#it adds depth and makes them seem more human | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

wombywoo · 7 months

Text

Ok! I've finally decided to put together a (somewhat) comprehensive tutorial on my latest art~

Please enjoy this little step-by-step 💁‍♀️

First things first--references!

Now I'm not saying you have to go overboard, but I always find that this is a crucial starting point in any art piece I intend on making. Especially if you're a detail freak like me and want to make it as realistic as possible 🙃

As such, your web browser should look like this at any given point:

Since this is a historical piece, it means hours upon hours of meaningless research just to see what color the socks are, but...again. that isn't, strictly, necessary 😅

Once I've compiled all my lovely ref pics, I usually dump them into a big-ass collage ⬇️

(I will end up not using half of these, alas :'D)

Another reference search for background material, and getting to showcase our models of choice for this occasion~

When picking a reference for an actor or model, the main thing I keep in mind (besides prettiness 🤭) is lighting and orientation. Because I already kinda know what pose I'm gonna go with for this piece, I can look for specific angles that might fit the criteria. I should mention that I am a reference hound, and my current COD actor ref folder looks like this:

Also keep in mind, if you're using a ref that you need to flip, make sure you adjust accordingly. This especially applies to clothing, as certain things like pants zippers and belt buckles can be quite specific ☝️

Now that we've spent countless hours googling, it's time to start with a rough sketch:

It doesn't have to be pretty, folks, just a basic guideline of where you want the figures to be.

The next step is to define it more, and I know this looks like that 'how to draw an owl' meme, but I promise--getting from the loose sketch above to below is not that difficult.

Things to keep in mind are--don't go too in-depth with the details, because things are still subject to change at this point. In terms of making a suitable anatomically-correct sketch, I would suggest lots of studying. This doesn't even have to be things like figure drawing, I genuinely look at people around me for inspiration all the time. Familiarize yourself with the human form, and things like weight, proportions, posing will seem a little more feasible.

It's also important at this stage to consider your composition. Remember to flip the canvas frequently to make sure you're not leaning to one side too often. I'm sure something can be said for the spiral fibonacci stuff, which I don't really try to do on purpose, but I think keeping things like symmetry and balance in mind is a good start ✌️

Next step is just blocking in the figures. Standard. No fuss 👍

Now onto the background!

It's frankly hilarious how many people thought I was *hand-drawing* these maps and stuff 😂😂 I cannot even begin to comprehend how insanely difficult that would be. So yeah, we're just taking the lazy copy and paste way out 🤙

I almost always prepare my backgrounds first, and this is mostly to get a general color scheme off the bat. For collage work, it's really just a matter of trial and error, sticking this here, slapping this there, etc. I like to futz around with different overlay options until I've found a nice arrangement. Advice for this is just--go nuts 🤷‍♀️

Next, I add a few color adjustments. I tend to make at least 2 colors pop in an art piece, and low and behold, they usually tend to be red and blue ❤️💙There's something about warm/cool vibes, idk man..

Now we move on to coloring the figures. This is just a basic block and fill, not really defining any of the details yet.

Next, we add some cursory values. Sloppy airbrush works fine, it'll look better soon I promise 🙏

And now--rendering!

I know a lot of beginner artists are intimidated by rendering, and I can totally understand why. It's just one of those things you have to commit to 💪

I've decided to show a brief process of rendering our dear Johnny's face here:

Starting off, I usually rely on the trusty airbrush just to get some color values going. Note--I've kept my sketch layer on top, but feel free to turn it on and off as you work, so as to not be too bound to the sketch. For now, it's just a guideline.

This next stage may look like a huge jump, but it's really just adding more to the foundation. I try to think of it like putting on make-up in a way~ Adding contours, accentuating highlights. This is also where I start adding in more saturation, especially around areas such as ears, nose and lips. Still a bit fuzzy at this point, but that's why we keep adding to it 💪

A boy has appeared! See--now I've removed most of the line layer, and it holds up on its own. I'll admit that in order to achieve this realistic style, you'll need lots and lots of practice and skill, which shouldn't be discouraging! Just motivate yourself with the prospect of getting to look at pretty men for countless hours 🙆‍♀️

I'll probably do a more in-depth explanation about rendering at some point, but let's keep this rolling~

Moving forward is just a process of adding to the figures bit by bit. I do lean towards filling in each section from top to bottom, but you can feel free to pop around to certain parts that appeal to you more. I almost always do the faces first though, because if they end up sucking, I feel less guilty about scrapping it 😂 But no--I think he's pretty enough to proceed 😚

They're coming together now 🙆‍♀️ Another helpful tip--make sure you reuse color. By that, I mean--try to incorporate various colors throughout your piece, using the eyedropper tool to keep a consistent palette. I try to put in bits of red and blue where I can

Here they are fully rendered! Notice I've made a few subtle changes from the sketch, like adjusting the belt buckles because I made a mistake 😬 Hence why you shouldn't put too much stock in your initial sketch~

The next step is more of a stylistic choice, but I usually go over everything with an outline, typically in a bright color like green. Occasionally, I can just use my initial line layer, but for this, I've made a brand new, cleaner line 👍

And the final step is adjusting the color and adding some text:

Tada!! It's done!

All in all, this took me the better part of a week, but I have a lot of free time, so yeah ✌️

I hope you appreciated that little walkthrough~ I know people have been asking me how I do my art, but the truth is--I usually have no clue how to explain myself 😅 So have this half-assed tutorial~

As a bonus, here is a cute (cursed) image of Johnny without his mustache:

A baby, a literal infant child !!! who put this wee bairn on the front lines ??! 😭

Anyway! peace out ✌️

#tutorial #my art #art tutorial #since people have been asking #I remembered to save my process from this latest work~#enjoy 🙆‍♀️

1K notes · View notes

deception-united · 2 months

Text

Let's talk about strong female characters.

And, more specifically, the problem with them. Don't get me wrong, I am all for a fierce leading lady who can hold her own in any situation. Inspiring, intimidating, capable. All-around badass. But it seems like lately, every other female character we meet is cut from the same warrior cloth, and it's starting to feel a bit predictable.

First, let's give credit where credit is due. The influx of strong, capable, and independent female characters in recent media is undeniably empowering. Seeing women take charge, wield swords, and save the day sends a powerful message to audiences young and old: girls can do anything. And that's a message worth celebrating.

However, there's a flip side to this trend that's worth examining. In the rush to break away from the tired old tropes of delicate damsels in distress, it seems like some writers have swung too far in the other direction. How many recent female protagonists can you name who aren't strong and independent? Who have weaknesses that they aren't afraid of showing, or aren't able to hide? We're seeing a lot of new male leads with these characteristics, which is great, but it's like we've traded one stereotype for another.

All this results in a lot of one-dimensional female characters. I want to see girls who are witty, goofy, immature, sensitive, cocky. While it's great to see women kicking ass and taking names, it's also important to remember that strength comes in many forms.

One of the things that makes characters truly compelling is their complexity. Sure, it's empowering to see a woman single-handedly lead or defeat an army, but what about her flaws? Her insecurities? Her moments of vulnerability? Those are the things that make her relatable, that make her human. That makes her resonate with readers.

Take the classic "strong female character" archetype and add some depth to her. Maybe she's a skilled warrior, but she's also quick with a sarcastic quip. Or perhaps she's fiercely independent, but she's also afraid of being vulnerable with others. Or maybe she's not. Maybe she's not strong or independent or fierce at all. Maybe her strength lies somewhere else. Give her layers, give her contradictions, give her flaws.

And let's not forget about the other roles that female characters can play. The witty sidekick, the comic relief, the immature goofball, the sensitive soul—these are all valid and important character types, and they deserve to be represented just as much as the badass warrior woman.

So, to all the writers out there: by all means, keep giving us strong female characters. But let's make sure they're more than just stereotypes. Let's make them human. Let's give them depth and complexity and nuance. Because in the end, that's what makes a character truly unforgettable.

#writeblr #writing #writing tips #writing advice #writing help #writing resources #creative writing #character development #female characters #deception-united

804 notes · View notes

comfortless · 3 months

Note

HIYA SYL! I LOVE UR WORK WITH THE DEPTHS OF MY SOUL AND ALSO I HOPE YOURE HAVING A GOOD DAY (๑˃ᴗ˂)ﻭ

AHEM! I constantly have this idea of Hybrid!Konig discovering the scent of Hybrid!Reader on his territory, but due to it being so vast he can never catch her in person. All he has to go off of is scraps of food, her scent rubbed against stones and stumps, and prints that are MUCH smaller than his! Until on one faithful day, he catches the lil thing creeping around his personal space!

I just wanna add that I’d love to see you tweak this idea ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ (If you want!) like making it human!reader instead orrrr in a more human manner such as it being a cabin in woods and reader is stranded, maybe. ANYTHING, KEKEKE ID JUST EAT UP ANY OF YOUR AMAZING WORK

raaah thinking about a bear hybrid König because of the cute lil kaomoji.. he would be so big and soft… ;; reader gets to be a fox..! also thank you for your sweet words and the prompt, angel!! ^^ 💘 too many ideas… i should write more hybrid!Kö…

content/warnings: 18+. minors do not interact. reader & König are mostly human like last time! just with ears and tails. König is incredibly awkward in this (has 0 idea how to talk to a lady someone help him), possessive behaviors, very much… love? obsession? at first sight, fluff, implied sex.

The pretty thing in the grove does not know that she sits on the cusp between admired and threatened. She skitters through summer foliage like a dance, twists and winds and stretches to reach each fattened, ripe fruit hanging from vine or limb. The scent that lingers in this place fills most up with dread, their eyes wide as they look for places to hide or run, any place but here. She hardly seems bothered when she takes a plum into her mouth, it’s juice dripping down her chin as her tail curls over her bare stomach.

She laughs when the birds in their trees warn her of danger, bares her teeth at them and tells them all she’s far faster than some old bear, speaks off-key when she’s drunken on stolen fermented fruit and dazed on the rays of sunbeams shifting through the leaves.

He could rush out, take her by surprise and hook a claw into her throat before she would even have the mind to spare him a glance. It’s just that no part of him wants to, not now, not when he’s been made aware of the beautiful passerby that steals his food and leaves a pattern of uneven, dancing footprints in her wake. He had only had the thought once when he saw this earthly garden uprooted with only the foreign smell of rosemary and lilac left behind.

Watching her now, it’s all too different.

She leaves the pit of her plum at her side when she lies in the grass to rest, tail plumed up and over her middle like a blanket as her ears flick and rustle her hair. It’s not a tentative sleep: she’s soft, warm and utterly exhausted from her day of pilfering if the long, quiet breaths were much to go by.

Any other bearman would eat her whole and pick the bones from his teeth to leave as offerings for the birds, the buzzards with their wild eyes and ruffs of feathers about their necks. But… it’s only summer, what good would eating her do? He reasons it would hurt him more than it could ever hurt her, because then all would fall back to tedium and silence. There would be no more hushed laughter and dizzying prances, no more of a sight prettier than any view he’s seen prior.

He wants more of her than this— more than what he should ever have at all or more of her than even she could offer with honeyed words or soft touches.

So, he only watches her rest. In the gentle calm of daylight, she rolls against the grass in sleep, bares herself unknowingly when the sun warms her and her thighs are too warm to press against one another. And finally, he wills himself to turn away, to wander back to that dreary cabin that serves as a proper home, because as much as he wants, he does not deserve.

The days go on like this.

The haze of summer does not let up, and she’s made a home of a strawberry patch in a glade closer to the cabin than she’s ever been before. He watches her bask amongst the bushes, lying on her belly while the sun beats down against her hide, kisses over her shoulders with a yellowish glow that only makes her look as sweet as warmed honey, a bonfire, lovely as the fruit she steals.

Nothing changes in her even when he does bring himself to detach from the shade of the pine, force himself into the light for the birds and tiny humming bees to see. She tilts her head back, flicks her tail and smiles like she’s known he’s been there all along. Known the loneliness and tastes it on her teeth to spit it back out in refusal, but she hasn’t— not like he has, because she’s the one who speaks first.

“Are you going to eat me?,” she asks when she’s risen to her feet. His little fox does not hide herself from him; her tail sways lazily behind her, each dip and curve displayed so openly that he wonders if she sees him as a threat at all, or then, maybe the danger coaxes up an unseen heat within her.

He shakes his head stiffly, ears pressed back to his skull.

The world itself must have played some horrible joke upon him now, because all thoughts of what he wanted to say filter out into a plume of smoke. It’s maddening, how he wants to tell her he would like nothing more than to drag her back into his cabin and lick honey from her mouth, yet all that comes out is a brittle, “The strawberries are not ripe yet.”

She laughs at him, not cruel, but it still feels like teeth tearing into his throat. All hope isn’t lost, though, because even through her laughter her gaze is fond and sweet. Perhaps she’s seen him time and time again, too. It isn’t easy to hide when you’re as large and difficult to settle as König.

The fox beckons him closer with a curl of her fingers and a strawberry between her teeth. She drapes an arm over his neck to tug him down to her level and kisses him there, with the berry crushed between their mouths. Bitter as expected, but not a single complaint billows up in his mind.

This sweet fairy does not know what she’s done with that shared bite, how his mind goes doughy and sap sticky when the fruit dissipates between them and his mouth finds her own.

He wonders if she does this often, seduces larger beasts to toy with and steal from to continue her reckless romping through the forest, drift off further to the mountains and the sea, endlessly searching for the very thing he’s already found with her. It does not escape him how tightly he keeps her in his hold then, nails leaving indentations in her waist as he brings her as closely as he can, licks into her mouth until she shivers.

He would bring her flowers and honeycomb, carve little idols of her from every tree she loves if she would just—

“Will you be my mate?,” he asks, abrupt, face heating up to his very ears as he finally lets her go. A croak, a shameful one that leaves him wanting to scurry off like a rabbit, but she’s already heard it all and stares up at him with a look part doleful, part adoring. The poor thing doesn’t even know him, doesn’t know that he’s already contemplated clearing out the fox dens in the forest and chasing out the wolves to make sure that she was his alone.

If she tossed him into the river now he wouldn’t dare blame her, he would only take it out on the stupid salmon with their glistening tails, and maybe if he brought her back a treasure made of fish bone and scale he could change her mind.

But she only kisses him again, lingers right on his cheek like something a proper lover would do, before telling him that she’s grateful he’s never come to harm her, that he didn’t mind sharing his fruit on those too-hot days when she didn’t feel roused enough to hunt down the mice and the bunnies, and she even appreciated his kiss: something she tells him that had made her feel like nothing else in her life. All of the very things he’s only imagined her saying in that sweet voice she uses to whisper to the pretty flowers and the bright red cardinals tweeting back to her.

He’s never been sweet, but he believes it when she tells him that he is when they’re lying side by side in the cabin later. There’s a bruise on his shoulder the shape of her teeth and one to match of his own making on her thigh. He can’t keep himself from curling his hand around her there, thumb brushing over that purple mark he’s left as he buries his face into her shoulder and catches magnolia in her scent.

“I really like you,” she admits quietly as the night air begins to chill the sweat on their bodies, as she guides his hand up to press a kiss to his fingertips. As if she had no idea just how badly he longed to ruin anything else she’s ever said that to, set the forest ablaze and lie and laugh with her in the ash.

“I love you,” he says in turn, damning himself further as he always did to a somber oblivion. Only, this one doesn’t leave. Not even when his hand pries from her mouth to take hold of her breast and his teeth graze her skin. Her face is warm, eyes misty, like she’s just been given the most hearty helping of something delicious amidst pure famine.

She doesn’t laugh at his confession, doesn’t bat his face away from her nipple, only suggests that they bathe beneath the moon. He can not fault her for not reciting the words; this bout has only made him further intent on pulling her in to keep. He convinces himself that all it would take is time, or a rougher fuck, something. He’s never been too patient, either.

The fox curls into his lap as the water reaches them, head thrown back where she sits, impaled and ecstatic while his fingers drift to her hips, head pressed to her chest where he tells her that she has more than paid him back for what she’s stolen.

She didn’t need to lie or let him sully her out of pity anymore. Testing and prying in his own way, even as he whispers that confession to her again and again, against her clavicle and up to her neck with every languid roll of her hips.

The truth spills from her mouth like rain when she comes undone, a soft sentiment that pulls him below a warm tide, drowned out and washed away only by the words she speaks then and the way her body wraps so snug around him.

She tells him that she wishes to stay like this… for as long as she possibly can.

He carries her home like a princess from some storybook, lies her in his bed and pulls her close with a grip so tight that she whines about it being too hot— that his warmth is almost smothering, but still melts beneath him when his lips find her own again. Breaking away from her feels worse than those hangdog days he had only spent watching her from afar, longing for the things that she had only now allowed for him to feel.

But König swears to her then when her eyes lock to his and her tail begins that gentle swaying again, that no matter what she will be here forever. He’ll make sure of it.

#könig x reader #tw: hybrid

289 notes · View notes

watatsumiis · 6 months

Text

Being A Part of the Sumeru Squad!

I've been thinking a lot recently about being a part of the ‘in’ group in Sumeru - the ones shown to be good friends on screen already (Tighnari, Cyno, Al Haitham and Kaveh!) I feel like there's lots of ways one could slot themselves into the dynamic and it's just very pleasant and fun to think about.

(Rambles below the cut. Platonic stuff, reader is referred to as ‘you’ and is entirely gender neutral)

Though the squad is almost constantly making playful little jabs at one another, bickering back and forth and whatnot, they're overall a pretty supportive and kind group and accept you into their midst without too much fuss.

You soon find yourself invited to a myriad of small, casual get-togethers where the group catches up with one another. It's kind of weirdly formal at first, with so many of them holding such high and important statuses.

Luckily, Kaveh also ends up feeling pretty left out during these discussions, so you'll have someone to chat with or ask questions when you've lost track of the topic at hand. Plus, he's often got some very funny (and surprisingly astute) commentary to add on, even when the subject is painfully dull.

Once all the politics are out of the way, the conversation tends to ease right up for a little while. Regardless of whether you're at some restaurant or cafe, or just hanging out at someone's house, there's usually snacks available and things will remain super lighthearted for a bit, all jokes and talks of recently released books or occasional infodumps about hyperfixations and special interests.

On that subject, whenever the stars align and two or more group members have the same special interest or hyperfixation, hoo boy, you can expect them to monopolise the conversation and somehow always drag it back to whatever niche fascinations that they may have accrued lately.

If you have something you want to talk about, you can rest assured that at least one person in the room will be able to engage. Everybody has their own collection of equally specific and obscure knowledge - with the occasional kind of hilarious overlap. Kaveh and Cyno’s shared fascination with Fontanian machinery, or Tighnari and Al-Haitham’s in-depth discussions of insectoid languages and their potential overlap with human ones are some of the first to come to mind.

Of course, disagreements do break out every now and then - but everyone is fairly civil for the most part, if a little bit overdramatic and occasionally loud. It's interesting to see how everyone the group tends to take sides almost as soon as a hint of a possible disagreement rears its head. Al-Haitham once questioned Cyno's sense of humour, querying whether it could really be considered comedy if nobody was laughing, and pretty soon, Tighnari and Kaveh were arguing along as passionately as if they'd been personally insulted.

You tend to be the tiebreaker more often than not - with such an evenly split group, there often tends to be an even balance between whatever arguments. It doesn't help that Al-Haitham likes to break it all down and give pros and cons for both sides (while still keeping his own stance firm), which may make it impossible for you to decide.

Luckily, it's easy enough for you to guide the group's attention elsewhere. Just offer to make them some hot drinks or ask if someone wants to play a round of Genius Invocation, and it's like the argument never happened at all.

It's easy to wind up feeling a little out of place in a group of such highly ranking people, but it's like your friends develop a sixth sense for when you're starting to get a little confused or feeling out of your depth. Instead of poking fun at you (like they do for Kaveh), they'll find a way to rope you into the conversation that doesn't put too much pressure on you. Cyno and Tighnari, especially, seem to have a way of relating things to subjects that are in your area of expertise to help you parse them better so you can find your footing and be debating back and forth with the rest of them.

Game nights tend to get really intense. It's not a case of if someone will flip their lid, it's simply a case of when. Alliances and subsequent betrayals are all too common, and you'll often find yourself being bribed to help someone one-up another person.

They even have a ‘trophy’ for winning each week's game night. It's a tiny crown, carved out of wood and painted gold. Collei made it and donated it to the group. Whoever possesses the crown also possesses the ultimate bragging rights until the next gaming night (or until they accidentally sit on it and squash it with their big clumsy butt. Kaveh ).

Though the group is chaotic, noisy, and constantly teasing one another, they're all so supportive of one another and will stick together through thick and thin. As the conversations slow down, sometimes some pretty serious subjects get brought up, heavy venting and other such similar things.

Though, they're all very understanding if someone isn't in the correct headspace for that sort of talk, and will happily postpone it or talk about it elsewhere if needed. They're also very used to multiple conversations happening at once, so it's easy enough for someone to dodge around the heavy topics if they need to.

The squad can be almost violently supportive at times. Sometimes you worry that Cyno may be one hundred percent genuine about abusing his status as the General Mahamatra to threaten somebody who mildly inconvenienced you one time in the market last week.

Overall, the vibes of the friend group are super fun (if a little intense at times). They may not say it directly, but everyone is super glad to have you around, hanging out with them and getting in on all the goofs they make and shaking up their dynamic a little bit.

Please don't repost, steal, copy or otherwise plagiarise my writing! I do not consent for my works to be translated and posted elsewhere, or copy - pasted into bot or AI technology.

344 notes · View notes

starry-bi-sky · 5 months

Text

thomas wayne au excerpts - things that could've been part of a grander fic except there's no grander fic

thomas wayne au - an au i made last year where danny is literally just. thomas wayne. his full name was Daniel Thomas Fenton and he started going by Thomas Nightingale after he was disowned. because of course. here is a link to the first post if anyone wants to see a more in depth view of the au (its also the start of me using the ‘danny fenton is not the ghost king’ au lmao

additional info: bruce is the result of a failed cloning attempt from vlad - vlad used a combination of danny's dna and an unnamed girl (Martha's) to make him to try and balance out the ectoplasm use. this resulted in a slightly liminal but otherwise completely human and stable baby boy. Bruce is, by all accounts, Danny's biological son. Danny named him Bruce

Danny was 24 when he died, he took in Bruce when he was 16. He is, so far, a single father in this au. (But if I WERE to add martha she wouldn't be sam or a DP character but rather a separate character on her own.)

Essentially they would go as:

Martha, 19: water does terrifying things to corpses

Danny, 19, half ghost: *heart eyes* really? tell me more they're morticia and gomez your honor

---- Like starlight -----

Bruce's father could light up a room. He was like a sun, his gravitational field could just pull you in, and before you knew it you'd be orbiting around him like one of his many planets.

He's seen it in action before, in the rare moments Thomas Wayne would allow him to accompany him to the socialite events he went to; the fundraisers; the charities. Bruce, as tall as his father's waist, would cling to his leg and watch as people drifted towards him and his star-blinding smile.

It's fitting that his father's favorite thing in the world were stars, he fit right in with them.

As an adult, Bruce has tried copious amount of times to mimic him. To try and capture a fraction of that light, that charm, in his own act - but here's the thing. Thomas Wayne wasn't made of starlight only in front of the cameras, he was made of starlight outside of it as well.

(So when older socialites laugh and tell him he's so much like his father, Bruce just thinks they are liars. They've only ever seen the Thomas Wayne his father showed them, Bruce is nothing like his father.)

In the manor, whatever room he stepped into seemed to brighten, and maybe it was just Bruce's own child-memory fuzzing it to raise his father onto a pedestal, but he stands by it. His father was a solar system, his very own galaxy. Bruce was just the lucky planet that was close enough to orbit him.

--------- arrival time ------

Ancients, ancients, what the fuck convinced Danny to ever go to Gotham of all places? Crime Capitol of the world? He's not sure, but he's been wandering around the country for the last few months, swapping between flying late at night as Phantom, and taking the busses and trains when he had the money, and was too exhausted to fly.

And of course, what convinced him to come here with his kid no less, who was just at the cusp of turning a year old? Whose curiosity of the world was growing greater by the day? Who wanted to look around and explore, and was growing tired of being held at all hours of the day by his father.

But he was going to be held, at least for as long as they were in Gotham for. He didn't trust the stuff on the sidewalks, and he didn't trust the people walking on it. Bruce was tiny, and Danny would lose his mind if he lost him in a crowd.

In his arms, Bruce whined and wriggled, pushing at his shoulders in the signature way he did when he wanted to be let down. Danny tightened his hold, and adjusted his place on his hip.

"I know, bumblebee." Danny muttered, resting his chin on Bruce's small head. His hair was still thin, but it was dark and soft, and tickled his throat a little. "But not yet, I need to find somewhere for us to stay first."

He needed to find somewhere for them to stay, permanently. He couldn't keep living like this, and he couldn't let Bruce grow up like this either. Constantly moving, homeless, unsure of when he was going to eat next? It wasn't good for him. But he needed to find a city he liked, and after that? He wasn't sure. Where did he start?

But Bruce doesn't like his answer, he whines at him, louder, and his wriggling increases. He wants down, he wants to move. They were in a new place again, he wanted to explore. He's too little to fully understand what his dad's saying. "Dada." He said, his voice thick with the accent of a child first learning to speak.

"I know," Danny repeats, stressing the word as his eyes flitted about. There was a park nearby -- maybe he and Bruce could stop there for a bit. Bruce could move around, and Danny could figure out his next move.

It was getting dark, he didn't want to be out in Gotham when it was dark. Shuffling, he moved the inside of his jacket to wrap around Bruce better. It was getting cold, too. Last winter with Bruce had been hellish - Bruce's liminality meant that Danny's immunity to the cold hadn't been passed down to him. Danny had spent all winter terrified that Bruce was going to get sick and die. He didn't want to go through that stress again, especially now that Bruce would be moving.

He hoped they could find new living arrangements soon.

---- dniwer eht klolc - clockwork's conversation ---

Laughing quietly as Bruce ran out of the room, Danny turned his attention back to the mirror, his fingers curled around the knot of his tie. They'd been planning this outing for weeks since the movie was first announced, and Danny wasn't going to let anything ruin tonight.

Humming under his breath, his hands fell from his tie and he steps back. They were leaving in half an hour, at best, but experience from the last six years has taught Danny that he wants to be ready before then.

In his reflection, the clock behind him stops ticking, and a wave of nothing washes over him, a subtle shift he's gotten used to that was the sensation of time stopping. Ticking, soft and coming from all four sides of the room, filled his ears.

Danny's smile drops. And behind him, Clockwork swirled into existence like a blackhole reversing its pull. "Don't go out tonight, Thomas." He says, his voice stern.

That wasn't happening.

He reaches up to push back a loose strand of hair out of his face. "Does something happen to Bruce, Clockwork?" He asks, his voice deceptively calm. That would be the only reason he would postpone tonight. If it endangered Bruce, then he would just have to break the news to him that they'd have to go tomorrow.

In the reflection, Clockwork's lips thinned, pressing together tersely. He looked tense, the grip on his staff was tight, tighter than Danny's seen it before in recent years. And it worried him a little.

Clockwork is silent for a few seconds, hesitant, before he finally speaks. "No, Bruce will be fine." He says, and uncharacteristic of him, he shuffles, "But--"

Ah, good then. Danny's smile returns briefly across his face. Then it could be something Danny can handle. "But nothing then, Clockwork." He says, interrupting the Ancient firmly. He leans back slightly to look over himself again in the mirror, before going to undo his tie. He's changed his mind about it.

"Boo has been looking forward to our movie all week, I'm not crushing his hopes by changing my mind last minute." In just a few seconds the tie was off his neck and tossed onto bed behind him. And Danny was reaching over the dresser beside him to grab a pearl necklace, he normally didn't wear it, it belonged to Mrs. Wayne and he inherited it after she and Mr. Wayne passed away last year. It wouldn't hurt to wear it for a special occasion like this.

Clockwork's lips tightened, and his shoulders tensed up. "Thomas," He says lowly, "Please."

...Clockwork never said please. Danny's never heard him say please in the last ten years he's known him. This... must have been pretty serious -- but, his core tugged at him. He couldn't cancel without finding the reason why. Bruce was so important to him, Danny couldn't break his heart with this without learning why. He wouldn't allow it, and neither would his core.

He hooks the necklace around his neck and turns to face Clockwork, frowning deeply. "Does something happen tonight?" If he knew the reason -- he just needed to know the reason.

Clockwork stares at him, and something that Danny can't catch appears across his face. "...I cannot tell you." He says after a long moment, his voice quiet.

That... is not the answer Danny wants. He won't cancel.

He frowns. "If something happens tonight..." He says slowly -- Clockwork said that Bruce is unharmed. That must mean Danny was able to handle it. He allows himself to smile reassuringly, and he steps forward to clap a hand on Clockwork's shoulder. "Then I will handle it, alright? I promise."

He gets no response back. Clockwork's expression unreadable as he nods silently - Danny's anxiety curls in his gut. He's being so unlike himself. But he shakes Clockwork's shoulder gently and steps around him, leaving the room.

After a minute, he feels time return to normal.

#dpxdc #dp x dc #dp x dc crossover #dpxdc crossover #dp crossover #dpdc #danny fenton is not the ghost king #dc x dp #dp dc #dp dc crossover #dc x dp crossover #danny is thomas wayne au #danny calling bruce 'bumblebee' >>>>>#he adores his kid man. absolutely loves him. he'd give him the world on a silver platter if he even so much asked.#dont have many tag thoughts for this au unfortunately. its pr straight forward considering danny is going to die when bruce is eight #left the movie they went to see pr ambiguous since mark of zorro came out in 1940 #only thought of it now that danny wore the pearls as i was writing this. just for the extra reference to canon #single dad danny #martha and danny would fall in love with each other via hyperfixations. they'd be engaged by the time they died.#their wedding would be in a month - little bruce was gonna be ringbearer at his dad's wedding :) and he'd already be calling Martha mom #danny: CW said bruce was unharmed tonight so everything will be fine :) i will handle it.#danny: dies and becomes a whalefall - and thus incapable of returning as a ghost to watch over bruce #yeah clockwork meant physically unharmed. he was in pain while talking to danny - his boy was gonna die tonight and he was never gonna see #him again bc danny wasnt coming back as a ghost.

247 notes · View notes

tossawary · 5 months

Text

Regarding "The Hobbit" film trilogy, even if I ended up personally disliking and resenting how much time and focus the elf characters (and others) ended up taking away from the dwarves whom I think deserved more focus as rich internal characters (I know that studio pressures are a factor in that terrible love triangle and so on), I still... vaguely appreciate the effort to create and include named female characters like Tauriel, when the book is sadly lacking in them. I think she's fine, actually. Comparatively, there are many other elements in these adaptations that I think are much, MUCH worse.

But still, if you want to add female characters to this story, the obvious answer to me seems to be to just make half the Company into dwarf women? (With similarly fancy beards and other facial hair! Because I think that's fun.) It's just... so much easier?

Do NOT come at me with that "dwarf women are rare" bullshit. Unreliable narration. Logistically unlikely. Also, if you believe that "men are the warriors and craftsmen, the women stay at home" is how dwarf society strictly functions (boring, honestly, on top of being incredibly sexist), I could argue that the Battle of Azanulbizar and other struggles probably left a significant dent in this dwarf group's male population, leaving behind many widows and mothers without children to pick up the work. The battlefields have come to and TAKEN both Erebor and Moria from the dwarves. I see no good reason why dwarf women would not have equal investment in reclaiming their home and the gold. Many of the Company are not presented to be formally trained warriors, anyway.

Now, ideally, we could do way queerer stuff in terms of both romance and gender here, but we know cowards with veto powers would not let this happen. Still, I feel like basic genderbending would have been a very doable move and is, actually, a very reasonable ask of an adaptation that would have added some depth to the story even if you didn't acknowledge the change at all.

Like, preferably, this would be an adaptational change that would be directly addressed. Maybe all of the Company appear male at first due to traveling that way (and assumptions made by humans and hobbits), then Bilbo might learn that some of the Company are dwarf women when he becomes closer to all of them. We could have a brief scene acknowledging that dwarf women are fighting these battles for their pasts and their futures too. It doesn't have to be a big thing! They can just be there. Existing. Participating.

I even think it would be fun if two of the dwarves were actually an older married couple traveling together, instead of brothers or cousins, because loving married bickering and battle couples are fun. You can have running jokes in the background about how Smaug's invasion ruined their wedding day, and going back and forth with "you never take me anywhere nice" @ each other whenever they're stuck in Goblintown or the Mirkwood dungeons. (I like seeing good marriages & partnerships in fiction and established couples going on fantasy quests together. I just think it's neat.)

But another (sillier) direction is that you could just cast some actresses in beards to play some of the dwarves, then leave the fact that some of these characters are probably dwarf women (traveling as men) as a fun detail for the audience. Bilbo is either too oblivious to notice or much too polite to bring it up at all. It's canonically compliant to the text this way!

Now, obviously some few people would have complained that Tolkien's work was being ruined by "political correctness", but they complained anyway about Tauriel (when there are MANY other bad choices in these movies), and what worthwhile arguments could they have possibly made against genderbending some of the THIRTEEN dwarves? Like, most casual fans I know cannot NAME the entire Company, who get so little character development in the book that the films had to come up with unique designs and backgrounds for most of them anyway. Bro (directed towards someone objecting to the idea of including female dwarves), be real, there's no way that you honestly cared this much about "Nori the Dwarf" before right now.

#tossawary tolkien #long post

187 notes · View notes

subtract-me-from-your-heart · 1 year

Text

I like the show version of Chishiya, and here’s why.

I love manga!Chishiya, but he always felt pretty one-dimensional to me. His backstory is one of parental neglect, similar to Arisu. Chishiya basically fails to develop a sense of empathy (unlike Arisu, who just has ye olde Main Character Syndrome). He decides to enter med school because he thinks that a profession where he saves lives might actually help him grow a Give-a-Shitter. Spoiler: it doesn’t.

Manga!Chishiya is an emotional flat line. He doesn’t care about other characters because he can’t. I remember thinking that he had a lot of the same traits as a serial killer. He viewed the world through nothing but intellect, and other people were either nonexistent or pawns to be used to further his own ends. Even the idea that maybe being responsible for the lives of others will help him grow some empathy is a chilling one.

That’s cool. I actually really like those kinds of characters. I also think there are enough characters like that in the story. Characters who you look at and think, “Okay, yes, you are terrible.” The big problem is that it makes his weird self-sacrifice with Usagi absolutely senseless. Like, it came out of nowhere. There wasn't any sort of satisfying build-up where I felt like, "Okay, yeah, this makes sense."

His updated backstory adds a dimension that wasn’t present in the manga version. Rather than simply lacking empathy for other people, you can actually see the moment in which he makes the conscious decision to turn it off. He has this light bulb moment where he realizes that the world is a cruel and unfair place. He realizes that allowing himself to feel for other people is only going to hurt him in the end because he’s powerless to change the systems that are actively harming them. It's better to protect himself and survive.

Chishiya is a selfish character, but the idea that his selfishness stems out of a desire to protect himself from pain gives his character some actual depth that was always missing for me. It also makes the King of Diamonds game a lot more meaningful. Kuzuryu went through the same exact thing, but instead of turning off his feelings, he paralyzed himself with a moral dilemma. Where Chishiya chose to treat all human life as equally worthless, Kuzuryu couldn’t stop looking for some value to assign, whether that was to ease his conscience or to inform a sense of justice he was desperately trying to find.

I really, really like how that dichotomy played out.

I also think it's interesting that Chishiya feels a lot more psychological in the show. He's clearly highly intelligent in both the manga and the show, and maybe it's just Murakami's performance, but there's something more sinister to him. He's clearly developed some sort of friendly relationship with Kuina. He displays an ability to be playful and seems to genuinely be extending an offer of friendship to Arisu (up until he sells him out for one corn chip). Seeing how he can make these connections that feel genuine to the people involved (unlike his manga self who is pretty universally despised) and still be willing to fuck those people over for his own survival makes him feel a lot more menacing to me.

This ability to flawlessly manipulate and betray also means he has a deep understanding of human emotion, which is illogical by nature. In the manga, Chishiya says outright that he isn't suited for Hearts games, but show!Chishiya feels tailor-made for them.

It's also interesting that in the manga, he seems to get harsher and more isolated. By contrast, in the show, he feels to me like he softens episode by episode. It really struck me in the Jack of Hearts game when he said something about his partner dying because he was too kind. On the surface, you could take it as a typical judgy Chishiya comment, but there actually appeared to be a glimmer of sadness, or envy, or regret. Or all of the above. Or maybe it's just Murakami Nijiro's face that made me think that. Either way, I think it was smart of the showrunners to throw him in that game.

In the end, the King of Diamonds game pushes him to the realization that he really is envious of people who have the ability to be kind. He's envious of people who can make the selfless choice. And it's not because he can't be. It's because he's closed himself off to the vulnerability that allows a person to make that kind of decision. You can't truly save others if you're always protecting yourself.

So, he saves Usagi to try to become that person. And I don't feel it was out of character at all.

#alice in borderland #sky in the borderland #chishiya shuntaro #you all can take this with a grain of salt #i spend too much time thinking about him lmfao

1K notes · View notes

fragileheartbeats · 23 days

Text

Ok so Rhaenyra is literally a perfect character who can't do no wrong and don't have any flaws. She also don't have any character development. She's always the same. They made a copy of Daenerys but Daenerys wasn't like Rhaenyra. She was a little girl, alone to face the cruel world that's against her. Her story is about how she grows from a little girl to a woman and that's why I love her.

Creating a perfect character with no character development can lead to mixed reactions from audiences. While some people might appreciate the character's flawless traits and abilities, others may find them boring or unrealistic.

Here's why:

1. Lack of Relatability: Think about your favorite characters from books, movies, or TV shows. What makes them memorable? Often, it's their flaws and struggles that make them feel human and relatable. Characters like Harry Potter, Frodo Baggins, or Luke Skywalker all face personal challenges and make mistakes along their journeys, which allows audiences to empathize with them and invest in their stories. When a character is perfect, audiences may struggle to connect with them because they don't see themselves reflected in the character's experiences.

Aegon make many mistakes.

Rhaenyra always do the right thing (or at least they want to show she do).

2. No Growth or Change: One of the most satisfying aspects of storytelling is watching characters evolve over time. Whether it's overcoming a personal fear, learning to trust others, or developing new skills, character development is what keeps audiences invested in the journey. Without this growth and change, the story can feel stagnant, and audiences may lose interest because there's no sense of progression or development.

Aegon change from a bully to a broken man to a king that don't let anything stop him from his goals (Harry said it himself).

Rhaenyra always was a girl boss and always will be, there's no change.

3. Predictability: Stories thrive on conflict and uncertainty. When a character is perfect and always succeeds, there's little tension or suspense in the narrative. Audiences know that no matter what challenges the character faces, they will always come out on top, which can make the story feel formulaic and predictable. In contrast, flawed characters like Aegon introduce unpredictability because audiences aren't sure how they will respond to challenges or whether they will succeed in overcoming them.

Aegon was always a disgrace to his family and despised by others, he tries but it is never enough. But now that he is the king, he tries his hardest. You can't understand what's in his mind.

Rhaenyra always gets what she wants and nothing stops her and her behavior are always the same. We know that everytime we gonna get a girl boss moment.

4. Lack of Depth: Flaws and imperfections add layers to a character's personality and motivations. They make the character feel more real and multidimensional, with strengths and weaknesses that shape their actions and decisions. Without flaws, a character can feel flat or uninteresting because there's nothing driving their behavior or challenging their beliefs. Depth comes from the internal conflicts and struggles that characters face, and without these, the character may lack substance.

Aegon are the most flawed character in the show.

Rhaenyra is the most flawless character in the show.

5. Unrealistic: Audiences often seek characters they can relate to or empathize with. When a character is depicted as perfect, with no flaws or shortcomings, they can seem more like a fantasy or wish fulfillment rather than a believable representation of a human being. This lack of realism can distance audiences from the character and the story, as they struggle to connect with someone who seems too perfect to be true.

Aegon is not perfect, he's no prince charming.

Rhaenyra is that dreamy girl that everyone wants to be.

6. Lack of Emotional Investment: Emotional investment in a story comes from seeing characters struggle, grow, and change over time. When a character is already perfect from the outset, there's less emotional payoff for audiences because there's no sense of jeopardy or uncertainty. Without the emotional highs and lows that come from witnessing a character's journey, audiences may find it difficult to become emotionally invested in the story.

Aegon was abused by his family and that's why he hate himself and that's why he's so broken. Then he lost his son and that's change him again.

Rhaenyra always have the same reaction. No matter what happens she always keep a perfect face.

7. Missed Opportunities for Conflict: Conflict is essential for driving the plot forward and keeping audiences engaged. Characters who are perfect and have no flaws or weaknesses may struggle to generate meaningful conflict within the story. Without conflict, there's less tension and drama, and the narrative may feel stagnant or lacking in momentum. Meaningful conflict challenges characters, tests their limits, and forces them to confront their weaknesses, which can lead to greater character development and a more engaging story overall.

Rhaenyra don't even have any weakness to begin with.

8. Limited Narrative Potential: Characters who are perfect can limit the narrative potential of a story because they offer fewer opportunities for growth, change, and development. Stories are often driven by the personal journeys of the characters, as they overcome obstacles, face challenges, and evolve over time. When a character is already perfect, there may be fewer opportunities for meaningful character arcs or significant changes in the narrative. This can result in a story that feels static or repetitive, with little room for exploration or innovation.

Aegon have meaningful arcs for example the death of his son.

Rhaenyra don't have any arcs.

9. Lack of Growth Potential: Character growth is a fundamental aspect of storytelling, as it allows characters to evolve and change over the course of a narrative. When a character is already perfect, there's little room for them to grow or develop further. Growth often comes from overcoming challenges, learning from mistakes, and confronting flaws, but if a character is flawless from the beginning, there are fewer opportunities for meaningful growth. As a result, the character may feel static or unchanging, which can lead to a lack of narrative progression and emotional investment from the audience.

Aegon is not a recurring character, he has a different reaction to everything that happens.

Rhaenyra is like a broken clock that doesn't move and shows only one time.

10. Difficulty in Sustaining Interest: Storytelling relies on creating tension, conflict, and obstacles for characters to overcome. Perfect characters, however, may find it challenging to sustain audience interest because they lack vulnerabilities or weaknesses that create tension. Without the risk of failure or the possibility of character flaws impacting their journey, audiences may struggle to remain engaged with the story. Over time, this lack of tension or uncertainty can lead to a decline in interest and investment from the audience.

Rhaenyra and black characters mostly are really boring, they all have the same passion, the same personality, the same reactions (Except Daemon).

11. Lack of Empathy: Empathy is crucial for audience engagement, as it allows viewers to connect with characters on an emotional level. Characters who are depicted as perfect may evoke feelings of envy or resentment from the audience, rather than empathy. Audiences may struggle to relate to characters who seem to have everything handed to them without facing any real challenges or setbacks. As a result, the audience may feel disconnected from the character's journey and less invested in their successes or failures.

Aegon was the son that his father always wanted but he didn't even pay attention to him, he was born as a result of his mother being raped, he was abused by his grandfather and his mother, he was forced to marry his sister that he didn't loved and at the age of 14 he had to sleep with her, Aegon and his brothers have no friendly relationship but they still don't leave each other.

Rhaenyra had wonderful parents, she slept with men she loved, her first husband was her biggest supporter, she married the man she loved, she has wonderful children, she is a good mother, she is a good wife and all in all they are a complete family. And they are perfect.

12. Diminished Emotional Impact: Emotional impact is a key component of storytelling, as it allows audiences to connect with the characters and become emotionally invested in their journey. When a character is already perfect, there may be fewer opportunities for emotional resonance, as there's less at stake for the character. Audiences may feel less moved by the character's triumphs or setbacks because they haven't witnessed the character struggle or overcome significant challenges. As a result, the emotional impact of the story may be diminished, leading to a less engaging and memorable narrative overall.

Do we even see anything like this about Rhaenyra?

While a perfect character may seem appealing on the surface, they often lack the depth, relatability, and growth that make characters truly compelling. It's the flaws and imperfections that make characters human and relatable, allowing audiences to connect with them on a deeper level and become emotionally invested in their stories.

98 notes · View notes

nimata-beroya · 2 years

Text

Star Wars Writing Resources

Note: None of the resources below are mine. I just assembled them in one place for your and my convenience. Feel free to use and reblog. If you know of any other useful site missing from the list, let me know and I'll gladly add it.

NOTE (05/17/23): There's a new, much more comprehensive version HERE.

Places

Interactive Galaxy Map by Henry Bernberg

Map of the Galaxy

List of planets and moons [Wikipedia /needs expanding]

Planet Name Generator 1 [SciFi Ideas]

Planetary System Generator [Donjon]

Character Development

Star Wars Name Generator 1 [Donjon]

Star Wars OC flow chart by @thefoodwiththedood

Star Wars Name Generator 2 [FantasyNames]

Star Wars Name Generator 3 [FantasyNames]

The character creator

Droid Name Generator

Star Wars Randomizer by @aureutr

Clone Trooper face/helmet template pack by @fox-trot

Clone Picrew by @batdad

Character Picrew [Twi-leks, Zabraks, Torgutas and Nautolans] @/megaramikaeli

Star Wars Character Templates by SmacksArt [the ULTIMATE battery of template for any human/humanoid original character in any era. From troopers to droids, from Jedi to Sith, from KOTOR to the sequel Trilogy. 100% RECOMMENDED]

Miscellaneous

Standard Calendar and Holidays [including month names!]

Galactic Standard Calendar [wookiepedia // including week day names]

Date converter according to SWTOR [Google sheet]

Hyperspace Travel Times (to calculate how much time would take to go from point A to point B within the GFFA)

Materials (fabrics, leathers, silks, plastics, construction, metal composites, etc.)

List of TCW Opening Quotes

Ship Generator 3D

Star Wars: The Clone Wars Republic Military Hierarchy Flowcharts by @cacodaemonia

Languages; Phrases and Slang; Vocabulary

Coruscant Translator (from/to Basic from/to Old Corellian, Proto-Basic, and Smuggler's Cant; Catharese and High Cathar; Cheunh and Minnisiat; Echani and Thyrsian; Mirialan; Flora Colossi, Ortolan, and -everyone's favorite- Mando'a)

In-Universe phrases and slang [Google sheet]

List of phrases and slang [wookiepedia]

List of equivalents to real-world objects [wookiepidia]

Star Wars Menu Generator

Helpful blogs

The amazing @fox-trot, who not only makes astonishing art and write an amazing fic, she also responds to medical questions and gives all kinds of references for writing medic characters.

@writebetterstarwars, which seems to be inactive, but there are a bunch of references there.

@howtofightwrite The place to find out how to write a good fight scene.

@scriptmedic no longer active, but it has a great deal of useful information.

@scripttorture for your whump needs. Major trigger warning for all its content.

Writing in General (For those who don't want to die like Stormtroopers)

SlickWrite: Completely free; online. Checks grammar, punctuation, flow, and writing style according to different settings (including fiction writing).

ProWritingAid: [RECOMMENDED] One of the most thorough online proofreader I've ever used. Although when using a free account gives extremely thorough feedback, it gives +20 different in-depth reports for only the first 500 words for free. However, you can earn a premium account license (for a year or for life) if you get 10 or 20 new users signing up for free; (if you wouldn't mind doing so using the link above and help me earn mine, please). The settings allow you to check your writing according to your needs, from general to formal to creative. It has a bonus that you can check depending on the genre you're writing. For example, in creative, you can choose romance or sci-fiction (there are 14 sub-genre in total). And just like google docs, you can share a document, and people can view, comment or edit.

LanguageTool: [RECOMMENDED] Another excellent proofreader. It also has a word limit in free accounts, but if you use the add-on for Google Docs, it counts each page as a new document, so hitting the limit is nearly impossible. It helps you to rewrite a sentence, even if it doesn't raise any flags; it's very useful for when your sentence is grammatically correct, but it doesn't feel quite right.

Grammarly, Hemingway Editor: No so great, but they do the basic job.

#star wars writing resources #star wars #the mandalorian #the bad batch #sw rebels #the clone wars #obi wan kenobi #obi wan kenobi show #tbobf #the book of boba fett #andor

3K notes · View notes

writing-with-sophia · 9 months

Note

Can you please make a post on How To Create A Good Main Character (hero/antihero)?

Specifically, how to avoid the instance where a secondary character stands out more/is more lovable?

How to create a good main character

Creating a compelling main character, whether they are a hero or an antihero, is crucial for engaging storytelling and capturing readers' imaginations. The protagonist serves as the driving force behind the narrative, and their journey and development shape the overall story arc. To create a good main character, consider the following elements:

Clear Goals and Motivations: Your main character should have well-defined goals and motivations that propel their actions throughout the story. These goals can be external (e.g., saving the world, solving a mystery) or internal (e.g., self-discovery, personal growth). By establishing strong desires and motivations, you give readers a reason to root for and invest in the character's journey.

Complexity and Flaws: A good main character should be multidimensional and have flaws or internal conflicts. Flaws make characters relatable and human, while internal conflicts add depth and complexity to their personality. These imperfections can drive the character's growth and create opportunities for compelling storytelling. You can give your main character a mix of qualities that seem contradictory at first glance. For example, they could be both confident and insecure, compassionate yet prone to anger, or intelligent but plagued by self-doubt. These contradictions create internal tension and intrigue, making the character more complex and realistic. Or you can also show that your main character has vulnerabilities and insecurities beneath their confident exterior. These vulnerabilities can be related to past traumas, fears, or personal weaknesses. By gradually unveiling these hidden vulnerabilities, you create opportunities for character growth and empathy from the reader.

Backstory and Depth: Providing a well-crafted backstory for your main character enhances their depth and allows readers to understand their past experiences, shaping their present identity. Consider their upbringing, past relationships, or significant life events that have influenced their worldview or shaped their personality. This backstory can influence their actions and decisions in the story.

Authenticity and Relatability: The main character should feel authentic and relatable to readers. Create a main character with whom readers can empathize and connect emotionally. Show their vulnerabilities, fears, and insecurities to make them relatable and human. This can also be achieved through realistic dialogue, relatable emotions, and identifiable struggles. By evoking empathy, readers will become emotionally invested in the character's journey and root for their success.

Growth and Development: A strong main character undergoes growth and transformation throughout the story. Allow your main character to face significant challenges and obstacles that require them to grow and evolve. These challenges can push the character out of their comfort zone, test their abilities, and force them to confront their flaws or fears. Through overcoming these obstacles, the character develops resilience, gains new insights, and undergoes personal growth. This character development also allows readers to witness their evolution and creates a sense of satisfaction or catharsis.

Moral Ambiguity: Avoid creating a main character who is purely good or evil. Instead, introduce moral ambiguity by giving them ethical dilemmas or conflicting values. This complexity can generate internal conflicts and force the character to make difficult choices that challenge their own sense of right and wrong. If you're creating an antihero as the main character, you need to consider exploring moral complexity. Antiheroes often possess morally ambiguous qualities, engaging readers by challenging traditional notions of heroism. Balancing their virtuous and flawed aspects can make them intriguing and thought-provoking.

Relationships and Dynamics: The main character's interactions with other characters can illuminate different facets of their personality. Show how their interactions with other characters influence their beliefs, values, and behaviors. As relationships evolve, the character may reveal different aspects of themselves or experience changes in their motivations and loyalties. Well-developed relationships, whether they are friendships, romantic entanglements, or rivalries, can contribute to the main character's growth and provide opportunities for conflict, resolution, or emotional impact.

Consistency and Growth Potential: It is essential to maintain consistency in their core identity and values. Readers should recognize the character's essential traits and motivations throughout the story. This consistency helps them form a bond with the character and creates a sense of authenticity. However, while a main character should have consistent traits and behaviors, there should also be room for growth and change. A compelling main character often goes through an inner journey or transformation alongside the external plot. They may have to confront their own flaws, learn valuable lessons, or undergo a change in their beliefs or values. This inner transformation adds depth and complexity to the character's development and resonates with the readers' own experiences of personal growth. Striking a balance between consistency and growth potential allows the character to maintain their core identity while adapting to the challenges they face.

Unique and Memorable Attributes: Give your main character distinctive qualities that make them stand out in the reader's mind. This could be a unique physical characteristic, a particular skill or talent, or a memorable personality trait. These attributes contribute to the character's individuality and make them memorable long after the story has ended.

External and Internal Conflicts: Introduce conflicts that challenge your main character both externally and internally. External conflicts can come in the form of obstacles, adversaries, or difficult circumstances that the character must overcome. Internal conflicts, on the other hand, delve into the character's inner struggles, such as their fears, doubts, or conflicting desires. Balancing these conflicts adds depth and tension to the character's journey.

Agency and Proactivity: Give your main character agency and the ability to drive the story forward. They should be active participants in their own fate, making choices and taking actions that shape the narrative. Passive characters who merely react to the events around them can be less engaging. Allow your main character to have a degree of control and influence over their destiny.

Inner Journey and Transformation: A compelling main character often goes through an inner journey or transformation alongside the external plot. They may have to confront their own flaws, learn valuable lessons, or undergo a change in their beliefs or values. This inner transformation adds depth and complexity to the character's development and resonates with the readers' own experiences of personal growth.

Subtle Complexity: Avoid creating one-dimensional characters by incorporating subtle layers of complexity. Consider giving your main character conflicting desires, ambiguous morality, or hidden depths. These nuanced qualities make the character more intriguing and provide opportunities for deeper exploration and reader engagement.

How to avoid the instance where a secondary character stands out more/ is more lovable?

Well, It's not uncommon for secondary characters to capture readers' attention and become beloved. However, if you want to ensure that your main character remains the focal point of the story and maintains reader engagement, consider the strategies I mentioned above. There are also some other strategies to keep in mind:

Clear Focus and Development: Give your main character a clear and compelling storyline that allows them to grow, change, and face significant challenges. Ensure that their journey is central to the plot and that their character arc is well-developed. This way, readers will be invested in the main character's progression and more likely to connect with them on a deeper level.

Unique Role and Purpose: Establish the main character's unique role and purpose within the story. Highlight their specific skills, abilities, or knowledge that set them apart from the secondary characters. Make sure that the main character's actions and decisions have a significant impact on the overall narrative, reinforcing their importance and making them indispensable to the story's progression.

Emotional Depth and Relatability: Develop the main character's emotional depth and relatability to forge a strong connection between readers and the character. Show their vulnerabilities, fears, and internal struggles. Allow readers to understand their motivations and experiences, creating empathy and investment in their journey.

Strong Characterization: Craft your main character with distinct and memorable traits, a unique voice, and a well-defined personality. Make sure they have their own quirks, strengths, flaws, and complexities that set them apart. This will help the main character stand out and make them more engaging to readers.

Balanced Screen Time: Ensure that the main character receives an appropriate amount of focus and screen time throughout the story. While secondary characters may have their moments to shine, make sure the main character's presence remains consistent and prominent. Avoid sidelining the main character for extended periods, as this can diminish their impact and reader engagement.

Unique Perspective: Offer readers a unique perspective through the main character's point of view. By delving into their thoughts, emotions, and perceptions of the world, you provide readers with a lens through which they experience the story. This unique perspective can set the main character apart and make them more engaging.

Here is some examples:

In the novel "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, the main character is Scout Finch. While Scout is the central protagonist, her father, Atticus Finch, serves as a beloved secondary character. Atticus is a wise and compassionate lawyer who takes on the defense of a black man falsely accused of rape. He embodies integrity, moral courage, and a strong sense of justice. Atticus is well-respected within the community and serves as a moral compass for Scout and her brother Jem.

Despite Atticus being a beloved character in his own right, the story maintains its focus on Scout's coming-of-age journey. While readers admire and connect with Atticus, it is Scout's perspective, growth, and experiences that drive the narrative forward. Atticus' presence enriches the story, but he doesn't overshadow Scout's development and the central themes of racism and empathy explored through her eyes.

Or in "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë, the main character, Jane Eyre, is an independent and strong-willed woman navigating societal expectations and personal growth. The secondary character of Mr. Rochester, the brooding and complicated love interest, adds depth and complexity to Jane's journey without overshadowing her development. Their relationship provides opportunities for Jane to assert her own values and principles.

In conclusion, secondary characters can add depth and richness to a story, and their popularity is not necessarily a negative aspect. A well-developed main character can coexist with beloved secondary characters as long as the main character remains the driving force of the narrative and maintains a strong connection with readers through their development, challenges, and unique role in the story.

I think if you create a good enough and impressive enough main character, your character will still be loved as usual, no matter how prominent the other characters are.

If you want to read more posts about writing, please click here and give me a follow!

266 notes · View notes

general-cyno · 3 months

Text

I sort of rambled about this in the tags of a post, but I wanted to make a proper one myself since I find it very fascinating (law backstory flashback you will always be famous). so one of my favorite scenes is this one:

it is a very meaningful moment for these two, a very clear turning point to their dynamic at that time, and it's made even clearer by how law starts referring to rocinante as cora-san afterwards.

now, there are several instances throughout dressrosa arc where the similarities between doflamingo and law are mentioned, with the former going as far as to call them both birds of a feather. and as it's shown in the flashbacks, reading about flevance was enough to trigger doflamingo's traumatizing memories of his and rocinante's childhood, which seems to motivate him to bring law into the family. the way law seeks to lash out at everything then is reminiscent of doflamingo's own worldview and experiences, at least from his pov:

rocinante noticed those similarities as well and though he tried to (questionably) discourage all kids from joining the DQ pirates by scaring them away, law's case in particular prompted him to bring up the topic with sengoku at some point, as seen during sengoku's conversation with law.

sengoku repeats what everyone says about the amber lead disease, that it's incurable, and warns rocinante not to favor law much for it could jeopardize his mission. whether rocinante's agreement here was reluctant or not ig is up to each reader but learning of law's real/full name (his relation to the D clan) reignites his initial worries and some more, considering the historic opposition/threat the D represents wrt celestial dragons and how this could endanger him if doflamingo were to find out.

so there's even bigger reasons for rocinante to not want law to become doflamingo 2.0. though as he later admits amidst his drunken speech, the will of D no longer matters to him when it comes to saving law, as rocinante's journey to cure his disease ends up making him feel genuine sympathy for law beyond that. he's forced to witness first hand how much discrimination and dehumanization law's subjected to time and time again, because of his disease and ties to flevance. before all this, law's mentioned his imminent death more than a few times and does it after too. and during the first disastrous hospital visit, he tells rocinante: see? I'm not even human anymore!

which brings me to this bit of dialogue:

for all of law's similarities and/or parallels to doflamingo, it's worth noting that rocinante experienced the same things his brother did and due to his younger age probably understood even less of what was happening or why they were being targeted in the first place. compared to doflamingo, rocinante also has way less dialogue in their backstory but one he does have is this:

this happens in the part where rocinante, doflamingo and their father are strung up on a wall and shot at with arrows. the villagers all express their anger, grief, the violence and suffering they've gone through because of celestial dragons like the donquixotes. albeit different in nature, along with doflamingo, rocinante experienced a kind of dehumanization as well.

so, again: for all that law might resemble doflamingo the most, I do wonder... how much of himself did rocinante see in law, though subconsciously? a kid who lost his family, subjected to the kind of violence that led him to resign himself to death (seek it, even) and was treated by others as inhuman because of circumstances out of his control? it might've not been what rocinante believed to be his own motivations to help law, likely never actually saw or realized the similarities they shared, but imo it adds some more depth to his kindness and sympathy towards law.

this also marks a stark difference between the donquixote brothers. whereas doflamingo got caught up in a very vicious cycle (which traces back to the existence of celestial dragons as a whole and was further enabled by others like trebol) that he planned to continue with law, rocinante was able to see past law's rage and acknowledge the pain beneath. after all, rocinante knows too what it's like to be hurt by others who've been terribly hurt first and became someone who wasn't exactly keen on returning the sentiment, unlike doflamingo, regardless of whether it was in his nature to be so or if it's something that was nurtured as he grew up. that's not to say rocinante was an endlessly kind saint (he had his own biased views) or that he wasn't capable of violence (he did beat up all those medical staff and burn down hospitals for example), but those incidents weren't caused by a sense of entitlement on his part or such. he didn't blame law for stabbing him or in general for seeking revenge against the world, ultimately chose to protect and save him instead - which, indeed, changed law's life. as law presently insists, he owes cora not just that very life but his heart as well.

lastly - law himself might not disagree with doflamingo insisting they're of the same sort, but law is also the kid who couldn't fathom leaving his dying little sister behind. who softened and lowered his guard after receiving genuine kindness/love/sympathy for the first time in years. who saved a little mink and risked his own neck later on to save a boy who'd just lost his brother in the worst way possible. who didn't even consider putting his crew in danger when he knew (and expected) he might die and his whole revenge plan against doflamingo was rooted in love and grief to begin with, the same upon which the foundation of his crew was built and is a tribute to. last we saw of him, law orders bepo to go back in winner island because can't leave the crew behind, etc etc, so there's that too. how much of it is law's own nature and personality? how much is due to the impact cora had on him? both? would've doflamingo turned out differently or made different choices if his parents had tried harder to school him out of those CD views or if he'd had more positive influences aside from them, instead of the people he ended up surrounded by? would he have become the same kind of person he is rn no matter what? interesting stuff to think about.

#one piece #tp #donquixote rosinante #donquixote corazon #trafalgar law #every day I am plagued by Thoughts abt these guys help me #hope this is somewhat coherent ajdkkgg #also writing this made me realize cora kind of? subtly told law abt his and doffy's relation to the celestial dragons?#probably flew over his lil head tho #long post

74 notes · View notes

heartfullofleeches · 1 year

Note

Could we possibly be fed with more sea monster/creature reader? Mayhaps how we met Yan handler?

(I'll come back to the meet in another post cuz I had this cute idea I wanted to share first)

Sunlight pours into aquarium as the tank's latch is unlocked, rolling over your scales with a new shine. The tank was a glass box all around, but the bullet proof window above blocked out the harsher, nurturing rays. You turn over onto your back to give your frontside the same treatment.

It was heaven - just the right amount of comfort to drag you back into the depths of sleep if it hadn't been for the gentle knocking on the side of the tank. It's soft enough to not cause you discomfort, but loud enough that you can't fall back asleep.

So much for a lazy weekend.

Kicking yourself into an upright position, you swim to the top of the tank and pop your head out of the water. It's a Sunday, so the aquarium should be empty, but there was the unfortunate reality that the park's staff still existed. Before you can express your anger in the form of a snarl or gnashing teeth, a strip of fish meat bides your stalker another blissful second of your silence.

"Good morning to you too, Starfish. I'm glad there's something that keeps you from clawing my face off every morning. Not that I mind. Spit?"

You spit the fish bones into the human's hands. The freak gleefully pockets the remains, probably keeping them to add to the necklace around their neck. They wipe off their hand on their jeans and face the cart behind them.

"Are you ready for your walk?"

You circle around in your tank and slap at the wall with your webbed hands, splashing water all over them. Since you were forced to be awake, you'd take anything over the monotony of your spacious prison. Your handler just laughs at your response and shakes their head.

"I don't understand what that means, Y/n. Use your words."

Your tongue clicks against the rough of your mouth as you hiss. "Now...."

The handler wants to slap themself for not having their camera ready at all times. Thank God the security cameras can pick up the buzzing of a fly.

"I'll take that, for now. Time for some fresh air. They wheel the cart up to the tank and hold out their arms. "Your chariot, and servant await."

Making another lap around the walls, you leap over the side of the tank and into the cart with their assistance - sinking to its blue floor. The water is a little cooler than the tank, but it reminds you of the sea on a autumn day. Your tail hangs out of it as you get comfortable. Your handler bents down to whisper in your ear.

"Remember our deal. Keep your head down when others walk by, no trying to escape, and no biting or else you have to wear the muzzle."

You hated that thing. It's not like you could get far if you tried to flee anyway. You've already tried. Your handler takes your silence as an agreement, and closes the lid of your tank as they wheel you off into the park. Their boss was strict about uniform even on slow days, but their new haircut and other cosmetic touch ups made this feel like what it was in their mind rather than an assigned duty. A midmorning stroll with their fiesty, aquatic love.

You don't do much during the walk besides look around and hiss at the occasional seagull. It's mostly stuff you'd seen before, but it still feels brand new when you only experience it once a week. Halfway through the walk, your handler figures now would be the perfect opportunity to work on your speaking skills.

"Red."

"Blue."

"You're supposed to repeat after me, but it's good you're speaking at all. Please follow me this time."

Why should it matter? You're learning their language, and it doesn't seem to be required as during your performances you're never asked to speak.

"Goodmorning"

"Morning."

"Thank you"

"Thank..'

"I love you."

"...liar."

Should've known it wouldn't be easy to trick you like that. Still, your choice of wording makes their heart ache. Your situation was hard on you both. They wanted you home too. Your handler plays off the pain with another laugh.

"Has Marcy been hanging around your tank again? I swear, that's the only word she knows after we caught her stealing lunches again. Looks like we're here."

Your handler parks your cart at the cliffside overlooking the city. Your home was only a mile way, waves pocketed by the land foundation that streches farther than depth perception can tell. So close, yet so far. The rocks below made jumping impossible not to mention the roads and people in the way. Air bubbles float to the surface as you submerge yourself in the icy cold water. Your handler rests a hand over the glass.

"I know you're suffering right now, Starfish. I'm doing everything I can to make this better for you, but someday you'll be free again. You'll never have to see another human besides me and you'll finally be home."

From the look in their eyes and past declarations - you are well aware they don't mean the ocean.

#Sea creature reader #yandere oc #yandere x reader #yandere x you #yandere scenarios #yandere #yandere imagines #yandere headcanons #male yandere #yandere blurb #yandere drabble #monster reader #yandere x darling #yandere fluff

807 notes · View notes

maedelin · 1 month

Note

THIS JUST IN!!!!!

Apparently Rogue's character is "ruined" for being interested in Magneto and for not lovin' Gambit the "right" way while he also has previous love interests and an ex-wife in XTAS *blocks and side-eyes blogs like remylebeaugambit* Makes me embarrassed to be a Remy fan rn.

If so-called Rogue fans are so uncomfortable with legal adult Rogue being attracted to Magneto in various media , maybe they should read a Kitty Pryde comic instead or stick to just watching that (actually pretty good ngl) high school AU that is X-Men: Evolution.

Heck, even Sid the sloth from the Ice Age movies gets less slack for dating the much older Brooke who also got magically de-aged just like Magneto. And nobody's saying that Sid is a victim and Brooke is a groomer because the Ice Age fandom is more normal than Rogneto antis and so-called fans of Rogue and Gambit's characters.

Agreed and well met, Traveler! I loved X-Men: Evolution as well. I'm fine with characters having many ships. I'm fond of calling it an armada. :) And my own personal cry is: Monogamy? In this economy?!

I agree with you: the age discourse is just awful. It's so upsetting to me. It's the most basic, reductive, simplistic argument. You can count the years but you add no value or depth to them.

It's not about Rogue being ruined it is about Rogue being ruined for *them*. Reading literacy and comprehension as well as looking at texts dialectically (at the least) is on the wane. You couple this with a strange "purity of concept" that seems to permeate our media, and we get this issue.

If you like a character, then that character is a statement on *you*, *your integrity*, *your morals*, *your ability* to be right. Therefore Rogue doing something against the perceived norm of the story (a story with low stakes, mind. We're less comfortable living in a state of unknowing even more these days) is not only an insult to Remy, but it is also an insult to them, their viewership, their expectations of the character, and ultimately a reflection of themselves.

We see then the knee-jerk reaction to distance, define, and denigrate. Suddenly, we're as obsessed with purity of character and dictating their "best practice" motives. They have to find a way to explain away the fault. Sometimes it's pushed back on the writers (especially if the writer is female...thinking Rebecca Sugar here and the SU writing pool) but often (especially for female presenting characters) the blame is shifted on a literal thought concept. It's insane!

X-Men is a soap opera with powers. Also, the most important thing to remember in my book is the main core of it: the X-Men are people. Not gods (sorry Krakoan Magneto, still love you, baby) but human beings who wish to coexist with you.

With laser beam eyes.

#rogue #magneto #anna marie #rogneto #rogueneto #ship and ship alike #erik lehnsherr #x-men #roguneto #marvel #gambit #remy lebeau #romyneto #romy

51 notes · View notes

that-ari-blogger · 3 months

Text

A New Face (Separate Tides)

During its second season, The Owl House had hit its stride and wasn't slowing down. This is my favourite season, and that isn't an unpopular sentiment.

Separate Tides is the opening episode of this season, so it needs to recap the previous goings on and themes in a cohesive way for new viewers, and take the series in a different direction that stays loyal to those themes and plotlines. I think this episode does that well.

But this isn't a summary blog, this is a blog where I find something needlessly specific and gush about the implications of that something.

So... The Golden Guard is so ****ing cool.

Let me explain.

SPOILERS AHEAD (The Owl House, The Harry Potter Series)

I've mentioned in the past that The Owl House uses archetypal storytelling to a truly masterful degree. It takes tropes and meets them on a superficial level, then twists them in a way that adds depth and makes the series unique.

For example, the series is directly drawing inspiration from the works of Robert Galbraith, with Willow being the bullied kid with a passion for herbology, and Amity being the school bully who definitely has a crush on the main character. Both take the archetype and shake it up a bit, as is the way with parody, but the baseline is there.

This leans into the themes of being your own person rather nicely, as it makes the deviations from the archetype more important.

I took great pains to point out that Luz is the only character who doesn't fit the mould at all. She has no analogue and is her own person completely. She has nothing to restrict her.

However, leaves the analogue for the actual protagonist of Galbraith's books. Obviously, not every character from the series is parodied, but the chosen one main character seems like a weird one to miss out on.

I would argue that Mr Potter does have an analogue, Hunter Whittebane (Or Hunter Noceda or Hunter Demonne or even Hunter Clawthorn. Whichever name you prefer, its the same guy).

He is a child soldier, raised by his uncle and manipulated into giving his life away for the cause by an old wizard. He bears a scar on his face, and is technically half witch, half human.

Although we don't actually see any of that in Separate Tides. Instead, we are introduced to the Golden Guard, a character who is suave and cool and confident.

The first time we actually see this character is in the final scene of the previous season.

"Worry not, Kiki. We'll be keeping an eye on the inhabitants of the Owl House."

The Golden Guard is a goon, an elite goon, but a goon none the less. He is simply a character whom Belos turns to in order to get the job done.

But, I find the use of vernacular here interesting. Belos doesn't refer to the Golden Guard with any name, or even as a separate entity from himself. Not "he will be watching them" or "this is the Golden Guard, I trust him to get the job done". This character is referred to as "we". He and Belos are connected. This character is simply Belos' eye.

Then, in Separate Tides, it is established that, when Lilith fell from grace, she was replaced by the Golden Guard.

"He always got special treatment because he was the genius teen prodigy. But he's really just a brat."

So, this is a child, but a gifted child. Lilith is dismissive here, but not of the Golden Guard's skill, just his personality. This is someone for whom things come naturally, allegedly, and who has never had to work for his abilities. Allegedly.

"Unfortunately, you won't have the chance."

The Golden Guard's first line is just cool. He is calm and collected. He is in control. And he has just easily captured one of the protagonists.

I also love the little fact that he has spent the entirety of this voyage in a dimly lit room, eating crackers. The room has nothing to do in it except books. So, he was definitely just sitting there, reading, and had to improvise when King burst into the room. He's a bookworm with an ability to think on the spot.

I'm saying this guy would definitely play Pathfinder or D&D if he was given a chance.

Anyway, the Golden Guard's actual introduction comes fourteen minutes into the episode, and it immediately sets this guy up as a threat. He's martially competent, magically adept, and fully in his element. This is a character who revels in control, just like the Emperor.

And that link to Belos is interesting. Because forgive me for asking, why would an Emperor's elite goon be a child? As in, there has to be a connection to Belos beyond what meets the eye for the Golden Guard to be anywhere near where he is.

We don't get told that here, but we do see that this character's skillset is kinda similar to Belos', in theory. He's commanding, and he gets people to do what he wants. But in practice, this isn't Belos at all. This is someone trying very hard to be like Belos, but coming at it from a different angle.

I do, however, think that the Golden Guard's greatest strength as a goon is revealed subtly in this scene.

"The Emperor ordered me to slay one. I'm just following orders."

We've seen through Lilith in the previous season that Belos covets blind loyalty, and that is what the Golden Guard offers him. He doesn't know or care why the Emperor does what he does, he just follows orders.

Essentially, the Golden Guard is a traditional Disney villain at this point. He is fun, bisexual, charismatic, and a physical threat. The Golden Guard we get introduced to is enjoyable to watch, and it sounds like Zeno Robinson is having a blast voicing him.

However, there is one element of the Golden Guard that we get introduced to in this episode that might fly under the radar. The Owl House is no stranger to masks, and people putting on a show to get the job done, but when we are first shown the Golden Guard in this episode, he is taking it off.

The intro sequence of this season features three characters who are under Belos' command. Lilith, The Golden Guard, and Kikimora. It then unmasks them, with Lilith becoming apologetic, and Kikimora becoming more aggressive. But the Golden Guard sits between them, removing his own mask to reveal... a single purple eye.

The eye is the window to the soul, of course. But there is something to the manner in which this is happening. Kikimora has been angered to the point of lashing out, and Lilith has been brought low with remorse. The Golden Guard, however, is lowering his own mask and staring directly at you with an air of "I'm doing this of my own accord. I see you, you see me, your move."

I wonder if agency is going to be a theme with this character.

Final Thoughts

I love Hunter so much it is obscene, and there is a ton of ambiguity about him right from the bat. What is his stake in this? Who actually is he? And why does he have a purple eye?

As for the rest of this episode, Luz's guilt is starting to be expressed. In my opinion that is for the first time, but I have heard it said that this isn't a new character trait for her.

And Lilith... *sighs* There is a sentiment online as to the expedience of Lilith's redemption arc. Some people like it, others think she should have been "punished" more, and I would like to take a third rout.

I don't believe in punitive justice for fictional characters, and I certainly don't believe in telling writers how they should write. I do, however, think that it could have been slightly more interesting if the consequences of cursing Eda were explored more psychologically.

In any case, however, the series we got is the series we got, and I think it is perfectly fine, if not better, as it is. I don't see a point in getting angry online over what could have been.

Next week, I am looking as Escaping Expulsion and boy, do I have thoughts about Odalia Blight. So, stick around if that interests you.

Previous - Next

#rants #literary analysis #literature analysis #character analysis #what's so special about...?#toh #the owl house #the owl house hunter #toh hunter #toh golden guard #the owl house golden guard #We need to see more of Eda in Bloodborne cosplay

55 notes · View notes

legends-on-legends · 5 months

Text

People who get defensive about Ganondorf’s characterization (or lack thereof) in ToTK seem to willfully misunderstand the criticisms we’re making about that game. Nobody’s demanding that Ganondorf have a “tragic backstory” that exonerates him or a “redemption arc,” we’re just asking for the bare minimum: a coherent motivation and some thematic relevance, that’s it. Also, maybe some actual dignity for the Gerudo, too, instead of them getting disproportionately shamed for the deeds of One Guy over ten thousand years ago.

It’s not like ToTK would have had to stretch very far to give Ganondorf that bare minimum, all the ingredients were already there: the Zonai mining activities in the Gerudo region, the “ancient evil” that existed before Ganondorf entered the scene, the Gerudo’s own archaeological site from where they investigated the Depths, etc. Just add like 2 – 3 more backstory scenes focused on developing Ganondorf a little more, put some actual meat on the skeleton of a story we got in ToTK, and there you go.

The fact that some Zelda fans are so vehemently opposed to the bare minimum effort of writing for one of Nintendo’s most iconic villains is honestly baffling. The fact that they’re so opposed to Ganondorf having any semblance of humanity, that they’re apparently fine with Nintendo outsourcing the script for the highly anticipated sequel to one of their most successful games, absolutely bewilders me.

Like…this is definitely a combination of Modern Fandom’s extreme polarization and moral puritanism, plus the Zelda franchise containing conservative themes that a large part of the fandom seems to have internalized, and of course, good ol’ fashioned orientalism.

I’m inclined to mostly blame Modern Fandom because the way that people talk about villain tropes and “redemption arcs” and all that seems to overlap with “antishipper” nonsense. It’s like many young people nowadays are terrified of being judged for the “sin” of liking or relating to the designated Bad Guys, so they have to loudly and repeatedly proclaim that they are Good and Proper Christian Fans who engage with media in the Appropriate Manner, and denounce anyone who wants villains to be interesting or complex.

Even something like ATLA that recently had a revival is seeing Discourse like “Zuko should never have been redeemed bc he’s an evil colonizer, that teenage boy should have been executed instead!!!1! and Aang not killing Ozai at the end means that the writers are trying to excuse/defend genocide!!!1!”

I know it’s not most fans who have this kind of mindset, but dang, it’s getting more common.

#rant post #ganondorf #totk critical #fandom discourse

123 notes · View notes