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gravityfissure · 4 years

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[meta] What, if any, games, movies, books, tv shows, etc. have you drawn influence from for your character?

Okay so round 2, much in the same vein for Arthur there are... A lot. Possibly even more things that influence and inspire where Otto’s muse and views comes from. That said in writing this there are also a LOT of similarities between the characters I can pick out certain attributes and to be honest there’s a lot of crossover with the traits and characterisations highlighted.

Namely: playful and proactive, self-serving yet loyal to those that meet his criteria as to who is deserving of it. A grifter by nature that will approach almost any situation if he feels he’ll get something out of it while equally hoping that one day someone might actually bother to ask him (and maybe give him a true reason) to stay.

Dorian - Dragon Age: Inquisition

Uh, the heir of a famous magical dynasty? A flair of magical talent that made him the envy of his peers? Studied at one of the best colleges for the magical arts before being kicked out and privately tutored before eventually vanishing and being found by Magister Gereon Alexius who offered to take him as his apprentice eventually becoming a fully-ranked enchanter. A pariah for opposing every fault his homeland is renowned for?

It’s been years since I’ve played DA:I and Dorian always was one of my favourite characters but tbh I completely forgot his background and it’s only in revisiting it now I actually realise the similarities in the framework of their characters/development/story line. Not to mention the fact they both enjoy playful flirtation and witty banter and oppose the things they don’t fit into their view of the world. They will probably do the right thing, but that doesn’t mean they might not take their sweet ass time in actually getting into a situation.

Isabela - Dragon Age II and Inquisition

AND AGAIN. Isabela’s a great character - a pirate scourge of coastlines and nations around the world who values fun, freedom and getting ahead in life. They both value solving situations in clever and devious ways and getting ahead even if it means being somewhat selfish when they’re dealing with other people, example: Otto conning Deirdre out of $28k when she tried to cover for Regan or those plans he has to try and record a banshee scream? They’re both always down for trying to squeeze that little bit extra out of a person. If it one ups them in life and people are gullible enough to fall for it well... They really did it to themselves didn’t they?

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t depths to that hardened persona they both present. There are actual feelings and things hidden behind the wall and appearance they both present to the world. And underneath it all they’re both afraid of being left behind, but figure it’s best to push people away before they decide to leave of their own volition. At least that way they can say they have some control over the situation..

Sera - Dragon Age: Inquisition

Apparently this is a DA characters list but you know what sue me. x) So NEXT on the list is Sera, an elven archer who is incredibly impulsive and reactionary. She takes pure delight in humbling the established authority she views as arrogant and selfish. It’s less about what’s right in the grand scheme of things but more about what’s right in that very moment. She doesn’t believe in actions taken for a greater good, instead viewing it as just another excuse to hurt others undeserving of such treatment because it’s easier than making the truly hard choices in life.

Felix Dawkins - Orphan Black

Look Felix is one of the many fascinating characters on Orphan Black. Don’t get me wrong there are SO many and it’s a great show. But Felix is a character whose very existence proves that you can have a very effeminate, boisterous, loud, witty gay character and not have him be limited to the perpetuation of the sassy gay friend stereotype. Why? Because he has a whole complex personality beyond just that aspect of his life. He’s got to deal with real life issues on top of all the drama clone club brings into his life and he deals and he survives and he cOPES.

Not to mention he’s a positive representation of foster children being happy, positive representation of LGBTQ+ characters and gives positive representation of sex workers. Not to mention on top of all that representation you see how he’s smart as hell, the only person who knows Sarah well enough to keep her on track. The BEST uncle to Kira and one of the most supportive characters on the show.

Sarah - Orphan Black

Felix’s foster-sister, another character that shows the positive and complex dynamic that foster families tend to have while also demonstrating the fascinating found-family dynamic with clone club. Sarah’s interesting because she’s a natural chameleon, she’s street-smart and tough, a born outsider living on the fringes by her wits while in possession of a dark sense of humour that sees her by.

Sarah and Otto have a rather morally ambiguous compass, they’re both characters who swing between being very self-serving and selfish and acting for the greater good when they decide it’s needed. Not to mention the act as if they don’t care about other people’s issues (see clone club) when actually it transpires they both might just care a little more than they actually let on.

Garcia Flynn - Timeless

Unfortunately Garcia fits the my favourite character type: tall, dark, snarky, sassy antihero motivated fiercely by love and willing to do things of questionable morality against a greater evil, self-aware and doesn’t make excuses for his behaviour, but isn’t wringing his hands over it either. A character who so dearly loves the people in his life (see revenge for his wife and daughter) so much so he’s still fighting for them 5 years later just to be alive and not even to have anything to do with him again because he knows the things he’s done are enough the he could never go back to being that person for them. The man who loved his mum and went on a trip just to make her happy and save his brother. When he truly cares for someone he does EVERYTHING for them while somehow having none of the toxic jealous possessive business, despite his well-attested Garbage Drama in other departments, and just generally being a mature adult and an essentially good person who has gone down some really dark places and is finally rediscovering what he’s buried and lost. Look man, I’m a suuuuuuuuuuuuucker for found family, enemies to lovers, and villain becomes weird family member. And he covers all of those, so yes.

There’s a lot of that I’m planning and drawing on for Otto, this weird currently antagonistic little self-serving shit who is out for his own ends but maybe along the way finds some semblence of a conscious and maybe has a fair few moral dilemmas and self-questioning moments along the way? Who maybe finds friends (and even love?) Who has to deal with FEELINGS and things he’s repressed for years because of the things he’s done just to survive the life he fell into? Uh, yes give me give me give me.

Jesse Custer - Preacher

Okay, so this one’s kind of another given. Jesse’s another character I’m fascinated with because before Genesis’ arrival he was a down upon his luck preacher. A man who was trying so hard to fit into his dad’s ideal and not let the life he had before affect his day to day. Except it all goes to hell in a handbasket because of course it does.

Jesse essentially gains the ability to make anyone do anything he says. And that power? It’s addictive, and we see the struggle he goes through to learn how to control and manipulate it to his own end. To begin with he tries to right wrongs, to tell people to stop doing the bad things they’re doing in their lives and fix them so they’re better people but with each act that power and god-complex grows. It goes to his head until we meet the moronic messiah Humperdoo and Jesse eventually agrees to take his place. The messiah-complex and power corruption is complete, and the repercussions of his choices are devastating especially with how they impact Cassidy or Tulip and the repercussions in Angelville.

Much like Otto’s own magic, the more its used the more enticing it is to carry on using it for more and more things. At first it was small deeds, little acts of good until Otto in kind started to realise that good deeds weren’t enough to make a change. They weren’t enough for other people around him and with each act it grew and grew - and it continues to grow. The question is to what level? And if it ever got out of control, would he ever know how to stop it?

Crowley - Good Omens

An overall non-threatening demon, who tries to be “evil” in his own way to fit into the role his society (other demons) expect of him. Crowley wants to save the world (for his own reasons) and can be rather self-serving in certain moments. There’s plenty of times he tried to convince Aziraphale to run away with him and let everything else forgive the irony but for lack of a better term “go to hell” but he always comes around in the end (typically to a Queen track) to help when it really counts for something.

Not to mention his flare for the dramatic, very rarely thinking things through, with many of his own plans backfiring on him.

Sound familiar?

Wrench - Watch Dogs 2

Part-hacker and full-fledged anarchist who wears a freaky mask with LED displays capable of bizarre emoticons. He's vulgar, crude, entertaining and an absolute adrenaline junkie who lives on the edge. He's jokingly called the wrench because he's the wrench you throw into somebody's gears to grind them to a halt.

The final one on the list, because it’s a side I haven’t yet played into so much but I’m curious to given means and opportunity to. Otto does have some inclination towards an anarchistic nature, if a system doesn’t seem to work he isn’t afraid to speak out or more likely act out against it. Whether it’s in the greater good or not isn’t so much relevant rather that he would happily take a torch and burn something to the ground if it meant starting again with something new and better in its place. It’s definitely something I want to explore more down the line.

I also find it interesting the whole concept of “hiding behind a mask” which is something wrench quite literally does. Both have built personas to defend themselves from people breaking through and seeing that what actually exists on the other side is a rather shy and awkward person who tries to “act out” and be “dramatic” in an attempt to get attention from a world in which there’s so much noise how could anyone ever feel like their voice mattered let alone be heard unless they started shouting “HEY, LOOK AT ME” at the top of his lungs?

#Anonymous #answered #wickedsanon #meta #headcanon #// this GOT SO LONG

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trulycertain · 4 years

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Thoughts on the Netflix Witcher:

Not many people are tossing a coin to their Witcher, are they? Geralt still has to buy his own drinks, it seems.

Jaskier’s lyrics need, er, work, but Joey Batey has a lovely voice.

Love the wardrobe design, Yen’s in particular. It’s distinctive, not always “pretty” in that it sometimes feels like medieval experimental haute couture, and combines sexuality with hard lines. It feels very her.

I love Freya Allan’s Ciri. Allan’s a really good actress, in my opinion, with a really hard arc to carry, and also apparently show!Ciri has the same effect as games!Ciri - that of me turning into Geralt and muttering “must protect” a lot and wanting to stab anyone who tries to hurt her. Her eyes are very cool.

I think it's interesting that in the books, Yen is clearly based off Polish archetypes and the wild raven curls are part of that; in both the games and the show, it's played down. (Not least because I've seen her in other stuff and Chalotra naturally has pretty poker-straight hair, so curling that for any length of time without the curls falling out, even with a ton of product, would be a pain.)

My one issue is that I still think she looks a bit young and I would've been perfectly happy to chuck out the whole "sorceresses enchant themselves to look early twenties forever" thing, but actually... I also kind of really like the "soft-faced, soft-voiced enchantress is actually hard as nails" idea. It lets her presence speak for itself, which Chalotra does very well, and means people tend to underestimate Yen, which is also handy. I mean... I will always be frustrated by “somehow, conveniently, they look like a 22-year-old actress and a 35-or-so leading man”, but Chalotra’s work itself is good. It's different from the Yen in my head, but I like her performance and interpretation.

I like Triss, and I like seeing her here. I hope they’ll go more into their friendship. It’s been rocky at times, but I found it quite annoying how the games treated all that, as opposed to the books. This is one of those things where I’m really glad it’s adapting the books in particular.

Critical stuff, written in December, with warnings for discussions of consent and stuff:

The Last Wish is the short story where Geralt and Yen meet, with the capture of the djinn. I read it once, coming up for four years ago? now, so I'm really muzzy on memories and it might well have been like that originally. Now, knowing Sapkowski, who does pull this shit, it probably was. (I love his female characters as characters. It’s just that often, his gender worldbuilding bothers me. The two shouldn’t be different, but they often are.)

All right, so the sexual dynamics going on are... uncomfortable, and perhaps you get a bit inured to it in the books because there's just so much uncomfortable stuff, but it stands out a bit more starkly in the show, which has been better for it. (I do not like rapey canons. At all. I have no idea how I got into the Witcher; really liking the female mains and liking Slavic mythology? And the fact that the games and show were pretty good with how they treated it as part of someone's story rather than a "haha, look, so titillating" on-screen scene? And certainly, Calanthe and her people killing themselves to avoid enslavement, torture and rape is depressingly historically accurate. Anyway.)

Things I'm bothered by:

The implication that the orgy is basically sex pollen/a possible humiliation tactic, rather than her manouvering her way into circles with everyone's embarrassing secret being "we like to willingly fuck the whole village," which would also have been political humiliation. I mean, you can make a point that she's had a background of being sexually and romantically manipulated most of her adult life - look at the Istredd thing, for a start, with the rectors - and is just shrug about it all, but. It's different from Stregobor's illusion because these are real people. They all look like they've just come out of a trance and scrabble panickedly for clothes and their reputations, they look like didn't know quite where they were, and spells for that kind of thing had been established an ep or two earlier in the series.

So the first time Geralt and Yen meet, we've got non-con sex played for laughs, or at least played off as "yeah, she does that, don't worry about it" (which is fed into by Geralt's later enchantment, which I actually don't mind, humiliating him and then sending him to hang because he's in the way is somehow less objectionable to me? Maybe because i just hate non-con storylines that much, or maybe because it's less of a direct attack). And then when they meet, you've got: strong-arming him into a bath (sure, he says yes and I guess you can say he figured there'd be sex, but he seems surprised about it all), getting naked in front of him when he's already in a position where it'd be difficult/awkward to leave, the first kiss which has a pretext but was very specifically a kiss and which again, he's kind of too taken-aback/assessing to reciprocate... I mean, if all this sounds kind of OK, swap the genders; heck, even watching it at the time, some of it was pinging me as "hey, this sounds too much like rl things that have happened".

Now, one can say, "Well, he stuck around, didn't he?" - hmm, OK, but you've got the trickier things of magical intimidation at play (even before the enchantment, he knows he's dealing with a powerful sorceress who fucks with people's heads) and just "eh, I guess I'll go with the flow" that can kind of characterise Geralt. And even Witchers freeze. And you can say, "Well, she could probably tell he was attracted to her, with magical mojo if not just through observation." Aye, but dude was kinda busy and on-duty and clearly mistrustful of her, so he would probably never have acted on it - and didn't, because of all those factors. The later thank-god-we're-alive/angry sex when they actually get it together? Totally fine with that, that seems about par for the course with those two.

I also feel like the fact that Geralt, who I fondly say is the biggest horndog in Temeria a lot of the time and will rarely turn down a bit of afternoon delight, doesn't make a move and stays questioning her, albeit amusedly, says a lot about where their relationship is at that point and the fact he's still trying to figure her out. (Not that that implies he's not interested; quite the opposite, mistrustful boffing is kind of a thing he does at times, and heck, look at Renfri.) And on Yen's part, it's definitely more of a power play than needing to save bathwater (I mean, she's pretty rich).

Now, as said, the original story was prob at least a bit like this, because Sapkowski *eyeroll*, but considering the amount they changed (Istredd's entire backstory! A whole bunch of Yen’s! Yennefer's transformation! A bunch of other things), they could've probably adjusted this and/or at least put a different lens on it in the script. It's also frustrating because a lot of people I've seen make this argument are using it for "Yen is such a bitch, Geralt deserves better, I hate her." I'm not interested in char-bashing. No, I love games!Yen (one of my favourite characters in... anything) and what of books!Yen I've read, and I really enjoy Chalotra's version... aside from these scenes.

And aye, one can say that Geralt/Yen is about two people who've been shaped by a truly awful world learning to be better and of course they have their flaws (uh, completely ignoring consent is a pretty darn large one), but it's definitely played as intriguing/romantic/casual mischief.

Update, as of January, when I went back to it:

I literally love every single other scene with her. Hmm. Also, I’ve spoken to a couple of people about this, and neither one of them had it ping to them as coercion. Perhaps I’m just overthinking things or not being good at romance storylines again. Just... not sure, I guess. Nothing else bothered me. Is this my books knowledge being wonky? Am I being daft? If anyone else has thoughts, I’d be glad to hear them.

#tru watches the witcher #netflix witcher critical

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allycat-writes · 5 years

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Enchanted (Doctor Strange x OC)

A/N: Do I think really anyone except Shay cares about my OCs? Absolutely not but!!! I love her so, not really worried about it. I had a lot of fun writing this actually! Pre-Doctor Strange movie. Sort of a prequel to my Juliet Taylor main-story that I still need to actually write oops. Very loosely based off of another Taylor Swift song (of the same name) because it’s me writing it so of course it has to be. As always, thanks to @unknownauthor for reading everything and letting me yell about how much I love both Juliet Taylor and Cassidy Cooper and encouraging me to make this an oc thing instead of a reader thing!

Warnings: Probably swearing, hints of adult content, casual mention of previous deaths/murder, also alcohol mention.

Word Count: 1,441

As usual, likes are alright but reblogs!!! Are!!! So unbelievably amazing!!!

(Not my GIFs)

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“Do you have to outshine me at every event you attend with me?” Juliet turned back to the reporter, a camera hanging around her neck.

“How else am I going to find a wealthy neurosurgeon to marry and buy me nice stuff?” Cassidy snorted, shaking her head.

“Ah, I see. What happened with that ex-Marine?”

“Oh, that’s a story for another time, my love. Not the most proper conversation for such a swanky event.” Cassidy laughed, lightly. “So why does the New York Bulletin care about…what the fuck even is this?”

“It’s a Neurological Society dinner, Jules, try and keep up. I don’t know, something about a ‘society’ page of something," Cassidy sighed with a shrug. She raised an eyebrow at something just over Juliet’s shoulder and Juliet turned to examine what her friend had caught sight of. She sighed when she spotted an older gentleman making a beeline for the pair, his cheeks flushed, probably from alcohol if Juliet’s suspicion was right. Cassidy slipped on a fake smile, brushing a curl behind her ear. Juliet wrapped her hands around the camera, hoping to hide her annoyance at this man she hadn’t even spoken to yet. Juliet examined the rotund man, his hair a wispy, thin, and graying tuft on his otherwise balding head.

“What a delight to have such lovely girls here tonight! Who do you two belong to?” the man bellowed, wrapping an arm around each woman. Cassidy laughed, the sound calm to anyone who didn’t know her as well as Juliet.

“Ourselves,” Juliet replied, her voice icy. Before the man could open his mouth to reply, a voice behind Juliet made him stop in his tracks.

“Doctor Morce, I hadn’t seen you yet. Come on, we’d best be getting to our seats before they start without us. We wouldn’t want that now, would we?” Juliet turned, her eyes locking on the newcomer’s eyes, his eyes stormy and gray. Juliet could detect just the slightest hint of tension in his smile as he feigned friendliness towards the older gentleman.

“Doctor Strange! What an honor to see you again, my boy! Where’s that lovely girl of yours, what’s her name again?” Juliet noticed Doctor Strange stiffen just slightly at the question.

“Doctor Palmer couldn’t make it tonight but she sends her sincerest regards, I assure you. Let’s be off now and leave these ladies to their work. They have a very busy night ahead of them, I’m sure.” Juliet relaxed as the man, his hair jet black except for the silver beginning at his temples, started ushering the portly Doctor Morce away.

The younger man, Doctor Strange, glanced back once they were a safe distance away and Juliet mouthed a quick “thank you.” Strange winked at her before taking his seat at the table, Morce moving farther down the table to his spot. Juliet wrapped an arm around Cassidy to try and still her best friend’s slight shaking. “You alright?” Cassidy seemed to snap out of it after a moment and gave Juliet a bright smile, tinged with regret. “Remind me to chew out Ellison when I see him next.” Cassidy sighed.

“I have to do shit like this to be able to write the things that actually matter. I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”

“Yeah, made that mistake before. So now I’m gonna spend my entire life worrying about you until Murdock gets his head out of his ass and comes crawling back to you.” Cassidy rolled her eyes, glancing back at the table.

“That doctor was very handsome.”

“Morce? Nah, not my type.”

“Why on earth would I be talking about him? I’m talking about the young one. Doctor Strange.”

“I don’t know, it feels like something’s missing. Maybe it’s facial hair?”

“What? You usually don’t care about that.”

“I know! But I think facial hair would look good on him. He sort of reminds me of…an otter, maybe?” Cassidy laughed, shaking her head.

“Regardless, it would seem he can’t take his eyes off of you,” Cassidy murmured, gently nudging Juliet’s shoulder. Juliet glanced over to find his eyes trained on her and she raised an eyebrow, smiling coyly.

“How old do you think he is?”

“Enough.”

“Maybe he’s just prematurely graying? Besides, the gray is kinda doing it for me. Like a silver fox.”

“I’m gonna say that’s just your daddy issues in play.”

“I mean, if anyone would have issues with father figures, or lack-thereof, it would probably be me. I think that’s a fair reason.”

“You mean your father getting far too drunk and killing your mother? Yeah, definitely valid.” The corner of Juliet’s lip turned up into a half-smile, her eyes still focused on Strange. He only broke eye contact when the man to his left leaned over to ask him a question.

“But did you see the way he reacted when Doctor Portly brought up his lady-friend? I’m gonna assume that’s a recent falling out and that’s way too messy for what I want.”

“You’re still enchanted by him. I know that look on your face. It’s actually the one you reserve solely for Chris Pine.”

“Ah, Chris Pine. Now that’s a fine man. And what if I am enchanted by some enigmatic stranger who saved us from dealing with some creepy old man with a little too much liquor in his system? That at least earns him a little gratitude.”

“I know exactly what kind of gratitude you would like to show him and I kindly ask that you do it on your own time. The only reason I invited you because I feel sorry for you. Like, really? ‘Woman finds Theodore Roosevelt on apple seed’? That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. You’re a good writer, Juliet. Why waste your time there?”

“Because not everyone has connections like you do, Cass. I have nothing, just a couple of probably, most likely dead parents who were nobodies and whatever money I can scrape by writing shitty articles like that. I want to get my place somewhere based on my writing, not based on the fact that my best friend is ‘an heiress with parents taken tragically too young, a former bright spot within the Manhattan socialite’s club.’ And so far, this is about as much as I can get.”

“Regardless, your talent means you deserve better. And you’re missing the main point of this. I don’t want to get kicked out and cause a scandal because you decided the best way to show that ‘enigmatic stranger’ your gratitude ends with you on your knees in some secluded hallway.” Juliet laughed.

“Do you really have so little faith in me, Cassidy? You think I’d actually get caught?”

“Juliet. I’m serious.”

“So am I. But if it makes you feel any better, cross my heart and hope to die. I promise I absolutely will not get caught on my knees at this swanky event for a bunch of egotistical neurosurgeons who believe they’re god or whatever.”

“I’m still not convinced that you won’t but if you ruin that new dress, I will never speak to you again.” Juliet snorted.

“Yeah, good luck with that. You’d be bored out of your mind without me.”

“Who are you here for?” Juliet turned back at the voice, the same low voice that saved them before.

“I’m Cassidy Cooper, reporting for the New York Bulletin. Doctor Strange, was it?” Cassidy stuck an arm out to shake his hand. Strange smiled, taking Cassidy’s hand in a light shake.

“Yes. I’m Doctor Stephen Strange. I'm a neurosurgeon at Metro-General.”

“Really? A neurosurgeon at a Neurosurgeon Society dinner? I thought you would be a podiatrist.” Cassidy elbowed Juliet and Juliet grinned. Stephen’s eyes flashed over to her and the faintest trace of a smirk appeared on his lips.

“Superb deduction, Sherlock.”

“Well obviously, Watson.” Stephen grinned and Juliet held out her hand. “Juliet Taylor.”

“Charmed, I’m sure,” Stephen replied, taking her hand. Stephen released her hand after a moment as a man came up behind him and clasped him on the shoulder.

“You’re on, Doctor Strange.” Stephen nodded, giving the man a smile.

“If you’ll excuse me, ladies. I hope you enjoy the remainder of your evening.”

“You, too, Doctor,” Cassidy replied with a soft smile. Juliet smiled, raising an eyebrow at Stephen as he glanced back at her.

“See you around. Doctor.” Stephen smirked slightly before nodding. He turned on his heel and Juliet grinned.

“You’re honestly ridiculous, you know that right?” Juliet shrugged, raising an eyebrow at her best friend.

“Doesn’t matter. It won’t be the last time I see him.”

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