Dolin writes that the film “manages to retain the sharpness of the original source, which mocks Soviet power, and at the same time offers the viewer an innovative perspective on a classic text.”
Dolin praises Lockshin’s “Hollywood flourishes” and his capacity to juggle the book’s “genre and intonation incompatibility,” which has plagued past interpretations. The new adaptation brings a “circus element” to the story without sacrificing the script’s “rigidity,” says Dolin, while also “condensing the vastness of Bulgakov's novel into a coherent and clear narrative.” (You’ve been warned, formalists.)
Lockshin’s film takes some liberties with Bulgakov’s classic. For example, in the novel, the Master character doesn’t emerge until the middle of the book, leaving the reader to wonder about the title. In the new film, however, the main plotline belongs to the love story between Margarita Nikolaevna (the unhappily married wife of a Soviet functionary) and a writer she calls the Master. According to Lockshin’s script (which he co-wrote with Roman Kantor), the secondary narrative involving Pontius Pilate’s trial of Yeshua Ha-Notsri (Jesus of Nazareth) is a play within the story written by the Master and pulled from production by Soviet censors after its opening performance. (In a feat of authenticity unprecedented in modern Russian cinema, the Jerusalem scenes, which comprise roughly 10 minutes of the film, are performed in Aramaic and Latin.) Meanwhile, all the adventures across Moscow involving Woland and his entourage are presented as figments of the Master’s imagination as he slowly loses his mind under state persecution.
As Lockshin has argued in comments promoting the movie, Dolin says Bulgakov’s novel enjoys heightened relevance in contemporary Russia, and the new film makes menacing villains of NKVD executioners while presenting even more revolting characters in the Soviet elites whose conformity and hypocrisy enabled the Stalinist regime.
Dolin praises the decision to cast August Diehl as Woland, the mysterious foreigner whose visit to Moscow sets the plot rolling in the novel. Diehl’s Woland “is a real find,” Dolin writes. The German actor plays the character as “an infernally sarcastic gentleman in black” who resembles Satan “more than the thoughtful, sad wisemen from various Russian interpretations of the same character.”
A cartoonishly scary foreigner, complete with a spooky German accent, Woland turns out to be the creation of the writer’s wounded mind, his alter ego, writes Dolin. The censorship and persecution the character faces in the film are a “chilling reproduction” of mechanisms that resonate more in Putinist than Stalinist Russia, Dolin argues, highlighting some lines that wink boldly at modern-day realities, including nods to Crimea, oil production, and military parades.
Lockshin’s adaptation also features a fantastical version of Moscow that recalls the visionary designs of artists in the Higher Art and Technical Studios, which flourished in the 1920s before crumbling under Stalinism. In this universe, Moscow completed the Palace of the Soviets, altering the skyline in a delirious finale that depicts the city ablaze. This scene, in particular, has upset several state propagandists.
Dolin notes that Margarita is absent from the story for much of the film, but she reappears in the final act as a heroine on her own narrative arc. In the character’s scenes as a witch and then a queen, Lockshin’s intentions and the meaning of the novel’s title finally become clear, says Dolin:
It’s not the imagination of the writer that transforms the grim reality but exclusively the emotion that is capable of elevating you to the heavens, of burning cities, and punishing or pardoning with the mere force of thought. In the end, Lockshin’s film is not about Satan, not about Moscow, not about Pilate, and not about totalitarianism, censorship, or creativity, but about love. It alone makes a person invisible and free.
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I'm interested in your Fire emblem essay and what you said about the story being a reflection of the SRPG gameplay
Looking over the essay I have saved in my drafts, what I actually talked about was the answer to the question "Why did Fire Emblem get popular?" Fire Emblem has been around since 1990 and has been localized since 2003, but the series never took off to truly mainstream popularity in either Japan or the rest of the world until 2013, when Fire Emblem: Awakening was released, at which point it meteorically rose to become one of the best-selling Nintendo franchises.
In my essay, I posited that there were two "obvious" reasons for Awakening's popularization of the franchise, but a third less-obvious reason that was even more important. The first "obvious" reason was the introduction of Casual Mode, which removed the franchise's signature permadeath feature and made it far easier and more accessible to a broader audience. As someone who was in the trenches of the Fire Emblem fandom from 2004 to 2012, I can tell you that the series heavily attracted difficulty junkies during this time. The demographic heavily skewed male, and the most popular topics of discussion were tier lists and debates on the usefulness of various characters in certain challenge run settings (such as Low Turn Count, or LTC, runs). Casual Mode opened the doors for, well, casuals to join in on the fun.
The second "obvious" reason was that Awakening was anime. While every Fire Emblem game has had anime character designs, past titles were often fairly reserved with these designs, featuring knights in full armor whose only distinctly "anime" characteristic was green- or blue-colored hair. Awakening, however, leaned into the significantly more absurd, flashy, and/or sexualized designs that are what people far more commonly associate with "anime." It wasn't just the designs, though. Awakening also took an "anime" approach to character personalities, often giving each character one or two traits that are amplified to extreme degrees. This change is easy to spot if you compare Awakening characters to similar ones from past titles. In Genealogy of the Holy War, Arden is an armor knight who is teased by his comrades for being dull, boring, and generally stuck on sentry duty. In Awakening, Kellam is an armor knight who is so dull and boring that characters cannot even see him when he stands right in front of them. Recurring jokes involve characters thinking they're being haunted by a ghost when he talks to them, or forgetting he exists entirely, because he is so unassuming and banal. It reminds me of KonoSuba, in which characters have a singular trait that is pushed to its utmost extremities for the sake of humor; this is a style of humor commonplace in anime, especially anime that targets a young teen demographic.
My argument, however, was that these "obvious" reasons fail to adequately explain why Fire Emblem got so popular so quickly. They may have been sufficient in 2013, but the popularity of subsequent titles has called into question how much these reasons matter at all. To be clear, Fire Emblem probably doesn't become popular without Casual Mode; the accessibility is just too important. However, simply being accessible doesn't mean people will access it. There are plenty of SRPGs out there, like Shining Force, that never had permadeath, that were even localized during the 16-bit golden age of JRPGs, yet never gained major popularity. So while Casual Mode was necessary, it wasn't the change that took the franchise from the edge of Underperforming Nintendo Franchise Hell (F-Zero, Star Fox, Metroid, too many others to name) to 17 representatives in Smash Bros.
And frankly, I think the anime argument isn't a factor at all. It was a tempting argument to make in 2013, when the anime elements of Awakening were the most obvious deviation from the franchise's past, but 2019 a little game called Fire Emblem: Three Houses came out that utterly decimated the thesis. Three Houses is, of course, by far the most popular Fire Emblem title, with double Awakening's sales (1.9 million vs 3.82 million worldwide, according to Wikipedia). Notably for this argument, however, is how un-anime Three Houses is both in character designs and tone. In fact, Three Houses narratively hearkens back to much older Fire Emblem titles, with a major focus on politics and serious worldbuilding, significantly less comic relief, and relatively "realistic" character designs that avoid absurdity and fanservice. In its tone and story, it is far closer to Path of Radiance than Awakening. So if we take "more anime" to be the root cause of the revitalization of the franchise, how do we explain Three Houses?
There needs to be another explanation. Something both Awakening and Three Houses did that previous entries did not.
My argument is that what the Fire Emblem franchise did to turn itself around was change from a focus on plot to a focus on character, with innovations to the gameplay that emphasized this change. This sounds a bit more esoteric than the other explanations so let me clarify. Awakening introduced a mechanic called pair-up, which allowed two units to join together to gain large statistical and combat bonuses. On top of that, Awakening emphasized the game's support system, which had been present in older titles but much more difficult to access and inconsequential to gameplay, not only making supports easier to achieve, but central to character building and recruitment in the form of child characters. This gameplay emphasis is mirrored in the story, with Robin's character arc being rooted in the "bonds" he forges with his allies, and the child characters also having a significant role in the plot. On top of that, the more "anime" characters have livelier support conversations, as opposed to past games where many supports often boiled down to very generic "You are my friend. I will have your back on the battlefield" sorts of conversations.
With this character-and-relationship-driven gameplay/story in mind, look again at Three Houses. While lacking the pair-up mechanic or child characters, Three Houses adds a Persona-esque social link system that is extremely extensive and probably takes up about half the total gameplay. Strategic battles are deemphasized in favor of running around the monastery, talking to your allies, going to teatime or doing activities with them, finding them gifts, and so forth. The central narrative gimmick of the game is the three Hogwarts houses, which give certain groups of characters innate bonds that the gameplay then allows you to explore thoroughly. Even the aforementioned political nature of the plot feeds into these relationships; many characters are defined by the political placement of their birth, and their attempts to balance their personal goals with the goals of their station leads to intense interpersonal drama. And the plot itself boils this drama deliciously when it comes time for the three houses to go to war with each other.
This thesis of mine also extends to the less-popular installments of the franchise in the post-Awakening era. Though all these games sold decently well (likely due to install base), they don't match the success of the other two, and are a lot less well-regarded by the fans. Fates nerfed Awakening's pair-up system and lazily tacked on child characters via an absurd "baby dimension" that was poorly implemented in both gameplay and story; Shadows of Valentia was a remake of an NES game that, despite heavily revamping the story and adding some support conversations, did not change the core gameplay of the original; and Engage put in a more shallow monastery-like hub world, with much more simplistic characters, and a core gameplay gimmick that involves making one character a God instead of combining your units together.
Indeed, Fates and Engage are probably far more "anime" than Awakening and Three Houses, which most fans consider to their detriment rather than benefit. Most damning of all, however, is that the story of these games heavily revolves around a singular self-insert protagonist, with other characters having a much less important role. This narrative focus deemphasizes character-bond-based gameplay, rather than emphasizing it like the other games do.
(I'll mention that I personally think Engage is an excellent game, though this is because I am one of those spreadsheet and tier-list loving oldheads and I appreciate the excellent map design, core gameplay, and higher difficulty mode that actually seems like it was playtested. In fact, it was my love of Engage and the relatively lukewarm response from the fandom that led to me asking why Fire Emblem was popular in the first place. I had thought the fans loved all the goofy anime stuff, so why were they pissed about it now? What was Engage missing that Awakening wasn't?)
You can see how this shift from plot-based story and gameplay to character-based story and gameplay has affected not simply the raw number of fans, but the demographic makeup. In 2011, the fandom was nerdy dudes who liked to compare stat growth rates. In 2023, the fandom is far more evenly split between male and female players, and the fandom is a far more robust space for fan fiction, fan art, and other creative endeavors. It's characters who drove that change, not a more anime tone, not even a reduced difficulty. And after the relative reception of Three Houses and Engage, I'm extremely interested to see whether Intelligent Systems realizes this point, and what the next Fire Emblem looks like.
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Speaking of other polls: the very first tumblr poll also got botted, and the OP was like "thats part of the winning experience" so desperation can override guilt anon. that aside. its not even about the potential bots here anymore. its just how invested everyone has gotten to the point I'm casting my vote for a potential third option here. maybe we SHOULDN'T make this an iconic sweep if we can't be civil. the essays coming out feel like a College Staff Needs To Round Up Student For Group Therapy And Apologies. is this what we want our fandoms to be memorialized for? is this how we will walk away, with bitter losses and hollow victories, knowing we have torn our hearts apart to achieve it? I see everyone spilling their guts out for a desperate plea to understand what all of it means to them. We've dropped our weapons in favor of words, and it is no longer a war, no longer a battle, we've lost sight of our enemies and only want to be known. have you ever seen a tumblr poll drop the jokes for serious, sincere confessions. to sit in a circle and speak quietly from hearts that bare the grief of dying stars. OP, what move you make next will determine everything. we have risen our voices, and mourned our chances, and conspired over sportsmanship until the battle became muddled into something deeper into the human condition. the characters and stories no longer existing. only many souls. history may be written by the victors, but it is you who holds the pen. we started the war, and you have the power to decide how this chapter in fandom history will be resolved and remembered henceforth, forevermore-
Wow uh yeah so no pressure right
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What Kim Kitsuragi Tells Us About Fandom Ghost
I don't know if this has been said before, but I feel like another reason why Kim Kitsuragi is so wildly popular and beloved is how seamlessly he maps onto the trope of the Fanon Ghost.
Fanon Ghost is a concept that originated on Tumblr, by user wildehack, to describe the phenomenon of fandom elevating certain white male side characters from canon into main characters in fic, using a very specific set of characterization.
(Examples: wildehack focused on Star Wars' Hux's popularity in fic in comparison to characters like Finn/Poe, but others include Q from Craig!Bond verse, Arthur from Inception, Draco Malfoy, etc.)
From wildehack's defining essay:
"... prudish til you get him in bed, whereupon he is The Most Kinky, the charmingly repressed rage, the Love of Research and Order, the way lust/interest/affection is coded into irritation at The Neat and Tidy World being All Roughed Up by the hot mess of the other half of the ship?"
"This crowdsourced tight-lipped furious perfectionist with his neat clothes and his scowling defensiveness and his biting sarcasm and his embarrassed desire to have a dude who is both sweaty and emotional take him apart."
Sound familiar?
Well, the terms may be a little different.
Where wildehack uses 'prudish,' 'biting sarcasm,' etc. to describe their fandom's fanon ghost, Disco fans might use 'professional,' 'dry wit,' etc. to describe Kim Kitsuragi.
But, the idea is the same, down to his embarrassing / sweaty / emotional partner. Kim Kitsuragi is Fanon Ghost if fanon ghost weren't a white male side character.
quick detour that'll become relevant later: i feel SO smug about the fact that Kim's characterization is canon to Disco Elysium. You had to make up your own perfect blorbo, but ours came like that! And he's not a white character being used to ignore POC main characters!
wildehack's essay started a conversation on why fandoms gravitate towards "This One Crowdsourced Dude," even when he doesn't exist in canon. And when there are other, often more established, minority main characters to work with.
There are a bunch of responses to this question—the FandomLore article I'm referencing this discussion from has a bunch of the full metas—ranging from exploring why he's often white and what exactly about him appeals to fandom. I think Kim's popularity can be really helpful in sorting my thoughts to these responses.
For instance, there are two general responses as to why the Fandom Ghost is usually a white side character:
Whiteness is considered a a blank slate default, making it easier to write about without fear of misrepresentation/mischaracterization
VS
White men are considered more desirable/more relatable by fandom.
It's probably a mix of the two, but I think a fascinating THIRD take is that these white side characters in canon aren't just blank slates, but also share minor traits that all point to One Trope that causes people to obsess.
certifiedspacetrash postulated that the fandom ghost is actually a reskinning of a much older beloved archetype—the byronic hero: a character notable for being hard to like and hard to know, but usually possessing a rich inner life and a softer side accessible only to a special few. (Sound familiar?)
He theorized that part of the reason we don't see many POC Fandom Ghosts is because mainstream medias don't cast byronic traits onto POC characters.
"I think if Hollywood cast more young, striking actors who happen to be PoC, women etc as villains / byronic heores we would see lots of fanfic of them. But Hollywood is still in some weirdass reaction to being accused of racial stereotyping (which they 100% still do), and almost refuse to cast poc or women as bad guys. If they are, they’re either cast very old; or they’re the mary sue badguys - 100% beautiful, geniuses, incredibly powerful, no flaws whatsoever - and that tends not to inspire a lot of writers."
I find this take fascinating with Disco Elysium in mind because of the way Kim Kitsuragi is the exception that proves the rule.
Kim Kitsuragi is a rare, well-written mixed Asian character with byronic traits. And would you look at that?—Kim Kitsuragi has captured the hearts and minds of basically every Disco Elysium enjoyer ever.
Kim Kitsuragi is notably NOT overshadowed by Jean Vicquemare, who is a white side character with byronic traits that, in an alternate universe, could've been possessed by the Fandom Ghost to overshadow Kim. Jean, in our universe, already has a pretty big fandom in proportion to his screentime.
But, by the grace of moments where Harry can get Kim to "give a smile only you can see," Kim Kitsuragi is the breakout star of Disco Elysium. I find that hopeful, in a time where Asian male characters (outside of Asia, ofc) are often overlooked or boxed in or emasculated.
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Rants!
You x my mom: (ノ`Д´)ノ彡┻━┻
┻━┻︵└(´Д`└)
┻┻︵ヽ(`Д´)ノ︵┻┻
(ノ`Д´)ノ彡┻━┻
T_T at least they're a team but I wanted a naruseku sweep ( ≧Д≦)
Narcistoru/secretoru: Yeah i can gurantee this is the only submission for them for Some Reason. Because no one ships them. Like i have searched the internet far and wide and turn up with like. Close to literal zero. And here's the thing, this is entirely illogical. They work together in this evil group and their deals are essentially that they're. Unhappy people. At first you think they're just annoying but actually they're annoying snd Extremely Miserable. In silly ways, they are such losers and so cringefail. I could write an essay on both of them individually, but basically i love how their focus isn't on being better people, it is on being happier. Individually.
The show is divided into clear parts of who is the main antagonist at the time which really makes you FEEL how unhappy they each are. They're a group but they're also not bc they choose to be unhappy ad get on each other's nerves about it and that's a prime focus of their characters. Anyway, these two make me insane, they spend a lot of time together during the middle part of the show, bc the first villain is gone so now it's just the two of them and their leader who isn't doing much yet. After this part, one of them, narcistoru, is defeated so he's gone for the time being. But these two, they hate each other SOOOOOOOO much it's insane. This is because Narcistoru is an annoying bitch and Secretoru hates that. And they're both generally insane people with dumb beliefs and issues that they view wrongly. It's just so glorious to see them annoy each other so much. Post Narcistoru's main screen time, he gets his conclusion episode. He escapes from prison and Secretoru is supposed to retrieve him. But like not because they need him, in fact, they absolutely did not care that he was arrested because none of these people give a flying fuck about each other. It's just that he wasn't supposed to be a risk. Secretoru and Narcistoru have a rather petty and hilarious fight. Because you see. Now they don't have to get along. They are not on the same side. So the hostility is really thriving here. In fact, she manages to capture him, and while fighting the pretty cures (magical girls), hensays some annoying shit and she goes "actually i changed my mind" and shoves him off this rock in order for the monster (they always summon one) to fucking kill him. Like she tries to murder him in cold blood soley because he's annoying and this was entirely inevitable actually. She wants that twink obliterated. They don't bring this up again in the finale when they're both in prison. They just. Kind of hang out now. They've reached a level of tolerance.
And you may think "why do you ship this" LOOK. THEIR INTERACTIONS. ARE SO FUNNY. IT'S JUST. A VERY FUN SHIP. BECAUSE THEY'RE HILARIOUS. The hostility is so great and i think it would be neat if they had some t4t hatesex. It would solve nothing. They mske each other so much worse. But it would be very hot. Also secretoru has a general "can you shut the fuck up" attitude towards him. I don't even technically ship it but i ENJOY the ship.
And yet. I am so alone in this which is insane because i definitely expected ship content for them even before i actually wanted it myself.
But no, of course people ship Narcistoru with actual fifteen year olds. Like so much. And there is ZERO content for the ship with the other Actual Adult that he interacts with on a regular basis and who he has a fantastic and entertaining and INTERESTING dynamic with. So basically, i am not just sad, i am also SO SALTY. They are so insanely rarepair despite being an absolute epic duo. Awesome crackship, 10/10, literally comedy
Obiwan/grievous: Ok so this is a HUGE crackship and some people are not going to agree but like, Obi-Wan is what comes to mind when you think of the jedi and Grievous hates the jedi as a whole because he believes them to the cause of his mutilation and the suffering of his people, but the jedi are not the ones who did this. Grievous is a pawn in the game of the sith and he doesn't realize that his mind has been altered against his wishes or that he will be desposed of as soon as the war ends. Obi-Wan is a compassionate man and is able to consistently go toe to toe with Grievous, making him a rival Grievous can't help but respect in a weird way (his people are warriors, for all we know, fighting could be a method of flirting to his people yaknow? And obiwan genuienly flirts as a way to throw off his enemies, think of the comedic potential if Obi-Wan didnt realize how MUCH hes been a flirt or if Grevious acctualy gets flustered by it because obiwan is such a competent fighter and IF ONLY HE WASNT THE ENEMY-) If Obi-Wan knew what happened he would have tried to make amends and help his people, and if Grievous learned that it was Dooku (a former jedi turned sith) who turned him into a monster against his will, he'd probably be willing to team up with Obi-Wan to bring down Dooku and the Sith plans for Galactic domination to avenge and to protect his people, and they would be an absolute powerhouse since they are already familiar with eachothers way of fighting and from a writers point of view its filled with so much potential angst and drama, and hijinks, and even enhances the plot and creates parallels between the two that the franchise has never bothered to make and it has so much potential even if they don't fall in love they could be really good friends/partners/allies and if order 66 goes as planned they would be badass rebels its such an overlooked possible dynamic PLEASE 🥺
Nightmare Polycule: The cursed creation of like. 4 people on a niche fandom discord. Polycule consisting of pretty much every adult character in the series. It's awful and somehow the best thing ever. The potential for both crack and angst is unmatched. The divorced parents energy is OFF THE CHARTS. Marcia realizes she is a morosexual and has a crisis about it. Gringe confronts his prejudices by falling for a no-good wizard. Jillie Djinn is Marcia's ex and also dead and also GHOSTING ON HER COUCH which makes it very hard to bring her boyfriends over. Marcellus tries to be dramatic about the fleetingness of human life (except his) and gets made fun of until he confronts his trauma instead. Sarah and Mrs Gringe are having tea and getting a break from the drama.
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I saw your post from 2020 about your Four Quadrants and I absolutely love them! I have wanted to get into Chesterton for a while but have never actually done it bc I have no idea where to start. I decided that you’d be likely to know where I should start based solely on my relating so much to the rest of what your post said. Do you have recommendations?
There are several answers to this question, depending on what type of writing you're interested in, because Chesterton wrote in a lot of different formats.
Novels: My favorite (and the one that feels most "Chestertonian" in the sense of embracing the joys and paradoxes of modern life) is Manalive, which is about a boarding house full of disaffected young people whose lives are upended by the arrival of the energetic and eccentric Innocent Smith, who may or may not be a dangerous lunatic. I'm also fond of his first novel, The Napoleon of Notting Hill, which is set in the far future of 1984, where the actions of two eccentric guys get London caught up in medieval warfare. That book addresses Chesterton's common theme of the tension between taking life too seriously and not taking it seriously enough, but it is a very odd book that's a bit more of an acquired taste.
Short stories: Chesterton's most enduring legacy in pop culture is the Father Brown mysteries--one of the few detectives at the time that wasn't just a Sherlock Holmes clone. These stories are half mystery and half philosophical essay, and I love them (and they're nothing like the TV show). I always tell people to start with the first collection, The Innocence of Father Brown, because the first four stories there--"The Blue Cross", "The Secret Garden", "The Queer Feet" and "The Flying Stars"--form an arc that should be read in chronological order, and the rest of the stories can be read in pretty much any order.
Poetry: Chesterton's big achievement is "The Ballad of the White Horse", a novel-length epic poem about the legends of King Alfred the Great and his war against the Danes. But if you don't feel like reading something so long, his other masterpiece is "Lepanto", a stirring poem about the Battle of Lepanto that saved Europe from a Turkish invasion (though that one is much better if you know the historical context). He also wrote this short, rather biting anti-war poem "Elegy in a Country Churchyard".
If you want something not about war, Chesterton was known for his love of Christmas, and he wrote several excellent Christmas poems, including "A Christmas Carol", "The Wise Men", "Gloria in Profundis", "Joseph" , and "A Child of the Snows".
(As long as we're talking about Christmas poems, I'm going to mention that his wife, Frances, was also a poet, and she wrote a Christmas poem every year for their family Christmas card, which include, "How Far Is It To Bethlehem" and "The Shepherds Found Thee By Night".)
Essays: Tremendous Trifles contains several of the humorous, insightful essays that are among the first things I think of when I think of the Chestertonian mindset, including "A Piece of Chalk", "The Advantages of Having One Leg", and "On Lying in Bed" . Perhaps my favorite Chesterton essay, "On Running After One's Hat" isn't in this collection, but feels like it should be.
Nonfiction: "Orthodoxy" is probably Chesterton's most famous and most accessible religious book, which outlines the worldviews that led him to embrace Christianity.
This last recommendation doesn't fit into any of the categories, but I can't finish a Chesterton introduction post without begging you to read this letter he wrote to his wife, Frances, not long after their engagement, because it may be one of the best love letters ever written.
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Tagged by @voxofthevoid
Last Song: Home to Me by Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. Got the whole album after hearing it on @words-writ-in-starlight's Kencyrath playlist!
How dare you love me like you've never known fear
When you've got more troubles than minutes in the year
And a voice like your father's tells you nothing good's for free
Well that may be, but you're walking home to me
Currently Watching: Brain not currently accepting video input? Really wanna finish Spy x Family and watch Nimona tho. And Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Currently Reading: Uhhh. Uhhhhhhh.
Non-fiction (Academic)- Collecting, Preserving, and Interpreting the History of Electronic Games by Jon-Paul C. Dyson for an essay I should be writing about the "discourse community" around archiving video games and connected materials
Non-fiction (Leisure)- Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries by Kory Stamper and The Billionaire's Vinegar by Benjamin Wallace (it's about wine fraud)
Fiction- direly tempted to, instead of writing my essay, start either In the Watchful City by S. Qiouyi Lu (an extrasensory human, Anima, starts to question ær job maintaining and protecting ær city when a cabinet of curiosities comes to town) (FUN PRONOUNS) or Tentacle by Rita Indiana (trans masc protagonist in the Dominican Republic tries to get transition drug and also prevent environmental disaster with time travel)
Fanfiction- where are they fucking hiding the Star Wars clone shenanigans. This fandom is massive why can't I find more CLONES and (this is important) co-dependence and polyamory. Anakin is a background character unless it gets me more Padme and Obi-wan being considerate and kind translating directly to bottoming has gotten old fast
Current Obsession: I have brainworms about GrimmIchi and have recently been consumed by Don't Starve Together (game).
Tagging: Gabe (above), @aethersea @tanoraqui @smallblueandloud @thesuninperigee @starcloud-nova @firecoloredwater and @mothman-etd
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Snips opens some comms... Only 5 slots at the moment, except for sketches, which are fast enough to be unlimited.
Sketches :
Portraits are 15£ - 18$
I can do full body sketches. Always uncoloured or with minimal grey scale. We can discuss prices depending on what you want.
Clean line art :
Bust : 25£ - 30$
Full body : 79£ - 95$
Block colour (this includes stripes, sanhi, and potentially some minimal lighting) :
Bust : 33£ - 40$
Full body : 100£ - 120$
Those are limited in number. I won't accept more than 2 at a time.
Full render in the style of your choice :
Portrait : 40£ - 48$
Bust : 70£ - 84$
Full Body : 125£ - 150$
Full body render is limited to a single slot at a time right now.
Concept art page, with or without text :
From 50£ - 60$
Exact price will depend on how much you want in there, any colour, etc.
What I prefer :
Na'vi OCs/sonas
Star Wars OCs
Elden Rings Tarnished
What I'll do :
Arcane, Star Wars, Avatar and Elden Ring related content.
If you twist my arm I can design some TMA characters for you, or do Malevolent podcast characters.
I can do canon characters but the likeness of real people may vary, I've never specialised in that. I can do some creature design.
What I won't do :
Overly complicated smut (I lack experience and would need exact pose references for any smut (the professional kind! Not made at home, kk?))
Extreme gore (blood and bruises are fine, depiction of death is fine)
Anything I don't feel like doing!
BACKGROUNDS ARE NOT MY FORTE and will cost extra depending on the effort you ask me to put in. Abstract colour blocks style backgrounds are free of course.
PLEASE provide references
What your character looks like, what they wear, palettes and skin colours you'd prefer. IRL pose references or the like. No need to send me an essay about your blorbo's personality, but we can discuss things moving forward.
PLEASE familiarise yourself with my styles
I have several fandom art dumps with some very different styles in there. Don't be shy to pick one and say 'this is what I want my piece to look like'. I can do clean pencils or very rough ink for example, and they don't look the same.
Bear in mind there are some epically old works in the SW one.
Arcane — TMA — Avatar — Elden Ring — Star Wars
Once I know exactly what you want I'll get back to you with a definite price.
I'll ask for you to pay 50% ahead of time. Then 50% on delivery.
I use Paypal.
I'll keep you up to date on your commission, but once it's done I'll send you the full PNG with no background and the background version.
You can DM me here or on twitter, or send me an email : bluedaddysgirl at gmail dot com
How to share :
Please @ me or give credit when using the art. If you're ok with it I'll use a watermarked version of it crediting your socials on my own pages.
Currently 5 slots open, unlimited for sketches. I also can do written/fic comms, feel free to DM me about that if you're curious.
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