#how important they were to the plot

[tortademaracuya]

Having to enter my own drive reminded me of the agonies (people stealing my stuff and none of my professors giving a shit) but it also brought me the wonders :) (finding a storyboard for another class I didnt remember doing and how much I liked the character I made for it)

[joshuamj]

In Stars And Time? More like In Ace And Gender

+ some alts

[bookshelf-in-progress]

No matter how many times it happens, I'm always shocked by how reliably all my problems with any given story are solved by making it shorter. If I go into a story with the idea that it'll be long, that I should use as much detail as I want to craft a full-length and fully-fleshed-out story instead of a short one, it always turns into this rambling, meandering, soulless thing that's no fun to read, and I get tangled up in so many flimsy, sprawling layers of character and worldbuilding that the plot becomes unworkable.

The minute I tell myself, "Let's make this as short as possible," the problems fall away, I find the heart of the story again, the pacing is brisk, scenes get multiple purposes, the world feels deeper because I'm implying things that spark the reader's imagination rather than trying to put every threadbare, boring detail on the page. Every time. You'd think I'd have learned by now.

[cosmiado]

something about the fact that Hermie wasn't even supposed to exist, the fact that he only came into being because Beth was fucking around with an anagram generator and he was funny enough to keep around. (something about the fact that Anthony clearly liked him enough to not want him to be a total creep, and retconned an explanation that he was method acting as the Joker.) something about the fact that Paeden didn't mind getting frequently forgotten by the PCs, but Hermie minded a lot, and that was funny, so it became a running gag. something about the fact that all his flirting and messing with Normal was motivated by his single most important desire in life: getting attention, and more specifically, attention from Normal. (something about the fact that he seeks attention more than he seeks love.) something about neither of his dads wanting him, of the party not wanting him (of the cast not wanting him). something about the fact that it was clearly specified that Scam spawned him into existence, meaning he might not even have a soul, meaning he might be gone forever without even the possibility of reunion in the afterlife. something about the fact that he outlived his usefulness, and the only significant or meaningful thing he could do for narrative or characters was to die. (something about "he's basically a free kill that changes nothing in the story.") something about him saying in the stand-up ep that he'd be better off dead. something about the fact that the narrative decided he was right. something about the fact that he was loved enough from his introduction to keep coming back, but not loved enough to be made plot important. not loved enough to be saved. Hermie the Unworthy, everyone.

[ryllen]

Please don't crucified me if this headcanon is deemed unrealistic in real life. (´；ω；`) More notes / detailed notes:

stayed & travelled with the Figs for awhile -- after being found, before finally dropped of to an institution, as the Figs think their travelling life style is not really suitable to raise a child

quickly picked up civilization as he is an intelligent child (that's why he is a ravenclaw)

exchanged letters with the travelling Figs during his time at the institution / orphanage

was a really helpful child during his time at the institution / orphanage that he is close with the staff

he thinks of befriending people is a way of learning & by helping them he gets to experience a lot of different things

a mellow temperament child in general (just like how it is ingame)

likes exploring (bcs damn! we really going places in that game)

picked the silly 'Alex Xander' name himself, maybe he heard a mother called her child with that name once and he is obsessed with that name ever since.

he always writes Xander as his 'family name' to show that he is complete even without a family

actually a bit older than his classmates, as he went through extra few years to catch up to civilization as a feral child

blank template [x]

#anyhow i really love our barn owl; she's so beautiful but with a face like biscuit

[kismetconstellations]

@sockdooe, This is the full original image:

According to the Tumblr post I originally snagged it from, it's an early piece of promotional artwork, meant to depict Keith as the series's central character. Shiro is shoved into the background, presumably to illustrate that he was intended to fulfill a Doomed Mentor role.

[r0semultiverse]

The whole Lila & Five season 4 situation can be summarized by this tumblr post

[aq2003]

if anyone is a fan of dt's voice work/audio dramas like i am and wants to listen to something random they've likely never heard before (or if you're coming down from the tony-baddingham-rivals high and want to see (hear) him play an entirely different yet equally complicated guy) i recommend murder in samarkand! it's quite good :)

cw: explicit mentions of SA/police brutality, islamophobia, and suicidal ideation

(youtube link)

(official site: mp3 download/soundcloud link)

[completeoveranalysis]

[9]

Watanuki has resolved to make her eat it anyway. 

>:) Lovely. 

Though I find it fascinating the way this problem has played out. The customer presented a problem and even though Watanuki had hints from Yuuko it didn’t make any sense to him until he discussed it with Doumeki. And then they figured it out together.

It feels like it’s signalling that Yuuko doesn’t have much guidance left for Watanuki - or at the very least, he’s finding his own way of figuring out problems in a way that makes more sense to him.

Which is good in the way that Yuuko was always limited in the kind of help she could give, because outright giving any answers would always come with a cost that she didn’t want Watanuki to pay. But we’ve entered the zone where Watanuki doesn’t need to rely on her hints as much and will figure things out naturally using his own methods. 

So that's good! But on the other hand I would like to keep Yuuko forever. 

I want it officially noted that this conversation between Watanuki and Doumeki lasted for ELEVEN PAGES before there was even a hint of faux outrage!

Eleven pages of solid conversation before Watanuki remembered that he pretends to hate Doumeki!

This is very fun knowledge for all people who are me.

Conspiracy! 

We love Mokona’s foresight and subtle manipulations to get more snacks. (And to get Watanuki to talk to Doumeki)

But even more than that we love Doumeki’s open concern for Watanuki’s wellbeing and double checking whether he can safely be here! 

OOPS nope I misinterpreted that, it wasn’t that at all. It was Doumeki double checking to see if this was the best course of action as far as the mystery was involved. He wonders whether Yuuko could have given him better help. 

But I have preemptively talked all the way through that idea so I’m glad I picked up on that undercurrent correctly!

[vaguely-concerned]

if we get a scene with varric in the fade somehow (listen if just bleeding a bit in the general proximity of the ritual was enough to soul-hook rook into the fade, population: solas district for the foreseeable future, what the hell is going to happen to varric after having the whole dagger buried in his chest?? I'm scared) where he lifts his head as if he heard a voice no one else can perceive and just goes "...hawke?", it'll be over for me

[silverskye13]

Will enby Helsknight/trans Tanguish/top surgery scars/stubborn avoidant Welsknight in a gender crisis make it into the main story of RnS? Like, a full acknowledgment of it? Because yes, us on tumblr are aware (and happily bully RnS Wels for it) but I’m curious to how it may be brought up in the main storyline instead of rambles and drabbles. (Don’t get me wrong, those rambles and drabbles are what get me through the day. But my best friend, who isn’t in the MCYT fandom whatsoever, just caught up with RnS and doesn’t use tumblr, and besides spamming her with tumblr posts I wanna know how much I can revel in the glory of the skrunkles with her!)

That is a great question, actually. And the answer is I don't really know.

So this is one of the downsides to writing things chapter by chapter. If I had gone into this going "oh heck yeah they're trans", this would've come up in the plot way sooner. It's nice information 1) for all the trans folks reading and 2) because it has the potential to inform the themes in the narrative. This whole story is about two chief things I think: death [the inevitability of] and identity [what defines you and why]. Why should you care if literally no one else (including the universe) does? That would be so cool to speak about in terms of a trans allegory! Why do you care about gender when it's just one thing in a world of crazy things? Or at the very least, how does it inform your identity? But this is a change I made on a whim suddenly, and I know Exactly Where I Want This Plot To Go, so trans topics and allegories as Plot Points probably won't happen.

On the more technical side of introducing trans characters -- how do you do that without just dropping "oh btw they're trans" in? Like, how do you make it a relevant thing to talk about, that doesn't feel forced or shoehorned in, especially this late in the story? Probably me overthinking, but I read it done wrong so often. It gets tired. And if I ever work on my original stories, there are trans characters in there! If I can figure out how to Do It Well in a fanfic, then I can figure out how to do it in original fiction someday maybe. So I kinda wanna take the introduction seriously? I've actually been thinking about it so much I've thought about rewriting the intro to the next chapter ahaha [it already needs rewritten in general, there's a lot going on, but the intro was going to be Helsknight waking up from something, and he sleeps shirtless, and not addressing top surgery scars then would be kinda silly I think.]

I can say at the very least, Gender Avoidant Wels probably won't factor in the story much. He is a character, but I don't think he'll become Enough of a character to faithfully address something like a trans self discovery arc. At best his issues with gender might be mentioned in passing.

Sorry! I know you probably want a better answer! My answer is basically: I don't know I'm still working on it. I want it to be there, but the capacity it's there is undecided.

That being said, I've been sitting on this glorious ask since the shenanigans started and the temptation to just Do That grows every time I read it:

[faeriekit]

One underrepresented genre in Star Wars fics seem to be individual clone-centric narratives, especially in time travel fics, which are my favorites. Not just clone culture- and I LOVE speculative takes on clone culture- but picking your favorite guy in particular, separating him out from the whole of the brotherhood of the clone army and going "okay, what will he do now?"

[greenerteacups]

Are there any other wizarding families that are underexplored in canon and pique your interest in a similar way to the Blacks?

This is a unique function of what food my brain worms like to eat, but no one's doing it like the Blacks. The drama? The intrigue? The Gothic horror? The prodigal sons and lost daughters and killers and sinners and martyrs and saints? The wizard Catholicism of it all? The story of the House of Black is the best book never written.

[ranseur]

the most "legit" criticism of Steven Universe i've seen is that it excuses abusive behavior in the name of the "greater good" with multiple storylines - obviously the main plot with the Diamonds, but also stuff with Lapis and other characters

i need a refresh on this series, so i might be fuzzy on details.

but if i recall correctly, Lapis and Jasper's storyline was a nuanced portrayal of toxic relationships where neither person was a clear-cut abuser or victim, they were both.

i don't believe anyone was OK with this, i think there was an episode where Steven tried to save Lapis but she refused. later when Malachite separated, Lapis admitted that even though she said she trapped Jasper to keep everyone else safe, she enjoyed taking out her anger on Jasper. i thought it was interesting that, after being fused for so long, she even admits that she misses that dynamic. which isn't unheard of in real life relationships, where the toxicity becomes familiar, and that familiarity feels normal because their sense of self has been so warped.

i don't think that was celebrated as a good thing, and actually, rewatching the scene- Lapis rejects forming Malachite again, she ends the cycle of abuse and spells out clearly that it was unhealthy and brought out the worst in both of them. i thought that portrayal of toxic relationships was surprisingly nuanced for a children's show- Lapis isn't perfect, but neither are all relationships and people.

I personally think Sugar would have done the metaphor of 'fusions as relationships' a huge disservice if she didn't portray ways in which they go wrong, in addition to the ways in which they go right. i don't think the toxicity was excused, as it's pretty clear Steven didn't want Lapis to be unsafe, and that Lapis takes responsibility for her part in Malachite.

[hoths]

the only way i wouldve enjoyed buck’s billy boils storyline was if we’d gotten a “maddie sees the crow that’s been hunting chim down” scene or a rendition of david/michael/bobby garbage adventures. not everyone patronising him and making fun of him. i dont know why the writers think the latter is narratively enjoyable for anyone. do NOT make buck buckley the plot’s fool in front of me

[entering--hyperspace]

Cannot imagine whatever is going on through Mr Leonard Echowatcher's head. You spend your life yearning for a world where you lived differently, where the day wasnt soaked in war, blood, and battle. Where you could envision a future where you have a partner and a family with friends to live gracefully with. But then you are given such opportunities only to find you were never taught to be gentle, you have a gentle, empathetic nature and yet the physicality of it is a stranger to you. You are expected to raise a child with gentle hands so that she saves the world, What does that even mean? How can you accept your growing love for your friend when you were never taught how to love, that intimate love is a luxury best left forgotten, there are no need for such things in war. He has to learn to become the things he wanted bc he grew too old to develop it naturally. He becomes a father to taimi fumbling his way into learning how to care and parent, he is defensive of Aurene bc he is from a culture where they arent expected to raise their own young and yet has to do so with a dragon. It feels like a test, He has to prove both to others and to himself he is capable of being a father, of nuturing, that calloused, stained hands can still be gentle. He has to accept that love is a terrifying leap of faith in vulnerability in order to gain a partnership that is considered a rarity. I love the idea that he spent 30 years yearning for things he thought he would never have and when he is actually given those opportunities (albeit admittedly through unusual circumstances) he has to learn how to actually live in them, becuase they were always just Concepts until now. Ohhhh my god Mr. Leo you are my everything