#(yeah it's complicated. but who doesn't love a good time travel story)

[walrus150915]

The most random out-of-order Nimona headcanons I've scrambled out of my mind and put in my notes as coherent as I could bc there's a LOTTTT

• I don't think Nimona uses specific names to label her sexuality/gender. Was she in love with Gloreth? Maybe she was. Maybe she was not. Does she like boys? Who knows, she sure doesn't. What's her gender? Nimona. That's it

• I think Ballister did try to be the cis ally™ and figure out the label Nimona would use but she'd just shrug her shoulders and say "I don't know, boss, it seems like you care about it more than I do"

• And even though she's NOT a girl, she uses she/her pronouns because 💥YOUR PRONOUNS DON'T DEFINE YOUR GENDER💥 you may use she/her and not be a girl, he/him and not be a boy, I even saw cis people use they/them simply bc they're comfortable. And that's okay!

• Although she's comfortable with people calling her he/they/neopronouns you name it. Just. Not it/its. You know the reasons😬

• Nimona is left-handed and it's CANON actually I am SO HAPPY as a left-handed person she's just like me fr💥💥

• Nimona isn't a big fan of domestic bliss Ambrosius and Ballister spend most of their time in (plus they're very sappy and very much disgustingly in love, Nimona's stoic organism can't handle their mushiness for the dear life), she's like an independent cat I think: comes to hang out, eats, spends time with her father-not-really figures and goes away for weeks only to come back again. She travels the world my dudes✨

• I think she has a bunch of photos from the places she'd been to and talks about her adventures a lot!

• Nimona also is the best cook of the fam I'm afraid. Ballister cooks, like, the bare minimum to serve himself as a functioning adult (rice, salad, pasta, some meat like you know the deal) but nothing too complicated. Ambrosius is a nepo baby who's probably lived in palaces and mansions with dozens of servants do you really think he's good at cooking😭 as he distanced himself from the Institute and moved in with Bal I think he learnt to cook, still not great at it.

• Nimona though? SHE CAN DO *ANYTHING* like she's madly good at cooking. It might look like she's burning the kitchen down only to reveal that she was putting Gordon Ramsay to shame!

Speaking of BallBros

• Ballister's experience is close to a second gen immigrant. Ambrosius's experience is close to a third gen immigrant. They can't be immigrants bc of the context of the story?? I DON'T CARE☺

• Ambrosius doesn't speak his mother tongue except for like a few words or phrases he's heard at home. His older relatives probably make fun of him for it on family gatherings. His parents didn't teach him because they didn't want him to stick out (totally not self projecting here - yeah I'm a third gen immigrant hiii)

• Ballister tho? I think Urdu was his first language but he learned English along the way

• And it kinda mixes in his head so he forgets the words from both languages sometimes and replaces them with the word from the other one (HA my experience again)

• When he's experiencing hard emotions, be it anger, happiness, sadness, or is overwhelmed, he drops English entirely and just starts bantering in Urdu

• Ambrosius didn't know Ballister was bilingual but when he learnt it? He was amazed and I think... Kinda jealous because he didn't get to learn Korean himself (self projection yeahhhhhh)

• "You know your mother tongue? Damn! I wish I did too!"

• That said, Ballister has no idea how to shorten Ambrosius's name (WHAT THE HECK IS THIS NAME BRO WHAT ARE YOU, GOD'S FOOD???), so he sticks to Urdu endearments, "luv" (in the most British accent possible) and "darling"

People who say French/Spanish are the romantic languages are wrong LISTEN TO URDU OR INDIAN LANGUAGES OR ARABIC. THAT'S WHERE LOVE IS DUDE

• Ambrosius has learnt like a few words in Urdu and tries to rizz up Ballister by saying some basic words like "jaan", "mohabbat" and just😭😭😭 fails😭😭😭 because he's a cringefail man😭😭😭

I remember trying to ask out my (NOW EX😔) gf who's Italian by writing "will you be my girlfriend?" in Italian and I used GOOGLE TRANSLATION🧍‍♂️🧍‍♂️ SHE UNDERSTOOD THAT I USED GOOGLE AND POINTED IT OUT AS A JOKE BUT I CRINGED AT MYSELF SO HARD..... Ambrosius would totally do that too and Ballister would chuckle and pull him in a kiss bc he loves this cringefail man so much

• Ambrosius also serenades like I KNOW DAMN WELL HE DOES. He goes "this one's for you, Bal" with a wink and sings like the sappiest most disgusting love ballad ever and Ballister tries his best not to laugh because that's his beloved boyfriend but also like.... So cringe. So embarrassing😭😭 Nimona has more balls than her boss so she would outright say that it's cringe

• Also. I don't agree with people saying Ambrosius's a jock because have you seen this man?? He's a theatre kid. The worst kind of theatre kid. Even after not being a kid anymore he's still a theatre kid. BRO IS A HAMILTON FAN UNIRONICALLY, OF COURSE HE IS. He makes weirdass references to musicals and giggles like an idiot

• Can we agree that Ambrosius was an awakening for many teenagers because OOOOH BOY he sure would be mine. Some pop news youtube channel probably has a video of him reading the kingdom's equivalent of "thirst tweets", like yknow this type of vids😭😭

While we're on the topic of thirst tweets

• Diego the squire runs a fan page account with edits of Ballister like he's some pop celebrity

• He also may or may not write self-indulgent "Ballister x reader" fanfiction in his off duty time

• Also hc that when Ballister was on the run he saw some "WANTED" poster of him and hang up on the wall like yeah boy's crush is EMBARRASSING (can we blame him? I'm the same with Riz Ahmed)

• Todd would be on the "straight" side of their equivalent to TikTok. You know the ones with shirtless men with the same haircuts who think they're hot when in reality they're not?? That's what Todd and his friends are up to in their free time *throws up*

To wrap it all up NOT with Todd, some super random ones:

• Ballister and Ambrosius force Nimona to take her shoes off ("DO NOT bring your European nonsense in this ethnic household") in their house even though she doesn't even have boots on😭😭 it's just her skin😭😭😭 so she morphs her form to simply be shoeless😭😭😭😭

• Ambrosius knows how to tap dance. Idk don't question it I just think he does

• Nimona plays piano YEAH SHE DOES she's lived for 1000+ years man she can do anything

• Ballister's hair routine is "genetics, coconut oil n some prayers"

Yeah that's it I'll probably make a part 2 because it's not all... These characters have occupied my mind and won't let it go🧍‍♂️

#nimona #ballister boldheart #ambrosius goldenloin #ballister x ambrosius #thoddeus sureblade #diego the squire #nimona headcanons #i should make a part where i discuss social media of the realm because ITS SO FUN #let me know your thoughts #yeah #also i have school tomorrow and its 4am... #i should go to sleep

[the-ghost-bracket]

Sissel propaganda:

"He's a funny little guy with amnesia! He does tricks! Other than that I can't say much because spoilers, but yeah, I love this guy!"

"He spends the entire game thinking he's a human, but finds out at the end that he was a cat the whole time and is fine with it"

"Good kitty."

"He can't read. He doesn't know what science is. He doesn't even know what water pressure is. He only has one night to find out both why he was killed and his lost memories while preventing others from dying and becoming ghosts. Also like. Don't look him up for pics cause some of it is spoilers orz"

"No because if I share any details about the game it WILL spoil parts of the plot I swear. Play the game completely blind"

"hes silly and cool and ghost trick is cool"

"He’s a ghost and can do the tricks anymore I say would be spoilers."

"He's complicated. He has identity issues. His earliest memory for most of the game is seeing his own corpse ass-up. He can time travel. He has a master's degree from the Rube Goldberg university of mischief. He can barely be discussed or Googled without tripping over major spoilers. He doesn't know what science is. He's stylish and he's my little meow meow. He even can't read"

"I can't go into detail without spoiling the game but ogh. OUGH. He's doing his best... Oh my god he's doing his best...!!! Achievements include: being at the VERY least 50% responsible for the formation of a wonderful found family (a lot of credit also has to go to Missile the dog who is the undisputed best character of all time but that's a story for another day)"

"Play Ghost Trick.You Play AS a Ghost. This Ghost is trying to find himself. You get to do all Kind of Ghost shenanigans. He cant read and doesnt know science. Reverses the death of other People multible times."

"Amnesiac ghost who decided to investigate his murder and became a Rube Goldberg machine."

"The whole game revolves around him being an amnesiac ghost and performing ""ghost tricks"" so that he can find out about his past and why he was killed. If he wasn't a ghost, there would be no story and no game. Also if you don't know who he is but want to know more, go into the game blind and avoid spoilers!! I'm serious I genuinely wish I could forget everything about this game so that I could experience it for the first time again. It used to be a DS only game but it's been re-released on Switch, and it's also available on Steam"

#ghost poll #ghost bracket #propaganda #sissel #ghost trick #ghost trick phantom detective #sissel ghost trick #ghost trick sissel #ghost trick spoilers

[obsessionnostalgia]

Claire Novak fic recs: yeah, I was trying to reblog something every time I found a new one but its too disorganized so now it lives here. You have a Claire Novak rec? i want to read it.

Where the Heart Is by goldenraeofsun

Features a time-traveling Claire hanging out with Sam and Dean circa season 7. There's angst. There's Claire hooking up with a diner waitress. There's Claire having self-worth issues. There's Claire making fun of Dean to his face. All the good stuff.

Like a Duck, He Fits the Bill by golbygloom

Claire Novak and her budding attachment to the guy who isn't her dad but wears his face. The angst of having to get out of your own way to make connections with others.

Let Me Come Home by prosopopeya

Deancas-centric but Claire Novak is a POV character, struggling in foster care and the uncertainty of whether her uncle (Cas) will get his shit together in order to take her in. The Claire and Dean parallels are strong.

Rec from kerryweaverlesbian:

no such thing as a unique experience by @astralpenguin

A 15 year old Claire meets the (now older) little girl who was possessed by Lilith for a long time. Neither of them realise this element of connection for quite some time. Tons of empathy and understanding. These two feel so much like complex teenage girls, and also the dramatic irony is incredibly fun. One of the best fics I've read all year

Rec from carhengeapocalypse:

Another rhinestoneangels (@pinknatural ) fic fatherisms

Claire is a baby when Jimmy agreed to be Castiel's vessel and Dean steps in to help take care of her. The timeline jumps around and the story is told in snippets and it's very good

as if death itself was undone by microcomets

Claire confronts a human Castiel in a grocery store.

Claire heaves a deep, bone-weary sigh. “Here I am, consoling an ex-angel using my dead father as a meat-puppet on his self-esteem issues. I should write a book or something.”

everlasting by entropic_saudade

Claire wants to have a permanent mark of her and Kaia’s love. In order to do the stabbing safely, she helps Dean bring Cas back from the Empty so he can heal her.

gifts given & words unspoken by rhinestoneangels

Short: Dean and Claire make cookies after Castiel brings her back to the bunker, injured. Some implications at this point, Claire is more family to Dean than Mary. Set in season 12.

coming out by dicklessthewonderclown

Short, Dean POV conversation on a drive with Claire where she comes out as wanting to date Kaia and also admits (by accident) that Dean is a kind of sort of maybe father figure to her.

A Christmas Miracle (for someone else) by bitterred

Set post-canon, mirroring all the "Cas is dead and Dean is depressed" fics, Claire Novak finds a cat during the holiday season.

i'm sorry i'm the one you love (no one will ever love me like you again) by monsterfatigue

Kind of weird that Claire decided she was in love with Kaia even though they had barely known each other. After Kaia comes back from the Bad Place, nothing is simple. Claire isn't sure why she thought it would be.

This Is A Love That Lasts Forever by HeddersTheOwl

Another fic where Claire being friendly with the angel that wears her dad's face is complicated.

"You look too much like him. It's not fair. You're not him." 

meteor site (our hearts collision) by sobsicles

Claire has religious trauma laced with homophobia. Kaia doesn't want to be anyone's nightmare.

the way a dad should by fleeceframe

Dean and Claire are driving back to Jody's when Claire needs to stop because her period has started. (Side note: i was SURE that part of the reasoning for carrying tampons/pads in the impala was going to be partially related to the fact that they're sometimes good for wound care, in that the products are designed not to grow bacteria.)

i don’t know nothing (and that’s fine) by halfwheeze

Claire Novak meets Magda Peterson, the psychic girl from 12.4 American Nightmare, and likes her so much it makes Claire look stupid. Look at that, they have matching religious trauma: "When Castiel-" she pauses, remembering that his name isn't carved into the internal dialogue of every girl with religious trauma from here to Texas, "the Winchesters' angel, I don't know if he was with them when they got you- when he came to Earth, he needed a vessel. A human strong enough to hold an angel, with strong enough faith to allow them in and allow them to stay." That's what the Winchester Gospels said about them anyway. Castiel just said that they needed to believe. They were special. Believers. Bullshit. "When Castiel came to Earth, he took my father. And then, when my father told him he couldn't stay anymore, Castiel approached me. Being a vessel, it's passed down in the family line. The blood. The body. All they need is the body. And I was a kid. He might as well have been God. So I said yes. And my father took him back. If you think about it, it's my fault that my dad is dead."

Bartenders Love Me by clusterjam

Claire Novak doing her Dean-coded thing: hustling in a bar, flirting with the bartender, and oh yeah: angst about whether her dad would approve of her.

Subject: Dean Winchester Is Dead by angelszn

There aren't enough fics about Claire finding out Dean (or Cas) are dead. Dean Winchester is dead. Dean Winchester is dead, and Claire got the news in an email of all things. As if the gravity can be contained in the tiny black letters on the screen. It didn’t even seem possible. 

patricide of the lowest order by angelszn

This one's dark (Major Character Death tagged) -- Castiel killed Claire's father, after all, and what is Supernatural but a series of revenge plots?

two steps on the water by orpheuscas

Claire in the aftermath of being cured of werewolfism. Heavy dose of "Dean is basically Claire's dad now" included.

she'll say she got the map from me by 13zepptraxx

Hey you know that episode where Dean goes back in time and hangs out with his mom? He tells her, "No matter what you hear, or what you see. Promise me you won’t get out of bed." but then an angel wipes her memory? What if Claire went back in time after Dean died because she was sick with grief and basically did the same thing?

#claire novak #spn #fanfic #fic recs #claire novak fics #claireposting

[firespirited]

I think Dolly Parton is a brilliant singer songwriter and performer. She made her way in a music scene and a society that didn't respect women. But I don't like the way Dolly Parton runs Dollywood and her lack of political action (unless we find out she donates to actual leftists or runs an abortion underground railroad or something) . And I really can't stand "Dolly Parton" the persona, the huge hearted giver of folksy poverty advice that appears on TV. I love her work but totally cringe when she's called to play a magical whimsical godmother to all. I don't wish to harsh anyone's mellow about her, she's played delightful characters, she's a hard-working career woman who doesn't use her public.

I know It's not fair to hold her to higher standards to any other artists and yet. Dolly playing everyone's best friend and ally "Dolly" gets on my nerves. It usually involves some anecdotes about how she grew up dirt poor and that makes people have to be creative and resilient. Yeah and some don't make it and you could make sure your employees never have to feel the cold and rrrrrgh. Irrational annoyance not even at the woman herself but the weird pedestal society put her on.

So seeing her as a revered icon in a sci fi about the future was jarring. On one hand, she's tacitly taking a political position for trans and gender identity rights IRL by appearing in this episode which is huge. Dollywood probably won't have pro trans policies but as a quiet declaration, it's still not nothing.

On the other hand, in the story, her advice was as about as good as a fortune cookie saying "trust your heart" or "take one step then think about the next" and not very respectful of the fact she was dealing with a woman fighting for her people's lives against a violent state facing a complex ethical dilemma: one life for many. I really don't think that's the time to talk about your momma's can-do attitude. It's time to say "that sucks, that's an awful position to be in. would you like someone to bounce your options and potential moves off until you can see more clearly?" or even "that's rough honey, can I give you a song and a hug?"

IDK it was a complicated episode. Lots of issues to unpack: we fought for this teen's agency to get surgery for herself but now the teen's agency to join an activist group for her people against her repressive nation is in question? The father who lost sight of the mission and potentially endangered his daughter due to a need for vengeance. The diplomatic channels that were presented as the 'right thing' when they've been comfortable with human rights abuses before, it was just setting up these women to be failed by state apparatus. And they would have been if it wasn't for the last minute miracle evidence beyond evidence even though there was already plenty of evidence.

It's a good episode if I'm still thinking about it later, very good if I'm poking holes in the story writing.

The Orville new horizons has become quite the excellent sci-fi. I really hope McFarlane has enough dirt on studio execs to get another season made. Committing to the android staying aromantic was bold. Tackling the trans hot topic via intersex issues was bold. They even pulled a "Tuvix" ethical right that sure felt wrong with the time travel episode.

Now if Dolly could set the terms for the conglomerate that runs Dollywood and demand the right to unionize, living wages, healthcare and full anti discrimination policies regardless of what Tennessee laws may be passed, I'll open a shrine to Dolly Parton. Tacit just isn’t enough when your former poverty and status as gay icon is going to be part of your identity and selling points. I do hope she made bank on that vaccine though, excellent investment.

#saf #the orville new horizons #Spoilers for s3 #The orville #Saffy's irrational icks: working class artists who don't pay it forward enough

[ultfreakme]

What are your top ten favorite scenes in Avatar the Last Airbender?

Thank you so much for the ask!!! Oh my god. This so hard, I've never thought of individual scenes as top favorites but I've tried my best and narrowed it down I think?

Katara v Pakku 'You can't knock me down!': So I watched Avatar when it was first airing as a kid, there weren't many dark-skinned main characters around, especially not girls who fight and certainly not against sexist men who try to stop people from learning. So when I saw this scene, I was at the edge of my seat, it taught me a lot about bravery and I still cheer and clap for Katara when I re-watch the fight.

Sokka throughout The Fortuneteller: I'm an atheist and people didn't exactly take kindly to that when I was a kid & I was infamous as the 'weird kid who probably has no morals'. So seeing Sokka outwardly express skepticism about the spirits & 'higher powers' was very comforting.

Sokka inventing the air balloon solution: I think it was one of the first scenes where I really started liking Sokka. The thing about hot air actually made me read my school textbooks & google stuff to figure out how air currents work, so that helped me with a few science classes about molecules.

Aang in The Storm: It was one of our first glimpses into how he felt about running away, the guilt, the sadness, the pain of being the last of your people with no one to turn to and thinking its all your fault.

Toph fighting the Earth Rumble goons when Aang & her dad are watching: The way she moves is so freaking cool!!! It was her showing exactly how capable she is, she isn't kidding when she says she's the world's best earthbender because yeah, who the heck else could do what she does???

Hama's flashback: Once again I watched this show as a kid, so this was the first time i got confronted with the fact that there will never be a 'perfectly good' or 'perfectly bad' side. People are complicated & I understand what pushed Hama to do what she did but that doesn't excuse it so in that vein;

Katara sucking the water out of the field to fight Hama: It's just badass even if it is angsty.

Aang pulling Ozai down by his beard and encasing him in rock: I mean-- like that is just objectively cool and very embarrassing for the 40-something year old guy. Aang was in top form.

Zuko in the bunker with Ozai: I don't watch too many new cartoons but I don't think any show has ever so explicitly called out the abuser and made sure the abuser is acknowledged as unforgivable. It really put into light for me a lot of things about child-parent relationships, what its supposed to be (forever angry at Boku No Hero Academia for using their Zuko-based character to forgive and redeem his abuser, lf you don't know anything about BNHA this means nothing to you jbcfjhbh sorry).

Yuekka last kiss: They're the ship that first introduced me to tragic romances,. My heart was broken and I kept waiting the entire 3 seasons down to the last episode for Yue to make a return and say "hey guys! so I'm a spirit I'm alive!". I still like it because idk I love angst a lot and the whole story of a princess finding glimpses of freedom in a boy who's traveled the world and yearning for it gets to me.

I'm not remembering other scenes that may have had more impact on me just yet, but a few honorable mentions; Ran and Shao's dance(I LOVE DRAGONS 100/10 they make everything better always), Zuko in the Cooler, Sokka and the cactus juice, Aang's anxiety episode.

Thank you again for asking! This was so fun to do~~

#atla

[gallalctyka]

can we hear abt casimar....

^ me when i'm asked about my ocs :333

OKAY SO... i've talked a little bit about them already but here's a more detailed rundown!!

casimir (cas or cassie for short) is part of a nomadic "faction" of bounty/demon hunters in the post-apocalyptic wasteland that is what was eastern bloc during the cold war. the hunters have a sort of love-hate reputation, on one hand they're one of the only ones capable of handling the danger that a lot of demons and spirits pose on everyday basis. on the other, they're not known to be particularly generous in spite of that (they do sort of have the mentality of "survival of the fittest"), not to mention their disdain for demons extends towards the non-harmful or neutral ones - a good demon is a banished one. also they aren't fond of the divine either, wishing to overthrow the status of the gods worshipped across the land

cas is more... divided on the matter. they don't jump at the opportunity to kill any demon that they encounter (more of a hassle than anything) but WILL be distrustful. as for gods - they do find their worship ridiculous because as far as they were taught they didn't do shit as humanity was literally at its end. they certainly won't give their offerings at the altars they come across on their journey. and it's a mentality they grew up with, as they were taken in by a group of hunters when they found them as an orphaned child in one of the abandoned(?) soviet research facilities

as the story starts they're 17 and honestly quite skilled, a prodigy of sorts. the hunters do find them to be a valuable asset. cassie doesn't care for it that much though - all they want is to find a way to get out of the walls to the outside world. maybe it's foolish to believe that the situation is truly better beyond the iron curtain but hey, better try that than to slowly rot with demons at every corner. which eventually leads them to lviv as they look for intel and MAYBE a way to pass the never ending storms that make traveling so dangerous AND make the road towards west practically unpassable

casimir might come off as apathetic and a bit selfish, seemingly only fueled by their own goal and seeing others as nothing more than means to an end. it was the mentality they were raised into after all. not to mention that they're still a teenager with some deep attachment and intimacy issues lol hunters make for SHIT family. believe it or not they do have good intentions. they have a STRONG sense of justice, which makes their disdain for the gods all the more understandable as well as them genuinely believing to be in the right about their attitude towards all demons and spirits. they're fascinated by history and what The Ancestors (ie people who lived before the nuclear war) were like. they love learning!! also they're big fan of white chocolate (don't ask how people managed to be able to still make it after the world ended in eastern europe of all places. soviets did some crazy shit here). they like krówki also- a sweets kind of guy :)

they have a hard time forming bonds though due to their messed up upbringing and what not. BUT they manage to find themselves two adoptive uncles hehe. nikolai and elias, two enigmatic brothers who seem to know a lot more than they let on... yeah spoiler alert they're actually the two leading gods in slavic faith lol. so it's kind of funny to watch them slowly growing to consider each other a real family while the two are something that cassie was taught to hate. they do get over that mentality though. kind of. everything is complicated

kind of crazy that they involved themselves with gods of all things. there's no chosen one in this story. however there is something about them that nikolai found... intriguing and concerning at the same time, hence why he continued interacting with them. long story short casimir may not be as human as they thought they were

#ask #oc: casimir #hee hee hoo hoo #i did call cas a vampire :^) #because fun fact - they originate from eastern europe!! upiory/wąpierze my beloved

[heart-forge]

Do you think MCs can have a character arc?

yeah of course. there's different levels of it of course: in most, even high budget RPGs, that I play, the arc is like...self-driven, which isn't a flaw on the part of the RPG but a mechanical function. The game doesn't know anything about my MC but what I am able to tell it: I may answer questions, but I can never suggest connections. my ESO character is a redguard vampire who falls in love with, loses, and then resurrects verandis ravenwatch. the game can't make the connections between her and rada al-saran, that they're both redguards, that they're in love with the same man, that herai was changed at the spot where he was defeated which led him to become a vampire. a good story will allow for that kind of thing while purposely not imposing it: think of the difference between fallout new vegas, where your blank slate character is able to have whatever revelations you want based on the events of the game and can ben whoever you want them to have been before the events of the game, so long as at some point they delivered mail, versus fallout 4, where your cookie cutter mc is led to a specific ending meaning to evoke a particular set of emotions.

there's also like, specific games that guide your MC through such a thing, where things about your MC are revealed and you can then choose to build their story around these things. think about the mythic questline of wrath of the righteous: you pick the mythic powers that best represent you from a roleplaying perspective, you grow these powers, you can decide to believe they are from a particular source, you're called to react when it's revealed where the powers actually came from, and eventually you can choose to keep or discard those powers based on all the information you now know. this is an arc that's imposed upon your character—you can't decide to have never had powers and you can't decide where they came from—but you get to build your character within that storyline (perhaps again in contrast to fallout 4 where you are instructed as to how your character feels about particular events that happen to them regardless).

I think people tend to get a little unrealistic about how responsive a game should get to their specific character. I think, generally, that if such a thing is possible to be known by the game, that the game should invest in at least a passing acknowledgement of the fact (to say nothing of when a fact should be a huge deal: imagine being an alienage elf in dragon age and not being able to react to the alienage being purged as an insider). I think broad classes, player races, if they vary and especially if they're significant, they should be acknowledged. think adaar in DAI, where dialogue with bull had very little variation even though you were technically the same thing as him (which, based on particular kotaku expose pieces on bioware, seems to be time/budget restraints), versus something like vampire: the masquerade where the type of vampire you are can change how you're able to travel and if you can interact with particular npcs.

at the same time though, there's some stuff that's just too niche to acknowledge: like in my earlier ESO example, while the game can get a little egregious about acknowledging that you're a vampire/werewolf, of course I wouldn't expect them to know that my character is in love with Verandis Ravenwatch: there's not player/npc romance mechanic, and there's not even an npc affection mechanic. all it can know is that I've gone through the rivenspire questline by the time I start the dark heart of skyrim dlc, and on a meta level the writers know that verandis was a popular character and so most player will want to be able to be neutral-friendly with him. lots of people WANT to be able to acknowledge their favourite npcs, but think of the time, expense, and complications of adding a full scale affection-mechanic to a massive multiplayer game where you can't replay quests!

broadly, though, I think that a lot of the indie-type AAA knock offs (not IF as it's its own thing, but you know the type: the unity games made by one developer, the genre-knockoffs hosted on itch, etc etc) have the fundamental flaw of allowing for a blank slate character and....nothing else. I'd say for sure you can see it in a game like cyberpunk, where the studio has previously dealt with pre-built player characters like geralt whose personalities are already set in stone and just require tone decisions, versus their blank-slate V who has far too much independence from player tone decisions (MY V is certainly not such an indifferent, fame-hungry centrist) and yet doesn't hold any strong opinions about anything to avoid the narrative grinding to a halt every forty seconds to quiz V about how they feel about computers. there's a balance to be struck, and it's the mark of a good MC that the player can feel like they've grown or been through something !!

#talkForge #I also find there's a strong overlap between complaints about railroading and instances where the content insists upon not being bigoted #asking you to engage with the setting without prejudice is not railroading #not that I in particular have that problem but we've all seen it

[candysweetposts]

Day 169

Edit: I changed some stuff.

Bad lighting, I get it.

Description:

Those are Cordelia and Alexander Làmour. Their parents are Alice and Ren Làmour. They are twins, around 10-13 years old (yeah, I can't decide). They are the same height (approximately 150 cm or 4'11) and almost the same weight. Alex came out a bit earlier, making him the big brother. They're both geniuses but focus this "ability" on different things, Alexander on computers and Cordelia on literature.

As twins, they're expected to look and think alike but that's not the case here. They're quite the opposite in lots of things. Still, they resemble Alice and Alan in some way, Alex being a goofy boy and very cheerful like his uncle, and Cordelia being creative and delicate like her mom. Besides that, they have this aura around them from their father, the elegance and seriousness.

There isn't much about their past since they're still very young in compassion with the others. Something notable is that they got separated from their mother for a while when they were like 3 years old or so but then she came back. Some other things from the present day: they're both at a very prestigious school, the one that the king went to as well and they're currently training.

Their relationship with their parents it's a good one. Alex likes to ask his dad for advice and Delia talks with her mom all the time. Both of them admire their dad for his position and think that their mom is pretty cool. The only problem is that their parents don't spend so much time with them because they are both busy with their jobs. This made Alex and Delia feel a bit lonely.

Now, let's take them separately:

Cordelia is a kind girl but with a bit of an attitude sprinkled. She loves writing stories and reading some from famous authors and even from AO3 or Wattpad. Her tastes are very peculiar. She prefers stories with lots of details and complicated words, mostly romance and fantasy. She also likes collecting cute keychains and has a big wooden box where she keeps them all. She's a good girl and a good student and likes respecting the rules. She doesn't like delinquents or anything that they do. She can't stand being in a dirty place making her very angry especially when she witnesses her brother's room. She dreams big like any child, seeing herself as a famous author who has her books adapted into movies or a screenwriter. She likes wearing cute and elegant outfits in soft colors, like her mom. She mostly chooses dresses with ballerina flats with some accessories and other times shirts with skirts and some loafers. She's not so interested in training but that doesn't mean she doesn't want to be a great fighter. She has a blog where she writes almost daily about her life and story ideas. She thinks that her brother is a bit dumber than her but that doesn't mean she doesn't love him. She does love him very much and appreciates every moment spent with him.

Alex is pretty much a tech guy. He loves everything that is related to computers and how they work and also gaming, of course. He loves playing online games with his friends. He is extroverted and loves interacting with people of any kind of age. He likes speaking in public and is not afraid to speak his mind. He wants to do a lot in the future: making his own games, becoming a youtuber, becoming a master of coding, having his own company, etc. For now, he's learning as much as he can. He's also into music and listens a lot while studying. He doesn't like to be treated like a child or when someone looks down on him just because he's young. He also doesn't like spicy food and romantic movies. For a nerd, he likes traveling and exploring new places. He likes wearing hoodies, jeans, converse, cool accessories, and also elegant clothes, shirts (sometimes patterned), suit pants, and leather shoes. Sometimes he combines these two styles. He wants to get piercings when he gets older because he thinks he would look better like that. He loves his younger sister and will do anything to protect her.

#my ocs month #alexander làmour #cordelia làmour #original character #my oc art #digital portrait #digital art #illustration #drawing #artwork #artists on tumblr #365 days challenge #365 art challenge #artist on tumblr #artoftheday #twins #my art #my artwork #character info #oc info #daily drawing

[sunshine-vx]

Across Space, Time and Dreams (ASTaD) (Ch. 6)

(Blankshippers DNI)

(Please refer to beginning of chapter 1 post for complete list of CWs/TWs)

(This chapter's illustrations by me! I TRIED TO DO A SINGLE BIG ONE, ENDED UP DOING THREE...NEVER AGAIN...)

(Read it on Ao3 here!)

(Reblogs are appreciated!)

-

Chapter 6

Ingo, Akari and Rei had decided to begin their investigation with this; what time frame did Ingo (and Akari) come from? Ingo and Akari agreed their time frames must've been the same, as what they remembered seemed extremely similar, and they also must've been from some place in the future.

"Right now, people are just now beginning to better understand and co-exist with Pokémon.." Rei stated, "and you both have had marvelous skill regarding getting along with and understanding Pokémon from the very beginning of your time here."

"And from what both of us can remember, most people get along with Pokémon at least alright in our time," Akari continued, "so we obviously came from a time when people and Pokémon have advanced to coexist much easier with one another".

Ingo chimed in, "Not to mention the spread and advancing of Pokémon battling, and the possible technological advances. Both of those things are quite normal in our worlds, from what we can recall."

"Was your world super futuristic? In the far, far future? Like a bunch of new and super efficient technology all over the place?" Rei asked, "I've heard of stories like that. Like technology that is super complicated and cool."

Akari laughed, "No, I don't think we're from that far in the future,"

Ingo nodded, "Yes, Akari is right"

"And what about your birthplace?" Rei questioned, "Would you even be from this region in the future?"

That question was a more difficult one. Ingo did stick out, but that could simply be the time frame at play. Yet he felt as if his origins may not be in this land at all, however old or young it may be.

"I am not sure- although I feel like the answer is no, for some reason.." Ingo answered

"Well, surely you have some scraps of important memories you can maybe grasp." Rei suggested, "Those memories could be of your homeland!"

That was a good idea, Ingo thought, nodding in approval and thanks.

"What you told me in Wayward Cave," Akari said, "something about a Pokémon precious to you, that it wielded flames with mastery. And a man who looked like you. Who would battle with you and discuss Pokémon. Have you seen that species of Pokémon? Or anyone that resembles that man? Or even you?"

Ingo shook his head. "No, unfortunately."

Still, they'd need to try something.

They tried thing after thing. Flipping through the Pokédex to look at the fire-type Pokémon.

Asking both the travelers and Hisui people about things. Even just going down to smaller details about Hisui.

Nothing felt right.

Until they got onto the subject of language.

"I heard that Ingo spoke another language better than Hisuiun when he had first appeared in Hisui." Rei said, "Do you remember what that language is, Ingo?"

Ingo nodded, "Galarian, although being from Galar doesn't necessarily ring any bells…"

"Maybe you just need to know a few things about Galar, then!" Akari suggested. She turned to Rei and smiled, "And we have just the person to ask!"

"Oh yeah!" Rei replied, "Professor Laventon!"

Soon enough, the three individuals were rushing through the Galaxy Hall and to Professor Laventon's office.

"Professor!" Rei called out, "We have something important to ask you!"

Professor Laventon was scribbling in the Pokédex, then stopping, raising his head to look at his doorway. He smiled seeing his visitors, closing the Pokédex and setting the pen down before standing up to greet them.

"Rei, Akari, Ingo!" He spoke, "How lovely it is to see you all! What brings you three here?"

"We need help with something regarding Ingo's memories!" Rei announced, "We're trying to figure out where he's from, and we were having trouble, but we realized that his native language is Galarian, so we thought maybe you could help out!"

"Oh, of course!" Professor Laventon replied, "So you think maybe we could help pinpoint where Ingo is from via his native language?"

The three others nodded

"Well, I do remember that Ingo definitely spoke Galarian better than Hisuiun when he first arrived," The Professor explained, then shifting to speak Galarian as he turned to Ingo, "although when I spoke to Ingo in Galarian, and when he still does, he has peculiar accent."

"I do remember you telling me that, yes." Ingo replied, also in Galarian

"Woah!" Rei exclaimed, "That's Galarian, right?"

"Indeed it is, my boy!" Laventon answered, shifting back to Hisuiun, "And as I just told Ingo, when he speaks Galarian, he has an accent different from my own, meaning he's likely not from Galar."

Akari frowned, "Well if he's not from Galar, where would he be from?"

"Well, I don't know every region in and out. There are multiple regions where Galarian is the prime language, although different regions tend to have different accents, or dialects." Professor Laventon explained, "Ingo here seems to have the 'Unovaian' accent and dialect of Galarian, or in other words, the dialect of Galarian spoken in the region of Unova!"

Unova.

Rei and Akari looked at Ingo, who now seemed a bit surprised.

"Does Unova ring any bells, Ingo?" Akari asked.

"I…I think it does!" Ingo exclaimed.

Rei beamed, "Really? Wow! You should go there, Ingo! You could find out a lot!"

Ingo chuckled, "Ah, well, I think I need to digest this piece of information first."

"Oh! Right, hehe," Rei nodded

"Professor Laventon, do you have any information on any Pokémon from Unova?" Akari asked

Laventon shook his head, "I'm afraid not. I apologize for that."

"It's quite alright, you've already helped quite a bit!" Ingo replied

"Hey, I know it's getting late, but I have one last idea!" Rei announced

"What is it?" Akari questioned

"Well, we've been getting some visitors from other regions lately. Maybe some of them could be from Unova, and they could help confirm if you're really from the future!"

"Quite a good idea, Rei!" Laventon exclaimed, "What do you think, Ingo?"

"I think we should do it!" Ingo said after thinking for a moment, determined, "And, thank you for your help, Professor; we're all very grateful"

"I'm glad I was able to be of help!" The Professor said, "Good luck on your investigation!"

And as they said goodbye to one another, Ingo felt a warm feeling. Maybe he really would get answers.

It wasn't hard to find Unovaian travelers. Their Hisuiun wasn't the greatest, and they tended to speak Galarian among themselves.

"What's Unova like?" Akari asked one traveler, "Does my friend here ring any bells?"

The traveler studied Ingo for a moment before speaking,

"Not really," They replied, "but I like this fellow. He seems like he'd inspire something. Unova is quite advanced and lively. More cities."

They didn't get much else from the travelers, but they said something about "truths" and "ideals". That resonated with Ingo.

"I feel like I'm remembering some of what I knew about future Unova.." Akari stated

"May you tell us?" Ingo requested

Akari nodded, "It's quite technologically advanced and lively. There's lots of battle there. It has strange, efficient systems of transportation.."

"Advanced and lively.." Ingo echoed, "battle..strange, efficient systems of transportation…I don't understand why, but these concepts all seem so familiar.."

"I don't think we should have to worry too much," Akari exclaimed, "Dialga and Palkia should at least have a general idea of where to send you, buuut better safe than sorry."

Rei nodded, "If we give Dialga and Palkia the information we've found out, they'll almost certainly be able to send Ingo to the right place and time, yes?"

Akari nodded. Ingo tipped his hat, smiling slightly, "This all has been very helpful. I think I just need a bit of time by myself to think things through, maybe remember a thing or two. Thank you both sincerely for all your help!"

Both Akari and Rei nodded, "Of course! We'll be here with Dialga and Palkia if and when you decide to try to go anywhere!"

Ingo still smiled, nodding, before turning and walking to the exit of the village.

The future. Unova. It all seemed right, but he'd have to think about all of this more.

But he was eternally grateful that they had gotten closer to his origins– maybe this really could work.

Chapter 5

Chapter 7

#ASTaD #ASTaD!AU #submas #submas art #submas fanfic #submas au #pokémon #pokemon #pokemon black and white #pokemon legends arceus #pokémon legends arceus #pokémon fanfic #pokemon fanfiction #pokemon art #pokémon art #subway master ingo #subway master emmet #subway boss emmet #subway bosses #subway boss ingo #my art #my fanfic #my au #my fanworks #self indulgent #moonlightalpha666 #putting my sister's username because they've been a huge help #they're basically the co-author lol #warden ingo #blankshippers dni

[writingmochi]

lissie love ~

i apologize for my absence, i have been resting well these past few days…

oh no, i am sorry to hear that social media has such a strong effect on you… i know that there are so many platforms and so many people. it is almost overwhelming, seeing that humans as creatures are not meant to interact with so many people at once…

that is actually very clever on your part. there is a reason for everything ~

i agree wholeheartedly. it works very similarly in both cases. and that is an interesting quote, worded somewhat quirkily, but true nonetheless. everyone has that interest where they dedicate themselves entirely and i think it is rather neat that way. we all share that in some small way ~

it is especially true in k-pop, considering how complicated the lore can get these days. i myself am still not very good at understanding k-pop lore… the stories get too complicated for me and i need it explained secondhand to truly grasp it… do you have a favorite storyline from a k-pop group?

signed, 🩻

lissie: i'm sorry for the late reply, x-ray!

yeah... i've spoken about this with smiles when i did my anon reveal so I'll try reiterate it here. since i used social media from when i was 6 years old (my mom made me a facebook page so i could play games), it's been a part of my life that just makes me sick, especially with the so-called "innovation" that is just tech companies copying each other. i tried to erase my real identity from the internet as best as i could and let my internet persona/brand flourish instead. reasons as to why can be summarized into: i'm tired of seeing too much information and i don't wanna compare myself to others. building boundaries and quitting some social media that i use helps me to heal in a way...

aww thanks for that actually! i'll try my best to structure my stories in the most optimal way!

about the "everyone is a nerd of something" comment, i just think that it is much more fascinating when you try to plunge into the fandom yourself. but in order to do that, you have to have an open mindset too of course before you decide if you wanna join or not. i used to be in toxic fandoms before usually in kpop fandoms and i realizes that i like my position better as a casual listener sometimes fan in certain situations, like me with txt in a way where i don't follow each of their activities, watch their vlogs, etc and just be there for the music, to do, and live performance if it's worth it for me to go

i thought about it that way because i used to have a parasocial relationship with kpop idols (i think i still have the residue of it too right now) but it is not as strong as years ago because, ngl, i'm sick of being known as the kpop girl. and at the right time, kpop is introduced to a younger audience who, i'm sorry to say this, is much more susceptible to the toxicity of both the fandom sphere and the internet (possessiveness, parasocial relationship, ddos attacks, defensive behavior that might be too much, etc). because of that, i realized it is my time to actually venture out of the kpop bubble and ignite more interests. that's why i've been most attracted to geeky stuff like dungeons and dragons, indie video games, and even cinema where i found out about festival films that are much more exciting than blockbusters playing in the theater.

i would say that my favorite kpop storyline as of recently is ateez's. i like how creative it is with the theme of struggling people turned musical pirates turned revolutionary anarchists with the theme of music being the thing that set them free. for clean storytelling, i would also say bts hyyh storyline that spans from 2015-2019-ish i forgot. it's the first "mainstream" kpop storyline because, before them, most groups have an interesting concept that doesn't have any storyline (exo with superpowers and b.a.p as aliens coming to earth) and bts universe is pretty grounded if you remove the time travelling stuff. loona's lore is another one that i love because it connects member's concept and sound, subunits' concept and sound, and then the whole group's and its combination. other notable ones are onf, billlie, and nct 2018 & 2020

kpop lore is a double-edged sword in my opinion. you could make it right and make it connected to the group concept and each of their releases while sometimes you might do it too much that it actually turns people off. for this i use ateez and enhypen as examples. i always think that ateez's pirate/anarchist concept is blend so much into the branding of ateez like music video, merch, promotion, and it blends in well that it lets the group experiment with genres that could be implemented into the concept. while in enhypen's case, i think the addition of the storyline is too jarring in a way. we knew they're orphaned/runaway vampires based on given-taken but then why did they go to supernatural school for drunk-dazed and tamed-dashed to then abandoned that to make them be a rebellious vampire group for blessed-cursed and future perfect before returning back to their more vampiric twilight-esque concept for bite me? it doesn't flow well at all if we compare it to ateez's treasure, fever, and the world series

other than that, the concept of enhypen's storyline is not as blurry as ateez because the company is making intellectual property out of this. that makes it feel disconnected from the group instead of making the group inherit it. enhypen doesn't fully capitalized on the vampire concept because hybe is too ambitious by making ips out of their groups (bts with hyyh n chako, txt with star seekers, enhypen and &team with dark blood, le sserafim with crimson heart). i now know that hybe sees their groups as cash cows while kq sees ateez as an investment. also, you don't hear people utter the words "enhypen is the vampires of kpop" like how people say "ateez is the pirates of kpop"...

#message to the moon #i'm so fucking passionate about this lol #maybe i should be a creative director #messenger: robin-obsessed

[yerbamansa]

it is very fun and reassuring to have a group chat for kitchen mistakes. specifically the person who came up with the original idea for the AU, who doesn't write fiction but can sure as hell give great notes and feedback throughout the editing process, is awesome. this story has a much more complicated plot than anything i've written before (yeah, including a whole-ass time travel story) and she knows about it and is amazing at pointing out where some pov character could've observed something relevant, or some frustration could've been made clear, or whatever.

way back in my schoolkid days, i remember when we'd have to swap papers and give feedback. i always took that shit really seriously. red pen and constructive criticism. i don't think it pissed anyone off, but i was almost always bummed when i put in that work and my peer feedback was like "it was good!" so. i love this gdoc full of notes like "wait i'm confused" more than i can explain.

#am writing #trying to be awake enough to do the substantive edits #then ch6 can go up #hopefully today

[daz4i]

very sexy trope in writing is when there's 2 or more characters who think they got a whole image, or think they're missing a certain detail to understand what's going on, and the pov switches and you find out they're totally off mark and you see their actions in a whole different light and you can also see why they see things in the wrong way and it's so cool so sexy i love it

#idk if my phrasing is coherent but yeah #in the fic I'm reading now (the one with the sexy tags!) it's used really well tbh???? #i thought it was gonna be one person's pov for the whole thing but it changed and in a very sexy way #it's 3 main characters and they're all misinterpreting each other but for completely different reasons which makes this sexier #like person a just has his memories kinda fucked up and mixing with this timeline so he draws conclusions from his other self #(yeah it's complicated. but who doesn't love a good time travel story) #person b just keeps jumping to conclusions driven by his own self hatred while ignoring what's true in favor of that #and person c just. simply doesn't have the whole picture bc she's technically an outsider #and it's so sexy to see it come together and how as a reader you get a complete image only from reading through all three!

[maychorian]

I'm sorry if this question isn't one that you want to answer/can answer, you're just the only batman related blog I follow and sometimes Google isn't specific enough. (also pre-apology if I say anything incorrectly or wrong, I'm still learning) So, question: is it true that Cassandra doesn't speak, or mostly communicates with sign and body language? In a lot of fics that I've read with her, she is usually depicted as mostly nonverbal, but occasionally a fic will have her speak "normally", ie like the other characters. I've never read a comic book in my life, but I do know that her origin had her raised without language because her dad is an ass. So I guess I'm just curious about how true this version of her is to recent canon or if it's just a popular fanon trope

I don't mind! I love answering Batfam questions.

So, the story of Cassandra and her language skills is kind of complicated.

When she was first introduced in No Man's Land, she was essentially non-verbal. Barbara was teaching her slowly to read and to speak. Over her two-issue introduction, you learn that her father, David Cain, raised her without language because he was obsessed with raising a perfect warrior who used violence as language. Cass was the only "student" who was really able to do this, and it led to her being preternaturally good at reading body language, to the point that it was basically a superpower.

Oh, and David Cain was also an assassin. The first time Cass was sent to kill someone, she was absolutely horrified by the literal blood on her hands and ran away, vowing inwardly never to kill again. She traveled around the world and eventually ended up in Gotham, where Babs took her under wing, and later Batman did too and eventually adopted her.

I don't think it's ever shown that Cass used sign language in canon. That's a fanon thing that was later added on, because people assume "not speaking" means "mute." But Cass isn't mute, she was just never taught how to speak. In canon, she slowly learns how to speak and read and write, but it's a struggle because she was learning so late, like any person trying to learn a second language. That's why her speech in comics and fanfic is sometimes stilted and a little strange. She tends to use the important words and ignore a lot of the faffery. At least at that point.

Later, in her solo run, Cass met a magic person or something (sorry, I never read that part) who offered to give her complete command over spoken language at the expense of her incredible ability to read body language. Cass agreed, and after that she spoke fluently. But I think later she reversed it? I don't know, someone who knows that run better should answer that part.

But anyway, then the New 52 happened, and Cass's character was either ignored or butchered. I believe her origin was retconned, and I'm not sure how her language skills went during that. Seemingly now in Rebirth she's back to speaking fluently, and occasionally being terse.

So yeah, it's a mess, and it depends on what the writer of the fic read and liked and chose to take from canon. Or from fanon, if they never actually read the comics.

I hope that helps.

#batfam #cassandra cain

[bigskydreaming]

You're asked to choose one and only one or DC's future stops existing immediately. your choices:

1. Jason Todd the anti-hero who seldom works with only a couple of the bats he doesn't hate, for example Dick and Cass VS. Jason Todd who came back with healed body but broken spirit, folded back into the Gotham gang and learns to be part of the society again.

2. Tim Drake who makes all of his mistakes as canon but realizes he's been wrong and apologizes to people VS. Tim Drake back in his first iteration, a cute little brother character who is a reader insert and a fun teenager.

3. JayKyle VS DickKyle.

4. Jason Todd with a sword VS. Damian Wayne with a sword.

5. Chris Kent VS. Jon kent.

Okay but which DC future? Its omniversal future? Its hypertime future? Its multiversal future? Its Elseworlds future? Its dark multiverse future? Mwahahaha your threat is useless because the sheer wtf of DC's continuities, timelines and conflicting declarations of what to even call their multiomnihyperverse makes it impossible to target simply A future! DC's overly unnecessarily complicated nature renders it functionally immortal and impossible to ever truly destroy, take that Darkseid.

I mean. But anyway. Whatevs:

1) I honestly do prefer the idea of Jason someday fully reuniting/reintigrating into the Batfam as a whole, because fuck it, the found family I'm here for is the one where they actually act like a family....I just think it takes actual work to get to that point and I get irey when people are like we're here! We found it! And its like meanwhile, abusive dynamics still abound. Mmm. No thank you. But even though I've been on a huge Jason and Dick and Cass kick for like, forever, I do still aim for him having a dynamic of his own with the rest of the family.

Like the thing is, I hate playing the favorites card in families, and I think the emphasis on so and so being Bruce's favorite child or so and so being this kid's favorite sibling, etc, like it really does feel like to the detriment of the whole family, because once you start validating the idea of favorites, ESPECIALLY in a found family that is CONTINUOUSLY growing....I think you're kinda shooting yourself in the foot because you're kinda creating a situation where either no future new additions to the family can EVER be Bruce or one of the kids' 'favorite' or else you're innately positing that said fave status is conditional and even a current fave of Bruce or a sibling can be bumped down the ladder by the addition of a later arrival....

Which is LITERALLY the entire essence of the eternal conflict between Dick and Damian and Tim fans. Its not even that Damian is Dick's favorite, allegedly, its that prior to Damian's very EXISTENCE, fans felt comfortable declaring Tim unilaterally to be Dick's 'favorite'.....and then all it took was the addition of a single family member who had specific NEEDS in regards to Dick's attention and focus, largely because of his age and needing a legal guardian while Tim was old enough to literally jet set around the world on his own.....and like, everything went up in flames in large corners of fandom.

So I'm just like, death to the fave family member myth, its just incredibly counter productive to the idea of found family as a whole especially when it usually only exists to prop up a preferred character as better than others via the proof of see, these other characters say he's their fave or whatever...but also like, its not even necessary?

Because the thing is, you can have Jason reintegrated into the whole family overall, and still prioritize your personal narrative FOCUS on characters you like more than others, like say Dick and Cass.....because of course its natural for even people in the same family to have entirely different DYNAMICS with different family members....and these dynamics don't have to come with a ranking system in order to prioritize which ones you just focus on more in a story. Because its not necessarily that Dick has to be Jason's fave brother, y'know, just for Jason to prefer spending time with Dick simply because he's more comfortable with him due to knowing him longer or being more secure in the idea that Dick doesn't judge him based on their greater shared history.

This doesn't mean that Jason doesn't care for his other siblings, that he can't have strong dynamics with them as well, its just about finding a reason for why these two specifically might be in a story without the others that doesn't demand putting a definitive ranking on which one Jason considers his FAVE. Just like Damian doesn't have to be Dick's FAVE just for them to have the super close canon relationship they have, even relative to the other siblings, because there's everything needed in canon already to establish that the mere fact of Dick essentially RAISING Damian for a year, and being the first one in the family to really take a chance on Damian, like, this lends itself naturally to them maybe more naturally gravitating towards each other than other siblings due to comfort level and familiarity, etc, but it doesn't have to be like....oh but yeah, I just like Damian more than you, Tim, y'know?

So my answer on this one is a total cop out of both, both is good. Jason totally reintegrated back into the family, but with dynamics that still lend themselves fairly easily towards story lineups where its just him running missions with Dick or Duke or any other one or two specific family members even if for no other reason than they gel together best in the field, y'know?

2) Hmm. I honestly really do love and miss 90s Tim Drake and just....don't see him in a lot of what I read these days. I'm like no, why did he have to go, he was doing so well! BUT I'm also on a big accountability kick, and like, I'm so steeped in fics where Dick GROVELS for forgiveness for every little slight he's ever done real or imagined, with every character but Tim in particular, so its like.....I'm not gonna lie, I really have a preference these days for seeing stuff where its literally anyone actually owning up to shit they've done to Dick and apologizing or groveling or making it to HIM, like, completely unconditionally. In the same manner we usually see Dick apologizing, glossing over any reasons he might have had for doing what he did or feeling the way he did, and saying oh it doesn't matter, putting the entirety of his focus on what HE did and why it was wrong no matter what and he's sorry.....that's what I would kill to see from more fics, just in reverse.

Because so often even in the all too rare fics where we DO see other characters apologizing to Dick for shit, its watered down with Dick volunteering that oh he messed up too, it was a two way street, and its like no! This is Pettiness Hours! I want the unconditional apologies! Give me the groveling! From anyone, I don't care at this point, lol, just show me characters actually PUTTING IN THE WORK to make it up to Dick for harm they've caused him, even if completely unintentionally or via neglecting his feelings or considering the repercussions their actions or words would have on him. Aaaaaaand, frankly, Tim's a good place to start there, because of how one sided all the takes on their conflicts have been for so many years. I mean, if people need a place to start, Batman and Robin Eternal gets enough praise it can't be pretended that people in fandom don't know that story exists, so how about some stories where Tim says he's fucking sorry for punching Dick in issue #4 or #5 of that one, and it was uncalled for and he was clearly just looking for an excuse to unleash some more of his resentment and upset for the Spyral/Forever Evil stuff, and family deciding that its totally okay to punch Dick whenever they're mad at him and need to work off some aggression so they can then finally forgive him (for now) is a trend that needs to die in a fire post-haste? I mean just as an example.

But the thing that kills me about fanfic trends is like....the sameness of so much of it. There's SO much room for variety and diverse takes, and like....I don't actually hate Tim! I'm just cranky because of the imbalanced nature of most content out there for literal years at this point. Push the pendulum BACK in the other direction, create some balance by showing the flip side of things.....and that leaves a lot more room for me and others of like minds to then be more amenable to - and even interested in - other stories that don't scratch this particular itch, but don't need to, because other stories are doing the scratching by then, y'know?

And THEN like, at that point, I would be ALL FOR more stories that are just callbacks to classic 90s Tim who I adore, with his skateboarding and his EARNESTNESS and his go-get-em spirit and also the gumption. All the gumption. I like that Tim. I do miss that Tim. But like, for the moment, like, I want accountable Tim because I am tiiiiiiiired of groveling Dick and tbh at this point its not enough for me to just see people move past putting Dick in that position and just have mutually respective and doting brothers Dick and Tim having adventures together......nah, first I want some reciprocation. Ngl. Gimme the apologies for actual mistakes actually made.

3) DickKyle. Easy question, c'mon, you gotta know that. LOL. ;)

But yeah, I've been shipping these two off their like, two shared pages from way back in the Obsidian Age story years before Jason even returned, let alone was in Countdown together with Kyle, so like, its no contest. I don't mind JayKyle, I certainly prefer it to JayRoy tbh, but there's not a ton of appeal in it for me, particularly in how its usually depicted, because like....the entire basis of JayKyle is that they DO have stories together and spent a whole year worth of weekly issues traveling the multiverse together in Countdown.....but there's like, practically no trace of their actual dynamics from that series or any specifics of literally any issue from that entire comic in most fics I’ve read, so its like.....idk, it tends to come across as more generic, not in the sense that it cant still be interesting, but more in the sense that it feels like just someone paired with Jason just because history between them EXISTS without any interest in exploring what that history actually IS....and at that point, its like, well there's no reason TO prioritize that ship over DickKyle for me personally, when like, I have a shit ton of headcanon reasons for why those two in a pairing specifically. *Shrugs* My logic. Its not for everyone, but it works for me.

4) Jason with a sword or Damian with a sword? I don't understand the question. Both. Both is good. All the characters should have swords. Swords are awesome.

5) Chris Kent vs Jon Kent - oof. I adore Jon, I really do. I love his dynamic with Damian, I love a lot of their specific stories, the parallels between them as friends and Bruce and Clark as friends....its all very bien. But I gotta give this one to Chris, because I'm always gonna have a soft spot for him because I'm a sucker for all abused kid heroes, and I just miss that funky little dude so much. There's so many stories we didn't get with him and were just ripe for the picking, but nooooo, DC's like lol you can't have nice things, here we just rebooted the entire multiverse and now Clark and Lois never adopted the son of Clark's worst Kryptonian rival and raised him with tender love and care awww does that make you sad, were you invested in him, WELL TOO BAD, HE'S GONE NOW AND BASICALLY NEVER EXISTED, NOW GIVE US YOUR MONEY ANYWAY MWAHAHAHAHAH.

Yeah. I'm still not over that. Probably will never be tbh, so I with great grudge-bearing do affirm that I'm gonna go with Chris on this one and like, he is a Priority for me and I'm still very keen on the idea of him and Duke being besties for random reasons that might not make sense to anyone but me, but eh, whatever.

[mystery-salad]

3, 4, and 5 for uhhhh lance and hastigi since I don't think I've asked about them before!

Oooooh neat, I haven't talked about Lance in a hot minute, and Hastigi is so new to the roster~

3: Are they good with money and do they have a lot of it?

Lance is very good with money! Very responsible and knows the system. She doesn't have a ton, but there's enough to get by just fine with her girlfriend 💖

Hastigi grew up in a Jotun village with a strong basis in trading and bartering. Money is something she...vaguely understands, but it seems kind of weird and pointless to her as a monetary system and she hates when it gets complicated or intricate. She is relatively poor, but doesn't particularly care. She works better with trading anyways.

4: What makes them happy?

Lance loves Fade (@ascalonianpicnic ) first and foremost, but she's also happy whenever she has a chance to explore the recovering shores of Orr. Seeing her old home become slowly revitalized is so wonderful, maybe one day there can be homes here once more.

Hastigi enjoys stories told around a fire at night, a good wrestling match, tokens collected from her travels~

5: Have they ever felt unrequited love or had a one sided relationship?

Lance has a few times yeah, just in the process of growing up and being a fairly adventurous teenager. But nothing that was particularly devastating that she couldn't shrug off!

Hastigi has not, she's very deliberate and picky about who she actually commits to and pursues.

#vampiricsheep #indellance #hastigi

[stellaluna33]

Hey! I was wondering, do you think Mitchum might be right about Rory not being a good journalist? From what we saw in the reunion she's not very good. but was she ever? she doesn't seem to have a real 'investigative spirit' aside from when she investigates the L&D brigade and she only did that after a boring story of hers was rejected. She's a very good writer (we're told) but do you think that's the same thing as a travel journalist? She doesn't have much of a spirit of adventure

Oh man.  You had to ask me THAT question, huh?  Haha, no worries!  This is one of those situations where I wonder whether a "lack of investigative spirit" or seeming "not very good" in the Revival was intentionally written and MEANT to convey that impression of Rory's character, or whether it's an unfortunate and unintended side-effect of writing that was supposed to convey something else.

Rory's character, as a girl on the cusp of growing up and leaving home, is the one that suffers the most from the STRUCTURE of the show.  Because this ISN'T real life, you know?  It's a TV show with a set budget and a set time limit and certain structural limitations.  If this were real life, it would be natural for a girl with the sort of aspirations Rory had in highschool to spread her wings more, not come home every weekend, do a semester or two abroad... But the structure of the tv show prevents her from doing that.  Remember when the proposed Jess spin-off couldn't launch because they couldn't get the budget to film in Venice Beach?  Yeah.  Imagine trying to give Rory a semester abroad, and the amount of money involved in, if not traveling, the complicated sets and extras and most of Rory's experiences occurring in a foreign language and interacting SOLELY with characters unknown to the viewer.  That wasn't going to happen.  Or imagine Rory investigating hard-hitting political issues or going to the Iraq War protests that were occurring on college campuses at this time?  Or getting into potentially unsafe situations in pursuit of a good story?  I would love to see that, and it would have been fascinating to see Lorelai grapple with the tension between wanting to be the "supportive cool mom" and her desperate desire to keep Rory safe.  Rory involved in SERIOUS journalism would involve serious issues and real-world conflicts, but Gilmore Girls was never that type of show. That's not what audiences and producers WANTED from Gilmore Girls.  They wanted small-scale, interpersonal conflict about families and relationships, all centered around the beloved residents of Stars Hollow and the Gilmore family.

The nature of the show NECESSITATED Rory never moving too far away from Stars Hollow or her mother and I feel like Rory's character was kept kind of leashed as a result, which is pretty disappointing for a girl who, for the first three seasons, expressed a desire to travel the world and be involved in things that MATTER.  And since the larger theme was apparently meant to be cyclical, Stars Hollow becomes the Hotel California: Rory can check out any time she likes, but she can never leave.

I'm getting long-winded here.  What I'm getting at is, judging from the actual dialogue on the actual show, I don't think we were meant to see Mitchum as being right about Rory.  He was meant to be an antagonist and temporary obstacle.  I also rewatched the Revival recently, and I don't think they MEANT Rory to be seen as a "bad journalist," just going through a period of her life when she was feeling burnt-out and lost, and we weren't given much information on what she'd been doing in the intervening years, just that her writing was well respected (people talk like the New Yorker was her ONLY success, but rewatching the show, that wasn't the case) and that she HAD been traveling a lot, but they didn't go much into where or why.  Was this arc well-written?  No.  Does Rory come off well?  Also no.  But I suspect that has more to do with the Palladinos' lack of interest or knowledge of journalism than Rory's.

#Gilmore Girls #Rory Gilmore #character meta #JEEZ sorry for the NOVEL!