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celestiall0tus · 10 months

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Redemption is a noble idea, but...

not everyone is capable of redemption. It is a sad, but honest truth. I'm not saying this to be a negative nancy, but I work with people who are down on their luck, at odds with the law, and I see this. I see people given a chance to better themselves, to get a fresh start on life, but they don't always take those chances and opportunities. Some are just genuinely in denial while you have those that know they have a problem but can't find the strength to stand back up again. After all, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. Now, I know in media we get an escape and something we wouldn't normally in life. A fulfillment that can only be found there because of how shit life is. However, not everyone is worthy of redemption, especially a fast redemption.

I'm going to rip this old bandaid off. The Diamonds didn't deserve a redemption. Yes, Diamonds. Yellow, Blue, and White (I'll get to Pink in a whole different post as her story wasn't about redemption) The Diamonds were evil tyrant dictators that committed atrocities across the universe in their conquest. Immediately, Yellow and White aren't exactly deserving of a redemption. Now, Blue had redeeming qualities. She cared more for Pink than the others, mourned her, kept her memory alive, and actively sided with Steven first, but there's one big thing that really taints it for me. The gaslighting and abuse that Blue participated in towards Pink. I don't care what your opinion of Pink is, but the fact is that she was a victim of abuse. She was locked away, told she was "loved" and constantly treated as less than a Diamond. I have no doubt that Blue truly loved Pink, but the way she participated in the abuse and how it was quickly wrapped up will never sit right with me. Especially in the end when Pink is damned while the other Diamonds are redeemed.

To my Miraculous fans, we recently saw this. Gabriel, the worst of the worst, given redemption. This one is a little... muddy. So, he was granted redemption, but he granted it to himself. Mari tried, but was stabbed in the back. That I appreciate. He was able to use the wish to get what he wanted. He didn't need Mari to keep a promise or anything like that when Gimmi gave him exactly what he wanted, at the cost of himself. So, it's really muddy. No, he didn't deserve a redemption, but he won. He got what he wanted in the end. If he lost, but was offered redemption, that would be one thing. However, he actually won. He got his wish and rewrote reality to what he wanted. Again, it is extremely muddy and unclear. I do hope that in season 6 we get some answers. However, even I know that is too much to wish for.

On top of that for my Miraculous fans, I'll briefly touch on the big ones being Felix and Chloe. One who was given a redemption while the other who was started to give redemption, but then given a damnation.

Felix is a mixed bag. He definitely was a little shit at the start and it was genuinely jarring to see him again in Emotion wanting to help Adrien when he actively tormented Adrien. He was a good candidate for redemption, however, it needed time. As it stands, Felix's redemption was so jarring and quick. And, this could be just me, but is a little tied to Kagami. He really changed when Kagami was introduced into his life, and it's cute. But I'm so tired of this. I'm so tired of a romantic interest being the reason a person changes. I get love can change people, but I'm so fucking sick of it. I do wish we could have seen more of Felix's shift rather than drops of vague intrigue.

Now the sore spot: Chloe. Allow me to say this, I will be using the correct terminology for this when addressing her arc. It is my duty as a writer to address this as professionally as possible. If any of my phrasing or terms upset you, grow a pair.

Chloe, like Felix, was a perfect candidate for redemption. What made her redemption far more compelling is that we had time to digest it. It wasn't just dropped on our heads like Felix. We got to see the horrible mother that Audrey was (bitch was straight savage), the trauma that she endured because of Audrey's abandonment. It doesn't justify what she did, but it gives context. On top of that, you can buy her actions as a coping mechanism as she tries to act just like her mother. This does lead her to doing horrible things, that which is pretty bad, but it doesn't make her completely irredeemable. What ultimately led her to a damnation arc was Ladybug. I'll just say it, Ladybug was hypocrite. She told Chloe no more Queen Bee, but then acted rashly and gave Kagami the dragon again, despite Kagami revealing herself. It is no wonder that Chloe would turn to Hawkmoth in her most vulnerable moment.

Speaking of, there is a reason villains attack during a person's weakest. Chloe was a die hard Ladybug fan. She was utterly devoted because Ladybug was her hero. However, her hero tore her down and destroyed her, much like her own mother. This brings her to a vulnerable point. It's a lot like the original Disney's Ariel when Ursula goes after her. It is directly after Triton destroys the grotto and Ariel is shattered. The moment that they are at their weakest. And yet, both Ariel and Chloe are blamed for their actions without analyzing the events that lead them to it. Ariel had everything she loved destroyed by someone she loved dearly. Chloe had her devotion and hope shattered by a person she idolized. And yet people wonder why they did the things they did.

Chloe was someone that was on the right track to redemption, but was damned by her idol. I honestly think it is poetic, but wished there was acknowledgement. The damnation could have worked more if Ladybug acknowledged her own faults and tried to actively right them to put Chloe back on track for redemption. You want them to be seen as grown up by season 5, Astruc, add these moments. Ladybug blaming Chloe was not right by any means. Ladybug is at fault. She was the final straw that destroyed Chloe's redemption arc and pushed her towards damnation.

That is all for this post. I have one more to address a little later, but first need to collect my thoughts on. Stayed tuned for that one

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lasnevadaslaborunion · 1 year

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Sorry but I will NEVER miss an opportunity to complain about how the trolls from World of Warcraft are treated

#how do you write a story about a thriving ancient society that gets torn apart by the irresponsibility of people invading their land #and then make THEM the villains at every turn???#like wtf??????#anyway. vol'jin deserved better and zul'jin did nothing wrong #world of warcraft #writing critical

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noperopesaredope · 6 months

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I wish we had more female characters like Eleanor Shellstrop. One of the most unlikable people you've ever met. Read a Buzzfeed article on most rude things you can do on a daily basis and decided to use that as a list of goals. Makes everyone's day worse just by being there. Dropped a margarita mix on the ground and tried to pick it up, only to get hit by a row of shopping carts which pushed her into the road where she was hit by a boner pill delivery truck, killing her instantly. Cannot keep a romantic partner despite being bisexual. Had a terrible childhood but will die before she gets therapy. Best employee at a scam company. Just the worst but also can't help but root for her to improve.

Absolute loser. Girl-failure. Bad at almost everything. Literally perfect female character.

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buggachat · 5 months

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something so fucked up about Chat Noir’s whole deal is that he is in a lot of ways Adrien playing a character. Like Adrien picked up his miraculous and was told he’d be a superhero so he was like “ok, time to act like a superhero!” and he lets himself have fun w it and play up the role and let loose and kind of just allow himself to be silly and goofy and have fun and for once in his life not care about performing Perfection™.

But. But none of the other characters KNOW THAT. So everyone just sees Chat Noir and is like “look at this guy’s ego. He’s so full of himself. Surely it’d be fair to knock him down a few pegs” without being aware of how few pegs he actually HAS. He’s like the “insecure character who overcompensates in ego” trope except he’s really not doing it unironically, he’s just having a fun LARP pretending to have self worth in his off-hours but nobody else is on the same page about it being a game and he refuses to tell them. He just dramatically pouts about it and lets them laugh and pretends like he’s not internalizing it and it is almost 3 am and my brain forced me to write this instead of sleeping I’m gonna take a melatonin

#writing this my brain was like: what if he actually likes it?#what if he likes people openly criticizing him in ways nobody actually does to Adrien agreste?#because Adrien Agreste is perfect and can do no wrong. maybe he enjoys being insulted or something #and then I remembered chat noirs multiple breakdowns about feeling unworthy and yknow what yeah I don’t think he likes it LOL #do normal people actually fall asleep when they lie down #if you can’t tell I recently decided to make my random ml musings your guys’ business instead of keeping it to myself #hope you enjoy

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lo-andbehold · 7 months

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A callout post (it’s me I’m calling myself out)

#writing #oc #original character #Merlin #the Magnus archives #the penumbra podcast #(we don’t even have visuals for those two you Motherfuckers just decided (you’re right))#critical role #there are so many others I can’t think of them #marvel #dc comics

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autolenaphilia · 8 months

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It's funny how clearly uninformed a lot of criticism of Mozilla and its browser Firefox is. Like people say "it's just another corporation, out to make profit, just like Google." And that ordinary users promoting Firefox are just giving them free advertising.

It's in basically any post criticizing Mozilla, including on this site. Like using tumblr search I quickly found a post that was largely positive, but argued that Mozilla operates "under capitalist incentives" And outside tumblr I found a blog post out on the interwebs that criticized Mozilla and outright wondered "I don't know if Mozilla's business model ever made sense, it makes a lot more sense if it's something closer to a nonprofit rather than a commercial entity."

Well, let's research the Mozilla Corporation, see what that business model actually is. Let's begin that research by going to the wikipedia article, and read the two introductory paragraphs. And it turns out that it's "a wholly owned subsidiary of the Mozilla Foundation", which is a non-profit.

"The Mozilla Foundation will ultimately control the activities of the Mozilla Corporation and will retain its 100 percent ownership of the new subsidiary. Any profits made by the Mozilla Corporation will be invested back into the Mozilla project. There will be no shareholders, no stock options will be issued and no dividends will be paid. The Mozilla Corporation will not be floating on the stock market and it will be impossible for any company to take over or buy a stake in the subsidiary."

Turns out that it is not just "closer to a non-profit", it is literally a non-profit. Turns out you only needed two paragraphs on wikipedia to learn that, the most basic online research possible, which basically every post I found criticizing Mozilla failed to do.

This is entirely different from any other entity calling itself corporation, which is all about creating profit or money for its shareholders, the "capitalist incentives" spoken about earlier.

If you read further into that article, you will learn that the Mozilla corporation literally only exists separate from the foundation for tax and legal purposes, but it's still a non-profit operation.

This makes it reasonably immune from the enshittification process I've written about before. there is no incentive to fuck over the experience for end users for the sake of shareholder profits, like what tumblr is doing right now.

It means that Firefox is an exemption to the rule that "if something is free, you are the product", because there is no product to produce profits for shareholders, it's a charitable endeavour for a free and open internet, as laid out in the Mozilla manifesto.

This doesn't mean non-profits make corruption impossible, there is plenty of corruption in non-profit foundations. But unlike actual capitalist corporations, it doesn't have the greed and corruption built in. And if you are going to criticize Mozilla and Firefox, which it does sometimes deserve, you should have your basic facts straight before doing so, if you expect me to take you seriously.

#mozilla firefox #mozilla foundation #my writings #i ranted about this before including in the post i linked #but so much of the mozilla criticism i see about is just plain objectively wrong

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myjetpack · 5 months

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My latest for Guardian Books.

#cartoon #writing #tom gauld #therapy #critics

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anneapocalypse · 1 year

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So, just curious how many writers and creators will have to be forcibly outed by relentless harassment before we acknowledge that "This queer characters was written by a cishet person and that's why they're bad" is not good criticism.

#yes i'm just going to come out and say it i'm talking about sera #not exclusively but i am talking about her #'but her writer actually iS A--' you don't know that! it doesn't matter! and i don't care!#just say that you do not like the character.#people will reblog posts about the latest actor or YA author or whatever getting forced out of the closet and be like #'wow. :( that's terrible.'#and then GO RIGHT BACK TO DOING IT #when are we going to learn #when are we going to stop doing this BEFORE somebody is forcibly outed #because in practical terms #that means you have to be okay with queer characters being written by straight people.#you have to stop weaponizing that against writers you don't like.#you have to be willing to critique the writing on its own merits #without using the writer's (assumed) identity to prop up your arguments #that's how it works #but who wants to actually change the way they talk about media #when tearing apart people's identities for clout is far more entertaining.#gwaren exports #fandom problems #fandom critical

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kotaface · 2 years

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My favorite thing about fanfic is watching a writer go through all 5 stages of grief as their fluffy one-shot inexplicably becomes a 100k-word novel.

#this is a self callout btw #authors notes are the best part no I’m not accepting criticism #fanfic #fanfiction #fanfic writers #writing is hard

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celestiall0tus · 6 months

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Luka Couffaine Notes - All That Remained

So, I think I see what issue I've had with Luka that I don't with Kagami. And, I ask your forgiveness for the blasphemy I'm about to speak. But you know what they say, right? Better to ask forgiveness than permission. So, let's crack into this.

With all due respect to Luka, he's a decent character in concept. However, from what I've seen, he's dreadfully bland. It's honestly hilarious seeing what a far cry he is in show versus what the fanon is. I've known this fact, but it really isn't until rewatching the older seasons that I see what my issue is. He was really just made to be for Marinette. He is the typical love interest catered to be for the main lead.

Now, there's nothing wrong with the original intention of a character being a love interest. One of my favorite characters, Sally Acorn, was originally intended to be a love interest for Sonic in the Archie Comics. However, for those that read the comics and know her, she became so much more. It's honestly arguable that the world of those comics was built for Sally and not Sonic. Sally became such a big part of the comics and her role was incredible, but she was still intended to be Sonic's love interest. Same goes for Kagami. She is a love interest for Adrien and rival to Marinette, but she feels so much more fleshed out. Like Sally, she's utilized so much more than Luka, which is a shame.

Luka, for all the potential he has, is nothing more than the would-be gold medal. He comes in to offer emotional support and be the rock for the main leads, but mostly Marinette. He is perfect for her, is everything she needs him to be. Day on the ice rink? He's a professional skater. Having trouble with your feelings? Shoulder to cry on and advice giver. She's feeling down and needs a pick me up that the girls can't give her? Enter stage right, Luka.

We see this even in their akumatizations. Luka is akumatized because of Marinette. It is only ever because of Marinette. Kagami did have her share of akumatizations because of Adrien, but for different reasons. Wanting a rematch, Lila, and Adrien lying. And let's not forget the cloud titan that was due to Marinette, not Adrien. Then there's Luka who was akumatized because of either an injustice to Marinette or wanting the fucking truth. (I'm not counting Migration. You all can fuck off with that. That was just bad writing all around that fucking episode.)

Doubling back on the bit about fleshed out. We see more with Kagami about who she is, her struggles, and so much more. We even see her GASP grow as a person. Whereas we have Luka. The man who is always kind, caring, protective, understanding, and patient. Well, that's all fine and all, but what else? What are his flaws? What are his weaknesses? What makes him human? I'm honestly reminded of the scene in Barbie the Nutcracker with the Rat King reading on the Sugar Plum Fairy and just being like "That's it?" Or in Swan Lake when Odette asks "What else?" and prince asshole asks "What else is there?"

You know, it kinda makes sense that when I see canon Luka, I just laugh. I don't see a character like I used to. I see a character with potential relegated to a glorified plot device. He only ever served as a way to advance the plot, which is a fucking sin. If Kagami was allowed to be important later on (which I get for what season 5 was) why couldn't we get that with Luka? I would have loved to have seen more than just a glorified plot device and, I wager, almost falls into the everyman trope. He is ordinary at the time we meet him. The one bit of normal in Marinette's life that we all honestly became attached to. Well, most of us anyway. Makes sense given his borderline blank slate personality of generic good traits.

It also makes sense why I latched onto the Luka in fanon. The entire fandom, all of y'all, make Luka such an interesting character. And I, for one, thank you all. We see more with these characters that don't get the spotlight, especially with Luka. It's amazing seeing what we do with him with the meager template provided by the show. Thank you.

#miraculous #miraculous ladybug #miraculoustalesofladybugandcatnoir #ml critical #miraculous critical #writing critical #ml analysis #writing analysis #analysis #character analysis #character critical #miraculous luka #luka miraculous #luka couffaine #mlb luka

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sparring-spirals · 10 months

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i know its partly the nature of critical role as a whole changing for this third campaign, but its SO funny to me that "Dont Trust Anyone Not Even Yourself" Paranoid Chucklefucks The Mighty Nein were showered in kind and helpful guest PC's and ended up So Good at the Magic Of Friendship (threatening). While Bell's Hells of "time for therapy!!!!" "do you think they'll be our friend" "what the fuck is up with that game time!!" have wound up with a like. 40% hit rate for villains in their close friends. like this is a MASSIVE oversimplification and it makes sense but its mostly very funny to me. rip to early campaign m9 you would have loved all of your paranoid instincts constantly paying off in the worst way

#im writing this post very fast because i have to pop back out soon no one wring my neck over innacuracies #this is a mass oversimplification i know #critical role #cr spoilers #c3e63 #cr liveblogging #bell's hells #the mighty nein #party comparison post #shitpost #spar speaks

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lasnevadaslaborunion · 1 year

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This may be a weird thing to say, but I think I would love the Disc/Clingy finale a lot more if the Las Nevadas finale had been, like... actually good and congruent with LN4's implications of growth.

See, I adore the theme of kindness conquering all when it's handled delicately and consistently throughout the entire work. Looking at a person who has done terrible things and saying, "compassion and a listening ear may not be what you deserve, but it's what you need" is an exceptionally powerful thing to do, and when media strikes the balance of understanding reasons without making excuses and nails it every single time, there's no greater experience.

We could have tied c!Wilbur, c!Quackity, and c!Dream together so beautifully. The first, destroying himself with his creation because he sees himself as irredeemable, but being given a second chance by those who loved and missed him and finally accepting a simpler life. The second, lashing out to destroy his enemies and corroding his own soul in the process, but deconstructing this toxicity purely through finally being listened to and reminded of the love he began with so much of. And the third, so spiteful and despondent that he's willing to destroy the entire world, but being shattered by kindness from the last person he could have expected it from.

But the sheer comedic contrast of c!Tommy, fresh from being murdered and sent to DNF Hell, going "yeah that's fair but can you please eat a Snickers and calm down?" vs. c!Charlie looking at the dude who gave him shitty advice and going "YEET" is absolutely sending me.

Just... aughhh. The devil's in the details, man.

#ignore my ramblings i'm not tagging this as much lol #writing critical

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aenramsden · 1 month

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The following is not my idea; it was the original brainchild of a friend of mine named Omicron, with help from various others including EarthScorpion, TenfoldShields, @havocfett and ShintheNinja:

So, you know what I want to do one day? Run (or play in) a D&D campaign in which the Big Bad Super Dragon that is fuckoff ancient and unfathomably powerful and whose actions have shaped history and bent the course of nations and had repercussions on the whole culture and society in the region where it's set; the Bonus Special Boss for some endgame optional quest after you defeat the direct BBEG and win the campaign...

... is a white dragon.

To explain this for people not deep into 5e monster lore; D&D dragons are sapient beings, and known for their instincts and tendencies, and whenever you meet an big evil dragon that's really old it's usually this ancient creature of terrible intellect Smaug-ing it up all over the place.

Except white dragons are fucking stupid. Like, they're still capable of speech and thought! They're just… feral, hungry morons. And you almost never see them portrayed as ancient wyrms for that reason; they lack majesty. Critical Role did it, yes, but even then, Vorugal is explicitly the most bestial member of the Chroma Conclave, and the others are the more intelligent planners and long-term threats. An ancient white as a nation-defining endboss, though; not a thug for a smarter master but as the strongest and biggest threat around is just not the sort of thing you tend to see.

Adventurers: "Oh wise Therunax the Munificent, gold dragon of Law and Good, what can you tell us adventurers of the evil dragons which rule this land?" Therunax the Munificent, 500-year old Gold Dragon: "Good adventurers, know this: this land is torn apart by the evil of Tiamat's spawn. The eastern marches are the dwelling of Furinar the Plague-Bringer, black dragoness whose hoard is a thousand sicknesses contained in the body of her tributes. The southern volcanic mountains are the roosting of Angrar the Wrathful, the fiery red dragon, who brings magmatic fury on all who do not worship him. And the northern peaks are home to Face-Biter Mike, the oldest and most powerful of all, of whom I dread to speak." Adventurers: "F-Face-Biter Mike???" Therunax: "Oh yes, verily indeed; two thousand years has Mike lived, and his eyes have seen the rise and fall of five empires, and a hundred and score champions have sought to slay him; and each and every one he bit their fucking face off."

Like... I want to see a campaign where Face-Biter Mike is genuinely the most powerful dragon in the region, if not the entire world. Where sometimes he descends on a city to grab himself some meatsicles and causes a localised ice age by the beat of his vast wings and the frigid wastes of his mighty breath and by the chill his mere presence brings to everything for miles around him, and everyone just has to deal with that for the next decade. An entire era of civilization comes to an end, an empire falls, tens of thousands starve in the winter, all because Mike wanted a snack. Where his hoard is an unfathomably vast mass of jewels and artefacts and precious stones frozen in an unmelting glacier, except he is a nouveau riche idiot with fuckall appraising skill, so half of his hoard is coloured glass or worthless knicknacks, and he doesn't give a shit.

"Your Draconic Majesty, this crown is… It's pyrite." "Yeah, well, it's brighter than this dusty old thing made out of real gold, it's my new best treasure. Throw the other one away." "…throw the Burnished Tiara of Bahamut, forged in the First Age of Man, your majesty???" "See? I can't even remember its fucking name." "But my lord-" "DO YOU WANT TO BE A MEATSICLE" "…I will fetch a trash bag, your majesty."

But at the same time, he's not stupid, he's just simple, and in some ways that makes him more dangerous than the usual kinds of scheming Big Bad you see in these things, while simultaneously justifying why Orcus remains on his throne (because he's lazy). Face-Biter Mike doesn't make convoluted plans or run labyrinthine schemes; he just has a talent for violence and a pragmatic, straightforward approach to turning any kind of problem he struggles with into a problem that can be resolved with violence. Face-Biter Mike has one talent and it's horrifying physical power, so his approach to any complicated problem is "how do I turn this into a situation where I can fly down and bite this dude's face off?" with absolutely no regard for the collateral damage or consequences of doing so, because those are also things he can turn into face-bitable problems.

"My lord, the dread necromancer Nikodemion is using his undead dragons to attempt a conquest of the eastern kingdom; his agents are everywhere, his plans are centuries in the making, what can we do against such a mastermind?" "I'm gonna fly over the capital and eat the eastern king." "M-my lord???" "The kingdom will collapse without leadership, Nikodemion will win his war, he'll take the capital and crown himself king." "And that helps us… how?" "Once he does I'll fly over to the capital and eat him." "…" "This is why you advisors all suck. You're all about convoluted plans when the only thing I need to win is know where my enemy is so I can fly down there and eat him. Stop overthinking things."

And, like, yeah, it's a simplistic plan, but when you're several hundred tons of nigh invincible magical death, you don't need brilliant strategy; the smartest way to win a war is, in this case, the simplest. He's not even all that clever at figuring out the consequences of face-biting, he's just memorised the common consequences of doing so.

(If you want to go all in on Mike being the major mover and shaker in the region; Nikodemion only even has a pet zombie dragon because Mike killed the last dragon to show up and contest his turf but wasn't going to eat a whole dragon by himself. Nikodemion got to stick around and amass that much power because Mike ate the Hero of the Realm while he was adventuring because he figured the Hero would come and try to slay him at some point. Nikodemion got started because Mike ate half the leadership of the Academy of High Magic who typically keep evil wizards and necromancers in check. And then eventually this product of Mike's casual, careless actions becomes a big enough problem to bother Mike personally, at which point Mike eats him too.)

He doesn't even really fail upwards, either! He is regularly reduced to nothing but the glacier he stores his hoard in, but he's Face-Biter Mike so nobody wants to commit to actually ending him forever lest they get their faces bitten the fuck off. And his hoard's in a huge-ass magical glacier so nobody can get to it without running into the Invading Russia problem; it's hard to wage war when everything is frozen over and you're both starving and freezing to death. Once he's been beaten back to his central lair and has lost all his holdings… I mean, he's still a problem, but he's a far away problem. So he loses his assets and spends a decade in a cave brooding it up while no one dares risk trying to actually kill him, and then a generation or two later he flies down to a kobold colony and gets himself some minions, or a dragon-worshipping mage comes to offer his service against a pittance from his hoard, or a particularly stupid cult starts thinking they can get in good with him and leech off his power, and then he's (hah) snowballing again.

He's also got a very… well, the kind of weird Charisma that Grineer bosses do. Like Sargas Ruk, who's a malformed idiot, but oddly charismatic. As he's a dragon, that makes him a natural sorcerer and thus Charisma is all he needs. He's pretty relaxed when he isn't in a face-biting mood, and he's kind of infectiously optimistic, because his life has taught him that he will succeed as long as he perseveres. So he just believes it.

And sometimes that's really refreshing to work for, as an evil minion of darkness! It's like, you're coming to your Evil Dragon Lord with terrible news; you've worked for evil overlords before, you know how it goes. You fall to your knees weeping and tell him that you've failed to seize the incredibly powerful magical artifact, you think your life is forfeit. And he's just like "Eh, it's okay, these things are all over the place. Better luck next time. You remember the guy who took it, right?" and you go "Y-yes, oh great lord!" and he's like "Sweet tell me his name later and I'll grab it" and then eats a frozen adventurer he kept around as a snack.

His followers tend to quickly realise that if they fail him, bringing some temple's silver or a sack of brightly coloured beads or a couple of dead cows means he's super forgiving because at least he's got something out of the day. "Oh boy, cows? It's been forever since I had those, ever since the Orc Steppe Nomads took over it's all about goats and onions. Today is a good day." He's a master of delegation by dragon standards, in that he just tells you "Just go get it done, I don't care how" rather than micromanaging you and constantly appearing as an image in smoke or taking over your campfire.

The key part of Face-Biter Mike as a threat to players (because he exists in the context of a D&D campaign) works well in that you can rely on several known quantities:

He will not pull sneaky shit that you don't see coming

He will not make convoluted plans that you must work to unravel

He will consistently attempt to come down and wreck you personally if he finds the opportunity and you are a threat to him

You cannot fight him head-on (at least not until the last leg of the campaign, and ideally as an optional boss rather than mandatory)

So as long as you are good at staying under the radar, thwarting his minions (whom he gives broad orders to with almost zero oversight) and not putting yourself in face-biting range, you can deal with him. If you succeed, it won't be the first time Mike has lost his assets and had to go brood in his glacier for a decade or two before rebuilding. It happens; he can deal with it. And that's a win for you within the context of a single campaign, so take the win.

And if you're not going to use him as an enemy, he works pretty well as a quest-giver, too! The costs for failure are obvious and straightforward, and "do whatever, just get me mine" means that players have a lot of freedom in accomplishing their goals. As far as evil overlords go he is actually one of the least dangerous to work for; his pride is relatively subdued by draconic standards, his goals are simple and typically achievable, and he is easily pleased.

(There's also a good chance he is the forefather of any draconic sorcerer in your party, because Face Biter Mike is a deadbeat dad.)

#d&d #face-biter mike #I want this #writing #gaming #advice #funny #criticism #fandom

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artist-issues · 5 months

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Disney doesn't need to change "the formula." That's the last thing that Wish proves.

What Wish proves is that "the formula" only works when you know why the ingredients are in it, and you use them the correct way.

The Princess Character is meant to wish for only half of the movie's message, and go through an adventure that teaches her what the other half is; what her dream was missing. Ariel dreamed of understanding but she was missing love. Tiana dreamed of achieving her goals but she was missing faith. Jasmine dreamed of freedom but she was missing trust. Belle dreamed of adventure but she was missing being understood.

The Villain is meant to highlight the opposite of the movie's message. Jafar gets what he wants through trickery and manipulation; that's the opposite of Aladdin's "truth will set you free" message, and he gets imprisoned in a lamp. Scar thinks being a King is having his way all the time and can't learn from his past of living in Mufasa's shadow; that's the opposite of The Lion King's "Let the past remind you of your responsibility to selflessness." Gaston loves only himself and is always obsessed with appearances; that's the opposite of Beauty & the Beast's "true love is found within a heart of self-sacrifice." That's what makes them such good villains. (and that clear direction is what drives good villain songs, since Magnifico's is what everyone is talking about)

The sidekick is supposed to compare/contrast with the main character's qualities. Abu is a greedy thief, which is what everyone in Agrabah thinks Aladdin is; when he scolds Abu and teaches him selflessness, it shows us who Aladdin actually is. Flounder is easily frightened and looks at the glass half-full; when Ariel coaxes him and leads by example, we see her bravery and positivity reflected in Flounder's tiny character arc. Timon & Pumbaa do whatever they want all day just like young Simba always dreamed of; when Simba goes to live with them, he finds that "getting his way all the time" makes him forget who he really is and feel empty.

The setting is supposed to show off the characters and highlight the movie's message. Rapunzel's tower is designed to be pretty on the inside because of her influence; if it were too dark and prison-shaped, we'd wonder why she didn't work up the courage to leave sooner. Just like how Quasimodo has made his corner of the bell-tower beautiful, too; they're taught the world is cruel and they're not strong enough for it, but they make their own worlds beautiful enough to hint that that's wrong right from the start. Ariel's grotto is shaped like a tower with no roof so that she only has one window to the forbidden Surface, and it's the light that comes from that forbidden world into her dark grotto which literally makes her able to see human things differently. Tiana's apartment has no interesting features except her father's picture, a perfectly made bed, a drawer with no extra outfits but stuffed with tip money, and only two dresses; both of which are for work.

None of that is happening in Wish, because they didn't know why the formula ingredients are there. Disney needs to understand and return to the formula the right way; forgetting it was what got them here.

Asha learns nothing to add to her dream, unless you count "the power to grant wishes is in me." Which you shouldn't, because we didn't even know she was confused about that until the animals sang a song that was completely off-topic and she had the chance to jump in and sing "I'm a Star!"

Magnifico does not demonstrate the opposite of Wish's message effectively because his character has nothing to do with a philosophy against making wishes, and everything to do with power. (He is the strongest character in the film. But because the message and core concept of what wishes are are so bad, that's not saying much.)

Valentino, and Asha's friends, do not highlight anything about her character through compare/contrast. Valentino is brave and all over the place. Her friends are seven-dwarfs parodies. Happy, Doc, Sneezy, Dopey, Bashful, Sleepy, Grumpy. None of that contrasts with Asha's vague characterization of "cares too much." None of it compares to that characterization, either.

The setting is empty. There are no interesting details that teach you something about any of the characters. None in Asha's home, none in the neat-and-tidy one-dimensional forest, none in the Rosas square, and none in the bland, empty castle. Magnifico's study is the closest anything gets; there's a loose concept that all of Asha's friends have to work together to open the roof, and take a leap of faith to weigh the pulley system down. Unfortunately, none of these characters is shown struggling to work together, OR to take leaps of faith, at all, before this point.

The ingredients of the formula are in Wish. They're just not being used correctly. This is how not to use the formula; it's not the formulas fault. If it ain't broke. They should never have let people convince them to try and fix it.

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