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quibbs126 · 2 years

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So I made a new character

This time he’s a completely original character, not meant to be any (technically) pre-existing ones in the Layton series, so that was interesting. I started out by making a sketch of him on the memo feature in Diabolical Box. It’s not that great

But yeah anyways, so this was me trying to think of a plot for that hypothetical scenario where Layton and co go to a town where everyone wears bauta costumes, aka like what Descole wears, and this was one of the characters (actually the only one) I made for that. As of currently I don’t really have a name for him, other than my brain calling him Nikolai, but I don’t feel like that makes much sense considering he grew up in this town that’s supposed to be based on Venice with potentially some French influence considering the only actual character with design elements like that having a French name. So yeah as of now, I don’t know what to call him. But for the sake of simplicity, for the rest of the post I will be calling him Nikolai (If you have any name suggestions please tell it would be much appreciated)

So the design on the left would be his casual outfit he wears at home (and probably what we first see him in), while the one on the right is the one he wears when out and about in the city. He probably goes under a different name under that outfit as well, so as to protect his identity

Oh yeah also, he uses a cane (in both outfits), I just didn’t draw it. He does actually need it though, and also it has a sword in it

Gonna be honest, not too fond of the one on the right, I think I need more practice in trying to draw outfits like this. I used some paintings I found on Google as references, but I think I still need some better references, as well as just figuring out how that top cloak thing works

I’m thinking he might be the one to send a letter to Layton to ask for help here, but I’m not entirely sure yet

But it’s his past that’s more interesting here, as what I’m thinking is that when they were teenagers, he and Descole were dating, because while I may give him a wife, you cannot convince me that Descole has never dated or at least hooked up with another man.

Oh yeah so Nikolai’s supposed to be around his early 40s, same as Descole. Not sure if giving him that lighter streak made him look a bit older

Now here’s where we get to the potential plot of the story, which I honestly just don’t know what to do with. For these two, I want them to have had some sort of dramatic break up, but in terms of present day Nikolai’s chill with him (even if they haven’t seen each other in over 20 years). Oh and to be clear I’m going with the idea that Descole is in the city but with amnesia

Right now here’s the plot I’m working with: so years ago when the two were teenagers, they were exploring some mystery in the town (which also involved underground tunnels and rivers) and at some point when they were close to the reveal of it (or they had found it out) they were attacked by another person, and while it was two-on-one, the pair were in quite the struggle, as their opponent was stronger. (side note this may have been potentially the reason Nikolai develops the need for a cane) So they’re having their battle, and Descole sees an opening and attacks, and ends up killing their attacker. They don’t really know what to do about this so they just dump the body into one of the underground rivers near them and just elect to try and forget about it, even if it weighs on Descole, because while you can debate whether he’d regret killing in present day, he’s only a teenager at this point and I imagine the experience of actually killing someone would still be traumatizing to him. Anyways so a week later, things are going good, until the body ends up resurfacing on the, well, surface, and it becomes publicly known. Descole, feeling guilty and not wanting to ruin things for Nikolai should they be discovered, decides to leave town, thinking that he doesn’t deserve to stay there, and he never came back. Present day, Descole showed up but with amnesia (also he didn’t just walk into town one day, he was found on the shore unconscious) and Nikolai’s been taking care of him, trying to help him regain his memories. Meanwhile the present day problem is that this whole incident is coming back up again and Nikolai, hearing of Layton’s accomplishments (but likely not knowing his and Descole’s connection) calls him in to help with it

*oh yeah if you haven’t noticed, this backstory does contradict some of the things I headcanon for Des’s backstory. In this continuity I’m going with the idea that he was living in this town since he was left alone as a child. See, I’ve kind of got this thing where I try to keep my things as canon compliant as possible, and so if making a hypothetical continuation or retelling of events in a series, I will tend to throw my original headcanon for series of events out the window if I can come up with something better. Also I’m just indecisive and sometimes I come up with new ideas I like more. It’s never really bothered me but also I never really had to share it with people, so I guess just forewarning that I will retcon headcanons if it suits me

So what’s the mystery of the town? I’m not sure, but I’ve been thinking of it having something to do with memory loss, considering Des, but at the same time I’m also thinking that that could be caused by something else? Or is that reaching too far and I should just stick to it being related only to this story? And would he get his memories back, at least partially, or would nothing trigger his memories and alert Layton that something else is going on with his mind? Also going back to the actual town, this doesn’t really tie in to the whole thing about the town wearing masks, that seems like something you need to answer/address, or at least work into the mystery somehow

And if I’m being honest, I’m not sure about this story, because it’s essentially a murder mystery, but I feel like that’s more suited to an Ace Attorney game rather than a Layton game. And to be honest, I feel like that could make an interesting case for AA; a defendant with amnesia being tried for a crime they can’t remember, trying to prove they’re being framed only to find out they really were the murderer, except unlike other similar cases the defendant isn’t evil or manipulating things, it was an accident in self defense, so there’s basically no real villain to point to here. I feel like that’d be interesting, but would it make for a good Layton game?

Well anyways I think I’ve gotten off topic a bit, so just enjoy this character and ramblings about his story I suppose

#I don’t know what to put in the tags #oh yeah I plan on drawing a younger version of him as well #anyways #professor layton #professor layton oc #jean descole #well I suppose since they’re connected #story ideas #town of masks #that’s the tentative name I’m gonna use for this story #will update it once I come up with something better #my art #my oc

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halveablock · 3 years

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maki

i just wanted to properly verbalize exactly why i love maki so much. in particular, the way her character development is shown through her design. i suppose this is a bit of character design rambling. contains manga spoilers up to chapter 149.

to be quite honest, maki didn’t catch my eye that much when i first read jujutsu kaisen. she felt awkward actually; design-wise, it felt like gege couldn’t commit to a type of feeling. her style felt just vaguely unkempt and bit feminine, but had no real identity. part of that is the characters are all in dark uniforms, but they can be customized to give off a certain feeling. yuji, for example, wears hoodies not because he’s a hoodie guy but because he can be indecisive (volume extra).

but this all changed once i saw this infamous chapter cover:

i immediately went: shit, i wish maki actually looked like that. she didn’t really have this masc energy until this chapter cover. (and then upon rereads, maki really captured my heart...) there, i saw what maki could be, so i was wondering why her pre-shibuya design felt so dissonant to this image, which felt perfect for her.

i think gege decided on her “aesthetic,” so to speak, once he designed toji. not that toji wasn’t designed or concepted before, but it’s possible that gege hadn’t thought to push the toji-maki parallels that early until his design was finalized, since this is just 2 chapters before his appearance. and she has gotten only closer and closer to him in aesthetic until in chapter 149, gege blatantly draws a side by side comparison to make sure you really saw it, in case you hadn’t realized it yet.

it’s interesting then that with ogi’s appearance, maki’s previous ponytail had some meaning.

the way the ponytail is drawn is virtually identical; it’s as if maki was striving to be her father, in a way. i imagine the image of strength she had in her head was ogi before she saw toji on the beach: there, she saw what she could become. (btw, i don’t think it’s a coincidence that she meets toji on the beach as her old self, and then says good-bye to mai on another beach as her new self)

gege most likely designed maki first then ogi, so i think giving him a ponytail was definitely intentional to indicate the shift in maki’s understanding of what she could be.

at any rate, post-shibuya, i think gege had fully embraced the masc style for maki, while keeping up with his high waist fashion obsession for the ladies. he may have also felt creatively limited by jujutsu tech uniforms, so he probably wanted to break some rules around that. the cape gives her a strong leadership look as indicated by her role among the students and a distinct silhouette so i think maki will keep it despite not having it on at the end of ch149.

maki’s new hair has the double function of getting closer to toji while making her look even more identical with mai. a crossroads of sorts: she could either become like toji, or stay in the bottom with mai. we all know what happened at that, albeit it wasn’t really her choice. in another sense though, she became both, gege deliberately putting both maki and mai in their sleeveless outfits (remember maki still had her cape on after waking up, before shedding it in the epic spread) in the beach scene to convey this merging even more.

as for her writing itself: on the surface, she’s a “strong” female character: stubborn, sassy, ambitious. an action girl, if you may. but the recent chapters showed that she’s actually filled with doubts and that a lot of this attitude is airs she put on to live as a self-affirmed human being since her family could never give her that affirmation. her choices, too, were driven by her fierce love for her sister, something she couldn’t openly express for fear of her sister facing even more prejudice.

and just in the meta sense, she’s everything i’ve ever wanted out of a female character in a shonen manga. i’ve seen her type of character for sure, but not really in a shonen: her abused history, insane family drama including a complicated relationship with her sibling, these two chapters becoming her tragic origin story, the way her trauma is carved into her skin with the burns and the eye scar, the way her trauma is reflected in her characterization without her succumbing to it. the way she constantly echoes an existing feral, violent male character, suggesting that she will embody similar traits. the way her goals were centered around her ambitions, but underneath that, her sister as her core motivation; the way the plot actually impacts her goals, and how they are now changed to destroying everything, including the family, the system that refused to acknowledge her.

in short: i love you with my entire heart maki, and i can’t wait to see where you go next.

#jujutsu kaisen #maki zenin #jjk spoilers #xed.txt

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sammysdewysensitiveeyes · 3 years

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Marauders and Hellions gala issues:

(spoilers ahead)

The good:

Damn near EVERYTHING about Hellions.

Catseye and Roulette cameo at the ball, giving Empath the beat-down he so richly deserves.

Havok pushing for Madelyne’s resurrection. I’m not really an Alex fan, but I support him in this, give that queen the second chance she deserves. I’m guessing that Maddie will hopefully continue to be a plot point in the series.

Nanny gets drunk and tries to stab Sinister, and I also fully support this.

Empath uses his powers to let Peter “feel” drunk without actually drinking, and it’s kinda sweet. Like he’s doing Peter a favor. Of course, he’s also fucking around, because that’s what Empath does.

Kwannon and Greycrow hanging out at the bar together, and Kwannon insisting that the Hellions are her “plus one.”

Kwannon’s amazing dress, she is gorgeous.

Sinister being catty with Exodus about their outfits.

Emma discovering that she reminds Steve Rogers of his mother, GOD, poor Emma.

Rhapsody! An obscure mutant from waaaaay back in Peter David’s X-Factor:

She got to show up and play a concert, and that is fantastic.

A nice moment between Emma and Sean. Judging by the dialogue, I’m guessing that Emma is trying to recruit Sean for Marauders. He’s supposed to show up in a future issue, so we’ll see how that goes. Honestly, Sean/Emma is actually one of my favorite ships for Emma.

Also a Tempo cameo. She’s also gonna show up in a later Marauders issue, so I guess Duggan is setting his pieces up. I kinda want Duggan to play more with the toys that he already has (some crew members are still VERY underdeveloped), but I also like Tempo and I hope she becomes a regular in the book.

Delores, the person who warned the Marauders about the poisoned drugs, gets a nice cameo as well. Glad to see she got a Gala invite. I’m kinda wondering if Duggan is actually going to DO anything with her character, beyond her just being a friendly human? The poisoned medicine wound up being a dead-end plotline when it happened.

Pyro gambling with Bishop, Shinobi, that AIM guy and Bobby (and getting suspiciously lucky), only to be interrupted by The Thing. Who insists on joining the party. It’s gamblin’ time! Also, this is twice now we’ve seen that Pyro has a penchant for gambling, which I could totally see for his character. I could imagine him getting into money troubles over it back in his pre-Brotherhood writer days. Don’t mind me, I’m just collecting every scrap of potential Pyro character development and hoarding them like a crow with shiny objects.

Pyro and Shinobi actually in a scene together, something that only matters to me and like two other people. (I kinda ship it, even though they have never even spoken to each other.)

Pyro also gets a background cameo in Hellions, in the same panel as Sunfire. Maybe wishing his outfit was as awesome? I’m a little disappointed that Pyro’s jacket only has the flame designs on the shoulders and sleeves, I was expecting something really cool on the back.

Christian gets to do things, and actually has a decent Gala outfit.

For once, I don’t mind an Emma-focused issue, even though I complain about that frequently. It’s the Hellfire Gala, OF COURSE Emma will be front and center, she’s hosting the whole thing, and she’ll be making alliances and playing politics.

The bad:

Poor Bobby has nothing to do but stand in the background and look fabulous. Even Pyro, with his single line of dialogue, got more play than Bobby. Maybe he plays a bigger role in other issues?

The Fenris Twins are at the Gala, and apparently part of Emma’s Hellfire Inner Circle. WHY? Why are they still there, Duggan? When are you going to fire that Chekov’s gun? Please don’t settle it off panel, like you do with some storylines. You tend to draw some things out forever, then rush through other important plot points, I’m just asking for an even pace, man.

Poor Sebastian has nothing to do all Gala but sit in his wheelchair and pout, like a toddler with sideburns.

Shinobi’s Gala outfit is an absolute travesty. I guess you could call it elegant, I call it boring. Shinobi should be wearing something daring and attention-grabbing on par with Bobby. It’s.....just his usual suit with a fancier design? C’mon.

Callisto’s outfit is also awfully boring. I was expecting something a little “tougher” from her. And it’s fine if she wants to wear something more traditionally feminine, but that outfit didn’t seem to be making a statement one way or the other. It’s just normal dress.

The Gala would have been about 10 times better if Shinobi and Pyro were allowed to wear these exact outfits:

Let the boys be the fashion-icon dandies that they canonically are.

#hellions #x-men marauders #spoilers #wednesday spoilers

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bokunoheroanalysisforthefuture · 3 years

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Alright, chapter 8! And man is there a lot to talk about here. I don’t really have any pre-content things to say, so we’ll just hop right into it today!

[No. 8 - Rage, You Damned Nerd]

I swear, this first page has a LOT to talk about on it, so I’ll go from panel to panel and do some rambling thoughts on each segment.

First off, UA doesn’t actually handle the costumes the kids get! It’s support companies affiliated with the school that does - which makes sense, since the school has to focus on teaching their support students before letting them get their hands on actual costumes that these kids might be fighting in.

I mean, they seem to be allowed to practice on like, minor support stuff (read: Mei making Izuku his new gloves post-Nighteye or somewhere around there) but not full costuming, which is… actually a bit reassuring? But also explains some of the lag time in getting costume repairs / upgrades since they’re probably busy companies. It also explains why there probably aren’t major alterations to any costumes besides between the summer and winter variants, since it would be time-consuming to remake these costumes so regularly.

(It still doesn’t excuse some of the costumes the kids got, but that’s more on the whole ‘eye candy’ thing for readers than actual practicality, so whatever.)

(Also, I can’t get over the fact that Snipe has a support company. Fucking Snipe. Guess we know another canon or likely-canon Support teacher.)

Next we get a preview of what the kids sent in for specifications for their costumes:

We get a bit of insight into a few of the characters - as background stuff, we get Shouji, Mineta, Aoyama, and Sato. Mineta got pretty dunked on for char design and costuming, and Aoyama’s costume almost looks like a magical girl outfit like this, which honest to god would have been fantastic to see him in. More interesting (at least to me) are the other three: Ochako, Tenya, and Katsuki.

Ochako first, because that pressure point thing is interesting, and I dunno how often those actually come up in fics besides a passing mention, like. What if her support bracelets / neck piece broke during training / a mission / whatever? Would she suddenly have to fight through the nausea? By the point of current canon (War Arc) she’s probably trained enough that she doesn’t need them as much, but man, it could be an interesting little thing to explore, like, post-Kamino.

Tenya is a bit surprising, since we know he comes from a well-off hero family. Logically, this was before the whole Hosu / Ingenium plotline was really developed, so Tenya didn’t have that to fall back on, or it could be argued that the support company that Ingenium is associated with also works with UA. Alternatively, it could be that either Tenya didn’t want to rely on his family (which seems silly when they’d know how to work with his quirk best) or UA is very firm on ALL costume stuff going through them…

But then again, Katsuki. Oh god, Katsuki. What fucking support company looked at this kid and went ‘yeah we should give him a way to store more explosives AND give him bombs’ and just. Did so. Why did UA not vet that. Maybe the support company didn’t realize how strong his explosions were without the gear, but UA, man, I just. I suppose they had no way of knowing how reckless he’d be with them, but honestly, after the battle trials, they should have been fucking yoinked from him so damned fast.

Anyways, onto other parts of Katsuki’s costume, we see he’s a fucking dork. Possibly what lowered their guard. ‘Something scary’ and ‘Dynamighte all over’. What the hell, kid. At least your designer stuck close to your design… including the huge-ass clunky gauntlets. Man, the Musketeer Trio movie poster ones are so much better looking and so, so streamlined. Works of art, they are.

Moving on, we get a bit of a flashback to ~three weeks ago, which by the calendar would be around March 20th? So a few weeks after the Entrance Exam. And Izuku is only NOW getting around to updating the quirk registry? Izuku baby seriously, how the FUCK did none of the UA staff notice the ‘quirkless’ on your application form at any point before this?

But yeah, he’s worried about his registry, so he calls Toshinori, who explains the update process. It gives the example of someone who might alter their stuff with updated information, with one or two allowed - though major ones aren’t accepted. Toshinori then says it’ll probably be okay since he started with nothing, then tries to correct himself to ‘definitely’, only to get cut off because Izuku accidentally hangs up in a panic when Inko calls out that she’s home. Haha poor Toshinori, and poor Izuku, the two anxious dumbasses.

Anyways, moving on from that is Inko showing off the jumpsuit she made, with Izuku surprised. She admits it’s not the coolest, but she based it off of the design in his notebook (the one we saw back in chapter 1). She tells him she regrets giving up on him back then, and how he never quit regardless of her faith. She apologizes and says from there on she’ll be cheering him on with all she’s got.

Izuku’s narration notes that it’s a symbol of his mom’s love, and that he couldn’t wear anything else, even if it’s not ‘efficient’ or ‘cutting edge’. (Or even at all decent looking.) And it’s also hinted through the present thoughts on it that it’s meant to be an homage to All Might (the smile and the hair pieces) which is just such a dorky thing.

We get to the wide-spread of hero costumes, which- wait a second.

That’s Momo’s initial hero costume design???? Why did Hori not stay with that??? It’s a LOT better than the stuff we’ve seen her in later! Like, sure, it’d still be improved with the main opening being her stomach and not her chest, but this still looks like actual human clothing and not a sexy Halloween costume variant of her hero uniform. Fucking hell, now I’m even more mad.

Tsuyu’s costume meets the approval of the discord server as basically ‘no changes needed’ asides from maybe the goggles being a bit bulky.

Tenya’s costume, I’m sorry, I know it’s an homage to your brother / family, but were the additional pipes really needed? Also, the helmet isn’t a bad idea since he goes fast, and bugs in the mouth/teeth have to suck, but it just looks so damned Gundam-y I can’t help but laugh a little.

Shouto… nah, too easy a target.

Aoyama is Aoyama. I’m actually a bit disappointed now that it’s not a magical girl costume, but alas, I suppose even Hori couldn’t be that brave.

Kaminari… I forgot he had that headset thingy.

Don’t really have much else to say about anyone else, so let’s move on.

Izuku bugs out a bit about Ochako’s costume/appearance, while she compliments his more practical looks and laments not being specific, saying it’s a bit too puffy and curvy for her. Which means it’s more the accessories which seem to be her issue with it over the main costume itself? Huh.

Anyways, after All Might confirms they’re all there, he notices Izuku’s headpieces, which are a match to his costume, and has to turn to muffle a laugh for how obvious a reference it is. Tenya steps up, asking whether they’ll be doing cityscape maneuvers again since it’s the same field used in the entrance exam. Izuku thinks to himself how cool Tenya’s costume is, while All Might explains that they’re moving onto step two - indoor anti-personnel battle training!

He explains what while villain battles are most commonly seen outdoors, statistically the worst crimes and villains are more likely to be found indoors. Confinement, house arrest, black market deals… the clever villains luck indoors to avoid heroes. Which is why the class will be split into teams of two and pit against each other, heroes versus villains style!

Ah, Tsuyu. Calling him right the heck out, as expected. All Might then notes that in this scenario, the fight won’t be against disposable robots.

This entire page is just fucking hilarious. The class and all their questions while All Might is shaking with nerves. The fucking cheat sheet he uses to try to get back on track. Him being questioned on the lot drawing, and shaking while Izuku accidentally ends up covering for him. I just. All Might was not prepared for this mess and it shows. He was doing so much better when it was the one on one stuff with Izuku.

But yeah, Izuku notes the scenario is like from a western comic plot, and he’s also the one who ‘realizes’ the lots are like when heroes from different agencies have to team up for emergencies without prior warning.

Lots are drawn, and we have our teams:

Izuku’s so stressed out because he still can’t really talk to her, while she’s excited to be teamed up and calls it ‘fate’ that it happened. All Might draws the first two teams to participate, and… team Izuku and Ochako (as the heroes) versus team Katsuki and Tenya (as the villains). Both Izuku and Katsuki are alert from this development…

Which makes this a good point to cut off, since it’s halfway through and we got a lot of information to chew on already. Second part should be out this weekend (hopefully).

#chapter 8 #readthrough #opening arcs #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #midoriya izuku #uraraka ochako #iida tenya #yagi toshinori #bakugou katsuki #midoriya inko #class 1a #izuku's first costume was fucking hideous #thank god hori / the support company improved on it afterwards #also shouto #i don't even need to say anything when the fandom has made fun of your for me #also i cannot BELIEVE we were robbed of this momo costume #what the FUCK hori

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ubcs-dump · 4 years

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People will hate me for this but

I do NOT like some of the character designs in the RE3 Remake. Call me a nostalgic baby but I absolutely love most designs from the original RE3. I grew up with these characters. They hold an extremely special place in my heart, ESPECIALLY Mikhail. But before I lose myself and talk myself into a mess, let me just rate every chacter’s design to get a bit more of a structure into this (DISCLAMER, I WILL BE EXTREMELY HONEST WITH MY OPINION, AND I AM NOT SAYING YOU SUCK FOR LIKING THESE DESIGNS, I’M GLAD YOU CAN ENJOY IT BUT I JUST CAN’T):

JILL VALENTINE

So. I‘m actually okay with that design. I like the changes they did to her outfit, this makes a lot more sense than her running around like the zombie apocalypse caught her off guard while clubbing. Her face did change quite a bit and I am still not sure if I like it or not. Tl;dr I’m fine with the design in general.

CARLOS OLIVEIRA

Okay now THIS ONE. THIS ONE actually physically hurts me. While they at least tried to stick close to the original design with Jill, Carlos took a whole 180 turn. First of all, does Capcom even know what a 21 year old looks like? This dude looks like he is in his late 20s. But age aside, what have they done to his design in general? Nothing about him says “Carlos Oliveira” to me. He might as well be some random OC they picked out from the internet. Something I absolutely love about the original Carlos are his hair and his skin tone. He is a POC but I can’t see any of that in this design (ORC white-washed him too and I was furious about that as well). Speaking of which, why is Carlos a character that gets extremely redesigned in every single game? I showed this model to multiple people and when I said “This is Carlos Oliveira” they all thought I was joking. Tl;dr Not fond of this at all. I want my cute jokester Carlos back. And No, his “pre-order classic design” is not classic at all. He looks weird in that too. (Also what’s with the extreme redesign of the UBCS outfit?)

NIKOLAI ZINOVIEV

It’s interesting how while Carlos designs seem to get worse, Nikolai is either improved or stays pretty much the same. I absolutely loved his design in ORC. That scar and his constant down-looking gaze, not to mention that sexy voice (remember, this is my opinion only). I really really wished they would have used his ORC design and just changed it up a bit to fit the better graphics. In this he just looks like my dad but with grey hair and lighter skin. Also they didn’t bring back the “Mikhail and Nikolai were supposed to be brothers” thing which would have been awesome but this is Capcom and we can’t have nice things. Tl;dr It’s okay but could have been way better. (New UBCS design still sucks)

MIKHAIL VICTOR

*Deep inhale* *Deep exhale* Why? Why does he look like Bill from Left 4 Dead? I’m not joking, look at them side by side. They look like twins. This is the model that made me break down in tears, I am not joking. Mikhail has always been my favorite character, he had a much bigger impact on my life than you might think. He is not just the name giver for my pen name (Uby Victor) but he has been a sort of mascot for my DeviantArt and YouTube accounts as well. You could say the original Mikhail is my role model. And then I saw this and absolutely lost it. Nothing about this looks or sounds like Mikhail. In the original he was so wounded he couldn’t even talk properly from the pain, which made him even more badass when he actually managed to get up and fight back with all he got left. But here is just hanging around with surfer boy-Carlos and Jill like it’s nothing. Just sitting there, calmly talking about what happened. In the original he is supposed to be one of the reasons the characters wanted to hurry up and get out of town as much as possible, because he is on the verge of pretty much dying. I could probably rant for way longer than this because I am absolutely livid they changed him so extremely but I don’t want to write too much. Tl;dr I absolutely hate this model and will stick with the original because that is the character I love and look up to.

MURPHY SEEKER

You know, I am actually fine with this model. He looks almost exactly like how I imagined him look like. I’d probably give him a tuft of hair sticking out of the hat because his forehead looks massive. Plus change the outfit to the old UBCS gear, FOR ALL OF THEM! But other than that he looks cute. (Although why is it Jill who finds him? It had a much bigger impact when Carlos had to kill him because they were best friends and that helped develop Carlos as a character). Tl;dr I like it. I would want to be friends with him.

TYRELL PATRICK

I’m pretty indifferent about this. I admit that Tyrells old model was very offensive (what with the big lips and such). This model I don’t really mind but since we only see it in the dark, I can’t yet give a full opinion on it. At least they let him keep his glasses and did not white-wash him or anything. But still, that new UBCS ouftit, I do not like. Why are he and Carlos together though? Aren’t they supposed to be in totally different platoons (plus Tyrell is a monitor)? Tl;dr it’s okay I suppose but I can’t give my full opinion because I can barely see him.

BRAD VICKERS

Hmmmmmmmm. Brad, oh Brad, what am I supposed to say about you. He used to be my second favorite character and I remember writing fanfiction about him and my RE OC almost 10 years ago. They kept his original outfit, which I am very thankful for. He also seems to be more involved in the story and that is great imo. But something just seems off with his face. In the original he looked pale as if he was in a constant 24/7 panic attack (which suits his character and is pretty relateable I might add) but in here something just seems... off? I don’t know if it’s the shape of his face or the fact he seemed to have gained a bit of weight (which is NOT A BAD THING, don’t get me wrong!) but I don’t really know if I like it or not. Tl;dr I take it I guess.

NEMESIS

I gotta admit, when I saw that nose I started laughing out loud. It just looks goofy to me. And those teeth man. Nemmy, who’s your dentist at Umbrella? I guess it’s no surprised I prefer the original by a long shot. The old Nemesis on the box art was so scary to me as a kid, I had to hide it in the far far end of my family’s game shelve because I was too creeped out to even look at him with his sharp teeth, noseless face and dead but intimidating eye glaring at me. This new one is certainly creepy to some extent but the OG is way better in my opinion. Tl;dr not my thing. Also what’s with those pipes? Are they trying to fight the tentacle-lovers side of the internet and prevent them from using Nemesis any longer?

BONUS

Capcom, stop trying to modernize this game, especially in regards to the UBCS outfit and the weapons they carry. RE3 is supposed to take place in 1999. You don’t have to make it look like some futuristic zombie apocalypse to draw in people. That also goes for the cable car, oh sorry, SUBWAY as it is in this game. What’s wrong with the cable car? Yeah sure it’s pretty outdated by todays standpoint but, again RE3 TAKES PLACE IN 1999 when cable cars were common! Just making the original again but with much much better graphics and the new controls would have been enough already in my opinion.

Anyways, these are my opinions on the RE3 REMAKE so far. Thanks for reading and remember, these are my opinions. If you don’t agree with me, that’s totally fine!

Special thanks to @therealorigonalguppieniwa and @ubcsmercenary for pointing stuff out for me and discussing my opinions with me.

#Resident Evil #Resident evil 3 #Resident evil 3 remake #jill valentine #carlos oliveira #Nikolai zinoviev #Mikhail victor #Murphy seeker #tyrell patrick #brad vickers #nemesis #long post #ubyspeaks

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wicoppi · 6 years

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Villain | Hero in Pursuit | Hero Pursued

I got this ask when s6 aired and gave an abbreviated response because I had way too much irl stuff going on at the time. But that didn’t stop it from haunting me- there’s a lot to unpack and really it could be answered in a large series. I marked it to follow up on, and so here I am, up two whole brain cells, a bottle of tequila, and an ill advised deal with a devil later... following up on it.

Anonymous asked: Just a thought... something I think we can only say after [season 6]: so S1-2 the villain was Zarkon, and the arc sorta ended up being Zarkon v Shiro. Then 3-6 would be Lotor, so Lotor v Keith. I guess it makes sense to think now that the next arc would feature Haggar v Allura? Also I was thinking there's some space there for Sendak v Shiro too. Thoughts?

Voltron: Legendary Defender is easily divided into (3) 26-episode acts, and each act is marked by several storyline transitions, perhaps the most noticeable being the changing of primary antagonists. As pointed out, each villain has been pitted against specific persons on our hero team, but this show has more complexity than a simple 1-for-1 opposition can provide. In VLD, each villain is matched with (2) heroes- one hero who leads the charge and actively pursues the villain, and one hero who is being pursued by the villain as a means to an end.

In Act 1, Zarkon spent his efforts and resources pursuing Shiro and the Black Lion, but Allura led the charge against him. She called the team to action, trained and prepared them, and determined what the paladins knew of Voltron prior to entering the fight. Allura set the team’s initial overall goals and established the idea seen throughout s1+2 that “defeating Zarkon” equaled “winning the war.”

In Act 2, Lotor was introduced as the main villain and new leader of the Galra Empire, during which Keith led the obsessive pursuit against him. But after Lotor’s adversity to Zarkon became known, he gained audience with Team Voltron and began winning their favor primarily by pursuing Allura. In conversations, he most often addressed her rather than the group, speaking to her of Altea. Of transforming the Galra Empire, healing and saving the universe. Of rebuilding the coalition her father started. Not to say Lotor was disingenuous in all of this, but he pointedly sought Allura’s favor using terms he knew she understood and identified with in order to sway Voltron to his side. And it’s only when Keith returned at the close of Act 2 with hard evidence of Lotor’s wrong doings (against Alteans) that his spell was broken.

And in Act 3, Honerva has been set up as the main antagonist; so following this trend we may expect Keith to be the hero pursued and Shiro the hero pursuing.

Of course, this isn’t likely to play out how we’ve come to expect, particularly given the first half of Act 3 featured Sendak. While he certainly fits into the villain category and was a centerpiece of s7 in a way which pushed him past the combination secondary and arc villain he’d previously been, it’s important to remember Sendak was first introduced as Zarkon’s agent and later reintroduced as Haggar’s puppet. It’s important to remember Honerva plays both direct and indirect games.

Hero pursued- Keith has been on the edge of Honerva’s storyline since s1 when he fought one of her druids, Macidus. Later in s2 he battled more of her followers alongside Thace, and in s4 he was going to destroy her ship’s shield during the battle for Naxzela. And as of s6 Honerva has started returning Keith’s phone calls. First and most significantly by sending clone!Shiro to finish him, but also in 07.05 The Ruins with Macidus’s return.

Granted most of these are not considered direct plays, but Honerva typically operates from a distance, setting pieces into motion in ways which make her hard to track. Additionally, Honerva now knows a great deal about Team Voltron and their interpersonal dynamics in a way which she has, and undoubtedly will again, manipulate.

Hero pursuing- Keith and Honerva’s dynamics are subtle, but hers with Shiro are not. We could argue Honerva has been the real villain all along, that Zarkon was a red herring, that Lotor was / is not in opposition to the team, that Sendak was just a distraction. And Shiro has been tied in with her every step along the way.

When first abducted by the Empire, Shiro was interrogated by Haggar’s druids. She took his arm, outfitted him with his first prosthetic, and credited herself his fighting prowess in the arena. After Shiro’s escape and Voltron’s return, the first robeast she sends to fight them is one whose defeat earned Shiro his title as Champion. And the first time we see Haggar fight someone head-on, she’s fighting Shiro.

She has manipulated, battered, and used him, going so far as to make him the center of her slow burn take down of his team. But in s6, we follow Honerva’s trek through Oriande through clone!Shiro, implying their connection, their power struggle, is mutual. That Shiro is capable of returning what Honerva deals out.

This is not to say the rest of the team won’t be involved in Honerva’s undoing. Just as Keith had a hand in Zarkon’s arc and Shiro in Lotor’s, Allura will be a big part of Honerva’s arc. Which is critical because Allura is the only one to have caught Honerva with her pants down,, way back in s2’s finale. That’s not to be forgotten or taken lightly- it’s seen with Shiro, Lotor, and a myriad of others, people do not win against Honerva, they only ever lose badly or come to a draw. But Allura, prior to the majority of her character development, went toe-to-toe with the witch and won.

It’s going to take more than a single hero can do to save the universe. It’s going to take Keith’s instincts, Allura’s alchemical abilities, Lance’s perceptiveness, Hunk’s compassion and clarity, Pidge’s intellect. It’s going to take Shiro’s ability to unify and inspire.

VLD is about teamwork, not one person saving the day. Shiro has many strengths- as a fighter, a leader, a survivor, a diplomat, and a strategist. But he cannot win this alone. He came into this story a formed young adult, already having undergone great struggles and personal discoveries, already having achieved greatness. His development was never going to manifest like the rest of the team who were inexperienced and have made obvious leaps and bounds.

His development has been subtle- Shiro’s greatest asset, his ability to bring people together, has been inhibited by his inability to rely on them. It’s seen with Adam and in parts with how he related to his team, Shiro put ‘the mission’ before relationships and was always prepared to rely only on himself. His need to maintain control and his instinct to shoulder burdens alone weighed him down.

Which is why Keith saving Shiro, in s7 and across the whole show, is so important- it’s how Shiro has grown. Theirs is one of Shiro’s few relationships we see which pre-dates Kerberos, and it has not only survived, but has thrived. At the onset, Shiro poured a great deal into connecting with Keith for the express purpose of helping Keith, not himself. Shiro expected to gain nothing from this, and yet Shiro is alive because of this bond. Shiro is stronger because he made and fostered a connection with someone who repeatedly and unfailingly covers him when he falters.

Shiro is stronger for relying on his team. The team is stronger for having endured together. Voltron is stronger for it all.

This pursuer / pursued arc has been repeated a few times now, and with each new twist in villainy Team Voltron has come closer and closer to working as a unit, as a team. And Sendak’s defeat, their victory for Earth, represents a significant shift in the narrative, because this is the first time this group worked clearly and cohesively together across a long, large-scale battle. And this is due considerably to Shiro’s growth into someone who can not only unify, but can rely on his team.

When Shiro faced Sendak in s1 they fought to a draw. But Sendak came out on top because his team was there to intervene and forced Shiro to yield. Shiro was strong, but alone. Later Shiro tried to interrogate Sendak (again alone) and was shaken to his core which caused him to falter and left viewers with the sense Shiro has inner demons to overcome.

Because that’s how this trope is supposed to work- The hero fails the first time they face their big bad, spends the majority of their story growing, facing smaller enemies, working themselves back up to the big boss fight. And that’s what happened with Sendak- nevermind Honerva is actually Shiro’s big boss fight

Shiro and Sendak’s fight in s7 is a mirror parallel of their first fight. Seasons later the pair are still evenly matched, but this time Shiro’s team is unified and Sendak is alone. Where he discarded his team, literally used them as cannon fodder, Shiro built rapport with his, protected them and trusted them to play their roles.

Keith delivering the final blow against Sendak was not him stealing Shiro’s hero moment.

Keith delivering the final blow against Sendak displayed Shiro’s growth into someone who unifies and relies on his teammates.

Keith delivering the final blow against Sendak underlined, bolded, italicized, and highlighted THE IMPORTANCE OF TRUST AND TEAMWORK.

The point is that teammates, friendships, close relationships, are to be fostered. Are to be protected. Are to be valued. Loyalty is strength. The point is it’s important to have people you can trust to fill in and cover where you cannot. Because that is how they are going to save the universe.

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lfthinkerwrites · 5 years

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Riddle of the Minotaur 2: Daniel Mockridge Sucks

Title: Tales from Gotham Academy

Previous chapters: 1/2

Summary: A week before the trip, the kids compare notes, and plots begin to form. Oh boy.

"Attention, students of Gotham Academy. This is Principal Hugo Strange. As a reminder to our Freshman class, all signed permission slips for the Field Trip next Friday must be turned in to either Ms. Kringle or to your homeroom teacher by the end of the day today. The slips will be carefully checked for forgeries, and any and all forgers will be severely punished. This very much includes you, Mr. Todd. That is all."

At his friend's and sibling's usual lunch table, Jason looked at the nearest loudspeaker and flipped it off with both fingers. "Fuck you too, Strange."

"You know he can't hear you," Tim pointed out, not looking up from his phone.

"It's the principal of the matter, Timbo," Jason drawled, turning his attention back to his ham sandwich, and to his best friend Roy, who was sitting beside him. "I can't believe we're stuck with Coach Numbnuts all day next Friday."

"It's not just us, Jay," Roy said. "Machin's gonna be with us in detention too. He got caught giving out free copies of The Communist Manifesto to some freshman and their folks complained."

Jason groaned. "God damn it. That's just what we need. A day with Bolton and Lonnie. Maybe we'll get lucky and they'll kill each other."

Across the table, Barbara rolled her eyes. "You know how lucky you two are that you're just in detention the rest of the school year. You were this close to getting expelled for that stunt you pulled with al Ghul's car."

Jason just laughed. "Good times. Good times." He finished off the last of his sandwich. "Still, I'd almost rather be on the trip. You looking forward to it, Timbo?"

Tim looked up from his phone and shrugged. "Not really, but at least Kerr's not around to make it even worse."

Dick piped up from Tim's left. "He wasn't on the trip mine and Barbara's freshman year, and that still sucked."

"That was a camping trip, wasn't it?" Stephanie asked from Tim's right. "And you got to be gone all weekend?"

Barbara sighed. "We were supposed to be, then on the first night, Professor Crane thought it would be a good idea to tell us a scary story about the Wendigo. Then someone started a rumor that he actually was a Wendigo, and a couple of kids chased him across the campgrounds and up a tree." She shook her head. "We were on the buses back home the next morning, and all trips lasting longer than ten hours were banned."

Duke shook his head. “Man and I thought seeing Kerr in a thong last year was bad.” The kids at the table shuddered, with the exceptions of Cassandra, who wasn’t easily bothered, and Ellen and Duela, who were distracted by Ellen’s furious sketching.

Jason finally looked down the table at the pair. “You two have been quiet. What are you working on? Another issue of Beautiful Captain Zodiac Sparkles?”

“No,” Ellen said venomously. She put her pen down and passed her sketch to Duela, who passed it to Cassandra, who passed it to Roy, who passed it to Jason. He put the paper down and inspected it. It was a drawing of a guy in a business suit, with slicked back black hair and a thin mustache that screamed: “I’m a corporate douchebag, please punch me in the face!” He was complimented with devil horns and a bolt of lightning about to strike

Jason cocked his head. "Who's this guy?"

"Daniel Mockridge," Ellen said. Jason was almost taken aback at how angry the little freshman looked. "He used to be my Dad's boss until he fired him, the fucking asshole!"

"Whoa, Ellie, language," Dick chided.

Tim suddenly looked up from his phone, his eyes wide. "Wait. Daniel Mockridge? The CEO of Competitron? That Daniel Mockridge? Your Dad used to work for him?"

"Yeah," Ellen answered, her anger replaced with confusion. "Dad used to be a game developer for them."

Tim's jaw dropped. "No way. Did he work on the original 'Riddle of the Minotaur'?"

"Yeah, he created it, but he didn't get any credit or money for it, 'cause Daniel Mockridge is a piece of shit!" Duela put her hand on Ellen's shoulder to comfort her friend.

Tim, on the other hand, looked like he'd had his mind blown. "Wow. Ellen, you realize that your Dad is a hero to the puzzle gaming community, right?"

"That may be the dorkiest thing I've ever heard you say, Timbo," Jason laughed.

Ellen groaned. "Oh, I knew I shouldn't have told you. Please, don't ask my Dad about it. He doesn't like to talk about working there after what Mockridge did to him."

Tim reluctantly nodded. "I won't say a word, I promise." His own face darkened a bit. "I'd love to hear what he thinks about Riddle of the Minotaur 2, though."

Dick and Jason let out a groan, and even Cassandra shuddered a bit. "Not again, Tim," she said. "I don't think I can listen to another three-hour rant about how bad Riddle of the Minotaur 2 is."

Tim however, would not be denied his rant. "$60 to pre-order the game, and then when it's released, it's so buggy it's unplayable!" He pulled up his internet browser on his phone. "Look, this guy uploaded a video after launch just to document how many bugs he found!"

Duke looked over Tim's shoulder to look at the phone. "Dude, that video's over four hours long!"

"Yeah! And this was just after launch! He released an update video last week and it's over six hours long! And then's there are all the microtransactions! You have to pay $80 to get the skin of the player character from the first game or grind for over 500 hours in a game where you get attacked by invisible enemies or the server randomly crashes! Why do you even have to play online!? It's a single player game!"

Stephanie turned wide-eyed to Cassandra, Dick, Barbara, and Jason. "Does he always get this worked up over video games?"

"Just that one," Cassandra said. "It got so bad Alfred had to ban him from the internet for three weeks last year."

Duela raised an eyebrow. "Alfred banned him? Not Bruce? Isn't Bruce your Dad?"

"Yeah, but Alfred's the boss," Jason said. He reached across the table to tap Tim on the nose. "Settle down, sport. You're scaring the children."

Tim swat at Jason's hand. "Jason, don't touch my face!" He took a deep breath, then put his phone back down. "But fine, I'll stop. Still. Daniel Mockridge must be the worst CEO of a gaming company alive."

"Of course he is," Ellen huffed. "He fired my Dad! And even when Dad still worked there, Mockridge treated him like shit! One time when I was in second grade, my Mom took me over to Dad's office to visit him. Mockridge was there, insulting my Dad's outfit! And then he hit on Mom right in front of him! I mean, they weren't together anymore, but still! Who does that?"

"I think we can all agree that this Mockridge guy is a jerk," Barbara said. "What I'm curious about is why he's coming up now."

Ellen crossed her arms. "Competitron owns the theme park we're going to next week. I heard Dad talking with Penny and Uncle Jon about it the other night. He thinks Mockridge is gonna be at the park." Her eyes narrowed. "If that jerk tries anything with my Dad, I'll beat his ass!"

"Ellen, in the first place, you don't know that Mockridge is going to be there. In the second, there is no way you're going to get away with beating up the CEO of a major corporation, even if he is a jerk," Barbara said.

"Barbara's right," Duela said. "If we want to get back at Mockridge, we're going to have to be a little more creative."

Now Barbara narrowed her eyes. "Not even remotely what I meant, Duela."

Dick raised his hands. "Hey, whatever you get up to, leave us out of it. Barbara and I are going to the beach next Friday."

"And Roy and I will be stuck with Coach Numbnuts," Jason moped.

"It's alright, Jay," Roy said. "I've already got some ideas on how to make our time with him and Lonnie very special." He and Jason then began to cackle.

Barbara rolled her eyes. Stephanie gave a worried look at Duke and Cassandra. "You two think you'll be able to manage being on campus with these two next week?"

Cassandra merely shrugged, while Duke gulped. "That's a loaded question Steph. You think you'll be OK on the trip?" He gestured to Ellen and Duela, who were whispering something to each other.

Stephanie bit her lip. "I'll manage."

Barbara sniffed. "I am so glad I'm graduating in three weeks."

#high school teacher au #the batbros #the batgirls #the kiddos

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kendrixtermina · 5 years

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Diamond Fusions Headcannons

First there’s the question of whether they ever fused at all in the past, since they only do it for fighting on homeworld, and the Diamonds would probably have been considered too powerful to “need” it

If that is the case, and the others eventually become cool with it in the present day (which might take until Steven reaches adulthood), they will probably really come to regret that they never fused with Pink while she was still alive and that they basically have only their own attitudes to blame for it.

Then again though the chances are low it’s not wholly impossible since they’re all the same gem type. Perhaps in the context of combat training (in which case there might be a situation where Steven asks them what their fusions are like, personality wise, which they probably never considered)

Which is in itself an interesting question - were they ever taught to fight?

One the one hand they would probably have been considered way too important to get on the front lines and have legions of soldiers to do the fighting for them - on the other hand they’re expected to have and project power

They DO seem to make the choice to toast the rebels themselves when they land on Earth without much of an entourage since they’re only expecting a small remnant force and have a personal vengeance thing going on. Same thing when all three of them blasted the earth.

When Blue and Yellow got into a fight with the CGs, you get a sense that while they’re equal in durability and raw power, Yellow has a lot more actual combat experience. They don’t land any actual damage on Blue apart from messing up her hairdo, but they did briefly have her somewhat cornered, you get the sense that she’s mostly used to just disciplining her underlings and that her lasers and pathokinetic aura usually do the trick there; Meanwhile Yellow punches her way out of the ship with her bare hands and proceeds to knock off half the opposition within the first minute. It’s amazing that our heroes were able to hold out as long as they did, but there’s a strong implication that they would have been toast if it weren’t for Steven’s intervention.

And of course it makes sense given that Yellow seems to be in charge of the conquering and has been for tens of thousands of years, you bet there were a few times were she would have been forced to defend herself, or at least want to be ready for it in case.

As for White, I wouldn’t peg her too far above Blue’s level in terms of skill, she has the (thought/motion controlled) mecha pull off a couple fancy kicks so she’s probably not doing it the first time, but they get her with relative ease once they form obsidian. Granted, she was probably fairly confident that they weren’t an actual threat since she could always just mind control them.

Did they have some attendants doing that, or did White teach them herself? I suppose by the time Pink came around, she would’ve left it to Yellow and Blue to prepare her. And, if fight training was a thing, that would come with the painfully ironic implication that Pink used everything they taught her against them once she rebelled.

So, back to fusions.

General Thoughts

I think that Blue and Yellow could already do it if they wished to, not so sure with the rest - but in any case I don’t expect any of them to hold much better than early-series Opal (perhaps slightly better than that for Yellow and Blue) because for all that they do care about each other they’re a dysfunctional bunch and have very different approaches to things.

Any fusions involving Steven would hold slightly better because he’s just good at it. One wonders who’d fuse with him first, Blue or Yellow. He generally tends to get along best with Blue (She’s usually the one carrying him around, the first he wins over and the first with whom he tries to talk about his own life in ways unrelated to accomplishing his mission) but she’s a lot more squeamish and proper and seemed akinda repulsed by the whole fusion thing, like there’s a long way between decriminalizing it and being willing to do try it. - Out of the three Yellow seems to be the most no-nonsense, experimental one,judging by the peace sign and so on.

A lot of ppl draw the fusions with extra eyes etc which would follow the general logic of having ppl with diferences in their pvs have four eyes etc. but then again they’re the same gem type so they might just come out larger but humanoid. Do the various Diamonds ‘count’ as different enough? I guess we won’t know unless we see it. though I think even the crew decides this more based on what looks the coolest.

If their markings around the eyes don’t combine somehow in a cool fashion, what is even the point.

Also, remember in the early seasons where Pearl and Amethyst would tend to clash with Sugilite and Sardonyx respectively, and be lowkey intimidated by them and both kinda provided an insight in how Pearl and Amethyst would act if they were more confident and/or in charge?

Pretty sure that at least early on or pre-Steven, the same would be going on whenever White fused with one of the younger Diamonds. (if not more so - while Garnet just happened to be the most powerful one, was upset when that got in the way of her friendships and is self-aware about her limitations, White is legit terrifying. Even when Steven wins her over she just goes straight to “creepy cute”, she doesn’t know how not to be. ) So basically Blue and Pink would be fundamentally creeped out by White’s and Yellow’s fusion, and likewise Yellow and Pink would like not to have to deal with White’s and Blue’s fusion.

White alone is at least “polite crazy” and prefers to leave the threats implied and “break them by talking” if she can, but a fusion with Blue or Yellow in the mix wouldn’t be nearly as distant so the crazy would be closer to the surface - besides you’d probably see more of Blue, Yellow and Pink’s negative traits manifested with less of the positive ones present because, after all, White is the one who brought them up to be villains rather than heroes.

This could probably be softened with some character development once White actually gets to a point where the other two can trust her again and not be on edge around her, and at that point she’d perhaps be adding something more like a playful whimsy and a bit more animated surface-level expressiveness than Blue and Yellow have on their own.

Individual Fusions

Yellow and Blue: I quite like that idea someone put forth that they might have an edgy mid 2000s goth thing going on - (in canonland a lot of the fusions have a ‘theme’) but if they go for ‘elegant’ instead it would probably be in more a modern-artsy than a fantasyesque way. One wonders how the round vs blocky shapes would be blended like it would have to be a midways point between them but also not look too much like White. (who might be a bit miffed if this fusion winds up taller than her)

With these two there’s some potential that they might complement each other in a positive way and sort of balance out some of their shortcomings like they would patient like Blue but responsible like Yellow, but still probably rather intense as both of them are in their own ways like the fusion would probably embody the sides of them that they show when they’re in private together without either of their facades, but also their dynamic of supporting each other through adversity, so they would probably be someone you can count on despite their sour demeanor.

White and Yellow: Cersei-Lannister esque metal dress. Hair is basically like White’s but shorter and spikier so it resembles are crown more than a star. All of Yellow’s pragmatic utilitarianism and harshness but not much of her consideration. As unreadable of White but with a hard frown instead of a smile. Big operatic voice.

White and Blue: Maximum Winter Witch aesthetic. Or possibly “The Fair Folk” instead. Probably rather introverted and somewhat apathetic but capricious if angered and relatively eerie/inhuman looking.

White and Pink: There’s just no way this wouldn’t end in a Sugilite or Malachite level debacle, there’s just way too many knots in that particular relationship. Might not even get her own voice. If this ever happened, they tried once or twice, it went south, and Pink got all the blame. Would hold together well enough but not in a good way. Looks and personality wise, the fusion would probably be like the ultimate bratty gremlin.

White and Steven: probably also gremlin-like but in a positive, playful fashion. I don’t think the outfit would be much less frilly, if anything you’d probably see a lot of Steven’s “fabulous” side surfacing here. Perhaps a doll-like theme?

Blue and Pink: Adorable as fuck and probably somewhat dreamy. Somewhere between princess classic and alice in wonderland. Probably holds harmonously enough while they’re doing Shenanigans, but prone to unfusing quite abruptly and inelegantly whenever Pink chooses to do something that would not jive with Blue “proper” sensibilities. (”Why don’t we sneak out of the arena like this-” “PIIINK”)

Blue and Steven: At this point so much character developement would need to have happened that it’s hard to guess where things might go. I mean could you picture Blue in pants? Would be nothing like the 1.0 version apart from the color sheme, probably on the sweet and reserved side and would reflect Steven’s influence a lot. Maybe they would have an “eerie psychic child” thing going on? Like if you put Blue and Steven together the result would probably have rather strong but somewhat volatile psychic abilities that would, to them, feel sigificantly different from their usual ones.

Yellow and Pink: Drawing a bit of a blank here since their aesthetics and approaches to things are so different. I guess you could say (and that correlates with other orange or red gems we have seen) that they would be somewhat fierce and impassioned, but I think they too might get some complementarity going on, if the result was more focussed than pink but not as uptight as yellow.

Yellow and Steven: Hm. Perhaps this would look like something out of a sci-fi comic/ video game, since Steven has a bit of a taste for that. He’s never really done serious except in momentary, over-the-top lapses so heaven knows what style of speaking that fusion would end up with. That said though it’s subtle Yellow is the one out of the bunch who does have a sorta funny, dorky side to her somewhere, and another commonality is that Yellow sure tends to look out for those around her (though not so much those outside her inner circle) - Like perhaps you’d get some of that, but their way of going about things would include some of Yellow’s more pragmatic approach.

#steven universe #diamond authority #yellow diamond #white diamond #blue diamond #pink Diamond

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itsclydebitches · 5 years

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RWBY Recaps: Vol. 5 "Lighting the Fire"

This is a re-posting from Nov. 4th, 2017 in an effort to get all my recaps fully on tumblr. Thanks!

I would like to begin this review by extending a heartfelt apology to Yang Xiao Long. I should have never doubted her.

A few posts ago I mentioned how surprised I was that Yang would choose her Mom over Ruby, especially given her character short on top of an already single-minded personality. If there’s one thing that can be truly said to define Yang, it’s the love and protective streak she has for her sister. So I was thrilled at the reveal that this whole trip was essentially a strategic smokescreen. As Yang puts it bluntly: “I’m not here for you.” She’s always been heading towards Ruby. The only reason Yang is making this emotional pit-stop is because Raven can save her time.

We’ve known since the train that Raven can open portals, but until now it’s been up in the air whether that’s her semblance, something extra (like Qrow’s morphing ability), something that was bestowed on her, etc. Well, it turns out that first time’s the charm. Raven’s semblance allows her to bond to certain people—Yang, Tai, and Qrow—and form portals to their immediate location. Pretty nifty when you think about it, especially since Yang knows Qrow will have found Ruby by now. If she gets to Qrow, she gets to her sis. Except for the fact that Qrow is off looking for more huntsmen. Potential problem?) Still it’s a wonderful twist, especially since RWBY already has enough character arcs about kids trying to reconcile with their abusers. Given Yang’s headstrong nature, it just didn’t feel right for her to try and bond with a long-absent mom. Demand a favor though because “nothing is going to keep me from my sister”? Yeah. That’s Yang.

Not to say she hasn’t changed, of course. Though many are still uncomfortable with the way her PTSD is being written, I’m glad to see that this persistent shaking remains. Obviously not glad in the sense of, “Yay kids suffering!” but glad that we’re given acknowledgment that trauma has lasting effects and Yang will need to continue to work at her new life and against her new fears—things aren’t solved through one good crying session. We get to see her in a real fight for the first time since Beacon and, as many guessed, her new arm is outfitted with a gun to balance out the other half of Ember Celica, doubling as a decent shield in a pinch. It’s also notable that Yang’s style has changed a bit. Her movements are more controlled; graceful even, more like Weiss’ (and isn’t that something given the end of the episode). In short, Yang’s hand-to-hand has become more measured, as opposed to the ‘charge and hit as hard as you can’ technique that we saw pre-Volume 3. It makes sense, given that the last time Yang rushed in without thoroughly evaluating her opponent she lost that arm. Even her conversation is a little cooler. “Good to know, thanks.” This is a Yang that retains her confidence, but with less of the arrogant taunts. She’s growing up and though much of that growth stems from trauma, it’s still lovely to see.

Back in Haven training has begun. Ruby is… really not good at hand-to-hand. But she’s improving! This whole sequence is a study in excellent facial expressions, as two kids—both of whom are uncomfortable with this situation—attempt to beat each other up the old-fashioned way. The animation moves smoothly from comic fear to stubborn determination. Oscar actually manages to land a punch that knocks Ruby down and I laughed aloud at his frantic apology. He shouldn’t have lost focus. Ruby comes back with a swing of her own seconds later.

However, as usual there are significant details paired alongside these humorous scenes. After Oscar takes his hit Ozpin asks, “Mind if I give it a shot?” and immediately takes control. This is interesting, given that just last episode (only a day earlier?) Oscar had to focus and deliberately give up control to Ozpin. It took time. Now we don’t even get to see whether Oscar agrees to the switch—Ozpin is already there.

Now yes, they’re eventually meant to merge into one person, or at least share this body in a way reminiscent of that. That’s presumably the end goal (unless Shannon McCormick’s recent comments hint at something we don’t know yet). However, the fact that we see Ozpin’s power over Oscar in the same episode that Raven drops her cryptic comments brings back the theory that Ozpin isn’t quite as benevolent as we’d like to believe. The only true evidence for that (given his actual kind nature and the fact that Raven herself definitely can’t be trusted) is because that’s just how these stories go. Oh, I have no doubt that he’s doing things for “the right reasons,” but like Dumbledore and Gandalf before him, Ozpin’s quest to do what’s right for the world no doubt involves a great deal of sacrifice, complicating the morality there. If Raven considers Ruby a “lost cause” for so much as associating with Ozpin, that’s a pretty heavy implication--if we choose to believe her--that anyone near him will get chewed up and spit out by this war, regardless of what Ozpin might do to try and stop it. AKA, Pyrrha. Casualties are inevitable. (In fact, there’s a lot of potential similarities here between the corners Ozpin is backed into and Qrow’s semblance. For both, everyone around them suffers, regardless of intent). Ozpin’s screen-time this season has been just a little too lighthearted and his persona just a little too grandfatherly. I’m waiting for when these complications come back up and bite everyone on the ass, reminding them that they’re in the middle of a war.

Anyone who spends five minutes with me in the RWBY fandom knows that Ozpin is my favorite and I’d like nothing more than for him to remain the wise, kindly headmaster figure indefinitely. I want him alongside Team RWBY to the very end. However, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Raven drops some very uncomfortable information about him next episode, the “truth” that she insists Yang and Weiss don’t know about yet. She could be referring to Ozpin’s cursed nature, but Raven has already admitted that she was once in his employ and can clearly never go back to that, so I suspect there’s far more to her discomfort than just a little reincarnation. Whether we believe her—whether that will be enough to turn the audience against Ozpin even more than they already are, especially when it’s coming from someone like Raven—we’ll have to wait and see. And no doubt all of this will tie back to Raven’s work in securing the Spring Maiden.

The implications of all this are still at least a week off though. For now the training session remains as happy as possible when you’re preparing to take down your world’s embodiment of evil. Ren has a lovely moment where he explains various theories on semblances: how they might be a reflection of your personality, or vice versa, or have no true connection to who you are at all. So basically... semblances could be anything. The magic structure keeps getting flimsier as time goes on. Regardless, Ruby confirms a long-held belief that her semblance came out during training one day (with Qrow?) and Nora was… struck by lightning. And survived. Good god this girl’s life is horrifying.

The big question then is: What is Jaune’s semblance? And what is Oscar’s? It honestly never occurred to me that he’d have a semblance of his own to unlock, rather than just inheriting something from Ozpin. In fact, what’s Ozpin’s semblance? Does he still have one? Or was it lost long ago after his first merge? I'd like to think that he has at least two at all times: his original semblance (or magic, perhaps) and whatever his host is capable of. I'd actually be interested in seeing an Ozpin who retains the semblances of every person he's merged with, but given that Cinder managed to kill him, I doubt we'll be seeing that kind of power. I suppose time manipulation is still a possibility given how that fight was animated, but again, I think we’d have already heard about such a powerful ability if that card was on the table. It's certainly not the curse itself… that was forced onto Ozpin by the Gods. So maybe—just maybe—Volume 5 will give us three semblance reveals instead of just one. And Ozpin’s comment that there are heights to achieve beyond just unlocking your semblance opens doors for power-ups within our main cast.

This is actually a lot packed into the shortest episode of the Volume thus far and if you thought we were finished…

Weiss: “Your mom kidnapped me?”

Yang: “YOU KIDNAPPED HER?”

I nominate this as one of RWBY’s greatest moments. I honestly couldn’t have asked for more from their reunion. Harking back to last week’s episode, Weiss demonstrates that she really doesn’t need anyone to save her. Yes, she was still in that cage, but only because she was going for subtly and strategy over a brute-force escape plan. (Remember, that’s Yang’s territory.) When she sees that Yang is somehow here that plan goes straight out the window. One knight at full strength and Weiss has busted out of her prison, running to back up Yang in a very outnumbered fight.

RT knows when to cut things back though and reminding everyone that, ahem, the Grimm are still a formidable enemy was a smart move. Raven might not have any qualms about fighting family, but she won’t let that anger draw a whole horde of Grimm to her camp. She gives Myrtenaster back to Weiss and invites them inside for that talk.

But first we have this.

I love that Weiss hugged first. I love that she freely abandons Myrtenaster in hostile territory to do so. She never would have done that a year ago. They’ve been through so much though and the fact that she can freely say how much she missed Yang says heaps about her character development.

It’s a beautiful shot to end the episode on. And if you listen closely, there’s the sound of Freezerburn shippers sobbing happily in the distance…

Other Details of Note

Raven’s bandit sitting waaaaay far back on Yang’s motorbike. Bet you ten lien he tried to wrap his arms around her waist and got another punch for his trouble.

The click of gears we hear as Yang stretches her arms. Nice touch there.

“I’m her daughter, after all.” There’s some of the taunting Yang we know and love.

Can’t say I was a fan of the music during the RJNR-Ozpin-Oscar chat scene. It felt… sitcom-ish? That’s not quite right, but too upbeat and noticeable for the moment. I shouldn’t be distracted from the conversation by whatever the music is doing.

I found Raven’s first greeting to Yang creepy in the extreme. You’re so strong and patient, doing everything you can to make your dream a reality. Talk about trying to butter someone up when you don’t actually know anything about that person. Raven’s attempts at welcoming Yang ring so false that it just hits home how estranged they are.

We've had a lot of 'crane shots' (for lack of a better word) this Volume: during Salem's conversation with Lionheart, before Sienna's assassination, now as Yang confronts her mother. I'm not sure what exactly to make of this yet, only that it's been a frequent technique the last few episodes and has definitely caught my attention.

#rwby #mymetas #RWBY Recaps

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laughingpinecone · 3 years

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Chocobox 2021 letter

I am laughingpineapple on AO3

Hello dear author! I hope you’ll have fun with our match. Feel free to draw from general or fandom-specific likes, past letters, and/or follow your heart.

All requests are art or fic - for art, the stuff I like is the kind that depicts the characters doing something. I’ll always be happier with a very simple drawing of two characters walking together or sharing a cup of coffee than with an ambitious composition that looks like an Avengers poster. I also enjoy seeing them wear different clothes, getting a feel of what their fashion sense is like beyond their canon outfit(s). Or dressing them up for some outlandish AU!

Likes: worldbuilding, slice of life (especially if the event the fic focuses on is made up but canon-specific), missing moments, 5+1 and similar formats, bonding and emotional support/intimacy, physical intimacy, lingering touches, loyalty, casefic, surrealism, magical realism, established relationships, future fic, hurt/comfort or just comfort from the ample canon hurt, throwing characters into non-canon environments, banter, functional relationships between dysfunctional individuals, unexplained mysteries, bittersweet moods, journal/epistolary fic, dreams and memories and identities, canon-adjacent tropey plots, outsider POV, UST, resolved UST, exploration of secondary bits of canon, leaning on the uniqueness of the canon setting/mood, found families, characters reuniting after a long and/or harrowing time, friends-to-lovers, road trips, maps, mutual pining, cuddling, wintry moods, the feeling of flannel and other fabrics, ridiculous concepts played straight, sensory details, sickfic, places being haunted, people being haunted, the mystery of the woods, small hopes in bleak worlds, electricity, places that don’t quite add up, mismatched memories, caves and deep places, distant city lights at night, emphasis on non-human traits of non-human characters (gen-wise, but also a hearty yes xeno for applicable ships), emphasis on inhuman traits of characters who were human once and have sort of shed it all behind

Cool with: any tense, any pov, any rating, plotty, not plotty, IF, nerdy canon references, unrequested characters popping up.

DNW: non-canonical rape, non-canonical children, focus on children, unrequested ships (background established canon couples are okay, mentions of parents are okay!), canon retellings

Bone

Every once in a while I’m filled with love for this comic and its cast. I’m a sucker for all the dream stuff, dragon stuff, looking at early chapters knowing about latter developments... and cows. I’m good with all readings of the Rose/Lucius situation (who’s still carrying a torch for whom, lowkey couple or still pining, etc).

Cows & Grandma Ben & Lucius: Lucius weighing in on a past Great Cow Race? Something happens to a cow? Cows and messengers between them?

Cows & Thorn: Thorn please make your grandma proud, wrt racing or otherwise. Dreams of cows...

Grandma Ben & Thorn: future fic or any missing moment after the royal reveal?

Lucius & Thorn: I wish we got more about them! Pre-canon moment in Barrelhaven? Any sort of weird thing can happen in the Valley after all, maybe foreshadowing her latter abilities?

Grandma Ben & Great Red Dragon: any other encounter along the lines of what we saw? I love them both but I also understand why they are like that...

Crossovers

What it says on the tin, basically. Peaks and KRZ can so easily blend into each other, Peaks and Piranesi much less so but a friend once said that Piranesi is very much a Coop and when someone’s right they’re right.

Albert Rosenfield & Joseph Wheattree: either during some Blue Rose trip or if Albert ends up stranded after the hot mess that is s3. Being the reasonable one, the one who chooses to remain on the surface while others disappear in the depths...

Carrie Page & Dale Cooper & Joseph Wheattree: I am very fond of |Laura| and |Coop| traveling forever on dark highways after the end and they’re gonna need a gas station at some point!

Donald & Gordon Cole: something something burning hopeless dreams, but also federal interest in Xanadu, and how would that go?

Dale Cooper & Piranesi: oh you know, split selves and the reconciling thereof. Successfully, in Matthew’s case... ...less so in Coop’s, at least last we saw him. I’m interested in seeing them meet at any point in their timelines (and as any part or rejoined part of their selves, Dougie&Piranesi as much as Richard&Matthew or any mix thereof) under either canon’s metaphysical rules! (DNW: Richard being “the real Cooper” - I think he’s the part of Coop who is not quite Mr C but still sent all his warmth and empathy away)

Final Fantasy VI

What I love in this fandom is intra-party interaction. They’re all wonderful and don’t get to speak to each other that much, if at all. I’d love to see scenes and/or little adventures during or after the game! I don’t really have ships here so any unrequested character is welcome to feature too but I would prefer gen.

Celes & chocobo, Sabin & chocobo, Celes & Sabin & chocobo: you get the idea. It’s CHOCOBOx ffs, I’ve been meaning to request chocobos for years and then I always forgot! Full kweh ahead! Hit me with all the chocobo feels, what it’s like to travel with these big fluffy birds for better and for worse, what it’s like for Celes, what it’s like for Sabin (I just picked two faves who also traveled together), all your chocobo headcanons, during the WoR serpent trench leg of the journey or anywhere else!

Edgar & Gogo: in my ongoing quest to throw Gogo at the rest of the cast and see what happens, I thought it’d be neat to have them hang around Edgar since one’s an accomplished mime and the other is perhaps not so accomplished as he’d like to be in putting up a persona. Canon-typical Edgar flirting is a-ok unless it hinges on Gogo being a woman. I use they pronouns for Gogo but I’m good with all options. I’d like for them to continue presenting as inscrutably gendered, however.

Ghost Trick

I am very interested in various characters finding about the erased timeline, but not getting their memories back, and having to live with being told about what they did but never remembering it. Exploring the ghost lore is great. All what-ifs welcome (what if they managed an acceptable happy ending but didn’t reset the timeline, what if a different party went back to the past and kept their memories, what if Alma’s ghost stuck around…) Also open to AUs here, especially for generic fantasy or sci-fi settings or the Final Fantasy ones I prompted last Yuletide.

For the non-canon sides of Jowd/Alma/Cabanela, please no infidelity? I’d be good with either setting the fic during the game timeline or some what-if thereof when the other spouse is dead or unavailable, or simply keeping them offscreen and not mentioning them (eg Alma/Cabanela beach day, Jowd/Cabanela precinct shenanigans)

For Jowd in general, I do love my big boy and enjoy milking that size difference for all it’s worth. In gen contexts too, it’s neat. him big.

For Cabanela in general, I am prompting scarf shenanigans, gen or shippy! It’s almost 4m of fabric... scarf used in clever ways, scarf getting in the way, scarf wrapped around one’s throat, scarf sticking out on a stakeout...

Alma/Cabanela/Jowd: maybe once Alma and Jowd have figured out he’s smitten and that they do in fact reciprocate... they tease him to death, slowly and deliberately? Is it even a Jowd romance if there’s not an exhausting amount of teasing involved, I ask? (sorry for repeating a prompt I got the perfect fill for last time - ...more teasing but this time with scarf, if that helps? Something with clothes? Clothes swap?)

Alma/Jowd & Cabanela: Cabs’ life is wild; his best friends’ home is a safe haven...

Bailey & Cabanela: Dance dance dance! Cabanela is not much one for _panic_ dances, but maybe other dances passed on in Bailey’s family could interest him?

Cabanela & Jowd & Pigeon Man: either as colleagues or Jowd trying to bring together these two weirdos who ended up meaning a lot to each other in the other timeline and thankfully didn’t get the same reason to bond now

Cabanela & Missile: off they go with their determination. And, critically, dog hair. The cat doesn’t shed for whatever reason but the dog sure does and that may just be the one tragic obstacle preventing an unstoppable partnership

Emma & Memry: oh so you know who ELSE has a penchant for romance cliches?

Jowd & Justice Minister: Did the Justice Minister ever go visit Jowd in the game timeline? How did he come to appreciate him as “the nation’s best detective”? Or in the new timeline, could Jowd’s insight help somewhat?

Jowd & Sissel & Yomiel: Sissel has two dads and they both love that cat very much. I’m all for the usual new timeline Jowd&Yomiel bonding tropes... with cat!

Kentucky Route Zero

I love the ending and I’d love to see its themes and setting explored. I’m all for exploration of any of the game’s themes and for including any staples from adjacent genres - wanna go full-on American Gothic? Dip into surrealism? Take a leaf from Twin Peaks with tulpa / split narratives to explore the characters’ issues? I love AUs so that’s an option too. Or of course there’s Xanadu at the height of its glory, an infinite what-ifs generator. Were the requested characters part of it, what were their digital counterparts up to? A Xanadu narrative would be great! I’d also love to hear about any new spot along the Zero or the Echo river, or an expansion of some place that’s only mentioned by Will in HATATE or only gets a few paragraphs of text. Mostly, I just love all these characters so much and I’m going through the tagset’s options like a hyperactive cat. Any fragment of their lives will make me happy.

For Lula and all the artists in particular (and Cate, depending on your stance on mushroom hunting, I suppose): please do lean into their art if it’s something you enjoy! Exhibitions, concerts, reviews... accidental reenactments of Robert Frost poems... all the discourse on the arts is my jam, if that’s your thing.

Carrington & Clara: will Clara manage to get in one (1) word in between Carrington’s merry infodumping?

Cate & Shannon Márquez & Will: Anything about these three, but I was thinking, postgame Shannon getting somewhere on the Mammoth and reconnecting with Cate and Will...

Cate & Val & Will: Mammoth slice of life pretty please?

Donald/Joseph Wheattree/Lula Chamberlain: so Lula went back to Mexico. Joseph is pensive. Did the events of the night shake up Donald, or what will it take?

Lula Chamberlain & Maya: I Just Think They’re Neat, no real prompts I’d just like to see them interact. Where do their interests intersect? Land art...?

Shannon Márquez & Weaver Márquez: Reunited cousins please. No hard stance on Weaver’s ghostliness from me (what even IS a ghost, feels like we spent half canon debating that), again I Just Think It’s Neat that she’s there sitting on the steps...

Pyre

I feel deeply for all of Pyre’s main themes - literacy, degrees of freedom, the fragile time that is the end of a historical cycle, nobodies rising up to the occasion, the revolutionary spirit that goes toward building a better society, and of course found family, “distance cannot separate our spirits” and all that jazz. Thoughts about finding oneself at the end of an age, as everything crumbles down to form something new. I love all the themes, the solemnity, the heart of this game. I adore everyone in that Blackwagon+Dalbert+Celeste, so if you want to add a Nightwing or two to any prompt, please do! I also love all the Scribes and find Erisa a compelling tragic figure. Out of the other triumvirates, I’m “love to hate them” for Manley, Brighton, Udmildhe and Deluge and would not like to see them featured in sympathetic roles. My main interest usually lies in post-canon exploration when applicable, but I’m also into various adventures during canon. Pick a location or a place outside the map and see what happens? As for the ending variables, I’d ask for a peaceful revolution and Oralech alive, but no preferences for who’s up and who’s down, pick whatever works best for any given plot bunny.

For any non-humans, if you like, do lean into their non-human traits! Curs gonna cur, saps gonna sap etc, different biology, different cultures...

Conversely, I regrettably do not enjoy an overwhelming majority of canon pairings so for Pyre, DNW unrequested ships period. The only exceptions are Soliam/Gol and Hedwyn/Fikani which I’d be happy to see featured wherever.

Barker & Brighton: it’s the sportsball bromance, you understand. I want to see these wildly incompatible individuals (Archjustice & Literally Exiled Due To Pissing On An Archjustice’s Statue) bond and maybe travel together due to their shared passion for the Rites and for Barker’s eventual invention of straight-up basketball

Big Bertrude & Celeste: who blinks first. They are... certainly two personalities, with primadonna tendencies perhaps (confirmed for Bertrude, but if I try to picture Celeste away from her job...). What if they clashed, is what I’m saying.

Big Bertrude/Pamitha Theyn: Pam returning from her travels, again and again, and finding a home in Bertrude’s lab, finding an understanding there... Bertrude’s attitude being thorny in a way that’s just what Pam needs to allow herself to open up... also: snake kisses.

Celeste/Jodariel: if the Heralds make it to the Union to get a shot at living a life of their own, and Tariq already has his friends and his interests in the material world, what’s left for Celeste? Maybe she could find herself unexpectedly close to Jodi, who’s good with distance and silence and also feels like the world doesn’t need her anymore...

Dalbert & Tariq: Any excuse for Tariq to hang out with the Fates for a little while, and treasure and be treasured by dear Dalbert...

Erisa & Volfred: what were they like!! What did Erisa think of this Reader and his Plan with Oralech, how did he approach her... how did they spent their time together...

Ignarius & Oralech: no no no listen, here’s the thing. If Iggy’s clearly got a thing for impressive horns and in general is quite stunned by other demons... ...I need him to see Oralech. Take this as seriously or as crack-treated-seriously as you wish.

Oralech/Tariq: I think there may be something about two individuals who got ultimately screwed by the final steps of the Scribes’ design (Oralech self-evidently; Tariq decides to rebel (!) to the planned end of his and Celeste’s mortal existences and stick around for a while). Learning to carve a niche for themselves...

Oralech/Volfred: waking up and remembering that the mourning that’s set deep in your roots is for someone who never died, waking up and remembering that the bitterness that consumed you had made up a betrayal that never was, finding each other through these crumbling walls... ...and/or Oralech being the government’s checks and balances aka the guy who knows Volfred and knows when to say Volfred _no_

Tariq/Volfred: Volfred’s zodiac sign is Cancer and Cancer is ruled by the Moon, so there’s that. I love how they both hold the other in the highest esteem, especially on Tariq’s part since he’s the immortal Herald of the Scribes and Volfred is, all in all, a history teacher, but listen to him and you’d think the roles were inverted. I love my nonviolent canon but could anything happen to either of them that may require a rescue, and/or some good old-fashioned h/c? What’s something that could make Tariq of all people lose it? How’s life 100 years on?

Oralech/Tariq/Volfred: Volfred has two hands, and sometimes miracles happen twice? How do they balance each other, what’s the Oralech/Tariq side like and what’s Volfred’s perspective on it? Is Tariq a constant part of their lives or does he fade in and out?

The Silver Case

I‘m all for the surrealism, big things being introduced and never picked up again, Rashomon’ing it up with six explanations for the same thing where no single one can be true, people dying and then popping up again like nbd... maybe the thing I like the most is characters transcending their humanity and looming over the dystopian world like ominous avatars. Correctness’ first ending had me swooning, that kind of mood is unparalleled. I have played TSC, FSR and 25W so far and have vague memories of K7. I’m aware of the “everything’s connected” readings and they sure seem to check out but that’s not my main interest in these games. For FSR-focused requests, I see Lospass as a real island but also a metaphysical place of transformation first and foremost, where strange things happen that don’t make sense elsewhere.

Toriko Kusabi & Remy Fawzil: What’s Toriko up to when she’s not chasing Chris? I think it could be fun to throw her at Remy and see the island from their point of view!

Tetsugorou Kusabi/Sumio Kodai: Tetsu picked one hell of a crush, huh! What’s it like in the aftermath of the games, when Sumio is Like That? How does Tetsu grapple with Parade? Is Tetsu an anchor of sorts for Correctness Sumio, who seems (at best) to be existing on a slightly different plane of existence at any given time and could disappear if you blink too hard?

Tetsugorou Kusabi & Shinko Kuroyanagi: I’m joining the “let these two be foulmouthed friends” masses - who’d be more fed up with the other’s nonsense, and in which ways would they be an unstoppable team?

Shinkai Tsuki & Tetsugorou Kusabi: Both of them end their stories in the shadows one way or another, and defending their protégé may have had a hand in their misfortune one way or another. What kind of understanding could they reach? What IS Tsuki up to anyway?

Christina & Catherine: anthro Catherine, as per the Placebo bonus chapter Yami, was unexpectedly charming. What was Chris before reaching Lospass, and did he also have a chat with her on the plane or on the island?

Shinkai Tsuki & Tokio Morishima: not unlike Tsuki&Tetsu, I’m intrigued by their 25W endings and I wonder if they could have a little lowkey, off-the-grid teamup maybe?

Tetsugorou Kusabi & Toriko Kusabi: a sweet father-daughter bonding moment on Lospass perhaps, both orbiting around Sumio’s nonsense in increasingly bizarre ways? What’s their take on the island?

Twin Peaks

Case fic but they don’t find out jack shit, someone disappears, David Bowie was there, it’s complicated. Fragmented, shifted, mirrored identities. New Lodge spaces. The risks of staring into the void for too long. Gentle illusions. Transcendence. The moon. Static buzzing. Any title from the s3 ethereal whooshing compilation used as a prompt, actually. Twin Peaks is all about the mystery to me, the awe of mystery and unknowability and the human drive to look beyond and the risks of getting a peek, and about shared consciousness and trauma taking physical form in an uncaring world. Go wild with the ethereal whooshing! But I also love the human warmth at the heart of it all, and sometimes it’s enough to anchor these characters and let them have a nice day. A fic entirely focused on some instance of coziness against the cold chaotic background of canon would be great too.

Canon-specific DNWs: any singular Dreamer being the ‘source’ of canon, BOB (let alone Judy) being forever defeated in the finale, Judy being an active malevolent presence in the characters’ lives, clear explanations for canonical ambiguities, ‘Odessaverse’ being the reality layer, the Fireman’s house by the sea being the White Lodge, anything that 4 hours Twin Perfect video says is the explanation of Twin Peaks

Albert & Hawk: I love Hawk’s constant snarkiness in TSHOTP and I think it would work very well with Albert’s, so I’d love to see them either snipe at each other or work together to demolish... idk, Ben or whomever. They also share the peculiar brand of skepticism of someone who has been stewing in supernatural nonsense half their lives and that’s cool too I think

Albert & Windom: speaking of people who should snipe at each other...! Were they forced to work together at some point or did they bark at each other during an office party or? (and when did Gordon start pretending that Windom never even existed, incidentally?)

Albert/Coop: fiery early days? Dream meetings that Albert will inevitably write off as a product of his aching subconscious? Post-finale where Albert has made his peace with Coop not being part of this world and not even deigning to greet him, except one day Coop is back - with apologies? Post-post-finale where they’re peacefully living out their days as best as they can?

Albert/Harry: did they tragically fall into each other’s arms in the wake of Coop’s disappearance? Did they realize they’re so good for each other, but neither of them was willing to give up their life? And/or was the wound of Coop’s disappearance too fresh for them to try to heal? Do they keep in touch throughout the years? Does Albert resign on the spot with a resounding fuck it after the s3 finale and rush to see Harry? Does he stay this time?

Coop/Harry: Harry seeing his Coop again… somewhere, somehow. Maybe he perceives him in the woods, maybe Coop isn’t all human now. Monster cuddles very welcome. Could be canon divergence but could very well be post-s3. Harry getting closure for waiting all that time in front of Glastonbury and never giving up on Coop… they can live in the woods together…

Albert/Coop/Harry: basically the sum of the three sides of this triad… give them peace, given them nice things, give them so much love… Coop finding his place in the world and making up for lost time… give time to these old wounds…

Bobby/Shelly & James: I am very fond of all three of them and I’d like for James to have friends maybe? Shelly thinks he’s cool! If he and Bobby can get over the decades-old rift due to Laura’s affections...

Cynthia/Tammy: the FBI and USAF supernatural branches meet again after Douglas Milford’s times... what’s their attitude toward it (who’s the Mulder and who’s the Scully......), in what ways does their respective task force’s past inform their views, is there more hope for a new generation who saw the trauma of the past without living it firsthand? LET TAMMY KISS ALL THE GIRLS BUT THIS ONE IN PARTICULAR

Frank & Margaret: extremely bold of Frank to pretend nothing weird whatsoever has ever gone down in his life when he grew up in town and presumably was still around when Margaret became the Log Lady. I’m interested in this clash between his “not my division” attitude and an actual oracle. On the other hand, they may have things in common...

Laura & Monica Bellucci: go wild. I’m good with the wildest theories on what Monica Bellucci actually is/represents. Out of all the people she could interact with, I’m glad Laura was nominated. Lodgey nonsense ahoy!

Margaret’s log & Hawk: reportedly, the log stayed with Hawk and hasn’t said a thing YET. That’s what fanfic’s for, right?

#letter

0 notes

bethygauw · 7 years

Text

Enstars Magazine vol.1: Interview with Development Staff - The Birth of Enstars

Released in August 2016. (!!! It’s way too outdated, I’m sorry...)

You may also find similar questions discussed in this interview elsewhere, so it may feel repetitive. But I’m not very good at summarising, and you may find other interesting info and perspectives in this as well. It’s one year old though, but I will still continue with the World Navi part of the mook series as much as I can.

Click here for interview with Akira-sensei from the same magazine. And here for translations of the mook series I found on Twitter.

This is an interview with: M.T, Chief Planner and Contents Director. Person in-charge of overall supervision for elements such as contents direction, world setting, scenario, outfit designs among others, and M.H, Art Director for illustrations and person in-charge of Live2D creation.

Until Ensemble Stars! was made

Q: What prompted the development project?

M.H.: It started during the development of Ensemble Girls!, where I was talking with the company’s female illustrators about how we wanted to make an otome game one day.

M.T.: That was three years ago. Our company has a lot of male-oriented titles, so there were people saying, “We want to make a game that we (females) can enjoy.” The staff normally talk to each other about what games they play and what kinds of anime they watch, so this topic came up from one of those idle talks.

M.H.: And the project made real progress starting around two years ago. The development process took a year.

Q: Where did you start from?

M.T.: When one hears “Ensemble Stars!”, the words they may come up with are “youth, idols, and high school students”. That component was already settled in the project plan presented by the female illustrators. We wanted to see a game that has both youthful life typical of that of high school students and the sparkles of idols. That became the basis of the game, so from the beginning we’ve had the concept solidified already.

Q: So it’s a project that stemmed from a wish to make an otome game, but in the end there are no romance elements in the game. Why is that?

M.T.: Dividing in general, there are those who like otome games, those who are interested in otome games but never played one, and those who are not very good at otome games*. If we restricted it to an otome game, the player demographic would also narrow. And if it’s an otome game, it’s inevitable to have a lot of interactions between the protagonist and the male characters. So to create a bigger perspective… we wanted to make it so that we can observe various characters having their conversations from a close distance. We wanted to make a game where you can play as an individual in the academy and have fun and agonize with everyone together, and experience youth. That’s how the game came to be like this.

(*) I’m not sure about my choice. The Japanese uses 苦手, and depending on context it can also mean “not fond of” or “can’t handle”.

Q: Certainly, if it’s a romancing game the player would have to choose someone.

M.T.: Yes. In Ensemble Stars!, the player is not restricted to someone. We want the players to have a good time with any character. Even with boys who are not originally their type – when the player reads the story and sees them talk with their favorite boy, maybe they can discover a new, positive aspect regarding those types.

Q: Please tell us how you ended up deciding to have this game become part of the Ensemble series.

M.T.: We received good reviews from Ensemble Girls! players regarding the game’s illustrations, so maybe if we make those characters into boys they will look attractive? That kind of topic came up within the company. We also wanted to make a game that has both outstanding illustration and story, so we asked Akira-san who is writing for Ensemble Girls!. We thought there is no other person who can write every character who is full of unique traits so distinctively, and moreover, write unique script. We believed that even with a female-oriented project, Akira-san would be able to make an interesting story that stars characters with strong individuality. That is why we asked Akira-san first.

Q: When you asked Akira-san to write the script, what reaction did you get?

M.T.: Our main means of communication was through emails. We informed Akira-san of the project plan, and as a reply we received a non-hesitant consent, “I’ll do it.”

Q: How did the game’s overall world setting came to? This includes Yumenosaki Academy, among others.

M.T.: The visuals are produced in-house. Dreamfes and the academy’s hierarchy and all the implementation around idols are by Akira-san. Setting-wise, I think Akira-san contributed more.

Q: Which character was born first?

M.H.: Subaru and Hokuto.

M.T.: We had one of them look like a protagonist and the other look like from the other extreme. After deciding the profile’s roughs, we started from deciding the overall art style.

M.H.: At first, the head count was lower and they had a touch of shonen manga elements. Their eyes were bigger, and if I have to choose I’d say they had a cute feel to them.

Q: What would be the thing you pay attention to the most when creating illustrations catered towards a female audience?

M.T.: In the case of male-oriented projects, the points I get to “show off” would be the energetic feel, cuteness, and a flash of exposed skin. But for female audience, if you ask me whether the skin is the most important element, I’d say it’s not. I think the first thing that will be seen is the face, so the details in hairstyle, hair color, and gaze would be what I’m most particular about.

Q: There are over 30 characters in the game. Wasn’t it hard to come up with so many?

M.T.: When Ensemble Girls! was released, I got to experience making 60 characters, so I didn’t think it was as difficult as that. If I think about giving various traits and quirks to all characters without exception, 30 surprisingly could be done in an instant. I first came up with the character’s profile and then the visual, but us the staff exchanged opinions as we created them.

Q: Are there any characters who were born easily, and others not so?

M.T.: Creating the characters wasn’t such a difficult task, but deciding the art style was tough. Take the characters we mentioned before, Subaru and Hokuto, as examples. Their head counts and facial features are in the middle of the spectrum, and we made Rei look the most mature amongst the students. His eyes are smaller. Rei would be the character with maximum maturity, but it was difficult to decide the limit, since it can change the balance significantly at later stages. We went through quite a bit of trial and error, and the illustrators told me they also found Rei’s wavy hair to be difficult to deal with.

Q: So the character with childish looks at the maximum would be Tori?

M.T.: I suppose, yes. He’s like a little devil, has that pink hair and adorable looks. The lead illustrator who first drew the character is also someone who originally draws male-oriented illustrations, so Tori was their specialty, relatively speaking.

Q: At what point did Akira-san start contributing to the setting and characters?

M.T.: It was after we had the visuals for the 30 characters and their profiles ready. From that point on, we asked Akira-san to come up with what kind of story.

M.H.: Tsukasa and Midori weren’t around yet.

M.T.: At that time there were 30 people including the teachers, but if we’re going to label it as “There are 30 idols” it wouldn’t be right to count the teachers, we thought. That’s when we added Tsukasa and Midori.

Q: Were you surprised by any character after you read Akira-san’s script?

M.T.: We had Akira-san write the main story and character’s individual sub story concurrently. So the first time we got to know what kind of characters they were was by reading the sub stories, but…

M.H.: We can’t not mention Arashi, can we? (laugh)

M.T.: Indeed (laugh). Within the company we knew Arashi by “the good-looking model”, but Akira-san made Arashi look like an onee character*, so it took a 180 degree turn.

(*) Before, I think I translated this as “big sister character” without clarifying the connotations: often associated with gay men or queer who use feminine speech, have feminine gestures etc. The word itself stems from “big sister”.

M.H.: Also, Chiaki was more passionate than I expected.

M.T.: He was just a “refreshing and enthusiastic upperclassman”, but in Akira-san’s words he became a character who would be like, “flare up that passion even more!” and towards any character, he would close up the distance.

Q: So that’s how the character gap in each character was born.

M.H.: No one could have done it except Akira-san.

M.T.: We received feedback from the players that the characters were quite different from what they imagined pre-release.

M.H.: That’s true. There’s a lot of that kind of comments.

M.T.: Those who like female-oriented content tend to predict personalities according to appearance. It’s an idea that someone comes up with because he’s a guy, and I’m glad we asked Akira-san after all.

The game’s charming points and behind-the-scenes of the game-making processes

Q: Among the many game apps that are female-oriented, what do you think is the charming point of Ensemble Stars!?

M.T.: First thing would be the uniqueness of the characters. We were particular about their appearance. We made it so that its character design can be easily accepted not only by female audience but also by male audience. That’s why I hope it’s received well by a wide range of demographics. Then, Akira-san looked at each of the character’s visual and gave a unique personality to each and every one of them. I think there’s not a lot of titles that can let you taste both of these elements at the same time. Other than that, it’s the Live2D. Especially during the development stages, the Live2D element was not there and it wasn’t the main feature. Even up to this moment, I don’t think there’s a lot of games that have movements of the body and hands as big as Ensemble Stars!.

Q: There’s a lot of male players too, isn’t there?

M.T.: We don’t get their feedback directly, but our connections and colleagues from other companies told us, “He’s a guy but he’s really into it.” My impression is that Ra*bits is quite popular. It seems that cute characters would look cute from a guy’s perspective as well, which makes me happy.

M.H.: Actually, manly characters like Adonis and Kuro are popular among those around me. It seems like they like either the cute type or the manly type.

Q: Each month, there are two new time-limited events and two new scouting events. Could you tell us regarding the making process?

M.T.: At first we decide which characters are going to appear, and what kind of timing this event is going to be held in. Of course, we also consider the frequency of the characters’ appearance, but the relationships between the characters are also important, so we discuss which combination would be best as we choose them. In another case, when we want to tell a particular story, we choose the members based on the content of the story. After that, we establish themes to match the period or the seasons. Then we ask Akira-san or Yuki Yoshino-san to write the script, work out the details of the outfit designs… that kind of work flow.

Q: Sometimes unexpected characters appear.

M.T.: Fundamentally, we often have the whole unit appear. But leaving to that factor alone can lead to bias, and they’re students after all so we also want to show their relationships among classmates and clubmates. I think it’s nice to see a glimpse of how a senior or a junior interact with each other, that kind of vertical relationships. So you will see that kind of combination sometimes.

Q: What about the process of making the illustrations?

M.H.: After the theme is set, we will have the illustrator in-charge to make the outfits based on the document material. After that, we create the event CGs.

Q: There are also new stages and music in the time-limited events.

M.T.: Yes. At the time of release, the BGM was of quite low priority, but we thought we had to bring out the mood according to the season. The players will play the Produce courses for a long time after all, so we thought it would be good to have some variation. That’s how we added the feature somewhere along the way.* We place an order for the BGM creation after the event concept is decided.

(*) If I remember correctly, it started in Duel. So the first three events didn’t have their own event BGM.

Q: How far ahead are you in terms of event planning?

M.T.: Around two to three months.

Q: For apps, you can see the players’ responses in real time. Isn’t it tough to create new events despite that?

M.T.: In general I have a lot of things I’m particular about, so because of that I think I’m giving myself a hard time. A piece of outfit gives me trouble each time – how should I present it? What is the most fitting composition that gives the best view of a character? To also increase the player’s affinity to the stories and event CGs, the staff exchange opinions with each other as we create them.

M.H.: That’s right. We really value the characters’ expressions on the event CGs. We create them while reconciling our ideas with the illustrators, and with scenes that are easy to understand we all have the same image. But there are times where, with scenes that have complex nuances, it’s hard for us to reach an agreement. We think together about the scenario before and after the CGs while drawing their expressions, for example, “This is what this boy is thinking, but just now someone told him that. This makes me sad.”

Q: How many people are involved in the making of Ensemble Stars! right now?

M.T.: Right now it’s just under 30 people.

M.H.: There are 13 illustrators, by the way.

M.T.: For the illustrations, it’s like everyone is involved. Not just the card illustrations, we also make the Live2D and SD versions of the outfits, so often everything proceeds concurrently. We divide up tasks to one extent, but it’s difficult to divide everything, so various people are involved.

Q: A lot of projects outsource illustrators, but at Happy Elements the art is drawn in-house.

M.T.: Yes. We outsource part of the background illustrations, but the characters are all drawn in-house. We want to have a uniformed way to view things and create impression. For example, to decide on the balance of locks of hair, we decide which part should be drawn thicker or shorter. We share our opinions about every detail, and we draw as we grasp the points we agreed on.

The game’s world setting and idols

Q: Regarding Yumenosaki Academy, did you model it off a location? Or do you have an image of a location?

M.T.: We don’t have a pinpoint location to be able to say something like, “It’s this place in Japan.” As for the image of a location, it’s somewhere with a shopping district, the sea and a mountain, and a school. A place like that in Kansai region, where our company is, would be somewhere like Kobe. But during the actual design processes we don’t have anything like, “This is this place.” We also don’t have a definite setting on the climate.

Q: The four seasons in the world of Ensemble Stars! are quite pronounced.

M.H.: I suppose. It’s probably because I’m also from Hokkaido. Deciding how much snow would fall in winter was hard (laugh). We make it so that the game follows the season changes in the real world, so I hope the players can spend time with the characters in the same setting.

Q: I think each player would have their own image of the transfer student, the protagonist. What was your thinking process during the character making?

M.T.: In Produce courses, the player is able to make choices to interact with the idols. We pay attention to the differences in the use of words towards seniors, juniors, and her peers. We took her image from the story written by Akira-san. It’s rare for the transfer student to take action, so to give a comparison, I think she’s like a transparent existence. To the players, she may be whom they project themselves as, or she may be a proper standalone character. There are many ways the players can see her. As for us, we’d like to direct the players to the idols first and foremost. Which is why we headed towards this path, where we didn’t give the protagonist individuality. The transfer student is an existence that naturally supports everyone.

Q: How was each unit born? Did you decide on their music genre at that point already?

M.T.: We finalized their design aspects like appearance and outfits, but we didn’t have any precise image on what kind of melody they would sing and perform. We started to think about it during the making of the unit song CDs. For example fine has a theme of “a ruler”, so we thought of something orchestrated. Another is UNDEAD with rock songs. Well, it’s also because Koga keeps mentioning “rock” (laugh). In case of UNDEAD, every time we make the event CG we discuss whether or not we have Koga carry a guitar, and we also give quite a lot of attention to the composition to make it look “rock”.

Q: I think the leaders of the units in Yumenosaki Academy hold a special position. What is your opinion on this?

M.T.: Let’s see. For idols in the real world, someone may be assigned as a leader but they would still hold the same position as other members. When something happens, the leader would put things in order, and they are often the ones who’ll take the initiative to do the talking, but that’s about it. In Yumenosaki Academy, the leaders find jobs, cooperate with other units, and they become the point of contact for any event. So in that sense, the leaders are well-known. They’re still students, so I think that’s why they would take the initiatives themselves to take action.

Q: Also, often the unit leaders are the club captains as well.

M.T.: They catch attention as idols, and they’re also popular, so I thought they’d be appointed as club captains without any problem. One thing though, the tea club is something made by Eichi, so while he’s the club captain, he’s also like the chairman. Either way, he’s a big shot (laugh).

Q: Will the idols make a debut after they graduate?

M.T.: No, actually they’ve debuted already, so their idol activities have become part of their job. It’s just that they’re still students, so I suppose they’re active as both students and idols. After they graduate… we don’t have anything in particular set yet, but boys who want to prioritize their studies may attend college while still being idols, or they may dive into the entertainment world as idols right away. There may also be some units where the current third-years graduate and the unit may dissolve temporarily, then they gather again. Trickstar members are all in the same year, so a possible scenario for them is to work with the same members. There may also be others who will choose a path other than being an idol because something happens before they graduate. The leader of each unit seems to be the one who suggests the direction in which the unit will head to, but whether the other members would just nod to that depends on each of them. The Repayment Festival is the finale of the year, so I think you will be able to see what happens then.

Taking a look back and future prospects

Q: It has been more than a year since the game’s release. How do you feel right now?

M.T.: Before release, I couldn’t imagine how it will be received, at all. Fortunately, it’s been played by a lot of people and has been garnering attention from all sorts of directions, so I am extremely grateful. From then, we have had opportunities for mixed media adaptations, and since the project can develop and move forward further, we intend to make things more exciting.

M.H.: The players really value each and every character, and Ensemble Stars! gets its support from there. I feel nothing but gratitude. We’d like to do our best so that we can answer everyone’s expectations from now on too. Regarding illustrations and each of its expressions and gestures, we hope we can show it to you and have all of us together feel what those characters are thinking at that particular time and all those things.

M.T.: That’s right. There will be new unit song CDs coming out this year too, so I hope you can look forward to its release from now on as well. The game itself too – I think there will be chances where you’ll be able to see scenes that show a new side to a character, or interactions that are different from usual, or how a character actually feels at a particular scene. I hope you’ll look forward to it. Thank you.

#ensemble stars #enstarsmagz #staff #worldnavi

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softgine · 7 years

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For the character thingy - Vegeta. Have fun, lol.

oh god ajsadk. i was waiting for someone to send in his name!! but no one ever did!! honestly i was so prepared now my mind is literally drawing blanks lmao it’s so sad but i like a challenge!!

why I like them: i think his relationship with bulla is the first time i see him actively try to do better. like sure, bulma and trunks are a big part of him too, but how he is with his daughter is a completely different relationship than he’s had with anybody. its the first time he puts someone first w/o them needing to earn it. his development was slow but we’re here!! and he’s doing a good job!!

why I don’t: okay this is all pre-buu arc but honestly lmao. i just don’t understand why he got the second chance and why he gets glorified as some tragedy when his most redeemable quality was that he busted a nut!! he kills his friends and almost lets bulma/trunks die, he couldn’t avenge his planet, he didn’t even care for his people but “saiyan pride” is his niche, and the worst part is that he gets excused for the majority of it lmao. i’m supposed to believe that his incompetency to goku is his divine punishment for all the bad he’s done…… while he’s living in a fat ass house…… with a family that adores him and understands him……….. and he gets bumped up to a main character when he got his ass kicked 12/10 times. oh and now he’s at a power level that rivals gods??? okay?????? lmao

favorite episode (scene if movie): the episode where he blasts nappa, his lifelong solider/companion since childhood, just to ask if goku would join him. that’s the most thirsty sh*t i’ve seen in my entire life

favorite season/movie: the namek arc!! i think it really gave him a cool motive, but he legit was neither the villain or the hero. he just was someone who wasn’t going to die and somehow u were rooting for him to both succeed and lose at the same time tbh

favorite line: “mondo cool“

favorite outfit: he looks soooo good in yellow and when everything was fitted/tight!! i miss the 90′s fashion of the tight vests and high-waisted pants for men. he also looked really good in those black shorts tbh. also his leather pants in GT. ALSO the red cape from his prince armor!!

otp/brotp: w/ bulma + goku!!

headcanon: that time where he gave up fighting after goku died for the second time, he was really needy and could be found on bulma’s lab couch all the time, complaining even tho no one asked lmao

unpopular opinion: i hate how super has him as the underdog when he’s always been characterized as a character who’s never needed validation from anybody; and while he may have been losing, he’s never been a character you should pity

a wish: for me to go back in time before i let fandom wank ruined my interest in him tbh. he’s cool and interesting but my god

an oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen: nope i have 2 more things i want to happen!! i want his old fashion back and also i miss when he was the one with terrible ideas and not the voice of reason

5 words to best describe them: stubborn, disciplined, independent, reckless and tbh…. shy lmao

my nickname for them: veggie-chan!!

#asks

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lil-loucifer · 7 years

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1-50 fool

1. Your first OC ever?

Not gonna lie, it was a fuckin Naruto OC I made when I was six

His name was Rei and he specialized in fire-based jutsu

2. Do you have a personal favourite among your OCs?

Uhhhh, right now I think my favorite is Aurelio Morgenstern, since I’ve been spending a lot of time trying to develop him lately

3. Have you ever adopted a character or gotten a character from someone else?

Not really?

4. A character you rarely talk about?

Fuckin Enfer Incendie. A guy with an asshole french name that translates inaccurately into “Hell Fire”

He’s a demon who uses, you guessed it, fire-based powers.

5. If you could make only one of your OCs popular/known, who would it be?

I can’t decide oh fuck but it’d probably be Enoch Branwen???

6. Two OCs of yours that look alike despite not being related?

A lot of my old OCs are white with dark hair because I wasn’t creative back then (Still have trouble with creative designs tbh)

7. Are your OCs part of any story or stories?

I sent a character in for an SYOC a while ago, but she stopped writing it…

8. Do you RP as any of your OCs? If you do, introduce one of your RP OCs here!

Sorta? I’ve been putting together an RP/suggestion blog using Aurelio Morgenstern as an RP character

He’s a demon hunter who lives in a relatively uneventful small town that’s still high in supernatural activity. There’s a local demon hunter community there, but he’s kinda shunned for fighting using the magic of a demon, Azazel.

9. Would you ever be willing to give any of your OCs to someone else?

I mean, I’m 100% down to give Lucian Caelius Luminita to a friend of mine for her story, bc I have nothing to use him in.

10. Introduce an OC with a complicated design?

I… Totally suck at designing overcomplicated outfits, so my OCs normally wear simple clothes

11. Is there any OC of yours you could describe as a “sunshine”?

Aria Hamilton (not related to Hamilton in any way, seriously) is the only upbeat character I’ve ever created.

12. Name an OC that isn’t yours but who you like a lot

A friend of mine and I have been developing this fuckin story for like, a month or so, about her character, Crystal Ruiz, being raised by one of my (sort-of) good parent OCs.

13. Do you have any troublemaker OCs?

Wayland Smith is a huge crack-type character who unintentionally winds up causing catastrophic destruction in the most ridiculous ways that often come off as impossible and inhuman. What’s worse: This man cannot die and literally only exists for me to come up with ridiculous scenarios to have a good laugh.

I made him for The Sims Freeplay and he became the guy who pissed everyone off whenever I got a daily mission that required negative interactions.

14. Introduce an OC with a tragic backstory

Wilk Argentum: part of an extraterrestrial race made to assimilate with the human ace to determine whether or not they were worth saving after their society collapsed following a major thermonuclear war.

He got along with the remnants of society well, and went on several adventures with people who befriended him, but ultimately, he unwittingly fulfilled his primary programming by condemning the human race to death, despite it being the only thing he’d ever known.

15. Do you like to talk about your OCs with other people?

HELL FUCKING YEAH MAN ASK ME ABOUT ANYONE YOU SEE ON HERE I’MA ANSWER ANYTHING

16. Which one of your OCs would be the best at biology (school subject)?

Faith Branwen, probably.

17. Any OC OTPs?

I got these new characters, part of a four-person superhero team I made up for DC Universe Online, and two of them; Wendigo (Power: nature-aligned magic and shapeshifting into man-eating creatures) and Morningstar (Power: Creation-based abilities) slowly develop from casual dating to really strong-ass feelings for each other

There’s also this guy, Dante, who I always wind up shipping with his ex, Michael, but I don’t know how I’d get them back together yet.

Also most of the characters I ship with my friends’ OCs have a special place in my heart, especially if we develop their relationships :3

18. Any OC crackships?

Not really?

19. Introduce an OC that means a lot to you (and explain why)

Jack Winters was the first OC whose story I really shared with another friend, and we got super close from sharing the stories and eventually getting to know each other, and not just our OCs. Hey guys, shipping gets you places.

20. Do any of your OCs sing? If they sing, care to share more details (headcanon voice, what kind of songs they like etc)?

I only really have one OC with confirmed singing talent, and that is Alto Artrose, who is, ironically, a soprano.

21. Your most artistic OC

Wilson Pendleton is basically Delson Rowe pre-superpowerification.

22. Is there any OC of yours people tend to mischaracterize? If yes, how?

A friend and I normally joke about Lucian Luminita being a much worse parent than we actually portray him in the story; mostly due to him being a single father, who is also a vampire, raising an angry werewolf child.

23. Introduce OC that has changed from your first idea concerning what the character would be like?

Dante “Seraphim,” also known by his codename Lucifer, was originally going to be called Lucifer as his true name, and be a child of the personification of Death, being sent to ensure that people die when they are supposed to. And if they don’t, they get murdered by the Reaper’s Son.

The idea was scrapped, but eventually revisited by several other OCs later.

24. If you could meet one OC of yours, who would it be and why?

Aria Hamilton, because she’s the only one here who isn’t fucked up.

25. The OC that resembles you the most (same hobby, height, shared like/dislike for something etc?)

My fuckin Homestuck self-insert, Luke Napier. He’s basically me, but physically fit, attractive, and actually handles his responsibilities properly.

26. Have you ever had to change your OC’s design or something else about them against your will?

Nah, not really.

27. Any OCs that were inspired by a certain song?

Dante “Seraphim’s” story wound up being heavily influenced by the song “Take Me To Church,” with it’s whole ‘growing out of religion’ theme.

28. Your most dangerous OC?

Enoch Branwen, the “Atropos” of this Branwen Moirai. The Branwens preside over the mortality of gods; when an immortal’s time has passed, it is Enoch who is sent to dispatch them. She has killed numerous entities, and is responsible for the Fall of the Old Gods.

29. Which one of your OCs would go investigate an abandoned house at night without telling anyone they’re going?

Aurelio Morgenstern, Wilson Pendleton, and Sora Williams; the problem children.

30. Which one of your OCs would most likely have a secret stuffed animal collection?

Maybe Enoch’s girlfriend, who still doesn’t have a concrete name.

31. Pick one OC of yours and explain what their tumblr blog would be like (what they reblog, layout, anything really)

Aurelio Morgenstern blogs about his activities as a demon hunter, not that anyone really listens.

32. Which one of your OCs would be the most suitable horror game protagonist and why?

Ian (motherfucking) Grey. This kid’s story throws him into a killing field made for children with magical powers, where he eventually gets possessed by the Wormwood Star; an entity that throws his magical abilities into overdrive.

Ian has a natural affinity for healing magic, and the Wormwood Star strengthens him to the point where he can heal from injuries almost instantly. The horror of his game isn’t the threat to your survival, it’s from all the pain you endure as you fight your way out of this hellhole. Your enemies can’t kill you, you can’t kill them. But they will hunt you and hunt you until your mind breaks and you can’t fight anymore.

Basically, imagine Dark Souls with no weapons.

33. Your shyest OC?

Can’t really say :c

34. Do you have any twin characters?

Dante “Seraphim” has a twin sister, Aria. Her codename is Lilith.

35. Any sibling characters?

Aside from the “Seraphim” twins, the Branwens are one of my favorite sibling groups!

They’re like the moirai, but they decide when gods die. Faith, the eldest, predicts the lifespans and destinies of the gods when they’re created. Wolfgang, the middle child, watches over the world and ensures that all the gods and deities are doing their jobs, playing their roles, and having faith in the Branwens’ writings.

When a god steps out of line, or refuses to lie down and die, they send Enoch to do what must be done.

36. Do you have OC pairs where the other part belongs to someone else (siblings, lovers, friends etc)?

HELL YEAH I do.

37. Introduce an OC who is not quite human

Lucian Luminita is a vampire, the Branwen siblings are sorta-gods, Dante and Aria “Seraphim” are half-angel and half-demon, respectively, etc.

38. Which one of your OCs would be the best dancer?

Enoch Branwen and Aria Hamilton.

39. Introduce any character you want

Lemme tell you about Become Death:

He’s an ally of that superhero team I mentioned earlier, with Wendigo and Morningstar. Obviously, “Become Death” isn’t his real name, but it’s a nickname that just stuck.

Death is an enigma. He doesn’t really know who he is, where he’s from. He just knows that his job is to punish the wicked. The evil. He takes no pleasure in killing, but it’s what he does best.

Before he died, Death was an infamous serial killer. He was brought back to life by an unknown entity for an unknown purpose, but now, he works in the dark to preserve the light.

He also hasn’t been developed beyond the fact that he wears a fancy suit, and there’s a skull mask grafted onto his face.

40. Any fond memories linked to your characters? Feel free to share!

Most of the fondest memories I have about OCs is just taking about them with my friends!!

41. Has anyone drawn fanart of your OCs? If yes, maybe show a picture or two here (remember sources & permissions!)

Throwback to the time I commissioned my sister to draw my Persona 3 OC and he came out looking exactly like a fucking Haikyuu character with a gun (tw for suicidal imagery and guns)

42. Which one of your OCs would be the most interested in Greek gods?

Uhhhh my fuckin Percy Jackson OCs

43. Do you have any certain type when you create your OCs? Do you tend to favour some certain traits or looks? It’s time to confess

Dark clothes and expensive fashion, friends. A lot of leather.

Also punk rock. It’s good.

44. Something you like about your OCs in general

They all have pretty unique concepts and stories, as far as I’m told.

45. A character you no longer use?

Luke Napier. Every incarnation of him has ben replaced with a “Jasper Morris.”

46. Has anyone ever told you that you treat your OCs badly?

Nah, nobody’s seen me write a story ^_^

47. Has anyone ever (friendly) claimed any of your OCs as their child?

I’m pretty sure @theninjabookworm101 has at one point during our friendship.

48. OC who is a perfect cinnamon roll, too good for this world, too pure

Nobody is innocent

49. Which one of your OCs would most likely enjoy memes

Aria Hamilton, purely for the sake of poking fun at her crush

50. Give me the good ol’ OC talk here. Talk about anything you wantIf you want, you can tag your ask answers with #yetanotherOCmeme so I can check them out too `v´9

Hnnnnggghhhh alright so lemme tell you about this time I tried to do worldbuilding

So I made this fuckin steampunk-themed world once, right? And it’s still largely unfinished, and there’s only one real place that’s developed in any capacity and that’s the city of Durendal in the nation of Wayland. The Waylandian city is widely known for being amongst the most historical cities in the world. It was one of the most rapidly-advancing cities during the industrial revolution. It was in Durendal where most scholars and inventors joined together to create the first stable airship. It is in Durendal where the strongest council of magicians established its headquarter. It was in Durendal where the infamous Wick Rebellion was cut down by Royal Protector Daniel Maxim. And it is in Durendal where the Licht Sisters will face off against a conspiracy against the Grand Sovereign of Wayland itself.

(That’s not really an OC thing, but hey, it’s the only story concept I have saved rn that I didn’t share from)

#ask me(mes)#OC asks #punk-rock-pixie

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dailynewswebsite · 4 years

Text

The experience economy will not fully recover – consumers will pay to perform in future instead

Insta-tastic. Sharon McCutcheon

No listing of seminal enterprise books could be full with out The Expertise Economic system, the 1999 bestseller by American lecturers B Joseph Pine II and James H Gilmore. They argued that the promoting of experiences was the fourth nice stage in our client growth after commodities, items and providers.

They defined their concept with the next instance:

As a vestige of the agrarian financial system, moms made birthday desserts from scratch, mixing farm commodities (flour, sugar, butter, and eggs) that collectively value mere dimes. Because the goods-based industrial financial system superior, mothers paid a greenback or two to Betty Crocker for pre-mixed substances.

Later, when the service financial system took maintain, busy dad and mom ordered desserts from the bakery or grocery retailer, which, at US$10 or US$15, value ten occasions as a lot because the packaged substances. Now, within the time-starved 1990s, dad and mom neither make the birthday cake nor even throw the social gathering. As an alternative, they spend US$100 or extra to ‘outsource’ the whole occasion to Chuck E. Cheese’s.

In recent times, everybody from excessive road outlets to vacationer trails to luxurious spas has bought shoppers experiences – stirring our feelings for the best worth attainable. However this mannequin has been as badly hit as any sector by the pandemic. Fittingly, the Chuck E. Cheese restaurant chain is one high-profile casualty, blaming the pandemic for getting into Chapter 11 chapter over the summer season.

It will be straightforward to suppose that demand for experiences will merely return subsequent yr or the yr after, however I’m not satisfied. As an alternative, one thing barely totally different could also be rising.

Are you skilled?

Previous to 2020, the expertise financial system gave the impression to be booming. Within the US, gross sales of spectator occasions, amusement parks, eating places and travelling grew a lot sooner through the 2010s than these of products, whereas the UK was equally profitable on this respect. Folks spent generously to make recollections – witness the latest development for attending festivals primarily based round favorite TV exhibits akin to Associates.

Millennials appeared to significantly prioritise memorable experiences over shopping for issues, documenting all of it through social media. However then, in fact, got here COVID-19. A July report from PwC discovered that lodging and meals had been the worst hit service sectors within the UK, adopted by arts, leisure and recreation.

Memorable experiences are about triggering sensations. Folks keep in mind feeling excited by an adrenaline rush, akin to driving a rollercoaster. For instance, analysis on theme parks means that to achieve success, they have to heighten the joys that guests count on.

Get essentially the most coast. Jacob Lund

Equally, experiences depend on being shared with others. Sharing an exercise intensifies the expertise. Those that participate in cosplay, for instance,, the place contributors placed on costumes and act out character components, improve their pastime by swapping recommendation and giving mutual assist.

Clearly, pursuing and sharing such encounters has been troublesome beneath COVID-19 restrictions. This has hit the likes of tourism, hospitality, occasions, increased training, theatres and live shows.

The restrictions will presumably carry sooner or later, however a deeper underlying problem for the expertise financial system is definitely not associated to the pandemic – though COVID-19 might speed up the transformation.

To briefly revisit Chuck E. Cheese, its troubles predate COVID-19. Commentators advised that while the model appealed to kids, it was not thrilling sufficient for folks. But the whole fast-dining sector has been struggling since 2016, when a number of chains such because the UK’s Ed’s Simple Diner entered administration.

Hey dad and mom, what’s to not like? Lester Balajadia

Bodily retail has additionally been in long-term decline. Procuring malls and excessive streets are areas for staging experiences. The most effective ones placed on a present, deliver individuals collectively, excite and entertain. But individuals are seemingly much less and fewer . Shuttered manufacturers and empty shops have gotten commonplace.

Have a look at me

A extra elementary change within the financial system could also be underway. As an alternative of experiences, worth for in the present day’s shoppers more and more comes from having an viewers: they like to draw consideration.

My analysis on vacationers has discovered that some individuals go on vacation to be checked out. They’ll spend important quantities on journey that helps them acquire consideration. Sporting over-the-top outfits, for instance, they need native individuals to note them. Moderately than attempt to mix in, in quest of an genuine expertise, I discovered vacationers doing their greatest to face out.

It could be time so as to add a brand new layer to Pine and Gilmore’s development of financial growth, wherein worth is added by facilitating performances. Folks at the moment are prepared to pay for items, providers and experiences that assist their gaining of consideration.

This follows 20 years of actuality tv, social media, information analytics and microcelebrity. Dwelling beneath fixed commentary is the brand new regular. Turning into an internet influencer is the brand new aspirational. On-line likes appear to be addictive and behavior altering.

It’s subsequently unsurprising that we are going to hunt down issues which assist our on-line performances. Quick-growing sectors present alternatives for shoppers to boost their look, akin to tattoo parlours or health. In the meantime, the outlet for all of those performances, social media, grows quickly.

Simply as commodities, items and providers had been considerably pushed apart by the rise of experiences, so too experiences at the moment are being displaced by performances. It doesn’t imply the top of the expertise financial system; extra a rebalancing in the direction of supporting the performances that customers more and more prioritise.

‘I’m nothing with out an viewers.’ Mor Shani, CC BY-SA

Etsy could also be an instance. This digital market has simply made it into the S&P 500 inventory index. Etsy provides a spot to not simply buy crafts, but additionally to arrange store oneself. Craft, which demonstrates each talent and self-expression, could be a efficiency. Etsy can assist shoppers to craft and show who these individuals are as a lot as their macramé bracelets.

Pine and Gilmore famous that the transition from promoting providers to promoting experiences could be troublesome for established firms to undertake and climate. The transition from promoting experiences to supporting performances will probably be troublesome too, significantly because of COVID-19. However companies that discover a option to capitalise on this 21st-century shift would possibly emerge extra strongly than their rivals.

Brendan Canavan doesn’t work for, seek the advice of, personal shares in or obtain funding from any firm or organisation that will profit from this text, and has disclosed no related affiliations past their tutorial appointment.

from Growth News https://growthnews.in/the-experience-economy-will-not-fully-recover-consumers-will-pay-to-perform-in-future-instead/ via https://growthnews.in

#Growth News

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