#i'd love to do the other characters in this style - but to clarify this was PAID which is why it's so nice

[lackadaisycats]

i would love to ask(if you're comfortable enough, if not please ignore this) if the trans vers of your cat people retain their original hair(guys dont have any/indistinct like rocky, girls do like ivy, mitzi etc.) or they look like the gender they aligned with, or is it fully up to the characters' views themselves?

I get why the presence of hair on female presenting characters creates a sort of troublesome binary. It's not really my intention to treat it as necessarily connected to sex or gender, though. It's really more about how I choose to depict the hairstyle types themselves.

My priorities are creating distinct silhouettes that I feel match the personality of the character, and capturing something of that Jazz Age look. It just happens that hairstyles more typically worn by women at the time tend to be the more iconic, immediately recognizable styles. To answer your question more directly, though... If I were drawing a trans woman who I imagined would wear an Art Deco finger waved bob, then I would draw her with hair much the same way I draw Mitzi. If I were drawing a trans man with a shorter cut, slicked back hair, or an undercut, I'd draw him with the same forehead tuft + cheek-fur approach I draw for characters like Wes, Rocky, or Zib. If I were drawing a cis woman who I imagined with a sort of crew cut, I'd focus more on giving her a distinct head and cheek-fur shape than on trying to draw really, really short hair around her ears. And so forth. ----------- Here's a bit about my thought process for these design choices: Does the character wear their hair somewhat long? Shoulder-length, a bob, something with some notable exterior dimension that really affects the character silhouette? Something that screams '1920s'? If yes, then I'll probably draw them with actual hair. On the other hand, if I imagine the character to be someone who'd wear their hair quite short and closer to the scalp, I'll usually take a more abstract approach. I find drawing really short haircuts on animal-like heads with big ears to be pretty awkward - I never struck on a more literal design solution for that that I was happy with. It doesn't augment the character's silhouette the same way a longer or more dimensional hairstyle does, so I try to define a distinctive shape with extended fur instead, in a way that might imply something about their character corollary to the way a hairstyle might (i.e. Freckle's tiger tufts and Mordecai's sharp angles).

I hope that makes some sense! Or at least clarifies my intentions somewhat.

#lackdaisy #lackadaisycats #character design #q&a #hairstyles

[ladyluscinia]

Izzy Hands Is Manipulative, But Not That Way

...or I finally finish that long ass meta post about why I love the fucking Navy Plot lol

The Izzy manipulation debate has been really interesting to me pretty much since it started, because I'd see a post arguing he's manipulating Edward and go "No, and he couldn't if he tried" and then the next post would say he sucks at manipulation because he's a blunt fucking instrument and I'd go "Yea- wait. Hmm. No, he can be targeted and tricky as fuck." Which does, on its surface, seem like a contradictory stance, but I swear it works.

Because the thing with Izzy - and this is such a fun thing imo - is there are two core types of manipulation that characters engage in, and Izzy fucking sucks at the one you expect his style of antagonist to focus on. But he's scarily good at the other.

Long meta under the cut, so get comfy.

...

From his role under Edward to the protagonist vs antagonist dynamic setup to his introduction scenes, Izzy is very much invoking the conniving second in command. We know this character from other media. He doesn't have the full power he wants so he's constantly scheming to get it. He can't or won't challenge his boss for some reason, so he settles for being the devil on their shoulder or working behind their back. He's the voice constantly ready to inflame insecurities and turn relationship cracks into chasms, and usually he's lying constantly to do so. His fingerprints are all over his boss's problems up to the moment they show some weakness, and then their loyal second goes right for the backstab. He is THE ambitious manipulator. The shady advisor. The snake.

And then you actually look at Izzy and he is not that guy. In fact, it's a testament to the strength of Edward's character arc how much his evil little henchman is not causing his problems.

So - Izzy and manipulation:

Izzy Can't Convince People To Do Things

Like. He really can't.

This interpersonal struggle is fairly fundamental to his character. And moreover, it's a skill that Izzy is intensely aware that he lacks, so usually he doesn't even try.

In his first episode he walks right up to Buttons and just straight up asks him for the information on his party. He doesn't even resolve to steal the hostages until he realizes that Stede has lost them in the bush already, and Izzy obtains them by buying them. When Stede confronts him they end up splitting the pair in a very above-board negotiation and he pretty much just goes with what Stede suggests.

Then in 1x03, people make a big deal of Izzy "manipulating" Edward by not clarifying that Stede didn't know who he was when he turned down the invite, but kind of importantly he repeats the damning line of the conversation faithfully. If he was going to lie, then why not lie? Why even go see Stede at all? And, if he didn't want Stede dead until after the conversation (understandable, tbh, since "Iggy" was stab-worthy), surely he could invent a better insult to rile Edward up. It makes his omission hit more like being bitchy about Stede not recognizing the obvious - namely that Izzy Hands works for Blackbeard and literally everyone knows this - than a slander campaign to get him killed. And once we properly meet Izzy and Edward in 1x04, Izzy's inability to manipulate becomes his main struggle.

Izzy's a blunt and direct person. He leans on authority bestowed by Blackbeard to take control of situations, playing the role he's supposed to play, and without it he lacks a Plan B. In 1x04 he doesn't have any authority over Edward, so his efforts to get him to take the danger of the Spanish seriously amount to "Well as bored as you might be, if you don't make a decision soon we're gonna fucking die." And this is true! There might be a very subconscious attempt at manipulation in his resignation speech before the "That's Blackbeard. I'm Stede, remember?" line - of the piss him off to get him to get his shit together variety - but Edward literally makes a joke out of it so not exactly effective.

And once Edward stops giving Izzy authority in general, his plan to make Lucius do stuff is still just... brute force. Which works at first when Lucius doesn't realize that Izzy's on his own now, and stops working as soon as Fang breaks ranks. His last ditch blackmail attempt isn't manipulative either - he just plans to tell the truth to Pete and assumes he'll be pissed about it. My guy loses a fight over the pirate equivalent of making an uppity employee clean the coffee maker while the boss is out. Not only does he fail to manipulate the crew in a conniving antagonist way... he doesn't even try.

I mean, the only time he (somewhat) succeeds in talking someone into things is 1x06. Getting Edward to agree to killing Stede isn't really manipulation - Izzy gets Fang and Ivan to back him in a very straightforward way because they all actually do have a stake in this - but he's passably able to push Stede to go through with the fuckery via fake compliments. It's not exactly high level work, though. Stede being vulnerable to ego-stroking / dares is pretty obvious.

So what is Izzy good at?

Well, if you can't make people do anything other than what they were going to do in the first place, you might as well lean into that.

...

Izzy Manipulates Situations, Not People

Situational manipulation is one of those fictional tropes that rarely can happen in real life, but there's not much resemblance because real life rarely gives you all the building blocks for a proper gambit and lets you loose. Too many factors. In narratives, though? It becomes one of my favorite ways of having a character be clever.

And before I get into this too much, a really fun sidenote - I think Izzy does situational manipulation more like the way protagonists do it. See, antagonists are usually emotionally and situationally manipulative (ex: provoking the hero to lash out and using it to frame them for a bigger crime), but it's not a good look when your hero drives the target to do something bad and then punishes them for it. So heroes lean on stuff like Batman Gambits - where the lynchpin of the scheme is the target fucking themselves over by behaving completely in character. They've written Izzy so ineffective at emotional manipulation that he pretty much has to rely on other characters' flaws or histories to cause problems, which has a very similar result. And it's wild.

...

Going back to the 1x03 confrontation in Jackie's bar, Izzy doesn't really do anything abnormal in how he conducts himself, but people are picking up on an agenda for a reason. Namely, the whole damn conversation quickly turns into a trap, and Izzy fully sits back and watches Stede spring it from sheer idiocy.

There's no indication that when Izzy walked up he wasn't going to carry out his task with all the bitchy professionalism expected of him, while probably hoping that Stede would eventually stick his foot in his mouth without Izzy's help (assuming he's the kind of idiot Izzy thinks he is). His first section of this conversation is nearly polite:

Izzy (about the Nose Jar): "I have a few colleagues in there." Stede: "Ugh. You again." Geraldo: "Mr. Hands, welcome. It's been a while." Izzy: "(To Geraldo) Yeah, because I hate this fucking place. (To Stede) But for some inexplicable reason, my boss would like a word with you. Bonnet."

It's not until Stede starts talking that I think Izzy clues in that Stede doesn't actually know who his boss is. He didn't introduce himself until the literal last second of their 1x02 interaction, so it wasn't obvious Stede wasn't literally bolting into the forest in horrified realization.

And Stede? He goes hard on being a bitch right out the gate. Brushes Izzy off, tells him to "get in line", calls him the wrong name, says he doesn't care who Izzy is...

Izzy so far has met Stede in a public place, in front of people who clearly treat Izzy with respect and fear. He doesn't bring up their previous interaction, Stede does. He doesn't even goad Stede beyond existing. He corrects him on his name, and watches it not register in the slightest. The next line is the clincher:

Izzy (slightly incredulous): "So I'll tell my Captain that you're declining then, yeah?"

As Izzy is speaking the conversation becomes a trap - he chooses a reasonable way to refer to Edward that isn't "Blackbeard" and waits to see if Stede will make this worse. The jump from "no I'm busy" to "tell him he has terrible taste in flunkies and he can go suck eggs in Hell" is all Stede, completely ignoring context clues as Geraldo stares on in horror. Hell, Jackie only refrains from later de-nosing Stede on the spot because Geraldo knows what's up, and Stede still doesn't pick up on the fact he should maybe be asking some questions (though I'll give him the knife was distracting).

Izzy returns to the ship, quotes Stede directly for his damning line, and waits to see what Edward will do with it. It's not good behavior on his part (and if he could have seen the future he might have tried worse), but switching mid-conversation to offering Stede an opportunity to fuck himself over is a very different mindset than simply lying to / provoking Stede or Edward to get what he wants. He's mostly being petty.

Stede did insult Edward of his own volition, after all, and just because Izzy fudges the truth to hide he didn't know he was insulting Blackbeard instead of just Izzy and a random stranger doesn't change that. All Izzy did to "escalate" that conversation was give Stede a second opening to do so himself.

But there is a far better example of Izzy masterfully manipulating a situation than this in-the-moment bit of pettiness, so let's move onto my favorite bit... explaining in extensive and slightly awestruck detail why the Navy plot. Fucking. Rules. Because it does. Ready?

...

How to Mastermind the Decisive Removal of One Stupid Fucking Stede Bonnet Over Drinks

Ahem. The Navy plot. Masterclass in intimate betrayal. Izzy's biggest escalation in the total collapse of Edward and Izzy's relationship, but also a completely fucking fascinating glimpse into whatever tangled web of codependency they've got going on, because Edward isn't even mad after 1x09. This wordcount is going to be insane enough without me getting into the Blackhands relationship connotations, so I will... attempt... to stick to breaking down the actual scheme.

And what a scheme it was.

Let's start at the beginning. Jack showing up to lure them into the trap at the start of 1x08? Nope, earlier. Izzy getting kicked off the ship and going to Jackie at the end of 1x06? Further back. Edward proposing the "kill Stede" plan at the end of 1x04, which is the domino that starts all this, right? Closer, but still no.

Izzy's first appearance on screen is in episode 1x02, and that episode is where the seeds of the Navy plot are first planted. See, during Stede's confrontation with Izzy, both of the hostages chime in:

Hostage 1 (Wellington): "Believe him, he's quite insane." Hostage 2 (Hornberry): "He does have the eyes of a madman. Sorry, you do."

Wellington says his line in a tone of voice that clearly indicates a story to tell, and it should also be noted that he is the same one who earlier jumped at the chance to tell the tribe chief about Stede murdering their captain - Nigel. And he's the one that Izzy leaves with, in a sour mood and wanting information about this "Stede Bonnet" character.

When Izzy later reaches out to the Navy, it's no coincidence that he finds Chauncey. He's known since right after their first meeting that Stede was directly responsible for the murder of an Admiral's brother and that the English Navy would know soon enough, since he was literally about to ransom a hostage back to them who would tell the story. And he filed that information away until it was useful or relevant like a clever pirate should.

Moving on to Jackie's bar in 1x03, Izzy gets more potentially useful observations / inspiration. Jackie is actually the first person in the series to make a deal with a naval power. Izzy and crew track the Revenge to the Spanish warship, which means they must see Geraldo sold out Stede to them. Izzy isn't stupid. He knows Geraldo and Spanish Jackie, knows that she's the brains and brawn behind this deal, and has seen enough of Stede that he'd absolutely believe that he did something to get Jackie pissed enough to plot his murder. File away Jackie wants Stede dead and details of how she nearly succeeded in offing him for later.

Izzy spends 1x05 up to the fuckery demonstration observing Stede's crew while waiting for Edward to pull the trigger. I definitely want to note the scene where they interrogate the Frenchman at the beginning of 1x05, because Izzy is staring directly at Stede as he leans away from Edward threatening violence (we know this will later be in his love montage so not actually a turn off, lol, but like... it looked like one). His opinion of the crew is that they like to fuck around without structure (1x05 during the party), probably that they enjoy more standard pirate levels of violence (not shown directly since they are kept out of the 1x05 raid, but fairly obvious), and that they are really easily awestruck by the chance to hear "real pirates" tell charismatic stories (1x06 ghost story).

Any of that sounding like someone we know?

And now to go back to Izzy in 1x06, when he gets sick of Edward being cagey about the plan to kill Stede and decides to "make" him stop stalling, he's straightforward again. Getting Ivan and Fang to back him isn't emotionally manipulative, but it does give him weight in the conversation. They are the ones who bring up the whole "love of a pet makes a man weak" thing, and they do it in the context of calling out hypocrisy. Izzy knows the standards Edward holds his crew to. He lets them convince Edward it's time.

Taking the chance to suggest Stede try a fuckery is a strong blend of situational and emotional manipulation, and later challenging him to a formal duel knowing he'd be overconfident enough to accept is more situational again. Even the terms of the duel are designed to take advantage of the situation. And then Izzy loses in the most comedy way possible, Edward lets him get banished, and Izzy decides that if he was ok with just sending Stede Bonnet on his way to fuck-off before... he's fucking gonna kill him now.

My guy is not a creative thinker, but he's definitely a logistical one. And as he rows away from that ship, all the pieces fall into place.

First, Spanish Jackie. Who listens to him bemoan his relationship woes because she likes him (Izzy gets Jackie in the divorce). Who wants Stede dead and has the clout to summon and deal with a distasteful ally - Chauncey. Together, they concoct an arrangement where a trap will be set and Chauncey gets Stede and only Stede. This isn't a tip-off or a free-for-all. Stede comes from Chauncey's world and they are sending him back. Permanently.

Then it's time for the trap itself, which needs to do two things: get the Revenge somewhere that Chauncey can corner it, and get Edward out of there. And Izzy? Izzy knows Edward. Knows there's one particular person in his past that will have no trouble integrating with the crew, getting Edward to act more like a pirate than a gentleman, and who happens to have a great ambush location on hand.

I've said this before but I'm gonna say it again - I don't think outside characters realize how hard and fast Edward is falling for Stede. The BlackBonnet bonding moments happen almost exclusively when they are alone. The place Izzy dramatically fails to manipulate the situation is not having the evidence he would need to predict Edward going back for Stede. He (and Jack) both think that a precise wedge between BlackBonnet - one that Jack delivers near flawlessly by playing into real issues - will be enough to remind Edward that Stede isn't his people. This isn't a plan to murder the love of Edward's life while his back is turned. It's a plan to get rid of Stede, and remind Edward why he was on board with doing that in the first place. "That's fair," Izzy says about a punch to the face.

Instead, Izzy's plot accidentally backs Edward into a corner and forces him to publicly pull a grand-gesture relationship level-up that he was not emotionally ready for, and the fallout from that explosion is way worse than any of our conspirators were counting on.

Still... you gotta admit. It was a really good plan.

#our flag means death #i still really want to know when fang and ivan showed up to all this #like it's fascinatingly crazy that they looked at allllllll this insanity and were like. this seems like it's between izzy and the boss #did they go with him to find calico jack? did they sit at the table while izzy laid out the whole crew's potential weak points??? #the navy plot #izzy hands ofmd #izzy hands #ofmd meta #my meta #ofmd 1x09 #ofmd 1x02 #ofmd 1x03 #ofmd 1x04 #ofmd 1x06 #ofmd 1x08 #spanish jackie ofmd #chauncey badminton ofmd #calico jack ofmd #stede bonnet ofmd #ladyluscinia

[rainbowchewynuggets]

Hello, I'm still here!

I just moved again, and I wanted to share some stuff I made before I did.

So I was working on an idea for an episodic serial comic about a small polycule with mild super powers trying to live a quiet life together in an apartment in a small city--hanging out, running errands, going to work, and trying to duck the feds who want to take them away to be "studied". Just a cute slice of life thing with some spice to heighten the magic and preciousness of mundane life.

It woulda been called UNSUCOTH (Untitled Supernatural Comfort Throupple).

I didn't get far into making it, and I may never. I think I started it because I felt really sad and lost and missed my hometown. And now that I live there again, I don't really feel that motivated anymore. I just want to go outside all the time lol.

But here's the cast anyway because I love them, they're a part of me, and they may show up in later posts and projects regardless.

This is Chesah. They have psychic powers (largely Akira style, but they've always had a spiritual/emotional connection to the stars and are starting to think they can also talk to the dead). ((My notes also say they have acid blood? What??)) They work as a clerk/archivist in the filing room at a very outdated office. People leave them alone, so they get to use their powers to do their job and listen to music all day.

They are my inner goth who never got to come out.

This is Kanai. He can influence local temperature, air pressure, precipitation, plant life, animals, and kind of effectively the sun? A lowkey nature god, though he's too humble to claim the title. He splits part time as a line cook and a delivery cyclist. Really, he'd do any job where he gets to be in a group or meet new people.

He is the 90s beach dude I want to be.

And this is Briar. He's a shapeshifter who has used his powers to explore his gender and humanity, as well as extend his lifespan by hundreds of years. She does odd jobs--any relatively anonymous contract work she can get. It's safer that way of course, but he also enjoys trying new things and getting to blow in and out of people's lives like a phantasm (with the exception of Chesah and Kanai's lives--he loves them to death).

She is the metalhead I almost forgot I am.

------------

It's also worth mentioning that I had a funny little gender awakening after I started this.

Turns out I'm genderfluid! Yippee!

These three characters represent archetypes that have developed through my projects and hcs since I was 14. I always put a bit of myself into my ocs, but I put these three to paper and realized that they're much bigger chunks of me. All the stuff I'd been repressing all my life.

(Also, I should clarify that I'm a white redneck American. The ethnicities of the throupple obviously don't apply to me. They're based on other people I know or cultures I want to know more about.)

I especially looked at Briar and said to myself, "Oh, that guy really is just what I look like on the inside." So I named myself after him.

Can you do that? A reverse self-insert?

Still, all three of them have been my guides through this wacky, cool period of my life. I'm having all kinds of complicated feelings about it and am very slow in the process of exploring it as I put my new life together.

Look forward (maybe) to some kind of post about how agenderism, shapeshifting, and monster kinning factor into this. (Legitimately. I think it's really cool and I hope I can sort out my thoughts well enough to explain it.)

Anyway, thanks for reading.

Signed, BRIAR!!!

#ocs #my ocs #briar #kanai #chesah #unsucoth #projects #comics #comic ideas #genderfluid #gender awakening #coming out post ig

[megafaunatic]

Sooo, how do feel about When the Angels Left the Old Country then? I was going to check it out, but I'd love more thoughts on it.

I LOVE WHEN THE ANGELS LEFT THE OLD COUNTRY

READ WHEN THE ANGELS LEFT THE OLD COUNTRY BY SACHA LAMB

i just finished reading it for the third time and it came out in: october 2022

it's written in the tone of a classic yiddish folktale in a way that's really refreshing and fun, especially if you're used to reading books that don't have a ton going on stylistically - it's technically YA, but definitely doing something different from most other YA in terms of sheer style while remaining a very fun coming of age story for both the human and angelic characters. on a craft level it's excellent!

all the characters are super fun and interesting and well imagined - there's a pretty small core group with a larger ensemble cast, and all of the core characters are REALLY well developed - and even the minor ensemble cast each get moments of narrative insight into their lives and emotional landscapes in a really fun way. AS u May Know i am constantly writing fanned fictioneds but i actually don't really feel the need to write any for angels even tho i love it so much, simply bc i mostly just don't have anything to add!

my commentary earlier re: angels containing textual homophobia & antisemitism refers to those as intentional threats in the story, NOT like . "ohh angels is homophobic" JUST TO CLARIFY LOL!!!! it is a deeply queer and jewish book and those elements are there on purpose as part of the story being told

to try to elaborate while not totally spoiling, EYE personally really love the way in which the homophobia is present in the story - i DON'T generally want to read characters being called slurs or being violently assaulted - but i Also don't particularly like or appreciate books where homophobia just like magically isn't part of the world, esp with books like angels where it's set essentially in our universe... like, the idea of someone trying to write abt queer characters navigating the pale of settlement and ellis island and early 20th c nyc Without feeling the threat of homophobia in addition to the antisemitism and ableism and racism that are intrinsic features of those settings... would be repugnant lol

like, there's really only a couple moments where "the idea of homophobia" is specifically invoked, but its reality is BAKED into the ways the characters interact with the world and each other in a really realistic and subtle way. i think lamb does a really good job of like... making it clear what the characters have words for and what they don't. they all know exactly what antisemitism is and how it looks and functions, bc a core part of jewish tradition and celebration is literally just talking about all th times gentiles have tried to destroy jewish people. but the characters DON'T really have words and structures for how they're affected by ableism and homophobia or even really straight up misogyny - the reader is expected to do that work of identification themself in a way i really love

anyway. to anon and to anyone else who has been thinking abt reading when the angels left the old country: you should read when the angels left the old country 🫡

#when the angels left the old country #book rec

[letyukisayfuck]

hey!! i really like your blog and all of your thoughts about haruhi the franchise are so interesting but what I'm curious about is how do you feel about koizumi in general? you speak about him very rarely but he's my fav character and you're my fav tumblr account so far so i wanna hear it if you have something to say about him ahah

aaaaaa thank you! i'm glad people like my particular brand of nonsense and screaming loudly into what i initially thought was a void. gotta say, being called someone's favorite tumblr is an honor i never thought i would receive from anyone

so yeah, i mostly talk about koizumi on here to give him shit, but honestly that's partially because i find it funny that after mikuru gets promoted from being nothing more than the universe's punching bag he basically takes her place in terms of 'character that suffers for comedy' (see: random numbers and seven wonders in particular), and partially because the text gives us very little of him seemingly being genuine without some level of bullshit attached to it.

like i said yesterday, i don't dislike any of the brigade; koizumi would probably be classed as my least favorite, but it's not so much because i dislike him and more because he never gets the narrative focus that would bring him up to the same level as mikuru

we never really get something that eqates to love at first sight or the melancholy of mikuru asahina for koizumi, and certainly nothing on the level of disappearance or intrigues (which i would argue are the yuki and mikuru spotlight novels, respectively)

(melancholy and surprise i would class as haruhi spotlights, one before and one after her character development; and sigh i would class as 'establishing material that is necessary but not exactly fun to sift through for the most part')

i like to think if we ever get another long-form book it'll be koizumi-centric, mostly because i'd like to see him actually get to be a major player! it's getting a little sad to watch kyon hear him go "maybe i wanted to time travel" and just go "i mean what could koizumi possibly want from me"

but really, the only koizumi spotlight we have is the tempo loss bishop exchange--which, notably, while i take it as canon (as it was authorized) was not by tanigawa; if i remember right, it was instead written by sou sagara

i read a fan translation, as there's never been an official release and my relationship with the official haruhi translations is reasonably antagonistic on a good day, and i think it's worth noting that for the first page and a half i didn't think there would be a plot. i thought it was just koizumi's philosophical bullshit, novelized.

that said, it was really fun to read something from his perspective (kind of like how editor in chief gives us insight into yuki and mikuru via their writing styles; but more direct)

so, before i get into my own thoughts (which i believe i've touched on before), it's worth noting that while the entire cast of haruhi can be easily read a variety of ways, koizumi is arguably the easiest to do this with because we get so little to work with in terms of "things we know to be true"

things we know for sure are true about koizumi: north high student (presumably a teenager), esper, works for a mysterious organization, considered attractive/popular (unless i'm misremembering something), has explicitly stated that he's always putting on an act but has never clarified how much and in exactly what way, earnestly offers advice but often contradicts himself, claims to be able to read haruhi's mood/emotions/something along those lines, and (in the later books) has made a hobby out of trying to convince kyon to deal with his very obvious romantic feelings for haruhi

my own reading of koizumi is biased by my readings of other characters and their relationships/dynamics; and it's also specifically the one i think is the funniest option: koizumi has a thing for both kyon and haruhi, is aware that neither of them views him the same way (with haruhi viewing him solely as a subordinate and only really paying attention when he's saying things she wants to hear, and kyon seemingly regarding him as a friend as well as a source of useful information, but hardly even willing to acknowledge that fact most of the time)

and, since he has accepted that neither of them like him that way but they do very obviously like each other, he's decided that they should get over themselves and get together. unfortunately, kyon's strategy when he hears things he doesn't want to is pretend no one's said anything at all, and so koizumi's words go ignored

#ruby.txt #itsuki koizumi #asks #anonymous #there's an argument to be made that kyon's friendship with koizumi parallels his dynamic with haruhi in some interesting ways #namely in his refusal to acknowledge it and general dismissal of the concept #i don't personally see the romantic undertone of it on kyon's side but i do think it would be a valid reading. and an interesting one! #this ended up being SUPER long #oops! #guess i had a lot more to say about koizumi than i thought

[th3casscad3]

Absolutely loving the content here. I do not wish to say this disrespectfully as I love your style and enjoy everything I've seen so far, just I've seen a few blogs with people not liking vaggie x male due to her sexuality in the show. Can I just ask your opinion on that? I'm not a writer and relatively new to the fandom, was just curious about your thoughts. I definitely don't want to see you stop after what I've seen so far.

Heya! Not A Problem, Thanks For The Question. To Clarify: Im Sorry If My Content Makes You Uncomfortable. I Do Not Wish To Push Anyone Past Their Limits, No Do I Want To Be Seen As Someone Who Has A Biased Opinion Based On Cannon And Non-Cannon Ships. I Am Simply A Writer Who Takes The Requests Of Others And Make Them A Reality. To Further This, I Make Sure To Put The Title And What The Relationship To That Character May Be, Female, Male, Gender Neutral, Etc. If You Are Not Comfortable Or Pleased With The Story Written Then I'd Advise You Not To Read It. Everyone Has A Choice. I Hope That Gives You Some Understanding. I Will Not Stop Writing Just Because A Few People Dont Agree, Its My Choice To Write What I Want. Im Simply Looking To Give People A Good Read.

Cass

#hazbin hotel fanfiction #hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel x reader #hazbin hotel smut #hazbinhotel #hazbin #hazbin hotel 2024 #vivziepop

[melliotwrites]

If you had an unlimited budget for your shows, what would be something you would want to do? Like, was there anything in either taopp or adamandi that you would add or anything you would do differently if you didn’t have any restraints?

Great question! So far, we've been super lucky to have the resources we have had (Adamandi, especially, was pretty close to an ideal production for how we'd like it staged!) We did have to leave a few ideas on the cutting room floor, though, because of time/resource constraints. Here's a few fun ones from each show!

Adamandi

Marbing: We experimented with one or two different ways to achieve the 'Marble transformation' effect on the Marmorei and Ambrose during Me, Myself, and I, but if I had infinite money I would've loved to have them with whiteout contacts and a fleet of makeup artists waiting in the wings to make their skin more marble-colored (and cracked!) I'd also love if we could've done the same to Ambrose as he transformed (maybe with projections?)- we'll see for future productions! ~Mel

Saints: If I had dream-levels of SFX makeup, I've always sort of wanted the saints to start posed in front of stained glass windows, with their halos almost two dimensional and their faces already in profile- and then when they 'come to life' in Litany of the Martyrs, they turn their faces towards the audience and we see the other half of their faces is a heavily injured corpse- according to their martyrdom stories, of course. It would emphasize the message of the allure and revulsion of these stories, I think! ~Mel

The Skask (skin mask): We had an artful solution to the skin mask from our costume designer that looked amazing onstage (nylon stretched over a catcher's mask- which is also super fun because of Ambrose's jockliness)- but I've always dreamed of a hyperrealistic latex one, held together with stitches... just to make the audience really gasp when Vincent turns around in the final scene. ~Mel

MORE GHOSTS! In our original vision, we wanted more and more ghosts to join Vincent in Oh! Ms. Reporter, and wanted these ghosts to accumulate like the Marmorei as he kills more and more students. However, because many of the ghosts in Oh! Ms. Reporter had other roles, we couldn't have folks accumulate and join Vincent's ensemble. - Elliot

The Pyre: in our original conception of Vincent's pyre, it was built by the ghosts out of the set pieces onstage- literally taking apart the symbols of academia and burning oneself on them etc etc. We decided on this version of the pyre for cost and also legibility onstage, but wouldn't it be cool if it was a huge pile of desks, books, and chairs? -Mel

The Art of Pleasing Princes

This wasn't budget so much as the limitations of a college production, but more people in the cast/ensemble like Adamandi is something we're looking into for revisions! Having courtiers who are separate from the main 5 (and attendees at Rowan's party) would help clarify it and make those songs sound so much richer (while our cast is amazing, learning five-part harmony for all the group songs isn't really ideal) ~Mel

Similarly, we would love to have a bigger band (and more rehearsal time, obviously, to allow all the actors to memorize it and make it a fuller production!) - Elliot

With a fuller production it would also be fun to have more of a palace set that the characters could explore! I loved the different fabrics for the settings of the rooms, but having a luxurious Palace-style set with different backgrounds for everyone's rooms would be nice. I'd envision a set with either a sectioned-off part or a different level for character bedrooms. - Mel and Elliot

#adamandi #the art of pleasing princes #taopp #answered #ghostinacardboardbox #musical #musical theater

[byrdiboo]

There is no sexism in Ba Sing Se

By now I think everyone has their opinions formed about the live action ATLA remake but as a non-fan I figured I'd offer my two cents to anyone still on the fence or who might be interested in a slightly less biased opinion. To clarify, I don't hate the show, I actually like hearing my friends talk about the fan theories and how they thought the various heavy subjects are handled, I just never got into it myself. Because my partner is one of those people who did get into it, I've at least seen up to the point of Kyoshi Village in both shows (ep2 Netflix, ep4 original). One of the things I've seen most people excited about is the special effects, especially the bending. I will say, it looks...fine. I'm not up on my fighting styles but the choreography seems decent. The effects are nothing groundbreaking - we've had these water and fire sims for at least 10 years - but it's definitely not awful to look at...when you can see it. Way too much of the show (ie more than 0%) utilizes the inexplicably popular "someone forgot to turn the lights on when filming" lighting technique and "shakeycam meets too-many-cuts" editing with motionblur out the ass for good measure (some of the opening scenes are on youtube, judge for yourself). At least all two of the creatures we get to actually look at look awesome. Perhaps the biggest thing I've seen talked about is the changes to the characters themselves. I will start by saying the actors deserve no ill will, they're clearly doing their best with a subject they love and a script written by people who thought ATLA should read like GoT. Aang and the others have a few goofy moments thrown in to keep people happy but for the most part he plays the part of Main Character Boy while the others are The Support Characters, rather than three children in extraordinary times doing what they think makes sense. This is where my knowledge of Aang and Katara is lacking, but I do want to talk about Sokka cuz his changes (rightly) had a lot of people worried (and a lot of his character arc is pretty obvious from ep 1, rather than revealed past the point I've seen). They didn't just tone down his sexism, they removed it entirely, taking him from an obnoxious but teachable idiot to a generic annoying dudebro. Maybe this is just me, but I was endlessly annoyed that they took away his sexism without addressing the things that made him sexist in the first place. After being told by the leaderly elderly matriarch character about the fire nation attacks wiping out most of the village, we are told Sokka is how he is because he was appointed the village leader at 13 for...reasons. So the village is still sexist enough to declare a 13 year old boy leader over the woman everyone already looks up to, but this didn't affect his character in any meaningful way, I guess? And for those looking forward to the Kyoshi warriors, you can go ahead and put those hopes down. The warriors themselves get minimal action time before Deus Ex Kyoshi-ghost-possession (yes, really) deals with the fire nation attackers for them. As for the love interest, they took what was a solid moment of "sexist gets ass beat by woman, begs woman for training, learns woman can do stuff too, ends up liking and respecting woman so hard she reciprocates" into the most bland "popular girl falls for cute boy at school" complete with eyelash fluttering, shy-can't-look-at-yous, and the most vomit-inducing "training" scene I've seen in a long time. No lessons learned, no character growth achieved, but hey they got rid of sexism or whatever. All this to say, I'm willing to give live action some passes, but personally I don't think this one's even worth a hate watch. I won't tell you to hate it, it does have a few moments of brilliance, but they're the glitter on a turd imo and Netflix doesn't deserve to be rewarded with your watch time. Despite my misgivings, the show is (supposedly) still getting at least mixed reviews from fans and non fans alike, so if you've bothered to see it I'm curious what you thought the remake (or my impression) got right or wrong.

#atla #atla live action #avatar the last airbender

[everysongineverykey]

okay so apparently my ramblings about this would not fit in tumblr's stupid 30-tag limit which i had no idea existed until just now so i'm putting it in my own post. the english-japanese utdr language barrier fascinates me endlessly, especially when it comes to nonbinary characters. because third-person pronouns, if i'm not much mistaken, aren't really used in japanese, but first person pronouns of varying levels of formality, familiarity, and gendered connotations are- there's a whole bunch to choose from, and this interests me because it means that when you have characters like frisk and kris, who almost never if ever get the chance to talk about themselves, their nonbinary-ness is likely to get lost in translation if it's not directly acknowledged by the plot.

because in english everybody uses they/them for frisk, kris and chara. and we know, therefore, that they are nby. but a japanese player has no real way of knowing that- even if they do see frisk or kris or chara use "watashi" or another gender-neutral pronoun to refer to themselves, that wouldn't functionally mean anything, because watashi is used abundantly by many, many cis and binary-identified japanese people. there is no designated nonbinary first-person pronoun in japanese (and, y'know, they've got plenty of gender neutral first person pronouns and gendered third person pronouns are rarely used, so there's not really any need for it).

plus, there's the fact that if you're a japanese utdr fan and you're tweeting something concerning frisk or kris or chara or whatnot, then your non japanese speaking followers will use the translate tweet function to translate it, and google will almost always fill the sentence in with he/him or she/her by default, so that causes misunderstandings about many things- it's so interesting to me, and it's part of why i'd like it if kris were plainly acknowledged as nby in a future chapter- it'd help clarify it, not just to the english-speaking transphobes who know kris uses they/them and refuse to listen, but to the non-english-speakers who wouldn't have any way of knowing otherwise. of course, if you're fairly online, you might see people talking about it in posts and stuff and find out that way, but i digress.

it reminds me of a tweet i saw once from a japanese utdr fan- it said something like "i think most americans draw nui as a boy". nui, of course, being seam's name in the deltarune japanese localization. thus implying that this person and many other japanese fans draw seam as non-male.

which makes perfect sense! because, and i LOVE this bit of trivia, the japanese first person pronoun seam uses for themself is atashi! which is a super feminine pronoun! actually, it used to be used by men in the past, but these days it's used almost exclusively by women and some older men, so the gendered connotations seam is implying through the use of this pronoun are confusing, to say the least! are they saying it because they feel more feminine, or because they're older and would use atashi in the style of an older japanese man? it's so so fascinating to me and i love that tweet because when i saw it the differences in the japanese version of the game (and, thus, the japanese fans' understanding of the characters) versus the english really clicked for me for the first time. i loooove translation <3

[sixofravens-reads]

Finished Chlorine!

I am extremely conflicted about it, mainly because I don't know if the author intended for the MC to be such a raging asshole edgelord or if this is a case where they think the MC behaves totally fine in all circumstances and truly all their problems are everyone else's fault.

Ah well, we embrace death of the author.

IF this book is written so the MC, Ren, is intentionally a huge asshole who takes very little agency in her life, rarely communicates her thoughts with others, treats her best (and only) friend horribly, and constantly blames others for her own actions (ie. telling the doctor she was no longer feeling pain from her concussion and then getting angry later because he didn't realize she was lying to get a doctor's note), it's an interesting and complex tale about a conceited, selfish star athlete who develops the delusion that she's a mermaid and [insert body horror here]. Obviously not everything that happens is her fault either--her swim coach is a certified pervert, she faces racism throughout the story, etc--but that what makes it interesting, untangling her complicated and often blatantly incorrect inner narrative.

Throughout the story there are also letters from her friend Cathy to her, explaining Cathy's perspective on things and apologizing for perceived wrongdoings. The thing is--comparing the two narratives it becomes clear that this is an extremely toxic friendship. Cathy is in love with Ren, and also trying to be the best friend she can be. Ren seems to completely ignore her, disdain her friendliness, is openly rude to her, and complains about how shy and anxious she is. It's clear this is one of those classic Jennifer's Body-esque Girl Friendships where Ren is the leader and Cathy is more like her devoted follower than an equal.

Idk--the way it's written though, I can't really tell if the author recognizes this fucked-up-ness or if she truly thinks her MC is okay to act this way because she's ~different~.

Another thing is that the story is being narrated by future!Ren who has apparently become a real mermaid (though tbh I think you can also read it as her just being delusional, she did sew her own legs together to make a mermaid tale after all, we're given no proof that magic is real in this world and she could very well be narrating this as she swims herself to death) and I think that takes away from the story a bit--every scene is coloured with her teenage views and opinions and angst.

It makes it hard to see what Ren is feeling in the moment, for example when the doctor she sees after getting a concussion asks her how much her head is hurting, she replies with "what if I hurt everywhere all the time?" and then clarifies to the reader that this is "the pain of living in the human world." As in, some existential pain and not real, physical pain. Which comes across as eye-rollingly #edgy emo kid nonsense, but also makes no sense because for the first 2/3rds of the book she doesn't really address the "I transformed myself into a mermaid because I didn't want to be human" thing. She constantly wants to be swimming, but it's specifically about her swim team and scores and such and not about any existential longing.

Anyway my final complaint is that the word chlorine is badly overused. The author basically uses it as a replacement for the word 'water' for most of the book. And I understand and Ren's thing is that she wants to become a "mermaid" via swim team success and therefore obsessed with chlorinated water, but it's absolutely overkill lol. You can still say water or pool water and people will know what you mean.

So, I'd say 3.5/5 for this one, interesting book but I think with this being the author's debut novel she still has some work to do on writing style, purple prose, and making her characters believable.

#kinda wish i didn't buy it. the cover is pretty but im never gonna read it again

[avelera]

Hi Maggie! ✨ First I just want to say that I love both the Dreamling fics you're currently writing. I always look forward for the update email!

I have a question about "Come Live With Me...", in the same subject of parenting as previous questions you've received. I do agree that Dream and Hob having a baby would be reliving an experience neither of them are probably willing, but in regards to John, do you think they could become sort of father figures to him? The moment of mutual recognition between Dream and John was very sweet, and I am curious wether this could evolve into a "found family" plot.

Hmmm, man the temptation to do a Neil Gaiman style "Wait and See" is massive here so I'll compromise and put it under a cut, so if you feel you're someone whose enjoyment of the story hinges on knowing this answer in advance, read on, but if not, I'd recommend simply enjoying the ride as it comes to you :)

(I promise, there is no character death or queer trauma in this fic, I will clarify that regardless so don't worry if you don't want the beats of John's arc spoiled that it's because he's destined for anything but a happy ending.)

So as for literally adopting John and Lizzy Fletcher as children to Dream and Hob in the fic I'm going to say: No.

John and Lizzy are in their early 20s, their parents died in one of the Typhus plagues that swept Europe during the "Year Without A Summer" in 1817, and since then John and Lizzy have been devastated but John has been free to live his truth as a man.

Dream would view these two as adults, and as dreamers in his care, and not feel any parental instincts towards them whatsoever.

Hob on the other hand would view John and Lizzy protectively but both he and the Fletchers would see it as deeply disrespectful to the recent loss of their parents to try to step in as a self-proclaimed father figure to them. He also views them protectively as a queer man who knows how hard the world can be for John and will do his utmost to make life easier for the Fletchers insofar as he can.

Now, getting further into spoilers territory, a few upcoming beats for John's arc:

Hob doesn't just need help around the shop so he can spend more time with Dream, he needs someone to leave the shop to if he and Dream ever skip town for any reason. Dream is here for a year, Hob is not going to chain Dream to this pokey little town and this silly little bookshop if he wants to go literally anywhere else, Hob will take him wherever he wants to go. But, Hob is still going to need to go back to his own life, presumably after Dream leaves again, so he'd rather not have to completely start over again. Having John as his assistant allows him to take off and leave the shop in John's care.

But, Hob also really only meant to stay in this town a few years and he gets restless for new experience so once he feels a bit more grounded then yeah, he probably will take off to do something else and Hob fully intends in that instance to give the shop to John before he leaves. So, in that sense, John is sort of like a son to Hob, but it is technically more of a benefactor or younger friend situation than a familial one.

One reason Hob will be inclined to make it very public that John is his heir when it comes to the shop and indeed, if Hob opens a second location or otherwise moves on, that this shop belongs to John is because John is an up and coming young man in the world with a sweetheart whose family he needs to impress. After all, Charles Wentworth really did hope the owner of the bookshop in town would court his daughter Catherine Wentworth and it really does look like this will happen after all, it just won't be with Hob. (And to forestall any concern there, Catherine learns about John's gender very early on and is 100% in love with him for who he is, it's not a "gotcha" plot, it's just a sweet little side romance going on because sometimes queer people just find each other, meet, and fall in love throughout history, completely irrespective of whatever crazy shit Hob and Dream are doing at any given time.

As for Lizzy... I don't really know yet! I feel like I haven't properly met her yet, I don't even know her sexuality or likes and dislikes, I kinda want to meet her character in the prose before deciding all that beyond some rough ideas, so we'll see what life has in store for her when she arrives in town!

#arranged marriage au dreamling #come live with me and be my love #FIC SPOILERS

[just-a-carrot]

Hi! I never use tumblr, but I wanted to get on my mostly untouched account and ask you something!

First off though, I want to say that I absolutely ADORE Our Wonderland and Our Fantastic Wonderland. I’m not a horror person, so I saw the game on itch.io for a long time before I was brave enough to try it, thinking it would just be a horror movie plot in the form of a visual novel. But I was so, so wrong, and so pleasantly surprised. I love all of it: the characters are so vibrant and feel so alive (except for when you know, they’re no longer with us and then R.I.P.), the way you don’t pull punches with the heavy topics you cover, the fact that you never know which choice will lead to a death but that you also are merciful and send us back to the last choice rather than giving us a game over (seriously, thank you for that), oh my gosh I could go on and on. The art style grew on me too and now I love it, plus I think it fits the game perfectly; I really like how you draw everyone so expressively.

I’m super excited for the final part to be released, but don’t push yourself too hard; we’re all happy to patiently wait. Being a solo dev is crazy difficult, and the high quality product you’ve released so far is simply fantastic. Plus you added a gallery, not one but TWO new modes (censored and streaming which must have been so much work), and other cool things WHILE ALSO creating the first half of Act 5??? Like how do you get so much done?

Anyways, I’m rambling, so I’ll get back on track. I saw in one of your answers to an ask (about if you’re okay with NSFW art of Our Wonderland) that you said you’re okay with people writing (among other things) about OW so long as they’re not using it in a hateful or bigoted way (I don’t remember the exact phrase you used, but I think that’s the gist of it).

So I wanted to ask, like are fanfictions okay? I have no intention to use them in a way that is demeaning to others, or hateful, or anything unkind. I just want to make some OW fan content to sustain me until the second half of Arc 5 is released, and hopefully share my love of OW and the characters with anyone who decides to read the fanfic(s).

I would definitely give you all the credit for Our Wonderland's characters, storyline, etc. While I'm usually a quiet person on the internet, I want to send anyone who may read the fanfics to the actual visual novels you've made. I would like to clarify that I don't really have an audience as I haven't posted my writing on any websites in a hot minute, but this story has absolutely entranced me. And I want to have more people to nerd out about this story with, so if i can get some more people on board the OW train, I'd be thrilled.

If you say no, I will respect your wishes as the creator and will not write or post any fanfiction!

If you are okay with it though, I’d be thrilled to share the title and website, etc I end up posting the fanfics on so you can read them if you so desire. Regardless of your decision, I will be thrilled to replay Our Wonderland and Our Fantastic Wonderland many times and I’m super stoked for the arrival of part two of Act 5!

(Sorry it's such a long message >.<)

Oh, my gosh, this is such a long (and lovely) message lakdjafld thank you so much for sending in a question! AND THANK YOU SO MUCH??? FOR THE WONDERFUL WORDS??? You're going to make me cry over here!! 🥺💦 I'm glad you decided to try it out despite your hesitations. I definitely know horror in general isn't for everyone LOL And this game definitely gets very intense at times in terms of horrificness LOL So that just makes me even happier that you still ended up enjoying it and the story ahhhhh,,,💦

"Like how do you get so much done?" -> LMAO HONESTLY I DON'T EVEN KNOW I didn't even decide to add all the new features and stuff until the last three or so weeks before the launch which,,, probably was not the best decision as the CG gallery especially ended up taking me hours and hours LOL However, I'm really glad to have gotten it done!! And I hope the new features will be helpful to people!

"So I wanted to ask, like are fanfictions okay?" -> Yeah, that's completely fine!! I am really fine with anything people want to create, just so long as exactly like you quoted above, that it's not for anything offensive or hateful/bigoted. (A-also not that I think anyone wouldn't do this, but I hope that people would honor the chars' sexualities/orientations lkadjfad 💦) I also ask that people don't tag me with anything NSFW as it makes me a bit uncomfortable and I don't want to interact with it (I don't mind people creating stuff like that so long as they're 18+, I just don't wanna interact with it personally dlakfjsdl) 😵‍💫💦 But just normal SFW stuff I have no problem with at all, whether it's writing/fics or art!! I think it's wonderful and lovely that you feel so inspired from my story that you would want to write something yourself! 🥺💕

Thank you so much again for your message! This was really sweet and brightened my day! 🥰

#ow: asks

[loopy777]

Loopy, I love your work and your tight plotting, and I've found I seem to be not good at planning stories out - I can write a 2-5 page snippet, but nothing long form. How do YOU approach planning a novel, and to what degree is it planned and to what degree is it improvised as you go?

Well, first I need to clarify that I had to actually build up my writing "muscle" in order to do novel-sized stuff.

I started writing fanfic with short stories, averaging a couple thousand words. I worked my way up to 3-chapter ditties that were getting as high 6-7k words. Then I participated in a Big Bang which required a minimum of 20k. I thought it would be easy if I gave myself enough time and paced myself, but I found it to be agony. I was mentally exhausted by the time I had written two-thirds of the first draft, and as a result, the original ending was terrible, something I spat out just to finish the dang thing. Fortunately, I had a good beta-reader who was able to call out the precise problems, and after taking a break from writing completely for a couple of weeks, I was able to completely rewrite the ending (it was the same plot events, just presented in a completely different way) and make a vast improvement.

A key point in that little anecdote is that my rewrite contained the exact same plot events. I didn't have to second-guess the structure of the story because I had fully outlined it ahead of time and knew exactly what the theme of the story was and how all the happenings play into it.

For me, that's the benefit of having a plan. Writing is not so easy that I can do it while also figuring out the story I want to tell. The more planning I do up front, the smoother the writing process is for me. Those who don't struggle so much with the writing might not get the same return on investment from a detailed plan.

So your problem could be that you haven't built up your "writing muscle" yet- your ability to mentally focus on a plot, tone, style, theme, and feeling. The most writing you do and the more you stretch your word count, the more your ability will grow. But there's no pain without gain, and there will be mental struggle sometimes.

But that doesn't get into what I mean by a plan or outline. Yet!

My concept for a story always starts with a premise, which is essentially the story's beginning: "AU where Mai finds Aang instead of Katara" or "Mai and the Blue Spirit meet during Season 2 before Ba Sing Se" or "Azula discovers that she's immortal and is bothered by it," etc. The next part I like to decide is how that premise is resolved, which is essentially the story's ending: "AU Aang saves the world thanks to his connection to AU Mai" or "Mai and the Blue Spirit part with a new familiarity with each other that sets the foundation for their getting together between Books 2 & 3" or "Azula is able to die again but her certainty about herself and her path is shaken," etc.

The way I work, those are my beginning and my destination, and from there I outline my journey. I start with some brainstorming, figuring out scenes I'd like to do or characters I'd like to involve or locations I want to visit or even lines of dialogue that sound good. That's like, when planning a journey, figuring out what stops you want to make on the way; sure, you might get to your destination faster if you keep driving or go a more efficient route, but it's more important to you to get off on Exit 42 and visit that great restaurant before picking up the highway again. And that comparison isn't random- you should try to fill your story with stuff you'd enjoy as much as visiting a favorite restaurant. This is a hobby we do for fun and writing is hard, so it's important to make it as enjoyable for yourself as possible.

The brainstorming portion is surprisingly critical, and it needs to be done correctly. You don't want to throw away any ideas at this point, and you want to come up with as many ideas as possible. Put yourself into a heightened creative state by listening to your favorite music beforehand. Riff on each idea. Steal from other stories. Tell yourself you can't have lunch until you fill a page with ideas. Talk to yourself in your notes. Pose ideas in the form of questions (that you don't have to answer yet). Imitate your favorite characters and do bad impressions of them. Make yourself smile even if you don't feel like it.

Then, using those brainstormed ideas, I figure out my exact route from beginning to destination. This is a more practical portion, because if you just have a jumble of roadside stops you want to make, you're never going to get to your destination. You need to bridge the gap between your beginning and your ending, use your brainstorming stuff as the box of building blocks that will form the foundation of your bridge. What really helps here is that I have read so many books/stories in my life, I know the shape that I'm aiming for. I know what a basic mystery, adventure, romance, etc look like. A romance, for example, starts with our pairing separate and lesser for it, has them meet, then they overcome an initial conflict, they grow closer, a bigger conflict forces them apart, and then they overcome that conflict to be together forever or at least until the credits finish rolling. There are variations to it, but that's your basic shape. The more familiar you are, the more you can twist it unrecognizably without losing its support structure.

And the story feels more continuous if each of the points in that shape lead into each other. They're not a bunch of towers standing next to each other, they're an arch held together by each stone leaning against the others. Something happens, and then as a result of that something else happens, and then as a result of that something else happens, etc. Even a bunch of random, unconnected events can become a continuous story if the main character is affected in a progressive way by those events. A decision the main character makes is different from what they would have otherwise done without having experienced recent events. I often find that an interesting plot can be made out of simply asking what the worst possible outcome is of the current dilemma and seeing how the characters would react to that.

So, using that romance structure with the BlueSpirit/Mai idea I had above, I can create something out of the ideas I'd brainstormed that looks like this:

Mai is on the way to buy/procure Azula's tanktrain, worried about Zuko being a traitor and having to catch him, when she is robbed by Zuko during his Bandit Blue Spirit thing.

Zuko, inching towards his slightly healthier mental state in Zuko Alone, somehow learns what Mai is doing and wants more information since Azula is a danger to him. So he follows Mai to her destination.

Mai's destination is an army base where they build tanktrains.

Mai's aunt runs the place.

Zuko is caught during his infiltration and takes Mai captive to escape.

Blue Spirit and Mai are stranded in the wilderness for a bit as kidnapper/captive.

They work together to survive and learn a bit more about each other's characters.

There's an attraction.

They work out a deal to team up and both get what they want.

They enact a scheme to steal the tanktrain.

The scheme goes wrong.

They fight their way to safety and are forced to go their separate ways, still drawn to each other but unfulfilled.

Epilogue: They meet up in Ba Sing Se.

Note how vague it gets towards the end there. (Also note that this doesn't exactly match up with the story I wound up writing. I believe the meme goes that this is a secret clue for later.) The "scheme" bit is something that I would later do extensive planning for, because that's a plot-heavy part of the story. At the final level, I like to have things broken down by scene, such as:

Scene MAI POV: Mai fakes her way out of attending the inspection and sets off the explosion in the chemical depot

Scene ZUKO POV: Blue Spirit fends off attackers while failing to figure out that he needs to remove the bolts

Scene MAI POV: Mai works her way to the tanktrain, obtaining the spare mask from the rebels on the way. When she meets up with Zuko, she tells him about the bolts

Zuko removes the bolts and the tanktrain runs away. Maiko chases it. Zuko gets onboard. The rebels get onboard. Mai gets onboard to fight the rebels. The train leaves the fortress. Everyone fights. They approach the ravine. Everyone jumps off the train.

Notice how that last bullet point isn't a scene like the others. Sometimes, even in my final detailed outlines, I do like to leave myself freedom to change things with scene transitions to manage the pacing as I write, and with action scenes especially I don't bother working out all the details. It impossible to plan how many punches you're going to wind up needing.

But these bullet points are from the final chapter(s) of my story. Do I really work out the scene-by-scene breakdown of my entire story before writing anything? It depends on the size of the story. For a short, I'll do the full breakdown. But for anything multichapter, especially a novel, I'll only do a chapter-by-chapter summary before doing any writing. Those summaries will be about a paragraph or two long. Each chapter will get its scene-by-scene breakdown when it's time to write it.

So, to answer your original question, the amount of planning I do for a novel-sized story before writing is a chapter-by-chapter outline. Each chapter will get a 1-2 paragraph summary, and that can include very short descriptions of important scenes and sometimes even a line or two of dialogue I want to make sure I include. And then, as I work through the chapters, I get into even more detailed outlines with a scene-by-scene breakdown with notes about whose POV is commanding each scene.

I like to leave that gap because it's where the improvisation comes in. I don't treat even my scene-by-scene breakdowns as something I have to stick to. I readily combine, cut, or alter scenes based on how things go as I'm writing. (One time, I turned a dud of a chapter into a banger of a chapter simply by reordering and combining some scenes, minimal rewriting required.) Changes are allowed to creep in. I might even radically alter major planned plot points. Having a detailed plan doesn't inhibit that. If I know where my ultimate destination is, I know how I need to alter my route to accommodate the unplanned detour I'm taking. And by holding off on doing the scene-by-scene breakdowns until it's time to write that chapter, I'm not doing a lot of work that I'll have to throw away if I make any major changes to the plan.

Even if I don't make changes, I'll often develop details during the writing that I might want to make further use of in a major way. Even if it doesn't change my plot at all, that type of thing can definitely change how the scenes go, so again, it saves work not to have to throw away plans that detailed.

But, overall, I find it's better to over-plan. It's easier to throw work away than it is to try to figure out what's next. My 'current' project is going slow because I did inadequate planning, thanks to some indecisiveness that has persisted through the writing. If you have a solid path through your whole story, there's no such thing as writer's block. When I have a good plan, the only thing that pauses me is wondering, "What hook of a first sentence should start this scene?" or, "What really strong line of dialogue should finish this dialogue exchange?" I can focus on the writing, not the plotting.

And that's really the big guideline. I do as much planning as I need to so that I can write without also trying to figure out the story. A scene-by-scene breakdown does that for me, since I do like switch POV around and do scene transitions that lead into each other rather than stop things, but for people who have more intuition about scenes or who don't go for that level of connectedness, it might not be necessary.

And, of course, it's not necessary for every writer to do plot-heavy novel-sized stories. I just often set out to do a short story, do somet thinking, and then find that I have way too much plot because I overthink everything. ;)

#klikkat

[game-boy-pocket]

I saw a romhacker I admire post this so I thought i'd give it a shot. Blank template is here: https://www.reddit.com/r/videogames/comments/w7rurr/about_you_video_games_my_answers_image_template/

I want to clarify some things, which maybe goes against the point of these memes but I can't not blather, so i'll put it under readmore.

First, I want to say that if you ask me these same questions a week from now, I could very likely have different answers. Choosing a favorite anything is very tough for me and I much prefer tier lists, and even those I have commitment issues for. So this is what I'm feeling right now.

I know Link is very much a blank slate. Don't care. I love his design and like to project on him.

I don't play a lot of games with amazing writing. I had a hard time picking a best story because frankly most games I play don't have good stories, but at least Undertale made me FEEL something when I played it. I hate the meme culture surrounding this game, it feels like it just reduces the game to a joke...

I do not HATE Rayman. I just didn't want to put any old game that I didn't play or barely played and I immediately hated the core concept, or a game that people won't shut up about that i'm not interested in. Like i'm not putting Call of Duty on there. But I have genuinely put a lot of Effort into trying to enjoy Rayman through the original PS1 game, Rayman 2 on N64, and Rayman Legends, and it just never clicks with me, and I just can't see what other people see. I don't think it plays very fun, I don't like the character designs or art style very much, if it's going for humorous, it doesn't gel with my sense of humor, I really want to see what everyone else sees, but it keeps eluding me despite genuine effort.

Favorite Art Style being Sonic only applies to the Yuji Uekawa 2D art. I almost gave the slot to gen 1 pokemon, classic Mario, or Dragon Quest. But if we're only allowed to chose in-game art style, then I guess I'd just give it to Wind Waker and call it a day.

I wouldn't call Batman a casual relaxation game just going through the campaign, it gets pretty tough... but once you're a fully powered up Batman, then there's nothing more gratifying than swooping around Gotham and tossing thugs around like hacki sacks. Very therapeutic.

And Conker... I just don't find the "adult" humor very funny these days. The game is not without it's funny moments but it's usually not involving the "shocking" stuff. But... the gameplay is solid and the multiplayer is addicting.

[kokoskwark]

hi, i’m recently reading a lot of your works, i wanted to ask if you had any advice for writer’s block? i’m not burned-out, i have plenty of ideas, but recently when i open a file i just freeze and am unable to write a word. maybe you have an idea how to deal with it? btw, i love your writing style!

hi! <33

Yes I can try to give some advice! There are many types of writer's blocks, so thank you for clarifying that you do have plenty of ideas and aren't burned out bc that makes it a little easier for me to give advice too!

What I'd do if I have ideas but just don't get a word down is just try to force myself. You can either try to say to yourself, okay just jot a sentence down now, anything (ex. what is the first thing that happens? or what is my character thinking/feeling etc.) But if that doesn't work, there are some other methods you can do:

You can do a sort of sprint (on discord there are bots with which you can do sprints w/ other ppl but you can do it alone too), like just set a timer for yourself (around 10-20 minutes) and try to turn of your brain and WRITE Don't overthink, just see it as trying to get as many words down as possible, NO BACKSPACING, no distractions, just trying to write Then you can later read it back and edit, but it doesn't even have to be part of your final draft, you can write anything, you can write any scene of any idea, just to get into that flow!

If it's confidence or pressure you put on yourself, then just try to remind yourself that writing should be fun and that it's your hobby so it doesn't have to be perfect at all and the most important part is having fun! If you have any previous works you can also read those back to see how your writing is enjoyable (or to see how you've improved) <3

Hopefully this helps! Good luck with writing, I'm cheering you on! And thank you for the kind compliment!! <333

#ask #anon #writing tips #writers block

[coda-blue]

(This is a crosspost from my Patreon. To see the rest of the free, accompanying art dump, click here.)

**********************************************************

I've decided to do my first ever summary of my entire year. Frankly, this has only been made possible because I've gotten into the good habit of sharing my weekly victories over in a separate dev server, so recalling won't be a stress-fest.

I'm going to address my progress in various aspects of project development and personal development. Here's my massive dump:

Project Summary

Art

I mostly made art concepts and game assets for several visual novel projects in varying stages of production. The styles between them all are intentionally different and makes for a good test of skill for me. Notably this year, I felt no strong desire to draw for myself. Actually, most attempts were met with a deep-seated repulsion of the idea in a way that is hard to describe, because rationally I obviously want to draw, but subconsciously there was this violent blockage. It may be some form of burnout that is either unaffected or overridden by my sense of obligation to collaborative projects, considering I am admittedly a workaholic. Hopefully I can overcome that in 2023, as there's things I'd like to do just for my own self-betterment.

In 2022, I made...

A character sprite and graphical user interface overhaul, and brand new game page assets for my published visual novel, This Life Escapes Me 

Incomplete character, storyboard concepts, and animation studies for my other personal visual novel, The Corpse Lieutenant

18 monster concepts of 6 side characters for Drop Dead Daters

Fae and human concepts for the cancelled MaFAEa by Katy133

Main character concepts and final render for Sails and Silk by Ryan Aldred

An entire point-and-click background, alternate interactable states, and prop and inventory assets for The Greatest Escape(room)! by Destini Islands and Allie Vera

A couple chibi character commissions for personal clients

A few pixel art doodles

A couple sketches

Writing

Almost all of my writing this year was produced for visual novel projects. And almost all of these works have some sort of fantasy element to them, but a few projects were developed for a younger or more general audience than the late 20s to early 30s target I usually write for (aka myself), so actively thinking of the language and voice to use for these different narrators and characters was fun. Unfortunately, the same issue of lacking a desire to create more short personal works shows up here as well, but maybe that may change in 2023.

In 2022, I wrote...

Line edits for Teisatsu by Pacchi Studio

The short epilogue story for This Life Escapes Me 

Clarifying lore and research notes for The Corpse Lieutenant 

Several short stories (and designed their respective quote graphics) published on my Ko-fi account

A short smut fanfic that I will never link here, lol

Edits up to a third of the 90,000-word common route second draft for Primrose Path

My assigned route and script annotations for Drop Dead Daters

My chosen route "Explore" for Blanket Cat by Studio Ghost Legs

A writing style guide, character bios document, appendix, three full chapters, a bonus chapter, script annotations, and in-character product marketing quotes for Maledictorian by Wisteria Realms

Audio

I lent my voice acting and voice editing skills to a number of small projects this year. All of this was volunteer work. I truly do love voice acting, but unlike art and writing, I don't currently view it as a career path to actively pursue, as the online hustle culture and general "grindset" of it is intensely wearisome. Outside of my network, I only apply to what seems interesting and pays fairly, but within, I am usually approached by fellow game devs for game jam opportunities. And I love to contribute to those! So it's no surprise that this year, all of my voice acting was a direct result of game jams. As for voice editing, while I have the skills, this year I only ever did them when the team needed a helping hand.

In 2022, I have...

Voiced the goth lesbian Saoirse in How We Show Love by tofurocks

Voiced the unpredictable spy otherwise known as Boss in Teisatsu by Pacchi Studio

Cleaned, edited, and mixed my fellow voice actors' lines in Teisatsu

Voiced the brain-eating amoeba-infected Marlowe in Parasite In Love by Night Asobu

Voiced the dimension-warping disgruntled employee otherwise known as The Game Master in The Greatest Escape(room)! by Destini Islands and Allie Vera

Business

I've shifted my business identity into the Coda Blue alias over the year. My social media presence expanded as well, though in the past month, it feels like it's also diminished. After a series of bad decisions from other corporate entities—the general NFT wave, Twitter's buyout and gutting, DeviantArt and ArtStation doubling down on siding with unethical AI generator art harvesting—I've made decisions that ultimately protect me of being subject to further platform failures and other people's valid yet wearisome doomscrolling. I am looking forward to creating an easier system for updates across platforms and potentially streamlining onboarding for certain client services.

In 2022, I have...

Made several moves to arrange my work and solidify my identity under my alias Coda Blue

Set up with various payment processors for better ease of client transactions and game sale payouts

Selectively offered story and project consultation services for narrative-focused game devs

Worked on my unpublished personal website

Created a Carrd to arrange my various site links

Created a Ko-fi for writing commissions and cross-posting devlogs, the latter of which I've just been too tired to do since the idea's inception

Created this Tumblr for cross-posting devlogs and promo, though it's quickly becoming my timeline replacement for Twitter 

Deactivated my DeviantArt account

Deleted my ArtStation account

Personal Review

Career

The biggest and best decision I made this year was deleting various unused or unhelpful job board and portfolio website accounts. I had such a fixed idea of what my success was "supposed" to look like—working as a 2D character artist in a local art studio—and relied on sites and services that did not accommodate my atypical work history (transitioning out of almost a decade of retail and customer service into freelance game development). I became embittered when I kept getting passed up, tying that to a view of my worth. It wasn't until I killed off everything and just focused on my own projects that I felt so much happier, naturally producing what I wanted to, and ended up freelancing in more enjoyable ways. It's possible that I keep working for myself in a self-employed capacity, but ideally, I would switch from specialized labor into an administrative and/or consulting role. It's less tiring and distressing when you feel exhausted from making calls all day versus the frustration of burnout when your livelihood relies on the physical output of drawing and typing.

In 2023, I will move into an associate or assistant position in the producer, product management, or project management role, or a full-on art director role for a steady day job. I just want the money to roll in so that I can invest it into what I actually have a strong interest in, which absolutely are these narrative-focused projects and the talented people working on them.

Hobbies

My biggest concern for me is figuring out why I had an entire year of doing barely any creative personal work for study or fun. I'm afraid it will extend into the new year, and with it, consequences that may creep into my collaborative output as well. While I'm not sure, I believe that if I do end up needing a break from art and writing, I think my collaborators will understand as I discuss with them expectations and next-steps in private. But my guess is that my dwindling desire to partake of my hobbies is that my hobbies have become work, so I need to engage in new, different, and exciting ones. I think doing so will rekindle my old flame by bringing in a new passion into my life.

In 2023, I will try a new hobby. I've been thinking about whittling or playing bass guitar as a start. I may try the former, as it is more accessible out of the two.

Health

I made massive strides towards my physical and mental health this year. I was finally able to identify with a proactive doctor an underlying health issue I've been having, and in going on a specialized treatment, so much was corrected in a matter of months. I had more energy, my general moodiness vanished, my appearance improved, and I returned to exercising (my usual de-stressor). I have a better understanding of my body and I can now make more informed and conscious decisions on my health. That said, towards the end of this year, I have started to become anxious and depressive with the change in seasons. I recognize this as seasonal affective disorder, so aside from getting back on proper medication for it, I realize that my current work environment is stifling.

In 2023, I will go back to exploring the public. I'm a people-person extrovert, so I get energized by socializing, even against depression's best efforts. The various, simultaneous public health failures have made me more anxious of being back outside, but I need to make a conscious effort to go out and be immersed in nature, in cultural enrichment, and just your usual recreational activities. I need the uplift for my sanity and creativity, and as long as I continue to stay masked and up to date on vaccinations, I should go back to the adventurousness I used to have a few years back. I'll start by choosing one new event to visit every month.

Final Words

I did plenty, and I'm proud of every single bit. I'm thankful for those who support me, who encourage me, and who keep me company. You help me be who I am today.

#devlog #eoy 2022 #visual novel #interactive fiction #new year resolutions #original character #oc #game development #indie game dev #artists on tumblr #still figuring out how to use tags on this goddamn site #there's just too many possible ways to tag something #notice me tumblr