#spectr series

[dandelion-roots]

[Image description: a black and white digital sketch of Caleb Jansen from the SPECTR series, a pale skinned man with long black hair, from the knees up. He’s looking off to the right suspiciously, and has his hands in his pockets. He’s wearing a jacket over a mostly-unbuttoned shirt and black ripped jeans. Next to his head is the anarchist sign. End description.]

[spirk-trek]

my family got me these discarded film clips that used to be sold at cons in the 60s and 70s!!! i actually teared up looking through them. they're VERY tiny. i can't wait to find some way to display them irl but for now here they are :)

[outoftoucherlocksholmes]

lesbians... happy visibility 👍

[your-name-is-jim]

Why is the end of this episode just Kirk and Spock staring at each other in silence for 10 seconds? LMAO

[s3 e6 - Spectre of the Gun]

[risingchaos]

I have so many issues with TOS season three specifically but I am so obsessed with a specific interaction in 3x06 (Spectre of The Gun) and have a lot of thoughts about it. Spoiler warning for said episode below.

Context: The gang gets sent to the Wild West, specifically the O.K. Coral shootout. Chekov has just been shot and is, at the moment, dead.

Spock: Gentlemen, there is one thing that requires the immediate attention of all of us; specifically, our future.

Kirk: Not this minute, Spock. It takes us.. a little longer.

Spock: I understand the feeling, Captain.

Bones: You talk about another man’s feelings. What do you feel, Spock?

Spock: My feelings are not subject for discussion, Doctor.

Bones: Because there are no feelings to discuss!

Scotty: Mr. Spock, Chekov is dead. I say it now, and I can hardly believe it. But you worked closely with him. That deserves some memorial.

Bones: Spock will have no truck with grief, Scotty. It’s human.

Kirk: Bones, Scotty..

Spock: Captain.. it’s quite alright. They forget I am half human.

I think this is such a fucking phenomenal interaction between these characters. I need to break it down.

Kirk’s acknowledgement that he knows Spock has grief for Chekov, he knows Spock feels for him, but asks him to acknowledge back that as full humans, they need some extra time to process. And Spock does. He agrees to give the time, even using such language as saying he “understands the feeling”, which is insane. Then Bones ruins the moment (affectionate I swear) by challenging Spock’s capacity for emotion , and again, Spock acknowledges that he does have them but asks Bones not to push it.

Of course, Bones does, as does Scotty.

Scotty gets on him for not outwardly displaying any grief, and Bones, per usual, directly goes on about how Spock has no emotion. If you’re like me and don’t know what having a truck with means, it basically means to not have association with. Bones is back on his Spock doesn’t feel bullshit, and Kirk comes to his defense. Rather, is about to, when Spock interrupts him, and reminds the group he’s half human.

I can’t with these assholes.

I think it’s such a perfect bit to have. It shows such phenomenal character growth. Spock acknowledging his emotions, acknowledging his human half. Kirk’s defensiveness on Spock’s behalf, no matter if it’s to correct them or tell them off for talking to him like that. The look on Bones’ and Scotty’s faces afterwards.

I might make a whole separate post once I finish this watch of TOS about Spock, Bones, and Kirk and the way that their emotions all interact with each other. For the most part it’s a very well written thing, especially in season two where they find their footing.

[bonefall]

post/734733274896809984/do-you-ever-worry-your-own-writing-might-come-off that makes sense. i was asking because i'm afraid of accidentally writing misogyny myself and i kind of admire what you do

Hmm... I wish I had better advice to give you on this front, but honestly, the only thing I can tell you is to consider the perspective of your female characters.

Women are people. They have thoughts and feelings of their own, so like... just let them have their own arcs. A lot of the worst misogyny in WC comes from the way that the writers just don't care about their girls (or, in the case of tall shadow, actually get undermined and forced to rewrite entire chapters), so they're not curious about their lives, or WHY they feel the way they do or what they want, or any direction for their character arcs.

Turtle Tail as an example. She'll often just end up feeling whatever Gray Wing's plot demands. She's gotta leave when Storm dumps him to make him feel lonely. She shows up again to love him in the next book. Lets her best friend Bumble get dragged back to Tom the Wifebeater, but is sad enough about her death to be "unreasonably angry" with Clear Sky, and then calms down and accept Gray Wing is right all along.

And then she dies, so he can have his very own fridge wife.

In this way, Turtle Tail's just being used to tell Gray Wing's story. They're not interested in why she would turn on Bumble, or god forbid any lingering negative feelings for how she didn't help her, or even resentment towards Clear Sky for killing her or Gray Wing for jumping to his defense. She isn't really going through her own character arc.

She does have personality traits of her own, don't misunderstand my criticism, but as a character she revolves around Gray Wing.

So, zoom out every now and then, and just ask yourself; "Whose story is being told by what I wrote? Do my female characters have goals, wants, and agency, or are they just supporting men? How do their choices impact the narrative?"

But that's already kinda assuming that you already have characters like Turtle Tail who DO have personalities and potential of their own. Here's some super simple and practical advice that helped me;

Tally the genders in your cast. How many are boys, how many are girls, how many are others?

And take stock of how many of those characters are just in the supporting cast, and compare that to the amount you have in the main cast.

If you have a significant imbalance, ESPECIALLY in the main cast, fire the Woman Beam.

It's a really simple trick to just write a male character, and then change its gender while keeping it the same. I promise women are really not fundamentally different from men lmao. You can consider how your in-universe gender roles affect them later, if you'd like, but when you're just starting to wean yourself off a "boy bias" this trick works like a charm.

Also you're not allowed to change the body type of any girl you Woman Beam because I said so. PLEASE allow your girls to have muscles, or be fat, or be old, or have lots of scars. Do NOT do what a cowardly Triple A studio does, where the women all have the same cute or sexy face and curvy body while they're standing next to dwarves, robots, and a gorilla.

Or this shit,

If you do this I will GET you. If you're ever possessed by the dark urge, you will see my face appear in the clouds like Mufasa himself to guide you away from the path of evil.

Anyway, you get better at just making characters girls to begin with as time goes on and you practice it. It's really not as big of a deal as your brain might think it is.

Take a legitimate interest in female characters and try not to disproportionately hit them with parental/romance plots as opposed to the male cast, and you'll be fine. Don't think of them as "SPECIAL WOMEN CHARACTERS" just make a character and then let her be a girl, occasionally checking your tally and doing some critical thinking about their use in the story.

(Also remember I'm not a professional or anything, I'm just trying to give advice)

[catilinas]

rereading masters of rome 👍 save me lucius cornelius sulla 👍 in retrospect it is kinda funny how it starts ten years before caesar is even born but there’s still this teleological pull towards him being [colleen mccullough voice] rome’s sexiest and specialest little dictator. from like page ONE

[agalaxycloserthanyouthink]

something about how Ezra has raised himself since he was 7 and lived only in survival mode. how his deepest fear is being alone. how he loves his found family so much and is scared to lose them. how he learns to attach securely and finds peace enough within himself to sacrifice himself for them. how he ends up stranded in a distant galaxy unable to get home. how when Sabine finds him on Peridea he isn't living the hermit lifestyle that we're used to for Jedi in exile. how in the midst of loneliness he has found community and, yes, they are hermit crab aliens who survive together and carry their homes with them - kinda like the Ghost.

[flwrcrxwnlyon]

Italian descole but fave moments

[anewstartrekfan]

Song: Big Bluff

[samthecookielord]

Plays last spectre and goes around like what if this was assassin variant au and clive was there

[spirk-trek]

it's an absolute TRAVESTY that we never got a single scene of james t kirk in the rain

[kitsartroom]

professor layton but it's hlvrai incorrect quotes

close-ups below

[your-name-is-jim]

I headcanon that Jim calls Spock “Science Officer” when he’s trying not to think about his ass

[s3 e6 - Spectre of the Gun]

[lolotheparagon]

The sheer lack of positive reception from the Layton fandom of the Last Specter/Spectre's Call pisses me off cos that game brought me to tears. A GIANT CUDDLY SEA LION SACRIFICED HER LIFE TO SAVE HER HUMAN FRIEND AND CURE HER ILLNESS BY GIVING HER A PREHISTORIC GARDEN. And everyone just turned up their nose at it.

[hershelchocolateart]

Last Specter/Eternal Diva prompt for @layton-npc-appreciation-week! The kids in Last Specter were one of my favorite parts of the game, and I really really loved so many of the designs from Eternal Diva as well! I know Janice isn't really a side character in there, but I love her so much I wanted to add her anyway c: