There are more things in the Parable than Stanley knows about. [Blank Scripts AU]

another hazbin hotel rewrite/redesign?

yup! and i'm so serious about it that i made a whole blog for it. i'm a white queer ex-cath tran doing this as an art and writing exercise, so feedback from other creatives + jewish and/or racialized folks is especially welcome.

i'm putting this post and only this post in the main tags for visibility. also, not gonna link my main, but i do make my own original stuff, and i encourage fans and haters alike to do the same.

anyway, here's a mostly good-faith 1.7k-word essay on the original. i think it's pretty funny and brings up some less talked-about points. correct me on the facts, disagree with my opinions, and ask clarifying questions, but don't come at me with any piss-poor reading comprehension.

the hellaverse is garbage, and here's why

cw: strong language, stronger opinions, intersectional feminist critical discourse analysis

1. vivienne medrano, the person

medrano was born as a well-off white-passing latina (salvadoran-american) in bougieass frederick, maryland. while attending new york's top art school, she got popular on deviantart-tumblr-twitter by being a prolific multifandom fujoshi furry who's more into ornamental character design than storytelling. upon graduation, she leveraged her fanbase and industry connections to make the hazbin and helluva boss pilots, get helluva made for youtube, and get hazbin made for amazon prime.

like every woman online, she gets harassed for no good reason, and as a certified autist, i will defend her right to be dumb, weird, annoying, and bad with words. however, there are legit reasons to criticize her:

racism, misogyny, homophobia, fatphobia, some antisemitism, past transphobia, past ableism

shitty boss, bad friend

cowardly, vindictive, manipulative, thoughtless behavior

skeevy friends

sucks at taking criticism

in short, i think she desperately needs a PR person and someone to clean up her digital footprint.

2. medrano's art

incurious

inauthentic

noncommittal

creatively stagnant

overindulgent, and the indulgence isn't even fun

shallow and childish framed as complex and mature

bland and boring framed as shocking and subversive

to be clear, i'm at peace with the existence of suckass art like this; i just think the money, attention, and praise it gets are unearned and should go to more interesting works, of which there are infinite.

medrano's had the time, money, and social cache to grow as an artist, learn from the best, and take creative risks, but she hasn't. if she truly has nothing more to offer, she should let her collaborators take the wheel, but she doesn't do that either. instead, she keeps getting more and more resources to make the same baby bullshit, and that pisses me off. she could be the nicest person ever, and this fundamental arrogance would still make her art blow.

stop with the pointless guilt: liking medrano's work does not make you stupid or evil. however, if you stay in the kiddie pool of culture, if you refuse to engage with a diversity of art, if the hellaverse is your point of reference for anything media-related, you can't expect to have your opinions on art, media, or culture taken seriously. you have not earned a seat at the table. you gotta hit the books first.

i cannot emphasize enough how much incredible stuff is out there if you're willing to look further than what social media and streaming services put right in front of you. if you come away from this blog having learned about just one new artist or piece of art, i'll be a happy camper.

3. the hellaverse

a. empty and confused

hazbin and helluva's content and marketing has no clear target audience. the subjects are inappropiate for teens, but the execution is too childish for adults, and lemme tell you what i don't mean by that, first.

not inherently inappropriate for teens:

sex and sexuality

violence, including when it intersects with the above

politics and religion

not inherently childish:

animation (any style)

comedy

episodic writing and/or loose continuity

young characters

fun, happiness, optimism, the power of friendship, cuteness, tenderness, sincerity, etc.

what i mean is that these shows are literally about adult characters who fuck, smoke, drink, do drugs, go clubbing, work full-time, manage their own finances, and deal with stuff like bureaucracy, sexual violence, domestic abuse, marriage, divorce, late adoption, and family estrangement.

however, none of these "adult" things are given enough specificity to create drama or comedy. it's all too stock, vague, flat, weirdly sanitized, and thus utterly banal—pure aesthetics on top of bad saturday morning cartoons. it's exactly what i'd expect from a sheltered disney kid who needs to log off and get into their local gay scene ASAP so their only contact with things like poverty, policing, addiction, and sex work stops being facile movies and TV.

if the shows were aware of this and played with it, that could be amazing, but they're not. they give you the mickey mouse version of the world with a straight face and then play looney tunes sound effects to try to make you laugh and sad_violin.mp3 to try to make you cry. now that's funny.

b. old and tired

let's make like americans and pretend that the rest of the world doesn't exist. even within the confines of the USA, home of the hays code, the red scare, and reaganite propaganda, this neopuritan fascist state ruled by 1000 megachurches in a trenchcoat, the indie/underground animation scene has been doing crazier shit for decades. anti-war films in the 60's, bakshi movies in the 70's, the simpsons shorts and r-rated movies in the 80's, adult swim and MTV in the 90's, flash/newgrounds/youtube in the 00's, streaming in the 2010's—so what are we doing in the 2020's with this wet white rice drowned in expired ketchup? i feel crazy making this point because it's obvious if you've watched these things, but if you haven't, you're gonna be like "well, there's gotta be something new here". no! there isn't! in the words of jimmy "the scot" jordan, nothing, nothing, NOTHING!

c. ideological purgatory

actually, there is one thing in these shows i've never seen before: the presbysterianism. shout out some interesting or at least intentional presbysterian art in the comments, because the way these ideas are presented here is not compelling. it just makes the rainbow neoliberalism even more confusing and contradictory.

i guess the big presbysterian things are protestanism, calvinism, and, uh, big church government? presbysterians, get your shit together. get your brand down. catholics have BDSM and vampires, evangelicals have TV and corporatism; what do you have? celtic crosses? no wonder medrano has such uninspired ideas on divinity.

d. queer deficiency

when i look at a piece of art, i ask myself: "what does this give me that i can't get from the hunchback of notre dame (1996)?" if the answer is as limp as "uhh, gay people, i guess", i can probably look for my gay shit elsewhere and rewatch the hunchback of notre dame (1996) in the meantime.

but let's say that you have no standards. you've been waiting for ages for a show about gays by the gays for the gays, and by god you're gonna get it. this is it! here we go! time for some

generic twink obliteration

male sexuality as aggression and dominance displays

WLW (sex and chemistry not included)

a couple straight femdoms

and the stalest sex jokes known to man

...yeah, it's not very queer. and by "queer", i mean "questioning or subverting gender norms (including sexual roles) within a given cultural context regardless of creator identity and intent". i'm not a queer studies scholar so LMK if there's a more specific term for this, but whatever you call it, it's not in the hellaverse much.

there's not even any transness, literal or metaphorical, just ancient drag jokes. i guess the writers thought we would've been too controversial. so much for an indie animation studio that prides itself in the diversity of its staff both above and below the line, bakshi-style. i wonder how medrano, a bisexual woman, would've felt if told that a lesbian main couple in hazbin would be "too controversial".

4. spindlehorse and the vivziepop brand

spindlehorse toons underpays its overworked staff and keeps outsourcing more and more labor to even more overworked freelancers overseas to cut costs. a rainbow sweatshop is still a sweatshop, and just because these practices may be "industry standard" doesn't make them any more ethical.

the studio has also been repeatedly accused by current and former employees and contractors of creating a hostile and abusive workplace. AFAIK, it still has no dedicated HR person, and victims are too afraid of retaliation like blacklisting and online harassment to speak out.

this is exactly the stuff that unions exist to prevent. as i'm writing this, the IATSE (the parent union of TAG, which is the parent union of all US animation unions) is negotiating with entertainment industry executives for better working conditions, and if the execs fuck around like last year, it's strike time again. so watch this space, voice your support, and don't cross any picket lines.

i hope spindlehorse unionizes, but until then and for these reasons, i don't think you should give money to the company.

first of all, all content on amazon-owned platforms is ok to pirate, and all youtube ads are ok to block. everyone involved in making the episodes has (or should have) been paid upfront, so you're not taking the bread out of anyone's mouth.

next, let's look at the succulent offerings of the official vivziepop merch shop:

$10 pins and keychains

$15 sticker packs

$20 mugs and acrylic cutouts

$25 shirts

$30 metal cards (not even tarot)

$40 lounge pants

$50 mini backpacks

random $80 skateboard deck

forgive my latin americanness, but this is all stuff you can get made by a local metalsmith, print/sublimation shop, or just crafty people in your life. it's cheaper, customizable, and better for the environment to skip all the shipping and packaging. also, not painting your own skateboard is poser shit.

the hazbin website also has $15 pins, one $20 keychain, and $6 trading card packs. people are weird about trading cards, so if for some reason you wanna gamble for a mass-produced bit of cardboard, plastic, and tinfoil, at least bulk-order for all the vivziepoppers in your area so it's less of a huge waste. better yet, trace the designs and make infinite bootlegs.

at the end of the day, buying merch is not activism. your bulk order of trading cards will not save any wage slaves from getting evicted from their overpriced studio apartments. however, the shop links you to all the credited artists/designers, and more of your bucks will actually reach them if you buy their designs directly, then turn them into body pillows or life-sized bronze statues or whatever the fuck.

go through the credits of any episode of helluva or hazbin, and you'll find even more creatives you might wanna support. get jinkx monsoon's albums on CD. subscribe to actually good artist, animator, and composer gooseworx. lots of voice actors now have patreon, cameo, or self-hosted pages where you can write better lines for their characters and have them read it. these things may not look as shiny as Official Merch™, but we all need less plastic shit and more culture anyway.

Tier List ☆ DRA edition! WARNING, long reasons below + borderline analysis of characters; and these are just my opinions! If you'd like to talk to me about these opinions, discuss stuff, and/or how I interpret a character (positive or negative ways) then going to my askbox is an option.

Rei Mekaru (Favorite) ― I was shocked she managed to be extremely likeable despite her heavy inspiration being my least favorite DR antagonist (*ahem* Byakuya). One of the noticeable and favorite things about her is how she is such a clever example of the "uptight smart supportive character who doesn't tell you answers right away" because it works so well with her ultimate title! She's an ultimate professor—commonly professors & teachers purposely guide you towards the answers as you'll be more able to comprehend it when you take the steps towards understanding the answer, it's a teaching method. On the surface it's more of a small yet clever detail, although it really helps you understand one of the big parts of her character, give weight to her actions, and keep her grounded to some extend.. which is why I'm so damn infatuated with this detail. To get deeper with it, her background also explains why she is attracted to teaching as a profession and her guidance; for a big section of her life as a child, she had to guide herself, which helped her understand the need and how to guide others.

Her obsession with competence is interesting in this case. While Byakuya's stemmed heavily from privilege, hers doesn't. It is particularly based off of her the skills that she had to develop on her own, which is her version of "competence." She analyze her background, thought her family didn't have the skills she developed on her own, and almost completely discredited them as an actual family. It's interesting and tragic to me; her obsession with competence is such a huge habit stemming from her looking at her background with child-like eyes. She appear obsessive and stuck because I mean, she's attached to this "competence" concept she built up from the lack of skills needed to comprehend a situation (since she was a child) and trauma, and used as a tool for survival (to shield her mental state, to be more clear) and as her power. It's just a really huge reminder that she's just, you know, young and lack some experience.

Everything just make so sense with her, she is so good written goddammit!!! Also, an underappreciated skill of hers is her creative skills! I mean this is an underappreciated skill when it comes to a variety of The Smart characters, but anyways— her intelligence also connects to creative skills, which is what she uses in the trials! It's a typical thing for creativity to interconnect with analytical skills, adding onto how smart a character is. A huge example of this creativity of her (or as what people describe, "thinking out of the box") is when she guessed the casts' memories were altered quite early! I love her analytical skills in general, though I love it even more when it connects to creativity :).

Although she's my favorite, I can't deny that sometimes I did want to smack her, and I do believe the way she spoke to others is something to dislike or criticize (even if "that's the point"). What particularly should be criticized is she spoke to Kizuna was... odd to say and was leaning to very internalized misogyny territory. The slut shaming when it came to Kizuna was just so wrong. I'm alright with "bitch" being said sometimes, but it feels more wrong when it's paired up with slut shaming. I definitely doubt that most fangan developers have misogyny in mind when it comes to developing how women in their art view the world, although it would make sense if misogyny also contributed to her obsession with competence! Which is something I find quite interesting.

Too many paragraphs I'm sorry, but I'll say this one thing. I also like how she appears more grounded than Byakuya. I have to say... although I'm saying this more loosely since I haven't watched DR1 in a while... I DEFINITELY prefer Rei over Byakuya...

Kanata Inori (Favorite) ― Not every character I like or my favorites has to be very good written. Love her lots, although I admit that she doesn't have that much depth & traits to her and that's alright honestly! She has a background which is fine with me, and it's just. What I love about her is how she suffered through a tragic event, someone in her life expressed kindness, and now she just has genuine love for caring about others. It's simple really, and I think that it's an admirable thing when it comes to characters and people in general. The quirks is what really make her more likeable to me; sometimes she's appears cryptic (especially in FTEs) and and it's quite amusing— it's interesting how far she's overly obsessed with germs to the point of walking around with socks and slippers. She's a character that sure can give comfort in a world where many doctors & surgeons mainly care more about money more than other people's safety

Teruya Otori (Like) ― Let me say, I didn't expect there to be two "Funny coward" characters and I expected this one to die the MOST.

I regret what I said... am so sorry Teru... Although, I am definitely fine with him not dying!!! He is kind of an interesting eccentric, weird, kind of funny guy with some charm to him. It's interesting that he's The Funny one while also being the realist at the same time, plus him becoming more hypocritical and selfish the more the game goes on it makes him appear more grounded. I do like that he has the guts to display his interest in fashion even if the fashion is "questionable." Though I feel like this desire to express himself knowing it's "questionable" and unique is used to his advantage to stand out. So if anything, it almost appears as if he has this constant need to stand out more than it being an example of confidence. Why to do this— why do he prioritize standing out? Most likely because he's conditioned to most of his life revolving about selling something— he travels for something to be sold, his father (a figure he's dependent on) sells, and he's been taught for something to sell you need to stand out (his father even suggested the hairstyle, because he claims standing out leads to more money). In fact, most of his memory involve something to be sold (he want to be memorized to sell goods, and he mainly memorize when goods are involved).

It's interesting too since most of his identity is dependent on him standing out because his identity is dependent on selling something and being useful. It's kind of sadder when I think about it more- he reduces himself to being a "resource" and something useful to an extent, rejecting his humanity to an extent. Other than being in a life or death situation, him not being useful and a "resource" would heavily to tie him breaking, because of his identity literally depending on those things. This ties to what I like about how he's portrayed in the game; which is how even when he wants to be remembered to sell something, to be useful, and to be a resource, it's not what he's remembered by. He's remembered by his personality, all what makes him charming and all the flaws to him. I think for his character it's... good for him to have his dumb moments and not always be useful, because it's good that he's allowed to have his identity to not be dependent on something he's conditioned by, which is a harmful thing.

Other than that, what's one of the most odd thing to me is his relationship with his father. I mean like, this guy sleeps in bed with his father, typically unusual for a teen/young adult who values privacy (which is very important at that age range), it's definitely not just a "close relationship with his father" as what some people frame it as, its more like dependence. His mother's fate is unknown, but it could be a good assumption that he's dependent on his father because he doesn't want to lose him too? This could also connect to why he ties himself to goods and further support his identity revolving around things being sold since while losing something, you gain something. As a bonus thing, he won't have to worry about goods (objects) being sold, because he'll have less of an attachment to losing them since he's conditioned to it just being business after all.

He's been caught in the capitalism beams.

Akane Taira (Like) ― Right off the bat, I can say didn't expect her to be more expressive with her concerns and disagreements, more blunt, more expressive with her negative emotions, more open with interrupting the trials, and more open with the idea of smacking people. Those are interesting traits of her that you wouldn't really expect in a maid, but when you know the extra lore of the game and that she's surrounded by others who will allow her to express herself more, it makes sense. Although stuck in a passive role, she's actually pretty good at bringing guidance to others, which is probably one of the best traits of hers. She's such a warm character that turns out to be tragic, obsessive, more stoic, colder, and numb as a defense from all she's been through. I'd say this behavior is more presented when we get flashbacks of her, and it's only not too presented in the main game because of some memories she's lost.

The twist of her being an ultimate despair was wayyy more unexpecting than Yuki being one. Yet it's a twist that is completely understandable- with this despair, she attempts to romanticize the role of being a dehumanized specimen than being human, in order to cope with hiding the many parts of her, the horrid treatment she goes through, being used, and with life in general. Almost, she twists dehumanization as her "freedom" because she "reclaims" it as her own. This despair fails at giving her true happiness in the end, as her being dehumanized contributes to her trauma and she still needs to hide parts of her self to navigate the despair world; and the attempts at feeling more "alive" through putting others in danger and/or mimicking others (to an extent; like mimicking Junko & Monokuma's mannerisms + energy) doesn't help the issue of not being able to reclaim her own livelihood and happiness.

Mikako Kurokawa (Slightly Like) ― Though we didn't see too much of her traits and her full extent of self expression because it's canonically limited (which is well, okay I guess...), she is shown to be empathetic and analytical—which is one of my favorite parts about her character. Her determination is admirable, even when she feels so much pain she has shown that she is willing to go out to help others, act as a contributor, and tries to tell more about the lore of the game. She's a fighter at heart, and I feel like it's an underappreciated part of her. I do like how her talent is more of a metaphor than a profession itself, as she analyzes the truth of people's character or their "inner demons" (as the wiki puts it). Her talkative side was very revealing of her and give you more insight to her other than that she's talkative. With her background full of trauma and abandonment, yet full of characters who adopt her into a family, we can see this influencing her friendly & talkative behavior in the flashbacks. It's a beautiful thing that she was influenced so positively and decided to give that positivity to others :)

Kinji Uehara (Slightly Like) ― I was really pleased that there's a religious character that doesn't force their beliefs onto others, and is more open-minded about other people's religions or the lack of beliefs. He faced abandonment as a child then was adopted, most definitely influencing his love for giving to others (especially children) and that's such a great part of him. It's genuinely such a difficult thing that he felt like he had no other options to kill just to free children who were probably dead. It's an interesting thing, with him acting out in interest of freeing others while also with some selfishness as well, although he has kind intentions he's definitely not the most innocent (although yeah, I can understand his selfishness since he felt like he hardly had any other choice). He's a reserved, king of awkward guy and that's something quite endearing to me and at times funny. It seems as if he's always been put into adult-like roles throughout his life, by constantly watching and caring for the children. Other than appearing "more mature" than most of the cast, he does seem to have more experience comparing to the most of the cast, as he travels and tend to many personalities (because he cares for many children. Which means he is open to more experience and lessons than the rest of the cast, and can also explain why he's open-minded. Yeah, I think he's pretty decent.

Kizuna Tomori (Almost Neutral) ― She's an interesting character, not only she's very self aware of all her wrongdoings, but she observes what the world value about women & girls to use it to her advantage. She gains power and attempts to fulfill her psychological needs by "reclaiming" the perspectives forced onto her—the perspectives that only value and acknowledge her conventional attractiveness over intelligence. Now, as much as its portrayed as if she's irredeemable and to an extent "faking" her loneliness, the FTEs shows her loneliness. I do think she has the potential to redeem herself, it's just that the killing game wasn't a good place for her to do that.

Ayame Hatano (Almost Neutral) ― I gotta be honest, she was one of those almost-forgettable characters to me. Though I really do love that there was an emotional connection so impactful to her, that it heavily influenced the her killing someone- and to mention, some selfishness also influenced her. She's definitely not a saint. She's also more stoic, awkward and blunt at times, yet in the end of the day, she does have some kind intentions and those are all the things cool about her.

Satsuki Iranami (Almost Neutral) ― Her appearing so detached about the killing game was one of the worst and best traits of her, though yeah I get it, her funny detachment moments was a coping mechanism and an attempt at making others cope with the situation all at once. Although not the most remarkable character to me (and is more closer to being mediocre) she's another who is considerate of others. She's one of the characters with the most purest intentions out of anyone else. I also do enjoy her unpredictability, and I have to say, I do wish that she was more expanded on. She had her wise moment in Chapter 4, yet this "wisdom" trait is never expanded on, like ever, and it appears that it's intentionally said by her in order for her death to have more impact... so it feels more "random" than a trait of her, which is a little disappointing to me.

Kakeru Yamaguchi (Almost Neutral) ― Good god his character is just so disappointing, and it's all thanks to the developer limiting themself because he thought 4 "smart supportive characters" would be too much... despite the fact being a lawyer can be many things. I do like that he shows his confidence in the trials (even in a way that's more obnoxious), because lawyers depend on how they appear and say stuff than actually depending on the truth, which is what some people just don't get. Wolfgang is a better executed example of a lawyer not being stuck in the "smart supportive character" role. Although he's nice, willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of others, and that's sweet.

Kiyoka Maki (Almost Neutral) ― I'm sorry man but like she's one of the top characters that were very forgettable to me. She's sweet, supportive, wishes to be a normal girl, and that's really all say that I can say about her. I like that she's the more sweet & sociable type, and I have to say it's interesting that she attempts at getting others to cope with the situation they're in while also appearing ignorant of the situation in the process.

Yuki Maeda/Utsuro (Almost Neutral) ― He's okay I guess. I do like that the game shows him slowly and slowly building up the constant despair he's feeling to the point he chooses the "despair route" in canon, which was almost an expecting choice while managing to be impactful in a bitter way. He's (for the most part) an average guy and other than his whole lore—which I guess you can argue its Utsuro's lore since Yuki and Utsuro are considered seperate identities—Yuki is kind of good when it comes to supporting other's emotions, which isn't the most "average guy" thing ever. Even when Yuki chooses despair, Yuki also chooses hope, which is an interesting thing showing how strong-willed he can be. Also, him considering Mitch a "friend" was pretty annoying of him, even knowing what Mitch did... *eye roll*.

I find Utsuro interesting and his background neat. The way he was dehumanized in life also lead him to the person he is now. Despite all the selfishness and cruelty and dehumanizing others, he does slightly care about others. I like that the "bigger" mastermind ended up with some depth to him, and he wasn't painted as completely evil. I do want to say that prefer the "luck" thing being more ambiguous than an actual thing that exists in canon.

Yamato Kisaragi (Neutral) ― Good god this man is so fucking plain. He was the important character I guess. Which I mean, I'd prefer Mikako having more importance over him, but it's cool I guess. I wish his character would've been... expanded more. He doesn't give as much impact as the story wants me to.

Haruhiko Kobashikawa (Dislike) ― Him invading a space for women solely to sexualize them and then bringing up a DEAD woman's name when talking about peeking on the girls having a bath together killed him for me. People like to downplay this stuff, but I really don't think people should be desensitized to that kind of stuff. He appears aware that he shouldn't really be doing this shit, which makes it worse to me. Other than that, I did find him funny at times. It also was almost ridiculous how he was so quick to decide that Satsuki was his lover and stuff, I'm just going to think that he had a small crush on her and them the memories made it even bigger, I guess. Mans risked it all and that's okay I guess. Also, the way he wanted to suggest doing some creep type shit while he had a girlfriend in the flashbacks. while you had a GIRLFRIEND??? Good god...

Tsurugi Kinjo (Dislike) ― As much as he's a decent antagonist... his character in general... he just seems normal? Which isn't a bad thing that he reflects what's "normal", but I kind of get annoyed with people comparing him to Nagito, because he's kind of a normal cop. Dragging and adding to his words to feel important while expressing that he don't want to improve the system and he'll use his authority to make no actual good progress... manipulating people by using his authority (his "duty to protect everyone", his judgement as a cop) to cause more division while also causing distrust in the process because he claims "if you don't believe in him you're a criminal.........." Then he use people's need to to not be divided as an advantage to trap people in his clutches even if the people technically don't fully believe him. Cop stuff. Of course he'd fall into his mindset at the end because he was never fully out of it in the first place and he's been conditioned at a young age... and I mean, let's be honest, a lot of people in real life will tolerate the things he does as a cop (ex: manipulation) and his mindset. Thus it'll encourage him to continue... being him. I don't hate him but I sure do like to tease him. Decent written character though, I'll say that. I just don't like his character that much.

Mitsuhiro Higa (Dislike) ― There's not much to him. I mean he's a cocky ass and I'm definitely sure that he feels supported by the power he has due to fame to act terrible. He had his nice moments in the flashbacks but I mean. Terrible people can still be nice sometimes. I don't hate him though, and even I dislike him while not giving much that much thought.

THATS IT. I'M FINALLY FUCKING DONE!!! goddamn this took long.

Hey. Recommend your favorite indie movies rn. I promise ill watch them because i need to watch more indie stuff anyway and i trust your judgment

sooo glad a couple of you took the bait <3

Right off the bat, I'll say that the line between indie and not is a bit blurry and malleable, so I'm defining it as movies that didn't have the backing of a major US studio. That said, there's debate over whether A24 and Annapurna count as major or indie studios. So ultimately, to split the difference, I've settled on 7 "true" indies, one A24 picture, one that's kind of an indie but also not for reasons I'll get into, and one that's not an indie at all but people still don't watch it because it's old so I'm going to take this opportunity to stump for it.

Leave No Trace (2018)

This is the first movie that jumps to mind for me when people ask me about the best indie movies I've seen. It's about an ex-marine with PTSD so severe he can't function in modern society; instead, he and his 13yo daughter live in National Parks. He's homeschooled her (well!) and taught her to be independent and live off the land, and they have a very, very strong relationship. But, she's also 13, and is struggling with the extreme isolation that comes with their lifestyle. She loves her father and doesn't want to abandon him, but it's starting to take a toll on her mental health. And her father loves her, but he's simply incapable of integrating into society in a way that would allow her to have the social relationships she needs. It's moving and heartbreaking and very much a coming-of-age story. Even though the situation at hand is completely alien to my life experience, the core of it is about a father-daughter relationship, and growing up and also losing your father. It came out only two years after my own father died, and on the way home I had to duck into a Mcdonald's bathroom and ugly cry because it jogged something loose in me, which is what finally spurred me to go to grief counselling (which I'd been avoiding for two years).

2. The Five Obstructions (2003)

This one is actually a documentary, but one that I think is worth watching if you're interested in film. The premise is that Lars von Trier has challenged Jørgen Leth to remake his 1970s-era experimental short film, "The Perfect Human", five times - but each time von Trier gives him a set of rules to follow (which, in each case, are designed to "ruin" the picture). Every time Leth comes back with something which has inexplicably been made even better because of the restrictions placed on him. On an academic level, it's fascinating to see how the different techniques change the energy and even the meaning of the film - I'm also personally a huge fan of the use of "creative constraint" in art, so it was especially fascinating to me. On a human level, it's intriguing to watch von Trier try to push Leth to confront less of the "perfect" and more of the "human", and how doing so ultimately elevates the art.

3. A Dog's Breakfast (2007)

This one is maybe the truest indie of all on this list, and the only reason I know it exists is that I've been a long-time fan of its writer + director + producer + star David Hewlett. Hewlett's character (Patrick) is an isolated and somewhat dysfunctional man, who is visited by his sister and discovers that she's engaged. He becomes convinced the fiance is trying to kill her, and decides to try and kill the fiance instead. Patrick's sister Marilyn is played by Hewlett's real-life sister Kate, which personally I think adds something to their whole dynamic. It's a pretty small-scale film - the whole thing takes place at Patrick's house or on his property, and there are only 4 actors, not including Hewlett's real-life dog Mars - and I love what that kind of creative constraint does to a film. Also - it's a comedy (and a riotously funny one, if you enjoy that kind of humour). It's maybe not the deepest or most insightful on this list, but it's a LOT of fun and I've seen it several times.

4. The Invitation (2015)

One of my greatest frustrations in the last year was hearing people talk about The Invitation and getting excited that they were FINALLY discovering this brilliant, underrated indie horror - only to realize they were talking about the shitty vampire movie of the same name. Okay.

The less you know going into The Invitation, the better, so I'll just say it's about a man who goes with his girlfriend to a dinner party hosted by his ex-wife and her new husband. It's immensely suspenseful, and it utilizes the kind of social anxiety that would come with this sort of extremely awkward situation to great effect. The main character and the viewer are constantly asking - is there something weird and sinister going on? Or is this just supremely uncomfortable for other, more mundane reasons? It also touches on grief in some brief but meaningful and relatively poignant ways, and has an extremely chilling and effective coda that I am still thinking about to this day (I am forever trying - and failing - to replicate the impact of this movie's final shot in my own writing).

5. Treed Murray (2001)

This is another one that I only know about because I obsessively watched David Hewlett's filmography for a while. Up front, I'll say it's maybe not the most original or insightful social commentary out there, and I also watched it when I had much less awareness of racial issues than I do now, so it’s possible there are the problematic things in the writing I’ve forgotten about. That’s the disclaimer. But it still holds a special place for me because of the premise - a yuppie ad executive gets chased up a tree by a gang of would-be muggers, and the rest of the movie plays out with him stuck in the tree overnight and them waiting for him to come down. The acting all-around is superb, the script is suspenseful (even if the character beats aren't the most unique or original), and I have such a soft spot for any movie that uses a limitation like "this guy is gonna be in a tree the whole time" to its advantage like that, so it's making the list.

6. Nightcrawler (2014)

This is one that's technically indie, but because Jake Gyllenhall is attached it got a lot more attention than another film might have. Gyllenhall is a "nightcrawler" - a video journalist who drives around at night looking for shocking crimes and accidents he can film and sell to news stations for their morning news. It's dark, it's suspenseful - and it's also an incredibly cogent commentary on the news media, how it exploits victims, and how it plays into polarization, division, and marginalization for profit.

7. The Death of Stalin (2017)

Again, this one's technically indie, but Steve Buscemi is in it and it's written and directed by the guy who did Veep, so it got its fair share of attention. But it is one of my all-time favourite movies. It's a satirical look at the leadership of the Soviet Union in the days immediately following Stalin's death; it's bitingly funny, and a lot of humour rests on the sort of bureaucracy that's frustratingly relatable to anyone who's ever worked in an office. At the same time, it manages to touch on the horrors of that period in history in a way that is genuine and respectful, which is a difficult line to walk. Altogether it makes for something that manages to be simultaneously entertaining and somewhat chilling.

8. First Reformed (2018)

This is the one A24 picture I mentioned, but I'm including it in part because it hasn't gotten as much attention as other A24 movies, and in part because it had such a huge impact on me personally. Ethan Hawke plays the pastor of a tiny little tourist church, suffering from depression after losing his son in the Iraq War. A pregnant parishioner comes to him to ask him to speak to her husband, an environmental activist who believes it's wrong to bring children into a world facing climate catastrophe. That encounter shakes the pastor and sends him spiralling as he tries to reconcile the state of the world and the deterioration of the environment with the kind of pat, consumable, shallow, capitalist christianity being pushed by the protestant megachurch which owns his parish.

I will say that part of the reason this film resonated with me so specifically is because I saw it at a point in my life where I was pretty severely depressed, struggling with repressed grief, and really grappling with questions around the faith I'd been raised with, so it spoke to me in a very particular personal way. It might not resonate with other people in quite the same way, but I do think, regardless, it's a well-done exploration of a particular kind of psyche, and so worth a watch.

9. Snowpiercer (2016)

So this one is debatable as an indie; it had a budget of $40 million, it stars Chris Evans, and its worldwide box office was nearly $88 million. Most of that $88 million, though, came from South Korea (where it was initially released) and China; when it came to the US it had a reception and release much more comparable to an indie. So it's a weird one to talk about, because it's "indie" in North America only, and it raises questions as to whether we should be sticking to definitions of "indie" that center on US production companies. If a South Korean studio can make a comparable effort and expenditure, should it not be classified as a major studio?

But. The point of this list is movies I (a North American) recommend to my (largely North American) friends and they simply don't watch because they're "indie movies", and this absolutely fits that bill. And it's especially galling after the (deserved!) success of Parasite. Snowpiercer is also a Bong Joon-Ho film, and while it's not on the same level as Parasite (few things are) it's still excellent. It has all of the suspense, nuance, character work, and adept social commentary of Parasite, but in a dystopian post-apocalyptic setting. After a new ice age brought about by climate change, all of humanity lives on a train constantly circling the globe. The few wealthy live at the front of the train; the many, many poor live at the back. Chris Evans' character leads an insurgency against Wilbur, who runs the train, and the film follows his group of rebels as they move from the back to the front. (I also love this premise because of the physical space limitations which come from having your whole movie set on a train, which the film uses VERY well, especially in its action sequences).

10. Touch of Evil (1958)

So this one is cheating because it's not an indie at all. In fact, the edits made by the major studio it was attached to (Universal) are a big part of why it flopped so hard when it first came out. But I'm taking this opportunity to stump for it as a movie that I love so dearly and no one ever watches because it's black and white and old and Orson Welles directed it and people immediately think of Citizen Kane and think it'll be boring and don't want to touch it. But it is excellent (provided you can get past Charlton Heston in brownface, which is.... hm). It's probably my favourite classic noir (and I have seen many noirs). A car bomb explodes along the US-Mexico border, and Heston, a Mexican drug enforcement agent, has to partner with an American police captain (played by Welles) to investigate - but he quickly starts to suspect that the American captain is planting evidence. The movie itself is dark and gripping and suspenseful, but I also think the key ideas about the ethics of the police and the importance of civil liberties are especially resonant now. It makes the opposite argument of modern "copaganda" that implies that we would all be better off throwing our rights in the trash and letting the cops do whatever they wanted. Instead, Welles is making a case that, actually, personal rights are important and must be held sacred, even if (and especially if) that makes the cops' jobs harder.

it's so interesting that you're a gmm and watcher fan because a) i am too and b) there's so much stuff i wish the channels would take from each other - like i wanna see rhett and link borrow from watcher's creativity and more exciting release schedule and i really need for watcher to learn from the ways that rhett and link connect with each other and the audience and constantly pull you in through their bond. i feel like they're two halves of the perfect channel idk

Yes I love watcher! They both have very diffrent types of content (I'll be honest I haven't been keeping up that well lately 😬) I love watchers schedule and that they post once a week, but I get that Mythical had this format of posting everyday since the beginning (correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure that'd how it was).

Now there's nothing wrong with an everyday posting and that's a bug reason they're successful, but I feel like it puts waaaayy too much pressure on their writers and they can't come up with too creative stuff and gotta stick to some old things (plus there is this whole; food content gives them more views so let's stick to that instead of keep pushing non food till we connect with new/old audience that likes the non food stuff)

I did see a change in Mores like they let it run longer sometimes even longer than the main which is great because they let loose and have fun.

what I like about watcher is that the majority is scripted but the joking and banter isn't,plus they have some established content they rotate around (watcher has some too and I think we all love the darts/shuffle board/scorn hole games) those are gun because they do some games and not just sit down and eat, which is why the vibration challenge or the task master or bring it back is so much more fun to watch than fuckin gut check 🙄

Mythical also needs to focuse more in the society,and not just on the app!! oh and tiktok they used to do sketches now we just get scenes from an episode we just watched?? maybe they wanna promote the episodes to others but to fans who watch most of the time it'd just so boring.... why are they not doing anything on Mythical bits anymore?? This isn't me hating on them please don't get me wrong. I just wanna see them have fun acting and make jokes they can't on gmm. All we get is the same old gmm videos some longer More and occasionally a 5 minutes special round of MS society and maybe a btm of an episode, they at least kept car biscuits cause its one if my favorites but to be 3rd degree is just not worth it anymore because they decided to take out so many lives and loft vlogs.

now watcher doesn't have that much exclusive content either but I did see that they're trying to do something new with watcher weekly+ so I'm excited about that (plus their tiers are cheaper 🫢)

I'd love to hear your thoughts on what you mean by watcher boys connecting with each other, like do not scripted stuff like eheh they went to Knotts and were the berry boys ? (I find those episodes very sweet)

🕯️💎💌

yooooo thanks for the ask my friend. Let's do this thing

🕯️was there a fic that was really hard on you to write, or took you to a place you didn't think it would take you?

I actually already answered this one with the clause of human nature but I think also my symphonia countdown fic A Generation of Ghosts about Zelos and Seles' relationship was a little hard for me too because it brought up some of my issues with my own family. I mean, you write from what you know though, so that's probably why the fic is one of my favourites I've written in a while lol

💎why is writing important to you?

Honestly I find writing to be very, very cathartic, I wish I had the creativity to write my own original work but I've found a cluster of fictional characters I project on so now I just put them in Situations(tm) and subject them to my own experiences or something very similar to it. When I started getting a lot of attention for my writing I started to veer a little too hard into the 'caring about stats and readers' mentality but at the end of the day I write for personal catharsis and anyone else who is along for the ride is welcome to enjoy it too.

💌share something with us about an up-and-coming work (WIP) that has you excited!

OKAY SO I'LL SHARE ONE FROM EACH OF MY FANDOMS BECAUSE I HAVE A LOT OF EXCITING STUFF ON THE GO RIGHT NOW!!

Symphonia: the final chapter of Absurdities and Echoes is finally underway and after a year of shelving it. I went and reread my outline for this chapter and there's a lot of tying up loose ends, closure, and a couple character interactions i'm really, REALLY excited to write.

Crestoria: my dead dove "bad end" AU (if you know you know) is about to have a very interesting update, and I've already written the second half and it might be my favourite Crestoria thing i've ever written to date, even more than my Aegis study which is my most popular fic to date. Forte has a breakdown and it's delicious.

YGO: When me and the wife were watching the final episodes and everyone gets on the boat to the ceremonial duel Fina was like "THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN THE PERFECT TIME FOR RYOU AND MALIK TO SORT THEIR SHIT OUT BUT NO WE NEED ANOTHER SCENE BETWEEN YAMI AND YUGI" so I was like I got you fam. So i'm planning an angstshipping/thiefshipping fic that parallels the two relationships, and if you really want a spoiler I plan to play around with the fact that I can't stick to one tense and use present tense for the angstshipping and past for the thiefshipping. It's gonna be good.

Finn Ilios

"You are magic. Don't ever apologize for the fire in you." ~ Unknown ~

Basic Information

FACE/BODY CLAIM: Amy Adams

AGE: Very Old; born in 8000 BCE - probably during the summer months

EYES: A blue so pale it's almost disconcerting

HAIR: Bright Orange; she usually wears it long and loose down her back

HEIGHT: 5'4

PRIMARY OUTFIT: She loves a variety of styles, but the themes tend to stay the same: lots of warm colors - red, orange, gold, yellow - with a splash of shine, sparkle, or glitter as accents

Personality

On the outside Finn had a very bubbly, friendly demeanor - it’s not all that she is, but it does play a large part. This is what often gives others the impression that she’s naïve or simple-minded. It’s not a façade, per say, it’s just how she chooses to be - to always see the happiness and good in things. She knows there’s bad and evil in the world, but she doesn’t want to give it power by acknowledging its existence. Like all dragons, she has a wisdom that isn’t often matched (even by Apollo) and if someone managed to make her angry it would come in a sharp burst of intensity - the kind where she wouldn’t realize or regret what she’d said or done until she’d had a chance to calm down.

Powers & Weaknesses

To avoid repetitiveness, go here.

Romance

Finn isn’t an overly sexual creature, despite how one might be mislead by her physical appearance and overly-friendly personality. She’s not immediately going to hit on someone she finds attractive, although she will openly and honestly compliment them. But Finn doesn’t see it as the same thing - she’s just being honest - not flirty. However, she appreciates sex as an act that creates pleasure for both partners, and is rarely offended or put-off when someone expresses an interest in her. Finn also doesn’t see any reason why two people need to be ‘in love’ to take part in such things, so if she were propositioned, she wouldn’t be likely to say no if the one suggesting it was someone she found physically attractive. There might be other things which would factor in that might lead her to say no (like a really terrible personality) but in general, she won’t.

Where to Find Her

Finn is one of those people that can be found just about anywhere, so in regards to picking a place to start an RP, I'm pretty flexible. Here are some generic ideas:

Ballet/Music/Theater performance

City park/botanical garden

Famous landmarks

Fashion show

Museum

Verses

Just because a verse isn't listed here doesn't mean I'm not interested in writing it. I adore all kinds of AUs, and welcome the chance to get creative with my muses. If you've seen a verse that another of my muses has, and you'd like to see this muse in something similar, let me know. You can also check out my 'Plot Ideas' tag, too. ^_^

Main Verse:

Finn's main verse can actually be explored in this bio post. It seems silly to re-type it all here. ^_^;

Current/Ongoing Threads

If your thread with Finn isn't listed here it's probably because it's been long enough since your last reply that I thought you'd dropped it. Message me to let me know you're still interested, and I'll happily add you to the list (with no pressure for a reply.) ♡

Marcella:

The Nature Of Secrets

Stuff That's Good to Know Before Starting a Thread

She has a sun-shaped scar over her heart where Apollo critically wounded her.

Apollo was the love of her life - her mate; there won't ever be anyone who comes close to him. However, that doesn't mean Finn isn't capable of caring/loving someone new. It won't be the same for her, but she can still show affection for someone given enough time and trust.

Links

Please keep in mind, this blog is an ongoing work in progress. Not all of these links may lead somewhere, but they're here because they link to potential tags for this muse.

All Things Finn

Headcanons

Drabbles

All Threads

Ask Replies

Meme Replies

Aesthetics

Face

Special Links

Original Blog

Finn's Wardrobe

Return To Full Muse List

16 personalities questions: 37-39

37. You enjoy going to art museums 

Yes, but even more than museums, I like going to art galleries. Galleries are retail. In other words, they have to sell art in order to stay alive, which makes them much less prone to some of the stupidity found in the art world. Not immune....but at least less prone. Museums, for the most part, don't worry about catering to retail tastes, since they aren't selling the individual art pieces. Which means they can be a little more wrapped up in the BS. 

But I suppose I'm digressing into the politics of art, as opposed to just addressing the statement. I love looking at art. I love seeing what creative people do when they get turned loose on a field. One of my favorite places, though I haven't gone there that many times, is the Laguna Beach Festival of the Arts, where you can find all kinds of such things. I love seeing what creatives will do with furniture, jewelry, just about any kind of household item, as well as the usual art mediums like sculpture and paints. 

Going to galleries was one of the things I used to love when we'd go up to San Francisco.  

I should also mention that I'm pretty quick to gauge my interest in things. I can glance in a museum room, or gallery, and pretty much know in a few seconds whether I'll be interested or not. Back in the beginning of 2018, we went to the Getty Villa with a group. One of the guys wanted to stop in every room and look at everything and read the little descriptions. I'll look in a room and think, nah, and just move on.  

Kind of reminds me of when we used to go to the zoo. I'd blow past almost everything and go straight to the monkey cages, which were always the most fun for me. Now that I wrote that out, I'm pretty sure it's irrelevant. We'll put that in the bonus information category. 

In summary though, I love going places to see art. 

38. You often have a hard time understanding other people's feelings 

I feel like I just discussed this in the section on empathizing with others. But that one was focused particularly on empathizing with others whose feelings are different from mine. As I mentioned there, I have a hard time relating to people who have problems I've not had. I'll try, but it's not easy for me. Is it easy for other people?  

As for people that I do have a common experience with, then I can relate to their feelings. 

The longer I exist on this planet, the more I experience, and therefore the more I can relate to people. I've been through some things now that I hadn't been through when I was 40. Things that might have been more difficult for me to understand... well... I have lived it now. 

Do I 'often' have a hard time understanding other people's feelings? I'd probably put this one at a 3, or one step from neutral towards Agree.  

39. You like to have a to-do list for each day 

No. Though I do keep a list of things to do for work. So, maybe I do. I certainly don't have one for my life outside work, but even there I will occasionally write stuff down that I need to take care of. That's mainly because I'm prone to forgetfulness, so writing it down right next to the computer will help remind me. I will occasionally set an alarm on my phone to go off at say 9:30a on monday morning to remind myself to call the roofer. Because my likelihood of forgetting to do that thing, if I try to just remember it, is pretty high. This forgetfulness is the root reason why I make lists, not any innate love of lists. I've just learned through time that it's about the only way I'm going to remember to certain things. 

I've also had the experience at work where my boss comes in and tells me he wants X. 10 minutes later I'm like, what did he want me to do? At that point I'm going to have to go over to his office and ask him again what the thing was, because I didn't bother to write it down at the time. So now I write it down. 

This forgetfulness is the same trait that causes me frequently to ask, when I've gotten to the grocery store, or home depot.... why are we here again?  

But surprisingly, over the years I think I've actually gotten better at remembering things than I used to be.  

For Fanfiction Writing Asks (There is a lot so if it's too much feel free to skip some):

1, 4, 12, 14, 15, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 32, 35, 57

Do you daydream a lot before you write, or go for it as soon as the ideas strike? Daydream, so much daydreaming, I daydream all the time. Only like 30% of my daydreams actually get written and only 20% get posted.

4. How do you choose which fics to write? It's just a feeling, like, "Oh this one needs to be written." It's not like an evaluation process, it's a gut decision thing.

12. Do you outline your fics?  If yes, how detailed are your outlines?  How far do you stray from them? Not usually? I usually plan a story loosely, maybe write down a couple points, but mostly it's in my mind. I try to stick to my original ideas, and usually do pretty well.

So I... mentally outline, but don't outline like, in a document usually. To leave some interesting wiggle room and chances for finding the story along the way.

14. What is your favorite location and position to write in? My bed, mostly laying down and just slightly propped up by pillows.

15. What’s your favorite time to write? Middle of the night.

25.What’s your favorite part of the writing process (worldbuilding, brainstorming/outlining, writing, editing, etc)? Is it a copout to say all of it? Because it's all of it. I love Writing, in all it encompasses, and each step and component flows into and builds upon the others. It's all so messily intertwined, editing can lead to new worldbuilding and outlining can lead to new character creation and writing itself is pulling everything together- I just love Writing as a whole. The entire process, from beginning to end.

26. What’s your least favorite part of the writing process? Don't have one. It's all good. Even when it gets frustrating or I have to step away.

27. What area of writing do you feel strongest in? This shifts a lot for me. I used to feel strongest in dialogue, and then descriptions, and then I felt my atmosphere building was strongest, then dialogue again, then characterization- it fluctuates.

28. What area of writing do you want to improve in? Consistency, I think. In style, in how often I write, in tone. Not across various stories, I like being able to write silly fics and dark fics and tragic fics and hopeful fics. But sometimes my quality of writing or style or tone changes chapter to chapter and I want to learn to keep things more consistent throughout a story.

29.What’s something about your writing that you’re proud of? My ideas. I feel like I have a lot of very good, unique ideas and am able to execute them well. I'm also proud of how accurate I can get my characterization of characters across such wild and varying AUs.

32.Do you take fic requests?  Why or why not? Sometimes! I'm a big believer in Collaboration Breeds Creativity, case in point my sideblog @a-vamp-and-a-half. That's all RPs with my friends Sororia and Jim, and the collaboration on ideas and concepts and worldbuilding are what makes it really special!

So yes, I do take requests, I just can't guarantee I'll always do them, which is why I say Sometimes XD

35. What’s your favorite fic you’ve posted? Jeepers, I don't even know. I've written literally hundreds. If you count all the asks in the Sia Character RP alone as individual little fics it's thousands. I've written a lot of stuff, and a lot of feelings have changed over the years of writing them.

I literally have no idea how to pick a favorite. I love most of them, and ones I don't I still believe have a lot of value because they taught me something about writing. And like, interest shifts have an influence on it as well. Jeepers...

I literally don't know.

57. How conscious are you about including symbolism or foreshadowing in your fics? Extremely, I try to utilize both a lot. I'll do accidental foreshadowing often, but I always try to include foreshadowing and symbolism whenever I can. I love drawing parallels, using one character's story to hint at another's, including small details or scenes that become huge later on. If you read the Sia Character RP, there's literally stuff put into it literal years ago now that still haven't fully paid off, but will. The story of that RP has grown and changed a lot over it's 2 years of life, but there's a lot of threads that have been planned for a significant time of that life. Hell, there's stuff from the beach visit that had foreshadowing that hasn't fully paid off yet, and won't for a good while. But when it does I promise it'll be so satisfying.

I have to ask, now that I’ve slept properly, I’m surprised you haven’t wrote anything of Vex Scar and Grian. Given you have a lot of ship stuff of Scar corrupting the fuck out of people. I’m thinking he has done something similar to Grian at one point. Given their time together in 3rd Life. Hmmmmthis now gives me dark shipping ideas.

Also what are your head canons and lore in Vex people?

I'll be honest, I find Cub and Scar a far more interesting pairing to write for than Scar and Grian. No shade on Scarian shippers ofc, but they're just not that interesting to me. >_> I suspect it's bc I'm just hyperfixated on Cub so, I'm far more interested in ConVex stuff than Scarian stuff. Unless it's Cub/Ariana Griande, that I do ship (ty AK <3). But yeah. Not my thing! But if it's something you wanna run with, feel free. <3

(also it was Ren and Martyn that got me into 3rd Life, so my heart will always be with them over desert duo. >_>)

As for headcanons and lore, that's a longer answer. And this will get rather long so strap yourselves in lol. :D

For me, I tend to stick fairly close to canon? I just maybe extrapolate a little from that. So my Vex are a hivemind, a collective. They exist mostly in another realm/plane of existence as spiritual beings, and only come into the overworld through being summoned by Evokers, or by possessing players.

This other plane of existence I tend to refer to as Vexspace, and it's where the Vex reside and hold all their power. Evokers do not have access to this space as they are not Vex, but they act as priests and high priests, and are more seen as individuals than the Vex are. The Vex have a hierarchy, though it's both strict and loose at the same time, given the Vex don't really see themselves as individuals but as a collective.

Scar and Cub are considered Holy Vessels of the Vex, as they are used to channel Vex magic into the overworld. Possession by the Vex is done when they have need of physical bodies, and is done by wearing the Vex masks. The Vex masks have other powers, not just possession, such as unlocking their Vex forms, and giving them access to higher streams of Vex magic they would not otherwise be able to access, tho Cub is the only one who really takes advantage of this.

Cub and Scar can always hear/sense/feel the Vex around. There's always that connection to Vexspace. By extension, they are always aware of where each other is as well. They can travel through Vexspace to find each other, or visit other mansions, or other places where they want to go, but they don't always use this method of transport bc they are players first and it doesn't always occur to them to do so.

Which brings me on to mansions! They're like home bases for the Evokers as priests and high priests in the overworld. Connections to Vexspace and Vexkind that are highly charged with Vex magic. Vindicators act as protectors of the mansion, the Evokers, and the Vex. I know some have used mansions as a name for a collective of Vexes, but that isn't my thing. For me, mansions are their overworld homes especially for Evokers. It's where the Vex can learn about what's happening from their eyes and ears in the overworld, and how they did get a lot of their intel about the overworld before Scar and Cub came along.

Indeed, Scar and Cub have been responsible for great advancements in Vex magic use, bc ofc players are creative in a way Evokers aren't. Evokers have names these days because one day, Scar and Cub built a Cathedral to the Vex, and named the high priest. The Evokers name themselves now after stars found in Cub's Book of the Stars to honour how much he has taught them about Vex magic.

There's probably more I'm forgetting, but it's 12:30am and I should probably head to bed lmao. But that's the main gist of my Vex lore and how I write them. I don't really vary much from this bc I like to be consistent. But yeah, apart from that, I really just write from the ConVex canon and work from there.

Thumbnailing: Subject's Way

Thumbnails are an important workflow tool artists use to make creating their works more efficient. They are essentially tiny, low detail versions of the idea you may have in mind, and save time by helping you catch potential compositional errors, clashing colors in palettes(if you blob some colors on), and poses that simply might not.. work in character art as well as many other things not mentioned.

I am a very visual person and sometimes putting ideas to paper really helps me focus better on the task at hand. Organizing things into steps on the page really helps me not get overwhelmed. It might prove helpful to you as well.

In this tutorial, I'll take you through my workflow process when planning paintings and simple character illustrations.

I start off the process by doing a ton of sketches of whatever thing from many angles, poses, etc. Usually if I have a certain image in mine I simply sketch that and adjust little things like angle, placement of limbs, etc. Work teeny tiny, you can enlarge it later. I,t really depends on what the goal is for that piece what the process looks like. Here the goal was to just draw a character, so I have many options.

environment sketches look a bit different for me, as I will sketch them in literal cubes. I am still working through the technique. I just haven't gotten good enough at them yet to consider a tutorial by me would be helpful to anyone though.

Like with piece D, it's good to plan compositional elements here too. I added the moon that would go in the eventual background, swords in the hands of B and E, etc. Had I had more time, F would have gotten rough roses, but I digress.

After I have base sketches, I do very rough lines so I know what I'm looking at, and it primes me for what I could possibly have issues with in doing the final. I keep it VERY loose and don't dwell too much on details. If I'm drawing a character, I'm not even going to look up references, unless their silhouette is very complex. There is not much need for accuracy here. Just to nail down your subject's silhouette.

At this point, you can start eliminating which poses you don't want. Here I was very indecisive so I went through with sketching all of them.

At this step ill also take the time to plan variants if I feel like I would be indecisive about them/need them for certain platforms (optional).

Here's where things start to actually take the form of thumbnails. I work large and draw most of the anatomy of the subject so that things are positioned correctly in the frame. Draw the whole of something, even if you know it's going to get cropped out. There is nothing worse than trying to draw in a way that is already cropped, it messes up your anatomy bad, and you'll spend more time trying to fix it, especially if you are just starting out as an artist.

Physically drawing a box around them to help with framing is really good to help plan the composition of the final piece. Again, you can eliminate stuff here as well if they don't make interesting compositions. Consider the rule of thirds and how much breathing room you want or need in your piece. The one not in a box was eliminated because I didn't like the pose nor would it make a very interesting piece.

I also use different colors on the boxes so I can overlap them and keep my eyes from getting confused where one "drawing" ends and one begins.

If I'm planning portraits/art in my painterly style, I'll take the time to block in some colors just to see what I should shoot for in the final. I will also do several pairings of colors in their own sets of thumbnails if the piece needs it/i want varients. I highly suggest blobbing so that you can see how potential colors will play with one another. Learning the teeniest bit of color theory will help, I promise, but for now, i'lI'lll refrain from the mini-lecture.

these three two (you'll see), I figured would make better cel-shaded/quicker pieces due to how zoomed out they are, any true details I would want to focus on don't exactly work for my current style faraway. Be sure to tailor compositions that suit your style. I will be keeping these sketch ideas for future reference.

It's important to remember that just because an idea doesn't get used in this piece, that doesn't mean it can't be used in a further piece down the road. I actually have a horrible habit of deleting my thumbnails after I'm done with them, but if I'm thumbnailing in a sketchbook? I find myself browsing back over them for future pieces to get some rough ideas of what could work later.

One last thing, you don't have to plan as many thumbnails as I did, but I do suggest at least 3 or 4 to really stretch your creativity.

Thumbnails also make for a good warm-up. If you're curious, I did the initial sketches in this order: A C E D B F. I think it helped me loosen up a bit, but you can be the judge of that.

I went back and tried another approach for a painting, but now I have the base for 3 paintings I could pursue, albeit rough, but it's good to learn how to paint like a sculptor, I digress.

That's all there is to it. the key is being clean enough to get the idea down, but rough enough to save time. work small, using basic shapes to create silhouettes. You can enlarge it later and use it as a base sketch.

Last two cents: I've also learned that sometimes if a piece is just not working, it's probably more than likely a compositional issue, anatomy, or perspective, Which is why thumbnailing can help you catch these issues early.

happy drawing :)

a/n: this is my first time really creating a tutorial. this might not be groundbreaking information for some of you and that's okay. this tutorial was initially created for someone in an art server I'm in on Discord, hence the slide-text-slide format. I have taken the images and text from that and compiled them here to make it easier to pick up the tips. I do not consider myself a pro on any of the things mentioned by any means, merely my take on it all. Get multiple sources, educate yourself, practice, and find what works for you. - Sub

Looking for a creative writer/storyteller

Hello! I'm Jay, I'm a non-binary artist and I'm looking for a creative writer that can help me write stories for my pet project Drimare Universe! Particularly my Webcomic and Visual Novel.

More details below, all help and sharing is appreciated!

The Drimare Universe is a world located within the dreams of humans, and the Drimare are its main inhabitants spread through various different regions.

It's composed of smaller stories focused on specific groups of characters (Like how Marvel has Spider-man stories, Iron-man stories, etc.) The general tone is a fun modern fantasy slice of life type.

I've been working on the project on my own for the past 10 years, and although I have a lot of lore and character info written down, when it comes to writing stories themselves, my skills are lacklustre. I finally accepted that I need someone that could help me with that, so here I am!

I keep most of the character info and lore archived on its wiki here if you're curious to learn more about it.

My current two projects that I'm looking for help on are a Webcomic and a Visual Novel, both of which are on hiatus because of my difficulty and general dissatisfaction with my own writing :(

I basically have loose plot points, certain scenarios, conversations and ideas, and I need someone that can tie those things together in a satisfying narrative way.

You don't have to work on the comic AND visual novel, but I am looking for help in at least one of those projects.

General requirements

Be over 18 years old. I'm 23 and not comfortable working with minors.

Be LGBTQ+ friendly! A LOT of the cast is LGBTQ in some way and certain characters focus a lot on topics of gender and sexuality so the more you know about the topic, the better :)

Have the patience to learn about my characters and world's quirks and lore lol! I'll try to explain things as best as I can! Bonus points if you have weird ideas yourself.

Basically, you write, I give my input, and then we use the finished script for the comic and/or visual novel.

You will be credited!

As for rates, my budget is small so let me know how much you charge! I'm somewhat of a writer myself and I don't feel comfortable having someone work for free, but I also have no idea what people usually charge for stuff like this. I can also offer my art in exchange if the person is interested/comfortable with that! Examples are on my DeviantArt as well as other links found on my profile.

I'm looking for someone I can work with for the long term so expect me to be a returning client if I enjoy your work! :) Ideally, I'd like to make a team eventually, but a writer is the priority atm.

I don't really have a set deadline so don't worry about having to finish things by specific dates.

It's my first time trying to commission someone for writing so I apologize if my etiquette is off, I'm only experienced in art commissions. I have no idea how I'm supposed to commission writing so I'll just describe what I'm looking to get below.

For the webcomic

Drimare Universe is the first official webcomic series based around the world of Drimare Universe, focusing on the origin story of the two siblings Zelly and Blade, as well as other characters they meet throughout their journey. It's set roughly around 10 years before the current timeline.

Available to read on Tapas here

It's an origin story for two siblings, followed by episodic stories of them meeting other characters from the cast and learning about the world around them. It's sort of built like a cartoon show, with more serious episodes, others more light-hearted, some important one, etc.

There are only 13 pages in the first episode so far, but I'm unhappy with the current script for the rest of the story and need help with it.

I'd like for someone who is actually good at writing and having better ideas to give it a look and either suggest things that could work better or straight-up rewrite it from scratch but better

The other episodes only have the general main plot points written down, with further episodes still being in a draft phase (I got so caught up with my writer's block with trying to figure the first two episodes, that I haven't been able to focus on the following ones)

***

For the visual novel

Drimare Universe Friendsim, is an ongoing Visual Novel project that will feature various characters from the Drimare Universe series, it is currently being developed on Ren'Py and free to download on the DU Friendsim itch.io page.

It is heavily inspired by games like Hiveswap Friendship Simulator as it follows a similar concept of a Human protagonist meeting various cast characters in order to form friendships with them.

The series will be released in various volumes, each one focusing on a specific character, with the events changing depending on the player's choices.

Available to download for free on Itch.io

It's about a human dreamer character who wakes up in the dream world and meets respective Drimare characters.

If you've played Hiveswap Friendsim or Pesterquest, it's the exact same concept. YCH protag meets characters in a very Isekai inspired scenario. It's like a dating sim, but friendship focused instead.

Unlike the webcomic, which takes place in the past, this visual novel takes place in the current timeline. Also unlike the comic, the visual novel is not canon.

Each volume is focused on MC (Who is referred to as "Dreamer") meeting a specific character, with other secondary characters making appearances as well.

There are two volumes available so far, each composed of one short story.

The tone is playful and comedic, I guess "quirky" could be a word to describe it. But still capable of having its serious moments,

Each volume has three endings. A short bad ending, a neutral ending, and a good/true ending. (The length and amount of endings can be flexible)

You don't have to know how to program visual novels or anything like that, I just need help with the stories. I'll be in charge of adding the writing to the game, animating the sprites accordingly, etc etc.

Apologies for the long text, I just want to be sure people understand exactly what I'm looking for! Ideally, I'd love to find someone that could share my passion for creating content for this project, but for now, I'll just settle for just finding someone at all lol

You can contact me through PMs here, though I also accept messages through Twitter DMs or Discord!

Twitter - https://twitter.com/NE0Nbandit

Discord - Jay 🌸🌊#9625

Thank you for taking the time to read this! <3

hello! I would like to request a haikyuu matchup please :D (I apologize in advance if I write too much aksjk hopefully it'll make it easier to match me up?)

1) I'm a straight female and use she/her pronouns

2) I'm about 5'6", have straight brown hair (my friend says it looks orange-ish in the sunlight??), brown eyes, and I've been told that I'm kinda pale (but unfortunately flush easily lol).

As for things that make me stand out, I have patches of eczema littered all over my skin. I have a few on my hands and wrists and even though ik they're not a good thing and of course would much prefer not having eczema, I kinda like that it makes me unique. I also have round glasses (my eyesight is extremely bad ㅠㅠ), wear a lot of black, and recently have been wearing this tan overcoat everytime I go out bc it's big and comfy. oh, and I've always loved black low-top converse!

I'm overweight so I'm kinda insecure about my physical appearance, but I've been dealing with it for so long that ig I've come to terms with it and have just accepted that this is how I am (but I have been trying to exercise... >_>)

3) I'm a gemini, istp-t, and enneagram type 5. I think I treat people how they treat me; if someone doesn't talk to me, I probably won't talk to them unless necessary, and if someone is very friendly and nice to me, I'll be a bit more open and talk more. I'm usually pretty reserved and go with the flow, but around people I'm more comfortable with I can be very sarcastic and playful. I'm kinda a mom/therapist friend. I'm very lazy and an expert procrastinater (I do what's necessary in the most efficient way possible, unless it's something that I enjoy).

Some things I enjoy: cooking & baking, arts & crafts, reading, sketching, 80s music, watching anime/tv/movies (especially crime, mystery, and thriller), and photography (as far as taking scenic photos with my phone goes lmao). idk if this counts as interests, but I'm planning on majoring in business administration and accounting. and as for my clothing style, I currently dress for comfort bc I'm always inside, but if I get a chance to redo my wardrobe I'd like to dress in a style more like dark academia/comfy casual? I have no idea if those are the right words to describe it 😅

4) I'm pretty sure my love language is physical touch, but I also really enjoy receiving spontaneous gifts or stuff I've been wanting (and money lmao I'm a big saver)! I've never been in a relationship, but I know I would definitely have to be friends with someone before even considering a serious romantic relationship, so I would ideally be comfortable around them already. I have a tendency to bottle up my emotions and I'm honestly a bit of a tsundere, so I think I might be shy in voicing my wants/initiating things. as for my type, I would prefer someone tall, mature but able to be playful and can take a joke (I sometimes use "idiot" as a term of endearment sksj I can be kinda mean sometimes tbh), patient since I'll take a while to open up, and ideally ambitious and willing to take initiative (bonus points if they're able to keep up with my sarcastic banter!)

5) I definitely like to sleep in, but if I need to wake up early and I can do so relatively easily. ig you could say I'm more of a night owl. I'm in a constant state of tiredness (possibly fatigued but idk) lol. I could technically live without music but would 100% prefer not to. my favorite song is "eyes without a face" by billy idol. I've never really thought about what my ideal first date would be, but I would like if it was well thought out and personal instead of the typical movie and dinner I suppose.

thank you so much for taking the time to do this!! I apologize again for writing so much 😅 hopefully you'll be able to have some fun writing, and I hope you're doing well! and no worries if you're unable to get to my matchup; please prioritize your wellbeing <3

𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀: i had such a blast reading through this entire thing!!! thank you for writing this much, seriously — i love it, it makes it so much more interesting and easier on my part to find a match!! <3

𝗞𝗨𝗥𝗢𝗢 𝗧𝗘𝗧𝗦𝗨𝗥𝗢𝗨

♡ . . . REASONINGS : filtering through the information, i have decided that, in my personal opinion, you are best paired with kuroo tetsurou!

starting off, the trench coat? comfy and casual dark academia fashion style? from looks alone, you seem like a pretty good match-up with kuroo. on the outside look in, i feel like you both would look like a really smart, cute, and sensible / mature couple! in all honesty, i think that kuroo would find your big glasses adorable ( and if you're prone to loosing them, he would find it sickeningly cute if you cling to him while you both searched for the glasses ). i imagine his breath hitches whenever his eyes lay on your figure in the setting sun, turning your hair into a pretty orange-brown shade that makes his heart beat a little bit faster. kuroo is used to being around more reserved people ( as he was once reserved, and now his best friend is rather reserved as well ), so becoming a friends-to-lovers dynamic would be easy. your playfulness and possible sarcasm seems to perfectly interact with his own, and considering some research about your enneagram and personality type, i think that your ( possible ) creativity and curiosity really intrigues him and keeps him curious and attentive with you. i feel that he might always be wondering what's going on in that pretty head of yours, curious to know what your next wonderful idea is or what your mind is thinking about. as an obvious friends-to-lovers trope, i think your relationship with kuroo would be very cute! i have a feeling that he'd love that your love language is physical connection, and would pick up on any ques if you're feeling cuddly and can't get the words out to ask for soft intimacy and cuddles! sarcastic banter? mature yet playful? i think your ideal type seems to perfectly match up with kuroo -- he would most definitely be able to take whatever playful insults you have to throw at him, and be able to throw some back. he knows when to be playful and understands if he ever goes too far, and will own up to any mistakes he may make. considering your hobbies and interests, i think your interest in crime shows / mystery and thriller movies / anime may really pique his interest, and he'd eventually be hooked right along side you. and he may not be the best in the world, but imagining the both of you together, baking or cooking something ( possibly late at night because of midnight cravings ) could be really cute!

𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗣 𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗗-𝗖𝗔𝗡𝗢𝗡𝗦

♡ . . . staying up late at night and ending up heading into the kitchen together to make a midnight meal doesn't happen too often, but sometimes all you both need is a look at each other as your stomachs growl after a food-related ad on tv. ♡ . . . would absolutely make you feel like a queen all day and everyday if he can help it! will exercise with you if you would let him, and would celebrate all achievements with you; big or small! ♡ . . . kuroo is surprisingly one of the most thoughtful boyfriends, in my personal opinion! i feel like the dates would be well planned, memories eagerly waiting to be made! ♡ . . . the banter between you both is so cute!! it can be sarcastic, but it's never hostile, always playful and light, a smirk plastered onto his lips in a charmingly charismatic way! ♡ . . . stay-at-home-and-watching-a-show-dates!! whether it be wide-eyed and open-mouthed concentration on crime shows, or close-cuddling while watching some thriller or mystery shows / movies / animes!

𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗣 𝗠𝗢𝗢𝗗𝗕𝗢𝗔𝗥𝗗

𝗢𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥 𝗣𝗢𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗕𝗟𝗘 𝗖𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗦

♡ . . . akaashi keiji, iwaizumi hajime, miya osamu, daichi sawamura

Honestly gonna have to agree with your friends and fam here when they say "ah it makes sense" bc you have a lot gemini in you chart and you tend to overshare haha have never met a gemini who weren't talkative little angels tho 😂 Your roommates boyfriend needs to get with the program bruh he needs to stop fighting it and just join in haha.

I'd love for things to work out between me and earth signs too like! Every time I meet someone new I'm like "it's just astrology bs, ima give them a chance" and then next thing you know I'm laying on my bedroom floor having a meltdown bc of said person 🤟 but! I'll not loose hope. I'm so sorry to hear you were in a toxic relationship with a water sign, I hope you've been able to heal from that experience.

Okay so now I understand the draw to fire and air signs. You know sag and gem are sister signs which means there's almost like a magnetic pull between them, it's like a instant recognition of each other in a very illogical way. I think it's really cool when that happens and have definitely felt it before, more recently with my last roommate when I was living in Canada. She was a gorgeous Canadian gemini and needless to say I had a huge crush on her but by the way we flirted with each other all the time I think it's safe to say the feeling was mutual.

Right 1st house gemini venus. I kinda wanna laugh but ik it's rude, sorry. Listen you like to connect to people through intelect rather than looks. You're a natural charming person and it's really easy to attract others to you. You can be very flirty, even if you don't mean to be. You're kinda hard to pin down tho, you need constant excitement and stimuli to keep things going otherwise you get bored. You don't like routine especially when it comes to affection. Then you tend to have a lot of friends and you have a way of putting people at ease and you spread your love generously.

As for your 11th house aries Mars: you're not afraid to make the first move or to share your feelings and you can be very creative in bed but obviously depends on how comfortable you are with that. The 11th house focuses on friendship, you gather friends from all different social settings in your life. You also have a unique way of expressing yourself which often times makes you feel like an outsider.

Idk if any of this made sense to you but hopefully it will give you a better understanding of your birth chart. And you might be able to discuss it with your friends and family and see if they agree too! I found this Playlist on Spotify with a venus in gemini theme and I thought I'd share it with you. Don't know what kind of music you like specifically but this is a fun one!

https://spoti.fi/3mIdC4R

Wait is Moderna just called Modern over there? Lol I live in Portugal so I guess they just translated the name to portuguese (??) now I feel stupid hahaha 😂 and yeah definitely not complaining about the side effects, just glad to be fully vaccinated. Let me know if you want to know more about other placements on your chart and I'm looking forward to the new MoU update! Have a great week!

Honestly I talk so much like I need to stop talking so much it's a big issue of mine haha!! and I am guessing that's because I have so much gemini in my chart... I think I have 3 lots of gemini in my chart which is the sign that appears the most so if they overshare and talk a lot that makes sense!! I mean he does need to get with the programme and join in... he's a Virgo... don't know if that means anything or not haha Please don't lose hope I am sure one day an Earth sign will surprise you and it will all work out for you!! I have healed a lot from that experience thank you, there are still somethings I have issues with (trust being a huge one) but a lot of other things I have been able to work past and have healed from it all which is a good thing really I've come a long way since getting out of that relationship it's taken a while but I got there in the end and like you I always try and give water signs a chance but I am a little weary of them though I know they are definitely not all the same and that more than anything this was a case of a terrible person over a zodiac sign I have such a strong pull to Sagittarius people one of my sister's is a sag and she is without a doubt one of my best friends we're so close and my roommate who I have been friends with since we were like 14-15 is a sag too and I've never been able to talk to or trust a person like I trust her she has asked me to be the god mother of her child due in January because she just trusts me so much too... but if gemini and sag are sister signs that really makes so much sense that I get along with sags so well!! It's so interesting that you have felt that pull before too and would be so cool if she did feel the same way (which with what you're saying I am sure she did) Yeah that makes sense to me I always see looks as a bonus if I am attracted to someone but intellect and personality come top of the list for me looks aren't a big deal at all and I often for a personality before anything else... I have been told I can be charming and used to get away with a lot of things at school and college because I would charm my way out of it and I have been told that a lot of the time as I've gotten older that people haven often wondered "is she flirting with me or not?" because of how I act around people like all the time!! I would definitely agree that I need constant excitement because I get bored VERY easily when things like affection become monotonous and just routine like I get bored so easily its unreal I don't know about making the first move as such but I definitely let other people know they can like I definitely don't beat around the bush with things and will 100% just tell people how I feel if I am into them, but won't make a move until I know that feeling is reciprocated but I do always tell people exactly how I'm feeling... I have made lots of friends in the past from lots of different walks of life so I think all of this in my chart definitely makes sense to me and I can see why people do say "Ahh that makes sense" Thank you so much for explaining all this to me I really appreciate it and now know I can join in with people when they talk about star signs and all that stuff so thank you very much!! I will definitely listen to that playlist tonight while I do some writing!! Thank you And no it's still called Moderna here sorry my phone must have auto-corrected that so please don't feel stupid at all because it was my phone being stupid and auto-correcting and I didn't realise it had done it!! I would honestly love to know more about my chart because I have repeats of a few signs like Taurus appears twice, so does Capricorn, and Scorpio and as I said before, Gemini appears 3 times... so I have a lot of double ups in my chart and I just wonder what all this means about me I guess... Thank you so much I'm hoping to have a MoU update very soon!! Hopefully tonight actually if I can get together the last few thousand words it's gonna be another long one for you all!! Thank you so much I hope you have a great week too!! ☺️