#he’s just keeping the coherence

[bacchuschucklefuck]

doing chibi is a good design exercise bc it forces u to think on shapes n essential details, essentially thumbnailing ur designs. its also a terrible design exercise bc it ends up looking cute no matter what

[tangledinink]

one of those "working on an important project for mama" kinda days.

[ gemini au ] [ vote for us! ]

[fisheito]

blade, superspeed superstar investigative extraordinaire (flinging entire men around since , uh, Saia)

[relicsongmel]

Something I've always found fascinating about Raymond Shields is that despite seemingly having altruistic reasons for being a defense attorney, his reasons for trying to convince Miles to be one are anything but.

It seems understandable enough on the surface. After Ray comes around and agrees to work with Miles in The Imprisoned Turnabout, he sees remnants of Gregory shining through him despite von Karma's influence. Whether or not he recognizes that Miles' decision to become a prosecutor wasn't just born from that alone—that it was in tandem with wanting to distance himself from anything that reminded him of his father to alleviate the burden on his heart—is up for debate, but regardless: he acknowledges Miles as Gregory's son through and through and wants to capitalize on his dedication for pursuing justice in a way that he knows would make his father proud. He wants to let Miles in on the life he was robbed of at 9 years old—the life he once dreamed of living, where he follows in the footsteps of his father by giving everything he has to save people, by fighting like hell for the vulnerable and the condemned.

That said, as much as Ray dresses up his proposition by making it out to be as if he's looking out for Miles' best interests (and the best interests of society, even)...his motives for trying to get Miles to switch sides are almost entirely selfish. Ray's efforts (and most of his actions in general, really) are ultimately a product of his desperate attempt to cling on to anything related to Gregory out of an inability to move on from his death. Wearing his hat and coat, leaving the name of his office unchanged...and now, requesting that his son literally change jobs just because he can't bear the weight of his own loneliness anymore. Because he can't bear to think that the damage done by DL-6 is irreversible and Miles has moved on while he has stagnated for the past 17 years. Because he has an idealized vision of what he thinks Gregory would want and fails to realize that his son's occupation wouldn't matter to him as long as it brings him happiness and fulfillment. In his mind, letting Miles go means accepting the circumstances that brought him where he is and allowing both of them to move on. And that terrifies him.

It's even more deceitful when you realize that Ray's pitch comes at a very opportune time for Miles given his circumstances at that point: that is, he's under threat of investigation for prosecutorial misconduct and at risk of being stripped of his badge. Ray might fake incompetence, but he's not stupid—and he takes full advantage of Justine's warnings to try to sway Miles when he's in a more vulnerable position in terms of his job. Which is...pretty fucked up, to put it lightly. Despite having a better idea of where he came from compared to most people, through this Ray shows a lack of understanding of who Miles truly is and a lack of respect for what he's come to value, even if his path toward obtaining those values had some bumps along the road. But he's so blinded by his grief that he doesn't even stop to consider how much he's really asking of him, or what Miles is really searching for.

Ray was moved by Gregory. He values saving people. Defending the weak is an undeniably noble endeavor. But to ask that of someone else without consideration for their best interests is decidedly less so.

For all his occupation requires a certain selflessness, Raymond Shields is far more selfish than he lets on. And I for one find that contradiction fascinating to unpack.

[preciouslittle-bhaalbabe]

HIS HANDS.

Literally my two weaknesses are a pretty voice and nice hands and this man has both (regardless of if he's ascended or not mind you he just uses his hands ALOT more to talk when ascended.)

[kvetchinglyneurotic]

so something i noticed on my latest black sails rewatch is that despite most of the show taking place on various ships we never really find out what skills silver has as a sailor? like he's pretending to be a cook when flint's crew picks him up and we never see him doing regular sailor duties on the walrus, and when he's briefly left in charge while flint is ashore he says that he's basically agreeing with whatever mr. de groot says to hide that he doesn't know what he's doing. but also he wasn't the cook on the ship he was on before the walrus and he knew where to damage the ship to keep vane's crew from leaving charleston, so he is an experienced sailor? maybe? i don't have a point i just love how the more you watch the more you start having flint on the cliffs moments where you realize that despite watching him for four seasons, you don't really know anything about john silver

[camellcat]

first xander brought her back with human breath and determination... then willow with supernatural power and love.... smth smth two halves to keep their third in balance from drifting too far into either side and losing herself.....

[gayvecchio]

[canon-gabriel-quotes]

I randomly get inspired to write weird stuff with Gabriel that I'm usually not even into and a lot of the time I get comments that amount to I'm not into this. Am I? or being surprised they were into it. Gabriel is just randomly inflicting this sort of thing on everyone I suppose

Gabriel Ultrakill has been reclassified as a gateway drug. Please keep an eye out for any suspicious activity.

[probablybadrpgideas]

Is your only problem with Pathfinder the fact that cthulhu is there? Cthulhu isn't even a big thing in Pathfinder.

So, as I said, this was my unreasonable annoyance, but my main issue with the lovecraftian stuff being put in it is simply that it's just lovecraftian stuff. Sure, it's not a big thing, but for a good chunk of first edition they put deep ones or great old ones or whatever in every book with zero effort to adapt it to the setting, and it instantly destroys any kind of immersion.

It would be like if Pathfinder just had random characters from the MCU in the sourcebooks, completely unchanged from the movies. Even if they're not a major part of the lore, I think I'd still go with "the fact fucking Iron Man is randomly shoehorned into the setting for no clear reason" as my first issue.

-Pencil

[navigatorsghost]

Writing hack: if you're getting stuck trying to do background worldbuilding, like you're filling in backstory for a character or designing a location or attempting to flesh out a culture or something in your setting, write it up as a fake Wikipedia page. That way, the bits you're fully stuck on can just be headings with a note saying "needs expansion" for now, the bits where you can't decide whether to make x or y be the truth can be written up both ways under a "Controversy" heading, the bits you do have plenty to say about can be splurged down without needing to reference the bits you're still stuck on.

For bonus points, have fun inventing imaginary sources, because once you've done that, you've got fictional books and learned authorities to throw into your actual story later if you need some random titles to stick on a bookshelf (or a place to hide a terrible pun like you're aspiring to be Sir Terry Pratchett, of course).

For even more bonus points, get carried away and start adding links to other pages and then write those too.

[ozcarma]

Does anyone else feel like the incinerator gun chair room from Zero Time Dilemma would have better fit C Team instead of D Team

[itspileofgoodthings]

okay but just thinking about how dark it is that Anthony’s kind of ultimate fantasy isn’t marrying Kate —it’s being married to her sister while lusting after Kate, his honor about to SNAP

[volfoss]

it is beyond infuriating how anne rice seems to insist on marius being a positive force in anyone's life ever. like she can't fully commit to exploring the fact he groomed armand and has repeatedly taken away his consent for what marius thinks is best (take the end of TVA as an example) and just kind of flatly puts it in the narrative. there's not really much interest in how these horrific events make marius come across as the worst because EVERYONE loves him. for gods sake, lestat learns from armand exactly what marius did to him in TVL and then proceeds to go find marius and be super friendly to him in the same fucking book. even armand and pandora, two of the people who have MORE than enough right to hate him, do not. it doesnt feel like shes trying to explore the toxicity of the abusive dynamic he traps them in, it just is there. and like yeah ofc the toxic vampire romance series but i think that this should be handled with more care. and it is not ever really framed in a way that she is interested in exploring how marius should easily be one of the most horrific characters in this series because it kind of feels like sa/rape/grooming/other things of that sort are just put there to further plot and not to really get the respect that they deserve in a medium.

[chimerafeathers]

there's an essay jumbled up in my brain about dunmeshi's beginning and how clever and deceptive it is as a sleight-of-hand trick that distracts the audience from the depth and scope of the worldbuilding and foreshadowing that's being set up the entire time by dangling zany characters and wacky dishes and biology fun facts in front of us, and how that serves to catch invested viewers off guard when those elements come to the forefront, but also how it works against it with other viewers wanting "more" and not seeing it because the plot bait isn't laid out up front

how people getting frustrated with the characters "not taking things seriously" is mirrored and refuted in the confrontation between Laios and Shuro. how the characters' attitudes aren't just a result of shallow low-stakes "comedy rules" where nothing matters, but are an extension of their personalities (Laios's nonstandard expression of emotions being offputting even to people he knows) and the world and social environment (adventurers being desensitized to death and injury because resurrection magic is commonplace). the way the party refers to "saving Falin" instead of "retrieving Falin's corpse," indicating that they still see her with full personhood, and how that phrasing leads to some readers/viewers believing that Falin is alive in the dragon's stomach, conscious of being slowly digested while the party carelessly fucks around "wasting time." how the weird tonal dissonance makes sense in-universe and yet is deliberately challenged more and more the deeper the party goes

all the character building and pieces of lore slowly weaving together the shape of the larger world, laying the groundwork for the major themes that will surface later. so much is right there in the "low-stakes" early episodes if you know what you're looking for (or pass the perception checks).

it can be so satisfying to see new viewers/readers pick up on the clues even in the earliest "simple" episodes, or notice new things and make connections yourself....and it can also be frustrating to see people dismiss oddities and dissonance as shallow or bad writing because they don't expect a "cooking anime" to have depth like that. why try to question and understand and peel back the layers when you don't expect there to be any layers?

why can't laios take things seriously for once?

[jennrypan]

..I think we should..retcon how Jason got bought back to live.

Cuz Lazarus juice seeping into the grave sounds more plausible than..Superboy from a different earth just fucking..spinning time like who the HELL mad that up, it's so goofy.

(Yeah I know comics are just like That but..please.)

The concept of Jason clawing himself out of his grave and stumbling around to find Bruce in the dead of night only to get snatched by Talia is honestly so GREAT. I love that, wish people would talk about that more (he RAISING him not...the other thing 😶) like..realistically. Jason would've been raised with Damian or had knowledge of him before everyone else (and him just not telling Bruce about it could be boiled down to; he was far more worried about other things than Bruce having a kid or he simply didn't know Damian was his exactly, just that Talia has a son now)

Also we should've stayed on the crime lord Redhood thing FAR longer, his controlled crime was PEAK and not selling to kids was beautiful. And then keeping the mystery of Redhoods identity from the Batfamily for a while to add to the suspense CUZ ITS COOOOL

(And maybe..instead of having Jason showing up to terrorize Tim in the old Robin costume for some reason. It's the Redhood get up and he's tryna tell him that being Robin isn't smart, cuz the concept of Robin had been soured for him and he thinks Bruce just replaced him with another kid just to get that kid killed like him, and in his warped mindset he thinks..attacking Tim is gonna make him see and Tim is just so confused-- but he obviously doesn't quit.)