#there are a lot of neat character concepts and worldbuilding ideas

[wingodex]

it’s also so fucked up that it’s established in canon that ino can read people’s minds and that’s literally treated as nothing at all by the narrative. and it has no impact on her character, or the way she acts at all. it doesn’t even affect the way her friends interact with her.

#naruto blogging #naruto is a bad manga/anime and kishimoto is a bad writer #there are a lot of neat character concepts and worldbuilding ideas #that have soo much potential to be interesting #but they're just never developed in a meaningful way! #i don't know how it's possible to drop the ball on every single idea you have for a story but he sure did manage to do that #it's kind of incredible

[shy-sapphic-ace]

List of queer books I read, loved & recommend!

(There isn't any particular order, I wrote these as I remembered them)

Master Of One - Jaida Jones & Dani Bennett (mlm, fantasy, very cool worldbuilding and magic system, funny, cool characters)

Legends & Lattes - Travis Baldree (wlw, fantasy, very soft & chill vibes)

The Priory of the Orange Tree - Samantha Shannon (wlw, high fantasy, cool worldbuilding, kinda reminds me of LOTR but with more dragons and feminism and lesbians)

Even Though I Knew The End - C.L. Polk (wlw, supernatural noir, cool 1930s detective story with angels & demons, I loved this one!)

The Love Interest - Cale Dietrich (mlm, science fiction, very cool concept)

The Darkest Part Of The Forest - Holly Black (side mlm, fantasy, cool fae lore)

The Weight Of The Stars - K. Ancrum (wlw, not quite science fiction but space stuff is involved, lovely and complex characters)

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe - Benjamin Alire Sáenz (mlm, fiction, very nice in general, there is also a sequel)

The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue - Mackenzi Lee (mlm, historical and vaguely fantasy, nice story but I preferred the sequel honestly)

The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy - Mackenzi Lee (wlw, the sequel to the one before, more fantasy elements than the first, asexual main character!!)

Gallant - V.E. Schwab (no romance, but in the background one of the characters(?) uses they/them pronouns, very cool dark fantasy vibe)

Stranger Than Fanfiction - Chris Colfer (gay main character, trans main character, coming-of-age, nice book)

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (yes it's the Love, Simon book, mlm, fiction, pretty nice)

They Both Die At The End - Adam Silvera (mlm, sci-fi ish but mostly fiction, cool ideas, but the ending is sad! Very amazing book though, I haven't read the prequel yet)

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid (wlw, bi main character, historical fiction, cool story, just a neat book in general)

This Is How You Lose The Time War - Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone (wlw, sci-fi, very cool time travel stuff!! and very beautiful, it felt like reading poetry most of the time)

One Last Stop - Casey McQuinston (wlw, background trans & pan & queer characters, sci-fi or fantasy idk, but time travel, I loooved this book, great)

The House In The Cerulean Sea - TJ Klune (mlm, fantasy, THIS BOOK oh my gosh you should read it!!, just cute and lovely and good)

Under The Whispering Door - TJ Klune (mlm, fantasy, this book is also sooo amazing, great character development and awesome relationships and stuff, it's been a while since I read it but it was so good)

And They Lived... - Steven Salvatore (nblm, fiction, about gender identity and learning to love yourself, read it a while ago but it was very nice)

I Wish You All The Best - Mason Deaver (nblm, fiction, about finding your identity and people who care about you, very cute and sweet)

The Song Of Achilles - Madeleine Miller (mlm, historical, very good in general)

Carry On - Rainbow Rowell (mlm, background wlw in the third book, fantasy, it's a trilogy, basically Harry Potter if it was gay and also better)

Silver In The Wood - Emily Tesh (mlm, fantasy, very pretty, lots of fae stuff and lovely descriptions, it has a really good sequel too)

Pretty much anything by Alice Oseman (all cute and lovely and great, though I've only read Radio Silence so far I hear only good things, Solitaire is on my to-read list)

I Kissed Shara Wheeler - Casey McQuinston (wlw, fiction, it's been a while but I liked this book)

The Falling In Love Montage - Ciara Smyth (wlw, fiction, this book was so cute and funny and deeply emotional it made me Feel way too many things, I'd definitely recommend it)

What Big Teeth - Rose Szabo (a bit of queerness all around, fantasy, werewolves and monsters, this one was pretty cool!, lots of original ideas for the world/character building)

#any recommendations are appreciated! #honestly I might've forgotten some #lgbtqia #book recs #master of one #legends & lattes #the priory of the orange tree #even though i knew the end #the love interest #the darkest part of the forest #the weight of the stars #aristotle and dante #the gentleman's guide to vice and virtue #the lady's guide to petticoats and piracy #gallant #stranger than fanfiction #simon vs the homosapiens agenda #they both die at the end #the seven husbands of evelyn hugo #this is how you lose the time war #one last stop #and they lived... #i wish you all the best #the song of achilles #carry on #radio silence #alice oseman #the house in the cerulean sea #under the whispering door #silver in the wood

[stackslip]

CAN YOU ELABORATE ON TLT BEING A HOMESTUCK FANFIC‽‽‽‽‽

i'm exaggerating a bit, but taz muir was a well known homestuck writer who wrote under the username urbanAnchorite. her fic the serendipity gospels is one of my fave fics ever, but was never finished and it's only by book 2 of tlt that i figured that the clear allusions to it in book 1 weren't just cute little nods but that she'd expanded on some of the ideas/concepts and worldbuilding of the serendipity gospels. to name a few:

the ninth house cult is heavily based on the juggalo church muir wrote/expanded upon in TSG, from face paint to the rituals and a lot of the accompanying prose

act 2 of TSG takes place mainly in a spaceship that serves as "cathedral" of the juggalo cult, and is described to be covered in bones that have been painted in many colors--which is close to the description of the mithraeum

act 2 also features the two main characters being much younger people mentored/manipulated into horrible acts by an old man who is thousands of years old and bickering with his other thousand year old friends/enemies, who seem to share knowledge and understanding that neither the two protagonists do but also deeply resent one another. hard to not read a parallel to john and the lyctors here!

to elaborate on this bc i just realized it: it is heavily implied in TSG that the dancestors (older people thousands of years old) went through a universe reset and built the empire in the image of their own trauma and anger, which would v much parallel what happens to john on earth and how he "reset" humanity

less of a homestuck thing and more of a taz muir thing: said old man is v much grooming the main female character and making her life miserable during the entirety of act 2

a lot of the story takes place in the background of the trolls' empire being a horrific imperialist force that the main characters were originally very excited to join and become a part of, with one of these characters in particular daydreaming about becoming ground troop for invasion while also holding a terrible secret that would have precluded him of doing so anyway. p neat parallel to gideon's own thing here

act 1 and act 2 of TSG are from two different pov characters, with a drastic shift in prose style and understanding of the situation/world when the pov shifts. which v much echoes how tlt has worked so far. part 3 was barely started before it went on hiatus, but it followed the same pattern.

speaking of, the prose of act 2 of TSG definitely feels very close to harrow the ninth's prose. you can just open the fic and check the first chapter of act 2 and how it's written, and you'll see what i mean. there are differences--the prose of TSG act 2 is more inflected with southern usamerican evangelical speak, i think? i'm not american so i can't quite 200% tell

there is an external armed resistance to the empire's violent imperialism and resistance that was supposed to be the focus in act 3 of TSG, which never happened. nona the ninth did, though, and it follows that structure.

there are also eldritch horrors that threaten the entire universe--homestuck's own horrorterrors--that are in the background of TSG and implied to be an important part of the future plot that we never saw. tlt has the ressurrection beasts

taz muir's worldbuilding around the blood castes in og homestuck that she elaborates on in TSG also somewhat parallels the way the houses function in tlt

iirc there's also worldbuilding around space travel in tlt (such as the obelisks? i think that's the name? and the use of necromancy to power them) that parallels taz muir's own take on how space travel works in the troll empire, using psionics and draining them dry in a similar way

i think the necro-cav relationship 'ideal' is based around how taz also interpreted moirallegiance in not just TSG but all her homestuck fics, down to how its legal implementation and the idealization of it vs its role in troll/houses imperialism and the reality of blurred lines in "expected" relationships. i'd love to hear taz's discourse on troll romance

i also think the necro-cav relationship parallels the other legal pairing explored in TSG--legislacerator and subjugglator.

there are probably more parallels i am missing--i need to reread TSG soon, as i haven't in a while. there are elements i'd say are more like, how taz herself elaborated on the bones of the worldbuilding of homestuck and then made it her own thing, which is rad as hell. other elements are more fun nods, such as gideon's aviator glasses being shamelessly stolen from dave homestuck, and a lot of gtn's prose feeling very homestuckey. it's def not like, just a little rewrite and boom, you get the locked tomb! imo it's more elements of plot and worldbuilding that were interesting enough to develop into something of its own and that taz made into something new, along with other elements of other stories (such as lolita and umineko) being woven into it. part of why i enjoy tlt so much is its "collage" aspect, taking elements taz thought interesting in other stories, or using these elements to purposefully evoke specific feelings/moods to construct or obsfucate certain ideas.

#eli talks #tlt #homestuck

[laurelnose]

a disorganized pile of ninefox ttrpg thoughts

it is HERE! also it was late in shipping by like, a day? or two? so android press sent me the PDF version also, which was very very nice of them. For this I will forgive them the weird jank in the PDF version’s character encoding. (Maybe like 5% of characters consistently copy-paste as different characters. I think they fucked up the font subsetting somehow. It’s fine, it’s just weird. Makes quoting it a little bit of a hassle. Might be less fine if you use a screenreader.)

So pleased with several little random details which are not at all relevant to like, gameplay or the worldbuilding at large but which I just kind of wanted to know. The calendar months! The full set of Kel rank symbols! Signifiers for Kujen and Tseya! <3 Also, an additional set of symbolism for the factions per the calendar months? If I’m reading this correctly it's Rahal/Wood (!?), Andan/Bells, and Vidona/Knives. [We basically knew the other three, which are Shuos/Eyes, Kel/Pyres, and Nirai/Stars.] As a visual artist I am contractually obliged to be hype about all my little guys getting Symbols, they make my life easy and fun.

This is a slim little volume, so it’s light on lore details that you couldn’t find either a) in the actual series or b) on Lee's dreamwidth. That said, one new bit was that it was not previously clear to me that the nominal arrangement of power in the heptarchate was explicitly unequal between the Liozh and the others — I thought the extant six turned on the Liozh as one of their fellows, not that they deposed the ruling faction. Interesting.

Disappointing: there are no mechanics for the calendar besides the ability to tag the current festival/remembrance. :( I wanted to roll dice about calendrical rituals!! Funnily enough there's a whole little caveat section where he’s like, inevitably someone will want to have space battles, which can be accommodated by keeping them character-focused bc this system is not designed for battle sim crunch. No similar apology for those who might want magic system crunch, if anyone wanted any further evidence that Lee and Jedao are the same guy, lmao.

Other than that I’m not actually that much of a crunchy rules guy myself so I like the system itself fine. I enjoy the concept of every check involving not necessarily skills but character traits. And also the commitment to sixes. You need A LOT of d6s for this game.

If you’re really committed I think it would be fun to play with a set of these (normal d6s except instead of numbers or pips they have clock faces showing hours 1-6):

Jedao’s character sheet is so funny. “Complications: I have abysmal taste in lovers.” BE NICE TO HIM LMAO

It’s not entirely clear to me under which circumstances you wind up the Hexarchate Clock. Is it actually only if Kujen is in play? Does that mean he’s literally required if you want to run a long take-down-the-whole-hxx campaign?

The prewritten scenarios are neat! I don’t have a lot to say about them. They look like they would be fun. I like “The Field of Diplomacy” and the concept of the adjacent polity a lot. Oh also the note at the end of “A Heretical Sacrifice” that is just like “if the ‘human sacrifice’ bit is too vague for you and you want to add more torture, here are some ideas!” is 1) funny and 2) appreciably graphic and wince-inducing. HXX-typical gore: delivered on!

This is a petty note, but excluding servitor PCs on the grounds that this is a game about moral complicity and thus only human faction members can be PCs sure is a Statement. I know servitors are slaves and thus the moral calculus is certainly different, but like, the complicity is the entire point of Hemiola’s arc??? And faction servitors quite obviously often consider themselves to be legitimately part of that faction? The one Shuos servitor we meet is as interested in games as any fox, the assault on Shattered Needles is made possible because the Unspoken Law’s servitors consider themselves Kel, the Aerie interlude with sin 𝑥² is about a servitor who considers itself so deeply Kel it wants to go down with the hivemind. I understand they complicate things mechanically but excluding servitors for thematic reasons is silly.

That said, I feel like a servitor hack wouldn’t be too much more mechanically complex. None of the prewritten scenarios work with an all-servitor group, but I think they could all be run with one or maaybe two servitor PCs. You’d have to do some pregaming to figure out how you’d open communication between human/servitor PCs. Lore-wise, the faction traits are clearly not meant to represent the faction exotics or the Shuos wouldn’t have one; they read more like “specialized skills developed as a consequence of picking this faction” than calendrical stuff, so faction servitors could have standard faction abilities, with the caveat that a lot of interpersonal Edges may be hard for Andan servitors to hit on account of social interaction between servitors & humans being, well, you know. Alternatively, no faction abilities for servitors, but all servitors +2d6 to anything involving grid-diving and/or mechanics. Servitors can have ranks just like human PCs, though these ranks are only relevant to other servitors (and possibly moths). Servitors can probably tag calendar traits like humans, they just can’t participate in formations or affect calendrical gradients (neither of which have explicit mechanics in this system anyways). Heresies are the same for servitors as humans.

This really made me want to dig out that calendrical cryptocurrency heist concept I had to see if I can put together a scenario. And maybe also make some cardboard game spinners for a tactile clock experience...

#machineries of empire

[dwcmarshalarts]

hey dwc! or is marshal ok? second ask ive sent you want but wanted to learn about it in your one piece i recall in the background seeing a UN blue armband with white cross which is your stand-in for the red cross which is pretty neat more recently you make an improved rank system however there was one issue i noticed, in that piece with the armband i recognised that the soldiers (enlisted) had different rank badges (in another older piece too) and was wondering if you could share a similair explainer for those too! officers granted are cool but its always neat to hear more about the military proletariat that make up the 99%, especially when they're the critical backbone like sgt's, and was wondering how you approached warrant officers if you went with a more american or british style (fellow worldbuilder here for a more cold-war era setting with some retro-futuristic undertones: not throwing shade but hearing about the enlisted is pretty cool, especially since i wanna know how the poor enlisted sailors, marines, soldiers & airmen get treated within the confines of the icc's military) additionally: in one of your other pieces for a comission i rememeber some destinctly british styled uniforms and was wondering if those were one-offs for that comission or those were the "space british" in the westminster area of the icc

being of (nominally) british origin / brought up in a country that uses the same rank insignia i've always had a soft spot for it and like to hear about our shared representation across space thats normally overlooked for more american influences i intend to ask in the future so prepare yourself for 8 trillion character long asks :ppp hope your having a good day <3

Many questions, but good ones nonetheless. Thanks, to start off with, your attentiveness to detail and dedication to following along enough to notice these things! Let's break it down one by one.

What about the rank system?

I'm presuming you mentioned this:

These are indeed enlisted, non-commissioned officer ranks. They also appear in similar, but different concept here:

As my story focuses on mainly commissioned ranks, I haven't really had much time to do/focus on the enlisted as much, as they (so far at least) have only had occasional appearances. Whenever I get to the meat of Season 2 and 3, they'll be featured more prominently.

That said, I haven't really nailed down the Enlisted rank system as much. Though I'm working with a friend to formalize it!

What about the Warrant Officers?

So, funny story. Years ago when I was much younger, I was obsessed with Civil War History. Still am, though maybe not to the same degree. I learned the command structure of commissioned ranks through reading the Orders of Battle and whatnot. To my surprise, that order has largely remained the same to this day, down to the insignia per rank. That's the springboard I jumped off when I set about assembling the ICC's Armed Forces, Ground Forces in particular.

The thing is, I'd overlooked Warrant Officers- since their institution was entirely predated by the 1860s by a whole 30-something years. As a result, I haven't really thought about where they would be. In my head, a lot of the specialist jobs held by them though would be taken by lower ranked Commissioned Officers (Junior or Senior Lt's.) But it'd make sense if they were around as well.

In any case, I have a clear idea for where we could see them pop up in Xever's story.

Treatment of the Enlisteds

The Interstellar Cooperation Circuit isn't the Galactic Empire. The I.C.C. is indeed geo/stellarpolitically predatory, but it generally treats soldiers within its ranks *fairly* alright, and not as disposable pawns like the Imperial Military/Stormtrooper Corps/(insert evil empire troopers from x sci fi series here). Mileage varies between the branches though.

Ground Forces I don't have any exact numbers, but the Ground Forces would by far be the largest branch in the Circuit military. The name "Ground Forces" would seem to imply they'd be analogous to modern "Armies." While they're largely inspired by that, and you'd be able to trace their in-universe lineage to them, they actually handle plenty more than just literal ground operations. The official name of Ground Forces is "Terrestrial Operations," which refers to any military action taken on a planet's surface. While this does predominantly consists of traditional, ground-based combat, this also does include terrestrial/surface navy and planet-specific air power components. Ground Forces's mission is long-term accomplishment of the Circuit's Foreign Policy objectives and spearhead of most terrestrial missions.

That all said, that means they have the most severe case of logistical sprawl. On the books, the Circuit has rules and regulations that protect individual servicemen from harsh treatment, unethical conduct, etc. The basics. But, especially for units in further off parts of the ICC reach, supplies can be short.

On top of all of this, Ground Forces are expected to handle a myriad of different climates, environments, and exposure to various degrees of colonization, urban development, etc.

There'd be no simple answer to how Ground Forces enlisteds are treated, as inner-system bases closer to the Circuit core would be better off than outposts in the peripheries, etc.

ICC Navy The ICC Navy, in sharp contrast to the Ground Forces, is proportionally better funded, better equipped, and frequently paraded.

Originally having started off as a glorified Merchant Marine, the ICC Navy eventually take from domestic Naval forces and became a formalized Military Branch some time in the 23rd century.

Since protection of Interstellar Trade and the power of keeping commercial lines open, as well as inter-system border security and Circuit defense was what allowed for Ground Forces to operate at all, the Navy became increasingly crucial. Life aboard the Circuit's fleets was, by comparison to the barracks on dingy outposts, a little bit more bearable. For Naval personnel, they didn't have to worry about the rocking of traditional, terrestrial boats, nor did they have to worry about favorable weather conditions. Their equipment didn't break down as easily, and outside of the rare, pre-war battery exchanges, any fighting that was done by the Navy was handled by the Naval Marine- which were significantly better equipped and trained than the Ground Forces, largely due to their much smaller size and specialized focuses.

Before the Second Galactic War in 2365, the ICC Navy expected such little, major combat that higher ranking officers frequently attended work in their dress uniforms instead of combat fatigues, as the job was largely more management than direct operations.

The Voidfarers The runt of the litter and the most recently added branch to the ICC's military, the Voidfarers are the ICC"s dedicated, independent starfighter corps. To separate them from Navy starfighters, the Voidfarers have "permanent" bases on planets or orbital stations, and their mission is less to engage in any potential heavy combat (unless directed to support Naval operations), and more to plug in the gaps not covered between the obligations of Ground Forces and Navy, such as protection of trade routes where sending a large naval vessel wouldn't make sense, or providing air support where Ground Forces may be lacking. As such, the Voidfarers have the least amount of resources, but are designed to function without too much support outside of hardware maintenance. Voidfarer units are usually quite small, and sparsely positioned, so a large part of the Voidfarer identity is how rare they are compared to the bigger two branches.

Day to day life for Voidfarers can comfortably be considered mundane- for even disparate/far off postings, action is seldom had.

Commonwealth of New Westminster

The British-inspired military uniforms you might be thinking of, while used in a commission, are indeed in-universe designs.

The history here is that the CNW was an area of space largely settled by Commonwealth Nations (predominantly the UK) during early space colonization in the 20th and 21st Century. Instead of steadily forging their own identity like Greksil (the crucial ICC Founding Member), they more closely followed their Old Earth institutions and still regarded the reigning monarch as their Head of State. During the First Galactic War between Old Earth and her colonies against Greksil and her allies, the CNW sat out, and when the war was over, served as the refuge for an escaping Royal Family when order on Old Earth began to collapse.

Ever since then, the CNW has been on a largely independent streak- partaking in interstellar deals while still refusing to kowtow. When the ICC was formed, they waited a couple decades to join, and would only do so on the conditions that they maintained a high degree of autonomy, including their own separate currency and military while also helping train and organize the nascent Circuit Armed Forces.

Hope that clarifies some things!

#dwc ama #questions for dwc #the percivals #dwc marshal arts

[thornfield13713]

Okay.

So, having watched Nimona and now having started the graphic novel...I'm sort of interested in trying my hand at a fusion timeline? Like- What would happen if the characters we're presented with in the movie got the ten-year timeskip of the comics between Ballister's framing and Nimona coming into his life?

I could see some things going pretty much the same - Ballister adopting the Blackheart name and deciding to lean into villainy after he's left with no way of proving his innocence, getting into the mad science in a big way (he BUILT HIS OWN ARM in what seems to have been a matter of WEEKS AT MOST and it seems to have been HIS DOMINANT ARM, what the fuck, that is BRILLIANT - though, he could be ambidextrous or the kingdom could do the 'force lefties to use their right hand formally' thing, which would explain why he's using his sword in his left hand later).

On the other hand, this is a version of Ambrosius I could see switching sides a lot earlier, or admitting fault a lot more easily, given he clearly has so many doubts and internal conflicts already, and he doesn't seem AS inclined to respond to them by doubling down on 'no, I didn't do anything wrong' as his comics counterpart.

IDK, I just- I think it'd be neat to play around with this idea, because I love the mad science and complicated schemes of comics!Ballister, but I also love Riz Ahmed's performance and everything about movie!Ambrosius, to say nothing of the Gloreth backstory and the worldbuilding around class and legacy done by the movie, all of which is very rich thematic ground.

The biggest issue is Nimona herself and why it might take her a decade to enter the story, and the comic has conveniently provided an answer for that too in her backstory involving Institution experimentation - possibly she got caught trying to bust Ballister out (he tried to explain things earlier, so she didn't catch him at his lair, she gets caught, he waits around a bit longer then busts out under other circumstances - possibly at his execution or similar, and after failing to clear his name decides 'fuck it' and goes full villain) and the Institution got a hold of her.

I'm not exactly planning out a fic or anything, but- this is an interesting concept, and I am definitely not just doing this for the sake of more evil science.

#nimona #nimona fusion au #spoilers

[penname-artist]

The Fascinating/Frustrating World of...Bird...People...?

(Pre-warning: Don't get too excited for this to become a Thing. One, my motivation is non-existant right now, two, trauma that we're not getting into is keeping me from indulging in the idea, but, it's a recent idea that I think is so interesting I really wanted to share it in case somebody else would like to pick it up.)

The concept behind avians (bird people) is both really neat, and really...weird? And for that reason also frustrating to navigate, which is one of the reasons I personally do not indulge in it.

...well, usually at least. But today I have a neat idea I was given in the early morning of dreaming, and I really want to do something with it before it gets lost in the ether again.

Bird people, except...

smol.

Very smol.

Small enough they'd be akin to either their original bird origins (whatever specimens those may be) or closer in scale to that of modern-day depictions of fairies. To the latter, I point towards Disney's Tinkerbell series from the early 2010s as a concept of both size and relative way of living.

The main reason that a fairy-sized flock of tiny bird people interests me is, of course as always, because I can slap Planes characters onto it and call it an AU for funsies. Not only does that open the floodgates of "these aircraft are now human but still capable of flight without additional machinery", but it also gives room to retro-fit bird species onto characters in ways that might not have been done before.

And by that, I exclusively mean I get to turn Blade into a goddamn hummingbird.

And THAT is the sole reason I wanted to share this fucking concept. Not just fun bird people, not just silly AU material, no. I get to turn Blade into the only type of bird he would actually fit the bill of REALLY fucking well. Helicopter? Hummingbird. Do you SEE my genius here???

Even BETTER, too, there's a species of hummingbird called the Allen's Hummingbird which has a very rust-colored plumage, and LIVES along the coastlines of CALIFORNIA. Coincidence, I think not! It was fucking meant to be!

Okay but that really neat idea aside, there's of course a whole lot of...ahem, *complications* in creating any sort of Avian universe, be it for these specific purposes, or just any in general. Anyone else dabbling in the matter probably knows what I'm talking about, because while there are like, sub-categories of mythology and style design of "bird people", there's honestly no ONE single universal style of them that fits the idea. It's actually a very wide net you cast when you just say "bird people".

Basically, it's a very large spectrum of "how BIRD do you want your hybrid birds to BE?"

(And that answer in your universe is kind of like, really important for setting the groundwork and worldbuilding for, y'know...everything else.)

And that spectrum's two major ends would be the D&D style Kenkus and other such builds that are ALL BIRD - in head and limbs and feathery bodies aplenty - versus the almost completely human characters that just happen to have wings on their backs, usually REALLY big ones because, y'know. People are heavy.

Somewhere in the middle, you might have your two types of hybrids, the people that can turn into birds or all-bird bird "people", and the ones that are "mosty" human with wings and a fair assortment of bird qualities, including but not limited to talons for feet, extra plumage tufts around their bodies, and/or tail feathers.

The latter is kinda where I - and to be fair I think a lot of people - lean, mainly because it's the most human-functional non-human combination. Not to mention it has the most creative freedom as far as deciding how many facets of bird qualities you want on your species.

Like a weird build your own pizza! but...birds...

Anyways yeah, so IF (and that is a REALLY big IF) I make an AU kinda-sorta in that range, I have no idea where I'd want to go as far as those specific customization options. For sure we'd go the route of separated hands/arms and wings, because functionally that is wayyyyy easier than a creature whose wings ARE their hands/arms, but aside from that, mmm...I haven't got anything I've seen yet that I really like or gotta have.

The concept of bird legs for an Avian is tempting, but also really...odd?? Like, it would be easier for them to land in tree branches for sure, given how a bird's foot works, but it also makes simpler human-y things like chairs a bit more of a challenge, especially if their knees bend forwards like birds do and not backwards like we the homosapiens have.

There's also plumage coverage, and that's one of those "I really want to do it this way but would I need to explain that?" because especially in the case of hummingbirds, their iridescent throats are super vital to their species, so there might have to be SOME type of feathering around character's necks/chests/backs to help convey that properly.

I unno, it's all very loose and subjective at the moment, like I said the chances of me making this a thing are slim to none, BUT, for the sake of my desire for Blade, I might do JUST hummingbird Blade, and toy with that idea as a standalone for a while. If anyone else has other cool ideas for something like this, or they wanna take the idea and run with it, absolutely go for it man, my motivation pool is so dry I am literally giving away my muse's shit like it's a yard sale right now. Half-off, come and get it while it's here.

I might be back with Bird Blade soon, but other than that yeah that's an idea. Buh-byeee

#disney planes #disneyplanes #planes fire and rescue #disney planes 2 #blade ranger #avianverse stuff #BIRD PEOPLE? AGAIN? AW SHIT- #but yeah for reasons I'm not getting into I may never be brave enough to do this. I'm healed from some painful stuff but I'm not THAT heale #so again if you wanna play in the sandbox of Planes characters as tiny bird people go for it #I just want Blade that's- that's all I need

[that-other-blob]

Your post describing your AU was recommended on my dashboard and I'm already hooked! I love AUs that critique the standard worldbuilding, especially the decision to make personifications represent nations. My problem with using nations is that the modern concept of nations has barely existed for a thousand years. Why would immortal humans represent only the last millenium of human society? Does this mean that everything that happened before societies structured themselves into nations wasn't important enough for immortals to be born? That modern nations are the perfect structure for society?

My immortals represent their cultures instead, because cultures have existed as long as humans have and are inseperable from us. A culture isn't a formal system like a nation, but rather social bonds, traditions, values, and experiences that can't be neatly defined. The immortals can have a lot of flexibility in their characterization because of this. Regular humans don't realize that they're immortal and don't give them special treatment, which I think is a neat symbolism for how nobody notices their own culture because it feels so normal to them. I want them to live and grow with the people and society, not be isolated for their magical abilities. The immortals aren't "a mathematically average version" of a person from their culture either. They have unique personalities, flaws and worldviews that were shaped by their life experiences, just like how every person in the same culture is unique. I rarely see people who think of the immortals without a political role, but it creates much more interesting characters and discussions in my opinion.

Why the immortals exist is also a very interesting discussion to me. I would say that mine exist for a philosophical reason. They're the physical manifestations of the abstract concept of culture. Out-of-universe, their existence raises questions about human experiences and societies throughout history. But because humans in-universe don't know they exist, they're silent observers of our world. What are your thoughts about why immortals exist in your universe? What effect and significance do they have on society?

Wow, first of all I love what you have to say and I agree with your thoughts about cultures vs. nations! I really like your take.

You’re asking tough questions 😅 If I’m being honest I haven’t done much planning on this au yet, and I’m still gathering ideas and such, but these questions are really inspiring!

I think I’ve always pictured the immortals as more passive observers doing their own thing, and haven’t thought much about their impact/significance on society, but you just made me start considering it… first of all, having them be manifestations of culture is intriguing, especially more so than having them just be immortal humans for no reason at all. Though it can be difficult to properly and respectfully try and represent entire cultures through individual people. I think it’s a project that can turn out really good if a lot of thought is put into it.

Anyways takk for ask’en, jeg vil gjerne høre mer av hva du tenker altså!

#immortal humans au #hws au #asks #hws #hetalia

[thrythlind]

A Disappointing Trip Down Memory Lane

So, Grimm is a TV show that quite enjoyed when it released but which I fell away from at the end of the 3rd Season. It released in 2011 and lasted 6 seasons.

So, some of the things I really liked about this show.

Most of the supernatural people were just people and they were as often the victims as they were the villains of an episode. People that know me will know that's a theme I really enjoy.

The characters were enjoyable.

The worldbuilding was pretty interesting and fun.

It deals a lot with escaping toxic traditions and making bridges between communities.

But I've looked back into it a bit recently and well... let's talk about what's disappointing.

There's a lot of personality traits tied into the different supernatural species. This isn't a deal breaker for me. The Sidhe in my setting have intrusive thoughts about deal making, for example. But this show crosses the line towards the inner nature of a species being monstrous and violent and something they have to work against. Basically it supports stereotyping.

It feels like one or more of the writers practically celebrated at the ability to do mixed-race and bigotry stories with almost entirely white actors. Because, you know, the majority of wesen and all Grimm are of European descent. There's a few POC characters, supernatural and otherwise, but they're very under-represented.

Corollary to the above, they keep talking about "Coming out" relating to wesen telling their non-wesen friends about the truth. So a bit of appropriating queer culture without any queer representation. So... yay.

ALL the traditions are toxic and often horrific and murderous. As much as I agree with turning against toxic traditions, the show really pushes the idea that all that past culture is terrible.

The one organization pushing for wesen to go public is also pushing for the return of all those horrific and murderous traditions. So, the story pushes for minorities to stay unseen and undercover. Yay.

The eventual romance between Nick and Adalinde (which I quit watching before it developed) isn't terrible in concept on it's own. In the manner of the witch marrying the monster-hunter... but they both did so many terrible things to each other through the first 3 seasons that it's extremely WTF. There's enemies to lovers and then there's whatever this is.

They made Adalinde and Nick work by causing Nick's first love interest Juliette, to go evil. The reason she went evil? Oh, she turned into a wesen... of the same kind as Adalinde... sometime around the same time they pointedly gave Adalinde the start of her heroic redemption arc. So... yeah, that's a clusterfuck of a writing decision.

At one point Adalinde suppresses her powers... which apparently causes her to gain empathy and better able to care about her friends and family. When her powers come back she has a literal panic attack about becoming a monster again... but of course she keeps her empathy afterwards.

Adalinde and Juliette aren't the only cases of wesen terrified of their own nature. There are wesen that have to eat people to survive.

There's a lot of demonization of sex. There is a spell to steal a Grimm's powers by impersonating a person they love and then having sex with them... see what I said about Adalinde and Nick doing terrible things to each other. There's a lot of toxic traditions involving mating. There's wesen whose mating practices end up killing their mate.

This is what I can think of right now.

It is just a mixed bag of lovely elements and neat characters tainted by those things I just listed. This could have been such a great story if it just had a little more planning and if something like a sensitivity consultant existed at the time.

#Grimm #disappointing re-watch #urban fantasy

[jenzel]

As someone who really likes the new Hunger Games movie, I'm actually really curious to hear why you didn't like it, if you're okay with answering that

HI HELLO

No actually thanks for asking because tbh I didn't give it a fair shake in that post, usually I would have rambled in the notes a bit more SO

Disclaimer: I didn't read the book.

also I'm just some guy

Things I loved, no notes:

Rachel Zegler is an actual Star and I want to go and watch everything she's been in now. Her voice is incredible and fully sold the impact of the character.

Things I loved, some notes:

Premise and plot - I was really really intrigued by the idea of seeing an early form of the Hunger Games, like I would actually just read a massive essay on the history of them and also how they work on every single level (and may have been binge-watching the Tales of The Hunger Games series on youtube). I kind of don't care about some critiques of how plausible or not plausible the entire setup of Panem is because it's consistent within the narrative and it's a Neat Idea, which gives it some immunity from worldbuilding logic.

So, with all that being said, I was left a bit wanting.

My main issue, which I've had with a LOT of high-budget high-concept stuff recently, is that it all still felt sort of cheap and rushed - outfits and sets didn't really look lived in, I felt like a lot of scenes could have benefitted from more interesting dialogue and shot choices. Maybe something to disguise the very necessary info dumping and exposition in the way that the OG did so elegantly. Maybe I'll go back and really highlight some specific things (like whyyyy did the scene introducing the rainbow snakes feel so... not tense at all) but every time I got on board with the movie it seemed determined to throw me off. I might stop with this particular bit of critique now because I feel like if I'm not going to go and do a proper breakdown then it's unfair.

Costumes - Of course the costumes slap. They gotta. I saw some people weren't keen on Lucy Gray's dress but I don't care it was cute, maybe I've got bad taste. I will add that unfortunately all the other tributes and a good portion of the rest of the cast completely failed to imprint on me in any way, and the samey styling contributed to that. Actually add this to my point above, where were the supporting characters who stuck as vividly in my memory and attention as Effie, Haymitch, Rue, Gale or Cinna?? Maybe I can't name all the 74th Hunger Games tributes off the top of my head but I can picture a lot of them, they felt distinct enough for the screentime they had.

Volumnia can stay, Viola Davis had the most fun on screen of all time.

And as much as I did love the costuming, and as much as I would also put Hunter Schafer in incredible outfits all day if I had the opportunity, the Whole Idea of some of these characters were smothered by their cool wardrobes. I'm not buying that the Snow family are in an absolutely DIRE situation when Tigris has a new outfit for every appearance (she COULD have, like if we were given the impression that she was altering and making new outfits herself!!). I'm not seeing Corolianus's obsession with saving face, with presenting the image he wants to present, I'm not seeing his too-tight shoes I'm just being told that they are.

Onto one last point, maybe.

Things I was completely eh about:

Corolianus - ehhhhh. Some friends told me that the internal monologue you have access to in the book is a massive part of his characterization and I'm going to take their word for it. Prose is a ridiculously powerful way to get inside a character's head.

So I'm going to have to assume that he was more memorable in the book, because I'm really not sure what I was supposed to take away from his story... and not in a cool ambiguous interpretation way. He felt overwhelmingly just There.

That's everything I can think of right now!

#hunger games fans please don't read this I know nothing #I don't even go here #prin you're the exception because you Asked #and also I hope this is okay!! honestly I feel like you'd be able to say much more interesting things about this movie

[scarlettlillies]

Sorry I'm kinda late to this but 💞 and 🌿 for the writer asks? Also 💌 but only if you're comfortable with that of course ;v;

No worries! You're actually the first person to send me an ask about this! :D

From this ask meme

💞what's the most important part of a story for you? the plot, the characters, the worldbuilding, the technical stuff (grammar etc), the figurative language

That's a tough one! All of them are pretty important to me but I think I'd have to pick the plot. I often go into my stories with just a vague idea of what I want to happen so it's very common for me to write my sections out of order. I then try to find a way to tie the pieces together, either through worldbuilding, extra prose, or new plot points. Sometimes it works, other times not so much!

🌿how does creating make you feel?

I feel many different things. There's a lot of positive feelings like joy and excitement. I daydream so much about the things I want to make! But my anxiety takes over very quickly and the desire for perfectionism keeps me from finishing anything. I nitpick at every sentence and I've tossed out stories at the moment when something goes wrong. There have definitely been times when I didn't feel good enough to create the things I wanted. It's very difficult to get out of that mindset. :c

💌share something with us about an up-and-coming work (WIP) that has you excited!

I recently just started writing again! I'm starting slow so I revived a 10+ year-old story and turned it into a ficlet! I'm hoping I can post it within the next few days. It's just a simple fic about Est and Ned bonding over gardening. Whether their relationship is platonic or romantic is really up to the reader. It still needs some cleaning up so please ignore anything wonky. ;w;

No matter how many times Netherlands stopped by Estonia’s home, it was always a shock to see him covered in dirt.

Their friendship was very new. His impression of Estonia was slick, neat, and modern. When their paths would cross, he was always well-dressed in expensive suits and noticeably owned the latest devices available on the market. Estonia seemed to be stunned when Netherlands shared his observations about him over coffee. It was their first time sharing a table together during a brief morning recess at an EU meeting in Paris. Estonia admitted he had a bad habit of changing his devices regularly and was struggling to break it. Being known as an IT nation was important to him. He had convinced himself that being seen with a device that was more than a few years old would tarnish his reputation. His clothing, however, he insisted was fairly cheap. He was no different than anyone else; he shopped at one of the local malls nearby his home and bought what was within his price point. Netherlands found his words hard to believe but when he wanted to press him for more questions, they were called back to continue with the day’s agenda.

That was some time ago. Five? Maybe ten years ago? He doesn’t quite remember. Time was always a strange concept for their kind anyhow.

Over their short time together though, Netherlands has learned more things about him. He had an interesting palette for alcohol, was a natural when it came to music and technology, liked the outdoors, but most importantly he was business-orientated. He knew how to sell you on anything—whether it was a wacky dish at his favourite restaurant that you just had to try out or you needed help selling your hand-made crafts at the local marketplace—making a quick buck seemed to come naturally for him. Netherlands liked that in a man.

But when he found out that Estonia liked to garden, he was skeptical. They had been sharing drinks in a Brussels jazz bar after a long meeting and thought Estonia was just trying to make conversation. He didn’t look the type (then again neither did he), especially to those outside of his main friend group. Even when Estonia shared his knowledge on botany, he chalked it up to just being the intelligent guy that Estonia was known for.

“You should come to my place in the spring! I think you’ll like the setup that I’ve got.”

He took him up on that offer. To his surprise, Estonia was correct. He definitely liked what he saw.

#Asks #replies

[david-watts]

4, 9, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 20 (sorry it’s a lot)

never worry about asking me too much at once lmao!!

4. who is your least favourite doctor? why? I have actually been thinking about this recently and it's tough but I have to say four. I do really like quite a few serials in his era but it's also the stretch of the show where there really was a format that they stuck to and it's therefore my least favourite stretch of the show. it's like. to put my favourite doctors higher on the list I have to put doctors I still really like down at the bottom, y'know?

9. least favourite outfit of the doctor's? why? ten's outfit without the long trenchcoat is bland, tbh. eleven's is just strange enough that it doesn't feel like just quirky fashion of the time (though it would inspire quirky fashion of the time...) and I can't exactly fault nine's outfit because he was #goingthroughit but yeah I don't exactly have a least favourite I just have nitpicks

15. what is your favourite companion outfit? why? I would say steven taylor's outfit in the celestial toymaker because he's got the striped jumper that EVERYONE in 1965/66 had and I think it's fucking neat but uhhh I do have others. romana II's outfit in full circle is pretty neat. jamie in the war games where he's covering up the allegedly awful puffy shirt from the space pirates with a dark jacket is also a Look. we can't forget ace's jacket, either! last but not least is yates' outfit in planet of the spiders

16. who is your favourite doctor/companion duo? I do actually really enjoy the first doctor/steven in the massacre of st bartholomews' eve, and the fourth doctor/adric is also enjoyable for those few episodes. oh and seven with either mel or ace! oh and twelve and bill. yeah. can't forget new who exists now can I?

17. what is your favourite alien species? I do like the alpha centauri, and the ice warriors, but I have to say the alzarians are. the most interesting. *cough cough* they're descended from spiders and if adric in castrovalva is... let's say to be believed that means those spiders were capable of having dicks what the actual hell *cough cough*

18. what is your favourite alien planet? I want to know more about metebelis three. but that's only in a 'I want to concept more about metebelis three' way. I also like logopolis, because that's a very interesting place. I have also really loved akhaten ever since that episode broadcast

20. if you could change anything about the show, what would it be? I'd bring back serials. no more condensing a story into 45-50mins or at best an hour and a half resulting in lack of character development and worldbuilding you Must pad out the runtime to a minimum of two hours. also I'd like. have more things like the invasion of time. and I'd bring back the heavily synthesised style of title sequence no more orchestras and beat drops against the time vortex you're getting the doc's face floating in space and you're gonna like it (can you tell where I'm up to in my rewatch?)

I'd also like to mention that I do in fact have two dr who story ideas rattling about in my head; one is my oc keith's story, which I am willing to talk about because it's like my dream dr who story arc that I doubt will ever get made. but I am actually thinking of submitting my second idea at some point. I haven't actually written much of it beyond a vague concept outline because I would like to not only wait until after I've finished my degree for reasons of time but also learning, y'know? I'm also like. not that confident in my writing yet. I'll probably publish some other original work and get back into writing fanfiction just for the practice

anyway thanks for asking!! hope you don't mind my indecisive rambles

[swallowtailed]

What is sangfielle about? Just going off your posts, I have literally no idea, lol. There's a skeleton with too many bones? Detectives?

I could Google it, but it's more fun to hear from a fan

oooh yes!! sangfielle is the seventh season of friends at the table, “an actual play podcast focused on critical worldbuilding, smart characterization, and fun interaction between good friends”. it’s an anthology ttrpg show, so this season is a postapocalyptic gothic fantasy road horror story about a cursed heartland called sangfielle. (and they very much do deconstruct and unpick “heartland” as a concept. it’s great.) the specific ttrpg they’re playing is called “heart: the city beneath”, which is a very tragedy-forward game that drags pcs deeper and deeper into their own power. extremely fun.

i am currently listening to the epilogues, in which each character goes in a separate direction to pursue their own goals, and i am also simultaneously reblogging a backlog of art from the entire season, which is definitely gonna make sangfielle seem a little more incomprehensible than usual lmao

the plot pitch of sangfielle is probably like… seven travelers are hired to protect a town in the unpredictable heartland, and they chase their fears and desires to ever-stranger depths, as the powers of the world begin to construct utopia. lots of talk about divinity, power, subjective reality, and freedom.

would recommend if: you like lots of detail and theoretical discussion in gameplay; you live for the random sublime moments that arise naturally from ttrpgs; you appreciate opening monologues; you thought area x was kinda neat actually; you are okay with things being described as “fleshy”

yes, there’s a skeleton with too many bones! he’s a side character, he’s very mysterious and cool. and there are detectives, sort of, if you count the blackwick group (the pcs)… but they kind of cause as many problems as they solve, tbh. all of them grew on me so much throughout the season and now i’m crying at all their epilogues.

anyway. it’s great, it’s weird, do rec :)

#q & a #anonymous #hello world #fatt #sangfielle

[being-of-rain]

Some thoughts from my Classic Who watch, season 16: The Key To Time!

There’s some Doctor Who stories I have a nostalgic fondness for because they were one of the first of the large group of DVDs that stared my Dr Who DVD collection. And one of those was the box set of all the Key to Time stories!

Romana is immediately iconic. As a character, she’s got such a strong premise. A typical by-the-book Gallifreyan homebody, who approaches everything from a theoretical perspective that infuriates the Doctor because her approach often works and she looks good doing it, but she still has lots to learn from him in return. Honestly, it’s such a shame when Romana is written as a generic companion (eg. only standing around asking plot-relevant questions and getting scared), which she has her fair share of, because it is immediately obvious. Seeing Romana out of her element with all the adventuring is a good thing, but there’s a line between that and being helpless and without agency that a lot of writers and directors obviously couldn’t see back in the day. Still, Mary Tamm does a fantastic job of working with what she’s got, and making the good bits shine glamorously. (A lot of the same could be said for Lalla Ward in the next season, whose incarnation I think works best as a Romana who has very quickly come to grips with the practical side of Tardis travel rather than just the theoretical side, and is almost a second Doctor- but with less ego and slightly more competency.)

Anyway, one thing I appreciate about season 16 is that it often does some interesting things with each segment of the Key to Time, at least narratively. Immediately the first segment, in The Ribos Operation, is an important part of a con that Romana and the Doctor need to navigate and figure out as they go in order to retrieve it. It’s a really solid story I think- good characters, setting, aesthetics, worldbuilding, plot, and writing. The fact that it starts off with the incredibly engaging scenes of the Doctor getting pulled over by a god (very Star Trek) then having a rocky start with the companion he’s forced to work with is icing on the (icy) cake. With the neat setting I’m actually quite interested in the sequel Big Finish published recently (The Ribos Inheritance), even if it is low on my to-buy list.

I watched The Pirate Planet with my brother, who rates it as maybe his favourite Classic Who serial, and I’d say that’s fair! You can tell it’s written by Douglas Adams from not only all the fantastic and sometimes hilariously understated jokes, but also the amount of extraordinary sci-fi concepts jam-packed into one story. I feel like each time I watch the story I understand some part of it a little more. The Captain must be one of the best villains in the show’s history (a cyborg tyrant who acts like the most entertainingly over-the-top pantomime pirate captain, but who is revealed to have more going on under his violently vibrant exterior than you’d think at first glance), and he’s only enhanced by his little posse of his nurse, his robot parrot, and the ever loyal Mr Fibuli. If I went on listing all the things I like about the story, I’d be here all day, but shout out to the iconic scene near the end where the Doctor rattles off some of the most impressive technobabble in Dr Who, which naturally Romana follows effortlessly, then says his plan to deal with the rest of their problems is to “blow them up. ... It’s a bit crude, but immensely satisfying.” OH, and from part one; “where did you get those jelly babies?” “The same place you get them.” “Where?” “Your pocket.”

The Stones of Blood is interesting because it starts off feeling very season 13/14, very gothic horror, and then halfway through the setting turns into a spaceship in hyperspace putting the Doctor on trial. But also like... it wasn’t interesting in too many other ways. All the villains feel like ideas that could’ve been better with a bit more focus and depth. Same for the segment of the key to time having special powers that are knowingly used by the villain, which is relevant to one cliffhanger and that’s it. Oh well, at least Romana’s outfits are, as always, fantastic.

I’m such a sucker for The Androids of Tara. Camp medieval court political mistaken identity runaround with androids... comedy, romance, an amazingly watchable villain, the Doctor desperately trying not to do any of his set quests, and even some fun worldbuilding (I just love the little tidbit that building and maintaining androids is considered peasants’ skills). I have a fun memory of the first time I watched it too: I was visiting England, in our spare time working through the Dr Who DVDs that my brother and I bought, and when we watched The Androids of Tara I recognised one of the castle courtyard filming locations as a castle we had visited the day before! If I had one complaint for the story, it would be how Romana successfully escapes Count Grendel in part three and reunites with the Doctor and his party, only to be immediately captured again in the very next scene, after sharing less than half a dozen lines with her friends. Very rarely is the capture/escape/capture pattern in Classic Who (or the damsel in distress trope) been used so obviously. Have her stay free, stay captured, or at least survive five minutes between the two! Oh well, apart from that, it’s a very fun story. I could spend a paragraph listing things I love about it, but the first that comes to mind is Grendel’s dramatic final announcement before diving into his castle moat, “Next time, I shall not be so lenient!”

I think The Power of Kroll has a pretty accurate depiction of how racist parasitic corporations can be, and how insidious and heartless their tactics can be when trying to get rid of native people who live on land the corporation wants to profit from. But like... did we need the green bodypaint. And the writing for the natives is still so cliche and lifeless. I think points for the concept if not all of the execution. The story is pretty drawn out and could’ve used less episodes, but Kroll being a massive squid creature who grew thanks to swallowing the segment of the Key to Time is a pretty cool plot point that gets revealed at a good gradual pace throughout, until it makes total sense for the Doctor to defeat the monstrous being armed only with his tracer at the end.

The Armageddon Factor is apparently the last 6-parter of the classic series, and boy does it make a good argument for it. Easily the most fun and memorable thing about the story is Drax, so this watchthrough I was surprised when he didn’t turn up until episode 5! Most of the other actors and characters aren’t bad, it’s just... nothing much really happens. But the villain is bad; an agent of The Black Guardian called The Shadow is such a cool concept, but he’s so flat and boring and ineffectual. It’s not a good look for the only competition the Black Guardian has offered all season, and in a season full of fantastic villains too. Astra being a segment of the Key is another neat concept that isn’t super capitalised on. And the concluding scene of the arc where the Doctor announces that the White Guardian would never sacrifice a single human life for the sake of the universe doesn’t quite track, considering that literally the only thing we’ve seen the White Guardian actually do, in the arc’s first scene, is threaten the Doctor if he doesn’t go on the quest to assemble the Key in the first place. Oh well. A lacklustre conclusion to one of Classic Who’s only strong story arcs, and overall I think it was a story arc that could’ve been done a lot worse. At least the final story gave us Drax, which led to the amazing audio The Trouble With Drax. And another episode coming up, Here Lies Drax by the same author! I’m excited for that one all over again now.

#my thoughts #four #romana #k9

[expositions-of-malicision]

Welcome to Malcision

Well I've had this blog for a while now but haven't gotten around to using it. Guess it's time I get around to that.

It just so happens that today July 14th is the day I arbitrarily decided can be relevant to this Homestuck troll AU that's been living rent free in my head for the better part of 2 years. Because ya know 714 seems like a good number for an Evilliousstuck au!

So welcome! Does the idea of Evillious Chronicles characters as homestuck trolls interest you? Do you too like putting way too many brain cells into thinking about troll lore both fanon and canon? Alternian and Repitonian? Do you just like the concept of trolls as a species? Well then this AU may be for you!

Welcome to the Expositions of Malcision!

Under the cute I'll get some basic questions out of the way:

What tf kind of word is Malcision?

I really just tried and "trollify" the name Evillious Chronicles. Evillious is already a made up word so I made a new made up word with but with a synonym for evil. Since troll words involve a pretentious use of synonyms.

So are all the characters on Alternia now?

This AU takes place neither on Alternia nor Vast Error's Repiton! It is literally just turning the "canon" world of Evillious into a troll world. One that developed completely separately from the world of Homestuck. My mind really latched onto Vast Error's use of trolls as a concept in their own universe was like "ok cool what if I transplanted trolls onto of Evillious?"

So this is basically just EC canon with a troll coat of paint?

More or less yeah. There are changes by the necessity of trolls working different than humans and how Evillious as a world would have to be shifted to accommodate that. So a lot of the family relationships are either excluded entirely or vastly different. The lore sorta started spiraling out of control when I started thinking about all the little world building details. At this point it's like part canon and part headcanons for both EC and troll worldbuilding. 

Many of those headcanons have also managed to spiral out in full on plot diversions from where I either didn't personally like how it was happened in canon or again had to be changed for the troll setting.

So part EC canon with a troll coat of paint and part EC rewrite/au.

Ok cool. So that's the Evillious side of things down, what about the troll lore? How does this particular troll world work?

My brain decided to cannibalize lore from both Homestuck proper and Vast Error so the trolls work as a sorta mixture of both, but leaning more towards Repitonian. The biggest example is that I'm using Vast Error's hemospectrum system rather than Homestuck's. This is mostly cause I think it's neat for the hemospectrum to be an actual proper spectrum of possible colors instead of 12 distinct ones. The hemospectrum itself as an oppressive caste system still exists, though, unlike on Repitonian where the social aspects of it seem to have been mostly abandoned.

There is actually an entire post to be made just explaining how exactly these trolls work compared to Homestuck and Vast Error, so I'll leave it there for now. When I do make the post I'll link it here though!

Alright alright alright what about the AU itself? What is this some kind of fic? A fan comic? Is there anywhere I can read it?

It exists as a fully formed MSPFA in my mind but currently in the physical realm it only exists as my scattered worldbuilding ramblings. Someday I do hope to write it into a complete fic! Or at the very least write some smaller fics that take place in the au. 

Right now I really only have the energy to make infodumps of my ideas, both to get things organized and to get things out of my brain. I'm trapped in megaproject hell of my own creations basically.

I will say I am at least currently planning on doing a rewrite of SCaP for the AU. As a sort of “proof of concept” for more large scale fic. I actually wanted to have that written for today.... buuuut sometimes the executive function machine is broke.

#woo an actual blog intro! #evillious chronicles #homestuck #vast error #evilliousstuck #no one seems to be using that tag anymore so im just gonna take it for this blog

[quirkwizard]

Hi again - I'm the same person speaking about concepts and worldbuilding. Another way I thought of looking at it: Villains seem to represent certain criticism/flaw of Hero Society. What flaws could you imagine of hero society, that hasn't be explored yet?

I could have sworn I talked about this or mentioned it somewhere, but if I had, I can't find it. I know I talked about the idea of what amounts to a Quirk Supremist group before. For the sake of this, I'm going for more flaw and criticism angles than certain ideas that would pop up in a world like this, of which I have other ideas.

-Grieving Parent: This is a similar idea to Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe. With having such consistent battles and destruction around populated areas, someone is bound to be killed or not saved by the heroes. Maybe they could have had a family member killed by Lady Nagant. Maybe they could have had a child that died as a sidekick. This villain could blame the heroes for their family member's death and want revenge for it.

-Fallen Hero: While we got a peak of something like this with Lady Nagant, there haven't been a lot of heroes that have gone bad. Even the most minor of heroes seem pretty altruistic. So why not actually show something like that? There could be heroes who are in it for the money, but after not getting enough, they start working with criminals. Heroes performing kinds of sabotage to endorse their own products or ideas. Heroes who only joined to hurt people, but had their license revoked because of their violent tendencies.

-Old Time Hero: To grow off of the previous idea, one thought I had would would be  a former hero that was around before All Might. Considering how bad things were going in Japan before All Might showed up, you could make it so that heroes had to do things differently in order to quell the number of villains they had to deal with, making it more violent. But after All Might came around, things started to change. They were forced to retire, no longer having a place in the world, only to return as a vigilante after All Might retired.

-Mutation: Remember that one guy from the All For One flashback whose Quirk was growing out of control? That could be an interesting origin for a villain. Someone whose power has ruined their lives or made them more dangerous. Like "Sleep Gas", but the user can't stop releasing it or it has somehow gotten even deadlier to breathe in. Alternatively, they could have someone in their lives going through a similar problem and they are trying to get money or materials to try and help them after being unable to afford it.

-Anti-Licensed Users: There are a lot of people who want to use their Quirks but may not want to be a hero. This is sort of covered by the MLA, but it would be neat to see it on a more individual level where you can flesh out the idea more. I’ve brought up a similar item before with Mr. Compress when I talked about rewriting his character. Another example could be a person who extorts other people who have had their lives or homes destroyed by villain attacks but can’t afford to fix them, but the user is capable of repairing the damage.

-Villain Descendants: As I mentioned in my rant about Mr. Compress, I do think that a villain descendant could work as an origin for someone. You could just need to change it to make it work with how villains are usually set up. You could have it so they don't want to be a villain, but their constant resentment and rejection of being related to a villain makes them feel compelled to be one themselves. It would show the flaws that would happen when people so heavily villainize criminals and give us a villain with some tragedy and complexity.

#My Hero Academia #Not Quirks #Kaina Tsutsumi #Lady Nagant #Toshinori Yagi #All Might #MHA Meta #MHA Theory