#it's actually kinda tough for me to articulate why i love a character so much without defaulting to “well... uh he's hot?!” haha

[vraisetzen]

V, who's your favourite hashira?

Ooh, that's a great question, Anon! How does one choose! I think it's a testament to Gotouge's writing that I love all characters in KnY — though some more than others, haha.

When I first started watching this anime, I really fell for Rengoku (as with Tanjiro and the rest of the Kamaboko squad); I was just so inspired by his steadfast, positive attitude and his righteous spirit, and I cried a lot when he died.

But then, as I waited between the Mugen Train film and the adaptation of the Entertainment District, I went and read the entire series from start to finish, and by then pretty much decided Uzui was my favourite Hashira.

On his own, Uzui shares many characteristics with my other favourites from other series — he's very charismatic and charming with the ladies, but he also has a true heart of gold and beneath that easygoing exterior is someone who is committed to the right cause and protecting others (think: Gintoki from Gin Tama, Gojo from Jujutsu Kaisen, Shunsui from BLEACH, and Schönkopf from LOGH). In fact, there is a specific scene from the Entertainment District arc that makes me swoon every time:

I can't think of any other Hashira who would be willing to do this — granted, Uzui had a very personal stake in this mission, with his wives and Zenitsu missing, but I think he was the only Hashira who understood, more than anyone else, the ways of the real world.

Uzui turned his back and fled from his family, at the age of 15, with his wives. Before that, he was forced to grow up in an entirely different setting — one where he learned that to survive was to be ruthless and rose above the others. It's a completely different backstory from, say, Sanemi and Giyuu who had their childhood innocence destroyed by demons. But it also gave Uzui an edge in perceiving the world differently from the rest of the members; sure, he wanted to rid the world of demons, but at the same time, he cherished and loved his wives more than anything else in the world. His family meant as much to him as his duty to the Corps.

(That scream he let out when he saw Gyutaro holding Hinatsuru hostage was one of the most chilling moments in the entire arc — a shoutout to Konishi Katsuyuki's fantastic voice acting!)

Even if it meant sending three junior slayers into Yoshiwara to investigate the whereabouts of his wives (something he would come to regret), and even if it meant an early retirement (much to the dismay of Obanai) so he could spend the rest of his days with his family.

In a world where many of these characters seem to live by extremes — to be a slayer and die protecting one's humanity than to succumb to being a demon — Uzui's perspective of the world sets him apart from the rest of the Hashira. He actually has something to lose, and by god would he fight to death protecting that. It is a perspective that I relate to, at least; saving the world and making it a better place is just an important a responsibility as it is cherishing your near and dear.

So, yeah — I think there are so many aspects to Uzui's character that I find immensely compelling. He's an extroverted person with a complex inner life that not many are privy to, and might even consider to think about because of his outlandish person. But as Shrek might put it, he has layers, and beneath that flashy exterior and flamboyant accessories is where one can see who he really is — very much like when he removed his makeup for the first time, and we see how handsome he really is.

xoxo, V ♥️

[ectonurites]

My least favorite type of fic!Tim is when he’s portrayed as depressed/very mentally and emotionally unstable, but also at the same time as someone who is like lauded as being super dangerous/the most skilled or something like that?? Those fics where Tim is chugging caffeine and barely sleeping, but characters are still like “oh I wouldn’t wanna piss off Tim he is Dangerous” and that’s annoying enough but then there are fics that at the same time as that portray him as like on the edge of a breakdown. It’s very irritating even if I’m not sure I can articulate exactly why, it just really rubs me the wrong way. Like, I definitely do think Tim has some issues with depression and stuff, but in fics like those it’s treated more like a quirk sort of instead of a serious issue

LMAOO I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT i’m not a fan of that either. I’m apologizing in advance if I sound mean in any of this critique i’m about to give of that fanon version of him. I want to preface this by saying that people can write whatever the hell they want, like, they’re allowed to! And I’m not referencing/calling out any specific works here. Just trends. But I’m gonna bitch about some things I’ve noticed that annoy me, personally. (so again, not saying other people can’t enjoy this stuff! just. not for me)

so like sorry if im mean but this is just me ranting and also this is my blog anyways so:

(nobody take this as an attack on them please because it’s really not)

The problem is a lot of those fics seem to interpret Tim’s behavior in Red Robin (& especially like that last whole arc of his Robin run also by FabNic) as if that’s his normal, rather than the result of a few years of CONSTANT traumatic incidents pushing him to a breaking point (because while all the shit he went through with his Dad, Steph, Kon, Bart, and then Bruce dying was spread out over several years for us as readers, it’s regarded as like within two years in canon! It all happens when he’s 16 and 17. According to the Batman comic right after War Games, Jack was murdered only days after Steph died.

(Batman #634)

That’s a LOT to process for one kid jesus christ) 

I love Red Robin honestly, I do, but it is about Tim at the lowest points in his life. It’s the grand finale of Tim’s story, and everything crumbles, that’s kinda the point! The end leaves him in a position to either rebuild himself or fall apart. It’s all about how he chooses to continue after this point!

(Red Robin #26)

The way he acts and the things he does in that comic should be regarded as such. He can’t live the way he does in Red Robin forever or he will literally burn himself out/become something unrecognizable, like, jesus it’s kinda even acknowledged in the comic when he thinks about what his potential futures would be if he keeps it up like he’s doing:

(Red Robin #25)

He sees himself as dead, as Batman (which he has countless times said he doesn’t want to be and at this point in his history almost every time he’s seen a future he became Batman in he had become a killer), or needing to retire and taking over an Oracle-esque role, likely because he exerted himself too much to continue. 

When you look at him around this same timeframe when he’s not isolating himself/too deep into the mission and is instead working with his friends back on the Titans, you can see that he is starting to heal and work in a more positive direction. He’s choosing to work on coming out of this rough period by being together with his friends who he loves.

(Teen Titans (2003) #100)

Not to say that you can’t write about situations in which he doesn’t start to come out of it, but if you are doing so it’s something you should be taking seriously because that’s the idea you want to explore, not just acting like it’s perfectly okay or normal? (And again, there are a lot of works that do explore it in good ways, there’s just also a LOT that don’t)

Like, so much content I see just make any sadness and depression and tendency to over-work himself that’s rooted in his traumas (which! those do have a basis in canon!) into a quirky personality trait rather than a response to trauma. Acting as if he’s always been this way and it’s normal for him. That’s what bothers me. If people want to seriously explore the effects of all these incidents and how that plays into his ability to do his job as a hero, then hell yes do it! But when it all gets brushed off as ‘oh thats just tim, he just doesnt eat or sleep or feel any happiness but like its fine he’s just always been like that’ I feel my blood boil. 

This also often strikes me as related/tied to fanon’s seemingly never-ending quest to make Tim into this victim of so many things he really wasn’t. They make his childhood 10x worse than it actually was (yes he was lonely because he was sent to boarding schools rather than having his parents around, but he was NOT just left home alone all the time as a child. 

(Batman #441)

He snuck away during a school vacation week to follow Bruce one (1) time and to then track down Dick. This is established in his introduction story! PLEASE read Lonely Place of Dying!) and it just... going with those fanon assumptions as being true changes so much of how people characterize him! 

Some people will also (not to call out tim/kon shippers especially because I  literally am also one but) vilify the shit out of Steph and make their relationship out to be some abusive thing rather than just... a messy teen relationship between vigilantes because they had really complicated lives and baggage with one another? Which they both acknowledge they made mistakes in!

(Red Robin #10)

Or people will vilify the shit out of Dick in regards to the situation at the start of Red Robin, or literally just make anyone who Tim ever had a disagreement with out to be the bad guy despite the actual situations always being way more complex and multi-faceted than that.

And then on top of all that, aside from making him into this ‘im broken 24/7 and not doing anything to fix it also everyone around me is terrible to me’ type of character, because he’s a lot of people’s favorite, they also want him to be as cool and strong as he is at his high points. So they’re projecting all this stuff onto him that makes him what should be a barely functioning person but then also act like that’s fine and he’s able to be a dangerous badass on top of it. 

Like I’m sorry but someone who is going out and actively acting as a vigilante like that which is incredibly physically taxing is NOT surviving on coffee alone and no sleep. That’s literally not possible, he’d fucking collapse. (And like, again, if you want to explore him pushing himself to that point, that’s one thing! but acting like he can manage all of that for more than a few days at a time/maybe while working on one really tough case is nuts!) and like, even canon can be a little guilty of this type of thing particularly since the New 52 (Detective Comics 2016 had more than a few references to him barely sleeping, but at least they also made references to him eating normally/healthily and he wasn’t completely self isolating or anything) (and also that comic had him be so self sacrificial he was ready to die to save everyone and only didn’t die because of Mr.Oz’s interference, he’s definitely not in his best place there) but usually it’s still within some realm of possibility.

Also like. The fanon ‘chugging coffee to survive thing’ just annoys the shit out of me because, like, yes there’s a few moments in canon where he’s under a lot of pressure and pushing himself further than he normally would and had some coffee (one of the only times I can even remember him having it on panel is... oh... during that last Robin arc I just mentioned a little while ago shouldn’t be where you source your normal characterization of him because it’s a very difficult situation that pushes him further than he normally would go! huh!) But the thing is like, people play it off for laughs, or like it’s a normal thing he would do at any time in his life! If you want to explore him pushing himself and using coffee as a crutch, like, there’s ways you can write it that takes it seriously, but almost every time I see it come up in fics it is like a core part of his personality and just ‘oh haha silly tim always with his entire pot of coffee he must chug every morning or he’ll die :^)’ And that bothers the hell out of me. 

In general it’s just... people treat Tim so weird. They want him to be so many different things that he’s shown himself to be at different times for very specific reasons, except they want him to do all of it at the same time which just doesn’t work. A person can’t function like that, and it’s not even close to who he is in canon. 

Again, people can do what they want, and this is just my opinion obviously, but yeah. My two cents on the matter.  Read Lonely Place of Dying, read Young Justice, read his Robin run. Read his comics and get a feel for who he was before all the rest of his trauma, and see how he canonically reacts to it along the way. I know reading comics can be tough for some people but so much stuff just echo chambers and becomes barely recognizable in this fandom and it’s just... a shame when it happens with a character ya love. 

[the-whole-long-stupid-story]

So I’m participating in this 30 Day Roswell Challenge thing over on insta at the moment, and Day 4 is ‘Favorite Female Character’ and so far everyone has chosen Liz. Which is fine, Liz is great...

BUT MARIA DELUCA IS MY FAVORITE

Let me tell you why, because there are many points to make.

Firstly, can I just say that I love ALL the female characters on Roswell. The characters all serve a purpose of moving the narrative forward, which is the whole point - and yes, even though we “love to hate” her, even Tess plays a big part in that. And I will begrudgingly admit Courtney did too 😂

So without much further ado…

Maria is a fantastic friend. Not only does she keep secrets, she tells amazing webs of lies to ensure their Czechoslovakians remain hidden. She’ll lie down in the dirt in a green ensemble and allow a scary alien boy to place a silver painted handprint on her chest, because they have to throw the Sheriff off the scent. She chooses to put herself into daring and dangerous situations for the love of her friends and to protect them. She travels interstate (okay, the first time against her will, but after that she was a willing participant) and allows her mother’s Jetta to be absolutely trashed most times. She’ll encourage you to “try again” with your powers when they don’t quite work the first time. She’ll knock on your window when you’ve slept in on the day of your wedding, and offer to take on a multitude of tasks in order to ensure you have the best day ever.

She gives great advice. She is a constant shoulder to cry on and a listening ear for both Liz AND Max, even when she is going through hell in her own relationship. She drops everything to help when she’s called upon, and even when she’s not she is still there. She is a trouble-shooter, comes up with amazing plans and pulls them off like magic. She knows just the right thing to say (or not to say) to pull haughty alien boys back into line, and how to offer them comfort without judgement when they need it. She delivers key lime pie interstate when her best friends are arrested for holding up a convenience store. She sings at her best friends’ funeral, even though she is barely able to stand.

She is smart. She is funny and articulate and warm. Sure, she was originally written as a “flake”, but can we seriously describe Maria DeLuca that way? She knows what’s up, but she plays it down. She’s street smart, and she knows just the right thing to say to lighten the mood. She’ll find the loop hole to get your long lost “sister” set free from the confines of her evil Aunt & Uncle’s clutches, have the mansion reassigned in her name, and make sure she’s safe. She’ll figure out that you’ve been visiting Juanita at her love pod before you even have time to explain yourself. She’ll know where to take you when you have a vision of Tess being held captive, and then drive you there. And then she’ll circle back for reinforcement, catch he kinda boyfriend bailing a blonde up against a wall, and ignore the whole thing until the next day because you and Tess are currently in danger. Priorities.

Maria puts others before herself. She’ll forgive you when you throw her out of her own car while you’re possessed by an alien king seal. She’ll turn up on your doorstep in the middle of winter in Vermont because she knows you’re having a tough time and probably need to rant over ice cream. Maria will lock herself in an office with a man that has gone “off the menu” with a gun, to try and talk some sense into him before he kills everyone. She won’t bat an eyelid when your previously dead boyfriend suddenly reappears and tries to strangle her to death while you’re in the shower. She’ll send her childhood friend (and okay, first kiss) packing because you tell her that your powers are out of control and it’s too risky to be found out right now.

Her love is realistic. She never gives up on Michael, but she holds him accountable for his actions. In S2, every time he needed her, despite being cold and mean and cruel towards her, she was there. She believed in the good in him when no-one else did. She sees all his faults, and she loves him regardless. But she never asks him to stay for her. Her father abandoned her as a kid, she’d just lost her best male friend and clearly she wanted Michael to stay, but she didn’t ask him to. He told her he was leaving, that he had to for Max and Max’s son, and she respected that. She knew he had to go, that deep down he likely wanted to go - and she let him, even though her heart was breaking. She knew that they shared the same dream of finding something better than Roswell, New Mexico and she wasn’t going to stand in his way, because she wouldn’t want him to if their roles were reversed (and they were in S3). She never took the choice away from him.

Maria DeLuca chose to leave for Michael Guerin. She left her life in Roswell, her mother, her singing dreams and her future behind for the love of a boy that had turned her world upside down. Michael gave her ‘an out’ when he came to say goodbye to her in Graduation, because he knew it was so important - based on her history with her dad - to not just up and leave. So he came to tell her how much he loved her, and to give her an out to escape the alien chaos once and for all (and ultimately to keep her safe). But Maria is a lover, and she had chosen to love Michael right from the start - it was always a choice for her, and she chose him despite everything.

Maria DeLuca is fire. She is a queen and a goddess, and that’s why she’s my fave.

Okay, I need to go rest my fingers now. 

Thank you for coming to my Maria DeLuca Tedx Talk 😂 /end rant.

P.S. GUYS, Majandra shared my post to her stories TWICE and I am now DED.

Join me in a few days when I post my next rant on why Michael Guerin is my favorite male character (and actually, just overall favorite character) ✌🏼

[hey-erika]

SRMTHFG and Gargoyles for 'send me series and I’ll tell you my' meme!

@chanceofcloud

Sorry I answered this so late! I kept overthinking my answers and rewriting it.

SRMTHFG

FAVORITE CHARACTER

Gibson! I find him very endearing. He’s smug and pretentious, but he just tries so, so hard literally all of the time. I enjoyed watching him become more humbled and open minded over time, reminds me of me when I was a pretentious, know-it-all teenager lmao. I just enjoyed every second of screen time he got throughout the series

SECOND FAVORITE CHARACTER

Antauri! It’s hard for me to articulate exactly why I love Antauri. He’s just one of the most interesting characters in the series, in my opinion. I love listening to him talk, not just because of his voice but just because I find myself so captivated by anything he has to say. The way he teaches and protects Chiro, but also believes in his intelligence and abilities (usually) makes him what I believe a mentor character should be.

LEAST FAVORITE CHARACTER

Hmmmm that’s a toughie, I like pretty much all of the characters… I guess Skelemandarin specifically is kind of up and down for me, but I still like him, it’s more so his role in the series later on, I guess. Quite especially in the last season, he’s just kind of there to be Valeena’s lackey and do the hard stuff for her. But, that’s more of a writing issue than an actual issue I have with the character. Also I feel like we deserved to see the two Mandarins interact at least once.

THE CHARACTER I'M MOST LIKE

This one is also tough hahaaaaaa

I guess I’m a combination of Gibson (tries too hard, especially to sound smart and be likeable), Jinmay (tries to be kind to others, not having a solid grip on my identity), and SPRX-77 (deflects bad things that happen to me by turning them into jokes).

FAVORITE PAIRING

GibOtto! Every interaction the two of them have is just a delight to watch, I love watching their personalities play off of each other. Their relationship throughout the series develops in such a sweet way. To me it almost felt like, while all the Spova stuff was going on, Gibson and Otto were just having their own romance arc in the background lmao. I know that, even if we did get an ending, GibOtto would likely never actually be canon, but it just feels like such a natural progression of their relationship, to me at least.

Also if they were to put their heads together to invent things more often, they would be practically unstoppable, I’m just sayin

LEAST FAVORITE PAIRING

Oof uuhhhh, I guess besides the obvious no no’s, maybe Gibova? For no big reason other than that I think it’s dull and has no basis.

FAVORITE MOMENT

OOF there are a TON of good moments in this show hahaaaaaa. I’ve only watched most episodes once (I only got into the series a few months ago), but I would say a few of my favorites are; the scene in the convenience store, Antauri’s moments in “A Ghost in the Machinder,” baby monkeys, and Mandarin’s introduction scene. The I, Chiro saga as a whole is wonderful, but I think my favorite of it would be the scene where Antauri comes back to life. Also obligatory mention to Otto and Gibson hugging and holding hands in “Galactic Smash.”

I’m very indecisive.

RATING OUT OF 10

8/10! There’s some questionable writing decisions sprinkled throughout, but it’s an overall amazing series with so much potential to it’s characters and universe. Even the few bad episodes had at least something I found enjoyable about them. I highly recommend this show to anyone looking for something funny and cute and action-y, but also with a surprising amount of depth to it. (Probably could’ve been bumped up to an 8.5 or 9 if it had an ending but… disney hates joy)

GARGOYLES

FAVORITE CHARACTER

Lexington! I found him to be unique for the “tech smart” one of the group. Usually these types of characters are cynical, dry, skeptical, logic-driven, and have a holier-than-thou attitude. And while Lex can be dry and sarcastic sometimes (especially towards Brooklyn or Broadway), he never thinks of himself as more important than anyone else in his clan, and doesn’t bring anyone down (beyond playful ribbing) to feel good about himself. And something I thought was very refreshing about his character is that, despite being the “computer guy,” he’s shown to be angry, vengeful, and irrational at times. His decisions aren’t all dictated by “logic,” (IE never showing emotion ever because “eMoTiOnS aRe IlLoGiCaL”) he’s allowed to make bad choices and feel hurt about things, especially since he’s young (the equivalent of 18). Being smart doesn’t exempt you from making mistakes or feeling real, raw emotions and Lex encapsulates that perfectly.

Also he’s “adorable with a dark side” and that is some fine character trope RIGHT there

SECOND FAVORITE CHARACTER

Demona! What a rollercoaster of a character, to this day she’s, not just one of the most compelling female villains, but one of the most compelling villains in general. The writers do well to let you understand and sympathize completely with her motivations, but don’t hold back on how ruthless and despicable she can be. In complete denial mode over the loss of her clan, forced to walk the Earth for over a thousand years as an immortal, all the while being hunted down by the Hunters and Macbeth, it’s easy to understand why she is the way she is now. It’s so nice to have a female villain that has such deep-rooted character flaws and trauma that it’s just embedded in her every word and action.

LEAST FAVORITE CHARACTER

There are many, many well-written characters in this show that it’s hard to choose. But, I would probably say the Archmage. Really only having prevalence in the first Avalon arc, he has no real motivation beyond “me want ultimate power.” And his only real narrative purpose in the series as a whole was to cause Demona and Macbeth to be cursed.

Also Oberon is just kind of an annoying bitch

THE CHARACTER I'M MOST LIKE

I really do suck at these kinds of questions lmao

Lexington, maybe? I am quick to anger/irritation, and struggle with vengeful feelings sometimes. Also Brooklyn? I don’t really know myself tbh hahaaaaa

FAVORITE PAIRING

I know I draw Lexington and Staghart quite a bit, but the best pairing in the show is undoubtedly Goliath/Elisa. From day one their chemistry was amazing and believable. They are both so, so good for each other in every sense. Their personalities just fit together so perfectly, not in the sense that they 100% always get along all of the time, but in a way where they never stop trying for each other. Trying to better themselves, trying to understand each other’s point of view, trying to better the world around them. There is just so much love put into all of their actions and decisions. (also the woman being the one to shut out conversation and deny her obvious romantic feelings is a nice change of pace)

Also it’s the monster lover in me, I gotta

Additionally, when I first got into the series I was partial to Brooklyn/Lexington, and to be honest I still kind of am, but w/e

LEAST FAVORITE PAIRING

STOP SHIPPING BRONX WITH PEOPLE. Please I BEG of you to stop shipping Bronx with people

Although if we wanna talk about pairings that at least deserve to exist, then I can’t say I’m a fan of Brooklyn/Katana. Not any fault of Katana or her character, I just HATE the Timedancer storyline. HATE it. If there’s any AUs where Brooklyn and Katana meet without all of that bullshit I’d probably like it more (because I do really like their son, Nashville).

FAVORITE MOMENT

“I don’t remember any explosions in Bambi.” Also the Golisa kiss is still A+ romance. The episode with Brooklyn having to take the helm with Goliath gone is a solid episode. I love how, despite being entirely cut out for leadership, it was still a scary and daunting task for Brooklyn, especially since Goliath was gone without a trace and no one had any idea where he went. Brooklyn had no safety net going in and was understandably both distraught and overwhelmed to the point where he snapped at Hudson and gave up for a bit. That is just such a realistic reaction to that kind of situation and I feel like a lot of shows don’t do that kind of thing.

RATING OUT OF 10

9/10! Gargoyles excels at taking somewhat typical plot points and taking them above and beyond, most especially through the spectacularly written characters and phenomenal execution in it’s storytelling. I never watched most of season three (the creator said it wasn’t canon so I didn’t bother), but I still highly, highly recommend watching Gargoyles if you haven’t yet. My only complaints are; the whole Timedancer thing I mentioned (though that was in the comic continuation and not the show itself), and while the Avalon World Tour arc had a lot of interesting moments, by the end of it I thought it kinda dragged (“Future Tense,” woke me right the fuck back up tho, hoo boy)

[upthehillask]

i’d love to hear your cursed child opinions!

Oh boy, well now you’ve unleashed me :D lol I don’t know if you’re interested more in what I loved or in what I’d critique, so I’ll go for both I guess? And you can read whichever you like :) But tbh you won’t hear anything new from me that you haven’t heard other fans talk about. Anyways, here are my thoughts on the actual play: [Spoiler alert I guess!]

Things I loved:

- THE MAGIC!!! The effects were EVERYTHING. The time warp, the telephone booth, the floo, the underwater, the dementors, the writings on the walls, and so much more… Really cool!!! And I loved the whole vibe and aesthetic of the play too, it felt authentic and fitting! THE SWISHY CLOAKS!! I want them!!

- The scenes I especially enjoyed were Harry’s nightmares, glimpses into his past and scenes from the books in general. I think they executed those quite well, made me really soft! Especially the scenes of little Harry in his cupboard and also him in the graveyard. Gripped my heart. Oh, I also loved that they finally showed Cedric in the end, he was so perfect!!

- Draco. Yes yes yes to dad Draco. Still bitchy, pretentious, and petty, trying so hard to play cool and tough, but a pained softie deep inside—we STAN. The relationship between him and his son I CRI EVRITIEM!!! Draco in the alternative timeline letting Scorpius do what he believes in, Draco in the real timeline hugging his son, I LIVE. And oh my god that scene where Draco walked in to Harry crying.. GOD. Yes emotions, yes vulnerability, yes bonding, yes yes yes. (Though I still can’t get over the ponytail. Would’ve been more than fine if Lucius hadn’t been portrayed with long hair lol)

- I loved Albus!! He’s a good Slytherin boy! That’s all I have to say. He’s a good friend and son who tries his best. I liked him a lot, more so now after watching the play. He really did remind me of Harry in a lot of ways. (Also, unpopular opinion, but I always loved Albus Severus’ name and I always will, fight me.)

- And just all the dad-son relationships, parenthood themes, friendship between the boys, related conflicts… Loved all of them. Touching, inspiring, couldn’t get enough!

- McGonagall was fcking ON POINT. Fcking QUEEN. Get it girl. Show em how to understand and respect children 👏👏👏

- I really loved Snape too! It was nice to finally see him being his self that only Dumbledore got to see in the books. I loved his demeanor too. I know actors change, but the one I saw portrayed Snape in a way that felt more canon. As much as I love Alan Rickman, he was a bit too graceful and sophisticated for canon Snape. In the play, however, Snape was kind of more rough, more rash, less pulled together in a way that he spoke and moved. It’s subtle but I lived for that. Also he was finally short. Yes.

- I feel like I have to mention Harry too. I actually quite liked him, so I’m gonna put him under this list as well. Yeah, that one scene where he threatened McGonagall into strict surveillance of his son is a bit much, errr 😅😅😅 But overall, I like the idea of him struggling as a father, making mistakes and learning from them. He’s a good egg.

- Ron and Hermione, my babies!! I had issues with Ron’s characterization, but I did mostly enjoy the portrayal of their relationship. I liked that their roles within the play were mostly to be together or to find their ways to each other. Since so many fans are against their ship, I was really excited to see them. And I just loved Hermione in general. They got her characterization almost on-point too, I think. I just love her 🥰

- In general, I enjoyed a lot of the dialogue. I liked all those strong, emotional one-liners that make you gasp. Harry saying things, Albus saying things, Scorpius, Draco, Ginny, others… There were good examples of lines they’d say that perfectly articulated everything that they embodied or felt or were dealing with. Well done there.

Okayyy I’m sure there’s more I could think of, definitely, but I’ll stop here since this is already a lot 😁

Things I questioned:

- So the one single biggest thing that I am the most critical of has to do with the plot itself, and it’s about Cedric turning into a Death Eater. I’m sorry but I just can’t. I could write a whole essay on how this makes no canonical sense (and I probably will if you ask me lmaoo), but to sum it up, Cedric eventually turning bitter and evil because he was publicly humiliated directly contradicts his canon character development. Cedric’s humility, kindness, and fairness are the core qualities around which Cedric’s personality was developed in the books. He almost explicitly places popularity, glory, and reputation second, and that’s critical, because if failure and humiliation were to affect him so drastically, his primary core values needed to be broken down and changed beforehand, but they never weren’t. So presenting the Triwizard incident as the turning point for him does not make any sense, and as a result the rest of the narrative falls apart. This is a plot hole and hasty writing.

- Yeah, Bellatrix having a child is still kinda weird 🙃🙃 I just hate that because in the books Bellatrix played the archetype of this anti-mother, the antithesis of motherhood and motherly love. I feel like having her voluntarily bring a child into this world destroys that symbolism. It makes me unsatisfied.

- I had some issues with the very beginning and the whole “montage” of events leading up to the fourth year. I found it overwhelming and disorienting, even though I’ve already read the script and knew what’s going on. Still, I felt like I was hit by a train, watching all the fast-paced scenes, cliché chaotic small talk going on, years going by… It felt messy for some reason. I feel like I need to watch it again in order to fully catch up and process everything I saw, and that’s not a good sign. But I didn’t hate it, I just wish we were more eased into the story.

- Scorpius. Now listen. When I read the script, Scorpius was my favorite character. I LOVED him, this awkward nerd who loves his dad and best friend with all his heart. The way I grew to imagine him was quite not how he was portrayed in the play. I know the dialogue and everything’s all the same, but idk, Scorpius in the play was way more hyper, bolder than I pictured, and worst of all, he was going out of his way to be this wannabe player. He seemed so all over the place, even acting a bit arrogant sometimes, celebrating moments of over-confidence, chasing after girls, trying to be everything BUT himself. But that honestly might just be my takeaway alone. There’s nothing actually wrong with his character, I just found myself slightly disappointed with him in the play specifically. I wish I could see the play again to actually analyze things more thoroughly to explain why I feel this way, but I can’t. I still like Scorpius, but a different version of him. (tho damn did I love those skinny pants on him lmao 👌👌)

- Moaning Myrtle. Like, I laughed, it was funny, but it just wasn’t very tasteful lol and I was left feeling a bit uncomfortable from the idea of this young murdered girl writhing and thirsting over literally everyone. The play really blew that out of proportion and idk it’s kinda awkward when I think about it 😅 And in general, there was just so much thirsting… with Rose, Polly Chapman, Delphi… Not to mention Albus kissing his AUNT… Like damn chill JK please 😂 Weird cliches and teenage hormones aren’t the only source of comedy okay?? 😂😂😂 Also, speaking of Myrtle, I kinda wish there was something mentioned about Draco having had been friends with her in sixth year. Idk it would’ve been nice to see that relationship somehow reminisced since we didn’t really get to see it :) 

- Craig Bowker Jr... If he was supposed to be a parallel to Cedric, both being the spare, why did he get literally zero attention?? We don’t really know who he is, we don’t see anyone hurting because of his death, he’s killed with such apathy. We don’t even see his parent grieving, like we saw Amos (who also happen to be an integral part to the plot of CC!). The whole parallel is so incomplete. Poor Craig and his unsymbolic death..

- Ok I am obviously elaborating way too much so let me just quickly summarize the rest of things I don’t actually hate but might wanna rant about: RON IS NOT A JOKSTER—GEORGE IS. RON IS A FIGHTER. HE IS ALSO HARRY’S BEST FRIEND, NOT HERMIONE, BUT HE WAS MADE USELESS AND UNNEEDED, WHICH IS HIS ACTUAL WORST FEAR, SO WHO THE FUCK DARED. ROSE IS MORE THAN A BITCHY ROMANTIC INTEREST AND A BAD FRIEND. WHERE THE HELL IS HUGO. GINNY’S EVEN COOLER THAN SHE WAS PORTRAYED, I PROMISE. THE SURPRISE SECOND TIME TURNER ERRRR LOUSY PLOT DEVICE I’M SORRY. LACKLUSTER PLOT IN GENERAL, THE ONLY ACTUAL TWIST IS DELPHI’S REVEAL—NOT ENOUGH, JKR KNOWS BETTER THAN THIS, THE BOOKS WERE FULL OF TWISTS AND TURNS (but that’s kinda okay with me because the relationships between characters in CC really made the whole story worth it).

Alright enough :’D I’m not actually upset, just exaggerating haha Because overall, I liked the play. I wanna see it again. And I wanna analyze it more, too. I’m so excited I finally got to watch it. It’s far from flawless, but I’m still happy with it overall and want to approach it positively! Sure, I’ll rant when it’s ranting time, but I do love it (:

[comicteaparty]

February 1st-February 7th, 2020 Creator Babble Archive

The archive for the Creator Babble chat that occurred from February 1st, 2020 to February 7th, 2020.  The chat focused on the following question:

What is the nicest thing someone has said about your story, whether its published or still a WIP?

Deo101 [Millennium]

Well, this is one I can answer right away. It's not a very straightforward answer, but I had someone reference me and my comic in an essay about reasons why they were able to love themself... It was for a creative writing class, and they just used me as an example of a greater thing (indie media)... and I only know about it because they asked me permission. but they let me read the essay, and it made me cry. I havent heard from them in a while and I really hope they're okay, but that really stuck with me in a way nothing else has. It's not really a quote, though, so the nicest comment I have recieved was "I can tell how much you love people by reading this story." It was really sweet in a way I can't quite articulate. People have been incredibly sweet to me, and I feel very blessed. I could make a long list detailing the kindness I have been shown.

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Apparently Phantomarine (http://www.phantomarine.com/) has made more than one person cry already. Which, to me, is pretty darn high praise, given that I've barely begun the story

Having people find it and say "THIS IS EXACTLY THE KIND OF STORY I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR" also hits a nerve. I know that feeling. You like certain themes/motifs and you wish someone would blend them together in just the right way. It can be magical.

And the last one is when I learned that children like it. A few have come forward so far - either in person or through their parents - and told me they loved it. It was around that age that I was building my own 'inner library' of inspirations for the comic. To know that I might be part of theirs, even in a small way, is just... the best?

Deo101 [Millennium]

that's all so incredibly nice <3

and now I wanna add to my list actually I don't want to interrupt, this is just a topic I wish I could sing from the rooftops about... I also had a student of mine (I am a teacher at a church) come out to me because he knew I would be okay with who he is. And, I have had people tell me it's inspiring to them, which kinda makes my heart melt. I'll stop now but, really I could go on and on about how open and loving people have been with me and my work, and how much it means to me.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Man... This is somewhat difficult for me to answer since I am so early into my comic creating journey. However, I will say that I recently got a comment on my comic Whispers of the Past (https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/whispers-of-the-past/list?title_no=191366) that made me smile. A long time reader commented that they always read my new pages twice, once on Webtoon, and again on Tapas. This really made me realize that my work has meaning to somebody other than myself, which is definitely what I need to hear when I'm doubting myself.

Mei

It's so nice reading about nice comments people have gotten and honestly... y'all deserve it!! I need to be in a better habit of commenting myself because I will promote comics to my friends for days on end but I'm too shy to leave a comment, even though I love receiving comments myself. I think the nicest comments I've received have been in combination with the conventions I was at last year. People told me that they thought the comic was funny, which I am incredibly thankful for. And one person who bought the book at the convention took the time to find it on Tapas and then comment on the latest page, saying that they'd talked to me, read the book, and that they liked it. That meant so much to me it was crazy! And another time, I was showing my book to someone at a convention and she said that she actually read the comic online, which honestly... It's so strange and surreal to me to meet anyone in real life who reads things posted online. It made my heart do smiley emoji. I think what LadyLazuli said is really right, this idea that you're a small part of someone's life or inspirations or just general day is pretty amazing?! Also this one guy commented on every page week to week with the same 'vase' joke on several updates and honestly the commitment was truly astounding

kayotics

I think some of the nicest comments come from one specific reader, who has mentioned a couple times that going back and reading the comic has helped them through some tough times. There was also one person who went to the effort of contacting me after their books were damaged from flooding, and wanted to buy new books to replace the old ones. This was wild since they wanted to do something so inconvenient (paying with cash by mail, and I didn't even have an online storefront in the first place) to replace the books.

twothirty

really early on i had 1 reader that would leave in-depth analysis of some character interactions and they were were spot on and made me really feel like people cared about this story . The other interaction that really stands out was doing the convention circuit last year I had a reader come up to say hi, and usually that interaction is just "i love your comic!" (which is amazing) but he also then talked to me at length about the story and again it was this feeling of just knowing someone out there cares about what you're doing. Comics feels particularly isolating so interactions like that really keep me going.

Funari (Raison d’Etre)

I've had two different readers tell me our comic has brought them joy during bad days. Sadly one of them I haven't heard from in 2 years and they were going through some rough times. I hope they're okay

Nutty (Court of Roses)

The nicest thing I've heard was when my coworker told me him and his daughter were reading it, and he told me that she's "drawing like me" with panels and stuff and keeps asking him "how do i make the bubbles" So they're gonna work on that and then he's gonna show it to me.

keii4ii

Any time someone gets what I'm trying to do with the story. I have a great fear of getting good intentioned people trashing the most important parts of my story (without realizing their importance). So whenever someone gets what the story is all about, whether as a whole or just one scene, it's a huge weight off my chest. Legit brings tears to my eyes. Even if I manage to overcome that fear some day, comments like that would mean a lot to me. Being understood has always been very important to me.

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

Someone recently said they wanted to get a tattoo of something in the comic and that was cool. It also means a lot when people respond well to the jokes in the comic because I put a lot into the writing to make it funny. I hope it makes someone cry someday Joe Is Dead http://joeisdead.com/read

DanitheCarutor

Ffff all my readers have been so compassionate, it's jarring! In a nice way! Choosing one nice thing is hard, every comment has been nice. I guess the most flattering is when a someone takes the time to go back to the previous chapters to link little things up with the current events in the story, or when they manage to remember in spite of how webcomics update so slowly. There was a comment I saved a while back where someone remembered a small thing in chapter 3 and was doing some brainstorming with it relating to the current chapter at the time.

Every so often someone also leaves a paragraph with some of the most motivational gushing, it's so nice! Oh! Also, there have been a few people who've asked me to print my comic so they can have a physical copy (which I'm slowly starting to do), which is super motivating knowing a couple people like my depressing comic enough to want to own a copy of it.

keii4ii

Oh man, I too have saved screenshots of some of my favorite comments, but I don't wanna share them because 1) some of them are long and 2) maybe the commenters wouldn't want their names disclosed in a different context? They are great to save for a rainy day, though!

Tuyetnhi

Oh this is hard I remember one comment on tapas that they got their aunt and cousin reading it and I was flattered! Most comments I got were about the artstyle and progression of the story, which I hope to continue if school lets me. Still, I'm quite surprised that it drove someone to get their family to read a romance about someone's dream lover lmao

also same keii!

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Honestly, I have far too many comments I should screenshot. But so many of them are praising the art, and I never know how to feel about it. Like, those types of comments make me happy, but I never know how to truly feel about them.

keii4ii

Art is admittedly easier to comment on. If I'm commenting on art on anyone's comic, I try to point out how it contributes to the storytelling, rather than "ooh pretty and shiny." Pretty and shiny is valid but I'd be just doing illustrations if that were my main goal!

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

But if 9/10 comments are, "Wow, the art is so pretty!" I can't really react to it much, especially since my own self-doubt is constantly reminding me of my mistakes.

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

I've been really excited to answer this question because it gives me an opportunity to thank any and all the fans and people who celebrate our work. I've been so humbled by all of the wonderful and amazing fanart we've received, music paired with scenes from our comic, and fans even imagining scenarios of the characters themselves-- I'm constantly blown away! I do have my most treasured moment however, and that was when we were tabling at TCAF a couple years back. We had been swamped with crowds, selling, and early mornings-- it was a long day! That was until we had one person who went through the trouble to see us in person, and handcraft a drawing to deliver to us, saying thank you, and in that moment I bawled!! They quickly left after us thanking them so much, and I'll never forget that and how much it gave us a fire to see this whole project through. We have it framed and it sits in front of our cpu

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

I got one comment where someone said that one of my main characters "seems sweet," and it just left me confused because, a) he's only said about ten words total, and b) in those ten words, he has somehow managed to be rude.

So how is he sweet???

But I mean, I should be happy that he seems likeable despite his attitude and reticence

Tuyetnhi

nice lmao

I do agree about the comments about the artwork being pretty and idk how to repond other than thanks lmao(edited)

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Yep

That's pretty much all I can say

Because I would HOPE my art looks pretty good after a decade drawing haha

Tuyetnhi

tho tbh because of the nature of my comic, I do get the occasional thirst comment and I'm just sitting there bawling

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Oh yeah, I get those

Tuyetnhi

"Wow he's buff"

"yea bc I made him like that lmao"

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

People drooling about my male MC mainly

It's so awkward, but I knew it would happen

Tuyetnhi

same, but for the male love interest and i'm like "this is expected lmao"

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

I KNEW WHAT I WAS DOING

keii4ii

I get like 0 thirsty comment despite one of the MCs being an athletic cat dude with literal secret tentacles (I'm okay with not getting a lot of thirsty comments, but I do find it interesting)

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I've gotten thirsty comments and my comic is not meant to be romantic or sexy at all

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Oh, I can leave you some thirsty comments

I love Lu

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I was going to say they are inevitable(edited)

but kei proved that wrong

Tuyetnhi

same I love Lu too lmao

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

And will gladly praise his hotness

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

if your comic goes on for long enough, i think you will get some eventually. it is a rule of the internet

keii4ii

It's been ongoing since Nov 2014 XD But I guess it takes longer for some than others!

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

@keii4ii I don't think you quite understand

I have never been attracted to animal-people before

I have always found anthros and such weird

And yet

Lu is totally my thing

Tuyetnhi

Strangely attractive for a cat guy lol

points for those who get the ref

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

how do you guys know what their comic is?

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

He is way too attractive

keii4ii

Mine? Cronaj and Tuyetnhi came across it outside this Discord, I believe!

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Yep

I have been reading it for a few years now

Although I can't say exactly when, because HoK has been a part of my life for so long

Tuyetnhi

I think I started reading it a year or 2 ago lol

DanitheCarutor

@keii4ii The only nice thing about Webtoons is that there aren't any profiles to check, so you can't look up fans via their comments. Also if you did Google their username there isn't a guarantee whoever you find would be that Webtoons user without them telling you. Lmao! About the thirsty comments, I used to get them a lot of Webtoons. There was this one scene where my smaller MC pulled the taller one to their face to say "Your friend is dead", before shoving him away and walking off. Some of my readers went wild! They wanted the two MCs to make-out so bad, even though the scene clearly had no romantic chemistry... or even the entire comic for that matter. My thirsty bunch came off really desperate and reaching at times.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Omg, that's just precious

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I really have never gotten thirsty comments, with the exception of one or two very mild 'Oh, that character is attractive' comments. But I think my comics just don't really attract thirsty readers. Of course, I rarely get any reader feedback, so that's probably part of it.

keii4ii

@DanitheCarutor Yeah, that's a plus about the semi-anonymity! My screenshots are from less anonymous places, so yeah. Some are also from like... Discord, where the person may not even have expected the comment to be archived in any way. (Sometimes I actually asked if I could screenshot, but I don't know if I asked every time...)

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

No one has ever reported finding my characters attractive

Deo101 [Millennium]

People thinking my characters are hot is a pretty common thing, and usually I don't mind but... sometimes it's the bane of my existence.

It's always a little bit weird, though

every time someone is like "dat ass " I'm like alright bud keep it to urself

it's part of why I made all of my characters adults, actually

people even before I started making it, just when I was talking to them about it or showing my art would STILL be overly sexual about my characters so I aged them up where it felt less weird for me.

kayotics

I’ll get thirst comments every once in a while, usually on tapas. I don’t mind it too much, especially since I’m usually making characters that I’m also attracted to? I usually think thirst comments are funny

DanitheCarutor

Pfff I'm in a similar boat to Deo's. Usually I don't mind, but there are moments where it sucks. Like there will be a really serious, or heavy scene and someone will pop up with "Make them kiss!!", "Don't be mean to your future hubby, X! Kiss him and make up!!". It totally feels they don't actually care about the story and just want something to jack it off to. xD I don't get a whole lot of thirst anymore, which is nice. I think the vocal group lost interest after being blue-balled for 3-4 chapters. Weirdest thing, I have yet to get anyone saying my characters are attractive... well, some readers used to say Julian (my questionable looking non-binary character) was pretty but they weren't really thirsty, just observations. At least they came off like that. My style makes characters look kind of ugly, so comments about any of my cast being attractive is non-existent. @keii4ii Ooh yeah, I can see how that would be an issue. Although, if you really want to show off some super nice comments, you can also just cover or blur out their username and icon image. A lot of people do that, it's really good for keeping up the user's anonymity, and I don't think they would mind since you're not using their words slanderously.

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Can I admit I sort of wish I got some thirsty and shipping comments? I also draw characters I think are hawt so I kinda wish my readers felt the same way. XD I don’t really want them in Ashes were my characters are teens, but in Eryl where 95% of the cast is legal age, I kinda wish some people wanted to be a little bit thirsty about it. XD

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah, i just wish it wasnt... Idk sometimes it seems like thats ALL people see and it makes me sad

Like theres other stuff going on...

eli [a winged tale]

I feel you too Cap’n! I sort of expected shipping comments for AWT https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/keyspace-a-winged-tale/list?title_no=322364 but yeah they’re still kids discovering themselves! When I start my adult fantasy comic (tentatively planned), then I’m all on board for sure. For the question, I love and screenshot every comment to peruse whenever I feel down. I treasure all of them but one that particularly stood out for me was a writer reimagining all their stories with my art and characters and that just about made me cry happy tears

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

So far the only 'thirst comments' I've gotten are when the comic gets even the slightest bit... gay I can't say my story revolves around major LGBTQ+ themes, but people have picked up on random bits of subtext between characters (which is mostly intentional on my part, not gonna lie) and specifically take time to comment on them. It makes me happy to see people reading between the lines. And it also helps me know what the readers like or are really looking for. So... yeah, I'm gonna keep on that path

eli [a winged tale]

Did I miss that in phantomarine?? Howww

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

The subtlest of subtle subtext... which will become far less subtle over time

Nutty (Court of Roses)

i am deliberately pushing my main ship to get ppl into it lmao

YOU WANT THESE TWO TO KISS, I PROMISE

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

GOSH I know this feeling too well I feel like I don't want to overwhelm the readers, but I want them to still realize "...Hmmmmmm, yeah I kinda want this."

eli [a winged tale]

I’m so intrigued now

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

good

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

wait i can't think of anything remotely gay/romantic in phantomarine

besides maybe

phaedra and... cheth?

eli [a winged tale]

The shipping comments in AWT are currently on point at exactly where I want them to be

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

i don't believe you would go for that, but shipping enemies is a very common fandom thing

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

I wish I had more people shipping my characters because I'm all alone in it right now

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

@Nutty (Court of Roses) I'm doing the same in Ashes. I'm being super obvious about Anor x Rava being a future couple. XD

So far I haven't really gotten any comments about it. Idk if my readers care about romance at all.

Which is okay, because I don't really write much romance into my comics.

Even though I secretly wish for a bit of shipping from readers.

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

I have to find out how visibly and obviously gay the characters have to act before people pick up on it

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

sssfrs, your comic just doesn't feel like the kind of comic people would ship characters in, though. Even the relationship between the captain and the guy that left, though lovely, feels, i don't know, too mature to really ship?

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

It's not the focus of the plot though so it's not essential just would be fun

Deo101 [Millennium]

people were shipping page 2 for me so idk

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

That's a fair way to look at it

Deo101 [Millennium]

apparently they need to be next to eachother , in my experience

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

i think the art style plays a part, too

people were shipping my characters also from page two. But I have a "prettier" style than sssfrs

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Yeah, I think the only way readers even know my characters are queer is from the extra art I make of them for Pride month each year. On panel the gay isn't incredibly obvious.

Deo101 [Millennium]

yeah, and I do WANT people to ship them so its not like I mind. I like shippers (when they are in line with my plans)

eli [a winged tale]

Yes Deo!! Exactly

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

Some characters I think have a great dynamic but I just haven't published enough of the material that shows their chemistry yet so I can't blame anyone for not seeing it

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

^same for me

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

looking forward to seeing that in both your comics!

i follow both

eli [a winged tale]

That’s fair ssfrs I’m all for the slow burn

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

It's true that my goal isn't to make the characters visually attractive and appealing in that way as much as in personality and interactions

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I do keep seeing people leave 1* ratings for Eryl on WT and I can't help but wonder if it's homophobes angry about a character sheet I shared that mentioned the character was lovingly raised by two dads. Bc there has been nothing really controversial on-panel in the comic, and I have such a small audience it has no other reason to keep attracting hate.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

yeah, that's what i was trying to say. couldn't think of a good way to say that though. but i like your art and feel like it fits your story well

( at sssfrs)

i don't think there are a large number of homophobes on WT. If anything, there's an overabundance of the opposite- fetishists

people leave 1 star on WT for random reasons like you not updating enough

don't worry about it

eli [a winged tale]

Link your webcomics? With <> . Love to check them out

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/puppeteer/list?title_no=290620

Deo101 [Millennium]

I get a lot of fetishists, yeah....

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/dark-wings-eryl/list?title_no=287293

Deo101 [Millennium]

https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/millennium/list?title_no=110866

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Idk, maybe they don't like that I update in traditional pages, then, Who knows

All I know is every time my ratings start crawling back up, suddenly they'll take a big hit.(edited)

Deo101 [Millennium]

idk, some people just seem to do that kinda thing

I have thought it could be other creators before, too...

trying to make less competition or something. but that would be cruel and I dont like to think someone would do that

so I prefer to think its just someone who didnt like my stuff

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

eh i prefer to think the best of people

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

It's not like I'm super successful or anything. The algorithms haven't been kind to either of my comics so I'm hardly competition.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

i'm not going to think it's other creators

Deo101 [Millennium]

yeah that's what Im saying

like its popped in my head and then I was like literally who would do that

thatd be reaaaaal messed up

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

hey, how to i add my comic name in paren to my name on this server?

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Unfortunately I know a lot of creators who would. They just don't hang out in spaces like these.

Deo101 [Millennium]

just edit your nickname in the options

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

Mine is called Joe Is Dead, on here http://joeisdead.com/ and on tapas https://tapas.io/series/JoeIsDead

Deo101 [Millennium]

oh right I actually have another comic. It was on hiatus over a year so I havent gotten into the habit of sharing it...

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Yeah, go to the ... next to the server name and it opens up a menu with the 'change nickname' option.

Deo101 [Millennium]

https://tapas.io/series/Time-and-Time-again

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

I put the title in my name

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

My other comic is here on WT: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/children-of-shadow-ashes/list?title_no=145048&page=1

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

i just don't like dismissing negative feedback. I don't want to get negative reviews and just brush them off as jealous people because i know my comic definitely has room to improve and would rather negative feedback motivate me to look for ways how

got it, thanks!

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

I love negative feedback. I want to put out the best work I can & hearing what people don't like or don't think is working helps me do that

Deo101 [Millennium]

theres constructive feedback, and then theres people telling me my characters are stupid and I think I can brush the latter off

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Unfortunately, I have been the victim of vicious jealous reviews. I've seen a lot of ugly in the webcomic world over the many years I've been doing this. Some creators be petty.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

@sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD) hm if i were to give negative feedback about your comic I'd say the biggest things are that you have a lot of characters that in my mind are kind of hard to differentiate, and also it can be really hard to tell where your characters are in space. But those don't matter too much, as they both will probably get better with time. Your biggest strength imo in your dialogue anyways

keii4ii

Not every negative feedback is relevant to my goals, is key for me. It's the whole "you can't please everyone" principle. My target audience does not include every person out there. If my target audience falls in love with what I make, then that's success for me. I don't need to impress the rest of the world.

keii4ii

(Thanks Tatsu.)

Deo101 [Millennium]

You have a different definition of "negative feedback" than I do.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

who are you referring to?(edited)

Deo101 [Millennium]

You

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

in what way?

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I can usually tell the difference between 'This person has a different idea of what this story should be than I do' and 'This person has it out for me because of jealousy or spite'

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

Yeah I've found it really hard to juggle the consistency with where characters are standing all the time. I write out lists of the order they're spatially located in an effort to keep track of them. Hopefully I'll get better with practice

Deo101 [Millennium]

the negative feedback I am talking about is basically straight up hate. Constructive criticism, pointing out the flaws of a work, isnt "negative feedback" by my definition.

so saying "I want negative feedback" means something different for you than it does for me.

i WILL dismiss people being straight up rude to me

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

hm, I feel like a lot of people define negative feedback the same way i do, constructive criticism about what you could do better. If you say you dont want negative feedback you might get people thinking you don't want critique at all. imo what you are referring to might be more clearly just called "hate"

Deo101 [Millennium]

I'll consider it if someone is trying to help, even if most of the time I ignore it

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

I also get the random 1 star ratings on Webtoon, so I think some people are just easy to hate stuff(edited)

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

yo sssfrs, you keep track of where characters are in space by writing lists??

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

These are probably also the same people who dislike videos habitually on Youtube

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

i can't imagine working with that

Deo101 [Millennium]

I actually dont want critique at all.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

it seems so hard

Deo101 [Millennium]

not if I dont ask for it.

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Con crit and hate aren't the same thing, though

One is genuinely trying to help you improve, the other is just trying to bring you down.(edited)

And it's okay to not want the former

Deo101 [Millennium]

and I would say "negative feedback" doesnt include con crit

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Just because you make something doesn't mean you have to want people to give crit on it.(edited)

Yeah

I agree, because GOOD con crit is usually polite because if the person knows what they're talking about, they were where you are now and will be nice about it.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

From my experience the best critiques come from other artists doing similar work to you

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

i don't think all negative con crit is helpful, either. people also need to know what their strengths are so they know what to keep instead of just what to remove

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

They might not even be trying specifically to be nice about it

But their words feel less hurtful

eli [a winged tale]

I feel like there are comments which are reviews (fair enough, everyone has subjective opinions) but I feel like constructive criticisms should be more private and take place in specific settings (most importantly where the creators are in a position of wanting them)

Nutty (Court of Roses)

@eli [a winged tale] https://courtofroses.spiderforest.com/

eli [a winged tale]

What I think most readers don’t understand or know is that the comic that does make its way to the public quite often has already been through rigorous critique and feedback

Nutty (Court of Roses)

(sorry, was late to that haha, i agree on your feelings about crits)

Deo101 [Millennium]

see, I dont know what you mean by "negative con crit" In my experience, a critique that is negative is not a critique and is more an opportunity for someone to flex.

helpful critiques may FEEL negative, because they are pointing out your flaws, but they arent negative

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

i think you're defining "negative" and "hateful" the same way, but other people are not(edited)

eli [a winged tale]

I call them constructive feedback. Then on the other hand, yeah there are negative comments that are there to serve the OP’s sentiments(edited)

Deo101 [Millennium]

I use constructive if it is helpful, and negative if it is harmful

eli [a winged tale]

But I just don’t think the comment platform supports the constructive feedback part. The comments currently represent the OP’s views which are very much subjective. It’s hard to know if they are providing feedback from a place of knowing story structure/art competency

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

critique does mean a lot more when I ask for it from an artist I respect

eli [a winged tale]

Indeed. It’s quite an intimate process

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

but i can still take casual comments into consideration when trying to improve

things like, it's confusing, or i don't understand what's happening

eli [a winged tale]

I think trust in the critiquer’s background and intention for you to improve are imperative(edited)

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

speaking of comments that say the comic is confusing, god i hate getting those comments the most. Because they come from people genuinely trying to read and like my comic and represent a failure of my storytelling skills

eli [a winged tale]

Plus there is a skill/art (no pun intended haha) to giving feedback. That’s a whole nother can of worms

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

but better to hear that and know it than not

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

It's not always a failure of storytelling skills, though. Some people's brains work along a certain line, and when a story is told that doesn't gel with that, it seems confusing to the person. That doesn't mean the writing was bad, it just means that the author communicates differently than the reader.(edited)

Deo101 [Millennium]

^ thats what I was gonna say

I have a small group of people who I trust who are editors, writers, or artists. I go to them to see if I'm doing the best I can for my goals.

if people get confused then there isnt too much more that I can do...

not saying my work is perfect, of course...

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

i can't just brush it off by saying I communicate differently than the reader when I'm trying to communicate to the reader

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

But not every reader is your audience, though

Nutty (Court of Roses)

^^^^

your message sometimes can't reach certain people, and that's not your fault

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

If all the readers are confused, that's one thing. If only a few are, well, your writing style just wasn't for them.

eli [a winged tale]

For sure. Agree Capn and Deo. There’s a lot of work that goes behind the scenes that readers are unaware

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

true true. But there are a few people who have said the same things, so I've taken those to heart and added dialogue that made it more clear. I don't regret that

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Your comic is public, and it's going to be seen by a very wide variety of people with all different kinds of reading comprehension and tastes. You're never going to appeal to all of hem, and plenty won't understand what you're trying to do. But that doesn't mean what you're making is bad. It just means it, like every story, is for a particular audience.

Yeah, if it's a repeated crit, it is something to keep in mind, but just remember that incorporating a crit shouldn't change what you're trying to do, only refine it.

Deo101 [Millennium]

Ive had a couple people say "I'm confused but Im enjoying whats going on" and I dont even know what I would begin to do about that

eli [a winged tale]

I usually trust my beta readers for that. If there are confusing parts then I would ask them how to clarify that best

I think these creator based forums are best to seek feedback and see what could potentially be remedied

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Of course. And I don't think my comic is bad. But one example was when I realized some confusion stemmed from me having a speech bubble that read, "without her," and didn't realize "her" could refer to two different characters which would make what was being said have two very different meanings. It's easy to overestimate how understandable your story is as an author that already knows everything that's going on. I think confusion is a good thing to pay attention to- I've definitely read comics before and dropped them because the author didn't pay enough attention to introducing things to the audience

(also dropped comics because they paid too much attention to introducig things but)

Deo101 [Millennium]

yes, like I said I have a small group of friends who are all writers, editors, and artists who can give me a pretty dang good beta read.

eli [a winged tale]

They are so great. Don’t know what I’d do without them

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

At that point I'd honestly keep going with what you have - there are several stories I've gone into with confusion, but also greatly enjoyed them, or even got less confused over time. Some readers need time to put the pieces together. So long as someone enjoys it on some level, I think that makes the comic successful. Maybe not completely - but not every comic will be everything to all people.

eli [a winged tale]

Indeed. Sometimes as well you gotta trust your story writing/art skills.

Deo101 [Millennium]

yup!

and like I'm not doing too bad for my first comic so I think I got something going for me at least.

I understand I have room to grow...

but I would like to keep that to people who I trust wont steer me wrong

eli [a winged tale]

Always room to grow for sure!

Deo101 [Millennium]

and arent just pushing what they want from me on me

eli [a winged tale]

Indeed. Feedback/ beta reading has its own set of skills. There’s always places to improve but the key is to determine specifically where that can be and how feasible(edited)

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I remember the first time I read Unsounded, I had absolutely no idea what was going on because of how Ashley structures her world-building. But there were aspects of it that were very engaging, so I stuck with it. After finishing the archives, I went back and reread. Now that I understood what all the terms meant, it made perfect sense on the second go-round. It's now one of my favourite webcomics. Some stories are just told differently, and that's okay.(edited)

eli [a winged tale]

There’s certainly an element of trust you must put to the creators that it’ll all make sense at the end

Deo101 [Millennium]

someone got very mad at me for how I have shown my trans characters so far.. I had to explain that the story isnt done yet, and they have to trust I'll bring it up

it's a WIP and there is some trust that NEEDS to be had

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

lol I have only one artist/writer friend (struggles of working in a non-art career), and she understands everything I write exactly as I intended it and I love it. But she's my friend for a reason- we tend to think the same way and read similar things. Don't think it's wrong to try to cater to a wider audience as well

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

@Deo101 [Millennium] I wonder if anyone will react once I reveal that Anor is intersex/trans on panel. I'm really hoping I don't find out if any of my readers are transphobes -or- angry that he isn't ostentatiously trans.

Deo101 [Millennium]

someone was mad I didnt show my cyborg transitioning cause it could be so cool of a concept to see his original robot body and I was like literally none of what you said applies to him also thats kinda gross

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Uh

Wut

Deo101 [Millennium]

YEAH

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

There might be some transphobes. But it's worth dealing with them for the people who your comic will resonate with more for having a trans character in it

Deo101 [Millennium]

alsooooo some people might be upset, but then they will leave and you will be left with better people.

Nutty (Court of Roses)

I feel like me having a non-binary character and insisting on correcting everyone who misgenders them deters transphobes away p quickly.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

^^^ some people will dislike, but those who like will really like

and a smaller, better fanbase is better than a larger one that cares less(edited)

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

hear hear

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

@Eightfish (Puppeteer) I'm hoping some will resonate with him! I don't think I've ever seen any intersex rep in any story, so I really want people to know they can have a hero like them.(edited)

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I'm trying to think of stories with intersex rep

I feel like there must be some, but I can't bring any up : /

Sazed from Mistborn is written as though he's intersex, but he clearly identifies as male and the story treating him as intersex actually feels a bit disrespectful

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Me neither. The only thing I've seen in stories is gross 'hermaphrodite' jokes when mocking a cis character.

I really want to give positive representation.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

webcomics have so much lgbt representation. I feel as though I must have seen an intersex character somewhere in there, but I'm not sure I have.(edited)

it feels kind of weird(edited)

I've seen characters that don't have genders because they're gods or whatnot but I feel like that's different

Deo101 [Millennium]

I mean, I have intersex characters I supposed but theyre alien genders so I also think that's different and wouldnt call them intersex

DanitheCarutor

I don't know the whole conversation, but @Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios), you'll be fine! Most transphobic people quietly leave, only the really sad, pitiful ones make a stink and their opinions are pretty laughable. If you get crap laugh in their faces like they're morons. I would also say my character Julian is intersex, but I'm not sure how much it counts since it was a recent decision I made (after doing a lot of research) due to readers headcanoning them as an intersex character.

I think I know of a couple other comics with intersex characters if you want to check out some, lemme go look through my lists.

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

@DanitheCarutor I'd love to see other comics with intersex representation! And I think Julian totally counts? I don't see a problem with reconsidering a character's sex, gender, or orientation as we become more aware of issues in the world, or even just more aware of our own characters. Webcomics are always a work-in-progress and things change as we go.

eli [a winged tale]

@DanitheCarutor I’d love to know them too!

keii4ii

Re: clarity and confusion, sometimes a small change in wording or such can improve the clarity greatly, and that's great! But I agree that reader confusion doesn't necessarily = failure in storytelling. I've published my comic first in Korean, and a much improved version in English. The cultural difference in the audience has shown to be a huge factor in terms of what's clear and what isn't, or how certain things come across. And that's just one factor.

DanitheCarutor

So I only know of one comic personally, Drop-Out! Sure the characters are anthros, and the bubbles can be hard to read, but it is one of my favorite comics! Of course it's kinda heavy so be aware of that. http://drop-out.thecomicseries.com/ Although I checked out the Webcomic Library tagpacker and found a few. (including Drop-Out) https://tagpacker.com/user/webcomic.library?t=Intersex LGBT Webcomics also has a few that aren't listed in the above list. https://tagpacker.com/user/lgbtwebcomics?t=intersex @Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios) Lol yeah, I guess so. My readers made me put a lot of thought into it, and after the research being intersex actually fits a lot better with Julian's type of gender dysphoria and confusion than when they were AAB male. It also make some small, more intimate parts of the story feel more natural? It's hard to explain, it just feels better.(edited)

keii4ii

Like, making my work as accessible as possible has never been a goal for me with this story. So to me, it's not a failure that a large number of people can't see parts of the story that aren't being spelled out. I can totally respect "I want my work to be more accessible, so if all these people are not Getting It, then I need to do a better job" as a valid stance. Just not one I'm taking. It's all about individual goals and priorities.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Oh boy, writing a fantasy story with a very developed culture is kinda scary, because NOBODY is going to pick up on cultural nuances except for me(edited)

Deo101 [Millennium]

I DO want my work to be more accessible/reach a wider audience, but that still doesnt mean it will be for everyone, too.(edited)

keii4ii

Not gonna lie, I get a little salty when I see someone claiming their story is "for everyone." I feel like such a claim is disrespectful to different cultures and tastes.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

i just started drop out and damn, that's one hell of an opening

Deo101 [Millennium]

Yeah I genuinely don't think it's possible to make a story for everyone lol

like... idk literally just by making it "sci fi" that excludes many people who just don't like sci-fi

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

i've never seen anyone claiming their story is for everyone

Deo101 [Millennium]

I feel like just to get to your premise, not even your personal execution you're already super narrowing the people down who will be interested

which is fine!!! and is necessary to accept imo

keii4ii

@Eightfish (Puppeteer) I've seen it. Not often but I've definitely seen it.

I've even seen a creator accuse another person of being heartless because the person was not interested in their Very Emotional And Universally Heartfelt comic, so uhhh yeah

Deo101 [Millennium]

Ope

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Well then

That just sounds like an illusioned creator

Deo101 [Millennium]

I kinda like to think of it like music

I dont like a lot of songs that other people love, it's not that they're bad songs just... not for me(edited)

keii4ii

Yeah! I also think the word "taste" is very fitting

Deo101 [Millennium]

yeah for sure

keii4ii

Some of us can eat ghost peppers like popcorns. Others would even avoid like... crackled black pepper

Deo101 [Millennium]

ahahhahaha

mac n cheese has a very wide audience, but some people aren't into it

DanitheCarutor

@Eightfish (Puppeteer) Lmao! Drop-Out is quite a unique piece of fiction. I have also seen creators who say their comic is for everyone, then get made when someone isn't interested.

Deo101 [Millennium]

I'm gonna start saying millennium is like mac n cheese now

keii4ii

@Deo101 [Millennium] That reminds me of "what drink would your comic be" !!

Deo101 [Millennium]

ahahahahah

someone: my comic is WATER EVERYONE NEEDS IT

keii4ii

I answered: "I want HoK to be liquid bacon fat, so that it'll stay in your heart forever."

Deo101 [Millennium]

ew LMAO

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

even if your comic is water, some people don't drink water

Deo101 [Millennium]

but cute? I gues????

DanitheCarutor

That sounds like a fun game, "If your comic were food what would it be?"

Mine would be sardine pizza, only weirdos like it.

Deo101 [Millennium]

next weeks creator babble question

LMSLDJGLASJGK

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

@DanitheCarutor its got such good art. The characters are so unique and expressive. Don't think I've seen anyone not use anti-aliasing on such detailed art before, but it works here

almost all webcomics are some weird food. We're niche just by nature

DanitheCarutor

It DOES have great art! And it gets better as you go too, by the time I reached the end then looked back on the first pages for nostalgia it was almost like night and day with the quality.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

fuck, really? but it's so polished already

DanitheCarutor

I mean, I guess that's not something to get excited about, most webcomics get better artwise as they go. Lmao! But still!

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

i love how the about page makes this sound like a fun roadtrip adventure

Deo101 [Millennium]

this feels mayble like the wrong chat for this discussion?

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

My comic would be a latte: A lot of people like it, but some people will never like coffee.

keii4ii

I can imagine HoK being like Chung Gook Jang soup? It's 1) Korean, 2) it warms you up, 3) it is very polarizing even among Koreans. It's kinda like... imagine miso soup on ultra mega steroid. Like a vegan version of supersharp stinky cheese. And 4) I love it.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

im alphabet soup because i have a fuckton of dialogue

Deo101 [Millennium]

I'm actually gonna stick with mac n cheese. a bit childish, but it's nice! you can do some fun things with it to shake things up, but it's still cheese and noodles.

keii4ii

Mac n cheese is amazing.

Deo101 [Millennium]

I love mac n cheese.

another reason why it's my comic! I love it, and it's something I can actually make

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

As for food, WotP would definitely something like authentic Mexican tacos. Again, generally well-received, but can be a bit intense for a lot of people

keii4ii

I really like food analogies. Sometimes it's not Gordon Ramsey you're trying to impress. Sometimes you want to make something you and/or your loved ones will enjoy, and if that's "WAY too much [ingredient]!!!!" for everyone else out there, that's not a flaw!

Deo101 [Millennium]

yeah! :D

keii4ii

That's actually good food for thought (no pun intended): what niche aspects does your comic contain? How/why are they niche?

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

@Eightfish (Puppeteer) How do you do it?

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

I think I once described mine as a corrupted tropical cocktail. On the surface: sweet, pretty, very colorful - but all the ingredients used to make it are rotten

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

I thought of Cricket as intersex for a long time and I still don't know exactly where I stand on that.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I draw a diagram of where characters/ furniture are from above. Niche things: Most conflicts are resolved through anticlimactic conversation. Also there's this huge bit about consensual mind control. I wrote the comic I'd want to read, and somehow found a few people like me to follow along

I also usually don't have more than 2 characters interacting

so it's easier for me

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

I have so many busy group scenes with people moving around. The most recent chapter was kind of a mess also because I wasn't really sure about the dimensions of the space they were all in

This scene was also pretty rushed in general

Re: intersex characters I feel like I've been shying away from that because I don't feel like I know enough about the topic to adequately represent intersex people

Joe Is Dead has a really specific aesthetic to it but I don't know how to define that niche. It's definitely something

Deo101 [Millennium]

I honestly could not answer that question about what niche things my comic contains. I don't know what about my comic is mainstream or not, I'm just making what I want to see and not really worrying about stuff like that.

keii4ii

For me, having an idea of what's niche about my comic actually lessens my worries!

It's a "okay, so I know these things are niche, which means people not liking or even getting those things =/= my failure!" kinda thing for me!

But I can also see how not thinking about what's niche or not can lessen the worries for others, too.

Deo101 [Millennium]

mhm, for me it means I can just go "well I like it anyways sooooooooo"

keii4ii

Yeah, that's the destination! We're just taking different routes to get there

Deo101 [Millennium]

I also genuinely just have a hard time determining whether or not something is niche

even if I thought about it for a while (I've been thinking about it since you asked, and I have thought about it before" I genuinely couldnt pinpoint it for you...

keii4ii

I used to beat myself up very badly every time someone didn't like a thing about my comic

Deo101 [Millennium]

D:

keii4ii

and "oh, 1) this is subjective, 2) I like it like this, and 3) my liking of it is valid" was how I crawled out of that hole

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

I don't know if my comic is specifically niche, unless you count "low fantasy" (or essentially fantasy with less magic and such) as niche

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

My comic has a lot of specific nautical and history content that you could call niche

Also surrealism

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

i would call Joe Is Dead "niche," but not WoTP

I've read both

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I... used to think my comics weren't niche. Ohohohohoho how wrong I was!

Deo101 [Millennium]

Id say millennium isnt niche then it's basically just gay sci fi it's p straightforward

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

My comics are very, incredibly, undeniably niche.

DanitheCarutor

@sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD) It is difficult to understand if you're not intersex yourself, even though I studied a lot before making the decision about my character I still don't know if I'll represent the topic properly. The best you can really do is get into researching all the medical stuff, talk to people willing to share their experiences with being intersex, and watch videos of people talking about it from a professional and personal perspective. The hardest thing to get right about something so subjective and personal is that everyone's experiences are different, so no matter how much you research you just gotta do your best with the info you have, then figure out how your character would experience it personally.(edited)

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

I don't think anything magical happens until Chapter 11 of WotP, now that I think about it

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Also @DanitheCarutor thank you for the links!! I'll have to give those comics a look!

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

I’m still backreading and I just saw the food question, that is great

JID would be saltcod

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Ooooh

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

Or like pickled herring maybe

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Bacalao

Noice

(Bacalao = Puerto Rican salted cod)

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

They have it in spain too iirc

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Ashes would be very bitter black coffee someone forgot to drink and it's just been sitting there for two days. Eryl would be well-aged wine spiked with tabasco sauce.

DanitheCarutor

Sorry for derailing. Anyways, I feel like my entire comic is just a ball of niche? The subject matters are uncommon and the main characters are awful and unreliable, but that's my aesthetic so I'm sticking to it. I've never particularly cared about people liking my comic due growing up not being liked myself (you kinda get over it after a while), but I do like finding people like me. @Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios) No problem! I hoard stuff like that, so I probably have a link for everything.

Urm, I don't mean I like finding unlikable people like me, I mean people who like the same types of stories as me.

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Honestly, Dani, I connect to your comic quite a lot, for what it's worth!

DanitheCarutor

Thank you! ;v; In a way it's kind of nice having a comic that doesn't fit in. It tends to stand out, especially with my choice of medium. Although at the same times it's really hard to get feedback that applies to what you're doing! Arg!

keii4ii

It is such a Struggle, for sure -- getting relevant feedback

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

I feel you! I'm in the same boat with Ashes. It's also incredibly niche and there just aren't that many pencil comics out there- coloured or graphite.

DanitheCarutor

Being a creator who likes feedback, but also likes making niche content, is so hard! Why can't everyone like niche content??

Lmao!

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

As niche as the setting and tone of Joe Is Dead are, the main story arc is a very generic hero adventure thing that I hope will appeal to wide audiences

eli [a winged tale]

Niche content

I’d love to know more! What niches are you exploring?

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

The nicest thing anyone's said about Super Galaxy Knights Deluxe R http://sgkdr.thecomicseries.com/comics/ is that they really became invested in the characters. Like, that's the kind of story I want to make - the kind where the characters really stick with you.

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

As for what food my comic would be... I'd say squid ink pasta. It's the kind of food that makes you go "what the heck is going on here" if you're new to it, but once you actually eat it you'll (hopefully) go "oh, that made way more sense than i expected and was actually pretty tasty"

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

I don't know if you're talking to me directly but I'm using a lot of maritime history and literature stuff that I've been obsessed with for a long time as the setting of the story, and then the whole thing has a really morbid and nihilistic tone, while also somehow being funny because I have a background in comedy/satire writing

And then heavy biblical themes

It's essentially a Renaissance period retelling of the Joseph story from the bible

With pirates instead of shepherds

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

For me, I’m not even sure what niche Ashes belongs to. (https://www.flowerlarkstudios.com/cos/) It’s dark, it’s weird, it has a twisty plot that slowly trickles information, and it’s an odd mash-up of genres. I often try to describe it as Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children meets Farthing Wood. It’s mostly urban fantasy with some horror elements and talking animals. Basically it’s about a bunch of unaging teenagers with supernatural, angel-gifted powers and a bunch of woodland critters fighting (although so far it’s more running from) eldritch monsters. But it’s main focus is on each character battling either mental illness or some other kind of inner demon.

keii4ii

There's also the aspect of: what's niche in one culture may not be niche in another. In Korean media, Fantastical Old Korea is a very common setting for all sorts of genres: gag a day, romance, all-ages adventure, gritty crime drama, zombie apocalypse, you name it. If the work spends a lot of visuals showing mundane everyday moments, often that's a shorthand for "sit down and stay a while; this is a heartfelt tale that takes its time." My comic uses such a setting. When I began to publish it in English, I was surprised that people were expecting it to be one of these AND NOTHING ELSE: a) exciting magical action adventure b) mythology-driven, all about gods and spirits My comic is neither of those. It definitely contains elements of adventure, but that's the plate the meat is served on, not the meat itself. So I guess the usage of the setting is niche.

Like, imagine a civilian life drama set in WWII time. The civilian MC may have a family member or a close friend in the military, but the story focuses on the MC's experience. Imagine presenting that story and people expect it to be... military action? Not a perfect analogy, but hopefully a good enough one.

Kelsey (Kurio)

To be fair, Korea would find fantastical old Korea less exotic than those outside of Korea heh

keii4ii

That is definitely a factor. Even today, you can find semi-Old Days-like places IRL within like... 3 hours of drive.

I'm weirded out that my culture is considered exotic, but it is what it is

(To clarify, weirded out =/= offended.)

Kelsey (Kurio)

Well any culture can be exotic to people outside of that culture

As an outsider looking in, it can be fascinating to learn about a culture I don't know much about

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Anything unfamiliar is usually considered exotic. I know in both England and America, I never really learned anything about any Asian country growing up. I had to seek out the info myself, and as it was very unfamiliar to me, it seemed exotic!

Kelsey (Kurio)

Especially their myths and stories

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Oops, exactly what Kelsey said, I typed too slow.

keii4ii

Yeah, the thing is I've been told I should not be using this setting to tell this story because it's a doomed combination. But ehh, I decided not to listen to that. This story with this setting and all of its elements is what I wanted to read.

carcarchu

slice of life set in a historical setting sounds really refreshing actually(edited)

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

But I know I’d probably feel strange if someone told me New York was exotic!

carcarchu

sometimes historical settings can get really bogged down by politics and whatever other drama, having a quiet slow paced story set in the same kind of world is something i'd be interested in reading

Kelsey (Kurio)

Nothing wrong with trying the approach you want to

Who knows, you might end up with a unique combo that helps your work stand out

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Yup. I’m a firm believer in writing the kind of story you’d want to read. No matter how niche.

Tuyetnhi

Totes agreed on this. For me, when I had to drop my dark drama series for my romance story, folks were like "Dang, I thought you like writing dark things!"

I do, but romance comics.... [clenches chest]. I also want to write a story that I want to read so lmao. Dream lover elements along with some dark horror influences is something I want to try doing lol

carcarchu

this is not a webcomic but try reading coelacanth if you're interested in the combination of horror with romance @Tuyetnhi

Tuyetnhi

ooo I'll keep that in mind

carcarchu

it's really so unique i love coelacanth so much

Tuyetnhi

is it a novel? :0

carcarchu

it's a manga

Tuyetnhi

aaa

Yeah I probably check it out sometime lmao

back on the idea tho, I also wanted to add some Vietnamese influences in the mix since there's not a lot of stories about Vietnamese disapora, so that's included in the cauldron lol

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

@keii4ii what's your comic? I wanna check it out(edited)

keii4ii

@Eightfish (Puppeteer) It's https://heartofkeol.com/

(I get extremely nervous whenever I know someone is checking out my comic for the first time )

DanitheCarutor

To answer @eli [a winged tale] question. I'm delving into stuff like mental illnesses and disorders, medical illnesses, abuse, trauma and later on, self-care. The comic itself is slow and character centric, I guess you can say it's like a character study. The story can be really depressing depending on who is reading, and it has some softcore horror bits sprinkled in. I'm kind of a nerd for mental health, sad stuff and everything medical so I figured I may as well make a story embellishing those interests. In short it's a sad, character driven, psychological drama about two extremely flawed individuals. Not particularly exciting compared to all the other webcomics out there, but somebody has to make that one pretentious, psychological slice of life piece.

keii4ii

What compounds my issues is that my comic does have enough adventure elements for someone to mistake it for an underwhelming adventure story. "This is an adventure story but there's not enough adventure in it?" kinda thing.

@DanitheCarutor Character studies FTW!!! Yours has been on my 'gotta check this out' list for a long time now!

Tuyetnhi

Oooo

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

I also am a fan of psychological stories

Especially if they're sad(edited)

Tuyetnhi

Kei idk why but I was reminded of .hack SIGN when u said that

"there's so much talking! where's the action?!?"

keii4ii

@Tuyetnhi That's actually not a terrible comparison -- though .hack//SIGN has other issues that my comic hopefully doesn't have XD

Tuyetnhi

I'm pretty sure it's miles better than that old anime lmao

DanitheCarutor

@keii4ii Pff I need to check out your comic too! I remember reading it at one point, but I don't remember what happened to make me lose track. From what little I remember I really liked it.

keii4ii

The thing with .hack//SIGN was it had a lot of promises of mystery that never went anywhere, within SIGN. I've heard those mysteries do go somewhere within the franchise, but you had to watch/read the entire franchise, which I wasn't going to do. I hope my comic will be a good read on its own, when finished.

Tuyetnhi

sadly, I was one of those suckers that went to consume the .hack games and mangas to get some context from SIGN in the late 2000's lmao

I hope the same as mine, despite being mostly saccharine and self-indulgent nature lmao

keii4ii

Self-indulgence is a strength of indie comics.

eli [a winged tale]

I love all the themes y’all explore! They’re so important

Tuyetnhi

I feel like I have a reason for everything when working on that comic but if that's what it boils down to, I'll take it lol

keii4ii

TBH I produce my best writing and art when I focus on pleasing myself.

Because if I'm trying to please others, I don't even know what they want, so I waste my energy panicking.

But when I'm creating for my inner reader, I can be self-critical in a productive manner!

Tuyetnhi

so true ya

RebelVampire

Hey guys. I kind of feel as this has deviated a smidgen too far from the topic, so maybe reel it in just a smidgen. XD(edited)

Desnik

so the nicest thing anyone's ever said about my comic is that they wanna read more :3

I kinda dread reader dropoffs so the will to see the whole story through fills me with joy

[flying-elliska]

What are the important bisexual characters that you said helped you? I am having a hard time finding good bi representation in which they aren’t considered promiscuous or unstable

Hiya anon ! What a quality question, thank you ! Here’s another mini essay about bi rep lmao.  If there are some that I forgot please tell me ! And to everyone, tell me about the bi characters who made an impact on your life, I’d love to know !!!!

Okay so.

-  When I answered the anon and talked about the characters that helped me come to terms with my sexuality, I talked about two in particular. Jack Harkness from Torchwood is depicted as very promiscuous, and somewhat instable. He still meant a lot to me because a) him sleeping around was never that much of a problem, it was because he was from the future, where things were different, which I thought was refreshing and b) his instability was because of the weight of being an immortal hero. Also fanon!Dean Winchester from SPN, as an older, more macho, emotionally witholding, badass dude written as bi meant a lot to me, but he doesn’t really avoid that stereotype either. But at least they were heroes.  However, I can understand wanting bi characters that actually don’t fit that stereotype, because bi people irl aren’t all like that, even if there is nothing wrong per se about sleeping with a lot of different people, or having mental issues to struggle with. And that was a while ago and now we have more and more cool characters ! Such as :

- Rosa Diaz from Brooklyn Nine-Nine. One of the best portrayals of bisexuality on TV imho. She didn’t start out as bi, she was this tough, cool, scary but with a heart of gold cop who had a lot of other plotlines before. But then, since they saw that a lot of wlw got this vibe from her, were really into her, and the actress came out as bi herself, they decided to use this. So it was super organic, and the way they introduced the subject was true to Rosa herself ; she’s a super private person, she doesn’t like anybody knowing about her life (it’s actually a running joke and Rosa Diaz has been implied to not even be her real name). But then she is dating a woman, and struggles with her parents not understanding and her coworkers find out, help her and support her. Her gay captain is there for her in his typical stoic but hilarious way. They organize game night with her when her parents won’t anymore. We see her crushing on women and dating, but it is treated exactly as the other character’s love life, they never make a big deal out of it. She isn’t the token queer character. She says outright she is bisexual and there is a specific point about her mom not understanding it’s not a phase and thinking she’ll end up with a man anyway, which #relatable. The focus is on the team as found family. Also right now she’s dating a butch woman, which is awesome since they are so underrepresented on TV and I hope we see more of her. That show really is my comfort show, it’s still bloodly hilarious and it really transcends the format to say some really deep woke stuff too, but never in a way that feels on the nose. Everyone should watch it tbh. 

- Korrasami ! Oh my god, I was so blown away when they got together. They’re two characters from the animated series Legend of Korra, they start out as rivals in love who have feelings for the same guy, but as they have to fight baddies together, they become bestest of friends, and both fall out of love with the guy. Then in season 3 and 4, their relationship becomes central to the show, as Asami stands by Korra through some really tough shit. Also, they’re both ultra badass and fight really well together. A lot of fans started reading their chemistry as romantic, but we’d never thought they’d actually go there. But the show ends with them walking into the ‘sunset’ (well, the spirit lands) together, holding hands. Now, it was never completely explicit on the show BUT they were dealing with a lot of censure from the networks and you have to be willingly obtuse not to read it as romantic. And after that the creators drew them on dates, and there is a comic series in which they are shown kissing, talking about their feelings, introducing each other to their families, etc. It made me feel so validated when it happened, and I just adore the whole ‘love triangle ditches the middle one and fall in gay love with each other’ trope. (is it a trope yet ? it should be.) It’s still a kids show at its core, but it has amazing depth and deals with some very deep shit. Korra starts off as a bit annoying but she has a really cool development, she’s a girl character we need more of - brave, dynamic but also brash and reckless and action driven in ways that are almost always exclusively shown for boys. And Asami is a more typical girly girl but she’s also a brilliant engineer and has a spine of steel and she’s also very slyly funny. They’re amazing. And the comics are super cute. 

- Now there are a lot of characters who are bi/pan that I love, and are good characters in themselves, but their arcs do intersect in some ways with promiscuity and mental instability. I’m thinking about Even from Skam and all his remake variants, Magnus Bane from Shadowhunters, several characters from Black Sails, Sarah Lance and Constantine from Legends of Tomorrow, Eleanor Shellstrop from the Good Place, Bo from Lost Girl, Ilana from Broad City, Joe McMillan from Halt and Catch Fire, God/Chuck from Supernatural (lmaooooo), several characters on Penny Dreadful, or in a totally different category, Vilanelle from Killing Eve or Hannibal from the series (who are hella bad guys but it’s never linked to their sexuality, and are also incredibly compelling to watch.)

 And even though these characters taken individually, I would argue, are good rep because they’re complex and layered and interesting and never one-dimensional (and watching them feels incredibly empowering at times)....it’s still a trend. I feel like when writing a character that is attracted to multiple genders, there is always this sort of...tangle of tropes that writers default to, unconsciously. Some negative and some positive. It used to be this trope of bis being villainous, instable, jealous, flaky, immature, perverted, manipulative, cheaters, amoral, greey, etc...and then it evolved into something of a reclaiming and subverting this trope. So now you feel like the Bi Character kind of has to be badass, glamorous, seductive, often superpowered or extraordinary in other ways.. And they also for multiple reasons (they’re immortal, they’re sensitive artist souls, they’re from the future, they’re psycho, they’re exccentric comic relief, they’re daring adventurers and pioneers) don’t care about social norms which allows them to sleep and fall in love with whomever. And so they tend to have those super busy romantic/sexual histories and very troubled backstories. In the past it was a bad thing, now it’s often presented as this positive, enlightened or at least fun and badass thing. They’re heroic, with big hearts, a tremendous lust for life and a cool rebellious attitude. They’re complex, dramatic, tortured. Which can be super cool, too. 

But it would be nice to have more ‘normal’ bi characters. I mean, boring bisexuals need to see themselves represented too ! Our sexualities don’t give us super powers. At the same time, it is true that bisexual ppl have higher rates of mental illness, which deserves to be explored, but it would be nice if it was actually articulated and not just part of this trope.  But still. We need rep, I think, that is more grounded and varied. So I think that’s also why I read a lot of fanfic. (I was really into the idea of bi Steve Rogers for a long time, partly also because he’s both very mentally resilient, kinda boring in a good way, and very unexperienced in terms of sex/romance, which is pretty much the opposite of the trope)

- I think books, and YA in general, are a good place to find these ‘normal bis’ characters. I’m thinking in particular of Leah from Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli (from the same book series that gave us the ‘Love, Simon’ movie) which is a super sweet coming of age/romance story about a super normal teenager who just happens to be also into girls (esp her best friend) and is loud and funny and very lovable and has zero doubts about being bi. You also have Adam Parrish from the Raven Cycle, another one of my forever faves ; he has an abusive family so PTSD from that but it never feels tropey, and it’s completely detached from his sexuality. He has magic powers, too. But his character feels completely opposite to the trope. He’s hardworking, somewhat withholding, prickly (and sometimes awkward), ambitious, determined, down to earth, and has a beautiful love story with another boy. And also Jane, from Jane Unlimited by Kristin Cashore, also really cool ; she’s a nerdy, smart girl who is actually inspired by Jane Eyre who has cool adventures in a weird house where we can follow her on different paths depending on the choices she makes, several of which are love stories. And finally the main character from The Seven Husbands from Evelyn Hugo, kinda fits the trope yeahhh since she’s a super glam actress who well, has seven husbands but it’s a pretty clever deconstruction since it turns out (slight spoilers) that Evelyn is actually through most of her life faithful in heart to the same person and the rest is mostly out of necessity, and her story feels very real and raw and down to earth. 

- I don’t go there yet but I really want to check out Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and Schitt’s Creek which I have read have very good bi rep. And I want to catch up on Orphan Black (Cosima and Delphine both don’t have exact labels but they’re multi-gender attracted and they’re this cool couple of scientists in a relationship that gets a happy ending). I will never forgive what they did to Lexa so I stopped watching but I do think that Clarke Griffin from The 100 is very good bi rep. Alexia from Skam France, meanwhile, is a bit of a boundary case for me because, even though she’s presented as the ‘weird one’ from the group, very colorful and liberated and exccentric, she’s still a very normal teen who’s happy and comfortable in her own skin, which is awesome. 

- Disclaimer, I included characters in here that are also pan/omnisexual or don’t have a label but are attracted to several genders, for the purpose of this discussion i don’t think the difference is all that relevant at least to me (i mostly identify as bi for the sake of simplicity but tbh i could also fit under pan so i feel represented by all those characters). But I understand the importance of characters that state their identities more clearly and with pride. 

- So in conclusion : there is nothing wrong with having a sexually active life or struggling mentally (even tho that one is not fun). And I do love all my badass casanova time travelling super powered bis. 

But we need more bi characters that don’t fit that trope. We need bi characters in children’s shows, or that don’t have more than one relationship, or that don’t have a relationship at all, to break the tendency to always show bisexual ppl as overly sexual. We need bi characters in committed relationships to break this idea that bi characters are bound to cheat or can’t be satisified with only one person. We need bi characters that are mentally stable and successful and happy, to show that it’s possible. We need bi characters that are boring, bookish, nerdy, ordinary, clumsy, not particularly seductive, socially awkward, rule-sticklers, etc...to show that bi people are not all party animals, or doing it for attention, or to be wild, rebellious and socially progressive. It’s just a sexuality, it doesn’t say anything about your personality. Even though there are some correlations with MI or being bi might bring you in contact with more progressive ideas and to see life a bit differently, there is nothing automatic about it. 

- In conclusion, reading testimonies from real people also helped me a lot. It’s a very dated but I got the book “ Bi Any Other Name: Bisexual People Speak Out “ when I was struggling with my own sexuality and it helped a lot, to read that even back then (1991) you had all sorts of regular ppl claiming to be bi and that it was not a phase or a fad or whatever. 

[sharktoraptor]

Survivor Daemons

Here’s a whole bunch of blabber that no one asked for about my Dbd daemon AU, featuring the reasoning behind the forms of the survivor’s daemons and a little about their personalities. Why? Because I can and I felt like typing a whole bunch of stuff that no one will read

There are a lot of additional rules and complications for daemons in trials, and I’m probably going to make a separate post both for that and for the Killer’s daemons (or... current lack thereof), because this got VERY long.

And before we get started, here’s a plug for my currently abandoned fic playing with this concept. Ima get back to it at some point.

First off, I had some limits for survivor forms. Their daemons have to be small, and easy to carry around in a trial. Most of them ended up being birds, with a couple of exceptions. Also, only a couple of the names mean anything- I got almost all of them from a fantasy name generator and just picked one that sounded nice.

Dwight and Zefrita

Zefrita (Zeffie) is a mourning dove, and I chose her form for a couple of reasons. Mourning doves are entirely defenseless against their predators (except for natural camouflage) and are therefore very flighty, anxious birds. They are also known for forming close, lifelong pair-bonds, and since Dwight’s perks are all about teamwork and literal bonds between survivors, that seemed to resonate with him.

Zefrita is a very quiet daemon, and only talks to the other survivor’s daemons (and Dwight, of course). While Dwight stammers and hesitates a lot when he’s flustered or anxious, Zefrita only talks when they have enough conviction about something that she can articulate it clearly. So, it’s a pretty big deal if she says something important- it usually means that it is.

Meg and Skiflit

Skiflit (Skif) is a northern goshawk. I used this analysis to come up with his form, mostly because of the interpretations of loyalty, determination/being goal-driven, and assertiveness, which I all think fit with Meg- or at least, my version of Meg, who’s caring but a bit of a hothead.

Skif talks about as much as Meg does, which is quite a lot, especially in fireside arguments. He’s also the most likely to get physical with the other daemons, whether aggressively or for support/comfort.

Jake and Dancha

Dancha (Dawn) is a raccoon, which I just love for Jake for so many reasons and I was so happy that the form analysis worked out. It really boils down to what he said in the actual fic- they’re highly adaptable/resourceful, conflict-avoidant, and independent animals. Their also curious but in a killed-the-cat sort of way, which seems true to Jake’s character to me.

Dawn tends to let Jake do most of the talking, and really only interacts with the original four survivors daemons, sometimes including Nea and Laurie’s daes if she feels up to it. She and Jake are pretty slow to trust, and even though they feel perfectly comfortable around all the survivors (though they clash with Ace) Dawn keeps her interactions to a minimum to stay in her comfort zone. They don’t have much of any comfort left, after all.

Claudette and Laefertes

Laefertes (Laef) is a barn owl, and I actually think I named him after Laertes from Hamlet for some reason? I think I just had the name stuck in my head, no significance to it. The two traits that really stuck out to me for his form were barn owls having a surprising amount of foresight in caching their extra food and their egg care habits, and the analysis I read also listed owls as being very perceptive, for obvious reasons, which fits well with Claudette’s Empathy (perk and trait) to me.

Claudette and Laef are kind of the greeters of the group, so when someone new shows up at the campfire they do all the explaining and “welcome to a Bad Time” talk. Claudette tends to say more comforting things than hard truths, and Laef compliments her by being the opposite- almost anything out of his mouth is what needs to be said, not necessarily what people want to hear.

Nea and Bayonai

Bayonai (Bayo) is a Siamese cat and listen I have a lot of reasons for it. He’s a cat for obvious reasons- Baker literally describes Nea as catlike in the journal entry- as well as cats being generally friendly, but independent for the most part. Siamese cats in particular are known for being loud attention seekers like no other, and we know that Nea was the epitome of Rebellious Teen (tm) in her day. They also tend to be curious (again, in a killed-the-cat sort of way).

Bayo is my favorite daemon of the bunch, probably because I started writing him first. He and Nea are less counterparts of one another than they are the same person divided into two parts. Bayo has a little more of their caution, but he’s like the friend who is saying “this is a terrible idea, oh my god” while filming it. They have street smarts more than school smarts, but Bayo has a little bit of an edge on Nea when it comes to critical thinking.

Laurie and Aurelio

Aurelio (Ori, which accidentally means they’re Laurie and Ori) is a European robin. His name comes from the Latin word for golden. His form was really hard to find, mostly because the original survivors have just a few canon character traits, whereas Laurie Strode has a whole franchise worth of characterization to sort through. I ended up just using Halloween I and II for my form finding. I used this analysis for Aurelio and I don’t have much to say about it, other than I was relieved to finally find a form that fit.

Aurelio and Laurie are Survivors (tm) in the truest sense of the word, so in my ‘verse they’re kind of dry and cynical. Aurelio tends not to talk very much, and when he does he often says things that are too dark for the conversation he’s contributing to, and is reprimanded by Laurie. They had a perfectly normal human-daemon bond before Myers, but it changed after, and they were never the same.

Ace and Kesina

Kesina (Kess or occasionally Kesi) is an American bullfrog. She’s the only reptile form among the survivors. I’m honestly not even going to say anything else about her form, just link to the analysis because IMO it’s so Ace it hurts. Laid-back is the main trait that I like that I don’t see listed as a major point in the analysis, but frogs are chill as fuck.

Kesina says all the sarcastic and biting things that Ace doesn’t, but in a dismissively calm way that gets a rise out of whoever she’s said it to. Not that he wouldn’t, it’s just funnier if she calls Jake a dumbass in Argentine Spanish than if he does. She and Ace talk to each other almost exclusively in that dialect when they’re being snarky or sarcastic, even if they’re doing the “what do you want to have for dinner!?” routine, because no one can understand what they’re saying and it pisses everyone else off.

Bill and Portril

Portril (no nickname) is a summer tanager, a kind of smallish songbird. Frankly there’s not very much personality lore for Bill out there, even in what Left 4 Dead stuff I tried to dig up, so I went with my personal HC’s for him- grumpy and quiet but altruistic and perceptive old man. Here’s the analysis if anyone is actually reading this, but this is more for my own benefit let’s be real. There’s not a ton of real solid behavior for summer tanagers, but I liked what this person wrote so I went with it.

Bill is quiet and Portril is quieter. Bill contributes a few sentences to the conversation at the campfire every now and then, but the majority of the survivors have never heard Portril say a word.

Feng and Maeslin

Maeslin (Maes) is a numbat (google it), and tbh I should have picked a Chinese-sounding name for him, but I’m too attached to Feng having a daemon she calls Mace to change it. I’d never heard of a numbat before form finding for Feng, but I love how well the weird little things fit with her character. Numbats are specialized eaters and ONLY eat termites. They have to eat 20,000 of the things a day to stay alive. What I get out of that is that the are specialized/single-focus type people, like Feng and her gaming, and work really fucking hard to be good/keep at it.

I haven’t done a lot of thinking about Maes’ personality. I think he and Feng are a Chaotic Neutral disaster duo. He’s a very mobile daemon and tends to climb all over Feng, never staying in one place for too long- it’s a habit he learned very quickly to not bring into trials.

David and Ezriana

Ezriana (Ez) is a magnificent frigatebird and it’s SUCH a shame that she’s not male, because the main reason I picked that form for David is because of the absolute pompous showoffs that male frigatebirds are with that throat pouch of theirs. Frigatebirds are also known for being opportunistically aggressive and basically getting into fights with other species of coastal birds to steal their catches. There’s some more, non-fighty traits that made me decide on frigatebird for Ezriana, but those are really the two main reasons I picked it.

Ezriana is kinda the “kick his ass baby I got yo flower” of the pair, and she always tends to kind of stay out of the thick of it, circling overhead and yelling out insults and encouragement. Her actual personality is pretty laid back when not in conflict mode, and she’s pretty good for conversation around the campfire. Her way of talking is a little more... coherent.. than David, who’s excitable and can get a little carried away.

Quentin and Nynta

Nynta (Nyn, pronounced Nihn) is an earwig. Earwigs are tough little insects and are very adaptable and actually protect their eggs and then care for their young, showing a lot of duty and dedication. I think that fits with what I managed to gather of Quentin’s role in NoES 2010, which I haven’t actually watched. Additionally, fitting into the daemonverse, earwigs are very small, and Quentin keeps Nynta in a lanyard, so that Freddy and no one else has any possible access to touching her.

Nynta never talks, period. No one knows what her and Quentin’s relationship is like, taking into consideration Laurie and Aurelio’s slightly trauma-damaged bond, but everyone knows that Nynta probably doesn’t trust anyone. They’ve never seen her outside of her clear plastic lanyard, which locks from the inside with a one digit combination that only Nynta can open. I imagine she probably settled during the events of NoES 2010.

Tapp and Soliel

Soliel (Sol) is a Florida scrub jay. Scrub jays are committed birds, both to their mates and their territory, and keen and clever observers of what happens in their area and to their things (food caches and stuff). These to me seem like good traits to match a detective’s personality. These birds are also highly specialized to their environment, though, and are unadaptable- that combination of traits makes sense, because Tapp became borderline obsessed with the Saw case in his lore.

Soliel is as focused as her human is, and accepts facts and information readily. Being older than most of the others, she tends not to talk too much unless they’re having an interesting discussion, rather than a time-killing or social conversation.

Kate and Torelian

Torelian (Tori) is a fennec fox. Fennec foxes are super extroverted and sociable animals, and tough critters that are well adapted for going long periods of time without commodities, but not without other people around them. Kate traveled a lot for her music career, but she seems to me like a caring and outgoing person that really connected with her fans. He also matches her aesthetic, and is a cute/attractive form- perfect for a performer’s daemon.

Torelian is as much of a performer as Kate. He can’t play and instrument, but they can sing duets and are, of course, completely in sync at all times. It’s great for cheering up the campfire after rough trials and moments of (extra) hopelessness. He’s a good ear to talk to and offers wholesome advice.

Adam and Samia

Samia (no nickname) is a northern cardinal. I chose the form this morning and frankly I’m tired of resummarizing bird analyses at this point, so here ya go.

I’ve done no character exploration for Samia yet, might edit this when/if I come up with some more for her. Most of the daemons outside the first five or six I’ve done more developing here than otherwise, so we’ll see!

If you got this far you’re my new favorite human, and thank you for listening to my impassioned rambling about my two current hyperfixations mashed into one <3

[hufflepuff2010]

Ink|soulmate au!Loki x reader

I tried my best. Okay, so this was requested by @hamiltrash1411. Thanks for that bb!

Request: Oooh you’re doing requests?? I’m excited!! How about a Loki x reader in a Soulmate AU where your soulmate’s name tattooed onto your wrist? And then Loki, who was starting to run out of hope when it comes to meeting his soulmate, finally meets the reader one day through one of the Avengers, and then things are just really fluffy from there? Sorry, if this doesn’t make sense, I’m really bad at articulating requests lmao. Love you bb <3

Love you too, girly!!

Alright, so let’s get rolling. WARNINGS: Fluff, kinda sad at first, swearing, female pronouns. Loki may be slightly out of character, I’m soooooooooo sorry. Think that’s it. Pray for me and your sanity.

(Third P.O.V./Narrator that is me sssssssshhhh)

    Loki should have been happy. He had just recently become an official Avenger. He had reconciled with his brother, Thor, who couldn’t be happier about their newly mended relationship. And I mean, yeah, sure, they were on Midgard. Midgard, which in most ways couldn’t even begin to be compared to the Asgard’s beauty and the compassion of the people. But the boys’ mother, Frigga, had passed and so had their father, Odin. Thus giving a dramatic entrance to the eldest child, Hela, who tried to take over Asgard but failed... mostly because Surtr was allowed to bring Ragnarok upon the kingdom.

   But, Loki was finally beginning to find his way into the group. Thor had, as expected, accepted him right away. Even though they were not connected by blood, they were in all other ways brothers. Like, they could be having a really petty fight but 5 seconds later, would deck someone who tried to hurt their sibling. That’s just how it is, I guess.

   Natasha Romanoff was tough to crack. But, she could also relate to Loki’s dark past, as he regretted every bad action he had committed. During her days as an assassin, she would have loved to rebel and escape, but knew if her plans were to fail then her life would be cut short. They were both incredibly intellectual. And somehow, one day, she started a conversation, and he kept it going, and there wasn’t as much tension as before. And little by little, they grew closer and eventually were close enough to have the title of friends.

   Tony Stark was very suspicious and of course Loki didn’t blame him; if he were in Stark’s shoes, would he feel the same? The answer was most likely. But they talked about alcoholic drinks and Loki could keep up with Tony’s constant engineering talk and wouldn’t often complain too much about sitting through 3-5 hours long lectures. So one day they both decided that they were friends that’s just how it was.

   Wanda eventually warmed up to him (ironic wording considering that he’s a frost giant. I hate myself). So did Bucky, and of course there are stories there that they would rather not have anyone know.

   Loki, though now having more friends than he ever really did, still somehow felt alone, isolated. Everyone had met their soulmate on the Avengers team. Clint had Laura. Tony had Pepper. Wanda had Vision. Natasha had Bruce. Bucky had Steve. Thor had Jane. So why was it that Loki was all alone. Cruel and cold fate, he supposed.

   But one day, Natasha barged into his room, seemingly bearing big news.

(Loki P.O.V.) (oof)

   “May I help you?” I drawled as Natasha made herself comfortable on my bed. Before, this would disturb me because that was not really how things worked on Asgard. Also, Natasha could be extremely horrifying. “Well, my best friend is moving to New York now.” she responded. “Clint?” I asked. “No, technically he does live here and just visits his family, that’s more like a vacation home.”

   “Ah, I see. Who are you referring to then?” I asked, my curiosity piqued. “Her name is (Y/N) (L/N). She was an assassin that is my age, trained with me in the Red Room. She escaped, and found me later. We kept in touch, and Fury wanted her on for the Avengers, but she declined. She went to college, got a degree in psychology, and has helped S.H.I.E.L.D. out on the side, but she never actually joined.” Natasha informed. 

   I realized her name sounded familiar. Natasha grinned, which was rare, and nodded to my wrist. I looked down to see the name (Y/N) (L/N) tattooed in a nice handwriting. “Really?” I asked. “Hell yeah.” Natasha responded before laughing.

   “What’s so funny?” I asked with an eyebrow raised. “It’s just, that’s, like, her catchphrase, I guess. ‘Hell yeah’.” she said fondly. (I got that from Jenna Marbles sorry.) “Oh. What is (Y/N) like?” I asked. “I won’t tell you ‘cause that would be cheating.” she replied. I rolled my eyes at her but eventually let it go. 

   “And by the way,” she started as she paused in the doorway of my room, “she arrives tomorrow.” Natasha walked away leaving me to wonder about my soulmate, (Y/N) (L/N).

(Y/N)’s P.O.V.

   I finally got off the plane and shuffled toward the luggage claim place. After getting all my stuff (and dirty looks that I didn’t ask for because of the name on my wrist), I scooted to a small corner so that I could call Nat. It took her four rings to pick up. The conversation was this:

Nat: Hey (Y/N). You land yet?

Me: Yeah, you here?

Nat: On my way with Clint. The guy-

Me: With the arrows. Katniss. Yeah.

Nat: *snorts* Yeah, and I brought my soulmate because, why not?

Me: Bruce Banner. Lots of brain power, smart guy. Turns into the big green guy when he gets too angry. I definitely remember him.

Nat: Yeah, well-

Me: Wait, you said you were bring him why?

Nat: Uh, no reason. Except that just like I’m with my soulmate, you’ll be with yours.

Me: Wait. Loki?! Like, my Loki?!

People started shooting suspicious and weird looks in my direction, and I flashed them an apologetic smile.

Nat: Yeah.

Me: NATASHA-

Nat: Oh, we’re here, bye. *hangs up*

   So now I’m walking down the corridors to find Nat, Clint, and Bruce. I keep muttering under my breath and now people think I’m insane. Oh well, I guess. I see Nat and scream “NATASHA!” She turns and blinks in response. I laugh and walk the last few feet to the group. She grins and hugs me as I drop my bags and squeeze her back. 

   “Nat, I hope you like me as much as you used to because now you’re just stuck with me.” I said as we pulled away. “I don’t know, you can be annoying.” she said. “Traitor.” I muttered as I turned to face the other two members of the group. “You must be Clint and Bruce.” I said. They both shook my hand and introduce themselves formally.

   “It’s nice to meet you, Bruce and Kat-I, mean Clint.” I said. “Were you gonna call me Katniss.” he asked incredulously. “Yeah, sorry, not sorry.” I replied. “You and Tony will get along fine.” Bruce commented. I shrugged. “I give everyone nicknames. Clint’s is Katniss, and Bruce’s is Green Bean. Not my best, but I did what I could.”

   “C’mon, (Y/N) needs to get settled at the tower, this is taking forever.” Nat chided. “You just want me to-” Nat cut me off, “Yeah, you’re right, but either way you should get to the tower.” I rolled my eyes and we packed my stuff in the car they came in. The car rise felt like it took hours, when in reality it was only a little over 15 minutes.

   Natasha practically shoved me into the elevator with her and literally almost broke the elevator buttons when she slammed them. “Nat, chill a bit.” I told her. “This will be hilarious, there’s no way I can chill.” she responded with a cackle. I eyed her cautiously and gulped. “Hey. Live life to fullest, right?” she asked softly, trying to comfort me. 

   “Hell yeah.” I muttered weakly. “That’s the spirit.” she said sarcastically. I shrugged helplessly and the elevator doors opened. The rest of the Avengers, excluding Loki, were sitting in a living room sort of room. Before they could introduce themselves I said, “Hey guys, I’m (Y/N) (L/N), and I know all of you.”

   They raised their eyebrows. “Okay, so that sounded bad, but yeah. I also gave all of you nicknames.” I pointed at each, saying their hero names, regular names, and nicknames. 

   “Captain America. Steve Rogers. Uncle Sam.” Cap only blinked and opened his mouth as if to say something, but then closed it thinking better of whatever he wanted to say. 

   “Iron Man. Tony Stark. Tin-Can.” Tin-Can exclaimed “Excuse me?!”, which I ignored, and I continued naming people.

   “Scarlet Witch. Wanda Maximoff. Eleven.” She quirked an eyebrow in confusion, but went along with it.

   I had named everyone else and by this point Natasha was getting tired of my stalling. “Loki is her soulmate, and she doesn’t want to meet him because she’s nervous.” she exclaimed. They all turned to me. “Well, I’m meeting my soulmate, can you blame me?” I asked.

   I groaned. “I’m too sober for this.” I complain. “You basically never drink alcohol, what do you even mean?” Natasha asks. “I need more self-confidence, but I lack it very much right now, I am nervous.” I rush out. Then, there’s a knock on the wall, and a smooth voice says “Am I interrupting anything?”

   I turn toward the voice and lock eyes with who I know is Loki. Not just from the news and what Nat has told me, I felt a certain pull to him. We’re soulmates, and I’m sure everyone can tell. (Author’s note here, sorry this is so cheesy, God it’s 11 p.m. and I only got 5 hours of sleep, I’m so sorry.)  “Loki.” he introduces as he holds his hand out to me. “(Y/N) (L/N).” I put my hand his and he kisses the back. Even though I know how cheese-y and cliche this was, it made me blush. But it would probably make anyone blush, Loki’s attractive. Like, hella fine. 

   There was a green outline around the black ink of Loki’s name, and a (F/C) outline around my name on his wrist. I grinned at him and he smiled softly. “Well, let’s go become best friends, come one.” I grabbed his hand and warmth flooded me. I let him lead me toward his room and then we spent hours getting to know each other.

Yikes. You know, I tried my best, I was kinda tired and I was determined to finish this. Okay, tags.

Tags:

@hamiltrash1411

That’s officially it. You can message me or send me an ask if you want to be added. Okay, thanks everyone. Bye, love ya!

[elliot-orion]

Can I ask for all of them??? Or if not all, all the odd ones? Or if not that, the first five? :D

I did all of them bc why not? You wanted me to and I love to talk about my nerds! @merigreenleaf and @albatris you two also asked for numbers so you can find the answers here! Thanks to all of you for your questions! I did the ocs from both Sparks fly and Sharing Breath and Sound bc I don’t have enough characters in one of the other to answer all these (I’ve got maybe 9 characters in sparks fly and less in SBAS fite me) 1. Is most likely to go on a rant for an hourSparky completely but it’ll be the most disjointed completely over the place rant ever. And also Scout actually. He gets really excited about the things he’s passionate about (seriously don’t get him started on mythology, a book, or Star Wars) 2. Starts or wants to rant but restrains themselfCassius. Oh my god Cass used to talk peoples ears off but now he’s too afraid to. But damn boy can rant. It’s usually complaining about people too. 3. Is surprisingly articulateRoman although that’s not surprising actually. Also Scout. He’s learned to cut to the point with his sign language. 4. Is surprisingly inarticulateOh my god Hall. He looks so stoic and broody but I swear to god if he gets flustered he’s flushed and stumbling all over his words it’s a mess. 5. Has no off-switchSparky. I don’t need to explain this really. 6. Doesn’t know when to quit when they’re aheadRoman. He just... goes for it. You give him an inch and he takes a mile. 7. Argues they are right despite evidence to the contraryAhh Sparky for sure, but also Scout. He’s got a hard time admitting he’s wrong when he’s already acted like he’s right. It’s a combination of anxiety and pride. 8. Freely admits they were wrong about somethingHall and Cassius. He’s actually more like Cass than Scout is, now that I think about it. Which is kinda surprising since you’d think Scout is more like him bc he’s got anxiety. But like, Scout is brave and strong even with his anxiety and Cass struggles to be either of those. 9. Plays innocentOh my god Sparky. It is completely canon that Sparky loves to fuck with police officers about his “innocence” and “non-Super” identity. It’s super funny. Also Clara is great at this. And Shaun. Actually most of Halls family is good at this. 10. Settles into a begrudging silence when outplayedSparky. Boy can pout. Also Clara. She does not like to be wrong, especially when arguing w her brother. 11. Changes subjects when they start to lose a debateAmirian. But like, you won’t even notice. 12. Is slow to angerCassius, Scout, Amirian, hall, and Shaun. 13. Has a hot temperSparky, Roman, Clara. 14. Is known for their rudenessSparky sort of? Like he’s just got no filter he’s not necessarily rude. But he’s known for speaking his mind and being completely brunt about what he thinks so he counts. 15. Is often accidentally rudeRoman doesn’t mean to be rude per se he just... doesn’t know/care about human “tact”. Faeries can’t lie so they just. Speak what they think. Also Hall just doesn’t like to speak to people bc he’s very closed off and Scout isn’t rude at all but people often don’t realize he’s selectively mute/hard of hearing and think he’s ignoring them. 16. Is very polite or mild manneredOh I’ve got lots of these. Scout, Halls whole family (although Clara can get very pissed sometimes. Watch out of you hurt her family) amirian is brutally polite, same with Mithe, and Cass is pretty polite but mostly it’s bc he’s too anxious to speak up about his opinions (which is sorta the same for scout but scout is better at it than Cass) 17. Is blunt or otherwise painfully honestAs mentioned, Sparky. And Roman. They’d get along I think. 18. Likes to tease others playfullySparky does (although sometimes he pushes too much) and Roman loveees to tease Cass. 19. Is seriousHall. So much Hall. He’s the black sheep from a family of sunflowers. 20. Is questioning or noseySparky and Amirian. They both want to know everything (and usually do) 21. Is secretiveHall keeps things close to his chest although he will share w close people (cough scout and sparky cough). Amirian keeps so many secrets. The only person she shares her true feelings with is Mithe, although she actually opens up to Cass at one point. 22. Does their best to seem tough or mysteriousHall. What, I said he was secretive and serious not that he wasn’t a total nerd. He likes poetry and beauty routines and fancy coffees and protects drunk girls at villain bars. Boy is far from the tough guy he looks like and pretends to be.

[lettersfromleslie]

SUMMER HEAT / EMPTY STREETS / JUSTICE NOR PEACE IN SIGHT / BUT STEP RIGHT THIS WAY FOR THE ONLY SHOW IN TOWN

Hello again from the belly of the beast!

It’s been a weird, hot, bittersweet summer. The new abnormal has made itself at home, the phases of the ‘rona have been swimming by, and one way or another life’s gone on living… Just wanted to put down a quickish sketch of what that’s been like in our lovable ol meatgrinder N.Y.C.

The lil lady and I spent the three months from mid-March to June in lockdown. I talked about all that plenty in my last post. It was a very surreal and foggy phase for us and looking back it’s hard to form a clear picture of what we did or how we felt. I think that fogginess has a lot to do with the mood swings, the phases of the news cycle, the ever-evolving picture we had of the world and our place in it… I kept my sanity by working on the album. It was good to have a mission in that. It was good too that I’d done the crowdfund and people had already paid for the damn thing, which kept me from slacking off too much. When I wrote my last post on May 2nd I was feeling quite blocked-up and discouraged because I wasn’t getting my takes, but then towards the end of May things started falling into place and before I knew it I had the whole album on tape. And whaddaya know, I think it’s a pretty good one! Probably the best one I’ve done. It was the first time I deliberately set out to write and deliver an album on a schedule, setting my dates without having the material in place, and I think that led to it being a very tight, compact statement. Of course the songs wound up being a bit more introspective and quarantine-y than planned, but that’s just how she goes, eh?

I wrapped up recording work around the beginning of June. That coincided with the period that Ariel and I started really venturing out again - starting on May 29th when we first joined the BLM protests against police brutality. I have to admit it doesn’t come naturally to me to talk about the protests online - not because it’s not important, but because I’m unsure if my voice would be as meaningful or articulate as the voices of those who are speaking from a lifetime of experience. Everyone’s feeds are already flooded with this stuff, and being a vaguely foreign white boy with an escapist bent there seems so little use in me going up and taking the mic. I'd just be repeating what I'd had to learn from others.

But that said - taking part in the protests was absolutely eye-opening. The energy and anger and emotion were relentless, and the demands for fairness and justice were so obvious, so simple to understand, and just so plainly the right thing to do. Which made it all the more incredible that it didn’t seem to affect those we were protesting in the slightest. I naively thought that the NYPD would at the very least be eager to put it out there that they, too, were against the indiscriminate killing of unarmed people, black or otherwise. I thought they’d take a knee with us. Not out of the goodness of their hearts, necessarily - but still, maybe just for the sake of PR. Intead we got to watch them go out of their way to perform live demonstrations of what we were protesting against over and over again… That’s to say my skinny white ass got a real crash-course in the harsh realities. We got kettled, intimidated with helicopters, we watched people get rounded up and beaten with batons for violating the 8PM curfew, we were there when that cop car rammed into a group of protesters on Flatbush Avenue… We also saw the looting, and the cop cars on fire, and the trash fires all along Broadway and on Union Square.

What can I say about it? It was fucked. It’s fucked. To be treated as an enemy by the police for protesting police violence. What else to assume than that they were taking the side of violence? They acted more like heavily-armed counter-protesters than peacekeepers. And of course it all led me to examine my own life and the advantages I’ve had. If you’ve been following me over the years you know I’ve always made a point of organizing my life in such a way that I have room to kinda detach from modern life and dream. And I used to think everyone could just do that. I was always proselytizing about it when I was a kid. “Just go live it!” All the while unthinkingly accepting the free passes that society would give me. Playing the free-spirited ragamuffin, simply expecting the world to recognize me in my role - and the world did! - while in a different body I wouldn’t have been recognized. That’s clear enough. So what kind of hypocrite would I be if I wasn’t out shouting for the same freedoms for my fellow humans? It’s something of a karmic debt at this point.


While all this was going on I also had to be dealing with my money situation, which was getting pretty bad. For reasons you can imagine I wasn’t in a place where I could apply for unemployment or any other kind of government assistance. My album crowdfund, the livestreams, and a little help from family and friends had seen me through the worst of the lockdown, but by the end of June I really had to start busking again. Sink or swim.

So, back to old Wash Square. That park has been through some phases in 2020, lemme tell you. It started out seriously mad. When I first started busking again the protests were still going full blast. March after march would weave in and out of the park, speeches were held, kneel-ins, sit-ins, you name it. I’d play the lulls. Around mid-July that righteous energy started making way for some seriously weird craziness. The NYPD had by this point stopped enforcing any of the usual small stuff and the Weird Ones had taken note. A squatter who called himself Jesus built a permanent home for himself and his followers in the fountain. Noise complaints were a thing of the past. Fights and brawls galore. Drugs, nudity, raves, and a riotous fuckitall feeling in the air, masks off, hands on, summer of mad recklessness. Me and my quarantine brain weren’t quite equipped to join the fray. I just kinda nervously skitted around the edges of it, yodeling here and there. Bit absent I was, maybe, but how can you go carefree gonzo when doing so means constantly risking killing someone’s granny by accident? I kept my social distance. There were some bad encounters. Bottles thrown at me while playing. Got assualted by some nut outside the W4st subway station, yanking me by the hair, punching me in the noggin. It was clear to anyone out there that the police had thrown their hands up at the situation and were letting people find out what life was like without them. As far as I could make out this unofficial police strike emboldened both the bad guys and the protesters without getting the cops anything. They might’ve been hoping the resident bougies would put their foot down one way or another, bark up the food chain some, but forget about it. There wasn’t much backlash or pushback from these upstanding, tax-paying pillars of society - they all just skipped town and headed for greener pastures. This mass exodus of wealth which had seemed temporary back in April started really accelerating around this point and by now the absence has started to feel permanent. If there’s any force of NIMBYism left in the Village I haven’t seen it. Those who have stayed on seem to have adopted a live-and-let-die approach. Aside from the fairy-lighted open-air restaurant patios with their potted plants and plexiglass dividers the streets belong to the people again, for better or for worse.

Personally, I don’t mind at all. Why should I? The money’s tough, but hell. I’ve always been broke. I’ve spent all my seven years in this city staring up at the rungless ladder which is Manhattan. If it can stop being a playground for the rich, it might become a place where I could actually hope to live someday.

Anyway, the last month has seen a sort of stabilization of the status quo. Some of the park regulars are back. R&B Lee, who used to be stuck down underground in the W4st subway station, has made a permanent place for himself and his giant PA on the western corner of the fountain. Jimmy the drummer is out all the time with a revolving cast of players. There are DJ sets on weekends and they get loud as all hell. So music’s back, but it’s a different world, and a much louder one. I’ve taken to playing in the small circle of benches on the western side of the park. There’s really not much space for unamplified music; the regular acoustic jam sessions have moved to other, more private locations and Colin Huggins, the park’s much-beloved pianist-in-residence, has more or less given up for the time being. Johan the living statue is out again much of the time. The portrait artists and street art sellers and fortune tellers are back, but the park poets are still in absence, probably conferring with their muses. Check out this article by Charlie Crespo with photos of some of the characters who are out and about.

Meanwhile the atmosphere out there is weird, anarchic, and sorta wonderful if you’re into that sort of thing. I guess I am. You won’t get bored hanging out on Washington Square in the summer of 2020, that’s for sure. Different threads of activism and action going on in every corner, friendships forged, love-ins, creativity, occasional bad chaos and ill energy, along with a good helping of just regular old hedonism in radical trappings. For a while there were great crowds of activist kids sleeping on the lawns and yakking all night about the revolution… The cops put a stop to that one, started clearing everyone out of the park again at midnight. Honestly a lot of it feels like what I always imagined the sixties might’ve been like. I’ve often looked at it a wee bit wistfully wishing I could be twenty again for it, with a head full of hot air and a fabulous tolerance for risk, instead of with bills to pay, dwindling resources, and a partner & a cat to look after. Oh, but I’ll be alright.

To everyone who’s still in NYC and has been worried about going out in public: if your health & conscience permit, come to the park sometime & let me sing a song for ya. I mean, do it responsibly - don that mask, bring your hand sanitizer, observe that distance - but New Yorkers have been knocking it out of the park when it comes to beating the virus, and that means the risks are lower and going out is almost as safe as it used to be. The park has plenty of room to socially distance. No one will bother you about it if you bring a picnic blanket and a bottle of something. The subway is safer to travel on than you might expect. The nights are hot and humid and saturated with all the great unknown we’re traveling through together.

And as far as I can make out, it’s the only show in town!

[sahibookworm]

For the past couple of days, all of us have seen various discussions about the first round of nominations for the Goodreads Choice Awards 2019 – how unfair it is to include books that released on the day the voting started, the complete invisibility of indie published titles, the very minimal representation of LGBT+ or POC authors/books and can we even do anything about it. I don’t think I have anything additional to add to the conversation because many amazing bloggers have articulated their thoughts in a very detailed manner.

In the previous years, I have always found that I had very very few books that I had read (let alone loved) or knew about in the award nominations, and I used to end up voting for something randomly. I also never had a lot of nominees on my TBR. This used to bum me out a bit because I thought I was reading the popular books, but I guess they are popular in my bubble and I also stuck to my YA fantasy and contemporary genre more often than not. This year however, I have tried to read a bit more outside my comfort zone while also sticking to my conviction that I will only read those which interest me (no succumbing to the hype if it’s not my kinda book). And very surprisingly, I apparently have quite a few books I know this time on the nominations list, and this makes me really happy.

So, I wanted to share with you all the details of the books on the list which I have read, which I plan to read and what I ultimately chose to vote for. Let’s get started…

FICTION

I have actually only read The Testaments among the complete list of fiction nominees, which is par for the course, and most of the time I don’t have any interest in these books. But I ended up voting for Red at the Bone because it’s on my highly anticipated TBR and I have heard great reviews about it from my friends…. and I also didn’t like Testaments much (not that my vote matters because it’s a Man Booker Prize winner and might as well win this easily).

MYSTERY & THRILLER

Not so surprisingly, I have read nothing on this list of nominees and I have no interest either. This is not a genre I read even infrequently, so I don’t really feel bad for not knowing most of these books.

HISTORICAL FICTION

It’s very rare that I read anything historical which is not a romance (even that is rare) and that’s why I just have one book on the list which I read – The Huntress – which I thought was brilliantly written and had amazing characters and voted for it very happily.

FANTASY

As a fantasy lover, it makes me happy that I have so many books on the fantasy list that I read or want to read. This usually doesn’t happen to me in the adult fantasy category because I’m more of a YA reader but looks like I surprised myself again.

While Gods of Jade and Shadow had a great mythology and interesting characters, I thought it was a little boring. I really enjoyed both Priory of an Orange Tree and Red Scrolls of Magic. The Dragon Republic is still on my TBR because I just couldn’t stomach reading it so soon after the first book. I had no interest in The Starless Sea until I saw reviews which call it “an ode to storytellers”, but I’m still skeptical if I’ll actually like it.

Despite so many choices available, I decided to write in Steel Crow Saga because I completely fell in love with the way the author discussed the themes of colonization, consequences of war and the amazing relationships we form in life.

ROMANCE

As a self-proclaimed romance genre lover, you would think I would have many books on the nominees list but my romance favorites usually aren’t the popular ones. However, four is not a bad number. And while I liked Ayesha at Last and The Unhoneymooners, didn’t enjoy Things You Save in a Fire at all (and I completely object to this book being on the romance list because the love story is just a subplot), it’s undeniable and I have been shouting this all over my blog since January that my favorite book of the year is Red, White and Royal Blue – so the voting choice for this category was the easiest.

SCIENCE FICTION

I’m not a sci-fi reader; I just find all the sciency stuff too complicated for me. But I have decided to try to read more, particularly due to encouragement from my dear friend Nandini, so I do have some very recently added books on my TBR. Imagine my surprise when all of them showed up on the nominations list – A Memory Called Empire, This is How You Lose the Time War and The Future of Another Timeline. However, the biggest surprise was finding the novella The Test on the list, because I read it just because I wanted something small and ended up marveling at how brilliant and brutal it was. So, obviously The Test got my vote.

HORROR

Nah… I would never willingly read a horror novel.

HUMOR

I guess I’m just not that into humor books. I have never even heard of most of the books on this list.

NONFICTION

I have been on quite a nonfiction kick for the past couple of months, so I ended up with more than a couple favorites on this list and had a hard time choosing my vote. The Witches are Coming is my latest read and I thought it was passionately written and narrated. She Said and Catch and Kill both deal with the investigation and reporting of the Harvery Weinstein sexual harassment scandal and the impact of the #MeToo movement, and they are brilliant while also dealing with many other important themes. I have only heart great things about Trick Mirror but haven’t read it yet because there is a 12 week waitlist at the library. So… that was tough… But I ended up voting for Catch and Kill because along with being a great investigative journalism piece, it’s written in a very enjoyable manner.

MEMOIR & AUTOBIOGRAPHY

I actually have read a few memoirs this year but none made the list. The ones that did, like Over the Top and How We Fight for Our Lives are on my TBR. So, I ended up choosing We Fight for our Lives because I have heard some wonderful things about it.

HISTORY & BIOGRAPHY

I never would have thought that there would be a single nominee here that I even know…. but voila…. the book that I’m currently reading How to Hide an Empire is here and while I’ve only read about 15% of it, I like it enough that I voted for it.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Another category where I would never expect to know any book – but Invisible Women has been on my TBR for a while and I’m very very excited to read it soon and I hope it wins.

FOOD & COOKBOOKS

I do cook basics but it’s not a particularly enjoyable activity for me. And while I do enjoy binging the Great British Baking show, cookbooks have never been my thing. However, for unknown reasons, Indian-ish has been on my wishlist for a while and I guess it just feels interesting. So, I voted for it even though tbh I don’t know if it’s actually very good.

GRAPHIC NOVELS & COMICS

Book Love was an adotable little comic about all the quirks of us booklovers and I resonated with it so much. Bloom was a nice teen love story too, but I guess I found it to be just okay in terms of story (great artwork though). Heartstopper vol 2 is on my TBR and I hope I’ll get to read it soon. But undoubtedly, my vote goes for Good Talk because it’s one of my favorite books of the year and it really personally resonated with me a lot.

POETRY

I have exactly one read poetry book on the nominees list and I voted for Shout immediately because it’s a very well written, powerful and thought provoking memoir-in-verse and it totally deserves the accolades.

DEBUT NOVEL

I have a huge list (in my notebook) of my favorite debuts of the year but apparently none were popular enough to make the list except Red, White and Royal Blue. And I guess that’s okay because I would choose it anyway.

YOUNG ADULT FICTION

I’ve only read two of the books which surprised me (I guess I’m reading less YA contemporary this year) – Frankly in Love was beautiful and I kinda hated American Royals. But I decided to vote for Internment which is on my TBR because I feel it’s an important book and deserves more accolades.

YOUNG ADULT FANTASY & SCIENCE FICTION

I had three 5-star reads in the list – which I should have expected – I loved Queen of Air and Darkness, King of Scars and the absolutely delightful Sorcery of Thorns. The Wicked King is also here but it was just an okay read for me. A Curse So Dark and Lonely is on my TBR. But I still decided to write in A House of Rage and Sorrow because I love that book with all my heart and it always saddens me that it’s not more popular.

MIDDLE GRADE & CHILDREN’S

Another category where I wouldn’t have expected to know any book but I read Aru Shah and the Song of Death and really loved it a lot, so I was very happy to be able to vote for it.

PICTURE BOOKS

Picture books are definitely not for me, so no voting here.

What do you think of my choices? Do we have any favorites in common? What books would you love to see win? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below…

Goodreads Choice Awards: Book I Voted For, Read and On my TBR For the past couple of days, all of us have seen various discussions about the first round of nominations for the Goodreads Choice Awards 2019 - how unfair it is to include books that released on the day the voting started, the complete invisibility of indie published titles, the very minimal representation of LGBT+ or POC authors/books and can we even do anything about it.

[sappy-secrets]

You can actually thank my irl boyfriend for me falling for Ronan. He knows exactly the kind of characters I tend to fall for and Ronan fit the bill. The nail in the coffin (pun intended) was seeing just the kind of person Ronan was. He seems big and tough and he is. He’s rough, bitter and a little cocky, but seeing just how hard he would fall for someone and how loyal he can be caught my heart. He’s a bit of a diamond in the rough. Even if he doesn’t immediately hit it off with you, don’t take it at face value. He’s used to being seen as the bad guy, a criminal, and is harsh at first but he’s a good guy when you give him the chance to be. Be patient with him.

Phoenix I think I fell for because he’s a lot like me and I can relate to him. He’s kind of dorky, makes mistakes and is otherwise just kinda goofy, but he has a lot of heart, is such a great guy and never gives up on people. No matter the odds or evidence put against him, he’s spilling to stand by your side. That and he just seems so happy. I sort of admire that. The cute smile and that confident look he gets that breaks through how unsure he was right before. What’s not to love? I just really like how even for someone in a profession notorious for being pretty boring and serious, he’s there being his adorable dorky self and doing so unapologetically.

Apollo is just really relatable to me too. I might not have a deep insightful essay like I do for the other two but I don’t think I need it. Not only is he absolutely adorable but he’s loyal to his friends and willing to go the distance. I just really like him and articulating exactly why escapes me. I didn’t think I was going to fall for him but with so much content to stumble across I couldn’t help but fall.

Can y'all reblog this post saying why you fell in love wif your f/o plz

I need that positivity rn, and ur cute self ships give me so much energy 💜😤💜

Also this is just one of my favorite topics to discuss, cuz everyone’s answers are always so unique! So, what was it that attracted you to your f/o? Their fun-loving personality? Their serious yet gentle nature? Maybe even how cute/hot they are? Go crazy, my peeps!!

[36incheshigh]

Anyway! So I just finished watching the entire Orphan Black show.

OMG, my heart is full!!! Wowee - well done.

good parts - amazing plot, good closure. good characters, although one of them, the villain who does get a lot of screen time, is not very developed :/. good performances by the lead! I thought at first that her job could be do-able but then it expanded to cover more and she ended up nailing it, which was surprising, so I was impressed!

to be improved - was heavy for longer periods of time then i was ready for lol - like if youre gonna be heavy, hopefully you lighten it up periodically! or else its just exhausting to watch, forever! that’s why i think the first season .. and i guess the last one were the best, because they had a better balance.

personally, i really like shows and movies that are really complex, and are good thinkers, are like artistically crafted, explore themes and have a certain amount of feelings lol. oh man, this had a nice amount of feelings! not too much that it would kill me i dont think lol, but enough to move me ah! complex themes poignently and like, artistically explored!, of like, what it means to be family, identity, origins/growth. would be good to watch if you like medical stuff and science and crime/mystery. groovy.

*spoilers below*

omggggg. yeah but if i wasnt paying attention/didnt want a show where i had to pay attention to get it lol, i don’t think id’ve like this show heh. luckily its what i wanted this time. but the good thing is it wasnt asss complicated as like, game of thrones, which i am paying attention, and yet, i still like, don’t really get it..that, for me, would be too hard of a show to watch, like i just wouldn’t want to put that much effort into enjoying entertainment . but it required enough paying attention for me to consider it “a thinker”, to keep you on your toes to keep up with it while youre watching, which was nice.

performance - she nailed sarah, helena and krystal i think lol, which is surprising because those girls are so different-like the most different ! thats what impressed me lol. but i feel like she was a bit uncomfortable at least for a while in the other roles. fun to watch her in all those roles though.

my fav was ..well like i wanna be sarah i think shes the coolest and prettiest heh.. but i actuallyy.. appreciate helena the most. what character development lol, and she has such a distinct sense of humor! I love her because fortunately or unfortunately, she reminds me of myself, like kind of a hot mess, but I admire her like, fiercee loyalty and protectiveness, her humor, - its so, like things just come right off the top of her head, out of no where! and its kind of severe but genuine and matter of fact. brilliant heh xD. she has no reservations and doesnt really care like what people think of her? and she has soo many specific mannerisms, more than the other girls i think, -so expressive! and [a] much more distinct gestures and way of carrying herself in every little scene shes in! even her eye movements/eye shiftiness and the particular way she eats, with slow, inquisitive hand movements inspecting food at first, then clumsily stuffing her mouth lol, then letting it all fall from her mouth to her lap LOL. i like how she has many parts - so buff but also has a really vulnerable and earnest part too. i see it in her sisters but in a different or even maybe less extreme way. and you can really see a connection or see the chemistry/relationship between her and sarah, i reallyy enjoy their scenes together. which is incredible that they can articulate that, even when the actress did the two parts separately, not in the same shot at the same time ! felix was great, esp for comic releif, and i loved how his artistic things kind of tied the story together in the end.

my other fav sister was actually beth too.. even though you didnt see much of her, i saw a lot of me in her too ...a lot of me in a lot of them .. i just wanna be tatiana maslany lols..

nice name for the girl, Kira. perfect. i really like how her mom is usually really tough and cranky but shes soo soft with her daughter. like shes a criminal, then when she faked her death and saw her daughter come to the funeral and thought her daughter might think shes dead, she instantly dropped tears! cute relationship.

yeah they did good on showing some peoples’ relationships , like i also really liked allison and donnys relationship in the later seasons! quirky and fussy.

i also really liked how they were consistent in the girls being twins - even though they ended up all having their own lives and ways of being, you can see how genetically or whatever, they all did have the same character traits, which just manifested in different ways towardss different things in all of them!

the opening song kind of creeps me out, and is almost way more sci-fi -y than the show is, but i guess i get it - i meann the actual show doesnt seem that trippy, but the way that song and visual makes me feel is kinda  how that show makes me feel . - that was the other thing, like ...idk if i just got used to it or the kinds of episodes changed, but for a while, for like the first couple? seasons, the show kind of made me feel uneasy and like paranoid a lot of the time lol but for some reason as you can see i couldnt stop watching the next and next episode lol.

^ wow im a talker huh?! well i just have a lot of thoughtss lols!

[durianstar]

HEY OK I DID SOME BIOS FOR HISAO AND MASAKO A  WHILE BACK SO. HAVE THESE SKETCHES AND INFO UNDER THE CUT

FACTS ON MASAKO WAKABAYASHI:

17, 2nd year of highschool. 5’6”, 130~ish lbs.

hyperintrovert. despises people. interacting with others is a chore. zero social skills

empathy problems. cannot imagine why anyone would go out of their way to help people on their own. her own self interest is her priority. doesn't care if she hurts someone or their feelings. she does mind her own business though and can’t understand why people would ever start drama

uses her mind control for petty stuff (better grades, more money from her uncle, if someone is coming up to talk to her she can turn them around, etc. her mind control is very powerful but the other person is vaguely aware they’re getting controlled and so if she tried getting them to do something big like attacking someone else they would know.) keeps her powers a definite secret, doesn’t want any attention over it from others

secretly desires a companion where they could just chill and talk about hobbies. craves a real personal connection but she doesn’t even know she wants it. who’d want to talk to her anyways she's difficult. “no one understands me”

honestly just really depressed and disaffected. she’d be a lot nicer if she was happier but she hates her parents she hates her school and she hates the system

enjoys basketball, pretty good at it. knows krav maga (mom is from israel, taught her what she knew from the IDF because masako was genuinely interested. she was like 7 when she was learning though)

not really all that smart. the glasses make her look clever but she's bad at math and studying is her worst nightmare. she’s also terrible at articulating her thoughts. that being said she's very good at writing

relatively interested in fashion. dresses nice in general and keeps her appearance tidy

her clothes smell like mothballs though. her uncle puts them everywhere. she fucking hates it

her hair is naturally mousy, dyes it red with henna. very soft tresses

quite pretty. gentle features, severe eyes and clear skin. has a couple of secret admirers but she’s scary and they would never interact with her

has a lot of story ideas but her characters fall flat. enjoys writing in general though

likes music. listens to everything but enjoys ambient creepy-sounding stuff and kpop girl groups

lives with her uncle on her dad’s side because her parents are always on trips and they need someone to watch her

her and her uncle don’t really get along. he’s very kind but he’s always worrying over her. she hates it when he does that because it actually does makes her feel bad when he’s just trying to help and she snaps at him

she’s fond of him. although they have nothing in common he cooks dinner every night and tries his best to understand how she feels. he's way better than her parents (never there for her, fed up with her attitude, always blamed her for everything, never spent any time with her, never encouraged her hobbies). sometimes she’ll buy him a nice outfit for his birthday with the money she accumulates on new years

fast metabolism. she eats A Lot

favorite food is soup of all types. rice and miso soup is her go-to meal. jewish style chicken soup as well

and yeah she's technically jewish since her mom is. japanese jew

uses “あたし (atashi)” to refer to herself around strangers. uses “あたい (atai)” around her uncle and hisao.

cv: miyuki sawashiro (the deep voiced tough girl voice. the intimidating one)

FACTS ON HISAO EGAWA:

23, draws on commission and works at mcdonalds. 5’3”. also like 130~ish lbs

disgusting

sorta introverted but very outgoing. hes got a couple friends he can kick it with

he lives in his van for sure, can’t afford his own place to live. he lives in his mom’s apartment parking lot

bipolar. can’t keep an office job because his manic episodes are pretty severe and he does get mildly psychotic.

does a lot of illegal shit on the daily. like regular drug use and brewing alcohol at his friend’s crib. probably doing a whole bunch of other shit too while possessed.

has tattoos on both shoulders cuz his friend in the Yamaguchi-gumi did them for him.

speaking of the yamaguchi-gumi like he’s got a Few Friends In The Yakuza. he’s considered joining but he doesn’t want to cut ties with his mom

his pixiv is full of fucking porn like it is absolutely swamped with it. if something isn’t r18 it's definitely suggestive. prominent BL-artist but he draws women sometimes. big on saigenos

actually very smart. he was one of the best in his class all throughout middle school but mental illness ruins everything and at that point his priority was mostly on not killing himself. he didn't go to college

also the cool guy in his school when he wasn’t the shortest. was definitely the short one in highschool and was also suicidal so he was substantially less popular then. people started realizing he was poor and vulnerable around that time too so he suffered a Little Bit Of Bullying but he would beat the shit outta anyone that started a physical confrontation with him. started smoking cigarettes around his 3rd year of highschool. started befriending delinquents and other lower-class teens

he used to be the ace of his school’s ping pong team. stopped going to practice during an episode and got cut from the team

he really loves his mom a lot and he feels really bad for her because she's poor too so he’s determined to help her out as much as he can. he doesn't wanna be an economic burden on her

she used to be an escort but now she’s a nurse (and was part of the yakuza as well but she left when she got pregnant). hisao is illegitimate

has a lot of trouble with commitments. he is, however, determined to make a manga

his story ideas tend to be pretty dull but he can draw characters and dialogue with intense skill

he knows so many damn ghosts and he's friends with like all of em. he prefers them to living people much more since they don’t treat him like he’s an untouchable

no boyfriend or girlfriend. too busy being a loser. he really wants one too but he doesn’t fucking deserve it

terrible fashion sense he just puts on whatever he sees first and slathers himself in antiperspirant

shitty skin. the freckles on his face are mostly hyperpigmented spots where acne used to be. he still gets the occasional pimple on his scalp or hairline. the oiliest

he doesn't keep anything clean like ever. everything that's his is either messy and/or unsanitary

hes like. genuinely a nice person but circumstances had kinda led him to his garbage man persona. always gives a couple dollars to beggars and helps the elderly across the street.

he’s also pretty charismatic in general. he knows how to work the system

listens to speedcore and other garbage like that

LOVES KIDS he's so good with little children he even applied to work at a daycare but they didn't like his vibe and also he has zero professional experience

will eat everything. anything. not picky at all. he does like fruit and bread a lot though

also knows how to cook pretty well. had to prepare dishes for his mom when she was ill (all the time)

uses “おれ (ore)” around basically everyone because he doesn’t give a shit but “私 (watashi)” in restaurants and stuff. he isn’t rude at all he’s just a little coarse.

cv: kazuhiko inoue (like how he sounds when he’s playing a nerd character)

[thecorteztwins]

I just saw Wonder Woman and I want to ramble about it! Tagging @captaindicks because I was gonna message you and ask if I could ramble to you about it since you’ve seen it but there ended up being so much I like that I decided to just write a post. Spoilers under the cut!

- Kickass women. This is pretty self-evident and I don't even feel the need to discuss it. Which tells you how good the rest is, if this isn't even what really got me excited. Like, I expected this to be the main thing for me, and while I loved it, there's actually OTHER STUFF THAT I LOVED EVEN MORE - I loved the moral and messages. I really did. The message of there being good and evil in everyone and it being up to us to choose isn't new, but it's good, and I really liked it being entangled with the message that there's no single bad guy or source of evil that you can just eliminate and solve everything, that people are complex, situations are complex, wars are complex. Admittedly, if I had to criticize, the movie doesn't actually do a great job of SHOWING that complexity---the British are all good (except for the dude who is really Aries but he's not actually British) and the Germans all bad, and the motives of the Germans are never explored nor is there anyone on their side shown as equally human to the good guys...but I'll be honest, that's really more something I only thought of towards the very end of the movie. The pacing and action was such that there really wasn't room for additional development on the enemy side, with that all kind of being made up for at the end with the surprising motives of Ares, but I feel like the moment Diana kills Ludendorf and things don't just suddenly change works pretty well for the “people actually are making their own choices and it's a lot more complicated than just getting rid of the Big Bad” revelation (which is also shown in how she still has to be Wonder Woman even after killing Ares, because getting rid of Ares doesn't fix everything either) - Honestly, she reminded me a lot in the beginning of how I write Anne Marie? The super simplistic view of good/evil, not understanding the two co-exist in every person, and sincerely believing that everything will be good if we just do this very simple (and violent) solution against the Bad Guy (or Bad Guys, as Anne Marie sees it) And then when something challenges that view, she initially twists things around in her head to fit it (“This guy is super bad? He must really be the Big Bad!” “You're one of the good guys, and yet did something I disagree with or don't understand? Ares has corrupted you!”) which is something Anne Marie does (and something all people do to a degree, I think) The difference, of course, is that Wonder Woman actually LEARNS. She accepts the hard truth of how complex things are and that there's no easy answer, whereas Anne Marie can't handle that and just digs her heels in deeper so that she can hold on top hope---which Wonder Woman continues to do anyway without such a crutch (is than ableist phrase?) - I loved what they did with Ares. I loved his motivation. It was an utterly unique departure from ANY portrayal that I have ever seen in ANY media of Ares, and worked REALLY WELL and actually fit PERFECTLY with the theme of people having far more complex motives than just good or bad. I also really, really loved that he never actually “corrupted” or “infected” or “controlled” mankind in any way. Like, at the beginning of the movie, when Hippolyta told her story about how Ares twisted the hearts of man, I didn't like it because I don't like setups that essentially exonerate people from their choices, so I truly fucking LOVED how it ended up being subverted in the end. It reminds of Neil Gaiman's Lucifer, how he said “I never made any of them do anything. Not even once.” - As I said, one failing in the message about the complexities of people is that the Germans were all Totes Evil, but I still loved the small moments of humanity that got worked in for Dr. Poison and Ludendorf. Not goodness, just humanity, like you can see they were people with personalities and not just evil caricatures. The simple shot of Dr. Poison staring into the fireplace at the gala was enough for my heart to twinge for her. There's no words, no unpleasant imagery, no one is mean to her, yet I felt such sympathy for her because it's just...she's so clearly uncomfortable and out of place there? And it's easy to extrapolate why, she's the nerdy science person with a messed-up face. And she's here among all these socialites, and these beautiful civilian women. I think every nerd in the audience, especially nerd girls, can emphasize with that. And that's BEFORE a good-looking man walks up and starts seemingly showing interest in her, something that probably NEVER happens---you can tell she has really no idea how to react---and then she realizes he's looking at the far more beautiful lady across the room. And what I love is...none of this asks us to excuse her for her actions or make it seem like it's not her fault, it's not even related to her villainy in any way, it's just this one little scene that takes her out of her lab and out of her role as Dr. Poison and lets us see that, while also not forgetting it for a second. I also really liked that it didn't become some plot with her being jealous of Diana over Steve either, which I was kinda worried about when it happened, but it's obviously not ABOUT Steve at all, I don't think she was at all interested in him herself, but she can still be hurt when his interest in her is false and fleeting for a conventionally beautiful woman, because that is hurtful. On Ludendorf's end, I loved his encouraging relationship with Dr. Poison. I love how instead of acting like a stereotypical bad guy who goes “make the poison or you'll die!!!” he instead tells her that he has faith in her and reassures her of her talents---and I should point out, she's a woman in science during the 1910s, she probably has gone through a lot of people doubting her and telling her she shouldn't be doing this at all. I mean, she shouldn't be doing THIS, the horrible murder parts, but I mean doing science. And it's not romantic at all either, which I also super like. He just knows she's talented and is supportive of her. And this isn't used to make him seem sympathetic or less bad either, he's unquestionably evil as fuck. He's just an evil as fuck guy who is supportive to his evil as fuck colleague. And I really, really like that. - It seems to me that the real villain was the gas? Dr. Poison and Ludendorf are really just accessories to it, and Ares doesn't actually make an appearance or even truly do anything til the end, whereas the gas is a constant and present threat. I find that interesting, but can't totally articulate why. - I don't really get the use of the super-strength gas though, that ended up really not going anywhere and I don't think the movie would have been any different without it. Maybe it was meant to be a red herring or something. - I am nearly always disinterested in romance plots. This one was no exception. However, I also did not hate it. There was nothing that made groan or get critical or want to slap either party. I'll be honest, I was literally bracing myself for lots of shitty tropes that usually come when a romance involves a super-powerful woman, and I was especially worried that Steve would be shitty (in one of the animated Wonder Woman movies, he deliberately tries to get her drunk ffs) but I actually had no issues with Steve nor with their romance (and I really appreciate that it was secondary, nay, tertiary to everything else going on, rather than everything taking a backseat for the love story) and I did have Feels when he died. It was also unexpected when he died. This movie surprised me more than once with its choices and I really, really love being surprised. - I absolutely adored this version of Etta Candy, but her original 1940s comics version is still the best. Look her up, she's WONDERFUL. - This didn't hit me til just now, but was Diana posing as Steve's secretary a reference to how she was the secretary for the Justice League of America in the 1970s Super Friends cartoon? Yes, they made Wonder Woman the team secretary FOR REAL in the 1070s, I'm serious. My mom is STILL salty about that and I don't blame her. - I really loved how Diana's character was written. It was exactly what I was hoping for. When she's written at her best in the comics, she's an incredibly fierce and powerful warrior who is simultaneously the epitome of compassion. It's a really hard note to hit, and I notice in film especially, writers seem to have a hard time with women are meant to be tough and strong---they simply can't find balance with these traits, and that balance is ESSENTIAL for Wonder Woman. And this film did that. I also like how her primary weapons were her lassos and bracelets, and the sword ended up being useless. Because her lasso and her bracelets are perfect for her personality and what she stands for. The bracelets are deflectors, they're defensive, they're not actually weapons at all, yet they destroy weapons. And the lasso is a versatile, non-lethal tool. It can trip, bind, and subdue, but it does not injure or kill. Okay, you can wrap a person up and slam them into something and THAT hurts, but you know what I mean? - I also appreciated that there was no gratuitous sexualization or fan service, which I was also worried about. - I really like that it was directed by a woman. I know a woman will not AUTOMATICALLY do a better job on a movie just because it stars a woman, but it seems...fitting, for this specific case. - While I appreciate that the story got right to the action, I do wish we'd seen a LITTLE more of the Amazons, because what I liked about the original 1940s comics Amazons was that they weren't just a society of superior warriors, but also super scientists, super philosophers, etc. Later writers, such as Azzarello, have made them much more like the Amazons of myth (complete with gratuitous man-hating and throwing out male babies -eyeroll- They also seem to like having horrible things happen to the Amazon population en masse, to the point I really sideye it, but that's besides the point) but I think that these Amazons were probably like how they started in the original Paradise Island envision by the creator, given how they are shown to have a healer/nurse and how everyone studies multiple languages. It's clearly not just All Fighting All The Time. - I like the quick but significant acknowledgments of racism, with Samir having wanted to be an actor “but I am the wrong color” and the implication (to me) that this is why he's a con man (and getting to use those skills for good), and Chief saying how Steve's people took everything from his in the last war. These weren't things that the movie had to put in at all, but it did, and it's a small thing but I thought it was really great. Also cool fact about Chief, I forget which tribe his actor is, but all his jewelry is his ACTUAL stuff, it's not Hollywood props, so it's not a Hollywood stereotype of what a Native American would wear, it's actually accurate. - I'm sure there's other things I'll think of later but like, this was a really good movie, it was very well-written AND very visually awesome, go see it!