#but the main objective was the story telling
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literaryvein-reblogs · 1 day ago
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Writing Notes: Narrative Foils
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Foil. This term is specific to the contrasts between characters. Where a writer juxtaposes two characters so as to emphasize their opposing qualities, the characters are foils of each other. E.g., tortoise and the hare from the classic fable.
Foil Character. Primarily exists to bring the protagonist’s qualities into sharper relief. This is because the foil is effectively the opposite of the protagonist. In the Star Trek series, Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock serve as each other’s foils since their personalities are so notably different.
Foil Characters
Literary Foil - a character whose purpose is to accentuate or draw attention to the qualities of another character, most often the protagonist.
This literary term is named after an old jewelry trick of setting a gem on a foil base to enhance its shine.
Types of Literary Foils
Foils are most often secondary characters, but they can also take other forms.
Object as foil. A writer will sometimes highlight the importance of an inanimate object in a story by contrasting it with another. In Wuthering Heights, for example, Emily Brontë contrasts the grey, dismal, storm-battered estate of Wuthering Heights with Thrushcross Grange, a sophisticated, “splendid” neighboring estate that sits in the sunshine. The presence of the Thrushcross Grange stresses the darkness that hangs over Wuthering Heights.
Subplot as foil. Writers will often weave subplots throughout a story. These secondary stories can make the main plot more complex, escalate tension, and highlight information the writer wants to emphasize. In William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the subplots of Laertes and Fortinbras are foils to Hamlet’s story. All three want to avenge the murders of their fathers. As the more cerebral Hamlet writes a play to get his uncle to confess, Fortinbras and Laertes take the opposite approach: they draw their weapons and go to seek vengeance.
How to Write a Foil Character
Here are a few points to keep in mind as you develop this important character. 
Consider the conflict: Even if your foil is the protagonist’s best friend, they can’t just be a hype man—your story and the relationship need conflict. Why? Conflict is the basis for everything when it comes to good writing. This is where your opposite list (see below) will come in handy as it’s a built-in resource for creating conflict.
Establish wants and desires: During the character development phase, ensure your foil has clear wants and desires. They can be the same as the protagonist’s or in opposition; either way, they’re the driving force behind the conflict. 
Be careful with dialogue: You know the old saying “show, don’t tell”? Apply it to your foil by paying close attention to dialogue. Yes, a foil’s job is to highlight the character traits of the protagonist, but it shouldn’t be explicit. Subtext is key here: It’s not interesting if the foil just tells the protagonist they need to fend for themselves or toughen up. You’re more creative than that.
Writing Tips: Foil Character
Make an Opposite List. This is the easiest but most important step. When writing a foil, you need to remember they’re the opposite of the character they’re the foil for. (For the sake of simplicity, we’ll assume from here on out that the character they’re the foil for is the protagonist.) Juxtaposition is everything when developing a foil alongside your protagonist. So, make a list of your protagonist’s character traits—maybe the top five. Then, make a list of the complete opposite of those traits, and that’ll help with your foil. For example, if your protagonist is submissive or a pushover, your foil would be assertive. It will be through your foil’s assertiveness that the protagonist discovers they’re too much of a pushover and begins to change. 
Consider the World of your Story. While the point of the foil is to be the opposite of your protagonist, an effective foil still inhabits the same world your story—and protagonist—is set in. Are you writing a family drama? Maybe the foil is a sibling or parent. Does the story take place in a high school? Then maybe the foil is the protagonist’s classroom nemesis. Science fiction? Perhaps it makes sense for the foil to be a fellow member of the crew or a lab scientist. Truly knowing the world your story is set in is critical in establishing a believable—and useful—relationship between protagonist and foil.
Consider the Whole Plot. Yes, the purpose of a foil is to highlight another character’s traits, but this doesn’t mean the foil only shows up in times of the protagonist’s development. Could the foil also play a larger role within the plot? Example: You’re writing an action-adventure movie and your protagonist’s arc is going from timid to heroic. You’ve got a big action set piece and your protagonist buckles under the pressure. Perhaps your foil rises to the occasion and ultimately propels the plot forward. Here’s an instance that blends character and plot development.
Some Inspiration for your Opposite List
Here are some common contrasts in different kinds of character :
Intuitive vs. logical (Kirk vs. Spock in Star Trek)
Trusting vs. cynical (Forrest Gump vs. Lieutenant Dan in Forrest Gump)
Tyrannical vs. liberal (Napoleon vs. Snowball in Animal Farm)
Idealistic vs. pragmatic (Captain America vs. Iron Man in the MCU)
Cheerful vs. misanthropic (Donkey vs. Shrek in Shrek)
Daring vs. cowardly (Frodo vs. Sam in Lord of the Rings)
Noble vs. craven (Maximus vs. Commodus in Gladiator)
Examples of Foil Characters from Literature
Writers often use foils in their stories. Some of the most famous examples of foils throughout the history of literature include:
John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men. George and Lennie are best friends. They are also physical and emotional opposites: George is small and lean, Lennie is big and strong. Lennie is mentally disabled, and George is his caretaker. This contrast buoys their friendship, but is also a source of conflict between them.
William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar. The devious and cunning Cassius and the nobler Brutus conspire to assassinate Julius Caesar. Cassius is plotting the murder for pure jealousy, while Brutus wants Caesar dead because he sees him as a weak leader. Compared to Cassius’ petty reason, Brutus seems more honorable in his motives. Brutus’ honesty, as well as his naiveté, makes Brutus a foil for the deceptive and conniving Antony, a confidante of Caesar’s who takes power after his murder.
The Importance of Foils in Literature
Literary foils exist to reveal information about characters and their motivations. Foils can also:
Help readers get a deeper understanding of a character. The main purpose of a foil is to draw attention to and emphasize another character’s strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes, this is done through contrast. For example, in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein shuts himself off from others, driven by his obsession to create a living being. As a result, he creates his own foil: a creature who craves companionship and connection, exhibiting the human characteristics that Frankenstein lacks.
Put a character in context. Creating a counterpart for a main character sets a gauge for the reader. Without Mercutio as a foil, Romeo might just seem like a boy in love, in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Mercutio’s more casual approach to matters of the heart compared to his best friend’s helps illuminate the depth of Romeo’s obsession.
Take a different path. A foil might doe more than just offer insight into another character’s personality. Their different values and motivations may lead them to make different choices, illuminating an alternate “what if” plotline. In Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck is guided by his moral compass, and his foil, Tom Sawyer, by his sense of adventure. This causes the two characters to approach every situation in a very different way.
Differences Between a Foil & an Antagonist
Writers play characters off of one another to build drama and create conflict in a story. Foils and antagonists are 2 types of characters that serve very different functions.
An antagonist is a character who is in direct opposition to the protagonist. Their actions deliberately hinder the protagonist from achieving her goal. This relationship helps build conflict and propels a story forward.
A foil exists simply to shine the spotlight on certain traits of another character, without necessarily creating opposition or conflict. A foil can even be a friend of the character they are supposed to draw attention to: Dr. John Watson, for example, is a foil to Sherlock Holmes in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories.
Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ⚜ More: Notes ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs
I received this on my main blog. You can find more details and examples in the sources. Hope Anon sees!
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selene-moonie · 6 months ago
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i'll bitch and moan that i wanted more romance in aot, but one thing i will NEVER complain about is the lack of fanservice. everybody's bodies were covered and it was amazing.
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kacievvbbbb · 9 months ago
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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
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syncrovoid-presents · 2 years ago
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Wally and the Colour RED
Wally and the colour Red have an interesting relationship in Welcome Home. This is a rambling/analysis of different things I've found that makes me believe it's an important detail moving forwards with the Welcome Home Mystery!
First! Why do I think this matters?
There's a few reasons why I think this matters! First, while all the members of the cast seem to be tied to a colour, none is as focused or as consistent as Wally and the colour red! The two primary examples I'll use to cover this is one that we've had for a while, and two that we got in this update. Those being the signatures at the bottom of the guestbook, the interactable telephone, and the name graphics on the transcript page!
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Interestingly, all of the cast are directly tied to a specific colour! The signatures at the bottom of the Guestpage and the colours of the "calls" on the telephone are the same for each character. This being pink for Julie, orange for Sally, yellow for Frank, green for Poppy, turquoise for Howdy, blue for Barnaby, purple for Eddie, and red for Wally. This is consistent (and possibly something to pay attention for in the future?)
Notably however, Home is signed by Wally, while the audio file for Wally's "call" recording is also called "duet" when you open it in another tab. Audio files with "duet" is a sign that Home is present. This means that red is not strictly a Wally colour, but also the colour for Home!
(if you're curious, the other audio called "duet" is Wally's little song he sings)
This is interesting, because Wally and Home are often treated as a duo, moreso than any other characters of Welcome Home. I would also like to point out another detail, one that I think ties into this tie between Wally, Home and the colour red.
The Records
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All the records from Wally's hidden message ("I will help you understand neighbor, I will find a way soon.") are red! Sure, some are glitched, but they are all red. As is this record with the strange audio (has anyone decoded this yet?). This audio is directly tied to Wally, as it's called "(DRAWING?) WITH WALLY DARLING".
However the hidden one's may not just be Wally. Though they are all name the tab "answer" when opened, I'm tempted to say that "answer" is wally prompting us to answer (or, alternatively, Wally is trying to answer us, however he perceives us).
I believe that Home is there too in the audio. If you listen to all of them in a row, turning up the audio will reveal that there is a heart beat in the background. This, I want to say, is Home and not Wally, as Wally does not seem to register them. It peaks about halfway through with Neighbor, coincidentally the audio that is both glitching and is made of a series of clicks rather than voice lines.
I have seen people say that this is "Help Me" or "Hello" in morse code. I do not know which is the agreed translation is (to me it sounds like "…. . ..-.. .. -.. ---", which translates to "HEĘIDO", which is not a word. However it most resembles "…. . .-.. .-.. ---" which translates to "HELLO")
Regardless of what Home may be saying, it shows that the hidden recordings can be put together into a timeline that sounds like one recording, which means it's most likely all recorded at the same place. Ergo, Home is in the hidden recordings as well!
Other spots where red is brought up
There are other instances of red being tied to Wally. Some are obvious, like his love of apples (red ones specifically), the Wally prints/finger paint on the bottom of the guestbook, the background of the "i <3 Wally" gif/sticker in the sticker section of the site (also shared with Home. Wally's character description is also shared by home!), Wally himself in the "so-below" page, among other things. Such as the Wally themed telephone being red, despite his more iconic blue swirled hair (or blue and yellow-trimed sweater), his clothing in multiple official artworks, the Wally cereal box, and more.
(Like something I've noticed, which is that Home is the only house that's a solid colour (red!) without any pattern breaking it up, plus the most "standout" red that Wally typically wears being tied around his neck (symbolism?). Plus the "W" of Welcome Home is red! That's fun too!
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There's also some... stranger ones. Such as this hidden piece of morse code found by this person, which spells out ".. -- .-. . -..", or "IM RED" when translated to english.
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And more hidden ones too, that tie into the hidden staff page (I have a post breaking that down that you can find here!! I cover everything I could find plus went through the website code, if you want to know everything about the secret staff site check it out!)
There is the red safe, which has in WHRP universe lore!! I delve into this in my other post, just know that it is something that exists both in the secret website (it is what introduces you to the hidden website!) AND it exists in the WHRP world, both written about in printed emails and as a physical object seen within The Room:tm:. You may also notice everyone is represented by their original colours, except for home, who is now white (or blank?).
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There's also scrap pieces of red paper spilled on the ground in The Room:tm: (that have drawn spirals), a red clock in the style of Wally's red car, a red painting of some sort on the wall of The Room:tm: (that we never get a good look at, though it may have a drawn yellow eye in the upper center), a red apple, and most importantly of all, this:
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The Red Notebook
This is no ordinary notebook. This here is the notebook that the WHRP team have "loaned" the Question Answerer, also known as the Head Curator of Question Answer! according to the printed emails. This book is very important because there are multiple signs that it was written by Wally. Inside is a sketchpad attached to the lefthand interior bookcase with little paintings and a handprint suspiciously similar to that on the bottom of the GuestBook page and doodles in the styles Wally has used (spirals, finger paint smiley face, the drawn apple, etc).
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(by the way, if you're interested in what the note says the most accurate translation I've found is by Tumblr user truckfreaks
"Hello,
My name doesn't matter. I am here to catalogue something I'm not sure is fully real. But it must be. I'm holding all the evidence in my hands. Pictures. Characters. Text I can barely read. It's called "Welcome Home" and it looks like it might've been a children's book? Like I said, I can't tell.
It was sopping wet when I found it. When I first reached into one of the brightly colored envelopes, my hand was already covered in some gross, [unknown - possibly “oozing”] material. It feels like antiques are always covered in some kind of grime. I'm trying to clean up what I have and do a little more digging.
There's only one name I can make out right now... Wally. Probably important, but like I said, I'll keep looking.
XOXO"
The wrap up (don't want to make this too long!)
Regardless of what you make of this, it shows that there is even more proof of Wally, not just the character but the Wally ""haunting"" the website and the Wally within the WHRP universe, all being tied to the colour red. (Quick clarification: The Wally we see in branding, clips of the show, etc are all Wally, however he isn't current Wally. He is the Wally of the past, the original Wally, the base Wallly, whatever you want to call him. Therefore I separate him from the "now" Wally. It's unconfirmed whether the Wally that's seemingly trying to communicate with us through the website is the same as the Wally that seems to be related to all the objects being sent to Question Answerer, who is the same Wally that is constantly calling them. If so, then there is only one "now" Wally. If they are separate, then there are two, possibly one in the website itself and one focusing on Question Answerer. Please note, this is all speculation).
While it's true that red is Wally's favourite colour, I believe that it's far more than just that tying Wally and the color red together. Going forwards, anything red that isn't immediately branded as a Wally related object should be considered important, at least I think so.
As for the connection between Wally and Home, both sharing the colour Red? I think this primarily is a display of how the two characters either rely on each other or are, in the vaguest of ways, tied together by fate.
Good bye for now!
#welcome home#wally darling#welcome home analysis#wh home#i have... so many thoughts!! so much I wish to ramble on!! but I shall leave it with this#hopefully it makes sense! if not I will re-read it later and maybe make it more comprehensive#but summary: red and wally!! important!! this is important!!#also question answerer... you and me we're buds from another universe @:)#the reason why question answerer is mentioned is because their part of the story is VERY important when analyzing#the background WHRP-universe happenings. The objects are heavily implied to be coming straight from the Welcome Home world#(though covered in a black ooze. The same ooze mentioned in the letter BESIDE the notebook tied to Wally AND the same ooze growing on#growing on the walls of The Room:tm:)#Other objects appearing in The Room:tm: also have this black ooze. AND!!#this black ooze is known not just by Question Answerer (who seems to be the main restorer of the Welcome Home media)#but also by the WHRP team.. who directly tells Question Answerer that if they feel nauseous#dizzy sick or otherwise unwell around the stuff.. to just ignore it!#denial TRULY is the BEST medication folks /it is not please take care of yourselves!!#however the emails (printed? which is suspicious?) between the WHRP team and Question Answerer are... odd#very odd. An oddness that goes beyond a simple company acting in corporate interest over employee safety#maybe I should cover that?#hmmmm so many things!! so many thoughts!!#Alas my habit of writing much in the tags cannot be stopped. anyways thank you very much for reading!!#I encourage you to share thoughts (if you wish! No pressure of course!)#syncrovoid.txt
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izzythehutt · 3 months ago
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Pretty much all creative choices Disney has made with the Star Wars property are inane, but the one that I feel a particularly petty disdain for is the attempt to make Mon Mothma cool. Mon is not a cool character, okay. She's just not. She exists to be a rebel leader who knew Padmé and can therefore react with proper surprise to learning Leia is Vader and Amidala's kid in fanfic. That's her 'point.'
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tarotmantic · 2 years ago
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i will never justify why i like deh bc i don’t have to actually. i can just like it no qualifier needed
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akimojo · 2 years ago
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people love to use ffxiii’s messy development as a reason to completely shit on the game but honestly the fact they managed to sneak in so many little details in the gameplay in a way that reflects the characters and story despite all the miscommunication between the dev sections is just impressive to me
#was xiii horribly planned out and missed out on a lot of important feedback because of the poor time management? absolutely#does that mean you cant be impressed with what the game achieved regardless of whether you liked it or not? fuck no#also the fact theres next to no bugs (not counting the pc port because... yeah) is amazing all things considered#and the graphics still hold up to this day#the linearity is everyones main issue with the game but look at x dude#x was linear as hell too but it makes sense bc yuna had a pilgrimage to follow#just as how it makes sense for the xiii cast to not have time to stop and explore cocoon while they were being hunted by the government#thats why you have so much more freedom to explore when youre on pulse#theres not even anything objectively wrong with having a game be linear in the first place#and the people complaining about the story being ''incoherent'' are just... wrong?#they give you enough hints within the dialogue to piece the story together yourself while also not leaning on exposition dumps to tell it#and if you cant do that then the datalogs are right THERE#games have relied on ''notes'' to tell parts of their story for ages now and i dont understand why its suddenly bad when xiii does it#i dont like sitting through exposition dumps and i like being able to analyse and theorize about a plot WHILE im experiencing it#and a lot of other people feel the same way so its not an objectively bad aspect of the game's storytelling#you just need to pay attention and be patient and wait for the story to unfold#i went off the rails but ANYWAY#aki stfu#final fantasy xiii
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vaniliens · 6 months ago
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Taking a break from unsolved dont know if im coming back if you see this wife im sorry 💔
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catcatb0y · 4 months ago
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I ran out of tag... (It's mostly like two things that end up becoming annoyingly intertwined the more the series goes on). He was only powerful when it was convenient to the power scaling, which led to him being constantly put in otherwise intensely traumatizing victim situations solely to spur the main character into saving him no matter the cost. Which normally would have only furthered his unrealistic inferiority complex (and also his fear of weakness as well as distaste for weak people given how many people VICTIM BLAMED HIM, which you'd think would only confirm his fucking bias??) which OOPS was made into a... realistic inferiority complex?? Somehow solely to show that the MC somehow managed to grow past the underdog he never fucking was, and since the fans adored this, that became his only character! Yeah, somehow THAT was his big character growth...
He went from a complex, morally grey character to UwU empty ship fodder, and the fans of the series ate it up SO much that one of the main villains (one of the only people who genuinely acknowledged the strength and horrible treatment of my silly guy) telling him 'You're useless actually, I just want to kill you to make that other kid sad lol-' is seen as his PEAK. That. That's his peak. That's the "good ol days" the shipdom romantacizes. A villain poking at his weakness and deepest insecurity is somehow the canonizing moment of the ship (and it doesn't even happen, MC gets mad at his best friend's death for three seconds and then effortlessly kicks the villain's ass, as like the shittiest cherry on top) < it only gets worse from there!
I was also a shipper back in the day, and, in hindsight, I really should have seen the whole shitshow coming, but unfortunately I went on to dedicate six years to this hyperfixation that continues to haunt me three years after I attempted to quit the fandom cold turkey. It didn't even work.
reblog this with one canon thing you dislike / think is flawed about your blorbo and/or the way they were written
#the sheer inconsistency of the writing#deadass the story relied SO much on Tell Not Show that one of the STRONGEST main characters (in the MC's age range at LEAST)#is constantly and continuously victimized#and this is supposed to be his 'character growth'#but because him constantly being put in victim situations ties him to the main character everybody cheers and makes him into ship fodder#the SERIES in its finale made him into ship fodder but ofc it's a damn anime so gay people can't ACTUALLY exist#so his entire character- being the ONLY one that had growth being one of the most HARDWORKING and DEDICATED mfs on the cast-#ended up being absolutelt nothing.#at thr end of the day his BIGGEST FEAR FROM DAY ONE was just randomly canonized and his 'growth' turned into...#accepting the inferiority complex he had built up for himself based on absolutely NOTHING#to the point where ONE OF THE GODDAMNED VILLAINS tells him his only worth is his closeness to the MC and would you GUESS#people. fucking. cheered.#like there are soooo many things I could rant about this guy#first of all constantly being stuck as a victim doesn't actually make you sympathetic?? and it was almost ALWAYS at the negligence of the#adults around him. He was an ASSHOLE yeah but he was a TEENAGER who learned everything from the adults around him#only for those very same fuckers to turn around and verbally and PHYSICALLY berate or degrade him for upholding the values THEY INSTILED#second-ish the fact that he's contextually one of the strongest main characters in the entire series yet he CONSTANTLY gets nerfed#and forced into otherwise incredibly traumatic situations that would have HINDERED HIS PRE-EXISTING GROWTH- and it's all to make the#'underdog MC' shine and get the glory of saving the dude who HATES HIM. JUST LEAVE HIM ALONE MAN. THAT IS WHAT HE IS ASKING.#MC isn't even treated like an underdog either. He gets things SO effortlessly it makes you wonder why the hell everyone else even works#the series is RELIANT on his victimization. but it ties him into a ship he doesn't want to be in so people eat it up#then despite EVERYTHING he's been through HE UNDERGOES SEVERE CHARACTER GROWTH#he COMES TO TERMS with his tendency of lashing out and apologizes to the MC for treating him poorly due to his made up inferiority complex#and from then on it's just treated like a Canon Fact he is and always was inferior to this guy who put in. almost none of the actual work.#at the VERY least the series from the MC'a perspective shows the fact that he heavily idolized and looked up to my boy#but then the shift in perspective and suddenly every interaction with them is fucking 'he's ahead of me like he always has been'#buddy his fucking battle tactic is throwing himself into a lion's den and sheepishly laughing when he comes back burtally maimed. what.#what was once OBVIOUS BIAS became somehow OBJECTIVE FACT in order to half fucking traumabond this kid to someone who made him feel like shit#and that's not to say his actions towards said kid were excuseable- he was a bully and an asshole! Both things the MC just elects to ignore?#but at the end of the day the MC made him a WORSE person and he KNEW that and was trying to ESCAPE from it. He should have been allowed to.
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catfishofoldin99colours · 7 months ago
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I love being recommended helluva boss episodes after watching whitepine e3 like.
Sorry but I will stay with the well-paced intriguing gothic murder mystery that uses Minecraft as it's storytelling medium because at the end of the day it's more engaging than whatever the hell is going on in a show that looks spectacular but is as emotionally compelling as porridge.
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lucybellwood · 1 year ago
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Lemme tell you a gay little story about an eagle.
Our town (~9,000 people) has a couple garages, but there's a big one on the main drag. My family has been going there for decades. I drive past it every day.
There used to be a huge pine tree on the corner of their lot, but last year it became a hazard and had to be taken down.
Shortly thereafter I drive by and see they've hired a guy to chainsaw sculpt the stump into a bald eagle.
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Birds own my heart, but nationalism makes me twitchy. I withhold outright condemnation of the eagle, but I'm skeptical. (The original owner—an objectively Good Dude—sold the business to a younger couple a few years ago, and I don't have any knowledge of their whole deal.)
Then it turns out someone on staff is really into making costumes for the eagle. Every holiday. Every month. Stuffed turkey, witch costume, menorah headpiece, bunny ears. These people love to dress their bird.
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The changing of the eagle suit becomes a source of joy every time I drive through town.
Until June, when the eagle is bare.
Now look, maybe I'm expecting too much asking my garage to celebrate Pride. But this is a small town. Every time I drive by that stupid eagle—this thing that has previously brought me so much joy—I feel hurt. I feel reminded that there are plenty of people in my liberal bubble who don't consider my community worthy of celebration. I drive to work, I feel bad. I drive home, I feel bad. The eagle is mocking me.
Then my A/C quits working.
So I book an appointent to bring my car in—and realize what I have to do.
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I pick all this up at a thrift store for under ten bucks. I print the shirt with some weird heat-transfer fabric crayons I find in a cupboard. I loop gold elastic around the sunglasses and pray they'll fit on the eagle's head. (It is also important to draw your attention to the price of the feather boa.)
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(Nice.)
My reasoning is thus: if I show up with a complete costume ready to go, someone will have to look me in the eye and say "We don't believe in that," at which point I'll be finding a new garage. But if they let me dress the eagle, then people in town get to have the joy I've been missing since the start of the month.
I listen to a lot of hype-up jams on my way over. I hate confrontation. I also don't wanna have to find another garage. I want to believe that this decision isn't actively antagonistic, but I'm not particularly hopeful.
I talk through the A/C issue with the guy at the desk, hand over my keys, then take a deep breath.
"Who's in charge of the eagle?"
"Oh, that's all Dylan. Second bay from the end."
I walk down the row of hydraulic lifts and find a disarmingly smiley middle-aged man pouring fluid through a funnel. I introduce myself and explain that, since the Pride parade is this Sunday and the eagle seems to be missing a costume, I have taken the liberty of making one myself, and can I get his blessing to go put it on?
Dylan grins this absolutely giant grin and goes
"Oh hell yeah."
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So that's what's up now.
Happy Pride.
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psychhound · 28 days ago
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im preparing to defend my thesis on therapeutically applied ttrpgs tomorrow and im sitting here and pondering ttrpgs and how unique they are as a genre and how you might describe them as texts and objects to someone who's not too familiar
because like ttrpgs (the texts) are very creative and theyre very artistic and inspiring and beautiful and moving and they're also ... instructional manuals. lmao. yknow? theyre Technical Writing by and large unless youre looking at like a lyric game or something. the main purpose of a ttrpg text is to instruct you how to carry out a series of tasks and rituals in order to produce a desired outcome. theyre instructions on how to facilitate a specific experience
and theyre pretty unique in that as a genre (in the writing studies sense of the term - a specific type of creation with shared features, uses, and intentions)
like kind of the only way i can think to compare them to something else is if you had a play script, right
and in the play script you have a description of all the characters. and you had a description of the setting. you know how many acts there are, maybe those acts have titles. the play might give you suggestions on how to design the stage and what props to include. and then as you're flipping through it all the stage directions are there and you know which order things are supposed to happen in
but all the character dialogue is blank
you cant really look at that and say "wow ive been moved by this story" because like. well. the story isn't there yet. it's potentially easy to tell what the intent of the play is - what kind of story it's likely to tell. you can look at the set of characters and reason out what might happen if you put them all together. you might even know some of the actions that are meant to take place in this play because of the stage directions (does someone shoot a gun? do the characters cry? does everyone fall over dead or do they dance?)
but at that point, even though it's creative and maybe even beautiful, this is really mostly an instructional manual. the story hasn't been told yet. there's a lot of room to imagine and generate and create - within the confines of the instructions they've given you. surely this is art, right? but what kind of art is it?
ttrpg texts largely aren't telling a story, they are instructional manuals on how to generate a specific story in the confines of that specific game. beautiful, lovely, creative instructional manuals that are really hard to explain to anyone who hasn't been involved in the experience of generating from one before
but ... yea :) thats the best metaphor i could come up with. thesis defense tomorrow !!
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boneless-mika · 2 years ago
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Getting diagnosed with autism as a tween is absurd because they really just test you like they would a child and the entire time you’re going “why the fuck am I doing this I am not a child” but because of the autism you find it very hard to express this and if you did you probably would not be diagnosed
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abbyfmc · 9 months ago
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Yandere Story Idea #17:
Yandere President! Husband x First Lady! Wife Reader:
I have never seen a yandere as a political figure, be it a mayor, minister, senator, congressman or president of an entire country.
The Yandere President met you before he rose to power, and from there he became madly infatuated with you.
The yandere president came from a very powerful family like you, so your parents and his arranged a marriage despite the modernity of the time.
He received a very comprehensive, albeit and very strict education.
Your education wasn't very different from his; you even knew each other from a young age, as your parents purposely brought you together.
The Yandere President won't take "no" from you for an answer.
A president needs to have charisma and know how to communicate with people, and the Yandere president is no exception. He KNOWS that there are people who believe in him, and whether he is corrupt or not, he will use this chance of manipulation to his advantage to have you.
The Yandere President will always make sure you're comfortable wherever you go together, or whenever you want to stay home. You will have the best medical care and attention, as well as the best food, drink, clothing, treats, accessories and, above all, protection.
And by the way, you will have a great and powerful status that others would envy.
The Yandere President is one of those powerful, paranoid, manipulative, protective and, above all, controlling yanderes.
Whether you're alone or with him, you'll ALWAYS be watched by him wherever you go, even if it's from your bedroom to the living room. The Yandere President will have bodyguards on hand to carefully protect you, him, and his family; he also has servants such as private chefs, maids, chauffeurs, butlers, security guards, etc.
ALL of those servants will tell the yandere president everything you say or do.
The yandere president has a WHOLE team of security cameras and microphones watching you from every possible angle (even if you can't see them), so he ALWAYS knows where you are, who you're with, what you say and what you do. After that, there's no way you can lie to him.
He would even limit your outings to the patio, for fear of snipers, according to him.
Needless to say, you have become the main object of his crazy obsessive love. He would do anything to have you; including killing his love rivals; overprotecting you; isolating you; censoring or controlling all information about you in the media.
The Yandere President knows he has enemies everywhere, both politicians from other parties and other nations and civilians (including rebel groups) who are willing to kidnap you, torture you, extort you, rob you, rape you and even kill you for the simple reason of being related to him.
The yandere president would barely let you see your family.
The Yandere President would love any gift you give him, just because it came from you, his greatest love.
The Yandere President would proudly show you off to everyone, and wouldn't stop reminding the citizens that you are his.
Even though you participate in politics and charity events, the yandere president considers that you should only be his due to his jealousy.
And speaking of which, the yandere president will not stand for you leaving him or talking to another man other than himself, your father or maybe a brother.
Whether in public or private, he will hold your hand, hug you or kiss you, but not to keep up appearances, but to show you the love he feels for you.
Although the yandere president knows that he must protect you from the paparazzi and the media, since he knows that if they have no mercy on him (being the president), much less will they have mercy on you.
I almost forgot: the yandere president would NOT accept a divorce.
He can't bear the idea that you, his beloved, want to leave him.
He would question you intensively to find out the reason for the divorce. Did he not take care of you? Did someone threaten you? Did he not give you enough gifts? Did he not love you or give you enough affection? Did he not give you the attention you wanted? Did someone do something to you and he did not protect you enough?
The Yandere President would talk things over with you and tell you right away that he would NOT let you go anywhere.
The yandere president will even lock you up to make you reconsider.
The Yandere President is not only someone with a lot of money; he also has the best team of private detectives, investigators, spies, hackers, guards and even police officers; so he knows EVERYTHING about you and your family, so if he can't get you to give up on the divorce, he'll have your parents pressure you or threaten to make them disappear.
The Yandere President is capable of ordering the killing of any lover you have.
He is the yandere president; he has absolute control over every part of the country, be it houses, apartments, schools and universities, public administration sites, establishments, all streets and even airports and/or borders.
Now, he would never dare to hurt you directly.
The Yandere President would be capable of making your life difficult if you divorce him. He will do everything to get you back, even sending his men to kidnap you.
He would not accept a divorce even if his election campaigns fail, just think that if he fails, you'll do it together.
The yandere president would be able to become a yandere dictator for you.
He would invite you on the most dazzling trips around the country or around the world.
-The end.
So, what do you think?
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bigclownshoes · 2 months ago
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No one come for me but I really really really don't want solo leveling to win anime of the year. Don't get me wrong, it's a gorgeous anime with breathtaking fight scenes and cool character moments that occasionally have emotional undertones, but that's about it. Objectively speaking, it loses in almost every other category to one, if not most of the other animes. Character design? Dungeon Meshi, Dandadan, and Frieren have some of the best character designs I've seen. Even the random mobs and monsters are more unique. Story and individual character development arc? Every single one beats Solo leveling. It easily, has one of the weakest side casts I've ever watched lmao. Representation? Frieren and The Apothecary Diaries are literally female led animes, and the rest have insanely diverse casts. Not to mention, if Solo Leveling wins, it just tells higher executives and companies that no, people don't like your unique and inventive stories with diverse main characters and casts, they want more of Weak-Guy-Becomes-Strong-And-Hot. Dandadan, despite it's flaws, has the most unique opening and artstyle I've seen in a long long time. It is such a damn delight watching that show. I could go on, and I know that it's a popularity contest so SL will probably win, but I hope it doesn't. I want the world to know that animes like the others still have a place in a world where AI is slowly overtaking animation and getting more conservative each day and that yes, your risky and new and weird ideas will be loved.
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nagitosstolenhand · 1 year ago
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i don't like the growing opinion that people are being 'too hard' on deku for his failing to save shigaraki.
i've seen quite a few people complaining that a lot of the bnha-critical crowd are being too mean to deku for getting tomura killed, arguing that it isn't really his fault, and that hes a 16 year old child soldier who's been failed by almost every adult in his life, why should we be putting all of this on his shoulders? hes just a kid after all?
and the truth is, they're right. deku IS a 16 year old boy whos had the fate of the world thrust on his shoulders. but the story itself just plainly refuses to acknowledge this.
the narrative doesn't acknowledge how fucked up having a school that trains literal children how to be combo cop-celebrities is. it only tentatively acknowledges the fact that a universe having combo cop-celebrities is fucked up, and even then the only people who ever point this out are antagonists, who are portrayed and treated in-universe as untrustworthy. the narrative doesn't care how fucked up dekus circumstances are. the narrative treats deku like hes a fucking messiah here to touch the hearts of the evil depressed villains with his magical empathetic heart of gold before they get blown up or just sent to fucking superhell for daring to challenge the status quote.
deku isn't a person. he's barely even a fucking character at this point. he's a plot device, and a mouth piece for the objectively shitty themes bnha is trying to spout. the themes that tell you that if you're mistreated by society and want to do something about it, you're a villain. that disrupting the status quote and refusing to repent to some random teenage boy spouting empty platitudes at you means you deserve to get sent to fucking superhell. the themes that portray people fighting for civil change as mass murdering supervillains. the themes that look the audience dead in the eye and can call deku the greatest hero to ever live.
deku, who barely spared a second thought to lady nagant telling him the truth about the hero commission. who spouts meaningless platitudes about heroism and morality at nagant, and aoyama, and toga and shigaraki, when even the thought that he should question the world around him comes up. who's constantly talked about as this truly kind, empathetic person, but hasn't spared an empathetic thought to literally anyone who is classified as a villain. who listened to every authority figure around him except the ones who asked him to question his worldview. who saw la bravas tears, shigarakis various breakdowns, himikos plead for understanding, chisakis catatonic state, lady nagants truth, and barley batted a fucking eye. deku, who killed tomura shigaraki.
people don't criticize deku for failing shigaraki because they just hate deku. people criticize deku because of what he represents. because hes a mouthpiece for the atrocious morals and themes of this ideologically rotten manga. because any character he had was chopped up to bits in favor of the incomplete husk we have now. people criticize deku because hes the main character of my hero academia. theres nothing more damning then that.
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