#owl i have to say

[rileyclaw]

I LOVE THEM !!!!!

[astrolavas]

thinking about the... potential clawthorne woodcarving mentorship.

+ bonus cuz also thinking abt how if hunter ever met dell's palisman and got reminded of flapjack, he'd probably feel bad abt making that association cuz he knows what it's like to be seen only as someone's different version (even though the bird wouldn't mind much so lol)

[bluestempigeons]

I keep seeing people on Beau Post say that fluffy = happy and. no. it very much does not. so here's a visual reference for anyone curious.

No puff (neutral)

Smallpuff (comfy) - note the relaxed body language and lowered wings.

Bigpuff (defensive) - note the tension in her body (tense wings, head pulled toward the body). Most pigeons will do this around the nest when they see a threat (in this case it was a chicken who wasn't anywhere near her and didn't even try anything, but Beau is a very defensive nester) and it usually is followed by a nasty wing slap and/or a bite.

You will also see pigeons stretch their necks out and flatten all their feathers when scared and ready to run, but nesting birds will usually pick fight over flight.

[drhu0806]

Ray Chase, Robbie Daymond, and Max Mittleman making a game was not on my 2024 bingo card

The three of them producing a dating sim even less so

[bonefall]

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

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

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

So, why?

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

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

Bumble, on the other hand...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ask yourself; what about them does the cast miss?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[jess-the-vampire]

Honestly i think something missed in a lot of fan content that portrays belos and his abuse is his whole "Grandfatherly" vibe he presents and gives to the people and hunter.

Like yes, being cruel and mean ARE part of it, and he certainly tries less to come off that way the longer the show goes, but some of the biggest reasons hunter and the isles were not supposed to really identify how bad he really was had a lot to do with his ability to come off well meaning and sympathetic to those around him.

With hunter, it wasn't just constant shaming and physical abuse, he would smile and intrigue hunter with stories about the human realm, tell hunter he couldn't go on missions to keep him "safe", be incredibly playful about hunter watching him.

It's why hunter was more terrified to upset him, because belos was capable of coming off kind and sweet in his eyes, and that aspect made hunter want to make him happy just as much as want to prove himself. Not just out of fear, but because he had seen belos as a genuine loving uncle who actually did seem to care and needed his help.

Obviously even in these moments belos would still say stuff as bad as implying hunter was replaceable, but how it's being presented is not the same as just being outwardly and openly cruel.

Whether you think it was all lies and manipulation or there were moments were belos was genuine about how he felt (Or maybe an combo of both were his genuineness is used for manipulation), i think people get so wrapped up in his outward cruelness we've forgotten his ability to come off like a sweet and sympathetic father figure that got him here in the first place.

let the man SMILE.

[volatilemask]

hey girl are you making me lightheaded or is that the hypothermia slowly killing me

[caffstrink]

T4t huntlow so real etc etc

[nightmarearian]

Done (heavy quotation marks) with monster Ody @evergreen292 ;)

tbh I couldn’t for the life of me pick a color palette I liked And Render it so I gave up on color. Enjoy the half assery.

Tbh I’ve just been call it Ithacan Naga, but it’s objectively it’s a mix of snake, owl/bird, and human. So 🤷.

Tbh the wings are supposed to be white/gray-brown, cause owls & Hermes, while his scales are supposed to be an oscillating scale from sea green-blue to purple-tinted gray. Uhm. Evidently that sorta didn’t happen but also did. So.

The purple/grayer scales are gonna be more around with the feathers and wings.

Those fin colors are. Too blue and too bright but I love the colors themselves so they’re staying for now.

Uhm. That’s it for now, ig. I’m sorta on a timer rn and I’m tired so <3

The writing bit with this is still in the works (😭)

[snarky-art]

I don’t think I’m ever gonna get over the sheer amount of religious symbolism present in toh finale

The colonial puritan, this white man, trying in vain to become God in the only way he knows how, through fire and brimstone and absolute control, only for Actual God (one of MANY, mind you) to be this casual, kind, bi-gender being who presents to Luz, a mortal, through a combination of the things that have loved and protected her son (Hooty, Eda’s bad girl coven shirt, the glyphs that Luz uses) and who wants magic to be accessible to all so they can enjoy and experience life, who tells jokes, and wants the first and last thing said to his son directly from her to be a bread pun about how much he loves him

How the symbol of a Winged Being Shrouded in Light who helps guide and save is this wild witch who’s imbued in this pagan magic, who’s fully embraced and accepted her disabilities and the very things Belos deemed wrong through the eyes of his ideology

How The Archive is this halo atop the head of the god figure, how it begins to fall and crumple the moment Belos takes over to reach his idea of godhood

The Titan’s body, controlled by Belos, reaching towards the heavens in the same image of Adam in The Creation, trying to touch God, the idea of touching what gave life to everything as symbolized by his connection with Adam, everything being obliterated where it stands while this is happening, and then how only in being bereft of Belos’s soul did life finally return to what is posed as Adam, without the need of the God imagined by Belos

Etc. etc. etc.

There is just,, so much

I am in shambles

[sapphic--kiwi]

i’m somewhat of an old man yaoi enjoyer myself 🤎💙

[snek-eyes]

See you in hell.

[ID: A series of gifs from the Good Omens 2.2 minisode "A Companion to Owls."

Sitis looks disbelieving as she says, "…No. God wouldn't!" Crowley gives an exaggerated frown and replies, "Are you sure?"

Sitis looks horrified and says, "But they've done nothing! They're innocent!" Crowley nods impassively: "So were the goats." Sitis stares at him in horror.

In the cellar, Aziraphale looks back over his shoulder, seeming offended. "God's [side], of course!" Crowley reclines, raising his eyebrows and nodding. "Oh, really. Same God that wants me to whack the kids?"

Aziraphale looks very uncertain, and slowly says, "…Yes. But…" Crowley grins slowly, gesturing to Aziraphale and saying, "That's just how it started for me."

Back in the house, Sitis looks devastated and desperate. "If my children are dead, then… I will curse God, and—"

Crowley swings abruptly around the doorframe and rushes over to interrupt Sitis. "WHOA! That never ends well."

At the cliff's edge overlooking the sea, Aziraphale looks on the verge of tears but determined. "Well. I'm ready to go." Crowley asks: "Go where?" Aziraphale swallows. "To hell."

Crowley sits down on the rock and says, "I'm not taking you to hell, Angel." Aziraphale looks over at him, his tearful expression turning confused. "Why not?" Crowley replies mildly, "Well, I don't think you'd like it."

End ID.]

[ducks-love-peas]

Then you tell me that you want to do this. You look me in the eye and tell me.

[opal-owl-flight]

Im depending on 3 to make sure my brother doesnt eat my fuckin chocolates

[vampirade]

<3 beloveds.

[hydrachea]

Just when I think the HSR EN cast can't get more insane they put something out again.