#not even while creating her but while coming up with the exact dynamic she has with her sister in sotrl verse

[malachitezmeyka]

I was gonna be like “Should I liveblog my Hunger Games reread?” but let’s be honest with ourselves here, every post will be me writing out a passage from the book and captioning it with “The Suiren vibes are off the charts”

[mysterycitrus]

I keep hearing people say to ignore Devin Grayson’s Nightwing but I also see people reference it. I feel like I’m getting mixed signals. Should I avoid it or read it? Are there specific issue I should avoid or read? is the avoiding advice only for people who are new to the comics? Or should I really just avoid the whole thing?

short answer — u do not have to read devin graysons nightwing run. i wouldn’t recommend it to new readers, and there isn’t anything significantly important that happens so like. it’s an easy pass. i do encourage people to at least read what she wrote about, though, because devin accidentally kickstarted the next twenty or so years of bad writing in nightwing books.

the long answer — devin grayson was a writer for nightwing volume 2 from like….. issue #70ish to #115ish. she did a lot of weird things during her run — her takes on dick’s relationships with bruce and slade and helena come to mind — but the most popular talking points wrt her writing are issue 93 and maaaaybe the renegade arc but that is literally the tip of shit mountain.

it’s funny u say that people are telling u not to read it cause based on my experience in fandom it is very, very clear that very few people have read any of the run at all, or even #93 and it’s preceding issues. which is fine, because it’s bad. but it’s important to understand why it’s bad, and how it’s affected dicks characterisation in both canon and fanon.

nightwing #93 is the issue people say to avoid because it features dick’s assault at the hands of a former ally that devin refused to acknowledge was rape until like… 2014. it’s bad. the build up to this point — haleys is set on fire, dicks apartment is destroyed killing everyone inside, dick watches this ally kill a man on his behalf while he is helpless to stop her — is rarely discussed in the context of the scene. it’s a lot, but because people haven’t read it they misunderstand the dynamics that devin had created.

the worst parts about nightwing in the present — his lack of conviction and competence, his sexualisation and dehumanisation, the fundamental lack of empathy for his retconned bg as a poc — all started with devin. literal ground zero. i cannot emphasise how her i incapability to understand that she’d written an assault arc with her self insert as the instigator has played into dick’s status as a character in the 2020s. many people accidentally engage with the same tired, racist tropes that devin herself contributed to, because people simply do not know (or care to know) what she’d written. think about much fanon content revolves around dick being an accessory to his own assault, or being literally unable to advocate for himself, or relying on jason fucking todd to kill his rapist. it’s like im rereading nightwing vol 2 all over again, and that’s not a good thing.

however what people also tend to forget about is the racism. devin grayson introduced dick having rromani heritage into canon, sure, but she did it because she thought it was sexy. we see this with her writing for roy’s navajo heritage too — a lack of research and care, though dick’s was clearly egregiously fetishistic. she retconned the character that assaulted dick into a latina character, and retconned her into being an aggressively sexual and violent person that was at significant odds with her og characterisation. that seems to be a trend with nightwing writers — wolfman did the exact same thing like fifteen years earlier with about the same degree of nuance and empathy.

ig my answer is that nightwing vol 2 is very much a pick and choose run, make ur own adventure type experience. bizarrely, u can get better nightwing characterisation in the titans 1999 run, or batman plus arsenal, which were both also written by devin (heartbreaking, the worst person u kno just made a good point). id be wary of people telling u to avoid it entirely, because i think ignoring its existence just exacerbates the problems devin created. just be discerning, ig. but also read nightwing vol 2 #118-#124 (just after devin leaves) because it is gd hilarious

[thekingofwinterblog]

Why Maka and Crona works so well together

Probably my favorite part about any series is relationships between characters, what dynamics they have, how shared history drastically affects how they act together, and one of the reasons i love shonen so much, is how great the genre is at taking a relationship of mutual enemies, and flipping it on its head through two very disconnected souls suddenly developing a shared understanding, and a new and powerful bond blossoming from that.

Naruto and Gaara, Luffy and... Everyone, Izuku and Todoroki, heck series like Hajime no Ippo pretty much runs on this kinda dynamic. Even Fairy Tail, which didnt exactly start off great, and only got worse, managed to squeeze out one absolutely excellent character using this dynamic in the form of Gajeel and his relationship with the rest of the fairy tail crew.

In Soul Eater, this method of storytelling is used, speciffically to create the single best relationship between characters that the franchise ever made, in the form of Maka and her rival turned bestie Crona.

I'll leave a full analysis of why the actual fight that formed this relationhip was the series highlight for another day, as what i wanna focus on here is analysing what it is that makes this relationship so great post Crona's heelturn.

What makes Maka and Crona's relationship such a special thing, both in universe and from a storytelling perspective, is that both of them compliment the other perfectly, and helps them to grow... But it's not really spelled out the way that a less talented series might do.

Now with Crona, the way Maka helps in development and growth for the demon swordmaster is pretty obvious.

Timid, shy, afraid, and would much rather stay inside a dark safe, dark shell. That is how Crona starts the series, and doesnt exactly lose these qualities once Medusa's direct influence is lifted.

But that is not what Crona actually wants.

What Crona wants is to connect with people, but is way too terrified to try, as well as risking failing while doing so.

Crona needs someone who is willing to prod and poke, but also to show gentleness while doing so.

What makes their relationship hit so hard from day 1 is how Maka understands Crona completely, and is willing, and wants to give Crona the help and support to break the hold of Medusa. But not only that, Maka WANTS to be around Crona, valuing their relationahip enough that she is willing to stand up to Shinigami to defend Crona if necessary.

Maka thusly serves as Crona's anchorpoint, the center of all character growth and developments. She brings out all the best qualities out of Crona.

But the thing is that this goes both ways, because while the way Maka brings Crona out of the dark shell and into the Light, Crona does the exact same, just in a more subtle manner.

Maka at the start of the series, is a girl that is absolutely defined by her flaws, and all of those flaws are rooted in, not too dissimilar from Crona, fear.

"I wish all of you would just die!"

The total breakdown of her parents relationship, personally witnessing her father's many affairs, and not at all having come to terms with her mother abandoning her, has left Maka with a fear of many, many things.

At the start of the series, that fear manifests itself as being terrified at Soul abandoning her, her being completely unable to find it in herself to try to make up with her father, and her inability to confront the fact her mother abandoned her.

All of it comes together and it brings out all of her worst qualities.

Her hyper agressiveness, her short temper, her complete and total inability of giving her partner and friend soul the benefit of the doubt, and so on.

It also manifests itself in several moments where Maka's fear of danger hamstrings her, like when the sheer power of Stein's soul brings her to her knees, or when her hesitation to using Soul as a weapon(out of fear that he would get hurt) during her first fight with Crona ended up with him having to block an attack in human form, which drastically inreased the actual damage he would have taken as opposed to if she had just blocked the standard way.

Even when Soul was gravely injured, this fear also manifested itself as her being completely unable to really show how devastated she was over how badly he was hurt on her behalf before she was alone with the unconcious Soul.

She was afraid of her father, of stein, of anyone else seeing just how hard things could hit her.

This is not to say that Soul and Maka had an absolute trainwreck of a relationship at the beginning of the series, quite on the contrary.

They have a relatively functioning relationship, where they act as nagging siblings, or a bickering old married couple, but there is always that ugly side of their relationship hiding just under the surface, all fueled by Maka's flaws and fears.

But there is also the opposite, moments where the two strengthen each other, or take the bullet for the other if need be.

But what their relationship does not have, is Soul helping Maka truly grow past her flaws.

Maka at the start of the series and the person she was when she faced Crona a second time was a braver soul than she was in episode 1, but she had not grown past her flaws, merely become hardened, strengthened by expiriences.

Her truly changing from the girl dealing with the aftermath of her parents divorce, into the young woman that would defeat Asura, began in that basement surrounded by pillars.

After their shared experience of connecting to the other's souls, and understanding who Crona was deep down, Maka does something she hasn't truly been able to do since her parents divorce.

She shows genuine, honest compassion and kindness withouth the fear of rejection.

Compassion, understanding, and giving someone the benefit of the doubt.

It all begins here.

This is the point where Maka really begins healing from her parents divorce, where she is finally able to truly bare her heart to another person again withouth the nagging feeling in the back of her mind that she is setting herself up for failure, that was always the big problem with her and Soul's relationship.

Crona is not the only source of Maka's development in the latter half of the series, but it all began here, and Crona keeps bringing out all of Maka's best qualities just by being close to her.

Maka brings out Crona's kidness, bravery, and a deep, deep wish to connect with everyone else, while Crona in turn brings out Maka's compassionate side, her kidness, her understanding side, all of which she had very deliberately buried at the beginning of the series.

And it all culminates in the sand pit, where Maka discovers that her faith in Crona ultimately was misplaced, and she got backstabbed, just as she always feared... And rather than fly off the handle, she reacts with a display of tough love... That is rooted in understanding, and compassion.

She forgives Crona, because she understands. She knows Crona, and she knows just how deep down the scars Medusa gave bites, and so she reacts with understanding, she gives Crona the benefit of the doubt, and her support, a far, far cry from the impulsive and angry girl who screamed that All men should just die in epsiode 1 after feeling hurt by Soul's seeming betrayal.

And when she thinks Crona is about to die, the girl who was once absolutely terrified of showing anyone around her how she felt when she tought Soul might be about to die in a similar situation, and kept it all in, no longer does so, because such display of stoicism to keep face, rather than show the people you care abouy you actually love them, wasn't really worth much to begin with.

Maka Grows a lot over the course of Soul Eater, but the development that really, truly matters, is all rooted in her relationship to Crona.

Understanding, forgiveness, the bravery to take the moral high ground, to show how you truly feel rather than keep up a facade that isnt really you... To happily take the risk of being hurt by opening your heart because you know the warmth and joy that only comes by opening yourself to another person... It's a side of her that only Crona was able to bring out, the same way that only Maka was able to bring out the best aspects of Crona.

And that, is why they have the best relationship in Soul Eater.

[idealisticrealism]

TCL 3x05 thoughts

The main things:

This ep starts literally immediately after last ep ended, and then takes place over 2 full days

Looks like Thony and Jorge swapped numbers at some point lol; I guess Dante got tired of being the go-between haha. But for a guy that was so concerned yesterday about Thony missing her interview, he sure seems chill about pulling her away today… only to have nothing for her but an unintentionally murdered guy and an uncomfortable fight with his sister lol. That’s a bit embarrassing for you there, Jorge! I like that he later ended the business call about Nadia’s payout to be able to answer her, and then followed through on her request to talk to Ramona on her behalf. And then she shows up at his office– did she google him or did he actually tell her where to find him??-- and tries to convince him to nullify the Amber Alert, and ngl I enjoy the fact that much of their dynamic so far is basically Thony either ordering or begging him to do something, and him being like “No” and making some mocking remark to her about it… and then later doing exactly what she asked/suggested lol. Thony (and especially the potent combination of Thony and Luca) really does have some kind of magic power over the men of this family… though Arman seemed to accept it far more quickly and eagerly than Jorge, who’s still half-heartedly trying to resist haha. But then again, the man still showed up at her court hearing and not only provided the exact thing she asked for, but he also stayed to see the outcome and her reaction?? Like I’m absolutely hearing Nadia’s words to Arman rn: “You love the way she looks at you when you do these things for her. When you are her hero”... Jorge got his first real taste of that during the last ep, and looks like he already wants more haha

Thony and Ramona are clashing more and more which is potentially going to be very problematic for Thony when they lose Arman and she is no longer shielded by her connection to him… but I guess that’s when Jorge’s growing regard for her is going to come into play, and create an interesting divide with the siblings…

Poor Thony reliving the trauma of losing Luca, only even more terrifying this time because instead of Marco (who sucked but was at least relatively safe), he could be with someone who intends to hurt him. “We’ve been down this road before” yeah in more ways than one

“You and Armando will work together, so when I’m gone…(etc)” okay this is a very odd statement for a 50-something to make??? And she later says something about bringing Arman home ‘while there’s still time’-- time for him, or her?? Like is Ramona secretly dying and that’s why she’s so determined to get Arman back, so Jorge will still have family watching over him? Surely the writers wouldn’t use a plotline like that though, not given how we lost Adan…….? 

Okay let’s all pretend that we believe that a 6 year old kid, who had barely experienced the world outside his own bedroom before a few months ago, managed to navigate the streets of a major city on foot to a location that’s a 10 minute drive away, and then also somehow snuck into a large public facility undetected and didn't raise red flags as an unaccompanied kid hanging there for hours lol

Ugh so much love for the courtroom scene and the fam all giving their testimony. I love that they were all clearly ready to commit perjury if needed (eg by covering up Thony’s shady activities if asked about it) and that they also said such beautiful, heartfelt things, because god did Thony need to hear those things. After everything she has gone through, and everything that her actions to protect Luca put the rest of the family through, she’d clearly started to question (like we saw in the kitchen earlier with Fi)  whether she is actually truly good– a good mother, a good family member, and a good person in general– or if she only brings pain to those around her.  The forgiveness and support of her family doesn’t erase what she’s done, but it is going to be a huge part of how she moves forward and grows as a person, and I’m really looking forward to seeing more of that journey.

I also loved that the people trying to take Luca away were two crusty old guys, while Thony’s lawyer (who looked like she was trying not to cry when Thony did her big speech), and the judge, and of course Susan (who, while on the CPS side, is actually fairly impartial and in some ways shows a lot of regard for Thony, and didn’t raise an objection even though she could have) are all women. It feels like a subtle nod to the themes of both motherhood and women supporting other women in this show, and that’s really cool. 

Other stuff:

Congrats to Fi for finally getting to have her own Traumatised Showering Scene haha, I think Thony has had at least 2 or 3 by this point. But I did feel for Fi and Chris that they barely even got to begin to unpack what happened to them because things were just immediately about Luca. Also ngl that music/voiceover combo right at the start with the abrupt fadeout was a bit weird lol

“Sometimes I wish I was a turtle, so I could hide in my shell” #relatable

Love the sweet JD/Fi stuff, though this dude needs to recognise his place in the family hierarchy and not make calls that aren’t his to make lol. Leave the dealing with big important stuff to the women, buddy, you’re out of your depth!  

Speaking of dudes messing things up… seriously Dante? Accidentally killing the best lead your bosses have to getting their relative back? That’s embarrassingly amateurish. Unless there’s actually more going on here than we realise, and he did it deliberately to keep the guy from talking??

Ok seriously how many doors lead outside from Luca’s room?? I know it’s a converted sun-room and not a proper bedroom, but still, they should at least be locked if not also securely barricaded. Geez.

Ah the many facets of Jorge, comfortable in a homeless camp and while torturing a guy in a warehouse, but also in a courtroom and a fancy corner office, and also while kneeling in a kitchen doorway to earnestly accept a gift of a cupcake from a 5 year old lol

Thony always tells Luca she’s never going to let anything bad happen to him… but uhhh, a little too late there, don’t you think Thony? Poor kid has been through more ‘bad things’ than most adults, and most of them have happened within the last 6 months lol

Lol at Thony trying to tell the officer to drop the charges against Dante and he’s just like ‘nope’ haha. I bet she really misses her surgeon days when she could just give orders and people would follow them without question

No Nadia this week! Honestly it felt weird not to see her; it really feels like she is part of the family now, and I’m looking forward to more of her and Thony working together

Goddamn I really gotta learn Spanish.

[thesleepdeity]

“I was born knowing you.”

[[ Miquella’s other half, the one who represents his compassion and love for all that surrounds him. This dynamic is born from the desire to roleplay without bending the original Elden Ring lore. This is not canon nor do I pretend it to be. Not DLC canon. ]]

━─━────༺༻────━─━

☆゜・。TRINA’S BACKSTORY (NC)

Saint Trina was born out of Miquella's desire to have some independence while still being inside the cocoon.

Being an almost exact copy of Miquella the Kind's appearance, Saint Trina quickly gained a large number of followers thanks to their unknown nature coming from ancient deities already forgotten. Saint Trina had the power to enter the dreams of those they pursued and induce sleep in those who refused to sleep. Mothers prayed them to put their babies to sleep, merchants spoke to them in gratitude, even the animals recognized the usual purple smoke and lilies they left at their feet whenever they appeared.

However, Saint Trina suddenly disappeared from the Lands Between, leaving behind their entourage without any explanation as to why. This was because Miquella the Kind was ripped from the cocoon of the Haligtree, causing his body to die, even though he was put into another cocoon shortly thereafter: Miquella the Kind's soul disappeared, and therefore, so did Saint Trina.

☆゜・。TRINA’S DYNAMIC

(If you haven't read Miquella's dream palace post, do it before reading this section).

Saint Trina is the female counterpart of Miquella and all that his Age of Compassion means: love, kindness, tenderness.

Although many believe that Saint Trina and Miquella are the same person, and they are somewhat right about that, Saint Trina has absolute independence. Their personality and memories are different from Miquella's, so they can be considered a separate person, even though they are half of Miquella's soul. Saint Trina's feelings may be very different from the feelings of their male counterpart.

However, they cannot move at the same time.

Saint Trina moves from Miquella's energy. When Miquella rested in his cocoon, Saint Trina had freedom of movement, and when Miquella died and ended up in the dream palace, Saint Trina also went with him.

They cannot move at the same time: Miquella's energy is not infinite and trying to control a body when your own is awake is like seeing two realities interposed on top of each other. Saint Trina is independent, but still depends on Miquella for many things.

For those who role-play with Miquella, they can find Saint Trina sleeping nearby, while those who role-play with Saint Trina can find Miquella sleeping, although he prefers to hide so as not to be seen.

Saint Trina's voice can only be heard by a few, because it is omniscient. They sounds in the minds of others while their mouth does not move, which creates an effect that can be frightening to those who are not used to it.

Attention: both share memories and Saint Trina is the only one who can enter and exit the dream palace.

☆゜・。THE PURPOSE

Both received considerable damage when Miquella the Kind died.

Miquella has discovered that merging the two is now virtually impossible due to that damage, which means they will be two different people until it can be solved.

Due to Miquella's plans to ascend to godhood, called The Purpose, the search for a method to merge the two has been put on hold until another time. Miquella's priority is to ascend. Saint Trina's priority is to wait.

☆゜・。OTHERS

— Even though Saint Trina is AFAB, they use they/them and she/her pronouns.

— Saint Trina can enter in dreams, see you in the dream palace or follow you in reality if you have an object of theirs (for example, a lily).

— They don't technically have family. Being a deity is extremely lonely, unfortunately.

— Saint Trina has no real sense of what personal space is because they are often guided by instincts, as they are the most instinctual part of Miquella. This doesn't mean that Miquella can't feel love or can't be kind: it just means that the core parts of it are no longer inside him.

— Animal friend.

— Consider yourself lucky if they use their few words with you! Saint Trina is very cautious even with their own kind.

If you want to roleplay with Saint Trina or talk about hcs, send me a message! Don't be afraid<3

[thousandyearphantombunker]

how the fuck was Steven supposed to kill the diamonds? With the crystal gems a team consisting of like 8 people? One is a human girl with a sword, another is a random technician and another is a disabled soldier? With the breaking point? The diamonds are huge and have insane powers they could use to protect themselves with ease so...and if somehow he did find a way to kill them- what would the aftermath be? What would happen to the corrupted gems? The system on homeworld wouldn't have changed, they'd still kill the off colors, they'd still be colonizing planets etc. would spinel still be waiting never knowing anything about what happened to her friend? Like what would have happened- 'oh the diamonds will probably go right back to killing people if Steven let them live and therefore Steven will be responsible for all the blood on their handa when that eventually happens, it's also unjust and toxic that Steven forgives other peoples abusers on their behalf we always let the colonizers have redemption arcs and portray the people they hurt as villains for fighting back' yeah okay, you cop Steven is a moral failure who is guilty of colonization and hes an abuse apologist who ignore the victims and demonizes them(where we watching the same show? Did we not see Steven try to help centipetle? Did we not see him break down over the cluster- could Steven had forgiven the diamonds for the sake of the victims? I do give some shit to Steven for how he acts about rose but even then he's a teenage with PTSD)-The situation also changed from 'homeworld gems are coming back to earth after the war to create a geo-weapon, they thought they won the war and didn't care about colonizing the earth anymore' to 'now they want rose quartz to hang for as justice for what happened to pink diamond' to 'pink diamond faked her death and her attempt to escape the abuse and evils of her home ended up turning her friends into monsters and her deciding to die to create Steven has led her sisters trying to drag her back to homeworld to uphold the horrible caste system' no more going after earth the way they used too, now the conflict was personal.

su's ending was bad- it felt hollow rushed and like so much happened but also like not enough was happening- it was a mess but also, su is about restorative justice and changing unhealthy family dynamics, and that's actually great. I get pissy about Steven Universe's ending-lapis, peridot, lars and bismuth were completely irrelevant the complaints i have about white diamond are the exact same ones i have about the collector (i hate them both) the movie piled more shit onto rose's bad rep sheet when it was really unnecessary and the show only portrays the perspective she was a brat which was great at the start but once you see how internalized she was and that shes an abuse victim the show should have portrayed her more empathetically, and if we wanna talk about the show as a whole- i hate that shattering can be reversed fully now and that jasper didn't stay dead as much as i love her, i hate that the show never acknowledged how toxic sadie was toward lars (kidnapping him and steven the donut prank- lars was a dick but sadie was a psycho) or how its hard to defend pearl after they made her a total creep (even if you don't read fusion as sexual its still super uncomfortable to see pearl lie to garnet like that and take advantage of something that meant so much to garnet) and i dislike that peridot lost her edge and the episode "too far" pissed me off (amethyst you encouraged peridot to be mean and call garnet a slur, pearl a braindead slave and Steven an affront to nature but when she made an accidentally ableist remark while trying to compliment you that's when it became a problem?). Su botched a fuckton of its messages and the filler was hit or miss in terms of quality and a lot the hate was Deserved (it did get uncomfortably sexual when it came to certain fusions- and rebecca sugar being Jewish bi, nonbinary etc doesn't exempt them from criticism- it felt perverted in several parts and rocknaldo was a worthless episode though if I hear another anti-Semitic take on this show im gonna flip- y'all don't know what Nazism is please stop using that word without understanding it) but I while I have my complaints about the ending I think Steven changing the diamonds minds was the only appropriate way for the show to end, the show always was about making amends or living life after the carnage had settled without focusing on vengeance/perpetuating the cycle of violence it was always about seeing nuance and not seeing you people you come into conflict with as enemies. I'm not angry at the diamonds being redeemed, I hate how it was handled, I'm not angry at the show for saying bismuth was wrong I hate how it was handled she deserved better but Jesus christ can we stop acting like the only appropriate way the show could have ended is with Steven 'realizing pacifism is bad and killing the abusers/colonizers is the only answer' because fuck diplomacy and systemic change-

also Steven is fully willing to use violence, Steven would pick up a gun and shoot to before batman or aang would ever if it meant saving his world (this isn't me shitting on those characters just pointing out Steven isn't that extreme of a pacifist) and Steven carries a lot of anger as we see in su future (whether or not you think it's a hot mess it's canon) while i don't think he hates the diamonds he definitely resents them and is afraid of then but holds back (until he ya now gats... Way worse mentally), he wants to fix the system not get justice or vengeance or make huge moral judgements where he is in the right when he hurts others- steven isn't an abuse apologist who believes him self morally superior (he actually kind of is afraid of that) he isn't afraid to use violence if he seems it necessary (he's a diplomat and his skills lie in talking things out- of course he'd go to that first) he cares a lot of about the victims of the diamonds and people who have been hurt- even if they hurt him. Steven is deeply flawed his martyr complex reveals him to be incredibly entitled and desperate to be in control and for others to be hurt or bad so he can fix their problems so he can feel good about himself and deals with a lot of guilt and by future he has developed anger issues- but he always cared about others that's why he did what he did and does what he does

[revlischarm]

SO APPARENTLY I NEVER POSTED SEASON 3 DETAILS FOR THE LMK MORRO AU.

I feel like an idiot ugh

Anyways. Uh.

Take that, because I know if I don’t attach art to this post it will fade into obscurity.

Details about season 3 under the cut!! So, so much lore, it’s a very long post honestly.

• Okay so starting off Season 3 with Macaque attacking the ship

• Morro can tell from the moment Mac shows up initially that there’s something screwy going on, not on any spiritual level but more in a way of “What kind of motive would Macaque have for working for the Bone Demon?? Why would he????”

• So we have Morro making a lot of biting remarks every time someone tries insulting Macaque for being on LBD’s side

-Wukong, to Macaque: “You always had a sidekick kinda vibe.”

Morro: “And you always had a shut-the-fuck-up kinda vibe but hey, look at you!” (Credit to @breathlessmonkie for the joke)

• He just knows there’s gotta be something else going on. Or at least he’s hoping so.

• I mean Macaque definitely has some residual LBD vibes on him since she’s got her claws in him, and Morro can sense that, he just can’t pin it down specifically yet

• He wants to help his monke dad but he can’t and that frustrates him immensely

• And during Macaque’s actual attack on the ship/them trying to escape LBD initially, Morro’s broom ends up getting smashed. And I mean that quite literally it is reduced to splinters

-Rest in peace, Morro’s broom. It’s honestly surprising you made it this far with how much Morro refused to use you for your intended purpose

• Ohohoho Morro and LBD’s dynamic is so much fun btw

• LBD’s whole thing is about fulfilling the path of destiny, and meanwhile Morro’s schtick was all about defying his!

-They clash really well!! I adore the parallels

• Oh, and Morro can instantly recognize possession like that upon seeing her

-He was a ghost for fucking 40-ish years (I don’t know the exact timeline), it’s a sensation that sticks with you—being able to tell that sorta thing, I mean. He was literally a cursed spirit for longer than he was actually alive, for fuck’s sake.

-Morro is super twitchy when it comes to possession just in general. Like, he’s an expert on it and knows a ton of information about it (obviously)

-And he knows immediately that this isn’t a possession that can be broken via willpower, that’s a fucking child who is frightened and definitely not strong enough to resist this demon.

• Morro hates LBD a lot honestly, they don’t like anything about her

-She’s so dedicated to destiny and she’s possessing people

-They loathe how she seems so sure of herself, and how she uses “It is destiny and nothing you do will change this” as a justification for everything she’s doing. They think that destiny is a load of bullshit and people can do what they want, not just because someone said they should.

• While on the topic of LBD and ghosts in general I’m gonna take this time to go over my concept/thoughts on how Morro’s newly resurrected body works. I even made up a super weird and unhelpful diagram where I try miserably to explain my thought process.

-Physically, it’s difficult for an ex-ghost to get possessed because their spirit used to be departed. Like…it’s super hard to explain, but the body and spirit work? A bit oddly?

-That new body in theory was created from nothing in a way? It’s from the spirit themselves, it’s got weird physical attributes going on. I mean, Morro’s actual body is rotting away in a cave

-So he had to conjure up a whole new body when he got brought back

-It’s just like. The connection between body and soul acts differently than it would for a regular person. His body is an extension of his spirit?? They’re not really separate.

-For a normal person you’ve got a clear divide between soul and body, it’s like a shell, you know? Whereas Morro’s body is more of uhhhhh. A second skin. It’s rooted into him and attached. The soul is the body, and vice versa.

-His soul has turned into a physical form, so there’s no separation there! That’s just. It’s all Morro! It is so hard to explain and so frustrating that I can’t word this right and I’m repeating myself

-I can say that Cole is a special and different case

-There’s two ways that Cole’s whole deal could operate; one of which involves a fun notion that when Cole failed to escape the temple he actually ended up leaving his body behind, thus that’s what it meant by “becoming a ghost”. His body sorta smacked into the doors and his soul kept on walking, so. That’s a fun idea. If that’s the route we go with, then his resurrection would work just the same as Morro’s, but if it isn’t then he gets some completely different funky dynamics

-It’s overall frustrating sometimes to have to think about because both cases are so unique and isolated that I can’t really draw from any other examples since there are none. I just end up having to make up my own lore along the way

-TLDR: Morro is a ghost with skin

• On that note if anyone wants to contribute any ideas I would love to hear them, there are so many things in this au that are rough concepts at best and could really use polishing up

• Anyways…back on my other bullshit, it’s hard to possess something that isn’t really. A body/empty husk.

-It’s just Morro, all one thing packaged together

-Yeah LBD can taunt him and get inside his head (mentally), but not actually possess him

-She tries and just bounces off of him like a rubber ball because it’s literally just colliding with another spirit except he’s solid

-Plus there’s mental complications too. Someone who used to be a ghost (for a long time at least! You’ve gotta have experience with possession, you know?) would know all the tricks that someone does when possessing, so they’re psychically fortified, they just. They know how to lock out a secondary conscience with relative ease.

-When possessing someone, you have to keep that person’s will/conscious under wraps and separate it from your own! It works the same way as that.

-Just imagine Morro as being a physical ghost in a way idk I’m trying my best to explain

• Morro can touch things both on the spiritual plane and the physical plane

-He doesn’t have ghost powers tho, this is all just side effects from the Rift

-But Morro can interact with stuff in the mortal plane as well as any spiritual stuff, which is something others can’t do.

-He can’t separate LBD from her host or anything like that, possession isn’t really like. That’s an entirely different thing from grabbing something that’s on the spiritual realm like an object, and it’s not something I’ll go into detail about since it’s not relevant

• LBD’s powers also slip off of Morro a lot

-They can’t really. Latch onto him? It’s very touch-and-go.

-She can’t do any kind of long-distance contact with Morro either

-You know how she can get in MK’s head sometimes from a distance? Whatever that pang of blue outline is. She can’t do that on Morro

• The Mayor also struggles against Morro somewhat. It depends on how exactly he’s attacking. Physical attacks work normally, like nothing is really changed about that, but any sort of magic/spiritual stuff could be a tad wonky? I’m not sure

• Morro can also see stuff on the spiritual/astral(?) plane in addition to his being able to make contact with stuff! Think MK’s gold vision, except only for spiritual stuff

-So when Wukong is communicating via astral projection to MK, Morro is able to see that. His immediate reaction is “Oh hey Monkey King finally killed the bucket lmao” (he says, jokingly)

• Also Morro grabbing LBD’s chain things without consequences is something they can absolutely do

-Of course all this is to say that this stuff doesn’t make Morro immune to all spiritual attacks; if anything, at times they impact him even more. But it depends on what it is.

• Ohohoho plot time now

• Morro is freaking the fuck out when the ship crashes into the ocean. His powers just start going haywire underwater because of how bad he’s panicking.

-They have an actual panic attack, and are having flashbacks to their death via the Preeminent and how much they feared water as a ghost

-It’s a very rough time for everybody

• He’s tryna make an air bubble for people but keeps failing because Panic Attacc

-He’s upset and generally out of it overall; not entirely lucid

• Morro 🤝 Wukong: Being useless underwater

• So they get to the dragon palace, right? First things first, the moment they’re out of the wreaked vehicle, Morro sorta just stumbles to the ground and is having trouble breathing right.

-Morro is able to calm down from his panic with some help, but there’s not exactly time to recuperate properly when the plot starts moving along again

• So they meet with Ao Guang, and because of the green streak in his hair and the power of plot convenience and his having powers, Ao Guang is like “oh another dragon kid? I don’t remember you but okay. Bring him in too.” Plus the dragon pendant Morro is wearing adds to that as well.

-Not to mention Morro is still so frazzled that Ao Guang would feel bad throwing him in the dungeon anyways. He looks like a really sad wet cat and I love him for it

• Morro’s clothes got all torn up and wet during the chaos, so Mei insists that he get a change of clothes too. Cue the fashion montage!!

-And Morro dyes his hair purple as a kinda nod to Macaque. He’s also got his own color scheme now!! Trying to find his own identity and life and such. He’s got the ribbons to represent his friendship with MK and Mei! And bc they’re very pretty and I wanted something to flap around in the wind for dramatic effect.

-Morro actually lends MK his dragon pendant thing to be a part of MK’s new outfit! It doesn’t do anything, it’s purely sentimental/ornamental.

-MK literally asks, “What’s it do? Is it magic? Does it turn into some cool secret weapon??”

And Morro just goes “No? It’s just a pendant?”

-MK has the idea in his head by this point that Morro must have been some sort of ghost hunter since he’s able to punch ghosts in the face and knows a lot about them

• AIWUWHWJWJ picturing MK dying a streak of green in his hair to match Mei and Morro one day since literally two of his friends have that

-That’s unrelated, it’s just funny to think about

• Oh, and since Morro’s broom got broken, he steals a guandao from one of the guards as they’re breaking out

-The guandao stays with Morro for the rest of the season! And even after that, though a brand new broom is his typical weapon of choice, he’ll bring out the guandao (he keeps it in MK’s room lol) when he knows he’s going into a fight

-Morro, dual-wielding a broom and a guandao: “Don’t fuck with me! I have the power of the FSM and found family on my side!”

• Also also also!!! When they crash into the ocean and everything, Morro’s makeup that he’s been using to cover up his cursed markings gets washed off. Yes, he uses a lot of concealer, but so much happened that it couldn’t really withstand all of that

-He can’t reapply it because he doesn’t have any spare concealer on him, and the purpose is defeated seeing as everyone’s noticed the markings now

• When Morro had first arrived, they immediately went and stole concealer once they passed by a store. They spotted their reflection in a shop window and went “Shit I gotta hide these” since they’re a red flag in Ninjago

-And then he ended up getting stabbed by me after that lol

• Now they don’t know what the marks mean (Tang has a few suspicions tho), all they can see is that they’re etched into his skin. MK compares them to Macaque’s or Wukong’s face markings

-But Morro steadfastly refuses to elaborate on what his markings mean specifically, or how they originated

-He’s extremely vague and dodgy about the subject and will even go so far as to brush them off as a “birth defect”

-Then Amnesia Wukong comes along :)

-Yeah that’s actually part of a lovely big reveal for Morro’s new uncle figures Tang and Pigsy hehe

• Oh and when Wukong is meditating btw Morro absolutely draws on his face and messes with him. Takes pictures with his phone to send to Macaque later.

• I’m just gonna jump right into the amnesiac Wukong stuff because it’s a lot of fun

• I wanna start off with saying that Macaque’s plan when he separated the group was to specifically have Morro around with Wukong, that was intentional on his part. He didn’t want to have to deal (presently) with facing Morro.

-Like he’ll fight MK, sure, but he knows if Morro was with MK then they’d end up protecting the kid at all costs, whereas Macaque is aware that Morro doesn’t care very much for Wukong.

-Thus the way Macaque was thinking, he’d be able to subdue MK (without Morro knowing), and then go over to pick up Wukong without too big a fight

• Anyways back to Wukong revealing some sensitive information that Morro really wishes he hadn’t

-Like…Wukong says it so casually, too, as if it’s a glaringly obvious fact and not something Morro’s kept buried from everyone

-At least normal Wukong has the decency not to, you know. Mention the fact that his gold vision and centuries worth of experience let him know that Morro’s been cursed/dead at some point.

-But amnesiac Wukong? No tact whatsoever. “You! Spirit! Why are you hovering over there next to my master?!”

-This SWK only calls Morro variations of spirit, phantom, ghost, wraith, etc.

-Morro is wondering if Wukong has a fucking thesaurus or something on him with how many synonyms he’s spouting

-On that note allow me to list some because data collection is fun

-Apparition, shade, specter, banshee, poltergeist, phantasm, shadow, spook…those are the most relevant ones I could find. Although Wukong’s favorite/most used is gonna be spirit or phantom.

• That aside, Morro is mortified when he gets addressed in that manner

• This reveal happens before Tang gets snatched by the Scorpion Queen, so he hears SWK call Morro that along with Pigsy

-So that was fun for Tang to ruminate on while he was kidnapped lol

• Like, Wukong glances around and sees Morro and after some back and forth, proclaims “Well they’re clearly an evil spirit! Though they may hide in that mortal form, they can’t conceal the distinctive markings on their face! Those show who they really are: a being that was cursed upon death!”

-Cut to Morro’s expression getting increasingly alarmed while Wukong’s saying all of this, eventually tackling the monkey to the ground in an impulsive effort to silence him

-“Shut up shut up shut up! You don’t get to say those things, you don’t get to talk about any of that as if you—as if you understand! You have no right—!”

-Morro is frenzied and panicked, horrified that SWK may have just scared away the few people who he’d actually grown quite fond of! The last thing he wants to see (though he wouldn’t admit it aloud) is them looking at him in fear and revulsion.

• Pigsy definitely questions Morro on what Wukong meant while they’re looking for Tang, although that’s after needing to convince Morro not to immediately bolt when Wukong had finished talking. Morro was ready to fucking sprint off and start life anew as the local woodland cryptid; that’s how freaked out they had gotten. So Pigsy has to calm them down enough to at least get them to like, stay stationary.

• Once Morro’s settled enough (and even then, he’s got a very flighty look to him) Pigsy starts questioning him

-Morro is. Extraordinarily hesitant to disclose anything—he always is—but he seems especially cagey about this topic in particular, which is saying something.

-Morro, thinking to himself: “Oh my FSM I’m turning into Wu with the amount of information I’m keeping to myself.”

-He absolutely, positively, refuses to reveal anything about himself dying. He cannot and will not voluntarily mention that. Reluctantly and after a lot of prodding, he explains to Pigsy that yes, he was cursed at one point, but that’s as much as he’ll let on.

-It’s so frustrating for anyone to try and get backstory details from Morro lmao

-“I did something awful/something I wasn’t supposed to do, and it pissed someone off, I guess. It got me cursed, and it’s nothing that I want to talk about. Please.” Or he even mentions that he “defied destiny” and was cursed for it.

• The big reveal that Morro had died previously comes during the confrontation with LBD and Wukong

-She is definitely the one who reveals it seeing as there’s no feasible way that Morro is willingly divulging that information

-She straight up mocks him about it I’d wager

-“You, who have so foolishly defied destiny time and time again, and even defied the very cycle of natural life. O’ Morro, former champion of the Cursed Realm, general to the Preeminent—how low you have fallen in your futile reach towards a life of repentance.” LBD probably knows shit, dialogue ain’t set in stone, I’m really just trying to set the mood for these events

• If anything, I’d only imagine she knows about the ghost stuff for whatever reason. I don’t know. I’m making my own canon. She can tell he’s died before? She can tell he was cursed, specifically that he was, you know. Powerful/chosen/appointed some high rank. She doesn’t really know his life story.

-She just knows about his ghost status and that he’s died at least twice—she knows some vague details, and that’s only because of plot reasons and also because like. It’s like.

-Yeah she knows he tried to curse a whole realm/all the realms, she’s an ancient demon and has access to certain knowledge

-She wanted to find out who exactly Morro was that she couldn’t take hold of him. So she did some research spirit-wise and found out the basic information of Morro’s rank and role, and that he’s died at least twice, and that he just. Cursed spirit, you know?

-Reading Journey to the West I discovered that apparently you can just up and go to some records or whatever and find some convenient info out

-Literally Wukong did a whole quest to go find out more about LBD in the show

• So Morro is just. The most mortified and distraught and furious at her for the sheer audacity she’s shown to have outed him like that

-MK might even say, “You lied to us?” To which Morro immediately snaps that that’s bs, he did not lie about anything. He just wasn’t telling them every little detail about him.

-He left information out but he didn’t lie because they never specifically asked so yeah lmao

-Morro: “I told you I wasn’t the best person.”

MK: “Dude I thought you were just being like, angsty and edgy.” (Credit: @breathlessboy)

• Oh LBD totally calls him a hypocrite, too

-LBD: “You tried to curse all the realms across time and space, and yet you really think yourself better than I?”

• Morro lets his emotions get the better of him during this whole encounter, I mean he’s been bottling them up for awhile as is

-This is when Wukong went off to go battle LBD on his own

-Morro and MK and Nezha are closer to the whole fight this time, and Morro’s actually trying to lend a hand since he does have powers and all

-Since they’re up in the air a lot, Morro has an extreme advantage, and aids the wind to Wukong’s side while making it way less favorable for LBD

• Either way LBD does this reveal when they’re closer to the ground/on the ground (so MK hears it), and it winds Morro up a lot.

-He’s very emotional at the moment and thus, his powers aren’t the easiest to control? Yes, he’s controlling the wind, but the wind is reacting in tune to his rampaging emotions right now.

-So he can’t focus them completely on, you know. The whole fight. This ends up making things harder for LBD and for Wukong, as well as MK and Nezha who can’t get near him amid the whirlwind he’s practically shielded himself with.

-He’s genuinely upset, he doesn’t want to hear about this after he’s already tried so hard to put it behind him. He had a chance he didn’t even ask for to start fresh with this clean slate, and it’s been ruined.

-Both Wukong and LBD are getting tossed around like rag dolls by the wind which is fun to watch tho lol

-Still, it means they just have to fight harder against the relentless gale

• Morro snapping that he’ll tear LBD apart and inadvertently frightening MK

-Because Morro is so goddamn scary and pissed off right now, his hair’s all a mess and has long since escaped from its bun, his eyes almost seem to glow in the darkness…it’s eerie, to say the least.

• Morro ends up going to attack LBD and unfortunately gets shot down because he’s so emotionally vulnerable she’s able to sneak attack him

-He’s off his game, he’s distracted

-She sorta knocks him out of the air and down into the mech/ground

-He gets up from the crater he’s created and he’s injured, but not badly enough to the point where he can’t stand.

-He is seething and then he spits out another, “I’M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!” which is met with a “Morro, stop!” from a terrified MK nearby

-Nezha is standing in front of MK almost protectively and MK looks extremely shaken up

-MK then having to remind Morro that LBD is possessing a child. They’re fighting a little kid right now.

-It settles Morro down a little bit, lessens some of that frenzied rage, but not by much

• “I’ll rip her out of that kid if I have to—possession can be undone, MK! Even if it takes me having to beat that wench out of her! She won’t possess a vessel that isn’t usable!”

-Which Morro regrets saying immediately upon hearing himself aloud

-He is just. Horror-struck, realizing he sounds just like he used to and hating it immensely.

-“I’m—I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…I didn’t…oh First Master, what am I doing? I was trying to be better than this, better than her, and I…”

-He gets so genuinely upset here because he’s trying so hard all this time to do better and be a good person, to make the most of his new life, yet the moment his past is brought up/he has to face that, he immediately snaps. He’s disappointed in himself and it has him fearing that maybe he can’t be redeemed. Maybe, no matter how hard he tries, he won’t be able to change and he’ll always be this—this bitter, awful person doomed to failure.

• Morro‘s very caught up in his breakdown right now and he’s experiencing a lot of not-fun feelings and doubts

-Morro’s gonna choke out something along the lines of “I’ll never be able to change, will I? This is just what I’m always going to be no matter how hard I try. I can’t fix this—I can’t fix what I am, and I don’t deserve to either.” And that in particular is gonna distract Wukong for a brief moment since he’s pinning LBD down on the mech rn, and thus, you know. Possession stuff.

-Morro feels guilty about that afterwards

• Morro also absolutely gets struck by a possessed Wukong at one point

-He’s so freaked out and in his own head that he just doesn’t see the attack coming

-He gets knocked back, MK runs after him, and Nezha holds Monkey King off

• Macaque saves them and Morro knows it’s him, he’s familiar with his magic, and he feels so much relief when those shadows teleport them to safety

• They get dropped in a jungle and into the mud, and MK is you know. Dialoguing to himself before saying to Morro, “Well…we should probably get going,” but Morro is just on his hands and knees in the mud, muttering quietly, “No, don’t go just yet, please stay” to seemingly nothing. MK assumes he’s speaking to him, goes over, and it snaps Morro out of his dazed trance.

-“I wasn’t—I wasn’t talking to you, MK. I…nevermind, just forget I said anything.”

-He was talking to Macaque (who wasn’t there and was already gone maybe? Idk)

-He felt Macaque’s magic and the teleportation and mourned when that went away. Morro just wants to talk with Macaque and vibe. He misses his monke dad.

• Morro’s also in a bit of a daze as he follows MK, he’s definitely aware but at the same time? Sorta disassociating.

• Although when he gets himself together after a few minutes, he’s reverted back to bitter remarks and insults. Unfortunate temporary character regression and hiding behind a wall as a defense mechanism, essentially. He’s withdrawn, he’s upset, and this is just how he copes.

• Oh I also wanna mention that when Macaque delivers the Mayor to the gang and makes his appearance, Morro can’t help himself from rushing forward and tackling him in a hug

-He’s just so relieved and it’s very surprising to the others in the room because 1. Morro doesn’t usually initiate that kind of physical contact and 2. DON’T HUG THE ENEMY

-“I missed you and also I screwed up bad and can I crash at your place when this is all done for a bit? I may need a spot to stay.”

• Dude thinks he’s gonna get kicked out of MK’s apartment for his behavior and also for the secrets that got revealed

• Macaque is taken aback by the sudden onslaught of info but then he sees how absolutely defeated Morro looks and deadass says aloud “Who hurt you??”

• They don't even need to tie Mac up, they just let Morro cling to him and it keeps the monkey in place (credit: @breathlessmonkie)

• Morro: “I never liked the Monkey King but I didn’t want him to get fucking possessed.”

• Oh yeah literally seeing them interact together? Everyone starts asking like “you two are really close? When did this happen??? How did we miss this?”

-Morro revealing “uhhh so I’ve actually been training with Macaque for a while now in secret haha”

• But legit like this is the moment that Macaque decides “This is my kid now.”

-He succumbs to the fate of being dad-caque

• Morro is also the one who voices concern about sending Macaque in to fight against Wukong

• Alsooooo Morro definitely fights by Macaque’s side the best he can for that encounter

-“Dude I know you’re insanely strong and all that but I can help. You shouldn’t have to face him alone.”

• Oh and Morro accusing Red Son of stealing his look lmao

-“Hey fuck you, the sleeveless black top is MY thing”

• Yes I know there’s a lot of things I didn’t go over like the Samadhi Fire, Red Son’s and Morro’s dynamic (spoiler alert: they can and will refer to each other as cousins. Do with that information as you will), a deeper look on Morro’s actual relationships with each character, etc, etc.

• This post is just way too long as is so I’m gonna end it here and continue in a different one

• Oh and one final teaser for y’all: there is absolutely eventually gonna be a confrontation/crossover that happens where the ninja show up and hehe

• I’m plotting and scheming and cackling with delight

[lacependragon]

One of the things I love so much about canon rewrites is taking characters and backstories and tweaking them, slightly, doing the changes I'm interested in, and then butterfly effect-ing my way forward to the first chapter to understand how those changes have affected characters since they first came into their worlds.

It's so much fun to see how it changes people. To see how you can keep their cores but tweak the fine details, play with the public persona, twirl out different relationship threads from the miasma of change and curiosity you've entwined yourself with.

Having Pyrrha be trained by Caroline Cordovin, a character I am likening to a Greek God, a character who takes heavy inspiration from Achilles' mother (in my world) and who desperately wants to be remembered, to create a legacy, in a hero. To be immortalized in her progeny. To never be forgotten. And then to have her be in charge of Argus, to have her push Pyrrha from the start, to take this detail of Caroline Cordovin being in charge of Argus and making her and Pyrrha linked this closely, I've gotten this very interesting Pyrrha. A Pyrrha that is still, at her core, the same kind and loving and loyal and destiny-believing girl we all adore, but who is deeply traumatized, whose insecurities are marked in blood and isolation, and who is desperately lonely to a degree that isn't explored in canon.

80% the same. 20% different. That's what I'm working with, in terms of numbers. It's not an exact science, but it's a feeling - a vibe.

Jaune wasn't allowed to become a hunter because of the death of his grandfather, a trained hunter, when his father was a child. So he had to do things in secret. Different conflict in the family.

Pyrrha's heavy training and the tweaks to the magic system means she recognizes Jaune doesn't have an awakened aura in the locker room. Different starting motivations.

Ruby and Yang have grown up with a four parent household even if two of those parents are gone. Qrow is just as much their father as Taiyang and they treat him as such. Qrow and Taiyang's dynamics, with each other, with their kids, and with the world as a whole, have been tweaked to suit the changes made to STRQ. And considering how little we have of STRQ?

Oh boy did I have some fun.

Ruby Rose has carried around Summer's emblem since the night she left. She took her emblem off her cape and pulled her weapon from it, handing it to Ruby and putting her weapon on her back. She asked Ruby to hang on to it until she got back.

Now Ruby flicks it into the air to summon Crescent Rose. A weapon that protects them better than Mom ever did. But it's bitterness and love and guilt and grief and loyalty and frustration all tied into one. Ruby wonders if Summer knew she wasn't coming back. Ruby wonders if they were the last person Summer ever spoke to. Ruby wonders if they'll ever live up to the legacy of love and kindness and work that their mother left behind.

And as Ruby learns what Summer was to the Ozluminati, as they learn about Salem and Cinder and the Maidens and the Grimm, that weight is only going to grow. Because Summer was thought to be the one to stop Salem. And she's gone.

How do you live up to that?

And how do you convince yourself it's okay to be angry? It's okay to be bitter? It's okay to hate her for leaving you behind while still loving her? How do you choke back those emotions and find a way to speak through them, to explain how you feel?

You don't. So you get a little more frustrated, a little more grumpy, a little more jaded. But you still believe in hope and love and kindness.

And you still want to save everyone. Everyone. No matter what.

"We're here to make it better. So that's what we'll do, no matter how hard it is or how long it takes."

Little changes. A legacy that weighs much heavier from day one. An emblem that represents something from the moment we first see it - literally and metaphorically.

80% same. 20% change.

Jacques went to prison two years ago. The Schnee family is slowly recovering, but a lifetime of trauma can't be undone in two years. Weiss goes to Beacon not just to breathe, not just to find herself, but also to flee the knowing eyes and snide comments of everyone in Atlas. She is protective of her remaining family, fiercely loyal to her mother and her efforts to fix things. She detests her father. Her father is what most people who know about everything see the first time they see her - or so she feels, anyway.

So she's still prickly. She's still got her hackles up. She's still defensive, and frustrated, and a little too caught up in her side of the problem. But can you blame her? She's been picked at and poked at since she was 15 by a world that didn't want to believe her father is a monster. Will always be a monster.

And she carries that every day. Not just in her traumas, but also in the loss of a lot of her eyesight in that eye. In the way she flinches when some men raise their voices and slam their hands on tables. In the way she starts snarling the moment she gets backed into a corner.

Traits Blake recognizes. Traits that slowly get them both to bond. Because yes, they are from opposite worlds, but look at these scars that are the same. Look at these reactions that are mirrors to one another. Bridging the gap through understanding of pain.

80% same. 20% different.

Yeah. That's the thesis of RWBY rewrite changes. That's the vibe.

[shrinkthisviolet]

talk shop tuesday - outside of your active WIPs, what is/are your next big fic/fics on the horizon, even if they're just outlines for now 🎤?

Oooh 👀 interesting question! This got long, so under the cut:

So ofc the Morgan and Lucy AUs are my active WIPs but…within those, there are some fics that I haven’t written but have been at least vaguely outlined.

For the main Morgan AU, these include:

1x17 and onwards fic. I haven’t decided if this will include the finale or if that’ll be its own fic, but I’ll see how the flow goes

E2 rescue fic. I’ve gone back and forth about having Morgan help rescue Jesse, but I’m more and more in favor of it as time goes on. Her dynamic with E2 Barry is so sweet to think about 🥰 (and E1 Barry being a little jealous of Morgan calling another version of Barry “like her brother”, even tho Morgan would clearly only be saying that to mess with him 😂). Plus, her potential standoffs with Zoom compel me. I’d have to rewatch the episodes to add more detail. In any case, Morgan would definitely use the telepathy link as an excuse to come, hoping she can find some way to reopen it after Jesse accidentally (not that Morgan knows it was an accident) closed it in the last fic

Jesse POV fic. This covers the events of s2 up to [episode TBD] from Jesse’s POV. So we’ll get to see her get kidnapped, her interactions with Zoom, befriending the real Jay (which didn’t happen in canon, but the medallion says that’s dumb, so it happens here)…and the telepathy link. I originally thought of taking it up to 2x16, but…since Morgan’s likely gonna be part of the E2 rescue, I’ll have to fiddle with things 😅

2x16 fic. Eliza survives this ofc, and as I’ve mentioned prior, there’s no split personality. Taking inspo from the comics for this one, and blending it with show canon: she got powers from the accelerator and the constant defibrillation made her powers unstable. She thus created the drug Sharp to dampen her powers. She’s also a WOC like the comics, unlike the show. Beyond that, the rest is TBD 😂

Morgan & Jesse roommates fic! This is the “enemies to besties/sisters” fic. Jesse shows up at Morgan’s apartment when she runs away, and though Morgan is reluctant to help because of how she and Jesse rub each other the wrong way (they’re a bit jealous of each other, seeing the other as the best version of them, etc etc), she ofc does—she can’t let Jesse wander Starling City alone, especially without powers and with Zoom possibly able to find her if he’s hellbent enough on it. Over time, they get to know each other and become close! Exact timespan is unknown rn, but depending on which episode this needs to be wrapped up by, I might artificially extend the time to at least a few weeks

2x17 fic! I’ve thought about this quite a bit :D Barry time-traveling to 1x11, being furious at Thawne and guilty that he can’t help the others…and also also, using Morgan against him 👀 Eowells is a sucky father in so many ways, but if he knows Morgan is in grave danger, he’ll do anything to stop it (after all, she can’t be his treasure if she’s dead, can she?)

s3 arc. This is…vaguely outlined. I’ll have to sit down post-s2 and really go through it, and especially as I rewatch s3, but…I’ve thought a lot about it, especially how I’m gonna rewrite Savitar and his dynamic with Morgan. I’ve been inspired quite a bit by the comics lately, especially a certain blue speedster in them…👀

For Morgan AU spin-offs, these include:

the “daddy issues AU” is starting to be outlined! I’ve written a couple snippets to get in the zone too :D the first fic just covers Barry’s placement with Eowells and meeting Morgan…and it’s delightful to write. That’ll be the only fic from Barry’s POV, I think—the others will be Morgan’s. It’ll cover s1…possibly s2 but I doubt it

CF AU s1 has been vaguely outlined, even though that’s a ways from now 😂 it’ll ofc be Barry’s POV and cover him waking up, realizing Morgan and Iris are hiding something, and trying to uncover it while hiding his own secret. Don’t worry though, everyone is ofc looped in way sooner than canon

I am ofc currently writing the first fic of a soulmates AU, which should be done this week, and although it’s just the intro fic I’ve written (pre-s1), I’ve thought about how the s1 arc will go. Specifically…how Morgan and Barry’s interactions will go 👀 I can’t say too much because of spoilers, but needless to say, there’s a big mystery at the center of s1 regarding Morgan…and she doesn’t realize it for a while

For the Lucy AU…there’s a few:

post-ESB fic, pre-ROTJ. Covers the fallout of ESB, sorta bridges it to ROTJ. This will be when Lucy gets her Jedi training, while Luke is reeling from the Vader reveal and goes off on…whatever quest he goes on (I still need to read those supplemental comics 😅). Lucy is also, ofc, reeling from Lando’s betrayal—she can’t seem to shake it, even while Leia’s able to push through it. Leia gets Lando’s reasons on some level, even if she’s hurt…but Lucy doesn’t. Something else major also happens 👀 but…spoilers!

TFA fic! Which is jumping ahead quite a bit, but…vague outline and all that. Lucy is ofc raising Rey on Jakku, and there’s some growing pains…especially since Rey, unlike canon, wants to go out into the world, because she knows her family is out there. Lucy, however, believes everyone is dead and that they’re safest here. She’s tired of fighting, tired of losing people. They clash quite a few times about this…though ultimately, when Lucy finds out Leia is alive, ofc she and Rey both go. Also in this fic, there’s no fake Poe death, so the ST trio is established from early on!

OH ALSO:

PJO x Flash AU!! How the PJO trio gets to the Arrowverse is still up in the air, but they have their show appearances (their backstory is the books’ story, not the show, though there are a couple things from s1 I’m carrying over). And ofc the central conflict, besides the general events of the show, is that the more Team Flash finds out about these kids’ past, and especially about the Prophecy, the more reluctant they are to send them back. This causes a number of fights between Barry and Percy in particular, because Percy wants to get home to Sally and also take on the Prophecy so Nico doesn’t have to. Barry meanwhile is so angry that Percy has to make the choice between protecting his loved ones and keeping himself safe. There’s also, in s3, some fun Savitar & Percy interaction that furthers these themes…👀

That’s about it as far as vaguely-outlined fics go! Probably a bit of a longer list than you were expecting 😅 but I do like to bounce around

talk shop tuesday!

Taglist (send an ask or DM to be added or removed):

@arrthurpendragon @ocappreciationtag @raith-way @vexic929 @ironverseocs @thechaoticfanartist @goldheartedchaoticdisaster @negative-speedforce @dream-beyond-the-fantasy @starstruckpurpledragon @angst-is-love-angst-is-life

[justgottafinishthischapter]

Writing Resource: Character Driven Storytelling VS Plot Driven Storytelling

We’re stepping back from romance tropes to talk about a fundamental building block of narrative storytelling. Today, I want to explain the difference between a story that is driven by its Characters, and a story driven by its Plot. Going into this, I wanna make it clear that I have no bias between either. Both forms of storytelling are good. But as we’ll see in my examples, one of them does have a weakness that the other does not. More on that later.

CHARACTER DRIVEN STORYTELLING

In a Character Driven Story, the narrative is used to create avenues to explore the characters. The characters, their relationships, dynamics, and flaws come before the story being told. The characters are the true heart and center of the story. Most Sit-coms and other such comedic stories follow this approach where the characters are used to tell the jokes, while the deeper world or story is used to give these compelling characters a world to inhabit. Daria, Futurama, and Bob’s Burgers are three such examples of excellent comedic shows that are Character Driven. Futurama may have compelling narratives and deeper lore, but it is still a comedy with a cast of lovable characters at the center of the story being told. This is not to say that a character-driven story can’t have an ongoing narrative, but rather that said narrative takes a backseat to the characters. Daria is great at using its characters to explore its themes and ideas. Let’s take an episode of Daria for our example. In the episode Through a Lens Darkly, Daria gets contact lenses. Her change to contacts from her former pair of glasses that seemed almost alienating and off-putting leads to many people complimenting Daria on the change, but the contacts are itchy and irritating. The next day, Daria doesn’t want to wear her glasses, but she also doesn’t want to wear her contacts, and lies about having her contacts in. After causing a mess in the cafeteria, Daria hides in the girl’s room out of shame, and her two closest female friends try to talk to her about what she’s going through. Daria confesses to feeling like a hypocrite, usually mocking the girls who care about their appearances, yet now being guilty of it herself. It’s not until popular girl Brittney comes into the bathroom that the situation improves. Britney tells Daria that knowing that someone as smart and antisocial as Daria cares about her appearance too makes Britney feel less self-conscious about how much SHE cares about her own appearance, and reminded Britney that Daria is a human being just like her. This is enough to finally get Daria to open the stall door and emerge, thanking Britney for her insight. Caring about her appearance doesn’t make Daria a hypocrite, it just makes her human. Daria the show isn’t full of bombastic action scenes or intense steaks, but the really good episodes have some amazing character work at their cores, exploring the identities and values of its cast.

PLOT DRIVEN STORYTELLING

When a story is driven by the Plot, the exact opposite happens. The narrative is the primary focus, while the characters exist to propel the story forward. However, just as a compelling story can exist within a character driven show, so too can compelling characters exist in a story driven show. Unfortunately, sometimes you end up with a story like RWBY, where the characters are only fighting the villains because they just happened to stumble into the larger narrative by accident. None of the characters have any personal steak in defeating the big bad. Most barely have a reason to even be heroes at this point. Blake has effectively completed her character arc, and Ruby is so stupid that another character had to make her sit down and learn about her protagonist super powers. Why are the heroes fighting the villain? Because... Qrow told them to? Hell, the girls now spend about half of every volume sitting around talking about what they should be doing while they wait for orders from Qrow, Oscar, or some other ally. You’d think that Ruby, the protagonist, would be the one leading the group towards the fight with Salem. But no, Ruby is as much a follower as the rest of the main cast while the grown-ups actually make most of the decisions. Does Qrow even need Team RWBY? Well... extra man power doesn’t hurt. That’s about how much Team RWBY specifically needs to be involved in this story. The Characters of RWBY do not exist to give the story shape, but rather, the narrative drags the characters through the story by their nose hairs. The girls have little to no agency. Qrow said go to Mantel, so they went to Mantle. Qrow said go to Atlas, so they go to Atlas. They haven’t been to Vacuo yet, so everyone heads to Vacuo. At this point, the main characters are just passengers in the narrative.

TEEN TITANS

Teen Titans is a perfect example of a character driven action cartoon. Every episode is centered around either nonstop jokes and comedy or a character having an emotional revelation. If one really stops and thinks about the villains of Teen Titans, one may realize how non-entities they all are. Almost every single villain is a two-dimensional bad guy with no redeeming quality, and some barely have a solid motivation. But that’s not why they exist as villains. The villains of Teen Titans are not nuanced people meant to be full characters in their own right. They are plot devices. A source of conflict to drive our heroes to act. Let’s take the episode Car Trouble from Season 1. This is a Cyborg episode. The episode begins with Cyborg showing the rest of the team the super car he built and is super proud of. A mission comes up, and the team gets in the car to thwart the villain, Overload. A couple thugs steal Cyborg’s car, and Cyborg goes crazy looking for it, with Raven questioning why he’s losing his mind over a stupid piece of machinery. The car gets stolen from the thugs by Gizmo, and finally possessed by Overload, who can assimilate into machinery. In order to get the car away from Gizmo and Overload, Cyborg has to destroy the T-Car, and Raven gives a heartfelt speech about how the car is a part of him and how he had to put a piece of himself into it when he built it. She then points out that the super chip of the car survived, and the episode closes on Cyborg rebuilding his car with Raven lending him a hand and giving him a rare and genuine smile as it fades to black. Did you notice how little the villains factored into that episode? Because the episode isn’t about Gizmo, or Overload, or the thugs that stole the car to begin with. It was never about them. The episode was about Raven and Cyborg making a connection. The car being stolen was simply the conflict used to facilitate this heart-to-heart between them. While Teen Titans did have arcing storylines that spanned season-wide arcs like the Terra Arc in season 2, H.Y.V.E. and Brother Blood in season 3, Trigon in season 4, and the Brotherhood of Evil in season 5, the show by large was still episodic, with most episodes featuring on two (or more) characters getting the spotlight as they work on better understanding one another, or realizing they were wrong about something.

VOLTRON: LEGENDARY DEFENDER

Voltron is the exact opposite of Teen Titans. Where Teen Titans uses its narrative to put a spotlight on its characters, Voltron uses its characters to put a spotlight on the narrative. The story is the main focus, with many episodes in a row sometimes carrying on small arcs within each season as ongoing plotpoints. While the story shines in its storytelling (at least in the early seasons), a few characters clearly get neglected in the process. It’s clear the writers liked Keith and Pidge since they get the best storylines and development, but the same cannot be said for Hunk. Hunk has a small arc in season 1 about helping Shae, a Balmeran alien he met. He doesn’t get another real heavy focus again until season 7, when he reminds a group of Galra the cultural significance of ‘Vrepit Sah’, an often repeated verbal salute that the Galra use. Hunk went 6 entire seasons being a background character with little if anything to do. What’s worse, Team Voltron has two tech people. Pidge, who is the hacker softwear specialist, and Hunk, the engineering hardware specialist. But when the warp core needs fixing, does Coran ask the engineer to help him with the engine? No, he asks the hacker to help with ship maintenance. The main thing Hunk should be doing for the team, and it’s handed to Pidge instead because she was clearly a writer’s pet character for the crew. To a lesser extent, this lack of attention from the writers effected many of the characters. Lance never really completes his arc, his friends constantly mock his lack of book smarts, and he gives up on his dreams at the age of 21 to spend the rest of his life pining over a girl he knew for about 4 years, and dated for a maximum of a few months. Allura started off as the effective team leader, telling the Paladins where to go and what to do to keep the ship operational, but once she becomes a Paladin, she’s actually demoted to taking orders from Keith. Also, she repeatedly makes it clear she has no romantic interest in Lance, he keeps persisting despite her telling him to stop, and then they start dating. And Shiro, poor Shiro, once they bring him back to life he has nothing to do. His dynamic with all of the Paladins has completely evaporated, his role in the team is gone, his brotherly bond with Keith has cooled to a highly formal workplace dynamic, and until the Atlas is finished being built, he has nothing to contribute to the team. In most scenes, he’s just ... there. Voltron is so focused on telling a story-driven narrative that it abandons its characters by the side of the road. And by the late seasons, the characters are so disregarded by the show that the story-driven narrative starts to crack and break apart without good characters to hold it together. When most fans talk about why the show isn’t as good later on, it’s because the great character writing from the first few seasons deteriorated. And even a good story is meaningless without compelling characters at the heart of it.

AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER

Avatar is objectively the perfect balance between story-driven and character-driven storytelling. The overarching narrative of Aang needing to defeat Fire Lord Ozai propels the characters through the story, but several episodes take the time to make sure each character has compelling personal storylines as well. Whether it’s Iroh teaching Toph that it’s okay to let people help her, Sokka telling Toph that he can’t remember his mother’s face, Katara and Haru talking about the price of war and the loss of family, or just Zuko’s everything, the characters are the true heart of Avatar, and they get the love and attention that the characters of Voltron never did. I would say that Book 1 is more character-driven as it’s more episodic and light-hearted with occasional plot episodes, while Book 2 is the most plot-driven, as it has several tightly interwoven storylines between the day of black sun, Appa’s kidnapping, the Dai Li, and Azula’s coup, it’s the best season in terms of Avatar firing on all cylinders in the story-telling department. Book 3 is also story-driven, but a little weaker than season 2, as it loosens up on as much of a narrative focus to balance between character and plot. Yes, several important plot points appear in Book 3, but the season also takes several episodes to show Zuko going on friendship field trips with the three main heroes, Aang having a severe anxiety attack about the invasion plans, and The Beach is just a masterclass in character writing. Avatar strikes the perfect balance between Teen Titans’ character-driven action show, and Voltron’s narrative-driven action show to make Avatar an action show driven by both its characters and its narrative in equal measure.

[wickedsrest-rp]

Name: Penelope Whelk Species: Siren Occupation: Unemployed  Age: 25 Years Old Played By: Immo Face Claim: Fivel Stewart

"What are these? Candy Hearts? They’re not even in the shape of hearts. Oh sure, I’ll try one, I’m sure they’ll be as good as the real thing…"

Parthenope, who would later become known as Penelope, was named for one of the all time greats in the Siren world. It was a family name (although it was unlikely they could actually claim descendance from the original), given to the oldest daughter of the oldest daughter, for generation after generation. The one who would someday lead the flock. No pressure. Their flock was wild and windswept, living on a small island (or rather, rock formation) on the edge of Canada. They hunted for their meals, both spearing unsuspecting fish out of the oceans, and predating on even less suspecting sailors who were ensnared by their siren song. 

Parthenope was still young. She followed her mothers and aunts in action and spirit, but if she was someday going to lead, she needed to start thinking for herself. It was just… hard to have an original thought when everyone around you lead the exact same life you did. 

Not that they were totally isolated, mind you. There were plenty of selkie pods that dropped by to the island to share the stories of their split lives. Even more exciting were the visits from the undead. They brought stories of their old lives, which were every bit as rich as their lives now, and they shared what life was like on land. It took time for Parthenope to start hearing, and believing what they said, that humans were every bit as interesting and dynamic as sirens were.

Still prey, of course, but their thoughts and opinions mattered. Parthenope was almost excited to have had such a novel thought, a new way that she might be able to lead others to think some day. Of course, her mother was still in charge, but it was good to prepare.

Parthenope was out on a hunt one day when the crash she’d created with her crooning voice resulted in one of the sailors having more injuries than she’d expected. Instead of carefully killing to bring their hearts back as delicacies, she’d let her bloodlust take over. Everyone understood sometimes these things happened, she’d catch another ship later.

Except when she came to, there was a survivor, who looked right in her eyes and called her a monster. Words hurt, you know? It hit Penelope deep. Deeper than she was willing to admit. But it had nothing to do with her deciding to take a gap year, as the humans called it, and go try out being in human civilisation. It would be good for her. Good for the flock! Try being something a little… less upsetting to people.

She swapped her name to the more human Penelope Whelk, and arrived at Wicked’s Rest. Apparently, it was one of the few places humans were as weird as every other species. The only place she stood a hope of trying to blend in. So far, it was working, ish! If only she could convince the rest of the flock that candy hearts were worth it…

Character Facts:

Personality: Eager, optimistic, naive, tempestuous, community-oriented

Penelope has standard siren abilities, and her plumage in siren form resembles a puffin, orange around the mouth and short wings included. It’d be pretty funny if it didn’t come with razor sharp teeth.

Penelope has a basic understanding of human society and behaviour. Hush, she’s doing her best.

While familiar with zombies, vampires and especially selkies, Penelope knows very little about other playable species. She’s reasonably knowledgeable about oceanic species in the bestiary.

While she’s been careful not to draw too much attention to the quality of her voice, she loves singing at any open mic nights around town? And if she “accidentally” enthralls someone into buying her a drink or a meal? No harm, no fowl. 

Having grown up in such a relatively isolated space, Pen is fascinated by any cultural differences to her own. Which… is almost everyone. Even other siren flocks tend to be pretty culturally different to each other. 

Equally, having grown up in such an isolated community, Pen has almost no experience in making friends. Just lots of enthusiasm.

[envy-and-pride]

Maiden Rose & Berserk - The Authors who just Couldn't Do It

I've been complaining ever since Inariya Fusanosuke went out of hiatus a couple years ago that her story is stagnating too much.

Before her hiatus the story was progressing at its own back and forth, "toying with it" pace. The whole point of the story was to get Taki to a place where he could move past his learned social inhibitions and enjoy his sex life and relationship with Klaus, someone who gives exactly 0 shit about the superbly and uselessly complex social expectations of Japan Taki's homeland.

So there's a lot of back and forth, we see first how Taki and Klaus even become entangled in the first place, we see them explore, we see Taki getting vaguely tempted and just indulging and discovering, then it's return to the homeland "back to being inhibited" mode, and we see Taki hiding big time and Klaus banging at the door trying to get him out.

This part of the story is pretty much the author's consciousness going around and toying with the idea of coming out, getting close to the idea, refusing (and thus being repelled away), and then getting back to the idea anyway. That's why she has Klaus always come back to Taki anyway.

But then, that's not the only story with the same back and forth "I just can't fucking commit" kind of dynamic. Berserk had the exact same problem, and that problem was so damn bad, the entire story got completely discontinued, until finally the author simply died.

In my opinion, Berserk was about a pretty similar process as in Maiden Rose: opening up, and transcending something that's holding you down. For Taki/the author, that's social sexual inhibitions. For Guts/Kentaro Miura, that was also his own sex issues and being able to open up and connect to someone from that level.

Berserk goes just a little farther than Maiden Rose, in that Kentaro Miura went and stared down what he was supposed to do right in the face.

In chapter 46 to 47, we have Guts enjoying a nice little flashback and nervous breakdown of his own traumas.

But I couldn't help but sense that there was a pulling away on his end when he did, specifically exactly at the moment Guts moved away from Casca after he ended up strangling her.

Guts had that one job of connecting to his chosen love interest, the female character created almost literally for that purpose, but when the time came for it, I feel like he just, backed away. Like he was just repelled away from the issue and he just ultimately couldn't do it.

Straight after that the entire story basically goes to shit and Casca is sidelined in the most disgusting, and my god unrealistic way possible, and she remains sidelined up until this day. With the author being dead, it's unlikely anything else will come out of it.

At the end of the day, these are and were two authors trying to approach seriously crippling and traumatic stuff. I'd be willing to bet the author of Maiden Rose went through some form of sexual trauma, and I'm fairly almost 100% sure Kentaro Miura also went through something even more straightforward. It doesn't surprise me that the author with the heaviest load died with the story unfinished, and that he couldn't approach the subject anymore after attempting it the first time.

That being said, it's seriously fucking frustrating from a story-telling and narrative point of view. Watching Casca getting grossly sidelined and treated the way she was all of the sake of not approaching the topic again I felt was disgusting. And waiting around while Inariya Fusanosuke keeps using violence to draw out her own desires is making me want to ask "well, I get it, but when will you be getting to it, then? When will you finally get to the point?"

Although, regarding Maiden Rose, with the latest chapter's showdown between Klaus and Suguri where Suguri asks Klaus to take Taki away if he ever was to lose himself in all of the politicking, I'm having hope for the story to finally be going somewhere—it seems even the author can sniff herself making a bad decision she doesn't want make, and already promising herself to take her self-insert away if it'd ever get to that.

While I completely get their inability to approach the very subject they created their story for: healing, I just also seriously wish they'd come to terms with what they need to face, and would finally put the matter to rest once and for all.

[anghraine]

I'm celebrating the new year with self-indulgent Guild Wars 2 stuff of limited interest to anyone but me. I'm on vacation, I do what I want.

...yes, this is the long GW2 post with copious footnotes that I was threatening awhile back. Apparently "what I want" is citations for my headcanons.

I'm really fond of my GW2 main, a human female mesmer named Althea, and all the fic pieces and headcanons I've come up with for her. That said, I also have another human mesmer, inevitably named Gwen—I liked GW1's Lady Althea a lot, but my #1 GW franchise blorbo is Gwen Thackeray.

My two mesmers are similar in some ways. They've been shaped by the same general tragic event (loss of a sister in the Seraph), end up in the Order of Whispers, and come from proudly Ascalonian families. But Althea's families are wealthy aristocrats, like the original Althea's. Gwen's are the exact opposite.

Born to homeless parents in Divinity's Reach, she's dealt with poverty for her entire life¹/². From her youth, she has faced and trounced some of the worst threats in the city³. Where Althea initially gets by in her social circle through composure and repartee, Gwen gets by on the streets of Divinity's Reach⁴ through her personal charisma⁵, attractiveness⁶, and the ability to switch from charm to menace at a moment's notice⁵.

Gwen is just as fiercely Ascalonian in her identity and sympathies as Althea, but until the story starts, she's never been able to make as much of a production out of it. In fact, it's frustrating to her that the Ascalonians who are most able to speak for the community and get heard also tend to be the least representative of it (it's canon⁷ that Ascalonians rarely own land and have little representation in Kryta's government).

It's even more frustrating to her that the most extreme Ascalonian partisans, the Separatist terrorists, are used to de-legitimize all Ascalonian criticism of the Krytan government and the specifics of the peace with the Charr. Gwen herself is no Separatist. This is partly because she can't afford to travel to Ascalon in the first place, and partly because she thinks their tactics are stupid.

But she has many reservations about the price of Kryta's protection and Queen Jennah's assumptions of authority over Ascalonians everywhere⁸. In fact, those reservations are part of the reason she's so close to her friend Alice, a firm anti-monarchist and revolutionary. And it's easy for Gwen and Alice to see how the Separatists make for a convenient rhetorical prop to silence dissent.

Meanwhile, since Gwen also has the missing sister backstory, there is a version of Deborah in the Pact Commander Gwen continuity, but their dynamic would have been wildly different, given the game's implications that the PC from the streets was formerly part of a bandit gang.

(Sidenote: this also means that the Althea in the Pact Commander Gwen 'verse is a spoiled only child, which amuses me.)

While still quite young, Gwen and Alice ended up in a local bandit gang per canon, along with their friend Quinn and some other long-standing acquaintances. For some, like Gwen and Alice, this was partly for their own protection and partly in hopes of forcing change. Soon, Gwen and Alice in particular had proved their usefulness among the bandit gang, and gained respect from other bandits (the dialogue implies that the PC's absence created a power vacuum).

Gwen's older sister Deborah, on the other hand, was equally fierce, but resolutely rule-abiding and squeaky clean. She ended up seizing a chance to join the Seraph, the main branch of both military defense and law enforcement in Kryta, both out of conviction and in order to make a new life for herself. She was appalled at Gwen joining a group of bandits.

The sisters had a massive falling out—Gwen fell in with the bandits at about the same time that Deborah got recruited into the Seraph, and though their paths had diverged well before that point, they'd been very close as children and stuck together on the streets for years. Gwen saw Deborah as selling out, while Deborah saw Gwen going down a destructive path where she couldn't help her. They were basically estranged from that point.

Deborah chose to serve in the military arm of the Seraph, however, rather than local law enforcement. She quickly rose to become a sergeant in one of the Seraph's most successful and decorated companies⁹, one wholly dedicated to defending Kryta's people from numerous threats, but mostly centaurs. Gwen quietly followed Deborah's career and had complicated feelings about it, but they hadn't spoken in more than a year when the Seraph tracked her down.

It had nothing to do with the banditry. They informed Gwen that Deborah's company had been wiped out by centaurs. She didn't even leave a recognizable body to bury or grieve over; the attack had been brutal.

Gwen was deeply shaken by this. She'd been growing increasingly disaffected with the bandits by then. Alice had suspicions, and Gwen much stronger ones, that their leaders didn't really care about revolution¹⁰, and were instead exploiting the vulnerable in much the same way as the aristocracy, but on a more immediate and personal level. None of her friends were willing to leave, even Alice, but Gwen felt increasingly guilty and dissatisfied with using her flair with illusion magic for nothing better than petty crimes.

Now she used it to plot her escape.

Up to this point, Gwen had occasionally managed to sell her services as an illusionist separately from banditry—some of these services were benign (the carnival!), some less so. At this point, she quietly amped up her efforts on the "legitimate in the eyes of the law" side, aided by her ability to create believable illusions of herself back with the bandits. Once she'd secretly saved enough to support herself, she snuck away from the bandits with little but a purse, the clothes on her back, and a nicked sword she stole as she left.

Gwen managed to obtain various odd jobs over the next year, sometimes through her charm, sometimes through the usefulness of her raw abilities with chaos magic and illusions (and sometimes both, of course). She managed to scrape by with a roof over her head and even occasionally give a little money to Quinn, who she stayed in contact with—his mixture of loyalty and terrible ideas worried her. All in all, she felt like she'd made something of herself¹¹. Deborah might even be proud.

But that wasn't enough.

She wanted to do more with her life than drift between unstable and unpredictable positions in the city. And part of her wanted to make up for helping the bandits prey on random people. It wasn't enough just to survive¹². But the highly stratified society of Divinity's Reach made it difficult, nearly impossible, to do much of anything. Finally, she decided to leave the city altogether, and see if she could find better luck¹³ and higher purpose in the wider world.

She'd scarcely walked through the gates of Divinity's Reach and towards the garrison of the nearby village of Shaemoor, however, when she found the locals in chaos. A large group of centaurs was assaulting the village and had broken through the defenses put up by a small group of Seraph and Captain Logan Thackeray, who even Gwen knew¹⁴ had defended Divinity's Reach faithfully for years.

Gwen thought of Deborah, and decided her time had come.

If she could handle anything, it was chaos.

-----

¹"she's dealt with poverty for her entire life": the intro screen says, I grew up on the streets. Although I have friends, my life has always been hard.

²Also, the hero story screen says, my people are dirt poor and I've struggled all my life.

³"she has faced and trounced some of the worst threats in the city"—the intro screen says, I've faced the worst this city could throw at me, and I sent it home bleeding.

⁴"the streets of Divinity's Reach": the human origin options in character creation are noble, commoner, and "street rat." I chose the last for Gwen.

⁵"personal charisma ... the ability to switch from charm to menace at a moment's notice": in character creation, your general personality options are dignified, ferocious, or charismatic/charming (these evolve further throughout the game, though with minimal impact on play). I chose "charming" (No one can resist me when I'm at my best), though given the personal story, I imagine her with a broad streak of ferocity as well.

⁶"attractiveness": if you choose Lyssa as your patron, the hero story screen says I was blessed by Lyssa, goddess of beauty.

⁷"it's canon that Ascalonians...": in the Upper City, a random citizen wonders why there aren't more Ascalonians in government. Another citizen responds, "The usual. No land, no vote."

⁸"Queen Jennah's assumptions of authority over Ascalonians...": either Jennah or the Krytan royal line in general has assumed the title of "Regent of Ascalon," listed after "Queen of Kryta" on two separate occasions. One of them is in-game; the title is listed on a legal document in The Dead End in Divinity's Reach during End of Dragons. Neither the Charr nor the Ascalonians of Ebonhawke seem at all likely to agree with Kryta on this point.

⁹"one of the Seraph's most successful and decorated companies": the PC describes it in "The Fall of Falcon Company" as "One of the most decorated units of Seraph" and the successes of the company are repeated throughout the storyline.

¹⁰"none of their leaders really cared about revolution": Alice says in "Going Undercover" that Pete "doesn't care about the struggle at all."

¹¹"she felt she'd made something of herself": the initial hero story screen says "I've made something of myself."

¹²"It wasn't enough just to survive": in the intro screen, she says, "I'm done living hand to mouth ... I can take care of myself, but that's not enough anymore. Someone has to help those who can't."

¹³"to see if she could find better luck": in the intro screen, she says, "I stepped outside Divinity's Reach, hoping to find better luck outside the city."

¹⁴"even Gwen knew": the PC of any origin will say in "Defending Shaemoor" that "Captain Thackeray's never failed Divinity's Reach."

[donnabroadway]

YN

The conversation about Skai Jackson and the father of her child—who she allegedly met on Jailbird.com—amuses me. Maybe it’s because I grew up in Randallstown, a predominantly Black, middle-class suburb of Baltimore, or maybe it's because I attended university in Bowie, home of the "Bowie Bandits"—a term coined for middle and upper-class Black men who pretend to be from the "hood." It’s not uncommon to hear someone who lived in a nice home, in a safe neighborhood, declare they’re from "Park Heights," or a person who graduated from private school trying to prove how “hard” they had it. And, while I know that living in a certain neighborhood doesn’t exempt anyone from financial struggles, there is still a certain privilege that comes with living in a stable area or having parents who were able to find a way for you to attend private school.

That’s why I was surprised to see people online shocked by the news of a young, successful woman—someone with an established career—being pregnant by a man who was just released from jail, with multiple children by multiple women. For some reason, I thought this was almost a cannon event for suburban Black kids. I’ve lost count of how many girls I’ve known who got pregnant by the “hood dude” before eventually settling down with someone more stable, or how many men who now wear suits and ties have criminal records. It’s just part of the narrative. It’s cannon.

We need to talk more about the new classism that has developed in the wake of the Civil Rights Movement. While there’s always been an upper and middle class within the Black community, today’s increased access to opportunities has created a new dynamic. More Black people are now the first in their families to graduate from college, and with that, we see a widening class divide within families, something that’s rarely discussed.

There’s also a sense of guilt that comes with "making it out of the hood." This isn't exclusive to Black Americans—it’s something seen in immigrant communities and other people of color as well. Many of them send money back home to their families, only to discover that those same family members have built comfortable lives off of their sacrifice, while their own children often went without. The perception of "living in America" as a privilege, with access to wealth, can be a heavy burden. And within families, there’s often manipulation or resentment from those who didn’t receive the same opportunities, or who feel they made sacrifices for the person who did "make it." This can create a sense of obligation for children to prove themselves—prove that they’re not "spoiled," "bougie," or "privileged," which has, in recent years, become a term of mockery or derision.

Even though Black women are becoming one of the most educated groups in the country, there’s still a lingering stereotype of Black people as "ghetto" or "criminal." The romanticization of "hood life" in media—through movies, TV shows, and the glorification of drug dealers and their flashy wealth—has done little to challenge that perception. The image of Black success is still often at odds with the complexities of the lives many have fought to create for themselves,

I remember watching a Black conservative commentator talk about young men, and though I don’t recall the exact topic, one statement struck me: when it came to jobs for Black boys, the first thing that came to his mind was “if a Black boy gets a job selling drugs.” Now, let me be clear: I have no idea how one even goes about “getting a job” selling drugs. But I find it fascinating—and troubling—that the first job he thought of for young Black boys was dealing drugs. Even more so, it’s a sentiment that seems to resonate within the community, where the idea of success or survival is often framed by the street hustle.

When we think about jobs for young Black men, the options aren’t office jobs, fast food gigs, community work, retail, trades, or even internships. The first thing that comes to mind is often something illicit. That’s a problem. It speaks to how deeply certain stereotypes have ingrained themselves into our thinking. Too many young Black boys, faced with limited opportunities and steeped in cultural narratives that prioritize street credibility over education or professionalism, may begin to feel that their only options are the hustle.

This reality is compounded by peer pressure—especially from extended family members or friends who may not be as fortunate. The teasing and subtle judgment they face can lead to feelings of isolation, pushing some to seek validation from peers who seem to have street "clout." The notion of "running with the wrong crowd" isn’t limited to a particular type of person. It’s similar to a suburban Black girl dating a guy with no future—someone who is trouble, without goals or aspirations. She might believe she can change him, that she’s somehow different, but the truth is far less romantic. The cycle is the same: she ends up stuck in a dead end relationship, chasing off other women, sometimes with a child to care for, struggling to get her life back on track, depending on family for help, and chasing a man for child support—money he likely has no intention of paying. Remember Kemba from Hampton, this is her story to a tee. Sheltered college girl meets slick talking drug dealer, she gets caught up, she's now involved in his business, she's on the run with him, she gets pregnant, and is now living pilar to post with a young child and although Kemba turned her life around, it wasn't without her first paying for it by serving 7 of a 24 year sentence. Apparently good girls getting caught up with men from the rougher surrounding Hampton Roads neighborhoods is so rampant, that freshman are taught her story as a cautionary tale.

Same way a young man—one who grew up in a stable, two-parent home, with working adults who have made sacrifices to ensure he has every opportunity—is running around the neighborhood with a group of cousins who don’t go to school, don’t work, don’t have any plans for the future? What business do they have hanging out there, surrounded by a lifestyle that offers little more than short-term pleasure and long-term consequences? This isn’t about diminishing anyone’s circumstances; it’s about recognizing the patterns and understanding the choices being made.

I’m not trying to say that anyone’s destiny is set in stone. But there’s a dangerous illusion that somehow, a young person can enter these environments and change them—that they can inspire a better path for someone who’s already deep into a destructive cycle. It’s a delusion. It’s tempting fate. And in the end, it often leads to heartbreak, disappointment, and lost time.

There’s something about being young and feeling invincible—that you’re the exception to the rule, that you won’t be another statistic. But the reality is, you’re not special in that way. No one is immune to the consequences of bad choices. So why tempt fate? Why risk it all, when the path to success is so much clearer, even if it’s harder? The stakes are too high.

[hauntedhopeghost]

Could you perhaps tell a bit about your ocs? They sound cool <33

Oh! Hi! I wasn't expecting anyone to ask about them but alright ^-^ /pos

There's a lot of triggering subjects and things that have happened with them (heh trauma) but I'll keep the bulletpoints lighthearted, just some random facts about them :3 (if you want to hear something else about them feel free to ask)

Lauren and Lina have been really close friends since childhood

The Main OCs from oldest to youngest (where the main events take place, they age up older than that): Elita (18) -> Jaz/Lina (17) -> Lauren/Mitsaki (16) -> Kira/Cassie (15)

However, as stated above they do age older than that, that was my first thought while creating them.

Lina's full first name is actually Carolina, but nobody calls her that. She doesn't even refer to herself that way. The only one who does is her mother.

(Speaking of shortened names, Jaz's full first name is Jasmine and Cassie's full first name is Cassandra)

Cassandra was actually based on a persona in seventh grade I came up with to cope with severe mental health issues. Almost my imaginary therapist/friend, in a way XD

So she has a lot of similar issues that I suffer with, but everyone else has trauma too. (trauma :3)

Jaz has a tattoo on their right shoulder that they got the moment they were old enough (a pair of wings)

Kira's cousin (and their guardian) calls them Liz, in reference to their middle name Elizabeth

Cassie would not shut up about potato chips. Especially sour cream flavor.

Lauren goes overboard when it comes to gifts on any holiday.

Mitsaki is the type of person to tease someone for doing something and then be caught doing that exact action himself.

Lina adores coffee. Mainly iced coffee/cold brews. She likes caramel the most, followed by hazelnut.

The song "labour" applies to a lot of these OCs. Especially Cassie, Jaz, and Kira.

Everyone here has a dysfunctional found-family dynamic, though few stand out. (specifically best friends/enemies/couples, I'll make a chart detailing their exact relationship with each other when I have time)

Lauren has two brothers, both older than her.

Elita is your burnt-out perfectionist in deep denial about being a burnt-out perfectionist. Cassie is also that but if your burnt-out perfectionist gets thrown into responsibilities and used as a free therapist to trauma-dump.

Kira can be considered a pacifist and constantly breaks up fights between Mitsaki and Jaz.

The latter two were former friends-turned-enemies. Due to an incident and both of them being jerks specifically towards each other.

There are two versions of the OCs: one with powers, one without. As much as I love the one with powers there are some that have to be expanded upon <3

Cassandra lies about her age to everyone when they first meet. Not because of any exterior reason but so they'd feel more mature about herself.

Kira lets Mitsaki rant about life. The latter used to be homeless and the former would sometimes bring him food, but Mitsaki often disappears after those rants. For months Kira didn't even know his name. Which bothered her a lot.

Almost all of them are neurodivergent and/or queer

There was a side plot with Lauren's older brother and Kira's cousin where it's your love triangle with one other girl, who happens to be Cassie's tutor.

But the girl is aroace. And the two guys were actually crushing on each other the whole time. (Nadia, who is the aroace girl is completely supportive of their relationship)

I never planned to write it XD. but I thought it was interesting to add.

All of them are WIP, and most were made earlier this year <3. So a lot of things will change.

There are more triggering subjects that were left out :3 but angsty character lore will be tagged as such if I expand on them.

[vwk7121]

ARDN631 Saskia Norman Week 1

For the photos up until DSC_1300 I was listening to and thinking of the song Dance The Night by Dua Lipa, and I feel that the bright lighting helps to brighten the mood and express how pop the song is. I am not usually very expressive on camera so it was challenging for me to show the mood in these photos, but in comparison to the next set they look a lot lighter and clearer.

For the the photos DSC_1329 onwards I was listening to and thinking of the song 80s Mercedes Maren Morris, and while this song doesn't have a dark mood it was definitely not as bright and pop as the other song. This song has a slower and more country sound, so I tried to express that through the more yellow lighting and with a different mirror. These ones were really challenging to shoot because the mirror was old and had a lot of scratches and other marks that kept messing with the camera's focus, so some of them are a bit blurry and even are solely focused on those marks.

I did try using the self timer to take some self portraits but I didn't have a way to set the camera up in front of a mirror so I wasn't able to take any photos hands free, but I figured out how to do it so I could if I needed to.

Fiona Pardington

I chose this photo because I hadn't been seeing many side profile portraits while researching so I found it interesting. The lighting in this one is really striking to me because of the way such specific areas are highlighted so brightly, which add more depth and detail to the head. The dark shadows are very strong which means that they are visible against the dark grey sculpture, and creates a nice contrast with the lighter parts.

The composition of the sculpture shows off the fine detail of the side profile that may not be appreciated from a front view. The close up framing means that the sculpture is directly in the center of the image, and means that it catches attention much more than the plain white background.

Edith Amituanai

This photo has interesting composition and setting, and the lighting really completes the mood overall. The lighting is very dull, seemingly all natural light coming from a window on the right, but it gives off the look of artificial lighting from how much it seems to be coming from behind the camera. This warm-toned lighting creates a homely feeling, which fits with the homely and family life mood and setting of the image.

The composition is very zoomed out, showing the subject's fully body, and he is centered with the fireplace, which draws in a lot of focus to him. He is slightly diagonally-facing which creates some slight shadows along the left side, since the light seems to be hitting from the right to the middle. All of this gives the photo a very nostalgic feeling to it, since the background shows that it really was just taken in a home. Edith Amituanai is described as “a village photographer.” because of this exact mood and feeling she is able to create with her work.

Dunn, M. (2019). Edith Amituanai - essay. Photo Forum Online. https://www.photoforum-nz.org/blog/2019/7/5/edith-amituanai-essay

Laurence Aberhart

Since this image is in black and white and is taken outside with a lot of soft natural lighting, there is hardly any dynamic range with everything very defused and dulled. The darkest parts of the image are the hair and clothing, which isn't affected by the lighting, so the image doesn't have a very intense mood which seems for fitting for a photo of children.

The composition of the image is very centered and zoomed out, capturing their full bodies and even having them truely centered by sitting so their feet aren't touching the bottom edge. The children are positioned with the shortest in the middle so the heights are symmetrical on each side, and the window/door indent area they are sitting in makes for a more interesting background while seeming more silly and child-like. Since he uses a large format camera his photos and compositions are "more considered in a formal sense." (Museum of Contemporary Art Ltd., 2013).

Museum of Contemporary Art Ltd. (2013). South of no North. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/54728164e4b081a2addc014d/t/54b5f17be4b05e2e7fb60546/1421209979414/South+of+no+North.pdf