#i default to “he” a lot as a random character role/pronoun

[thewanderingmask]

episode concepts bc why not.

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episodes usually involve the squad getting some experimental tech from HQ or from C that theyre supposed to use in evil plans and misusing it

they get a ray gun that changes people's personalities. super powerful concept. they use it on the manager to change them from serious to free-spirited

this predictably leads to disaster. sure the paperwork goes undone and their plans go from basic to nonsensical to nonexistent, but the real crime is that HQ calls and the manager isnt there to cover their asses. and if they dont get their shit together he'll get replaced by someone who will actually make them Do Work

but the manager doesnt wanna change back because of all the stress. so he zaps B to make him go from frivolous and dramatic to serious

theres an extended sequence thats just everybody fighting over the gun and zapping each other

eventually we briefly touch upon the question of "would it actually be better to just leave things different" but A goes NOPE NOPE NOPE I HATE IT and smashes the gun turning everybody back to normal

-

i think an interesting episode would be them meeting a paragon protagonist hero. a superman kinda personality who is just kind to everybody and none of the bad guys can stand it but they are forced by circumstance to keep being in the person's company

and we get some conversations that poke at some of the backstories and underlying reasons the baddie squad are the way they are but not in a way that makes a lot of real progress or anything, we're just getting a little perspective on things

and they all are made super uncomfortable by the introspection this guy causes and the emotional sincerity and kindness offered to them and they keep losing their shit about it

eventually he moves on and theyre all like thank FUCK

-

i think the goons get powered up from recognising their strengths when fighting the big villain and it makes crimes too easy afterward. and it unsettles them because now random townsfolk cant kick their asses

so its boring

so they write in to the good guys because maybe now they can get their own nemesis and have street cred

(their manager goes WHY DID YOU DO THAT but its too late now)

the heroes are like "sounds fake" and send their own embarassment to check it out

the good guy who shows up is a gullible and oblivious person who causes more problems than they solve

and so the baddies keep having to do things like stop people from dying in fires the good guy accidentally starts without noticing. sothe good guy thinks THEYRE good guys and says great work team

theyre like NO WE;RE THE VILLAINS DAMMIT

and the hero's just like gasp what!!! -sees them catch a falling baby- aw you kidders :)

i think this culminates in a situation where an actual hero shows up- maybe an ascended rando from town - and the failhero thinks theyre a bad guy and fights them

and the bad guys are like NO!!!!! OUR GOOD GUY OPTION and have to prevent the failhero from accidentally genuinely killing this person

and finally are just like YES YES WE'RE GOOD GUYS WE;RE ARRESTING THE BAD GUY NOW PLEASE LEAVE

so he does and the heroes get a report that no its fine the town has some great heroes :)

-

i think the core to this that the baddies don't ever stop being selfish but do still slowly develop as people. they have issues that make their own lives worse and they act on these malignantly. rather than internalise morality, they gradually learn from the natural consequences of being shitty people. and for all their many many many shortcomings they still manage to eventually care about something other than themselves - each other. and it makes their lives better.

so yeah

brain dump time

the other morning i accidentally workshopped a cartoon story concept

i already have too many story concepts

i have no plans to do anything with it

i am putting it here now

-

THE PREMISE: Cartoon bad guy squad. Team rocket style Evil organization. we focus on a branch office made of embarrassments who are extra bad at this

They wanna prove themselves to the big boss and the rest of the organization. (Extra big team rocket energy there) They’re in some unimportant outpost in a random city and they get no support. Their base is some crappy hole. They never even meet the heroes.

Team is 2-3 squad members who are fucking goons and a middle manager who actually has some skills and takes things seriously

Goon A "Audrey": feral.

Goon B "Basilisk": fancy.

Goon C "Clint": mad scientist

The manager seems competent because he’s serious but actually isn’t super good at being in charge. gets easily wound up, that kind of thing

They get cartoon tools and ray guns and mostly fuck up with them or use them on each other

Squad starts with 2-3 goons then they gain a new one later

The new one is a nepo baby who really wants to be evil and got shoved out here because like the others they’re a goddamn embarrassment and this is a way to keep them out of trouble

Turns out they’re actually really good at being Evil with a capital E. something no one else on this squad has the stomach for

I think a season arc would be the nepo baby coming in and getting razzed by the og squad who are relishing the power of seniority until they get shown up. then they want the new guy gone. Then nepo baby reveals they’re actually Evil beyond cartoon goon squad boundaries and stage a coup on the manager. The goons follow along because well this new guy IS real competent so they’re finally gonna get recognized and respected and also nepo baby scares them

But it turns out none of the goons have the stomach to do something like murder a kid when ordered to, and they realize oh no with a competent boss they have to do real work, and really maybe they just liked screwing around and posturing the way things were before

So they have to team up with a washed up good guy to save their imprisoned manager and take down their genuinely evil new boss

Washed up good guy is one of those characters who betrayed the good guy team but lived to regret it so now he hides out here in nowhere town and depressions his way through the days

Lives in a run down trailer, avoids human contact, still gets some hate when he’s occasionally recognized

Anyway the baddies go to him because they decide they need a good guy to fight a real villain and he’s all there is within bus fare distance

They get him on board with helping by being idiots who will clearly die without help

Also he wants an act of redemption because he lost everything by betraying his original team and now he just really wants people to stop hating him

So he tells them how villains usually fuck up: by having plans with poor logistics or by getting emotionally involved and not thinking logically. ...These are both things our main character goons do, but the new villain doesn’t. So the only other thing villains do that leads to their downfall is underestimate their opponents. Usually some kind of power of friendship thing because villains don’t have friends. The protagonists try the power of friendship in a test run. It doesn’t work.

Ex hero eventually has an epiphany that yes these people suck at everything they're typically ASKED to do, but they have weird unique strengths in specific areas. So it’s about using those. like the power of hair care and makeup can be used to make disguises, feral brute strength can work if aimed at the right wall to break down.

They make a plan to rescue their old manager using these tactic and despite looking like a disaster it actually goes as planned. They get him out. Originally they are just planning on running away forever now but the manager, who incidentally has real injuries from his imprisonment, says there’s a worse plan happening that’ll kill the whole town for Real

And the team is originally still going to run away actually

But for ENTIRELY SELFISH REASONS they eventually realize how much they don’t want that to happen

Goon A is territorial, goon B’s arbitrary personal code is offended, manager has a bone to pick and a chip on their shoulder, and the ex hero still wants to do something that’ll get him back in with the heroes

So they make their plan and it’s one of those situations where it seems like it’s working right up until they reach the macguffin at which point the bars drop and the lights come on to show the villain, who has correctly estimated all of them. And He let them get this far because he thought it would be funny

you know, to crush them

and i think the third goon, mad scientist goon C, was the most ambitious and seemingly the most reasonable. and when the villain mutiny'd on the manager, C was the one who bowed their head and joined him

so the villain totally monologues about how he correctly summed up everyone and their critical faults, because again, it's fun to crush these people. and how the villain didnt want them to just run away and live, because then he couldnt kill them in front of C. because C still cares about the others. so he fed the manager info on his plan and let them break the guy out. and now hes gonna kill everybody with his macguffin plan and he knows C wont do anything to stop it, because they're too selfish to defy him. and the villain just wanted to hurt them all one more time before killing them (except C, whose reward for betraying his team is to live having watched them die)

anyway so then C shoots the villain with a gun

then theres a showdown and at the climax all the goons unite, and some kinda thing happens where theres a glimmer of power that flows through them and protects them from a fatal blow, and no one except the ex good guy notices the and goes "wait, is that-" and then the manager punches the villain in the face

then the superweapon laser death beam is about to go off and while theyre arguing over where to point it they accidentally set it to blow up the building theyre in

so everybody books it and the last thing the villain does, as he's left to bleed out on the floor of an exploding building, is stare up in disbelief and then just start laughing at the absurdity as the whole place goes up

in the epilogue, the team manage to fucking lie about everything that happened to the main office. this flies at the exact same time as their stuff was happening the heroes attacked and defeated the high council so now the power structure is in shambles

so they basically get told "whatever just stay there and dont cause any trouble"

so as far as theyre concerned its back to business as usual, which is all they wanted in the first place

pushing over old ladies and kidnapping small dogs

stealing candy from a literal baby

getting their asses beat by literally any given random citizen

stealing things

getting wacky machinery and misusing it

everybody just agrees unspokenly to pretend nothing happened with C

the manager is back in charge and wants the ex hero to help them. ex hero says no way i only helped because i wanted the good guys to want me again. but also he keeps getting roped in from then on. the goons just start Showing Up at his place and raiding his fridge

-

so yeah

[mrghostrat]

Hello and good morning/day/night :]

I was wondering, in BNF, we’ve gotten tiny little bits of information about the ‘Nice and Accurate Prophecies’ (not sure if that’s the correct title, sorry) book and TV series, if there was anything else you could tell us about it?

Character names, storylines, plots, any fun details you may have made up or otherwise, etc, etc.

I just think it’s sweet how interested both Aziraphale and Crowley are in the series, and if you might be as interested, if not more, in it too.

Thank you, and have a lovely Sunday. 🫶

this is it, my leash has snapped, i'm wild in the streets, thank u for asking; i'm gonna go be insufferable now

(hi @neil-gaiman if you see this, i think it's safe to read, but it does border on being fan fic. i'm writing a fic where crowley and aziraphale are an artist + writer in an online fandom, much like we are for good omens, and this is the fake story i've made for them to be fans of 💛)

The Nice and Accurate Prophecy

info dump of the fake 5 book series by Agnes Nutter (1985-1992) and its fake fandom:

The Nice and Accurate Prophecy

The Strange and Improbable Prophecy

The Vague and Perfidious Prophecy

The Tense and Harrowing Prophecy

The Faint and Ineffable Prophecy

a dramatic, layered story with a bizarre and unexpectedly lovable cast of characters, humour that hits you out of nowhere, and a lot of attitude from the narrator. a la Good Omens, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

fantasy/historical fantasy and mildly action & romance

a la good omens, a witch and a witchfinder become friends and help each other throughout history, despite being on opposite sides. they get closer as they fight against the immoral plays from their prospective sides (the witchfinder army and a demonic cult the witch was born into) that each lose sight of their core values in a bid to hold more power over the world.

the story is set primarily in a medieval fantasy era, but suddenly jumps to the present in the later books, catching everyone off guard and giving a whole new context to enjoy the story. the challenges they face parallel the earlier story but in a modern take with modern technological twists. the modern era is the late 80s, since that's when it was written.

the witch reincarnates, similar to doctor who, due to a high class black magic ritual they performed in their arrogant youth (which they were NOT supposed to have access to). they've had long lifetimes where they die of old age, and others where they've barely managed to live a year. their reincarnations aren't entirely random; they will reincarnate according to their growth and preferences as a person (a la Magical Boy's magical outfit generations), which includes fluctuation in gender identity. their pronouns fluctuate depending on each "face" they wear, but have canonically been a "they" before. the good side of the fandom (crowley & aziraphale) default to they/them as an overall rule. they do have a name, but they like to change that too, so the fandom almost exclusively calls them witch, or witchy.

the witchfinder also has a name, but the fandom have taken to calling him witchfinder to match the fact that witchy is called by their role. it also helps that a lot of the witchfinder narration refers to him by role instead of name. he is human, 30ish in appearance, but at the end of the first book, the witch fears to lose him and curses him with immortality against his knowledge to try and keep him safe.

witch is crowley-coded, witchfinder is aziraphale-coded. my to-do list includes an illustration of the two of them played by michael and david :') but i picture them being kind of like newt and anathema for the most part.

ship names include witch/finder, witchwitch, w² or witch², and witchfound.

at the start of the first book, they meet and become friends without knowing each other is a witch & finder. the witchfinder is a bit bumbly, like newt, and the witch is cool and suave but neurotic and insecure like many human au variations of crowley (major overcompensation vibes). witch is male at the start of the first book. their friendship is secure when witch finds out he's a witchfinder, so there's less "oh my god i'm friends with the enemy, is he going to kill me in my sleep?" and more "ah fuck, Lets Drink About This"

there's battles, horseback riding, camping out in dark woods, disappearing and losing each other for months at a time, and many missed connections as they try to work together against two common enemies, whilst keeping up the facade that they're on their respective team's sides.

there's charged chemistry in the first book, but it's more plot heavy. there's hints of shippy moments in the 2nd book that fall in between the plot. there's a Moment of almost confession in the 3rd book, and a non romantic kiss towards the end (we gotta, for neil). they're pretty much married in the 4th book, securely at each other's side, but never actually talk about it until the end, and there's a more explicitly stated shippy connection in the 5th book.

agnes herself is a total recluse who drops books out of nowhere then goes back to existing somewhere in the english countryside (people presume). she's happy to supply signed copies to fundraisers and conventions, and sometimes random bookshops across the country will be vandalised with genuine autographs on the inside covers. she's notoriously pedantic about being involved with adaptions behind the scenes, but she has no social media and isn't ~around~. she once did a talk when she was presented with an honorary doctorate, and did a single book signing when the first Prophecy book came out, but beyond that she keeps to herself.

there are a small handful of quotes from her in behind-the-scenes footage talking vaguely about character intensions and clarifying world building, but she likes to leave things up to interpretation like neil does. it's in these few snippets of interaction we've seen from her that she's steadfastly supportive of intersectionality and lgbt rights, like staring dead-eyed at an interviewer when they ask her a ridiculously heteronormative question about the characters (like "have you read my books?")

adaptions include:

(most adaptions start like the book, with a male witch at the beginning that turns into a female witch when they first regenerate. the early ones usually change the pacing by switching to a female actor by the time they realise witchfinder is a witchfinder, unlike in the book where he's male for this scene, and there's way less Charged™ chemistry between the m/m witch/finder.)

Feature Film: late 90s, kind of cheesy, but good spirited fantasy (a la Indiana Jones). focuses on the first book alone, with hints to a sequel that never happened.

Abandoned TV Pilot: early 2000s, a little too dramatic but still a good time (a la the Dungeons and Dragons 2000, ASOUE 2004). good source of gifs and Moments™ but the fandom is generally Fine with it being abandoned.

Stage Performance: late 2000s-early 2010s, a stellar stage adaption of the first book with elements of the 90s movie. f/m witch/finder the whole way through. one cast used m/m actors but it was a short run and only a handful of fans were lucky enough to catch or remember it. crowley would give his left arm (or someone's, anyway) to have experienced it, so a fan sent him some flip phone camera footage of it that he keeps on a harddrive in his safe.

HBO Streaming Series: late 2010s-present, high quality, highly revered, resurged the fandom's popularity and spread the series further overseas. made in america, but doesn't try to americanise the series. extremely respectful to the books, with easter eggs to the film, and is working its way through the entire book series (a la The Witcher netflix series). f/m witch/finder, but has had one episode that included some flash backs/montages of different witch faces. probably like 15 minutes total screentime of a male witch played by a ncuti gatwa level/style of actor, which the fandom has giffed, edited, and screencapped to oblivion.

Several bonus books: Agnes has written a few extra books (a la The Unauthorized Autobiography of Lemony Snicket and The Beatrice Letters), as well as curated some anthologies from other authors (a la A Study In Sherlock). there are a total of 3 anthologies so far, in which other authors have written stories about the characters in their own tellings. basically like canonised, published fan fiction, curated and authorised by agnes herself. There's also an unfinished graphic novel that retells the book series (a la The Adventure Zone comic), but has been WIP/unheard of since the 3rd book.

[radioactive-earthshine]

Thad or Carol?

I'll do both.

Thad.

Sexuality Headcanon: homosexual/homoromantic Gender Headcanon: Like Bart, his concept of gender is from 1000 years in the future so his boyness is different from ours, so by default he's sort of "boy adjacent" like Bart. He prefers he/him pronouns but is okay with anything as it doesn't really matter to him. A ship I have with said character: Preston. I'm also fond of him with Match and Kon. A BROTP I have with said character: I -really- want him to have a relationship with Kyle to carry on that Speedster/Green Lantern brotp theme DC has. Kyle has the personality to tolerate Thad's grumpiness so I feel like it would be a good friendship. A NOTP I have with said character: Him with his brother(s) and any of his family. A random headcanon: He's actually acrophobic scared of heights, but he hides it incredibly well. Helen is also "mom" to him even though to Bart she's in a more nebulous parenting role that's hard to define. To Thad she is strictly MOM. General Opinion over said character: Done dirty. I don't think there is a single current DC writer on the payroll right now that I trust with him. He was right at redemption then the rug was pulled on him for no reason. He's 100% a victim in his incarnation.

Carol (I assume you mean from Impulse).

Sexuality Headcanon: I really haven't thought about it, and she doesn't interact with many other girls in the comics unfortunately, but I think she's probably bi-curious. Gender Headcanon: Cis. A ship I have with said character: Her with Jenni is pretty cute. I also think her and Wade or Mike would be fair and wholesome. Cissie would also be really cute and I can imagine them talking about Bart and bonding together over him. A BROTP I have with said character: Her and Bart. A NOTP I have with said character: Thad. A random headcanon: Carol taught Bart how to draw and the appeal to art when he didn't see the value to it at first. General Opinion over said character: She's amazing and I love her, even if she's a little mean. I would have liked her with Bart better if it was not rushed to fulfill a man-pain narrative. The whole setup of them getting together was amazing, they were FRIENDS first and went through a lot of highs and lows and was setup to be great but like with Thad they messed up the execution. However, I also like them being just friends because I believe in STRONGLY of hetero-platonic relationships. We need to show men and women in strong close platonic relationships and Bart and Carol had that. So it's two-fold on two sides. Anyway, I love her and I miss her. I'm not sure why Valarie Perez was made to be a Carol clone when they could have just used Carol...

[slugtranslation-hypmic]

Could you go a bit more in depth about the Japanese personal pronouns the characters use and what they imply about their personalities? I'm especially interested in characters that use unusual ones like Jyushi and Gentaro 👀

Sure! I'll do the main cast plus the three main Chuuouku ladies.

Ichirou - Ore. Implies a level of confidence usually associated with men; this is more or less the default pronoun for men. It isn't always used in formal situations due to the level of confidence it states (it may be rude to set yourself above your employer like that), so we'll see other pronouns from the male cast members as well. It shows that Ichirou is a normal, casual dude.

Jirou - Ore. See above.

Saburou - Boku. Boku is usually perceived as masculine but carries a strong connotation of youth or friendliness. Picture a Boy Scout. A Boy Scout uses boku. In Saburou's case, it means that he is presenting himself as both younger and less assertive than his brothers. As he grows older, he may switch to a different pronoun. Lots of boys grow up using boku and eventually switch to something else.

Samatoki - Ore or ore-sama. See above for ore. Ore-sama takes the confidence projected by ore to a douchebag level. Ore-sama states the speaker thinks he is above the listener by default. Samatoki uses this because he wants everyone else to think he's hot shit. He is THE Samatoki. It's posturing.

Juuto - Ore or watashi. Juuto seems to use ore mostly when he's speaking confidently or casually, such as when speaking to his teammates or random criminals. Watashi is a more neutral pronoun that indicates that the speaker isn't trying to project an image of confidence and/or set themselves above the listener. As a result, it is used more often in formal situations such as in the workplace. Juuto uses it there or in other situations where he speaks formally and/or is requesting something from the listener. This sort of switching is common in real life; I will usually switch to watashi in formal situations as well. From this, we get the sense that Juuto has a strong self-image but also isn't afraid to humble himself for the sake of getting what he wants.

Riou - Shoukan. This is an unusual one. It's a humble pronoun, meaning Riou is pitching himself as less assertive than his ore-using counterparts, and one associated with the military. The impression this forms of him is that the military is part of his core identity.

Ramuda - Boku or ore. Ramuda uses boku for his exterior personality, indicating that he wants to appear young and friendly. He uses ore for his inner personality, indicating that the real Ramuda may be less friendly and open than he pretends to be but also more assertive and masculine.

Gentarou - Mainly shousei. Gentarou uses a lot of different pronouns, typically old-fashioned ones, when playing a role, but shousei is his default. This is another humble pronoun, meaning Gentarou doesn't want to assert himself, but it's most easily recognized as a pronoun used in writing letters. It shows that being an author is part of the persona Gentarou wants to project.

Dice - Ore. Dice is young, casual, and assertive. Not much else to say here.

Jakurai - Watashi. Jakurai doesn't want to appear assertive, so he uses watashi. This also makes him sound more formal and proper. It's fitting for a restrained, polite character.

Hifumi - Orecchi or boku. Orecchi is a Hifumi-fied version of ore. It's supposed to sound cute or kind of quirky; it shows that Hifumi is playing around. Jacketless Hifumi uses this. When wearing the jacket, he uses boku. Since boku sounds especially open and friendly, Hifumi wants to project an image of himself as a young man completely available for his female customers.

Doppo - Ore or watashi. Like Juuto, he switches depending on the situation. Again, this is a common thing to do. At home or in other casual situations, he uses ore to show that he's comfortable there. In more formal situations, he uses watashi to be polite.

Sasara - Ore. Sasara uses ore to be a normal level of assertive or casual. In some situations, this can sound a little rude, as Sasara can be overly pushy.

Roshou - Ore. Again, a sort of default level of casualness/assertiveness. I doubt he would use ore in a more professional setting (as in, when speaking to a principal or other school administrator - it's fine to use ore in front of his students, as it's socially acceptable for a teacher to be "above" their students), but I don't recall him using any pronouns in any of the conversations with his employers.

Rei - Ore. Again, casual and assertive. This is socially inappropriate when speaking to Otome and is therefore rude.

Kuukou - Sessou. This is technically a humble pronoun but, more importantly, is also one only used by monks. It shows that Kuukou thinks being a monk is central to his core identity.

Juushi - Jibun or ware. Jibun is actually a reflexive pronoun (myself, herself, himself, themselves, etc.) but has gained traction recently among young people. It has other applications, but here it makes Juushi sound young and somewhat avant-garde (as I see it). In his stage form, he uses ware, a formal, polite, and old-fashioned pronoun. Here, he uses it to sound old-fashioned and fantasy-esque. Think about how Juushi talks and then consider the pronoun simply adding to that.

Hitoya - Ore. Again, assertiveness. I don't recall Hitoya ever switching to a less assertive pronoun, showing that Hitoya feels confident in his field and position in life.

Otome - Watakushi. A very formal, default pronoun. It makes Otome sound a bit stiff and very proper.

Ichijiku - Watashi. This one is really interesting to me. It stands out because, unlike the rest of Ichijiku's speech style, it isn't assertive at all. Yet assertiveness in Japanese is typically understood as masculine, so I'm reading this as Ichijiku deliberately insisting that she may be kick-ass and powerful, but she is in no way a man.

Nemu - Watashi. Another default pronoun. Nemu isn't assertive enough to break gender roles and use a typically masculine pronoun, but neither is she interested in portraying herself as young and cutesy (as is suggested by some typically female pronouns).

[teatimecrumpetsandsugar]

ethereal (voltron fantasy/royalty AU) (set up; part zero)

Heyo! It’s your friendly neighborhood Voltron fanfic aficionado- now your friendly neighborhood Klance writer but that’s honestly besides the point I don’t even know why you’d bring up my increasing obsession with them in this Klance fanfic that I swear everyone else will be in, too-

Today, I’ll be writing from a fantasy royalty AU with my favorite show cast ever, even though it may or may not be solely because I want to put water elemental!king!Lance in pretty dresses and makeup and just go crazy with my descriptions of gowns and other things.

I imagine, here, Lance would be from a kingdom with strong ties to Pidge’s kingdom, who has strong ties with Hunk’s kingdom, making them a powerful trifecta. I also imagine that Keith and Lance’s kingdoms are on very thin ice with one another, so Pidge encourages Lance to sit down with fire elemental!king!Keith. 

I also imagine that Pidge’s kingdom is closely allied with Allura’s and that the two of them grew up together, while she didn’t meet Hunk or Lance until she became queen. Also, I’d like to have my beloved Ruler Pidge go by she/they pronouns, simply because I see a lot of myself in the way she dresses and carries herself and I actually believe that these pronouns would fit her, alongside all pronouns.

Hunk and Lance likely grew up together in a very close ally ship and continue to be close friends well into adulthood because that’s just how they are. I can imagine Lance is very vaguely aware of Allura’s kingdom and would never dream of picking a fight with hers since, by default, allying with Pidge made him allies with Allura, but he probably doesn’t know her very well pre the canon timeline because I kind of want to build that relationship from the ground up to make up for what the show did to me-

Keith is definitely allied with Shiro, and Pidge and Shiro were always friends through her older brother, who, along with her father, abdicated from the throne and joined an adventurer’s guild instead (because they believed that Pidge would be a better fit for a ruler and decided that, given how they are, reconnaissance and exploration fit them better. She agreed with this insight, deciding to rule the kingdom the best way she knew how). Shiro, being a much more experienced king and friends with their brother, likely prepared them for the role as they grew into it; the two are on friendly terms, but allied isn’t exactly the right term as none of the people in their alliance knew Keith, so they weren’t sure they could ally with him. 

Lance met Keith at a gala years into his reign; they did not get along.

The system of Magic here will likely be dictated by what element one is born in the kingdom of, (i.e., Lance’s kingdom being the Aqua Kingdom, Pidge’s being the Spiritus Kingdom) and the strength of it in each person will be chosen based on a random set of variables that usually depends on the mood of the Gods corresponding to each element.

Lance- Water (Aqua Kingdom)

Keith- Fire (Ignis Kingdom)

Pidge- Life (Spiritus Kingdom)

Hunk- Earth (Terra Kingdom)

Shiro- Moon (Luna Kingdom)

Allura- Light (Lux Kingdom)

I imagine the reason an alliance is called for with Keith and Shiro’s kingdoms is because a traitor to Allura’s kingdom, either Lotor is planning on starting an entire mutiny with the ranks he’s managed to gather and then, consequently, conquer all of the rest of the kingdoms by force in the name of a long-dead kingdom- the Tenebris kingdom. His parents having died in the midst of a total economic crash caused by a codependent relationship with Allura’s kingdom whilst it was under her father’s rule, he was taken in by the state of Lux by Allura’s request, since they grew up together; unfortunately Lotor held lingering feelings of resentment- towards Lux, for causing the destruction of the only thing he could’ve ever considered his own by right, and towards his parents for always making him feel as if he was of no worth. He wants to conquer the entire world just to prove to himself that he is worth something, though, unfortunately, he’s on a path straight to death.

Might redeem him, might kill him off, might exile him- who knows at this point?

Hunk, I imagine, was a commoner who won the title of king through a series of magic-based trials (upon the death of the last ruler) and now keeps his entire family in the palace with him, using his title to take care of his family and citizens as a benevolent ruler. This likely happened when he was quite young- likely when he was 9 or 10, since magic is an innate thing and, in this kingdom, it’s tested in the youngest members of the kingdom in order to deem who is the most connected to their Goddess Terra.

Allura inherited her title when her own father died in the conflict with Tenebris- he went to battle with the people they’d unintentionally doomed in order to protect his daughter and his people, and died in the process; similar to her story in Voltron except her kingdom survives and Lotor and a select few survivors of the Galra become refugees.

Keith became king by beating the previous king’s son in a battle- his mother, being one of the higher ups in the government, sent word to him that the prince didn’t want to be king, so Keith wound up challenging him for the title. He won, successfully making his way into the world of prestige and getting closer to his mother. The prince left the kingdom shortly after- it’s believed that he ran away to be with someone, but no one is quite sure. All anyone knows is that he’s happy.

Lance wound up being king at a really young age- I’m imagining that, prior to his reign, his kingdom was incredibly strictly patriarchal. The previous king likely only had daughters, and the day of his death, Lance was born with incredibly powerful water magic. As a result, at the age of 6 years old, he was forcibly taken from his poor family and raised strictly to be a perfect king- however, he still saw his sister Veronica frequently in secret, the two of them sneaking around to eat baked goods and try on dresses together. When the palace staff found out, they tightened security and warned Veronica that she was no longer allowed to see him unless she wanted to be publicly executed. After his coronation (at age 8), however, he started making drastic changes to the laws that made the laws against commoners interacting with royalty more lax, and, once allowed to dress himself, started wearing dresses and makeup because it reminded him of home and made him feel as beautiful as he knew he was. He gets quite homesick quite often, and he’s still battling to get his family into the palace with him- he has, however, stripped the kingdom of its strict patriarchy. He constantly tells the kingdom that he hopes to one day pass the throne down to his own future daughter and still keeps the three princesses as his trusted advisors because he believes what happened to them was horribly unjust. The story will be told primarily from his perspective.

Shiro became ruler of his kingdom by fighting his way through gladiator ranks when he was only thirteen, winning the entire kingdom by brute force alone and leaving him with a lot more experience and trauma than he’d have liked. Being the oldest of the current generation of rulers and having inherited a kingdom that was closely related to Pidge’s and Keith’s, he guided them both through the process of becoming a ruler and the process of ruling, no matter how difficult it gets. It’s taken far longer with Keith than it has Pidge, since Pidge was raised a royal and has an innate sense of leadership and Keith is... interesting at the whole being a royal thing. Shiro, having grown up with Keith’s mother on the streets of the kingdom of Tenebris, was more than happy to take Keith under his wing- it helps the both of them come out of their shells more, so they have a mutual appreciation for one another.

I imagine this world will be vaguely futuristic and medieval at the same time- they’ll be able to have video conferences and reach other via communicators, holographic calls, things of that nature; but they’ll also be pretty old-fashioned in their manners of dress, their social systems, their currencies, and the vast majority of their laws. I hope that makes sense.

I wonder if it’s visible here that I spent three hours winging this and started getting more and more into it as I went, or if it’s obvious that I spend most of my time working with really obscure fantasy concepts. 

BAHDHAAHAHA I HOPE YOU ALL ENJOY THIS- 

If you’ve got any suggestions for relationship dynamics (platonic, romantic, or otherwise), any pitches for traits you think the characters may have based on their slightly altered backstories, or any feedback in general, feel free to share- I hope you all find this as fascinating as I did while I was writing it!

Also, @keefsteefs It’s happening, I’m doing it, it’s gonna be so fricking awesome-

[aries-writes-shit]

I'm gonna be completely honest here; Likely going to info dump/ramble excessively, high possibility of it including personal issues, fair warning.

To put it as simply as I can:

Romantic or platonic is fine

I am demi-pan(or omni)romantic, not looking to have biological kids for personal reasons also honestly I don't know how much gender would affect my attraction. I just find people pretty and am vibin. Usually I just say I am of the ace/bi spectrum.

I identify as female, going by she/they, gender neutral pronouns I just think should be normalized as a default when you don't explicitly know and even then be respectful.

I've driven myself into excessive isolation leading to being easily overwhelmed even if it's given certain tasks as I am forgetful and need explicit instructions as I believe I'm a visual learner but to be more specific things need to be explicitly spelled out for me a majority of the time. It's often a tedious process as well as me getting overwhelmed when put on the spot even if it's saying what I want to eat or even retrieving the food myself even in my own home.

But I need excessive time in retreating to isolation which consists me usually pacing around the kitchen, specific I know but even in other environments like hotels I often pace the kitchen space even if it's very small, and indulging myself in maladaptive daydreaming fueled by music to which I normally speak/mumble out loud, do random stuff with my hands animatedly which I don't always do when actually indulging in conversation with others, or just dancing late at night with my highly inconsistent and likely unhealthy sleep schedule of which I am nocturnal at this point. I do also sing a bit though I need another voice to go off of in feeling more comfortable in harmonizing with others.

I find interest in psychological subjects which I love to share with others if I hopefully am no bother so it's a mutually exchanged topic others can indulge in as well. Also I am a sucker for depth in stories tied to characters, development, details no matter if it's very small or if it is significant to the story or it's characters themselves.

I also am iffy about exchange of material items, though I do love specific silverware, cups, trays, the occasional jewelry (I favor rings or bracelets I guess? Necklaces sorta) if it means something to a close individual, and other small trinkets for me to admire or put to use.

My love language is quality time but what I love most is unapologetic, unfiltered, mutual conversation. With my tendency to overshare a lot of things despite my insecurities and hesitance I don't just want a listener. I want them to be invested as well. I myself do often put myself in the listener role though and am referred to as one's local counselor sometimes.

Very much radiating the burnt out gifted kid and mommy/daddy issues vibe because I've had enough trauma and damaged self worth from it but it's mostly inflicted upon myself rather than from others or in being inthe bystander/observing role or in being neglected. I grew up praised and spoiled really, even now referred to as such in my family, but in the present it overwhelms me and if anything I'd rather not do anything for others and them do nothing for me and in dismissing my existence.

Honestly I've developed a toxic mentality against myself, even being aggressive in trying to validate or dismiss issues involving myself alone.

I've made progress including ditching a habit of mine I've had all my life through sheer power of will and have stopped excessively apologizing for laughing as I find it annoying to some extent, though not as much anymore which is good. Though I will apologize for laughing when by myself and when breaking down in tears I end up having a personal therapy session in uncertainty about turning to someone else even though I am very open about my issues. I have no problem sharing information, I just overthink how it's recieved or if it's dismissed and insignificant so why try? Of course I'm also a hypocrite and validate others, trying to do so for myself gradually though it can be hard and becomes an aggressive battle mentally.

But yeah I usually put myself in the supporting role for others including friends and family even though I myself am the youngest to some extent.

I try to encourage a space of comfort and validation for others and as emotionally assertive or reassuring/validating I can be, often turning heartfelt though significantly more blunt and assertive, I also have crackhead energy sometimes to be honest. Often with strange mental conversations or comments spewing out, a significant questioning being related to society. People confuse, frighten, or entertain me a majority of the time.

Anyways yeah to put it simply (and sorry to go on a long tangent and apologies if I contradicted myself or if I sounded repetitive);

Chaotic individual of the ace/bi spectrum that is highly emotional with abandonment issues, familial trauma, high insecurities related to my mere existence, and I obviously ramble a l o t.

A (not so) few other details; compared to some of the giants I am a small marshmallow (not too fluffy but kinda-) standing at around 5'2" with an internal inferno of emotions I currently withhold inside me and instead giggling excessively or spilling tears when I get emotional. Or aggressively cussing but that's usually by myself, but I am a bit clumsy and forgetful overall. Also my sleep schedule is a total mess of which I may have previously mentioned and I have significant words and phrases taking up the majority of my vocabulary I put to use in writing or conversing. Also I can get significantly fired up about topics related to terrible parenting, terrible people in general, unnecessary gendered stereotypes and objects for no reason what so ever, and in validating others. Also I am a forgetful mess as I've stated I believe two other times. I can forget a topic entirely midsentence or go on tangents about unrelated topics while having originally interrupted myself. Also last minute note/s, I wear glasses and often joke about being blind as hell and needing my access to sight. And regarding what I wear I typically avoid branded material cuz of my unreasonable insecurities, and I go for more subtle things of black/blue but I do have other options. I just mainly go for subtle/reserved in appearance that's comfortable for me and I typically wear jeans and just- sneakers or crocs for the indoors. Also I can imagine the slight possibility of me snagging tops from my partner if they didn't mind, an example of me wearing other's things typically being my dad's shirts on occasion and the rare item of my mom's originally or my older sister.

Yep definitely went off, sorry if this is overwhelming or if it includes a ton of unnecessary details :')

Don't stress yourself especially at my expense please—

Sorry it took so long, heres your match!

C!Philza

Oh no, look the old man adopted another kid /s

This man raised two boys on his own, hes so ready to help you if you become overwhelmed

Learns what you order so you dont have to talk to the cashier if you dont want to

If you need to pace, he will step back and let you do your thing

Checking in occasionally to make sure your alright

Will definitely try and make you have a healthy sleep schedule

Will definitely listen to you rant about any topic you start to rant about

Its healthy to get things like that off your chest

[rainystudios]

I just read your female vs male characterization post and really enjoyed it. I was wondering how do you think artists should solve this problem? Can you draw or post some examples of female characters that aren't drawn in the stereotypical way? Thanks!

Thank you so much! Honestly I saw 3 asks in my inbox and wasn’t sure what to expect, I’m glad they’ve all been positive takes!Everything I list below are things I’ve personally done. Granted, I generally work with drawing people, but it can be applied to any character. In my personal opinion I think the best way to subvert this default problem is to:

1. Do the opposite. 

Whenever I find myself making a character that feels stereotypical or pigeonholed, I like to turn people’s assumptions on their head. For example: A favorite trope of mine is brutish male delinquent characters that appear frightening and tough, but actually love cute animals or have a typically feminine hobby. Or their personality is outright opposite of what you would expect, like the the Body Improvement Club in MP100

Characterization done this way still allows you to draw characters that you want that may be stereotypical in appearance, but they become immediately more interesting and can present healthy alternatives. i.e. It’s not inherently bad or weak for girls to like dresses and play princess, and having characters like Sailor Jupiter keeps balance that. She’s the tallest girl and can totally kick ass and throw a man. 

That’s not all you need though. I see this happen a lot in children’s films for comedic value and can become HORRIFICALLY FLAT EXTREMELY QUICKLY. Like this demonic abomination “hood murder” rabbit that made me want to end myself while I was watching The Secret Life of Pets with some kids. He’s the extreme embodiment of the ‘do the opposite’ card while being wrapped up in another awful manic stereotype entirely. Films like to do this a lot with tiny “cute” animals. So watch out for this cheap danger zone. Also I’m pretty sure whoever made that film hates cats. It was like i was in a 1950s looney toon episode in that cat alley.

 2. Focus on design first. Not gender/sex.

Since male characters are often the default, try designing some characters that you would assume are male. Now just make them female. It’s as simple as flipping a switch in your brain. 

We can become conditioned to be afraid of modifying the faces of female characters or making them too outlandish or cartoonish (while still being viewed as positive unique characters and not ugly jokes). It can help you trick yourself out of your comfort zone. 

I honestly try to think of people as just entities that have the capacity to possibly reproduce. What sex you were born with and fulfilling gendered roles (whatever that means to each individual) is not the End All Goal while existing as a person, and therefore shouldn’t define how every single person, who happens to be born whichever sex by complete random chance, is represented and should live their lives.

Girls can have thick brows. Girls can have muscle. Girls can have androgynous or typically masculine features. Girls can have square chins and long noses. Girls can have body hair. Girls can have flat chests, and boxy body types. I would say the best example I’ve seen of this would be the teachers in Tweeny Witches (and Little Witch Academia). 

Tweeny Witches main characters and professors. It’s the best example I’ve ever seen as far as variety in women goes. All characters below are women.

And Croix when she was younger in L.W.A. stood out to me considerably.

3. Good Animal Examples: All You Need are Pronouns

Tigress is my shining beacon in this animal hellscape of design. She has purpose and exists for her own means and goals. She is first and foremost designed for streamline fighting and elegance combined with brute strength and ferocity. She acts like a normal person would. There’s nothing forced about her. She’s not stereotypically emotional, but she has the capacity for emotion and care, while still being the most stoic character of the five.

Step one: NOT EVERYTHING NEEDS BOOBS!!!! PLEASE!!!! NO BOOBS!!! THEY’RE ANIMALS!!! STOP!

Step two: Nothing about her personal story forces ‘household woman’ narratives upon her (or any of the below examples). There’s no talk of marriage, no talk of relationships, no written point on how she’s incompetent at household tasks or other such things. While she is shown as being a bit awkward around children (perhaps twice?) it is not used to degrade her. But instead is in fitting with her stoic and rigid personality, and would be seen as no different if she was a male character in the same situation. It’s very easy to avoid these stereotyping problems just by removing romance altogether from their lives. The bar is so low that that in itself is a huge step forward for your story. Romance itself isn’t inherently bad, but het romance is really all we get on all levels of media regardless of age. So eradicating it from your story to just focus on characters as individuals with life goals and passions would be a fresh breath for many.

Step three: Honestly looking at Tigress at first glance a person would likely guess she’s male. But once you know her gender it becomes a non-issue. Regardless of her lack of highly socially ingrained ‘this is girl’ markers she’s accepted as female. The same can go for Stormfly and Meatlug from HTTYD. The more this is done with characters. The less assumptions are made about gender by the viewer. “They could be a girl too like _____” It retrains the auto-response. This also translates to the real world where people say “I saw that in a film, I like that character, that character is cool.” And expands the definition of what gender means. 

It’s also why I adore the Wu Sisters!!! Seeing gifs floating online I assumed they were male. Upon finding they were female I was thrilled! They became a favorite!!!

You can see all of the elements I discussed above in both Tigress, the Wu Sisters and dragons like Stormfly and Meatlug!

Sharp and pointy! Bulbous, round and awkward with an upturned snout! 

Let female characters be bald! 

Let them be dirty!

They don’t have to have makeup to be women!

Expand the entire definition of what ‘female’ and being a woman means in media and literature. It normalizes these things and makes it standard more and more. They don’t have to be Hollywood Sexy for you to tell what gender they are.

If she identifies as ‘she’ that’s who she is and it’s good enough!!!

^Puffin Rock! (Also look up Flynne from the show)

Plus this little adorable monster (The Gruffalo’s Child)

[tumblunni]

Ok so.. I feel really ungrateful as fuck saying this.. but it kinda bugs me how much perrin being nonbinary just.. isn’t really shown at all.

At least, in what i’ve seen so far, yknow? I watched the first ep of someone else’s let’s play to see if i was gonna like this game, and i like this game SO MUCH that I stopped right there and am downloading it at the speed of light yo!!! My hype is maximum and I really don’t want this to be seen as a hate message or anything, it's just a mild opinion piece about something that bummed me out a little, as a nonbinary person.

Ok so.. again, this makes me sound like an ASSHOLE but I have to say it.. Perrin looks like a boy. 100% of all LPers I have seen have assumed they were a boy. I, a nonbinary person, assumed they were a boy. (And felt like absolute shit afterwards, man I still have to work on my internalized gender stereotypes!)

Now in real life I absolutely wouldn’t go around being some douchebag who tells other NB folk they aren’t dressing ‘right’, or whatever. In real life people can feel very different ways about being outside of conventional gender norms. Some people feel like “both at once” or “neither” or “something else entirely that doesn’t touch either side of our society’s current binary stereotypes”. And regardless of whether you’re agender/bigender/genderfluid or any other type of genderqueer person, your fashion sense doesn’t have to fit any strict rule to “prove” it to people. Some people try and dress in androgenous stuff, some people try to mix parts of both gendered fashion worlds, some people like to wear very neutral baggy stuff as a different way of being androgenous, some people like to wear wild and fun stuff that never had any gender stereotype in the first place/because it helps them feel confident in themself if they have a big brave kind of fashion, yknow? (that’s why I dyed my hair at least, and why I think a lot of lGBT people do) And of course, some people just prefer ‘feminine’ or ‘masculine’ clothes regardless of not being that gender, and if we can accept that cis women can enjoy ‘tomboy’ fashion then we should accept that trans people don’t have to fit into even more rigid fashion rules in order to ‘earn’ their gender.

BUT this isn’t real life, it’s a videogame

We have a lot more context here, with the context that this is a character designed within a fandom whose previous attempts at NB representation have kinda started setting up a trend. In that context, this is a bit worrying that it’s happened again, and maybe future fangame creators are feeling like they have to do it, or something?

Like the NB protagonist Pluto in Pokemon Uranium.

They’re still someone I deeply love, but their design looks incredibly masculine aside from a side ponytail. If anything their design communicates more that they’re a younger option compared to the other two, or something?

And the two NB protagonist options Ari and Decibel in Pokemon Reborn

Their designs look like more traditionally masculine and feminine-leaning ways of being nonbinary, ykno? And that wouldn’t be bad on it’s own, but let me try and explain what I mean...

A similar issue occurs in the unrelated dating sim Hustle Cat:

Which is generally incredibly progressive and actually the first dating sim I’ve ever seen that lets you play a nonbinary protag! But you still get only two character models to choose from.

Like it’s great that they had two options to aknowledge how not all trans people are the same, but it starts to look a bit.. odd, when those two options are ‘feminine and masculine’ and no form of androgenous is ever an option. or even like.. someone with a ‘masculine’ body build but a ‘feminine’ fashion sense. That would be kind of a stereotypical way to depict a trans character but it wouldn’t just be making a random design that could fit amoungst the already existing gendered protags and then just saying they’re trans. And a lot of people found it weird how these ones seem to be drawn as like.. both on the far masculine end, just a cis man and a trans man.

Like.. even as a nonbinary person myself, I wouldn’t have known these characters were nonbinary if you hadn’t told me. And that leaves me feeling horrible about myself that I judged them on first sight, but I mean this is within a genre of entertainment that’s literally never had any Me in it and i’ve got used to being all ‘no you’re just reading too much into it’ whenever i headcanon anyone as genderqueer...

And just.. I feel like if you’re gonna just draw another two masculine and feminine looking characters, or just a second masculine one (or a weird two masculine ones that’re labelled male and female with no option for in-between...) then couldn’t you have saved time by just letting us choose our pronouns for the two you already had? like I already play a lot of games headcanoning the protag as just a masc-fashion version of my enby self, I feel like kinda the point of adding a third design would be to make it something the others aren’t already delivering. Look at it this way, you already HAVE two nonbinary characters who look masculine and feminine, just like the player could also play them as a trans boy and trans girl. Pronoun selector box is the greatest invention of our time! So what I’m really saying is not “don’t have super masc NB protags” but just “can we have another option too?”

Oh, but then that’s also been done not-so-well by certain games too.. Awesome amazing multiplayer party game dating sim Monster Prom let’s you choose your pronouns!

...except these are your only character options! All of these are very clearly intended to be read as masc or femme, you’re probably gonna feel dysphoric as heck if you play them as trans, and none of them work super well as nonbinary either. I think pretty much every NB player has always gone for Oz (yellow one), cos he’s the one that’s most capable of fitting that headcanon just by virtue of being perpetually shadowed. Tho still his default is “he” pronouns, his fashion sense is masc and his voice is masc. Still I’m really fuckin proud of the fandom for collectively latching onto NB Oz and using “they” all the time in fanworks, and then the developers being okay with it, like holy shit man you healed my goddamn heart... <3

Still, it makes me feel a lil like this would have been easy to fix? like I’m not saying redraw everything to have them all change bodies/fashion style depending on your pronoun choice, but like.. maybe just not draw them with such super disparate body styles in the first place? like in this style every girl is hourglass and has weird legs out arms out pose, and every dude is a chunkfest with twice as big hands and feet. Like you could have maybe just made two of the characters be a very curvy girl and a very buff boy, and then the other two be more neutral in appearance but still retaining the same designs. Like I think if you just gave the blue girl a baggier shirt that doesn’t highlight her boobs and hips so much, she could easily be my favourite ‘most NB-able’ design! maybe also tone down the eyelash and lipstick effects?

I think probably a similar thing could have been done with the Reborn protagonists? like there’s nothing inherantly feminine about wearing a tanktop and having a fancy undercut hairstyle and such, its just the way they drew Ari that makes them look feminine. I guess maybe that’s a necessary evil of fangames, since they usually use edits of already existing characters from the games? Then again the games have plenty of androgenous characters already, even if nobody is canonically confirmed as LGBT. *shrug*

Anyway

I absolutely am not trying to nitpick and attack the game for not being perfect in this one aspect. i’m still super excited to even see someone like me in a videogame at all, and I’m definately not one of those people who’s like ‘I’d rather have nothing than have something flawed’. I already admire you greatly for what you’ve done for the inclusivity of this fandom, and I hope that my discussion of this stuff doesn’t discourage you from continuing.

And I guess my point is, in summary

What I mean is not “there are no nonbinary people who prefer to dress masculine instead of androgenous”, but instead that when you’re designing a nonbinary person as the only option a nonbinary player gets or the only nonbinary person in the game, with no playable option, it would probably be a little better to draw them androgenous.

Like, you’ve put that NB character into the role of representing all nonbinary people ever, to the hypothetical audience of people who’ve never heard of the concept before and aren’t super educated about the intricacies of gender presentation. And then also rather than using traditionally gendered outfits to aknowledge that NB people have many ways to present themselves... you’ve given us less ways to present ourselves.

Also it’s a little bit odd that you have an NB rival but said “we’re not ever considering an NB player option in the future”. Sorry but I cannot understand the logic? Like.. you know NB people play your game if you wanted to put NB representation in it, but you didn’t put it as playable because... reasons?? I hope maybe that interview was just taken out of context and you meant something more like “it’s not planned for now because it’s a lot of work and the game is still in its demo stage”, which is absolutely an understandable reason and how Uranium and Reborn did it. But Uranium and Reborn were kinda odd for being a world where literally nobody else aside from you could ever be NB, so I am really grateful that your game did add an NB character. And one in a big role!! This is what i mean about how grateful I am and how I feel awful that my bad internet typing skills are making this post come off as more aggressive than intended.. *sigh*

OH and also maybe a tip for Periin? just.. like.. mention their pronouns. It’s really frustrating to watch everyone doing let’s plays of this thing and constantly assuming Perrin is male because their design is very masculine. Even me! Even me was assume! :( So like... maybe just have Perrin actually tell the audience that they are nonbinary at some point, during this introduction? or have the protagonist’s inner monologue mention it, or another character mention it on the way towards meeting Perrin? like I dunno, maybe a Perrin fan npc?cos it would seem a bit more natural to talk about gender if it’s someone saying “wow I admire Perrin’s androgenous fashion sense” rather than like.. a stranger saying “i can’t tell if you’re a boy or a girl from your face”.

I can understand how it can be tricky to figure out how to introduce a LGBT character’s LGBT-ness without having them go around saying it to every new person they meet, it’s something I’ve had to fix in the editing process even as a trans person writing trans characters. But just having their gender only be mentioned on missable promotional material outside the game means that a lot of players won’t ever hear about it, and it like.. has zero impact of actual inclusivity on the game. It’s why people were angry about DUmbledore only getting revealed as gay after the series already ended. Him being gay missed all of its chances to make gay readers of the series feel welcome, or have any part of his character be informed by his sexuality. like the plot between him and grindlewold could have been way more effective if it was him losing a boyfriend to the dark arts, just sayin...

anyway whatever, bunni is bad at writing coherant posts in summary thanks for perrin and sorry for whining about perrin, aaaaa

[spiralatlas]

PAX Australia 2017 Day 3

There are no notes for Day 2 because I spent it socialising a little and sleeping a lot.

Queer Coded: A History of LGBTQIA+ Gaming

David Gaider Q&A

Brian Fairbanks Talks about Addressing Accessibility Through Game Design

Misc: I spent a chunk of the day in the diversity lounge which was fun. I met some great people at the Gender Diverse card game, and got to the semi finals of the Xena Nintendo 64 Fighting Game Tournament (there were only three rounds, but given how much I suck at fighting games this was still a happy surprise, and a sign of what a random button masher the game is)

The gender neutral toilets near the diversity lounge were very well done, unlike GCAP the original signs weren't visible and "with stalls/urinals" was in small letters like an afterthought.

I didn't break anything on Day 3 but did break a mug the next morning. Also the cinema in the Crown Casino is surprisingly inaccessible.

Despite the various mishaps I had a great time and will definitely come again next time we can afford it.

Queer Coded: A History of LGBTQIA+ Gaming

I missed the second half of this to see David Gaider, feeling very annoyed at the programmer.

Anny Sims @ChattyAnny on twitter (I was too slow to get the others!) Keely Thirkell Hayley Williams Soap Pejovic

Most queer characters are just queer coded, with plausible deniability. "It's up to you".Tendency for queer characters to be villains. Indie games tend to be more queer friendly than AAA games.

Lesbians: First known queer character in games: 1986 Moonmist had side-character who was a lesbian murderer.

Other notable lesbian characters:

KOTOR 2003, Juhani, first queer Star Wars character

Gone Home 2013

Dragon Age Inquisition Sera (I thought Sam Traynor from Mass Effect 3 came first?)

Tracer from Overwatch 2016

Trans characters:

1988 Birdo from Super Mario Brothers 2 "A male who believes he is female"

Lots of others but all terrible. Jokes and villains. Trans women seen as threat. Poison from Final Fight 1989, "so you can hit a woman".

Krem DAI 2014 trans man, You can't go "Ok, cool".

Hainly Adams MEA 2017 trans woman. Tells you her deadname, this was patched.

Horizon: Zero Dawn 2017 trans man

Dream Daddy 2017 trans man. One throw away line about wearing a binder, had to be clarified by writers. Non binary people and cosplayers wear binders too!

How do you make it clear they're trans without them implausibly outing themselves or just having it be word of god?

Gay men:

1993 fmv Dracula Unleashed has speaking role

Tended to be background characters, jokes and villains again. No m/m relationships shown onscreen.

Dreamfall: the Longest Journey 2006 (not made super clear until 2015)

Steve Cortez Mass Effect 3 2012

Dorian DAI 2014

Dorian knew exactly what his sexuality was. Coming of age narratives get boring.

Bi Characters (no picture because they're invisible):

1993 Ultima 7 part 2 bi character propositions character regardless of gender.

"Slutty bisexuals". A lot of characters are playersexual and it never comes up outside the relationship.

Zevran DAO 2009

Borderlands 2009

Fable 2004 let player be bi, Fable 2 2008 added bi PCs

Playersexual:

Only queer in the context that they will date players of both genders, but you don't see that unless you play as both.

Dragon Age 2 2011, Anders only mentions his ex-boyfriend if you play as a male PC

Fallout 4 2015. Did have background queer characters.

Stardew Valley 2016

Non Binary:

1995 Chrono Trigger villain

Often robots, aliens or other non human

Frisk Undertale 2015

Life is Strange 2015

Zer0 Borderlands 2 2012

Turing Read Only Memories

Some games let you have gender neutral pronouns.

David Gaider Q&A

1999 Working on Balder's Gate 2, didn't talk about his sexuality at work. Figured he would always be writing stories for straight people.

He was shocked to hear Jade Empire was having same sex romance. Got to be lead writer on DAO after that. "So I can put same sex romances in, right?". More economical to have bi romances, but he would have been happier having some gay characters.

Feeling iffy about playersexuality after DA2, he asked for 2 straight, 2 bi, 2 gay for DAI. "Minority content" is weighed via the percentage of those who play it and those who appreciate it. Eg 5% play dwarves but most see it as a positive thing to be able to do.

Most of his time was spent on the actual plot but Dorian was the most personal writing.

He was targeted by Gamergate but it doesn't compare to, for example, how much Jennifer Helper was targeted.

10 years on Dragon Age was enough, his head would explode if he had to write another story about templars and mages.

How did you get the job: His story is very specific. He was managing a hotel and a comic book artist in his spare time. A friend was a character artist at Bioware but Gaider wasn't really aware of the specifics. Bioware told their employees "If you know anyone who does game related writing let us know", the friend gave them Gaider's LARP rule book without asking. Got a call, gave the stories he wrote in highschool, got offered a job. He said no, it didn't pay enough, but then he got fired from the hotel. It felt like a sign.  

Who do you think will take the romance torch from Bioware: he’s not sure they're giving it up? EA treats romance fans as a reliable audience who don't need to be advertised to, even though it's why a lot of people play in his experience (though obviously those are the kinds of fans he will tend to meet). There is an underserved audience.

Most proud of: Lots of stuff he's not proud of. Wishes he'd been more involved in community discussions early on. Proud that the team tackled issues as they started arising. Proud of the company for standing by them. Most proud of Dragon Age 2 despite the mixed response. They had very little time to create it. It’s like a very big first draft. They had a plan but didn't get to compare notes once things were written, so he had to trust the team would stick to plan as much as they could despite things being cut on the fly. Team said they were happy in a post-game survey, didn't feel he was too dictatorial.

What does your writing look like, a screenplay? A cutscene does. But it’s generally structured like a tree that expands and then contracts back to the core path before expanding again. Flow charts.

Favourite relationship in a game? Morden in Mass Effect. Cried more than in a movie. Tali was his space girlfriend. Of the ones he's worked on, Morrigan will always be closest. She represents Dragon Age to him. Joyous time working with Claudia Black, first celebrity he'd worked with. Flemeth was originally Arabic, but that actress couldn't do it so they got Kate Mulgrew. They stopped looking for an Arabic actress for Morrigan and looked for someone who matched Kate Mulgrew. Claudia Black's audition tape was her reading Smack That like a beat poet. Gaider was very nervous, he'd never spoken to any actor before. First rule he was told was don't compare them to another celebrity, so naturally he said "I had Helena Bonham Carter in mind when I wrote Morrigan". Claudia Black said "So you're saying I'm a cheap Helena Bonham Carter ;D". She would say "Does he want me to do it more like Helena?" during recording.

Has being so closely associated with diversity had downsides? He may be gay but he's still white and a dude. He feels like it's all he talks about conventions sometimes. Teams need to sit down and look at what they've made. Lot of things made individually without concern for the bigger picture eg only 15% speaking roles in DAI were female until they stopped and looked at it and fixed it.  

"We didn't think about it" is no longer a defense. He wants to help with that, but we should be helping other marginalised voices get into the industry and amplifying their voices.

Wishes it could just be expected and we didn't have to discuss it.

He likes dating sim mechanics in the context of a larger story. But he does like the idea of romance not being as tertiary as it's been in Bioware games, romance as part of the adventure eg a romantic adventure. He's not really interested in social sims or day to day relationships. "My idea of a spicy relationship is to have my life threatened."

Why do you think most AAA companies try to avoid discussions of lgbt stuff, why is it taking so long? Because it's Pandora's Box. There is more being added casually. But if they do nothing they get lumped in with the rest of the industry. As soon as they do anything there are 2 sides: 1. why are you doing this, you're politicising your game. 2. Why aren't you doing more, whatever you did is wrong and not good enough.

Not that flawed attempts should be above criticism. But by mostly focusing criticism on the games that did anything rather than nothing, people have increased the feeling that it's Pandoras box. He understands that it feels like those developers might listen to criticism but the dynamic is sending the wrong lesson.

My question: How do you think inclusion of non binary player characters can work with including gay and lesbian love interests instead of just having playsexuality? “We've thought about it”. He defined playersexual for audience, like Shroedinger's sexuality. He doesn't like it when the only way to have something show up is to have the character talk about it. eg asexual: character would have to sit you down and explain what asexuality is. Is unsexy as a feature. Explaining nuances of sexuality is off putting. If there was more nuance across the industry that would mean no one game has to do everything. Any one game can have only so much within it.

(This doesn't actually answer my question. I discussed it with my husband afterwards and even he didn't understand what I was asking, so I may have garbled it in my nervousness)

Are some choices "canon"? One of the features of Mass Effect and Dragon Age was the continuity of choices. No "canon" but there is a default. A lot of people feel like they have to play the whole series to get the full experience, was off putting, and he found the Keep a nightmare as a writer.

They had editors keeping track of which choices were incompatible. And that was just the third game. "Can you imagine for a fourth game? Phew! Not my problem :D"

Have you thought about the morals of gamifying romance, saying what people want to hear to get sex? Dragon Age didn't work that way, sex was not at the end. Some characters in DAI had no sex scenes, sex is optional for Dorian's romance. It's a game, everything is gamified, you can't simulate actual relationships. For proper reactivity you’d have to mark every response and keep track of inconsistency, but that’s too much work. Same with polyamory: too many variables!

Maybe get away from the approval system? Pay more attention to overall choices in major quests etc instead of individual lines.

Bi characters in DAI were bi from the start. Not the first thing that comes up during character creation eg Dorian started out as "the good Tevinter". Helps avoid too many assumptions based on sexuality. But once characters started solidifying they would think about who worked for what sexualities. There's no set way to write someone "as" bi, but the writer can have them talk about relevant things in other scenes. Sera's writer is a straight dude, he didn't want to write About The Lesbian Experience, and got lesbians in the company to check out what he was writing.

Have relationships gotten more or less complicated? In Balder's gate 2 there was a single sequence of romance scenes which you could get kicked off. Dragon Age had approval. If it gets complicated but the player can't see it or understand how reactions relate to their previous actions it just seems random or predetermined. Unless they say "I am angry at you because of X", but noone says that.

Brian Fairbanks Talks about Addressing Accessibility Through Game Design

lostandhound1 on twitter

His notes.

He's not blind himself, and while he obviously cares a lot about accessibility had an unfortunate tendency to treat disabled people as a separate, if respected, "Other" to himself and the audience, even though I was right there in a bright red mobility scooter. He advocated person first language, "a person with blindness" etc, but not all disabled people like it and it shouldn't be presented as unambiguous best practice. I'm building up the energy to talk to him about it.

He's a sound designer.

Audio games: designed for people with a vision disability.

Audio game jam: the games tended to be about blindness as a bad thing. It felt victimising.

How can we make people feel powerful?

He was inspired by his dog's amazing sense of smell. The mechanic is that you follow an invisible trail using sound cues, a humming noise that gets louder and quieter.

Sighted people struggle with extracting information from sound. The game is more difficult for sighted people.

He had to add fruit on the ground as an accessibility measure for sighted people.

All music is diegetic: happening inside the world of the game, eg characters are singing.

There's a lack of much budget for audio games, since they're never going to make much money.

In 30 years current 30-something gamers will need accessible games.

Accessibility tends to be added as an afterthought or accident.

For example Pokemon has unique sounds for materials, collisions, monsters that accidentally make it accessible.

Sony reader: US only

Microsoft narrator: good but hard to use as a developer

EA: Proactively adding blind accessibility

Fighting games are often in stereo, blind players can play and even win tournaments.

Demand more from your games.

Developers: find a consultant. Address accessibility early.

It's about empathy. People with disability deserve the same stories to take part in as everyone else.

gameaccessibilityguidelines.com

daisyalesoundworks

binaural sound is going to make a big difference

audiogames.net: where blind gamers go to play games. They're supportive if you ask for advice and feedback.

People don't mind if you don't do immersive, game specific voices and just rely on the screenreader

Sound designers need more love to make VR accessible.  

Braille games?? He doesn't know much about it.

Curb cut effect examples: curb cuts for wheelchairs but also useful for prams etc. Subtitles. Think about short term problems that benefit from accessibility as well eg the screen is broken, there's sunlight on the screen etc.  

Sounds of a blind person navigating their desktop. To me it sounds like a mangled garble of little bursts of cut off computer speech, here’s a description of what’s going on.