#and usually it's not even like. recognizable to me as what it originally was. it's like a transmutation. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

captain-mj · 10 months

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Dragon 1/2

Found the plot and a short drabble in my google docs and wanted to finish it! Couldn't find the original ask, but I have delivered! Second part comes out tomorrow

Soap had found him deep in the woods. He had heard of something had been seen and he wanted to look for the creature causing issues. From the reports, he had a feeling it was a small wyvern or maybe a kelpie. It had been stealing sheep and other small livestock to eat, so he doubted it was anything too powerful. While he could leave this to his knights, he wanted to get out of the castle for a bit.

So for him to find a sleeping dragon, tucked in an abandoned farmhouse, curled up tight, was more than a little surprising. Usually dragons didn't bother with livestock, but Soap could see the bones of the creatures he had eaten all scattered about.

Soap noticed a large gash on his side and realized what the problem was. With a wound that size, the poor thing was probably trying to get what it considered easy pickings.

Slowly, painstakingly, he got on the ground in front of him. His kingdom had many religions, most revolving around the inherent divinity of dragons. They were majestic. The blending of humanity, nature and the divine. All of those features were very prominent in the creature before him, even injured and sleeping.

Massive paws, tipped with giant claws. Wings that filled the entire barn with just enough room for his body. Beautiful black iridescent scales that made red ripples when the light ran over them, complete with gold cracking from where the wound was as well as a couple of other scars. Gorgeous. His eyes were a stunningly dark color. Pools of ichor with flecks of color in them. The pupils were barely recognizable as pupils, just a thin vertical line.

Eyes.

Soap jerked back but the beast’s tail had already blocked the exit he had just went to. It stared at him, clearly thinking.

Intelligence was another thing. Most people believed that dragons had knowledge that escaped human grasp. Something about them felt so ethereal it wouldn’t shock Soap if it was true. But that did not and could not erase the fact that dragons ate people. And Soap was certainly people.

The dragon considered him for a moment before lowering his tail and returning to resting. “You should leave.” His voice was hoarse and scratchy from disuse.

Soap hesitated. “You’re not healing.”

“Poisoned arrows. Still working through the poison.” He lowered his head on his to paws again. The feathers along his head lowered. They were scant, just a few along the barbs. Which meant this dragon was rather young as they lost their feathers as they got older. Probably just reached adult age.

Just like Soap! His 19th birthday had passed a week prior. This dragon must be around his age. Possibly a little older.

“Maybe I could help?” Soap moved closer.

The dragon opened his eyes. “How could you help me?” He looked down at Soap like he was a bug. An inconvenience.

“I could bandage you up. See if I have anything that will help in my kingdom.” Soap got closer. He wanted to assist him. Dragon or not. He was hurt.

He growled and narrowed his eyes. “Do not come closer.”

Soap paused. “I… Okay. What if I bring you supplies?”

“That would be… acceptable.”

“My name is Johnny but everyone calls me Soap..”

“...Simon.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Simon.” Soap smiled at him. “Don’t leave, alright?” He started to step back.

Simon narrowed his eyes but slowly, achingly relaxed back onto his paws. “How do I know you won’t bring someone else here to kill me?”

“I’d never do that! You may have stolen some things, but it was clearly from need.” Soap raised his hands, praying he would believe him. “I’ll even bring you more food.”

Simon looked very suspicious but he nodded. “I’ll stay. But just for a little while…”

Soap beamed. “I’ll be right back!!” He rushed off to get supplies.

Only after coming back with two backpacks, stuffed to the brim, did he consider maybe that was overkill.

Simon had shifted back.

Soap blushed and quickly looked away.

“Something wrong, Johnny?” Simon asked, stretching himself out among the hay. His wings had blocked it before but the majority of the left side of the roof had been damaged. The sun was spilling out all over his very naked body.

“Do you have no modesty?” Soap sounded aghast. Simon had his wings still, but they were lounging around his body. Not moving to cover it. Soap kept his eyes firmly on Simon’s face.

Simon looked amused. “Why? I am wearing just as much as I was before. I simply changed forms.”

Soap shook his head. “This form is… is…”

“It is your form!” Simon frowned. “Under all of those clothes. You’d look just like me.”

“Yes, but I’m wearing clothes!”

Simon snorted and looked away, crossing his arms. “You said you’d help me. Get on with it.”

Soap glared and moved closer, still focusing on his face.

Simon sighed and raised the arm on his injured side up above his head and used the other to cover himself. “There. Modesty.” He said it with such sarcasm that Soap wanted to snap at him.

“I’m a Prince you know. You’re not being very respectful of royalty.”

“You’re the one asking me to be unnatural and wear clothing. Are you not disrespecting divinity by doing so?” Simon purred.

Soap poured water over the wound. “I think there may pieces of arrows still… in the wound… That may be why you still haven’t healed.”

Simon frowned and deflated a bit. “I’m going to have to let you dig it out… Fucking hell.” He tilted his head back, exposing his throat. “Alright. Go for it.”

“What?? I’m not… I don’t have the… experience to do this!”

“C’mon, little Prince. Hurry up. Explain why it still hurts so much.”

“You cannot be serious! You weren’t even sure if you’d stay until I got back and you’re going to let me just dig around in your wounds??” Soap was hoping he’d see sense and change his mind.

Simon smiled. “You got it! Get to it, Johnny.” He had a beautiful smile. It lit up the entire room and Soap was sure it was some sort of dragon magic he wasn’t aware of. He was wrong. Simon just looked like that.

Soap sighed and got closer. “Alright. You’re crazy.” He moved to get a better angle, pulling out a knife. “One of the pieces are in deep. Let me get these little shards first. Think you can stay still for me?”

“Sure. And if you hurt me too bad, I’ll just break you in half.”

Soap nodded immediately and got to work. “How old are you?”

“21 years. You?”

“19.” He had guessed right! “What brings you to this area?”

“I was fleeing the North. There are some real assholes there.” Simon winced and then pressed back into his hands to correct himself. It meant that Soap’s palm came into direct contact with his skin which surprised him.

“You run hot. Always thought dragons ran cold.”

“Misconception. Thanks to the fire in us, we’re technically warm blooded.”

Soap hummed. “The thing that lets you breathe fire right?”

Simon pursed his lips and blew out a perfect smoke ring. “Yeah. Exactly.”

When he did that, a spot in his throat glowed faintly. Since it was just smoke, it wasn’t very noticeable, but it was clearly there.

Soap focused on the task at hand again, but he planned to ask some questions once they were out. He pulled out the little wooden splinters before grabbing the metal tip. “This may hurt a bit.”

“What do they say? Pain is beauty?” Simon grinned right before yelping in pain when the arrowhead was fully dislodged. He panted softly as the thing dropped the ground. “Jesus that’s big.”

Soap nodded in agreement and, while Simon was distracted, quickly poured alcohol all over everything. Simon growled immediately and grabbed Soap hard. For a moment, Soap thought he was about to make good on that promise of breaking him in half, but Simon didn’t move any further. He just held him tight and slowly took a deep breath. Then another. And after a moment, he relaxed his grip.

“There ya go. That wasn’t too bad, was it?”

Simon had closed his eyes and it gave Soap a chance to steal a quick glance at him. The dragon was a vision. Dozens of golden scars laced over his body, especially over his chest. His face… He was pretty. So very, very pretty. When he was a kid, his mother insisted he study the ancient arts and one of those included a set of sculptures made to be in the gods’ images. Simon would’ve fit in well among them.

“Thank you.”

“Of course… I also brought more food for you.”

Simon opened his eyes again. “You’re being awfully kind.” His throat glowed again, down his chest.

Soap stared openly this time, too taken back by the fire clearly going under his skin. “What is that?”

“A flame.”

“Fascinating.”

Simon stared for a moment before grabbing Soap’s hand and pressing it to the places that glowed. There was more heat in those areas. It felt extremely pleasant. “Huh.” Soap felt very eloquent with that response. He kept his hand pressed to spot.

“Little prince, you done?”

“One second, ye overgrown lizard.” Soap mumbled and followed the little lines.

“And you tried to talk to me about modesty.” Simon purred, chest vibrating under Soap’s hand. Soap quickly yanked it back.

“I am so so sorry. I sho-”

Simon grabbed one of the backpacks, effectively cutting Soap off with a question. “So you brought me stuff?” He tried to get it open but had a problem with the clasp. His hands were comically big compared to it so he couldn’t quite get it to work. Soap gently took it from him so he could get it open.

He didn’t know what dragons could and couldn’t eat, so it was mostly meat since that was a safe bet. He did bring some bread, cheese, butter, different fruits and… most importantly, rings.

Dragons love rings.

And Simon was no exception. He scooped them all up and quickly started putting them on. Only a few of them fit but Simon held all of them close to his chest, clearly thinking of ways he could wear them. “You have any string?”

Soap fished through his bag. “I brought this in case I needed to sew you up?”

Simon snatched it from his hands and looped all of the rings together so he could wear them as a necklace. He also organized it so they made a rainbow around his neck.

Soap was fascinated with how the knots were made. Simon butted heads with him once he was done. It was careful, like a cat, and it was clear by the soft purring sound that this was an affectionate gesture.

Soap felt like he was getting some look into some hidden language. He was being entrusted with something.

Another thing he was being entrusted with is that Simon was the least picky person he had ever seen. He happily ate everything Soap had. Goat cheese and apples was also a combo he liked. A lot. Simon ate everything Soap had brought which was, again, about two backpacks filled to the brim.

Soap held it upside down and shook it. “Seems I’m all out.”

Simon hummed and stretched, looking tired. He started to close his eyes. Already, the wound had started to look better.

“Let me bandage it and then I’ll be back tomorrow to check it.”

“If I’m here.”

“If you’re here, I’ll bring more food.” Soap promised.

Simon looked up at him from the dusty hay. He narrowed his eyes and his pupils had slid to slits.

Soap leaned over him so he could get to his wound again. Unlike before, Simon didn’t make it easy for him. He was deadweight and half covering the wound.

“C’mon, ya little flame.” Soap gritted out and Simon gasped at him. “Move your ass.”

“How dare you call my flame little.” Simon did twist so Soap could get to the wound. He started to bandage it and put some extra tape over it in case he moved a lot.

Soap patted his side like he was a horse that had been particularly good that day. “Don’t be so difficult next time and I’ll say it’s big yeah?”

Simon growled but most of the initial fear was already gone. It was funny. Soap felt like they just… clicked. Being around this dragon in the woods felt strangely normal.

So he came again the next day with more food. He ignored that there were a couple more bones in the bone pile. They had been picked clean at least, nothing there to rot.

Simon still looked human. Other than the giant wings of course. He sat up, stretching and shaking himself out. “Little prince!”

“Little Flame.”

“That’ll do.” Simon turned on his back, feeling the heat from the sun on his stomach.

Soap smiled and went to his side, checking under the bandages. Accelerated healing was not a joke. Without those pieces making it worse, already things were starting to look better.

Simon threw one of the bags at him and sat up. “Hungry.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Soap opened it and handed it back over. Simon happily started to eat as Soap continued to look at the wound. If he watched closely, he could see some of the skin stitching together. “Fascinating.”

Simon hummed. “Thank you. We have to have pretty intense healing abilities.”

“I brought you something extra special this time.”

Simon perked up, excited. That excitement was immediately ruined by Johnny throwing pants at him. “Seriously? Does the naked human form offend you that much?”

“Yes.”

Simon grumbled but he slid them on. They were leather, from the guard’s wing, and tight. He twisted himself and Soap could hear it tense and pop before something in them tore. Luckily, it seemed to just be a few threads because Simon relaxed and he was still covered.

He continued to happily eat everything he could. There’s this soft and sweet air about him. Gentle. What an odd thought.

Simon looked over at him, mouth full of food. He grinned stupidly. “Why are dragons so amazing at making music?”

Soap frowned. “I didn’t know you guys were good at music.”

“It’s because we really know our scales.”

Johnny blinked before laughing. “Seriously? Didn’t expect you to be a joking person.”

Simon shrugged and looked a little rueful. “Maybe I should’ve let you think I was cool a little longer.” He stretched and smiled before settling next to Johnny. The day had started to get cold so the dragon’s body heat was pleasant against him.

Simon continued to eat his snacks as Soap just soaked in his presence.

“It must be weird.” Simon started, tracing Johnny’s spine. “Having no wings. Do you ever feel off balance?”

Johnny shivered. “What?”

“Does your back look naked without wings?”

“No?”

Simon hummed and tried to lift up Johnny’s shirt. “Then what do you look like?”

“I… um…”

He tugged at his clothes. “Let me just see!”

“No!!” Johnny was aghast. He didn’t know why this scandalized him quite so much. He had went shirtless around tons of people. Whether it was just that Simon was… Simon or maybe that he was being asked, it felt different.

Simon groaned. “I’ve never gotten a good look at a human before! You’re so… fragile. Your little heartbeat is thumping so loud.”

Johnny had never ever been so utterly offended. “Fragile??”

“Your heart is so loud but you look… you know. Soft.”

“Soft??”

“Yeah. Soft.” Simon grabbed his hand and put it to his chest. “See. I’m hard. You have give.” He wasn’t wrong. There was hard muscle and his skin wasn’t quite as soft. It felt a tiny bit like a snake’s skin even though it looked like human skin.

Johnny could not believe he was being shamed by a dragon for his physique. He was not soft!! Was he??

“It’s not bad. I like it. Never really looked at a human properly. Your skin is also softer.” Simon touched Johnny’s inner wrist, gently feeling his skin. “Really soft. It’s nice.”

Johnny felt like he was going to melt from the heat. Yeah. The heat. Had to be. “Thanks.”

“Why do you humans consider us divine?”

“I guess it’s the fact you can shift between forms. Touch the clouds.” Johnny didn’t really have a solid answer.

“Clouds? Really? What do you think they feel like?” Simon sounded amused, but he was staring at him. His giant brown eyes staring into Johnny’s soul like he’d give him an answer worth listening to.

Johnny hesitated because Simon knew what they felt like. He tried really hard to guess right. “Like cotton?”

Simon smiled. “Nope. Cold and kinda spiky. They’re full of ice crystals.”

“What??”

“Yep.”

Johnny frowned. “I don’t believe you.”

Simon hummed. “I could show you?”

Johnny was expecting a couple of things from this. Maybe something a little romantic. Not for Simon to grab him by his ankle and throw him several feet in the air like he weighed less than a stuffed animal. Before he got a chance to scream or start to fall, Simon was right next to him, batting him further up into the air. It was easily the most frightening thing he had ever experience. The giant dragon that was flying at him at mach speed wasn’t helping.

Once he was above the trees, Simon snapped him up in his jaws and flew straight up until he found a cloud. He went straight above it and

Fucking

Dropped

Him.

Johnny did scream this time as he plummeted through the cloud. Simon followed him luckily and grabbed him properly this time. With his arms. He had shifted back to be human and Johnny had zero clue if he could fly in this condition. They spiraled down together and Johnny worried for just a moment that Simon would crash them to the ground before his wings came out, catching the breeze. He spun them around so fast that Johnny knew the only thing keeping him from getting dizzy was Simon’s eyes boring into his own.

Then he was sent flying back up in the air and Simon shifted back, grabbing and landing on to the trees. Johnny was put on his back as he moved just above the tree line.

He was trying desperately to catch his breath, both full of fear and… exhilaration. That was pretty fun. Maybe his family was right about this adrenaline junky thing.

Johnny kept trying to catch his breath as Simon got them safely on the ground.

“Tell me, do you feel like that was a spiritual experience?”

Johnny took a deep breath. “Yeah. A little.”

“Come back tomorrow.” Simon smiled at him.

“Yeah. I will…” Johnny did come. Every day for weeks. Simon was his little secret.

One day, Johnny was very surprised to find Simon jumping around when he got back. He was very skilled. The way he managed to easily go from the floor to the roof and back to the floor of the farm house. His wings followed along his body, flashing gorgeously.

Johnny watched him for a few minutes until Simon noticed him.

“All healed!”

“Oh! That’s good.”

Oh no. Now would be the perfect time for him leave.

“Now I could take you flying properly. Not the sloppy stuff from before.” Simon grinned at him.

Johnny nodded, already excited. “I’d love to.”

Simon smiled brightly. The sun in his smile. Gorgeous. God he was so gorgeous. He shifted like smoke, sliding underneath Soap and between his legs. When he sat up, Johnny grabbed on to his neck, perched on his back. It didn’t seem quite as scary, even when Simon stood up and he was several feet in the air, because he had Simon solid beneath him.

Simon took off and went high up in the air. His wings spread out wide and as he glided, Johnny could feel the air rushing through his hair. It felt so soft.

“This is so much better!” Johnny yelled at him and Simon only purred in response, lifting up slightly. It started to get cold so he pressed closer to his warm body. Simon spun again as he descended, going in lazy circles around and around and around.

Flying ended too soon. Part of him never ever wanted to leave the air. But his feet were planted back on earth.

Johnny looked at Simon and Simon looked back. It felt different than his subjects. Less respectful but more understanding. Simon understood something about Johnny he didn’t quite understand about himself.

“Thank you.” Johnny said softy, afraid if he was too loud, Simon might take flight and disappear.

“You healed me. Not the other way around.”

Johnny had a feeling Simon did somehow. He just wasn’t sure how yet.

They were so close. So very, very close.

Simon pulled back just a little. “I want…” He looked at his lips. “I…”

“Yes.” Johnny said softly.

Simon kissed him. Soft and sweet. It felt like a first kiss. The first of many hopefully. He tasted like cinnamon. His hands held Johnny closer. Staying firmly on his waist.

Johnny cupped his jaw and finally got to touch his hair. Felt like silk strands. Like they’d run through his fingers. He wanted to cry for some odd reason. Happiness was fickle. Fleeting. And he knew if Simon ever left him, it would feel like the end of everything. End of something. End of Johnny maybe.

Simon panted against his mouth, their breath still mingling. “My little Prince.”

“My Dragon.”

Simon grinned before diving back in. Johnny would’ve went further. Would’ve let Simon take him against the floor of the old barn. But Simon didn’t. He just kissed him until too much time had passed.

Johnny found himself on the floor of the barn, the dragon pressing him down. The place started to feel warm and he smelled burning hay. He shoved Simon back to see that he was in fact burning the hay around Johnny’s head. Luckily, it was very careful and controlled.

“Sorry. Forgot to control it.”

Johnny flushed brightly, watching Simon just breath. Every exhale meant a little bit of smoke came out of his nose and muddying the air between them even more. He kissed him again. Couldn’t help himself.

They kept kissing until Johnny needed to leave. As he was pulling away, Simon still kept following and kissing him. His lips, his jaw, his fingers.

“I’ll be back tomorrow.”

Simon’s eyes smoldered through him. Burned him alive. “Tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow.”

The farmhouse was empty.

Johnny stood in the door, watching the empty home. Simon was probably just hunting.

He sat at the front of it, reimagining the kiss over and over again. He kept thinking about it all night.

Night fell.

It fell and Simon wasn’t there.

Johnny kept waiting. He just kept waiting.

Don’t cry.

Just don’t cry yet.

Johnny heard his knights find him.

He started crying.

His body hurt. He didn’t want to look at the ground in case his heart was there. Blood smeared on the ground.

Had Simon ripped it out when he left? Or did Johnny when he offered it to Simon?

Naively. Horribly. He just offered it to a God and expected that God to look at him and think he was worthy of his attentions. His knights brought him home and he left his heart in that farmhouse.

#johnny soap mactavish #captain john price #ghostsoap #soapghost #simon ghost riley #soap cod #cod mw2 #ghost cod #call of duty #call of duty modern warfare #call of duty modern warfare ii

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chirpsythismorning · 3 months

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Surfer Boy number update!

Now when you call, the recording comes instantly saying ‘the phone number you just dialed is available. 2499.’ And then cuts off.

Initially, I thought this meant that Netflix just stopped paying to use the number for promotional purposes and so now it’s available for someone to use, and I’m still partially leaning towards that.

However, there are a few things that intrigue me about this.

For one, all the other numbers ST used up to this point remain active, despite them all arguably being well past their need for use.

Murray’s number is still active, despite it being revealed way back in 2019 when s3 premiered and it appeared on the show, with the message still being him on his answering machine, hinting at the s4 plot. And Yuri’s fish fry is also still active, which is another number used for s4 promo sometime in early 2021.

Then there’s the number that appeared in s4 when the Cali gang called Nina, which currently still has the war games sound effect when you call.

The surfer boy number on the otherhand, was revealed in late 2021, which is when the surfer boy van made its first appearance in the Cali teaser that dropped. And for a very short time after that, the message was a birthday jingle, only for it to switch to Argyle explaining the ingredients of pineapple pizza (using colors of the rainbow). And now this.

So apparently it’s important enough to warrant them changing it several times, which in and of itself is a contrast from the others that were revealed and just stayed how they are. Not to mention, the fact that they used it for a birthdaygate Easter egg potentially, reads to me like this number is very much on their radar and it’s unlikely they would just throw it aside.

What confounds me most though about the surfer boy number presumably being dropped for promo while the others weren’t, is that the surfer boy number actually has a lot more longevity to be acknowledged in the narrative, with the van likely making a return in s5.

And not only do we see it repeatedly in s4 whenever the van appears, but the van is also used heavily in merchandise that is still coming out.

So wouldn’t you think out of all the numbers, this is the one they would want to keep active given that fans are still being reminded of it? Wouldn’t it be weird to distribute surfer boy van merch en masse, knowing the number would be called by people curious there’s an Easter egg waiting on the other end of the line? Because that’s generally been the trend up to this point?

Another thing about the message itself, is that I’ve never heard it before in everyday life? Most of the phone messages out there in the states are instantly recognizable to the average person who has spent time on the phone and they all go somewhere along the lines of disclosing that the number is unavailable, even when it’s not in use. The voice here also doesn’t resemble the usual voice you hear whenever you call a number that’s not in use.

It’s honestly also odd to hear a message say that a number is available, because that’s something I’ve personally never encountered. I even tried to look up on it to see if this message is common and maybe I’m just out of the loop, but every search led me to results saying the most common message is to say that a number is unavailable, again even when it is available for use.

And lastly, the most odd part of this new message is the four numbers at the end unprompted.

2499

The only connection I could find to this number is that it appears to be a slight mix up of the last four digits of the surfer boy number.

Original number: 805-45-PIZZA aka 805-457-4992

So is 2499 some sort of acknowledgement of the number itself? And if so, why wouldn’t it just be 4992? Why would it use those same exact numbers, but pull 2 from the end and put it at the front of the other three numbers? And then just end the message there?

It’s so odd to me.

While it could be nothing, I honestly don’t think it makes sense for Netflix to drop the Surfer Boy number altogether, given that they’re making the choice to not drop all the others. They could easily drop the previous ones and save some money if that’s the issue, but apparently it’s worth keeping them. And so why not keep the one that is still likely to be referenced going forward?

Regardless it’s likely that if Netflix still has access to the number, the message is bound to change again. So we’ll have to stay tuned for if and when that happens…

Edit: I FORGOT! There was another message for the Surfer Boy number, which preceded Argyle’s Pineapple pizza message. I only remembered after googling the number’s digits and coming across someone composing it. Still not sure what to make of it. Still so fucking odd…

youtube

#stranger things #surfer boy number #Easter egg #birthdaygate #st5 speculation #st5 theory #Youtube

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miasiegert · 7 months

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Hi Cats Tumblr People,

So I heard you like pics.

Please bear with me (AND TEACH ME) how Tumblr works/if I'm doing it wrong! I'm literally the "How do you do, fellow young people?" meme. Our Etsy is linked (unless I messed that up!) Right now it's bare (LOT of work and VERY old photos in the banner) but we'll be posting some cossies soon that are ready to retire. Some of our prices sadly will have to rise (we undercharge honestly for the amount of time put into them... we just LOVE making them). Anyway...

These are our original designs. We have taken inspiration from different productions, from the US tour to Gothenburg to Australia to Japan, less UK because it gets the most attention and we like COLOR! but this is all us. Our goal is to a) have characters be recognizable and b) make swing unitards in palates that could pass as at least 3 characters for emergency. When our rentals go out, swing unitards go with them, and ultimately it's the director who decides what makes the final cut (so a less yellow Demeter for example--but we LOVE that one).

If we ever do a production of Cats with Chaz, you'll notice one in Red, White, and some Black (but mostly Red and White, with fan ears, that is a design David created and is Chaz's FAVORITE design of all time. Any time he does a show, if we're hired, that costume goes. Usually Electra, but any ensemble/swing kitty and can cover for Sillabub or in a pinch Bombalurina. Yuka wore it at Interlakes before she did Victoria on the last US Tour! You might notice an Admetus in tans and GREEN undertones--that was my design he loved. We also did the purple twins (which was vetoed and I said, "Okay" then did it anyway because I knew he'd love it, which he did!), and REBA Gumbie Tap Suit was completely mine (everyone thought I was out of my MIND when I started making it! Even David! Then the shoulder pads came, and the belt, and tail, and BEDAZZLING!!! SO MANY RHINESTONES!!!!) Our Misto coat lights up but we still have a lot to learn about arduino since we'd eventually like to make it blink to music. The Misto coat is also created to fit a multitude of sizes, basically the theatre using their department for alterations since we make use of stretch fabric. I've known Bronson for almost as long as Chaz (he even designed my author website!!!) so when I saw him cast, I showed him his costume (a much, much browner/redder Gus than most see--I was serious about liking color) and let him choose between two coats. He said he wanted pants and we went, "NO! PANTLESS PRODUCTION!" because we thought he was joking! We didn't realize... HE REALLY WANTED PANTS!!!! SORRY BRONSON! So shout out to Wichita for making him pants! LOL!

There is a HUGE joke about Tumble thirsting for Tugger more than the girls so you'll notice that with the Tugger ABOUUUOUOUOUOUOUOUUUUUUUUUT THAT.

Hope that's of interest! And no, I'm not procrastinating on edits when my agent deadline is Sunday. Haha... ha... ha... ha... ha... Sera, if you're reading this I PROMISE I'M WORKING OKAY??? I DIDN'T KNOW WE GOT ON BROADWAYWORLD!!!

We also saw some comments about casting in general and some confusion/questions about different dancers doing different parts (Alonzo vs Plato). Would anyone be interested in learning more about the casting process in general and things that directors/choreographers need to take into consideration? Please note, I will not discuss ANY performers we work with. Ever. All are extraordinary and these are tough calls that aren't easy to make and based on other factors, including the ensemble at large, and sometimes huge changes are made.

#cats the musical #cats musical #cats musical cosplay #cats cosplay #cats musical wichita

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lemongogo · 6 months

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what's your process for coloring like? the look of that elendira is so textured and interesting, i can't figure out how you do it

AA THANK YOUU ^__^ !! textures & brushwork are my favorite things abt my art, so im happy you find it interesting hehe . its SOO cool to look at & so much fun to draw imo

i prefer to color by building in layers , if that makes sense 🤔!! hundreds of them !! such that i'm always drawing on Top of previous layers, working from big & messy blocks of color to, eventually, small and refined blocks of color until it feels processed enough. as a result, i rarely ever erase (!!) and i rarely ever draw lineart aside from the initial sketch

a rough, patchy textured brush is key here, as it'll give you dimension and variability w/ your colors. i recommend "Brush and various sets of fountain pen style (万年筆風ブラシと色々セット)" on Clip Studio (ID: 1679706) !! :3

im terrible with explanations though, so i'm going to show a step by step of that elendira drawing if you dont mind :3

sketch layer !! because i mostly render through color alone, i try to make this as close to the finished thing as possible . ^__^ i hateee drawing the same thing over and over and like the expressivity and movement of my sketches anyways , so the more i can preserve at this step, the better. if u were to look at a side by side of my sketches and finished pieces, youd notice a lot of those og lines are present in the final drawing :3

2. flats !! pretty self explanatory, but the solid background gives me an idea of where the figure begins & ends while the colors themselves help distinguish whats what . i stick to ambient lighting @ this point because im usually not sure what i want to do with the overall palette or lighting yet . having two tones (ex, dark and light in her hair or dark and light on her skin) can also help in identifying key features early on that u wanna preserve. as you build layer by layer, sometimes these areas will remain untouched and i think it makes for a rly lovely feel at the end

3. start blocking !!! to be totally honest with you, i dont really know what i do here HAHAHA. like i just scribble the shit out of it, usually focusing on what i might want to do with lighting (ex: grey areas to accentuate folds in her costume). i think i like to start "erasing" the sketch where possible by coloring on top of it .. like if you look at her hat or her arm , you can tell i'm starting to get a sense of the shapes i like vs the ones i dont. it's at this point that the final image starts to emerge in my mind , like im gradually pulling her from a tarpit of scribbles until shes recognizable lol. chipping away at the marble until i can free her. tbh.

4. keep blockingg...when u think u are done , block some more . as you can probably see, the brushwork becomes more intentional as i add more shape, with specific focus on line weight. this is also where the patchiness of that textured brush comes in - notice how none of the colors seem totally uniform (ex: the red cross or the original sketchlines for her waist). you can see bits and pieces of the layers underneath pushing through and i really like that !! ^__^ its very fun and sketchy to me, so i try to keep them around. those areas are also great to colorpick from, because it'll give you "new" colors to work w/ that are already part of your palette.

5. GRADIENTS & GRADIENT MAPS !! TONE CURVE !! COLOR PICKER !! this is the best stage tbh. flatten your image so its all on one layer and just go crazy with all the color settings in ur program. add gradient layers and set them to darken, or overlay, or subtract, orrr. lighten or dodge glow or divide or soft/hard light.! OR!! edit the hue, saturation, luminosity and contrast.and then color pick from these edits, block even more on top of ur image, flatten, color edit again, etc. etc. until u feel satisfied.

ANYWAYSS . i hope that makes sense @__@ sry i wrote this out and deleted it like 23 times trying to make it make More sense but thats what ive got HAHA i hope its useful though :3 !

#SRY I STRUGGLED 2 EXPLAIN THIS #dude its like my brain bcomes stuffed w/ cotton anytime i try 2 write #i hope it makes sense tho..#it also probably sounds so redundant to make new layer one after the other for just a few brushstrokes #but those brushes i linked have a multiply property so if you draw on top of prev lines they'll create dark patches #and so if im working over a large area ill generally need like . 5 layers each with one brushstroke :sob: if that makes sense #this one had . 84 i think. total. layers i mean. the merylvash one had 300+ HAHAH so it rly depends #like YEAAH i could just use a normal brush but i really like the way this looks #andd sometimes the multiply function works really well or will give me the proper shadow tone im looking for #anywas.wanywaysn anyways #asktag #anonymous #long post

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oldmemoria · 6 months

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hate the ultimate guide. heres a few reasons why.

reused art: I understand how hard it is to make art, especially at that calliber of detail. I'm an artist, I get it. but the charm of the original ultimate guide was that we had these hand painted, unique pieces of art of these characters, it showed a little personality too.

How stale and lifeless the art is: This is a complaint that I've had with the current western artist for years, the art is just... boring. the colors are pretty, yeah, like wow hyperrealistic cats. cool. but what else? can we see their personalities? what's the book gonna be like? the old covers had that charm, but not these ones. at all. (also is that even... i could not tell that was runningnose and littlecloud. i mean. runningnose has water in his snout, thats not what cat snot looks like but go off. he just looks a little soggy ig, not in a perpetual state of sick.)

Lack of Personality: this is a different complaint I promise. I dont like how the art seems to take away the personality of every character so theyre staring stoicly at the camera. some of these characters arent all that stoic. I never liked the firestar art in the last hope because I deadass thought it was mapleshade until someone told me it was firestar. firestar isnt this scary, stalky cat in the shadows. not to normal people at least. if i can mistake your main character as one of the villains in your cover art that isnt fucking good. I don't want to see these cats staring bug eyed at the camera, I want to be able to tell what they're like JUST from a glance at the art. Who is that- harestar?? why doesnt he look nervous?? he looks almost noble here, which is the opposite of who he's supposed to be, he's a wuss and a loser and i love him for it. like girl that is NOT mudclaw thats some random cat i saw at the shelter once, WHERES HIS ANGER? WHERES HIS FUCKING RAGE??? RISE RISE RISE RISE RISE RI

the Characters are hard to recognize, even with the title cards: Who are these cats. who. who the fuck are they. I can recognize a few cats, sure, but thats if I can pick out a defining trait. Squirrelflights tail, Scourges Collar, Ravenpaw's white chest, those are things that are explicitly told to us that these characters have, but everyone else??? WHO??? Like that was supposed to be leafstar?? HUH?? Wait that's supposed to be Oakheart? I cant even tell if hes red, its so YELLOW OUT I CANT FUCKING TEL WHO HE IS. Sagewhisker is described with yellow eyes, yet she has blue ones in the ultimate guide (i dont usually get pissy about eye color but not only are these cats supposed to be distinct from each other but i really like sagewhisker and i would die for her, yes i will gatekeep her from the artist fucking fight me), Bluestar is barely recognizable, i didnt know who half of these cats were before i read their nameplate. thats not a good thing.

Red mapleshade. Why she red. WHY SHE RED.

Leafpool. I didn't even know that was you at first but man they did you dirty.

sol. dude that is not sol no matter how much you stretch it- why is he a tabby?? hes supposed to be a tortie, why does he look like lionblaze?? and even then he doesnt look that lionlike, even though hollyleaf literally thought he was when she first saw him like what?? HUH???

mothwing. why she anger. also why she not fluffy

squirrelflight. i always hated her SE art but seeing the whole thing makes me angrier. like she isnt not accurate to canon or anything i just... hate it. i hate it withe very fibre of my being. ALSO WHERE IS HER PERSONALITY I WANT TO SEE HER BEING ENERGETIC NOT STARING 😐 AT THE CAMERA FUCKING HELL-

yeah, so im not gonna buy this book. i dont even want to know how they wrorte any of the female characters to make them somehow evil or how they somehow make a completely irridemable male character a sweet uwu baby. and everyone has talked about the ableism to death so im not going to beat this clearly still living horse, im just gonna let you find it yourself.

#warrior cats #warrior cats the ultimate guide #warrior cats ultimate edition #warriors #fuck this book

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bloomeng · 9 months

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“Genshin character designs are bad.”

You really can’t navigate through the Genshin fandom without hearing this take. It’s stale at this point, but it’s…. also true. Except that’s usually not what people are actually saying. The true question up for debate: Are Genshin character designs ugly?

It irks me because there is validity to the original statement, and yet the conversation immediately moves into the territory of strictly opinion, leaving the true discussion never to be had.

So I’m having it… with myself…. in the form of a long post, because actually I find Genshin an interesting character design case study.

Before I really get into it I must address the elephant in the room; are Genshin’s character designs colorist?

Yes. Moving on.

Okay, okay, I’ll address it a little, Genshin has a problem with colorism. It’s a fiercely debated topic and honestly it’s one of the only real valid discussions I see around Genshin’s designs. That being said, I have nothing new to add to the conversation. If you don’t know why, sorry I’m not qualified to answer that, but you’re in luck because tons of qualified people have explained it across all platforms.

What I am partially equipped to talk about is character design. I’m no expert but I have taken a few formal classes on the subject, so I do have some insight to share. Character design at its core is usually quantified by how much of a character’s personality can be clearly determined from sight alone and how recognizable their silhouette is (though I’m not gonna touch on that today). Now there’s a lot of factors that go into both, but the fundamental thing that contributes to both is something known as shape language.

Shape has meaning. What that meaning is often depends on culture factors that determine your associations, but the Western simplification of shape is that circles are good-natured, rectangles/ squares are reliable, and triangles are energized. (these are my own personal words for them, there are countless ways to go about describing these associations) Shapes are then combined with each other to create more complex associations, and so on and so forth. It’s impossible to create a character without evoking some form of shape language, because art at its core is just shapes. The classic example are the round shapes seen in Mickey Mouse, though often times it’s far more subtle, like how Barbie has soft, round lines in her hair and face, but her hourglass figure is comprised of triangles to tell you she’s sexy, but the soft curves say she’s sweet not sexual— and it quickly gets very complicated. Basically character designs are rarely comprised of one shape alone, and when combined the “vibes” they evoke become complex.

So what does this have to do with Genshin? Genshin has poor shape language. The most obvious example of this are the faces. Genshin has same face syndrome, which I partially contribute to budget constraints with the models seeing as they reuse them over and over. Though it also has a lot to do with Genshin’s need for their characters to be conventionally attractive. Everyone must be beautiful and, as the current trend in anime artstyles dictates, not look a day over 12. The only thing that changes is the eye shape, but even then, it really doesn’t. There’s diversity between the male and female models, but calling it diversity seems generous, because they are practically the same. All the viewer has to go on to differentiate between faces are the expressions (and color but we’ll get there), which are also limited by the models.

The poor quality of the shape language continues into the bodies, seeing as the only thing that really changes is the height, not a lot of room for show casing contrast. (Also body diversity is just a good thing to have for the sake of having body diversity.) Visual contrast is one of the key things good shape language should deliver. It’s within this contrast that the viewer will have the opportunity to compare and thus make these associations. One character design may tell you things based on previous knowledge but it’s like an experiment without a control group.

Then we get to the character’s outfits and hairstyles. While it’s true there is a fair amount of diversity in clothing, the shape language continues to falter. Genshin characters have so much going on constantly in their designs that it seems like that should provide plenty of opportunities to showcase personality. Unfortunately what ultimately happens is that the details compete amongst themselves so much that they overshadow any sort of unified message they might have had about who this character is. Basically there’s too many different shapes. They don’t create a pattern and therefore don’t form any strong associations. You can have a good design with a lot of details but they should communicate a pattern together. A design is not good simply because it has a lot of detail. I will say there are definitely times where the clothing and hair do actually come through to tell me stuff about the character, but overall this over designing tends to be a detriment.

Genshin’s hair while in different styles usually relies on the same type of pointy strands and blunt edges.

(these characters were randomly selected to prove my point that you can quite literally pick any character in genshin and they will have at least one of these two components)

On their own pointy strands might tell us something, but considering every character has them, the pattern within a single character is rendered moot. “If everyone’s super, no one is.” Of course how they choose to wear their hair does speak to the character but its effect is limited when the structure of the hair is fundamentally the same. And then when you consider that the styling of many of these hairstyles doesn’t actually say a whole lot, it becomes obvious that Genshin is more concerned with creating hair that stands out. The problem is that details, asymmetry for example, normally tell us about the character, but considering so many hairstyles utilize asymmetry, it looses its meaning. Overall I will say I think Genshin is more of a 50/50 toss up on whether or not the hair suits the character.

I want to take a moment to point out a couple hair style designs in Genshin I think are really lovely and work very well.

And now I would like to do the same with some outfits.

(honorable mention to Bennett for being over accessorized in a way that actually tells you about his personality (goggles, a scar, bandaids, work gloves, utility belt), to Barbara for somehow mashing the concept of a nun and an idol together, to Klee for her childish whimsy and finally to Scaramoche for the sheer amount of subtle character growth motifs fit into all three of his outfits (the cultural stuff is really cool too))

Genshin I will say does a great job of creating and repeatedly using the elemental imagery as well as Khaneira’ah’s star. I also appreciate that every Archon has that ombre hair shift that glows during their burst. Makes them feel unique.

I think Genshin shines the brightest when they successfully incorporate cultural elements into their designs however, the only nation that does this with any sort of consistency is Inazuma. Inazuma’s aesthetic is so instantly recognizable. No one dresses exactly the same, but there are common through lines in the shoes, the style of the armor, and patterns in the clothes. (The design aesthetic is so strong that even after Scara got a Sumeru makeover he managed to keep elements that were clearly identifiable as Inazuman) Every other nation falls short in this department. I will give credit to the knights as there is some level of consistency in their designs, mostly in the metallic detailing; not quite a uniform but there is some commonality. Liyue does have cultural influence that definitely shows but it suffers from an overall lack of consistency in aesthetic, and doesn’t lean into its Chinese inspiration the same way Inazuma does. Mondstadt on the other hand is just vaguely European, but also half the time not even.

And then there’s Sumeru. I distinctly remember looking at the full Sumeru cast the first time and thinking that none of the them looked like they came from the same place. (It’s almost as if Sumeru is based on a bunch of separate countries that are culturally very different.) Pretty much no character has any real ties to any any real culture, but instead they just sorta grab vague elements. And at its worse just leans into orientalism (Nilou and Dori). I think personality wise the designs do a fairly stable job of saying at least something about their characters (Dehya and Kaveh). The designs do well individually but between the vague references and inconsistencies they falter. (I will say Cyno’s whole design being a reference to Yu-Gi-Oh is both hilarious, charming, and also mildly appropriative.)

On the topic of appropriation I think it’s important to note that Inazuma suffers from this too. While I absolutely love the way a lot of Japanese elements were integrated, outfits like Yae Miko’s shrine maiden garb bring forth this sexualization of cultural dress that I’m not particularly fond of. But then again you can also critique Rosaria’s sexy nun design for the same thing.

I also want to touch on something briefly because it’s important to note, but it’s a separate, much bigger conversation; Genshin, like anime, falls into a trap of catering their style to lolicon and shotacon enjoyers. It’s the reason all the characters look so young, why all the age discourse exists, why they refuse to confirm ages, and why all the children with the toddler model have some weird age work around. I don’t like it. It’s gross.

Another brief mention because it’s its own conversation; the female characters in Genshin are often over sexualized. Their clothes are skin tight, they almost always have weird random cut-outs, their skirts and dresses are designed to show off their breasts and asses, and all of their designs are high fem regardless of their personality. Give a female character baggy pants Genshin I dare you. Dori doesn’t count, she’s a toddler model in just a bra. I don’t have a problem with a female character being hot, but when that’s the only requirement…. it’s tiring. The classic female character design video game debate…. yah.

I think my overarching issue with Genshin’s clothing design is it says nothing about whose these people are. What jobs do they do? What do these accessories say about them personally? Take Yanfei. She’s a lawyer, yet nothing about her outfit speaks to that in the slightest. I remember the first time I sat down and looked at all the playable characters with a friend of mine. I didn’t play at the time and we thought it would be fun to see if I could guess their personalities. As you can imagine I did pretty poorly, and that’s because these designs just don’t suggest a whole lot.

And then we get to color.

Color is probably the most complicated part of art let alone character design. I feel as though we all have some familiarity with the concept of color coding in character design. The classic red/blue character foils. Color often suggests specific traits similar to the way shape language does, except unlike shape language color coding doesn’t always apply. You can’t just assign a character a color and call it coding, the character has to physically have that color on them in some significant manner. For example Naruto is clearly an orange coded character. He appears in the color throughout the series, but I couldn’t classify Eren Yeager as a green coded character even if it suited his personality (which it doesn’t) because it’s a uniform everyone wears. Attack on Titan does not evoke color coding the way Naruto does, so it’s not applicable.

With Genshin color is complicated. Genshin does have an established color pattern for all the elements, but not every character wears the color of their element. Now normally I would say just having a color pattern for the elements wouldn’t be enough to justify character color coding (since it would fall back into the uniform category), but in Genshin their visions connect to their personalities, so therefore the color of the elements is connected to them. For some the color coding is very obvious (Kaeya & Diluc) and for others it’s practically nonexistent (Yun Jin & Heizou). In all honestly I don’t know what to make of this other than Genshin is inconsistent in their elemental color coding but always consistent in their high saturation. Because color is complicated and a weaker area of mine it is equally likely that I’m missing something or that Genshin isn’t coding anything and it’s all pure aesthetics.

Which brings me to my final point; aesthetics. Hoyo as a company cares that you spend money. That is the number one goal at the end of the day. That’s why all their characters are conventionally attractive, why their art style is the way it is, why their shape language suffers, and why their outfits are overly detailed. It’s all about aesthetics. As a brand Genshin cares less about their story and more about how pretty their characters look, because if their characters are pretty then you’ll spend money. It’s not like Hoyo designed characters with bad shape language because they were ignorant. They knew exactly what they were doing when they sculpted every last visually pleasing strand of pointy hair.

Which brings me back to the real question that people were actually arguing over in the first place; are Genshin characters ugly?

I can’t answer that question. I mean they weren’t designed to be ugly, but if they don’t appeal to your taste, then to you they are ugly. But it’s more important to understand that “bad” and “ugly” are not the same. Genshin character designs are bad by professional standards but that doesn’t mean you can’t like them. Genshin designs can be both bad and likable, bad and pretty, bad and cute. Those are two vastly different things. It’s the same way people adore cult classic movies. They’re not good in the eyes of a critic, otherwise they wouldn’t be niche. They’re cult classics because people like them. Personal taste is just that. Personal.

But the most important question of all; do I like the Genshin Impact character designs?

I didn’t use to but I gotta say, they’ve grown on me.

#genshin #genshin impact #long post #it’s an essay #i wrote an essay #character design #tagging the characters i look at specifically #in a positive light #yoimiya #venti #ayaka #zhongli #itto #yun jin #xin yan #tighnari #sorry about any potential typos #i have no beta reader #so it’s just me and my notoriously bad reputation for not spotting mistakes

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nobody-nexus · 4 months

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Unfamiliar Faces (Carnival Meets Analog)

Ragatha walks along her level, her heels clicking against the ground softly as she hummed. Her umbrella shielded her from the admittedly harsh sun, but it was a lovely day, nonetheless. As the doll walked along, she took account of something. Usually, the player and Pomni would visit her at this time. Where were they? She was so used to the company that she hardly understood the concept of being alone now with them around- even if she didn't fully enjoy how bad the player can be at proper etiquette. Nevertheless, it was strange that they weren't here though. She let out a small 'hmm' as she put her finger on her chin whilst lost in thought, stopping in her tracks to think

But her questioning was stopped in its tracks by a sudden sound. A crash filled the air, alongside clanking of silver and shattering of porcelain. Ragatha's eye widened in shock as she turned towards where the noise originated from. It was near where any players were to play alongside her, which just got her more confused. However, she assumed it was Jax

"Ughh.... I swear that rabbit is constantly wishing for trouble..."

Ragatha mutters to herself as she lifts up her hand to rub the bridge of her nose. She hated whenever Jax would sneak into her level and mess with her things. She closed her umbrella and kept it to her side as she walked over to the area, mentally preparing for the things she was about to say to that damned rabbit. But instead of seeing the black, white, and gray cartoon.... instead, it was just the mess. She saw the tables thrown about, the cups and plates shattered into pieces, and utensils everywhere. One thing worth adding though was the lack of food. She always put some small sweets on the table for added look, however this time there wasn't anything. As Ragatha walked around, careful with her step, she noticed crumbs of the sweets but nothing alongside them

As she looked around to see the potential culprit though, a noise caught her attention. Slimy, slithery, and wet in nature. She felt a cold uncomfortable shiver run down up her spine as she instinctively flinched at such a thing. She almost retched (if she even could) as she turned around to see.... something in the corner of the room. It was within some of the only dark corners of her level, but it was deep into the darkness enough to not be recognizable. Just a shape and the horrid noise. But the literal crumbs seem to lead to whatever it was. Was it a new player? Jax trying to scare her? An NPC of sorts? Ragatha hadn't the clue- but her curiosity was about to make her find out

"....Hello?"

The thing seemed to react to her voice, its presumed head poking up a little as it shifted. And then... it got bigger. Ragatha had no idea it was even hunching her, but it was certainly the case. The figure loomed over her be just a noticeable difference, but one noticeable enough to make the doll freeze in confusion and fear. Out of the shadows... poked out something blue. It looked like a dark blue slime colored worm of sorts, the texture of it smooth and seemingly rubbery. And then another popped up. And another. Three appendages moving about in such an unnatural fashion. And then... the REAL thing crept out of the corner. It had patched skin, thick yarn like hair like hers, a battered-up dress, and creaking joints that grated the doll's hearing. It... It looked like her

It looked like HER.

But twisted and eerie.

It stared at her... and She stared back

"...What.....What ARE you."

I got a lil silly :D

Carnival AU belong to @sm-baby

Analog AU belongs to me (If curious about it, check out @askanalogaupomni)

Probably just a one shot story but who knows? Maybe I'll make more as more of my own AU is revealed

#the amazing digital circus #amazing digital circus #the digital circus #digital circus #tadc #ragatha #tadc ragatha #ragatha tadc #au #tadc au #au crossover #carnival #carnival au #carnival au ragatha #analog #analog au #analog ragatha

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raven-at-the-writing-desk · 1 year

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missed opportunities

This isn’t meant to be a summary or a translation of the Sunset Savanna event!! I just wanted to share my thoughts surrounding the actual tournament and the characters involved in the overall story.

I felt like??? This event was originally meant to be much bigger and much more elaborate than what we got. Is that just me?? Don’t get me wrong, what we ended up with was… okay. It was serviceable. It worked. I just feel like it could have easily been more, but there had to be significant downsizing for some reason.

One thing that kind of confused me was the hyping up of the Catch the Tail tournament versus what we actually got?? (Loved the tourism part though, hearing about local foods, stories, and customs is fun!) I understand the cultural significance of the game, but a tournament arc doesn't work that well if we're only invested in one side; obviously, we'll be rooting for NRC to win because we know them the best and have spent the most time with them, but... They have no significant rival or opposition to go against (which is at least one thing episode 5 had going for it in the form of Vil vs Neige, and even in the Harveston event when the Seven Dwarves reappear). We don't even really have names or faces to think of as their foes. We aren't really given the chance to cheer for anyone else. Like???? NRC's first opponents get no artwork at all, and then their second opponents are supposedly Cheka's usual trio of guards--except they're just beastmen mobs A, B, and C. What happened to the lore about "most of the important roles being fulfilled by female warriors"?? You really going to sit here and tell me that the people assigned to guard the person who is essentially the future of your country aren't roles traditionally fulfilled by strong "lionesses"? All three of the roles just happened be occupied by easily reused assets? Even the replacement/temporary guards assigned to Cheka were women, and the way the originals were foreshadowed made it seem like they would later be a big deal or the "rivals" NRC had to overcome in their final matchup. They technically were, but they were just your typical run-of-the-mill mobs. They have some investment, being that Kifaji trained them and they are bitter about having won previous years but Leona stood them up for training. It’s basically one big ploy to circumvent Leona not wanting to give the warrior lessons to the winning team, a way to counteract his laziness. It makes sense for the story, but it isn’t very high-stakes.

The other team NRC fought against was even more unremarkable; they cheated just as much as NRC did and didn't even compensate for it with at least recognizable artwork or personalities. In fact, they got NO art at all. If anything, this team should have been the run-of-the-mill mobs from how generically mean they were.

It feels like this event had a handful of red herrings and cheeky lines thrown in to tease at the reveal of significant new characters, only to never follow through on them. I like Kifaji, and it's reasonable that Leona says tourists like the NRC kids can't possibly meet the head of state (Farena/Falena). However, I don't like that a lot surrounding Cheka's guards amounted to nothing?? They even mention they have a member to substitute in that's a retired imperial guard, but that ends up being of no real importance either… (he throws the match because Kalim showed him great kindness.) It’s more like a convenience that lets Leona swap in and cinch the win for NRC). It's so... anticlimactic????? Especially since the competition is supposedly for the best warriors to prove their wits and might.

Another missed opportunity is that??? The competition is supposedly open to anyone, even those from outside the Sunset Savanna. That may very well be just a writing loophole for Leona to easily shoehorn Kalim/Jack, Vil, and Lilia in as competitors, but there's so much more you could do with that idea!

Maybe there are other outsiders come to fight for the title. Maybe Rook shows up as a competitor to spook them if the devs don't want to design that many actual "rivals" with unique designs or new faces. Maybe there are your "non-traditional" fighters as well, people that are very young (just for the lols, imagine a kid Cheka's size kicking butt, using their small size and speed to their advantage) or very old (Rafiki weaponizing his wisdom and experience in combat, idk) but are still skilled enough in their own right to participate. Maybe show us more types of beastmen and how they use their specific animal’s physical traits to their advantage! I don't know how likely it is for merfolk or fae to join (since those races seem like recluses compared to beastmen and humans and merpeople don't do well in arid climates), but it would have been cool to see others throw their hats into the ring!

There were probably just limitations in place due to this being a hometown event…? It wouldn't be fair for the others to only feature one new character while this one features a TON of them, nor would it be fair for this hometown even to be significantly longer or more detailed than the others. Basically only the Halloween events are super extensive. In which case, I get it. I still would have really liked to see this concept more fleshed out and fully realized though!

#twisted wonderland #twst #Leona Kingscholar #Vil Schoenheit #Kifaji #Farena Kingscholar #Falena Kingscholar #Kifaaji #Cheka Kingscholar #Nala #Rafiki #Rook Hunt #Jack Howl #Lilia Vanrouge #Kalim Al-Asim #spoilers #notes from the writing raven #Neige Leblanche #disney twisted wonderland

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utilitycaster · 9 months

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You nailed why I'm having trouble with Laudna. Another moment for me is her shortness with Orym when pleading to FCG, some of it potentially explained by Marisha in 4SD: how fucked up the lack of intervention + nod were, Laudna's feelings on it all, potential conflict down the road, etc. But when you see the episode itself, Marisha is pretty clear Laudna isn't really aware of her friends at all, that nothing was going to stop her from killing Bor'Dor. 1/2

I usually don't mind inconsistencies at all, because as people we are never realistically consistent 100% of the time, we aren't always in character, so to speak. But some of this feels inconsistent with what has actually happened and is happening, with the text itself, so it feels so jarring. Anyway, I understand if you don't want to post this, just happy you can put to words what I have trouble articulating myself. 2/2

----

Hi anon, thanks! Yeah...I don't actually mind Laudna having conflicting feelings about Bor'Dor, but she doesn't know Orym's underlying motivations (I don't actually find the lack of intervention to be remotely fucked up. Nod kind of is, but I think that's the other thing. We're just guessing at who she's lashing out at, if anyone in particular.)

I think. if I may, the reason all this discussion of Laudna's weaknesses as a character is coming up now is because it was always an issue, but between how much stronger her concept seemed during the Team Issylra arc, the return of Delilah (always a weak point) and the fact that the story itself has hit its stride and a number of other characters have sharpened their focus while she's in many ways taken a step back, conceptually.

I think as others have pointed out, it's 65 episodes in and Marisha's answer in 4SD to any questions about the character concept is still "nightmare about creepy girl." Like, that's fine as a starting point, but what is Laudna trying to achieve? What are you exploring with this? What is she going to do about Delilah now? Will we get any sustained payoff of her grappling with the fact that not everything is fine, or will proximity to Imogen continue to act like a rapid dose of sedative?

What did she do in 30 years, because all we have is "made Pate", "got kicked out of a bunch of villages but also this hasn't been consistently backed up by people's responses to her during the campaign so it feels off", "and got to Marquet" (NO understanding of how she got here, which is pretty egregious). Again, the comparisons that keep being drawn in a matter intended to bolster her relationship with Imogen constantly keep detracting from it - Fjord and Jester had known each other for a few weeks or so prior to the campaign and it felt like it, as did Caleb and Veth's several-month friendship, as does even FCG and Ashton's vague cohabitation of convenience. There is simply no sense of knowing each other for two years. I talked about players who are masterful with negative space recently, and this is the opposite - the missing pieces do not suggest a shape we cannot fully discern. They just fall unused onto the floor.

Even the mechanical build feels mostly designed around a directionless aesthetic. Like, genuinely, why is her base level warlock if she showed signs of magical talent prior to Delilah possessing her? It's not even particularly mechanically superior for her to have done this! Warlock/Sorcerer isn't a strong multiclass anyway, and leaning into sorcerer in a party with a different sorcerer whose engaging with that thematically far more, and not really doing any other work into her opposition of Delilah makes it worse. When you add in that Pate is both one of the more recognizable aspects of the character but Marisha at one point said she had no original intentions of taking that third level in warlock (the one that granted him existence), it all becomes more baffling. And to be clear, characters can take unexpected turns; but there wasn't work done within the story that indicated a level of warlock would make sense (and in fact it would have made more sense to have fought it harder!) There's such a passivity to her warlock side - it's not even an open embrace of darker power, despite what she's said, it's just losing control, which to be honest destroys everything interesting about it, while simultaneously making the stakes of her breaking that pact low. Like, oh, you lose 3 levels and you still have 7 levels of sorcerer? Why haven't you done it then. You were level 7 like a month ago. You'll get better.

I know this all sounds harsh but I think the most recent episode just showed that, pun unintended, there is a hollowness to the characterization and when significant changes to the status quo or thorny philosophical conversations occur, there isn't a solid enough foundation to support the improvisation. There's no sign of intentionality beyond the initial "be spooky." Like, why bring in Whitestone and never consistently explore what it was like living under the Briarwood occupation as a commoner, or what it means to have Delilah in your head? Every piece of the arc feels like it's dropped and picked up when convenient and stops existing when it's not. Like...I don't dislike Laudna, and she has good scenes with characters other than Imogen, and there have been characters I have disliked either for a stretch of episodes early on, or for their entire run, but it just feels like an unprecedented lack of thought into how this character will actually exist and do things for a full campaign. I can't dislike her for her personality or ideology because there's not enough of it to dislike.

#answered #Anonymous #cr discourse

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thecurioustale · 8 months

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Art Begets Art and the Law Should Respect This

I believe in the tradition of folk art, which is to say: Borrow liberally and lovingly.

It's a practice we've been mostly sterilized from embracing in our modern corporatist society, where all of the big-name, commonly-recognizable "IPs" are imprisoned behind layer after layer of obnoxious lawyers with nothing better to do than torment the innocent. It's a terrible thing, a deprivation of our cultural oxygen—a crime against art and ethics.

As an artist myself, I often have to thread the needle of building upon the inspiring works of others while still remaining within the letter of our outrageous IP laws. It's something I think about a lot.

In Galaxy Federal, for instance, I mentioned last time that the name "Galaxy Federal" was inspired, among other things, by the mention of the "Galaxy Federal Police" title screen of the original Metroid game. When I was settling on this title for my series, I also found that Galaxy Federal is the trademarked name of a bank. I spent considerable time and mental resources, years ago, to determine to my satisfaction that it is permissible under the law for me to use this title.

I have to do way too much of this bullshit, and I know it'll still be for naught: If I ever do become an even remotely successful author, I'm sure I'll be sued anyway, probably for something I never even realized was an "infringement" despite all my vigilance. Because, at the end of the day, for big corporations and for IP trolls, our IP laws are just a racketeering scheme—a side hustle. I mean, Best Western trademarked the word "seniority." If someone wants to sue you, they're gonna find a way.

I am not really a "from scratch" writer. I don't sit down at a blank page and just come up with prose from first principles. My art is almost always inspired by things that I experience in my life, or by the ideas that result from those experiences. Sometimes—frequently, even—my inspirations come from things that are copyrighted or trademarked. I have written in the past about the influence of the video game The Secret of Mana on me as a kid. Among many other inspirations, that game has a neat sandship in it, and that's why the desert easts of Relance are prevalent with sandships.

Over the years I've become a pro at reinterpreting IP-blocked inspirations into usable, original ones—both in terms of the legal research I've done and the skills I've developed at transforming an IP-blocked inspiration into something usable. I've also become more knowledgeable about what I can get away with quoting directly: Certain things cannot be copyrighted, and trademarks have a finite zone of applicability.

It's all a very needless and skill-intensive ballet to achieve something that should be directly accessible. Obviously, there do need to be limits. As an artist myself, I am keenly aware that I wouldn't want to have no special claim to my own work. But if I were to rewrite our outrageous IP laws—and over the years I have amassed considerable material for a book on this—I would make it vastly easier for artists and the public in general to "borrow liberally and lovingly" from the sources that inspire them. Our current IP laws are like a crime-ridden police state: The security is in all the wrong places and just doesn't work. We could relax the laws considerably without hurting artists, and potentially even tighten them in other respects to better combat trolls and thieves.

But in the meantime, here's my advice: Don't let it daunt you. Dance the friggin' ballet. Get good at transformation. Liberate intellectual property from its prison in spirit if not in substance. And, when you're fearless and/or sufficiently obscure, just straight-up pirate. I think society has a duty to reject unjust laws through word and deed.

I don't usually don my pirate's hat, but I do sometimes. When I published the Prelude in 2015, for a limited time I also published a free companion soundtrack consisting entirely of, gasp, copyrighted music. Nowhere is the horror of our modern IP laws more evident than in the realm of music. What I did was basically create a curated playlist, to help set the mood of the story. I don't know if anyone even availed themselves of that soundtrack, yet for me to license all of those pieces to make my limited-time links lawful would have cost me thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars! All for something that it's possible nobody other than me even listened to. That's a crime against art. And it's a crime against artists. Our draconian IP laws hurt small artists the most. If I had had thousands of fans, I'd have been able to pay to play—and I would have done so, or perhaps I would have spent the equivalent money to hire composers to write an original soundtrack. But, as a nobody-artist and a poor person, whose own Curious Score musical compositions are long in the making, the lawful avenues are all unassailably closed off to me. This too is an injustice, of another sort.

Doing the companion soundtrack was the right thing to do in the tradition of folk art. None of those other artists (or, let's be real, the corporate goliaths that hoard most of this "content" in their treasure-vaults) was deprived of a single penny; in fact that's one of the great lies of the IP lawyers and their corporate masters: Cultural interchange usually improves income for people whose work is quoted by others. Borrow liberally and lovingly—and give credit where credit is due.

That's the way it should be.

And, one day, that's how it will be again.

#IP law #IP law is a fucking joke and painfully Orwellian and we should all be praying to the Bermuda Triangle to disappear these corporate lawyers #Prelude to After the Hero

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cheesus-doodles · 30 days

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Hello again! How are you? I'm the anonymous person who previously asked about the "boss". When reading your response about her personality in the "red dragonflies au", I realized it was me who had asked the same question back in 2022, recognized by the heart character I usually use haha, I didn't even remember that.

To be more recognizable, I'll use a more specific emoji this time.

This isn't a writing request, but I'd like to know about your creative process when writing. Usually, I focus more on my ideas after having a cup of coffee and meditating with white noise. My mind organizes better, and I avoid making too many mistakes.

I can say that your profile is one of my havens in the tokyo revengers community. Your writing and character inspired me to pick up an old project I started weeks after reading a few chapters of the manga, back when my only concerns were school exams, haha.

— 🥀.

was thinking between posting this now and next week, but I suppose it doesn't quite make a difference! will be back working on some longer fics but i'll make sure there's no drought next week

Masterlist

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Hello again 🥀 anon! well I have to say its great to see you around, and to have a recognisable emoji! :D I'm super thankful that you decided to stick around here all this time, best of luck with that project (and if you don't mind, I would love to see it whenever you're done!)

Ahh I do kinda miss school a little - the transition to work life is still pretty jarring ngl ;-; I still hate it time to time but what can we do amrite HAHAHAHA

‎

In terms of my creative process, I had a think about it because I was originally going to say that I didn't have any fixed process, but then I realised that the one constant time that I would get some writing done would be usually late nights/early mornings right before bed time. Mostly because I work full time and there are chores and stuff to do around the house after work, but also because I've always been a night owl and I find writing a good way to burn off whatever energy I have left before bedtime. Plus usually I get a bit more loose and fluid when I'm tired (its pretty strange ngl - the logic is just too strong for yanderes to make sense when I'm fully awake).

I also love to watch/listen to news updates/documentaries/financial stuff while I write? Or if I'm overstimulated I listen to music! I did try watching some cafe asmr while writing previously but I get too distracted watching the video to write so that didn't work out HAHAHAHA

But writing when I'm tired generally has an adverse effect on the sentence structure/grammar/generally story flow, so I will use my awake brain to string together what my tired brain wrote the previous night. From time to time at least, other times I'm just too impatient and just fuck it and post it.

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Inspiration also tends to hit me here and there, so I will occasionally write down ideas and sentences at work if I have free time, or while I'm out and about on weekends - just pop open Tumblr/Google Docs and jot it down before I forget! Might be that I was mulling over the prompt/idea and I see/hear/think something that hits just right!

Yea but that's how I usually go about it! As chaotic as it sounds ngl, but it works I suppose :))

Would love to hear more about your idea flow/creative process if you would like to share! Like where you get your ideas and inspiration, character personalities, or anything else you want to talk about :)

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panur · 7 months

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Radovid Joins the Hansa

At the Radskier discord we are Goncharov-ing what Radovid-joins-the-hansa (aka: Hansovid) AU would be like and here's some of the ideas shared so far:

the exact details on HOW this happens are not set in stone (Did Radovid escape before Vizimir got offed, leaving Pip and Siggi without a convenient spare? After? More importantly, does he have the annuity??), but some headcanons are:

Art major nerd perk, Radovid knows a lot about slightly more practical things, like art, history and architecture and sometimes weird law facts that he personally found interesting

barding- under Jaskier's tutelage, Radovid's playing has improved dramatically, which is great because unlike jaskier who is kind of recognizable, Radovid can more easily go into towns as a perfectly average, unremarkable bard, making getting items/information while keeping anonymity (they usually pair him up w Regis for safety reasons)

Very good at looking dumb and pretty and quite pathetic which makes people underestimate him more

Courtly training so he's polite and educated… and good at remembering faces and names.

THE ONE NORMAL PERSON IN THIS GROUP. Radovid often ends up being the most sensible/practical person in a situation simply by process of elimination. Radovid will read a potion saying 'drink me' and...not do it. He'll see spoopy shit and walk the fuck out. He's the guy who asks who's on the other side before opening to sus knocking.

he's very bad at athletic stuff and takes awhile to build stamina, but at least this time everyone's got horses and boots so it balances out

Radovid is not good at self defense BUT does have some concept of swordsmanship/archery… from like like 20 years ago. He is, however, decided not to be a burden and not to get left behind. He's especially invested in protecting Jaskier- who Radovid is horrified to find- is even more useless than he himself is (bitch you live like this??).; Because Radovid has common sense and self preservation instincts, things jaskier is mostly lacking).

he eventually starts getting lessons from Cahir and Milva when time permits, and healing stuff from Regis. He's got excellent memory and attention to detail, but remains average at swordsmanship/archery.

he is, however, fairly good with a crossbow (no the wrist ones from TW3, the bigger ones ).

he also gets a cute ponytail/braid and smiles more! (original art by naumaxia-art)

Still too weaksauce for the path?

we've named him 'Faro', after a type of Cintran beer

He's a Polish Tatra Sheepdog and was acquired by the group when Geralt was handling a monster infestation. Unfortunately neither the puppo's owners, nor his sheep were spared, but puppo not only survived, but saved Jask and Radovid and became extremely protective of them.

I imagine the acquisition goes something like:

Geralt: absolutely not. Radovid: I'm calling for a vote! Milva: You. You're calling for a vote? Radovid: why not? is this not a democracy? Radovid: I'm of course voting to keep him. Jaskier: I second the vote to keep the very handsome boy! Angoulême: come on Geralt, we'd never have found where the Barghest were coming from without him, AND he saved your bard from walking straight into it. Jaskier: yes Geralt, he saved your bard! Geralt: fine, then I vote no. Milva: I'm not taking care of any more mutts than I have to Radovid: he's clearly purebred! Cahir: still no. Geralt: see? We are done here Angoulême: *the little shit* nunca hasn't voted yet. Geralt: *sigh* Regis, can you please tell them so we can leave? Regis: Geralt: Regis. Geralt: Regis, no Regis: *trying not to smile like he's entirely charmed* … well, he is a very handsome boy.

In the end Regis suggest they at least try to get him to civilization so he can be adopted by a good family, but in the week it takes to get to it, Faro proves himself the MVP, not only will it defend the weakest party members, but it's a vert smart dog who will deter wolves/and will bodily shepherd jaskier away from dangerous areas/items as needed.

the one and only drawback is that Jaskier and Radovid can no longer have obnoxiously loud sex since Faro gets stressed thinking they're getting hurt and will try to intervene, effectively cockblocking them.

Finally Geralt gets some (relative) #blessedsilence

Geralt: *hugging the dog* I'm so sorry i ever doubted you

feel free to add to this!

#it's free real estate prompt just tag me so i can read

#radskier #hansa radovid #hansovid #jaskier #radovid the stern #the witcher #witcher netflix #not canon but should be #prancing plotbunnies #it's free real estate prompt just tag me so i can read #AU'S AND UA'S MAKE PANUR A HAPPY GIRL

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robodove · 1 year

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SHOW US THE PIRATE STUFF DO THE MERMAID STUFF ALKNASDAS

OKAY I FINALLY HAVE A LITTLE TIME ARRGAGRG I hope this aimless infodump is readable

so! Their designs and junk are a mess rn but I do have some stuff of them!!

Ignore the little dragon in the last I'm still working on Lloyd's whole... business. And! Don't mind the text in the pink one, I was just tryna think up silly nicknames!

Anyways! They aren't really... Traditional pirates? Y'know.. cause their crew size is like 5 + a child and ancient beast.

Under division is a small ramble

Cole's the "captain" and is a selkie (although I know they're usually seals I accidentally chose a sea lion)! He's the sea lion in the pictures and I'm desperately trying to work his skin into the design. I thought it'd be silly since he was raised in dance and entertainment.. and hey! Sea lions are known for that too!

(he wasn't meant to look so forsaken here, sorry Cole)

Jay is a mermaid (thing?) When in the water, he has the lower half reminiscent of an electric eel (I saw reminiscent as there are some major differences)! No one really has powers in this but he can still shock like that,, Ed and Edna are still human in this and I'm trying to remember if they still lived at a scrapyard or a shipyard.

Both Kai and Nya are only half mermaid! Nya ended up inheriting way more mermaid traits than her brother, who doesn't even have a tail in water, but still has a lot of human drawbacks. She can only breathe underwater for so long and ironically Kai can last down there longer. He just chooses not to since I thought it'd be funny to still let him be scared of water in this 😭 sorry Kai. He still has the recognizable sharper teeth and has bits and flashes of shimmery scales but is overall the most human of the bunch once you count out Cole's unskinned form.

I couldn't resist myself on Zane and ended up making him a siren. Mainly because.. bird! And also if he was going to be organic, I wanted to isolate him from the other sea related creatures. He has the wings and feathers of a gyrfalcon and can't swim as well in the ocean! He ends up bonding with Kai over this Kai originally hadn't liked him too much! Reasonably so since.. y'know.. sirens eat people. And mermaids in this.. although Zane eats human things as he was raised on it by a still very human Dr. Julien (who I guess is more of a bird-oriented wildlife scientist in this? ornithologist?). insert joke about him being a hand raised bird.

I don't have my sketchbook with me right now so I'm scrambling for pictures but ! Like all their designs, he's still a work in progress. Will most likely make his legs longer or something but this is just my ideas LOL

And anyways! Onto Lloyd! (And the others?)

I was struggling to decide what Lloyd should be,, like? A dragon could still very much work and his normal version is already so cool?? However, I ended up on leviathan.. a baby one. The serpentine aren't decided but Lloyd's still pretty much not taken seriously by the town. Still winds up being taken in by the "ninja!"

Garmadon is still locked up, although now at the bottom of the ocean! The Skulkin are drowned/dead pirates?

Wu is who I've been struggling to decide on as well! For whatever reason I've been contemplating making him like just some statue in the Destiny's Bounty that speaks to them.

There's plenty of other things going on,, Kai and Nya come to them on accident and Jay is over the moon to see other moons and wants to show them their "ways" despite having never even met others before. Cole is desperately trying to keep everyone in one place as they've accidentally made the perfect collection of the world's most valuable pelts.

Kai still raises Nya at the forge (which in this, is beachside), but years later there's a rise in pricing for the scales of mers and the boy decides that they need to leave in effort to protect her. Nya is devastated because this is their home! Where else would they even go?? They barely have any cash! Kai's decision is further inland AND with the money they get from selling the forge. Yadda, yadda, the buyer turns on them and they wind up in the ocean near their home! Kai's knocked cold, which is for the better as Nya swims them further and further into open ocean.

For the first time, Nya meets another mer as she tries to save her brother, and he helps them aboard a ship! The Destiny's Bounty! (Or perhaps a ship before it? It's all still up in air)

I'd expand more but I'm out of time </3 please give any suggestions if you'd like to! I'd always appreciate criticism

#ninjago #ninjago au #zane julien #cole brookstone #jay walker #kai smith #nya smith #lloyd garmadon #ninjago zane #ninjago cole #ninjago jay #ninjago nya #ninjago kai #ninjago lloyd #if you've seen my stuff before then you bet this includes glacier #low tides au

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