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#this year has been good to me i havent drawn this much in YEARS
bmpmp3 · 4 days
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i do think its kinda funny when i see someone in the year of our lord 2024 talk about vocal synth music like its all gone downhill since like 2010 because like dont get me wrong i love a good niconicodouga-ass 2008 ass vocaloid joint BUT also like. the past couple years have had the most fascinatingly creative and expressive uses of vocal synthesizers ive ever heard in my life DJFSKHJDFS dont write it all off just yet!!
#usually i only see that from people who havent actually listened to any vsynth music from the past 15 years so i understand why they got to#that conclusion. and also usually theyre people who didnt listen to much vsynth music in the first place LOL they just dont know#but it is still a little funny. brother there are things beyond your wildest dreams if u just look#like some personal highlights: the stuff by rinri - particularly their use of the meika girlies#dont carry our memories away is LIFECHANGING the whispers. the spoken parts. the BELTS#plus the haunting and unrelenting instrumentation. fantastic song#and naisho no pierced's propose + birthday + gift sort of trilogy of songs. gift especially has been unreal#again the dynamics of soft intimate whispers to belts but also those fuller high notes with edges of growlyness.#plus the songs just generally rock. and those LYRICS. absolutely intense like physically painful and frightening like#yearning and codependency and possession. and the tuning and production just amps it up more#OH and slave.v.v.r has been doing crazy things for even longer but i only started getting into his stuff recently and holy shit#love eater is like. the scariest vocaloid song ive ever heard not because of the lyrics. but because of the tuning#im like. scared. i cant stop listening to it. the heavy synthesized breathy main vocals and whispered harmonies plus the VOCAL FRY#i didnt realized vocaloid5? i think? has a vocal fry option built in i heard? thats crazy#but specifically in love eater the fry and growl is amped up so deep and loud and clear compared to everything else it like#emphasizes the artificiality of the voice while also amping up the expressiveness#its awesome. and on the older slave.v.v.r songs i heard i will hit you 8759632145 times with this piano. also so fucking cool#addicted to that song. 1) its a great jazzy rocky piano tune with this piano flourish at the end of each phrase that sounds fantastic#but also 2) the lyrics are insane. using kanji to write english??????#people are doing wild ass things with vocal synths rn you guys#this isnt even getting into some of the really unique synths themselves too. adachi rei is awesome i love that shes just like#the perfect inbetween of sample based and reconstruction based vocals. shes a sample based synth#but her samples were drawn by hand LOL shes like dectalks granddaughter to me.....#a really good use of adachi rei is iyowa's heat abnormal/heat anomaly/whatever its called ITS AWESOME thats what it is hjrkfdgfd#i think the fact that vocal synths can be so realistic and clean and noiseless out the gate now has made people really stop worrying#about like. realism all together and looking more into expressiveness. omg vocal synth modernist movement
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skinnymeanfaggot · 6 months
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also
#im making huge huge changes in my life and i think the next logical step would be to cut off jamie. ive already been ghosting him but thats#just me avoiding the problem. i just like. it feels fucked to be like hey i told you i was ok with what you did but i Changed my mind#i just think like. i have next to no contact with him and i feel fucking fantastic. we talk like every couple months on the rare occurrence#he can text and then i answer in vague short sentences and ghost. and now that i finally have firm boundaries with him and havent engaged#with him sexually its like. i feel like basically all my ties are cut. and i feel like im ready to let go for the first time. like ive#always felt like i just wasnt ready but now i like i Am ready its just a matter of like. doing it. thats difficult. even though i know hell#accept it because hes matured. and like. idk. i think its fine like this#and idk i think its fine like this. being the absolute barest form of acquaintances. i cannot stress how little we interact and how little#affect he has on my life at this point outside of what happened in the past. like i am in a good place he is 99% cut off i just need to do#the last bit. but like also fuck. you know. its hard to kinda finish it off. and its also like ooh it would hurt his feelings but now i#fucking. dont care lol. after everything. with blue i realize every day just how much more respected i feel and less gross and shitty#even with being jamies friend which we never were because whenever i was single we were sexual. i just felt bad. i never wanted to fuck#either. and he would say he loved me and id be like hahaha yeahhhh and now that ive finally drawn that boundary and said he cant do that#anymore i feel so much lighter and i just feel so happy and safe with blue in a way ive never felt with jamie and its like. im almost there#i feel like i might be able to cut him off by the end of the year. and thats crazy to me. i just also have a lot of like shit to unpack#in general too also. with what he did. and i just have a lot. but i feel like im progressing
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stevie-petey · 6 days
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Hear me out, Steve trying to win over mama Henderson. A blurb of Steve being a major kiss ass in every way possible. He earns quite a few brownie points and learns way too much neighborhood gossip. Just imagine bug coming home to Steve and her mom gossiping on the couch tews in his lap.
steve: i must make everyone like me
hes so real for that
enjoy !
"so, how do we really feel about jonathan?" steve has tews in his lap, so hes careful not to startle the young kitten as he leans in close to mrs henderson to whisper about the boy who has a bean bag dedicated to him in her daughters room.
claudia rests a hand against her chest and sighs deeply. she looks around, as if scared someone will overhear, before she leans over to whisper. "can i be honest?"
"always, mrs. henderson."
"i adore that boy. why, i even had a whole wedding planned for him and my y/n, but... well, youre just so handsome!"
steve gasps and places a hand over his chest as well, deeply happy with how this conversation is turning out. "mrs. henderson, youre a beautiful woman with wonderful children. this, well, its an honor that you think so highly of me."
claudia giggles, and steve winks at her. it's quiet for a few seconds as the two of them enjoy the smile on their faces. tews is purring steves lap and youre not home yet from picking dustin up from jonathans. he hadnt meant to be alone with your mom, claudia insisted he come in when he arrived and shoved a kitten into his arms and now hes here.
gossiping about jonathan byers as claudia henderson gushes over steve.
tews lets out a yawn and stretches lazily on top of steves lap. claudia watches fondly and coos at her cat. "i havent seen tews this comfortable around a stranger!"
"animals like me," steve shrugs. "plus, i think shes just happy i cleaned her litter box."
"i told you that there wasnt any need-"
"i wanted to help, mrs. henderson." steve reassures her for the millionth time. in this instance, he can see how much you resemble your mother. both of you too kind to ask for help.
claudia tauts at steve and shakes her head. she knows what hes doing, she saw jonathan do it for the five years he spent his childhood within her home.
claudia henderson knows what a boy looks like when hes in love with her daughter.
steve goes back to gently petting tews' head and claudia sighs. she knows she shouldnt intervene, but youre her baby girl and steve seems like such a wonderful boy.
the mother smiles softly at the teen sitting across from her. "jonathan is a lovely boy, ive watched him grow up and bring my y/n back to life after everything that happened when she was young, but i havent seen my daughter glow quite as much as she does when shes around you."
claudias eyes never stray from steve. he doesnt look up at her, but she knows hes heard what shes said by the way his breath catches, ever so slightly. she doesnt want to push him, but she can sense that hes a hurt boy who has been drawn in by your endless kindness. taking a breath, she says, "im happy my daughter has you, steve."
steves breath catches again and he coughs, trying to clear his throat of the shock he feels at your mothers words. in his startle, tews jumps out of his lap and returns to claudia, sending him a disgruntled glare as she settles herself into the womans lap.
"yeah, well." steve coughs again, eyes looking everywhere but at claudia. "im happy i have y/n, too."
claudia claps her hands, satisfied with his response. "good! now, dusty tells me your family is rich?"
a loud and unexpected laugh escapes steves mouth and his head spins at his bizarre the situation is. claudia snickers, pleased with herself, and steve once again sees so much of you in the woman. "dusty would be correct."
"even better!"
neither are sure how much time passes, but eventually their conversation transitions from a weird heart to heart to gossip about the neighborhood. before you arrive home, steve learns about the creepy neighbor down the street named dave, about the couple next door who just had a baby named penelope, and about the dog a few blocks down that once chased you when you were younger.
"the dog chased her halfway across hawkins! i swear, its why that girl now likes that insane hobby of hers." claudia huffs, stroking tews' head once more.
"she likes to run?" steve asks, amazed that he still has so much to learn about you.
"who likes to run?" you ask, stepping through the front door with dustin behind you. when you see steve sitting on your couch across from your mother, your shoulders drop. "oh, no. is my mom telling you more embarrassing stories about me?"
dustins shoulder knocks against yours as he walks inside. "did my mom tell you about the time y/n peed the bed last year?"
steves eyes widen and you jump on top of your brother, strangling him. "shut up!"
you wack at your brothers head and manage to bring him to his knees as you wrestle on the ground. dustin screeches and tries to claw you off of him, but youre still slightly bigger (though he keeps growing more and more every day). its a tangle of limbs and screams.
claudia and steve watch from the couch, both of them smiling fondly at the sight of the two siblings strangling one another.
"precious kids, mrs. henderson." the teen winks again at claudia, and she laughs.
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flamie-42 · 4 months
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Soukoku’s New Year
A little present from me since I havent updated my fics in a little bit, sorry :(
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It’s New Year’s Eve, Chuuya gets a mysterious text from his old partner.
Mackerel: come to our place at the port
It’s late and Chuuya is already 2 glasses deep into his celebratory end of year wine he had been saving.
But it’s Dazai and so he begrudgingly puts on his jacket and a scarf. The sound of his motorcycle carries him down the streets until he reaches a warehouse at the end of the docs.
He climbes onto the roof and there he finds his (ex) partner sitting at the peak of the roof. Without saying a word he sits down next to the taller man.
You actually came
He has a tired smile on his face as he looks off into the black abyss of the ocean.
Of course I did
It was the same response he always gave when he got texts like this one.
Why did you text
His tone was standoffish as usual but he proceeded to flop down beside Dazai on the metal roof.
I wanted to see my Chibi! It’s been a while
He was cheerful but Chuuya could see the sadness in his eyes as he spouted his usual nonsense
Yeah I’m sure, what’s the real reason
He had placed his hand on Dazai’s to force the man to look at him instead of avoiding his line of sight. Dazai’s well manicured facade fell as he did so and a more melancholy look appeared on his features
The rest of the agency is throwing a party but….
It seemed as though that thought would go farther but instead he changed his tune and switched topics
Remember our first New Years? I dragged you down here to watch the fireworks and you wouldn’t shut up about how much you hated me?
Chuuya laughed to himself, It had been a long seven years since that date and so much had changed. As he though about all of the previous years a warm body slumped against his shoulder and he could feel Dazai's hair against his neck.
Yeah you made me stay until the fireworks went off and then tried to convince me to kiss you for "good luck in the new year"
He felt a warm laugh from the man lounging on his shoulder at that comment. He pulled a cigarette out of his pocket and searched for a lighter he knew was stored in his jacket. Not finding it he huffed and motioned to Dazai. Seconds later a small flame bloomed between their huddled form and Chuuya used it to ignite the stick set between his fingers.
What if that's what I'm trying to do this year?
Dazai's muffled voice filtered up to him as he blew a puff of smoke into the darkness. Chuuya looked down to try and see if the bastard was joking or not only to be met with his unruly mop of hair blocking his face as he leaned on Chuuya's shoulder. Without seeing his old partner's face he was unable to know the real intention so he merely scoffed and took another drag of the cigarette in his hand.
mhm sure Dazai
It was the only practical response to make and it seemed to satiate Dazai as Chuuya's attention was drawn away to the sparks of color that began to paint the night sky. A loud boom echoed through the quiet port and Chuuya remembered why they always used to watch the fireworks from this spot. It almost felt as though you were right in front of the bursts as they erupted over the quiet port. He hardly noticed the absence of the weight that had just previously been attached to his shoulder until he felt a hand turn his face to the side.
Dazai was now staring right into his eyes and if Chuuya didn't know better he would have thought there was a slight blush across his cheeks. He leaned in closer until their lips fell together in a much too short kiss. As Dazai pulled back Chuuya was sure that there was a blush adorning his cheeks. As quickly as it had happened Dazai had turned away to look out at the fireworks again.
Chuuya shook his head and decided to ignore what he was sure was a goofy grin on his face. He flicked the stub of the cigarette away and pulled Dazai's face back towards him.
Come back here, Mackerel. I need some more luck
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kaihuntrr · 7 days
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one-year anniversary!
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HI. oh my goodness can you believe its been a WHOLE YEAR (and a day, im posting this a day later OOPS-) since i started working on this au? i dont think i started working on the chapters until... the -ber months? but the general brainstorming started now and oh my GOD the amount of changes that has happened while working on this au is insane! im absolutely floored with how much people enjoy this au, and while im too busy to be posting art (im doing some personal work!) i have all the time in the world to talk about how much this means to me.
i've written things in the past, but i havent for the LIFE of me worked on such a long project such as this (we're only halfway through act one of FIVE!) and learning and growing with such wonderful betas and partner (ehehe @mewhoismyself hello there) is just so wonderful <3
SO! in order to make this anniversary special, i've decided to post a little cut/practice scene from act two! this couldnt make the cut with what the plot has in mind, but i figured itd be best to have some nice moments with scott and martyn, eh?
OH! and before i go, the next chapter will be posted a day earlier! <3 im going abroad the day after the original chapter posting date, so i need to rest. i think this back half of the fic is gonna be really something <3
anyway, i wont keep you here for longer. i hope you have a fun time reading this, just as much as my partner and i had fun writing this so many months ago <33
Martyn tried to listen as Scott rambled on about what he’d been up to, how nice it had been to see his friends again. He even tried to let the small twist of jealousy at Scott being so happy over seeing someone else wrench his attention back into the moment, but it didn’t work. The face of Pearl kept flashing in the forefront of his mind, her eyes and jagged scar glowing unnaturally under the moonlight. 
“Oh, and…,” Scott continued to ramble on, but Martyn still couldn’t focus. It seemed that Scott had noticed as his voice trailed off and he looked at the blonde with a tilted head. “Martyn…?”
Martyn gave a grumbled response. His mind blocked out the world around him as he pictured brief flashes of the island, the hollow and desolate stares of the people, the wicked laugh coming from Pearl….
Scott sighed. “Martyn….”
Martyn could still feel a slight buzz in his head from where he was hit. How much blood did he lose back there? He didn’t know. All he knew was that he was glad to be alive. Glad that he was here, still breathing, like everyone else. Glad that he was–
“Martyn!”
Martyn jerked as Scott’s face was suddenly inches from his own. Scott’s lips were twisted into a pout and his eyebrows were drawn into a scowl. “Huh- sorry, what?”
Scott sighed, letting his head fall forward, “So you weren’t listening to me….”
“No!” Martyn said quickly, throwing his hands up. Panic leapt in his chest, making his heart beat faster. He didn’t want Scott to think he was ignoring him…! “No, I- I’m… I’m sorry…,” he hung his head. “I’m trying to listen- I’m not meaning to ignore you, I just….” Martyn looked down at the sand beneath him. Guilt welled up in his throat. He’d been so eager to see Scott while he was away, and before he’d gotten back, and now that he was actually here… Martyn was ignoring him. He was making Scott feel ignored.
Martyn shook his head, forcing a huge smile onto his face. “So, you said you saw your friends, right? Did you have fun-? Oh, what am I saying, you just said you had fun- haha…,” Martyn scrubbed the back of his head, then straightened up, rolling to his feet. “Hey, do you wanna go see if we can find your bird friend? I bet it’s missed you too!” He pointed towards a path leading up to the forest, “Bet he lives in there somewhere…!”
“Um- Martyn…,” Scott trailed off looking after him.
Martyn took a few steps backwards, away from Scott, and spread his arms, hoping he’d follow. “Or we can go down to the beach! It’s a nice day, it’ll feel great to splash in the water a little.”
“Martyn.”
“Or- oh, we can go see the decorations they’re setting up for the festival down in the center of town. You said you were excited right, so we can-!”
“Martyn!” Scott snapped. 
Martyn stopped.
Scott took the few steps to close the distance between them, laying his hand on Martyn’s arm, then sliding it down to take his hand. He tilted his head, giving Martyn big sad eyes. “Martyn, talk to me…. What’s wrong?”
It was hard for Martyn to not crack under Scott’s gaze. “It’s just…,” he trailed off, trying to put his thoughts into words. He was just engrossed in them a second ago, but now, trying to tell Scott, he couldn’t think of what to say. “I… uh….”
“You’re alright, Martyn,” Scott rubbed his thumb over Martyn’s hand in a small, circular motion. “Take your time.”
A small pause fell over him. Martyn could hear the slow ebbs of the waves before he managed to speak. “I can’t get her out of my mind,” his voice spat with venom. Pearl’s sadistic glee, her manic grin, her ever-looming presence burned in his head. Martyn’s grip unknowingly tightened around Scott until he looked the other in the eye. His grip on Scott lessened as he looked away. “What good can I be to protect you, when I can’t defend myself from one person?”
“Who said I needed protecting?” Scott raised an eyebrow, his tone still soft but with a hint of skepticism as he leaned to the side to catch Martyn’s gaze again. He let out a weak chuckle and moved his other hand to rest on Martyn’s cheek. “Besides, you can’t protect me from everything.”
Martyn leaned into the touch, not caring how warm his cheeks felt as Scott’s delicate hand pressed into his skin, lightly grazing over the scar Pearl caused. He closed his eyes as he let out a sigh and drooped his shoulders. “But I want to…,” he muttered. He looked at Scott, his face scrunched with worry. “I don’t want you getting hurt at all, Scott.”
“There’s going to be times where I get hurt, Martyn,” Scott narrowed his eyes and withdrew his hand from Martyn’s cheek. Martyn was wide-eyed, only for Scott to hold the hunter’s other hand. “When that happens, all I’d ask is for you to help me get back on my feet.”
Martyn could feel his nerves freeze up at Scott’s warm hold. His gentle stare and concern on his face nearly caused Martyn’s heart to explode. A million things swirled in his mind as the breeze wafted over. “I can’t help it,” he lowered his head, biting his lip. “You should be protected, with all the chaos going around–”
“What chaos?” Scott cracked a smile and shook his head. He shrugged, letting go of one of Martyn’s hands as he gestured around. “All there is to see is you, me, and the beach. Nothing to worry about, right?”
Nothing to worry about for now, but so many things could happen in the blink of an eye. Martyn could practically hear the sound of the sea princes’ ringing in his ears, the one from his dreams laughing as its mouth opened wide to swallow Scott as he screamed-.... 
No. Martyn needed to be prepared for anything, so nothing bad could ever happen to the people he cared for. Nothing. Never again. 
“I still want to fight for you,” his voice was barely a whisper in the wind, cracking a bit from the emotions that crawled up the back of his throat. But seeing Scott’s attentive look, with the slight tilt of his head, Martyn knew he could hear him. “Can I at least do that?” he pleaded. He needed to-. He needed to. 
“You may,” Scott nodded, giving him a small smile. Then his eyes narrowed as a smirk crept onto his lips. “So- I’d like to see how you fight.”
Martyn opened his mouth to respond- just in time for a woosh of breath to leave him as his back hit the ground. Martyn gasped, blinking for several seconds as he tried to figure out he’d gotten laid flat out on his back… with a certain ginger pinning his shoulders to the sand.
“Yikes…,” Scott teased, his eyebrows rising, complimenting the wide grin on his face.
Martyn sputtered, his face immediately flushing beat red. “I wasn’t ready! Sneak- sneak attack…!”
Scott laid one arm across his chest, propping his other elbow on top of it and laying his cheek in his hand. “Most things will take an opportunity for a sneak attack, when presented with one.” He kicked his feet in the air, as if he was lounging on a couch reading a book. 
Martyn flushed all the way to his ears. “Redo!”
Scott leaned his head down, smiling at Martyn in a way that was almost sickeningly sweet. “Are you waiting for a written invitation?” 
Martyn grabbed Scott by the shoulders and surged upwards, knocking the ginger off of him. Scott laughed as he slipped his grip, ducking under one of Martyn’s arms to wrap his arms around Martyn’s torso. 
Before Martyn’s brain could fully process that, Scott had rolled Martyn over top of him and planted him flat on his back again. 
Working on instinct more than pre-thought, Martyn wrapped his arms around Scott’s shoulders and kicked off the sand. He knocked his thigh against Scott’s hip, bumping him off balance just enough to send them rolling over again.
But Scott didn’t end up on his back underneath Martyn. 
Somehow, mid flip, he’d slithered around Martyn’s torso, ducking his arm again and getting outside of his hold. Martyn ended up with his face in the sand and a knee pressed between his shoulders, shoving him down further.
Martyn was about to push himself up with his arms, using his strength advantage to throw Scott off of him, but Martyn froze when he felt something sharp curl around his throat. 
He couldn’t move. He couldn’t even swallow. He could barely even breathe. 
Suddenly the sharp points of crescent bladed scythes were touched against his neck so delicately. Suddenly the sharp claws of a hungry beast wrapped around his throat, pricking the skin above his jugular. One wrong move and she’d slid his throat. One wrong breath and the beast would tear him to ribbons.
A figure above him bent down to whisper in his ear. 
“I win!” Scott chirped brightly. He laughed as he withdrew his fingernails from where he’d curled them around Martyn’s throat. “You really do need more practice. Though I’d be happy to oblige…,” his voice turned sing-songy as he plopped back on the sand, his arms holding him up.
Martyn slowly pushed himself upwards, staring down at the sand where his face had been in utter bafflement. Why had that felt-? Why was he-? Why was his heart beating so fast? Why… did he feel like he’d just been hunted…?
“That- that uh…,” Martyn stammered, not really sure what he wanted to say. “You’re a lot better fighter than I thought you’d be.” He turned his head to look at Scott, pushing himself up so he was sitting on his knees.
“I know,” Scott smiled widely, tipping his head back and forth, “Do I impress you, Martyn?” He smiled and hummed teasingly, his eyes narrowed in a joyful satisfaction. 
“Always,” he breathed, a lot more genuine and heartfelt than he’d meant to. Scott’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. Martyn felt his face flush and he looked down at the sand. Well, he was in this far. “I think you’re amazing.” 
“Thank you…,” Scott said with a shy little smile. A light hint of red dusted his cheeks. He looked… really nice like that.
Martyn shook his head, roughly clearing his throat. “Well um, as- as fun as this was… I was actually referring to- to my gun combat more than my hand-to-hand.”
“Uh huh,” Scott answered with a small smirk, not sounding like he believed him. “Well, maybe I could help you with that as well.” 
“You know how to use a gun?” Martyn asked, more than a little shocked. How… how much did he really know about Scott?
Scott opened his mouth, then closed it. He looked to the side, then looked back at Martyn. “Noooo…?” he admitted, grinning sheepishly. He sighed, rolling his eyes a bit, “To be honest I thought you were still flirting, not that that was a serious question. And now, well… I’m just embarrassed.”
“Oh.” Martyn tried to hide his sigh of relief. It was one thing to just not know that Scott was a capable fighter -he was a tavern keeper who dealt with rowdy drunks all the time, Martyn honestly should have expected it- but it was another thing to not know that Scott was a trained gunman. For some reason they felt different. Martyn felt a grin split his face. “Would-... would you like me to teach you…?”
“Teach me what?” Scott’s eyebrows pinched together for a brief moment, then shot up towards his hairline, “How to use a gun?”
“Yeah,” Martyn grinned, “It’ll be like the time I was taught!”
“When were you taught?” Scott tilted his head.
“I think I was… seven? My parents knew I wanted to be a hunter, so they taught me,” Martyn hummed, looking out at the beach. He could remember the eagerness in his voice when he asked his parents to teach him. He only knew of the dangers through them and the people he lived around, but he knew his heart was calling out to the sea more than anything else.  “I needed practice, like everyone else, but I’m a natural. A crack shot, they’d told me!” He laughed. Shooting a target from far away was much easier than fighting with swords or his bare hands. 
Scott blinked, processing Martyn’s words. He slowly turned his head to Martyn, eyes widening in shock as all sense of his playfulness dropped. “You were a child when you learned how to use those?”
“Yeah…? I wanted to be a hunter, Scott, so I learned early.” Martyn looked at Scott and shrugged, feeling the ginger’s gaze on his skin felt… different. Martyn learned how to use guns to be a hunter, not to– oh. Was Scott thinking Martyn would…? Martyn shook his head and raised his hands up. “But I can’t shoot a person. A sea monster is easy because they’re big and stupid, but a person…?”
Scott had a judgemental look on his face as it scrunched up. He pulled his legs up and wrapped his arms around them, resting his head on it as he sighed. “Ending a person’s life is hard, and I’m happy you haven’t shot anyone, but…,” he trailed off. Martyn leaned closer to Scott as he raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you think it’s a little concerning?”
“What’s concerning?”
“You learned how to shoot things, how to kill things, as a kid,” Scott looked away, gripping his arms tighter as he watched the waves flow in and out. “Every life has a purpose; from you, to me, and even the beasts in the ocean.”
Martyn narrowed his eyes. Exactly what purpose could those monsters serve? Being ocean terrors? An effective way to kill humans and destroy ships? To bring fear in the hearts of children? To kill Ren- Jimmy? Why were there monsters in the ocean? Why should there be? 
“They’re monsters, Scott.” Martyn hissed, anger rising in his voice.
“They’re animals,” Scott hissed back, his face pinching into an expression that was almost pained. “They’re just animals….” 
“They’re heartless, cruel, and always starving.” Martyn huffed, pulling out his gun to examine it under the sunlight. Horrible beasts. Disgusting monsters. Murderers. “They’re such horrible, unnatural beasts that every mechanic in the world works to develop better guns and weapons to kill them all.” 
He didn’t fully notice the way Scott shied away from the gun in his hand. “You’re lucky you don’t need to leave the kingdom to see those ugly things,” Martyn spat.
“Ugly…,” Scott grumbled, turning his head away, like he was offended by the notion. “Well, I’m sure most of them would think the same about you.”
Martyn blinked, giving Scott a double take. Ugly…? 
Scott let out a sigh as he stretched and uncurled his legs and arms to stretch out in front of him. He picked up a small handful of sand and watched it fall through his fingers. “Every life is precious, every life is running on limited time. I’m not an idiot. I know things die. But there’s no reason to cut it shorter than it needs to be. ” He smiled wistfully, tossing the rest of the sand forward. “The sea is… scary, but maybe if you had an open mind, you’d see there’s more to it than monsters.”
Martyn followed Scott’s gaze and stared. Was there anything more to them? Surely not. The fondness in Scott’s voice was hard to believe- but the man has never even seen any beast to Martyn’s knowledge. The fond tone that Scott spoke about those- those monsters with… it honestly made Martyn angry. Those monsters took away the people he cared about. The people he loved. People he cherished. Jimmy, Ren… and so many other innocent people lost their lives to the sea, Lizzie’s parents…. The ocean took all of them, and there was nothing to blame but the monsters that infested it.
“They’re monsters, nothing more than that,” he spat, emotions in his chest wrenching into a tight knot that made it hard to breathe. He swung his arm out to the side, bringing his gun up in front of his chest as he rose to his knees, almost looming over Scott. “I know what they are, Scott, and I know I’m doing all that I can to protect you and the rest of the kingdom from the beasts that would just as quickly swallow you whole as they would crush you into pieces!”
“There’s no need for you to be so hostile about it,” Scott snapped at Martyn, his eyes narrowing into a cold glare that felt like icy daggers stabbing into Martyn’s face. Scott stood up and brushed all the sand from his clothes with a sigh. “I understand.” He walked closer to the water, just enough for the waves to lap against his shoes and tightened his fist, as if preventing to lash out.
Martyn blinked. “Was I-?” he muttered to himself. 
He looked out at Scott standing in the surf. He looked… sad. The guilty feeling in his chest built up once more. 
All of a sudden, Martyn remembered just how happy Scott looked with his birds fluttering around him, with the canary nuzzling his palm. Oh-. Scott was an animal lover…. No wonder he-.
Martyn was messing everything up. First he’d ignored him, and he was pushing Scott away by getting angry. Martyn quickly stood up and ran across the beach towards Scott, “Oh, Scott, I’m sorry–”
Scott turned to look at him, a flat expression on his face.
Martyn felt his heart twist, “I- I’m sorry. I- I didn’t mean to make you feel….”
“Upset?” Scott supplied.
“Yeah…,” Martyn bowed his head. His hand twitched out, reaching for Scott’s but giving up and retreating before he could take it. Martyn turned his head away and bit his lip. “I-... I made you-....”
Scott stepped closer and held out his hand. “No need for that, silly hunter,” he smiled sweetly. Martyn took it almost immediately, surprising them both. Scott let out a chuckle and bumped his shoulder next to Martyn’s. “I’m not mad,” Scott said softly. Martyn believed him. He looked… sad instead. 
“I don’t want you to���”
“You’re just fine.” Scott assured him with a smirk. “It takes a lot more than a simple disagreement to make me actually upset. We’re okay, right?” 
Martyn bashfully nodded, resulting in a wide smile from Scott. Was he… really okay? Or was he just hiding how he felt? For Martyn’s sake? Martyn hoped it was the former. 
Scott put a hand on his chest, giving Martyn’s hand a small squeeze. “Just… try to keep an open mind, alright? The world can be… stranger than you might think.” He smiled a little bashfully, “I might have- a surprise or two… to share, eventually.”
“Like how you can kick my butt in hand to hand?”
Scott’s face split into a wide grin, his eyes lighting up with laughter. “Just like that.”
Martyn felt himself smiling, a laugh escaping him as he squeezed Scott’s hand. Yeah, they were okay.
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nitewrighter · 2 years
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prompt request: weve seen cindy interact with the prince, with the queen and even had a few scenes of her and brad talking, but besides the lobby scene and the narration scene of wedding planning we havent actually seen the king and cindy interact. id love a fic of these two talking and getting to know one another!
You know, I was working on a fic for the Fairy Godmother but for some reason this one came to me much faster!
Also if you’re interested in my whole Cinderella re-telling you can find the masterpost here! I’ll probably be uploading the king and queen ficlets on there as well, soon.
Anyway CW for animal death and blood. 
--- 
So it had been about a year and a half since the stepmother passed. And like, Cindy liked to think she was pretty settled in at the palace--hell, scratch that, she really worked out a flow of things. It's kind of one of those situations where like, you're comfortable, but it's also like, "This is great. I'm going to get a good grade in Princess Consort." But this was about the time when like, just when you're getting used to something, someone throws you a curveball.
Now, because they didn't have zoom or skype or tv or anything back then, sometimes it was necessary for a ruler to make a tour--partially to connect with local and foreign leaders to maintain control and diplomacy, and partially make themselves known to the public like "Hi, hello, you have a government." So anyway, that's how Cindy, found herself sitting sidesaddle on horseback in some craggy forested mountains, repeatedly feeling at the one hunting dagger the queen’s kinsmen had given her belted to her hip, hearing hounds bay in the distance, and feeling completely out of her depth even with her Emotional Support Travel Rat.
"You're sure we don't have to kill anything?" she glanced over at the king next to her.
"Mm?" the king was looking at a particularly impressive woodpecker through a pair of binoculars.
"I said, 'You're sure we don't have to kill anything?'" said Cindy.
“No, Highness,” Brad spoke up from his own destrier next to her and Cindy eased up a little, though Brad seemed as tensed as ever. There had been a very long, drawn-out argument over whether Brad would go along with the Queen and Prince or stay behind with the King and Cindy, each side insisting the other needed his protection more, until one of the Queen’s old kinsman swung an arm around the prince and loudly proclaimed he would look after the heir of his most beloved general. It was clear now that, given the quietness of Cindy and the King’s own situation, that Brad thought he really really should be on the hunt with the Queen and Prince, but there wasn’t much he could do about it now, since he didn’t know where the hunting party was.
The king lowered his binoculars to look at Cindy. "I used to think I had to--you know, 'Manly King' and all that, but it turns out the nobility around here mostly use these trips for day-drinking and letting the hounds run themselves out," he looked through his binoculars again, only to find that the woodpecker had flown off. He lowered the binoculars again, "And I've been assured the whole, 'quiet contemplation of nature while extolling the healthful benefits of mountain air' is quite fashionable these days. "
"It is beautiful out here," Cindy pivoted her horse slightly to look out at the mountain vista through the trees. The air had a damp, heavy feel, that was not altogether unpleasant when contrasted with the warmth one built up from riding, “It’s strange, when the Queen spoke of her homeland... she always made it sound like--I mean---that is to say---”
“...’flaming death pit?’” The king offers her a reassuring smile, “She undersells how much good she and her allies really did here. Though... in fairness it has been a while since we’ve all been back. Much of these woods really were burned when I first came here.” He made a sound that was half huff, half chuckle before he swung off his horse, pushing his hips out and to the side to relieve the stiffness of riding so long. “There I was, carriage bumping along with all these... blackened skeletons of trees all around me, and just when I’m thinking, ‘Hm. Well this is all very concerning.’ Bam. The majority of my guard slaughtered and then I’m clubbed over the head.”
Cindy’s lips thinned and her fingers tightened on her horse’s reins, and her Emotional Support Travel Rat balled up on her shoulder.
“Your Majesty...” Brad started.
“Right, not very appropriate, is it?” the King mused before glancing back at Cindy, “I’m sorry--That’s terribly grisly subject matter for such a lovely day out.”
“N-no, it’s...fine,” Cindy stammered, “You and Her Majesty always talk about it like it’s some... great adventure... I just... wish I could be as strong.”
The king stared at her for about half a second too long then before glancing down and saying, “...we’ve gotten very good at talking about it like it was some great adventure.” He ambled down the path a few paces, not looking at her. “The sad truth is... a lot of the time--more than we think-- we don’t have control over the things that change us. All that we can control is who we want to be in the face of that. I’d wager you probably know a thing or two about that.”
Cindy smiled a wan smile. “I hope so. It’s gotten better,” she gave a glance to the rat on her shoulder and let it sniff and nuzzle at her finger, “I think I’ve gotten a much better idea of what I want to do--it seems the hardest part is convincing people I know what I want and what I’m doing... maybe convincing myself, most of all.”
“Well... when you’re king...” he went on, “You’re afforded--forced, is more like it--a certain perspective on things. You’re constantly forced to think about things on.. on this grand scale, you can’t assume the basic reasonableness of individuals--you have to think in terms of, ‘What’s the stupidest conclusion a lot of people will jump to and immediately act on’ and mad questions like that. But when you’re observing people on that kind of scale, it almost becomes like observing a landscape--you see a lot of stupid things, certainly, but you never stop being amazed by people’s capacity for healing, for resilience,” he plucked up a small wood anemone and walked back to her, “For growth. And you learn to find that in yourself.” He held the small blossom up to her. Cindy took it, smiling, and tucked it behind one ear as her Emotional Support Travel Rat gave it a few curious sniffs.
There was the bellow of a loud horn and all three of them glanced up.
“There--see?” the King glanced at Brad, “I told you they had it handled.”
In the next quarter of the hour, the queen, her kinsmen, and the prince reunited with the king, Brad, and Cindy. The queen was spattered in no small amount of blood and was carrying the body of a massive boar on her shoulders. Behind her, also spattered in blood, and looking significantly more shaken, was the prince. The queen dumped the boar’s body on the forest floor with a satisfied, “Grah!” of an exhale. 
“Ah, the mighty huntress! I was just saying to Brad--” the king started before the queen suddenly took him up in her arms, dipped him, and kissed him long and hard enough that the entire hunting party awkwardly glanced off before she brought him upright.
 “Hah!” she made that satisfied exhale noise again and gave the king a hearty, audible slap on the ass. “I needed that!” 
“R-right...” the king stammered, adjusting his glasses. 
“Oh you should have seen your son, darling!” the queen practically whirled the king up off his feet in a spiraling dervish, “He was brilliant! We got five musket balls in the beast! Two on one side and three on the other and it kept charging towards us! But then Chazz started hollering and weaving and flailing his arms about and running around in the thickets--led it on the wildest goose chase you ever saw--gave me the perfect opportunity to climb up to the tree limbs above and plunge down onto it with a spear.” She glanced back at her kinsmen, “And that’s why you always bring spears!” She ruffled the prince’s hair, which didn’t seem to snap him out of his daze, “My clever boy!”
Cindy rushed to the prince in a heartbeat, taking him up in her arms, and he was deliriously and aimlessly spouting out the words, “Yes. Planned. Definitely planned that. All part of the plan.” Cindy kissed him on the cheek, smearing some blood on her own face in the process but apparently unaffected about it despite her previous nervousness. He blinked a few times and stared at her a couple seconds. “What happened--?” she kissed him on the jaw this time. “Am I not dead?”
“No, it would seem you did very well,” Cindy smiled, taking a kerchief out of one of her dress pockets and dabbing at his face slightly with it.
“Oh,” he said dumbly and then after a long beat he said, “I would very much like a bath.”
And so the hunting party strapped the felled boar to the back of the queen’s horse and departed from the woods for the lodge of the Queen’s kinsmen.
“Princess,” Brad spoke up from his horse.
“Mm?” Cindy glanced at him.
“You’ve got a little--” Brad gestured at his mouth and chin. 
“Oh!” Cindy wiped away boar’s blood from her face with her kerchief, “Thank you, Captain.”
A long pause passed between them. Brad glanced back at the prince, who was staring blankly into the middle distance from his horse before looking back at Cindy.
“The blood doesn’t frighten you?” Brad said at last.
“Not really,” Cindy shrugged, “My stepfamily couldn’t stand the butcher in our village, so they usually made me get any meat from him. His wife made some wonderful black pudding.” 
“It’s just, earlier you seemed very concerned about killing---”
“Oh, well I know where meat comes from. I just imagine hunting is very time-sensitive, and I would hate if everyone were hunting, and then suddenly it was up to me, but then at the worst possible moment I would--” she mimicked herself stiffening up in her saddle with a stunned look on her face, “And I would let everyone down. You know?” 
“I... think so...?” Brad said slowly. 
Cindy leaned a little closer to Brad in her saddle and lowered her voice slightly, “You don’t think it would be too presumptuous to ask to be in the kitchens when they’re prepping it, do you? I’ve been wanting to see how they season things here since we first arrived” she suddenly perked up, “Oh! Do you think they’ll let me use the sausage grinder?” 
“I’m sure we can ask, highness,” said Brad, somehow feeling just as worn out by this conversation as if he had actually been on the hunt.
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sorryevie · 1 year
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Under the Moonlight 🌙
Little note frm me♥️:
Yayy im back after like 2 years or smth... i havent rlly drawn much fanart over those yrs bcs ive been super busy :') it has been getting better ofc! also i js rewatched the sequel trilogy n my obsession of fictional characters has finally come back !!! n now im obsessed w Damerey. so hope you guys enjoy and lmk what ud like to see frm me !! super open to suggestions:) (n recommend good damerey fics pls)
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forlorn-crows · 2 months
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Just wanted to say I absolutely LOVE Lady of the Lake and I've reread it so many times that I should be lowkey ashamed haha BUT
I'm also very curious about Nyneve's interactions with other ghouls like Delta or Dew. How did Dew find her?
You can absolutely take this as an opportunity to ramble about it if you want :)
okay so. i admit that technically the ghoul i call Water in my fic i guess is Delta? im terribly bad at tracking who's who in the water ghoul 'lore'. but Terzo called his bass player before Mist 'Water' so thats what i went with. so please call him whatever you'd like lmao.
for anyone who needs a refresher, this is sort of all i've established about Nyneve's past interactions w/ghouls or otherwise:
Uh, how long has it been? Since you’ve met a ghoul, I mean. Rain isn’t sure what to do with himself—what to do with his hands, his limbs, any of it. He dangles in front of her like a worm on a lure, and he supposes he is one, in a way. A slice of life outside the murky waters she inhabits. But he knows he’d be her catch of the day, not the other way around. 
Many years, Nyvene says wistfully. I can sense those who venture into the water at any depth, as well as those close to the shore. But the ones who seem most closely aligned to you have never traveled as far as yourself. They were surface dwellers. Rain gives her a confused look. Not all are drawn to the depths, and that is perfectly fine for a being such as myself. But I did begin to wonder who would come next.
Dew had been telling the truth, then. Who was before me?
His name was simply Water. He was quite robust in his search, perhaps a little impatient. But he was kind to me. So I cannot fault him too much. She seems wistful, reminiscent. Rain realizes he doesn’t know much about the water ghouls before him and Dewdrop, let alone any of the ghouls that came before their current pack. 
How many before him?
Many, she says simply.
Rain swallows, more bubbles escaping his gills. How, uh—how old are you, exactly?
Hm, age is a funny thing. That can’t be good. I have existed for a long time, longer than your congregation. 
So, we didn’t, um, create you?
No, my child. Though, the dark magick running more frequently through these lands has been . . . refreshing, to put it simply.
You’ve always been here? In this lake, I mean. 
Well, as long as I can remember, yes. She chuckles.
so, you'll notice, and as a gentle reminder, Dew and Mist did not interact with her. to me, they are not a deep-water alignment as Rain is. that's not to say Dew never meets her. because he does. but he didn't interact with her prior to Rain.
i think water ghouls, and ghouls/demons in general, have more specified alignments within the elements they are 'made' of/from. just water itself can be saltwater, freshwater, deep sea, rivers/streams, storms, ice, and things of the like.
so not all of them will have desired to go to the bottom of the lake (i think its pretty deep, think some of the deeper american great lakes depth despite its overall size). the elder ghouls may have passed down the knowledge about her, and some, like Water i think, dont. maybe theyre a little selfish about her, feel like theyve been 'chosen' and that everyone else should have to discover her too. with Water (again, Delta, w/e), it was turbulent with the new summonings, the changing of ghouls and even elements. there simply wasnt time to be like 'oh yeah also theres a big tentacle lady in the lake if you want to have a fun time' you know? not his fault.
so Nyneve's def had a relationship with many a ghoul, but it hasnt been linear. it hasnt all been water ghouls either, but i think the interaction of other elements has come and gone throughout time. i havent decided if any of the 'more recent' ghouls beyond the others mentioned have met her, or just know of her.
certainly there'd be urban legends passed around amongst humans that live in the surrounding areas, so they may have heard about something in passing. esp if any of those humans happened to become siblings of the church. but humans that do know of her have never truly known who she is, and mainly just call her varelse, creature. a monster.
the poem at the end you may have noticed uses her real name, Nyneve. so we can assume someone more personally familiar with her wrote it. scribbled it in some tome somewhere about local myths and legends, or historical drafts about the abbey itself.
she's very mysterious and not even i know everything about her, haha! dark magick gone rougue, some creature that crawled up from the depths, or something created by some long forgotten god.
all this to say, Rain had to introduce Dew to Nyneve. once he got over the fact that he'd have to tell everyone else about her, considering hed come home with sucker marks all over with no real logical explanation. i think Mountain is the first one he tells, but Dew is the first one he introduces.
i really appreciate that you enjoy LOTL so much; apologies for taking a little bit to answer this, but thanks for stopping by xx
if you havent already read about Nyneve and Rain, and this sparks your interest, you can do so here:
⋆。˚🪼🫧˚。⋆。˚🪼🫧˚。⋆。˚🪼🫧˚。⋆。˚🪼🫧˚。⋆。˚🪼🫧˚。⋆。˚🪼🫧˚。⋆。˚🪼⋆
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a-very-tired-raven · 9 months
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Okay, since ive been getting a lot of love for my ary lately, id like to give you guys some top ary blogs ive followed for years, that i feel they dont get enough love.
Keep in mind that these are not in order from best to least, just in numbered order to make things easy.
(Another thing! While i may have found the majority of these blogs from undertale content, i need you to understand that a lot of these either dont do undertale art as frequently as they used to, or not at all. So please dont go in expecting that these are all undertale blogs based on MY intrests. Thank you.)
1. @springbon-t-art /@thecoolerspringbon-t has WONDERFUL roundhouse like style, and her fanart and characters range from all over(cuphead and bendy and the ink machine are just two examples, she has so much more unrecognized works and animatics on youtube that i think deserves much more love)
2. @twitchydoodle i havent visted this wonderful blog in a while, but i have followed for a good time(lets just say for a few years lol) so i cant say for sure what art is posted there at this moment, HOWEVER, i CAN say that twitchy has a Breathtaking art style, and has some of the most interesting and fleshed out ocs!!! Definitely check em out!
3. @calcium-cat i know cals been gettin a little bit more attention over the last year or so, but i still think she deserves much more recognition for her art. She has wonderful and thought out fanfics, not to mention the funny and well drawn fanart she posts for them!
4. @glitchysquidd I dont pop in as often as i used to, but glitchy's blog is one ive looked up to for a while. Here you can find very well written fnaf fics and fanart, chill energ(not to mention hilarious shenanigans),and a very unique and distinct artstyle.(seriously broski ive used your art for reference so many time 😭🤚🏽-). I suggest you guys head down to the basement and enjoy the tour.
5. @meatygutsy oh gee where do i even start- this blog has some of the most unique and well thought out ocs i think ive seen in a very long time. The artstyle here and style of coloring and shading is like nothing else. All of the colors pop and go together just right, not to mention the well fleshed out backstorys of each character.
6.@glaucus22 while this blog certainly isnt as active as it used to be, this is yet another artist that ive used as reference for countless times. They have a very distinct artstyle, and put much thought into their characters and their lore. I highly recommend going through the art tags here and taking a peek, along with a reblog or two!!!
7. @ijustwannahavefunn another blog with VERY well thought out and styled ocs, and a to die for artstyle. I also recommend checkjng out their youtube channel, which has VERY smooth animations and animatics. Definitely a hidden gem.
8. @vrnicky is a very good friend of mine that is WAY WAY WAY too unrecognized. They dont get NEARLY enough love for the anount of love and hard work they out into their characters and art. Please show em some love for me!!!
9. @loupy-mongoose is a favorite pokemon ary blog of mine. While you might find mostly mewtwo and mew stuff, please know that this is because of this creators mewtwo comic. You may know what im takling about if you know about similar more popular blogs (@/xxtc-96xx @/mewtwoandme and more ) but what separates this blog from many others is their very very different story, and an artstyle that'll put you at ease. Not to mention unique and well thought out mew and mewtwo designs.
And lastly, for now at least ,10. @whiteartblood an art blog that i havent visted in a couple months. This creator has some of the best undertale art i swear. One of my favorite styles!! A very lovely and instantly recognizable artstyle(that again, i have used for reference...i dont even know how many times), and even better ocs.
Now i know there are so many more blogs that are deserving of recognition, but its late and i cant look up 50 usernames at the moment.
However, while you are not obligated to, I sincerely hope you go show these guys some love(and reblogs!!!!!!!) For me. These guys have been a very big influence on my art, artists ive looked up to for YEARS now, and luckly for me some of them even being friends of mine, which im so very thankful for.
Ill definitely be making another post like this, with more writing inclusion and even more deeply hidden gems that require some digging.
I apologize for any typos that are unfortunately guaranteed as thats kind've what im known for lmao <- has made a fool of herself countless times) and i cant help but feel nervous that these talented people will see them, but know ive done the best ive can.
Thank you, and have a great time everyone!
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adanaac · 10 months
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Could I ask about your OC's? Specifically Ophicucus and Tsuru, I love how majestic Ophi is drawn and Tsuru fascinates me both with the concept and also how lovely you have illustrated him.
I hope you are well, and thank you again for helping me with my questions o7.
Sincerely HMAD.
oh good i get to talk about my son!!
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my blorbo my beloved my babygirl he means everything to me
i made him in 2017 so hes sort of grown up with me (or i've grown up and realised things about him that i couldn't have when i was younger. i have so many complicated feelings abt this that i made a short comic about it last year)
to preface this im not a great writer dont expect good writing from me lol all i have is my personal experience and stealing tropes from stories i like
(got a lot to say so its all going under the cut. also a lot of death mention)
So. who is this dude
Tsuru (not his real name in-story, i havent come up with one im happy with), 18 years old, a ghost
he has a little sister, Ori, 15, who was meant to be my sona but then i just drew him more and like drawing him more anyway
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first 2 drawings i ever did of him. he was based off natori natsume yuujinchou at this point, i dont remember why or if i even liked natori that much, but i remember distinctly hes based off him
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u may have noticed he sort of looks older in my older art. this is because first of all art style drift lol but also as ive gotten older ive figured out that 18 isnt actually that old.
theres also a black haired version of him (two actually) its basically something like this ⬇️
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important to know that everything about this dude is a convoluted metaphor
i lovingly summarize white tsuru as "people pleaser" and black tsuru as "nihilist prick" in my head and those are the things consistent throughout all the AU versions of him
(important differences only to me) alive tsuru doesnt act like black tsuru at all thats just his warped self perception (he also doesnt act exactly like white tsuru either)
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also alive tsuru has black eyes and the shortest hair, black tsuru has blue eyes and slightly longer hair (also white tsuru is slightly taller than both of them)
if they all existed at the same time they would hate each other on sight but fortunately (unfortunately?) he is just 1 dude with issues
the general vibe is white tsuru is the "yippee floaty trickster" brand of ghost and black tsuru is the sort of ghost in horror media that stands just outside your field of view in the darkness dripping with blood
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for the longest time only white haired tsuru was a "character", "black haired tsuru" existed just as his corpse at most, a footnote
but over the past 2 years ive figured that hes actually really fun to draw and play with, and in a different way than white tsuru
(wait fuck isnt this just abe trio. i do always almost accidentally draw tsuru when im trying to draw haruaki.... fuck.....)
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(ive had tsuru for long enough that i just keep tacking details from my fav characters onto him.....)
halls smp
so ive been on this minecraft roleplay server called halls smp with other artists for the past 2 years, theres a new season of it every few months with a different theme each time to keep things fresh and ive just been making AU versions of tsuru for it so ive had a lot of opportunity to think about him
season 1 - halloween - jiangshi tsuru
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this one is almost entirely unchanged from his base characterization because i didnt want to rp too much and also didnt know there would be future seasons at this point (also basically after the first day i gave up on being called "tsuru" bc its too hard to pronounce and everyone called me canada anyway)
same basic story, guy dies and theres now a white haired version of him (actually this is the same for all the AUs). in fact im pretty sure the black haired version of this one is exactly base alivetsuru. basically what ive been interested in exploring is different kinds of death, the events leading up to it, and what kind of person he becomes afterwards (but also in equal amounts im interested in making fun designs and playing minecraft and fucking around)
(this feels like the start of the beginners guide...)
i associate him with doves and at the time, tarot card 18: the moon, but in retrospect i now think he's card 0: the fool.
season 2 - winter - ishmael
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guy who died at sea and eaten by a interdimensional whale and got isekaied. loosely conceptually based off moby dick, although i havent actually read it LOL but i did spend a week reading up on drowning and hypothermia
strangely, his death didnt create a white haired version of him, perhaps because he didnt have anything in life to give up his identity and replace it with. (and also remember the hair color doesnt actually mean dead/alive)
im only calling him ishmael now in retrospect, at the time he was just tsuru/canada
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while designing him i had the biggest crisis bc i didnt want him to look to much like this old old oc i had (pic 1) but then i sucked it up and went with it anyway
i never got around to drawing it but his fingers are black from frostbite thats why he wears gloves all the time.
hes one of my favorite iterations of tsuru he looks so mad or upset all the time it makes me want to tease him, and also i think the grey skin and eyebags are very cute
i associate him with whales and tarot card 18: the moon
season 3 - golden grove - fox tsuru
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honestly i think this is my favorite design of him i kinda popped off. i think im just a lot more comfortable working with warm colors. and also i associate white tsuru with foxes anyway (black tsuru is totally a catboy btw) (why is he not associated with cranes if his name is tsuru you ask?? bc cranes are hard to draw next question. he did start out based off cranes tbf, thats where the white hair and the tallness comes from)
dead fox possessing his dead human friend's body (although thats only the most literal interpretation of events; in all these iterations there's only ever been 1 person) the white tsurus are mostly interested in "moving on", whatever that means to each of them
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btw my banner on this blog is him
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hes sort of a set with s2 tsuru to me, mostly bc theyre the ideals that "white tsuru" and "black tsuru" hold taken to the extremes, and also theyre on opposite ends of the "hates people hates talking" and "loves to talk and mess with people" scale
anyway. hes tarot card 10: wheel of fortune to me
season 4 - wild west - mirage
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the desert dragon, mirage. this is the season i started giving them actual names that arent "tsuru" and putting actual thought into the story lol previously it was just vibes-based character design. i have a short thing written about him thats meant to be the script for a comic, but i never got around to drawing it.
a sandworm-esque dragon that got tired of being a dragon and took up a passing witch's offer to give him a human form. this is all a metaphor i think. he has longer hair bc i wanted to spice things up a little
(also i consider this a form of death bc he left behind a giant sandworm/dragon skeleton somewhere in the desert)
the mirage-dragon thing comes from the shen 蜃 (which is used in the chinese word for mirage, 海市蜃楼 haishi shenlou, literally translating to "ocean city and shen's castle"). it's a clam-like dragon that produces foam that creates mirages over the ocean.
if u read "even if you slit my mouth", this is what the "shinkiro" or "shin" in recent chapters is. (i had one of those "smug because i already know all about the mythological creature a story is referencing" moments, which i also had with the four gods in yohaji bc i used to translate a game that mentioned them too)
isnt it romantic in a way? that the two places mirages are most known for happening are the ocean and the desert.
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i dont have too much art of him because around this time i was uhhh (checks calendar) got back into yohaji and got consumed by it for a couple months lol (can u even blame me. it was july to september that was when like chapter 91 came out lol)
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an earlier version of his design that i didnt end up using but i still really like this art
hes tarot card 9: the hermit to me
season 5 - fairytales/medieval - ophiuchus
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NO FUCKING WAY YOURE NEVER GOING TO BELIEVE THIS for this one i actually ironed out what kind of people the black haired and white haired versions of him are. and also specifically this one isnt black tsuru but alive tsuru
i have a short poem thing about him, to summarize its like so many other fairytales about grateful animals granting their saviors something, but it doesnt end well for anyone
hes based off ophiuchus and asclepius of course, but also a lot of other snake stories in general, like the lindwurm and baishezhuan
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to reiterate, for none of these stories do i consider there to ever actually have been 2 separate people, its always just 1 fucked up guy
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i also sort of consider him to be a set with mirage, for both being serpents, and also for being "black tsuru whose personality is like white tsuru" and "white tsuru whose personality is like black tsuru", thereby codifying for myself that to him, someone who's stuck in his own head a lot, what matters most to him is his ideals, what all his actions are in pursuit of
he's tarot card 12: the hanged man to me
bonus: dnd character - alba
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i also have a version of him i play for dnd, named alba to match with my party who all have color themed names. a halfling ranger who's very small and very loud. except he has amnesia and cant remember anything from before he was 12 (hes around 18 now according to him), including that he's actually a changeling who just transformed into a halfling to seem older than he is to work at a bar and nearly died in a bar fight.
(if you spend as much time fretting over semantics as me, you may note that changelings are medium sized and cannot transform into halflings which are small sized, for which my explanation is that he's been in halfling form since he was a kid, and after the amnesia he thought he actually was a halfling. this is also why his hair is white btw bc changelings have white hair. pre-amnesia in his "actual" halfling transformation he had black hair. i care too much about semantics but hey isnt dnd the semantics game anyway?)
anyway congrats alba for being the only version of tsuru that hasn't outright "died"!! if only because dnd has actual rules and i can't pull my usual death-ghost nonsense as easily!!!
hes very ship of theseus to me, all versions of him are. what makes up a person? what defines them? is it their face, their appearance, their name? their personality, their memories, their ideals? if you slowly replace each of those, one at a time, with a copy thats very similar to the original, at what point are you a different person?
as thanks for reading all of this i'll reveal what some of the metaphors are, the core of who tsuru, as a character, is to me. maybe this is fairly obvious, but all the death and personality weirdness stuff is a convoluted metaphor for depression and autism, as well as the experience of reading the things you've written years ago, seeing old photos and others talking about who you were years ago and finding that person wholly unfamiliar, that you understand the thought process of that person no more than you would a stranger's, as a result of having taken apart your identity and replaced it piece by piece with things from people you like more than yourself.
im always scared of scrutinizing tsuru too hard because he's just a weird reflection of myself, and i think i'll only be able to write a version of him thats more of a "whole person" once i figure that out for myself. the only way you see your own reflection is through a mirror after all, a flattened 2D surface.
haha this got kinda weird and depressing and personal at the end (mostly bc ive been writing this in the middle of the night, its now 4am)
after seeing my soul laid bare like this, if theres one takeaway, i think its pretty obvious why i'm so enamored by the parts of yohaji that i talk about often (huh wasnt this a post about my oc why did it become about yohaji)
oh yeah i just realised u probably also wanted to hear more about my yohaji version of tsuru specifically. honestly theres not really more to it i just like drawing him in situations. like of course the same themes apply but i just like drawing this dude thats 90% the reason hes my sona. like heres a pokemon au of him i drew recently bc i wanted to draw them as kids and also as pokemon gijinkas
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anyway thats all. not really bc i could go on and on about him but this is way too long and also way too personal at this point. i think about him a disproportionate amount, i only have 2 other ocs i remotely care about and the extent of my thoughts for those guys is "i think hes fun 👍"
this has probably also been like, the 3rd most comprehensive description of tsuru that ive made, 1st being the thoughts in my head and 2nd being the past 5 years worth of DMs with my friend who i talk about tsuru with
(why was this sort of structured like the beginners guide. if youve seen the beginners guide tell me if im right or delusional. if u havent, go watch a playthrough of it, have an existential crisis, and then afterwards tell me)
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nerdsinc · 4 months
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my end of year summary!!! it was VERY hard to pick drawings for this. each month had so many great drawings, and i missed out on adding some real great ones (end of nowhere, that one religious blank drawing, my first author drawing, my best drawing of ruby, etc...)
i think thats just due in part to how fucking AWESOME this year was art-wise. from april onwards i was on a pretty steady art flow, which is insane considering i had barely drawn for the past 2(?) years before!! and my improvement through those months is actually incredible.
i mean, just scroll back in my blog and you can see just how much i improved, and also just how much i drew. and then consider the fact i havent posted most of my art from august to now... its insane. 2023 has been such a great year for me and my art, and a lot of that is thanks to the bottom of the void. genuinely, that arg changed my life and i cannot be more grateful.
all in all, very happy with this years art summary! heres to hoping 2024 will be just as good, if not better!
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fr33sh00tr · 6 months
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I'm like 4 million years late but can u talk abt ur hockey au its so silly to me and I enjoy it immensely.
ohhhh anon i love you im kissing you on the mouth. i havent written for my hockey au in a while so some bits are all over the place but essentially:
the organization is not any different besides them having a hockey team. i like to think that they all liked hockey and xemnas just made a (mandatory) hockey team. so they play in a major league with other teams based on other video games (ace attorney, metal gear, etc. these ones aren't super fleshed out yet...). theyre called the Seekers (short for seekers of darkness lol) and there used to be a radiant garden team called the light-hearts
overall the seekers are a top 5 team in their league. theyre genuinely awesome players they just hate each other so much. saix in particular has been known to refuse passing the puck to xigbar or demyx. Also they get in fights a lot... but with each other. Larxene is a backup goalie but regularly comes off the bench to punch luxord in the face
my lineup post is a good place to start if youre interested in technical details about everyone. but xigbar is the team captain (if you're wondering why it isn't xemnas: goalies usually aren't captains and also he's the general manager of the franchise) and saix is the alternate captain <- He is mad about that.
xion and roxas also play despite being like five feet tall and children but its okay. they dont wear normal hockey equipment for adults they wear the stuff made for little league teams so they dont get fucking evaporated on the ice
the main defensive pair is lexaeus and xaldin (gay) but they take turns switching off with marluxia since theyre all built like brick houses
axel and saix are right wing/left wing respectively and they play on the same line with xigbar. if youre thinking that this pairing sounds like a recipe for disaster. it is! They don't work well together!
vexen and zexion are refs firstly because they are relatively calm and logical thinkers. secondly because i think its funny when refs irl get hit with a puck or fall over and who are vexen and zexion to me if not unfortunate victims of circumstance
xigbar and xemnas are the worst fucking team managers in the world. they kiss on the ice before a game and everyone is sick of them. demyx once told the press that they have to "evacuate the locker room" after victories. interpret that as you will.
their logo isnt drawn very well bc i suck at graphic design but its a heart with a crack in it and a bandage over the crack
okay this post is long enough now so im stopping. anon if you are still curious about something please send me more messages i will talk about this for hours
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blvrrykat · 2 years
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it is finally time for me to post my hxhbb art >:33333c i had the honor of drawing for @ravensgansey ‘s fic, ‘the nothing i’ve become’. it was suuuuch a good read and i wish i could have drawn more for it but life has just been so busy T__T im still rly proud of this layout tho i havent done smth like this in YEARS LOL...
 im so excited tht i got to participate in this event i havent ever done smth like this ;w; everyone is so nice and it was so motivating to be surrounded by so much passion!! ill definitely be back again next year (threateningly)
PLS GO CHECK OUT DA FIC!!! 
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soleminisanction · 1 year
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You seem like youre frustrated with her character the same way I get with her too.
I think see the potential of the character she could be and should be with the correct writing and stories.
I really didnt like her Batgirl run either. There are bits and parts of it I do like and concepts of things there I love but I really dont care for it.
I also wish she wasnt used as a marketing tactic during "run" as Robin. If they were actually serious about it, they wouldve written her run differently and hopefully better.
Thats also the problem with all comic book characters, they have so many different writers with different ideas of what to do with these characters. Unfortunately some of them dont like the characters they write for. I know that Dan Didio hates Steph and never wrote her well because of that. (He also hated Dick Grayson and wanted to kill him off too)
Characters like Steph really are up to interpretation how they are supposes to be personality wise. Recently i havent been liking how shes been written for certain comics (Batgirls, Wayne Family Adventures)
You and I similar to seeing a character we want to be better. I see that she has all this potential to be a great character and love her despite all the garbage writing shes had over her 30+ years of existence
The lack of good stories is a part of it, yeah.
It's also the fact that, while she's hanging around not telling any stories of her own, her ability to do so often comes at the expense of other characters. Like a few months back, they randomly shoved her into a Titans line-up when she's never been a Titan, not once in her entire career, while the actual Batgirl who joined the Titans, Betty/Bette Kane, was nowhere to be seen. And she's part of what ruined YJ 2019, getting forced in awkwardly purely because a bunch of her stans spent months harassing the creators on Twitter, spewing racist epitaphs at the new black characters and demanding that she be included in a team she wasn't solicited for and, again, had never been a part of, purely because Tim was there and they decided he wasn't allowed to have a life without her.
And speaking of that last bit, don't even get me started on the Tim Drake Pride Special again or we'll be here all day. It is genuinely offensive how many people demanded that Tim's coming out be oriented entirely around the feelings of his straight ex-girlfriend.
That's why I can't read Batgirls, either. I can't stand the way they write the relationship between Steph and Cass, it's got no teeth, and perpetually reduces Cass to Steph's "Kato," the hyper-competent Asian sidekick who does all the actual work for an inept white person. Even the issue where they tried to make a big deal out of, "Ooo, this is a special CASS CENTRIC ADVENTURE, we're doing it COMPLETELY SILENT with NO WORDS!" turned out to be all about her running around trying to find Stephanie, and then they copped out with the gimmick and made it so the only words in the book were Stephanie's, talking mostly about -- surprise! -- herself, how great she is and how much she loves being a Batgirl.
Ugh. Spirit World can't come fast enough.
Honestly, when it comes to her run as Robin, I think the story itself could've been just fine if they'd left it as it was and just, hadn't made a big freakin' marketing deal about "OoOoOooOooOoo, the GIRL WONDER, how SPECIAL!!!" They didn't do that with Carrie. Or Tris Plover. Hell, at the time a few people pointed out how silly it was for them to make such a big deal out of her being a girl when Carrie Kelly is the most well known alt-Robin period and the co-star of one of the defining texts of the age.
But, y'know, Carrie was a short-haired butch tomboy with thick glasses who fought with a sling-shot, while Steph is the single most gender-conforming Bat-femme since Betty Kane and is consistently drawn to show off her child-bearing hips so. Yeah.
The part that honestly needs fixing is War Games, which I honestly think is still something that Steph needed to happen, because it did lead her to a moment of growth that she desperately needed (even if Chuck Dixon and Bryan Miller later ruined it.) I think you could fix that story up with just a few adjustments. But, hindsight is 20/20 and all.
I do have to caution a little against attributing malice where ignorance or incompetence is more likely, though. I've never seen any evidence that Dan Didio "hated" either Steph or Dick; rather, what he saw them as was expendable. By all accounts I've ever heard, when he was editorially mandating Dick's death in Infinite Crisis, he legitimately didn't know that Dick used to be the original Robin, he just knew that Nightwing wasn't Batman or Robin and thought that made him expendable enough to kill off for shock value. It took Geoff Johns talking him out of it at literally the last minute to get him to see sense.
(Seriously, you can tell that the page was drawn off a script where Dick got full-on murdered, and the original floppy release didn't have the hilariously awkward page they inserted into the collected editions where Dr. Mid-night promises to save him. It's kinda funny in retrospect.)
Stephanie was the same way, it wasn't that he "hated" her, he just didn't care about any character introduced after the silver age and thought that killing her off would be more ~shocking~ than letting her live and learn a lesson. Didio wasn't evil, he was just bad at his job. Your standard incompetent white guy failing up.
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A weird lil dialogue prompt that came into my head after watchin a certain movie.
The conversation that Fregion has with Death (or I think on Tyria it is some reapers? Tho I cant imagine the Charr dont get their own personifications) on each near brush he has as a commander and then finally when they greet for the last time.
I think for tyria, death is a reflection of the self in some way when you dont follow any pantheon. Not some big reaper, not a big god or anything like that. I think its you. Or a mist being that looks like you. So go under the cut because this one is a doozy.
So for each brush with death a person gets. That being trys to convince you to come with them. To lay down and rest. That no promise or duty is worth suffering like this. You either follow, or you dont. The first time he spoke to death he was shocked. It was him but...covered in ornate golds and decorative armor. This was him but not... 'You survived a lot longer then I did.' The other him says arms crossed with a hint of a proud smile. 'Granted I wound up being tricked by that human goddess but ya know.' The other him chuckled. 'So, ready to come with?' Fregion is confused and it must show on his face. 'You died. Or I should say, you're on your way to dying. You got pretty banged up. My plates are decorative, but youd need proper plates after blocking with your face like that.' He says tapping the metal covering his horns. 'Blade cut good and deep in there too. Sad to say still got you good in the neck though.' He chuckles. 'So, ready to go?' this other him asks again. 'No.' He says firmly stepping back. 'My warband...the charr...they need me. I wont leave them when I have so much work left to do.' He says. He imagines the devastation of his warband... The other him, to his surprise slumps and sighs but waves him off. 'Fine fine. I remember that feeling too. And let me tell ya, its not worth the hastle...or the pain.' The last part is said in a soft hurt tone. But he doesnt have time to question it before he feels pain in his neck and he awakens in a tent. Things continued on like this. With every near death, the other him would try to convince him to let go. He'd always refuse, but after balthazar it changed. 'Looks like one of the gods got us again, huh.' This human form of his old life...in an old dervish garb. The hood drawn up and shading his eyes, like a revanents blindfold. 'This was far...far more painful though.' He sat down next to where he lay in this blank void. 'Wouldnt blame you if you wanted to finally let go.' He asked but again he firmly refused. 'You'll have to go through something painful to get back to them ya know.' He again refuses to let go. 'Figures. I you ARE me, after all.' He chuckles. And he fades from the blank void, and awakens without memories in the realm of the lost. His human past tried again after bangar shot him. But only half heartedly, knowing again what his answer would be. When he finally said yes though. He didnt recognize the person speaking to him. It was a kodan. Taller then him by a t least two heads, black markings along their body he was having dificulty seeing. 'Hey ' Is all it said. He lay there, the pains of life washing away from him as time went on. 'You did good.' Is all this kodan says before it looks down at him with a sad knowing smile. 'I wish there was more for me to say. But I havent been born yet' He looks closer at the bear, and now he realizes that it isnt just the tattoos hes having a hard time making out. His whole figure is blurred. Like looking through constantly shifting water. 'Arent you going to ask me if i'm ready to let go?' He says sounding less tired then he thought he would as he slowly sits up. The kodan shakes his head. 'No, I dont think I have to ask that at all.' Fregion agrees. He doesnt need to ask, because hes finally ready. Nearly 80 years fighting, many near deaths, but things he thinks, are finally on the path, where he wont be needed anymore. 'No, no you dont have to ask.' He says reaching out and placing a hand on the kodans arm. The details slowly begin to get clearer on the bears body and it laughs. Low and rich and amused. 'I'll be seeing ya.' Is all the bear says. And before he understands whats happening the world goes dim and every pain and ache leaves his body. He feels himself floating, held gently by water...
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tiredrobin · 1 year
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opinion on raincoat girl?
oh, hi!!! this is both a very fun and somewhat bewildering ask! mostly because raincoat girl does not, as far as i am aware, commit any notable acts that might be seen in a negative light! (her locking six out of that shed doesn't count due to the fact that six was down and she was still being hunted. it was a smart decision, and i don't fault her for her fear.) my opinion of her is Neutral Positive, overall. HOWEVER: i do have Thoughts, and i will delightedly share them!
RCG will henceforth be referred to as Ricky by me, which is the name i gave her because the "rc" in rcg translated to ricky in my head and i felt that "raine" was way too on the nose. this is silly, because rk is probably way more likely to get that kind of name logically? but i've been calling rk Una for since i learned about them, pretty much, so. rk is una, rcg is ricky.
DISCLAIMER: i havent played vln and i havent watched a complete playthru. i've read all of ricky's wiki.
anyway. since i haven't seem (much) gameplay, im not particularly familiar with ricky's body language or conduct. most of what i understand about her is based around the fact that the nomes of the maw have apparently drawn her, and that she helps other kids and nomes multiple times throughout her escape from the nest. so i personally think ricky is (or was, rather) helpful and compassionate. she seems survival-oriented in a way that makes her inclined to help others, likely because she recognizes that thats how u Get help.
she goes out of her way a few times to help the kid in the red scarf and six, and iirc she does seem to follow them, or at least her path consistently heads in the same directions they've gone. this can be, of course, limitations set by the environment; only so many climables, only so many vents. she likes nomes and toys (evidence for toys: the vln collectible spring toy thingies). however, the general vibe i get from her is that she's a pretty independent person most of the time. she knows her skills and limits and is good at thinking several steps ahead, and does well with little. she has no qualms asking for help—all the nome-focused puzzles—but she's focused and determined enough to manage on her own as she needs.
i also get the general vibe that ricky's kind of playful and silly? i bet she likes little jokes and practical pranks, or she would if those were plausible in the ln reality. i bet she'd use humor to cope with things and it'd seem pretty lighthearted, at least hypothetically. this aspect mostly comes from (1) the general atmosphere of vln is lighter and way less spooky due to game style and limitations; (2) something about her hot air balloon or blimp, man, idk, it just speaks to me; (3) her collectibles are playful and relatively lighthearted compated to mono's remnants and six's statues. kinda. sorta.
random hcs are that she's a year or two older than six, maybe. she'd be the second tallest (usurped only by mono), and she would have a hard time getting along with mono. she and una would be fine, and i think six would be okay with her but they wouldn't be super close or anything.
hm. there you have it! not rly sure what else to say—i don't really care about ricky all that much, unfortunately. i don't NOT care about her, it's just that she's dead and an important piece of six's background, so my interest in ricky is mainly in that and not really in herself as a character. sorry if that's disappointing!
thank you for the ask i had fun putting my thoughts into words :]. lemme know what you think, maybe, nonnie?
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