#can you tell nyx mainly wrote most of this

[cherry-berry-candy]

okay, usually we try not to rain on 13's parade too much, especially since we follow some people who really appreciate her era! but we feel like this post did a bit of poor pissing.

for the moment, i'll take note that, yes, the doctor is literally referring to the automated system. but to point this out to say the episode was never pro-company/amazon/capitalism is just... wrong. this episode is still incredibly confused on its messaging. even aside from the doctor's praise and excitement for the company, the episode is, at best, confused on its capitalism stance.

we spend a decent portion of the episode focusing on how awful the pay and conditions are for the workers- in particular, lee mack's character. he mentions how there is no privacy on the job, because of the "constant random monitoring". he makes so little money that he can only go see his daughter twice a year. he "splurge[s] on an economy shuttle". and he notes that half the galaxy is unemployed, because advances in technology took their jobs.

this is all (seemingly) critiques of capitalism! too few people are getting paid too little money to do automated work with too little privacy! this is where the confusion starts, though. the viewer will notice that the idea of people still needing to work when that work is already automated is bad. the episode, based on what happens by the end, and what op mentioned, does not.

after the dust is settled, the solution is not to push for worker's rights. all of the pay problems and privacy problems are still there. people still have to work in the first place, despite everything being automated. in fact, the solution is to push for more people to be hired. THIS SOLUTION IS NOT ANTI-CAPITALIST. Not even close! This solution is very much capitalist status-quo, and completely ignores all the capitalist critique it brought up earlier!

I can already imagine what people are thinking at this point. "Okay, but you can't expect this one scenario at space Amazon, the biggest retailer in the galaxy this one company to be able to kickstart such a widespread change" and something along the lines of the episode being about incrementalist change. But the episode seemed to suddenly lose interest entirely in even a desire to change anything else. Not to mention this solution is, imo, strictly for the worse!

Like, again. All of these rights violations are still there. No one makes any mention of how these problems are still there, no one makes any mention of what an anti-capitalist episode easily would have in people still needing to work for pennies while automation can already run everything.

With all this on-and-off focus, by the way, on capitalist exploitation, with the doctor being so excited about this big exploitative company (intentional statement or not!)- and with this classic "villain who's in the right but went TOO FAR" (except the writers seemingly didn't realize he wasn't even right), i feel like it's not unreasonable that when we hear the all-too-familiar phrase-

The systems aren't the problem. How people use and exploit the system, that's the problem.

Our brain immediately goes to every single other time the phrase has been used outside of the context of this one scene in this one show. In-universe, it is literally about the automated robots. But as a story, with like. Themes, and metaphors, and all that good stuff, is it really that unreasonable to read this as a statement on capitalism too?

Like, if you can read into the rest of this and give it explanations that mesh with, but are not pulled from, the text- then you can understand folks pulling more than the literal in-universe meaning of the words.

oh my god this is years late but everyones perception of kerblam is literally wrong??? when the doctor said the "system" wasn't wrong, she meant automation? not the company? like the concept of automation isn't inherently wrong (there is a good point for making dangerous and menial tasks automated) and it wasn't trying to hurt people. And when she said the people exploiting the system were wrong she meant people exploiting automation (including charlie, who was using it to kill people so the system would take the fall. the doctor even points out he isnt an acitivst, he's just killing people). the metaphor is a bit fumbly. but it was never pro company/amazon?? the episode ends with a focus on the company being people led. man, i dont think ill ever not get annoyed with the way people bring this episode up to make series 11 look bad.

[hunnybadgerv]

Meta asks for writers: 2, 3, 4, 16, 19, 21

from the Fun Meta Asks for Writers prompts:

2. Tell us about what you’re most looking forward to writing – in your current project, or a future project I’m trying to work up my nerve to write an original fiction idea I’ve been toying with for more than 10 years. It’s about a family that is cursed when they refuse to align to a new power structure. The stories would follow them through their escapades throughout time as they seek out the “one” that can relieve them of this curse. 

3. What is that one scene that you’ve always wanted to write but can’t be arsed to write all of the set-up and context it would need? (consider this permission to write it and/or share it anyway)

Already answered here

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

16. Tried anything new with your writing lately? (style, POV, genre, fandom?) Yes, I popped more actively into writing in SWTOR fandom, mainly because I started playing again and I kind of got into the new chapters which I hadn’t played yet.

19. Is there something you always find yourself repeating in your writing? (favourite verb, something you describe ‘too often’, trope you can’t get enough of?) I noticed that in a lot of the standalone fics that I have written for Nyx and Kaidan focus on this idea of the two of them stealing time from the pending battles and fear of losing one another. I didn’t realize it, but a lot of these were written really far apart from one another and they seem to all grasp onto that idea of holding on to what you have while you have it, and focusing on the now rather than everything else that is going to hell around them. 

21. What other medium do you think your story would work well as? (film, webcomic, animated series?) I mean as an aspiring author, I’d love to see anything I wrote end up anywhere. It thrills me to no end whenever I see art of fic, even if I commission it myself. I just love seeing someone else’s take on something that started as a seed in the back of my brain. 

[kuiperror]

i tell you everything i know about pluto because i have tons of information and i don’t know what to do with it

pluto has five natural satellites: charon, styx, nix, hydra and kerberos, which are all names of myths that relate to the underworld. pluto is the god of the underworld in roman mythology, charon is the ferryman of the underworld, nyx (pluto’s moon uses the egyptian spelling) is the mother of charon and the goddess of the night, hydra is the serpent-headed monster that lives in lake lerna, which was thought to be an enterance to the underworld, and styx is the river that forms the boundry of the underworld and earth.

pluto’s and charon’s rotation system is actually very interesting! charon is almost half the size of pluto. their barycenter (their point from which they rotate around) lies just around pluto itself, so the two are actually rotating around one another in a binary system. they are also tidally locked to each other, so charon & pluto are always facing one another. pluto and charon are sometimes informally referred to as a double-dwarf planet system.

pluto’s rotation around the sun is skewed to a 17 degree angle, so occasionally pluto will be closer to the sun than neptune. pluto’s axis is at its side, like uranus.

an eleven year old girl named venetia barney came up with the name of pluto.

the heart-like region on pluto is named the tombaugh regio, named after discoverer of pluto, clyde tombaugh. the geographal feature is also nicknamed “the heart.” a basin in the region is made up of solid nitrogen and other ices, and is named the sputnik planitia, after the first man-made satellite.

a small amount of tombaugh’s ashes were placed on the new horizons flyby space probe, which flew past pluto in the summer of 2015.

pluto’s new moons (styx and kerberos) were named via online poll, with the most voted name being vulcan, from star trek. the IAU seriously thought about naming one of pluto’s moons vulcan, but the name had already been used in astronomy, so they went with the other two top names, which were styx and kerberos.

on one side of pluto’s tombaugh regio, (the bottom right of it) there are irregular dark spots with varying boundries, which have been nicknamed “the brass knuckles.” on the other side of the heart (left side) is a region named cthulhu macula, nicknamed “the whale,” due to its shape.

while charon, the moon, shares a name with charon, the ferryman of the underworld in greek and roman mythology, the name was actually chosen because of the discoverer, james christy’s wife, charlene. he took “char” from charlene and added the -on to the end (mainly because science-y terms use -on endings.) the name charon is pronounced sh-air-on, because of his wife, and not how the original authentic greek name was pronounced, with a silent c/k, ha-r-nn.

pluto lies within the kuiper (cuh-eye-per, rhymes with viper) belt, and is referred to as “the king of the kuiper belt” because it is the largest known object in said belt.

when pluto was discovered, clyde tombaugh was looking for lowell’s planet x, but due to pluto’s size, pluto did not fit lowell’s discription of the hypothetical planet.

ok motherfuckers pack your jetpacks for the most drama-filled story of the solar system, probably. aka how pluto was demoted to a dwarf planet

so it starts in 2005. pluto is still a planet. of course, ever since pluto’s discovery, it’s been a debate among scientists over whether or not its a planet. pluto’s size and eccentric orbit were pointing to pluto being a large KBO, or kuiper belt object. other objects in the kuiper belt were being discovered that were approaching pluto’s size, and it only sparked more tension and debate.

another dwarf planet, ceres, was already discovered at this time, but it had been named as an asteroid and not a dwarf planet. haumea, another dwarf planet was found in 2004, which i think they classified as a minor planet before 2006. 

anyway, in 2005, astronomer michael e. brown made some new discoveries. he discovered two small planets within the kuiper belt. and one of them is... supposedly larger than pluto. 

enter eris. this is the backstabber who made the IAU define the term planet. eris actually isn’t larger than pluto, it’s around the same size. (maybe, somehow, if the scientists didn’t overestimate, pluto might still be a planet. maybe even eris would be our tenth planet? maybe not, but it’s interesting to think about.) eris is named after the greek goddess of strife and discord. the dwarf planet’s moon is named dysnomia, after eris’ daughter, who is the figure for lawlessness. pretty fitting names, wouldn’t you say?

(ok but being serious here, it’s not eris’ fault. it just got discovered, that’s all. and pluto being demoted was bound to happen anyway with the discovery of similar sized KBOs. it’s not brown’s fault either. science is science. but you know all that. just putting this here just to clear the air.) 

so, once eris was discovered, the IAU (international astronomical union) defined the term planet in august 2006. in order to be a planet, you must meet the criteria.

one: must orbit around the sun

two: must have enough mass to have a nearly round shape

three: you must have “cleared out your neighbourhood,” which means that you must be gravitationally dominant, and no other bodies (besides natural satellites) can be under your gravitational influence. 

if you match the critera, congrats, you’re a planet. if you don’t match the third one, you’re a dwarf planet. pluto does not meet the third criteria (it shares its neighbourhood with other KBOs & the gravity of neptune effects its orbit)

so, pluto is a dwarf planet. and it’s our favourite! we still love pluto no matter what. if you want to read more on the story of pluto’s demotion, mike brown himself wrote a book called Why I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming (i wanna read it so bad)

anyway. it took four hours to write this so i am going to conk tf out. i probably spelled almost everything wrong and probably generalized a bunch so if you want details go read an actual credible source instead of my secondhand shitty explanations. if you’re reading this, thank you for reading and also go listen to 134340 pluto by cojum dip and i’m your moon by jonathan coulton please

[comicteaparty]

March 21st-March 27th, 2020 Creator Babble Archive

The archive for the Creator Babble chat that occurred from March 21st, 2020 to March 27th, 2020.  The chat focused on the following question:

What are some background details you know about your story that won’t ever actually come up in the main narrative?

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Oh boy... So many in Whispers of the Past... The first—which I believe I've mentioned before—is that some of the characters' sexualities never really get brought up outside of some subtle subtext. For example, Ryukou is asexual aromantic, but he is married, and he honestly doesn't even know that being aroace is a thing. His wife, Maya, is bisexual, and her attraction to women is hinted at, but not explicitly said. The second background detail that will likely never make it into the main narrative is Kelan's grief after SPOILER the death of his wife. END SPOILER The story takes place years after this event, and yet he still hasn't completely recovered. That being said, it just never really comes up in the narrative, again, outside of subtext. Thirdly, Izrekiel actually has a dependency on physical contact and skinship, because of the lack of affection he was given as a child. This, once again, only really comes up in subtext and is hinted at through his actions, but it is never explained. Aaaaand finally, there is a lot of magical lore that is never explained even remotely. In the story, it is treated very much like a soft magic system, but there are some "harder" elements that go into explaining why certain things have happened, but... they are not actually explained in the story. More like... I know about them, and I can explain these things to anyone who cares to ask (edited)

Capitania do Azar

Oh I suppose that in https://www.sarilho.net/en/ I'm never gonna go in detail about the geopolitics, the different power structures or even how the main empire is structured. We may get hints at it, but it's not necessary for the story so I don't think I'm gonna include much. Details about characters' sexualities are prolly just gonna be hinted at mainly because they don't have the words to express them the same way we do Also I really care about the differences between the different languages and particularly between the spoken and written versions of these, but I can't find a way to have a character explain those just because so you'll have to figure it out through background information like posters and graffiti

sagaholmgaard

Ohh this prompt came at the right time because it's been on my mind lately!! In Reclaim, https://tapas.io/series/_Reclaim_ My two main characters, Albus and Styrka, are in a queerplatonic relationship, which they don't have the word for and it doesn't ever come up except in subtext. I'm trying to write them so that it really shows that they love each other, and everyone knows this, but there won't be a point were they "get together" so to speak because they already have everything they want between each other! And I'm very Soft for this but also nervous that when the story is finished people might feel let down that it doesn't end up in straight up romance? if that makes sense And there's a lot of history research I did that is contextually there but not mentioned in words. That's just one of those things where my knowledge is deeper than what shows in the comic, but I think the story is better for it :D (It's not historic fiction because I'm taking a lot of liberties, but the research is helpful all the same)

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

One of the paladin/church knight's gay, but it never comes up, because, you know, marriage in their world's decided by the parents, because it's a matter of inheritance and heirs not love. He's married, and actually decent friends with his wife and children, but he's taking his oaths seriously. So he never even mentions the people's he's attracted too.

There are openly gay couples in the story, it just didn't work out for him; his family needed that alliance.

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

In Phantomarine (http://www.phantomarine.com/) I have two gods that drive the entire story. But seven other gods existed at one point in time. I will be delving into at least two other gods’ stories - as a good background for why the remaining two are in such a tumultuous relationship - but there are five others that I don’t really plan on writing about in great detail. Their symbols and names may pop up in various texts/decorations/etc, but there’s not enough time for a super detailed character study of each. Perfect for side stories, though

mariah (rainy day dreams)

Rainy Day Dreams (http://rainydaydreams.mariahcurrey.com/) takes place in an alternate dimension and the plot deals mostly with interdimensional travelers, but the world is post first interstellar contact also. Only the story isn't a sci-fi so there's no real reason to talk about how robust their space program is and there are already monsters so there's no easy way to tell who's a native and who's and alien.

eli [a winged tale]

Whoa Mariah that sounds fun! I love how everyone’s worlds are complex and in depth and there are clues within the story

Would these details be part of another project/side stories/lorebook? What’s everyone’s plans for these secrets

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

My secrets are basically just stewing in my brain I mean, I guess if a reader ever asked, I'd spill all the secrets, but so far, that hasn't happened.

Tuyetnhi (OIYD!)

same lmao

I guess a background detail the comic won't get into is how the imagery in Cara's dream became promiment before her dream boyfriend came to the picture. I did wrote a prequel where she was having dreams of her late grandma who's stories got super visual in her head. Most of the events she told to Cara were from late 70's Vietnam.(edited)

some of those dreams and nightmares were partly inspired from my parent's part growing up in the time, such as my dad encountering a ghoulish corpse with his grandpa and my mom actually building things from a hut in the jungle

so yeah lmao. ghost story dreams

eli [a winged tale]

Mariah I’m curious about non-scifi parallel universe space program alien monsters are they more the reasoning for how the story exists but you won’t be going into depth with them? (Ie not a plot twisty thing?)

Ghost story dreams and parallel places in real life sound like a good atmosphere/mood element in your story!

Tuyetnhi (OIYD!)

yeah lmao. I wasn't sure how to add it but Cara does mention about her grandma's story in future chapters (if my hands let me draw faster lolol). but as a small tibit. Maybe I'll sit down and write more as a side story lol

eli [a winged tale]

Side stories sound like a great way to showcase more of the world

Tuyetnhi (OIYD!)

I'll consider it lolol

mariah (rainy day dreams)

Mariah I’m curious about non-scifi parallel universe space program alien monsters are they more the reasoning for how the story exists but you won’t be going into depth with them? (Ie not a plot twisty thing?)

They're just kind of an additional details that I came up with while thinking about the world. The planet itself I decided a long time ago is Eart but like 100,000 years in the future so the tectonic plates have shifted and the continents are different. The setting is kind of a mix of old-timey and futuristic, but also mixed with magic so the lines between what is technology and what's just supernatural are already pretty blurred. So since it's already sort of a futuristic society I thought it would just be a neat addition to also have had aliens either have shown up or been discovered. I also figured that since the world is super used to inter-dimensional travelers they probably wouldn't be super freaked out to life from off-planet since they already know they aren't alone in the multi-verse? X'D but this stuff really doesn't have any baring on the main story. Like it might be something Mara tells Tristin as some point to blow her human mind. I just like to dig into little setting corners and make tunnels readers probably won't ever see X)

eli [a winged tale]

Ooh that sounds really neat! A big world to discover for the attentive readers

DanitheCarutor

Oh I got some stuff! 1. Part of this can be spoilers for future scenes, so I'm putting it behind a thing. SPOILER Apollo's origin. He was adopted and while at some point him and Julian discuss his parents briefly, it never really comes up in the main narrative. Apollo himself doesn't really care much since he was adopted as a baby and doesn't even know who they are outside of a picture that was given to him as a kid. Essentially they were an Irish couple who moved to the states, the father died at some point and the mother followed close behind during childbirth. There weren't any known relatives, at least ones that wanted to him, so Apollo went into the system and was lucky enough to be adopted almost immediately. END SPOILER 2. Julian's origin. This is kind of brought up briefly later on, but Julian doesn't really know where they're from so nothing much comes of it outside of remembering small bits of how their life was before being found. Although it is eluded to what the situation possibly could have been. 3. Julian's real age and date of birth. Since they didn't have any kind of ID the doctors had to guess their age, which isn't an important detail for the story so I don't see a point in adding it. 4. The details of what happened at Hopeful Hands. This place is discussed a lot, but the talk is more about the trauma that was inflicted and how to move on, rather than lingering on the details. Although enough of what happened is brought up to get a good picture of what kind of place it is/was. I figured laying it all out would be a little too much, and would take away from the main point of the story. 5. The lives of Apollo's friends. There are a couple side character who get fleshed out a bit later on, but since the story isn't about them I didn't see a need in showing more than what is necessary.

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

Hmm... there's certainly quite a few things that don't show up in the main narrative. Like Super Galaxy Knights Deluxe R is very much the Mizuki show, very few other characters get deep explorations into their backstories. But, like, that's what the short stories are for. As for things that never show up in the series at all... the only ones I can think of are the history of the world (because, like, it's pretty boring) and the specifics of how certain technology works. Like, I have a list of people & companies that various locations in the series were named after, and a list of the dynasties in the Giduli Kingdom. There's... not really any interesting stories there, it's just a dry list, so it's not something really worth caring about. And, like, saying "FTL travel in this world works by traveling to a parallel universe where everything is exactly the same except half as big" is kinda interesting I guess... but there's no reason for any character to mention it, and that specific detail really isn't relevant to the story besides "there is FTL travel in this world".

Feather J. Fern

Oh man, for Teasday, any detail about what the actual background of the story is. It's mostly character driven, if the characters don't care, or don't know, they don't talk about it. For Go Figure, I think no one is going to be told anything about the other battles in the past but they did happen.

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

There are so many stories I have built into the backstories of various characters that probably won't come up in the main work but have thought about making other adjacent comics about. For example I could imagine doing a prequel type thing about Joe's life & exploits

Since he is a cool character but unfortunately dead for this entire story

AntiBunny

In AntiBunny, http://AntiBunny.net/ I can't think of any reason to bring up the fact that Runo is asexual. Juju is also bisexual, and that also never comes up.

Desnik

Right now it's the warlock's magic system. I got it all worked out and then it suddenly had nothing to do with my plot.

Erin Ptah (BICP | Leif & Thorn)

I think sexuality details are easier to work in than a lot of people expect. You don't need a character to stand up and announce Have I Mentioned That I Am Asexual Today -- it can be an offhand mention that not all your readers will even pick up on. (But the ones who are looking for it will notice.) https://leifandthorn.com/comic/family-deserts-4-33/

What I've teased but never been able to work into Leif & Thorn canon (yet?) are the details of the World's Largest Cheese Sculpture.

There's also a lot of country names and flags in the bank that haven't shown up yet...but I'm about to draw scenes from a big international song competition, so I'm probably gonna need even more than I already have.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

TBH as an ace person, I don't really pick up on these things. It has to be more concrete for me. Kudos for those who do pick up on them and find them validating, though.

The cheese sculpture sounds epic.

Erin Ptah (BICP | Leif & Thorn)

Ahhh, that's what "reading the comments section to check out other people's theories" is for!

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I do that, but I don't consider that canon until the actual comic convinces me

It's also not something we creators can rely on, especially those of us who don't get many comments...

I'm not saying this is bad. Offhand mentions are great, just not concrete proof for everybody (and nothing is for everybody, sooooo).

Erin Ptah (BICP | Leif & Thorn)

Yeah, as a reader I like a lot of comics that don't get many comments...but it's cool when they do and there are people coming up with things.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

So I get it if a fellow creator finds it difficult to show that a character is ace -- like, maybe they're like me and they want Concrete Proof rather than an indication.

Erin Ptah (BICP | Leif & Thorn)

But the creator would already have concrete proof, right? Since it's their character. And the idea is that, even if it won't reach all readers, the indications are still better than nothing.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Yeah, like I said, they're not bad to have.

Erin Ptah (BICP | Leif & Thorn)

(for reference, the comic I linked above isn't the first offhand-mention related to that character, it's just the point when readers started putting it together)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I'm not trying to dissuade anyone from slipping in those indications. Just saying different strokes for different folks.

DanitheCarutor

Reminds me of a comic I read called 'WANDERING' (https://tapas.io/series/wandern), the main male character in it is ace, although this is never stated out right in the story. At some point readers were speculating about his sexuality due to some hints, although I was totally oblivious. Didn't have any idea where the discussion came from. I do agree that a reader is more likely to pick up on something if they're looking for it though, as someone who doesn't care too much about a character's sexuality and gender (when those subjects aren't important to the story) I don't pick up on then unless the author holds my hand a little. Although when it comes to one of my character's genders it's never stated in my comic either, someone just asks about pronouns and attire later on and that's it. Kind of ironic. Lol

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I'm in a similar boat. Most of my characters' orientations are left ambiguous. I may need to drop an additional hint or two for some of them...

DanitheCarutor

Pfff right? I don't think my comic even had the word 'gay' in it until a few pages ago and I'm already into chapter 5. (to be fair, Apollo's sexuality is pretty obvious. The hits are really unsubtle.) I've thought about making my character's gender more easy to read for oblivious people like me, but that part of the comic is more about what makes them feel good in their own skin rather than putting a title to it. So people who miss my Twitter posts and author's comments can just speculate for themselves, I guess.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I can respect that. For me, a big part of the reason I'm wanting to put more hints is because I don't want people to accuse me of.... what people accused Legend of Korra about (I didn't watch it, but I did see some of those complaints)

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Ah... The good ol' "why is she randomly bi?"

They didn't do a good job of showing it throughout the series up until that point at the end

But, big but, the creators mentioned that she was always intended to be bi, but they were afraid that Nickelodeon wouldn't let them represent a bi character on TV.(edited)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Again, coming from someone who hasn't watched it, I feel like the complaint should be "why is she suddenly in love" rather than "why is she suddenly bi" -- same issue with shoehorned in straight romance

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

That too

These characters were fighting over the same man at some point

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

big shrug indeed, it sounds like

DanitheCarutor

Oooh! I thought it was the "stop the show to announce my gender/sexuality" thing. I never saw the show either and didn't see many of the complaints since I don't hang out on social media very often. Lol @keii’ii (Heart of Keol) That's understandable! With how stuff like that is nowadays it's better to be safe and make sure readers know, rather than not make it known till the last possible minute. It does kind of suck if putting in bigger hints doesn't mesh with will your story though.

Gosh, about the Korra thing, they could have dropped some subtle pick up lines in while fighting over the dude. But not wanting your show to get pulled or not wanting to be denied stuff is understandable.

Tuyetnhi (OIYD!)

oh yeah, the LoK convos about Korra and Asami. I watched the show during that time and it's just rip

Nick said to the creators they will pull the show if there's an explict statement that Kora and Asami being BI

so they had to be lowkey as hell in the end, which at the time of 2013-2014? idk the year

it was a steping stone for american cartoons I guess rip

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Yeah, and even though LoK aired back when things were a little different.... honestly I still feel that kinda pressure from EVERY angle, just a different flavor of it.

Tuyetnhi (OIYD!)

yea

DanitheCarutor

Well, last minute LGBT+ is better than none. Now there are a few shows like that, right? SU is super into it? (I don't watch this show either so I'm guessing based on fan discussion) and the MLP final dropped in some last minute stuff.

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I have at least one character with cross orientation, and that's really awkward to show when I don't wanna put any... sex in the comic. (It's got lots of juvenile "tee hee butts" kinda stuff, but nothing steamy)

AntiBunny

Other tidbits I've thought of that I couldn't really address without just dropping a big exposition bomb are bits of lagosapien biology. They for instance have a shorter adolescence than humans, so they're shorter, but reach adulthood sooner. Their eyes are a bit wider than a human's, giving them a wider field of view, but less depth perception, and that they have higher muscular density, but being about half the size are on average human, are a little weaker than an adult human.

eli [a winged tale]

I know some webcomics have world lores and character notes at the end of each chapter

mathtans

Oh, things that don't show up? Randomly I'll toss in here that Expona is left handed. (Mostly consistently, I may have slipped up in the art once or twice.) Never something that makes sense for characters to talk about though, and not plot relevant, so... does that qualify? I dunno.

Joichi / Sarah

@Erin Ptah (BICP | Leif & Thorn) sorry I'm late but I like the way you point out about asexuality. I was thinking of how to show concrete proof one's ace. But most of the time, I can pick up 'emotional signs' if it has inner monologue about romance.

The hard part of it, is being one myself, and it's always 'been like this' but in comic, it has to be said somewhere

Erin Ptah (BICP | Leif & Thorn)

Ah, good to hear!

Erin Ptah (BICP | Leif & Thorn)

And yeah, that was my intention, encouraging people who feel stuck between "explicit announcement" or "nothing at all" to remember that you have in-between options. And if you take that approach, there's all kinds of creative/offbeat/fun things you can do with it.

(Applies to everything else, too, sexual orientation just happens to be the thing people were talking about when it came up.)

[fumusdamnatorum]

No Bark, All Bite: A Headcanon/Meta Post on Silas’ Fighting Style

So, not too long ago, I wrote a piece on Silas’ body language here. I’d figured it’d be a nice transition into what would be his fighting style. I guess you can call this part two? Or part whatever depending on what bright ideas I can keep writing about. The way I’m going to break this down is in three parts: fight mentality, armed fighting style, and unarmed fighting style. The use of his semblance will fall in with his armed fighting style; I’ll explain more when I get to that point in time. 

To start this off, I’m gonna talk a bit on his fight mentality. In contrast to how I used to write him and to those that he’s based off of, Silas is rather non-confrontational. I’d argue the reason why he’d get into fights is because he looks like he wants to fight, but in reality he doesn’t. His fight IQ, the ability to not just read opponents but also apply the correct “solutions” in a fight, is above average. Silas isn’t the type to show his hand all that quickly, and while yes he is the gambling type, he doesn’t rely on pure, unadulterated violence to get his point across. Instead, he’s more intuitive, picking at them, seeing what makes them tick and watching for their tells or feints. He moves around a lot, trying to get a feel for not only the timing and distance in a fight, but the environment around them and how it shapes his own priorities. To him, stillness is death, and to get the drop on his opponent, Silas will cut the most unexpected (or most expected) of angles to get the drop on them. Sure there is absolutely times where time is of the essence, but to Silas, there is a way of doing things quickly, and there is a way of doing things right. That’s a major part as to the reason why he keeps his hands folded behind his back during a confrontation. Only when there a moment that needs an immediate response does he reply in kind. In the most worst case/dangerous scenario, Silas will absolutely red-line himself to finish a fight. Aura or no aura, in that moment, the fight stops when either himself or his opponent drop dead.

Alrighty now, armed fighting style. First things first, the biggest reason why I’m also lumping his semblance into armed fighting style is because in order for Silas’ semblance to work, he needs a marker of sorts, and his weapons primarily fulfill that role for him. I would say if you’ve ever seen Nyx Ulric of FFXV: Kingsglaive fight, that’s pretty accurate to how Silas’ semblance works. In the most condensed explanation possible, he zips around, leaving a puff of smoke behind. However, because aura is limited, and by proxy so is his semblance, Silas doesn't do as much zipping around like Nyx. However, like I said earlier, Silas will absolutely use his semblance until he can’t.  In regards to his weapons, he uses Dammerung (spear form) in his right hand, and Zahl (knife form) would be in his left to parry attacks. Wielding Kopf and Zahl in their bladed forms are also a popular alternative, as they’re very close to short swords in size than large knives. He’s not that...flashy compared to other hunters/huntresses. At least he’s not the acrobatic type. Will he try his hand at it? Absolutely, when there’s nothing else that works or when the situation calls for it. As a marksman, I think the best way to describe it is that, aside the gunslinger type when wielding Kopf and Zahl, Silas is more of a...prowler? when it comes to hunting with his rifle. Unless the fight is huge or if he’s riding on a horse, Silas finds a place to get comfortable, fires a round, then if possible moves on to a different location without leaving the slightest trace. Mobility is Silas’ best defense. While he is willing to take hits, he doesn’t have a full case of armor surrounding him, aura notwithstanding. However, he doesn’t rely on his semblance to give him that mobility. Instead, his semblance is primarily used to cut those aforementioned angles.

And finally, unarmed fighting style. Assuming Silas can’t use any of his weapons (knives and grappling hook included), and all he has are ol’ faithful hands and feet, this is an extremely underrated ability that he posses. Mainly it’s due to Silas having his foundation of not only physical fighting, but fighting as a whole (mentality included). At its core, Silas’ fighting style falls upon Mistrali Pankration (neo-pankration irl), but what separates him from his peers at the time is he is a ground and pound fighter. He doesn’t mind fighting a stand up game, but Silas will do what he can to make his job once he takes his opponent down to the ground that much easier. Stamina wise, he will go the distance. He’s not a pressure fighter that is relentless and doesn’t give his opponent time to breathe. He’s a pressure fighter in a sense where as the fight goes on, his opponent is feeling themselves withering with each and every breath they take, wondering why the fuck this kid isn’t letting up. Silas will tie up their legs, push them against the cage or the floor, and just pummel them until they would get him off, they yield, or they die. Although, submission grappling isn’t completely off the table for him. When it comes to takedowns, Silas commits to every shot, every single/double leg takedown. He doesn’t feint them to make a hit at risk of leaving himself open. In regards to defense, Silas will move around the cage, bring his opponents into a clinch or some sort of entanglement, and would prefer to slip punches and counter-punch instead of parrying them.

So yeah, thanks for coming to my TEDxTalk

[bright-witch]

for that oc meme, i don't have anything written up for my inq, so maybe how either of them feels about mana or beren if you remember what i wrote? :O

Thank you so much for sending this !! 💗💗💗🌈💐 There are so many things I’ve wanted to send to you and say to you (my buddy, you are amazing!! I hope you are feeling well!), and I have so many things I’ve been thinking about drawing for you, sdgjsldjgksdjg. I am so sorry this response is massive! I just really love your ocs, especially Mana and Beren, I thought a lot about this c:

Alæru would be fascinated by Mana, and likely deeply enjoy exploring their kingdom *-* Alæru is aware of many gods/immortals, she would probably immediately respect Mana on a similar level to her homeworld’s dieties. This would make Alæru act formal and a bit over-polite while interacting with Mana, at least for a while. Heheh. If Mana were nice to her, she would probably be a bit star-struck and obvious about it. Alæru would also ask as many questions as possible, perhaps… too many. She would be all too happy listening to Mana’s stories for days ( and Alæru is definitely a food snob, so the fine dining would be a major motivation… she loves free food, but is picky about it. She’s awful ;-; ). Alæru is an excellent listener because she is usually truly interested in other people’s thoughts. Sometimes she will laugh or ask short questions, but that is mainly to let the other person know she is genuinely engaged. If Alæru notices it bothers someone, she’ll stop interrupting quickly. 

Alæru would be happy to give any information or story of her own “worthy” of being told… but she would totally be shy/anxious about what to share?? Her mother is a star-creating goddess & life deity; her world is usually what Alæru enjoys discussing. Alæru only lived in the Garden Realm for a short time, but it was everything she admires in a place. Very colorful, everything glows, and has a fantastic aesthetic, but 99% natural - only a few open-air structures, with plenty of sunlight let in, water and plants throughout, exist on the entire small planet. Unfortunately, the vast majority of Alæru’s memories/stories are intense in a bad way. She doesn’t want to traumatize anyone else with them, though they are extremely interesting and hold valuable bits of information about what can happen to gods/the universe when corruption occurs. Alæru’s father is an immortal demon-like entity who ate the soul of a corrupt god (so he became a corrupt god too. dumbass) - that side of the family is something she is deeply ashamed of. Alæru is secretly perpetually worried she will become corrupt too, and doesn’t really understand why she isn’t already. Alæru would be a bit nervous around Mana/their power, and wonder what they could glean about her past, just by being near them. Alæru is not afraid to share her stories, but she is afraid of the reaction? Alæru definitely prefers to hear about other’s stories, adventures, and culture, and keep the focus on them.

Alæru certainly wouldn’t blame Mana for wanting to go “out on business” to enjoy more adventures, heheh. She would likely do the same thing if she ever had that level of consistent responsibility. She would totally love how honest Mana is about their feelings towards people (Alæru is the same way, blunt but certainly never rude unless the person is a huge prick!! and deserves it!! ) Alæru would deeply admire Mana for caring about the wellfare of their people and wish more leaders could be like them. It would also inspire Alæru to want to be more like Mana in that particular aspect, if not others. Alæru would probably end up shadowing them whenever allowed, or visit Mana’s kingdom whenever possible. (Alæru gets very attached to parental or teacher-like figures when they are kind and compassionate. She has not encountered many good people with power like Mana.) A beautiful utopia with happy people and delicious food would be a welcome relief from many of Alæru’s journeys, which involve strenuous space travel to corrupt planets. YIKES. She would have a difficult time leaving! (Mana, you’re gonna have to kick her out, sorry.)

Llyr, who would only be in Mana’s kingdom if Alæru was there as well (Llyr only travels because of Alæru. He’s terrified she’s going to get herself killed), would be respectful but wary of Mana. Llyr is a true demigod but doesn’t trust any of the gods (his mother is a water demon of sorts, but not a true demon like Alæru’s lineage. his father-figure is the water deity, who is genderfluid/a shapeshifter). Likely, he would lump Mana in the same category as his own homeworld’s deities, and want to find Mana’s flaws in order to feel safer. Llyr is a little bit of a dumbass sometimes, even though he’s educated and his heart is generally in the right place. 

I’m not sure if Llyr would be able to let his guard down in Mana’s kingdom, but with how lovely it sounds, he actually might?? The high-quality food is definitely the best way to win him over, especially if you don’t make him eat a vegetarian/vegan meal.  Llyr would probably be very intimidated by Mana and be a little jealous of how amazing and near-perfect they are, tbh. Heheh. He would also be jealous because Alæru would be in awe of Mana, and give them an immense amount of starry-eyed attention. However, if Mana was kind to Alæru, that would totally earn points with Llyr and confuse him, because he would like Mana more inherently for respecting Alæru?? Yeahhhh~ Llyr loves attention and would be more than happy to share his personal adventures with Mana. He knows a lot of water magic and spells completely unique to the lineage of the water deity, and is aware of secrets the moon tells within the tides during various phases / cycles.

For Beren!! Alæru would be unbearably curious about Beren’s real name, ohmygod. She might make up different names for Beren every time she met her, just to see if Beren would blurt out her real name out of frustration (DEMONS, UHG. Alæru is a little shit sometimes.) Alæru would totally enjoy how and why Beren chose that particular name though, and like Beren more for it?? If that makes sense?? Heheh. Alæru enjoys good stories, even if they are lies, and if Beren attempted to manipulate Alæru, it probably wouldn’t bother her that much. Alæru has respect for clever survival tactics and people who think on their feet. Alæru would enjoy studying Beren’s way of going about things, and probably end up playing conversational games with her. It would be hilarious to watch Beren and Alæru sit in the same room together for an extended period of time?? Alæru is extremely honest and rarely lies, but she would likely wear a more world-appropriate form so she didn’t stand out (I mean – glowing, colorful, horns, teeth, wings poppin’ out sometimes, a tail, changing forms whenever she’s in a new environment… yeah… she can look really alien to people!!) Alæru would wonder how long it took Beren to catch her in one of her real forms (I’m guessing, probably not long.) 

Alæru might frustrate Beren because things rarely surprise her. Alæru lived with demons and corrupt gods, it’s difficult to scare her or catch her off guard (unless you have a spider!) I think she would be a good friend for Beren, even though it would be frustrating at first/perhaps not possible because Beren is so guarded? Alæru loves thinking critically and attempts to tame her chaotic nature at all times, and tries to direct her energy towards productive things (whether it be purifying corrupt matter, or growing plants~ She often fights life and death battles for her friends, and will fight for people she barely knows. She will die for animals and plants, and even though she is critical of humanoids, she will die for most of them too, heheh. Definitely a huge martyr complex). She might eventually become like a big sister to Beren, and try to help her find purpose once she is done mentoring Wolf, if Beren ever eventually let someone else in emotionally other than Bakal. Alæru would definitely admire Beren’s fighting skills and ability to fillet a bitch.

Llyr wouldn’t even know what the hell to do with Beren. He would be calm around her, but very snarky if he ever managed to catch her in a lie or attempted manipulative tactic. Llyr would notice some similar qualities between Beren and his twin Nyx, who he eventually learns cannot be trusted. Llyr would most likely quietly observe Beren and spend most of that time trying to figure her out. He would also be very extra protective of Alæru around Beren out of instinct. Because Llyr is a shapeshifter, he could easily blend into whatever world Beren exists within, without limit. He would be perpetually worried about Beren figuring out his, or even worse Alæru’s, true forms. He doesn’t trust how people from other planets will react to aliens/monsters :(

Send me an OC and I will tell you how my OC feels about them.