#also bc i can i added some traits to them bc i love doing character design to well established characters

[hacksplatter]

smoke break

[officialspec]

can you pleeeeease post your dm sexuality/gender hcs on here.... 🥺 i don't have a twitter but i wanna know. it's like a pandora's box to me now i'm like scratching at the door. let me in

heres the link 2 the thread (mild spoilers btw) ill post a transcript under the cut for ppl who dont have twitter

first off i think laios relationship to sex is super removed for like 50 reasons without even getting into his actual sexuality

he grew up in a place with very repressed ideas about sex and has a lot of fear about asserting his presence in situations

his special interest takes precedent over any social interactions he has and the level of closeness he feels towards people

he has a hard time figuring out his feelings towards other people both bc hes autistic and bc he has freaky deviantart fetishes that make sex in his mind a very abstract concept <- this one is me projecting mostly

that aside, i feel like gender-wise hes attracted to ppl so infrequently it may as well be entirely case-by-case

the idea of him being gay appeals to me from the 'raised with traditional values he Does Not fit into/hasnt begun to question it yet' perspective, i lauve characters who put a lot of stock into performing a role thats expected of them and fail miserably for unknown (gay) reasons

from his perspective tho i dont think he would ever really label himself anything. hes going to pride parades in the shirt+shorts Ally Fit to clap for his friends

hes also 'cis by indifference' imo... i love tmasc laios hcs it just doesnt mesh w his personal history to me. i do think hes got some kind of therian gender thing going on (not trans or nb but a secret third thing) but i cant see him changing anything abt his appearance/pronouns to accommodate that post-canon. hes just doin his thang

falin is in a similar boat for gender. i LOOVE tfem falin but the village repression thing has been bugging at me so i dont think i subscribe to it anymore (canon purist sorry) BUT if u hold that hc i am clapping and cheering regardless

instead i was propagandised to a while back and i LOVEEE the idea that being fused w a male dragon and the residual traits she has after being revived have given her a type of gender euphoria she didnt realise she was missing. a little boygirl swagger if u will

sexuality-wise i also dont think she would care to label herself, shes a lesbian by virtue of only being interested in One woman and zero other people. without marcille i do think shes still exclusively attracted to women, and i like to imagine she might experiment around a bit during her travels post-canon (pre-relationship). hearing abt it might put marcille on the news though

marcille is very simple That is a transfem lesbian. she cant get pregnant, shes obsessed w being femme and all that combined w her half-tallman struggles to be seen as 'properly feminine' by elf standards reads very transfeminine to Me. also her bookboy crush REEKS of comphet its not subtle

i think a more comfortable marcy might have the space to experiment w being elf butch like her manga boys but thats mainly self indulgence for me. utena could have saved her

senshi is gay his whole thing is abt not being able to perform dwarven masculinity to a proper standard (soft hearted, not as strong or rugged as his peers) which is like gaycoding 101. also hes a bear. homosexuality be damned by boy can work a grill

adding onto this i rly think senshi got some type of euphoria from being an elf in the changeling chapters. he was feeling himself so much i think he was using it as an outlet to have fun being a little fem and fruity without needing to justify it. do u understand

i dont have any particular opinions abt him gender-wise beyond that. his bulge is an essential part of his character design but i also saw a transmasc senshi a couple days ago that made me nod my head thoughtfully so i could go either way

chilchuck is cis and bisexual this is just canon. not even just his old man crush on senshi altho i do think thats very funny but they put his ass on a cover themed like hes in a dating sim with all the men and women in the cast and then slapped it in front of a chapter called "bicorn". i simply cant pass up that kind of overt signaling. its so fucking funny what else is there to say truly

izu to ME is a transmasc aroace lesbian (this one has the least basis in canon i just know it to be true) shes a little genderfluid with it nd uses he/she i think. i like to imagine she consistently uses masculine personal pronouns to refer to herself either way tho (boku, ore)

i think izutsumis gender/sexuality is entirely secondary in priorities to her body dysphoria. she has a lot of learning and acceptance 2 do before that kind of self discovery is on the docket and in my mind eschewing gender on some level is part of that. get sillay

shuro is cishet but at least he feels bad about it. next listen listen to me i dont think he would ever actually examine this but i need u to put on ur tin foil hat with me for one second. i think estrogen could have saved her. i have more thoughts on this but im not gonna propagandise too much on this post just know that im right

kabru is a transmasc bisexual this is also practically text. his whole thing of being treated like a doll by milsiril to put in pretty dresses, plus i think it would be pretty easy for him to stealth in the west since tallmen are seen as inherently more masculine than elves

(i also think changing genders is just more common for elves. theyre androgynous enough that it wouldnt be hard and like who in their right miiiiind would be the same gender for 500 years. dwarves too)

i think he started presenting as male socially in the west but didnt need to consider medical transition until he moved to a more mixed culture where other races might see him as a woman

i dont have to explain the bisexual part. have u seen him

namari is a butch bisexual this is just canon straight up. shes not transmasc but i think the default settings for dwarven women is like 4 years of T regardless. shes a hit at all the local cruising spots despite her renfaire nerdisms i know this

and just bc im thinking abt em kiki and kaka are identical and kiki is tfem :} theyre both attracted to women but kaka is a sub so i forgive him

THATS ALL 4 NOW theres a lot of characters so i cant have thoughts abt all of them at once but i hope this was good. im right about everything forever as per usual

[p0rk-guts]

He's finally done I think. WOAW! Radio demon time!!!

Okay time for comparison + breakdown rant ^ - ^ another SUPER long one I had a lot to say about this silly guy

ALRIGHT. So. Atp all that can be said has been said about Alastor but I'll gloss over it anyhow. Grossly historically inaccurate hair and clothing. Invisible deer theming. One of the main reasons he's got one of the most clowned on designs in the show is bc he's a pretty good representation of the worst it has to offer. He's absurdly red and has the waspiest waist in town. Also gotta zero in on the coat for a second bc I find it incredibly stupid that he went to that tailor bc of his coat being ripped and then left the shop with the exact same torn coat on oh goddd that felt like a complete joke who wrote this

Also his "redesign" was pointless. He stayed pretty much entirely the same except his colors got pinker and grosser and now he has this?? White trim on his lapels??? Even less 1930's accurate and it only serves to hurt the pallate in my eyes. It's the only spot of white on his entire design, it doesn't appear anywhere else so it throws it all off. And it's so bright. Is it supposed to be a focal point?? His tits????

Anyways onto my guy who I love so very deeply. I'm pretty sure sepia film was outdated by the 1930s but I gave him a palette inspired by it to emphasize how dated and stuck in old ways he is. Added blood red accents bc. Well. Cannibal murderer. Also bc I redid the sin colors so red is wrath and it seems like a fitting sin to pair him with.

After looking into 1930's men's fashion a tiny bit (thanks anon, this video was helpful!) and gave him a double breasted coat but wider and pointier so he looks a little less like just some normal guy and really emphasize how prideful and egotistical he is. "Ooo look at me I'm super big and imposing and powerfulll". I think it's a fun character trait of his. Definitely keeping it.

I liked him wearing gloves bc I feel like he wouldn't like getting his hands directly dirty and would always be covered when committing his murders. Maybe he's a germaphobe even. "I can excuse murder but I draw the line at dried blood on my skin". Also the gloves being white would contrast really well with blood so. Love that

I gave him a long tie to free him from the Vivziepop bow tie uniform and a fedora to add to the 1930's vibe and serve as something that can occasionally obscure his face in shadow. His glasses are also opaque and I imagine his eyes would rarely be shown if ever to make him seem more inhuman and off-putting, disconnecting him from personhood a bit. Wanted to add to that with his smiling mouth never opening and just being a static grin that can only occasionally widen or lessen, his voice cracking out of his "speaker" with fuzzy radio static. Seen multiple ppl use that idea and it always eats

I love Alastor's silly theatric nature (primarily in the pilot) and I'd probably keep it, but I'd add a layer of uncanny-ness to him where when he's not putting on his silly jovial facade, he gives off an unnerving vibe. Trying to appear approachable and charming and pleasant to lure people in before he's revealed to be less than human. Loveee thattt

I love Alastor being a deer. Predator becoming prey (animal) + "prey animal" lulling people into a false sense of security before striking. Love it. We should be CAPITALIZING ON IT❗So I gave him deer like legs, visible deer hooves, and more readable deer ears + the ham radio tower antenna antlers (sorry 4 calling them horns 💀)

Tried to make it a little more obvious that he's a mixed man of color by giving him dark wavy hair and the faintest hint of lip definition Viv uses in her style. I think it works. He's still not dark skinned tho

LASTLY the mic. Also not an original idea as I've seen tons of others turn it into a carbon mic but turned into a pentagram shape and I love the idea a lotttt so I joined the crew.

AND THAT DOES IT!!!! hope u like him as much as I do hehe. Just 1 supplemental doodle this time sorry :/ showing off how his face is probably obscured most of the time. He's. So hard to draw. I'm just bad at men but I'm tryinggggg guys

Alsoooo I've already finished the drawings for Niffty, Angel, and Husk! Once I've finished their breakdowns I'll add em right to the queue, and then I'll make a post with all of the main 6 together :3

[touchlikethesun]

TW: sa. Hi! I hope it's okay to talk about it but about your tags in that post about SVSSS and SA being a recurring theme, I agree with a lot of it. I would say that even Bingge can be argued to be have some trauma since his first time was coerced. Someone pointed out Bingge could've become hypersexual as a result of that trauma and that it made me see the whole harem thing in a new light (but it doesn't make him innocent since he forced himself on a bunch of wives). It really is such a recurring theme it's hinted for Shen Jiu and for Su Xiyan and Binghe with the Old Palace Master. Su Xiyan's story is even the catalyst for Binghe's tragic backstory... You made a very good observation OP!

hey anon, yeah it's alright to talk about! i do appreciate you including a tw, but this is a topic i find really interesting, i actually opened my laptop back up to answer you lol

as for luo bingge, i didn't get into it in my tags bc… lowkey didn't expect ppl to read them lol (ty for doing so tho xx) and also he's quite a complicated case. we obviously can't say for certain since we see so little of him and what we do know is told to us thru multiple layers of unreliable narration, but i do think there is enough to suggest many of luo bingge's early sexual experiences were probably coerced or non-consensual, leading to trauma-induced hypersexual behavior. (edit: i am adding this parenthetical a few hours later after writing the rest of this and i didn't know how to fit it in otherwise so apologies, but i think it's worth pointing out that luo binghe - both bingmei and bingge, so i think we can consider it to be a core trait - do naturally have a much higher libido than most people. with bingmei we see how this causes issues for him in his relationship with shen qingqiu, but it's managed with kindness because sqq loves him and is patient enough to teach him boundaries and managed by binghe himself who loves and doesn't want to hurt sqq and who has been taught consent and respect from a younger age. when it comes to bingge, who lacks the sort of safe space provided by sqq and has no education in the matter, i think it's easy to see how he would have a much harder time understanding and managing his libido - again it isn't an excuse for SA, but this is just another convention of the genre that were it to be realised has horrible implications and consequences.)

but also, luo bingge lives in a world where healthy consensual sexual dynamics are so rarely modeled for him (the aforementioned coercive sex, but also constantly being gifted wives by other men, and the normalisation of rape in a world with sex pollen (sorry ik i already said that but like really it is so incredibly fucked up if you think about the implications of sex pollen in a real world)), and where he is being taught that the only way to be safe is to have physical power over others - of course we the reader know this is because it's being written as a venting male fantasy revenge story with a target audience of incels, but concretely this is bad for luo bingge's psyche, and you know, also leads him to do horrible things in retaliation and hurt and innombrable amount of people

and again, i don't know how much of this was really intentional on mxtx's part and how much i am reading into it, but svsss is about making one-dimensional smut novel characters into fully realised people and extrapolating out the implications for what it would mean for that world to be a real one. like, shanq qinghua and especially shen qingqiu have to learn that the people they live with are not as simple as they might have appeared on the screen of the webnovel. and part of the extrapolating, from my read of svsss, involves interrogating the ways characters have and have had their agency infringed upon in the original pidw and finding ways to return their agency to them in svsss. this is perhaps most clearly seen in the way all the "wife" characters in svsss are allowed to be their own people separate from binghe, with different passions and drives and again, agency to direct their own lives, contrary to sqq's expectations of them. however this also involves bringing to light just how pervasive and damaging the sexual violence in the original story really is, by showing the abuse that su xiyan suffered, by showing how binghe is negatively affected by xin mo and the other coercive elements of this world, by subverting expectations with shen jiu and showing how he was also a victim, and by making the only truly irredeemably evil character the old palace master, a disgusting old pervert and sexual harasser.

anyways yeah i think it's a really interesting aspect of svsss, and while i can understand why it might not be at the forefront of everyone's mind (good lord is it a BUMMER to think about), it would be a disservice to the narrative to forget it entirely.

[saladmix]

can we discuss totmnt? we get a bit more insight into them as characters which is great! i like that donnie & mikey got a bunch more moments to shine! also! leo saying hes nothing without his brothers, raph's insecurities being touched on with the whole "your bros are in danger because *you* couldn't protect them and aren't strong enough" DUDE its the best. i like how this show added some aspects of their rise versions in that way & i enjoy it bc i liked how they were represented there. leo being anxious & insecure as his role of leader, raph's tough/aggressive veneer bc he feels like its his job to be the protector. + those little chunks of info we got from their character descriptions where they say raph is sensitive and "wants someone to talk to." more realistic & less one note for them!

ugh YES! we sure can it's all I want to talk about anyway I sit at my little corporate job answering my little corporate emails but inside I am like DO YOU PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES.

Anyway, that's embarrassing! Thoughts below the cut so I don't clog up a dash with spoilers and rambles <3

I'm going to address these in (as Jenny Nicholson says) an internet-friendly numbered list! And also adding that these are just my opinions, as I am but a nobody on a rock floating through space.

Also these thoughts are SO HALF BAKED this is like stream of consciousness if you ask me what I said here I may not remember I'm just living a turtle life.

Leo saying he's nothing without his brothers ugh you are so right that was such good content! This strikes me as such a core Leo trait, maybe not shared across iterations in 100% the same way but I really do see that sentiment under the surface frequently. I found it so charming that in Leo's little re-telling of what happened with Bishop and the ambush, he basically made all of his brother's seem like these useless side fools, bolstering up his own role (even lying and saying he was the one to check out the hologram), but then we quickly see that he doesn't at all feel that way. In fact he feels the opposite, and it just felt like such a young growing teen thing to do, try to make yourself the hero. It's also my personal interpretation of why specifically this version of Leo wants to be a leader so badly! He's not the muscle, he's not the brains, he's not the charm. So what is he? He has to find a way to make himself feel important when he feels like maybe he has no other stand out qualities to contribute. But I also happen to think it's the right role for him! He shows his bravery again and again, and his ability to put together a plan, when other people are in need. He can't seem to muster that same courage for himself yet, that's part of his growth, but for the people he loves he comes out in front. I think TotTMNT did a great job with that aspect. <3

Raph! Raphael! What a lad! I really latched onto Raph in this iteration more than I have in previous ones, I really enjoy how he's written. I've always found Raph's anger across iterations to actually really make sense. Of course he's angry, he's a mutant turtle living in the sewers with no real sense of place in this world and no way to interact directly with it! And Rise Raph, while not displaying that direct explosive rage that Raph is known for, kind of showcases it in the stress and responsibility he feels for his family. Anyway, all this is to say we get both of those aspects here in this version along with the flavoring of what appears to me as some real teenage excitement for a little bit of chaos. And that scene was extremely telling I super agree with you!! I mean Raph sees all of his brothers as little shaking chihuahuas, particularly Leo which was VERY charming to me. He definitely sees himself as the protector, but even more, honestly, I think they do to. I mean Leo basically assumes Raph can handle four mechazoids on his own, he's got a lot of faith in his brother's ability to be that brick wall for them. And even though Leo is still the oldest, I do feel like they brought some Rise Raph energy to his character with how responsible he feels. Typically we see Leo as the character who is two seconds away from blowing his top off with all he takes on, but I see that a lot in Raph here too.

Donnie's interpretation of the ambush actually made me so so sad. Like it was basically how he thinks his family views him, as the one who has to save the day but gets no respect of it and doesn't have the tools to do it. He thinks they view him as this megamind that should be able to handle it because what else is he good for? All the others had flashback sequences that kind of center them as a hero, and while Donnie's did have him the last one standing, it didn't have that same kind of vibe. And in all the brother's flashbacks, we see that while they do see him as this dorky nerd, it's never said with any anger or annoyance. I'd call it more of a silly little fondness. But I think this insecurity is an important aspect of Donnie's character that we see in a lot of iterations. The big change here is that Donnie really does feel like just a kid. He's not out here ready to build high tech weaponry or distill medication. He's just a kid who is into coding! He's still learning! And I really enjoyed that. And in that second arc, we get another taste of how level-headed Donnie can be in a crisis situation, which for me tied back to how in the Mutant Mayhem movie, Leo kept looking to Donnie for help and answers. Leo is a frazzled lil man, and Donnie seems to be his source of stability. So it really did break my heart that this poor sassy and sweet boy thinks his family doesn't value him. It's a different flavor from Raph's and Leo's, both of whom have insecurities but they're mostly internal reflections. Donnie seems to feel that coming from the outside, and has twisted that into his own self-image.

Mikey is such a fun character like what a scene-stealer he's so funny in every part of this show, his VA is K I L L I N G it I find his voice acting so charming as Mikey and it brings such life to the character. But I really love how this version of Mikey is so dynamic. Mikey has always, always been a really dynamic character but I think it was a little more hidden, if you know what I mean. Rise Mikey flipped a big script and I like how this version really feels like a true combo from the rise version of Mikey to the traditional core Mikey energy, if that makes sense. I LOVE....this Mikey. He might be my favorite Mikey ever and I am a huge Mikey fan I am probably the only 2007 Mikey Super Fan out here in the world. Anyway, I love how his episodes had him forcibly shaken out of his comfort zone as lil bro. In the first arc he's suddenly in charge of a whole new mutant and Useless Man of the Year Rod. In the second arc he's got to save a whole store of people and a cat! It's A LOT of responsibility for this lil child! And he does a great job! All while expressing the whole time that he doesn't really know what he's doing, and he's afraid he's going to mess it up. It reminds me a lot of how other version of Mikey were often thought of as the weak spots by their respective families (intentionally or not). It was always Mikey the goof. TotTMNT Mikey is a HUGE goof but he's also got this energy to him that PROVES how I always felt about Mikey: I CHOOSE to be a goof, but I can and will step up if I need to! And it makes sense that he looks up to his big brother, that Leo is the one he tries to emulate in times of stress. When the going gets tough, Mikey has to get going, and Leo is his framework for how to do that.

boy was this a ramble and a half. I just had a lot of thoughts. Was any of this coherent? Jury is still out. Thank you so much for sending this in!! And listening to me ramble. I really agree that this show did a good job of bringing in a lot of different traits from different iterations it's so much fun and leads to really dynamic versions!

[tortoisebore]

any tips for new writers?

(btw i am literally in love with hey, sharpshooter it had me up all night reading it <3)

**disclaimer that i am by no means a person that has any actual real education/experience in writing or character work or world building & i can only give you what has worked for me & the things i’ve kept in mind while writing my little gay fanfiction 💞👯‍♀️

my main big picture tips are not backed up in research, they’re just what’s worked for me:

1. make a deeply detailed outline. spending a lot of time writing a very long, detailed outline at the beginning helped me a lot when i felt stuck in the back half of the fic. the outline changed a lot from when i started it, and i added little notes and ideas for scenes or dialogues or character traits along the way, but all of my big idea generation happened there and it helped me a lot with pacing the plot and building the characters and their relationship gradually. also** it was not some sort of technically perfect, structured outline—this is what it looked like:

fr just get all of your ideas down on a page in whatever way works for you. this is the place to word-dump to your heart’s content!!

2. make the first draft bad. fr just get it in the page. if you’re not feeling it or don’t have any specific word choices in your head when you’re writing the first draft, don’t worry about the dialogue being realistic or having perfect flowery metaphors or beautiful descriptive world building. literally just get it on the page in whatever way you can.

3. connect the dots between the type of writing you like to read and what you like to write. i loveee books with flowery prose and metaphors and natural dialogue, and i found that i really enjoyed writing those things, so they were the goals i focused on while i was doing all my editing/second draft writing. on the flip side, if you like to read extensive world-building but find yourself struggling to find motivation/inspiration to write it, don’t. try to write how you want to write, but put more emphasis on writing how you like to write.

4. don’t force it. this has been crucial to me bc i work a 9-5 in the art/design industry and i only have so much creative energy to go around, so i have to ration it carefully. if you try to force yourself to write when you’re really not feeling it, or when you’re out of motivation and frustrated and tired, it will 100% show in your writing.

5. don’t think about posting your work. for 99% of us, this is a hobby. posting your work is not a hobby, creating it is!! rn we exist in a world where people view creativity and art solely as content to be consumed, and i encourage you to place more emphasis on actually enjoying and finding peace and meaning in the journey of making something rather than the idea of other people consuming it. what it does for you and how it makes you feel is far more important than what it does for the people pressuring you for an update you’re not ready to give them.

and then here are a couple technical/grammatical tips that i learned way back in like 6th grade english or picked up on by reading a million books over the years & still think of constantly:

1. vary your sentence structure!! i am sometimes bad at this and i don’t really pay attention to it in my first drafts, but when i go back and edit i make sure to vary my sentences by length, compound vs. simple, breaking up with semicolons or hyphens, etc. a story that’s written with strong, varied sentence types will read much more naturally and flow better than one that doesn’t

2. be intentional about starting your sentences with different words. again, when i’m writing my first drafts i don’t pay much attention to things like this, but when i’m editing i’m really anal about making sure that my sentences don’t all start with “he” or “[insert name here]” or “it” or whatever. sometimes you can’t work around it, but my goal is to never have two consecutive sentences start with the same word, and i really really try to make sure that two consecutive paragraphs don’t start with the same word

3. say your dialogue out loud. i had the hardest time trying to make my dialogue feel natural at the start but honest to god saying it out loud with all the cadence and emphases you’re writing it with can really help you find ways to make it feel like actual people talking. also, don’t be afraid to use ellipses and hyphens and break up a string of dialogue with an action, like a character sighing or biting the inside of their cheek or moving their hands. people don’t talk in perfectly-structured sentences. we run-on and don’t use punctuation and we restart or hesitate in the middle of a sentence—include that!!

[tanasha-not-yet]

What do you think Greylock's favourite food is? And do you think he prefers sweet or sour foods?

ah idk idk!!

i tried to reply to this like two times already i feel veery cringe about these but you knew what you were subscribing to when you hit the follow button so behold

instinctively i want to give him: 1. love for sweets (to fight with cedric over jellybeans, to mess with slickwell by 'degustating' every fucking cake they make at the kitchen, to have a ton of lil candys in his pockets etc. it has a con tho bc i think the message 'this fat guy likes sweets A Lot' is preeety problematic but dude. this thin guy likes sweets just as much imo let them be.) 2. love for some stinky shit like garlic and onion (for a IM NOT FUCKING KISSING YOU AFTER YOU ATE THAT GARLIC BREAD YOU MORON situation) 3. love for little treats and snacks (to make this person eat crackers and leave crumbs where cedric doesnt want them to be; plus it lines up with some attention troubles hc which is based on totally nothing) 4. also in terms of cooking id give him an ability and love for baking?? i think?? cannot relate to it at all but this man Would bake a bread toad or a bunch of cedric shaped cookies with a comically long nose to eat in front of him (EATING HIM UP you know) (and when cedric tried doing the same thing in revenge he would end up with hilariously ugly fucked up cookies from those tiktoks which greylock would laugh at for fucking days)

if i tried to say anything based tho? based? me? i can only say cringe sorry my bros. but i think some of these would make sense: 1. him having some restrictions about sweets (medical or maybe personal). based on the sour look he gives cedric when he conjures a piñata. this hc is kinda bad in terms of making the original message (greylock hates the spotlight being stolen) less clear by adding on an additional reasoning. but i think its hilarious like You Fucking Knew I Cant Eat Too Much Sugar Per Day And Invoked Every Candy I Love Right In Front Of My Face. You'll pay for it Right Now 2. since i hc his job mainly being about organising parties in the castle he probably hangs out around rich people a lot and kinda eats from the same table?? if it makes sense?? so in my head he knows quite some things about superexpensive food and can define vines (their ages, sorts of grapes, country etc you know this stereotypical rich shit), super obscure caviar sorts and idk im not rich lol 3. he totally have eaten some Too Spicy Sauses or Too Big Steaks or Too Strong Drinks just to prove he can. competitiveness is like his main trait he totally knows what it's like to attempt to say a fully coherent toast right after 100g of vodka so that the king even wouldnt notice he's drunk just because a random nobleman said he couldnt. this may also be one of many reasons he chose to entertain the kids (I REPEAT, ONE OF MANY) if he had a choice of course

maybe these are too childish i apologize if they are. two years into i still cant place a full three dimentional character in my head my media literacy is dying on the grave of the last book i read an embarrassingly long time ago

[lazaruspiss]

i enjoy a lot of your metas and i'm curious, what is your opinion on writers who aren't familiar with or care about canon?

it depends on if you're asking about fan content or actual DC writers. with fan content i do think its fine for people to engage with content however they want to. i don't really like content that contradicts established canon, but i do defend its right to exist in the first place. OOC fanfic doesn't usually* effect already existing canon.

adding a read more bc i started to rant a bit. TLDR: fan content creators can do whatever they want. separately, i really wish DC held itself to a higher standard. both as a company and in terms of the actual comics that they publish.

(*i say usually, because a lot of newer canon content has felt... off. like DC took a short shallow look at how fandom simplifies characters and decided that must be what people actually want to see/what will sell more product. never forget that DC is a corporation, not an actual person who cares about the artistic integrity of what they're producing. and many of the actual creators of the comics they sell are mistreated and beholden to exec decisions based off of. y'know. marketing.)

in canon comics. it sucks. Talia is the most prevalent example of a character who was rewritten by someone who refused to read or engage with any of her preexisting canon. but it comes up a lot that sometimes a character is used by or given to a writer who doesn't care or might just straight up hate the character they're supposed to be writing. I have characters that I don't like and don't really care to learn about, but if i decide that i want to write something with them involved i consider it a matter of personal integrity to at least try to understand the characters already established personality and background.

it doesn't matter when it's independent fan content, or even a published AU series, but for mainline comics it is important to account for the fact that most of these characters have been around for decades and you shouldn't, nor do you need to, just make shit up about them.

also! an idea that i try and maintain for any kind of story is that every character is somebody's favorite. i think i got that from someone talking about how every pokemon is some kids favorite, but i think it can be a useful framing for a lot of fictional content. especially with something as widely known as DC, the chances are that much higher that every character you see is going to be someone's favorite. and i want to be kind to that. like, i don't care about Punchline in the slightest. i'm still putting off this fic with her involved because i want to learn her character a bit first to at the bare minimum acknowledge that there are people who might love her. i don't want to explicitly contradict some major trait of hers just bc i don't like her.

again, i don't really care if fans don't go through the trouble. but it's upsetting when DC itself doesn't seem to require any understanding of their characters in what they publish. in older comics, even when i think certain comics are poorly written, i can still see when the writer cares about the character they're writing. but so much of the newer stuff just feels hollow to me. i dunno, i stopped reading any n52 stuff bc of it so maybe it'll improve and i just won't notice.

[rescue-ram]

Now I'm curious, how would you adapt a modern version of Mash?

Oh man thank you for giving me pretext to ramble about this. I have too many thoughts about Cursed Hypothetical MASH Reboot.

Genre Change MASH is from the golden age of sitcom and is one of the best examples of the genre. Tragically, really good sitcoms don't get made, and the shorter lengths commissioned mean we wouldn't get space for the sillier or more experimental episodes that make MASH so charming and memorable. This is also why any remake or reimagining could never replace the original. There's also less "suspension of disbelief" with modern audiences, so I think modern MASH would have to have a more grounded setting and consistent time line, so RIP time loop. I think the modern genre that would best fit MASH is dramedy. Classico MASH already had elements of "get 'em laughing so they cry harder" and Hypothetical Remake MASH would play that up. Basically, we're gonna "Better Call Saul" this bitch.

In writing out my ideas below, I realized hitting the main plot beats I imagine makes this sound like. Depressing. Which it kind of would be! But I want to emphasize that in my mind's eye this would still tonally be a comedy right up until It Isn't. Similar to BCS, characters encounter obstacles, handle them in very funny ways, but things Keep Happening and compounding and at the end you realize all those funny things have added up to something horrific and inevitable.

General Thoughts In my beautiful mind, this is five twelve episode seasons, each corresponding to a roughly six month period- the first two seasons are 1951, climaxing with Henry's death, first episode or two of season 3 is Trapper leaving/BJ arriving and then 3/4 is 1952, and the final season is 1953 and the ceasefire. Fortunately, because the characters in MASH are pretty well fleshed out with a lot of traits I think they could be turned into dramedy characters pretty easily, and you can take the Big Things that happen to them and play them straight/expand on them into proper arcs. Also, pulling in more historical details could be really interesting, and an opportunity to unpack how Fully Evil the war in Korea was. In reading more memoirs from doctors who served in MASH units, I was struck by how much contact with international forces they had, and the surprising amount of contact with their Chinese/Korean counter-parts. I think more of both of those things would be fun to incorporate into Hypothetical Remake.

Expanded Roles for Nurses We need more women. And fortunately, we got them! Even though there is Not A Lot of existing canon, I really do think we have enough on the recurring nurses to act as seeds for fuller characters. I would love to see Kellye developed as a supporting character from the start. Struggling to articulate this, but I think a deeper perspective on anti-Asian sentiment could be explored through her, possibly with some connections to the history of colonialism in Korea in particular. The character was described as Chinese and Hawaiian, but given her credited surnames of Yamato and Nakamura getting a little into her Japanese heritage and the resentment of Koreans towards the Japanese could be interesting as well. I also think "Dish" Schneider's conflict, torn between loyalty to her husband/fiancee and her attraction to the handsome funny guy who relentlessly flirts with her, could be a source of drama. I also really like Ginger's recurring "thing" with Trapper in canon, and expanding that into an actual friendship and digging into the racism and taboos against interracial relationships of the period would be interesting. You can take Margie Cutler as a young and inexperienced nurse and give her a little coming of age arc. I would also love for Knocko McCarthy to be a foil for Margaret- as the second most senior nurse, she chafes under Margaret's command and kind of collaborates with the Swampmen to subvert her, culminating in Margaret calling her out that if she didn't side with them against her, they'd hate Knocko too, and them growing closer over the series.

Ho-Jon and Expanded Roles for Korean Characters Many have written about the shitty representation of Koreans in MASH, and Hypothetical Remake could remediate that significantly. I think giving Ho-Jon (or a similar new character) an expanded role would be good, with more ties to his family out of camp and conflict over whether or not supporting the occupying American forces and the south is the right thing to do or the expedient thing. I also think there's some dark comedy to be mined from a slightly subversive Ho-Jon taking advantage of racism and being seen as ignorant or interchangeable to get away with shit. Would love for Black Market Guy to be a recurring character. There's also a great real life story I read where a MASH surgeon formed a bond with a Chinese doctor after accidentally connecting to a PLA radio channel, and I think that could be adapted into a really fun source of comedy (bonding with "the enemy" over shared indignities, surprising similarities, etc) and ultimately drama (Hawkeye finds out about a US or ROK attack that will cripple that doctor's unit or put him in danger- does he say nothing, knowing hundreds will be injured or killed including maybe his new friend, or does he commit treason and risk prison or death to warn him- and how does he live with not knowing what happened when he has to choose inaction?) Any of the Very Special episodes could be adapted and expanded. And of course, Hypothetical Remake would have Korean writers, or consultants, or at the very least a goddamn baby name book so we don't end up with a dozen characters just named Kim, or worse random syllables.

Radar I would love to keep Radar as one of the main POV character throughout the whole series and use his unique position to bridge between different storylines- he's an enlisted man so he has that perspective, he's close with Hawkeye and the surgeons, he's assisting Henry/Potter so he has ties to command, give him a friendship with a nurse and you're set. Given the comedy-to-tragedy arc of dramadys, I would love to take the book detail that he enlisted with dreams of glory and becoming a general and lean fully into that. He starts out season 1 as a sweet naive farm kid flying by the seat of his pants to figure out his job, he gets more and more enmeshed with the military over the course of the series, currying favor with the brass to pull strings to help the unit/his friends/himself, and it ends with Potter giving him a recommendation for officer school- an outcome fully framed as a tragic loss of self to a corrupt institution.

Hawkeye I think Seasons 1 and 2 in particular could be driven by the Hawkeye and Trapper committing outrages and crimes in the name of justice/not giving a shit, and then having to spend the rest of the season engaging in more outrages and crimes to Bugs Bunny their way out of consequences. The central tragedy arcing through the series is the Destruction of Hawkeye Pierce. He starts out determined to stay himself, stick to his principles, and not let the army change him. The glimmer of hope at the end is that he has survived and gets to go home, but At What Cost. I also think making him bipolar makes the most sense- early season Hawkeye hints he's had highs and lows before, but always managed to cope, but under the increasing stress his mental health gets worse. Insomnia due to overwork triggers a manic episode (adapting Dr Pierce and Mr Hyde) about halfway through S1, with a major change in his relationship with Trapper associated with that, and his first on screen depressive episode triggered by Henry's death, which gets him his week of R&R he goes AWOL from. He holds it together through S3 with increasing amounts of self-medication for BJ's sake, and S4's overarching storyline for him is a fully Catch-22 expansion of The Late Captain Pierce with increasing levels of franticness to resolve it, and S5 is a full blown "I'M NOT EVEN SUPPOSED TO BE HERE" crisis culminating in the equivalent of GFA, and a brief psychotic episode triggered by his mood dysregulation and moral injury. An expansion of The Late Captain Pierce would be a great source of absurdity and drama, the ultimate consequence of his alienation of Everyone In Bureaucracy or Command (they all dislike/hate him for his antics and disrespect in S1-3 and no one wants to help him in his predicament, with a few spitefully refusing to help outright), and necessary to explain his presence in Korea in 1953 since his enlistment should've ended by then (since key members of the bureaucracy Hate him they refuse to count the months he was "dead" as part of his service, and his father is in too poor of health/financially strained from his cancer scare to advocate for him successfully stateside). I also think "playing straight" all the nurses breaking up with him after Ceasefire could be interesting. Like, S1 Hawkeye is a ladies man who's saying all the right things and juggling multiple relationships, but after they realize he doesn't Capital L Love any of them they start to distance from him- not unfriendly, but less a source of support. That alienation from others, first with the nurses at the end of S1 then others in camp, causing a vicious cycle of increasingly erratic behavior leading to less support etc culminates in his breakdown towards the end of the series.

Trapper My beloved boy ♥️ who has less of an arc and more of a vibe in existing canon, so we get to make some shit up whole cloth. Either keep the book/movie canon they were friendly in college, or make them childhood friends- not close, but some kind of pre-existing relationship. First episode is them stealing a jeep and bonding as they get into Shenanigans and Danger on their way to camp. Some people have the headcanon that Trapper lost a brother in WWII because of Wayne Rogers' acting choices, and I think a backstory like that could be interesting. He starts out a little ambivalent about the war, not wanting to be there and very aware of the human costs, but also feeling he has a duty. As he and Hawkeye get into more and more Situations trying to expose war crimes or fix injustices and even basic supply issues and are met by indifference or incompetence, he gets disillusioned. After Hawkeye's manic episode, he decided the one Actually Good thing he can accomplish is keeping his friend sane until they can get back home, since he starts to increasingly see his medical work as futile and the UN intervention as hopeless/harmful. They get closer and rely on each other more and more in S2, and in my based and gay pilled vision this is explicitly romantic and sexual, albeit with serious ambiguity if they would've had this relationship outside the trauma of war. Towards the end of S2, Trapper starts to get sick, and it turns out stress and increased alcohol & tobacco use contributed to an ulcer- it almost seems like he'll be sent home, but as in Classico MASH he begins treatment at the 4077th- and then Henry dies. Hawkeye spirals and they have to send him away, and then Trapper has to help pick up the increased work load. His symptoms get worse and he tries to cope and hide it, and develops peritonitis. When he realizes he's going to be evacced to Tokyo and then back to the States, he has a bit of a fucking meltdown. Mission Failed, he can't be there for his friend, and he blames himself because it was partly caused by his alcohol abuse. This is not just me being a Trapper simp, he has to go home before his enlistment is up for plot reasons since we no longer get the benefit of fuzzy timeline, and the genre convention of dramedy is you always Reap The Whirlwind at the worst possible moment.

BJ Ironically, I don't need to change anything about BJ to turn him into a dramedy character. He already has a "negative character arc", and you just take the major beats of that, set them in a linear escalation, and tighten them up. He starts out bright eyed and idealistic, determined to keep his head up, do his duty, and get out. Hawkeye meets him at the air field, having missed Trapper. Hawkeye blames himself for Trapper's health problems, and wants to do better by the new guy, offering him support and guidance. BJ bonds with him through the craziness, but as stress increases he starts acting out in small petty stochastic pranks, and then Peg's letters and missing his family build his anger, and he lashes out at Hawkeye because he suspects (in that "he's not right but he isn't wrong either" way) that Hawkeye's friendship isn't really because of BJ himself but because BJ is Trapper's Replacement. He suspects Hawkeye and Trapper were more than friends and he's simultaneously jealous and repulsed- he wants to totally replace Trapper and for Hawkeye to like him best, but he also loves Peg and misses her terribly and resents Hawkeye for "making" him want him. His chaotic unhinged repression is funny until it's briefly terrifying, then sad. As Hawkeye's mental health deteriorates, he tries to be supportive, but is ultimately overwhelmed by the intensity of Hawkeye's crisis and pulls back, though they mend things somewhat at the end.

The Hawkeye/Trapper/BJ Nexus In summary, our core duos are codependent trainwrecks, but while TrapHawk are more of an enabling and felonious "Thelma and Louise" style folie a deux, BJ and Hawkeye are more of an epic highs and lows "if you can't be with the one you love love the one your with" "hand in unlovable hand" mess.

Margaret Don't have nearly as much to say about our girl because I suck and have been writing this for almost 2 hours now because I'm insane but she has one of the best character arcs in MASH and Hypothetical Remake would really just intentionally start laying out her conflicts and growth from episode 1. She would also have more independent story arcs of trying to manage the nurses, and navigating advancing her career in the face of sexism. I would love to see her messy and complicated relationships with powerful men explored more fully. She bonds with Frank first to have a relationship where she's more in control than with her superiors, then as an ally to push back against the TrapHawk Chaos, then as she grows more confident (and TrapHawk get in over their heads) she is able to let go of the cloak of power military pretensions give her and be more herself.

Henry and Potter Henry remains a lovable incompetent. The one headcanon I have I'd like to use in Hypothetical Remake is that he's pretty severely dyslexic- I base that off his mispronunciations and malapropisms and canonical issues with reading (in Classico MASH doing things like holding a paper upside down or not being able to read maps and the words on them). He got through med school by having his wife read his textbooks out loud and type his papers, and brute force memorization. This is part of why he over relies on Radar to manage his paperwork and is easily scammed into signing off on things- he really can't tell what he's signing unless he uses all of his focus to decipher the text, and he's a trusting person so he rarely does. @marley-manson I LOVE your take that your ideal Potter is the exact same character in the show but the narrative treats him as an antagonist, and that is the vibe Hypothetical Remake would have.

Frank and Charles Again not a lot to say here, secondary characters and minor antagonists, but they would remain big sources of commentary but their pathos would be played up more in a dramedy.

Mulcahy Again, not too much different from canon, just more intentional building of a tragic arc. A smart sensitive guy who grew up poor and thought the church would be a path to respect or maybe even greatness got told to be a math teacher by his diocese, enlisted as a chaplain when the war broke out as part of his personal quest for meaning and significance, is confronted by the horrors and damage to innocent lives but still tries to believe in a greater purpose and good to what's happening, struggles with feelings of powerlessness and futility, and when he's finally able to do something heroic loses his hearing, which costs him his vocation- he's permanently disabled and would be unable to return to his old role as a parish priest/school teacher.

Recurring Characters Sidney my beloved ♥️ We bring back Sam Pak as a returning character. Also General Hammond and other members of the brass. I think Oliver could work really well as a recurring character.

Klinger Whole bundle of thoughts on this guy I wanted to save till the end. Because I adore Klinger, he's incredibly funny and one of the kindest and most principled characters on the show, and he's also incredibly 70s and I don't think could work as he was in a 21st century dramedy. I can see three potential paths to adapting him. A) Lean into the young, brash, hustler side of his personality, and he's a straight guy who thinks the craziest thing someone could do is wear a dress. B) An explicitly gay character who refuses to admit to being gay for a discharge because he finds the idea of being judged less than or broken for his sexuality incredibly offensive, but did drag back in Toledo and also refuses to stop being himself just because he got drafted. C) Principled pacifist serving as an orderly because of the draft who refuses to wear the uniform and started wearing dresses as a protest against bullying/abuse- oh, your gonna call me a sissy and steal my clothes because I refuse to use a gun? I will not only wear a dress, I will zhuzh it up into something amazing, because I would rather wear this outfit you intend to humiliate me with than that damn uniform.

[moe-broey]

AUGH Pokemon Scar/Vio DLC spoilers below bc I'm NOT gonna have anyone to talk about this with for a little while LMFAOOO

God I wish when Kieran ran off with the mask, challenged you to a battle to get it back, and lost that battle. I DESPERATELY WISH he just ran off with the mask again anyway. LIKE. For one could you imagine how fucking funny that would have been LMFAO but also!!!!! I think something like that happening would have absolutely raised the stakes, AND would have given you a reason to be mad at him. I think, what Kieran needed MOST as a character and the development they're taking with him, is for him to have moments where he doubles down and is stubborn and bratty.

LIKE. This is going to get SO incoherent LMFAO but I'm thinking about Hortensia Fire Emblem's whole character arc, where you meet her and she's bratty right off the bat. But the thing that GETS me about her is that she doubles down. She's stubborn. And you see Why, you see her scared and hurt and traumatized as she's trying to figure out what to do next. And what REALLY makes her character to me, is when not even Ivy being on your side is enough for her to join you. She still needs time. And by "time", I mean needs to keep digging her grave deeper because she just can't stop yet. LIKE. She's acting out. Which isn't me invalidating anything, like, I'm struggling to find the words for it but she's just 14 about it you know. Something SO horrible has happened and you feel SO MUCH about it that not even your older sister can talk sense into you, at least not right now.

I THINK. The connection I want to make here is that I think Kieran has SO MUCH POTENTIAL as a blooming antagonistic character, he just NEEDED a moment like Hortensia has with Ivy. Where she doubles down on her path. And I think Kieran, maybe initially planning on keeping his word... when you defeat him, and everything just wells up inside and overtakes him. I think THAT would have been a fantastic and shocking moment, if you could see him make that decision to Make Things Worse in real time. And I can only IMAGINE the reaction that would have gotten out of Carmine too!!!

AND. CARMINE. CARMINE. I FIND HER SO FASCINATING. LIKE. Yeah yeah overheard a conversation/misunderstanding tropes are cliche and can be super annoying as a storytelling device. AUGH BUT I FEEL LIKE IT COULD ACTUALLY WORK FOR THEM..... with how both of them Are. I think Carmine and Kieran have SUCH incompatible personalities and there is SO much to explore there. Like. It's established as soon as you meet them, that they must be close and care for each other. You see it in how Carmine looks after Kieran, speaking up for him when he's struggling to, and you see how Kieran admires and looks up to her as he cheers her on in battle. But you ALSO see that Carmine has the emotional intelligence of a brick and she is naturally just. Abrasive and temperamental, with an ego. ALL. HORRIBLE TRAITS TO HAVE IN ONE REALLY HAHAH (I love her though). And you see that Kieran is EXTREMELY sensitive, shy and mopey.

BUT ALSO. WHAT GETS ME ABOUT KIERAN ACTUALLY. Is how you See those traits evolve and twist into more detrimental versions of themselves. AND you start seeing some Similarities he has with Carmine. He also is temperamental. He also has an ego. THIS. WAS SO COOL TO SEE TBH!!! Espppp seeing the uglier aspects of being "shy" and "sensitive". Traits that are really easy to make endearing and to woobify. It's easy to look over just how destructive these traits can get, when you take things too personally and then shut yourself off completely. AND. THE EGO. ADDED ONTO THIS. The fact that he IS a sore loser, the fact that he DOES get bratty about it. Like, I think another thing I really appreciate about Kieran is he acts his age. He quickly starts to feel like the entire world is against him AND he's 14 about it.

In turn, I think I really appreciate how Carmine is so much just an older sister. Like. Yeah, she has a temper and an ego. But also, I think you see that she's a pretty good sport actually. She's competitive, but she's not actually holding anything against you (beyond like, her frustrations about her home town feeling like a tourist spot -- which like! I think is reasonable actually, to dislike that). Like. She's abrasive, she's prideful, but ultimately she does have an air of maturity. She is Not 14 about it. On account of not being 14, unlike her little brother LMFAOOO (ALSO!!! I think it's clear how much she Does care too, how she does end up looking out for you, how she congratulates you and hypes you up... like!!! She's just a little bit of a jackass LMFAO but I love her for it)

And like ultimately maybe all this is just set up for a slow burn, as Kieran goes sicko mode LMFAO but I REALLY wish. There was at least ONE moment where he did something that's just a dick move. And REALLY digs his heels in. Makes it clear, compromise is NOT an option for him, not right now. That, for a while, no one is going to be able to reach him, not even his sister. He just needs to get it out of his system.

Plus, I think it would be incredibly useful for the player to have a reason to be mad at him, because GOD. I HATE. MORE THAN ANYTHING. When Pokemon gives you rivals you just feel bad for!!!!!! Like I just pity him!!!! I think he's right to feel the way he does and I think he has every right to act out. And like, I think I'd Still feel that way actually, if he did actively make bad choices that just makes everything worse and Isn't particularly palatable about it LMFAO. BUT. At VERY least, if he pulled a dick move, I can have something justifiable to want to fight him over. Lowkey Takumi feelings actually, where one of my favorite things about him is When he's an asshole, and it IS entirely on him, like... it's vindicating to see other characters push back. I, as the player, want the characters to get his ass for it. And it's rewarding, when he does come around (either immediately or after some time), and tries to make up for it. Like.... give me a reason to WANT to get Kieran's ass. Piss EVERYONE off in the process, ESPECIALLY your sister for the angst and drama of it all!! I just feel like I stomped on a little autistic boy's dream and stole away the object of his special interest HSKAHKSHA dude THIS SUCKS 😭😭😭😭😭

AUGH!!!!!!!!!! Anyway misc thoughts

The townspeople's turnaround about the ogre off screen was SO STUPID LMFAOOO LIKE. Like yeah yeah Pokemon game......... but you know what else was a Pokemon game. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Sky. LIKE AGSJHSJSJSJJ I FEEL LIKE SUUUUCH A CRAZY RAMBLY OLD MAN but Pokemon Scarlet/Violet HAD THE POTENTIAL. TO BE ON THAT LEVEL. I THINK. PERSONALLY. ON A STORYTELLING FRONT. And AGAIN I feel like there could have been potential here.

Like I think the main issue is the story even in the canon itself took place in too short of a time to develop in the way I think it deserved. But I'm thinking about the whole Process in PMD2 of returning from the Future, you, your partner, and Grovyle. How the three of you Can't just go back to the guild, especially Grovyle in tow, a wanted outlaw in this time period. How it takes days, of laying low, planning carefully, gathering intel, and hitting a wall, before finally deciding you really have no where else to turn BUT Wiggletuff's Guild. AND. AND. THE WHOLE PROCESS. THAT WHOLE THING CHATOT PUTS YOU THROUGH. AFTER TELLING YOUR STORY. Where Every Single Guild Member Individually has to decide, no, Chatot, I'm with Hero and Partner actually. Up against The Great Dusknoir's reputation, Grovyle's reputation, and your standing as the most recent additions to the guild versus Chatot's standing, Wiggletuff's right hand man, second in command, a respected authority figure.

LIKE........ I just think. With the folklore surrounding Ogrepon and the Loyal Three. Even if they didn't have That Much Time to build up to it exactly like that (speaking canonically, school trip constraints), I think. Even just a scene where You're part of trying to tell the town the truth about Ogrepon and the Loyal Three, AND you see the inital pushback, especially from an authority figure (maybe the Caretaker?) would have been enough. Especially would have been nice to see, instead of every NPC talking about how they got things wrong -- if there was divide and conflict, some believing you and feeling regretful towards how Ogrepon was treated, and others not believing you at all, ESPECIALLY as an outsider, who are you to tell us our history? AND even a few NPCs who are on your side, but are still in a state of disbelief or feeling betrayed. Like. Make us feel the weight of Why Carmine and Kieran's family kept this a secret for generations. (ALSO LITERALLY DIDN'T THEIR ANCESTOR TRY TO TELL THE TRUTH AND WAS HARSHLY DISMISSED AND CRITICIZED???? Why would Kieran be treated differently now for doing the same thing???????)

I guess last thoughts about Carmine and Kieran I didn't get to earlier but. I think you can See, as the story plays out, where there is this building frustration that turns to resentment from Kieran, towards how Carmine treats him. How, while she does speak up for him, she also speaks over him. What she sees as probably tough love or standard older-sibling teasing, HE takes it just. So personally. And it festers. It seems he feels ignored, dismissed and invalidated -- and his dialogues where he is mopey, and Carmine (almost on the right track), calls it for what it is -- her baby brother just being a baby. Like, I say "Almost on the right track", because in a way she Is Right. He's Very Loudly sulking and pouting, she sees this and sees he's being 14 about it. But she fails to consider just how much Kieran internalizes this treatment, of being teased and having others around you be told "He'll get over it". WHICH... even if he does. Even if he will. Something that JUMPS out to me IS how loudly he's moping and sulking, how dramatic it is. To me, it's like a cry for attention, for someone to listen to him and take his feelings seriously.

THIS. IS WHAT I MEANT BEFORE. When I talked about how the misunderstanding trope actually lends itself SO well to these two characters, as siblings who do love each other, but there IS this emotional distance. Where Carmine looks over Kieran's feelings, and doesn't know what to do with them, and Kieran is going to internalize all of this until he implodes. And when he DOES implode, when it feels like his entire world is crashing and burning around him (in a way, it IS his whole world!)... he doesn't trust her at all. Whether Carmine meant to or not (which, I don't think she has ever meant to hurt him, I do think it's the incompatibility), Kieran has been made to feel like he's an outcast, like his feelings don't matter, and no matter what he does, no one is going to listen to him or care about him. WHICH IS. AGAIN. WHY. I THINK HE NEEDS TO FUCK SHIT UP MORE. That is the GO TO thing to do when you're a kid and you feel this way LMFAOOO

Aughghhh........ Pokemon Scarlet and Violet you have so much potential I just wish you'd FOLLOW THROUGH and PUT YOUR WHOLE PUSSY INTO IT (AND MAYBE THEY WILL. IN THE FUTURE. THIS IS THE FIRST DLC. HOWEVER. I do think there are certain areas in general, like the ogre ordeal, where they just dropped the ball 😔)

[obsessioncollector]

I hope you loved the novels!! What was your favourite part? Do we need to keep you from messaging a long lost friend?

HIIIII i did love them!!!! it's funny bc I read the first one last year and was kinda ehhh about it but then I read her other book the lying life of adults and really enjoyed it and since the series is so acclaimed, i decided to give it another chance and i fell in love w the second book onwards! some spoilers mentioned below and I ramble a bunch so adding a read more :) Tagging dear mika @meerschweinchen1993 bc u said you wanted to hear what i thought as well !!

Oh also funnily enough I too had a friend I used to write stories with as a kid!! Get ready for the US american neapolitan novels ;)

there are so many fascinating elements of the books--from a narrative perspective it's so interesting to me that since you only see Lila through Elena's eyes, it's never clear whether Lila is as manipulative as Elena thinks or if Elena's misinterpreting her (and same w/ other character traits.) for example there's the part when Elena becomes convinced that Lila has been orchestrating the political violence in their community which seems like her imagination, but then at the very end when she visits Pascale he suggests that she's responsible for the Solaras' killings (but is Pascale reliable either??) I love books that emphasize subjectivity like that <3

And another element that I really enjoyed was the discussions of women's experiences and relationships w men and motherhood... the parts when Elena writes her book about women being shaped by men and gives talks about her work in very politicized environments but is simultaneously soooo obsessed with Nino and willing to do anything for him felt so painful and real. I think Ferrante really captures the complexity of political action (esp when it comes to things that are so personal, beyond just the more obvious political sphere.) Also this might sound odd, but I think the books have given me more appreciation for the older women in my life and their complexity & the careful and difficult choices they have had to make. At the end when Elena realizes her books seem dated and irrelevant to her daughters, it's so devastating </3 As probably many other younger women can relate to, I've had conversations w/ my mom and grandmother in which they take more conservative opinions on feminist issues and there's an impulse to dismiss their views as outdated, but I have more of an appreciation for the context in which they've lived their lives and the compromises + pragmatic decisions they've had to make.

[ni-kol-koru]

KnB 30-Days Challenge

Day 10 : Favorite Team

Shūtoku High School BC 🏀🧡

Another very difficult choice for me. Every team in this show has unique characters, an interesting dynamic and their own unique playstyle and something special, like a quirk. I kind of know what my TOP 3 teams are, but choosing one of them seemed like an impossible mission... So, I made a little system that will help me pick my favorite team. When I added and substracted some points, Shūtoku won!     

Shūtoku, as a team, has some of my most favorite characters ever. It is also the only team (after Rakuzan) in which I love and adore absolutely every member! Since I rambled about Shintarō and Kiyoshi, and am going to ramble about Kazunari very soon, let me just talk about the forgotten two of Shūtoku: Taisuke Ōtsubo and Shinsuke Kimura. A lot of people seem to forget that these two guys exist. They don't look super flashy, like Shintarō and Kiyoshi for example, because they have dark brown hair and dark brown eyes and generic hairstyles. They don't have prominent personalities either, like the other 3 members, who have their own very distinctive quirks and personality traits. But, that is just the surface. I was very curious one day and decided to scratch it and dive a little more into the lives and personalities of these two handsome boys. Well, after researching about them, they turned out to be very interesting, and dear to me.    

Taisuke Ōtsubo. He is a serious, responsible, determined captain and a great sportsman. He is the pillar of his team on the court and is there to cover up the mistakes of his fellow members by saving every rebound he can. Everybody seems to think he is just tall, strong and scary and rough, but seriously, this guy is just a teddy bear. Other than being very kind and showing it in form of great sportmanship, he has some really surprising hobbies. It's cooking, cleaning, and knitting! In Extras, he is shown to be really skilled with needles and yarn, knitting a scarf almost 2 meters long during a boring class! He also carries things he made in his bag all the time, like mittens, hats... These things he does are not usually something that men do, and I just love how he looks like the manliest man ever and has these hobbies, breaking the patriarchal norms. He also really loves his team and always takes care of his teammates, knowing how to motivate them and cheer them up when it's needed, and tending to them when practices get tough and they feel sick. My favorite thing about him is that he likes spending his free time with his little sister, Ōtsubo Tae! Her age was never confirmed, but she is somewhere around 15, or maybe even 16, if we think about what Yūya said. Now, a lot of big brothers seem to, for some reason, find it boring, and even embarrassing, to hang out with their little sisters, but no, not Taisuke Ōtsubo. This guy loves it, we know it because he chooses to spend his free time in her presence! Taisuke is 18 years old, a grown man, basketball player, graduate student, preparing for college and adult life, and in a busy time like that, when he finds free time, he still spends time with his little sister. I can totally see them cooking together and cleaning together, but another activity that I can see them doing is just, talking. Taisuke can sit and talk with his sister all day, listening to her without feeling the need to interrupt her of mansplain anything if she just needs to let things out, or offering honest advice and support when she needs it. He is also surely protective of her, making sure to let everybody in her life know that if they hurt her in any way, he will find out and they will pay for it. He is just ready to do anything for his sister, I think. Another little detail about his character, that I really love, is that he is part of the Library Committee, which means he likes to read, and help people find books they like! Not only that, but his favorite subject is physcis, which means he is good at it, and that only reveals how smart he actually is! This man literally has the words 'Perfect Guy' on his forehead, how can people sleep on him like that? The only thing he can't do is kill a cockroach (actual canon and his actual only shortcoming).   

Shinsuke Kimura. Calm, hard-working, doesn't like the spotlight and prefers to stay out of trouble. That's pretty much the only things people know about him. Though, reading between the lines of his behaviour, I found a couple of really endearing character traits! I He is a really supportive person, but he is doing it rather quietly most of the time. In games, he sets up solid screens to give his teammates freedom to move and opportunities to score, though. He also brings delicious fruits when practices get exhausting, and he is there to help his teammates if they ever feel sick, like when he was rubbing Kazunari's back and called for help when he felt like throwing up. He is even supportive in the strangest way possible, by always offering a pineapple to Kiyoshi when he is irritated, supporting his dear friend's anger issues. When times call for it, he knows how to motivate his teammates and give them a reason to stand up on their feet and continue fighting. He is extremely hard-working and he proved it by practicing harder than everyone until he finally reached the starter line. That's a thing I really admire him for. Something that caught my attention when reading his Wiki page and exploring his character was how he likes to spend his free time. He spends it by helping at home. Now, if you know that his family owns a convenience store and grows their own fruits, it probably means that he helps with taking care of the said plants, carries heavy boxes, cleans the store, helps in organising new arrivals, works as a cashier and so on... However, if you ever happened to notice the fact that he doesn't have a mother, it adds another, whole different meaning. Having only a father means that all the house and store responsibilities fall onto him when his boys are at school, which is difficult to balance. So, taking care of the house, cleaning it and cooking meals, probably sometimes falls onto his two sons, and very likely Shinsuke, as the older brother, takes care of most of those things. This boy is another level of hard-working. We can even gyess that he gave up college to continue the family's bussiness, because he is never shown worrying about any college entrance exams, like the other two Third Years. He is just, wow. The moment I completely fell in love with him was when I listened to a Special CD. In the said CD, he reveals such a beautiful side of himself and he tells us about something really important for him. He talks about wrestling. He has been doing it since he is 8 years old, it's something that he loves a lot and is extremely passionate about! I wish you guys could hear his voice when he talks about wrestling, he just sounds so happy and passionate! Oh, and he gets so excited when he finds out Shintarō knows a thing or two about his sport! Listening to that part of the CD always makes my little heart melt! Shinsuke is so precious to me and I just love him so much!

If you get into typology, Shinsuke and Taisuke both have a Kanji in their names that means 'Support', showing how important they are for the Shūtoku team. Also, they are really handsome, and it's a hill I will die on. If anyone disagrees with me on this one, I am willing to argue until the end of time.   

Now, the characters aren't even the best part of this team. What I endlessly love is the chemistry and all the different friendships between all of them!

Three Third years and two First years in a single team is a really interesting combination itself. Almost like parents and children. Getting along with each other, as two separate generations, was probably something that they had to work on a lot, but in the end, they did it! Since the beginning, the First years had respect for their Seniors by listening to them and respecting their opinions. Sometimes, the Third years had to pick their younger members up and give them motivation to keep fighting. They are also there to tend to the boys when they feel unwell and are always willing to offer their help when they get in trouble, like in the Midorima's Unlucky Day Extra! An important step towards the team working well was Third years getting along with the fact that the First years, were indeed, special, and needed to be cut some slack for such behaviour from time to time. Honestly, realising that they will be on the same team only for a single year breaks my heart every time, it breaks theirs as well... The moment Shintarō and Kazunari pointed that out in their game against Rakuzan was the only time I cried in the show. Seriously, I love these guys so much.     

Shūtoku has some really interesting friendships as well, one of the most precious friendships being the one between Kazunari and Shintarō. It is obvious that these two are inseparable! After all, they are always there for each other, on the basketball court, in school and even in private life, offering support and having fun! Kazunari cares for Shintarō really deeply, and he shows it by carrying some of his neccesities, such as tape for fingers and sometimes even lucky items with himself, and always being there to cheer him up and protect him if the upperclassmen are picking on him. Shintarō is pretty tsundere, usually trying hard to not show how much he actually appreciates Kazunari and his thoughtfulness, but every time he softly smiles and relies on his dear friend he reveals to us how much he appreciates him.

Another friendship that is very dear to me is the one between Kiyoshi and Shinsuke! These two share the same story on how they got their well deserved positions as the starter members of the basketball team. They worked harder than everyone, stayed late to practice and got close because of that, possibly practicing with each other a bunch of times. But that's not everything, The Extras really reveal just how close these two are! They are actually classmates as well! Being in the same class with someone surely brings two people together, so these two being in the same classroom for 3 consecutive years surely did its wonders! Now, their personalities might clash a little, because Shinsuke is calm and Kiyoshi is rather uptight, Shinsuke prefers to stay out of trouble while Kiyoshi attracts a lot of trouble, but they are also similar in their determination, seriousness and hard-work, which is why they can probably get along. In the anime, we can also see these two tease each other sometimes, in the besties way, of course. The Extras also show how sometimes, when paired up, these two know how to 'have fun' by poking at their underclassmen (which is a little mean, but they never really hurt anyone, as far as I know, so they are forgiven). Oh, and of course, they have this famous pineapple/pick-up truck deal, where Shinsuke always offers his fruits or vehicle to his dear friend when he is irritated. It is just so iconic, like their own little inside joke!

There is also something very interesting going on between Taisuke and Kiyoshi. At one point in the anime, Taisuke reveals to Shintarō and Kazunari that they go to idol concerts together and that idols are actually their common interest! As someone who is into idols myself, I can see them collecting albums, CDs and photocards and trading them with each other all the time, which is something that is fun when done with friends! But that's not quite it... Remember when Taisuke said he was really used to seeing Kiyoshi work so hard? Well, I somehow came to an idea that they practiced basketball together, more specifically, that Taisuke helped Kiyoshi with polishing his fundamentals and mastering dribbling against an opponent with good defense. This duo kind of makes sense, because Taisuke is just supportive like that, he is the type of a guy who would help others in need with no hesitation, and Kiyoshi just screams 'someone help' as a character and a person, and especially in that period of time, I think. So, naturally, they were kinda drawn to each other, and later when they realised they have some things in common, they became good friends! I can kind of see Kiyoshi always feel so grateful for Taisuke because he supported him and helped him in some really tough times, and probably even picked him up when he fell. Also, before Taisuke revealed their shared interest to his underclassmen, he was about to say something about Kiyoshi, but he cut himself in the middle of his sentence and never said it. I can feel that he was about to say something really nice about him, groundbreaking for their relationship even, and I am still mad he never finished it...

Shūtoku is also a team with a lot of brothers and sisters, where every regular memeber we know has a younger sibling! Shintarō, Kazunari and Taisuke have younger sisters, while Shinsuke and Kiyoshi have younger brothers! Sadly, we never got to truly meet any of them. We only know something little about Yūya, only know Tae's name and looks, and the appearance of little Kimura. Unfortunately, we have nothing for little Midorima and little Takao. Well, still, it's really something interesting to think about, all the possible big brother tropes that the regulars of Shūtoku might be! It's sad that we don't have almost anything for some of these younger siblings, but that doesn't have to be all that bad! It leaves room for our own imagination and creativity to shine, we can make up our own fun headcanons for their looks, ages, personalities and relationships!

I just love this team so much! 🧡

[tasteleeknow]

hey jade! i recently became active on tumblr again and I saw that you've started a new job!!! congo!!! (also yaas the adhd meds woke a new version of me when I first started them lolll. never knew I could be so productive tbh)

i remember sometime ago you said that your basic outline for hello stranger was for like 10 chapters?? do you feel like that has changed over the progress of the fic? i wanna write some things for myself too but I'm terrible at planning :( do you feel like you have changed significant plot points or character traits instead of how you initially envisioned them??

im sorry but i just love the way you write and I'm soo curious abt the brainwork that goes behind it

(im sorry if the tone of this msg comes off as pushy. I'm on laptop and I'm feeling too lazy to copy/paste emojis because my laptop doesn't support them :(( )

hi! (the adhd meds have allowed me to accomplish things ive been putting off for actual years, its insane)

its def longer than 10 chapters at this point yeah. i'd say maybe 15 but again i dont know bc i end up adding scenes as i go, beyond my outline.

planning sucks and you dont need to do spend ages on it if you hate it (like me). i use a method where i brainstorm at the very start like super super vague basic outline of my idea and how it will progress as a story (start/status quo, external/internal obstacles or conflicts, dark moment, final conflict, closing). then i just say fuck it and see what happens as i go. it usually ends up completely different than the starting outline. i often edit the outline as it changes with each chapter.

THEN i draft without editing bc editing will keep you (me) stalled forever. just write the chapter/one shot without intending for anyone to read it at all. the first draft is just for your eyes. the sentences can be as ugly and as grammatically incorrect as you want.

like im serious, no editing. aim to not go back and edit at all just word vomit into google docs or whatever until ur brain is empty. pretend you cant move the cursor. you are using a typewriter (with a really fancy backspace feature that you get to use sometimes, so lucky and spoiled). NO REREADING AND OBSESSING OVER PHRASING AND VOCAB AND DIALOGUE AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE. attempting to perfect every part as i write it..... worst possible writing method.

then when ur empty and ur ideas are out of ur head... u can begin editing. which is my least favourite part of the entire process. read it over and over and stew and think abt how u could be better and then remember its just for fun and then stew some more and second guess everything and never write again (until u do).

that's my process.

thanks for asking, i love talking abt writing!!

(and it doesn't come off as pushy at all, ur all good!)

p.s i often just give up on editing and let it be bc i will stew forever (i'm a struggling perfectionist) so yeah editing can die

[the-avaricious-meddler]

Hi! this is kinda a broad question but i am just getting back into fl after years away from it and i was wondering if you have any tips for early game players, especially wrt fun character building? i feel like the game suggests a strong path with making your name and I am struggling to figure out when i should make 'in character' decisions vs. following this kinda tutorial vibe of early game. are you expected to do all four MYN or do people focus on just the ones that make the most sense for your character?

i thought i'd ask you bc you have some really cool fleshed out characters but if you know of other blogs that have more early game tips and stuff i would really appreciate it. i am also a little unsure about the social aspect of the game, is that for interacting with friends from real life who also play or do people contact random people through the game?

i love your blog and hope you are having a delicious day

Putting this under a readmore since I wrote a lot more than I thought I would-

MYN storylines are good for early game stat gains, but they can be rather tedious and are by no means a strict requirement (I myself have never fully completed every single one). MYN storylines do, however, permanently open up certain areas- some of which can be accessed through other means (wolfstack docks, the flit), some which can't/can't without fate (the shuttered palace, mahogany hall, the foreign office, the university, the labyrinth of tigers, etc.) which are required for ambitions or later game content.

Personally, I do whatever storylines are most beneficial for my current gameplay, but pick and choose as to what I actually consider canon to my characters.

-Wolfstack docks is unlocked via the Dangerous MYN, but I believe you can buy your way in with items. The Labyrinth of Tigers is unlocked at the end of the MYN, but the only way to gain permanent acccess outside of the storyline is via spending Fate, and most of the things you can do there are unlocked via MYN. Out of all of them, at least in my opinion, Dangerous is the most worth doing. It's also one of the least annoying. It also later opens up dock brawling, which is good for getting certain hard-to-get items.

-The Flit is unlocked via the Shadowy MYN, but can be unlocked via a skill check (albeit an annoying one). Mahogany Hall is unlocked via either the Shadowy or Persuasive MYN, and I believe there IS an option to gain access via fate? Don't quote me on that. Mahogany Hall is a good place to have unlocked, as it's required for a certain storyline that can get you useful items.

-The Forgotten Quarter is unlocked via the Watchful MYN, but you can buy in with items. The University is, again, only otherwise unlockable via Fate, and similarly to the Labyrinth, most options are locked until you reach a certain point in the MYN. Depending on your actions in the storyline, you may also temporarily be kicked out of the University. The university is required for some later game content, such as getting your own laboratory. The Watchful Storyline also grants you the trait "Scholar of The Correspondence", which is necessary for some ambitions.

-Writing a Short story is unlocked via the Persuasive MYN. The shuttered palace is as well, though you can buy in via fate, as is The Empress's court, which has no other way in. Completing the Persuasive MYN grants access to the foreign office, which also has no other means of entry. And as stated before, it is one of the two ways to gain access to Mahogany Hall.

As for social actions, it's hard to contact random people, as you need access to someone's profile to add them as a contact- but it's not required you know them IRL either, as plenty of people online have linked their profiles to add them. I myself don't know anyone IRL who also plays, all my contacts are from online.

Once you have someone added as a contact, you can send them a calling card through your social engagements (shown below), and they can choose to accept or deny to become an Aquaintance.

Some social actions only require you have them as a contact, others require you be acquainted.

[marciabrady]

Hi, I really love your crits ❤ but I'm wondering why you dislike Frozen so much? I'm a huuuge fan of Aurora and Mulan myself, and I hate more and more every 3D/live action film and terribly miss 2D animation, but I must say I really loved Frozen (only the first one!!), I saw it together with my sister, who's also my bff, so maybe that's why it appealed to us, there were also some traits we felt like we had in common with these characters... and maybe it's also the thing we didn't see the film with English dub, which didn't the best (totally agreed with your take on K Bell! I'm not a fan of her personally). And I know this movie has a lot of flaws, but at the same time it was really easy for me to ignore them - until F2 I guess, it brought up all of my problems with this franchise lol Anyway, I just wanted to ask - bc I think it can be the problem with all of the new (3D) princesses - aren't they a bit bland? I was thinking about it the other day, what's characteristic for Anna and Elsa and... well, he's extrovert, and the other introvert I guess? And Anna is romantic? But there's no hobby, no distinct personal trait, nothing. On the other hand Rapunzel was briefly shown to can/like literally ALL! You make candles? Play guitar? Sew? Sing? No problem, she's just like you, you can identify with her. And the bland princesses? You can easily project yourself onto them if you will, it's not same they like to, it's say, paint - but it's not said they hate/can't do it either, right? Sorry for my rambling, it's quite late, and I've just finished my weekend Disney Princess movie marathon. Anyway, love your blog and take care xxx

So I wouldn't necessarily say I hate Frozen, I just strongly dislike certain tonal elements to it but I generally don't really think about it because it didn't resonate to me. Frozen to me doesn't really feel like a film but rather a commentary on other films? With all of the "you can't marry a man you just met" lines and how all of the plots that occur were clearly planted in order to combat criticisms of the Disney Princess line: ie them not being active, or physical, or being too naïve, or lovesick which is why I think Anna is treated as a joke pretty much. So I feel like I'm watching a commentary track where this film is retroactively beating up the previous films on which it was based on and whose success made that endeavor possible? And honestly...I think that's what a lot of people like about it. At the time it came out, I never really heard anyone talk about the value of the characters- rather the emphasis was on "Elsa's the first Princess who didn't need a man! She's independent! Unlike the other princesses, she's a BADASS" or them applauding how Hans killed the Prince Charming trope (which I think is largely reductive, and not even inventive as Gaston had accomplished that previously, but I digress). In general, most of the elements people find revolutionary about this film are anything but- this film essentially just takes elements from other films and infuses it with a lot of meta-textual criticism and added in some sparkly magic to divert toddlers. I even read a book about women in animation and the author said that a woman contributed the idea of Anna being gassy (which I hate btw, it's not charming it's uncouth and I don't think men or women should openly act like that lol) and how it was game changing for how women were depicted when Princess Fiona already did that over a decade earlier?

Apart from the elements I mentioned above, as I touched on in my previous response, Kristen Bell's voice gives nothing to me. I don't like how Anna is treated as a joke, I think it's visually very boring, I don't like the 3d design, and I have no object permanence for the plot because it feels like there's just a lot happening to keep people from being bored without any weight behind it. I'm also not a fan of the universe, with the trolls and just none of it makes sense? Like they go through hoops to try to hit us over the head with how strong Elsa and Anna are as female leads and how men are useless but then Elsa runs away from her own kingdom and Anna leaves it to the attention of Hans while she goes off in search of Elsa??? I don't know, it just all isn't for me lol I know a lot of people like it and they're certainly entitled to, I just think it isn't to my taste.

[dysaniadisorder]

In regards to the "paladins and bards are at their core xyz", I'd love to hear your opinions on the rest of the classes as I struggle to have individual options about things and my ideas about classes are just a chaotic collage of things I've seen and read which can lead me to only being able to think of common tropes.

And I like having a springboard to come up with other ideas especially cos I'm coming up with a DnD PC and I liked what you were putting down.

yeah ofc !! to be fair i get a lot of my thoughts on dnd classes through d20 because they have so many cool genre twists (warlock pacts being marriage pacts, a druid whos a total stoner & environmental activist) but generally i just think people have kind of small minded ideas about dnd classes?

ive noticed something strange which is. weirdly enough, people who dont know almost anything about dnd are likely to have some of the most fun campaigns. and i think its because they dont have an already preconceived notion of like... what a wizard can and cant be, what a barbarian can and cant be, ect

subclasses are some of my favorite things in the WORLD and i think they contribute sooo much to the character. Like- yeah, Barbarian has Berserker or whatever, but theres also a subclass that can make you summon wind and snow, theres a subclass that gives you animal traits, theres a subclass that connects you to giants and makes you huge, theres even a wild magic barbarian subclass !!!

and i think adding that one more level of depth to a class just breaks way to a billion other ideas- i have a friend right now writing a character whos family are total hippies, and hes kind of a skater kid, but hes a cleric of peace.

the stereotypes are SO frustrating because no ones having fun anymore, and suddenly you have a dozen elf wizards who are tall and quiet and elegant, and suddenly you have a dozen half orc barbarians who hit hard and dont like having friends. I currently play an Artificer Alchemist, largely acclaimed to be thee most boring class, and theyre fun as hell. i cant do much but what i can do has helped me & the party immensly. my friends and i found charts of all the least popular classes & subclasses, and all the ones least used were cool as hell.

i currently have so many ideas for characters its not even funny !!! my favorite is a cleric who doesnt know theyre actually a warlock. not to mention- theres plenty chance a warlock was some other class before they were a warlock. i love in The Seven, Sam Nightingale has some Bard levels because she was a tv show star and had to take some Bard training because of the program. and like,, yeah! Bards that are not just about music but other points of charisma, honestly you could probably make a Bard politician crazy easily.

to be honest while i said passion is at the core of paladins and bards i think passion may just be at the center of all of them, but it could easily Not Be. Barbarians who hate being angry and struggle with it, Clerics who struggle with their religion (these are both d20 tropes), Monks have all SORTS of junk that I love,, look. when it comes down to it the stereotypes arent bad, they just end up making fairly 2d or boring characters most of the time, which they dont have to. alot of the (annoying) comments on that post are people talking about their characters that ARE this or that stereotype, and thats fine, they clearly love their character and it sounds like they do all sorts of fun stuff with them. but they can do sooo muuuuch moooore

i fun exercise thing i like to do is take characters from other things, either my own or a tv show or game or something and try to spec them as a dnd character. its incredibly fun

my personal favorite classes are Druids and Monks, especially bc i think Monks dont get enough love (also Druids are kind of overpowered) and multiclassing is also so so fuckign fun. my best advice is just like. i dont know. think outside the box & try to be weird about it. i had a friend with a character who was a barbarian bc he had anger issues, but his passion was in food, and as such he was literally a cleric of food. he would level up his classes based on how he had acted in the time sicne he last leveled up and it was always fairly sad when he'd gain a level of barbarian because he didnt want it. i hope this all helps i really love dnd classes