#at least my element makes me kinda dangerous

[fernsnailz]

take this ask as a free ticket to freely hate on elemental (WE SUPPORT THE HATER GRIND WOOO)

ok so to preface. i have only seen elemental once. it was in theaters. i did NOT pay money to see it (my friend worked at the theater and we got in for free). we also saw it in 3D (would not recommend). i chugged a canned margarita beforehand (WOULD NOT RECOMMEND). i sobered up halfway through the movie and had a terrible time. needless to say i am not a fan of elemental (2023)

below is an edited version of the review/rant i sent to the group chat afterwards. BE WARNED IT'S REALLY LONG.

much later edit: personally i think i did a very bad job of critiquing this movie in this ask, and some of the opinions i expressed below are some pretty bad faith takes. i still think this movie is worthy of criticism, but not in this form and not from a guy who chugged a margarita before seeing it.

ok so the big point of discussion with elemental i've seen is usually around the allegory it uses to portray its themes of race, immigration, and prejudice. generally speaking, it's my opinion that trying to portray concepts of this weight and depth with an allegory or metaphor is already a terrible idea*. this isn't stuff that you can make simpler to understand by portraying minorities as fire people or predator animals or whatever great new idea disney is cooking up next, because this isn't stuff that can just be MADE simpler. if anything, allegory makes discussion about race more complicated because you have to explore why racism and prejudice, an inherently illogical belief, exists within said allegorical world. usually said fictional explanation just seems to justify prejudice - for example, the allegory in zootopia is straight up DANGEROUS to compare to real world racism because predators, aka zootopia's minorities, literally used to hunt and eat prey animals (the majority). with this in mind, elemental is already off to a bad start since disney has a bad history with allegories of this kind.

(*EDIT: this is gonna eat me alive if i don't clarify this because i realized too late that i spoke WAY too generally here. to clarify, i'm mostly talking about creating an entire allegorical world that lacks humans here - allegory can be a very powerful way to portray a human experience, and i don't want it to seem like i'm arguing that allegory and metaphor can't be used at all to create a powerful story about race and prejudice. for example, here's a short film that i really like called OverWeight. it's about losing one's culture and identity, and that theme is explored entirely through a bag of luggage. and it's really good! just want to clarify that i'm not advocating for only extreme realism and a lack of magic here, but instead against using huge, non-human allegorical worlds that replace these human experiences. thx bye)

thankfully, elemental never got as bad a zootopia in its portrayal of prejudice (at least in my opinion), but that's not saying much. it mostly just feels kinda confused - as far as i know, fire people are supposed to serve as a sort of "immigrant everyman" allegory which is. not how that works. immigrants of different races and ethnicities are going to have different struggles and experiences, and trying to boil everything down into four different elements that fit every kind of person under an allegorical umbrella is over complicating everything again through a veil of simplicity. it's almost like all of this would be fixed if they just told a story about real human people instead of turning them into water and fire people but i mean WHAT DO I FUCKING KNOW!!!!

oh also the worldbuilding of elemental is. kinda ass. to further explain: fire people are the only immigrant characters really explored in depth, and a good amount of the worldbuilding around them is actually pretty interesting. they have their own language that the characters speak every now and then, they have their own foods, customs, and culture that you can definitely tell a decent amount of thought was put into. which i liked! and then you learn that the country they come from is literally called Fire Land. just Fire Land. i doubled over when they said that because compared to everything else, it’s so out of left field and just. GAHH. it really reeks of "exec in the disney board room wanted to make part of the movie about prejudice easier to understand for The Kiddies" and i hate it. god.

this is consistent throughout the film, a lot of genuinely interesting worldbuilding is intermingled with surface level, bottom of the barrel ideas that just feel. so confusing. like a big theme the movie centers around is gentrification and how the city (called “Element City,” by the way (SCREAMS)) is not built with fire people in mind. i like this concept a lot and they show this in some interesting ways! a main conflict centers about how water is flooding ember's home, and there are multiple moments where high-action scenes are revolved around ember just navigating the city and trying to avoid water, something that most of the city’s residents wouldn’t have issue with. i thought that was really good! it was something that, surprisingly, was very relatable! and then the movie goes full zootopia and just like. has one of the characters call the fire girl a slur (the slur was “fireball”) which, reasonably makes ember mad, but then the character that did the slurring faces NO narrative repercussions for her actions because. ???????????????? i don't know??? you would think that a movie that turns issues of class and race into a fun cutesy little allegory would at least take the time to go "hey kids! let's not call minorities slurs" but instead the Slur Woman ends up helping ember and wade on their shitty little romantic sidequest and never once seems to express any remorse. cool! great!!!! WHO'S IDEA WAS THIS???????

by the way who fucking wrote this who put all these element puns in here. there are so many element puns in the movie i want to eat the writers of elemental. i’m mostly made of carbon but i do not walk around like “wow what a long workday we have fellow coworkers, i guess we have to CARBON diem, amirite?” please kill me

the varying quality in the worldbuilding and allegory of elemental just goes to show that this movie would have likely worked better if it focused on humans on earth rather than elements residing in a confusing elemental world - previous pixar works like bao and turning red show that pixar movies that focus on real experiences told from a human perspective with a magical realism twist can work really well! the allegory of elemental makes its characters and experiences feel distant, i spent more time trying to understand the world of the movie than the characters and their struggle. that could be a me problem, but the world was so goddamn broken in the first place that i felt like i COULDN’T focus on anything else. idk can we just tell like actual stories about actual marginalized people without turning them into The Trope of the Week i’m so tired

and by the way. i do not like the character designs in this movie one bit. ember looks like if you asked a middle schooler to design a fire woman. "ohhhhh we're pixar and we have to give all of our woman characters a pencil thin waist and big feminine eyes and skinny little legs" i want to explode.

ok we're getting into just batshit insane rant territory here now. so with that in mind I FUCKING HATE WADE. from the moment he appeared on that screen i knew i had it out for that motherfucker. the first thing he does is start crying over a situation that HE CAN SOLVE. he’s a city inspector that gets caught in the flood overtaking ember’s home, and the FIRST thing he does is start writing up violations he sees in the basement of ember’s family home. and then. he has the audacity to CRY ABOUT IT because it’s sooooooo tragic that her dad’s shop is going to be shut down because of HIM. the movie frames the water people as overly emotional because they cry alot (because they’re made out of water, of course!!! isn't that so funny!!!!!!!), but wade’s actions make it clear that those tears are FAKE because he does NOTHING to help ember in the first scene they meet. then, only after ember explains to him that there’s LITERALLY NO OTHER WAY her family can survive if the shop is shut down, does wade agree to help her out. kill me

oh btw wade being very emotional and crying a lot is NOT a bad thing and imo most modern stories need more emotional male characters. but. elemental treats wade's crying mostly as a running gag more than anything. which just kinda doubles around to being misogynistic again

wade continues to be a fucking nuisance to my psyche, even after leaving that theater. i did not enjoy the romance between ember and wade because i hated 50% of that duo. ember was ok i liked her enough bUT I WANTED TO KILL WADE. they try to spin him like “ohhhhh hes a little bit clumsy and goofy and a little bit dorky ahah don’t you like him?” as if that doesn’t describe most of the male love interests in every movie released after 1990. the two sit on a beach where ember is on the verge of a meltdown because they haven’t been able to save her dad’s shop, and one of the things wade says to comfort her is “i think you’re beautiful like this tho uwu” HUH????????? who tf is trying to make moves while someone is having an anxiety attack i SWEAR to god. i want to use wade as bong water i hate him so much

and then. ember gives him some glass that she sculpted to look like a flower she likes. it’s a nice sculpture. later in the movie, wade is like “hey ember i have something for you” and then just. gives her the sculpture back. and they treat it like he gave her a gift of his own like bro SHE gave that to YOU WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT????

the one act wade does for ember before the big climax revolves around taking her to see some underwater flowers - it’s a nice sequence, but it’s not a gift that’s exclusively from him. they have to get the cloud lady that called ember a slur to help make an underwater bubble to contain ember. fucking. come ONNNNN

wade dies in the climax of the movie. straight up he evaporates from heat and they’re like “awww he’s gone :(“ and they manage to bring him back but i really wish he stayed dead. would have been worth it if he died. but no. there's so. many weird little things in this movie that make my blood run a little too hot. can the genre of kindergarten racism movies please stop here. i am begging i can't do this again please

completely forgot to mention this at the beginning: my friends and i refer to elemental as "The Movie of All Time" because the concept of "element people" or general element-based characters is such a common story trope within young animators and storytellers (at least in our experiences). the number of pitches we've seen about "this character is made of water/has water abilities and this one's made of fire/has fire abilities and they need to find a way to work together/it's a love story!!!" is uncountable. we could not believe this movie was a real pixar production when it was first announced we thought it was a joke

in conclusion. i wish i had another canned margarita halfway through elemental. might have been bearable that way

#i. cannot stand this fucking movie dude. #like listen. support animation. support animators. im sure everyone worked really hard on this movie. BUT CAN WE NOT DO THIS AGAIN #fernasks

[bogleech]

I know the premise is kind of explicitly the anthesis to this, but what would you consider to be the cutest mortasheen monsters

Wrigglegeist and Afterspawn are at least on my personal list

Oh, no I fully intend almost all of them to be cute. I favor shy, timid, dopey, curious or otherwise generally innocent visual personalities to monsters and if I feel like a design really needs to just look threatening I try to add something funnier or sweeter in their writeup.

I think gas masks generally have a very cute and sad expression to them, especially the ones with the big wide bubble lenses which kind of look "worried" to me, appropriate given what they exist for. So I tried to capture that in Matoon, a monster that relies on its horrible toxic gases to just be left alone. Besides just a gas mask though, I referenced the eyes from one of the cutest deep sea fish, Winteria, though Winteria also has a little happy birdy beak mouth:

Suctionettle is another one I think is overtly cute, it's based on multiple echinoderms including flower urchins, whose "suckers" (just like this monster) inject an agonizing poison. Unlike Matoon, Suctionettle feels confidently protected enough to have no worries at all so even though it doesn't have a visible mouth, I gave it a ridge between the eyes that just evokes a little smile. That wound up reminding me of a cartoon frog so I wound up adding the ball-tipped fingers to its "hands" to make it still froggier. It's completely pleased with itself for being painful and dangerous to touch. It probably thinks it's funny.

Even ones I tried to make kind of disturbing, I couldn't resist giving them some silly elements like Esophagullet's "chef's hat," utencil arms, and its real head being the chest skull. which also looks kind of confused to be a part of the rest. This is one of the largest most destructive monsters but I think of it kinda like a big dumb hungry barnyard animal.

So I guess actually my outlook is like that scene I was just talking about in detective pikachu

#art #monsters #mortasheen

[danwhobrowses]

nothing to see here just a crazy shipper guy going crazy over Callowmoore under the bit, if that's not for you then go about your business

So fellow Callowmoores how we feelin' this morning/evening? Because it's evening right now and I'm still bouncing off the walls in my mind

The one post could not keep me contained! No seriously the amount of tags I put in hit a limit and doesn't show them all

I mean yes we didn't get a kiss (yet) but goddamn we got so much, it has possessed me, deranged me, it's leaking outta my brain I gotta talk about it, so either jump out or buckle up because this overflow is gonna be long

First off I just gotta talk about how so many things almost lined up how I imagined them because it just makes it feel like they looked into my head and thought 'hey that's kinda good'. Like, I wanted Fearne to take the shard at Mori's, it was a safer space for her than the Ziggurat which is tainted by bad memories (this and other campaigns), I just didn't expect it so soon, thought they'd at least have a full rest first. In fact I had a whole scene in my mind where in a desperate gambit Delilah took over Laudna while she slept and just knocked on Ashton's door in a form of dread going 'where's the shard Ashton?'. It's key to this I promise not only because I enjoyed the idea of Ashton not taking any of Delilah's shit (plus for you Imodnas out there the mental scene involves Ashton whispering 'Imogen's in danger' to wake her, they also ask where Paté is because they still have that 'Paté is Delilah' theory) but it also expanded on the possible helplessness Ashton would have being unable to assist Fearne with taking the shard

'You're a child, Ashton. A blunt instrument that charges blindly into harm, would you really risk Fearne's life to earn her forgiveness? You know what it can do, what happens when you can't protect her from it?'

Of course, Ashton would never give Delilah the shard, which would frustrate Delilah since she can't manipulate them, but the comment weighs on Ashton a little. Which is when the whole waking Laudna happens and she leaves, but Fearne is in his room (the Vox Machina bathtub scene being inspiration), having asked to sleep there for comfort and asks them if it worries them. Which is where I often got to use this quote

'I don't believe in fate, but I believe in you'

And it sticks with me because it's super romantic, but also on-brand for Ashton, there were variations like the longer 'things only affect our path if we choose to believe they do; fate is complicated, the gods don't give a fuck, and I don't wanna even think about legacy anymore, I don't believe in them, but I believe in you' but then the next morning comes and Ashton gives her the ring, since I forgot about attunement there were instances where it was a sneaky sleight of hand thing, and Fearne completes the process. Of course, with weeks to go on there were a lot more scenarios like Fearne pickpocketing the Ashton doll to practice talking to and putting it back, Ashton seeking Mori for advice, herbal tea visions where Ashton entered their own mind and encounters the empress while on the outside Delilah possesses Laudna to try and drain the power from them, one where the shard having been reshaped through Ashton is less intense on Fearne for the first 4 rounds (since they blew up on the fifth) because Ashton's essence is containing and dissipating the hostile energy, and one where the group secretly vote against Ashton being there for Fearne taking the shard (Imogen, Laudna, and Chetney 3 to 2 against Orym and FCG) but Fearne as the decider pulls them over because she needs them there, stuff like that I'm sure fanfic writers could consume to their heart's content (and are free to, go nuts). But these scenes stood out because it had elements of stuff that are linked to or actually happened in the episode; Fearne does take the shard, Ashton endorses that Fearne is the only one who can take it, Ashton gives her the ring and Shattered Vigor is apparently a thing where Ashton is practically taking Fearne's pain to protect her, that alone is enough to go insane over.

And can we talk about the ring for a moment, because like THE RING. I'm not talking about generically either I mean that this ring has been significant to the shard saga ever since Ashton claimed it. It was found on the corpse of someone infused into stone, into the earth, right between the whole eidolons stuff where Ashton connected with an Earth elemental and then the Grau Dashari stuff with the crystals they merged with their hammer and then the Bor'dor incident, that could've easily been a titan-based punishment. Also, Ring of Volcanic Flesh, like Ashton's stone arm? And if that wasn't enough, what was the first thing Fearne stole from Ashton when they reunited? The ring, the act that broke down Ashton's walls as they let out a most heartfelt 'I missed you, so much' the ring that Fearne stole right off of Ashton's fingers only for them to willingly put in her hand to protect her, because just as they said at the clock tower, everything they have belongs to her. And while legacy and hubris had a part in the shard incident, part of it was also for Fearne. I don't believe there's any situation where if Fearne said she wanted the shard at the clock tower Ashton would've said no; Ashton knows that Fearne was key to the shard dislodging in the lava, they sensed it was in a way key to both of them, but there was no reality where Ashton was gonna force Fearne to take the shard if she didn't want it. And yes it blew up in their face, much like Fearne they saw an image of themselves they didn't want to be, their soul broke with the realisation that they hurt the one person they never wanted to hurt, but thanks to Percy they also realised that they had to change. It wasn't enough to see everyone else having someone at the reunion and internalizing 'if someone has to not come back it's gotta be me' they had to make steps towards being the person the Hells needs them to be, someone who can come back with them.

Which is where last episode started setting it up, and I didn't speak much about it at the time because other than the pretty plain 'I would've rather died than hurt Fearne' insinuation (which in turn was confessed to save Fearne from falling) there was only crumbs that could be interpreted other ways; for instance Birdie's tale with Athion and Olly being somewhat of a parallel to Tevan and Ashton, the formers wooing Birdie and Fearne with temptations of indulgence while the latters drawing their attention by being subjects of intrigue, defiance and kindness, plus they saved the latters (Birdie literally via escaping the prisons and Fearne emotionally and literally), or before the Orym conversation when Ashton takes 'one last look' Taliesin looks towards Ashley last. But I knew there was poetic significance to Ashton failing the communication trial, Marisha sensed the vibe too, but even though Fearne was nervous about guiding Ashton, the fault fell to poor dice rolls (and Liam not keeping shtum and summoning thunderwasps) and once again Ashton in an attempt to prove themselves falls flat on their ass in front of the person they most want to prove it to. And that did break my heart a little I must admit because as poetic as it was who hasn't been there? Ashton's journey of proving themselves has been laden with failure too; being unable to protect anyone from Otohan led to them almost being TPK'd, being unable to keep the group together at the Malleus Key led to the group being scattered, and then Team Trauma's stuff - Orym was despondent and Laudna's a wreck, got a random 'shepherd's boy', a powerful Cobalt Soul teen prodding about the solstice and all of Deni$e here added as mainly combat support, loners but no leaders, Dawnfather angel thinks them insignificant, dark spirits trying to consume their only leads about the Hishari - and the moment Ashton started to trust Bor'dor after the pipe vision what happens? Betrayal, Hunger of the Shadow and Delilah is let back in, Ashton couldn't even keep Laudna safe from herself, they reunite, try to sort out their shit with their past, discover that they might have a destiny to fulfill and end up being too willing to die in place of others, and unable to protect their new family from themselves, because of these recent failures it was important that Ashton proved themselves in the trust trial.

And thankfully they did, there was no way to prove that anyone was a Doppelganger and yet, Ashton still trusted Fearne; twice saving her from the flora even when told to leave her behind. And they were close to another failure when the branch was snatched - after their attempts to keep it safe by throwing it in the pool alone - but they trusted Chet and Orym (father/son duo) to cover more ground while they helped Fearne. And even when FCG told Ashton 'I think it's Fearne', and when Imogen was untrusting of Fearne, Ashton abandoned their held action to save FCG from the brambles because they knew Fearne could be trusted. They trusted Imogen to connect to Ruidus and as mentioned endorsed Fearne to take the shard.

And sure, in my mental scenarios Ashton gives her the shard, doing the same she did for them, but I did say almost like how I imagined. And Ashton still did everything they could, plus Imogen comforted their visible worry, but once it's complete they're just in awe, and then their own spark awakens through her touch, a touch they were unafraid of even at the threat of newfound fire, and now for the first time ever they feel whole. She saved them, and now they finally feel complete, and now this time Fearne is agape, Fearne is in awe, and everything she had hoped Ashton would gain from taking the shard before has come to fruition through her, and it's just, joy, pure incorruptible joy, a kindred connection that belongs to just them. Plus a big piece of paper for all the new powers they are excited to learn about from each other, with each other, and while Matt can talk about there being risks to them because you gotta balance the combat the narrative significance is still there.

But dammit they need to kiss, I've yelled it enough times in my head; like the lava, the clock tower, before and after Fearne took the shard, the only times they did kiss was before the solstice (the forehead kiss) and the ziggurat and both preceded bad times, they deserve a proper one, not one at risk of being a goodbye, something precious, irreplaceable and theirs to have, to share. And I don't know if they should use the patented 'can I kiss you?' or take a tip from BeauYasha and use 'I wanna kiss you so bad right now' or find something else to make their own but I desire it so much, had it happened this ep I probably would've melted out of my seat. They're awkward and nervous but they gotta take the leap, Ashton needs to realise they're loved and maybe even be told that they deserve it even when they feel they don't, and Fearne has to take a risk too, the shard put doubt to her decisions but that doesn't mean she can run from her strong emotions. It doesn't fix everything of course, but sometimes people heal better together than apart. As a currently vorbed half-elf once said 'drink the courage first'.

Curiosity continues to send me after the ep, and while some people are attempting to blemish or rain on the parade (I mean, I try not to speak ill of other ships in general, but if you're gonna be negative about it you can at least do it in your lane, your tags not ours) I am still just riding the high of the possibilities. True, the unknown can make me nervous, and I will admit the group has to give Ashton and Fearne space (they're just excited, and with the bloody bridge hinting to be a final moon-based battle there is that sense of urgency) Imodna had nudges sure but they have been a bit heavy-handed and kinda chaperoned around them, Fearne and Ashton seldom get time alone, one can hope they can get that time with each other next episode.

#critical role #cr 3 #cr 3 spoilers #c3e80 #callowmoore #ashton greymoore #fearne calloway #ashton x fearne #fearne x ashton #rockwild #bells hells #for anyone who read the whole thing props to you I understand I unloaded a lot of crazy onto you I'm sorry #I have questions about the new powers too; does Mister get an upgrade? Can elementals be summoned? Is it like a Sorcerer multiclass? #do primordials have a equivalent to divine smite? Can it be used on other champions or Predathos? #how do the divines react to this? Asmodeus wanted them for the Calamity and Dawnfather does seem to hold grudges...Wildmother not so much #and do the titans themselves feel adverse to stopping Predathos? Since it aids their enemy that essentially colonized on them #I fear fuckery next episode of course but today's a good day and I will not let anyone ruin that #I will ride this high as long as I can though but I do also need to sleep I got a travel weekend to do visiting relatives #I am so consumed by this ship that it rivals my own birthday as the best thing to happen this week #I am absolutely unashamedly not normal about them #tag bonus: matching shirts! Precious/Irreplaceable and Adorable/Ignorant also all the Hells have 'if lost return to Nancy' shirts #taliesin jaffe #ashley johnson

[eroguron0nsense]

Eustass Kidd in Modern AUs

I see this trend in fics where Kidd isn't part of a main ship depicting him as either a weird rival to one of the characters or a genuinely disgusting person, and don't get me wrong, I like rat bastard aggro asshole Kidd who's either genuinely unpleasant to be around or truly execrable as much as the next guy–I think it's true to his character in many ways–but I also have a soft spot for modern AU interpretations of Kidd just being Luffy or Law's kinda annoying buddy? Like very much their friend or at least someone they're okay with hanging out with even though they snipe at each other constantly, or just like, an annoying ex you can't help but argue with, rather than a truly shitty person. Egotistical and confrontational and definitely pushes some people away, but in a way that doesn't make it impossible to be his friend

I think it might just have something to do with me scaling down a character's negative traits in my own modern AUs just because their circumstances are less drastic, the stakes of living in a modern world are generally lower (unless it's like, a very action packed thriller or horror thing that's as drastic/requires a similar level of suspension of disbelief to the anime) so I tend to avoid things like having someone be genuinely murderous, and canon Kidd's tendency to annihilate everything in sight and kill people who upset him doesn't translate well to the comparatively low stakes of coffeeshops or college settings. Generally I scale a character's level of potential shittiness to match the world I construct for them, and it throws me sometimes when I'm reading a perfectly cute modern au and people keep certain really drastic plot elements (e.g. Kidd's extreme violence, Doffy killing Cora in front of Law, elements of certain other backstories etc) or interpret the character's evil in ways that feel less plausible in that context (e.g. making an antagonistic character a sexual predator or physically aggressive/dangerous person, especially in bashing fics). This is fine, but again, it can feel out of place if other plot elements aren't similarly drastic in scale or if it's just a minor part of the AU and we get back to regularly scheduled pining or wish fulfillment right after.

#one piece #eustass kid #eustasscaptainkid #kidd pirates #one piece au #modern au #donquixote doflamingo #trafalgardwaterlaw #monkey d luffy #trafalgar law #fanfiction

[frogsndogs]

I feel like if they were to make another Scooby Doo series, they should reboot the 13 Ghosts (properly this time). Lemme tell you why:

(Also Note: I have not seen the 13 Ghost movie in it's entirety so pls just keep that in mind)

okay so first we could have that found family dynamic that everyone loves and that the 13 Ghosts had amazing set up and some execution but i don't think reached it's full potential.

Dad!Vincent parenting a bunch of wack kids who insist on helping put the demons back and they keep showing up at his house how did they even find this address I live at the top of a cliff in the middle of nowhere what do you mean you brought my Chinese food - that delivery person gave you my adress didn't he I always knew he was a bad egg

Next I think that we should get a proper Flim Flam and Vincent backstory - how did they meet? where? Why is Flim Flam staying with Vincent? and we could have some added depth there

And an cool aspect of Flim Flam and Vincent's relationship is that Vincent is a real-deal wizard where Flim Flam is (like his name suggests) a con artist. I think this could bring an interesting facet to their relationship and maybe even drive the inner conflict of at least one episode

Then I think that we should have more lore abt the Chest of Demons, like where it came from, how they were trapped originally, etc, etc,

Explore the magical community and Vincent's place in it

along these lines ppl in the magic community must have at least heard of the Scooby Gang and their exploits - watch Scooby become a celebrity in the Magic world and have one of those cliche "fame is dangerous episodes" while building lore

Daphne leadership role!!!

I always kinda went with the idea that Daph, Shag and Scooby didn't tell Fred and Velma abt the chest bc they wanted to protect them from the demons

Like when they were originally going after the demons they weren't just tracking them - they demons were tracking them back and it often got dangerous, so we could have some tension with Fred and Velma thinking that the trio is lying to them and a heartfelt episode with that

Then I think that Weerd and Bogel deserve a redemption arc

They were always treated badly by the demons and i think that the one episode where they pretend to team up with the gang could be a turning point where they realize how teams are supposed to work and how the gang shows them (their enemies) genuine compassion

They're funny and they also have a complex dynamic that I would have liked to explore

I think that Daphne's sister (either an older one from SDMI (prob Delilah) or a younger one, like the one that was pitched with Scrappy to be his owner(kinda leaning towards this)) would be a good edition

Depending on if she was older or younger she could be a mentor or a good friend for Flim Flam and Scrappy

I see this Daphne as being more of a leader than her goofy BC self(who I love don't get me wrong) but I think that Daphne's sister could bring a goofier element with Flim Flam and Scrappy

AND

BRING BACK SCRAPPY

He was such a good boy in this series - such a good friend to Flim Flam and so supportive of his uncle

There is so much wasted potential with his character, in my opinion but that's for a whole other post probably - this has already gotten longer than i expected

anyway that's most of my ideas - i probably have more somewhere in my head

#scooby doo #scooby gang #shaggy rogers #daphne blake #13 ghosts of scooby doo #scooby doo rewrite

[richkidcityfriends]

your opinion on 2022 winter Olympics

okay so im assuming this is only about figure skating and i mean oml there was so much going on. below the cut bc i think this is gonna be long.

okay so FIRST OF ALL the kamila valieva situation. where to begin. (as a note: none of this is a statement on her except in relation to the 2022 olys)

the positive test being from rusnats and only being found out in february is weird. idk if we ever found out exactly why that happened? but i can only assume it was meddling from the russian end.

i think the media response was cruel, and i think part of that was a lot of people were trying to talk about it without knowing the full situation, but the amount of vicious hate and blame kamila received was unjustified. she was fifteen years old and in an abusive situation, to what extent she knew about the doping is irrelevant in my mind, the blame falls on the adults in power (mainly her coaches). eteri tutberidze is notoriously controlling and abusive, and there is no way any of that was happening without her being responsible. she controls the amount of WATER her skaters can drink. skating at that level, especially in russia, your coach is practically your primary guardian; if eteri told her to dope then there was pretty much nothing she could do. only eteri girls were ever going to go to the olympics, if she switched coaches that would have ended her life's goal (and the way they train is so all-consuming that to not get to the olympics at all would have felt life shattering).

should she have been been allowed to skate? i dont think so. at least partially bc it essentially proves to coaches that you can "get away with" doping as long as the people you are drugging are children. obviously having an athlete who has taken performance enhancing drugs is unfair to everyone else, but that goes without saying. HOWEVER i do understand the worry that the test could have been wrong or she might not have known, either way it would have been unfair to her. (the "irreparable harm" quote is always taken out of context - they meant that if she skated and was found guilty they could strip her of the medal, but if she was banned and found innocent there was no fixing it). ultimately though i think letting her skate was the wrong decision (especially since the case STILL hasnt been settled).

i dont think eteri told her to throw the free to make sure the others got their medals, because she looked so traumatised afterwards and eteri reacted so badly (ive never understood this theory tbh)

that was the first scandal from the olys but oml it was definitely not the last. there was so much going on. olympics from hell. lets talk about the womens podium.

(but first a note on ultra c elements: do i think the sport is suffering because of the increased value placed on jumps? yes. do i think artistry is important? absolutely. do i think there is a conversation to be had about the morals of training young children (especially girls) to do dangerous jumps that cause permanent damage to their bodies? one hundred fucking percent. things need to change in this sport. however. i will make repeated references to whether or not someone is jumping ultra c when discussing the podium, because that is how its scored atm, and i do think that they aren’t irrelevant (it is a sport, athletic feats are also important) just please please know that i am also taking artistry into account its just harder to objectively phrase in a short paragraph and this is already long enough). okay caveat over. please no one attack me. lets go.

look i KNOW the most pressing question is do i think anna deserved gold HOWEVER. have you considered. did anna deserve to be sent to the olympics at all. and this makes me insane because like?? skating like she did at the olys?? yeah she probably deserved to be there!! so it kinda seems mean to talk about this but ALSO i feel like we definitely have to not forget it so. the russian olympic team was pretty much based off of the podium for rusnats, which that year was kamila, sasha, anna. but anna in third place was veryyy controversial bc like. she had no ultra c elements at all (and her tech is DODGY so without them it gets even harder to justify her high scores) but elizaveta had a triple axel (and better tech) so a LOT of people thought that she should have come third, but rusfed just wanted to send anna to the olys instead (which i pretty much agree with).

but okay whether you like it or not she DID make the olympic team so. womens olympic podium. a grenade of a question. everyone is allowed their own opinions on it im not saying anyone is wrong if they think differently!!!!! also im only going to talk about the top five bc this is already wayyy too long.

i know on tiktok a while back the popular opinion was that wakaba should’ve been gold, which i don’t really agree with, however she absolutely should not have been fifth. no doubt in my mind she should have been at LEAST fourth, if not third. kamila should have been behind her i don’t care how many quads she was attempting, she fell like five times. she got through on reputation and the eteri bonus alone. kaori did skate cleanly, but with no triple c, and her tech isn’t great on some of her jumps, so wakaba (who fell on a jump, but had a triple axel, and generally better tech and artistry imo) could have come third and i would have been happy. anna i go back and forth on, because her artistry is alright, and technically she does jump quads, but her tech skills are SO questionable (her quad lutz is neither a quad nor a lutz). the tech bar for quads is lower than for triples, and i do kinda think that makes sense, but her quad tech is worse than most of the other quad jumping girls so it’s a fair comparison. i don’t think she deserved gold, but im never fully sure about silver either. honestly her, wakaba, and kaori can fight it out for second/third/fourth. in terms of actual skaters i like wakaba best, in terms of who performed best on the day i think you could make a compelling argument for any order.

that of course leaves sasha in first place. i know she fell on her triple axel in the short, but the only people who didn’t fall at all were anna (i’ll talk about her last) and kaori, and while triple c elements aren’t the only important thing, the skater who fell on one and landed five kind of has to be above the skater who attempted none at all, imo, so that puts kaori out of the running. wakaba fell once as well, and she definitely has the edge on artistry, but i don’t think sashas artistry was as bad as a lot of people say, especially in her short, so i don’t think thats quite enough to put wakaba ahead of sasha overall. sasha’s tech skills were so much higher than the rest of the skaters that i think it would be almost impossible to bridge that gap with artistry alone. lastly theres anna, who ofc actually won the ogm. two clean skates, slightly better artistry, much worse tech (i know sasha’s tech isn’t perfect either, but she’s definitely better – id say thanks to plushenko). annas tech should have been called, if not her edges then at least for prerotation. sasha fell on a triple axel and anna landed a double in the short, sasha landed five quads and anna landed two in the free. taking into account how poor her quad tech is, i don’t think that her artisty is enough to pass sasha.

however!!!! again i want to reiterate!!!!! everyone is allowed their own opinions on this!!! i do not give a damn if you think that anastasiia shabotova should have come first!!!! go you!!! to each their own <3

now for something that i do think you can wrong about. the reaction to sashas reaction to the scores was appalling. she was seventeen years old (a CHILD) in an extremely high stress situation and had been told by her (abusive, manipulative) coaches that if she landed all five quads she would win, and when this turned out to be untrue she got upset and had what was clearly a panic attack, asked not to be filmed and was ignored by every cameraman in the area, had to immediately go in front of millions of people while still being a mess, and was then attacked from all angles for being “ungrateful” and “showing bad sportsmanship.” show some empathy. (especially ppl who are still giving out about it now “on behalf of anna” when they seemed to be at least friendly again as soon as the very next day)

OKAY WE’RE ALMOST DONE i mostly only follow women’s so the rest of this is going to be brief

sui/han deserved ogm, my sister and i were rooting for miura/kihara to do well but we knew there was no chance for a medal. loving seeing them do so well rn.

nathan chen’s costume was ridiculous. last time i said my nathan chen take i got eaten alive on tiktok so im not gonna say much about him. he did deserve gold tho.

scoring felt harsh on yuzuru. wish he’d gotten another ogm but it wasn’t meant to be. im glad he got to attempt the quadruple axel at the olympics at least.

papadakis/cizeron ogm deserved.

oh MY god i forgot about the team event. pls someone save me. im so sorry i know no one wants this much. this isn’t even the worst i can do. i have talked at my friends for hours straight before about figure skating. i cant help it i have no control. we are going to ignore the team event okay. Just give them their medals. pls. i beg. they still don’t have their medals. i know it sucks for the rest of the russian team if they lose the gold bc kamila was stripped but you have to give the rest of them their medals.

anyway if you made it until the end here is a gold star ⭐ i don’t know how you did it.

#i am SO sorry #this is way too long #but anyway yes here is a brief (yes ik but i promise this is brief) overview of my most pressing olys 2022 opinions #yes this is almost 2000 words long and yes i wrote it instead of my english hw #oh also when i say you in the post that is the impersonal you. one. no part of it is directed in particular at anyone!!!! #im not giving out to anyone!!! #altho if anyone has any questions or anything pls ask and i will elaborate #asks #figure skating #roboobin #also idk if this is even legible its the middle of the night and im sick

[a-s-levynn]

Okay so let's make this post the official start of my 'sleep token stuff' tag for lore ideas and thought exercises and analyses and everything alike.

Originally this went under a wonderful lore discussion post but my addition went off rails and honestly i just wanted this on it's own for me to find it easier later so feel free to ignore it altogether. It's no secret that my probably all time favourite ST song is Higher and no small part of it is the refrain.

This is mostly an in-lore thingie i guess but all of this has a purely human, self reflective read as well but i don't have the mental energy at the moment to expand on that side as well but maybe one day. But the jist of it would be that if you replace Sleep with thoughts or feelings or the "other you" you always promise shit to it makes sense in a whole different very much human level as well. At least it makes sense for me. Maybe i'm just being stupid again.

Anyway here is my short thought exercise on the refrain of Higher. These lines specifically:

With all that you believe You still refuse to shelter me

'Cause I am a danger and you're 

A long way from home you are one among many 

But you're now on your own 

And I hate the way you look at 

Me when I am not understood 

'Cause you can remember only 

When you're alone I am granting you more than 

The debt that I owe

I think this is such a two ways text because it can be read from the viewpoint of Vessel but also Sleep's. Or both at the same time. At least for me. Maybe it's just me having a brainfry again but here is my thought process on it:

"With all that you believe You still refuse to shelter me" - They both belive the other is what they need. But on Vessel's part he might feel like Sleep does not gives him what he thinks he want's or needs. On Sleep's part, Vessel might not accepted Sleep in a way Sleep wanted or doesn't go exactly the way about things as Sleep expected at first. So in neither case a "shelter" is created. Not in a way originally imagined. It may and probably did happen anyway just not how it was originally expected by either of them. Because they want kind of the same but in wastly different ways. Sleep needs the safety of having followers, to be knkwn, to be strong again, to be worshipped. Vessel want's something that a human consideres a safe place. So they want the same but not the same. And the human and divine understanding cannot be aligned perfectly. But they try. Doesn't always work, especially on Vessel's end but they still believe the other can do what they agreed on but doubt is there in the corner because it doesn't happen the originally expected way. But they do believe in the other.

"I am a danger" - on Sleep's part it's fairly obvious with the whole ancient being stick. On Vessel's part tho.. he is a danger because the human element always has some unpredictibility to it. It could bring some unforseen sideffects to Sleep's plans and who knows how much a once all powerful beeing handles not being in perfect control. Maybe the unknown is scary to Sleep in a way as well in this weakened state. And that gives an edge to Vessel, however small that may be.

"you're a long way from home you are one among many but you're now on your own" - on Vessel's part this could refer to him leaving behind his life, his home to follow Sleep's call. This includes friends, family, essentially transferring from being 'one among many' to 'being on your own' in an unknown situation. Or just simply being a lonely human being who is completely alone no matter how many people are around him because since Sleep came into his life, no one really understands him. I kinda like this second version because of a later line in this verse. On Sleep's part it very well may have been the case that there was or still is a larger pantheon somewhere beyond. And for reasons it shatterred, faded or just some clashing happend or whatever other reason, but Sleep ended up here alone, so much more close to the human world which is very much an unknown to a being that never really experienced humanity in this way but mayhaps only through worship before, from far far away.

"I hate the way you look at me when I am not understood" - on Sleep's part is just that as a deity, does not communicate in conventional ways and Vessel might not understand correctly what is expected of him at all times. On Vessel's part it can be twofold again. First when he asks, requests or says something of/from Sleep and it's misunderstood or not understood at all because divine-human comprehension can and probably has dissonances. Also it could refer to Sleeps disapproval or bafflement over Vessel being misunderstood by other people, let it be friends/family or the world in general. (This could very well tie into being alone among many. Being misunderstood.)

" 'Cause you can remember only when you're alone I am granting you more than the debt that I owe" - Sleep and Vessel are the only ones who can understand their situation as a whole. They are the only one's for each other, everyone else (even the other vessels -tho probably for a higher degree of understanding than others- can only try to comprehend what this connection entails. And it only goes beyond the strictness of the original pact formed, when the two are alone. They probably have a different bond because there is a deeper understandig, given Vessel is the main conduit. And if Sleep's power is channelled through him, he probably had glimpses into Sleep's thoughts and desires and more and vica versa and at some point decided they may give each other even more for some reason only fully know to them. We usually only focus on Vessel owing a debt to Sleep because Sleep raised him form the dark, the obscurity but there is also a debt on Sleep's side. Because without a vessel he can't achieve what he want's(followers) especially not to this magnitude and speed. And Vessel choosing to do Sleep's bidding and may even going beyond the initial agreement creates kind of a debt on Sleep's part as well. But these additional gifts and givings are only happening when there is only the two of them. It's theirs and no one else's.

Again if we assume Sleep is a metaphor or a kind of personification of certain human elements, than all this gets so phylosophical and taps into the human psyche in a way that is kind of delicious and definitely interesting. But not today or not by me.

And i'm still not sure where i wanted to go with this, it's more of an exploration of ideas sparked by lyrics in regards of lore and how lyrics can be read different ways maybe, than anything serious really.

#don't mind me and my stupid little wordvomits #sleep token stuff #levynn tries to think #sleep token #long post #longpost

[crystalflygeo]

Long overdue final ebg post (lmao) bc I need to get this out of my system...

Tag for all the posts/storyline

Art by the amazing lovely precious cutie Aine @/ainescribe

First of all I want to thank @i23kazu immensely for allowing me to participate pls I was SO unsure at first haha and she absolutely killed it with the interactions, the lil side project, the prompts, the scores tally... it's just so much work, kudos to you Ying fr!! It was a super fun game.

Shoutout to my besties/mutuals

@silentmoths @ainescribe thank you for your lil asks I love seeing your characters aaaaaaaa 💕

@floraldresvi @moraxsthrone and all the anons I got, your sabotages here and in discord were brutal omg Vi you almost made my cry //pos bc I wanted to react/respond to Li's messages 🥺 EVERY SINGLE TIME ghgnhgnghgn and NOT KEL MAKING MY GIRL HAVE A WET DREAM/SPICY MEMORY TYVM 💕 the way I had to contain myself hELP I loved it svcgavscgvsjgacbkackl

@meimeimeirin you also sabotaged me a lot, meanie //pos I loved SO MUCH your asks/little stories aaaaaa thank you for engaging so much when I know you're super busy 🥺 it def made my day everytime, ty for bringing the girl home and solving my silly lil mystery hehe 💕

@kurikurikurisu GIIIIIRL it's so funny to me that we kinda started interacting more on the last ebg for Rin and then I was like "she's a cool person I wanna fren.... 👉🏻👈🏻 but I shy...." took my sweet time to invite you to the server and turns out THIS ebg got us closer (I think? ehe?//hit) we didn't interact much in tumblr with each other's plots but bOY were we emotional support in discord, we really were in this suffering together 🤝🏻 mhm //nods nods 🤣 thank you so much for being interested in my lil silly plot and my girl aaaaaa

As for the "plot" and other things... (this got so long I am so sorryy;;;)

Well at first I wanted to do kinda a normal ebg, no plot or anything bc I don't think I have the smarts to do an elaborate game/story lmao and I kinda wanted to have more established s/i lore?? And then I realized hey I can use the ebg to introduce my s/i!!!

See I'd been working SO hard on her names lately, researching and studying in-game adepti lore and stuff and I though why don't I make it a simple game where the goal is to guess her name (with me giving hints ofc) and at the very start I had the idea of her losing her memories so she could re-discover/remember things about herself alongside the "players" learning them. Whoever character I got as my bias would help her and get to know her too along the way, even npcs (or in the rare case of me getting Dottore/Pantalone, probs be the villain for her memory loss lmao)

And then I got Kazuha. And it was so SO perfect. I took inspiration from Spirited Away with the plot point of having your name/memories/identity stolen and for some reason I remembered the whole Ino-shika-cho koi-koi card combo from Summer Wars I just had this vivid mental image of a scene where Kazuha dropped the biggest hint by writing the Kanji for Butterfly (Chō) which doubles ofc as the Hanzi for Butterfly/Crystalfly (Dié) written the same pronounced (and romanized) differently :3c

I was very proud of myself//hit also

I did not end up making haiku bc they are complicated but I at least tried to loosely keep/emulate the 3 phrases, phonetic rhyme and sensory elements while referencing my lil plot lmao

✧˖Originally I was gonna blame it on a playful tanuki or smth but I don't think they're powerful enough youkai lmao it was probably a kitsune.... we may never know ✧˖She was technically never in any danger yeah but imagine being lost with no memories and no way to know if you could get them back even because every person she met kept telling her they didn't know ofc she'd break down, or at least me, I'm very crybaby and neurotic sometimes//HIT ✧˖Yes this entire thing was technically Zhongli's fault since he did write her a letter addressed 亲爱的晶蝶 ("My dear Crystalfly/Jingdie") and that IS her name woops on a random note I kinda imagine he also signs with something like 你的龙 "Your Dragon" and vice versa with Crys ("My dear Dragon/your Crystalfly") sgcvgajsvcjhacbajkca //squeals kicks feets

And all this started because I was stressing over the fact that "Crys" is not an appropriate name for a Liyue character lmao, I debated for so long giving her a chinese name, but I didn't want to further make her an OC I wanted her to represent me/my blog (also part of me was and still is immensely worried I somehow insult cn ppl by being as some sort of weeabo equivalent or that I am "appropriating culture" or idk I may be dumb but I try to do my research and I prommy it does not come from a place of malice or anything I genuinely love genshin and Li and it's got me interested in a culture/country I funnily enough have somehow interacted with and have friends in but never really paid that much attention to ig...) and then I just had the epiphany What if I just reverse engineer and name her Crystalfly in cn? Lore would be that either her name got accidentally translated in documents a long long time ago and ppl started calling ehr Crystalfly/Crys and she rolled with it or she simply adopted the translation/nickname as her name for international settings, keeping her true name more private (hidden in plain sight tbh) p sure the only ones who know are the elder adepti (Ganyu/Xiao included) and Neuvillette (once he told her his real/first name) (ironically Crys may be harder to pronounce i other languages lmaoooo rip Fontaine)

Anyway this got way too long lmao sorrryyyyyyyy thank you everyone kith kith love y'all bye!! 💕

#crys plays ebg #final post aaaaaa this was all so satisfyinga nd fun and such a roller coaster dshvhsjdbvhsbvks #crys lore #new tag aaayyyy//HIT #I will spam more in the future but not too much I prommy #I gotta go back to writing soon I'm itching hhhhhhh #ty everyone ilu all <3 #crys yaps

[aylacavebear]

The Traveler - Chapter 4 - Twilight Veil

You're from a specific dimension, Solaris Eclipse. It was a dimension of magic. When your kind, the Eldrathiren, turned fifteen, your unique power would awaken within you. Most times, it was something small, levitation, teleportation, creation, elemental manipulation, and things like that. Once in a while, a fifteen-year-old would just disappear, and those were called Travelers. None of them had ever returned. Your parents had told you stories about them, and you hoped that wouldn't happen to you.

Please don't take my work. I'll post warnings for each chapter. Will probably be 18+ I haven't decided yet!

Word Count: 4981

Pairing Eventually Dean Winchester x OC Reader/You & Sam Winchester x OC Reader/You

Warnings: Angst, Scary Situation.

----------------------------------------- Chapter 4 - Twilight Veil

The moment you opened your eyes, you froze. Lying in front of you was a rather large, scaled beast with wings. That warm breeze had been its breath. Earth would have labeled it a dragon, as you remembered the things you had learned there through the TV. It was beautiful, though, how its iridescent scales shimmered in the dim light of this world. 

You are not from here.

The voice in your mind was strange, like a whisper. Your eyes widened in surprise, brows furrowing into a puzzled expression as you attempted to comprehend the idea of a thought in your mind not being your own. You tilted your head slightly, looking at the dragon creature, whose eyes were now open, and it was looking at you.

“You can talk?” you asked it, utterly curious now as the fear from before subsided.

My kind communicate through thought. Very rarely are we vocal. 

“And you can understand me?” you asked, puzzled yet again, as you spoke your native tongue.

Yes. I can understand you. With your words, your thoughts, and your emotions together, it makes it easier. How have you arrived here?

“Oh, that’s kinda neat,” you replied, then sighed, looking down at the ground, “I’m pretty sure I’m what’s called a Traveler. I just end up places till I find what my soul is searching for. At least, if the stories are true.”

I have heard of your kind before. Several have visited here before, although never one so young.

Goosebumps danced their way down your body. This creature knew of your people and of Travelers. 

“Please, what do you know about Travelers, and how do I find what my soul is looking for?” you asked, trying not to sound too hopeful.

What is your name, young one?

“Y/N,” you replied, now looking up at the beautiful creature, “What’s your name?”

It’s nice to meet you, Y/N. I am known as Lysara among my kind.

You smiled, thankful that this creature wasn’t something you needed to fear or worry might eat you and that she might even be able to help you. Just as you were about to truly look around at your surroundings, Lysara’s head snapped up toward the treeline, and she became very alert to a sound you couldn’t hear.

It’s not safe here any longer. Quickly, climb onto my back. I will take us somewhere safe for you.

You weren’t about to argue with her and you certainly didn’t want to find out what would make a creature of her size want to find safety elsewhere. So, you carefully climbed onto her back and held onto one of the ridges as she stood, then spread her wings before taking flight.

You noticed the shadows on the ground in the distance, which seemed to be moving. Not like how the shadows of leaves would move with a breeze. No, these shadows moved with intelligence and had a shape all their own.

Shadowstalkers. They are like smoke or shadows, and they hunt in packs of ten or more. You would make a tasty treat for them.

Her words pulled your gaze to the back of her head for a moment before you looked back down at the ground, which was now several hundred feet below you. You knew other dimensions held dangers that you couldn’t imagine, but you hadn’t thought you might get killed. 

It’s okay, Y/N. I will teach you how to navigate this world and how to keep yourself safe here.

“Thank you,” you replied quietly as your mind began racing with thoughts.

You realized just how lucky you’d gotten so far, meeting beings who had tried to help you and not kill or hurt you. Your gaze returned to the ground below. The planet was beautiful, even if it seemed to be stuck in eternal twilight. The blossoming plants shimmered with an otherworldly luminescence in all sorts of colors. That was when your eyes went toward the sky.

It, too, was beautiful, a mesmerizing tapestry of colors, blending hues of deep purple, indigo, and soft pink, as if caught between sunset and sunrise for all eternity. Despite the absence of a visible sun or moon, the horizon was bathed in a warm, ethereal glow, casting long shadows that danced across the land below. 

There were also mountains and valleys, which were bathed in the colors of the sky the closer to the horizon they were. The clouds that danced along a gentle breeze reminded you of the colors of a rainbow or the Bubbleflowers from your home world.

You weren’t sure just how much time had passed before Lysara landed near a cave. You carefully slid down off her back, landing on your feet before looking around. Crystalline formations Inside the cave entrance sparkled like stars against the darkness inside.

Nothing in here will hurt you.

“You aren’t what I pictured a dragon to act like. I thought you would eat me,” you told her, then chuckled a little. For a moment, you thought you had offended her. Then you heard her laughter in your mind. Lysara even roared out loud.

I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time, little one. Let us go inside and I can share with you what I know of Travelers.

The cave's opening was large enough for Lysara to easily walk through, you by her side. The further along the two of you went, the more the colors danced along the walls, floor, and ceiling of the cave. Then, it opened up into what you could only describe as a hidden sanctuary. There were strange, phosphorescent fungi that clung to the walls, casting eerie shadows that danced and flickered with each movement.

Your ears twitched gently with the rhythmic sounds of water droplets falling from the stalactites into pools of water where ferns grew. Their leaves shimmering with an almost starlight glimmer. Groups of small insects fluted about, their iridescent wings shimmering in the soft light that glistened off the crystalline formations scattered along the cavern walls.

“This is beautiful,” you breathed in awe.

There are many places like this, scattered among the mountains. The Shadowstalkers don’t come here. There is too much light for them, no matter how hungry they might be. Now sit, little one, and I’ll tell you what I know.

You took a deep breath, then sat a few feet from her so she could easily look at you. She looked beautiful with the colors dancing off her purple and blue scales as she, too, got comfortable.

You aren’t the first Traveler to come to this world. My kind has helped others. Before I begin, have you ever yearned for something that you couldn’t explain or describe?

That question made your face contort as you thought. You’d always been curious, asking your parents and the others in your village all sorts of questions. Most of them had been expected for a child and adolescent. The other questions though, your parents had thought odd. Those, they never had answers for.

“I was curious about things,” you replied.

That is not quite what I mean, little one. Think deeper than just curiosity.

Again, you thought about your childhood and adolescent years, “Does wanting to explore count? I always wanted to go far beyond the borders of my village. I don’t know why. I just did, but the adults only ever let me go so far,” you replied, tilting your head in curiosity at what she might be getting at.

Well, it’s a start, at least. So, you felt a pull or a yearning to explore. Did you feel like you were looking for something?

“I guess so. I never really thought about it,” you answered, trying to sift through your memories.

Lysara sighed, and to you, it almost sounded like a low, rumbling purr. We Twilight Drakes share our thoughts with others of our kind. The Travelers who have found our world were in search of something. For some, it was their soulmate. For others, it was the adventure their soul craved most. Your species looks, features, and senses make it easy for you to follow the scent that guides you.

Your mouth opened slightly as you listened  The exploration you’d wanted to do, then the scent that had captured your attention on your birthday. The pieces were trying to come together in your mind. “Well, there was a scent on my birthday. I just don’t know what it smelled like. It wasn’t from my world.”

You never smelled it before?

“No,” you sighed slightly, “But, in the last world, I thought I smelled parts of it when I was around the brothers who took me in for almost a week.”

Hmm. Can you tell me about these brothers?

“Sure,” you replied, and a small smile played along your lips as you remembered them. That smile only grew as you told Lysara about them, how they had treated you, the things they taught you, and how they had tried to keep you safe from their father.

They sound like they are very kind. When was the scent around during that time?

Your brow furrowed as you attempted to think back, “Um, Dean, let me borrow some clothes the first night. I thought I smelled it on his shirt. Then, after the three Winchesters left, a few hours later, the scent came really strongly, and I ended up here.”

Was there anything you felt that might have been different for you?

“When they left, I felt like a piece of me was missing,” you answered, a bit sadly.

Interesting. Typically, one so young doesn’t find their soulmate, nor does a Traveler find their soul’s desire so quickly.

You tilted your head, looking at her, reasonably confused, “I don’t understand.”

Apparently, one of the brothers either is or has something your soul is searching for, or one of them is your soulmate, but you are far too young to understand the bond. She sighed. From what I understand about your people, you and your soulmate won’t feel the full connection until you are an adult. I think for you, that is eighteen, if I am remembering correctly.

“So, does that mean I’m going to wander around different worlds for the next three years?” you asked, almost dreading that idea.

It will depend on when that scent calls to you again. I can teach you things, and there are plants here that can help you, too. Do you know how to fight, defend yourself?

“Yes. I just never had to use it back home. I have my knife on me, but it’s small, just a hand knife,” you answered, attempting to assimilate the information she’d given you. Then, you looked down at the ground, “I’m not very courageous. I get scared easily.”

It’s understandable, little one. You are still young. For as long as you are here, I can teach you what I can. We will stay here for now. The Shadowstalkers have a strong sense of smell. We’ll avoid the areas where they would hunt. There are other dangers here, but those are the most dangerous.

You sighed, having no clue how she would help you not freeze up when something terrifying scared you. Then there was what she’d said about the brothers. You hadn’t felt scared of either of them, even the first time you’d seen Dean. 

Lysara explained that the water within the caves would quench your thirst and that all the plants in this world were edible, although they had different effects. None of them would kill you, but some could do some rather strange things. You weren’t quite sure that you wanted to experience weird effects from eating the plant life, so you made a mental note to ask her before ingesting anything.

We can make you some decent weapons out of the trees of the forest. Their wood is the best for that. Some of the crystalline formations make excellent knives, as you call them, so we can gather some of those, and I will teach you how to work the stone.

“How are you gonna help me not to be afraid?” you asked quietly, yet curiously.

That will take time. We’ll start small and work you up to bigger things. I won’t let anything happen to you while you are here. I promise.

You weren’t entirely sure what things here would help you gain some courage, but you would at least try. Lysara reached over and grabbed something to her right, then handed it to you. It was odd, although it reminded you of a pouch, but it wasn’t made of any material you’d ever seen before. It was smooth, reminding you of the skin of some of the berries from back home. However, it was a shade similar to Y/E/C. 

“What’s this for?” you asked her, looking from the pouch and up at her.

That will hold the berries that will nourish you while you are here. It holds more than it looks like it can. There are several compartments on the inside to put other foods, like certain blossoms and nuts. 

“I honestly hadn’t thought about food,” you replied, chuckling, “Thank you.”

With that, you used the little tie on it to attach it to the belt loop of your jeans. It was clear you had a lot more to learn and think about when it came to navigating the worlds you would end up in. At least in this one, you had Lysara, who had taken you under her wing, so to speak.

You got up and went over to one of the small pools of water, kneeling down, cupping your hand, and taking a drink. There was a warmth that moved through you as you drank, the colors of the crystalline formations in the cave dancing across your eyes.

That would be the Dimensional Bond. It is unique only to Travelers and will help you understand how this realm works. It will also help you tap into the raw energy of this world, harness it, and then use it to keep you safe.

Turning to look over at her, “You could have warned me.”

Her laughter played through your mind for a moment. You will get other powers, little one, the longer you are here. Now, what do you say we get started with gathering some food? Let's start in here. Those vines over there, along the walls. The berries are Twilight Roseberries. When eaten, they will give you a temporary boost of energy and mental acuity.

You looked to where she had pointed and noticed the thorny vines. The flowers were beautiful and reminded you almost of roses from the world the Winchesters were in. The closer you got, the more intrigued you became. The berries were in a cluster, reminding you of smaller grapes from Earth and how they grew, although these were a deep purple. You opened the pouch, then picked several clusters, tucking them into one of the inner compartments. 

“They look like they would taste good,” you told Lysara as you stood back in front of her.

They are quite delicious. Now, let's go outside and get some Moonberries. They are plentiful and grow in dim light around the planet. I know a safe place where the Shadowstalkers won’t be near, even with the dark shadows.

You smiled a little, followed her out of the cave, and then climbed onto her back as she flew the two of you off to the left of the cave. You did take note that she didn’t go back toward the area where you had initially appeared. There was a tingle that danced along your skin as Lysara flew over another forest. She wasn’t flying as high as she had the first time, so now you could see small lights through the tiny breaks in the thick canopy of the forest. 

The ones that move are Luminescent Wisps. They are harmless, but some are mischievous. Don’t follow them unless you are prepared for a possible confrontation or ending up lost. The stationary lights are the blossoms of the Shadowberry plants. We will gather some of those from a different place, though.

Got it, don’t follow the wisps, you thought to yourself, and heard Lysara chuckle in your mind, “You heard my thoughts?”

Yes, little one. You don’t have to speak out loud if you don’t want to. Your bond with this world has made our telepathic communication easier. It is up to you, though.

“Cool,” you said with a smile, watching the ground below.

Over the course of what felt like a day, Lysara took you all over the place. She had you gather five different berries; there were the Twilight Roseberries from the cavern, then the Moonberries, which gave a calming effect, the Duskberries near a beautiful river that gave unparalleled speed and precision, the Starlight Berries, which grew in a really remote and secluded area but gave enhanced perception and awareness, and of course, the Shadowberry that grew in the shadowy depths of the forest giving a boost to resilience and endurance.

While gathering the Shadowberries, Lysara chose a sturdy tree and then removed several of its limbs, all different sizes and thicknesses. Everything about this realm was beautiful to you, and you had to remind yourself that there were things here that could kill you. She also gathered a long length of a smooth vine, rolling it up like a rope, then another couple of sections that she used to tie the branches together. 

Are you ready, little one?

“You mentioned nuts earlier. Where are those?” you asked. You wanted to get all she had mentioned but were beginning to feel the need for sleep. 

Oh yes. Come, we shall get that and return to one of the caves for a while.

You gave her a tired smile before climbing on her back again. She held the bundle of sticks and the vine rope as she flew you to a large plain. The grass, blowing in the gentle breeze, shimmered with the colors of the sky and had a luminescent glow all its own.

“It’s beautiful,” you breathed in awe before she landed in the middle of the large field.

This is called Twilight Grainstalk. The seed pods contain grains like nuts. You can eat them alone or grind them to make other foods. 

You made sure to gather several of the seed stalks and placed them into one of the compartments of the pouch. The room inside it still baffled you, but you weren’t about to complain either. It held far more than it looked like it could, just as she had explained when she gave it to you.

After climbing back on her back, you fell asleep only minutes into the flight, exhausted, having pushed yourself far more than you ever had before. Your dreams were of Dean and Sammy. It was different though, more like you were watching what they were doing at that moment. You even tried talking to them but it was like they couldn’t hear or see you.

In the dream, the brothers were alone in another motel room. They looked so sad to you. “I can’t believe she’s gone,” Sammy mumbled from where he sat. “It was bound to happen, Sammy. Let’s just hope that wherever she is, she’s safe,” Dean replied, looking down at the floor. He was sitting on the edge of one of the beds, his arms resting on his thighs, leaning forward slightly. “I’m right here,” you told them, but they still couldn’t hear you. You went over and sat beside Sammy, setting your hand on his shoulder, “I still have the beanie, and I’ll always remember you, Sammy. Thank you for being so kind to me.” Then, you went over and crouched in front of Dean, wanting to see his face. Gingerly, you reached out and touched his forearm, “I’m okay, and I’m safe. Lysara is helping me. Don’t be sad, please.” The brothers looked at each other, “Did you feel that?” Sammy asked. “Feel what?” Dean asked. “Like, someone touched my shoulder,” he answered. “Yeah… Weird,” Dean replied, glancing around the room. You smiled a little. At least they could feel your touch, even if they didn’t know it was you. The lights hadn’t flickered, and it hadn’t gotten cold, so you knew they wouldn’t suspect a ghost. You were now determined to figure out how to communicate with them, although you had no clue how to do that yet. “Well, it’s not a ghost or a demon,” Sammy stated, looking around the room, causing you to giggle a little. “Let’s not tell Dad about this. He’ll probably freak out,” Dean almost chuckled.

Sleep well, little one?

Her voice in your mind pulled you from your dream. You were lying on the ground of a cavern, on what felt like a soft bed of moss. You stretched, yawned, and then sat up, looking around before looking at Lysara. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep, but yes. I did sleep well. I dreamt of the brothers,” you told her happily.

She tilted her head slightly. What was in your dream?

For a moment, you were slightly confused but explained what had happened in your dream, including how you had touched each of them, and it was like they had felt you.

Interesting. I’ve never heard of a Traveler having two soulmates before.

Your eyes widened in utter surprise. How was that even possible?

Let me try to explain what I know about soulmates. Soulmates must be of consenting age before the bond between them fully connects. So for you, it will not happen for three years. The same is probably true for the brothers in which you dreamt about. 

You thought about their ages; Dean was seventeen, and Sammy was thirteen, “Will Dean feel it when he turns eighteen?” you asked, somewhat curiously.

It’s hard to say. He may not feel it until you are of age or the younger of the two is of age. It may also be different for both of them as to how they feel it. One could be your life partner and the other just a very close person to you. Or, they could both be your life partners. It is hard to say until the bond is made.

That was something you’d never even considered, having two mates, as that was what they were called where you were from. Even your people mated for life, but it had nothing to do with being soulmates. You’d learned through the TV that Earth didn’t work that way.

Don’t let it scare you, little one. And don’t dwell on it now. You have three more years ahead of you before you will need to think about it. Now, eat something, and we’ll get started.

You sighed. Yeah, how the hell were you not supposed to think about having two possible life-mates? 

The days were long, as there was never a night in this place, just the eternal twilight. Lysara taught you a lot. How to make weapons out of the wood and certain crystals, what plants were and what effects they had, and how to hunt down some of the small game for meat. That alone was interesting, especially when it came to cooking it. She taught you of the fire and ice stones that were typically buried near mountains or hidden deep within certain caves. 

You dreamt of the brothers often but could never truly interact with them. They felt you but had no clue it was you. You’d also found the flannel Dean had stashed in your bag. It was his red one that you had borrowed once, but after a week, his scent began fading. Even Sammy’s scent had faded from the beanie he’d given you. 

Occasionally, you’d pick up that scent again, the one you’d been chasing since your birthday, but it never lasted long, and you refused to follow it, at least for now. At least you were figuring out how to stay in one dimension and choose when you would travel to another. 

By your third week with Lysara, you’d gotten stronger and more confident and had become quite the skilled hunter. Lysara had even introduced you to a few other Twilight Drakes who had become curious about why she’d been away for so long. 

After a month and a half, you’d also gained several powers that pertained to this world. Shadowmelding was not only strange but also fun. It allowed you to become one with the darkness, making it possible for you to move unseen and unheard. It only hid most of your scent, so you couldn’t really use it to hide from Shadowstalkers. It did, however, make hunting far easier. 

The Twilight Sight scared you in some ways, especially when you and Lysara were anywhere near where Shadowstalkers could be. You were now able to see beyond the veil of reality and into the hidden depths of the veil itself. There were hidden passages and invisible barriers, and you could even perceive the true nature of the creatures that inhabited the realm. It made it hard to kill things for meat.

Part of you didn’t want to leave this place, even after two months had passed. You and Lysara were in one of the sanctuaries, enjoying a fresh kill you had cooked over one of the fire rocks when you finally looked up at her.

“What would you normally be doing if you weren’t here looking after me?” you asked, wondering how badly you had interrupted her life.

Honestly, little one, not much. We have gatherings sometimes, but we mostly just relax. Then there are when Travelers come. We help them.

You tilted your head, listening. Things were fairly laid back in your village as well. It wasn’t like Lysara had to wear clothes or tend to a dwelling. She had the freedom of flight, which could take her anywhere in this world she could want to go.

You being here has brought joy to my life. I am glad that I met you and have spent so much time with you. It means that I can share all that I have learned with others of my kind so they can help future Travelers when they come.

“I’m glad I met you too,” you replied with a happy smile, your worries quickly dissipating. 

How long do you think you will stay? I have seen you, when the scent comes, even though I cannot smell it.

That surprised you a bit, “I don’t know. I guess I wanted to be a little more confident in keeping myself safe. I can’t assume there will always be a creature that will be kind to me when I end up somewhere new,” you sighed.

That is a very responsible decision to make. You are quite a skilled hunter now. Then, there is your ability to chip the crystal to make weapons. You can use that skill and the woodworking in any world to make weapons now that you know what to look for in materials.

That made you chuckle a little. You had learned a lot since that first day and they were skills that would help in any world, “Thank you, Lysara. I don’t know what would have happened to me if you hadn’t been there that day.”

You heard her laughter in your mind, which made you giggle a bit. You don’t have to keep thanking me, little one. Any Twilight Drake would have helped you. Plus, I think you are smart enough to realize a dangerous creature, even before I taught you of the creatures here.

You rolled your eyes but couldn’t stop the smile, “I’m just happy I didn’t have to spend time running right off the get-go.”

The rest of dinner was eaten in silence as you contemplated just how long you would stay here in her world. You’d dreamt of the brothers numerous times since that first night, but it was always the same; you could never truly interact with them. Part of you wondered if it had been due to the powers this world had given you, but the other part wondered if it was due to them being your soulmates.

Almost a year passed for you in this world, Twilight Veil. You’d learned a great deal more, choosing skills instead of following that scent. It got harder the longer you pushed it off. When that year mark hit, it was getting painful to refuse its pull. Lysara saw this one morning after you woke from another dream of the brothers.

You need to go, little one. You cannot stay here longer, it might kill you.

You looked up at her, your heart pounding, your body sweaty, and your chest hurt. The scent was in the air again, and you felt its pull, “I’ll miss you, Lysara. Thank you again, for everything.”

I’ll miss you too, little one. 

She watched you as you packed your things, slinging your bag over your shoulder, your weapons along with it, your spear in your hand. With a deep breath, inhaling through your nose, you closed your eyes and smiled. That scent always brought you a sense of peace. You hugged Lysara, well, as best you could with the size difference, and she put her front leg around you, using her claws like fingers and holding you close for a moment.

You fought back the tears as you walked toward the entrance to the cave, knowing that once you stepped outside, you’d be in a different world. The difference this time was that you were better prepared to keep yourself safe, find food, and navigate the uncertain terrain that would await you. 

----------------------------------------- Chapter 5 - Crystalis Canopy

Link to the series Masterlist.

A/N: If you'd like to get in on the Dimensional Traveling, go to this link and leave me with a comment, or several, with as much or as little detail about the dimension you'd like the Traveler to end up in. If you'd like to have something specific happen, share that too. I'll make sure that you get credit for the idea you shared in the chapter in which your dimension is featured. I'd love to have as many readers involved as possible. I think this could be a lot of fun.

As always, if you'd like to be tagged, let me know and I'll add you to the tag list.

Tag List: @littlemadamred @mxltifxnd0m

#supernatural #soulmates #dimension travel #sam winchester fanfiction #sam winchester x reader #sam winchester x you #sam winchester x y/n #sam x reader #sam x you #sam x y/n #sam winchester fic #SPN #SPN FANDOM #spn fanfiction #spn fanfic #spnfandom #supernatural fanfiction #supernatural fic #supernatural fandom #supernatural oc #supernatural fanfic series #dean winchester fic #dean winchester fanfiction #dean x reader #dean x you #dean winchester x reader #dean winchester x you #dean winchester x oc #dean x y/n #Dean Winchester x femaleOC

[ben-talks-art]

12. Action Manga recommendations!

This is something that I'm kinda shocked it took me this long to start doing... Let's try talking about some of my favorite mangas from different genres and why I like them and maybe who could like them too.

I'm gonna try to split them up into what element I think stands out the most from each to make it easier to talk about them.

I'm will at least try to bring attention to some obscure series... But I make no promises. This will mostly just be me talking about the stuff I like, and hopefully one of them will end up being something new to someone.

Nice drama recommendations

These are the series that usually involves a lot of characters talking and debating over the morality of the plot. They usually have people asking things like "are we right? are we wrong? Why? Who's the real enemy? What are we fighting for?" and so on.

First, we have Radiant, a series about a magical world of mages and monsters with a main character that's kind of a middle ground between the two and is trying to seek this place called "radiant" which apparently is where all the monsters come from so he can find out why they are being sent to this world and possibly find a way to stop them from causing chaos to the people.

It's written by a French author and you can tell, the dialogue in this is phenomenal. I would highly recommend checking this out just to see the way these people talk with each other, it feels so natural and everyone is so charming. They all have amazing interactions.

Peach Boy Riverside is about a girl that receives a power that allows her to kill demons with little to no effort while also giving her a dangerous thirst for killing them. The problem is... The girl as well as plenty of other characters are actually friends with many of the demons so she has to constantly keep this power under control, on top of that, the boy she has a crush on also has that power and he just despises demons, so she keeps finding herself caught in the middle of everyone's anger and trying to find a solution that doesn't rely on just killing everything, even though her own power really wants to. It's really interesting.

Claymore is about this woman who works as a professional monster killer. She, as well as many other killers, go from place to place and get hired with the task to eliminate some creature that's attacking all the people, and once they're done, they just move to the next place.

What's cool about Claymore is that all the monsters used to be regular people, so a lot of time is dedicated to the heroes and the villains trying to understand each other and thus adding more layers to their fights. It basically go from the usual good vs evil to two individuals who just happen to be stuck in opposite situations and have to face one another. And some of the backstories for tons of the antagonists are just so freaking interesting. Everyone here feels like the main character of their own story. This is a really solid 10/10 cast of characters.

Crazy action recommendations

These are the series where the authors just enjoy going bonkers with the fights.

Dandandan is about a girl that likes ghosts that has psychic powers and a boy that likes aliens that is possessed by a spirit. The idea is that this mixes supernatural threats with sci-fi threats, and they do it in a very fun way. Sometimes the antagonist will be a giant ghost that likes to dance, another times it will be a boxing alien crab. This series knows how silly its premise is, and its just loving every second of it.

Undead Unluck is about a girl that can curse anyone that touches her with a lot of misery and a guy that can't die. They put 2+2 together and decide to team up as he's the only one that can survive her and she's the only one that can make him feel alive.

The fun of this series is that everyone has very specific powers based on tons of specific rules, so a lot of the fights rely on characters playing 4D chess with the rules of their weird powers to overcome their opponent, and this sounds like it would get tiresome as if every fight was like some sort of homework, but they manage to keep the action going at all times and getting you up to speed to what everyone can do and how they can exploit what they can do. The ways they use the guy's ability to not die in particular are absurdly creative, doing things like turning his blood into swords and bullets or using it as a lightning rod for the girl's bad luck. Fun stuff!

Zatch Bell is one of my favorites. It's basically a pokemon/digimon setting where kids get paired with some sort of teammate and fight other kids and their teammates, but in this case, the teammates are little children and they fight using books of spells.

Each child has dozens of spells in their books that are a variation of their base power. For example, Zatch himself has lighting powers, so one spell is like a blast of electricity, another is like an electric shield, another one can magnetize the enemy, and so on.

You never what new spell will be used and how it will be used, which makes each fight feel fresh and unique. And the fact that these are kids teaming up with children allow for them to create deeper relationships and thus make you care more about seeing them get out okay from the fight.

Wholesome recommendations

These are for the people who just want to enjoy nice likable people having sweet wholesome moments.

Ottoman is about a guy and his wife who both get fused with an alien and get tasked with fighting other dangerous aliens to keep the world safe, but the nice twist is that the dude's alien is powered by affection, so in order to get stronger during fights he needs to remember all the things he loves about his wife. It's so freaking silly but at the same time so adorable.

The wrong way of using healing magic is one of those isekai stories where three kids go to another world and one of them gets the role of being a healer, except he doesn't use the healing just to help people, he uses it to make his fatigue go away so he can work on his body muscle and reflexes. And what's even better is that because he keeps healing his opponents everyone eventually ends up befriending him. This one is just a really likable read.

(Oh God, I can never remember this one's name...) A Breakthrough Came Out by Forbidden Master and Disciple, is about a boy who instead of being a hero tasked with facing the demon lord, is actually the son of the hero who defeated the demon lord, and thus has a lot of insecurities because he has trouble living up to his father's name. But that all changes when the ghost of the demon lord starts haunting him and they make a deal where he will train the boy if he promises to show him the world (it turns out that the demon lord was stuck in a basement for years with nobody to talk to... poor guy...)

The bond between the boy and the demon lord is honestly very sweet. You can tell they respect each other and want to make the other proud while also proving their full potential to all of those that looked down on them. One being looked down for not being as great as the hero, and the other for having been killed by the hero. It's a great premise.

Edgelord Recommendations

Okay, this is for those who want to inject some "hardcoreness" into their blood.

Ragna Crimson is about a guy that sends all his powers into the past after he realizes there is no way to save the future from the threat of the dragons. Once he succeeds in contacting his younger self, he also advises him to meet up with Crimson, one of the smartest dragons of the world who also happens to hate dragons.

Together, with Crimson's brains and Ragna's powers they just travel the world beating the hell out of tons of dragons with some freaking metal artwork. Some of these fights go way harder than they need to and it always feel so damn epic. The person drawing these action scenes is just giving their 120%, to the point where sometimes I just want to ask them to chill a little (as an artist, you kinda start to feel sorry for other artists when you realize how much work they put on every page).

Here's another name I can never remember... Gachiakuta is a garbage manga, and by that I mean, everyone fights using garbage.

We're operating with Ghost Rider rules where each character can pick up something that was thrown out that holds some sort of special bond to them and turn it into an absurd weapon.

It has all the usual cool edgelord tropes. The main character was betrayed by his people, thrown out like trash, had his loved one killed, decided to dedicate his life to revenge and making them pay, while also teaming up with other people that were also thrown out like trash who each have their own angsty backstory, all while fighting giant trash monsters (because why not?), and also trying his best to keep this rage inside of him from going out of control.

You just know Sasuke and Shadow, the hedgehog are just looking at this from somewhere and going "That's our boy!"

Just like Ragna, the artwork here is insane. Everyone here has such a badass design that makes it look like they're ready to throw down with anyone at any moment.

Finally, we have Rebuild World, a series set in a dystopian future where a young boy is found by a psychopathic A.I. who wants to turn him into a super amazing warrior so he can enter some... Place and get some... Thing... that she wants him to get.

This series feels like the kind of story that could happen in the background of the anime Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. The atmosphere of this setting feels very similar to Edgerunners.

This future just feels like it's waiting to tear the main lead apart. The people want to kill him, the monsters want to kill him, the robots want to kill him... Everyone and everything wants to kill him. And the only way for him to survive is to listen to his A.I. (his very, VERY horny A.I., because of course...) and learn how to use the people around him in order to secure his safety. If you like dark sci-fi futures with lots of gun fighting, you're gonna love this.

----- ----- ----

And these are my action manga recommendations. Hopefully, you end up finding at least one that got your interest and turns out to be to your liking!

Give some of them a chance and find out!

#manga #zatch bell #dandandan #undead unluck #rebuild world #ragna crimson #ottoman #the wrong way of using healing magic #gachiakuta #peach boy #claymore #radiant #manga recommendations #action manga #compilation

[mariacallous]

leftists and guns is kinda the ultimate "you are not immune to propaganda" like if you have a normal rational relationship with fire arms you realize A) accidents do happen, people hurt themselves with their own guns ALL the time, B) just the whole suicide issue and you have a minor in the home...

but guns are magical and having them makes you the perfect gun owner who is also magically Dirty Harry crossed with Annie Oakley, like that ain't real mama, life is not a video game that shot gun does not make you the Space Marine from Doom.

My dad was a cop and had been in the Marines, and a lot of the men in my family have either served in the military and/or were some kind of first responder, and they were cops during the 70s and 80s and 90s in the San Francisco Bay Area around Oakland and Richmond.

It made my dad more liberal/leftist and more in favor of both restrictions/regulations on cops and gun control because of the shit he saw and dealt with, and he was incredibly clear with us the seriousness and danger of guns. He kept his gun in a safe/lockbox either in his closet or in a drawer.

All that means, really, is that if he wanted to, he would have been the only one to find and use it.

Fortunately, he disliked it, and he left the police for a variety of reasons but one of the things he told me was that he wanted a job where he wouldn't have to carry or think about guns all day. (Granted, because this is America, the latter isn't really possible but).

I remember Columbine, and Aurora, and the shootings since. And when I moved to the midwest (and specifically Western Minnesota/Eastern North Dakota initially) and even now in NYC, I try to be careful and aware when I'm out and about, and I'm also aware of the possibility of being followed and attacked or worse (ever since the day I had someone drive by and call me a faggot and then follow me back to my apartment in Fargo - fortunately my last day there - it's never left my mind, and even moreso now).

People talk about other countries and how sane they are with guns, but apart from political and other elements, we have literally always had a gun and violence culture in this country, deeply tied to the racism and sexism and classism that is such a huge element of our history and society. Otherwise we wouldn't be constantly adapting around all these mass shootings - at least, what 608 this year so far? - and constantly having the right-wing judges knock down any efforts to restrict them or increase public safety.

And the right *wants* people to think that more guns are necessary, or that guns are the only way to protect yourself. They *want* more women, more people of color, more lgbtq people, carrying weapons and being armed. Because then they can *further* justify and empower violence against those groups. Because then it really *is* an existential or power issue. They *want* armed minority groups because that plays into every single one of their fantasies and fears, and then they can be the noble defender of traditional values and lifestyles.

[utilitycaster]

Hi there! Thanks for writing so much great commentary on CR; I always look forwards to reading your takes and seeing your arguments. If you're ok with doing so, would you mind going into what overbalanced encounters you think weren't signalled well in the game and why? Just curious, no pressure though!

Hey anon! Thank you, and absolutely.

Honestly, there are only two that really stand out. Everything else is either too speculative on my part, or ended up okay in the end.

They are the fight in 2x26 where Molly dies, and the fight against Otohan in 3x33, and while they do both have character death, that's really a symptom, not the problem; assume character death or even a TPK is fine by me.

The things these fights share:

really low-level or drained party with no healing/very little healing left

Intended BBEG about whom the party knows very little

Enemy who will deliberately take death saves

Most of the signals are either subtle or directed towards a specific party member and are in the thick of combat when people aren't focusing on interpretation, especially when it's not a death spiral

Not a super clear "out" for the party nor the BBEG.

Like, it's very normal to set up an unwinnable or at least incredibly difficult encounter with an intended BBEG that does go well and is read accurately by the party but still isn't really a win. Some good examples are the initial Chroma Conclave attacks (fend off the dragons long enough, but the "19 MISSES?" line is truly all you need, they pick up on the need to run right away), the initial Briarwoods fight, the initial Vecna fight (which is, canonically, lethal), and the Tombtakers fight on the same day the Nein had fought Gelidon.

In all those cases, the situation is really clearly outlined, the party is either powerful enough to have tons of tricks up their sleeve or the enemy genuinely doesn't care enough to go for the kill shot, and there's no special tricks or traps.

The issue with the Iron Shepherds fight is that the signals that the Nein didn't have complete information were fairly subtle and relied on remembering pretty fine details from Keg's intel; by the time they realized how truly inaccurate it was, it was too late.

The issue with the Otohan fight is that honestly, it's...still not entirely clear how Otohan goading Imogen ties into the mechanics of the fight (larger plot, sure, kinda, although I still think Otohan is perhaps one of the least successful villains CR has ever had in terms of "do I give a shit"; it's just that Ludinus and Liliana are fantastic villains so it's fine; but it really wasn't clear what she wanted Imogen to do or why that mattered), and the switch in strategy mid-way through to taking death saves also threw people off, and all the party really knew going in was "head of organization we're infiltrating, kind of a badass, has a weird backpack". They really had no reason to understand how powerful she was; all the dream lore relating to Ruidusborn showed up later.

With both of these, also, the party were following like...pretty heavily dropped hints and signaled signposts and a general ambience of "here be The Plot/MacGuffin" and then it was a huge trap.

With something like, say, the Chroma Conclave, the party knew absolutely nothing - they just showed up to a political speech and dragons attacked. That matters! They knew in and out of game that it was a complete surprise and could act accordingly. Which I think brings me to the point: there is a metagaming element here, not in the sense of specific knowledge your character wouldn't know, but in terms of vibes your character could not technically pick up on. A non-combat example is Allura showing up in C2. Allura showing up says "this is the right path" to the players, even if the Mighty Nein do not know Allura. Beau and Caleb being kind of wary about what's going on? That's a huge sign that this is really fucking dangerous, and so Bells Hells was able to make smart choices and infiltrate slowly, which also gave them less high-pressure moments in which to, for example, notice how deeply entrenched Liliana was, or how brutal and unforgiving the Call and Vanguard are (all those bodies).

I think on the most basic level? If the party only realizes through extended combat how fucked they are, you have failed - and that's fine, DM's are human and fallible, but it should really be like, a 19 MISSES! moment if you need the reveal to be during combat, not something that happens a full initiative round in or requires any deeper analysis.

Also: a lot of these bets are off once parties hit like...L11 or so because at that point you should have enough resources to deal. Like, if you want to spring a nasty trap on a L17 party, do it. They should be able to deal.

#answered #Anonymous #cr tag

[phoenix-before-the-flame]

Hey phoenix how have you been this is scar anon if you still remember me! Anyways I just have your laxus fanart rotating in my brain again and I am having so many thoughts like,,,I wonder how he got that scar yknow it's such a prominent part of his character but as far as I can recall (which is admittedly not very much considering I haven't watched or read ft in a hot minute) mashima never explained where he got it? God I wish there was an angsty backstory to his scar (or honestly more laxus backstory in general) but if we're being honest he probably just ran headfirst into a pole or smth.

Anyways sorry for my ramblings this was a poorly disguised request for some laxus headcanons if you have the time! (Can you tell he's my blorbo? That fanart you did genuinely restructured something in my brain and I still can't stop thinking about it to this day) Aight that's it from me have a good day! 👍🏼

Finally i can get around to answering this lol

With regards to Laxus' iconic eye scar I don't really think there was any deep reasoning or logic behind it on Mashima's end (from a character design stand point at least) other than having it be a visual tell that yup, this guy's got lightning powers so he's got a lightning shaped scar to let the audience have a clue about that. It's a similar thing with like, giving your fire characters flame printed clothing, or your evil characters red eyes or your yugioh character crazy hair to let the audience know that this is the protag.

It's more of an element to add some interest to his design and key readers into his magic before the big reveal than something i think was definitely added to tie into any backstory related thing.

And if it is connected to anything backstory related that was revealed later down the line a la 100yr quest i dont care because i dont care about anything to do with the sequel lol.

That being said, i've had this old ass concept regarding Laxus' scar that i've always meant to get around to and you've given me the perfect opportunity to talk about it.

So like, in my head and my tweaked version, Laxus' scarring is instead of a random cool looking lighting scar it's literally lightning scars.

Like scars you get from being struck by lightning. Lichtenberg figures.

(Took off his tattoo and guild mark for the sake of clarity)

Enter Phoenix- verse Laxus lol

Reasoning for this is because I've always figured that the operation that dropped that lacrima in him was a botched one. A sorta test run of making a 2nd gen slayer to work out the kinks down the line for better and smoother operations.

So that being said, in the initial months after the operation the lacrima did not adjust smoothly to being in Laxus' body and adapting to work with his natural ethernano so the lacrima would often times send out shocks through his body during that time as the dragon lacrima's and his ethernano particles would slowly sync up and work in unison

Hence resulting in the all over lichtenberg scarring starting from his chest (i always hc the lacrima's somewhere in the chest near the heart or so) and going through the head, arm and leg as exit points for the electricity when he used to get those shocks.

And the scarring would sorta wrap around his head too! If you shaved his head (sorry King) you would see that it would stretch across the scalp as well.

This whole thing also left his right eye slighter weaker than the other (not enough for him to be completely blind in it but it goes kinda fuzzy sometimes).

The whole full body scarring never really raised much questions though, a lot of people who see it just assume that it was a really bad magic accident (I hc that some elemental magics are more volatile and trickier to master due to the danger they could pose to the user so stuff like lighting and poison for eg are less commonly used than say water or air related magics). But those who know, know (Hello Makarov and Thunder Legion).

So uh, yeah. My headcanon and slight redesign regarding Laxus' scarring lol. Probs a lot more extra than you were bargaining for but i wanted to be able to visualize my idea properly 😅

Also bonus the scarring glows when he uses his magic :]

#fairy tail #fairy tail headcanon #fairy tail fanart #laxus dreyar #ft laxus #fairy tail laxus #fanart #digital drawing #digital art #phoenix draws #god i hope this makes sense and isnt just rambling #scar anon comrade i finally answered lol #ok i asked rougie to read it n they said it made sense victory :] #this design is so unfriendly if u were to animate it tho #and defs needs refining to make it easier to redraw consistently #but this is for neither of that so its cool :] #also bcue i didnt draw on his tattoo but uhhhhh #headcanon that he got the tattoo to cover up the worst of the scarring from the botched operation ivan did ok byeeeeeeeeee #ive uh #ive thought about this a lot before ok lol

[writingmoth]

writing with "vibes" in mind is completely underrated tbh

ive thinking a lot about this bc ive playing a lot of games that use vibes to tell the story/to make gameplay moments stand out. and listen, i know games =\= books, but!!! i think it has merit.

under read more bc it got rambly. its just me wondering aloud about ways to write.

example 1: ffxiv, a fantasy mmorpg that relies HEAVILY on story. it's been out for more than 10 years, so the story is huuuuuuge (i spent like a month and a half just catching up when i started playing two years ago). there are callbacks to the base game in a expansion that came out 9 years after said base game. it makes the whole thing feel like a expertly drawn web of plotlines and characters... except that isn't that case at all. the writers have mentioned multiple times that things that happened in the third expansion (6 years in) weren't planned from the beginning. that is, they just threw paint at the wall back in the base game bc the colors (vibes) looked cool. they just had enough skill to make a painting out of it later.

i guess having a good grasp of your story's themes helps a lot with that, too, now that i think about it. it assures that the colors are at least complimentary when you are slinging them about at the start of the story.

example 2: destiny, which is a completely different game. destiny doesnt use story the same way ffxiv does, though it is important (somewhat)... but lore is where the vibes come in to play for destiny imo. they do so much with so little. still using the painting analogy, it's almost like negative space art - they fill in just enough to give you an idea of the figure but not nearly as much as you would need to discern the details. and still the world feels vast. most of the time you are shooting aliens while wielding space magic, but every weapon, gear, etc has its own lore piece, and whole plotlines/characters that never show up in game or in the main story can be told through them. it's basically just vibes - aesthetic, some character moments, letters/logs, etc. and it works! the world feels lived in, most of the characters are well defined and even though sometimes the main story kinda drags, there is enough to keep you interested.

(it kinda reminds me of how i write description, which i've talked about before, but for the lucky ones who don't follow my rambling nonsense on this blog: i have a lot of trouble visualizing places or people when writing (or reading tbh) so i usually use a lot of atmosphere and emotion to mask the fact that i have no fucking clue what this very important place/person looks like. )

there are cons and pros to this approach. by being so vague and focusing on small bits that seem an ocean apart, the game gives just enough for the player to fill in the blanks themselves. that is good, because then the player is more likely to fill said blanks with stuff they like. it ends up being more of collaborative effort - and i'm sure the writers behind the game use the players' "headcanons" as some sort of thermometer for what/how to write next. so its writers and players feeding off each other's ideas in a way.

buuuuut.... it can also be pretty bad. you risk never committing to a vision or plotline by writing like this. nothing is ever set in stone. retconning, which isn't bad by itself, can happen way too much to be acceptable. if something can end up being anything, what is the point of it existing anyway? why should you care if the spine behind isn't well formed enough to carry the story later?

another danger is that the actual canon and the player's canon can end up being way too different in the end. maybe you meant to write the story this way... but the player filled the blanks just differently enough that "this way" ends up being unsatisfying and wrong.

but the biggest problem, for me, is risking never getting a proper resolution. since so many story moments and worldbuilding elements end up coming from "vibes", you risk relying way too much on the rule of cool.... which sets up a lot of stuff, usually, but never concludes them. that's also my biggest problem with asoiaf, for example - so much of that series is about building up tension, foreshadowing certain battles or encounters or whatever... that the payoff is almost never there (which is only made worse by the loooong time between book releases). it gets to a point that nothing the author comes up with will satisfy what the reader is expecting of the story.

"vibes" (or themes & aesthetics if you will) do a wonderful job of touching a reader's (or player's) strings with imagery, emotion and promise. but whatever comes from it needs to be tied up into an actual storyline (most of the time, at least). ffxiv managed to pull it off with its last two expansions but destiny stumbled a bit with its last one. players were expecting SO much of lightfall after the expansion before it, witch queen, since it managed to nail both vibes and plot. witch queen and the seasons (kind of episodes) after it setup SO much stuff. it promised a lightfall that would be an explosion - a much waited confrontation between the players and the villain, answers given, mysteries solved... and it did nothing of the sort. confusion and anger soon followed.

which is to say... vibes can be very helpful when you pause to interrogate why they interest you so much. why do you like this particular aesthetic, this imagery, this turn of phrase? some elements just pull you in and its fine to go and write a chapter or scene that is basically just you going "wow this is SO cool" even though you have no clear idea why. it's just the vibes it gives. it just presses your right buttons.

... but you will need to wrap them up into something coherent eventually. and for writers i think it's easier - usually "later" just means "once the first draft is done" aka "no one but your trusted betas will ever have to glance at this mess". for live service games like ffxiv or destiny - or even regular rpgs like dragon age or mass effect - it can be very dangerous. writers come and go. turns out that vibes-fuelled story point someone cleared for release 4 years ago doesn't make sense after all! and yeah, hyping up certain characters and plot elements seemed like a great idea for player retention 6 months ago, but what the hell do we do now?

it's too late - the players have already played the thing, they have VERY strong emotions about the thing and they are waiting impatiently for you make the resolution of said thing awesome. and you've got no clue of how to meet said expectations.

(having said all that, i do believe authors can all fall prey to this in non-standalone works too. but we usually have the ability/autonomy to make hard decisions, which video game writers of huge ips like destiny/ffxiv/dragon age/etc usually don't have.)

and of course, using vibes can go very wrong in other ways. you know the negative art destiny does with its worldbuilding/characters? i think books can go way too hard in the opposite direction. i felt this way when reading stuff like acotar, for example. the story wanted to give me certain vibes BADLY, because vibes work!, but i could see right through it (and this is my opinion!) and there was no meat below the all the fanfarre.

sometimes your characters just havent earned the cool/interesting moments.

anyway!! tldr: ive been thinking a lot about just going with the vibes for my wip and i think that's a pretty neat idea actually!! sometimes tending to your darlings can lead to interesting realizations about your story's themes that you otherwise would not notice by being too stuck to rigid plotting and too much rationalization (does it advance the plot? is this scene truly necessary? how is this developing the main character? etc) - but only when you interrogate them enough to find that out and use this newfound knowledge to enhance the story in a revision/another draft.

#ffxiv and destiny released new stuff in the same day last week and now i have Thoughts(tm) #ren.txt #ffxiv #destiny #writing #idk how to tag this its just rambly nonsense ;-;

[yellowbluemoonshine]

Hi, hope you're doing well.

Yuzuriha fanarts and, of course, cosplays seem to have skyrocketed after the anime's release and while this had a positive effect on the series' popularity, I can't help but think many people are missing out on Yuzuriha's character. Plot (and fan service -_-) aside, looking at her character individually, she's a finely written character. We don't get to see many logical and pragmatic female characters who can hold their own and actually fight without being a burden in Japanese media. And I find her, for lack of a better word, "tough girl" act overall quite satisfying especially when her concealed feelings were revealed and explored towards the end of the manga. This made me want to read her part in the light novel, which I am planning to do soon. Anyway, I was wondering what you think of her and her relationship with the rest of the cast and her relevance to the plot.

Hi. Thanks for the ask, anon. I hope, you are doing well too.

General Opinion on Yuzuriha;

And you explained really well. She is fine character but she is also used as fan service and comic relief a lot which is a shame so anyway, here's my general opinion on her and her relationships.

She is fine character;

She is smart. She cooparates with others in a situtions that she cant survive on her own. This also means a lot of interesting interactions between different characters. She fight well and she is independent. We dont have much female characters, especially good ones so its nice that she is in the story as good character. She is pretty. She gives fan services but at least, she still has character. She is femme fatale, a pretty woman who seduces men for her own gain and drives them to dangerous situtions. Her fighting style also fits this side of her. She is funny so at least she gives comic relief to the series. Most characters are too serious so sometimes, it's fun to have a character who is chill.

As personality, she seems to similar to Toma at first sight. They both are mysterious, kinda sadistic, they always give a smile and pretend to be trustworthy only to usually betray for their own gains and they both has earth element etc but i think she is a lot similar to Chobei in a way she is independent, she is naughty girl who wants to do whathever she wants. She is pleasure person. She doesnt care about shame to survive. She lies and she is very social, this part of her is a lot like Chobe. Only difference is Chobei wants to be leader and dominates others while Yuzuriha usually prefers to play safe. She has her own agenda. She is also very realistic or negative like Gabimaru. They both are ninjas, after all.

Though her motivation as villain was explored more because it would make sense why Sagiri is so protective of her and she would actuall have an answer to Isuzu when she said 'think about her victims and their families'. And honestly she has a point.

She is Good Big Sister;

The most interesting part of her for me is that she is actually good sister. She became ninja to gain money for her little sister. She risked her life for her many times and still tried to make her happy. And the reason she wants to live for long time isnt just because for herself. Its most likely a promise she made with her sister. And we only learn this when she is about to die, that story she told before is actually real. Jigokuraku is a story that explore humanity of criminals and Yuzuriha is one of them. She is not just bad guy for the sake of it. Her love for her sister and her motivation also gives depth to her character.

I think this wasnt mentioned enough because Chobe usually overshadow her as big brother but i think its different. I am just gonna say it. Chobei is crazy. His love with for Toma is crazy. Thats just him and Toma. Yuzuriha is good, great big sister actually and this should be talked more.

I am mentioning this because usually 'brocon/siscon' siblings love shine more but their love or obsessions is too much sometimes. So its sad to to see they overshadow just your usual loving big sister/brother. And thats very unfair.

Fake Death Scene;

I think this really ruined her character and made it hard to take her seriously after that fake death scene. She has clearly 'last moments' scene which is perfect way to end her character but she suddenly comes out of nowhere. And not only her survival doesnt make sense, and also ruined the death scene but also, her staying in story did nothing for the plot. Whether that scene shouldnt have portrayed as death or she shouldve stayed death.

(Similar thing happenned with Chobe but it was obvious that he survived with the way Toma hold him nad problem isnt him surviving at that scene but it show it happens and the whole baby thing is ridicilous.)

At least, this couldve been good chance to explore Yuzuriha's humanity tooo, but her backstory wasnt explored the way Gabi and Chobei's story was. Not just Yuzuriha, Toma and many other characters too, wasnt explored much. Though, i think thats one of the main issues with Jigokuraku. (Another issue is it shouldve been more 'dont tell, show' thing). We didnt explore much even though there were so many different characters, different interactions, there wasnt much development. For example, it would be interesting plot if some point she betrayed the main group but eventually felt regret and came back to them maybe.

Sagiri and Yuzuriha;

I think its fine ship but its full yuri fan service. My biggest issue with this is Yuzuriha suddenly flirt iwth Sagiri out of nowhere and at some point, Sagiri is okay? with it, also out of nowhere. If only we could explore why they suddenly attract towards each others (other than 'oh hot woman'). Like, why Yuzuriha suddenly likes her out of all people? Gabimaru also has idea of justice, just like Sagiri. She also has a fan, Senta who seems to admire her personality. And same with Sagiri too. She was so stubborn with her rules even against someone like Gabimaru who is victim but then she sayd 'you are not a villain' to Yuzuriha even though she doesnt know anything about her story.

Though logically you can guess Yuzuriha (also just like Toma) likes people who would do anything for her and protects her. There is a soft side to her. My only issue is that there is no development and their interaction seems out of nowhere. And also Sagiri always think about Gabimaru more than anything so its weird. But otherwise, i like fanarts. Their personality fits each others. Serious innocent girl x Chill naughty girl. Its very fun idea, but in canon story, i dont think its well explored.

Her Other Interactions;

I feel like her love for Sagiri overshadow her other interactions. She was like a big sister to Nurugai and Mei. She was good ally to Gabimaru after some point. She even teased Toma. She gets to be taught by handsome teacher Shion, that was her request. There is also interesting parallels between her and Senta. Senta who is lying to himself btu honest to others and Yuzuriha who is only true to herself but lying to others. He views her as free and admires her but her hiding hearth from anyone isnt a good thing so i wish we explore more of this. Its a shame we didnt get more of it. Anyway she clearly likes them too.

Summary;

I am not a big fan of her but i think she is fine character, her being good big sister should be talked more and i wish we get to explore her inner world and interactions more, same for other characters too.

#anon ask #jigokuraku #hells paradise #yuzuriha #gabimaru #aza toma #aza chobe #aza chobei #yamada asaemon sagiri #yuzugiri #yamada asaemon senta #nurugai #saya #yamada asaemon shion #jigokuraku meta #jigokuraku analysis #big sister yuzuriha #writing criticism #tamiya gantetsusai #mei #jigokuraku parallels

[comicaurora]

Okay so 1: Absolutely spectacular visuals this page. Like desperate threads reaching to weave back into one another, those lightning strands. But also this page made me notice 2: I can't pluck from my memory a time when a page in Aurora Felt Like a transition. Like as in the narrative momentum throughout the comic is regularly at a rhythm and tempo and new story and character elements are slotted into place in such a way that makes each page feel like a piece of a tightly woven braid where we occasionally linger over the overlapping bends. Which left me kinda boggled when I realized this page felt much less like an intersection and very distinctly like a joint. Like 'Oh that is supposed to be there, it is serving a purpuse, but it's Full Transition and I'm not used to that happening'.

So to get to the question(s?) this prelude was meant to contextualize: What's your general north star for the flow you build up in the story? How big a role does that little 'better writer in the back of your brain' play in the zoomed out view of the comic vs moment to moment? Does it get particularly unwieldy, and do knots to the momentum sneak up on you?

Pacing is absolutely the hardest part of comic-making for me, and I tend to take a more diagnostic approach to it - it's more about fixing problems than laying rails. So when I'm laying out pages and rereading, I tend to consider these:

Is this scene feeling aimless? The problem is probably that I started on it before I found the next anchor event - the next key thing that I know is going to happen. I never start a scene before I know what point it's going to serve and what event it's going to establish. Every scene has at least one point to make, and sometimes the problem is the anchor point I'm aiming for is actually too far away - I need something to happen sooner.

Am I stuck, even though I know what happens next? Then I'm probably stalling on ending the scene and moving on to the next one. Scenes don't need to keep going past their logical breakpoints. Sometimes I just need to draw the next panel, even if I'm not positive what'll go in it, and then feel it out from there.

Am I dreading laying out the buildup to an event or reveal but feel I need the buildup to pace the impact? Then I don't have enough things happening in that buildup. Dread is the result of tedium, and if the buildup is just mandatory spacefiller it will result in tedium. Either the buildup needs to be shorter or more stuff needs to happen in it. This is when I have a lot of luck in letting the characters surprise me, since juicy character drama can fill a lot of holes that the plot leaves bare.

Am I spending all this time on the reread wondering "what happened to the other thing that's happening?" This is the danger with running arcs in parallel; if I leave one storyline unattended at a cliffhanger moment, I might be too hung up on wondering what's going on there to pay any attention to what's going on currently. As a result, I try to end scenes when the audience is given enough information to infer what those characters will continue doing offscreen. Running from point A to point B, invoking a spell, evenly matched in combat, etc etc. This usually means I need to adjust how the scene ended when it transitioned into the new scene - tie up at least one loose end before moving on.

When it comes to pacing, I think the moment-to-moment flow matters a lot more than the top-down roadmap of the plot. Something can look extremely simple point-A-to-point-B on paper, but translate to something a lot more involved when it's actually put on the page - in the same way that the script notes for an entire fight scene can just be "they fight and X wins."

The thing I struggle with most is balancing the Cool Moments with how much buildup is required to make those moments Suitably Cool. If I start dropping in random awesome moments with no buildup, they won't hit how I want. I've watched enough out-of-context "top 10 anime fight scenes" to know they only hit as hard as they should when you have the full context for why they mean so much. Without that it's just a bunch of noise and one-liners. I want to jump right to the good stuff, but if I do, it won't be as good. But pacing isn't just packing in filler between the Awesome Moments - that space is where you can fit all kinds of character moments that are impactful in other ways.

I wish I had a more eloquent explanation for what I think the rules of pacing are, but I really do just feel it out and go by the vibes. I'm glad it seems to be working so far!

#asks #writing stuff