#thus shutting down at the slightest hint of conflict

[tiredqueermushroom]

Thinking about Dorian immediately shutting down after Orym snapped at him. Thinking about earlier in the episode Dorian revealing that his father was often hypercritical of Dorian and his actions. Thinking about Robbie saying Dorian is a master compartmentaliser and always has been.

[knightofbalance-13]

AKA Insult The Audience and Characters While Wasting Time

http://delvindeep.tumblr.com/post/164570714739/ive-been-thinking-about-the-world-of-remnant

i’ve been thinking about the world of remnant series and how they could have implemented that worldbuilding into the series proper. here’s a few ideas

Which are all just the same version of “one guy asks another guy for exposition” same as literally every other show in existence which WOR is able to subvert and avoid the pitfalls of the ordinary exposition.

dust: the story literally opens in a dust shop. show ruby buying some, having a chat with the shop owner. “is this for raw use, miss, or ammunition?” “yeah, it’s for my baby.” “your baby?” “the scythe” etc. if you actually need us to know the history of its use and how humanity doesn’t know where it came from, give it to us in one of port’s lectures. we don’t have to hear the whole thing; just a couple of key lines, then it fades into background noise as jaune starts hitting on weiss again or some shit because that’s apparently more important than establishing your lore

Except why would Port or anyone be teaching them such basic elements of dust when they are already in an advanced school for this sort of thing and thus would have already had this drilled into their skulls years ago? That’s insulting to the characters for thinking hey are that stupid and insulting to the audience for believing we wouldn’t catch onto that. Also, i guess you’re fine with a shit ton of flaws in the animation since they had to waste time getting lines for the teachers and the students as well as animating all of that. Unless you want to nix a fight scene or a plot point because RWBY is already stretched for time as it is.

kingdoms: did we even need this one? the show already tells us there are four kingdoms called atlas, mistral, vacuo and vale, that atlas is militaristic, that huntsmen academies train huntsmen (no shit) and that life outside the borders is dangerous. see, they know how to do it already!

Except we don’t know WHY Atlas is built that way, we know nothing about Mistral Vale of Vacuo, we don’t know why their actions of treating Huntsmen like soldiers is so looked down upon and why peopel are so on edge with them. That excludes a lot of the tiny details that really enrich the lore such as Atlas having risen up from the snow to become the new captial of the Kingdom or how Vacuo has a different morality than the other two kingdoms due to the harshness of their area. COngrats, you wasted time and money for a much worse, more boring, more drap version of what we already got.

grimm: instead of starting with the dust shop scene, start with some redshirt nomads. one complains that he doesn’t feel safe travelling at night, another makes fun of him, they start arguing, someone else steps in and tells them to shut up because fear and anger will draw the grimm, which it does. if it’s important to know that they don’t attack animals, show some animals, which the grimm ignore after killing all the humans. the shit about older grimm getting smarter is already in the show, the shit about them evaporating when they die is in the show, and the shit it being impossible to keep them captive is contradicted by the show

Okay then, fork over about a thousand dollars to cover the cost of the voice acting and animation. or better yet, do it yourself so that the CRWBY don’t have to stretch themselves out even further. Oh, and listen as the fans complain on and on about there being no new episodes or anything because there is no WOR to tide them over, thus weakening their suspension of disbelief, thus forcing you to maker more detailed lore, thus more time, more gaps, more annoyance and so on until the show is dead.

aura: this is all in the show already. pyrrha gives jaune a hamfisted exposition dump about aura that he shouldn’t need.

Except what exactly it is, what it does, what Sembelnces are, the types of Sembelnces asd well as build up for Salem.

vytal festival: work the origins of the festival into ozpin’s speech instead of that stupid attempt at explaining the colour names

The listen as people bitch on and on about the color names as well as the info they will inevitably forget about since that means they’ll get it a whole yera before needed. Also, that takes longer so cough up more money or time or have a shitter product.

huntsmen: nothing of substance here that we didn’t already know

Except that Huntsmen aren’t the noible heroes that we see which helps ease people into the tonal shift of Volume 3 as well as humanizing the product.

ccts: look, let’s be honest. the only reason this is here is to explain why cinder’s plan is going to work. like, was there even the slightest question about what was going to happen when they ended the episode with “if one tower goes down then they all do”

the point is, it shouldn’t be so difficult to hint at what the villain is up to that you have to shove it into a side series. just stop having your villain be vague as fuck about everything for the sake of cultivating mystique

Then spend an entire season having the villain detail every single step of their plan with the complexities and all the twists and see if there are still people around. Also, that doesn’t explain why the CCT is so important so you still have to do that so fork over more money or time.

four maidens: this is more of a standalone short than supplemental infodumping, so i dunno if it should count. not that it would matter anyway because the maidens subplot already comes out of fucking nowhere

So9 impliment it into the story which already has fast pace for no reason, kill the pacing and the mood as well as remove the story book element about them. Also, personally work on the series to make up for the week of time they lost because there is nothing there to fill the gap, fork over the money to cover up the removal or personally take responsibility for it.

vale: mostly boring geographical waffle that is unlikely to ever be important. no elegant way to work it into the show, but on the other hand, you don’t need to

Thus the world feels flatter and emptier with no explanation for what happened when teh series gave the tone of doing so, thus losing audience interest and something that made the series unique.

the other kingdoms: we know everyone’s headed to mistral. presumably they’ll be spending some time there. show us the culture when they arrive. are we ever gonna visit the other two? if so, do the same for them. if not, it doesn’t matter much

Wow, you must have some deep pockets or as much free time as possible to be willing to foot the bill for all of this new footage and audio and voice lines and brainstorming and editing that this would all entail. Surely you wouldn’t ask a studio to bankrupt themselves just to do stuff you’d never ask of any other show right?

between kingdoms: it’s in the show! grimm running wild outside the kingdoms is in the show! bandit attacks are in the show! grimm moving in afterwards is in the show! it’s all there already!

Except the specifics of the grimm attacks, why people move outside pof the kingdoms, why there are bandits, how they get supplies and their interactions with the Grimm.

faunus: you know when oobleck is talking about the faunus war? you know when he stops for a minute to ask if any faunus have been discriminated against, and velvet raises her hand, and he’s like “oh, that sucks. anyway, back to what i was talking about”? you know how that part was a total waste of time? cut it. talk some more about the origin of the human-faunus conflict before everyone starts going on about night vision. you could even work some development for blake in there. oobleck asks if anyone knows how and when faunus exploitation began, and blake gives a long, bitter, opinionated answer

Ah yes, because one minute of dialogue to segway into a plotline can  be cut out and around ten minutes of exposition about fanaus history, biology and interactions with the humans can be shoved into that space. Except no, it can’t be so that’s more money and/or time you must be willing to give up to add in what no one asked for. As well as teh all teh angry fans who will yell at you for thinking they were stupid enough to think the characters didn’t know that as well as making all the characters into people with the memory of a fruit fly.

schnee dust company: i feel like this could have been a character moment for weiss. she probably never met nicholas. the only sdc she’s lived with is the one run by jacques. finding out that it was once an honest business run by a good, brave man could be a big turning point for her. “i want to be out there overseeing expeditions like granddad did. i want to change this company back to what it was.” and bam. now being a hunter isn’t just about annoying daddy anymore

Except that why she would even fight against her father in the first place, why she would consider the schhnee name noble at all or how she would miss all this, make the plot hole with her mother even fucking bigger than before, makes Weiss look like an idiot for not looking into her family’s past and, again, kills her motivation so we have a walking contradiction in the show as a main character.

And that’s not even getting into how there are some people who PREFER WOR over ordinary exposition.and thus changing that pisses them off as well as kills the pacing of RWBY. Thus changing something for an, at bets, equal result as before.

Yeah great job on the suggestion.

[archivesdiveronarpg]

Congratulations, VIC! You’ve been accepted for the role of BENVOLIO. This was an incredibly difficult decision for me to make because both apps we received for Benvolio were amazing. But they both captured such different sides of him, that my heart was torn in two. There is a certain tragedy, though, that I had never really thought of when it came to Benvolio. He’s affected by the war in a way that no other character is -- and Vic, you brought that vision up so vividly that I felt as if I couldn’t deny you. I cannot wait for what Benvolio will bring to the table. Welcome to Diverona!  Please read over the checklist and send in your blog within 24 hours.

                                                                            WELCOME TO THE MOB.

Out of Character

Alias | Vic

Age | 18

Preferred Pronouns | They/them

Activity Level | I’m rather busy Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, but am freer on the other days of the week! My activity level’s probably at an 8/10.

Timezone | EST, most of the time- CST during breaks.

In Character

Character | Benvolio ; Bellamy Santo Domingo

What drew you to this character? | In the play, Benvolio was coincidentally present for many of the conflicts between the Montagues and the Capulets, and he tries to diffuse most of the fights he encounters. He’s a peacemaker and brutally honest in recounting various situations, rather than being even the slightest bit biased to his own side. His name literally means ‘good will’, but I wanna’ see him written as something other than a typical doormat character (his yearning for peace doesn’t make a difference in the end), as he’s kinda’ portrayed as the classic nice guy in the play. I really want to play a man who’s stuck between the shackles of filial piety and loyalty to his family and his own dreams and desires. Essentially, he’s a martyr-type character; perhaps not the kinda’ martyr where he dies for the cause, but he gave up his freedom and dreams in order to serve the family and that’s also a kind of slow death. I see him as a gentle person; in any situation he’d first attempt to work things out by talking, but he’s also not regretful for resorting to violence if the other party tries to harm those he considers family. He’s a tragic character, but he also doesn’t seem to show it. He’d gladly give up everything for his family, but what happens when the desires of the famiglia are in conflict with his own morality?

What is a future plot idea you have in mind for the character? |  I’d like to see Benvolio struggling between what is right and what is easy. (Perhaps not even he knows which is which.) He deeply values his family and the bonds that he creates with other people, but he’s not a mindless soldier: his desires for flight and peace are deeply rooted into him. Where other people might’ve become demons and conquerors when faced with violence at such a young age, he grew up to be a pacifist. However, given the nature of his upbringing, I’d like to think that he wouldn’t shy away from violence either, when the situation calls for it. There’s this heavy burden on his shoulders, multiplied by each person he’s ever killed. Perhaps he views death as a mercy, and perhaps he yearns for something <i>more</i> than just mindless violence.

I. Bellamy might look upon the Three Witches of Verona with something that’s less akin to awe than it is to envy and wonder; they don’t <i>need</i> to fight, and that’s something he’s always hungered for. Let none say that Bellamy isn’t ambitious, that avarice and want hasn’t been bred into him, for he <i>burns</i> for the possibility of peace. The Witches are held above the petty fights of the Capulets and Montagues; they’re the closest thing to peace he knows. I’d like to see him seeking them out, with full knowledge that they might only deign to toy with him, but wanting to secure an alliance with them nevertheless. Not for their power, for though his words are silken and soothing, he’s not a manipulative person in such a way. (sometimes he fears for the day when he must use his words in a more poisonous fashion.) He simply would like to know how they view peace and how they achieved such a goal. Perhaps he desires friends who he doesn’t need to speak of war to. It’s a far-fetched dream, he knows, but he’d undertake the self-assigned mission nevertheless. It would be in secret, for if he succeeds, he would not want to be torn in half by duties and freedom again. (when has want of friendship become a piece to be played?)

II. Roman’s his Boss, and any other person’d probably try and use that brotherly bond between them for their own gain. Bellamy, however, may only hint at his desire for Roman to be more peaceable in his dealings with the Capulets; said family might think it to be a weakness, and Bellamy has no desire to make things even harder for Roman. On his days off, he might try and make friendly acquaintances with neutral players, or perhaps even other famiglia members who’re more receptive to cordial overtures. What happens if he has to fight them, though?

III. I see Bellamy as an existentialist, and thus as a student of that particular school of thought, he believes that “…the individual can choose. He is inevitably committed in a situation or a certain social and historic context. But in any event, we undertake, and we engage our responsibility because our freedom is total. Even the one who refuses to act, or to undertake, chooses. His retreat, his “abstention” are still forms of actions, or choices. The man doesn’t escape his freedom, and his responsibilities. ‘’The man is condemned to be free”, which can seem paradoxical”. I want to see him struggle in killing someone; he returned to Verona, the bloody cesspool, after four years of freedom and travel. Inevitably, he cannot blame the act of killing a person on another circumstance or person; it will all fall upon his shoulders. I want to see him struggle with knowing full well that he ended a life- and that in choosing to end a life, he also snuffed out a being of infinite potential. Death is final, and how would he deal with that?

In Depth

The following THREE questions must be answered in-character, and in para form (quotations, actions written out if applicable, etc). There is no minimum or maximum limit for your response - simply answer as you would were you playing the character.

What is your favorite place in Verona?

Heavy lashes feather across the slant of his eyes as the lounging male allows a slow breath to fill his lungs. There is a small smile playing around the corner of Bellamy’s mouth, even as his gaze cuts through dark cillia at an angle. His head tilts just the slightest bit, and lightly chapped lips part in order to let a thoughtful tenor ripple through the air. “I suppose it’s sitting on the Castelvecchio Bridge,” he muses, dark irises absently laced with self-directed amusement. “It’s,” a pause as he searches for words, “freeing, in a sense.”

Each syllable is carefully moulded from his mouth, and the curve of his laugh is tucked underneath reserved mirth. “The air’s fresh, the water’s clear, and on good days, you can see fish flicking their tails at your reflection. Hardly anyone passes by, much less sits there like I do, and I find it fairly relaxing. There’s something about watching fish and water, something timeless and beautiful about the bridge between two warring sides.” Here, the intent of his gaze affixes upon the questioner, firmly present in a way that he hadn’t been while recounting. “As long as that bridge is standing, as long as I can watch the fish from that very bridge, I will believe in the inevitability of peace.”

The set of his features morphs into something rather teasing as he adds, “I won’t let it burn, though. I’d miss watching the fish too much.”

What does your typical day look like?

Bellamy’s gaze diverts towards an open window, and for a second there’s a tension in the air, as if he longs to catapult himself from the ledge and catch the breeze like a bird. Slowly, he starts speaking. “I- before my parents called me back, I’d travel wherever the wind took me.” His head tips back, the slender baring of his throat at odds with the quiet assurance that wraps around him like a cloak, before his regard cascades back towards the questioner. “Now, whenever I don’t have jobs, I usually visit To Tame a Soup, and help out there whenever I’m not on the bridge.” A self-deprecating smile rewrites the curve of his mouth. “Otherwise, I’m practicing parkour.” There’s something faintly nostalgic lacing through his eyes. “It’s the closest I can get to freedom nowadays. Doesn’t hurt that it also counts as exercise,” and he offers a quick wink.

What are your thoughts on the war between the Capulets and the Montagues?

His gaze darkens, and suddenly he is Atlas with the burden of the sky. “It is, in a word, pointless,” he pronounces, averting his gaze from the window. “An endless cycle of vengeance dogs every step Verona takes-” He shifts in his seat, artfully easing against the slope of the settee. “-and no one will do a thing to stop it. Where do we end? Do we stop once everyone has been killed?” The slant of his eyes burns with an almost fervent prayer. “Do we stop once every son and every daughter is slain and fed to the dogs? Every action in our dear Verona brings its own cycle of death and destruction- where do we stop?” Bellamy allows his eyes to flutter shut and he is Icarus, shackled to the earth when he once knew flight. “My apologies.” How else would a martyr react towards the chains of loyalty, when those very chains direct him to become a creature of blood and destruction?

In-Character Para Sample:

An onyx gaze slips across the veneer of the airport, the slightest tilt to his lips marking the faint happiness he felt upon seeing the myriad of colorful people, all milling about and chattering to one another about different destinations. The airport is the center of many worlds colliding, the starting and ending point for many. A huff of laughter emerges from his lips as he dips down to collect a newspaper from a lady who’d accidentally bumped into him. “Apologies, madame,” spoken smoothly as he offers it back to the woman, eyes shifting across the surface in a cursory glance.

Those who knew him would be able to tell when he’d suddenly felt the very same staccato beats of eminent doom shackled upon his wrists and ankles, though he merely offered another closed-mouth smile and slipped away. Calloused fingers wrapped around the structure of a chair, and with a light tug, he pulled it out and eased himself down. A vague thought crossed his mind to forcibly stop his digits from trembling, and as he inhaled, he numbed himself to the inevitability of an end to his travels.

Romeo needed him. His family needed him. How could he- How could he ever say no? He has already taken leave for selfish reasons, and he felt that sin weigh upon his very soul. What if- What if he was there? Would the situation have turned out any differently?

No. Chapped lips pressed lightly together, and lashes feathered across the slant of his eyes.

If he dared, he would’ve allowed a slightly frantic laugh to escape his tongue, but they were in public and who knew where enemies lurked? Once again, he was brought into the rhythm of paranoia and revenge. Once again, he was on his way to Verona, beloved city, hated city.

His phone rang. Breath in, breath out- He steeled himself and his hand drifted toward his cell. “Hello?”

All he could hear was the thump-thump of his heart beating a butterfly rhythm, and all he could see was the newspaper in his mind’s eye. Mechanically, he replied. “Yes. I’ll be home soon.”

Extras:

Parkour: He’s rather passionate about parkour, even though it was Roman who’d first brought him and Mercutio into the art. Nowadays, you can probably catch him up on the highest spires and dangling his feet from a rooftop. It’s the closest he can get to the sky, and also the closest feeling to freedom. Doesn’t hurt that it keeps him agile.

Tea: Rather than whiskey or coffee, the drink he indulges the most in is tea, as it’s both healthy and lighter than the rich taste of alcohol and coffee.