Queer person we stan lgbtq+ ppl here. They/them. I want to learn how to write fiction and be sadistic to my characters. My obsessions rotate between omniscient reader’s viewpoint, the locked tomb series, limbus company, honkai star rail, and other media. Would welcome more asks and messages. Content not curated to be accessible to minors.
Here's the thing I keep trying to articulate and possibly failing: I don't actually mind characters who are terrible people. I have enjoyed many. What I mind is characters who are terrible people while the narrative keeps trying to say that they are wonderful, often contradicting what the narrative shows us, with no self awareness
finally finished the magic bullet firing animation I did for a compositing assignment! took a while to make but was fun to do :>
(background, music, and sfx not mine and belong to project moon)
big thanks to this skill animation showcase video for being my reference
An interesting background detail implied but not exactly explicitly stated is that there is a tradition of open hand martial arts in Altazia. The way that Taiven has a sparring dummy even though she's a mage with a weapon, the poses that she has in the art, it points to some type of unarmed technique.
"Well no shit sherlock, why bring it up?"
I wanted to establish this because in most dialogue, her comments of knowing how to fight and physical fitness could be interpreted as her talking about using weapons in combat. And I wanted to establish that because I was trying to figure something out.
Why is there an unarmed tradition in a world of mages?
Martial arts are not born in a vacuum. Willingly deciding to train how to fight without a weapon instead of with one is usually done with other factors involved. Sure, most cultures in our world developed some type of unarmed combat, but most of the time it devolves into some type of sport overtime (like boxing and wrestling now) as weapons prove more and more effective (from what I understand). What usually kept unarmed martial arts alive for serious self defense is either a) a population that can't afford weapons or b) an oppressive government that bans weapons to disempower resistance (this is based on my limited understanding, I know there are gaps in it). I know that Okinawan Karate became as strong of a tradition as it did because Japan banned Okinawans from owning weapons and they had to find a way to defend themselves without them (some people argued this was with the goal of fighting in a secret resistance with guerrilla tactics but that's been heavily disputed).
So, in the MoL world, why would weapons be banned? How useful would unarmed combat be in a world where organizations that can ban weapons can also have mages? Because unlike having a weapon, magic can be taught to any one, and probably be much more effective.
I can personally only think of three reasons why.
1) Mages were much less common than they seem to be in modern day Altazia. Fighting other people with weapons when you didn't have any was still viable and learning magic from anyone at all (including non-giant power structures like witches and tribes) wasn't viable for most.
2) Weapons were important to mages, as it was hinted in the gods' boons to mortals magical artifacts and weapons were used to push back against the frontier. This suggests a significant portion of magic use was done through objects and weapons, and the banning of it meant that people had to learn how to cast without those objects and fight without them at the same time. (Of course overtime spellcasting without weapons/objects were adopted by everyone as all superior spellcasting does, and as the spellcasting tradition was separated from the martial art, all that was left was the physical techniques).
3) Martial arts aren't a method of self defense at all and are only regarded as a sport. Only useful for exercise, and most importantly, cements Taiven's character as a jock official as she is the coach's assistant to teach the sport and has dummies to practice at home.
“can you people just let friends be friends!!” i shout into the mic. the crowd boos and throws tomatoes at me. “why, are you homophobic?” they accuse. i shoot everyone dead with my aromantic beam.
ngl I keep forgetting that Hobby Lobby is a real store that people go to. That people actually think of it as a craft store and not as a crazy Christian mass artifact smuggler. I google "Hobby Lobby" and get a page full of results that make me go "wtf is this craft supplies and operating hours shit, I thought we all knew this place for smuggling looted cuneiform tablets out of Iraq"
That feeling when your body is requesting something but you're not sure what so you just start eating and drinking random stuff to try and figure it out