#i know how much love and effort goes into both writing canon and original characters ♡ they are both valuable

[shdwtouch]

While I absolutely agree with the sentiment and think oc positivity is sorely needed, comparing writing canon muses to fast fashion sounds a bit icky to me. I know you don't mean it in a bad way, but it does kinda sound like you're implying that people writing canon characters are putting less love, effort and creativity into their portrayals. Just because there are multiple people writing the same character doesn't cheapen their value, so I'd personally look for some other metaphor.

firstly, just want to say: I have so much anxiety about this message. like I know you're coming from a good place but its confrontation and alarm bells in my head so let me see if I can articulate. ; ; also, I'm posting this from mobile so I apologize for any weird formatting etc owo;

I'm going to stand by my statement (tho I deleted the tags [edit: I did take a screenshot for context sake]) honestly because I definitely was not implying that canon portrayals have less value, in fact I specifically stated that both canon and original characters have value, just like fast fashion and couture have their own values.

let me explain my thought process.

you walk into, say, Walmart and pick up a pair of Levi's. why ? because you've probably worn them before and like them, or heard of them from others and want to try them out. or because you're simply browsing and like the style and color and they're in the right size so why not ? canon muses have that ease of access, whether it be knowing the fandom or simply having a range of content and reviews to go off of as a "consumer".

original characters don't have that luxury; I don't know about other people, but for me sometimes engaging with original characters - and this is coming from someone who writes predominantly fandomless original characters and agonizes over how accessible their lore is - is, well, bottlenecked by my own energy and willingness to engage with the information and content the creator had provided. it's much easier for me, energy wise, to play a video game and then gravitate to muses from it because I'm already familiar with them, so I already have a foot in the door so to speak.

I fucking love reading original lore tho ! I also FUCKING LOVE canon divergence and headcanons ! but it isn't always easy to engage with or incorporate, and I think that's something that impacts a lot of people in how they view ocs compared to canons. original characters just often take more effort to engage with and understand, and that's not a bad thing ! but in a busy life it's understandable that folks want to go to what is comfortable and what they know, so they pick up a pair of Levi's instead of going to get a tailored pair of pants.

next, I should clarify that the characters are clothes, and we, as writers, are the ones who wear those clothes. which is to say, our own personal style and actions play into the overall appearance and feel of our portrayals. two people can take the same shirt and make completely different outfits with it ! maybe one of them decides to crop it, or bleach it, or cut it up and sew it into something new. and all of these things are valid ! and they all have value. you may be wearing the same shirt as someone else, but you still style it the way you want to. you still look different, still unique, still beautiful. there is nothing bad about liking fast fashion or canon characters. fast fashion is convenient, so are canon characters. some canon characters are poorly written and need to be dressed up or fixed to be worn, while others are quality and wonderfully made ! just like clothes ! and honestly, the same applies to original characters too !

the pants I'm wearing right now ? my favorite pair of pants. I've had them for like... four years. and they're still going strong. fast fashion isn't necessarily cheap, just like couture isn't necessarily haute. but again, it's about how you wear it. and everyone in the BG3 rpc wears their clothes, whether they be canon or original, in their own unique, beautiful way ! we all have our own style, and that style provides value to what we're trying to portray. neither canon nor original characters are better than the other, they BOTH have pros and cons. just like fast fashion and couture. they both have value, and their mode or means doesn't detract or add to the value of the final product.

I apologize if it seemed I was implying canon writers aren't as valuable as original writers, or somehow cheaper due to volume, in my tags. I definitely see where you are coming from and that's a valid perspective. However, that was not my intention and I hope I've managed to clarify my stance and explain myself a bit better. thank you for your message, I hope you're well ! sending lots of good vibes ♡

also, in case anyone was curious, my pants:

they are incredibly soft and flowy, very nice. I sleep in them and wear them out. I know they're winter themed but I think they're subtle enough to be worn outside the season, plus they have polar bears on them and I love polar bears !

also, if it's of any value, I have written my fair share of canon characters. I wrote extensively for assassins creed and marvel, in fact that's where I got my start in the rpc ! if I had to carry the metaphor, my "fast fashion" would be my (canon divergent) cli.nt bar.ton. I may have gotten him from marvel but I have since sliced him up and incorporated the pieces of my portrayal into my original projects ♡

#《 ° inbox 》 we just got a letter ! i wonder who its from ? #《 ° puffin.exe 》 im a puffin ! i dont do much #° mobile post ! #and now ? now we hide. *scurries away* pls be gentle with me ; A ; i swear i have no bad intentions and never wanted to start discourse #ive just been watching crafting videos and the metaphor jumped out at me idk but yeah i love both oc and canons #i know how much love and effort goes into both writing canon and original characters ♡ they are both valuable #and if you ever feel devalued in the rpc because of what kind of character youre writing im sorry and you deserve better

[snickerdoodlles]

finally posting some background notes for red line fic under the cut !! i meant to do this [checks wrist] an embarrassingly long time ago, except i get shy talking about my writing hjgfjhfj. so!! reading thru red line here and dumping out some thoughts as we go!! for @the-cookie-of-doom <333

red line started with this post. (me, every time i say i'm not going to write something: *grabs clown nose*) i wanted a fic where Chay watched Kim fight because 1) Chay deserves this, ep14 bar fight my BELOVED, but also 2) Kim's put a lot of effort into sectioning parts of his life off from each other, so it's SUPER FUN from a writing perspective to throw them all together and watch him flounder.

planning out red line, it was either going to be Kim pov if it was pre-mafia reveal, or Chay pov post-reveal. both of which are really fun!! but i wound up going for a pre-reveal scenario mostly because this was supposed to be sHORT and a Chay pov didn't feel right without a reconciliation or a lot of setup otherwise. so Kim pov it was! then it was a little bit of rolling ideas around for why goons would be present period. i landed on Arthee's fuck-ups causing problems before Chay's first kidnapping mostly because i didn't want too many guns involved (there was just. no way Kim could've easily protected Chay in that without sending him away for real, which defeats the purpose) but i wound up really loving that premise and committing for a few other reasons:

Kim never brought any of the mafia into Chay's life in canon. all of the mafia bullshit Chay gets dragged thru is related to his own family being involved in the mafia (none of which Chay knows about!), which is very crunchy to me.

loan sharks breaking down Chay's door was his normal. like. i feel like this goes largely ignored by a lot of fandom, but Chay's normal is gang thugs destroying his stuff and him needing to patch up his loved ones. the fucking things that does to a kid.

i just really like Arthee as a plot device. he kinda got left off to the side by canon (which!! fair!! they were juggling a lot of balls there and i'm glad they dropped him in favor of other characters/plots), but you can also see how much i loved the "Chay gets kidnapped because of Arthee's debts" kimchay premises from the early fic days in here XD

writing Kim and Chay in a Tutoring Session, No Really, It Looks Like A Date But This Is Tutoring Honest date was ridiculously fun. i love putting boys in situations. but i also just??? really like them being friends??? well, flirty friends here, but it's so important to me how much Kim and Chay just like spending time together. they're two very lonely boys and i'm very happy they found each other <333

also, Kim telling himself he's not flirting while flirting and encouraging Chay to flirt with him. disaster boy <33333

i spent probably a silly amount of time thinking about what weapons to give Kim (originally, i wasn't going to give him any). i didn't want it to be knives because while that's very hot of him, knife fights are…very, very rough. far more like that one mission impossible movie than elliot from leverage or literally any other movie knife fight, and while patching up knife fight wounds is excellent, i already have that for a different WIP. i also just don't see Kim carrying outright weapons in with his university gear? maybe his first year, but not at the end of it, too much risk for things to go badly. hence, mace and brass knuckles-- the mace is one of those little keychain mace things you can buy in a pack (Kim's was a gift from a friend nearly a year prior, he was very startled and very confused by the offering lol). he got brass knuckles because i think Kim is all for something that helps minimize how hard/often he has to punch someone, but mainly because when i was looking at the keychain mace, i remembered those stupid 3D-printed keychain brass knuckles things also existed and amused myself thinking about how much they'd offend Kim. thanks to that thought train, Kim got a proper set to better break a dude's nose <3

Chay and Kim trying to shove the other behind them as the loan shark's thugs break down Chay's door still makes me laugh. i'm easy to please like that, i love that meme y'all.

Kim's running commentary on how stupid Gold Jim is was SO MUCH FUN to write. i like that Kim's irritation making Gold Jim comical didn't take away from how threatening the situation was either? like, obviously, it was less intense, that was the point, but i'm still really happy with how serious Kim feels through all of this because there is danger in the fact the idiots are looking for a fight, even if they haven't realized how outclassed they are yet.

also, i just really like the level of Kim's violence in his head. i like that it's just a stream of conscious he's not putting a lot of thought into. i just don't see Kim's relationship with violence as being a dramatic thing-- it's just that Kim's first thought any time he sees someone is how to break them, just incase.

Kim naming the thugs One thru Five was 100% for my writing convenience, i am SO delighted people loved that for him XD

Chay hitting a thug with the frying pan for interrupting his date was the first thing i knew would happen in this fic. Chay deserved to hit at least one(1) person with a frying pan in canon, so he got to do it twice here. Kim is DESPERATELY trying not to swoon, he's going to be so horny about this after the shock of everything wears off.

man, i cried a lot thru writing the action for this scene, but i'm really satisfied with how it came out actually!! WORTH IT

i am still ridiculously tickled by this particular "Oh" / Oh moment. KimChay making hearteyes at each other while the goons feel superfluous my beloved <333

Kim making a hot grunt sound while manhandling a guy twice his size into position for Chay to whack with his pan is going to fuel conservatively 83% of Chay's spank bank fantasies from here on btws.

writing Kim tell Gold Jim who he is was so much fun.

in that line of thought, if Kinn ever learned Kim threatened some thug with his name, he'd beam like a puppy. doubly-so if he realized the specific wording Kim used. his metaphorical tail would be wagging up a hurricane if he ever realized how much Kim associates him with safety and protection.

also very fun to me was Kim accidentally calling Chay his boyfriend and immediately swallowing his tongue about it. i didn't plan that, it just fell out of my brain like it did Kim's mouth and i went "okay!! we'll roll with this!!!"

"is the safety on" was Chay holding himself back by the barest skin of his teeth. he is going to get his mouth on Kim asap but he is NOT going to let some stupid emergency room trip ruin their first kiss. meanwhile, Kim's about to enter an angst spiral, lmao. (in my head, there's a dent in the floorboards from where Chay threw his frying pan away. it's amazing it didn't shock them out of their kiss, but Chay is not to be deterred dammit!!)

u all know me and how much i love my kiss fic, but ending this one with Chay having an adrenaline crash was delightful to write, i'm gonna need to do this more often XD Chay's 100% of the mindset he's either going to be horny or cry, and he'd much prefer to be kissed, tyvm!! unfortunately for him, i prefer tears. also, Kim keeps trying to use his mouth for pesky things like words, it is very unproductive towards Chay's current goal >:T

speaking of Chay's wild emotions-- i very much do not see Chay liking violence for violence's sake. he's had enough of people throwing their weight around him for a lifetime. he does, however, have the biggest thing for a hot boy coming to protect him, esp if the boy is Wik shaped. don't tell me Wik was part of Chay's gay revelation and tell me he DIDN'T have so many fantasies of Wik protecting him from the shitty loan sharks.

that said tho! reality =/= fantasy. Chay was terrified Kim was going to get hurt because of him, half his adrenaline crash was just worry for Kim :(

i'm not sure what to say about this next bit transitioning to the ending of this fic except that it was definitely the trickiest and the longest to write. Chay's drilling Kim for answers because Porsche has been absent for months, but Chay's not upset with Kim. (Kim's the one here with him! he's the one answering Chay's questions!) i wrote myself into a corner a few times with dialogue that was too accusatory for what i wanted. but also, this was the part when i was like "oh!! i know what the summary should be!!" because six thugs have nothing on the intimidation factor of Chay Has Questions XD

Kim saying he can go and Chay going "why tho????" made me laugh out loud writing this. i love Chay's terrible priorities so much. you will never be able to convince me that Chay wasn't 100% ready to accept Kim as part of the mafia so long as Kim cared about him, this boy is so ride-or-die for his whole two(2) important people. Kim trying to convince mr. obstinate he doesn't want him is even more futile than Kim trying to deny himself what he wants. esp as Chay calls Kim out for all his flirting <3

on a more serious note tho, i really like how Chay comes across during this part of the story. it's kinda like Kim's violence thing-- i see the core of Chay being very, very lonely. he really only has his brother in the world, who's not able to be home too much due to circumstance, and now isn't home at all. and then here comes Kim, reaching out to Chay and asking all about him and just plain being a friend to him-- of course Chay latched on. of course he's going to cling if he thinks Kim likes him back. he's too lonely not to.

Kim's little whispered "stay" was my driving force every time i got stuck on this fic, i love when Kim tries to tell himself all the reasons he's not allowed to want something and then ask for it anyways. that's what we in the business call character growth XD

to wrap up this very messy fic ramble, some lines i really, really love in this fic:

Kim's never wished for a gun before. Kim doesn’t like guns. They’re too fast. Too clean.

hehehe

Gold Jim chuckles menacingly. It’s like he’s following a theatre script. Kim’s going to break every bone in his body before he sets him on fire and applauds.

i'm not sure if anyone noticed??? but the specific items of torture are based on theatre/performance idioms-- "break a leg" and "you're on fire"-- hence Kim applauding at the end.

Kim reminding himself not to scare Chay by killing the idiots, light maiming ONLY

cleaning up blood is so annoying, anyone with a period can concur 😭

Chay stands over Three, wielding a frying pan with two hands and looking just as surprised with himself as the rest of them.

i'm just. so, so fond for the image of Chay staring with complete surprise between his frying pan and a guy he just gave a concussion. he just did that! he just did that???

“How’s that going for you?” Chay asks, warm and soft where he’s still pressed up against Kim, “Felt a lot like tutoring to me.”

listen. LISTEN. Kim's investiagation excuses to hang out with a cute boy he likes are so cute. Chay agrees with me. we are both so correct for this. Chay's going to tease Kim so much about this but also encourage it past this point, he loves Kim being obsessed with him too <3

#fic: red line #i'd clean this up except im feeling v sick rn hgjfj #so!! messy thought rambles it is!! #hope u like friend <33333 #kinnporsche #kimchay

[galactic-pirates]

For the fic emoji game: 💖, 🤷‍♀️, 🎬, and ⏳, please! :)

Oh yay thank you for the ask! 😍

💖Which of your fics is your pride and joy? Oh wow! This is such a good question, I love it! Erm... also hard haha, let me think.

I'm tempted to say Time Will Tell because that started as a thought experiment. Can I take a trope I don't really like and make it work for me? The answer was yes so it was a really cool exercise. However, I feel like I might be being overly swayed by the kind comments I've had on it. I have legit teared up reading them. They are frame-worthy. I have the best readers honestly.

Also it does occur to me that time plays tricks. It's easier to remember the stuff I wrote most recently, and not how I felt when I wrote things in the past. At different times, you'd get a different answer. I have more nostalgia for my older fics these days. I'm in a very different place in my life.

Honestly I think I have to go for one of the crossovers. I questioned my life choices while writing both of them because they were such an investment of time and effort. I also knew they were both niche and I could well be writing for an audience of one. However, I still wrote them and that says a lot I think.

So ultimately I'm going to say and the Sins of Atlantis. The Sanctuary/Librarians crossover. I unironically really enjoy it and I have read it more than once. Is that egotistical? Probably. But it's just so much fun.

🤷‍♀️What's a fic you didn't expect to be popular, but really took off? and the Brighter Side of Life. It's a little Librarians oneshot where Eve takes Flynn home to meet her parents. The comments and kudos just poured in (comparatively). I remember being stunned at the time. It was one of half a dozen oneshots I wrote for the Librarians Prompt Month the first year I really took part. That one just went whoosh.

🎬One of your fics gets turned into a TV series. Which one is it and what network is it on? Ooooh. Hmm... interesting. Well this goes back to what I said earlier about time. I don't feel much of a connection anymore beyond "awwww nostalgia" for my older fics. There are some cool details and dynamics, and I feel like taking notes in case I want to incorporate them somehow into a novel in the future. However, that's about the extent of my feelings.

I haven't written a true AU really since those days though. I love AU's, they are a chance to be inventive. When I read back my old fic I'm like "oooh" about the 'clever' choices I made in how to bring in various characters (sorry egotistical again). But that's the fun of AU's really, how to make it all fit together in this new way.

Anyway it's kinda hard to say about my more recent fic, being turned into a TV show because it already is a TV show - it's just missing moments, canon divergence etc.

Also I got to be honest I know nothing about various networks and what they are known for, or what networks are good and what suck. Especially because I mostly watch US TV and I live in England so I never see anything on it's original network (unless it's a multi-region streaming thing like Disney+ I guess).

I suppose... I'm picking at writing an original serial which is the closest books get to a TV show I guess. It's structured very much into episodes and seasons. It's an artifact chasing type unit ala Warehouse 13/the Librarians but based in England, with worldwide adventures and predominantly queer. The Librarians was TNT and Warehouse 13 SyFy (thanks google). I think the new Librarians is on Prime like the new Leverage? The queer MC's do make it trickier though. I think all networks suck for that. I don't know honestly.

⏳If you could go back in time and tell your younger writer self something, what would it be? Another great question!

This is difficult because I have learned so much craft over the years, and it would be amazing to go back and be like "here's what you need to know" so I could write better stories, much earlier. However, that's part of learning I guess - it's a journey. I suppose the emotion here is that I mourn the time I have lost, the stories I didn't tell, and that has less to do with skill and more to do with mental health.

I suppose ultimately it would boil down to a cliché of "don't give up" because I did. As a kid I dreamed of being a writer but when I was about 14 I told myself I had to grow up. That I had more chance of winning the lottery than making any money at it, and I had to get serious and pick a real career. I sobbed all night and a few years later had my first complete mental breakdown, but I digress.

Writing is in my soul. I always return to it. That's why I wish so much that I hadn't turned away from it. Those 'lost years' I mentioned. Back in 2016 I indie published a couple of books. I look at them now and cringe, and wonder how I ever got the nerve as I feel they are so badly written (hey maybe that means my skills have improved?). However, I was finally following my dream. Then... my personal life blew up (I was going to write out what happened but I'll spare you). In my fear and panic I made some decisions and I didn't write much for years. I gave up on my dream. It's only now - 8 years later!!! - that I'm coming back to it and I regret that so much.

So yeah TLDR - don't give up on the dream. Keep writing.

#long post #I answer things #sam talks writing

[papayanna]

I think the thing which annoys me most about how the Rings Of Power series looks to be shaping up is how tired, uninspired, and overdone it feels already.

The secret and/or forbidden love story trope between an elf and a human? We've literally had this about a billion times already within the silmarillion and LOTR themselves. I would much rather see one of those explored on screen honestly - just give us Beren and Luthien already - but no, Amazon has to create a whole new fucking version of this trope! Honestly, the forbidden love trope is NOT my thing, so maybe this one's just on me, but it feels so overdone in the context both of the tolkienverse - where there are plenty of very cool examples of this trope existing already - and in general media, where the secret lovers trope is already really common.

Why on earth have we gotten rid of long hair for male elves and beards for female dwarves? Sorry, I know I've mentioned this a lot of times, but this is a hill I'm willing to die on. Okay, let's say that I give the studio a pass for not giving female dwarves beards, because Tolkien's writings are admittedly sometimes contradictory on this matter. But I still just think it feels like pointlessly diminishing what could have been a very cool worldbuilding trait and character feature, especially since the Jackson films confirmed that female dwarves have beards and many fans really like this theory.

And the elves - this is what gets me the most; considering how much effort Tolkien goes to to emphasise how important hair is to the elves, how formative it is to their identity, it feels callous and silly to give elves short hair. Almost every piece of media I've ever seen for the tolkienverse - be it animated, illustrated, written, or filmed - has given elves long hair. It's pretty much accepted canon at this point, and you can hardly say that the LOTR franchise suffered because it defied gender categories in such a relatively small way. In fact, I know that long haired male elves were something of an awakening for many... :^)

Amazon, by getting rid of this central part of worldbuilding for the elves and dwarves, is not "doing something" here. It is not a revolutionary leap away from Tolkien's works to make the works better and more interesting, the show isn't playing around or even genuinely trying to engage with the original material at all. It just feels like they're trying to reinforce gender stereotypes on characters to make them more palatable to the general public, to make this show more marketable. :/

Finally, the erasure of established character personalities - Galadriel as a girlboss feanorian and Elrond as a 'politically ambitious' guy - feels so weird to me. Honestly, I think Amazon just took the characters everyone who's seen the LOTR films would know, because they're hoping to get people more engaged with the show that way, and they're twisting the narrative around these characters to make them more marketable. That's why we've got Elrond, Galadriel, and rumours of Isildur appearing in the show (and, arguably, why Celebrimbor and Gil-Galad seem to be playing such small roles comparatively despite being very central to the original plot of the Silmarillion). Again, sacrificing the actual story for the sake of making this show more marketable to the general public.

It feels, generally, like the show has changed or sacrificed crucial aspects of itself to become more attractive to a mainstream audience, but I really think that's a shame - LOTR is already a beloved story, it's already well known and liked, and you don't have to put more fuckable characters in or girlbossify characters to make the show sell. People would have watched it anyway, but now we might be getting a tired GOT rip-off instead. It also feels like the showrunners are emulating the vibes of LOTR and the Silmarillion, but not really immersing themselves in it. It feels like its own story entirely, with a whole different vibe, message, and goal, which just incidentally happens to borrow the tolkienverse as a vague backdrop - NOT actually an adaptation of the Silmarillion like it claims to be.

I don't want to count all my chickens before they hatch - maybe (very possibly!) I'll be wrong about some of these things, I really hope I am! Obviously the show hasn't come out yet so I don't want to condemn it entirely (though I would encourage folks to 🏴‍☠️🏴‍☠️ it when it comes out, rather than give Bezos money). At the moment, I'm just (somewhat passive-aggressively) airing my thoughts.

But, maybe it will genuinely surprise people and be pretty good. I also don't want to hate on the cast, especially those who are playing new characters specifically made for the series... they're just doing their jobs at the end of the day, some of them seem really excited and committed to their roles, and of course we may also be pleasantly surprised by them! Most of the current grudges I hold are against the studio and the writers.

#lotr the rings of power #the rings of power #silmarillion #pap speaks #long post #sorry sorry for going off on one again just had a lot of Thoughts on this

[bonesandthebees]

hi !! i hope you’re doing well ~ i want to say a few things:

one: i’m no longer a mcyt stan and thus i’ve drifted a lot from writings of the community but somehow i always find myself drawn back to tommy’s clinic !! it was maybe ? the first fic i read about mcyt and i started it when it had like say three chapters 😭 seeing the growth since then makes me incredibly happy as a writer myself it’s just… you’re incredible and despite not enjoying the content anymore i will always enjoy your writing

which brings me.. two! i recently ( this morning ) discovered you have a new fic which i believe you call stars? 😭 and !!!!! oh my gosh. everything about it is mindblowing. the world building is incredible like i cannot begin to explain how much i admire it. i feel like i’m reading original work when i read your stories and it’s amazing how you’re able to create something out of a simple liking towards streamers and youtubers and their characters on a roleplay smp 😞🥺 i looooove love love your mind. seriously.

if you have any worldbuilding ( and ch. building too ) tips would you mind leaving them somewhere? 😅 your worldbuilding just itches something in my little author brain and i want to know your main process sooo badly !!

sending love love love !!! i might drop by again so i’ll drop this emoji so you know it’s me 🧸

awww oh my god this is so sweet!! I'm so happy to hear that even if you're not super into mcyt anymore, you still enjoy my writing :D seriously that's so cool to me that people will read my stuff just because of the stories themselves and not bc of the fandom it's for. like, that's one of the highest compliments i think you can give to a fic writer so thank you <33

also ty for the compliments on my worldbuilding i am SO proud of the worlbuilding i've done for stars. while I definitely do make a very strong effort to keep dynamics and relationships in character and to use the canon characteristics of my characters to influence plot, a lot of my fics are just vehicles for original concepts that i plop my blorbos into like i'm playing dollhouse games lol. I'd love to turn stars into an original novel one day with completely new characters, but we'll have to see how that goes

worldbuilding tips!! on the passerine podcast's channel on youtube I recently did a live interview where I was asked about that, so I'll try to give a condensed version of what I said there. when it comes to worldbuilding for me, I try to imagine it like a tree. there's the main trunk that your story is centered around. these are the world concepts that are going to be directly related to your story so you have to flesh them out to make the base of the trunk as thick as possible. examples of the 'trunk' of my stories would be: the way the system of heroes vs villains in clinic, the setup for the vampire hunting academy in notcturnal animals, and the general government structures of both eldingvegr and zephys iv in stars. these are concepts that are integral to the function of the plot, so they have to be very fleshed out and this is what you're going to want to focus on the most.

a lot of worldbuilding tips i see online say to HEAVILY worldbuild everything about your world so it makes everything feel more alive even if you don't end up using it in the story. personally, I disagree with this, at least for my style of writing. if I told myself I had to know the current economic state of the city in clinic just to 'flesh out the world' more I would never get anything done. instead, when it comes to details like that, I try to think of them as branches on the tree. when certain new elements become relevant to the story, you can add a branch onto the base of the trunk and flesh that detail out albeit in a smaller way. examples of branches would be: the entire function of sigil tattoos on humans vs vampires in nocturnal animals, or the details of different side planets in stars like Floslium, Kinoko, Badlands, etc. these are things that you don't have to start fleshing out until you need them to be talked about in the story. don't bog yourself down with worldbuilding trying to write out every detail of every possible character or organization or government that might sow up before you get anything down on a page. get your trunk determined, then start writing and figure out where you need to branch off from there

I don't know if that makes sense but that's how I think of worldbuilding in my head. as far as chapter building goes I don't have as much in depth advice because I don't really have a solid strategy for how i build chapters. it's kind of just based off what plot points I know I need to hit, and how many I can hit in a single chapter.

anyway ty so much anon!! i'll tag your asks as teddy anon bc of the teddy bear emoji, hope this helped!

#teddy anon #ask #bones writes

[isagisyoichi]

PINKY STAR (RUN) :｡･:*:･ﾟ’★,｡･:*:･ﾟ’☆

SYNOPSIS: isagi as your boyfriend

CHARACTERS INCLUDED: isagi yoichi my boyfriend of many several years

WARNINGS: swearing? i think idk i forget also yah pretend they all go to the same school and stuff. also horribly self indulgent if u couldn't already tell

A/N: if you remember my old one delete it from your memory it was literally so bad help anyways the re-up because my boyfriend deserves better. also i really like this one and i feel like it’s more in character for him :P lol i've had this in my drafts for like, ever <3 but also my last post for a while because i have ap exams and my sat soon :P

FOR: the anon that asked me where my original isagi bf hcs went :’)

after the initial awkwardness of being in a new relationship fades and you two become comfortable with each other, a relationship with isagi would be like dating your slightly awkward best friend who you make out with sometimes.

like, i don’t really see isagi being high maintenance, so i feel like a relationship with him would definitely be on the relaxed side, but still romantic, you know?

isagi’s inner monologue is so funny and he definitely lets his thoughts out to you. it makes you laugh to see your usually friendly-to-all boyfriend have his moments, too.

you guys are one of those couples that give each other a look when someone’s doing something weird in public #telepathicconnection <3

but, isagi’s really such a sweetie with you. i know user isagisyoichi may be slightly biased when they say this, but believe me when i say that isagi’s 100% boyfriend material.

walks you to class whenever he can. always either holding your hand as he listens attentively to you complaining about school.

writes down things he feels are important about you in a digital note entitled “y/n 💗,” so he can remember them in the future.

isagi's used to talking to all kinds of people, so even if you're not the most talkative, he can adjust with no problem.

and he’ll always entertain you about whatever stupid conversation you wanna have.

kinda basic with pet names. babe, baby, dork (he would, i don’t wanna hear it), are his usual rotation.

randomly compliments you/says these really romantic things out of nowhere because he can’t control himself and often blurts things out.

“yeah, of course, when we get married, i’ll-”

“when we get married?” you inquire as you cut isagi off. you two have never discussed marriage, just but the thought of isagi wanting to spend the rest of his life with you is enough to make your head spin.

isagi’s eyes go wide when he realizes what he’s said. damn his mouth that moves faster than his mind.

swallowing hard and taking a breath, isagi says, “y-yeah, when we get married,” further affirming his statement with a nod, albeit a bit of a nervous one.

now both of you guys are flustered LOL.

likes to sit his head in your lap and have you play with his hair, while you two talk or just sit in silence.

such a good listener, perfect person to rant about anything with. he’s very understanding, he’ll hold you if you need him to, wipe your tears if you’re crying, give you advice if you need it, just overall so sweet.

also always knows when you're sad because of his intuition. isagi encourages you to open up to him, but ultimately doesn’t force you, just lets you know that he’s always there for you <3

(that's kind of lie because isagi does pry a little LOL, but he means well)

takes care of you! nags you a little, tries his best to make sure you're not doing anything stupid, and if you are, that someone responsible (him) is watching you, looks after you when you’re sick, etc.

gives you his jacket when you’re cold (he’s been waiting to do that his whole life bro LMAOO), carries your things, always texts you good morning and good night, just overall sooo good to you.

but as soft as he is for you, isagi does have this tendency to get these random spouts of confidence, so sometimes he’ll say or do something really bold out of nowhere.

like, he’ll suddenly grab your waist and pull you closer to him, or he’ll kiss you out of the blue. the flustered expression that rests on your face for a change always makes him smirk *heart eyes*

in general, though, isagi's still kind of awkward sometimes regardless and does say or do things that make you go "???" and make him be like "why did i do that" LOL he's so cute though <333

he’s pretty basic with dates, usually opts for things like restaurants, walks in the parks, movie nights, or stuff like that, but they’re still really fun!

but, if you ever want to do something out of the norm, he wouldn't be opposed to it, either. but, you do have to tell him ‘cause he's not a mind reader lol.

(okay but, one time, isagi tried to watch a scary movie with you because he wanted to do that thing where he wraps his arm around you during the scary parts, but HE ended up being scared instead 😭)

isagi’s the type to put your name with a heart emoji or the date you guys started dating in his instagram bio LOL

y/n 💓 IHS Forward #10 ⚽️ *insert some soccer quote about grinding*

it’s a bit middle school, but you let it slide because you know he just wants to show you off <3

study sessions are normal between you two but, you guys always get bored or distracted halfway through and start watching youtube or something LOL.

it’s canon he’s a thigh man lol, so if he ever sees you wearing an oversized shirt, especially one of his, with shorts, isagi will literally short circuit in real life.

he keeps his hand on your thigh when you guys cuddle that day, tracing patterns on your skin, or just squeezing it every now and then.

in general, though, isagi likes poking at and playing with them whenever they're out <3

once, isagi wanted you to do that trend on tiktok where he sits between your thighs and stuff, but he had no idea how to bring it up LOL

so, isagi just watched tiktoks of it in front of you and hoped eventually you would get the hint 🙄

and you did, thanks to his incredible lack of subtly. he doesn’t even care when you giggle and tell him how bad he is at being slick, isagi got your thighs around him, he won!!!!!!

takes a picture (or two or three) to savor the moment.

(even though he could literally just ask you to do it again in the future, but whatever, i guess)

when you’re dating isagi, the team comes with him too LOL

they’re always snapchatting you pictures of isagi when they’re hanging out without you, with stupid captions like, “look how sad your boyfriend is without you 😞”

isagi’s not even sad in the picture, he’s just confused as to why they’re shoving a camera in his face 😭

isagi one hundred percent attempts to get you to run the mile with him during gym if you don’t already.

“babe, just try!” isagi pants, as he catches up to you and your friends, as you guys are still on your second lap.

admittedly, the effort is cute, but beloved, i hate to break it to you- i will not be doing anything of the sort.

he will sit down or walk around with you after you finish the mile, though. if he’s not already playing soccer lollll.

when he does choose to go with you, expect exclamations from the team about how isagi “abandoned us for his little relationship” 👎

isagi’s receiving love language is words of affirmation (also basically canon LOL) so, he really values the compliments you give him with his whole heart.

you could tell him how his hair looks nice in the morning, and isagi will think about it all day.

whether it be about how cute he is, or how talented of a player he is, isagi really is happiest when you praise him <3

speaking of soccer, isagi has this tendency to get lost in the moment and talk your head off about some soccer related tangent that probably makes no sense to you.

his eyes light up and his voice is just oozing with passion for what he does as he goes into detail about how he made this crazy goal at practice while you stare at him with the biggest heart eyes ever, adoring his dedication.

and of course when isagi realizes he was rambling, he apologizes profusely for “boring” you, like the gentleman he is.

but when you reassure him that he could never bore you and that you want nothing more than for him to go on, isagi begins to feels lightheaded due to his adoration for you <3

if you're the type to go all out when it supporting isagi at soccer- like make one of those corny signs, yell from the crowd, wear his spare jersey to games, isagi will physically have to withhold his heart from jumping out his chest.

he's a little embarrassed that you're doing all that for him, but the effort means soooo much to him.

and speaking of soccer, it would mean a lot to isagi if you not only supported him at games and stuff, but expressed an interest in learning more about soccer as a whole, too.

you know, learn a little more about the game on your own accord, ask him to teach you how to properly play, or even challenge him to a one on one, do stuff like that, and he’ll literally be head over heels for you. well, more than he already is.

(he always goes easy on you on your guys 1v1's and he thinks your efforts are adorable, no matter how much you may or may not suck)

he'd repay the effort and try to get interested in whatever your hobbies are!

also, you can get him to do almost anything if you pout and beg hard enough, you’re literally so hard to say no to in isagi’s eyes <3

isagi’s the type to not realize when other people are flirting with him LOL

he just thinks they’re being nice (unless they’re being straight up) and i don’t think he would really process it because he’s so focused on you romantically, if that makes sense.

once he realizes you’re jealous, isagi apologizes earnestly, reassuring you over and over again that you're everything he could ask for and that he would never intentionally try to hurt you and all that jazz.

although, i will admit, sometimes isagi’s kinda smug when you're jealous, especially when it’s over a dumb reason 👎

however, when he’s jealous i feel like it could go one of two ways-

on normal days, isagi would just stand there to “intimidate” the other person, maybe cough a little for emphasis until they go away lol.

but on days where he’s already mad/filled with adrenaline/or someone’s really not taking a hint and you’re visibly uncomfortable- oh boy, it’s like a switch flips in him.

has those same fiery eyes he has during the climax of a game. the energy he’s exuding is dead serious, and that alone is enough for the person bothering you to go away. not bad for a man that’s only 5’8 🥰

adding on, isagi doesn’t take any shit about you, ever. even if it’s from his friends. usually isagi’s very neutral and doesn’t actively try to start conflict, but there are some things he’ll always defend and you’re one of them.

isagi always listens/watches/reads/etc whatever you recommend him (on that note, please recommend him good anime because isagi’s out here willingly telling people his favorite anime is darling in the franxx), even if he doesn’t necessarily like it LOL

you could show isagi objectively, the worst song ever and he would be like “yeah, it was good babe!” (it was not)

also does the same thing when you bring him shopping with you, like he's absolutely NO HELP 😭

you could try on the ugliest sweater known to man and he’d like “you look nice 🙂” pls be honest isagi, you can say it’s hideous!!!!!!

but isagi’s also being somewhat truthful in his statement because he does genuinely think you look nice in everything <3

also loves when you wear his clothes- always feels a mixture between pride and slight shyness?

kinda lol idk but overall, isagi really is sooo happy you wanna show him off that much, especially when you're wearing something of his around his friends :')

he says “i love you” first, no doubt.

he’s a bit nervous when he does because he doesn’t know if you’ll reciprocate, but he really does love you and he feels like he physically can’t hold it in anymore.

“i promise you don’t have to say it back!” isagi reassures anxiously. “i know it’s a really big commitment, and if it’s too early for you right now-”

“i love you, too.”

#queued #blue lock #bllk #blue lock x reader #bllk x reader #blue lock headcanons #bllk headcanons #isagi yoichi #isagi #isagi blue lock #isagi x reader #isagi yoichi x reader #isagi headcanons #isagi fluff #isagi imagine

[sketching-shark]

I think it's the ironic fact that JTTW fans already know how DBK and Sun Wukong's friendship broke apart but are more curious on LMK versions of Sun Wukong and the Six Eared Macaque were friends alongside falling out.

HA! Well, while it often does seem that way, I'm going to go ahead and be a complete snob in a Journey to the West purist kind of way by wondering how many Six Eared Macaque fans would consider themselves more JTTW fans or more Monkie Kid fans, or if they feel they're a mix of both...

I've seen a lot of people argue that these two works of fiction are their own thing and that as such Monkie Kid (and associated fanworks) shouldn't be expected to follow the canon of JTTW, and fair enough for some parts. I've also, however, seen people who argue for this complete separation seeming to use it as an excuse to not acknowledge or learn about ANY original aspects of characters such as Sun Wukong and the Demon Bull King, or even very important deities such as Guanyin and the Jade Emperor, and who as such end up making some pretty gross generalizations/assumptions about them even though they are of great religious and cultural importance.

For example (and while I know a lot of the fun people get from fan works is in exaggerating certain traits), Sun Wukong seems to often be presented with an "inherently" evil/thoughtless/chaotic character, while his intelligence, deep love of his family, genuine efforts to become a better person, & many acts of saving lives, as presented in JTTW, aren't even mentioned. I feel like a lot of this is due to the way he acts in Monkie Kid (while I maintain that this version of Sun Wukong seems to be Bad End Monkey King, he does do a lot of deflecting his issues with a show of humor/a carefree attitude & does seem really bad at communicating due to a fear of making things worse). Even so, the popularity of Thoughtless/Evil/Selfish Sun Wukong that doesn’t really allow for any of the nuance or a display of his beneficial traits as shown in JTTW does make me wonder how many people have been exposed to a good translation of og classic Sun Wukong...As I've said before, I've noted that a number of Chinese people on this site have expressed frustration with the fact that a good chunk of the monkey king’s Western audience seems to be getting their impressions about Sun Wukong, the Demon Bull King, the Six Eared Macaque, etc. from some mix of Overly Sarcastic Productions, Monkie Kid, and social media instead of from at least a translation of the original text, and it is true that a LOT of the nuance of these work and these characters can be very easily lost, especially if your drawing your information of them primarily from a cartoony version of the original source. 

That would be an interesting poll though...out of curiosity, how many of you fine folk have read the break-up & fight between Sun Wukong and the Demon Bull King either in the original text or in a translation, or is your exposure to them primarily through Monkie Kid? 

Again, I need to make it clear that I'm not Chinese & didn't grow up with the story, but I will admit for my own part that reading the DBK/SWK break-up in the Yu translation actually made me more curious about how their dynamic is going to play out in Monkie Kid than I am curious about what's going to happen with Mr. Macaque. 

This is primarily because besides SWK’s fight with Princess Iron Fan and DBK being given a LOT of page space in JTTW, there seems to have been some serious stuff that went down between the three of them in the events post-JTTW and pre-the main plot of Monkie Kid...the last we see of DBK in JTTW (if memory serves correctly) was him being hauled off by a host of heavenly warriors to be judged for his crimes of not giving SWK the palm leaf fan & also eating humans. When Monkie Kid starts, however, we are told that DBK had emerged “from the Netherworld” & immediately starts wrecking everything around him. What this suggests--if Monkie Kid is something of a fan continuation of JTTW--is that DBK ended up being executed by the heavenly forces, but managed to fight his way out of the underworld in a manner somewhat similar to SWK, who we are told he is equal in strength to in JTTW. In that beginning fight of Monkie Kid DBK is also shown as so enraged that he won’t stop his path of destruction until SWK buries him under a mountain for 500 years. It’s never said in the show, but--and this is important--this is basically exactly what Buddha did to SWK to start him on the path of atonement. So there seems to be some very intentional parallels between SWK’s havoc in heaven & DBK’s havoc on earth, which may suggest that one of the things Monkie Kid SWK really wants is for his former dear friend, his sworn brother, to find a way like him to be less violent and thus ultimately less vulnerable to destructive and self-destructive behavior, and that the way he tried to start this was by giving DBK the same treatment he got when he was a raging warlord. 

We are furthermore told that it was right after DBK was sealed that SWK disappeared for all those centuries, and while the impulse may be to write it off as him just wanting to enjoy himself (given a lot of his behavior in the show’s timeline), given the indications that this SWK may be deeply depressed, I feel like the answer could be something a lot more tragic...there seem to be a number of clues in Monkie Kid that while the journey of JTTW happened, something made it end disastrously, with SWK either assuming or knowing that Zhu Bajie, Sha Wujing, Tang Sanzang, and Bai Longma are dead. And per JTTW, this wouldn’t be the first time that he’s experienced a horrific loss, given the war with heaven and the burning of Flower-Fruit Mountain. And then right after THAT, it seems DBK emerged from the underworld, and so Sun Wukong was put into a horrific position: either murder his sworn brother, or let him continue to rampage & harm and/or kill who knows how many humans. SWK ultimately gives up his staff to do the repeat of “500 years under a mountain in solitary confinement route,” which as per JTTW he considers better than the alternative, but he immediately follows that by exiling himself. In JTTW SWK is a really sociable person who makes friends wherever he goes, but man, for this SWK...his life must at that point just feel like one failure after another, that in spite of all his best efforts he wasn’t able to save anyone he really cared about, and now he just trapped someone who was so important to him under a mountain & fated him to suffer the same things he had when he was in that position. How much more does he have to hurt his fellow yaoguai? How many more times does he have to choose between yaoguai and humans, feeling like no matter what he decides it’s just going to result in pain for him and/or his loved ones? I can easily imagine super sociable & easily upset (he cries a LOT in JTTW) SWK feeling like after sealing DBK, he just can’t do this any more. He just...can’t. 

This is all just speculation, but knowing the JTTW backstory between SWK and DBK does, at least for me, make their Monkie Kid relationship a lot more intriguing than it might be otherwise. Especially now that DBK seems to actually be making some small steps to quell his constant rage & lust for power. He even saves SWK and Qi Xiaotian from an explosion/nasty fall in the season 2 special! The Bull family weren’t really present in season 2, but I really hope they make a comeback in season 3 (if/when we get it) precisely because Red Son, Princess Iron Fan, and especially DBK have such an involved history with SWK. Plus it would be really fun to see two old warlords trying to awkwardly make amends with each other & struggle to be good teachers & positive role models to their student & son. 

In any case I feel this potential is more interesting than whatever fanfic The Six Eared “I’mma Plagiarize The Demon Bull King’s Backstory Of Being Best Friends with Sun Wukong” Macaque is creating lol. 

#monkie kid #journey to the west #lego monkie kid #lmk #lmk sun wukong #lmk dbk #lmk six eared macaque #anon answered

[crystal-moon-101]

Charmcaster and Mike!💚

I present to you the chaotic magical duo! They were pretty fun to draw with their colours and different body shapes, and these two I've been really wanting to talk about since I've made a lot of rewrite changes for them. Before I get into that, I recommend you read my Dagon Arc Rewrite, to get a better idea of where I've taken these characters, as I involved them quite a bit in that story line. Albedo will be the next redesign eventually, and I'm glad people are liking what I'm doing with these characters so far.

-Mike Morningstar-

Soooo, Mike. He's always been an interesting concept to me, because there are two ways you could make his character go. One way is to just go full out with the creep and power hungry factor, making him a villain through and through, which can provide a very eerie character, which is the route canon mostly too. The other way, which I've taken, is you could make him a very complicated character, tragic even, with the idea of "If someone was born with dark magic, how would the world treat them", and since canon (Both the original series and reboot timeline) as taken the more evil villain approached, I'm taking a much different approach because I think his story can add a lot of interesting dynamics. In terms of his design, I went for the "rich winter" outfit aesthetic, since this lad does know his fashion and tastes.

Mike is an Apotrodite from his mother's side, the dark magic equivalent of Anodites. This means Mike primarily uses dark magic, but unlike other people, his Apotrodite sides means he is in full control of himself, and can't be tainted by dark magic. But that doesn't mean everything goes well...

His parents are Lilith Morningstar and Samael Morningstar, both Plumbers who work in the magical department of things, and since Lilith can use dark magic without it corrupting her, the two get a hefty amount of money working in a field only they can really handle. So they're a very rich family, owning two mansions on earth, and some holiday homes.

Mike was an...accident, not something planned, but his parents wanted to see what it was like, not realizing how raising a child takes a lot of work, especially one that was born half Apotrodite. You see, since Mike was only half, his dark magic didn't come naturally to him for a while, needing to adjust and train himself. There were worries Mike would end up hurting someone, which both Lilith and Samael were nervous about, since Apotrodites didn't have a good reputation anywhere for their use of dark magic. They feared that if Lilith or Mike made a mistake, they'll both be shipped back to their homeworld, which none of them wanted...

Sadly, a mistake did happen one day. Mike didn't mean too, it just happened suddenly, but he ended up hurting two other kids in Plumber Kindergarden, giving one magical burns, and nearly draining the life out of another. He felt horrible over what happened, and couldn't stop sobbing for the rest of the day as everyone debated what to do, and had a long discussion with Mike's parents. Lilith and Samael ended up pulling Mike out from school to homeschool him from now on...and didn't trust Mike to leave the house on his own ever, the fears getting the better of them. So...you could say Mike's childhood was rather lonely and depressing. Eventually as he grew older, he got into lots of arguments with his parents, until finally snapping and running away sometime after his encounter with Ben and his friends. If everyone was going to treat him like a monster, then he might as well be what they say he was and do it being free...

Mike does have an Apotrodite form, much like how Gwen has an Anodite form, but he hardly ever turns into it, even if it would save him energy and make his human form 'rot' less. He doesn't like being reminded of what he is, the reason behind all his problems...

He loves cats, and has always wanted one since he learnt about them.

Mike did end up helping Charmcaster when she was losing herself in omniverse, during the final fight with her. He was one of the few who managed to snap her out of her insanity, and later when she was recovering, she tracked him down with the help of Ben, and managed to convince him to come to Ledgerdomain with her, wanting to repay him for his help. Along with knowing that Mike was really just lonely and tired with the world...something she could relate too...

His hasn't been in contact with his parents since running away from home, and they haven't made an effort to reach out to him, not sure how to approach their son after what he became...

Mike and Hex have a very...awkward dynamic, since neither know how to talk to the other, especially regarding Charmcaster.

Loves scarfs, he just likes the way they look and feel.

-Hope Charmcaster-

Miss Charmcaster, a character who keeps spinning on that plot merry go round. She was defiantly someone who went insane due to how often the writing changed her up, which is a shame since she is a very interesting character, so that's what I'm here for. For her redesign, I've always loved the idea of her being short, plump and very curvy, and entirely confident with her body and looks. She knows she's hot, and owns it. I kept her outfit similar to her original and omniverse style, but played around with the look of it.

Her mother died at childbirth, so her father had to raise her own his own, with the help of Uncle Hex from time to time. Eventually after what happened in Ledgerdomain with Addwaitya, Hex has been looking after her since she was 8, but it wasn't easy, especially when he started tapping into dark magic to find ways to fight Addwaitya, and eventually going power hungry. Charmcaster knows Hex was trying his best, but there are things she can't forgive him for, even if they're getting better during her recovery.

She has black markings on her hands due to her use of the Alpha Rune and dark magic. The Alpha Rune also left a mark on her chest right above her heart. She is subconscious about these things, and tends to hide them from everyone and herself.

Ben 100% had a crush on her as a kid, and she knows it.

Charmcaster has a sweet tooth, and loves desserts. Her favorite is cake, strawberry cake to be precise.

She's still trying to be the Queen of Ledgerdomain, which isn't easy with what's left of it, but she's slowly getting them and creating a new age for the Kingdom, having opened it out to any magic user in the galaxy that needs a place to go.

Gwen and Charmcaster have been building up a nice friendship finally now that Charmcaster is getting help. It's been sweet, with Gwen doing normal teen and girl stuff that Charmcaster hasn't been able to do in years. The little things always remind her that she is human after all.

She is still on the hunt for Addwaitya with the help of Gwen, Hex, Mike and the Plumbers, after the turtle managed to run away during the fight against her.

Later on Mike and Charmcaster do meet other Apotrodites, and visit their homeworld, and does feel bad for their situation. They pair end up letting a good chunk of them move to Ledgerdomain, where it will be safe for them from the outside galaxy, and their contribution of dark magic knowledge really helps Ledgerdomain in the long run.

#Ben 10 #B10 #ben 10 omniverse #ben 10 ultimate alien #ben 10 alien force #ben 10 original series #Ben 10 Mike Morningstar #Mike Morningstar #Ben 10 Charmcaster #Charmcaster #Morningcaster #Ben 10 Redesign #Ben 10 Rewrite #My Art

[echoeternally]

Hi there! I have a bit of a strange request for you, if that's okay. I'm currently in the process of planning/writing a longer Star Fox fic that prominently features Panther, and by extension, the FoxPanth ship, and I was wondering if you could give any pointers on writing Panther and/or him and Fox together?

This isn't strange at all! I'm even delighted, like, someone asking me about a pairing that I originally thought almost no one else would enjoy, and so they can write it too? It's like a dream, my gosh!

Give me one more second, like, I'm so amazed that this happened with my rare pair for Fox/Panther. FOXPAN! Of all pairs, I'm thrilled!

Ok, ok! Let's see what advice I can scrounge up for you.

A lot of people are under the impression that Panther is a pretty clear cut character in one regard or the other, but he actually offers a lot of flexibility to write about. That's probably why I gravitate to using him so often for Star Fox content.

Writing him playing off of Fox has a surprisingly enjoyable kind of chemistry, but it depends on what you go for with them. Coming to me means that you're in for the shipping, so, that I can help with!

Kind of prefacing that a bit because I know this is going under a cut, which I'm adding in here. More below, of course! Also, it's going to be a lot longer than you're expecting, so...I'm hoping that helps!

...

~Panther's Background~

Ok, I'll start with Panther as a character, since understanding how you want to portray him is the first part to nail down right.

People kind of mistake Panther to be a flat villain and a basically a pervy flirt, nothing more needed to build his character. It's easy to write him off as such, given how little canon support the games give.

There are some very, very crucial elements that he's given with his appearances, however, and they tend to be overlooked.

First and foremost, a lot of folks like to lump Panther in as "just another Star Wolf crony," which is fair if you don't focus on him.

However! What's critical that too many people ignore is that, in Panther's debut appearance, that's a brand new Star Wolf too. With the story for Star Fox: Assault being what it was, Panther is part of the Star Wolf team that no longer operates as mere mercenaries for the main villain and the obvious rival team, but he's part of a team that becomes allies to Fox and friends by the endgame.

Anyone can take that any way they want, but Panther is basically part of the lightest and kindest, perhaps even the most fleshed out version of Star Wolf. So, people that gleefully like pairing Fox off with Wolf because he has those "hey pup" lines? They should very well like the roster from Assault, because that's the installment that gave the most credibility to Wolf even being capable of defecting.

There's a lot of ways that it could be explained, but notably, Panther is the new big member on the main roster. Sure, they could fill a seat with anyone, but look at who they chose: this lighthearted goofball that enjoys playing with his rivals as much as he does causing trouble. A far cry from the likes of Leon, Pigma, and Andrew, who were on the more ruthless side of Star Wolf.

Many like Panther to be along that side too, and depending on how you want to characterize him, that could work out.

My personal preference, however, is that Panther is part of the catalysts that helps Wolf defect from being fully evil.

He's less interested in hurting civilians and being some kind of hotshot assassin. There's no hard support that Panther's criminal record involves heavy war crimes and murder, and canon biographies about him state him to be an elusive criminal that troubled Cornerian army officials.

Rather, Panther is entertained by causing mischief and enjoys playing around. He's cunning, but in ways to further his goals and those of his allies, not to play as a pawn in another's schemes.

I like to create the background that Wolf and Leon got low and desperate when searching for new recruits, and after meeting up with Panther, they adopt similar traits from him, easing up on their rougher traits in favor of getting their work done.

Basically, I favor the idea that Panther helped make Wolf better. (Which is totally a fun basis for Wolf/Panther, something that I've wanted to write for a few years too, lol.)

~Characterizing Panther~

It really depends on what you're doing with writing him, because you can make him a criminal even still and have that work nicely. However, I tend to give him ways out of being locked into a shadier background, focusing on his lighter traits, and making him more of a "gentleman thief" type of character foremost.

(For reference, I made him that kind of a thief in my fanfic, "Your Thieving Heart," because I really enjoy the idea that Panther's a cat burglar, as opposed to...well, whatever other people prefer.)

If you're focusing on an action or adventure story, I'd recommend using his craftier traits to help him stand out. Panther likes to play head games, because he'll tease and taunt his opponents, baffling them silly until they're clueless to his true motives.

He's also a skillful shot; in Star Fox: Command, Panther is the only playable character that does not use a Lock system for his Wolfen, which means that he makes a single shot that pierces most opponents. And in Assault, he makes a good support to both Star Wolf, and later on, Star Fox, so he can coordinate well in dogfights and combat too.

A story that's geared less to fighting, such as a drama or a comedy, would focus more on Panther's playful traits. Obviously his flirting, which I'll get to in a moment, but also, tweak the way that his playful and cunning manifests.

His teasing can be used to hide other facets of his character (maybe he's actually hurting and lonely deep down) or otherwise his goals (maybe he wants to get flowers for a partner and jokes about missing a meeting to do so).

His smarts can be used to show a more analytic or thoughtful side to him; while Panther isn't the type that would be the smartest in the room, he's absolutely underestimated by everyone, and can get away with a lot of surprises as a result.

Character flaws are pretty simple. Panther can be arrogant, so he can go a little too far touting his prowess and skill, as well as take his joking a little overboard without realizing when to back down. Since he is a criminal, he definitely has a less than luster past, which can hold him back, depending on how you want to write his criminal history. Also, I tend to think of him as a type that comes across charismatic and social, but in reality wants something quieter.

That last bit has support from a profile description in Command, which states that while Panther proclaims himself to be a "ladies' cat," he actually is known to fall "totally and completely in love" with his partner.

So, where people tend to limit him to being confident and flirty, that's the short and simple version to Panther. The deeper way to flesh his character out is to make him a hopeless romantic type, who craves and wants to find someone special to help fulfill his life.

Because a large portion of Panther's character gets limited to flirting with Krystal in his two major appearances, he's not given time to really show off the depths of his feelings. (I think Command tried, but that story got botched in a few too many places.)

He's not a misogynistic type, if I remember correctly, because he doesn't make any crude comments to berate or belittle Krystal's character, but rather, makes strong efforts to prime up his character instead, doing his best to come across as enticing and viable to her as possible.

Panther is super desperate and longing for love, and he's not above trying whatever methods he can to get there.

~Shipping With...Fox!~

So, how does Fox come into play on that? It's pretty easy, since Fox is also a flexible character as virtue of being the main player controlled character for the franchise. In other words, you can project a lot onto Fox in manners however you might like.

There are specific traits to Fox that remain part of his core character, however. He's obviously a strong leader, leading the legendary Star Fox team. If we go by Star Fox 64's ending, he's pretty humble, given that he turns down joining military ranks (presumably greater glory) to keep his life in a freer style with his contract work. (This gets played up as the series goes along, though Fox was actually pretty cocky in Star Fox 64, and somewhat so in Star Fox: Adventures as well.)

Given how his personality matures by the time of Star Fox: Assault and whatever went on with Star Fox: Command, Fox is something of a type that does abide by rules and doing the greater good type of work, but still retains some of his "off the books" or "go it alone" type of work.

So, since he's a hero that dances close to more lawful work, though still manages to find ways to slide around for what his objectives desire, that does make him a mostly "no nonsense" type, though on the friendlier and nicer side, of course. Fox can be portrayed as pretty orderly, in other words, and doesn't favor causing more trouble than he can handle, even if he's not above it.

Does that sound like something of an inverse to Panther, who tends to get into trouble and be mischievous? I should hope so!

Because they have foiled personalities from one another, that gives Fox and Panther elements of "opposites attract," since Panther can be silly and troublesome, while Fox tries to be serious and respectful. Panther has a shadier history with the Cornerian Army and his past is riddled with mystery and lack of depth. Fox, meanwhile, has staunchly strong and heroic ties with the Cornerian Army, who rely and count on his efforts to help them out. Additionally, he has a fair amount of his background explored as well, especially so compared to the enigma that is Panther.

Going by how flustered Fox gets in Star Fox: Adventures, Assault, and Command, he's also a bit sloppier in the romance department. He's seen as a stammering type, and shier around those that show interest in him, namely how Krystal does in the former two installments. He ends up being too protective of her in the last game included for that group, and kicks her from the team thinking that it was the safer option, when it really did nothing to stop her.

Those that ship Fox with Falco can also write him in angles to being oblivious to love, since Falco tends to be a bit harsh with Fox, which many like to write as him being guarded with his true feelings. So, combined with the information above, Fox is something of a romantic novice or rather inept at it.

Panther, whether he's actually good at romance or just likes to think he is, still comes across as an opposite to Fox on that level too. Whereas Fox falters and hesitates in romantic matters, Panther boldly strides forward to do his best in a quest for love.

There are some tricks to helping Fox and Panther work even better than just playing off of their foil traits however.

For starters: Both can be portrayed as very lonely souls.

Fox is a character that lost his parents at a young age, with his mother being out of the picture in every game installment, and his father dead before he's even 18. That's rough stuff, at least in my book. So, I'd consider that Fox has some isolated sides to his character that not everyone knows about, and that he has a side that grieves for his loved ones, and a side that longs to find a way to be loved and cherished in some manner once more.

Huh, does that sound familiar again? Someone that desperately wants to find love to fill a void in his life?

Oh wait, that's literally part of Panther's core too!

See, both Fox and Panther are seekers of love. While Fox may not be as forward with his intentions, he cares deeply for his team, his allies, and his planet, if not the entire Lylat galaxy. While Panther may not have such grand showings for compassion, he'd be the type that would be impressed, if not charmed, by someone so compassionate and caring.

If you take the idea that Panther helped make Wolf and Leon better, then it's likely that he also has a good deal of compassion in him too, seeing the best in people that the rest of Corneria and Lylat write off as the worst out there. Finding the light in the darkness is a kind of hopeful trait that Fox would absolutely be drawn to, since he can struggle to do the same.

Of course, both Panther and Fox are also skilled pilots, so, they have at least that much in common. Fox's skills are something that have outright impressed Panther in canon, and he compliments Fox a few times in both Star Fox: Assault and Star Fox: Command, commending Fox as his personal rival. It's not hard at all to shift that from mere respect to a deeper admiration.

Both are also very loyal and willing to see their goals through to the end. Fox proves this repeatedly in the games, but Panther shows such qualities in his appearances too, sticking by Wolf's side in spite of the challenges they face, and committing to his goals until they either are toppled enough to stop him, or until they are fully realized in a capacity that satisfies Panther well enough.

Typically, I like to mix things between "opposites attract" and "like attracts likes," to balance them out. Both Fox and Panther want to not be lonely and fall in love, to share their lives with someone. They're both also types that would be lonely in a crowd, though none are likely to suspect so, since they both come across confident and social enough to prove otherwise. Fox may find Panther's slippery side somewhat alluring, since he follows a freedom that Fox may sometimes wish he had from his more uptight and legacied life. Panther, meanwhile, might find Fox's loyalty and noble traits very endearing, because that means he'd firmly stand beside anyone that he committed himself to, something that Panther absolutely wants.

Naturally, you can play around with how you might like to portray them, based on the choices you'd make with your story, but those are some elements that I noticed and liked to help build it up.

While a lot of it is fairly made up with loose ties to canon, that's kind of the point to many fanfics. And even still, there is enough canon support to characterize Panther and Fox in a way that could make them a harmonized duo, to the point of romantic involvement.

Phew! Even I didn't realize how much I'd have to write about them until I actually put it all down, lol.

I do hope that you find this helpful. If you want any more information with building the pairing up for writing, please let me know! I'd love to increase the support that FoxPan gets out there, haha!

Thank you for asking too! This was a lot of fun to write out.

#panther caroso #star fox #fox mccloud #foxpan #shipping #askecho #igniswrites #how to ship foxpan #nice #another for a shipping series lmao

[kinogane]

Meditations on Playing as Earthlings in Dragon Ball Xenoverse, Part 2

(previously)

The Dragon Ball Xenoverse games allow you to play as five races: Earthling (the default selection), Saiyan, Majin, Namekian, and the elegantly named "Frieza Race", with the first three races having an additional choice of gender. Compared to the Dragon Ball games mentioned in the previous post, Xenoverse probably differentiates the most between race/gender combinations. Each has a drastically different basic moveset that will be extremely relevant in combat, especially for strike-oriented playstyles, each have different stat spreads (and sometimes mechanics) that incentivize different playstyles, and arguably most importantly, each have their own unique techniques, the centerpiece of which is the race-specific Awoken Skill.

For context, in the first Dragon Ball Xenoverse, there were two problems with transformation skills like Super Saiyan and Unlock Potential. First was that they counted as Super Attacks, so you would have to give up a skill slot to make use of them, and second was that the transformations available to your character consisted of Kaioken, Unlock Potential, and variants of Super Saiyan. So like past Dragon Ball games, you weren't especially rewarded for playing a non-Saiyan character, since it meant you had to run Unlock Potential (or run a gimmicky Kaioken build), while Saiyans could at least nominally choose between that, and multiple variants of Super Saiyan that suited their playstyle.

This was remedied in the second Xenoverse game with the addition of Awoken Skills, which were transformations that occupied a separate slot. More importantly, Xenoverse 2 also added race-specific Awoken Skills, which meant that there was actually a compelling reason to pick races besides Saiyans.

In theory, at least. In practice?

Frieza Race characters probably gained the most in the sequel. Their Awoken Skill, Turn Golden, is relatively straightforward, both from a gameplay standpoint and an aesthetic standpoint. Your ki blasts are stronger and you do the Golden Frieza thing. Much like the form in the series proper, it's a bit dull and uninspired as a body recolor, but it is identifiable as a powerful transformation.

Namekians gained the ability to Become Giant, hearkening back to King Piccolo in the original Dragon Ball (and I guess Lord Slug in the movies), which as I understand was a fun transformation to use before it got nerfed in subsequent patches. Currently, it's a neat gimmick that's fun to mess around with and can be effective in bursts, but the stamina drain means it can't see the extended use that just about every other Awoken Skill can.

Majin gained the wildly unpopular ability to undergo Purification, which translates into becoming a Kid Buu with a special moveset. A Kid Buu that, mind you, only changes its skin and eye color as appropriate; regardless of how you customized your character before the transformation, your Purified Majin is going to look basically the same as any other Purified Majin, which is kind of a problem in a game where a significant portion of the userbase's interest in the game is at least partially in coordinating outfits for their player characters.

Earthlings got to ride on a Flying Nimbus and use the Power Pole.

The race-specific Awoken Skill for Earthlings is riding around on a cloud that kinda already loses a lot of its luster when, by construction, all characters can fly, and wielding a weapon/tool that hasn't been relevant since the original Dragon Ball. It's a nostalgia play that basically no Earthling character is going to use extensively, since you can't use your own skills and are limited to a moveset that loses its visual and gameplay novelty in minutes, at most.

It should be mentioned that Saiyans, as of the time of this writing, have access to five variants of Super Saiyan.

(Caveat that I can't speak for the PvP side of these evaluations, and quite frankly, I couldn't be bothered since Xenoverse PvP seems thoroughly unappealing, but I digress.)

So yet again, even when concessions are explicitly made to make playing non-Saiyan races an appealing alternative from a gameplay standpoint, Saiyans are still the clear winners and Earthlings are still clear losers. Furthermore, there's at least an argument that the non-Earthling Awoken Skills at least invoke an image of power as understood in Dragon Ball. For all the shortcomings of the Namekian and Majin Awoken Skills, you can at least point to King Piccolo and Kid Buu as signifiers of strength. If anything, the image of Goku on the Nimbus with the Power Pole is reminiscent of a time when Dragon Ball was significantly less concerned with displays of power, which is kind of counterintuitive when it's invoked as a method of attaining greater power.

Put reductively, it's kind of a bummer, but then again, isn’t this dynamic, of Saiyans being given the lion's share of power and relevance while Earthlings get virtually none, the most Dragon Ball shit ever?

Hindsight has only made Videl's presence in the early parts of the Buu Saga all the more fascinating. For that run of episodes, all the way up to the World Martial Arts Tournament, the degree to which Videl is an active participant and outright combatant in the action is kind of surreal. It's not entirely without precedent, since Chi-Chi had her moments in the original Dragon Ball and the occasional moment in Z, but unlike Chi-Chi, it really does seem like Videl's perfectly content to be this active for as long as she's around. What's more, the show explicitly makes reference to her being wildly more powerful than her dad, who himself is established as of legitimate world champion caliber, and it even goes out of its way to have Gohan teach her to fly. While that scene is absolutely primarily meant to set up her true purpose in the series writ large, there's a pretty good correlation in Dragon Ball between "people who can fly" and "people who can at least fight a little".

Then, of course, Spopovich happens.

I'm not particularly interested in litigating post-crisis Videl here, since it's been discussed plenty, and yeah, I also think it's more than a little bit of a bummer. But knowing the trajectory of post-Z Dragon Ball, especially Super, it makes Videl's irrelevance on an action level kind of an inevitability? Like, yeah, maybe if she bounced back harder and played a larger role after the Spopovich fight, you maaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe could draw a line to her at least being comparable to the likes of Krillin, Tien, and Yamcha, but given the reality of modern Dragon Ball, would that be anything more than a pyrrhic victory?

So really, when you consider that the frankly ridiculous power scaling of Super is really just the logical extension of the scaling in Z that was already well underway by the Buu Saga, it naturally raises the question of why they bothered to even make Videl this much of an active force in the first place. From square one, she's arguably destined to be relegated to Gohan's love interest and future wife, so why go through the effort of showing the audience that she's stronger than every Earthling that's not a Z-Fighter? It does parallel Chi-Chi's strength in Dragon Ball to help further foreshadow her pairing with Gohan like Chi-Chi with Goku, but then why make her be that into fighting when Chi-Chi was always clearly content to be a housewife?

And like, Jesus Christ, all that only to be that definitive with that Spopovich fight?

I bring Videl up because my main created character in Xenoverse 2 is a female Earthling. Ever since I booted the game for the first time, there was no doubt in my mind that I was going to primarily play as a female Earthling, because with it came the knowledge that I was going to control a female Earthling doing and achieving some frankly wild shit, like going toe-to-toe with Final Form Mira, literal deities, Jiren, and Ultra Instinct Goku(?!?), sometimes back-to-back in certain Parallel Quests.

And of course I can, because that is the entire reason for the Xenoverse games' existence. The game has always been an unabashed power fantasy all about defeating some of the most powerful entities in Dragon Ball history with your own created character on your own terms.

And yet, as I do all of this with my female Earthling, the knowledge that in canon, the most powerful analogue to my character is Videl, a character who almost literally gets the relevance beaten out of her in a brutal and unforgettable manner, makes the experience feel almost rebellious. It feels like everything from the godawful Awoken Skill to the subpar race/gender stat distribution for a strike-oriented build to the very nature and history of Dragon Ball itself is working against my character becoming a ludicrously powerful force of nature, and yet I not only can, but literally must push through and go even further beyond.

I cannot emphasize enough that this sense of transgression has no basis at all when it comes to the game. Absolutely nothing about the Xenoverse games explicitly suggests that Earthlings, female or otherwise, are somehow destined to be strictly lesser than Saiyans or any other races. Again, the game is an unabashed power fantasy; it's going to let you achieve that power fantasy regardless of race or gender, because to do so otherwise is completely antithetical to the entire reason people play the game in the first place.

But looking at past Dragon Ball games, at least to me, makes clear that they really didn't have to include the option to play as an Earthling. They clearly feel no obligation to do so, since they've excluded it in previous games. They completely dodge the need to include a human-like race option with the existence of Saiyans, who aren't even differentiated by the presence of a tail. I genuinely don't think any significant number of people would have even batted an eye over the exclusion of Earthlings. ‘Cause, you know, it's Dragon Ball, why would you play as an Earthling?

But they did. They let you choose to play as an Earthling, a race that Dragon Ball has essentially been drilling into your head, for years, is a strictly less powerful and less interesting version of Saiyans with practically no upside. They gave you the option, and I took it, all because it effectively let me play out an extended Videl what-if by proxy and stretch credibility into complete, unrecognizable nonsense.

I recognize that this absolutely reflects more on me and my relationship with Dragon Ball as a whole than it does on Xenoverse, but when it’s the only Dragon Ball game that embraces customizable characters to the extent that it does, it’s necessarily going to be the only game that actually lets me grapple with that tension between the source and the spin-off, and reckon with how that can shape the audience’s experience and perception of the bigger picture.

#dragon ball xenoverse #dragon ball xenoverse 2 #xenoverse #xenoverse 2 #dbxv #dbxv2 #xv2 #dragon ball #dragon ball z #dbz #videl #videl satan

[merryhelps]

                  plotting etiquette : a players guide

                                            [ coming soon / an admins guide ] 

plotting is an essential part to writing together; whether you’re in a group, an indie blog or even a 1x1, you need to be able to communicate with your peers in order to build a story. and that’s why we’re all here, right? to create worlds, no matter what the context, and most importantly, to do this with others. roleplaying is a team effort - no matter what universe you’re writing in.  below the cut are some helpful tips, tricks and advice to remember when attempting to plot with others. if you’ve found this guide useful, please like and/or reblog to spread the word - and hopefully help out others along the way.                               ***a part two will be out next week for admins on how to promote and help your group with plotting. 

                             i. ‘i’m scared of bothering people!’

this is a statement i’ve seen the most often around the rpc - whether it’s from a various text post people reblog, or as an admin who’s been on the receiving end of messages like this. 

it’s important to remember that most of us get a little nervous about reaching out. while writing original pieces or fanfiction can give you some distance between the creating portion and the feedback process, there’s no real space for roleplaying. it’s an instantaneous thing - we put our words out there on the screen, and someone else has to reply to that in some capacity.

whether you’re an extrovert, an introvert or something in between, this can often be the beginning of the end for a lot of roleplayers. maybe  you’ve joined an established group, and it seems like everyone has set dynamics and you don’t want to shake things up. or maybe you’re an indie blog, but you’re too scared to talk to someone you’ve idolized and want to write with. 

the thing is, you can’t expect people to know what you want if you can’t verbalize it yourself. let them know you’re a little nervous ! chances are, they are too. we’re all on this platform trying to do the same thing, and everyone gets nervous about exposing themselves to strangers now and again. ultimately, we put a little piece of ourselves in every character we create, and that can be terrifying to show to people and expect them to accept. but a little effort goes a long way - making the first move can often help build a bridge to someone you might not have otherwise gotten the chance to write with.  you’re going to have to take a risk sometimes. while not everyone is going to be receptive, most people will be. and chances are, if you start with something as simple as “hi, i’d love the chance to write / plot with you,” you’ll be met with an extraordinarily excited new partner. understand that if they don’t, it’s not a bad thing ! some writing styles don’t mesh together, some people have a harder time talking freely than others, and so many of us regularly forget to reply to a message. know that if you’ve put yourself out there, that’s a huge step in the right direction, no matter what comes of it, and next time it’ll be even easier. 

                            ii. come prepared.

this is ultimately where a lot of players fall short. it’s one thing to say ‘let’s plot’, and another thing to do it altogether. you need to have some sort of jumping off point. 

some ideas include: 

a prompt / plot idea. 

this is especially important if it’s a new person you’re trying to interact with. it’s difficult to come up with things on the spot, and if you’re reaching out, you need to have something to reach out with. 

in a group you’ll want to take the time to read their biography / about / wanted connections if they have them listed. it’s a quick way to ensure you have a basis of what they want, and how you and your characters can then fill those needs. 

as an indie / 1x1 see if they have any ‘wanted plots’ or ‘prompts’ tags. check out their ask memes tags. ensure you’ve read their guidelines on both of these, and follow them. while most people have similar rules, you can’t know that for sure unless you’ve read through them. 

questions about their character(s).

everyone adores talking about their own characters - give them an opportunity to let them tell you about theirs! even if they’re playing a canon character, they’ll have their own take on them, with headcanons and quirks and hobbies that might not show up in the specific canon the character comes from. 

use ask memes if you need help coming up with questions - ask memes are extraordinarily helpful when it comes to fleshing out muses for developmental purposes as it is, and while they’re usually made for general tumblr interaction, they can be a great jumping off point for talking specifics. 

don’t be afraid to point out things in their bio / about / etc. this shows that you’ve gone through and read their pages, which shows that you care about them as a person and a character, and not merely another faceclaim. 

talk about your character(s).

it’s always good, especially in a group, to have a small statement of facts about your character. in business, this is called an ‘elevator pitch’ - a few concise sentences that can get someone else interested.

for example, merrick wood is a former cheerleader who would do absolutely anything for her sister, holly, has no real ambitions and loves the weird and supernatural. you can find her swimming, or listening to mix cd’s she makes for her own amusement, or even on the hunt for big foot. this now gives the other player a few things to pick through - what kind of music is she listening to? why is her sister so important to her? is cheerleading still important enough for her to mention it to someone?

                           iii. plotting is a two way street.

the above two points work on the basis that you’ve made the first move - but say you’re the one who’s gotten the message of someone eager to plot with you ! takes a little stress off of your plate, but adds to their own. no matter what, remember that there is a real person on the other side of the screen. be kind, and treat them how you’d want to be treated - even if you’re not interested in writing with them, let them know ! a simple thanks for the message! i’m honored you’re interested in my characters, but at the moment i don’t think we’d be a good fit is enough of a response that most people should leave it at that. if you get a message saying they’re not interested, simply say ‘thank you for replying!’ and move on. as stated above, not everyone will always click - respect people’s boundaries, and understand that you’ll find a new partner in due time. 

responding to plotting messages is as important as creating them; if someone says they want to plot and gives you ideas, play off of them. don’t simply say ‘okay!’ or ‘cool!’ - a habit a lot of people have had over the years. 

                example. if jenny says “i think it would be great if robert could surprise them with flowers,” reply wth “oh how cute!!!” and end there - expand on it, adding your own input - “that’s so cute! denise adores lilacs, and would be flustered to get them from someone she admires so much!”                     the latter sentence gives your partner something to respond to, something to work with, and may just end up being in the thread you write together! 

                          iv. don’t make your admins do all the work.

this section is primarily for group roleplayers. 

your admin(s) already do so much. behind the scenes, there’s constantly updating the main pages, queueing ads, coming up with tasks and events and plot drops to keep players entertained and happy. at the same time, they’re trying to play in the group with you - create their own stories, write their own characters. they should not have to spoon feed you plots. these are things you need to develop on your own and with fellow players. 

               example. in a town rp, and you have a social butterfly character ? throw a birthday party for a character, giving the other characters something to participate in without an official Admin Sponsored Event.                    you should of course ensure the admin is okay with you having ‘events’ like the above for various players, and you need to ensure you’re inclusive in them - don’t ‘throw a party’ and not invite half the group because you don’t want to plot with them. take the time to message players of characters who might not normally show up and figure out something else with them, or a reason why they would be there or even why they wouldn’t! 

                         v. stop bubbling.

at the end of the day, plotting together is the best way to stop bubbling from happening in your group. no one wants to be the player left out of everything - make sure to try and reach out to the others, especially if you think other players may be ignoring them. writing together - in a group, on an indie, anywhere really - is supposed to be fun and challenging and a different experience every time.  before you go to your admins about being left out / ignored, ask yourself if you’ve done the above. have you messaged other players ? asked them about their characters, and given ideas of potential prompts for the two of you to write ? if you have, and you’re still getting ignored, then absolutely talk to your admin team! but try and be proactive instead of reactive and you’d be amazed at how far you can go. 

                                    hopefully this guide will help you - remember, your roleplay experience is ultimately cultivated by yourself. you choose which groups to apply to, which characters to bring, and your attitudes and behaviors can affect your gameplay. being in a group, specifically, is about being a part of a team. become a team player, and you and your characters can find the roleplay family of your dreams  ♡

#rph #rpt #guide #plotting etiquette #writing help #rp advice #© #© | guide #© ashley #requested

[stxleslyds]

I’ve heard a bunch of different opinions on this throughout the years, but I don’t know if you already got this question:

Do you think that Jason should be on a team/have relationships outside of the batfam? Because I’ve seen some say that his character only works when completely isolated (at least in the terms of positive relationships) while others say that it’s high time that he starts gaining actual friends and such like the rest of the Robins. Personally, I’m team friends bc I’m getting bored of all of Jason’s best stories having to pit him against basically everybody (or him being chained to rest of the bats all the time. Also I feel like Jason not having chemistry with anyone is because he’s rarely allowed to interact with other characters while remaining competent and well written)

Hi! Thank you for the ask!

I will be honest, for some reason, this question is making me go back and forth with what I want to say. So, as I am writing this, I am also telling myself the answer to this question.

First of all, I am a big fan of Jason having no interaction with the Bat-Clan in comics’ canon. This whole “Batfamily” thing isn’t really my thing or what I would like to see in Jason Todd/Red Hood books. To me, that concept doesn’t belong in comics and it’s not real, DC has made no effort in actually building a family with these characters so I would love it if Jason was “taken out” of the Batfamily narrative.

But as of now Jason has been pushed and locked away with these characters so DC can “sell” more books to people that can find that narrative for free in fanfiction.

Now, would I like Jason getting a team and/or friends if he weren’t involved with the Bat-Clan now? The answer would be no. Well, the short answer will be no and I will tell you why.

Jason Todd as the Red Hood is a character with no specific or distinguishable character traits. He has been in constant limbo, characterization-wise, ever since Lobdell stopped writing him. Me saying that is in no way me praising Lobdell for his ten years of absolute garbage writing because Lobdell was also messy when characterizing Jason. But on a certain level, his Jason followed a line or structure.

Now everything is a mess, every writer that comes by for a couple of issues either adds something that will eventually only confuse people or they recycle old stories that have long been solved. Jason has had his story re-written way too many times.

Where am I going with this, you ask? Well, adding a team or friends will only worsen things for Jason’s characterization, this has happened before, namely, with Red Hood and the Outlaws (2011). RHatO started fresh after Jason’s characterization was butchered by two or three different writers and instead of this new writer going to the original material (UtRH) he decided to start fresh, and alongside that fresh new start came the absolute character assassination of two very well-loved characters, Roy Harper and Koriand’r.

Jason’s, Roy’s, and Kory’s characterizations were all modified so much that we essentially had three new characters in our hands. And that was done so the writer could fit these characters in the story that he wanted to tell.

And that is my biggest fear right now for Jason, him being re-written/modified even more beyond recognition for him to fit with a team or something like that. And it is scary because if Jason has been in limbo for the past year, right now he is drowning in limbo, DC took his guns away, they dragged him back to Bat-Dramaland and he is “figuring himself out”.

So, giving him a team or friends wouldn’t be the best for him NOW. That’s why the answer to your question is no, I wouldn’t want to see him in a team right now.

But! If things were different and Jason had a solid characterization and his morals weren’t messed around with, I would actually like to see him have a group of people by his side. It would be something in between a team and friends.

And I have talked about this idea before, if Jason were to be a developed UtRH Jason I would love it if he actually created his own gang or group of people with people that used to work for Gotham’s baddies. Like him showing people that are working out of necessity with Black Mask that if they work with him, it will actually be better because he can offer protection against both Black Mask and Batman.

I believe that him can make Gotham’s people feel safe in a work environment because he is their boss. And as time goes by, he can become really close friends with the people that work with him.

I see Jason as an amazingly ruthless but also a kind boss that will always have your back if you are loyal to him. And the Jason that I like or that I believe should be in current comics isn’t a person that trusts easily, so working with other vigilantes would be hard for him.

Jason has very strong thoughts that can be very polarizing to people, so him connecting with other vigilantes might not be simple, but Gotham’s good people, that are trapped in bad situations, have been through a lot so I think that if they ever come across the Red Hood, they will like him because he can actually make a difference in Gotham.

So, friends or a team as he is written right now? No, first I would like to see how he is developed (or if he is developed at all) and then maybe.

Friends or a team for a Jason that will probably never exist? Yeah, if treated carefully.

Every character deserves to have their own set of friends or team but characters are also carefully written, and if a character doesn’t have a solid story to put them together then giving them friends or a team might complicate things because either you change the character that you are writing in order for them to fit in OR you might end up changing other character’s characterization to fit in with your character’s wobbly and ever-changing story.

Well, anon, there it is, a way too long answer for a simple question, I hope I didn’t confuse you with my rambling and that you have an amazing rest of the week!

#jason todd #red hood #jason todd characterization #red hood and the outlaws #roy harper #koriand'r #dc comics #asksss #Jason Nation

[wonderworldwonderings]

MAJOR ENDING SPOILER ASK/ DISCUSSION AND PICS UNDER THE CUT

Okay, so to preface this, before I read the novel (I have now and I'll be writing a big ole post about it) I have to say I was kind of heartbroken how things ended up for Lance. This ending just felt... Completely off centre from what the storyline was preaching the entire time. You come to the Balance theatre, where two characters combined make BALANCE, and in the end the negative one just gets yeeted, squashed out so positivity only remains?? I understand it could be a metaphor of the idea that negativity can and WILL drag you down if you don't be careful with it, but Balan didn't even try to save Lance?? Balan was built up as this character that completely and absolutely gives himself to other people to help them and be in their lives, yet there was nothing for Lance?? I'm not going to claim I know more about the character than the directors, but to me it just... Didn't feel in character at all. Balan should have reached out to save Lance, done SOMETHING to save them in the end.

I feel that Lance should have been saved. I understand that redemption for villains means they do have a lot of work cut out for them to repair the damages they've done, but fuck man, they didn't even give Lance a CHANCE. There's potential for a sequel if you finagle some things around, and fuck I might even write it myself where they make efforts to save Lance from wherever they went (because they're obv not DEAD, they just got pulled into some weird vortex). And especially to have them saved, RIGHT BEFORE they get killed off? That’s like... not even a victory. It’s just not fun.

The Tim drops being apparent tears is one thing, but I think they're more a creation of intense, positive emotions. Of course Balan crying means they'd create some Tim drops, he was experiencing such love in that moment! I wonder if the colours correspond to specific emotions? The drop looked blue in that cutscene (probably only because the background was a blue tint), but blue Tim drops have shown to give Tim's the ability to destroy obstacles... And Balan in that moment had witnessed Emma and Leo overcome a huge obstacle themselves. So it makes sense!

(This was super cool to hear because I had NO idea there were a lot of rules that go into being bonafide clowns! I’m gonna research it more after this)

And don't even get me started on Balan's 'canon' look under the hat. I DO NOT SEE IT. It's a fine design and all but it's not... Balan, imo. The look he has with the hat suits his personality so much more, this goofy, quirky and kind of weird and mysterious entity that is having a lot of fun with all his interactions. And without the hat he's just... Plain. BUT, talking to a friend who has a lot of info about how the Clown industry works, they actually provided me with a lot of really cool tips! 

- “Balan is most likely wearing traditional Whiteface makeup. Whiteface clowns are generally the leaders of a giggle of clowns, and traditionally all skin must be covered. So YES he and Lance are white, but it's likely just makeup! Especially since there's facial markings around the eyes on top of the white, AND that they're wearing gloves + are fully covered!”

Regardless, I’m also going to play around with some fan designs for both Balan and Lance that make them a better mix of their original designs. Because they should have both been alive in the end, both as a mix of each other to show the balance between negativity and positivity, heck, ANYTHING to show balance that the ending didn't provide (the novel KIND of explains this, but it’s still unfortunately LACKING in explanation and leaves the whole ending feeling kinda... hollow). I WISH Balan had of tried to save them, reached out, ANYTHING true to his selfless and caring nature. The ending dance number was something I called would happen all along, but I thought LANCE WOULD BE WITH THEM. 

On another note, the ending with the Inhabitants and Balan? Holy, fucking shit. That was (despite the disappointment with Lance), GORGEOUS, WONDERFUL, HEALING. I loved it A LOT. It was interesting to have the confirmation that they're trapped hearts too! I know the novel goes into way more detail about the actual inhabitants which is really fun too. But good lord, the way Balan interacted with them at the end, it was so fucking sweet. He loves them, he loves them so much. You can Tell IMMEDIATELY when Jose goes over to thank Balan that he’s not at ALL used to receiving praise or thanks for what he does. 

LOOK AT HIM, HE DOESN’T KNOW WHAT TO DO FOR A MOMENT. HE’S SO TAKEN ABACK.

I should wrap this up before it gets too long. I will say, as a footnote, I've since read the novel after having written this all out, to which I’ll upload a separate post abt it before this one gets too long. Reading the novel NOW, it’s put way more into perspective and although I wish they had of done some key things differently in the game, I’m more settled on it. AND, I love this game so, SO much more!

#balan wonderworld #bww #spoilers #endgame #novel #holy shit this GAME #I LOVE IT SO MUCH #thoughts #mod silvs #balan #lance #inhabitants #story #spoiler

[its-tie-kir-ra]

Wait, do you actually think that there's a chance that Sessrin could be a trick done by the writers? Like they could take it back and change it next season?

OK I have no idea how long this has been in my askbox so sorry 😬😩🙇🏼‍♀️

I very specifically said that the writers could write themselves out of canon if they wanted to. Not that they are going to, but that they could. I believe that it's canon until proven otherwise, and I won't hold my breath. This was mostly just from stuff that doesn't make sense to me, as both a writer and producer. Lemme explain.

So, first, let's talk about writing.

They don't try to sell me on the pairing at all.

Like nothing. Nada. There's no story behind the pairing. There's no build up. There is an 88 second long ice bucket of a scene that could fix climate change, that's how cold it is. They don't even attempt. Which just doesn't make sense to me.

They could've easily pulled some of the filler episodes to make it a few about their relationship and how it grew, because weirdly enough I do see the appeal behind the pairing. Like seriously, no judgement to anyone who ships it. We all have our kinks, and I know for a fact that I have one pairing in particular that most people who be like 'what the hell, that's gross, you're gross, yadayadayada'. S*ssrin actually have a really solid base for what could be a really lovely love story, from a writer's perspective, and it could go like 50 different directions. I can see the fantasy element of being dragged off by a demon into the forest to be possessed. There have been hundreds of stories told like this over the last thousands of years, that kink isn't anything new.

But it's just the fact that they don't take that time, they don't do any buildup, and they just expect me to buy that this is a healthy marriage without any evidence pointing to the contrary. Like I said in my video, if you saw it as guardian/child, they don't take any second to reassure you that 'no, Rin was not a victim, she chose this with complete agency'. Nada.

(I don't count any of the other scenes between them from the original as build up. I don't, full stop. Because if I do, that has some pretty gross implication. I have to believe that Sesshomaru had completely pure motivations in bringing Rin along with him when she was a child, for my own sanity. My. Own. Sanity. And also, for my own sanity, I believe that the writers want us to believe that Rin is at minimum 18 when she gets pregnant and that the reason Rin is not deemed important enough to be given an actual arc in the narrative is because this series is written by men and she's a woman who at this point is over thirty, so, basically, she's dead to them unless she's cooking.)

There's also other things. How only one character (Kaede) talks about Rin to the twins. How neither twin looks anything like Rin, or at least not more like her than how any other anime character looks like another anime character). Now some of this could be attributed to the mystery, but it's just so stupid that I'm confused.

Now, Marketing.

This is where I really get weirded out. Because not only do they do nothing to sell me on the pairing in the show, there is absolutely ZERO effort to sell Sesshomaru and Rin as a married power couple that they supposedly are in any official marketing materials. That I've seen. So far all I know about is one art piece that shows Sesshomaru and Rin together that was allegedly drawn by one of the animators. There is a ton of merch that shows Inukag being Inukag and MirSan being MirSan but nothing with Sesshomaru and Rin unless Rin is still a child. Which...like...wouldn't the studio be doing everything they can to sell you on the pairing?

Studios know about shipping. Full stop. Shipping is insanely profitable by companies (Harem anime, anyone?), and they will do everything they can to sell you on a canon pairing (look at a show like Sailor Moon; half of her merch is with Tuxedo Mask because people want to see them TOGETHER). This is PRIME merch time; right after a ship becomes canon. Why the fuck isn't there a flood of Sessrin Merch out in hot topic right now? Like...make it make sense. From a business perspective, not putting out merch right now is losing hundred of thousands if not millions of dollars. And we're talking EASY money. Like...cash grab money...you know...like Yashahime is. Why aren't they milking it? It makes no sense.

So, at this point, they know on some level there is some uneasiness with S*ssrin. I don't know much about the Japanese fandom (and I welcome anyone with experience in it to share it below and I'll reblog it) but from what I understand there were plenty of them going 'WHAT THE FUCK'. And I know from my own conversations with Japanese people is that a lot of them really hate how a lot of Western people basically see Japanese people as people who participate in these really taboo sex acts and fetishize them (I have heard so many gross stories, oh my god). Which means there's a good chance a lot of them aren't too happy about how this makes Japanese culture appear to foreigners, and there is probably a section of fans going 'uuuuh, yeah, no, gross'. So like, there is no way the studio isn't aware of this on some level and isn't putting INSANE pressure on Sumisawa. And even so, anime is really big outside of Japan, and I doubt that they don't on some level keep an eye on what the Western countries think about this/what they want. It's a huge market and makes up a huge portion of their revenue.

And there's also something about an official family tree that hasn't been updated yet, which is just fucking bizarre at this point. Unless there's another mystery, I can't think of a reason why they haven't changed it yet (I guess laziness could also be a reason which would be in character for Sunrise).

Have it so there was a spell that made Kaede misremember the twins mother. Make it so that Rin is the mom but Sesshomaru isn't the father (which would explain why he left the children to be eaten by wolf demons 🤷🏼‍♀️). Have it so Sesshomaru pulled a virgin Mary and had the babies through his asshole. Anything goes.

It's just weird. This whole debacle is weird. So weird. Honestly, I would still be surprised if they did switch it up. I'd be in the corner laughing as the fandom dissolved into chaos. I'm not holding my breath, but there's room to do so if they wanted to.

(I also don't think that if it doesn't turn out to be canon, that the writers were geniuses all along and doing this big twist. I'm not that naive. It's more like they decided to test to the waters to see what fans wanted this, and now they can back out of it if they wanted to.)

Thanks for the ask!

#anti sessrin #anti sesshomaru #anti hanyo no yashahime #anti yashahime #pedomaru #anti rinsess #ask

[moonlayl]

(rant about my hatred of ‘Shadows of the Empire’ by Steve Perry)

There’s an actual part in this book in Leia’s perspective that goes (paraphrased) like this: “It’s interesting that Luke wants to save Han considering Han is a rival for Leia’s affection”

wtf???? Okay, let’s completely ignore the fact that Han has been one of Luke’s best friends for three years and risked his life multiple times to save him, like what?  I HATE the way Steve Perry writes Leia.

I hate the way Steve Perry writes anything. The one good thing is that Xizor dies, but Leia doesn’t get to kill him so what’s the point.

And for a large part of this book, Luke and Leia’s friendship is non existent? They don’t seem like friends??

I swear the way their relationship is written is as if this is immediately set after A New Hope. Not post esb.

And this guy is obsessed with the bullshit dramatic love triangle between Luke, Han, and Leia, that actually isn’t that supported by the main text (aka the films)

We all know Luke post a new hope was crushing on Leia a bit (which is gross but they didn’t know) but I think it’s pretty clear based on Luke and Leia’s reactions to them being siblings and just their general relationship during esb and rotj that it was in the past??

Plus I’m pretty sure in legends, Luke had one or two girlfriends during the time between anh and esb and he also did in disney canon, so I really don’t understand those writers that are adamant to repeatedly bring up this love triangle that wasn’t even given focus much in the actual movies. And it’s like they put in effort to make the entire ordeal as uncomfortably disgusting as possible.

Luke had a crush on Leia, moved on quickly, Leia and Han eventually fall in love, that’s it. Why make it anything else after the sibling reveal? Absolutely no point to it other than the fact that this author seems disturbingly horny.

And, like I mentioned above, Luke and Han’s friendship is downplayed. Honestly one thing that really made me love star wars and the original trilogy was how loyal they all seemed to each other even when no romance was involved. Like Luke and Han’s friendship to me was something i really loved because Han was willing to leave but immediately risked his life to save Luke on hoth and Luke returns the favor and in a deleted scene they joke about the “owe you one” line, and then this stupid novel spits on all that by having Leia of all people act like it’s surprising or interesting that Luke would want to save Han.

And this guy only knows how to write the classic ‘strong female character needs to constantly say shit like “ugh men” to be strong’ except most of the time it was annoying. I hate when male writers write female characters like that.

And almost everyone here is a bit of an asshole. Luke is an asshole in a lot of this book. Xizor is an awful antagonist. You’d think the leader of Black Sun would be more compelling, interesting, or smart. We kept being told about how skilled he was, and all his experience, and yet the very first thing that happens in this book is him learning about how Luke is powerful, Darth Vader’s son, and someone the EMPEROR wants, and yet he spends the rest of the book underestimating both Leia and Luke.

And let’s not forget the misogyny when Leia is not only assaulted, but almost r*ped, and yet instead of her horror because how dare this bastard do that, it’s “oh no, I almost did that to Han.” HAN ISN’T EVEN HERE. What the hell Steve Perry? A woman almost getting r*ped is awful because a guy who likes her would be hurt at the fact she was with someone else? And why didn’t Leia get to kill him?

I hate this book. (and the author’s style of writing in general is annoying. the way he structures his sentences. First thing I noticed.)

#tw rape #tw rape mention #rape mention #rape #star wars #aof reads star wars #star wars legends #star wars expanded universe #star wars eu #shadows of the empire #steve perry #anti steve perry #luke skywalker #leia organa #xizor

[border-spam]

Does troy really have a split jaw or is that fanon?

It's total fanon!

The design of the split lines across his cheekbones and chin coupled with the cheek clips and v shaped hinge outline next to his ears lead to a lot of people coming to that same outcome, that there is something up with his mouth from a prosthetic/mod standpoint.

So much of his design is never mentioned once or referenced in any way (hightech spinal rig with tattoos under it, neuro connector, mech arm that's much older and doesn't seem related to the spine and neuroport, implants on bicep, face mod etc) that like Tyreen's scars and possible lower body Siren markings, fandom took over when it came to coming up with logical explanations for 'em.

This actually touches ground with some Ao3 comments I wanted to share as they are all Leech Lord compliant, so I'll list them here alongside links to the fics they were related to (note warnings!)

You leave no avenue for characterization unexplored. Troy's facial prostheses finally receiving backstory is amazing

- Maw (Gore/Bodyhorror)

I LOVE the idea of it being not just decorative shit on his face, but my MO for any content I make is always based around asking why, over and over, and trying to make sense of what material I'm using in the first place. The modded mouth is a popular piece of fanon but you know... why? Why would he do that shit to himself. WHY would he want to be grotesque, why would he be chasing the reaction people would have to it when canonically he seems to really not be interested in fan attention the same way Tyreen is, what's the difference to him between being adored as his persona or being lusted after as a monster, etc. I just love deep-diving into the logic behind character and world building? It's what adds meat to the bone for me.

Big 'ol character and worldbuilding / lore responses list under the cut -

He could afford better robots but these ones UNDERSTAND Ty, don't you get it?

- Good night in (tooth rotting fluff)

Hey just because it's mangled and broken, and can't perform its intended function to a degree expected of it by everyone around it... and it's got rusty sharp bits it accidentally hurts you with sometimes... and it's cranky but it doesn't mean it... and sometimes it errors out in a way that's mildly disturbing in a way you can't place.. uh.. doesn't mean you should just GIVE UP ON IT you know? He can fix them :) They will be fine :) No one should just throw away something that's trying so hard just because it's damaged... haha... :')

It's so hard seeing how much they tear each other down when they're the only thing they have left. And what a poor self-image Tyreen has beyond all that glitter and bluster...

- Wolf in sheep's clothing

The twins function well enough as a unit till tensions rise, and I was trying to seed in The Leech's influence on them in earlier work like this too - towards anyone else Ty would become MORE aggressively confident, more assured in her complete and utter dominance of the situation, her flawlessness, but against Troy who see's her for what she is, it turns inwards and eats at her instead of lashing outwards. He switches from relatively submissive around her to almost surgical levels of dissection, he knows exactly how to go for the jugular with words, and doesn't hold back. She's The Leech's mouth but he's its eyes and it's only when they lose control emotionally enough for it to claw to the surface of their psyches that you get an idea of how much it really affects them individually. GB had an absolute goldmine on their hands here of cosmic/body horror and the concept of toxic family when all you have is each other, there's so much to work with, and I figure it's a factor in why some people still really enjoy messing around with Calypso content.

I like how you allow Troy to be a disabled character, how his congenital defects and prosthetics colour his outlook and appear in ways big and small in all these vignettes. It's easy, I think, to see him as largely untroubled by his health apart from when he needs a charge from Tyreen in the game, but you allow him to struggle with his weakness.

- Chronic (Drug use)

I'm really glad to hear that's coming through in the writing because it's something I noticed a lot too. Very often when Troy, or other characters canonically disabled / chronically unwell are written it's "told" and not "shown". Chronic pain, illness, it's not something that is just a little tickbox in a life or some descriptive terms added to a character synopsis, it's something you live and deal with. There are bad days. There are times it is a negative that has to be worked around or faced in ways that aren't pleasant. It doesn't make you lesser or weak to have times where illness does leave you unable to function to a level you want to, it's not a failure for you to be unable to perform tasks when a disability or flair up means it's not viable. I feel personally that by showing scenes like this where his health and body issues do have a very visceral and impossible to ignore the effect on his ability to function, and going through his mental processes of dealing with and managing them, it brings the character across as stronger than if he never seemed to be shown dealing with symptoms or weaknesses. People are more than their disabilities and conditions, those aren't just kinda taglines to add onto a character's description and then never address. I feel like doing that in a way undermines what people deal with who manage chronic illness, pain, and who have disabilities that affect their daily lives negatively. Appreciating the effort it takes to manage them is important.

What I really like about these is that you can really understand as a reader how their dynamic must have evolved. How even before Leda's death Tyreen would have felt demonized while Troy got the attention because of his condition, because he was less willful.

- Starlight, Moonbright

Ah man, absolutely - and that shit stayed with them. It wasn't his fault and he never wanted it, but of course their parents would have had their extremely ill child at the forefront of their thoughts, especially during weeks when he was.. bad. Tyreen by nature even without The Leech's influence is a little attention seeker, she'd be the life of any party and she BLOSSOMS if she's got the spotlight, but as a little kid who's got literally no one but her parents and her brother, and who all three of which can't give her nearly as much time as she deserved? That's rough. That's really unfair. That coupled with The Leech's warping effect on their egos as they grew up and the bitterness and resentment they harbored in different ways created a reverse dynamic. She'd never be out of the Galaxy's attention again, and he'd have no choice but to take his rightful place in her shadow.

I love how you illustrate both how much more, and yet how much less Troy is now. How the blameless child, full of potential, is inextricably linked to the brutal, larger-than-life avatar he fashions.

- DeLeon ( Graphic Violence / Gore / Hallucinations)

He's molded the monster he is now out of the bones of the man he should have been - there's no going back really. There's nothing left to go back to. He broke Troy DeLeon apart to build the persona that acts like an iron lung now, suffocating him breath by breath while forcing him to still take them. That life is over, he killed it before it had a chance, but the idea of it is still there in his subconscious. Somewhere in the absolute trainwreck of Troy's brain is the tiny, flickering belief that maaaaaybe one day this will all be over and he can shuck off the bracer and spines, peel off all the shit he's covered his skin with, and just go back to not being Calypso. DeLeon here isn't some aspect of his mental state or his sins haunting him - it's The Leech, spitting venom at a host it loathes in something that's not sound or comprehensible language. His subconscious has just translated it into something it can understand - his greatest regret.

On if Borderlands Humans originated on Earth -

There's a really tenuous link between BL verse and rEarth, but it's there and can't be ignored. The cultures, accents, terminologies, so many are Earth specific despite these people being spread across galaxies, so hell yes - Earth as an emergence point makes total sense. The next question then, is why is it never mentioned - and you can cover for that with a lot of things like say, tt was so long ago that it's not relevant to anything that would ever be discussed, or it could be a mass evacuation from a catastrophe there is little record of now. I like to go with something along those lines, that the first human Siren host emergence on earth just absolutely decimated the planet. Like, we were doing fine till this random woman somewhere in the ass-end of nowhere develops weird markings overnight, then goes apocalyptic. The first Leech maybe, not understanding her powers and having them rip across continents in a spread of crackling electric death that only left husked shells of plants and animals in its wake, or the first Firehawk who went nuclear and burned the sky, or the first Voidgrasp who lost control and began to collapse the planet's core - some extreme shit that had humans fleeing en masse with barely any preparation and HUGE swathes of history and knowledge left behind. That would cover so many social things surviving into the BL verse, cultures, accents, cooking, that shit comes with us regardless of what we were able to throw into escape ships. Like so much data would be stored on any tech and data arrays within the vessels people would use to leave a dying planet even in an insane rush, but that shit waters down over time - if you're farming barely edible plants on some planet that smells like farts, are you really gonna be that stressed about teaching your kids history from a lost planet when your current concerns are not being eaten by something with 19 legs and 4 buttholes? Don't think so.

On if the other Siren entities are as influential to their hosts as The Leech -

I touch on it a wee bit throughout LL, but the others are FAR more passive and meld more to their host's whims. The Firehawk Siren wouldn't.. like.. care? If the host was burning down a planet or fighting off an evil corporation? They are removed from any nonsense happening on this side, they might not even really be able to tell, it's like asking an amoeba or a collection of sentient atomic particles what its opinion is on Brexit. That's not really its priority. The Leech is so aggressive in its control of the twins and desperation to drive them towards an outcome it desires only cause it's split, broken, removed from the song, and completely lost. We're talking a caged, half-mad animal removed from its natural environment and left totally isolated from its own kind for millennia. It's in pain, it's confused, it wants to find its way back to the song and the others and where it belongs, but it's stopped by a barrier it can't comprehend ( the twins and being ripped between them), so in its impotent rage it feeds back that hatred onto them. It's not really sentient in the way we would describe functional intelligence, but it wants, and craves, and FEELS. And it feels very, very angry.

Big thanks to @undergoingcalibrations for talking through so much of this with me!

Asks are Open!

#borderlands #borderlands 2 #borderlands 3 #bl3 #troy calypso #tyreen calypso #calypso twins #sirens #leech lord #my hcs #my writing