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#and go for a less complex pattern for my next pattern
tj-crochets · 2 years
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Okay I’m still in quilt mode and will be for at least two more days (one day to finish the halloween quilt, one day to finish the orange quilt top) but it’s like almost halfway through May and I haven’t even started making pride plushies Are there any pride plushies or flags you’d like to see for pride month this year? I make no guarantees, but I do try to make as many requested plushies as I can. A request is not an obligation to buy the plushie, I just need inspiration
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racefortheironthrone · 3 months
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Now you mentioned i, I am a bit surprised Smallville is prominently and consistently in Kansas? It's Smallville, Kansas. There might be others and certainly cities located vaguely within a real region, but it's definitely the first fictional town or city of D.C. in a real-world American state to come to mind.
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So this gets to the weirdness of D.C geography. When Superman was first established, there was much less of a cohesive "universe," so if Siegel and Shuster wanted Superman to specifically be raised in Kansas, that's where he was from and the rest of the geography would have to work itself out.
IMO, this early slapdash approach to world-building has (over time) led to some things that just don't make sense to me as a student of urban history and urban studies:
Metropolis shouldn't be in Delaware. It doesn't make sense in terms of urbanization, given the context of an already-crowded Northeastern Corridor - Delaware simply does not have the capacity to sustain a city of 11 million people, and you wouldn't get a municipality of that size right next door to New York City (as well as D.C's other fictional cities in the area). The whole idea of Metropolis and Gotham being across the river/bay from each other has never really worked for me; you can still do Superman/Batman team-up stories no matter where they are, because Superman can fly and Batman has his own personal fighter jets.
More importantly, it doesn't make sense in terms of historic patterns of urban migration. Moving to the big city in search of the American Dream is a big part of the Clark Kent story, but historically people moving from rural to urban areas overwhelmingly go to the nearest large city, depending on how transportation networks are arranged, whether we're talking about train lines or direct flights or highways or bus routes. There is a reason we can track regional movements of black communities during the Great Migration, because who went where depended on which train lines ran through which states:
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This is why I've always felt that, while Metropolis has aesthetically been associated with New York City, it logically should be Chicago. It is the biggest city in the Midwest, one very much associated with robber baron industrialists and corruption at the highest levels, and absolutely stuffed with art deco architecture for Superman to pose on top of. Up until the Tribune Company began to strip it for parts, it's also been a major newspaper town with a long tradition of muck-raking investigative journalism that would inspire a starry-eyed cub reporter like Clark. As one of the original transit hubs and the U.S' own "nature's metropolis," it is precisely the place that a Kansas farm boy would hop a train to, because all trains go to Chicago. Also, culturally I like it better that Clark Kent represents the City of Wide Shoulders whereas Bruce Wayne is the typical Tri-State Area Type-A personality.
Going back to D.C's bizarro Northeast geography, I likewise have an issue with Gotham being in New Jersey...if New York City is also supposed to be a major metropolitan area in the D.C universe. Just as Delaware would struggle to support a city of 11 million people, it would be very difficult to grow Gotham into a city of 10 million people so close to the gravity well of the Greater New York Metro Area. New Jersey is a pretty urbanized state, but its biggest cities tend to range in population from 300,000 to 100,000 - which works very well for a place like Blüdhaven, which is supposed to have something of an inferiority complex vis-a-vis Gotham - because a lot of the population tends to gravitate to NYC for work and eventually housing as well.
I've already said my piece about the lack of cultural specificity of D.C's Midwest.
As far as the West Coast goes, I've always found it a bit odd that Star City isn't where Seattle is supposed to be. Let's face it, the only place where Oliver Queen's facial hair would go unnoticed is Seattle. Also, Coast City is often depicted too far north on the map - if it's supposed to be a half-hour away from Edwards Air Force Base, it should be significantly more southern, down by Kern County and San Bernadino County, not practically up in San Francisco.
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attorney-ramblings · 9 months
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Okay, I have a fic concept living rent free in my head.
Miles has been helping Phoenix deal with the aftermath of his disbarment since the beginning, he pulled every string and called in every favor he could, and still nothing could be done.
He tried to assure Wright that things would work out eventually, that they would prove he’d been tricked. Wright had adamantly refused to have Trucy testify on his behalf, to lay the blame on her. Miles disagreed with the decision but didn’t push him on it, she was only a child after all.
As time passes, Phoenix struggles to make ends meet. He needs to go out and get a job but he can’t just leave Trucy alone in the apartment for his long hours. Upon hearing this, Miles reluctantly offered to watch her. He had not intended it to become a regular occurrence.
Yet here he was, slowly coming to adore the sweet and spirited girl. She was well behaved, and all around delightful. Of course she was a child still and sometimes he found her getting herself into trouble around the Prosecutor’s Office, however he’d never needed to scold her about something more than once.
He was careful about where he took her, often avoiding having her ever come near a crime scene. Whenever he had to go out investigating he would have Detective Gumshoe watch her for the hour or so he needed to get what was necessary.
Other than those times the girl was right by her side at all times, she asked a lot of questions when they were alone, about what was happening in the case. It was an interesting exercise for him, trying to explain the case to a child, he spared her any of the more gruesome details of course. He wouldn’t be held responsible for traumatizing her.
However, trying to explain the complex motivations of the human psyche for crime in a easily digestible manner had actually been a relatively helpful exercise.
Other times when talking to witnesses, she was mostly quiet, but sometimes she even landed up being helpful. Sometimes noticing speech patterns and little ticks that he would’ve otherwise overlooked. She was also amazingly emotionally intelligent, she covered for an area he was weak in, comforting others.
He had more than once, left the room for a moment to grab something just to come back and find her sitting next to a witness, them tearing up and suddenly ready to talk.
It was honestly incredible to him, and he found himself hopelessly enamored by this precious little girl. Phoenix often complained about how he spoiled her rotten, but he frankly couldn’t care less. It was payment for helping him with his work.
It was a few months after this pattern had started, and Trucy was skipping along behind him as usual. He needed to speak to a detective, so he was down at the station. A particularly peculiar case had just been set into motion and he needed more information.
Trucy wasn’t the type to wander off on her own, that had been a strict rule he’d implemented when he’d started bringing her with him places. She’d always been good about it, only ever getting lost in the madness once.
When he looked around and saw she was nowhere to be seen, he panicked. They were in a police station, surely she was safe, she had to be.
Except, often Police stations are filled with nearly as many criminals as officers, who knew what might happen if one broke out of their handcuffs.
It didn’t take him terribly long to find her thankfully, he heard crying in the distance, when he followed the sound, it seemed to be the voice of a child. Down a hallway and into a conference room, that was when he finally caught sight of her again.
Miles nearly shouted, he was sorely tempted to scold her for scaring him like that. However the moment he processed what he was looking at, the words died on his lips.
Trucy was sitting next to another little girl, she seemed slightly older than her, but only by a year or two. She wore her bright auburn hair in a side pony and she was sobbing, hysterically panicking.
Miles was all too familiar with that particular kind of terror, he made eye contact with the officer in the room and gestured for them to come closer.
“Prosecutor Edgeworth, I was a little worried when I saw your girl walk in here alone, everything alright?” The officer asked, she was a middle aged woman who mostly worked filing and desk jobs. She was always in the precinct, so she often saw them here.
He nodded curtly, “She walked off on her own while I was taking care of something, I’ll have a talk with her. I’m just glad she didn’t leave the station.” He looked back over to the two girls, Trucy was hugging her from the seat beside the the auburn haired girl. Trucy had given the girl her cape to wrap around her for comfort, and she was clutching it tightly and mumbling to herself softly.
He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “She always seems to know when someone’s upset, makes it hard to be angry with her.” He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall for a moment. “Who’s the other girl?”
“Athena Cykes, the daughter of that astronaut that got murdered by the prosecutor. Surely you’ve heard about it… we don’t really know what to do with her. She has distant relatives from Europe we’re attempting to contact, but there’s some sort of hang up in the communications. It’s taking longer that we expected it to.” She sighed. “She’ll probably have to stay at the precinct tonight, I already offered to keep an eye on her. Poor thing.”
Miles did know the case, in fact it was the one he had just been assigned. Prosecutor Simon Blackquill confessed to the murder of Metis Cykes, the girl being the daughter of the victim.
Trucy finally seemed to realize his presence there and jumped in her seat, she scampered over to him and hugged his leg. “Uncle Miles! I’m sorry, I know you don’t like it when I run off, you just looked busy and I wanted to help her…”. She spoke softly for a child, clearly trying to be mindful of the young Miss Cykes.
“Miss, is ‘Thena really going to have to stay here overnight?” She asked the officer, looking deeply concerned.
“Sorry Lil Missy, that’s the way it has to be. She hasn’t got anywhere else to stay. Protocol would have us looking after her until she’s either put under the care of extended family or the foster system.” She explained, and Trucy glanced over her shoulder at the girl again. She had quieted down a little after Trucy gave her cape to the girl. When her gaze returned to Miles there were tears in her eyes.
“It’s so loud here though! ‘Thena has really sensitive ears, she usually wears these headphones when she goes out in public that her momma made for her. If she doesn’t then she gets overwhelmed really easily, and she doesn’t have them! She doesn’t even go to school at all because of it, even with the headphones.” Trucy had her fists at her sides and her mouth pressed in a determined line, tears streaming down her cheeks. “She can’t stay here Uncle Miles!”
The officer blinked, “She told you all that?”
Trucy nodded emphatically. It didn’t surprise Miles in the least… he looked over to the quiet trembling girl. He couldn’t help but see himself in her, traumatized, alone, having all of his decisions made for him by adults he didn’t know or trust. If what Trucy was saying is true, then.
He sighed.
“Trucy, stay with her. I’m going to see what I can do.”
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copperbadge · 6 months
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[ID: Three images; top left, the entryway to my kitchen, with half-scraped tape on the floor, a paint scraper nearby, and lots of dirt. Polk supervised me but I didn't get to take a picture of her doing it, so top right is an old picture of her in her Supervising Spot, next to her favorite sign that reads CHICKEN WAFFLES. Bottom, the kitchen welcome mat, an orange and black patterned mat, is back in place where the half-scraped tape was previously.]
Today is a good object lesson in why NaClYoHo uses media as timer!
I made a list of things I wanted to do this morning; I save big/gross jobs for the weekend, so today's list was to clean under the kitchen "welcome mat", scrub the kitchen floor, go through the house spackling small holes (picture hanging mistakes, etc), and dust the various blinds in anticipation of (possibly) pulling them up and hanging curtains in their place at a later date.
What I got done: cleaning under the welcome mat.
When I installed my rugs I put down double-sided tape, which proved to be a mistake; it's super difficult to get the tape up once it's down. But once you've pulled a rug off it, it becomes an immediate filth trap, so I had to do it. I sprayed with dilute vinegar, then goo gone, then an initial scrape before pulling the goo gone up with Grease Lightning, then repeat...
The real problem was that it's uncomfortable to kneel on the floor even with a pad, but if I crouch or bend, when I straighten I get a head rush so bad I almost pass out (thanks Adderall). I legit stood up twice and then immediately sat down in case I lost consciousness. So it took me an hour and a half to scrape and clean an area roughly a meter square. I got through an entire hour-long episode of The Worst Idea Of All Time and almost all 24 minutes of The Allusionist episode on Complex PTSD.
Now, if I had spent this whole time going "Oh shit, I've got so much else on the list to do today!" I would have freaked out at both how long it was taking and how much effort it was. But I knew that once I crossed that "the podcast has ended" line, that was all the work I had to do today. The rest of it can be moved to another day. So I did an hour and a half of fairly intensive physical cleaning, and now I'm done until tomorrow. (Even if I did also steam-mop the kitchen, since I had the steamer out anyway, and then took out the kitty litter trash on my way out the door.)
Anyway, the area under the mat is now clean, free of any possible weevils, and lightly sprayed with Super 77 art adhesive to keep the rug in place, and hopefully that will at least be less of an issue to pull up in the future. We'll probably find out when I, like a fool returning to his folly, attempt this again next year.
Disposable nitrile gloves used total: brought it up to four today! (I used three -- one on each hand, and tore the one on my right hand so had to replace it.)
Trips to the hardware store: Holding steady at 2. I will need to make my first run to the Container Store soon however, I think.
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espion7971 · 1 month
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RainWing tribe sheet!
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honestly i'm not 100% sure i like this sheet visually. its ok but not my best. i do like my more in-depth headcanon stuff for rainwings, though, so i hope people like it anyway!
fyi the next few tribes are giving me a bit of trouble so i might post these a little slower, but i still plan to get out all 10 tribes!! they just might be more than a few days apart.
Physical Appearance + Traits:
-RainWings live in the dense and tropical rainforest. Similarly to chameleons, they have prehensile tails and claws well-adapted to cling to branches; and, most strikingly, their coloration can be changed at will, to any color under the sun. This can be used for perfect and uncanny camouflage, for intimidation, for beauty and expression, and to communicate emotions. (Below is a chart of emotions corresponding with their colors; note, though, that they can be combined with each other, and patterned, to mean slightly different and more complex things.)
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-Like birds of paradise, they are fond of bright and bold colors, but when they want they can also make themselves virtually undetectable. What exactly this skill is used for depends on the period of history; showing off, playing hide-and-seek, hunting, silent warfare.
-RainWings also have fangs that can be used to expel “venom” - called such for lack of a better word. It does not need to be injected to be deadly, unlike most venom, and rather seems to have a burning, warping and generally destructive effect on cells upon contact. Whether it is deadly depends on the level and location of exposure.
-Neck, chest and sometimes tail frills are used for expression and dance; the floatiness of these frills, and their color-changing abilities, make them hypnotizing. Neck ruffs in particular are commonly used for communication: perked up to show curiosity, drooping to show discomfort or sadness, and flared to show anger and to intimidate. 
-Their fifth claw - the dew claw - is larger and more opposable than those of other tribes, more like a human thumb. This, and their extra (and also more dextrous) wing claw, lets them climb and cling to trees with swiftness and ease. It also makes it easier to use tools, and crack open fruits and nuts, while keeping themselves steady and balanced. 
Life Cycle:
-RainWings are typically laid in clutches of 4-9 eggs. They take the longest of any tribe to develop within the egg; they incubate for nearly half a year, and still are hatched with pale and dull colors. As they grow, though, they get better control over their color-changing abilities through play under the watch of the rest of the tribe.
-RainWings do not form partnerships at all, and rarely mate with the same dragon twice. They also do not raise dragonets on their own; all dragonets are raised communally by the wider tribe. RainWings make friends and have positive relationships, but the idea of parental or romantic relationships are odd to the vast majority of them. Romantic partnerships are not completely unheard of, but they’re seen as unusual.
-Dragonets are naturally playful and learn to harness their abilities through games and competitions. This, though other tribes scoff at it, is quite effective, and other than a lack of structure and discipline in certain eras depending on the queen, RainWings are not less powerful than any other tribes, through nature or nurture. 
-The oldest they usually live is to 90 -100. It's uncommon to go much longer than that, which makes RainWings one of the shorter-lived tribes. Old RainWings tend to live together in their own communities within the tribe, and likewise, younger RainWings prefer each other's company. These boundaries aren't strict, but social norms expect dragons to generally stick to their age groups.
Society and Culture:
-RainWings’ societal structure has varied through time. Their ranged venom and near-invisibility makes them excellent assassins and spies, and several times in history they have been organized or hired in this way. Their nature, though, tends to be easygoing and nonviolent on the whole, and their culture tends to drift in that direction in the absence of external pressure. 
-RainWings are social dragons, and while they do not have a particularly ranked and organized society structure, like SeaWings, their social and personal dynamics are complex and important. Popular and well-liked RainWings are more successful in their tribe than those who are disliked and outcast. Their emotions are very openly communicated, and the idea of hiding thoughts and feelings is strange to them. That isn’t to say they lack subtlety and tact, but they rarely try to suppress their natural scale fluctuations. 
-A lot of RainWing culture rests on colors. They use colors to communicate and associate objects with different emotions based on their color. They sometimes set distinct color palettes in order to appear a certain way in front of others, but some level of fluctuation is impossible to avoid.
-RainWings are the only tribe that has no written language. They are completely illiterate not out of laziness or inability, but because historically they have never had need for communication that isn’t direct and in the present. Their visual signals are so complex that they might be called a crude type of sign language, less refined than Aquatic but not entirely dissimilar, but the only RainWings taught to read and write are those involved in diplomacy or other inter-tribe interactions where it may be necessary. For their own tribe affairs, verbal communication is all they need.
-One of the ultimate staples of RainWing culture is performance - theater and dance. Their dances, often synchronized, with their agile bodies, floating frills and shifting colors, are famously breathtaking and mesmerizing. There was a time when RainWing dancers would travel and perform for different tribes, and dragons scrambled to watch them. For RainWings themselves, though, the performances take on their own meanings, as emotional expression comes through in the colors and some dances tell elaborate stories through these visual cues. Silent theater, similarly, relies on color to tell stories, and these shows aren’t as popular among other tribes simply because other dragons can’t fully comprehend the meanings of different scenes.
-RainWings don’t use facial expressions much, because their scales are so adept at showing emotion, and sometimes that causes communication issues with dragons from other tribes. Similarly, they struggle to separate different tribes from their color associations; for example, it’s hard to get over the subconscious assumptions that all SkyWings are angry, all IceWings are in pain/distress, and all NightWings are constantly overflowing with rage and hatred. (@puzzled-pegasus inspired this one - hope you don’t mind me adopting it!)
-Sleep schedules are loose to non-existent, best compared to that of cats; RainWings generally sleep at midnight and midday, and are awake at dawn and dusk, but short naps throughout the day are considered normal and acceptable.
-Because of the diversity of plant life in the rainforest, RainWings have a more in-depth knowledge of toxins and medicines than any other tribe, and their medics can cure a vast number of ailments. They also have access to - and use - a great variety of stimulants and hallucinogens, usually in a festive or celebratory context.
Diet: Selectively herbivorous. RainWings can eat meat, and sometimes do, but generally they prefer to put time and energy toward gathering rather than hunting. They eat just about every type of fruit under the sun, having adapted to a high-glucose and low-protein diet, and their dishes are elaborate and flavorful with spices and sweeteners; just about every other tribe that eats plants is happy to invite RainWing fruit merchants into their towns. RainWings were also the first Pyrrhian tribe to produce chocolate.
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srednyvashtar · 2 years
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Hey kids! Wondering how I charted this monstrosity? Well here is a rundown!
First I made a rough sketch of the front of the sweater, then I fleshed it out as faithfully as I could to the original. Then I designed a back to go with it. I used a pixel art program called PyxelEdit, which supports tiling, so I could put the front and back next to each other while editing to make sure all the flames and bits lined up. Because knit stitches aren't perfectly square I imported the image into Photoshop regularly at a 1:0.75 ratio to check that it was looking ok but as you can see the final result is still kinda squished looking. Ah well.
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At first the arm and neck holes were just drawn on, but eventually I consulted Any Herzog's Ultimate Sweater Book to figure out some actual arm/neck shaping. I didn't follow her numbers exactly, though, because my gauge is a bit different from the gauges in her book. So yeah, after all this I might discover the sleeve caps don't fit in the arm holes ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Actually, almost every part of this project - designing a pattern, making a large complex intarsia project, embroidering outlines, seaming a sweater - is uncharted (ha) territory for me and it's purely thanks to good luck that everything has been working out so far.
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After that I charted some sleeves. I tried to design them so that the left and right edges fit seamlessly with each other and the body of the sweater. Though I doubt anyone other than me will even notice.
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Finally I imported the images into Illustrator to chart the embroidery, because I couldn’t find any charting software that would allow me to draw diagonal lines, so I had to draw my own grid, make my own knitting symbols and kinda improvise there. During the process of actually making the sweater I’ve realised there are some issues that need fixing so the final pattern will be slightly different again.
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Anyway that's my process! I have less than two months to finish now so I'm getting pretty worried whether I can finish in time. If you see me posting again maybe yell at me to get off the internet?    
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beginningdrawing · 7 months
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Art Tips Two: Drawing What You See Vs. What You Think You See
The first significant assignment for my drawing class was to do a modified contour drawing of a building, spending at least 4 hours on the drawing. For a modified contour drawing, you are supposed to keep your eyes on the subject about 95 percent of the time, looking at the paper only occasionally to place your pencil or check the lines you are making; it is a type of drawing that really reinforces the connection between what your eyes are seeing and what your hand is drawing. It's less about creating realistic art and more about hand-eye coordination.
It's quite clear that many students in my class did not understand the assignment. I've drawn something similar to the things I've seen submitted and will be comparing it to the drawing that I did for the same assignment.
But let's start with the fact that brains are very weird and one of the things that's so weird about them is that we spend a lot of time not seeing.
Most people don't process 100% of the full detail of the things they see around them in day-to-day life. If you were to process that much detail about everything all the time, you would be constantly overstimulated by it. So your brain takes shortcuts and sort of fills in the details instead of processing every single thing. It looks at a sidewalk and says "okay, I know what a sidewalk looks like, no need to render all the shadows unless something breaks the expected pattern because a break in the pattern might mean a trip hazard."
This is very useful in day to day life! People who have trouble tuning out details of sounds and sights and sensations often find themselves overwhelmed and frustrated. It's a good thing that you are likely not seeing every tiny little irregularity in the bricks in your walls or the fibers of your clothing.
However, seeing precise detail is important for representational drawing.
Because this is a *beginning* drawing class, it is about learning the basics of drawing what you see, not stylizing images or creating art from your imagination, so the very first lessons are about how to see what you want to draw. Blind Contour drawings are almost entirely about seeing and hardly at all about drawing, and Modified Contour is about *mostly* seeing and only somewhat drawing.
When people (adults especially) begin to learn to draw, they often want to draw what they think they see (the world with the details their brain has sanded off) and not what they actually see. Sometimes this is because they think the things they think they see look "better" (more intentional) than the things they think they see.
(As a side note, my cartooning professor liked to tell a story about doing commercial illustration for a sock company; he drew an accurate, realistic foot for the ad and it got sent back he asked what was wrong with it and they said "nobody is going to buy socks when they're on such ugly feet". The next ad he sent featured a simplified, cartoonish foot and was accepted with the feedback "much better, much more realistic" - we often see stylized things as more real than real things because we spend so much time eliding what the real world looks like)
Okay, with all of that in mind, here is a drawing similar to what many of my classmates turned in next to the drawing that I turned in.
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The first one is full of things that the artist thinks they see. It has trees that don't look like real trees, but do somewhat look like the idea of trees that people get from cartoons. It has sidewalks that don't look like real sidewalks, but look like how your brain thinks a series of evenly-sized concrete slabs on flat ground should look. The artist knows a little bit about perspective, and as such has drawn straight lines aimed at a point on the horizon to show distance, but you would almost never see that many straight lines in an apartment complex. They have scribbled in some grass, but those scribbles are a signifier that there is grass in those spaces, not a representation of what the lawn area actually looks like. This is a drawing from someone who saw the assignment "draw a detailed building" and 1) ignored the time requirement and 2) was not aware that the purpose of the assignment wasn't to draw what a building looked like in their mind, it was to draw the lines on a building that they actually saw.
My drawing is certainly not a fully accurate representation of the building I was drawing; the perspective is wonky and the whole thing ended up being very cramped compared to the actual building, but it is much more representational than the first drawing because it was completed by very slowly following the lines that I saw and putting them down on paper.
I'm not trying to mock the other students in this class, this isn't me being mean or trying to show off that I'm more skilled, this is a constructive criticism that I wish I could offer to the other students but that I will share here instead for the people who want to learn and may be running into this issue as the assignments continue.
This is the difference between drawing what you think you see, and trying to draw what you actually see. And also putting in the time; unfortunately a lot of students just clearly didn't spend the time on this. If you don't have the time or focus for a four-hour drawing it's better to work on several smaller drawings of simpler objects in 5-10 minute increments than it is to rush through one big drawing and fill in the gaps with details that aren't there.
If you are trying to learn to draw, learning from the basics is the best way to do it, which sometimes means forgetting what you already think you know.
You don't know perspective, you don't know shading, you don't know what trees look like, you don't know what a sidewalk looks like. When you're learning to draw, don't assume that you know what these things look like, and instead draw what you actually see.
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Can you make a trans man/trans masc civilian who got hate for being trans coming home to their partner, a protective villain, who tries to comfort and reassure him in his identity?
Sorry if this is a no go for the topic, I just think it might be comforting
The door slammed into its frame, making the house seemingly shake and thunder. Immediately, the villain was fully aware that something was wrong. They got up from the couch and set the cup of tea down, lurking around the corner.
“You good, babe?” they asked, studying their lover.
Their boyfriend looked up, eyes red.
“Sure,” he answered. The villain already considered the possibility of gruesome murder. Whoever had done this, they’d pay for it. They couldn’t stand it when he was upset.
He was much too pretty for that, much too sweet to be anything less than happy.
The civilian opened the fridge and rummaged for something edible. Although the villain hadn’t touched the leftovers of his favourite food, he didn’t seem much interested. Slowly he got frustrated, couldn’t concentrate and closed the door again.
Instead he filled a cup of water and downed it, panting heavily as he put it back in the sink.
He leaned against the counter, arms crossed, staring into the ground, close to crying.
“You wanna tell me about your day?” The villain took a step forward, reaching for his hand but he only pulled back.
“Not really.”
“Alright,” the villain said. This was bad. And the villain was getting pissed. Not at the civilian — they could never be angry at him — but at that certain someone who had ruined his day. “I’m in the living room if you need me. I love you.”
They didn’t add that they would try everything to develop a whole war plan to get to the bottom of this.
“My uncle misgendered me again,” he said quietly. He avoided the villain’s gaze. “Years on T, surgeries all done and he misgenders me.”
“Oh, baby…” The villain took a step forward and hugged him tightly. Even though they knew they had to be gentle and loving, their brain gathered information on that uncle, filtering work, domicile, hobbies, personal connections…the patterns in their brain couldn’t help but design a character sheet of him, listing all his weaknesses and options to make him disappear.
Of course, their boyfriend would never agree. But the villain was very bad at killing old habits. They couldn’t help themselves.
“It’s just…fuck, I thought I was done with this. I thought I could leave this behind.”
“I know, baby.” The villain looked up at him and pressed a kiss to his nose. “You know he does this on purpose, right? He tries to get under your skin because he’s an asshole.”
“Yeah, but…” The civilian took in a deep breath. To keep the tears at bay, the villain realised.
“Babes. You’re a guy. You’ve always been a guy. You always will be a guy,” the villain said. They were getting really upset. He had been alright these past few months, he had been doing so well and one family reunion made him insecure again.
What the villain would’ve given to pay that uncle a visit.
“He told me I’ll always be a biological girl.”
“He doesn’t know how biology works,” the villain said. “He doesn’t know how gender works. It is much too complex for his tiny brain to grasp. Some people don’t have the mental capacity nor the empathy for that.”
The villain gave him another kiss and then, let go of him.
“He’s jealous of you. I mean, look at you. Handsome boy. Don’t let him get to you.” He couldn’t help but blush a little.
“Yeah, I don’t know. It’s just annoying I guess.”
“Some people will never understand. Ask him about his failing marriage the next time you see him. That should be enough to shut him up. Messing up hard enough for your wife to sleep with your best friend? Ouch.”
The civilian grinned, studying his partner.
“I’ve never told you about that.”
Oops.
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tomiyeee · 11 months
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Genshin Character Design Notes
wanted to write down some stuff i’ve noticed while studying genshin character designs for my rottmnt au in case anyone could find them useful for their own crossovers/ocs.
these are not hard and fast rules as much as they are simple observations and patterns i’ve seen across characters. i am by no means telling people how to design their characters!! these are just things that i personally try to keep in mind while designing and wanted to share for those who are interested.
sorry it’s long, i’m obnoxiously meticulous and wordy 😔
5-star characters will almost always be using their burst in their wish art and the effects will usually take up half or more of the space. many will either have an almost solid background and/or ground to stand on. an exception to both of these would be klee which could be due to her being made very early in development.
4-star characters can be using either their skill or their burst and their effects will usually be pretty minimal with much more empty space around the character. effects are also much more generic save for some talent-specific visuals like sucrose’s butterfly or xingqiu’s swords. even the 4-stars with more complex art look basic next to 5-stars with similar effects (ex: chongyun/eula, xinyan/dehya, candace/tartaglia).
all of the archons so far have had their nation’s scenery incorporated into their wish art. nahida is possibly an exception as it looks like it’s just her burst, even though the burst itself seems to be based off of sumeru’s architecture, but this could also be due to her being isolated compared to the other three.
i feel like this one’s a given but long loose/draping fabrics and dangling ornaments are basically a requirement. this game has gorgeous cloth physics and they very much like to use that to their advantage in their designs.
also the characters’ movements and combat style often play a part in how they are dressed, especially in regards to the cloth physics. characters with quicker and more active movements, like sword users or those with more energetic personalities, have smaller capes, wear pants/shorter skirts, and overall have fewer loose fabrics to obscure those fast movements; their clothing/silhouette tends to hug closer to the body. meanwhile characters that have less movement and/or are more elegant, like catalysts, will have longer skirts or other long clothing items that accentuate those types of movements better. there are no strict rules for this one, but in general the clothing should complement how the character moves, not work against it.
most characters will have a very unique hair style/coloration (yelan, dehya, xiao) or they will have hats/hair ornaments (shogun, shenhe, childe) and many will have both. either way, their hair and head is an important point to add visual interest.
this one’s kind of specific, it’s just a fun thing i noticed: there are very few characters, if any, without a high collar, choker, or otherwise covered neck. i guess they don’t really like leaving the neck exposed lol.
basically this entire video has a ton of very good observations, but the main thing i keep in mind from it is that characters will “always have an appealing view from behind” since that’s how they are primarily viewed by the player during gameplay. characters in most other series will have a backside of their design that basically gets the job done and not much else. but genshin takes care to have a back view that is just as unique as the front. skirts and capes will have their own unique silhouette and flow. clothing cut, fabric patterns, and accessories will create shapes that are just as eye-catching as those in the front. they are basically almost their own unique character design, completely independent of what’s going on in the front.
the legs tend to act as a sort of “break” for the eyes, especially when viewed from the front. not counting skirts, the legs will usually have less patterning and/or darker, more subdued coloration compared to the torso. many characters will have bare legs or plain colored stockings or pants with large amounts of blank space/simple patterning.
some will have brighter colors or noticeable patterns compared to other characters, but it is almost never the main point of interest in the overall design. ex: yelan, shenhe, and albedo all have very ornate leggings/pants, but at first glance it’s generally drowned out by the brighter colors + higher contrast shapes on their torso.
some characters like razor, noelle, and heizou are exceptions to the pants rule. in these cases, the legs serve to simply balance out the design. razor and heizou’s brighter colors add interest to an otherwise simple and almost monochromatic design and noelle’s armored legs make her feel sturdy and more ornate, fitting for a knight. they are detailed enough to enhance the design, but not enough to take away focus from the upper body.
since the characters spend a lot of time running, climbing, etc, their legs are never completely covered/obscured. skirts, if not split, are knee-length at most. otherwise their animations would probably be a clipping nightmare.
pattern placement is very intentional on every part of the character. fabric patterns will generally follow the cut of the fabric so as not to interrupt the “flow” of the design. repeatable/tileable patterns are almost non-existent, except to add texture to a small area like the scales on zhongli’s coat, dark patterns on sara’s skirt, and glittery star-like textures on parts of several characters’ outfits.
(this one is very iffy and better left to your own judgement, but..) asymmetry is common, but not necessary. in fact, most characters’ silhouettes are pretty symmetrical; the asymmetry is more often in the smaller details like patterns or ornaments/accessories than anything else. more noticeable asymmetry is usually in angled/layered skirts (ningguang, faruzan, barbara) and one-sided capes/sashes (kaeya, alhaitham, wanderer), while the cut of the “base” outfit is otherwise symmetrical. the asymmetry in these designs is noticeable because it is used well, not just often. exceptions to this (namely yoimiya and tighnari) are usually going for a specific look that fits the character’s personal and cultural background and their personality.
aaaand that’s about all i can think of at the moment. i’m sure a lot more research and thought goes into these designs than what is listed here, but i am just one non-professional artist and i am far from knowing all the ins and outs of mihoyo’s design process 😔 these are just a few of the (purely surface-level) visual observations i’ve made while making my turtle au lol.
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catchyhuh · 6 months
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What sort of hobbies or interests do you imagine the Gang having (outside thievery or arresting said thieves)? And do they influence the way they go about their usual antics, or are they mostly Unrelated to everything else in their lives? :0c
oohhooohoho this is a good one because i have a small handful of actual canonical hobbies/interests that come up occasionally and then i have the ones that solely exist in my mind palace. at least until tms decides to let a random little shrimp from america take the reins on their most longrunning successful franchise anyway,
lupin:
i can’t remember if i mentioned lupin loves puzzles. wait yes i did in the video game list SORRY I’M ALREADY HAVING TROUBLE REMEMBERING WHAT I HAVE AND HAVEN’T GONE OFF ABOUT but yes in canon lupin LOVES puzzles. less like, jigsaw puzzles, more like shapey puzzles. but hell man if you can get him to sit still long enough he might like a jigsaw one just to pass the time
i think he likes cooking. him, jigen and goemon all seem to really Get it. so count this under all of them, they just love yummy food and occasionally the process of making it too
he likes to draw :) somebody has to be behind all the slightly different variants of his little mascot guy. SOMEBODY has to redraw bank floor plans so they can plan out each tiny step of the heist. somebody has to scribble over his own wanted posters to put funny little devil horns on the image CMON now!!
jigen:
only jigen could be in a fucking arcade theater complex and pull out a fucking crossword puzzle. why is this dude honestly trying to speedrun being a grouchy old man before he even turns 40. i mean no hate, no hate to crossword puzzles, they are cool but i’m more of a wordsearch guy. BUT THERE’S OTHER STUFF TO DO JIGEN!! at least he’s not going for sudoku though
very random but i think he might like sewing in a passive sense. with how particular he is about his hat and really ANY clothes on his person, he probably just picked up a needle one day to fix a tear and then was like Huh. this isn't too bad actually. kinda repetitive and calming. and then the others found out and tried to get him to fix all their stuff too SO HALF PLEASANT AND HALF NOT SO PLEASANT
fujiko:
you may think i’m insane but fujiko must genuinely have some sort of fondness for computers and technology. more than she lets on at least, because. how DO you know how to fly every type of aircraft. how DO you know how to crack into almost any computer firewall? how do you know how to isolate a computer virus as it’s ALREADY corrupted HALF OF THE SYSTEM?? this goes beyond job necessity to me she must really have some hidden underlying passion for this stuff
i think it’d be cute if she took up some kinda journaling. i mean god knows she’s not writing about her FEELINGS in that little leather notebook, and she doesn’t really have the time to commit to like, scrapbook shit (even if she had the time, she’s not sentimental like that) but something simple like “this is a list of m&m variants in order of how disgusting to not disgusting they taste to me <3” with little candy stickers and gel pen hearts drawn in. the next page has a bloodstain on it and the only thing written is “dw about that lol”
goemon:
okay i KNOW i’ve pushed the Arts Enjoyer goe agenda before but i recently saw that part 3 production art again of him chilling with the pottery wheel so i must state, once again, goemon LOVES sculpting shit in all forms. chip away at some rock, throw zantetsuken at a block of wood, actually invest in some clay for fucking once, whatever he uses, he’ll make something pretty good. and even if it wasn’t good it’s still a fun hobby for him. keeps his hands loose but precise
oh my god you know what he would love. dominoes. you know when people make those like crazy long domino strings that form a pattern when they’ve all fallen. if anybody here could have the precision and strangely placed patience to do shit like that it’s definitely this guy
zenigata:
going through this list easily and eagerly typing up little funfacts about things i do know they like outside of their. “jobs” and then slowly realizing as i get to zenigata that i... cannot think of anything he. uh. does for fun. damn. he DOES talk about movies a lil bit from time to time, and knowing his mixture of a freakish eye for detail and also missing the most obvious things ever i bet hearing him talk about a movie is twice as fun as actually watching it. i would pay HUNDREDS to hear him try to explain what he thinks of space odyssey to me
it would be-- i have no reasoning for this but it would be so cute and hilarious if he did like. tiny magic tricks. you know? like card appearing out of thin air, coin behind your ear type shit. tiny stuff he figured out on his brief off time. we know lupin can do little stuff like that too but it'd just be hilarious if zenigata, completely unawarely and unintentionally for once, ended up being better than him at some inconsequential shit like making a pair of keys disappear
and i guess in light of recent discoveries they all like golf. apparently. well. no one is perfect
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swashbucklery · 1 year
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I have been thinking about the costuming in Willow a lot, and yes this is for fanfiction reasons but it's also just for fun. As background, my non-fandom hobbies are mostly textile based: I sew garments and teach sewing classes, I'm an experienced knitter and handspinner and I've started to dabble in wool processing from fleece and four-shaft weaving.
So once I get into a Textile Puzzle Hole I can go pretty deep, and this is a fun and important part of understanding the worldbuilding for me.
Because they're doing a thing with Willow that - I actually really enjoy. It's not "classic fantasy" in the sense that it's not period-appropriate or of a specific era that we'd recognize. They're also clearly trying to call back to the 80s roots of the original film with some of the design choices; mostly the elements of armor and clothing that they're pulling from traditional martial arts clothing and the existence of Fun Fantasy Denim.
A lot of my thoughts aren't necessarily about critique, but more about trying to put together a cohesive rubric for myself as to what the costuming aesthetic is. Because it's not "anything goes," it's got a specific vibe and a clear voice and I want to "get it" more for my own writing and for my own understanding.
I think the two rules that I've drilled down so far are:
Textiles As Artisan Material (all-handmade, no fantasy spandex)
Function Over Form
1. Textiles As Artisan Material So to get into this a little, I want to get into the idea of how textiles are made because for me I'm In Deep and know a lot about the raw material to cloth to garment process but the average person does not. (I will say, I'm excepting the Cuirass from all of this - we know metatextually that it's a 3d printed stretch fabric bodysuit; it's also magic so it doesn't count.)
So, the average person is used to textile production that is predicated on post-industrial-revolution technology. Meaning:
power-driven machines for weaving and spinning
computer technology available in spinning and weaving machinery to allow for easy production of highly complex cloth structures and patterning
overabundance and artificially low costs of raw materials
When you are thinking of fabric (and I'd include cloth and leather here but not metal armor) as a skilled artisan material, understanding the reasoning for, for instance, Jade having one shirt for the entire series involves understanding what steps are involved. Then, we can understand how many human beings are involved in fabric and therefore garment production and also how many people need to get paid along the way. A piece of cloth entirely handmade for a garment would involve:
a producer to grow the textile fiber (cotton, flax, wool, hide for leather)
skilled artisans to process the fiber (washing, preparing for spinning which could include combing/carding wool, retting flax, etc, leather tanning)
skilled artisans to add dye. This can be done at the stage of prepared fiber, finished thread/yarn, or finished cloth. In a real-world/modern context, this would have significant impact on the cost of cloth. Certain colours (reds, purples) are much harder to dye true than others or require more expensive dyestuff.
skilled spinners to turn the fiber into fine threads for weaving - depending on the fineness needed for the specific weave of the cloth this could be weeks to months of work. Thinner threads will take more time but have more drape and be less stiff as a cloth, so you'd need thin threads for next-to-skin garments like undershirts, and for fine fabrics in things like dresses or fancy formalware
weavers to weave the threads into cloth. Again, the timing here would depend on the type of thread being used but it would also depend on whether or not there are any woven-in embellishments as components of the cloth. Basic cloth in plain weave would take time but not a lot of extra skill; twills or patterning require more time and weaving skill.
embroiderers to add any embellishments either to the base cloth or to the finished garment
tailors and seamstresses to make garments to measure, which would involve cutting any pieces out of the finished cloth and turning it into a garment the correct size for the wearer. If we are assuming that the mechanical sewing machine has not been invented, then garments would be sewn by hand.
handsewing a correctly finished garment involves more than just tacking the pieces together; seam finishes so that the cloth doesn't unravel often require going over the same seam line one or more times. The labour hours in this step cannot be overstated.
metalworkers or other craftspeople to make fastenings and finishings: buttons, toggles, grommets on lacing that weren't handsewn, etc.
leather garments would be made by a separate type of textile worker, since leatherwork requires different tools and a different skillset to successfully construct garments.
So for a basic garment we're looking at needing to pay six separate types of skilled artisans for their work, up to six or seven if it's a garment with elaborate fittings and/or finishing such as buttons or metal fasteners.
The textile economy is relevant here because it is going to translate directly into style. Cutting fabric into patterned shapes leaves waste; this is fine if you're using mass-produced fabric that you can easily afford to replace but if cloth is the 10/10 most precious thing in your garment, you're going to try to cut it into as low-waste a design as possible. It might also lead to less fussy fitting, so that garments are adjustable and can be used by a person for much longer.
It also translates into textile types. Prior to the advent of mechanical knitting machines, any knit (stretch) fabrics would be hand knit. If you have ever tried knitting yourself, you understand that knitting with thin thread takes more time, and therefore more labour hours.
What this means for clothing in-universe on Willow is:
almost entirely woven fabrics, with the exception of handknitting (see: Elora’s scarf-shawl)
this likely does translate into undergarments; I've been looking at regency and late-Victorian era examples to get my head around. The modern bra and panty set is heavily heavily dependent on not just machine knit fabric but also a TON of petroleum-based synthetic textiles that cannot be produced without modern post-industrial means.
fastened using items that can be handmade! Buttons, toggles, clasps, ties or belts for the most part, with the occasional Fantasy Rivet or Fantasy Grommet.
precious! so precious! Expensive to produce and also worth caring for; we see some examples of visible mending in-show and that would have been the standard for everyone with the exception of Kit and Airk.
2. Function Over Form So this is maybe something that I only think about because I sew, but the modern eye is really used to equating and understanding "woven" fabrics and "stretch woven" fabrics as equivalent. Jeans are the easiest example to think about: they're made with denim, but in things like skinny jeans that denim is usually blended with some kind of spandex. Typical woven fabric doesn't stretch in either direction in a meaningful way; stretch-woven fabrics do so because of the synthetic textile content.
So a lot of the design choices that we see in the show really have to take into account that those textiles won't stretch with movement, and that the wearers need to be able to swordfight:
larger, baggier shirts with cuffs or vests rather than more fitted shirts, to allow for full movement at the elbow and shoulder
trousers that have a bit of extra wearing ease at the hip and thigh, so that when the wearer sits or squats there is room for the change in their body shape with these positions
there are a couple of GREAT leather jackets (Kit's in the early season especially), but if you look closely there's actually a grommet-and-lacing system to attach the sleeve head to the body, so that the shoulder still moves. So clever!
Anyway I have been having a lot of fun thinking about this and deconstructing the garments further. Thinking more about the costuming helps me find the worldbuilding details that make it easy for me to write, and I’d love to chat about this lots and lots! I do have some screenshot receipts for this; I didn’t include them because I mostly just wanted to write and not do ~graphic design today.
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unopenablebox · 3 months
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how do you read while knitting? is it mostly audiobooks?
ebooks, actually! i can't really do it with a paper book because i don't have enough hands to keep the book open and knit simultaneously, but i usually prefer to read ebooks anyway so it's not much of an inconvenience to pause my knitting to hit the spacebar every two pages
if you mean "how do you knit while looking at a book" and not "how do you knit while also holding/turning pages of a book" the answer is just by having knitted for a lot of years so that i now don't need to look at my knitting while i knit, because i can tell by touch where the next stitch is and what i need to be doing; same principle as people who knit at the movies. this is also made easier with non-splitty yarn so that you're unlikely to accidentally split a stitch while not looking, & with projects that don't require a lot of actively shuffling stitches along the needle as you go, but mainly it's just practice afaik
in theory i read books while knitting less high-maintenance things (lots of plain stockinette or easily-memorized short repeats, not a lot of shaping), and listen to some audio thing or watch a video if i'm knitting something complex, where i have to check a pattern many times per row or look at what i'm doing to execute a particular stitch correctly. in practice i often still try to read during complicated lace knitting because reading is the most rewarding possible activity, but i don't get much reading done this way, and occasionally also sail right past a 1-into-7 kyok increase and have to tink back twenty stitches, and therefore don't recommend this
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inventors-fair · 5 months
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Revision Commentary: Process over Product
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So as you all can imagine, this is going to be a little different.
Instead of selecting a group of three winners and three runners and leaving two entries high and dry, I'm going to do a bit of a reflection. In all honesty, this contest was supposed to be just that—a reflection. Take a step back, look at your old cards, look at how Magic has changed, and go from there. The wording may have been esoteric, and I do apologize for not extracting my vision as precisely as may have been necessary. In retrospect, Magic players do love themselves some precise wording.
All of these cards, for whatever they're worth, show significant growth. I recognize the usernames, I recognize the design techniques, and I recognize the places we've been. Honestly, I can't believe we've had so many random contest ideas already. It feels like we run out of space, and then bam. Hence, throwbacks like this. But all the same...
Allow me to go through and do a little digging into the process. The ideas here are all wonderful and part of the point of this contest was to praise growth. We all grow over time, but recognizing that is hard to see. Let's all take a look-see while we're here!
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@bergdg — Ashmouth Fiend/Ashmouth Crown
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This card feels radically different than its origin, and also radically cleaner. There are two options: playing the trampling devil, or running out the equipment. The only place where I'd see minor gameplay frustrations are where you want a cheap creature but you get the equipment instead—but maybe that plays into the set, or this is a one-off card and there's artifact interaction! Giving trample AND having more of a madness payoff feels awesome on the flip, and hey, maybe you just want a devil too.
When you mention it clicking, I feel that too. Innistrad's DFCs and weird transformations are abundant, and I'm glad that you leaned into it for this revision in a fresh way. Sometimes stretching a card feels weird, but in this instance, it's 100% justified. You've upped both power level and complexity while remaining in the contemporary uncommon zone. Now I wonder if the demons are being all beat up in Innistrad-hell and the devils are taking over, so our next return will be a devils-in-the-playground kind of set. Innistrad: Devil's Kingdom. Ooh-hoo-hoo...
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@bread-into-toast — Dovin, Consulate Inspector
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In the right deck with the right protections, this card feels grindy, frustrating, oppressive, complicated, and instrumental to control. I absolutely love it. When comparing this to your previous entry, the flavorful feeling of Niko showed them with their shard powers, sure, but this Dovin feels connected to all sides of his desire for control. He's a big judge of your opponents' cards, but if your cards aren't fulfilling their potential, you can send them back too! Arrest or dismiss, those are the moods.
Oddly enough, I'm feeling Aftermath vibes from this card. What I mean by that is that there's this central flavor that happens to vibe with a specific play pattern. A love of the character... Okay, well, it's Dovin—a strong understanding of the character has led to a card where that understanding meshes with gameplay unquestionably. This is a card that would possibly be too slow in the right aggro environment, but he's got four toughness and card advantage. What's not to appreciate? From your side of the table, anyway. Cohesion is key. This is fantastic.
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@corporalotherbear — One-Up
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It's a little more specific, a little more specifically punishing, and feels so flavorfully sexy that every theatre kid just made it an auto-include. Compared to the pseudo-Ancestral of your previous version, I can see how this card is a little close to home without being actually there, and keeping the flavor/color while changing pretty much the whole vibe (by whittling down the flavor, no less) is pretty masterful. As a card, it's for sure a commander/limited staple in the right build; FWIW, I'd've made it "This spell costs X less to cast, where X is the number of spells your opponents have cast this turn" but there's no precedent.
What I really love is how much this makes the caster feel like a Prismari student. There's no time manipulation, there's no realities colliding, but there sure is a kid with a complex and some fireworks ready to wreak havoc. How much better can you get? If this card had been submitted to the previous contest that long ago, I would have advocated for it to hell and back. But we really can only see how awesome our progress is with growth. You took risks and this card is evident of how they can pay off with balance, flavor, and gameplay comprehension.
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@hypexion — Vasilisa, Flame Event
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Spectacle indeed has moved from being on ten cards to being on...eleven! Wow, but that contest. I remember sitting in a twin bed in someone else's house as I was house-sitting for them, cracking my knuckles and letting my eyes unfocus because we had, apparently, over fifty entries... Memories, dawg. If I was being stricter about this contest, I'd want to move away from the spectacle a little and ease out of drafting as-fan. Maybe that would eventually make for a better card, but I can get how tying it all in is important to you.
I also still do like the Gorgon typeline. "Flame Event" (heh) didn't quite make sense until I read it aloud, and you know how much puns can pack a punch. As for evolution, that first ability is absolutely devastating. Adding mana instead of reducing costs can perhaps be limiting, but with the number of cards that allow for big stuff to impact the board more, I'm terrified. How easy is it to lose five life? Lava Axe typal deck, here we go. It feels bigger, it feels more fun, and what more can be asked. You and spectacle can make yourselves as comfortable together as you can be. Just don't be surprised when they run out of steam.
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@i-am-the-one-who-wololoes — Discard the Remnants
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So, uh. What...contest was this for again? This is why I asked for y'all to include, because now I don't know on what it was supposed to be an improvement, heh. But let's back up for a second. My first thought is that this card is excellent and a bend that could be fine in the right set. My second thought is "wait, from what angle are we seeing the chute and the fire pit." My third thought is that I wish I could remember all the contests we've done in order to jump-start my brain, because this is quite specific!
Wording-wise, did you consider Turn to Slag? E.g., "Destroy target creature. Exile all permanents attached to that creature." Or maybe there needs to be a condition that the creature actually dies/leaves the battlefield, but all the same, the "then" might not do it. I think the flavor text is 90% there; my vote would be "When death just isn't enough," even if it's a random taste thing from my wording. Is getting rid of equipment too much of a bend? I would say it's super iffy. The environment decides. Let me know what contest this was for, though, so we can talk further. 
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@nine-effing-hells — Kindled Hate
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Looking back at my commentary for your card, I can still see how it's a clever idea, and more clever than I saw at the time. Giving your opponent's kill spells flashback is still a bad idea, unless your spells are better, but they've printed weirder things. Looking at this card, you absolutely took the commentary to heart, and this card is far more simpler and I think kinda neater in its own special ways. Again, the center of this contest revolves around that notion, so my own heart is warmed.
How does one use your creatures and resources, how does that work... There are an oddly limited number of options, but this card encourages a board state with a lot of creatures, absolutely. Using them needs to be masterful. Especially at sorcery speed, you can maximize your damage with proper planning. Shame it doesn't hit planeswalkers, but to be honest, doubling your four damage by playing on-curve to nuke your opponent's board is insanely powerful and probably fine as-is. I love how this card deals with a board state and I love the different ways you could flavor this in art. A+.
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@reaperfromtheabyss — Vivien, Skalla's Last Ranger
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Alright, but this card is kinda genius flavorfully. Vivien attacks, seeks the wilds, then—gasp! A marvelous beastie! It runs alongside her (tapped and attacking), and to strengthen the bond, she has to tap into her resources and knowledge of the planes in order to secure them together. The size doesn't matter because it's her attacking that gives the creature its strength.
Upping the power level was the right idea. I think the only weird wording is a corner case here. I'd have it say at the last line that the creature gains the ability of "At the beginning of your end step," etc. and there are a couple reasons, but that ability would just be better insurance. Everything else is costed well, powerful, scary, and strong. I don't know much about Vivien's backstory, but this was a year and change ago, so who knows what was happening then. I barely remember yesterday. Oh, but I'd remember being smacked in the face by Vivien and a giant monster, that's for sure.
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@squeezyboi — Deep Dive
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Ah, a URL change! And also, congrats, I think this is the oldest someone's gone back. How the days have passed us by. Regardless, you certainly took the advice to heart. Flavor text fits, art direction is vivid and tingly in all the evil ways, and the ability speaks to the balance of the covert and the coveted. The only question I have is whether this is a blue card or a black card. See, this puts reanimation straight into mono-blue, theoretically. That's a big break.
Black, however, can mill as much as it needs to. This should be, in my opinion, a black-based rare. Reanimation is a huge tool in limited and constructed alike! Milling is awesome, and stealing things even more so. Here's what I'd want to see: I wanna see ten Idealist cards at rare where they're mono-colored and have a leaning in either direction. Like, if this was in RTR, one green card has white idealism that destroys an attacking thing, and another green card has black idealism that creates Zombie tokens. Y'know? This opens up doors, and that's half the battle. It's definitely an improvement and it's definitely a pumped-up design.
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That's all for now! I'll have something broader for y'all next time I see you.
-@abelzumi
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thebadjoe · 11 months
Text
BAD JOE'S DRDT CH.2 CRIME SOLVING THEORY PART 4
Heyo! It's me again! I'm here to solve a mystery regarding this chapter. AS USUAL, MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR DANGANRONPA DESPAIR TIME CHAPTER 2, SO BEWARE! (Click here to see my previous parts if needed)
The heck are you talking about?! You've already solved the case!
Not quite. There is one mystery that I never managed to solve... until now. So yeah, I'm going to share my ideas in regards to what happened during the failed murder attempt on Ace in chapter 2. On top of that, there's a few other discoveries that may help or hinder my theory that I also wanna share with you guys. So sit tight people, this may be the last ride to my crime solving theory (I hope...).
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Step #1 : What happened to Ace back then?
Let's bring up a picture of the crime scene, shall we? Actually, better than that, I'll bring 2 pictures!
The fitness room before the murder attempt (Picture A)
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The fitness room after the murder attempt (Picture B)
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As you can see, there is quite the major difference between the two. Yes... quite indeed! There is no mistaking it, there was no body before the murder attempt then poof! Ace's body appeared after the murder attempt!
...............................................
Alright, alright! I'm sorry! That was a bad joke. Let's get to business!
Let me give you a list of the relevant and noteworthy discoveries.
A fan that fell down (Ripped out according to Teruko)
A bloody wire broken in half (one half attached to the blade of the fan)
A stepstool
A broom
A roll of grippy tape (originally came from the bar by the wall)
2 weight plates on the ground next to the treadmills
Moved benches (Right bench toppled over)
Moved and toppled over weight plate rack
Traces of blood on the wall, behind Ace's neck
The fan on the left in Picture B isn't moving
So last time I talked about this crime scene, not knowing exactly how it went, I simply presumed that because there's a part of the wire taped up on the blade, it must've been some complex murder mechanism involved to make it work, kind of like the mechanism the culprit pulled for the murder of Arei (Part 1 for reference).
It is the logical way to think about this, after all. However, if you were to think that the culprit created a mechanism that works in a loop motion like a chainsaw, but in slowmotion, there are two issues with it.
There is no blood traces shown on any of the props.
Aside from the wall, the body and the wire, there are no other visible traces of blood, which is very problematic. If we want to make that looping mechanism work, the wire would probably need to be going around some prop so that the wire pattern would be more on Ace's neck height. But since there's missing blood traces, it's just simply impossible.
As long as one end of the wire is attached to the fan, the possibility of a looping mechanism doesn't exist.
Think about it. For the looping effect to work, the beginning part of the wire would also need to be moved so that it would do a lap, but once you stick the beginning of that wire to something, then that part of the wire can't move away from here.
Therefore, once the whole wire follows its intended path, it doesn't come back, it doesn't create a loop. It's yet again another impossibility.
Why does creating a looping effect mechanism matter anyway?
Because according to my theory, the culprit (Eden) created a mechanism that would work on its own while she's away from the crime scene for the sole purpose of playing around the killing game rules which would make her seem even less suspicious.
Not only that, but because of the wounds on Ace's neck, it seemed like the wire damaged his neck multiple times, so surely the mechanism must've gone back and forth to make that happen.
Yet, creating that kind of mechanism is just plain impossible.
Ha! Then your theory doesn't work! Someone else did it!
Nope, not quite. It just narrows down the list of possibilities as to how it could've been done by Eden. It's an impossible mechanism because there's no other traces of blood and it cannot be looped?! Sure, but I just gotta think outside the box.
How do I create a murder mechanism involving a wire attached to the blade that doesn't loop nor does it leave traces of blood on any of the props? There's only one possibility I can think of. Here goes!
The wire was wrapped around Ace's neck multiple times, somewhat tightly.
Huh? That can't be right! Wouldn't the wire simply leave the body after a short while, not damaging the neck enough?
That's what I thought initially at first, but then I decided to make some experiments. ....No! Not that kind of experiment! I did not wrap it there to test it out, I promise! Well... I tried out around my arm first, but took precautions.
There is a way to test it out without endangering ourselves. Find some kind of wire and use it to wrap around an object that doesn't take most of your wire to make a lap like a bottle or a deodorant and try pulling eitheir ends of the wire. You will notice that the wire just stays there, it remains tangled around the object, it even tries to kinda squeeze the object and that's precisely what happened to Ace's neck.
Because of how many times it was wrapped around Ace's neck and the type of wire it was used, with the pulling motion from the fan, it would make considerable damage to his neck which could've turned for the worst if the mechanism wasn't stopped early enough.
And that's how the culprit created a murder mechanism that can do the job without being around to see it, without creating a looping mechanism and leaving barely any blood traces on the props.
There are some issues with this idea however. But since this is the most logical sound conclusion for the murder mechanism, there's most likely an answer to each issue.
It would be very difficult to wrap the wire around Ace's neck without any kind of help.
Let me explain. First things first, they didn't wrap the wire while the body was sitting down against the wall, it would most likely be impossible. Reason why lies in the blood traces of the wire as shown in Picture B.
Only parts of it is bloody, but more importantly is the fact that a good portion of the wire starting from the part that's attached to the blade doesn't have any blood. The beginning part that's clean is obviously the length between the body and the blade of the fan. We can kinda guess from this that it shouldn't be able to reach his neck if it was sitting down.
Therefore, the body needed to be standing for the whole duration, even setting up the murder mechanism. And that's where the benches come in handy, by keeping him in place. The weight plates probably helped a bit too? In any case, there's still another problem.
The body would bend forward as there's simply nothing supporting the upper part of Ace's body.
You could say that the culprit tried to hold the body against the wall with one arm while she used the other arm to wrap the wire around the neck. However, that would be pretty difficult to pull it off as the body could problably move still (she's probably not that strong to begin with) and it would take a greater amount of physical efforts to pull it off.
So she must've used something to help with that. Some kind of prop. It took me quite some time to think about it, but I think I found a pretty good answer to this riddle.
The culprit used the broom to increase the stability of Ace's body while setting up the murder mechanism.
Honestly, the broom confused me a lot when I was trying to figure out how this whole scheme worked on the murder attempt on Ace. To me, it made no sense as to why there was a broom laying around the fitness room. I couldn't understand it.
But now, I'm pretty sure I know why. The culprit placed the broom through Ace's shirt, in the back. Then, she placed the body against the wall and with the remaining support on the lower part of Ace's body (the benches), the body would barely move from its initial position.
Hah! I don't believe you! I'm calling bluff on that one!
Oh yeah? Then how about this? Why don't you test it out yourself? This one is a pretty simple and safe test to do (as you as you don't pull any stupid stunts).
Pick up a broom or a long wooden/plastic pole, place it through your shirt, from top to bottom, in the back. Lean against the wall or a door and try bending your upper body forward. I can guarantee you that it will be very difficult to do so.
That way, it would explain the purpose of most of the props found at the crime scene.
Not true! You still haven't explained why the weight rack was moved and toppled over!
Yeah... you're right. This toppled weight rack was probably the most challenging and annoying piece of the puzzle. No matter how much pondering I've made, even to this day, I can't find anything that relates the weight rack to the murder mechanism. Yet, it has been moved.
Considering who I believe the culprit is, I don't think she would be strong enough to move it wothout someone else's help. But according to my theory, she doesn't have an accomplice.
Then you admit it. Your theory doesn't work because of this.
No, that's wrong!
It's true that I can't make a connection between the weight rack and the murder mechanism, but why should I? We already know that most props aren't part of the murder mechanism as there's no traces of blood on them. Even though the broom was used to keep the body steady while setting up the murder, the culprit removed the broom afterwards.
Alright, but what about the culprit? You just said that she can't move it without someone's help, but you denied the possibility of an accomplice. So it's impossible!
Heh! It's impossible because we're looking at this from the wrong perspective. If it's not the culprit who did it, then it's clearly someone else who did, but I highly doubt it was Nico. Considering what we know, I propose the following possibility :
The person who moved and toppled the weight rack was Ace himself.
Huuuuuh?!!! Ace?! Why would the victim do that?! That doesn't make sense!
You say that because you think that this happened around the time of the murder setup. But that's where we got the wrong idea. In fact, the weight rack in itself has nothing to do with the attempted murder at all!
Ace moved it during the evening, when he was working out. The reason why he did it is most likely to get it closer to the bench press, making it more convenient to swap around weight plates. He basically did it to match his preferences.
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Didn't he work out at evening, the day before the BDA?
Nope. I've proved last time that this actually happened the previous evening, before the night of the failed murder attempt. Not only that, but my proposition would actually prove that Ace was indeed working out that specific evening. Therefore, he didn't lie about working out.
So with this, that should explain the purpose of every single clue. The rest are pretty self explanatory.
The fan was stopped to set up the murder mechanism, then turned back on only to be turned off later again by Nico, who saved Ace unintentionally or not. Otherwise, it turned off automaticly as soon as it broke. The stepladder was used to reach the fan as she was setting up the murder mechanism and the roll of tape has already been explained in part 1 of my theory.
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Step #2 : One more clue in the trash
This is a discovery made by thefandomenchantress! (Thank you btw!). This discovery actually helps support my theory and I'll explain why.
So there is this one very subtle clue that can be found in the trash can as seen in the post. There's actually a needle with black string in that small hole. It must've been part of the murder scheme somehow cause I don't quite see why else it would be found here. I have 2 possibilities that could explain the use of that needle while also supporting my theory.
First one is that the culprit used it to do adjustments to her Arei costume. Remember, Eden's pretty small compared to most of the cast, so it's possible that Arei's outfit would've been a tad too tall for her. It would require some considerable amount of time to do it, but she could've easily done it during the night, while waiting for the relaxation room doors to open next morning to pull off her murder.
Second one is related to the ball of clothes. It's possible that she sew the old clothes together to make a bigger piece of cloth, like some kind of tarp to hide and preserve the unconscious body. It would'be been easier that way instead of trying to place multiple pieces of clothing and hope that it covers the whole body.
Heck, it's possible that the culprit used it for both possibilities instead of only one of them. And that, ladies and gentlemen, would explain why there was a needle with black string in the trash can.
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Step #3 : Arei, you look so different right now!
This has probably been mentioned a couple times in the past, but it definitly caught my attention when I read this subreddit thread. Let's take another look at Arei's corpse, shall we?
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So according to OP in that subreddit thread, some observations about her indicate would indicate that these parts were done recently, like probably in the morning, a bit before 8:00 am and I'm sadly inclined to agreed on that.
Basically, there are two important things to note about the BDA : the red marks on her wrists and the fact that her body was swinging at the time. There's also the fact that the crime scene left out a lot of clues, like many of them weren't removed from the scene. The left out clues are explained in the 3rd part of my theory, so I'm not gonna dwelve on that.
Instead, I wanna talk about the red marks and the body swing. Initially, I thought the body swing was just a way to had some kind of mood to the BDA while I didn't bother thinking that deep about the red marks.
But I can't deny these two visible clues can't remain that way for a long time, especially the body swing. The red marks, I don't know how long it lasts, but it probably doesn't last that long. That's why the OP in this subreddit thread figured that this whole crime must've been carried out by 7:30 AM instead, but if you read all my theories so far, you should know that it's impossible (I also explained it in that thread's comment if you need a reminder).
It is conflicting my theory slightly however because the body hanging among a few other clues (like the dead fishes in the playground and the ball of clothes thrown in the dress up room) must've be done in the evening by David, before the day of the BDA. Yet he couldn't hang the body then otherwise the body would've stopped swinging a long time ago. So that's a contradiction. Yet, it feels like David is the only person who could've done it considering what I've told in my theory. So instead, I just need to fix my idea a bit to make it work.
When David found Arei's corpse, he figured out some kind of plan that would benefit him. First, he hid the body inside the changing room in the dress-up room. Then, he proceeded to grab the fishes with the old clothes to place them in the playground and once that's done, he rolled up the clothes into a ball and discarded it somewhere in the dress-up room. Then, next morning at 7:30 AM, he retrieved Arei's body and hung it at the swing set in the playground. He then removed the tape on her wrists and threw these in the trash before meeting up with the group in the movie screening room.
Why wouldn't David move the body to the playground much earlier, during the evening instead? He placed the fishes there already, so what gives?
About the fishes... you know what? I just made a quick realisation. Let me add something.
It's possible that he didn't place the fishes in the playground during the evening, but rather kept them inside the clothes, hidden in the dress-up room, waiting for next morning to "set up the crime scene in the playground".
Going back to the question previously, considering that it's possible he didn't move anything in the playground until next morning, I'm more inclined to believe that maybe he panicked. It was the evening, everyone else was still awake at the time, there was no telling when someone else would show up, so he neede to quickly hide the body somewhere else.
Why somewhere else? Remember the conversation that happened earlier that evening in the kitchen?
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He knows damn well there were a few witnesses who knew that he headed to the relaxation room at the time. So if he left that corpse there and everyone else would find it the next day, he would've been the prime suspect almost instantly, no doubt about it.
So once he hid it somewhere else for the time being, went back to the first floor and took that time to think of a plan to solve the case while hopefully not having suspicions thrown at him and possibly even get his secret safe. Sadly, he really couldn't tell whodunnit (I mean, who could?), so the best thing he could do is investigate a bit.
So he goes back into the elevator next morning, probably around 7:30 AM and lo and behold, he finds clues in the playground. Those were clues that the real culprit left them there because she was in a hurry. So upon seeing this, he knew what he had to do. He needed to drag the remaining clues into the playground, thinking that it would make it a lot easier to pinpoint the culprit and solve the case.
But why the fishes? According to your theory, he grabbed and hid them quickly before even having a plan to set up the fake crime scene.
Well, since he couldn't grab the fishes before 8:00 AM nor would it have made sense to do so if he was able to, there's only one reason I could think of : he did it for the insurance.
Insurance? What do you mean?
That's because at the time, he didn't actually know much about the murder. He didn't actually know if that was the real place where she died or if that was a temporary hiding spot. So he must've figured that if someone else were to find the body hidden in the changing room, the fishes would indicate that the relaxation room is related to the murder somehow.
Like sure, he wanted to avoid having his secret revealed at all cost, but there's something else he wanted more than anything else : David wants to survive.
And since he's not the culprit, the best thing he can do is help the group solve the murder in his own way. If he left those fishes there, if he ever became a suspect and tried to tell everyone that he found the body in the relaxation room, it's very likely that no one would've believed him. So the fishes serve as proof in that scenario.
So there you have it. This should explain the meaning behind these clues discovered recently. While we're at it, it's been stated from others, but did you notice Arei's hair during the BDA? It looks pretty messy and I'm fairly it's because her hair was wet before, just like what some people suggested before.
And before you ask, no she was not drowned. It wouldn't make sense at all and I'm fairly sure it would've shown clear signs of drowning if that was the actual cause of death, so I'm gonna leave it at that.
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Step #4 : A big flaw in my theory
So... there is a discovery that I made on my own and it's not a good look on a certain aspect of my theory. Let me explain.
While I was finishing up my theory, making sure I didn't miss anything, I replayed in my mind how the crime happened according to me and I somehow managed to spot a major flaw in my own theory. It's such a big flaw, I'm actually surprised I didn't notice it for quite some time after making that post.
The major flaw in question lies in my motive.
Your motive? Again?! You've been changing your motive practically every post! What's up with you?!
Sorry, sorry! I thought for sure that I was right on the money with my crazy motive theory, but it looks like I'm way off the mark. You know... motives can be pretty complicated sometimes, they're a real pain in the you know what!
So to give a little reminder as to what my proposed motive was, it has something to do with the secrets. I deduced that there must've been a possibility that Eden had the exact same secret as David (the manipulator one) and she thought that this was going to be the revealed secret if no one commits murder.
I figured it'd make sense considering her murder scheme. It practically requires a fair amount of lying and manipulation. And if she indeed had that dark secret, since David had the same secret, the host had to make a decision choosing which one of the two should inherit that secret as the public reveal. The host wouldn't want two people having the same exact secret revealed, it would seem really odd.
So the host chose David as the person who would get this secret revealed to the public (if the murder is not done on time) while Eden would have a different secret. Not a fake one, of course. Something that's still part of her, not as dark, but still embarassing enough.
I figured that since Eden's secret seemed so light compared to the others, there must've been more to it. So that's why I came up with this idea. But you know what? This actually can't work. It wouldn't make sense.
Why not?
To explain it properly, we're gonna have to go back a couple episodes and use our imagination to think of what-if scenarios. Trust me, it'll be worth it.
So Eden plans ahead for a murder because on the first episode of chapter 2, when the secrets were given, because of the unknown, she thought for sure she had a very dark secret that she didn't want anyone to know.
So what was the actual murder plan? Killing Arei? Nope! Her intended target was Ace, mostly because he happened to be at the right place at the right time while also dropping his guard. It was the perfect opportunity.
Then later on, she knocks Arei unconscious and locks her inside the relaxation room so that she'll become the prime suspect of the murder of Ace. So the culprit sets up the murder mechanism, she turns it on, then leaves the room. Then all of a sudden, Nico comes in and screws up her plan as the murder attempt failed.
And that, right there, is where we're jump into a what if scenario. Let's go back a bit and pretend that Nico never showed up to begin with. Let's do one better, let's pretend that the murder attempt on Ace actually succeeded and he actually dies. So what now? What would happen?
Well, for starters, monoTV wouldn't display the secrets on the monitor since the BDA would most likely be done much before the deadline. Then Arei would become the main suspect, as predicted by the culprit. Then after that, they would struggle a lot more to figure out who the culprit is and whatnot. So whether the groups solve it or not, at the end of that trial, they wouldn't be able to figure out Eden's dark secret (let's pretend that she actually had a very dark secret for now). So everything works out in the culprit's favor, right?
BZZZZZZZ! WRONG!
We would be forgetting a very important fact if we believe that it would go down that way in a what-if scenario. Because the secrets were mixed-up, everyone knew the secret of a different person. So in that case, Charles knows Eden's secret.
Let's keep moving with the what-if scenario. So say that they're investigating the murder of Ace, they would find a few clues, but probably not enough to solve the mystery.
So what would happen if they have to do everything they can to solve the case, but don't have a lot of information to go on? They would reveal the next best bit of information they have at their disposal : the secrets!
Considering Charles' personality, there's no way he wouldn't reveal Eden's secret. He would definitly let everyone know about her secret. Whether it was indeed a very dark secret or not and whether they find out Eden has something to do with the crime or not. He'd even ask Teruko to show it as proof since he gave the piece of paper to her.
Basically, if that was the actual motive, it would only lead to her doom. Her secret would've been exposed anyways. Therefore, Eden's motive of trying to protect her believed dark secret can't work.
While I'm at it. The same applies to any theories out there that uses something like "they want to protect their secret" as a murder motive. None of these work for any individuals... except for one. The only one that could get away with it is whoever Arei had as a secret.
I knew it! Levi did it! Levi has to be the person with the murderer secret. He killed her to retrieve the secret!
Yeah... no. While it would've been an interesting motive and plot, I very much doubt he's the culprit. The roll of tape disappearance from the first part of my theory narrows down the list of suspect by a lot.
This is another reason why my motive theory doesn't make sense. To make sure that she fulfills that "goal", she would need to find out who has her secret and kill that target. She did neitheir of those. Otherwise, Charles would've been the victim.
So now what? Are you gonna propose that there was no motive?
Not at all! There was definitly a motive for commiting murder. It took me some time to think about it, but I may have a more plausible theory for the motive.
Eden has someone she loves and cares about a lot outside this killing game. She misses her dearly.
She... killed someone because of love?! Are you kidding me?!
Nope. Well, it wasn't just love. It was more like a chain of events that led her to be done with this place and wanted a way out of here to meet her beloved ASAP. Once you start thinking about the narrative in Eden's pov, it'll start to make sense. Let's rewind back to the very beginning : the prologue.
After everyone's introductions, monoTV shows up to announce the killing game show, that they're here to kill each other and whatnot. Levi came close to dying because he broke a rule for rebelling against the mascot. Realising the gravity, most people were pretty concerned about this. Eden's reaction in that scene was the following :
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Well, to be fair, I'm sure most people, even yourself if you were in their shoes, would react like this. This is pretty scary, after all. In any case, this shows that from the beginning that she wanted to get out of here.
Later on, the next day, they try to figure out any ways to escape this place which, interestingly enough, Eden is the first person to bring it up as a reminder.
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And then fast forward during chapter 1, there's some wholesome friendship moments happening with the girls in the kitchen, then some other stuff happens, then there's the murder, the investigation, the trial.
Then once Teruko figures out that the culprit is Min. It becomes quite a big shock for Eden since Min was in the kitchen with Hu and Eden most of the time, but as you know, it wasn't an airtight alibi.
So, to say the least, this chapter was pretty dramatic for most of the ultimates. Even towards the end of that chapter, it was quite a shocker when Teruko pretty much pulled the middle finger on all of them, telling that she carried the trial to victory (which she honestly did). She then swore that she would never trust anyone else ever again, which set a pretty dark tone going forward. Then the screen fades to black, introducing the beginning of the chapter 2.
Right before the beginning of that chapter, we get the following quote : "I still miss you. I miss you so much that I wish I you had never been a part of my life. The worst part is, even though you left me like this, there's nothing I can blame you for."
Then once the chapter begins, we jump right into Eden's pov. So based on everything we know about both chapters and that her secret is : "Ever since you kissed her, you were afraid your sexuality would ruin your friendships," it feels like the quote we saw earlier was actually Eden's thoughts.
Anyways, despite how gloomy this atmosphere seemed to be, after monoTV revealed the motive, she says the following.
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Once again, she's the first person to bring up the "escape the killing game plan". She's seems a tad keen on wanting to get out of here. She could've also been trying to lift the mood up because of everything awful that happened in chapter 1, who knows.
We all know that there's been a lot more arguing this chapter, especially that one time where there were 3 different groups bickering : Ace and Nico, Arturo and J, Arei and monoTV. Basically, not a single day goes by without a dramatic moment happening this chapter.
Despite all that, Eden tries to remain positive and try to make more friends despite how stressed out she must've felt deep down. And then this happens...
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Yeah, Arei coming in the the very intense bullying on Eden, which broke her down real bad. By the way, do you remember in the first part of my theory, when I claimed that this whole scene was the spark that made Eden decide to commit murder? Then in the second part, I rejected that idea because of her flashback showing a very wholesome moment between Arei and Eden? Guess what? I'm changing my mind yet again : Arei's bullying is definitly what caused Eden to kill someone.
What the heck are you saying?! Arei apologized and they both made up afterwards. You're just contradicting yourself!
I could claim that the flashback was entirely made up, but I seriously believe that everything she told in that flashback was the truth. Yes, it's true that they made up and became friends, but that doesn't matter anymore. She had her sights on something a lot more important : get the heck out of here by any means necessary!
It's exactly because of that bullying that it made Eden realise that she really misses that certain someone outside the killing game. She misses her dearly. So to make sure that she could escape this hellish show, she needed to come up with a flawless murder plan. Hence why there's been so much efforts put into this. She's serious about this.
Becoming friends with Arei was a golden opportunity for her. She could use this to her advantage and betray her. Make Arei become the scapegoat in this case, which was the original intent in her plan. As for the murder victim, it seriously didn't matter, she only needed to sneak on someone that would drop off their guard (which in that case, it would be Ace when he was spying on David and Arei).
Of course, things sadly didn't go according to plan for Eden and she had no choice but to murder Arei if she wanted her plan to succeed. Well, she could've still made the choice, but her desire to meet her beloved out there was much much stronger than anything else. She had to.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the whole truth behind this case. Well... would be if I end up being right. It's possible I may have a few things wrong once we learn the actual truth. Let's be honest there though : everything I've told you guys so far, it makes sense, doesn't it?
If you combine all my ideas, they all seem to be connected, don't you think?
Well, it's still up to you to decide whether you believe in my culprit theory or not. There's probably a couple other possibilities out there, but it'd take as much work, if not more, to connect all the dots, so be mindful of that.
And with that, I'd like to thank you all again for reading my theory post. It's another big read, I know. I'm sorry. Maybe I could've word things better, make it much easier to read, but hey. We never truly learn or improve if we never try in the first place, right?
Alright! Next post will be a closing argument post, which should make things kinda easier to understand my whole theory. See you then!
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hazzybat · 4 months
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@mitamicah this is very cursed, very stupid and very very low effort that i don't even know if it's funny or just dumb.
joker out wonka AU i guess.
The three wonka’s were famous for their factory. Unimaginable delights trickled out of their door and their creators just as mysterious as the secrets of the sweets they produced. All that was known was the three had made their fortunes together, being the greatest candy makers anyone had know.
Nace Jordan was a strange child. Mostly because he was not a child but a 29 year old man who lived with his good friend Kris who despite being 23 was lovingly called grandpa. He’s earned the nickname through an incredibly complex story of running gags, a weird roommate relationship a brief time in the circus and three different cats named steve. If I were to tell you the whole story it would end up an entirely different fanfiction.
The wonka factory had been sitting abandoned for many years. Everyone assumed the creators were dead, no children of their own or shady lawyers to pass on the empire of chocolate to. Then one day smoke started billowing out from the candy cane stripped smoke stacks and trucks began filing out of the factory once more. The town below was abuzz with excitement especially after there was an announcement. A video that claimed 5 golden tickets were to be won for a tour of the factory and a very special prize at the end.
Kris was dirt poor and Nace was dirt poorer. They lived in what was not legally a house and at night they would burn their own armpit hair to stay warm. It didn’t keep the fire going very long and really they should have used wood but that sounded less pathetic and sad.
One day Nace came home after had earned his paycheck at the miserable child orphanage (the owner’s name was Mr Miserable and the orphanage was the happiest place in the whole town with people flying in from all over the country to adopt little children from it’s doors because they were just that happy and well behaved). He found Kris eating a chocolate bar.
“I stole it from the weird freak on the street corner.” kris explained.
“steal-from steve?” Nace confirmed. Everyone stole from steal-from steve. It wasn’t even a crime anymore.
Kris then reached into his bag and pulled out another chocolate bar and handed it to nace, smiling sweetly at the way his eyes lit up.
“Happy birthday” he said.
Nace took the bar and held it like a newborn. It was a precious thing. Delicious and wonderful and just the thing to bring some joy into their poor, moneyless lives. He unwrapped the chocolate bar and couldn’t believe his eyes and the sight of a pure gold piece of paper. It was actual solid gold. Surprisingly heavy and as a result to compensate there was much less chocolate in the bar than in Kris’s. Nace pouted at the lack of chocolate.
“oh my god we’re going to tour the factory!” Kris beamed, pulling Nace out of his stupor and together they danced and cheered into the night, their excitement keeping them warm even when the fire died out.
The day of the factory tour came and the pair eagerly waited at the golden front entrance. Nace was allowed 1 person to accompany him. The others that had won was a finnish man with his friend who was also a finnish man and some other irrelevant people who I know you don’t care about because this is a really stupid story.
Finally the doors opened and ther before them stood the Wonkas. The first was a man with a mess of shoulder length black hair and a trimmed black beard. His wore a velvet suit with tails, lime green pants, a fancy black top hat and a shiny black cane. An led screen behind them (because they wanted to make sure the gathered crowd knew who they were) displayed the name JAN WONKA in big bold letters with little fireworks behind it.
The next Wonka was BOJAN WONKA according to the screen. His coat was a rich red with a much neater brown top hat and a colourfuly patterned cravat around his throat. He was shorter than Jan, with brown hair and a grey streak that fell out from under the top hat.
The final Wonka was JURE WONKA. His coat was bright purple, sensible brown pants and bright blonde hair stuck out from beneath the light brown top hat. He was easily the cutest of the Wonka’s and the author has no personal bias in that description whatsoever that is just how he is.
Then the author got bored and decided to not write anymore but you know the plot anyway.
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dinitride-art · 2 years
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Stranger Things and Lighting (Season 2: The Snowball) - Full Analysis (Pt. 25.1)
Okay, so. This really isn’t a part of the Lighting of this analysis. But, the Rink O’ Mania disco ball has been haunting me ever since I noticed that it was positioned behind Will an ungodly amount for someone who wasn’t a main character in that scene (not Mike or El). Anyways, I’ve talked already talked about that.
So, what is this?
This is a theory post that I need to make to A. Get My Own Thoughts in Order, and B. Make What I’m Trying to Say Next Make Sense. First, before I get into The Snowball (I am analyzing this in the second half of the post, in case anyone would rather skip to that), I need to explain myself.
Mike’s Character Arc:
Mike Wheeler’s character arc is more of a dip than a circle or an arc. Season one starts with Mike at his highest, season two is going downhill, season three is rock bottom, season four is getting back up, and season five will be finding himself again.
This is related to how much he’s trying to fit into society and how much of an ‘asshole’ (Nancy’s words) he becomes. In season four, we do see Mike becoming less of an asshole, he falls short sometimes, but he’s trying. With the Hellfire Club, talking to El, and talking to Will, he’s trying to find himself again.
This dip, causes a parallel structure in the arc, season three being an outlier because it’s the bottom of the dip. However, this dip is not exclusive to Mike’s arc. It’s true for the entire series. There are a lot of parallels in Stranger Things, a lot. But there is also a pattern to those parallels.
We are only able to see the pattern emerge with what we’ve seen in season four. Because season four parallels season two.
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Math and Patterns rant, you have been warned: (As a visual of what I’m saying, here’s this graph. To rant a little about patterns here, they aren’t always intended and thought out, but they are always present. Humans have many unconscious processes that use and require patterns that we don’t notice in our daily lives. Cell division, the digestive system, the nervous system: all complex processes and patterns in our bodies. So, yes, this is a sinusoidal function. It looks pretty close to y=cos(x). It’s got a max and a min, and can in fact be graphed. (which is pretty fun and funky if you ask me).
I’m not really saying that this was a conscious decision, but rather it’s a result of patters being apart of how we think and patterns being present in every aspect of life (or nearly every aspect, I don’t know, shit could be wild out there).
BUT, it does show what I’m talking about pretty well. Season one and five are parallel, as well as season two and four. Season three is rock bottom. The parallel structure is intended, the sinusoidal function perhaps not so much. But it’s still pretty neat!)
In both season two and season four:
-Max gets an extremely relevant plotline; Introduced in season two, is Vecna’s target in season four. She and Will almost trade spots in terms of a romance arc and being a target of the Upside Down.
-El has an independent plotline and is separated from the rest of the group; In season two it’s breaking away from Hopper and running away and finding Kali. In season four she kind of breaks up with Mike and goes and joins the Nina project. She finds out more about who she is and her past with the Hawkins lab.
-’I love you’; in season two Steve and Nancy break up because she doesn’t love him anymore, whether she ever really did is unclear. In season four Mike can’t tell El that he loves her up until the monologue due to outside factors. Jonathan and Will both try to help Nancy and Mike with their relationships but obviously love the person that they’re trying to help.
-Hawkins lab relevance with Kali in season 2 and Brenner in season four; the opening scene of the season in seasons two and four are about Hawkins lab and the people involved in it. Brenner’s memories of the incident in season four, and Kali’s introduction in season two.
- Mike and Will relationship development/ paired off and separated from the group. Emphasis is placed on their relationship but as a team. In season two Mike and Will were paired off and work as a team to try and stop the mind flayer and in season four they’re paired off while trying to find El.
-both have nine episodes; the episode numbers alternate by season. Seasons one, three, and five have eight episodes, while seasons two and four have nine. These further add to the parallel structure of the series/story.
The point:
Season two and season four are connected- just like how season 5 and season one are going to parallel each other (and maybe season three, although I’m not too sure on that one yet, because it’s the bottom of the arc and I’m not too confidant it will match up in this. But I’m also not 100%. So. Idk yet). This is the upswing of the series, season three was rock bottom, and now things are going to go up.
But that is not my point. My point is that the Snowball is a problem. It is in episode nine for a reason, that disco ball is there for a reason, the disco ball at Rink O’ Mania is there for a reason (other than drawing attention to Will): it’s all there because it means something.
I cannot analyze what is happening in the snowball scene (lighting aside, we’ve gone rogue- for now. It’s temporary. I’ll return to the light- lol- eventually.) without looking in depth at what happens in season two. More specifically the snowball.
So, I’m going to lay that out here. The snowball specifically happens at the end of episode nine of season two and about half or more of episode nine of season four. This is intended because of the parallel structure of the seasons.
Without knowing the themes of the Snowball in season two, the snowball in season four isn’t going to make very much sense. That being said, “forced conformity, that’s what’s killing the kids!” is from season four. But it is the entire point of the Snowball in both season four and season two.
S2:E9 - The Snowball (Pink and Blue)
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Starting off here, we’ve got Mr. Clark putting up the banner. We can clearly see that ‘Snow’ is hidden and there is an emphasis placed on ‘ball’. This imagery is present in season four as well. The disco ball at Rink O’ Mania, Max’s memories of the Snowball, some other things that are relevant later (and I can’t explain fully here without analyzing up to that exact point).
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Mr. Clark is wearing green and red, while the person standing and watching him is wearing blue and red/pink. The colour scheme for the Snowball appears to be blue, silver and red.
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Will is wearing a blue tie.
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Mike is wearing a red tie.
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Lucas is wearing a pink and blue striped shirt.
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Erica is wearing a blue and pink shirt.
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Max is wearing green. Billy was also seen when we saw Max and was wearing blue.
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Dustin is wearing blue but looks into a red mirror and has more red objects that compliment his blue.
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Steve talks to Dustin, now that they’re friends and he’s trying to teach him how to talk to girls. Steve is wearing red.
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The girls behind Dustin are wearing pink and blue. The balloons are white and blue (which may have changed in season four).
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Steve looks past Dustin at Nancy, she’s wearing pink.
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The balloons did change, they look tarnished and nearly gold instead of silver or white. (this is due somewhat to the upside down, but this memory is still set in a darker tone even when Max first arrives in it).
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This shot mirrors the ones in season four, except we can’t see the emphasis on the disco ball as much here as we do there. This is also a juxtaposition of the darkness of Max’s memory. From this perspective we can also see green, red and blue as our main colours.
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Looking at Nancy, we can see that she is indeed wearing a pink plaid dress and gold earrings. Her eyeshadow/eye liner is purple and her hair is nearly as curly as we see it in season four. Behind her we can see two girls in blue and pink dresses.
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Dustin finds the rest of the party and is then told his hair looks weird. In the background we can see more blue, pink and red outfits.
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Mike is in center frame, even though we’re mainly following Dustin. Will also takes up a lot of the frame considering it’s mainly Mike and Lucas who are joking about Dustin’s hair. Everyone in the party is important to watch in this scene.
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We see more of Max’s outfit when the camera changes angle and she is wearing some red, but she stands out against the red and blue dresses that the other girls are wearing.
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And again we see Mike in the center of the frame even though the scene doesn’t seem to concern him all that much.
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The people in the background aren’t all wearing blue, red and pink, but the ones that are in our direct line of sight usually are.
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Max is starring off where Dustin was when Lucas tries to ask her to dance.
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We see Dustin watching it go well, and we see his hope start to crumble.
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Despite Dustin being the one who liked Max, Will and Mike are still in center frame. We see all three of their reactions. Will looks relatively normally at them leaving, Dustin seems a but shocked but resigned, and Mike looks a little bit sad.
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We see all three of them and then we focus in on Max and Lucas. Max is wearing a yellow watch, one that she is still wearing in season four. In season two Max also has green vans which change to red when we see her in season four. Green has connotations of hiding/ not being able to find the colour red just yet. That was established in season one at Will’s funeral.
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After we focus on Max and Lucas we flip back over to look at Dustin in the center of the frame. We see him looking at them from a distance. We know that he’s sad because he liked Max, and she’s dancing with someone else.
(cutting it here because I now have the fear of the tumblr code instilled into me and have split this post into three)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 25.1 25.2 25.3 26 27 28 29 30 (to be edited)
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