#((that should be all the big questions!

[adelrambles]

Tips on Writing Bishop

I've been asked a couple times for advice on how to write a good (03-style) Bishop, and I'm well-aware he can be a bit tough to get a grasp on. As someone who's studied him specifically to learn how to write him as accurately as possible, I figured I'd compile some thoughts in case it'd be helpful to anyone else. I know a lot of Rise takes on him are basing off the 03 version, so maybe this could help generate ideas, too. SO!

Big Overall Points!

At the core of EVERYTHING Bishop does are two primary motivations. The first: the protection of the earth. What this means to him can get tricky, because it doesn't necessarily mean protecting the people, at least not all of them. But it will be better understood alongside the other:

The second: The protection of his sense of safety. Bishop has been deeply traumatized, and everything he does is born of a want to avoid that pain ever again. In his mind, earth is a safe area, a controllable factor, and anything outside it is a danger that must be eliminated. This is why he will still be willing to put himself and other people on the line in service of this; any sacrifice is worth the greater goal. (It's worth noting, Bishop will claim the first as his motivation freely, but is likely not consciously aware of the second.)

Bishop deals in Big Picture ONLY. Another reason Bishop will willingly throw away anything, including the lives of the people he claims to protect, is that he seems incapable of understanding things on a small, individual basis.

Bishop is a cold personality. He does not have strong displays of emotion. He does emote, but for the most part it's muted, so I recommend using emotional bursts very sparingly. (In my own writing, as an example, I try to limit my use of exclamation marks in his dialogue as much as possible.)

At his core, Bishop is afraid, and his response to fear is aggression. This also makes it particularly difficult to talk him down, if he's put in an emotional state. His response to not being in control is often violent retaliation.

With those basic tenants understood, let's move next to some major personality traits:

Bishop is a controlling personality. This is a direct result of his trauma response. Things that can be controlled are safe, therefore he must control everything. If something cannot be controlled, it's a threat that must be eliminated. If he doesn't know why something happened, he becomes angry (including even when it benefits him.)

Bishop is very low-empathy. When writing him, I try to keep in mind that he cannot put himself in the perspective of others. (Or if he can, he doesn't care to.)

Bishop is a sadist. He gets personal enjoyment from hurting others.

Bishop likes fighting, but only when he's winning. He will quickly leave if he can't see a guaranteed victory.

Bishop is paranoid. This is probably self-evident, but it's the reason he's often so well-prepared even when things don't go to plan.

Bishop genuinely seems to enjoy science. He's shown to be far more lenient with scientist characters than anyone else, and he seems to involve himself in his scientists' projects to a degree. Enough to, at the very least, understand their work. (Given he was the one set to dissect the turtles, it might also be argued he has some medical or biology background, himself.)

Bishop is an opportunist and scavenger. He can roll with failures as long as he can find something to get out of it. If he's presented with an opportunity to stab someone in the back, and he has something to gain? He'll take it without a second thought.

Bishop is deeply self-blind. For all his perceptiveness and strategic prowess, Bishop is not very self-aware in the slightest. He is completely blind to his own hypocrisies, and thoroughly confident in his own righteousness.

Bishop adapts fast. He accepts situations for what they are and acts (Though he may still be angry about them, or what have you.) This is likely a skill developed via longevity; the world around him has changed rapidly, but he doesn't feel out of place at all.

Bishop will take extreme risks and thinks wildly outside the box. Also self-evident, if you're familiar with the plans he enacts throughout the show. He'll put a lot on the line if he thinks the reward is worth enough, and he's willing to go to extreme lengths to get what he wants, even if his plans would be considered crazy by normal standards.

Bishop is persistent. If he wants something, he won't stop until he gets it. If he fails, he'll retreat, make a new plan, and try again. It is very difficult to convince him to back down (and certainly not on moral grounds.)

Habits and triggers I've noted:

Being restrained of any sort puts Bishop in a panic. He is more likely to have an emotional response in these scenarios, and seems to have (an albeit muted) desperation to escape. (See: Leatherhead restraining him in the first encounter; His reaction to being trapped on the surgical table in Head of State.)

When being duplicitous or suppressing a reaction, Bishop will go to adjust his tie. This could possibly be considered his tell.

Bishop seems to have a particular fear of aliens blending in as humans. His slayer project was built around the assumption that this is a common threat. (Worth noting: This makes The Shredder the model of the exact threat Bishop is afraid of. Technically, Bishop himself may also fit the description of a threat shaped like a human.)

Writing considerations:

In 03's narrative, Bishop is EPF and EPF is Bishop. Narratively speaking, any organization Bishop is head of acts as if it is an extension of his will and character.

Bishop is shown to strike fear and/or discomfort into most characters he interacts with. Anything beyond this is an outlier, and will draw a reader's attention.

Dialogue-wise, Bishop is generally succinct and blunt. He does dabble in gloating, though, and especially likes to upset others. If he's given a chance to be mean, he'll usually take it. It can help to consider he has a Mission Mode and a Normal Mode. When it comes to Mission Mode, he gets straight to the point and hates unnecessary talking. Otherwise, he's still not very talkative, but will take the time to make pointed jabs or talk through a plan. A lot of his sense of humor seems to be rooted in how He's Better Than You (And You're Going To Die Painfully.)

It's a common pitfall that Bishop is depicted as seeking out the turtles. In 03, once he gets their DNA, he's done with them. Any encounters after that are incidental. Bishop does not care about anything that won't effect his greater goal. If he's targeting another character, it should have to do with a greater plan.

Bishop is an extremely competent combatant, shown to be able to handle up to 7 opponents at once. For a breakdown on his fighting style check out my other post on that!

Bishop is hard to kill, and oftentimes he accidentally contributes to his own defeat. (The hook from Bishop's Gambit is an example I get a LOT of mileage out of, as a perfect symbol of his self-defeating prophecies.)

We almost only ever see Bishop in the context of his work. While it could be construed that he depersonalizes himself, it's much more clear that the narrative depersonalizes him. As far as we, the audience know, Bishop's work is all that he is.

It's unclear if Bishop was released from his abduction or escaped. Depending on which you ascribe to, this can have ramifications for his mindset on how to deal with the alien threat. (Personally, because so much of his inability to cope hinges on a feeling of helplessness, I believe he was released. If he escaped on his own power, that undercuts it, somewhat.)

Thematically-speaking, Bishop parallels both his own torturers and his own victims at the same time. He has perpetuated the cycle that traumatized him in the first place by trying to fight fire with fire. (In that vein, I don't think he's capable of understanding that, not seeing aliens as people in the first place, just dangers. Considering how deeply ingrained his trauma is in his worldview and actions, it would probably ruin him, if he were ever able to actually grasp it.)

Bishop and EPF are likely a commentary on the military of the time 03 was coming out. This can be something worth keeping in mind, when figuring out his greater themes in your story, though it can just as well be discarded if it doesn't fit.

Adding to that, Bishop has an extensive american military background. His skills and knowledge will reflect that.

Bishop also plays on and references a number of real-life alien conspiracies. It can be worth digging through conspiracy history to drum up ideas and themes, too.

The ethical and philosophical quandaries of Bishop's body-hopping and humanity tend to not hold too much weight, because Bishop, himself, doesn't seem to care.

If I think of more I'll certainly be adding on to the reblogs of this post! Or, if you have more thoughts, please feel free to add! If you're in the mood for more Bishop ramblings, that's practically most of this blog atm, but this post is a particular favorite. If you're interested in Fast Forward!Bishop, specifically, consider this post! (also read Taking Pawns. slipped in that self-promo, nice.)

#agent bishop #tmnt 2003 #tmnt 2k3 #teenage mutant ninja turtles #And man I still gotta make an analysis on 2012 Bishop #my man is so underrated #There are only a handful of fics out there that include him at ALL and for the most part I find he's blended with 03's characterization #Which takes away what makes him fun in his own right and muddies 03 Bishop's character basis imo #anyway I had this post on the backburner for a while and finally got the motivation to finish her up #And of course if ever there are more questions on characterizing him I'd be happy to help! I love rambling about this guy ad nauseum #oooh stray thought I should do one for Rat King too. Went through that guy's episodes recently theyre GREAT #I've also been very tempted to compile most of these posts into a big ol video essay. idk if I could pull it off but it sure is an idea

[molabuddy]

that star creature species of mine again :] ive decided they can become Big & Strange after a long time

#original characters #original species design #creature design #original creature #artists on tumblr #'adult' here means like . thats the age they stop being actively taken care of by older members #god i have so much in my brain about these guys but i have no idea how to express them #should i make a toyhouse page or similar? should i make a big textpost on here? should i keep it all in my brain until i explode? #idk . you can ask me questions about them tho if you want #star creature species (oc)

[squeakadeeks]

moodboard for this past week ❤️

#they should invent a grad school thats not fucking insane #i'm hanging in there but im the most unwell i've been in AWhile #this week was just horrible #there was already the freezer food incident but it also started off with a very severe pain episode thats putting me in constant woe #even mundane motion has been agonizing which is McAwesome bc we had a lab inspection which involved moving hundreds of pounds of equipment #during which we found a blackwidow and rats which we had to deal with and was a whole thing psychologically on top of the physical toll #the new class fiasco is still popping off and i had to respond to at this point over 400 emails in the fleeting moments outside of lab #AND A STUDENT TRIED TO FINANCIALLY BRIBE THEIR WAY INTO THE CLASS ? ?? ?? ????? #then the instructor wanted to use me as a guinea pig and i had to test new circuit boards but I wasnt given any time to do so properly #i had to test them plus get them operational and deal with my incoming students all in a frantic 10 minute window #im in charge of running our meetings too but the instructor was interrupting and having side conversations that made it really hard- #to train the other people on the new equipment in a smooth manner #which meant that a bunch of people had to keep me after to ask questions which made me late for my drs appointment #where i found out i cant get the new covid vaccine bc my heart and blood levels arnt stable enough #and joanns lost an expensive+critical fabric order of mine+i had to give a big presentation this week on my research that was stressful #and my inbox is still blowing up from being needed all over the place between teaching lab and classes and yall i am. so so tired. #im in so much pain and so stressed out #debating the ethics of turning into a pile of lint to escape my responsibilities and mortal frame

[khr-doodling]

tfw the person you love with all your being loses the round and is killed in front of your eyes

#khr #katekyo hitman reborn #khr fanart #sawada tsunayoshi #my art #still have no clue who would take sua's role in this #like the obvious answer is kyoko. but then that kinda raises the question abt where ryohei fits in all this #hypothetically kyoko could fit the role of hyuna. but so could chrome. so could lal mirch #maybe haru? but she's such a cheery character that the vibes don't particularly match #ofc so is kyoko but she's a lot calmer in comparison so it works better i think #idk man i've already put way more thought into this then i originally intended #mukuro or byakuran in luka's role is also floating around in my brain #i'm leaning more towards the former for that one #solely bc it opens to possibility of hibari in hyuna's role #and that is such a big personality clash that i'm kinda living for it tbh #i should probably make a tag for this au #alien stage au

[isfjmel-phleg]

🥜

#random personal stuff #back on my soapbox feel free to ignore #sorry but I don't want to live in a world where peanuts (humble innocent legumes that God made) are evil and deadly #and part of a diabolical plot of Big Whoever to make us all die #just because some quack 'nutritionist' says so and accompanies it with out of context Bible vereses and pseudo-Christian rhetoric #the Bible is a lot of things but it is not a book of dieting advice and I don't think it's right to treat it that way #what people ate or did not eat in the Bible is descriptive not something we're necessarily intended to live by #and any system that promotes a fear of the shadowy mysterious They who are out to get you #while the great and noble We are the only ones telling you the truth (buy our products!) #...it's not a trustworthy system and you should be questioning its motives #anyway I did not say any of this last night. wanted to though. #it all started somehow out of small talk about a plate from a particular state #I mentioned corn she brought up soybeans (another food that is apparently Evil) and it just spiraled from there

[janebonbon]

The man himself! Full of jokes..

#So ummm... We have a Barnaby alter! he's only been kicking around a lot more the last week or so... We don't really know why #But he drew himself today! There he is! now we have to figure out a tag... #Barnaby's art #Misiu's art #?? #I have no idea #He's also had the worst luck and/or the funniest comedic timing of things... i can't say i should have expected.. any less? #ahh I have to update the alter list soon I bet! #Anyway #He goes by Barnaby- Teddy- AND Misiu #Though those last two are really just kind of the same. Misiu is just a name I (Dolly) call him affectionately! bc he is a big teddy bear! #There is so much to be said of him but he'll speak in his own time! #Our art #barnaby beagle #barnaby b beagle #welcome home #I'm taking a risk tagging this on the main tags but please know this isnt a “BARNABY BEAGLE REAL” we just have DID #He is an alter and he is just a guy with jokes of varying quality #Questions about all this is fine of course.. Please just dont think this is some kind of ask blog thing he is just a guy #dolly's rambles

[qqueenofhades]

Also, just as an overall observation, I really can't help but wonder how much better things might be if we actually tried to teach kids about the complexities of the world, rather than "Protecting Them."

(But that's the one thing the right wing literally can't stand, so god forbid we do that.)

#hilary for ts #blanket blocking and censoring content has never worked in the entire history of anything #kids are small people #who will grow up to be big people #and they live in a complicated world #we owe it to them to create useful and age-appropriate answers even to tough questions that adults might find squicky #but so many adults are bound and determined to keep kids ignorant #because their entire sociopolitical power paradigm rests on raising kids who won't challenge its ideas #so you end up in a total alternate reality #and we've all seen how that works #so. like. adults are once again failing kids here #because we don't have our own shit together #and think that just pretending something doesn't exist will work #which again! it will not! kids are curious! they will find it anyway! #anyway. ANYWAY. 'protect the children' should be taken behind the woodshed and shot #it's stupid and it does nothing and it's not useful in the long term #especially the way the right wing in particular uses it #but the left is certainly not blameless either #sigh

[theebaddestbish]

"Keep her safe. Okay?"

"On my life."

#His eyebrow raise at Alva though #This was a big bro at level 99 questioning if he really should team up with his level 5 sibling #And he knows it's most likely going to be a disaster #Cuz all he taught her was to run and hide #But then he surrenders anyways cuz his wife-I mean commander said so #...or he was just having a big Tenakth-fangirl moment cuz waifu just touched him #aloy #kotallo #alva #kotaloy #horizon forbidden west #hfw #guerrilla games

[nomattertheoceans]

Y'all I'm not going to lie, all the gifsets kinda make me want to get into Percy Jackson??

#not me being a basic bitch kajdjfhkahdjs #LISTEN #i never read them cause idk the movie seemed boring when it came out #and i never looked at the series after that #like literally all i know is that percy jackson is... a demi god i think #maybe? #and also he falls in love with a girl named annabeth? #and i think maybe he has adhd? #like LITERALLY THAT'S ALL I KNOW #but idk the gifsets from the show look interesting ok SUE ME I'M BASIC #but now the question is. should i read the books? watch the show? #i mean it's a stupid question we all know i would never watch an adaptation without checking out the original material #Gina's voice: I'm not an animal #anyway idk #seems like a big commitment all of a sudden #but then again i have a 12 hour flight to get through next week so.... might be a good idea to start now #can you sense my indecision? 😂 #percy jackson

[ventiswampwater]

u ever just picture all ur blorbos in a room milling around like awkward coworkers @ a christmas party

#I love how all of mine would dislike each other. adore that sm #sam speaks #does anyone remember those big ass multifandom character memes on deviantart. #the ones u had 2 click into bc they were so fuckin obscenely large #and u had to make a list of like. ten of ur favorite characters #and then each question put random assortments of them together like #number 6 gives number 2 something. what is it? #number 3 attempts to blow up number 7's house!!! are they successful? #number 1 and number 8 are playing mario kart. who wins? #fjdkjfjrldjdksjsks we should bring those back

[askbloatedbellyblog]

tbh whenever i see character designs like wrio where they’re associated with some form of carnivorous animal i instantly hc them as top tier belchers based on that alone, especially the wolf boys 😂 but i like that your ideas for him actually have substance

Well I'm glad that things at least sound like they have substance, as that's my real goal. I will say that these ratings are some ideas and I'm not saying that he's not CAPABLE of monster belches ever. I definitely believe that Wriothesley is. And this was for burps only, I do think he definitely can eat a ton as well.

Personally, I think characters can be complex, though not always absolute, with a lot open to interpretation especially in things like this. There is his character design but also what we know of him with his personality and setting. In this case, some of his personality and behavior conflicts with his "carnivorous" design. I do think he's capable but it also depends on who he is with and situation.

There is one more wrinkle to think about here too. Wrio is a plotter. Half the time, he's trying to disarm people to make them relax or intimidate them. He'll do what he needs to get information out of people.

So he can have manners when he needs to, especially when that gets him farther in society, especially when it disarms people in the Fortress who revere him and think he's unapproachable. Or those in the outside that think he's just a ruffian but he's "respectable."

But when he needs to, he can be one of the guys, crude, lewd, whatever else especially if it's a smaller gathering. He can hang out with other fighters during Pankration Ring matches or checking on him them. If that includes burping or eating then he'll do it.

If he knows that someone HATES or LOVES lack of manners and overeating but needs information from them? Well then they come to his office and he proceeds to eat everything and burp and slurp and pat his gut just to get a reaction.

But this is why sometimes thinking of a particular scenario or situation comes with a clearer answer because it's easier to predict behavior or if there's a reason they might act a bit out of character.

#burp canon #wriothesley #genshin impact #genshin impact burp tier list #belly kink #burp kink #burping #this is why the more specific the question the easier it is for me to answer. #then I don't have to do all the work. #easier to imagine things #However by design do I think Wrio would be a good candidate for Big Bad Wolf? #yes #when is that next movie guys #it's france/england/europe #this is where it's supposed to happen #or mondstadt #I mean really Wrio should be Werewolf in Paris #or like hound of the baskervilles #since he's more english #props if you read all these tags #you win a prize

[trigunbookclub]

I don't think it's okay to use nightow's artwork to make yourself some money selling stickers of it.

While funny edits and memes of official content are commonly made and sold by creators and I understand it is a topic of debate for many reasons, as I say in the post and on the page, it isn't about the money and I think I'd have to sell hundreds to even make much profit! I did a lot of calculations and the price is close to the supplies/costs/the size of the small print run/etc., and while I'm not the best at math, the cents leftover per sticker aren't adding up to much and--again, like I said in the post--will be spent getting leftovers in case of errors if it's enough. If someone chooses to leave a tip for running bookclub, I'm grateful, but a vast majority of people don't and that's fine and what I expect. The point is having fun and celebrating bookclub! The amount of people who wanted a sticker/badge of completion was enough that I really wanted to do something for you guys.

TL;DR: As I said in the original post, this was designed for fun, not money. Transparency is personally very important to me and I try to be as honest as I can whenever possible. Of course, I'm a stranger on the internet, you should take that with a grain of salt, but I do try to be clear about my intentions.

#Ask #If I had the funds to hand these bad boys out for free I would tbh #But it's not even close and I need some way to get them lol #So here we are #Maybe I could have chosen a better printer for a price? #But I had to count on a small run #And so far it seems like it's going to be a pretty small run so that was a smart move #Unless someone orders like. Idk. 100 stickers #In which case r u ok #And then the profit would be used in shipping lol #I also had to shift the base price up a liiiiitle higher to account for international shipping being what it is #And I'm happy I did because folks around the globe are getting theirs! #I am bad at math but I did try very hard #Because I want folks to be able to afford it tbh #Profiting off of them wasn't really a big thought but in retrospect I suppose I should have seen a question like this coming #I'm a wee bit groggy from waking up but wanted to address this asap #So if anyone needs any clarifications hmu #I don't know what kind of money people think I'm making off of $2 stickers and all the crap going into this project lol #But! Honesty and transparency

[query-quadrant]

I've had a pitch crush on someone for a while! I really hate them! >:)

But one of our hatefriends just told me they might be pale for me? >:O

If they are, what do I do??? How do I make them hate me properly? :(

I don't pity them! I don't even know why they pity me! Or if they even really do! :?

It's really confusing and I don't want to have to reject them and then have to try and ask them out! That's not gonna go well!!! >:(

yeah i dont know that sounds awful i think personally id just die

questionable advice: either try upping the annoyingness and going all out with pitch flirting or just sit them down and just actually ask them if they pity you or not maybe youll get lucky and they dont but either way at least youll know right so that sucks a little less than not knowing

bad advice: kill their lusus maybe thatll make them really mad at you

#pitch stuff #asks #this sounds like a mess idk good luck #this is not very thumbs up emoji #the friend who told you might definitely be fucking with you though anyway #if we go big conspiracy theorist style i have friends who would totally do that on purpose to embarrass me #and try and get the other guy to make fun of me for asking such a stupid question #to see if they can get pitch shit started between me and my crush #but maybe your friends are less insane #actually you should have mentioned that before sending this ask #whats the normalness level of your friends #on a scale from my friends to creepily normal #where do they fall #my little hoofbeast style or absolutely would play 10d chess for literally no reason #this is way too many tags lmfao no ones gonna read this #i just got into it i guess #plus no way am i gonna move this to the post itself now after this #i opened this can of sharks now i gotta jump it #hey if anyone would read all of these tags itd be grey actually right #hi grey <3< #whats up hows it going

[romansmartini]

universal tom flop pic. awesome <3

#succession #ok i realize they're different but like not that much. and immediately when i saw that screen i was like omg. it's the tom ashamed pic #a big question we should all be asking ourselves is how many pictures of tom are there where he's making that face

[thefiresofpompeii]

STOP RETCONNING. STOP IT. CEASE. I BEG. big confused screaming rant in tags

#i know this is the retcon show so i'm speaking to a brick wall in the past #but. it lessens the impact. gallifrey burned. you didn't fucking freeze it you destroyed your people to save the universe #none of this makes sense. if the war doctor (whose entire existence is. a conundrum to me. it should have been 8 anyway) didn't destroy his #people then the other doctors wouldn't have developed the personalities they have. nothing would have happened the way that it did #even bad wolf probably wouldn't mean anything to ten because nine wouldn't have ever met rose #because he would never have been nine????? one too many questions #literally taking out a HUGE chunk of your character development. 10 minutes ago clara was discussing this with war. how many lives have #been saved because of the doctor's regret #where would all that go? i know time is in flux but surely it can't sustain all this #surely the stars would start blinking out one by one like they did in NOTD #and the big bang. my god my head is spinning. you have like ten minutes to resolve this pyramid of bullshit you've constructed #dw #jamie catches up #the day of the doctor #jamie.txt

[non-un-topo]

It's strangely gender-affirming when my mom gets defensive and accuses me of mansplaining

#she didn't say that exact word this time but she has before lol #i'm just Speaking. she does not like it when i use ''academic'' words. #this is also actually interesting though! it's something i've started to pay close attention to. #i talk a lot in class anyway but as my peers are starting to see me more as male their perceptions of me are going to change. #so me talking a lot goes from 'wow she's so smart she should get her phd!' -- #-- to possibly feeling condescended. #but i'm being generous here lol. i don't think ANY of my peers at school see me as male. #'her pronouns are they-slash-them' yeah fuck you actually. and they're not. #but on seeing me as male: #apparently my friends do and they have straight up never questioned it or thought of me any other way #which boggles my mind. i am not a tall or big person. i have a deep-ish voice for a female but it's not enough. #it's not enough. #last thoughts: you can't argue with my mother when she does her whole 'i just wish everyone was equal so we wouldn't need all these --- #--- categories and labels' thing. maybe i am mansplaining when i tell her why identity politics are necessary right now. #maybe she should develop a more critical consciousness instead of accidentally associating w the 'i don't see colour' crowd.