They're obviously gossiping while they dance

I am using these two for some animatic-ish thingy which didn't turn out as smooth as I wanted it to be and then my lazy ass got too lazy to fix it, but I don't hate it entirely

It's weird but I loved moving the ears around, though I forgot the antlers again

head of the gojo clan

It's been a while since my last sapphic art so here some rayamaari for the soul

With all these sea creature! MC ideas, I wonder what would the fish mafia do if there were a Betta fish mermaid! MC ; small, cute, strong, and always wins a brawl.

Ohoho! That is a fine idea indeed! This is going to be fun. I’m adding in the original beta to this mix as well ;)

you will be a white opal betta fish. Said fish just under the cut

Description

You were a beautiful and bright beta. Somewhat small in stature but many avoided your wrath at all costs. From your heat to your tail you were only about 5 feet long. Fairly average for a mer but a bit on the lower side. You’ve never lost a fight, not hesitating to fight with nails, biting or using your surprisingly sturdy fins to ensure you win. Many were always gaining over you and your long beautiful fins. You were quite popular due to this and were even quite wealthy due to your fame under the sea.

when you were offered a way to NRC you were rather excited to explore the surface and shine even brighter in the direct sunlight. Learning to walk was difficult but the fashion and the accessories and makeup on the surface were a whole bother world that you adored! Becoming popular and well known for your beauty quickly. You only stood at about 5’5 but that never bothered you, many taller people were happy to help you. And if any unsavory folk tried anything you had also learned some impressive self defense at the boot camp. These legs can be quite powerful!

Octavinelle

Azul: Honestly tried to get you to sign so many contracts to use show off your beauty to the world! and bring in more customers. Compliments you so much to try and get closer to you. Calls you an angelfish. If you ever sign one of his contracts he refrains from rigging it to much if he recognized you from your fame in the sea, he doesn't want you to get your lawyers or more protective fans... Falls for your charms at some point. gets you rather nice jewelry and outfits over time for different events in the lounge. Envies and also adores you. After his overblot, he understands if you don't want to work with him anymore. His deals are fairer and he even does an event solely around you if you still hang around with him. The tweels tease him a lot for getting a crush on you.

When you reveal your merform Asul is both stunned into silence and his mind is racing with so many ideas. Both to show you off and get profit but also just how much he's down bad for you now. Some selfish part of him wants to keep you and this form all to himself but he knows you wouldn't be happy with that. If you encourage him to join you in his merform he will hide away so fast. It will take months for you to even convince him. Pictures are out of the question, even if his darker body would make yours shine all the brighter, having a yin and yang effect that would be amazing. Give him time and maybe one day he will be ok with it, only for you though.

Jade: Smirked when he saw the immediate tension between you and Vil. Oh, this was going to be so much fun. Egged you two on subtly, spreading a rumor there pinning the blame there, fueling the fire and watching the fight, collecting a few bets here and there. He honestly thought Vil was going to win but you proved yourself to be quite the even match. Would observe how you carried yourself and try to learn a few of your self-defense moves through that. appreciated your beauty and was the one to suggest Azul make an event for just you if you are famous enough to garter that much attention.

When he saw your merform he had a shocked and awed expression. You couldn't help but tease a bit at getting to see Jade leech showing surprise and awe. He would snap out of his trance and return your remark with an equally snarky one. He would join you in the water but keep his distance, he knows how strong you are even if you are much smaller than he is in this form. Probably saw you beat up floyd in mer form and just really was fascinated by how something so small can pack such a punch. Helps maintain your specialized tank and even gets you some mushroom-themed fashion accessories.

Floyd: He laughed when he saw the tension between you and betta fish. Calls you little betta fish. You were much shorter than Vil in that sense. Probably was the one to encourage the actual battle between you and Vil. Likes to chase after you and loves when you show off some of your self-defense moves on him. He does think you're very pretty but also you're super fun when your face is all scrunched up in anger. Tells you to cut loose every once in a while and sometimes will just kidnap you to the lounge for azul or take you out to go eat.

When he saw your merform he started calling you opal betta. or even just little opal. Tried to get close to you and squeeze you in this form but you were even stronger and better at fighting in the water, using your fins to block his vision but moving them just out of biting or grabbing range. It was like some crazy ballet and you ended up winning with a well-timed with to his back, stunning him long enough for you to tie him in a knot. He has hearts in his eyes after that. Asks to swim with you often but remembers how betta fish are very picky and sensitive to the water they can be in, so you get a special tank for yourself thanks to him. don't worry about the other fish that were in there~ Just go have some fun and look very pretty for/with him for a bit ok?

With a special guest!

Vil: You too were nemesis as soon as you made eye contact at the ceremony. It gets so much worse if you were sorted into pomefiore. Luckily you weren't, but it didn't matter, you two butt heads a lot. Somewhat enemies to friends arc over time. You both had petty arguments and were jealous of the other's beauty. Did actually get into a physical fight and you both passed out at the same time so it was a draw. Also, you both fight over Rook and his compliments. you both fish for compliments so much and compare your fame so much. Eventually, your petty fights become more lighthearted teasing, especially after the island of woe incident. Once you two become friends though you are like the hottest power couple in NRC. You both do photo shoots together and mock fanfiction that ships you two together. Many call you two the best young duo models to exist.

When he first saw your merform he had to admit that you were beautiful in an ethereal light. You were the siren beauty of the sea, and he was the alluring human on land. Some photo shoots use this to do some amazing ethereal water-styled photos. Helps you keep up on your scale care and ensures that you have a perfect tank for you to stretch out your fins. He starts to swim more often with you for his exercise. He also does self defense classes with you.

I was joking a while back that the actor they have playing KDJ for the orv movie was too handsome for him and a friend who's read orv was like "KDJ is actually secretly attractive!!" And I just felt my soul leave my body right then

SIGHS...

Okay. Buckle in. I'm gonna finally actually address and explain and theorize about this whole...thing.

I'm not gonna cite any exact chapters cause it's like 11:30 and I've got an 8 hour drive in the morning but I'll at least make an approximate reference to where certain things are mentioned. Also, this post is just my personal interpretation for a good bit of it, but it's an interpretation I feel very solid about, so do with that what you will. Moving on to the meat of things:

There is one (1) instance in the web novel that I know of which describes specific features of Kim Dokja (especially ones other people notice). This takes place when members of KimCom are trying to make Kim Dokja presentable to give his speech at the Industrial Complex (after it's been plopped down on Earth). This is when they start really paying attention and focusing on Kim Dokja's appearance since they're putting makeup on him; I still don't think they can interpret his whole face, but they can accurately pick out and retain more features than usual. If I remember correctly they reference him having long eyelashes, smooth skin, and soft hair. These features can be viewed as (stereotypically) attractive.

Certain parts of the fandom have taken this scene and run with it at a very surface level, without realizing (or without acknowledging at the very least) that this scene is not about how Kim Dokja looks. This is, in part, due to not realizing or acknowledging why Kim Dokja's face is "censored" in the first place, and what that censoring actually means. I think it's also possible that some people are assuming the censorship works like a physical phenomena rather than an altered perception.

I'll address that last point first. The censorship of Kim Dokja's features is not something as simple as a physical phenomena. It's not a bar or scribble or mosaic over his face. If that were true it'd be very obvious to anyone looking at him that his face is hidden. But his face is not hidden to people. They can look at him and see a face. If they concentrate on his eyes, they can see where he's looking. They know when he's frowning or grinning. They see a face loud and clear. But what face are they seeing? Because it's not really his, whatever they're seeing.

No one quite agrees on what he really looks like. And if they try and think about what he looks like, they can't recall. Or if they do, it's vague, or different each time. We notice these little details throughout the series. Basically, Kim Dokja's face is cognitively obscured. Something - likely the Fourth Wall, though I can't recall if this is ever stated outright - is interfering with everyone's ability to perceive him properly. This culminated in him feeling off to others; and since they don't even realize this is happening, they surmise that he is "ugly."

Moving on to the other point about what the censorship means: To be blunt, the censorship of his face is an allegory for his disconnect from the "story" (aka: real life, and the real people at his side). The lifting - however slight - of this censorship represents him becoming more and more a part of the "story" (aka: less disconnected from the life he is living and the people at his side). The censorship's existence and lifting can represent other things - like dissociation or depersonalization or, if you want to get really meta, the fact that he is all of our faces at once - but that's how I'd sum up the main premise of it. (The Fourth Wall is a larger part of the dissociation allegory, but that's for another post).

So you see, them noticing his individual features isn't about the features. It's not about the features! It doesn't matter at all which features got listed. Because they could describe any features whatsoever and it would not change the entire point of the scene. Because the point isn't what he looks like. The point is that they can truly and clearly see these features. For the first time. They are seeing parts of him for the first time. Re-read that sentence multiple times, literally and metaphorically. What does it mean to see someone as they are?

This is an extremely significant turning point dressed up as a dress-up scene.

---

P.S. / Additionally, I'm of the opinion that Kim Dokja is not handsome, and he is not ugly. He is not pretty, and he is not ghastly. Not attractive, nor unattractive. Kim Dokja isn't any of these things. More importantly, Kim Dokja can't be any of these things. The entire point of Kim Dokja is that you cannot pick him out of a crowd; he is the crowd. He's a reader. He's the reader. Why does he need to be handsome? Why must he be pretty? Why is him being attractive necessary or relevant? He doesn't, he doesn't, it's not. He is someone deeply deeply loved and irreplaceable to those around him, and someone who cannot even begin to recognize or accept that unless it's through a love letter masquerading as a story he can read. He is the crowd, a reader, the reader. He's you, he's me. He's every single one of us.

Understanding 18th Century

There's a prevailing problem I've noticed in interpreting frev: people not really understanding that this was 18th century. Oh, they understand it on an intellectual level, but they still apply today's worldview to it. And you can't do that if you wish to understand wtf was going on.

(This is not about anyone here nor a shade at anyone in particular. Just a trend I've noticed, especially in bad takes).

All historical periods have this problem where people interpret things from the point of view of our own time. So that's hardly special about frev and 18c. But a tricky part is that 18c saw the development of things that we still use today (constitutions, voting system, etc.) that it may seem like it's more similar to our world than it actually was.

For example. The voting system. They had it and so do we. Except they were assholes who didn't allow women to vote. (Which is fair criticism, but people often forget that not all men had the right to vote either - so any criticism of exclusion should take that into account. Was it really about women per se, or about their ideas on who can and cannot make a free and rational vote? What is that they saw wrong about women and certain men voting? - Their attitude sure sucks, but if we ask these questions we understand better what was going on vs just going "sexist men", which only explains part of the issue). Or: journalism. They had political slander and so do we. But uuugh, their slander was so openly personal and often ridiculed someone's looks/sexual practices in supposedly serious political attacks - wtf was that? Or: trials. Of course we all know how trials are supposed to be done and what kind of arguments/evidence they should include. The fact they focused so much on character slander is incorrect and ridiculous, and...

Stop. Instead of assuming that they "did it incorrectly", think about: 1) how we do these things today is a product of decades/centuries of development; they didn't have that. They were only inventing it for the first time. 2) They did stuff according to their cultural beliefs. If they focused so much on character assassination as an argument, it means it was significant for their worldview.

You might not like it (and fair enough) but it's not possible to understand what was going on unless we understand how they thought and what they knew and what their worldview was. Which is not easy. It's not simply about knowing the state of scientific thought or what they believed about the world. Understanding how this affected the way they thought and how they interpreted things, or how they build meaning and conclusions - none of that is easy. But we have to question our assumptions, even if we're unable to see things from their pov. Because that's the only way not to arrive at wrong conclusions.

Similarly, many terms what they used had a different meaning to how they are used today (or, at least, they were understood in ways dissimilar to how we use them). Concepts such as despotism, tyranny, dictator, terror; also some seemingly easy to understand terms like "being a moderate" or even "patriotism". If we assume 18th century people used them in the same way that we do, we won't be able to understand wtf they are talking about.

He protec  /  he protec

“van helsing would, I know, do anything for me for a personal reason” why is it that EVERY single time a new character is introduced bram stoker beats us over the head with the knowledge that they’re in gay love with someone, this has happened literally every single time a new character of any sort is brought into the book

A really funny thing is Eddie being the one who likes to go to the mall and having Steve carry all the bags that are filled with clothes along with other items while Eddie’s hands are free. He’s just pointing to all the things he wants and Steve gets it for him nonetheless, when they go to the counter the cashier is surprised by how many bags can fit on the counter. Eddie showers Steve with kisses as he hands his card to the cashier and that’s how their trips to the mall always ends.

✧ The Ardal stars ✧

Link Click Season 2 "You viewers had your fun with the more high-stakes mystery plot and incredible actions sequences in the first two episodes so lets bring it back down to the way everyday life and individual tragedies are just as significant to the plot and universe and wreck you emotion and soul with a snapshot of how a single couple's life contains both beauty and tragedy and significance to their close ones and new friends" Episode 3

Jughead & Veronica holding hands at school

SEHUN & CHANYEOL 'Cream Soda' Dance Practice

After work...

I gotta say Radagon/Marika should probably win the most problematic in Elden Ring poll.

Not counting the imperialism, genocide, and forced exile of native/pagan cultures in the lands between... Marika also normalized mutilating infants, locked her own twins in the sewers, divorced her husband by removing his grace after a long battle away from home (fought for her, presumably), summoned her twin/other half back home to take his place immediately after and saddling him with the title of chief home-wrecker, left his ex wife in shambles after assimilating her kingdom and adopting her kids, created a slave class out of crucible touched creatures, played favorites with her kids, instigated infighting and betrayal for the succession of her throne for reasons yet to be understood, shattered the laws of reality for personal reasons, told her husband he was a pathetic dog and would never be her, sowed the seeds of discord in the Tarnished for more personal reasons...etc etc. Radagon did all of that too but also hated himself the whole time, took his religious zealotry to the next level by inventing golden order fundamentalism, also played favorites with his kids, left his ex wife irreparably damaged, let the dog sleep on the furniture, forced takeover of his wife/twin/alter ego's bodily autonomy... I mean the demigods were the children of these two, they really can't hold a candle to the list of their parents totalled war crimes and petty personal drama at the root of world ending catastrophe.

Forgot to add: Marika locked her dog away in a dimension beyond time with the conceptual embodiment of Death and IGNORED HIS SAD HOWLS FOR CENTURIES (?) he just wanted to be a good boy