#many relevant questions for part 3 though

[alexdswfan]

The importance of Hange's character in AoT and in Levi's story

This is a rant of mine that I've always wanted to express since I entered the AoT fandom, because the fact that an argument like this can be made where the fandom questions Hange's importance in the story, a character integral to the story and part of the most important side characters, has never sat well with me, especially for someone like me who has Hange Zoë as one of their all-time favourite characters not only from AoT, but from any media ever. The fact that Hange receives such claims from the fandom while other important characters, like Levi or Erwin for example, are not subjected to these sorts of claims, has always rubbed me the wrong way. I never really understood why these claims even exist in the first place and target Hange specifically, but perhaps sometimes there's no explanation to these things. I do want to specify that Hange has slowly gained in popularity especially after the release of season 4 as compared to previous years when Hange hate was definitely more prevalent in the fandom than nowadays.

But with that being said, this claim is unfortunately never truly gone from the fandom, and despite the fact things have improved, it's always relevant to remind the fandom why Hange is important to the story and cannot be so easily erased from it. Maybe for some people, this post won't make a lot of sense as to why it even exists since they already know Hange is an important part of AoT, but I still feel I need to enumerate in greater detail why Hange IS important to AoT's story AND to Levi's narrative as this fandom often times seems to overlook this fact as seen by this reply I've received to a comment I made stating both Hange and Erwin are equally important to Levi. (I might be annoying with this, but it’s something I cannot slide easily. In the end I decided to show the full reply just so you could see for yourselves the extent of some people’s delusions when one is too engrossed in their favourite relationship and fails to recognize the importance of others, which is why they had no problem saying Hange could be erased from the story.)

There are many incorrect facts in this reply and I won't go through all of them as some are very shippy-biased and many blogs out here have already discussed and debated these claims in full (like the Ackerbond which has been debunked by the manga countless times or again the infamous take that Levi chose Erwin over humanity), but I'll counter-argument the idea that "you can take away Hange from Levi's story and it doesn't change anything", going further to explain why it's impossible to erase Hange from the story and from Levi's narrative from the manga's perspective.

(Before I do that though, just want to share a newest reply I received after I called out someone still spewing the same old argument that Levi doesn’t like Hange because Hange is unhygienic and this is how they answer me:)

(To imply Levi and Hange are not even friends, or that Isayama showed that Hange means nothing to Levi, is mind-boggling to me. As you can see, the hate Hange receives from this fandom is unfortunately still relevant.)

Hange's importance to the AoT plot

The first reason why Hange is essential to the story is through the intellect they're showcasing which helps the entire cast to devise plans out of their discoveries or theories that happen to be correct. This intellect actually helps the plot moving forward. One of the best examples of such importance is shown in chapter 37, Southwestward. Hange is the one to prove the walls are made of hardened Titan skin like Annie produced and the idea to use Eren's Titan later to seal the wall in Shiganshina, which is the whole purpose of the second part of season 3 in the anime, comes from Hange. Although Armin also speculated on the fact the walls are made of hardened Titan skin (in chapter 34), Hange is the one to scientifically prove it. Without this important discovery, the whole mission to go to Shiganshina to seal the wall and the reason Eren needs to train his Titan to harden his body later in the story wouldn't have been possible. The rest of the story leading up to the expedition in Shiganshina is shaped around that single discovery made by Hange. Without their scientific approach and their deduction skills, the plot would've come to a halt. Here are panels from chapter 37 showing how that important discovery was made and how Hange (and Armin to a certain degree) exposed their findings to the rest of their teammates in the cart.

Hange is also essential to Erwin's strategic plans. Both Armin and Hange are, but I'll concentrate more in this post on how Hange's theories and ideas are what fuel Erwin's own plans. The example with the discovery of the hardened Titan skin is definitely one of them, as he then plans an entire expedition in order to let Eren use his Titan abilities to seal the hole in wall Maria which will also lead to his own death. Another example where we see how Erwin plans around Hange's theories is in chapter 28, Choices and Consequences. This is after Annie summons other Titans to eat her Titan form in the forest and Erwin orders Levi to replenish his gas and blades. Erwin reveals later to Hange since Hange asks him why he told Levi to do that as they're all in a hurry, and he says he was inspired by one of Hange's theories when they theorized for the Colossal Titan's disappearance someone with ODM gear could've escaped using steam as cover, even though Hange didn't believe in the theory anymore due to Eren's state when he emerged from his own Titan the first time. However, Erwin keeps that idea by theorizing Annie could have done it unlike Eren, which he happens to be right. By giving Levi that order, he knows Levi shouldn't meet with her since Annie goes straight for Eren and Levi's squad as we all know how the story goes. Therefore, without Hange, his strategies wouldn't be as efficient, which is why Hange is not only essential to him but to the plot as a whole. These are the panels showing how Erwin was inspired by Hange's idea to make this plan on the spot.

Not only Erwin respects Hange's theories, but Levi can also be seen respecting Hange's theories multiple times throughout the story, and not only respecting but actually acting on them and basing his own plans around them. One example of this is in chapter 62, Sin, where Hange explains why they find Rod Reiss' testimony suspicious about the destruction of the chapel in which his entire family was killed (we find later by Grisha). That pushes Levi to accept investigating the chapel since he remains the head of the 104th even if Hange joined their group, swayed by Hange's arguments, and this is how the group later finds Eren and Historia. Here is the panel clearly showing Levi following Hange's lead.

Another example where we see Levi clearly be inspired by Hange's theories to act is in chapter 133, Sinners. After the Alliance processes Hange's sacrifice and pitches ideas for how to stop Eren, Levi proposes killing Zeke as one of the ways to stop the Rumbling, inspired by Hange's hypothesis. This then adds a new reason as to why Levi wants to kill Zeke (and not only for Erwin as some people might want to believe), but also to save humanity, guided by Hange's reasoning. And we see later that killing Zeke does stop the Rumbling, at least temporarily, but enough for the Alliance to think of another plan. Hange is then essential to the Alliance even after their death through Levi remembering their sharp intellect.

Related to how Levi acts on Hange's theories, he also praises Hange's leadership skills, like we can see in chapter 52, Krista Lenz, where the Survey Corps are into hiding to help Eren improve his Titan hardening skills. There's a moment when Hange hesitates on the next course of action, but Levi brings the determination Hange needed to fight back by laying out what options they have left. When Levi then compares Hange's answer to something Erwin might have said, he is recognizing the same leadership skills needed to be a commander that Erwin possesses in Hange, which not only is a sort of foreshadowing for what's to come in Hange's storyline, but it shows how both Levi and Erwin see Hange fit to be the next Commander (Erwin naming them as his successor later in the story is proof of Erwin's own trust in Hange's skills). Therefore, this means that the Survey Corps are in good hands regardless of what might happen to Erwin in the future, and we can see later how both were right (despite some people in the fandom criticizing Hange's commanding skills or actions later in season 4, how it's "their actions that led to Eren activating the Rumbling" as that framing is flawed but I'm overlooking that for now).

Hange is also essential for being the mastermind behind the thunder spears, helped by the engineers, weapons that can fight against the Armoured Titan and that will later be the weapons of choice for the Scouts (except Levi because he is a boomer until he does use them and yeah, that doesn't go well for him. Poor Levi :( ) So without Hange, no thunder spears, which wouldn't have gotten the Survey Corps as far as they've come. Here is the panel where we see Hange present the weapon to the rest of the Survey Corps from chapter 76, The Thunder Spears.

It’s thanks to Hange’s sacrifice the Alliance can keep going and the plane can take off with the rest of the Alliance. Despite this still being debated in the fandom, whether Hange's sacrifice was truly needed and whether they killed enough Titans to allow the Alliance to take off, the narrative is definitely framing it as necessary, and that without Hange's intervention in chapter 132, the plane could not have taken off. So Hange is essential for the survival of the rest of the Alliance.

Hange is the one who created the Alliance that can retaliate against Eren. They're the one to bring everyone together, from the Paradis side to the Marley side, which is no easy feat considering the historical tensions and divides between the two nations. But Hange is the main instigator, which makes them incredibly important for the existence of the Alliance in the first place. This panel from chapter 126, Pride, perfectly shows how Hange is the one to approach Pieck and Magath to create an alliance with them and Levi, followed later on by the 104th, Gabi, Falco, Annie, Reiner, Onyankopon and Yelena.

This is another reason why Hange is essential to the story, maybe overlooked but incredibly important, and maybe more so in our current times. Hange is the only character who says overtly “genocide is wrong”, and despite the Alliance definitely agreeing with them as well on that, I think it's important to be said explicitly since people still misunderstand this sentence even when stated explicitly. I've seen some people in the fandom say that what Hange said isn't nuanced or is too "simplistic", but the truth is that genocide is among one of the very few things in life that are actually very black and white. There's no grey area when it comes to genocide, no nuance, no "good reason" that can justify it, no historical trauma that can justify mass exterminations like Eren's or the ones we see nowadays in certain corners of the world. It IS wrong. Case closed. Therefore, Hange's statement is crucial, but more so, they're not afraid to call out their own people (in this case Eren) committing war crimes, even if it's painful or uncomfortable, something that for some reason is still incredibly hard to do even in real life. And Eren isn't just "another Paradis Eldian" to Hange or the Paradis side of the Alliance: Hange and Levi see in Eren something deeper than a mere subordinate (and I know the fandom likes to joke about how Levi and Hange are like the parents of the 104th, but pretty much) while the rest of the 104th with Mikasa and Armin mostly see him as their closest friend, making the heartbreak at having to fight him even more tragic. So that Hange is able to hold Eren accountable after everything he represents to them because genocide is just that wrong and horrific is incredibly strong and courageous, and absolutely necessary. We should definitely take example from Hange's moral clarity as well. Here are the panels in chapter 127, Night of The End, where Hange clearly expresses that genocide is wrong to Jean and Mikasa and then later during the stew scene in the forest where they tell Magath that no one wants a genocide.

Hange’s clear statement about genocide also completely invalidates the criticism AoT sometimes receives for “endorsing genocide or fascism”. The narrative is not neutral: it clearly supports the Alliance and sees them as the right side, so Isayama was not subtle about the message that the Rumbling is wrong. But again, who truly remembers Hange saying that? This is why Hange is essential to the plot and their statements should be remembered more often by the fandom or else people risk misinterpreting the core message of the story.

Also, can we appreciate how insane Hange is for saying that (still from chapter 127):

I think a lot more people should remember Hange's words here instead of using ancient history to justify war crimes. Their moral clarity is spot on (and hats off to Isayama for writing that).

Hange's importance to Levi's narrative

Alright, so you’ve probably all seen me come with this, which is the most straightforward and simple reason to explain why Hange can't be erased from Levi's story, and it's that they save his life after Zeke exploded the cart in which he was too with the thunder spear. Pretty self explanatory, and here is the panel from chapter 115, Support, that clearly shows how Hange is trying to save Levi by lying to Floch so the Yeagerists wouldn't shoot him on the spot.

I'm going on a little tangent here because there's something I want to discuss about what Hange saving Levi means in terms of queer theory. This is obviously an interpretation I have of the scene, so I'm not stating Isayama necessarily intended to add a deeper meaning to this scene except only to show the culmination of Levi and Hange's own theme of mutual care, but I've noticed something about this scene that I find interesting. So, Hange's character as a concept is inherently queer due to their gender ambiguity. I'm not here saying Hange as a person is necessarily queer or that Isayama wanted necessarily to make Hange queer, but that ambiguity makes the concept of their character pretty queer. So it's interesting to see a character like them representing queer concepts about gender save a masculine character that on the other hand represents healthy masculinity: Levi emulates that masculinity through his compassion and empathy and desire to protect others, which is what masculinity actually should be about. To see a masculine character who usually is the one doing all the saving be now saved by a character without a conventional gender subverts the traditional trope of the male character saving others. Not only is he shown in an extremely vulnerable position, but someone else, neither really male or female, ambiguous really, protects him now, which is in my opinion a very interesting interpretation of this scene since it plays with gender roles. What is expected of Levi as the male character is now pushed onto Hange who doesn't have a clear gender, which makes the scene even more compelling from that perspective.

But Hange saving Levi's life is not the only reason why Hange is important to Levi. This reason is too obvious and easy to find and I want to go deeper than that as the person from the start of this post believing Hange could be erased from the story was not considering this reason as very important as seen by the reply below.

So why Hange IS emotionally important to Levi since apparently for some people, saving one's life is regarded as unimportant to someone's narrative? I will show how Hange is important to Levi beyond the trifling matter of saving his life (let me be sarcastic for a moment here lolol) and how this fandom time and time again struggles to truly understand the relationship between Levi and Hange, which is actually quite interesting, because I think Levi and Hange have one of the most straightforward relationships to follow in the story, and yet, some people still manage to misunderstand it.

Hange is emotionally important to Levi since Levi would've been a lot more depressed in the Survey Corps had Hange not been around. He would've been a lot more misunderstood by the people around him without no one to make poop jokes with or to give into his snarky comments, and Erwin cannot replace Hange here as he would've been more distant as the Commander and also in relation to his own dream and struggles around it. Levi needs someone like Hange to act as his "partner in crime" or the Survey Corps' experience for Levi wouldn't have been the same, and that is as important as any story narrative since it would've shaped Levi differently if Hange wasn't around him. I'll link my previous metas about Levi and Hange's communication skills and how Hange treated Levi when he first entered the Survey Corps for more explanation on why Hange is so important to Levi as I've gone into more details in those specific posts. But if I can resume rather quickly, it's because Hange cares for Levi exactly like he cares for them back and for the rest of the AoT cast for that matter, and Hange is among the very few who can perfectly understand his world view. Therefore, Hange cannot be erased from Levi's narrative due to this strong closeness they share together, no matter how hard some people in this fandom wish they could.

There are probably a lot more reasons why Hange is important to the story, but these are the ones I could think of. This post also doesn't cover fully how Hange is important to Erwin even if I showed it a bit, or to Moblit, or to the 104th, or to their own squad, but I wanted mostly to answer the claim of how Hange is meaningless to Levi since that was the topic discussed with that other fan, and this post would've been a lot longer than it already is. I wanted to make a post like that to counter-attack this claim that can't be more wrong and disrespectful to Hange's character and what they represent and to their fans, with the hope that perhaps I won't have to see it anymore circulate among the fandom. I know this is naive as claims like these always persist, and people who strongly believe Hange is not important to the story will continue to cling to that belief, but I'll try to end this already very long post on a more optimistic and positive note: this claim is slowly declining in the fandom like I've stated at the start of this post, especially after the release of season 4, which can only be celebrated. I also hope that with this post, the fandom can cherish Hange a little bit more and remember why they're such an incredible and amazing character to the story, to Levi and to other AoT characters, and to stop spreading this claim that they can be erased once and for all. If Isayama made Hange, it's because they serve a purpose in his story, and to state otherwise is to misunderstand that purpose in the first place.

[matchalovertrait]

Alegría v Caruso: Day 3, Pt. 2

"Please state your name and occupation for the record," Antonio requested.

"Mia D'Angelo-Ramirez. Michelin-starred chef and head judge of Diced Junior," the woman spoke calmly.

"What was your impression of Ms. Alegría?"

Mia smiled. "At first? I saw a younger version of myself, though not nearly as shy. She's a star. A brilliant artist. She made a name for herself."

"So, in your professional opinion and experience, has Ms. Alegría ever shown signs of struggling with originality?"

"Not once. She's quick on her feet. That's one of the reasons why she was chosen to compete in Diced Junior."

Antonio nodded. "Would someone like Ms. Alegría—who has spent years refining her skills, proving her creativity, and training at Santoro—have any reason to steal recipes?"

"No. She wouldn't need to. Even when she and another contestant both prepared soups for the second round, their dishes were still distinct. If we suspected copying, she would have been eliminated for that alone."

Antonio turned to the jury. "There you have it. Straight from one of the most respected chefs in the industry. Ms. Alegría is not a thief. She is an innovator. There is no question about her talent or whether she deserved her spot. She didn't need to steal."

Then it was Isabela's turn. "Ms. D'Angelo-Ramirez, just to clarify, you attended Santoro yourself, correct?"

"Yes, I'm an alumna."

"How many Diced Junior contestants have been accepted into Santoro over the years?"

"Not many."

"So, it's quite rare for a former contestant to be accepted into such an acclaimed program?"

"It's rare because Santoro has high standards, even higher than needed to be accepted to compete in Diced Junior. Clearly, Dulce met them."

Isabela paused, trying not to smirk. "Or maybe... she is not that skilled and had a little help?"

The people in the courtroom grew curious.

Antonio knew exactly where she was headed. "Objection. Speculation."

"Sustained," the judge asserted. "Careful, Ms. Campos."

Isabela continued, "Let's talk about Mr. Caruso, then. Ms. D'Angelo-Ramirez, as part of the Diced Junior selection process, did Mr. Caruso ever make it into the show?"

Dulce had no idea where Isabela was going with this. That's a weird question.. doesn't that go against her own client?

"No," Mia responded with caution, also noting the odd question. "He auditioned multiple times but was never selected.

A few jurors exchanged glances, some of them gasped. Auditioned several times, and he never got in?

Isabela moved forward, "And Mr. Caruso didn't need a TV show to prove himself. He got into Santoro on his own merit, didn't he?"

"I suppose so? I'm not part of the Santoro admission committee, Ms. Campos."

"And yet, Ms. Alegría—someone you publicly vouched for—was accepted into the same program as you, despite the chances."

"Objection-" Antonio began to say.

"Overruled," the judge said. "Proceed."

Isabela looked at the judge. "Your Honor, I have evidence. May I present it to the court?"

"Go ahead. But it better be relevant."

"Ms. D'Angelo-Ramirez, during filming, you told Ms. Alegría, and I quote: "I'll be watching your career closely. Don't let me down, alright? Be smart with your choices."

Mia knew it was true before Isabela played the video. She had meant for the conversation after Dulce's elimination to happen off-camera, but the producers had kept rolling and aired the footage anyway.

"I truly saw potential in Dulce. Don't twist my words," Mia argued.

Isabela turned to the jury. "All I ask is that you consider the possibility that personal connections—not talent—played a role in Dulce's admission to Santoro. Perhaps Ms. Alegría isn't as skilled as she claims. Ms. D'Angelo-Ramirez took a liking to her, after all. And she said, 'Don't let me down.' Now that Ms. Alegría is facing serious allegations, isn't it possible that Ms. D'Angelo-Ramirez is simply trying to save face?"

Fine, Isabela. Want to bring out the clips? Let's do it then.

"Your Honor, if I may, I would like to present a compilation of clips from Ms. Alegría's episode of Diced Junior."

What was this? Movie time? The judge really wished it was allowed to eat popcorn on the job. "Proceed, Mr. Romero."

A lively preteen Dulce was shown on the screen. The courtroom watched the young chef talk about her dishes in detail, share her thought processes, and maneuver around the kitchen with ease. The professionalism and precision were apparent. Many adults now can't do what the child on the television was doing.

When the video ended, Antonio turned to the jurors. "That is the same Dulce Alegría that is sitting in front of you today. Imagine everything else she accomplished in nearly a decade after his was filmed."

He continued. "Dulce Alegría is not a thief. Maybe she didn't win Diced Junior, but she has proved herself in many ways. She had a promising career, which is now suffering because of damaging lies. She lost opportunities. Doors that were once open for her were promptly shut. I ask you to hold the defendants responsible. Words have power, and today, your verdict will ensure that truth prevails. Thank you."

It was time for the jurors to deliberate.

Start from the beginning (Gen 2)

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[liltalle]

Shardic Opposite-Pairs – Cosmere Theory

It's been said that some of the Shards have opposite Intents (Preservation and Ruin). The obvious question is how inherent is this to the system? Given the symmetry of the original 16, do all of the Shards fit into 8 opposite-pairs?

As of Wind & Truth, we know the names of all 16, so I'm going to try to pair up each and see how they fit. (Cosmere spoilers below)

(Our pool: Devotion, Dominion, Preservation, Ruin, Odium, Cultivation, Honor, Endowment, Autonomy, Ambition, Invention, Mercy, Valor, Whimsy, Virtuosity, Reason)

Preservation/Ruin - This is our canonical example. I don't know that I need to elaborate on their locked conflict on Scadrial and Harmony's difficulty integrating them.

Devotion/Dominion - Khriss describes these two as having "a polarized relationship [...] Forced together as they are, trapped and bursting to escape". Also, the submission/dominance dichotomy seems obvious here.

Cultivation/Endowment - The Nightwatcher is all about fair if esoteric prices for the good she offers, and Cultivation takes that to a deeper level—her deal with Dalinar is about the loss necessary to relief, and the pain necessary to growth. Whereas, Endowment grants godhood freely as she sees fit.

(These first 3 seem pretty clear to me, and they're some of the Shards we know the most about. Those that follow I'm less sure of.)

Odium/Mercy - Odium represents many emotions, but the strongest emotion is hatred, which... I think could be described as a passionate attachment to a wound, lashing out at its perceived source. (That adding Honor's sense of righteousness yields Retribution supports this interpretation.) Mercy is the opposite of that, of Justice classically, letting go of wounds and forgiving. (The two things we know about Mercy canonically are that Harmony was disturbed by discussing Odium with them, and that they were involved in the clash of Odium and Ambition. The former could be Mercy expressing mercy for Rayse himself, but that's not well determined. What happened around Threnody is known to be disturbing, so that's a more obvious interpretation, and this is complicated by knowing that Vessels and Intents don't always align. So, the name is all canon really gives us.)

Autonomy/Honor - (On with my bolder choices.) Harmony says "Autonomy is driven to divide off from the rest of us, go her own way," while Honor's most famous directive is "Unite them." Autonomy's individualism and distinctiveness contrast with Honor's legalism and uniformity. Autonomy avoids constraint while Honor is all about binding people. (This one surprised me, but I think it holds up quite well. Another option was Honor with Whimsy, constraint vs. spontaneity, but I think this split is better, as I'll elaborate later.)

(We know very little about any of the remaining 6 Shards.)

Ambition/Valor - Ruthless self-preservation and accomplishment (Ambition would be mono-black in Magic: the Gathering, Brandon says) vs. selfless defense of others. (Here's a decent place to note my recurring thought that the saying "Discretion is the better part of Valor" is relevant to Hoid not being able to find her, though she does talk to others, so I don't know if that fully tracks.)

Invention/Virtuosity - My flaw here is that I've not read Yumi & the Nightmare Painter yet, only skimmed Virtuosity's Coppermind article. Still, there seems like a basic opposition here between the creation of new things vs. the mastery of existing arts (Renaissance art's focus on proper perspective, photographic painting, etc. vs. Modern art's focus on surprise and violation of convention).

Whimsy/Reason - Whimsy could well be defined as not doing things for reasons, but following unanalyzed spontaneous impulses. We're told the Shard is not congruous with intense planning or ambitions (per Coppermind, which is an argument for Whimsy/Ambition, but I'm guessing the planning aspect might be more important.) It's also not dignified. Reason, however, seems to be our most dignified and deliberate Shard. It's the Survival Shard, of which Brandon said "The intent is related but only tangentially. Mostly it just knows what's going on and is smart enough to get out of there." This sounds to me like Reason is relevant in that it channels the knowledge of the Vessel to a coherent conclusion that it follows very consistently. Having the discipline to hide from other gods for millennia does seem antithetical to the fun and spontaneity of Whimsy.

So... that fit better than I expected. There's a few other shufflings I could see, and if anyone wants to reblog with their own arrangements I'd be delighted to read your arguments. But it feels just coherent enough that this might actually be Brandon's intention and not only me projecting and forcing patterns to make it more interesting (as my OCD likes to do).

The obvious next question is whether these pairs are part of a more complex structure, analogous to the 16 mundane metals in the Metallic Arts. Each pair would then be like a Push/Pull duality, the 16 should be divisible into 4 quadrants, and so on. I do not know if Brandon planned that far ahead, but... the question of whether each of the four Dawnshards corresponds to a quartet of Shards was RAFO'd, so maybe (Cultivation and Ruin as under Change makes sense, Preservation then under Exist... maybe I should stop here, we only know 2 of the Commands anyway). Again, any thoughts are welcome 😉

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Novel Dialogue

Speech in a novel is different from real life

Novel dialogue - is not like reality, where much of what we say is of little consequence to the bigger picture of our lives.

Check that all your dialogue needs to be there, then remove the mundane.

Artful dialogue - requires balancing realism with engagement.

Ensure that every word spoken by a character pushes the novel forward rather than making the reader feel like they’re eavesdropping on a mundane conversation at the bus stop.

Every line of dialogue should have a purpose. If it doesn’t, it shouldn’t be there.

A 3-Pronged Approach to Dialogue

One way of assessing whether dialogue is working is to think in terms of:

voice,

mood and

intention.

When we focus on these three things, we avoid dull dialogue – conversations about the weather, how someone takes their tea or coffee, and courtesy statements such as ‘Hi, how are you?’

VOICE

Tells us who characters are, what makes them tick – their fears, frustrations, hopes and dreams, identity, preferences.

Perhaps their speech is abrupt, rude, measured, polite, sweary or seductive.

When we change the way a character speaks, we change their voice. And that means we change them.

MOOD

Characters can show us how they’re feeling via their dialogue.

Emotionally evocative speech allows readers to access the internal experience of a non-viewpoint character. And that makes it a powerful tool.

Perhaps their speech is abrupt, assertive, hesitant, forceful, pleading. Using the right words means the speech tags and narrative won’t need to be cluttered with further explanation.

INTENTION

Another way of framing subtext.

How characters speak tells us what they want.

Perhaps they’re asking questions for the purpose of discovery & understanding whodunit (doctors, lawyers, private investigators, and police officers regularly use dialogue in novels to this end). Dialogue can express a multitude of motivations.

Ask yourself what your character wants every time they open their mouth.

To declutter dialogue and make every word count, ask yourself the following:

Is every line relevant to the story?

Is the character speaking with purpose or taking up ink/pixels on the page?

Can mundane chitchat be removed without damaging sense and flow?

Could the dull stuff be replaced with speech that deepens character?

Example

A real, but mundane dialogue:

Laurie comes back to the office with me for a meeting with Kevin. These meetings are basically of dubious value, since all we seem to do is list the things we don’t understand in our preparation for a trial we don’t know will even take place. “Hi, Kevin,” I say. “Hey, Andy. How you doin’?” “Not too bad, thanks. Christ, it’s cold out though. I need something to warm me up. Gonna grab a coffee. Want one? Laurie, you?” Kevin nods. Laurie says, “Please. Milk and sugar.” “So Kevin,” I say as I hand around the drinks, “we need to talk about Petrone.” It’s the first chance I’ve had to tell Kevin about my meeting with the guy. I fill him in. When I get to the part where Petrone denied trying to have me killed, Kevin asks, “And you believed him?” “I did.” “Just because that’s what he said?” I nod. “As stupid as it might sound, yes. I’ve had dealings with him before, and he’s always told me the truth, or nothing at all. And he had nothing to gain by lying.” “Andy, the guy has had a lot of people murdered. How many confessions has he made?”

Turning it into Novel Dialogue...

This is how author David Rosenfelt actually wrote this excerpt from Play Dead (Grand Central, 2009, p. 175):

Laurie comes back to the office with me for a meeting with Kevin. These meetings are basically of dubious value, since all we seem to do is list the things we don’t understand in our preparation for a trial we don’t know will even take place. It’s the first chance I’ve had to tell Kevin about my meeting with Petrone. I fill him in. When I get to the part where Petrone denied trying to have me killed, Kevin asks, “And you believed him?” “I did.” “Just because that’s what he said?” I nod. “As stupid as it might sound, yes. I’ve had dealings with him before, and he’s always told me the truth, or nothing at all. And he had nothing to gain by lying.” “Andy, the guy has had a lot of people murdered. How many confessions has he made?”

Rosenfelt knows that none of his readers care about the weather, the tea, or whether people say hello to each other or not. And so he leaves all of that out and lets the reader imagine that this stuff took place. And it’s enough.

In the published novel, the first line of speech is “And you believed him.” With that, we’re straight into Kevin’s incredulity and concern, and his desire to understand what the team is dealing with in regard to Petrone.

Meanwhile, Andy has his lawyer hat on. His initial reply is succinct, so that we are left in no doubt about his belief that Petrone was telling the truth, and that he is determined to reassure Kevin.

This is no-messing dialogue that focuses on story, not whether the speech is what we might actually hear – in its entirety – in real life. It’s an excellent example of an author ensuring that every word counts and that there’s no bus-stop-talk filler.

Source ⚜ More: Writing Notes & References Plot ⚜ Character ⚜ Worldbuilding ⚜ Tips & Advice

[vulture-venom]

Hello! Hope you’re doing well. Okay, might be much to ask & someone may have asked before. But JPV sounds so cool but pretty underrated. I know of him & some facts but not a lot! I’d be so intrigued to learn more if you’d like to talk about it! 

What comics of his would you recommend?

Your fave things about him (though I’d be hard, I’m sure).

Also I remember him & Leslie Thompkins having a unique + sorta interesting relationship. She was kinda motherly to him (but also a lot. Not to ramble bout her but I think she’s complex & interesting but dc sometimes does portray her off. Adore her)

Hmm, what do you wish people knew about him more? Misconceptions you hate? 

His relationship with the other bats? 

I hope these aren’t too many questions! Thanks 

Hello, Anon! These aren’t too many questions at all, I love talking about JPV 🙏 there’s a part two to this if you check the reblogs.

So for his core reading I recommend:

-Batman: Sword of Azrael. His first appearance and one of my favorite comics ever. It’s a 4 issue mini series, so it’s not incredibly long, but it helps you understand the fundamentals of Jean Paul and Azrael as characters (there is a distinction between the two). It also explains things like “the system” and “the Order of St. Dumas” which are incredibly important to his lore.

-Batman Prelude to Knightfall/Knightfall/Knightquest/Knightsend: The Knightfall saga is absolutely fantastic and holds a great significance in the Batman mythos. It’s the story of Bane “breaking the Bat” and having Jean Paul step in to take over as Batman while he heals. It’s an excellent deconstruction of what Batman is, the failings of antiheroes, how Bruce’s particular mindset allows him to be Batman, and the importance of fathers and legacies (or lack thereof). It is also very important to Dick Grayson and Tim Drake as characters as it marks the start of Tim’s Robin run and leads into Batman Prodigal where Dick becomes Batman.

-Showcase ‘94 #10: Not exactly a required read, but I personally recommend it. It is a short intermittent story about the aftermath of Jean Paul’s tenure as Batman and exactly what happens to him when he leaves the Batcave. Adds some context for Azrael #1 as well.

-Azrael (1995)/Azrael Agent of the Bat: His 100 issue solo series! It starts off as Azrael then later is renamed Azrael Agent of the Bat about halfway through. It can technically be read without the prior knowledge of Knightfall, but I would strongly recommend reading the Knightfall saga first even if it’s long because it is a very big moment for JPV/AZ. His solo explores a lot, it continues to sort of pick apart antiheroes and explore things like redemption and pacifism, nurture vs nature, self identity, the corruption that comes with absolute power, etc. It crosses over into a lot of bigger arcs (Contagion, No Man’s Land, Bruce Wayne Murderer, etc etc) and it wouldn’t hurt to read them in their entirety separate of Azrael but ultimately isn’t really needed. Just adds some context for the things Azrael doesn’t explain. His solo series at times can be a little frustrating and the writing is somewhat inconsistent but if you are interested enough in JPV you sit through it.. it’s slop but it’s our slop. It also has three annuals and two one shots! They aren’t very important other than Azrael annual #1 because it talks about his father but they’re all pretty fun stories. His one shots and annuals are:

-Azrael Year one (very important imo)

-Azrael Annual #2 (very fantastical and campy but there’s definitely some meat to it if you really pick it apart)

-Azrael Annual #3 (silly oneshot mission with him and Catwoman)

-Azrael/Ash (team up)

-Azrael + The Question (team up)

-Azrael #1000000000 (a part of the one million series, no real importance or significance it’s just a kind of silly futuristic story)

After Agent of the Bat he isn’t really relevant until Blackest Night where they bring him back. I won’t lie to you, most of his comics after the big reboot for the New 52 and everything are completely out of character and very disappointing reads. There are some that are pretty good though and are my personal favorite modern JPV/Azrael stories:

-Azrael Dark Knight of the Soul: This sort of sets the standard for all modern Jean Paul stories. It’s short, just a miniseries from Batman Urban Legends but definitely a worthwhile read.

-Arkham City Order of the World: This explores Azrael himself more than Jean Paul, it weaponizes his righteous fury and just sort of points him like a loaded gun. It is a verrryy interesting read even outside of Azrael, the art and the “villains” are so cool.

-Saved by the Belle Reve: An anthology of a few stories but the one with Jean Paul is called “How Angels are Made.” It talks a bit about his more modernized backstory and what shaped him as a child.

-Sword of Azrael (2022): 100% his best post-reboot storyline. It hits just about every mark I’d want from an Azrael storyline and introduces some new lore for the modern origins of Azrael and the Order of St. Dumas. It does slightly twist some of the older 90s lore but it is good enough that I could look past that.. It introduces some really interesting characters and Jean Paul’s newest supporting cast which are very well suited to him. I’d maybe recommend reading Catwoman’s 2021 annual before this, just for a bit more context, but that annual doesn’t touch on Jean Paul himself as much as it explains the connection between him and a new ally and gives some background information for the Order of St. Dumas itself. Sword of Azrael 2022 goes back to themes we’re familiar with, forgiveness and redemption, self identity, but it ultimately ends in acceptance and catharsis which is something very new for Jean Paul and Azrael as characters and was so narratively satisfying.

-He’s briefly in Gotham Nocturne as well, mainly Detective Comics #1076-#1089. Nocturne revisits some of my favorite Jean Paul/Azrael batfamily dynamics and sort of establishes which characters are really fit to succeed Batman (in my totally unbiased opinion….).

Overall, I prefer his 90-early 2000s characterization but once he’s reintroduced in modern comics, anything written by or in association with Dan Watters is very good. I think out of all the writers who have taken a stab at bringing Jean Paul and Azrael back into relevance, he has done it the best. By FAR.

As far as my favorite things about him go… I really love that he is someone who isn’t perfect. Which, every character has flaws, obviously, but there isn’t a single Batfamily member that I think is as deeply lost and struggling with their morality as Jean Paul is. He’s stuck between violence and pacifism, sometimes he relishes in fighting, other times he feels extremely guilty and considers abandoning heroism altogether. He’s a very unique character and brings a lot to the “Batfam” table that I don’t think anyone else really does! He is terrible at his job, he is lame, he is confused, he is difficult to trust but he’s sometimes the most competent and reliable person you know. He has a sort of gentleness as Jean Paul that is so sweet and you can’t help but feel awful for him when you see him go through all these terrible things and struggle to balance being Azrael with being Jean Paul. He is a narrative parallel to Dick Grayson but where Dick excels, Jean Paul falls flat 90% of the time. He’s volatile as Azrael, he’s pitiful as Jean Paul, he’s desperate and lonely and searching for direction. He struggles and suffers in ways that are not pretty. He is someone so very sympathetic while also being so frustrating. He does things, both as Jean Paul and Azrael, that make you want to beat him into the ground, but you can’t help but feel for him and want to see him succeed even though he never will. It’s like betting on a horse who will lose every race just because the horse has a good nature to it. He is very selfish at times and even his acts of good are only done because they somehow appeal to his emotions or he gets something out of it. But other ones he’s so very compassionate and would give you the clothes off his back. He is soo complex and there’s so many layers to him and Azrael.. he has such a unique story and relationships with everyone and it just immediately sucked me in. I literally never had an interest in reading Azrael but once I had read Batman Sword of Azrael I was like.. genuinely enchanted. He is so very compelling while also just being some guy. He is capable of destroying everything around him or being the best hero in Gotham.. but ultimately is very middle of the road because of internal struggles and it is just so.. shaking him around. He’s so compelling. He is very fun to analyze and pick apart. Probably one of the most interesting Gotham vigilantes (⬅️ completely objective and not founded upon my own clear interest in him).

Now his dynamics with other characters.. ohh there’s a lot to say here. Especially touching on Leslie and Bruce but we’ll start with Leslie.

Leslie meets him in the No Man’s Land, which if you’re unfamiliar, is a somewhat post-apocalyptic Gotham suffering from the aftermath of an earthquake which they dubbed the cataclysm. As Jean Paul, he is very eager to help Leslie and she is very caring towards him. There is absolutely a mother-son bond here, she says she loves Jean Paul. Personally, I’ve always viewed her relationship with him as a sort of way to make up for not being able to steer Bruce away from violence. Jean Paul is someone who is a bit distressed by the hurt he causes (less because he had done it and more because he doesn’t feel bad about it but that’s another thing entirely) and she tries to steer him towards pacifism and medicine so that he can help in ways other than fighting. Jean Paul and Azrael are ultimately two sides of the same coin and he can never just.. stop being Azrael, since it is quite literally part of him, but he tries. He tries for Leslie, and Leslie sees Jean Paul in this very caring and understanding light that I don’t think any other character really does. She defends him to Bruce, tells Bruce he is to blame for Jean Paul’s struggles, she tries to steer Jean Paul towards the path to pacifism, she celebrates his “first” birthday with him. She is his rock, probably the most important person to him. She is dependable when no one else is, he trusts her completely. She does have some clear judgements of Jean Paul, more accurately Azrael, but is mostly supportive in her approach to helping and working with him. Especially when you consider the lack of kindness Jean Paul has come to expect from “authority figures,” Leslie is a breath of fresh air which was absolutely needed for Jean Paul.

Leslie and Bruce I’d say are like the Angel and Devil on his shoulder, but ultimately both have this very polarized view on helping people and are more so imposing their ideals onto Jean Paul than trying to help him with his own (100% Bruce is more guilty of this than Leslie, but I digress). They expect him to choose one or the other and don’t exactly understand that he can’t. He wants to, but it just isn’t possible for him. They have these pretty black and white views but Jean Paul is a very grey character so he’s torn between the two.

Batman…now there is a LOT to say about this one. It’s got so many layers to it and it’s founded upon distrust but also compassion, and a sense of necessity. They are almost father and son, but not quite. They are almost equal partners, but not really. He is both terribly important to Bruce, but also someone Bruce feels relatively little guilt about manipulating. They meet at a spectacularly low point for Jean Paul, he had just lost his father (literally died right in front of him. In Jean Paul’s bed), learned that he was brainwashed from childhood to be an assassin, and recently discovered an alter. He is pretty lost and without direction, which Bruce tries to give him. Bruce makes him a security guard at Wayne Enterprises, he has Tim train Jean Paul (Robin and his grown ass student), they give him a new suit. He starts to get Jean Paul “on the right track” but it doesn’t do much to help Jean Paul with all the trauma he’s endured, so he is still not the most mentally sound at the time. When Bruce is paralyzed by Bane, he gives the very lost, clearly unwell Jean Paul the cowl. His reasoning for this is that he can’t give it to Dick because “Nightwing is his own man” but he clearly has no qualms passing it to JPV.. if that tells you anything about his views of the two. Jean Paul revered Bruce as this sort of father figure because he was the one guiding Jean Paul after his own dad’s death. bruce shapes his morality, gives him purpose, and then gives him a sense of identity (Batman) which Jean Paul had previously lost. Being Batman is obviously not good for JPV. He starts gradually slipping and pushing away some of Bruce’s allies (Robin, Gordon, Catwoman) and isolating himself while he tries to fully immerse himself in the identity of Batman. I’d argue that Azbats is more Azrael adjacent, if not his own persona entirely, but that isn’t to say Jean Paul had no agency or is free of guilt. He quite literally starts hallucinating his dead dad referring to Bruce as a ���false father” and saying JPV is shaping himself in his image. He cuts his hair to look like Bruce, mimics Bruce’s voice, wears a Bruce’s suit (until he makes his own), lives in the Batcave (and Wayne Manor, by extension), carries on Bruce’s legacy. He is Batman. And it all just festers until eventually he reaches this breaking point. He is nothing if not Batman and Bruce (understandably) attempts to take the mantle away from him once Bruce is healed. This creates a sort of identity crisis for Jean Paul, who had been basing his whole life around being Batman for the past year or so. They fight and their whole battle is such a rich and powerful thing.. you have to see it to really get it all but there’s so much to take from it. Bruce’s perspective on JPV, JPV’s views on fathers and on being Batman, etc. Bruce chooses to spare Jean Paul and let him go after their fight, acknowledging that Jean Paul was lost and needed to see the light. Jean Paul is then homeless for six months and Bruce does absolutely nothing about this. for six months. During his struggles with homelessness and coming down from being Batman, he is once again, at an all time low and given direction again by Batman. Given identity by Batman. Bruce comes back, out of a sense of guilt and responsibility, and gives Jean Paul a reconstructed Azrael suit, some money, and a mission to go find the Order of St. Dumas. After Jean Paul completes this task he continues to go to Bruce for help, Bruce usually says no but still helps in some roundabout way after completely shutting down Jean Paul. He keeps Jean Paul at an emotional distance and they never quite bridge this gap between the two of them. He goes to Bruce out of a need for guidance and approval, Bruce usually doesn’t really give him that. Bruce comes to him and gives him a task that always benefits Bruce, the cycle repeats. He admits to using Jean Paul, and Jean Paul allows himself to be used because he cares for Bruce (and Bruce, in his own special Batman way, does care about him. A lot, strangely).

[fivie]

I just finished rereading umw (+ enjolras's pov) for the idk-what time and, as always, I ended up in awe with your writing and the level of detail in the story

the parallel of Feuilly being a ghost in Jehan's house after what he did to Jehan's great-aunt, Cosette's charm becoming relevant again, everyone mentioning so many times that Combeferre needed help and now Courfeyrac is there… make me wonder if the story you envisioned more than 10 years ago has changed (besides the timeline in the Supernatural universe) or if you have regretted something you wrote in chapter 5 that now has to be connected to the plot of chapter 25??

I've never written a fanfic and I don't know what the process is like, but I've worked in writing and if I read my previous projects, I always find something I'd like to change haha (you're a better writer, tho)

thank you so much continuing this story, you deserve nothing less that days filled with sunshine 💛

hello!!

Oh god yes the story has changed so much since its inception 😂 I dove into it with a vague idea of how I wanted it to go and then swiftly lost all control of it. It was initially meant to be a reasonably short 10 chapters (lol) and the ending was going to be completely different from what I have planned now. Also my most terrible confession is that, initially, Feuilly was only dead in the story bc I was relatively new to the fandom, he was by far the most neglected of Les Amis in the fandom at the time, and I just didn't know what to do with him. Like I said, this was meant to be a short, relatively low-commitment project so I was like, okay I don't know that guy and it's on-brand for the SPNverse to have someone be dead, there's an obvious solution here.

Then it became clear that this was not, in fact, going to be a short, low-commitment project, and I got more attached to Feuilly as a character, and then I was like, hey you know what else is on-brand for an SPNverse story?? Bringing a dead character BACK 8)

Also also in very early plans, Bahorel was part of the Lyon gang which is absolutely bizarre to me now in hindsight lmao. I definitely resigned myself to my fate and sat down and started planning things properly pretty early on, though, because Enjolras and Grantaire go to Lyon in chapter 3 and, thankfully, as you probably noticed, Bahorel was not there. I'm very glad that I pivoted on that early enough that I could have the current versions of Bahorel and Feuilly, I've become very fond of them 😂

As for stuff I regret, it doesn't really impact the later story all that much, but I think one of my biggest regrets is not having a better answer to the question of Enjolras's parents. I think them being completely absent from the story, even as Enjolras reconnects with his friends from his civilian life, would have been something I could have gotten away with better in my originally envisioned, shorter version of the story, but now that the story is so long and so detailed about most other things, it bothers me that Enjolras's relationship with his parents has gone unexplored and it feels like it would be a bit late to shoehorn it in now. I probably should have just had them be dead, or have stated early on that Enjolras was estranged from them even before he went into hunting. It's been vaguely alluded to that he had a poor relationship with them and has no wish to reconnect, but it's a point of the story that I find weak and wish I'd handled better.

If I read over the old chapters, there are definitely things I want to change, but...y'know. I got new chapters to write. I ain't got time to look back 😂😂

Thank you for the message! Hope you enjoyed your re-read :3

[thaltro]

Random question about Psych - Sorry if this is a little outdated as I'm basing it on his old reference sheet. Also sorry it's so long haha.

As I understand it: He has reversion magic - and by touching somebody he can revert them back to a state before they experienced some sort of trauma. If multiple traumas occurred, Psych can exert a lot more energy to go back several stages. However, direct contact with his soul is a lot more potent/unstable and can result in a lot more extreme outcomes.

As for my question, let's use a typical fanon Passive Nightmare story as an example (sorry, I'm not really all caught up on Atrophy's whole deal and I think regular UTMV Nm may fit the scenario better LOL), where usually it'll be something like:

Passive chilling -> Passive gets attacked -> Passive eats the apples -> "HELP ME PLZ IS COR---Corrupted.exe: I here HAHAHA"

Let's assume eating the apples here was the main, "big" trauma, and getting attacked, although still traumatic, gets lumped into the general bullying thing and was bog-standard by this point (i.e. that specific instance of bullying didn't lead him to eat the apples, but it was rather the culmination of all the bullying lead up to that incident, and that was the straw that broke the camel's back.)

If Psych were to use his powers on that Nightmare, at what "stage" would he be reverted back to? Would it be right before the Apple incident, (the beginning of Substance Corruption) and then ergo that means Nightmare would still be pretty banged up? Or would he just be 6 years old again with none of the injuries? And if the latter, when in time would his code be? A day before the trauma? A week? Or would it place him in some random time before, with some variability? (E.g. performing two separate reversions on Nm could pull his code an hour before the incident and then 3 weeks before the incident).

OR, if the former, let's assume that one Negative apple is okay for you, but 999 isn't. Would this, again, revert him right before Nm supposedly takes a bite? Or somewhere in the midpoint of Apple eatery? Again comparing this to Substance Corruption, it is noted that:

"A potent substance that shouldn’t be within a monster gets in a monster and overwhelms their code permanently."

This implies that there are possibly instances where a substance does get in a monster's body, but the body is able to fight it off/expunge somehow, if I'm getting that right? So in this example, Maybe Nightmare gets reverted to only having 3 apples, because maybe 3 apples is okay for his body to deal with. But 4? Crossing the line there, bub. SUBSTANCE CORRUPTION INCOMING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Again though this is all sort of based around UTMV Nightmare and I know how Atrophy came about is extremely different from the standard Dreamtale story, so I can understand if maybe the semantics here of UTMV Nightmare can't really be applied in Nightwatch as a whole. I also understand the concept of Psych's abilities reversing trauma might've been changed for the concept of reversing corruption, so forgive me if this entire thing is asking questions about no longer relevant information haha.

Also sorry if this was a bit ramble-y and didn't make sense. I tried my best to make it as understandable as possible but I completely get it if there may be some confusion, haha.

Good question, I’ll explain how the cannon reversion works now.

So essentially I dropped the trauma states thing because it brought up many issues, mostly what is defined as trauma or traumatic enough. Didn’t really wanna work through that.

So instead reversion works as a code destroyer. It atomizes parts of a code in some way reverting things to their original basic states. That’s why it’s useful for corruption. Corruption is complex but it’s essentially code with changes or additional features to it.

In nightwatch monsters have an organic code which is code that happens naturally. This code is more set in place and hard to get rid of. Corruption is when inorganic code is applied onto that organic code.

This isn’t always extreme, most commonly flus and sickness are corruption as it’s a foreign code that interrupts the normal organic process. Most monsters can survive this, but reversion shots and pills are made so you can get almost instant reversion of those loose weak inorganic codes.

But Chronic Corruption is different

Think Geno Sans or Atrophy, this is when that loose inorganic code is so strong it becomes attached permanently to the organic codes.

This is when Psych needs to come into play because he is trained to do procedures to manually remove those parts. Which again because the inorganic codes are so potent and viral, it makes it much more difficult to remove as you don’t want to accidentally destroy original organic codes.

Think of how a problem with chemo therapy for cancer, the whole body is affected with the treatment and in the process of removing the cancer it also removes normal healthy cells. Psych is supposed to negate that issue and he guides his magic to only remove the corruption.

Typically resulting in reconstructive surgery as the body might need to be repaired after this very invasive procedure. It’s not always perfect, but psychs reversion procedures and surgeries are very affective to reverting amalgamations. Memory being one of his successes

Now to answer your nightmare question

Atrophy eats one apple and he instantly corrupts btw, his slime just melts and consumes the rest of the tree after. But if I’ll work with typical nightmare, maybe a few apples is corruption that would make one very ill and in need of a injection. But after an overwhelming amount of inorganic code, the corruption would be chronic.

And If psych where to revert atrophy, the code would be set back to somewhat match the bone density of a monster instead of slime, and form something soul like. Atrophy’s soul is dispersed in peices around the slime so it’d be very difficult to selectively protect those parts. Psych would have to take that now purified slop and surgically rebuild atrophy to look like a person again. It’s what he did to memory already.

Mentally he’d still be an adult because psych would avoid reverting that organic code. Just would be free of corruption and with a newer body.

What if psych didn’t selectively revert and instead just,, did it? Without thinking?

You’d die, even immortals could die since their code would be fully atomized. That’s what happens if you jump into the atomization void at the end of the multiverse (where the core leads you) as it indiscriminately disperses your codes across time and space. If you somehow survive it leaves a damaged husk of what you used to be. In nightwatch it’s called atomization syndrome which core frisk and some gasters have!

But most the time you just straight up die. Psych really could kill people if he was smart but he’s not

I know this doesn’t answer everything since the questions framework was on the outdated magical system, but I’m glad I can answer some parts and I just like talking about my dumb dumb world building. I really liked this ask thank you

Other post related to the vial of anti corrupt, there’s a better drawing then what I drew in a few seconds here haha

[thefandomenchantress]

Chapter 2 Episode 15 Spoilers below!

Since Ace being the culprit has brought about so much pain to ace lovers, including me, I figured I'd make a list of all the good things that him being the culprit brings to us. Even though Ace will (probably) be executed next episode, that doesn't mean that nothing good came out of this, right?

-Ace's backstory may be revealed much sooner than expected! Before we would've had to wait for chapter 3 or chapter 4 and so on, but since Ace will be gone soon, almost everything not revealed next episode will get told to us in a bonus episode! (I think every dead person gets one of those? Idk if that's officially confirmed). I doubt Teruko's gonna find, like, Ace's diary in chapter three detailing his life story, so if we're ever getting the Taylor Lore™, it'll be in a bonus episode! Plus, a bonus episode would come out a lot faster than the whole of chapter three, so more Ace content sooner no matter what happens in it! And there's always the chance he gets picked for an FTE, since dead people are on the list of options.

-Ace canonically has neat, fancy handwriting. Begone rumors of Ace having illegible, traditionally boy-ish handwriting, he actually writes like a 19th century scholar and I find this very funny. More evidence for my 'Ace likes reading and writing and wanted to become a romance author' crack theory, since he also reenforced his particularness about vocabulary in chapter 2 part 2. (Our only remaining question: Does Ace actually have terrible spelling ('responsibel'), or did he just think Eden would?)

-Ace is very good at being sneaky and often overhears things he shouldn't. I can't wait for this to be used as a plot device in numerous fics ("XANDER YOU'LL NEVER GUESS THE SHIT I JUST HEARD DAVID SAY ABOUT YOU WHEN HE THOUGHT HE WAS ALONE").

-Ace will have to be included in the dead (formerly a) trio posts forevermore. Get ready for Xander-Min-Arei-Ace shenanigans.

-Now that the cast has been forced to acknowledge that being dumb and angry aren't Ace's only traits and that he's just as human as the rest of them, Ace is much less likely to be seen as just those two things by the average viewer. Ace's popularity, or at least the amount of dislike towards him, seems to have shifted since the last episode, and I'm happy more people are able to enjoy what his character has to offer now. He's a cool little guy. I've literally NEVER seen the Ace Markey tag this busy before.

-We got so many cool Ace CGs guys. SO MANY. Including one where he's hanging upside down on the swing set and looks weirdly cute for someone in the middle of a murder plan.

-Also new sprites! The DRDTdev gave Ace a redesign knowing full-well that it would only get a singular chapter of use, and I massively respect that. We already got some new sprites in part 2 of chapter 2 so far, and I'm guessing next episode he'll probably have at least one more breakdown sprite before he dies.

-For someone who no one in the cast liked, he's definitely going to leave an impact. He's finally made at least some of the cast realize what happens when they ignore the issues right in front of them. Ace shouts about how everyone hates him and sees him as an insufferable idiot? Eh, probably nothing, we don't have to worry about that. Sure, multiple people told him he's gonna die next in here, and he almost got murdered, but that won't amount to anything. What's he gonna do, murder someone--WAIT SHIT Ace step away from the Arei I repeat step away from the Arei-- (plus Teruko parallels). I'll probably go more in-depth about this sort of thing in a different post.

-WE NEVER GOT TO SEE WHAT'S UNDER HIS GLOVES. Kyoko and Mukuro both had hand-related secrets that connected them to the plot later on, does that mean Ace will have some sort of relevance to the mastermind or overall lore later on? Like a Mai tattoo situation? (Or maybe it's another thing that may be alluded to or discussed in the bonus episode)(Or left to interpretation but I hope not because I have so many theories).

If you have any more suggestions for other good Ace-related things the culprit reveal brought us, let me know and I can add them to the list! We need as many good things as we can think of right now...

[fallentheatre]

Adam, Character redone

Introducing the redone season one antagonist, here is the homecoming-verse version of Adam!

And yep! He's a unicorn! The first humans have a fun theming of like, only one retaining their humanity. Plus with Winners being able to painlessly shift their forms (with small restrictions like halos and wings staying) unlike Sinners who basically go through full painful transformations should they subject themselves to an attempt at change.

And Adam is old. First man and all. So, yeah, he changed his form because why not and also this man just thinks unicorns are the coolest things ever. Cooler than dragons will ever be (Lilith's dragon theming lmao).

His role is basically the same as he is in the first season of the actual show, except he's a lot more laid back compared to being completely in your face about him being the antagonist. Once the plot starts really kicking in and Charlie has agitated him though, yeah, this guy is absolutely the villain of season one and despite dying haunts the narrative then on. Truly a disease we can never get rid of.

He's still got his typical attitude if a bit more toned down, since there are some figures he sorta respects (if you can call it that, he's basically like "sup what are we doing" if he walks into a meeting with those people. Primarily Jophiel and Sera to name the two major ones).

Is to this day completely irritated and irked by the thought of Lilith. Petty rivalry stays forever petty. And despite it he's still into her despite the hatred. They are the exact same height, even when both of them got horns. Truly, they can never escape this fate, and will never get a proper win over the other.

He's still leader of the exorcists with Lute as his second in command, its a weird dynamic all around. Especially with Lute. Because the two of them are close and she has heard his many many many opinions about things both important and useless and likely made it her entire personality but eh they're vibing I suppose?

Why is it weird you ask? Because Adam designed the exorcists, and they were made the way he wants them. It is why they are so weird in terms of Heavenborn angels. He also has a strangely fatherly role to them, and they often take on traits of his. He's also the one to name them after they've earned it and or he likes their vibe. Which is not how Heaven culture works, not at all.

He's not close at all with Abel, and that'll be detailed more in Abel's post.

Main notes for his story is that he's not an in-your-face antagonist from the start. He isn't at all relevant until Act 2 of Season 1, and he is weirdly chill with Charlie, and in their initial meeting makes Adam-typical out of pocket comments, but nothing hostile or antagonistic. He is genuinely just Like That, and Heaven has had to grit their teeth and tolerate him for thousands of years. Adam's antagonist role only occurs once he is under threat, and Charlie has picked the wrong battle in questioning Adam's place in Heaven.

With Adam's death, he was initially retreating back into the portal with the other exorcists, but sees the chance to attack Charlie and takes it. Which leads to him, as he deserves, getting himself skill checked entirely by Lucifer, with little to no effort on the devil's part. He is left for Hell to deal with, leaving him easy prey for his actual killer (hint: not Niffty).

Oh, and, he's typically hunched over and seems a lot more approachable, since the first two humans are the two tallest to ever exist, he hunches over to talk to people. Also the old man energy makes him look so harmless. But he will not call himself an old man unless it advantages him by doing so. He's rapidly approaching his peak, trust him, he's in his prime unless he can use the age card to win an argument.

[sketch below by @hoverboards-and-dragons <3]

[strangertheory]

I think I've realized why, as a longtime, pre-season 3 Byler theorist (the foreshadowing has been there a while!), I get exasperated when some fans make every single thing about Byler with very little logical reason, even though I fully support the excitement around Byler.

I am so happy for every single fan that looks forward to Byler in season 5. I want you to savor your excitement. I don't want to ruin anyone's fun, I think it's fantastic that we all find different meaning in the little details of both the show and cast interviews.

However. Part of the reason that I appreciate Byler in the first place, is that it's a well developed queer coming of age narrative that exists within a multifaceted, well written sci-fi series. I don't want the entire story to be exclusively about Byler. If I wanted a story centered on a queer couple and that didn't have much else going on in the plot beyond their relationship, I'd be watching something else.

Yes, I'm looking forward to Byler in Stranger Things 5.

At this stage in the series, I don't see Byler as much of a "plot twist" to those who have been paying attention.

I'm looking forward to other, more unexpected plot twists and revelations at this stage in my own conversations and analysis of the story. I want everyone to appreciate the story in their own way, but I do think some folks are missing out on the joys of deeper analysis if they are only seeking to explain how everything they see and hear connects back to Byler and don't actively consider alternative explanations.

Again, please don't feel the need to reel in your excitement. I'm excited too. We all enjoy different parts of the story in different ways. But I look forward to season 5 being a beautiful, complex finale that addresses many questions finally that are not all relevant to Byler. And yes, I very much look forward to Byler too.

[melatonindeficient]

Arcane and Jesus Figures

i grew up in a super Christian household and I don't really believe anymore, but whenever I see religious figures in fiction I always get super hooked and end up trying to analyse the entire piece of media in relation to religion, so when Viktor entered his Jesus arc I was like oh hell yeah this is gonna something I'm fixated on for weekssss.

He was prosecuted against yet performed miracles, and when Jayce came in feeling all out of sorts and killed him the first time, he was resurrected. He faced hardships of some sort, he encountered a sort of rebirth, and came out completely changed and changing the world for others.

However...so did literally everyone else.

Maybe that's an exaggeration but "rebirth" can mean a million different things depending on circumstances. The death of Cait's mother could've been her rebirth, and her promise to kill Jinx and eradicate her wrongdoings could easily be compared to the Christian campaign against the devil. Jayce's time in the trenches could've been a rebirth and his salvation of sins could've been his oath to destroy Viktor as the devil. Though we compare Ekko's alternate universe to a heaven, that could also be a rebirth of the same kind. Hell, even Jinx practically came back from the dead after Silco had Singed pump her full of shimmer, though I wouldn't say she had a rebirth of any kind until she met Isha. Basically what I'm saying is that Arcane has little faux-Jesuses running around everywhere.

But if we're gonna say that Viktor is definitively Jesus because he fits the mold the very best, and we're going to assume that the writers stuck pretty close to the actual story of Jesus then that poses one question.

Who is God?

Now my first immediate and obvious guess is the arcane.

But the arcane makes itself present in people who aren't even followers of Viktor (cough cough Jayce's wrist and Ekko's machine) while Viktor's spirit is pretty limited to those who chose to follow him (like he said himself); his disciples.

So, really, to stick to some kind of religious doctrine, the arcane is more like the Holy Spirit. So there's two out of three of the Holy Trinity, but still no God.

Now to revisit the point about the arcane being present within others, particularly in jayce's wrist, Viktor's position as Jesus becomes more complicated. To be so honest I only had this thought after seeing a tiktok comment saying Jayce held his hammer like a cross, but though Viktor is the one who has an emphasized Jesus arc, Jayce's is just as relevant; to reiterate, he doesn't perform miracles (he tried to with what could have been a life-changing peace deal), and he isn't hated save for prior to his success with Hextech, but he faces a sort of "hell" and comes back to save his people from a "devil." That's a Jesus figure if I ever saw one.

Yet.

Jayce is the reason for Viktors' rebirth, and he is also the reason (well, at least the major part of the reason considering all of the other factors which allowed Hextech to exists) for his own. Jayce kills him seemingly without second thought, and he did so in such a way that it seemed random and out of character, hence why so many people were outraged with him during the week between acts 2 and 3 (rough time for Jayce glazers like myself). Jayce has a Jesus arc, sure, but Jayce is Judas.

So there's always the easy answer, being that there isn't a god at all and maybe all this time it was commentary on how without something to believe in there is chaos but I both don't think that's it and think that that's boorrringggg.

Viktor could be God, but ultimately that would immediately place Jayce as Jesus and I dunno if the jayvik shippers fw a ship between cosmic father and son...

But Viktor could also be the Holy Spirit because he was the one controlling the husks, and could speak through them.

So maybe between those two men alone we have the Holy Trinity AND a Judas.

Alternatively, though, it would make sense for the arcane itself to be "God" and for its runes to be the Holy Spirit. Practically the same entity, but not quite.

The arcane as God, Viktor as Jesus, runes as the Holy Spirit, and Jayce as Judas....

Hextech as the Bible? Sure, let's go with that.

[thesunpersists]

POV - you’re head of props for SOTR -> what kind of potato are you choosing for the movie?

Omg thank you! Before I start, let me just say I hope they hire a potato-sensitive person for the role. I'm so sick of how we get passed down for these positions even though we have the relevant lived experience with potatoes. #nothingaboutuswithoutus

You would think the first time we see potatoes in SOTR is when we meet Beetee— wrong! As if there aren't enough potatoes in the book, Haymitch has them for breakfast and describes them as "crusty" for some reason. Was "crispy" ever on the table, Suzanne? Whatever, I'll go with a simple potato gratin for this bit.

Next is where the horrors begin: Beetee with the flipping potato.

Sorry, Haymitch. The real question is something else all together. Did he bring the potatoes with him from 3? Or are they from a Capitol supermarket? What are the implications? Can a Capitol person handle the dirt on their potatoes? To be safe, I will prepare for both options.

I'm skipping the part where Beetee shows up with a potato light during the blackout. Even I have a limit And next we have the post interview meal...

Which is also potatoes... "Why?" you might ask. Don't. Just give up. I asked this question many times and there is no answer. Here are some mashed potatoes and chicken.

And finally, we have the arena potatoes.

Now, it is really curious how these potatoes, especially their color, aren't described at all—just large. It seems that Suzanne knew Lionsgate would never allow indigenous potatoes in the film and wanted to cover their asses.

But if it were up to me, the potato casting would be DIVERSE!

[thekatabasisofzagreus]

hello, friend!! I have a three-part question for you. Feel free to pick one or do all three as the mood takes you!

1. What is something you researched, expecting it to feature prominently, that ended up fading into the background?

2. The reverse: what's something you researched to add a little detail that ended up becoming significant?

3. What's your favorite tidbit you discovered about Ancient Greece while researching for this fic?

(Also: congratulations!! You're an inspiration, and it's a delight to be along for the ride!!)

Oh, a three-parter! I love it!

1. There have been so many research rabbit holes I've gone down that aren't relevant anymore, hah! The one that sticks out in memory the most right now is the Mycenaean Fountain discovered in the acropolis in Athens.

Here was the original footnote I wrote for it: "It is a stairwell that was discovered in 1896 and excavated in 1937 on the northern slope of the acropolis, dated to the 12th century BC. Scholars suspect it to be the passageway in the Festival of Arrephoria, during which young Athenian women brought secret offerings up to the acropolis at night through a hidden underground passage." (Here is the paper!)

I wanted this to be the backdoor from which Callisto and Zagreus would infiltrate the palace and hammer home how different the Bronze Age-style palace would have looked, compared to the "sacred hill" form it took in later eras. Alas, getting to see the fountain, its relationship to the festival, and the connection to Athena all ended up fading into the background.

2. I have a VERY GOOD ONE for this one. The inclusion of Xanthos was entirely because, early on, I was looking for a set of horses for the chariot race. I had played around with the idea of a set of horses named after famous horses in myth, when I a) found out that Achilles' horses were, in fact, immortal and b) they came as a set of siblings.

From there, the snowball gathered, Xanthos came into the story, he and Balios were passed through the children of Neoptolemus (Achilles' son), and we created an unholy bloodline in Thymoetes and Apheidas (descendants of both Theseus and Achilles, though the latter is only alluded to), HAH!

3. I don't know if I have a specific favorite tidbit, but I am fond of these two. That kohl is made of lead (don't wear it, kids!) and Socrates' speculation on the etymology of theoi, the word for gods:

“Something of this sort, then, is what I suspect: I think the earliest men in Greece believed only in those gods in whom many foreigners believe today— sun, moon, earth, stars, and sky. They saw that all these were always moving in their courses and running (theonta), and so they called them gods (theous) from this running (thein) nature; then afterwards, when they gained knowledge of the other gods, they called them all by the same name. Is that likely to be true, or not?” (397c-d)

These kinds of folk etymology tend not to be rooted in any real linguistic truth, but it's a dreamy story about the divine and nature nonetheless.

Thank you so much for submitting these great questions! They were super fun to answer! <3

[the-sunniest-angels]

Hi hello so. I finished wings around April and it still has plagues my mind all the way till June. No joke it is a absolute masterpiece, I love recommending it to others!!! It's one of the only fanfics I've read that genuinely feels like it should have fanfics of the fanfics. ANYWAYS, I was wondering about any inspirations you had while writing it??? This has been a question I've been pondering for the last 2 months since finishing haha

Omg hi I'm honored you have a question for me, I love your blog. 10/10 you are talented at the Art of Tumblr™

I'm so glad you liked the fic so much!!! It is every writer's dream for their fic to be worthy of more fics hahaha

To be honest, a LOT of the motivation was bc I was going through a major religious allegory phase at the time of writing. Like, I think I wrote probably 3 different full-length original novels featuring angels, demons, and the like. I don't really know where it came from. I hadn't consumed any relevant media prior to entering The Angel Obsession Of 2024™ so I really don't know what the original motivation was or why the fixation hit so hard lmao. At the same time, I was SUPER obsessed with Icarus metaphors and the symbolic power of a character who is doomed to fall finding a way to fly instead. So anyway story inspiration for Wings came a lot easier when I was already so obsessed with so many of the motifs that we see in the story.

Also, Wings actually is the second draft. I wrote the first when I was like twelve, haha. I don't recommend reading the original version except for purposes of helping anyone feel better about their own writing. My middle school self had a great idea but god-awful execution. After that I stopped publishing fic updates for about seven years and then returned to fandom in college, where I am finally going back and finishing and revamping all the old stuff. What this all means is that some of the major elements of Wings were actually devised years ago--the treaty, the "make me a Guardian!" loophole, Luke being the prince, etc etc. All things I took from the original plot! So the skeleton of an outline was already there, and I just had to fill it in.

And from there it was, to be honest, a lot of daydreaming about how to create the absolute most dramatic situations (hence all the times it feels like a climax chapter even though it's actually not), to incorporate all my favorite literary devices (foils, dramatic irony, religious symbolism lmao... The list goes on, I'm sure), and then to put it together in such a way that plot is still comprehensible. I created my outline and started my brainstorming playlist. Decided on the tone I wanted to set (vaguely Hozier lol) and then started writing :)

I wouldn't say there was any particular piece of media that inspired Wings so much so as like a very intense obsession with the concept and several years of this story kind of existing in the back of my mind. I'm old enough now that I'm starting to finally have a more firm understanding of my writing style, and I've been in the fandom for long enough to feel like I really understand these characters now. It was a perfect storm of factors that came together to create a story I'm genuinely proud of :)

Again I'm really glad you liked it!! Sorry I don't have a more, like, tangible answer for you, but I hope this answers your question :)

P.S. since a lot of the inspiration comes from my process of outlining itself I thought it would be funny to include some of my favorite parts from my chapter-by-chapter outline. You'll notice I really make my outlines too detailed in a lot of ways, but in my defense: I'm a yapper. Enjoy.

[shortiepinocco]

Following up about #justiceforliampayne and Liam's music

Part 6 (April 2025)

As most have alr known Harris, Liam's cousin spoke out on his social acc regarding Liam's passing last week.

The fact that he pointed out - Liam didnt have good time in his last days, the incident could be avoid, there is villains and justice will be done -- that speaks loud for this justice movement;

1. It means everything we said from the start was true, everything we'd questions on the narrations, those involved in this case; maya, roger, media, the hotel, the media circus surrounding his death are indeed true. All the fight & tears for the last 6 months are all for truth!

2. though it doesnt make us any relief bc even if justice uphold one day, it wont bring our Liam back. but we can say to the world with pride that Liam was a great human, a great hero, a great musician & artist and the dark knight of our time! And that he's a victim and innocent all the way through.

3. We had already known his family wont be able to win the fight in court, since the real mastermind behind this mess are way too powerful. But its not for nothing. Geoff constant fights are the determined factor that made the justice movement relevant to exist. bc they truly exposed their true colors by persistently corrupting liam's image on internet and tv shows - inhumanely - even after 6 months.

4. Now it is all boils down to his music and unreleased album and im glad most are in the same page about his music, especially this:

Just like Liam himself have said, he's unable to do the music he truly wanted, there are way too many artist composing on his first album and they keep pushing him an image he doesnt want to be represented. And so the justice movement now supposed to SHIFT ALL FOCUS ON HIS UNRELEASED ALBUM.

So now our next effort is to push his label to release his album using #ReleaseLP2 on all social media. if you are posting comments or contents about liam please add this tag too!!

5. Universal Music owned his unreleased album. this label in fact runs the whole music industry. but why some artist like Liam or louis names were never heard by the public or radio stations as often? (they have large fanbase even as soloist their shows always soldout so no one can say they are not loved).

5. everyone should know some artist or musician that goes on top of list, who's shove down from being mentioned on mainstream media no matter how talented, creative, popular they are - are intentionally chosen for a purpose. give this a watch as heads up:

Meet Lucian Grainge, the current head of Universal Music since 2010 and the man is a Jewish British.

If you had never known about the jews ✡️ conspiracy trying to control the world's economy sectors and dominate all high profiting industry, its time to open your eyes and ears wide. they are known for their DIVIDE & CONQUER tactics, even from historical perspective within societies. Having someone like Liam - who tried to unite everyone despite differences in race, faith, etc. through his music and charities, is a big NO for them.

this should give you some early exposure why some artist, actors and musicians are now exposing the corruption in entertainment industry and the devils that runs behind them.

Will continue on next part.

Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

[brodyfoxxsmassivetits]

wowsers!!! an intro post!!

you can call me whatever but im Jimbo!! :3!!

just your run o the mill freak 19 black american british drawer. any prnouns r fine :)

I draw eddsworld and literally only that on here :9

ask me stuff or request doodles or ETC in my ask box!!!!

wanna talk or interact with me??? DO IT!! X3 YOU WANNA TALK TO ME SOON BAD oooooughhh

wanna use my art??? ASK!!(I like when people enjoy the dumb things so I do like to know ^^ + credit obvsies)

@jimbonesss non ew art!!! wow!!

my archive!!

helpful profile tags :3!!

#jimboartttaglolx3 (all my art wow!!) #jimboldartt (old art) #jimbanim ('anims' or things of the like)#maifaveart:3 (stuff a mine I REALLY like) #yapping about things that don't matter (lame old text posts) #jimbaskdoodles (self explanatory)

etc..

Infrequently asked questions:

Q1: brodywhos massive whats??

A: brodyfoxx is the guy from those yo mama youtube videos, he's built as fuck and I like him loads..made for funny blog title(haven't draw him on here but HAVE drawn him many.. many times....)

Q2: why eddsworld?? It sucks are you stupid what's wrong with you

A: something probably! been fixated on it or whatever for 6-7 years (though for all intensive purposes my only online presence is like...4. 2 on here :p) I've got a SNEAKING little suspicion I've got asd, and by sneaking I mean I've thought that for ages for reasons other than the dumb fixation :3

Q3: no one has asked this, but art program???

A: ibis paint :9

Q3.5 what other shit you like you freak??

A: *mostly EW (against my mortal will) BUT the few other SHIT I like enough to think are relevant..

mlp

dhmis!! Funnies!! british puppets

beastars BUT I only watched 1st season and read entire manga

smiling friends(and like.. adjacent internet cartoon people stuff)

tomska and basically anything he's had a part in..hart emoji

anddd my mind is blanking so I'll come back to this.

. later :3

Q4: favorite era?

A: i like late pre leg(think like spares)and really really like all of legacy :3. I don't hate beyond but. That's the end of that sentence actually

I am NEVER calling pre leg goulden or whatever new name people give it,it is PRE LEG, bite me

----

asking about my fave characters is a loaded statement because..I kinda like em all...but if I HAD to give an answer Tom!! He's cool..sad guy.

and I'm real crazy over the neighbors because I like antagonists and I like their designs but Eduardo specifically oughhh he's silly

but I also like the main guys!! Love me Matt n Edd..n Tom...I don't do anything with Tord sorry guys.

really I kinda just rotate through em!!! side characters are cool too x9 believe it or not I SHOCKER really like ew.