#character development is important my friends

[moons-and-runes]

Writing Goals for 2025!

💖 My main goal for the year is to finish writing at least one entire fic (but hopefully I’ll complete multiple)

🛳️ I have a oneshot idea for Benverly which isn’t really a new ship for me but I’ve never written for them before. I think I’d also like to write some Marylene stuff :)

🤔 Following on from the last Q, Ben, Bev, Mary and Marlene are characters I’ve not written before

🥸 Yes, I have a friend who I share most of my ideas with who also has some fic ideas in the works 👀

🥵…We’ll see. And if I do there’s no guarantee I would even post it lol

👻 Technically any genre is a new genre for me as I’ve never finished writing a whole story

🦄 I have a dual POV wip at the moment of Sirius and Regulus Black :)))

🐌 To finish a oneshot (3k - 10k words)

🦖 No I’m really only interested in writing IT and HP fics

🍄 None that I can think of atm but that might change as I read and watch more perhaps I’ll join a new fandom this year

🌈 Oh I’ve already done a ton of research for multiple of my wips. Things like looking up lunar cycle calendars, weather forecasts and major events from previous years as well as finding every character’s canon birthday and creating ones for those who don’t have one 😭 I have put in WORK!

✨ I’m pretty good at English overall but I guess spelling and grammar are my strongest areas. Although I do find myself wanting to look up certain grammar at times to double check I’m using it correctly.

🥕 Timeline? Plot line? Not sure how to word it but just managing to get all my separate ideas and scenes to flow into each other and form the bigger picture/full story

🫘 Currently in the works I have a reddie fic from Eddie’s pov (but with a twist), the dual pov Black brothers fic, a wolfstar au inspired by one of my favourite books and an angsty semi canon-compliant wolfstar fic

🥳 Allow myself to start making art based on my stories. I think if I do that before the fics are finished I’ll just end up settling for the art and never finishing the writing. However when I finish a fic I can then make art and also use it as the fic cover!

🎃 Yes I think it would be fun to do some holiday oneshots, especially Halloween and Christmas (or for character’s birthdays if I remember)

🐾 I’d like to say yes but I struggle so much with deadlines I just don’t see myself finishing within the short time frame 😔

✍️ Hits and Comments! I’d like to know that people are actually reading and enjoying the stuff I put out especially when I’ve worked so hard on it :) I would say kudos but since you’re only allowed to leave 1 per fic the numbers wouldn’t be as accurate to how many people are actually reading/enjoying it

👾 Not finishing wips 💀 I have so many ideas for fics and random notes in multiple places and I just need to focus on finishing the few I’ve started

🤖 Not really. I write wherever and whenever the inspiration hits. Whether at my computer, on my phone or on my iPad. And usually I’ll be in bed or at my desk

🦷 Any of the super angsty scenes I have planned (none of them are fully formed ideas yet though so I can’t share snippets or say what in particular I’m scared to write)

💥 Heheheh yes but I can’t really say bc I don’t want to spoil my current favourite wip. It involves brotherly bickering though :)

🍕 Posting schedules aren’t important to me. I’ll post whenever I want to post. However I think I’d like to have the full fic finished before I start posting it. That way there’s no chance I’ll abandon it as a wip with a cliffhanger

🛏️ Again, pretty much any trope is a new trope as someone who has never finished a piece of writing 😭

🪩 Not sure if this is specifically a writing habit but I’m super proud of the ideas I come up with and I’d like to continue developing my existing ideas as well as creating new ones

🎉 I will acknowledge that this is the first year I have set any writing goals and that I can always finish off my goals next year, just like how I’ve only completed 1/4 of my Goodreads goals so far

💌 Yes!! Although I think I need to build more of a following on here/ao3 before that happens :)

PHEW! that was a lot!! But also very fun!! I can’t wait to get more into my writing this year and hopefully 🤞 finish one (or more) of my wips

tagging: @staliamazing

Writer Goal Ask List for a New Year 🎉

These writer asks are always so fun to both ask and answer. Fanfic or original fiction writers, reblog away! These are asks based in new goals for a new year.

💖 What is your primary writing goal for this year?

🛳 Are there any new ships you want to write for? (Platonic, romantic, or anything in between.)

🤔 Are there any new characters you want to write about?

🥸 Does anyone in IRL know you write fanfic or original fiction? If not, do you plan on telling anyone this year?

🥵 Any plans to write steamy or spicy content this year?

👻 Is there a new genre you'd like to write?

🦄 Is there a new POV you'd like to try writing?

🐌 What is one of your smallest writing goals?

🦖 Are there any fandoms you wrote for in the past that you'd like to return to?

🍄 Are there any fandoms you've never written for but want to try?

🌈 What research do you plan on doing for your writing?

✨What's one area of your writing that you think needs the least amount of improvement?

🥕 What's one area of your writing that you think needs the most amount of improvement?

🫘 Spill the beans. What's a new project you're doing this year?

🥳 How are you going to celebrate when you achieve one of your writing goals?

🎃 Do you plan on writing any seasonal fics?

🐾 Do you plan on writing for any fests or competitions?

✍️ Which stat matters most to you (if at all!): subscriptions, kudos/favorites, comments, bookmarks, word count, or hits?

👾 Do you have any "bad" writing habits you want to break?

🤖 Are you looking to change your current writing setup? (Or establish one, if you don't have one?)

🦷 Is there a chapter, scene, or WIP you're dreading to write (but is necessary to your plot)? Share a snippet or tell us about it!

💥Is there a chapter, scene, or WIP you're most excited to write? Share a snippet or tell us about it!

🍕Will you be making any changes to your posting schedule (if you have one)? (Or do you want to establish a posting schedule?)

🛏 Is there a new trope you'd like to write this year?

🪩 Do you have any "good" writing habits you want to cultivate?

🎉 How are you going to be kind to yourself if you don't meet your goals?

💌 Are you willing to take requests or prompts for writing?

[writingwithfolklore]

Happy New Year 2025!

In 2024 I finished my manuscript of the last 7-ish years, was published in several places, helped you guys edit your pieces, wrote and posted more og posts than last year, and made some good friends on here! I hope you all had a good 2024, and are looking forward to what's to come in 2025 <3

Here's a recap of the WWF posts of 2024, see you next year!

Your Readers Don't Know

Backstory is Revealed When You Need It, Not Before

Your Hook

Fortunately, Unfortunately

Your Prologue is for Stuff You Can't Put in the Book

All New Information Belongs in the First Three Chapters

Describing Foods - A Masterlist

How To Nail Your School Essays

A Note for New Writers

It's Okay Your Writing Isn't Like So-and-So's

Specificity, Voice and Backstory

10 Tips for New Writers

Pop Culture References in Fiction

Creating Paragraphs

3 Important Things about Trad Publishing

Taking Notes from Editors

When to Reject Feedback

5 Tips for Creating Intimidating Antagonists

When Your Antagonist is Not a Person

When Your Antagonist is Also Your Protagonist

Failing with Momentum

Kill Your Darlings

When to Cut a Character

Do Well By Your Female Characters

Character Agency

Writing Fictional News

How to Hold Yourself Accountable as a Professional Author

Making the Most Out of Your First Draft

Tips for Moving Out for the First Time

Sequels and Series

5 Things About Working in a (small) Publishing House that Surprised Me

5 Ways to Set Yourself Up for Success as an Aspiring Author

How Conflict Causes Character Change

Character Deaths

Monsters and Creatures

Ways to Reveal Backstory

Show Don't Tell: Symptoms Versus the Affliction

Descriptions: Seeing Versus Feeling

Momentum

Writing With Folklore Discord

You Don't Need Thick Skin to be a Writer

6 Ways to Develop Your Writing Intuition

Writing Prompt: Stress

The Yadda-Yadda

Description is for the Character, Not the Reader

The Characters Serve the Reader

Relationships and Closeness

The Rest of the World Continues on Without your MC

Writing Prompt

20 Questions to Ask your Beta Readers

3 Most Common Notes I Give While Editing

How to Translate Feedback

How to Incorporate a Ticking Clock

Every Line Adds Something New

Subplots are your Side Character Arcs

The Exposition Dump is a Myth

Questions from Beta Readers are Rhetorical

If It Doesn't Impact the Rest of the Story, You Didn't Raise the Stakes

Line Transitions

Why Don't Edit As You Go Is Actually Maybe Good Advice

About My Manuscript

There's Only One Reason I Didn't Give Up on My Manuscript

Your Beta Readers are Always Right

How to Get the Most out of (professional) Editing

How to Ask for Stuff

Who Holds the Power in Your Scene?

Getting Characters from A to B

Emotional Exhaustion

[yoshitsuno]

Happy New Year 2025 ! Another year has come to an end! Goodbye 2024, hello 2025!

2024 was a particularly difficult year, both physically and mentally. It began with weeks of depression over the theft of more than €4,000, a car that did its share of capricious things, new responsibilities at work that led to moments of stress and doubt, health problems because I wasn't able to rest, and friendships that were put to the test.

Admittedly, 2024 has been very tough. But I was able to pick myself up and become even stronger than ever. And why is that? Because I've had incredible support from all of you. You've been the pillars of the young woman I am, and thanks to you I've been able to work on myself and be a better version of myself.

2024 was also the year of many projects: I became an artist for the ‘Spellbound’ project by working on Garreth, I tried out animations, I improved my drawings thanks to the many commissions you asked me for and I started writing again. Above all, I've been working in depth on my characters' backstories and bringing to light characters who were waiting in the shadows. You have all contributed to the development of the artist ‘yoshi_tsuno’ who can finally say that she is artistically fulfilled.

2024 was also the year when I discovered just how strong some friendships have become. At the beginning of the year alone, I could see just how important certain people had become to me. Many of them were revealed and many of them were strengthened even more. I know that at times I haven't been an exemplary friend, but thanks to you, I've worked on myself and above all, I'm leaving 2024 with a smile on my face and a heart full of joy because I know that I have the people who are most important to me by my side.

Thank you 2024. Thank you all. Thank you from the bottom of my heart ❤️ Let's tackle 2025 with new foundations, new drawings and new projects! ❤️

Also, here is a summary of my art in 2024

[bastart13]

I might have controversial opinions on the "Faerghus Four." Mostly that it doesn't exist, and at worst, it exists to exclude Dedue.

Yes, Dimitri, Ingrid, Sylvain, and Felix grew up together, but that was as children. While that history is significant to their relationships, it ignores everything after. With the tragedy of Duscur, Dimitri and Dedue became inseparable while Felix was sickened by them, Ingrid couldn't overlook Dedue's connection to the tragedy, and Sylvain's apathy grew.

Past the age of ~15, you can't ignore how Dedue and the tragedy affects their relationships. I don't see just the four of them as a friend group, especially not without him because he's so important to Dimitri and the themes of Faerghus.

[waitmyturtles]

Thank you so much for the tags, dear friend @lurkingshan, and what a way to kick off 2025 Asian QL discourse!

@wen-kexing-apologist done dropped an outstanding response to Shan's piece here that continues the conversation about the stripping of real queer perspectives and frameworks from Asian queer media that is very much worth reading. Just to set up how I want to respond to Shan's piece, I want to emphasize the inverse relationship of the mainstreaming of queer media to both the quantity and the quality of the queerness in queer shows.

A lot of Shan's and WKA's pieces focus on Thailand, which I will as well, because QL discourse on Tumblr is dominated by what's happening in Thailand vis à vis what scholar Thomas Baudinette calls the "T-wave" of media flowing out of Thailand that includes dramas and music, frontally led by international distribution of Thai queer media. Dr. Baudinette speaks briefly about the behavior of fans in the link above, and I want to unwind on this a bit more by way of what we're talking about with the de-queering of queer media.

I've been really critical, in my Old GMMTV Challenge project on the development of the Thai QL genre, of branded pairs, and the subsequent act by fans of shipping two real-life actors into fantasies of queer relationships. Shan above links to an incredibly important piece by @bengiyo from last year where he took fans to task for conflating their fantasies about real-life actors and projecting those fantasies on their understanding of the storytelling of fictional characters. Within that, as Shan quotes above, Ben asks his audience, and I paraphrase -- can you ask yourself if you REALLY like queer people, and queerness as a whole?

I want to propose that the branded pair system, and/or the subsequent fantastical shipping of otherwise real-life people, contributes to the erasure of queerness we are currently seeing in many shows from Thailand; the high majority of them coming from GMMTV, but to the points made above, we have now seen that happen in One31's Spare Me Your Mercy, with the SMYM screenwriter going so far as to say that NC scenes -- queer sex -- would have been distracting to the telling of the show's story. That's wrenching, to say the least, because of the sheer lack of truth behind that assumption of how stories can otherwise be told with sex and romance as important context in queer stories.

How can I prove this? I'm thinking of the controversy last year between Tay Tawan and Gun Atthaphan, both members of their own TayNew and OffGun branded pairs, who were unwittingly caught sharing a brief and playful smooch while playing a game on live camera.

The "Polca" TayNew fans were subsequently up in arms online, challenging Tay Tawan to his devotion to the TayNew "ship." In other words, his fans were angry at him for popping the balloon of their shipping fantasies.

In this case, I would like to note that while we see GMMTV reducing blatant queer perspectives and frameworks from their shows, and promoting friend-ships or bro-ships, in the case of High School Frenemy and the SkyNani branded pair, we see GMMTV's (and Thai BL's) rise continue to grow in certain Asian countries (like China, Malaysia, and Indonesia, among others) that do not allow for public displays of queerness, among other restrictions. GMMTV does not hold branded pair fan meetings in these countries, and yet, these countries are some of the channel's biggest markets for its queer shows and pairs. As well, these countries (I am part-Malaysian myself) do not have public programs of sex education. Thus, if I am to assume that the majority fan bases of these shows are young folks in countries that do not offer robust sex education, then these young folks (of any gender) might not be inclined to join in and participate in conversations about queer equality.

We, thus, get the outcry that occurred after Tay and Gun smooched. God forbid fantasies were to have been destroyed because two real-life people kissed. Two men, kissing, outside of the context of their branded pairs and outside the context of a drama. Some people have never been to the club before.

It seems to me that the fantasies of the fans are worth more, as an investment by GMMTV and other studios in Thailand, than actual artistic material that focuses on queerness at this point. Capitalism and mainstreaming go very well hand-in-hand when there's money to be made, and this, to me, speaks loudly to the excellent points that Shan has made above about really great queer art being anathema to center- and conservative-mainstreams. We're getting less of really great queer art in Thailand, because the dampening of queerness in Thai shows might very well mean more bucks for the studios.

Finally, a last point about capitalism that I'd like to make. I've been seeing a rising number of posts and comments taking Tumblr bloggers to task for being critical (like, objectively critical) of bad shows. Many folks don't want to read criticism of their fave shows and stars.

I want to note that if one takes this position -- the capitalists have won again. If you're someone who's trying to prevent critical takes from being published, well, you got got by the capitalists -- the studios, the managers who want you to be so in love with your faves that you will ponder asking a writer to censor themselves from making a critical take. You might feel ownership of your blorbo, protective of your favorite star. Those critical takes may feel, to you, like a takedown of your fave.

The studios and managers of your faves also don't want these takedowns, because if a star's reputation is dampened, that'll affect their economic bottom line, and the studio's economic bottom line. Just listen to two Thai BL dudes who've been through the ringer on this very issue. This kind of capitalism and social media frenzy can have actual and harmful effects on the human actors performing these fantastical works.

The capitalists are making their play on Asian QL. It was a hell of a move for the makers of Love In The Big City to get that show out the way that it did. And I very much hope that LITBC will have a lasting impact on South Korean media -- as the earlier, and very queer, shows of the Thai QL industry once had, and might have again, if we can support really great Asian queer art with the same gusto and strength as currently popular shows enjoy.

Spare Me Your Mercy, Love in the Big City, and the Trap of Pursuing Mainstream Popularity for Queer Art

I read this excellent post by @waitmyturtles yesterday tackling the frustrating failures of Spare Me Your Mercy, a show that was one of my most anticipated of the year, but that ended up so lost in its own confusing blend of sauces that I didn't even finish it. I appreciated her clarity that despite the show receiving strong ratings and finding popularity with the mainstream domestic audience, that doesn't actually make it a success as a piece of narrative storytelling. And if anything, its popularity underlines why it was a failure as a queer narrative, in particular.

Because here's the thing about great queer art—it's almost never popular with mainstream audiences, especially in socially conservative countries. High quality, well-executed, honest and authentic queer art is more likely to be protested than celebrated in places where real queer people are not safe to live free lives. For an illustration of this, look no further than another highly anticipated queer drama of this year in Love in the Big City. Easily the queerest show to ever get made and aired on Korean television, it drew major protests before it even started, forcing the production to release it quickly in one go to ensure it would reach audiences. And why were those conservative groups so afraid of this little old drama? Because even just in its trailer and promotional materials, it was clear this was no sanitized, G-rated drama created to make gay people seem more palatable to the masses (unlike the film version with the same name, which not coincidentally has been much more warmly received by the Korean media establishment). This show was real, and raw, and QUEER in a way that terrified those bigots, because they know one of the most important ways the oppressed can advocate for themselves is by demonstrating their humanity through art. 

Which brings me back to turtles’ post, and the importance of separating the concerns of art and commerce when discussing the different ways media can succeed. This is something I had some good dialogue about with @biochemjess @pharawee @clairedaring @flowerbeasblog and turtles (and even more of you in the tags) when I was still watching and posting about Spare Me Your Mercy. I originally posted to unpack why the show was flopping narratively, which turned into a discussion of the fact that it was getting good ratings from the domestic audience despite this. And while I appreciated understanding how the show is landing with its priority audience, for me, it’s very important to keep a distinction between these two different kinds of success. Especially in discussions of queer art, and especially for a show whose creators explicitly said they were intentionally downplaying the queer romance part of the queer romance ( @benkaben) to avoid “distracting” from their other messaging goals. 

The important thing to keep in mind is that for queer stories, when they are popular with a mainstream audience it’s often because they are stripping any authenticity from the representation of queer people. Turtles addressed this well in her review of 2gether when she posited that part of the reason it was such a phenomenon in conservative Asian countries (aside from the timing of its release in the early days of the global pandemic), was because its presentation of queerness was mostly unrecognizable to real queer people, stripped of any true notion of queer sexuality or the realities of homophobia. Compare the reception of The Miracle of Teddy Bear—a show that absolutely refused to make its central queer character palatable for a mainstream audience, because the fact that he wasn’t palatable was the point—to that of Spare Me Your Mercy, a show whose creators chose to censor their own story. The ugly truth is that when we’re talking about queer dramas, the best and most vital shows are pretty much anathema to mainstream ratings success.

The impulse to pursue mainstream popularity and commercial success for queer art inevitably leads to watering down queer stories ( @twig-tea) to make them more light, comfortable and familiar to a majority heterosexual and socially conservative audience. And yes, of course, some degree of commercial success is necessary for queer art to get made in the first place. This is how the Thai BL market took off, by recognizing that there was an audience beyond queer people who were open to watching stories about boys falling in love, as long as it didn’t get too real. But there is a careful line to walk here, and it’s so important not to confuse popularity with artistic merit. Queer people won’t win liberation by self-censoring queer media to make it more palatable for mainstream audiences. We win when we make queer art so good and so honest that the mainstream is forced to acknowledge it. We win by challenging the mainstream perspective on queer people and how they should behave, not by catering to it. As @bengiyo said in a completely different discourse, the question is not whether the audience can love queer characters whose actual queerness is suppressed for their comfort. That kind of respectability politics is old hat and it never fucking gets us anywhere. The real question he posed is this: “Do you love us when we’re ugly, when we’re sick, when we’re old, when we’re being mean or catty?”

Which is why a show like Love in the Big City ultimately won by being so excellent, and so true, and so undeniable, that it broke through with audiences around the world and achieved some measure of recognition in spite of how very unpalatable it was to its domestic audience. Unlike Spare Me Your Mercy, this show did not get amazing domestic ratings, but its message was heard far beyond those who watched it on Korean television. And that is the point. Making authentic art that advances the struggle of queer people and making nominally queer art that can achieve mainstream popularity are completely different pursuits, and we must keep that in mind when we discuss whether and how these shows succeeded or failed. And while both must exist in a healthy media ecosystem, one will always be more vital for the survival of queer people than the other. 

[purplecelestial-buddy]

It's so funny to me that the fandom has come to see Hirano as a Sasamiya promoter of sorts because while he is, it took him some time to get accustomed to the idea of them together. And while he was never a hater Sasaki's actions towards Miyano certainly used to get on his nerves.

At first he was so worried and probably even felt a little guilty because (as mentioned in the following screenshot) because the only reason why Sasaki knows which class Miya is in, is thanks to him.

But like, that's not the face of a friend that's happy to play cupid and get their two acquaintances together. Not at all, that's the face of someone who puts his sempai-kouhai relationship with Miyano over his (pseudo) friendship with Sasaki.

Hirano from the first chapters would have jailed Sasaki if he were allowed to. (And he has his reasons, Sasaki has been something since the first chapters)

Anyway, the progression of events is really interesting.

He started, quite literally, shielding Miyano from Sasaki.

Then, he came to accept their relationship.

And at the end he really was rooting for them, to the point he ended up outright lying just so Miyano could meet Sasaki and they could talk it out and confess.

[twilightprince101]

So! The ost for Indigo Park chapter 1 released on youtube. and they come with official titles for all the songs

Do with this what you will Rambley Fans

[dog-violet]

listen I’m not gonna pretend like dead apple isn't a confusing story that probably needs a rewatch/read to fully grasp, but I swear ppl will say the plot was incomprehensible (or somehow claim there was no plot at all) and then only talk about the dazai and chuuya scenes. well maybe if you paid any attention to the literal main character you would understand dead apple

[kittyplushy]

Helloooo my dearest friend Wren sent me a forum board full of Bear related topics and one that particularly caught my interest, especially regarding Beneath The Trees' sequel, was about Slavic Bear Sacrifices.

Patrick Horvath alludes frequently to the theme of Paganism and Sacrifice for Rite Of Spring's themes (plus the title itself being a reference to the Stravinsky ballet). This one stuck out to me though as it could be a very real potential plot point given the updated synopsis we have via a preorder page.

I'll further discuss Sam's queercoding and her butch lesbian identity soon, but the way he writes relationships seem to have an lgbt subtext. Perhaps sacrifice here could mean this new character could be from Woodbrook, could be a newcomer, or will purposefully venture out to Woodbrook to find her. Canon aside, this ritual could also be mirrored in my self ship lore. A young woman travels to Woodbrook to turn over a new leaf after killing her best friend. She's left behind by her old life to look for a new identity which just so happens to be becoming a bear's temporary "bride". Except the love develops from just being performative to being genuine even as it unravels into chaos. I've become insanely interested in bear mythology and its mirrors to the series. I know this infodump leans more towards the canon side but i've just been fascinated with the unintentional parallels it has to 80s-90s queer culture and gay horror.

The tragedy aspect is genuinely so important to me imo because it sticks to the canon of Sam being unable to healthily process love or being emotionally present for people even if she acknowledges their feelings. I think a lot of the influences of Slavic Bear worship add a bit more interest and humanity to what could otherwise just be touted as a one-note character being emotionless and edgy.

GUSH ABOUT YOUR F/O IN THE REBLOGS TO ME AND I WILL ACTUALLY LISTEN AND RESPOND TO THEM ACCORDINGLY BECAUSE YOU 🫵 DEAR READER DESERVE TO HAVE YOUR INTERESTS TREATED WITH RESPECT AND NOT JUST GET A "wow that's neat"

doubles and proshippers dni! Doubles you also deserve respect I'm just not very good at sharing I'm so sorry!

[whenthegoldrays]

also I think it’s time for a little Elly Lore Update because I feel like I mention so many people on here and y’all need to understand who I’m taking about when you attend the virtual sleepovers 😌

[wildstar25]

What physical part(s) of Arsay does her partners find the most attractive! Is it the same for all partners or does it differ between them?

(also optional bonus ask of what part(s) of/about Arsay generally do they love the most, physical or not!)

Meanwhile, if you were to ask the same of Arsay:

[razzledazzletrassh]

no major fic updates just yet guys TAKE MY WOY OC I MADE LIKE. April of last year IM PLUGGING SOME INFO ABOUT THIS GUY IN THE TAGS.

I may also redesign her soon or something. Make her more bug-like with some stuff. I can cook guys let me cook !!!

[longagoitwastuesday]

I am liking Jujutsu Kaisen, way more than I imagined I would, but I foresee it will let me down and it's keeping me from enjoying this as much as I could haha

I think the characters and dynamics are well set, and I think many of them have an incredibly good and deep potential, but I would be willing to bet they'll not get a proper development, enough for them to really hit. A well assembled set of gears is not enough to make the movement go, you have to wind the clockwork.

I think Gojo and Megumi have a fascinating and very complex dynamic, but I doubt it will be given the time and care that imo it needs to actually work. And it is going well enough for now! One could see the intimacy between them was deeper than the one Gojo had with, say, Yuji and Nobara ever since the very first few episodes despite the fact Fushiguro too was a first year. But the pieces forming what they have are extremely complex, and it just wouldn't be realistic if it doesn't show, even if in a not showing way, or if it doesn't have consequences or implications.

It's one of those dynamics that shape one's life, the way one regards the world, the way one establishes or not relationships with other people. It's one of those dynamics that could be full of fondness, gratitude, resentment, admiration, trust, and that imply intimacy, the good kind or the bad, even if in just the knowledge of someone who's been a constant through your life. It could, and would, imply a myriad of feelings, and probably in such a mix it could imply contradictory feelings too. Even the nothingness would weight, even the nothingness would be significant and meaningful.

Gojo took Megumi and his sister under his wing, the son of a man who murdered him, because of both selfish and selfless reasons. Megumi looks like Toji. What does Gojo feel about this? How does Gojo deal with this? How does Gojo go about taking care of Megumi? Would he walk him to school? Make him breakfast? Celebrate his birthdays making him blow candles? Did he take him to the zoo? Does the relationship between them feel professional or is it something more? Gojo appreciates his students, but is Megumi to him just another student? When Gojo faces Sukuna in Megumi's body, did he see the kid he raised, or does he just see Sukuna in one of his students' body? Did he have one faint wavering instant? And how does Megumi feel about this? Is he resentful of him? Resentful of the situation? Of the selfishness behind his actions? Does he feel like a pawn? Is he grateful? Does he resent feeling grateful? Would he rather not? Does he love Gojo? Does he feel nothing about him other than what he could feel about a teacher that sort of annoys him but knows he's reliable in his strength? Does he think it unfair, cruel or unfeeling that Gojo is close, closer perhaps, with Yuuji or Yuta, considering their story? When Sukuna slices Gojo in two, does the remnants of Megumi's soul tremble?

And not just Megumi and Gojo. Yuuji and Nanami, Gojo and Nanami, Yuuji and Fushiguro, Nobara and the boys, or Nobara and Maki, Todo and Yuuji or Yuta, Gojo and Yuta, Megumi and his sister. Gojo and Geto, even! If the pieces are well set, the dynamics are intriguing, interesting, and have potential to be deep, but then the characters have like two plot relevant scenes that punch you hard, but little more, it's not nearly enough. Especially not nearly enough for the enormity that is shonen dynamics and situations. And the potential existing at all, and then not delivering, makes it all the more frustrating when you're left with something mediocre that could have been so good.

The development of dynamics through not only a few plot relevant gut wrenching moving scenes, but also the smallness of life, is important. The friend who recommended this to me said that those things were just unnecessary filler, but I disagree. I think there's a big difference between a large amount of anime-only filler episodes whose existence is based on the fact they had run out of manga chapters to animate, and moments of quietness. The low stakes character-driven moments of quietness can be so telling and so insightful, and they are so satisfactory when brought back later in higher stakes situations. My friend teased me there was no scene of Gojo making breakfast to Megumi, that it would be an idiotic idea, but it would be so telling. How he makes breakfast, what they eat, if he tries hard or if it's all mechanised, if they have personal bowls or if they use whatever, if he just buys them some pastry on the way to school, if the way they have breakfast changes through the years, or if he doesn't make them breakfast at all! All that would be very insightful on their dynamic and its evolution. All that would give a glimpse on how they regard each other and why, even in the present. All that could become meaningful in tense situations and high stakes scenes.

These moments also let the plot breath; if a lot is happening all the time, if every character is always experiencing trauma after trauma, the entire story is so emotionally draining that at some point you don't even care all that much. Besides, these nothing moments or low stakes plot arcs, besides deepening and developing dynamics, also let some in-world time pass, which would make the intimacy and bond between characters more believable imo; between Yuuji eating Sukuna's finger and their last confrontation in December how much time has passed? A few months? Am I truly to believe these characters are so everything to each other in only a few months?

Without some smallness, some repetition, some daily life, some low stakes not plot-centric development, the dynamics don't hit, they don't truly feel fleshed out, and dynamics as complex as the ones Megumi and Gojo have, or as supposedly meaningful as the one Megumi has with Yuuji or his sister, should be fleshed out if they're going to exist at all. Otherwise they'd risk making the writing feel awkward and fake. Besides, if the dynamics felt well fleshed out and realistic, they would shape the way the characters interact and act, and how they deal with situations, thus being plot relevant.

The shonen genre has so much happening all the time, the stakes are so high, the dynamics are so rooted in big events and the relationships carry enormous weight and implications. Yet they barely get developed, and it feels so stupid, so plain, the absence of something so important noticeable like a constant void, a shapeless nothingness present in every scene. It makes the characters feel like cardboard figures. Jujutsu Kaisen is already getting a better job than many, but I doubt it will do enough for what I've heard, and I fear I am bound to feel let down, and bound to feel unmoved.

After all, if not enough time and care has been given to develop a dynamic, I am not going to feel pressured by the high stakes; if not enough time and care has been given to develop the dynamic between Megumi and Yuuji, as good potential as it has I am bound to feel little for this last confrontation between Sukuna and Itadori, and his effort in getting Megumi back.

[forcedhesitation]

video editing is turning my brain into mush, take a wip of lae and my deep gnome druid pomona

[rovethings]

I used to think Lionel deserved to die a horrible death when I watched SV but then I read comics and watched other shows + the cartoons and now I realize Lionel was the true Lex Luthor of SV. Sure a golden age-like Lex Luthor which is arguably the worst take on Lex to ever exist but STILL. And while SV Lex is still my fucked up babygirl and he did become a more Lex-like Lex Luthor by the end he's still less of a Lex Luthor than Lionel Luthor was. ANYWAYS Lionel still deserved to die a horrible death in the end but I get him now ❤ like all the other Lexes to exist before and after him I cherish him as the absolutely awful person that he is ❤ it's not his fault he's build that way ❤

[psikind]

shout out to the evolution of one's artsyle being a real true thing (redraw of my "first" dnd character 2019 -> 2023)