#it absolutely can be used to flesh out the world and characters etc etc

[elibean]

also we are at the halfway point and like, nothing substantial has happened

[fixyourwritinghabits]

No Such Thing As Filler

Okay, so yes, this is another post based on something I saw that irritated me, but it seems like this idea keeps coming up, so I need y'all to internalize this. There is no such thing as filler in good writing. None. Do not approach your work thinking you have to fill space in a story, I will beat you with this wiffle bat. Don't ask me where I got the wiffle bat. Don't even worry about it.

The idea of filler comes from a very particular place - when an anime or TV show has to fit in a certain number of episodes, but doesn't have enough content (hasn't caught up with the manga, the source material isn't long enough, etc) to cover those episodes. An episode has to be written, but the characters can't really progress, and so are given something else to do. Many a trope has come from these episodes, and they're sometimes necessary. Filler in this context is something that makes sense.

The dark side of filler is the idea that you need some space between Big Event 1 and Big Event 2 in your story, therefore you need throw anything in there to take up space and make your word count. This is a mistake I've made and I've seen plenty of other writers do it too, but it's a huge waste of your time. You do need something between those big action scenes, but you should always be writing to accomplish something.

Instead of thinking of that writing as filler, try to approach it with three things in mind:

Move Forward With Character Development and Backstory - Your characters barely survived a huge gunfight, and they won't encounter the big bad again for another few chapters. How do your characters decompress from that gunfight, and what does that say about them? Did a cocky character go in guns blazing, only to be deeply shaken by how a real fight works? Did that fight spark a moment of deep trauma for the main character that they have to reflect on afterwards?

Filling this space with meaningless scenes is a huge waste of opportunity. Think about how to dive deeper into your characters.

Move Forward With Plot and Subplot Development - The bad guy beat the heroes to the stolen gem, but they left behind a clue to why they want it. However that clue could reveal some painful truths about the protagonist's beloved great aunt... Carmen Sandiego???

A major goal following a big action scene is having the characters figure out what to do with what they've learned and what to do next. It's where romance subplots or secret relative subplots make progress, when truths are revealed and next steps are taken. You can absolutely do this in any setting - a flirty conversation while at the battling cages, a tense moment of feelings while hunting down a wayward chicken - but your main goal is making progress for both the characters and plot.

Move Forward With Worldbuilding - Worldbuilding has it challenges, believe me. You don't want to write a chapter on how an airship works only to have to cut it later. But you should still try to flesh out your world, and you should do so with the perspective of how to use that worldbuilding to your benefit. Maybe a critical scene hinges on the main characters knowing how that airship works, or that lake your main character often stares at is the setting of the big Act 3 Boat Battle. The weather can play into both perspective and emotions. Knowing what the main character's house and car looks like can reflect a lot on their personal character or backstory.

When you're struggling with a scene or a chapter, rather than writing filler, take a few steps back and think. What can you establish with your worldbuilding? What can you reveal about your characters through their dialogue and actions? What subplot could you explore or add in these between moments?

Filler from a fandom perspective - Now let me make this clear - if you're writing a fanfic just to have a cute moment between the characters you like, or you really want to force everyone to do that weird Twilight baseball scene, that's fine. You don't need a grand goal to achieve for every story, there's no need to justify your fanwork in any way other than you wanted to do it.

But I'd also argue fanwork doesn't fall under the filler label either - something you create, be it a character snapshot or a 'what if the gang meets Slenderman' parody, isn't taking up meaningless space. It's something fun you did that you and others enjoy, and there's nothing wasteful or pointless about that.

[feukt-42]

Elden ring + Shadow of the Erdtree lore thoughts

Alright, so, first off, obviously, spoilers ahead.

I've been thoroughly enjoying and getting my ass kicked by SotE and what ive seen of the lore so i wanted to ramble about it.

I specifically wanted to talk about how Elden Ring explores power and godhood.

In the base game, godhood isnt seen as inherently bad. Marika's golden order is fucked up six ways to sunday, but the blame mainly rests on Marika's shoulders it seems. She's a genocidal homewrecking war-mongerer who threw two of her children in the sewers bc of racism, she's not a good god, but it doesnt portray the problem as her being a god, just her being a mess. The game provides several "solutions" to unfuck everything :

Ranni's ending has you completely throw the system in the trash. She says, fuck it, godhood's the problem, im out of here. She is kinda right, but the lands remain fractured and the power vacuum left behind is going to be immense. We're on the right track but could be better.

The frenzied flame ending is just pure concentrated nihilism so i think we can move past it for this one.

The bunch of other endings are fairly similar : you beat Marika/Radagon's ass and you impose yourself as Elden Lord to keep her in check and fix the issues you see as most important. This doesnt fix anything long-term, the god in power is still the exact same fucking mess but with a chaperone now i guess.

None of these endings are very satisfying, they all leave you with a sense of "it could be worse i guess" (except the frenzied flame one but you get the point). This is where Miquella comes in :

Everything we hear about Miquella sounds great. He's kind, compassionate, against racism, doesnt like violence, etc etc. Cherry on top, he's even one of the characters with a direct shot at godhood, brilliant ! Why cant we just put him in charge, he'll do much better than the absolute wreck we have right now.

And thats where the base game leaves us, Marika is a fucked up mess of a person, and the obvious solution is to put the much better Miquella in her place.

Shadow of the erdtree, on the other hands, aims to set the record straight. The problem wasnt just Marika, the problem is inherent to godhood in and of itself.

In SotE, we see the land of shadow, the realm where Marika came from and ascended to godhood, and the realm where Miquella intends to do the same. And the more we hear about who Marika was before in snippets of lore, and the more we watch Miquella tread the road to godhood, we realise something :

There is no such thing as a good god

It doesnt matter how kind and compassionate you were, what your morals were, who you loved, who you loathed, none of it matters because you cannot grasp the power to become a god without sacrificing who you were before.

In the dlc we see Miquella shed more and more of himself, his flesh, his arms, his eye, his heart, his doubts, his fears and even his love. Miquella has shorn so much of who he was that he formed an entire new person (St Trina) from it. Some of him remains, he still wishes for a kinder world, but he cant sacrifice anymore of himself for it. Now he has to start sacrificing others.

Miquella was always blessed with the ability to charm others, and he sees it as the least painful path to make others do as he wishes. And so he charms his sister, he charms Mohg, he charms Radahn, his followers, Leda, Moore, Thiollier, Freyja, the hornsent, Ansbach, and everyone he can convince to give themselves up for his dream of a kinder world, regardless of the pain they might cause or feel by being enthralled by him.

And oh boy do they feel pain. Mohg is used and discarded like a ragdoll, and his followers and dynasty slowly crumble to nothing as the last pureblood knight watches helplessly, himself entranced by the one responsible after he failed to kill him. Radahn's soul is shoved in a corpse so that he can play consort to a god that is his antithesis, depriving him of his glory and honour as lord of the battlefield. Malenia is left alone to rot after Miquella has no use or help for her, and she endlessly waits for her brother to return. Every one of Miquella's followers has to grapple with those feelings of betrayal, manipulation, and lost memories returning all at once. It is by no means painless.

And so we end up with a god that is not much better than Marika was. On his path to godhood, Miquella has caused as much pain to those along the way as his mother once did, in this very same land that still feels the scars of Marika's ascension.

The only way to gain power is to take it from everyone else, and that cannot be achieved without pain.

[multishipper001]

I don't see much discourse about Study Group, although it's an absolute masterpiece, so let's put some content out here!

1.) The characters

Oh my babies. Hats off to the author, because he really can make a diverse set of people! Each character has a fleshed out backstory, defined goals and ideals (that are shown to clash with others, be it enemies or allies).

They're all very-human like in some way, with just enough cliché to make it enjoyable but not predictable.

(spoiler for chapter 252-253: I didn't know what choices Gamin and especially Geonyeob would make until the very last moment. Geonyeob had two choices ahead of him, and it heavily determined his future and showed a glimpse of what kind of person he is, how far he's willing to go for revenge... It surprised me, but boy was it an interesting chapter!)

You can't help but root for each and every one of them, prepare to get emotionally attached to them all!!

2.) The plot

This part deserves its own category.

The synopsis tells the base of the story. A high school boy that forms a study group, with the goal to enter university.

Easy, right? Simple goal, one that can be achieved if you study hard, right?

THINK AGAIN

First of all, and this is not a spoiler, our mc SUCKS ASS at studying. Like I'm not the best at studying either but he's on a whole new level. He puts time into it, is dedicated, tries his hardest... And still can't.

(I read theories that he may have a disability that affects his studying, like dyslexia or something, and it's very much possible!)

He's in an environment where people don't expect him to study since he's bad anyway, and actively try and sabotage his every attempt to get better grades & enter uni.

(Sounds cliche and weird but it makes sense if you learn about the plot later)

Every new character comes into the plot because of the study group he forms —directly or not directly, but they get in contact with the study group in a way later on.

And you know what's good about it?

The main character DOESN'T CHANGE.

He's not going "I'm powerful and cool now, so I'll choose the easy way out/focus on fighting instead/aim lower/etc," NO.

He's had a goal since day 1, and he's clinging to it like a fucking LIFE LINE.

There are arcs ofc, but the main goal is set, and the characters are slowly marching forward, doing their best to reach it.

3.) Realism

One more great thing? NO CLICHÉS

I'm taking about the story here.

There's NO "the power of friendship saves the day", no "the evil villain gets defeated simply because he's the evil villain", no "mc gets what he wants easily because he's the main character".

(and no "every girl falls for mc and he builds a harem around himself bc he's the mc". There's barely any romance in it, and it's not forced or unrealistic)

There are forces in front of the main character which affect his story, yet he cannot fight them because he's still a child, or a student, or a part of a system that is made to oppress him. Corruption, manipulation, crimes... It's realistic in the best way, with no easy way out.

There are highs and lows for our characters, and for a few moments, after a cool fight where they won, you might fall into the mistake of thinking about this story like any other : "oh, they're going to win after all! They're the main characters, they'll make it! "

... Just for the issues of the plot to slap the naive thought out of your head not even a chapter later.

Corruption is rooted deep, and this story portrays it beautifully : how getting rid of one, two or several causes won't make it all disappear.

To what extent people can be controlled by money and power.

How the powerful uses the weak, how the wealthy use those below them for their own benefit.

How adults would rather destroy children's futures and lives just to squeeze a few penny out of them and get rich from their misery.

The main character is idealistic in a corrupted world, refusing to give up on what he thinks is right —where most people around him choose the easy way out and give up their beliefs, their present and future for quick cash, for promises of wealth and power.

He is their mirror, their proof that you can stay true to yourself and fight through your misery, even if it's hard, even if it seems absolutely hopeless.

There are many arcs, and each show different approaches to this, but this is the core essence of the story. That you can choose the easy road, but you don't have to. You can fight for your goals even if everyone says you'll fail.

And so many people can't see past the fight scenes and the "action manhwa" tag, thinking that if the story doesn't show them some peak badass mc-gets-what-he-wants-through-fighting moment, the whole thing is trash.

Yes, this is an action manhwa, with fights. But it isn't about fighting.

And lastly, honorable mentions to this gem:

4.) Portrayal of stereotypes

Best parts coming up!!

As usual, every story has stereotypes portrayed in them.

How men are stronger than women, how gangsters act or rich kids behave. How bullies and nerds interact.

They don't gloss over these stereotypes.

Women are physically smaller and weaker. Rich kids are assholes, bullies are cruel and victims are weak.

They don't make them magically gain courage, change their behaviour overnight OR make these things seem cool.

They make changes.

Step by step, they are influenced by each other (not just the mc, but other characters as well: they exist even when the mc isn't present). They're weak, and powerless, but they learn to be brave. They find a way to fight : maybe they don't become martial artists overnight, but each one of them develops their own method to survive in their fucked up life.

If they need to study better, they ask their friends and teacher for help. If they need to fight, they do so for the sake of protecting themselves and what is important to them : family, friends, a cause.

None of them are made as a gear to move the plot forward, they're their own characters. And they have clichés. They have stereotypical behaviours, and maybe even look stereotypical. But even so, they're not making it their only personality trait : they're complex, and flawed, and make mistakes.

And it's beautiful.

Oh god I love this story dearly.

[writingquestionsanswered]

Do you have any advice for writing with adhd? I can craft these elaborate storyline in my head, but the minute I try to write any of them down I get bored. (Or is that just regular writer block?) It's really discouraging, because I feel like my mind is moving faster then my head, and any time I try to bring any of my ideas to life it just disipates.

Writing with ADHD: 5 Game Changers for Me

Here are some things that have been game changers for me as a writer with ADHD: [Edit: everyone's ADHD is different. This is just what works for me. It may not work for you...]

Planning: It's different for everyone with ADHD, but for me it's essential to spend time planning my story before I start writing. I like to flesh out as much as possible concerning plot, timeline, setting, world, characters and arcs, subplots, and themes.

Summary, Outline, and Scene List: Three items that are critical for me to have in hand before I sit down to write are a beginning to end summary of the story detailing all plot events as far as I know, an outline loosely based on the story structure template/s that feel right for the story (for example, I may use elements of Save the Cat! and some elements of of the Six-Stage Plot Structure), which helps me navigate my plot and hit the relevant plot points. And finally, I need a detailed scene list/timeline combo which lists chapter, scene, date/time, POV character, location, and a one to two sentence summary of what happens in the scene, including the character's goal in the scene, the scene's conflict, and the scene's resolution or how it carries into a later scene.

Gamifying: When I'm struggling with a particular time period or project, it can help me to gamify things. You can do this using a game board strategy, the Yahtzee Method, making a list of bench marks that serve as "levels," race against yourself by trying to bet the previous day's goal, etc. The key to gamifying is to set reasonable benchmarks and give yourself periodic rewards. Rewards can be anything from buying yourself a boba, watching a favorite TV show episode, an hour of playing your favorite game, or going to a movie. Some people like to go to the dollar store and buy a lot of small fun things and use those as rewards. Whatever works for you! Sometimes, turning it into a game with tangible progress and rewards can keep you motivated.

Setting Up a Routine: Although I have my general daily routine, I am without a doubt more productive when I can stick to a more specific routine that includes writing time. For me that works out to writing early in the day before other distractions start ramping up. When I put on my music, sit down with some coffee and a snack, and pull up my manuscript, my brain knows it's time to get to work. That doesn't always mean the work happens, but it's much more likely I'll get something done.

Minimizing Distractions: Anything that can be a distraction when I write is problematic. For that reason, I only listen to music without words and advertising. I turn off my phone or leave it in the other room. If possible, I try to use placeholders for things I need to look up. If I absolutely have to look something up and I get distracted by headlines, interesting articles or videos, or other things, I bookmark them in a special folder and immediately close the window. That way, I know I can go back to them later (I almost never do...) And, for me, as much as I love Scrivener and the ability to organize by chapter, have quick access to character profiles and photos, toggle between scene cards and my story... it's just too distracting for me. I'll sit down to write a chapter, then decide I need to re-do my scene cards, or cast characters, or do mood boards for every location in my story.

For that reason, writing in Word works best [for me] It's simple and there's nothing to distract me. Any story references I might need while writing, such as character profiles and photos, mood boards and aesthetics, setting inspiration photos, etc. are all organized in a special folder, categorized into sub-folders, so I can go straight to the required reference.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

♦ Questions that violate my ask policies will be deleted! ♦ Please see my master list of top posts before asking ♦ Learn more about WQA here

[ranchstoryblog]

ICYMI: Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma Livestream News

Earlier today there was a nice, hour-long livestream covering new information and details about the upcoming Guardians of Azuma, set to release on May 30th. The stream archive is linked above, and is absolutely recommended viewing, but if you just want a quick summary of the basics, that's what this post is here for!

15:05 - Countdown Ends, most recent trailer begins playing. The trailer features the different season-based villages, Village Builder Mode, Adventure, Romance, and story-focused segments.

18:50 - Our host, Ovilee May introduces herself and welcomes viewers to the livestream. She also introduces us to Suzie Yeung, the voice actress for Kaguya, the game's heroine, and Brandon McInnis, voice of the game's hero, Subaru. They emphasize how much work they've put into the game, with a lot of voice acting and story emphasis for the game. Brandon and Suzie describe the protagonists as "good listeners," but adds that Kaguya is refined and elegant while Subaru is a bit more brash.

22:48 - An overview of the Rune Factory series, with slides pictured above. Brandon relates a story about how his voice acting career began during his play-through of Rune Factory 3. Suzie hasn't played Rune Factory yet, but is a fan of farming sims. The basics of the series are laid out, farming, fighting, romance, RPG elements, etc.

30:13 - A look at Guardians of Azuma specifically. Describing it as a re-imagining of the series, building on the core tenants of the series but adding village building and earth dancing. There is emphasis on the turtle in the artwork, which is appreciated as turtles are extremely cool. Please look directly at the turtle in the above image.

32:32 - The next segment focuses on the Earth Dancers, our protagonists. Brandon and Suzie emphasize again that their characters are a bit brash and more elegant respectively while also adding that Subaru is a bit more emotional and Kaguya is more reserved.

34:25 - We move on to the next segment, which covers the Village Builder and farming aspects of the game. Players will be able to place residences for villagers, build farming/ranching facilities like barns, and storefronts. Ovilee emphasizes that you can design the town for your own quality of life, such as setting up the blacksmith next to your home instead of having to run into town every time you need them.

35:20 - There's emphasis on the Eastern style to the game's world design, though there will be some Western aspects as well, such as foods. No specific mention of actual Western foods included in the game.

36:33 - Bows and Talismans are new weapon types, and the ability to recruit monsters and party members to adventure with you as a returning feature is emphasized. When asked about favorite characters, there's some evasion on being able to mention specific characters, but shout-outs to Woolby, the game's mascot.

38:19 - We pivot to the romance side of Guardians of Azuma. If there was any doubt, same-sex relationships are emphasized as a returning feature. While, there was some evasiveness on favorites at first, Brandon does say that the writing is wonderful and that different scenes would make him laugh or cry from the ways different relationships play out before highlighting Cuilang's story in particular.

41:15 - Ovilee, begins asking Suzie and Brandon about their characters. Kaguya and Subaru being childhood friends who were betrothed in an arranged marriage before the events of the game, where things "get complicated." Ovilee then asks about their opinions on the depths of the relationships of the characters. The phrases "comprehensive," "fleshed out," and that each side character has a strong story without short-cutting anyone. Playing their characters did have plenty of strong emotions, with Suzie mentioning one of the characters made her extremely angry, "I was ready to take a swing at somebody." Kaguya and Subaru have a lot of history with each other as well.

45:33 - Garrison Denim, localization team member, joins the group to hand out three Sacred Treasures from the game, a Sacred Drum, Sacred Sword, and Sacred Parasol. After praising our voice actors, it's time to jump into some gameplay. Garrison narrates as we're given a look at Spring Village, the first in the game. Village customization is emphasized, and it's shown that villagers are also helping with the farm work, not just the player. They can plant, water, harvest, and each villager will have distinct qualities and specialties. You can also still use monsters to handle your fields.

Next, the Sacred Treasures are introduced. Each has special abilities: The Sacred Parasol can water every tilled tile simultaneously, the Sacred Drum can speed up growth, the Sacred Sword generating seeds from crops ready to be harvested. While the drum is being used, there is a pop-up referencing a "Drum Dance Skill Tree."

An alternative, birds-eye view for village customization is shown. Maintaining villages will be extra important, as you're "not farming just for yourself" as the leader of these communities, and "making sure all the villagers are fed." There's also a lot of decorations to help creative village designers. Each village will have a fully customizable space, or multiple spaces, to use.

55:55 - We now switch to demonstrating combat. Your party can have a maximum of six, filling in with romance candidates, monsters, or villagers while you adventure. It's demonstrated that bosses have specific weaknesses and that filling a stun gauge can allow you to get an upperhand, and different characters will have different specialties. You can also ride some monsters, relationships with party members will improve, Sacred Treasures are demonstrated to offer combat abilities like debuffing enemies, and perfect dodges will grant bullet-time like effects.

1:07:22 - It's time to get to relationships! There's a new menu while interacting with characters that will give you options based on your bond level with them, with new options unlocking as your bond level increases, as well as a time-based cost. Each character has a variety of different things to do with them, as well as likes and dislikes, and some interactions lead to distinct scenes.

1:12:25 - Sakuna collaboration DLC! She exists as a villager, can join your party, and such. She's itty bitty. We also get to have a little look at the Collectors Bundle. Closing out, Suzie and Brandon also mention that this is probably the longest running project they've worked on, with lots of hard work and voiced dialog that they're looking forward to players experiencing. Finally, the newest trailer plays again.

[yuurei20]

Hey there! Absolutely love all the work you do here, it's really helped me as a newer fan of Twst get a better grasp on the characters and lore, so thanks a lot!!!

I'm not sure if it's ever specified anywhere, but do we know what exactly the name "Twisted Wonderland" encompasses in-universe? Like, is it the name of the whole planet, or a continent, or some other established grouping?

I know we do have a map that shows a lot of the characters homelands, but as far as I recall, it doesn't include the Scalding Sands. Which beyond it being the homeland of Kalim and Jamil, there was also a whole in-game event there that fleshed out the environment and culture, yet do we even know where it would hypothetically be on a map?

I also remember Sam talking about the cultures of the East during the New Years event, so there is presumably more beyond the map we know, but I just don't know if it has ever been clarified? Madol/Thaumarks are also the only currency we've ever seen, which could make it similar to Euro in how a whole continent uses it, or maybe there's something else to it.

Apologies for the long ask, I just found the implications to be fascinating depending on what little info we may have on the matter!

Hello hello! Thank you for this question! ^^ And you are much too kind!! ♡

From comments like “Twisted Wonderland’s got a number of educational institutions for cultivating magicians” and “Twisted Wonderland would be forever enveloped in winter’s cold, harsh embrace,” I do believe that “Twisted Wonderland” is meant to be the name of the entire place to which the prefect has been relocated! 

There are other times, however, where this can sound odd: the entire world (is it a world?) has the same traditional event (Beanfest)? The entire world has the same kind of fire and police organizations? Halloween is one of the biggest events in the entire world? Icicle mushrooms are one of the three greatest delicacies in the entire world? 

It is not impossible, but it is curious! Is it maybe not literally the entire planet, but possibly just a hemisphere?

(But is it a planet at all? Could it possibly be a dimension? 👀 We know that the dorms exist in dimensions of their own--are those pocket dimensions inside the dimension that is Twisted Wonderland?)

Except, as you say, Kalim and Jamil’s home country is not even on the main “world” map and yet it is still considered a part of Twisted Wonderland (as far as I can tell), so we know that “Twisted Wonderland” consists of more than what is being shown to us!

We have never been shown any borders of “this is where Twisted Wonderland ends and where another place begins,” or even heard that any place besides Twisted Wonderland exists here, so with the information we have at the moment I would say that everywhere we have heard of thus far is within the boundaries of Twisted Wonderland—whatever it is that may be 👀 (Limbo?)

Also as you say Sam does manage having eastern branches of his Mystery Shop, but Sam is very mysterious 👀

We technically do not even know if he is a mage (he does not seem to have a visible magestone, unlike the rest of the staff, and being magicless would tie in well to the character upon which he was based), or anything about these Eastern shops! It does not seem like it would be out of character for Sam to have access to inter-dimensional travel and, as aforementioned, his hometown cannot be found on the map 👀

Is Sam like the prefect, moving in between Twst and the world from which the prefect came (and maybe even Japan itself, hence his "Eastern branches")? I am pretty sure that there is nothing in-game to insinuate that this is the case, but it is fun to think ^^

Also as you say, Madol/Thaumarks seem to be a universal currency! I like your comparison to Euro very much!

While things like having the same traditions/currency/events/etc. throughout an entire planet might be a little unrealistic (in this game about dragon princes and mermaids who do parkour ww), it is possible that things were simplified just for the sake of keeping it all manageable within the visual novel medium ^^

My apologies for not having any answers! I do not believe that there is any information missing from what you already know, and while it is all very vague and curious, I agree it is also fun to think about! ^^

[call-me-copycat]

Heya @epickiya722 ! Sorry for getting to this late!

I've been asked to post the titles of all My WIPs and then anyone can ask me anything they want about any of them - I'll do the titles of my writing WIPs and a brief title of my drawing WIPs since I have so many of those too (⁠^⁠～⁠^⁠;⁠)⁠ゞ

She's better at explaining it (⁠๑⁠•⁠﹏⁠•⁠)

I have sooooooo many unnamed folders all over my writing app, what you see on Tumblr is after I've fixed it up and made it all nice and shiny (○ﾟεﾟ○)

Writing WIPs:

Random MHA info I've been writing down every time I've watched it (plus info from the movies too)

Random vigilante groups I've made (I like to expand the world, think about the past and the present, the minor things. I like to detail it a ton)

Random Laws and Acts I've made for the MHA universe (I have a ton)

My attempt at restructuring how time (dates wise) is set up in MHA

More random world building, but a little more quirk related

An absolute library of random effects/potential quirk ideas that I haven't fleshed out very well

Random texts for advertisements for UA in MHA (wanted to put these in a drawing, but I have had these texts for a long while)

Order random texts for other MHA in world advertisements

I just discovered this right as I'm typing this but I apparently have a folder with a bunch of random characters made (most likely for background characters). Includes full names, random habit, quirk, and their job

Random emperor/samurai AU I wanted to do late middle school/early highschool but forgot about or gave up on. Has a bunch of MHA characters with assigned roles and everything

Because of that I have a huge folder of a bunch of info I had written down after studying the Samurai era lol

Random information on Japanese services I've used for fics in the past (little things, like convenience stores, post offices, garbage collection, transportation, etc. Helps to World build since MHA is placed in Japan)

Random Japanese names I've forged from different kanji if anyone's curious (you've made me really nostalgic Kiya, I haven't looked at most of these for years lol)

What were Aizawa's parents like? Ideas

More Quirk laws

Emergency laws and regulations that were put into place during the early stages of the development of quirks

Early Quirk rights activists and their contributions

Infamous people in history who supported laws and acts against quirks and those who had them, as well as those who believed that people with quirks were sinners and should be purged

UA after school programs

I forgot I made these but apparently I came up with random click bait news articles that could've been made against UA after USJ and the Bakugo kidnapping (can you tell this is old?)

Limitations of disease manipulation

In The Wake of Chaos (longest WIP)

The Murmurs of The Heart (no memory of writing this, I liked reading it though)

Aizawa's Father Day

Embers of Yesterday (1)

Embers of Yesterday (2 - longer, but scrapped due to being inconsistent with canon)

Prompt was with Deku: "I'll protect you. They'll never touch you again" (scrapped because I have no memory of where I was going with this)

Do You Trust Me?

Purity Prevails at Midnight

A Beautiful Dilemma

Hollow Thoughts

A Glimpse of Tomorrow (almost done and my favorite!)

Close Your Eyes (1, 2, and 3 - have been struggling with this one for some reason)

Short story about the horrors of Regeneration (unfinished, obviously)

Escaping The Night #9 (I know lots have been looking forward to that lol)

Drawing WIPs:

Generic anime girl sketch I only started so I could draw with my friends in a drawing session

The super layered Aizawa sketch I wanted to make for his birthday + the coming out of You're Next that I never got to finishing (⁠T_⁠T⁠)

Sketch of UA

Sketch of Shirakumo and Luffy because I think they look similar + they share a birthday :⁠-⁠)

Random villain drawing I haven't finished the background for

Oldddddd samurai sketch (you can tell it's old since it's still in my chicken scratch era lol)

Tried "painting" a train scene digitally, file got too big and I eventually forgot about it :⁠'⁠( What is done looks nice though

Unfinished schoolgirl base sketch I wanted to draw Pop Step as

Rooftop Trio in random hats (got frustrated with shading the shirts and forgot about it ages ago >⁠.⁠<)

I didn't realize I have so many WIPs (⁠*⁠﹏⁠*⁠;⁠) My notes apps (I have 2) are SO CLUTTERED

It's an absolute mess over there (⁠ꏿ⁠﹏⁠ꏿ⁠;⁠) If you're ever curious, ask about a WIP! Ask about several WIPs! I'd love to share!

If I don't get back to you immediately, don't assume I stopped taking asks! I will answer asks even if you ask like a week later lol (just link the post you're asking about if I've reblogged too much to scroll down) I like to get back as soon as I can but I'm either at work, school, or sleeping in between -⁠ᄒ⁠ᴥ⁠ᄒ⁠-

[class1akids]

What do you think of Nana as a character?

She was really intriguing for me when she was introduced in the Kamino fight. I thought that reveal was a great twist and couldn't wait to find more out about her.

But in the end, I have to say, her character just didn't add up very well for me. She's another one of the "buff, pretty women" who people really love for their design (Nagant, Star, Nana, Mirko), but their characterization relies on a lot of tropes and "cool factor" and remains pretty shallow.

The bits and pieces we get from Nana just feel like a lot of wasted potential instead of really digging into an important theme of the story - the pain caused by self-sacrifice for the people left behind.

She is kind of a contradictory person: she tries to hide her son to protect him and cut him off from the hero world but at the same time she burdens another child - All Might - with OFA and the fight against AFO, but leaves him with at least some support. Gran Torino supporting Toshinori helps him rise and her forbidding GT to look after Kotaro is a factor in his spiral.

Hero Nana feels like all the tropes of "badass woman hero": she grins at AFO in her death, talking about how All Might will take him down, also telling a young Toshinori to keep smiling because that's what makes him "strong". And ironically, that smile to Tomura becomes the symbol of everything he hates about hero society, pretending not to see the suffering they cause or simply ignore.

Hero Nana seems like someone who successfully compartmentalized Mother Nana and shut her inside a box when she gave up her son for adoption and seems to have severed that part of herself until the end. The feelings of guilt only come after she sees what Tomura has become.

Vestige Nana with her "testing of Izuku" and "can you kill Tomura - oh I was just kidding" is also tropey as hell. I would have preferred some real introspection, or at least some good interaction with Izuku about the moral dilemma of what to do about Tomura, but Horikoshi is not great with that when it comes to female characters.

So in the end, she is just kind of a crying mess of a vestige, flip-flopping on Tomura's fate. I'd like to say that her finally taking responsibility moved me, but it being between two dead people in vestige land, just doesn't carry the same weight to me (like as opposed to Rei running into the fire).

I always say that Horikoshi is mostly a visual storyteller, and he knows exactly the stuff 99% of his audience wants. I'm in the minority and I actively dislike when I feel like he's trying to manipulate me with sentimental visuals instead of solid storytelling (like last week's episode of Anya x Damien in MHA).

But at least the way he used Nana wasn't too bad - even if it had to be really spelled out for her that leaving her son behind like that was kind of bad for him - hugging and stopping Dreamland Kotaro is stepping up both as mother and hero - reuniting her two halves. She couldn't get through the barrier until she reintegrates the mother into the hero and becomes the hero to save her family. And she is the final piece to help Izuku get through. Thank you. I get the theme. It's about as subtle as a sledgehammer.

I guess it's a decent cap for a character who embodies a key theme. But I think she could have been fleshed out (not just drawing her in a lot of detail), but in actual character nuance and storytelling (things like how she met En, why did she take OFA, her state of mind after losing her husband, etc.)

On another note, it would be nice if this was finally the end of the vestige peanut gallery (I absolutely came to hate their parts in the final fight), but considering Yoichi and Vestige Might just seemed to have gone poof, unfortunately, I wouldn't be surprised to see again all of them.

[leohtttbriar]

I think Michael like for all that she is she is definitely an anthropologist like I think she takes a very great cultural lense before a scientific

you know, i think you are absolutely right! thank you so much for bringing this up! i wasn't even thinking about her academic specialties when i wrote this post. her first question being about "praying" could very easily just have been the way she was trained to meet alien peoples where they are first before obnoxiously being like "what is that, tho"

and, to your point about the cultural v scientific lens:

for better or worse, i'd say star trek collapses the boundaries between a lot of academic disciplines. "hard" v "soft" science doesn't seem to be a distinction in the star trek speculative world, where linguistics and anthropology are as much about physics and biology and no one is going to pretend like learning languages is a different kind of Study to learning chemistry. this sometimes does not work, imo, because sometimes the writing will accidentally slip into an unexamined essentialism with the alien cultures, which renders the whole of the allegory sort of silly and potentially all kinds of offensive. but it sometimes does work.

discovery, from what i remember of the first two seasons (i'm only just now starting the third, bc i lost my cbs account between 2 and 3, alas! etc), seems more able than other series to collapse the distance between disciplines and walk the line between what is cultural and what is material culture informed by biology. like saru constantly talks of his alien species and how their history of being hunted on his planet manifests in a perpetual anxiety and tamed-curiosity for him but also lends a level of care and sensitivity that he excels in---all of which fleshes out the character while giving him the awareness and consciousness to know why he may be acting a certain way compared to others and why he shouldn't ever be demeaned for it and where his body and his body's millions-of-years-old natural history can be challenged with that consciousness and how his consciousness can be valued precisely for its origins.

the klingons and vulcans, while not as sophisticated as the character saru, also seem to be largely cultural products that are informed by their specific biology. michael, somewhat caught between the cultural product and her own biological reality, can affect vulcan mannerisms and is very often portayed as thinking like a vulcan, while remaining very recognizable to us. her phrasing and her pattern of speech, while not monotone, are normally utterances that move from established fact to logical conclusion. I have nowhere to go back to...the only thing I can do right now is trust something, she says, upon being thrust nine-hundred years in the future. it's the statement of a stoic philosopher (probably one of the "vulcan" influences). she is concerned with what is material and what is real and what is real to others.

which is why i really like what you pointed out about her anthropology expertise--culture is real and often naturalized to those who live in it. michael is definitely someone, what with her studies and how she was raised, who is intimately aware of how the alien can be made familiar, how bodies can't be denied but you can learn to know them, how consciousness is strange and existence-in-causal-time stranger, and how people (all creatures included) are never all one thing or another.

obviously there's no perfect speculative fiction creating speculative cultures. the hurdles of making a sell-able show and the ingrained biases and limitations of the writers are not insignificant. but the storytelling here is engaging with conceits concerning the preciousness of life and the immutability of that preciousness--even if you don't understand it.

(also i just love michael burnham with all my heart. don't think it was a coincidence she was named after the angel who carries a sword.)

[thewisecheerio]

I have trouble recommending Fromsoft games to people not because they're hard--that can be ABSOLUTELY managed--but because of the environmental storytelling. People who like the environmental-storytelling style LOVE it and find straightforward, "canon"-heavy narratives to be really boring. But people who prefer overt storytelling will find environmental storytelling very frustrating and give up after a few hours of gameplay.

So even though I think the Soulsborne games are masterpieces, I absolutely cannot recommend them to most people.

In overt narratives, you get one, singular consistent (you hope) canon constructed from the abundance of cutscenes and written lore. You can then use that canon to think about its implications for the untold parts of the story--how certain characters would react in certain situations, what the political implications of the lore are for the world, etc.

The fun of the singular canon-style story is in having a world you already understand the rules of, and then using those rules to construct new fanfics and headcanons and such (essentially "applied lore" work). Meanwhile, you also get to appreciate the established lore itself.

In contrast, in environmental storytelling-heavy narratives, there is no singular canon. The compendium of lore facts doesn't exist yet. Your job is to go find the rules of the universe. You are given the bones of a story and must finish putting the meat and flesh on yourself.

This is a fundamental divide from overt narratives. You are tasked with coming up with a consistent interpretation (or perhaps 5 competing interpretations!) of the evidence put before you. When you find new evidence, you have to discard the narrative you were previously supporting in order to support a new, more consistent narrative that better explains the bones of the story. The fun is in discovery lore work, which is a fundamentally different kind of fun from applied lore work.

For people who enjoy discovery and testing multiple interpretations against each other, this is an endless playground of fun. But for people who like to have a singular canon, this is the most frustrating type of narrative to engage with. So recommending stories that let you play with the narrative itself and figure out which interpretation you like best is really hard for me to do, unless someone tells me explicitly that they prefer this method of storytelling.

[spaceorphan18]

Why is Blaine written as this hypermasculine character in fan fiction? People can absolutely write how they like, I just don’t quite understand why this is such a common trope as he isn’t really like this in canon, is he?

I mean, you watched the show Nonny, what do you think? <3 <3 <3

So. I can kind of talk about how this happened back in the day. I'm not sure I have a good explanation for now.

There are a couple of components going on when the show first started. For one -- Blaine's character was ill-defined and in Season 2, he came off as more masculine coded than he would later on in the series. Even into Season 3, they'd lump Blaine into the guys and Kurt in with the girls and even the show set up this dichotomy that they filled different gender roles.

However... the second component, and the one that really, we should be talking about, is the fact that a lot of people tried putting stereotypical, heteronormative layers onto them. And -- eeesh, that has not aged well, has it. I remember there were a lot of discussions as how Kurt was the 'girl' in the relationship, and assigning those gender roles on to topping vs bottoming, and honestly, it's all a little gross, and completely dismissive of the fact that we're talking about two men in a homosexual relationship.

So, Blaine going super masculine was a way to counter Kurt as super feminine. I mean... and that's the way a LOT of romances had been written in the published world -- (I mean, eesh, just reading Julia Quinn, she's adhering to these strict gender roles up the wazoo, and they aren't great even for the straight couples.) But when that's what people know and are used to (and some people just like that dynamic) that's kind of what got layered onto Klaine.

that all said, gender conformity isn't as much of Klaine's story as people tried to make it. Yes, in the beginning - Kurt was much more effeminate, and Blaine filled in that role as hero, savior and protector, and the Klaine romance took on elements of things like fairy tales, etc. But that's shoving them both into archetypes that are, really, archetypes, and doesn't allow them the nuances of being more fleshed out characters.

Well, more fleshing out is what we got, and as time went on, they evened out. Kurt's masculinity became more pronounced, as did Blaine's femineity, and by the time the show was done, they were pretty even when it came down to having more masc vs fem traits.

But I mean, I go back to my first point, this is still a gay couple, and neither one, no matter how feminine they are, is the 'girl' in the relationship.

Idk, I've probably been more eloquent before when discussing this, because this isn't the first time I have. But it boils down to people wanting to place Blaine into a certain archetype that is surface level and ignoring his sexuality. but I assumed people have gotten away from that? Idk what the state of fanfic is these day. :P

[starfragment1979]

I've been working on that fanfic, the one that was supposed to be fluff-n-smut, but the more I write the more plot starts creeping in, and just a liiitle bit of conflict. I was telling my spouse about this, and they joked that I just can't stop myself from writing a well rounded story, ha.

It's also turning out to be longer than I had anticipated, because of course it is. I had four scenes in mind, and I was going to post them as separate chapters just for ease of reading, but I was also going to post the whole thing at once because I didn't think it would be that long. But I just finished chapter one last week and it's 10k words, and if each chapter plays out the same way, 40k is kind of a lot of fluff-n-smut with some bonus plot and conflict. I'll probably still post it all at once, though, once it's done.

But, oh, friends, it is going so slow. I have been struggling with health stuff since early November... I thought at first it was just election stress, but after a while I started assuming I must've somehow gotten sick with a virus. My normal, everyday symptoms for years now include things like body aches and fatigue and sore throat and congestion and shortness of breath etc etc etc, which means it's so hard to tell the difference between just another flare up and being sick with something new, so I never even thought to test for covid until it was too late. I guess it doesn't matter now.

But I have been stuck in bed all day and exhausted and in pain and either not sleeping or sleeping like the dead and having nightmares every night and my brain is so sludgy that it takes superhuman strength to wrestle words out of it. Like it takes me fifteen minutes to write a sentence and then when I reread it I realized I already used half the words in the previous paragraph which I wrote the day before. I do have random better days where writing comes a little easier, and the story itself is clear in my head, I'm just struggling to find the words to convey it. But this one is gonna need some more substantial line editing when I'm all done writing, I think.

And just to be clear, I am writing these stories for myself. Like I do absolutely love the kudos and comments and the occasional Tumblr post or whatever, and I'll admit to regularly refreshing my stats page to see if I got more hits. But if I was just in this for the accolades, I'd go find a more active fandom.

I'm writing these stories because I love the characters and the lives and the world I've created for them. But also the act of writing itself is so vital to me feeling like a human being, and especially now as I'm increasingly bedbound and can't really access visual arts or craft projects, writing is one of the only ways I can practice creativity. I have lost so much to this illness, and I don't want to lose writing and stories and art, too, even if it's a struggle, even if I'm using more energy than I can afford to do it.

I don't know how to express how vital writing and creativity is to my mental health without this whole post coming across as a pity party. Every now and then, when I'm having a bad day or a string of bad days, I'll start to think, "Maybe this should be my last story, maybe I shouldn't be doing this anymore." But I don't like to think about what my life would be like without writing, and I don't want to lose that last little shred of humanity.

And whenever I start to think I should quit, I also wind up thinking up another story I want to write, and I wind up wanting it badly enough that I decide to keep going for just one more story. And then one more. And on it goes.

I've actually got the next story I want to write fully fleshed out in my head, like scene-for-scene, a lot of the prose and dialogue clear in my mind. It'll be a one shot where Flick has a medical issue, panics about it, and CJ helps take care of him. (I know, I know... it's not my exact medical issues, but there probably is some projecting going on here, lol.) And it's all so clear in my head that I'm tempted to take a break from my current story and write that one instead, to strike while the iron is hot, because maybe it's also easier for me to write angst than it is to write sex, ha. But I also think it's probably better for me to save it for later, so that I have some future plans and something to look forward to, to use my own stories as a life raft for myself.

[not-poignant]

How do you 'find the plot' as it were in a story? You've mentioned a few times hat you tend to start out with stories that are only a few chapters long, but then spiral outwards from there. I feel like I have the opposite problem - I come up with character concepts, worlds, etc. but everything fizzles out after a few chapters. It's not that I'm not passionate about the worlds or the characters I build, I just... feel like they have nowhere to go. Any tips/tricks/advice for when this happens?

Hi anon!

So everyone does these things a bit differently. What I do might not work for you! So keep that in mind if I describe something that makes you feel demotivated or uninspired, it probably means it just isn't the right technique for you!

Now to break things down:

Even if I'm only starting out with a few chapters, I usually know where I'm heading. Which is almost always - when it's not straight up PWP - a romance.

Romances by default need to have a HEA (Happily Ever After) or HFN (Happy For Now / Hopeful For Now). That HEA/HFN must feature the two main romantic leads (unless you're writing OT3 or whatever). It's not 'happy but one of them died.' It's 'happy but both of them are end-game.' No matter how long my story is, that is always the end-game, and that never changes.

So you already know where you're going. No matter what. The story is internalised, the rules are firm. You break that rule, it's not a romance anymore. It's something else with a romantic storyline in it.

Generally speaking anon, if you target certain genres or character arcs, you will always know exactly where you're headed - it's your Polestar, your True North - even if you don't know exactly what it looks like yet because you haven't been there before, you know that everything in that story either has to work to get your characters closer to that end-point, or it works against that end-point in a way that will have to be overcome.

And then from there, that is where all my stories gain their shape, even if I don't plot anything. Because even though I write a lot of different genres, the romance is always at the heart of it for me. Or more accurately, it's always the compass point. Even when the romance isn't that important. Eran and Mosk's romance absolutely took a back seat in The Ice Plague, but their happiness was still the end point. I always knew where I was heading.

In amongst your worldbuilding and character building anon, I would say you need to do more concrete work on understanding the genres, and then applying one or more to your own work. I feel like you've put everything in your backpack except for the compass, and then get surprised when you lose your way.

It doesn't matter how good your map is, if you don't have a compass to read it with.

Think of the map as your worldbuilding and character building, then think of the genres and the tropes as your compass.

Go hunting for the compass alongside the map, otherwise you just end up with a map that's unworkable no matter what direction you turn it in. It looks like it has all the information you need, but it actually doesn't, because a map on its own isn't enough. (Even Google Maps uses a compass salkjfads).

When you lose your way, it can help to think of your favourite examples of the genre/s you're writing, and how motivating those endings or conflict points were in the story. It can help to revisit the genre/s themselves. For example if you're writing upbeat action/adventure, you want relatively fast pacing and some explosive moments. If you're writing grimdark, you're going to have to kill off some of your (and everyone else's) faves.

Learn about genre/s, about trope/s, the deeper you go, the more of a story scaffold you'll have as the skeleton beneath all the flesh you put on the story. Without that backbone, without that compass, it will all fall apart.

I am fortunate in the sense that I've been studying story structures what feels like all my life. From the very basic story structures of Grimm's and HCA's fairy tales, to literally studying it at university in scriptwriting and film and creative writing. So my compass is within me, and I don't have to research it in the same way anymore.

But I loved every moment of building my compass, and I hope you enjoy building yours too, anon. Since you already enjoy the worldbuilding and the characterisation, it's the last thing you need in your backpack to keep a story going and know where you're headed. Because your genre is always pretty clear, for the most part, and when the genre isn't, the tropes will be.

[tombfreak]

if someone (me) wants to write (or roleplay) a character with Antisocial Personality Disorder, how do you think they should do it? What are questions that can be asked about the character in order to develop or flesh them out more (like, "how does your character act in blah blah situation")? And do you have any books/excerpts/short stories that have a character with ASPD that you can recommend? Your blog and many others' blog really helped me in understanding how ASPD works, which ends up in me being able to develop this character more. However, I'm still not sure how to actually really write in this character's perspective, mainly because I still want to understand the littler details. I really just don't want to accidentally write something that ends up not being true lol IG if it helps, my character w/ ASPD is very apathetic and he believes that showing emotions is weakness, so he always has a poker face.

Holy fuck I completely forgot I had this blog LMAOO My bad. Anyways.

First off, as a writer, I always try to avoid giving my characters any labels of a disorder especially a personality disorder, cuz it feels cheap. Its easy to just throw a label on them and call it a day, but its harder to write them in a way where they would be diagnosed with ASPD yknow?

Like for example, you can say a character has anxiety, and boom, theres a new trait. But are you able to show this in your character without using the word "anxiety"? With ASPD, or any personality disorder, you need to be able to show this characters habits and mindsets and behaviours without having to use the label "ASPD".

I think the best representation of a character with ASPD I have seen in Dr. House from House MD. I was absolutely amazed by how much I could relate and how accurate it was to how I experience, and have seen others act, with ASPD. And the best part is that they don't even say he has ASPD until way later in the show, but that doesn't change a single thing about how he has acted up until that point.

The main thing about cluster B personality disorders is that there is a maladaptive and dysfunctional way of thinking and acting ingrained into this person. And the way they view things and behave actively causes them issues in their relationships, social settings, work, etc. It differs wildly for everyone though, but the one thing that is pretty much the same for everyone with ASPD is that their core fear is being controlled, and they value self-preservation above everything else. It's them against the world, and they are constantly grasping for power, control, and social dominance in order to protect themselves.

So some questions you can ask about your character is:

1. How do they experience empathy and remorse? ASPD is known to be a disregard for others and rules that actively causes issues in their life. In what ways do they disregard others feelings/rights, and do they feel bad about this? If they do feel remorse, what overrides this to make them keep acting in anti-social ways?

2. ASPD is a disorder. It causes a lot of issues in a persons life, especially with the law, authority, and hurting peoples feelings. In what ways does your character suffer from their behaviour and ways they think/view the world?

3. How do they view the world? What do they value the most? What are they willing to do to protect themselves, and how do they respond to perceived threats? ASPD is known for reactive aggression, where they will respond with hostility at a perceived threat (even if there wasn't actually one, they often take ambiguous remarks as hostility)

4. ASPD symptoms must have also been present in childhood (symptoms of conduct disorder shown before the age of 15). What was your character like as a kid? What caused them to act out? Who were the primary influences in their development, and how did that influence who they are today/how they think?

Remember that people with ASPD are often rude, harsh, callous, insensitive, and lack a proper moral code. They may act hostile towards anything that feels like control, especially being told what to do, or having rules to follow, including social norms like morality, political correctness, manners, and empathy. They often look out for themselves before they even think about looking out for others, and they are willing to do anything and put anyone down or manipulate a situation to protect themselves.

People with ASPD are often good at making excuses for themselves and avoid punishment for their actions, or completely disregard consequences and repeat their mistakes over and over again. This is partially due to a mindset of "you can't tell me what to do/you can't control me/fuck you". There is a lot of defiance.

And of course please remember that ASPD is a spectrum, and there are mild to extreme cases, and it presents differently in everyone. The main thing is that it causes distress and dysfunction in the persons relationships and life because of their disregard for rules and others. And that they fear being controlled, and value self-preservation.

And while people with ASPD are usually insensitive assholes (love ya), we also are people. We are human beings, not problems. We are human beings, not pricks. So make sure to write your character with hobbies and interests and redeemable traits and with positive qualities as well. Dont have their entire character written revolving around the idea of ASPD. People are complex, and there is much more to someone than their disordered behaviour/mindsets.

Also what you said about your character being very apathetic, you could tie that in to a lack of care/disregard for others which Im sure you were already planning on doing. But also remember that ASPD isn't just a quiet, apathetic, emotionless robot disorder. In reality, ASPD is pretty loud. Its angry, and destructive, and aggressive. Cluster B PDs are classified as emotionally unstable and erratic, and ASPD is no different. So make sure you remember that while he may not care about others, apathy/lacking empathy isn't a criteria for ASPD (though its heavily correlated). Check out the DSM-5 criteria and make sure your character qualifies. Also, you don't get diagnosed with ASPD just cuz you think antisocial thoughts. You get diagnosed cuz of the way you behave and interact with others/the world, and the problems that causes you. Most people with ASPD will be diagnosed through the legal system. So make sure you show the antisocial tendencies of your character, as I mentioned before with separating them from the label.

I hope this helped a bit, mb for the late ass response LMAO Good luck

[markantonys]

I've seen so many comments re Rand "he didn't do anything the entire season, He was just dragged around by other people the entire season, he's not even a character in the show, he's a plot device, he was just an observer in his own story" and I feel like I watched an entire different show than those people. Like even with the being dragged around by other people argument he's still actively making his own decisions this season whether that's getting information from Logain and learning some things from him, the cat and mouse game he has going on with Lanfear, etc.

i've seen a bunch of comments like that too and am equally baffled! just because he isn't yet a Channeling Master doesn't mean he did nothing all season and is a plot device rather than a character? lmao, i'd argue that if the show had focused on making him blow stuff up with the power or win swordfights against blademasters despite no training rather than on exploring who he is as a person and how the specifics of his personality affect him and the other characters and the story, THAT would be making him a plot device rather than a character!

rand's entire storyline this season centered around who he is as a person: someone who will do anything to protect the people he loves. moiraine had to seek him out because of this specific aspect of his character. lanfear and ishamael used this specific aspect of his character to manipulate him. he went to falme and got publicly declared TDR because of this specific aspect of his character. so many plot points would not have happened if not for this specific aspect of rand's character. that means he is a fleshed-out character who drives the story and makes things happen, regardless of how often he gets trapped or tricked or shielded or how often he needs help to get out of situations.

and like, yes, he IS largely being bossed around by other characters at this early stage...............which is the point! he is the most powerful and dangerous figure in the world, and he doesn't yet know how to use that power, but everyone around him sure does have plenty of ideas of how THEY want to use his power! moiraine's trying to drag him in one direction, lanfear in another, ishamael in a third, the tower in a fourth, etc etc. that's The Point of this early stage of rand's arc and something that is thematically huge for him throughout the series, and book readers should know this. i can give show-onlys who don't yet know the full trajectory of his arc more leeway, but even then it's pretty obvious that all our young heroes are in the process of growing into their roles and figuring out how to be independent and that they're still EARLY in that process, and that as the story goes on we will see them take charge of their own destinies more and more.

and like you say, rand absolutely IS making his own decisions this season! he's getting dragged around by people and factions who are as of right now stronger than him, but that doesn't make him a cardboard cutout who doesn't affect the story. half the stuff in this season was caused by HIS decision to wander off alone and let everyone think he was dead! he got a whole-ass job and worked his way up the ranks all on his own, all because he was motivated to get to logain to ask for channeling help! he's trying to take control of the lanfear situation, and sure she's usually out-manipulating him seeing as she has 3000 years of experience at her disposal compared to his 21, but he's also very aware of the leverage HE has over HER and has been taking advantage of it! HE was the reason they all went to falme, it wasn't moiraine forcing him to go, HE wanted to go on his own to help egwene! even if lanfear pulled strings by making him aware of egwene's situation in the first place, it was still HIS decision!