#I understand that all these issues on their own are pretty minor but collectively they're really fucking wearing on me

[oiblackestsheep]

Hooooy! MBTI types as movies? :D

HELLO, and thanks for waiting so long for me to do this 😭 I literally typed all the movies like a million years ago and just haven't had any time to put together the little analysis blurbs but I'M HERE NOW SO LETS DO IT.

Also sidenote: I am notriously terrible for remembering the full plots of movies (and don't watch a ton of movie in general) so if anything seems off in these analyses (aside from the fact that I tried not to go FULL STEREOTYPE), I would bet it is more of a problem with remembering the movie than it is understanding MBTI, but hey, what do I know lmao

MBTI Types as Movies

INTP: The Matrix

The GOATed movie for the GOATed type, what can I say. LMAO, just jokes, just jokes on both accounts. I mean, they're both great, but you know, I mean no offense. Still, I think this fits well because you spend so much of the movie how things work in the Matrix because the rules of reality start getting wonkier the more they investigate. Ti loves figuring things out and Ne is all about things being new and/or different, so it was an easy pick. Maybe a bit stereotypical, but hey, at least it wasn't Lord of the Rings or Star Wars (also great movies, but come on, it's been said a million times, we gotta shake it up a LITTLE).

ENTP: Jurassic Park

Watch the scene where Dr. Ian Malcom tells everyone "you were so preoccupied with whether or not you could that you didn't stop to think if you should" and TELL me this isn't an ENTP movie lmao. Jurassic park is ALL about how new and interesting of a possibility modern-day dinosaurs could be, and they had the Ti and science to back up their ambitions. And also the tert Fe to decide to make it a theme park I guess? Lmao, it's like, okay, sure, kinda weird, but I GUESS people will like it.

INFP: Scott Pilgrim vs The World

The movie is very Fi portraying Scott's life because you can feel just how everything is so personalized and tailored to his lifestyle and preferences that even things like his band feel like an extension of himself. The same goes for the other characters in the band too; even minor characters have so much individuality with such little screentime, which appears very Fi-dom to me. And also just like, cartoon + anime logic to fight Ramona's evil ex's is such an Ne premise because of how different and sometime random it is - I love it. Sidenote: Scott Pilgrim Takes Off on Netflix is a super good miniseries!

ENFP: Inside Out

A fun and zaney way of expressing your own personified emotions that all interact with each other and are interwoven with your real life struggles and choices? Can that get any more ENFP if it tried? Not to mention that people have taken to creating their OWN versions of their primary emotions, too. Explain to me how Bing Bong could ever exist without a massive super dose of Ne, lmao.

INTJ: Dune

A futuristic sci-fi universe with complex and realistic political unrest, economic corruption, and ecological issues to demonstrate examples of the abuse of power all wrapped up in one big collection is like the epitome of an INTJ and dominant Ni to me. As silly as this might sound, I really did NOT follow this movie super well, even though it SOUNDS like it should be up my alley as an INTP, and that in part lead me to think it might be more of an INTJ movie. It's got a lot of the same ingredients, but you can tell it's just built different because of the massive world-building.

ENTJ: The Truman Show

I would say the premise of staging Truman's entire life with the expectation that it will persist all the way into his old age as a way of capitalizing on it for profit and TV show ratings is a pretty Dom-Te, Aux-Ni, ENTJ kind of thing to do. A BAD ENTJ thing to do, but ENTJ nonetheless. Everything that happened to Truman had an intended purpose, which was to keep audience engagement with the show. I COULD see an argument made for this being an ENFJ thing, but I decided ENTJ because at the end of the day, they cared more about and prioritized the boons to be gained from continuing the show, not necessarily the emotional reactions of Truman, themselves.

INFJ: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Probably my favorite movie of all time (if you couldn't tell, I really like Jim Carrey) has to go to INFJ. This movie really takes you so far into his head, and really captures what it is like to be doing that dom-Ni thing of looking for and assigning symbolic meaning to things (often times other people's thoughts and actions), especially in such a way that can be dangerous, and seems to be a major cause of both main characters' debilitating depession and self-confidece issues. Not to say all INFJs are like that, of course, but a lot of the themes that come up in this movie are great examples of just how wrong things can go with unhealthy Ni-Fe.

ENFJ: Gone Girl

Similar to ENTJ, Gone Girl has some very potent ENFJ vibes, again, also BAD ENFJ vibes, but still ENFJ vibes. The main antagonist really shows off all of the classic techniques for emotional manipulation via Fe, and the seamlessness of it all as she consistently remains one step ahead of the protagonist the entire time really demonstrates the forthought that can come with Ni. Sometimes she is so far ahead of the protagonist, he even has a hard time decifering what she is even planning to do next, or the intended outcome. ENFJs being Fe-doms lends themselve to still be outcome-driven like ENTJs, but here, the intended outcomes are emotionally and socially colored.

ISTP: Good Will Hunting

The ISTP gets all the glory for being aloof, and dangerous to mess with, and that isn't NOT present in his movie, but what they DON'T get enough credit for is their capacity for an impressive intellect. ISTPs are Ti-doms just like INTPs, so it should follow that they have incredibly logical and curious minds that have an aptitude for understanding how things work - that's a big plot point for our protagonist who solves the infamously difficult equation on the chalkboard, only to find out that he isn't stuff academic like everyone EXPECTED him to be. Grounded by his Se, he even mocks students attending the university for spending so much money on their education, when he has learned just as much for free with his library card. Raw intellect with no fluff (and no fucks to give) is ISTP through-and-through.

ESTP: Catch Me If You Can

Read the book for a school project back in the day and loved it. The quick thinking-on-the-feet to be able to bullshit his way through so many different scenarios, pretending to be a pilot so well that they PUT THE GUY IN THE COCKPIT is absolutely wild to me. This might also touch a fair bit on what developed tertiary Fe can get you if you abuse it a bit too much. I could see an argument made for higher Fe placements too, but I attributed a lot of his ability to say the right things and adapt because a lot of times, he did not seem like he had much of a detailed plan going in, which sounds a lot more dom Se to me.

ISFP: Titanic

Instant classic and based on a true story, which I think really appeals to Se (same for ESTP above, actually!), and is a big reason why I picked it. Overall, a pretty introverted and definitely emotional story because it mostly focuses on the developing relationship between the two main characters and, of course, the tragedy, too. It's such a personal story that does a good job of bringing you into the first person perspective of the main character's feelings and experiences from start to finish - it can be a bit visceral, even. I know it's a romance, but I REALLY didn't want to be like "mushy isfp? idk romance i guess", so hopefully this lands well.

ESFP: La La Land

Ahh, La La Land. Similar to the ISFP and Titanic in that it is still a very personal story that zeros in on the emotional experience of the main characters to the relationship and how they feel about it, but with a lot more sensory stimulation, and intoxication - and not necessarily even alcoholic intoxication, but like, infatuation with life experiences that they get to share with each other and assign their personal value to. Also kind of tragedy in it's own way since it doesn't end since they don't end up together, and despite all of the highs and experiences they share, and despite how much they love each other, but they each have their own vested personal interests that they want to achieve even more.

ISTJ: Indiana Jones

Thought Indiana Jones would go to ISTP, did you? Surprised? It's not that it COULDN'T be an ISTP movie, it's just that Jones constantly talking about how much things belong in museums just REALLY screams ISTJ to me. It just seems way more dom Si to be that passionate about preserving artifacts so that you can study them, reference them, compare them, etc. forever and ever. Not to mention he's got that tertiary Fi that gives him a soft spot and a vested interest in protecting those artifacts. He takes the protection of the those artifacts very personally in a way that I wouldn't expect to see from an inferior Fe user like an ISTP.

ESTJ: Men in Black

The only thing separating this movie from just being a straight up FBI movie is the aliens; most everything else is pretty familiar and grounded in reality. They've got their FBI protocols and directives and a clear objective that is their job: contain the aliens. These attributes make it very Te-Si to me because they work in teams to accomplish their goals, and they do their best to stick to their codes and procedures (and ofc they break them sometimes because it's a movie it has to be exciting). Throw in some wacky stuff like aliens to please the ESTJ's tertiary Ne's craving for a little random fun, and you've got the MIBs.

ISFJ: Groundhog day

Constantly reliving the same day over and over again, having the same conversations with the same people, sometimes getting the same results, and sometimes getting different outcomes by making different choices sounds like an ISFJs inferior Ne kind of personal hell, but it does sort of cover most of the ISFJ experience, even if it's in a difficult context. Special shout out to the montage of Bill Murray killing himself like 100 times because he doesn't know how to break the cycle and is tired of having the same conversations with everyone. It cracks me up every time and seems like very tertiary Ti logic to me lmao

ESFJ: Little Women

Loosely based on a true story, period piece that focuses on the protagonists' relationships with each other (many of them sisters), as well as their places in society, also many of which end up growing into very DIFFERENT roles in society so as to contrast them as they age. This is especially interesting (and also Si lmao) when you take note that you see how they all started out on similar life paths as full-blooded siblings growing up in the same home. Great story, very dom-Fe for comparing some many different relationships that interweave and change over time.

[gwenllian-in-the-abbey]

I'm a teacher in Texas (a state with laws that are pretty hostile towards unions) and it might surprise folks to know that one of our required standards for high school US History (that is it must be taught and will be on the standardized test according to state law is (3B,C): Analyze economic issues such as industrialization, the growth of railroads, the growth of labor unions, farm issues, the cattle industry boom, the growth of entrepreneurship, and the pros and cons of big business; and analyze social issues affecting women, minorities, children, immigrants, and urbanization. (this is referring to 19th century labor movements, there is a separate standard for 20th century labor). America's anti-union slant is relatively recent, and in the industrial cities of the northeast and midwest, there is still a strong support for unions. Pride in one's union has always been a big thing among the working class in certain regions such as the upper midwest. The teamsters union (truckers) is one of the strongest in the country. The education we receive about unions is not super extensive, but it is there. The above standards include things like collective bargaining, striking, closed shop vs. open shop, and famous events in labor history like the Pullman strike, the formation of the AFL-CIO and the Knights of Labor, the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, and Haymarket Square. Additionally kids study the New Deal, the Wagner Act, and later anti-labor actions such as the Taft-Hartley Act.

I would not say that our educational system suppresses the teaching of labor, it's more that labor and labor history is taught as history, and students disconnect it from their own experiences. Many do not understand that they can participate in unionization. Of course it's also very regional because many states, such as Texas, are at-will employment states (with so-called "right to work" laws which effectively prohibit closed shop), so sometimes even though they may know about unions they literally cannot participate. As a teacher, I often see other teachers in online discussions giving the advise "contact your union," but Texas does not have an actual teacher's union, it has a toothless organization that can help with mediation between employer and teacher, but that's about it. I would love to join a union but I can't, and if I tried to form a useful one, I would get fired.

So it is not necessarily a lack of education about labor history that is the issue. Paradoxically, many Americans are quite proud of our union history and unionization has an overall positive connotation among most middle and lower middle class Americans, yet often those same people vote for candidates who are opposed to unions. Of course, those candidates will never say they're expressly anti-union when campaigning in Pennsylvania or Ohio, and if they express anti-union sentiments it will be to pit industrial blue collar workers against say, Starbucks workers, portraying the latter as whiny 20-somethings or painting WGA strikers as spoiled rich people, in order to break solidarity. American labor (and all labor!) is very strong when united, which is why politicians have worked very hard to suppress it. But as with many issues, actual American attitudes about labor and unionization can contradict hard with our voting action, which is of course extremely frustrating!

okay because i am DEATHLY curious about this, please select from the options below. reblog with your country of origin as well please.

ETA BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE GETTING SNARKY: i am asking it this specific way with these specific poll options (american vs non-american) because it's my understanding and experience that most US state public schools actively suppress any teaching of labor history in any concrete way to the point of editing textbooks. i'm not trying to be an american exclusionist here or say that there weren't non-american labor movements. i'm saying that as a historian with degrees i have noticed that there is a very different attitude towards teaching labor history in the united states than there is in other countries. for fuck's sake.

[godzexperiment]

*finger guns in oh this is tragic thoughts regarding nix* ~this one is not light in the slightest/pretty fucked up and heavy~

(mostly his like non watered down/main background but sure trickles in other verses etc)

-okay but the weight? of how he has to listen, even if he is actively tuning it out... it'll still tuck away into his brain and him being able to understand his maker's disjointed rants/rambles just means absorbing it all endlessly even if there is no intent for him to soak it up.

-which also the way it affects him for the rest of forever (here is your purpose, you never asked for and will affect you hearby for the rest of forever) remembering cruel words, kind words those last sounds of dying breathes stick forever or the laughter of somebody who can't stand him *the voice of his maker, spoken words of an long gone being*

-imagine your sole purpose being to listen to the entity who created all of creation; constantly critique it and grumble about your siblings yet it makes you so quick to defend even at the cost of your own being+possible erasure out of existence

-the way he was created to be pretty unfeeling more or less; only to be so emotional? especially when his maker has weaponized/tested emotional things on him? 'what would it be like to give an angel intense heartbreak' -nix in agony clawing at the floor just kind of like we didn't need to test this theory this way- so very caring in contrast to his maker's growing apathy

-watch me punish the humans, my angels for mild annoyances and nix just like :( watch me get my ripped out heart handed to me for suggesting maybe we don't go damaging creation in That Way for such minor nothing little things

-getting sent down to handle the "antichrist" mainly as another morbid lesson/an 'well i cant destroy you or i'd be down an punching bag+obligated listener so i'll break your soul another way' and nix just so rebellious hearted but being given the space to fail or succeed (maybe he manages- but then comes the death of some nature and god just yanking him back+erasing it all only leaving pieces of the suffering behind)

-knowing the darker aspects/side, the Wrath and far less of the nature his siblings associate with their maker yet not resenting any of them for it. as he sure knows they've got other issues like having to carry out their orders. go through horrors sometimes entirely avoidable. so it's not like anybody is thriving; just so much hurt and dragging out an abandonment inevitable.

-the way he is like 'yeah no what really haunts me is his apathy; that I might have soaked that and all the other horrors right up' because he sees so much beauty in everything (is it evil to see so much beauty in mortals sustaining the earth when they're gone or not blink at death sometimes etc)

-seeing so much beauty, so much love only for so much horror+damage to exist inside him and still be possible (new pains in actual heartbreak, in possible rejection by siblings or them fighting- in not being mind wiped after loving somebody only to lose their inevitable mortal soul) how wounds on Earth, hurt different than wounds in Heaven etc

-and if gets tossed the 'here creation is yours to look after' the labor of such an weight on him? the way it very much would feel like an punishment some parting 'okay so you care so much- meddle as you wish' *doesnt send him to earth either just thoughtlessly or to put lemon juice in the cut*

how of course nix would willingly do so/promise to regardless (even though he is very much not suited for the task+believes strongly in letting people make their own dumb choices etc so it's all so odd and draining is so many ways)

-perpetually exhausted, forever haunted and scarred in every meaning of the word seeming to collect even more babey boy who could desperately use love+kindness and being cared about would 100% sob hysterically if anybody were to go 'its not all on you' in especially the direct way

[waluigis-biggest-fan]

Every Batman Ship Reviewed

Julie Madison: Nobody gives a shit about Julie Madison. Don't pretend you do.

Viki Vale: 5/10. She was done well in the Tim Burton Batman movie, not really anything else. They're alright together but its too vanilla for my tastes.

Selina Kyle: 3/10. Not actively harmful but Jesus does DC over-idolize this ship. They don't go together, that's the point. You only need to watch the first BTAS episode to understand every BatCat story ever. Bruce and Selina meet, they flirt a bit without really diving into the emotional aspect of their characters and how they help each other grow. Bruce and Selina are pitted against each other in some way, usually related to an environmental issue, although Batman writers seem to forget that was the entire reason she was a thief originally. Bruce discovers her identity and he either unhappily sends her to jail or, more likely with later stories, she outsmarts him and manages to actually steal the thing he was trying to stop her from stealing making him look unprofessional and stupid. I actually hate this trope so much that I wrote an entire fic about how when Azrael meets her, he just fucking breaks her wrist, cuffs her, and the story is over because Azrael is actually competent. The best thing to come from this pairing is Helena Wayne. I may be slightly salty because this pairing gets all the limelight and you never see any other relationships besides BruTalia or, if Bruce Timm broke into the writer's room again, BruBabs.

Speaking of which, Talia: 1/10. Jesus Christ, what a nightmare. Just look up any modern storyline involving her and you'll understand why I say that.

Black Canary: 1/10. Step away from Ollie's girlfriend Bruce.

Harley Quinn: 10/10. https://www.tumblr.com/thepiratelordofmordor/695061124450861056/batquinn-and-harlivy-my-perspective?source=share

Kathy Kane: Wait what? I thought they were cousins. I mean I'm no stranger to shipping cousins but I kinda figured we avoided that in canon works. (also the fandom page for Batwoman has a bad habit of just labelling every female individual who claims to be "Batwoman" at some point as Batwoman. That seems counterintuitive but that means that if a character makes a joke about not being Batgirl but instead being Batwoman, she gets a place on the page.)

Lois Lane: 9/10. Just cause I hate the flying boy scout.

Shondra Kinsolving: 1/10. I'm skipping a lot of the most minor relationships because nobody has heard of or cares about the characters but since I'm collecting the Knightfall comic series collections, I actually own the comic she's featured in. Basically the story is fine, if a little sparse on the actual details of their attraction, but what kills it is that, instead of having them break up for any reasons like, oh IDK, being kidnapped by your brother to kill people with psychic powers, the story just gives her brain damage to remove the possibility of a relationship. That's cheap writing and I don't support it.

Wonder Woman: 8/10. I like the idea. This one had some pretty good subtext in Justice League (animated show, 2nd animated show, or movie, take your pick). They'd work well together.

Zatanna Zatara: 8/10. I like them together aesthetically but nobody's ever actually tried to make a story based around these two paired up.

Barbara Gordon: IDK/10. https://www.tumblr.com/thepiratelordofmordor/694586329809485824/brubabs-examination-with-a-hint-of-jokebatsussy?source=share

And now I'm going to bed. Goodnight gentlexen.

[danceworshipper]

Giulio Moretti - HPMA Character Profile

template by me // images created using the zepeto app

NOTE: I am a cisgender female. As such, I have been hesitant to make a trans oc and will not be going into much detail about Giulio's experiences specifically related to his gender. If anything in here feels iffy to anyone not cisgender, please let me know and I'll correct it

Personal

Full Name: Giulio Antonio Moretti

Gender: Male (trans)

Sexuality: Demisexual, polyamorous

Birthday: June 1st

Age: 11

Birthstone: Alexandrite

Zodiac Sign: Gemini

Blood Status: Full Veela

- I'm mostly using these headcanons written by @carmilla-the-bird, though over time I might end up changing a couple details

- I'm not certain if full Veelas would even use wands/go to magic school but these ones do because I say so

- What I'm specifically adding is that since HPMA takes place later than the full HP series, there has been a new method developed to allow full veelas to better coexist with wizards. This comes in the form of a clear gemstone that can be inserted into any piece of jewelry, usually necklaces. While the stone is worn, the charm [or allure, as I call it] that all veelas have while glamored is dampened by up to 80%. Another effect is that when angered, the veela won't be able to lash out with their fire magic, unless they've trained their magic well enough that's it's less of an instinct and more of a conscious choice. Minors are legally required to wear it at all times, except in their own home with only their family around. Once an adult the veela can choose whether they want to wear it or not. The stone has a similar trace to underaged magic, so when a Veela who's a minor takes it off, the Ministry is alerted and their location will be tracked

3 Positive Traits:

- Empathetic

- Resourceful

- Playful

3 Negative Traits:

- Irritable

- Addictive

- Pessimistic

Usual First Impression: When meeting Giulio, most people see him as a spoiled and stuck up little boy. This isn't true. He's just very wary of strangers, so he doesn't tend to leave a good first impression. Once he's more comfortable around someone, his positive traits outshine the more negative ones

Location

Birthplace: A Veela-specific clinic in southern Italy. His mother travelled there for all of her children's births, and the midwife there is the woman who delivered her

Current Home: His family home in England, a medium sized house under a strict Fidelius charm, which his aunt is the Secret Keeper for. His bedroom is on the second floor, looking out over the fish pond in the backyard

Future Home(s): Fresh out of Hogwarts he'll share an apartment with Lori with heavily warded Floo access. Later homes TBD once his love interests are planned out

Favorite Place: The little house the family rents for a month every summer in southern Italy. The town is full of good culture, and better yet, good food. It feels peaceful, even when there's a loud festival going on

Disliked Place: The woods a mile down the road from his home. The woods are the last place Giulio saw his grandmother before she went missing, and now they feel like they're haunted. He refuses to go on walks there anymore

Appearance

Face Shape: Round, slightly pointy chin

Eye Color: Deep teal

Hair Color: Whitish blond

Hair Style: Self cut (horrifies his mother), slightly uneven, medium length. Not brushed every day, fluffy

Skin Tone: Pale

Freckles/Spots: A few beauty marks on his face, two near his right eye and one on the left side of his chin

Scars: None yet

Piercings/Tattoos: None

Height: 5'7" [fully grown]

Weight: ~ 135 lbs [fully grown]

Physique: Thin. Luckily for him, Giulio's family has always had rather "boyish" bodies - wide shoulders, not very curvy - but he's still got too much woman in him to be fully happy with his form

Clothing Style: Baggy tops, loose pants, nothing fancy. Giulio tries to attract as little attention as possible, because while he's glamored people stare at him a lot anyway, even with the dampener. He does like colored pants, but his tops are usually grey and black. His dampening necklace is the most eye catching thing he wears (as it was a gift from his missing grandmother) and he wishes he could take it off, but he legally can't

Carried Items:

- The last picture of him, his sisters, and his grandmother ever taken

- A lighter. He likes having the fire near him since he can't access his own fire magic

- His hair scissors, for whenever he feels like it needs to be trimmed

- A container of Silly Putty he got from a Muggle convenience store

- His water bottle

Magic

Wand: 10" Veela hair wand in Fir wood. A very pale colored wand that's a bit rough around the edges. The hair is from his younger sister Martina, who yanked the strand right out and handed it to the wandmaker after no wands appeared to choose a very defeated looking Giulio. The wand was made while Giulio watched, and he checked it many times throughout the process to make sure it felt like it would have him, which it did.

Animagus: As a veela, Giulio can transform into pretty much any bird shape. He has no need to go through the animagus process

Boggart Form: Him, fully matured, very womanly, and in a wedding gown just like the ones his older sister Alessia fawns over

Riddikulus Form: Him in a ridiculously exaggerated Bloody Baron costume

Amortentia (to others): Someone smelling Giulio would smell new pillows, the faint burning metal scent that clings to him, and the dry shampoo he uses

Amortentia (to them): He doesn't smell any sort of romantic interest yet. What he smells now are safe, comforting smells, like the cigars his mother and aunt smoke, the perfume all his sisters use, and the smell of his favorite restaurant in southern Italy

Patronus: Bird of Paradise

Happiest Memory: Receiving his wand once it was completed, and finally feeling the connection and power he'd heard so much about but thought he'd never have

Mirror of Erised: Some might consider it sad, but all he sees is him, happy, the way he wishes he was - including not looking at all like a Veela. Someday this will change

Family Spells: It's not really a spell, but the Morettis have a particular bird call that, when paired with the right charm, will alert every living family member to the caller's location, should one desperately need help. It's only to be used in emergencies. Giulio isn't sure he wants to know why his grandmother never used it

Inherent Magic: Veela stuff - storm sense, fire, bird transformations, allure, slight levitation abilities

Family

Grandmother: Francesca is not an ideal parental figure. She grew up in a time when full Veelas were treated with nearly the same suspicion and prejudice as werewolves, so she's very anti-human. However, she was still one of Giulio's best defenders and most treasured family members. She places a huge importance on family and is the one who came up with the idea of the special danger call. Francesca went missing when Giulio was seven, and there have been no clues as to what happened.

Mother: Valentina is a kind, gentle woman who cares for her family before anyone else. She and her sister were taught all their lives to be nothing more than a pretty face, and while Bianca rejected this, Valentina embraced it. Even now, with her own mother nowhere to be found, she has trouble remembering to be herself. She wears her necklace at all times, terrified to be without it

Father: Giulio never knew him. He's not sure he even has one

Aunt: Bianca is, in many ways, the exact opposite of her sister. Bianca embraces all of her less than proper instincts, and even walks around in public completely unglamored, acting as a good deterrent to anyone who might want to come say hi, innocent intentions or not. Gets angry very easily, and has caused public property damage more often than Valentina would appreciate

Sisters: Two older sisters, one younger. All Slytherins while in school

- Alessia, six years older, prefect. A headstrong young woman who takes advantage of her allure to get what she wants, and is skilled enough to fight off anyone who gets too "friendly". She likes to have a collection of boy toys she never lets get too close, but secretly only has eyes for the Hufflepuff prefect, Lina.

- Emilia, four years older, Quidditch captain. Hates her allure with a passion and refuses to even think about romance until she's out of school. Could kick anyone's ass, and will do so if she feels the need to. Very protective of Giulio, has gotten into at least eight shouting matches with those who misgender him

- Martina, one year younger. The baby of the family. A bit of a spoiled brat, and too young to fully understand exactly why her older siblings are all so wary of strangers, or letting her out of their sight. She dreams of being the Minister of Magic, and of being able to take her "stupid, ugly, and stupid" necklace off for good

Pets: The two family screech owls which trade off being at school/home, and an Abraxan Giulio found on Hogwarts grounds that likes him a lot

Family Values: The Morettis hold nothing higher than each other. The family's main priority is sticking together, and always doing whatever they can to help each other achieve whatever they wish. The family is also, as a whole, rather reclusive

Opinion of Family: Giulio loves his family. For all their faults, they hold true to their values and he couldn't imagine one of them ever betraying another. Even if they won't ever truly understand him, they've all tried and they do what they can, and it means more than he can say

Friendships

Introverted or Extroverted: Introverted

Best Friend: Oleander Loris. Her anger issues, her weird pink eyes, and her tendency to drag him along to social outings are all things that Giulio comes to appreciate over time. He originally became curious about her on the train ride to school, when she stumbled looking at his older sisters but didn't notice him at all, and they spoke for the first time in Flying class. Lori is definitely a force to be reckoned with, and the fact that she's not affected by his allure in the slightest makes him feel really happy

Worst Friend: TBD

Friend He Didn't Expect: Cassandra. They aren't the best of friends, and maybe they can't be considered friends at all, but she doesn't hold the contempt she seems to hold for most others for him

Who He Wishes Was His Friend: Kestra Fernera. She's got fire powers, and she doesn't have to be chained down by the Ministry. He thinks she's super cool, and is very jealous of her and how popular she is, but he's far too nervous to try and talk to her

List of Casual Friends:

- Brian Haywood-Reese @catohphm

- others TBD, but likely the main cast of the game. Mc friends welcome, if any are interested!

Romance

Current Crush: None

Current Partner: None

Past Partners: None

Future Partners: TBD

His Type: Pretty much anyone who's able to look past the allure that Giulio hates so much and also isn't afraid of him in his natural form, though most people haven't even seen it

Hogwarts

House: Slytherin

Prefect Status: No

Quidditch: Not on the team, but plays casually

Clubs: TBD

Organizations: None

Favorite Class: Flying. Duh

Least Favorite Class: Potions. It gives him a headache surrounded by all the fumes

Favorite Professor: TBD

Least Favorite Professor: TBD

Timeline

Young Childhood:

- Giulio realizes young that he hates the idea of being a girl, and insists that his mother change his name. His family thought it was a phase, but once they realized it wasn't, they became more serious and started to see what they could do to help him

- He's a sheltered child, learning early the importance of staying close to a trusted adult. He sees the horrors of what can happen to a Veela caught unaware at a young age when he almost loses his mother to someone who wanted to sell her, and never looks at strangers the same way again

- At five years old Giulio is given his dampener necklace. He refuses to wear it until his grandmother forcibly puts it on him. He decides it's not that bad, though it feels like it's choking him and he doesn't like the muted feeling in his hands that comes from the loss of his instinctual magic

- At seven years old, Giulio is on a walk with his grandmother in the woods when he hears a loud screech. She sends him back toward the house, saying she'll be right behind him. Hours pass, and she never follows. There's no evidence as to what that screech was, or what happened to his grandmother

- At eleven years old, Giulio spends a week traveling to different wandmakers around Europe trying to find a wand so he can go to school in the fall. For some reason, his magic is picky and not a single wand even comes close to working for him. When he's given up all hope, his little sister Martina asks if the wandmaker takes custom orders, and rips out her own hair to be used for Giulio's wand. It's the first time Giulio cries happy tears, hovering his hand over the uncompleted wand and feeling it call to him already

School Years: TBD once I'm able to play the game

Post Graduation: Giulio moves into an apartment with Lori soon after graduating. While she immediately starts work, Giulio takes time to find some higher education, and work on training his Veela magic now that he can take his necklace off whenever he wants

Career(s): TBD

Marriage and Children: TBD

Death: Giulio will be murdered by [redacted] in order to save [redacted]'s life, but he'll be very old (around 200) and will have outlived his lovers, so he doesn't see it as too much of a shame. He'll be buried in the family garden and have some lovely flower bushes planted over him

Notable Facts Not Previously Mentioned

- The Veela magic in Giulio recognizes him as a boy as soon as he does. When his allure kicks in, anyone attracted to men finds themself affected, while those strictly into women do not, even though male Veelas are practically unheard of

- His aunt Bianca paid a personal visit to Hogwarts before he was enrolled, ready to throw flames if he was going to be put into the female dorms. Luckily, she didn't need to worry, as once the situation was explained it was settled with a simple change in his paperwork

- Giulio hates being cooped up indoors for too long. Even in the coldest days of winter, he'll spend as much time as possible outside

- Starting in third year, Lori will figure out how to get the necklace off of him without alerting anyone [putting it on herself within a few seconds], and Giulio will occasionally spend a few hours free and in his natural form in the Forbidden Forest. Unbeknownst to him, wearing the necklace saps at Lori's magical core, and it takes her a day or so to regain her strength if she wears it for more than thirty minutes

- Giulio will likely have three partners in the future. He could never even imagine having one, so if his younger self was told he would have three he would probably have a difficult time believing it

- Cutting his hair so frequently doesn't affect his magic like his mother feared it would, though he does feel nauseous when he does it

- The dark teal eyes are something only he and his sisters have, which is how he knows they all have the same "father" or whatever they had. His mother, aunt, and grandmother all have the traditional black eyes. Not even Alessia ever saw any type of man around when her younger siblings were born, so there are no clues as to how the four of them exist

- As much as he hates the dampener, it does him a lot of good when he's younger. He gets angry easily and often feels very defensive, so without it he could have gotten into a lot of trouble

- Though he doesn't like his allure, Giulio will sometimes take advantage of it like Alessia does if he wants to get out of something. He won't fight it, he'll play nice, and let whoever he needs to back off get a little dazed

- He wanted to hide the fact that he was a Veela when he first came to Hogwarts, but with two older sisters and his allure he couldn't

[uboat53]

Okay, I see there's another point that needs to be established here. "The US right wing propagandizes about foreign countries to justify war" and "there genuinely are countries in the world seeking to undermine the United States" are also both true statements.

It's actually not US military propaganda to think that China and Russia, among other autocracies, are spreading propaganda to divide Americans and undermine our country, you only have to read what those countries are actually saying to understand that they are waging an active campaign against any country that allows people to speak freely, especially when those people spread information they don't like.

Look, I get it, the US doesn't have a great record on human rights. We've abused and tortured our various minority populations for centuries and, even when we admit to those atrocities, we staunchly resist any attempts to stop the ongoing issues or to repair the damage that has been caused. Our record in foreign policy is nothing to write home about either, we've overthrown democratically elected governments, funded paramilitary death squads, and supported a great deal of the world's worst autocrats. And rah-rah American propaganda is disturbingly ingrained in our collective psyche and it gets us into a lot of conflict we shouldn't be in. But we're the only ones.

Right now China is actively exterminating the entire Uighur population, attempting to eliminate all vestiges of Tibetan culture and addressing thousands of protesters in Hong Kong for the crime of speaking out against the dismantling of their democratic institutions and the instalation of dictatorial regime. The dissidents who oppose these things, among others, fled to the US.

Now, in the past, that would have been the end of things; they're far away so who cares, but now we have the internet. Dissidents living in the US can continue to communicate and rabble rouse back in the home country, so countries like China and Russia are actively trying to destroy the places where their dissidents can hide from them; the liberal democracies of the west.

As I said, there's plenty to criticize about the United States, but our dissidents pretty much live freely within our own borders and we take in many of the refugees who would be killed if they continued to speak freely in their own country. As Winston Churchill once famously said, "democracy is a terrible form of government, but it's better than all the others we've tried."

The US right-wing certainly likes to spread propaganda to justify bombing foreign countries, but there genuinely is an international battle taking place right now between liberal democratic countries, where individual rights are at least respected on paper, and autocracies who very much want to crush the ability of individuals to say anything they want and spread inconvenient information to their citizenry. Russia and China, among others, are not interested in the plight of American indigenous populations, they just want us to be too angry at each other to find constructive solutions to our very real problems.

If your first reaction to that information is "only the US can be bad", then I'm afraid you may be as poisoned by propaganda as the right-wingers who cheered the wars in Iraq or Vietnam.

[liberal voice]: the idea that you should care about the indigenous people being neglected in hawaii is just a right-wing narrative! the true, progressive, left-wing narrative is that we must increase military funding to defeat the nefarious threat of red china

[eventidespirits]

Adam Allistair Freemont

Aliases: Edwin Lockhart, William Silva, Francis LaRue, Everett Brighton, James Fenwick

Apparent Age: "29"

Birthday: August 11th, 1897

Death Day: December 19th, 1926

Species: Vampire (Siren Bloodline)/Bloodbound Spirit

Gender: Cis Man

Pronouns: he/him

Sexuality: Primarily Heterosexual

Occupation: Photographer

Residence: Santa Marta, California; Morgan Kendrick's Psychic Realm

Universe: Primarily original lore but also Vampire the Masquerade where he's a Camarilla Toreador who defected to the Sabbat.

Appearance:

Height: 6'0

Build: Tall and lanky with angular shoulders and long limbs. He has a trim, lightly muscled physique with long delicate fingers and soft hands.

Eye Color: Luminous Yellow/Gold with slitted cat-like pupils and a darker, amber band around the edges.

Hair Color/Texture: Black, 1b hair texture. Just long enough for the ends to brush against his shoulders. Partially brushed back and parted to the right but a significant amount of his hair ends up falling into his face.

Face: Angular with a square jaw and high cheekbones. He has a mostly straight nose with a slight convex curve to the bridge. He has deep set eyes with heavy lids and dark circles and usually looks somewhat sleepy but in a strangely sensual way. Defined lips that are usually curved into a sadistic little smirk. He's quite attractive but in a way that feels vaguely dangerous or even predatory.

Distinguishing Characteristics: Adam has bright golden eyes with slitted cat-like pupils. He also has a rather large, jagged scar on his back, located between his shoulder blades. I'd include his *other* distinguishing characteristic but that's kinda NSFW ;)

Posture/Body Language: Confident, even arrogant, chin up, shoulders back but not in a way that looks particularly stiff. His body language is generally relaxed and easy, bringing to mind a big cat at rest -- there's always something about the way he moves that implies a predatory nature laying beneath his cool, collected surface. Adam walks with clear purpose and long, smooth strides and always knows how to make an entrance.

Voice: Soft and smooth with a deep timbre and confident inflection. Adam's voice is somewhat like poisoned honey or arsenic laced velvet -- smooth and sweet but with something slightly off.

Clothing Style: Adam prefers dark colors -- burgundy, blood red, black, charcoal, rich deep browns and the ocassional pop of gold or cream or a white dress shirt. He wears primarily expensive, tailored button downs made from things like silk, velvet or very high thread count cotton with the sleeves rolled up and the top three (or four) buttons undone. Sometimes with brocade, floral or striped patterns. If it's cooler out, he'll wear a black blazer or something similar. When it comes to pants, it's almost entirely black or charcoal tailored pants or pitch black jeans. He usually wears very few accessories -- a nice watch, a belt, a silver and garnet ring and a pendant on a thin silver or gold chain. Generally wearing pointed toe oxfords or other dress shoes. When it comes to outerwear, Adam generally prefers things like wool coats and the ocassional leather jacket (always real leather, too) (to get a better idea, check out his [Pinterest Board]

Skills

Social: Manipulation, Lying, Gaslighting, Flirting, Proper Etiquette, Public Speaking, Blame Shifting, Negging, Seduction

Physical: knife combat, some hand to hand combat, basic combat training (circa 1914), long range firearms/sniping, Ballroom Dancing, Fencing, Horseback riding, the carnal arts

Talents: Photography, Drawing, Poetry, Lying, Being an Asshole, Manipulation, Painting, Seduction, Sex

Knowledges: Fluent in French & Italian, Masters in Psychology (circa 1926), Photo Development (wet plate, autochrome, modern methods), some basic knowledge of financial law and property law

Hobbies: Photography, writing, breaking pretty girls, avoiding his deep-seated psychological issues, general hedonism

Special: Emotional Influence, Telepathy, Emotional Transference, Enhanced Stamina, Enhanced Strength, "Immortality", Enhanced Senses (esp sight), minor regeneration, sweet blood, emotional radar/supernatural empathy, hypnosis/mind control

Psyche

Strengths: Charismatic, quick-thinking, clever, good at understanding the thought processes of others, empathetic, deeply romantic, treats service workers well, dedicated, generally calm, high emotional intelligence, has critical thinking skills, polite*, can be incredibly sweet, adaptable, pays a lot of attention to his partners in bed, passionate, artistic, creative, protective

Weaknesses: selfish, self-absorbed, arrogant, manipulative, almost completley lacks compassion, disdain for basically everyone around him, dishonest, has a horrible temper, needs constant attention and praise, has a massive inferiority/superiority complex, overconfident, easily susceptible to flattery, deep-seated intimacy issues, can't stand being wrong, terrified of vulnerability, paranoid, detached from his own emotions/denies his own humanity, callous, sadistic, can be incredibly rude, actually a bit of a coward, condescending, possessive, jealous and generally kind of a dick.

Fears: genuine intimacy, abandonment/loneliness,true death, being buried alive

Goals: To finally create the perfect art piece (i.e., break someone in just the right way -- he's not even sure what this MEANS, he's just sure he'll "know" when he finally does it), to just enjoy his immortality.

Personality: On the surface, Adam seems likable enough -- at least, at first. He's incredibly charming and thoughtful, often anticipating people's wants before they're even able to articulate them, witty, intelligent and seemingly very polite...

But beneath that surface lurks a spoiled rich kid who learned early on in life that having money, being good looking and charming meant he could get away with almost anything. Adam is self-absorbed and arrogant and almost everything he does is a carefully crafted performance intended to get people on his side and manipulate them into doing what he wants.

Beneath even that, which he desperately tries to ignore, is a little boy who was spoiled by his mother and entirely ignored by his (largely absent) father -- a young man who was traumatized by being forced to fight in WWI and who is full of deep-seated fears and insecurities.

To make up for this, Adam is often sadistic towards the people around him -- but in that way where it's difficult to tell that he's actually being cruel until one looks back at the conversation.

He has difficulty genuinely connecting to others because of those insecurities and instead uses his powers as a Siren to make the people around him love and adore him-- no matter how badly he treats them.

Life

Best Memory: Being gifted his first camera, meeting his Maker.

Worst Memory: Somewhere between when he almost died during WWI and his actual death...

Biggest Achievement: Getting his Masters

Prized Possession: Silver and Garnet ring gifted to him by his Maker, his first camera, his black 2020 Ferrari Portofino (with the red leather interior), (he also has an engraved custom sniper rifle but a friend picked the model and shit for me and I cannot remember what it is for the life of me)

Favorite Color: Red, Gold

Favorite Food:

-Mortal Food: Partial to anything rich and flavorful, prefers food that's not pointlessly ostentatious (nothing coated in gold leaf, that's absurd), dry red wines, Italian Cream Cake, Eggs Benedict, Crepes Suzette

-Blood: Blood taken in the heat of the throes of passion from someone that's truly and deeply in love with and obsessed with him...

Favorite Scents: Blood, Gasoline, Cloves, Cinnamon, Resin, YSL Nuit, roses, vanilla, rain, the sharp smell of a cloudless winter night

Favorite Songs: Winter, 1st Movement - Vivaldi, Raindrops - Chopin, La Vie En Rose - Edith Piaf

Can't Leave Home Without: At least one knife somewhere on his person.

Birthplace: San Francisco, California

Childhood: Adam is the only child out of six in his family to survive to adulthood with four older siblings who had either in infancy, had been stillborn or died of tuberculosis when Adam was still too young to remember them. He had one younger sibling, a sister named Mary who was killed in an accident at the age of 6 when Adam was 8 years old. His parents were already a little bit older by the time he was born and his father was the owner of an incredibly lucrative railroad line and had profited greatly from the Gold Rush as well as owning multiple properties in San Francisco and neighboring Santa Marta...

Due to the loss of her other children, Adam's mother doted on him -- giving into his every whim, supplying him with the best education she could and basically just spoiling the ever loving fuck out of him. His father, on the other hand, was always busy with work and when he was home, had nothing but criticism for Adam who desperately tried to gain his approval to no avail.

Adolescence: Adam developed a passion for photography as a teenager and discovered that being good-looking, clever and rich meant he could get away with A LOT more than most people and also meant that he rarely heard "no" and accepted it as an answer even less often (though he rarely resorted to force to get his way, relying instead on bribery, flattery, blackmail and implied threats). All of this gave him quite an interest in psychology and he intended to become a clinical psychologist. During his adolescence, Adam would have a great many girlfriends and despite being a selfish and manipulative little shit, was actually not the world's worst boyfriend and no hint of the violent temper and genuine sadism he'd develop after being Changed.

Adulthood: Adam's education would be interrupted by the outbreak of WWI,which if asked he will describe as "incredibly distasteful and personally inconvenient." He was a skilled marksman and sniper but was otherwise unremarkable -- much to his father's disdain. After nearly dying in one of the trenches of France after taking a grievous bayonet wound in the last few months of the war, Adam would be sent back from the frontlines and would shortly begin work on continuing his education...

However -- despite the fact that he would complete all seven years necessary to get his degree, Adam's interest in becoming an actual psychologist wouldn't ever come to fruition. In 1925, he would meet Amelia Madeleine Smith -- an unbelievably beautiful and charming socialite from Santa Marta who would see Adam's potential as a source of money and influence for the Nightingale Court of Northern California. She would spend the next year carefully grooming him to become her protege -- manipulating him much in the same way he would later manipulate the women he dates as a vampire -- using emotional transference, mind control and mundane manipulation to cause him to fall madly in love with her... In December of 1925, Amelia would finally perform the ritual of transformation on him and bring Adam over into the world of the Supernatural.

Unfortunately for Adam, his Change would take nearly two weeks to complete -- two weeks spent in absolute agony beyond anything he'd experienced before. Amelia, believing the most important first step for a newly born vampire is to break their bonds to humanity would kidnap his mother during this change and leave her for him to kill upon waking. Adam would remain with Amelia (who used her bond as Adam's maker to control most of his actions and her abilities as a Siren to continue to influence his emotions) until 1980 when she was killed by a member of the Bram Park Wolf Pack in Santa Marta, leaving Adam behind. During this period, Adam would end up being "taken in" by a bonded pair of Stryza -- Camille Belikova and Lucy DeSantos and would act as their primary draw for new playthings.

Recent: Adam met Morgan Kendrick at the Velvet Box goth club in Santa Marta when Morgan was twenty two years old and would sweep her off her feet, intending to make her into his "masterpiece"... Three years into this relationship, Adam would finally Change Morgan, which would break the initial control he had over her and result in her, in a fit of rage, completely draining him and through a magical fluke, causing his spirit to become bonded/fused with her blood...

Recently, Adam's presence has disappeared from Morgan's psyche due to the machinations of Miss Belikova and her wife -- though it appears that the two of them are still inextricably linked in a way beyond the usual bond between Maker and Fledgling.

Relationships

Family: Lawrence Freemont (Father; Deceased), Anne Freemont (Mother; Deceased), Mary Freemont (Sister; Deceased)

Lovers: Amelia Smith (Maker; Deceased), Morgan Kendrick (Fledgling, Ex, Soulbond), Many other unnamed girls.

Friends: Camille Belikova, Lucille DeSantos, Jonathan Andreason

Enemies: Morgan Kendrick, the Bram Park Wolfpack

Acquaintances: Miranda Cortez (Queen of the Nightingale Court of Santa Marta)

Income: Moderately Wealthy

Vehicles: 2020 Ferrari Portofino

Residences: Penthouse Apartment in Vista Rosa, a small Victorian row house in Val Del Mar and a 1br/1ba apartment in Park Verde (all located in Santa Marta)

[normal-thoughts-official]

I was reading ur post about the Brazilian education system (which sounds fucking incredible by the way) and it reminded me of smth

I have no intention of becoming a teacher, but my sister is one and she works in a primary school (her class is ages 5-6), and when she was in university she showed me loads of things about the reflecting realities study

I think it was made in 2017 and it was a study on how well children's books reflected the world around us, ie how many books published had protagonists of colour and obviously the results were dire

I'd have to look it up but there were very few people of colour and a hell of a lot of white characters, but what was especially interesting was that when Black Lives Matter got more prevelence last year a lot of publishing houses got put under pressure to add more people of colour in their books

And when the 2020 reflecting realities study came in and while there was more people of colour and less white people, the number of animals being the main protagonists completely jumped up

And it's just terrible because of stories with main casts of animals still fall into the exact same racist stereotypes. Like often they follow the protagonist of a cute fluffy animal as they struggle against the predetory snake or bear, both of which are completely different to them physically and explicitly a threat - this could also be stranger danger

And I mean, what's worse is when they're consciously trying to use animals as an allegory - I mean Zootopia? Anyone? Disney making the allegory for people of colour into literal predetors really wasn't the woke moment they thought it was

And I was just thinkinf about how this kind of follows through into the fantasy genre. I'm gonna be tentative here because Im no expert on this so call me out if you think I'm wrong. Like I'm glad that the shadowhunters cadting directors hired more actors of colour to the team because othereise it would be overwhelmingly pasty, I can't help but notice the decision to cast Luke, the only black man, as an animal and how they changed his character entirely as well

Because (this is not pro cc) Luke in the books was a gentle white bookshop owner, and the show changed him into a cop, and the second time we see him or so he's been injured from fighting (ie not depicted as gentle) ? For some reason (this could just be for plot purposes but u know) There's whole essays online about how media uses black cops in shows and movies to prevent criticism against them but that's a whole other post

(tentative again but do you think that it was kidn of to distance itself from real world issues? Like shadowhunters can obviously be read as the fantasy police force, but by making Luke a downworlder and a cop I feel like maybe they're moving as far away from being properly critical as they can)

That being said, I love show Luke I think he's fantastic, and I way prefer his competancy instead of wimpy white book Luke but I think he can fit the trope in media where characters of colour are depicted as animalistic, ie TWILIGHTs wolves being all native people!!! and I feel like often it just helps to reinforce a lot of the aggressive stereotyoes against poc

Idk how to finish this. In conclusion publishing houses seem to find it easier to publish stories about animals than people of colour and that's a big fat problem. Also how instead of you know publishing books by authors of colour several responded to criticism by just rereleasing collections of classics with black people on the cover - like that solves anythung

Idk I thought you might find the study interesting, it obviously goes more in depth that I have talked about so I can link it to you if you'd like (however it is a study based in Britain based upon British publishing houses so no worries if you aren't interested)

❤️❤️

that does sound pretty interesting! id like to see it if u have it easily, but if not, no worries. i think understanding the specifics of the context in other places always helps u understand ur own better, and we have similar studies in brazil with pretty much the same results

the whole animals thing is so crazy. like both in the sense of animalization and just that genuinely animals are more appealing to have as mc than poc for publishing companies diajasoidja god

also i've never seen zootopia or heard of it being a racial allegory and id like to unlearn that information

about luke: yep. i'm not sure they cast isaiah because he was a werewolf, i think it's genuinely just because he was a good actor (especially because so many other originally white characters got actors of color in the show) but sh and tsc did pick the race of the downworlders in the most cursed way. the two most important black characters were both werewolves (i know ur in s1 but maia also exists in tsc so), literally ALL the werewolves except for russell were either black or latine, even the minor ones (bat, alaric, gretel), the only jewish character drinks blood (COME ON), raphael is also animalized a lot "on account of being a vampire" whereas simon is not (and even camille isn't and she was supposed to be white so)

the decision to make luke a black cop will always be something i'll hate. can we stop trying to make cops diverse. cops are oppressors. get out of here with the propaganda

im not sure the thing about luke being hurt is supposed to imply he's violent tho, i think it's more supposed to be like "poor him, a great serviceman of the people, risking his life at the job" which is copaganda and therefore still racist, but, in a different way daoidjsaj

i think there could have been a good critique/parallel there with luke being black and a cop and an ex-shadowhunter downworlder, but that would have to be handled REALLY carefully so im actually kind of glad sh didn't even try to do that. also it would require luke to have actual growth as a character instead of just being clary's caretaker #4, and his internalized anti-downrorldism and bootlicking tendencies to be addressed and become a liberation plotline. which again, sh could never

but yeah same, in the end i love show luke, mostly because of who he could have been, but at least he's not useless like book luke. but like... why make him a cop when you could, very easily, do Anything Else

[fhylie]

the shift towards 5.5 or whatever it will be called has been interesting from the outside. I think I decided early on that I had not much interest in supporting a change; either make a new edition or don't, you cowards.

since all these updates have bracketed that whole OGL business, and since I have friends who are pretty into M:TG, it's extremely easy to see that Hasbro is only interested in extracting rent from its properties, but also, the fact that this is their focus automatically makes it so all of their products contain this kind of fatal flaw that hangs over game design.

you can kind of see it in progress where, first of all, isn't it funny that for the longest time you couldn't buy dice or other accessories from them? I understand that dice are super easy to make so they couldn't possibly corner the market, but they could have at least tried to have official products.

second, you get products like Critical Role, which arguably led to a revival of popularity of their product because of the way it was presented and the passion of mercer's little group of actor friends. which, to be clear, is great for them. I have my minor issues with CR, but it's never been that they're fake fans or only in it for the money or whatever.

third, you get assist aids and character sheet trackers like dndbeyond, which interestingly was advertised by CR pretty heavily, leading to its success. it was a pretty good product, when it was separate from Hasbro, behaving more like a passion project made by people who seem like they missed the very functional 4E character builder. constantly updated with new material, back end programming making it so new mechanics released in modules were supported by the website's functionality, etc. their drive before selling their product was to make it functional and useful, and maybe this was only in service of creating a product that was designed to be sold eventually. however, notably, they did not collect rent. then it's sold to Hasbro, and they go for subscriptions. you can microtransaction yourself into having one feat or race at a time out of a new book if you want (at a cost that would make buying each individual item probably 10x the cost of the book). they stop updating functionality from any new products. in other words, they sit on what once was a useful tool and it stagnates.

alongside this, you have the types of products released by Hasbro during this time. one adventure per year, which is.... fine. it's fine, I guess. thank you for making them, adventure writers in question. tasha's cauldron being an official release of a lot of previously published UA material, most of which was not updated at all. mordenkainen's tome of foes and monsters of the multiverse having huge chunks that are nearly identical. it's easy to see in comparison that they're not interested in creating; after all, it's a lot easier to purchase the products of fans who understand the product and the community and public desires than to employ someone whose job it is to track this kinda shit.

I guess my whole feeling on these events is essentially disappointment. I feel like if Hasbro wants to be regarded as the big boy in the room where it comes to games companies, they could act like it instead of flailing around trying to own everything by proxy via OGL shenanigans or feeling as though they're required to monopolize and purchasing other people's work and then sidelining them. I also think this feeling is echoed by bigger actual play products like d20 and CR where they continually are trying out systems that are not 5e, and while they may not say it's out of protest for observed behaviour, they kind of don't have to say it out loud, do they?

by Mike Shea on 5 August 2024:

Hasbro may be hurling D&D towards a digital future but we already have everything we need to enjoy this game for the rest of our lives. Hasbro is super-excited for a digital D&D future. They're tired of selling us, as Penny Arcade perfectly describes, a single hamburger we can share with our friends every week for thirty years. Hasbro wants subscription revenue from every player every month – not just the single purchase of a book you can keep, share, and use for the rest of your life. Hasbro doesn't want to sell you D&D. They want you to pay rent. Chris Cocks, Hasbro's president and former president of Wizards of the Coast, is pushing hard for a digital future. He already said they're running experiments with artificial intelligence saying "D&D has 50 years of content that we can mine". The new head of Wizards of the Coast, the subsidiary of Hasbro in charge of D&D, is a former Blizzard executive who replaced a former Amazon and Microsoft executive. They posted a new D&D product architect job with a clear focus on digital gaming and a new "monetization designer" which is as close to "professional enshittifier" as I've heard of in a job description. So yeah, Hasbro is really excited to charge monthly fees and microtransactions for D&D and ensure you never stop paying for it. But I have good news for you. It doesn't matter. Here are four reasons why: 1. The three D&D core books are the only D&D books that really matter and they're going to be physical books. 2. With rulesets released into the Creative Commons, anyone can build digital tools, adventures, supplements, and even entire RPGs – all fully compatible with D&D. 3. We have 50 years of previous versions of D&D we can play, multiple competing and compatible 5e variants from other publishers, and hundreds of other RPGs we can enjoy. 4. We have several independent digital platforms we can use to run our games online.

[keep reading]

So Mike Shea's argument here is that no matter what Hasbro does, D&D is enshittification-proof. Personally, I agree that tabletop games (all of them, not just D&D) are to a large extent resistant to that, due to the nature of the game, but digital platforms are another matter. Then again, I have zero interest in digital platforms, so I don't know how they work. Can you incorporate non-SRD material in an independent VTT, for example? Does it matter? No idea!

For traditional D&D, I think it's always had (in its entire history, all editions!) two distinct modes of attracting people:

here is an Official Book of Rules! I should buy it (or borrow it, or pirate it) and use it, because it's an official and authoritative publication

here is a Good Rule! I should incorporate it in my D&D game because I like it, and I don't care where it came from and in what format, official book, third party, homebrew, DMs Guild, hardcover book, piece of paper, pdf, a reddit post, my own noggin.

But last year, they tried an new thing and released a set of 25 monsters for $6 only on D&D Beyond. No physical print, and no pdf. (Previously there had been digital-only releases, mostly short adventures, but in pdf form.) And although I have no way of knowing how sales went, I strongly suspect this will NEVER work. It's just a bunch of "assets", it doesn't register as an Official Publication, there's no incentive to get it as such. So we're left with "is it a good rule?", and there it competes with a million other rules published for fun and/or profit by other people. Why "buy" that one? (You're not quite buying it: if D&D Beyond goes down, poof go the monsters!)

So yeah, I think they'll try to enshittify tabletop D&D, but they'll go about it half-heartedly (to go full in, they'd have to drop the printed books, and there's NO WAY they'll do that), and simply no one will care, D&D doesn't work like that.