#all the characters are colliding

[jukeboxwitharms]

Just hit 50k in the new wip estimated amount left 10k(probably 15k) huge win everywhere.

[hiding-under-the-willow]

Needed to draw something different, ended up with @silverskye13's silly guys :]

[sparring-spirals]

imogen fumbling shit is just eternally good fodder for memes, alright. and its at least partly BECAUSE of how powerful she is. someone tripping while using a nerf gun? funny. someone dramatically hoisting up an outfit matchin heavy death laser gun and then immediately tripping and landing on their face? phenom. sometimes she goes "GROVEL" and the enemies grovel and we all go "oooooh" and "aaaahhh" and sometimes she just gets fully ignored and gets so huffy and petulant and ineffectually burns a cantrip just to be petty about it. sometimes she smites her enemies into dust with one move and renders a tree in half after threatening and other times she fucking. falls down a flight of stairs and accidentally sets everything on fire. fires a gun at her own team. loses all her hair. turns blue. etc.

Imogen lifts a humongous sand squid into the sky with her mind powers. Imogen is also falling out of a sky ship and landing on the desert sand far below and just. lying there. while her friend plays the flute in the background. epic hot failgirls NEED the HEIGHT to FAIL FROM. u gotta swing and miss sometimes!!! AND you gotta be REAL petty about it when u miss!!!! fucking fantastic.

[xxrat--punkxx]

In light of uh... Recent trigun events on twitter, here's a tihylttw and trigun crossover

[ph-cutie]

ancient reptilian brain voice: remind yourself that overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer

[gods-of-kanto]

System, I feel bad bothering pepper, but something seems off in the last few answers the crew have offered. Would you mind taking a look-? Apologies if it's nothing-

Servers will be down until SYSTEM can fix what is happening, please standby.

[yellowocaballero]

hi! i've been reading some of your older fics and was wondering if there's any merit in watching buffy for the first time in the year 2024

This may not be obvious, but this is actually an extremely complicated and highly subjective question. I'll try to go on for too long.

As background: my mother loved Buffy and its spin-off Angel growing up. It was our Bible (besides the actual Bible). Not kidding, she was on the forums and fan groups and wrote fanfiction for it and everything (These days, she's really into kdramas and Asian dramas, and calls me about how the Thai seem like big fans of gay people). So I'm quite biased.

BTVS is both a product of its times and ahead of its times. It was a show about feminism and the struggle of living in this world as a woman, when very few shows were doing that. It was the first show to have a long-lasting lesbian couple, and the first show to depict a kiss between them. For better or for worse, it was one of the codifiers of broody vampire boyfriend. It was pretty unafraid to be experimental in a lot of what it did. It had incredibly complex and nuanced character work and growth that I still aspire to. Spike's arc is still matched in quality only by Avatar's Zuko. Angel's long term arc, from Buffy to his spin-off series, still makes him one of the most complex characters on TV. It had the most complex depiction of depression on TV at the time and I still think it's one of the best. I think the show had very high highs.

It also had very low lows. Some of the feminism is problematic in retrospect. The sapphic couple has a rather famous element that was severely problematic. There are, overall, some deeply atrocious arcs that I can appreciate objectively but not in practice. Xander: a whole-ass character aged awfully. On a meta level, the workplace conditions were bad (thanks, Whedon.) There are no people of color. The spoiler's sake I won't go into detail on this, but in general the good stuff was so influential and the bad stuff was just awful.

I think these days people tend to brush off the entire thing because it's Whedon. That is more than fair. But I'd also say that Whedon & Buffy is extremely similar to Brian Michael Bendis & Ultimate Spider-Man. Bendis was fantastic at writing sassy, bouncy, permanently stressed-out teens - issue was, he wrote entirely different serious adult characters the way he wrote these sassy teens. Same with Whedon: the annoyingly constant quips are perfect for Buffy, because that's who the characters are. They're awful in Marvel, because Steve Rogers is not Xander. Kinda similarly, Buffy was genuinely feminist for 90s TV - issue is, Whedon has not grown or developed his views, and now his works feel so sexist (oh my fucking god why did you treat Natasha like that). After a certain point it's egotistical: you're writing like that because you're Joss Whedon and it's how you write, not because it's what's best for the characters and story. But it was really important to me to get the character voices right, and it's freaking difficult to endlessly write dialogue that distinct, full of voice, witty, and clever.

I think BTVS & Angel TV's greatest influence on my writing is how intensely character-driven both of those shows were, and how intricate the characters were. What every character did was something they would do, if that made sense. Even the stuff I hated to watch, that made me uncomfortable, was the culmination of so much (usually). I think I also picked up the constant wit and humor lol. On a personal level, the conversations I would have with my mother where she broke down the character motivations and composition of the story was my first exposure to looking at storytelling from an analytical perspective and a framework of critical analysis, which was an approach I carried into the rest of the media I consumed and that was the primary reason I was able to become a decent writer. Thanks, Mom. Have fun with your kdramas.

TL:DR: There is merit, especially if you care about good character work. There are things about it that may make you want to drop it, which is extremely valid. Season 1 is rough but interesting, Season 2 and 5 are the best, Season 3 is pretty good, Season 4 and 7 skippable, and Season 6 is........epic highs, epic lows......

[blupengu]

I’ve come to realize why I like all the boys in this otome game when usually it’s just one (1)

[sculkshrieking]

is this true? https://www.tumblr.com/hyrude/652220898233991168/i-have-reason-to-believe-there-were-two-men-in-a?source=share

(the post from the link ^)

yes! but also there's a lot more than two, saw characters seek out that thing like animals searching for a dark and quiet spot to die in. just when you think they couldn't possibly fit any more men in there, you're back in the fucking bathroom again

[gummy-sharks666]

Every day I wake up and wonder what Jesse would think of Pete Wentz slam poetry

[pekoeboo]

man. I've been reworking a lot of content involving Act II of Home Is Where You Are and like. ugh. it'd work so freaking well in novel form but I just Do Not have the dedication or the drive to start from scratch and rewrite everything that happens.

idk how else to share the updated version of that part of the story with y'all tho, considering that Khalan's journal is insanely outdated now and isn't entirely canon anymore, so I'll probably just have to accept that I likely won't ever be able to update the story for y'all in the way I wish I could. >n<;;

[bananakarenina]

WOOHOO halfway to my goal of publishing 2 things on ao3 this month!

thus with a kiss i die by @bananakarenina (inspired by @innytoes' fake fic ask game!)

Rating: T for like kissing and very minimal language lol

Summary:

Carrie Wilson has landed her high school theater dream role: Juliet, but now she's faced with an even bigger problem: one of Julie's stupid band mates snagged the role of Romeo. This was not how her theater debut was supposed to go. It doesn't help that Reggie looked incredibly disappointed when he heard. Still, they have to work together somehow, and while it's hard going at first, things change when Reggie confesses the true reason why he'd looked so upset at getting the main role instead of a side one: he'd never kissed anyone before.

[moltenwrites]

MOST LIKELY TO TAG GAME

Thanks @the-golden-comet @thatuselesshuman and @willtheweaver

I took a break for a day, and got another, so also thanks to @gioiaalbanoart

for the tag! This game is fun, you answer a series of “ who’s most likely to “ questions for your characters. I have 9 to go through, so let’s hop into to it

If you want to do this, your questions are:

1. Most likely to crush on their villain/enemy

2. Most likely to skip breakfast

3. Most likely to have a niche obsession

Question from @willtheweaver

1. Most likely to embarrass their friends in public

Oooo this one is hard, but I’d say Raven, especially when he’s drunk

2. Most likely to get drunk/hungover

Raven, again. He’s a bit strong on the alcohol

3. Most likely to get kicked out of summer cap

Most of my characters are above the age, so I’ll say this is when they were in their adolescence. Ryder or Samaueal would be my pick here

This set of tags is from @the-golden-comet

4. Most likely to burn something while cooking?

Lars, he’s not the greatest chef, and he’d probably try ( and fail ) to use his fire to help.

5. Most likely to stop a robbery if they witness it taking place?

I’m torn between Lars and Salazar here, mainly because their reasons would be entirely different. I’ll say Salazar though, he’d do it every time without fail

6. Most likely to not tell someone they are sick/need help untill absolutely needed

Hart 100%. Hart would not tell ANYONE

The next set of questions is from

@thatuselesshuman ( they gave me two posts to work with, so we’ll do both )

7. Most likely to get lost in a crowd?

I think Astera would get lost really easily, Asim would probably do his best to stop it though

8. Most likely to disappear, never to be seen again?

Raixen, he’s done it twice. Hart could also get away with it in an instant if he wanted to

9. Most likely to have a secret squishmallow collection

Uhhh let’s see, most of the people who would have one ( Lyra or Astera ) wouldn’t hide it. I guess I’ll say Maximus, who is the one council member I think I haven’t mentioned yet.

10. Most likely to get arrested?

I think Ryder. He is weak as a criminal, and doesn’t have the power or connections to make up for that

11. Most likely to be sentenced to death?

If he ever got caught, Samaueal. He’s THE worst

12. Most likely to break out of prison?

I have multiple characters who HAVE done this, so I’ll say currently unnamed souls collide protag 1, Ryder, and he hasn’t done it, but he would get away with it, Hart

Finally, we have the questions from @gioiaalbanoart

13. Most likely to steal something they need in the moment?

Res would, he knows how to play to the streets, and if he has to steal something he will

14. Most likely to start a fight?

To avoid saying Samaueal again, I’ll pick Nelios here. He’s a prickly person, and he can get very confrontational

15. Most likely to do something they’re gonna regret later?

Cadin.

And I wanna add one bonus one I saw someone else answer because I felt like it was a fun fact

16. Most likely to be in a relationship for a week or less?

Salazar. Bro is aro/ace as fuck and his ass does NOT know. So I think he’d try once or twice, but it would either be broken off as a result of him being a terrible person, or because of the previously mentioned aromaticness.

Annnd that’s all. That was a long one, if you read it all, I hope you enjoyed

Tag list:

@thatuselesshuman @ddgraywrites @jjoneswriting @revenantlore @aintgonnatakethis @yourpenpaldee @illarian-rambling @autism-purgatory @the-letterbox-archives @theverumproject @gioiaalbanoart @noxxytocin @joseph-hooser @mk-writes-stuff @yrndrgn @wyked-ao3

[aromantic-shadow]

Shadow’s Characterization in Prime

(SPOILERS AHEAD!)

So I binged Prime today, and loved it. The only bad part was the cliffhanger (I need to know what happens I need more Shadow please please!)

True to form, my favorite part of the show was Shadow. Hence this analysis of how Prime wrote his character and why it’s a stellar take.

Let’s start with the minor details, the stuff that doesn’t really matter in the big scheme but still made me giddy.

His voice is perfect. I love it. Perfect Shadow.

He has most of his traditional powers- superspeed (from his air shoes, which- love his skating animation), the spin-dash, and chaos control when holding a chaos emerald. Makes my little heart happy.

Just love how he plows through rocks. He’s so straightforwardly brutal. It’s perfect.

Speaking of abilities:

Power level

One of the trickier parts of writing characters in a fight scene is properly conveying relative power levels. This is something Prime does quite well. We can see from their actions that Knuckles is strong and formidable, Tails is smart and able to think tactically, Eggman is silly and petty and somehow still crafty and capable of using strength in numbers.

In Sonic and Shadow’s iconic fight, Shadow is portrayed as more or less equal to Sonic. With the aid of his skates and chaos control Shadow manages to keep up with Sonic easily. They both end the fight breathless (reminds me of the aftermath of their fight on Prison Island in SA2). His fighting style is distinct from Sonic’s. Sonic will not stop talking, refusing to take the fight seriously. Shadow’s fighting style is no nonsense- no flourishes, taunts, or detours- just curt dialogue and brute force.

This fight is really the only time we see both Shadow and Sonic at their full power. For the rest of the show, Sonic deals with various inhibitions to his natural talent (power overload, trees blocking his path, surrounded by water). Shadow, meanwhile, is caught mid-chaos control as Sonic shatters the Paradox Prism, and gets stuck in between the shatter-spaces. It’s both hilarious and tragic. My poor boy.

Characterization/Dialogue

The first we see of Shadow beyond brief glimpses is as he blasts through boulders, rocking a resting bitch-face. It’s unclear at first why he’s smashing rocks, until he unearths a chaos emerald, which he uses to chaos control. It’s also the first time (chronologically) we hear him speak. “Chaos emerald… there you are. Chaos control!”

During his fight with Sonic, his dialogue is curt, limited to questions, requests, or brief taunts. “What did you do?” “You need to stop, Sonic. Listen, for once.” “What mission?” “Learn to focus.” It’s contrasted with Sonic’s rambling, showing that unlike his happy-go-lucky rival, Shadow is goal-oriented to a fault. However, there’s a lot of emotion in his delivery- mostly frustration.

He gets more range once he’s stuck in the void. He’s clearly distraught when he first speaks to Sonic: “Sonic, it’s broken! It’s all broken.” Later, when giving Sonic instructions, his voice is laced with desperation.

It isn’t until he meets Sonic in between shatter-spaces that he stops sticking straight to the point and lets out a little anger. “Home? Home doesn’t exist anymore- because of you!” And yeah, I totally get it. If my home didn’t exist anymore, I’d also beat up the guy responsible even if we needed to work together afterwards.

Goals

Shadow’s first goal is finding a chaos emerald. His next goal is beating the answers to the shockwave that shook the island out of Sonic. Classic.

His search for answers leads him to the site of the Paradox Prism, where he chaos controls- presumably in an attempt to stop Sonic from doing something foolish- just as the Prism shatters. This gets him stuck in the void.

His next goal isn’t fully clear. He starts by trying to contact Sonic, occasionally giving him instructions- “Keep going! Do not stop!” It seems like Shadow is looking for a way to fix things, or at least to get out of his cross-dimensional prison. He’s clearly dissatisfied with the current state of things.

Affiliations

We don’t see him interacting with anyone besides a few stray flickies, Big, and Sonic. He’s indifferent towards what doesn’t directly concern him (see: knocking Big over. Inconveniencing someone isn’t a problem for him, at least not when he has a goal in mind). When interacting with Sonic, his main attitude is frustration and disappointment. Classic rival behavior.

This morphs to anger when confronting him between shatter-spaces, paired with genuine grief. (“It’s all broken” is going to haunt me.) He clearly cares about Green Hill as much as Sonic does. While you could argue that he’s simply angry about being trapped, his dialogue- “It’s all broken”, “Home doesn’t exist anymore”- indicates that he cares a lot about the state of his world.

I’m over the moon about how clearly Shadow cares. It’s awesome to see a Shadow that’s deeper than “edgy egomaniac rival”. (In fact, I’d go as far as to say Prime Shadow displays a distinct lack of ego- he doesn’t hesitate to reach out to Sonic for help, after all, despite their rivalry.) If in future episodes he’s friendly or even amicable with Rouge I’ll be thrilled, but even without that I’m satisfied. Shadow cares about protecting the balance of Green Hills, even if he’s not quipping and smiling about it.

[fictionadventurer]

An underrated benefit of love triangles is that they allow you to have a love story where the ending isn't immediately obvious. In your standard romance, the two leads meet, and then it's just a matter of time until they hit the plot beats that lead to the happily ever after. But the love triangle gives you two plotlines! Two different dynamics! Two valid directions for the plot to veer that will still lead to a romantic happy ending without that ending being a foregone conclusion.

The main character can grow and change in multiple different ways because there are two men on equal standing with her, who can have an influence on her in different ways, giving her multiple different lenses to help her understand who she is and who she really wants to be. When it's done right, the story will be satisfying no matter what the endgame is, because the point is going along on the journey and seeing who the characters become. And the great thing is that you don't know who they'll become because there are two valid options, so the entire story can be surprising, which is so refreshing when so many love stories are so predictable.

[thatisntverycombefair]

rip enjolras you would have loved legally blonde