#even with fictional characters i’m like he’s fictional which makes him unobtainable just how i like em

[soonyouns]

the way my sister was talking about how she could see herself being a stay at home wife if it was the right man and my first thought was literally no man could get me to do that… but a woman on the other hand—

[phoenixtakaramono]

So I'm here to say that I really love your Bingyuan fic! The research you do for it and share with us is just amazing! I also have a q regarding LBG. From SV we know that he felt admiration for his Shizun so do you think that if SJ wasn't cruel to him LBG's admiration would've grown into love and attraction like it did in LBH's case for SY? Which then also raises a question: would LBH/LBG fall in love with any Shizun who was kind to him? Or was he just drawn to SJ's type of personality. WDYT?

Hi there, Anon! I’m glad you’re liking the Untold Tale! Thanks for reading! I think it lowkey helps when the story I’m writing (in general) is from a culture I’m familiar with and that I know some of its language nuances (just general Mainland dialect; I’m unfamiliar with Shanghainese, the Beijing dialect, etc etc). So fortunately for me, as someone who is Chinese but was born in the Western side of the world speaking Mandarin to family and friends, emulating the Chinese aesthetic and atmosphere in TUT comes a little bit easier to me than someone who did not grow up with this culture. I bet if I had been raised in China, I would be able to write something even more multilayered and deep but, alas, the youthful rebellious me of the past hadn’t taken my pinyin and Chinese character writing lessons seriously so I can only communicate verbally and understand audibly 😫. It’s very special for us writers in fandoms to be able to write a story of a culture that we actually know and can identify with. But high key it’s been immensely fun injecting some references of things I’ve come to notice from watching period C-dramas and the C-novels I’ve read, and I’ve come to learn interesting things about Chinese history and mythology even I didn’t know! So the story really writes itself.

Shen Jiu (OG!Shen Qingqiu)

To answer your question 🤔, to be honest this is why the SVSSS fandom is great—because there’s so many interpretations of the original source material. That’s why we have our headcanons and fanfictions to explore these many different possibilities. So for me personally, I can see it happening both ways: *1) LBG does develop a crush/falls in love with SJ, or 2) no matter how SJ treats him LBG regards him respectfully or coldly. I think Possibility 1 is more likely, since SY transmigrated into SQQ and we saw what happened with “Bunhe.”

Now, mind, for Possibility 1 to be more likely to happen, the SJ in PIDW will have to undergo a massive personality change/ a change of heart/ develop a good conscience and will need to clean up his image aka clear up the massive misunderstandings from PIDW canon (like him being mistaken as a pervert for Ning Yingying, visiting whorehouses, killing LQG, etc). It’ll be difficult though considering who Airplane has changed SJ into for his stallion harem novel (reading through SVSSS, my impression of PIDW besides it being the harem stallion novel is that it sounds similar to a “dog blood plot,” where audiences tune in to see how the villains are brought to justice). I literally have a line from TUT in a future chapter where SY says this about SJ since I will resurrect SJ and bring him into the story for closure:

People like Shen Qingqiu naturally had a set of deeply-rooted values. If one wanted to change them, it’d be easier to just have them reincarnate. (—TUT, ch???)

At his core, he’s a flawed man (which makes sense with the underlying cycle of abuse theory, considering his upbringing and backstory). He’s jealous and petty and prickly. His image is that of a proud and cold immortal. In Chinese terms, he’s the type of character archtype who I can see being àojiāo (definitely not canon characterization; this is just a stray thought that amuses me) in a romantic relationship.

LBH will have to recognize that^, or be in a position where he finds SJ’s caustic side endearing instead. He will also have to be extremely patient with him (although, since the joke in SVSSS is that LBH is an incurable M, it shouldn’t be that hard).

A fun thing about OG!SQQ is that he’s the cannon fodder scumbag villain of PIDW. He’s the reason LBG blackened from a white lotus. And, as you know, villains aka antagonists aka bad boys resonate strongly with people for a reason. That’s why we see a lot of Enemies to Lovers tropes, etc. It squicks me to use this phrase but “the allure of dating a ‘bad boy’ is strong.” SJ is that type of bad boy we could identify as a “fixer-upper project” (ugh, that phrase)—even with the red flags and warning signs—especially for those said to have a troubled past with rejecting neglectful parental figures/ family members/ friends and have have not outgrown their wish to convert that sort of person into a loving, accepting person. When we want something we can’t or shouldn’t have, our desire for it grows exponentially. In fanfiction this is a concept writers and readers can explore safely in a world of the imaginary.

From a Meta Perspective

Although, if we look at it meta-ly, the cold and proud and/or knowledgeable Shizun (teacher/ master) character who comes to know love and “is redeemed” by whomever is the love interest (typically a cute and quirky girl who may or may not have started off as naive to the innerworkings of the Cultivation World and therefore needs an established and mature mentor to guide them) is a very well-known archetype for a reason in Chinese fan culture.

Seeing a terrible person change their ways and try to become a better person because of the influence of the one they love is also a popular depiction for a reason.

It’s almost like gap moe. The crueler and aloof one starts out as (arrogance is a staple), the more impactful the shift is when we see such characters soften their edges.

The draw of the sacred master/disciple relationship is that it’s taboo, so I think it’s fair to say that such a relationship in fiction is a popular trope precisely because of this aspect. From a writer’s perspective, the main appeal is to show that there is someone out there who can cause this respectful figure to lose control (undergo emotional change) and go to great lengths to protect his/her precious person. That precious person also has to fall into the “not like other girls” trope (so they can show the ML a different world he would not have seen the beauty of before). On the other side, we look forward to the point of the story where the love interest has their “Oh” moment and realizes their admiration has somehow shifted into love and attraction over the course of events.

Other Romantic Possibilities

It’s very likely. I personally like the fanon headcanon where anyone with Heavenly Demon blood running through their veins feels a compulsion to “obsessively fixate on one person” (TLJ —> SXY, LBH —> SQQ). Personally I don’t recall if this was canon or fanon, but someone had written something about LBH imprinting on one person in his lifetime on the account of his demon nature. And I like that theory (I think it’s likely more fanon than anything but it’s an intriguing idea full of possibilities!).

For him to fixate romantically on one person, I personally don’t think the prerequisite is just by being kind to LBH (but it probably adds to the person’s appeal). There’s probably other factors that go into this to capture the male protagonist’s eye, such as him finding someone attractive (or passes his own personal standards) and/or having good chemistry with that person. So I could see him being into other Shizuns and whomever else. Personally I also think there is appeal in the unobtainable. It’s one thing to have someone’s affection (see LBG and his harem of 600 wives who definitely aren’t shy about giving him affection), but it’s another to know you’ve earned the affections of someone you really like and respect (especially if it’s someone thought to be unobtainable).

As long as the writer can provide a plausible justification for me to suspend disbelief and they set up events to justify it, I can swallow just about any ship possibility. It doesn’t necessarily have to be SJ’s type of personality. (For example, I read a very good fanfiction before where the writer paired Luo Binghe with Ming Fan. Ming Fan, people!!! And they actually pulled it off! What a madlad! Mind, it’s Shen Yuan who had transmigrated into MF in that premise, but the writer set up events that showed how these two characters came to bond and develop a deep friendship which inevitably had LBH developing a crush on his shixiong. I use this as an example because this is the type of unexpected (crack)ship, but because the writer did their work trying to make it seem plausible, we can only admire their hard work and effort at pulling it off.)

As the saying goes, there are plenty of fishes in the sea! As the protagonist, LBH/LBG can have many OTP possibilities with just about anyone as long as the writer can make it plausible. It’s all about the character development and the story/ central themes they wish to tell with the ship!

(Note, these really aren’t hot takes, lol. I’m just having fun answering to this casually from the perspective of a writer. Thank you for your Ask, anon!)

[aliypop]

Empatia

Wordcount: 1,925

Character Count: 10,246

Hannibal x Oc

Authors Note: So this is my first Hannibal fic and I hope you guys enjoy, side note this was written in Grammarly which formatting on that is wonky. I do not own the gif or the character Hannibal but I do own Shanel Mahone and I hope that you all like her, lets see uh what else

Warning mentions of eating people and murder! 

"I think it's easy to mistake understanding for empathy - we want it so badly, maybe learning it's distinction is part of growing up, unless I am mistaken, Doctor Lecter,"

The Baltimore office was colder than usual, not because of the Maryland winters that would hit, but because of the shared time in the office between Hannibal Lecter and his new client Shanel Mahone, a woman who was a mix of a wolf licking its wounds and a lion who would go to the ends of the earth to hunt her prey down, But there was something about her that he could sense though she hid it so well that it went by his nose like a short summer breeze, He knew she was a lawyer he was able to smell the scent of the innocent and guilty from the courthouse on her person, though the sinners smell a bit more delectable to him rather than saints,

"If we learn our limitations too soon, we never learn our power." Hannibal gave the semi- young lawyer a smile and a nod, watching her in his darkroom of reds and white almost made him feel as if he had her right where he wanted her, a little lamb simply treading lightly in his trap, and in a way, he was proud of it,

"Think before you speak the last person who didn't... lost more than their tongue.."  Shanel chuckled, her dark curls framing her brown face and eyes.

"Awfully confident are we," a smirk on his wise features, as he stood up behind her, his favorite way to attack some would say like a human boa constrictor sizing up who he picks before he attacks,

"I can kill every person in this building before most of them have a chance to get to their feet. Skills like that do wonders on a person's self-confidence." her head tilted up to look at him, a devious smirk on her face, honey brown eyes meeting the dark maroon glare of a predator, Though most would fear the situation that she was in, however, she was raised much differently than some would be comfortable with,  

"Aren't you afraid of me," he asked his hand around her neck. Nearly trying to squeeze the life out of her. As he hissed in her ear breathing, in the deep scent of A+ blood on her, which clearly wasn't her own, "I stopped being scared of snakes years after I  killed my step-dad."  chin raised high with a fire in her eyes, one that he had grown to admire. Though it confused him like the beauty of Persephone in Hades eyes, and just like Hades he wanted her as his own, though sometimes she made him feel like Hades and other times he was merely just her pomegranate orchestrating him as to where her next demise would fall under, a circle of a cat and mouse game, Once he had looked deep into her eye's he had found the simple answer to her soul,

"I suppose that would make you the hunter," he said a sheer look of surprise something a bit unobtainable for the man who had a few under his own sleeve, "Are you satisfied," she asked her voice a soft whisper, a bit of a gentle to look to her one of a woman who knew how to spin a never-ending web around her prey and may God help anything that flew into her web,

"Oh, my dear, we're just getting started.." his laugh playing in her ear like a tainted sinners psalm, but deep inside she knew she loved it,

"Do you do this with all your clients?" she asked her feeling his hands unravel  from her neck,

"Just the ones I find interesting.."

"So Will Graham.," she mumbled watching him stagger swiftly back to his desk, his scalpel in hand massaging the cold silver metal in his hand as a child holds onto their mother's,

"You've heard of him, I assume?"

"He referred me to you, said you could work wonders on the mind, but I believe you toy with it, like a mother toys with the truth of the world to her child except you don't know where to end it.." she smirked standing behind the slightly taller man,

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you dabble in psychology yourself.." he faced the shorter woman her lips caught slightly between her teeth,

"Law and the practice of toying the mind go hand in hand, besides, in the end, we both want the same things," she took a glance at his suit the way he had unbuttoned his suit jacket as if he knew she was stealing glances of him,  

"And what would that be.." he laughed writing, notes from their shared time together. A bit of a progress report of her recovery from the first time they had met.  

"Sympathy"

"Perhaps we could discuss this more over dinner," he suggested pressing a slip of paper into her hand, she had always heard about his elaborate parties especially when it came to his dinners, it came to no surprise that she would be invited to one, and even perhaps another,

"Will 7 do?" she asked as he walked her to the office door, his eyes glancing at her heels, and further to her legs making him wonder what dish would suit her best,

The roads were barely frozen over yet which to her was always a good sign when traveling during the winter. Especially when it came to her pink Italian sports car sturdy tires still never meant one couldn't endure a crash, but while driving she had found that her mind went elsewhere, mostly on doctor Lecter. It was the way he had looked at her with a gentleness of contemplation on killing her if to even keep her alive, in a sense, it was like a non-verbal game of quid pro quo, but their eyes were telling the answers for them their true nature and love for the what some would find morbid.

Stepping foot into his home was like a wonderland for the wicked and the wise, pictures of art with very controversial themes to them, but still, she knew the risk she was taking with this one a chance that could possibly even kill her if she dared say the wrong thing, "Sorry if I arrived early, I usually love to help, a common curtsy I was taught.." she noticed his spacious kitchen one that you would see in an intense cooking show although his use of five ovens was a bit weird to her but not a new concept from what she grew up with,

"Thank you for your offer, but I've already prepared everything for our dinner." he looked at her noticing the diamonds on her neck which he could tell were from Tiffany and Co a sign of high society if he ever did so need one, she looked like an angel prepared to meet God himself, but little did she know he wasn't there, and she was no angel in the eyes of the man in front of her,

"Well, at least let me bake something.." she glanced at him pulling an apron out from her bag, his assumptions about her were right she was, in fact, gentle like Persephone but if pushed a bringer of chaos a chosen one of the all mighty high. He gave her a simple nod and with that, she was invited into his chapel his prized possession that was his kitchen.  

"Have you ever killed someone.. ever felt the life leave out of its pretty little body.. and looked into their soul?" she asked, feeling piping bag up squeezing the feeling into her batch of Zeppole di San Giuseppe,  

" I don't suppose I have, though, why do you ask?" he said as calmly as he could be, taking the main course for the night out of the oven his eyes never leaving her figure,

"Continuing our conversation from earlier doctor Lecter, of course, minus the near do strangling, though I must add.." she stopped to taste the sauce that was on his spoon "A bit of a parlor trick hiding who you are.." she pondered on the taste for a bit,

"Well, I always say perception’s a tool that's pointed on both ends," he winked placing his hand underneath her chin getting a glimpse of her inner beauty, the madness that she forbade to show to the world, which was him, at least he had thought he could be her world let her feel independent when she wanted to, but have her feel weak in his presence when he needed her to, much like a God watching his most devoted worshiper at the shrine of his lies.

"So, are you saying that I'm hiding something.."  her eyes focused on the slight detail of his lips the way they curled when he told the truth yet had a slight pout when he lied, she knew he was confessing to something she just couldn't figure out what it was exactly, but when she found it, it would be known, and she'd keep to herself as a little present. Hannibal pulled out her chair gesturing for her to sit setting the table up with the most elegant dinner she had ever seen since her very own childhood, but she did have to admit it a certain smell she couldn't quite shake it from her nostrils.  The animal on the plate, however, to most would seem unidentifiable and to most even a bit fake for fiction, but nonetheless, she was taught to never judge her food.  Hannibal sat there watching her eat his eyes sparkling almost like garnet jewels watching as he broadened her pallet,

" Tomato cream sauce with basil oregano one onion.. preferably diced, minced garlic heavy cream.." she took another bite, "A pinch of salt and pepper and ..." she paused dipping the meat into the oh so savory pasta sauce that he had created by hand, but the meat was something different. She couldn't taste the acidity of its fear, but she knew that whatever it was she had put in her mouth was a bit too familiar,

"You have a gift it appears.."

"I say it was a curse," she kept eating on the pork like meat, " I was born with highly sensitive taste buds... I can taste every detail of everything.." she shrugged watching the expression on Hannibal's face.

"Even, the taste of an emotion?" he asked, flattered by his guest.

"Even emotions.. though love was never one I discovered the taste of... I never found myself deserving of it.." she looked down at her plate then at him, her eyes soft and gentle towards him, "You could smear the blood of millions and still be a beauty to my eyes.." he placed a gentle kiss on the inside of her wrist secretly taking in her sweet smell of cinnamon, roses, and honey, it was the smell of love mixed with longing and it was strong. she laughed lifting the fork back to her mouth as the familiar scent had hit her again,

"I think I know who we're eating.."  her eyes twinkled at the taste of what was him, the man who was first to make her life a misery since the day she was born, "Alberto Mahone my father.." she grins,

"How'd you do it.."

"Do what ..."

"Kill him .." she asked her heart racing.

"With Empathy."

[feitanswife]

Ok but can we get some justice for the Danganronpa “incredibly meaningful and relevant backstories and/or interesting character concepts with tons of potential for growth that gets squandered for no fucking reason” squad?

Like yes the justice for Kiyo squad is real but can we talk about how in the first two games we had characters who, for varying reasons, did not excel in communication with others, had unhealthy relationships to attraction and love, and coped in incredibly relatable ways (projecting personal issues onto fictional characters and “dyed my hair at 2 am” reclaiming of bodily autonomy through modification)

But no ones calling for justice for their failed arcs!

Like I’m sorry but it kind of hurts to see two characters who navigate attraction in the exact way I did when I was young, only liking unobtainable people like the most popular people or fictional characters, and they’re played as jokes

I see myself so much in the concept of these guys! I too feel very little to no desire to enter a relationship with another person, and I also tend to obsess over people who usually don’t even like me at all, because I literally fear being liked. Which I didn’t know at the time. So I kept on and I’d sit there wondering why the Boy of the Week hated me!!! And I’d end up making my self esteem even worse despite subconsciously forcing attraction on the unobtainable! Sound familiar? Cause it should!

And then I get into DR and I’m like Hey! These guys are Like Me! This is very much exactly how I acted before I learned about and accepted my asexuality! This is great! I can’t wait to see them grow and learn over the course of the game!

And then one of them lived as a joke and died as a joke, and the other got glossed over as the gross pervy boy for an entire game, with no relevance to his legitimately good backstory or anything.

Danganronpa took a boy who does everything possible to change his appearance as a way to take back control, and craves approval while simultaneously fearing connection, and managed to turn him into a fucking incel.

And tbh I’m not even surprised with the other one. No, why would you create a complex character attempting to navigate a world that demands romantic and sexual attraction when it isn’t a practical thing for them, when you could go “lololol weeb boy stinky” he even forces himself into a relationship-ish situation with someone who clearly doesn’t actually value him! Guess what I did once! THAT!

Idk y’all I’m just so mad like how tf can anyone turn such a fantastic cast of characters into an actual cesspool it is beyond me

[allthebest20]

Kindred

by Octavia Butler (1979)

This was easily one of the best books I’ve read in a while.  I finished it in only a few days.  It’s a 9/10, maybe even a 10/10.

The writing style feels almost made-for-the-screen, as it is pretty dialogue heavy, but also very plot driven.  (Note: there is no movie, but there is a graphic novel). There is not a lot of descriptive paragraphs, but the writing is still very vivid and detailed, giving just enough information at just the right times for your brain to see the scene clearly, but not be distracted from the plot.  Sometimes the dialogue felt a little bit unnatural, but only because the events of the book (fantastical time-travel) are quite unnatural.

The publisher, on the back cover, claims this book is Science Fiction / African American literature, but I think I might disagree.  I mean, it’s definitely A. A. lit, but I’m not sure it’s science fiction? There is no time machine or other works of science involved.  Instead, what connects Dana to the past is her own history, her own spiritual connection to her ancestors, specifically her great-grandmother and grandfather, Alice and Rufus.  I think that makes this book fantasy and historical fiction.  Obviously, Butler did a lot of research to make the book’s setting in Antebellum Maryland historically accurate, and in some ways, it reminded me of The Land by Mildred Taylor.  I loved that book when I first read it in 7th grade, before we read it in class, and I think it had a big impact on the way that I think about race.  That book was so sad, so vivid, so real, and it introduced me to the feeling of being stuck in a system stacked against you.  Similarly, Kindred helps one understand how slavery could never have ended with just one proclamation or even one lost war.  The ideals of slavery were so forced on both white, black, and mixed people that extricating oneself from it was nearly impossible, especially for white folks.  It was never an individual problem, it was always societal.  Even Rufus, who had all the ingredients to be a “good white man,” couldn’t even do the bare minimum for Dana or Alice, woman he claimed he loved. 

At the same time, Rufus could have made a positive difference in the lives of the people he owned, and I think it says a lot about the white psyche, even today, that we so often say we want to do good things, but ultimately feel as though we cannot be expected to act outside our own best interest.  I feel that for myself sometimes: like it is so ingrained that we must do what’s best for ourselves, and that we should expect everyone else to do the same, and somehow that will equal out to having things be best for all.  Sure, in an ideal world that MIGHT be true (I’m not sure what an ideal world would even look like), but unfortunately, there’s almost always a power dynamic or some other unevenness.  Rufus was de-facto put in charge of all these people, even though he never asked for that, never qualified for that, and I think that must be one of the excuses he uses to justify his actions.

The book explores the difference between White Sadness and Black Sadness. Here, the black sadness is everywhere: Sarah losing her children, but keeping one and living for that girl; all the other people who lose family members forever to causal slave sales and the fear that they could be punished in that way at anytime; the way the field hands dislike Alice, Dana, and Sarah for their proximity to whiteness; the patrollers and the precarious position of even the free Black people; the hopelessness of trying to run away; the constant threat of rape and then the dispensability that comes when the white man is no longer interested; the violent punishment and the over-working; the total lack of control over one’s circumstances, one’s job, one’s religion and education, one’s family, even one’s own morals; and the idea that no one can enact revenge on the slave owners without hurting everyone else.  |I mean, I could go on, the book is steeped in sadness for the characters and anger for the readers at the apparent helplessness of these strong, smart people.  Dana says it best when she talks about how she does not have the endurance, the strength, that the enslaved people do, because I feel the same way.  I do not have the will to live like some of these people do.  I’d rather be dead than enslaved, but Butler shows how the enslaved people both do and do not feel that way.  It brought up so much anger in me when Dana kept saving Rufus, and he kept treating her like shit.  Made me want to kill that little fucker myself.  But, at the same time, she simply cannot do that until her grandmother is born. This is very similar to the position Alice or Sarah is in: “I would kill that fucking devil, but that would tear apart my family and the family of everyone I know, and definitely come back on my kids.”  What a genius way to portray this.

There’s a lot to be said about what’s wrong with Rufus, but I think one of his driving motives is his sadness.  This is why Dana is called to him in the first place, I think, because he is sad and reckless.  He does not feel loved by his father, who arguably had never been shown love by his own white parents. He was probably raised by black woman who he was simultaneously taught to disrespect.  That’s probably also why he has no respect for Rufus’ mother, and why, in turn, Rufus also has no respect for her.  She probably also did very little of the work to raise Rufus, even if she tries to be there for him.  Her own psyche is so damaged by the messages of slavery and misogyny that her weak brain cannot possibly understand her place in the world or how to feel about it. It’s funny that after her husband dies, Margret is able to be friendlier, more open, and even less racist. Rufus’ only friends seem to be black people, who are probably a bit weary and cautious around him, because their little “friend’s” father can decide to beat or sell them or their families at any time.  So Rufus never learns true friendship, true love.  He doesn’t understand and cannot work on the different parts of himself because he does not have the vocabulary or the experiences to differentiate selfishness, empathy, and justice.  This makes him sad, lonely, and angry.  He should have listened to Dana, but there is no space in his head to understand a smart Black woman.  I don’t mean to sound like I’m excusing him in anyway, he’s the devil, but Butler made him a very dimensional character in a way that makes me reflect on my own whiteness and how I experience whiteness in the world.  Still, it is mind boggling how Rufus again and again has a chance to make the right choice, or a better choice, and chooses something else.  It is clear that he has no sense of morality or objectiveness, only his perception, his desires.  His father, on the other hand, is painted to be a much more close-minded, violent, and cold man, but he still has intacted, yet warped, sense of morality, at least towards other white people. At least, Dana and Rufus seem to believe this, but there is very little evidence of it in the book.

Being white is all about mixed and purposefully misleading messages.  My favorite is how we are taught to fear black men, even though most violence enacted on white woman is from white men.  However, the fear of blackness keeps us from suspecting the white pedophiles, abusers, and rapists in our midst.

It would not be a proper remembering of this novel if I didn’t at least briefly mention Kevin, the white husband.  In 2020, we are no longer marrying dudes that doubt our intuition, who makes us unpack all the boxes, who hold their career success over us so that they can hopefully cajole us into doing their secretary work.  Like the fact he didn’t even consider coming back with her again, even though she was in much more danger their then he would be.  All around, I found him unimpressive.

Alice was also interesting.  It was almost as if Dana felt more kinship with Rufus than with Alice, which makes sense given her circumstance -- that she was called to the past by Rufus’ potential deaths.  Still, sometimes I forget that Alice is Dana’s great-grandmother, because she doesn’t seem to connect with her as inimitably.  At the same time, Dana knows that she is doing Alice a disservice, knows that there are things worse than death, and still, plays a role in creating Alice’s hell to save Dana’s family’s own existence.  Perhaps that is why she cannot be as close to Alice, just like some of the people who work in the fields hate Sarah and Dana.  Perhaps it is a way to illustrate the contentious relationships between black people in that era created by the white people or more specifically, created by the white people’s power and privilege.  I read some on the internet about black unity and black community, and it seems like some of these trends still play out today.  I read on sishi.rose’s instagram today about how when she spoke out about racism in her workplace, black people where some of the most skeptical.  Even today, there is issues in the black community regarding proximity to whiteness on both sides (ie both “your too close to whiteness” and also “I want to be close to whiteness”).  I can’t really speak much more about that, but I haven’t read many narratives about the negative aspects of intra-slave relationships.  It was also interesting to hear about how they created justice within their enslaved communities.  Obviously, the want justice between themselves and the whites, but because that was unobtainable, it felt so... vindicating? empowering? surprising? in the plot when they got to do that in their own community.  A few of them beat up the woman who tattles on Dana when she runs away -- that woman, too, displays more morality in her pinky finger than Rufus has in his entire body when she refrains from telling on her attackers.  Is she scared of being attacked again or being ostracized for her actions? Or does she know that telling on them could lead to their deaths or their movement away from the plantation -- is morality innate or enforced by our surroundings?  Either way.  When that man gets sold and his family blames it on Dana, I think it is Alice who later sets them straight.

All in all, it is a riveting story, that makes a lot of points about race relations in America not only 200 years ago, but today.

[segadores-y-soldados]

Thinking Globally: Chu’s presentation at GDC 2017

http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1024266/Thinking-Globally-Building-the-Optimistic @kerrigore pointed me in the direction of this and said that I should watch this presentation.  I must say, it was well-worth my time: it’s a little bit over an hour long, but Michael Chu goes into an interesting discussion on three main things:

Creating the world and background setting of Overwatch

Developing the characters and their personalities from their gameplay mechanics

Translating 1 and 2 into the game, comics, animations, and videos (”how we tied it all together in one crazy team-up story”)

I think I’m gonna end up making separate posts on the different parts that stick out the most to me but for some interesting sound bites:

Chu outlined the major “guiding principles” of the entire development team’s process: 1) make it “a future worth fighting for,” 2) “focus on heroes...lots of heroes,” 3) “context in game, story outside.”  Number 1 is focusing on an idealized sort of future that is both realistic (grounded in the real world) and sci-fi based (based on sci-fi technologies).  He said that the team wanted a vision of the Earth that was not “unobtainable” as many sci-fi stories are (aka set “two-thousan years in the future”), but they didn’t want the “gritty, dark” versions of present day Earth that many other video games present.  So they settled on something more halfway (”60 years in the future”).

“Trust your audience” - this one was interesting because Chu said this was the rationale behind why the team presents its story as they do.  He argues that “trusting your audience” to solve the mysteries is more rewarding and engaging than just handing out the lore when the game launches.  While I agree with the principle of the idea (trusting your audience to be smart and witty enough to put pieces together), I don’t fully agree with Blizzard’s current methods for releasing lore, especially the pace at which it is released.  There’s “trusting your audience” and then “leaving them hanging.”

Simplicity - split a complex (mechanics-wise) hero into multiple, simpler (mechanics) heroes.  This is pretty obvious given the fact that the original Reaper had Junkrat’s frag launcher in the Museum Heist short.

“Firm” Science Fiction - the world of Overwatch sits inbetween “soft sci-fi” and “hard sci-fi” with a psuedo-“firm sci-fi.”  This means giving things cool, but easy-to-understand names and mechanics, but not working out the technological details (aka, you’re never gonna get an explanation for how Hard Light works).

Diversity - Chu says that the team is committed to making a diverse cast of characters.  The team understands that “nationality alone is not the same thing as diversity” and that “each character is a combination of traits people identify with.”  

What Makes a Hero - Abilities, Personality, Backstory, Challenges/Goals, Nationality, Relationships, Voice.  IMO, the last one is very, VERY interesting, considering how influential some of the voice actors and actresses have become in the fandom.

Relationships - Chu specifically talks about the relationship between Fareeha and Ana, as well as Fareeha’s inspirations from “her world around her” (other heroes, in particular Reinhardt, her idealism, her sense of justice, etc).  He shows the picture of Fareeha at dinner with an older man from the Reflections comic, while saying that “I don’t just mean romantic relationships - you take a character like Pharah.  She’s defined by her relationships with her family (cuts to pictures of the Strike team + young Fareeha + young Angela + young Jesse, and picture from Reflections), particularly from her mother, Ana.”

7, continued: “She also has an awesome relationship with Reinhardt... She’s much better at ice-fishing than he is.”

HERE’S THE ONE MY FOLLOWERS WANT: (34 minutes) Cuts to a picture of the Old Soldiers - Gabriel, Jack, and Ana - the one that is dropped at the end of the Old Soldier comic and which Jack looks at in the Uprising comic.  “And then I’d like to talk about one of my favorite relationships in the Overwatch universe, which is the one between Gabriel Reyes - now Reaper - Jack Morrison - now Soldier: 76 - and Ana Amari.  Cause it’s a story about power, friendship, and how a changing world can bring people together and split them apart.  It’s a relationship that defines the story of Overwatch, and how Overwatch grew as an organization, and even now today, what they’re all now up to is important to driving forward the current story of the game.  And what I really like about it is that it’s a deep, complex relationship that’s not necessarily only driven by romance, and it highlights how different people can see and experience different events, which brings me to... (changes slide to Sombra with the caption of “Perspective”) Perspective.”

9, continued: alright.  So it’s not “a lot.”  But seriously.  Please watch the segment.  I might be nitpicking words and intentions here, but considering that: 1) Chu emphasizes Fareeha’s relationship with Ana and Reinhardt literally seconds before he switches to the Old Soldiers trio, 2) Chu has retweeted lowkey Anahardt content on his twitter, and 3) “it’s a deep, complex relationship that’s not necessarily only driven by romance” all seem to indicate, however subtly, that Ana is NOT the romantic interest of either Gabriel or Jack.  In any other “similar situation” (two male friends/rivals, one “strong, single female character”) the outcome would be a given - the female character would eventually “choose” a romantic partner and the rejected male character would...ostensibly “go bad.”  In fact, Old Soldiers almost seems to imply that’s what happens - Ana “takes Jack’s side” in the fight between Reaper and Soldier: 76, but the interesting thing is that Reaper is not mad about him losing her, but rather remains mad that “he did this to me.  They left me to become this thing.” (emphasis from comic itself).

9, continued: also important is the idea that “different people can see and experience different events” and how that shapes their perspectives of the world.  Which like: http://segadores-y-soldados.tumblr.com/post/159512959195/alright-so-the-subject-of-ana-being-the-source-of   This particular post talks about.  More specifically, it talks about how these exact three characters can potentially have three extremely different interpretations of the exact same event (Ana’s “death”) and how this might have contributed to the fall out between Gabriel and Jack.

Immediately following the Old Soldiers discussion: “One of the things that we really like doing with Overwatch is playing with perspective.  We utilize perspective when we tell stories about what characters are thinking, what their goals are - and we have a lot of unreliable narrators.”  This is...a very big deal.  I think many of us in the fandom knew each character had a unique perspective on shared events, but this confirms that Blizzard is 100% aware of how they are conveying characters, the character’s motivations, their goals, their flaws, etc.  “We want people to pay careful attention to what characters think about in particular situations.”  Please, see Point 11 again.  “When [Sombra] is telling you something, she’s serving her own ends too.”  Soldier: 76 - “You can take a character like Soldier: 76 - like obviously, he has this mission that he’s on, that he believes is good (Chu’s emphasis), he seems to be willing to sometimes do things which are...maybe not super heroic, and so it makes him complicated.”

Junkrat and Roadhog: Chu has a great section on their two characters, and how they have been affected by their lives and perspectives.

Villains: “What’s important to us is that their motivations are not purely rooted in being evil, despite how they might seem on the surface.  As we reveal more about these characters, we want people to be able to empathize and understand their beliefs.  Because sometimes what makes a villain a villain is the extent to which they’re willing to go to reach their goals.  And one thing that we find most important (Chu’s emphasis) when we’re talking about our villain characters is that there is nothing (Chu’s emphasis) to say that a villain cannot be as charismatic or more (Chu’s emphasis) charismatic or as likeable as a hero character - because, like the old saying goes, ‘every villain is the hero of their own story.’” (Gee I wonder who this section was about)

Character dialogue spectrum: Chu shows a spectrum of characters while discussing their dialogue style.  Ranges from "exaggerate/silly” to “military/serious.”  From Exaggerated/silly over it goes: Junkrat, D.Va, Mei, Zenyatta (middle), Ana, Reaper, Pharah, Soldier: 76.

Timeline: Chu gives a (not detailed) rough timeline of the lore, including where the comics are placed.  

Tracer: the very last thing Chu talks about is Lena Oxton/Tracer.  And for my followers who are feeling concerned about the fact that Blizzard revealed Lena is lesbian/wlw but hasn’t done anything since, I would like to encourage you to watch the end of the presentation.  Chu talks about the team’s commitment to gender and sexuality diversity in the game’s cast, and how Lena represents their starting point for this - that she is a hero we can all aspire to be, and that she has a girlfriend at the same time.  On twitter, Chu has been very public about his support of Korra/Asami, and how excited he is for the next Avatar comic to come out.

Tracer, continued: “From early on, Overwatch has been committed to diversity of all sorts - not just nationality and gender and body type, but also sexuality.”  This, along with their repeated statements that more LGBT+ characters will be confirmed in due time, does give me some small hope that we will see 1) more of Emily (much like with Brigitte, I suspect Emily will show up, but it will take time to see her), and 2) more LGBT+ characters will be revealed or confirmed. 

“What we have always striven to do with the Overwatch universe is to make diversity seem like the fabric of the world, as it is in our world.”  Chu’s commitment to this statement can be found in the Uprising dialogue, both in the game and in the comic, in with Lena plays a major role.  In the comic, she helps convince Commander Morrison to “do the right thing” and send in the Strike Team to rescue the hostages, and in the game mode, she is the fun, cheerful, focused voice of optimism compared to the other more cautionary members.  

Again, I would highly encourage everyone to watch some or all of the presentation.  Super interesting, very thought-provoking.  While I don’t totally love Blizzard’s approach to handling and releasing the story of Overwatch, I do respect and appreciate the perspectives behind the building of it.  Many of Chu’s principles to world-building, character-development, and story-telling are similar to my own (and @kerrigore, who feels the same way about his approach to storytelling).