#and also it'd be less interesting for their characterizations and stories.

[might-forget-this-blagg-exists]

i wonder if i'm treating it so much like a joke that i'm not getting across that i think Zato's character arc should be that he's homophobic, or at least he was acting in a homophobic way. I'm saying this based upon how he conducts himself around the other two, how repressed Venom is, how Millia and Venom grew so apart and hostile that they were only able to see each other as opponents, how he fixates on maintaining his relationship to Millia and yet assumes that their bond will remain unbroken until he can't deny that Millia has genuinely abandoned him, and then when he comes back from the dead he just bounces right back into the denial stage. I think the relationship between these three has been strained and torn because Zato was wary of Venom getting too close to himself (and thereby make Zato look gay) and Millia (and thereby make Zato look like a cuck).

But Like,,, obviously they won't put a character beat like that in Strive, right? this is just what I'm gleaning from how they've acted up until now. Interested to see how Venom's addition will change this weird notion of mine, if Zato's a part of it at all.

[sepublic]

The more I appreciate Mata Nui's arc on Bara Magna, the more salty I am about his ending. Dude spends most of the story's run asleep, so much of the story is dedicated to waking him up. And then he finally does wake up but in less than ideal circumstances, but nevertheless you get the emotional investment of him learning to interact with others as a (relatively) regular mortal and guy, getting to make friends who know him as a friend and not as some god to worship. He gets to actually truly live and connect with the world around him, instead of passively observing it, hidden by his camouflage systems.

And then it ends with him going back to sleep for what is probably the indefinite foreseeable future. And I get WHY, I get the idea of Mata Nui not wanting the people of the Matoran Universe to depend on him. But it's kinda depressing to see him cut off from everything, he doesn't really get to sit down and relax, nor retire, like the others. He doesn't get to live anymore.

Plus, given how much Mata Nui was hyped up in 2001-08, it'd be interesting to see the characters from that arc actually get to meet him and realize, Oh, he's just a guy. An imperfect guy. No wonder Makuta realized he could take him down... But also he means well. He's trying. I'd have loved a scene where the Turaga Metru get to meet Mata Nui in person, and get some closure by asking; Why us? Why did you choose us to thwart Makuta's takeover?

In 2005, Mata Nui is framed as this all-wise god who works through unknowable ways and means, and is quite the clever mastermind himself, but for good, outsmarting Makuta. So it'd have been nice to hearken back to that characterization, maybe show Mata Nui being quite the trickster during his Bara Magna arc.

Closure for all our protagonists, who work so hard to see this guy be awakened, only to never really get to see or experience him, would've been nice. Just a single scene where they talk and discuss. Maybe one way you could reconcile both ideas -Mata Nui wanting to leave people alone, and Mata Nui getting to actually meet them- is by having him fake his slumber. But in reality he uses the Ignika to create a separate, remote body elsewhere for Mata Nui to transfer his spirit to. And then he does a Metro Man, lives the rest of his life as some guy, whose true identity he shares with only a select few people, particularly his Glatorian friends, and probably the Toa Nuva, Mahri, and Turaga. Given how much they sacrificed for him idk.

...Still. Could you imagine if Greg HAD continued the serials, and actually did have Mata Nui return from his slumber to help out during a climactic arc? That'd have been SUCH a hype moment.

[beevean]

Seeing as how the nocturne s2 trailer just dropped I figured I’d ask something I’m a bit curious about

If season 3+4 of the original show ended up following the plot of curse of darkness do you think it could have done that story justice or turned out much better than what we got? With the characterization of Hector and Isaac in season 2 of the show it would have diverged anyways, but it’s interesting to think about.

I just know a lot of critics of the show point out that there was already a story to tell after the events of cv3, but if they’d gone that route would it really have been what Curse fans wanted anyways?

I think this question should be asked to the fans who were following the development of the show in real time lol, because poor things clearly had hope until S4 😂 I remember reading posts of people who were absolutely certain that Hector's story would have ended with him going on a rampage, killing Carmilla and Lenore, running away and meeting Rosaly for his happy ending.

I don't think their characterizations back then would have been an issue. Yes, show Isaac is far calmer and more introspective, but his only personality in S2 is "Dracula simp who thinks Hector is shit under his shoe", which tracks although he's less fun about it. Yes, show Hector is more mellow and trusting, but he was still perfect material for a character arc revolving around him learning empathy for his fellow humans, and learning to think for himself and deciding what he truly wants to do in life, which is more or less his arc in the prequels.

See, the issue is that S2's finale already diverged from CoD's set up. Isaac being yeeted away while stewing in anger? Yes, that could have lead to his descent into madness: I suspect the writers reversed this arc when they realized how... unfortunate it'd look, with their new shiny Isaac. But were they less cowards, sure, I can see Isaac losing his self-important veneer and becoming increasingly unhinged. Maybe his red hair would grow to symbolize it!

But Hector ends S2 tricked, humiliated, beaten and dragged away as a prisoner. A sheer contrast to how, in canon, he ran away after claiming agency. Carmilla's very existence throws a wrench into CoD's story, because the prequels were all about Hector understanding that working for Dracula is wrong, while S2 was all about Carmilla being the only braincell in the castle and dragging Hector along like a dog to cause Dracula's downfall. Had Hector freed himself from her clutches in S3, we could have still had an interesting story maybe (I'm fond of the Hectorcard plot of him running back to the castle and bonding with Alucard over their grief lol), but I'm not sure how this Hector, a Hector who is wracked with guilt over contributing to Dracula's death, one that is so insecure and hasn't spoken with a human being in years (Isaac doesn't count), would fare with a woman who is meant to be a stand-in for Rosaly (because no way they'd write her as the Rosaly we know: we all know how much the show loves its sassy mean women). Plus, the story would be poorer because Carmilla would be just. lost. which is technically what happens in S3 already lmao Lenore snatches her place - you know what I mean

Therefore, the rewrite has to start even before S3. @chumpovodir once had a great idea about how she'd keep Hector and Isaac as the villains of the story and how the plotbeats of CoD could be shoehorned into the show. Another wonderful alternative comes from @notebookofthedead, that also tries to meet the show halfway through, and even includes a fusion of Rosaly and Julia as Hector's new ally and the spark for his character development lol.

[a-bad-case-of-the-stephs]

How cool it'd be if we got a solo Steph run in the year of our Lord 2024. Something that lets us see her as the captain of her own ship. See her interact with Barbara and Cass sure, but just... Gah.

At least a Young Justice with her as the defacto Bat

Ouhhh it’d be so cool…

I’d kill for a Steph solo series, but a Steph solo series would also probably kill me unless it met my (frankly impossibly high) standards.

You’re very right to mention seperating her a little from Cass and Babs. Like I personally love her (preboot) dynamics w both of them but I kind of detest how they’ve sort of become a ‘unit’. Maybe it’s my anti batgirls 2022 bias but It reeks of shuffling the female characters off to their own little less serious corner without of taking them seriously as independent and fully fledged characters. I don’t know.

Ideally (for me) a Steph centric series could have mentions or interactions w other bat characters while giving her some serious breathing room. Having her lead a team, or be part of one, could be very interesting to see. Definitely would be something new to do with Steph, given we’ve never really seen her lead a full team before.

But on the other hand I’m extremely terrified that whatever comic writer she gets will fuck up with writing her. Like, unless they were straight up close reading her time in robin 1993 and paying careful attention to her character throughout her history.

Which isn’t impossible but probably unlikely if im being honest. At the very least, the odds a writer would align with my readings of stephanie and bring that into a modern series featuring her are low. I wouldn’t want a Steph solo run which is like fixated on her past for the record, but I would really need it to be grounded in her preboot characterizations and history to be at all satisfied w a Steph centric comic. (Though I would love a Red Hood: Lost Days style comic for Steph during her Dead Year in Africa. But again, only if they did it right, and matched my probably insane standards)

The very least I could hope in a Steph series is for it to take her seriously, solidify her current timeline and what’s still canon to it, and give her a future as a character. And that they don’t bring back Cluemaster as a villian for her. I’m kind of sick of that story beat. It’s fine in BG2009, but does kinda come out of left field. I didn’t like how it was done in Young Justice 2019 (i cannot see her trying to get Cluemaster to do ‘family therapy’ with her and Crystal. Like at all.) And I didn’t like it in Batgirls either, (I believe that Cluemaster is at his best when he’s a deeply sad, but normal man whose abuse of Steph and Crystal is realistic and unextraordinary. I’m not really as compelled by the idea he was “training” Steph, unless that was just how he justified his abusive behavior)

Anyways sorry to ramble on. Point is, a Steph centric comic could be spectacular and I desperately want her to get more firmly established it would be so cool, but if it was done improperly it might end my life. So mixed feelings. Thank you so much for the ask!!

[paradoxcase]

The Traitor Baru Cormorant, Chapter 4

This chapter kind of mentally transported me back in time 20 years to when I have vague memories of doing a little bit of reading in the plucky-teenage-heroine-in-medieval-fantasy genre - here we are going to a ball and wearing a gown we don't feel comfortable in, and then throwing a little fit about life not being fair. Not that I think this is going to be that kind of story, but it does remind me of that

The humans don't count, huh? Although I am slightly mystified by what he means by "higher terrestrial life", here. Does he mean no animals deemed smart enough to be pets or working animals? No large mammals? Something else?

It seems like where the Masquerade is concerned, these are probably actually the same reason

I like that there are multiple languages here, and that it seems like they will be playing a role in the coming intrigue, and that the story isn't going to just resort to "oh, everyone just speaks Aphalone, so there's no language issue"

Does it make sense for Iolynic to still be a creole? Based on what we know so far, it sounds like it'd be some kind of Tu Maia/Stakhi creole, but we also know that Aurdwynn has been being variously invaded by those two groups for a very long time now. Is a creole still a creole 500, 700, 1000 years after creolization took place? I'm actually not sure. But I guess it could just be being used in a more vernacular, less technical sense here

Kind of interesting that we've been told by multiple people at this point that women are only respected if they wear skirts/dresses, but this duchess is not shunned for showing up in riding gear. I wonder what the full story is behind Aurdwynn's gender roles

I would have guessed some sexual implication, but I don't know, this second bit makes me double-guess. And it's interesting that she guesses it was Cattlson who offered, but doesn't know for sure. So maybe something political, then? She seems like she is trying to get Baru in her court, or at least gain some hold over her

So Heingyl's house name seems to be the same as his family name, but hers is not. I guess this probably works like European nobility, where their houses are named after placenames, and sometimes they adopt the placename/house name as their family name, and sometimes not? And the family name is Maia, while the house name is Stakhi, which sort of suggests that maybe some Maia dukes conquered this place with a Stakhi name sometime in the distant, or maybe not so distant past

Baru seems to interpret this as a threat, but I wonder if it is actually a warning? I kind of like this character, I want her to turn out to be... well, I don't know if there are actually going to be any good guys in this story, but like, a protagonist. Let's go with that

So we have like a European aesthetic here, but we are eating with chopsticks. That's fine and cool, but now I am wondering about the food - if it's chopsticks, then surely this venison and duck is not being served like it would be served in a medieval Europe setting as an entire animal or large hunk of meat on the serving plate that pieces are carved off of, because that's not super manageable with chopsticks. It would have to be already cut up into smaller pieces, right? I guess this could technically be like some kind stir fry thing with venison and duck as the protein, but it kind of sounds like we are still going for the medieval Europe aesthetic here

Does Baru actually know that Ffare Tanifel was born in Aurdwynn, or is she just assuming? Because that name does not look like is from Aurdwynn. We've been introduced to Tu Maia names, which are all very short, often one syllable, and have at least as many vowels as consonants, and Stakhi names, which seem to be characterized by stark-looking sequences of consonants, and presumably names like Heingyl that have a more generic fantasy feel and use Y as a vowel are meant to be Iolynic, and "Ffare Tanifel" doesn't really look like any of those, and the only doubled letter we have in all of Aurdwynn is the double n on the end of "Aurdwynn", which is a pretty different letter in a very different part of the word. In most books I would be like, well, the author is obviously generating character names with some sort of fantasy name generator and this doesn't mean anything, but in this book, we actually have names with different origins that look recognizably like other names with the same origin, we have X at the beginning of a character name that seems very likely to show up pretty often in the rest of the story, we have Mb at the beginning of the second word of Oriati Mbo, which indicates that the author knows about prenasalized stops, we already have multiple languages mentioned and playing a role in the plot, and we even know the genetic relationships between several of them. And there ain't no one coming up with generic fantasy names that start with "ff" as the first two letters, that's pretty much only reserved for Arthuriana stories where all of the names are meant to be in Welsh. Like, some obvious thought and research into linguistics has gone into the naming conventions of this story. So I feel reasonably comfortable saying that just based on her name alone, I do not think Ffare Tanifel was from Aurdwynn, and I'm sure her treachery was probably more complicated and more interesting than Baru is assuming here. I wouldn't be that surprised if this turns out to be "Baru finishes what Ffare Tanifel started" or something like that, to be honest

I wonder why Baru expects or wants this translator to be a woman? I don't have a good sense of this. It doesn't seem like she's at all concerned about the security of this information, and it doesn't seem like there's a lot of gender expectations for this profession that we know of

On the first readthrough I was utterly mystified by what he was suggesting here, but on the second readthrough, I think Baru might be going to rope Aminata into translating these notes?

[albywritesfiction]

Aro anon here! Dw, I've never felt that you as the author was pushing us to hate Ædan for not loving MC back. I think you've done fairly well, sort of, holding court(?) and showcasing asks without pushing any particular viewpoints.

Important addendum to my thoughts: I personally don't mind being uncomfy! like, not in this instance. Some fiction should be uncomfortable, especially attempting to delve into certain topics. It might be the only way to do it with honestly. It's worth it to read about the raw reactions Ædan gets. I don't want to police people's feelings on the matter - I think that's weird when we're talking fiction. Or worse, for any anons to be less honest going forward! But i do want to encourage self-examination, and give my own honest, first-reaction perspective to consider

I appreciate that you aren't planning to glorify sentiments like that, but i do hope you won't shy away from it altogether. Like, romance is messy, it can cause a lot of "ugly" feelings, and u should get to write the messiest version possible in a romance game 😂 where else to explore this? It'd be different if i was giving advice to a friend about a guy, but this is a story. Pls dw about making MC have "correct" feelings. Indulging in being vengeful, petty, or utterly enamoured with Ædan in the complete opposite direction from before could be really fun! MC being angry at Ædan specifically for not loving MC back is normal, and I think it'd make sense as an option in-game. But it'd be best, I think, to have varied reaction to this in-game. I think it'd be an interesting bit of characterization too, seeing who'd support MC unilaterally in this and who'd give more push-back against an MC who thinks like this.

e.g i think people already want the option to shove their happy relationship with Ædrick/Cyffrin in Ædan's face. There could definitely be a "if you'd picked me, you could've been this happy too 😒" bend to it 😂 so many possible reactions from everyone involved to be had:

Is Ædan actually jealous? What if not? I feel like he already knows his life would've been exponentially easier if he was in love with MC, but he had a decade and still couldn't force it. He knows what he'd feel like in a relationship with MC - utterly miserable. Maybe he'd just be happy that MC has found the happiness he feels with Helene in Ædrick/Cyffrin and say so. Would a Vengeance!MC be incensed about that?? What if Ædan was jealous and regreful! Would MC be pleased with that? Just openly gleeful? How do Ædrick/Cyffrin feel about being used for this so transparently? Or about an MC that's still so focused on Ædan, has such strong reactions to Ædan's opinions, even in a relationship with them?

Messy messy messy 🤗

Hi aro Anon! I was really glad to receive this from you as soon as I had posted my response to your ask, and I'm sorry it's taken me quite a while to respond to this one 😓

It's quite a relief to hear that I don't seem to be biased towards any one version of things. I've been kind of worried about deciding what things should I put a reasonable limit on so that ATE doesn't become too overwhelming to work on while balancing it with the interactivity and branching narratives that I want to delve into, so I'm glad to hear that it doesn't sound like ATE's turning into more of a kinetic rather than interactive novel just yet 😅

I'm glad to hear that you're open-minded about reading, even for works that may go beyond your comfort zone. I especially like how you, in your own words, "want to encourage self-examination, and give my own honest, first-reaction perspective to consider."

I also greatly appreciate all the insights and thoughts you've shared, especially about romance in fiction, the variation in responses to the entire mess Ædan created, and the potential spaghetti of emotions that the cast may experience 🤭

I've reread your ask more times that I can count since I received it all the way back in November 2023 in my attempt to write a sufficient response, and each time I did, I've felt grateful that you took the time to write such a detailed, insightful, and reassuring ask, so I'd like to thank you for sending in this ask, aro Anon, and I hope you have a wonderful day/night!

[horizon-verizon]

I feel like a lot of fans of the show have unfairly internalized all the disrespect that Laenor goes through and he ends up getting way too much hate as a result. Which is disgusting because he’s a Black man and the ONLY gay character in the show. For example, Alicent claims that he was busy “entertaining his young squires” at his sister’s funeral (and basically conflating homosexuality with pedophilia) in the Driftmark episode, and people take that at face value, even though we saw him in deep, deep grief, completely broken, and nearly drowing himself earlier in the very same episode.

Imo a very underrated part of what Laenor has to deal with during this time is that ontop of all of the pressure that is on him, he essentially has to live everyday in the same place as Joffrey’s killer, and can’t do anything about it because Cole is a Kingsguard. His wedding, one of the most disastrous nights of his life. Not only did he have to marry a woman but he had to see the love of his life get violently murdered and the man go off scott free because of the Queen. The same Queen who humiliated him by calling him and his wife and mocking how his children don’t resemble him.

100%, agreed. Part of that is because this show doesn't explore these people's lives and how they interact with each other before the beginning of the war because it already positions the war--the host of spectacles, canon and whatever they will adapt--the thing where they can characterize them all. But fans also tend to not think much about this anti-authoritarian series in its anti-authoritarian-ness either and interrogate the world's effects on its characters for all sort so reasons, so...it's a feed-feed situation.

I already wrote about what I think Laenor and Rhaenyra's relationship could have been HERE, but I have also come to feel that the show still unfairly made Laenor a little less present than his bk!version might have been.

With how the show (stupidly) made Cole a Kingsguard even though he clearly killed one of the groom's family's man (any nobleman, but this makes it worse) under the king's roof (guest rights), we should have witnessed how Laenor deals or not deals with the fact his lover's killer is always so close. We should have seen how this explains why he is so distant w/Rhaenyra and so eager to leave, adding onto how he wants to be a knight and leave on his own instead of making room for the impression that he's just being selfish. I think this would have been a lot more interesting and even with me still thinking this doesn't totally exonerate him, it'd definitely generate more understanding. In the book, Cole also is very homophobic when he says to the green council that they shouldn't allow Rhaenyra to be queen because her sons would inherit Laenor's sexual "perversion", which I think the show sorta used when Alicent made that comment. This could have been expanded and further impressed by including bk1cole's words into the actual show's green council moment. Why not? Because it'd make people uncomfortable? this whole story is about how these people usurped a woman because she was a woman and they wanted power! It's meant to make you uncomfortable and confront these ways people justify their prejudiced power-seeking.

[birlwrites]

How goes Bloodfinch! Are you at the stage of writing parts yet? Is there a particular area of writing (dialogue, point of view etc) that's particularly fun with it?

And another hopefully answerable but somewhat generic question (to give you the power of surprise yet if you want it!): what person and tense have you gone for? or have you varied it according to a pattern of your own design?

If there's stuff to say about the process of writing concerning what brings you joy (and not further worldbuilding/plot details necessarily that I'm sure time will reveal) it'd be interesting to hear it!

Also, as a side note, you said you very much identified with the sliding meme of your opinion on your skills varying. Hence, I desire to communicate that I think you're consistently brilliant! I am curious why you feel that way though, as I was shocked it was somewhat widespread (I have days where things don't go so well writing, naturally as consistency isn't quite how it works as an area, but find my faith in my skills is rather solid and veers only between "I'm fine at it I suppose?" to "oh yes, it's an area of skills I've worked on that I'm good at" with more sporadic bursts of "I'm a genius! I'm so great at this!" never reaching more despairing "I'm hopeless, utterly hopeless").

it goes well!!! i'm having fun!!! i'm nearing 2.5k now - i had a longer draft, but had to frog that since i decided to start the story in a different place. i'll probably grab and reuse snippets of it later on though. and the outline is complete!! i'm hoping that it'll be similar to lachrimae in terms of time it'll take me to write, although unlike lachrimae i'll then do at least one round of editing once i have a full draft, plus then i'll need to do like. layouts and get cover art and stuff

finch, the pov character, is a singer, and i'm having a WILD time being able to write a very highly trained singer - her tutor (dulceis) definitely has. some traits in common with. certain singing teachers i've had. just wrote a line about dulceis standing on the opposite side of the room from finch yelling 'WHERE ARE YOUR CONSONANTS I CAN'T FIND THEM' and. yes

it's first person present tense and it'll stick to that - normally i'm a third person present tense writer by default, but i'm going for first person here because a) we are VERY deep inside finch's head and b) that was the best way for me to make clear that despite her calling herself finch, that's not what other people call her

i also just created yet another saint today, the sea-saint, who's associated with the sea (duh) and those who make their living from the ocean (sailors, fishers, etc), AND ALSO rhetoric, poetry, and all of the word-arts. the sea-saint is associated with fluidity (duh), impermanence, but also a certain type of control - navigating uncertainty. there is a story about the sea-saint calming choppy waters just by speaking to them and persuading them to settle. they're represented with a wave, a seashell, or a siren (this tends to be the less positive side of the saint, representing fickleness, hunger, and misleading appearances)

oh and i also just wrote up a little story about the origins of bloodfinches, because i was going to type up my handwritten notes but writing up notes was boring and writing up a story that conveyed the same information was far more interesting - so perhaps i'll post that! in a different post though, so it can just be its own thing instead of being buried in this response

naturally from finch's pov i also get to go wild with the auditory imagery which is fantastic, and i'm also having a great time with introducing original characters - even though i work with very, very, very, very, VERY minor characters in hp fanfiction, so minor that in many cases i am inventing characterization out of wholecloth, people still already have certain impressions about characters' appearances, personalities, and general vibes. that is not at all the case with completely original characters and figuring out how to introduce them and convey impressions of them is SO MUCH FUN i forgot how fun it was

i think that the reason my perception of my own writing tends to swing back and forth wildly is because i associate it with ease. words are flowing? plot details are blooming? everything feels great! but if i am not living up to my own expectations, if trying to write feels like banging my head against a wall, or if a scene isn't coming out the way i imagined it and i don't know what the problem is, or i DO know what the problem is and it's going to be a shitload of work to fix, or if it's not connecting with readers the way i thought it would, then i do have a tendency to spiral

logically, i am a fairly confident writer, but emotionally, i'm of course more inconsistent, and emotions tend to rule the day when it comes to how i'm feeling about my skills at any given moment. fortunately, i'm at least aware of that, and i know that feeling like it's hopeless means a) it's not actually hopeless, my brain just likes to latch onto worst-case scenarios, and b) it is well past time for a break

a central issue here is that i often expect very high levels of productivity from myself, and so then even if i know it's time for a break, i then am fighting a separate battle in which i have to convince my brain not to beat me up over needing Break Time, and it all leads to me staring at the wall wishing i could put my brain in a washing machine

[redbuddi]

How will you handle the characterization of characters like Sam and Tucker? Danni?

What are some of the biggest changes to the overall story you are looking forward to exploring?

*cracks knuckles* alright here we go!

Sam and Tucker are extremely important to the series, more important than I think people tend to give them credit for, and that importance would be retained in Redux.

Tucker would be more or less the same as the OG Tuck, he's still a big tech geek, still loves meat, is still simultaneously the comic relief and the voice of reason depending on the situation, etc. I mostly plan on just making a few subtle tweaks to his character to flesh him out a bit more than the show was willing to.

Now is the time to mention that Redux will take place the same year the OG show came out, 2004. So the tech that Tucker salivates over will be tech that's dated by our standards, he still uses a PDA like a cell-phone, and carries around a lot of big chunky gadgets like portable CD players and such. While he is mostly a programming guy, he will build and invent things, and will help Danny do the same. He invented Danny's goggles and co-invented the Thermos with Danny.

Tucker is the most emotionally available of the trio, he doesn't always have solutions but he's willing to hear people out, and with his weak constitution he is the least fond of fighting, tho not purely pacifistic. He is the most outgoing of the group as well, but doesn't desire popularity, he's pretty satisfied with his lot in life. He's just a pretty amicable guy and likes to talk a lot. Like in the show, he's been friends with Danny for the longest, and knows him the best.

"Time to hack the mainframe..."

*swats away computer*

"Hello! This is the front desk, right? Sorry, I'm new and no one's told me the company password yet..."

I'd also take out his more wannabe-casanova traits, cause it's just kind of uncomfortable. I see him as more of a jughead-type, commenting on the drama and romance from the sidelines while never himself being too interested in it. He'll still joke about ladies loving him, but it'd be more tongue-in-cheek and self-aware.

Overall he tends to try to outsmart or talk his way out of situations, which can be a huge help, but also sometimes makes things worse. His smooth-talking has a 50/50 success rate.

He has a pretty good relationship with his parents, but can be kind of distant with his Dad, who is pretty overbearing and really wants Tucker to follow in his footsteps as the Mayor. It would be a running joke that Tucker is so disinterested in being the Mayor that he often times doesn't even justify his dad with a response. He will literally just leave if he can tell that that's where a conversation is going.

Sam is probably the character that would be overhauled the most. The OG Sam isn't terrible, but is very obviously an attempt at a counter-cultural character by people who know nothing about counter-culture.

The biggest change I'd make is that she no longer comes from old money. I get what the OG show was trying to do, but even as a little kid I couldn't really buy it or her whole rebellious thing. Not when she still greatly benefited from her family's money.

Instead, she comes from a well-off upper middle-class house, and she hates her parents. Not just because they don't understand her, but because her parents are actually horrible. Her Dad is a lawyer who is always looking for loopholes to get the rich out of trouble, and her Mom runs an MLM selling cheap clothes to desperate housewives (Think LuLaRoe). Her parents don't not love her, but they are deeply terrible people who, at the end of the day, only really care about themselves. Sam has sworn to do everything in her power to not be like them. The only reason she hasn't run away is because they're not home often enough for her to have to deal with them too much.

Danny: "Ow! Watch where you're poking!"

She tries to do as much on her own as she can, up to and including making basically everything she wears out of discount clothes and thrift shop purchases. While she does get an allowance, she doesn't spend any of it, she's saving her money so that she can leave home the moment she turns 18 and never look back. She is more interested in fashion than she often lets on, and dreams of running an eco-friendly fair trade boutique. After destroying capitalism, of course. She designed and made the alterations to Danny's jumpsuit, with the help of spectral thread that Danny had invented for her birthday.

In this series, Sam isn't just a holier-than-thou goth girl, she's a full-on anarchist punk-rock bitch, and she's proud of it. She will always speak her mind when she feels an injustice is taking place, and unlike in the OG series, Danny and Tucker will usually be there to back her up. That said, there's plenty that she gets up to on her own, she has had her brushes with the law, she's gotten into fights, she does not protest peacefully, and she usually doesn't involve Danny or Tucker because she doesn't want them to feel obligated to help her and then get hurt because of it.

She is strongly antisocial, and generally pretty closed off. She is the type of person who will listen to everyone's problems but won't speak about her own unless pushed. She is deeply loyal to and protective of her friends, sometimes to the point of being a little overbearing.

As for Danni, I certainly have thoughts, but I haven't settled completely on how she would fit in to the overall story. I do want her to be in the series, I just need to figure out what her deal would be.

EDIT! Completely forgot to answer the second part of the question!

The biggest change I'm looking forward to is giving Valerie more screen time, haha.

[dumdeeedum]

"Interview with the Vampire" bitching, and what? Spoilers ahead.

The only good things about this week's episode of "Interview with the Vampire" was making it so Madeline saw Claudia as a sister figure and friend, which is much better than having Claudia go with a woman who basically would see her as a child and daughter forever because she didn't want that. I never quite got that in the books and if someone has some idea of wtf that was about I'd love to know. For real. Though I don't see it for Madeline as a character. Is the idea that she's suited to be a vampire because she'd do whatever it takes to survive including fuck Nazis? So like... Claudia killed anti-Nazis...? And one of those anti-Nazis was a woman who was totally cool with the men she hangs out with raping a woman? Alright. (shrug) The other good thing was Lestat finally coming back so the show will be less BORING?? Honestly, I'm starting to wonder if they wrote this show thinking it'd only have 2 seasons so instead of setting up a bunch of Vampire Chronicles stuff that would be so intriguing as to pique interest enough for a season 3 and on they just made this one story much longer and worse. And they didn't have to do and the way they did it is very bizarre. Things DRAG, WHY TO THINGS DRAG?! Why is it sometimes difficult to verbalize what HAPPENED in an episode because it can be summarized in a few words and everything else was just justification for the budget and extras. They had so much extra time to flesh so much out and just... didn't? I have a really hard time staying off my phone through most of these episodes. I looked up when Raglan James showed up again because I like the actor but was confused as to why it wasn't David. It has me assuming they're going to do something where they give Daniel David's body switch body story perhaps? Not entirely happy with that but at least a body switch means I don't have to see that TERRIBLE young Daniel stage ass actor again. He was bad. Armand and Louis are so boring, holy shit. And it wasn't that they weren't also boring in the book but at least I didn't have to sit through hours of it. I'm not even here for them fucking because I bet that's boring too! Fade to black, fine, whatever, otherwise I'd fall the fuck asleep. I just wish I recognized these characters so that even if the story was a bit different it didn't feel so utterly foreign. I don't recognize Armand, Louis, or Daniel and that's pretty bad. These characters are those characters, really, in name only. Instead of using all of the books to flesh out the existing characters they're just making shit up and having these characters do shit they wouldn't do.

I also wish a lot of the changes didn't feel so "edgy" for the sake of it. We don't need things to be gritty just for the fuck of it and in bizarre places. It actually IS more interesting that Armand drives Daniel to alcoholism (they could even have made it drug use) and madness than to have him just be a drug addict with no explanation that might give us some insight into the character. And it's also more interesting to have him do it over the course of YEARS rather than a few nights that didn't actually contribute to Daniel's drug problem and didn't seem to change whom he'd become in any meaningful way other than Daniel going "wtf was that about?" years later and not really remember. So far they seem to be continuously kicking Daniel's characterization can down to who knows when because all that Louis and Armand have been doing is using Daniel's nebulous problems against Daniel either to talk shit to him or make fun of him for it. Daniel isn't forthcoming about the whys of his life and the show doesn't seem concerned with exploring that in any meaningful way that justifies 2 seasons of it. They're dragging their feet in every possible way and it doesn't justify the time spent. What is the function of Daniel being a "gay for pay" drug addict when in the books he was a pretty run of the mill, queer writer who was hot enough to get Louis attention? If he's going to be this fucked up why does he even WANT to be a vampire? How will that solve the problems he has, what ARE the problems he has? At least in the book Daniel was mundane and bored and that contributed to him seeing vampires as fascinating and wanted to be one of them. This Daniel characterization seems more like book Louis in that he's lived as long as he has in SPITE of himself or something? I'd love an explanation if I FULLY missed something but like... the fuck? This is such a weird product all around, I'm so confused, and I really don't want to hear it from anyone about why I'm watching it, mind your own fucking business is why. I really wish they'd set up ALL of the deeply fascinating things Vampire Chronicles has in store instead of teasing JUST Raglan James? Did I miss any mention of "those whom must be kept?" I feel like there was some little throwaway thing? Don't remember now. I don't know, stuff like this is why I think they're writing this show thinking they'd just get to finish "Interview" at best and that's just a weird way to have to do things. I don't even necessarily blame the writers entirely on that account because we know how these networks do things these days and it's in the most asinine way possible that makes it VERY difficult for ANY show to set up several season's worth of content for fear they'll be cancelled after 1 or 2 without getting the opportunity. But it really could have been done just a LITTLE better because they CERTAINLY had the time to do it.

[browniefox]

Another Week, Another Crisis Core Chapter!

Before playing this, I did a TON of sidequests (I got like 30% of them complete) which meant I didn't struggle against any enemies. on one hand, it meant I could get to focus on all the good scenes, but on the other hand, I didn't get to show off any of the new summons I'd gotten ;-;

God I love this church. Because this game works at break-neck pace, I doubt that Aerith and Zack are going to get, like, as many scenes together as I'd like, but I do think this chapter does a decent enough job starting to develop their relationship at the very least.

Zack is so tall I love it, and aw cute little date <3

While I got really frustrated with the little Bruno segment pretty fast, I do like that all the Slums citizens immediately clock Zack as not from around there, and immediately go to protecting Bruno. You can really feel the distrust and disconnect between those above and below plate.

I just Love Aerith <3

Where the general symbolism of monsters and angels is so heavy handed I roll my eyes every single time, I actually really loved this interaction between Zack and Aerith, when Aerith is talking about being afraid of SOLDIERS. To those who know Aerith's story, it's easy to see that she's both projecting her own desire to be normal (why in the world would people sign up to be made less normal?) as well as her own understandable trauma with the Shinra company, onto her thoughts and feelings on SOLDIERS.

Additionally, I love that she's actually scared of the sky. I think in teh Slums, that's not too rare of a feeling.

It's a shame that I feel like the Zack-Angeal relationship is done so poorly at the beginning, because this interaction really makes me start to like their dynamic! Angeal confiding in Zack and trusting Zack really says a lot. Also, I love the detail that Angeal has found that he likes flying, and just kind of carries Zack :D

I do think it's super funny though that it's way brighter and cheerier under the plate than on top of it, and that Zack just totally forgot and put off the mission he was on to go on a not-date with a cute girl.

THE FACT THAT THE FIRST THING ANGEAL SAYS TO SEPHIROTH IS THAT HE LOOKS THINNER SHIT BOYYYYY! I think it just does a lot to characterize their relationship, and especially how this whole thing has been affecting Sephiroth.

Genesis should have just killed Hojo. True good ending <3 It is funny to me that this segment ends with Hojo totally uninjured and honestly, probably happier than before bc he got to do random experiments on Zack.

They put so much effort into making Genesis' model look hot and honestly I love it. When I first saw Genesis in an amv, I thought he was a girl, and I guess that's my hot take for the day is that I think it'd be fun if he was. There is not one single female SOLDIER. There should be more women who got experimented on to be part of the army #feminism

This is here because I was hoping this quest line would mention Reeve, but it didn't and now I'm super disappointed.

I don't think I've seen anyone mention this before, but from this interaction it's implied that Zack is not Angeal's first mentee. Maybe perhaps his most promising, clearly the only one to make it to first, but Angeal had tried to instill his values onto other SOLDIERS.

And then my final thoughts for now is the interesting dynamic between infantry and SOLDIER. Before this game, I thought they were sort of the same group, but no they're actually two very distinct groups within Shinra. I also feel like infantry is often portrayed as always trying to become SOLDIER or something, but mostly there seems to be some resentment towards SOLDIER, and this hate that infantry will never be able to do as much as SOLDIER can. Very interesting, especially when considering Cloud.

[paperandhis-paper]

Arc-V Month Day 3: Duetto of Duelist and Spirit

I'll be honest, I don't have many thoughts on the cards themselves. As much as I love Yugioh, I've always been more interested in the duelists and their drama, and while I love myself a good duel, that's usually more due to the format being a cool take on a standard Shonen Battle-System. Plus, I am absolute garbage at the Card Game. Most of the time, I focus less on the Monsters and their designs and more about what they represent in the story.

SO, I thought it'd instead talk about an underrated aspect of Arc-V, which is the way it uses the cards as an element of the narrative and characterization.

Arc-V, moreso than most, ties the Deck every duelist uses to an element of their personality and their role in the story. Some are really obvious, such as Sora's cute monsters turning into horrible abominations when Fusion becomes involved. Others are more subtle, like how Phantom Knights are much like Yuto after fusing with Yuya. In a few cases, they even use cards as foreshadowing: Dark Rebellion seems like a card that would suck in the Xyz Dimension due to the Level restriction—until you realize it was originally Zarc's card.

This also results in some of my favorite archetypes. Lunalight, Fluffals, Cardians, Abyss Actors, etc. My favorite example, however, gotta be Superheavy Samurai. The concept of monsters that use no Spells or Traps and attack via Defense is already pretty interesting, but it ties perfectly to Gongenzaka's character. His stationary playstyle means he isn't picking up Action Cards like the rest of the cast, which he wouldn't want anyway, making his dueling stand out. But the writers can subvert this to create big moments—Gongenzaka picking up an Action Card to save Yuya in the Battle Beast duel carries a lot more weight because you know it's basically a death sentence for him.

Action Duels had problems in execution, but the concept meant that monsters became more than just ATK plus effects. It made each monster more unique, as they each affected the field in interesting ways. Yuya using Whip Snake as a grappling hook or Shun using his birds as carpet bombers are the kind of action the other Yugioh shows lack. It was a pretty natural way of incorporating motion into the series, and if it wasn't for the writers abusing Action Cards more than was called for I'd happily say Action Duels were the best "alternative" dueling style in the Anime.

@arcvmonth

[spireofdeceit]

Hi! 3, 6, 9 and 12 (TF) and 8 and 15 for Ambulon please

Aecho Hi!!!!!

Transformers

3...which scene I would like to erase from the universe and why.

Auuughgh I'm not even gonna try and think too much but like half the deaths and deaths fake outs in mtmte are grating me, I think if i sat down and actually tried to tell you i wouldn't come up with anything concrete or really worse erasing. Despite how much criticism i give to tf media there's barely anything that makes me mad enough to erase it from existence.

6...which is my favorite platonic or familial relationship in this world.

Charlie and Bumblebee is the biggest comfort to me!! I can't just keep talking abt idw1 LMAO their friendship is so wonderful and I hope we get to see them interact again at least briefly.

9...which characters I think should have interacted more in canon.

Oh man. It'd take another list. I think i would've loved to see Shockwave and Ambulon and combicons in general interact. Would've loved a little more into Shockwave working on the combiners and flashback on the combicons even if vaguely.

Amb got some daddy issues i know he does /j

12...what attracted me into checking it out.

It's actually been with me my whole life i was a HUGE transformers kid with the first two live action movies and tfp, i just kind of fell off when i started using internet much more. I had a HUGE crush on Bumblebee, esp Animated one, even wrote Ded Moroz a letter asking for an animated bumblebee toy. With a drawing. With me and Bee.

I didn't get the toy though and my parents never indulged me cuz they weren't big fans of me being into "boys" things so fucking jokes on them now.

Though if i had to say why i got so much into it recently (its going to be exactly a year since tomorrow. LMAO) its cuz I've had a passing interest in rewatching tfp and then i kind of got Really into starbee and found out about idw1, watched the live action Bumblebee, got Transformers devastation on my laptop, started reading a Lot of starbee fanfiction and eventually started reading idw1 and watching tfa, which became an actual rabbit hole for me. And here I am........

Ambulon

8...if I'm most interested in fics about them that focus on fluff, angst, humor, smut or actual plot?

I'll be real I mostly read fanfiction for smut cuz when it comes to anything non-shippy I'm very picky and particular w the way my favs are characterized and how things are written, but smut is somehow much less commitment to me lmao. Especially w Ambulon I'm very territorial w him.

So yea most fic I've read w him was smut.

I don't mind non-smut/ship fic recommendations I'm just bad at finding fic like that I would like lmao. Which is very funny to me cuz most stuff I write isn't really about shipping.

15...how I wish their story would go/would have gone.

He shouldn't have died like that, my entire Ambulon blog is a fix-it fanfiction. He's such a low stakes character from like. Narrative stand point, that his death is a tool for other characters "development". I don't really like how much his character was warped and twisted in general cuz Jro cannot be consistent w Ambulon for the life of him. But also I get it, y'know? His death was stupid but also not like, getting rid of another bg character is that much of a deal, even though it's insane how much personality and story he was given as a one-off character lmao.

I love the angst around his death though he makes a good story ghost.

[izartn]

I ended the CFC extras this morning (finished the main plot yesterday at unholy hours of the night) and I started writing a post and like. I don't have any idea of wta to talk about first so I will post first my main impressions very quickly.

1. Confirmed; this is my less favorite by Meatbun. Still better than other danmei I've read, in terms of enjoyment and even writing, and honestly I have no problems with the pairing, but by the end I was having to draw my attention back, unlike Yuwu or Erha.

2. I didn't care about the plot despite having interesting and well thought elements; I was annoyed that they keep interrupting my HeXiw time, instead of suffering the angst of it gladly like when the plot is well written.

Related to the above-> 3. I would have loved a book about HeXie without an overarching plot, just about them dealing being a mess, their even messier relationship and their illness. Posts incoming about the development of their charas and then as a couple bc woah. I really like them.

4. CFC is the book of Meatbun where I cared less about the secondaries and the antagonists adding to me being meh about the arch plot. Unlike Erha or specially Yuwu where strangely for me (I usually only care on second or third reads if there's anything to care about), I read attentively and enjoyed the drama of the secondaries, here they felt very window dressing.

4.5 Given that Qingcheng had become basically an human robot by the start, someone impossible to truly connect with and He Yu only cares about XQC and other people incidentally as they relate to his gege.... Makes sense that secondary charas aren't as drawn bc these mains are so self absorbed; in fact the ones I connected best were XQC fam, bc he cares, and even then it was harder.

5. I can't take the sex too seriously, sorry not sorry those mad about it. I enjoyed how it was used as a vehicle to show the state of their relationship bc HeXie won't talk about their feelings or explain anything to each other unless theyre about to die. So like. It has a very clear function on the story and it's also too clearly fantastically porny. Meatbun is clearly enjoying herself so It is what it is. And HeXie are deranged about each other. Nothing new, that. I will comment mor eon those incoming posts.

6. The search of home, and that what keeps one living are the people who love you and the way the lack of this affects so so clearly the characterization of both HY and XQC??? Perfect, super sad and poignant. Typical Meatbun theme, but driven home even harder bc of the way the mental illness aspect, however fantastical, is presented making it a issue to deal with for the rest of HeXie lives. This stuff is why I wanted the story to be even more about them and not Duan Wen and DCZ.

7. XQC wants someone to fully dedicate himself to, bc he has 0 self (although he's learning by end of canon) (that's why he loves kids btw), and HY gives him that lifelong project bc HY will need him the rest of their lives. HY being on suicide watch those two years XQC was recovering and they were investigating HY cure left that very clear. That XQC was going to go the same way via willfully neglect of himself until his sister had his niece and even then was a husk of himself... Two way street. Codepent messes (affectionate and worried) that they both are.

8. He Yu whole everything could have leaned so much more into the Gothic, he had all the elements. Xie Qingcheng too. Meatbun!!!!!! The moment the narration took itself serious were chef kiss for that mood. But if the book were that way all the time I guess it'd be super depressing to read about these two, and anyways I laughed a lot so. /conflicted

9. Finally: Meatbun really wants magic to play with. I'm sorry but it was kinda funny how all the so called low scifi was at the same time trying to be low key and so fantastical in it's effects. The brain transplants, the seruns, the mind control... The Mandela island illusion cover was really well thought though. I really liked that one. And the holograms. She really could have just gone with a low key urban fantasy setting though, she was itching to go there for her plot points.

That's all for now. Expect incoming posts bc yeah, it's rotating in my brain.

[clay-cuttlefish]

more Blue Beetle thoughts, this time about Palmera City. Minor movie spoilers.

I'm really split on how I feel about Palmera City. For the movie, I think it's an excellent choice. It looks cool as hell, and having it be a fictional location works for making Kord Industries directly responsible for its development/gentrification. It also makes sense that they'd want Ted's base to be located close to Jaime so the characters can actually get there, so making up a place that fits both of their vibes is a fine solution.

I don't like that it's being brought into the comics, though. On Jaime's side, he's just so grounded in El Paso. Moving him to a flashy fictional city disconnects him from a lot of the strongest elements of his first solo - it could get interesting, but I'm not sure I'm quite vibing with the direction it's going, and the move doesn't help.

On Ted's side, I mind the move a lot less, but it doesn't really click with him in my mind. If you want to keep Kord Industries building in a fictional city, I really doubt that the Question's going to get anything involving his post-Crisis supporting cast, so it's not going to step on anyone's toes to move back to Hub City and give it some fresh paint. (I'd get Ted being more okay with doing major construction there, it could use some help.) He hasn't been there for a while, but it's not like there haven't been references to it. Also, I dunno, I like Chicago? It'd bother me less if there were references to it being a recent/contentious move, like Victoria had pushed to shift where the headquarters were, but so far I haven't liked his characterization in Graduation Day that much, and Victoria running the company in a city I associate with her rubs me the wrong way.

Really, I don't think it's a problem with Palmera City. It could be really cool! I like its aesthetic, there have been a few locations established that could get some unique personality, it's a good starting point for a place I care about. I just already care about other places more, and I haven't been convinced that moving was necessary to tell a good story. Maybe Scarab War will change that, who knows.

[dirtyoldmanhole]

so i started reading the Fates manga late last night after learning it exists, and this was the best decision ever for characterization/meta learning, omg.

tl;dr of the manga is it's a take on Revelations' story, but from Leo's perspective, so a lot of the early material is much-needed worldbuilding on Nohr social life.

leo is genuinely cool. dude. i want to write that guy now. literal only shota protagonist i like, since his guile is refreshing, and so so much less annoying than corrin's naivety. he's got his heart in the right place but boy does that guy know crystal clear what it takes to survive. seeing how he works with niles is so refreshing.

it's so pretty. i'm shallow enough as an artist i need some top-tier art to reel me into manga. i love how it communicates so much of the body language and the harshness of Nohr life without even needing many words (the cold dark spires in the gloom, empty corridors with many hostile eyes, jumping to orders b/c there's an executioners axe right behind it )-- the contrast between the scarcity (physical and emotional) versus everyone trying to be upbeat and chipper is upsettingly well done here.

also seeing how like - cloistered? dystopian? Nohr life is with class differences. you only see the caretakers (jakob/felicia/fiora/gunter) once or twice and always on the margins. (man, no wonder gunter is genuinely shocked if/when femui hits on him. so much of this manga is retroactively making me go 'ooooooooh..... that's why (random character) was like That.' there's a heavy militaristic/authoritarian tone/contrast that i cannot wait to start really weaving into these fics. especially with gunter being an embodiment of that old order.)

jokingly, i'm not saying nohr is fashkink coded, but -

i've been talking with @damoselcastel about Marx and how he reads so different than the EN Xander in the base Fates script itself, and i LOVE how the Fates manga clearly takes after the JP characterizations, and how shell-shocked he still is from the concubine wars. you definitely get the sense the other nohr sibs don't quite trust him because everyone knows he will be their executioner if they step out of line.

See, after rereading all of gunter's fates (conquest) scripts + support last night a bunch of times before picking this up, it always felt so disjointed. the JP<>EN difference didn't help but it felt like he was several characters in one, from the strict disciplinarian of femui's upbringing, to what i'm calling "off the clock" relaxed gunter with her supports. i couldn't bridge the tonal clash those two, but now -

(this is helping me write that decidedly tasteless nsfw spanking fic with him and young!femui - because now i understand that streak of barely hidden resentment he has towards her between the class angle and his backstory with Garon, and how it'd be ripe for some nasty sexual undertones (that i am totally taking advantage of b/c i m trashy l m a o )

and yet, yet - i'm building a headcanon that when he fell down into the bottomless canyon he had a.... not a change of heart, per se, but after talking to azura, something close to like the only honest conversation he's had given his near death experience. about what he's fighting (and living for) and comes back with priorities rearranged.

also this is really hammering home how uncomfortably naive corrin is. i thought a few of her quirks in the EN fates script was just, classic cringy JRPG 'i fwight for mah fwiendsss' writing, but, sheesh, i don't even have to age her down for that sort of jarringly 'wow, damn you have no life experience with social politics and this is going to hit in some interesting ways w/this ship' vibe.

like the only scene gunter has in the manga he briskly approaches Marx while escorting femui back to krakengard, and starts talking (logistics of oncoming famines etc), and everyone else shushes both of them because "it isn't appropriate to mention such nasty things in front of femui! ^w^;;;" like, whew, there's a lot of emotional mileage for playing with neglect, how lack of transparency can lead to all kinds of abuse, how, almost, cripplingly reliant the nohr sibs are on their underclass of retainers/servants..... and on and on....

aaaa this is so tasty