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midnightwriter21 · 1 year

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demon slayer hcs: motherly hashira!reader x the hashira pt 2

characters: fem!reader x muichiro, sanemi, mitsuri, obanai

AN: this is a pt 2 for the request from @danielle-marie

READ THE FIRST PART HERE

MUICHIRO

I LOVE THIS BABY SM U DONT UNDERSTAND

he's the hashira that ur most comfortable around

he was a hashira before u

but u get promoted and its an instinct

child.

must protect.

at first he probably gets annoyed by you

he's not used to someone caring for him the way that u do

but then one day ur sent on a long mission

maybe a few weeks long

and he finds himself missing something

of course he has no idea what it is that he's missing something

he completely forgot about u

but when you get back to the butterfly estate and he sees u

it clicks

he remembers

he missed you

he missed your overprotective nature

he missed your soft caring voice

he missed the way that you brush and style his hair

he REALLY missed that ^

walks up to u, grabs ur hand and tugs u away

doesn't care if you were talking to someone

and doesn't say a word

brings you to his favorite cloud watching spot with a tight grip on your hand

makes you sit down

and lays his head in ur lap

stop im squealing and kicking my feet from the cuteness

SANEMI

my guyyyyyy

have i ever told yall that i love him?

only in every single thing i post

anyways

he HATES you at first

lmfao rip u

your shy and quiet nature reminds him of giyuu

and if theres one person sanemi can't stand

its giyuu

therefore he don't fw u

and doesn't pay u much attention

UNTILLLLL

he witnesses u pulling genya by the ear to the infirmary after a mission

and telling genya tf off for pulling som stupid shit during the mission

+100 respect right there

not only are u actually talking

but ur screaming??

at his brother??

and taking care of him at the same time?????

my guy is lucky if he doesn't pop a boner right there lmfaooo

starts paying more attention to u after that

and is noticeably a lot nicer and calmer around you

will blush beet red and deny tf out of it if the other hashira comment abt his change of heart

but def develops a soft spot for u

MITSURI

SWEETEST HUMAN BEING TO EVER EXIST EVER

she loves u

ofc she does she's the love hashira

but in mitsuri's mind how could she not absolutely ADORE u

not only are you breathtakingly beautiful in her eyes

but she sees the way u interact with the younger slayers

how u genuinely care for everyone's wellbeing

if she wasn't looking for a husband she would wife u tf UP

she still might lol

mitsuri is gonna go out of her way to become friends with you

she's inviting u to her estate for girl's night with shinobu

she's dragging u along to her favorite restaurant for lunch

she's inviting u to join her at the hot springs to relax

she really enjoys ur presence

even if ur shy she thinks ur very soothing to be around

she loves when you do her hair!!

and when u cook for her??

mitsuri alrdy eats a lot

but if u made the food for her??

girl is not letting a CRUMB go to waste

loves the way u take care of everyone

especially when u take care of her

10/10 would recommend a mitsuri

OBANAI

someone pls love this man

he needs it so bad

so dude had SHIT parents

like bad bad

so when he sees ur interactions with the younger slayers he's prob a lil put off at first

like ma'am?

this is the demon slayer corps??

we don't have time for all ur mothering and coddling

but then he's injured on a mission

and waiting in the infirmary for shinobu to show up and patch him up

and then u bust through the doors???

confused asf

shinobu is on a mission and you've been helping out in the infirmary

so looks like ur the one taking care of him today

and turns out his injury is bad enough to land him an extended stay in his lil hospital bed

and after a few days of u taking care of him

with ur red face and soft stuttered words

he learns that you're not so bad

and he actually enjoys being around you

and being taken care of

won't voice this tho

but when Aoi comes in to give him his meds one day he gives himself away by accident

with a

"where's y/n?"

he's a blushing grumbling mess after that lol

after he discharged best believe the next time he gets injured he's not even going to the infirmary

he's hunting u tf down

nobody else gets to take care of him except YOU

and thats period.

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badass-queer-couples-battle · 14 days

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⚔️⚔️ Sword gays showdown, grand finale ⚔️

*Camilla fanart by @friendamedes, used with permission

Propaganda:

For Camilla:

she prefers dual-wielding two short blades but can fight with pretty much anything. she's ambidextrous she's autistic she's even sex-repulsed ace. she sighs longingly when reunited with her weapons. she's from planet academia and dresses like an off-duty librarian. literally one of the most iconic moments of the entire series is when she gets challenged to a duel and absolutely wipes the floor with her opponent even though she doesn't even like rapiers that much. 'swords don't lie.'

OK I’m sure you’re getting just about every character from The Locked Tomb but Cam is my favorite. She's a nerd AND a jock. She is in this deeply intense and loving and unhealthily codependent soulbond partnership with her best friend second cousin and prince. She is smart and deadpan snarky and fights like a grease fire and I have never been able to get that line out of my head.

For Gideon:

she's incredibly good w/ her two hander and less good with her rapier but she's still pretty good!! she is a horny lesbian who's taste in women seems to exclusively be "girls who have tried or are going to try to kill her". she's a redhead. i love her

Gideon’s a HUGE Butch lesbian and literally always wanted to use a broad sword. Specifically a broad sword. She said fuck rapiers. Uhhh literally dies to save the girl she cares for and the sword she uses then becomes like an altar for said girl. Gideon Nav Supremacy <3

oh she is the most badass swordswoman lesbian in media. she’s her gf’s cavalier, defends her in battle, she’s incredibly butch and buff

C'mon shes THE sword lesbian like... canonically

Loves her broadsword more than anything on her home planet and practices whenever she can. Spoiler it’s possessed by her mom. Gave everything so her best enemy could eat her soul and become the new saint. The character of all time child of two separate threesomes, child of the god emperor, she’s dead, she’s butch, she’s a dork, she’s doomed by the narrative. She’s my favorite.

girlie is literally the swordswoman supreme. she’s the cavalier primary to her necromancer. she has a fuckoff huge longsword. she gets absorbed into another person SPECIFICALLY to swordfight for them. in a gay way too.

While everyone else was developing common sense, she studied the blade. This dyke's main weapon and true love is the long sword, but she's also passable with a rapier. The sword is, in her own estimation, pretty much all she's good for. That and her smoking hot bod and terribly charming sense of humor.

"While we were developing common sense, she studied the blade." (Direct quote from the book). She's the most useless lesbian to ever exist, and she's obsessed with an absolute wet cat of a woman. Learned longsword mostly on her own and is such a genius with the sword she learned rapier in a few months (by personal experience, it's really really hard)

Most badass broadsword wielding lesbian easily slaying bone monsters and evil space wasps

The cavalier to her necromancer. very gay. in a complicated codependant lovehate relationship with the only other person her age she knew growing up.

For Xena:

It is HER! The OG woman with a blade!

Her show was so iconic that any lesbian over the age of 30 knows her IMMEDIATELY because this show probably helped her have her awakening. Fandom foremothers and fathers rise up and get your gal a title.

An all around badass, bisexual woman, comfortable with many different bladed weapons. Her show was so much better than Hercules people forget his exists.

Xena is one of the OGs: once a baddie who turned good, she's a warrior who uses swords, daggers, and her trusty chakram to defeat evil and defend the innocent, while traveling with her kickass girlfriend Gabrielle.

She has many skills

#sword gays showdown #camilla hect #gideon nav #xena #tlt #the locked tomb #xena warrior princess

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vasito-de-leche · 1 month

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;R1999 6 - Relationship Headcanons

Compilation of headcanons about 6 in a romantic relationship.

I was struggling soooooo hard with another 6 request so I had to get this post out of my system fist before tackling that one

Okay, first of all! I don't see 6 as the type of person who would be that interested in having a relationship, at least not beyond what is expected of him as the leader of Apeiron. It's the least of his priorities as of now.

Part of it is largely due to his responsibilities--he knows that he cannot afford to show any sort of favoritism, and he is much too thoughtful to force someone he cares about under such pressure, simply because he harbors feelings for them. It's very ironic that the one thing that defines his entire life and existence is also what keeps him from seeking any deeper relationships. 6 knows more than anyone that the loneliness of his title would be extended to his partner, and so, he has no actual firsthand experience in romantic relationships other than what he might've studied while in reclusion.

Of course, this isn't to say that he's entirely inept when it comes to socializing or all sorts of relationships. He is the best at being 6 for a reason, as much as he dislikes it.

We know that he loves his people, if his devotion to his role of leader is anything to go by. And he clearly cares about his friendship with 210, 37 and Sophia, as strained or complex as these dynamics may be, as he makes sure to retrieve the crown that they made for him each and every day that it's stolen. He loved his aunt Alma too, she played a big role in his upbringing after all.

So 6 isn't a stranger to love, but he is very passive about it.

To describe 6 as "passive" could be seen as an insult, especially after what his character event showed us in relation to his struggle against fate, but I think there's a key difference to the passive nature that is presented between 6 prior to receiving the Revelation and after he settles in as the new leader. His initial lack of action was fueled by resignation, a fear for the inevitable fate his bloodline carries. But now, he knows that refusing to act is sometimes necessary to maintain the harmony within the island, this is why he's described as a mediator. Love can happen, but there's no reason to upset the precarious balance he maintains by indulging in romance.

On the subject of 6 developing a crush.

6 is an extremely introspective man with a very good grasp on his own feelings and thoughts--even more so now that he's obtained the Revelation! If he has a crush then trust me, he knows. He notices the fondness he has for you the moment those feelings start blooming in his chest.

And he's not going to do a single thing about it.

He's not going to act upon any of his feelings. He's not going to let anyone find out, for the sake of maintaining this perfect balance. His behaviour remains the same, no signs of being flustered whatsoever. There are no fleeting glances, no hands brushing on accident. He doesn't stare at you from afar, wondering if you could ever love him, pining and yearning for your attention.

That doesn't happen, not in public.

Just like every other detail about his life, his thoughts of you are kept private, for him to ponder on whenever he's alone in his room, meditating. The outside world has no business bearing witness to these feelings--you are special to him and so, he keeps the memory of you safe and sound. 6 is much too mature to actually pine and yearn, but he does like to wonder and explore other possibilities, another life in which he's not burdened by fate, in which he's given the choice to find his own soul number for as long as it takes. Another life in which he can openly confess without fearing for what might happen to you should you accept him.

I like to think that these little fantasies help him tolerate the stress of the daily routine, it's something nice that gives him solace. When he's alone, his existence isn't defined by a number nor the history of his family, he can just be at ease and dream of better things.

I want to stress the fact that he wouldn't confess, no matter how strong his feelings are. Even if you happened to reciprocate, 6 would always prioritize the stability of Apeiron and turn you down for your sake and everyone else's. 6 would actually prefer to be close friends with his crush.

On the subject of dating 6.

I like to think that for 6 to start considering the idea of courting you, you have to actually debate him.

Not a battle of attrition like the debates 210 insists on having, but a fair and honest discussion to give him proof and solid arguments that could help him ease into the idea of dating someone for love, rather than duty. Something like this would really ease 6's mind, being able to get to know you better through the way you defend yourself and the love you hold for him, as well as weighting the public's reaction. Two birds in one stone. If you manage to do that, then there's no reason for him to object.

I don't know what I like the most out of these options though, the idea of 6 choosing to give a proper confession in private to finally share everything he's kept to himself, so that you may accept all of him at his most honest and vulnerable. Or him not confessing, choosing to invite you to his study and enjoy a moment of respite in absolute silence, knowing that there's nothing keeping you two from being together. So whichever floats your boat!

When it comes to actually dating him, not much would change.

6 understands that there's been a considerable shift in his life, but his lack of experience and solitary lifestyle would lead him to continue with his routine--if you want to see him, then you'll have to seek him out like you've always done. He's more than content knowing you're aware of his feelings and wouldn't really seek to change anything else, so it's entirely up to you to communicate and discuss what you'd like out of this relationship. He'll be more than glad to listen and accomodate you as much as he can.

You taking the initiative in this might also fuel him to share the things he'd like to do! Again, this passive nature doesn't come from shyness, but duty. I can see him being open to anything and being very direct about his own needs, as long as he can continue to separate his personal life and time with you from his time outside and his responsibilities.

Overall, dating 6 is a very calm experience! He never got the chance to know himself without the pressure of the Revelation, but he enjoys getting to know you instead. While most of the time he simply asks you to sit with him and relax, he puts the effort into finding time to spend with you, even if it's just walking together from one place to another before both of you must tend to your respective duties.

On the subject of his partner not being from Apeiron.

The way I see it, 6 is a little more lenient with certain aspects--unlike 37, for example. I don't see her capable of being in a romantic relationship with an irrational number, and getting to trust someone from outside who isn't specifically aiming to adapt to the scriptures will take a long time, but 6 is a little more flexible under the proper circumstances.

I believe this is the case because of his Bond: Morning voice line!

...One should never parcel off the loaf, for it's a violation of the scripture. But we are not on the island. So, please enjoy the freedom.

So the moment this pressure of responsibility is lifted from his shoulders, I think he would be open to the possibility of his partner being literally anyone. Because of the Revelation, I don't think 6 is blinded by faith like other members of Apeiron are, if else he's burdened by the contradictions and paradoxes that are natural in the world.

Not sure how he would feel with a human partner though! Chapter 05 only says that humans and mankind as a whole are dismissed entirely as "imaginary numbers," forbidden on the island, and there's no specifics on how they feel about mixed arcanists.

Round of cute things.

Literally just a round of cute things that 6 would do or enjoy because I don't know how to incorporate them onto the post in a fancy way.

His crown was made to keep his hair out of his face, but we can see that it's not doing a very good job lol. I think 6 would really find it charming whenever his partner tucks his hair behind his ear so they can get a look at his face--he's much too used to hiding and keeping to himself, so wanting to be seen by you is a pretty new experience. It's also a very casual and innocent gesture, so whenever he feels like getting you to pay attention to him (more than often as a way to excuse himself out of some other conversation) he will allow his hair to drape over his face hoping you'll notice.

6 isn't big on public displays of affection. Just sitting next to you is more than enough for him--but if he happens to notice you get lonely or make cute eyes at him, he will scoot close until your shoulders bump into each other. If 6 is feeling particularly cuddly, he will hold your hand.

But behind closed doors, 6 is very partial to kissing the top of your head or your temple. It's a very gentle kiss, he doesn't even pucker up, just closes his eyes, gently rests his lips there and hums to himself. And he could stay there for a long time if you let him.

If 6 is feeling restless for whatever reason, I can see him asking you to read something for him, so he can concentrate on the sound of your voice and nothing else. It's very soothing to him. He prefers that you read something he can tune out, as opposed to telling him something he'd like to pay attention to--like your thoughts or how your day has been.

Oh! Also, I don't see him as the type to want matching accessories or material things like that, but if you were to give him a gift or something to match with you, he would specifically ask you to keep it simple--nothing gilded, nothing shiny, nothing that is easy for seagulls to steal. Something like a little string bracelet, if possible in your favorite colors rather than his--it might be just a small fragment in a world of matters, but it means so much to him.

Also also, 6 does notice a lot of your gestures or expressions, the little things about you that often go unnoticed. The way you might scrunch your nose, tilt your head, fiddle with your hands, tap your feet--anything.

#reverse 1999 #reverse: 1999 #reverse 1999 6 #reverse 1999 x reader #6

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beanghostprincess · 6 months

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I wanna know who your favorite vinsmoke sibling is so bad actually please tell me 👀✨

My friend and my brother laughed at me when I told them my favorite Vinsmoke is Niji, and I genuinely was embarrassed that day because I didn't really know much about him at the time (I think I had only watched a few eps of WCI) and it's pretty clear in the show that he's, uh, the worst of the Vinsmokes. And by "the worst" I mean: The one who's portrayed as the worst because he's the most active one when it comes to abuse and supremacism within the family line. Unlike Ichiji (who's more serious) and Yonji (who's more playful, somehow) Niji is the one who has to actually fight for a role in his family and that's why I think he's so fucking annoying all the damn time. I hate him. I love him. I want to hug him. But also I wouldn't mind punching him very, very hard. I have mixed feelings, but yeah, Niji is my favorite Vinsmoke. And you haven't asked why, but I feel the need to do some sort of mini argument about this because I am a very resentful person and I want to show my friend and my brother that Niji is actually a very interesting character!! And my fiancé thinks I just like him because he's hot, and she's right but only like a 20%. Maybe 40%.

I will try to put my thoughts into words, but it's pretty difficult because I have a lot of things to say about this blue evil gremlin.

I like Niji the most because I think he is, between the three brothers, the one who shows feelings and ambitions outside their emotionless selves the most. I know they technically are the same, but I don't think so (btw, please assume I'm not including Reiju in this text because she's canonically different from them and I'm just referring to the brothers).

As I mentioned before, I think Niji is the one brother who is the most annoying and evil because he feels the need to stand out. Ichiji is serious, and calculative and has a secure place in the family. He is the number one, even if Reiju is the oldest (I would like to talk more about how Reiju, being a woman, even if she's the oldest, she's the number 0. Because she is the oldest but she's a woman, so she obviously doesn't and would not be able to wear the number 1 like a man would. She is the oldest and yet, she has less significance in the family line than Ichiji. But, yeah, this is something that has nothing to do with Niji, sorry). Ichiji, like all of his siblings, wants recognition from his father, but he doesn't have to try as hard as the others to be impressive because he is, after all, the oldest. The typical "older sibling in an abusive household who has to deal with all the bullshit to protect their siblings"? That's something Reiju took over. That's Reiju's responsibility as the oldest and the woman. Ichiji literally doesn't have to do anything besides leading the team and being the evil, emotionless machine his father created. That does not mean that I don't think he could be able to develop more feelings, because I think he could and I love the concept of him being the first one to protest against Judge's behavior, but you get me. When you're the oldest brother with an even older sister, your responsibilities are pretty limited. So he doesn't have to be anything but there and himself.

Yonji, on the other hand... He is the youngest. Even younger than Sanji. He doesn't have to try, because Niji and Sanji should be the ones to do so. Little siblings are not expected to do much besides existing because irl parents are usually tired of raising children and they end up either getting neglected or seen as decoration. As a little sibling myself I can confirm that these things affect really badly to your brain growing up, but I got a more Sanji treatment so I can't speak for Yonji here. The thing I can say, though, is that in comparison to Niji, Yonji is just there. He's silly and goofy. He's funny. He's dumb. He has the excuse of being the little one to act that way. Getting lost eating or doing whatever. Even the fact that his powers are more physically focused instead of power/intelligence centered shows that he can just punch away his issues. He's the gym bro of the siblings. Don't expect much from him. <- Thing that's often said about little siblings, btw, and affects real fucking badly in early teenage years. The fact that he's portrayed like that is so on point tbh but after all, they don't have high expectations for him, so little to no effort is everything he does.

Then there's Niji, of course. My favorite. Love him. Hate him. Whatever. Niji is the middle child. And God, do I have to say things about middle siblings.

The thing about Niji is that he actually has to try and make a name for himself in the family because otherwise he'll probably get forgotten. I often wonder if he had that fear of becoming the next Sanji once he "died" (he's the only one genuinely asking if Sanji died on them before Yonji and Ichiji say they don't care) because his role is not as noticeable as the others. Reiju is the woman, Ichiji is the successor, Sanji is the weakling getting bullied (being technically one of the little siblings but still being in a limbo of middle/youngest because the little one is Yonji), and Yonji is the little one. Then... What's Niji?

Niji needs Sanji way more than he's willing to admit, and I love that. I absolutely love how he's written because he constantly shows that he needs Sanji, through both words and actions. He needs him because without Sanji's existence -without Niji being his bully- Niji is nothing but number 2. And there's nothing more frustrating than being the number two when it comes to family hierarchy. Not going to mention every little thing he does, but as I said, I love how well-written he is. He's the sibling Oda uses the most to show the abuse Sanji went through, but that's only because Niji is the only one who needs to do that. Niji is the one to talk to Sanji first, all the damn time. He gets angry when Sanji doesn't respond. He gets angry because Sanji can't be bullied anymore. He gets angry out of fear, in my opinion, because if the weakling can't get abused anymore, then he's not worth anything. If Sanji isn't the third, the second one is left alone. 2 can't fight 1 because 1 has the protection of starting the line. And 2 can't fight 4 because there's a missing link that keeps 2 from 4. So Niji is mad at Sanji because Sanji isn't the same weak crybaby he used to be, and he can't use him anymore to be secure and safe.

That's fucking horrifying when it comes to family hierarchy.

I like Niji because, despite being an asshole, he has reasons to be like that. First of all, because his father literally made him this way. But also, the little feelings he has (selfish emotions, yes, evil. But they're feelings, anyway. Urges. He's supposed to be emotionless and yet he knows how Sanji feels enough to use that to his advantage) are used as a way to feel superior and safe because he feels inferior. I think he's the one showing more emotions out of the three, even if those emotions aren't healthy or good and it's just him being angry all the time. That means that if he has urges and needs like that, even if he doesn't fear his own death, he could end up developing more and more empathy. His type of empathy comes from a place of fear. He feels what Sanji feels. And it's not that he doesn't care (I mean, I am aware that he technically doesn't, but let me dream) but it's just convenient for him not to care and keep bullying him to secure his place in the family.

Also pointing out that I like Niji because, being the one who says he hates Sanji the most, he's the one to protect him with his own body when that scene of the siblings helping Sanji escape happens. The others only clear the way, Niji stays with him. There's a really cool post about this on Niji's tag somewhere!!! I personally think he does this because, as that post said: Niji keeps seeing Sanji as weak, instead of believing in him enough to just clear the way. He protects him because he thinks he can't protect himself. Because he's weak.

And yes, it might sound offensive and emotionless and it doesn't make Niji a better person. But it makes him an older brother. Believing in Sanji would be great, but thinking that he's weak and needs protection after years of projecting on him only shows that the weak one is Niji. That he wants and is willing to protect his brother, too. If he didn't care about his well-being he would've just cleared the way for him, not caring about what could've happened to Sanji. But he goes all the way to help him out and protect him longer than the others did. Idk. I find that a very beautiful way of ending their relationship.

All of this being said, I have to be honest with you: When I said I liked Niji for the first time I only did it because people around me kept saying he was the worst one and it bothered me because I found his design pretty fucking cool. And tbh when he started being an actual character? I loved him even more. Because during WCI he's a fucking asshole but the way he acts towards Sanji is wanting to get a response from him, and I just find that so curious and complex... Like, if he just wanted to be evil he'd be more the Doflamingo type. But Niji looks for a response in Sanji's eyes. He wants to feel powerful because he knows he isn't.

And also, well, he's very cute and I like his hair a lot and he makes me furious sometimes which is great because if a character doesn't make you want to punch him at one point, is he really a good character? Look at him! He deserves to get slapped in the face. But also, I would love to kiss him afterward. What's that Olivia Rodrigo lyric? Ah, yes: "I wanna break his heart, then be the one to stitch it up. Wanna kiss his face with an uppercut." That's how I feel about him.

I really hope it's obvious, with all of this, that "Succession" is one of my favorite TV Shows, because I could go on and on and on (and nobody would listen but idc) about how the Vinsmokes are just the Roy family. Both One Piece and Succession deal with family in which hierarchy is crucial in a very specific and accurate way. It makes me sick. I love it.

Anyway, have some pics of my blue idiot:

I want to hit him in the head with a baseball bat.

#i am indeed so not normal about niji #the fact that i don't talk more about him is just out of fear of cancellation #because i know he's an asshole but have you considered that his father is an even bigger asshole for making him this way #he has blue hair and pronouns #also i am so not normal about the other siblings i could rant for hours about reiju bc she reminds me so much of my brother #i can go into heavy detail as a sanji kinnie about all of them ngl #my least favorite is yonji but i don't have anything against him i just don't like gym bros but he's a cutie pie #if you're curious my top is niji > reiju > ichiji > yonji #the reason i like reiju is bc she reminds me of my brother and the reason why she's not the first one is bc she reminds me of my brother #one piece #vinsmoke niji #vinsmoke ichiji #vinsmoke yonji #vinsmoke reiju #vinsmoke siblings #germa 66 #black leg sanji

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flower-boi16 · 3 months

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You Didn't Know: A Beautiful Song With No Impact

So...You Didn't Know. You Didn't Know is definitely one of my personal favorite songs in the show, simply because like all the songs in HH, its incredibly well sung with a good melody and lyrics. But...I can't help but find the song...hollow. The song is good, but there are so many things about it that could have been so much more impactful that aren't because of the writing outside of the song.

The song is supposed to be a big turning point for the series; its this grand epic musical number and the climax of episode 6, it's supposed to make you feel something...but It doesn't. And that's because the things that actually happen in the song don't have any real impact on the viewer because of the writing in the rest of the show; here's why.

The song begins with Emily singing about how Charlie actually proved that Sinners can be redeemed and how unfair it is that they are still turn their backs, after that, Charlie stands up to Sera and sings about it noting being fair, how a sinner can be redeemed. Then Adam and Lute come in singing about how stupid the discussion is and take some lyrics from Hell Is Forever.

Now, you have Charlie and Emily singing about how souls can be redeemed and calling out Sera for her bullshit, and you also have Adam and Lute come in spewing out their black and white nonesense.

So why isn't this verse impactful? Simple; we never actually saw Angel Dust grow as a person, it happened off-screen. I already talked about why Hazbin Hotel's themes of redemption feel ungodly hollow as well as how hollow Angel Dust's "development" in episode 6 is, and both problems greatly harm this song as a whole and are part of why it feels so hollow; just imagine how much more impact this lyrics would feel if we actually saw Charlie help Angel Dust grow and become a better person, if it came after a full season of character development for the guy, if it came after we got to actually see Charlie help redeem him.

This is what I mean when I say that this song is harmed by the writing around it; in isolation, it sounds like a kickass song, but as something that's part of the story, it feels very hollow. And it wouldn't feel so hollow if the writing around it was better, but it isn't.

These lyrics don't feel impactful because we never saw Angel Dust's development into becoming a better person, it happened completely and utterly off-screen, and that's a major issue.

Then after that, Adam actidentally spells out the truth about the exterminations just existing and Emily is shocked by this. Sera tries to explain why saying that she wanted to protect Emily and she had to do what she thought she needed to, buuuuuut Emily isn't buying and her view of Sera bassically shatters.

So, we have a character whose whole view of someone who she admired completely shattered after finding out the things that she was doing, basically being murdering people. This would be very impactful...if Emily was a character that the audience actually cared about. Again, this is something that's affected by an outside problem with the show's writting, that being; introducing new characters and expecting the audience to instantly care about them.

I already talked about my issues with Emily as a character but a major issue with her is that we barely even KNOW her. She's introduced in this one episode and the show instantly expects you care despite her when we don't know her as a person or character yet. Again, imagine how much more impact this development would have if we actually got to know Emily as a character so we can care about her, what her interests, desires and personality are.

We don't need a full episode developing her, but like, a few scenes where we actually get to know her as a character and actually get to care about her would have made this more impactful.

And then in the grand climax of the song, we get a duet sung by Charlie and Emily about how bullshit Heaven's rules are with a reprise of Hell is Forever thrown in.

I don't have much to say about this part of the song, it just suffers from the same problem that the first part I talked about does; it doesn't have any impact because we skipped Angel Dust's development because this show only has eight episodes (for SOME REASON), so it, like the rest of the song, feels hollow.

So then we get to the end of the song, where Adam reveals to Charlie that Vaggie is an fallen angel, and dramatic music plays to signal how big of a reveal this is to Charlie...

...but it's not much of a reveal to the audience. The audience already knows that Vaggie is a fallen angel, so while this moment is impactful to Charlie, it's not exactly impactful to us. Imagine how much more impactful this moment would have been if this was the actual reveal that Vaggie was a fallen angel; the reveal would have shocked both Charlie and the audience and would have ended both the already epic and dramatic song and the episode on a dramatic note, providing one final big reveal to end the episode off.

But...we didn't really get that. This isn't as bad as the problems with the other parts of the song but it still feels like a big missed opportunity imo.

So...that was You Didn't Know. Its a good song with great singing and powerful instrumentation, but in terms of the narrative of the show itself, the song feels completely hollow. None of the things that happen in the song have any impact because of the writting around it, and this is not the only song with this issue.

Whatever It Takes has a very similar problem; the Vaggie parts are fine, its the Carmila ones that I take issue with. We have Carmilla singing about how she just wanted to protect her daughters but it falls flat due to Carmilla having a similar problem to Emily; she's a character that was just introduced in this episode that we are automatically expected to care about despite the fact we haven't even gotten to know her yet.

This song would have been a lot more impactful if we got to know and care about Carmilla as a character, like Emily, but we didn’t.

You Didn’t Know while a good song feels complete empty and hollow. It feels like it’s supposed to be the culmination of something…but it isn’t. The song is just completely empty and hollow due to it suffering from the writing around it, and if that writing was better, this song would have a lot more impact…but it doesn’t.

And THAT’S the song’s fatal flaw.

#hazbin hotel critical #hazbin hotel criticism #vivziepop critical #vivziepop criticism

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sunshine-jesse · 6 months

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In defense of Andrew Graves: A character arc in one sentence

HEY! I rewrote this essay and fleshed it out a lot. I'm keeping the original here for posterity, but the new version renders this one completely obsolete. Find it here!

I've focused a lot on Ashley in my past writings. She's my favorite character in the story (and depending on how episode 3 pans out, maybe ever) and I'm pretty mortified by how some parts of the fandom have reacted towards her, so I pretty much made it my life's mission to push back against that. From highlighting the ways Andrew mistreats her, to coming up with justifications for her behavior that aren't just being a manipulative bitch, I really wanted to prove that a more favorable picture of her could be painted than most were willing to.

But in doing so, I've left Andrew in the dust.

In highlighting his flaws and the ways he mistreats Ashley, I think I've implied a level of intentionality to his actions that I don't believe he has. Most of his worst actions are spur of the moment, or caused by a fundamental conflict that exists between his desires and his idea of the way things should be. That doesn't excuse them, obviously! But they do reveal interesting things about his character and how it develops over the course of the game. He starts out as a doormat, but eventually settles on either his bitterness or a sense of calmness and acceptance, both over Ashley.

But what exactly causes this change?

There's plenty of reason to believe that he was slowly evolving before the story took place, but within the context of the work itself, I believe there are two points where he can no longer ignore the changes that have happened to this point, both of which are in the first chapter: The killing of the warden and the 302 lady. In the first case, he was forced to do it to protect Ashley in a way he hadn't done before, or depending on how you look at it, since the death of Nina. But the intentionality was the key point here. After this point, he calls Ashley Leyley, which may or may not seem important at this point, but it's something I'll draw attention to later, so keep that in mind.

Next is the killing of the 302 lady, which is the much, much bigger point. We don't learn much about it until later on- as at first he just gives an excuse about the nail gun that doesn't line up with what we see on the map- but during the dream, it's revealed it was a calculated, intentional killing that he did to make sure there was no evidence left behind, and because Ashley (supposedly) would've wanted him to do it anyway. I say supposedly because Ashley herself doesn't seem to ever want Andrew to kill for her past Nina's death, because he only ever kills for her to defend one or both of them. If you want more evidence that violence for violence's sake isn't something she wants, look at this part in the final dream:

A knife isn't what opens the door, despite it being placed on the ground in that very map. While it seems obvious that the knife (violence) would be the key to solving the puzzle, it's put there explicitly to show you that it isn't. It's not what she wants; what she wants is a flower.

So, why is this important? Why am I centering Ashley- again- when this essay is supposed to be about Andrew?

Because I think it's important to point out the discrepancy between what he thinks Ashley wants, and what she really wants. When Ashley starts to grill Andrew over the killing of the 302 lady, he gets mad. Very mad. Ashley sees it as pointless, as him covering his own ass, but he genuinely did it for her sake, because he thought that's what she wanted, and that it'd make her happy. But what makes her happy isn't violence- or any similarly extreme action for that matter- it's attention and validation. Something he's always reluctant to give her, despite the fact that he always chose her over the alternatives. But despite making that choice, it's always empty and meaningless, because in Ashley's mind, he never did it for her sake.

And hoo boy, does he not like it being framed like this.

But is she wrong, though? He WAS the one who chopped up the Warden, and he WAS the one who chose to kill the 302 lady. Violence is his job, it's all he knows. He has to do it to take care of Leyley, right? To protect her? To keep her happy? Then why doesn't he ever acknowledge it? Why does he never admit that he did it for her sake, to keep her happy?

Because he doesn't know what he sees her as.

In his unique dream sequence, he sees two versions of Ashley; the child version of her- Leyley- and the adult version of her- Ashley. And the differences in the ways he interacts with the two of them are stunning. Leyley is an obstinate, annoying child. She's the one he NEEDS to take care of, and he hates that. He hates Leyley for what she did for his childhood. He hates that he needs to provide for her. He has the option of trying to kill her, even, over something as small as a candle!

But in the room with all the murders, the gilded cage, he sees Ashley as an adult. This version of Ashley is stuck in a closet that he himself has to open- and to choose to see. Their interactions are calm and friendly. She teases him a bit, sure, but she's still helpful, and they have fun together. He doesn't need her, and she doesn't need him. He needed Leyley- needed the candle- but here, there are other limbs strewn about for him to take. And, crucially, he doesn't even have the option to kill this Ashley for one of the limbs.

And during the choking scene, he lets her go the moment she acknowledges that he doesn't need her anymore.

What he really wants is Ashley for Ashley's sake. Not for what she can provide him. He doesn't even need her for sleep, he just wants her. But Ashley has trouble acknowledging this, because he's never before shown that WANT. Only a NEED. She keeps trying to find ways to make him need her, because she's never seen what his desire for her is really like. She's only ever seen him desiring someone else, someone other than her. She's only ever seen him as Andy, because she's never truly seen Andrew, only the violence he can inflict on others. Andrew, meanwhile is arguably further along in the realization of their relationship, because he can see and acknowledge both sides of Ashley.

He can see Leyley, the needy, bratty child who always needs his attention, that he needs to provide for. The one he hates and wants to get rid of. The one he kills for to protect. And he can see Ashley, the one who engages in friendly and cute banter with him. Who comforts and shows him physical affection. The one he loves. The one he kills for to make happy.

He just can't choose which one he wants to see. Every outside influence- from his parents, to Julia, to Nina- makes him see her as Leyley. Ashley herself makes him see her as Leyley too, whenever she brings up all the things he did for her, and calls him Andy, his child self, instead of Andrew, his current self. And as long as he sees that child, he feels like one too, and can never give Ashley anything that comes from the heart.

But he really, really wants to see Ashley as an adult. He wants to take pride in her, how much she's grown, and how driven and competent she really is.

But god damn, does that bitch ever make it hard.

But in the end, it's him who has to make the choice how to see her. Ashley can only see what she's shown, but Andrew can choose.

And in the basement scene, he makes that choice.

If Ashley refuses to leave him alone with their parents, that's it. In one of the most critical and important moments of his life, she couldn't give him the space needed to make up his own mind. She couldn't treat him as an adult. She couldn't see him as Andrew. If she does give him that choice, she chooses to acknowledge that Andrew is an adult who can be trusted to make his own decisions, even though she (perhaps foolishly) believes that this choice lines up with her own interests. And frankly it does either way, but in accepting their mom's offer, her chooses to see her as Leyley once and for all. He chooses not to reciprocate what Ashley showed him. He does it because he needs to, not because he wants to. Because it's his duty, not his desire.

But if he WANTS to?

That respect becomes mutual.

In choosing to treat each other like adults, to treat their relationship as one of desire rather than need, Andy starts to die. From that point on, their relationship becomes a lot more friendly, lighthearted, and playful. They ironically start acting more like children, but to quote CS Lewis:

"Critics who treat adult as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adult themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence."

He's not ashamed of being playful with Ashley, or showing affection towards her. He's grown up. He finally sees her, and himself, as an adult- although he still doesn't show that in full until much later on (more or that later). But in Decay, he still sees her as a child, and to an extent, probably himself. Let's compare the ways in which he reacts to being called Andy. In Decay, he lashes out at Ashley and gets angry, even threatening her. But in Questionable Burial, he calmly says that Andy is dead and doesn't need Ashley's comfort, but still tries to reassure her that she's still needed. He's not ashamed of or hostile towards their prior dynamic, because he's grown past it. He still recognizes Ashley's need to feel needed, but he still RECOGNIZES it, where he was hostile towards it before.

It's a display of respect towards her feelings.

This interaction doesn't happen in the Sane ending, however. He doesn't play games with her and is just a lot less fun to be around all together. Why is that? Because he still hasn't yet shaken viewing Ashley as Leyley there. He still views her as a burden, as someone who needs taking care of. He's calmly accepted that, too, mind you, but he lacks respect for her because she's still a child, in his mind. But in Questionable?

The vision did more than just make him extremely embarrassed and lay his deepest desires bare. It forced him to recognize Ashley as an adult. When choosing between "Never" and "Never say never," if Never is chosen, the burden of thought is lifted off of him. But if Ashley chooses "Never say never!", he has to reckon with the fact that Ashley is an adult, someone who can consent to those kinds of things. Someone who MIGHT. Someone who has agency, and can make her own decisions. And more importantly… someone who can trust him to make his own.

Whether he desires sex or not is secondary; he's always had those feelings and has always been ashamed of it. But now that the part of him where that shame came from is dead and buried, there's no childish impulse to grow up. There's no attachment to the hate and bitterness he had before. Look at what he worries about when he picks up that she's uncertain or confused about who he is now:

This is the one sentence I was referring to in the title.

It's her feelings.

He wants to be fun to be around. He wants to make Ashley happy. He loves her, and not as a romantic interest or even as a sibling. He loves her independent of all that baggage.

He loves her as a person.

In learning to respect Ashley, our boy has finally grown up. But there's a certain intimacy to being hurt by someone else that Ashley isn't getting in this ending, and now she has to reckon with that. And that's really, really hard to do when you're so used to being hurt.

Especially when you're no longer around someone who wants to kill the part of you that needs nurturing the most.

#andrew graves #ashley graves #the coffin of andy and leyley #gaming #tcoaal #tcoaal essay #gravecest

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middle-name-queer · 6 months

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A great thing about the good place is how all four of the main crew are actually self-centered

We commonly identify forms of self-centered behavior such as selfishness that is exemplified by Elenor. (aka "a Bad Person"), but then you have Chidi and Tehani. These two are far less classical in their self-centered behavior but are still self-centered, nevertheless.

The show makes Tehani's folly pretty clear, despite all her philanthropic acts she still centers herself in every situation. How she ended up there is actually parallel to Elenor's upbringing, the only real difference is the glitz and the glamour. They both had parents that were withholding for one reason or another, neither felt seen nor wanted and so one shut down to protect herself, the other made her entire existence a performance, either way they are deeply, deeply self-centered people.

But Chidi is my favorite, for the obvious reason that his self-centered behavior is the least obvious. Now of course it's made pretty clear to us as viewers but as a character within the world, for nearly all situations most people would judge Chidi as a good (albeit, sometimes annoying) person. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone who would out right call him self-centered... yet he is!

Chidi acts as though the world rests squarely on his shoulders, that each little choice he makes carries the weight to change the trajectory of humanity. Putting this into words pretty clearly illustrates the ridiculousness of it. It simply isn't reality, and it shows how, even though Chidi is a "good person" (vs Elenor and Jason) he is still susceptible to the very human condition of not looking past yourself. Another way to state it (as I'm sure many have before) he basically suffers from thinking he's a main character. (lol) Now, lucky for him he actually is one but translating this to real life you can see how people fall prey to this way of thinking, convoluting their lives due to the faulty belief that they, and they alone, can make or break the world around them.

This rolls around my brain like a marble because, I did this! For an embarrassingly long time in my youth, I truly felt the grief and horror that comes with thinking you, and you alone, can fix the world's problems. And I think this sort of thing isn't talked about enough because there isn't an obvious red flag of being a "bad person". Chidi is "good" and so there is a smoke screen effect hiding how poor his behavior actually is. (Can you tell I deeply identify with his character? 🤔)

Jason is an interesting case in his own right, because he's self-centered almost in the same way as a small child. I assume Donkey Doug was simply unequipped to help Jason develop past that stage in his upbringing, in tandem with say... other lifestyle choices, Jason's overall mental development is limited. He's an interesting example of how not all self-centered behavior is motivated by innate "selfishness". Jason is very much capable of empathy, generosity, and comradery, as shown by his relationship to Janet, lifelong friendships, and his participation and organization of a 60-person dance crew. This is in opposition to Elenor, a selfishly self-centered person who could not form meaningful or lasting relationships.

Jason Mendoza's behavior is more of a big kid who acts on impulse, this can obviously be perceived as "hurtful" and when done by a grown adult it may be judged as "he's a bad person". But when looking at his overall character it's clear that he doesn't make a single move with any ill intent or malice. You can easily reason with him in nearly all situations, even when he chooses to throw a molotov at a train, all it takes is grabbing him by the arm and telling him to knock it off. He doesn't argue or get defensive, unlike versions of Elenor who would tell you to "go fork yourself". Jason is only self-centered because he struggles to see the big picture, but when it's shown to him, more often than not he accepts it with a little guidance.

I have no end point here other than watching these characters exude self-centeredness in four distinctly different ways, only to then learn and better themselves, is a delight!

#tgp #the good place #tgp spoilers #not really but whatever #damn i didn't even talk about micheal #whatever maybe later

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redbuddi · 10 months

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Would love to hear what you have in mind for Jazz Fenton. Also Vlad?? 👀👀👀

Jazz time, baby!

Jazz was always my favorite character, I think that she added a lot to the show, so she's more or less unchanged, apart from some tweaks to fit her into the slightly different dynamics of the series.

Kindhearted and emotionally intelligent, but sometimes a little self-important, Jazz is the only member of Danny's family who knows that he's a trans boy. However, she does not know about Danny's ghost half at the start of the series, because while Danny confides in her about his struggles in the closet, he has a pretty good reason to not trust her with his ghost identity.

See, while Jazz does everything she can to support her brother, she doesn't always support him in the way he needs, and can be a little pushy if she feels like she knows better. In particular, in the start of the series, she is nagging Danny about when he's going to come out to their parents. Counter-intuitively, Jazz's desire to help her brother has made her somewhat tunnel-visioned. The way she sees it, the stress he feels is because he doesn't know how his parents would react, so the obvious solution to her is for him to come out and then deal with whatever happens after. She doesn't understand that Danny just isn't ready yet, and that it's okay to not be ready, and Danny has reasonable paranoia that she's going to out him to their parents to get it over with. While Jazz would never do that, she hasn't made herself trustworthy enough for Danny to believe that.

Jazz: How long are you going to keep this secret from our parents??? Danny: Which one? Jazz: What? Danny: what

Jazz means well, but needs to learn that her perspective isn't always the right one. She also doesn't get along with Sam too well, as she's the sort of person who believes that you can still work within the system to make progress, while Sam wants to dismantle the system. A huge part of her arc in the story will be to learn that change doesn't come from playing by the rules, and that there are many things in the world she just won't see or experience due to her place of privilege, and that she needs to make a concerted effort to lift people up rather than try to "save" them. Like in the OG show she'll learn about Danny's ghost half by mistake, without Danny knowing she knows, and this will be the catalyst for her to start trying to see things from his point of view, as she wonders why he wouldn't tell her. Sam will also radicalize her, and the two will end up becoming good friends late in the story.

Also like in the show Jazz won't believe in ghosts at first and harbors a lot of resentment towards her parents for not pursuing a type of science she considers to be useful, especially after the accident. Eventually it'll be too obvious for her to ignore the existence of ghosts, but even when it turns out they were right, Jazz can't let go of how she feels about her parents right away.

The Fenton's have always been geniuses in one field or another, but Jazz is the only member in the family who isn't interested in science. She studies therapy and thinks of herself as good enough to basically be a therapist already (she is not correct,) but begins to develop a fascination with ghosts and how they work both biologically and psychologically. She is deeply embarrassed by this, worried that her parents have started to "rub off on her," and does her best to hide it, but secretly begins to journal and catalogue certain ghosts that she witnesses, trying to figure them out. She is off-the-mark with a lot of her classifications, but makes an equal amount of useful observations and theories, and once she joins Team Phantom proper her research will become extremely helpful.

As for Vlad... I have thoughts and ideas for him, but I wanna wait a bit before I share it all... 😉

#danny phantom #phantom redux #ask #asks #my art

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kari-go · 26 days

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Your favorite character with your less favorite miraculous

Look at me, I used to salt on her so much and now she's my fav,, character development :P

It was hard to pick my fav so I restricted myself to just the show's characters because I would not have been able to pick between my ocs (Blanche and Stephan to be specific lol)

The miraculous was a bit easier, now, it's not because I dislike the miraculous but it's because of just how much the kwami/suit was a pain in the ass to draw, and since I'm still struggling with Voltt (and Orikko doesn't exist LOL) it was really simple

look at him, he's just not it

#ask #art request #my art #miraculous ladybug #kwami swap #thunderbird miraculous #alya cesaire #thunderbird!alya #voltt #anyway ive realized that im gonna have to redo the md timeline again #because befana cannot exist at that point in the time #and i could merge it with ikari gozen #but that just puts so many things in one chapter #like kagami prima queen AND the fox miraculous first appear there #thats too much #anyway yeah im rambling about nonrelated stuff again lol

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beevean · 1 year

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While I like Steven Universe and all of it's misgivings (even though I feel some parts of it could be written a bit more realistically, like Kevin and Steven's weird animosity angle), I always felt that the Movie adding Spinel was kind of a lazy and thoughtless decision just to make Pink Diamond more cruddy than she really is. I get that as part of the regime that considered castes wouldn't treat their lower halves with such kindess as they would the parts they belonged to, but it just seemed rather out of character for Pink to discard Spinel and make her stay in her garden for so damn long, if we were to assume Pink actually did shatter her Pearl accidentally. If there was more instances of Pink Diamond being that volatile in the show and not a lot of heresay (The Crystal Gems talking about Pink like she's an spoilt brat, for example), I'd probably would buy it more. As it stands, there's too little information thanks to the nature of the show, and it really just feels like after the revelation of Pink and Rose Quartz being one and the same, they forgot to give more humanizing qualities to Rose, especially sinc she's such a trigger for Steven in Future.

Spinel, to me, only exists to make Pink Diamond more cruel than she actually is, and I don't actually like Spinel because of that.

I agree with you in part. I don't think Spinel exists only to make Pink look more cruel, but I think the show started villainizing her a little too much in general, culminating in Future.

The idea is sound on paper. Present a character as a paragon of unreachable goodness, to the point that Steven feels like everyone expects him to measure up to his dead mom, and then start showing the cracks in her shining armor: she looked down on the same humans she swore to protect, she bubbled Bismuth, she shattered Pink Diamond and is the reason Homeworld hates everything to do with Earth, she was Pink Diamond and lied to all of the CGs and forced Pearl to keep her secret. We see her at her best, and slowly we go backwards to see at her worst. The idea is that we're supposed to put together the events in reverse order and appreciate her character development... but in practice, it means that Steven just starts to resent Rose and have an attitude of "yes mom sucks, must be a day ending in Y"

Future is what irked me the most. The last time Rose is plot relevant, we discover that she literally traumatized Pink Pearl through a temper tantrum. The last time we see Rose, it's her painting stuffed inside Lion's mane, out of sight and out of mind. The last time we hear her name, Steven is angrily comparing Greg to her. Everyone has moved on from her, but not in a healthy way, but in an almost... cancelled way? The narrative put too much focus on her bad actions, and seemingly forgot that Pink did a massive work on herself to do the closest thing a Gem can to grow up.

Spinel is just one of those examples. As an antagonist, she works, she's out of her mind with emotional pain, Pink and not Rose hurt her (so Steven can't just tell her the truth, like she did with Jasper and the Diamonds), and her inner conflict is abandonment issues, which how in the hell is Steven supposed to solve? He doesn't, the Diamonds do. But... yeah. Since Rose isn't around to defend herself, a recurring theme in SU, we never learn why she never came back for Spinel. Maybe because the portals were broken! But the narrative just leaves us with "Pink was a jerk and abandoned her friend because she was annoying" (or because she was meant to replace Pink Pearl in a shallow, insulting way, but still).

This is a big flaw of trying to paint the complexities of a dead character. We have to rely on hearsay, different opinions, and so does the titular character. Steven decided that Rose was a liar, and that's where the show stopped. It sucks, because Rose is my favorite character in the show and back in the day I swear that she was more hated than the Diamonds :<

#steven universe #rose quartz #pink diamond

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synergysilhouette · 2 months

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Rewriting the Winx Club girls (just for fun)

In anticipation for season 9/the reboot of Winx Club (I've heard it being called both a continuation and a reboot, but I think Iginio said himself it was a reboot), I decided to make a post on how I'd personally rewrite the Winx girls. This isn't a "how they should've been" post, but just my own imagination. Note: I don't recall much beyond season 4, and the 4kids dub may have me messed up on some details, so lemme know if I got information wrong!

Bloom--In my reimagining, Bloom would be a shy loner, in contrast to most of the other Winx girls and the specialists. It's not that she doesn't like fashion, socializing, and having fun (as the series defines it), but she's very overwhelmed being away from her home on Earth. I'd also make it so that she IS actually descended from witches on one of her parents' sides as well as fairies; as a 4kids child, the bias against witches was much stronger than in the canon dub, and I think that creates more conflict for Bloom, especially if she herself is from Italy and the traditional view of witches is negative. I'd also make it so that she learns more about her parents via flashbacks and anecdotes from others. I'd confirm that both Oritel and Miriam are fairies, though since one of them also had witch ancestry, the match was hotly contested, and the destruction of Domino was contributed to said lineage. And it's not revealed early on that Daphne is Bloom's sister; it's just thought that she's Bloom's fairy godmother (I heard her favorite fairy tale is Cinderella, anyway) who gives her visions of Domino before it's destruction. Faragonda confirms FGs exist as a job, but is confused since Bloom describes Daphne as noncorporeal when FGs should be living, physical fairies guiding others. Bloom's witch ancestry is also what summons the dark phoenix, and the duality of Darkar and the Great Dragon helps Bloom to reconcile her fairy and witch heritage. It's also important to note that she doesn't start dating Sky until AFTER the Diaspro reveal, and Selina joins her at school, so at least she has a friend from the get-go. However, she feels A LOT of pressure on her since her bloodline carries the direct magic of the dragon flame. It's also noted that she broke up with Andy a year before the show began (I was gonna say she broke up with him RIGHT BEFORE she came to Alfea, but I thought that wouldn't make her romance with Sky realistic or stable since it began so soon after she arrived). I'd also note that before she gains control over her powers, Faragonda passes her off as a regular fire fairy, not a fairy of the dragon flame, for her own protection.

If I had to redesign her magic look, I'd make it black with multicolored elements to signify the cosmos from which the primordial dragon created the magic dimension. I'd also base her physically on Emma Stone, and I'd be curious to have Jodi Benson voice her (though Mae Whitman is my backup).

Stella--Stella is a character defined by her relationships with others. At the beginning of the series, her parents are at the tail-end of their marriage. Despite being raised to read people (both as a princess and a socialite), Stella is blissfully unaware of her parents' impending divorce, with only a few people close to her being aware of it. While she does eventually recover, it leaves her numb for a while, and sees a turning point for her character as she becomes much better at analyzing people and develops an interest in psychology. Her relationship with Brandon is also dived into, with her realizing his inferiority complex to the point where he lied to her about who he was. This puts a pause on their relationship until Stella feels secure about her emotional state and how happy her social circle makes her. And of course, her parents' new relationships (Luna with Allan and Radius with Cassandra) challenge her further, since she can't go back to the blissful ignorance she had before; she can only push forward and make new happy memories with her friends and family. It should also be noted that while eventually happy together (for a time), Radius and Luna mainly got married because Radius--despite magical ancestry--had no magic of his own, while Luna did, making her a good match to bear his heirs.

Design-wise, I'd put her in silver and gold to accommodate her being the fairy of the sun, moon and stars. She could be physically inspired by Anya Taylor-Joy and voiced by Andrea Baker.

Aisha--The iconic princess of Andros is the most athletic Winx member (so a little bit buff), as well as one of the most practical. Aisha is never forced into an arranged marriage with Nabu, but instead falls for him and finds out that he's conveniently from a noble family. The fact that he's a wizard also helps raise his value to the royal magical family (though perhaps I'd make him a male fairy in my rewrite). It's noted that Aisha does have options, as evident by entertaining Nex and Roy's advances (though IDK how polyamory would go over in a kids' show), but Nabu is her priority. As the fairy of waves, she constantly likes to be near water, especially to communicate with her merpeople relatives (something Bloom is also excited to see, being from Earth). Aisha is seen as "half mermaid, half fairy," given her father's mer-heritage and her mother's fairy heritage, pushing her to be diplomatic for both realms. For a period, she goes by Layla, attempting to distance herself from her royal status as well as prevent suitors and unwanted nobles from finding her.

I'd keep the aqua palette she has in Bloomix for her main design, and base her appearance on SZA. I could see Cree Summer playing her.

Musa--A musical prodigy and aspiring star, but that's sadly common in Harmony, so common that the people there face discrimination for their innate musical abilities by foreigners, who see it as a magical cheat and that they have no true talent or hard work. As a result of this, Musa's father (who I'd rename Itar from "chitarra," which is Italian for guitar; Ho-Boe reminds me of the term hobo) was discouraged from music until he met her mother and she inspired him to be a musician. He had a long career before Musa was born, but his wife's death meant he lost his motivation to overcome discrimination, and as such he discouraged Musa from pursuing a musical career, going as far as leaving Melody and having Musa grow up on another planet. As such, she strives to learn more about her culture and heritage, set on becoming a muscian (she can sing and play several instruments). Riven's controlling attitude reminds her of her father, which both frustrates and comforts her--but something's gotta give. At one point on Earth, she becomes the main vocalist for Andy, Mark, and Rio's band (I'm imagining they have a pop-punk sound, taking inspiration from No Doubt, Panic @ the Disco, and Olivia Rodrigo, though they can branch out)--much to Riven's chagrin, but by this point he knows not to let his jealousy ruin their relationship.

In terms of design, I'd probably keep the red-pink colors for her transformation, but take inspiration from concert outfits like the ones worn by Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and Beyonce. I'd base her character design on Rina Sawayama and have her voiced by Awkwafina. I'd also keep her androgynous-feminine style.

Tecna--The most practical girl of the bunch, she doesn't often let emotions get in her way, most likely because she's a cyborg (inspired by one of the dubs that claimed she was an android; there's a difference). As the third child in line for the throne (gonna keep her royal based on comics, and I wanted more winx girls to have siblings), she has flexibility with her future life goals, but is still raised to uphold Zenith's honor and glory. She often comes off as inconsiderate, but bonding with the group (and romancing the bashful Timmy) has opened her up. Her newfound emotion is met with mixed-reception back home, where such things are seen as a nuisance, but her family appreciates it, nonetheless. However, she can be reckless; given that her people are imbued with magic that gives them machine-like qualities, she often puts herself at risk because she can take it/be fixed later on. And note: her father has King Cryos' design while her mother has Magnethia's design.

Tecna is non-binary (felt like that'd be easy rep and not super contestable), physically inspired by Demi Lovato and a green distorted fairy form (at first, anyway, to sell the digital aspect). I'd want her to be voiced by Kari Wahlgren, given that I loved 4kids' British Tecna and Kari's British accent as Emma Frost.

Flora--My personal favorite Winx girl, Flora is the heart of the group (to Tecna's mind of the group). She often has sympathy for others without being naive, and comes from a more naturalistic, almost ancient culture that believes in being one with nature. As such, she occasionally clashes with Tecna, reveres Bloom (holding the power of the creator), and adores Stella, Aisha, and Musa. She's very traditional and romantic, having fallen for pacifist Helia (who I'd rewrite as a fairy, druid, or wizard who mainly uses healing/protective magic) due to shared ideals, as well as being childhood friends; they even got engaged early on, but they're waiting to graduate. Her first priority once she's done at Alphea is going to Earth with Bloom to fix the environment (which would take at least a year), and has been invited to work for the royal family thanks to her contributions to nature. Her kindness has made her popular far and wide, and she's partially credited with making Linphea fashion-forward while still maintaining cultural traditions. A lot of people seem confused about her background, and she's Latin-inspired, so it would be nice to see her area of Linphea inspired by a Latin American country.

Transformation-wise, I'd take inspiration from many flowers (real or not) such as blue-white morning glories, blue lilies, bleeding hearts, dahlias, and bat flowers. For her appearance, I'd base her off of Selena Gomez (keep the tan, though; even if we don't see Flora's Latin inspiration, we can still have skintone diversity), and I'd want her VA to be Maria Canals-Barrera.

Roxy--Surprise! I wasn't gonna include Roxy, but I thought why not? MAJOR overhaul, though; first off, I'd give her a different name (personal preference), perhaps Ariel. Plus her story is Bloom 2.0 in a few ways. In any case, after Bloom--a powerful fairy--is discovered on Earth, a planet previously thought to be abandoned by fairies, scouts are sent to investigate, eventually discovering Ariel. She is hesitant to leave Earth, particularly her father, boyfriend (not every guy has to go to Red Fountain), and her mother's grave. Here, the Earth fairies are mostly gone for good, with the Wizards of the Dark Circle becoming deity-like legends for villainous characters, though I'd probably make one or two of them fairies to show that even fairies can be evil. Ariel also keeps her powers under wraps, being suspicious and the opposite of Bloom--who was desperate to know her heritage--not exactly keen on her new life of danger. But she gets along with Flora, Musa, and Aisha eventually, as well as seeing new animal life.

I'm COMPLETELY changing her design since she looks like she could be Tecna's sister; I'd take the opportunity to make her Pacific Islander or Native American (I'm thinking USA or Canadian) instead--though I will note this removes her Arthurian and Irish inspiration, unfortunately--and I'd give her an orange transformation look (since Stella's no longer using it). I'd base her off of either Amber Midthunder or Auli'i Cravalho (though with a deeper tan in either case) and have her voiced by either Kiawentiio Tarbell or Auli'i herself.

Lemme know what you think or if you have any questions! I may do the specialists next.

#winx #winx club #bloom #stella #aisha #tecna #musa #flora #roxy

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icedragonlizard · 19 days

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Let's talk about Ice Dragon

I mean.. this thing is literally my namesake! Let me give it recognition.

I know I frequently post about characters such as Susie, Magolor and Marx, and yet I have "icedragonlizard" as my username which would imply that I should be more all over this big chubby blue dinosaur.

Funny of me to be acting the way I do.

However... despite seldom talking about him, I do love this thing.

I chose this username for two reasons: 1.) to stand out and 2.) while Ice Dragon may not necessarily be my top favorite character in all of Kirby, it is however one of my very favorite designs in the series!

I adore the appearance of this big cute silly thing.

He's big. He's chubby. He's blue. He looks very squishy. I want to hug him even if he'd bite me or turn me into an ice cube. He just straight up looks like a dinosaur, despite having dragon in his name. This is like the perfect sort of kawaii dinosaur design you'd expect in Kirby.

He looks like the substitute decoy from pokemon, LOL.

We don't have much reptiles in Kirby. There's also Landia, of course, which is another dragon. And there are also Galbos, an enemy species with evolved variants such as Galboros. I've noticed the visual similarities that Ice Dragon has to Galbos. May they be related at all?

I think the biggest problem with Ice Dragon is that he... isn't much of a character. He's very under-utilized. As far as I know, all his main appearances are: a boss in Dream Land 2 where he debuted, he's a painting that Adeleine summons in Dream Land 3, 64 and Star Allies (the former two as bosses, the latter as playable), he's a hologram in Planet Robobot, and if I'm not mistaken he also shows up in the clash games. I've never actually played the clash games but I've seen images of him in it.

And the fact he sadly has little recognition in the fandom in general.

He's much less major than other boss characters like Whispy Woods and Kracko. At least those two show up in like almost every game.

He doesn't even have a mask of his likeliness in Merry Magoland!

At least he does appear in the anime, though. I think it was cool the way they handled him, where they gave him a small version and then he just grew really gigantic.

There's unfortunately just very little to work with or talk about with Ice Dragon. One can try to rectify this with headcanons, which I've tried.

I do have headcanons for him.... it's just not a ton due to how little and minor of a character he is. For one, I headcanon that he's the king of whatever is Popstar's main snowy/arctic area, whether that be Iceberg (from DL2 and DL3) or White Wafers (from RTDL). And I imagine he's friends with King Dedede or at least gets along with him well, since they both serve as kings in their respective lands. Adeleine and the animal friends may know him and get along with him well, too, since the former even has paintings of him that she can summon.

If Ice Dragon was more major than he is... if they made him a more frequent boss and did more with him, I'd be all over it. I'd talk about him a lot more. I'd develop more headcanons for him at that point!

I once thought about that if Forgotten Land was willing to include dinosaur-like creatures during its game, then a primal version of Ice Dragon would've been absolutely perfect for the Winter Horns section.

If they ever do a Kirby game that includes dinosaurs, whether they be the villain faction or something else, then I think Ice Dragon himself or a relative could show up, and the aesthetic of his design could be a great base for other dinosaur creatures that get added in the series.

^ Just an idea, more ideas could be made.

This could be said for a lot of other characters in Kirby, I know, but I think a lot of really cool and awesome stuff could be done with Ice Dragon if HAL were to utilize him as such. I'd love to see it happen.

Oh and by the way, I'm aware that a plushie for Ice Dragon exists... it's from the Roly-Poly Friends merch line, but it's extremely rare to find and also costs a ton of money. It's out of my luxury to get it, sadly.

I would love to see a Sanei plushie of this guy come out at some point. I did say after all that I'd expand on my plushie collection more when they introduce more Sanei plushies later down the road, didn't I? Hahahahaha. Although I have the feeling that may take a while. That's fine. No need to rush. But if an Ice Dragon plush from Sanei comes into existence, I'm going to get it in a heartbeat. It'll be great.

#kirby #ice dragon #ice dragon kirby #kirby's dream land 2 #kirby's dreamland 2 #kirby's dream land 3 #kirby's dreamland 3 #kirby 64 the crystal shards #kirby planet robobot #kirby star allies #team kirby clash deluxe #super kirby clash

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dipplinduo · 3 months

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Have you ever scrapped ideas for Sweet & Sour?

Yep!

My process has luckily been more of "transform an idea that doesn't fit" situation for most things, but I'm happy to talk about some of the things that didn't make the cut. Whipping out the notes page...

Lacey was actually meant to be the spotlighted E4 member that gets close to Juliana, not Drayton (hence the focus on her in Chapter 1 & 2). She was actually my favorite at first, and I envisioned her as being a positive, grounding guide for Juliana, and also somewhat of a middle ground influence for Kieran. But then I wrote my spin on the cafeteria scene, and I was like "oh my god wait, Drayton's character is so enticing and flexible, and he's especially fun to insert as an influence in the Kieran/Juliana dynamic". SOOOOOO I quickly decided to pivot and make him the spotlighted one, and have him do more of this brotherly figurer role who was very cunning and comedic. Before I even realized I got overtaken by the iconicism, and now he's just part of my brand in general. Whoops. The "Drayton Being Iconic" tag existed on this blog before this happened so I honestly should've seen it coming LMAO. I do have very important plans for the rest of the E4 and what role they're playing, though :

Don't laugh at this one - it was also early development LOL. I was going to have a party scene where Drayton convinces Juliana to pretend she got drunk (I know) as part of a roundabout and wild way to find evidence that Kieran had a soft spot for her (I KNOW). Kieran was essentially gonna waltz in (to a social event he otherwise never would make an appearance in) and he'd get all flustered as Juliana latches onto him. He would've decided to sweep her away from the party and take him back to his dorm. I ended up scrapping this entirely because while teens do party and all that...yeah, and also we pretty much got the dynamic moments I wanted to portray much better through the chapters where Juliana got sick.

Kieran/Juliana dynamic was also gonna have a moment where Kieran gets it in his head to start flirting with Juliana because he thinks that she’s flirting to get him to put his guard down. And that's where they both kinda were gonna secretly realize their feelings LOL. In hindsight lowkey fire still, but yeah, kinda just didn't have the space for it. We do have flirty Kieran era though, and that's still based.

This one is kinda known already, but originally the Applins were the only stars of the show (hence the name of the fic). I added Ribombee in early on after enough people wanted it and gave it lore/a connection to Kieran and his mother. Before Ribombee was conceptualized, I had different plans for what happened to Kieran's parents (he would still be an orphan regardless).

Briar was originally going to make a "deal" with Clavell regarding getting Juliana to come to Blueberry early, although it wouldn't be revealed until Juliana discovers this later. I scrapped this in favor of something much better because I didn't like the implications it had on Clavell's character, and honestly, only Blueberry is supposed to have the sketchy admin/systematic stuff going on anyways lol.

Kieran was meant to show more obvious signs of sleep deprivation (e.g. falling suspect to illness more frequently, slowed reactions). This idea is still good and realistic, but yeah, ended up leaning more into other symptomology that went well with the toxic chain curse (e.g. irritability, obsessive fixations, self-criticism, overworking himself, fatigue, etc.)

Ribombee was going to sleep powder both Kieran & Juliana in the cave scene of Ch 5. I decided to make it a bit more organic by having Kieran up and reflecting on everything + having Ribombee appearance in a more mystical way. Plus, I thought it would mean more if Kieran & Juliana opted to cuddle up themselves rather than being knocked out. There was a part of me that was worried the dynamic was progressing too fast this way with this change, but it seemed to have landed well! :)

This doesn't really count as a scrapped idea, but related: I 1000% retconned something with the Drayton POV chapters (if ykyk, LOL). But YEP. It's CANON. And frankly it's a decision I personally love that has implications, but also won't screw up the storytelling for where we're at now, either.

There's actually a lot more, too, but like I said: most of my ideas tend to upgrade. And lolololol OMG this is especially true for some major lore stuff. I just don't want to reveal it because I don't want to give y'all hints on where we're going!! LOL.

And also...there are cuter moments I haven't used in S&S and probably won't be able to because I account for what makes sense with the given dynamic. BUT what I do end up doing is taking those unused ideas and putting them into What-Ifs or other stories. There's one I'm particularly thinking of that I was dying to put in S&S D, but I don't think it would trip up the current Kieran as much as it would've in earlier chapters, lol. SO. It's going in The Dichotomy in Our Hearts instead! xD

This was super fun to write, hope it was enough substance for the question! <3

#my fics #dipplinshipping #kieran pokemon #kieran x juliana pokemon #juliana pokemon #kieran x juliana #juliana x kieran pokemon #juliana x kieran #fave #asks

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sonofthesaiyans · 3 months

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To the gal who is most deserving of a second chance, Happy Birthday Ymir. 🎂

There is so much to be said about Ymir, she is without at doubt one of the most intriguing and and perplexing characters in Attack on Titan. There's so much we don't know about her, even her real name remains a mystery. For me, Ymir was set up to be a much bigger player in the war to unravel the mystery of the Titans, and her story to me is one that demands an urgent continuation in some form.

Ymir definitely holds a special place in the story, she often comes off as cold and distant, and one to take particular pleasure in messing with the few friends she has in the 104th. Her motivations are never clear and she's an incredibly hard person to read, but then again many of my favorites elsewhere also fit that bill. Her one constant companion is Historia, and to call them an odd couple would be a huge understatement. It is however very entertaining to see how they play off each other, with Historia constantly in a balancing act with Ymir's more jaded attitude towards all that's going down with the Scouts.

While Ymir may be cold, distant and detached a lot of the time, she isn't without heart and has come through for Historia and the others several times when it really mattered. She has been through hell and back, having easily one of the most messed up backstories of any of the Scouts. Literally everything Ymir knew from her past life in Marley is long gone, she doesn't even remember her own family. And was condemned to an existence by Marley that nobody should have to suffer. Ymir literally has nothing to lose, with the people of Paradis being the first chance she has had to escape her long personal hell.

Ymir as the Jaw Titan was an impressive reveal, and she could seriously have helped level the playing field against the Warriors and the Marleyans. Her unique bond with Historia would have been all the more interesting to see develop after Historia assumed her rightful place as the Queen of the Eldians. And let's be real, nobody wanted to see Historia end up with some nameless , faceless farmer who she may not even have been attracted to in the first place. Ymir and Historia both have similarly tragic backgrounds where they essentially had no family left to turn to, with only each other to fill the void. Theirs was a rocky relationship that nonetheless shone brightly......Certainly more than Eren and Mikasa ever did, and I stand by that, people.

For me personally, Ymir's long absence and ultimate fate was one of Titan's biggest bad calls, we all expected more. And we absolutely deserved more, she is undoubtedly one of the story's biggest missed opportunities. And now we're left to fill in the blanks as to what the full story behind her is.

There's something really compelling about Ymir, even at her worst she was still a good person deep down, and one who deserved that chance to escape the insanity that robbed her of so much. I wanted to see her relationship develop with the other Scouts, and to see how she evolved as the Jaw Titan. Feels like the story we should have gotten with all that was set up around her was sacrificed for something that denied her her chance to shine.

I want to know more about Ymir, I want to connect with her more strongly, I want to know what her whole story is and see what might have been. I think Ymir could've easily carried a plot of comparable caliber to Eren's. It was all there, they had everything they needed.....Now somebody needs to step in and do what Hajime Isayama failed to take advantage of. Show the man how it's REALLY done.

For now, best wishes to the girl who so richly deserved a second chance to live a life that was all her own, to find the freedom she never had. I only hope one day she truly does get another chance. 💚 ⚔️ 💚 ⚔️ 💚

And to close that out, a special shoutout to the incredibly talented Elizabeth Maxwell, who we have to thank for giving her voice to this amazing character. I can only hope she too might one day get another chance to do so again.

Thanks for the amazing picture, Liz! It was truly an honor to have shared our appreciation of Ymir with you. ❤️

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ketho484 · 1 year

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Hoi! This is gonna be the start of my personal version of the Welcome Home Actor AU made by Frillsand on Tiktok and inspired by the drabbles made by @wally-darling-hyperfixation (love your work! Keep being inspirational!). This will mostly follow Wally and my OC, Willow. I'll put up a character sheet or several for each story I have in mind at a later date. For now, let the show begin!

Au belongs to @frillsand

🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬

Chapter 1: The blue haired child

It was a pretty normal day in the busy city. Cars were full of people trying to get to work or trying to get kids to school. The hustle and bustle of the early morning was fairly common, albeit rather annoying. The city was a good place to live, but it wasn't without its flaws, to put it kindly.

The greatest flaw in this city would be its discrimination against puppets. See, in the late 1950s, a prideful puppeteer had discovered a way to bring what he created to life. Nobody knows how he did it, but the puppet population exploded rather quickly after that as the creatures spread out into the world. They were similar to humans in many ways. They can grow and develop from childhood like humans, their digestive tracts are like humans, they can produce offspring like humans, and they can bleed, be bruised, get hurt, and even die much like humans. However, nobody knows if they are a new race of humans or if they are a species of their own due to the differences they have. The puppets can be hurt, but they are significantly more durable than humans. They can heal rather quickly, needing stitches and casts for roughly half the time that humans need them. If the injury is grave, like, say, a limb gets cut off, they just need to stitch the limb back onto their bodies and it will work with no problem. It was a bit freaky, but people started accepting that as normal for puppets as time went on. Even still, discrimination is a bit of a problem in the city as humans still try to grapple with the existence of puppets living among them.

However, this story doesn't deal with that on the macro scale. Instead, this story begins a bit smaller, beginning in the city suburbs, where a small puppet girl worked tirelessly to meet a deadline set for her, hearing an argument between her human parents outside her work room door. She had yellow felt skin and dark blue hair that hung down to her back. She wore a ragged dress with long sleeves, but wore no shoes. She had a gift of mastering many creative arts, including singing and sewing. This little girl would hum to herself, just like right now, as she worked on costumes for this place her father had signed for called PlayFellow Studios, the home of her favorite show, Welcome Home, the cast of whom always needed new costumes, so her father made a contract with the studio owners to make them and dumped all the work onto this poor little kid.

It was rare that she was allowed any time with the TV, but sometimes her father would allow it if she had been very good. When that happened, she was always keen on watching Welcome Home when it aired. It was one of the few things that made her feel like an actual child, watching all of the friendly characters sing and dance and have fun. It made her start to daydream about how different her life would be if she went to that beautiful town to live there. It would be far better than this horrible place…

She shook her head and got back to work. These new outfits had to be ready for tomorrow or else her dad would punish her. She hated being punished. Her dad had set up a whole room for her punishments depending on the severity. If she didn't get this finished, then-

"Willow?" A gentle voice called from the door to her sewing room, the voice of the girl's adoptive mother

"Yes, momma?" Willow looked up, turning off the sewing machine for the moment to speak

"Hey, honey…Your father and I were talking and-"

"You mean arguing?" Willow cut her mother off, making the woman chuckle as she came closer

"Either way, I…I might've convinced your father to take you with us when we go to show these costumes to the cast" Her mother said with a smile that widened when Willow's smile came bright and beaming onto her face

"You mean I'm gonna meet them!?" She asked as she bounced in her seat

"That's right…though for your safety, I need to ask if the costumes are ready yet"

"Almost" Willow said as she calmed down, turning to her current costume project "I just need to finish the costume for Mister Darling. I know he didn't demand much, but I wanna make all the costumes really special and I can't help but feel like this one is missing something…"

"Like what?" Her mother asked as she looked down at the white shirt Willow was sewing

"I'm not sure" Willow said simply as she kept going with her project "That's the problem. I'm not sure what this is gonna need. I made everything right. What is it missing?"

"...Could you sneak something onto it?" Her mother asked quietly

"What?" Willow perked up as she took the finished shirt off the machine

"Try adding something as a personal signature" Her mother said "Something your father can't take credit for"

Willow started thinking. What could she add to make these costumes unique? Something to ensure people knew she made them…That’s when it hit her. Her mother had been teaching her this technique for a few weeks now, so maybe she could try it. She gathered all of her colorful thread, grabbed the knit sweater for Wally’s costume, a simple dark blue sweater, and started sewing some embroidery on it, specifically a nice rainbow wrapping around the body. Willow gave her adopted mother a nod and the woman left to let her work. Willow didn’t often smile, especially at home, but she was smiling now as she embroidered all of the costumes. Wally’s white shirt to go with the new sweater had some vine and apple patterns on the collar and shirt cuffs, Julie’s new dress got some flower embroidery on the skirt and neckline, Frank’s new vest got some butterfly embroidery, Howdy got some apples on the pockets of his apron while his shirt cuffs got some caterpillar imagery, Polly’s new costume got some baked goods imagery, most notably on the bottom of her baking apron but also on the skirt of a dress, Eddie’s shirt collar and hat both got some letters embroidered onto them, Sally got some stars on her skirt and a theater mask symbol on her dress pocket located on the chest, and Barnaby’s vest got some bouncy balls and dog bones on the bottom along with a rainbow on the chest pocket and a daisy embroidered into the new hat. Willow was going through a creative frenzy thanks to her mother encouraging her, and she finished it all just after her parents went to bed.

As usual, she had to feed herself, but there was nothing in the fridge, so she went and got some money from her mother’s purse to go buy a burger from a place down the street. The owner, Jerry, was there when he saw her come in and sighed. She looked worse and worse every time she went in to see him. She just ordered a plain burger, but he gave her a big combo meal including a burger, chicken nuggets, and a large holder of fries. He paid for it himself and bid her farewell after she thanked him. She ran home, but ate on the porch so her father didn’t catch her eating in her room again. Last time it happened…She shuddered and finished eating before throwing out the bag and taking out the still full trash. She then quietly crept to the room she had been sewing in and laid down on some fabric scraps, the softest of which was her pillow. She took a deep breath, smiling at the outfits she’d made, and closed her little eyes.

Tomorrow was another day…

#Welcome Home #OC #TW: Mentions of abuse #Actor AU

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