#my preferences are not universal but I don't like it when characters are in conflict solely because of misunderstandings

[agnesandhilda]

some final thoughts on iron widow: I wish the main throuple had either had longer to cook or that zetian and li shimin's relationship wasn't made romantic (as is it seems like zetian goes from hating and resenting him to completely forgiving him for the women he did kill, albeit incidentally, and accepting him as another boyfriend way too fast). I also wish that li shimin had actually done some of the bad things zetian believed he did at the start of the novel maybe

[benchspkmnirlhub]

A Guide to Pokemon IRL

Hello! Pokemon IRL has been getting more and more popular over the year and a half I've been in the community, and I'm seeing lots of people being confused by it.

So I'm making this guide, to hopefully help people understand it better, and perhaps join us in this wacky community.

Part 1: The Basics

Essentially, Pokemon IRL is a RP community centered on one single premise: Blogging as if you were in the Pokemon world. It's a hybrid of askblogs, RP blogs, and general tumblr blogs.

There's very few rules to it, other than just "don't be a jerk". There's all kinds of Pokemon IRL blogs, from regular OC trainers, to canon characters, to characters who are Pokemon themselves, to even Fallers from non-Pokemon media, and more!

The main thing is that 98% of Pokemon IRL operates on the multiverse. Blogs can have conflicting canons, since the multiverse exists, and the blogs can be from different universes. This also means that multiple people can RP the same character. I've lost count of the amount of Kieran and Silver blogs.

Why is Pokemon-world tumblr multiversal? Who knows! But that's the one generally accepted canon thing across almost all Pokemon IRL blogs.

Part 2: Glossary

I know glossaries are usually at the ends of books, but I figure it's important that I define some important terms before I get to the rest of this guide.

Rotomblr - The generally accepted name for Pokemon-world tumblr. I personally prefer to use the name Tacklr instead, but that's just my opinion.

Sapient Pokemon - Pokemon that are sapient. Typically refers to Pokemon that run blogs. Some blogs don't allow interactions with them. Some blogs love interacting with them, though, such as all my blogs!

Eebydeeby - A human that has been turned into a Pokemon. "Eeby" is short for it. "Sleeby" means "slow eeby", or a human that has been or is in the process of slowly turning into a Pokemon.

Hybrid - This has two meanings. The first is someone who's part human and part Pokemon. The second is a Pokemon that's part one species, part another species.

Pelipper Mail - This is a multiversal system of mail, powered via Pelipper! You can have Pelippers send items to other blogs with this. Can be enabled or disabled per blog. Same goes with the next five terms.

Pelipper Unmail - Instead of giving, this is taking. This steals something from another blog via Pelipper.

Pelipper Malice - Essentially, this is sending something to another blog that you know will hurt them.

Musharna Mail - It's like Pelipper Mail, but with dreams! This can be used to send dreams to other blogs.

Musharna Malice - Just like Musharna Mail, but it's nightmares instead of dreams.

Magic Anons - Essentially, this allows anons to do whatever they'd like to the characters on your blog. Use caution when enabling this, though, as it's suspected that some people fetish mine with these.

High Stakes - Basically, this refers to anything that can majorly injure many characters, or otherwise have lots of bad stuff happen. Many blogs don't like interacting with this stuff, so it's best to tag it.

Drama Stakes - Like High Stakes, but less. This is when stuff is happening that could lead to in-universe ruined relationships. Best to tag this too.

Ultra Stakes - Like High Stakes, but more. This is when things lead to potential death of many characters. Definitely best to tag this as well.

Chosen - Sometimes someone is a legendary's favorite special little person, and they get powers from it! That's essentially what a Chosen is.

Faller - Someone, usually from a non-Pokemon media, who falls into the Pokemon world. Essentialyl a way of writing a non-Pokemon character in Pokemon IRL.

Self-Insert Faller - An OOC blogrunner falls into the Pokemon world. Can get very meta.

Muse Mixup Madness - At the start of every month, there's an event where some blogs temporarily change their core concept for a day or a few. It's best to tag these, and to give warnings beforehand.

Part 3: Setting up your Blog

Setting up a Pokemon IRL blog is a lot like setting up a regular tumblr blog, just in-character.

The main thing you'll need is a pinned post explaining the premise of the blog. These are usually in-character, with an OOC section at the bottom.

It's best to warn for possible triggers that might pop up on the blog, as well as explaining your boundaries (i.e. if you don't want Pelipper Mail).

Feel free to theme your blog too, changing the header and icon, adjusting the theme colors, maybe even have a custom theme!

Once you have that all set, you're ready to interact!

Part 4: Interacting

I made a full guide on how to interact here, if you want to check it out!

The main thing is, don't be afraid to interact. Even with big blogs. Everyone's happy to receive interactions! Worst that can happen is that your interaction is ignored.

So don't be scared! Jump in, and start interacting!

Part 5: General Advice from my Friends

I asked around for any additional advice people wanted to add, and here's what some people had to say:

"uhhh ooc communication is super important, especially if youre trying to do a plot with someone or smth along those lines" - @espers-n-espurrs

"Uhhh "Do it scared" Like. If you're nervous about doing something but you wanna do it, do it even though you're scared!!!!! Also like. Have fun. People can tell when you're having fun. Be silly. Do what you want forever. Also that big blogs 9/10 don't mind interactions with smaller ones. I think I count as one and like. I am just as scared as interacting with new people as the smaller blogs who wanna interact with me" @chaos-cousins

"interact with people" - @justalileepguy

"The absolute worst thing that can happen if you send someone an ask is that they delete it. People like getting interaction, even if it's from a blog you don't follow. If you're having trouble interacting, find something your two characters have in common and point it out" - @fated-furret

Part 6: Miscellaneous Stuff

If there's anything I'm missing, feel free to let me know, or add it in a reblog! I've been in this community for a long time, but even I don't know absolutely everything.

If you've read this far, thank you! I hope this guide helps in some way. Reblogging it is appreciated, but not necessary.

And if you're thinking of joining the Pokemon IRL community, then I'm excited to help welcome you!

[ponett]

Whenever I complain about graphic or dark content in media I watch, I keep hearing people retort with this apparently very popular opinion that people who enjoy comfy, wholesome things are actually more likely to be raging assholes than people who love things like death metal and gore. As someone who seems to enjoy comfy, wholesome things yourself and likely met many others who enjoy similar such things, do you agree with this opinion? If so, why do you think this happens?

So I've been sitting on this ask for like a week, not knowing whether or not I wanted to touch it because it kind of feels like being handed a live grenade

For one, I don't like being pigeonholed as someone who just likes "comfy" or "wholesome" things. Yeah, I enjoy My Little Pony and Animal Crossing. I made a game with cute furry characters and lots of bright colors. I also enjoy things like Berserk and Chainsaw Man and Doom and violent crime dramas and punk rock with vulgar lyrics and porn. Variety is the spice of life

Anyway: I generally don't think it's a good idea to make sweeping statements about peoples' moral or intellectual character based on what genres of story they enjoy, regardless of what direction you're coming at it from. But this is a very leading question that kind of skirts around the root problems

There's frequent (perhaps a bit exaggerated) pushback these days against people who prefer their fiction to be a warm blanket, a form of escapism meant to distract you from the real world. In particular, the dreaded "person who only watches kids' cartoons" is a form of this that gets brought up a lot. I don't think the root problem here is what media people enjoy or don't personally enjoy - taste is subjective, and I don't think it's a moral obligation for everyone to have diverse tastes in TV shows - but I do think some folks should try to get out of their comfort zone a bit more. Sometimes stuff that seems like it won't be for you on a surface level will really end up speaking to you, but you won't know until you give it a shot. Trust me, I've been there many times

It becomes a problem when people demand that media ONLY cater to that "warm blanket" attitude. And I think that's part of the reason why that stereotype you mentioned about fans of ""wholesome""" media being assholes exists. People who view dark or violent content as an inherent flaw because it's not what they like. People who yell at creators when they make bad things happen in their stories, because how dare you do this to my comfort characters? People who say movies should never have sex scenes. People who want "problematic" moral complexity stripped out in favor of black and white moral instruction. People who seem to hate any sort of interpersonal conflict in fiction at all

These attitudes can be the result of many different cultural factors, factors that can't all be traced back to Tumblr or what shows you like, but sometimes it's definitely because of that lack of broader perspective on media. You can tell when someone's opinions on The Right And Wrong Ways To Write Fiction were shaped almost entirely by, like, Steven Universe discourse. (Yes, this is a jab at Lily Orchard.) And when these people are very loud about their opinions, well, it becomes a trend people notice

Like. I don't know you. You sent this anonymously. But when you say you "complain about graphic or dark content in media you watch"... that could mean a few wildly different things! Maybe you're just venting about something that unexpectedly triggered you, and that's totally fine. But the wording could also imply that, like, you take issue with these things being present at all, and that you expect a person who likes "death metal and gore" to be more of a "raging asshole" than someone who likes the "wholesome" things you like. So... well, maybe you're more dismissive or judgmental of things outside your comfort zone than you realize?

Unfortunately, in case it's not already obvious, on the internet this shit quickly becomes a proxy battle over dozens of intersecting cultural issues at once where everyone is kinda just talking past each other. So it gets messy

For example, I have no reason to believe that the people who run the "Wholesome Games" showcases have anything against games that are dark or violent or contain adult themes. (They've outright said they don't. Many times!) But when you see people going "why is Spiritfarer allowed in the showcase? That's a game about DEATH and that's NOT WHOLESOME, why would you make me think about death?" or "Ugh, why does Disco Elysium have to be about a cop? Why can't we apply these systems to a game about a young witch who's trying to find a lost cat in an idyllic village instead?" it... Well, it makes me sympathetic towards the indies who don't feel comfortable with the "Wholesome Games" label and consider it limiting. But it also doesn't make me think that devs catering to a demand for more chill, nonviolent video games are categorically facilitating fascist censorship from the Christian right

It's complicated! The written word is imprecise and the internet is a nightmare

I've kind of gone off on multiple tangents here. Basically: I do think that people can kinda turn fans of "comfy" media or "adults who only watch Bluey" into an overblown boogeyman these days. I think people online generally have a habit of swinging too hard in one direction or another in their stances on certain things, overcompensating based on what group of people online are currently annoying them the most and turning said group into like The Main Problem With Society Today. But I also think that boogeyman only exists because of very real examples of people demanding that everything cater to their narrow comfort zone. Go like what you like, but also, y'know. Don't be that person

[reallynotafaedragon]

HDG Fic that never will be

Hello internet HDG fans and my poor followers who have to see this

I've recently fallen down the HDG fic rabbit hole (WELLNESS CHECK DID THIS TO ME) and reading about the Affini and the Compact and the universe on the wiki have got a bunch of wheels turning in my brain. I got bit by the fic writing bug and started drawing up an outline for a fic idea I had.

However, as I thought about it more, I started to realise this probably wasn't a fic I should write or that might be controversial because it would violate one of the universe guidelines. I figured I may as well make a post talking about it and hopefully get some feedback before I move on to actually spending hours writing thousands of words. Explanation under the cut.

The fic I'm thinking of is an Affini POV. Basically there's a case worker who works to help organise all the affini-floret paperwork, keeps track of the "Notices of Intent to Domesticate", checks in on "independent" Sophonts who are struggling, etc etc. Its also about the wider Compact, about the case worker taking a critical look at their culture and their ideology and potential conflicts that might arise from that. Its looking at the Affini Compact as a kind of "pet rescue" situation, and examining the issues that arise in that context.

So for example, what happens when there's a perfectly dramatic meow-meow or Autistic Trans Girl Who Stinks Good (tm) and like eight different Affini all want them as their Floret? Or how human Pinnates or Pluribuses are less likely to be "adopted" by Affini because they're more difficult and complex to care for? What happens when there's a queer polycule, three of whom are Pluribuses and two of whom are seriously disabled, who SOMEHOW made it through the Accord and are now struggling even in the post-scarcity society of the Affini? They obviously need help but most Affini are reluctant at best to take on that much responsibility.

What happens when an Affini gets bored of their Floret (*gasp*) and wants to give them up? Humans are the most recent acquisition by the Compact and are considered especially cute/domesticable, what happens when human Florets are a "fad"? Do Affini ever trade Florets, temporarily or otherwise?

And what about all the humans who AREN'T Autistic Trans Girls Who Stink Good(tm) or poor exploited military personnel who need domesticating? The "silent majority" of middle class/straight humans for whom life in the Accord was good (as long as they kept their heads down and ratted out their neighbours)? The "boring" ones. Would the Affini even be interested in them?

This is the kind of thing I want to write about. Its really got me humming along, but I'm also aware this kind of messes with one of the big guidelines for the universe - that the Affini are always "perfect". They're centuries/millennia old and are incredibly intelligent, so understand the needs and wants of their charges so perfectly they don't need or understand consent. They know you better than you know yourself, virtually gods compared to human flaws and imperfections.

But my fic would look at the Affini as people - as characters who have quirks and preferences and can make mistakes. As beings who can misunderstand you in important ways. It would be Affini interacting with other Affini, it would be comparing how different Affini treat their Florets. As I understand it, that kind of flies in the face of what the Affini are supposed to be as a concept.

I'm interested in HDG but I'm not interested in writing something that ends up being on the same tier as "Muh Spess Mehreens Could Totally Kill A Bunch Of Big Plants For Real" (shut up no they couldn't, the Compact runs on Saitama rules, your Space Marines are happy lil action figures shooting at each other with Nerf Bolters in the Space Marine Enrichment Centre). Its a really cool universe but I don't want to try and use it for something it was never intended for, I understand its got a fairly narrow focus normally.

So I thought I'd make a post about it to test the waters and see how the community reacts. Please if there are any fans or writers who see this post, I could really use some feedback. Anything you suggest is appreciated!

[antispopausandstuff]

What do you think about people comparing catra to Caitlyn from arcane

ah, i had a feeling i'd be asked about something along these lines.

okay, so, just to get this out of the way:

i'm aware that Arcane s2 has very polarizing opinions, points of views, and thoughts from the community, and, provided it's nothing extreme, they're all valid. though my words are largely subjective, i want to apply as much objectivity as possible to create a better picture, rather than complete bias with no desire for discussion.

s2, in my opinion, wasn't as well-written as it could've been. i don't hate it, but i would've made different writing choices for the characters, their arcs, etc., and i feel the ending was lackluster as a result of lack of closure. this includes Jinx's own ending, Isha, Vi's cycle of self-destruct and complicated family, and how i feel there was not enough screentime for the plots and characters given, especially Ekko, Mel, Kino, and Ambessa. and i do feel like the writing choices negatively affected Caitlyn's character, as well, even if i do understand and sympathize with her as a person.

objectively speaking, Caitlyn's dictatorship ( i believe that's what it is, iirc ) was more on-screen than Catra's, but Catra's crimes was heavier, quantity wise, including universal genocide.

because of SPOP's disregard for "show, don't tell", amongst several other factors ( Catra being a creator's pet being the main one ), there is little to no actual weight to her actions, even with the main cast. if there is consequences, it's either more personal than it should be, her mental breakdowns or Horde Prime chipping her, or fleeting, the destruction of Salineas. this is likely why people don't care much for Catra's actions, because there's no legitimate consequences that aren't just her being sad // distressed.

but, while not the best, Arcane writers take into consideration the impact of and to the people. Caitlyn's decisions did have consequences, and it affected more than just her. it changed Zaun, and with Silco and Jinx's absence, the people were anxious and needing a beacon in order to feel safe and empowered.

however, i don't think it's as simple as comparing Caitlyn to Catra.

in the eyes of the people, it wouldn't matter, obviously. as a result of taking her grief and thirst for vengeance out on them, the people of Zaun felt even more unsafe when they were already suffering.

but to us, as the audience, we can empathize with grief blinding us and leading us to making poor decisions that end up being detrimental to our and everyone else's health. keyword: empathize.

Caitlyn still hurt people. there is no denying that. i am simply saying that we can understand where she was coming from and that her grief was taken advantage of by Ambessa.

to their world, it's black and white. people suffer and // or die at the hands of someone in power.

to us, it's more or less than that.

still wanting to remain as objective i can be, i will say Caitlyn's are far easier to remember and hold against her, and rightfully so. but i believe that Catra's are worse and should've been displayed as worse, rather than stated or turned around to be a way for us to feel bad for her own downfalls.

now, let's move onto Caitlyn and Vi // Catra and Adora.

like with the season, i prefer s1 CaitVi over s2.

for me, the divide and conflict felt too similar to how their relationship originally started out and was too repetitive. it felt like the writers wanted another reason for them to break apart, when there was a lot of time spent to them forming together.

but i think CaitVi has more room to grow than C // A ever really did.

for one, Caitlyn and Vi have cared for each other more than they've hurt each other. even when they were at odds in s1, there was no point in the story where they left one or the other to die. if something bad happened, it was by circumstance, not by choice.

but Catra had always hurt Adora more than she cared for her. from physically harming her to degrading her, engaging in extreme sadism, and nearly killing her, purposefully, on multiple occasions, there's no actual evidence that Catra deeply cares for Adora, or that she cared to begin with.

for another, Caitlyn had more reason than Catra. Catra was given multiple chances to make better choices, but she never did and it was intentional and out of spite.

what was Caitlyn going to do with the fact her mother was killed, that her girlfriend's sister was the murderer, and that her girlfriend stopped her from doing from killing the culprit because she thought she'd kill a kid instead?

of course, it was highly likely that she would've killed Isha. again, blinded by grief. but Caitlyn didn't think that way. in her mind, she has more evidence of being an excellent shot than not, so, obviously, the possibility of her killing the child was 0, right?

( and i don't think Caitlyn cheated on Vi with Maddie. i read the end of their argument as a break-up, especially because Vi disappeared. )

and, for one last thing, even when she knew Vi didn't trust her and kept fighting with her, Caitlyn still tried to help.

overall, i think CaitVi did have a... meh(?) ending, but i still prefer them over C // A. if nothing else, for the foundation.

i don't think Caitlyn and Catra are the same. i just think the Arcane writers had more respect for their audience than SPOP did.

[dianessunflower]

Kayabeth moving forward into season 3...

so, doing some Elsbethian sleuthing à la the character, carra herself has stated she decided to step back from series regular per Deadline.

i just want to point out that she has two young children and the series went from 10 episodes to 20 episodes in the second season. i haven't seen anything about how many episodes will be in s3 but i imagine it's probably 20 as well. so i fully respect carra's decision and also know that she doesn't have to explain her decision, i'm just making my own observations.

the showrunner also said in that same article that they're not making too much of a change, which he seems at pains to emphasise.

in a second Deadline article, tolins says no spinoff likely (the poor guy is realising why the kings preferred tgf timelines to tgw lol). but otoh i do think they could at least show kaya's team within the elsbeth main show and this would expand the world beyond elsbeth's pov. i actually think this would benefit the show but maybe that's just me.

tolins also confirmed no one is being promoted—ie. kaya's shoes cannot be filled by anyone else yet (mostly i think because no one else is really established enough for it and there's no reason plotwise to do so when the other detectives are already detectives)

i think the writers and creative team are fully aware that elsbeth and kaya's friendship is the heart of the show (every facet of female friendship has been explored in the entire Good Universe really), which seems clear from this TVLine article.

truthfully, i am only sad that we will see less of carra. i really think she's done a great job playing off elsbeth's character and giving kaya a lot of nuance and layers. i imagine it can't be easy to come into a tv show with history, with carrie's character already having a legacy, plus carrie's own acting credits, and still hold her own (nvm me forgetting carra actually played a bartender in tgw). i think it will benefit both characters and give them, especially kaya, a chance to grow. of course, it also removes the professional conflict of interest so that kayabeth is more likely to happen. and as carrie herself says, we'll treasure the kayabeth moments all the more.

i do believe in kayabeth and i think it's more likely than ever that they will end up together atp. it seems like carra will be a guest star indefinitely, but i just don't want it to come to a gary cole situation (guest star on tgw/f) where he appeared in just a few episodes each season. i would hope that it remains like a michael boatman situation (recurring on tgw/f) where he appeared most episodes. fwiw carrie talking about this little parallel where elsbeth has to let kaya fly is making me tear up a little 🫠🥹

if this is all stuff that has been said already by other fans in the last couple of days pls ignore lol. i'm just putting this down for my own posterity really.

[maybe-boys-do-love]

So I started My Engineer and, goddammit, Lit Phadung just doesn't miss. It's the rhythm of his editing that hooks me everytime. It lets me know despite the veneer of Thai kitsch, his shows will be a cut above the rest in what they deliver. That rhythmic mastery means My Engineer lands its romcom beats and its wer-style comedy in the opening with aplomb. Like, even if you don't ever watch this show you need to know the wonderful absurdity of the meet-cute at the lizard resting spot in the park, for example. So many noses bled that morning!

My Engineer also provides another example of Lit's preference to work with lighter scripts that are nevertheless unobtrusively dense with socio-political commentary. Turns out My Engineer is a rare Thai BL with actual representation of the Thai military, a topic generally avoided because of heightened censorship around it and its role in the Thai government. The series seems to be using its military figure to help construct a framework for patriarchal expectations on masculinity and compulsory heterosexuality. We'll see!

But more than just blaming the military, My Engineer shows off how well Lit depicts social environments. The friend groups here present a friendlier homophobia laced with jokes about being each others' wives that are grounded in real affection for one another. They don't hate gay people and wouldn't condemn a friend's sexuality, but the gentleness of the slights makes it that much harder to parse through the shame. I remember this bromophobia from my adolescence and how alienated I felt from it while in the closet. In how de-emphasized that social culture is in the opening of the series, it reminds me of Off's character throwing out a casual "faggot" in SOTUS. It doesn't get heightened attention with music, editing, or some apology down the road, and those kinds of choices invite a realism into these otherwise heightened romcom worlds. It's a technique that hits me hard everytime because it makes the eventual commitment to affection and self-respect in the face of those attitudes more rewarding.

Lit, whatever his personal experiences and identities might be, renders the fuck out of queer life for people of a certain age. Its in tiny details like the limits of photography in SOTUS and SOTUS S, or Phum's influencer obsession, and I adored how My Engineer found a tiny loophole in this sweet romcom universe to have these characters relationship start off with an exchange of thirst-trap nudes like so many queer mens' do.

Lit's queer insights also pervade in the kinds of performances and chemistry he seeks from his actors. The playful sadism and brat behavior KristSingto bring to KongArt, the overwhelming desperation and painful confusion from YinWar for VeeMark, the after-hours release of the workaholic tensions for DaouOffroad's co-owners in the aisles of their own store--cameras be damned! The way they look at one another, restrain themselves from publicly showing physical affection, and then the uncontainable thrill when they finally get to have access to one another's bodies!--even if they haven't figured out the real-world logistics yet. I've got particularities when it comes to queer physicality and behaviors and the teams on Lit's series' are so far always delivering it.

I can already see it in My Engineer. Cooper Patpasit as Bohn, especially, has brought the kinds of darting glances to his eyes and the conflict of desire and concealment to the presence of his character that are eminently familiar. The story, luckily, assists with that characterization, early on demonstrating a private connection for Bohn to an older gen queer restaurateur distinct from his ladies' man campus persona. I'm looking forward to find out what other queer flourishes emerge with him and everyone else.

I don't know why I trust what I read online about any of these shows anymore. Yes, one side-character has his voice dubbed (apparently for sponsor reasons), but I regret not watching this sooner with how much I've adored Lit's other shows. My Engineer's just another one of his Thai BL romcoms packed full with so much meaning. If you're a fan please lmk, because, if it's not already clear by this mini-essay, I'm def gonna need people to gush about this show with!

[daryfromthefuture]

i'm on the train and bored and still have an hour to go, so TIME TO RANT ✨️

and i'm choosing to make a list of bttf scenes i would have done differently/things i would have added because i like disagreeing with bob gale as if i owned this franchise

this is maybe an unnecessary change, but personally, i would have preferred if there were more instances of marty trying to warn doc about his death in part 1. we see it when doc demonstrates the model and then later twice on november 12 (before he writes the letter and then before marty has to leave), but i feel like it would have been more emotionally impactful if he had tried it more than that and only at the very end given up and written that letter.

SHOW DOC PLAY SAX. LIKE BRO. they could have had a concert 😭 imagine doc crashing the dance and playing sax with marty on stage (take this bullet point with a grain of salt, i'm only half serious. but still seeing doc play sax would have been badass)

the most obvious point of all obvious points, add the goddamn lone pine mall hug. the entire fandom agrees it's canon, and i remember a post going around speculating that they did indeed record a hug and keep the secret footage somewhere at universal lmao. but all jokes aside, this hug was SO necessary. every sane person would be waiting for it when watching the movie. marty is literally on the ground, bawling his eyes out, thinking his friend is gone, and us heartbroken audience members don't even get a hug to soothe our souls. i haven't paid much mind to doc and marty's relationship when i first watched bttf, but even past me was expecting a hug. good thing bobby fixed it in the musical

MORE JENNIFER. don't knock that girl out for 75% of the movie, please. she deserved better, and i wish bttf 2 would have put more emphasis on her as a character and how she's like and stuff. i hate to see it, but she's such a surface character that we barely know anything about (in my opinion), and that's just sad. she could very well have gone to the cafe 80s with marty and kept him grounded and stuff.

honestly, i maybe even would have kept that deleted 1985a scene with dave. we don't get to see marty's siblings at all in that timeline aside from a mention from biff, and it would have been interesting to see.

this is quite a jump in time, but i wish bob gale would have expanded on the scene in bttf 3 in which doc tells marty that he wants to stay behind in 1885 because of clara. this might be my fanfic brain speaking, but i see so much conflict potential. it would have been wild to see doc and marty argue, maybe even fight for the first time in the trilogy, and picture the emotional turmoil both of them were going through. if i had been marty, i would have snapped, not gonna lie. like, yeah, i get that doc found the love of his life but after all the lectures he'd given marty and after all those times marty was willing to rip apart the fabric of time just to keep doc alive, that man just goes "sorry marty, i met a woman i fell in love with, thanks for saving my life so i can live it out HERE. you go back home and idk clean my lab" >:(. this will forever be a pet peeve hahahaha

WHY does doc just FLY OFF on that DAMN TRAIN? i have to admit, it is an epic ending and feels sort of celebratory, but how can he say that he had to get his dog BEFORE even MENTIONING marty, giving him a photo, shake his hand as if they were work colleagues and nothing more, and then LEAVE? WHAT??? at least talk to him for a bit longer, tell your best friend where you've been, whether he will see you again and that you cherish him for god's sake. if you already had to give him false hopes by getting on the train only to fly off on the hoverboard later 🙄

[tenshi-agerasia]

who would the minions serve in the ensemble stars universe

the ensemble stars x minions analysis that nobody asked for, under the cut

okay so minions want to serve the most powerful (and evil) guy in the area/time they're in

if they enrolled at yumenosaki prior to the ! era they'd have been looking for a master and might've even worked under shu/valkyrie, who was the top unit at that time

"Imagining shu leading the fucking minions is horrifying"

[shu voice] come, my brethren, and let us engage in performance arts

nazuna and mika are very confused

actually mika would like them i think

but when the first revolution/war began, the minions would've caught sight of exfine and eichi

as exfine rose through the ranks and defeated the eccentrics eichi became immensely famous, and i think at least a third of the minions would serve him just because of this

eichi is easily entertained by them

they piss off keito

hiyori is very biased and can tell each minion apart

he names them things like Flowery One and Revolting One

nagisa does not understand what a minion is

tsumugi can fucking communicate in minionese

that's part of the reason natsume hates him so much. he can understand them and talk to them and it's horrifying

if the minions were to see eichi's actual plans on the surface level, that would be enough for them to see as evil

there's also the possibility that some minions might see eichi as "good" and exfine as heroes so they'd turn to serve the eccentrics instead

the minions don't harass rei because he scares them

they think he'd eat them

natsume does not like these little freaks

kanata has fun with them because i'm pretty sure they can't drown

if they can. well rip

chiaki hypes them up :)

but as far as i've seen in the minions franchise they prefer more powerful figures, and the eccentrics at that time were ostracized

and during the ! era trickstar revolution, eichi is definitely more of a villain character so the minions would attempt to help him

and then accidentally screw him over

wataru would love the minions

they're like tomoyas and little watarus to him

tori would absolutely hate them

he punts one when eichi isn't looking

yuzuru is indifferent but he likes having some help

trickstar is Very Conflicted

subaru and the minions would love each other

hokuto despises everything that they stand for

mao is like. huh. ok.

makoto "eek!"s at the sight of one

in !! era, eichi is less of a hero/villain/morally grey guy and just A Girl . at this point the remaining minions under him would either stay or find a new master, possibly gatekeeper

the minions piss him off very effectively

after kohaku beats up gatekeeper or whatever they start to follow him instead

"i imagine [kohaku] showing rinne and rinne shakes one to death or something"

niki would absolutely wonder what they taste like

himeru talks to the minions

"himeru is confused" "bwahaha!! barosoeflksernuina" "himeru does not like you very much"

yknow how ibara has mouse drones and mayoi keeps destroying them. yeah. that with the minions

ibara's upset that his spies are disappearing and he barges into mayoi's house and there's just a giant nest of minions

after meeting a minion midori's attempted murder count rises from 2 to 25

leo says he "feels inspired" by the minions and then composes the most shit song known to man

[tobiasdrake]

We go from the best fight in the X-Men filmography thus far straight to Charles Xavier sitting in a room, looking into the camera and explaining the plot. Okay guys. XD

One of the main jobs this film has is to bridge First Class, which became more or less a reboot, with the original trilogy. So they can go in new directions and do different things with the characters without outright saying, "The original movies up through Origins: Wolverine aren't canon anymore, sorry."

Days of Future Past is what's commonly referred to as a soft reboot, where continuity gets to start over from scratch but with an explanation offered in-universe that connects it to the previous continuity.

Time travel and multiverse shenanigans are often the go-to for carrying out soft reboots. The Chris Pine Star Trek films, for instance, take place in an alternate timeline created when Spock and a bad guy traveled back in time and messed up the series canon.

The Marvel multiverse is basically designed to allow Marvel writers to make continuity-free re-imaginings of the Marvel universe and then go "That one is Universe 42069, it has its own canon somewhere out there in the multiverse unrelated to the mainline comics."

DOFP intends to do that for the Foxverse, liberating the cast of the newer X-films from the shackles of the old canon and letting them spin out in a new direction.

But before we can do that, Charlie Boy needs to explain the plot that will get us there.

Magneto chimes in to explain Mystique's powers, like Bobby and Kitty don't already know her. XD

Actually, come to think of it, Kitty only formally became one of the X-Men in Last Stand, the movie that took Mystique's powers away. And Bobby wasn't really an X-Men X-Man until that same movie, despite being present for the whole trilogy. They actually might not know who Mystique is.

Huh. Objection retracted.

Then again, Colossus recognizes her. And he was no more involved in X-Men Stuff than Kitty was.

Xavier goes on to assert that he, too, has watched First Class and thought it was pretty sweet. Don't let the face of Patrick Stewart fool you; Despite this personal history having never come up in the original trilogy, it is still an important part of the two characters' relationships with one another.

As an artistic note, I love how she shapeshifts into a human form when he says, "I knew her as Raven." A subtle call-out to their conflict from First Class - or, at least, what it was supposed to be in First Class even though the film doesn't convey it well.

We're told, in the film, that Xavier never appreciated her natural mutant self and preferred that she try to pass as human. They kinda botched their attempts to show it, but it was the clear intent. In a subtle reference to it here, when Magneto talks about her we see her in her true form, but when Xavier reminisces on how fondly he remembers her, she shifts into her human guise.

These two men both fondly remember Mystique, but they have very different memories of who she was.

(Where is she, anyway? Did the Sentinels get her? Is she still mutant-cured?)

Yeah, Xavier's good at that. Remember that time he was losing a tense negotiation with Magneto and Jean so he just started throwing punches, basically forfeiting the argument and pushing Jean into Magneto's arms as hard as humanly possible? Not so different from what happened with Mystique when you think about it.

Xavier offers a sanctuary for mutants on the run from the dangers of the world, and that's great. But his powers of persuasion leave much to be desired.

Logan gets all sad and grimly reports that Mystique killed again after that. Bit of a weird moment. Like, it's performed as if he's referencing the death of another character that was important to him. Something we would instantly recognize and be like, "Oh, fuck, my heartstrings."

I have no idea who that might be, though. He didn't even know her in her youth to be sad about who she became. One time she beat him up and then he stabbed her, and then another time she tried to trick him into having sex with her under false pretenses. That is the entire extent of their relationship.

Why are you so sad about Mystique killing people, Logan? Who did she ever kill that could be haunting you like this? Don't you have enough ghosts already? Do you really need to borrow Charlie's?

The Sentinels are using Mystique's powers to acquire Sunspot's heat powers and Colossus's steel plating and Iceman's cryokinesis.

Meanwhile, poor Mystique can't do any of that. It sucks when people steal your powers and then get whole new abilities you didn't possess out of them.

You know, you'd think in the decades she was hanging out with Magneto, the two of them would have done something about this. Did the fact that humans captured her and performed invasive experiments to steal her powers just... slip Mystique's mind?

"Less than 50 years." My dude, that is a long-ass time to be working on one project. XD These things were in production hell for half a century.

Xavier's like, "When Mystique killed Trask, it convinced the world that they needed his program. And then the humans stayed mad about it for FIFTY YEARS."

FIFTY YEARS. Two generations later, it was still just Trask that they were mad about. Nothing else that happened in that time, nothing in the entire original X-Men trilogy, ever moved the needle one way or the other. It was always about Trask. They were very slowly building the Sentinels the entire time and nothing else mattered.

Senator Kelly's entire anti-mutant career was pointless because humanity already had made up its mind to kill mutants with Sentinels. Trask is the one and only bullet point of history that matters. XD

I understand why this is so janky. Stopping the assassination of Trask is meant to be the emotional goal of the film. We have to stop Mystique from becoming a murderer, because that sets her down the road to being evil.

But "We have to stop her from killing the man making Genocide Machines" wouldn't be a compelling narrative on its own. Because. Like. Fuck that guy. Mystique did nothing wrong.

So the assassination also needs to be the apocalyptic cornerstone around which the fate of the universe revolves. Killing Trask has to directly cause the creation of the Sentinels, but the film also wants to be set in the 70's and has to account for the fact that none of this was a thing in the original trilogy.

So. The humans just. Stayed mad about Trask for fifty fucking years while working on the slowest weapons development project in the history of the arms race. Which has the knock-on effect of meaning that none of the mutant-human relations stuff from the original trilogy mattered, 'cause the humans were building the Sentinels behind the scenes that whole time.

That is an incredibly bleak revision. @_@

Nobody tell Charles, but if there was enough hatred towards mutants to sustain a fifty-year grudge over Trask's death, it wasn't really about Trask's death.

[writingquestionsanswered]

Struggling with Feedback That's Missing the Point

triplecreature asked: I'm in a creative writing course in university and we're doing workshops where we review each other's poems and short stories. I'm conflicted because I don't want to be closed-minded about constructive criticism, but sometimes I feel like the feedback I get is missing the point. For example, the instructor indiscriminately marks up any "abstract" line, even if it's emotional sentiment or would break the structure/line scheme to remove. She's also biased against heavier topics because they're too depressing and said I can't make poetry about characters/conversational perspective. My short story got negative feedback from my peers because my protagonist wasn't inherently good or bad. They felt it his grey morality "didn't make sense." I don't want to be arrogant so I feel bad for struggling with the criticism I get. How do you gracefully approach a situation where you feel uncertain or misunderstood by feedback you get?

Here's the thing...

Reading and writing is a very, very personal thing. We all develop very strong opinions about what we do and do not like, and sometimes people confuse their own preferences as being universal truths. Abstract poetry doesn't seem to resonate with your instructor, and unfortunately she's choosing to interpret that as a problem with abstract poetry rather than a personal preference.

Having said that, it's really important that we not take negative feedback too much to heart. It's always worth analyzing where the feedback is coming from and whether it's more likely to be feedback based on a personal preference or actually credible feedback.

When you get critical feedback from a single person or a few people that feels off to you, you can generally disregard it, especially if it conflicts with the majority feedback. For example, if three people says your morally gray protagonist makes no sense, but ten people don't have that issue, you can probably assume your protagonist is fine. If you give your story to six classmates, and all six of them feel the morally gray protagonist doesn't make sense, it's worth considering why all six out of six people feel that way. Are they saying it doesn't make sense because they expect a character to be either good or bad, or are they saying it doesn't make sense because something you laid out in the story is conflicting with the idea that this character is morally gray?

Ultimately, it's up to you to decide whether or not to listen to feedback, but especially in a creative writing class, I wouldn't take the negative feedback too much to heart. If it's one person's opinion, smile, nod, and thank them for their opinion. If it's five people with the same opinion, take some time to consider whether there could be some merit to what they're saying. In any case, don't take it personally. ♥

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

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[ultimate-marysue]

Here's the thing, I wouldn't be mad about DC writing Jason Todd poorly just cause. I've loved plenty of characters with a dwindling quality in the work they're from and I've eventually lost interest without much of a fuss.

My problem with Jason Todd, and Stephanie Brown and (most women and characters of colors) is why their writing is bad. If it's just lackluster barely coherent stories and unseasoned toast personality, that's whatever. What I hate is new writers insulting the character or destroying it. What I hate is canon material completely misunderstanding previous canon and not being consistent even after the fifteenth reboot.

That's another thing: if you reboot it and write a compelling new story or just a consistent new story that's somewhat detached I can respect that. I can look at it and say "I preferred the previous iteration, but fair". I may dislike the new one or like it in a different way, but I'm not going to be up in arms about it because, sad as it is, it's the way of the game.

No, what you can't do is constantly set up certain things, personalities, back stories and flaws for a character and then completely forget about them. Where I'm going to get mad is when a character that has been established to represent something gets twisted because the writer dislikes him or wants to do something different with it. What I don't get is setting up this juicy juicy conflicts (internal, with other characters) this character arc (that doesn't need to have one specific end but needs to satisfy what has already been put down) only to toss them out.

For starters, I don't think you should be allowed to write a character unless you love them or at the very least respect them. Second, you should have a character bible with some core truth things that have to be taken into account into every portrayal as a consequence of their backstory/personality. You can reset this with the universe to fit the changes, but should remain consistent throughout one universe UNLESS it's warranted. Like, "Zuko is obsessed with honor and capturing the avatar until the end of his character arc".

You shouldn't portray Bruce or Talia as well meaning but flawed parents who love their children, have them do the most uncalled for abusive bullshit mankind has witnessed, then have them be wholesome with no justification in between. You can have Jason going from "I fundamentally disagree with Bruce even if I still want him to love me" to "holy shit, this man has once again treated me worse than he treats his rogues and this time it was completely unwarranted" to "yes daddy, don't worry about it. I'd be happy to die for you btw."

That's not bad writing, that's character assassination, and I'm allowed to be mad at it. I'm not bringing out past continuities, I'm not even asking them to write him the way I want him to be written. I'm asking them to keep the character straight for two issues.

[havendance]

Okay, I've read up to before the Night of the Owls crossover, so let's take a moment to look at my New 52 read so far:

Batman -- I think I liked the start of this arc the most, when it's laying out the mystery and feels full of potential. I'm just not a fan of the court of owls. The issue where he was in the labrinth and all the pages got flipped around was a cool concept, but an absolute pain to read digitally. Whenever I tried to rotate my tablet to read the textboxes, my device would go 'oh you're rotating! I know how to do that!' and flip the pages back -_- It probably worked better physically.

Batman and Robin -- I liked this. I liked seeing as Bruce tried to negotiate his relationship with Damian and I liked Nobody as an antagonist drawing on the history of the people who trained Batman.

Nightwing -- I started reading this and I was like 'yes, this is what a reboot should do. Bring back Haly's Circus after it was stupidly burned down previously.' and what does this comic do? Burn down Haly's Circus again!!! Can't have shit in Nightwing comics :/

Anyway, I loved seeing Nightwing try and negotiate his relationships as Nightwing as opposed to his friendships he made at the circus. I liked the push and pull between him and Babs and him and Raya. I think, in this universe where Dick was way older when he became Robin, it works really well, and while I obviously prefer Dick being like 8, I would say that this works well as it's own thing if it weren't for the elephant in the tent-- Haly's Circus being evil (boooooooooo!)

Like I said, can't have shit in Nightwing comics :|

I don't want Haly's Circus to be evil. I don't want them to be working for the court. If you really want the whole Nightwing was raised to be a living weapon thing, then idk, make it something none of them knew about, like some outsider that had been infiltrating and using the circus for their own ends. Don't have Mr Haly be the guy selling dick/that other guy out :(

Birds of Prey -- In contrast to Nightwing, this comic is just extremely mediocre. It's almost impressive how mid it is. I like Saiz' art but I'm struggling to find much else positive to say about it. It's fine. It gets the job done. It's missing that spark to do anything more interesting than girl team fights bad guys. On that same token, I'm having trouble coming up with much to criticize either. Like, obviously I think it would be better if Birds of Prey were still Oracles team, but like, other than the fact that I still think Katana's off (but I haven't read enough of her comics to articulate more), it's hard to find much to complain other than it's just mediocre and boring. Nightwing has high highs and low lows. This is like a flat line.

Batgirl -- I miss Oracle :'( But more seriously, Barbara Gordon as Batgirl has never been as intersting to me as her as Oracle. I liked the subplot of her trying to figure out how to have a new relationship with her mom--it was probably my favorite part and I liked seeing that new aspect of her. That being said, ugh, James Gordon Jr. I just do not like him as a character. He's too grim dark edgy for my tastes.

Another thing that goes into the 'I miss Oracle' category is her new dynamic with Bruce. She's over here caring about his opinion and everything and that's part of her getting aged down yet again, but also I miss when they were antagonistic and she didn't take his shit. As well as the whole question of 'why do we need to keep the killing joke in the first place?' You're rebooting the universe. Why do you need to rub taking Oracle away in our faces like this when you could've just had her never be shot. Though, I do appreciate how Simone is handling the internal conflict that Barbara is experiencing as a result of all of that.

[antispopausandstuff]

my SPOP universe pt. 1 - character bios ( very long, i'm sorry )

.

disclaimer // note - it'll be SPOP-focused, but i do take a 'few' things from the original show and implement them here.

preferred style(s) - ATLA // LOK, ROTTMNT, LMK ( s1-s4 ), Spiderverse, or Kill la Kill

( part of the reason for these styles is the VFX, battle coordination, and creature // environmental design, esp with vibrant media like Spiderverse, ROTTMNT, and LMK )

.

theme song - something akin to "The Call" by League of Legends or "The World That Ends in Three Days" by Koji Kondo, ROZEN, & Celica Soldream.

rating - PG-15 ( i'm not a writer for young children and don't handle things in a very kid-friendly way )

note - here's some gender // sexuality hcs of the characters, though it isn't all of them.

.

established changes:

the runestones don't exist

the cast is 18+ unless stated otherwise

roles will be changed for plot relevance or sense ( for ex, neither perfuma, entrapta, scorpia, spinerella, or netossa are royals )

the first ones are not evil

mara and adora are the only she-ras

most ships will remain noncanon

there's no white people here, sorry

.

cast ( pt. 1 ) . . .

Adora - Long Lost Princess of Eternia, Force Captain ( former ), Daughter of Hordak and Shadow Weaver, and She-Ra. 20 yrs old, 5'0, was abducted as an infant, from her home planet, and taught to be a solider for the Horde. raised by Shadow Weaver and Hordak ( it's separate care, not romantically coded ). unofficial caretaker of Catra.

she was raised to be very serious and no-nonsense like, always remaining calm and strategic in drastic situations to prevent the worst case scenario. due to this built-in stoicism, along with other factors, Adora struggles with interpersonal relationships and knowing her own sense of self, including what she is or isn't comfortable with ( such as unnecessary conflict ).

before She-Ra is even a possibility, the weight of the world was already bestowed upon her shoulders, and she sets on carrying out her duty to protect the world from those who wish to harm it.

beneath it all, however, Adora is a young woman who desires connection and peace. she secretly hopes for that to be her reward.

design would be inspired by Cal, Zav 1, Zav 2, Zav 3, and Fern ( blue guy ) by animatorroseoak, Midas by sleeepybacon, and with these details by me! outfit color palette would go from black and red to white, gold, and blue. just to clarify, though she is mythical, she'd still be afro-latino coded.

theme song - Song of Healing by The Marcus Hedges Trend Orchestra

-

Glimmer - Princess of Brightmoon, Daughter of Queen Angella and King Micah, and Leader of the Rebellion. 19 yrs old, 5'6, was raised by her widowed mother ever since she was an infant. due to her lineage, she is a demigod and will likely live longer than the average Etherian.

ever since she was born, Glimmer's powers were too great for her body to handle, causing her to lose control very quickly, especially when her emotions were heightened. Angella brought her to Castaspella, her aunt and the greatest sorceress on Etheria, to teach her control and balance.

Glimmer has always been a bright mind with an even brighter personality, striving for excellence and success, and has never let her misfortunes, whether it be her powers going haywire or a plan not going through, weigh on her. at least, that's what she shows to her people and mother.

but, on the inside, she is actually very insecure over her lack of understanding of her own powers, what her mother thinks of her, and how she can handle being future Queen. afraid of change and what fate could hold for her, Glimmer is avoidant of talking about her upcoming role to Brightmoon, seeing Castaspella again ( they haven't talked in years ), or taking a break from her leadership in the Rebellion.

design would be inspired by Ube by kleahvii, Mika by kienan_lafferty, Marlowe & Buwa by sleeepybacon. high focus on the astral theming, with minor details of the angelic theme. i imagine her with either pinkish blonde hair or black hair with pink and blue ombre streaks. her species would be a hybrid of elf ( Micah ) and chimera ( Angella ).

theme song - Termina Field by Koji Kondo & ROZEN

-

Bow - Guardian of Whispering Woods, Friend of Madame Razz, Best Friend of Princess Glimmer's, Son of George and Lance, and Co-Leader of the Rebellion. 20 yrs, 6'0, is a runaway from home after a particularly bad argument ensued between himself and his family. he is a pacifist and uses his archery to assist, not to cause harm ( or, at least, irreversible harm ).

his reasons for running away aren't exactly known, even to Glimmer herself, and he always gives half-truths or not-necessarily-lies to anyone who asks about his family and history. but he is very open about his beliefs, his current living situation ( currently resides in the Whispering Woods ), and how he feels.

as the Rebellion's mechanic and stealth strategist, Bow uses his technological intelligence and creativity to aid his allies. he's proven time and time again to be reliable, intuitive, and thinking of just about everything. whether or not that's a good thing.

in contrast to his secrecy, Bow is open-minded, well-meaning, and has a very strong belief in kindness. after living in the Whispering Woods on his own for a few years, and experiencing hardships unbeknownst to anyone else, he aims to be the example for others that people weren't for him.

design would be inspired by Jequ and Agnes by dewfroq, and Earth-42 Miles Morales in Across The Spiderverse. i think i want to make him a cyborg-type of character.

theme song - Goron Lullaby by The Marcus Hedges Trend Orchestra

-

Angella - Queen of Brightmoon, Mother of Princess Glimmer, Widowed Wife of King Micah, and Angel of Etheria. 47(?) yrs old, 7'5, her exact origins are unknown, even to her daughter. some speculate that she was born from a star or moon, others guess she is from a different dimension entirely. the only one who even had an idea was the late King Micah.

benevolent, calm, and wise, Angella has been Queen for longer than she has been anything else. in some ways, she considers that a blessing. in others, she considers it a curse. accepting her fate decades ago, the pain has dulled enough to be barely noticeable.

though most don't know it, she has lived way longer than almost any of the Etherians, having experienced more than the Horde's genocide and eventual war. maybe even the universe beyond Despondos.

her abilities align, though not rely on, with the moons and stars, especially with specific constellations. but, as Despondos has a lack of those constellations ( and there are much less stars in the sky ), Angella has not reached her full power in decades.

it's only to Glimmer that she shows her true self, the self that is curious, easily endeared, and overall heartful and passionate, which is a stark contrast to the all-knowing, mysterious, powerful being that is the Queen of Brightmoon. because of this, her daughter has a hard time explaining to others that her mother isn't as stonewalled as she appears.

design would be inspired by Lucifer by fourleafisland, Sera by idolomantises, and Lifegiver and Sold Adopt Design by sleeepybacon. she is a flight-based chimera that has a lot of astral and angel theming, with her facial features obscured by a secondary, smaller set of wings.

theme song - Song of Time by The St. Louis Ocarina Trio

-

Hordak - Emperor of the Fright Zone, Father of Adora, The 'Big Boss'. 55 ( appearance wise ), 6'7, his origins are about as unknown as Angella's. it's unknown if he even likes or dislikes to discuss it, as no one has dared to ask him about his life before the Horde.

having brought Etheria to its knees decades ago, Hordak is easily bored or disinterested in his surroundings, often indulging himself in sadism for entertainment. however, he does have a soft spot for his children, Imp and Adora, and finds enjoyment in their company.

when She-Ra comes around, he isn't all that irritated. in the beginning, at least. in fact, he's rather riveted by the new challenge. discovering her identity, however, made all the difference. now, he constantly has to pick between being a father and being an Emperor.

design would be inspired by Fei by cronchy_baguette, Jacks by par0llel, Unnamed OC by crazycomet107, and Miguel O'Hara Illustration by sairasays. his design would definitely be a mix of cyborg and beast, lots of predator and prey metaphors.

theme song - Elegy of Emptiness by The Marcus Hedges Trend Orchestra

-

Shadow Weaver - Sorceress of the Fright Zone, Second In Command, Mother of Adora and Catra. 50(?), 5'11, was raised in the Crimson Waste, but ran away and became a student in Mystacor at a young age. after obtaining the dark arts, however, she was banished and considered a freak of nature. soon after, she was found by Hordak.

the 'freak of nature' title didn't leave, however. rather, Shadow Weaver had to embrace it in order to become immune, using her dark magic to protect and provide for herself and whatever or whoever she needs to succeed or gain power.

she keeps most, if not all of her relationships at arms length, paranoia and trust issues running deep. though this doesn't exclude her daughters, Adora and Catra, it's less so with them. even if it's for separate reasons.

after Adora turned on the Horde, this instilled Shadow Weaver's already unstable mindset and kicked it into overdrive. obsessive, aggressive, and erratic in behavior, she eventually becomes a danger to herself and others.

design would be inspired by Peter Pan & Captain Hook Illustrations by sairasays, The Heads and The Witch by kelpible, and Arek ( 3rd form ) by sleeepybacon. her design would be parallel to her life as Light Spinner.

theme song - Midna's Theme by Monsalve

-

Catra - Cadet of the Horde ( former ), Force Captain, Daughter of Shadow Weaver. 19 yrs, 5'7, was abducted as a toddler and taught to be a solider, though succession rates are varying. she was originally born in a Kingdom, but her memories are limited and she's rather uninterested ( or unmotivated, it's not clear ) in finding out where she's from.

as she was raised by Shadow Weaver, Catra became an odd mix of codependent, lazy, defiant and aggressive, borderline sadistic, obsessive, and jealous, driving away most people, which only solidified her unhealthy relationships.

once Adora left the Horde, she was no better than her mother, in terms of mental decline, and it was part of the reason why she became Force Captain. unofficially speaking.

design would be inspired by Eralisto by animatorroseoak, Bacon 1 and Bacon 2 by sleeepybacon, Cairo by cronchy_baguette, and Elliot by spam0_llel. i like to think her design becoming more and more feral // unhinged as she develops.

theme song - Majora's Mask by Koji Kondo & ROZEN

-

Scorpia ( Lynda ) - Force Captain, Ex-Warrior of the Crimson Waste, Sister of Octavia, Harbinger of Poison. 21 yrs, 6'3, a fighter with a tough exterior, but a gentle soul. once she gets to know you, anyway. in her time in the Horde, she has formed a bond with Octavia and knew of Catra and Adora, but hadn't met them personally until Catra becam Force Captain.

after running away from the Crimson Waste after killing the leader, Scorpia was recruited by Hordak for her strength and poison // paralytic touch. though, it wasn't exactly like she had a choice.

when meeting Catra, the two were at arms-length for a while, with Scorpia being a little off-put by the other's intensity in bringing Adora back. but, somehow, they eventually become friends. as much as they could be, anyway, considering the circumstances.

design would be inspired by Gora ( tall, dark-haired goliath ) by pen.lilixeesketche and Tora and Gabu by par0llel. i read up the original character's details and decided to have kind of a 'mish-mash' of the original and reboot ( not quite, though ).

theme song - Bolero of Fire by Giulio Capone

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Entrapta ( Es'Tra ) - The Fae of Entanglement, Lady of Dryll, Heart of Technology. Late 40s ( forgot specific age ), 4'10, works for the Horde as their technician, isolated and muted, but finds comfort in the Emperor's company. when he has time for that.

no one really knows why or how she got there, but it's evident that she's chronically exhausted and has a habit of becoming hostile with those who don't respect her space ( it's how she met Catra one on one ). when she's in a better mood, however, she's more likely to talk, but not guaranteed, and shows to always have more knowledge than anyone would expect.

in the rare instances she's completely happy, Entrapta is very friendly, engaging, and there's an increased percentage she'll share technology // technological-know-how with you.

design would be inspired by Bitten Lady and Faubron by animatorroseoak, Eris by boots.oc, and Remi by par0llel. lots of plant cycle symbolism in her environments and hair.

theme song - Song of Storms by ROZEN

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Double Trouble ( Rebekk ) - Diamond of Mischief, Multi-Mask, Fae of Deceit. Early 20s ( exact age is unknown ), 5'11, a busybody that absolutely hates the Horde, which helps them not give a damn about anything more than bare minimum privacy, and who also happens to be Glimmer's cousin, adopted by Castaspella.

when they're not busying spying on the Horde, Double Trouble spends time working on their own plays and shows or trying to play around with their peers, being a generally needy person that craves attention and validation. it's not hard to make them happy, though. usually, a simple compliment makes their entire day.

none of their family knows of their work, though. and they'd like to keep it that way.

design would be inspired by Rue by lizard_b.rain, Thraniavas by spidertams, Cantaluse by animatorroseoaks, and Original Character Animation by kelapabiru. a random design tidbit that doesn't really matter, i like to think their hair is dyed blonde, but they have brown // black roots.

theme song - Minuet of Forest by Giulio Capone

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not all of the character biographies, not even close, but i'm currently working on pt. 2 as we speak, so that'll be out soon! probably will have a pt. 3 and pt. 4, though, there's a lot to go through.

thank you for reading! this and pt. 2 took forever.

[flower-sniffing-friend]

Steph and Babs for the ask game!

Steph

How I feel about this character

I cannot express properly the depth of my love for her 💜 She deserves the world

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Babs, Jason, and Dick. Kinda Tim but more in a past relationship kinda way

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Damian! While he starts out rough with her (but really, not worse than *gestures at dc universe*) he's just a kid and I feel like Steph sees that and doesn't have to hold it against him or have to constantly prove herself to him

My unpopular opinion about this character

Okay, there's this post going around that talks about dc writers forcing the robins into personality traits bc all the boys are hypercompetent brooding manipulators and the fanon of steph is "girlypop" and canon is "still girlypop" and it makes me so frustrated bc she's so much more than that.

Also she is hypercompetent. Have you seen the things she's done when she had no formal training? If she had decent training she should be as hypercompetent as the rest of the Robins. And I get she's not as brooding as the boys, but she carries around a weight of constantly trying to prove herself. People get distracted by her smiles and quips and make her the girl version of fanon Dick, but whereas I see a lot of people fight back against fanon Dick, I don't see the same for Steph and maybe it's cuz I'm in the wrong circles? I don't know but I can't go in the Steph tag anymore

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

Can someone please in canon acknowledge that Bruce is misogynistic toward Steph (not to mention all the other women) 🙏 (of course they won't. Batman can't be wrong)

Babs

How I feel about this character

Extremely conflicted. The first thing I read her in was a Nightwing Rebirth comic and I hated her. Then I read some Oracle era stuff which...some I liked, but I still had kinda a bitter taste about her. I really enjoyed her character in Three Jokers. And now I'm reading her 70s Batgirl stuff which is decent (even if it is mostly written by Frank Robbins 😑) Honestly, my reaction to seeing her varies day to day depending on which version I think about, and there isn't a version I love enough as "the one" where I can ignore all the others as "bad writing"

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Steph and Jason (as a side note, I 100% agree with you on the Three Jokers not being about hooking Babs up with another bat boy, but alas, I find their dynamic interesting)

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Ted Kord

My unpopular opinion about this character

I prefer her as Batgirl over Oracle, but not in a "I want her to go back to being Batgirl after Oracle" way. I actually really dislike characters going "backwards" in their arcs. It's like trying to make Dick Robin again after being Nightwing.

Anyway, some people expect me to like this character because of their disability. People that don't know I'm disabled will call my ableist for not liking Oracle that much or people that do know start arguing with me that I should like her cuz she's good disabled rep. But Babs and I have two different disabilities with two different causes and I can't personally relate to anything in her story. I still think she can be interesting as a character, but also i rarely go for the tech savvy character to begin with.

And as far as disability rep for me goes, I relate far more to Blackfire.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon

Besides the obvious make her disabled and age her back up, I'd say if DC is not going to do those things, I want them to have her move on from both Batgirl and Oracle into something new. Babs had already retired from Batgirl before she was disabled, why would she go back to it after being "cured"? Let her do something new.

[zsakuva]

Saku… I’m convinced you’ve got all the sakuverse characters in your basement bc how can you write but not pick up on sarcasmxD You’re out here writing about mascaras, murder, intense political conflict, but you’re unsure of when someone’s sarcastic? Cutee~

Three things!:

If Isaac did ever decided to have kids, what kind of father do you think he’d be? And would he have a preference in terms of gender? I think if he had a daughter, he’d def be a girl dad lololol (like letting her put clips in his hair, paint his nails, etc) but i also think that he’d really like having a son cus he could give him the fatherly love his own dad didn’t always openly express

Are you half Japanese? (Feel free to ignore the question if it’s too personal!) I was showing my friend the Isaac series and when he got to the part where Isaac quotes his mother, he asked me if you’re Japanese. (For reference, he’s JapanesexD) Be said that you have very typical “hafu pronunciation”. I asked him to elaborate and he said it didn’t sound quite fluent (mainly due to intonation) but also too well spoken to be a foreigner. 

I apologize for my essay heh…

It's more tone of voice I can't pick up on sometimes, so I tend to hear things very literally xD

If Isaac were to have kids, I think he'd be the overprotective, smothering type. Though he wouldn't shelter them from what's out there, he'd be sceptical of everyone coming in contact with them. Sleepovers would be a big no-no, but he'd be battling with his own traumatic childhood. He'd want them to live happily with protection, but he also wouldn't want to suffocate them.

I don't think he'd have a preference! But I agree, he would--although begrudgingly sometimes--allow his daughter to do his hair and paint his nails.

I'm not Japanese at all! I studied it for a brief period in university, and I've tried to maintain my pronunciation (though I've definitely fallen off with it LOL)