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hajimedics · 9 months

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On Puppets, Agency, and Fate

I’ve been writing this thinkpiece for around a week while looking further into Welcome Home’s symbolism through queer/neurodivergent lenses; strengthening my belief that its themes of freedom and fate cannot be separated from the struggles the characters face as queer/neurodivergent folks.

This writing is going to be a mix of canonical content and my personal interpretation as I make many connections to various readings. Not to mention that the story is very far from done according to the words of the creator himself, so please take the things I say with a grain of salt.

You can view this thinkpiece in Google Docs format here.

CW: mentions/discussions of homophobia, transphobia, ableism, and abuse

I've always adored explorations of humanity and their deteriorating, fluctuating psyche through characters constantly challenged by the narrative (example: Phos from Land of the L*strous, Kris from D*ltarune, Guts from B*rserk, Mae from N*ght in the W*ods) and how they struggle to find their place in the world and freedom. To progress, humanity has always desire freedom. Freedom of expression. Freedom to think. Freedom to honestly, unapologetically be who one wants to be. Humans and humanity are not always synonymous. Welcome Home is a case of this too, its ensemble cast consisting of puppets.

Clown has stated that themes of being queer/neurodivergent are very integral to the story in many aspects, from the characters to the metanarrative. I want to talk about the things I've noticed, the analogies they carry, and how every character's identity contributes to the themes or the story.

First off, the neighborhood.

The neighborhood in general

From the perspective of Welcome Home Puppet Show’s creators, the neighborhood is the idea of a perfect, idyllic community through the lens of cisheteronormavity from the 70s. It is something out of a children’s dream with the colorful imagery, the peaceful yet eventful neighborhood filled with fun activities where everyone in the neighborhood is happy and there are no realistic problems like capitalism, oppression, relationship problems, sickness, and death. Of course, it’s the given obvious because this is a puppet show we’re talking about. A show aimed at kids.

Everyone has a role to play in the neighborhood – the shopkeeper, the mailman, the baker, the bug nerd – they all fit the traditional, stereotypical, cartoonish American mold of what the dream urban life is like in the 70s (and it still is in my small hometown, in Indonesia! We’re quite traditional in a sense) especially with the lack of serious overarching threats of aforementioned human problems.

Welcome Home first aired on 1969 and abruptly ended on 1974. A possible theory is that they cannot keep up with the competitor shows at the time (Sesame Street started on 1969 and The Muppet Show started on 1974, fun fact!), but seeing the amount of merchandise they put out and the way it stood out from various angles, this theory can be thrown out the window. The “about” page for WHPS also describes the show as well acclaimed and doing well during its runtime.

Another one is that the sentience of the puppets (and their desire to have autonomy over their own lives) have possibly impacted the writing of the story, given how they have their own identity outside of the one given by WHPS’s writers to them. Even more when you take into consideration that WHPS is produced during the era when LGBT history in America is at a major turning point. As cited from The Atlantic:

“Those years that followed, the decade of the 1970s, represent a remarkable period of transformation for gays and lesbians, particularly those living in America's coastal cities. At its core, that transformation was about visibility. During those years, there was the first gay television movie (That Certain Summer); a sexy on-screen kiss between two men in Sunday, Blood Sunday; and the release of Cabaret, which has been hailed as the first movie that "really celebrated homosexuality.

There were gains in politics too: Edward Koch, then serving in Congress, "became one of the first elected officials to publicly lobby on behalf of the homosexuals of Greenwich Village," Kaiser writes. Gay Pride Week was established. Perhaps most significantly: In December of 1973, the board of the American Psychiatric Association* voted 13-0 "to remove homosexuality from its list of psychiatric disorders."

The laws that no longer criminalizes or dehumanizes queer folks are being written. Changes are made. Even when LGBT movement was going on a fairly optimistic path, oppression and bigotry towards the community was still rampant. After all, oppressors just can’t change their views in a whim! Their hatred comes from their own thoughts and not because the higher ups told them so.

I won’t turn this into a writing about queer history instead of focusing on Welcome Home. Though, I think it's all worth mentioning given the things I'm going to discuss here and how Clown stated that these themes will become prevalent throughout the story. I decide to write this thinkpiece as an outlet for my thoughts and how I connected many of the story's aspects to the themes of freedom – both from their status as puppets and their identity.

Now that the overview is out of the way, time to bring in the big guns.

The neighborhood and Playfellow Workshop

If we take Playfellow Workshop's involvement in the characters' lives outside of episode recordings, Welcome Home becomes a huge transgender allegory, wrapped in a neat colorful package called "being puppets whose view on the world is much more narrow and simple in which they are controlled by beings above their comprehension".

Playfellow Workshop is the company that creates WHPS and owns its characters. They act as the "parents" to the "children" – WHPS' characters – in this comparison. They house the characters, have them as their responsibilities and assets, and, as any show production goes, they most definitely have staff that takes care of the puppets to see if there are any rips or tears in their bodies, making sure they are fit for the show production. It's just like how parents house their children when they cannot afford housing or live on their own, taking care of (or rather monitor) them, giving them shelter and food.

They are controlled both literally and figuratively by Playfellow Workshop – former because they're hand puppets made for children's entertainment and latter because of their status binding them to their duties. Just like how a parent has authority over their children under the guise of “you live under my roof, you live under my rules.” The rules in questions are the episodes which are produced on story scripts, and the puppets follow said scripts.

Playfellow Workshop is extremely important to the puppets, whether the company is taking a positive role, a neutral role, or an antagonistic role. If the puppets were to break free from their grasp, who would take care of them? Who will place them onto their cases, or fix their rips and tears, or make sure they're in good shape? Playfellow Workshop may have taken a toll on the puppets, but no one can take care of the puppets better than Playfellow Workshop.

You might be wondering, “But Senja, this can be read as a typical controlling parent and clueless children dynamic. Why so specific about it being a trans experience?”

It can be read like the former! I made more connections and thus thought "Hm. This is so true to my trans experience".

There are multiple transgender characters in the story such as Frank, Poppy, and Julie. I was struggling on how to put my thoughts into words about the ways the producers of WHPS (could it be that they thought about the puppets not being cis?) can write in trans characters in WHPS, but I believe Clown himself and the wikipedia page for Gonzo from The Muppets said it best.

A similar case for the puppets can be applied to the trans characters of Welcome Home! Still, the way the puppets present themselves to the audience is also ultimately a decision made by Playfellow Workshop, especially during episode recordings. Clown also said that they won’t reveal much about it since he doesn’t want to give out spoilers. Perhaps regarding to the nature of Playfellow Workshop, too?

The puppets and the scripts can also be a stand-in for how trans folks who still live with authoritative adult figures (especially those that don't accept them or begrudgingly does) are handling autonomy over their own bodies and actions. Although not shown for now, I predict there’s going to be an eventual identity dissonance between who the puppets truly are and who the puppets are according to WHPS’ writers. It reminds me of my experience of when I was much younger, being a closeted trans person who often struggles with disassociation, looking into the mirror and feeling like me and my body are not one. Not myself. It's like they're two separate beings, "me" who is what I truly am, and "my body" that is dictated and dressed up by my parents. As much as I love my body, little me wanted to claw out and break free if it means I can have a semblance of independence over my life. (Things are much better these past few years, though!)

Again, I don’t like accusing Playfellow Workshop of purposefully mistreating the puppets or even taking pleasure in hurting them because we are just getting started; getting to know the personalities and character dynamics between each character. Authoritative parents won't exactly be abusive to their children. Maybe Playfellow Workshop is just doing their job. They take care of the puppets because if they're damaged, the show won't go on. They act indifferent towards the puppets because well, they're just puppets. No personal feelings. That's just how business goes.

We do know that Playfellow Workshop is a big problem regarding the WHPS’ cancellation and the puppets’ worrying fates.

Playfellow Workshop aside, what about the community regarding the puppets?

The neighborhood is a small town consisting of nine residents. Everyone knows each other, and it’s hard to keep secrets from one another with just how tight-knit everyone is; the experience of living in a small town rings true to mine. Almost everyone in my quaint hometown knows many details about each other and their families because our community strongly believes in the importance of bonds and our culture is built on the word "family".

The neighborhood is a family that does not fit the general criteria of what the traditional structure of a family is. There is no concrete "father" or "mother" or "siblings" assigned here – they're also not the typical found family where they meet one another by chance. They are placed inside the set by the creators of the WHPS, lives already decided by its writers (like a traditional family), but they find solace in each other, having their lives intertwined with one another through bonds that they also take part in building, even outside of the show's production (like a found family, as seen in the "answer" pages). They are friends. They are family. Not to mention how the neighborhood is called "Home", a place where a family lives.

But they also cannot get out – as in get out of WHPS instead of just the neighborhood. I will be covering connections to freedom for each character later on (Sally falling from the sky, Poppy as a flightless bird, Howdy as an adult caterpillar) but the way their existence is bound by the colorful stage sets and rainbow props can also be seen as a small analogy that traditional families are expected to always stick with each other no matter how bad things are.

Themes of family aside, I’ll talk about how the so-called “long lost and unknown of number” episodes. WHPS’ episodes start with Wally leading the viewers through the cacophony of the neighborhood. Then other characters join in, with many of them having notable activity segments. The episodes then end with Wally, who has finished journeying with the viewer, when the day has ended. It is most peculiar and harrowing that the agency of the puppets regarding the show is dependent on Wally and the time of the day. Wally plays the central figure of the story, first being placed in the position as the protagonist and most important character in WHPS, then having to act as their savior because he is the only puppet thus far that has contact with the restoration team and you, the viewer. He is akin to a child who has to take the lead as the head of the family even though he is not prepared for it.

Nobody remembers Welcome Home. Nobody remembers who the puppets are. At the time, the puppets only have themselves and each other to rely on for support. Then again, it’s not even clear if they are with each other when they went missing or scattered around.

Now that I've covered the connections I've made regarding the neighborhood as a whole, I’d like to analyze its residences one by one.

Wally Darling

Wally is a very complex character and by far the most – ironically – human out of everyone in the cast. The word "freedom" is written all over him and the word "love" is sewn into every inch of his body.

Wally is shown to show little to no interest in romance or dating. He allowed his friends to get touchy-feely with him (examples being sleeping with Barnaby and getting hugged by Eddie) and doesn’t hesitate to show his affections to them, but it’s been said that he never found them romantic. Wally’s lack of interest in romance gives me the impression that he is in the AroAce spectrum. Clown even mentioned that he doesn’t know what to do if someone confesses their love to him. Wally knows what romance is, he knows what romantic love is, he just doesn't see himself finding a partner anytime soon.

Wally's view on love not only ties into his queerness, but also his neurodiversity – his autism. He is not good at reading social cues or acting "as accordingly" to the situations presented to him. Clown also suggested that Wally cannot process emotions “the way humans do”. They also entertain the idea that Wally is “emotionless”; but I’d rather interpret it as Wally having low empathy and possibly alexithymia, traits shared by many autistic folks (including me).

He expresses his love in a way that accommodates his neurodiversity: real actions.

Wally has been shown from time to time as someone who absolutely, truly loves his friends. The way he loves others cannot be categorized into simple boxes such as “romantic” or “platonic” or “familial”. Wally loves his friends dearly and it is deep and true, simple as that. He also loves you, the viewer, and a hidden page in the Welcome Home page says that "Wally is your best friend". When he was communicating with you, it read to me more like fascination, curiosity, and cries of help instead of macabre obsession as I normally would expect in psychological stories such as Welcome Home.

All of this makes the struggles he faced after WHPS' cancellation and getting separated from his friends more tragic.

Having the world that he knows ripped away from him must've been traumatizing to him. The world that he has always known is gone. The people that he knew and met everyday are scattered everywhere. Although there are many image file names that suggest he has contact with some of his friends, he doesn’t know if everyone is fine. He’s now left to pick up the pieces and try to stick them back together. He has so much to think about, too much to think about, and so he decides to reach out to you.

When you take into consideration that autistic folks often rely on self-made sets of rules, Wally's situation turns from sad to depressing. Autistic folks rely on schedules and routines (also seen through Frank) to give them a sense of control over their lives and help them ground themselves in reality. When Wally's "routine" is ripped away from him, he has to immediately make sense of his situation and make himself accustomed to a life full of uncertainty. His adaptation to change isn't simply about comfort – it's about surviving. His struggles don't only stop there.

Wally's intentions are read wrongly, some people interpreting him as "creepy" or "malicious" instead of just "awkward" or "desperate". Interestingly, this flanderization and misconception of his character comes from the internet's view on him instead of from the audience/staff in-universe. His autistic traits that cannot be deemed "cute" enough (the way he stares, his mannerism, how he talks slowly, or his fixation on the viewer) is considered creepy in a way that appeals to the fandom and thus extrapolated into something more extreme; him being a lovesick obsessive love interest, him being a religious cult leader, or him being the overarching villain of the story. The way that people outside his universe are the ones demonizing him is poetic in a way – reflective of the world that we live in where ableism towards autistics are so embedded even in the way we view tragic characters with low empathy.

Maybe Wally’s mannerisms are written that way because it’s to add more mystery, but knowing that Clown likes to play with secrets and says that neurodivergency plays a huge part in the story makes me think it’s also the other way around. His behavior as an autistic and traumatized character is what makes people believe that he's the villain. It’s unintentional on his part, but people who fail to read between the lines can think otherwise. It reminds me that when autistic folks cannot express emotions "correctly” or act a certain way that is expected regarding certain social situations, neurotypicals immediately jump into bad, unsavory conclusions about their intentions.

In reality, Wally is a desperate person who just wants the viewer to know and realize his presence and (assumedly) save his friends. Sure, he isn't straightforward in his words when communicating to us through hidden audio files, but his intentions are getting more clear to me. He’s thrust into a situation where he now acts as the guardian for his friends instead of Playfellow Workshop. He wants to get in. He's not a saint. He's not a villain. He's a struggler.

Sally Starlet

Sally! Her name is a fun one. She’s a star. She’s also an actress/play writer, related to the phrase “star of the show”.

So far, Clown hasn’t confirmed anything regarding her sexuality or gender identity, but the interactions she has with other characters from various audio files gave me some clues.

Her interactions with male characters are comedic or bossy in a comical sense, definitely stays true to her bombastic personality. She's not particularly fond of having Barnaby or Howdy star in her plays – the former not taking it seriously while the latter advertising his products in the middle of her plays. She also likes bossing Eddie around as shown in Eddie's Big Lift and is entertained by his antics, from him calling her "ma'am" to him not being able to refuse any of her commands.

Sally is noticeably more mellow around women like Julie and Poppy, notably the latter. Despite getting tired of Julie messing up the script of her plays, she isn’t annoyed with her and thinks of her antics as amusing rather than annoying. She is also patient with Poppy, not getting deterred by her always worrying nature and talks to her calmly. She encourages her ideas, help her to be more confident in herself and is very supportive of her! Their personalities bounce off one another really well, and she is just so sweet. Sally also endearingly calls Julie “Juliet” and Poppy “dear” and “darling”, something she doesn’t do with the male characters.

She gives me the impression of being a lesbian. She reminds me a lot of Lady D from RE VIII who’s a canon lesbian, calls Evan “manthing”, and speaks/acts in the same sophisticated manner as Sally, haha!

Besides her queerness, I found an interesting connection to freedom from her backstory. Sally was originally a star from space that falls to earth in order to pursue her interest in acting. She fell from a place that is vast and endless to a place surrounded by trees and predetermined fates. Also her working with play scripts… the show running on episode scripts… hm…

A falling star has a close definition to a meteor, burning brightly due to the pressure but then losing its spark and mass during its journey, ultimately burning into nothingness. Possibly just a coincidence, but the symbolism when related to Sally is sad.

Frank Frankly

Amidst the cheerful technicolor citizens of the neighborhood, Frank stood out the most by having grey skin and a constant frown on his face. He’s the bookworm character archetype of the show and is described as “arguably the smartest person in the neighborhood”. He’s also one of the handful characters that doesn’t have any information regarding where he was before he came to the neighborhood.

Frank is autistic. As I’ve mentioned in Wally’s part of this thinkpiece, Frank relies on routines and familiarity to give himself a sense of agency and control over his life. He likes arranging things in the order they’re supposed to go, he has a keen eye on organization and structure, and he wants things to be done right in his own ways. “This is the way things should be done, not that way.”

There are drawings Clown made depicting him stimming and infodumping about his special interests, those being entomology and insects.

Frank and Julie are paired together in many Welcome Home-related content. They are best friends who does things together and spends time playing together. They perform a comedy duo; Frank is the "straight man" to Julie's "funny man". His friendship with Julie is very important to both the show and the overarching story. They are something more than simple friends, something less than lovers, and something just right and deep for the both of them. Not that Playfellow Workshop thinks much about that.

The animation cells for “Julie-rella” has given me a very thin theory that themes of cisheteronormavity will be at play as the story goes. Frank is the prince charming, while Julie is Cinderella – fated to be together when the story ends. Well, maybe it’s just Sally, being her over-the-top self and her reenacting a classic fairy tale with her personal spin, but I just can’t help but think harder about the implications of it. Frank is not a cishet man, and Julie is not a cishet woman. I have talked about it in this short writing I made about Eddie and Frank.

Frank is canonically nonbinary and gay. He and Eddie are each other's love interests, something that isn’t outright shown. One can argue that they don’t exactly “act” like a typical couple from what we’ve seen, and their interactions in WHPS’ audios and merchandises gives off the feeling that they’re amicable at best (referring to the link I embedded above). They are noticeably closer in the ��answer” page, though. It is not certain that their relationship at the time WHPS was still going and before Welcome Home Restoration Project’s involvement was already established or they’re just starting to get to know each other – though many audios in the WHRP website leans more towards the latter. Either way, it reminds me of the way some queer people have to hide their relationships in public to avoid getting hate or persecution.

You know that one art of a terrified Frank with a bright red rectangle and many appendages surrounding him that can be found in the staff-only page? Regarding his status as the bookworm character, I have a feeling that the phrase “ignorance is bliss” will come at play here, subverting his character.

Poppy Partridge

This sweet, poor bird who is always shaken by everything around her. Poppy grew up in a nest with her family, though growing up to become the biggest bird out of everyone, eventually leaving the nest and moving into the neighborhood, living inside a barn and rarely leaving it because of her anxiety. Poppy is described to not be based on just one bird, as Clown said. She is said to be a mix of “flamingo from father’s side, hen from mother’s side”, fitting with how unique everyone is in the neighborhood.

It is heartwarming that she is surrounded by people who are understanding of her anxiety. Nobody makes fun of her fretfulness or forces her to be “more social”, Howdy brings her groceries to her barn, and she even has her own baking business! She’s not the greatest at the things she likes doing, but it’s nice to see that she founds joy in them.

Poppy is canonically a trans lesbian. She’s very close with Sally, whose personality is a stark contrast to hers. Poppy feels like she can trust Sally with handling the jobs she’s supposed to do and Sally encourages her to be more true to herself. Poppy feels at ease whenever she’s around Sally and even seems to act more flustered around her – a possible love interest between the two. It’s also cute that Sally likes to drag Poppy in her antics, with the latter not being too bothered about it. They trust each other very much. Also their dynamic is also just really good, y’know?

Connected to themes of freedom in this story, Poppy is a flightless bird, yet another symbol of her state of freedom as a puppet to Playfellow Workshop. Many birds have the ability to spread their wings and fly away to the places that they desire while Poppy cannot. Like the rest of the cast, her world is limited by the trees around the neighborhood. She also left her nest not because she has big dreams like Sally or ambitions like Howdy, but because of the circumstances she cannot control on her own.

As I’ve mentioned earlier, Poppy grew up to be the biggest bird out of her family and it became the reason why she left for the neighborhood. And when she got there, she prefers being inside her own barn instead of going around and socializing with everyone.

Howdy Pillar

Ohhh my god. This guy. He originates from an apple as a teensy little caterpillar, then leaving the place where he was raised in because of his dreams (similar to Sally, different to Poppy). He is shown to be very proud and confident in himself, having a clear ambition on opening his very own shop and takes great pride in what he does. He’s a great talker and can easily convince even the proudest people in the neighborhood to purchase his wares, and his character gives me the impression that he prefers being around people that understands his dreams.

I cannot find any notable queer readings regarding Howdy, but his interactions with Barnaby gives me the impression that they’re close to one another. Howdy considers Barnaby his favorite customer, and is seemingly happy that Barnaby is willing to listen to him ramble about his family gossips.

I do find connections between his physical appearance and the story’s themes of freedom.

In a caterpillar’s life, when they’re about to reach their adult stage and move on from their juvenile stage, they turn into butterflies. Not the case with Howdy. He’s an adult caterpillar whose family are a bunch of butterflies. Like Poppy, whose symbolism of lack of freedom is the same as Howdy's, he cannot turn into a butterfly and fly away from the grasp of Playfellow Workshop – outside the neighborhood, outside the town surrounded by colorful trees and dictated by scripts.

Unlike Poppy however, Clown mentioned that Howdy has the possibility of turning into a butterfly someday. Poppy is also an adult bird, the last stage of her life cycle, while Howdy is an adult caterpillar, the beginning stage of his life cycle. A possible foreshadowing for his fate regarding freedom later on…? Or maybe just a fun little trivia.

Barnaby B. Beagle

Barnaby, the comedic relief who's the most emotionally intelligent. The jokester who knows that something is amiss when the situation calls for it, the comedian who can be honest and straightforward in what he finds amusing and not, the humorist whose appearance is always met with cheers, claps, and boos, as if he’s the main character of a very long winded sitcom.

As far as I’ve noticed, there aren’t as many connections to themes of freedom regarding Barnaby as there is on other characters. Though I can say that Barnaby can stand his ground more than Eddie, another character who is usually put in situations where he gets the boot to the head and usually lets people do as they please. I cannot put these into concrete words, but Barnaby has an air of professionalism to him despite his character archetype being the comedic relief.

Barnaby is close with Howdy (see the writing regarding his character above!), sharing jokes and puns with him. Barnaby is also considered Howdy’s greatest customer, always making the latter crack up and their personalities bounce off one another really well.

Another resident that Barnaby shares a close bond with – closer even – is Wally. Barnaby is very close to Wally. They are best friends, and many art for Welcome Home depicts them together a lot of the time. Barnaby includes Wally in the things he does like getting hotdogs together or sharing jokes. Besides Home, Barnaby knows Wally the best. He is also quick to notice changes in Wally’s demeanor, getting concerned about him when he doesn’t react to his words the way Wally always does in the last “answer audio”.

Clown also said that in any universe, Barnaby and Wally will always become best friends. They are the definition of soulmates. Platonic, romantic, whatever you call it – but like I’ve said earlier, the puppets’ view on love are not as complicated as humans’, and I can say that they love each other deeply, simple and true as that. Like someone once said, they’ll find each other in any universe. This makes me fear for their relationship even more, given that Wally and Barnaby are most likely not near each other when WHPS ended.

Eddie Dear

Eddie! Neighborhood’s creative, kind, and hardworking mailman. He has a good eye on arts and craft, and is more than delighted to lead the viewers of the show with the things he wants to create.

As Clown have stated, Eddie is a gay man. I’ve covered most of the things I’ve said regarding their (blooming) romantic relationship in Frank’s section of this thinkpiece however, so I implore you to go back there if you don’t want me to rewrite the whole thing all over again here, haha!

A recurring trope with him is that despite his adherence to work ethics and schedules, Eddie tends to forget a lot of things. The Welcome Home website says that he hails from a town far away from the neighborhood, but he always gets the name of the town wrong and oftentimes mentions names of places that doesn’t exist. He talks to inanimate objects to aid his forgetfulness (also for endearing character traits) and Frank once suggested that he ties strings to the things he doesn’t want to forget, but this doesn’t always work. Eddie also doesn’t remember where he came from and his character profile says that he and the post office appeared out of nowhere one day.

Eddie is also accident-prone, always getting himself into situations (a bug landing on his paper chains, getting chased by Barnaby) and is mainly depicted as the unwilling comedian. Many of his character aspects are depicted as a source of comedy, even by himself. Eddie also has tendencies of prioritizing what others want before himself because of his even-tempered nature. So far, Eddie doesn’t express any serious frustration over this, but with the themes of agency recurring in this story, I’m afraid that it’s going to be a matter of time before we see Eddie express discomfort over this.

Throwback to what I have said: Frank is a smart person who constantly searches for logical answers to things, while Eddie is more laid back and isn’t very focused on finding the right answer and just wanting problems to be handled. This contrast on their personalities and how their backstories are foils of each other (Frank coming from unclear origins, Eddie not knowing the name of the place he’s from) make me think: Is ignorance bliss to Eddie?

Julie Joyful

The sunshine of the neighborhood! The bringer of rainbows in Welcome Home! Julie stays true to her surname, always depicted with a bright smile on her face. She is the one that can turn Frank’s frown upside down. She is the one that can bring a tinge of comedy in Sally’s tragic dramas.

Julie joins the side of the neighborhood that has clear origins. She once lived inside a cave with her siblings, but ultimately leaves under her own volition to find life for herself. Regardless, she is a character that is known for her constant interactions with other neighbors, notably Frank, her best friend.

Her friendship with Frank is extremely special for both of them – if you want to read about it, you should go to Frank's section of this thinkpiece as I've covered most of my thoughts about Frank and Julie's friendship there, but I want to add a few more things.

She is the "funny man" to Frank's "straight man", forming the neighborhood’s comedic duo. She drags him into her shenanigans, like the time they played “Business Woman In The Big City”. They’re also quite competitive when participating in the games that Julie conducts. She brings out the best in Frank, always making sure he feels included and happy in any activity they do. Julie is the “spontaneity” to Frank’s “routinity”. Julie is the “fun” to Frank’s “frown”. They’re inseparable from one another, like Barnaby with Wally.

As stated by Clown, Julie is genderfluid and bisexual. She doesn’t have a love interest set for her, but what’s important is that her character is emphasized with her connections with others. When Frank couldn’t play with her, she plays with Sally and enjoys spending time with her and even stars as the main character in many of the latter’s plays. There are lots of love inside her, after all! She is also said to be quite touchy with her friends, often hugging them and encouraging them to go through with the things they want to do. It doesn’t always have to be seen as “romantic”, like I’ve said before.

Onto her status as a puppet for Playfellow Workshop. Something funny is that Julie has a tendency to go off-script as shown from her interaction with Sally while practicing for a play. She has issues getting into the mood of her plays, making scenes that are supposed to be emotional… comedical, instead.

Is this supposed to symbolize something further? Is this habit of hers pointing towards how she’s going to express her unwillingness to be a mere cog in the big machine? The puppets are very much sentient, but I am not sure if they are aware if their actions in the WHPS episodes are controlled by the script. Time will tell, and perhaps, Julie too.

Home

Finally, we get to the last but one of the most important characters in this story – Home.

Home is the ninth residence of the neighborhood, though it’s not a puppet but a stationery character. It houses Wally, the main character of this story. Unlike the rest of the cast, Home talks in onomatopeias, like creaking its doors or opening its windows to produce sound as means of communication. Its eyes are very expressive and is constantly moving. Unlike other houses in the neighborhood, they’re very expressive.

Their importance isn’t only limited to being Wally’s house or being the only character in Welcome Home that cannot walk or talk.

The mobile characters of Welcome Home never expressed annoyance for Home’s non-verbal trait and instead put in effort to understand them and include them in their activities. They accommodate for Home, making sure they feel comfortable, wanted, and not left out. Home feels… at home around them.

Wally writes for Home to help it communicate and makes his canvas face Home whenever he’s painting, Julie teaches it how to hula hoop, Eddie makes small talk with Home, Barnaby makes jokes and laughs with Home, Frank tries to include home in games of chess, and so on! Home isn’t just a building like the rest of the cast’s houses. They are part of the family. It makes me so happy to see that their existence isn’t considered a burden or an annoyance or have their traits be seen as sources of comedy. It hits close to home for me as a physically disabled person.

Regarding the overarching story outside of WHPS, Home is a character that plays a significant part in Wally's journey. Wally loves Home dearly. He takes care of Home and makes sure he is in great condition. He is the caretaker for Home and becomes its communicator when the situation calls for it. In return, Home makes sure Wally is safe and sound inside their cavity and expresses their love for Wally through communication from creaking noises and even lightly squishing him between their door and door frame. Home is also quick to notice changes in Wally’s behavior and shows their concern for him, signifying just how deep their relationship is.

As I’ve mentioned many times before, their closeness cannot be boxed into the usual types of love humans are used to. You just know they are extremely linked to one another and that their relationship is not only important in WHPS, but also the story as a whole.

Home and Wally are inseparable from one another. They have their separate personalities and are distinguishable from one another, but ultimately they will always be one. Home is Wally’s fortress. Home is the shield to Wally’s sword. Home is the pericardium to Wally’s heart. After all, “Home is where the heart is”, right?

Afterwords

Yay! Whew! Congrats on making it to the afterwords! I’ve spent more than a week writing this whole thing and having my friend @rxveriecaeli proofread this thinkpiece (Morfe if you’re reading this I love you bestie). Huge HUGE shoutout to them because I’d be lost without them giving the finishing touches!

I know, some people will say that I’m reaching or thinking too much about this story, but hey! That’s why it’s called a thinkpiece and not a theory or concrete proof of X or Y. I cannot say that I’m 100% sure about where the story is heading or what Clown has in mind for certain characters, but I just want to think and love making connections and my brain just keeps producing questions after questions after questions. Are the feelings they have with each other theirs and not the byproduct of the script commanding them? I believe so.

What if Poppy is a flightless bird because she's based on Big Bird and not because it's an analogy for her not being able to fly freely away? What if Howdy is an adult caterpillar because he just IS and not because it's an analogy for not being able to turn into a butterfly that can fly? These options might be so, but even if Clown someday confirm that their design choices are simply because they're inspired by other puppet characters, I'm just happy that I manage to find symbolism that I can connect to their character designs.

I think it's too early to assume that the puppets are surely seeking freedom. At most, they just want to be saved from the tragic states they’re in, and Wally is on the lead. I mean, the show's canceled and they no longer live by following the scripts made for them! We don't even know the true fates of them aside from being nearly forgotten to time. And even if the puppets do achieve freedom, what will be of them? The producers aren't around anymore, the employees that treat them as toys but also take care of them aren't there anymore, and they have to fend for themselves in the big world.

I am not a native English speaker and I cannot put some of my thoughts into words both because of my language barrier and my ADHD. I do not intend on expressing malicious or harmful subtext through this writing, but do tell me if I had worded anything incorrectly and I will fix it. I would love to hear your thoughts about this thinkpiece too, so don’t hesitate to leave comments or tags in the reblogs (though please be patient with me!). Not that I will tolerate hateful or bigoted comments, however!

Please do not start accusing me of spreading the rhetoric that “being queer/neurodivergent is painful and constantly suffering and if you don’t suffer you are not part of those groups”! Being queer is fun and liberating. Being neurodivergent or disabled is something to take pride in. I’m proud of who I am and I encourage others to be so too. The experiences of queer/neurodivergent won’t always be easy, though, and I made this analysis and the correlating connections based on my own experience as a queer, autistic, and physically disabled person.

That being said, thank you for reading!

Fun little trivia! The characters' favorite colors form a rainbow when put in respective order, just like the colors of the original pride flag :]

#LONG POST AHEAD!!!#welcome home #welcome home puppet show #wally darling #sally starlet #frank frankly #poppy partridge #howdy pillar #barnaby b beagle #eddie dear #julie joyful #home #senja writing

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tia-222 · 9 months

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I want to share a technique for the void! I don't remember what it's called but it works wonders.

It's called the sslid method for lucid dreaming in case anyone wants to do more research on it!

Ahh tysm , I was tryna find the name for it ♡. Your a life saver :^).

Ok, guys so I researched the method soon as I saw this ask and came across this entire guide on it. I'll copy and paste it here, so everyone can see<3.

Link to the original post

SSILD (Senses Initiated Lucid Dream) lucid dream technique :

" SSILD is a modern lucid dreaming technique. It is easy to learn, highly effective, and produces consistent results over period. I developed this technique in 2011 in order to teach lucid dreaming to fellow dreamers on a Chinese forum. The first written version of the technique was published under the title “太玄功”, which literally translates to “A Very Mysterious Technique”. This is rather fitting because at the time no one had the faintest idea why it worked. Despite this lack of theory, the feedback on the technique was overwhelmingly positive. Within just a few months we gathered many hundreds of success stories"

The core component of SSILD is called a “Cycle”. Each cycle consists three steps:

Focus on Sight: Close your eyes and pay attention to the darkness behind your closed eyelids. Don’t strain your eye muscles though. Your eyeballs should be resting, totally relaxed. If you don’t see anything that’s only normal. Do not attempt to spot visuals by moving your eyes around.

Focus on Hearing: Further relax your eyes and shift your attention to your ears. If the room is quiet enough you might be able to hear some noise inside your head or the sound of your heartbeat. However, if you can’t hear anything it is okay to listen to external sounds too

Focus on Somesthetic Senses (Touch): Direct your attention to your body. Feel it and see if you spot any unusual sensations such as tingling, heaviness, lightness, spinning sensations, and so on. If nothing like these can be felt, you can also try to feel the weight of the blanket, your heartbeat, temperature of the air, etc.

The repeated stimulation on the senses enables SSILD to condition our mind and body into a subtle state that is optimized for lucid dream to occur naturally. We should keep this in mind so we don’t make the common mistake of “trying too hard” during the cycles. Beginners usually want to see things, hear things, and feel things. When nothing unusual happens they become discouraged or even desperate. Avoid this mistake at all cost! One should not expect to experience anything phenomenal during the Cycle. In fact, it is better to expect NOTHING at all will happen.

The Steps :

Go to bed early, preferably before 11pm. Set your alarm to wake up after 4 or 5 hours.

Get out of bed and stay awake for 5-10 minutes. I suggest you visit the bathroom, rinse your mouth, and walk around or stretch a little bit. Try not to become too awake though.

Return to bed and lie down in a comfortable position, preferably different from the one you usually use. This is to prevent you from falling into sleep prematurely. However, if you are the type of person who requires extra effort to fall asleep, you may want to use the usual position instead.

Perform the “Cycle” quickly, repeat 4-6 times. This serves as a warm-up exercise so each step should be very short, a few seconds should be sufficient.

Perform the “Cycle” slowly, repeat 3-4 times. This step is the most important one. You should take extra time during each step. Thanks to step 4, at this point you should have become sufficiently relaxed and you will find focusing on the senses become much easier. For example, your eyes will feel more relaxed, and you may get visuals such as lights, colors, or movements. You might also notice that the external sounds seem to be fading into the background. Do not get excited though. You should observe quietly and after a while move on to other senses. As far as timing goes we are flexible, but in general each step should take no fewer than 30 seconds.

#ask answered #anon ask #void state #void state tips #void state methods #lucid dreaming #lucid dreaming to enter the void state #lucid dream technique #Manifestation #Subconscious

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alicefromwhichplanet · 19 days

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I’m going to voice my opinions on G1 Elita One here for a reader asked me this on ao3 at my fic Heroic Nonsense. I want to keep a record here as well for my future references and maybe find someone with similar ideas. So I still decided to use tags for content classification. Anyone who might feel irritated about me deconstructing this character may leave. But if you resonate with me or are interested in my analysis feel free to discuss.

I guess my view on G1 Elita One is basically negative, both in terms of her characterization and her representation of women.

If we genuinely talk about characterization, I think G1 Elita One is a very one-dimensional and uninteresting character. Because: 1) She doesn’t have a consistent personality or motivation of doing things. Of course you can say that her motivation is to save her boyfriend and lead the “femme bots”, but these don’t look natural, with the lack of a background story. She looks like a puppet squeezed into the show to be the protagonist’s girlfriend.

2) Also about her role. I feel that Hasbro made Elita One a shadow of Optimus Prime, giving her exactly the same position and constantly stressing her importance, when actually she contributes zero to the overall plot development. The “femme bot squad” in the show is an awkward duplicate of the male team, with every femme bot assigned to the male bot at the same position as their girlfriend/love interest(Elita One—Optimus Prime-leader, Chromia— Ironhide-second in command). I do not know the reason why “femme bots” in the play need to fight alone, and I do not know why Elita One is the leader except the fact that she is Optimus’s girlfriend. So what is the play implying by making such a character? Honestly I think this is even worse than having no female characters in the play.

3)Her plot is totally predictable. It’s a classic Hollywood hero-saves-damsel in distress story. From the moment when Alpha Trion asked her to go on a mission on her own (for what? Why? Till today I still think Alpha Trion is doing this simply because he is an avatar of the playwright) I know she will be caught and rescued by Optimus Prime. Such stories are easily guessed and easily forgotten.

If we talk about gender representation, I have to say Elita One hardly represents any pioneering thoughts of feminism or gender equality. To begin with, I want to clarify that feminism/gender equality aims to question and overthrow patriarchy system, which includes breaking the gender stereotypes and challenging fixed gender roles, heteronormative relationships included. Unfortunately Elita One just repeated/ reinforced the stereotypes/ the fixed model of heterosexuality. She is in bright pink, an assigned color to represent females. She is abruptly introduced as Optimus’s girlfriend, without any background information (how they fell in love, why Optimus chose to have a relationship with her in particular, without the biological need to reproduce, what kind of person she is before she met Optimus). It feels like the playwright cannot bear an action hero not being able to “win over” some pretty chicks. She is made/resurrected by Optimus’s parts, which is just like Adam and Eve and confirms her position as “the second sex”. All of her plots are rigid and boring and she lives like a duplicate, or a moon revolving around Optimus. What’s worse, in her very short debut she is still portrayed as “sweet, understanding, and loves her boyfriend so much that she becomes irrational when he is in danger”, the most typical stereotype of a hero’s wife under male gaze.

Judged from my analysis, I think she is basically a functional character. This means she is created to fulfill a purpose in another character’s characterization, rather than existing on her own. In particular, the purpose of her creation is to add a girlfriend to Optimus Prime, so that he fulfills some people’s fantasy of a “normal” male action hero. With this function as the very beginning of her characterization, the playwright will not be able to make her a round character, or give her any believable motivations. Nor does the playwright actually care.

Now that I think about it, this kind of character may work for some people, because they genuinely believe it is necessary for heroes to be paired up with an opposite sex, or like to imagine themselves as “the lucky chosen girl” through this character (this might be harsh). But I just want to say, it doesn’t work for me. In years of reading and using feminist criticism, it has become harder and harder for me not to be picky about characters, or not to be sensitive about gender issues in any show. Repulsion is not the only way I feel about her. She is my least favorite character.

#transformers #writing #tf g1 #maccadam #elita one #optimus prime #character analysis #transformers femmes #feminism #discourse #my thoughts #deconstruction #gender equality #women’s representation

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yuri-is-online · 1 month

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Your fantasy AU sounds fun… Do you have any other thoughts?

Mostly just world building if I'm being honest. The real spicy thoughts could count as spoilers so I'll try to put some fun things first before the building block stuff.

Yuu has a lot of physical damage on their body, and a pendant they're extremely protective of but don't remember why. I had a specific idea for that pendant was in the first outline but since I'm not 100% on this being a JadeYuu fic anymore I'm keeping it vague.

Yuu has some vague memories of being in a coma and several people talking to them, but they don't know who they were or what they talked about. It really hurts their head to think about, but they truly trust Idia and aren't afraid of him or Ortho. Somehow they know neither of them are responsible for what happened... or maybe they just don't blame them?

Idia is the one who brought Yuu to his and Ortho's house, but not everyone who should knows that they're there. Ortho doesn't know how Idia knew where to find them and has decided to not ask questions.

Ramshackle Party currently consists of Ace, Deuce, Yuu, and Ortho! Jack, Epel, and Sebek might join later but I'm undecided if they'll be permanent or temporary members. Ace is meant to be a rogue, Deuce used to be a barbarian who has been training under Trey to try and be a proper knight, Ortho is an alchemist, and Yuu is a mechanist a la FFXIV. Or gunslinger if you prefer that. Grim still follows them around and insists he's a great mage but his magic is... well you know.

Oh and Jack is a druid, Epel is an unwilling palidan/squire, and Sebek is also a palidan sworn to the oath of the crown.

Speaking of Trey, he and Riddle are influential members of the Queendom's royal guard, with Riddle being the Commander and Trey being his Second. Cater used to be a freelance information broker who has settled in the Rose Court as the chief of it's spy network, but he's publicly known as a semi famous bard. Neither Ace or Deuce know his real job ha.

Speaking of information brokers, Azul is still a merchant. He doesn't have a monopoly on physical goods since Sam is still here, but his information services can't be beat. He's actively involved in mapping the labrynth floors and has a lot of pull within the Adventure's guild. The twins still work with him but Floyd like to run off and explore the labrynth on his own for funsies sometimes.

Leona is actually a fairly influential politician in this AU, he's lacking the color scheme but he's in his Duke of the North era. He's known for being the first real adventurer in the labrynth, but how that came to happen, and all of his current personal life, are unknown to the general public. He sends Ruggie to bother Idia a lot.

No one knows how many floors the labrynth has, the S.T.Y.X. keeps detailed track of the known floors and assigns them a difficulty ranking based on things like terrain, monsters, weather etc. The Charon units are stationed at all known entrances to check if people trying to enter have the proper adventurer rank and to keep an eye out for dead mages.

Speaking of that, only mages can be resurrected if they die in the labrynth. Magicless people do occasionally venture in, but usually as merchants and never past floor 10.

The Adventure's Guild has a ranking system that determines how deep into the labrynth you're allowed go. Idia is an Obsidian ranked adventure, which prevents him from forming a party with Ortho who is only Bronze rank. Idia's party he gained that rank with has since disbanded, which makes things annoying for him as adventures are required to form a party with a minimum of four people before adventuring. Ortho has only really met one of Idia's previous party members, but he looks up to him a lot. Idia never talks about the other ones.

I have an idea for what I want to do with Malleus but it's a bit... weird? And I'm not 100% sold on it yet. I need to think more. But I know Briar Valley doesn't have much of a presence in the Labrynth or it's nearby town as they have been able to prevent it from spreading into it's territory. Silver and Sebek do occasionally participate in some of the exploration of the lower levels S.T.Y.X does though.

#<3 asks #twisted wonderland x reader #twst x reader #fantasy au #to be clear i know what's wrong with yuu i just haven't decided on who is “responsible”#or if i want it to be vague and write a general route and then add scenes w specific characters

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mdhwrites · 3 months

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Okay, don't you think you're being harsh to think Dana Terrace is incapable of creating anything good and dreading it when she creates something? Like, the idea Owl House never should have existed (based on what that one anon said) is way too harsh and insulting to Dana.

Like come on, Dana's a pretty nice person. Heck, a lot of the people and creators who work at Disney TVA like Alex Hirsch, Matt Braly, Frank Angones, Matt Youngberg, Daron Nefcy, Chris Houghton, and Shane Houghton have nothing but nice things to say about her. Ditto with the rest of the Owl House cast and crew (a ship is more than its captain after all) being saying nothing but nice things about Dana.

And it's not like Dana's the only Disney TVA creator who has caused people to go against Disney. Alex Hirsch has badmouthed Disney several times (even making a Twitter post on how much Disney meddled with Gravity Falls), Matt Braly was frustrated with the last minute True Colors delay and expressed frustration with them here ( https://twitter.com/Radrappy/status/1746706435080323397), and Bill Motz has made comments on how Disney treated Molly McGee that worsened the opinion of how Disney treats their animated shows.

So I had considered saying that the ask did go a bit far in how angry it was at Dana. I mentioned that being unprofessional does not make you a bad person. Some of the actions are frustrating to me but I am not trying to say Dana is wrong for having made a product in such a flawed way. I am at least trying not judging her as a person, just as a creative. I also don't think TOH simply shouldn't have existed. It had plenty of good ideas but at the end of the day, its captain should be the one who is in charge of those ideas and making sure that they're focused on telling the story and staying consistent. Dana wrote Reaching Out, one of the episodes of the show that most destroys both character potential and the believability of the world. It's also not by any means the only episode with a main writing credit for her like that, such as The First Day. As a writer, I genuinely just don't get the impression she has the attention span to be leading such a large project, especially if she is going to complain about not having full control over it while also lacking more concrete ideas to what it is. When I say I am not interested in the next work Dana is the director for, I just mean director because these flaws in her style make me think that unless it's an anthology series, anything she makes is going to have me get frustrated by the work over time.

NOW as for the stuff about her being unprofessional: Time and context is HUGE here. Matt getting upset about True Colors leaks? The COMPANY is also going to be upset by them and while it might berate Disney for lack of security, it is a genuine fuck up on their part to do with his show and him lambasting the leaks also pushes the audience not to spread them. There's nothing unprofessional about that nor that might harm the show. Alex Hirsch released that video about the censor board for Disney on Gravity Falls YEARS after the fact (this also goes for the tweet that you quote from Matt which is literally two weeks ago, well over a year past when Amphibia ended). The show was already a success and a video like that might make Disney look a little silly but it won't harm how people see the product or trying to get into it. In fact, with the current state of things, it might actually be seen as a PR bump.

Meanwhile, Dana was shit talking her own show and blaming it on the company she CHOSE to work with regarding literally half of the content that was out at the time. Worse yet, the first half. The half that theoretically needs to sell you on the show. What is a new viewer supposed to think of that if they haven't seen the show? "Well, even if it gets good, even the creator admits the first half is at least underwhelming. I don't want to have to put up with half a season of subpar work just to get to the good stuff."

And as I said with Hirsch: How people feel about Disney, and how clearly Disney actually does want the rep in TOH to be a selling point for them (they immediately were willing to do Lumity marathons or have them featured on Disney+ for Pride Month, as well as Lumity being the only t-shirt released by Disney that wasn't of just The Owl House members or the logo), means that Dana getting upset about them for the homophobic acts in Florida probably was seen as at worst neutral. Buuuuut that shifts when she starts trying to accuse the treatment of their programming onto their homophobic ideas because suddenly part of the company's selling point on the show is being actively damaged by the creator. Worse yet, she is doing it as speculation rather than sticking to the reasons given by Disney. Feeding into people's anger about the company while eschewing responsibility for why the show was shortened like it was. This is admittedly less of a strong argument, I do still support her lambasting their homophobic politics, but it's a moment that has stuck with me for something I'll get into later.

This is also without getting into the fact that one interview with her specifically mentions her first response to the shortening being to end S2 on a massive cliffhanger and then just GTFOing on them, a statement that is going to make ANY production company start sweating about you as a creative they want to work with. After all, the crew and other creatives may love Dana... But what do actually publishers and people she has to clear this stuff with think of her? You know, the people who decide funding on these matters because that is just a part of the majority of animated work currently unless you somehow manage to get enough patrons to be able to go independent like Vivziepop with Helluva Boss.

All of this also gives the impression of someone who would rather blame other forces than learn. Honestly, one of the best things I've heard her say is that the shortening did push her creatively. Force her to make decisions and try harder. That gives me hope... But she spent so much of TOH complaining about corporate oversight or riling up her fans against the company who shortened her that... I don't know if she'll take that to heart. If she's going to treat this as a learning experience or if she'll double down. Again, one of the biggest regrets she has is not getting to do more Raeda, despite their one episode already being almost entirely pointless.

Even if she is a wonderful person, from a publisher's standpoint, she seems like a high risk gamble for honestly that incredible of numbers. Someone who might turn on you if you ever force a decision she doesn't like or push her too hard. That's not something a big corporation is going to want. It makes it sound a lot more like she's someone who indeed should just go independent if she really found working for Disney so rough.

I would love to be wrong though. I would love for her next work to be a knock out of the park. I just know that I'm probably going to pick it up AFTER it's done and I know it actually knew where it was going instead of just scrambling to put the tracks in front of it.

======+++++======

I will probably try just not to talk more about Dana as a creative because I REALLY don't like talking about the creators themselves instead of just judging the quality of their work. I genuinely wish Dana the best but... Man, after I've had so many people dismiss everything I've ever said about this show because of the shortening, or because Disney was too restrictive on LGBTQIA+ elements or because they forced Hexside onto Dana, ruining her plans, excuses Dana has herself pushed for the fans to use by using them herself...

It made learning just how little of any sort of plan she ever had so exhausting and infuriating, amplified by just how much this fandom screeches about TOH's unfair treatment when I don't see any of them going to bat for Molly McGee right now the same way. Not in my corners at least. Edit: I have been corrected that people are pretty mad for Molly McGee which good. They should be.

#the owl house criticism #toh critical

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diorysuss · 1 month

Text

dio’s big list of murder drone theories

so hi. it’s me dio. i’ve been cookin a bunch of theories i think you guys will like so I’m gonna masterlist em here. these range from “serious” to “crack” so be warned (nothing extreme dw)

Nori will be french (Semi-Serious)

Evidence gathered -

1. In episode 2, Khan holds up a manual that has 3 languages; Russian, English, and French. These can be linked to Yeva, Alice, and by proxy, Nori.

2. The colors of the French flag, red, blue and white, make what? Purple.

3. As seen in the 7&8 teasers, there is a secret underground cathedral. Cathedrals are French architecture. Perfect to experiment on a FRENCH drone, don’t you think?

4. The French love pissing off the English. Like how Nori pissed off Alice. Coincidence? I think not.

5. Russia, France and the USA happen to be world superpowers. Hm.. powers.. like the solver.

Foreign Accent Syndrome & The Solver (Not expecting it to be canon)

Evidence gathered/Reasoning -

Alice could suffer from foreign accent syndrome (shortened to FAS) , a condition where it makes the afflicted person speak in a completely different accent in their native language. Linked to brain damage and strokes, the disease is thought to sever connects to the part of the brain that controls your lip movements, thus giving you a different accent.

67% percent of people who suffer from FAS are women, like a majority of the solver users, and we know the solver is notorious for messing with people’s brain. A lot of Russian viewers have pointed out Doll’s bad accent (which I’m well aware is just the VA not natively speaking Russian, but hear me out!) Doll has an American accent due to FAS and the solver messing with her brain.

Thad being the solver’s “spy” (Semi-Serious)

Evidence gathered/Reasoning

1. Consistent purple headlights in episode 4

2. Lack of vocal interactions

3. Eldritch J afflicting him (cannot be good)

With Doll and Uzi down deep under the surface, the solver has no one of the surface in order to do.. whatever. Not sure yet, but it seems like it choose Thad, possibly due to a closeness with N and Uzi. Whatever he has, it cannot result in him being normal in any way whatsoever. I just refuse to believe it. Interestingly, he also happens to be named after a disciple of Jesus who warns of heretics and is literally the patron symbol of hope.

The cross (Serious)

Evidence gathered/Reasoning-

The cross in the episode 7 teaser everyone is going crazy for, I know! But it being upside down will not necessarily represent an evil. Instead-

- A cross upside down is representative of St. Peter, who requested to be crucified upside down because he did not feel worthy of dying the same way as Jesus.

- An upside down crucifix, however does actually represent the devil, and would represent the solver in this case. The key difference is that a crucifix has Jesus’s body on the cross.

Uzi is clearly holding a cross due to the lack of Jesus. This makes me believe that she herself doesn’t feel worthy of something; my top pick is she doesn’t feel worthy of sacrificing herself for the better of Copper-9 and the universe, and gives into the solver as a result.

JCJenson is cover-up business for a cult (Serious)

Evidence gathered/reasoning -

1. Humans are not too concerned with events surrounding the solver- in fact, they seem content being around it. Tessa seems to be the only one to care.

2. JCJenson products and products of Cyn/Solver share a lot of characteristics

3. A very cult like area sitting under JCJenson labs is very suspicious

My best guess here is that JCJenson summoned the solver for money/power in exchange for giving the solver test subjects and sacrifices such as Nori and Yeva so that they can grow. However, the cult slowly began to corrupt the company until they became just a cover up- quickly switching to space travel to help spread the solver while still advancing their robotics. The Elliot’s were possibly a family who disliked this idea and made special leaps to make sure the solver didn’t infect their house; which failed, just look at episode 5.

Final Destination & an actual true important death (Serious)

Evidence Gather/Reasoning -

Final destination is a movie trilogy that is notoriously famous for having gruesome deaths and how attempt to escape death is futile. Since other episodes have been based off other horror flicks/tropes (I.E, episode 2 was based off Alien, episode 3 Carrie, episode 4 any slasher flick ever, etc) I believe someone important will “die” this episode and in a gruesome manner. J? Doll? Uzi? N? Fucking Khan? Who knows!

Teacher affiliated with the solver (Crack)

1. Orange eyes, like Alice had, suggests he was affected by the solver at one point

2. Wayy different from other worker drones, who are at most optimistic about death and at their worst having a panic attack. He simply does not care. About anything.

3. Knew something was up with Uzi before her solver was even revealed

4. Only worker drone who’s seen on screen drinking. Even if it’s just an alcoholic drink, we know drones can’t drink anything other than oil and batteries, so what’s in there?

5. No where to be seen during episode 4, considering he would have been an easy target for Uzi

Completely crack, I just like this theory cause it seems so out of place and different. I reviewed some cursive on the clipboard and apparently, his name might be Lu/Lou or some variant, maybe even Liam? Who knows it’s fucking funny lol

fish khan

fish fish/ fish

fish khan fish fish khan khan fish fish khan fish fish fishhhhhhhh fish fish fish fish figshhhhhh fish fish

#murder drones #murder drones theory #dio speaks #i wrote this at like 1 am #in a crazed panic #tell me if you have anything to add !!#i would love to hear your thoughts #:3 #if you think I’m tagging every character you’re insane

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recurring-polynya · 9 months

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Yesterday's post about shinigami blood types (or lack thereof) reminded me about an idea I had awhile ago that shinigami had an equally woo system of assigning personality types based on reiatsu color. This is especially charming to me because of the fact that Ichigo, who hates horoscopes and such, changes reiatsu colors like seventeen times over the course of the series and I feel like the Reiatsu Color Girlies (gender neutral) would have a field day with him.

For funsies, and because it's Friday, I decided to take a stab at making one. I started with the reiatsu color chart from the Bleach wiki. I threw out all the really minor filler arc characters. This is mostly a shinigami thing, so I considered non-shinigami characters as I was thinking about the categories, but they were, like, supporting evidence. I decided that black reiatsu is not a thing people have normally, that's...you know, final form nonsense. Both Yoruichi and Soi Fon's shunko is listed as white, but I feel like shunko is just white, that's not the same as having white reiatsu and is not a personality reflection. On the other hand, when one's bankai is a different color than their normal, that's like revealing a secondary personality type, which is oddly consistent with bankai as a concept. I futzed around for a bit, and finally decided I wanted it to be color-wheel balanced, so, while the Bleach wiki uses the categories of Orange, Golden Orange, Golden Yellow, and Yellow, I just used Orange and Yellow. These are all designed as a spectrum anyway, so if someone's reiatsu is somewhere in the middle, or two-toned or something, they are considered to either have the traits of both, or to be somewhere in the middle.

Finally, keep in mind, this is in-universe hokem, so it's actually very on-brand and hilarious for someone to be grossly miscategorized.

Some notes:

From the very beginning of this project, it was hilarious to me that Matsumoto was getting thrown into the same personality archetype as Hitsugaya and both Kuchiki. In my mind, Rangiku strongly identifies as a white reiatsu person, despite the ample evidence to the contrary. No one is sure if this is a bit or not.

I took all the Arrancar off this chart, but obviously Grimmjow's is blue, and I think it's a hilarious Seireitei microaggression that he would go into the studious class overachiever with Kira and Ishida (I realize that Ishida is also not a shinigami, so to him, it's a microaggression how on-brand this is)

The pink category was such a mixed bag, and it also contained basically every girl Arrancar. I tried to come up with something that literally every one of them would make a horrified face about, a club to which absolutely no one wishes to belong.

The red category feels very solid to me and I love the collection of characters within it, except for Urahara, what is this man doing here? I feel he would be very "hmm, maybe I am a man of action" about it, which is definitely a bit, and Yoruichi has nearly murdered him over it on multiple occasions.

Has there ever been anyone with green reiatsu who wasn't absolutely insufferable over it? Certainly not anyone on this chart. (Kira is both vocally critical of the reiatsu color personality system and incandescently angry that he doesn't have green reiatsu)

#bleach worldbuilding #the spelling on the chart is not my usual b/c i copied it from the wiki and didn't feel like changing everything #i did not go to the trouble of looking up a number of characters who were Notably Missing from this chart #any after-the-fact additions will hopefully just add to the humor value #will i find some way to work this into a fanfic someday? i sure hope so!#this is just a dumb thing i made up if you disagree with it feel free to make your own

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neptunes-sol-angel · 2 years

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Paid Readings | Patreon | GofundMe

I've added a new service to my shop, where it'll be like this reading but more in depth, and I will also channel how your aura affects others and any other additional messages that I pick up.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ Pile One *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ

Your Aura is Bumblebee Jasper.

It primarily consists of warm colors like orange, yellow, and red, with thin strips of cool colors like green, purple, or blue. The gradient of these colors melt on to each other like the sun's reflection on an ocean when it sets. I feel like your aura is something that inverts. A lot of you could have an ambivert personality, or phases in your life that shift from endearing life and having the utmost faith for all of the positive that it could bring to loathing life and expecting only the mundane and nothing but the worst. Maybe some of you were agnostic/atheist at some point of your life but had a dark night of the soul that brought you to a spiritual awakening, but the lovely part about your aura, is that it resembles how much you guys are able to exchange both light and the dark side of energy to find out the bare truth of a situation (maybe even about your purpose in life itself) and how to brew ideas that will bring solutions.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ Pile Two *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ

Your Aura is Red Tiger's Eye.

Your Aura starts off with fuchsia before it grows deeper into a pigment that's more maroon that ends with a thin layer of black. Sex appeal comes naturally to you, and passion could be something that exhilirates you, even if you're lunging for something that could potentially leave you in a trench. You guys could be pretty impulsive when it comes to your relationships or attract people that have a deep infatuation for the idea that they have of you. Intensity is what makes you thrive emotionally and what you look for in a romantic interest, and you can't stand anything that lacks meaning. However, as much as you search for depth in both people and concepts, your impulsiveness may make you near-sighted. Going with what you can see and feel first-hand, instead of rationally observing a person or situation for what it actually is. Confidence is also what your aura speaks of. Its potency talks about relying on your raw inner power. If you don't already, then there's a need to recognize that you don't need to try "hard" for anything, and the things that you do effortlessly is what draws people in. You don't need to be toned down or exaggerated.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟPile Three *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ

Your Aura is Prehnite.

Your Aura is has multiple shades of green that range from mint to a shade that likens to pandan. I keep thinking of different green plants and herbs, so right off the bat, I'm getting that you're able to soothe yourself, like eucalyptus. Maybe you guys meditate a lot or had to learn how to regulate your breathing and relaxing your mind. There's something very Saturn like about your aura. Possibly, you guys have experienced a lot of loss and challenges at a young age, and growing up has just been about building yourself back up again or learning how to heal yourself so that you can heal others. You guys could be fluent speakers or there is something about your voice that's placid but at the same time inviting. Your Aura is soft on the eyes, but at the same time strong? It shows strength and also reliability, like it shows people that you're someone that they can lean on and trust, during troubling times.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ Pile Four *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ

Your Aura is Rainbow Obsidian.

Your Aura is predominantly dark grey and black with trickles of purple and green. It sounds murky, but your aura is actually pretty luminous. I sense a lot of rebirths that has happened for people in this pile, but also ethereal miracles in situations that felt like a dead end. Sight is being emphasized here. You could be described as someone who's esoteric. You guys could be well in tune with spirituality, the occult, or religion because of what you've personally experienced that most will not understand, which usually relates to what cannot be seen or what would be looked at as impossible. This is different from clairvoyance, but more like claircognizance. You guys could be on a path where you release knowing what the future holds for you, even when there's chaos around you. It's like you have a gift of getting answers without necessarily seeking them, by just releasing control. Your Aura makes you a motivating force for other people during dark times, based off of what you've endured and how you still maintain mellow optimism for how your life can still turn around for the better even when things feel like an endless purgatory.

#divination #intuitive #psychic #pick a card #oracle #spirituality #tarot #pac #pick a pile #tarot readings #tarot reader #tarotblr

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ozwuv · 3 months

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I would like to draw more but I find myself overthinking it and then losing motivation. So, I was wondering if you ever had a similar issue and if so what do you do to stay motivated and not overthink?

Really good question actually!

What nipped the overthinking for me was just completely dropping the planning stage of drawing. I don't put much thought into composition, colors, etc. I don't have any solid ideas of how I want things to look before I begin. Obligatory disclaimer that this is from my perspective as a hobbyist and therefore not practical for an aspiring professional, & this is gonna sound like BS but hear me out lol

Most of the time the only things I have in mind are 1. What character(s) I want to draw and 2. A vague idea of the atmosphere I want the finished product to convey. And "finished" can mean a lot of things -- a messy sketch can be finished, a fully rendered piece I spent an entire day could be finished. A common pitfall people fall into is having an impractically rigid idea of what a "finished" drawing is and subsequently what they want their art to look like, all the bells and whistles etc, when realistically your art is never going to look exactly how it did in your head. But is that really such a bad thing?

I guess the overarching concept is to just fall in love with the process and enjoy the journey rather than the destination. This obviously sounds easier than it is in reality, but imo people focus way too hard on what they're producing rather than how and why they're producing it. Other people loving what you draw and praising it is wonderful, but if you don't enjoy the process, what was the point? Drawing (and I would venture to say most other forms of art in general) becomes a chore with that mindset applied.

A lack of planning may very well mean you wind up drawing a lot of stuff that doesn't seem interesting, maybe haphazard, difficult to parse, etc, but this is all your perception. It's cliché, but there is always going to someone out there that adores something you think looks like a dumpster fire, and that applies to the things you draw too. Over time, just doing whatever you want and enjoying the process has this trickle effect that will improve your output. In the same vein, constantly overthinking will also inevitably trickles into your output. You can often tell when someone enjoyed the process of something they drew vs when it was just a slog for them to get through (at least relative to their other works).

I would venture to say that you could spend your entire life studying and could be the most technically knowledgeable person about illustration ever in the world, but if you don't genuinely love the process, your work will never be as good as it could be if you did.

If you finish something and think it looks like shit that's always a bummer, but if you had fun with it, I think that was time worth spending. I've said this before, but most of the time I only truly dislike something I've drawn when I spent any part of the process frustrated with how it was going. It's counterintuitive, but I really think that placing so much emphasis in how you want the finished product to look is what ultimately is going to make it look like shit to you.

All that being said, once you do get past that initial overthinking phase, you can start to get more specific with planning and whatnot. The key is to just stop holding onto the idea of what you want and allowing things to develop as you go. Your art will naturally improve this way since you're actually enjoying it. To me, that's what people mean when they say they can tell something was made with love.

Side note: Let go of the need to be consistent/have a developed style. Just let yourself be inconsistent. You don't need strict consistency unless you're like an animator who needs to keep characters on-model or something. Experimenting is not only way more fun, but leads to improvement and discovering new things to implement into your process/style at large.

Tl;dr just get a lil silly w it :3c

#hope this made sense i feel like it sounds like mumbo jumbo but it works for meee #yip yap #if you saw those typos no you didnt

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heartnosekid · 3 months

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Idk if you’ve asked this before but how do you do the “based off the name” stimboards?

like the themes and gifs you use

btw love your boards

i have been asked this before but i sure as heck can't find that particular ask despite having looked for a while lol

so essentially, i recently started using a new method to determine the exact vibes i get from a name. i've been establishing my own thoughts about the name before i ask a friend or two about the vibes they get, to see if that gels with anything i thought or opens me to new vibes that make sense with what i already had.

i'm gonna use a name i've never made a board for as an example.

the name ingrid. that IMMEDIATELY gives me dark purple and red, and some monochrome. i can't explain why, names just automatically give me an aura for lack of a better word. then, my brain immediately jumps to ingrid michaelson and her song "the way i am" (very sweet and beautiful song, highly recommend if you haven't heard) which makes me think of like. balloons and streamers and clowns, etc. maybe some lipstick. i heard that song very early in life and i really loved the chords and i'd also never heard the name ingrid, so that really instilled those vibes early on lol next, i get the minor themes which can be included or left out for consistency's sake, those being stripes, color coordinated office supplies, and calligraphy primarily. it sounds mish mashy when i say all these themes and ideas together but trust me, i can usually make the vibe work. (i may make this board for myself now, i've always loved the name ingrid lmao)

a friend may say something completely different, and i usually only really consult someone else if i am struggling with themes or if i genuinely just wanna hear what they have to say, but sometimes the ideas i get from a friend give the board a whole new vibe which is totally welcome.

when it comes to finding the videos to gif, i generally search instagram, youtube, and tiktok primarily. for ingrid, i would search very broad terms like clowns, balloons, stripes / striped pattern, calligraphy, stationery, lipstick, monochrome / monochrome photography, etc and save some of the videos i found that match the vibes i'm going for! it's rare i really struggle to find videos that fit a vibe i'm searching for, but it has happened and in that case, i can find a good video that fits all the boxes but not color wise, and then color change it in ezgif.

so yeah! i hope this is somewhat coherent, my brain's all mush lately. if you have any more questions about my processes when making name boards, feel free to ask!!!

#ish talks #anon #names

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tea-cat-arts · 1 year

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Ranking the “mostly white + 1 main color and maybe gold” designs because I’m trying to collect my thoughts and see which I want to redesign. Also, I’m only going to ranking ones that are currently in game (both because I’m taking how the gameplay interacts with the design into account and because I think lore + execution of lore should be taken into account when judging designs), so no Susannah.

Disclaimer: I’m trying my best to look at these objectively, but this is still art and my subjective biases will probably factor in. I’m not trying to convince anyone to feel the same way as me about these designs. Feel free to argue why you think something should be placed higher or lower. Also, spoilers lie ahead

S tier (excellent, wouldn’t change a thing)-

Strategic placement of black, more battle suit like parts saves all the parts from blending together

Keeps bits of the more mech-like armor seen earlier in game. Helps her look thematically consistent with the rest of Kiana’s designs

Nice range of values. The strong red cape really helps the white dress (?) stand out, while the little splashes of orange help keep it feel unified

Lovely evolution of the Void Drifter design

In actual battle, her mostly white outfit saved her from getting lost in all the glowy fire

I think having most of the colors being reflected off her is a fun application of her moon motif

Lines up well with the lore

Free pass on just wearing a regular dress since in lore, she was never a fighter

White dress with splashes of paint on it plays into the “Griseo is like a blank canvas that takes on other people’s colors” motif nicely

The dark blues and black are eye catching and contrast nicely with her dress and hair

A tier (good design, minor changes could make it a great design)

So the thing about white is though it is used as a wedding color in the west, in a lot of East Asian countries, it’s actually used as a funeral color. Idk if that was hoyo’s intention here, but the double meaning is fun none the less

The purple of the dress and pink of the hair keep the suit looking vibrant and colorful

Same thing with Flamescion where all her skills are very bright and colorful (mostly in origin form? I think that’s what it’s called?), so I think the white keeps her stand out

There is very little variation in tone between the pink and purple. One of them needs to be more saturated

I feel like it could use more variation in fabric texture

B Tier (good design, muddled lore)

Would be ranked higher if I didn’t have to google why this battlesuit exists. Her in game intro was messy

Has the unfortunate timing of being introduced in the middle of a bunch of other lore dumps and buried underneath the more important to the plot ones. I think it’s introduction would be much more powerful if it was just Rita becoming the Herrscher of domination (I am willing to elaborate via asks)

Like, imagine if she got some sort of a string weapon instead of the sword? I think that’d be neat

So basically I was just confused by the space theme till I googled it (and based on my Reddit findings, I wasn’t the only one)

Beginning of the not looking like a battle suit era, but the inclusion of gold bits and a couple under layers keep it from being a full departure from the usual motifs, but it does lack the mech bits

I think there’s more Rita battle suits that lack the mech bits than actually have the, so I’m fine with them being missing here

Good tone variation, clear segmentation

Elegant design for an elegant lady

C tier (saved by the gameplay)-

Her knight for straight up looks like lingerie, but her guardian form looks great

Having her armor switch to black in guardian form was a good call

Unlike Rita, most of Durandal’s battlesuits look like armor, so it’s weird this one doesn’t.

I’m ok with the mostly white color palette since it contrasts nicely with the horse

Speaking of the horse- I have no idea where he came from, but it looks sick so I’m completely fine with it being here

Though for a rewrite, I think a potentially fun explanation would be “unlocking both of her stigmata allowed her to use a divine key at its full potential and said key just so happens to have a horse/armor mode” (cuz if you need weird shit to happen, Vill-V is always a valid excuse)

It’s inconsistency in comparison to Durandal’s other designs + my very mixed feelings about her being the original Kiana and that process of awakening the Kaslana stigmata are mostly why I put her bellow Rita. I don’t really have any huge problems with this design

D tier (even great gameplay can’t save this)-

So for the design where Kiana is “no longer just reflecting others light, and instead becoming the sun itself” (or something like that), the decided to give Kiana the coolest color palette we’ve ever seen her in, take away her signature orange and Himeko’s red, and have her primary colors be Mei’s purple and Brongo’s blue… ok

Yes, I know blue stars exist and that they’re very hot. Honkai is a story set on earth though so it’d make more sense if she was becoming like our sun, not some one billions of light years away

The inclusion of HoV’s magenta accents is kinda nice though

That is a junior prom dress, not battle suit (the Fanny packs are based though). Where’d her mech parts go?

Instead of the skirt and wings by legs, I think it may of looked like a cleaner transition if the put wings it the same shape/area as HoF’s cape

After seeing how brights and glowy her abilities are, I’m ok with this design being mostly white

This designs just a whole lot of “ok, but what does that have to do with Kiana?” Why the junior prom dress? Why the flowers? Why she so urple?

F tier (the only one on this list I actively dislike)-

Since I’ve been pretty vocal about my dislike of Dr.MEI, I just want to start by making this clear: I like Raiden Mei. She’s cool. I don’t just have some anti-Mei bias. She’s at the bottom of this list though because she deserved so much better than this design and story (and I’ve been using her a lot in ER lately, so I’ve had a lot of time staring at her design)

Designs like these are why I have the “wait till it’s introduced in story” rule. I was sorta just “meh” on this design until I saw it in game

I hate this designs introduction. It’s just another case of the writers retconning the PE and glorifying the flame chasers/ forgetting why they existed in the first place

Mihoyo, Elysia’s been dead for 50,000 years! You can stop shooting her now!

Also another instance of Mihoyo forgetting Mei is an independent person and centering her narrative around her relationship to another character. Why’s it gotta be about becoming like Elysia and the other flame chasers instead of acknowledging their mistakes and learning from them so Mei can avoid their pitfalls and forge her own ideal future

Mei is so much fun to watch when she’s thinking for herself and forging her own path, so it’s frustrating to watch the narrative force her to walk down the path Elysia laid.

If I keep talking about this point I’m gonna go into rewrite/fanfic territory, so on to the design from a more technical standpoint:

There is next to no variation in tone (aside from her hair). Everything is just incredibly light. Her abilities in game are also incredibly pale, so she ends up getting lost in all the flashy lights

There’s so much texture throughout the outfit that there doesn’t really end up being a place for the eyes to rest

Though I understand why she’s blue, I think it’s inclusion was incredibly clunky. Including it as gems on the outfit or the underside of the skirt(?) may have helped the distribution look more even

If I went with the underside of the skirt being blue, I’d probably also say make her boots black (or just give her black tights or leggings with white ankle boots)

Orange (or at least Kiana’s shade of orange), blue, and purple are admittedly hard colors to make look good together, but there really needs some orange in there. Maybe sort of a deeper rose gold could’ve worked

I’m thinking like edae98 or fbbc93 (two on the top right)

^These things just need to go. The white skirt(?) over white boots just causes the whole bottom half to bleed together. Having so much weight on the bottom of the outfit also causes her movements to look incredibly clunky. Removing these parts would help to streamline it a bit

I like the idea of Mei sorta becoming Kiana’s dragon, but the wings and tail in the skirt get lost due to all the overlapping textures, and the wing sword doesn’t do anything. Girl has 3 swords but only uses 1. Why

Rather than basing her off a western dragon, I think they should’ve made her an eastern dragon. (Turn her HoT hands into Claws instead of wings, keep the “tail” of the skirt streamlined with a little flair at the bottom, turn her HoT horns into antlers). This way, they could keep the iconic elements of HoT while reframing them into something positive (for those who don’t know: it’s a lot more nuanced and complicated than I can really explain here, but eastern dragons are generally associated with good fortune)

So, ya- that’s all I got for now. If I left anyone off the list, they’re ranked lower than HoO for being that forgettable just let me know and I’ll add them on. Again, this post is mostly just me trying to collect my thoughts

#honkai impact #honkai rambling #they did Mei so incredibly dirty #I think it was softsapphic who suggested Kiana and Mei should’ve split finality?#and Fu Hua should’ve gotten origin #anyways I really like both those ideas and will probably run with them for rewrites #kiana kaslana #raiden mei #honkai elysia #honkai griseo #honkai durandal #I’ve gotten 4 hours of sleep it’s 3am and there are plows outside and my neighbors are partying #someone please just give me a concussion so I can sleep /j

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magix-winx-club · 10 months

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Royal Court Fashion

Specialist Edition: Nabu

It is very fitting Nabu wears purple, as he is my KING!

Why I am doing this bc they need more outfits besides their bodysuit. And I want justice for my Winx Club Babies for a real-life design.

I tried to find outfits according to cultural Background. I researched, and Nabu is claimed to be Mesopotamia inspired. At least that was on a wiki page from winx Club. But then I also saw people saying he has an African or Indian background. So, I am unsure. I thought he was Arabic. Let me know what you think.

Please let me know your opiniononr traditional clothing from the country you think he was inspired from.

Name origion:

that could give further hints to his cultural background.

The alias name he used Ophir:

"...mentioned in the Bible, Ophir. The real location of Ophir is unknown, and there is speculation it was in Africa or South America or India" - Winx Club Wiki

The name Nabu comes from Babylonian mythology. Babylon or Bable is said to have been one of the most important cities in the old days. It is claimed to be in today's Irak.

Description:

Nabu is described as having a "tan complexion with very long brown hair." -Winx Wiki. In comparison, Aisha/Layla is described as "Aisha is a dark-skinned girl". Therefore, clearly states that she is black while Nabu is described as tan. Therefore, one can make the point that he is Asian either of Iraqi or Indian background.

Another example would be Flora. She is described as: " Flora is a young tan-skinned girl." (Same as Nabu.) Flora is modeled after Jennifer Lopez. Therefore, is Latina.

Overall, I would argue Nabu is of Arabic background.

*reference winx club wiki

Outfit description:

He wears a purple tunic with gold lining and a long braided ponytail. Winx wiki describes his outfit:

"In Season 3 and the beginning of Season 4, his clothing bears a close resemblance to traditional Chinese clothing but lacked the silky designs."

- Winx Wiki

Therefore, I would argue that Nabu is Asian. I'm leaning more toward having an Arabic background. I settled, therefore, on Irak.

I tried to find appropriate clothes but I am not familiar with the traditional clothing of Iraqi men. I researched it said:

"The costume for men consists of a pair of baggy pants known as a shalwar, a long-sleeved shirt, and a vest. "

- What modern Iraqi people wear. Talk in Arabic

I googled Shalwar and long-sleeved shirt and west in hopes of finding appropriate outfits. I am not sure if this is 100% accurate as this is not my culture. I liked the outfits and thought it would be interesting to see Nabu wear something like that. Please let me know if you have more knowledge or more appropriate clothing ideas.

The Design:

These outfits are worn on formal events like Stella's princessball. Attending Royal Court in Eraklyon. Formal dances thrown by the three schools.

More casual going out fashion

They are worn when they are on earth and somewhat try to blend in while still keeping their own touch, such as wearing the color purple or Middle Eastern shoe wears and more baggy pants.

I think Nabu would still keep his streamlined outfits. With a simple shirt and a jacket or vest above that can be opened at the front. So, it flows in a straight horizontal line. His pants also would not be too tight so he could move around and be more free.

A sweet headcanon I have is Layla and Nabu doing each others hair as a form of bonding and love language. In the evening or morning, they take their time and braid or detangle their hair. They use that opportunity to talk about anything and nothing. In the morning, Nabu talks about his dreams and what they could mean, and in the evening, Layla would talk about the things she and Winx have done and her worries about what will happen.

It is the calmest time of the day for them. A time just for them and be with each other.

#winx club #winx #winx nabu #winx club nabu #winx redesign #winx fashion #winx club fashion #winx club layla #winx club season 2 #winx club season 3 #winx club season 4 #winx club aisha #winx aisha #winx layla #winx club flora #winx flora #the specialists #the specialist #winx club specialist

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animehouse-moe · 3 months

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The Witch and The Beast Episode 2: The Witch's Pastime - Opening Act

The first episode in proper of The Witch and The Beast aired today, and I must say it's left me a little confused about the whole production and approach. Some great work here, some not so great stuff, and a lot of unanswered questions. Of course, I'm a big fan of the manga so this is almost exclusively a conversation of visuals, but I think there's some interesting discussion to be had.

First off, the second episode has a new storyboarder and episode director. While the director is really not of much importance, Toshiyuki Sone is. They're not a very common storyboarder so I didn't have too much to expect out of their work, but admittedly, they've done a passable job with the content that they were given.

Sticking close to the manga in a lot of places, Sone's episode remains rather faithful to the manga. Some of their original ideas are great, as you can see below, but quite a bit of what they bring from the manga doesn't translate in the way they might have expected.

For example, the zoom sequences that are added in various parts produce low quality and poor detail, though you can't really tell because of Tumblr's pesky compression.

If I were to explain the episode in broad terms, it's from someone that has some good ideas, but little confidence and experience within the role. There's potential, and there's some great work involved, but it's hampered by a lack of understanding in how to approach various challenges.

One such example being the challenge of Iijima's piss poor animation direction. The designs they've made are great up close and personal, but at a distance they're god awful, and can hardly even be considered consistent in any way shape or form. I'm really desperately hoping that they'll be relieved of their position as CAD at some point during this season, just so I can see what can be done beneath another person.

Something else that I'm curious about with this episode is the work in brighter scenes. It's really just not as good as darker layouts or anything that happens at night.

And it's hard to pin down because the line drawn between color design, composition, and art direction/background is hard to make in these spots. Whatever the case is, the scenes in bright daylight simply can't compare to the quality nighttime work. Thankfully a lot of The Witch and The Beast deals with darker sequences so it shouldn't be of too much concern.

And also since I mentioned it, I really do still like the color design and composition. The colors really do best when in more homogenous scenes, but the composition overall has been really great still, even adding a good deal of feeling to some sequences.

The only place that really has not shown any promise is the animation. There was a bit in the first episode, but nothing really to write home about here, and that's where the big question for me comes from.

We're yet to encounter a heavy episode in terms of content, so it's hard to gauge just how this production is faring. As my friend Blue would (most likely say) though, it's very typical of a Hamana production within our small frame of reference. He directs the first episode and brings with him a lot of previous staff members to round out the ranks behind this series.

Because of that, and because of the content of these early episodes and this "arc" (if you can call it that), it's hard to tell how things will go. Is Hamana padding the easy episodes out to save room for the more intense ones, is Sone's episode more limited because of the buildup within the arc, or is it just the limitations of the ability behind his boards and the work of the episode director?

There's a lot of blanks in terms of how this production operates still, so I'm hoping that within the next 2 or so episodes we'll get a better grasp as to just how good this series will be. Of course, I'm hoping it'll be good, but with Yokohama behind it it's hard to have much confidence in my words.

#the witch and the beast #majo to yajuu #witch and the beast #anime and manga #anime #anime reccs #anime recommendation #anime review

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unsightedjoker · 11 months

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Spider-man: ATSV NSR AU

Ok, I usually don’t post stuff and only reblog and like stuff but since i just watched Spider-man ATSV and I really liked it that it hasn’t left my mind and won’t leave it any time soon I’m still so hyped I feel like sharing this. I was on my way home when I started to listen to the NSR soundtrack and the inevitable happened just remembering the premise for the game and what happens in the movie I started connecting thoughts and this entire AU happened.

My writing isn’t the best to make a fanfic that does justice to my ideas at the moment and hell if I can’t write I have even worse at drawing so making fanart for this is also out of the picture.

For anyone who doesn’t know NSR (No Straight Roads) it’s an indie game from 2020 that’s very underrated from what I’ve seen. The plot is very simple a Rock duo Mayday (a guitarist) and Zuke (a drummer) enter a competition made to scout for new talents that want to join NSR, a company that besides functioning as a music company works as the main energy supplier for the city by using a Mcguffin that transforms music into energy. Anyways NSR turns out to be a group of EDM artists that have complete control over the city and never allow any other genres to join especially not rock, so after getting rejected and suffering a city wide power outage (which NSR is completely inmune from) our rock duo decides to start a revolution to bring back Rock and take down NSR by hijacking their concerts. If you have not played it take this as a recommendation the art style, gameplay and music are reaaaally good (worth mentioning the music for each boss is dynamic it starts as EDM but as you start having the upper hand the music turns into a rock version of the same song).

The premise for the game and having Gwen and Hobie right there in the movie made this AU inevitable in my mind so I’m sharing it here.

So the characters I’ll be using changing for the AU will be the two main protagonists and the 6 main bosses of the game.

First off the protagonists

Because it’s a guitarist and drummer Gwen and Hobie take Mayday and Zuke’s place that one seems a bit obvious to me. It can also be Gwen and Miles but I ended up choosing Gwen and Hobie. However instead of starting their movement after being rejected by NSR they’re fully into their revolution agenda and hijacking the EDM concerts

DJSS

The first boss is Dj Subatomic Supernova and honestly that one was also an easy pick as he directly fits with Spot, especially because of his last phase in his fight where his face breaks and it looks like a black hole ejecting black matter or whatever. They’re both also so self-centered and silly.

SAYU

Sayu is the second boss and consists of a virtual idol (like Hatsune Miku) made as a project by four adolescents so for the au she could be made by peni parker and the virtual reality spiderwoman (i can’t remember her name :’) ) but idk who else could be put as one of Sayu’s creators in this AU.

YINU

Yinu is a child pianist prodigy so for her I’d go with Mayday Parker, since Yinu also gets help from her mother during the fight I guess Mary Jane helps her or maybe Peter B. idk? It’s just that Yinu’s dad in the game is dead and that’s also one of the reasons she plays her piano because her dad taught her. Yinu’s character is supposed to represent the lack of control child prodigies have in their lives because their parents or guardians are in charge of making all the decisions during their youth so I imagine Hobie would spend a bunch of this confrontation telling her to go wild and start doing whatever she wants to do while Gwen would tell Peter or Mary Jane to pay more attention to Mayday and be a better single parent, culminating in the piano solo at the end of Yinu’s boss fight

1010

So this one’s a bit weird but hear me out. 1010 consists of a boy band made up by 5 robots that are almost identical with the exception of their color and hairstyle so in this case it’s five alternate versions of Miles Morales robots as a boyband while the original Miles (the one that isn’t a robot) is Neon J (the creator of 1010) in this AU. I ended up choosing Miles for this one because despite how much Mayday says she despises them she has a crush on 1010 and while Gwen and Miles wouldn’t really act like Mayday and 1010 respectively I still chose this because of that.

In a similar way Gwen has a crush on 1010Miles but she isn’t entirely into it because the Miles robots have an artificial vibe to them like prefabricated charm and personalities, they can fool a lot of people but not everyone. Once one breaks and the real Miles comes out to replace it they start focusing on him, Gwen and Miles throughout the fight start to realize they like each other mean while Hobie goesout of his way to show how he’s in the wrong as he should question the stuff they do and shouldn’t be following NSR, by the end when they defeat Miles he ends up accepting it and actually rooting for them to beat the remaining members.

I’m using an action figure as a substitute for robots lol

EvE

This one I reserved for my favorites Nadia (EvE) and Pavitr. Eve happens to be an eccentric artist and Diva that is the second in command because of her skill. There’s a couple of reasons I chose to have Pavitr in Eve’s place:

First, during the briefing before her fight it’s stated that the “instrument” she uses to make her music is her body and mind in contrast to all the previous artists which have actual specific instruments (from sinthesizers to a piano) which doesn’t explain much until you get to her fight and see her dance, she dances (and probably uses a bit of magic as well or something) to make her music. If I’m gonna give the ability to make music through the movement of their body to anyone it’s gonna be Pavitr.

Second, during her phases Eve shows she can warp the space around her in what she refers as the Diva’s realm and from what I remember the part of diva’s realm is supposed to be a reference to Deva’s realm and Devas are deities from hinduism if I’m not mistaken, so there’s also that.

Last but not least I like a bit of angst. In the game its shown Zuke and Eve used to have a good relationship as they were a duo and know each other closely to the point Zuke knows what’s going on in her mind while many don’t, however after a certain incident they disbanded. Similarly in this AU they used to be a duo until they received an invitation to join NSR, Pavitr wanted to share his music and art and be in contact with everyone in their community so he accepted, this however was a deal breaker for Hobie so they disbanded. Once he got his position Pavitr could share his music however after being put in a pedestal he no longer could keep in touch with his community as much when he wanted leaving him feeling isolated and only focuses on his craft now as a way to cope. Their fight besides being about taking him down would have the purpose of mending Hobie and Pavitr’s relationship.

TATIANA

This one was also very obvious Miguel takes Tatiana’s place. To begin they’re the respective leaders of their antagonistic faction but also majorly because the entire story of NSR and ATSV happens because both of them had a very specific personal problem and instead of dealing with it by themselves or getting help to solve it they decided to make it everyone else’s problem and never even try to recognize that maybe they’re wrong.