#actually i think what it says is that my two favourite character traits are 1) prickly little asshole (affectionate) and 2) schemer

[kvetchinglyneurotic]

10 characters from 10 fandoms!

Tagged by the amazing @jamiesfootball (I suffer from "forgetting every character I have ever liked as soon as I'm asked to name them" disease, but I did eventually get my brain working enough to name some names)

Jamie Tartt (Ted Lasso)

Anne Bonny (Black Sails)

Jonathan Sims (The Magnus Archives)

Carmy Berzatto (The Bear)

Kabru (Dungeon Meshi)

Emerald Haywood (Nope)

Misty Quigley (Yellowjackets)

Izzy Hands (OFMD)

Nadia Vulvokov (Russian Doll)

Gus Fring (Breaking Bad)

I'm not sure who's been tagged already, so I'll go with @thirteenemeraldcats and @asteria-argo

[thicctails]

I absolutely LOVE your Mythology Falls AU designs, but I’m curious on why you chose the ones that you did.

I'm so happy you like it! Let's go down the list, shall we?

Dipper: I love the Sphinx!Dipper from Nightrizer's take on Monster Falls, but I didn't want to go that route since these are supposed to be an original take on idea of everyone becoming creatures of myth and legend. The first reason I chose a Gryphon for our beloved Pine Tree because they represent traits like bravery, wisdom, and power. Obviously, Dipper isn't the strongest character in Gravity Falls, but when the chips are down, he isn't afraid to start beating the hell out of whatever is terrorizing him, no matter how much stronger they may be.

The second reason is because I wanted to do something with owls and cheetahs for Dipper. I chose the barn owl because their feathers actually do kinda resemble the colours I chose for Dipper's feathers, and also because they're my favourite species of owl. Both owls and cheetahs are nervous creatures with high pitched calls, which I think fits Dipper very well haha.

Mabel: While I like the idea of Mabel being some kind of water creature, I think her being a mermaid would cause quite a few issues with mobility. I went with a selkie because not only are baby seals fricken adorable (especially harp seals, which is what her coat is based on), but it also allows her to keep her iconic sweater look! Now she can be fashionable on land, and utterly adorable in the water. There's also the added risk of someone trying to take her coat, but when one of your Grunkle's is a dragon, and the other is a kelpie, most people get the hint not to try anything.

Grunkle Stan:

Haha, come on, you see it, right?

Really, though, while Stan may love money, and everyone assumes that he would be hoarding crisp dollar bills, his real horde is actually his house and all those within it. He loves his family more than life itself, and anyone who brings them harm is going to be getting a face full of flames. He's big, grumpy, and looks like he'd be nothing more than a dumb brute, but in reality he's a big softie who could outsmart most anyone who crossed him.

Ford: Kelpies look beautiful, friendly, and enticing, promising fun and adventure, if you only would come closer and climb atop their back. However, this is only a farce, and now you're being dragged down into the dark depths of a lake or river. While Ford wasn't drowning anyone as a human, he certainly dragged McGucket down a dark path, often bringing him into dangerous situations, and he almost did the same to Dipper, although not intentionally. However, they are not always bad, and if you can slip a bridle over a Kelpie's head and tame it for a time, they'll tirelessly help you with whatever you need.

They were also said to be shapeshifters, often taking the form of a man. Whether or not Ford will figure this out remains to be seen (hopefully no one sticks him in a cage and threatens to freeze him!)

Soos: The world's most perfect man deserves a nobel and revered creature. Qilins are gentle, benevolent protectors, and unlike unicorns, they really can see into someone's heart! I wanted Soos to have an overwhelmingly friendly and loved mythological form, so a Qilin seemed like a natural fit.

Wendy & McGucket: two North American cryptids, neither one having much to go on. I chose a Splintercat for Wendy, both because its a lumberjack legend, and because this lynx-like beast topples whole trees with ease by smashing into them which reminded me of Manly Dan, who is also a Splinter Cat.

As for poor old Fiddleford, I made him into a Glawackus because 1. tell me that name isn't something he'd say.

and 2. Glawackuses are said to have the ability to erase the memories of anyone who looks into their eyes. I made it so that the eye that is covered by his green eyeglass is safe to look into, while the other will cause memory loss.

[nekropsii]

is it normal, would you say, to be a fan of a character who is on paper completely reprehensible because you _enjoy them as a character, not as a person?_

rufioh and kankri in particular are two of my favourite dancestors but it feels so wrong to say i'm a 'kankri fan' or a 'rufioh fan' because. that's such a loaded title that almost feels like holding up a neon sign that says 'i'm ignoring the textual misogyny both of these assholes espouse in every other sentence'

it also doesn't help that i am yet to find a single fan work (besides sovstuck, of course) that actually gets them right. any and all depth they have is taken away, rufioh is painted as being in the right and damara as his 'psycho ex', and kankri is just a walking joke with no nuance to his characterisation.

Literally completely normal, and I’ve spoken at length before how I believe the seeming general inability to separate “liking a character as a Character” vs. “liking a character as a Person” is doing some extreme damage and is also a major source of discourse and apologetics within fandoms in general.

From what I’ve observed, people seem to tend to think that when you enjoy a Character, you must also enjoy who they are as a Person, so they start sanding their Character down to make them a more palatable Person. Their actions and words are disregarded, their more unsavory traits are either softened or removed entirely, suddenly they have deep and tragic reasons as to why they viciously abused that person or hold bigoted beliefs so it’s actually okay, guys, so on and so forth.

I talk about Cronus a lot because he’s actually one of my favorite Alpha Trolls. As a character, he provides an excellent source of conflict and symbolism, and he’s an extremely important element in what makes Mituna so interesting and likable. Cronus is a vicious, unrepentant abuser and a total, unapologetic sex pest, he wants Alternian Culling to be legal to Beforus so he can legally kill Mituna for his disability with zero social repercussions, and so much more. He has absolutely zero redeeming qualities, and pretending like he even edges close to one means you’ve completely mischaracterized him and totally missed the point. If your version of Cronus even glances in the general direction of Genuine Redemption, throw it all away, you’ve made an OC and it’s too late for you. He’s a great character, and there’s a reason why I’m the main writer for him for Sovereignstuck.

There’s a reason I’d never call myself a fan, though. Hell, I’ve blocked people for labeling themselves as that before, because frankly… Jesus Christ. I’ve learned to take someone labeling themselves a Cronus Fan as a Red Flag. I’ve been here for 10 years. I know what that shit means 99% of the time, and I’m not going to be very willing to take chances for the 1%.

[oneatlatime]

The Blind Bandit

I had honestly forgotten that the Gaang were trying to find an earthbending teacher, so the 'previously on' segment was actually useful instead of spoilery.

Nobody's face is having a good time.

Look at this sweetheart. You go ahead and treat yourself honey. You've single-handedly escorted a pair of earth-shatteringly overpowered tweens around the world for months; the least you deserve is a shopping trip.

"You kids like earthbending?" Has the same energy as "wanna buy a sun dial?" from that animated Hercules movie.

This guy is one of those strip mall karate types.

I take back everything I ever said about Zuko's season 1 haircut. This guy has a dust bunny poop on his head.

Momo's bag now.

My absolute favourite girl power: incredible violence!

The acoustics at this earth rumble place must be great. I don't see any microphones.

"That's what I paid for." Sokka is a simple creature at heart. Likes food and violence.

Something very strange about this guy's face. I think his mouth moves but his eyes don't.

So apparently earthbending gets you mad air.

Oh! I get it. This is a WWE parody. Somebody on the writing team did their homework too. Don't ask me how I know, but this is a very accurate parody.

Sokka thinks listening to big muscles is a very good idea actually.

And here's the heel. Complete with russian accent. And oddly homoerotic anthem. And cowardice when challenged! Yep, total heel.

I LOLed at the zamboni badgermoles and hockey organ.

She's like two feet tall!

I'm. in love.

I could watch little girls beat up grown men all day.

Earthbending sonar?

Omigod it predicts. She can see moves before they happen.

Well it's a good thing Bumi said to look for someone who Waited and Listened rather than Watched.

"I don't really want to fight you. I want to talk to you." Says the guy who just volunteered, in front of a full stadium, to FIGHT her. Time and place, Aang.

Get back on the ground you flighty airbender. She sees with that ground. No fair.

This is about the face I made when Aang pulled that move. Does this boy think at all? I love him, but what part of stealing her well-earned title is supposed to convince her to talk to him?

You messed up.

I love sartorially inclined Sokka. It's a tiny an innocuous little trait, but it rounds out his character so well.

I get to watch two different girls terrorise idiots this episode. I am blessed.

So I'm guessing the two idiots at the earthbending academy are doing that excercise where kung fu people stick their hands in sand (I've seen videos of it) but it really looked like they were in the 'beat back the dough' phase of making bread.

In this universe of plot-convenient clothing blindness, how do Dumb and Dumber recognise Aang as the one who beat the Blind Bandit?

I think the voice actor for the dumb kid with actual hair did a bunch of voices in season 1. The soldier who gives Aang Bato's map comes to mind.

Have I said recently how much I love Sokka and Katara?

These wrestling guys keep switching between first and third person. Too many rocks to the head.

This could be a board for a murder mystery board game. Or a map for a DND dungeon.

It's her hair. I thought the Blind Bandit had a cap type thing with a little brim for her costume, but it's just a pile of her hair? Like a beehive?

A lesson in character writing: if you want to make someone look super dumb, have them earnestly believe in the credentials and authenticity of a guy you have previously set up as a borderline con artist. Lookin at you, Blind Bandit's dad.

"Basic forms and breathing exercises only." That line is just so funny. And they're all so stupid. She snapped like half a dozen spines last night and this guy is preaching breathing exercises.

Wow! I hate her dad!

I hate him more!

Sokka going ham on some rice rather than listen to the idiots. Good priorities.

This passive aggressive fight between the girl and Aang at the dinner table is so fun.

Looking for somewhere to store your meal after you've face planted into it? Try the top of your head!

I need to get a hold of some of those magic napkins. Wiped up a whole multicourse meal in like 5 seconds.

That is indeed the appropriate reaction to this pint sized badass. Glad Aang is learning. (Also this episode needs more Appa. The last couple have been sadly bereft.)

Called it. Earthdending sonar. Or is it more like echolocation? No! Whiskers!

How does this pint sized badass - who if I am understanding correctly, is not known to exist outside the walls of her house - have more emotional intelligence than the entirety of the Gaang put together?

So much for the guards in the garden. They'd actually be useful now.

Sokka. Priorities. Although given how many times Aang has escaped custody/kidnapping he's probably ok to take a minute to fangirl over an autograph.

These idiot parents don't know their daughter at all. That chafes.

"I'm not smiling." I LOLed at that too. Perfect delivery.

Hippo man having a snack before he gets down to business. No wonder he's missing teeth.

All this blind and tiny and helpless and fragile talk is really making me hope someone smacks the crap out of the dad. What an awful thing to say, nevermind saying it where your daughter can hear.

SMACKDOWN INCOMING

This is gonna be good.

If this girl does join the Gaang the writers are going to have to nerf her in every major conflict. She's too powerful. I bet she could take on the firelord now.

And that's why you don't announce sneak attacks.

So remember how Sokka was absolutely losing his shit over the Boulder? That's me right now.

She waits. All these idiots are losing because they're getting impatient and attacking first. Which means that, to her senses, they're telegraphing their moves. That is so cool. And so is this visual.

Here's your chance Dad. Are you going to mess it up?

"I love fighting. I love being an Earthbender. And I'm really really good at it." me:

I don't have words for how much I LOVE when little girls STAND UP for THEMSELVES and THEIR INTERESTS. This would have had me HOLLERING if I'd seen it as a kid. It was a message I needed to hear too.

Wow I want to kill her parents.

OH FUCK OFF

COME ON

You made my girl cry.

Get wrecked belt stealer. I LOLed at this too.

Sokka just beaned a blind girl on the head. Not a good look. I laughed though.

Fun fact: everyone in this picture is a piece of shit.

I haven't been this steamed since Zuko's dad burned half his face off.

Final Thoughts

IT WAS SO GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously, this episode feels like it's movie quality. This show is usually excellent, but this feels like a cut above. I feel like I could sense the love the writers, animators, voice actors, everyone had for this episode. They had a good time making it and were enthusiastic about it. And there were lots of tiny background details in this episode too. I'm sure I missed quite a few. Oh No! I'll have to rewatch it!

New team member! That hasn't happened since Momo. Actually, no wonder the episode was so good. Introducing the first new team member in at least a season's worth of episodes is a delicate operation. I bet they were workshopping this episode since early in the first season.

And Toph! (thank you credits for how to spell that - I was really hoping it wasn't Toff). Be still my heart I love Toph. She may well take Sokka's spot as my favourite character. Strength of character, self-assurance, emotional intelligence, badassery, mastery of violence, what's not to love!!!

How did she get so emotionally intelligent and articulate if her parents have kept her caged her whole life? I don't know but I'm not complaining!

How did her parents get away with caging her for her whole life? I do know (money) and I am complaining. Very much so. And yet Toph can still find it within herself to have an honest conversation with them, including apologising for leaving said cage. I never would have had the maturity to do that in a similar situation. I would have gone the Katara explosive rage route.

A little girl who stands up for herself. Against HER PARENTS. I just. Do you know how amazing that is? Especially in a kids' show? I was ROBBED by not being able to see this show when I was Toph's age.

Does bending work like a muscle, in that you build up stamina? Because if so, then Toph is the strongest human earthbender in the world by default. If she's using it in place of seeing, then she's using it 100% of the time that she's awake, all day every day. By the time she was like 5 years old she'd probably used her bending more than the average earthbender does in their whole lifetime.

My one complaint is Toph's voice. Nothing wrong with it; this is a me thing. It fits her perfectly, but my ears do not play well with nasal voices, which hers is. I had to rewind quite a few times and resorted to subtitles by the end. Hopefully I'll get used to it like I did Zuko's.

Sokka! My soon to be demoted beloved! He shone in this episode. I love that he has fashion sense and is not afraid to show it. I'm thinking, what with how hung up he was on masculinity at the start of the show, that the water tribes have a different conception of masculinity: one that classes fashionability as a masculine or gender neutral trait. Even back in season one it didn't take much to get Sokka into the Kyoshi warrior uniform, and he's shockingly good at applying face paint symmetrically. Which I still cannot do with winged eyeliner.

Katara! Not headed for a career in diplomacy but so satisfying to watch. I would love to have a Katara in my pocket that I could unleash on people. And her and Sokka bouncing off each other this episode was great. Every one was at peak performance this episode, except Aang. Not at his brightest this episode.

Checking for typos before I post this and I realise I'd already forgotten that Toph is blind! Just like in the Northern Air Temple, this is how you do disability right: as just a part of who they are, rather than an entire personality. This show is so good.

In sum, Toph:

[ralibo14]

TPN Brainrots part 2:

Warning: just like the in the previous part... There will be Manga Spoilers.

Since I was unable to finish part 3 of my comic for Emma's birthday (due to being in a place where bringing a laptop was not advised) I will do my head canons and theories on her.

So today's post is about: Emma

Emma is a protagonist in the wrong genre. That was my first thought when I finished season 1 for the first time. Of course now I know how much more complicated her personality is. Introducing her first from the Trio was a really good choice in my opinion, because her cheerful, hopeful, happy and naive personality makes you believe that everything in all right with their lives. Her point of view up until Connie's death really shows how easy it is to believe in a comfortable lie. (not to forget that in canon they're 11-12)

Emma's appearance explained:

Just like I did with Ray... I have something unique to add to each drawing of her. First let's talk about the Freckles! I'm a big fan of interesting character traits, such us freckles, moles, scars, tooth gaps, vitiligo or anything similar to that. Also the red/orange hair🧡! My second favourite hair color in anime & character history (first is black🖤).

When colouring I like to use vivid colours for her clothes (mostly red or orange to bring out her hair). Maybe that's why, my favourite outfit is what she wore in the Goldy Pond Arc.

In the manga colouring above if you look closely, Emma has faint scars on her knees and elbows. Since she most likely do what her heart says before thinking, I imagine that she didn't mind if she scrapped her knees or bruised her elbow, while playing with her friends and family. Physically active kids often fall while playing but, falling hard then getting up again all by yourself is a good way to symbolise their in journey. (Old drawing of mine😅⬇️)

Leader of the Grace Field Group:

Emma simply had to get into the Leader's role after Norman's shipment. I'm sorry to say that but Ray was a bit useless. He was lost in his own pain and gave up all hope (I mean... valid, but still), so she had to plan everything. Norman's letter and the other kids (Gilda, Don, Thoma, Lanni, etc) helped a lot, but she was practically alone. She couldn't even grieve Norman properly. Don't forget that Emma is smart and an amazing actor. She fooled Isabella thinking she gave up too (not to mention that time she slowed her heartbeat so Mom doesn't know she was lying).

My forever favourite moment (Idk why didn't I mention this in the Brainrots part 1) is Emma slapping some sense into Ray (pun intended😁). Like that setting and that scenery is my Roman Empire. Her catching a burning match just in time, not caring about burning her hand, then convincing Ray to excape with her and the rest of the group (Okay actually... let's be honest... she basically had to drag him out of the House). The first glimpse of what Emma is capable on her own. Nerves of steel for cutting her ear off too (her first big sacrifice just to save the others).

After the Excape, she got a lot of help from Ray who also apologised for his behaviour. The two of them comforting each other after thinking Norman died is just such a heart warming scene. Meeting with Sonju and Mujika was a big turning point for Emma, because of three things;

1: Okay first she was scolded because of her recklessness as well as Ray for trying to play the hero, but that not strongly Mujika or demon related. The world opened up for the whole group. They learnt about the Promise and how the world was divided into two.

2: Emma learned and saw from first hand, that not all demon are evil. Mujika helped them despite their differences and the end of that week Emma thrusted her so much she even showed her the photographs of her family and told her about Norman too.

3: Receiving the neklace and the advice to search for the Seven Wall while they're on their journey.

Arriving to B06-32 and meeting Mister/Yuugo there was a new challenge. All the kids saw another 'Isabella' who tried to kill them. Emma, then Ray were the first ones who saw through his facade.

Goldy Pond Arc was Emma time to shine as a leader and as an individual too. Meeting Lucas and the Goldy Pond squad and immediately connecting to them shows how much she cares about others. Her bonding time with Lucas as they uncover the mysteries surrounding the identity of William Minerva.

Fun fact: In my fanfic I like to age up the Grace Field Trio roughly to Oliver's age, because I think this way their personalities are more dominant and clear.

Emma's relationship with adults:

I like to think that Emma never saw Isabella as a monster (not even after discovering the truth). And as truthful as it is. I think Isabella formed a deeper bond with Emma than with her own son. That's because from the Grace Field Trio, only Emma could have been saved by Mom. With the Mom/Sister Program, Emma would have been able to live on, but it's against her nature to harm anyone. Although I found it interesting that that was the original composition of the manga. Emma becoming a Mom and Gilda becoming a Sister (correct me if I know this wrong). Also this picture under... I found it on Pinterest and it's reflects back to my theory of what might happen to the boys.

Meeting Yuugo and Lucas were a complete different experience for the Grace Field kids. The Bunker Dads were the caring parents both group (Grace Field & Goldy Pond) needed and deserved. Not to mention how Emma reminds me both the young and hopeful Yuugo from the past and the clever and patient Lucas of the present. Spending almost two years on the B06-32 shelter while searching for the Seven Wall makes their last goodbye 1000% more heart breaking.

Back to Grace Field Arc is when Emma meets Isabella again. She gets closer slowly but she doesn't have an emotional barricade as high up as Ray or even Norman. Emma forgave her easier, but that doesn't mean she justified the things Mom did with her family. She simply realised that Isabella had no other choice if she wanted to stay alive.

Making the new Promise and the Human World:

First of all King of Paradise Arc? Realising that Norman is still alive?! Oh the the happy tears when I first read that🖤🤍🧡. (Although to tell the truth Ray slapping Norman as soon as he sees him was such a right choice in my opinion) Emma breaking down in tears and hugging Norman was such an emotional and wholesome scene. But the argument after... let's just say I don't like miscommunication and/or characters keeping important secrets to themselves. (*glances at the GF Trio* "All three of you is in trouble")

Ohh Seven Wall Arc my beloved 🧡🖤. I like every bit of this story but Seven Wall Arc holds a special space in my heart. That Arc still holds so much potential to play around. The demon God's power to manipulate time, space and play around with Emma's and Ray's memories was wild. For the demon God name... I call them Elari. (Yes I stared at that nonsense of a word until it looked like a name). It was such a nice touch that the demon God only wanted to talk to Emma, but I couldn't help but feel a bit bad for Ray, because I think he was worried as hell when he woke up alone without Emma on his side. (I also sometimes think about what kind of Reward he would have received if he stayed with Elari).

The Reward Emma got is... without a question... cruel, and I think it was not needed, but I also can't think about something else what she could have gave to Elari if not her memories.

She deserves happiness and I can't say how much I cried when the Ray and Norman + everyone else found her in the human world. In the end I'm happy that Emma and all of them got a relatively happy ending.

Head canon to Human World and Reward: Emma's necklace!! It holds her memories. They just somehow have to find a way to unlock it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO EMMA!!!🧡🧡🧡.

Okay. That's it for Emma. If you have anything else to add, correct or you want to share your own theories just write it in the comments or reblogs. Next post will be the 3rd part of the comic. Then brainstorms on Norman will come.

[heph]

Hey, I remember you mentioning on your IG something about two types of popular artists and one being good at social media and the other being good at art or something like that (I can't really remember lol). But it got me thinking, any tips for how to be good at social media? Cuz I'm certainly not even after posting art for six years lol

Heya!

What I meant by that is that there are traits that allow you to grow on social media, and traits that determine what a highly skilled artist is, and those traits do not always necessarily overlap.

I've seen so many amazing artists that post artwork that blow my head off, and yet they don't have many likes. On the other hand, some artists at the same skill level who draw more popular things will get way more attention.

That is not to say that either is the correct way to create art, but there is definitely a formula to social media that is in play.

There are a lot of posts about how to grow a social media account, particularly on TikTok, YouTube and Instagram art spheres, and imo you really need to examine what you want from your art before jumping into social media mode

The stuff you create to pander to social media might not be art that you want to create at all - I'm lucky, because I am less artist more storyteller, and what I enjoy is telling jokes and silly stories to liven up people's moods :] this, of course, conveniently does well on social media. On a personal note, I have a history of being a recluse and not connecting well with people, and art is my way of trying to communicate my feelings, one way or another.

So of course, if you draw for any reason other than my own, my approach to art and it's relation to social media might be inappropriate for you.

All that being said, if u take a look at those "get big on social media" videos they always cite the same few points... And you can look into that, for sure, but this video sums up how I feel about all that.

I spent like 20 minutes drafting words after the above paragraph, but I really ended up regurgitating sentiments from the video... So really don't listen to me, listen to that video

EDIT:

I just realised I didnt actually answer the question with my anecdotal experience, so here's a list of things I did

1. Posted like 3 doodles a day on social media

I did this for 6 months on a side account on Twitter recently and got the account to 11k followers... And I did this for 3 months on Instagram a few years ago and I think got 3.5k followers. Of course, do not spam maliciously and make sure your art is still of good quality, but for those artworks I posted quickly, I did not colour, and mostly did clean sketches. This also trains you in the matter of line confidence haha. Again, this worked for me because of my set of circumstances (love for the media, want to tell stories, simple art style)

2. Focus on my favourite aspects of media

This helps with respect to burnout - kinda hard to burnout when you love what you're making! For me, it's character interactions and comics. I want to see my blorbos kiss and if I'm not the one drawing it who will?!

3. Interact with people

People eat up work that they can interact with. A choose your own story situation, one of those like/rt to strip a character 😭 those do numbers for a reason.

Additionally, if you post stuff people love, people will respond to it with comments, maybe their own headcanons, adding on to the work... I've gone into long looong Twitter thread conversations with people who added onto my ideas that I threw up onto the screen and I think it's also a nice thing to do to respond to positive comments haha... I'm not very good at this (read: bad at communication)

I think that's the key points... Hope this helps!

[bellysoupset]

OKAY. Hi. Im finally free for long long enough to come chat.

I have so much stuff to say I literally went through your blog down to my ask where you said COME BACK HERE (lmaoo) and made a whole list in my notes app so that i don’t forget anything

(dw im gonna send a bunch of separate asks so that it doesn’t clog up your whole dash)

first of all, sounds like we have the same handwriting??? i was thinking oh mines closest to leo + bella and then i read the tags and we have the exact same traits?? wtf. so cool. also jon and luke having rich kid handwriting is so funny.

oohhh and bella??? 😳😳😳 like i KNOW (i think) she isn’t pregnant because you’ve said that’s not a plot you want to pursue rn. but alsoo what the hell. even if she isn’t, i can’t wait to read about her and luke talking about it.

(speaking of bell and luke talking, i’ve been LOVING the little snippets of them just hanging out and vibing) (bella crying for leo was so insanely sweet btw, she’s such a sweetheart) (also scary) (hot) (i’m getting off track)

loved the picking up the car fic so much!! jon and luke are soooo sibling coded it’s insane. also luke revving the car and zooming past them was so hot. and jonah’s “crush them”?? they’re BROTHERS!!!! i love reading stories of your characters just being idiots together <3

and bella going into that shop looking all sweet just to Destroy that old man was sooo funny. she’s so hot?? 🍄

okayy so 1. forgot to mention in the last ask : luke is so stupidly protective of bella lmfao. him being mad at leo for just Being There was so funny 2. jon being the baby of the group is one of my favourite things about him <3 he’s baby 🩷 3. the boxing class fic is soo cool. i love jonah and bella’s interactions!! need to see more of them together! they’re so perfectly bitchy with each other. also did i ask for something similar AGES ago or did i just think about it and forget to actually say anything? 4. jonah and leo’s reunion was soooo cute!!!i adore clingy jonah. (speaking of, i was re reading the fic where jonah gets sick at a medical convention with wendy and gets back home and is all bossy about cuddling leo, and it’s SO. CUTE.) and then finally leo getting sick was **chefs kiss** (ps. the supporting your partners forehead while they puke thing is so hot. who said that.) and jonah!! missing rubbing leo’s back as he throws up!! Sap. Peak simp behaviour fr. Didn’t realise there was competition to Luke for the Pathetic Simp title. 🍄

Hi there 🍄!!! How are you? Missing you loads, I hope life is treating you kindly, even if busy!

God, my handwriting is a mess, I was always the kid who showed up to class with one (1) singular black pen and no patience. Do you also do the Leo thing of saving up pages?

Bell definitely wasn't pregnant, but it was a fun time getting asks begging her not to be 😭😭 And yeah, she loves her little found family so much!! All of them, they're her home and she's a tough cookie, but she hates to see them hurting!

Luke is Golden Retriever coded in every sense of the word. Friendly and goofy and loud, but super protective.

I really do need to write more of the Bitchy Group, which in my head is Jon, Wen, Bell and now... Max. For clarification, Leo is hella bitchy but to me he's just the bitchy part of the trio that is Luke/Vin/Leo 🙈 Does this make any sense?

I'm looking forward to introducing Max to the group and what new units mind come up

Now. Men were made to do two things: simp and be queasy. As far as I was told 😎

[thethiefandtheairbender]

just a disclaimer: i’m queer and nonbinary (afab) as can be, so all of this is from a personally queer perspective? i also know that i don’t tend to really jive with ND stevenson’s work (she-ra didn’t quite work for me) either and if you loved the movie, great. i just gotta drop thoughts somewhere because well

they’re less than positive

like “nimona” wants to be a Queer movie so badly, but the entire humourous basis of the character herself is that she is 1) young looking (despite being immortal) and 2) appears to be AFAB and isn’t it funnily jarring when little girls want to be violent instead of cute and sweet? 

She doesn’t want to be a monster, but clearly genuinely enjoys destroying things (again: basis of the bulk of her character humour, and one of most defining character traits) with no regards to anyone who gets hurt or could get hurt in the process. 

also this is Entirely Personal preference but while the animation was stunning, the contrast in the medieval aesthetic and modern day technology just continually brought me out of the movie. which is too bad, because treasure planet and it’s 70/30 rule and aesthetic blend of old timey and big technology is one of my favourite things ever, but i think Nimona being 50/50 just... didn’t work for me. was also slightly disappointed that i figured out who the actual bad guy was before the queen’s death (and yet another movie with a black queen who Dies Instantly / a movie with literally queer men of colour being technical side characters to a white, allegorically queer main ‘female’ character). 

Ballister is a great protagonist, but due to his opposition of everything Nimona is personality and scheme wise, it feels like they’re almost running around in two separate stories. As well as like - he wanted to enjoy the Elite, Privileged, fighting force? An elite, privileged, entirely based on birthright system ruled by a Black queen before it was called into question, when it’s also a pretty clear allegory for the Police? The fact that this isn’t resolved - what’s going to happen to the Institute, is it going to be reformed or even better yet, disbanded (‘defunded’), is entirely left hanging as a plot thread, which doesn’t happen matters.

Halfway through the movie (specifically Nimona’s “or that sometimes I want to let them [kill me]”) is when I finally started to feel emotionally invested, but like two scenes later when Ambrosius’ stabbing was over dramatic rather than just letting the tone hold, I looked into the camera just... so incredibly unimpressed. The monopoly and shark dancing didn’t help.  

“She’s my friend.” “Aren’t I more than that?” so there were no aspec people in making this film. Got it. And Ballister’s heel face turn into calling Nimona a monster is also very quick, especially when his whole arc this movie is being unfairly demonized himself by the very same thing/people that are demonizing Nimona as well. The sheer harshness and length of the scene is also much longer and given time than him saving her, leaving that feeling kinda lopsided as well.

And Nimona’s issues I think are very evident in the fact the movie lets us see all the damage she’s causing at the end when she loses control, which is sad and tragic for her... but does not excuse or remove the real harm she’s bringing hundreds of other people. This is mitigated when she sacrifices herself to save the city, but given that her problem wasn’t necessarily selfishness so much as recklessness, and given that Ballister had literally just talked her down from suicide, it’s... Muddled to say the least.

And all of this ties back into the murky gender allegory of the movie. At its best, it’s very effective and very emotionally resonant (Nimona’s actual flashbacks and a couple of her conversations with Ballister. I can definitely see why people like it - hell, even I like it. “This monster is a threat to our entire way of life!” “What if we’re wrong?” kinda perfectly encapsulates were it falls flat to me, because queerness Is a threat to our current systems - capitalism, racism, cisheteropatriarchy founded on white gender essentialism. Queerness, particularly of gender, disrupts and should disrupt all those things; it’s a political identity just as much as personal one, both by choice and by societal circumstance.

TLDR; found the second half of the movie, overall, much stronger than the first, but with some bigger structural pitfalls. Animation was gorgeous, sense of humour didn’t overall work for me but that’s a personal thing, queer allegory was good but I would’ve liked some of the implications to be taken farther. I appreciate the movie for what it says about freedom of expression vs demonization by the upper class(es), and I think it’ll really resonant and be important to queer youth in their teens (a stage I am long past) figuring themselves and their place in an increasingly anti-trans political climate out, so I’m very glad it exists. It just wasn’t particularly groundbreaking, and wasn’t particularly up my alley. Which is kind of what I expected, but I am disappointed that I didn’t enjoy it more as a nonbinary person who loves story deconstructions, fantasy, and animation

[hildegardladyofbones]

okay final thoughts on disco elysium (post-first playthrough). major fucking spoilers ahead.

This run took me 38 hours and I did it in 6 days (both irl and in game). Today was the day where I played the least, only 5 or so hours

My main strategy for picking options was: 1. what would *I* do? this lead to most of the boring and centrist answers because I don't want to take a stand on politics of a world I don't know shit about. Will definitely make other choices in the future now that I've gotten a grasp. 2. What would Kim approve of? disappointing Kim makes me physically sick. 3. Which of the options has the name Kim in it? I just wanted to say his name as much as possible.

In the future I will definitely be picking the silliest options. I also plan on picking the thinker archetype (i picked the sensitive one because i liked the addition that he might begin to lose his mind.) and that one says that he's very bad with people, which logically would lead to out of pocket things.

Most importantly: I didn't do shit in this game. I didn't even disco. I thought I had an other opportunity to finish that quest, because I could have never thought that the killer would be on the island. There's also the deal with Cuno. Idfk what it is. Will get to that next time. And what was it that Joyce had to say? And how would've the tribunal gone had I not failed all but two red-checks?

Other shit i want to rant about. Kim. Oh my fucking god, Kim. Hands down the best character in any video game I've ever played. (Oh yeah that reminds me- I'm certain I didn't find out all there is to him). I've talked about it before (Wayyy too much) how he was so kind and patient and down-to-earth when he didn't have to be. How he doesn't fuck around. Usually. One of my favourite traits of his is that he is so willing to do random shit for the fun of it. He also doesn't take anyone's shit, like, he has effectively shut people's mouths up. His voice was also way too soothing and enjoyable to listen to for absolutely no apparent reason. I cheered and clapped when he spoke. I am a total kim-freak and I am Definitely kimfected. I can go on. about the fact that he smokes? absolutely obsessed with that fact for no apparent reason. And he's gay! I never would've thought they'd go there. I will be needing an orange bomber jacket and round sunglasses moving forward, thankyouverymuch

I should also talk about Harry. The reason why I didn't fuck with him *as much* is because to me, his characterization was very inconsistent. I'm sure I'll grow to like him even more when I actually know what I'm doing. I absolutely appreciate the constant angst he was in tho, especially after the tribunal, but *that* deserves it's own post. He is one of the more believably fucked-up detectives in fiction and definitely one of the most well-written. What absolutely seals the deal for me is the addition of his skills (?)(idk what to call them). Not only was it a wonderful game mechanic, it also made the game so much more interesting. And the fact that it's canon, there *are* voices in his head also adds to it. The narration was also on point, they picked the right actor for it. Speaking of game mechanics, the dice roll was also a needed addition. That's what made the game hard. Too bad it took me so long to figure out the logic behind it. I think I did that at like the second to last dice roll in the game. It's also, obviously, a nod to ttrpgs' that were an inspiration for this game. That also appears in the gameplay itself. Most of the time the characters are standing still while the narration tells us what's happening. That's neat as well, idk, i've never played an ttrpg

And then there's the ending. I will skip the middle parts, mostly, because they're just great and I love the story and that's pretty much all i have to say about it. The ending fucntioned as a review of how/what we did this run. Kim pretty much laid out exactly what kind of cop we were, what we believed in, how well we did the investigation, etc. and for that fact alone I don't know if I could ever stomach doing a playthrough where I don't solve the crime to near-perfection. I cannot stomach letting that man down. I will most likely be missing out on a considerable chunk of the game that way, but as about everything besides DE lately, idgaf. Kim is the blorbo of all time. Anyway it kind of pains me that the ending came so suddenly, mostly for the afore-mentioned reasons. It also kind of hurt me mentally because of how we're forced to confront how much of a shitshow Harry is. And the fact that it's so heavily hinting at a sequel that never came. The world is against me specifically for not giving this game a sequel. For not letting me see more of Kim. That's right, I will never shut up about him. I am superbly annoying about that guy it's unbearable even to me. FUCK i digress, the main reason why the ending left me with the heavy feeling is the feeling of loose ends. (I didn't fucking disco, remember?)

HOLY SHIT I HAVEN'T EVEN TALKED ABOUT THE WORLD !! I was *absolutely* *positively* astonished the more I learned about the world. I love history as much as the next history freak, but what I love more is *intentionally* mixing up the decades. The cars looked a century old, they had computers, they had ttrpgs', the year was '51 and they had disco, obviously. I live for that shit. There's also the thing that I do with my own fictional world and that is mixing made up shit with our world shit. I am beyond elated when I figured out that's what they were doing because i've never seen anything else do that. Their world mostly looks like and acts like our world, except the cultures, geography and history are all original. it's what I did because I didn't want to learn about the london tube system. And of course there are some super-natural elements (what the fuck is the pale? who is the paleworker? huh???) as well. The similarities between their and my world go on, but I digress. The worldbuilding done here was superb and so fucking impressive. Honestly stuff like "oh why would they call *their* months march, april, etc when the guys that named the months didn't exist in their world" and "oh why do they have communism if that was invented by Karl Marx" doesn't bother me at all. That is the shit i live for. It pains me that there most likely won't be a sequel, but luckily I am estonian so I can read the novel. The game being so heavily estonian-made was another reason why I bought it. (the others being: it was 4 eur and it said the artstyle was inspired by oil paintings)(had i known how life-changing this game would be for me, i would've gladly paid the 40 eur)

There's still more i could talk about, actually. This game also did some pretty insane things to me as a person, but I won't divulge the details here (also my mother thinks i should go to sleep? fuck her, i am staying up until 4am. again). For the time being it altered how I interact with the world, possibly permanently, but it's too early to tell. I am still knee-deep in the brainrot. If you really want, I could elaborate if asked, I don't care that much about privacy.

Anyway thank you for reading this rant? idk why you'd do that, i literally didn't proofread anything i wrote here. Most of it is about Kim anyway. I still have no idea what drugs they put in that character. Literally addicted to him. I think he's not just the 57th's best (or 41st's i guess) but he's just the best. in general. in every category. never figured out what the deal with the gloves was tho.

[aphroditestummyrolls]

I am genuinely so confused by people who, like, hate the way shadow and bone (netflix) was written? Like, there’s plenty of valid gripes— for example, the pacing of season 2 is way off, and it should have had at least two more episodes imo— and if you just don’t like it, then you just don’t like it. but some of y’all seem to be pulling complaints out of thin air that either directly contradict the show’s actual content, or are just part of the nature of having a show with 1) so many characters, and 2) such a short window in order to address and give due consideration to each of those characters. The medium is just different, we can’t read a characters mind like we can in a book, and it needs more time to be organic. And, not to mention, some characters are just not main characters, and they’ll have less screentime.

Like, if we were to get season 3/crows spin off, we’d probably get a lot more time to explore certain things in a more organic way than to have characters spell things out. I always find that clunky, and especially with the crows characters who are so emotionally constipated, it would be much more out of character than having actors and lines give subtle hints/scenes that provide flashbacks/etc. I don’t understand what some of you want.

And also, just because something is different from the way it’s done in the books, doesn’t mean that they’re representing those character traits poorly or are being disrespectful to them? It just feels like some of you are looking for things to be angry about/set yourselves up for disappointment when you were explicitly told by Leigh Bardugo and the writing team to expect things to be like a fanfiction of your favourite characters and book events… it’s an adaptation. I can’t speak for the shadow and bone or rule of wolves characters nearly as much, because I’m a Crows Girlie™️, but given the changes they made— aging up characters in particular— I think characterisation remained quite faithful!

I hope we get our spin-off/season 3. There’s still so much for these characters to teach us about themselves, and I’d love to see how things continue to evolve in the show-verse. And, while I’m perfectly content to just keep playing in my own little corner of the sandbox, I wish that what I’m saying here didn’t feel like an unpopular opinion.

[deke-rivers-1957]

Least favourite elvis characters

Good question anon.

Since I haven't fully analyzed all of his movies yet, I'm just gonna the characters from favorite to least favorite for movies I did review.

1: Jodie Tatum

I'm sure some of you are as shocked as I am that this almost universally panned film gave me the best Elvis character so far. Jodie when you really look at his character is the perfect main character to have in an Elvis movie. As much as I typically despise the cocky, womanizing jock type character, Jodie managed to have all of those character traits and not be annoying. Just by looking at his scenes alone you can write a completely new movie where he's the main character and you would have a significantly better movie. Everything you need to write a movie about a young man learning to become humble and set aside his differences with someone he doesn't stand for the purpose of achieving a common goal of uniting two worlds through marriage is right there. Saying that a side character genuinely deserves their own movie more than the actual main character is the ultimate compliment.

2: Deke Rivers

It was so hard to pick between my number 1 and number 2. As much as I love Deke as a character, unless you want to write about him before the events of the movie or expand on what happened during the movie, Deke doesn't have that much potential for a story. His character arc is complete and he went through the most change out of any Elvis character. There just isn't really that much left to his story where you go "I want to see a sequel and see what happens next."

3: Scott Heyward

This is the best character writing out of all of the cheap to make era Elvis films so far. Scott has actual depth by not wanting to use nepotism to get everything he wants in life. Scott acknowledges that he's in fact privileged but doesn't use that as an excuse to lord over the lower classes. As much as he admittedly doesn't understand having to make a dollar stretch and wanting to have a comfortable lifestyle, he doesn't shame Dianne for doing what she does. The only thing keeping him from being #1 is that it seems out of character for him to want to be with Dianne on a romantic level since she's actively doing the one thing he wanted to get away from. Unless we have a character arc explaining what changed, it just doesn't make sense.

4: Walter Gulick

I admit that Walter doesn't have much of a character arc. But that doesn't matter to me, because the appeal of his character is his relationships with others. He's in the cynical world of boxing, but still has a wholesome outlook on life. Watching him interact with the done with life New Yorkers is incredible. Even though he knows they look at him strangely, he still has a high level of respect for not only the men but also women. It's honestly incredible that Walter isn't once tempted to be with anyone but Rose. Just a wholesome character with a good moral code and shows that not every character needs to have a significant flaw to be interesting.

5: Vince Everett

As much as I find him unlikeable, I think his character has a lot of fanfic potential. Seeing this otherwise everyday man's fall from grace, become one of the hottest artists in America then suffer a possibly career ending, life-threatening injury is such a wild ride. You can easily write introspective stories on why he became a jerk, how he felt when he though he lost everything, and see if his relationship with Peggy will work out.

6: Rusty Wells

Definitely a dark horse of an Elvis character. I wasn't expecting to like him as much as I did. In the first half I thought he was just going to be somewhat of a Tulsa. But once he got in a bar fight with drunken frat boys just to keep Valerie out of trouble, he immediately became way more interesting. The face he makes when one of his band mates ask him about Valerie is so telling. He genuinely cares about Valerie's well-being. And watching the process of seeing this flirtatious man genuinely fall in love and want to stay in a committed relationship is a pretty good character arc for a cheap to make beach film.

7: Clint Reno

I would've been perfectly fine with his character but the last 20 minutes of the movie or so has him go completely off the rails. Him losing his mind about Cathy potentially cheating on him can work as long as it's written well. Given his perceived age there's plenty of ways you can write this concept that shows a different side of Clint without making him completely switch to the "villains" side.

8: Charlie Rogers

Had all the potential of being a great character yet the writers completely dog on him. As much as he has flaws, I genuinely couldn't care because everyone else in his movie were much, much worse. Him wanting to go back to the carnival makes no sense because of how terrible he was treated. I think if done well he can be an interesting character.

9: Glenn Tyler

As much as I like the backstory and think he has the potential of being an amazing character, I don't think his story was handled well. Some of the decisions that he made don't feel like they fit with his character. He doesn't really love a lot of room to write introspective stories since we already have a full idea of why he's the way he is.

10: Mike Edwards

I really like his dynamic with Sue-Lin. It adds a level of depth that makes an otherwise generic nice guy interesting. Even though he doesn't have a character arc, the conflict that he's put in is so engaging. This conflict doesn't end with him learning a lesson, but it allows him to show a different skillset that otherwise wouldn't exist. I still believe that his romance plot with Nurse Warren wasn't necessary but at least it still shows how not everyone who goes through an unexpected conflict end up having a complete transformation.

11: Tulsa McLean

Tulsa is just a generic main character. He does have some comedic moments where he's sassy with his superior officer and "Tiger". Him being of Native American descent and having a lot of experience with women doesn't really add anything to his character. At least he does have a specific goal and the romance he has with Lili gives him an interesting conflict.

12: Rick Richards

I just don't think he's a memorable character. The conflict he faces is a result of his own actions but it really doesn't matter because he doesn't learn anything. His romance is so much of an afterthought that they don't even kiss until the very end. We get more of a focus on the people he used to be with than focusing on him overcoming that past. You get more invested in the Hawaiian background and the Polynesian Culture Center than you do with him.

13: Josh Morgan

The most boring Elvis character. His only goal isn't even his own: it's the Air Force who wanted him to go to the mountain. We don't learn anything about him outside of his distant relation to the Tatum family. His romance with Azalea doesn't give us any interesting dynamics and just feels pointless. He is a completely nothing character to the point where he shouldn't even be a main character.

[true-blue-sonic]

I think a lot of people have a hard time grasping Silver's character because he doesn't fit into an easy to describe archetype. I still see people say that he doesn't have a personality outside of comics because his character chemistry and personality type outside of his optimism and determination/mission focus just isn't apparent.

I'd say his personality type is brash, sarcastic and direct but you'll almost never find those qualities listed in official descriptions.

For me, Silver's character is kind of... a juxtaposition between various traits to combine in a very specific way. Overall, I would argue Silver has two main "cores" of his character. You have one that contains his more naive and kind nature, that shows appreciation for minor details like blue skies and people smiling, that values others' happiness dearly, gives him his hopeful and optimistic attitude, and that makes him go back to the past each and every time to ensure his future is safe. And you have his hotheaded, brash, and rude side, that is competitive and impatient, that puts himself as being 100% in the right all the time and everyone who does not agree with him as obstacles to be overcome. And indeed, both of those "cores" can be seen as individual archtypes (e.g. the wide-eyed idealist versus the battle-hardened gruff world-saver), but they're still also both a part of Silver. Sonic '06 is kind of more the first, I would say, Rivals leans wayyyyy more into the second, and I think my own favourite interpretation of Silver is when he's both. Tremendously kind-hearted and willing to give everything for the world, shrewd and always correct in the end, but short-sighted and impatient in the process. And I would say there's also a potential third "core", that contains his more sarcastic side and calmer but battle-loving nature when there are no emergencies happening, like Colours DS.

As for him not having a personality outside the comics... Oof😅 I know people like to joke about how the Rivals games are the games wherein everyone just fights each other all the time over nothing, but there's so much personality for Silver there! He realises that "Eggman" is actually Nega solely because "Eggman's" mannerisms and speech are too similar to Nega's, alongside a slip of "Eggman's" tongue about the future. He all but baby-talks the Chao, and remembers that they live in packs, making him figure there's more than the one he just found. He gets noticeably crass with Knuckles when Knux calls him crazy. He goes out of his way to warn Shadow about "Eggman" potentially not being real, and he ends Rivals 1 with marvelling about Sonic and Shadow being brave. He very directly tells Espio that of course he expects Espio to believe his (honestly entirely unbelievable) story. And so on and so forth: these are just the examples I remember without even looking up the games themselves. In other words: he is shrewd and notices small details, he likes cute things like the Chao, he gets personally offended when someone insults him/his mission, he's very blunt and direct, and he's got a softer and more introspective side to him that he can share with others. And what about Generations, wherein he says that a rematch with Sonic will be fun? Blood knight! Or his suspicion about whether Sonic is the real Sonic or a fake trying to swindle him out of the Chaos Emerald? Being wary is also personality aspect, I would say. Him shooting Infinite's boasting about there being no hope down immediately by outright stating Infinite is lying also shows he's got a hopeful attitude and firm beliefs he doesn't waver from easily. So no, the idea that he "doesn't have a personality" outside of the comics is just outright false to me.

Overall, I think Silver's personality is difficult to get down because it clashes with itself somewhat: it contains traits that perhaps are difficult to really combine, yet they did for Silver and it works (for me lol). But indeed, it's not an easy archtype that can be summed up in just one or two words. That is actually most of the game!Sonic characters, I would say: almost all of them have a lot more underneath the surface than you would say at first glance. But I do wonder if we'll ever get a shift in the perception on Silver that focuses on both "cores" again, instead of only picking a few traits at best and running with those.

[incineraryperiphery]

Danmei Rec Meme

(thank you for clearing up my misunderstanding and the tag @endless-season! Original post here)

-How long have you been into danmei, how did you get into it / what was your first danmei? It's been a year or two (or three? time is irrelevant) at this point, but TGCF was my first! Asked around on a forum for character dynamic recs when I wanted to read something different and this was the one that caught my eye. I've been voraciously devouring them since. (Reading novels is my main motivation for learning mandarin; there's far too few translated horror danmei for my tastes and even less officially done ones)

-Favourite danmei? ask me again in three months and I can guarantee i'll give you a different answer. right now, it's a three-way tie between fake slackers (low stakes modern high school identity porn), married thrice to salted fish (ancient transmigration from the pov of a villain), and i can keep you alive till the fifth watch (desperate to live young master enters an unlimited flow horror game), but MDZS occupies most of my fandom brainspace at the moment.

-Favourite couples / characters? Man, there's so many. Off the top of my head for the couples that don't include my pet noncanon ships, chi ting and yue ren (please follow the rules of the game), ren yifei and saman (the days i clear escape games pretending to be an npc), xue qianshao and hui xing (where to find the remnants of spring), wei e and the creator (folklore's no. 1 boss), and song nanzhi and gu yanqing (穿成魔尊后与反派相爱相杀 - i'm not entirely confident in my own translation of the title) Character-wise outside of those boys up there, I love zhao yelan (after being forced to marry the evil star general), fu zhiyu (buddha-like rebirth), yu fan (wait for me after school), and san san (do you have any opinion on mechanical cat ears?). (Honorary mention to shenyuan svsss even without reading the novel yet, mostly because it feels like every post I see out of that fandom makes fun of him for reading a stallion novel for the plot but that's Thee most relatable-to-me character trait i've ever seen)

-Most recently read danmei? My most recently finished one is it's my turn to take the stage and fly/it's my turn to dominate (cryofrozen team captain gets defrosted and starts playing the vr version, meets his little cousin's shameless childhood friend in said game). I just started genius strategy theory (weak as hell little genius gets finally gets his hands on a holographic game he can actually play, i think the ML is the head of a research department?) and i'm very much enjoying it, but i'm juggling a few others in my open tabs for if the mood strikes.

-Any favourite authors? Qi jing nan qu and Nian zhong, no question. I love the way they both handle all the little details and really bring out the main couples relationships through them - the only downside is the emotional rollercoasters wear me out haha. My favorites from each are don't pick up boyfriends from the trash bin and sending the divine/sendoff. I also really enjoy the way mxtx structures her novels but it always takes me a few tries to really get into them.

-Any popular danmei you aren't particularly a fan of? Anything by priest, unfortunately - no fault on their part, all their concepts are fascinating but I just bounce off every one I try.

-Anything you've been meaning to read but still haven't? I've started both svsss and erha a couple times but the stars haven't been aligned properly or something for me to finish them yet (I already know i'm going to be terribly insufferable once i actually sit down and bang out the former, it has so many of my favorite tropes).

-Choose a random (the weirder and baitier, the better) memorable scene/danmei to describe! Okay so lets say you're some washed up magician who technically transmigrated into a novel, into the body of someone who was supposed to die in the first few pages doing something ridiculously stupid. You've already made it through an instance or two, made something of a name for yourself despite everything, and now you've got the big bad number one player trying to sabotage you inside another instance. everything is dealt with and you're this close to completing the instance when you're sucked into a coffin that you've just trapped someone in. said number one is in there instead, breathing your air and threatening you and being an irritating menace about all of it. it feels like there's no way to get out but, hey, you're a magician. you'll find a way even if it's a gamble. what do you do? You set the coffin on fire behind your back. (there's other really good scenes from thriller trainee but this one's my favorite and doesn't take fifty chapters of backstory to explain)

-Are there any particular genres/tropes you enjoy / don't enjoy? I mostly read unlimited flow/horror, xianxia/xuanhuan, and esports, (and wuxia, but there's not a lot of wuxia danmei floating around) but I'll read anything if the premise sounds interesting. For tropes, I enjoy omegaverse, court intrigue, pretending to be npcs, systems, and master/disciple - I like my protags cold, ruthless, and preferably some sort of sick or disabled. Even better if the main couple tries to murder each other a few times. As for dislikes, I'm not fond of cops/law enforcement main characters, anything dealing with suicide, or bully/victim ships (though, like I said, I'll read anything if it sounds interesting enough).

-Any recommendations to give? Badly describe them in a few sentences. A couple that I don't really see crossing my dash: Support is king (low stakes vr gaming about a poisonous healer, his pining dps, and a five-year misunderstanding. same author as please follow the rules of the game) Two Long Aotians' shura fields (scummy master completes his system quests but gets shunted to an alternate timeline where he can actually care for his little disciple instead of going home, protag from the original world discovers this and is not pleased. much stripping of vests and identity porn) PUBG online romance of the century (trashy voice-con livestreamer meets his terrible gamer boss and falls in love at first listen. same author as wait for me after school, i can do it is also really fucking cute too) Every day, the marshal is a love-struck fool for me (underground supposed-to-be-dead assassin ends up married to a war hero due to an error, terrible love advice abounds. short, sweet, plot-heavy and mecha-light - i heard my fiance is super fierce is also good) After marrying the lord of the underworld (wicked unlucky exorcist gets ghost-married as a kid to protect him, turns out his promised "beautiful female ghost" is a king of the underworld. feels like the author never misses, they also wrote how to feed an abyss and the dragon lord is weak and helpless but has a big appetite) His marriage partner is scheming (nominally-straight transmigrator can't bear to let the pretty minor villain meet his book-fate and marries him about it. Chi xueyan's family is so much fun.) Non-human seeking re-employment (lazy little ghost gets sucked into a horror game after two whole days of being human, proceeds to ruin the ambience by kicking everything he comes across. shen dongqing is not stuck there with the ghosts, the other ghosts are stuck there with him.)

(tagging anyone who'd like to do this, really, I don't think I know many people into danmei outside the big ones)

[wilsons-striped-ties]

april tc challenge (days 1-30 one shot)

original post here!

1. does your tc have a catchphrase or something they say a lot?

no but he does use "eh" a lot to start his sentence or to refer to people HAHA but there are some phrases he will just repeat in the exact same tone and way like "i don't know" when he's teasing someone

2. what’s your favourite memory with your tc?

i think when i gave him cupcakes on his birthday? the look of surprise on his face was priceless

3. have you dreamt about them? if so, what’s the best dream you’ve had?

yup, i think it was a dream where he asked to take a picture with me LOL i don't really dream about him

4. if you could move away with them, where would you move to? would you bring anyone else?

anywhere he wants to HAHAH it can just be the two of us <3

5. do you know their star sign? are your star signs compatible?

yeah he's a cancer and im a taurus and apparently we're very compatible

6. have they ever given you a gift? if so, what?

he gave our class personalized handwritten notes for graduation!

7. have you ever given your tc a gift?

just gave him a note and baked brownies for him today, i also gave him cookies and more notes and also cupcakes for his birthday!

8. what’s their best physical feature?

his dimples hehe maybe his smile too

9. what’s their best personality trait?

hes really thoughtful and sweet actually, quite sensitive too :'

10. what subject do they teach? do they teach you?

HISTORY yeah he taught me for years three and four

11. how old are they? what’s the age gap between you?

not sure of his age but our age gap is confirm above twenty years

12. if they could teach another subject, what do you think they’d teach?

he used to teach english too but he does just seem like a history teacher

13. have you ever hugged? what was it like?

I WISHHHHHHHHHHHH

14. what’s your dream date with them?

i would love to just go on a walk with him and hold hands or go to a museum or something!!

15. do you have any pictures with them? if so, when from? and if not, do you think you’ll be able to get a picture with them?

i just took a picture with him, i have at least six pictures with him i think, i always grab a picture when i see him HAHAHA

16. is your tc single? do they have any kids? or pets?

married with three kids, not sure about the pets (i offer as tri-*gunshots*)

17. does your tc remind you of any characters, whether they’re from a book, tv show or film etc.?

not sure HAHAHA

18. what’s the most embarrassing thing you’ve said or done in front of your tc? did they notice?

oh gosh the other time i served him the wrong coffee order cause i worked at my high school canteen for a bit HAHAHAHA

19. what colour do you associate your tc with?

dark blue, dark red, black, gold, brown

20. is your tc a good teacher?

THE BEST

21. can you remember the last thing you said to your tc or that they said to you?

"bye mr passion fruit" "bye, take care"

(this was today when i was leaving after teachers day)

22. how do you cope when you really miss your tc?

i write about him, look at our pictures, reminisce about some memories HAHAA

23. what animal does your tc remind you of?

i have no idea, tiger maybe?? in my head he's the most beautiful hurricane though. he'd be a really beautiful, complex animal but elegant and sleek too, but mischievous at the same time... maybe a fox? wolf? folf? HAHAHAH

24. if actors had to play you and your tc in a movie, who would you cast as yourself and who would you cast as them? why?

woah im not sure about that, i feel it's hard to play him and i have no idea about myself too whoops

25. what’s your favourite outfit of theirs?

his black/dark blue dress shirts? he always wears the same stuff

26. do you stay in contact outside of school? if so, how? (email, text, letters etc.)

yeah, text

27. in your opinion, what’s the hardest thing about having a tc?

the delusions and waking up to reality... the urge to do something to further your relationship but the fear and legal matters :'

28. do you flirt with your tc? do they flirt back?

I HAD A CHANCE TO BUT CHICKENED OUT i just do it subtly, he does tease me a little though

29. if you could ask your tc absolutely anything and get a completely honest response, what would you ask them?

what cologne did he used to use cause it smelt insanely nice

30. how do you think your tc would react if you told them your feelings?

i don't know... i think he'd just wave it off or maybe smile and look away and scold me or something maybe?

[suncchaser]

i've recently heard discourse about (hopefully + probably) unintentional racism within headcanons in the marauders fandom. as a woc i love seeing poc rep and thought nothing of it until i did a bit more research. when you have jegulus for example, james is seen as this strong protector for shy little reggie who needs protecting and acts mean but is actually super soft inside. then you add the brown james (usually desi, sometimes darkskinned latino) at first i thought it was just a ship i wasn't fond of cuz of the pairing, then when i looked deeper i see big strong poc man who needs to protect his innocent white baby bf (i don't mean white as a derogative btw). 1/2

(pt.2 of my last ask cuz it was too long) also it just feels like the thing where fans will like bad people cuz they're hot. they'll add a bg/nationality to characters they like then the ones they don't are just white/english and thats it. you'll have the black brothers speaking french, james speaking hindi or spanish or punjabi (depending on the hc) and remus speaking welsh. but peter's the big bad so he's monolingual (omg what a crime! /s) marlene will be scottish, mary's black (usually no specific country just black cuz thats good enough for some people) lily will be like greek, barty italian, pandora + evan + dorcas will be black (again same thing with mary) yet snape is just white cuz he's bad and evil and ugly??? like there's nothing wrong with being white/british/monolingual. (its usally snape fans who headcanon him as jewish or other hcs but his haters will always leave him white + monlingual) 2/2

I am Danish, so as white as they come, and I do not want to speak out of turn when it comes to race and how it is portrayed but I have seen many people of colour in the fandom speak on the topic and how uncomfortable certain headcanons surrounding race are, so I think we should listen to them and take what they say into considerations. Because more often than not, it's people from a different race (usually white) headcanoning a character as a certain race while not being nowhere near educated enough to write that character properly.

My thoughts overall is people will often use nationalities, sexualities and mental illness (last anon smh) as replacement for personality traits. If the fandom spent less time playing roulette with those things and actually developed these characters' personalities, the characters could actually be more than two dimensional fools whose entire personalities resolve around ships. You know... actual three dimensional characters, with flaws, a word that does not feature in vocabulary of 80% of the fandom when it comes to their favourite characters.

[bjfinn]

If you’re still up for it, Beetlejuice or Dewey (or both) for the character ask game? :D

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

21. If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like?

23. Favorite picture of this character?

I'm always up for answering questions about my two favourite boys! So here we go ...

A headcanon I have for this character?

1. Beetlejuice: Lol -- that's a tough one to choose! I've written so many of them into my stories -- with more to come.

Beej has SOOO many issues, and it's no wonder. It's canon that his mother was verbally abusive -- we saw that during the wedding scene. It's likely that she was physically abusive, as well, though -- at least, that's what I think. If he were human, I'd say that he has ADHD, bipolar, borderline personality disorder, schizophrenia, childhood trauma -- he's a walking, talking example of just about everything in the DSM. But since he isn't, there's no way to tell what is neurodivergence and what is just regular demon behaviour.

I feel that he doesn't like the Netherworld AT ALL -- not just because it's such a drab, dreary and dismal place, but also because he doesn't really have any good memories associated with it. As a half-ghost half-demon, he would have been hated and shunned by everyone. Ghosts would have been afraid of his demon side, and the demons would have considered him a dirty half-breed and bullied him horribly at every opportunity -- killing his pet sandworm, even sexually abusing him. And, because his own mother hated him, he probably felt that he deserved everything they did to him. He probably still feels that way.

2. Dewey Finn: First, I have no doubt that Dewey has ADHD -- and it's uncontrolled. He was probably diagnosed as a kid, but the doctors couldn't seem to get the dosage right for his medication, so once he was old enough he said "Fuck it" and went off meds completely.

I believe he's basically a good person, but doesn't always (or ever?) think through the consequences of his actions -- another ADHD trait. This has gotten him into trouble all his life -- at home, at school, with his band ... Nonetheless, his heart's in the right place, even if he thinks with his ass sometimes lol

I also believe that neither of them really knows how to fight -- Beej always relied on magic to defeat his enemies, while Dewey depended on his quick wits and his mouth to avoid physical conflict. So when they get into it with each other in my stories, it's meant to be more of a slapstick comedy thing than a Frasier vs Ali "Rumble in the Jungle".

Now, you might be wondering why Beej doesn't ever use his magic to win against Dewey -- he could easily defeat him without hurting him, after all. I think, once Beej becomes friends with someone, he puts a geis on himself prohibiting him from doing so. It's an Irish word (pronounced "gesh") that refers to a sacred obligation or prohibition, and was a feature of pre-Christian Irish culture. Sometimes a geis would last only until it had been fulfilled once, but sometimes it was for life. And you can't remove it yourself -- a geis can only be removed by the person who had laid it on you. But since he placed the geis on himself, he can't remove it.

What's my favourite thing to do when writing for this character?

No matter what I'm writing, I like -- no, need -- to voice-act the dialogue. Not just doing their voices, though -- I actually adopt their mannerisms, as well. (It's subconscious -- I just do it automatically.) So for Beej, that means the vocal fry, the raptor movements, the lip- biting, all of it. And for Dewey, it's his smoother voice (which is a bit higher than mine -- he's a tenor, while I'm a baritone), as well as his stutter when he gets excited or flustered, his rapid head shaking when he hears something that doesn't track at first (like in the song "Stick It to the Man", when Billy says he can't tell if his mom is happy after she's had Botox lol), his manic ADHD energy -- the whole bit. (I really should have become an actor lol.)

I do this for the other characters, too -- it's the best way to make sure that the dialogue doesn't sound stilted. Mind you, my cousin (who lives with me) probably thinks I need to be institutionalised -- and he might very well be right! 😜🤣

I also like listening to music as I write -- but it has to be the right music for the character. That's why I started making the playlists.

Favourite picture of this character?

This last question I'll have to answer in a separate post -- for some reason not all my photos show up in my gallery on Tumblr (maybe it's because I'm on a tablet idk). And it's really difficult to choose! I love just about all of the pics I've seen, but ... I'll pick out one for each of them and post them.

Thanks for asking -- I really enjoyed it! 😁