#but because of the CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

[pareidoliajules]

So after last night's episode of the boys (which I have Several thoughts about), I feel I simply must say it again: Antony Starr is an incredible actor.

I'll hold off on my character analysis for the moment to just talk about how Antony Starr used his physicality in the most important scenes - starting with where he finds out Noir noped the fuck out.

Not only is he scared - actual, real fear, just like we saw when he first saw the camera footage of Soldier Boy - but he's hurt. And not just in the "ow that bruised my ego" way. He almost starts crying. You can see the tears in his eyes. When he leans in close to The Deep, you can literally see the reflection in the shine of his eyes. Another actor's attempt at this would've felt out of character or melodramatic, but with Antony Starr, the audience clocks it as maybe one of five instances of genuine emotion from a man whose most common "emotions", if you can call it that, are "murder", "sex", and "[preens]".

Which brings me to the next scene. I was already like, oh, shit, this is gonna be his best episode to date (which is saying something, because again, Antony Starr Is So Good). The scene where he's talking to himself in the mirror has so many tiny, beautiful expressions that say so much. My boyfriend fiance pointed out that the mirror scene was a definite homage to Willam DeFoe's Green Goblin (specifically the "Yahtzee!" moment), and I think it's fair to say that they're definitely on the same level (and Willam DeFoe is also So Good). For perhaps the first time, we see Homelander, stripped. He is entirely alone. He has no one to perform for; no one to impress or intimidate. He is only himself, but even still, he is divided.

...I said I wouldn't get into character discussion in this post. So. Antony Starr had two difficult tasks: playing off himself (instead of another human to work with), and playing two drastically different emotions. For the sake of clarity, I'll refer to them as Homelander and Mirror!Homelander.

We see Homelander's "last shred of humanity" more clearly here than anywhere. Antony Starr portrays a victim of abuse faced with his abuser, where their abuser is positioning themself as his savior. Antony Starr is a tall, sturdy man, but he makes himself look so small, so young as Mirror!Homelander confronts him. He is a child, scared of the world outside and the world within (Mirror!Homelander). We see Homelander sans bravado, sans ego, sans everything that makes Homelander the character we've seen over the past 2.5 seasons, and instead of seeming out of character, or seeming expected (in the sense of oh no the poor little meow meow had a tough childhood), it opens up a crater of emotion, of depth, of pity for this monster of a person. That would not be possible with another actor, I am positive of this.

Now let's talk about Mirror!Homelander. This is more what we expect from Homelander - big emotions. Anger. Righteous indignation. But it doesn't start that way. It starts soft, the way Homelander tried to approach Ryan - the way he would speak to a scared child. It ramps up, it borrows language from Stormfront, and it comes again to this idea of purity, of being clean. That humanity, even the humanity within Homelander himself - the humanity that has been more or less hidden behind...all of the everything - that humanity is the problem. This is an abuser talking to his victim; telling this scared little boy that he will help and he will protect him from the outside world (and whatever the "bad room" is, which I Will Not talk about right now, I won't!!!), just so long as the little boy does exactly what he says. Mirror!Homelander is the worst of what we've seen of real Homelander, and again, by another actor, it would have felt...overdone, or at least obvious. But Antony Starr's performance makes it clear that whatever pain he inflicts on the world around him (and it is a lot of pain!), he's also inflicting pain on himself, to the point where Homelander has to completely divorce himself from the source of it.

In the last scene with Homelander, after the fight, we only see real!Homelander, standing stock still in front of that mirror. What is Mirror!Homelander saying to him? How is he explaining what just happened to himself? How does he justify the fact that he ran away from a fight between his should-be-dead hero, his nemesis, and a naked twink?

What is Homelander doing to himself, that none of us can see?

#the boys #homelander #the boys meta #antony starr #this was hands down the best episode of the season by FAR and not bc of the sex or the fighting #but because of the CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT #drags my hands down my face

[picnic-at-dreaming-rock]

realising what I actually need from Suzanne Collins is just a multi-volume panem history book

#which INCLUDES pre-dark days/origins of panem #because i know she has it written somewhere #i want to know everything about panem #and how it came to be #lotr appendices/silmarillion but make it panem #the hunger games #thg #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #tbosas #that and a character study of haymitch #because whilst katniss's major character development happended during her games #i think haymitch's happened afterwards with what happened to his family/girlfriend and mentoring

[aregebidan]

i love you goncharov mythos, i love you innate human urge to make things up, i love you tumblr blorbos created By tumblr, i love you meta insight into current internet attitudes toward character archetypes that's inherent to this process of creation, i love you opportunity of witnessing yet another major event for very online people, and most of all i love you katya

#she sounds cool #goncharov #tbd #the more i think about it the more i realize that this is the single most interesting thing that's happened here since i made my account #like. sure nov 5th 2020 was wild but the goncharov renaissance developed completely independently of real world events #people aren't posting memes about geopolitical events anymore they're posting memes about a New Thing #with No real world equivalent and making up everything about it ON THE FLY #and it STILL retains some internal consistency because of the types of characters/traits that have grown into their popularity here #and i just think media studies people who write about the internet are having a fucking field day right now

[b4kuch1n]

same teacher, different lessons

transcript

#sonic the hedgehog #dr. ivo eggman robotnik #miles tails prower #sonic frontiers #SPOILERS. THERE ARE SPOILERS IN THIS COMIC BY THE WAY. #SONIC FRONTIERS SPOILERS #smiles gently I can not believe I let sonic the fuckign hedgehog ruin my life #(I can I totally can) #hi <3 if you follow me because I drew this sonic comic. don't! #don't do it! follow me bc I'm funny and hot and devastatingly smart don't follow me bc I draw sonic stuff. bc it won;t happen again #I mean it. not bc I dont like or want to do sonic stuff. but bc I am literally in the middle of a job rn #one that I want to invest 100% of my time and brain in #this comic is actually an effort to win my brain back so I can do my job lol #because I finished miss penny snapcube's streams of this game and it force fed me emotions #I just! I just thought sonic would come tell eggman abt sage!! idk seems like something he'd do!!! #and also the whole thing abt letting the characters move on and have a future and change and develop #vs Killing My Baby Little Guy Daughter For Like Ten Minutes #thematically interesting! also for some reasons I had. a pretty easy time drawing this #I was mouthbreathing galloping like a horse to finishing this. Because I Need To Work #I didnt expect to have a good time with these designs tho idk why. probably bc I most suck shit at drawing animals #but to be fair yet again sonic and tails are little guys. theyre animal but theyre also like dudes. also sonic's design is kinda perfect #as far as character design goes he's really pretty goo- wait I made a continuity error hol on #okay. okay I fixed it. no problem. no matter 's all good now #okay. I go sleep now. today has been very noisy. but this actually got me through it okay #thank you sonic the hedgehog. that was pretty cool of u #have a good night guys! absolute freedom is probably really really sad #long post

[limielle]

complexity

#ffxiv #shadowbringers #ryne waters #oc: icarus lastname #warrior of light #wol #viera #myart #ff14 #before people jump down my throat about minfilia hate #icarus just does not care about most people #this isnt a reflection of the quality of her character #anyways #i think a lot about how much of a complex ryne develops being close to someone who cared so much about the og minfilia #but then when she tries to share those feelings w icarus who doesnt even remember who minfilia even is #it's like #different than what happens in canon obviously ehjghjejhgeg #didnt rlly illustrate the conversation in full because he just answers “whos that” and moves on tbh. #also this is very bad and sketchy but i just cannot !!!!!!!!! work on this any longer

[iffasart]

Sebastian "i kill people and use unforgivable curses on my friends but is all to cure mi sis so is ok" sallow

#now #i think he is a really complex character #there is a lot to unpack there #but he isnt my favourite #i mean mc must be a bit scared of sebastian after the crucio and avada kedavra #because after the crucio curse he just says are u ok and leaves to search #while ominis tries to get him to leave #then the way he treated ominis #and how the dark arts consumed him #im just saying he could've had a better development #sebastian sallow #anne sallow #solomon sallow #hogwarts legacy mc #hogwarts legacy #hphl #harry potter hogwarts legacy #hogwarts legacy fanart #fanart #ifosart

[toastyghostcriticalblog]

This tweet aged poorly like milk

#yeah viv Millie trying to kill herself because she feels like she is not a good wife GREAT character development 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄 #and don’t get me started Charlie #anti vivziepop #vivzepop critical #anti hazbin hotel #anti helluva boss #helluva boss critical #hazbin hotel critical

[safewavess]

something something qfit telling everyone who says that their gift isn’t that good that they are the gift by showing up to his birthday party something something he’s never celebrated his birthday with anyone let alone people who care about his well-being so them just being there to celebrate with him is enough

something something his birthday party with a giant castle and many gifts and people and huevitos who practically smother him with fanart and happy-birthday messages and the god forsaken earth-shattering heart-wrenching birthday letter that ramon writes him about how he loves being his son and how he loves that fit loves him, sings him lullabies, calls him ridiculously cute nicknames, even points out how fit says his name in a specific, softer tone

something something how he treats pac’s letter different than the others because he’s his boyfriend, and even though the message is the same, reacts differently because it’s definitive proof that someone he loves, loves him back, gave him a meaningful gift, wrote him a letter even though he couldn’t wake up, the letter more than enough for him to be fine with his absence in the party because it’s from his boyfriend

something something qfit has never felt this much appreciation or love in his entire lifetime something something “yeah 2b2t fit and qsmp fit are very different” because now he has people he cares for, people who care for him something something im so normal about his birthday party seriously guys

#AGSHGGAHAGSHHAGSGSG SCREAMONG AT THE WALLS CLAWING AT ANY INANIMATE OBJECT HIS CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IS SOSOOSOOOSOKADKKSJKDHD #qsmp #someone KNOCK ME OUT THE GEARS ARE TURNING IN MY HEAD #aasgsgagsgafhsgdhaghsgwhfhhdhahahe him him him him him h #the stark contrast drives a skewer through my blood vessels and punctures the insides of my body literally kills me stops my heart I just d #fitmc….. you sly motherfucker…. the character development…… THE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT….. #not tagging the qsmp fit tag because this is really just a big ramble lmao

[bamsara]

So is the reason for Tyren getting more unhinged the side effects of the devotion necklace, or was this a downward spiral he would have gone done regardless of the necklace? I remember you talking about how the necklaces have consequences, and I'm curious if this is one of them.

Yeah!

Tyren would have been an already overly-doting and even jealous character on his own without the loyalty necklace, (and had been due to his crush on the Lamb even before recieving it, and what happens when you reject followers in-game) but his spiral into a unhealthy obsession and idolization was aided by the loyalty necklace.

If it was given to perhaps a regular, less devoted follower, the effects maybe wouldn't have had such severity. But Lamb got the materials/necklace from the mystic seller and isn't fully aware of the effects it might have on their followers yet.

So, dog is unhinged a bit on his own, but amplified by the necklace. He's originally friendly, caring and sweet. But you take good traits, too much of a good thing, and they can turn bad

#I want to talk about Tyren in stream again or go on a ramble #he's a character i want readers to like but also i dont want them to LIKE LIKE him #i want to write him in a way that makes you wonder if he did not go down this path he would actaully be someone you'd want to be friends wi #what ifs and what not #also in some reality there would people rooting for tyren in his corner because in his point of view #hes known the lamb for a long time and has been their friend and confidant #and has cared about them and even had a crush on them for quite a while #then suddenly this cat appears and everything feels wrong #dont get me wrong tyren is meant to be a good friend turned bad guy #but i was also never meant to get attatched to and develop the side characters as i have been doing slkdghsld #okay ive rambled enough #tyren oc #trod au

[bruciemilf]

Peter B admitting to Miles that the non stop tragedies and losses shaping their stories are hard, harsh, and , knowing they can do something about it, cruel even. Then saying the GOOD aspects essentially outshine them. But that's not true. That's a classic toxic positivity line, used to justify shitty, unequal politics. " But at least we have this one good thing" WE CAN HAVE THAT GOOD THING AND NOTHING ELSE. WE AREN'T MADE TO BE IN PAIN, AND PAIN SHOULDN'T MAKE A HERO.

What Miguel doesn't understand is they don't owe the world suffering.

#GRRR THIS MOVIE #atsv #astv spoilers #across the spider verse spoilers #miguel o'hara #across the spiderverse #peter b parker #dont get me wrong i loved peter b the entire movie and i loved this line specifically because it shows how deeply helpless every #hero truly is. he needs to find meaning and hope in everything because if he doesn't. then all he'll have is the truth. #and ik the therapy scene is played for laughs but therapist spider man showed not only how desensitised they've become to personal loss #but other's as well. i mean. it takes something in someond to look a 15 year old in the face and say 'your dad has to die for character #development and continuation sorry' #mann idk i saw this movie literally two hours ago i may be a stupid bitch so dont take this TOO seriously #text #text post

[fox-guardian]

[ID: A digital sketchpage of Colin Becher from The Magnus Protocol on a gray background. He is a thin white man with a receding hairline and a blonde mullet that is very long in the back, tied into a low ponytail. He also has a mustache, patchy facial hair, body hair, and blue eyes. In four out of five sketches, Colin is wearing silver stud earrings, rectangular glasses with yellow lenses, a yellow t-shirt under a light blue button down, a light brown zip-up hoodie, blue jeans with brown knee patches, blue and white striped socks, brown sneakers, and bracelets including a braided one with pink and burgundy threads. On the right, there's a shoulder-up sketch of Colin with his body facing to the side while he turns his head to the viewer, looking angry. Below that is a far less detailed doodle of him on all fours like some kind of creature. On the far left is a shoulders-up sketch of him leaning against his hand looking tired with one eyebrow raised. Below that is a drawing of him facing away from the viewer on all fours looking under something with a little dark smudge above him denoting annoyance. In the middle is a full-body drawing of him posed as though sitting with one leg bent as he holds a game controller. He is wearing his glasses and earrings, as well as a white crop top that says "slut.exe" in blue text, yellow underwear, and blue and white thigh-high socks. He looks focused but also relatively relaxed. end ID]

~~~~

normal about that IT manager

and yes whenever i draw him with striped socks i need you all to know that they're the programmer socks. alice gave them to him mostly as a joke but he actually loves them and that's one reason they're buds in my mind

#fg's art #the magnus protocol #tmagp #colin becher #cursing #i need to make like. a reference page for him #for all of them honestly #mostly because i just wanna draw them all more in more detail. figure out their shapes and angles and little details #less for actual reference and more like the visual equivalent of those posts talking about little things to develop an oc #but its all stuff that most likely would never come up in a piece of writing about the character #like do i really need a detailed reference of all of colin's hand callouses? probably not but it's fun to do anyway

[homewrecking-lore]

The thing about the fandom’s interpretation of Data and Pulaski is that it makes both characters extremely flat and boring while also erasing their whole relationship. Data’s made into this flawless, naive baby that can’t defend himself (when he does - when Pulaski mispronounces his name, he tells her exactly why she should pronounce it correctly), while Pulaski is an ugly bitch-hag who is morally reprehensible. Most fanfics portray Data as being uncomfortable or scared of her, while Pulaski’s chomping at the bit to break him into parts. Their whole relationship in season two is based around the fact they both have flaws, and that Data is still learning about what exactly he is capable of as an android.

In “Elementary, My Dear Data”, the big question of the episode is if Data can solve a narrative mystery without it being based on his knowledge of the original stories. Geordi doesn’t know the answer. Pulaski doesn’t. Data doesn’t. From what they know of Data, Pulaski outright dismisses the possibility that Data can, which sparks the episode’s plot.

So when Geordi goes back later and prompts the computer to alter the program to be more challenging, both Data and Pulaski are excited! They want to see where this goes! They are openly having fun with this.

In her first episode, Pulaski dismissed Data when he tried to stay during Troi’s labour, and only relented when Troi said she wanted him there. But by “Penpals”, she assures Sarjenka that Data will be at her side the whole time. When Data expresses doubts, she assures him that this is what’s best for Sarjenka, but that his memories of her will still be important. This is also the same episode where Pulaski defends both her and Data’s personal involvement in the situation to Worf.

In “Measure of A Man”, the game opens with some of the crew playing a poker game. Data and Pulaski are obviously friendly and comfortable enough to socialize together outside of professional circumstances. And again, the scene shows Data calling the game simplistic and assuming he will win, but he turns out to be wrong.

Later in “Peak Performance”, Pulaski sets up Data to compete in Strategema, only for him to end up losing, to everyone’s surprise. The reason why Data’s confidence falls is because he had the exact same assumption about his computational abilities as Pulaski. They were both wrong! When she sees how much losing has affected him, she apologizes:

Data says that he must be malfunctioning. It’s not until Picard tells him that failure can happen even when you do everything right that Data accepts he can make mistakes - and that making mistakes is okay! By the end of the episode, they both know that Data is not infallible, and that he can be affected by failure as much as any human.

Pulaski makes assumptions and mistakes, and so does Data. They learn and grow from them, and their relationship is overall a very positive one despite their very different personalities. It’s an interesting dynamic that gets rewritten by fans entirely, despite the fact that it’s weirdly one of the more developed dynamics in the show.

#tng #st tng #data soong #data tng #katherine pulaski #star trek next generation #i promise this is my last rant post about data and pulaski #tng fans: i wish the crew had more developed and complex dynamics :( #also tng fans: no not like that #anyway my point is data and pulaski were pretty rounded characters in this season #and their relationship is really interesting! #and i dont think its a coincidence that a big chunk of data's growth drops after season 2 #which sucks because its interesting to see him learn about what being an android means! #him and geordi and pulaski on the holodeck was so fun #anyway in this house we love and respect pulaski in both data related and not-data-related matters

[anathemafiction]

Nothing is set in stone.

Until, of course, you write it. 

In a big project, no matter how much you believe you have it all figured out — you can see the road clearly and are sure that nothing can change it — you often get caught off guard, and all your pretty plans go back to the drawing board. Because look, you don't have it all figured out, and new opportunities pop into your head. 

I tried to ignore those tempting whispers, but honestly, why? Why ignore them, if I can see them materializing?

Book Two has recently passed the 400k words, and I've developed the backstory and motivations of a particular character a bit more, and... she has potential. She has intrigue. She's already faded to fill an important role in the story, but I can now see how that role can expand and deepen based on your decisions. This character already answers differently depending on what you do, so why cut the development once her role is done?

I've expanded Lance beyond what I first planned. Rafael was supposed to die from his wounds at the end of the interrogation, but he's here, and I have so many plans for him now. 

Why not add Vallen to the merry band of love interests? If certain conditions are met, Vallen will join you, and if you play a certain way, she may even grow to like you.

All this to say: Lieutenant Vallen will be added as a Romance Option. Her role until 3/4 of Book Two won't change much, but from then on, is a new realm of possibilities. 

She'll be available for both female and male Romanus, and she'll like you more the more your mark expands. 

I hope you all had a great Halloween! 🌹

#such is the nature of developing a big project #you change your mind #Honestly Vallen won't add much work at all since she is a main character as she is #Because of plot reasons I couldn't see her with Romanus #But now... now I do #sorry for the long post!! #the golden rose #Vallen

[twelvemonkeyswere]

ofmd season 1: "hurt people hurt people" mostly from the perspective of Stede, who copes with his trauma through avoidance, hurting himself by hurting those around him

ofmd season 2: "hurt people hurt people" mostly from the perspective of Ed, who copes with his trauma through violence, hurting himself by hurting those around him

both seasons have subplots about healing and growth, about finding love, about what to do with those parts of yourself that are drowning you, and what NOT to do with them, and those storylines and themes help support the main ones, seen through the eyes of our protagonists.

in particular, the parallel deaths in the last episodes of each season (Badminton dying in front of Stede, Izzy dying in front of Ed) have distinct thematic beats as well, in different moments of the main characters' storylines, but are still connected in a similar way: both Badminton and Izzy represent the external voices and pressures that have etched themselves in Ed and Stede and have forced them to hide their true selves in order to survive. in Stede's case, the pressure and bullying was always kind of detached, an overwhelming indifference and casual hatred, while for Ed, the pressure and bullying was always up close and personal, given to him by the very people who claimed to appreciate him. that's why Badminton is a villain we don't care much about, and Izzy is a character that was much more fleshed out by the end, because sometimes the call comes from inside the house, and I thought it was nice the team tried to incorporate some of those nuances into the storyline to help develop the main themes.

#some of my initial thoughts #the effects of these deaths are different because our characters have been growing all along so there are different purposes to them #i wish we had had more episodes to develop some things so it didn't feel so crunched but i see it i see what they've done #but mostly i really love how this season was largely focused on Ed (beloved) #and what his journey is all about #tv #ofmd #our flag means death #ofmd s2 spoilers #wendy watches

[ofswordsandpens]

I'm sincerely very happy for anyone who is enjoying the show but every time I see takes that the show has improved the book characterizations or that the book characters are underdeveloped in comparison to the show...

#our experiences are very different lmao #pjo show crit #sure the show isn't completely out yet #but id argue that the characters (namely the trio) seem way more developed and well-rounded in the book by this point in time (episode 4) #and look im not saying every change the show has made is bad #but by and far there has yet to be a change to characterization that feels like an IMPROVEMENT from the source material lmao #the closest contender I'd say is show Percy does seem a tad angrier than book Percy #but again I wouldn't call that an improvement... its just different and I think that /change/ works because it feels like the same essence #but even that has had some issues because I feel like the show has inadvertently cut down some of Percy's canon book empathy here and there #I think the show has nailed Annabeth's pride and intelligence and her warped worship of her mother #... but they've also made her hyper competent to the point that she's not making half of the mistakes she did in the book #which ISNT good because book annabeth is smart but she isn't infallible #its a big point that she has the theoretical intelligence but none of the real world experience/application #she gets tricked by medusa and goes to visit the Arch just cause she loves architecture and that's okay!! she's twelve and a nerd! #I also dont like that they've cut/toned down her little crush on Luke #actually they've not even showcased the familial bond between annabeth and Luke either in the show so like lmao #and then grover #by now grover's fear of failure and repeating this past mistakes and wanting a license has already been acknowledged in the books at least #in the show?? not so much #and his canon book suspicions and wariness of medusa... were given to annabeth #like medusa in the book was Grover's moment to shine cause his instincts were right! #and in the book fight he even very intentionally attacked medusa #but his highlights there were cut completely in the show #and finally sally #...idk who that is in the show but that's NOT my sally jackson #percy jackson #mine

[wasyago]

chip chip chip chip

#not sure if people draw him with top surgery scars because its canon or because its a big fandom headcanon but i like it either way #also not sure why people draw him with fire tattoos... but maybe its something that happens later. im on ep 66 atm so who knows #(well. this post will technically be in the queue for the next 3 days so idk what episode I'll be on when it'll actually be posted) #either way. chip is very poggers im so happy with all the character development and changes he's going through #just roll with it #jrwi riptide #jrwi chip #chip jrwi #my art #sketch