#i like him :) my medium guy

[gummi-ships]

Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance - Braig / Xigbar

#kingdom hearts dream drop distance #khddd #braig #xigbar #my gif #his pointy shoulders deflated with age #...do you ever wonder about his scarf? #radiant garden took pride in its beauty and ansem the wise was a ruler who was beloved and admired by his people (despite... yknow) #so is it safe to assume that being a guard of this world being tasked with protecting the castle/its ruler/and the townspeople- #would be considered a prestigious occupation? #yet we see braig wearing an old tattered scarf #it's a curious addition to his uniform that looks out of place among other guards #i dont think it was added to his design to help him stand out because cmon it's not like he's competing for relevance with dilan and aeleus #braig fights from afar with his guns it's not like he's some scrappy guy that might have messy clothes from battle #i wouldn't be surprised if this was ephemer's scarf that he somehow came into possession of #and is holding onto it with the possibly of it being used as some kind of medium/waypoint #who's to say he's not still wearing it under his organization coat? just because we can't see it anymore doesn't mean it's gone #riku had an entirely different outfit under his own organization coat so who knows what xigbar has under there #i like to think braig used to be scolded for wearing the scarf because it covers up the uniform's emblem #and wearing old ripped articles of clothing isn't part of the image the guards would presumably have to uphold #but eventually they gave up on making him take it off because he just does whatever he wants #just something i think about from time to time #xigbar has always been so mysterious and cryptic i can't help but keep an extra close eye on him #especially since he's been revealed to be so much more than what he seems. who knows what tricks he has up his sleeve #i don't think it's outside the realm of possibility

[startistdoodles]

Me when I play SPM and start seeing the hat man

#my art #count bleck #super paper mario #that last ask reminded me i had a buncha doodles of this guy #im experimenting with a few different styles #hes so shaped he works in any style tbh #but ill prob find a happy medium #or just draw him however i like whenever im in the mood haha #hes just really fun to draw #edit: forgot my sig u_u

[bidokja]

I was joking a while back that the actor they have playing KDJ for the orv movie was too handsome for him and a friend who's read orv was like "KDJ is actually secretly attractive!!" And I just felt my soul leave my body right then

SIGHS...

Okay. Buckle in. I'm gonna finally actually address and explain and theorize about this whole...thing.

I'm not gonna cite any exact chapters cause it's like 11:30 and I've got an 8 hour drive in the morning but I'll at least make an approximate reference to where certain things are mentioned. Also, this post is just my personal interpretation for a good bit of it, but it's an interpretation I feel very solid about, so do with that what you will. Moving on to the meat of things:

There is one (1) instance in the web novel that I know of which describes specific features of Kim Dokja (especially ones other people notice). This takes place when members of KimCom are trying to make Kim Dokja presentable to give his speech at the Industrial Complex (after it's been plopped down on Earth). This is when they start really paying attention and focusing on Kim Dokja's appearance since they're putting makeup on him; I still don't think they can interpret his whole face, but they can accurately pick out and retain more features than usual. If I remember correctly they reference him having long eyelashes, smooth skin, and soft hair. These features can be viewed as (stereotypically) attractive.

Certain parts of the fandom have taken this scene and run with it at a very surface level, without realizing (or without acknowledging at the very least) that this scene is not about how Kim Dokja looks. This is, in part, due to not realizing or acknowledging why Kim Dokja's face is "censored" in the first place, and what that censoring actually means. I think it's also possible that some people are assuming the censorship works like a physical phenomena rather than an altered perception.

I'll address that last point first. The censorship of Kim Dokja's features is not something as simple as a physical phenomena. It's not a bar or scribble or mosaic over his face. If that were true it'd be very obvious to anyone looking at him that his face is hidden. But his face is not hidden to people. They can look at him and see a face. If they concentrate on his eyes, they can see where he's looking. They know when he's frowning or grinning. They see a face loud and clear. But what face are they seeing? Because it's not really his, whatever they're seeing.

No one quite agrees on what he really looks like. And if they try and think about what he looks like, they can't recall. Or if they do, it's vague, or different each time. We notice these little details throughout the series. Basically, Kim Dokja's face is cognitively obscured. Something - likely the Fourth Wall, though I can't recall if this is ever stated outright - is interfering with everyone's ability to perceive him properly. This culminated in him feeling off to others; and since they don't even realize this is happening, they surmise that he is "ugly."

Moving on to the other point about what the censorship means: To be blunt, the censorship of his face is an allegory for his disconnect from the "story" (aka: real life, and the real people at his side). The lifting - however slight - of this censorship represents him becoming more and more a part of the "story" (aka: less disconnected from the life he is living and the people at his side). The censorship's existence and lifting can represent other things - like dissociation or depersonalization or, if you want to get really meta, the fact that he is all of our faces at once - but that's how I'd sum up the main premise of it. (The Fourth Wall is a larger part of the dissociation allegory, but that's for another post).

So you see, them noticing his individual features isn't about the features. It's not about the features! It doesn't matter at all which features got listed. Because they could describe any features whatsoever and it would not change the entire point of the scene. Because the point isn't what he looks like. The point is that they can truly and clearly see these features. For the first time. They are seeing parts of him for the first time. Re-read that sentence multiple times, literally and metaphorically. What does it mean to see someone as they are?

This is an extremely significant turning point dressed up as a dress-up scene.

---

P.S. / Additionally, I'm of the opinion that Kim Dokja is not handsome, and he is not ugly. He is not pretty, and he is not ghastly. Not attractive, nor unattractive. Kim Dokja isn't any of these things. More importantly, Kim Dokja can't be any of these things. The entire point of Kim Dokja is that you cannot pick him out of a crowd; he is the crowd. He's a reader. He's the reader. Why does he need to be handsome? Why must he be pretty? Why is him being attractive necessary or relevant? He doesn't, he doesn't, it's not. He is someone deeply deeply loved and irreplaceable to those around him, and someone who cannot even begin to recognize or accept that unless it's through a love letter masquerading as a story he can read. He is the crowd, a reader, the reader. He's you, he's me. He's every single one of us.

#orv #orv analysis #orv meta #orv spoilers #mine #ask #there's also the meta that he is described with these (stereotypically) pretty features as they are about to try and 'sell' him to a crowd #which feels to me like a very pointed way to convey how 'beauty' is commodified. how audiences like 'attractive' characters more #note: made some edits to add in a couple of sentences my brain forgot in the moment so make sure u reblogged those if u do #tag edits for further commentary that isnt strictly relevant to the point i was making: #do i think that this face censorship was executed as well as it could have been? nah. #not that it was like. done Badly. it's followed through to a certain point. its established enough for me to make this post at least. #but i do think it is the one thing in the web novel that SS didn't capitalize on. #like. they still stuck the landing but it was not as picture perfect of an execution as the rest of the metaphorical stuff in orv #also. this (not the face censorship specifically but the 'hes just some guy' point of it all) is one of the big reasons i think that- #-visual adaptions of orv can never quite work. they can do the best that they can with that medium but a lot of nuance is lost- #-simply by virtue of it being a visual medium #i personally think the only way a visual medium could work would be one where they commit to the power move of not showing kdj's face #(until a certain point (of view) that is) #his face is always facing away or out of frame or hidden by someone or something else in the way #commit to the fucking allegory or simply perish

[hanzajesthanza]

trying to come up with a plausible backstory for why regis would have short hair in the present era of the saga

he's fine now

#c: regis #the witcher books #emiel regis #my art #that i still like regis with like shitty unstyled short hair the 'just fuck my shit up' special #goes to show that there's absolutely something wrong with me connecting me to him #i think in my mind 'my' regis will always have stringy medium length hair suitable for a cleaned-up alcoholic and past rockstar #but i am willing to accept short hair regis IF and only if it's messy and not suave or clean cut at all #adds a sense of very average and down-to-earthness about the guy

[mildcicada]

If you surrendered to the air you could ride it.!!! .....I give up, I surrender etc.

#this is technically sort of semi inspired by an old mike crew drawinf #my art #mike crew #tma #the Magnus Archives #need to go down the mike crew tag again #problem is 90% of it is he shows up in one chapter from some unrelated tma fic. on account of being a side character LE SIGH #i know why that is the case but like stilllllll le sigh. just bc he had like 3 episodes worth of content doesn't mean i haven't created #rich inner world of him. #when people draw him blonde it is so frightening.. #unrelated i just always think that when i see those designs #like the dogs with bright blue eyes. im shakign please give them contacts etc #i have 1 million drawinfs of mime crew this exact angle pose face drawing medium color scheme etc.. #umm whats that quote. about art and obsession #*guy at the party meme* they don't even know all the sing lyrics i relate to him

[a-s-levynn]

remember the modeling clay i've been mentioning? now he needs a day or so to dry out so he can be lathered in paint

just to give some context why he isn't that detailed (the paint will help with that hopefully), he's a smol boi

#this little guy has no point other than to be decoration on my desk but i kinda like him. turned out pretty much how i expected #i'm not a scupltor by any means as you can see i just like to mess around with different mediums #for more details should've been larger.. maybe next time? i still have a lot of modeling clay left.. #let's hope i packed it well enough not to dry out #sleep token #vessel #vessel i #sleep token vessel #vessel sleep token #sleep token band #sleeptoken #levynn tries to draw

[marlenacantswim]

Peter Vincent you are the Baddest Girl around

song is "Bad Girl" by Usher

be the change you want to see in the world. if you want more david tennant as peter vincent edits, miss an entire night of sleep making one yourself, i guess.

#god i need him as a trophy husband so fucking bad y'all have no clue #it's a wee bit messy but that's alright bc this is my first time ever making an edit and i was working with beginner tools #you know you're obsessed with a character when you break into a whole new medium just for them #i've had this edit in my brain for like a month and it feels to good to get it out of there and on my screen #bc i rediscovered this song around the same time i first watched fright night 2011 so i can't hear it without thinking of her <3 #ignore how i missed an entire night of sleep making it in an adhd-med-induced hysteria. #gotta love artistic interpretation bc i can listen to this misogynistic song about getting a woman off a pimp and fully be like #''actually this is about my special little guy who sucks and i love :)'' #david tennant #peter vincent #fright night #fright night 2011 #anton yelchin #cw smoking #cw drinking #cw blood #fan edit #running my mouth #made this with my hands #video

[formulaonedirection]

"Can you hear that?" x

#lando norris #he's aggressively annoying #what a weird guy #and then recounting his first launch with carlos and charlotte <3 cute #literally saw him processing that HE is whatshisface's Carlos. deeply hilarious #i like him :) my medium guy #nadia's things #unboxed 2023

[lamentablequeen]

i should get one of those babydoll tees but instead of saying something like "catnip for femmes" or like "babe magnet" it needs to say "electromagnetism hazard for deeply strange people. once this magnet turns on it will not turn off. you will find yourself knee deep in a situationship that you will never escape from"

#like. WHY am i always in the messiest type of drama... #the type of drama where its like. well theres the person im not-dating and a different person im ACTUALLY not dating #and then IN ORDER TO EXPLAIN THE SITUATION i have to factor in like. roommates. long distance best friends. medium distance best friends #im coworkers with my ex AND the guy i never actually dated but they asked if i wanted to because they were in love with my ex for five year #and i did say yes to dating him on the basis of 'it's like unionizing' #but then we never followed up because we live too far away but now we are besties

[vulpinesaint]

the baldur's gate boys want me so bad

#everyone except astarion. working on that one though #officially have kissing option for wyll. i refuse to make it a Relationship though i don't wanna close off my options like that #so everytime i go through the 'i wanna talk about us' option i just select 'what am i to you' #and get the whole 'you are the stars in my sky' speech and then i say okay thank you wyll! goodbye! #was too nice to gale. i have no reason to be Nasty to the guy but i do not care about him at all and don't care if he dies #caught off guard by him inviting me out under the stars and then asking if i could stay with him while he thinks about his impending doom #lmao! no! see you later man! #halsin keeps veering into romantic statements every time i talk to him too #'thank you for everything you've done. whatever you need of me is yours. i'm yours.' okay cool ur welcome i have to go adventure now 👍 #i WILL win astarion over. got his approval up to medium so i am NOT failing at it and i WILL get to kiss him. i am certain of this #valentine notes #bg3

[invinciblerodent]

(why is it always the characters whose story centers around themes of reclaiming body autonomy whose appearances get modded to the point that they're.... borderline unrecognizable. like sure, they're a bunch of pixels, they're not people, obviously it doesn't hurt them or anything, but I do admit that it does... leave a bad taste in my mouth.)

#squirrel speaks #in other news i'm coming up on like 450 in-game hours; easily 40-50 of those I spent looking at astarion's face #and i just came across a screenshot in which i legitimately could not tell it was supposed to be him #until i read the tags #like almost EVERY piece and feature of him was altered down to the color palette and even the facial structure #which.... for a guy who straight up SAYS that he hasn't had ownership of his own body for so long... #.......whose whole THING is a reclamation; rediscovery; and rebuilding of the self....... #that.... kinda makes me feel uncomfy????? #makes me wonder at what point making fan content stops being about engaging with the source material #and becomes more akin to using the game as a medium for your own original creation #like. they ship of Theseus'd my boy.

[bastard-of-a-bog-being]

Wip but you know what

I was initially SO bothered by this guy not having a nose or eyebrows but the more I make art with him I’m just like “oh thank fuck the little guy doesn’t have many facial features this is way easier than making Poppy or whoever else”

#Welcome Home #Welcome Home fanart #clay art #clay figures #clay figurines #clay sculpture #polymer clay #art wip #wip #ngl right now he looks like if ET dressed as Elvis Presley #I just need to finish his other foot and clean him up some and bake it #but it’s been fun to work with clay again!! #I feel like anyone who’s followed me for a while and maybe saw me post one or two things art wise #are now probably confused and concerned by the sheer amount of art I’ve produced in a short time #for a fandom I’ve just joined #however I fucking love these little guys’ designs and they translate so well into other mediums #it’s made me enjoy art again which honestly like #I’m sure it won’t be long before I’m bored again and I just stop making art for this fandom lol #but it’s been nice to give in and just sketch and doodle whatever and whoever #my art

[themyscirah]

People need to stop putting Batman in everything this is painful

#also doing my math correctly guy would actually be in second place here #or maybe third #wait gimme a sec #okay this is mostly accurate but guy should actually be third behind hal here #because its counting hals parallax appearances and guys red lantern ones under different characters #and also i forgot to log some of the gl/ga i read #lucky number 11 was jess btw 💔 #rip jess she got cut off #this was both surprising to me and expected #like guy hal and cass i totally expected in the top 5 bc ive read a good amount of them #whereas batman as no 1 was unexpected but makes sense considering THEY PUT HIM IN EVERYTHING #ben as no 3 really surprised me but it makes sense when i think about it as ive read 2 books with him as a main and a cameo or two #also i love how top 10 is all dc and then you have anakin. the batman of star wars (they put him in everythinggg) #and also ive admittedly read a good amount of darth vader #wait omg i forgot something #i literally keep doing this istg #im exposing myself for only having read a small to medium amount of comics so far #which is smth crazy to say about like 650 issues 'small to medium' but its true #most of it is pretty spread out too #like 650 in one subfandom is pretty good esp depending on what it is but #when you break it down that way ive probably read like 160 ish lantern comics as my biggest subsection #with bats following behind that at like idk 75 #which isnt very much compared to the amount out there #blah

[ssspringroll]

He cleaned up nice

Didn't end up working as the townie i wanted him to be, but I'll never say no to a cute redhead. Even if we both know that's not his natural color.

#might make him a random celeb. hes got an undeniable sort of charisma. #or maybe i just really like redheads. #who can say. #simoleon #my kiddos #definitely gotta work on my CAS lighting and photo preset bc man. i might like the pics i accidentally took #with the gameplay gshade. better. oops! #well im still working on all that #its a wip. #does he look suspiciously like my OC Mark or am i just doubting my ability to make different faces again... #does every redhead with medium length slicked back red hair look the same to me... #anyway real interesting features on this guy imo #i feel like he DOESNT look like the same 2 guys i keep making over and over again #but also he kind of does. #ugh. #i will never shake this same face syndrome as long as i keep making hot guys #but will i stop? #unlikely.

[tovaicas]

I literally can't believe you do not get a one-on-one section or conversation with estinien until the VERY END OF THE GODDAMN EXPAC

#saint.txt #spoilers #major spoilers #estinienposting #YOU KNOW? THE NEWEST GUY HERE WE KNOW THE LEAST? #WHO'S CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT HAPPENED OFFSCREEN? #DEVELOPMENT THAT HAS COMPLETELY CHANGED HIM AS A PERSON SO WE CAN'T COAST OFF HIS HW CHARACTERIZATION? #WHO NEEDED THE MOST HELP BC OF HIS INHERITED WRITING PROBLEMS FROM HW? #(yes I know they wrote a short story abt him. my rule is that I am fairly harsh on important character details and lore that is not #communicated in the primary medium. ie. if I have to go somewhere else to learn core character lore it should be in-game.) #but no. he's just here to be vr.tra's hype man. and I like vr.tra but goddamn. #like no wonder he feels like a side character just tacked onto the scions bc he's consistently treated as one by both them and the narrativ #and nothing is ever really done with that bc it COULD be a genuine conversation on the insularity of the scions and their work #and his perspective as an outsider with a completely different background and history and experiences could be a genuinely interesting #addition to the group dynamic as a shakeup but no!!! he's just here to be funny bc man stupid and nothing else happens!!! #he could comment on how genuinely uncomfortable his joining was (where he was basically press-ganged into it) and how he's been treated #re: the failure to keep him in the loop and the rough way he slots into the group dynamic and the pure fact that he is an outsider #to a years-long established group of friends and unintentionally or otherwise treated as an intruder / obviously doesn't feel comfortable #hanging out with his colleagues bc he passes up every opportunity to do so and how his position here is still 'mercenary' #and not 'friend and ally' AND how he's one of the few ppl here who can genuinely connect w/ the wol re: the lightwarden thing #sorry I'm ranting again but this man's writing is all over the goddamn place and I really do not get the sense that his promotion #to main character status was like. planned out in advance. bc nothing is really done with it other than hey vr.tra here's your dude.