#the first rule of character analysis is to have fun and be yourself

[deromanuscoven]

🕸๋࣭ ⭑‧₊˚🕷‧₊˚Hello everyone and welcome to the De Romanus Coven 2024 Halloween event Preview! ‧₊˚🕷‧₊˚๋࣭ ⭑🕸

This year our prompts are inspired by the seventh art, by horror cinema, as our beloved Marius, the character to whom our coven is most dedicated, had a brief career as a filmmaker.The prompts are not only titles of more or less famous films in the horror genre, but have been chosen from sub-genres of horror culture contained within the Vampire Chronicles. We have tried to cite all the genres contained in the books themselves, with the last day of the event, dedicated to Anne Rice, citing the first novel in the Vampire Chronicles, and also the 1994 masterpiece film that resulted from it.We would like to make it clear that you do not need to know the films cited, they are just themes you can draw inspiration from. If you know the film to which the prompt is dedicated, you can be inspired by it, for the creation of any artistic content, or let yourself be carried away by the theme that the title holds. We have tried to quote the films as internationally as possible, for horror, the unknown and fear, belong to any culture, just as Anne Rice's books have been translated into so many languages and have become international. The event is dedicated to all the characters of the Vampire Chronicles and the more terrifying side of the saga, which remains a pillar in the Gothic horror genre that revolutionized the figure of the vampire.

You can submit any kind of work:

-fanart -moodboard -fanfiction -meta

-analysis -poems etc. What we ask, and has always been our one true inviolable rule, that love be brought and given to Anne Rice's work and her characters. And another thing, we value words and their use. Our coven wants to bring fun and love to the fandom, so we ask that you choose carefully and thoughtfully the words you include in your work.On pain of exclusion from the event.

⛥Thank you all and see you soon!⛥

-Below you will find all the prompts from the Halloween event:

[astronomodome]

explaining life series c!tango to someone like okay basically the missile knows where it is because it knows where it isn’t. does that make sense

[54625]

I'm not sure if this is the end for the QSMP, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were shut down soon after this.

The eggs have been the lifeblood of the server since they were introduced, and having some of them permanently gone from the server is devastating for so many reasons, and bodes terribly for the future of this project. My optimism has run out. I will still wait for updates but I have no hope.

However, I wanted to write a piece for the community here on Tumblr. I know we're all very emotional right now, because while we have no confirmation that the QSMP will permanently close, we now have good reason to assume there might just be no other clear path out of this.

To the community:

Do not feel like you have to stop loving the server and everything it created. Do not stop creating art. Do not stop sharing why you loved the characters and the story and the world.

To completely boycott everything QSMP, you are discrediting the incredible work that the admins put into the server purely out of passion and the kindness of their hearts. Do not waste their sacrifices. Talk about the server and everything they did for it, give them recognition, let them know we love and appreciate all the time and care they poured into this project. Thank them by caring about their work that they put so much of themselves into.

To completely boycott everything QSMP, you are ignoring the beautiful friendships it created between content creators who otherwise would never have met, and the way it ignited such a fierce determination to learn about others' cultures in them. You are forgetting how much these streamers strived to tell engaging, relatable, fun stories, by themselves or with each other, and to have their fans talk about how much they liked their newest lore. You are refusing to acknowledge the effort put in by everyone on the project to tell amazing stories through the language barrier.

And to completely boycott the QSMP, you are denying yourself the fact that you loved this server; the eggs, the streamers, the stories, the cultural events, the laughter, the sadness, the friendships, the ship ships, the builds, the mods, the languages. You are part of this server for enjoying it's wonderful vitality and beauty and hilarity. As a community, we all are.

I have had my gripes with the QSMP fanbase, as anyone has gripes with the dysfunctional mad household they live in, but at the end of the day, I love it so much. This has been my first time actually being part of a fandom; interacting with people and sharing my art and my ideas, getting into silly debates and arguments, running my mouth off more than I should. I love this bizarre toxic fandom for all of it's worth; I love the fanfic writers (even if I think their characterisation is terrible), I love the fanartists (even if they give Pac those yellow scleras that always make me think of jaundice), I love the live bloggers (even if they clog up the main tag), I love the people who write analysis, the people who make animations and animatics, the people who webweave, and all the other things people in this fandom do to interact with the media we all collectively love and bond over.

We do not need to let this be the end of our community, as we can still share our admiration for the hard work put into this project, lift each other up, express praise where it is warranted.

And we can talk to each other, we can vent about how this has negatively effected us (provided we tag it appropriately 👁️👁️) and respond in kind to those seeking someone to speak to who relates.

The QSMP taught us the value of communication. While behind the scenes, it itself did not abide by it's own rules, we can. The QSMP itself is not the figurehead of communication; the content creators and the fans it sent this message to are. We can be an example of what the QSMP should have stood for.

I do not love the deeply flawed execution of the QSMP, but with my whole heart I love the idea; the ambition, the goal. It was noble. It, to some extent, worked.

It united communities.

Let it unite ours.

[anim-ttrpgs]

A new video about Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy!

Curtesy of @talenlee!

This video isn’t so much a review of Eureka’s mechanics as it is an overview and analysis of some of Eureka’s goals, such as how Eureka differs from many other RPGs in that it isn’t just a story about detectives solving a mystery, it’s a story about detectives confronting the unique challenge of solving a mystery which has a set solution. The culprit doesn’t change in reaction to who the players thing it is, which goes against a lot of conventional GMing advice.

Which brings us to a related point he made, which is that the default state of a Eureka mystery is “failed,” and that is very much true. If the PCs simply do nothing and wait for the solution to fall into their lap, they will fail, every time. The party must take initiative and work to overcome this puzzle, and how the characters and players react to the challenge of overcoming this puzzle is something Eureka is there to study.

Also, he likes the Wealth mechanic.

To turn this post into something additive that creates an actual discussion, however, we’d like to address one of @talenlee's criticisms of Eureka. Namely, that character creation is the second chapter, while most of the core rules are the first chapter.

@talenlee argues that character creation rules should come as early as possible in a rulebook, which helps a reader get hooked in, because it puts all the rules that come after in the context of “this is what your character can do.” You can watch the video above, and some of his other videos, for a better and deeper explanation.

That may be true for some people, but we argue that putting the character creation rules after the core rules leads to a smoother gameplay and character creation experience, which is why we structured the book the way we did.

Even though character creation in Eureka has been praised quite a lot for being very easy, there are quite a lot of choices to be made, all of which are very impactful. There is almost zero randomization as well, meaning every choice in character creation is one that you must manually make yourself.

But an uninformed decision is not a decision at all. Anyone who has played an old CRPG from the 90s will know what I’m talking about. Those are famous for giving you detailed character creation right there in the first 2 minutes after you launch the game, before you know how to play or really what any of the numbers mean. It will say things like “Strength dictates how much damage you do with melee weapons, how much inventory you can carry, and how much heavy armor you can wear.” Okay, well, how much damage do I need to do with melee weapons to be able to kill the rats in the first area of the game? How thick does my armor need to be for me to survive in mandatory battles, and how much Strength do I need to wear that armor?

“Accuracy determines how likely you are to hit an enemy?” Okay, how much Accuracy do I need to hit my enemies? I can select Accuracy 1-10, but without knowing how much Dodge an average enemy has, or how a Hit is calculated, this knowledge is useless. You have to play the game first to learn any of that, and then start over to make a new character. That’s no fun.

While it is very difficult to accidentally make a totally unviable PC in Eureka, it is very possible to end up making a character whose stats and traits do not represent exactly who you want them to be if you don’t know what the numbers mean, and who your character is is very important in Eureka.

And that’s why we tell you all the core rules before we tell you to start making a character. That isn’t to say that the other way around is wrong, just that that’s how we prefer it.

Comment below if you have any more insight on this! Discussion is great!

And don't forget, we are in the last week of the kickstarter! The Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy kickstarter ends at 2:00PM CST on Friday May 10th! Get in and support it before it's too late to get custom artwork in the rulebook and the option to write your own entry in one of the tables that determines who playable monsters will have the opportunity to eat!

If you want to try before you buy, you can download a free demo of the prerelease version from our website or our itch.io page!

If you’re interested in a more updated and improved version of Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy than the free demo you got from our website, subscribe to our Patreon where we frequently roll our new updates for the prerelease version!

You can also support us on Ko-fi, or by checking out our merchandise!

Join our TTRPG Book Club At the time of writng this, Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy is the current game being played in the book club, and anyone who wants to participate in discussion, but can’t afford to make a contribution, will be given the most updated prerelease version for free! Plus it’s just a great place to discuss and play new TTRPGs you might not be able to otherwise!

We hope to see you there, and that you will help our dreams come true and launch our careers as indie TTRPG developers with a bang by getting us to our base goal and blowing those stretch goals out of the water, and fight back against WotC's monopoly on the entire hobby. Wish us luck.

[ladyloveandjustice]

I’m wasn’t sure I wanted to talk about it since I’m not incredibly interested in debating it, but it’s bothering me and it’s my blog so

I saw a lot of posts in the dracula daily tag that was like ‘all of that feminist analysis that said Lucy was supposed to be bad as a vampire because she turned sexual is WRONG, the horror is that she’s turned into a different person’ and even calling that feminist critique shallow or less nuanced or connecting it to second wave feminsm (and for some reason citing Kate Beaton who is 1. a cartoonist giving quick takes on several books in a funny way and 2. not from the second wave lmao please learn your history guys)

and look, I get wanting to look at Dracula through different lenses, especially since you like it now, but it’s not some be a wacky coincidence that Lucy’s human personality is ‘innocent ingenue who is the apple of every man’s eye yet would never act so seductively’ and her ‘monstrous vampire’ personality is seductive and sexual and it would be dangerous to kiss her, you’ll die. It would be incredibly unlikely in the Victorian era (or even today!) that it would ever be written the other way around, the good woman the flirtatious one and the bad personality innocent of sexuality. Whether Stoker was doing it consciously or subconsciously, societal feelings about women and sexuality are all over that.

 It’s also not a wacky coincidence that the three vampire ladies menacing Jonathan are very sexual and seductive and scary and up for a four way,or that Dracula's own monstrousness is sexually coded, and part of it is his implied three lovers he doesn’t love but probably fucks (even if I love them and prefer to interpret them as weird roommates, I can acknowledge that likely wasn’t the intended interpretation).

Sure, Lucy can think about how cool it would be to marry three guys, but she’s willing to follow society’s rules. It’s when she’s a monster that she isn’t. And there’s a lot of of analysis to be had in how the scary sexually-coded predation of Dracula as a man and a ‘foreigner’ is handled vs the female vampires of the story, because it is presented very differently!

Just as there’s pretty disturbing racism and antisemitism all over Dracula, there’s gender and sex stuff too. It is, in fact, all over vampires in general, and analyzing how they’re wrapped up in anxiety about sexuality, especially anxieties about what were considered ‘fringe sexualities’ (whether internalized or externalized) and how that was wrestled with and played with through the years, is pretty fascinating! And you’re doing yourself as disservice if you ignore it. It’s often very interesting, it’s not all bad, we love our monsters, it’s part of a proud tradition, but there was a society that created it that you shouldn’t dismiss. These are very basic takes, but apparently they’re still important to talk about it, since you guys are now actively dismissing them as soon as you start liking the characters.

Just because you want to look at things from a character motivation perspective doesn’t mean the social perspective and social mores aren’t at play. It can simultaneously be true that “the horror is the Lucy is a different person” and “the horror is Lucy’s sexual forwardness”. It can be true that “there’s more to Lucy than trepidation about sexuality’ and ‘that’s almost certainly meant to be a part of her tragedy for sure’. Multiple things can coexist. If you want nuance to exist you can’t just say interpretations that conflict with you having an entirely fun time are somehow more shallow. We can love the monsters, and love the characters, but realize the way we love them now doesn’t always reflect how it would have come across to many of those who first read about it, or even most people who read it today.

[bandtrees]

i already sent you a character but i wanna send another one. tell me about Oliver

YAERSSE!! SEND ME A CHARACTER!!

Sexuality Headcanon: romance-repulsed, aroallo, gay :] i am very fond of aro oliver - he seems to be the one of the datables with the most hangups on using specifically romantic terminology and i believe in my heart of hearts, when oliver figures out this is an option for him, him and gingi instead have some qpp-adjacent swag going on where they come up with increasingly absurd nonromatic ways to refer to eachother. gingi's like Ok i got it. You're my Grub. and oliver's like HEY IF ANYTHING YOURE MY GRUB. YOURE THE SLIMY ONE and gingi's like Oliveman i have seen the inside of that theater its the moistest place on the planet

Gender Headcanon: trans guy :] might fuss around with neopronouns and the like if he knew of em

A ship I have with said character: well i already went on an oliver/gingi spiel but i do really like it lolol. they mesh together really well - they have a really fun dynamic with gingi being the one to take on the straight-man role from time to time because oliver can just be that weird. there is nothing that delights me more than seeing my friends play dialtown for the first time, meet oliver, and realize OH HE'S FREAKY FREAKY.

A BROTP I have with said character: do you know how happy it makes me that him and god canonically hang out? very happy.

A NOTP I have with said character: i'm not really an olandy guy, at least not in the way the fandom popularly portrays it :'] i don't hate it - it's just not my thing and i am extraordinarily picky about it. i had a concept once for an olandy fic, specifically post-fuckfacev2 ending, that would've been about building yourself up from rock bottom and whatnot, but i haven't found a place where i'm super happy with it lol.

A random headcanon: we know he likes mockbusters in general but i love imagining he really likes dingo pictures especially

General Opinion over said character: it's hard for me to pin my "favorite" dialtown character, especially where the datables are concerned, because my top favs i reckon most people associate with me arent any of the datables - but oliver's my favorite of the datables 100%. i really really like him, and i remember being really touched by his route when i saw it for the first time. i've done a lot of analysis and the like of him for [REDACTED SPECIAL SECRET PROJECTS] and he's a character i found myself relating to a lot more than i thought i would (same name aside lol) as someone who's ruled by empathy and what he thinks is right for others even if it isn't - he's unique in the dialtown cast in that he's already a guy who has a lot of his shit together and most of his issues read to me as more of either "already-resolved past problems, or undercurrents that aren't really relevant to his arc as a whole"(ie. his insecurities you can see pop up sometimes- he's someone who knows he's weird and accepts it wholeheartedly but when it comes to people he wants to actively impress he becomes more reserved, which i find super fun). his flaws aren't as in-your-face as the other characters', but they are there, just gotta dig to analyze him more and i find it really rewarding to do so. i like him a lot!!!!!!

i drew him with my left hand once

[iciatheguardess]

Hiiii it’s meeee elsie

conflicted Elsie

Look, you know as well as I do that I love TAOCC to freaking death

but like

I may have to partially step away from it after the current arcs are over.

these goofy goobers took over my life for the last three-ish months, and while I’ve had an amazing time, it’s…caused me to neglect other parts of my life, and restrict myself more than I should when it comes to how I am on this site. I’ve stated my intention to try and branch out multiple times but I never go through with it because I just…I have things to write here! I can’t! And yeah it’s fun but sometimes I get hurt even if people don’t mean to, like, I’ve gotten legitimately ill from this once or twice.

But I feel like even trying to step away a bit is somehow abandoning all of you or betraying your trusts. I want to stay friends with you guys, but my actual life and Irlsie has to come first most of the time, because I am not JUST Elsie, if that makes any sense. Elsewhere is and was always meant to be a sona for some interaction, maybe some friendos, but nothing this…involved, because I can’t put all of my social effort onto the internet because no matter what I do, the internet is not a completely genuine place, and I’ve accepted that. There are some parts of my personality I just don’t use. You don’t really ever see calm Elsie or mental illness Elsie or sappy Elsie, maybe once or twice, and that’s intentional. This is Writing Elsie’s blog, lol, but there’s other Elsie that needs to be allowed to exist outside of the internet, and I can’t neglect her or my actual life for the sake of this.

I honestly don’t know what to do here. I love these characters on a very personal level, and have poured my heart into them, and I don’t want to straight up leave them. Even only partially separating myself seems kinda pointless because I know what happens when someone gets really behind on the lore and has to be caught up on even just a day’s events to explain why Character A looks like this now or Character B is referencing this event, etc. etc.

But there’s a point where it’s not healthy anymore. Where things reach a place where I have to admit that this can’t be my entire life anymore. And I’m not entirely sure what on earth I should do about it…

If I do somewhat step back, it’ll probably be right after the vacation arc ends. i’m gonna pour my fluff loving heart and soul into that thing, don’t you worry. But you shouldn’t expect another dungeon or something like that from me unless I have a VERY good reason and a well formulated plan. Yes, I’ll probably still engage in shippery and fluff, as well as analysis, but mostly within the bounds of characters and dynamics we’ve already established, and not much farther than that. My one exception to the “after the vacation arc” rule would probably be Yelena’s arc, because of how long things in that section tend to take, for various reasons. Yelena’s arc is barely started, and stuff takes possibly days to move even a few hours in-universe. Sooooo….yeah, I wanna finish that, I’ve put too much work into it already to just stop it.

…dang this was only supposed to be a paragraph…

…pls halp, I have no idea what to do lol.

Ok. I've read over this a couple times.

First off, I'm talking to you as L here, and not Star. I am very, very proud of you for acknowledging this and understanding that this is getting unhealthy. I think it's very smart that you dont want to neglect your yourself irl and the fact you're saying this, and saying exactly what you'll be doing, I'm really proud of it.

To give you a clear answer, if it's going to help you irl then I think stepping back is smart. Especially from the trauma and angst, because that stuff hurts a LOT and it can be really, really detrimental and negatively affect irl things. What I DONT think is that it's betraying anyone. You need to be able to put yourself and your needs first in order to be your best self, and everyone understands that you can't be on tumblr 24/7 because, well, that's really really really really unhealthy and not good. I'm really glad you're telling me about this though so I, and everyone else who sees this, knows.

TAOCC is really great but there's a LOT of heavy things on here and with everything going on, it can be super weighing and really affect people irl. I can speak from experience because honestly, I'm in a similar situation. I won't speak much about that though. It's definitely addictive and can get really really unhealthy if you let it, and honestly it's not hard to let it.

I want you to do whatever you feel is best for you, no matter what that entails. Fei and Tails and Xeya and Kumo and so many others and I love you so much and do NOT want you neglecting yourself and your life irl for this- it's meant to be entertainment, not a lifestyle.

I think it's smart to finish Yelena's Arc before partially stepping back. And I think it's even smarter to not want to do another dungeon, because that whole thing was a massive angst-fest and I think it negatively affected people more than they care to admit. Shippery and fluff and minor things is a good boundary.

I'll wrap this up now, but again, I'm in full support of this decision because I want you to be at your best. You're right, you're not just Elsie. And it's not fair for you to only be Elsie when you're so much more than that. If stepping away from tumblr will help you take care of the other parts of your life that we aren't involved in or aware of, then please do so because no part of you and your life should be sacrificed for the sake of entertainment.

Again, I'm really, really proud of you for admitting this.

Please know we'll always support you and you're super important to all of us, so don't ever feel bad for putting your needs first. Irl things should always come first.

But no matter what always remember:

WE LOVE YOU SO SO SO MUCH AND YOURE SUPER IMPORTANT AND WE WANT THE BEST FOR YOUUU ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Everything I said is applicable for everyone else reading this too. Taocc is fantastic and we love it but it shouldn't completely take over your life. It's okay to take a break or step back fully if it means the best for your health and irl life. Please remember to take care of yourselves- and everything that Elsie talked about here is FANTASTIC self care. It may be hard, but it's also the best decision she can make for herself and may be the best decision for others too.

Alright- I think I covered everything. Don't ever feel like you're betraying us Elsie- it's not betrayal, it's self care. We'll still be here for you, always. Never forget that ❤️❤️❤️

[khazadspoon]

Dollars Trilogy fandom even week!!!!

We are a small but merry band of bounty hunters and bandits, but I think we could have some fun! It might not be huge like some other fandom events but why shouldn’t we have a go?

My basic idea is this: a set of 3 to 5 prompts a day for a week. You can do art or fics, meta analysis, edits and memes, anything you can come up with celebrating the Dollars Trilogy, its characters and settings and production. I’m thinking either the last week in January or the first week of February so I don’t have time to get forgetful for distracted by something else.

The only rules I can think of are the usual ones. Respect each other, tag appropriately, and don’t force yourself to do something you don’t have the time or energy to do.

I’ll set up a sideblog that can be tagged and submitted to and keep the askbox open etc. I’ll set a tag up for the event and reblog things that come up too.

If you have any questions or suggestions you can send them to me here or (when it’s set up) over on the official page.

I’ve never done this before so it’s an adventure for all of us.

[yerbamansa]

Writing Patterns - First & Last Sentences

Tagged by @thetragicallynerdy - thanks for the tag! This was fun! You got me to make a tumblr post for the first time in a thousand years!

Editing to add @petrichorca for tagging me in the first part of the game - consider yourself tagged back for corresponding last lines?

I’m just combining two things because that seems handy.

Rules: list the first line of your last 10 (posted) fics and see if there's a pattern! Then list the last line of the same 10 fics you shared opening lines for and see if there's a pattern!

1. the secret middle-aged sad-sack mostly bad vibes I can sing along to playlist

First: Some things don’t change.

Last (most recent): Why the fuck, then, do they start sobbing?

2. the way things are going

First: Since things started falling apart, Oluwande learned the hard way to be careful about who to trust.

Last (most recent): Once he got it open, he read aloud: “‘Dear community and/or individuals, my name is Stede Bonnet…’”

3. Welcome to Jeff’s Inn by the Sea | Innkeeper Roleplay ASMR | Personal Attention | Realistic | Soft Spoken Male Voice

First: When Stede Bonnet’s boyfriend casually mentioned wanting to try making ASMR videos, he was all in.

Last: “I’ll have to think about that one, dearest,” he decided.

4. Rock On To The Oceanside

First: Ed Teach wasn’t built for sitting idle.

Last (most recent): And Ed felt ready.

5. Plus Ones

First: “So how did you two meet?”

Last: “Probably even better luck if we do it again.”

6. you can move in light divine

First: Oluwande had always loved Jim, probably from the moment they met.

Last: So many more conversations to come.

7. due to a controllable irregularity

First: It had been a good week, but Stede was looking forward to going home.

Last: He’d tell him. Soon.

8. an atypical emotional response to common sounds

First: Stede Bonnet had a complicated relationship with sounds.

Last: Stede couldn’t wait for Saturday.

9. Stede has started shopping for your order

First:  “Your GetMeGroceries shopper Stede has arrived at Jenkins Market!” the app informed Ed.

Last: For the moment, however, he had far more compelling priorities.

10. I Think I See The Light

First: Jackie’s traded her usual vivid reds for somber black, but she still looks every bit the part of the intimidating pirate queen.

Last: And they start humming a now-familiar tune as they scan the docks for a recognizable face: If you want to sing out, sing out…

NB: skipped one that’s a mostly abandoned group collab smau because that doesn’t seem indicative of my style, and there’s one here that needed the preceding sentence because otherwise it’s just one word.

Hmmm, so, self-analysis: I start with some kind of place-setting thesis statement. Sometimes it’s maybe a little in medias res, but not usually, I guess. The POV character is named more often than not. And I end on the edge of some kind of decision or change. That’s by design—I don’t like writing pat endings and happily ever afters (even if they are pretty happy). This is especially true for mid-fic chapters, I suppose, but it’s definitely how I approach endings in general! (There’s one fic I can think of that has a final sentence I fucking hate for reasons related to this but I don’t wanna go rewrite it because I am not sure what to change it to, and I’m really quite pleased with the rest of the fic!)

One thing that strikes me is that I can’t really tell from any of these firsts and lasts whether the fic is more funny or serious. It’s just a lot of interior monologue, really.I’m not sure if there’s anything here I specifically want to work on. Maybe experimenting more with diving right into the action?

ANYHOO. If you see this because you're still actually looking at your tumblr dash regularly (sorry sorry) and you wanna play, please do!! I won't stumble out of the woodwork and tag but I love you all ok byeee

[legendofzoodles]

The Chain and Time Management

From this ask

Time has been a productive functioning adult for a while now, he knows the rules of life, and you just need to get it done. Luckily he has an amazing wife who can divide the tasks with him: cleaning the stables, changing Epona's horse shoes, changing the sugar water etc. However, Time has a habit of taking more than his fair share of tasks and will often blitz through them without taking breaks.

Warriors is the multitasker. He's a busy guy with a lot of stuff to get done in any given day: put together next month's training schedule, finish his armour, finish that report on monster sightings east of Hyrule field etc. And he time manages by condensing as many compatable tasks as he can in the smallest possible time frame. Leading to ingenious plans like polishing his armour in the bath with one hand and writing a draft report with the other.  

Twilight is sensible, he takes it a step at a time. No need to plan when you've got the next task already cemented in your mind. No fuss, since he's happy to drop whatever he's doing to help someone. No stress, he paces himself, takes breaks when he needs to and just gets on with it.

Sky is pretty lazy. He doesn't manage his time at all. And most of the time he never has to; the only way anyone's gonna get him to do anything that isn't tending to his dear loftwing or spending time with Sun, it's by physically dragging him out of bed and dictating his schedule like a helicopter parent.

Legend prioritises. He'll always choose the most important ones first and work from there. Having gone on so many adventures alone he’s used to being kept busy, preferably juggling a few small little responsibilities while chipping away at a much larger endeavour. Through experience he knows how to keep a good pace, and enjoys completing tasks. 

Wild, sets time limits and when he doesn't get everything done he'll throw in the towel and get it done tomorrow. Maybe. He has a habit of procrastinating when he knows he’ll get away with it. 

Flora: Why is there a pile of weaponry in your room?

Wild: Oh, I was polishing them, but I ran out of time after the first sword.

Flora: How long did you give yourself?

Wild: About an hour.

Flora: It took you an hour to polish one sword??

Four is the planner, and a very meticulous one- even having scheduled times for organizing schedules. It helps him feel in control. He doesn’t have to worry about doing too much or doing too little when he’s laid it all out before. Plus, as a blacksmith who has many a meticulous order to work through, with new drop-ins on the daily, he needs that structure to stop him from feeling overwhelmed. 

Hyrule’s never really been one for time management. If something needs doing he’ll do it, from menial chores at home to a royal errand list, but he’s never been in a situation where he’s had too much to worry about. So, during the infrequent periods things do get stressful, he’ll allocate some time for himself. Break up an assigned mission for a quiet day in the woods or in his cozy cave-house experimenting with new potion recipes. 

Wind collaborates, if stuff needs to get done, he’s getting it done with the crew. Not only is it easier that way, but it makes it more enjoyable. He used to make games out of house chores with Aryll, like pretending he was a water painter when mopping or pretending the dishes could sing, all while keeping them productive. Tetra calls the shots on her ship, but often Wind’s the one to delegate tasks and will usually take part because it’s fun. 

~~~

Thanks for reading!

And I love the prompt anon!

Masterlist

9th place in the LU character design ranking

Character analysis posts:

Hero of the Sky, Hero of Time, Hero of Twilight, Hero of the Wild, Hero of Warriors

Parkour team - LU drabble

How each member of the chain laughs - LU headcanon

[shivunin]

✨ First Lines Meme ✨

Rules:  Share the first line of your last ten published works or as many as you are able to and see if there are any patterns!

Thanks for the tag @greypetrel!

This feels like sorting things to my brain, so I am feeling very !!! about this rn. (Also. I didn't figure out how to change text color on tumblr until literally just now, so that's fun c:)

Zevwen, Cullavellan, Fenhawke

AO3 First Lines:

Byways and Lay-bys (Zevran/Tabris, 1,855 Words):

The fight was quick and brutal.

Palimpsest (Fenris/Hawke, 11,038 Words)

Hate had been scrawled over Fenris’s skin long ago.

As Two Reflected Stars (Fenris/Hawke, 12,436 Words)

“Well, what do you want to do, Fenris?” Hawke asked, crouched beside him with her elbows resting on her knees. 

Katabasis (Cullen/Lavellan, 25,324 Words)

“Dying.”

Sleight of Hand (Fenris/Hawke, 7,470 Words)

In the hours before showtime, Hawke sometimes liked to come to the stage and stand just behind the curtains.

Book of Memories (Cullen/Lavellan, 62,304 Words)

Echo—a basement or dungeon, dim and close and stinking.

Pour Forth (Fenris/Hawke, 3,845 Words)

The first time she said it, Fenris had just taken a crushing blow to his leg on the Wounded Coast.

Breath of Life (Zevran/Tabris, 7,562 Words)

“When I heard that the great Zevran had gone rogue, I simply had to see it for myself.”

Winter's Grasp (Fenris/Hawke, 4,834 Words)

Winter hung heavy over Kirkwall.

Your Fate for Mine (Cullen/Lavellan, bg Fenris/Hawke, 129,681 Words)

How long had they been running through this endless dreamscape of rocks and seas and the endless, roiling green sky?

Cracking up at Katabasis haha. I decided to do a couple of my WIP ones under the cut and I'll stick the analysis there, too, for neatness. But for now:

Tagging @scribbledquillz @heniareth @zenstrike and you!! (I've just realized idk how many of my new mutuals write fic and I don't want to pressure anyone who hasn't posted unfinished stuff yet! please count yourself tagged if you want to do this!)

WIP First Lines:

Aerolite (Fenris/Hawke, 4,214 Words so far)

Hawke was not unobservant.

Stardust in her Hair (Josie/Lavellan, 1,995 Words so far)

Josie had never really been much of a teacher.

When to Walk Away (post-Act 2 Fenris/Hawke, 1694 Words)

Hawke had finished fixing her clothes and hair before she stepped out of the Rose.

These Last Strands (Fenris/Hawke, 2,992 Words)

“Hawke will come for me.”

Signifying Nothing (no pairings/ Hawke & trauma, 3,544 Words)

“What does it say?” Hawke asked.

Contrivances (Zevran/Tabris, 2,252 Words)

Something had been weighing on Arianwen’s mind for hours.

Leave With the Tide (Zevran/Tabris, 698 Words)

Arianwen didn’t understand what Zevran was saying to her at first.

Analysis:

So choosing a very concrete and short sentence to start is definitely intentional. As a reader, I like to have at least one basic detail about what's going on before I dive into a story. If I have to wade through a lot of commas and clauses to figure out what's going on, I tend to check out a little bit.

I also like to state who is the POV character close to the beginning, which is why a lot of them tend to have at least one name in them. I think it takes out some of the confusion jumping into a story (and w/third person, since anyone at all could be talking, including an unseen narrator, I like to anchor the text to one person to start if I'm not describing a big, chaotic scene).

Beyond that, I like to try to reflect the mood and/or tension in the story with the first line.

YFFM's is long and sort of dreamy because I wanted it to mirror Elowen's sense of detachment from what's happening.

The short, hard start for Katabasis is like that because Salshira finding out that she's dying is like this giant, immovable rock dropped into the stream of her life. It's not something she can get around. It's a slap in the face. I wanted to mimic that in the flow of the text.

I also like to establish contradictions and circle back around at the end of a fic, so sometimes (Josie had never really been much of a teacher) the first line is directly contradicted within the next few lines or paragraphs (Josie was…for once, she was glad to have been wrong). Idk, I just like people lying to themselves. I like making it clear to the reader that their self-perception is a lie, an obfuscation, or an act of self-deception. Or---in this case, it's a way to exhibit that anxiety does not always play out the way you feared.

I also went through and looked at the last few fics I posted on tumblr, but I chose not to add those here because most of them were from the micro-fic prompts. Unlike the other things I write, I tend to pack as much information as possible into each sentence of those prompts, so I didn't think they were as indicative of how I write. Since sentences are at a premium, they just don't wind up flowing as well as other things I've written.

[cleromancy]

I absolutely enjoyed reading your analysis and take on why people tend to put most of the blame on Tim rather than taking into account that other characters are just as culpable. You really help me understand why Jason stans might resent Tim for victim-blaming Jason more than the other characters (although it is still them showing their double-standard thought process at the end of the day). In truth, no one is innocent in the situation. Everyone is culpable to some degree for blaming a child for his own demise, and its frankly disgusting.

its one of those things thats really interesting both in universe and from a meta perspective bc. blaming jason for his own death when sheila sold him out to the joker who then murdered them both, which dc wrote/illustrated/published, which they decided to do because of the results a fricking READER POLL... its so silly lmao. and by making it jasons fault the blame doesnt rest with batman, for having a robin in the first place, or dc, for writing and publishing the story. absolutely fascinating tapestry of blame and fault here on all levels

i was thinking some more about it though and i do think its got some to do with tims personality and demeanor as well. hes a perfectionist and a control freak and there are times when he expresses that if someone cant hack it to tims (arbitrary) standards they shouldn't be doing it at all, that kind of thing. and this is something bruce and dick both do as well, bruce is pretty famous for it even, but they're also both like... i mean we already talked about bruce in the last ask but on top of that hes like. scary competent and intimidating. like. hes batman! and with dick, dick is the first robin, hes *the* nightwing, dick was canonically this keystone figure for the new earth dcu hero community... hes a big fucking deal yknow. in-universe people listen to them, and for good reason, and out of universe a lot of the time reading it its like. Well they'd know! and by contrast tim does not have that kind of authority he just acts like be does... like hes made a solid name for himself by the time the reboot hits but absolutely not on dick or bruces level. so when Tim says something about like you shouldn't be doing this you're going to get yourself killed its like. who is this squeaky little toddler and why is he telling me what to do. like its like "who died and made you robin" except the answer to that is uh. Jason todd.

anyway yeah i like to rotate this as an aspect of characterization for everyone involved bc in like. the version that lives in my head the narrative doesnt present them as Right so it becomes *about* the tragedy, *about* grief and the way sometimes a story gets warped in retelling, about coping by putting sense in something senseless... but. it gets a lot less fun when youre reading something and the story itself is like "Yes this 14 or 15 year old only died bc he broke the rules he got what was coming to him & he deserved it :)" loud booing i dont care for that at all.

dick is also interesting bc hes one of the only characters i can think of other than leslie barbara who blames bruce at any point for jasons death, which i neglected to mention in my other ask. (its kind of a big topic and in my defense you were just askinf about bruce Alfred and tim... sorry dickie ily) like dick took more work to convince that a new robin was necessary than bruce did and dick like... dick was so angry and heartsick and guilty over jasons death and all those feelings just went *everywhere* including at himself. so its absolutely a lot more palatable coming from dick and-- i mean i mentioned demeanor earlier. tim tends to be either very blunt or very sharp and he is NOT known for phrasing things diplomatically, like, at all. dick might be thinking about the mistakes he imagines Jason making on the road to his death but what he'll say out loud is usually smth like "he wasn't ready," and its also a lot more palatable coming from dick bc you *know* hes also thinking he himself Should Have trained jason more himself or done this or that other thing.

dickies so so so good hes doing his best. i love him so much. what were we talking about

[alex-the-moss]

Two days ago I’ve posted my analysis of the children in need special and changes regarding Davros character.

Now I feel the need to talk about what’s going to happen next. Me, because there aren’t a lot of artists actively interested in the "Davros audio-s" and at least half of my blog relies on said prequels.

First of all, I’m not sure if there’s a point in writing a letter to the bosses of DW, but I’m considering it. Maybe a petition could also change something, but I have no experiences organising those. If you are concerned about what’s happened to the iconic villain of Doctor Who your suggestions are more than welcomed! If you know or follow any other people who are actively concerned about this please let me know pls help

Second, I want to focus on how we can deal with the changes emotionally and what’s going to happen to the blog. The best way to keep the character alive is for their fans to stick together. So I’m going to be active online and I encourage you to do the same and be chatty. It will at least be fun if we’re in this together. One of the few good things about this situation is that our fandom has the rule saying we can that choose our own canon and after "the timeless child" people have already started applying it not only to the audio dramas and books but also to the filmed series. And I suggest we just do the same for the Davros retcon. Additionally fiction is not a real life, so some self-induced neglect of reality or self-deceiving won’t harm anyone nor anything. We can convince ourselves those changes have never occurred. Davros doesn’t appear in the show that often but when the new "Davros" does we can use our imagination (and a bit of my drawing skills🌚👌) to perceive him like he is the Davros we know. Because, you know, our minds are only ours to operate. And I’ll continue posting pics of characters we love as usual.

Next I’d like to recommend an additional coping strategy, which is fanfiction. Note: I’m not a native speaker of English language, so I can’t review on the use of language in fanfiction. And I know very well how poor use of words and grammar ruins the experience. So if English is your first language - take my advice with caution)) I present you the one and only fanfiction at least of those I found dedicated to the kaled nation: Damnatio Memoriae series by Mary Pseud + some other works of the same author.

This series was written after the "Davros" audio drama have been released but before the "I, Davros" was. The Author has strange attitude to sex, but if you’re able to choose for yourself you can find nice stories that have nothing to do with it (also sex scenes I’ve read were good). The Author has some interesting ideas and from the very beginning you feel like they’re onto something. It’s also pretty obvious how much Author respects the original universe and how they cherish each character they get to work with. And they have some great non-au fanfiction!

I used to be too insecure to recommend it to you, but now, no matter how strange and cringy stories of the series may seem from time to time, they feel much more home-like than the "original universe”. And Davros’ trauma is treated there with much more respect than it is by official writers, even tho Davros eventually "gets his legs back". Also I’m planning to do fan-illustrations for some of those fanfics, so you might want to know what’s going on there)

I advise you to give it a try because it’s an au fanfiction, and thanks to some of its stories, viewing the mini episode through the lense of this au can be useful for easing the emotional damage!

Take care everyone🩵

[triforce-of-mischief]

Im new to the BotW fandom, how do I get more involved? This is the first time I’ve wanted to get involved with a fandom community so I don’t really know how to start :/

Hello! You've already done a great first step, which is asking for help! Fandom and platform policies can change depending on what you're into and where you are.

When I first entered the fandom, I spent a lot of time observing the active community. Notice the patterns and what people seem to expect from each other.

Take a journey through the #botw and #breath of the wild tags here on Tumblr. Find some artists, writers, analysis thinkers, and overall cool people and follow them! AO3 also has a good tagging system so you can search for the Breath of the Wild fandom if you want to read fics. Please kudos and comment if you enjoyed the author's work!

Make sure to reblog content if you like it because that's how you show your support on Tumblr. Likes don't really do anything for creative folks, they don't increase visibility and you're actually likely to be blocked if you don't reblog things. If you want to know more about reblogs vs likes, please check out my #tumblr 101 tag on my blog. I'll have it at the bottom of this post so all you have to do is click on it.

When you reblog, don't hesitate to share your thoughts! In the tags, tell the creator how much you love their work. Positive feedback keeps the community thriving!

If you want to talk to somebody or make a new friend, send them an ask! Nearly everybody on Tumblr craves interaction and would love new friends. I've made many amazing friends just by following them and/or exchanging asks.

Follow the spoken (and unspoken) rules of Tumblr fandoms. If your post is only related to Breath of the Wild, only tag #botw or #breath of the wild. Do not overload your posts with unrelated fandoms such as Linked Universe, Tears of the Kingdom (yes, they are completely different games), or characters who are not mentioned in your post. Tumblr has a very efficient tagging system, which means that people will find your post if they're looking for it. If you use too many unrelated tags, people can even report you for spam.

Most importantly, be polite! It looks like you've got that covered already but you can never be too sure. Don't send hate anons, harass people over their shipping preferences, harass people over anything, or make rude comments about how you don't like somebody's creation. Don't like = don't read = keep it to yourself.

If something or somebody is bothering you, block them. You can block people, tags, and post content to keep your fandom experience safe and happy.

I hope I covered everything! Please let me know if I missed anything, and have fun in your fandom!

[shmowder]

Picture a deer in headlights, but like, in a good way and that's me rn, because I can't for the life of me come up with anything that can possibly do justice to your previous response!! I did enjoy reading it and I love that you typed it all out - you definitely have a gift for character analysis and articulating your thoughts <3

And Taya is so adorable oml

When you do Clara's route I'll be curious how you feel about her - I vaguely remember disliking her in P2 🤔

I can be 🐿️ anon if that's okay! I go by that on another blog ^^

It's funny you should mention Stardew Valley earlier because I started a new farm yesterday (a couple years ago I got to year 3 then stopped, but I wanted to give it another go after the recent update), and I feel like at some point I will end up the way you described yourself playing P2, haha. For a "casual" game it sure can get overwhelming if you let it! There's so much to keep track of.

As far as requests go, are you okay with the more general headcanon requests or is it difficult/annoying to not have a specific scenario to work with?

I'm so happy you liked my long response <3 Your praise means a lot thank you! I do enjoy character analysis.

After P2 and P1 Haruspex's route Clara, I adore her so much. She acts like a shitty teen bc she is one and that's peak healthy development! Teens are supposed to be disrespectful and challenging to authority! Good on her for having a god complex too she deserves rolling her eyes at both Artemy and Daniil, saying how they are fools who will never understand what's really happening.

In P2, she has a much better life than in P1. The game is cruel to her there, and it really feels like she is just a kid out on her own luck more often than not.

You made it to year 3 in stardew?? omfg, I can never make it past year 1/1.5 It really can get overwhelming, and I had to cheat with mods a lot just to balance everything. I never had enough money for anything, I would get greedy in caves and pass out a lot, I chickened out of doing that desert much harder cave after the first 5 levels. God, you're amazing.

Yeah, I'm completely fine with vague requests without a plot. If anything, they're much easier to do than usual specific requests since I get more freedom and can shape it however I want. Platonic, romantic, enemies, I'm good with anything! If you're unsure about a request, the best way to go about it is to just send it. I never block people for requests even if they break my rules, and if I don't like something I'll just not answer it.

As for annoying/difficult ones. Honestly, it's my own original ideas and writing that I find the most difficult to do, yet I still do them. I enjoy writing even when it's hard, and I genuinely have fun doing requests, so please never worry about being too much. I do this out of love for the craft and for fun!

[crystalelemental]

Sync Grid Analysis (March 2023)

We have quite a few sync grid expansions.  Lorelei.  MU Torchic apparently counted.  Gloria.  And perhaps most significantly, Lance, who I understand got both a 3/5 and a 5/5 expansion.  So hey, let’s see it.  Better be good to have sidelined Steven again.  This is only half a joke.

Lorelei As the last winner, and the follow-up to February’s expansions that were incredibly strong, I had high hopes for Lorelei’s grid expansion.  I like Lorelei.  I feel like she’s wildly underappreciated as a character despite being Kantonian.  You’d think natural bias would work in her favor, but no.  It doesn’t.  Not even here.  They focused on sync.  Her sync condition is the foe needs to be frozen.  Dead in the water.  Freeze Synergy 3 sucks balls, Sharp Entry is whatever, Brace Yourself Ramp Up 2 is okay, Towering Force and Heavy Hail 5 are at least somewhat more reasonable, two Blizzard +10 accuracy tiles, Hostile Environment 1 because god forbid we let her have the same odds as Lodge Silver, Invigorating Hail 1 (not a joke), Endurance, and Healing Hail 1.  I’m sure someone can make a tank set out of it but I don’t know why you’d want to.  Lorelei isn’t good.  Her stats are weak, her natural sync multiplier effectively impossible to achieve, her DPS got almost nothing of value, and her tanking abilities aren’t worth that much either.  This is just a bit sad.

MU Torchic I didn’t think they’d give it a grid at all, considering its trainer move is literally just SS Kris’ without the special moves up next.  Let’s see if they actually gave a straight MPR or MP Burst.  HOLY SHIT THEY DID.  Oh my god.  An actual, honest to Christ Special Atk/Crit buffer that buffs to cap in reasonable time?  In my F2P pool?  Unreal.  Gradual Healing on trainer move is also fairly nice, as is Fast-Track 9.  Escape Artist and Quick Cure are fine, Hostile Environment 5 on Flamethrower is pretty nice for those Gauntlets that need it.  Toughen Up and Tighten Up 3 are choices.  Like most F2P units, I think the big concern is just...lack of Endurance.  Stats aren’t fantastic, and lacking Endurance means suffering wildly in CS.  But MPR on trainer move was like the only thing it could ever ask for, and it got it.  I literally never thought I’d see the day.

Lance At 2/5, he got Sharp Entry and Quick Cure for the full cost tiles.  Nothing special.  Atk and Sp Atk +20 nodes for free is good.  2/5 half cost are Furious Brain and Ramp Up 2 on trainer move, which is just funny.  3/5 half cost are Haymaker and Critical Eye 1 broadly, which rules.  Self buffs crit to cap naturally, very nice.  4/5 gives Initial Damage Guard to block damage from the first hit after cutting his HP with trainer move, and First Aid but at the halfway point so it basically turns the 50% loss to a 10% like Marnie.  Okay.  It’s not doing much but sure.  5/5 gives Injured Propulsion which only works the once so no having fun, and Injured Ferocity, which gives +6 to both offensive stats when HP drops below 60%.  Perfect self-setup, a 30% multiplier for Hyper Beam, and a 100% multiplier on sync.  Lance?  You fucking did it, bro.  You’re in.

Gloria 2/5 gets Crit Stirke 2 and Sharp Entry 1.  She now gets some nice multiplier, and pairs perfectly with just Palentine’s Marnie.  4/5 gets Haymaker for sync, and DEFENSE CRUSH 9 FUCKING POGGERS.  I have Gloria at 4/5, this rules.  Anyway.  5/5 gets Rebuff Reducing Hit (Steel), which is a -1 rebuff to steel on a foe the first time an attack is successful, which unfortunately means it doesn’t carry over between Gauntlet phases but small price to pay.  Oh, and Super Preparation 9 on her trainer move.  Okay.  Gloria’s really good now.  Baller.  I’d say this is one of those that’s worth 5/5, given how bad her grid was to begin with.  But even the 2/5 giving Sharp Entry and Crit Strike 2 is really, really nice for synergy with her Zone setter.

Anniversary May I forgot they did do these expansions.  Hers is bad.  Unflappable, Team Healing Entry for Gradual Healing, Supreme Entry which sucks ass, Acuity which is something, Befuddle 1 which is kinda nice because mega evolution but should’ve been Befuddle 2 if they wanted it to matter, and Psychic Wish BOGO 9.  I’m gonna say this is the tamest improvement.  They gave her the only serious tool Bianca had that she didn’t with the Gradual Healing and I don’t think it’s worth 4/5.

Anniversary Raihan 2/5 got Acuity, because sure, and Flameproof, because...I guess.  4/5 gets Sync Damage Guard, and Disarm 9.  Disarm 9 in particular rules.  He already had Mind Boggler for a special defense drop, now he debuffs both offenses too?  Beautiful.  5/5 gets Drought Alert 3 which is fantastic, and Max Countdown 2 to effectively give another means of fast-ramping which is his calling card.  This is a damn good expansion.  But I also noticed.  He and May have lower costs.  A lot of these skills are 8 energy rather than 10.  Did DeNA catch on to the issue of grid costs?  Thank god.  It’s not enough of a fix to matter, since Anni Raihan, while receiving fantastic skills, is going to be really, REALLY hard to apply.  His grid is already hard to shop for, and this is not helping.

Final Thoughts Lorelei sucks, MU Torchic got the one tool it wanted, Lance is saved, Gloria got real people skills, Anni May’s expansion is a waste of skills, and Anni Raihan’s expansion creates an absolute cluster for energy allocation.  Some high points and low points.