#no plot or backstory for this!

[kj-beastboy]

Paperhatober Day 18: Space🪐

[cosmosnout]

The real reason Oda had to get rid of her was not for plot convenience, but bc she would have kicked everyone’s ass. (Source: trust me bro)

[ooctlt]

Gid and Harrow, what made you decide to leave the church?

[jvlianbashir]

"the creator said in a reddit thread -" "the official twitter account posted that -" "the actors confirmed in a livestream that -"

i don't care and that's not real to me. put it in the text.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girl found dead in a hidden room.

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[alena-draws]

I was thinking I'd like to do some nice clean sprite drawings for my portfolio, kind of like Ace Attorney style. So I had the idea of a Vashwood Dating Sim game where you play Wolfwood who thinks he's in some kind of story/detective game until he realizes he's the protagonist of a dating sim. I think that could be hilarious BUT then I didn't want to do a school setting...So now I thought about a new setting, more mystery style, where Vash and Nai search for Tesla, with the help of Wolfwood. So I'll try my hand at drawing some pretty sprites now!

[levemetal]

If you ever wondered what it feels like to write svsss fanfic, this is it.

Ironically my terrible sons SJ and LBG are the most behaved. MQF stole the plot and is about to murder me in my sleep.

[guccigarantine]

I’m 100% supportive of people becoming obsessed with a background character in something but when people start saying something is bad because those background characters don’t get any character development we gotta slow down a little

[tru-daddy]

Even if Capcom didn't plan anything with the writing and Project W wasn't a thing until RE5, I still love the fact that the reveal recontextualizes Wesker's line to Chris in RE1:

It's meant to be all smug he's like "I've always been with Umbrella 😏" But now knowing Wesker's backstory it's quite a sad and ironic line. Like he really has always been with Umbrella... This is one of my roman empires my guy thought he was chilling as Dr. Frankenstein when instead, he was actually Frankenstein's monster.

[ruushinynerve]

Yeeeah, this is a chimera au. Seriously, I literally have a whole imaginary au fic in my head in pictures. I thought about this plot so much and for so long. There are many details that I have to tell through art. And yes, teen wolf was part of the inspiration, if u know u know.

[crabsnpersimmons]

Y'all liked raincoat chibi!DCA, well it's been snowing a lot in my neighbourhood recently, which means it's time for...

Winter coat chibi!DCA

Expectation:

Reality:

[tumblingxelian]

Why I Think Chloe is a Skilled CQC Fighter:

So, I wanted to cover in slightly more detail why I tend to think that Chloe is a genuinely skilled fighter and why I feel it is supported by at least the first three seasons of canon materials in MLB.

1: As Anti Bug, Chloe was able to combat, match and then quickly overcome Adrien in closed quarters combat. One could claim this was him holding back due to friendship but that'd be even more of a HC and he looks pretty comfy.

One could claim it was just because he needed to be in peril for the story but the fact is that still means he lost the fight.

2: In Maledikator Chloe demonstrated strong martial art based kick forms, which by itself is fairly minor but these things add up.

3: During Heroes Day, Chloe does demonstrably better than the other two reserve heroes and is even able to cover for them wen they are unable to fight.

She also l lasts even after they begin turning and needed to be ambushed to be removed from the fight.

4: During Miracular, Chloe has a one on one fight with Mayura in which she does very well and given Mayura is one of the top fighters in the setting I feel that says a lot.

5: This is also where she expressly demonstrated Street Savate style martial arts moves which no other character does. This indicates its a Chloe thing not a Miraculous user thing.

6: This last bit is more of a HC than the above, but it does feel worth keeping in mind both Adrien & Felix were expected to learn a martial art. So it seems like this may well have been normalized among them and so would not be particularly unusual.

Conclusion: Ultimately, Chloe shows herself to be very good fighter.

What's more, she does so with enough frequency and in unique enough circumstances and ways that it does not feel like animators just being careless or having fun. Otherwise we'd see more of this from others. The fact that Chloe stands out here is notable and as whether one takes her as knowing a specific martial art or not is besides the point that Chloe is evidently very tasty in a fight.

[bonefall]

Hey, what makes a character a 'plot device but not a character'? And how do you not do that? I'm trying to do it on purpose but also I need to still make them interesting because it's on purpose, yknow?

A good skill to pick up is to learn to criticise criticism itself. A "plot device" is simply a thing that moves the plot along, it's a neutral literary analysis term! Usually, when people are angry that "a character has been used as a plot device," it doesn't mean they hate plot devices. It means they're gesturing at something deeper.

Runningwind and Bumble are equally plot devices in their deaths. They are both killed by the antagonist to escalate political tension. Runningwind is rarely "accused" of just being a plot device, and yet, we're talking about Bumble for the same thing.

So, why?

Well, Runningwind is just a background character, but in life, he was a part of the community. He was characterized as impatient but responsible. Yet, he wasn't SO important that he died with a bunch of unresolved plot threads.

He is mostly an extension of the entity of ThunderClan. His killing by Tigerstar, and the fear and paranoia that settles on the group after this, feel like a progression of the story insteas of something forced.

Bumble, on the other hand...

Is hated immediately by Gray Wing, when she's established as Turtle Tail's friend. Bumble's abuse at Tom the Wifebeater's hands invites even MORE investment. The rejection is shocking and upsetting. There's a story there about our main characters being imperfect; jealous, bigoted, and judgemental.

But, she is simply killed off. Everything they set up for this character is gone with little personalized fanfare. It's not a tragedy with a lesson about cruelty, or something anyone regrets.

It's just... plot. Gray Wing whinging that no one will like his shitty brother now that his body count is 2.

More than that, in the discussion of women in particular, "Fridging" was coined to give a name to the way women characters often don't get their stories told at all. There is a CULTURAL trend of female characters facing disproportionate violence, for the sake of advancing male plots.

Bumble has a lot going for her. Petal had a lot going for her. Turtle Tail had a lot going for her. Bright Stream had a lot going for her. When they died, they took their potential with them.

It's not always wrong to kill off a character of high potential, mind you. In Gurren Lagann, Kamina's death is sudden and shocking, leaving a massive hole in the hearts of the cast that never heals. Grappling with that loss, but also letting his memory fuel them, is a major theme of that story.

All that to say... there's no formula for avoiding it. You've gotta identify what the deeper issue is, in your specific narrative.

I can't say for certain what that will look like for your story, but here's some things I keep in mind;

When you make characters who exist to die, make sure they're people before you axe them.

Ask yourself; what about them does the cast miss?

If they just miss them because they were (pre-existing relationship), go back to the drawing board.

Fluttering Bird as an example. Who was she? Dead sister. Why do they miss her? Dead sister. No traits until after her death.

Runningwind was short-tempered and helpful. Kamina was a valuable leader who made people believe in a brighter future. Swiftpaw was fiesty and desperate to prove himself. The better characterized, the more profound the loss usually is.

If this is a female character who is dying just to serve the plot, be aware of cultural bias and tropes. How is the gender ratio looking in your cast? Is this happening disproportionately with your girls?

Note how Quiet Rain's litter had both a boy and a girl, but the girl was chosen to be "weaker" and wither away.

And how most of the time in DOTC, whenever a man had to be upset, a girl would get killed for it.

If you ever feel like the character on the chopping block is NOT a full character, ask yourself why it needs to be a character at all. You don't need to spend narrative time building out someone when a literal object of high value might suffice.

"My sister died when I swore to protect her and I can't face my family" = Old. Tired. Ive seen this.

"I lost my heirloom sword when I swore to protect it and I can't face my family." = Fascinating. Why was the sword so valuable? Will they really not take you back? How did you lose it?

When you do kill off "high value" characters, try to make sure you're not leaving too many plot threads hanging. Or at least make a point of how they will never get closure.

[ooctlt]

You’d both go back to the church? Gideon, would you really follow Harrow back?

previous context: Gid and Harrow, what made you decide to leave the church?

who even let corona in here

[anonymoosen]

AIDEN’S SO SILLY WHAT

[welcometogrouchland]

I've been binging Batman Beyond recently (Terry ily so much) and thought about how- bc of the JLU twist which I think isn't even canon to the comics BB verse but shhh bare with me- he'd technically be Damian's half brother??? Which is just so ridiculously soap opera to me. I need them to interact in a silly time travel adventure so bad you don't even understand (ID in alt)