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xamag-draws · 2 months

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BBR thoughts 2024

Since I mentioned that I finally dusted off an old project of mine and was ruminating on how I'd remake it, I thought I'd elaborate a little, now that I've solidified some concepts. For funsies

This is gonna be a bit of a long and unfocused one, but I don't share my personal thoughts here often, especially the stuff about my projects I always marinate in. And for once it's something that people have existing context for, so hey why not

So for anyone who hasn't been following me for a gajillion years, The Black Brick Road of OZ was a webcomic that I posted around 2013-2015, back when I was in highschool going on college (which is kinda crazy to think about). It was sort of a darker twist on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, although I definitely leaned a lot more into dark humor more than anything in those first few chapters

I don't think it's available to read anywhere anymore, and I know people have been asking me about it. So here's the full proper archive of BBR, as full as it can be with deceased Flash

I totally used it as an excuse to shamelessly and self-indulgently experiment. It had interactive pages and GIFs and was wayyy too overproduced for what I could handle or what was necessary, but I did have great fun making it while it lasted

Unfortunately, that excess and the fact that I've changed too much as a person by the time I was in college is what ultimately killed it. The direction I wanted to go in was practically unrecognizable from the original idea started back in 2011, so there were many old hold-ups that I felt ruined it

At the time I kinda wished I could start/rewrite it all over, but considering that I pretty much had the entire script done at that point, it felt like a pointless sisyphean task. So I just put it on a shelf and didn't look back for about 8 years, because I didn't know what else to do

Now to be fair, the nature of my art has always been iterative and cyclical; when I feel like my creative juices have run dry I prefer to leave a project to marinate and move on to something else; cycle through other old things and bring in new skills and perspectives into the mix when I'm ready again. Not very productive, but it is what makes me happy to work on my OCs; I'm doomed to hit a wall with them eventually and I need some time to be able to find a new direction

So that said, I'm glad that BBR was left to marinate for that long. I don't think I was prepared, emotionally or intellectually, to tackle it again until now. The Wizard of Oz book (and the entire series of them, really) has always been near and dear to my heart, but there's a lot of context around it that I'm only unpacking now that I'm older

I think I always inherently feel negatively about the stuff I've made in the past, like its faults always jump out to me more than the positives, especially the more time passes. I've never liked that, and I do really appreciate the kind things people have to say about BBR to this day. The fact that it still can be recognized and remembered is very sweet

When I left it, I already found it "kinda cringe", and that feeling only deepened with years. When I took my first look back at it, asking the question "how would I rewrite it now?", at first I took a very cynical approach, as in "everything would have to be torn down"

But the more I sat on it, the more I found that I still see some merit and charm in the ideas I was putting out; I just didn't know how to execute them at the time (not to pretend that I know what I'm doing now, but I certainly know more at least). Turns out a lot of my old concepts could be changed substantially with just a few small tweaks. So I'd say that's a nicer way to think about my previous work

If you haven't seen yet, I posted a first draft of my new designs for some of the characters (the main group, the Goods and the Wickeds). Definitely subject to change, but more or less how I see them now

I'm just playing with these concepts; by no means would I attempt to remake BBR right this moment. Call it a pipe dream among my other ones. But just for fun, this is the direction I'd like to take:

Nowadays I'd probably make it a visual novel, with more emphasis on the visual part than the novel because I'm no English prose writer by any means. It'd still let me play a little with the interactivity while helping cut some corners on the drawing part (only some, I imagine I'd go hog wild anyway)

I've always intended for some events inspired by the sequel books to take place in BBR's past. Stuff like Jinjur's revolt or Ozma's rule preceeds the main events here. So I think it would be fun to follow the past of a few key characters alongside the main story. One chapter focusing on the present quest to see the Wizard, then one focusing on the past events (that are maybe reflective thematically); rinse and repeat

I'm also sticking a little closer to the original text in some regards. Not everything that I enjoy from the books would be translated here, it's still just a very loose fantasy on the material; but I'd like to be closer in spirit at least

I like mature, wise and powerful Glinda, I like kind and vulnerable Tin Man, I like the Wizard being a pathetic yet loveable liar, so I'm sprinkling in more of that for example

I'd like to keep some whimsy, but make it more grounded and a bit more serious to be coherent in tone. I think the original TWWOOZ book was a more realistic fantasy in some ways, even for the standards of the time; I like its simple but vivid tactile descriptions and details like bringing attention that Dorothy needed to eat and sleep

I find it funny that Baum specifically was averse to making his books scary or unpleasant, finding that unnecessary for telling a compelling kids story, but they still can get pretty dark and disturbing, at least for our modern sensibilities. Let's just say that I intend to use the Evoldo and Chopfyt storylines for my purposes. In that way, I feel like a "darker" Wizard of Oz retelling can still mostly be tonally in line with the original and balance it with enough heart and occasional humor

I slowly grew to appreciate the quaint old-timey quality of the original series, as well. The first book is both timeless and very much a product of the 1900s. Originally I tried to give it a little modern or at least anachronistic spin, but it was moreso because it's what I knew best, so these days I'd rather intentionally lean into the time period. Still not fully historically accurate by any means, but at least directly acknowledging the influence

The events of the story span across 40 years of these characters' lives, so I'm drawing inspiration from the entire so-called La Belle Epoque: the time period around 1880s-1920s. Basically I'm cooking, and my soup is old Victorian fashion morphing into Edwardian fashion and slowly inching towards flappers

Some new Dolly outfits

Lots of crazy things, political changes and innovations were happening at the turn of the century, which I think is noted and reflected by Baum in the books as well; the character of Tik-Tok might not blow any minds now, but he was one of the first robot characters in literature at that point; and don't even get me started on Jinjur, etc. Plenty of really interesting stuff one could lightly ponder in an Oz adaptation these days

Aesthetically, art nouveau has always been a big artistic influence for me, and it'd definitely be its time to shine here. John R. Neill's illustrations of the Oz books often keep me company as well. Nouveau architecture in particular fits that fairytale whimsy extremely well imo

I'd allow myself a little bit of art deco here and there, but ultimately its intimidating geometrical splendor is an antithetical to the flowery nature of nouveau and I associate it with a completely different era. Definitely fitting some characters like my Wicked Witch of the West, but shouldn't be overused

One of my main problems with the original BBR was that eventually I lost track of what it was even about; and the original ending felt too mean and unfulfilling to be worth it. Now I'd like to stick to the theme of home and family as my main theme, but in a different, more bittersweet way than in the book

An interesting connection I made is that a lot of my aforementioned older key characters (the Witches, Jinjur, the Nome King, etc) all came from the same reformatory as kids, that's how they know each other. In my recent research I learned that in those reformatories it was usually frowned upon to release the children back to the families, which were seen as the original corrupting influence regardless of the circumstance. The reformatory did everything in its power to cut that connection and make itself the only family those wayward kids were supposed to know and love. That's an unexpected tie into the theme of home that I'd like to explore as well

So yeah that's the current state of it. I have a bunch of outfit concepts I'm slowly cooking, although I'm now sure whether I'd post them... But I do miss these funny guys, and I'm glad some people still do as well :)

#my art #xam rambles #the black brick road of oz #long post #ohsees tag

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neil-gaiman · 9 months

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Hello Neil, how are you?

You get a lot of asks about how therapeutic good omens is for the queer community, and I thought you should know there is another therapeutic effect for this show and this fandom. I'm sure I'm not the only one feeling like this and I hope I will be able to explain it in a way that will do justice to the point I'm trying to make (English is not my native language).

So to the point - good omens have helped me significantly with my eating disorders and body image problems. I'm here lurking in fandoms for at least 15 years, most of them fantasy and comics related. And almost always the main characters are young, very fit with perfect bodies, whether in movies and TV or fanfiction. For years I have struggled with not being able to fit my body to the beauty standards of society and western culture. I don't want to trigger anyone so I won't elaborate, but I did everything I could and it never was enough. Therapy was very important and got me to the point I don't hurt myself anymore, but my mind still couldn't believe a person who looks like me can be attractive or romantically lovable. Then I got to know the good omens fandom. Where you chose to show characters that doesn't see food as the enemy or the pleasure from it as ugly or wrong. That can have love and support and being comfortable with themselves regardless of any 'gut' they 'need' to lose. And it continued and magnified in season 2, with your plot and casting choices. But also the fandom of good omens have helped immensely to enable the change in my perspective about myself. The way people talk and write about these characters and their relationships allows me to feel better about myself. It's amazing how reading stories about different types of bodies being accepted and considered as beautiful can make the reader feel more appreciative and even learn to love their own body. I wish I could see more of it on mainstream tv, movies and books.

So thank you neil and thanks to this entire community, for helping me learn how to accept, love and treat myself better.

I'm so very glad.

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mayullla · 1 year

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Title: Nahida's dream and plushies

Character(s): Nahida and most of the Sumeru characters (Genshin Impact)

Summary: In her dream, she saw a lady, someone she recognized but didn't remember who till she woke up, and right beside her were plushies waiting to be taken to their look a like

Warnings/tags: Fem!reader (but doesn't appear here), sagau as in cult au/god au, no romance just mainly fluff!

Klee and the little plushies Qiqi's plushie delivery Sayu's plushie mission Nahida's dream and plushies (you are here!)

Nahida was a little bit in a daze. Her mind was elsewhere as she looked at the dolls in front of her. Small dolls made out of felt and wool. They all looked familiar to her, and she would have cooed at how cute they were, yet her mind could not help but think about that lady in her dream.

She looked like someone she knew... that aura of comfort and kindness that surround her wasn't like those old grannies who gave kids candies kind of gentle but something more eternal, more powerful than that. It would be hard to compare the power she had to the archons cause you and they were so different... so far apart.

This supposes elemental power... colorless but moldable and changing. Even archons were limited to their own element and weren't limitless, the Geo archon was strong, and he could command meteorites to fall into Teyvat and build high mountains. But he could not command the sea to flood the world. She herself even as an archon wasn't able to do much in the face of many who didn't want her back once.

"What are you looking so gloomy at." Nahida snapped out of her thoughts when she heard a cold, harsh yet familiar voice speaking to her. Looking to the side, she saw that huge hat of a certain someone she knew. "Wanderer." Nahida smiled at him, moving to face him. "I was looking at these cute dolls. Don't they remind you of some people?" Nahida giggled, knowing full well that he was familiar with some of them.

Wanderer raised an eyebrow at the many dolls that were placed on a table at the side of the room. Small plushies with simplified designs of people he knew. Rather than cute...

"They look creepy rather than cute." Wanderer crossed his arms as he narrowed his eyes.

"Do not say that. What if you hurt the person who made them." Nahida shook her head sighing. "Then they shouldn't have made such creepy things. What are they, a stalker?" Wanderer sarcastically replied.

"She is not a stalker... rather, she is someone we know... and wish to see. She made these just for us." Nahida replied. Looking back at the dolls walking towards it, she reached out for a small plushie from the bunch and handed it to the Wanderer. "Here. This is for you."

"Hmmm? I didn't know that there was another archon." Wanderer looked at the doll that looked just like him with the hair and clothes to the pout with a suspicious look. He must have noticed the white elemental aura surrounding it, but as Nahida continued to hold it out for him. Grabbing the doll, he took a closer look at it.

"She isn't an archon, someone far greater than that, actually..." Nahida replied to the Wanderer in a serious tone but didn't elaborate. Instead, she looked back at the plushies. "Wanderer, can you help me hand out these plushies. She had asked my help to give them out."

"Do it yourself. You don't really need my help with something like this. You are probably using this as an excuse for me to interact with more people." Wanderer huffed in annoyance, turning to leave. "If you don't need me, I will be heading out then."

"Hehe.. you caught me." Nahida laughed and let Wanderer head out. She, too, was busy with this after all. In her mind, she stored the memory of the Wanderer holding on to his plushie in one hand, the thoughtful looked he gave it when he thought she wasn't looking. She knew that he would not throw it away.

Storing them in a bag, she headed out of the room she started to search.

And the first person she found was Collie!

Collie was flustered when the dendro archon walked up to her as she had just come to the city with Tighnari as he had an appointment with his friends. She followed along as wanted to see the place again and buy some stuff that she could only get here.

She didn't think she would run into the dendro archon, much less suddenly be given a doll. "Is this for me?" Collie asked, taking the doll and holding it as if it would break by a slight touch. She heard from her friend Amber that she had received a doll from a mysterious lady and that it was the cutest thing ever. And it really was cute when Collie saw a small doodle of it she thought of getting one for herself.

She didn't expect she would be receiving one from the dendro archon! The both of them soon parted ways, and Collie thought of what she would tell Amber later on in her letter. Her little doll also had a small cat plush connected to it!

The next person Nahida found was Nilou, who was street performing in the middle of city hall. Her dance was so graceful and lovely Nahida didn't want to bother and instead watched till it ended, clapping when it had finished. Nilou greeted the Dendro archon with respect, happy that her archon made a visit and watched her dance.

Nahida told her that the dance was so pretty and gifted her the plush. Surprised, Nilou asked her if she was the one who made it, but Nahida shook her head, telling her that it was from a special someone.

The fans were jealous of how much Nilou treasured the doll, while others couldn't help but smile. After all, it was an honor to receive something given by the dendro archon, and they were proud of Nilous.

Next, Nahida found Cyno, who was in the middle of a TCG match. She watched him conquer the match after struggling in the first few rounds. "It is an honor that the dendro archon watched my match." Cryo raved on about his journey to win this match, and as a congratulation, Nahida gave him a little plush. "I shall treasure and protect this till my dying breath."

"Please, you don't have to go that far," Nahida replied with a worried smile. Tho it made her a little happy that he would treasure the plushie this much.

Next, she found Kaveh speaking with Dori, something about a dept, but before Nahida could get more information (not that she was trying to eavesdrop), they stopped as they had noticed her.

"My do what do I owe the Dendro archon the pleasure of visiting the Palace of Alcazarzaray. Could you be looking for something? Fabrics? Spice? Or something rare? I have it all!" Dori said, couldn't be able to contain her excitement at the idea of the dendro archon becoming her dear customer.

Kaveh was slightly more flustered but quickly composed himself and respectfully asked why she was here and if she was looking for something or someone.

"I am here to find you two." Nahida smiled and showed them two plushies that looked just like them. "They are a gift from a certain someone!" The two were surprised at the dolls, accepting them from her.

Both had different reactions.

On one hand, Kaveh had a more touched expression asking Nahida if he could know who made this lovely handmade plushie of him and his bag and that he wanted to give back, while Dori was more materialistic having come up with "a brilliant idea!" Raising her plushie with a purple small genie plush jingling at the movement to the sky, her eyes twinkling at the thought of potential mora~!

Nahida could only smile, her face hinting that the maker doesn't want to be known. Kaveh, knowing that he could not do anything here, could not help but sigh but stated that if this person were to ever need any help that he could possibly give, feel free to ask. (Dori was disappointed that she would not hire the person who made these plushies.)

The next she found was Candace and Dehya at the desert village, the two catching up after fighting some treasure hoarders trying to steal from the village. "Ah, it is the dendro archon Nahida! It has been a while!"

"Welcome to Aaru village, dendro archon."

Giving them their plush, both of them found the plushies absolutely adorable and asked the person who made them if they ever feel comfortable to come and visit them one time. Candace would gladly welcome them to the village while Dehya offered a small shopping spree as she knew all the trends and shops or if they ever needed a bodyguard one day just call her.

The last two girls, Faruzan and Layla, were found at the academy as both of them traded notes that were of interest but also some chit-chat. The two were surprised when they found out that the dendro archon was looking for them as one of the scholars frantically searched for them told them so.

"This is so cute. It even has twirly whirly my shroom buddy beside it.... I miss them." "This doll is very cute. You could see the hard work and effort placed into making each and every single stitch. Send the person who made them my thanks. I would do it myself, but it seems that they don't want to be known." "Me too! I think with this I could do better in my essay that I need to finish... yawn"

The last two people she needed to look for were Tighnari and Al Haitham and soon found them sitting at the cafe along with Kaveh and Cyno. In Al Haitham's hand was Kaveh plush while one Tighnari's was Cyno both examine it.

Cyno was going on and on about the card game he won in the presence of the dendro archon and that it was an honor to win in her presence as Tighnari told him to stop telling the same story for the third time now. "We get it. We know that you will hand down this plushie as a family heirloom!"

"There is something about these dolls that is not right...." Al Haitham narrowed his eyes at Kaveh's dolls. He definitely knew that something was up with these. "They are given by the dendro archon herself. Of course, they are unique! Gah, you are always suspicious of everything." Kaveh stated frustratedly. "Do you ever know how to relax and just appreciate the work that went into making this!"

"If you would just stop and look a little harder, maybe you would notice that something is odd about them." Al Haitham didn't look up at Kaveh. These dolls in the end weren't gifts from the dendro archon but someone who is probably of higher rank than an archon to be able to make the archon do such work.

"Al Haitham is correct about them being unique. You would never find these dolls somewhere else, even if you searched the whole Teyvat." Nahida cut in, walking towards them with a smile on her face. Everyone looked at Nahida, who stopped beside them, Al Haitham and Tighnari greeted her as they didn't see her beforehand like the other two boys had.

"These are for you!" Nahida giggled, handing Tighnari and Al Haitham their own plushies both thanking her for them. "What do you mean by unique?" Tighnari asked curiously, his tail swishing a little faster as he looked at his own doll. He saw Collie's one and wondered if he could get one, too. Lightly tugging the doll's ear long as his own, he looked at Nahida again.

"They are from someone special, someone who watches over us all." Nahida stated, her eyes closing as she remembered the lady she met in her dream, the little conversation that she and you had.

She didn't realize who you were nor why she thought that you were so familiar to her back then inside the dream she only realize who you were when she woke up and saw the plushies on the side of her and a familiar white elemental magic surrounding them.

Returning back to her room, she saw a doll that looked exactly like her surrounded by Aranara plushies. Smiling at the doll, she hugged hers and hoped that one day she would actually see you in person and not in a dream.

Note: If you find any mistakes here please tell me! Anyway, phew part 4 of the series is over! I know that Genshin has released characters outside of Sumeru that are not included here in the series yet but I plan on saving it for a later date when more characters for the past regions show up!

Another note for taglist: The tag list will be open later when Fontaine is somewhat finished and most characters are already out which would probably take a longggg time. But for now, the taglist will be closed. If anybody does not want to be tagged later tell me so that I can remove you from the list.

Taglist: @victoria1676 @muse-hub @simpaghettits @patimiet @mrmoneymoney @tsubasa10126-unwinds @akenofujihara @landofstarwind @imyme20 @strawberrgyuu @frostines-blog @barbaraphoetathoes @zyphyrr @that-emo-elf @itsyacuhjake @glue-bottle @tiffthescales @eliciana @the-real-fandom-person @pimacolada-lulu @mei-eishi @scalyalpaca @atsukawolfcat @riiriin @pale-value @dreamoffireflies06 @3noa3 @lwqfhp @mei-simp @silentterri @mishapotato @oyayablog @esthelily @tikitsune @shizunxie @jennyzyn @azelalxforfun @myhandshurts @wolfyzey18 @karma-gisa @chaoticfivesworld

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mikuyuuss · 26 days

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I love that Mitsuri is a little silly and stupid at times, shes a girlboss AND a girlfailure to me <3 but apparently there are some people that genuinely dislike her for those things? I understand Mitsuri's character isn't for everyone, BUT WAIT, HEAR ME OUT.

I've always had this headcanon that Mitsuri had a somewhat sheltered childhood growing up, since In the Rengoku Gaiden, she randomly got discriminated by a stranger for her hair color, so I can only imagine that she probably got that on a daily basis.

I'm sure Mitsuri's parents don't enjoy seeing their eldest daughter bring harassed, so perhaps they might have coddled her a bit. Maybe that could explain why Mitsuri comes off as childish, innocent or """"stupid"""" as many people would say. For me, it's more like her personality just screams "sheltered kid", through no fault of her own tho.

(this is taken from the second fanbook, translated by @/violetheart08)

The fact that she's happy to have friends at the corps, suggests to me that she probably didn't have many friends growing up, she most likely got bullied too, and if that's the case, it's understandable that she can come across as overly friendly and excitable whenever she's befriending new people.

She's actually socially awkward like Giyuu, but just on the opposite end of the spectrum lol, that's why I love them both.

But still, it's not that Mitsuri is straight up incompetent. She's very creative and thinks outside of the box with her breathing style. She also adapts pretty well in high stress situations, we saw this in swordsmith arc, but also we see this very clearly in the Rengoku Gaiden too.

The fact that it only took her two years to become a hashira shows that she has a level of discipline to attain that title. Not only did Rengoku trained her well, this is also no feat that a truly "stupid" person can achieve.

The reason why I have this particular headcanon about Mitsuri is because some families do put A LOT of importance on reputation, especially asian families, when their kids start showing traits that would make them "different" they tend to "hide" the kids in order to protect their reputation so they won't lose their chances at marriage.

(Though I'm not saying all asian families are like this. This is mostly just based on my personal experience that I won't elaborate further)

It reminded me of this scene, when Mitsuri's family suggested that she can just stay with them forever when she was worried that she won't be able to find someone. I love Mitsuri's parents and they are VERY GREAT for their time, but also this is really relatable to me personally :(

And given how marriage was such a big deal in Taisho era, I imagine that it was a mixture of that and the pressure to conform and protect their daughter at the same time that led me to imagine that Mitsuri probably had a sheltered lifestyle.

And you know it's possible that I'm wrong about all of these lmao, but just the fact that she has a comparably normal childhood is a good enough reason as to why she's more positive and naive compared to her peers. I know this is all just a headcanon, but I do wish people can be a bit more considerate towards Mitsuri before hating on her for being "loud" "stupid" and "annoying"

#my post #me speaks #kny #demon slayer #kimetsu no yaiba #kny meta #meta #ish #mitsuri kanroji #kanroji mitsuri #sincerely a former sheltered kid who grew up with an even more sheltered sibling #Got called dumb and stupid more than once had trouble making friends and had to learn social skills the hard way #mitsuris relatability is slept on #me thinks #I just dont see her personality as some generic ditzy anime girl 101 #for me it kinda makes sense for her to be that way given the setting and her background

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niqhtlord01 · 2 months

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Humans are weird: Video Games Part 11

Alien: So what is this one about? Human: Vampires in the wild west. Alien: Sounds interesting. Human: You’d think so, but when the main characters are as animated as the undead monsters they fight it’s pretty hard to take them seriously. Alien: From your own admission they are fighting vampire cowboys…..how serious were you expecting it to be? Human: ……. Touché. ---------------------

Alien: What is “The Quarry”? Human: Murder porn and sadness. Alien: ……………… ------------------------

Alien: “Boltgun”? Human: A man too angry to die because of what a sassy bitch he is. Alien: How does being sassy make you avoid death? Human: Because even death is afraid of being mocked so hard. ---------------------

Alien: Why would anyone want to play an aquatic predator? Human: You ever just look at someone and wonder what they’d taste like? Alien: I believe that is called cannibalism. Human: Not unless you’re a giant fish. ---------------------

Alien: Why does the tiny creature have a machine gun? Human: To stop you from eating it. Alien: Most effective. ---------------------

Alien: I heard this one is a popular game. Human: Eh, I guess. Alien: What do you mean “eh”? Alien: There have been five of them made. Human: It’s mostly made for people that like to watch a slow mo shot of a bullet going through a man’s balls over and over. Alien: What sadistic beings are you?!? Human: You should let me tell you about Meat Boy sometime for more context. ---------------------

Alien: This one looks cute. Alien: It’s about a brother in sister in your primitive era. Human: And a shit load of rats. Alien: What? Human: Yeah, you can make the rats devour a man whole as he screams and begs for his life. Alien: I…..but…..just….why? ----------------------

Alien: Why on florps name would someone want to play a game about manual labor? Alien: is not the point of your entertainment games to seek enjoyment? Human: Some people feel pleasure from a job well done. Alien: That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard. Human: Didn’t your people worship a rock a couple centuries back because when the light hit it the thing sparkled? Alien: ………touché. -------------------------

Alien: I wish to escape this bunker. Human: You just need to find some dynamite and a plunger to trigger it. Alien: Sounds easy enough. Human: And avoid the ancient giant rat god stalking the halls of the bunker. Alien: What is with your people and rats?!!?!?!? ----------------------

Alien: What is this “Crackdown 3” about? Human: A cops fantasy about how they view themselves. Alien: How so? Human: They see themselves fighting crime when more often they help prop up a totalitarian regime. Alien: Did not the second one have monsters in it? Human: That’s how they see poor people. Alien: Holy gargle…..that’s messed up. --------------------

Alien: What is this one? Human: Designing overly elaborate death machines to murder guys in metal suits with swords. Alien: Is that not what we did to your people during the third age of your species? Human: Come again? ------------------

Alien: Is this game about zombies? Human: More a social experiment. Alien: How so? Human: It has no set rules or goal in a zombie apocalypse, but more often you find people choosing the worst things to do to each other for shits and giggles. Alien: It can’t be all that bad. Human: I watched a group of high level players capture a new player, strip them of their gear, and force them to drink bleach under pain of death for a meme. Alien: ……………….. ----------------------

Human: How’s the new game goin- Alien: *Grabs human friend and sprays them with foam Alien: Good…you’re not one of them. Human: spits out foam One of what? Alien: A shape shifter! Alien: They were everywhere on the station and that made me wonder if those bastards are here in the home as well! Human: Wouldn’t say they’re all bastards. Table: Yeah, some of us are actually nice fellows. *Alien and Human both scream*

#humans are space oddities #humans are insane #humans are weird #humans are space orcs #scifi #funny #niqhtlord01 #video games

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what-eats-owls · 3 months

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Show vs Tell, Or: Please Stop Making Things Difficult for Yourself

I said a while ago that I'd write a brief essay about the most misused craft advice in writing once I wrote 10k words, and for once I actually held myself to that! So now, I'm here to tell you about Show vs Tell, or why people make it more complicated than it needs to be.

First, a basic primer for anyone who hasn't heard this term before: "Show vs Tell"/"Showing vs Telling" refers to "showing" the audience information instead of "telling" it to them. You may be thinking, gosh, that sounds unspecific to the point of being readily misapplied, and you would certainly be right! Lots of folks throw it around without fully grasping what it means, how to use it, or when it doesn't actually apply. And I'd really like everyone to stop making it harder on themselves when there's a very straightforward way to conceptualize it.

So for starters, Chuck Palahniuk has an old but good essay about eliminating "thought" verbs from prose that holds the hell up. But I'm going to tell you an even simpler way to conceptualize the difference between showing and telling:

Eliminate the inner thoughts entirely.

Ask yourself, if my narrator's interior monologue was inaccessible to the audience, how would I convey the same information—literally showing it?

Forget for a moment that your medium is the word, and imagine you only have dialogue and visuals. If this was taking place on the screen or in a graphic novel, how would you convey that this character has a crush on someone in their class? That they're hotheaded? That they're struggling with a decision?

Here's a perfect example of this from the opening scene of Howl's Moving Castle.

Devoid of context, we have a girl trying on a hat in a mirror, and also trying on a fake smile. Then her expression sours and she pulls the hat down over her face until we can only see her frown. She's wearing a plain dress and the hat is simple, despite the elaborate hats and ornaments on display around her.

You don't have to know anything about this character to understand what's being conveyed in this moment: This girl is deeply uncomfortable with trying to be pretty and flirty, but in the safety of privacy she wants that, even though she feels inept and self-conscious about it. She's in this world, but she's not part of it. Even brushing up against it for a moment makes her shut down and reject it with hostility.

More importantly, it's all communicated with a simple gesture and design choices. Not by Sophie thinking to herself, I wish someone would take me dancing—no I don't! I work too hard to have time for dancing!

That's showing. And it's more resonant, because we've all felt silly trying something on in a mirror! Or, say, if you want to show a character has a crush, having them get flustered and laughing too loud. Or showing that they're a hothead by having them snap at a simple disagreement, etc. etc.

This also extends to worldbuilding, dialogue, and stakes.

Worldbuilding: If your story is set in a town run by a crooked sheriff, you could have the narrator say "everyone knows Sheriff Smith is squeezing the shops for bribes." Or the sheriff can stop the narrator for "smelling like weed" while the sheriff's drunken son speeds by, about to total his third BMW.

Dialogue: If your character is angry, they can say "I'm furious." Or they can slam dishes in the sink and insist "I'm not angry" while openly crying. They can snap "I'm not discussing this again." They can demand "What is he doing here?"

Stakes: You can have an all-seeing oracle say "If you do not return the Mystic Orb to the Sunlight Altar by the solstice, the world will plunge forever into darkness." (And as we'll get into it below, sometimes you actually need that.) You can also have intermittent but increasing periods of total darkness occurring as the party travels to the Sunlight Altar. You can have the Mystic Orb start cracking the longer it takes, and the sun getting a little dimmer with every fracture. You can have people's shadows growing bigger and bigger and acting autonomously.

But showing isn't the end-all-be-all; telling absolutely has a place. Sometimes it's better to quickly and plainly state information and move on, such as a little earlier in the scene, when the other hat shop girls have spotted Howl's castle:

"Look, it's Howl's castle!"

"I've never seen it so close!"

“Do you think Howl will go into town?”

“He’s gone!”

“No, he’s just hiding in the fog from those planes.”

“Did you hear what happened to that girl, Martha, in South Haven? They say Howl has torn her heart out.”

“Now I’m too scared to go out!”

“Don’t worry. He only preys on pretty girls.”

This tells us some stuff directly: Who owns the castle we see in the first few seconds, that he's hiding from soldiers, that he has a reputation for preying on beautiful girls. We can infer also that he's a bit of a coward, he stays away from civilization, and that his reputation for cruelty has spread over multiple regions.

This happens so quickly, and it's couched in enough character between the teasing and the gossip, that it doesn't stand out as capital-t-Telling. That's exactly what expository dialogue should do. "Showing" us all that information would take a lot of screen time that can be saved in ten seconds of dialogue.

It's also not just about saving time; it's setting up an image that Howl initially fulfills when he helps Sophie escape the soldiers... only to be punctured when she actually goes to his castle and sees the real Howl. Telling is good for setting expectations that you know will be subverted later.

So yeah, tl;dr: If you're tied up in knots about "am I showing?? am I telling??" just ask yourself how you'd convey the same information in a movie or graphic novel, without access to interior monologue, and evaluate if that'd be better. Most of the time the answer is yes, but not always!

#show vs tell #I would like to put it on a shelf out of reach

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calware · 6 months

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thoughts and feelings about equius ?

he is very interesting to me.... like i can SEE HIS POTENTIAL. if he had the chance at growing up he could really change and grow to be a better and mature person......... but alas he died as a cringe 13 year old 💔 so that opportunity never even came to pass. i do think his character does a really interesting job at showing how a cruel society affects the people living in it (even if it's wildly uncomfortable at times)... i often i see narratives that are like "ok well all legal minors in dystopian settings are all Normal and Good and then at ~some point~ they turn into Evil Adults" but i think the way characters like equius are presented is way more interesting and engaging

i'm going to be real. i think the premise of a 13 year old character exploring and expressing their sexuality in both healthy and unhealthy ways is great and important to write about... when you are normal about it. andrew hussie loves doing this thing where she is simultaneously serious about something while also having it be an elaborate joke, and for the most part it works. i do not think it works when he does it with equius; it just makes me uncomfortable 🫡

equius and vriska are like sisters

wish people knew how to draw him looking 13 years old (i say as i have only drawn him once, and it was so stylized it doesn't even count)

this is a problem many characters have (cough jake cough gamzee cough jane) but i also wish people were able to both see him as the 13 year old whose character flaws are largely a result of growing up on that nightmare planet who had the capacity for kindness and even growth if he got the chance... while also accepting he was a bigot and a creep who treated others horribly. nuance? never heard of her....

i love his relationship with nepeta. they are so funny and nice to each other in their own weird and special way

#also. hrt might not be able to fix her... but it wouldn't make things worse either 👍#ask #anonymous

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aethelwyneleigh27 · 11 months

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Ghostface! Ellie Williams and Ghostface! Abby Anderson with a chubby fem s/o

+ featuring some slight yandere and explicit themes (these are dating headcanons to specify)

A/n: Hi again lovelies! I didn't expect the last one to blow up so quickly so I'm back to writing, honestly every note, like and reblog encourages me to do more and do better so thank you for that. I honestly didn't expect to write something a bit gory after writing mostly fluff so this'll be interesting. Reminder English is not my first language and I'm trying my best, I hope you enjoy:)

I'll possibly add more in the future if I have ideas :3

Meet my cousin y'all: @rabblebite

Disclaimers/Warnings: Slight yandere like behavior???, violence, gore, knife kink, gun kink, stalking, suggestive themes and language. Characters may be a bit OOC (but you already know this, it's ghostface)(the chubby part is just a little add on so there's actually not that many headcanons regarding that)

If you wish to be tagged, please comment that you want to be or follow so that you'll be updated also: Rules for requests

If you don't want to send requests through Tumblr, my Instagram is always an option.

Ellie Williams dating inspired playlist made by me

Ellie Williams

The first time you met Ellie was a bit of a blur. Let me elaborate...

You were new at the school, first day and all that cliche shit. Bell rings, you run to class. You found yourself in a seat next to a girl, auburn hair and freckles. A few times throughout the class you made eye contact and smiled a few times.

What you didn't know was that Ellie was already freaking out, can you really blame her? A pretty girl sits next to her and smiles at her, not only that but you even offered her a mechanical pencil because hers was flimsy and the led kept breaking on her. She thought you completely forgot about the pencil but did you really?

This was the start of her obsession over you.

After that day she stalked you non-stop, she knew everything. She even kept a small journal, writing down what you did and how she felt about it after.

Her sketchbooks were filled with you, aside from a few other things it was mostly you. There's at least 2-3 doodles on each page of either you or your name on her sketchbook.

May or may not have carved your initials on her guitar before you even started dating.

That mechanical pencil you gave her, she kept it, barely even used it after that so she can keep something of yours.

When she managed to get enough courage to talk to you again, she tried giving you the pencil back in guilt but you refused. You told her to keep it and did that woman worship that pencil.

You got invited to her friend group, which are Dina and Jesse and out of all of them, she hang out with you the most.

After a while, Ellie felt confident enough to ask you out and a sigh of relief for her when you said yes.

She has polaroid of you lying around everywhere in her room, you even stuck some on the edge of your mirror and locker so she'd see it.

Your pet names including: princess, bunny, sweet thing and pretty girl.

The night you found out Ellie was Ghostface was the time you were walking at the street just minding your business when you were pulled in an alleyway but some creepy 50 something year old hobo.

You kicked him off of you and tried to run and the man tried to chase after you. Only to have his mouth covered by a white cloth and stabbed in the back. Hastily running, you got pulled back by the black cloaked stranger and before you could scream, she took off her mask.

"Ellie?" You whisper in fear, you saw her drop her knife and hug you.

You were still in shock, after all you just found out your girlfriend killed someone, rather a lot of people.

"[Name]? Are you alright? He didn't touch you anywhere did he?" She asked, seemingly forgetting she was still wearing her ghostface get up. Lucky for you that you kicked him off before anything else happened.

You two talked it out and you understand her motive behind all of the killings however that doesn't take away from the fact that you're terrified of what consequences await her if she was ever to get caught.

Ellie is aware of what might happen when she gets caught so she does everything she can to make sure you are not in any way, shape or form involved if she was caught.

Even if it means for her to forever rot in prison, she'd rather keep you away than endanger you for being a witness or even a suspect.

She heard about you being flirted with and inappropriately touched by some Chad. After a few days he was spotted, gutted open at the school tree hanging by his clothes.

She'd definitely think it's adorable to see you with the ghostface get up, it's specifically tailored to her size so seeing it on you with the trim dragging on the ground makes her thing of like the ghost costumes with just a white blanket and she just thinks you're such an angel, too pure even.

I just can't stop imagining her with a knife kink, though she doesn't actually cut you with it. She loves the way you whimper and squirm when she presses the cold blade on your plush skin.

She gets off on blood, that being said once she's with you and you already know about the killings, she can't just let it slide.

Someone else's blood on your skin makes her feel all sorts of things. (You may or may have engaged in sexual things after her gutting people up)

Clean up after that is a bit of work so there's that.

Seeing you in lingerie and blood would make her lose all self control.

If you were to accidentally kill someone, she would not only help you clean up but she'll also take responsibility for the kill. She made it look like ghostface did it.

If you were to decide to join in the killings, she'd let you but with moderation.

For example she'll let you make the decision on who to kill or strategize the killings. Before you could even suggest someone who wronged you, they're already 6ft under believe me. Ellie easily picks up on how you feel about someone and it's not like you don't tell her.

She'd also let you watch the killings, either hidden or disguised but that's just how far she'll go. She doesn't want you to actually be the one to do the killing cause she's too paranoid you'll do something that'll cause you to get caught.

Abby Anderson

You met at the basketball court while you were sitting at the bleachers because let's be real here, Abby is a total jock and athlete, she seems like she'd be a gym rat too. (Without the red flags of one though)

You were sitting with your friends Dina and Jesse while you guys just catched up since the past week has been hectic, you even went so far as to gossip and think of conspiracies on who has been responsible for the reported killings by the killer they named ghostface. You looked at your phone, looking at the messages when you flinched, almost getting hit by a ball.

You open your eyes shortly to see Abby Anderson, the school's lesbian jock, who by the way is holding the ball that almost hit you. Anderson muttered an apology on behalf of her teammate who mistakenly threw the ball at your direction.

You told her it was fine and that it was and honest mistake when you know damn well you would've been far more upset if that ball actually hit you.

Abby just couldn't stop staring at you, I mean could you blame her? She felt like a knight and shinning armour when she just saved a pretty girl from a potential head injury.

She snapped back to reality when she heard her teammate say "Hey Anderson! Stop flirting with pretty girls and pass that ball back will you" Abby was a bit flustered by that comment because all and all she agreed to it.

On Abby's desk is carved your name and initials, she has gotten detention over it though I don't think the school is aware of how many desks have your name carved on them.

It took a while but Abby finally did ask you out, she approached you while you were taking a few things out of your locker. "So uhh, do you want to go out with me? On a date I mean..." She asked with her hand rubbing her neck, Abby was bracing herself for rejection.

You had to do a bit of a double take because the Abby Anderson is asking you out? You said yes obviously.

May or may not have stalked you before asking you out to find out everything you like to set up the perfect date.

Abby definitely has a polaroid of you both is her locker and gym locker. (There's one in her wallet too 🥺)

Your nicknames are: my cheerleader (because she knows damn well you've been to all her games and was there to cheer her on), baby, babe and pretty girl

You only found out that she's ghostface because she couldn't take it anymore and told you after seeing that you're scared of ghostface potentially threatening your life.

Poor baby was so worried you'd think insane if her after, let's just say she ended up loving you more for accepting the fact and understanding the reason behind the killings. (let's be real here any normal person would but not you)

When you first asked to play a part in the killings, Abby disagreed, no way in hell was she letting her girl be in danger both of the police and whatever else is out there.

She hates the idea of you going to jail more than she hates the idea of getting caught and facing the consequences.

But if you really want to then like Ellie she'd let you but with limitations. You're only ever allowed to watch when you are disguised and she'll let you stab a few every now and then.

Abby with a gun kink, Abby with a gun kink, Abby with a gun kink. Watch her get turn on when you flinch from the clicks whenever she pulls the trigger.

Despite Abby hating horror movies, she sure made a hell of a good killer.

#ellie williams x reader #abby anderson x reader #fluff #x reader #x you #ellie williams headcanons #abby anderson headcanons #tlou abby #tlou ellie #tlou #the last of us fanfiction #ellie williams x chubby reader #abby anderson x plus size reader #lesbian #wlw #ellie williams x plus size reader #ghostface #ghostface au #Aethelwyne Lia writes

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the-writer-arrived · 7 months

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A Wish Within Reach

Synopsis: his current life is something wriothesley had never imagined he could have. however, there are things he yearns oh-so-dearly to have that are still out of reach... or so he thought.

Character: wriothesley.

Warnings: gn!reader; established relationship; hurt & comfort; spoilers about wrio's past and voicelines; nightmares; imagery of death and blood (not reader's or wrio's).

A/N: i am so in love with this man, his 'more about wriothesley: v' hurt me so much, i wish to give him all the love he deserves. i talked with a friend about how wrio probably 'froze' most of the bad memories and thoughts of his past to not affect him so obviously, that's why he can say such worrying things so nonchalantly :'( please be happy for your birthday, my love 🥹

P.S: also, in a lighter note, please feast your eyes with eriimyon's good morning series, you're welcome.

It's dark, very dark. Wriothesley can barely see what's around him.

Where am I?

The air is completely still, as if everything is holding their breath in waiting. Waiting for something to happen.

For something terrible to happen.

Suddenly, a bright light blinds him, followed by a loud sound of something popping too close to his face.

"Happy birthday ••••••!"

Wriothesley's stomach churns. That was the name he had long abandoned. Those were the voices he hadn't heard in years.

Voices he shouldn't be hearing anymore.

Blinking to adjust to the newly lit room, a kitchen foreign and yet so familiar, he settles his stare at the two people he shouldn't be seeing anymore.

"...Is something wrong ••••••?"

"Are you feeling alright, son?"

Son... I'm nobody's son.

The hand reached out to him is slapped away harshly, causing the woman to gasp in shock.

"••••••! How could you do this to your--!"

"SHUT UP! NOT ANOTHER WORD!!"

His voice booms over theirs, filled with hatred. Strangely, it sounded... different. Younger.

He looks to the side and saw a reflection of himself in a mirror: a boy staring back at him, his chest heaving, eyes blown wide with fear and a bloodied knife on his hand.

His attention snaps back to the scene before him, the cake with candles and birthday decorations are a stark contrast to the two dead bodies on the floor.

It's too much, too real, too vivid.

The smell, the scene, the hatred, the fear.

It's suffocating.

"...io! ...rling ..ak ...up!"

Someone please make it stop!

----------

"Wriothesley!"

Blue eyes shoot open, hand grabbing tightly whatever it was reaching for his face in reflex.

"It's okay, Wrio, it's me. I'm not going to hurt you, you're safe now."

The gentle voice manages to ground him, his eyes meeting your concerned expression. His grip relaxes, bringing your hand to cup his cheek to place a kiss inside your palm, an apology.

"...Sorry, did I wake you up, sweetheart?"

"It's fine, I had to go to the bathroom earlier, so I was already up." You observe the way your lover's chest move up and down quickly and the way the hand cupping yours is slightly clammy. "Bad dream?"

"...Yeah." Wriothesley closes his eyes, allowing a beat of silence to hang in the air, before elaborating. "Sigewinne scolded me for drinking too much tea, saying it wasn't healthy, and declared I should only drink her milkshakes for now on. Terrifying, right?"

That is an obvious lie, he knows. Totally unbefitting of someone in his position as the Duke, who is always five steps ahead of anyone. He knows. And he knows that you know he's lying through his teeth.

"Terrifying indeed..." You pull your hand away from his grasp to gently hold it instead, thumb caressing his knuckles. "But it's okay now, I'm here."

But, with you, he isn't the all knowing Duke of the Fortress of Meropide, Lord Incognito of the murky depths or whatever fancy title people give him. He is Wriothesley, a human like any other, who is plagued by nightmares from time to time. And who is blessed to have such a kind lover by his side, that chooses to play along with his weak excuse instead of pressing for answers.

"Say..." Your tone of voice makes him open his eyes again, curious to know what's on your mind. "I suddenly feel like having a cup of tea right now... Would you like to join me?"

"Drinking tea at..." Wriothesley stops, propping himself up with his elbows to glance at the clock on the bedside table. "2 in the morning doesn't sound very healthy, don't you think? The Head Nurse would surely scold us."

"Then we need to keep this a secret from her." You shrug, your smile bright even in the darkness of the bedroom. "Well?"

He doesn't even need to answer out loud, already getting up from the bed and pulling you along towards the kitchen.

----------

"Sweetheart, do we still have that jam you bought the other day?"

"I guess so. It should be in the fridge."

As your beloved always says, tea is best served with something sweet on the side, even if it's very late at night. Surely Sigewinne won't mind, right? ...Not that she'll find out about it.

Wriothesley opens the fridge, hoping to find that delicious jam imported from Sumeru you got recently, only for his eyes to fall onto a cake.

Happy birthday Wriothesley!

Happy birthday ••••••!

The names begin to mix in his vision as he stares at the writing on the cake, those cursed voices from his nightmare coming back to ring inside his ears.

"Did you find it, love?" You ask while you finish pouring the hot water inside the matching mugs (one of a wolf and the other of a bunny) and letting the teabags to brew for a little bit. "Wrio?"

Hearing no response coming from the man, you turn around to find him just standing in front of the fridge as if hypnotized by something, gripping its handle a bit too tightly.

"...Wrio, are you okay?" You carefully place your hand on his arm and you watch as his unfocused eyes return to normal, blinking a few times before glancing at you. "What's wrong?"

"Ah, sorry, I got distracted by this." He points to something, opening the door more so you can see it, and Wriothesley has to cover his mouth to stop a chuckle at how big your eyes become at the sight of the cake.

"Shit, I forgot to cover it?!" He feels slightly bad watching the way you deflate. "It was supposed to be a surprise for later..."

"Hey, it's okay, I still got surprised. I had completely forgotten today was my birthday."

Listen, he swears he said that hoping it would cheer you up a little, that the surprise you had prepared wasn't ruined like you thought. But, seeing you frown further, now directed at him, he starts to think that wasn't a good idea.

Your lover opens his mouth, ready to apologize again, but you beat him to it.

"Since the cat's out of the bag now, I might as well roll with it..." Your expression changes from upset to determined and Wriothesley always marvels at how you can bounce back into action. "I have a few things I wish to tell you. Will you listen to me, Wrio?"

You could ask for the stars in the sky and he would ask how many of them you would want. Listening to you talk is something he'll gladly do forever, if it's up to him.

He sits on one of the kitchen stools, pulling you to stand between his legs and patiently waits for you to begin, his thumbs rubbing your knuckles and offering you a relaxed smile.

With a deep breath, you squeeze his hands to signal you are ready and start speaking the words coming from the depths of your heart.

"...You always says that the less people see of you, the happier their lives are. While I get where you're coming from, that has never worked for me."

"Ever since we first met, I've had this feeling of wanting to see you again. Again, while I understand the air of intimidation helps with being the warden and all that, you don't match the description of a dangerous man people have when talking about the Duke of the Fortress of Meropide... Especially when I catch your gloves and back filled with Melusine stickers~"

That last part makes Wriothesley huff, which, in turn, makes you laugh.

"The more time I spent with you, the more I got to know about the man behind the title of Duke... The more greedy I'd become. I'd wonder when I would have the next opportunity to visit you, to have tea with you, to watch you fight at the Pankration... Until I started to wish to be by your side as more than a friend."

"And when you started to open up to me, allowing me to treat your wounds, telling me about your worries and even about your past, that wish of mine only grew."

"...I know life has been cruel to you, ever since you were little. You went through things no one, much less a child, should experience..."

You pause, feeling a familiar pressure behind your eyes and a lump in your throat. You take another deep breath, your hands moving to your beloved's cheeks.

"But I want you to know that I am so, so glad you were born into this world. I'm so blessed to be by your side."

Wriothesley's breath hitches, his heart beating a bit too hard for comfort and his hands shake a little. In a way, it's the same reaction he had during his nightmare, but the feeling this time is far, very far from being fear.

It's love.

A love so deep and strong for you it's nearly painful. The kind of pain he wishes to feel for the rest of his life.

"...I want to make my wish now. Can we light up a candle on the cake, sweetheart?"

"...Huh?" You blink once, twice, three times... "You want... to make a wish? Now?!"

"What? You're not going to deny the birthday boy, are you?"

It's your turn to huff now. You could never deny him, not when he always does so much for you.

You place the cake on the table before him and observe with great interest as the flame of the candle lighting Wriothesley's handsome face, eyes closed in concentration before blowing out the small flame. He then opens his eyes to look at you.

"Want to know that I wished for?"

Truth to be told, you do. You'd love to know what could it be that he desires so much that he couldn't wait until later. Despite that, you shake your head.

"No, it's fine. It won't become true if you say it out loud."

By the Seven, you look so adorable, saying that so seriously despite it being just a superstition. He can't help but tease you lovingly.

"But I didn't wish for anything."

Silence. Only you blinking owlishly at your lover.

"Then why did you even want to light a candle for?!"

"Ouch, hey now! You shouldn't hit the birthday boy!" The man has the audacity to laugh, easily holding your fists in place to stop you from hitting him. "I didn't wish for anything, but I wanted to say thanks to someone."

"Thanks? To whom?"

"...To whatever deity that took pity on me and was benevolent enough to grace me with their most perfect angel."

Your cheeks flush in no time, his eyes full of adoration making you feel bashful.

"Oh, stop it. I'm no angel!"

"Hmm, yeah. On second thought, you're right." He grins and pulls you into his embrace. "You're probably a deity then, rather than an angel."

"Wrio!"

"What? Shocked that I've uncovered your secret?" He chuckles at you rolling your eyes, not missing the way you bite your lips to stop a smile.

"Seriously speaking now, I do consider you as someone incredibly special. Thanks to you, I've achieved things I could never have done by myself, like being able to trust other people."

"...Even though the past can't be changed, I can now say I have a happy present. And I dare say that I'll have a happy future as well, with you by my side."

He dries the lone tear that escapes from your pretty eyes, chest bursting with deep love for you and hopes the kisses he places on your lips can convey his true feelings, when any and all words that he knows fail to do it.

----------

His birthday was something Wriothesley had long since stopped caring about.

His previous birthday is related to a time of his life he'd rather leave behind and never look back at It, while his current birthday is the day he was convicted for his crime.

Suffice to say that none of those dates have a positive memory behind them.

Now, however, as the two of you return to bed after having tea, biscuits with jam and many kisses in between, Wriothesley believes this year's November 23rd is the first one he actually wants to celebrate.

To celebrate the first time he actually feels thankful for his birth.

#blue.writes: genshin impact #blue.writes: angst #blue.writes: fluff #blue.writes: wriothesley #genshin impact x reader #genshin x reader #wriothesley x reader

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mintsuwu · 3 months

Note

please how did you come up with her design I've been trying to make a design for my poppy playtime oc but it always ends up looking like rubbish please give tips😭😭

Hello, thank you for asking! Truth be told is that it took me a bit to figure out how to do LoolaLamb in general, she didn't come out too well on the first try xD I had to tweak a couple of things in her like the hair, colors or snout.

Initially, I wasn't quite sure of what animal picking for her, but then I went with the lamb idea for a few reasons:

- When I was little, I used to have a lamb plush I used to love dearly. Sadly I don't have any pictures to show since I no longer have it with me so I tried to look for one that looked similar on the Internet- But that was the main inspiration for her character. And since the Smiling Critters have their own plushies as well, I thought it would be interesting to make one of them after a real toy. I also took reference from other characters in media that were based on sheeps, like in Pokémon (Flaaffy & Whimsicott).

I would always recommend using references if you ever don't know where to start with a design. And in the case of a Poppy Playtime OC, you can look for references if you desire as well, or even turn a beloved toy of yours into a character, anything works!

In many cultures, the lamb is a revered symbol of innocence, purity, and sacrifice. It is often associated with religious connotations, particularly in Christianity, where it symbolizes the embodiment of Christ's innocence and the sacrificial lamb offering redemption and atonement for humanity's sins. I simply liked the symbology of this because I'm always a sucker for that when it comes to creating characters;;

This was mainly due to lore reasons, her association with Catnap, a follower of an entity, the Prototype, whom he workships and would do anything to get its blessing. LoolaLamb "sacrified" her voice for the Prototype (well, it actually was that Catnap took away her voicebox with that excuse).

Her name "LoolaLamb" is a word play for "lullaby", given the role she was going to have in the Smiling Critters line, a replacement for Catnap who would have a similar role as his, except that instead of using a gas to make people fall asleep, she would use her voice. Sheeps and lambs are also heavily associated with sleep and dreams, given the advice: if you can't get to sleep, just “count sheep” until you drift off into a peaceful slumber.

Sheep are wanderers. It's their nature. Even in the best and safest of places, places that provide protection, water, and food, sheep are known to wander off, get lost, and sometimes eaten by predators.

Her color pick was mainly because even if the smiling critters have more or less the colors of the rainbow and there are already two blue colored critters (Bubba Bubbaphant being more of a neutral blue or azure and Craftycorn cyan or aquamarine), I noticed that there were no dark blue or indigo colored ones. My first idea for LoolaLamb was to give her more violet colors, given her correlation to Catnap, but at the same time I wanted her to stand out amongst the others, being a little more of her own character, so that´s why I ended up picking a different color pallete for her.

And those are pretty much the basic things I had in mind when creating LoolaLamb! Of course it doesn't always have to be so elaborated with all characters, but I'd always recommend to find references, information, symbolism, anything that might help you with the creation of your character in case you don't know where to start or are simply stuck!

I might not be the best when it comes to explaining things but I hope this has helped you and I wish you the best in your creative process, anon! 🙏🏻💖

#fanart #oc #headcanon #mint speaks #ask #poppy playtime #poppy playtime chapter 3 #poppy playtime 3 #smiling critters #poppy playtime oc #the smiling critters #smiling critter oc #loolalamb #poppy playtime fanart #comic #catnap #dogday #i would have added more art but I reached the image limit LMAO

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penncilkid · 10 months

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Alright, I'll bite. (Sparked by this post) I'm gonna preface this with some context:

First off: I'm Black in case you're unaware

Huxley is my favorite speaker. Full stop. You ask me to choose, it’ll always be him.

Likewise, you ask for my favorite listeners, I will say Starlight and Darlin'. (I'll save my Starlight rant for another day)

My designs for both Huxley and Darlin are Black.

With this in mind, I want to be clear from the jump: I don’t have an inherent problem with these headcanons. If I did, I wouldn’t have chosen then myself. That said, I have noticed that Hux and Darlin are, more often than not, the characters that get headcanoned as POC (specifically Black) in design rosters. In some cases, they are the only POC designs present. Why is that?

Furthermore, the more often I notice this pattern so to speak, the more I sit and think about why those headcanons are so popular. I find my answer when I think about the characters I see headcanoned as white most often. Tell me why it’s "practically canon" for Lasko to be pale with light/white hair. Tell me why white Sam "just makes sense". Why? Because Lasko's a nerdy ball of nerves that stumbles over his words? Because Sam’s a sweet Southern man at heart? Those are not inherently white attributes.

Except they're treated as such. They go virtually unchallenged because they're so widely accepted by fandom. People see these personalities and character details and come up with their vision. So, let's apply that to Huxley and Darlin, shall we?

Huxley: Athlete. Canonically implied to be big, as indicated by statements made by him and other members of the DAMN crew. Classified as a himbo with parallels in Imperium highlighting how some will view him as stupid. Overall chill vibe.

Darlin: Reckless with their safety. Known to lash out/lose control of their emotions when they’re not actively hiding them. Gets injured often because they’re too stubborn to run from trouble. An overall intense demeanor that makes them difficult to approach (at least at first).

Explain to me why this screams Black to so many people. Is it because Huxley's a dumb jock who you imagine gets stoned all the time? Oh, is it perhaps because Darlin is just so aggressive compared to your Golden Retriever-coded Asher, needing to be calmed down by everyone around them? And here's the thing: I can already imagine people saying, "That's not why I made them Black". Then explain why it "just makes sense" for them to Black. Why them out of a sea of characters? Make it make sense.

Now let me make this clear as well: I'm not expecting every headcanon to have elaborate thought behind it. For one, I get that some people take a more casual approach with designs and such. Not every choice has to have a reason or justification behind it. But when literally 95% of the Huxley designs I see are Black and half of y'all don't even know what a fucking durag is? Saying it leaves a bad taste in my mouth is putting it lightly.

You know what I wish I saw more of? Black Huxleys and Darlins with attached nuance.

Give me a Black Darlin who struggles to articulate how they feel with the people in their lives because they haven't been readily given the language to do so. You want to pair a Black Darlin with a White Sam? Why not talk about how POC have an insanely difficult time getting support from the medical system so not only does it explain why Darlin is so resistant to go to healers, but also gives an extra weight to the fact that Sam was their absolute last resort when injured? Give me a Black Darlin who has been taught their entire life that no one will have their back, that they need to learn how to depend on themself alone, and that's the reason why they struggle to feel like the pack would've cared when the Quinn shit went on.

You wanna talk Black Huxleys? Let's touch on how he's learned to control his emotions/anger because he knows how people will take it if it comes from someone who looks like him. Talk about how his moms teaching him not to use violence speaks to a deeper desire for him not to be viewed as a threat because they fear for his life otherwise. In one of his BAs, he mentions how a lot of people used to sleep with him/flirt with him solely because of his body and he could tell. Do you know how often black men are sexualized and fetishized? Why not talk about it through him? I see people explore that concept through Gavin constantly, where's the energy for Huxley? You wanna make him Black so bad, why not actually put some thought behind it? Because right now, it seems like he gets the "luxury" of being the token Black guy in the DAMN friend group at best.

I know a lot of people are probably going to dismiss this post. I am already anticipating that as I write this. But I'm so tired of pretending like this shit doesn't get to me. Because it does. I've got no intentions of leaving this fandom because I have met so many amazing people and adore Erik's content immensely. But what I am going to do is talk about the widespread normalization of attributing certain personality traits to certain racial groups. Because the non-white people in this fandom deserve better than that.

#redacted audio #redacted asmr #This doesn't stop with Hux and Darlin btw /neg #'Cause I could talk about the way y'all handle Gavin Damien and David too #And do not get me started on the vampires #I know to a lot of people this isn't that deep #But as someone who has watched POC creators and designs be overlooked time and time again?#I can't force anyone to do anything #But I can call it like I see it

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swallowerofdharma · 2 months

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Yashiro’s Cruel God part one

Disclaimer: this post contains a detailed and straightforward analysis of chapter 25. Doumeki isn’t the villain, if you were worried about that. Actually I must apologize because I wanted to talk about him too, but as usual I started this meta with Yashiro and got carried away. This is also why I am dividing it in parts to avoid having a very very long post. So other parts will hopefully follow to fully elaborate the premise I made. Thank you for understanding. And please take care of your wellbeing, if mentioning Yashiro’s stepfather upset you, maybe skip this one.

Premise: not a matter of perfection but of balance

This person I followed reblogged the Declarations of healthy adulthood by David Richo in big big font and - having only one thought on my mind apparently - I read all that text in Yashiro’s POV. I actually don’t think that this is a perfect model or anything, and I am generally skeptical of self help books (I only assume this is something like it), but why not use this as an example, while considering something that I find interesting about Yashiro and Doumeki? During the discussion about the latest chapter, I said something along the lines of Doumeki representing young love, while Yashiro’s approach has been more mature, and I meant it thinking about Yashiro being aware and cautious about hurting others [and being intentional when he does, since he put a bullet in Doumeki’s leg] and being quite self reliant, and yes I know that he is also afraid of being hurt/loved! in previous posts here, I have mentioned that Yashiro’s acceptance of his past is only-in-part denial or downplaying of trauma, because it has been also a strategy and an impressive sign of his maturity and determination to live in the present. Isn’t it exceptional that Yashiro doesn’t seem all that resentful of his parents? That he openly says that he doesn’t blame others? We have to confront his words always mindful of the fact that he usually is an unreliable narrator, but in many instances he says the truth or half truths and his demeanor confirmed that he did some of what David Richo proposes: I accept full responsibility for the shape my life has taken; I accept that I may never feel I am receiving - or have received - all the attention I seek; One by one, I drop every expectation of people and things; I let go of blame, regret, vengeance, and the infantile desire to punish those who hurt or reject me; No one can or needs to bail me out. I am not entitled to be taken care of by anyone or anything, I let go of control without losing control.

I thought that it was very interesting to consider the Yashiro/Doumeki dynamics from different angles, like older/younger, or even realist/romantic, for example. The point of this experiment isn’t to make a comparison of merit nor to talk about a character in better light than another. Maybe those differences need to be confronted or balanced: for example the realist maybe needs some of the romantic’s idealism to soar and not be stuck on the ground. Yoneda-san might be onto something so human and amazing here. An important clarification is due before saying anything else. As characters that are written as full human beings, with their complexity and contradictions, Yashiro and Doumeki can’t be put neatly into the opposite categories I proposed. The story is much more dynamic, so I ask you to take a further step and put those opposites at the ends of a spectrum and to move our characters freely in both directions. Yashiro tends toward being effectively the older and more realistic one but he has traits that make him move down towards the other end too, even to the extreme of being childish. Consider for example these other statements, from the Declarations of healthy adulthood: I need never fear my own truth, powers, fantasies wishes, thoughts, sexuality, dreams, or ghosts; When change and growth scare me, I still choose them. I may act with fear, but never because of it; I am still safe when I cease following the rules my parents (or others) set for me; If people knew me as I really am, they would love me for being human like them. These points clearly demonstrate Yashiro’s unresolved problems, where he is stuck if you want, and why probably nobody believed me when I pointed at him as being mature (eh, he has his moments tho, you can’t deny that).

I challenge everyone to consider that those four points in particular are quite challenging for most people in general, but particularly so for someone who has fear/betrayal as the foundational principle in their childhood instead of a normal amount even a scarse amount of parental love/safety. And I want to underline childhood here, not teenage years or later.

I need never fear my own truth, powers, fantasies wishes, thoughts, sexuality, dreams, or ghosts. Yashiro here is a mix of contradictions, because he outwardly seems to own those things, even making them a point of his persona, but most of those things are based on the lies he told himself, or his stepfather told him: see this other point

I am still safe when I cease following the rules my parents (or others) set for me. Isn’t this statement extremely helpful to understand Yashiro’s situation? To feel safe he had to build his personality according to the rules of the one who had all the power over him and had already taken away any sense of security from him. This is probably one of those things that can be hard to understand when you have never been there. Most notably, not only in the manga this has been pointed out, but it has been pointed out by Yashiro himself. He is self conscious of this, he knows that he lied to himself as a child, that he had to, and he is constantly choosing to continue lying because that is still the only foundation he has. There was no familial love, no other relative safety. Letting go of the lies actually means going to pieces and breaking down.

This isn’t different from what happens to people who are tortured. Yashiro’s father completely took away any sense of security and safety. The aggravating circumstances were that Yashiro as a child didn’t have any other point of reference or knowledge to understand what was happening with his body and in that state of mind what his father told him had to be the only truth possible. Parents who abuse their children most often don’t even realize what they are doing to its full extent. That’s the immense cruelty of these types of situations. The rules are lies, but the lies are rules to follow to be safe:

You like it when it hurts, right? If it doesn’t hurt, I can’t get into it.

What happened in chapter 25: why now?

Yashiro didn’t want to have sex with Doumeki and said so repeatedly. Doumeki has grown on him, behind liking his physical appearance or using him as a substitute for Kageyama: Yashiro truly liked this person and he liked that Doumeki was impotent. Thanks to that, Yashiro grew comfortable around Doumeki and with comfort and safety comes familiarity. When Yashiro discovered that the impotence was gone, he was angry and terrified. They had become too close and now the premise has changed and Yashiro couldn’t trust Doumeki or himself anymore. I won’t analyze here the scene in the shower but I’ll skip to the point. Doumeki only understood that his love was required, that he was wanted and stopped thinking. He acted passionately like any young person who had a normal foundation in love would. He didn’t understand anything that Yashiro asked or why there were mixed signals and what it all meant. He pushed and hurt and broke without being aware of what he was doing.

And Yashiro was trapped in a situation he had tried to escape from his all life: with a person who felt familiar, a person he loved and relied on, in the safety of a home, who wanted sex and was going to do what he wanted regardless of what Yashiro had to say. Yashiro desperately tried to control what was happening through usual patterns, making it hurt, asking Doumeki to do from behind, detaching the sex from his emotions, but he couldn’t and for the first time in his life sex was different from what he knew, because while Yashiro had loved his stepfather, his father didn’t love him and he didn’t treat him like Doumeki did. And every lies built around his father’s abuse came to the surface. Including the fact that his father never loved him. Doumeki broke him indeed because he broke through the lies/rules upon which Yashiro had intentionally built his entire personality/safety. And he wasn’t ready for it, he specifically said he didn’t want it, he had known all along, he already knew when men before Doumeki tried to make love to him and when he built a strategy to specifically avoid being confronted with those lies/rules. He didn’t love those men. He did love Doumeki though. But once again Yashiro didn’t have a choice. And he was physically hurt and recovering after being shot and knowing his life was in danger outside of that room. He had just discovered that Doumeki lied about being impotent the previous time he touched him in the car and before that. It was probably the worst timing possible for making love. At some point Yashiro grew resigned and even reciprocated a little, reaching for Doumeki, caressing his face, and he even reassured him before he fell asleep. There were words that Doumeki said that Yoneda didn’t disclose fully, choosing instead to immediately took us in the flashback with Yashiro. I think it is probable that what Doumeki said was something that Yashiro’s father had said and that we are going to confront before the end of the manga. I personally want to know these words more than what Yashiro said while an airplane passed by and Doumeki was unconscious. Morbid maybe on my part.

I have stated that I am not going to make Doumeki a villain here. The point of this analysis is just to see where Doumeki was in terms of maturity. To be continued…

#saezuru tori wa habatakanai #saezuru analysis #yashiro #doumeki chikara #yashiro x doumeki #yoneda kou #eri reads saezuru

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fictionfixations · 2 months

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signature spells and the person

(referencing this list because i cant remember them all)

spoilers for all books. and glorious masquerade

(note that some characters i dont know well at all. which you can kind of tell with me being super unsure. there's this person in the reblogs who elaborated on bits i wasn't quite correct on or didnt have an idea on so go read it!)

signature spells embodying the person sort of? Riddle - collar. restriction. limitations.

Deuce - not taking hits lying down. striking back. (a reckless idiot like that)

Cater - hm.. putting on an act for everyone? people pleaser? so its like. all of those little 'acts' and 'personas' he puts on are sort of 'him' in a sense. but its also not him at the same time. (like how the clones arent actually him because they're just a creation of his magic. but they are him in a way, too right?)

trey - sneaky sneaky guy who notices a lot more than you'd think. presents himself as one way but he's complicated

Leona - sand. like all his hard work turning to sand, or basically nothing.

Jack - wolves work in packs, right? he wants to work in a pack. (even though he says he doesn't). they're strong, but they do better together. ..probably. idk.

Ruggie - treating all people 'equally' (in the sense that he'd mess with them all. unless they were a serious trouble to deal with) also sucks up to people........ (and probably laughing at them behind their back for being such a 'fool' haha get it. because fool's parade..--) maybe? Idk.

Azul - exchanging his old self for an asshole basically (because he must've been a nicer guy as a bby. but then ppl were mean to him and now he's very bitter.)

Jade - acting like the more calmer and reasonable of the twins, even though he can be just like floyd, if a bit more dangerous considering he can get under your skin, get you trust him, that he just wants to 'help you'. and you tell him all your secrets. and then it 'shocks your heart' when he reveals his true colors. (like bruh. his halloween groovification message was literally, "Oooh, I love it when you flee in terror. It makes me want to chase you!")

Floyd - i don't know. uhhh. in his lab coat(?) vignette there's this moment where a guy bumps into him, is like 'hEY WHO DO YOU--' and then realizes its floyd and backs off. basically the guy who intimidates them to make them weaker, ig? terrorizing them. 'binding the heart' in fear. i mean he'll still hurt them ofc, but the point is is that he's the scary one, jade's the 'calm' one, thats his image to people. i dont know him nearly well enough to really get it.

Kalim - wishing for everyone to be happy. to dance and sing and forget about all the troubles. throwing parties and feasts to cheer them up (and granting them relief when needed). although it doesn't always end well and his attempts can end up 'useless', like how oasis maker is 'useless' when people already have easy access to water. but at other points desperately needed.

Jamil - turning him into the 'master' and the other the 'servant'

Vil - planting 'curses' in plain sight. masking it. disguising it. acting. like putting on makeup to change something. maybe. possibly. (this is weak) maybe a false reassurance. a mask.

Epel - accepting who he is (that he's short and seen as 'cute'. and so using it to his advantage.) like, seeming 'soft and dainty' but actually a guy who can beat someone up. like, 'you'll just go to sleep..' (and then the crimson part of slumber with a negative meaning. the poison apple. something that looks innocent but is actually harmful.) and then you never wake up again because you were TRICKED HAHAHA /hj

Rook - will literally do anything for what his fixations are. in which his fixations are 'beauty', which is a very vague category and include literally everything. also very very creepy and stalker-ish in the process.

Idia - honestly idfk. uh. 'responsibility'. burdens. control. it literally just represents a part of his job? idfk. its such a big part of him (also his family had the same UM so like..) that its just. who he is.

Malleus - there was this quote he said about how 'when you nap, even 500 years could pass without you noticing'. so it could be something like how time moves by so fast like that

guh.. it was "Give in to slumber, and a thousand years will pass in the blink of an eye."

Silver - I don't know him that well... i mean like there's references to him having parallels with like. i think.. aurora?? the girl who maleficent cursed. i think. dreams and wishes. i don't know i havent even seen him use it yet LMFAO (ive only finished part 2 of book 7..) maybe like. things not seeming real..? idk man. a desire to see people, to stay by their side, but can't, so instead it'll be in a dream. so either it isn't real, a mere fantasy, or, shrug. like. yknow the remember me song in coco? it's like 'and everytime you hear a guitar you'll remember and think about me' (i cant remember the exact lyrics)

Sebek - admires malleus. a lot. malleus has control over lightning or something. so sebek in turn becomes that 'lightning' that he can control, as his guard and stuff like that. 'i will be his sword', maybe.

lilia - he reflects a lot about the past imo. overly aware of things and the passing of time. at least in my opinion. how things can pass by so easily. so he takes little bits and pieces to cherish for the rest of his life, and to think back on. a trip back down memory lane, as they say.

Rollo - literally gets set on fire like his brother..?? that thing forever haunting him that its such a big part of him at this point (hating magic and hating what happened.) and him hating himself making himself see him as part of the reason why his brother died, and therefore making him literally the thing that killed him sort of?

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blinkpen · 5 months

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i've seen actually a few different people/users leave comments or tags about wanting to check out scavenger's reign after seeing my glowing praise of it, but also being very nervous to do so, because they're excited for a lesbian who looks like them (azi), but despite my gushing, i keep mentioning how the show is full of body horror, brutal deaths and characters having a bad time;

this is a very valid concern to have, given how a character like azi might be treated in another show, i was going in with tempered caution as well

without spoiling too much, you can lay those worries down. the show treats her very well.

if you'd like some more elaboration, i've put it under this readmore!

azi is put into stomach-churningly dire "an alien is about to eat you/do a big big body horror/assimilate you" situations the least of any of the characters, and not even because she's being given a lack of stuff to do/experience in the plot!

i think we only see her get "afflicted" by something the way sam does once, and its very mild compared to everyone else (basically she gets a really bad itchy rash after successfully prying some weird would-be paralytic puffballs that get stuck to her) and even this one instance is quickly resolved by other fauna, in a very nice sequence of scenes that is clearly a healing/relaxing experience for her.

while she is put into danger and is trying to survive like everyone else, she gets tossed about in action setpieces she makes it through with minimal injury, more than enduring The Horrors;

she gets to have better luck because more of her narrative screentime is, by design, already dedicated to emotionally bonding with her robot buddy, levi, as they suddenly and rapidly attain self-awareness, and levi encourages her to find the beauty and harmony in this nightmarish nature documentary they got marooned in.

this helps her lighten up just in time, too, because she is, very understandably, stressed almost to her breaking point by the point the show starts, having one of the better crash landing sites of any of the survivors, and i bet the other survivors all wish they had a robot tagging along to help, but being stranded and lonely and trying to not lose hope of rescue. she misses her girlfriend, and is feeling increasingly vulnerable (negative) and afraid, especially when situations occur where she gets reminded she does need help. azi starts the series being kind of mean to levi, and having to balance her confusion, worry, and then awe of levi's transformation, and let herself accept she does need that help.

azi is not the gruff grr nothing phases me nothing hurts me the writers dont have to try giving me depth i'm just the badass butch who exists to fill the death quota later so a lighter/more fem character can survive;

her vulnerability reveals itself without much fuss, and is eventually tended to both by herself and others. we get flashbacks that show she was naturally introverted, but clearly wanting to overcome that in order to socialize and get closer to someone (girls...)

she goes through it for other reasons, but i promise you, the show treats her very well, i feel. she and levi are probably-nah, definitely, my favorite characters in it, and the show would not have blown me away the way it did without them here

SR has 3 main story threads; Azi and Levi, Sam and Ursula, Kamen and The Hollow. of the three, Azi and Levi's is the heart, and is the most romantic, in multiple senses of the term. i might right a breakdown of what i love most about all three threads? but yeah

now, if you still need the "okay but does she or her gf die" y/n:

azi and her girlfriend both survive the events of the show, and reunite in one piece! they may or may not throuple up with the robot.

i sure hope they do.

you can't tease us with scenes like this and Not

OH: also, when a new antagonist shows up later in the form of a lethally pragmatic blonde woman named Kris who tries to boss azi around, i did get nervous, but Azi soured to max on her and spoke exactly what i hoped was the intent at the exact moment i felt it was critical to avoid me going "hrrmmm don't like these Implications" (the Instant azi detects blondie is trying to haze her into being a new teammate to be bossed around, azi immediately gets rightfully pissed and rejects it, and schemes to get the tagalong kid to see this also and on azi's side in the long run, which plays out and kris gets rapidly shuttled out of the plot and then pretty damn well humbled in the only blatant Sequel Hook present. i Appreciated that. Would have loved to love you Kris I love evil women but then you pulled That Stunt and now you can go wither alone in the corner

#scavreign warbling #azi and levi my beloveds....

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