#flame ramblings

[flamedraco]

OCs in Fandom

This is something I've been thinking about more but why is the DSMP and MCYT fandoms specifically more OC repulsed than other fandoms?

Like this is a very strange trend I've noticed where when I introduce an unnamed, unimportant character meant to fill a role (usually to die or get droned in Aurelia's case) why does everyone ask "oh who was that btw?" or "ooo I wonder who this character was! You said she was a woman so she has to be one of these select few characters from the series!" Like. No? No that's not how that works.

In every other fandom I've been in I see art and stories surrounding the OCs that people make. Original Characters with their own powers and abilities, their own relationships to the canon characters. OCs made to fill roles in stories that other characters in canon simply cannot fill because they already have a role in the story somewhere else or because it wouldn't make sense.

This is a behavior that is present in a lot of fandoms. Especially in places like BNHA (the fandom I was in before DSMP). But for some reason not here? And I find that weird.

I'm not judging anyone for this btw I just find it strange because us viewers are CANON to a lot of MCYT mediums. My friend @emi-writings pointed out that the viewers are CANON to the DSMP. We were the ones who voted in the L'manburg election. We are The Voices in Techno's head. We're Phil's flock of crows.

And when you think about it we're canon to other MCYT mediums too. Any time "chat" is brought up in lore, that's us. Any time our suggestions make it into our favorite series and becomes part of the lore? That's us. We're here. We're existing. We're canon.

So why aren't there more OCs? I'd expect a lot more of them seeing how we are quite literally canon.

And yeah, there are a lot of characters to pull from in these mediums so maybe the need for OCs to fill plot points in our fics aren't as needed. But sometimes they are? And I find it so strange that they're kinda frowned upon or not normalized because you go to any other fandom and sometimes you can't tell an OC apart from an actual character in the lore!

In YWNTMBAH, for example, I wanted to give the readers more insight into Quackity's backstory in the AU. And so I decided I wanted to introduce a small handful of OCs as his family because I couldn't lean into the generally accepted family (head?)canon of Sam being his father because Sam already had a role in the fic. And I had already established that Quackity got his shrike wing power from his mother and there's not 'mother' character in that specific family canon. So what am I to do? Make OCs.

Right now I'm considering making a Minecraft Diaries AU as my next major multichapter fic. But Diaries has so many characters with very specific roles that half the cast of the DSMP is pretty much useless to me because they don't fit into these roles I need. Obviously a Diaries AU wouldn't be one to one because the characters are different with different personalities and temperaments, it's a completely different setting I'm throwing the DSMP characters into. But I also don't want to use certain characters unless I absolutely have to especially when the DSMP cast is so large I don't even know the lore and personalities of half the characters. And hell, some of the people whitelisted on the DSMP never even participated in lore or were just there and didn't really roleplay so I wouldn't use them to begin with. The answer here is to use OCs. In any other fandom everyone would tell you to just make some OCs to fill the roles you need or use the characters that were already present in Diaries (which isn't something I'd want to do because I want to create an AU not a crossover).

But for some reason in this fandom that's just...not a thing? Or at least that isn't a thing most people would recommend or do because I rarely see it. And readers will look at some unnamed, undescribed character, and assume I intended for it be someone in the DSMP cast. Had a specific character in mind for it.

And...no. No I didn't. That's just some dude that Wilbur killed. That's just some random ass hero Quackity plucked out of the cell to experiment on. That's just a character meant to fill out the world and make it feel more alive.

I guess the point of this really is just...make OCs more normalized in this fandom? Like it's not everyone's thing obviously and you don't have to if you don't want to. If someone in the DSMP cast fits the role you need then hey, less work for you as the writer, right?

And I'm not saying that this is a huge problem or anything because it's not. There are other people that do use OCs as writing tools or hell, collectively accepted OCs that the comment section of a fic will adopt because the concept of there being this one specific dude everyone bullies is funny. I remember a fic being inspired by YWNMTBAH and it was a story about someone's OC that they made and I thought it was cool as hell that my fic inspired someone to make an OC!

But I just think everyone should be more aware that it's okay and normal to make OCs in fandom. Hell, my take on Wilbur, Sally, and Sapnap are all pretty much OCs at this point. I made the Fridge an actual character with the help of Em. Me and Double added OCs in Arsonist's Waltz to fill out the DSMP Pantheon more because it wasn't explored enough in canon.

I think we should have more OCs. I think it should be normalized. I think the general expectation shouldn't be that every last character mentioned in the story is someone in canon. OCs are a really useful fanfiction writing tool and they aren't even hard to make really! You don't even have to name some of them! I never gave Q's parents in YWNTMBAH names, just descriptions! Half of Wilbur and Quackity's drones in Aurelia are unnamed OC characters they just yoinked off the streets!

OCs are things you can pour a lot of time into, give backstories, give cool concepts. But they can also just be easy writing tools when you need to kill something off but don't want to use one of your more major characters. They can just be there, chilling, making your world more alive and more full.

Because not every viable character in the canon cast can be used for the roles you need.

[fallenflamess]

I had a vision

inspired by this

part 1 part 1.5 (here) part 2 (3)

[badtzbot]

i have to say the relationship that smoker has with the asl brothers is fucking hilarious. luffy pissed him off so badly one singular time that he followed the guy halfway into the grand line and then also into the new world just to track him down. he had to accept help from his crew in defeating crocodile and luffy did it via becoming a water balloon. and then tashigi, who he's responsible for, cried about it. he hates luffy and luffy calls him smokey and doesn't gaf. ace.... do i even have to say anything. they did it nasty sloppy style. ace annoyed the fuck out of him and you KNOW it. smoker tried to confront him in alabasta and luffy SMASHED ALL THREE OF THEM THROUGH A WALL. and then luffy escaped because ace played diversion! and smoker can't even Actually do anything because ace is a wb pirate and he canNOT afford to anger them. and sabo. i just know when smoker met sabo in movie stampede he was already like fuck me why is the ra here and then sabo was like "luffys my little brother" and smoker just wanted to straight up kill himself. he was like FUCK ME theres ANOTHER ONE OF THEM ????? and then he has to fucking work with the guy for the greater good. again.

and the rest of the family too. he can't even yell at garp because he's one of the few superior officers smoker respects. smoker's life is just a constant aneurysm and you KNOW it's bad when the one he, a marine, has the least beef with is the fucking LEADER OF THE REVOLUTIONARY ARMY. smoker i hope your blood pressure goes down because between this and the cigars you're gonna die before you reach 40

[ninesugars]

hello to all 5 people that still care about fates. guess who’s replaying conquest

[omenlight]

if the flame chasers are in a constant loop of reincarnating as the titans, becoming mad, and being slayed...then does that mean flame reaver!phainon's attempt to kill mydei was an act of loyalty and mercy? he knew mydei's maddening, then subsequent death, after becoming a titan would be more gruesome & cruel than any other fate. was his attempt to end it all before it started a desperate plea for his lover to be granted rest?

[letyhide]

When Mapicc did things that hurt Zam she was okay with laying her head low, apologising, changing her morals, working around her oath, and sticking by Mapicc.

Zam did things that hurt Mapicc. They were never directed at him, Often they were done out of refusal to fight him directly. Yet Mapicc still saw the lack of support during Mawn, and how Zam threw hearts at Bacon (when he was their enemy) as betrayal. And was hurt.

Due to Mapicc’s reactions to being hurt being usually violent, and directed towards Zam, it’s easier for his feelings and needs to be overshadowed compared to Zam’s in discussions. Because he sees himself as the victim even after being the perpetrator of some real damaging stuff - stuff that is often way worse than the what is done against him. Because yeah, Despite everything that happened to both of them, Mapicc is sitting on a comfortable 20 hearts, while Zam is on 4 BECAUSE of Mapicc and how many times she has been killed by him. Mapicc’s response to things is usually fighting and violence. He has self preservation and self interest very high on his priority list. While Zam’s n1 response to situations is usually self sabotage. That’s why their conflicts work so well. Zam throws herself at Mapicc many times, and just accepts whatever the outcome is (most of the time she knows she’s gonna lose).

But still Mapicc’s original worries and feelings are still valid. And they come out of a place of care for Zam and insecurity in himself. He just doesn't know how to deal with them. When he’s in a heated discussion with Zam he starts saying how "if killing you is gonna end this conversation, then i will do it” just another way of saying “i would rather hurt you than deal with my own feelings”.

It’s crazy to me that they both seem to not see the care and effort they each put into their relationship. it seems to be all about "who used who more" when, it genuinely is not about that. (Recently yes. Mapicc admitted to using Zam for the flame fight when wanting to cut her off. and yesterday he wanted to use her to get Mane with the arrow cannon). But all this talk about using one another is.. Quite frankly useless.

When Mapicc first mentioned the feeling of being used by Zam, it was all about his jealousy towards Derapchu, Zam’s new 20 heart teammate, and not being included in plans anymore. He felt like Zam was just calling him whenever she was in danger and needed help. Yet during *that talk* After the flame void trap, Zam asked Mapicc to stay by her side, and Mapicc refused. And says “if you ever need help with a fight or are in a dire situation. call me”, when he was accusing Zam of only using him for fights prior to this. Almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy. He only sees Himself useful in pvp. So mainly renders himself available for pvp fights. Or it could be projection? He accuses others of seeing him only for PVP skill. When He's the first one to do that. During the same talk he says “I provide what? pvp skill, that’s what i'm saying bro, that’s all i'm good for” And assumes everyone else does too… And I genuinely think this is what this misunderstanding all boils down to: Mapicc’s insecurities about himself, and his place next to people. After a teamless season, Zam pulling away might’ve gone better if it didn’t, in his eyes, prove exactly Mapicc’s worries. (but he's also an hypocrite as he's the first one to throw Zam away when the empire logged back on).

Mapicc pushes his feelings, and Zam, away. Says he didn’t mean the apology that day, because being angry has always been easier than being vulnerable for Mapicc. And this time Zam just doesn’t take it. All this time of having Mapicc’s insecurities being projected onto her, Mapicc actually uses her for the creeking thing, blows up her flower field and he couldn't be more blunt about his hatred for her, when all she's done is be there for him. And she snaps. “Mapicc should’ve known him this way. He just used me”, and looks back and picks apart every single thing Mapicc has done wrong to her, which to be fair. There is a lot. But also conveniently leaves out all of the hearts he gave her, she leaves out how many times Mapicc jumped back into a fight just to try and save Zam, Even though it didn’t benefit him directly. She leaves out how the other day Mapicc left her a heart in a chest. When you have the full picture you KNOW these two care about each other.

They’re so used to being by each other's side, and so bad at communicating the care they have for one another, that the second something goes wrong all they’re left with is their unresolved feelings, that they never got over, and use it as a weapon to hurt the other.

When Zam accuses Mapicc of using her, he replies “how did I use you, what did I get out of you exactly”. Even telling Minute “how did I use him, he’s the dropper” again giving this image of how he sees other’s (and by extension his) value through their fighting skills. As if "It wouldn't make sense that he would use Zam, because she is not as skilled as pvp as him". This of course isn’t what he actually believes. It was almost what he wanted Zam to believe, (and what he wants to believe himself, but he cannot even stick to this version in his head, as he replies that "I never said you did nothing" to Zam. when that's exactly what he was implying) because that is easier to explain, it makes more sense for “Mapicc” to believe that than for him to admit a “i care about you”.

And when Mapicc was alone with his thoughts, he thought about what Zam was saying to him... Did he actually use her? He says that, if he did, it wasn't on purpose.... Well except that one time. Which he sees as justified since Zam gave hearts to his enemy! Bacon... who... is now his teammate...... huh.... and the team really wants them to reconcile and he realizes that it just not might be his call as he was the one that farmed her until she was at 4 hearts... hmmm........ I'm so excited to see where this will go.

[ravewing]

flame — is he really just an arrogant, angsty teen?

a wings of fire character analysis

yeah this has been a long time coming—honestly i can't believe it's taken me so long to write another analysis on him lol.

flame is a character that wof fans are far too quick to write off. they see the arrogance, the bitterness, the lashing out, and they stop looking there—never questioning why he acts the way he does. but when you start to peel back those layers, when you start to actually pay attention to what the books show us about him, it becomes painfully clear that flame is not just some cruel, irredeemable antagonist. he’s a kid who has spent his entire life feeling like he’s nothing. and everything he does, all of his anger, his cruelty, his desperation to be taken seriously, comes from that.

he spent his childhood constantly on the move with the talons of peace, never having a real home, never forming any meaningful connections beyond his mother. avalanche, the only dragon who truly loved him, gave up everything to keep him out of the skywing army, but that didn’t spare him from being used and discarded by morrowseer, from being thrown into the prophecy. and for a brief, fleeting moment, i'm sure he had hope—hope that maybe, just maybe, he was meant for something greater, that he was destined to end a war. but then he found out that he wasn’t. he was never a hero, never meant to be anything but a second choice. a backup. disposable.

and then, the skywing outpost massacre.

he gets to meet other skywings for what is likely the first time in his life. and he wants them to see him as one of them—he tries to play the part, acting confident, trying to impress them. he wants to belong. but before he even gets the chance, he’s dragged away and forced to watch them burn alive. right in front of him.

and he’s clearly shaken afterward, so much so that he goes to deathbringer in the prison, asking how to kill another dragon fast—without thinking about it, without remorse. because he thinks that’s what it means to be strong, to be a skywing. because he thinks maybe, if he learns to do that, he’ll be able to forget what he saw. and because deep down, he believes that if he doesn’t learn, if he doesn’t harden himself, he’s worthless. he’s weak. (and we even see early in book 4 that he really isn't this bloodthirsty, skilled, edgy killer—morrowseer literally has to tell him how to use his fire correctly, and starflight is easily able to outpace him.)

this “kill or be nothing” mentality is something that i think is deeply ingrained in skywing culture. their entire society is built around strength, aggression, and war. i mean, under scarlet's reign, they literally had a gladiator arena where war prisoners were forced to fight to the death for amusement. they worship power and despise weakness. flame didn’t grow up in this environment, but he no doubt heard about it through his mother. he knows what it means to be a skywing, or at least, what the world tells him it means. and no matter what he does, he always feels like he isn’t enough. (we even see this is book six: carnelian is quick to dismiss him as nothing more than a weak member of the talons of peace, barely a skywing at all.)

not even a day after the outpost massacre, he’s forced to fight the other false dragonets—the only other dragons he's ever known. he’s permanently scarred, something he sees as a mark of weakness, of shame. and he has to watch viper, one of the only dragons he’s ever known, die in front of him, boiled alive in lava. another wound. another loss. and he carries it all, bottling it up, with nowhere to put it but in self-loathing.

his scar is a permanent, ugly thing. it's his constant reminder that he was weak when it mattered most. we see other dragons (namely qibli) view their scars as proof of survival, something to be proud of. but when he looks at his reflection, all he sees is failure. he should have been stronger. he should have been faster. he should have been better. he even goes as far as to think that bigtail and carnelian were lucky that they'd been killed in the history cave bombing, or else they'd be "scarred shambling monsters" like he was.

his self-image issues are one of the most defining parts of his character. he genuinely believes that he is unlovable, that his own mother—the only dragon who's ever cared about him—must hate his scar just as much as he does. despite all the love she has for him, despite all the sacrifices she made to keep him safe, he can’t bring himself to believe in it. because who could love a monster like him?

that’s why darkstalker’s offer to heal him is such an important moment. the scar represents everything to him—the pain, the humiliation, the feeling of being weak and broken and beyond saving. and yet, when given the chance to erase it, he doesn't believe darkstalker. not because he doesn’t want to be healed, but because he doesn’t think he deserves it. nobody has ever given him anything out of kindness before. nobody has ever offered him something without wanting something in return. he doesn’t trust it. he doesn’t trust himself to have it. because the scar is proof of what he is, and he has spent so long believing that what he is is unworthy.

flame doesn’t think he deserves kindness. not in a way that makes him sad, not in a way that makes him pity himself. it’s just a fact, something that’s always been true. he’s hurt others, so it must be better this way. he knows where he stands when he’s alone. no one can betray him if he never lets them close. if they knew him, really knew him, they’d regret it. they’d turn away, just like everyone else has. it’s better to push them away before they get the chance.

when fatespeaker and starflight offer to get him off of the nightwing volcano island, he doesn't believe them. he doesn't understand why a fabled dragonet of destiny, a hero, would save him. he doesn't think that he deserves to be saved, and he doesn't agree to follow them when fatespeaker says that she's doing it because he's her friend. in fact, he only goes along after starflight says that they can use his scar as a tool to get them off the island.

all of this makes him shut himself off from other dragons, afraid that if they look too closely, they’ll see him the same way he sees himself—weak, broken, not enough. and this becomes bitterness, anger at the world, at himself. it eats away at him, gnaws at the edges of everything he is until there’s nothing left but self-loathing. we get a raw glimpse of this in book 6 when moon reads his mind—when we see how deeply he believes he doesn’t even deserve his mother’s love because of his scars, how convinced he is that no one takes him seriously, how certain he is that he has no friends, no allies, no one at all.

and the thing is, he never gets a real recovery arc. he never gets to heal, not really. flame is a character defined by his trauma, by his anger and his grief and his loneliness, and tui never truly explores what it would mean for him to move past it. the dreamvisitor subplot? dropped. his potential mind-reading sensitivity? unexplored. the parallel between him and stonemover—both dragons who see themselves as irredeemable, who think they deserve their suffering—left unexamined.

(which, speaking of stonemover, i wholeheartedly believe that darkstalker enchanted flame to attempt to murder him. think about it: flame is shown earlier to have wished to have bombed the history cave himself and essentially shout it from the rooftops, so that he could be taken seriously for once. so why would he silently try to kill some old man and slink away unnoticed? it's entirely in darkstalker's character to do this, too; he has no issue enchanting others to make his story flow the way he wants it to. "saving" stonemover from flame allows him to present himself as a hero, lets moon and her friends believe that he really can be trusted, and gives him an opportunity to sneak in any extra enchantments on stonemover.)

and not to mention the parallels between flame and glory—struggling with self-image issues, projecting their self-hatred onto everyone else world; and yet, glory finds solace and comfort in the support of other dragons because she actually had friends, which led her to accept herself, while flame's lack of such support caused him to spiral further into self-loathing—and yet, tui never has the two counterparts interact in the whole series.

i also wish tui touched on how the history cave bombing must have impacted flame. the moment the explosion went off, the fire, the panic—it certainly must have reopened a fresh wound, one that hadn't even begun to heal. because he’s been there before. he’s seen this before. back at the skywing outpost, when he watched members of his own tribe burn alive right in front of him. dragons screaming, fire swallowing everything, the smell of smoke and scorched flesh choking the air. and now it’s right in front of him again.

and people still call him evil. they see the anger, the bitterness, the pain, and they refuse to look past it. but flame is not a villain. he is a product of everything that was done to him, of everything he was forced to endure. his story is one of loss and self-hatred, of a desperate, misguided attempt to make himself worth something in a world that has never valued him. and it makes him one of the most tragically compelling characters in the entire series.

bonus: this really maniacal picture of flame that i think is really funny

[sabo-torao]

Sabo Week Day 5 - Mission(s)

where's the fun in things you specifically do for fun if you can't be extremely self-indulgent at least once?

i love the idea of sabo and law running into each other repeatedly during the timeskip, especially if it's during one of sabo's missions. i want this boy to be silly and have fun so he can ignore the pain that's corroding him from the inside even more than usual, and who would be a better partner-in-crime than trafalgar law himself?

p.s. this was supposed to be kiiind of a "parallel" to day 4 (same but opposite composition, the contrast between teen sabo and ya sabo, etc) but i don't think any person outside of my own self would get it. i'm just too stupid

[dootznbootz]

Say what you will about Fairy Tail but the fact that the main crew of a SHOUNEN is THREE women and two men (4 women and 3 men if you wanna include Happy and Carla) and all the female characters get their own stories and arcs is a pretty fucking cool thing.

[shrews-art]

Introducing my Tremere character for a vtm campaign I'm joining soon! The story is set in Budapest, my boy is called Lazar Ilić and he's an unfortunate immigrant former phd student who didn't even get to graduate before he got the embrace 💔

[a-flaming-idiot]

I love the original Bakugan Battle Brawlers show cause the tiny, shy, sweet girl who doesn't like fighting is best friends with a 25ft+ cyborg hydra who embodies the natural element of darkness and loves violence but they make it work cause they are BFFs.

[casualshrimp-but-undertale]

Headcanon that killer sees everything in black and white… but souls

so imagine his reaction to seeing color’s fire since it’s from the souls.

[fallenflamess]

HAPPY 20 YEARS OF NUWHO!!!!!!!

been watching dw for about 8 years now :))

[sukunas-play-thing]

This photo of Sabo isn't talked about enough

Like, the black leather pants, the white tank top, showing off his scandalous tits and collar bones, the leather jacket. The smirk.

Mmm 🫣🫣🫣🫣🫣 fanning myself like a woman sweatin in church.

~~~~~~~

It's Like. Seeing a woman's ankles for the first time. Clutching my pearls. I'm pregnant now.

Oi Vei

🎵feels like the very first time🎵

🎶it feels like the very first time🎶

I'm done rambling.......................

Or am I?please don't read my tags

[extra-joker-mush]

​see cabaret 1993 subverts the narrative established by the first production (1966+the movie in 1972) in which the emcee is clearly an embodiment of nazism.. in both, the first rendition of 'tomorrow belongs to me'--in which he finishes the last line instead of the singing child--is unsettling, because it portends what is to come. then the reprise later in the play is equally disturbing, to see a crowd of people stand to sing the ominous warning, like the spread of nazism through berlin has been a virus lying dormant until the first woman starts singing, and they all rise. meanwhile in cabaret 1993, the perspective of a jewish emcee changes the meaning.. the first rendition shows an emcee who is instead desperate and clinging to a sense of control-- 'to me' . the first time the song is used in the play it acts as a symbol of hope for the jews and queers (whom the emcee embodies)--acknowledging not just their futility against the nazi party, which at that point had engulfed berlin, but the hope that one day they will be overthrown-- in this way, the formerly ominous lines have become bittersweet and hopeful -- "But gather together to greet the storm. Tomorrow belongs to me. / But somewhere a glory awaits unseen. Tomorrow belongs to me. / Now Fatherland, Fatherland, show us the sign Your children have waited to see The morning will come When the world is mine Tomorrow belongs to me" i.e., today might not belong to me, but one day. then the second rendition is made all the more horrifying, in which the song is twisted into a nationalist anthem. the singers literally stand in a circle as though in prayer, while the jews and the queers in the room stand silently, looking around into the audience, because tomorrow will not belong to them

[anthurak]

You know it really speaks to how people who call Yang ‘hotheaded’ have COMPLETELY missed the memo when you realize that Blake and Ren have actually done WAY more impulsive and hotheaded shit that nearly got either of them killed over the course of the show.