#tl;dr i don't think it's bad and suits it well

[agender-witchery]

On Project Moon

Hey, this is gonna be long, I'm putting most of it under the cut. This post is about the recent firing of VellMori from Project Moon, I know that it warrants some tags for triggers, but I have no idea what's commonly used, so if I miss something, please tell me.

Additionally, I have written this up in a way that if it escapes the target audience of Project Moon fans, it can still be understood, so with that in mind, there will be Library of Ruina spoilers.

The tl;dr for those who don't wanna read the full thing is that Project Moon was put in a very bad position with some violent extremists targeting them and that I'm not happy about any of what happened.

So, for those unaware, Project Moon has fired VellMori, the CG artist for Limbus Company. Now, a not inaccurate statement that can be made from this is "Project Moon fired a woman for being a feminist" but this is... somewhat reductive. Let's immediately get out of the way that VellMori did absolutely nothing wrong. Some people have said she is a TERF. I've seen no evidence of this. Some people have said she wished death on all men. I've seen no evidence of this.

What I HAVE seen is that VellMori thinks sexual abuse is bad. Now, why would this lead to a firing? The short answer is that a bunch of violent incels, one of which was literally dressed as a clown, came knocking at their office doors.

See, Limbus Company has a "beach" event coming up. In this event, we are getting a water themed outfit for two of the characters, one male and one female. For Sinclair, the guy, he has been given an EXTREMELY slutty mechanic's outfit. For Ishmael, the woman, she has been given a very skintight wet suit outfit. Now, I wanna take care to note that VellMori is the CG artist - she had no hand in these designs, a man made them. I would also like to mention that both outfit designs are amazing, and I will be including them at the end of this post for reference.

Now, upon revealing the wet suit design for Ishmael, a bunch of whiny incels on what is basically Korean 4chan got upset that Ishmael, instead of being in a bikini as is usual for gacha games, was wearing a wet suit. Nevermind that the designs in Limbus Company have always been conservative and that the Sinclair design is the most skin we've ever seen and it's just an open shirt. Again, the wet suit is still super revealing, it's skin tight and this is literally the first design of her that doesn't make her look flat chested. They're not rioting over the lack of sex appeal, they're specifically mad that it's not a bikini.

The incels come to the conclusion that the lack of any skin being shown on Ishmael's outfit is a result of evil feminism. No, I'm not exaggerating. They initially begin harassing the artist who is actually responsible for drawing the outfits, but upon learning that he is a man, set their sights on VellMori because she's a woman, and being an artist is good enough I guess. What they do from here is they start digging and digging and digging on VellMori's twitter, making use of archived pages because many of the "offensive" tweets had been deleted.

I'd like to take a moment to point out that VellMori never actually tweeted anything out here - it was all retweets from a 4-6 year old archive, and retweets that have been long deleted. These retweets contain such transgressive statements as "I'm sick of misogyny" and "If being against patriarchy makes me antisocial, then so be it" and just... mirroring back to men what those men were saying to women. Some people would like to have you think she was calling for death to all men. She wasn't. She ALSO retweeted all this stuff while she was a teenager and well before she worked for Project Moon.

Nonetheless, the incels had decided that feminism was the reason Ishmael had a wet suit and not a bikini and they had found a feminist working for Project Moon. It is at this point that we must take a brief detour and talk about Library of Ruina, Project Moon's previous game.

See, in Library of Ruina, one of the protagonists, Angela, has this whole arc about escaping her abuser and becoming a human. Yes, she is literally a robot, but Project Moon isn't exactly a stranger to symbolism in their stories and a feminist reading of Angela is ridiculously easy. The main antagonist in Library of Ruina is Argalia, the Blue Reverberation, and his crew is called the Reverberation Ensemble. Every member of the Reverberation Ensemble is a violent lunatic who each want to reinforce the status quo in their own unique shitty way. In addition to this, typically in order to reach the titular Library, you would need to be invited. The Reverb Ensemble are the "uninvited guests", the ones who managed to reach the Library and knock down the door without an invite.

Why am I talking about this? Well, the incels decided to start calling themselves the Reverb Ensemble, and referring to each other using names of the Reverb Ensemble members such as Pluto, Elena, and Oswald. Having taken on the moniker of the uninvited guests, they then showed up to Project Moon's office to protest. Over the lack of a bikini. Now, remember how I mentioned someone was dressed up as a clown? One of the Reverb Ensemble members, Oswald, is a clown with an extremely tenuous grip on reality. So much so, that his ideal world is one in which there is no meaning whatsoever. That is the character they chose to dress up as. This is either a case of extreme self awareness or extreme self unawareness.

Eventually, the incels were let into the office possibly as a form of damage mitigation to prevent the crowd of protestors from getting any bigger. This was a questionable decision, but they had a group of violent incels at their doorstep either way, and I don't exactly have full details on this. Regardless, Project Moon had on their hands a group of violent protesting incels, who they felt compelled to let into the building, and who had demands including the firing of their feminist employee. (7/28 update: a translation of the transcript posted to DCInside has surfaced. Please check the reblogs for it. Project Moon was verifiably threatened.)

So while "Project Moon fired a woman for being a feminist" isn't inaccurate it also isn't the full picture. More appropriately, it'd be "Project Moon fired a woman because a group of violent incels who weren't satisfied with a form fitting wet suit instead of a bikini showed up to their office demanding that an artist who did not make the wet suit design be fired because she retweeted some feminist stuff 5 years ago while she was a teenager".

I'm not happy with this. None of this is good. People are allowed to be feminists, and Project Moon stories have always presented progressive ideas to anyone with half a brain to do some basic literary analysis. I can understand why they would cave to the demands of people who were threatening them and showed up to their actual place of work, but at the same time, that's someone's livelihood gone and proof that in the future, the same sorts of people can use the same sorts of tactics to bully Project Moon into doing whatever they want. All of this sucks.

For those who would like to see the retweets in question alongside translations: https://twitter.com/danghwangs/status/1683884236888223744

And for people who would like reference as to what the artworks these incels were up in arms about, Ishmael in the wet suit and Sinclair in the mechanic's outfit.

#limbus company #project moon #VellMori #misogyny #library of ruina #im puppy

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

Am I the asshole for refusing to lend a friend money? 🐱🐱🐱🐱<- (for finding later)

I (28nb) have a friend (28m) who has recently had some problems with employment. He lost his job but has since found another. He is in a living situation with his fianceé where he pays half the rent.

Today he sent me a message asking, very politely, if he could have $59 dollars to cover his half of their rent. He made it clear in his request that he had not discussed this with his fianceé yet.

I said no - one reason being we recently totalled our car and depleted our savings putting money down on a new one (and those interest rates....still ouch), the other being that we've lent almost 1000k to a different friend of ours over the last two years, and haven't been paid back despite multiple verbal agreements.

We are a two income household making a combined 100k a year, but the majority of our income is spent on rent and our student loans. I feel bad because it seems surface level, $59 dollars isn't really that much of an ask. But looking at our broad finances, we're more in-debt to the institutions our loans are paid to than our actual income. We do, however, live comfortably and are privlidged enough to save some money most months. We do donate to causes, and have in the past given our friends places to stay for months at a time when they have no where to go / are in bad financial situations.

When this friend lost his job, I did help him by brainstorming with him on jobs he could do that would suit his sensory needs, and didn't involve customer service. I did research on multiple places close to him that would also suit his transportation limitations and pay him well while accentuating his skillset, and compiled links to the job listings. He has since been hired and onboarded at one of those jobs; he's a very sweet, genuine individual and I'm truly happy because I was also supporting him emotionally during this time and could see how hard this situation was on his mental and physical health.

The other reason I said no was this - he is getting married in one week from the time I'm sending this in. He made it clear in his message he had not talked yet about how he was short for rent with his fianceé. They live together, and go half on rent. I felt very concerned that he was bringing this to me first, and not to his soon-to-be-wife, who deserves financial transparency from her partner (as do we all). I don't think he ever intended to not tell her, but in my opinion money-matters should always be discussed with your significant other first in a healthy relationship.

I discussed this with my wife and she agreed. I told him we couldn't lend him the money and he said he understood. I also encouraged him to talk to his fianceé because she's his best friend and support. I didn't include my p-o-v that he should discuss money matters with her first and foremost because of their relationship and housing arrangement, because I'm hoping that's a conversation they can have in the immediacy?

But I still feel like an asshole and I'm not sure if it's because I said "No," because I have provided financial / housing assistance in the past to others and didn't this time, or because I actually am an asshole.

So - what do you think?

TL;DR - A soon-to-be-married, recently unemployed and then re-employed friend asked for $59 to cover rent. I have helped other friends in the past with rent and housing but said no because we can't afford it right now (which is true, despite being dual income) and also he hasn't discussed being short on rent with his finaceé / housemate yet.

#aita #am i the asshole

[inazumaclown]

i drew aged-up inazuma girls :)

i don't hate GO but the way the OG girls were treated was okay at best, and very insulting at worst.

natsumi, who is canonically a workaholic, a born leader, an a self-made international detective (sort of), made into a housewife who doesn't know how to cook ? as a joke ? well bad joke and it ruined her and the relationship she has with endou, which is way more respectful than that. she could have been ANYTHING, but they had to take her power away and i will never forgive that

haruna as a raimon teacher (what is she teaching tho ? was it ever mentioned ?) is fine, and she had a sort of significant role but i still think she deserved better, so i headcannon her as a sport journalist bc my girl knows a thing or two about soccer

aki deserved much more in all seasons, OG or GO, it's really sad they reduced her to this maternal role in any context. if anything SHE could have been the raimon teacher rather than just tenma's babysitter waiting for ichinose (i do not like ichinose.). i liked her aesthetic tho, it suits her very well

touko appears in 1 frame in GO, but the games do observe that she's ''so much gentler than 10 years ago''. which means she got nerfed lmao so i drew her butch again

rika doesn't appear in GO, unsurprinsingly since she's always been hated by the fanbase. i really like her tho, and i hope she's well and true to herself in her brazen femininity :)

fuyuka as a nurse was a good choice in my opinion, it did add something to her character (which fair enough is easy to see when you're headcannoning the fuck out of her), like her desire to be useful to others and the fact that she's strong as fuck bc remember kids, nurses are strong as fuck and should be paid more

tl;dr : i loike gorls

#SORRY FOR THE RANT #inazuma eleven #inazuma japan #my art #inazuma 11 #i love them so much #inazuma girls #inazuma #zaizen touko #urabe rika #natsumi raimon #kudou fuyuka #kino aki #haruna otonashi

[skiptomy]

Help a disabled trans person get back on their feet

Forcing myself to ask for help. It's really hard for me to do this cause I always feel like I've already asked way too much, but a few kind folks have suggested I do something like this, so I guess here goes nothing.

For more info about what's going on you can check out this post, but the tl;dr is that I'm flat fucking broke right now with no way to get extra income. A lot of my stuff is super old or super broken and at the point where I need replacements that I cannot afford.

So I guess here's a list of stuff, and general prices, though if anyone has better recommendations I'm super open. I'm limiting it to things I actively need rather than just things I want cause that obviously doesn't seem fair to ask folks for.

Bedding: at this point all my pillows are so old they are actively yellowing. My comforter is pretty stained and starting to tear up at the seams and whenever I come home from doing one of my dog sitting jobs I've noticed how much worse my allergies are. Fixing this will drastically help my lungs and sinuses, as well as help with joint support/comfort.

Allergy safe pillows: Usually between 8$-15$ x 2 at least, 4 preferred (joint support)

Cooling comforter: [link] 35$ plus shipping

Allergy safe mattress cover: Most I can find are between 30-50$

Cooling mattress pad: [link] 43$ plus shipping

Med support: This part is pretty self explanatory as to why I need them. But just in case you'd like to know; I have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, fibromyalgia, chrons/ibs, asthma, pretty bad environmental allergies, as well as being recently diagnosed with ADHD/Autism. This leads to near constant pain, always constant fatigue, and just general bad vibes y'know? My body is essentially a poorly constructed ball joint doll that thinks it's funny to just sprinkle on the symptoms.

This one is just way easier to do as a wishlist, cause there's a LOT of things that could help and a lot of them are very expensive.

Work: I work as a digital artist, and the biggest thing I'm saving up for right now is a functioning PC, as my current computer continues to crash and is plagued with a whole lot of troubles and has never really had enough RAM to do what I need. Thanks to the incredible people in my life I have a little towards this already, as well as a big discount through one of my friend's jobs. The build that my tech buds and I worked out would suit my needs and keep me going for a good decade or so is about 1,400$. I've got 500$ towards it already that I refuse to touch for anything else (if it's not life threatening), and I'm trying my best to save up on the side, but bills and life keep making that very hard.

I've got Paypal, Venmo (just ask for QR), and Ko-fi.

I also do commissions but those are quite slow going right now because of all the aforementioned problems. But if you don't mind waiting a while (trying to catch up on older ones right now) you sure can put an order in.

If you are able to help, I cannot express how much that would mean to me. But I also completely understand if you can't. It's tough out there. Especially right now with everything going on. In any case, I wish you all the best, and thank you heartily for reading and sharing.

#compassion fatigue #tumblr help #community help

[quinloki]

hihi, I was wondering if you had any tips to writing characters?? Like making them feel more alive and such, and not having their personalities seeming the same, cause I’ve been only focusing on one oc lately(which is a self insert) and I’ve been wanting to add more to other ocs but I just.. don’t really know how to? Especially with the lack of motivation on adding to their stories n stuff

Hm... this isn't something I think I can answer easily, but I'll try to see if I can help a little.

I want to start by saying, having same/similarly characterized OCs/Readers when writing isn't bad. More than anything you gotta write what you like, and sometimes what you relate to more than worrying about having variety.

But maybe the story or character are stuck, and you're not sure what to do, or you feel like what you're going to do, you've done before, and you don't want to repeat it in this case.

Consider, and I mean this seriously even if it's going to sound silly, the Otome Archetypes. Or the Fighting Team Archetypes - whatever and however you want to think about it.

For instance: Your "fire" character in a fighting anime is usually brash, loud, ready to brawl and not too concerned about the plan or the consequences. Sometimes this causes trouble, sometimes not. (The Otome version of that one guy who owns the motorcycle.)

Alternatively, your "water/ice" character will be more subdued, strategic, often wearing glasses (the Otome archetype of "glasses character", rather obviously.)

Earth characters might be loud and like to party, but they're usually bigger than the fire character and more likely to be the Defender vs the canon. In Otome think you're (possibly) quiet type. A little like the glasses character, but less chatty and warmer.

Anyway, you get what I mean. Your typical archetypes used the world-round.

Characterization often means deciding on one of these loose, but well-defined, archetypes. If nothing else, it gives you something to focus your attention on to help stay in character with your character.

Now, the important part - Archetypes are like the Pirate's Code™ - it's more of a guideline. It's *always* more of a guideline when it comes to creations and creativity. So here's a good way to utilize this handy tool without getting boxed into something that might feel 1-dimensional.

I'm going to use Trafalgar Law for this example, and since you're following me I'm going to assume you're familiar with One Piece.

Law is the ice-character, or the glasses guy - laconic (not too chatty), seemingly neutral or almost grumpy in his demeanor. Cares for his friends but not apt to show it, strategic, and oftentimes ruthless. Usually butts heads with the more fiery types (like Kid and Luffy), because their way of doing things is so different. (Gets along with more water (Robin) and earth (Chopper) types.)

Even as Law stays within this archetype for the most part, the more we get to know him the more we see moments where he isn't. Where he gets angry at the same level as a fire-type, where he does something patently NOT strategic. This man's not cool, he's a nerd screaming internally like a cartoon Tasmanian devil about ninjas and Sanji's power suit.

Basic Archetypes are also good for putting characters into trouble too. The over-thinking water-type ends up captured because they were thinking too much and didn't act fast enough. The fire-type snaps and says something in the heat of the moment and hurts a friend.

Archetypes don't just give us a framework for the cool parts, but also for the embarrassing stuff and the flaws.

And you can mix and match too!

Have a strategic glasses style character who is more fire and destruction, loud and brash, but the smart bastard's always got the best plan. Arrogance might land him in trouble, but that hot mouth will cool while he stews on a new plan.

Maybe your bad boy is just a bad boy, but maybe he's also like, the basketball varsity captain, or the guy rocking massive community service hours, or someone whose taking care of a parent who can't anymore.

Nami is an interesting character because he cat burglar antics had a deep meaning behind them. Luffy's happy go lucky nature is all the more precious because we know what he's endured.

Conflict within a character's personality makes a great character, but it's not always needed. Sometimes the story forges the details for us. Yusuke Uremeshi from YYH was nothing but the much worser delinquent of his school and that was it. The character developed from the story, but we never got anything more than here's a delinquent, he likes to fight, he spends the entire series fighting.

And he's *really* good at it.

Once you set in a foundation you can tweak it - is your character Proud or Arrogant? Are they Kind or Nice? Are they Cruel or Cold?

Basically, what part of that archetype works FOR them, and what parts work AGAINST them. What do they enjoy - fighting, reading, skateboarding, swimming, hiking, puzzles, operas, etc. How do those enjoyments color their personality, if at all?

That's usually what the story will answer for you, in my experience - and let them grow!

LET YOUR OCs CHANGE AS YOU GET TO KNOW THEM \o/

There is absolutely nothing wrong with an OC changing and being redefined the longer that you have them. You can even use that growth in a story and help it mold their development.

Okay, the TL;DR:

You can have characters who look similar on paper, but the narrative will define them into distinctly different characters and sometimes you gotta write the narrative to get that effect.

You can have characters who look wildly different on paper, but the narrative will cause similarities. This isn't bad writing, no character should be 1-dimensional - even the villain who sees themselves as the villain and embraces villainy can still decide to save the hero.

Water your OCs and let them change - you might have wanted a daffodil and you got a rose instead. That's not a failure, that's just a success shaped different than you expected.

#quin answers #anon asks #writing advice #this is not terrible organized as it's all off the top of my head #but hopefully it's useful

[vacantgodling]

3 + 5 for hya pwweeeeaaase

thank youOuuU

3. How did your oc discover themself? Did something cause them to question, or did they always know?

this is a really interesting question when i think about hya tbh. it wasn't like a "he always knew" situation--unless i think about slum au. in canon, i think he had a kind of ego-death at some point from all the trauma and abuse he suffered. basically (for the uninitiated cuz i don't talk about this part of hya's backstory that much) after his mother noped out of his life when he was like 2 (not her fault, his dad clematis was using him as a tool to abuse his mother (by withholding or promising seeing him to keep her around) and she had to get the fuck outta there), his dad lost all interest in caring for him. so, he left hya in a house separate from his main estate (like in the city still but hidden away no one knew where it was except tagetes who eventually found out) with a consistent rotating line of servants coming in and out. the servants and clematis weren't kind to hya to put it mildly—especially after the trauma that caused him to hate showers when he was like 9-ish. during this time he was locked in that house at all hours until tagetes "saved him" (take that with a grain of salt, though they do get some credit for removing hya from immediate danger) when he was like 18. so uh. we’re already off to a bad start.

moving in with tagetes and being exposed to the finer things in life (more directly) and being able to interact with the outside world helped reform some of hya's identity but he was also extremely jaded. he wasn't despondent like some abuse victims are, but more angry and distrustful especially because he knew that tagetes was also only helping him to use him. however, he did pick up on how tagetes carried themself, and a lot of that, including being troibemme got folded into hya’s mind.

at some point he decided that he wanted to be wholly unapproachable: beautiful and intimidating so it looked like he was never hurt, strong and physically imposing so he would never be taken advantage of again, and rich and powerful as all get out so he would never have to be under anyone’s thumb again. so all of those things mixed together sort of formed his identity.

tl;dr abuse victim finds the most lethal aspects of the masculine and feminine to form a shield around himself so he can’t be hurt :)))

5. How did you figure out your oc's identity?

honestly i pretty much always had the intention of making hya—at bare minimum—a muscular guy in a dress. crimson peak was one of the jumping off points for paramour, and that scene where miss maam is running down the stairs in a dress all distraught was giving 🤌🏾 but i like making masc protags so i was like. well running down the steps in a suit ain’t gonna cut it so he needs to be the kind of guy who wears dresses. oh, but i don’t wanna compromise curves so he’s gotta have assets. PFF.

then as i discovered hya’s personality more i sort of stumbled into: he’s a man, definitely, but he is definitely gnc bc his attire is traditionally “feminine” and he’s very pretty in his appearance i guess? he felt nb somehow and esp after i made tagetes i was like: lowkey i want an in world explanation of this.

so then troibemme was born and i shoved all my gnc galerian characters (most notably hya, tagetes, and erecia) under that label LMAO

#s: paramour #idk if i ever talked about hya’s backstory in depth so #tws for mentions of child abuse but not descriptively ig

[officialgleamstar]

OKAY okay okay, @happi-tree asked for my sparrow notes so! here are my thoughts/meta/whatever re: sparrow's subclass. these aren't gonna be as in depth as my thoughts on grant's subclass because i feel like sparrow is way more cut and dry (tl;dr: sparrow is a circle of the moon druid.), BUT theres some interesting other options TO ME

Circle of Dreams - This is what Henry is, which automatically makes it very likely in my mind! Family magic and all, I imagine this is what Barry has as well. It's also... one of the worst druid circles XD (based on the common game meta that is heavily damage based, but even with considerations to healing, it is not. great. it worked pretty well in season one though since dreamscapes featured heavily! i wish will did more with that) 8/10

Circle of Spores - It isn't this one, since Sparrow has no signs of having any fungal connections. That would be cool as hell though, even if it was out of character. Mushroom Sparrow... 0/10

Circle of Stars - It isn't this one either but (slightly louder) IT WOULD BE COOL AS HELL, THOUGH, and not as out of character as spores would be! It's more combat-focused than healing though, and Starry Form locks you out of most if not all healing spells iirc, so not at all useful for Sparrow. 2/10

Circle of Wildfire - Not even addressing this one because it's so wildly OOC. Sparrow would not have a fire spirit following him around. It's not a bad circle for healing though, so it's an interesting idea for an AU! 0/10

Circle of the Land - This one is one of the very likely one to me! You get a bonus cantrip, meaning there's more spell slots, and I think that's something Sparrow would look for. I imagine Nature's Ward would come in useful pretty frequently. Also, it's a very simple circle to play, meaning from a meta standpoint, it's easier for Anthony to manage. 7/10

Circle of the Moon - Sparrow is this one. (It was honestly insane to me that Henry isn't this one, but I'm not writing Henry meta right now.) It's probably the best druid circle universally (my opinion), it's Wild Shape focused, it gives you more combat options which the kiddads clearly have a huge focus on, it literally is werewolf themed in the naming convention. Is this what Sparrow should be? Probably not, he's a healer and this is a more combat focused circle (though it is still perfectly fine for healers to use, especially in smaller parties/when several people can heal, it just means he would have to go in and out of Wild Shape more often--). Is it what he is anyways? 1000% yes. While I understand the other options, Anthony would be remiss to pick anything but Circle of the Moon for our dear lovewolf (and with the added layer that Sparrow has lost his Wild Shape abilities - that would be even more devastating if he is in this circle. Food for thought! Angst fodder!). Plus that means Sparrow would have been one of the most powerful kiddads when they were first starting out which I like, it makes sense for the way he is often taking a leadership role with Grant and Lark. 10/10

Circle of the Shepherd - This circle isn't likely since we don't see any of the kiddads with animal companions. I think Sparrow would really enjoy it though and if Anthony did want to toy around with subclasses more, I think it would make sense for Sparrow after he lost the ability to Wild Shape or even post-season 2. That's just me (guy who really likes reclassing as a character arc) though, and it's really not suited for healing so it's unlikely. 2/10

#dndads spoilers #dndads #sparrow oak garcia #meta #not sticking this under a cut because i think its shorter than the grant ramble but HJFKDGHJFKD #I LIKE... DND SUBCLASSES

[jadethest0ne]

You mentioned not liking how Mikey and Leo’s arcs are usually handled and trying to make something more suited in your once human au. I was curious what you do/don’t like about the all the brother’s arcs in general.

Oooh that is a good question actually... I think the simplest way to explain my issue with any of the character arcs in the TMNT franchise as a whole is that - I like my TMNT media to give equal narrative weight and screentime to all turtles, and my issues with Mikey and Leo's arcs boil down to the fact that Mikey is often side-lined and given no character arc and Leo is focused on way too much to the point that it gets tiresome and overdone.

And that's probably why I like Donnie and Raph so much because they do get fairly balanced moments of growth and screentime in most versions that they appear in.

It's sad to me that one of the few versions that I've seen so far that gives equal screentime to each character is TMNT 1987. Which is a fun version, don't get me wrong, but since the story itself is moreso geared towards villain-of-the-week type scenarios, there's not necessarily "arcs" for the characters that much. So it's frustrating to me that other versions, which do give deeper development to the turtles, don't do so equally. It somewhat defeats the purpose to me of the TMNT as a team, as a family, if they don't grow together.

That's the TL;DR of it, but for more character-specific info, read on:

So, let's break down each character and what I like/don't like about their arcs. I'm gonna go in (rough) order of who I think gets the most attention by the writers/creators, from least to most.

Michelangelo

It is unfortunate to me that Mikey seems to get sidelined the most. I haven't seen a TMNT version yet that gives him an actual arc (granted, I haven't seen ALL versions all the way through, but this is a general observation I have). He seems to be relegated to "comic relief" or "baby brother" in a lot of versions. I love him, don't get me wrong, but what I'd love to see in any version is maybe that wide-eyed optimism, friendliness, and jokester attitude challenged in a real way by the plot or by some villain. I think you could really get something deep with that, and I think such an arc would work well for his character. The closest I've seen to Mikey getting some deeper development is the original Mirage comics and Rise of the TMNT, but even then, I feel like the focus often stays on the other three. The one positive part of what he does seem to do for the narrative as a whole, is it often seems like he's the glue that holds the group together. When things get dark, Mikey is there to brighten things up in his own way. This boy deserves more love and attention by the writers on a whole!

Donatello

Donnie is another one to often get pushed to the side a bit and fills the niche "brainy/techy" role. However, his character is often less of a "joke" than Mikey is sometimes made out to be. He gets a lot of good moments in a lot of versions. He's given a lot of angst as well (looking at you 2003). The amount of screentime he gets seems to be largely dependent on the version. I believe the 2007 movie barely gave him any lines/scenes, but then you've got '87, '03, and Rise that gives him TONS of awesome standalone episodes. The main thing I'd change for him, is the same thing with Mikey and that is that this guy needs a bigger plot role as well and an actual character arc. He almost gets one in Rise of the TMNT - and I think it's a good one about feeling more self-worth, getting deserved recognition, and also allowing his emotions to show beyond his "bad boy" facade. Unfortunately, even in Rise, I feel like some of his growth is overshadowed by Raph's and Leo's (and Splinter's, too, actually) (side-note, kudos to Rottmnt for actually giving Splinter a character arc).

Raphael

Out of all of the turtles, I believe Raphael has the best balance when it comes to screentime, focus episodes, and character growth throughout ALL versions. A lot of versions give Raph the growth of having to overcome his anger and attitude, and allow him to work more cohesively with his brothers. I'm a personal sucker for the "tough on the outside, soft on the inside" character trope, and Raph is basically this to a T in most incarnations. I like it when his arc is often allowing that soft side of himself to show and allowing him to have a closer connection to his brothers and the people around him. As well as allowing him to be less angry at not just others, but also at himself. It's a solid character arc in my opinion, and one that doesn't take away from the others around him, but instead enhances them because his arc is often how he treats/works with others. Rise gives him a different version of that - he needs to work with others better, not because he's too tough, quite the opposite in fact, but because he needs to learn to trust his family just as his family trusts him. He needs to learn to let go more, which I think is a similar, yet unique facet to his character and I appreciate Rise for that. I have very little negatives to say about any Raphael arc. He could stand to hit Mikey less in '03 and '12 tho. That bugs me to no end, but is a frustration for a different time.

Leonardo

Ah yes, the golden child. The favored son. The one everyone (both inside and outside the narrative) likes. In fact, that's exactly what bothers me about Leonardo. Leonardo is pretty much ALWAYS given a huge arc that ties in with the main plotlines of the story, and it almost always is tied to his role as the leader. I feel like lots of versions of Leo give him the leader role and make him the "best/most skillful" ninja without him earning that title. He just is. He's the "eldest" son. He's just good at what he does. He's just Splinter's favorite. And I think there's something wrong with that when they're supposed to be a family and it kind of sucks to see the narrative, and by proxy, Splinter, play favorites. And often the narrative seems to present Leo's judgement on things as correct, even when sometimes he's wrong. But because he's the LEADER it's presented by the narrative that he is almost always right. It feels like the writers have to create a conflict that Leo needs to overcome or a decision that he has to make, and decide from the get-go that he's going to make the right decision, without really figuring out the nuances of said conflict first. So to me, a lot of his "leadership arc" falls flat, because I feel like he is written as Leader first and Character second. So it's a similar frustration to me with Mikey's (lack of) character growth - his role in the group/narrative is what defines him more than his actual personality. Rise of the TMNT is the only one where I feel like his growth was actually earned, and that is because he was starting from a much lower point. He needed to learn responsibility and heroism in a way that other Leos just have from the get-go. I could actually see Rise-Leo being leader because that growth was set up - not just his leader-like qualities, but also his skills with his weapons, and his ability to plan. I'd like to see more of that from Leo rather than just a guy that we're supposed to respect from the very beginning, just because the narrative says so.

So there you have it, my general take on character arcs in TMNT. I feel like what might help this sort of unbalanced narrative issue that TMNT has is maybe do something like what Ducktales 2017 or Teen Titans did - and that is give each character their own focus-season. In both DT and TT, each main character got sort of a season to themself that focused on them and followed their general arc. You could do something similar with TMNT - give each turtle their own season. And idk, if it goes further than four seasons, then idk give April, or Splinter, or Casey their own focus season, or one that ties everyone together for a big send-off. That's one idea. Either that or actually just plan out an equal-ish number of episodes and plot threads for each turtle.

Overall, my issue is with the balancing rather than the arcs themselves.

#tmnt #teenage mutant ninja turtles #media discussion #media discourse #character arcs #long post #essay #michelangelo #donatello #raphael #leonardo #jade rambles #jade talks #ask #jadethest0ne

[genderqueerdykes]

I know this is a silly question, well I guess there isn't much of a question actually but vent idk, and you've sorta answered this before through other asks and posts I think?

Anyway, I really like and relate to the word butch, I really think it's something that's a part of me but sometimes I feel like I don't actually have any butch mannerisms, or that I'm too quiet and shy, (I honestly hate those words but that's an emotional dump for a different day), or like, I know butch is so much more than how you look and dress but I sometimes like wearing dangly earrings; most of the dangly earrings I have are fun funky ones.

The tl;dr of that is I feel like I'm too "feminine" to consider myself butch. Can butches express femininity/ be a little feminine as well?

hey, i think this is a good question, thanks for stopping by!

butch can be a lot of things!

butches can be feminine, if they want. butches don't need to be loud, confident, or brash- I'm very quiet and reserved in real life unless i witness something that i feel i need to speak up about. i can be shy and soft, and very tender. i cry very often, i cant always be a pillar of support for others, or someone who does handiwork

butches can be shy and sweet and gentle. a lot of butches have bad anxiety and that's okay, a lot of butches are enjoy wearing very feminine clothing and long hair and don't change to identifying as femme. there's no one way to be butch, if you identify as a masculine queer person, then it suits you, regardless of how you talk and act

hope that helps, take care, good luck

#asks #answers #butch

[mikami]

I’m not saying death note is one big hate crime and we all should just toss it and never read it, no, I would never, but would you agree there’s something ableist about decision to make L/Near “off-putting” and “weird” “not suiting society at all” almost “the freak” characters by giving they’d autistic traits? And I tried to look into it and it seems creators didn’t see it this way, imo it makes it worse. Or how the fandom made those into silly quirky things they do, so adorable and cute and it has infantilization vibes all over. I never saw anyone with similar thoughts here and I asking if I make even a tiny bit sense? Or am I just looking for problems? I really don’t want to get death note cancelled or boycott, I’m just noticing things I hadn’t before

I think you're looking at an issue that goes a lot deeper than Death Note. The quirky genius archetype is old as dirt and Death Note is really just playing into a trope that has existed since forever - part of L's autistic traits are just directly ripped from Sherlock Holmes.

So I wouldn't really single DN out for going with something that is so all-encompassing in pop culture all over - it's certainly not the most reflected use of the trope (and some things Ohba and Obata have said about L and Near read kind of off-color when you think of it as commentary on autism) but it's also well within the margin of what was, and still is, extremely normal in media.

I don't think O&O had any conscious thought about neurodivergence when writing these characters, they were just pulling from the pop-culture hivemind and adding their own quirky geniuses to the list.

Personally, I wouldn't say the trope is horrid in itself.

There are certainly bad renditions of it, but like... look at how beloved L and Near are among neurodivergent readers who very much see themselves represented in them! On the scale of offensiveness, I'd argue they rank mid to low in this context - especially L is clearly a character beloved by readers of all kinds and meant to be so.

So tl;dr: there should be more broad and thoughtful representation of the neurodivergence than the 'quirky genius', but I don't think it's necessary to single out Death Note for something tons of stories have done and continue to do.

Though I'd also say it's a good thing to be aware of the tropes, their prevalence, and their individual executions ofc!

#answers

[idontchara]

hey there my beautiful lovely wonderful people who r mutuals/follow me this has nothing to do w yall dw. I just need to yell for a moment bc I'm annoyed ONCE AGAIN at fandom nonsense

terfs/truscum fuck off you're not wanted here and will be blocked, id rather not waste either of our times

for the love of fuck can we stop headcanoning literally only the characters that defy gender roles trans-the-"opposite"-gender-they're-defying-the-roles-of because I'm at my wits fuckin end over here. or can we headcanon them as trans the gender they identify as?????

I'm not saying trans headcanons are bad, the character of the day this is about  I actually headcanon as a trans man (though it's grossly pervasive in fandom space with so many more I can yell about). But can we not look at a man with long hair and go "ah woman." or a man/enbie person who wears specifically ambiguous styles and refers to themselves mostly ambiguously as something other than they self ID bc "oh well obviously their gender is blah blah blah." like those r two different characters who I've seen people just immediately gone "oh trans woman" over nothing but surface characteristics (ok the first applies to like 7 different men tbh). one was even canonically a trans dude! I've seen it happen to transfem and transfem coded characters albeit much less, but I'm not denying it happens, just that I can't really think of any specific ones rn.

ah fuck wait I thought of another non-binary canon slew of characters. there's one fandom that's really notorious for assigning genders to different characters based off of the pronouns they use in Japanese DESPITE the series being very clear in telling you that the "species" (it's complicated without naming the media) has moved so far beyond human society and everything we know that they DONT have genders. them using Boku or Ore or watashi is a subtle way of pointing to how they feel about themselves not in a gender way. Boku and ore pop out more when they're being tough or arrogant. but no, everyone constantly misgenders damn near the entire cast and it suckssssss

please I'm begging u to stop the fucking gender essentialism especially in media that specifically tries to avoid making characters fit in a gender box

I'm gonna bite some fucking fingers off I s2g

TL;DR u can headcanon whoever u want as whatever u want but like also please take a moment to look internally from time to time and self examine. if u literally only ever put characters into boxes that are stereotypes of gender/sexuality/race pls consider your biases and maybe consider reevaluating. men can have long hair. women can have unshaved legs. men can wear dresses/skirts. women can wear suits only. nonbinary people don't owe you androgyny either while we're at it. let people use pronouns that don't "fit" their gender! stop parroting gender essentialism into your trans headcanons bc that's also terf shit! let people express gender in ways that doesn't force them into a neat little box. thanks for listening

edited tldr to my tldr bc I'm bad at being succinct; there is a difference between subtext/coding of a character and just going "oh so and so has surface level traits of x so obviously they're x duh"

#fandom discourse #gender essentialism #terfs fuck off #raahhhhhh i could yell about this for days #luc shut up

[moralesmilesanhour]

Why do you like miles so much? (This isn't meant to come off as rude or condescending, I'm genuinely just curious!)

I don't think I could ever fully explain why I'm hyperfixating on something, but I will try:

When I was first made aware of there being a black Spider-Man I didn't realize they weren't just talking about the suit 💀 I think I was like, in middle school or something? When I first "read" (watched a YouTube video of) his comic. Needless to say it made me very sad cuz his momma died but this was my first real encounter with an established black superhero that I can remember, so that set the foundation

Cut to 2019. I just finished or was about to finish 8th grade, I think? I went to a charter school for the majority of my academic life. Now, Spiderverse comes out and I'm hype asf because hey look black Spider-Man and they're actually animating a comic book movie! So my parents take me to see the movie.

I'm in the theater. I'm excited. The movie starts and BOOM! Miles speaks Spanish just like my classmates do! They cut to Visions Academy and the interior looks exactly like my school! There's a mf bodega and the streets look almost exactly like Crown Heights!! They even briefly addressed the fuckass gentrification coffee shops.

Even though I'm not a boy, I looked at what they did with Miles for Spiderverse and I saw a mirror. Not only is the art extremely inspiring to this day, but they did amazingly well with capturing such a specific experience being a black child in a gentrifying Brooklyn in almost every way possible.

TL; DR: Category 5 autism event. I still can't listen to Sunflower without tearing up a little it is BAD for me

#i hope that was at least a little coherent lmao #it's so hard to explain these things but yeah #asks #miles morales #spiderman across the spiderverse #blabbering

[citrusandsalt]

I really relate to your posts and reblogs about chronic fatigue and practicing self-love. So if you’re willing to share, what are your specific disabilities?

Hi anon!

I have been really lucky to have a PCP who has gone with "well, you have the symptoms of fibro, and a family history of fibro, so let's throw some fibro treatments at you and see if they help and if they don't, we'll do something else" and they did!

So one way to look at my suite of disabilities is that I have chronic fatigue, chronic pain (especially through the top of my back and my neck), and chronic migraines with and without aura. That profile could fit a few different things, but I've gotten pretty far just by treating the symptoms and muddling through that way.

Additionally, I'm not clinically immunosuppressed, but I do get sick very easily - noticeably to my friends levels of easily, regularly hovering near my max allotment of sick days just because of having colds easily, buying and finishing the biggest boxes of DayQuil and NyQuil multiple times per year easily - and when I get sick I tend to stay sick for longer, especially coughs.

Another way to look at it is: something autoimmune is probably going on. I have a family history of RA, other arthritises, AND fibro. The symptoms I've had for a long time map to fibromyalgia, but newer symptoms also map to spondyloarthritis. So probably some combo of those! Testing is a slow process and nothing has yet come back definitive, but also nothing has come back ruling out either of them (or both of them!). Autoimmune diseases are poorly understood - especially fibromyalgia which many people suspect may "actually" be several different diseases we've dumped in the "girlies' bodies hurt, idk" bucket, so uh, stay tuned I guess.

Additionally, some people count mental illness under disability, and I have severe depression, moderate-severe cPTSD, and mild-moderate generalized anxiety.

And there's a lot of comorbidities in there! Many people who experience trauma also have autoimmune disorders because your brain and your body are actually the same thing and putting one under chronic stress puts the other under chronic stress. And many people who are chronically ill have depression because hey, when your body can't do things, it makes you sad about what you can't do. Being in pain sucks. cPTSD basically always comes bundled with depression and anxiety so that's basically a BOGO special.

A thing that I do think is interesting is the comorbidities I don't have. As far as I can tell, I don't have EDS, autism, or ADHD, and I'm not trans.

So! tl;dr: got the back-and-neck hurts disease, the heady hurt disease, the sleepy bitch disease, the bad childhood disease, and the sad bitch disease. I'm like a beautiful flower where each petal is "huh, that's kinda fucked up but not like, SUPER fucked up, so you can pass for normal enough most of the time. Good luck champ!"

#asked and #essays on essay #anon asks #disability posting

[sarcastic-pasta-games]

Truth and Consequences is fun so far but genuinely why did you remove Phoenix's melanin? You can even see some of the original sprite's color near his hairline. Is it a background contrast thing or something, because otherwise it makes me a lil uncomfy, i just- like- is there a reason why? 😵‍💫

Ah yeah, there is a specific reason. The coloration was different between sets. His suit color is different as well. The reason is because the color schemes are different between sprites. The front facing ones are much tanner than the courtroom ones (which are untouched). My attempt at coloring the original sprites to resemble the other ones made him look... weird.

It looks to me like he got a rather bad sun tan in the recolored courtroom sprites. As this game is 2D, I decided to prioritize the in-court sprites, which necessitated recoloring the front-facing ones to match the original trilogy ones. Otherwise the same character would have had a very different palette entirely depending on what direction he's facing.

The original does look better on the court background I chose, since there's more contrast.

The front facing sprites were also created to accompany a court set based on the 3D sprites.

And that came down to personal taste in the end. I don't think the 3D sprites are as charming as the originals. Don't get me wrong, this 2D set is very good and represents the 3D ones well, but I simply prefer the 2D ones. I also strongly prefer the trilogy to the later games and I write Phoenix more like a 36 year old version of the original trilogy Phoenix rather than continuing the characterization in DD/SoJ (which is more hammy and melodramatic).

As for why I used that front-facing set in particular, that reason is pretty clear. It has everything, including co-counsel sprites should they become necessary (I don't have plans to use them but it's good to have them available in case I need them).

Additionally, there are some huge revelations later in the game that have some serious ramifications, and Phoenix's 3D expressions just don't fit nearly as well in terms of conveying the gravity of the situation, nor do they pack the same punch.

I can tell the AJAA "Hobo" Phoenix sprites were used as the color base for Phoenix in the 2D set I used. That's designed around an entirely different outfit, so naturally it does clash (and the suit is recolored to make it work).

TL;DR: I recolored the front-facing sprites I had to match the courtroom set and I like the 2D sprites better than the 3D sprites so I put those first in terms of which palette to use. I was trying to make the set look cohesive, like they're all the same person.

I hope that makes sense.

[terrakatten]

hiii I was wondering if you had thought any s/i lore for any of your f/os' sources? or how do you tend to imagine yourself in the story? also! are there any specific scenarios you think suit your f/os the best?

-@platonic-qpr-selfshipping

[I'm bad at Tumblr and it's taking a bit of mental energy to understand this question exactly, but I want to answer it so uh... I'll try my best, here]

Well, in terms of Johan Nylander, who I suppose is my s/i, with my f/o being Mordecai Heller... I indeed have thought up a *lot* of lore.

I've spent a great deal of time weaving Johan into the Lackadaisy universe in a way that feels organic and reasonable, and have thought up so much background for him that, frankly, I don't even know where to start!

I guess to summarize, Johan's place in the story is of key relevence to the plot, yet done in a way to where it's intended to seem like something that is canon yet is entirely off-screen.

• For example, in Chapter 2 of Bloodied Snow (My Fanfic starring Johan, Mordecai, and Zib), Johan is sent to go collect a vodka shipment from some farmers for Lackadaisy. He ends up encountering Mordecai, who had been sent to pick up said shipment by Marigold in accordance with a recent arrangement. If it had been anyone but Johan- and the fact Mordecai's feelings for him can overpower his cold professional lethality- then there likely would've been a shootout, and subsequently war between Marigold and Lackadaisy. Johan's mere existence therefore, by fateful luck, is the reason that Lackadaisy didn't get attacked and destroyed by Marigold in late 1926.

• In terms of character, Johan- as previously mentioned- serves as a shining ray of warmth, and is well-liked by all the cast members he's interacted with. Following this, Mordecai's love of Johan is the key to making the hatchetman drop his defensive domeanor and soften his gaze. Johan is the living key to Mordecai's heart, and through this has begun to put Mordecai on a divergent path from the canon.

Tl;dr: Johan's place in the story is unique to himself, with his own lore and story being one of the primary focuses of Bloodied Snow- with his ability to defrost Mordecai's ice-cold heart being the other key component of his role in Lackadaisy.

In terms of scenarios... with Mordecai, I like to imagine generally subdued and intimate 1-on-1 time being what works best for him (and by proxy, Johan). Mordecai strikes me as someone who, deep down, is actively eaten alive by his feelings of solitude when alone. Therefore, simply spending time with him to alleviate that loneliness creates a tranquil, pleasant atmosphere.

I'd like to imagine that Johan and Mordecai's most tender moments happen when they're passing an afternoon together. Their go-to activity is literature; one of them reads the book, while the other sits on the couch beside them, cuddling up close and simply listening to the lovely sound of the other's voice... it's simple and subdued, yet heavenly and blissful.

It lines up with Mordecai's overall personality- although his stoic, aloof and condescending behavior is something of an act to protect himself from vulnerability, he still is genuinely *not* the kind to be all too overt and energized. Therefore... having an affectionate feline tenderly nuzzle up against his arm while he reads through a good book is more than enough to bring him happiness.

So. Yeah. There you have it!

#lackadaisy #lackadaisy oc #mordecai heller #johan snowball nylander

[spurgie-cousin]

Feel bad for Joy that Austin’s reaction to staying up late for a big hair cut reveal was essentially “wish it was longer” and “btw my dad already told me”. I know folks tend to think they are the most in love/well suited but to me they have always seemed like good friends.

Ok I just watched this one and bc of all the shit people have been giving Austin so here are my thoughts in bullet points lol:

I totally disagree about the 'just friends' thing, although they do also seem like good friends. In addition to their mini makeout sesh when he got home they were literally constantly touching each other, stroking arms and hair, pulling each other close, doing sweet little face touches, etc and it didn't seem forced. To me, their body language is screaming "I AM INTO YOU!" like I truly don't know what more you need lol. I love my husband but most days he gets a peck when he comes home at most.

I know in the context of the Gothard shit his little "I wish it was this ( ) much longer" comment rubs wrong but I've said the exact same thing to my spouse when he buzzed his hair because he has lovely thick hair and I like the way it looks longer, so I can't dog on him for that. He's used to her having hair down to her knees and maybe it'll just take a second to get used to, or maybe that's just what he prefers, she really liked it and didn't seemed phased (and I mean that's part of being really good friends......brutal honesty lol).

He goes on about how good she looks and how cute she is regardless. With all the comments I really expected him to just be like "ehhh it's too short" and leave it at that but that's not how it was at all.

A lot of comments on reddit were like "wow could he be LESS excited" like he just seemed tired?? The guy had been working like 5 more hours that he expected and didn't get in until 1am, he seemed perfectly happy to see her just understandably a lil sleepy. Tl;dr: I really think people are giving him too hard of a time for this one. And Joy looks cute as a button.

#i am a bit of an austin forsyth apologist i will admit #but this one seems like an overreaction #they seem incredibly into each other