#some sort of westernized version of them?

[1800veer]

my bf saw my chiaki one and asked me to do mikan so heres mikan :3

[alexanderwales]

Everyone is born into a Genre, except for those poor souls who are destined to be side characters and bystanders, or occasionally taken hostage.

You were born to parents of different Genres, which was unthinkable a generation ago but now only raises a few judgmental eyebrows. Your father was a spy and your mother was a ninja, which is one of the more acceptable Genre pairings. There's crossover there, people understood it.

But when you were four, you first put on a cowboy hat, and it just felt right. Your parents were appalled. They didn't even know where the cowboy hat had come from.

You'd think, given the struggles they had in their own marriage and the prejudice they faced from the rest of the world, that they would be more understanding, but your father yanked the lasso you made from bedsheets away from you when you were eight years old, and your mother made you do throwing star drills in the family dojo for hours. You were horrible at it, and she blamed your father. Granted, you weren't any better at dodging laser tripwires.

Eventually you settled into dressing "normal". Dad and mom could pretend that it was a disguise, and it sort of was. Dad didn't wear his tuxedo everywhere, and mom only wore her shinobi shozoku when things were getting serious.

But then when you went to college you saw her, a coed walking across the quad in boots with spurs on them. Her blonde hair was in braids that stuck out from beneath her ten gallon hat. She was wearing chaps, and you followed after her like a puppy dog, trying not to be obvious about it but in retrospect being very obvious about it.

It was a rocky start. You made an awkward introduction, then she thought you were making fun of her when you started asking all kinds of questions. Western wasn't a popular Genre. It's time had come and gone. And even when she realized that you were serious, she was skittish, worried that you were interested for the wrong reasons, a Genre seeker.

Eventually she understood where you were coming from, that you were Western too, even if you didn't look like it, even if you didn't speak the language or have the skills.

One night, a week after you'd met, you asked her some innocuous question and she gave you a playful shove and called you a greenhorn. You felt your heart soar and a frission go across your skin. "Aw shucks," she said as you wiped away a happy tear, "Weren't nothin' but the truth."

From then on it was a blur of rodeos and saloons. You bought new clothes from the one general store they had in the city. You learned how to hogtie and cattle call. You ate beans around a campfire and then went to class the next day smelling like wood smoke and yearning for the wide open plains.

Going home felt itchy. It was too difficult to ignore how the clothes didn't feel quite right, and you wore flannel and jeans, on the edge of acceptability, flirting with the line. But you carried yourself differently too, and that was harder to disguise, especially since it was hard to remember the mask you'd been wearing.

One of these days you'll tell yours parents who you are, but there's a nagging feeling that they should have known all along, that they deprived you of a childhood that could have been happier if they hadn't tried to mold you into a version of them.

But until then, you'll guide your horse through town, moseying along, eating your vittles, and maybe with a cowgirl by your side.

[northstarscowboyhat]

i need you to do a deltarune yellow interpretation. I have seen NOONE do anyhting that would do it justice. PLEASE

Gosh, that's extremely high praise! A lot of this art is super old, but I might as well post what I had done for this concept! Lots of rambling below!

In this version/AU, Hometown is a very small impoverished farming community. Despite the recent struggles of losing many businesses to the larger human city nearby, it's still a close knit community of everyone knowing everyone! The Sunnysides own the biggest farm in the town and are very well known by all the residents - especially after Starlo, the eldest son of the Sunnysides, takes in Clover, a young human who wandered into the Sunnyside crops, disheveled and dirty with barely the clothes on their back. Aside from remembering their name, Clover claims to not remember anything else, such as where they came from or why they seemingly ran away from home.

Starlo takes Clover in, but Clover is a human in a town full of monsters that they've suddenly been thrusted into, without the history with one another everyone else has. Not only that, Clover's a bit of a troublemaker (at least in appearances), picking fights with bullies and struggling to connect to anyone. The only other monster they've connected with (aside from the Sunnysides) is Martlet, who is a college student in town. She started out as a babysitter looking for extra cash hired by Starlo, until she and Clover began a genuine friendship! They're besties and hang out all the time.

(Ignore that god awful Martlet design... I tried to make her resemble Berdly and oh god. Regret.)

Eventually, Clover stumbles upon the Dark World, and in it, a strange flower darkener who claims to be the prince of the Dark World. Very quickly, the Dark World becomes an escape for Clover. In the Light World, they're a weirdo outcast who has no friends their age. They feel like they only cause problems for everyone, especially Starlo, who has to work twice as hard in order to financially support them. But in the Dark World, they can be a hero, just like all the cool cowboys in their favorite Western films! All the Darkners love them and praise them as a hero, and Clover gets to rescue them from outlaws and save the day. The more time they spend in the Dark World, the less problems they're causing in the Light World, so it's a good thing, right? Flowey and his people need a hero!

(Basically, the Dark World would be a concept that's already established in universe in Chapter 1. This is sort of meant to parallel Starlo's North Star persona in UTY, because you guys know I love my Clover + Starlo parallels.).

(Bonus for all my fellow Starlo fans) Most of Starlo's time, when he isn't working at his family's farm, is spent doing part time jobs in order to raise Clover. He works part time at the local diner at the beginning of the story, leaving very little free time for himself or his interests. RIP bozo having to take responsibility (Orion and Starlo's dynamic would be flipped here, as Orion is the one with a lot more freedoms. He's a college student Martlet's age, and is very busy with his studies and extracurricular activities that he isn't home often, meanwhile Starlo is saddled with a ton of work).

The real story would begin when part of the Ketsukane family (freshly divorced, sorry) move back into Hometown after living away in the city. Chujin's ex wife Ceroba moves back into town with their daughter Kanako, who is the same age as Clover. The two... do not get along right away, which only irks Clover as Starlo is particularly close to Kanako. Kanako is instantly popular and well liked among their peers, and she might have some unchecked biases against humans she picked up from their father. Maybe journeying together in the Dark World would help them grow closer...?

(Again, please forgive this ugly old style. Was trying to go for a superhero theme for Kanako's Dark World design since she's a comic book fan.)

Some other things I didn't have art for

Dalv is the town's librarian! He's also on good terms with Clover, but he's also a bit of a reclusive and doesn't interact with people much.

Chujin was living in Hometown prior to Clover showing up, trying to bounce back from his divorce with his wife (it was on fairly good terms, but still, a massive life change). He claims to work remotely for an important company of some sort, but is secretive about the details. While he's well liked by the town, he's also very outspoken against humans.

Ceroba would also be recovering from the divorce, as she was a housewife her entire time with Chujin, and now needs to find herself as well as a career to support Kanako. She moves back into Hometown in hopes of reconnecting with her old friends and to give Kanako a much calmer school environment.

There have been an influx of missing children reports in the general area around Hometown. Strangely enough, they all seem to be young human children around Clover's age...

Also these guys in the Dark World..... Eh, I'm sure they're not important in the slightest.

[goooofy-goooober1121]

Twst Ethnicity/Nationality Headcanons (bc I can)

Also my asks are open so please send some in!!!!

Read my most recent work here!

Heartslabyul

Riddle Rosehearts

British (I hc the Kingdom of Roses as the sort of UK version of TWST)

is this even a question

Standard British Accent for sure

"Unbuhrthday pahty"

he's a crumpet eater what can i say

Trey Clover

Vietnamese idc

that is an east asian man like idk he just has the vibes

but if he were to have like an accent I'm thinking a Yorkshire-y accent

Cater Diamond

he's a ginger so he's Irish /j

Also a British white boy

But not like Standard British accent

MLE London accent!!!!

Deuce Spade

hmm I'm having trouble with him ngl

Kinda leaning towards Argentinian for him

Latino king !!

Yeah now that i think about it Argentinian Deuce is real

But he's also from the Queendom of Roses so I think he's got a Cockney accent lol

Ace Trappola

Ginger so he's Irish /hj

Maybe not about the ginger part but like idk he's giving Irish

Specifically South Dublin

I'm thinking Korean-Irish I don't make the rules

Savanaclaw

Leona Kingscholar

Kenyan

Have you seen that one event card? I did a lil research and apparently it was based majorly on Kenyan clothing

So yeah that mf is Kenyan I don't make the rules

Ruggie Bucchi

BRAZILIAN.

sorry idc he's Brazilian

LATINO KING #2

See the thing about Brazil is that it's extremely diverse so like genetically he could be anything

But I'm thinking Indigenous/Lebanese/African mix mostly! (Brazil has an INSANE amount of Lebanese people bro)

If I had to name a specific state it would either be São Paulo (going back on the Lebanese thing, São Paulo has the largest Lebanese population out of all Brazilian states) or Minas Gerais

Jack Howl

Grrr this is hard because he isn't like based off an actual character yk so I don't have a point of reference

But then again I pulled Brazilian Ruggie out my ass (and also because I'm Brazilian and am biased)

He's from the Shaftlands, so I'm getting Hungarian vibes from him

Also works because grey wolves are found in mainly Central European areas

fuck it he's ethnically Brazilian too, Bahia

Brazilian mom and Hungarian dad

Mixed Indigenous/African/Hungarian (in that order)

They're all Latino. Every one of them.

Octavinelle

Azul Ashengrotto

"Azul" means blue in Spanish and Portuguese

I'm thinking he's Spanish and Italian

Ethpañol

(sorry i had to bring up the 'say 'th' instead of 's' dialect pattern in Spain Spanish)

Jade Leech

'Jade' as a word has its origins in Spanish

Moray eels are most commonly found in tropical, warm waters and coral reefs

"The green moray is found in the western Atlantic Ocean, from New Jersey to Bermuda, and the northern Gulf of Mexico southward to Brazil" - Google

BRAZIL MENTIONED

Yeah he's Puerto Rican/Brazilian

LMFAO what if i make the Leech twins Floridians

OK OK he's Puerto Rican/Brazilian but him and Floyd are Florida residents

Floyd Leech

As mentioned before he's also Puerto Rican/Brazilian

90% of all Florida Man headlines are because of him

Bilingual and randomly breaks into Portuñol to fuck with Azul

"Me gusta comer pedras e tambem tenho vontade de morder a la gente, mano"

Puerto Rican mom and Brazilian dad

Glares at Azul whenever he hears "Ethpaña" instead of "España"

'speaks Spanish with a th' Azul vs. 'no S at the end of words' Floyd

Scarabia

Kalim Al-Asim

Okay so I'm referencing the Qasr Sultan card to build my hc

I'm mainly looking at his turban, lots of anthropologists think those originated in Ancient Persia (modern-day Iran) but of course cultural dispersion is a thing and they are also commonly found in Indian records of rulers

But the word 'Sultan' is Arabic, not Persian

There's a description about the Scalding Sands that says "tea is considered a customary with every meal"

Considering this tradition and the clothing items, I'm led to believe he is Arab-- but that's a pretty big generalization considering "Arab" is a broad term for people living in a specific part of the Middle East

Therefore he's Omani i think!

The climate matches the description of the Scalding Sands (dry and arid, subtropical); tea is also their national beverage and from my understanding is widely served with meals

Jamil Viper

Pakistani/Bangladesh/Omani mix

Nationality is Omani (would have been born there if we follow the canon)

Oman has a majority Arab population but it also has a large South Asian population

Idk how to describe it he just has Pakistan/Bangladesh vibes

Pomefiore

Vil Schoenheit

Take one look at that last name and tell me he isn't German

Definitely also speaks French

Maybe he's German/French, German dad and French mom

The first film screening, fun fact, was in Berlin in 1894, but the first commercial public screening was in Paris 1895!

Kinda fits with his movie star status

Slays the house boots down

Rook Hunt

South African and French

I can't with his fuckass bob I'm sorry

Ethnically cooked by his barber

Generationally chopped

Lord Farquad ass

Dora the explorer ass

Edna mode ass

PLEASE let him grow out his hair again IM BEGGING YOU

Cute freckles tho :3

Epel Felmier

My boy Apple Farmer is Finnish

Harveston is apparently based on Finnish architecture so like

I'm thinking there's some German in there too, because "Felmier" is the German word for farmer

CORRECTION from someone who reblogged (ty pookie for letting me know) Felmier probably comes from the German surname Feldmier which is the job title (and a German surname) for someone who manages open fields for nobility (the actual word for farmer in German is Bauer)

Thank you reblogger I repent for my mistake

so manly

Ignihyde

Idia Shroud

Greek are we even debating this?

The guy based on the Greek god Hades? Hmm he's gotta be from Russia

No bro

Greek man from Macedonia

The irl Mount Olympus is located on the border between Macedonia and Thessaly so I figured if he's gonna be based an Olympian it would be only fair to place him around that area

Ortho Shroud

Macedonian like Idia!

Silly little guy

He's my baby

Little Greek dude

Diasomnia

Malleus Draconia

Hmm okay so I'm thinking Chinese/French

Sleeping Beauty is set in France and Briar Valley does seem to have European architecture

old French architecture also does incorporate lots of gargoyles, and we all know he's a gargoyle fiend

And there are some vignette lines that hint at Chinese influences/heritage such as in his Halloween card

I think ethnically/racially Chinese but nationality-wise he's French

Lillia Vanrouge

The "van-" prefix in surnames can be traced back to the Netherlands

Like Vincent Van Gogh

Lilia as a name has Spanish origins

I think he's Dutch/Spanish mix

He also gives me Japanese vibes so let's also add that

Sebek Zigvolt

Sebek as a name is a version of Sobek, an Egyptian crocodile deity

Since his mom is a fae from Briar Valley, I'm thinking 50% Egyptian (mom) and 50% French (dad)

but 100% unable to stfu why is he always yelling bro

I love him tho

Silver Vanrouge

Swedish

Don't ask me why

I just look at him and see Swedish

One more white boy to add to my collection

----

A/N: I'm so tired bro it's midnight and I'm out here making fictional men Latino and/or French

[literaryvein-reblogs]

How to Avoid Common Character Tropes

The word “trope” refers to a common motif or pattern in a work of art.

In the context of fiction, character tropes refer to common attributes or even entire stock characters.

The word trope comes from the Greek word tropos meaning “to turn.” Originally it referred to rhetorical devices that a writer uses to develop an argument.

Tips for Avoiding Character Tropes

Character tropes aren’t good or bad in and of themselves. In some types of fiction, especially epics, satires, and more plot-driven forms of fiction, the use of stock characters can be expected and even desirable. The problem is when writers lean so heavily on these tropes that they’re no longer telling an original story. This is the point where archetypal characters can bleed into stereotypes. In order to avoid (or at least complicate) character tropes, you’ll need to develop a richer sense of your characters. Here are a few tips:

Figure out what your characters really want. One reason writers lean on stereotypes is because they don’t know their characters well enough. Instead of playing to type, spend some time figuring out what really motivates your characters. Are they driven by a need to belong? By a thirst for knowledge? By a desire to be recognized? These super-objectives may lead your characters to buck their outward roles in interesting ways.

Look for opportunities to subvert tropes. If you find yourself drawn to certain tropes, look for ways to undermine them. While this sort of self-conscious style may not be right for every story, it can be especially compelling in the context of genres that traditionally rely on tropes: Think fantasy novels, horror movies, love stories, westerns, and other popular genres.

Get to know your characters outside the story. A common writing exercise is to develop backstories for your major characters. Imagine them in real life. Ask yourself questions about your characters, like: What was this person like in high school? What objects are on their nightstand? How do they get along with their families? While seemingly inconsequential, these questions can help you get a sense of the individuality of your characters, rather than just thinking of them as adhering to a common type.

Allow your characters’ personalities to change. Again, there are types of stories where characters may remain static, but in general, it’s important for readers to feel like your character changes (or at least has the potential to change) over the course of the story. Remember, the change need not always be positive, but there should be some sense that the experience they’ve had has marked them in some way.

Avoid clichéd situations. Sometimes the issue isn’t with the characters you’ve developed but the scenario in which you’ve placed them. If you’ve created a pair of star-crossed lovers who are meant to fall for one another at first sight, it’ll be hard not to make the situation feel hackneyed—no matter how well-drawn your lovers are. If you’re only thinking in terms of common plot tropes, it may be hard to get your characters out of them. If you’re working in a science fiction or fantasy setting, this is where worldbuilding might help you find more interesting angles to explore.

Common Character Tropes

Every genre of storytelling has its own stable of common character types, and as a storyteller it’s worth being aware of them. Here are nine of the most common:

The chosen one: The chosen one is a common fantasy trope. Their identity typically revolves around a task that’s been set aside for them, which they typically pursue without much hesitation or complication. Like Frodo Baggins and Luke Skywalker, the chosen one is often, conveniently, an orphan.

The damsel in distress: One of the most common and pernicious types of female character tropes, the damsel in distress, whatever form she takes, is a passive figure who exists mostly as an object for the hero to save. Even versions of the character who turn out to be a little more plucky than expected (think Princess Fiona from Shrek or Princess Leia from Star Wars) have become their own subset of this creaky old trope.

The femme fatale: A mysterious and seductive woman who uses her sex appeal to seduce and entrap her enemies, the femme fatale is a popular character trope in hardboiled mysteries. In many ways, the femme fatale is an updated version of supernatural witches or sorceresses. It’s no spoiler to say that she nearly always leads men to destruction.

The girl next door: The small-town girl with a heart of gold is, in many ways the opposite of the femme fatale. A common film and TV trope, the girl next door is innocent, kind, and wholesome. In other words, she’s the embodiment of domestic femininity and typically a candidate for the male protagonist’s love interest.

The mad scientist: Going back to Dr. Frankenstein (or any number of sorcerer antecedents), the mad scientist is usually a villain, driven by an eccentric, antisocial personality and unrestrained hubris or a desire to play god. The mad scientist’s benign counterpart is the nerdy “absent-minded professor” who’s so engrossed by their work that they struggle to relate to “normal people.”

The trusty sidekick: Like the damsel in distress, the trusty sidekick typically has no life outside their relationship to the main character and their quest. Whether the sidekick is a loyal companion, like Samwise in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, a faithful butler, or a chatty best friend—as in any number of romance novels—their main quality is that they have no story of their own.

The wise old man: Sometimes an actual wizard, sometimes just an old guy who’s seen his share, the wise old man is a long-enduring stock figure who usually imparts some special wisdom to the protagonist.

The dumb muscle: Based on the idea that it’s impossible to be smart and fit at the same time, the dumb muscle is an exceedingly common minor character, especially in action and adventure stories. As a bad guy the dumb muscle is easily outsmarted or otherwise bested by the main character.

The antihero: Antiheroes are typically cynical loners with major personality flaws, often darkly appealing bad boys. Like normal heroes, the antihero still drives the story, but often to a more amoral place. Tony Soprano, Walter White, Don Draper, and the grittier versions of Batman are all prime examples of modern antiheroes. These days, antiheroes are almost as common as idealized heroes.

Source ⚜ More: Notes & References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

[whirligig-girl]

NWR No.1 and SLYM No.11513 at a dual gauge interchange just outside of the city center.

SLYM No.11513 is an Advanced Steam Locomotive native to Gymnome--a coal-burning steam engine operating at high pressure, with technological improvements to allow it to rival the efficiency and ease of use of a diesel locomotive, such as electronic controls, compound expansion of steam, a gas producer combustion system firebox, dual exhaust, and automatic firing and oiling. 11513 was built some time in the 2340s, and survives to 2381 as a museum piece.

NWR No.1 is a much older locomotive and from another planet altogether, built 1915 for the LBSC railway as a one-off prototype for a six-coupled shunter to replace the aging Terriers and to supplement the much larger E2-tanks. NWR No.1 made it to the North Western Railway not long after it was built, having been allocated there for the war effort. It is not clear how a locomotive built 465 years in the past on planet Earth made it intact to Gymnome, nor how its gauge perfectly matched Goo'iw Broad Gauge, at least not without invoking some kind of universe-spanning magic railroad, or perhaps the notion that this is all a simulation being run in some kind of virtual reality in some alien starship.

(no this isn't canon.)

Artist's notes:

Earlier today I doodled this in my sketchbook.

And when I got home i decided, hey, I have my Thomas 3D model, and I have the game model of the Advanced Steam Tank Engine... why not actually stage them together and draw them to-scale. The size difference is greater than I expected--partly I think this is because the Thomas gauge-1 prop was not designed with scale in mind, so it's bigger than British Railways loading gauge. Granted, they are at different gauges (standard gauge versus roughly meter-ish gauge), but the loading gauge on the advanced steam engine is very wide.

My first attempt at the drawing was from a very different angle:

But I quickly realized that you can't actually see the Advanced Steam Engine's wheels, and that's a major design aspect.

So i chose a different angle.

I constructed the dual gauge track before anything else.

And before long (the better part of 2 hours) I had the line art finished.

The Advanced Steam Engine ended up being a hybrid between the original illustration I did of it months ago, and the game model--with most of the geometry accurate to the game model, but with the subtler detailing of the illustrated version.

Thomas was meant to be a sort of hybrid of the Gauge 1 Prop from the TV series and a realistic loco. I prioritized the geometry and simplicity of the gauge 1 prop in most respects, but added details below the running board, in particular brake rigging, sanding gear, and these blade-like protrusions of the frames which i'm pretty sure are some kind of debris deflector, a british version of a cowcatcher. There's also snifters on the cylinder saddle, and the whistle is made of two different lengths to justify Thomas' multi-tone whistle.

The original background was going to be this marshland with (electricity-generating) windmills in the background, a callback to that first shot in the Thomas & Friends opening credits, but I hated how it felt like the middle of nowhere, so I introduced the retaining wall and an alien city scene.

British steam engines are generally given very shiny liveries which reflect the environment in interesting ways, so I made sure to do that justice, using a GWR 14xx autotank as reference.

By contrast, the Advanced Steam Tank Engine is kept in a more workwormlike condition, with a somewhat faded matte paint work and a fair amount of grime.

The original illustration of the advanced steam engine, for comparison.

Finally, a version with faces.

[paper-mario-wiki]

I have a genuine question, and I ask because as a follower, I admire your reasoning in most things! But I, like yourself, have criticized white rappers and the culture which values them. But I find it confusing that you do the same, while also writing and performing rap as a white girl. I'm curious about your reasoning! Is it because you don't really seek acclaim, or publish your stuff for any purpose other than just to make it? Would you say it's that you don't seek compensation or recognition? Or is it some totally different reason??

i think it comes down to how specifically you're looking at the issue.

the problem doesn't start and stop at "white people shouldn't rap because rap isn't for white people."

it's more along the lines of "the western entertainment industry at large has long enforced white colonialist ideals at its very foundation which puts white people at the top of the social ladder, making it significantly easier for them to become noticed and rewarded for being somewhat competent. for the past 30 years especially, people have been using imagery and themes originating from hip-hop culture to promote themselves with no regard for its history as a black art form. this leaves the actual black artists who create and uphold this artform underserved, underrewarded, underrecognized, underpaid, and sometimes straight up dead. and the crackers keep making money anyway."

so a couple things i decided before starting posting rap were:

i do not want to Be A Rapper, and im not going to try and become a rapper. there are plenty of white rappers already. im just a white writer who likes to rap. it's fun. if someone wants to buy a song i wrote off my bandcamp fine, if someone wants to collaborate with me that's awesome!-- but im not going to pursue this as any sort of financial opportunity.

im going to be fully honest with what i write, and how i write it. im going to avoid co-opting language that doesn't come to me naturally, and im going to avoid writing about a version of myself that does not exist. honesty is one of the most beautiful parts of my favorite raps anyway.

[teaboot]

holy moley the idea of alexander skarsgard as murderbot is irreconcilable in my head lol. when i read the book for my scifi class i pictured murderbot as more feminine in appearance tbh, and i thought it was weird that no one else in that class seemed to. i feel like i mightve missed something in the text bc i find it wild how widespread "murderbot looks like a man" is. or is their physical appearance more fleshed out in other books?

Murderbot (it/its so far as I've read) has so far been definitively described as having:

A Humanoid figure, with two arms and legs

A human face

Explicitly no genitalia, with none desired, and no primary or secondary sex characteristics noted

(In book one) Having hair only on its head, then eyelashes and eyebrows, being smooth everywhere else

Nonhuman features on its arms/legs that can be concealed under pants and long sleeves

Some kind of mechanical port on the back of its neck that is not uncommon on "augmented humans"

No distinct freckles, moles, or markings

An incomplete internal digestive system

By what isn't described I imagine we can safely assume that it has eight fingers and two thumbs in the usual formation, though wearing shoes I'm not sure about toes.

I also haven't heard anything apropos of scarring, except that it heals rapidly, so I imagine any distinguishing marks from injuries likely wouldn't last long.

Nobody as far as I've read has referred to it by any assumed binary or neo-pronouns, and as relatively progressive as the setting is in terms of queer and poly relationships I can easily imagine that agender humans with it/its pronouns wouldn't be too terribly strange in common company either.

So far, no third party characters have called it a "he" or "she", which could either mean that nobody in this universe adheres to our current rigid social view of the gender binary and masc/fem appearances, or that Murderbot is simply incredibly androgynous. As a reader, I like to think the reality is both- a secunit doesn't need to look distinctive or gendered or have any features it doesn't strictly need outside of its function. As it says in the book, it's not a sex-model, so it doesn't need sex-parts, and it wasn't made to be looked at.

I feel like the only reason anyone would read that and ascribe to it a male face and body is because our current western society tends to treat "white male" as the natural default setting, and anything else as "other".

We expect Murderbot to be a conventionally handsome white man because that's the popular view of neutral.

But there's no reason it couldn't be performed by an actor who is female, or Indigenous, or Korean, or anyone else from anywhere else

If our Pretty White Man isn't the default neutral in Murderbot's universe, and if there is no default neutral, then the Default Neutral Murderbot was designed to look like could be anyone

Provided, of course, that they 1. Have a human face 2. Have no freckles or moles (for book 1 at least) 3. Have two arms and legs, of some manner, and 4. Don't flash their junk on screen

Aa far as I'm concerned, that's all we need.

And you know what? I think the prospect of getting to choose any actor at all, point to them, and say "This person? They're the norm! They're unremarkable! They are a version of True Neutral, and they aren't a small-nosed blue-eyed white guy with abs!"... I think that's kind of exciting, and I sort of fear that it may be an overlooked opportunity to say something interesting

[nattikay]

@dingle-dee don't worry, there are plenty of resources if you know where to look! I saw that you've also already found and reblogged this post so some of these will be repeats, but here's a ton of resources that could be helpful regardless for you or anyone else looking to learn! 😸

Alphabet, Pronunciation, and Syllables

Na'vi 101 - Part One Learn the Na'vi Alphabet Na'vi Grammar Overview - Sounds and Syllables The Sounds of Pandora Syllable Structure Flow Chart:

Vocabulary

Reykunyu Dict-Na'vi Fwew The Annotated Dictionary Karyu Tekre's Verb Dictionary

Grammar

The Na'vi Workbook Na'vi Sentence Building Adventures Na'vi Language Crash Course Na'vi as a Second Language Kelutral's Na'vi Survival Guide Karyu Tekre's Grammar Course (old-but-complete version) Karyu Tekre's New Grammar Course - Forest Dialect Tract [wip] Karyu Tekre's New Grammar Course - Reef Dialect Tract [wip] Karyu Plumps's Sänumvi LeNa'vi Na'viteri (blog of Paul Frommer, creator of the language) Horen Lì'fyayä leNa'vi (not recommended for learning unless you already have a strong linguistics background, but excellent as a reference document)

Listening

Meskxawng - a Na'vi-only podcast Kelku Ikranä - a Na'vi-only podcast Eana Mokri - mostly in English but with Na'vi practice at the end of most episodes Karyu Neytiri's YouTube Channel Karyu 'Rrta's LetsPlays Karyu Tekre's LetsPlays Reypaytuna Syulang - a Na'vi-only radio play Plltxeie Zángtsuva

Reading

Tales from the Western Frontier translated by Karyu Neytiri Ko'ohuriyä Vur / Koohùriye Vur - a Forest/Reef dialect comparison by Karyu Neytiri

Communities

Kelutral LearnNa'vi Lerngruppe (for German speakers) All three of these communities hold regular online lessons!

Names

Karyu Olly's Na'vi Name Guide All Canon Na'vi Names, sorted by Syllables, Gender, and Spelling Karyu Pamìrìk's Name Generator Karyu Tirea Aean's Name Generator Most "Na'vi name generators" you'll find online will spit out nonsense that is completely invalid in Na'vi, but the two above were created by experienced Na'vi speakers and will consistently give phonetically valid names (albeit sometimes a little goofy due to the randomly-generated nature; you may have to run them several times to get something you like).

And of course, you're always welcome to browse the lì'fya leNa'vi tag on my blog to find a variety of posts relating to the language! :)

[robin-evry]

𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐔𝐔 𝐈𝐒 𝐀 𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐎𝐍 🐲🐲

A dragon is a magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in Western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as winged, horned, and capable of breathing fire. 

Ps : this headcanon has a lot of references to dungeon meshi my new favorite anime

( English is not my first language )

since dragons are one of my favorite mythical beings and the world has their own version of the dragons in their own culture, I'm planning on making two or more of different types of dragon!yuu head Canon and so I'll be starting with the western style dragons.

I imagine they have 3 forms of transformations.

( the first : human form ) one is basically their human form, the form where they usually interact with people. But some of their dragon features would still appear like their tail and horns

( the second : chimera form ) is basically basically their human form as the upper body while their dragon forms as the lower body with 2 pairs of large wings.

( third one : dragon form ) is just their full dragon form

The second form would be 11 meters. and the third form would be 30 meters. Depends on you guys headcanon, dragon!yuu could have feathers or not, you guys can add in your own unique features on them, I also imagine them being able to use magic and having some sort of healing factors

First scenario : basically dragon!Yuu were confused about where they were and their first instinct is to attack because they might get captured and so it leads to a dragon!yuu vs multiple students and staff, trying to detain them or calm them down. After a while they manage to calm them down.

Second scenario : they appear the same way in the game, in the coffin and when grim was setting the school on fire, dragon!yuu manage to save multiple students from the fire and cast a spell to stop the fire.

when fighting the overblots, I imagine them fighting in their chimera form and by flying to the sky opponent in hand and then crushing down their opponents to the ground, very effective or not they might use their tail to launch their opponent backwards and then cast a spell on them. But don't worry when the battle is down, dragon!yuu will heal the injured characters using recovery magic or ressuraction magic to heal damages That might be permanent.

Malleus and dragon!yuu would definitely build a connection with each other, both of them came from dragon descendants. They would definitely have a deep relationship with each other whenever or not it's platonic or something romantic depends on you guys.

imagine dragon!yuu has a habit of hoarding things they might think is precious, I imagine dragon!Yuu shows it off to people that are the closest to them with so much pride.

Dragon!yuu would also have a large appetite, they can eat an entire cafeteria worth of foods in one day without troubles but they have to suppress their appetite to make sure most of the students get some food. So they usually go hunting for food in the forest or somewhere else. They also have a strong digestive system to the point it can withstand Lilia cooking without troubles and also with a little help with their healing factor abilities.

[peekofhistory]

hello it's me again! i have a question about the guqin actually, i'm not sure how much you know about this particular topic and i apologize that it's a long question, but i'd really like to know more about the place of the instrument in popular culture. i know it's often featured in chinese historical and fantasy media like dramas, video games and novels, and i know many young people like to play covers of popular songs on the guqin and share them online. would you be able to comment on this (the guqin's place in popular media, any examples you know, public perception and engagement with the instrument), or would you know where someone could learn more about this topic?

Hi again 😁

I don't know if there's any formal studies done on Guqin in popular culture but for the most part it's used in period dramas/games to make a character appear cultured and somewhat mysterious given the instrument's rich history. But even then, it's still linked to Chinese history, it's unlikely to show up in a futuristic sci-fi matrix-style movie/series (I personally don't have any issues with that, I just don't think any director or script writer would think to put a Guqin in that sort of a storyline 👀).

For the most part, learning pop songs on Guqin (including those songs/bgm used in historic TV series/games/etc) is not the main use for the instrument. You certainly CAN, there's no reason you can't, but that's sort of considered the side dish, the 'do it in your spare time' kind of thing with actual classes reserved for classical pieces. Like when I learned piano my teacher taught me Beethoven and Mozart, meanwhile at home I'm practicing Titanic and belting out My ❤️ Will Go On 😅

You can go to a teacher and request that they only teach you pop songs, but that's a special request, for the most part teachers teach simple finger structures first using traditional pieces like 秋风词/Song of Autumn Wind or 凤求凰/Phoenix Courtship:

I asked my teacher to teach me a song from the 1987 Dream of the Red Chamber TV series, he just looked at me like 😑 Lollll 😅🤣

The one exception to this is 卧龙吟/Song of Wolong from the 1994 version of Romance of the Three Kingdoms. This is the character song for one of the main leads (there's a few in the series), based on a classical novel that's based in history. One of the most famous chapters in the novel (and adapted in the TV series) is this character, 诸葛亮/Zhuge Liang playing the Qin in an empty city to scare off the enemy. Because of this chapter, and given this characters position in society, people kind of consider it a given that he plays the Guqin and plays it very well. So his character song, although a pop song (granted the music director for this TV series studied a lot of traditional music and used its influence heavily in the bgm/character songs for the show) is a very popular Guqin piece to play (one of the first songs I was taught):

（Actual song from the series, 我推丞相，我推推推😁❤️❤️)

Because Guqin's entire music theory and structure is different than western music, and pop music is based using western music structures, meshing the two can be tricky. It also causes some Guqin songs to sound "odd" to us because we're so used to western style of music (ex. Same number of beats in a measure in one time signature). The first time I listen to a Guqin piece the next note never comes when I expect it to 🤣🤣 it usually takes me 5 or 6 listens before I get a handle on the rhythm and melody because it can sound really erratic (aka different than what my ears are used to):

（良宵引/Peaceful Evening is one piece that I had a heck of a time getting the rhythm right...the melody just didn't sound 'right' to my ears, even now when I post it my face is like 🤨🤨

Another thing is that Guqin's sound is honestly not that loud, especially if you're using silk strings. Beginners often have difficulty even getting a sound out of silk strings, so steel ones are more popular. It wasn't an instrument historically used for performances.

If you're not using a microphone, a Guqin has difficulty projecting to a large room. But if you do use a microphone you get some 'weird' sounds like this 'sliding' sound that comes from the left hand finger structure '走手音/walking sound' where you press down a string then slide up or down. If you listen carefully to a lot of Guqin recordings you can hear it.

Other finger structures like '掩/yan' where one finger of the left hand presses down a string, and the thumb then 'hits' the string in an arch-like motion sounds fine in person, but with a mic you sometimes hear this loud 'thump' as the thumb makes contact with the surface of the Qin.

（If you listen at 0:26 you can hear the sound of his finger 'walking' on the string, at 0:48 you can hear the thump from '掩/yan'.)

Overall, Guqin and the audio recording technology of today isn't very well-partnered. It's do-able but not the greatest, often requiring expensive recording equipment and post-recording editing to get something that can be used in official movies/series/games/etc.

This is also one of the reasons why in a lot of shows they actually use Guzheng audio to substitute for Guqin (as in, the character on screen is playing a Guqin but the audio they use is Guzheng). They bank on people not hearing the difference, and the Guzheng has a louder, clearer sound (historically it was an instrument more commonly used for performances).

Guqin music also tends to be quite slow, it's sound is in the bass clef (unless you're using 泛音/fanyin, which pushes the sounds up a few octaves). I honestly just think some people these days don't have the patience for traditional Guqin music, so they go for the pop songs they're familiar with (nothing wrong with that, just a phenomenon that happens). My friend in Canada who plays Guqin says when she goes to the park with her Qin (she lives in a city with a large Chinese population) she either gets requests for a piece from MDZS from those under 30, or for Song of Wolong from those older than 30. Generational gap 😂

My classmate does live broadcasts of herself working and from the comments she gets it seems there's 2 camps of people when it comes to Guqin:

1) Wow, this historical instrument is very mysterious. How is it made? How do you play? It's so cool!

2) It's two pieces of wood glued together, and then sold for thousands, tens of thousands. Utter b/s. My 800 yuan (approx $100 USD) Taobao bought, factory mass produced, spray painted Guqin is just as good as your hand crafted, lacquer painted Guqin.

At this point I've learned to ignore those in camp 2. If they think a 800 yuan Guqin is comparable to a 10k yuan Guqin or a 100k yuan Guqin then 👍🙃 (I'm sorry but $100 USD isn't even going to cover the emotional distress of going through a lacquer allergy 🤣🤣)

[lucrezianoin]

So one of my mutual on twitter was saying that it seems like in Western animated shows (a part from a general lack of queer romances) FF romances have higher numbers than MM. Because I wanted to check, I made a list so I thought it would be nice to share both FF and MM romances in Western animation, so people know where to find them!! FF ships are here.

Most of these are canon and main ships, but sadly there is truly a lack of number compared to FF ships, and I hate when the pictures number is unbalanced, which is why I added the last four, you can see I added a question mark on some of them so I will explain in the description.

There will be SPOILERS (especially for: Did they kiss? Did they end up together?)

In order (top to bottom, left to right):

Lacklon and Roland (Dragon Age Absolution): Lacklon and Roland are both main characters in this one season show, unsure yet if we will have a second season. They have a flirting/teasing relationship through the whole show which ends up with them kissing (so yes, they do kiss!). They are implied to stay together as they also discuss what they will do after the mission!

Ballister and Ambrosius (Nimona): This is an animated movie, and Ballister is a protagonist and Ambrosius a main character. They are ex-boyfriends turned enemies and then reconcociling with an enemies-to-lovers once more! Do they kiss? Yes! They also have a happy ending and they are together.

Runaan and Ethari (The Dragon Prince): Runaan and Ethari are both secondary characters. They are already in a relationship when they appear (together and raising a child), mostly shown in the comics and through flashbacks (where yes, they do kiss!). They are separated from most of the show as Runaan is trapped in a sort of prison since S1. In S6 Runaan is finally freed, and S7 will be the last season of the show so I fully expect them to be reunited. The protagonist of the show (Rayla) is their adopted daughter.

Blitz and Stolas (Helluva Boss): Blitz is the protagonist of Helluva Boss and Stolas is a main character. They have an ongoing sexual casual relationship turned into real feelings, with a lot of misunderstandings about how real the feelings are/how they see each other's. Their relationship is very graphic, so yes, they do kiss, and there is sexual content. The show is still ongoing, with them finally dealing with their feelings (maybe!) after a quick break up. They are the main romance of Helluva Boss and the creator of the show confirmed they will be endgame.

Fizzarolli and Asmodeus (Helluva Boss): They both are secondary characters in Helluva Boss, with Fizzarolli probably having a bit more screentime than Asmodeus. They are already in a loving relationship when introduced, and have two full episodes also dedicated to them and their romance.

Gary Prince and Marshall Lee (Fionna and Cake): Fionna and Cake is an AU of Adventure time, so this is the genderbend version of Bubbline set in a modern Fionna and Cake setting. Only one season of Fionna and Cake is out, and I have yet to watch it, but I know they date through the whole season and become boyfriends. Do they kiss? Yes! A new season is set to start in the future.

Korvo and Terry (Solar Opposites): This is another ongoing show with a sixth season coming out. Terry and Korvo are the two protagonists, and they start as colleagues/mission partners and progress into a romance. As I have not watched the show, I am unsure how the pace is, but I know that yes, they do kiss and then they marry and become husbands in S5!

Barney and Logan (Dead End paranormal park): Another show I did not watch but I did watch their scenes on youtube! Barney is the protagonist and he is a trans man (and gay) and Logan (also called Logs) is one of the main characters. The show has only two seasons before being cancelled. Barney and Logan meet in the show, and Barney is immediately attracked to him. Do they kiss? Yes!

Benson and Troy (Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts): The show has three seasons and is complete. Benson is part of the main cast and Troy a secondary character and appears in all three seasons. They start to date in season 3. Do they kiss? Yes!

Kaldur'ahm and Wyynde (Young Justice): This is a complete four season DC show. Kaldur'ahm is Aqualad and one of the protagonists. If you checked my FF romances post you know I am not familiar with DC, and it was pretty hard to find information. From what I can tell, Wyynde appears in S3 and S4 and they are already in an established relationship.

Steve and Benji (Q Force): The show was one season and then it was cancelled. Steve is the protagonist and Benji is a secondary character. They meet in the show itself, start dating and seems to have a happy ending even if the show was cancelled. Do they kiss? Yes!

NOT CANON

Angel Dust and Husk (Hazbin Hotel): The show only has one season out, so I think this might fall into the category of "Will they? Maybe? Looks promising!". They are both main characters, and Angel Dust often flirts with Husk. At least from Angel Dust's side there seems to be both attraction and affection. We will have to see!

Soren and Corvus (The Dragon Prince): The last season will release soon, and I think this ship is a "Who knows, maybe... we'll see" category. The Dragon Prince already has a M/M ship, so if this is meant to be they would not shy away from it. The two characters meet pretty early in the show, with Soren being one of the main cast while Corvus a secondary character. There are some interviews from the creators that seem to confirm this will be the direction. I guess we will see!

Jayce and Viktor (Arcane): This is more in a "Interpret it your own way" category I guess. It heavily relies on tropes used in other popular queer-interpreted shows (copying the whole of Magic Madoka's very popular cosmic scene). Creators of the show seems to be on different sides of it, with some saying they have a brotherly bond and the ship cannot happen because Viktor is asexual (misunderstanding asexuality and spreading acephobia at the same time), other saying that the bond was never written as romantic but they can see it as a possibility after seeing how the animation studio decided to write them. The ship heavily leans on "only you can save me"/"only you in all timelines and possibilities", and it ends with both characters dying/disappearing and cosmically linked. So I guess we will see if they will be left "in the brace of the arcane" or if they will be revisited.

MEH

Shiro and Curtis (Voltron): I am sorry, I said I would only post main ships, and this is not it. But it felt wrong to exclude given I posted a few "fanon maybe will be canon" ships, and Shito is one of the protagonists. Still, this is a lazy case of "let's give him a random character so he can marry and kiss him at the last minute". I would hardly consider Curtis a character at all.

FF SHIPS HERE

[the-astronome]

Saw a post here about names of pathologic characters, and decided to share some thoughts regarding our beloathed Bachelor, because I realised something and have to share it with you.

So, what do we know? Well, his name is certainly Daniil and his surname is Dankovsky. “What about his patronymic?” you might ask. Here it’s a bit more complicated, but knowing that he once signed a letter with D.D.D. we can safely assume his patronymic starts with a D, and as a matter of fact, I’m quite sure that it’s actually Daniilovich (i.e. his father’s name was also Daniil), though my arguments in favour of this are rather funny

1)Name:

Daniil, what does this name mean? To begin with, the name comes from Hebrew (“Dānīyyēʾl” in romanised version) and literally means “God is my judge”. What is more interesting, in my opinion, is that this name is partially formed by another Jewish name, “Dan”. “Dan” literally means “judge” and its most known bearer is Dan, son of Jacob (also known as Israel, the angel-wrestling guy), who was (according to the Bible) the founder of the Tribe of Dan. Moreover, the symbol of this tribe is a serpent, because of Dan’s sly, scheming, and calculating character.

Apart from that, Bachelor’s a doctor, and one of the most famous symbols of medicine (at least in Russia) is a Bowl of Hygieia, see a simple example below

This also could be an intended symbolism, which probably started with IPL thinking how they would name their genius-doctor-character, and then spiralling down into all these snake-related topics, eventually choosing Daniil. It might have been just a funny coincidence. Someone can probably text them on Twitter and ask.

2)Surname:

Here it’s a bit tricky, and please do feel free to correct me, because the info I’ll give here might be false. Anyway. When I first started P1, I was a bit puzzled by Bachelor’s surname. You see, even though it is defo a Slavic surname (e.g. -sky ending), it doesn’t make much sense to a Russian speaking person, since what the hell is “Dankov”? A surname in a surname, now ending with “-ov”? Well, here is a potential explanation:

Western Slavs have a form of “Daniel”, namely “Danko”. As far as I understand, it can be a surname (and it is, in various forms, at least in Slovakia and Ukraine). This makes the surname “Dankovsky” mean something like “of the Danko” “son of Danko” “belonging to Danko” etc. All this suggests that, if we translate his surname to Russian in the literal manner, it would change to “Daniilov”. So you see where I’m going, right..?

3)Patronymic:

So. What do we have. “Daniil” as a name, and a surname which apparently (through numerous layers of linguistic irony) is also formed from the name “Daniil”. And we know that his patronymic starts with D. Do I dare suggest that his patronymic follows this silly pattern as well, so it would be “Daniilovich”?

This leaves us with a beautiful name of Daniil Daniilovich Daniilov, which sounds rather humorous and comical to russian-speaking folks (reminds us of the legendary Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov). As a close friend of mine suggested, that could have been a placeholder of sorts during the early development of the game and/or character, when IPL only came up with a name, but not with everything else. Then they decided not to over-invent things, and just obscure the surname via translating and adapting it to Western Slavic languages (Polish and apparently Slovak, I would guess), and basically never mentioning his patronymic. Ingenious if you ask me

4)Takeaways:

Not much, unless you see a sentence where I’m talking out of my ass, please I beg you speak up if messed up the Western Slavic part, I’m not native to those languages, so could’ve missed something there.

More importantly! For me, all these layers behind DDD name form a very concrete foundation for my headcanon that Bachelor is of Polish-Jewish origin. In general, his surname suggests lots of interesting stuff, so explore the linguistic opportunities my fellow patho people

[olderthannetfic]

Any way you could recommend some sort of intro guide to fantasy for dummies to me?

I'd like to have a couple of magic related elements in my fics sometimes, but I'd like to sort of, sidestep the world building part if possible.

So is there some kind of bare bones universal structure I could borrow from as a reference point for like, a magic system? I don't want to embarrass myself by showing i know so little of the rules I'm breaking them all over the place. And I know tons of people have fun figuring out how things work mechanically, so I'd love being able to outsource from them so to speak because that's not what up my street at all.

--

Hah! There are so many versions of "fantasy". Right now, I'm brainstorming for a very elaborate secondary world fantasy that's heavily inspired by wuxia but not claiming to actually be wuxia. I'm trying to figure out what Western elements I want to work in and how I can come up with names that don't make me cringe.

There is no one bare bones guide and there cannot be because different subgenres have nearly nothing to do with each other. In fact, even calling it collectively "fantasy" and thinking that these subgenres belong in one category together depends on location and era.

If you want to know about magic systems... oh dear... I'm going to have to recommend... you all know it's coming... Brandon Sanderson's lectures. There are some on Youtube.

--

But before you go look at a guide, I think it's important to understand the parameters and discourse around this subject. Sanderson is the poster boy for unnecessarily complex systems that appeal to the kinds of guys who fill out wikis of canon minutia and complain that the grain harvest and export policies don't make sense in derivative fantasy doorstop #57. This kind of fan annoys the bejesus out of people who care about theme and allegory. Also the many people who've noticed that Sanderson's books would probably be better at 200k than 400. >;D

Sanderson himself is much less of a dumbass about the topic, thankfully. He talks about how there are systems that work like real world science: put in X grams of magic thing one and Y grams of magic thing two, and you get a predictable potion result. But there are also systems that are more numinous. In the same book, you may find magic that's your most boring physics homework and magic that's essentially a religious experience where strict categorization and the logic of the laboratory have no place. There can also be systems that are unknowable and systems that your characters don't understand but that the audience grasps are perfectly logical to an expert.

--

If you're using magic as set dressing in fic, decide what the vibe is and pick a system that supports that. Don't bother going full Sanderson.

Fairy tale: Magic works on feels. Twu wuv will revive dead people for no reason, and you do not need to justify anything as long as it feels right. Hanahaki fic rarely bothers to explain the science. We all know it isn't about that.

Harry Potter: Unholy mix of fake-science and rule-of-funny. You should probably pick only one to copy. If it's fake science, just write about the characters half remembering chemistry class and replace all the words with technobabble.

For another example of rule of funny, check out The ABCs of Spellcraft by Jordan Castillo Price, a gay romance series where all of the magic is puns and stupid wordplay and the general tone is extremely silly. In book 1, a villain tells his magically compelled goon to take the hero outside and "pound" him. The hero takes one look at all those muscles and is like "You know, that instruction can be interpreted multiple ways!"

Some systems are full of stupidass levels out of a video game with actual numbers. This gives fans of stories about leveling up a massive boner, but it is undesirable in most fic. Instead, treat magic like intelligence or learned skills: You know some people are naturally smarter and some people have learned more, but measuring it with a precise number is both impossible and obnoxious.

--

Decide if your magic is hereditary or learned. Western fantasy is full of hereditary magic, including magic with a simple on-off setting: you're either magical or you're not. Eastern fantasy tends to go with highly variable natural aptitude but systems that anyone can theoretically learn.

Decide if your magic is extremely literal and science-y, even if the characters don't know how their laptop works, or if it's more of a metaphor for love or social forces or if it's just a witchy aesthetic because who doesn't love a coffee shop with a punny name and pentagrams on the cups?

A lot of backdrops for shippy fic are vibes-based only. They don't stand up to the world building police, and they don't need to.

Just don't tag the fic as 'magical realism' unless you actually know what that means and are actually writing that.

[bisexualmcqueen]

may i offer this thought for the feral racers hc

racecars are like loyal little guard dogs (not little at all. those are metal beasts) with the people they love. they just kinda like. imprint on people and its like an immediate switch to feral mode when they perceive threat and danger to loved one. and they do that thing where they try and make themselves bigger to intimidate enemies.

idk if its something similar like this has posted about or discussed before but uh yeah. the feral racers hc just kinda read to me as racecars being like dogs. wolves. instinctually wild animals. i like how strip and doc being particularly old veterans translates into them being Extra Dangerous or Extra Feral, something like that. though i dont even think racecars get normaller the newer/younger. i think the next gens are just a different flavor of freak (i.e. chewing, zoomies) like they're domesticated sort of in a way

YES YES exactly

ok many thoughts. lets see here

so ive been thinking about this and. the thing is. that part of what makes this headcanon so fun is that theres actually canon precedent, in a way.

Lightning for example. is crazy protective. like instantaneously. zero forethought, action only, putting himself between the Danger and the Friend.

some examples:

in cars TVG, Chick hires the DRH to rob Mack so Lightning will be without supplies for the upcoming race. when Lightning hears that Mack was very upset about it from Sheriff, he gets so pissed off he takes to the streets, tracks the DRH down, and proceeds to spend all night chasing and beating the shit out of them until they drop his stuff. not because he was Robbed, but because they Upset Mack.

i think its funny that Sheriff doesnt say Anything. he just nods in agreement. ...not that i think Sheriff could have stopped him though. Lightning is sort of Insane about Mack. Mack is the greatest. [two quality versions. one oldschool for nostalgia and one more HD]

in the comics (admittedly ive only read in sections), Mater was beefing with Bubba, Lightning also started to get pissed off at Bubba being rude + protective of Mater:

i dont know if Lightning would be good at fighting or get his ass beat terribly. either way, i want to watch.

next up is my favorite example: the thunder hollow crazy 8 race. Lightning LEAPS in to help Cruz several times. it is my fucking Favorite.

HERDS HER BACK OUT ONTO THE TRACK

and then he jumps in front of a speeding attack-bus and takes a metal sawblade to the drivewheel for her. NO thoughts, head empty, protect Cruz. love this man. apparently, type-c school busses can be between 10-20,000 pounds. crunch.

and my last example on this topic: the radiator springs 500 1/2:

these racers show up in town looking for trouble. its supposed to be a silly little western parody, but in terms of this headcanon it comes off as territorial as hell imo. wdym other racecars show up at his house to fight him. hello. and then they insult Stanley, which deeply upsets Lizzie:

cue getting their asses kicked by mcqueen. that is HIS freaky old woman.

[i love this short]

so yeah. my terrible guard-dog-horse-thing-car.

Doc is largely The Same:

14 billion KEEP OUT signs. shooing Lightning away from his friends family because he is A Perceived Danger. another racecar standing in his lawn barking. yeah. you territorial old wet rag.

I agree with what you said its very in line with the vibes of the headcanon yes. true and real. def like dogs/wolves, and i personally try to throw some cat/horse stuff in there too. again, i blame being an x-men/wolverine fan.

a few other tidbits from source material for funsies:

^that ones wallpaper, apparently. for like a Room. in a house. my cars wallpaper merch thats 2018 xrs drag racing diecast merchandise.

Doc was so amped to do racecar stuff again he wakes Lightning up in the middle of the fucking night to run around in circles with him the moment he shows back up in town.

they lost Guido in the fucking sand.

Cars Origins: Struck By Lightning quick aside: "everyone's going to think something is wrong with me" Lightning these are not mentally stable thoughts im so sorry.

second topic: generational/evolutionary differences.

first of all i would like to point out that my basis for strip especially being some sort of craazzy toothy freak is entirely the headcanon of @youhavehitawall that i adopted out of coolness. non has some lore about the weathers that explains it, but basically it boils down to a repeated expression of racecar genes getting more pronounced the more generations it travels down (so long as its an expressed gene).

now for the nextgens (funny calling them that in 2025. theyre all in their 30's lmfao. not saying thats 'old', but they arent rookies anymore, damn does time fly). [disclaimer: dont quote me on this, my knowledge is an approximation] in real life NASCAR, they used very old technologies right up until about 2012. carburetors, leaded gasoline, 4-gear h-box frontend transaxles, reticulating ball steering, etc. most of these things vanished from the dealership road cars between the 60's and the 90's. Meanwhile cars like Lightning and Cal are still running this stuff in the mid-aughts. so when the nextgens came along, they showed up with fuel injection, e85 15% ethanol fuel, 5-speed sequential rear-mounted transaxels, rack-and-pinion steering, bigger aluminum wheels, bigger calipers, and less ground clearance/more areo, there was a very sudden and massive shift in what sort of technology was being run in the piston cup. tech-wise, Lightning +co were very similar to cars like Chick and even Strip. the change in tech could be a good marker for other genetic shifts too. cars change much, muuuch faster generation-to-generation than mammals. its Moore's Law in a way: theyre machines. add that to the incredible 12-week turnaround in which every team booted their driver and replaced them with a 'nextgen', and ive had to spend some time wondering Why? why??? thats brutal! Doc certainly warned us, but goddamn. imagine if that happened mid-season in any real sport! holy shit! (i still want to know more about the fan's reactions to this...) in the context of this headcanon, i Also wonder about what you said, the nextgens being feral in a little bit of a 'different' way. maybe theyve got easier-to-handle temperaments; an added bonus to their overall higher speeds+better track times. uhm. Jackson being the temperament-outlier here, maybe.

to be fair, he did get fired after throwing too many fits.

Cars Origins: Storm Chasing

But yes... racecars!! they are a lottt to handle. the driver AND the incredibly powerful machine mashed into one?? hooo boy. honestly i am a bit fearful of racecars irl. very loud, very fast, smell bad, they breathe fire, etc. why not reconcile that by making the talking ones into Beasts. theyre already crazy, already quadruped, my brain just starts assigning horse/wolf to them. and some of it comes down to me loving logan-wolverine tropes. protective growly little guy with pointy teeth. yeah can i get 5 more of these little fanged bitches.

ok i have to stop yapping now this turned out quite long, but i still have Things to Say about this headcanon/worldbuilding. i didnt even get into the amazing bonds racecars seem to have with their teams/families (the 'imprinting' thing you mentioned!). very fun!!

thanks for the ask!!

[aroaceleovaldez]

random question, you mentioned a bit ago that the PJO fandom has a lot similarities with old anime fandoms. i’m interested to hear more about that if you want to elaborate? thanks :)

Of course! The main aspect is just fandom crossover - generally book fandoms are their own sort of isolated fandom "bubble" so-to-speak, so most of the audience crossover is within that bubble (book fandom-to-book fandom crossover). Back in the day book fandoms actually had their own version of a "Superwholock" composite fandom which consisted of (but was not limited to) primarily PJO, HP, and The Hunger Games, but also frequently included other major book fandoms at the time like The Maze Runner, Shadow Hunters, etc etc. It even had its own little symbol thing! But so you have the book fandoms "bubble," and then anime fandoms are their own "bubble" as well and there's not always a lot of crossover between them. You might get some, but they're largely their own spheres (there's definitely more crossover now than there used to be, but still). You can kind of think of it like how there are separate conventions for stuff like anime, comics, furries, etc and they were all born out of the sci-fi community. There is crossover between them, but you're largely going to see one main subject in its designated space.

PJO fandom back in the day was an outlier though, because we had notable amount more interaction with anime fandoms back then than most book fandoms. I'm not sure why, but I have a couple of theories. (under the cut cause this post got long)

One of the primary ones is that PJO has a HUGE overlap with "Western Anime" fandoms, primarily Avatar: The Last Airbender (and eventually also Voltron: Legendary Defender). Obviously these fandoms are going to have a LOT more crossover with actual anime fandoms (a large amount of formerly-PJO, at-the-time-VLD fans moved to My Hero Academia fandom during the last two seasons of VLD for example) particularly moreso than other western cartoon fandoms. Most of the overlap just kind of arises from the generation growing up on PJO (when it was new in the States) was also growing up on A:TLA at the time, and may have also had minor interactions with anime in the states in the early 2000s like your 4kids animes and such. It could also be due to the PJO movies causing a huge influx around 2010 (alongside a couple of the other major book fandoms also having movies around this time) and a lot of those new fans getting into the books/fandom from the movies probably had a bias for visual media versus text-based media, so they're more likely to be in anime fandoms versus other book fandoms (and the general prevalence of anime fandoms circa 2012, when a lot of those pjo fans were getting into fandom for the first time due to being like, 12 at the time). Also, a lot of pjo fans are big into fantasy, action, and coming-of-age genres, all of which anime has plenty of (see: shonen animes).(This is actually what I attribute to why VLD fandom failed so badly - VLD was a mecha show with a fanbase not very interested at all in mecha genre, because you had a large percentage who were pjo and adjacent fans more interested in other genres.)

One of my other theories is crossover with Homestuck. While PJO doesn't have a specific unique fandom crossover with Homestuck, Homestuck was just so ubiquitous with fandoms of the late 2000s/early 2010s that crossover is inevitable. It of course was also formative to many big name fans of PJO that you probably recognize, like Ikimaru, Indigonite, Fuocogo, Elentori, and etc. Even Viria (the original post is gone but reblogs still exist) and Velinxi were also Homestucks. Nearly every old PJO BNF (and some current ones) are or were a homestuck, and BNFs have a large influence on the fandoms they're in (hence the name). Homestuck itself heavily referenced many animes and had large crossover and interaction with anime fandoms, alongside just generally being a ubiquitous internet fandom in it's own right back in the day. So it figures that PJO fans who were also Homestucks would either pick up the anime influences through Homestuck and its fandom or enter anime fandoms popular at the time through Homestuck fandom. (There used to be a joke about "Homestuck is my favorite anime" due to how just lumped in Homestuck was with anime fandoms despite being an American webcomic, but this makes sense given again the anime influences on the comic). (We're actually kind of seeing this again with The Locked Tomb, another book fandom that has a lot of overlap with anime fandoms, but hilariously Locked Tomb started out as davekat fanfiction so it all loops back around to Homestuck, LMAO). In general these overlaps make sense - Homestuck and PJO are similar genres of story and both involve a lot of mythology and pop culture references, and a lot of the anime that were popular in PJO spheres were in similar genre categories or adjacent at least to the same demographics. Especially a lot of your big 2012-ish animes. And also Homestuck. Also, Homestuck fandom (and a lot of anime fandoms at the time) had very large and vocal queer fanbases, which the PJO fandom was also starting to have at the time, which wasn't as common (or at least as vocal) in other book fandoms.

Regardless of how it happened, PJO fandom behaved a lot more like anime fandoms than book fandoms back then. For one, our fandom was very heavily art-focused. A lot of book fandoms lean more text-focused for obvious reasons, so you'll find a decent amount of fanfiction but not a lot of art (and the art you will find won't usually have a large anime influence like how PJO fandom does in its fanart) (there are other book fandoms that are more art-heavy - like Warrior Cats - but those often involve other overlaps. WC has HUGE overlap with furry fandom for obvious reasons, which is also an art-heavy fandom). Anime fandoms obviously have fanfiction as well, but also have a much larger visual component. Also cosplay - anime fandoms are big on cosplay and have been for ages. Book fandoms usually have very little cosplay. PJO fandom has always had a very strong cosplay community, which is atypical for book fandoms, especially older ones. There are a lot of other little intricacies that are difficult for me to describe, especially since anime fandoms have also shifted over time, but if you compare PJO to other book fandoms even now (but especially back in that like 2010-2015 era), you can really see the sort of in-between space PJO occupied.

It's especially interesting to me because - and I was actually just having a discussion about this the other day - the anime fandom crossover that PJO has still exists, but it's very directional most of the time. Like, if you see a crossover au, there's not a lot of anime crossover AUs in PJO fandom, and many that exist are either older AUs or from older fans. On the flip side though, there's plenty of PJO aus in anime fandoms, particularly in anime fandoms that have a large percentage of PJO fans like BNHA. It's an interesting little exchange.

PJO is a mainstream fandom, so it does get a little funky cause we have a lot of what I call "passive" fandom or "new" fandom which generally doesn't engage or partake in the same ways that "old" fandom did. It's that kind of "consumerist" fandom atmosphere you hear about sometimes, and it largely exists because of that mainstream aspect - these people are largely young and aren't very far into fandom, this may even likely be their first and/or only fandom, and they're basically totally unfamiliar with what fandom is supposed to look like. Their concept of fandom comes from pop culture and mainstream media, which often presents it as very source-focused and consumerist, so that's how they behave in fandom versus the "old" fandom style of community-focus. So within the main PJO sphere you get a lot of people who don't interact with fandom the way you might expect like in "old" fandom. But if you look into other fandom spheres that are less mainstream (which happens to include a lot of anime fandoms by nature, at least in western spheres) you're not unlikely to run into fans in those spaces who, for example, a.) are familiar with pjo due to it being mainstream and b.) interact with fandom spaces in that "older" sense, and so are more likely to make PJO aus for other fandoms (or do other crossover aus or other general "older" fandom things). The newer fans or "passive" fandom people are a lot more likely to stay within the bounds of canon and less likely to make crossovers overall. The younger fans in general aspect also plays into it - a lot of them obviously haven't interacted with those older anime fandoms, and they're less likely to interact deeply with anime fandoms in general just cause of how mainstream anime has gotten in the west, so they don't need to seek out specific communities for it like older western anime fans used to have to.

But yeah. Lots of interesting stuff!