#I thought I liked worldbuilding but there are too many details for me

[origami10]

I lied, I couldn't stop reading. Chard (huh) has a friend?? Also there's some kinda-whump in this, I didn't remember that. OH SWEET I wrote the songs I was listening too as I was writing this part XD yay for having old iPod so I can go right back to them (right down to "Track 02") Oh huh, Coura's characterization has changed, too... sort of? Maybe she's restored. AH I forgot about the misunderstood murder plot! Or, it's misunderstood in a different way than I thought! (Or IS it??) oh uh HM well THERE's a term choice... [there's a later author's note that says I felt similarly about it back then, so probably worth a change.] Wow some parts of this are written very explicitly (not in the nsf sense but in the... you sound like you're breaking the fourth wall sense).

Okay sorry this passage is really too funny not to copy here:

Flem wished he could switch beds with Westric. Then, late at night, he could look out the still-dirty window at the moon and feel all romantic and gooey. As it was he had to manage romantic and gooey without the benefit of the full moon’s help. The lack of moon really left a hole in Flem’s picture of himself as a hopeless romantic, melancholy and unbearably lonely a thousand leagues from his one true love.

I definitely did some rereading at some point because the author's notes have the advantage of hindsight. Also hm, this really ran off the rails in this section, I think I ran out of ideas for scenes. Okay, I didn't think the lake was THAT close. I guess it does have a river...? Okay there's way too much character exposition text instead of showing XD ("His failure at the task for which he had high expectations made him angry." LOL) But whatever! It's helpful for me now! Hm. I forget why I was so obsessed with parts of boats when I was younger but all of that definitely got dumped onto Westric. It is kinda nice to have this story because it does gather up a lot of things about myself in a very solid way!

How you can tell this is a Nano story: (apart from that there are no contractions)

""Westric, we made a bet. You lost. Now give me the money, or I will… look up a punishment for you on a threat generator! Yeah, that is what I will do. Those can be pretty awful, you know, you might even die if I do what it tells me to do." Shea said this because it makes no sense."

This is kind of interesting because most of the scenes I remembered ARE written down here... so maybe it is important to write them instead of... thinking of them first...

WAIT Shea has theories about the murder plot? Now it would be kind of extra funny if he WAS in on it. Oh wow Jecui character development??? I guess I actually was awake when I wrote this part?? Wow this is actually intense o.o I take back the comments about being embarrassing, I like this part! Wait did I write this before JECUI was part of the plot??? Lol some sentences are definitely written out for me to tell myself what's going on. Ha, 80% of the way through and my main character finally appears. Ah, Scorch half right half not. Ahhh, the chicken, I do remember writing that part. Flem has a feather hat huh? And trains, what? Aaaaand we're back to the embarrassing part. Definitely didn't remember Jecui and Char(d) getting along this well, but it's fun. Actually this writing is really interesting because it has the same problem I was just feeling in an actually published (translated) book, namely that some of the word choices don't match the setting. Also I guess I already have a secondary assassin if I need one? Forgot about that character. Aha, the spiral staircase finally shows up. Oh yay! Prepin, I forgot her name!! Oh huh, so the document's not divorce papers. There are a lot more descriptions of clothing in here than I remembered. Wow, it ends with Shea's hair turning pink, huh.

Okay, so there's very little actual substance in this, but it's still fun, there's good stuff, especially characterization. How the heck do people write whole books in 50,000 words?? This feels like, like, a chapter. Not when writing, but when trying to get out what I want the story to be.

I drew art of my since-middle-school OCs for the very first time! Just when I was lamenting wanting to do something big and exciting in 2023, this feels like it counts!

[fragmentedblade]

I don't know, it's silly, but I really love this story. I fell in love with the details and how everything cohered beyond my expectations, how the little details in worldbuilding made big things click and make sense even though they seemed typical fiction "too much but you have to suspend belief" things at first. And I actually honestly think most of the things some parts of fandom complain about are not only coherent, but some of the best more nuanced aspects of the writing. Everything that I thought and interpreted, even to the most minute details, was confirmed. Even, again, to the most minute details I loved but thought I was being stupid for paying so much attention to, because surely they couldn't mean as much as I thought they did. Yet they did.

[zincbot]

mario movie made me emotional more at 10

[nanaarchy]

Hey chat !!!! I'm going insane.

Ever since my first listen to TMA, I've had a huge question that NEVER got answered.

Never. Not in the whole series, not Q&As or the wiki or anything. I thought I would never find answers. I thought it would be forgotten. I thought it was a small insignificant detail and I'd have to live with never knowing the truth about it.

Now with TMAGP 19, I might finally know the answer.

Maybe. Maybe maybe. But It Could Be. And now I'm losing my mind at the implications.

((For the record, I know that the stories and worldbuilding are inherently separate - hell, there are even timeline differences in the cases I'm using as evidence. But the overlap might be important, especially when it comes to the Web.))

Spoilers for both shows below!

Its branches were exquisite, and delicate, swaying slightly from small eddies in the liquid, and they shone with every spectra. I must confess that to look upon it, one was – (sigh) filled with profound wonder at its exquisite elegance. [...] Even I, steeped in worldly matters as I am, recognized The Lord’s words to Adam, and was much dismayed at the implication. Isaac then plucked the delicate fruit with ungloved hands and held it before me. [...] The creature was taking root. Strands of its mottled brown hair were extruding downwards between the floor, seeking the dark earth below. Then, too, its back began to sprout, radiant branches unfurling and thickening before me, reaching upwards towards the sunlight with a seemingly insatiable desire. [...] I tell you here, Robert, it saw me, and it knew me. (TMAGP 19 - HARD RESET)

It was an ornate wooden thing, with a snaking pattern of lines weaving their way around towards the centre. The pattern was hypnotic and shifted as I watched it, like an optical illusion. I found my eyes following the lines towards the middle of the table, where there was nothing but a small square hole. Graham noticed me staring, and told me that interesting antique furniture was one of his few true passions. Apparently he’d found the table in a second-hand shop during his student days and fallen in love with it. It had been in pretty bad shape but he’d spent a long time and a lot of money restoring it, though he’d never been able to figure out what was supposed to go in the centre. He assumed it was a separate piece and couldn’t track it down. (MAG 3 - ACROSS THE STREET)

Re: Magnus Institute Ruins. By RedCanary on Saturday April 23 2022 12:17pm. The photos from the spelunk seem properly gone, but I did find an old wooden thing with a bunch of similar symbols on. Some kinda empty box, not really sure what for, though. Gonna see if I can get the light right for a decent pic. Edit: No dice, I’m afraid. Must be something up with my phone camera. Really not helping the whole paranoia thing either. Anyone know anything about photographic distortion? Gonna see if I can borrow my dad’s SLR tomorrow. (TMAGP 1 - FIRST SHIFT)

Adelard Dekker stood in the corner. He was straight and motionless, his lips moving rapidly, though no sound came out of them. In the centre of the room, stood a table carved from dark wood and wrapped all over with a sprawling, intricate pattern. And in front of that table was the thing that had said it was my cousin. It was long and thin, the tops of it bent against the ceiling and its stick-like limbs flailed from too many joints and elbows. Wrapped around it were thick strands of what I think was spider’s web, stretching back into the table, which I now saw pulsed along its carved channels with a sickly light. The face at the top of that gangly frame was like nothing on earth. (MAG 78 - DISTANT COUSIN)

Now... Now I get it. I get it. I finally gave an answer. Or, at least, I think we'll get a concrete answer soon. But I think I get it.

I think I get where the web table comes from. I think I know what it's made of. why it glows. why it had a hole in the middle. I think I might know how the web gained control and sentience so much faster than the other fears. and, if it still manifests in the same way in the Protocol universe, how it also quickly became "the manager" of other fears, as theories suggest.

More importantly, I think I know what was up with the mysterious tree from so, so long ago.

Now I have an answer.

Why was there an apple buried in Hill Top Road?

I opened the box and sitting inside was a single green apple. It looked fresh, shiny, with a coat of condensation like it had just been picked on a cool spring morning. I picked it up. I wasn’t going to eat it, I’m not that stupid, but more than bleeding trees or phantom burning, this confused me. As I took it out of the box, though, it began to turn. The skin turned brown and bruised and started to shrivel in my hand. Then it split. And out came spiders. Dozens, hundreds of spiders erupting from this apple that was rotting right before my eyes. I shrieked and dropped it before any of them could touch my arm. The apple fell to the ground and burst in a cloud of dust. I backed away and waited until I was sure all the spiders had left before retrieving the box. I smashed it with a crowbar, and threw the remains into a skip. (MAG 8 - BURNED OUT)

And now I have an answer. Maybe.

[levemetal]

Hi hello, I rushed this and I cannot be arsed to properly render this. I have other things to draw, many of them. But also. I really put too much effort into the flat of this that I kinda burned myself out LMAO

ANYWAY CALAMITY/GHOST KING SHEN JIU DESIGN. Take it, cherish him like I would. I wanted to dress him up like the pretty princess he is <3 Plus, ghost kings a la tgcf gotta slay in all categories so here we go. I'll ramble more about the more coherent thoughts I have but you can tear ghost king SJ from my cold dead hands. ٩( ᐛ )و

His motivations more becoming a ghost king/calamity are fairly straightforward if you're familiar with Shen Jiu and all the funky workings of his mind. It is to be stronger than everybody else and attaining a place that cannot be taken from him cause he has the power for it. So that no one else can have any power over him either.

However this also means that he does not necessarily have any grand plans of what to do with that power. I imagine he'd be a recluse, living off and alone somewhere hardly getting involved in the affairs of the living and gods etc.

If he does, I imagine it might more be in the style of killing slavers and otherwise bad men. Maybe a sort of brothel workers protector, getting rid of the most problematic and horrible clients? Let your imagination wander!

For a title? I have no clue man, I am not good enough at words for this. Something with green or teal as the color and leaves. That's how far I got.

Now the juicy stuff, POWERS. Leaves. Leaves and fans is the tldr version. I imagine he'd use the qi-infused leaves as in canon, just far more deadlier (probably) and conjured rather than just reliant on leaves off trees in the vicinity. For a weapon, if available (read: SY is not possessing SJ's OG body, or Xiu Ya was not obtained) I think he should get to keep Xiu Ya, or otherwise a blood weapon shaped after it. Tho if I had to give him a blood weapon a la Hua Cheng's E'ming, it would be a fan. The blades on it would likely be shift on, both an edge to cut with and places for darts to fly out. Otherwise in terms of weapons I could see daggers very well too for SJ. They'd suit him, as he could get in and get a quick stab or just throw them from afar. With his fighting style that likely has a lot of the ruthless tactics of his youth incorporated, I think it would fit just like a battle fan.

Otherwise, I do see him being a capable shapeshifter, or some sort of abilities to stay in the shadows undetected. If he needs some sort of animal or communication/surveillance skill associated with him, I personally would pick ravens. Spiritually created ravens as a sort of spying network and surveillance method.

Another juicy detail could be cultivation method. Tgcf does mention that the ghosts still have their own form of cultivating their power. For example, He Xuan eats and absorbs the abilities of other ghosts, whereas Hua Cheng is mentioned to cultivate via slaughtering. The xianxia in tgcf is rather vague now that I have a few more danmei under my belt, and specifically Devil Venerable also wants to know has given me a looot of thoughts about some interesting ways to detail this if it is so desired for a setting. Do please keep in mind tho I haven't really researched cultivation and the wuxia/xianxia 101 worldbuilding yet so this may not make sense. Anywho:

For Shen Jiu in particular I'd find it interesting to give him his own form rather than just copying either Hua Cheng (most fitting imo) or He Xuan (bonus eating disorder included, hooray!). So here are some ideas I had in no particular order:

- Take the core melting aspect from mdzs and applying it to ghosts (sorta): dissolving and absorbing the cores/qi of cultivators and ghosts alike, thus claiming the power for his own.

- Blood. Think less vampire and more slaughter. The messier the kill essentially, bleed the victims dry and absorb the blood to transform it into qi. (Thank you returning Dragon Age brainrot)

- dvawtk's Path of Slaughter. It doesn't really fit SJ as it relies on constantly finding stronger opponents to fight and challenge, especially ones stronger than oneself and persevering against the odds. Not his personal choice but it would poetically fit him and his entire life pretty well.

That's all for now. If you made it till here.... have a gold star: ⭐️

[germesthegenie]

Can a “😍😙😁” gal and a “💀👿🩸” gal really be besties? Sure seems like it so far.

Based on a scene from Ward 3.3

Recently finished Ward Arc 3! Thoughts below:

Been a while since my first post on Ward, a couple of thoughts:

Arc 2

I like the slower pace so far (we’ll see how long that lasts i suppose). Nice to get little moments like Victoria going to interviews and visiting the kids at the hospital.

Zion really gave one last middle finger to humanity and said “You know what? Automated random horrific death triggers.” Jokes aside, the broken trigger scene was haunting, might draw something based on it in the future.

The therapy group superhero team premise is interesting. Nice to have a band of characters who have mental or emotional weaknesses but have each other’s backs! Now let’s see who they’re up agaisnt- oh, Tattletale? Oh no.

Not too many thoughts on the arc’s interlude, a lot of nice worldbuilding which is always welcome.

Arc 3

Capture the Flag was a fun premise for a friendly fight, and it delivered pretty well in showing off everyone’s powers, strengths and weaknesses. Also nice to see Victoria filling a more mentor/coach role and getting to flex the experience she’s gained with her power in a more positive light. Have some drawing ideas once I figure out how exactly I want to depict stuff like her aura.

Liking the new team so far, though still need to wrap my head around some of the finer details of the powers. Definitely gives me Jojo vibes in how the powers are more complex in the sequel/s.

I realized quickly that Kenzie’s powerset is a lot like my character from my friend’s Worm campaign (which I might write more about later on). Also a surveillance/drone Tinker, though with more focus on multiple drones and material efficiency than Kenzie’s big boxes of large scale holograms and photo-distortion.

Seems the group all have their own little secrets and/or problems they need to work through. Please Vic don’t let any of them near Tattletale they would practically be a freebie for her to take down.

Ok, no Birdcage as I learned from last post. But is there, like, a dead Earth with a one way portal to toss Carol into? Is Sleeper still occupying Earth Zayin? Maybe we should send Carol there on a free vacation I hear it’s a lovely time in… whatever the effect of his power is.

Evil Robot Grocery… ok how do you even fight that. I guess it’s an S-class Threat for a reason but like what option is there other than quarantining and bombarding the entire area they’ve spread to? Do EMPs work? Put Ghost Bakuda to good use and make that Arc 6 Bomb to knock them all out?

Silly rodent themed hero. Close enough, welcome back Mouse Protector Ratcatcher. Also gonna toss her on the list of “characters I should draw some time.”

Amy Dallon finally speaks, and looks like she’s making friends! Friends that are all (at least former) supervillains! That are encouraging her down a darker path! I can only see good things happening here. A little surprised we get her this early from an Interlude rather than from a main chapter, though I suppose it does make sense to flesh her out more now rather than waiting until Victoria directly sees her again in whatever state she’s in by that point (probably a bad one).

That’s all the Ward thoughts I could think of at the moment. Will be reading more, next update hopefully won’t take 2 months again (but probably will)

[bharv]

I have so many thoughts and feelings about the portrayal of Qunari stuff in Veilguard but I’m worried about just being negative all the time but to me the details are what gets me down.

I’ll put under a cut for some smaller spoilers.

Taash would not be with their birth mother under the Qun. They would have no special relationship, a child of one is a child of the whole. Unless she took her child and became Tal-Vashoth because she didn’t want to sever that bond - that is interesting, but means they are Tal-Vashoth and Taash is not of the Qun and never was.

Sten should have been killed off if they wanted to remove him as Arishok. The idea that he would somehow be repurposed into a Ben-hassrath role, a completely different part of the triad, is ridiculous and against the entire purpose of the Qun.

Call the Antaam what they are. They are Tal-Vashoth dissenters. But why are they? Trespasser showed that there was a sanctioned invasion occurring. That the Qunari had seen what the inquisition did and firstly found them wanting and secondly believed it was time for the Qun to come south for the betterment of all. What happened to that? Where is the discussion around the cultural schism outside of one saying “the Qun is garbage?”

The moments of corruption have never been as interesting as the questions of WHY people end up corrupted. Is the Antaam like this because all of the most suggestible and violent candidates were pushed towards it? Were they frustrated at their place against the Ariqun and Arigena (again this is where Sten being Arishok bites you a bit as I can’t really imagine him being like that, though the old Arishok was.)

Idk there were just SO many interesting bits of lore that are so compelling to me. The idea of the collective over the individual, the freedom in what is known and knowing your place. the idea of gender constructs being seen differently too (there’s actually an interesting question around what it would be to not be in the binary and be devout in the Qun and the pressure of that, but to show that you have to show faith in the culture! Genuine faith in it!)

DA2 in particular really allowed some fascinating theological ideas to be planted and it’s just. Lacking to me in the basic worldbuilding now. Because they seem so afraid to say actually, the Qun has things that are positive for people. You HAVE to allow for that! The game seems so afraid to have a religious viewpoint at all. In the franchise about faith, religious construct, and societal impact.

Maybe I’ll be proved wrong later on.

[showtoonzfan]

Just want to preface this by saying i love ur analysis sm- u put my exact thoughts into words when i cant verbalise whats wrong with a particular writing decision 🥲🥲

Anyway, smth ive noticed is how... little time vivzie actually spends on writing or characterizing or fleshing out her characters.

Which has to be the weirdest thing so far bc every writer and artist ive met agree that its the best part of making an oc! Its so fun to think of backstories and tie that into their current personality and generally just figuring out random details to get to know your characters!

Like, my ocs are my best friends, i know everything abt them from their trauma and childhoods, to their favourite food and music.

But time and time again she proves that her characters are at best acquaintances... the fandom fleshes out the characters so well and with so much love and care and thought that vivzie herself cant do and its just sad.

Not even mentioning the hundreds of retcons and how characters will just change personality randomly or act out of character which results in the work feeling like a fanfic of itself. (Ironic considering some fanfics have better and more consistent characterisation)

It feels like shes making it up as she goes, instead of having an actual plan. Just shoving random ideas she likes or picks up from the much more creative fandom into the 2 shows without actually stopping and thinking abt the consequences or implications.

Theres so many decisions shes made that irk me so bad... the ideas individually have potential but they either dont fit the show or have to make huge retcons and result in the plot not making any sense.

Also, ngl but she has the worst case of tell dont show ive ever seen my god 😭😭 like... you realise you have to show things instead of just fucking singing it or having a character say it??? Or is that another thing that the fandom has to do so they can convince themselves that the show has good characters??

Atp idk how to salvage the show... i keep finding more and more plotholes and unless i literally turn my brain off and only focus on haha funny dick joke or pwetty colors, these questions keep popping into my head making it a painful unenjoyable experience.

Again, if the fandom has to justify your bad nonsensical hypocritical worldbuilding then you failed. Massively.

Anyway im very sleepy rn just wanted to rant a bit bc im a writer and artist myself and it pisses me off how someone gets their show on the air and still doesnt care abt putting in effort into their plot or characters beyond aesthetics and random ideas that dont go well together...

You’re speaking facts! And it’s honestly like..kinda funny too that people who have their own OC’s can flesh them out and deep dive into their arcs/backstories ect, yet a professional showrunner who’s had these characters for YEARS can’t even give the majority of her characters flaws or quirks, or even consistency, same goes for Helluva Boss.

Viv is a really good example at letting inspired writers know what not to do when making a story and characters so at least they have that lol.

[the-au-collector]

Four is Jesus (Part 2)

@not-freyja I did not forget about this! I just had too many incoherent thoughts I needed to sort out, but now I have some more thoughts for my whole “Four is Jesus” headcanon.

What roadblocked me a lot was that the religion of Hylia is already very heavily based in Christian motifs and symbols. So I really want to shout out @trash-aged-like-fine-wine for their reblog of my post (read it here seriously) which helped me figure out some things like:

pre-four swords era = the old testament

Four sealing away darkness = "dying for our sins"

the Palace of the Four Swords = the cave Jesus was buried in

So with that out of the way I had to figure out the details of Four's sacrficie. Since the religion is Christian-like and idk if crucifixion would fit into Legend of Zelda, I don’t want Four to just get crucified but I also didn’t know how to make him sacrifice himself in a way that could somehow create a cross motif. Then I thought about getting stabbed/sealing yourself in a sword. It fits for sacrifice. And swords kinda look like crosses. The idea is that over time the religious motif of a sword simplified into a cross shape.

This is the direction I think I want my Christian-like religion to go. It’s a split from the normal Hylian religion, kind of like how Christianity split from Judaism. So Hylia is still the main god, but some subset of Hylians decided Four was somehow related to Hylia. Those details are still in the works. I’m thinking maybe he was brought down from the sky or something since he’s the Hero of the Minish and the Minish reportedly came from the sky. Religion does have an element of truth to it (spiritual religions are based in nature, most polytheistic gods have something to do with natural forces, Jesus was a real person who existed. This is the sort of thing is what I’m talking about), but the thing that’s really fascinating to me is how humans interpret it into being divine. So I’m both focusing on the real thing that happened, and how people would later interpret it.

Which brings me to Four’s sacrifice. Most of my fics and worldbuilding overlap, so I’m going to just *nabs my idea for Ruthlessness from my Cost of Courage/Epic AU*. Four sacrifices himself for Shadow by either being killed by a powerful foe (no it’s not Fierce Deity like in my Epic AU that detail might be changing anyway) or, more likely, sealing himself into the Four Sword to save Shadow (which I said in my previous post could be interpreted as saving everyone, since the idea is that people believe Shadow is the manifestation of our sins.) This is seen as the Ultimate Sacrifice. This opens up very valid beliefs of a second coming. It also can kind of explain the cross motif without making Four have to get crucified. And best yet, it’s at least semi-canon compliant.

I know Four’s games (and I think he’s also merged with the Hero of Men from Minish Cap’s opening???) can somehow be interpreted as religious stories. Especially with the light force thing going on, and literally killing a demon thing. And I know I’m also going to pull stories from my Lorule worldbuilding (it’s coming! It’s coming!), so I think there’s enough there to theoretically make a religious book promoting similar ideas to Christianity. I cannot stress enough that I’m aiming for Christian-like instead of “hey let’s dump Christianity with no extra thought into LoZ for the fun of it.” Most of things that make Christianity Christianity don’t even exist in LoZ!

But uh yeah. Here’s more thoughts on that. Lorule stuff will come in a part 3… eventually.

[saltedcaramelchaos]

Wonderlust theory thoughts !! Just finished the first episode :D (these are very disorganized but we just roll with it)

Troy's first bit is pretty cut-and-dried as far as I can tell, it's very much to show the character in his natural habitat, but we'll probably get more context as the series goes on!

Aside from the character, THE STEAMPUNK VIBES ARE SO COOL AAAHHH!! Using flipbooks as play-by-plays? Whatever that interview camera thing was? Using "cogs" as currency?!? YES PLEASE

Also, I see you May. Where were you going so quickly :eyes:

Runt and the street rats are so interesting to me,,, my first thought was "oh there's poor people even in the 'utopia'", but then they actually were stealing from uplanders iirc!

This implies that Doppler + the gang have some way to get up above, without running into the clockwork soldiers. That will definitely be relevant later.

Also it might end up being important who exactly it was that they were stealing medicine from

Come to think of it, why is it always medicine that's being stolen/transported? It could just be a way to show that the characters are kind and care about others, or it could be emphasizing a deep flaw in the system Reclaim runs on...

side note that moment when runt saw the moon and went "how'd they make that".... ough. I don't think that adds a dimension to the worldbuilding other than the character detail of "SHE'S NEVER SEEN THE MOON BEFORE and most people here probably haven't either", but wow, way to emotionally destroy me with a single throwaway line grizzlyplays

More steampunk gadgets yaaayyy! so far between the clockwork soldiers and the mites, all the security measures up above seem like they go WAY TOO HARD. Is it a way to control people through fear? Do they secretly know there's a whole society underneath? Is it to protect something, maybe those purple stones? Is it just the person making them being unconcerned if people die at their hands? I'm so sure this means something (<-"troy's dad is a villain" truther)

Blink's turn! This man has SO many secrets and I can't wait to learn all of them. What was his relationship to Aeon? Why is he here now? Why is he on the run?

More specifically, he said something to- maybe shopkeeper guy-? about how he can't stop helping people. It sounded like a personal-promise-slash-oath kind of thing. He's clearly already been through character development; in his conversation with Aeon neither of them were happy about how the other has "changed"... that's so fascinating to me, is he a paladin? He does this out of the goodness of his heart, sure, but he sure talks like he's at least emotionally bound to it. What could have happened to cause his adamance that helping people is the right thing to do, and that Aeon isn't doing that?

Speaking of Aeon, I 100% agree with the person that said she got to Troy first. It did strike me as suspicious that he had a whole chase scene with Blink Specifically and not anyone else

From what I caught, the vixens are pretty much the self-imposed policemen/tax collectors of Reclaim! I wonder what the general public thinks of them...

that's all I can think of at the moment! let me know if anything on here has been proven or disproven because I tend to ignore the very obvious details for the character/worldbuilding ones LOL

[slightlysadfilter]

The fact that there are people out there who don't like Ninth House is so baffling to me because I'm such a picky reader, and yet this book wrecked my life, I'm telling you

One of the best prose I've ever encountered, and yes, the story was messy at first but not so messier than many other fantasy books I read. I found it more engaging than a detailed, list-like wordlbuilding explanation that seems to be more common. Or even when they try to scatter it, it still comes off as "let's get the worldbuilding done with" and that's not something I found here, and I thought it clever and enthralling. I actually enjoyed deciphering the many quotes, mentions and foreshadowing. That's why I read it twice.

I was also surprised to find many people don't like Alex as a character. That's genuinely the most surprising one to me. She's such a complex, strong and intelligent woman! And she's an antihero, which I always enjoy.

Lastly, many people complained about the slow burn being too slow. This one annoys me a little. If you want your characters to get together within 300 pages, that's not a slow burn. If you don't want the tiny details, the tension, the "almosts", it's not a slow burn.

[lovewash3d-doll]

🎀🗝️How to Write Realistic Dialogue 🎀🗝️

When I first started writing, I had such a difficult time writing dialogue and making it realistic. I’d cringe at my own sentences and those who read it would comment out its awkwardness. If you’re in the same boat, don’t worry! Over the years, I’ve developed some tips and tricks that have helped improve my dialogue! Here are many factors that you can consider to make your dialogue more authentic and more impactful to read!

1. Daydream Away!

This is my most effective tip that transformed my bad dialogue to something that sounds natural to conversation. As you write, imagine your scene as one in a movie. Envisioning someone actually speaking in a context can help you differentiate if your dialogue is something a person would actually say. A character won’t go on a long tangent or a grand speech, instead they may just say the jest of their point or even shorten it. As easy as is it, making a character verbally explain a buck-full of your worldbuilding is a bad idea and is an unauthentic way to introduce both a character and a world. Sometimes we tend to write awkward sentences or word phrases too grammatically-correct. When speaking, people tend to say “don’t” instead of “do not” and “you and me” instead of “you and I.” sometimes even envisioning a text conversation can help. An additional factor to consider is the language a person uses. The formalities and diction of your dialogue depends on the culture and time period that your story is in, as well as the socioeconomic status of your character. A character in the Victorian age won’t use modern day slang. A wealthier character will use more eloquent vocabulary and employ more philosophical, academic aphorisms. Make sure not to overdo it and keep the amount of information a person says to a minimal and within the context of the dialogue you can envision!

2. Consider Psychology

People don’t always say what they mean! This is a key tip my Creative Writing teacher told me. When writing dialogue, remember the humanity in what we choose to say and what we don’t and why. People lie, deceive, bottle up emotions, and have different dispositions. To make your writing more realistic, keep that in mind! An upset character may say they are fine when questioned. A person might make a comment out of peer pressure or a cruel remark out of anger. People tend to dumb down what they say and not fully explain themselves. It’s important to retain that mystery and self restraint when making dialogue! Consider what a character may reveal compared to what other characters and the reader discover from other sources or that character’s actions. Actions speak more than words as they say. Dialogue is only a sliver of insight into a character’s thoughts—like the faint light spilling through the small crack of a door.

3. Pauses & Character Expressions

Another technique and facet of dialogue can be found within its tag and short imagery. When speaking, people tend to make pauses or loose their train of thought and think of something else. Including these within a dialogue tag can add another layer of realism. Describing emotions and reactions, employing more detailed variations of the word “said”, and explaining character body language is very beneficial. Writing“argued” instead of “said” adds more depth and power behind a character’s dialogue. When people speak, they also do much more than that simply emit words: their emotion and body language play a large role on how what they say is conveyed and perceived. A character might be perceived as angrier if they flay their arms or tighten their fists. A character might be perceived as sadder if they are described muttering, with their head drooped low. Dialogue shouldn’t be flat and emotionless!

I hope this helps! Reblogs are appreciated!

XOXO,

lovewashed doll 🗝️🎀

[adobe-outdesign]

Is there a pokemon you haven't reviewed that you're really itching to? Maybe one that bothers you a lot? I'd love to hear about some of your least favorites

(I'm pretty sure I've reviewed all of the Pokemon that I don't care for already, and it's not that big of a list to begin with. That said, I'm doing the Grimer line for this one because I don't care for the originals that much, even if I love the Alolan forms.)

Grimer... is kind of boring, if I'm being honest. Slime monsters are a classic in fantasy and RPGs, and you can see a lot of different takes on them across the board. The beauty of a slime monster is that they don't have a solid body, so you can do whatever you want with the design.

Not only do we already have a slime monster in Gen 1 in the form of Ditto, but Grimer is pretty standard. It's a blob with arms, a wide open mouth, and big eyes. Color-wise, it's pure purple to represent its poison type with no details on its body. (For the record, I thought this line had stripes for years, which would've made them a bit more interesting, but the 3D models confirm that the stripes are shading.)

What I do like about Grimer is that A) the expression is kind of fun, especially in the earlier sprites, and B) it does have some great lore. I love details like how it dies if there's not enough trash and filth for it to eat, and how this has caused them to slowly become endangered because the Pokemon world has been cleaning up its pollution. It's good world building, and adds some much needed interest to the line.

Ultimately, while I find Grimer pretty bland, Muk is really what kills the line for me. There are so many things you can do with a pile of slime, and all the line does is... get bigger. It does change its eyes, gain a strand of slime over its mouth, and loose an arm (or rather, the other arm is merged with its body). The shape of it is kind of nice, and I like the mouth even if the eye is a bit of a downgrade, but overall it's about as uninteresting as an evo as you could get.

All that said, while the Kantonian version of these Pokemon don't do a lot for me, the Alolan regionals knock it out of the park. My main complaint was that the original line felt very standard, so Alolan Grimer imminently works on fixing this by making the body green (also clever as it's another toxic color, as well as a standard slime color) and giving it a blue tongue with a bright yellow mouth outline and two small teeth (actually crystals). Some black accents around the eyes help them pop a bit as well. This instantly makes it stand out a lot more.

The reason for this change is that the line now feeds primarily on chemical waste instead of regular waste, having been introduced to Alola to deal with their trash problems. Once again, great worldbuilding!

And if Alolan Grimer wasn't enough, Alolan Muk improves on the line even further by massively changing the design. What was one yellow line around the mouth is now four different colors, (yellow, green, blue, and pink), which are incredibly bright. Under normal circumstances they'd look clashy and garish, but they work perfectly when used to represent chemical poisons and the like. It's also nice that the line actually has stripes after all these years, and they ripple in its animations, which is even cooler! (The blue stripes don't move, which is odd, but I digress.)

And in addition to that, Alolan Muk expands on A. Grimer's little "teeth" by including more crystalized poisons all over its body, giving it a jaw full of jagged, uneven "teeth" and "claws". The line went from being way too similar and fairly standard to incredibly distinct and unique. It's basically a perfect example of how regionals can be used to improve on older, plainer designs.

Overall, the original line is harmless but pretty par for the course. The Alolan versions are a big improvement all-around and a much appreciated addition to the line.

[sandyca5tle]

i stumbled into the slime hrt series by accident (... the accident: i searched for shapeshifter hrt lol) and i have to say

BRBABBRBRBABABEBRBARBABRBRBRB This is like The Best thing i've read in a long while and im very normal thinking about it, it's really well thought out, the worldbuilding is brilliant, The Everything is amazing, the descriptions of all the sensations and physical/mental/social changes are making me Feel Things and. Aaa. also FIDGETING WITH THE CORE SOUNDS cool as heck. random pseudopod stuff. just. details and descriptions. aeauagaeauaue

so thanks a lot for the great writing i now want this and am very sad it's not a thing irl

first of all: agshjdkagsdhjaksafghsdj

second of all: thanks, seriously, i really appreciate hearing all that, i really try to make everything come across as I imagine it and translate my thoughts into coherent words, so I'm super glad to hear that comes across. I will say, to be completely, the world building is not really my own creation, I've only added a little to @darkmagenugget/@nuggetofthesea 's setting of hyper city (mostly by bugging them incessantly about it heh) and ofc a lot of the other lore is from the other AHRT peeps (too many to tag 'em all, but definitely worth checking out all the others) in specific might be up you), since I've tried to keep at least some coherance with that (partially to allow for any collabs) but I'm still super happy to hear you liked it aaa, i'm still reeling a little, wasn't expecting this, but it's really nice to hear. Also mood on the wishing it was a real thing, I can't even remotely pretend this series isn't massive wish fulfillment for myself. Guess we'll have to wait for science to catch up with our dreams hehe Also, if shapeshifting hrt is what you're looking for, stay tuned, I promise it's coming up!

If ya like slime/shapeshifter hrt @scrubbinn's and @calliecwrites's stories are also definitely worth reading as well as @mint-and-authoress's too!

[local-hyena]

Whoo, Trolls movies. Lots of stuff to say about them. I saw the first one when it came out. It wasn't at the cinema tho. Once my dad said "hey I put a movie downstairs) and it was Trolls. Now, it wasn't the best conditions to watch it. I enjoyed it, I found it very fun and entertaining, but for some reason my step-mother was watching with me and seemed to NOT enjoy the movie at all, she'd ask me if I was really interested and stuff, and it made me kinda nervous ? Anyway. I liked it and that's what matters. However it was a long time ago and I don't remember all the details.

When the second movie came out, I wasn't too interested and didn't go to the theatre to watch it. I thought it would be a shitty sequel, much like many more of its kind. After the third movie came out, I found out that a LOT of people enjoyed the last wto movies, and that there was an entire comlunity behind them. So, out of curiousity, I watched the second movie. And oh boy, I honestly didn't expect to enjoy it that much !

First of all, I love how the different troll species were handled. Worldbuilding ? Hell yeah. Then, the actual story. It was good ! It's about accepting others etc... I think it was a metaphor for racism ? Maybe, I'm not good at analyzing stuff. I really liked the new characters, of course the rock trolls are super cool, but I think my favorite new characters are Hickory and Chaz.

I watched the third movie the day after. It introduced Branch's and Poppy's long-lost siblings, which was surprising to say the least. I also loved Velvet and Veneer, this movies villains. I loved them as in I hated them, but they were cool being evil. I liked how they were both prortrayed, Veneer being pressured by his sister to keep on draining Floyd's energy. I have sympathy for Veneer, but not Velvet.

In conclusion, I'd say that these three movies have surprisingly deep themes and meanings, and that they only get better, the second and third being the best in my opinion.

[centrally-unplanned]

Watched a bunch of stuff last night, including the Alita OVA from 1993! I thought it was a lot of fun, the thoughts:

--- It did the "obvious" thing of adapting the romance arc with Yugo of Volume 2 as the core, while blending in the events of Volume 1 as sort of backstory and setup as opposed to their own story. This arc is Alita at her most humanized in the early parts of the manga, and its the plot that centers Zalem as the untouchable overlord city most effectively. Any short adaptation is gonna choose this - part of why James Cameron (lol) did the same thing!

--- Speaking of, the manga does not actually have any particular focus on Alita's eyes, but the anime definitely has more than one shot where it establishes them as thematically special. Given that the James Cameron film is famous for going full CGI on Alita's eyes, and he knows about the property from Guillermo del Toro passing him the OVA as opposed to the manga, I think I can see the chain of events that lead to that (ill-fated?) decision.

Her eyes are pretty amazing in the OVA, so I get it! As my previous reblogs showed lol.

--- I think I can break apart the manga into three "concepts": the setting as cyberpunk dystopia, Alita as a character dealing with identity issues as an amnesiatic combat robot, and shounen fighting & levelling arcs. The OVA heavily focuses on the first part, ditching almost all the shounen stuff - its fight scenes are quick and focus on violence & bodily destruction over strength or "fighting techniques", etc. This is great for me, obviously! But it also, almost accidentally, ditches most of her identity issues? Because its less than an hour long, and needs to do a ton of worldbuilding - including even adding in a new character from Zalem to help with that - and is doing Yugo's entire arc, you really don't have time left for Alita's struggles. Yugo actually gets more "inner depth" than she does! She commits to being a bounty hunter, then after that she is pretty much just In Love while Yugo goes through his detailing of his past and collapse.

I'm not saying it doesn't work, it does as a story. Just interesting for something that is known as very "protagonist associated" to have an OVA where she is barely the protagonist.

--- While no Urotsukidoji or anything, this is another one of those OVAs where its reputation, particularly in the west, is as a hyper-violent, gory OVA? And like so many it really isn't. People get decapitated, don't get me wrong, buts its never lingers on those moments. Instead they serve as tone setters for the crapsack world or just are part of the action sequences.

I think in general the OVA era rarely made horror/gore films the way some other mediums/industries did? There are exceptions of course but in the end anime is trying to do too many other things; beautiful animation, focus on character designs, often being adaptations and so doing the plot of those more complex stories, erotic content for audiences that aren't *that* fetishistic on average, and more. All of these priorities compete for space in comparison to having endless jumpscares and blood splatters. So far my track record for watching the famous "gorefest" or "~crazy~" anime is that every one of them is tamer than the rep suggests, and I believe this medium/genre mismatch is why.

--- The biggest question I have around Alita in general is why there was never any more anime? Its weird, right? Its a famous property from a beloved genre, it had a hollywood film for some crazy reason, things like Ghost in the Shell got multi-season anime after all. Why no feature film remake in the 2000's? Why no 13-cour in the 2010's? I don't have an answer to that yet.

Why the initial OVA was so minimal is at least partly answered by Kishiro here:

MNS: Many fans have wondered, why were only 2 anime OAV episodes produced in 1993? YK: It was based on the plan proposed by the animation production company. It might have been better to turn down the plan and wait for a better adaptation proposal to come up, but back then, I couldn't afford to review the plan coolly. At that time, I was still serializing the work and was so busy that I wasn't ambitious to make it into animation.

Essentially he took the "deal on hand", not offering much, because he didn't have the time, money, or business savvy to work the industry for a better proposal. 100% understandable. I don't think the OVA did too well? I can't find a lot of sales figures, but the comments I see are in the "respectable" range, and it didn't get quick or expansive rereleases over time.

More broadly, and again speculative, I think maybe Alita overall isn't that successful? Like sure Kishiro is still out here releasing more sequel manga to this day somehow, but when I look at the "media mix" its just really sparse. No big video game adaptations - it has a PlayStation game in the 90's - it has like a drama CD and a novelization? No big merch waves or tie-ins. I am betting the big anime production committees just don't think its a hot enough property to sell that great. Wouldn't be a bad idea or anything, but not one you have to do like idk Chainsaw Man.

In the western fandom spaces its quite well known because of the idiosyncrasies of licensing history, the weird James Cameron factor, and I think a general fascination with anime cyberpunk; the west eats up any of the older cyberpunk properties for its aesthetic in a way that can blind people to the reality of that just being a subgenre in Japan at the time. Alita might just be niche enough that it not getting any wider anime adaptations is no grand mystery.

(But I hope to dig into this question more)