#to remember his sacrifice

[hottakehoulihan]

I know we love our queen Taylor who is so good and great. And we should. I love Taylor. You love Taylor. Taylor saved so many people.

But let's not forget the true Savior. Our true King of Kings; the one who gave his life for He So Loved. Bow your head, clasp your hands, give your thanks, and open your heart to Our Lord, Alec Vasil.

[randomminty]

Five billion octopath 2 scribbles i feel sick

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Behold, a Bunny!

(for @alliechickfic on twitter)

[slymanner]

hurt my heart why dontcha.

[copypastus]

@sjmvillainweek Day 5- The Villain Wins AU

Or what I wanted to happen during the 'revive Rhys at swordpoint' nonsense. Just winnow out. What are they gonna do?

[blizardstar]

Me when Ashton Greymoore is denied honorable and meaningful self-sacrifice, and now must face the reality that they MUST keep living after it’s All Over

[bonefall]

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

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

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

So, why?

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

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

Bumble, on the other hand...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ask yourself; what about them does the cast miss?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[turtleblogatlast]

Small but significant character moments that I actually really adore are from both the times we see the boys as tots. There is a reoccurrence that happens in both of them that I find so incredibly interesting.

For the turtle tot short, Splinter leaves the boys with weapons. In the short, Raph is the one who suggests they do “what Lou Jitsu would do” and Leo is the one who takes point when Splinter comes back to reprimand them. Leo, in taking point, is the one to defend them and get Splinter off their tails.

And then, in the flashback regarding the Kuroi Yōroi helmet, Raph is the one who grabs and throws “Skully” as a way to replace their missing ball which breaks it into pieces, but Leo is the one who speaks for the group and rushes into action to fix the teapot.

I love this for multiple reasons, but the biggest are how it shows that Raph has always been inclined toward the bold and fun and making the plans to include his brothers in what he loves and believes they’d love, whereas Leo has always been inclined to be the “Face” of the group and shoulder the attention even if it’s potentially negative all while coming up with on the spot attempts to fix the situation.

[harzilla]

The romance for the lost Sibling Au was funny, but now I'm thinking about how happy Malleus would be to find how he has a sibling.

I think he would absolutely be thrilled! He's lived a long and lonely life. The lost sibling AU I have the reader in the place of Yuu/MC so imagine Malleus finding out that the one person who he has built a genuine friendship with is his own actual sibling. I imagine it also brings him some relief because he has somebody who he can spend his long life with it.

Now I actually reblogged back and forth and talked in post comments with @achromaticbibliophile about how this news would affect Malleus during his overblot. Like the memories revealing two eggs instead of of just one and the clues falling into place and they figure out the truth. But we both pretty much though that it would cause him to be absolutely hellbent on Yuu staying with him until he found a way to break whatever is keeping Yuu stuck as a human. Even if it means keeping Yuu in an idyllic dream world where they never lost their parents and grew up with them, their grandmother, and Lilia. What's another one or two thousand years of sleep if it means nobody would keep them apart ever again?

[luck-of-the-drawings]

[OLD ART ALERT] A COLLECTION OF SCENES FROM THE GILLIONS CATSCRATCH ARC THAT BROUGHT ME GREAT JOY. i love fishy chips especially when its just gillion being delirious and violent and hostile

[b4kuch1n]

myth of the bare palm

text:

Our kind used to be hulking things of feathers and claws,

more gods than animals, roaming the snowed planes endless,

until we found each others

and in jubilant relief reached out

claws retracting,

feathers shedding,

so the moment of contact branded heat against bare skin.

[fandomination666-blog]

Thinking about how Camp Half Blood is named after the campers/demigods whereas Camp Jupiter is named after a god (and the shittiest one, at that)

And how in HOO Percy notes (specifically Son of Neptune) that the Greeks fight in a more individualistic style whereas the Romans rely on strength in numbers

And I can't help but think it's bc the Greek demigods are trained to think about themselves as a person (thanks Chiron) whereas the Romans are trained to think of what's best for the group/the gods

[svampira]

it's not like you're going to remember this, anyway

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

When in doubt, Soup it out.

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[sugarcarnation]

thinking about how ultimately it was dazai who was too sentimental to stay in the mafia

[theborgqueen2]

"I was wondering... just how close do we get."

"Let's just say there are some barriers we never cross."

That wasn't the answer she wanted him to give.

And it wasn't the answer he wanted to give her.

This is INSANE.