#HE WAS SUFFERING IN THIS FORM!!

[yazhart]

Hmm, I just want to remind you guys than after 0.3 part 1 he was literally like THIS

Yep, This is Cross before 0.4, literally a goddamn PIXEL 😭

His whole body was destroyed(?) after Chara grabbed Swap!Chara' soul, So XGaster had to rebuild him from scratch, that's why no scar sadly

Transcript: I always thought Cross looked cool with the red scar on his cheek & was so disappointed when it got removed

[sesamestreep]

I really feel like one of the best details in “A Scandal in Bohemia” that I never see people fixate on enough is that the story starts with Watson stopping in to see Holmes at Baker Street on a complete whim, because he happens to see that he’s home (and Watson is now married and living elsewhere). Like he doesn’t send word first, he’s not invited, he just shows up and surprises Holmes. Which is not that weird but then Holmes is like “oh good, I’ve got a case anyway, you might as well hang out!” which just makes it funnier when the King shows up and is like “I’d really rather speak to you alone, actually” and Watson tries to leave and Holmes is just like “anything you can say to me, you can say to my best friend John Watson, and if you ask him to leave, I would consider it a grave insult, you would be my enemy and I will not help you ever!!” And the king is like “…ok” and just moves on.

like, that is crazy behavior. Holmes is talking about how there’s probably lots of money in this case, and then almost turns away the client for…not knowing who the fuck Watson is?? He’s not even supposed to be there?? He just came to say hi?? “It is both or none”… girl, GET UP.

[cubbihue]

In the aftermath of Peri's tantrum, the Leisure Court Fairies discovered that nearly every Pixie within close proximity of Poof were completely drained of magic.

Fairies are presumed incapable of stealing magic-- not unless they are a bonded pair, where magic is shared. Therefore, the underlying reasons remain uncertain to this day. Cosmo had been the only Fairy to remain conscious during the blast, but researchers were unable to extract much information from him.

Thankfully, all Pixies, including Timmy, made a full recovery- with all their magic intact.

Bitties Series: [Start] > [Previous] > [Next]

Instability: [Start] > [Previous] > [Next]

[bonefall]

Hey, what makes a character a 'plot device but not a character'? And how do you not do that? I'm trying to do it on purpose but also I need to still make them interesting because it's on purpose, yknow?

A good skill to pick up is to learn to criticise criticism itself. A "plot device" is simply a thing that moves the plot along, it's a neutral literary analysis term! Usually, when people are angry that "a character has been used as a plot device," it doesn't mean they hate plot devices. It means they're gesturing at something deeper.

Runningwind and Bumble are equally plot devices in their deaths. They are both killed by the antagonist to escalate political tension. Runningwind is rarely "accused" of just being a plot device, and yet, we're talking about Bumble for the same thing.

So, why?

Well, Runningwind is just a background character, but in life, he was a part of the community. He was characterized as impatient but responsible. Yet, he wasn't SO important that he died with a bunch of unresolved plot threads.

He is mostly an extension of the entity of ThunderClan. His killing by Tigerstar, and the fear and paranoia that settles on the group after this, feel like a progression of the story insteas of something forced.

Bumble, on the other hand...

Is hated immediately by Gray Wing, when she's established as Turtle Tail's friend. Bumble's abuse at Tom the Wifebeater's hands invites even MORE investment. The rejection is shocking and upsetting. There's a story there about our main characters being imperfect; jealous, bigoted, and judgemental.

But, she is simply killed off. Everything they set up for this character is gone with little personalized fanfare. It's not a tragedy with a lesson about cruelty, or something anyone regrets.

It's just... plot. Gray Wing whinging that no one will like his shitty brother now that his body count is 2.

More than that, in the discussion of women in particular, "Fridging" was coined to give a name to the way women characters often don't get their stories told at all. There is a CULTURAL trend of female characters facing disproportionate violence, for the sake of advancing male plots.

Bumble has a lot going for her. Petal had a lot going for her. Turtle Tail had a lot going for her. Bright Stream had a lot going for her. When they died, they took their potential with them.

It's not always wrong to kill off a character of high potential, mind you. In Gurren Lagann, Kamina's death is sudden and shocking, leaving a massive hole in the hearts of the cast that never heals. Grappling with that loss, but also letting his memory fuel them, is a major theme of that story.

All that to say... there's no formula for avoiding it. You've gotta identify what the deeper issue is, in your specific narrative.

I can't say for certain what that will look like for your story, but here's some things I keep in mind;

When you make characters who exist to die, make sure they're people before you axe them.

Ask yourself; what about them does the cast miss?

If they just miss them because they were (pre-existing relationship), go back to the drawing board.

Fluttering Bird as an example. Who was she? Dead sister. Why do they miss her? Dead sister. No traits until after her death.

Runningwind was short-tempered and helpful. Kamina was a valuable leader who made people believe in a brighter future. Swiftpaw was fiesty and desperate to prove himself. The better characterized, the more profound the loss usually is.

If this is a female character who is dying just to serve the plot, be aware of cultural bias and tropes. How is the gender ratio looking in your cast? Is this happening disproportionately with your girls?

Note how Quiet Rain's litter had both a boy and a girl, but the girl was chosen to be "weaker" and wither away.

And how most of the time in DOTC, whenever a man had to be upset, a girl would get killed for it.

If you ever feel like the character on the chopping block is NOT a full character, ask yourself why it needs to be a character at all. You don't need to spend narrative time building out someone when a literal object of high value might suffice.

"My sister died when I swore to protect her and I can't face my family" = Old. Tired. Ive seen this.

"I lost my heirloom sword when I swore to protect it and I can't face my family." = Fascinating. Why was the sword so valuable? Will they really not take you back? How did you lose it?

When you do kill off "high value" characters, try to make sure you're not leaving too many plot threads hanging. Or at least make a point of how they will never get closure.

[the-crooked-library]

opened tiktok (mistake number one, i know) and immediately saw someone saying that Thomas Hutter subverts the "disbelieving husband" trope which... listen i love a thoroughly pathetic mess of a man myself and i get that Ellen's other option is a 400yo evil corpse, but can we please not give him credit for things he didn't do?..

the literal inciting incident of the story is that Thomas DOESN'T listen to Ellen. he doesn't believe her. she tells him that she's got a bad feeling about this trip, begs him not to go, tells him about her nightmare - and what does he do? he calls it a childish fantasy, tells her to stop worrying, and implies that she would benefit from talking to a doctor. saying shit softly doesn't make it any less dismissive or insulting, like i'm sorry but this is peak Disbelieving Husband in a Horror Movie behaviour. he only changed his mind once Orlok put him through the horrors himself, which is also a perfectly standard thing for a Disbelieving Husband to do in the second act. furthermore, from the beginning of the film, he neglects Ellen's emotional needs, is uncomfortable with her abnormalities, and doesn't even really know what sort of gifts she likes - and again, these are all standard flaws for a Disbelieving Husband to exhibit. they're indicative of a disconnect between him and his wife that he continuously refuses to bridge.

caring for someone doesn't mean you can't neglect or harm them, and that applies to everyone - including Normal People like Thomas, like Harding, like Sievers, like the viewer; and that's the point of the film

[hhhhleb]

getting to know each other

they got stuck in the Void(?) for an indefinite period of time…without Ink's brush and vials.. they have nothing to do but talk i guess..(more thoughts in tags)

related to this thing with sci and this red ink thing

[beetlethebug]

Thinking about a Lucanis who is in love with Emmrich but cannot find the courage to request his company. He hates the taste of tea, but there's a box of Emmrich's favorite brew on the top shelf. If he stretches on the tips of his toes, he can just reach it. There's a note written by Emmrich himself tucked under the lid, advising fellow tea enjoyers that the recommended time to steep the leaves is far too long for this particular blend.

Lucanis going through the motions of preparing a cup. He's observed Emmrich often enough to know the way he prefers his tea, even if he's still not bold enough to make a cup for him himself. He lets it steep to Emmrich's preference, adds enough milk and sugar, and for a long moment, he just holds the cup in his hands. It's warm, and the weight of it is nice. If he didn't know that Emmrich's hands ran cool from the way Bellara had squealed one evening when he touched her shoulder, he could almost imagine it was Emmrich's hand in his.

Lucanis spending the night working on contracts and paperwork, gaze drifting to the cup of tea sitting on the table. Complete with a little doily that only Emmrich ever bothers to use. When his eyes are starting to ache and the words blur, he lifts the cup to his face and inhales deep. It holds the tea-leaf scent Spite associates with the man, and some of the floral notes. Paired with the ink from his pens (one of which was brought by Manfred, graciously allowed to stay in his care because Spite refused to part with it), he can almost pretend that Emmrich is here beside him. That they are somewhere warm and comfortable, each attending to their work.

And in the morning, Emmrich is the one who finds him asleep at the kitchen table. Finger curled through the handle of the teacup that is dangerously close to his face. Emmrich, who hears the low murmur of, "Don't go, please," when he tries to remove the cup from Lucanis' grasp. Who gets to hear Spite's cheerful crow of, "He missed you. He wanted to sleep next to you. This was as close as the coward got."

[ellenchain]

Forgive me if you've already answered this somewhere else but is Jayce's leg still super fucked up in his new remade body? I know you mentioned that his wrist is scared from where the runestone was ripped out, but is his leg and back also scared over or are they still arcane-y from the contamination/infection of the future world?

Anyway love love love all your jayvik work, and i think your finalized explanation of post-canon viktor retaining the machine herald look while still being able to look human is so far my favorite of the genre :D

Ohh no no, I didn't answer that anywhere (and even if I did, I'd be happy to answer it again)!

In my head (and thus in my comic), Jayce will get a normal back scar, since it was a chainsaw that injured him before his journey, and an arcane scar on his leg.

The back injury was certainly still open when he landed in the other universe, yet I don't think the anomaly had much effect on that wound - we see his lip burst open and other minor injuries that didn't end up being contaminated. That's why I don't think his back has been infected (but of course it's possible)

The leg is another thing. It broke and healed while he was in the other dimension. It healed badly, which is why he will probably have problems walking or even running for the rest of his life (modern medicine as we know it to perform bone correction seems unlikely). So it makes sense that he continues to wear a brace.

After s2 now hard to say...

The rune had an effect and I strongly suspect that both were cured of their hexcorisation. The magic has presumably not only healed Viktor, but also Jayce. The question is how much they were healed.

Because there's still a knot in my head: Viktor was terminally ill, the hexcore healed him, but also modified his body. The Arcane could have replaced the hexcore and therefore changed his body. We can see from Viktor's legendary skin that he has a normal body with arcane markings. Mage Viktor also has normal hands again, from what we've seen; guess he has mastered to handle the Arcane to transform his body back - maybe the rest looks similar to his legendary skin with arcane scars.

So it stands to reason that our Viktor now also has a human body again, possibly with the scars of the Arcane running through it.

Long story short, but if the arcane could heal Viktor completely (body and illness), it would also heal his leg injury. Same with Jayce's.

But to be honest, that would be an erasure of the things that make them who they are. That's why I've decided for myself that Jayce and Viktor will keep their injuries (voluntary or involuntary; I haven't decided yet). As a sign of their journey together, their connection and of course to continue to give weight to Jayce's words that beauty lies in imperfections.

That's why they still wear braces. When naked, the scars are probably clearly distinguishable from the other leg. As a sign that the arcane was there.

At the end of the day, it's just my theories and I'm not that familiar with the original lore, so it may well be that Viktor ends up keeping his machine body and Jayce is spit back out of the rune unchanged as a human 🙃

BUT thank you so much for your lovely words, I'm really happy to hear that you like my work 🥺❤️

[scumvillainess]

honestly i never really agreed with the popular shen qingqiu had a good shizun headcanon because if shen qingqiu actually had someone who he knew cared about him, he definitely wouldn’t have turned out the way he did in canon.

[moldy-flowers]

"Kakashi's trauma is just as bad as Sasuke's and HE never left the village."

Ok!?!?!?!? Shut up!!!! Stop comparing trauma!!!!! Two completely different situations!!!!! Literally worlds apart!!!!!! Different personalities!!!!!! Different traditions!!!!!!! Different times!!!!!!! Different mental states!!!!!! Different ages!!!!!! Different environment!!!!!! Different upbringing!!!!!!!

[mementoasts]

ummm uhhhhh xillia 2 but i've turned it into isat. does anyone out there see my vision. can anyone hear me

(the last pic is below a cut because it's just, by nature, a spoiler for both games djkhdksjfhkds)

[puppetmaster13u]

So, made Scrys of the batfamily. And honestly I just love the idea of giant sea dragons, y'know? And dragons in general. So! What if batfamily adoption, but with Fathom dragons!

(Behold, Danny, Sam, Tucker, Val, Ellie & Jazz)

SO ANYWAY! There's multiple ways a prompt of this could go, but I have three main ideas:

Option 1: It is similar to the normal Flight Rising world, where everyone is dragons. And they're in the same universe- that is, DP and DC are one timeline. In which case, the GIW or Fentons or Someone had to do something that sent the lil vigilante hatchlings adrift. Or someone sent them away for their own safety. Which is how they end up in the Gotham waters, which should kill anything else with how poisoned it is. But Amity is getting blasted with death radiation, has gotten pulled into another dimension full of it, that doesn't not have effects. That said the bats were not expecting several hatchlings to be swimming in their territory. Several injured hatchlings who instantly flee from them. Which. Is concerning.

Option 2 Not everyone is dragons. It's more of a dragon-shifter situation. Or a Wayne family curse that doesn't just effect blood-related members but anyone who joins the family. And it could be that it's the same world, or that DP & DC are different worlds. But somehow, maybe while not even in Gotham, at least one of the family stumbles across what should be impossible. Because like, Bruce didn't adopt again did he!? That's definitely several hatchlings, right? Right?! Bruce did not adopt these kids. His father Thomas, remembering two timelines thanks to the whole Flashpoint Fiasco, (and is now doubly traumatized) could not just leave these literal child (teen or no!) vigilantes all alone when he knows ways to help. He just also doesn't have a way to exactly inform any of his living family of this fact, or even thought about how the curse doesn't care if the adopter is in fact dead when they adopt.

Option 3 The same as Option 2, but Ghost Thomas might've perhaps accidentally become ghost king. (Look PK threatened his kids. Hell no.

Also have designs on like, adult scrys too

pspspsps @f4nd0m-fun @radiance1 @hdgnj I have brought ideas lol

[arthurtaylorlester]

so like do you ever think about john doe

[fellhellion]

So glad I backtracked to do the creche quest. I hadn’t thought a lot about Lae’zel beyond my impression that she was a bit of a cruel tool (in both senses of the word) held together by a rigid adherence to her religious code (which would’ve been fine if not extremely compelling to me, evil women rights etc etc) but then you get to the creche and it’s like oh. I understand you now.

Being taught to slaughter the siblings you grew up with, being told weakness was an offence to your goddess, service to your goddess being the first teaching you ever learn. It’s so damn good.

The way she desperately clings to this idea that it’s all simply a test, but she spills the blood of her kin to protect you like ough. Deep down she already chose, she believed you, before she even knew it herself.

[hanzajesthanza]

a book with geralt 😃

a book with geralt without ciri 😐

a book with geralt without yennefer 😔

a book with geralt without dandelion 💀

[twilight-deviant]

[Avengers Academy: Marvel's Voices Infinity Comic (2024) #29]

The holidays are over and the darkest days of winter are upon us. The newly human Blackheart wrestles with the sins of his father �� and those of his own. Guest-starring Daredevil!

Do I... ship Matt/Blackheart now...? 🖤