#so idk. posts like this bother me

[tealursa]

All this 100% yes, BUT that being said, a couple things for storytellers:

1) "Why?" isn't a bad question to hear from your audience, and it's not often asked in genuine bad faith. An audience asking why and wanting to know more is a good thing, it shows they're invested. And often, the answer they actually WANT isn't a literal one.

Q: "Why is the alien language atemporal?"

The literal answer could maybe be something you as the creator know, but it probably isn't, because it's probably just a plot device. A lot of creators stop here with "I don't know, because it is" or "because it needs to be for the plot."

The answer your audience actually wants is to know what themes and ideas went into the plot device. "I wanted to showcase a species, a culture that goes so far beyond humanity it's almost inconceivable. Time is human-made, but also not, and is so enmeshed in our world that this other mysterious and endless world had to exist outside of it in order to get the point across. The aliens are the universe, their language is unchanging, because change is another so-called inevitability we take for granted."

Q: "Why is it rude to eat before the ambassador eats?"

A: "Almost every culture in the world has historically – if not presently – had etiquette rules surrounding dining. In this scene, I found an opportunity to showcase the value this society places on their ambassadors and incorporate that into the world."

2) I do believe storytellers have an obligation to analyze WHY they make the choices they do. No, you don't need to reinvent DNA to give your alien green skin, you don't need to explain anything at all in your content or to your audience, but think about it yourself.

I think this is especially important in sci-fi and fantasy, which usually includes creating entire cultures with different – often conflicting – norms and expectations. The amount of times I've seen, in worldbuilding, people come up with their "Original Idea" of the "Good Country with grasslands and a monarchy" with a "desert-like Evil Country of nomadic people ruled by a dictator – oh and this country is to the East" ... I have a lot of eurocentric, islamophobic nickels.

And of course we all know about the problems that arise with creators projecting their internal bigotry onto their worldbuilding without analyzing their intentions, most notably with fantasy orcs and goblins. My favorite article on this is 'Orcs, Britons, And The Martial Race Myth' by James Mendez Hodes. An example I always look to for this are companies like Wizards of the Coast (D&D) and Paizo (Pathfinder), who will add all sorts of progressive content like polyamorous deities, diverse art and characters and cultures, to their universes, which only serves to highlight the shortcomings that are still there.

Q: "Why are orcs and goblins either inherently evil, or 'one of the good ones' who must resist their evil impulses?"

I really want to believe most people who throw a bunch of goblins in a cave for their heroes to fight aren't actually racist, but they just don't think about it. And when people of the minority group made into villains in these stories speak up, they're always met by resistance from people who use the arguments above.

"Quit asking questions."

"It's not that deep."

"That's just how the society works."

So no, you don't need to reinvent DNA to explain why the alien's skin is green, but you need to know why YOU'VE chosen to make the alien's skin green, and what your AUDIENCE might glean from that information. Because you might catch yourself sending the wrong message.

I think an important instinct you have to build up when you read/watch sci-fi is discerning which things are givens. If Arrival tells you that the alien language is atemporal, it is, that's not a puzzle for you to pick apart, it's a prerequisite to getting the rest of the story. When I talk sci-fi with people who don't consume a lot of it this seems to be a thing they get hung up on.

[dailygihun]

day 26 || he is like lily of the valley to me

[musubiki]

.🖤🔄🤍.

[kindaasrikal]

Glow little glow worm glow

[bunnieswithknives]

DROP MORE TIN MAN ART AND MY LIFE IS YOURS

Normally I wouldnt do this but you have actually caught me with some random doodles I was on the fence about posting

[tordoise-x3]

I don’t. Know if I like it … BUT ITS OKAX! I post it anyways

[rystiel]

changed it a bit so if u saw this before no u didn’t

[slavhew]

the public loves a self-made man

cleaner alt ver blows raspberry

[atanxdoesstuff]

Lost Memories

[coern-art-very-cool-and-nice]

the boy in the spotlight versus the girl in the mirror

edit: made a part 2

unshaded version

[sanjarka]

sometimes a take i disagree with is so removed from the source material that instead of being annoyed i get properly confused as to how it is even possible that the person read the same book as me.

[twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat]

with shoko in particular people are always like she’s soooo much cooler than stsg 💞💞 <- and use that as an excuse to sideline her from the trio and it’s like . well first of all she’s really not LMAO

[compress1repress]

procrastinating so here are some ramblings about sci-fi/horror tropes I would link the challengers trio with

art - I actually think art being a werewolf would be very thematically interesting to me, because he's all about repression and passivity I think it would be fun if every full moon he literally can't control himself so all his passivity is thrown out the window and he becomes a wretched aggressive beast and he would feel so much shame about it <3 also he would love to be self pitying over it too. he already walks around like ughhh im so doomed due to my curse #mycurse ... and so this would just exaggerate that (some of this stuff could work with a vampire thing and i know a lot of people talk about vampire art but I just think werewolf art would be more interesting even just visually, like his obsession with shaving takes on a whole new meaning. and also he's more about 'loyalty' than isolation I think. he's always latching on to someone).

patrick - ok this one is kind of obvious but patrick is SO haunted I can't help but make it literal. patrick + ghosts = yayyy <3 i just think he holds onto the past and has never in his life moved on, so that manifesting as him seeing an actual ghost (or ghosts) would be fun!! especially bc on the surface he's egotistical, selfish, self-centred etc but underneath he holds onto everything so tightly, and the guilt clings onto him, and he can't just shake it off, and the feelings won't go away and he is deeply (almost gothically) romantic in this sense. also thematically it's an interesting look at his flaws, his impulsiveness and sense that he can do whatever he wants bc nothing matters, whilst surrounded by these lingering reminders of pain that prove things do matter, and then he realises that in some ways the ghosts reflect himself!! just stuck in this miserable limbo with unfinished business, and without the tools to fix anything and move on. except he does have the tools but he still won't actually make any meaningful change (him seeing Tashi through the window in Atlanta and she's engaged now and Art is doing better than ever at tennis and Patrick is just stood there in the same outfit that Tashi last saw him in... he genuinely could've been a ghost at that point!!). i enjoy the ghosts as representing him BEING haunted yet also him DOING the haunting bc he has become a ghost himself essentially. he has to hurry up and DO something while he's still got life in him. change something (make the throuple happen yay)

tashi - ok she is why I made this post in the first place so it may be long but omggg Tashi and the clone/double/doppelganger trope would be sooooo interesting. I think identity is such an important theme with tashi, and also something she is very aware of. she knows she has to present in a certain way, and probably self-polices a lot, to the point where in some ways it does feel like there are two of her, the version she knows, and the version presented in society (shout out w.e.b du bois double consciousness), so to physically and literally manifest that in the form of a clone would be fascinating. also through a disability lens there is a certain sense that becoming disabled feels like having a new body, and (at least from my perspective) there can sometimes be an out of body type experience with that as you adjust to a different body physically, and a different self too (just to add, i am not saying this is necessarily negative either). so again tashi's link with versions of the self make the idea of a double sound so interesting. clone narratives often brings up the question of who is the 'real' version and who is the copy, or a fear of being replaced by a copy, which are all questions about the self and identity, what makes us ourselves, and which parts are the most important. I imagine tashi ruminates on this sort of thing quite often, especially post injury with the readjusting of her identity after that. how she has to create another version of herself essentially bc the sport she formed her identity around will no longer accommodate her. tennis won't change to fit her new shape (:/) so she must find a way to change her shape so that she can still participate somehow (creating another self = clone moment)... anyway I think a clone would be a point of anxiety and fear yet also could be very cathartic for her. the end.

[kagiura-akira]

Sometimes I feel like the average onlooker could skim Hirano to Kagiura and probably think reasonably that their only communication issue is that time Kagi accidentally confessed out of the blue in broad daylight and Hirano didn't understand what he meant... And then I think about how on a deeper level it's so much worse than that. And even casual readers could probably look at it and think the extra layer is only Hirano's aspec tendencies interfering with his ability to understand Kagi's romantic love and situations like Kagi being petty with sasahira and not being forthcoming about how much it bothers him.

Need the people to spread far and wide about Kagi's inability to be honest about the depths of his attraction to Hirano and how it partially hinders Hirano's genuine attempts to understand him.

[bdoubleowo]

Got super bored in a college lecture and suddenly treebark had possessed me

[megapteraurelia]

guys i actually would love to do tag games and stuff w followers and mutuals and all