#and the story itself was interesting

[autistic-beshelar]

remember when the dragon prince was like... good

[bonefall]

Hey, what makes a character a 'plot device but not a character'? And how do you not do that? I'm trying to do it on purpose but also I need to still make them interesting because it's on purpose, yknow?

A good skill to pick up is to learn to criticise criticism itself. A "plot device" is simply a thing that moves the plot along, it's a neutral literary analysis term! Usually, when people are angry that "a character has been used as a plot device," it doesn't mean they hate plot devices. It means they're gesturing at something deeper.

Runningwind and Bumble are equally plot devices in their deaths. They are both killed by the antagonist to escalate political tension. Runningwind is rarely "accused" of just being a plot device, and yet, we're talking about Bumble for the same thing.

So, why?

Well, Runningwind is just a background character, but in life, he was a part of the community. He was characterized as impatient but responsible. Yet, he wasn't SO important that he died with a bunch of unresolved plot threads.

He is mostly an extension of the entity of ThunderClan. His killing by Tigerstar, and the fear and paranoia that settles on the group after this, feel like a progression of the story insteas of something forced.

Bumble, on the other hand...

Is hated immediately by Gray Wing, when she's established as Turtle Tail's friend. Bumble's abuse at Tom the Wifebeater's hands invites even MORE investment. The rejection is shocking and upsetting. There's a story there about our main characters being imperfect; jealous, bigoted, and judgemental.

But, she is simply killed off. Everything they set up for this character is gone with little personalized fanfare. It's not a tragedy with a lesson about cruelty, or something anyone regrets.

It's just... plot. Gray Wing whinging that no one will like his shitty brother now that his body count is 2.

More than that, in the discussion of women in particular, "Fridging" was coined to give a name to the way women characters often don't get their stories told at all. There is a CULTURAL trend of female characters facing disproportionate violence, for the sake of advancing male plots.

Bumble has a lot going for her. Petal had a lot going for her. Turtle Tail had a lot going for her. Bright Stream had a lot going for her. When they died, they took their potential with them.

It's not always wrong to kill off a character of high potential, mind you. In Gurren Lagann, Kamina's death is sudden and shocking, leaving a massive hole in the hearts of the cast that never heals. Grappling with that loss, but also letting his memory fuel them, is a major theme of that story.

All that to say... there's no formula for avoiding it. You've gotta identify what the deeper issue is, in your specific narrative.

I can't say for certain what that will look like for your story, but here's some things I keep in mind;

When you make characters who exist to die, make sure they're people before you axe them.

Ask yourself; what about them does the cast miss?

If they just miss them because they were (pre-existing relationship), go back to the drawing board.

Fluttering Bird as an example. Who was she? Dead sister. Why do they miss her? Dead sister. No traits until after her death.

Runningwind was short-tempered and helpful. Kamina was a valuable leader who made people believe in a brighter future. Swiftpaw was fiesty and desperate to prove himself. The better characterized, the more profound the loss usually is.

If this is a female character who is dying just to serve the plot, be aware of cultural bias and tropes. How is the gender ratio looking in your cast? Is this happening disproportionately with your girls?

Note how Quiet Rain's litter had both a boy and a girl, but the girl was chosen to be "weaker" and wither away.

And how most of the time in DOTC, whenever a man had to be upset, a girl would get killed for it.

If you ever feel like the character on the chopping block is NOT a full character, ask yourself why it needs to be a character at all. You don't need to spend narrative time building out someone when a literal object of high value might suffice.

"My sister died when I swore to protect her and I can't face my family" = Old. Tired. Ive seen this.

"I lost my heirloom sword when I swore to protect it and I can't face my family." = Fascinating. Why was the sword so valuable? Will they really not take you back? How did you lose it?

When you do kill off "high value" characters, try to make sure you're not leaving too many plot threads hanging. Or at least make a point of how they will never get closure.

[nukbody]

Answer to twitter`s "if your tav/durge had to draw their party members, how would they draw them ?"

[starrysharks]

hotel manager

[bigskydreaming]

Imagine looking at a character whose entire premise is that in every stage of his life, he's made every version of himself into someone that inspires people to such a degree that EVERY SINGLE VERSION OF HIM has people wanting to literally follow in his footsteps in some way or another.....

And coming to the conclusion that like.....the most important things about him are the sum of all his trappings. His entirely homemade developed from scratch could not exist if not for what he already was and brought with him BEFORE crafting this newest version of himself trappings, with his greatest trait throughout all of it being his adaptability; his ability and willingness to roll with the punches and not try to simply weather any opposition or changes to his life but instead reshape himself as needed to better fit INTO whatever new shape his life and the world around him takes. All while managing to carry the most innate, fundamental and necessary aspects of himself from one version to the next. Thus every single version of himself is different but simultaneously every single version of himself is also undeniably the same person.

The strength of this character, to me, will always be that he can be so many versions of himself, he can become so many things, all without ever actually losing or discarding any of the aspects of himself he considers most essential, the things he's not willing to lose or give up just to keep going. Finding that road not taken by most, usually because most never even think to look for it as an option. But one that he's always able to find because the one trick he's mastered in his tumultuous life is threading that needle of not just digging in his heels in an unproductive way but rather being selective about when and where he makes a stand and decides "this is not a thing I'm willing to compromise about" but here are places and ways I can and will change and evolve and adapt in order to make it possible for me to hold onto these parts and keep them as they are.

And that's why its always so mind-boggling to me that so many writers can't seem to think of anything else to do with Dick Grayson other than invent some new reason for him to just....not be that person, or to like just take the character whose most basic fundamental trait he's NOT about to compromise on is willingly giving up his spot in the driver's seat of his own life.....and make him just a passenger in his own life and stories.

Dick Grayson at age nine....at age nineteen...at age twenty nine....the one core thread running through all versions of him is the only way he's standing back and letting you call the shots for him or putting him on the sidelines in some way is over his dead body.

HOW he goes about that, what that looks like, who he becomes and what aspects of himself he plays up at some times and what traits he lets fall by the wayside at other times when they offer less in service to his primary goal here....that changes constantly. He changes constantly.

But those changes are almost always (or at least they used to be/should be IN MY OPINION) made with the intention of keeping certain things about him or his life as consistent as possible.

That's the duality of Dick Grayson that I'm here for. The inherent contradiction of him that COULD allow for endless conflict and breaking new narrative ground in all sorts of ways if mined properly:

His eternal willingness to compromise....but only ever in pursuit of doubling down on the ways he's not willing to compromise.

Forever walking that tightrope in ways that only a kid born and raised in a circus could ever hope to.

[psychomusic]

oc time again! + her town & culture (heavily inspired by pre-roman italic populations)

she is suri sauthon (she/her). her story is linked to my swtor imperial agent, tar'x, but most of her life except for the one year away where she meets him, is spent in a town in the mountains of mirial.

despite mirial being cold and desert, and many cities developing underground, her town flourishes thanks to a force nexus, venerated in the form of an ancient, sacred, alive crystal. the ecosystem of that mountain depended on what "the horned crystal" was capable of giving them, but mirialans couldn't live off of that alone, so they developed trade and some rudimental technology, even if oftentimes it was bought thanks to the highly profitable trade of a plant used to make medicines that slowed down aging and had overall healing properties.

note: everything that's generated by this nexus has these healing properties BUT they have to be processed, except for those who bathed in the waters of the cavity under the crystal - the "real" nexus, but not the worshipped one. the waters were sacred but they were not thought to be miraculous, unlike the crystal, who instead was thought of as the keystone of the ecosystem: without it, everything would fall apart (and that is partially true: the cavity was the "real" nexus but thanks to the crystal, also strong in the force, the properties were spread all over the mountains). those who bathed in the cavity's waters - so, all of the town, who had a sort of baptism there - could eat the plant, make whatever food with it, and not only that plant, but everything generated by the nexus, that, again, had similar properties. this allowed people to live up to normal life-spans without advanced medicines or, much, really. to those who didn't live there, though, after the processing, had incredible effects, slowing down aging - for those who took it regularly - and making people able to live up to half a century more than the average]

originally, there were four tribes of nomads that lived thanks to horned farm animals that decided to settle down into one bigger town and other smaller settlements, to live off of transhumance. this division of the tribes stayed into the political and social organization: every person belonged to one tribe specifically, and had slightly different rituals and culture. for examples, each tribe had their own priests and healers, with different techniques and traditions. the town, tho, was guided by a group of people in the high priesthood, a position you could reach only by having earned the trust of all tribes. those high priests had many roles: they guided the people into sacred processions common to all the tribes, they managed the trading with outsiders, they did the maintenance of the temple of the summit (the one that functioned as casket to the crystal) and created a special liquid to offer the crystal that helps it grow.

this particular temple was important because 1. it was very visible, from every angle of the town, and it became an important identity symbol; 2. it stored the venerated horned crystal; 3. it had the altar where sacrifices were made for the crystals. that altar had a hole connected to the cavity, that allowed the liquids to reach the underground; 4. it had various symbols: statues representing each tribe + the high priesthood, and typical mirialan tattoos carved into the wood of the trees that served as columns for the temple, symbolizing 8 values that who dared to enter HAD to have; 5. it was on the way to an important lake (called "mother lake" because the lake the town was built around to depended on the waters of that other lake) where they traveled to in important processions; 6. it was said that a the wizard who unified the tribes made it with its magic, making the plant grow to hold the temple's roof. this wizard was, actually, a force user, obv.

BACK TO HER THOUGH: she's daughter of one of the high priests, who was in charge of managing the trades with outsiders, and lives in a house on the mountains with her mother and him. her parents are from different tribes (that's one of the things that earned him trust from the 4 tribes): when a child is born from two different tribes, they don't pick one to allign to, but they're usually linked automatically to the one with more relatives in it (in her case, the father's tribe: she had many uncles and aunts on his side while her mom only had one sister).

later, though, she got quite tied to her mother's tribe due to a mysterious illness that only her mother's tribe healer was able to cure. she spent 4 years (from 10 to 14 years old) living with the healer and learned her secrets. to better study, she wrote them down. when she returned home, she studied to become a priestess with her father. at 22 (the average age: you can't become priest before your 20s), she was supposed to take a test and become a priestess, but the healer of her mother's tribe died and the tribe asked her to take her place. she couldn't technically do that, but both tribes estimated both her and her parents and she was allowed to become both. she then decided to try to become a high priestess, and became one at 25 (a quite young age). being part of the council, she tried to convince the various tribe healers to unite their knowledges and write them down, and eventually made it. healers still remained tribe based but they now had an "upper, inter-tribe level" similar to high priesthood.

years later, the sacred horned crystal is stolen from the temple by some Hutt mercenaries looking for a profit. given the trust she has earned from all the tribes and the fact that her father is the high priest that deals with outsiders (and she's been hearing stories and advice about it since she was little), she is the one tasked with getting it back. without the growing crystal, the keystone to their ecosystem, the village would have lasted only a few years. in hrr quest, she meets imperial intelligence agent tar'x laran and, as they "solve the mystery" and fight to have it back, they get closer. they'll get married and have a daughter, Vegoia (who's the only one who actually will get to the plot of my story. this was all background)

[ryllen]

sebek is literally the PERFECT character for a slow burn, many misunderstanding, romance. Not in a "I can fix you" way but in a "there is so much more to you that you don't see and you will soon love to learn about yourself" way am I making sense? Idk if I'm wording that right

let the people who read this to understand it by their own term

[kacievvbbbb]

Luffy this Dressrosa really is ; if I had a nickel for every time I ran into an undercover princess of an oppressed country who was kind to me and my crew and so I repay her by freeing her father and fighting the Warlord of the sea that snuck into her country, ingratiated himself to the people and plotted the down fall of the previous royal family by turning their people against them, and in the process liberating her people and putting an end to the specific method that had been used to unknowingly torture them. And oh also meet up with my brother in the process who helps me escape from the marines. I’d only have two nickels but it’s weird that it happened twice

[mushyfart]

Uninvited Guests

im trying my hardest to contain my giddiness over this drawing!!!! I hope you guys like it<33 comments, reblogs, and likes are always appreciated😽😽💚💚

[gofancyninjaworld]

It started with murder

One of the big differences between the manga and the webcomic is that Tatsumaki and Fubuki seem to have a much nicer relationship in the former.

The reasons for the difference have been staring us in the face, if only we're prepared to actually READ.

The manga starts with a murder. Multiple murders, in fact: Tatsumaki tore apart four members of Tsukoyomi who'd tracked her down when she went to see Fubuki, and their blood splattered all over her and stained Fubuki's room red.

Nightmare fuel.

In contrast, nasty as webcomic Tatsumaki has been, her intention in tossing Fatton and lifting the school was not to kill, but to bully the people bullying Fubuki, to make them feel the same degree of fear and helplessness as they'd inflicted onto her little sister. As best we know, she hasn't killed anyone.

She wanted them sorry, not dead.

And this difference really matters.

As a ten-year-old desperate to reach her sister and protect her as she'd been charged to do, manga!Tatsumaki's horror at being treated as a monster by Fubuki scarred her for life. [Aside: it reminds me a lot of Mob Psycho 100 where a big part of Shigeo pushing down his emotions has stemmed from his horror at accidentally hurting Ritsu when he lost his temper.] Anyway, Tatsumaki has been trying since then to convince Fubuki that whatever else she might be, she *is not a threat to Fubuki*. As we've seen, it has taken Fubuki decades to finally start believing her.

The horror of realising that her sister sees her as a monster.

It's taken Fubuki nearly 20 years to start seeing her sister differently.

Webcomic!Tatsumaki has had to have no such scruples. She may have terrorised her sister, but from Fubuki's perspective she did not cross the line to monstrous until she thought that she'd killed Saitama -- and by that point, the 29-year-old's Tatsumaki's psyche is far more hardened (it also helps that Tatsumaki knows that Saitama wouldn't have been killed by being dropped into a crevasse).

It's only at this point that webcomic Fubuki starts seeing her sister as monstrous.

There's another difference that's just as striking: a sense of personal responsibility. In the manga, Blast charged Tatsumaki with not one, but two directives: not just to refuse to depend on anyone for help but also to protect her little sister. Since Tatsumaki has put Blast on a pedestal rivalled only by that Genos puts Saitama on (well, that's breaking in the webcomic but we're not here to talk about that now), she's taken it as an absolute commandment. She finds it hard to forgive herself for triggering Fubuki's psychic awakening as until then, Fubuki was safe from being targeted by Tsukoyomi. She feels that she has screwed up, that she keeps messing up, and she really wants to change that.

With a child's sense of total responsibility for everything, Tatsumaki has shouldered an impossible burden.

She feels trapped by her actions and really wants to change.

Even though the trigger was incredibly dark and fucked up, since the circumstances of their reuniting have led to Tatsumaki being more gentle with Fubuki in the manga than she otherwise might have been, it has led to some real rewards in that they do actually have an ongoing relationship. A difficult one, particularly once Fubuki became a hero too, but the last arc saw Tatsumaki having to admit that her sister could be a capable hero. They struggle, but there's enough of a bond between them to struggle together.

Hey, at least she didn't go straight for homicide. :)

They're still living, scheming, and fighting together. Because it's worth it.

Webcomic!Tatsumaki feels no responsibility for any of her actions nor sensitivity to Fubuki's feelings. And damn, it shows. They have had an antagonistic relationship short on mutual trust or respect. Since Tatsumaki has no intention of changing, non-contact is the best outcome they can hope for.

To be fair, Tatsumaki has left Fubuki alone since their bust up (with Saitama's intervention).

None of this is hidden. ONE has put work into making sure that each version gives us a cogent set of facts regarding key events in characters' lives. I've not seen people talk about the origins of the differences in the way the versions, and it originates, I'm sorry to say, from people failing to read to learn and rather reading to confirm their prior beliefs.

If I see one more waste of literacy education say that 'Tatsumaki is nicer in the manga because the manga characters have been dumbed down' I'm going to scream.

[notbecauseofvictories]

Hi, just wanted to say that you post sometimes about how important it is just to go to things sometimes and socialise. One of your posts inspired me to join the meetup website and since then I've been to 3 groups and had a really nice time and talked to some potential new friends! I moved to a new city a few years back and never really made friends and now I feel really pleased to be getting out there so thank you!

I don't know why this particular lesson took me so long to learn (or why I have to keep learning it, over and over again) but the simple act of forcing yourself out of your space to do things really does make an appreciable difference. Life gets richer and deeper the more you engage with it, and you will never, ever know if you stay inside the four walls of your apartment and wait for it to come to you.

[ani-craft]

"Martyn is loyal" this and "Martyn isn't loyal" that

Loyal or not, this man loves. No matter what he might say. Calls himself selfish, or a wanderer, or a wildcard, or whatever else he'll readily claim to seem unanchored. And sure, he is highly driven by self-interest, that is undeniable especially after Lim Life's ending. Yet every season he gets attached to people, finds a fondness in someone. To Scott, to Cleo, to the Southlands (especially Mumbo), to Ren--and to an extent he is loyal, or devoted, or whatever other word you want to use for it. As loyal as he can be up until he can't be anymore. Looks at every alliance with the idea that they'll make it to the finale together, even if what happens after is unsavory. He knows too much for his own good, knows that every life will end as him versus everyone he's allied with. It's inevitable, given the nature of his lore and his role in the grand scheme of things. It's an always present truth that backs every plan he has. An audience is Watching, and we need a grand finale, after all.

But until then:

"That's it, they're dead."

"I'm more than happy for you to link back up with me, and we can be real proper soulmates."

"You said, 'You and your allies will see the end.' You said I could bring them all!"

"I'm with you. This is us, now. This is us."

[onaperduamedee]

Anasai of Ryddingwood. Each of her poems was written as an elegy. This was for her father. She left instructions; it can be read, but should not be spoken out loud, except when it was right to do so. She did not explain when it would be right to do so.

[froggychair05]

I love symbolism :)

[waywardsalt]

the only minecraft movie i want to see is the one i found on yt several years ago and have been trying to track down again ever since

edit: i think i finally found the video i was looking for. win

[unlimitedgolden]

hey no offense but did we play the same DLC??? did we watch the same video???

Abuse??? the old couple being greedy??? pecharunts friends???? not to be autistic as hell but literally none of that happened??

the old couple loved pecharunt like their own son because they straight up didnt have any kids

pecharunt being like. a runt. a child. thought "wow this is great lemme get more of this" because it's literally a child with crazy powers who definitely doesn't understand the consequences of its actions yet, poor thing

the old couple didnt tell it to do ANY of that until the mochi and i quote "draw out the greed of anyone who ate them". thats literally what it does.

"they were just like that on the inside" no i dont think so, who DOESNT have greed within them? you are not free from greed. you literally see in the beginning how much they truly loved this lil guy

and you then literally see pecharunt doesnt "make friends" it obtained allies to use through the poison, it LITERALLY says that.

Theres a big BIG emphasis on the chains that are on all three of them !! it's the chains that come OUT of pecharunt!! it's ability isn't "Poison Puppeteer" for no reason. It's signature move isn't MALIGNANT chain for no reason either!!

I mean. Let's look at the other facts about the Loyal three such as the Scarlet Dex entries:

"After all its muscles were stimulated by the toxic chain around its neck, Okidogi transformed and gained a powerful physique."

"The chain is made from toxins that enhance capabilities. It stimulated Munkidori's brain and caused the Pokémon's psychic powers to bloom."

"Fezandipiti owes its beautiful looks and lovely voice to the toxic stimulants emanating from the chain wrapped around its body."

In the in game lore it tells you that they didn't always look like this, and the chains changed them AND, you guessed it, brought out their inner desires. Their greedy desires. So do you see how the old couple literally were never greedy, they didn't demand this as they were under pecharunts influence? there was no abuse??? and they did NOT get its friends killed either!! They didn't even know!!

Look how at the end of the DLC everyone is no longer under the effects and they have no idea how they got there. They only remember the moments before the mochi. So the real kicker isn't "oh how tragic pecharunt was in an abusive family and its friends were killed cus of their greed", oh no the kicker is:

Pecharunt was nothing but a child with an evil power that it clearly didn't know how to use, or didn't even intend for it to be used for such evil. It did what it thought was right, for the love of the only two people that it had known, only for it to lead to it's own downfall and the downfall of three other Pokemon who succumbed to the poison. Furthermore, Pecharunt never came home. Those old couple woke up not having a clue where Pecharunt, the pokemon they loved as a son, had gone off to and they died not knowing (this is an ancient tale after all). Hell, Pecharunt probably doesn't even know they're dead either. Nobody wins.