#because i also don't think there's anything wrong with poking fun at people sometimes and i think the most valuable thing a person can do-- | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

spaceless-vacuum · 1 year

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Question? How would a Yan!Link handle having a Darling who not only chose him willingly but actively smothers him back? Not to the degree of a Yandere but rather if he comes home injured or gets hurt and they're traveling together he finds himself in mandatory bed rest unless they deem it light enough an injury? He has a cold and gets dragged in the house and shoved into bed while they go make soup. They refuse to let him do anything for them while hurt and are totally not against using cuddles as an option to keep him down. Will capitalize on his Yandere tendencies. Aware of those tendencies and tries not to upset him but also knows how to use them to their advantage?

Or how about this? Actively chasing others off by making it known he's taken? He won't have to pull his Darling into his lap if they make themselves comfortable there first. His Darling is completely down with owning up to the fact that they have one of the most dangerous people in Hyrule willing to do absolutely anything for them and he's so sweet and gentle for them and good looking to boot.

Most pleased Yandere ever I'd imagine.

....bonus? They spend their free time trying to fluster him somehow. How easy is it? Does it work? Who knows.

Oooh I think this is so much fun and would go differently with the different heroes. I've decided to use this as an opportunity to write for the lu au. hope you don't mind!

Sky would absolutely adore this and would take it as a chance to gain more cuddles from you. He is already very big on spending a lazy day together with you (assuming all of his work is done) and the idea of receiving more love and attention is one that makes his heart skip a beat with joy. His idea of a relaxing summer day is taking it easy or flying around Skyloft. Two things he can do if wounded or with a cold.

Even if you do try to coax him to stay inside all day he needs a walk for fresh air and it can't be helped. The man doesn't like to be cooped up all the time and will carry you out the door with him if he needs to. As long as you're with him he's as buzzed as a bee.

The action of you putting yourself into his lap before he does makes him blush so badly. Public displays of affection in front of others, especially when he knows you're doing it to claim him gets him in his feelings. He's practically kicking his legs but to do so might kick you off of his lap which he won't do.

The fact that you want others to know you love him makes his heart skip a beat. There's no way anyone is going to lay a hand on you after that. He has a way of making sure that everyone knows you're taken with just a look and with the fact you're always hanging off of his arm he doesn't have to do too much. Which is fine by him. Less work for him means more time to spend by your side. It's easy to forget he has a darker side sometimes as he's just so sweet and carefree until pushed in the right (or wrong) direction.

Even if he finds out or just knows about how you're ‘using’ him, Sky doesn't care. In his mind it isn't an issue at all because he isn't being used if he's ok with it and you both enjoy the outcome. It's rare to find him getting upset at your cute demeanor but sometimes he does have a rare moment where it all slips and he feels like he needs to take a ride.

It’s really, and I mean really easy to get Sky flustered. Any form of public affection where others can see it and are actively looking makes him blush so hard. He doesn't get embarrassed often but he does have friends who like to tease and poke fun. Word gets around in villages quickly (especially about the hero) and you being called Link’s is something he never gets used to. It makes him feel like he's on cloud nine when he overhears the talk on the town. As long as no one says anything bad about his partner.

#eye write #yandere link x reader #legend of zelda x reader #yandere linked universe #lu au #linkeduniverse #sky x reader #ask and answer

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prismatic-bell · 1 year

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So I got part of Avenue Q stuck in my head, and you know how people say something was "a product of its time" when talking about racism, sexism, etc.? It is occurring to me I finally get that. Because while sometimes it's just...wrong and was always wrong, I have to wonder how many people who either weren't into pop culture in the late 90s/early 00s or simply weren't alive then don't realize Christmas Eve is supposed to be poking fun at weeaboos. The show was written at a point in time where America just kind of went crazy about Japanese pop culture for awhile. Like. Everyone. Everywhere. A major pop singer (Gwen Stefani) literally paid for a group of "kawaii girls" to follow her around as part of her image, and Smile.dk (which had zero Japanese members) debuted with a song called "Butterfly" in which the singer "searches for a man all across Japan, just to find my samurai" and featuring some non-lyric vocalizations that I genuinely hope weren't supposed to sound like Chinese tonals because they really sound like someone botching Chinese tonals (and, you know, assuming All Asian Nations Are Japan). Pikachu was on the front of Time magazine, most of the weekday afternoon programming block on Cartoon Network was anime, kimono-style tops (although usually facing the wrong way) were a huge trend, and for those who still wanted tees or regular shirts with long sleeves, well...

Do I have any idea what that says? None. Did I own one of these? I did not--I owned three of them. All three of mine looked like lacquer boxes with koi or traditional flower designs. I found out later the writing on at least one of mine was complete gibberish. The designer just picked some kanji they thought looked cool. And yes, basically every top I owned that wasn't one of these was a kimono-style. Wearing chopsticks in your hair became A Whole Thing if you weren't flatironing your hair (and yes, people used actual chopsticks, not hair sticks--I'm not even sure hair sticks were really a thing in American fashion until this point). On the internet side of things, 2channel was possibly getting shut down and 2chan sprang up, and quickly got so popular in the western hemisphere that we got--yep--4chan, the same year Avenue Q debuted. 4chan is weeb culture, or at least, that's how it started. (In fact I think it's also where "weeaboo" was coined.) A couple of years later, MCR would include Japanese verses in a song just...because. Because that's what we were like at that point in time. 1998-2005 (or so) was when America had its own taste of Japonisme. And into all of this you get Christmas Eve. Who's loud, and brash, and assertive--not at all a docile me-love-you-long-time weeb fantasy. Her English is a little broken, but she's not stupid--in fact as far as we can tell she's the most educated person on Avenue Q (Kate and Princeton both have BAs and Rod probably has a master's in business, but Christmas Eve has two separate master's degrees, which she earned in her secondary language). Her accent is thick, but there's literally a song ("Everyone's A Little Bit Racist") where some of the characters get called out on laughing at her for it. And--crucially--the white man she marries is so far removed from anything related to pan-Asian culture in America he doesn't know he shouldn't call her Oriental. Is this absolutely terrible given he's marrying a Japanese woman? Yes. Is it kind of baffling that another character immediately says "the term is Asian-American," since Christmas Eve refers to herself as Japanese? Also yes. Is it weird that a guy who (according to the timeline) was born in 1970 would be using Oriental? Extremely. Is it a dig at the exoticizing that was going on at the time? Absofuckinglutely. (And that's why that anachronism is there. It's very much pointing out that society was treating Japanese pop culture the same way our Victorian forebears treated Japan in general in the Meiji era.) And like. I'm not saying Christmas Eve is some kind of unproblematic depiction here by any means. Even in 2003 her accent was...icky, and now it's downright unacceptable. And there's the question of whether they fell into one stereotype ("Asians are so smart!") while trying to mock another ("if you can't speak English you must be stupid"), and whether that's an acceptable trade-off. I'm not even going to get into her name being a Christmas cake joke because....look, I could sit here and explain all the puns in the names but that's a whole other post and it's literally easier to say "Brian, Kate, and Nicky are the only characters whose names aren't jokes."

But there's a huge nuance to why she was written as this bizarre stereotype-but-not-but-yes-but-not-but-yes-but-maybe mashup, and I think there's a big possibility you literally just had to be there to understand. It really truly genuinely is a product of 2003. You could not write Christmas Eve in 1983 and have her make any damn sense. You could not write her in 2023 and have her come across as anything but wildly racist. Like. Maybe that phrase isn't just don't-be-mean-to-your-elders bullshit. (At least, not all of the time.)

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juni-ravenhall · 5 months

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sso vs the concept of good gameplay. yeah its another fucking book length post >:3

thoughts from someone with a brain full of what good game design means and tons of years of studying and analysing that topic etc, bc of game design being one of my main interests.

basically the major thing i want to say about the hollow woods update aside from "yay forest kinda pretty :)" is that most of it doesn't really consist of what i would call gameplay. this is ofc something u can argue back and forth that im also open to, bc respectful analytical discussion is healthy.

the firefly stuff id personally call something more like "satisfaction play" than gameplay (idk if there's a widespread term that anyone else made up already). there is zero challenge to gathering fireflies - it's on the level of poking a glitter slime simulation app. it might feel satisfying to collect them, but there is no practised skill needed, no thinking or planning or anything. so i don't consider this "gameplay", but "satisfaction play" in itself isn't a bad thing, either. it's not that "gameplay" would be inherently better than "satisfaction play" in every case.

the puzzles are gameplay, i think - not very challenging gameplay (the answers are right there as soon as the puzzle is presented), but it *is* arguably gameplay, since we do call puzzle-solving "gameplay" in general. there is some argument there to be made about what a "puzzle" really means, and what is a simple "request and task" rather than a "puzzle", or what "knowing a real life fact" (what is 180 degrees?) versus "having to figure something out using information available inside the game" might mean for how we view what is or isn't a puzzle. but that's not specific to sso at all (a question for tons of various "puzzles" as seen in tons of various games).

there's nothing wrong in itself with satisfaction play, or with easy puzzles. sometimes that's exactly what an audience wants. but sso has a bigger issue, in that the main gameplay until now has been races (or courses, tracks, but let's say races) and that those races are not especially well designed. that there is very little of really challenging, fun, satisfying, rewarding gameplay in sso - in the terms of what people usually expect from videogames (of the gameplay-based type, not satisfaction play-based).

don't jump to conclusions here, but: i often make a comparison to mariokart, a game with a primary race mechanic. i used to play mariokart a lot because it was just really fun. it was fun alone or with friends or strangers, and it was fun to try to beat my best score, and it was fun to explore different ways of beating the same track. when you design a game, you have to think really heavily about: is the core gameplay loop fun? what makes people want to play this? to *re*play this? does it feel satisfying and exciting? is it better or at the same level as its competitors? what kind of things appeal to the target audience? and so on.

somehow sso has never felt like mariokart (except that one rainbow race, obvs), and i don't mean that sso could just "copy mariokart", this isnt the point. what i do mean is that there has to be a way to make your racing mechanic (if it is a primary mechanic of your game!) actually fun, engaging and challenging in the right way - the good game design way, not the clunky, frustrating and broken way. (yes, i know the engine is spaghetti garbage. no, i don't think that's a get-out-of-jail-free card for every problem that sse has.)

they made some progress with this when they added a completely out-of-place, more challenging race in one of the more recent story quests (i forget exactly when that was, but the race was in hollow woods). the problem then was that within the context of sso and what they have taught the players about their game, this race was thrown at us with no preparation for its challenges, which is bad game design. you want to introduce your player to different challenges and allow them to practice and learn, which didn't happen when we jump from "races with basically no skill needed to pass" to "a race with new things happening everywhere you need to react to while also successfully following a new path" out of nowhere. the intent was good - more challenging and exciting, dramatic races - the execution wasn't great.

they also made some progress with this when they revamped a few of the champs. the revamps aren't perfect, but they're good, and it was a good step towards improving core gameplay mechanics, that not only are genuinely enjoyable to many players but also *fit into the theme of the game* (as in, beating others at horse sports is a common theme within the equestrian theme). (i'm personally in shock that we don't have more champs across the map since all of these years, and that they aren't better already, since it's one of the most "regular videogame quality" content this game has and it shouldve been relatively easy to add more as well as maintaining and improving what was there).

so, back to the new valedale stuff.... sort of. there have been some puzzles in sso before, and some random gameplay (the click timing of searching for gold). the stuff we've had before: it's usually very basic puzzles and random gameplay, partially on behalf of that - for a long time - there doesn't seem to have been that much resources put into fighting with the engine to create new things that weren't in the code before, and partially because of a view held by some people at the company that games for young girls don't need to have any actual well-designed challenging gameplay, and that it's better to make it ridiculously easy so that nobody ever really loses or gets stuck on anything. you don't have to practice to beat any of the races - you might have to practice to get a top score or win a champ, but none of those are required for progress. similarly, there wasn't any real challenge that i remember to the absolute majority of non-racing quests, either. you might have to hit a thing with the right timing once in a while, but it's always easy (other games do this too - see QTE in certain AAA games!), or you might have to remember a number or a word for a minute and answer a question or type in a code correctly.

more or less everytime that there were puzzles in sso, they held your hand through it - whether you wanted to or not. the same is true for the rune puzzles, which have their solution blatantly in front of you as soon as they load. there is no changing actual difficulty level to make it more fitting to the player (which doesn't necessarily have to be a literal level setting - it can come organically, such as giving extra explanations, or slowing a timer down, after a player has failed a task 3 times, etc). yes, you can make the rune puzzles more complex in some sense - a bigger grid, or choosing the type of moves you are worse at - but the solution is always right in front of you, regardless. they hold your hand whether you like it or not, by the type of puzzle that they introduced.

races in sso have a "gold, silver or bronze" system, but we don't actually see that the races have been correctly playtested to properly reflect what a time worthy of each medal should be, and we also don't really gain anything from reaching any medal. i never feel a thing about getting this or that medal, because they mean nothing. it might be a good thing that we're never asked in a quest to "complete this race with a gold medal" or "complete this race under a certain time" or "complete this jumping course with no faults", since that could lock some players out of completing quests (while this is the case for most other games, there is also an important discussion happening around accessibility in game completion).

there are ways to make the medals in races matter, feel accurate, and feel rewarding. there are ways to make races more challenging or more interesting without just being more clunky or frustrating. there are ways to do that while keeping them more or less grounded in reality, and ways to do that while incorporating non-realistic elements that are fun and feel fitting (remembering that this is a game with magic and fantasy from the start). they could have added faults to jumping courses forever ago, they could have added dressage forever ago, and improved on gameplay like pole bending and barrel racing, and so on, and all while allowing players at all skill levels to still complete tasks and complete races, but also allowing players to challenge themselves for rewards.

if the core gameplay - around races and championships, around horse care, horse bonding and horse training - or around magic and protecting what's dear, or around rescue missions with the rangers, or tons of other stuff i can think up that would fit this game - if that stuff felt like actually well designed gameplay, something fun, not frustrating and buggy, challenging in the right ways and rewarding. if all that was done well, then adding some "satisfaction play" with fireflies or some simple puzzles with blatant solutions wouldn't be as easy to criticise.

the closest thing we got to challenging gameplay that you can really clearly *lose* at - that there is a risk and a skill involved - were some of the druid training missions. they still suffered from some clunky frustrations and non-ideal design decisions, but it was an attempt at more regular gameplay (among the non-racing gameplay). comparing the new gameplay in valedale to the druid training, you can see that the risk of failure has gone down a lot or been removed completely, rather than being built upon any more. they also didn't continue to update druid training in any way afaik or to build upon that foundation for other gameplay. (i'm open to that druid training may have been too difficult for a small subset of players, and that's a valid discussion. but i also think it was optional?)

i don't have a really nice tidy thought to end this with, and im really sleepy rn and going to bed. but the overall point is that if sso had other, well-designed and well-functioning gameplay that felt satisfying and rewarding for players, the flaws of the new valedale stuff would be less glaring. as things are, the lack of challenge and the lack of fun gameplay are really glaring problems with it, as well as the lack of reasonable rewards. (it makes very little sense that you have to purchase the items you unlock, but this is the same company that charged whatever x starcoins it was for those recoloured balloon pets, so.)

#ssoblr

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bropunzeling · 2 months

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11, 22, 37!

11 Three tropes that are fine but overrated

oh gosh hmm. some of these are gonna come across as hypocritical lmao and also insert a healthy dose of "for me specifically" but: (1) i think soulbond/soulmark tropes can be done well, but mid executions of the trope focus a lot on ~finding~ the person rather than interrogating what it means to have bonds or marks or things of that nature, and leave a lot of interesting nuances about choice and free will and conflict between romantic relationships and other things you might want (career, friendship, autonomy, etc) on the table. i wish more takes on the trope let it be messy! (2) hurt/comfort done well is really fun but when people are just like. aggressively making their little guy sad and pathetic and a poor little meow meow whose never done anything wrong it gets grating. i love a sad guy but i prefer when they're sad because of shit they did to themselves instead of external factors. (3) curtain fic/established relationship stuff can be fun sometimes but like. there still needs to be a smidgen of conflict or growth or change or a shift for me to be interested. there has to be a point imo! even when i write my silly self-indulgent post-fic time stamps its important to me that there's a point to it beyond just "im love them" (though im DO love them)

22 What is it about watching the same two idiots falling in love over and over again?

i think the thing is, there can always be a new dimension to how these two idiots fall in love!!! every story is an opportunity to get at some new nugget of like, how people are, or what it is to be vulnerable and open and willing to risk heartache. with two different people you have so many opportunities to look at different shades and facets of their character. especially with rpf where real life events can shape characterization in real time. The Trade opened up a whole new dimension of matthew that creates new angles to investigate matthew&leon and what it means to fall in love with someone thousands of miles away and who you see even less (or, someday, for my break up/make up agenda)! jamie getting dealt to philly opens up new ways to poke at the jamie/trevor relationship by adding distance and tragedy and the potential of falling for other people! even picking a new trope or time period is just so fun for being like, now how would they be under THESE circumstances? also like, i LOVE flip-flopping who gets to be down bad immediately and who is oblivious because it's not only a fun creative challenge but also just opens up new worlds. idk! there's so many possibilities and so many facets to explore and to me that's delightful.

37 Do you research before writing or while you write? Is it fun or boring for you?

id say i do some up front, just to nail down the broad beats of the story and to minimize how much reworking i have to do later on (or for period type fics, to make sure that i dont introduce plot points that simply cant have happened in that time frame!), and some i do as i go -- for example, for a while there i just HAD the battles of alberta in 21-22 down pat because i was using them so often to shape story beats, but the games in between i had to look up as i went. i also am constantly pulling from new articles or features that offer new bits of characterization i want to use. tbh with the current wip i DO feel very wobbly because i don't have my normal anchors of the schedule/have to make things up, which is simultaneously freeing and hard because it's so much easier for me to write about sports games that really happened than the fake ones im constructing for the narratives 😂. but yeah id say mostly i research as i go!

#ask meme

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mysticarts · 6 days

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Charater Dumping

soo, to get my nerves off of the whole LMK competition, I decided to draw a rp Oc, and now I wanna Charater dump on you guys-

Meet: Queen Beeulzeebub (Or known as Madam Bee)

Now, you're probably asking: isn't Beeulzeebub a Seven deadly Sin?

YES, YES IT IS. This rp's plot this charater is in is when the Seven deadly sins get tired of working, and choose their children or people in their respective rings to take their place.

Beeulzeebub was the first person to pitch this idea, and the first one to confidently find a replacement for herself. Out of all of the sins, Beeulzeebub is probably the Kindest one.

Now, making a design for a literal Sin of Gluttony is rather difficult, until you remember Gluttony is the overindulgence of things. (If you don't know what overindulgence means, just think if you already ate a lot of food and then say: one more won't be bad.....)

Most people make Beeulzeebub designs off of bees due to the name and sometimes make the characters chubby since when it comes to Gluttony, people immediately think food. Now, none of these ideas are wrong. What I notice is that people don't really expand on the actual meaning of overindulgence

Overindulgence can apply to anything if you think about it. It can apply to loving someone toxic, you keep on telling someone your gonna break it off, but you always come back. It can apply to good things like kindness like when someone keeps on being rude or degrading against you and you just say: I'll keep being kind so I can either get a reaction, or I can them.

Now, when it comes to villans, most can represent Gluttony due to their hunger for power or knowledge. These both can be overindulgence. This is what I wanted to add to my charater.

Beeulzeebub usually does the most paperwork of ALL of the rings, as she reassures everyone that her Taking more paperwork is okay as a sign of indulgence. Beeulzeebub also regularly searches for knowledge and power. Again, a sign of indulgence.

Because of this, Instead of making Beeulzeebub more Bee like or chubby, I made her design cluttered while keeping bee themes.

Personality

When Beeulzeebub was a teenager, To say she was the life of the party was a understament, she'd make the best drinks, the best food, always play the best songs, she was the ultimate party host.

However, despite the fun persona Beeulzeebub had, she had her own insecurities and was extremely loyal to others who have shown loyalty to her.

When she's older, her party persona is gone as it's replaced by stress and despair, Beeulzeebub tries to make spare time to pamper herself, signing hair appointments, going shopping, but it never really worked.

Relationships

Out of the Seven deadly sins, Gluttony may be the one everyone atleast respects. But that is mainly because Beeulzeebub is the main and best cook out of all of them.

Many of them poke fun about her body, always going to her if some of the food have gone missing. Gluttony however, usually ignores the comments, because she knows they won't cross the line considering she's the main reason why some of the other rings are still up.

The only person who really treats Beeulzeebub Kindly is Pride and Lust. Lust more than Pride however, as Pride really takes advantage of Beeulzeebub's kindness (and her romantic feelings) and usually treats her like a servant while Lust treats her like a regular person would.

Anway, if you want any questions about this charater specifically, don't be afraid to ask questions!

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joons · 9 months

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rewriting barbie (2023) from scratch, here we go.

the movie cribs mostly from toy story 4 (toys experience midlife crises when kids aren't playing with them), but i would have built it around toy story 2's themes of legacy and mint-in-box status. the barbies in barbieland are all confined to the roles given to them by mattel. she is dr. barbie because she has the doctor outfit. she is stereotypical barbie because she doesn't do anything beyond look pretty and cute. ken is beach ken because he's got sun-bleached hair. this is how adults look at barbies. this is how a toy collector looks at barbies.

maybe this barbieland is the visual representation of america ferrera's barbie collection, a very regimented, very beautiful, very adult way of recapturing her childhood. the barbies never leave their box. the ones that don't have boxes are placed very precisely on shelves, held up by stands with spotlights on them.

sasha does not relate to this at all. she has the same critiques of barbie as a status symbol and impossible standard for women that she has in the film.

but there's another, younger character, maybe a girl that sasha - like skipper! - is babysitting. she plays with barbies the way weird barbie is played with. when she gets into gloria's barbie stash, she starts seeing them as their own people who are not defined by the outfits they wear. this barbie is a machiavellian criminal who is trying to recruit other barbies to break into a bank. this barbie is more comfortable hanging out with the kens because she is bullied by the other barbies. this barbie is a shapeshifter who turns into a barbie horse or a barbie dog as the girl replaces her with another figurine.

things immediately start going wrong for the barbies in barbieland. this isn't correct! this is weird! weird barbie laughs and tells them how they can find out what's going wrong by entering the real world.

as barbie and ken find their way into the real world, sasha discovers what the girl is doing to her mom's collection. at first, she's afraid of gloria punishing her because she knows how much this means to her mom. but as she watches, she sees a funny way of reclaiming barbie for herself and poking the whole concept of barbie in the eye, and maybe her mom is lame for not seeing this. she starts to play with the girl too. now the barbies are fomenting class consciousness and talking about how the kens are repressing them. the barbies are talking about how degrading it is that they can't be weird or ugly or mean. the barbies start understanding the patriarchy.

"the patriarchy?" the girl says. "is that like how men are always riding horses? or how men are on all the money?"

sasha blinks. "yeah, sure."

"well, i like horses," the girl says. "that sounds fun. my kens are going to go to war with the barbies now."

"no!" sasha says. "the patriarchy isn't that simple ... it's ... the kens don't KNOW they're doing it, exactly. it's because they don't consider the barbies as real people. they don't think of them as people who can BE mean or ugly or weird."

"my barbies are already mean and ugly and weird. that's how i like them. i want the kens to be mean and ugly and weird too!"

"oh, it's on," says sasha. they play-act feminist theory and counterarguments through the lens of a generational gap, where the girl's innocent imagination sometimes sees how sasha's anger can also limit the way she sees barbie. barbie and ken can truly be anything. maybe we have to hold onto that part of ourselves even as we learn more about how women are limited in the real world, because how else are we going to make those stories real?

barbie and ken find gloria, and she talks about how much she loves barbie, but how much she'd like to see herself in them again, someone who is struggling to understand her daughter. the barbies in her collection are just something she dreams of being. they are not who she is. she is old and doesn't feel very pretty or accomplished. she is just trying to get by.

barbie sees her as beautiful, despite the fact that this barbie is connected to gloria's emotions and is starting to feel less than too.

ken is becoming connected to the girl playing with gloria's ken at home. he is beginning to see that he can be more too. the world seems designed for kens in a way he's never experienced before. he has to go tell the other kens about horses and money and the godfather! ("who showed this 6-year-old girl the godfather?" sasha wonders.)

probably ken and barbie don't make it back to barbieland, but the audience sees everything that's happening there, the way it starts to become an allegory for the gender wars, a fight for meaning and nuance in a world that makes kens and barbies exactly what they're made for and nothing else. but what WERE they made for? is this really what mattel or ruth handler wanted?

as barbie, ken, gloria, sasha, and the 6-year-old girl talk it out, they realize that they are all right, in a way. we do need aspirational figures to inspire us, but sometimes we need to see ourselves too. we don't need to accept how barbies are meant to be played with as the only option. we do have to accept help from other women who have longer histories with barbie and can see how she both frustrates and inspires our conception of ourselves. we do have to see ourselves through the eyes of our inner child who's a little bit weird and doesn't accept any limitations on themselves at all. we have to learn confidence in ourselves from young women, teenage women, angry women, sad women, mom women, older women, women who want to be more or less than what they've been told they have to be.

because the movie is so discursive without grounding it in the experience of human women, women with very different approaches to femininity and barbie as a tool, it comes off as didactic and uncritical of its own point-of-view, which is actually quite limiting in how it imagines barbies liberating themselves; by being told how impossible it is to be a woman, they accept that limitation and operate through stereotypes to fight the patriarchy, pretending to be stupid and playing with kens' egos and dating around in order to pit the kens against each other. in the context of the film, there is no sense that this ... isn't what women are really like, or that we really ought to be able to imagine more for ourselves than that, regardless of how "powerful" we think the patriarchy is. but if that aspect of the film had been grounded in a child's understanding of the anger she was hearing from older women, then we could easily see the flaws in that kind of response, while understanding why some women might really do that.

develop the human characters as people with widely diverse understandings of who they are in relation to society and in relation to dolls, give them each a way of seeing themselves and their struggles in the dolls, and understand why each of them would buy a doll or at least use the dolls to understand each other better, and the whole movie is much smarter, warmer, and more human. a barbie movie that's truly for everyone.

#barbie #barbie (2023)#obviously there are many ways this film could have been approached #but i think i was most frustrated by how sealed off barbieland really is from the human characters #give humans the opportunity to shape that world as barbieland shapes theirs #and a lot of my issues would be largely fixed #barbie spoilers

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tklyhcs · 5 months

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ooh if you're alright to write some more Hearsteel things, how do you think tickle fights with the boys go? like, who usually starts them, who taps out first, who gets ganged up on, who ends up winning? (you don't have to answer all or any of those, just some prompts/ideas!)

OUGH YES PLS thank you for giving me a chance to blab wahgsh

hmmm kayn seems like a type to start it every time when he's fighting ez over something dumb. or fighting k'sante over the car keys. kayn and ez both try to fight that man over the car keys actually. based on that video riot games posted on twitter it was like "he's a 10 but never lets anyone else drive" or something.

kayn is willing to fight at the drop of a hat and sometimes ez wants to drive and then looks at kayn to start the fight for him he's like 😢🥺 and kayn is like perfect. time to induce civil unrest within the band. he swears he doesn't get swayed by ez's puppy dog eyes but that may be part of it!!

sett also likes to start them, even though he does NOT perform well. he be poking phel or yone just to LOSE smh. phel because he doesn't laugh too often and yone when he's doing better in a video game. yone is canonly better than him and he's a lil bastard and is like what i'm not doing anything i would never stoop so low ((gaslighting)) and i bet if they're playing co-op with people online they get called out for throwing LMFAO they get in trouble with other gamers for fooling around. while k'sante usually calls for yone, yone calls for k'sante the same and sett is like ok now this is no longer fair (it is fair he just says anyone going after him is cheating and unwarranted). yone can finally game in peace.

as for who taps out first mayhaps phel! oughgh it'd be so cute if he signs when he's had enough and needs a breather but i can guarantee he's back in the game pretty fast. like he needs a moment but then a bit later he's RIGHT BACK to acting like a dick lol he taps out but decides his ler meter isn't done yet and he's back in that fight asap!

kayn takes too long to tap out for someone who "hates it" it's so obvious but it might embarrass him too much if someone mentions it so they don't wah it's cute.. they're afraid he might decide to prove them wrong by starving himself of attention and decide he doesn't wanna play. also side note here i'm not always aware of how rhaast works in their universe but just imagine it is still the situation of having another entity cause imagine him calling it childish and kayn being like cool. bet. and leaving rhaast to front and rhaast is like WHOAA HOLD ON WAIT WAIT AAAA I TAKE IT BACK HOLD ON

for who gets teamed up on probably yone. because the team loves bothering him when he's doing work or bullying him for acting like he's above it! tapping away at his laptop focusing on nothing else and being snippy when anyone bothers him.. walk your fingers across his back and shoulders and suddenly he's keysmashing by accident. they politely wait for him to periodically save his work. then they grab him. he's very fun to tickle out of an attitude. you can see the crease between his eyebrows smooth out to accompany his new smile!

and for winning. no one ever wins this is a group-wide loss. LOL immeasurable casualties on all fronts. absolutely everyone is wasted by the end. dare i say ez would CLAIM that he's sure he won and everyone becomes hellbent on making sure he knows that he DIDN'T. the competitive spirit they all have is something for sure.

AA TY.. i could talk forever!! wonderful prompts thanky u ✌✌✌✨✨

#heartsteel #my post #ask #TYYYYYY #feel free to send prompts all u want uwu #i can do character n ship specific just lmk owo

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writerfae · 2 months

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Okay, I don't think this one will actually help, but do I understand correctly that Callan is technically Cyrus' boss?🤣 Because, I can see Callan being professional with him, meanwhile he spent the morning listening to Aiden rant about him

What is Callan afraid of?

I know he likes to stress bake in the modern au(me too, man) but what are his hobbies in the fae realm?

This isn't a question but I know he loves flower crowns and that is just the cutest thing ever😭

What was it like when he finally introduced Henry to Rhys because I know that in his character spotlight he said something about Rhys scaring him away 🤣

I know somewhere it says that hes one of the youngest kings in history, and i know the rulers have meetings sometimes with each other so how does everyone else feel about Callan being so young?

What was it like when Henry asked for his hand in marriage?

What was their wedding like?

For now this is all i have but I'll send more if I think of anything! Good luck with gathering enough facts!

Also, I think if i could talk to one of your ocs I'd talk to Callan. Idk what we'd talk about, but I feel like it'd be a very nice conversation!

Also, also: Hugs Callan really tightly: I love you!

First off, thank you so much for your questions! I really appreciate it!

And yes, technically Callan is the boss of Cyrus. So is Henry, since he’s officially leader of the royal guard xD

Callan is afraid of losing the people he loves (Henry especially) and of failing as a king. Also of sickness. Those are his deepest fears.

Sadly, Cal doesn’t have much time for hobbies, but when he can make some time, he likes poetry, reading and botany.

Rhys did not scare Henry away, that much is clear xD he did embarrass Callan a bit though and pokes fun at them for being love birds. But their meeting went well and Rhys likes him (he passed Rhys’ test you could say), so it’s all good xD

Callan is indeed one of the youngest kings in fae history. For fae standards he’s barely even a grown up (or well, he is now but he wasn’t when he took the throne).

So of course the other rulers thought he was too young and naive to be a king. The queen of the Aspen Court (Rhys’ mother) believed in him though and defended him in front of the others. And soon Callan proofs her right and the others wrong, because he’s doing a good job ^^

Henry asked for Callan’s father’s blessing before proposing to Callan. He was afraid that he wasn’t good enough, but the king reassured him that as long as he loves Callan, that was more than enough. So then Henry proposed and Callan instantly turned into a crying mess because he has dreamed of this and now it’s finally happening!

Their wedding was a typical fae wedding, of course it was a huge thing cause that’s a ROYAL fae wedding. That’s THE event. After they made it through the official part and enjoyed their feast a bit however, the two snuck away for some alone time, they needed that xD

Callan is a good choice for having a conversation with, it would certainly be a nice chat. Also you can gush over Henry together!

Thanks again for the questions!!

#Rhys would probably be like you were right he IS pretty handsome and watch in delight as both Callan and Henry turn red xD #as for how far weddings are I think forever ago I made a post about it and sadly I don’t recall what I wrote there anymore #I just remember the classical thing of the first dance beginning with the bride’s (or groom’s) father #and that during that dance the father ‘passes’ his child over to their partner #also as for the other regents reactions: one guy said that when he was Callan’s age he would still play pretend not rule a court #and Rhys’ mom was like well that only speaks for your immaturity and not his maturity #she’s an absolute queen #also the Birch court ruler was maybe most chill about it after her #writer speaks #writeblr #wip: the knights of the alder

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thuidium-delicatulum · 2 years

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understimulation tips!

understimulation is a feeling experienced by many neurodivergent people, and is the opposite of overstimulation. in my personal experience, it is a numb feeling, and often my senses feel like they aren't working enough. it makes me crave sensory experience, otherwise i feel hollow.

okay now onto some tips for coping >:]

it doesn't last forever. i know this is kind of basic, but it does go away after a while. please remember that it wont be like this for long.

try and do things that would usually make you overstimulated. it's kind of fun to play multiple songs at once, or touch things with unpleasant textures, or eat loads of weird tastes with lots of layers, or go and find a really big group of people or just scream into a wall. whatever makes you feel better :] side note: today it got so bad that at one point i dipped my kitkat in my soup just to have the textures and tastes blend into ANYTHING, so please don't worry if you think what you're doing is wrong.

i sometimes put really hot or really cold water on my hands. it kind of shocks me and i like the feeling of the senses coming back. be careful though, try not to burn yourself. it's easy to accidentally hurt yourself when you feel like this. that's okay, it takes time to feel better. i couldn't stop myself from clawing out some of my hair today. it wasn't a big amount of hair, but i still feel like i should have avoided it. it's okay, these things take time :}

listen to really really loud music. i like listening to songs with lots of layers of sound, to make me feel like there's something deeper than what i can hear. today i hid in the school bathrooms for a long time and listened to my 'understimulation' playlist, which i've never actually showed to anyone, but i'll add a link at the end of this post.

i also sometimes eat really spicy food, which can make my eyes water if i add enough to the food. i make really weird things spicy, like tea or salad. if the reason why you do it is making your eyes water, i get it. i poke myself in the eyes a lot when im alone, because honestly, i enjoy crying. it makes me feel like my feelings are more valid. whatever floats your boat ,my guy :}

i have some sensory issues related to sound and touch kind of merging in my head*, so i listen to songs with obnoxious textures. i know a few people with things like this and it helps if you're understimulated to use your other sensory issues (if you have any) to your advantage.

remember that your senses might not be feeling it, but you aren't emotionless. you can get through this, people love you, and it won't last forever. i love you <3 stay safe bitches.

*i think it's a form of synaesthesia, but i'm not sure.

#neurodivergent #understimulation #neurodivergence #neurodiverse stuff #hope i can help #coping tips #adhd #undiagnosed neurodivergent #anxiety #sensory issues #sensory processing disorder #sensory processing sensitivity #please feel free to add more tips i need more help hah

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essayofthoughts · 11 months

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Same for you: 12, 19, 23 owo

12. the unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

Ripley.

Like. If we're going for the villain pick, Ripley. I don't think you should think she's a good person - she's not - or that she's nice a woobie or something. She's fucking awful! But she's also awful in a really human, engaging way and I find her so fun to poke. I think a lot of people kind of forget the pure banality of evil, the way these people can have really simple, dull motivations - Ripley wants power and knowledge and she doesn't care how she gets it. Everyone is just a tool or a stepping stone in the goal of that.

And she's canonically a foil to Percy, so that makes her REALLY USEFUL in analysing him - and him in analysing her! - so for all of those people who like a bit of dark!Percy like... Ripley! She is right there!

And she's such a bitch. She refuses to swear despite being someone who tortures people, she's clever enough to replicate guns from second and third hand reports, she's always looking to her own advantage - and she's just. Awful! She's exactly the kind of person who looked at the structural inequality of the Dwendalian Empire and decided to do the amoral shit others got away with because of wealth and when she got arrested for it assumed it was purely because of class differences and not because she's just the Worst.

And the thing is these days there's so much moralising! Oh the villain must be woobified, oh they never did anything wrong at all ever (MCU Loki, Kylo Ren, even the Betrayer Gods in CR!) and frankly fuck that.

Ripley did do shit wrong and that's why I find her engaging. She wilfully tortured people despite it being useless for information gathering! She made guns and spread them around purely to fuck with Percy! She's an awful human being and sometimes it's really fun to look at that in the distance. Over there. Way over there. Down the barrel of a sniper rifle.

Yeah.

If we're doing non-villain, minor-character fic... it's Desmond, it's fucking Desmond, I know he's not really "Unpopular" so much as "ignored" but I don't care! I will fight you all on this hill, that Desmond Otham is so revealing as to Percy's own perception of his own guilt and failure to his family ("I want you to spend the rest of your life making up for the things you allowed to happen" says Percy and WHAT THINGS Percival! This lad is a carriageboy! He's about the same age you were when the massacre happened! What the fuck do you expect him to blame himself for!? Now you blaming yourself on the other hand...)

Plus I just think he's neat! I think he's a great example of someone with a lasting consequence from Percy's reckless actions - one of those people Percy mentions who may not see them as heroes for reasons that are completely justified. And if he is the courier or returns to Whitestone and takes up another job - he's got that reminder the rest of his life. Even away from Vox Machina, he has his maimed hand.

I think he's really cool, fuck everyone who disagrees.

19. you're mad/ashamed/horrified you actually kind of like...

N/A, I think? There's nothing I like that I'm mad, ashamed or horrified over that I can think of. I like the things I like and I know why I do so I've largely resolved any conflicts I'd have of that kind. I've definitely figured some things out writing fic that kinda annoy me (i.e. I can write smut pretty easily when there's trauma and mental fuckery involved but not like... on it's own) but that's fanfic more than dealing with fandom as a whole or the canon itself.

So uh. N/A!

23. ship you've unwillingly come around to

Again, I think N/A? I don't generally ship things, not to like... shipwar, this is my OTP or else kind of deal. I think that kind of thing is actually really unhealthy and often hoping for that ship can cause people to disconnect from the canon itself in order to back up their warped reading of the text, plus it just sets people up for disappointment! I'm a big believer in creating ships purely for the "I guess this could be neat!" kind of thing, and I don't generally get into it more than that.

Perc'ahlia is the exception, but that wasn't unwilling. They gave me too many fantastic squishy feelings and thinky thoughts, I didn't even hesitate.

🔥 choose violence ask game 🔥

#blorbologist #anna ripley #desmond otham #perc'ahlia #vox machina #ask #ask game

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ticklystuff · 1 year

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My team is zhongli, kazuha, childe, and fishcl (sometimes switch out fishcl for hu tao now that I have her, do whichever u want💗)

HAVE A GOOD DAYYYY

no longer accepting teams, thanks!

CONGRATS ON HU TAO i'm using her because i like thinking about all the shenanigans between her, childe, and zhongli hehe also your team is super similar to mine, except i have albedo instead of hu tao! anyway hope you enjoyyy

---

who’s the most ticklish character

KAZUHA omg I like to imagine that he's the last one to join their little group and likes to hang out with the other three when he stops by in Liyue and Childe and Hu Tao always makes sure to give him "welcome back!" tickles and they both like to pretend that he's been gone for a really long time every time he leaves, so they need to "relearn" all of his tickle spots and Zhongli always has to drag the two of them off of him, not that Kazuha minds the tickling or anything

who’s the character that most people would assume isn't ticklish, but actually is

Zhongli because he seems so mature and above anything involving tickling, but Childe and Hu Tao are happy to prove people wrong all the time, much to his chagrin

who’s the character that everyone gangs up on and tickles

Also Zhongli because he's Childe and Hu Tao's favorite tickle target. Kazuha is one of those people that didn't think the geo archon himself could be just as ticklish as Childe and Hu Tao liked to tell him, until he saw it for himself. There's something about his refined laughter that Kazuha finds alluring and he can't help but join in. Childe and Hu Tao love to go over their favorite spots to tickle with Kazuha while Zhongli is laughing his head off in protest, but ultimately helpless to stop them from being tickled by three people at the same time

who’s the character that somehow knows everyone else’s tickle spots and reveals them to others

Hu Tao knows everyone's tickle spots and she has no problem sharing them under certain circumstances, like if she's cornered and about to be tickled by someone else. She'll share tickle spots like bargaining chips for her freedom lmao Also, I think Zhongli would be good at guessing people's tickle spots and he has a great memory, so he never forgets where other people are sensitive

who’s the character with one specific tickle spot that only one other person knows about

Childe knows Zhongli has a ticklish butt ehee Also, just because Zhongli gets wrecked by Childe and Hu Tao all the time doesn't mean he's totally helpless against them and he knows there tickle spots well. He knows about Hu Tao's ticklish hands and Childe's ears hehe

who’s the most likely to win gang tickle wars

Childe because he's had a lot of experience handling multiple lers from being around his siblings and also being the youngest harbinger. I think Kazuha would also be a deceptively good ler too but Childe is too oppressive in these scenarios lol

which character has a kink for tickling

Not normally a kink of him, but I can see Childe having fun with tickling when he's with Zhongli the right person Also, I like to headcanon that Kazuha has a tickle kink alksdjfkl don't ask me why he just gives me those vibes okayyyy

which character didn’t even know they were ticklish until another character tickled them

Okay, so Kazuha has been tickled by Beidou before, but he has never been tickled as much before joining this group. Zhongli is really happy to have Kazuha in the group because it means someone else that gets ganged up on by Childe and Hu Tao

which two characters have tickle fights all the time

CHILDE AND ZHONGLI like if you've been following my blog for any amount of time, you know how much I love these two and can write whole essays about all the tickle stuff between them. At restaurants or outings, Childe loves to sneak in little pokes here and there, or squeeze his thigh from under the table just to constantly keep Zhongli on his toes. Just because Childe tickles Zhongli all the time doesn't mean he's void of his own tickles, though! The two always share a tent during the group's adventures and Childe's laughter can often be heard from the inside of their tent Hu Tao and Zhongli because the two go way back and Hu Tao loves to tease Zhongli, especially when he starts going off on a tangent and needs an easy way to get him to stop with his rambling Childe and Hu Tao because they're the two biggest lers in the group and are often competing with each other when they're not getting Zhongli or Kazuha. It's usually hopeless for Hu Tao though lmao Also I think Childe and Kazuha would have tickle fights as a way for Childe to initially welcome Kazuha to the group!

#childe #zhongli #hu tao #kazuha #genshin impact #tickling

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zvdvdlvr · 1 year

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⭐ -> star! ships. send your sexuality, gender, and a description of yourself and what fandoms you're in. ( as long as i'm in said fandom lol ) ill ship you with 1 or 2 characters!

i have long wavy black hair and dark chocolate brown eyes. i like spring a lot! especially because flowers start blooming around that time and i think flowers are lovely. i also really like to doodle. it’s fun, it’s quick, and it’s relaxing!! but art in general is one of my passions. also music is almost always playing in the background whenever i do things. and i really love rom coms and romance novels!! idc if it’s really cheesy, i just think it’s cute! i definitely believe in true love, even if i don’t think i might be able to meet mine. my favorite color is maroon! i’m also a virgo and i value my grades a lot and that can spiral in the wrong direction at times. i’m also short, 5”1 to be exact, and people tell me that i have small hands. i love high fives though, so i get that comment quite a lot. my love language is either touch or words of affirmation. i’m leaning towards words of affirmation but touch does help keep me grounded. i occasionally wear rings but i always my earrings and this one necklace. and i’d like to think that i’m a nice person! i really like to explain things to people if they don’t understand a topic and i’m pretty good at it too. i have really high expectations for myself and sometimes if i don’t meet that expectation i breakdown. i tend to cry easily, it’s not okay and is something that i’m working on. i’m bisexual and i’m in harry potter, marvel, and outer banks! it’s fine if you can’t do this and i’m sorry for writing so much!

ily jules! congratulations on the milestone and take care xx

Hello angel :)) ily more, and you take care as well. i hope you enjoy!!

From the Harry Potter Universe, I ship you with...

James Potter!

(depending on your image of James <3)

𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 would totally poke a little fun at your height, but he's made it clear he finds it endearing and he doesn't wish to upset you if he says something mean. Whenever he sees flowers, he thinks of you! While in school, James would always admire any and all nature forms with 'i know yasmine would adore this <333". Absolutely 100% will do/help you with homework, depending on the subject; James feels bad whenever he sees you cry, and he'll do anything to keep you from crying if he can help it :((( <333. Praises and gives you feedback about everything (they don't call him James motormouth Potter for nothing smh). Loved holding your hand because of how small they are and its a way for him to calm down. Will drop everything to make sure you're okay, it doesn't matter where you both are at. Loves when you ask for his input on jewelry and will spoil you rotten 🥰

(i'm only on season one of obx, so im so sorry if this is bad!)

From the Outer Banks universe, I ship you with:

Kai Cerrara!

Ok but 𝐊𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐚 would probably love doing your hair because "it's literally so pretty, shut up!" Dancing to music on the beach or in a boat is a must, Kie definately tells you something like "ur legally required to sing cheesy love songs with me while we shimmy and dance around falling further in love with each other" idk I wasn't there 🤷. Kiara lovesss when you give her your random doodles/sketches :'( and would never throw them away. Asks you questions about things you like and know a lot about so she can hear your pretty voice explain things to her <3. I HAVE A BLURB IDEA: snuggling with Kie and her resting on your shoulder while you both read a romance novel or smth 😕❤️❤️ Would also get matching sets of like earrings, bracelets, necklaces, etc. Loves complimenting you :)

From the MCU, i ship you with...

Yelena Belova!

𝐘𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐚, for one, adores any and all piercings you have- specifically ear piercings. I feel like Yelena also would love braiding your hair and matching outfits and jewelry with you. Watching romance/comedy movies are a must, since Yelena missed out on... a lot when she was brainwashed. Loveloveloves any and all affection you show her, and would be someone to give you random high fives whenever you do something you're proud of. Yelena would often buy small plants (pink polka dot, succulents, anything really) she thinks you'd like (but small enough to be kept out of Fanny's reach). If you both were bored one day and you were laying on the couch, Fanny asleep on your lap. "Wanna watch a movie, detka?" Yelena asked, flopping on your opposite. Immediately a large smile spread across Yelena's face at the speed of which yasmine's stetchbook and pencil were discarded and replaced with the remote. "You choose," Yelena requested, pulling the shared fluffy maroon blanket up to her neck.

Please keep in mind this is only my second ship, so I apologize if this is bad!! ❤️

#jules's 800 follower celebration #fluff #yasmine 🪷

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brothersgrim · 6 months

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VALLEY ARCHIVES - JULES AND THE GUILTY

Jules O'Lancey was a prominent member of Abel Creed's gang. He earned his keep mostly as a gambler and conman, and he was very good at what he did. That meant he was good at cheating. He had nothing to worry about, though; the gang kept him safe. He was charming and made them good money, and while he would often challenge them to cards, he (almost) never took money from his own boys, so they had his back. (He'd fleece them if they got on his bad side. Gotta have standards.)

Jules wasn't Creed's right hand - that was Joshua 'Jackrabbit' Flemming - but he was the left. He was good at reading people - he had to be. And he was meaner than a snake with a bum tooth, when he wanted to be, so he got along with Jackrabbit and Creed very well. He was good at making small talk while playing cards, making it seem casual when he pries into your life, your thoughts, and brings that information right back to the rest of the gang (Creed first, of course) to use or abuse as they see fit. You wouldn't even know he was doing it. A nice smile and an easy laugh made him seem so harmless. Because of this, he was also popular with the ladies. There are probably more than a few Valley locals descended from Jules, though the odds of any of them being aware of it are slim to none.

Abel Creed was executed in a shootout against Sheriff Jake Reid and his men on September 17, 1853. Jackrabbit was killed not long after, on December 25, 1853. Jules outlived them both by about a month. This was more curse than blessing, as would become quickly apparent. See, as I said, Jules was a conman, and he was good at it. In the long run, this didn't make him many friends outside of the gang - the gang that dissolved pretty quickly once two of the three leaders were dead, and the heat was closing in on them. That meant Jules lost his protection.

That meant Jules was now free game.

After making a bad deal with the wrong person, Jules found himself chased down by an angry mob. He was shot between the eyes and then hanged for good measure. He's still in the Valley. He's not as strong as Abel, and so doesn't manifest so often, but he pops up occasionally - especially on Halloween. (And other days when the veil is thin, but especially Halloween.) He usually just sticks to the outskirts of town. You know, it didn't go so great for him, last time he came to mingle with the townsfolk, though sometimes he might pop up to see what tricks people are playing on All Hallow's Eve. The best place to find him, though, is to head to the Dunes. Sometimes, on Halloween, you can find him poking around the hangout spot, as it's close to one of the Creed gang's old hangout spots. He thinks it's just perfect. There's already a card table set up and everything! He'll ask you to play cards with him if you're there. Don't worry, it's safe! A lot of the older teenagers in the Valley usually head up that way at some point in their festivities. He'll ask you to bet something - and you can put down anything you want. Most people do a bit of money, a watch, or some old jewellery. Make sure it's nothing you want to keep. You'll probably lose it - he'll probably cheat. But it will be a fun enough game, and if you're polite, he might tell you a story or two while you play. (And yes, if you bet a person, he'll take them, too. He doesn't care.)

Actually, let's go to that. If you bet a person (or a 'soul'), he'll take them. If you lose and try to take your bet back, he'll take you. You have to pay. Everyone has to pay. So what happens to these people? Well, they become the Guilty. It was a 'calling card' of Jules to leave the victims who crossed him in a certain way. Like I said, he was Creed's left hand. He was as mean as the rest of them. He wasn't the sort of con who cowers when he's caught, but rather the sort with a hidden pocket sewn into his vest to hide a revolver. In life, if he had the time and the mood for it, he'd drag out the people who owed him (or make the rest of the gang do it), tie them up, put a bag or pillow case over their head, and shoot them. He said it made it less 'messy', and he didn't care enough to see their faces - but he'd cut eye holes into the bag, so they could see their fate incoming. The Guilty still follow him, sometimes. Silent people, dressed all in black, save for the pale, red-spattered bags over their heads. What they want, nobody really knows, but they mill around the peripheries when he sits down to play. A warning, maybe.

Or a promise.

#&& reburied; ooc #&& homeward bound; the valley #ask to tag

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beantothemax · 9 months

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Artur wandered around the tents as he pondered what spell one might use to kill those pesky floating eyeballs. What kind of weak point did they have? Usually when fighting a person, one would-

Someone was crying. Arthur's ears perked up at the sound. He wandered around the tents till he found Lute's buttoned shut. She sat in it, sobbing as though it was her first time since infancy.

Immediately he opened the tent and poked his head inside.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Lute looked up and was silent in an instant.

"I'm fine, leave me alone," she demanded.

"Clearly you're not, please just tell me what's wrong," he said.

"No, you're part of the problem," she muttered.

Well, that was an odd response. As far as Artur knew, he'd done nothing to hurt Lute, at least not on purpose. What could he possibly have said or done that made her so upset?

"Can I know what it is? I want to apologize but I can't if I don't know what it is."

Lute rubbed her eyes and finally looked at him. But only for a moment. She looked back at the ground and toyed with the hem of her dress.

"I sometimes say things and you guys say it's mean and that I should apologize, but you never say why it's mean and you always get upset when I ask why," she explained, "I can't tell when I say mean things, because my brain works differently from others, but no one believes me."

Artur thought for a moment. Those things actually affected her? She always seemed so... Unfeeling. She hardly reacted when she was insulted or when she was injured. And this was just a small thing, he didn't say things like that often... At least, he couldn't think of examples off the top of his head.

But it made sense. Being in such a confusing situation where someone was also upset with you couldn't be fun.

"I'm sorry, Lute. I'll try remember that next time and I promise I'll be more patient with you," he said.

"Thanks," she muttered.

Lute moved to Artur's side. She hugged him tight. Of course he hugged her back, but he was still surprised. Lute never spoke of how she felt. Not when she was injured, not when she was mad. And she certainly never hugged him.

Artur had known Lute for years and she was finally willing to open her heart to him. Knowing that pleased him more than anything else. He cared deeply about her and now, he could actually help.

"Thank you for telling me how you feel," he whispered.

"Hmph," was Lute's only reply.

She hugged him as tight as he could. Such a friend was rare and should be treasured. It would be a shame to let go of him.

PIE MY HEART IS GOING TO MELT AAAGAGHABSBDGXGXGCGBBDBCJSJSKCN ghhhghhhg….. waahhh…. aheem heem,,,,,,,

tbis is me drinking this fic if it was milk and I was a cat (ideal reality) because HHABGHDNDB

lute talkin about how she does care about the things others say, and how it’s upsetting when people don’t explain things to her…that whole part hurt a lil.

characters hugging is my favorite thing ever and!!!! lute actually showing her trust in Artur!!!!!!! through doing that!!!!!!! exploding!!!!!

I love this a lot!!!!!!!!!! im literally bouncing as I type this because !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! they!!!!!!

#asks #pie-knight #inbox fic #fave

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idance2silence · 2 years

Text

This is an opportunity to info dump! 🥳

Xiao and Hu Tao relationship dynamic ideas for Genshin Impact (platonic)

I'm writing a fic, either their first meeting or them just vibing I don't know yet. But I'll take thoughts on their relationships or ideas you wanna see on Ao3!

I just think their dynamic is sweet!

I'm including my current thoughts under the readmore. I didn't include anything with spoilers so it's safe. I'm caught up with the quests so send me anything I'm cool 💕

He entered one of her dreams and they went on a whirlwind adventure

Hu Tao shows him the crystalflies and they make hair clips that Xiao becomes obsessed with

She jokes about death and funerals and this humor rings close to a war vet so they make a lot of jokes together. Former general alatus has a support team

She's childish and lively even though she has seen dark stuff. Admirable.

Hu tao isn't afraid to toddle right over to him and poke him on the cheek but she's so professional towards him and addresses him properly. This confuses him and she just giggles and he cant help but smirk because she's bizarre but so kind

She brings out his inner child

They play in the mud. I just feel like Xiao enjoys it and Hu Tao would 100% roll with it

Hu tau makes ghosts jokes. Xiao knows a lot of ghosts. It works.

They've encountered people claiming all kinds of stuff about spirits and they've had to deal with the idiots together

Hu tau isn't afraid to hug goodbye. Xiao doesn't let a lot of people that close but he is terrible at saying no to the child

Xiao had forgotten that a 20 year old is not a child. He needs to interact with more people. Hu Tao is unbothered because it's fun to be doted on and the ancient little man is so strange and sad she can't help but make him part of her odd little family.

Hu tau sends him mail. She wants to know how he wants his funeral because he is always working. He finds it endearing. It's the only mail he gets

She sings her little hillichurl song and Xiao is amused by music bc that's his calm button

Hu tao admires him like a child meeting a story book hero and its not feared reverence but childish curiosity and awe. But unlike actual children she behaves like a grown up and is respectful . Mostly .

She has her hat and he has his mask and she likes to pretend it's their superhero masks like comic books. He doesn't understand this at all. She finds it hilarious. Her laughter is contagious

She sends him her poetry. He is an appreciative audience. Like a grumpy old man with a soft spot for his grandchild

Hu tao asks Xiao for relationship advice and he has no clue why but she loves his bs answers. He thinks she's dumb until she escalates the joke. He is so confused but is enjoying partaking in fun

She loves star gazing with him because he knows constellations.

Sometimes he helps her gather wood for coffins. Pole arm buddies

She calls his fangs little teefies and no one else has the audacity. He's amused greatly.

She gives him an excuse to chase after cool birds and he appreciates that she let's him hide his childishness behind her

Healing their inner child together.

They climb tall things together. And look down. Xiao loves forcing her to a hight that freaks her out and teleports her down. He likes being the strong protector and Hu Tao loves the adventure without being afraid

She delivers things to ganyu anonymously for him. Can't look too much like he cares

She finds him soft animals to pet

She brings him cool skulls. Cleaned. Ofc.

She plays pranks and tries to scare him. He thinks her attempts are funny. It's also how she knows something is seriously wrong bc when he gets spooked he needs help

They both value history. Xiao knows the sad dark reality, Hu Tao is fascinated by odd things, like old technology and means of living. They discuss anyway

She gives him space when he feels a lot of carma but doesn't actually run away. Just so he isn't worried.

She promises that the funeral parlor will cover a room at the hotel if he needs, but it's not necessary as they wouldn't charge him. Just to ease his anxiety.

Lots of haunted jokes

Xiao learns her little dances but she will never find out

She tells him about curre t books and convinces him to read. He never takes time off so she starts reading to him as he fights. He thinks it's hilarious and adorable of the smol child.

#xiao headcanons #xiao genshin impact #hu tao headcanons #hu tao genshin impact #hu tao and xiao genshin impact #genshin impact headcannons #di thinks #genshin impact story thoughts #genshin impact fic idea #i took a commission on an exchange in ao3 so i thought id benefit from poking around #looking for infodumps on them #tell me all about them #xiao and hu tao genshin impact #xiao and hu tao friendship #xiao and hu tao dynamics

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