#me posting about characters ages as if no other fan has done this kind of analysis before lol

[ferrouswheel11]

The original batkid age differences still work in the current comic era, and I'm gonna keep assuming they're canon unless they tell me otherwise. (sequel to this post)

Damian is canonically 14 (as of 2021).

This makes Tim about 21, which fits with his recent 'college dropout who lives alone on a houseboat' character arc (also 2021). A comic in 2015 said Tim was 16 when Damian was at least 10, but since it's a minor difference I'm gonna stick with the ~7 year gap they had pre-n52.

So Jason must be 23 — as far as I know, no canon contradicts this.

And Dick is about 29. This causes some minor issues, actually — in 2014 he was supposedly 21 when he should have been about 24, and in 2018 he's described as 'mid-20s,' which could be a stretch depending on how much in-universe time passed between 2018 and 2021. Overall though, not too messy.

So that makes Cass 24, Steph 21-22, and Babs around 30.

Honestly I have no idea how old Duke is beyond 'high school age" — from at least 2015 to present. Which actually kinda screws things up, if we assume that all the other characters aged 4 years in that time. Like, in 2015 he was closer to Tim's age, and now he seems to be closer to Damian's. For what it's worth tho, I think of him as ~17.

Anyway, point is DC DOES let their characters age (at least since the Rebirth era started in 2016. pretty sure n52 was like, a stasis bubble or something). I'm sure the timeline will continue to get wonkier as the youngest generation of heroes grows up, but for now the Bats seem to be doing alright.

#and I am NOT about to tackle all the other hero families #flashes? never heard of em. I'm sure they age on a TOTALLY normal and linear timeline tho #batman #batfam #dc comics #damian wayne #tim drake #jason todd #dick grayson #ehh no i don't want to tag every character mentioned. #batman meta #dc rebirth #dc new 52 #me posting about characters ages as if no other fan has done this kind of analysis before lol

[oracleofstars]

✦ 3VOLS : ISSUE 1, RAFAYEL

Featuring @maimochies, a well known Love & Deepspace author, as the spotlight creator!

IM NEW, WHATS "3VOLS" THE MAGAZINE?

This will serve as a "mini masterlist" where we compile links of works from different creators based on the character. And yes, its not limited to fanfiction. This is open to artists, graphic design/gfx creators & editors. (Basically, if you've created any kind of creative media related to the character)

MAIMOCHIES. WHO IS SHE?

mai is a rafayel enjoyer and a love & deepspace author! she has been writing in her corner of the internet with the pretty rafayel themed blog. have you seen her around? well, we have interviewed her recently with 4 simple questions. let's get to know mai better!

what got you into making love&deepspace content? are there any creators who inspired you to do so?

mai : funny enough ages ago when the first demo trailer came out for love and deepspace I didn't even know about it!! I happened to stumble upon a short clip of zayne and saved the video on a whim because he was attractive >·< then, as fate would have it, the game's official trailer popped up on my fyp and I got hooked, downloaded the game and haven't looked back since <333 l&ds is still new to the tumblr scene but I absolutely adore my mutuals' takes and fics on the boys!!

as a rafayel fan—what is your favorite headcannon of him? this can be your own or others

mai : hmmm… I think my favorite headcanon about rafayel is that he secretly cares a lot more than he lets on. lingers outside your apartment to make sure you've gotten home safe, always sending you a goodnight and good morning text, oh so conveniently shows up with a warm ready made meal when he knows you're having a particularly hard day, he cares deeply but he's scared of showing it.

if you could describe your favorite character with 5 words, what would it be?

mai : a gift from the stars

how is your time in oracle of stars so far?

so much fun!! it's such an honor to be part of such a loving and positive community. while I'm not as active as I would like to be I can see the effort that goes into the network and the server, from the graphics to the events. it's such a special place for l&ds creators to come together and uplift each other

RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE DEEPSPACE NETWORK

welcome to the rafayel masterlist, find something that piques your interest here! show some love to our creators as well <3

l&ds boys crushing on you - @ maimochies

affectionate headcanons - @ maimochies

how the l&ds boys kiss - @ maimochies

sing with me? - @ sevvynth

𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐞. - @ jqnehr

𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 - @ jqnehr

birthday celebration - @ lovexdeepspace

l&ds boys + their nicknames for you - @ lovexdeepspace

JEALOUSY , JEALOUSY! - @ rafyne

MESSAGES I CANT SEND : DEAR RAFAYEL

recently we had a 3VOLS related event entitled DEAR RAFAYEL, where we send out a prompt every 7 days and you have the choice to use whichever one you wanted.

POST MASTERLIST

dear rafayel ( prompt day 1 ) - @ rafyne

dear rafayel ( prompt day 3 ) - @ sweetheartsaku

WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING?

its april 5, that means our applications are open until april 10. come join us in the discord & the network. this first issue is finally done, thank you for all the support you've given the oracle. we'll see you again next time!

#🌠 - notification #love and deepspace #love and deepspace x reader #zayne x reader #zayne #rafayel x reader #love and deepspace fanart #love and deepspace rafayel #love and deepspace x reader fluff #love and deepspace xavier #rafayel #rafayel fluff #xavier #xavier x reader #xavier x reader fluff

[raelle-writing]

DFF is such great show and I enjoy the portrayal of the characters and the plot. Although I am not much into JinPhee ship (even though their scene was hot) - meaning I won't actively search fics of them;-D. But I absolutely don't understand the hate this ship gets. Or Jin character gets? Like, did I miss something? Why there is so much hate towards this pairing? I don't get it. Or do they dislike Jin character so much?

So I think there are 3 main reasons that people hate PheeJin and specifically Jin as much as they do, and I'll see if I can explain it coherently below lmao

First is cultural differences.

I've noticed that by and large a lot of the hatred directed at Jin comes from international fans being extremely harsh, and I think it's partially because they don't understand some of the nuance of Thai culture. Which to be fair, why would they?

One aspect is that they get angry that Jin lied to the police without taking into account that the police are corrupt - both in the narrative and also in Thailand in general.

Another is they get mad at Jin for recording Non - which to be fair, really does suck lmao. But they make it about Jin recording Non instead of reporting the assault happening, without taking into consideration that the age of consent in Thailand is 15, which means that what happened with Non and Keng isn't technically statuatory rape. Still bad and awful and Non was coerced and assaulted, don't get me wrong - but that makes it slightly less clear cut IMO when it comes to the question of Jin seeing Non "cheating."

You can even see within the show that the reactions to that video are by and large slut-shaming and not "omg that kid was assaulted."

So to recap: Taking the video = bad. But I think people get a bit too self-righteous about the reasons why Jin took it.

Second is purity/cancel culture.

I'm sure it hasn't escaped your notice that in the internet age, if you make one mistake you're a terrible, irredeemable person and should be canceled forever. I think that's playing a part in this. All of the characters make mistakes, and because of that they're all irredeemable pieces of shit who deserve to die. Except for Non who is just a victim and has never done anything wrong (sarcasm).

In seriousness, I think that's part of it. And the fact that Non is SO sympathetic it kind of overrides people's sympathies for the other characters. I'm not 100% sure why people hate Jin the most out of everyone else considering he's the one who has tried to help Non the most out of the friend group... I guess they just have higher standards for people who try to help? Idk. Either way it seems to me that they expect Jin to be a perfectly-well-adjusted little hero who always does what's right and never makes mistakes. Instead of what he really is: a kid.

And last is fan favorites/shipping.

A big part of the reason that PheeJin shippers are getting so much hate is because TaCode shippers and PheeNon shippers have decided their ship is The Ship of the series, and think that Phee is just using Jin for revenge and anyone who genuinely ships PJ is fucked up, etc.

It's just ship war bullshit waged by largely Barcode stans, but it's certainly tiresome.

To be clear, I have nothing against PheeNon. I am of the opinion that Phee and Non were a cute high school romance that wouldn't have lasted because they had conflicting styles of showing affection and love (I'll write a post about it someday lol) but that doesn't mean I hate the ship. I thought they were very cute and it was fun to see TaCode on screen since I wrote MacauChay in my KPTS days ahahaha I just like the spice and fire of PheeJin better, and Jin is my favorite character.

I just wish that PheeNon shippers would live and let live instead of acting like they're waging some moral war. They were even crying in BOC's comment section on IG today after they posted the PheeJin poster for episode 9 saying "nooooo Phee is there for revenge he can't really have feelings for Jin!" It's exhausting... 🫠

General disclaimer: if you don't like Jin or like PheeNon better I'm not saying any of the above things applies to you. Everyone is entitled to their opinions, I'm just dissecting some of the over-the-top hate I've seen/experienced in fandom spaces lately.

#dff the series #dead friend forever #dff #pheejin #jin dff #phijin #phee DFF #non dff

[herearedragons]

Fan Work Saturday Sunday

I got featured in @dungeons-and-dragon-age's post, so I'm doing this also!

Rules: If you're tagged, MAKE A NEW POST and showcase one fanartist or fanfic you recommend (with links), and tag someone to give their recs next! Don't forget to reblog the rec you were tagged in!

I am going to bend the rules a little because I want to show off stuff both from the Dragon Age and Pillars of Eternity fandoms, so it's going to be two fanart recs and two fic recs, actually.

Fanart rec #1: @dungeons-and-dragon-age

Specifically the June tarot card. I don't know what it is but its muted colors and scratchy textures have captivated me. Somehow you got a digital piece to look like an actual scratched up collectible card someone scanned and posted online? Also it's just a really solid design, I wouldn't question it for a second if I saw this on a book cover or something.

Fanart rec #2: @ederteylegc

For this list I am asking myself "which fanart pieces live in my head rent free" and no one should be surprised that for Pillars of Eternity my answer is Edér fanart. It's just. I love it when a piece of art conveys an idea in shapes and colors and this one does Just That. I really like how it shows The Parallels and I like the color scheme and I like how this just straight up looks like a comic book page.

Fic rec #1: @curiouslavellan

Listen, I have to mention See Fire, And Go Towards Light.

I did not expect to like this fic as much as I do. Like, I expected to like it a normal amount, as in "cool, I get to read about the journeys of my mutual's blorbo! this will be fun to tune into every now and then".

I was not ready for how much I ended up liking the writing itself and the way the main character is written? Her POV as a Tranquil is more distant, but she makes interesting observations about how other people behave around her, and her non-Tranquil POV is just really lovable. The word "immersive" is used for basically anything these days but that's how I would describe the writing in this.

Fic rec #2: @solas-backpack-mug

First of all, I should probably mention that solas-backpack-mug also has an excellent selection of Pillars of Eternity fanart (especially of their ocs Rangi and Asaria, which are technically kind of the same person, it's complicated) in a variety of mediums and fresh home-grown memes.

That being said, I am going to recommend this short fic about Asaria's death, just because I really liked it. If you know the plot of POE1, it's a fun read that does justice to Thaos' whole ominous manipulative deal, and kind of feels like a flashback you would get from touching a relic that used to belong to the unfortunate POV character.

Tagging: everyone mentioned in the recs who hasn't done this yet! Pretty sure that everyone else I can think of has been tagged already.

#fan work recs #tag game #herearedragons speaks #dragon age #pillars of eternity #<- you know what. yeah. this goes in the tags #get recommended

[charaznablespeteevee]

Would you share your thoughts on the Gundam you've seen? I added the first one to my list based on your posting about it (mostly the transition Char posting, he sounds like a fascinating character) and am not on Twitter to see your liveposting

Good question!! It seems like you want to know if I'd rec them so I'll answer based on that.

The original Mobile Suit Gundam (1979) absolutely I would rec to literally any anime fan. Both because it is a genuinely good anime, but equally because it's like. You know how people say you have to read the Bible to get all the references to the Bible in literature? It's like that. Gundam is one of the Bibles for anime. It's in everything. And you won't realize this until you watch it.

It's also a very good science fiction show just in general. The major characters are all great, the drama is compelling, and while some of the animation has not aged well, the newtype stuff has some super neat effects that are gorgeous to see on a big screen to this day.

It's also super accessible, the full show is available on Crunchyroll or if you don't want to commit watching a 43 episode show the three compilation movies are on Netflix and are a very solid alternative.

Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam (1985) - they got a big budget upgrade so everything is Bigger and More. More robots, more character drama, more romance, better music, and some bizarre segues into how men are from Mars and women are from Venus. Absolutely worth a watch if you liked the original Gundam because it continues to follow a lot of the original characters.

Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (1986) - technically "skippable" if you consider 0079, Zeta, and Char's Counterattack a trilogy, which it kind of is. ZZ focuses on an almost entirely new cast of characters and the first half of the show is VERY heavy on the comedy before jumping directly into some of the best anime I've ever seen for the second half. The mood whiplash is kind of divisive among fans. Personally I like it and the characters are great. Worth a watch if you like what you've seen so far.

Char's Counterattack (1988) - caps off the gayass Amuro/Char rivalry and is just an amazing movie in general. Gorgeous visuals, and the final 15 minutes or so are a series of emotional gut-punches the likes of which I've rarely experienced in media. Must watch IMO.

War in the Pocket (1989) - six episode OVA featuring entirely new characters. This is a truly fantastic little series that lets you into the lives of a small handful of likeable characters and how their lives are affected by war. It's Gundam so guess how that goes. I liked it a LOT and recommend it. BONUS: This is a GREAT "starter" Gundam. It's short, it's very good, and you don't need to know anything about Gundam going in. There's a few references to prior lore, but they aren't anything major and a newcomer could easily figure it all out from context.

Mobile Suit Gundam F91 (1991) - this is a movie that was originally going to be made into a TV show and it shows, they stuffed far too much into too little time and it suffers for it. So unfortunately this is the first thing on this list I probably wouldn't rec. That said the characters are pretty fun and the ending is very good, so you can do a lot worse if you're bored or a completionist.

Mobile Suit Victory Gundam (1993) - this is what I'm watching right now! I'm a little over halfway done with it. This is all new characters and there are some interesting new concepts. For example the first twenty or so episodes were set on Earth so you got some really gorgeous scenery during mobile suit battles that made those scenes really visually distinctive compared to say, a battle in space. That said it's yet to really "pull me in" the way most other Gundam series did. For now I'm still waiting to see if it will do that or not.

Witch From Mercury - I'm assuming everyone knows what this is. It's gay as fuck, what can I say, and it's the entire reason I fell down into this Hell to begin with. 10/10

#ask box

[elenajones23]

I'm confused. I don't understand how one minute, you say you ship Forwood and have Forwood content on your blog. But then most of your other posts about Caroline are bashing her and saying how she's useless, irrelevant, and annoying. Basically implying that as a person on her own and outside of her relationship, she isn't worthy and has no purpose or agency of her, and is only capable of being interesting and likable based on the guy she's with.

You're not required to like Caroline, but it doesn't take liking her to see how harmful and problematic this kind of mentality is. I don't know what's gotten into fans recently, that they suddenly have it out for Caroline, but the things I've seen being said about her lately are just not acceptable. She may not have been a perfect person, but regardless of what she did, that's no excuse for people to dog her out the way they have. I mean, you're acting as if Caroline is the devil incarnate or some kind of terrorist or something. And just because she was my favorite, doesn't mean I approved or agreed with everything she did. But unlike you and most fans, I know how to give constructive criticism and hold people accountable without having to dogpile on that person.

And as for Elena, I did like her in seasons 1-3, but seasons 4 and onwards? I'm sorry, but she was just vile and horrible. I will never stand by and defend or make excuses for someone who knew for a fact that her boyfriend raped and abused her best friend, and still chose to be with him anyway and just didn't care. Whether you like Caroline or not, regardless of you thought she was useless and all that, that doesn't change the fact that at the end of the day, Damon did rape her and abuse her in season one. It doesn't make what he did null and void. Unless you're one of those who's in denial and refuses to accept that Damon is a rapist and abuser. Or who victim blames/shames Caroline for that and says she deserved it. Which in that case, you've got bigger issues and are just as bad as all the rest of them.

Why don't you keep that same energy and aim that vitriol at characters who actually deserve it, and have done shit far worse and more abhorrent than Caroline? Like the majority of the men on the show? But I seem to have forgotten that men can do vile shit time and time again and still get defended. While if a woman makes even one mistake, she'll be burned at the stake over it for the rest of her life.

I “like” Caroline with Tyler because she’s forced upon me but when she’s with Tyler, she’s contained into that relationship and I don’t have to deal with her crap & her drama. So I liked them in sense it gives me a break from Caroline. She doesn’t have to shoved everywhere.

Tyler makes her bearable. I “ship” them in the sense of Caroline must be with someone because she’s there then I would prefer her to be with Tyler rather than anyone else on the show, I would “ship” her with Matt as well because it’s literally the same.

I never defend Damon or reblog any posts defending that rapist, it’s honestly disgusting that they actually made him & Caroline “close friends” or whatever bullshit is that. He has shown NO remorse or guilt for what he did to Caroline, or Bonnie or Stefan for that matter.

I’m disgusted that I was hardcore Delena shipper & Damon defender (never about what he did to Caroline, as a Delena shipper I just conveniently forgot what he did, no seriously I did)

Damon is an ACTUAL CREEP, hanging out with teenagers looking his age a man in his 30’s paining over a teenager he hardly knows/understands, where his whole life purpose is to just obsess with her 24/7.

It’s honestly pathetic, creepy and weak. What he couldn’t find someone closer to his age, a woman in her 20’s-30’s?

He has to go after his brother girlfriend? Why it does NOT add or make any sense and Elena is NOT at all the right fit for him in any shape or form, even if he wasn’t a rapist, creepy stalker he does NOT like WHO she is, he does NOT care about the things & people that matter to her, he mocks it, he belittles it and he literally thinks he “knows her better” because Elena has a fun side to her. He does NOT actually know her NOR UNDERSTANDS NOR love her, he loves the “nicer” version of Katherine (the only woman he actually truly loved with all her evilness) which is what Elena is to him, nothing more nothing less, Damon 100% PROJECTS Katherine into Elena but this version is actually nice to him but that’s about it.

The fact in his  delusion after yeh werewolf but in 2x22 he “sees” Katherine and NOT Elena (even as Delena shipper back then I found that to very odd, because he supposedly spent the whole season hating Katherine & loving Elena yet he sees Katherine) just proves that he never actually stopped loving Katherine, she just hurt too many times and he has pride, had Katherine truly offered to be with him at any given time a real offer, I 100% know he would have taken her upon that offer and they would been the villains of the show for years (oh wait even though they weren’t together, they kind of were)

Damon is literally the male version of Katherine, the only difference Damon being a handsome “charming” MAN he was EXCUSED for all of his actions, he was DEFENDED endlessly Inter expense of other characters and freaking storylines.

The Damon the whole fandom seems to love oh so much is literally a made up Damon in their heads, I know this through my own personal experience and from how the still Delena stand defend him, this “sad little boy who was never loved hence he did all these awful things” he just needs the “love of a good woman” is what they want to believe him to be, it’s NOT who he truly is.

The reality is that Damon is pathetic, creepy, disgusting stalker/rapist and if Damon wasn’t played by such an attractive actor and played by an average looking guy who they (the make up artists)?also make him ugly with the right makeup, people would see the REAL Damon for exactly who is.

The reason you don’t like Elena S4-S6 is because that’s NOT the real Elena, the real Elena “died” when she became a vampire, her moments with Stefan before she broke up with him, that’s also the REAL Elena FIGHTING very hard to stay herself.

The Elena that’s with Damon is vampire sired Elena, and there was never an actual logical or real explanation or any kind of REAL evidence that her sire bond to Damon was ever actually broken.

The fact that she didn’t take the cure shows that NOT the real Elena, that she STILL did whatever Damon wanted (which for her to never to take the cure). Throughout S4 all she ever wanted to become human again and I would think that after her brother died to make sure they find it, that she would actually take it, if nothing else, she would take it for Jeremy’s sake so that his death actually means something.

Now onto your issue with me not liking Caroline, I literally NEVER ever liked her, not for one real minute, sure she had her moments here & there as vampire but I NEVER liked, she’s annoying af, selfish, shallow, stupid, self created and just right down BORING and stereotypical. She’s just an empty pretty vase/vessel for the writers to fill with whatever bullshit story they come up with.

I have actually tried to like her, believe it or not but I literally COULDN’T, just truly can NOT like her at all, she’s too blah as a person to me ever like or relate to in any shape or form.

Her fans/stans also just made it much worse, I didn’t like her but I have grown to hate her over the years because fans/stans such as yourself, who just can’t accept that there are people out there who hate/dislike their  “precious” Caroline and nitpick onto other characters or much worse bully & give life threatening messages just because people actually “dared” to HATE their “precious” favorite Caroline, this “angelic Karen, Barbie vampire” who can do NO wrong at all, and everyone “must” be crazy about her.

Now as I have already explained everything to you, even as someone who hates/can’t stand Caroline, carline has never loved anyone to else as much as she loved Tyler, whoever ships Caroline with Klaus clearly does NOT love Caroline because she has made so very extremely and very annoyingly clear she is NOT interested in Klaus.

So if you shop Caroline & Klaus, you are shipping two people who do NOT actually exist (just like Delena or Hayley & Elijah) they are NOT their TRUE/REAL selves when these couples are shipped, simply projection of what people think these characters are.

I hope i answered everything and that next time you don’t just assume things about a person then hide behind “ anonymous” to feel as if you are a better person or whatever.

#anti caroline forbes #anti klaroline #anti tvd #tvd universe #tvd

[himehikoshrine]

Mary Jane and Frankenstein 

In honor of Spooky Month and the imminent arrival of Mary Jane Day, I have done the scariest thing imaginable, returned to tumblr dot com to write a meta/analysis post.

[image description: images side by side of the top of the Mary Jane poster, showing Mary looking down sewing Jacob, next to the 1831 edition front panel illustration of Frankenstein, showing Victor looking down on his creature in horror]

This is a mostly informal attempt to collect my thoughts on the fact that Neji’s little spooktacular, in addition to being a very pointed exploration, as all of his plays are, of art and theater, the school, himself and his classmates (without their permission, the menace) and just, a lot of fun, is perhaps one of the best piece of Frankenstein related media I have EVER seen in relation to the original novel. 

This is pulling a lot of things from the Stage Script rather than the in game version, which summarizes a lot of the things I'm mentioning specifically. You can find the full Stage Script in the game menu, or

[ here ]

because I love this play so much that I needed a searchable version.

Caveat Emptor here is that it’s been a long time since I’ve read the novel in its entirety. If this game gets me to read it again, I may have to revamp things. But again, largely informal. But very long, somehow.

Oooops.

If you're curious about anything in here and want to expand on it more, or hear my thoughts on it, please feel free to reblog, send an ask, or message. Or ask me elsewhere if we're already connected there. There's a lot I glossed over, especially at the end of this. I have a lot to say, and if we're back to writing metas on tumblr dot com the chances of stopping at one are slim.

Mary as Frankenstein, Mary as Mother

Mary’s name is acting as several allusions at once. I mean, there are at least 3 Mary’s in the bible one could point to - Mary, Mother of Jesus is absolutely at play. But Lazarus’s sister is also a Mary. And while technically Mary Magdalene is often misrepresented and amalgamated with other characters in retellings, the idea of “purifying” her has canon precedent - having had seven demons driven out of her.

Of course, Neji’s twisting all of it, in his Neji way.

(Interestingly enough, these are the Three Marys of the Quem Quaeritis - widely considered a point of "rebirth" of theatre in Europe during the middle ages.)

But Mary is also the name of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, author of Frankenstein. And this, this is a Frankenstein story. It is, in fact, a beautiful inversion of so much about the book that gets left out in most far more serious attempts at a Frankenstein story. 

The original book is about motherhood and its inversion. Much could be said about when during her life she wrote it, or her own mother’s death shortly after she was born, or any number of things that have been hashed and rehashed a thousand times from AP English to the ivoriest of towers. But, fan of Death of the Author that I am, I posit you don’t need any of that to see in the text.

Victor creates a person with science, rather than by ‘nature’. It is an unnatural birth. And Victor is just about the shittiest possible parent. The Creature spends a good deal of time explaining to him, when they meet up again, that Victor is his father, and that he was literally abandoned as a newborn, and maybe that was kind of the worst possible thing he could have done. It’s not a mantle Victor has any desire to take up, the role of a parent. He wanted to create life, but he didn’t want to be a parent. But that’s what it means to create life. 

By gender swapping the role, you’re already inverting the inversion - but Mary’s creation is no more “natural” than Victors. But it is different. Neji, ever witch-coded himself, has Mary put one of her own hairs into every doll. It’s returning the shared body to the act of bringing these creations into being.

But even without that. Mary considers herself a mother. She considers herself a mother despite having no memory of one herself - Mary knows lots of things she shouldn’t, and doesn’t know many things she should. But she calls herself a mother. Even before any of the dolls move, she is their mother. A motherhood she wants to desperately share with others. She considers the act of selling a doll a kind of ‘adoption’. These are her children. And they know it. It’s stitched into every stitch in their doll bodies. They know Mary is their mother. And they know she loves them.

[image description: screenshot of Mary in her workshop. The text shows Mary's line saying "I'm back, dear dolls. Mommy's home."]

The Creature comes to think of Victor as a father - an absentee one at that, and craves that love, a love he is never shown. Mary averts this spectacularly. She creates out of love. 

Names

Mary takes great care in naming Jacob, and ends up doing so, though she doesn’t say it, after a biblical pun (Jacob, in the bible, is explicitly named such as a pun on the word “Heel”). But names are important to Mary, and she is sure to give one to Jacob as soon as he’s fully formed, even before she sees him wake up. Victor very particularly does not name his creature. Instead, he tends to throw around insults, many of which are demonic or satanic. When they finally meet again, the Creature says to him “I should have been thy Adam.” Mary averts this mistake, among so many others, spectacularly. Being called by her name is important to her, and she extends that offer to Jacob even before he’s fully “born.” Like a good mother.

[image description: a screenshot showing Fumi and Kai dressed as Mary and Jacob, as seen from the stage with the audience in the background. Kai is saying Jacob's line "I did, Mary. You are Mary Jane. My mother."]

Not only does she give him a nice biblical pun of a first name, she shares her last name with him, again before he’s even more than a doll. That’s her boy, that’s her best friend. That’s her family.

The song here, which is only sung and dance AFTER Mary has given him a name is called "A Friend Without A Name" Almost as if specifically calling attention to this fact. Mary is as much the friend without a name as Jacob, if not more. She is the one that has never heard another voice say her name, where as Jacob is called his before he's even awakened by the Island's magic and Mary's love.

[image description: the screen from just before A Friend Without A Name showing Mary and Jacob's CG of Mary Stitching Jacob.]

Mary as a Good Mother

Some of the weirder moments in the play actually make a lot more sense when you look at them through this light. Jacob randomly saying he hates Mary in a fit of jealousy? It’s because he’s a child. He’s a baby. That’s a baby boy. Mary, herself quite childish, forgetting so much of what’s important, as the Island is known for, reacts incorrectly, but understandably. This is her first friend - and far more of one than the others she thinks she’s made, in terms of mutual respect, compassion, and small acts of kindness. But this level of connection and emotional reciprocation is still new to her. She’s hurt. She runs.

And The Order of Shadow’s duo is quick to tell her that that’s just the nature of ghosts, telling themselves a little joke about how they have been lying to her from the start, and fully intend to stab her in the back, far more than any ghost. Victor’s instinct is to consider his creature a monster, a fiend, a demon. Mary is told by characters positioned as far more knowledgeable about the world than her that he must be exactly that.

And how does Mary react? She refuses to believe it. Even hurt as she was, even with someone who just said this is their entire expertise telling her it’s in his nature to be cruel, Mary refuses to accept it. She still loves him. She makes the right choice. That’s her best friend. That’s her family. That’s a (un)life she brought into this world, and she stands by him. No matter what. She would risk her life to rescue him. She will fight for him.

This is why that scene has to be there. Because she has to be given that temptation, that trial. And she passes spectacularly in a way Victor will not, to the end.

It’s also a thematic explanation for the garbage scene, which is probably there as much to be silly as anything. I mean, it’s also there to show many other things — Mary’s eccentricity is ingenious in its own quirky way — the islanders who hated her, who she didn’t understand, give her the tools to save Jacob and the others — Mary not even considering the same level of violence — it being a moment of empathy between Mary and the islanders who never showed her even a shred of it back — she understands that they couldn’t tell which food was rotten. She sees things from their point of view. And many more besides.

But, from the point of view of Mary as a Mother, Mary succeeding brilliantly where Victor failed… Mary is literally willing to coat herself in filth to rescue Jacob. Parenthood is messy. It involves a lot of gross things. Even Victor's, sanitized of the normal processes and cloaked in science, was made of corpse parts. But the play actually brings back a part of parenthood that Mary had been able to avoid thus far - the mess. Mary, once again, doesn’t hesitate. For Jacob? She’ll do anything.

Jacob is shown love and kindness, and he responds with the same. He has the same unnatural strength as Victor’s creature, but he’s only ever shown using it to rescue himself and others. When Mary asks for a handshake, he replies that he can’t, because such would be an invitation for a duel. And that they should hug, instead. Mary didn’t even know what that was. Far from disgusted by the lack of warmth she feels from his skin, she looks beyond that, to the emotional warmth and connection.

Frankenstein’s creature, famously, lashes out in violence. While Victor views this as his responsibility only in so far as he brought a demon into the world, he doesn’t understand, even when the Creature eloquently explains it, that the Creature was a being who had only known cruelty.

Jacob knows love. He knows kindness. He knows sadness and loneliness and pain. And refuses to engage in any form of touch that could even be considered violence. They hug.

Which is not to say Mary’s creatures can’t kill. But they do only to protect their mother, and only after Mary has risked everything to protect Jacob. They are Mary’s children, not Victor’s. Even their violence is an act of love. And in another inversion - they are the ones telling Mary to run. Something she does not want to do. She doesn't want to leave them behind. After all, they are her children. She departs from them only at Jacob's literal tug away, and with an apology and a thanks.

[Image description: screenshot of Fumi, dressed as Mary Jane, shown from stage view, with the audience behind, while a Doll's lines "Protect Mommy, let mommy run away." are shown below.]

Boats and Framing

But the parallels are not only in the most famous part of the novel - consider this - Frankenstein, the novel, is written as a series of nesting framing narratives. The bookend narrative, the one we open and close on, is a boat. Most Frankenstein adaptations cut the boat trip frame, but Mary Jane very specifically opens and closes on a boat at sea, and its ending is EXACTLY the reverse of Frankenstein’s. If for some reason you’re this far in and don’t want more spoilers for a 200 year old book, now’s the time to click away, I guess.

The boat is on a course to the Arctic. Victor is on board, telling his story, because his creature has fled there, away from humanity. Victor intends to pursue him endlessly, to kill him, fully aware that he is almost certainly going to die, frozen and alone, in the process. We don’t get to see this happen - the story ends merely with the certainty that this is what is coming. Victor, on a boat, intending to go to the ends of the earth alone to kill the Creature he brought into the world, treating it like some burden and punishment. 

[image description: a screenshot from Mary Jane, with the CG of Mary and the Ghosts on the ship, with the summary text overlayed on it reading "Friends together, fun forever."]

How does Mary Jane end? With Mary, and Jacob, and a cast of playful characters — her friends — sailing off for the ends of the world, together, in pursuit of life and happiness - even in death.

Ghost Party ends the play because its a triumph. Neji throwing out Horace’s Ode to Cleopatra in there because he can’t not do silly things like that — but Frankenstein famously contains many references to classics — many made by the Creature himself, who was forced to educate himself via books, lacking a parent to help him. 

Mary Jane takes a section of sheer joy out of a poem of complex mixed emotions, and says them repeatedly. This is a party. This is a triumph. Mary leaves on a boat for the ends of the world a success, a good mother, a friend. And a human.

Humanity, Connection, Isolation

The play deconstructs so wonderfully this question of humanity. Mary doesn’t find any joy in it, despite barely understanding it herself - until she is able to use it to help others. The first time in her life she’s been glad to be human - something she only really understands as “needing to eat food” - is when it gives her the ability to save her ghost friends. If that’s what humanity is, the ability to care for others, the ghosts of the chapel, the play is telling us, are far more human. 

One of my favorite exchanges in the play is after Charles and Figaro explain to Mary that the corpse parts used to make Jacob were their friends. Mary is not malicious in the least. She has no concept of this act as sacrilege or desecration. She is genuinely childishly innocent in most of what she does. And she can’t understand it.

Mary says “If you can love unmoving corpses so much… How can you not feel for living ghosts...?"

[image description: Mary in front of the burning town. She's saying "How can you not feel for living ghosts...?"]

Charles responds that she must be completely off her rocker. But she’s correct. Mary sees life in front of her, even undead life, and wants to protect it. Even the Islanders, who only ever treated her with distain, who only ever made her miserable — she doesn’t want them to die, even knowing they are already dead. 

Outside of Mary, her oddball eccentric self, in this play, the more human someone is, the crueler they are. Figaro and Charles are only ever here to mess with her before dragging her off to be killed. They have no willingness to even try to understand anything outside their world view. The Islanders, who think themselves human, revile Mary, and make up terrible rumors about her. 

Both of these groups do so, in part, for similar reasons. Because to have empathy would force a realization on them they cannot bear. The last thing Figaro realizes, before he’s dragged into the most poetic of justices, is that the dolls have SOULS. They are ALIVE. It’s a moment of anger and madness, but it’s a last minute realization that he’s been wrong now that it’s too late. Of course it’s not a revelation he’ll remember. You tend to forget what’s important on Kakuriyo Island.

If Mary averts all of Victor’s mistakes, Charles and Figaro make many of them. Seeing the Creature as a collection of corpses, as demonic, as an abomination against God. Reacting only in anger, in cruelty, in violence. Chasing something they view, wrongly, as an abomination to the ends of the earth, until it kills them. Mary has Victor’s role, but Victor’s actions and outlook are given to the antagonists. 

It’s fascinating to me, then, that there are two of them. In the version of the play that gets performed, they’re twins - doubles. Two halves of one whole, who egg each other along in their cruelty. But they also exist to show that even these two are capable of empathy and connection. They do in fact understand the thing they tease Mary with. They have the ability and understanding to extend that to Ghosts, or to Mary. They simply refuse to. Figaro really does love his brother - his grief at his death is genuine. It’s a clever way to show that.

In the book, Victor is extremely isolated, by his own choice. He withdraws from everyone in order to work on his creature, and after he runs from it, he keeps to himself just as much, now blaming the idea that he can tell no one what he’s done. Even when he’s surrounded by family, he is utterly alone. By choice. The Creature eventually lashes out and kills the woman Victor intended to marry. In Victor’s mind, he cares about this girl, but it is not in his actions. Like much else, she exists more as a creation of Victors mind than something in the world for him to interact with and care about. Until she dies. Then he’s furious. And decides to spend the rest of his life chasing down the Creature to kill him for it. 

This contradiction in Victor has always read as intentional to me. The book is calling out his hypocrisy here. He doesn’t actually desire connection - the connection his Creature eloquently explains his longing for. But if it is denied him, he acts like he’s been affronted, painted with a shallow layer of sanctimoniousness or justice. Murder is bad, of course, and the Creature shouldn’t have killed an innocent young woman to get at Victor, of course. But the discrepancy between the way Victor reacts to her in death and the way he does when she’s alive is intentional.

Victor has every chance for human connection. Time and time and time again he’s given that chance and refuses it. Even to the very end, on that boat. He could stay with the crew. Sail back home. Let it go. The Creature has run away from humanity which it has come to despise as much as its absentee father disdained it. There is no need to keep chasing. But Victor cannot let it go. 

The Creature longs for connection and is denied it. Victor disdains and refuses it, even when it’s available to him.

Mary as The Creature

Contrast this with Mary — It is Mary, rather than Jacob, that is in the Creature’s situation here. Mary is constantly chasing connection. Constantly trying to find something to reflect humanity (compassion, life, emotions — rather than the matter of blood and flesh that Figaro and Charles always talk about it as) back at her. And she can’t get it. She, like the Creature, hides in the bushes and watches it from afar. She, like the Creature, chases after it only for people to run away, to treat her with cruelty. Mary is Frankenstein, but she is also a reflection of the Creature. She is both in one, in this sense.

[image description: screenshot of summary text over the church and figures of the church ghosts. it reads "The friendless Mary dreamily watched the ghosts as they sang a happy song.]

Her costume specifically makes her look nearly as much the doll as the ones she makes - in the world of the story, because she's sewing both - but thematically, it ties her to them not only as their mother, but as a reflection of the Creature, herself.

Like the Creature, Mary is an odd mix of naivety and childishness, with startling gaps in her knowledge, and extreme skill and adult abilities. She knows what she knows well. Like the Creature, Mary has no memory of kindness, of family, of parents. She has only ever seen it in the way the Islanders interact with each other. She is the Creature here - raising herself, learning of the world through watching it, being reviled for every attempt she makes to reach out.

One thing the Creature explains to Victor is that he didn’t even understand, at the time, why he was being treated this way. He had no awareness of his own nature and what he looked like in the eyes of others. Only that they ran in fear and chased him away, and reacted with violence.

Mary Jane inverts this. Mary is human, but the humans around her are something she cannot understand. Like the Creature, Mary doesn’t understand why people react this way. The book expects you to come to the same conclusion as the play - the fault lies not with the Creature anymore more than it does with Mary, at this point. It is those around him, those around her, that are at fault, that are a thing neither can understand. Human’s are cruel. Ghosts who think they’re humans are cruel. It is a disconnect between themselves and the world around them they don’t understand, and desperately try to bridge over and over.

Even Mary, as quirky and childlike as she is, is on the verge of giving up, of being consumed by the Lonely Darkness. We don't know what her fate would have been if the Order of Shadows had not come. Victor's Creature, far more morose than Mary, gives up on connection, as well. He is denied the most basic of needs, and eventually, he learns the violence and hatred being directed at him, and, newborn that he is, lashes out.

But, ultimately, companionship and connection are the Creature’s goals, and it is that that he requests of Victor, who refuses to provide it himself. Make for me a mate. Mary is the Creature, and she is Frankenstein. She makes a friend for herself. Her motivation in creating Jacob is not science, it is not in defiance of  death or God — very pointedly — it is out of loneliness - the same motivation that the Creature gives for his desire that Victor make him another like him. And when Mary does so, she’s a good mother, and a good friend.

Religion

Frankenstein’s full title is Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus - it is about forming people, but it is also about stealing fire from the Gods. The question of if creating life out of death the way Victor does is an affront to God is something that Victor himself thinks about, but the book is much more interested in exploring it as the way characters view it. Victor punishes himself, it is not the Divine that punishes him. The Divine acts not as a force, but as an idea. One that both Victor and the Creature end up grappling with and trying to find their place within.

So that Mary herself seemingly has no concept of it, is fascinating. She goes to watch a chapel every night, but I don’t know she knows what a chapel even is. She mentions God once herself, saying that the smell of the garbage would be enough to affect even God, but she also talks to the Moon as a companion and a friend. Her worldview is uniquely hers, in relation to all things. As I said, the idea that making the dolls the way she does, or using corpse parts to do it might be sacrilege does not even occur to her.

Rather than go the route of the novel, Mary Jane twists this around too. In the world of Mary Jane, religious objects hold not only the power of an idea but an actual force. And it is a force that is completely, within the world of the show, amoral and nonsensical. The blessed weapons and fire the Order of the Shadows use are “holy” as a property, but that gives it no moral weight within the world of the play. And the play is messing with it the whole time. Holy wood or water can destroy a ghost, but they live in a church. Something that Charles and Figaro comment on, but cannot interrogate in terms of what it means for their conviction. But they’re split on how to proceed - the fact that ghosts can live in it doesn’t shake their faith, though. Sister Ghost is there largely for this joke. A nun who is constantly evoking the divine, who would be killed by a consecrated item. 

[image description: the summary text over the chapel backdrop with the text of "the chapel where Jacob and the others were left behind was being filled with the scent of holy water.]

If I could add something to Mary Jane, I would have loved for Mary or Jacob to ask Sister Ghost what “God” means (this is a conversation that happens in bonus material for Tokyo Ghoul once, actually). I would have loved to have that brought up more explicitly. But it’s also very funny that it never is.

The first definitions for a God we get are them being applied to Mary herself, with plenty of ambiguity on if the Order’s faith itself has a mother figure at its center or not. And either way it’s a fascinating play on the idea, and the themes of the novel.

Closing Thoughts, Other Connections and Ideas "Beyond the Scope of this Essay"

Anyway, all of this while playing around with everything else going on in this play, Neji’s totally, without permission, commentary on Fumi, on Tsuki’s legacy (please read the stage script, somehow the game thought it was a good idea to cut that whole specific reference even when making Kisa pick between an “erase Tsuki” option) and on Kai. On himself as an artist. ("I am the one who is strange. With my changing moods, with my hobbies. That is why everyone thinks I'm strange and avoids me.”). As with several other plays, a commentary on authority, and on creation, and on isolation and friendship and connection. 

And, of course, what I’ve been holding back this whole little essay is that Mary Jane is, thematically, at its core, playing off the exact same situation as I Am Death. Like — both of these plays center around a woman pouring her emotions into an undead creature. I see you Neji. You can’t hide from me. Reading I Am Death as a Frankenstein Story remixed into an old Japanese mytho-history is a LOT of fun to do, but is, as the academics say, beyond the scope of this essay.

(and, I Am Death itself is about Neji and Chui, and the twisted, messy love-hate revenge drama they are acting out across all the routes in the game. Neji writes the plays that introduce Chui to the world. Then he runs. And spends the whole game trying to beat him (affectionate.). “Make me another like me” you say… 

Literally the only thing I’ve come up with to make the “bad end” CG more compelling to me, is that this is what it’s riffing on. I like my I Am Death costumes way weirder.)

Mary Jane is a Frankenstein Story, I Am Death is a Frankenstein Story, Jack Jeanne is a Frankenstein Story. The other, other thing I’m leaving out here is that the Order of the Shadows are OBVIOUSLY pulled from Tokyo Grand Guignol, aesthetically. And the most famous TGG play is Litchi Hikari Club, which is, say it with me, a Frankenstein Story. Also one that takes the themes of the novel (gender, love and sexuality, childhood, genius, violence, blind pursuit to the point of madness, god complexes) harder than most, but runs with it in nearly the exact opposite direction. But again, very much beyond the scope of this essay.

Also also also leaving out the fact that Tokyo Ghoul is... kind of ... not not a Frankenstein story. It certainly riffs on the motif quite a bit. Even if you've never read it, you've seen the mask design (an in universe riff on the joke.).

Even just one dimension of this play, and look how many words you've made me write Neji-senpai.

[image description: image from the bottom of the Mary Jane poster, with the cast list, showing the chapel ghosts with a focus on Ushinoko, Neji's character, looking towards the 'camera'.] Some little Halloween Spooktacular you’ve got there. Bravo.

#jack jeanne meta #jack jeanne #Mary Jane #frankenstein #lit crit #doing lit crit of stories within stories - what a trip #meta

[captain-aralias]

randomised trope/tag grading game

clearly today is a day of doing memes (i posted a list of 9 favourite books earlier today). i know it's a tuesday and normal people are at work, but i'm writing some posts, hello!

Rules: Generate your own personal list of 10 AO3 tags to rate. How much do these tags affect your decision to click on a fic? -10 -> very dissuaded 0 - don’t care either way +10 -> very enticed nope -> if it’s a hard no and you’d never click on a fic with that tag or or you even have the tag blocked or you’d insta click out of the fic if it wasn’t tagged Bonus points for explaining the rating and whether it’s conditional.

i was tagged in a very similar post by @bookish-bogwitch a few weeks ago. at the time i read her post, i felt like our opinions were so aligned that there wasn't a good reason for me to write my own post. (well done, great opinions!) the only exception really is that if a snowbaz fic was tagged age gap i might choose to read it - less because the trope is for me, and more because that's kind of weird for snowbaz. so, maybe it would be interesting! and i guess i feel pretty meh about H/C, sorry folks.

anyway - i decided to tweak the meme into the form that you see in this post. here's my 10 random things and what i think about them👇

Amusement Parks: -2

harsh judgement right out of the gate. i've read some good ones but i feel like generally a fic about an amusement park is likely to be some quite gentle fluff, maybe a modern AU, and that's not my favourite.

Unconventional Families: 0

maybe all slash fics that are kidfics are unconventional families? if so - i actually quite like kidfic, a not that secret shame, but i sort of like it less if the fact that they're gay parents is now worth flagging because it makes life difficult - since i am a gay parent. and i dont want to read about how it will be hard. so it averages out to a 0. if the family is more unconventional.... who knows? i would neither click nor not click.

Rough Sex: 8

how sad for me that this is my first clear yes and highest rated. i probably would click unless other tags or the summary put me off.

Public Transportation: 3

i went with a yes here, as i'm intrigued. it's oddly specific and suggests an interest in the specifics, and i am a fan of public transport. i've read some nice fics where snowbaz meet on trains (yes, often modern AU, but i dont dislike them all), like the classic 15-across by @ninemagicks and the equally classic remix 2-Down (A 15-Across remix) by @carryonvisinata (who also wrote a theme park story i like, so the -2 is definitely feeling mean. ah well, press on.) Bickering: 7

i mean - i prefer banter, but i assume if someone has written bickering they kind of mean banter. unless it's like sibling bickering and then maybe not.

Phone Calls & Telephones: 0

this is almost text fic (which i like less than most people like it) but not. i often write in a phonecall, it's part of what i think of as the friendship to lovers arc...... idk. i'm also going to add here that i keep thinking about plots that rely on people not being able to call each other, which is kind of the opposite. or you have to get to a pay phone - i dont know that i would want to read a fic like that, but there are some fun movies and books that you'd have to rework now. most recently i was watching madonna in 'desperately seeking susan'.

Redeemed (character): 7

this really depends on who they are, obviously. i can imagine it being really annoying if they never show any redeemability, but i've given it a strong 7 because i come from a world of redeeming the master from doctor who over and over again, so it would feel silly not to have it as a yes. and i kind of want to redeem the mage....... but it would be weird if he just was redeemed in a fic, and so too the master. it would have to be kind of about it.

Quests: 7

yes. not a 10/10 insta-click , because i can imagine it going on a bit too long if it was a fic about a quest rather than, say, two people realising they loved each other, but i would like it to be in the background. snowbaz has some good quest fics. Song of Sirens (rated E) by @scone-lover is such a fic or A Gift From the Propheseals (rated M) by @skeedelvee and @letraspal another.

Cats: 3

this feels mean, i have 3 cats myself - i like cats to be in a fic because cats are nice, but i also dont have many feelings about animal transformation and if snowbaz adopt a cat in the future... that's fine by me, i hope they do, but i probably don't want to read about it for more than a few lines.

Sociopathy: 2

probably not if it's a serious examination of this, but plenty of my villainous favs could be described as sociopaths, so... i give it a 2!

--

anyone who wants to do the meme in this form - please do!

i tag everyone already tagged in this post, the people i tagged last post, and a few others: @giishu @orange-peony @you-remind-me-of-the-babe @carryonvisinata @alleycat0306 @fight-surrender @cows4247 @messofthejess @mysterioussheep @ivelovedhimthroughworse @nightimedreamersworld @cutestkilla @fatalfangirl @artsyunderstudy @larkral @forabeatofadrum @ileadacharmedlife @facewithoutheart happy tuesday.

#my content

[chatonnoir]

hi i wanted to let you know i have been into miraculous literally since PV days but have strayed from the fandom since around season 2-3 when "salt" stuff started getting really popular. i was tired of seeing my favorites being mangled beyond recognition to fit some weird revenge fantasy, so i just stopped. recently though i missed the blorbos. its people like you who genuinely love the show and the characters that have made my more recent experiences incredibly lovely and fulfilling. thank u :]

Aw thank you honey :’) truly as someone who got a little in to ML in 2016 and enjoyed the cute fan content and saw how much fans praised it but didn't keep up with it, only to come back to it a couple of seasons later and see how insane the fandom had become over those few years .... it is truly exhausting and baffling to see what people do to the show now. Ig this is the danger of too much self-projection and a lack of critical thinking. Even people who claimed to be done with the show in season 4 continue to run blogs obsessed with """criticizing""" the show for the stupidest and most petty things possible on a daily basis, instead of just ... walking away from it if it doesn’t appeal to them anymore. It can really give you a headache.

But it all makes me think of that one quote from the end of Ratatouille (the movie which is indisputably Pixar Animation Studios' magnum opus): "the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so." ML as a show means so much to so many people of all age groups and backgrounds across the world. ML is far more meaningful and loved and contributes far more to the world than any random schmuck's salt post/fic/comic/video essay about it on the internet. ML is a sweet show! It's a cute and fun show! It's a kind show about emotions and relationships (platonic and romantic) and the power of love but isn’t designated as a Girls Show(TM), as shows with these themes often are, so boys are watching it too! And it shows us a male superhero being soft and sensitive and a hopeless romantic and in touch with his emotions without shame and a female superhero who loves him for it! Which is so important!

Similar kids cartoons when I was growing up, things like Danny Phantom, always had the romance as not an A or B or even a C plot but basically a Z plot. Literally on the back burner. An afterthought. Not something that was created out of passion and a belief that the characters would love each other and rather just thrown in because a main heterosexual relationship for the protagonist Has to be there, for some reason. Romantic moments would be limited to The Romance Episode(TM), wherein the "romantic development" is just like ... the characters accidentally held hands or kissed or something, and would often boil down to "this boy and girl are friends so OBVIOUSLY they have to like each other," without ever really showing me why they actually love each other. And don't get me started on allll the pieces of media with a forced heterosexual romance that is little more than "this male and female character have romantic and sexual tension because they're a male and female character." Or all the pieces of animated kids media where the main male character immediately likes the main female character because she's The Pretty One (As much as I love ATLA and k/ataang, even ATLA did this in the first episode). This all always felt so lacking to me as someone who was so enamored by love even as a kid.

Then comes along ML. Chat Noir didn't fall for Ladybug because he saw her and was taken with how she was Pretty. We know he thinks she's beautiful but he was completely unaffected by this fact when he first met her!!! It wasn't until he saw her stand up to evil that he fell for her! A male character falling for a female character not because Wow She Pretty but because of her bravery and cleverness and determination to stand up to evil and do good? That shouldn't be groundbreaking but it is!!! And it's beautiful!!! And Marinette didn't fall for Adrien because he was The Hot Guy or The Cool Hero or just because he's the male character and she's the female character so she just Has To. She fell for him when she saw his vulnerability and kindness!!! I would've LOVED to have grown up with a show like ML.

God the romance? I’ve never seen so much delicious Yearning in any other western kid’s cartoon. The door scene? Hoowee.... The way each of them so desperately wants the other to see both sides of them. The ending scene of Glaciator, when Ladybug is supposed to be “rejecting” Chat Noir and Chat Noir is supposed to be giving her a platonic cheek kiss, and yet it’s one of the sweetest and most utterly romantic scenes in the show. The sad undertone of Ladynoir, of being best friends but not being able to know a single thing about each other’s lives. The pure romance of the umbrella scene. The coup de foudre.

And it doesn't matter if the episode is romance-centric or not because ML has given us a male and female hero duo with so much genuine love and affection for each other that it's palpable in every episode from the very first season (especially if you’re watching in French lmao). Just... the sweet way they talk to each other, where you can hear their fondness for each other in their voices. The way they tease and roast each other. The petnames. The way they support and protect and take care of each other in and out of battles (specific moments like Ladybug looking after and reassuring Scaredy-cat Chat Noir in Reverser and Chat Noir putting Ladybug’s yo-yo over her mouth for her so she could breathe underwater in Truth make me so insane). The whole concept of “them against the world.” The way that even while loving Ladybug, Chat Noir has no problem telling her when he disagrees with her. The way they will have disagreements/conflicts that are completely in line with their established character traits and weaknesses, but aren’t able to stay mad at each other for more than a minute because of their softness for each other, and always come back from it because above all else they care about and love each other. It’s so unmatched. That’s love bitch

Speaking of how their conflicts are completely in line with their established character traits and weaknesses - the characters are incredibly deep and human and consistently written with motivations and personalities and flaws that all make so much sense! And they’ve developed so much since the start of the show! And the two protagonists mean so much to and resonate with so many people, kids and adults alike. Plenty of people have gone in to the depth of Adrien’s character and why he’s meaningful to people for paragraphs on end so I won’t repeat that, but I rarely see people talking about the beauty of Marinette’s character so I just have to point out like... A female superhero who is not a Strong Flawless Girlboss Who Needs No Man but one who is basically a female Peter Parker? A female superhero who is awkward around her crush and kind of Ridiculous and a hopeless romantic who makes stupid lovestruck faces at pictures of said crush and likes girly things and the color pink and wants to hold her boy’s hand and barely has her shit together and sometimes makes bad choices but is ultimately trying her best to balance her Great Power and Great Responsibility with her civilian life and relationships? Like, I’m not in to comics so sorry if this is inaccurate because I’m only pulling from Spider-Verse, but even Marvel’s attempt at making a girl Spider-Man through Spider-Gwen made her this cool badass with an undercut. I don’t want another Black Widow or Captain Marvel or whatever!!!! I love that ML basically gave us a female Spider-Man who is just as much of a complete disaster as Peter Parker was (talking specifically about Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield versions). I love the way both Peter and Marinette fuck up and make mistakes and bad choices and struggle to balance their two lives and accidentally end up hurting or pushing away the people who are close to them while they’re trying so hard to do what they think is right and protect the people they love with no real guidance. The loneliness of keeping their identities a secret through all that knowing that one slip up could put everyone they love in grave danger. Not to mention Marinette’s very blatant neurodivergent coding that is so clear in everything she does? Seeing her ADHD brain basically become her strength when she’s Ladybug through the bizarre connections she can make with random objects in a split second, just like how someone with ADHD would go on seemingly bizarre and random tangents mid-conversation because their brain latched on to something and quickly made a whole bunch of connections in a short amount of time while the other person was talking? Chef’s fucking kiss baby.

And I love the episodic adventures format!!!! Lots of people do!!!! The rewatch value of every episode is so good!!! Not everything has to be a 10-ep-per-season HBO drama where each 1 hour long episode is solely focused on moving the plot? People who ask for which episodes are important and which ones are “filler” that they can skip when starting ML are so weird. The fun of ML is watching all of Ladybug and Chat Noir’s fun adventures together in every episode? I love watching them just Being Ladybug and Chat Noir while they fight bad guys and have their banter. Episodes can just be Fun!!! Episodes can just exist to BE fun and silly or to explore a specific friendship or relationship rather than being focused on the main villain plot and that’s not a flaw!!!!

tl;dr: ML is a fun and cute show with very relatable, human characters and shows a beautiful, deep, powerful loving relationship between its male and female superhero leads that a lot of similar cartoons and even movies aimed at adults can’t pull off and a lot of people genuinely love this show because of it.

#answers #ml sugar #miraculous ladybug

[armoralor]

Queer Coding Pt 2 | "You only HC characters as queer for brownie points!" | Important Note: Wanting to feel included and cultivating your own joy in hostile environments is not a "performative act." Queer and trans folks are being legislated against at every turn, and real life can get heavy. No one is saying imagining fictional characters are gay is some kind of activism, none of it is being done for a pat on the head. Enjoying our free time by picturing ourselves reflected in media is a personal act, you don't have to make it about yourself (or act like your being bullied because of it). ALSO! Fetishizing queer and trans characters is not heroic or helpful to anyone in the LGBTQIA+ community. If you are cishet and find yourself hyper-fixating on queerness because it's "taboo" or "hot," do some personal reflection and reading. Additional resources and sources below. T*RFs fuck off.

Transcript: CRITICS: There is small, but loud, part of the population that is uncomfortable with trans and queer existence. Sometimes these folks are outright hateful and easy to spot, but many hide under the cover of liberalism or progressiveness while finding excuses to bash the LGBTQIA+ community for "justified reasons." The following is a small taste of the push back and hate queer fans get on their posts and some helpful ways to respond.

"Why does everyone have to be gay now?" Not all characters are gay, but some might be. It may feel like "everyone" is queer now because the previous number of queer relationships in media was zero. Going from having 100% of the representation to 95% of the representation feels like an attack when you're used to being center stage constantly.

"We need more positive heterosexual representations!" Cisgender heterosexual relationships are supported, perpetuated, and recognized by every major institution in society. Yes, patriarchal structures are toxic, but that does not mean queerness should be avoided in favour of more cishet focused media. The solution is bettering social constructs, no silencing the LGBTQIA+ community.

"Lesbians and bisexuals are transphobic + started the TERF movement!" Congratulations on perpetuating a false conservative talking point that has been disproven dozens of times! Lesbians have been statistically the most accepting of trans folks throughout history.

"You hate mothers and biological families!" Many queer and trans people have kids! Wanting to imagine your favourite characters are queer & trans does not mean there will be no kids in their life. At the same time, LGBTQIA+ folks not wanting kids is just as common as cishet people not wanting kids. None of this is an "attack" on cis women or mothers. Reducing people to their ability to procreate is fucking weird.

"This character is most likely straight!" Queer people are in the minority, we are very aware. That doesn't diminish the fact we like to see ourselves represented in the media we consume. Most people are right handed, but that doesn't mean left handed people don't exist.

"My interpretation of the source material is the most accurate and this character is obviously not gay!" Compulsory Heterosexuality is hard to unlearn, ever for members of the LGBTQIA+ community. We are force fed narratives of what het relationships look like from a young age, and often project what we are most used to onto others.

"A queer person was mean to me, therefore I must form straight solidarity groups!" First of all, please reflect on your choices and consider what that would sound like against any other oppressed group. A queer person pointing out something you don't like isn't bullying, and banding together to "promote" straight relationships in "solidarity" is both embarrassing and bigot behaviour.

Sources: Hitchcock and the Censors by John Billheimer (2019); Everything but Named: Queer-Coded Characters in 19th-Century Literature by Marie Harra (2023); Queers in American Popular Culture by Jo Johnson (2010); Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Content on Television: A Quantitative Analysis Across Two Seasons by Deborah A. Fisher PhD et all (2007); Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence by Adrienne Cecile Rich (1980); Unrequited: The Queer History of Hollywood by James Somerton (2023); Lesbians Being Anti-Trans Is a Lesbophobic Trope by Amy Ashenden (2023); Stop Using Lesbians Like Me To Justify Your Transphobia by Sadhbh O'Sullivan (2022); Trans Day of Visibility by Just Like Us (2023); Why Queerbaiting in Marketing and Media Is Harmful and How You Can Help Stop It by Colleen Murphy (2023)

#star wars #the mandalorian #rebels #ahsoka #din djarin #bo katan kryze #ezra bridger #ahsoka tano #sabine wren #shin hati #the book of boba fett #queer coding

[millenari]

Munkustrap for the ask game? 🥺

1. Canon I outright reject

I CANNOT find the post but there's this one Jack Rebaldi interview where he mentions something about how 'no one likes Munkustrap because he's the leader and nobody really likes the guy always giving you orders' and as much as I love Jack Rebaldi's Munk I just don't agree with that interpretation. Everybody loves Munk. To Me.

2. A canon or headcanon hill I will die on

On the flip side of Munk actor interviews, Michael Gruber saying

'[Munk is] entrusted with giving the information to the other, maybe younger cats who have not been to the Jellicle Ball before. He gets up and says exactly what they're here to do. He's also caretaker of the kittens. He wants to make sure everybody's safe; in all the Macavity scares, he's there to protect the tribe. So he is the protector'

about Munk is really fundamental for me and how I see Munk, Munk's role in the tribe, and Munk's role in the story.

3. Obscure headcanon

His owner is an old unmarried lady who lives in an apartment by herself; she calls him Felix and he feels responsible for her bc she 'has no colony'.

4. Favorite line

Michael Gruber's American-ass delivery of 'or hairier' in Pekes is my favorite comedy moment in any and all versions of Cats I've seen, it gets me every time.

5. Best personality trait

He cares, deeply and personally, about pretty much everyone, and never hesitates to put himself out there to assist if someone needs it. He's a natural leader and a quick decision maker even under pressure, but he's still patient and compassionate with everyone he meets-- even when he's stressed or angry, he still makes efforts to be kind.

6. Worst personality trait

Munk physically cannot remove himself from a situation if he thinks he's needed, even if he's actively making it worse. He also is one of those people who refuses to let people just vent at him and tries to solve everyone's problems even if they don't want a solution to their problem.

7. Age/height/weight headcanon

Munk is shorter than Tugger but significantly stronger than him, so he can just scoop Tugger up in a fireman's carry and remove him from a situation if he's being annoying.

8. Unpopular opinion about them

Honestly I think I'm even more normie about Munk than about Tugger. I don't think I have any truly unpopular hot takes about him.

9. Scene that first made me love (or hate) the character

I do love his part of Jenny's song-- the way he's singing directly to the kittens on the ground, and his section of the song has this lullaby feeling to it that's just so calming and tender. I really love how for that song it's a duet (sort of) between a young dude and an older lady, but the older lady gets the snappy upbeat part and the younger dude gets the slow & sweet part. It really just establishes Munk as this soft and nurturing figure from the beginning.

10. Best moment on screen (or in the book)

Bway revival Macavity fight imo. It's just so damn good.

11. Faceclaim for the role

Michael Gruber is rlly my Munk, even the unique shape of his wig in 98 sticks out to me as a Fundamental Munk Thing™.

In human aus he's kind of this lighter-skinned 'racially ambiguous' kind of guy with dark hair, smile lines, a little bit of stubble, and a frequently worn sweater vest.

12. Crack headcanon

I feel like his human version would be a Beyonce fan, but like in the cringiest middle-aged-dad way possible.

13. Dumbest thing they’ve ever done

Munk's always been a pretty level-headed and mature guy, even when he was young, so there isn't much that he's done that I can label as 'stupid' except perhaps jumping into dangerous situations to protect someone without considering his own safety first. My hc for how Plato joined the Junkyard starts with Munk running straight into traffic on a busy street bc he saw baby Plato abandoned between two lanes and petrified from fear.

Random ass kitten Munk had never seen before in his life, and he charged right into mortal danger without a second's thought about it. Brave, but also stupid.

14. Most heroic moment

Munk's doing heroic shit all the time. My previous answer is actually a good example, plus, you know, he's tangled with Macavity more than once.

15. Worst thing they’ve ever done

Munkustrap Has Never Done Anything Wrong, Ever, In His Entire Life.

16. Deepest darkest secret they won’t even admit to themselves

I don't know if this is 'never admit to himself' levels but Munk wonders a lot if he shares some blame for how Macavity ended up. He and Mac grew up together, and while he always knew his older brother had a temper, he really and truly thought Mac was just rough around the edges, and that he really did care about Munk and the rest of the tribe deep down. But when Macavity betrayed the tribe and started doing Evil Deeds, Munk was left wondering if Macavity had always been rotten deep down, and hid it from all of them for all those years, or if he'd just.... snapped somehow, from the pressure of being Deuteronomy's heir, or something, and maybe there was something Munk could have done to help him before things got too bad.

As is, Munk may never know.

17. Quotes, songs, poems, etc. that I associate with them

“There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.”

18. What they’d go to see a therapist about

Stress & setting too-high standards for himself, probably.

19. Vices/bad habits

Never resting, for one. He basically never gets enough sleep. It's funny, in my human aus both Tugger and Mac suffer from insomnia, but Munk is oftentimes just as sleep deprived as those two despite being the only Deut bro without insomnia, just because he's always doing things. That man is responding to his work emails at 1:24AM for no goddamn reason.

20. Scars

He's got plenty of scars, most of them not huge, but he's been in all sorts of fights and even if asked he wouldn't even be able to identify how or when he got them.

21. Drink of choice (not just alcoholic)

I think he drinks wine in one scene in my human/celeb/soulmate fic, otherwise he's a real coffee man.

22. Best physical feature

I don't know what other cats would consider his best feature! By cat standards Munk is a handsome dude, but kind of in a normal, average way. Just, you know, a handsome guy you'd see on the street. Honestly I think his general vibes are his most attractive trait, though that's not physical. But nobody in all the world can look at a large muscular man being sweet and cute and patient with little kids and go 'nah 3/10 for me'.

23. If they were a scented candle, what would they smell like?

I'm thinking like... forest or campfire or something like that.

24. Most annoying habit

Asking someone to complete a task for him and then changing his mind and completing it himself before they can get to it.

25. 3 things they’d want to take with them if they were dropped off in the middle of nowhere

Again I need more details for this question but a book for sure regardless.

26. What they would do if stuck in an elevator with [insert character of your choice from the same fandom]

Munk I think is a pretty boring character as far as getting-stuck-in-an-elevator shenanigans go. Except for Macavity, that would probably be interesting. Anyone else would probably just be the two trying to escape together and then rock paper scissors for the next six hours.

27. Their guilty pleasure

Human Munk probably has a variety of snackies he considers guilty pleasures, like special chocolates or whatever. Cat Munk would probably say it's 'oh sometimes I go off somewhere in the Junkyard by myself and just sit for a while and enjoy the silence' and the person he's talking to is like THATS NOT A GUILTY PLEASURE THATS JUST KEEPING YOURSELF SANE

28. How they feel about [insert character of your choice from the same fandom]

I headcanon Jemima as being Bomba and Macavity's daughter, though this is a fact Bomba very much keeps to herself-- she's only admitted it to two people and Munk is not one of them. However Munk.... has eyes & he's perfectly aware of who Jemima's father is, though he's never gotten Bomba to actually admit it. This kind of creates a. .. . not 'weird' relationship, but a kind-of sad one, because Munkustrap knows he's this delightful little girl's uncle but she doesn't know it in return, and her finding out will probably be more devastating than anything, because it would come with the knowledge of who her father is.

So Munk just kind of has to treat Jemima just like he does the rest of the kittens and keep the knowledge of their relationship to himself, though he's always wanted a big family.

29. Eating habits

Munk is a Deuteronomy, so in both cat and human aus he can eat for fucking forever. Human Munk likes to cook and bake as well, and he and Demeter make their dinner together every afternoon, and very rarely order takeout.

30. Sleeping habits

Whoops, I already talked about this. He doesn't sleep as much as he should, but he sleeps soundly whenever he does get around to putting his head down.

31. If the had a tumblr what would it look like?

Probably politics. Plus some pictures or art or such that he finds interesting.

32. Something guaranteed to make them smile/laugh

Kittens being cute will very easily get a smile out of him, though he doesn't laugh-laugh terribly often. One thing people don't know about him is that Tugger suffering something that he 1000% brought upon himself absolutely will get an evil grin or two out of Munk.

33. Something guaranteed to make them cry

Just like Tugger's answer, Deuteronomy's death. Munk's not a big crier I don't think, but when he does cry he's usually pretty quiet.

34. How they react when they are feeling X emotion (sad, angry, excited, scared, etc.—can specify as many as you like)

Most of these I think would result in Munk throwing himself into his work with vigor to get his mind off of the Bad Feelings. Munk's not quick to anger but he is quick to calm down after an outburst, and his excitement is usually going to be expressed through singing or dancing.

35. Their idea of a perfect day

This man will honestly be like 'yeah the perfect day would be a bunch of relaxation with my tribemates watching the kittens play and so on and so forth' and then refuse to stop working for ten minutes to make it happen.

36. Their favorite season

Late winter/early spring, the time of the Jellicle Ball and the incoming of the warm season.

37. What they really think about themselves

Munk struggles a lot wondering if he makes the right decisions as a leader and measures himself up to Deuteronomy all the time. He really wishes he could do more even though he's already always busy, and worries a lot whether the trust that the tribe places in him is justified.

38. Favorite holiday

Christmas bitch. Probably also a thanksgiving bitch as well.

39. Favorite game

He probably likes Monopoly. Like an insane person.

40. Favorite book

I imagine he likes reading but I'm not sure what I would say is his favorite book! He probably likes books about history and such a lot, and the occasional historical fiction.

41. If they could have lunch with anyone in the world (living or dead, from any fictional universe or the real world), who would it be?

Probably his mother, whom he doesn't remember well.

42. 3 comfort items

UHH for human aus: he loves the old scrapbooks from when he and his brothers were kids, his favorite flannel jacket, and uh........ does his wife count as a comfort item,,,,

43. 3 favorite foods and 3 they despise

You KNOW Munk has got to be a steak guy. Unlike Tugger he can probably enjoy a good salad, and box mac and cheese is probably one of those things he whips up every once in a while for childhood nostalgia reasons. There probably aren't a ton of foods Munk even dislikes, much less despises.

44. Their happiest memory

Like I mentioned before, this question is hard for me. I hc that he and Demeter have triplets at some point after the events of the musical, so maybe when they were born.

45. Their favorite celebrity

He seems like the type of guy to like Elvis, idk why.

46. The person they most admire

Deuteronomy. I feel like that one is easy lmao

47. Their dream job

I don't think he really had big career aspirations, more of a family man.

48. Scariest moment of their life

Probably when Macavity betrayed the tribe.

49. Favorite toy as a child

He seems like a stuffed elephant kind of guy. Or maybe his collection of the little green plastic army men.

50. A memory they’ve blocked out

I don't think he really has any memories he's consciously or subconsciously blocked out. There are things he tries not to think about or remember, but not on the level of fully blocking anything from his head.

#my answers started getting lame near the end but alas #thank you for the ask! 🥰🥰

[viveela]

your art is ❤ I wanna squeeze them to death (affectionate) also do you read sp fanfiction? if so do you have recs? 🙈

Ah thank you sm!! I'm so glad people enjoy my fanarts, I honestly didn't think my whole shift to south park posting would go this well lol I'm very glad to be proven otherwise!!

As for sp fics ...this is gonna be a long post lol.

So I have been reading some, buuut I guess I'm kinda picky...I am kind of particular about fics in general honestly. If I love something I want to see it portrayed authentically, that goes for every fandom I've been in. I know aus are fun but I want to be able to mainly consume canon compliant content, rarely do I read anything else oops. Unfortunately I've found that to be kinda hard since aging them up and doing all sorts of aus is heavily the vast majority with the sp fandom so I don't really have too many fics I personally have to recommend; just a handful that stood out to me, but I will happily share some!! They're all style and creek tho as I haven't found any I like that aren't yet, but I hope to find some for other pairs or nonromantic ones soon.

Stan x Kyle: A Ballad of True Hearts It's ongoing but really good so far! I really enjoy it, I'm a huge sucker for the fantasy look from the show/game and when it comes to aus this is like the only one I really indulge in. I really like how they're characterized and the tense dynamic they have that reflects the one seen in the current state of the series. The underlying plot has me very intrigued too! Sign of Devotion Adorable canon feeling story where their fantasy world is rarely portrayed as in the show with them simply playing pretend (which is my fav way to see it done). I loved this one to pieces and idk I just really like the idea of some feelings arising between them from trying to stay in character!! To Be More Than My Daydream I really enjoyed this one because it really nailed down how comfortable the two boys have gotten with each other's presence. I enjoy the idea of Stan taking a while to realize how his feelings changed over time and the way awareness of this slowly comes to light. It's written so tenderly and sweet it's really cute, I love the way they are here. Say it and mean it (for both our sakes) Such an awesome fic covering the distance that has grown between the two and how they're both happier when close to one another. They are both wanting and missing what they once had before but so bad at communicating this to each other until now. It was just perfect, loved it. Tweek x Craig:

Signs Point to Yes Incredibly fun fic, super in character, felt like an actual episode. The call back to the fortune teller is great. It was just such an enjoyable fic that really captured their dynamic and the struggle to save a relationship they didn't even ask for but now want. Super cute!

A Stripe of Love This fic was made before there was that much info on Stripe I believe, but it is very cute and I enjoyed it a lot. I am also always a fan for people bringing in Tweek's unofficial/official parrot into the mix, even if briefly. Overall, it's just a really sweet read.

Baby steps

Really cute exploration of how the two would feel about the awkward transition from faking to actually putting real feelings into their actions and being a little more vocal about it. Tweek's nerves are captured really nicely too.

That's all of them, hopefully my tastes in fics overlap at least a little with yours and you gain a nice read out of this!

I also plan to write some fics myself so maybe keep an eye out for that...?

#veespeaks #south park #style #fic asks #creek #this was kinda fun to format lol #hopefully it is enjoyed by anon and maybe others #but yeah i have fic ideas...lots of em #I just don't have enough time to do everything I want lol #but soon....soon

[moschiola]

ADHD+feedback=agony

This is going to be a long and possibly boring text post about art and posting art online, with some self-reflection on top. I don’t usually do these and it’s been ages since I’ve actually written any kind of a longer text, but I really need to put these thoughts onto imaginary digital paper. I’d appreciate if you read it through and if you could give me any form of feedback on this! Your own experiences and etc. I do art because it’s a part of my ADHD-ridden personality, this desire to create always buzzing inside, it’s neither and both work and hobby for me, something I love and hate the most in life, because it tortures me as much as it fills me with joy. So if you ask me ‘hey, what’s your purpose for drawing? What’s your goal, your endgame?’ the answer is really ‘there’s none, it’s more of a curse, it’s just something that makes me alive so I can’t help but continue, cause if I stop it feels like I’d vanish or lose myself completely’. I can’t say I’ve done all other forms of media to express myself, but I’ve tried a lot of things (poetry, photography, music, cosplay, crafting and so on and so forth) and nothing comes close to drawing. And I’m not even sure if ‘expressing myself’ is a right way to put it because it’s not that my art is any kind of deep and meaningful, I just illustrate plots and characters I find appealing in some way or another, for the most part. Now, I don’t consider myself to be a professional, but I also have 20+ years of experience at this point so I might as well be, depending on how you look at it. All self-beating aside, I like to think that my art is at somewhat plausible level at the moment? I am proud of how far I’ve come despite everything and I can still see a lot of progress happening, and god knows I work my ass off to continue improving. The main thing I want to address here is how erratic and incomprehensible my online feedback has been recently and how it makes my brain perform loops of dissociation.  I wish I didn’t care for feedback at all, but sadly I do,  it’s what gives me the most dopamine. I’ve recently discovered it’s yet-another ADHD thing. Nothing else in life makes me as fulfilled as seeing other people enjoy my pictures, it’s just pure joy without any downsides to it. It’s really not about financial gain from art or fame and popularity, but just creating something new and then seeing people have a positive emotional response to it is what lights up my life and helps to get through all the shit it throws at me. And considering that my family is mostly completely disinterested in what I create (which has been hurting me more than I can describe since I was a little baby), and my paranoia makes it hard to accept compliments from friends and partners, online feedback has been the best medicine for me. I used to tell myself one day I will get good enough to have some following that would be excited about my art and give me constant feedback in return, because that’s what I always saw happen to other artists. I never aimed to be the most popular or to achieve certain numbers of likes, just being ‘good, on average’ was the ideal for me as long as I’ve had a constant crowd behind. I thought, a lot of musicians of the past don’t really make any more new hit songs, but they still can gather a crowd of long-term fans at a concert, right? Once you make it to some level of popularity you never really go into a complete oblivion, as long as you’re still working your craft and putting it out there? And there have been times in my life where I thought that the moment has finally happened and was now my reality, that my art was finally well enough to climb into ‘popular post’ tiers, and that I have gathered enough audience to have a stable interest in my publications, but it never lasted too long. I understand how social media work, how people change hobbies and fandoms, and how the world around us changes altogether, but recently the ride has been too wild for me to comprehend. Although I have a significant number of followers on all my main social media (tumblr, twitter, IG) (and a lot of those followers are fresh newcomers too), the feedback has just been... all over the place. I understand that I’m dipping into different fandoms here and there (then again, the vast majority of them are extremely popular on their own, so you’d think that should help the situation too?) and I’m experimenting with my art styles, but no matter how hard I try there’s just no consistency. I post something that I’m sure will do well and it does. I post something I’m sure will do well again and it completely flops. I post some scribes for fun and it goes super high. I post another funny thing and there’s no response. One post gets 10k likes, the next one gets 30 likes. Then the next one gets 5k. Then 15. I feel like I have no control over it at all, no understanding. It feels like playing a roulette. Just up to chance every time. It’s the same on all social platforms so I don’t think I could attribute it to algorithms only. How can I ever try to invest time and energy into bigger projects if I can’t even estimate if it has a chance of being any sort of likeable? Is my art just extremely non-consistent on its own and I just don’t notice? What’s going on??? I’m entirely grateful for big numbers but I’d really rather have them spread through most things I post? Of course some publications are going to be more popular than others, it’s perfectly fine, but while 300 likes on some posts and 600 likes on other is understandable, the gaps between 10k+ and less-than-30 are just too extreme? Especially when they happen one after the other? I swear I never see this with other people and it just makes my brain intolerable. For all those of you who have reached the bottom of this rant, thank you! If you have any thoughts to share or similar experiences, please do let me know! My main concern here is how to battle this feeling of am-I-going-insane-or-what, and not the numbers of likes. Finding any way out of this would be good because it has really interfered with my art process lately and I hateeee it!

#big text post

[quibbs126]

For a fan kid request, can you do Dark Choco and Earl Grey?

Here you go, this is Dark Tea Cookie

So fun fact, she has been done for like, at least a month, if not more. The only thing that was stopping me from posting her was that I had no idea what to do for her sketches, but I didn’t want to just do nothing, since I always draw them for others, so she’s been stuck in this limbo for ages. But last night I finally came up with some ideas, and now I can show her

So she’s named after dark tea, which is different from black tea, due to it being fermented or something? I don’t really know. But dark tea is darker than black tea, and in the east, their names translate to “red tea” for black tea, and “black tea” for dark tea, since they’re named for the color of the tea themselves, not the leaves

I dunno, the whole situation is confusing. Just know that it’s because of the whole “Dark” prefix for Dark Choco’s family, and because Earl Grey is tea, and it’s not the same thing as black tea

Dark tea:

So to be honest, I don’t remember much of the design process. I made her hair black because of the tea, and I gave her the streaks because Dark Choco has them, but made them the same color as Earl Grey’s hair

I made her eyes blue because of the whole “I give too many Dark Choco kids red eyes” thing, but I ended up darkening the color because I thought Earl Grey’s eye color was just too light and didn’t look right. I think it looks fine now though

I do remember that I’m pretty sure the bottom of her dress was supposed to resemble a tea cup, since well, she’s made of tea

I think at one point I was planning on basing her design off of Alice from Alice in Wonderland (the original Disney movie one), but after looking at the designs again, it doesn’t seem I went for that route

But all in all, I think her design does look good. I liked drawing it in the sketches I did

Anyways, so let’s get into her as a character

So she lives at Earl Grey’s hotel (hence why her outfit more resembles something from him than Dark Choco)

I’ll admit, I don’t have much on her, or at least whatever I made up of her originally I didn’t write down. But she’s a shy young girl who just sort of lives in the hotel, probably trying to do some of the upkeep in the hotel, or at least as much as she can

But last night I thought, what if I leaned more into the Alice in Wonderland inspiration? And so, I’m considering that she has a story where she ends up in some sort of weird world (perhaps she accidentally gets transported into whatever weird chess dimension Chess Choco seem to have going on, at least in their Trial), and is sort of the normal girl in this place of madness

In the left sketch, she’s supposed to be trying to get the other people to act less…crazy, saying that’s probably not a good idea. My idea is that she’s got a set of morals on her, and she can’t stand injustice, but she’s usually a bit too timid to do anything about it. Maybe this other world is how she learns to be more assertive

Also, she will fight if she absolutely has to (though she’s incredibly nervous about it), though to everyone’s shock, she packs an incredible wallop in her punches. She might not be totally aware of this fact, so she’s just wildly swinging punches hoping she lands a hit, and when she looks she’s taken out an entire crowd or enemies

And honestly, I think that’s about it

*sigh* To be honest, I really feel like I could do better on her character section. The only person she has any notable connection to is Earl Grey, and all she seems to have from Dark Choco is looks and strength, but I have no clue what kind of relationship she has with him, if he’s even there. And that’s not to mention the Chess Choco twins, who would be there as older siblings

I don’t know, I feel like I could do so much more with the proposed family dynamic, especially since I originally put this one up because I was thinking about the potential of this ship. I was going to do it purely because I wanted to, and then someone happened to request it so it’s a win-win. But I feel disappointed that I haven’t tapped the potential of it. Which sucks because I really like her design, but I have no clue how to work her as a character into everyone else

Maybe I’ll do another shot at this ship sometime, but currently I’m just not sure what else to do

Well regardless of all that, I hope you enjoy her

#cookie run #cookie run ovenbreak #dark choco cookie #earl grey cookie #do they have a ship name? #cookie run oc #fankid #fanchild #my ocs #my art #requests #answers #dark tea cookie

[ryuichirou]

Replies

Happy Saturday~ One more or less serious reply + a bunch of silly ones today.

Anonymous asked:

I absolutely love the way you draw everyone in twisted wonderland. I know some out there don’t agree who you ship, but I think otherwise. The way you draw the characters is always amazingly done and I can tell how much you worked on them.

You are an amazing artist so if anyone disagrees then just remember you have some fans out there including me!

Thank you for your support and love, Anon! I always talk about how we didn’t expect anyone at all to enjoy our content, our ships and our thoughts about them, and honestly it still feels bizarre. It’s been a bit more than a year now, and thinking about how anxious we were about posting some of this stuff before is really weird now. So I really can’t stress it enough: hearing your words of support really means a lot. These characters and ships are really dear to us, and as long as we feel passionate about them, we’ll keep posting them <3 I’m very glad you can see our passion for the characters in our drawings! So thank you so much for enjoying the way we see them.

Even though, once again, we don’t expect everyone to like everything that we post. But when people do, it’s very cool.

Anonymous asked:

Idia wouldn’t build a sex machine? Please. He already did; his name is Ortho.

OHHHHHHHHHHH 😭 good point, good point.

The most intense and dangerous sex machine that’s constantly learning new things, what an impressive invention. Shame on you, Idia.

blackbutlerfandomnerddomain asked:

What is your hot take of Lilia and Azul mainly becoming friends to swap tips and talk about their boys' (Malleus and Idia) noises and expressions? Like do you think one would be curious and ask for video evidence or maybe the pair would bang in the same room

On the one hand, I feel like Lilia doesn’t treat Azul seriously enough to consider this (i.e. Azul is way too desperate), plus I’m not sure if Lilia and Malleus’ affair is a secret or not. But on the other hand, Lilia loves talking about his boys way too much, so I can see how Azul could get him talking. You just ask correct questions, and at some point Lilia just starts going “oh yeah that one time Malleus really did this thing…” and spilling way too much information to Azul, possibly the worst person to have this conversation with lol And Lilia would also be very interested in Azul’s stories about Idia, mainly because Idia intrigues him.

I can’t believe this actually could work wow.

But would they bang in the same room? Honestly, Lilia and Azul both are kind of unhinged, so if the starts alignm it could happen. It would be such an amazing networking event for Azul lol but at the same time, Azul and Idia both are way too shy to do something like this~

Anonymous asked:

So like I MOSTLY ship Lilia/Idia for the age gap and dichotomy of it all. A charismatic old man who looks like he's a short, cute kid with a tall scrawny emotional wreck of a teenager is just SO inherently fun all on it's own. It's a blast. But also, I have been thinking about this more seriously lately because my faaavorite thing about sleeping beauty that's almost never carried over to remakes is the dramatic irony with aurora and philip's relationship

A princess who doesn't know she's a princess falls in love with a prince who she doesn't know she's engaged to, but she finds out she's engaged and doesn't even know that she's engaged to him. There's a lot you can do to play around with that in a story, where the audience knows this but the characters don't. It's super fun!!! When all the pieces come together in the end, it's really satisfying too!!!!

I'm always disappointed when remakes cut out the dramatic irony of it all, so in twst, despite nothing like that happening with silver outside of the princess part lol I can see a lot of similarities with Lilia and Idia being online friends who don't know that they actually know each other irl, and I won't spoil it here, but some events that have gone down in book 7 make me really excited to see if there will be more references to aurora and philip's relationship between them. I'm suuuuch a big fan of it I'm PUMPED!!!!!!!!!

First of all! I absolutely agree about what you said about Lilia/Idia’s visual and characteristic contrast (well this isn’t surprising to hear lol): they’re just stupidly fun to look at and watch. The age gap also adds a lot to their dynamic.

Second of all, yeah THE COMPARISON REALLY MAKES A LOT OF SENSE. The fact that Lilia and Idia are so close already without even realising makes this ship so amazingly interesting and sweet and funny and cute and hot and dramatic at the same time!! And while I don’t know what exactly you’re referring to (you already know, we haven’t watched book7 yet), but we’ve been thinking about the main story giving Lilidia a painfully tasty moment for a long time now. Yana Toboso looooves her setups and long games with satisfying payoffs, and she’s definitely been preparing something for these two.

Fun fact: Aurora has been my absolute favourite Disney Princess, and even though we’re yet to rewatch the Sleeping Beauty, your ask really got me excited about it. And about book 7 too..! I’m really looking forward to it.

#replies

[sonicshipbattles]

How to handle Crossover Ships (from now on)?

NOTE: This is a longer post with a poll at the bottom. It will also affect all the tournaments going forward, not just the Knuckles one This has been something that's been on my mind for a while. Crossover ships are harmless fun, but the fact is that I'm not familiar with the source material for most of the ones that get submitted here. Which sometimes leads to backlash when folks point out something I didn't know, like "Hey, this goes against that character's canon sexuality!" or "That character is ___ age!" Now, I know some things can be solved by a quick wiki check, but not all of that information is on hand. As much as I'm loathe to bring it up, with the Mario drama from last time Mario's age isn't listed anywhere on the wikia, which I'd checked before including him, only to be met with people saying "How could you not know he's in his mid-twenties! That's common knowledge!" But the fact is... I didn't know! I haven't played Mario games (not even the Sonic crossover ones) and he wasn't part of my childhood at all. Maybe it is common knowledge, but it wasn't to me Now, obviously that was all solved by some kind people who saw I wasn't trying to be weird about it and linked me to some articles that had information the wikia did not. After that, he was omitted and we carried on. But it would be helpful to know all this stuff before I start setting up the brackets This is where you folks come in. You know the source materials of your crossovers better than I do. While I tend to just do a quick wiki check, you all know the websites and articles to help provide better information This is the long setup to explain why I think how I've been handling crossover ships here needs to change. Here are the options that I can see right now: 1. Allow crossover ships + keep going as we have been - This is where I take submissions on good faith and do a small amount of wiki checking on my own to determine if the ship should be included

2. Allow crossover ships + make a post featuring all of them prior to the bracket so people can say if there are any problems - This is my preferred method. It'll save a lot of time doing them all together at the end of the submissions period in one batch and will mean we can get to the actual brackets quicker. I also find people are more helpful in explaining reasons why something should/shouldn't be included than just voting yes or no on a poll 3. Stop allowing crossover ships - This one kind of sucks, but it would solve the problem. If I was judging this based on just the Sonic and Amy tournaments, I would've leaned more towards this one, since in both of those tournaments crossover ships would get knocked out as soon as they went up against in-universe ships. But the Eggman tournament was the outlier where crossover ships not only did very well, but the whole tournament was won by a crossover ship. Now, I do think that has a lot to do with the appeal of shipping Eggman with other villains that just isn't there with most of the other cast. But even so, everyone deserves a chance. Also, it wouldn't seem fair on crossover fans to cut them out of the fun completely ANYWAY, with that big long post done, here's the poll:

#Poll Notes #knuckles ship battles