#and coming to terms with it. but that wouldn't fit the format

[in-fair-verona-we-set-our-scene]

Other reasons Wyll having devil wings would both rule and make sense as a punishment (and why he should have them for me, specifically):

It'd be impossible to pass him off as a weird looking tiefling/he's more obviously fiendish

Maybe even requiring Disguise or Charisma checks at some points of the game to bring Wyll with you?

Hotter? Somehow??? Turns out Wyll can get even hotter

More visually evocative of devils like Mizora and Raphael whose insincerity and "help" contrasts Wyll's sincerity and genuine kindness

But also wings look very noble. Regal, even. It fits Wyll's prince charming aesthetic

Especially contrasts with Raphael's whole farce

Very visible. Can be seen from a distance. Hard to hide

He'd have to alter all his clothes (a pain!)

An excuse for a shirtless Wyll scene? Mayhaps

Bulky. Constantly getting in the way and knocking things over

He'd probably need a bigger tent as well

Sitting or lying down comfortably is even harder than if it were just the horns

Aylin can dismiss her wings at her convenience. Wyll cannot. He'd be stuck with them all the time

Imagine the horror of suddenly sprouting two extra limbs against your will

Using them to shield people

Using them as an umbrella from the rain/sun for a lover/friend like a gentleman (especially for Astarion)

Wrapping whoever he's cuddling or hugging with his wings

As Aylin has shown wings are peak romance. Wyll is a romance guy

Also Aylin-Wyll parallels more visually obvious?!

Wings evoke the idea of a cape. Capes are very heroic

Perhaps he can't fly at first (that'd be OP) but maybe around Act 2 he can glide?

At level 11 or 12 he learns to fly with them or maybe as a character event in Act 3

This would also be around the time Wyll can be freed of his pact(or not) so… symbolism!

Mizora isn't expecting him to escape his contract so his punishment both isolating and making him more useful fits

Plus a punishment that also doubles as a "gift" would fit her vibe. "But I'm so good to you Wyll! Look at the wings I gave you to help you be a hero better even though it was a horrific violation of your bodily autonomy! You owe me!"

Also wings look like a reward instead of a punishment to outsiders, even if Wyll tries to explain. "You did something presumably evil to be rewarded with cool wings by your devil patron" is much more damning and more believable than the truth

Mizora becomes even more insidious and smart in her abuse of Wyll as a result which makes her a more effective villain

Tadpole also nerfed him so Mizora's got to keep her pet warlock alive somehow

Winged but caged symbolism! Wings as ironic symbols of bondage! Wings of bondage reclaimed as symbols of freedom!

Kids would probably think Wyll was even cooler somehow with wings and that'd be cute

I think Wyll specifically would fucking love the freedom of flight. This man would love jumping off cliffs

Literally swooping in to save the day

[jibunbosh]

Mesmerizer is a satire of TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and the rest of the modern short-form vertical video format

A brief thematic analysis.

I'm sure there are countless people already interpreting the imagery and details in this wonderful song & MV, like here and here, so I won't spend too much time retreading that ground. Miku and Teto are dancing. Miku gets hypnotized. Teto signals for help, but gets hypnotized at the end as well.

That part is obvious enough, but that's still pretty surface-level. What is this seemingly hyperspatial horror scenario supposed to mean to us?

While checking to see if anyone before me's already come to the same conclusions as I did and if I should bother not writing this text post at all (lol), I came across udin's great analysis video. She comes to the conclusion that the song tackles themes of disillusionment with reality and the ways we indulge in escapism to relieve ourselves of the pains of the world.

I agree with that reading! From practically the very beginning, we have Miku call to us - the viewer - to push away our true feelings. Teto comes in to peddle a solution, inviting us to surrender and empty our minds - in her words, "pretending to know nothing."

You, the viewer, are a critical character in this masquerade. For nearly the entire video, Miku and Teto's eyes are unfailingly trained on you. Or, well... perhaps they can't actually see you, but they can see a camera, or whatever other aperture the point of view is supposed to be from. And they know they're being watched. (Who else would Teto be sending distress signals to?)

Let's put a pin on that for later.

udin notes very early on that Miku and Teto are, conspicuously, kept in vertical frames - very similar to the video formats of TikTok (and Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts, and whatever other clones of the format exist.) You know, just like the animator Caststation's Rabbit Hole fan MV that went viral some months ago.

Hey wouldn't it be crazy if the song's producer, 32ki, released Mesmerizer shorts too haha. Wouldn't that be crazy.

Wow, wild.

These short-term vertical videos are captivating & alluring. If you're reading this, it's more likely than not that you've also found yourself caught up in them at least once, scrolling through the infinite algorithmic slurry and forgetting about the real-life issues you have at hand. Would you say, then, that you felt hypnotized? Mesmerized, even?

And so these two invite us to join their world and focus on the... uh... rectangle.

Their dances are repetitive, following the same loop. Their outfits are distinct, but their choreography isn't. They're copying the same formula, repeating it ad nauseam to the best of their ability.

They're doing a fucking TikTok dance.

Back to the pin I told you about earlier, with Miku and Teto looking at a camera.

Miku sways with the camera, eyes looking directly at it like a swinging pocket watch. She's been looking at it the entire time, after all. We've been seeing her via our screen this entire time, but, again, she doesn't necessarily see us. She's beholden to the camera, which she dances for day after day, caught up in its spell. She's hypnotized by it. Eventually, she breaks.

Teto, on the other hand, resists. For a while, anyway.

Despite her being the one jumping to us with the "solution" at the beginning of the MV, there's very quickly good reason to question how much agency she has in this. She dances for the camera as well, but she doesn't want to. She's signalling for help. She wants out.

Many content creators (as much as I personally loathe the non-specificity and soullessness of the term) have struggled with the adaptation to the short-form video format, and the preference the algorithm has had for these captivating, bite-sized videos. They're catchy, and easily drive up metrics. Practically anyone who's publishing their work via video format online needs to learn to adapt or fall behind, even if that means whittling their content down to fit the frame, the time, and people's shortening attention spans. Sometimes, that means compromising on specificity and completeness... or, in other words, the true representation of a full work.

The song's writer, 32ki, has been releasing songs on YouTube for several years. Their first YouTube Short, however, was posted only a year ago: a short, whittled-down segment of their previous song, CIRCUS PANIC!!!, hoping for it to win the ProsekaNEXT song contest. It was their first song to achieve widespread popularity and hit a million views.

The shorts, however, aren't the "true" versions of the song. The full song just won't fit.

We're being mesmerized as consumers of this endless stream of content, rather than appreciators of music and art. However, that relationship isn't completely symmetrical across the plane that is the 4th wall. Miku and Teto are trapped not by their attention spans, but by a compulsion to project their "truthful acting" and peddle that window into a colorful, problem-free world.

We, as the collective audience, need not dwell on any one thing for too long - we need only swipe, and move on to the next video. However, Miku and Teto are trapped behind the screen for eternity, day after day.

They're the only characters we get to see, of course. There's no evil 3rd voice synth character that's plotting to keep them trapped in there. We can't put a face to whatever force is hypnotizing them and trapping them behind the screen. It's faceless - like the inscrutable algorithms of YouTube recommendations or the TikTok For You page, or the impersonal corporations that develop & maintain those aforementioned apps. Miku and Teto's likenesses, on the other hand, are being exploited and extracted from for their entertainment value, being strung along by that metaphorical hypnotizing force like puppets on a string.

Many people, represented by Miku, enjoy their success on such platforms. It's freeing and liberating to throw oneself wholeheartedly into such an endeavor, of course! Others, represented by Teto, harbor their doubts of the emotional veracity of such a medium, but know they have little choice lest they face destruction... perhaps not literally as a person, but as an idea.

Wouldn't it be easier just to let oneself be swept away by it and give in?

[sno4wy]

Did you seriously drop that much money to try to make your awful ship more valid? Guess what? You didn't, hope you enjoyed wasting a ton of money. It doesn't matter how much money you pay, you and your lame friends will always be the only ones who prefer your fugly builder with Miguel. Just give it up and go jump off a bridge already.

Hey Anon, based on the three messages you sent me today, it seems that my sharing of my commission from Momodeary in the official Pathea Discord server really upset you. Your rage felt really familiar to me, and I thought about this a lot about why. I'm going to hazard a guess that you're lashing out at me more than usual because of the price aspect, especially for something that seems so frivolous. I get it -- I grew up in abject poverty, and I harbored a lot of rage about it both directly and indirectly for many years. It really sucks not having the money to do what you need, or even what you want, and it can feel like having salt rubbed into the wound when someone else shows off some pricey non-necessity that they got. Everyone deserves to get what brings them joy, as long as it isn't something that causes harm to others, and it sucks that capitalism/corporations/societal structure/etc make most people unable to attain that. I sincerely hope that things improve for you.

I'm fortunate now to do well enough for myself that I can afford a pricey commission like the one that I shared. I got the commission because I like Momodeary's art style, it's not a style that I see myself personally doing, and I'm making it up to myself now for all the things that I couldn't do in the past. I wouldn't be so presumptuous as to say it was to support the artist, as she has tons of clients and certainly didn't need my money, I'm really lucky to have been able to get a slot with her. If you have the means to do so and want to, I really suggest contacting her directly -- the worst thing she can say is no, but more likely is that she'll put you on an (admittedly long) waitlist. The point is, if you're upset about not being able to get a commission from her, don't write it off until you try. Worse comes to worst, she can't fit you in, but there are tons of skilled artists out there with similar styles that you can commission instead. It's ok though if you have your heart set on Momodeary, most artists are very accommodating as long as the client is understanding and willing to wait.

If your anger has to do with not being able to afford a commission from Momodeary, I'm really sorry about that. There are some ways that I can help, if not directly to get you a commission, but perhaps means to address the funds shortage issue. I managed to claw my way out of poverty, and in the process picked up more than a few ideas and tricks, however at the end of the day, there is no magical get rich quick scheme, and everything that you hear about how to find a job is sadly mostly true. For instance, a good resumé is an integral part to finding a job, and a big part of what makes a resumé good is proper formatting. Having gone from someone who sent out hundreds of resumés to someone who's had to review hundreds of resumés, I can tell you that so much of the time, it's a lot less about the contents of the resumé and more about its appearance. Countless qualified, heck, overqualified, people get turned down for positions because their resumés don't even get looked at. I'm happy to look over a resumé if you'd like, and of course I'd understand if you need to anonymize most of it before showing me. Please note that it is sadly the case that having a good resumé, or in many cases, all the correct qualifications, don't necessarily guarantee you a job. Connections are at least, if not more, important, so don't be shy about asking for help from friends and family in this aspect.

Finding and securing a job can be a long-term project though, so picking up some side hustles might be a good way to generate some income, especially as you can keep these side hustles after finding a job. A lot of people have even done so well with their side hustles that they were able to make them into their careers. I'm happy to make suggestions, but I'm afraid that my knowledge is chiefly confined to the US and my ideas may not be applicable or workable in other countries. I have found however that a fairly universal way to generate some income via a side hustle is through selling crocheted items. Crochet is very quick and easy to learn and master, and yarn is very cheap, especially if you get store brands like Joann's Big Twist. Red Heart Super Saver is also very cheap yarn that comes in a ton of colors. There are countless free patterns on the internet, and ones that aren't free tend to be pretty cheap, generally within the $5 range. It is totally legal to sell the stuff you make from purchased patterns; some patterns even explicitly state that this is the case. The best part about crochet is that you can do it while doing other stuff, like commuting to your job, watching a show, listening to music, etc. It's totally possible to churn out a ton of crochet animals (amigurumi) in one day. Dipping into fandom stuff by making characters from a certain franchise is a great way to sell crochet products. Another really cool thing is that there doesn't currently exist a way for crocheted items to be mass produced; while there are items that look crocheted, they're actually sewn together pieces and not true crochet. Machines can't currently make crocheted items. Buyers looking for real crochet products want something that only a human can make.

Online marketing tools are also pretty solid. Etsy is the way to go for handmade crafts, although they do take a pretty hefty fee (15%). You can try to cut down on that fee by listing on your own social media, in which case you'd still have to pay a 3-5% handling fee for payment processors, and it can be a pain trying to beat social media algorithms. If you're handy with TikTok, that's a great way to boost awareness of your brand, and you can use those same videos as Reels on Instagram and Facebook to get your accounts noticed faster.

If you're an artist, you could of course always try to go the commissions route, but I've found that this is a much harder uphill battle than trying to break into the scene marketing crochet goods. If you do decide to give crochet a shot, I really recommend investing in a quality hook -- Clover Armour is many crocheters' go-to. They are pricy, around $9 for a hook, but they last forever and they're super comfortable to use. You only need one to start -- I recommend the size G (4.0 mm) one, as that goes with the most common yarn weight for a lot of amigurumi. Big Twist and Red Heart Super Saver are also both Worsted weight yarn, for which you use a G hook. If this is something you really want to do but are really tight on funds, I'm happy to get one of those hooks for you, just tell me how to get it to you.

I have a lot of other ideas for possible side gigs, which all will require a lot of work, but will return income. However, I'd just be spitballing, so hit me up if you want to talk shop. You know where to find me. ;P

[lalalian]

futuristic dr ideas pt.2

date: march 29, 2024

trends in a futuristic world

includes beauty trends and augmented reality stuff

Glass Hair

Glass hair would probably be more popular for runway models rather than the average person. I think iridescent or glow-in-the-dark hair would be more of trend because it's more flashy. Fashion styles would arise from this trend such as celestialcore, mirrorpunk, and glowstreet.

Celestialcore fashion

People who wear celestialcore would likely have iridescent hair and would wear flowy silk clothing that shimmer in the light. Add ons to micro skin repairing bots in your bloodstream would make your skin automatically look incredibly dewy. Holograms that make small pixies circle around you or animate angel wings on your back. Hologram software is less expensive and more convenient (because the wings can phase through objects, physical wings cannot). Physical wings would require the person to get wing attachments to their back, but it'd allow you to fly. Stylized eye contacts that make the irises seem as if they're jelly or glowing would also be a common styling choice. Voice box adjustments (to use these adjustments, you'd download software to the tiny medical bots in your bloodstream) that make your voice sound slightly echoy would also be relevant to this style. Something that'd be a must have when it comes to celestialcore fashion would either be no legs, cybernetic legs, or levitating heels/shoes. Outfits would consist of white and pastel colors.

here's a few images that resonate with this style:

pic1

pic2

pic3

Mirrorpunk

Imagine aespa's savage photoshoot, black sleek clothing but with the sharp and almost melty looking silver jewelry. Aespa's drama photoshoot would also kinda fit, but it'd need more silver jewelry. Outfits would often consist of crimson, black, white, and silver. Some people that wear this style incorporate more silver elements, these people eventually coined the term 'Mirrormelt', which officially became a substyle of mirrorpunk. Many people who wear mirrorpunk swap out one or more of their limbs with a cybernetic limb that has the same aesthetic as the sharp silver jewelry (idk how to word it, i hope you know what I'm talking abt T-T)

here's a few images that resonate with this style:

pic1

pic2

pic3

GlowStreet

Essentially street fashion but with glow-in-the-dark elements. Loose or baggy clothing that is considered casual with glow-in-the-dark streaks of color usually in the hair and other parts of the outfit. I don't think images are necessary for this one.

Animated Tattoos

A flower blooming from a bud would probably be one of the most popular design choices. Flower petals falling down arms or legs would also be another popular choice. Animated tattoo sleeves would look like a full on moving painting, but they'd probably be pretty expensive. I think I mentioned this before on tiktok, so if you think you've seen this idea already, it may have been from me.

I think people who like to dress in darker styles would have animated eye tattoos on their bodies that would open and close.

Another cool idea would be color changing tattoos!

AR and Books

Okay so obviously physical books aren't going to be a thing in a high-tech cyberprep world-- but do you know what would be a thing? Augmented reality story games. AR is essentially VR except you can feel, smell, and taste everything as you would in real life. Shifting but with technology. Imagine games like Detroit Become Human and FNAF but in this format-- wouldn't it be a hit? I think it would.

I still think that e-books would be a thing, but I could definitely imagine that some of the most popular chapters would get AR adaptations.

To access an AR game or chapter, you must go to an AR Arena to rent a suit and the appropriate equipment.

oki i think this is good enough for one post. I think I'll talk about entertainment places like unique cafes and cyber parkour arenas in the next futuristic post

[dark-bear-productions]

Don't give up on an idea you love

I'd like to tell you how I started Hunting Darkness, the transmedia project I'm working on. You might find a cool new piece of media, you might find a bit of personal motivation, and you might find a fun new blog to follow, but you'll certainly find an insight into the creation of the project I am dedicating my life to.

First: if you're unfamiliar with the term transmedia and are hoping it's media by and for trans people, I'm sorry to disappoint you: that's trans media. No, transmedia is when you combine stories told through different media to create a larger whole. (Although I'm happy to say Hunting Darkness features characters who are trans, non-binary, gay, bi, ace, and more, as well as many characters whose gender identity or sexual orientation never comes up and can be freely interpreted).

With that bit clear, let's get this story going.

It began in 2016, after I played The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and -- inspired by my parents' love for Victorian and SteamPunk aesthetics during a visit to their house -- wrote a rain-sodden, blood-soaked, action-packed story about a team of five slightly SteamPunk Victorian Monster Hunters fighting a massive pseudo-vampire that had mysteriously appeared in a warehouse.

I intended to expand the story into a debut novel called Hunting Darkness -- yes, the name stuck -- but ultmately failed to turn it into something that satisfied me and tried moving on. Unfortunately for my mental health, I kept coming back to that idea of Victorian Monster Hunters, my beating Bloodborne in 2019 adding fuel to the growing fire.

From time to time, some story idea would excite me and I'd begin writing once more only to inevitably think "This would be great for Hunting Darkness." I'd then open my old files, go over my notes and ideas, and try once more to get something out of it. I'd rearrange concepts, tweak my ideas, adjust my themes, and eventually realise it was a much too big and unwieldy a project, I'd never fit it into a novel, and I had better give up.

On it went. I wrote thousands of words and never finishing a story. Eventually, I pretty much gave up and stopped writing altogether.

Then, in late 2022, I listened to The Magnus Archives while doing some (very dull) data management at my new job. I had never really listened to an audio drama before -- unless you count the time I accidentally listened to an old radio drama on shuffle while temporarily blind -- but I really liked this format of stand-alone stories lasting about 20 minutes each. Of course, I then thought of some scene I had cooked up for my Monster Hunters and wondered at how much fun it would be to write a series of stand-alone monster hunts for my very own audio drama.

And then it finally clicked.

My partner Luca studied transmedia storytelling in college and had excitedly told me about it many times, but I'd never considered that Hunting Darkness might be a prime subject for it. Now, however, I wondered if it wouldn't be nice to create an audio drama solely for the writing of monster hunts.

I began working on From the Bay of Fangs, playing on the idea of reports written by Hunters being used as advertising for their services. When I fleshed out my world building and it became clear the Hunters would be government agents, I decided to change the tone from advertorial to propagandistic.

This then sparked the idea that not everyone would just accept this propaganda, leading to The Dark Truth, a series of in-world posters objecting to the stories told in From the Bay of Fangs, accompanied by a story about a government agent trying to find the people behind those posters in order to save her career.

At this point my creativity went into full swing. I officially created a (one-person) company called Dark Bear Productions, created a website, shared some of my worldbuilding, and am now publishing both From the Bay of Fangs and The Dark Truth independently while writing more Hunting Darkness stories and coming up with more still.

It's been stressful, I won't lie. I quit my job in order to work on this and I'm hoping I can find those people who'll find Hunting Darkness as cool as I do -- although I'm sure they're out there.

But it's also been fun and exhilarating and inspiring and it just feels like what I should be doing. So if you have something you really want to write but can't figure out how: consider transmedia! Or just explore some more stories when you can and see if anything clicks. If you share the results with me, I'll check it out. I can't promise I'll like it, but I can promise I'll like you for having created what you had to create, no matter the self-doubt along the way.

Take care!

Daan

[lgcxsarang]

WORKSHOP OPPORTUNITY 002 ; SOLO

a one on one.

those were always a little nerve-wracking but sarang put on the bravest face and she could and bowed to her coach as she walked into the meeting room. she found her seat quickly after that, not speaking until her elder spoke first. there was a little small talk, maybe to get her comfortable? sarang felt it was easy enough to see she was small buddle of nerves.

what do you think are your strengths right now?

the first question wasn't hard to answer, it was something she knew right away but sarang did want to give a full answer.

"right now, i'd say my strength's strength's are dancing, rapping and performing. i've always been comfortable with rapping, i think it's the skill i think i struggle the least in. there is just something about rapping that comes natural to me and i feel comfortable in it. i would say i feel about the same when it comes to my dancing. there are some dance styles i would i like to improve on because you never know what concept's we'll get in the future and i want to be able to rise to any challenge but it's also a skill i feel confident in. and when it comes to performing, i think it's the time i feel most comfortable in my skin. normal face to face interaction's are a little harder but there's something about letting go on stage that i feel shines through when i perform."

the entire time she spoke, her face was focused on a little spot on the wall behind soyi, until she shifted her gaze to fully look at a face that gave away nothing.

what are three skills that you would like to work on in the next few months?

"the skill's i'd like to focus on in the next few months…i'd have to say, my singing, english skills and variety skills. singing is a fundamental, i don't know what parts i might get if i debut but i want to be able to do whatever i'm done to do with confidence. i think i've improved on the fundamental but i think i get weak when it comes to singing during a performance. i'm a little more unsure myself it's a roadblock i'd like to get past. the same applies to my skills at variety, i know that i would have to promote on tv and go on various shows. it's something people don't think of when it comes to being idols but i think it can be helpful. and my english, because it's such a universal language, you can connect to a lot of people, as idols that's something we'd have to do so i think it'd be helpful in the future."

that question had been easy to answer as well. her singing had improved a lot but she knew it needed more work. it was her main concern and focus, the other thing's were something she wanted to work overall, important but not as important as carrying a tune.

if given a chance, what types of gigs would you be interested in participating?

"i think it'd focus on acting and pod-casting. they're very different but i think they both fit different sides of my personality. in terms of a podcast, it's a way to connect with people but also has a degree of separation that i'd enjoy. i have a lot of interest, so it would be fun to talk about those with someone or do a review of a tv series! i think it could go a lot of ways and there are a lot of thing's you could do with that format. as for acting, not only am i studying that in school currently, it's almost like performing for me. if i couldn't be on stage as singer, i'd like to be in a drama. the feeling of being able to become another person? that's something i'm interested in. and it wouldn't hurt to put my degree to use."

that answer had come quickly too, acting was first on her list between the two. pod-casting would be something great to have in her down-time. maybe a solo debut but she but acting was the first thing she wanted to try outside of her group, if she ever made it to the debut phase. it wasn't her main love but it was something she did love and was willing to study.

during your time here in legacy, what are some of the lessons that you’ve learned about yourself?

"hmm, this is a little hard…when thinking about myself. i think the biggest thing being a trainee at the company has given me a sense of a community? i don't think i really had that while i was going through middle school and high school? i did find community's outside of that but school was every single day. and being apart of one…i think i've done well. it's something i'm doing everyday focused on a goal that everyone around me has. i think i've learned that it's okay to come out of my shell, i'm not perfect at it but i have the ability. i think i've learned to believe in myself a little more…and i didn't realize how little i believed in myself before that."

the last question did take a little time to answer. it was unexpected and something she hadn't given much thought too. she wasn't sure if it was the answer they wanted, if they event had one in mind but it was what she had for now. there was a little more chatting before she was finally allowed to leave with a final bow.

[pokebloggingnetwork]

SUBMITTING A BIO

I realized that submitting a bio/the bio itself wasn't as clear as I first thought it was, so in this post I'll be going through how to submit a bio, as well as the entire bio itself! If you have any questions after this, please let me know! Also, I struggle with tone, so a blanket statement that none of this is meant in a condescending way! Sometimes this site is not very clear to use - Mod Zoroark

First off, how do you submit a bio? Submissions are done through the "Submit" tab. Here's what it looks like at the top of the desktop site.

See the word "Submit"? Just click that!

When looking at the blog on your dash (as well as on mobile, I believe?) the submit button is made available after clicking the circle with three dots in it, as shown below.

Submitting a post instead of sending it as an ask allows you to format it in ways an ask wouldn't, and also allows it to be posted as a normal post, instead of an "ask" post. It also means you can add images and links to your bio, which wouldn't be possible with an ask!

I'll be explaining the full bio itself under the cut. Apologies, mobile users, I'll tag this with Long Post as well.

To start with, only the parts of the bio that don't have "Optional" on them are required for a bio. Though, of course, when it comes to the "Mod" section, you can answer as much or as little as you like, since that's your personal information, not that from your character. This bio can be personalized as needed, as long as it's clear! I'd like to make sure these are all easy to read, if I can!

[URL] - Your URL! I usually modify this so it @'s your account, and is thus allows someone to immediately interact with you!

CHARACTER/S (Duplicate for each character) - This is a section heading! you can remove everything after the /, as that's just to indicate that this section can be duplicated if your account has more than one character on it!

Name: Your character's name, or nickname! Whatever they're addressed by on the account! Pronouns/Terms of Address: Your character's pronouns, and how they prefer to be addressed, such as masculine terms, feminine terms, neutral terms etc. You can be as vague or specific as you like! Age: How old they are! Occupation: What their 'job' is. It doesn't have to be an actual job - for example student or trainer fits here! - just something they do. Pokemon: (Optional) A list of your character's current pokemon team! Current Region: (Optional) Where your trainer can be found! You can also add their home region, if that's different Preferred Type: (Optional) What their favourite type is! To train, or otherwise. You don't need to justify it at all! Support Pokemon?: (Optional) If they have a support/service pokemon. Any pokemon that aids them due to disability (or any other reason one might need a service animal) Evil Team Affiliation: (Optional) If you character currently is, or previously was, part of an evil team. This is especially useful for finding other characters who aren't exactly "Moral" Appearance/Distinguishing Traits: (Optional) What your character looks like, or something unique about them! Usually appearance, but can also be behaviour or otherwise!

MOD: - information about you, the writer!

Name/Nickname: How people should address you. It can be whatever you're comfortable with! Follows From: The blog that turns up in people's notifications when you follow them! Pronouns/Terms of Address: How people should refer to you Main: (Optional) What your main blog is, if it's separate from the one you follow from Adult or Minor?: (Optional) If you are an adult or a minor. Does not have to include your actual age! This is mostly to account for people who are minors not comfortable interacting with adults, and vice versa Comfortable with Adults/Minors Interacting?: (Optional) Specifying who you're comfortable with interacting! This allows you to indicate what your boundaries are in regards to age. Other: Anything else you feel is important for people to know! It can be about your blog or yourself, such as if you're comfortable with people interacting if they interpret pokemon as sapient/human level intelligence, or if your account is run by a fictive from the pokemon world just wanting to pretend they're back there. We do have a specific fictive tag now for those who want to meet other pokemon-world fictives!

NAVIGATION: Convenient links and such!

Links: Links to things like your pinned, about me etc! Other: Anything else you think is important, navigation-wise, like other accounts to find you on or your art tag!

OPTIONAL, ADD AS NECESSARY: Completely optional questions that aren't part of the other sections.

Account Does RP?: (IE, Account has character interact with others as if they’re both interacting in-person instead of online) Basically just whether or not your character is willing to do 'in-person' rp, in which your character and the other character interact in-person. What you would usually think of when someone says rp, basically! For pokeblogging accounts, there's usually not much of this, since it's primarily about 'tumblr accounts but in the pokemon world'. Other Accounts: Like other in the navigation section but more specific.

Alright, that should give you a decent understanding of both the bio, and how to submit a bio for your own account! If you have any questions, or need this guide to be reformatted for readability, please let me know! I'm happy to help however I can!

Have fun, everyone! - Mod Zoroark

[iviarellereads]

A query!

We're coming up on the end of Harrow and about to start Nona the Ninth. Nona will wrap some time in July, but I like to have a lot of lead time to settle the details of projects, so here's a question for everyone following here:

Do you think there's a book or book series that would benefit from this kind of close read, looking for references, foreshadowing, and theme?

(I'm not looking for book recs generally, this is specific to this blog's format. And ideally I want to read something at least slightly lesser known, not the big 4 or 5 names of cishet white dudes that get thrown around whenever someone asks for recs.)

As I say in my first, pinned post, I've done the Wheel of Time in this format for some friends and shared the rough cut notes with a few Discord servers focused around that series. It wouldn't be a particular hardship to reread and refine those notes for posting here. Indeed, the Wheel of Time and the Locked Tomb have a lot of DNA in common, and not just the chapter icons. It would be the easy answer, and I think a lot of TLT fans would find that they enjoy WOT more than they expect to based on the premise. An epic fantasy political saga that takes place across a whole continent, told significantly from women's points of view within the world (after the first book which is 80% one dude), written by a man who was trying, in the 1990s, to upend misogyny without quite understanding what misogyny was. It's imperfect, but incredible, and his setup/payoff, foreshadowing, and worldbuilding have some great and terrible lessons to be taken into the next generation of epic fantasy. This would be my fourth time through the series and I wouldn't regret or resent it.

But, I've also considered doing this for other stories. Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials, Naomi Novik's Scholomance (recent as they are, they've stuck in my head as examinations of chosen hero and fated villain tropes). Perhaps something like Michael Ende's The Neverending Story, or get real meta with William Goldman's The Princess Bride, in conversation with its genre trappings and the film adaptation, or John Scalzi's Redshirts, in conversation with the Star Trek franchise.

Then there are the books I don't feel qualified to examine in my way, or that I feel my particular analysis would fall short of doing justice to. I'm not so well versed in any mythology to address any of the various, wide-ranging modern takes we've seen of particularly Greek mythology in recent decades. A lot of stories don't have as much in the way of long-term arc foreshadowing or references to pop culture for me to feel confident interpreting in this format. And then, some stories like Becky Chambers's Monk and Robot which is both too short and too self-explanatory, there's little for someone like me to add.

There are stories I'd love to deep dive into one chapter at a time for indulgence's sake, but wouldn't necessarily add much value to the series unless you count detailed chapter summaries existing.

So, I ask the people who have come to see my format: what do you think I should deep read next? Can you think of a series that fits my vibe better than my thoughts above? Let me know in the replies or an ask!

[redhydrogen]

EP Review:

SCARING THE HOES: DLC PACK (JPEGMAFIA x Danny Brown, 2023)

(First Listen)

I've decided to change how I format my posts. The Eminem Show and business casual reviews have been updated with the new formatting.

Scaring The Hoes was my album of 2023. In an era where rap albums keep feeling generic, with no passion put into them, Scaring The Hoes was a much needed breath of fresh air. Yet, when the DLC pack dropped, I just...never listened to it. I kept forgetting, kept putting it off. I loved the album, and had a feeling I'd love the DLC too, but I just never got around to it. I decided to change that today, and thank god I did.

Firstly, I adore the cover art. The vape packaging, along with the "disclaimer" and the background that looks like a generic online store page are absolutely fucking hilarious, and I hate that I didn't come up with the idea myself.

I can only assume that the 4 songs on here were originally meant to be on the album tracklist, but taken off in favor of other songs, or possibly some other reason. The opener of the DLC sounds like a calmer alternative to Lean Beef Patty, and while I do like the track, I think that they made the right call choosing Lean Beef Patty as the opener instead; it represents what Scaring The Hoes is all about. Though I enjoy the song, it is the weakest on the DLC, in my opinion. The SpongeBob samples are funny though.

I love the production and beats on every song, but HERMANOS has my favorite beat by a country mile. The smooth, chill beat gives me the vibe of opulence, almost like sitting on top of the world, and Danny and Peggy both flow on it in a way that fits said feeling. However, what really takes the cake for me is the beat switch at the end of the track. Good fucking lord, the beat switch is perfect. I'm almost mad that they didn't rap on it, but it's so hard that I can't bring myself to complain about that fact.

Tell Me Where To Go has a feeling that I honestly wish was on Scaring The Hoes. It's calmer, more laid back and even a little introspective in terms of the lyrics. It's because of all these things that the track most likely was cut, seeing as how none of that stuff would have really fit on the album, but I honestly think Scaring The Hoes would have benefited from having this song on the full tracklist. I really enjoy what this track offers, though I'd need to be in a certain mood to wanna hear it.

NO! x32 definitely has a closing track vibe to it; it almost feels like the polar opposite of Where Ya Get Ya Coke From off the full album. If that song was like stopping at every red light and speeding at every green light, this song is like speeding through everything. The sample sounds similar to the one on HOE, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was a different segment of the same sample. This one is my second favorite track on the DLC, though I could do without Danny's spoken word at the end.

For being a small collection of B-sides, the DLC pack for Scaring The Hoes is a very strong offering that is a perfect companion piece to the full album, and a must-hear for anyone who enjoyed it.

Guess What Bitch, We Back Hoe! - 7/10

HERMANOS - 9/10

Tell Me Where To Go - 7/10

NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! - 8/10

Favorite Song: HERMANOS

EP Score: 7.8/10

[seeyouafter]

SYA Extended Notes Ch. 28

Notes for "See You After" Chapter 28: July 3: Shouto

“Oh, I think Ginkgo had her babies,” Shouto said as he spotted the large koi that had several golden fan-shaped markings on its back. The swelling in her abdomen had disappeared since he’d been here a few days ago. He wondered how long it would take for the eggs to hatch. “You named the fucking fish?” Shouto just shrugged and pointed at a white koi with black spots, “That one is Ushi.” “Why, ‘cause it looks like a cow?” Bakugou asked, “Holy shit, you really suck at naming things.”

As I mentioned in this post, this chapter (as well as Shouto's text threads with his siblings and with Katsuki in the previous one) didn't exist until a few weeks ago when I was going through and organizing all the chapters for Part II.

As frustrating as it might be, Shouto and the rest of the family going away is a necessary part of the story because:

a) it's part of (this version of) Shouto's journey coming to terms with everything that happened

b) plot-related things that become relevant in later sections

but mainly: c) having the physical distance between Shouto and Katsuki was necessary for the basic premise of this story (because the epistolary format, especially the letters, wouldn't make as much sense if they're able to see each other all the time and interact in person)

The main reason I added this chapter was that I realized it didn't make sense for Shouto to leave without saying goodbye after all the progress he and Katsuki have made in recent chapters. But also, I just really wanted them to be able to see each other.

In regards to the Todorokis' destination: As far as I know, there's nothing in canon that specifically says where Rei's family was from so I'm just making things up to fit this story. I needed somewhere far enough that it would be inconvenient for them to see each other and I figured that families with ice quirks might be more likely to gather in colder climates like Hokkaido.

As for Katsuki's comment about Endeavor (“Fuck him. Why does he get to stay here and be a hero while you clean up the mess he made?”) Yeah...I feel the same way. But we'll get to that eventually.

[ren-shonen]

For the fanfic ask meme – I: Do you have a guilty pleasure in fic (reading or writing)? (or just a theme/motif/etc. you enjoy, guiltiness aside)

I mean, I think I've discussed this before in your hearing, but I don't really think about things in terms of being "guilty pleasures" — guilt implies that I think I'm doing something wrong, or something I shouldn't be doing, and imo that doesn't really apply with fic. I have plenty of things I read that I wouldn't necessarily advertise, but that's more because it's nobody's business or because it just isn't something to bring up out of the blue except certain spaces. But my AO3 bookmarks are, I would say, not particularly shy.

As far as themes or motifs that crop up a lot, though, hmm.

On a broad level, hurt/comfort is probably the thing most likely to draw me in with a fic. There's something about "things are bad, but not entirely bleak, and we're not alone" that just resonates with me really hard. It balances and contrasts sharp and sweet in a way that is satisfying, too. I particularly like that it has the potential to explore things like the paradoxical pain that comes with relief: with the difficulty finally lifting, but when it all fully lands — when a character has space and safety enough to "lose it," and to grieve.

Some more specific motifs include: food as an expression of love; touch as a vitamin/nonsexual physical intimacy; and ambiguous relationships — especially relationships that are close but aren't easily encapsulated by an established category. I feel particularly strongly about that last one, actually. (And I doubt any of this comes as a surprise to you whatsoever! lol)

Specifically as a writer, I think all of the above definitely fits. My favorite fic of what I've written so far is also the one where multiple people said it made them cry! So I think there's probably some notion of enjoying evoking strong, resonant emotions in the reader. Intimacy, resonance, intensity — all apply.

Format-wise, I tend to write a lot of vignettes, little isolated moments in time, but that's more due to the fact that I have yet to develop my plot-writing chops than from any innate preference, maybe? (I think it mostly stems from the fact that, as a writer, I started out writing poetry! Long-form prose is honestly still very challenging for me.)

Perhaps in that sense, writing straight-up verse is a bit of an indulgence for me specifically, mainly because I have less confidence that others get as much out of it as I put in. (This bears out, so far: my two actual-poem fics get the least interaction out of the whole batch of works I wrote for heart sounds. The person I wrote them for loved them, though, and that's enough.)

[dukethomas]

comics that i wouldn't be able to write but desperately wish existed: a karma 4-5 issue miniseries that explores her characters history, including what happened to her before her first appearance in marvel team up 100, her own feelings on the formation of the new mutants, coming to terms with her queerness, etc. and most importantly it would reaffirm her origin as a vietnam war refugee, fuck the sliding timescale, and show how that has affected her as she faces hostility in a new country for being vietnamese and for being a mutant, as she takes on responsibility far too early in having to raise her younger siblings, how this has influenced her own personal philosophies abt freedom and control, etc. i’m so happy with her name change but i am also always mourning that probably her vietnam war refugee backstory won’t be directly touched ever bc they can’t make it fit with the sliding timescale but in my interpretation of her it is so key to her character

[mengyao]

4 and 16!! :)

4: Share a sentence or paragraph from your writing that you’re really proud of (explain why, if you like)

from the letter to nmj in the last chapter of foowd:

I hope you would wish me well. I want to believe that you do, even if what I’ve become is unintelligible to you. All I can hope is that I will succeed in making myself unintelligible for reasons besides doing things that appall you. I still have some good qualities. Some of which you used to bully me about lacking! I’m certainly wiser than I was. More patient, too. I have developed somewhat of a sense of responsibility, and am much more independent and capable. But all of that has been true for years. The newer things… let’s just say that there are fields inside of myself I thought I salted, where things have taken root nonetheless.

this letter was some of the earliest stuff i wrote in the fic, because it was grafted from a scene cut from an earlier (canon era) fic, but it wasn't in letter format then, and it of course shifted a lot to fit this specific story. this paragraph was written much later.

even though this isn't how story structure works, i kind of consider that fic as having three "climaxes"... one being the flop proposal/sangcheng breakup, one being the eleventh-hour sangcheng makeup, but in between them is the part where nhs writes the letters... this one feels like the real climax of the fic in some ways. not in terms of tension but like. emotional weightiness rating????? nhs just could not have gone on to say "fuck it, i want to be with the person i love even if it means i can't fake my death and go into the self-imposed exile for the rest of my days that is the only way i've been able to conceptualize/justify quitting my job and taking the L permanently on the person i was supposed to be," if she hadn't come to some degree of peace with the fact that she'll never know what nmj would have made of these choices. if it feels like a betrayal of family/sect/etc, that all gets symbolically fixed into grief and guilt about specifically nmj, and that's the real barrier here--not anyone else in the world at large, really. but it felt like a very delicate needle to thread because i emphatically didn't want nhs' arc re: her family/nmj to come across like "realizing that your family sucks and having a victorious fuck-you-guys-i'm-out moment," because that would be severely out of character and also the nies' problem is not Bad People but intergenerational dysfunction and reverberating tragedy. so "i love you and always wanted to make you proud and am having to accept the risk that i wouldn't, because i have to believe that you loved me and wanted me to be happy more than you wanted me to be the person i should have been"--not specific to gender but everything else, of course--was the point i needed nhs to reach. which ig i decided was going to happen when she woke up at 5am to write some emotionally raw lettermail a few hours after breaking up with the guy she's actively in love with and then having a total meltdown about it.

the story having an epistolary motif was partly because i'd early on thought that the idea of sangcheng doing ye olde racy texting was funny and charming, but also i knew that the fic was not going to work unless there were opportunities for huaisang's real thoughts and feelings to occasionally surface through the tides of bullshit, and that was easier to do through in-universe writing than either dialogue or pov narration. and i couldn't come up with a less clunky way to get some overt closure/finality over the nmj stuff, but needed to, because it was like such a looming but intangible part of the story.

so anyway. um i made myself cry typing up this blurb about my own fanfiction which goes to show why i'm so proud of this bit in particular... because regardless of whether it worked for anyone else, it has consistently gotten me very emotional to think about/work on so i'm getting what EYE wanted out of it!!!!

16: Tried anything new with your writing lately? (style, POV, genre, fandom?)

lots of things, actually…

it's not that "writing an unreliable narrator/POV character" is new to me but something i'm messing around with on beefleaf #2 aka The Big One is shi qingxuan (who is the POV character) like… being a very active presence in the story As A Story. you know this post?

like that.

who's the audience? shi wudu? he xuan? both/neither? us? who knows!!!!! we'll see if that sensibility makes it into the final product but i'm enjoying playing around with it for now. it compels me because sqx, unlike most characters people think of as "unreliable narrators," is not manipulative in a meaningful way. they're not TRYING to lie to you. it's just... you know. hard to look things in the face sometimes, right?

the other thing that sticks out is that i've got not one but two wips at the moment that deal with sexual violence in some way, which i've shied away from in the past because of worrying that people would be weird about it, but i feel strongly that these are at least, like, the kernels of good ideas? we'll see how they fare in my execution lol. but also, like, xie lian's character arc is, among other things, About Sexual Autonomy And Violence in a blatant and textual manner so this doesn't feel particularly outre in comparison (they're both beefleaf but you know. operating in the same ballpark. shi qingxuan and he xuan both have certain obvious parallelismssnhdsm with xie lian so it's all In Conversation imo.)

[kneelingshadowsalome]

woah sorry to hear you got plagiarized! it reminds me of something i recently saw

someone published a fanfic in a pretty small fandom, and through the first few chapters i could recognize several details, and even a similar writing style, from another fanfic that was published a few years ago, although the old author from the original fanfic is no longer active in the fandom. the new author even formatted their chapters the same specific way the old author did.

and as i read on i saw whole ideas and chunks of dialogue being copied, and it made me think gosh are you not embarrassed??!! 😣 you blatantly stole like 80% of someone’s concept!

i guess i’m looking for advice or tips on how to approach it. i don’t want to stir up drama, but i also don’t think i should just let it happen. is there a respectful way i could go about it as a reader, without making a harsh accusation?

whew oops that was long. sorry if it seems random that i’m coming to you with this, but i thought you might understand the ick i got!!

Heyy! 🥰 Answer below the cut ->

Firstly: damn that sounds such an awkward thing to come across. I think it's very kind and sweet of you to want and do something about it.

Yk, my "case" was small potatoes compared to this. Doesn't mean I think it's cool 😅 It gives you this feeling of "Wouldn't it be nice to like... come up with your own stuff?" 👉👈

And I know certain things are repeated across the fandom because it's canon or fits the character so well, such as Ghost muttering Fuckin' hell or calling their boo Sweetheart or Luv (the latter being basic terms of endearment and, to my understanding, more commonly used than e.g. Honey or Babe if you're British.) So I certainly don't view things like that as plagiarizing or copying.

But stealing story ideas and plots and chunks of dialogue and even the formatting style...? Like, what is this person thinking exactly 🥺

I would perhaps inform the original writer about this case, but if they're not in the fandom anymore/can't be reached through message, well, that leaves the uncomfortable option of stepping up and telling this person that you noticed so many similarities to author Y's work X that you want to kindly remind that this is plagiarism and that copying someone else's creative work is not ok. (Or something along the lines of that. I don't know how you can put shit like this kindly because it is what it is)

And then there's the fact that people can simply have certain incapacities in understanding what they're doing sometimes. And I don't mean this in a demeaning way, it's just that not everyone is doing unkind things out of spite or lust for fame or whatever. They just might not see how problematic or even illegal it is.

And some people just don't care and mainly hope they won't get caught. In these cases it's only kinda sad that you don't want to use your own imagination to create but have to lean on other people's skill and talent and passion to feed off from. It doesn't even make me angry, you know? Just makes me confused.

If I was this writer getting mugged I would be eternally grateful if someone informed me (like someone did in my case of small potatoes 💖) about it. And if it ever came to my knowledge that someone had called out such blatant stealing of my work, I would probably be moved to tears.

BUT you ultimately do what you deem right and also feel strong enough to do. These things happen and sometimes you just have to accept it. It can be very exhausting to intervene because like we both agreed, this shit is uncomfortable. Just saying this as a kind reminder to take care of yourself first before helping others 🩷

Hope this was of some help!

[aecholapis]

If there was ever a new Brave show, what would you want it to be about/what would you want it to involve?

Oh, what I wouldn't give to see a new Brave emerge from the depths of Sunrise's animation studios. But the chances are slim, infinitesimal even, microscopic to the point that I've given up hope to see some kind of series revival one day. At least we're still getting figurines and HD Blu-Ray remasters of the animes, but that's pretty much it.

What we are left with is our imagination and perseverance and thankfully, some fans have those attributes in abundance. I'm not going to call them out by name - you all know who you are and you should know your efforts are greatly appreciated by this small fandom.

Some of them have made a great effort to come up with new ideas for their own original shows that have sprung from their imaginations and they are kind enough to share it with the world. As someone who loves reading about pretty much any thing and everything relevant to the media I'm obsessed with at that time, I also love reading about other people's take on the already existing and well-established fictional worlds.

I've already mentioned my own and the OCs that are part of it, but to be honest, this is not exactly the direction I would take the franchise if I had a say in it. There are many great ways one could revive the Yuusha series and my own silly idea of a story is not it. There are too many themes that don't fit with the overall tone of the series - it needs to be as light-hearted, emotional and thrilling as the original one... which it isn't.

I'll list the answer to your ask under the cut if it's alright with you.

First of all, one thing that I would love to see is a way for the producers to link the shows together. It can either be done with little easter eggs or references to the old shows,

There is a reason why almost all Braves follow a pattern in terms of plot progression and action and I think they should bring that back. The monster-of-the-week format has worked well with almost every series and while it's definitely not the perfect way of storytelling, it makes for fun times.

Let the villains be silly, give them control over some ridiculouly huge thing and watch them decimate the protagonists with it until they learn its attack patterns and defeat it with the power of friendship. It wouldn't hurt if they did it once or twice every ten episodes.

We need more villains who are evil for the sake of it. They don't need a thorough reason to destroy the universe. And give us our beloved morally grey rivals/antiheroes turned allies back, please.

Nowadays I feel that most characters aren't as colorful as they used to be, but not here, nuh-uh! They need to have at least two primary colors in their frame (RYB, RGB or CYMK, doesn't matter which one) as long as they wear it with pride. Example: my man Draias is a walking fashion disaster, yet he doesn't care about his appearance and I love him for it.

I want the Braves to originate from

✨ s p a c e ✨

not Earth, thank you. While I don't have anything against human-made robots or those who were created by our planet's nature, the thought of them being aliens is so much cooler.

The OST would be a banger for sure.

Another thing I want to see is a more in-depth exploration of the themes and issues they deal with. BPJD had its fair share of addressing themes that are usually targeted at older viewers rather than the actual target audience of pre- and elementary schoolers. I don't want that to get lost in a new show. Children are just as capable of understanding and dealing with heavy themes if they are offered an explanation for everything they might not fully comprehend.

While I don't like humans in robot media in general, BPJD was probably the only show where I think they handled them well. THe human side characters weren't as prominent as they had been in the previous and following Braves. The robots were finally in the spotlight and got the development they desperately needed. Yuuta and Deckerd had a unique bond, they were like siblings and that was so wonderfully presented that I couldn't help but like their pure, albeit codependent relationship.

More platonic relationships. More focus on friendships. More familial love and found family. More bromances, more womances. The same amount of explosions and action.

And please let everyone be normal about women, GGG Final was just. No. (I love you, Anryuu, but the rest of the cast were done dirty)

As for the plot, anything would work. Aliens invade the Earth, philanthrophic Braves come to defend it. Maybe they've been fighting the other guys for a long while, maybe they haven't. What matters is that it should be something that makes sense for a Yuusha show.

And give them badass designs, please.

[abri-chan]

I know Worick is Kohske's darling-boy. I like what she did with his character, in that he's at the intersection of manwhore and lover-boy, that is to say the flirty and attractive guy who in all other stories dies for the one he loves; and yet in Gangsta Worick has got no love interest to die for, and instead he dies for what he perceived the greater good. So that's a fresh take on the trope.

At the same time, I dislike that he's the main main character, even though the trio are all main characters, for something that is not his own fault. I understand why Nic wouldn't work as the main one in manga format (and worse in anime format) bc he'd have to sign the whole time which results in text heavy manga, and inner monologues in anime; and in fact Nic would have worked best as main character in novel form. And it doesn't help he's reserved by nature, which makes him even less likely to want to speak, so his words can be fit into speech bubbles and not thought bubbles.

So that leaves the main main spot between Worick and Alex, and Alex was done dirty and shoved aside bc Worick is the mangaka's favored one. That is to say, Alex is the outsider, and outsiders are often main characters in stories, bc they can see with fresh eyes and can upset the status-quo, and that leads to change in the world they enter. She was clearly positioned as the POV of the readers at first, or stand-in for the reader as we were introduced to the world through her eyes. But the way it is right now, I fear she will be less consequential to the plot than her brother, Emilio.

Emilio, who was introduced way later and is not a main character, will end up being more important than his sister, who is a main character and was introduced chapter/episode 1. How so?

What does Alex do or signify so far in terms of the plot? (We'll forget the emotional part and see this business from a bird's eye view.) So far, she was there to meet Nic and Worick so that when Worick meets Emilio he can recognize he is Alex's brother, the brother of his friend, and I suspect he now has to worry not only about a suicide mission of ending the Corsicas along with Ergastulum, but also with protecting this kid (who frankly has no survival skills, bc what will coding do in this world) on the infinitesimal chance that he can reunite with his sister. He's a burden on Worick's back, but a burden he has to take bc of his friendship to Alex. So Alex is the character needed to 1) introduce Emilio, and 2) have Worick be burdened by Emilio.

But Emilio, does have one skill the final battle will depend on, and that is hacking. Yes, he needs physical protection, but he has brains, and is part of the main plot-line of the final confrontation: that is to say he will have a direct influence on it, with his abilities. What influence does Alex have on the final confrontation? What does she have that is of her own, and not through people she had happened to meet? In other words, the main plot of Ergastulum would continue the same, even if Alex never met Nic and Worick, but it wouldn't be the same if Emilio didn't exist, bc he is needed as part of the "team" who directly influences the plot, bc who else would hack but him? Possibly why the destroyers even protected him, as his niche skills are precious.

Yes, Alex matters a lot to the emotional aspect of the manga, and the connections she makes with characters. But it doesn't sit well with me, that her brother is the one with tangible skills, and who will be more consequential to the plot than her. (And I know it pains Alex, bc there's a whole inner conflict of her feeling useless, first with abandoning her brother, then not being able to stop Worick, and lastly being a burden to Nic as the only one he's left with from the Benriya.)

--

Ik people can come at me with "external vs internal" conflict, and you can have amazing characters that hinge on internal conflict only (ex: Gilbert in Pandora Hearts). But that the ones who always hinge on internal influence and not direct/consequential influence to the plot are always women, bothers me. Worick can whore and be a hitman, and have amazing memory, and be great at reading and manipulating people. But Alex kinda got roped into sex work, and that's it-- there could be a situation where she could do more, but will we get that? Hacking is quite advanced from sex work that Alex had to do, how come Emilio doesn't have a more menial background? We can't always have the brother be the smart one, the skilled one, the plot instead of the feelings. We can do more for female characters, we have to.