#there are writers who are consistent. writers who are inconsistent. and there is a man that comes online just to clear his drafts n dip

[wishchip106]

if season 2 of xmen 97 doesn’t show more of them WHATS THE POINT

i need every piece of content where they’re in haifa i’m going to read all the comics

just gonna have to ignore the fact charles was dating gabrielle at that point

[argesta]

Sometimes, when they are quiet and tucked against each other in the dark, Armand wants to ask him if any of this is real.

Early devil’s minon era, or: so many ways to lose.

[meanbossart]

I think DnD lore is fascinating. The detail gone into building this universe should be celebrated, analyzed, and dissected. Pointing out inconsistencies and joking about - even becoming performatively "angry" at clumsy retcons or oversights in good humor - is the right of any devoted TTRPG player or fan.

However, I am really baffled by people who feel the need to point out or even reprehend creators who ignore or change part of the lore in their own stories to fit the narratives they they're trying to tell.

You know whats frustrating about trying to tell a story that takes place in a non-fictional world? That we have to adhere to the rules of how that world functions. Or at least we better do that or else a gaggle of sticklers will come barreling through all of the subtext, themes, and whatever point you the writer were trying to make, to instead point out that the *obscure and deeply debated* historical element you used was incorrect and took them out of the narrative, or ask why the character didn't simply "call the police".

The beautiful thing to me about DnD, on the other hand, is that it is deeply malleable. You can take things out or add things in or change them to your liking all in the name of serving the story that you want to tell and keeping it focused on what you deem important - instead of having to take random detours to explain how unimportant-event-that-slightly-facilitates-my-plot is possible. It was this magical rock. It was the Gods. It was fictional faction established in chapter two. It was this skeleton man I randomly met in a tomb.

I understand that this mindset might not appeal to people who want to read stories about strict and well-defined political and cultural conflict, or centuries-old Godly spats of biblical proportions based on ancient and well-established astral beef - if that kind of thing IS the main course for you, I get it. Go out there. Find it and eat it up.

But there is another section of people for whom those aspects are set-dressing, whose engagement depends more so on dynamics set between characters and their emotional development throughout the story - everything else is there to facilitate these interpersonal journeys and make it as concise and interesting as possible. Naturally, most people are going to be some mix of both archetypes, but I think they will always prioritize one over the other.

Regardless - remember, it's fantasy. You are arguing for (at times demanding, even) consistency in populations and creatures that have never existed. You GOTTA admit that that is a little silly.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

more literary & character tropes

Tropes - themes, motifs, plot devices, plot points, and storylines that have become familiar genre conventions

All writers manipulate language to create certain effects. At the level of individual phrases and sentences, the skillful use of tropes is key to creating writing that’s fresh, memorable, and persuasive.

Artifical Script - found mainly in fantasy settings, this trope is about fictional scripts invented by the author.

Busman's Vocabulary - when a character in a certain profession isn't on the job, they're going to still use jargon from that profession, basically to let us know what they do for a living. Mafia guys will use "whacked" and the like, chefs will use culinary language, and so forth.

Classical Tongue - a language that isn't typically known or used by the common man. It may be dead and mostly forgotten, or only spoken by educated elites such as nobility, scholars, clergy, or mages. A few words from it might be used to denote something special, or it is used for something or someone's name, or someone who knows it might drop a phrase here and there in an attempt to sound clever, but don't expect the common masses to use it (anymore). It's often an Expy of Latin, if it isn't Latin itself.

Dissimile - when you attempt to make a comparison between two things that can't be usefully compared, realize your problem, and then throw more words at the argument in an attempt to salvage it. This just undermines your comparison even further, to the amusement of anyone listening. ["Boxing is a lot like ballet, except there's no music, no choreography, and the dancers hit each other." — Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey]

Enslaved Tongue - certain types of monsters, wizards, and other supernatural or alien beings are able to control your voice, or otherwise replace your communications with those around you. They will use your voice to lie to teammates, friends and loved ones, or to deliver warnings or threats.

False Prophet - someone comes along and preaches a message about how they're going to make everyone's lives better. People will flock to them out of hope, or because they see an opportunity to increase their own power by aligning with the prophet. If they don't already have it, this figure will request assistance—physically, monetarily, or in some other way—so that their goals can be achieved.

The Grotesque - a character that induces both fear and pity in viewers because his deformities belie a perfectly normal — if not noble — personality. The pathos associated with The Grotesque is the implication that he could easily have been a well-adjusted member of society if not for the hideousness that he is powerless to remedy.

Higher Self - the aspect of a character which "knows better". More specifically, however, the Higher Self is the aspect which rises above whatever is going on in the plot and can see the situation in a way that's removed from emotional or melodramatic entanglement.

Inconsistent Spelling - when names and other terms are not spelled consistently in officially published materials (and not fan-made translations), usually because of transliteration issues.

Jeanne d'Archétype - a fictional character inspired by Saint Joan of Arc. This can incorporate various elements of the historical Joan's story. This character is Always Female, usually young, often an Action Girl, and often of humble origin. Her devotion to a religion, her country, or simply a desire to protect her loved ones causes her to assume an active role in liberating the oppressed from an overbearing force, eventually becoming not only a respected leader, but also a living symbol and a reminder of just how unjust the oppressors are if they bring out the warrior in the most unlikely of people. Therefore, her example directly inspires many otherwise ordinary people to follow in her footsteps and join the same cause.

If these writing notes helped with your poem/story, please tag me. Or leave a link in the replies. I'd love to read them!

More: Literary & Character Tropes

[gwenllian-in-the-abbey]

Not fluent in English. 

Please tell me I’m not the the only who noticed that team green characters in the show aren’t allowed to hate team black characters. 

Like Aemond can’t even hate Lucerys for cutting his eye and disabled him for life. 

And Alicent can’t hate Viserys for marrying and gr*ping her and forcing pregnancies on her, even though he have no intention to name any of their sons his heir, and treating her mostly like a caretaker and concubine rather than his lawful wife and the mother of his legitimate children. 

Aegon and Helaena aren’t even allowed to hate Daemon the man who ordered the death of their Son.

Like why??? Why aren’t they allowed to hate them???

Hi aleksandra! You make a good point! I think there are a few things going on here.

For one, I think the writing is incredibly inconsistent across the board this season, and there are a lot of dropped plot threads. Some of it is intentional (like, I do think B&C was deliberately downplayed and undermined so that Alicent could have that Dragonstone scene, more on that in a bit), some of it I think is just bad writing and a kind of ... well, look, I can't speculate as to what goes down in the writer's room and have no idea what their workflow looks like or what processes they follow, but a problem going back to S1 is that characters and dialogue vary a lot from episode to episode. I don't think it's all that normal for a fandom to be concerned ahead of time about which writers will be writing which scenes and which episodes, but with HotD there seem to be huge differences in how each writer interprets the characters. Having worked on OFCIR collaboratively with @aifsaath, we work really hard to make sure the chapters are relatively consistent. I gave our first few chapters to my critique partner for original fiction, a guy who knows my writing inside and out, someone I've worked with for about 6 years now, @theravenpiper, and he could not actually tell which scenes were written by me, and which were written by Aife, which I took as a big complement to our collaborative process, and to our ability to edit to a uniform standard. Now I'm not saying we do it better than the HotD writers, but I do think that there is something missing from their collaborative process that makes the entire thing seem disjointed.

I do not think it is entirely that the whole of team green is not allowed to be angry at team black, although that is part of it, some of it is part of an overall bigger problem where major events are not allowed to resonate across the story, and I chalk some of it up to simple bad writing. Rhaenyra is apparently over Luke's death enough by E3 that she can seek out Alicent for some kind of vague "let's stop this madness" ploy, but still conveniently needs "a son for a son" in E8. Although Rhaenyra is negotiating from a position of power in E8, there was no reason for her to feel so desperate as of E3, when Rook's Rest hasn't even happened yet, that she would set aside her grief and anger and go seek peace. Peace was offered in E10 of season 1 and Rhaenyra turned it down after Luke died, so what has changed besides Rhaenyra's own husband beheading a toddler? Other events happen too and have little or no consequence. Rhaenyra and Mysaria kiss in E6 and it's entirely forgotten by E8, with zero follow up. Criston Cole is brought to his knees by the sight of Aegon lying injured by his dragon, but never even visits his bedside. Gwayne never interacts with anyone aside from Alicent and Criston. Rhaenyra sends her younger children to the Vale and never mentions them again (she is shown looking wistfully at a box of toys), nor does Jace. Laena in a vision berates Daemon for not looking after their girls, but does he ask after them when Broome shows up directly from Dragonstone? I could go on. Events just happening and then never really mattering again is a consistent problem throughout the season, which makes it hard to tell when it is happening deliberately and when it is happening because the writers can't get on the same page.

There are two things I do think are deliberate, however, one of them being the scrubbing of Viserys' image. While audiences loved Paddy's performance, a lot of viewers did pick up on how Viserys played favorites and neglected his sons, and I think when the show decided to switch up Alicent's motivation from "she wants to protect her children and knows they will face the sword if Rhaenyra comes to power" to "she misheard Viserys' last words," they knew that the natural question is, "why should she care about Viserys' last words?" A lot of the immediate feedback about that episode involved how Alicent was stupid for not knowing Otto planned to have Aegon take the throne, and a lot of people didn't think that Alicent (or Aegon for that matter) really believed that Viserys changed his mind, but apparently that was the writers' intention, that Alicent truly believed it and managed to convince Aegon (there's a lot I could say about how they could have included this deathbed misunderstanding into the plot without having it replace all of Alicent's other motivations, but they did not do that). So in order to drive home the point that the whole entire war is being fought due to this misunderstanding, they have to make sure the audience is clear that all of these characters considered Viserys a good king. Even if he was Alicent's rapist. Even if he was a deadbeat dad. Even if he was a terrible husband. We are meant to believe he chose Rhaenyra not because he was playing mindgames or out of guilt over Aemma's death, no we must believe he chose Rhaenyra because he was good and wise and to convince us he was good and wise we have to have the green characters reminding us constantly that things were so much better when Viserys was around, that Aegon is inferior to Viserys, that Viserys' wishes are all that matter. Nevermind that it goes directly against the book, never mind that it's not even a particularly powerful or interesting change, it's what enables Rhaenyra and Alicent's relationship to continue. Because here's the thing-- if Alicent put Aegon on the throne because she felt it was the only way to keep her family safe, and because she feels that law and tradition ARE on her side, and because absolutism isn't good (!!!) then there's no chance for her and Rhaenyra to ever reconcile. These are irreconcilable differences, not misunderstandings. And so the show has to glaze Viserys otherwise the basic reasoning falls apart.

And the second is the events like Luke's death, Blood and Cheese and Rook's Rest come in, events in which the greens or the blacks harm and traumatize each other directly. It is not that the greens are not allowed to hate the blacks, it is that Alicent is not allowed to hate Rhaenyra, and by extension, the people who Alicent cares about are not allowed to hate her (I would argue that Aemond is allowed to hate Luke on screen, he literally murders him, and I don't think the scene with the brothel madame is an expression of true remorse, it's more "I'm kinda sorta sorry there were consequences for my actions."). Alicent cares about Helaena the innocent, and therefore Helaena cannot be allowed to hate Rhaenyra (note Phia Saban's many interviews about how apolotical and neutral Helaena is). Aegon, on the other hand, can be affected by B&C because he is allowed to hate Rhaenyra. In fact, his hate for Rhaenyra puts him at odds with his mother, which is what the show wants. Aegon is gravely injured at Rook's Rest, but good thing Rhaenyra's forces did not cause the injuries, Alicent herself drove him to battle with cruel words, and Aemond burned him, which puts him at odds with Alicent too (and Helaena is allowed to express ire at Aemond by extension). If you look at S2 as an exercise in driving a wedge between Alicent and her family and downplaying what happens to them in order to justify their decision to have Alicent seek out Rhaenyra and surrender Aegon's life, it makes a lot more sense.

The thing is, it still doesn't work. Their efforts are much too transparent and require characters to act in ways that are simply not within the realms of how normal human beings would react to these situations, much less the characters established in S1. There is a twitter user, and I'm so sorry that I can't remember their name at the moment, but I've seen them express the sentiment several times that Alicent's character this season made them aware, in a way that a viewer should never be aware, that these are scripted lines coming out of her mouth. That is, a lot of the characters in S2 do not feel like actual people. Aegon is such a fan favorite this season because he feels real. Alicent garnered legions of fans last season because her struggle felt real, even if we didn't agree with it. She felt like a character who inhabited a quasi-medieval world, bound by restraints we are not bound by, but nevertheless a human with human reactions who had to make difficult choices and persevere through them. And any human would be angry beyond comprehension at Blood and Cheese, would lose all faith in Rhaenyra, would know that there can be no peace if she is ruling with a man that ruthless at her side. If she thinks her sons are devils (and mind, so far as king Aegon's most egregious action is executing a handful of ratcatchers after one of their number murdered his son, whereas Rhaenyra burned about 65 peasants alive in a quasi religious ecstasy-- will Alicent ever find out about that, I wonder?), they are at least the devils she knows. Better they all die than end up in Daemon's hands, surely? And so OP, you're right, they are not allowed to hate each other when naturally you, and many others, feel like they should. That is because they are writer creations who would never do such things as what happen in the books in the first place, acting out plot points of entirely different characters (their book counterparts).

[pacing-er]

I've been trying for a few days to get my thoughts in order on white haired Magneto, since that is something that I have strong feelings about.

It is canon in some of the comics that Magneto's hair is white due to a secondary mutation, though this is inconsistent throughout the decades of iterations. Because he is mostly depicted as an older man, people naturally assume that he is white haired because of his age. However in most early depictions of a younger Magneto his hair is white. This includes the Legion Quest comics, wherein (timeline inconsistencies aside) we are seeing an Erik Lehnsherr from 20 years past, likely 40 or 50 at the oldest. Even earlier in the timeline when his first daughter Anya died he was likely in his 30-40s, but he was still depicted with stark white hair. This would be very premature hair whitening and--though not impossible--it is unusual. Additionally we see a de-aged child Magneto at several points in the comics with white hair. It would make sense for him to have this secondary mutation considering he seemingly passed it on to two of his children (Pietro and Lorna) and one of his grandchildren (Tommy). So, yes, there is a decent amount of evidence that Magneto has naturally white hair because of his mutant DNA.

There are several possibilities then:

-Magnetos hair had been a natural color as a child but turned white due to a secondary mutation when his powers manifested.

-Magnetos hair had been white due to a secondary mutation since birth, with his powers manifesting separately later.

-Magnetos hair turned white due to outside factors (ex.: Excessive stress, Other mutant interference, etc.)

With the magic of comic books, all three of these possibilities are (frustratingly) canon at once. However, I personally subscribe to the idea that Magneto would have had a natural hair color at birth and through his early childhood. In the comics his mutant gene is said to have activated very late, since he was well into adulthood when he got his powers whereas normally a mutant's powers would come during puberty. This is stated to have been because of malnutrition and disease from a childhood spent in the Ghettos and Concentration Camps. His white hair could have manifested later at the same time as his powers, which activated after the death of his first daughter Anya. This would also help avoid the problem of depicting a Jewish child with stark white hair in Auschwitz, which would be unrealistic at best and outright offensive at worst. I think that this is why both the movie and Magneto Testament versions of the character are given a natural hair color. Of course, there is a comic where Magneto is explicitly depicted as white haired from birth including his time during the Holocaust (House of M) but I haven't read it yet so I can't comment on whether or not I think it is in poor taste. As for why de-aged child Magneto is consistently depicted with white hair, it would be because this version of him already manifested his mutant abilities. If he didn't have a mutation affecting his hair color at all, then this detail would be inexplicable (but this is an X-Men comic so who knows atp).

The difference between physical mutations and mutant powers is a whole other thing. We see mutants like Nightcrawler who are physically mutated from birth but don't unlock their mutant powers until puberty, and we see characters like Glob Herman who look normal as children and then physically mutate at puberty in addition to getting their mutant powers. There doesn't seem to be a set rule when it comes to physical mutations like hair color and whether they manifest at birth or not. For Lorna, whose background has been rewritten several times throughout her history, she is said to have been green haired since birth in one comic and then had her hair turn green when her powers activated in another. The fun of comics with decades of history and dozens of different writers and artists is that you get to pick and choose what details you like and want to keep. There is no "right" interpretation of a character and that is both frustrating and freeing. That being said I obviously have not read every X-Men comic out there, so there are definitely details I missed and haven't considered yet.

Please share in the notes your opinion on white haired Magneto and your own personal head-canon!

[jazeswhbhaven]

Funny that Ch 7 finally came out just when I was going to leave WHB aside. I mean I still did because now it's just a game that I don't touch until it updates with something worth reading. Anyway back to my overthinking nonsense and I'm running on 3 hours of sleep so here we go!

Someone on twitter pointed something out of the fact Foras seems to not mind at all about MC taking every demon dick possible, but yet he gets pissed of the idea that MC has a baby with their childhood friend. Listen, Foras is my favorite, but it all goes back to PB's questionable choices in writing. I can overlook the whole being a peeping tom while invisible but I do wonder why they gave a voyeur philia to an Envy-based devil and be so inconsistent with it. I mean I guess it gives writers Yandere opportunities but I'm not a fan of that genre. I love the Foras content, what I don't love that he's madly in love with a terrible MC. Do better my guy, there's a ton of people out there who would love you better than that default MC, who won't love you at all because they're taking multiple dicks in less than 24 hours.

Speaking of bad PB writing, it seems like the general consensus is Levi needs to be kicked down several flights of stairs and as someone who initially picked him and liked him, I REALLY agree because....seriously what the hell did I read? I hate that I focus on the negative stuff but honestly where did the development of Ch.6 go? Just when it felt okay, that trainwreck of dealing with Levi getting plot armor and MC being a wet blanket again. IDK if I'm being choked I'd fight my way out or something, or panic. Not my last thoughts being Levi has a bad past and then cry about that, and god why did they have to write in the "WAAAAHHHHH" parts? Like no one's written that way since early 2000s, at least for me. Like I would like to say MC has gained some backbone but I really don't see it. They're just existing to be every demon's sex toy.

I skipped the H scenes actually, mainly because I just don't have interest in them. But I know MC is loathing Barbatos for the poison thing which is the ONLY thing that's consistent here. But like, PB does that to Barbatos, but Levi has gotten how many passes from trying to kill MC? Foras even got slapped for protecting MC. wtf is this inconsistency? Seriously I'm revoking WHB rights from PB and giving it to someone else. Just anyone who can actually make this game good in writing, gameplay, and features. delete the MC please. Delete Levi too, or at least delete the entirety of that scene because man I cannot right now.

And the PG 13 WHB game? Seriously what the hell is going on here? You spend resources to make a rated 13 game that is actually WORSE than your existing one instead of focusing on improving the existing one?

thank god for this community existing to keep everyone fed.

-💭

And another inbox thought from 💭 anon (this isn't a bad thing I like reading them)

First and foremost like to point out what you said about speaking in negativity, which I mean...you're pointing out something you'd like to see done better and I think that warrants a valid viewpoint. Anything other than "I just don't like PB or this game, fuck it all" (this is fine to admit too but at some point saying it more than once or twice means you probably should just not play or pay attention to the fandom lol)

I do wish PB would remember their own details for characters between making the side stories actually coexist and be canon with one another but in the main story suddenly MC just forgets everything that they learned in the side stories? I need a better what happened in what time frame because piecing it together myself just has me wondering if I'm even correct.

Now speaking on Foras??? I believe they may have wrote that weird instance of immense jealously because while he knows he can compete with everyone else other than Levi, he can't compare to a human child created by another 'human' (because I'm second guessing if Minhyeok is actually human now). But that's my wishful thinking of why they had Foras act like that.

And usually I'd talk about MC, but I am exhausted about talking about them. Everyone here knows how I feel about them at this point to where it's embarrassing lol It's the same with the pg13 version. I've seen a few opinions formed about it, and I'm like yeah what a waste of time and money on their part. And that Levi scene? Yeah I've spoke on that too, 💀

As far as stepping away from the game until there's something worth signing in for, I'm hoping there's some hope for old players to come back because something cool did happen! With the updated designs, and new bloodshed cards, I'm hoping they've got something good coming up!

[brw]

sometimes Hank has a backstory where Charles removes the memory of him from everyone including his parents minds. sometimes Hank is close with his parents into adulthood and they're extremely loving and supporting. is there any branch between these two or is it just weird?

It's just weird, unfortunately. It's kind of a representative of the great contradiction of Charles Xavier, where he ranges from gentle and wise to doing some cartoon supervillain shit, seemingly without any repercussions for his actions. It's also a very good representation of how writers have made Charles increasingly morally dubious over the years and have rewrote a lot of the innocuous stuff of the O5 to be as strange and as damning as possible, because man in wheelchair scary.

So, in the initial version of Hank's backstory, Charles erases the memories of Hank's powers from the minds of those in his hometown.

X-Men V1 #53

But later when they revisit this story, Charles just fully erases Hank from everyone's minds completely, including his family, his football team, his friends, his girlfriend, etc. It's a completely insane, egregious thing to do.

X-Men Origins: Beast

At best, I can say possibly some wires got crossed while researching the original origin, and when they saw Hank say "None are any longer cognizant that there was once a boy called beast!", they took that to mean Charles wiped the minds of everyone. It's overkill, it's insane, and it's not something I at all care for.

It is, in any case, canonically very inconsistent with everything else before and after this. Hank has been seen with his parents after his blue mutation kicked in, with no issues. Hell, Charles literally brings Hank to his parents house once when they are in the area anyway looking for another mutant.

X-Men: Hidden Years #10

There isn't really a real answer, Mike Carey just decided to do something really strange in X-Men Origins. It's been a while since I've read the whole series, but I remember the other stories also being seemingly creepy with how they portray Charles, which obviously is incredibly loaded with a man in a wheelchair.

I think there was a missed opportunity to try and curtail some of these inconsistencies in Krakoa, where perhaps in one Moira timeline, Charles really does wipes everyone's minds because he's trying to speedrun mutant liberation or whatever, but in any case, I think the original one where Charles just erases the memory of Hank's powers so he's just remembered as a random athletic student is what makes most sense with previous and subsequent canon of Hank's parents, who as you say have consistently been portrayed as incredibly loving, to the point of being the only people who Dark Beast couldn't kill because he had never experienced the warmth or love of his parents before.

X-Men Unlimited V1 #10

So, it is just weird, but I feel pretty confident in saying X-Men Origins: Beast is not the definitive Hank McCoy origin, and can be safely disregarded unless you're using it for something specific.

[darklinaforever]

To those who say Daemon tarnished Rhaenyra's image by making Blood and Cheese :

In the book, none of Rhaenyra's allies cared and there is no conflict with Blood and Cheese. Daemon did not tarnish Rhaenyra's image and endanger the support she could obtain. The Greens, literally the usurpers, had already shed the first blood of an innocent man.

It's just a stupid scenario invented by HOTD to create drama that didn't exist in the original work.

Plus in HOTD they left Blood and Cheese blurry to make it a possible accident.

So in itself, Daemon may have sincerely just asked for Aemond's head and not that of an innocent child in this version. We don't know what he said at Blood and Cheese, so it's entirely possible.

So all the craziness around Daemon's impulses denigrate Rhaenyra cause is bullshit.

In Fire and Blood, Daemon acted on impulse, Rhaenyra probably didn't know anything and yet as I said, there was no particular problem following that for Rhaenyra cause.

In HOTD, Daemon asked for Aemond's head following Rhaenyra's request and maybe Blood and Cheese simply screwed up the mission.

In this possible scenario, Daemon is not responsible for the assassins doing anything.

And yes, maybe he still asked for this child's head, except that we don't have the scene and nothing really confirms it.

Anyway, even if he did, there is no reason for the show to go in such an excessive scenario for the credibility of Rhaenyra following Blood and Cheese, since once again, it 'is an unnecessary addition to the book.

And we know very well that Rhaenyra will have much greater support than the Greens in any case, because let's be realistic, the writers wouldn't dare change this canon fact. Is not it... ?

(Now I'm afraid I said that and the writers actually decided to write Rhaenyra as having less support than the Greens in their shit show, which would probably be the icing on the cake of betrayals for Fire and Blood book that 'they already did...)

And above all, I will add that it makes no sense that Rhaenyra would suddenly care that she was accused of having someone killed, especially through Daemon.

For what ? Well did everyone forget about Laenor's affair in episode 7 ?!

Literally Daemyra staged his fake death fully expecting to be accused and pointed fingers, which was the case, including for Rhaenys herself, and Rhaenyra managed to live with that very well. People's opinions of her supposedly horrible actions didn't seem to bother him before.

I'm not saying that Rhaenyra reacting badly to the death of a child is wrong, I'm just saying that the fact that she cares so much about other people's beliefs about her for killing someone now... eh well it's not really consistent with 1x07.

But hey, one more inconsistency in this shit show is no longer surprising at this point...

[thekosherserial]

Welcome!

Hello new friends!

I am an Orthodox Jewish woman in my mid-30s and I love writing, but just never seem to get around to doing it consistently. I'm hoping that starting this project here will incentivize me to write more and share the stories that are always being developed in my head.

Each story will have its own blog so you can read straight through on one page, but I will also share the updates for each of story to this blog so you can keep up to date with new additions and chapters.

This post will remain pinned to this blog and I will update it with the links to each blog as the stories develop.

Also, please comment on each post with your ideas and opinions! I do have thoughts for where the stories will go, but as they are being developed, there are still so many possibilities and directions, and I would love to incorporate things you guys would like to see/read!

(And don't be afraid to point out inconsistencies and typos, because those will help me become a better writer, but please be nice about it!)

Happy reading!

❤️ The Kosher Serial

Feel free to support these projects here: https://buymeacoffee.com/thekosherserial

LIST OF STORIES:

Accidentally Beshert - currently one chapter (3/2/25)

When Miri stumbles upon a mysterious shidduch resume in her Google Drive, she’s drawn into a web of intrigue involving a man who seems to exist only on paper. As her sister digs deeper into the mystery, Miri's life is about to take an unexpected turn — is it Divine intervention, or just a series of strange coincidences?

In Its Right Time - currently one chapter (3/2/25)

Nechama, an "older single" with a deep fear of commitment, is shocked when the boy she once babysat returns—now a man who seems nothing like the child she remembers. As their connection deepens, she must confront her own insecurities and realize that love might be simpler than she ever imagined.

Through The Lattice - currently one chapter (3/5/25)

A strong-willed woman takes on a reclusive mogul with a dark past, challenging him in ways he never expected. As their worlds collide, he begins to make peace with his past and learns to forgive those who hurt him—transforming both of their lives.

In The Shadows - currently one chapter (3/5/25)

In a dystopian future, two Orthodox Jewish teens, Dassi and Max, find themselves on the run after their communities are mysteriously taken. As they navigate a world of secrets and danger, they must protect their faith in a world that threatens to destroy it.

Drawn Together - currently two chapters (3/19/25)

Filling a sudden void in his life with evening classes, Jon finds an unexpected spark with his professor, Abby. Years later, a chance encounter gives them a second shot at connection, just as Jon's past threatens to repaint his future.

Jar of Hearts - currently two chapters (4/01/25)

For years Shira has leaned on her best friends, Tomer and Ayalah, but when their perfect marriage crumbles and unexpected feelings surface, she must learn to navigate love, loss, loyalty, and the courage to follow her heart.

A Love Like Hers - WIP (coming soon)

Shoshana envied her best friend's perfect life—until fate, and her best friend, rewrote the ending.

The Secret Crystal - WIP (coming soon)

In a world where status and wealth dominate, Yehuda, a young man of spiritual depth, is drawn to Chanala, a humble girl with a secret heritage.

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Disclaimer: This blog includes works of fiction. Any names, characters, places, and events are purely the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, real-world locations, or real events is purely coincidental. Additionally, any similarities to existing fictional characters or works are unintentional and not meant to infringe on any copyrights.

[gorogues]

Probably more interesting second question: which Rogue do you think writers most often misunderstand/write poorly? Conversely, which one has been written well the most consistently?

It is an interesting question, and it's one that's challenging to answer because of my own biases. I personally think Roscoe is terribly misunderstood (and not in a "he didn't do anything wrong" way because he did tons of things wrong, but in a "they don't really get what drives him and don't care to figure it out" so he behaves randomly way) and is thus handled poorly by most writers, but it's also very possible I'm reading stuff into canon that other writers don't see or agree with. I spend more time thinking about him than most people 😅

Mick is written extremely inconsistently, so he's probably one of the most overtly mischaracterized Rogues. He regularly flips between a good man with psychological problems and an angry or sullen psycho who burns things for shits and giggles, and one of the more frustrating parts of Countdown (in a long list) is when he complained about James and Hartley flip flopping between good guys and bad 🙄

Owen was only a Rogue for a very short time, but the most frustrating thing about him to me is that he too is incredibly inconsistent. Leaving aside the post-Flashpoint weirdness for a second (because that's an even bigger kettle of fish), he regularly flipped between smart and competent to a total idiot, and sometimes he tried to live up to his dad's legacy and sometimes he wanted to prove he was nothing like him. It seems like the writers didn't have a cohesive take on his character, and just did whatever they felt like with him. That was his undoing in the end, I think, and probably why he got killed off; DC had wanted a fresh start with a new Captain Boomerang, but he wasn't being handled well so they went back to the established Boomerang.

The blurring of Axel and James into one vague Trickster is another troublesome one, and also pretty frustrating. It shouldn't be hard to tell them apart and make them distinct, and yet a lot of writers struggle with it.

For most consistently, I want to say Len since 2000, but with the huge caveat that even he gets messed up, and it's obvious when he does because he appears most often. Even so, it's clear that Johns' revamp of him has stood out prominently in DC's eyes, so I think the vast majority of writers are trying to write him that way even if they sometimes fail. And the way they usually fail is depicting his intelligence and cunning, ie, he suddenly becomes a thoughtless dope.

Mark is also generally consistent, but he's never been given a lot of attention so it might be easy to keep a handle him. Same with Marco (the weirdness in his current arc is probably due to outside influence). My biggest quibble with Mark has also been his intelligence and competence levels, which tend to shift with the writer.

This is one of those subjects which is very much a Your Mileage May Vary, so you could ask ten people about it and probably get ten very different answers. But this is the way I see it.

[violetlunette]

Twst spoilers for Book 7 and playful land

Just a heads up I’m going to be discussing the only actual "villain" in TWST and why his characterization bothers me. Also, keep in mind this is for the games only.

Okay, I’m slowly putting together why Henrique’s design and characterization bothers me story-wise and I think I figured it out.

It’s because his portrayal goes against things TWST set up: that no one is a “villain” and their crimes can be overlooked, no matter what.

The Overblots boys are a prime example of this, namely Azul and the Tweels who tricked their entire dorm and several other students into dodgy, immoral contracts that essentially turned them into slaves (and, I believe, gave the trio the “right” to literally beat them, but don’t quote me on that last part). However, after his contracts are burned and he recovers from over blotting, everything seems forgotten with no consequences.

And it’s not just the main cast either, it’s the side foes as well.

Eliza kidnapped Idia and was going to give him the literal kiss of death to fuel her delusions and wish for a “happy marriage.” Yet she is portrayed comically and a minor inconvenience even though, again, she was going to murder Idia.

Rollo used an ancient flower to steal magic from mages causing havoc for the city and endangering everyone, but gets no official punishment. In fact, no one other than the main cast knows he was behind it.

Even Fellow and Gidel, who were fucking human traffickers and who submitted people to fates worse than death, weren’t portrayed as villains. They were antagonists and a threat, but not "villains." And in the end they dance off into the sunset to start a school without even a call out for their sins.

While I personally hated this theme—as I just hate the easily forgiven trope in general--I can’t deny that the writers were consistent in how they handled all the antagonists in the game.

As terrible as their actions were, they were given humanizing traits and had their acts hand waved at the end. (Mostly, anyway. Jamil’s rep apparently took a blow but nothing major.) The writers had a theme and they stuck to it. Then Henrique appears.

Henrique is the only actual villain in TWST without any sympathetic traits or attractive features. He is just presented as a fat, stupid, irredeemable bastard. And while it’s a change of pace, it’s also an inconsistency within TWST.

With every other for they are presented as hot, or at least cute. I mean, look at them;

Even the side villains are cute in a way;

And look at Henrique;

See how the pattern has been thrown? The only other ones that might be deemed “uncute” are Gantu, the Trick or Treaters, and the ghosts. (YMMV)

And then, these guys aren’t seen as villains, just obstacles. Henrique, on the other hand is presented as being the old stereotypical villain twst has always steered clear from.

Appearance aside, his personality is shown to be prideful, gluttonous, greedy, and manipulative who plays on people’s emotions to get what he wants. And there are no sympathetic traits shown to balance those out which, again, goes against everything that had been presented before.

For example; even though Eliza wants to MURDER Idia, we see that she is beloved by her people and we are told that the reason she’s the way she is is because she never got to fulfill her dream of a perfect wedding due to being invaded and murdered that day.

Another one is Rollo. Although, he causes a lot of harm, the audience sees that this is a trauma response due to losing his younger brother who misused magic.

Now, the reason for this MIGHT be because when we see Henrique it’s in Lilia’s dream.

Yes, it's all Lilia’s memories but they’re being brought to the surface by Malleus’ spell which, as we saw in other dreams such as Epel’s, has interesting effects. Therefore it’s possible that Henrique wasn’t completely one dimensional or the only ugly person in the story. After all, Lilia would have bias pov against the man who lead the Silver Owls to invade his homeland. In reality, Henrique could have been handsome, just a bit beefy and he could had “sympathetic” reasons that Lilia wasn’t aware of. But alas, that’s theory.

As of now, we have to take it at face value that Henrique was a pathetic, nonredeemable man whose hideousness is reflected inside and out. And whose characterization conflicts with TWST’s theme.

Another reason is that it could be because Henrique wasn’t the main antagonist; The Knight of the Dawn was.

After all, he slayed Malleus’ parents and led the Silver Owls to invade. Therefore, the Knight was the main villain of Lilia’s and Henrique was just the villainous force pushing him, like Riddle’s mom in book 1 and the owners of the carnival in the Playful Land event. But in that case the writers should have kept Henrique faceless and off screen just like the other two examples. However, I acknowledge that would be harder as Henrique plays a more hands on role than the other two. In which case, he probably should of had a helmet on. That way it keeps up the theme of actual “villains” being faceless.

Don’t misunderstand, I’m NOT saying justice for the bastard.

As stated, he was a prideful, greedy bastard that manipulated others emotionally to get wanted. He single-handedly started a war using the fear people had for the fae and manipulated the Knight of the Dawn through his devotion to Leah and the king, all to get Malenore’s amber. He had no empathy for those around him and cared not for the people who were hurt because of him. He even bragged about wanting to use Malleus as a stead after they killed his mother. Oh, and there’s the whole stealing resources and invading a foreign land thing.

Henrique was a bastard and a villain through and through. And because of that, he out of place here.

He doesn’t fit the story or pattern of villains shown before. He doesn’t fit TWST’s theme. His character doesn’t belong.

Am I over thinking it? Obviously. But like I said, it just bothers me from a story perspective. Sure I’m misunderstanding something and I’m sure others will point it out. This post is just to sort my thoughts as I’m trying to figure out what bugs me about Henrique’s portrayal. If anyone has similar thoughts, pleas share.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

What do you say about 2 most despised characters in the fandom: Andre the Ice Cream Man and Thomas’s self-insert?

Are they the most despised characters? I feel like that honor goes to more prevalent characters like Gabriel, Lila, or André Bourgeois, but I could be wrong. Either way, my thoughts on the two you asked about are as follows:

Andre the Ice Cream Man

Andre reminds me of the weeping angels from Dr. Who. Great - or in this case fine - initial concept, but the more they show up, the less sense they make because the rules keep changing.

If we go by his initial appearance, then he's just some guy who can magically sense who you're supposed to be with and who gives you ice cream to point you to them. That's a cute concept for a rom-com. I can even accept him getting akumatized when he first shows up because, if you're a magical match maker who delights in love, then it makes sense that you'd be sad to see someone giving up on love even if it's just a teenager being dramatic. Those feelings are still quite real plus this show is aimed at little kids. They're going to view Marinette's heartbreak more seriously than an adult audience.

Unfortunately, every subsequent appearance ruins the initial setup by changing Andre's rules, turning him into a pretty obnoxious character. If he can sense perfect matches, then why does Marichat set him off? Shouldn't he be able to sense that this is a perfect match? And why didn't Adrigami set him off in the season three final? They got ice cream without him throwing a fit while Marichat was refused service once and caused an akumatization another time! That makes no sense. Does this man sense true matches or just support whatever couple comes to see him? And what happened to the whole, "anyone who eats his ice cream together stays together forever" thing? Consistency matters, people! Pick a lane! Obnoxious shipper who can't take a hint or true magical match maker. Which is he?

Based on his initial appearance and rules, Andre should be the only person in Paris who knows the truth of the square right from the start. If they'd done that, then he could have been a fun character that was used to subtly push the square together and give them an odd feeling of hope in dark moments where their love is wavering. After all, who doesn't love ice cream when nursing a broken heart? It could have been a cute running gag where Andre shows up with ice cream every time a part of the square is moping. Instead we get whatever nonsense canon is doing with him because even the super minor characters suffer from how wildly inconsistent canon is.

I'll end the Andre discussion by saying that I'm not sure if I'll ever forgive the writers for having Andre be the one to out Marinette's crush on Adrien. Five seasons of waiting and that's it? That's the big reveal? You are not getting me hyped for the actual big reveal, guys. Between this and the what-if episodes always making someone look terrible, my feelings about the eventual square reveal are basically just low-key dread. Thank goodness there are so many solid reveals in the fandom to give me the satisfaction I crave!

Thomas’s self-insert

Confession time, I didn't know that this was a self-insert when I watched this episode. I thought that Thomas' character was just a gag about how most people don't really know what directors do because that is certainly a thing. The fine details of individual roles in the entertainment industry are kind of nebulous to industry outsiders. We can see this in the fact that people often attribute way too much power to individuals and ignore how many people are involved in making movies and TV shows.

One of my favorite stories about this is the fact that a Star Trek writer had his episode win a Hugo only for him to completely disavow the episode because they changed his script so much after he turned it in. This is not a unique story, btw. Stuff like this happens all the time. It's why I've mentioned that I use "writers" as a bit of a catch-all term for "anyone who effects the story telling" for simplicity's sake. Though I will note that, outside of season one, every season of Miraculous was written by a team. Members of that team are then credited as directors, so these guys have a lot more powers than the guy who won the Hugo. The guy who won the Hugo won it because Star Trek was apparently being run like Miraculous was in season one when the show was written by a bunch of different writers who just sold scripts for individual episode and those scripts then got worked into a final version by a smaller core team. Film is a complicated industry like that.

Anyway, back to the character question!

I now know that this was a self-inset, but it doesn't really change my initial feelings about the episode. All of the problems come from Marinette's writing, not Thomas' self-insert character. I'm actually not sure why his character gets so much hate. As far as bad self-inserts go, it was pretty tame. I'm not sure if I'd even call it bad. Thomas wasn't painted as a god or anything like that. He was the butt of a running joke that I didn't find very funny, but I do think that it indicates a level of humility to let your self-insert be seen as less than perfect. He doesn't even take credit for being both a writer and a director:

Jagged: Ladybug is one of my best buds! I can't wait to see her movie! Thomas: Well I'm— I'm the director, so actually it's more my movie, so to speak. Jagged: Oh, so you're the one who created the story? Thomas: Well, technically the screen writers wrote the story, inspired by Ladybug's exploits. Jagged: Oh, ok. So you did all the drawings? Thomas: No, no. The animators do all the drawings. Jagged: So what do you do then? Thomas: Well I—

Now that I know that this character is a self-insert, also I find this moment at the end a lot more cute:

Thomas:(after seeing the conversation) You know what. Take my seat and enjoy the movie. I've seen it ten times or more. What matters the most for the movie is to be seen by people who really want to see it right? Marinette: (stutters) But... I-I... Uh... But... Thomas: Sorry, I guess you don't know who I am either Marinette: Of course do. You're Thomas Astruc the movie director! (hugs him) Oh thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! Thomas: She recognized me. Somebody actually recognized me! (wipes away tears) This is the best day of my life! 

I may not like major elements of this dude's show, but I really don't see this as an ego trip. I see it as a nice moment between creator and creation, possibly because I got to view the episode without any biases when I first watched it. I'm not sure if knowing the full story would have changed my read, though, because I really do think that it's fine for writers and directors to put themselves in minor roles in their creation. You have to come up with so many characters for a story like this, why not let a random akuma be based on you?

To give you a little perspective, the head writers of the show RWBY both voice characters in the show. Once again, I have no problem with that, especially since RWBY didn't have the massive budget you need in order to hire a bunch of voice actors. The thing that I do judge them for is the fact that both of their characters get unnecessary romance plots with major characters. One of the writer's characters - a guy named Jaune - even gets an obnoxious amount of screen time to the point where he feels like more of a main character than some of the actual main characters.

This whole video analyzing that show is excellent and may be worth a watch even if you've never watched RWBY because it plays with some of the same general genres as Miraculous and suffers from some similar writing problems, but I'll give you two specific time links to parts that talk about the self-insert problem so that you can see what I mean if you'd like a little more context:

The RWBY issue is the kind of setup where finding out that it's an author self-insert makes me uncomfortable. These two characters have some pretty clear writing problems, so learning that they're also self-inserts? Not a great look. It makes it feel like the writers were prioritizing their self-insert characters over telling a good story. That's not what we got in Miraculous so Thomas' character seriously doesn't phase me. I doubt it would phase most salters if the overall show was actually good.

[ilikekidsshows]

Do you think there's anything prior to s4 that foreshadowing Adrien status as senti?

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To put it simply, Anon: fuck no. I think there are a couple of coincidences the people who liked the theory latched onto and that they used to retroactively justify the writers’ lies that it was the intention all along. All of this stuff has another explanation. Adrien is allergic to feathers? No other Sentimonster is. Adrien and Sentibug both get called “perfect”? “Perfect” is a perfectly common word that suits a lot of situations perfectly. Adrien ads use a lot of feathers? They’re fucking white, Adrien has a recurring angel motif and anyone claiming otherwise is blind to patterns. Adrien does what Gabriel tells him to even when he doesn’t want to? HE’S BEING ABUSED BY THAT MAN. Why else would Emilie use the Peacock Miraculous when it killed her? Because she's an entitled rich asshole who thought she was above consequences. If Miraculous wanted to make “eat the rich” commentary, that's what they should have done. SentiAdrien also required reworking the Sentimonster lore to make the heroes killing them en masse okay.

What is far more compelling than the defenses of SentiAdrien is the fact that, after the long hiatus between seasons 3 and 4, Gabriel's body language changed completely, just like if something about his character had been changed. Gabriel used to hold tightly clenched fists behind his back, symbolizing his tight grasp on things he wants to control, especially his emotions. From the first episode of season four onward, almost like the writers couldn't contain themselves from including a new, fresh idea they’d had, Gabriel is suddenly constantly toying with this wedding ring, twisting it around like he's a neurodivergent kid and that ring is his favorite fidget toy.

Look, I know Miraculous gets a lot of flack for inconsistencies, but, like, some stuff is consistent. All the main characters used to have their own ways of moving. Adrien would pat people's shoulders, Marinette would wave her arms around, Gabriel would very rarely sit if he could get away with standing and he would clench his fists. These were simple, easy to remember ticks that strengthened the characterization. Adrien longs for human connections, Marinette is anxious and hyperactive and Gabriel never lets down his guard. In season 4, Gabriel's body language is suddenly: “Is Adrien a Sentimonster controlled by this ring? Come on, theorists, post about the theory a lot and do our marketing for us!”

The only explanation for Gabriel’s sudden change in body language is one of the writers had a tumblr when the theory got popular and got super excited to include this new idea as quickly and obviously as possible.

There’s also the fact to consider that the Miraculous crew has a very particular way of writing mysteries: they don’t. A mystery is a compelling question and “is” is not a compelling question. Basically the same rules apply as when picking a driving question for your essay: who, what, how, why and when are all good questions that will give you plenty to chew over while building your thesis. Yes or no questions, on the other hand, should be avoided at all costs, because the act of asking a yes or no question often already reveals the answer and ignores anything actually interesting about the phenomenon being studied.

I’m gonna be honest: when I first watched Miraculous, I had no idea Hawk Moth’s identity was supposed to be a mystery. I thought the answer was obvious on purpose because we were meant to wonder about the how and why. But, no, the why gets revealed as soon as the show confirms Gabriel is, indeed, Hawk Moth, because there’s so much focus on Emilie. There is only one possible thing Gabriel could want with the Miraculous, with no other options being presented to keep things interesting. Similarly, the show never asks: “Who is Hawk Moth?” because only one option is ever seriously presented with no other options being presented to keep things interesting. The question is: “Is Gabriel Hawk Moth?” and the answer is: “Yes, of course, because it couldn’t be anyone else.”

When you look at it in hindsight, this is also how the “Sentipeople” mystery gets presented to us. The only question the show asks about Sentimonsters and it asks it instantly at the start of season 4 is: “Is Adrien a Sentimonster?” and, like, the only answer is yes, because otherwise it wouldn’t get asked. However, the question is presented in a way that's only grasped by people already thinking along those lines, like Gabriel playing with his ring because it's now all of a sudden an Amok, which is why many people who weren't already convinced by the fan theory dismissed it. There are also no red herrings in this “mystery”, because every character to get any hint at them being a Sentimonster is revealed to be one. The Miraculous crew can’t write mysteries, so the existence of human Sentimonsters became obvious for the people already thinking along those lines as soon as they decided to include it.

This means, that, if this plotline was written for people who already thought SentiAdrien was a thing, the writers knew there were people thinking SentiAdrien was a thing. I'm saying the idea totally got taken from the fandom. And it's not surprising that the idea is stolen; Astruc's main character is a poor man's copy of the protagonist of the Dork Diaries book series, after all.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

hello hello! you're writing tips have been so helpful and i wanted to ask for help on how to write hypocrite like characters. thank you!!

Writing Notes: Hypocrisy

Hypocrisy - a feigning to be what one is not or to believe what one does not; behavior that contradicts what one claims to believe or feel, especially: the false assumption of an appearance of virtue or religion

Hypocrisy is a special case of cognitive dissonance, produced when a person freely chooses to promote a behavior that they do not themselves practice.

Cognitive Dissonance Theory. Has a long and esteemed history in social psychology. As originally formulated (Festinger, 1957), cognitive dissonance is induced when a person holds two contradictory beliefs, or when a belief is incongruent with an action that the person had chosen freely to perform. Because this situation produces feelings of discomfort, the individual strives to change one of the beliefs or behaviors in order to avoid being inconsistent.

Hypocrite Trope

People — particularly those with authority, be it moral or political — are expected to act in accordance with the ideals they espouse. That is to say, they should practice what they preach. Those who don't are hypocrites.

The dichotomy here is that they may fervently and honestly believe what they say is right and good… they just don't have the moral strength or willpower to consistently live up to their own high standards. (Unless, of course, they're outright liars with no intention of living up to said standards.)

it's possible to be hypocritical and a good person at the same time, whether that would be a "Jerk with a Heart of Gold" or a full-blown "Nice Guy" character trope, and it depends on how severe the hypocrisy is (and the hypocrite's level of self-awareness). This, in return, is what makes hypocrisy mainly considered to be a minor form of jerkassery by default.

It depends on whether this is intentional or not.

One writer would do this intentionally so the character would go through a Jerkass Realization.

Hypocritical Humor is a minor degree of this, when Played for Laughs.

Another writer may make a character or do something but then forgot about it later on, then making them do things that contrast with earlier claims.

It usually takes fans or other writers to point them out, and it’s up to the writer to fix it or leave it like that.

Some Subtropes

Arbitrary Skepticism: Characters who deal with the strange and bizarre on a regular basis are skeptical when they run into something strange and bizarre.

A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: A character pretends to be harmless or friendly to hide their actual self.

Broken Aesop: When a story itself doesn't mesh with the ideals it promotes.

Devil in Plain Sight: When someone who is Obviously Evil isn't seen as such by a general populace that is surrounded by other evils who are obvious, but only a minority can see it.

Doublethink: AKA cognitive dissonance; when one believes in two mutually exclusive ideas at the same time.

False Prophet: Someone claiming to be a messianic figure is actually deceiving their followers.

Knight Templar: A person who firmly believes their own cause to be just and righteous, even when it isn't.

Tautological Templar: Somebody who believes that they are good, and that makes everything they do good by default.

The Horseshoe Effect: The extremists on one side aren't that different from the extremists on the other side.

You Are What You Hate: People hating others for the same traits they themselves have or what they would eventually have.

Examples

Geryon, a monster from The Divine Comedy who guards Eighth Circle of Hell, is the biological manifestation of fraud. It may have the face of a beautiful man, but behind that face is the body of a massive winged serpent with a tail ripe with venom.

Gone with the Wind: Gerald O'Hara fled Ireland, where foreigners had taken over the country's lands and exploited an underclass to work them so the new landowners could become rich. He then immigrated to the United States and became a wealthy, plantation-owning slaver.

Merlin: A deliberate and fascinating example is King Uther. The reason he hates magic in the first place is that he made a deal with a sorceress to conceive a son with his barren wife. Furthermore, he describes his deceased wife as "my soul" and yet we later find out that he had an affair with his best friend's wife, and that (as he says to his son) "I know about the temptations of serving girls."

In Spirited Away, Yubaba refuses to accept Chihiro into her bathhouse because in her words, Chihiro is a "spoiled, lazy crybaby [with] no manners". Shortly afterwards, Yubaba is interrupted by her baby, who she immediately coddles and pampers, and who fits Yubaba's description of Chihiro perfectly. Furthermore, she criticizes her employees for being greedy and attracting the wrong customer when Greed is one of Yubaba's defining characteristics.

Tangled: Mother Gothel lectures Rapunzel about the dangerous selfish evil people of the outside world… when she's the one who kidnapped Rapunzel as a baby for her own selfish reasons. Rapunzel is quick to point this out when she discovers the truth.

Smerdyakov in The Brothers Karamazov is really just thought of as a scullion who has airs of intellectualism about him, and who carries blasphemous notions about religion. He's also thought of as pathetic to others because he suffers from epileptic seizures. The idea of him being the murderer is absurd to everyone in town for these reasons, yet he is. Only the protagonist seems to have any deep misgivings about him.

The Divine Comedy: According to Dante's Inferno, those guilty of hypocrisy are forced to march in monk-robes made of lead in the 8th Circle of Hell, the robes symbolic of the weight of their falsehoods. Special mention goes to Caiaphas, the High Priest of Israel under Pontius Pilate who advised him to crucify Jesus for "societal good", who is crucified to the ground and trodden upon by the other hypocrites like a literal doormat.

The Handmaid's Tale: In "Milk", Steven laments the fact that Handmaids are used as sex slaves, but he has no problem trying to extort sexual favors from Janine and June in order to let them stay.

The Last Supper: Judas is covered in shadows, actively leaning away from Jesus, and spilling salt (an evil omen) all over the table, yet no one else at the Last Supper even begins to recognize Judas as the traitor Jesus has just revealed is in their midst.

In The Lord of the Rings (as explained outright in Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth), Saruman openly berates Gandalf for his use of tobacco, but in private, in an attempt to imitate Gandalf, becomes addicted to pipeweed himself. In the movie, Saruman says, "Your love of the halflings' leaf has clearly slowed your mind" but Merry and Pippin find several large barrels of tobacco in Saruman's home later on.

Sources: 1 2 3 ⚜ More: Notes & References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

Hi, thanks so much, appreciate your kind words! Consider these references and choose which ones would work best to incorporate in your story. Do go through the sources as well for more subtropes and examples that might serve as inspiration.

[seaweedbraens]

Honestly ricks new book has just inspired me to reread wcwsthwas again.

I'm convinced Rick doesn't remember who his characters are anymore.

ill be the first to admit my characters can also be ooc! i think ive also fallen into the 'annabeth as a mom friend' trap (though piper is usually annabeth's mom in my fic) and i do think i have a lot of work to do keeping my characterizations consistent.

but heres the crux of my problem, right: this isnt my job. im a girl in my twenties who works full time and writes for fun. my ao3 is my hobby, and the characters i write are not canon. thats why it KILLS ME that rick writes with such a loose pen. in this new book, ive seen at least 5 inconsistencies, and thats IGNORING the timeline one (because why are people acting like leo is alive???). he has changed....just core things about characters. like grover the vegetarian eating a bacon sandwich and clovis now being morpehus' son. lack of attention to the little details, imo, just shows a lack of care. and as @glove23 pointed out, it shows that he really doeant respect his readers. he's acting like we're idiots, like we arent going to notice the changes. and, at the risk of aounding like a scooby doo villain, HES GETTING AWAY WITH IT TOO!! twitter laps up everything he does. it infuriates me to a whole other level.

this man is retconning shit left and right, tweaking stories previous to suit whatever new one he's writiig at the moment, and it just comes off as disrespectful and sloppy. fic writers are doing better than him at just about everything at this point. im not even talking about ME. there are heaps of really incredible pjo authors who seem to understand and respect the source material far more than rick seems to these days. and thats a goddamn shame.

ive read snippets of the book - some parts are okay and some are passable but most feel...weird. i dont know if its just me, but even the percabeth felt off. i hate how percy calls himself dumb in, like, every second sentence. when did that become a thing? and WHY? i wouldnt be surprised if this was ghostwritten. tbh, i hope it is. like you said, it feels like rick doesnt know how to write his characters anymore :/ sucks but i feel like i need to add a disclaimer to every fic now: this author has read only the original pjo and hoo books and all characters are written based on the ones of those series.

ANYWAY THIS IS NOT WHAT U ASKED FOR I WENT ON A BIGASS TANGENT IM SORRY SHSKSKSJSKSK

sidenote: to the poor souls running the riordanverse wiki, GOOD LUCK