I wonder if when Jay Ferin was a little girl she wanted to be a navy soldier like her big sister. I wonder if her father wanted her to be one too, to continue their family’s legacy.

I wonder if that ever changed, if when she lost her sister she wanted to join the navy to take down those pirates that killed her, or alternatively she took the warning of Ava’s death as a call not to follow her footsteps. I wonder if her joining the navy was the last thing her father wanted anymore.

I wonder how long it took for Jay to notice the Navy’s faults. I wonder when she and Kira promised to change it from the inside.

I wonder if Kira looked up to Ava too, if she was almost their third sister when they were younger. I wonder if when Ava died, Kira could see Jay changing. I wonder if they talked as much as they would have as little girls leading up to Jay joining Chip.

I wonder if Kira training to be a Captain put distance between them, if Jay was afraid she’d lose her too. I wonder if they fought about the good of the navy, Kira believing they could change while Jay slowly lost faith in them.

I wonder if Jay has the heart to resent the Navy even now, even knowing they may be responsible for Ava’s death despite all she’s been told. Maybe she regrets not becoming a captain like Kira, instead having to justify her new life to her own family.

I wonder if Jay wishes she’d stayed with her mother to be there for her as her health declined. I wonder if she considered leaving Chip and Gillion once she found out, even now she’s tied to her crew.

I wonder if Jay had left with the Navy (like Condi considered leading her to do), if she would’ve joined them. If she would’ve fought beside Kira and her father and crossed paths with Gillion and Chip again. I wonder if she’d be unable to pick sides again, or if she’d be so stuck in place she couldn’t go back.

I wonder if Ava ever snuck off to meet Lizzie in Featherbrook, if Jay might’ve noticed a slight giddiness as she disappeared to a quieter side of the island.

I wonder if Jay hates Lizzie or not now, if she’s upset with her for not telling her about her relationship with her sister, but also Ava for not telling her about Lizzie. I wonder if she hates her for loving her sister and keeping her away from home longer.

Jay is such a cool underrated character I need to THINK ABOUT HER MORE!!!

Golden Fleece

I love her for her nefarious and tragic demeanour

hyunjin on bubble: im drawing and i started wondering why i even draw. so i can’t sleep.. staying in that period of transition. the reason why i keep asking these questions and trying to find answers is, i think it’s because i believe that it’s only those who love me, that can help me find an answer or a path. because thinking about and questioning things that you don’t really need to think about and answering those questions is contradicting in itself.. is what i think? (translation source)

I feel weird giving out unprompted permission statements because I'm making a big assumption that anyone's going to want to use my work. That said I also know people do like to build on other people's art and can't always work up the nerve to ask, so: Anyone is free to use this design if they want to for any reason- I don't own this character anyway. (Although I am hopeful that you do not, you know, monetize it, because i cant do that and if you do that its not fair ;_; ) Feel free to remix, improve, use as basic inspiration, etc. I would appreciate a tag/mention if you use it so I can see what you did!

This design has evolved a little since I first started drawing it, and I will see people reblogging the original design notes and think 'oh no! those are out of date and I don't have new/accurate ones!'

Reblogging the old one is still an honor- and the first take on a design just sometimes has a different appeal because it's less refined and more chaotic (especially with a character that should be chaotic), so I suspect some people will just prefer the older drawings & they'll still get shared, which is great! But I felt as if the project was a little bit incomplete without an update, since I think I've reached the point where if you see that old post & then come to my blog and look at my current content, there's a noticeable difference.

Also I kind of like making design notes.

If anyone's wondering why things changed, the answer's really simple- 90% of it is just the result of him settling into having more consistent anatomy and facial structure so that I can keep him looking accurate across different angles and poses. If you look at the old drawings you may notice that Gollum has an inconsistently shaped squishy head. That's fine for a concept post but doesn't work as well for maintaining him across different comic panels or in an animatic, at least not the way I work.

In the same vein, while my art is still & will always be heavily stylized, I started giving him more structured semi-sorta-realistic anatomy so that he wouldn't look entirely out of place next to less bizarre-looking characters such as Aragorn. (I feel that's also helpful in nudging Gollum into the uncanny valley where he ought to be, rather than leaving him so abstractified that there's a risk you won't see anything wrong with him having noodle arms.) He also acquired the new-style 'garbage bag' outfit because I found a reference in LOTR to his arms and legs being bare/exposed (it's in one of my favorite passages, the 'an eagle would think Gollum was dead if it came by right now' passage in The Two Towers):

Not even an eagle poised against the sun would have marked the hobbits sitting there, under the weight of doom, silent, not moving, shrouded in their thin grey cloaks. For a moment he might have paused to consider Gollum, a tiny figure sprawling on the ground: there perhaps lay the famished skeleton of some child of Men, its ragged garment still clinging to it, its long arms and legs almost bone-white and bone-thin: no flesh worth a peck.

Alternate Times of Shadow duos from some other Once upon a time!

"If they ask for a sacrifice, let's make it a virgin. Young and hot-blooded!"

"I want to wake up beside a handsome virgin every morning, but life doesn't give us what we want."

I was suddenly hankering to do some style experimentation with [my human versions] of Pinky and the Brain, so UUUUUUH-

speaking strictly from a plot & writing perspective here, not a commentary on characters or who or who is not my favorite blorbo (they all are). it's gale time and I wanted to get down everything I thought about this go around with his romance & the writing before it escapes me.

so I once again had a ton of fun of course, the game is still a blast, and several arcs were way more satisfying this time around simply because I ... did not skip the creche, unlike my very first run (I was an idiot) (I didnt think it would be that important) (it really really was). love it 10/10. I cannot WAIT to do my gith run & really focus in on that because the lore there is just, so cool, and that subplot was really rich & rewarding this time around since I had someone who was not orpheus become a mindflayer instead.

as for Gale, Thank Fuck I started before they bugged him up again too much. but let's deep dive into The Material.

shoutout to Tim first of all, he's a legend, dreamboat, superstar. there are so many lines delivered so effortlessly when they would sound ridiculous in anyone else's mouth. he gives gale so much soulful intensity and subtle, nuanced gravitas befitting someone like gale; with enough of Gale's own moments of silliness, cheekiness, wry wit & understated sarcasm, to outright flabbergasted at times, I was Giggling every conversation fr. I'm not usually prone to the "I LOVE YOU" Romances that come earlier rather than later, but ohhhhhhh tim gives each line with all the weight & agony that you can feel inside Gale when it comes (the looming death; not knowing what the end may bring; not wanting to leave any regrets behind) so like. MWAH to him. MWAH MWAH. all the kisses in the world.

okay mandatory compliments to the actor aside. I came out of the whole thing with breadth of new appreciation for Gale as a character in terms of the... concepts, threads, that make him up, and act 2 is where he REALLY shines overall.

I didn't necessarily come away from it with the same... weepy...... done-no-wrong? interpretation of Gale that I've seen floating about. he's lovely. he's intense. he's got soul-crushing devotion on his mind, no doubt. but for every fracture of tenderness, raw sincerity, & off the cuff soliloquy, he's got a lot of interesting flaws/characteristics I'd love to unpick with a fine-toothed comb on some replays or rewatches. Still trying to turn over in my brain exactly what that is, but it's there, and I love it. will say I'm really glad I played it mostly in a vacuum rather than getting too into others' thoughts on him, because What I Had Seen on the Webbed Site had near put me off entire (seeing someone say he's not prideful or pompous at all... when he self-describes as pompous?) -- maybe it's my tendency to focus in on what makes a character tick, when are they sharper, or harder, or meaner, and I enjoy watching that play out a lot, but? yeah. I didn't come away thinking him a super soft mushy mwahmwah -- ROMANTIC, yes, but overall as a character not nearly so lovesick and in desperate need of some protector. in fact when you tell him you don't want to be his crutch, he says as much too -- you've helped him, but you're not the sole focus of his person or the only thing keeping him alive.

there's enough of the humanity in his cheekier moments (stop licking the damn thing!!) and plenty of tear-jerking aside all of that. gale my canon-depressive-episode, mildly suicidal, chronic pained up, still-kind-of-full-of-yourself king. I adore you I love you I cradle you softly in my arms. he charmed me entire! I think that the themes hey were trying to tackle are really interesting and nuanced and I do have some thoughts on the success of the game in actually tackling those, what is there is really wonderful. some gorgeous writing in act 2, especially, and it was sold so well by the voice acting & sincerity in the writing I was just like. PERFECT. 10/10. NEED TO WRITE 98 FLUFF PIECES RN. which does not happen often, to me, as a person.

with. some exceptions, going back to critiquing act 3 as a whole.

act 1 & 2 are both strong, really nice. however this romance definitely needed at least one or two more scenes in act 2 to pad out the space between awkward flirting at the party to "I like it when you're sweaty and bloody-- sorry who said that" to "I LOVE YOU. I LOVE YOU." -- these scenes should've elaborated on Gale's personal feelings; of mystra, of what's been asked of him, of Tav. they should've set in threads of Gale's anger earlier, rather than the jarring shift from late act 2 "yeah I'll kill myself" to "actually... mystra fucking sucks! lol!" in act 3 at sorcerer sundries. yeah babygirl, mystra DOES fucking suck, wish I could've listened to you as you arrived to these conclusions rather than connecting empty character lines between act 2 and 3. and act 3 desperately needed more space to talk gale in or out of the crown. because by the time we get to the end, if he's really into the crown, he's into it beyond the focus of all else. but in the scenes where you talk him off that particular ledge, it doesn't even take very long to do so, and leaves kind of a weird... gap of intention.

I feel like they wrote themselves into a bit of a corner, honestly. because Gale's personal quest literally cannot be resolved until 5 minutes before the end, any climax wouldn't have much space afterward to pad the aftermath. so the solution to that would've been more character focus scenes, more flavor text depending on how you've influenced gale, something that actually makes the choices feel rewarding -- some hurdles to cross too, checks of some kind. but there really isn't any of that, and so the conflict is almost nonexistent. you squirt gale with a water bottle and he gives up the crown with no real additional dialogue. or you tell him "ma...maybe???" and he's suddenly a power obsessed little freak (complimentary) with no recourse, and in either case, we never got much dialogue to get some insight into his personal thoughts on it. this doesn't make Gale a bad character, but it does leave the narrative to be lacking in some regard.

like, for example. Astarion gets dialogue changes depending on the quest outside of character-specific moments (such as a spawn Astarion changing his dialogue after you help Aylin with Lorroakan), post-quest conversations, PRE-quest conversations with his siblings, moments where he reveals more of what he thinks (such as "You're... you. no one is like that.") etc., Gale gets None of that. the only other characters who really do are Lae'zel and Shadowheart; everyone else is either shafted or resolved in the last few minutes too. I came out of this most satisfied as a player overall with LAE'ZEL'S conclusion (also at the end of the game!!) because we had gotten a few more moments where her focus is obvious and her motivations are clear.

anyways, those are just general writing issues. Act 3 overall is the weakest, most agree, and that's still true here. Sadly it kind of takes some of Gale down with it in this case, because his personal quest is both so removed from the overall plot (despite him being a literal fixture as the only character who knows anything about the crown & was decreed by a literal god to take out the absolute).

however none of this is related to Gale as a guy. as a guy I'm Fucking Obsessed With Him. taking him with me everywhere was so rewarding especially in act 1 / 2. his commentary & insights, when they were there, ranged from funny as fuck to genuinely insightful & interesting for the overall plot. the ideas behind him, the glimpses we get of the life he led before, and the life he wants to lead after with Tav -- or what he alludes to wanting to lead with Tav, thinking that he'll still probably die at the end of this -- are lovely, interesting, TOUCHED MY SPIRIT. he's such a neat version of how to do a character that is as endearing as he can be foot-in-mouth, and as intelligent as he can be a little belligerent. I looooved every moment I could talk with him about magic in act 1, see his passions (beyond mystra), argue with him about how to do something (I'M the magical wonder here actually and I get to make the shadowlantern), all of that really MADE the romance for me in the lulls where his Silence or the gaps in his writing were more clear. 10/10 would kiss that fucking wizard again and cry a little bit thinking about exploding with him aboard a giant alien brain while one of those "ITS YOUUU I LIE WITH" songs plays in the bg

but what about the king/lionheart dynamic when it goes wrong. when you've sworn yourself body and soul to serve someone in love, in wholehearted belief, when everything you are exists for that person. and then you see them changing, becoming someone you don't know. and it's sickening, but you're still going to serve. "don't go where I can't follow" but you're still going to follow even if they lead you to hell, because of the person they were. because of the person you are. because of who you are together, even if it's a poisoned, sick, distorted version of who you thought you would become

Admittedly I'm a bit behind on streams, and I don't watch Cellbit directly, so this could be wrong.

But something I've noticed is that Cellbit refers to his time before the island with Bad as 'the War'; any time I have seen him bring it up he has referred to it as such. Bad has also reaffirmed that they fought together in 'the War' whenever it was brought up.

But today when Bad was talking to the ghosties and dropped that reveal that the reason he was there was to keep an eye on Cellbit (and others), that it was his responsibility, he at some point referred to it as Hunger Games.

Maybe it was a slip up since that's what the videos/games that the CCs played together, but... if not then I wonder do Bad and Cellbit remember these events completely differently. Does Cellbit think he was sent to fight in a war, but Bad know that it was all some sort of elaborate, terrifying game/tournament?

You know what I think about a lot? How Death will ask a mortal, "Do you know who I am?" Or they ask who she is and they just know, or maybe she says, "I think you know who I am." You know how it just washes over them?

What do they see? What do they know? What changes?

is this sunflower coded or am i going insa e

I really need to get into Astro boy at some point but from what I know I find it funny how it and Kikaider being both big inspos for mega man have the trope of “MC is based of a dead human son of a scientist” even if it’s in different ways and I find it so funny how this never happened with rock- but then I remembered exes ordeal and went “wait a fucking minute”

i wonder so much about the relationship skwisgaar and magnus had in earlyklok days. like both having huge egos but magnus was still the rhythm guitarist. he was the rhythm guitarist to someone way younger than him. there's no way he could've taken that lightly.

i wonder if he got really bossy with skwisgaar and tried to correct him to show him he was still above him or something. i wonder if he had a passive aggressive attitude towards skwisgaar. i wonder if he tried to convince the rest of the band that HE should be the lead guitarist instead and that skwisgaar wasn't all that. i wonder if he tried to make skwisgaar look bad on purpose.

skwisgaar is the first one in 'some time ago' to oppose to the idea of having a new rhythm guitarist so that relationship can't have been good, like. the first thing skwisgaar thought when it was over was that there shouldn't be any more 'like magnus'. because i don't think it was just about skwisgaar's superiority complex, i think magnus was an unsavory experience for him and he was eager not to repeat it ever again. he didn't want to give anybody the chance to become That Guy

@remylong :