#i know its a super cliche kinda scene but

[monicaeidolith]

mermori sunnflower again 🐚🐚

[glitter-stained]

for wip game: ok i HAVE to ask about the horse movie. I NEED to know more about the horse movie.

Okay so this one I love the AU but am hesitant to share because it's ooc and I'm self-conscious about it. The thing is it's a civilian AU that pulls from canon, arkhamverse, young justice show etc. so obviously it's gonna be different (but I think the mere fact of not dressing up to fight crime at night is gonna change stuff lol). Plus, of course, those horsegirl books I read when I was a preteen and a couple of long-lost fanfics about horses.

Anyway you know how sometimes in those stories a complicated girl with issuesTM goes to a ranch and is told there's this one horse is super wild and dangerous because of how it was abused by its previous owners before, but the horse recognises that the girl is complex and that she was hurt by life, too, and they're the same, and week after week they slowly get to know eachother and stop being so nervous and weary and they end up best friends and she's the only one allowed to ride the horse? Well, that's Jason and Red Hood.

Basically Jason goes to work at the Queen ranch to help with like cooking and cleaning because Roy needs help around so he can spend the time designing himself a prosthetic arm and the ranch takes so much time he needs to delegate, especially since Lian is there. And there, Jason who swore he'd never ride again, meets Red Hood the untamable horse and begins bringing her treats after a hard day of work and the develop a ✨ connection ✨. It's very indulgent, still pretty angsty because of both of their traumas, Roy's addiction and Catherine, their insecurities about Lian, the fact Roy has no idea Jason is his best friend's presumed dead little brother... But it also has all the cliche scenes of riding together, having a picnic by the river, going to dance at the nearby town, and yes, there is a scene where Jason takes Roy's hat and puts in on his head. I have to confess, this is a very feel-good one where yeah bad things happened but it's all in the past and now we're learning to heal and trust again, with just a very obvious metaphor about befriending a horse with treats. It's mostly arrowfam with the batfam kinda in the background. though there's a decent enough dose of dickroy friendship. And Jaymia friendship because if I have an opportunity to create an AU in which they get along then by god I will.

Every hero identity (batfam and arrowfam) is a horse, except for Speedy, Robin and Cheshire Cat which are poneys.

[kimberlyannharts]

Ultraman: Rising!

Sure we all know the Power Rangers reboot has been passed on at Netflix but instead we have this hot new piece of toku instead: Ultraman: Rising! And I finally got the chance to check it out last night.

I know Ultraman is one of the big toku/kaiju genre staples but it's never really been on my radar of things to watch. I'm not sure why! I guess Super Sentai/Power Rangers just has more of the it factor that appeals to me. So because of that I really have no context to the story besides it's a guy who can turn into a giant silver superhero that beats up kaiju.........or maybe it's an alien who looks like a human and the silver superhero is his true form? or maybe the human and the silver superhero are two separate beings that share the same body? idk. It's probably all three of those things depending on the series. But this film was marketed as a standalone that new fans could enjoy AND....the big one.....it's ANIMATED, so I felt more inclined to check it out.

And it was really really good!! I enjoyed it a lot!

Spoiler-ish thoughts on the film below:

= Let's get this out of the way: the biggest draw to this was the animation and art direction, and yeah, it slaps. The textures and stylization (always love 2D painted effect animation on explosions and things) and lighting were a full-course meal and the scenes where they focused on Ultraman's shining eyes staring through a window or computer screen were just SO striking. To the point where I feel that if I got around to watching the actual live-action Ultraman, it might feel a little underwhelming in comparison. Oops

= It does kind of fall in the cliches of the "selfish guy learns maturity by having to be a father" plot (with bonus "son is estranged from his dad and mom is missing but they work to improve their relationship" sprinkled in) which makes me appreciate The Return even more (sorry, I'm still Returnpilled) but it's still charming and I can hope if we get more movies they give a little more focus to Ami and Emiko (speaking of which, I know they weren't doing a romance this movie, but Ami having a daughter and the movie being about Ken raising a daughter? oh you know it's happening and I'm here for this because they're both so hot)

= I think Ken is also a better example of the "showboating egotistical hero who learns to mature" than most because the movie isn't afraid to show him vulnerable even before his character development. I was genuinely surprised at that scene where he starts crying out of the stress of balancing his baseball career and figuring out Emi

= Apparently there was some discussion that the movie didn't bring up Ultraman's origins which, as someone who knows next to nothing about Ultraman, that didn't really bother me? Obviously I can still give more benefit of the doubt than people who don't know much about the tokusatsu/kaiju genre to begin with, but even so, I was still pretty down with the concept of "this guy has the ability to turn into a giant silver superpowered man and passed the ability down to his son" - and I think in the age of superhero blockbusters in general the idea isn't that farfetched that it requires more explanation. In any case it's a bit of a moot point since future movies are clearly going to talk about Ultras and their origins more, based on the stinger.

= Is Emi a clear kid-appeal character meant to be shown off in marketing and merchandising because of how squishy and cute she is? Yes. Is she just so fucking squishy and cute and my newest baby child? YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES. I am not immune to monster baby. I think it helps that I always found the old monster screeches cute and applying them to a baby babbling was kinda genius in its execution. And I'm glad they kind of got the obligatory "haha babies poop and are smelly and gross" jokes out of the way early (yeah they had the whole "acid reflux" thing in the second act but I've seen way worse in other media)

= The subtitles calling Sato's Ultra form "Ultradad" and his Ultra mustache were both really funny

= Obviously I knew Ken wasn't going to die when he threw himself on Dr. Onda's mech (btw the mech was sexy) but I definitely expected a little more than just a busted arm with how they were building up how the blast would have "destroyed them all" kdjkfdj maybe they cut to after he had recovered a bit. Though in general I'm not quite sure of how durable Ultraman is

= Kind of a milf. reblog

[pumpkinsy0]

If we could get the most CLICHE coming of age hcs for the two dorks (papercut) that would be amazing I'm living what I thought being a teenager would be like when I was a kid through them fr

i LOVE cliche things this is so perfect im basically just gonna describe an early 2010s coming of age movie if they were in it LMAOOO

•curly is like the mentor, but he only knows a LITTLE but more than pony, bc ponys naive he doesnt rlly notice that most of curlys advice is shitty

•theyre known as “those kids”, theyre not the WORST kids in school, but everyone knows who they r bc of how ODD they r😭, they try fitting it but it backfires and they show OUT, curly wants to b more popular like tim, ponys just trynna get through hs and curlys his bodyguard bc hes a shepard

•PLEASSEEEE let them get their first job together, curly totally didnt want the job, heee just wanted money, pony always ends up doing most of his work

•ponys like never invited to parties, curly is but its begrudgingly and he always drags pony along, they TRY drinking but they dont like it so they stick to drinking the shitty juice so nobody questions em

•once the cops came to a party and ponys track skills DEFINITELY saved his ass while jumping those fences, curly just hid but he was so mad pony “ditched” him he aint talk to him for half a day (he missed him)

•pony shows a LOT of interest in kathy and curlys soooo jealous, its even worse bc pony keeps asking curly for some advice. kathy kinda reciprocates and it gets curly upset, bc pony asks curly for practice on kissing, they sworreeee not to tell anyone else, and they didnt but pony got huge feelings for him, just tries to hide it

•ponys not safe either, curly hits on other ppl cause his crush isnt looking at him and hes a desperate hormonal teen, seeing curly hit on ppl annoys pony too

•does anyone know that one scene in superbad w the fake id and the TERRIBLE name “McLovin”, yea pony and curly git fake id’s and had fake names theyd totally look back on and think was so ASS

•pony just crushes on any girl (and lowkey guy) around him, he had the SMALLEST crush on her that curly found out about and punched him hard (on the arm) for, but it was a crush crush??? he didnt like her that much, especially w the way she would treat them during detention and they would try to sneak out, she would rip into him for no reason at all😭😭

•im telling u they totally hang out w this kid who has more money w them but they arent FRIENDS w them, just kinda using them for more things, pony thinks its a lil fucked up but doesnt think much about it cause curly says thats just life

•curly gets his first tattoo w pony and ill just say that is in fact something only a teen would get, curly told pony to get one too and after much pressure, pony decided y not and got a super small one

•summers have to b BIG for them, theyre always doing something much to darry and tims dismay, like just lay down sometimes. EVERY summer has a “remember THAT summer” story

•stole a motorcycle once and came home w a road rash, NOT even 6 minutes in to the drive, thats the one thing curly will ever say he wont try ever again (hes gonna try it when hes older)

•let these bundle of sticks kiss at the end of the movie damn it!!!!

[xoxojisu]

so im reading the demon slayer manga now bc it was alr spoiled for me so i figured why wait for the movies just read it so now im reading and @suniix was SO RIGHT. SOBBINGGGGGGG. manga spoilers below

kanao :(((( sweet girl is finally crying :(((( i love that she went "i am kanao tsuyuri. younger sister of kanae kocho and shinobu kocho." LIKE YESSSS TELL HIMMMM. anyways absolutely sobbing i am destroyed. dead now kill me now. shinobu popped off for dying so nobly and avenging kanae. samesies for kanao now go marry tanjiro. either way it was so meaningful how they all got the revenge they wanted <33 TAKE THAT DOUMA.

akaza's love story was so unexpectedly sweet? his story was lowk so cliche but i absolutely ADORED it nonetheless. not much to say there bc i have no complaints :) very sweet and very vanilla-ish

GENYA AND MUICHIRO NOOOOO 😭😭 sweet babies did not deserve to die. but at least they helped take down upper one so they kinda ate w that!! muichiro is one of my fav charas ever so im super devastated abt him like no baby no! and OMG SANEMI AND GENYAAAAA. i always knew that sanemi still loved him and didnt forget anything and all but seeing him say it was so touching. he just wanted him to live a good life with a wife and kids :(( (bruh why didnt he just say that then...) but still hes so sweetie!! i love angry sanemi sm its so funny i liked how it was like "you should live a goddamn good life with a goddamn wife and goddamn kids goddamnit!!" like hes so unintentionally funny 😭 elaborating further on their deaths, 1. muichiro. THE SCENE WITH YUICHIROOOOO. bruh why did he have to die. he was 14. nOOOJEREIUIUAI MY BABYYYYYYYYY. anyways he went out with a bang 10/10. 2. genya!! literally sobbed seeing his final words and sanemi's reaction. wish that he could've lived so they could've had happy brotherly moments :(( his final moments were so sweet and emotionallll 10/10 super sweetie pie and i like his gun

yoriichi is so sweetie pie. i love him 10/10 super cool super genius super caring super slay literally created breathing forms. unfortunately dying standing up and one breath away from killing one of the biggest opps ever was not very sigma but i can overlook it for everything else hes done. (brainrot is taking over my brain) his love story with uta is so sweet. he never loved anyone else. just her. and she understood him like nobody else did im sobbing. so sweet i cannot 😭😭 they completed each other!! its so interesting to see how differently yoriichi and koku perceived their situation. just goes to show you that life is what you make of it, and you may not know as much as you think you do about certain people. dont make assumptions! just love others <3

obanai backstory is so sad :(( i always wondered why he wore the bandages and now ik. sweet sweet boy. also OBAMITSU IS MY LITERAL EVERYTHING. THEY ARE SO PERF TOGETHER LIKE THEY ARE ACTUAL PERFECTION. RAHHHHHHH

bro tamayo is so smart. FOUR DRUGS?! in THAT AMT OF TIME?!?! goddamn girl rly popped off! also how can muzan like freaking summon their souls to come back like how tf does that even work. whaaaaaat.

well ig the person who spoiled 4 deaths for me neglected to say HIMEJIMAAAAAAUR. NAAAAUURURRURURRUR COME BACKKKKKKKKKKK. but im glad that he got to see his temple fam and stuff and they apologized to him and explained everything. sweetie pieeeee :((

okay so when i said "go marry tanjiro" to kanao i was like half joking BUT LIKE IT ACTUALLY HAPPENED?!?!?!?! YESSSSSS. and then there's uh. nezuko and zenitsu. uh. (hes not good enough for her im sorry i just never liked him that much even tho he was funny) also inosuke and aoi wasn't toooootally random but like it kinda was. i lowk thought aoi and zenitsu would end up tg. idk what i thought would happen to nezuko's love life but i thought the whole zenitsu thing was just a giant joke but it actually ended up working out. oh im curious as to who sanemi and giyu had children with also. (me guys. it was me.)

and im just so emotionally scarred. genuinely dont think i can recover from that wtf. i still cant believe they all died. goodnight.

[blkkizzat]

Do you have any tips for writing fanfics? Like I wanna make my own but I’m scared people aren’t gonna like them 😭 Also how do you usually end a story? I’ve written before for school and stuff but it’s just kinda hard when I come to the end of the story…😓

-🪼

hey 🪼 babes! sorry i wrote alot so it took a min lol. take with a grain of salt though as what works for me may not work for you!

writing tips:

so first off: write for yourself. i know it's been said a million times and a worn out cliche but to break it down a bit— i feel like if you like your fic than other people will too. that is to say, we are all in the same fandom and are dorks/nerds, and like similar things even outside the fandom. i know people have their preferences on content but if you write it for your particular tastes and preferences, i promise there's other people in the fandom that will share in that too.

also even though my adhd works against me, i at least try to be organized and i always make an outline for a fic.

its super helpful to break everything up into small pieces. because then you arent staring at a blank page expecting a story to materialize from thin air LOL.

heres some things to include in your outline.

set the scene/world. where are we? what time is it? what are we initially feeling? which all Setting these things up from jump hooks in a reader as they want to feel like like are immersing yourselves in the world. especially x reader stories. i feel like x reader is so much easier to write then for two seperate characters, because if all else fails you can always call on how you personally felt or would feel in a situation then elaborate on it.

characterization. don't be afraid to make your characters a bit unlikeable, highlight their faults as you do their good parts. ex. my plug!choso fic, reader is a bitch lmfao. she takes choso for granted even though she's the happiest with him. the thing is—she knows that and it starts to eat her up. if a character can have self awareness and grow, then they have more depth than a character written with no faults.

conflict/goal. whats the conflict or what are we working towards? like even for a short pwp for ex: the goal is cum without getting interrupted/walked-in on because we are in a public bathroom. then from there you can work backwards and think. okay so what conflicts/problems would arise? where is this bathroom? what time of day is it and how many people are around? is anyone waiting on us/did we leave others to run off/will they come looking for us? you can make a conflicts out of any of those. conflicts drive the story forward and help you reach your end as its your beacon for how you progress.

ending. your ending only needs to tie the immediate conflict up. there could be an overarching conflict but you dont need to solve everything in your story. ex, continuing from the previous, y'all could be in the bathroom fucking and although the immediate conflict concerns no one interrupting you, the overarching conflict is that you both have significant others already and have yet to break this affair off. of course a pwp so you arent going to dive deep and explain the aftermath or the breakups, etc, but you can leave the story on a cliffhanger and lead the audience to guess whats next.

other tips.

don't write linearly: that is you dont have to write your story in the order of beginning, middle and end. start from wherever you want. skip around. its easier to write out the parts you do know you want then connect it together. even if its just a random piece of dialogue thats a sentence you know you want 2 scenes later, just write it down. writing is a messy process, not neat at all. which leads into... just write: even if you arent sure if you liking the idea 100% just yet write it down! you cant get to the next idea if you are stuck on why the current idea you are thinking of isn't good enough. lol this is why i say i get to a point in the process where i hate everything because ill be stuck with these meh-ideas but i know i have to get them out to get to the good idea.

edit: i edit my fics until l its something im having fun with. if you like it on first go around then thats great but just saying that to say its better to rework it or come back later to it (move on to something else in the meantime) than to put out something you aren't happy with. if you are proud of something you did that will definitely be reflected in your fic!

meditate to tap into characters: idk if you meditate often but i like to try to visualize myself in the character's shoes. what am i feeling? physically or emotionally? are there any distractions? how would i react to this? it helps with conveying character emotion, motives and makes the scene be more immersive. but in at same note, you don't have to give everything. focus on the most important aspect or two and the audience imagination will fill in the rest. some of the best compliments ppl have given me is they felt like they were watching a movie reading my fic (ty y'all the best) and i feel like its because of the immersive aspects in my fics which i take from my own reactions/experience. this also circles back to the point of liking your writing. because if you can convey what you are feeling well enough that you personally feel it re-reading your work, others will too. I hope these tips helped! 💕

[otakween]

Digimon Frontier - Episode 46

Yaaaassss library episode!!

Unfortunately, I found the 2nd half of this episode to be pretty lackluster despite the immaculate vibes of the first. I was excited to see Lucemon finally revived (bout damn time) but the animation was so shit that it ruined the moment :( Really bizarre and jerky "camera" work that kept switching from super close ups to very far away shots. Oh well. Onto the final battle!

Notes:

The whole "evil boss promises his underlings rewards but will probably betray them" thing is so cliche. I know it's cliche because I've been watching Lolirock (a French cartoon) and they're doing the exact same thing in that show lol.

I don't think I realized that only Koichi heard what LordKnightmon said about his lack of a body. It was kinda hard to tell because the previous episode was all chaotic and they wouldn't have had much time to react.

In this episode we visit "the place where all of the digital world's knowledge" goes. Not to be confused with "the place where all of the digital world's historical knowledge goes." I guess one is an archive and one is a library, which is fair. The digital world sure likes its "everything in one spot" thing (like all digimon being born in the same spot).

Nefertimon was a good choice for the librarian I think. On the other hand...I don't think she has hands to hold a book, but I'm sure she could make it work lol.

Such a mixed bag, we had some really great animation bits in the library but it felt like they just ran out of steam by the end. I think the anticipation of Lucemon's revival felt so long that my expectations were too high for their epic first appearance.

At first I was confused by the scene where Junpei does a magic trick with flowers, but then I remembered it was a callback to a previous episode where he was showing off his magic skills to his schoolmates. Good continuity moment!

Takuya/Izumi ship is very, very boring but seeing them blush was still cute.

Seeing Bokomon act serious when talking to Koichi about his troubles was very heartwarming. I think I have a new fave Bokomon moment.

(Context: Bokomon agreeing to keep Koichi's secret).

The dub made the slap fight between MagnaGarurumon, KaiserGreymon and the royal knights sound so silly. It's the apocalypse yet the American release is still like "WOCKA WOCKA!" 🤡

I want to like Lucemon's design but it feels kinda...unoriginal and bland? I feel like I've seen this "epic angel" design many times before. Hopefully he gets multiple forms.

[vampirealpaca]

My thoughts on the pjo show (now that the season is over) (this is going to run long) Overall Rating: 8/10 :

Ok first of all, I actually LOVED the show and the cast is literally awesome; I do have some thoughts and feelings tho.

The GOOD :D

The visuals were eating ngl

THE CAST!!!! they literally were amazing cannot stress this enough

I think a lot of the changes were handled super well, especially Medusa (although I don't love all of the changes...see below in the next section lol)

I LOVED the set design for pretty much all of the scenes!!! Like the set & costuming was literally so good; sometimes it looked a little Volume-y but I think it's ok since they also clearly did a bunch of on-location stuff

Driving scene was literally so funny like no notes on that + the acting was On Point pretty much All of the Time.

I actually think they slayed with the special effects

Pretty accurate! (overall a waaaaaay better adaptation than the movies)

BLUE FOOD!!!!

More Sally content was awesome!! And I cannot stress this enough the ACTORS WERE SO GOOD in their roles!! Like I think they were the perfect choices ngl and I hope to see more of them in season 2 (if we get one, idk if its greenlit yet)

I also liked how they focused on Grover's character more (lowkey my fav now)

Genuinely had a great time watching the scenes from the books I've loved since Forever come to life onscreen!

The character dynamics were GIVING

Loved getting more info about Percy's backstory

The way they showed the Mist was honestly so cool!! This might be filed under Visuals but still...it was so cool

Fight choreo fluctuated, but I liked the Percy vs Luke fight (altho the scorpion erasure ;-;)

Again the chemistry with the actors like adkjhfdkjdfkjhdfjkhk I think the acting may have been my fav part honestly lol

All of the easter eggs for the fans!!

Rick's subtle rewriting of the story was sometimes very cool! (Like with the water grabbing Percy etc) --- you can definitely tell that he's thinking about how he'd change the story if he were to write it today

...HOWEVER i have gripes :(

THE LIGHTING WAS TOO DARK IN NIGHT SCENES!!!! HATE THAT TROPE WHY CANT I SEEEEEEEE (looking at u medusa scene)

I feel like they should've fallen into like…at least one trap without Knowing Everything about it. Like, I get the Medusa change and am pretty on board with it, but I feel like a few of the other changes weren't really necessary & messed with the stakes. A lot of the time it felt like I was watching them explain "Oh you're THIS person so you will do THIS so I will do THIS" instead of like...showing me.

Not enough blood (this is prob a Disney problem, not the show creators fault but like...cmon Disney...they have swords, let the children get More Injured...they are Fighting for their Lives)

Felt kinda...dryer than the books? idk how to explain it...like it felt like there wasn't the same Vibes in some parts if that makes sense, like they switched out a lot of funny moments (esp with how they changed Charon and the Crusty scenes lowkey im bitter)

the tone was definitely sometimes waaay different from the books (like it was way more serious I think, which is good sometimes and less good other times)

Idk if this is 100% true bc my last reread was a few months ago, but I think they separated the main trio more than in the book (?), it felt like they were duo-ed with diff members for a lot rather than building off of their main dynamic -- they had some trio moments but ig i just wanted more (again, I could be wrong on this one tho)

Lotus Casino not really being as Fun (the pumping lotus flowers in the air was a cool detail tho!)

It generally felt like they took a lot of the funny parts in favor of talking more about how messed up the gods are (which I liked sometimes!! but the kids are 12 let them have more funny moments too yaknow) (Rip the Died in the Bathtub line...gone but not forgotten)

I really didn't love the changes that made the story feel more Cliche and Basic (the ones that annoyed me were changing the entire DOA to just Some Standard Death Eater Looking Fellow & Annabeth's interactions with Cerebus being completely changed)

Mixed feelings on Gabe...I wanted him to be more evil at the beginning but I get why they changed it ig. Plus he was literally so funny when he (spoilers?) got murdered by opening someone else's mail. That's what happens when you commit a federal crime ig.

General Character Thoughts:

PERCY: Walker Scobell was such a good casting call... like you can tell he really cares about the books & getting the character right. Acting was on point, sass was on point (but I do wish he got to be sassy a bit More); Really gives off the energy of Percy Jackson and definitely was AMAZING in this role!

ANNABETH: She was spectacular in this role!! Leah got literally all of Annabeth down to a T --- her kindness, her pride, her wisdom, etc etc without resorting to any kind of "stock smart girl" vibe. She was literally SO GOOD! I loved seeing her talk about her dad, and the detail about her not having seen a movie is such a mood and so in-character lowkey. Leah really nailed Annabeth's dry humor and general vibe like dfajkhfdjhkfdhjk

GROVER: He was my favorite! Like, his acting was AMAZING fr!!! They brought a lot of newer things into his character that I think worked really well & it definitely strengthened his characterization --- he was also really funny & so sincere I just loved his portrayal of Grover!

HOWEVER I think some of the arcs are shakier since the characters didn't struggle as much, since they were figuring out a Lot of things

Overall, I took 2 points from the rating because the Spirit and Humor weren't fully there and I felt some of the changes made it feel less like the OG and more cliche (looking at u Charon). However, the great acting, pretty slay writing (except for the tone stuff), Vibes, and all the other stuff I think they did right pulled through to get it ranked a little higher lol. Plus, I liked it, even if I didn't like all of it.

No hate if u loved the show adaptation tho!! Feel free to disagree, these are just my thoughts lol. I really genuinely hope there's going to be a season 2, although I would like if they fix a few of these problems in that potential season (please...let me see what's happening in the dark scenes...please...)

[darishima]

With the Mashle post, I agree with some parts that the show (at least the writing) is just.... not good at all. If you've read the manga... it doesn't really get better(? Kinda? As in, there is no development between any characters lmao, but more concepts for the world itself kinda gets added).

For me, what drew me in was the comedy of the first chapter before it got very repetitive with its jokes and humor because the world itself seemed fascinating to me. The idea of magic marks, markless people (what is basically eugenics), and then this one person who by all counts should be the least powerful among an entire population is fascinating.

The writing is just not it in the slightest.

Characters are very one dimensional (shown with Lemon being the worst of the main 5, Mash is right next to her). The only ones I saw with the slightest hint of development would be Finn towards the end of the series.

Like I said, many things that are just thrown out there and then left in the wind that could've been more deeply explored, the actual role of a Divine Visionary because (lowkey what does head of Talent even mean??? Is their most influential really just some kids who were the best of the year??? Why aren't there more of them??? How are they given their roles???)

I'm rambling so hard, but I think I'm honestly interested in how you saw the series (or at least the anime) since I'm trying to do more on its world in a personal rewrite project 😅

thank you so much, i'm so glad someone agrees!!

i'm gonna try to break why i don't like it into sections so this doesn't get too rambley

the stuff it steals i'm using "steal" pretty lightly here, taking inspiration from another work is fine and i dont even know for sure if the creator was familiar with these other properties, but still. i don't know if you're super familiar with one punch man, mob psycho 100, and harry potter, but mashle is basically if you took all of those, squished them together, and then made it bad. he's basically just saitama (mc of opm) mixed with mob's personality (mc of mp100) and dropped into harry potter. (and i know "a magical school setting" isn't unique to harry potter but the house system and that one broom scene are WAY too specific to not be explicitly taken from hp. if it was supposed to be a parody/satire of harry potter or western fantasy in general it could have worked, but rather than making any kind of commentary on that it just... stole it. but i digress.) "insanely overpowered anime protagonist" is a typical cliche and i often find annoying (if your mc is too powerful, there's not much evolution/development to be done) but the thing that made saitama's strength work in opm is that he doesn't LIKE his strength. if you're at the top, there's nowhere else to go. he feels unfulfilled and is constantly searching for an opponent as strong as/stronger than him, so he can finally have a real fight that doesn't end after a single punch. mash.... doesn't have that. he's strong, but nothing interesting is DONE with his strength. he just Is Strong, period. no commentary on how it makes him feel, no impact on his personality, nothing. there is a commentary that could be made (and is kind of made) about the world as a whole but i'll get to that later. basically, he's just saitama but without understanding why saitama works.

the characters the characters feel like they're created to fill archetypes rather than actually be people. they're all completely one-dimensional, as you said. i can't speak for finn's development because i haven't read the manga, but at least in the anime he's the same. lemon is definitely the worst, i agree, and mash is right next to her. abyss razor COULD have been interesting i guess but he was just a throwaway villain. dot is the stereotypical guy-obsessed-with-women because of course he is. lance is the attractive bad boy with a really creepy thing for his sister (because it's not a shonen without something deeply uncomfortable and unnecessary). the only character i liked was cell war but only because he looked cool. i don't think i've ever seen a more boring cast of characters tbh, they're just... Nothing.

cynical cash grab honestly a lot of what made me angry rather than disappointed about the show was that a lot of it seemed to be, like... designed specifically to be popular, if that makes sense. the world copying harry potter, the main character copying mob and saitama, two beloved shonen protagonists, the characters filling all the shonen archetypes, all of it just felt like it was made in a lab to be the most stereotypical easy to watch shonen anime. i don't know if that's actually true- maybe the creator is really passionate about it and loves it. but it felt like a soulless cash grab.

the potential this is what REALLY pissed me off. i've seen plenty of bad animes, and they're always fundamentally flawed. they have bad plots or bad settings and everything based off of that will be bad as well. it's not a problem with the execution, it's a problem with the basic concept. but mashle is not that. the idea of it is brilliant, and that's why i wanted to watch it in the first place. there's so many interesting angles to be taken- for example, mash mentions at the beginning that magic users have grown physically lazy and complacent, because they can achieve anything they want with magic. and that is SO INTERESTING !!! i've never considered the realistic consequences of magic like that before, and i was so excited to see that concept explored... and then it was never brought up again. mash's strength, like saitama's, could've had really interesting effects on his character.... never addressed! the eugenics aspect, like you mentioned, could've been really interesting, especially with the way it affects some magic users too (namely abyss razor and his evil eye or lance's sister), but nope, it's never fully touched on. rather than dismantle the system entirely and save all non-magic users, mash is content to work within the system to achieve freedom for only himself. rather than commit to any interesting commentary or fascinating angle, the story is content to ignore all those things completely. there is endless potential, and it's all wasted.

the comedy there isn't any. it's not funny. the slapstick comedy of mash breaking everything at the beginning could have been funny but it's never used for anything besides doors (and also, is he never scared he'll accidentally hurt someone? has he ever hurt someone he loved? more cool strength-related character commentary that was never even touched on). the only part of the show i found funny is that one time he tried to cook but everything just ended up as a cream puff. i really liked that actually. all of the running cream puff gags i found funny but they aren't enough to carry the rest of the show's non existent jokes or the jokes that completely fall flat

the fight scenes not much to say here, which is the problem. the animation's decent but not outstanding and the fights are lame as hell. "strong magic user thinks he's badass and can kick mash's ass but mash just like, punches him a couple times. the end." they were cool to look at sometimes, but again, so many cool things could've been done with the magic and they refused to commit.

that's pretty much all of my points. usually i hate the term "shonenshit" because it's just used to discount actually good shonen like one piece or demon slayer but honestly i think mashle is the epitome of shonenshit. full of potential yet mid in every way, the most average and boring characters imaginable, zero impactful emotional beats, it just tastes like air. i cannot fathom how this anime has a 7.58 rating on MAL, it blows my mind. i'm not shitting on anyone who enjoys the show, i think if you turn your brain off (and haven't seen one punch man or mob psycho) it is, at the very least, popcorn entertainment, and i can understand why someone would like it, i just think it's poorly written and disappointing.

thank you so much for sending that ask and giving me a reason to rant all my thoughts, i've been waiting for an excuse to do it lmao. sorry it was so long </3

manga spoilers under the cut bc i have one more thing to mention.

AND APPARENTLY INNOCENT ZERO THE BIG BAD LEADER GUY IS MASH'S DAD ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME. i was spoiled on this completely accidentally, i just googled innocent zero to see what he looked like and saw that spoiler. and my god that is the most generic stupid boring ass twist they could POSSIBLY have done. and not only that, it ruins whatever good was left in mash's character.

mash is the "everyman" type of character. he's just a regular normal guy, he is nothing special, in fact he's literally the opposite of special. he's the complete opposite of a "chosen one," and that's why his character works (i'm saying "works" loosely because he's boring but ykwim). so to make him the son of the Big Bad turns him into the chosen one that he's not supposed to be. chosen one narratives do work, but only if done right, and his story from the beginning is not supposed to BE a chosen one narrative. but they throw all of that out the window for the sake of a cheap twist. keep in mind i havent read the manga so i dont know anything about the way it was revealed but i would bet money they didn't set it up or execute it in any kind of interesting or well-done way. i hope i'm wrong about that, but i doubt it.

[cyani-ion]

Blood+ is a trip

I liked it. Bit of a cliche start, super nice middle, and anticlimactic ending. Kinda lost potential on a cool setting

Like theyll about chiropterans and the Queens and bring up some cool ideas about evolution and nuture vs nature, but they dont do much of anything with it???? Like its not trying to focus on those themes at all, its way more plot n character focused.

I like that it took its time though… i read some old forums complaining about how slow it is but its pretty well paced for the most part. The last 10-15 episodes were a bit slow for me but not by much. I love anime with a lot of travel and changing locations and cultures. I love the espionage and global conspiracy and those things require time to build tension and it worked for me

I actually came specifically for the romance cuz i love the “knight/royal(i know Saya aint a royal roll with it)” dynamic and it was quite nice, if a little unexplored. Hagi felt kinda like a doormat in the anime i would’ve loved if he spoke his mind more like in the flashback scenes.

I don’t have strong feelings for the characters but i do think they’re cool. Saya was cool. Kai and Riku were annoying until they weren’t (sad to say but i really didn’t care for George or the whole family in general). Hagi was cool. Red Shield was cool. The Sciff needed less or more screen time, still trying to figure that out. The Chevaliers were cool, with the exception of Ashmel who had a kinda lame motivation.

In fact that was my issue with Diva too. With how much mystery and build up they got, i thought Ashmel was have a better motivation than ‘i want diva all to myself’ and i thought Diva was going to get some backstory on her experiments and what she went through and what her past 100 years were like for her. Gove the villains the same love you give the side characters you bums!

Anyway good times 👍🏾

[otteroflore]

ive been sick so i laid down on the couch and watched the 2012 Snow White adaptation "Mirror Mirror"

It's definitely one of those 2000s-era (or early 2010s) fairy tale movies where the costume designers had a lot of fun and everything else about the movie is uninspired, cliche, and boring.

it opens with some lovely animation giving the backstory, its a 3D style where the characters look like porcelain dolls and have carved, sculpted hair and I was like "wow! this is way better than I thought it would be" as the narrator told the story and then she made some sort of sarcastic joke immediately and it was soured. it was something like "they named their baby snow white, because theyre just /so original/" which doesnt even make sense as a joke.

the film is ostensibly from the queens perspective but also not really? at all? I sorta feel like they should have given her more backstory, it feels really flimsy with her /just/ being kinda vain and worried about aging. If you're adapting a fairy tale story to a movie, I want to hear about the evil queen being pressured by her mothers beauty standards (a la Once Upon a Time) or some shit.

(near the end of the film they talk about how the queens been married "so many times" and thats like not??? been mentioned until then??)

I didn't even realize this until watching the movie, but removing Snow White's whole "speak with animals" thing makes the queen's magic stuff feel extra out of place. It also makes it so she has no interests??

The seven dwarfs are played by dwarf actors / Little People, obviously I can't speak to the appropriateness of that but I do think it was interesting they gave them a backstory. They explain that the queen kicked them out of the town due to prejudice, which is why they're living in the woods. I always kind of interpreted the Disney dwarfs as being LOTR-like magical creatures so if you're going to make them just people they definitely need more of a reason for like... 7 guys living in the woods.

But then, its also like, if there are 7 men with dwarfism in the community aren't there like... women with the condition also? and if you actually want to lean on the Queen being shitty and kicking people out of town, you could actually make an interesting point by including disability rep (and also not every person with dwarfism can do backflips)

its one of those things where its like its nice they thought up this backstory to try and make the dwarfs "less offensive" but then they try to solve it by SW literally... white-knighting for them, even though she hasn't yet solved the systemic issue that is the Queen kicking them out of the town. Like it doesn't matter if the townspeople love the dwarfs because we've already established the queen has complete control over them.

I don't think the movie really knew what to do with the dwarfs. Their scenes fluctuate between slapstick numbers (every fight scene has comical sounds from their giant stilts), exposition, and being fighting gurus giving SW advice. Near the end of the film, they tell SW that she convinced a bunch of thieving dwarfs that they could be more than thieves. But like... they already /knew/ that. They were the ones who exposited to her that they were only stealing because they had been forced out of their home. It doesn't make any sense!

There's like, women in the castle like maids and cooks who are nice to SW and they basically disappear from the narrative once she leaves, which is super weird because they basically told her to stage a revolution against the Queen. Kinda felt like that had come somewhere. (also when SW cooks for the dwarfs I was like "oh shes going to explain she learned this from her friend the cook" but nope. princesses just know how to cook)

the prince is just such a nothing character, it always annoys me when adaptations decide they need to give characters more screentime but they do nothing with it. he doesnt have a personality, hes just a rich guy who showed up.

And then at the end SW locked the 7 dwarfs and the prince inside the dwarfs' house and says something like "in fairytales the prince is always saving the princess but IM saving you all" or some shit. which is just... so tired. im so tired of this. also shouldn't the point be that the dwarfs helped each other when times got tough and teaming up will be the best way to confront the queen?!

and then the prince and dwarfs get there together to stop the queen anyways and at the end SW is all "the prince helped save me along with his valiant knights" and im like??? bro, I think you mean your 7 found family members saved you with some bumbling idiot.

at the end of the movie the queen shows up the the wedding with the poison apple and snow white figured out its her and doesn't eat it so like. they haven't even tried to follow the _disney adaptation_ but they don't even try and follow the original story! in the original story there was like a comb also! And a silk bodice!

It's always wild to me when they cut so much stuff and don't even bother replacing it with anything. If you're going to cut the main things that happen in the story- aka the queen poisoning Snow White- you should fill it with like. PLOT. CHARACTER. SOMETHING.

[pauein]

Well might as well use this time 2 ramble i guess. Ive really noticed that like. My main hobby at this point is daydreaming and developing oc stories and actually like. Doing much else that isnt related to my own created content just doesnt click like 70% of the time. Its very strange but also unfortunately doesnt make actually putting out oc stuff any Easier for me both because 1. Art is hard and 2. I keep feeling like people are gonna think im like self obsessed or something (which ok sure but thats neither here or there.)

[stray-ninjas-fandoms]

Oh man....

Vampire in the Garden had so sooooooo SOOOO MUCH potential especially with the first 2-3 episodes but....it really felt rushed and super flat at the end...

Good concept but 5 episodes did it a huge injustice in my opinion.

One of the major issues is that there was no real break from all the drama and emotions going on. No real room to see the characters for who they are.

We only got snippets of the road trip between Momo and Fine which I argue should have been a whole episode on its own to know these two and their bond a whole lot better. An episode to give both of them to share their pasts, what they dream of...like a beach episode but a tundra road trip episode.

I really couldn’t tell why they cared so much about each other even if Fine’s POV was explained somewhat....like where is the turning point when Fine came out of her past or when Momo decided to really love Fine?

Plus what’s up with Momo‘s mom and what relation was Allegro to Queen Fine? How did Momo graduate from military school if she is just 14!?? Plus why does Allegro have a pet dog when none of the other vampires seem to have any type of pets? These weren’t really looked into and made the story feel...empty? Not as emotional as it should have been I guess?

I was thinking and really hoping it’d end with Fine and Momo being together (platonic or romantic if the age wasn’t a thing) and rebuilding the human/vampire relations by being the leaders for a world where humans and vampires can live in peace.

Like they make some sort of grand escape where it’s unclear if they died or not and in the post credits we see people and vampires wondering what happened to the Fine the queen of vampires (like HELLO this point was SUPER underplayed - how are the vampires functioning without their queen!?) and Momo who was the daughter of a high ranked military commander.....switch scenes to a place where it’s Fine and Momo just dancing about in a lovely garden to music from a turn table and just taking the first steps to human-vampire harmony.

Kinda cliched? Maybe but a whole lot better than what the actual ending was like.

It was okay overall... it was really pulled together mostly by the art/animation and music tbh and Fine just being a fine af queen. She deserved so much better!

I’d give it a solid 4.5 or 5/10 (want to go lower but can’t because of Fine who I feel really sorry for....and the little pug doggo)

Hope to see a similar concept but executed in a much better storyline with the same leading ladies (because we need waaaay more leading lady dynamics like this one...just not ending up in a blood bath ya know?)

For now all I have to say is.... unleash the fanart/fanfics!

[butterflyeffectiveless]

I kinda feel wrong for disliking and scolding the show through and through so I got an idea to list and talk about the things that I LIKED in the show. Plus I think thats much healthier than looking for negative things to scrutinize

warning: trauma, abuse mention, propaganda mention

Russian character representation: It was very impressive to me how Buffrog was portrayed in the show and his development in general was very nice. Usually “Russian” characters are used as a means of propaganda against Russians and russian characters are either 100% irredemable villains or ridiculously erratic. Buffrog wasn’t crazy or evil, he was just a monster with personal things, and he was also rational and had a huge character development, 10/10 I never really paid attention but now I realize how great it was that there was zero bias or even zero stereotyping toward Buffrog’s character in the show. 

Well written domestic abuse victim (About Ludo) : When I watch older scenes with Ludo in them, I realize that there are many details in his behavior that hint on his unhealthy background. And that stayed sonsistent throughout the entire show, which is actually so..great? Ludo is one of the most consistently written characters? and he’s also relatable to viewers? That’s actually such an incredible achievement. Even in small gestures, in what he says, I can see the influence of his past. In season 1 Ludo acted the same way as Brudo acted toward him, Ludo treated his monster army like his children, but he constantly abused them because that’s what he knew. Even in a small scene when Toffee was talking badly about him, Ludo said in a stern voice “Toffee, What are you doing?” which is exactly how a strict parent talks to their child. ALSO the scene where Ludo touched Toffee’s arm and slightly pet it, it could also be interpreted as him trying to show “parental affection” toward the lizard aka “You did so well im proud of you” but because he doesnt know how to show pride in someone, it looks awkward. The way how Ludo tries to persuade his monsters to trust him over Toffee was the exact same way as abusive parents act toward their kids “I raised you. I took you in” when they want to win in an argument. The way how Ludo acted in season 1 fit So well in his backstory it blows my mind. Also because - according to his past, he was not independent and was stuck with his family for most of his life, meaning that, despite hating his parents (for very valid reasons), family was the only thing he knew. So essentially, Ludo sees everything and everyone in the prism of “family or stranger”. Anyone he wants to be a part of his life is essentially his “kid” but because of having never known parental love, he thinks others are his “items” that he “owns”. 

Just Toffee’s existence in the show: Toffee is an incredibly written villain who didnt follow the typical tropes aka “I will reveal all my plans to the hero because I know they’ll die by my hand anyway”. His design is also super good, its simple but recognizable. Just the fact alone that Ms. Nefcy created him makes me feel very much in awe toward her. And what was also so cool to me, was that Toffee was a serious character in a very comedic show (in season 1) and yet it didnt ruin neither the character nor the show’s flow. Also there was No any cliche where a villain waits too long or gets overly dramatic, he just finished his enemies off the second he got the chance to

Just Eclipsa’s existence in the show: I think I dont have to speak of this one because everybody would say the same as what id say about her..

Tom Lucitor’s development: It was just so nice and consistent(?), and it felt believable. Plus it makes Tom a good role model for people who struggle with anger issues and it is so great that the show didn’t demonize anger issues and people who struggle with being too possessive through his character. Btw it is also great that Tom showed emotions and was an emotional character, it did not feed into toxic masculinity trends which i find admirable

[harveyscape]

IM BORED. my top three farscape eps from each season::::::: looking at these i think season two has the best EPISODE concepts (it was hard choosing faves from that season bc i love so many) but season 4 is my favorite for just,,,,,,, the hecking Yearning + domestication in each episode but i dont particularly favor the episodes themselves 

Season 1:

through the looking glass - i always saw this ep as being the first completely filler ep that really felt like farscape with the crew all working together and having a VERY CUTE little laugh about it at the end. i love the vagueness of it, it’s not annoying or cliche??? and i’m particularly fond of the yellow moya scenes like rygel’s like “shall i disrobe so it will be memorable” is one of my fave lines from him.

a human reaction - mY TRASH. MYYYY TRASH. just one of those farscape eps that are so Abstract in concept, they are just Default Faves for me like Always haha. so many good little j/a crumbs, the kiss in this ep is one of my BIG FAVES, i love everything about that scene and the ones leading up to it. LOVE THE RAIN SCENE. it’s probably the very first time john is like ‘maybe Earth bad’ and,,, ‘maybe space girl Good’ and i love that thruline of the show. this ep stands soooooo far apart from the majority of season 1 for me.

nerve: the hidden memory - “THE RADIANT AERYN SUN.” stark isn’t unbearable in his debut episodes woah! i like him as a sad boy who isnt a plot device! love gilina, love her death (rip), love seeing how far john and aeryn have come since they’d last seen her, love aeryn and crais’s interaction in this episode like YES GIRL SLAY, love whenever aeryn has to juggle with feeling WEAK and having to put her big girl pants on to save her himbo, love any interaction between d’argo and aeryn LOVE THAT.

Season 2:

crackers don't matter - the DIALOGUE in this episode is Insane and i LOVE IT i think there are so many line deliveries in this ep that are so memorable and Iconic they all just live in my mind rent FREE. i wish the commentary for this episode wasn’t about the more practical aspects of it because UUUHUUH i genuinely would love to just Absorb the mindset behind it. GOD TIER FILLER. 

out of their minds - i am such a whore for body swap tropes it’s humiliating. another ep with a lot of iconic line deliveries! i love cb playing as john! love that for her! bb as rygel too is amazing i love all their stupid accent switching SO MUCH. love the skeksis love that they joke about them looking like skeksis because it’s jim henson and they can DO THAT. 

won't get fooled again - any time i think about this ep im like man how Opened Third Eye was it to have john just immediately be like “haha ok this is fake lmao” like it’s so SUBVERSIVE in what it does pretty much right off the bat in introducing the moya crew as “normal” humans. eps like these are just ALWAYS my faves in tv series because of how crazy they can get and this one does and i love it so much for that.

Season 3: 

scratch n' sniff - any time i get the moya crew on a pleasure planet or at a rave im like HELLO. :) I LOVE RAXIL she’s such a funky little freak. describing this ep is so weird its like Oh Yeah The Boob Juice Sucking One. JUST JOHN AND D’ARGO BEING BACHELORS, WHAT BLISS. i wish i got more john + d’argo shenanigans in this show ‘cause they are like such a fave together dynamically mwah mwah mwah. <3 

into the lion's den: wolf in sheep's clothing - its a little crazy how much i Hate the first half of this two-parter which is super PANDERY AND BAD and then the last half is like so Insane and such a good close for the season. EVERYONE’S SO MISERABLE. the scorp shots with the imploding ship and the water UGHGUGHUGH <33333 love aeryn in this love her trying to save the Peacekeepers, love JOHN, love the little scientist nerd who works under Scorp i forget his name WHOOPS he has a nice design. THE CRAIS + TALYN DEATH IS SO GOOD;;;; LOVE THAT FOR THEM;;;;; <3333

 dog with two bones - i think the fact that literally no other tv show has pulled THIS MESS off really speaks to the uniqueness of farscape and its ABILITY TO TELL ROMANCE??? theres so much in this that is just like WOWOWOWOW THIS EP IS SO GOOD. the part where they kill the rogue leviathan and rygel is celebrating on the comms and it transitions to aeryn Going Insane in her prowler over everything that’s happening. FIRE. the dog with two bones analogy UGHGUGHGUGH <333333 I LOVE THE AERYN > EARTH THRULINE WITH JOHN SO MUCH ITS JUST AT ITS PEAK HERE WHICH MAKES IT GREAT BY DEFAULT. the coin scene is SOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOD THE ENDING SCENE OF THIS EPISODE IS SOOOO GOOOOOD.

Season 4: 

john quixote - MY FAVE EP OF THE SERIES LOL. love the COSTUMING love the POP CULTURE REFERENCES love that its SEASON 4 love that we GET A ZHAAN CRAIS JOOL AND STARK CAMEO. another conceptually abstract episode so of course i love it lol. love the scene in the end with john and zhaan where he’s kinda a sad boy!!!!! actually funny story about this ep the first time i watched this i was in elementary school still, i grew up on this show this is my Nostalgia Baby series, and did not know what the word “porn” was so like for a very concerning amount of time i always assumed “porn” was an Alien Word and not a real word. BECAUSE LIKE, in context you see chiana holding up a Gooey Boy and going “and this? porn!” and that was all i had to go by the end.

crichton kicks - I LOOOOVE SAD JOHN. I LOVE HIM. I love the character beats we get out of a john that CHOSE THE GIRL over his home and instead of GETTING HER he is punished for it, losing his chance at BOTH OUTCOMES like mentioned in “dog with two bones” despite him having chosen One of the options and not both. love the introduction to 1812 whenever john gets a named thing i am like Yes. :~) my boy, my little man. he’s a little crazy and a little sad.

terra firma - the YEARNING in this ep man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this ep waters my CROPS one of my Biggest Fave scenes is when Aeryn and Jack are in her prowler talking about john and he’s like Do You Wish You Were Human and she doesnt answer and im like LORD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! more of that John Not Vibing With Earth Anymore trope which I LOVE. literally all fics surrounding this episode i will SNORT LIKE CRACK. 

[capricxs]

so you’ve been roleplaying for years... things change, the way the community does things shift, and sometimes there’s new skills you need to pick up and adjust to in order to make your time rping as creatively rich and fulfilling as it can be. one of those things that’s become extremely important is plotting & hcing. either in groups, in indie, or doing 1x1s, these two are the foundation to your interaction (unless you’re the type to wing it). sometimes when i interact with people, it seems they don’t really click with this process, so in the guide below, i’ll help to explain why these are so important, and how to do it in a way that not only gives you a rich plot, but helps inspire and keep your writing partner engaged with you.

disclaimer --- this is just my personal experience and opinions being shared. i am not the end-all-be-all on how to interact with writing partners. this is just here to get people to begin thinking about things they otherwise wouldn’t have thought about.

questions regarding this help post can be found here. let’s jump in!

WHY IS PLOTTING & HCING SO IMPORTANT?

firstly, rp has changed a lot since the days of launching into an rp or writing a random starter for a new follower. things are a lot more established and regardless of if you’re in a bio/skeleton rp with pre-written connections, or you’re in a new plotless group or indie and you’re coming up with them on your own, it’s a major foundation to your writing experience, so don’t treat it lightly!

secondly, regardless of format, and with the shifts in rp culture, behind the scenes plotting & hcing is crucial to the development of your plot & characters. as writers, we take more time with our replies so development on dash happens a lot slower. personally i don’t mind that, but i don’t want that to hinder my writing experience so i like taking things behind the scenes to help build up dynamics and situations so the whole relationship isn’t based off one or two threads/instances.

lastly, it helps to keep things inspiring. sound dumb? you bet, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles baby. so many times i have plotted ships, sibling relationships, best friends, or other core relationships, and wanted to sink my teeth in relationship lore and background and dynamics, only to be returned with “hahah yes! i love that!” now i understand this is never ill-intentioned, but it does suck the muse right out the situation. if you do not validate & expand on your partner’s ideas, it’s not going to make that writer’s ideas feel appreciated or loved. the way to tell them you love their ideas? sink your teeth right back and send an equally meaty response right back!

PART ONE: SO YOU WANT TO PLOT

you don’t need this post to tell you how to come up with plot ideas, that’s a whole different guide, but let’s say you’re in the brainstorming process. you’re throwing ideas back and forth based on your muse’s two backgrounds and seeing what sticks. what is SUCH a downer, is when a writing partner is just ... not contributing. yes, we are all guilty of the line “i’m open to anything!” but try and limit yourself to using that line once in a conversation. hell, i prefer it when a person doesn’t even say it at all and they’re HONEST. if i come in guns-a-blazing and i ask ‘what plots do you need filled?’ if a person responds with ‘i need someone who hurt my muse’ there’s two option, i fill that plot, or i don’t. it’s that simple. don’t be afraid to say what you want, the worst that can happen is the person says ‘eh, i don’t really think that fits my character’ and you come up with something else! but when you’re already passionate about the idea, you’re setting yourself up for such great success!

so what do you do when your one (1) braincell isn’t working and you can’t come up with any connection ideas? two options, you can either go to one of the dozens of guides for basic connection ideas and give your partner something, or you can look at the other person’s bio, and your muse, and try and find connections between them. both of these are painfully easy! i’m a personal fan of the latter as it seems a bit more grounded and juicy than the former, but those can be twisted into something great too! **if you’re in a group setting, even asking what that person’s other connections are, and piggybacking off of that. these create super spicy connections. example: you find out muse a is muse b’s ex, and your muse, muse c, is best friends w muse b, so it’s safe to assume your muse c will probably not get along with muse a.

this important thing is not to make your partner feel like they’re doing all the work. because that’s never fun, and truthfully, it doesn’t make that person want to write with you if you’re not also putting in the elbow grease. plotting is fun, not a chore! make it a party!

PART TWO: NOW YOU HAVE TO BACK IT UP

you’ve got your plot now, congrats! and you’re so excited. but now you need that plot to be fleshed out a bit. there’s some history there so you’ve got to establish it. in comes the powerhouse--- my favorite part to this whole thing: HCING. it’s the most laid back, and in my opinion, creative part of the rping process. truthfully, i enjoy it more than threads because of the absolute insanity you can dig up. but i only love it if my partner can hand it back just as i can serve it.

maybe you’ve never quite thought that this part was that important, but i can assure you, if a person is giving you 3+ sentences about the dynamic of your characters, they’re trying to hc with you, and if you don’t enrich them, your dynamic is going to wither away.

i brought up an idea in the first part of this guide that’s extremely important to how you hc with your writing partner: VALIDATE & EXPAND. it’s the idea that no matter how much or how little your rp partner gives you in terms of an hc, you respond to it with a validation, which can range anywhere from ‘i LOVE that’ to as simple as a key smash and the pleading emotion, or even repeating a fraction of what they said to show you understand their vision. but then you have to back that up with expanding on that idea. hcs could be about a situation or about your writing partner’s character, so expand on how your character feels and reacts to things. it’s beyond discouraging when i write a whole idea out, explaining how my character feels in this emotionally intense setting, and my writing partner only gives me the validation portion, and now i have no idea how my opp’s character thinks, feels, or interacts.

see, a point i mentioned above is the fact that threads don’t work like they used to. and that’s fine! but hcing is an easy and fun way to make up for the fact that we take time with our threads now. if you’re rping to find rich, in-depth, satisfying dynamics, it’s going to take many many months to get your understanding of your opp’s muse, and the relationship they have, hcing fast tracks that process. i’m writing with you, i love your muse, give me the dirty details, i promise it’s not obnoxious. the more your give back, the more you will receive. so why wait around, sitting on our thumbs for me to fully get a grasp of your character’s voice, and your character’s thoughts, when we could do that on chat and have a grand time.

but now you’re thinking to yourself: okay, but how exactly do i validate and expand? and for that, we go to EXAMPLE-BOT 3000 !! not a real bot, unfortunately, but example bot has dug up a personal interaction i’ve had hcing. for context, this is a 1x1 writing partner i’ve had for years. we have an excellent dynamic and they are perfect. they have also given me permission to use our convos as example.

here is my message [ CONTEXT: this is a sandbox-star-wars-esque verse]

Okay but I had a thot in the shower,,, where the best thoughts are had. And what if,,, after this meeting and they part ways and such and it was just another weird occurrence in their lives, blastis gets a mission and it’s either to protecc salia or like guide salia across the galaxy to do something smth and save some lives or whatever. And ofc not because she couldn’t take care of herself but he has smth she doesn’t that gives an edge or just a close loved one of her’s didn’t want to see her get hurt. So you have these two traveling across the galaxy,,, sometimes arguing bc she can manage herself but he’s just fulfilling the mission. And them both kicking but. And all the steamy tension and cliches.

let’s break this message down before we get into the response. first, hcs don’t have to be formal. they are the most fun when they’re less together and don’t rely so much on “sounding good”. you’re just rolling off the top of your brain, chatting like you would with a friend, don’t worry too much on formalities because this isn’t the place for that.

i am also presenting my idea in a way that is confident, and with plenty of ideas to work on. i am involving my partner’s character but not godmodding. i am taking things i have learned from character introductions (like salia being independent and empowered, and wanting to do good/help others) and not disrespecting them, but having her take part in the plot. there are also small bits at the end of this idea that are little nuggets to build off of.

let’s look at my partner’s response.

AAAAH okay i love the idea!!! however shes a v. freelance kinda healer and doesnt really take official things. and she doesnt have loved ones that would know if there was danger - she can telepathically communicate with her own people but if she doesnt want them to know things they cant just. force their way in its a Closed Communication line not an open invitation into her thoughts asdfghjsh. But i could imagine that some guy or family hire her to find their children maybe who were lost on their adventure/mission with friends and the last message sounded like one was hurt,,, badly. and the other cant help for some reason. and they hire blastis to both protect her and later the people shes supposed to heal??

but anYWAY the Important part is ofc. the tension. and his big ass in her ship bc why would she?? take another if hers is right there. so hes gonna take that single bed and not complain. but ooof those two?? just kicking ass and being amazing. growing on each other more and more.

right off the bat is validation. and validation doesn’t have to be as direct as it is in this message. the validation is important here specifically, my partner showed they were interested and supportive of the idea i presented, but needed the plot to fit in their character’s story better. we see them making adjustments--- this is a collaborative experience so i alone shouldn’t be the one coming up with the plot, nor would i want my idea taken just as is. instead they mold it to fit what makes sense, getting more specific than my idea with a “mission purpose”. this is where the bouncing off of each other begins.

they then take the “bait” and start building on the tension our muses will experience (this is a ship afterall). while this is the beginning of our conversation, and there’s aren’t specific moments we’re working off of, this is setting the ground for future headcanons (see: the focus on sexual tension, living in a ship together, kicking butt), we are both mutually giving each other little tethers to take hold of. this is a very good start to begin working out the dynamic and situations these two characters are found in, with multiple different launch-off points.

CONCLUSION

there’s no right or wrong way to rp. even the tips listed here might not be applicable to your style, just having the idea in the back of your mind helps. the important thing is you and the person you’re writing with are having fun. you both are respecting each other’s time and ideas and creating a beautiful dynamic or world or relationship. this is a collaborative experience, and it’s important not to leave your partner feeling like they’re doing all the heavy lifting creatively.

hope this helped! as always, you can send me any questions you have in regards to this topic HERE. you can find a tag of answered questions in relation to this topic HERE.