#and every other female character are either nurses who tend to the male characters or had romance teased with the MC

[arabian-batboy]

When you really think about it, some of these new shounen shows like JJK, BNHA and Demon Slayer are lowkey as bad as older shoenen shows when it comes to how they treat their female characters.

The only difference is that new shounen learned this neat trick where they will allow their female characters to have one epic moment in a side-fight that can easily be removed without effecting the plot too much and somehow that’s enough to gaslight people to think that they’re watching peak feminism.

[onesheeptwosheepandachicken]

26 Reasons why Qrow is not Ruby’s father and why Taiyang is Ruby’s father

In response to the toxic aspect of the fandom attacking CRWBY and demanding that their desires for Qrow be chosen over canon, or how they feel their theory is more valid than the show itself? I have researched RWBY to make this 26-point Discussion as to why Canon is valid, and fancanon is not when it comes to Qrow Branwen, Ruby Rose, Taiyang Xiao Long, and Summer Rose.

 1.       “Monty said NO”    Most obviously. Monty Oum.

   He said in this tweet that ruby and yang are half-sisters…half-sisters,  which means they share the same mom or dad…in this case Taiyang….

  https://twitter.com/montyoum/status/492070189731565568

Now people have claimed “he obviously meant step-sisters or cousins” Why is it that every time we show the English dictionary to you people or ask you to read it, that you claim you are being attacked or that you claim Monty was misleading us?

 2.       The writers said NO

   Miles Luna debunked this theory on Reddit…

   He pointed out that Ruby sees Qrow as a Role model, so she adapts her colors to be similar to his.

   And you don’t need somebody to be blood to be your role model.

https://www.reddit.com/r/RWBY/comments/7x3w4s/crwby_ama_w_miles_luna_kerry_shawcross_and_paula/du5d67g/?

 3. “Rooster Teeth said NO” Rooster Teeth even said that Qrow is "Ruby and Yang's Uncle" They also said “Ladies, he’s not your man”

https://twitter.com/RoosterTeeth/status/1067205612331782144

 4.  “But what if Summer had feelings for Qrow? Why does Qrow Serve Ozpin?” Qrow said in Volume 6 " No one wanted me... I was cursed... I gave my life to you because you gave me a place in this world... I thought I was finally doing some good... " So he was saying he wasn't wanted, so no relationship with Summer. SUMMER DID NOT WANT HIM. And he was literally saying he served Ozpin because Ozpin gave him purpose. It’s pretty sad how people think Qrow can only be a complex character if he obsesses over another person’s wife and child. What , you wanna make him Severus Snape, the Lilly Potter stalker who insulted a girl’s face and tried to poison a boy’s pet and publicly outed a teacher?

https://rwby.fandom.com/wiki/Qrow_Branwen/Quotes#So_That.27s_How_It_Is

5, "But Qrow could be lying" Except in volume 6 Qrow literally said "Don't lie...we're better than that"

And in volume 7?

" Long time ago. I just found working alone tends to be for the best "

" Gotta say, I’m still not really used to working with other Huntsmen in the field. "

And finally World Of Remnant on Patch.

" Nice place to raise a family, if you're into that sort of thing. "

https://rwby.fandom.com/wiki/Qrow_Branwen/Quotes#So_That.27s_How_It_Is

  6.  “Qrow fans claim that Ruby and Summer form a core part of Qrow’s character and backstory.” WRONG! The main accusation for demanding Rooster Teeth / CRWBY change the backstory for Qrow would accomplish nothing.

Raven already pushed Yang onto Taiyang to raise on his own.

Qrow forcing Tai to Raise Ruby alongside Yang while Qrow could regularly visit, and while Summer lived with Taiyang, Yang, and Ruby?

It would cheapen Qrow’s character….blood isn’t everything.  Neither are cliches.

 7. “But what if Qrow gave Ruby to Tai to raise after Summer’s death?” Volume Chapter 6, Burning the Candle.

Yang tells Blake that she (yang) and Ruby were raised together by Summer and Taiyang…not by Taiyang on his own, but by Summer and Taiyang.

Yang clearly had memories of being raised by Summer and Tai both,  which meant that Summer and Taiyang lived together raising Ruby and Yang for Several Years.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZkN-53h5Os

  8. “Does Taiyang care about Summer or Ruby?” Taiyang was noted to have shut down when Summer didn’t come back…. Yang noted this in Volume 2 Chapter 6, and Ruby mentioned in the first episode of Volume 3 that Taiyang missed Summer. Qrow also said that Ruby is Taiyang’s “Special Angel”…. Ruby has also pointed out numerous times that Taiyang is Overprotective of Ruby. In fact, Ruby's conversation with Penny about overprotective fathers.

 9. “Qrow knows Taiyang is Ruby’s Father. Taiyang knows Ruby is Taiyang’s daughter. Qrow has referred to Taiyang as Ruby’s father during volume 3 and 7. Taiyang referred to Ruby as his daughter in volume 3.

 10. “Why didn’t Taiyang train Ruby in Martial Arts?” Taiyang is a martial arts fighter.   Ruby has neither the build nor the personality for ruthless hand to hand combat like her sister… Taiyang would trust Qrow, despite his semblance.   Remember how bad Ruby was in v5?

 11. “Qrow’s semblance is not what his fans exaggerate it to be”

Speaking of Qrow’s semblance? He was playing video games with his nieces,   taught at Signal Academy,   and could train Ruby… Clearly,  his semblance is not what theorists make it out to be.

 12. “Why doesn’t Qrow treat Yang the same way he treats Ruby?”

Yang is the daughter of Qrow’s sister,who abandoned the team.

During a one on one interaction between Qrow and Yang after yang vs mercury, Qrow called his own niece crazy, after she had been framed.

Qrow was not empathetic to Yang.

Qrow may not like Yang’s resemblance to Raven.

Ruby is the daughter of his two closest friends, so of course he’d prefer Ruby over Yang.

 13.  “Examples of Taiyang caring for Ruby.”

Volume 2 Ruby was excited when Taiyang sent a package in the mail, not even knowing it was Zwei.

Taiyang was at Ruby’s bedside in V3, and gave her a kiss on the forehead.

He also tried to bring her breakfast in bed.

Taiyang said he wanted to chase after Ruby, but had to nurse Yang back to health.

During the V8 broadcast, Taiyang was upset when the broadcast was cut.

 14. “Genetics research”

Black hair is the subtype of the pigment for blonde hair…

Also, Ruby’s got the same hair strand that Yang and Taiyang have.

Finally, black hair is more dominant.

So Ruby doesn’t need blonde hair to be Taiyang’s kid.

https://askinglot.com/is-black-hair-a-dominant-or-recessive-gene

https://www.quora.com/If-a-jet-black-haired-parent-and-a-blonde-parent-have-children-what-color-hair-would-the-children-likely-have

 15. “The STRQ Photo”

The photo....Qrow was with STRQ for four years...do you really think Qrow is not allowed to cry on the photo unless he was romantically involved? Can't a man grieve over the death of a female friend that he was NOT in a relationship with? Or are men not allowed to have female friends? Ichigo and Rukia from Bleach for example...friendship. They were his friends, his family. People seem obsessed with the idea that Qrow cannot care about a woman unless he was romantically involved or unless he's their bastard father.

 16. “Men and Women…as friends, platonic” Harry Potter as a book showed that a boy and a girl can interact and still be friends…

Why can’t Qrow be Summer’s friend?

Why does he have to be her lover?

We’ve seen Qrow talk about Innkeeper’s skirt lengths and leer at Barmaids who flirted with him.

Also, he’s shown to be bonding with both Clover and Robyn.

People act like he doesn't flirt with anyone , and yet he does.

 17. “Bad Luck Charm” Qrow has spent his whole life with his semblance, named after a Crow.

Raised by the Branwen bandit tribe.

“You and I are not the same, you don’t want the burden of my name” Both Branwen and Qrow are names that Qrow hates due to his semblance and past…

People may think of him as cool, but Qrow suffers from self-loathing.

So NO, the Bad Luck Charm song does NOT in fact allude to Qrow being Ruby’s father, but that Qrow hates himself, hence a major part of why he’s alcoholic.

Proof of which is his volume 6 exchange with Ozpin about being useful, which Qrow disagrees with, leading him to drink further. Yang literally said that she had never seen qrow so drunk before in v6.

And Ruby encourages his self-worth leading him to try giving up alcohol….

His alcoholism is tied to low-self-esteem, not relationships.

 18. Manga Anthology

Taiyang was shown in the Manga Anthology to have shut down upon Summer’s Death. That impacted his relationship with Ruby and Yang. Qrow? Is relatively unaffected. The good Uncle helping around the house. Taiyang haters and Qrow stans took this to demand that Qrow is entitled to Ruby, despite Taiyang recovering and doing his best to be a father. Anything Qrow does is worshipped like Mother Teresa, while anything Taiyang does, good or bad, is downplayed and smashed. Taiyang loved Summer so much he was devastated by her death. Qrow was unaffected. Think about that.

 19. “I like Brats” Why does Qrow spend time with kids he’s not related to? Because he likes kids. You know how there are adults who enjoy being around brats? That’s Qrow. He didn’t have romantic feelings for Summer, he liked being around her because she was like a kid. Similar to how Blake likes Ruby’s idealism? And trusts her leadership?

 20.  “Taiyang the 2-timer accusation”

A woman on youtube claimed that Taiyang was a 2-timer who cheated on raven with summer, as there was, in her and her friends’ minds, “no way that taiyang could be with half his team” When asked about TaiQrow as a joke, she was angered that people even ship TaiQrow.

But let me ask you this. Are you the same person you are now that you were 10 years ago? People claim that Qrow was somehow cool in beacon…because he’s cool now. But Taiyang, who raises two kids, and holds a job and a house…cannot be ruby’s father…because he’s not cool? And that somehow he was never cool? I’m sorry, I didn’t know you had to be cool to be a parent. I also had no idea people were only allowed to be in one relationship per lifetime. Raven freaking abandoned Tai for the tribe. Summer chose Taiyang over Qrow. People literally make Qrow out to be either an OC in a shipping fanfic, or a Naruto fanfic where Naruto is written to be fawned over by a girl whose canonical spouse, boyfriend, or male friend is somehow rewritten as evil.

1 year…..in 1 year since Raven abandoned Taiyang and Yang, Summer Rose the friend of Taiyang’s who he had known for 4 years, became more than a friend.

So no….Taiyang is not a two-timer…he moved on from Raven.

 22. “Why can’t Taiyang talk about Summer?” To WHO? He’s barely got 15 minutes of screentime, and the writers did NOT do him any favors when they had Qrow demand he leave so Qrow could tell Ruby a secret Ozpin trusted him with, before telling Ruby to run away from home leaving only a freaking note. Terrible daughter. Even Yang was prepared to do the same! To a man whose first wife abandoned him! At least Weiss has a legit reason for acting as she does against Jacques, several at least. Ruby? No. Now why would Taiyang talk about Summer’s fighting style to Yang when trying to get her to stop acting like Raven in her fighting style and semblance? Sure if there was more time…but RT at the end of the day isn’t some money-hungry political entity, it’s a startup at the end of the day, they don’t have the ability to do a full anime episode. Also, Taiyang cannot go out on these active missions…he was a schoolteacher who did not do missions until only recently…he was retired, remember.

 23. “These fanworks make more sense to me”

Qrow fans have tried using fanworks to justify their theory or ship, the same way Blacksun fans or Adam apologists make similar claims, and even Raven fans try to claim Raven is somehow a good mother. What do these fanworks do? Hate on Taiyang. Dismiss Ruby and Yang being half-blood siblings. Ignore multiple elements of the show or scenes. Occasionally shit-talk the writers.

Every time somebody tries to make a “rwby rewrite” or “rwby alt” or “Qrow is ruby’s father au” they cannot do it without completely rewriting the characters in so many forms and even the show, till Qrow, Raven, Taiyang, and Summer are NOTHING like they are in the show…And ONLY how a shipper wants qrow to be.

Or rewriting qrow to be nothing like he is in the show.

Most Alt or Rewrite consists of making Taiyang abusive, a cheater, or refusing to allow him to interact with Summer, while regularly pushing qrowxsummer at each other.

So no…it’s not that it makes sense to them through some fanart….a headcanon that has been debunked is no longer headcanon. A theory that is shut down is no longer a theory. There’s a reason anti-vaxxers and flat-earthers still exist. Because to them, their theories make more sense than reality. Which is why people still believe Qrow is Ruby’s father the same way people believe vaccines cause autism. Neither are true, and no amount of facts will shut them down, but they’re both popular theories.

 24. “Qrow Rings and Cross”

People claim that Qrow was married to Summer or that his cross represents him mourning Summer. Did the STRQ photo, in v3, the same volume as his appearance, not show Qrow with his rings, his cross, and angrily scowling, while Summer was right next to Taiyang?

 25. “What about Summer Rose’s choice?”

Remember how I said making Qrow’s character based on solely Ruby and Summer, ignoring everything regarding the tribe and ozpin giving him hope, and the grimm reaper…was bad writing? There’s a reason people hated v5. Raven was proven to be the deadbeat, Qrow was shown to have friends, and that Taiyang knew about Salem, and of course it was confirmed that Yang and Ruby again were sisters by Raven.

Now how about Summer? Team leader….took a man and a daughter who were abandoned by her friend…and made them her own. Yang calls Summer Rose “Supermom” and “Her Hero”…was literally willing to storm a bandit camp so Raven could use her portal to take Yang to Qrow, so she could get to Ruby. And yeah, I know the RWBY critics scream “why didn’t Yang just look for Ruby in Mistral?” It’s a bloody kingdom, and Yang was pursuing a lead, that Tai had given her, and Qrow told Yang he’d look after her sister. Remember that? Oh wait, RWBY Critics forget, my bad. Anyway, she’s more of a sister to Qrow than his blood sister Raven, she’s more of a mother to Yang than Raven, and she’s more of a spouse to Tai than Raven. Good Stepmother. Non-married couple. Relationship built on trust. Blood is not the same as family. (Example Weiss’s remark to her father) (Or Dom Toretto)

So making Summer into a throw-away character who dies so that a brooding jerk of an alcoholic can claim character development? Making a woman nothing except a throw-away for a man to get development is BAD WRITING. For God’s Sakes, even Pyrrha was written better than that! She interacted with team rwby, nora was always helping her out, and so was Ren (though those shakes are a crime against humanity” But when Qrow fans try to demand he’s ruby’s father? Their fanworks make Summer as much of a flat character as Preston Harvey from Fallout 4, where they make Summer unable to do anything but be obsessed with Qrow and having his child, similar to how Preston cannot think of anything other than “Another settlement needs your help, I’ll mark it on your pip-boy”

 26. Finally, the accusations that CRWBY are lying.

“You have to be ****** if you believe CRWBY when they say Qrow isn’t Ruby’s father” “CRWBY is lying, it’s what writers do” “It’s okay for writers to lie, it’s good for plot” “I’d prefer it if CRWBY was lying to us” “Monty is dead, the writers should change it now” “Monty is dead, nothing else in the writing matters” “Monty was hiding the truth from us” “CRWBY is hiding the truth about Qrow being Ruby’s father” “It makes sense for CRWBY to lie to us” Look at this…Twitter, Youtube, Facebook, Tumblr, Reddit, instagram…. The first quote? Was a woman who was using an anti-autism anti-disability slur defending the theory. Never have I ever seen people so obsessed with a  theory that they would deny reality and be rude to the very writers and original creator. But the QrowxSummer and Qrow is Ruby’s Father fandom group has made countless cases of this. THIS is how they defend their theory? And people upvote, like and support these remarks? SHAME SHAME SHAME

 Conclusion:

I get how people desire qrow to be Ruby’s father for ships or fanfics.

Even to where they make Taiyang a hated character just for the sake of making sure nobody disagrees with them.

But the attacking of RWBY and CRWBY, claiming that “this needs to be fixed”, or getting angry at RT for not giving you the non-canon ship you want? Claiming that just because you want it to be so, that somehow your ship/theory has “validity?”

That reflects poorly on the fandom and critics.

But then again…. It’s easy to ignore what’s real and what’s a fact that when theorists and ship-pushers and CRWBY Haters on youtube tells you to stop listening to monty and the writers, and instead believe whatever you want and claim whatever you want, Because surely you know what’s better for the show than the people who worked on it, right? Ha ha ha, no. THAT is the ULTIMATE disrespect somebody calling themselves a fan could ever give. And if you think or agree with that type of logic, you should look in the mirror.

I looked for backup sources to defend CRWBY and RWBY, you’ll find them below.

Backup sources include:

 https://aminoapps.com/c/rwby/page/blog/qrow-is-not-rubys-dad/422o_0rbCYuoXj36VoB7obK3MXPZRbPKkz5

 https://aminoapps.com/c/rwby/page/blog/why-the-qrow-is-rubys-father-theory-is-wrong/z668_nQlIxu0dmRdRpEPxqE3qlWlZEmoE2

 https://aminoapps.com/c/rwby/page/blog/qrow-cant-possibly-be-rubys-and-heres-why/8BB5_LPVCmu2bonkw8eEP3Yokg8m8zJlgNV

 https://aminoapps.com/c/rwby/page/blog/why-qrow-isnt-rubys-father/lXXx_5QoUQuPVGo3Wgko3wJ52mMBl7644P

 https://aminoapps.com/c/rwby/page/blog/is-qrow-rubys-father-short-answer-no/422o_0rbCYupDKezxPxpdje7dRn3nB8YvZ

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPbft3KJd6o

https://aminoapps.com/c/rwby/page/blog/qrow-is-rubys-dad-theory-debunk/d33g_pQEcbu1NKQoMEv0kmDpP6N8bmowkkq

[karls-writing-space]

I decided to share my Total Drama OC with yall!

(This will have to be in two parts lol. Stupid word limit)

I hope ya like him!!

—☆—☆—☆—☆—☆—☆—☆—☆—☆—☆—

═══*.·:·.☽✧ ✦ ✧☾.·:·.*═══╗

╔══════════════╗

❝Buongiorno! Good morning!❞

╚══════════════╝

♫♪.ılılıll|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|̲̅̅=̲̅̅|̲̅̅●̲̅̅|llılılı.♫♪

『 BASIC INFO 』

➵ Full Name

Beau Romano

Nicknames

• B

• Eau (Pronounced as "O")

• Beau-Beau (Used by friends and family.)

• Freckles (Again, called this by friends and family. )

• Captain Dickless (By his sister as a joke. Beau hasn't got bottom surgery just yet, so he's called this. Wouldn't mind being called this by others as a joke.)

➵ Age

Sixteen or Seventeen [16-17]

➵ Assigned Sex

Female

➵ Gender Identity

Transgender Male

➵ Pronouns

He/Him/His

➵ Sexuality

Bisexual [With a preference for men]

➵Ethnicity

Canadian-Italian

➵Place of Birth

Morden, Manitoba

『 Appearance 』

➵ Outfits

➵ Casual Attire -

➵ Formal Attire

➵ Sleepwear -

➵ Swimwear -

➵ Height

5'7

➵ Weight

146 Pounds

『 Personality

Beau comes off as a quiet and introverted young man when you first encounter him. He isn't a huge fan of large groups of people and personally prefers to be with a small group, or his friends. Beau won't speak much at first and will listen to others speak and not speak unless spoken to.

If you have regular conversations with him, he'll slowly open up to you. He'll still maintain his introverted personality, but he will come off as a sweet, caring guy. He likes to joke around a little and make others smile. In fact, he likes seeing others happy. It makes him happy too. Beau is a fairly level-headed and calm guy for the most part. He doesn't raise his voice or yell too often since he fears that it would drive people away from him or it would create conflict.

He's quite the observant fellow and tends to take mental notes on what the people around him like, dislike, what bothers them, what they enjoy -- all that sha-bang.

Around his friends, he will treat them like he's known them forever. He'll treat them like a family, and will respect them. Beau will be a little more outgoing towards his friend group and engage in what they're doing.

Playing video games? He's down? Just chatting? He'll happily listen and join in on the conversations.

He playfully teases his friends here and there, and maybe pulls a few light-hearted pranks on them. It's all in good fun, and after he has his fill, he will ask if that person he teased/pranked is alright. He will be expecting revenge of some sort too, and will half-heartedly accept said revenge.

This boy has a tendency to slip into speaking Italian when speaking every once in a while. One minute, he could be happily talking about this great book series he has read in English before slipping into Italian without realizing it for a hot minute.

It's something he can laugh about, and it doesn't really bother him.

Beau does have a wide range of creativity and loves to express his ideas however he can. Usually, it's in the form of writing something - from a dribble to a full-blown short story. If someone is interested in hearing his ideas, Beau will happily begin to talk about the ideas he has.

He would then apologize for rambling, or "talking someone's ear off." He is really good at taking advice and constructive criticism and will use it to improve.

He will also happily hear if someone wants to add on to his idea(s).

Beau can also create stories or tales on the spot if he's given a setting/location. Ideas pop in his head here and there like this, and he can go into detail with these stories, given if he likes these ideas that are in his head.

Because he can make up stories on the spot with little details like location/setting, and characters, he is able to lie. He will use whatever knowledge he has on the situation he would lie about, or ask others what they know about a certain situation, and come up with a lie.

Some of these lies aren't the best, and some can be somewhat strong. It depends on how much knowledge he has on a situation and how he could form it into a lie.

If he lies to someone he doesn't like, or could care less about, Beau won't feel guilty about lying to them and go on with his day.

If he lies to a friend, someone he cares about, or his love interest, Beau will feel pretty guilty about lying to them, and might consider actually telling the truth.

He absolutely despises his friends getting harassed, invalidated, or bothered by something that they can't control or that they didn't have any part of. When this happens, Beau will get irritated or angry, and speak up.

When he is angered or irritated, and it isn't because of his friends getting harrassed/invalidated/etc, Beau will lash out at others around him. He will drop sarcastic remarks in Italian and act like an asshole.

It's best to leave him alone when he's like this and let him be alone in his thoughts. Once he's calm, he will apologize to those who he had lashed out at, except for the person who angered/irritated him.

Romance-wise, Beau will try to act the same around his love interest. He does become pretty happy and smiley when he is around them.

He will throw a few flirty lines or actions towards them, but if they flirt back, he will be a blushy. flustered mess. He makes sure that it doesn't interfere with the competition or make either of the two slow down their teams.

He doesn't want his love interest to get booted home.

➵ Likes

• Reading

• Writing

• The LGBTQ Community

•Personal space

• Reading up on/learning about famous serial killers

• Striking up a friendship or two

• Scary stories/stories with elements of horror

• Amusement parks

• Passing as a Cis Man

• Cuddles

• Joking around [At an appropriate time.]

• Talking about his writing/ideas

➵Dislikes

• Homophobes/Transphobes

• People who attack/harass/etc minorities, those with mental illnesses, or people/things that aren't considered "normal"

• Thunderstorms [It's a fear of his.]

• Overly-gushy romantic stories

• Being involved in an argument/fight

• Those who don't respect personal space.

• Crabs [They're really weird to him. He isn't a big fan of them either.]

• Being addressed with female formalities/in a way women are addressed. [Beau is a man, not a woman.]

➵Interests

• Reading

• Writing

• Learning about famous serial killers

➵ Fears

• Thunderstorms

• Losing the people in his life.

➵ Strengths

•Beau is talented in writing. It's something he loves and takes pride in.

•Beau is loyal to his friends.

•He's a creative guy - idea-wise and author-wise

➵ Weaknesses

•He's an introvert, and doesn't like talking/interacting with other people, unless they are the ones to interact contact him first or he's close to them.

• Poor boy has a fear of thunderstorms.

• He can be manipulated by those he is close with or those he has an alliance with.

➵ Physical Disorder(s)

N/A

➵ Mental/Psychological Disorder(s)

Gender Dysphoria

『 Relationships 』

➵ Family

Mother ➵ Camila Romano [ Alive, Registered Nurse Assisstant]

Father ➵ Lovino Romano [Alive, University Psychology Professor]

Older Sister ➵ Faye Romano [Alive, High School Student]

Younger Brother ➵ Luca Romano [Alive, Middle School Student]

Younger Sister ➵ Sienna Romano [Alive, Middle School Student]

➵ Friends

TDI/TDA/TDWT -

• Duncan

• Alejandro

•Gwen

• DJ

• Geoff

• Owen

• Tyler

• Leshawna

ROTI -

• Zoey

• Mike

• Lightning

• Cameron

TDPI -

• Topher

• Jasmine

• Sammy/Samey

• Sky

• Shawn

➵ Enemies [All Seasons]

• Ezekiel [Rather one-sided on Beau's side.]

• Izzy

• Blaineley

• Jo

• Staci

• Sierra

• Scott

• Dave

• Max

• Sugar

• Amy

• Leonard

➵ Neutral/Peers

• Everyone else [All Seasons]

• Chris [He doesn't really have an opinion on Chris.]

• Chef Hatchet [He also doesn't have an opinion on Chef either.]

➵ Love Interest

TDI/TDA-

• Duncan

or

•DJ

TDWT -

•Alejandro

or

•Duncan

TDROTI -

•Mike (+ his alters)

or

•Lightning

TDAS -

•Alejandro

or

•Mike

TDPI -

• Topher

Or

• Shawn

➵ Placing(s)

TDI - Fifth Place

TDA - Seventh Place

TDWT -Fourth Place

TDROTI - Fifth Place

TDAS - Fourth Place

TDPI - Fifth Place

[u-iona]

After seeing the last episode on the YouTube channel GrandLineReview, I wanted to comment about a thing I hate about One Piece, but it was too long (as all my writtings tend to be), so I’m posting it here.

I apologise for all gramatical mistakes that will inevitabely appear.

I hate how female characters either don’t appear as much as males or are left as background characters while the males duke it out.

Marines: I can remember about three female characters from the top of my head (Tashigi, Tsuru and Hina) and even though there are more (Tsuru’s crew) there is nowhere near enough to counter the males. Additionally, we know of two former Fleet Admirals (Sengoku and Kong), one current (Sakazuki), and five Admirals (Akainu [former], Aokiji [former], Kizaru, Fujitora and Ryokugyu). Notice a trend? All males.

Cipher Pol: While writting about the Marines, I thought that maybe the reason for the lack of females was that the society at large expected women to not fight and simply take care of the house. With that being the case, it would make sense for Marines to promote the idea, since it would fit with the world at large. It would also make sense for the lack of female characters in CP1-8, since those are known to public (maybe even CP0, since they work mainly for the World Nobles and need to keep up the appearances). But it would not explain CP9, which is an allegedly assassination organisation unknown to the world. In that case a female would be more inconspicuous and thus better at assassination. So, either my idea is wrong and the Marines and CP0-8 have no real explanation for their lack of females or CP9 has no good explanation for only having Kalifa out of at least 8 known characters.

Pirates: Even if theory of misogyny mentioned above is true, pirates, who rebel against the World Government should have a better track record.

Shichibukai (including former, but not Blackbeard, since he’ll be a bit down with the Yonko): Admitedly, Shichibukai work for the World Government, but they’re more of independant contractors than actual employees. So, from all the know Shichibukai Mihawk, Kuma and Weevil get a pass, since they don’t have a crew. Boa Hancock gets one as well, since she does have an all female crew, but her whole crew (present, past and future, since Kija Pirates just seem to pass from generation to generation) is made of Kuja women only and doesn’t seem inclined to recruit out of her island. Which kind of makes sense, but is also discriminatory of every non-Kuja woman. Now to the rest. Crocodile had a bounty hunter organisation that employed both males and females, most notably current Straw Hat Nico Robin, who, once they got up high enough on the ladder worked in male-female duos. That sounds good, but (while I am not going to go back to manga/anime) I remember that, when explaining the structure of Baroque Works to Straw Hats, Vivi said that the number agents are the strongest men in the organisation, who then get a female partner with complementary skill set. Enough said. Next, Moria. But, there’s not much to say, since he basically had 3 living crew members and with that number it’s either man-man-woman or man-woman-woman, so it’s good enough that he didn’t have three men. Jinbei and honestly Fisher Tiger (who I still love and cry when I see him die) did a terrible job at gender equality, since there are no fishwomen or mermaids on the crew of Sun Pirates (there’s Praline, but she’s Aladins wife and joins during time-skip as a part of alliance with Big Mom, so I’m not really counting her). And we have no evidence that fishwomen or mermaids would be any worse at fighting than mermen or fishmen. Trafalgar Law does a bit better, but with one woman out of 20 crew members it’s still not much. Buggy (a guy I totally forgot was a part of this group, sorry Buggy fans) has a huge crew, but out of the well known ones, I’m pretty sure that only Alvida is female, but I cannot be certain that he doesn’t have more. And lastly, Doflamingo. Here I only count the Donquixote Family, since counting every minion would take too long. Out of his Elite Officers (the guys that stood for heart, club, diamond and spade) there were five (Roscinante and Vergo both standing for heart) and all male. Each of them could have subordinates which were: Giolla, Sugar, Violet, Lao G, Senor Pink, Dellinger, Machvise, Gladius, Buffalo, Baby 5. Then there was Monet, who was part of the family, but neither as an elite officer or an official subordinate of one. In total, out of 16 there are 5 females. Like with Moria, it is roughly one third, but better than some other and Doflamingo could have had more females. My main concern nere were the Elite Officers, but they were in general much harder to defeat than the other. Those that jump out would be Sugar (as being hard to defeat, but we need to take into consideration that she was being actively protected by Trebol), Vergo (being easier to defeat than other Elite Officers [in my oppinion], but that took Laws genuinly OP Devil Fruit] and Roscinante (since he didn’t seem to do much and his Devil Fruit was kind of useless, so he either had hidden skill we didn’t see or nepotism).

Yonko: Since this is much lower on the list, I actually thought through the order of writting (from most women inclusive to least) and am not winging it like the rest. Firstly, Big Mom (Charlotte Linlin). She is a female and her crew is greatly inclusive to both genders and all races (species?), though the higher ups (Sweet Commanders, Ministers) seem to be ONLY her children. That means that unless a blood relative of hers a character has little to no chance of mattering. But that could be due to both her and her children, in general, being stronger than at least humans, as well as most of her crew being made up of Homies (if I remember correctly). Out of her three (formerly four) Sweet Commanders one, Smoothie, is female and, while she is weaker than Katakuri (like most of her family), her bounty is higher than Crackers, so she presents a bigger threat according to the World Government. Taking her and Crackers Devil Fruits into consideration, it is likely that Smoothie is more powerful than Cracker (without Devil Fruit), since Cracker can use his whenever he feels like but Smoothie seems to need to get close up, making her fruit harder to use against many enemies at once and thus needing to rely on other abilities. Like Big Mom, Kaido does employ many females, but not as much where it counts. For me, the characters from the Beast Pirates that I remember are Kaido, the All Stars and the Tobiroppo and from those 9, 2 are female (only Ulti and Black Maria). Not to say that those two aren’t awsome, I love both, especially Ulti, but I don’t think that it’s enough. On top of that, the All Stars (which are basically the Beast Pirates version of the Sweet Comanders) are all male, so not even the one third. Then we get onto Blackbeard, from who’s crew we know only the 10 Titanic Captains, where only one (Catarina Devon) is female. That could certainly be better and I will not comment much further, since the 10 Captains themselves show that Blackbeard has a gigant crew, most of who we don’t know, but having a few more females there would be better, since any Blackbeard female shown from now on will most likely be weaker than any of the captains. Next is Whitebeard, whose crew I genuinely hate. I honestly think that Whitebeard is cool and I support the idea of blood not making a family, but any and all females on his crew are nurses. No fighters, let alone a female being one of the 16 Divison Commanders (I checked and Haruta is male. I also heard some people mention Whity Bay, but she’s an ally and a captain of her own crew, not a Whitebeard pirate). So, while there are females, it showes them as damsels in distres rather than foghters. Nothing more to say. Lastly, the worst offender, Shanks. No females. That’s it. There is not a single female character that would be a known member of the Red Haired pirates, not even as a nurse. Grantes, we still don’t know much about Shanks or the Red Haired pirates, but we’ve seen them at Marinefort and I think that if at least one female from the crew was an important fighter, she would be there. So, there could be some, but either not strong or not a fighter at all.

Straw Hats: Let’s be honest, we all love Straw Hats, but they’ve got problems. There are females, but it’s still only two out of then, neither of the two is part of the three strongest (until the time skip Nami was actually seen as one of the weaker members and before Alabasta she didn’t even fight) and even their fighting styles show a problem. This is something I wanted to also point out (before this rant became longer than some of my essays [and I didn’t even research here, just checked to make sure some of the things I wrote were actually true and to check the names]), but another thing I don’t like is how even when female characters are shown, they are not fighters, not GOOD fighters (or in general tend to be weaker than men) or are long distance fighters. Nami and Robin are a great mple of the last. Both of them attack from a distance, which makes sense with their weapon/Devil Fruit, but all the other Straw Hats (excluding Usopp) fight at close or mid distance. That makes the Straw Hats balances, but it doesn’t make sense that neither of them are close combat (at least statistically), especially since Nami DIDN’T FIGHT until Alabasta (and even there her combat with Miss Doublefinger was pretty close range) so her fighting style could have been thought of for a long time. And Robin DOES have some close ranged attacks (shown in Alabasta and Skypiea arcs) but just doesn’t use them (especially post time-skip). And that’s not even talking about Haki. Logicaly speaking, it would make all sense in the world for Robin to have at least Arnament, since it would give her already OP (if used correctly) Devil Fruit a way to more effectively attack other Devil Fruit users and even normal enemies (since Arnament also seems to make attacks stronger, not only allow Devil Fruit users to be hurt) and, unlike basicaly all the other Straw Hats, who didn’t learn Haki during the time-skip, Robin was surrounded by people who knew Haki and could have taught her.

Thank you, for reading my rant. I hope you enjoyed. Additionally, I suck at tagging, so please let me know, if you can think of any.

[harmonyindark245]

Secrets [7]

Summary: King's Archeron's kingdom is made up of secrets, which include both betrayal and treason. When the Prince of Velaris and his Inner Circle visit the kingdom, these secrets start revealing themselves. How will these affect the 3 Archeron Princesses, who themselves have a very deadly secret?

AN: All characters belong to Sarah J. Maas.

Warnings: Slight Mature Language

Word Count - 2.1k

Early update!

Elriel shippers, hope you enjoy it!

Masterlist

Elain was ready much before time. She was wearing a dress that would be considered scandalous if she were to go somewhere other than Rita’s. She had a long overcoat hiding most of the bodice, only her sandals visible underneath.

The previous two days had not gone differently. After breakfast, she would meet up with Rhys and they would talk about their likes and dislikes, their kingdom and various other random topics. After lunch, she crossed paths with Azriel as both of them had to train at that time. 

Dinner would be a casual affair and after that she would spend most of the night dreaming of the man she had trained with. Seeing Azriel train shirtless from the past days, had only encouraged her fantasies.

She reached the main doorway only to find Azriel already prepared and waiting for others. She would not lie to herself and say that she was not glad that she would be able to get some time alone with him. As she moved closer to him, she cleared her throat, catching his attention.

He turned around and looked at her from up to down, eyeing her overcoat with much suspicion. “Why do I have a feeling that whatever you’re wearing underneath is bound to surprise me?”

Elain loved the way his hazel eyes had a glint of amusement in them. She imagined what they would look like after spending an entire night together, uncovering their secrets, one by one. 

Elain gave him a sly smirk as she said, “Why don’t you ask your spies?” 

Azriel’s expression faltered for a moment, before he regained his composure as he asked her, “I beg your pardon? I do not understand.”

“Well, you are the Spymaster. You obviously have spies to help you out, don’t you?” She said. Elain was feeling bolder than she usually was whenever she was around Azriel. There was something about him that made Elain a much better version of herself.

Then there was also the fact that his looks could literally kill. 

Azriel nodded. “Rhys just said that we were to be ready by sunset. Would you mind telling where we are going?” He questioned her.

“We are going to one of the best places to go in our kingdom.” Elain said. 

“A bit more information would help, you know.” Azriel said. She looked at him and smiled. He gave her a flustered look.

“Oh don’t worry, you’ll know soon enough, I’m sure.” With that she ended their conversation and the others started coming their way. 

----------------------------

Feyre was glad that they were all going to Rita’s. What better way to uncover one’s secret when one is drunk? Feyre figured she would easily get the Prince drunk and make him spill all of his intentions. Feyre knew she herself was in no state to drink again. At least not until a few years. She was shocked at Elain’s ability to remain calm after a night of heavy drinking. 

She had spent the past two days with  the General, Cassian. He had told her about his job and had also offered to train with her once she had expressed her interests in swordfighting. They had started training at 7 in the morning and she had to say, it was much better than training with Tamlin. 

Feyre wore one of her better dresses. She intended to get to know most of the guests that had come to visit. Especially the two females whom she had no interaction with yet. Underneath her dress, she also hid two daggers on each thigh, just in case they were required. 

There was a knock on her door when she had finished readying herself.  She expected it to be either of her sisters or Cassian. 

She did not expect, however, to come face to face with a blonde haired woman dressed completely in red. She recognised her as Morrigan, one of their guests.

“Hello!” She exclaimed. “My name is Morrigan, but call me Mor!” Feyre winced slightly as Mor’s voice echoed off the stone walls. 

Feyre clutched her dress as she said, “Princess Feyre Archeron.” 

Mor waved her hand. “Oh, I already know. Come on, let’s go. I thought it would be nice to come and meet you.” Before Feyre could say anything, she added, “And don’t worry, Rhys did not send me here.” She tangled her arm with Feyre’s as she said, “In all honesty, Rhys would bite off my head if he knew I was with you.” 

“Why is that?” Feyre found herself asking. 

Mor glanced towards her once and started moving forward, pulling Feyre along with her. “Well, that is something only he himself could tell you. Enough about my stupid cousin. Tell me about yourself. And where are we going? No one told me anything and it’s making me anxious.”

Feyre smiled to herself. She had not even known Mor for more than a minute and had already considered her a very nice person to be friends with. And she knew that she needed one of those.

----------------------------

Cassian knew he was taking a great risk by standing outside her chambers, waiting for her. He knew she would definitely castrate him once she saw him, but he found that he could not stay away from her. There was something about Princess Nesta. He was drawn to her like a moth to a flame. 

The door in front of opened and she stood before him, in a long overcoat. She settled her gaze on him and scowled.

Oh how he loved that scowl.

Cassian smirked at her. “Let’s go Princess, your sisters are waiting for you.” He held his hand out for her. She didn’t accept it just like he expected. 

“I was not aware that you were going to be here.” She said cautiously. 

“Well, then whom did you think was going to be here? Certainly not someone more handsome than what you got.” He remarked. 

She narrowed his eyes. “Actually, yes, I did. I had expected the spymaster to be here.” She simply said. Cassian couldn’t do anything about the small feeling of jealousy that piqued within him. 

He pushed it all aside and said, “Well, Azriel had to go do some other important stuff and I thought I could come here instead of wasting my time.”

At that, Nesta turned towards him abruptly and glared at him. “Being here is the equivalent of wasting your time?”

Shit. “No, that’s not what I meant Princess.” 

Nesta didn’t care to listen though. “Just keep quiet and let me go.” 

After that Cassian stayed silent the entire way till the entrance where everyone was already there, waiting for them. Rhys sent him a confused look and Cassian only gave him a look that said, I screwed up big time.

----------------------------

Rhysand spent 15 minutes in the carriage wondering one thing, Where the hell were they going? He sat beside Feyre who had unknowingly sat very close to him. He did not mind it all, though. He did mind that the entire journey, she did not pay him any attention. She was talking to everyone else, even Amren, but not him. 

When they finally reached their destination and got out of the carriage, Rhys found himself standing in front of a huge building from which lights were pouring out. It seemed more crowded than any normal place. As soon as he entered the building, he realised that Rita’s was a tavern. It was filled with a lot of men and very few women. 

Someone handed all of them a glass filled with drinks. Feyre turned around and looked at him for the first time that evening. “Don’t worry. Drink up. You’ll be needing it.” She smiled at him and turned around. He emptied his glass in one gulp and realised it was vodka mixed with some sweet juice.

The three sisters moved ahead together and removed their coats, revealing a short dress, reaching their mid thighs, and stuck very closely to their body. From beside him, Az started choking on his drink and Mor laughed loudly. Cassian patted him on the back until he stopped choking and all of them looked at the sisters with wide eyes. 

Feyre was wearing a dark blue shimmery dress. She looked marvelous.

The three of them walked up to the lady tending the bar and got three drinks for themselves. All three of them downed it in one gulp. 

Mor and Amren moved ahead and joined them, leaving behind the three males, dumbstruck.

----------------------------

Az tried his best to not stare. He really did. But he could not help whenever his gaze involuntarily shifted towards Elain. She was wearing a dark pink dress, covered in glitters and it reached her mid thigh. 

He was used to seeing females wear such dresses back in his kingdom but he had not expected to see Elain ever wearing something of such. In gowns, Elain looked pretty and beautiful, like a true princess, but at that moment, in that dress of hers and drinking down whiskey as if there was no tomorrow, she looked like a goddess. And Azriel would be damned if he said he didn’t want to spend every second of his life worshipping her. 

He didn’t know where he was getting these thoughts from. He was on a mission and he shouldn't be getting distracted by one princess. Unfortunately, he couldn’t convey the same message to his mind. 

She was sitting on a barstool, alone, nursing a drink. Her sisters were nowhere to be seen and he thought he should go sit with her, just in case she needed help. 

He slid onto the seat beside her. Without turning towards him she said, “If you care for your life, I suggest you go away this instant.” Az wouldn’t have felt threatened if it weren't for the little needle she had placed right near his inner thigh. 

He smiled and raised both his hands in surrender. “You have me defeated.” 

Elain turned and looked at him, her eyes lighting up as soon as she saw him. “Azzie! I didn’t see you there!” 

Az smiled at her. “You’re drunk.” He stated. 

She shook her head. “Nah. Just a little bit tipsy.” She said as she pinched two of her fingers together. “So, what do you think of the dress?” She asked him.

Az looked down at her once again. “Uh… You look nice.” He said hesitantly.

She shook her head in dismay. “The truth, Azzie.” She leaned towards him and whispered conspicuously. “There’s no one here to listen to our words and watch our actions.” 

Az found himself leaning towards her as well. “Actions, huh?” He whispered as well. 

They were very close to each other. He could feel her hot breath. “We could do whatever we want and there will be no one stopping us.” She leaned in closer, her gaze focussed on his lips.

“You look incredibly sexy.” He said as he finally closed the distance between them and touched his lips to hers. 

She instantly increased the pace. She grasped onto his forearm and pulled him closer, deepening the kiss. Azriel moved his hand from her shoulder, down to her back, caressing her long, soft hair. He moved his other hand to cup her face. 

Everything around them ceased to exist. Az could barely taste alcohol on her lips. He knew from her bright eyes that she was completely in her senses. 

She raised her hands and held onto his shoulders. They broke apart slightly, both panting heavily. She looked into his eyes and opened her mouth to speak when she was interrupted by the barmaid. 

“Princess, you need to hide now.” She said urgently. Elain looked confused. She turned her gaze towards the entrance and widened her eyes in shock. She then grabbed Azriel and went in the opposite direction of the entrance.

Azriel glanced at the entrance, but couldn’t see much due to the crowd. All he could make out was a tall man with furious green eyes and golden hair. 

----------------------------

The man with golden hair stood in front of King Archeron, handing him a goblet filled with wine. 

“How was your journey, Captain?” The King asked as he took a sip of wine. The man did not reply, just sat in a chair in front of a fireplace. “Captain, I asked you something.” 

He just said, “King.” 

King Archeron looked at him with narrowed eyes. “What do you mean?” 

The Captain stretched his legs in front of him. “I am the King now.”

The King looked at him furiously. “What rubbish?!” Suddenly, the King felt unable to breathe. His throat felt parched and his mouth felt numb. 

His vision started darkening and he collapsed onto the floor. He saw the Captain move towards him and look down at him with a sneer on his face. 

“You will never succeed.” The King rasped.

The man just laughed wickedly. “Oh poor Archeron.” He moved towards the throne, gazing at the portrait of the King with his three daughters.  The King closed his eyes as he lost the fight within him. 

“I just did.”

----------------------------

An: It’ll probably have about 10 chapters, plus an epilogue.  

Let me know if you want to be added to the tag list!

Tag list: @devilorfling​ @sleepyyhead21​  @b00kworm​ @s-atanism​ @eloeloeheheh @absolute-dissapointment​ @illyrianwitchling13​

[maddmuses]

Saiyan Cultural Post 1: Saiyanesses and The Queen of All Saiyans

Speaking to saiyan biology they are roughly as sexually dimorphic as humans, though possibly a bit less depending on your interpretation and portrayal of saiyans. For the purposes of this post/headcanon we’re going to say that Saiyan women are about as similar to human women as saiyan men are to human men.

So that is to say, any quality (superhuman speed, strength, durability, tails, etc.) that is unique to saiyan males is unique to saiyan females as well.

That being said, portrayals of female saiyans in military, martial arts, and other combative spaces seem to be far more common than female humans over the course of the Dragon Ball series. Now while this probably has more to do with Toriyama’s personal brand of misogyny (we’ll call it “Old Japanese Man Syndrome”) than anything, but I’m taking it as a cue that as a warrior race Saiyan women tend to develop their musculature and combat instincts as easily as the men tend to, with a (Xenoverse-inspired) bias more towards spiritual strength and physical.

That is to say if you had two saiyans of equivalent combat potential and training, we’ll even say they’re twin siblings, with the key difference being their sex; the male would probably be physically stronger and hardier, but the female would be more lithe and quick, and as well the female’s ability to tap into her chi would likely also be superior.

Saiyanesses (as we’ll be intermittently referring to biologically female saiyans as well as any saiyan woman)(though we also know that transmen saiyans would probably be... Saiyan, their biology would probably be similar to that of a saiyaness unless they experience particular medical procedures) are culturally assumed to be less warrior-capable than their counterparts simply because of this perceived difference in physical strength, though as a warrior race female infants are still tested for their combat potential in the same way that all saiyans are. Accordingly, when female saiyans are determined to have a high combat potential, they will often go along the same paths as male saiyans.

In the case of low-rated, female, babies though, the process of seeding to far away planets is far less common, with many being kept on Vegeta, or whichever homeworld you prefer, to be trained in homeworld-necessary positions, such as Engineering, Food Preparation, Civil Service, and the like.

Interrupting to speak to a more broad headcanon, I do believe that it is the saiyans with absolutely abysmal potential that end up staying home in nursing pods, as workers in the low-class are too valuable to send off on seeding missions that they’ll likely fail. I think Kakarot was initially meant to stay on as a service-class saiyan, possibly intent to do physical labor, food service, or possibly engineering if he displayed a keen enough intelligence for it. If a saiyan has a “middling” combat potential (not Mid-Class mind you, but possibly just high for a weakling. Think maybe a floor of the teens, possibly no lower than 20 though) they get sent on seeding missions, though high power levels of at least 100 are probably what are seen as worth keeping to train and add to the saiyan military.

Saiyaness warriors aren’t strictly uncommon, though, as the likes of Gine and Fasha were known to be warriors, as well as a number of other side and main saiyaness characters. Saiyaness warriors are often regarded with a mixture of respect and apprehension by their allies, as saiyanesses are known to have exceptionally strong bouts of rage-fueled power-spikes, often linked to maternal instinct. Thus, culturally speaking, anger beyond a tempered combat savagery is regarded as a feminine quality and something that saiyans often chastise and mock one another for. Even a saiyan becoming frustrated by being on the losing end of combat is something that is looked upon poorly, regardless of the saiyan’s actual victory. (If Chi-Chi and Bulma’s respective short fuses are anything to go off of, this seems like something Toriyama would feature if a female saiyan got any writing from him beyond Gine)

This is substantiated by Vegeta openly mocking Nappa for this, while only becoming readily willing to tap into his own fury when he finds that Gohan draws strength from it commonly, or when he has been particularly set back (note that Vegeta’s bouts of screaming anger aren’t actually common, simply exaggerated and his behavior is more in-line with either a cold monster or a grumpy curmudgeon).

Speaking about female saiyans of a higher power level, while many are allowed into the military, some are specifically still kept on-planet, though not initiated into the military immediately, instead receiving specialized training and missions over the course of their lives to test and develop Battle Power. These saiyanesses are actually being vetted for the position of “Queen of All Saiyans”. Though this position can occasionally be inherited through typical monarch line of succession (I headcanon that Vegeta the First was not father to Vegeta the Second, but possibly great or great-great grandfather) it is usually granted as a title to the royal consort of the King.

The Queen of All Saiyans is regarded as the single most powerful Saiyaness on Vegeta, with the position being granted once every generation, or less, to a saiyaness who displays the greatest range of not only battle power, but also combat superiority, and ferocity. Particularly strong Kings are often known to be a credit to their mothers, as being royalty makes it easy to be strong, but a powerful consort is considered a personal achievement that required discipline and drive.

If the current ruling monarch is already Queen of All Saiyans, and she’s expected to produce an heir, the process of vetting a male consort often sees it necessary to hold a tournament among the prospects of the elite warriors, though these often result in the most cunning mate, rather than solely the most powerful.

Courting among non-royal saiyans likely include a show of power to impress and attract mates, in less developed time periods, though particularly prideful and strong saiyanesses may still demand a duel for her partner to prove himself. Though saiyan notions of romance aren’t totally unheard of, they still exist, as such is the case with Gine.

[cuddleslutloki]

SO! i have been asked to give advice a couple times by a couple different writers in fandom who are cis and want to know how to/if it’s okay to write trans characters, so here’s my take and a few pieces of advice. it’s gonna be a little long lol

to answer the question “can cis writers write trans characters?”

Y E S 

i would personally love it, and i know other trans people who would also love it, if more cis writers wrote trans characters. the only limitation that i’d ever put on this is to say that i wouldn’t want to see a cis writer writing about trans self-discovery or a Trans Journey bc... i mean... those are our stories to tell, y’know?

generally most of the trans people i know feel the same way. we want to see ourselves in stories, even if we’re not the main characters. we want to know that you see us and think us worth writing about. representation matters. 

but if you’re writing a story about female friendship and you wanna make one of those women trans? please do bc we need more normalized representation. seeing these really intense Trans Journey stories is great, it is, but it feels one-note when it’s like.... practically the only thing we ever see.

wanna write a story about brotherhood and the bonds of found family and male friendship? make a dude trans! he’s a dude! who’s trans! 

quick advice for writing trans men:

not all trans men bind. i don’t. i have a triple D chest, so yeah it’s kind of obvious that i have tits. with the full beard it can be a confusing look lmao. your trans male character doesn’t have to bind, and it doesn’t have to be bc he’s had top surgery, or because he’s flat chested. some of us just don’t want to have the damage done to our bodies that binding can and will do if done consistently enough for long enough.

not all trans men use packers, which are prosthetics made to give a bulge where trans guys don’t have one. 

trans men can top lol. it isn’t just skinny cis women using strap-ons, and a guy can cum using a harness bc of where it sits. also, emotionally, that shit is fantastic (speaking from personal experience). 

if you’re writing erotica, then be aware that some trans guys are okay with the word clit, some aren’t. this is more of a stylistic choice on the part of the writer, but if you’re using AFAB language for trans male genitals then make a note bc for some men that’s legitimately triggering. personally, i’m fine w/ my vagina, he’s a chill dude.

testosterone doesn’t make you taller, and it won’t make your character taller either lol. physical changes from T are increased muscle mass, changes in fat distribution on the body, voice drop, hairline receding around the temples, facial and body hair growth for some (takes 6+ months usually), clitoral growth, some men experience vaginal dryness some don’t, in the beginning there’s an increased sex drive which tends to even out once T levels are stable, since it’s basically a second puberty a lot of trans guys do get acne, hair can become coarser over time texture wise, and tends to thin

testosterone is administered via injection or with androgel which is topical, generally. if you want to write about a guy giving himself his T, then he’s probably on a weekly or bi-weekly injection schedule at home, or he’s using androgel which is daily and gets rubbed into the skin and has to dry fully. there’s no option right now to take testosterone orally that i know of. there’s also the option for a 3-month dose of testosterone to be given via injection, but it’s always done by a nurse and every trans guy i’ve talked to who’s had it has said they can’t even sit down for an hour afterward bc it’s injected into the ass and it hurts like a motherfucker. however it’s also only once every 3 months. personally i don’t mind my wee thigh shot lol. 

if anyone has more specific questions for writing trans male characters send me an ask and i’ll be glad to help

full disclaimer that i’m not a trans woman, but here’s some advice for writing trans women based on what i’ve heard from them:

unlike with T, where trans men can basically just start T and begin the process of a testosterone-based puberty, trans women first have to go on T blockers so that their T levels drop to where they should be for a woman, then they go on estrogen, which is usually??? a pill (not dissimilar to birth control)

when trans women have been on estrogen for long enough they can have multiple orgasms like any other woman, which is a pretty nifty perk

loss of muscle mass is common

breast growth happens differently for everyone, but breasts become more sensitive and as they grow a lot of women can experience some tenderness, and if the chest is struck/prodded that tenderness can be painful. (as someone who naturally developed breasts as a teen, i remember fucking crying when someone hit me in chest once bc everything was so sensitive)

trans women have natural hormone cycles and can experience period-like symptoms! so yeah! a trans woman can wake up and be >:( and have mood swings!

the penis and balls will shrink over time on estrogen, some trans women stop getting hard, some don’t

some trans women tuck their penises, some don’t

trans women have to make the choice to raise their voices, as most of the effects of testosterone-based puberty cannot be reversed. T thickens the vocal chords, which is what makes a trans guy’s voice drop, but if a trans woman is transitioning after she’s experienced a full T-based puberty, her voice isn’t going to raise. a lot of trans women do vocal training to get used to talking in their head voice versus their chest voice. some even pick out like a celebrity or a character to emulate bc it’s a lot easier when you’ve got a goal to aim for.

facial hair generally doesn’t stop growing. the follicles being active doesn’t change when testosterone levels drop. hair growth can slow, but it’s probably not going to stop entirely without laser hair removal or electrolysis. same with body hair. 

hair texture can change, though, and become softer over time

if any trans women followers want to add to this feel free :D

your character might not have IDs that match up w/ their identity. having your government docs changed can be a pain in the ass depending on where you live, and a lot of places require some kind of surgery as “proof” which is bullshit but... y’know, it happens. 

big thing to remember: not all trans people want surgery. not all trans people fall into the gender binary. the way i define being trans is that your gender doesn’t match what you were assigned at birth. that’s it. i consider non-binary people transgender bc. y’know. they fucking are. not all of them want to ID that way or feel like they can, but if they do then i fully welcome them bc they’re my people. 

i think cis writers can feel like it’s a taboo or a no-go to write trans characters bc “well what if i do it wrong” and i think it comes down to being really caught up in the fact that the character is trans, rather than them just being a trans character. like. here’s my day as an out, transitioning trans man:

i wake up between 6am and 7am, i dick around on my phone, i let my dogs out, feed them, have breakfast, go to work, eat lunch, work more, come home, eat dinner, dick around on my phone more, go to bed. repeat. my weekends consist of writing, primarily, and watching stuff on netflix. and every other sunday i give myself an injection of testosterone into my thigh. every couple months i see my endocrinologist and maybe have a blood test.

diabetics have a more rigorous schedule than i do, health-wise. 

me being trans is part of who i am, a defining part even, but it’s not all i am. if someone were to write a story about my life and make it all about me being trans, they’d first be ignoring like... the first 25 years of my life, but also everything that happens to me in between these big transition milestones. 

not everything with trans people is about being trans. sometimes it’s about being bored. or wanting to play video games.

on another personal note, some of the signs that i was trans weren’t very obvious. they make a lot of sense in hind sight (like when i was 4 and told my mom i was going to wear a suit to prom, or when i was 5 and told my dad that my husband was taking my last name bc that just seemed how shit should work to me) but at the time they were just these small, weird little quirks that no one saw as anything more.

in fandom a lot of our stories tend to veer toward the romantic or erotic, so let me just say that you don’t need to write about dysphoria or remark on the topic within the story. i know this is a sticking point for a lot of cis writers bc most of them haven’t experienced dysphoria so they don’t know how to write it. good news is you don’t have to, a trans person can be happy with their body, especially if they’re far enough along in their transition, and it can just be a smutty, smutty story about people fucking lol.

this is a really loose guide w/ very loose bits of advice and seriously if anyone ever wants to ask more specific questions or my opinion you can DM me or send an ask on or off anon and i’ll be glad to offer any help i can

[charminglatina]

Riverdale Characters as Tropes (Part I) ⭐️.

Here is a list of the most notable Riverdale characters and their tropes that best describe their character archetypes and personalities. I used tropes from TVTropes.org. Have fun reading!

#1. Archie Andrews (Main Trope: Big Man On Campus AKA BMOC; Secondary Tropes: Chick Magnet, Betty and Veronica, The Ace, Mr. Fanservice, The Hero, Lovable Jock, All-Loving Hero, Action Hero, Nice Guy, All Guys Want Cheerleaders)

Big Man On Campus (BMOC)

Guys want to be him, gals want to be with him. Maybe Even the Guys Want Him. The Big Man on Campus is the most popular guy in the High School. He is handsome, charming, a superb athlete and usually pretty smart and an A student. Unlike his peers Alpha Bitch (who is usually his girlfriend until he realizes how awful she is) and the Jerk Jock (usually his friend until he realizes how awful he is) the Big Man on Campus never bullies anyone: he rules through charisma and general awesomeness rather than fear and manipulation. But like the Lovable Jock (with whom he is often close, if not one and the same), woe to anyone who trifles with him. He'll probably grow up to become The Ace. Sometimes Truth in Television. The Big Man on Campus is very popular in Prep school fiction, as a well-read, handsome, athletic, affable, and articulate man is the epitome of prep. The High School Hustler is occasionally a Big Man, but more often lower on the totem pole. Generally this character is either the protagonist himself, or is the chief love interest in a story about a Cool Loser heroine. He rarely turns up if the story is about male outcasts (as the existence of a benign popular kid makes it harder to use jocks as villains) or about a popular girl (as those sort of stories usually give her an outsider love interest). The Big Man on Campus is Always Male. For a "popular but good hearted" High School female equivalent Spoiled Sweet is the trope of choice. Compare School Idol and Lovable Jock . For settings outside of High School, compare it to Magnetic Hero.

#2. Betty Cooper (Main Trope: Girl Next Door; Secondary Tropes: Tomboy With A Girly Streak, Ambiguous Disorder,  Amateur Sleuth, Beware The Nice Ones, Cute and Psycho, The Smart Girl, Tomboyish Ponytail, Wrench Wench)

Girl Next Door

A Girl Next Door is a character who, it is implied, an "ordinary guy" male protagonist might have known when growing up, and whom he might like without feeling intimidated. She may literally be from the same neighborhood as the hero, or she may just remind him of girls he knew back home. In simpler terms: the feminine equivalent of an "average Joe", in terms of looks and personality. An Average Josephine, if you will. They'll usually embody a "wholesome" sort of femininity, so they're rarely the promiscuous sort, though she might act as a foil to a woman who is. Since the trope is more about her personality, some can be considered knock-outs. In which case, they're likely the local beauty in the neighborhood, or a small town; especially if she's someone like the sassy, hot waitress from the local diner, or the Farmer's Daughter. Among their friends, they're easy to talk to and usually good listeners. But they also tend to be frank about how they see things and expect the same in return. In a Betty and Veronica duo, she's the "Betty". As such, her disposition ranges from even-tempered, to boisterous and, if she's a looker, she usually doesn't flaunt it. That isn't to say, she's incapable of passion; she's just unlikely to be extroverted about it. Girls of this nature will often appear in Harems, usually as the inevitably Unlucky Childhood Friend of the protagonist, or as said above, the "Betty" in a Love Triangle. In non-romantic stories, she'll either be best friends with one of the others, or she may be the Cool Big Sis. The Spear Counterpart, Boy Next Door, is the same, only—you know—male. Often overlaps with One of the Boys. Contrast with Hello, Nurse! and Peerless Love Interest. Also compare The All-American Boy, who might well be her High School Sweetheart.

#3. Veronica Lodge (Main Trope: Tsundere; Secondary Tropes: Lovable Alpha Bitch, Daddys Girl, Girly Girl,  The Beautiful Elite, Spirited Young Lady, Spoiled Sweet, Defrosting Ice Queen, Aloof Dark-Haired Girl, Mafia Princess, Uncle Pennybags, Antagonistic Offspring, The Fashionista, Fallen Princess, The Atoner)

Tsundere

The Japanese term tsundere refers to an outwardly violent character who "runs hot and cold", alternating between two distinct moods: tsuntsun (aloof or irritable) and deredere (lovestruck). The term was originally used to describe characters who began with a harsh outgoing personality, but slowly revealed a soft and vulnerable interior over time, which made this a plot trope as much as it is a character trope. Over the years the character archetype has become flanderized, and is now generically associated with a character who flips between the two emotional states at the slightest provocation, and usually at a specific person rather than a general sociability problem. The former is usually referred as Classic Tsundere and the latter as Modern Tsundere. A tsundere, especially a classic one, is usually a Tomboy with a Girly Streak. Tsunderes are mostly tomboys with hidden girly sides. The tsuntsun can range from the cold "silent treatment" to the hotheaded "kindergartener who pushes you into the sandbox." The reasons behind a Tsundere's behavior vary widely, but usually boil down to the conflict between their feelings of affection towards a love interest, and their reaction to having those feelings. The Tsundere stock characterization is very popular with writers of Romantic Comedy because the conflicts between the two personality facets can be easily utilized to generate both drama and comedy. It also acts as a source of Wish Fulfillment: specifically, the idea that every independent, hardened and just plain jerkish love interest (male or female) has a squishy emotional centre that will embrace you after you crack the outer shell.

Tsundere can be divided into two main categories, depending on their default mood:

Harsh (or Tsun): These Tsundere have tsuntsun as their default mood. It takes someone special to trigger their deredere side. The intensity of the tsuntsun can range from simple grumpy pessimism (Kagami of Lucky Star) to "I must glare and fight my way through life" (Louise of The Familiar of Zero). It's about which part of the tsundere personality is the public face and which the hidden. If the Tsundere is The Rival, she is more likely to be Harsh. Helping a rival out is usually accompanied by a line like "Don't get me wrong, I'm not doing this for you." Harsh types can overlap with a Jerk with a Heart of Gold, but usually not. The moods of a Tsundere tend to switch in reaction to the actions of select people or adverse scenarios; the deredere side usually only comes out when someone has acted in a way to trigger it. A Jerk with a Heart of Gold is jerkish in general regardless of whether the other person is mean or nice, and shows their Hidden Heart of Gold only when the situation warrants, regardless of how the other person had been acting. Male characters in particular should be considered for Jerk with a Heart of Gold status, as arguably because of Double Standards, men are generally that instead of tsundere, although the kuudere subtype is more equally split in gender. Oranyan is sometimes used to refer to a male tsundere character—incorrectly since it means the complete opposite.

Sweet (or Dere): These Tsundere have deredere as their default mood. They are sweet, kind and generous, but just happen to have a hidden violent side as well. Don't confuse the sweet tsundere with Bitch in Sheep's Clothing because in this case, they have a temper almost always triggered by someone or something else, usually a Love Interest. Either they have Belligerent Sexual Tension, are an Accidental Pervert, or just have no idea how to handle feelings of love and attraction. In some cases, an Armoured Closet Gay character may act like a Tsundere to mask their feelings for the object of their same-sex affection. May also overlap with Violently Protective Girlfriend if her Love Interest is threatened or in danger. Sweet types should not be confused with a Yandere. If a Sweet Tsundere were really convinced that their Love Interest didn't want them, they would revert back to the deredere side and probably enter an I Want My Beloved to Be Happy phase, while Yanderes are Not Good with Rejection at all and have been known to get downright murderous under such circumstances.

See also the Analysis page for more detailed information on common "strategies" employed by Tsunderecharacters, and other, related topics. This site has an explanation on the appeal of the Tsundere character. A common way of showing that a Tsundere has mellowed or has had her heart won over by the Love Interestis to have her shift from Harsh to Sweet. If her motivations are inquired, she will often engage in a Suspiciously Specific Denial, complete with a Luminescent Blush and total evasion of eye contact (cue the squeaks of Moe). When paired with a Jerk with a Heart of Gold, together they produce Belligerent Sexual Tension. If done poorly, the result is an Unintentionally Unsympathetic Jerk Sue. Compare with Well, Excuse Me, Princess!, Jerkass, and Jerk with a Heart of Gold. Contrast with Sour Outside, Sad Inside, which shares the spiky exterior but has depression and self-doubt rather than kindness hiding underneath. When Flanderized tends to overlap with Mood-Swinger. Also see Don't You Dare Pity Me! and Anger Born of Worry; both of them likely actions with this character type. Aloof Ally may show the same hot-and-cold behavior but for differing reasons. Shana Clone is a specific subtrope with a particular set of characteristics. Because of their low tolerance for stupidity, they are always Enraged by Idiocy. Please do not confuse this trope with a Mood-Swinger, who flips between all the emotional states (not just tsuntsun and deredere) and is more of an inherent mental problem encompassing more than just their romantic life. Also don't confuse with Playing Hard to Get, where a love interest deliberately chooses not to reciprocate her pursuer's interest until she's sure he's hooked. Psychologically, tsundere-like behavior could be an example of "splitting", a maladaptive coping mechanism wherein a person alternately idealizes and undervalues others, including potential romantic partners. This trope is Older Than Dirt, dating back to at least ancient Mesopotamia.

#4. Jughead Jones III (Main Trope: Jerk With A Heart Of Gold; Secondary Tropes: Big Eater, Beware The Quiet Ones, The Cynic, Byronic Hero, Deadpan Snarker, Good Is Not Nice, Good Is Not Soft, Cool Crown Hat, Loners Are Freaks, Wrong Side Of The Tracks, Lower Class Lout, Face Of A Thug)

Jerk With A Heart Of Gold (JWAHOG)

A person you would expect to be a big Jerkass has some redeeming qualities behind their tough demeanor. Occasionally, they'll try to make it a Hidden Heart of Gold. In a romance series, a female character filling this role is usually a Tsundere instead (occasionally she's both). A male version is usually Troubled, but Cute, and his heart of gold should never outweigh his inner jerk because All Girls Want Bad Boys, though it can if Single Woman Seeks Good Man. If his jerkishness threatens to overshadow his good qualities, he's likely to attract a Love Martyr. Sometimes Truth in Television, though you can expect Real Life examples of this to be far more subtle than fictional ones. Often this is Played for Laughs, but not always. They are just as common in drama, suspense, horror and other genres as they are in comedy. One reason for this is that they make an convenient Plot Device. After all, the supposed jerkass turning out to save the family from their real stalker, instead of being said stalker, can be a source of Heartwarming Moments when done right. If he's a manly-man who pursues an unexpectedly delicate hobby, it may be a case of Real Men Wear Pink. Audiences may also sympathize more with the JWAHOG if he's shown to frequently have a good reason to act angry or annoyed. Even the most patient of souls can only endure being the Only Sane Man when they're Surrounded by Idiots for so long, after all. One or two Pet the Dog moments scattered around for character depth does not grant a heart of gold. A true JWAHOG has many Pet the Dog moments. Or maybe those moments are rare, but powerful. Or maybe they skew more toward the "Jerk" part but start making a point of showing the "Heart of Gold" part following a Jerkass Realization. Either way, ultimately they manage to balance out the jerk in them. If it doesn't balance out, they're just a regular jerkass, or worse, a Jerk with a Heart of Jerk. Not to be confused with a certain jerk whose spaceship is named "The Heart of Gold." Even if he is an example. Or a group of people who helped defend the Heart of Gold, even though — again — they include at least two examples. Compare/contrast with Hidden Heart of Gold, Bitch in Sheep's Clothing, Noble Demon, Bruiser with a Soft Center, Hero with an F in Good, Innocently Insensitive, Aww, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other, and Sour Outside, Sad Inside. Sometimes subverted as Jerk with a Heart of Jerk. The Lovable Alpha Bitch is a frequent Distaff Counterpart of the frequently male Jerk with a Heart of Gold. Any Nice Guy have a complete heart of gold while the trope on this page tends to vary between this trope and the former troupe. The Lancer and Loveable Rogue are often, but not always, portrayed in this light. One half of the Belligerent Sexual Tension couple. Also compare Good Is Not Nice. Truth in Television: Most of the jerks you'll meet in your life will have some redeeming qualities to them. Few people are such jerks that they don't care about anyone, and cynical people tend to handle bad situations better, so having one as a friend can be useful when things go downhill.

#5. Cheryl Blossom (Main Trope: Alpha Bitch; Secondary Tropes: Academic Alpha Bitch, Rich Bitch, Spoiled Brat, The Cheerleader, Bratty Teenage Daughter, Clingy Jealous Girl, Lipstick Lesbian, Pet The Dog, Lady In Red)

Alpha Bitch

Take your typical setting involving teenagers—say, a High School—wait an establishing scene or two or three, and there she is. See that attractive blonde cheerleader looking down her nose (often literally) and sneering at the frumpy girl in glasses? That's her. Often times, she is the authority of the cheerleading squad and decides who's on and off the squad. After all, who needs a coach? The villainess of many a Teen Drama, the Alpha Bitch is the Distaff Counterpart to the Jerk Jock, and usually his girlfriend;note what he does with his fists, she does with a sharp tongue and sharper manipulation. She is often surrounded by a fawning Girl Posse who suck up to her and act as her faithful minions. She's very likely to be a Narcissist, a Drama Queen, a fashionista, a Valley Girl, a Bratty Teenage Daughter, a Daddy's Girl, an Attention Whore, and/or a Proud Beauty. She's also usually the scion of a wealthy and influential family, the star of the school or head sister of the influential college sorority house, thus providing her a network of local celebrity, influence and wealth to exploit. She's also quite the seductress, and consequently, all the boys fight amongst themselves—sometimes literally—to be her oppressed boyfriend. And to top it off, she's also very good-looking. All this leaves her with the belief that she can do whatever she likes without consequences. Unfortunately, she's often right; the Powers That Be are not immune to her family's wealth, connections, and influence, and they can and will be corrupted or coerced into overlooking her bad behavior. Her natural enemy is the Cool Loser heroine. Whenever their eternal, jealousy-fueled struggle over possessions, boyfriends, and status is sparked anew, quarter will neither be asked for nor given. Usually the Veronica in a Betty and Veronica situation, if she's even presented as a love interest at all. Frequently on the Snob end of Slobs vs. Snobs. It's a Costume Party, I Swear!, the Prank Date, and the Party Scheduling Gambit are just some of the many nasty tricks she plays. Often receives her comeuppance at the hands of a member of her own Girl Posse in a Backstabbing the Alpha Bitch moment, or when the Cool Loser fights back (sometimes with an Engineered Public Confession). Normally joined by a Beta Bitch who assists her in her various cruel deeds. If given some Character Development, she will become a Defrosting Ice Queen and grow into a Spoiled Sweet, or a Lovable Alpha Bitch. This trope is probably so common because everyone who wasn't homeschooled knew someone like this... or was one. It self-perpetuates because girls who want to be popular will copy what works on TV. They might even become the mask.

Most examples fall into one of two types:

Aggressive: Despite being a not-too-bright, outwardly rude, bullying, mean-spirited excuse for a human, she will somehow still be the most popular girl in school, making her a weird mix of Card-Carrying Villainand Villain with Good Publicity. She may be manipulative from time to time, but the way she acts, it's a wonder people fall for her tricks. Usually, she will have a 0% Approval Rating, but even that won't be enough to stop her. Done poorly, she can break the Willing Suspension of Disbelief, but done well she can be used to show how masochistic teenagers can be, out of a need for acceptance and attraction towards people they perceive as powerful. Unlikely to be a Fille Fatale, she's too outwardly mean for that. But who knows, if All Men Are Perverts, they might overlook her personality in favor of looks. Common in Kid Comsand shows with Black and White Morality because she's a rather unambiguous character. This does not mean she is necessarily a Flat Character. She may in fact be Sour Outside, Sad Inside. Compare The Bully and The Lad-ette.

Passive-Aggressive: A smarter, more adroit version of the first type, she is often adept at putting on a friendly facade, all the better for her to lull the unwary into letting their guard down. Though sometimes Book Dumb out of a lack of interest in academics, she is usually of about average or greater intelligence, because maintaining her status requires some level of cleverness. Her beta is usually a good-naturedDumb Blonde, Brainless Beauty, or Asian Airhead for contrast. Very often a Fille Fatale, or if she's older, a Femme Fatale. Often, even she is just as oblivious to her inner nature as everyone else is, and thinks of herself as much like the way she presents herself to others. A Heel Realization may cause her to change her ways. Or she might be knowingly and unrepentantly evil and just knows how to hide it from others.

If she's not the cheerleader type with the fake smile, but is the (usually) unglamorous girl who will fight to be the best in her class, she's the Academic Alpha Bitch. Though almost always a she, rare male Alpha Bitches (called Alpha Bastards) do exist, but they're just that — rare. They're distinct from the Jerk Jock in that they're mainly catty and manipulative, rather than physically threatening. Not to be confused with the Prison Alpha Bitch, found exclusively in women's jail, whose methods of bullying are much more brutal and whose goal isn't social status but outright dominance. The reason this character type is hated more than other Jerkass characters may have to do with her privelege and looks, see also Jerk Sue. Contrast Unpopular Popular Character.

#6. Kevin Keller (Main Trope: Gay Best Friend; Secondary Tropes: Camp Gay, Adorkable, All Gays Love Theater, All Gays Are Promiscuous, Gay Guy Seeks Popular Jock)

Gay Best Friend

The Gay Best Friend exists mostly to add variety, funny mannerisms and cheap laughs to an otherwise all-straight story and sometimes shows of political correctness. The GBF may talk about sex a lot, but is seldom depicted as having any, because too many viewers would find that disturbing. Either he has no love life to speak of (which never seems to bother him), or it's forever offscreen, only discussed with the heroine over brunch at some pretentious cafe. As modern society grows increasingly comfortable with gay people, fiction is slowly seeing more well-rounded gay supporting characters with onscreen love lives, whose sexuality is incidental to the character. In fiction the most common use of this trope is a male GBF to a straight female protagonist but other permutations are very slowly beginning to appear.

#7. Toni Topaz (Main Trope: Biker Babe; Secondary Tropes: Bi The Way, You Gotta Have Blue Hair, The Ladette, Butch Lesbian, But Not Too Black, Twofer Token Minority, Tank-Top Tomboy, One Of The Boys)

Biker Babe

Women who operate fast vehicles are apparently attractive. Maybe it's the Action Girl in the tight leather. Also includes car drivers and female pilots. Compare and contrast Hood-Ornament Hottie. The two are similar, but a Biker Babe actually rides the bike and often wears outfits which are a little more conducive to road safety. (Although the page image is an exception.) May deliver a "Samus Is a Girl" reveal, if she wears a full helmet and doesn't wear her leathers skintight. Essentially the Distaff Counterpart to Badass Biker, in that she won't be a pushover if things get messy, although she may be less aggressively badass than he is. Will likely induce a Hello, Nurse! effect on nearby males, and maybe some Stupid Sexy Flanders from a nearby female. See also Badass Driver. If you have a team composed entirely of Biker Babes, you get Amazon Brigade.

#8. Josie McCoy (Main Trope: Idol Singer; Secondary Tropes: The Prima Donna, Sassy Black Woman, Quirky Curls, Face Of The Band, Black Best Friend)

Idol Singer

A wildly popular trope in fiction about Japanese Pop Music is the "Idol Singer" — a teenage or early twenty-something (NEVER over 25) female performer, chosen for her cute and attractive image and sunny personality more than for her actual singing ability (though having actual talent underneath is not completely out of the rule). Idol Singers are recruited by multi-level audition processes, manufactured and managed by Japanese media companies, and ruthlessly discarded after a few years of cranking out formulaic hits. Over the past decade there has been a shift towards "mega-groups" that can have over one hundred members, with the lead spots on songs and choreography going to the most popular performers. Sometimes, Idol singers don't actually sing (like Milli Vanilli). Most are tightly controlled by their producers and expected to maintain a public image of purity and innocence: for example, their contracts may include an article of her not being allowed to engage in anyintimate activities. While this level of control has loosened somewhat with the growing impact of social media, which allows idols to interact with fans more casually, as well as a Japanese court decision that effectively rendered the "No Dating" clauses of Idol contracts unenforceable (it's still very in-force in Korea, however), the industry has been slow to overturn its most problematic and exploitative elements. Naturally, every Japanese schoolgirl dreams of becoming one. Those who used to be one are often Broken Birds. Thanks to the Disney Channel, American Idol, and The X Factor, this trope is also prevalent in the West, where it often overlaps with the Teen Idol. If she's a villain in a Superhero or Magic Idol Singer show, she's an Evil Diva.

Look for Part II!

[ginnyzero]

Good Books are Hard to Find

I have spent my fair share of time looking through the science fiction/fantasy section at book stores and browsing through Amazon trying to find that next author to read. The one where, no matter what they write, you’re going to want to buy every single novel because they are just that good. And when you do find a writer who exhibits the signs of being decent, you have to stand there and cross your fingers that as the series progresses they remember their own premise, world building and don’t go off into the badlands of ‘bad fiction tropes.’

I try to give every author I try a good three books (if they’ve got 3 books published) to hold my attention. Sometimes, I make it to four books. However, by the third book usually I can tell whether or not the author writes the types of stories that I want to read. (The first book is usually their best effort and doesn’t always translate into the second or third books. Sometimes writers do improve.) Or, other times, I figuratively throw the book across the room and into a box for Becca to read and review later. I try to give the authors a fair shake. If by the third book, I’m not happy and they have more published. I’ll go ahead and read the summaries for the next stories to see if they get any better. So far, this actually hasn’t worked.

Here are some of the reasons of why some books just don’t work for me:

They’re a knock off of a better writer.

Look, no one owns the basic building blocks of a fantasy world. If a writer wants to write a noir style detective in an urban fantasy world, then more power to them. But changing the name and changing the color of a coat doesn’t an original or an engaging story/character make or else, you’re just a poor rip off of Jim Butcher’s Dresden files without Butcher’s spark. I already own the Dresden files. They’re long. They’re engaging and you have to have more than an interesting title to keep my attention. Or else, I’ll just put it back down on the shelf and go buy the latest Jim Butcher book.

Love Triangles.

I’m no longer in high school. In fact, I never observed this behavior even in high school. So, the love triangle just confuses me completely. I understand the fantasy aspect of it. But past the age of sixteen, whether or not you’re dating two guys at the same time isn’t really that big of a deal as long as they both know about each other. In fact, usually, by the time we’ve met both guys. I don’t care for either one of them because they’ve been so obviously set up to be the main female character’s perfect mate. It feels so forced and stilted. Characters first, relationships second, love relationships third, please.

Serial Love Interests.

This is the next step after love triangles. I want to be able to root for somebody romantically. I don’t like picking up each book, having the same main female character and then having to get invested in a totally new male love interest. Only to find out from the next book’s summary that they’re not even going to be in it anymore. It makes me wonder what is wrong with the girl that she can’t keep a guy! I can understand that it is somewhat realistic for women to date several men over the course of their lives. If we must have several love interests over the course of a series, let them stick around for a few books so we can figure out exactly why they’re not any good for the main female character.

(I suppose this can be said about male characters too, but I see this more with female protagonists than I do male protagonists.)

Premise that Doesn’t Fit the Plot.

I chalk this up to poor research or the “and they solve crime,” meme. A lot of the books in the urban fantasy genre in particular I’ve noticed seemed to be shelved in the wrong section. Because, honestly, they’re really mysteries. And while I like a good mystery, sometimes the premise of the stories don’t actually fit with a mystery conclusion. Or, the premises would be much more interesting than the ‘they solve crime’ that the writer defaulted to. I have seen this multiple times. Basically, if you choose a profession for your character, then make sure your stories actually follow that professional line of work.

Look, if you’re going to write a bounty hunter. Then read and watch stuff about bounty hunting so you actually know what a bounty hunter does. They tend not to work for the type of people they actually hunt and security work isn’t their forte.

If I see a story where the premise is the main character is a nurse in a supernatural setting, I’m really hoping for a Grey’s Anatomy, House, ER style story lines where we have an interesting hospital staff diagnosing and curing interesting diseases and dealing with distraught families. I don’t want to see the nurse solve crime. That’s not what a nurse does! Leave the solving crime to the police detectives and private investigators. Please. There are so many more interesting stories than just ‘they solve crime.’

Also, if I do pick up a book about “they solve crime.” I want the books to be about “they solve crime” not the zany life, lack of character growth and whacky love life of only one of the characters. If the premise is two kickass female characters start an agency to solve crime, then make sure it’s a story about two kickass female characters, not one mildly kickass character.

Unqualified Main Characters.

You’d think I’d be talking about the mechanics, bounty hunters, security agents and nurses running around with a note pad and a camera solving crime. But I’m not. I’m talking about the private investigators who don’t know how to investigate or creatures who don’t know about or don’t want to know about who they are and the type of people they’re investigating! If you are a vampire and you are a private investigator that is supposed to solve vampiric problems, it is in your best interest to know a bit about vampires! Otherwise, I end up flipping to the back of the book to make sure the character survives. (Of course they survive, there wouldn’t be the next book if they didn’t, but I’m still morbidly going “how in hell are they going to get out of this intact?)

I swear, there was one book I read where the main character was so under qualified for what she was doing, she spent half the book bawling. Look, even I like dropping characters into absurd situations where they are unprepared, but there is rallying and trying to do it and then there is hysterical sobbing in a ball in the corner. One makes for amusing reading and the other does not.

Basically, I don’t really care what profession your character has, but unless they are still in college or first two weeks on the job, make sure they actually know what they’re doing, especially if they are supposed to be solving crime.

Contradictory Main Characters.

Okay, have you ever been reading a book where the author tells you one thing and then as the story progresses she shows you something completely different? Sometimes it’s a corollary of the above. The author is sure that their main character is a kung fu master, but really they’re just going hiyah, hiyah to a mirror in their bedroom?

Now when this happens around a female character, it usually involves her love life. I like to call this the princess/nerd syndrome. You see, on the outside the female character is a nerd and nobody wants to date her, but on the inside, really she’s a princess waiting for the right man to come along and see her for who she really is. Well, over the course of the story it isn’t just the ‘right man’ who comes along, it’s four or five ‘right men’ all at the same time! So much for no one wanting to date our helpless, socially awkward, powers pariah, nerdy female.

Usually later this is explained away by some random hand waving power of bullshit that the character has no control over. No. She’s not really that great of a girl. She just smells good, has fairy charisma, she can bear the man’s children without her or the baby dying or is the ‘chosen one’ of prophecy.

I understand this is a fantasy. No. I don’t get it. I don’t want to get it. It drives me crazy. I stop reading.

Shock Writing.

This is what happens when I’m reading along in the book and things are going fairly well. We’ve got a strong character and suddenly I turn the page and the character is being brutally raped! Shock writing is when the writer uses something horrible an awful (rape, kidnap, murder, character death, false accusations, power loss) to grab the reader’s attention and “shock” them into keeping reading.

Some writer’s go overboard with it. You can pick up a book start reading and discover that everything that could possibly go wrong with this character will. It’s shock writing over saturation.

I personally don’t read books to be led through a sewer. Scenes such as sudden rape in an effort to appear edgy in what was previously a book I could recommend to my mother really turns me off. And if everything possible has to go wrong with your character for the writer to feel the story is interesting and good (often the character stops growing at this phase), then I’m not going to bother to pick up any more of their stories.

Flat Main Characters.

A lot of times, I’ll stop reading a book because I just can’t get invested into the main character(s). Sometimes this is because the writer just hasn’t allocated enough book space for their character to shine. This might be the difference between plot driven and character driven stories. Just, no matter how much I like the plot or think the premise is interesting. If I can’t get behind the main character and feel some sort of empathy for them, then there’s no way I’m going to be able to stay interested in the story. Sure, there are plenty of writers willing to tell me in their books about the likes and dislikes of their characters, but they never take the time out away from their main plot to show me.

Some writers are so focused on their action. They forget that the characters they’re working with aren’t plastic puppets on strings. That these characters should have hopes, dreams, likes, dislikes, things in their pockets and thoughts before they go to sleep. In an action fueled plot, there has to be pauses and that is when you learn about the characters, in the pauses. I find plot driven works to either be boring or exhausting. And a lot of times when I finish the book, I don’t know anything about the main character or they haven’t grown at all.

These are just some of the general trends I’ve come across while searching for new books to read. So, while the books were readable, they just didn’t fit what I was looking for in a story.

[everygame]

Heavy Rain (PS3)

Developed/Published by: Quantic Dream / Sony Computer Entertainment Released: 23rd February 2010 Completed: 14th January 2018 Completion: Finished it once. Trophies / Achievements: 41%

David Cage, eh? Let’s be honest, he sucks. I thought so well before his recent recently pillorying in the press for not just being a ego-centric fool but also a genuinely toxic one; I don’t need to go into the accusations here, you can read all about them at your leisure. He’s always been something of an anomaly in game development; someone who has literally never managed to make anything good (let’s not forget Peter Molyneux put in his time) yet has managed to get Sony to bankroll genuinely massive productions, not least the upcoming Detroit: Becoming Human. There’s an odd emperor’s new clothes to him.

Since the accusations, things get muddled of course. I don’t think Cage should lead a game again; before, I’d have said purely because he makes shitty things. But now it’s one of those things where the “shitty things” in question have all the hallmarks that make us ask—why weren’t the questions being asked before? One only has to look at his recent wrong-headed defense of triggering sequences from Detroit: Being Human to see there’s something wrong there, as soon as he’s actually challenged.

Perhaps you’d view this all as an aside, but I there’s been a lot of chat recently that the reason gaming hasn’t had its “me too” moment is simply that women and marginalized people in game development simply don’t have the power. It’s very different being a known actress from being a programmer, or an artist in a team of hundreds; Quantic Dream isn’t just a production house that will just put someone else in Cage’s place; he’s the founder, he owns it, he’s not going anywhere. 

It sucks.

[Keza MacDonald would write an article about this lack of a “me too moment” for The Guardian that’s worth reading—pointing out that things like #1reasonwhy shouldn’t be forgotten.]

So with that all said, it’s with rather a different light that I consider my decision with a few friends to play Cage’s post-Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy games “as a lark” as a bit… less… funny. I think it’s worthwhile to dig into it, anyway, as an experience, so yeah, let’s genuinely try and make sense of it and him.

For background, let’s discuss Fahrenheit, because sure as shit no one bothers to remember anything about Omikron: The Nomad Soul other than David Bowie was in it (tragically.) It’s a game that opens with a polygon model of Cage himself explaining how to play the game, and I remember cringing myself fully inside-out at that point. After that comes literally Cage’s one (1) memorable interesting bit of game design, the one (1) that literally everyone references. He places you as a man who has to hide a body in the bathroom of a diner and there are lots of different decisions to make as to how you do it; and then you play the police investigating it.

It’s interesting! Genuinely! Because of course, you know where the police should look and what they should do; but there’s that thought where… maybe you don’t want them to? There are lots of interesting things to do with “player omnipotence” in narrative games, but of course, this is basically the only time Cage does anything with it. Indeed, he spirals into what I consider his true trademarks: a complete inability to write a narrative that makes any sense, and leering sexism.

But of course, we’re not here to go into Farenheit’s plot (anyway, you all know it devolves into your zombie protagonist fighting the embodification of the internet, etc.) we’re here to with an open heart explore Heavy Rain as a serious work of an artis… I’m sorry I’ll start laughing like a drain again if I keep this up.

Heavy Rain has trophies, right? The first one you get is, literally, “Thank You For Supporting Interactive Drama.”

The hubris.

I mean, this is why you want to play this, right? Because you desperately want to try and understand how you could have so much ego, so much self-belief, that you literally do something like that.

I’m really not sure what Cage thinks interactive drama is, though. His games crib relentlessly from the language of cinema, but they’re just “interactive” right? So they’re interactive movies, right? But no, they aren’t. Because for some reason Cage is obsessed with the minutia of living. In literally any film, character doing things as mundane as, say, starting their car are cut out, filmed dynamically so they’re expressive and over quickly, or—if they are included—included for a particular narrative or thematic reason. But not in Heavy Rain. In Heavy Rain, if you want to do anything, you have to do it in the most insane detail using the absurd control system. Everything you do takes forever; just opening a door has to be done perfectly.

It adds nothing; it gums up the pacing and seems to be interactivity for interactivity’s sake, because (turns out) when it comes to the crunch your interactivity otherwise is going to be nothing more than quick-time events.

There’s another thing here, too, which I think speaks to Cage’s ego. In Heavy Rain, you can “fail” at basically anything by not doing it just right. So, for example, reaching to open a door. You can mess it up and your hand drops back to your side. You can do it slowly, you can do it fast and then stop. You can basically make your character look like a jerky moron who can’t open a door because you think it’s funny, and I genuinely refuse to believe that Quantic Dream didn’t get testers in who did this. I’ve talked before on this tumblr about how players should “meet the designer in the middle” and play along with what is expected, but a big part of that is (as the designer) not leaving your game open to abuse by offering the player things they don’t need and can basically only use to mess with the game. This is a perfect example of that, and I believe that in every situation Cage said “Real players won’t play it like that. Ignore it.”

Ego.

When you really get down to it, your interactions are little more than tedious housekeeping; only once does it make sense, as the beginning of the game you experience one character’s perfect family life and then (later) experience the shattered mirror of it, except they’re not actually direct analogues so I’m being fairly charitable in assuming that’s the point.

So let’s just pretend the game doesn’t include a lot of interactions that serve no purpose. I mean, if the story is good, usually we can excuse that, right?

Even if Heavy Rain had a plot that generally worked (it doesn’t) it does something so inexcusable that I’m shocked—shocked!—that anyone gives it a pass. I’ll give the (not so vague) spoiler that in this game (about the search for the mysterious “Origami Killer”) one of the characters you play *is* the Origami Killer! Except, for every character you play you can see their thoughts by pushing a button. And all the characters are investigating the Origami Killer, meaning one keeps investigating themselves. “Ah ha,” you might say, “obviously all of his thoughts are cleverly written to not implicate himself, but also are believably what the killer would think.”

No, they literally act like someone who doesn’t know who the killer is, thinking full thoughts that the killer could never think, and it’s not like he’s paranoid about his thoughts, or in a fugue state. It’s just… I mean, is this lazy writing? Or is it just the work of an actual moron? I mean the section of the game where he “cheats” by obscuring the actions of one of the main character is lazy writing. But this is breath-taking, the work of someone who either doesn’t know how stories work, or doesn’t care.

Let’s move on to Cage’s other hallmark; the leering. Heavy Rain is a game that has a lengthy nude shower-scene for the female protagonist that happens… in a dream. Also just to note we… don’t need a shower scene with her anyway? Or for her to like, have to fight off men in her pants for ages and ages, also in a dream? It’s ok though, she’s mostly there to tend the wounds of the male protagonist and shag him.

[“Actually, systems-wise, she’s actually necessary to help the player keep good endings available if they fuck up a lot with the other male protagonists. But yeah, she is mostly a nurse... I mean apart from that bit where she has to rip her dress and act slutty to go on to almost get sexually assaulted”—charitable ed.]

Look, I can’t bang on about Heavy Rain forever, it feels like I have already. After playing through the whole thing, I struggle if anything worse to understand how Cage not just got more work but managed to get Ellen Page to star in his next game? How this game won a BAFTA (well, a video game BAFTA) for STORY!

Heavy Rain is fucking shit and it’s not why David Cage should never work again, though at one point I’ve had said it would be. He should never work again because he’s a toxic garbage person. I hope Sony sticks him in the bin after their obligations relating to Detroit are over.

(Oh and all the staff that have suffered under him and his culture get lovely jobs making things that are good.)

Will I ever play it again? I wondered if it would be more interesting with the Move controls, but I’ll be fucked if I’m ever touching this again.

Final Thought: Above I talked about how this game drowns in the mundane; and I’d like to restate that I do think it’s a mistake to argue this is some kind of a directorial choice, to imbue that mundane with meaning. Like… I don’t know. Anyone from Ozu to Jarmusch can show how that can be used thoughtfully. Hell, just watch David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: The Return. Compare and contrast to failing to open a door because you didn’t hold the trigger down just right.

[codename-bewareofthefangirl]

GoM + Nijimura + Haizaki + Kagami + Kiyoshi + Takao + Mayuzumi + Hanamiya + Ogiwara childhood headcanons please, thanks!

Hi dear! Sorryfor the wait, I hope you’re fine! Here I am with the headcanons! Since youasked them for many characters, I’ve been general and brief, if you want somemore of them just ask okay?

Have a niceday!

KnB Childhood Headcanons:

Kise Ryouta

-the Angel Child that everybody loves. The parents,the over-doting sisters, the neighbors, the old granny that rune that groceryshop….everyone.

-the sisters used to dress him like a girl. 100% sureof this, and he was more cute than every other little girl. Pink? Not aproblem, he slayed it. Braids, flowers in the hair, animal hairpins? Lookedperfect on him.

-he modeled both for male and female clothing, yeswhen he was still a child.

-the boy that all the girls in kindergarten fought forwhen playing house. He came to hate that game, it was boring and all the girlswhere the same. He knew he was cuter and a better wife than them. (Now, when heremembers how conceited and proud he was about his wife skills, he wants to dighis own grave. It was his sisters’ fault.)

-He was already sharp and definitely too honest, thetypical child that points out everything that adults want to hide or fake isnot there.

-He learnt quickly how to use his good looks and innocentface to have what he wanted. Not always in egoistic or cunning way, he was justhappy when he saw people smiling at him or praising him.

-He had a deep bond with his Grandma, a truetraditional Japanese lady. Strict and elegant but extremely caring.

-He got bored quickly and spent time searching for the“right game”. However, he quite enjoyed drawing (even if he wasn’t good atit)and singing! He loved singing and dancing! He organized little shows for hisfamily where he danced and singed for them, or runaway show, taking them veryseriously.

-He hated playing in the garden and getting dirty.Especially with insects, he was scared of them. Earthworms in particular.

Aomine Daiki

-The Wild Kid. The child that lives in the park or inthe garden, from morning to evening. His parents had to scream and shout everyday to bring him back home and put him in the bath. It was a real fight. Hespent all his holidays at his grandparents’ house in the mountains.

-Every day was an adventure. He loved rolling in themud, catching bugs and cicadas, exploring new places and obviously trying everytype of sports.

-Until he found basketball, then there was only basket.

-He hurt himself one day and the other too, uncaringtowards any potential danger. He got lost in the park or in the wood at least oncea week. The firefighters were in the end used to it and became his friends.

-He had a great sense of “justice”. I like to think ofhim as the child with the hero complex. He fought the evil forces (bullies, abad dog, strict adults…) and helped the weak (grannies, small animals, youngerchildren…)

-He stayed quiet only when Momoi managed to force himto play at her “girly” games. Usually he was the one dragging her into hiscrazy ideas.

-Disinterested in the adults’ world, honest and rough,he respected only the ones who earned it. Teaching him how to be polite was hisparents’ harder task ever. They still shiver at the memory.

MurasakibaraAtsushi

-The Picky Child. Oks, I can’t stop thinking that hewas the typical child who wanted always something different. Especially whentalking about food. He didn’t throw tantrum, but pouted silently and refused tomove/do what he was told for hours. Extremely stubborn. Between him and hisparents, it was a battle of wills.

-Being the last son in a big family, he was slightlyspoiled. By his brothers and his sister mostly, who just found him cute andcheeky when he was little.

-He was quiet, but moody. He had to be the one todecide what to do and when, he didn’t care if others wanted somethingdifferent. He was going to do what he wanted either way.

-He liked playing alone, he especially enjoyedvideogames and watching cartoons. He had a soft spot for a superheroes’ tv-showand knew all the lines of the Purple Hero. He had costume of him and somerelated toys. He was super-fast at coming back home after school to watch it.

-Not patient and bored easily, he spent a lot of timedaydreaming.

-He was gentle only to younger children, especiallygirls. If he was in a good mood, he shared his sweets with them. On the otherhand, he hated playing with the older ones, but luckily, he was big enough toscare them off.

AkashiSeijuurou

-ThePerfect Child. We all know his childhood sucked. He was manipulated to be theperfect being and his entire family, not including the mother, was strict as hellwith him. He spent his days learning and studying in solitude or with histutors.

-He loved spending his free time with his mother, whenhe could. She would read books to him or play in the garden; they also tookcare of flowers together and played cheerful songs at the piano.

-After she died, he would wait for the night to comeand then sneak out of his room. Some nights, he would curl on a big armchair inthe library and read fairy tales or stories of adventures (the ones his motherread to him) by himself. Sometimes, he would go in the garden and take care oftheir precious flower to be sure they were going to grow and bloom. At leastthem.

-he started playing the violin because playing thepiano without his mother brought back too many memories and hurt too much.

-At first he hated horse-riding, because the majorityof animals hated him and escaped as soon as they saw him. Now he’s like a sortof Lion King and animal bows to him. Except dogs. Dogs hate him.

MidorimaShintarou

-The Smart Child. The one that knows too many thingsand reads too much. At first he was very stiff and cold to adults and otherchildren, he preferred to play on his own, but he softened when his sister wasborn.

-He enjoyed mind games: puzzles, enigmas, crosswords…The problems arose when he couldn’t solve one, asked his parents but theydidn’t know too.

-He read a lot, everything he could find. From kitchenmagazines to encyclopedias. His favorites? “Fortune Telling” and “How The StarsShape Your Life”. Yeah.

-Very diligent and obedient, however he couldn’tsuppress his urge to talk. When he heard someone discussing something he hadread about, it didn’t matter who it was but he had to have his word.Embarrassing when he knew more than the adults present.

-His parents were strict with him, but in a normal andcaring way. They are very proud of him and let him know when he needs it.

-Shy with other kids and unable to socialize well,however he seemed to attract the troublesome kids. Maybe because he was veryresponsible and took care of them when they got hurt. He was the kid that othermothers loved because they knew that if he was there their crazy kids weregoing to be okay.

Kuroko Tetsuya

-The Where-Is-My-Child Kid! Usually super quiet,reserved and shy, but when you take your eyes off him he vanishes like a ghost.He was a curious and independent boy that wandered around following hisinstincts and got lost on daily basis.

-His parents tried everything: bright, neon cloths,some bells, a gps tracker…nothing, it took him one second to disappear, even intheir own house. In the end, they decided to put around his neck a card withtheir names and the phone number, just in case.

-Adorable, a little chubby and with always a cute,faint smile on the lips. Sweet and kind, timid yet willing to befriend otherchildren. Girls loved him endlessly and treated him like their little brother.

-I can see him drawing peacefully and reading. Heloved to take naps, everywhere and anywhere.

- Independent, he tried to be the little man his dadwould like him to be. Trying to not cry often and be strong, to do what he havetoo and be responsible. Helping out his mom when she needed, especially withhouse chores.

NijimuraShuuzou

-The Dependable Child. When his parents had to leavesomeone in charge of the house, they would choose Nijimura. Strong, determinedand a born leader, capable to handle things even when he was younger. Like alittle soldier.

-grumpy and hotheaded he often picked up fights withother children, yet everybody loved him for his kind and honest heart. He wasjust a bit scary.

-He was the leader of a group of children at the parkand used to be the arbiter of every argument. Nobody dared to contradict him.

-He would took care both of his older sister and hisyounger brother, like a replacement of his father, when he had to stay inhospital. Very responsible and hard working, however he got stressed andinsecure easily and that’s why he ended up venting it into fights.

-Loved to play outside with other children and henever left out anyone. He also enjoyed from time to time relaxing on his own,watching his cartoons or chatting with his dad.

-He wanted more than anything else to be like his dadand make him proud.

Kagami Taiga

-The Sunshine Boy! A little tornado of smiles, energyand clumsiness. He tended to end up in every type of trouble and he visited thehospital once a month. The nurses loved him.

-He didn’t have a switch off, much to his mother’sdesperation, and he never seemed to be tired. He had to move, play, scream, laugh…endlessly.He slept few hours per night and was extremely loud and boisterous.

-He loved playing outside and had a passion fordangerous and reckless games. He was never alone, always dragging someone withhim.

-He got hurt easily: scratched knees, purple bruises,insects’ stings…He was also very clumsy and uncoordinated.

-Prideful, brave and curious. He liked nature, exceptfor dogs. He hated dogs, they were evil (his mother used to threaten him thatshe was going to buy a dog if he didn’t come home)

-Nothing was more boring than staying at home, readingand drawing. When it rained, for one hour or two, they would keep him quietwith cartoons, but he would soon grow bored and start to pester them to playwith him.

-He was hotheaded, but he rarely got angry or pouty.He complained, yet he regained his smile quickly. And it was quite contagious.

Haizaki Shougo

-The Spoiled Child. He and his brother had eight yearsof difference, so his mother spoiled him endlessly. At least when she was home,being a single mother she had to work very hard to maintain them. Yes, hecherished and respected his mother a lot (at least her).

-He had a superiority complex: he had to be the leaderof the group and the one who decided who could play with him and who not. Girlsweren’t accepted because they were crybabies and too weak.

-He felt like a great boss, going around the park andimposing his power. He said that his brother was the one who taught him how tofight and be brave.

-He had an older brother’s complex: he admired him andpraised him wholeheartedly; he wanted to be tall, strong and fearless like him.

Kyoshi Teppei

-The Golden Heart Boy. The one that deeply cares foreveryone, kind and always ready to help someone out.

-he would spend days and days gardening with hisgrandmother or fishing with his grandfather, quietly but cheerfully. Or,reading stories in the veranda and looking at the clouds. It had been hisgrandad who taught him how to play the harmonica.

-He was the pacemaker at the park, playing the role ofthe big brother to the other children. Actually, some of them began to call him“Onii-chan” for real, especially little girls.

-Making his mom happy was one of his joy. He wouldmade drawings or small jewels with bottle’s cap, glass beads and plastic stringsfor her. Because she was a queen.

Takao Kazunari

-The Mischievous Child. He had done everything. He hadpranked anyone, without a second thought. Most out of curiosity, sometimes as arevenge.

-carefree kid, always ready to get into troublevoluntarily. At first, they used to ground him, but then he would damage morethe house so his parents surrendered and just left him without tv or videogamesfor some days as a punishment.

-He had drawn on the walls of his house, put worms inthe tea cup of the neighbor, scared to death the mailman, scribbled on theteacher’s skirt, hidden in the wood the toy of a child he didn’t like,persuaded a girl she was adopted, sneaked out during the night…His parentsspent their time apologizing to the neighborhood.

-He found girls annoying, petty and boring. Hepreferred playing soccer or hide and seek with other boys.

-He loved animals and was quite good with them. He wasoften followed by strays and his house became a sort of hotel for abandoned animals.

MayuzumiChihiro

-The Lonely Child. He liked to be alone, reading orplaying his games on his own.

-He hated to be dragged to the park or to some partiesby his parents. He usually hid in a corner and pouted for hours.

-He is an only child, so at time he didn’t know how tointeract with other children and was horrible at sharing toys. However, he wasgood with quiet kids who liked to read like him. Or playing videogames. Inthose cases, he would even talk a bit, in whispers, and maybe show a faintsmile.

-He’s still scared of family reunions, especially inbig occasions like Christmas. He was the only child and the center of theattentions. His worst nightmare. He still isn’t able to escape from his aunts’claws.

-The only one he liked was his grandfather, whobrought him in the countryside and would share with him silent afternoons justlooking at the sky or wandering in the woods.

-He liked to wander alone, everywhere and anywhere,absentmindedly. Luckily, he had a good sense of direction.

ShigehiroOgiwara

-The Big Brother. The precious little child that hasonly one mission: being a good big brother. He tried to be independent andstrong just for his little brothers, always trying to be a worth model andbeing able to take care of them. He was the one who took them to thekindergarten and then to school every morning, holding their hands.

-He would often go to the park and play basketballwith his dad.

-bright personality, a bit wild and lively, but verykind. A bit clumsy, he fell easily and it was very cute how hard he tried notto cry every time.

-He ate a lot of food and was always hungry, maybebecause he was moving and playing around a lot. His mother was stunned by that.

HanamiyaMakoto

-The Devil Child. He looked absolutely adorable andcute, and you know why? Because he was enough smart to know that if a child wascute, he was going to have what he asked for. Obviously, he put the façade onwhen he needed too, otherwise he actually didn’t care about others. He liked tobe on his own.

-He was the only child of a single mother and trulycherished her, yet she had to work and he spent a lot of time alone.

-He used to go every afternoon to a small library andspent his time reading. There weren’t many books for children, so he soon beganto read the ones for adults. He liked the story of military tactics,mathematics and physics’ ones and manuals of chess and other games. The oldlady of the library treated him like his own nephew and is one of the fewpeople he truly cares about. He still goes to visit her every week.

-Straying cats loved him and followed him on thestreets.

-He had been banned from three different bars becausewhen he was eight he started playing card games with the old customers, butalways ended up winning the bet at stake. Sometimes he didn’t have to cheat towin, he was just too good.

[septembercfawkes]

Fixing the Mary Sue Character in Your Story

The term "Mary Sue" started in fanfiction, back when someone wrote a Star Trek story that had a character with that name, but a Mary Sue can pop up in original fiction too. Really, she can pop up anywhere. But she hardly ever pops up in published fiction or professional fiction--because she often bars those works from those markets. So if you've only ever read books you can buy off a bookshelf, you may have never meet her.

"Mary Sue" is a derogatory term for a particular (yet reoccurring) character type that many beginning writers write about. But she's a problematic and poor character for several reasons. A lot of people may have different definitions for what "Mary Sue" means, and there are different subcategories for different types.

Probably the most common Mary Sue is the one that is inexplicably talented at everything, falls in love with a hunky guy or is related to a significant person, gorgeous, and embodies pure wish fulfillment. This sort of Mary Sue is what usually crops up in fanfiction, because she's inserted into an existing universe that the author already knows and loves.

However, as someone who edits unpublished, original fiction, the Mary Sue I often run into is a different type.

Does your female character embody these?

Is Your Character a Mary Sue?

Often she contributes almost nothing to the story or plot--and yet, everyone adores her. (Alternatively, she's insanely talented and every problem is ultimately solved easily by her--more common in fanfiction.)

At some point, she might eventually be considered very valuable, by others or to the plot, but often it's a passive value. Something she just *is* instead of anything she does.

She's probably clumsy. Sometimes ridiculously so, as in, she can't even walk down the sidewalk or go down a couple of stairs without worrying she's going to fall. Bonus Mary Sue points if a male (usually a love interest or family member) comments on how klutzy she is and has to have her hold onto him just to walk somewhere. Extra bonus Mary Sue points if she falls in front of a cute guy or the love interest or when it would be most embarrassing (which, of course, is in front of a cute guy).

She doesn't see herself as beautiful, but somehow the author finds a way to convey to the audience that she is drop dead gorgeous without even trying.

She does nothing, but yet people feel sorry for her and her problems. These are often problems she makes little to no effort to fix, or problems she doesn't even consciously think about fixing or improving.

She needs a lot of saving--either from these problems, or because she's a helpless [insert character trait (hint: probably has to do with being a klutz)]

Often other characters (usually male) go out of their way to help her with her problems--and sometimes really out of their way, like they might miss the most important meeting of their career, a prestigious performance opportunity, their mom's birthday party, or work. Whatever they miss, one thing often holds true--it was more important than whatever the female character needed help with. It might be an injury she got while being clumsy or maybe she's just sad about school and how "hard" (hint: she has one of the easiest lives of all the characters) her life is, or maybe it's just that perennial problem that she has and has made zero effort to try to solve and/or would not have even been in to begin with if she weren't so darn passive. Whatever it is, people (friends, males, family, males (whoops, did I say "males" twice?)) inexplicably bend over backwards for her. Usually people--plural, not singular.

She probably cries more than any other character, even though many of the other characters have more significant things they could cry about. She cries sometimes over day-to-day challenges that the average person faces anyway. It might be over a problem she hasn't tried to fix or that she puts herself in (though the author never points those things out). For example, she might cry repeatedly over a school club she's a part of but hasn't bothered to leave. She probably cries on the behalf of other people too--people who don't even cry about their own problems.

She'll likely trip in the first 50 pages, but in a way that highlights and exaggerates her beauty.

If you took her out of the context of the story, you might realize she's actually kind of pathetic and passive, and yet, inexplicably, everyone STILL adores her.

Often she feels stupid or foolish, but the hottest guys fight over her (heaven knows why).

She's more romantically or sexually inexperienced than the love interest and worries about not knowing what she's doing and what he'll think. (Bonus points if she somehow ends up being the best thing he's ever had regardless.)

All in all, she just attracts a lot of male attention, whether it's romantic or brotherly or just male strangers in the street.

A lot of the time she's a wish-fulfillment character (traditionally, the author's wish fulfillment). This is why she's adored and hailed as the most important person in other people's lives and considered very special, even though she feels stupid, uncoordinated, and helpless; this is why she's actually gorgeous when she feels ugly; this is why people drop the most important moments of their personal lives to save or nurse her back to health.

The flaws she has are meant to be endearing and don't actually contribute to the main problems of the plot. They may exist, but are unimportant beyond the very surface of the story

She tends to be in "parent-child" relationships. This relationship can be exaggerated with her parents, but it often crops up in other relationships--whether it's from the best friend, love interest, or brother. Whatever the case, she's usually the "child" while the other person is her "parent" in the relationship. The "parent" is taking care of her, warning her, helping her, praising her, directing her--even though she's 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, or 23 years old. Whether or not she obeys, she listens to them and maintains her role of "child" in that relationship. In fact, she often seems utterly accepting of her "child" role.

Bonus Round (yes, there is more)

She has a unique hair or eye color (in a story with fantasy or sci-fi elements, the colors may change or be unnatural compared to ordinary humans) and it's described in "I'm-trying-to-be-poetic" language (a.k.a. "purple prose"). Extra, extra bonus points if it takes at least five words to describe.

She has an unusual or rare name.

She's a stand-in for the author (an extended version of wish fulfillment), so that the author can live in this fictive universe. This is especially true for fanfiction. ("I wish I could go to Hogwarts and be in a relationship with Draco Malfoy")

She's a half-breed of some sort. Half-blood, half witch, half alien, half elf, half animal, were-dragon, (again, this is something that makes her special based on what she *is* and not what she does).

She discovers she has a familial bond with another character or discovers a family secret. Extra points if there is a tragic (often cliche) backstory.

While she might be uncoordinated or pathetic, in other versions she's unusually and unrealistically talented at just about everything--more things to further extents than anyone could realistically be that good at.

In the opening of the story, she's late to somewhere important. Extra points if it's her own fault, negligence, or because she slept in.

She may have over emotional reactions to things that don't merit such an emotional reaction. For example, she might yell at someone who is trying to help her or cry because her (ordinary) school day is "hard."

If you are sweating it out now, don't. I'm going to give you some tips that will help.

First off, an important point. Can a male character be a Mary Sue? Yes, but they are called a "Marty Stu" or a "Gary Stu." They may be a little different than a Mary Sue, particularly in the fact that they don't necessarily need a ton of female attention or a romantic plot line (though it's not uncommon to have a million girls falling all over him either). Just as a version of Mary Sue is that she is good at everything and that her flaws are meant to be endearing rather than real flaws, Marty Stu is often insanely good at everything too, and any flaws he might have might actually be cool or tough or likeable (like being overly arrogant). Marty Stu is not as common as Mary Sue though, and he's usually more tolerated in today's society, as his attributes are still often praised as the epitome of male-ness, while today's society finds many of the traits of Mary Sue to be offensive to women.

Not all of the Mary Sue Traits are Terrible

There are reasons this character type reappears over and over and over again--hundreds or thousands of times a year (most of them don't make it to the bookshelf or big screen, though both Bella from Twilight and Rey from The Force Awakens have been accused of each being a Mary Sue). It's because there are people who are attracted to those character traits. Not all the Mary Sue traits are bad, but together, they cause problems. Look at what kind of person those outlined features created. And yet everyone and their dog adores them? Love interests fight over them? It doesn't make sense. Look at how unrealistic that person is.

Many of these traits would be fine added to a more realistic, rounded character:

She's beautiful, but doesn't know it.

She has innate or inborn value

She's half human

She discovers a family secret

She's inexperienced

She's clumsy

None of these are inherently bad (though most of them are overused--especially the first and last in the list).

Wish fulfillment isn't innately bad either. There are loads of successful wish fulfillment characters and wish fulfillment stories. In fact, most if not all successful stories feed into some sort of wish fulfillment (that's usually why people pick up the book).

The Problems of the Mary Sue

One of the main and common problems with the Mary Sue is that the relationship between her traits and how others treat and react to her, don't make a lot of sense.

If you knew a person in real life who cried regularly about her problems but did next to nothing about them, are you really going to miss your chance to break into a big acting career to go nurse her pathetic, fragile emotions? Probably not. (And if you are, aren't you just enabling that kind of mentality?)

If you knew someone who acted as the "child" in all her significant relationships, would you really look up to her?

If you were a love interest, would you really fight over a girl who is so passive she gives Bella Swan a run for her money?

If there was a girl who got scratched up from watching Aragon take on armies of orcs and Frodo almost die destroying the Ring, would we later compliment how brave she was?

No!

Sometimes what's unrealistic are the character traits themselves. In some cases they may even be contradictory. For example, she's incredibly clumsy but later in the scene she wins an athletic competition. Everyone tells her how beautiful she is, and she acts like she's hearing it for the first time . . . .every time. All the guys in the story have crushes on her, but she's shocked when the hot guy actually asks her out, and we learn she has no experience with guys (even though she's always wanted a boyfriend and every guy in the story ogles her). The other characters have lived through more trauma, but she subconsciously expects or hopes that they will nurse her insignificant problems.

If she has any flaws, they are portrayed as endearing or acceptable. As a society, do we really want to portray passivity and incompetence and uncoordination and child-like dependence as endearing? Acceptable? Now, I'm not saying you can't have a character who has these traits, but it's important to watch how they are handled, and the ideas that have already been established and perpetuated in entertainment (especially outdated entertainment).

By the way, it's completely possible to make your character endearing through other traits. In Harry Potter, in Harry's viewpoint in the sixth book, Hermione is described as endearing in passing because of her loyalty and faith in libraries and books. Intelligence and tenacity can be endearing, not passivity. Endearing comes from other characters knowing and appreciating a character's traits or personality.

Nursing the Mary Sue Back to Reality

The Mary Sue character isn't some gross, obscene character that only the most incompetent people write. She has a name because so many passionate writers have written her at some point. If you have a Mary Sue character, you're probably normal.

In an effort to fix the Mary Sue, some writers try to take her traits (some or all) to the far opposite, creating what is called an "Anti-Sue," which really isn't much better. I talked about this similar thing happening in my post The "Twins as Clones" Writing Epidemic, where in an effort to differentiate twin characters, the author tries to make them extreme opposites. This can be just as cartoony and unrealistic.

If you really love your Mary Sue character and can't part with her, you are free to keep some of her traits and abilities. But in order to create a more rounded, likeable, believable character, you need to be her best friend, brother, love interest, or mysterious stranger that nurses her back to the real world--or at the least the real fiction world. Some of these things may seem straightforward when you start looking at them. If she's crying a lot, cut the crying. Excessive crying often happens in stories when the author is trying too hard to create sympathy for the character, instead of empathy. But true empathetic emotional power often comes from focusing on and rendering what causes those feelings rather than only on the feelings themselves. If everyone loves her inexplicably, change it. However, be careful not to make the only people who don't like her rude, unlikeable, and unsympathetic, which is another telltale of a Mary Sue in a story. Cut the clumsiness and give her a flaw that is more unusual. If she's passive, make her more active in the story and in solving problems. She can fail, fail, and fail again, but in her sphere of power, she should at least be trying, and if she's not, show us a clever reason why. For example, in M. Night Shyalaman's most recent movie, Split, the protagonist is a very passive, young female. But not only do we learn multiple reasons why she is so passive (and they're legitimate), but we see that in reality, she does have a plan, but it's quiet, subtle, and requires waiting for the perfect moment. If everyone bends over backwards for her, give the secondary and side characters their own lives, and moments where they chose their own lives over hers. Ultimately, though, perhaps the most effective way to nurse a Mary Sue is to brainstorm not broader, but deeper. Don't make her more broad by adding more and more things to her; instead, dig deeper and deeper into her psychologically and explore interesting inner thoughts, motivations, fears, and contradictions, and how those things manifest themselves outwardly and in the story. Brainstorm and brainstorm and brainstorm some more, because the cliches are always what come to mind first, and if there is one thing about nursing a Mary Sue to reality, it's moving beyond cliches.

[northwestquest]

Of Lizardmen and Battlemaidens

Pathfinders of GameLit Series #2:

Navigating the Quagmire in Andre Norton’s Quag Keep

Andre Norton was already a long-established scifi and fantasy author by the time Gary Gygax invited her to play his new game Dungeons & Dragons in 1976. Born Alice Mary Norton in 1912, she published her first book in 1934 and continued to churn out a trove of books and stories in genres ranging from fantasy to hard scifi to what we would now call young adult. 

She is beloved by a legion of readers who continue to offer heartfelt tributes to the writer and her work, even though she passed away over a decade ago, in 2005. In further testament to her enduring legacy, the list of contemporary authors who list her as a major influence include such luminaries as Greg Bear, Lois McMaster Bujold, C. J. Cherryh, Mercedes Lackey, and Charles de Lint. Clearly, she has had a major impact on the field of fantasy, speculative, and science fiction.

Any talk of GameLit or LitRPG that does not mention Norton’s 1978 novel Quag Keep is either uninformed or negligent of the field’s rich history. Her firsthand experience and access to the origins of D&D and tabletop roleplaying games allowed her to plant a flag for the novelization of collaborative storytelling adventures from the onset. Indeed, Quag Keep sets the standards early for a genre in which players find themselves as characters within the game itself. Her party consists of a swordsman, a wereboar berserker, an Amazonian “battlemaiden,” a bard, an elf ranger, a cleric, and a lizardman warrior.

Such a motley grouping would be unlikely if adventurers were left to find comrades and collaborators on their own, but it certainly mimics the odd assortments we often see around a game table. To her credit, Norton does not shy away from the subject of racial (or speciesist) prejudice amongst these characters, especially concerning Naile the berserker’s immediate and vocal hatred of Gulth, the lizardman, based solely on his origins and scaled skin. Though the other party members do not share Naile’s blanket hatred for Gulth, Norton does show us a passive “othering” of him in some of their internal thoughts. A modern reader will easily pick up their unconscious biases and even their micro-aggressions toward him, even though such terms were not a staple of literary criticism when the book first appeared. It’s a compelling endeavor to follow how this tension plays out through the group's travails.

As we now expect from a story depicting a diverse team, Quag Keep is explicit in laying out the individual contributions each member of the party makes toward their collective goal. They don’t know each other when we first meet them. They are disoriented and fearful of their circumstances, and wary of the strangers who appear to share their situation, based on the mysterious bracelet of oddly-shaped dice bound to their wrists. They come to understand that a geas, or a magically binding conscription, has been placed upon them to venture together in hopes of solving the mystery and winning back their autonomy. They grudgingly set forth on a confusing mission beset by deadly enemies and a hostile environment. (In fact, over a mere 220 pages, they travel from frozen mountains to dust-choking desert to fetid swamp, ensuring every member of the team is severely hampered at some point in the journey.)

Some readers are surprised when they learn that Andre Norton was a woman, given her pen name. (She actually used several traditionally male names, including Andrew North and Allen Weston. In 1934, she legally changed her name from Alice to Andre.) According to her 2005 obituary in the Los Angeles Times, “publishers told her that a masculine-sounding name would help sell her books to boys, who constituted the target audience. ‘There were about five women writing fantasy, and all of them used male names,’ she told Associated Press in 1999. ‘We had no choice.’” Fortunately, publishers and marketers have since discovered the army of female and nonbinary fantasy, scifi, and gaming fans and the writers and artists who have always been here.

It’s often risky to read a literary older work with a contemporary sensibility, but since gender stereotypes and the depiction of women in fantasy literature continues to provide (sometimes controversial) fodder for serious discussion, it’s nearly impossible not to pay attention to how this female writer who assumed a male name approaches female characters in the first novel based on the world of D&D. (For the record, 1978 wasn’t that long ago - fewer than 50 years - but as they say, we like to think “we’ve come a long way, baby,” (at least in some respects.) So, how does Quag Keep stack up? Other than a shapeshifting witch we meet briefly near the end, the populous book presents a single female character: Yevele, the Amazonian battlemaiden.

Yevele is a serious badass who can take on multiple foes simultaneously and emerge victorious. She is a thoughtful fighter and reliable comrade, treating every other party member with respect and grace. Perhaps as a result of her status as a minority member herself, she is the character who speaks out in support of Gulth the lizardman, and also the one to tend to his near-death wounds. She tends to nearly everyone else in the party, and is sometimes ordered to so. The men (and often the writer herself) frequently refer to Yevele as the “girl.” In further contemporary interpretation of this story, we see that Yevele is expected by the rest of the party to carry out the emotional labor of the campaign, to be the “office mom.” Here’s one example, a scene in which Yevele dispatches her own foes and then plays the role of nurse when Milo the swordsman and Naile the berserker leave the battle poisoned by creatures known as urghaunts. (We’ll overlook the sensualistic language, as it is not representative of Norton’s portrayal of this character throughout the book:)

"Yevele leaned down, raised his arm, held it firm while she sucked along the slash and spat, her smeared lips shaping no distaste for what she did..."

(Naile brings over some leeches he has caught)

"With no outward sign of aversion, she plucked out of the berserker's hold a wriggling yellow thing, hardly thicker than a bow cord."

(After a few minutes)

"’Enough, girl. Those draw-mouths are a-plenty to do the work...Ah’ -- Naile sat back on his heels. ‘See you that now?’ he demanded of Yevele..."

(Two leeches fill up with poison and drop off.)

“Naile watched and then gave an order. ‘Use your snaplight, comrade. They would suck a man dry were they left. But their brethren have taken the poison. The wound is clean.’

Yevele brought from her belt pouch a small metal rod and snapped down a lever on its side. The small spark of flame which answered touched the suckers one by one. They loosed, fell, and shriveled…Three followed the example of the drinkers of Milo's poison and fell away. At the berserker's orders, the battlemaid disposed of the rest."

It’s difficult to untangle how much of the depiction of Yevele (as well as that of Gulth) portray the attitudes prevalent in the quasi-medieval D&D land of Greyhawk or those of the second-wave feminism shaking the late 1970s world in which Norton wrote this book. For her part, Yevele seems to ignore or rise above any seeming misogyny doled out by fellow adventurers (and perhaps by her creator.) We are left to wonder, would this character do that now, without comment or complaint?

How might Norton imagine Quag Keep if she started writing it today? Would she stick to the framework she herself established for all the GameLit novels that would follow? Much of what she did with this story has proven an enduring and solid approach, one that has withstood real-world advances in social justice and has allowed the resulting genre to depict game worlds and their inhabitants with ever increasing variety. A democratization of publishing has also led to avenues in which writers of all stripes are able to reach their audience, without the gatekeeping Norton encountered. Given her status as a pathfinder and prolific leader in the field, it’s likely that she would continue to create strong female and other marginalized characters, and she might have them acknowledge and even voice their reaction to their status in the depicted game world. In fact, it’s not hard to imagine that if writing today, Andre Norton might just ask us to call her Alice.

Images courtesy: 1. Andre Norton portrait. Retrieved from Discogs. 2. “Quag Keep” cover. “Published by Atheneum, 1978. Illustration by Jack Gaughan”. 3. Reptilian. Retrieved from Pixabay. Artist: anaterate. 4. Woman with Sword. Retrieved from Pixabay. Artist: SilviaP_Design. 5. Fantasy Dragons Retrieved from Pixabay. Artist: KELLEPICS.

[feralcherry]

Some things about Werefolk

A. Wolf packs actually don’t have the old Alpha/Beta/Omega system. It’s been debunked. It’s not the ‘who is the strongest or the best yada yada’. It’s almost always a pair of parents who have pups that make up the rest of the pack. Plus, being half human, half animal means Werefolk will have more human tendencies anyways. 

What we can consider, so that we don’t fall into trashy romance novel territory (this is long so buckle the fuck up):

WOLVES:

1. ‘Alphas’ can be the set of parents. Or they can be ‘elected’ leader, or depending on how your pack works; you can have them either vote, follow a bloodline, or fight for the role. It honestly depends on what your specific pack is like. Are they cruel or value physical strength? Do they want the most level-headed to lead their pack? Or do they maybe follow the bloodline of the first werewolf who started the pack? 

So many things to consider. Along with that, the beta can always be who is next in line for the position, much like a vice president. 

2. The concept of Omegas....is trickier. Since Werefolk are more human than their animal counterparts, mating with one would be fine. In the real animal world, they would most likely go for someone who matches them the best. No ‘draw’ to an omega in the wild. (Sorry A/B/O lovers, but y’all do you)

Here are some links on the Alpha theory being debunked. Don’t worry about being wrong, I didn’t know either.

http://www.davemech.org/news.html

http://howlcolorado.org/2009/10/05/how-the-wolf-pack-works/

Wolves are generally monogamous, but they will mate again if they are the correct age and their mate has passed. Packs tend to consist of the main breeding pairs children, but don’t worry about that. Humans need to have a larger community, so making pack mates that aren’t related to the main breeding pair is fine.

CATS:

1. Cats are mostly solitary. For domestic species, males hardly stick around after the female is pregnant. And the female usually doesn’t want them to either lmao. Domestic cats can stick together but they tend to form a ‘colony’ where the females of the group are the leaders. They all take turns watching/nursing/training the kittens. As they say, it takes a village to raise a child.

2. Big cats also don’t run in groups. Unless the ‘clan’ likes to stay together for information or a human sense of connection, they won’t have packs like canines do. 

OVERALL:

1. No dominance displays. Not like bearing your throat, unless your creature is more animal than human. Humans won’t take well to being forced to show weakness unless they are less confident or confrontational. If your Were is stubborn, they won’t give up so easily, unless they do it to appease the other in either flirtation or in a way to cut the pissing contest short.

2. Please stop with the heats, unless your specific subset of Weres have them. Please remember that Werefolk are also part human, and that humans don’t have heats. Not EVERY Were will have heats, regardless if their animal species have them. So unless you are doing it for the erotic aspect, don’t do it. 

3. On that note, why do people always give their character ‘slick’? (Typical of male/male fics where one is an alpha and one is an omega). Wouldn't it make more sense for one to just use lube or for the body parts be different biologically? (Maybe the omega, who identifies as male, can have more ambiguous bits and such? Again, different if it’s for erotic purposes. Biologically, a culo won’t secrete a lube like substance.)

4. And on top of that, WHY IS EVERYTHING SO STEREOTYPICAL? Almost always is the male the dominant one, regardless if both are alphas and therefore equals. This is so boring, why is the dude in charge all of the time? And why is he always an alpha? Why not a beta babe? Why is the omega always hyper-feminine and so fucking weak? A doormat that never changes? It’s boring and overdone, and honestly, really problematic. One in charge all the time to the point that the other is a doormat??? That’s not a healthy or sexy relationship y’all. Please stop that. Please. 

5. Animals can be queer. Shocking, I know, but animals have no concept of gender identity and they also can love another animal of the same sex. It’s bewildering to see all these books where they just have to make a point of how ‘female’ or ‘male’ their character is. 

Ex:‘His body was warm and so very male, his masculine scent flowing through the air.’

What does that even mean omfg?? Bodies are different, scents are different, not everyone is straight.....I mean, come on guys. Really? Be more original.

Ex:‘He felt solid against me, hard work making his body strong. Thinking about how our bodies were pressed together made my mouth water, along with his tantalizing scent of the earth after a fresh rain.’

Much better, yeah?

5. Be creative, draw from other mythologies. Skinwalkers step into another skin, and werewolves tend to shred through theirs. (try not to make a white oc with a poc mythology because why, unless you thoroughly explain that in your story. There’s already plenty of mythologies to pull from, the lack of representation really shines when you choose to make a white oc a skinwalker. Why not just make them Native? It’d make so much more sense, and is frankly not racist. Unless the white oc was turned or cursed, it doesn’t really make sense you know?)

Overall, just have fun and do what you want. You don’t have to follow this advice, but if you are sick of any of the above....do something about it.

[dcnativegal]

My “Spiritual Biography”

Written during Lent 2020 to share with our parish, St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Lakeview Oregon.

The events in our lives happen in a sequence in time, but in their significance to ourselves, they find their own order…  the continuous thread of revelation.                              Eudora Welty

 My paternal great grandmother, Margaret Turner, converted to Christian Science in the late 1800s when the denomination was just starting. Mary Baker Eddy was a single mother, and lived in New England, apparently influenced by the Transcendentalists, and the spare liturgy of the Congregationalists and the Society of Friends. My grandmother, Ruth Turner Lincoln, kept the faith for her 90 plus years, and reared my dad and aunt in Christian Science as well. The 5 direct descendants of Ruth Turner Lincoln are none of us Christian Scientists now, but we were all molded by it.

My maternal grandmother tried Christian Science because my mother was, in my Nana’s words, a ‘high strung sensitive little stinker.’ Apparently, something about worship and the ideas of “The Science & Health with Key to the Scriptures” calmed my mother.

The unfortunate thing about “Christian Science” is that it was started before antibiotics. Mary Baker Eddy could not foresee any real purpose to the male-dominated medical science of the time, which had only morphine to show for its efforts. My mother died at age 55 of preventable medical problems, and her mother, who converted to help my mother, died at 65 after receiving zero treatment or rehabilitation following a stroke. It had been my turn to sleep in the next room to turn Nana in the night, and I was the one who found her dead, cold, in her bed. I was 15.

Is it any wonder that I am a medical social worker, bringing people to health care and health care to people?

God is truly brilliant at making lemonade out of lemons.

One profound gift of the otherwise short-sighted Mary Baker Eddy is her affirmation of the feminine aspects of God. Other mystics, including 14th Century writer Julian of Norwich, discerned the female and feminine aspects of God, too:  

Here is Mary Baker Eddy’s version of the Lord’s Prayer:

Our Father which art in heaven,  Our Father-Mother God, all-harmonious,

Hallowed be Thy name.  Adorable One.

Thy kingdom come.  Thy kingdom is come; Thou art ever-present.

Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Enable us to know, — as in heaven, so on earth, — God is omnipotent, supreme.

Give us this day our daily bread; Give us grace for to-day; feed the famished affections;

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And Love is reflected in love;

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil;

And God leadeth us not into temptation, but delivereth us from sin, disease, and death.

For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.

For God is infinite, all-power, all Life, Truth, Love, over all, and All.

From Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, pp. 16–17

 This feminine language for God/ess was a gift from the faith of my chilhood. So, too, was a sense of loving prescence which expands beyond any denomination or religion and was a healthy part of my family culture.

If I had to choose only one motto, it would be this one by Thomas Merton: We are living in a world that is absolutely transparent, and God is shining through it all the time.

I recall being very small and stuck in an elevator in one of the many apartment buildings we lived in, wondering when someone would find me. I said to myself, there’s not a spot where God is not.I was rescued, of course, and the voice of a loving God, reassured a 4 year old in a sweet two line poem.

Whether it was my mother’s romanticized liberal politics, Sunday School teachers, or stories about Jesus forgiving 70 times 7, but somehow I absorbed a profound sense of God’s mercy, and therefore our duty to love even our ‘enemies.’ I remember when my bicycle was stolen for the umpteenth time, my mother admonished me to pray for the kid who stole it. I’m sure I was very grumpy about the whole thing but somehow it sunk in that even thieves are redeemable.  God shone through those bicycle thieves, and my mother’s forgiving idealism. My mother was crazy, (alas, Christian Science failed to heal either body or mind) but she could also be very loving.

In high school I began hanging out at a community center attached to an Episcopal church on the grounds of the Washington National Cathedral, where presidents have funerals and a stained glass window has an actual moon rock embedded in the center.

The Episcopal Church sucked me in, and the summer I turned 17, I attended a week-long camp in Orkney Springs West Virginia.  There I met a black man 9 years my senior, a seminarian, who introduced me to the parish I would call a second family for 40 years, until I moved to the Oregon Outback.   I joined St. Stephen & the Incarnation that fall, was baptized there at age 22, (since Christian Science doesn’t ‘do’ baptisms.) I worked as parish secretary before graduate school, was Senior Warden and then chair of the search committee twice over the decades. I met and married my one and only husband, and breastfed my children in its pews. My current partner, Valerie, started attending when she began to winter in DC. God shone through those windows and in the candles we lit every Sunday. Even when I was so depressed that I could only weep and walk around the edge of the sanctuary during worship, I knew I was home and I could share God there.

You know how Alice Walker said in The Color Purple, that people come to church to SHARE God and not find God. She also said, that God made the color purple and gets put out when we don’t stop and admire.

The Episcopal Church showed me that I love liturgy, with the words and song sweeping us to Holy Eucharist.  I love the Book of Common Prayer, especially this one prayer from Compline:

Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love's sake. Amen.

St. Alban’s Pipeline Community Center had a youth group called Forum which provided discerning counselors to us addlepated adolescents. One of them suggested that I find a therapist. I was apparently the first self-referred teenager the clinic could remember (not court mandated or dragged in by a parent.) At age 16, I started seeing a woman who transformed my life, not the least reason of which was that she was wealthy and decided to put me through social work school ten years after I started to see her. I’ve gone on to find other deeply healing therapists: their names are Patricia, Kitty, Celia, and Darcy. God shone through each of them.

Now after 34 years as a social worker, I am growing into a halfway decent psychotherapist here in Lake County. I feel in a way that I’ve been preparing for this job my entire life. And most days, I also feel profoundly inadequate to the task at hand.

 Early in my social work life, I worked on an oncology floor where many of the patients I came to know, died. God shone through the nurses there, who were tough and funny, highly skilled and hardworking. God shone through the oncologists, and the residents and interns, the respiratory therapists and the phlebotomists, and an amazing aide named Adams. If you were dying, you wanted to be bathed by Adams. Sometimes it was harder to see God shining through the terrified patients and stunned family members. In my late 20s, I grappled with the problem of evil in the dying of people who did not want to die.  I came to appreciate the story of Job, rewritten in books like “Letter to the Man in the Fire” by Reynolds Price, and “When Bad Things Happen to Good People” by Rabbi Kirschner. I began to see that ‘shit happens’ and that the very same ‘shit’ is not a punishment, nor is it a lesson that the cancer patient somehow ‘chose’ to bring on themselves.

 I cannot believe that the inscrutable universe turns on an axis of suffering; surely the strange beauty of the world must somewhere rest on pure joy.            Louise Bogan

 God has shone through to me in the writings of Anne Lamott. She is one hilarious Christian:  

Unfortunately, change is not my strong suit. Neither is forgiveness, or letting go. Everything I've ever let go of has claw marks on it. But the willingness to let go comes from the pain: and pain makes us willing to change, and effort to change changes you, and jiggles the spirit, gets to it somehow, to our deepest, hardest, most beautiful, ruined parts. And then Spirit expands, because that is its nature, and it drags along the body, and finally, the mind.

                  Anne Lamott, Salon.com, 9/26/03

 God has shone through many films, including Best Picture of 2001, American Beauty in which these words are spoken while a guy is courting a girl, impressing her with something he’d filmed, a plastic bag blowing in a winter wind:

He says,

I realized that there was this entire life behind things, and this incredibly benevolent force wanted me to know that there’s no reason to be afraid, ever… Sometimes there is so much beauty in the world I feel like I can’t take it and my heart is going to cave in.

    Alan Ball, in screenplay of American Beauty via character of Ricky Fitts

[Here is the scene: https://youtu.be/V73598mBfKY]

When I was younger and before I became a mother, I discovered that famous letter the poet Rainer Marie Rilke wrote to a young man: I beg you...to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language.  Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them.  And the point is, to live everything.  Live the questions now.  Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.

Now that I am 60, I am living my way into the answers. And the mysteries continue. How is it that the best place for me to be, right now, is in Lake County, with an old school butch from Bly, with whom I’ve been lovers nearly 9 years? How is it that both my offspring are fascinating, profoundly moral, gifted and mostly happy creatures doing good in the world? How is it that a woman came up to me in Safeway on Friday and told me that months ago I made a recommendation to her and she thanked me for the profound improvements in her life since she chose to follow it?

As Martin Luther King Jr put it, Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted. (From Strength to Love, 1963)

Thanks be to God. Amen.

[ginnyzero]

The Female Action Star... MIA

I read somewhere recently, something that I sort of agree with, that male characters are written as people first and female characters are written as tropes. Whereas, in my last post, I put forth that both were written as tropes and that men just had more terrible archetypes to choose from. Nowhere is this more obvious than in an action movie.

There just aren’t a lot of females in action movies. In fact, there aren’t a lot of female action “stars.” Sigourney Weaver, Milla Jovavich, Angelina Jolie and to some extent Michelle Rodriguez. As much as I like Michelle Rodriguez, she very, very rarely takes lead roles and is usually part of an ensemble or a side character. It’s hard to be a star when you aren’t the ‘leading lady.’ I put her out there because her name is going to come up when you say ‘action star.’ Kate Beckinsale plays Selene in Underworld, but there is a distinct uncomfortableness she has with the role that shines through her acting.

In comparison to the very long list of male action stars I can name, I’ve got less than five females I’d even consider to be stars. I’d put Rebecca Romjin-Stamos on that list for her amazing work as Mystique, however she hasn’t really done anything else (outside of the Librarians). Kiera Knightley, despite her work in Pirates, isn’t an action star. The same for Natalie Portman, despite Star Wars prequels. Rhonda Rousey is a big name right now, but the verdict is still out on whether or not she can act. Charlize Theron is working her way onto the list, slowly. Zoe Saldana seems to think she’s a female action star. Let’s also be honest here, Linda Hamilton had one good Terminator movie. Lena Headey did more with the role on the Sarah Connor Chronicles. Speaking of Sarah Connor Chronicles, I wish I could put Summer Glau on this list.

So, where are the actresses who maybe could be action stars? They’re off making romcoms and dramas and even comedies, because that is where the work is. On the big screen if they are in action movies, they are more likely to be playing the girlfriend or the damsel in distress. It’s frustrating, at least for those of us who want to see females kicking butt and taking names. Part of this is a culture issue with action movies themselves.

Action movies tend to be the ultimate male power fantasy. Thus, they tend to be populated by a bunch of males reeking of too much testosterone as they hose down the decks with it and bullet casings. In a male power fantasy world, there are very few places for women. They are either your nurse, your girlfriend, the one you’re rescuing or rarely your shield buddy. And then a lot of times, even if she is a ‘shield buddy’ she still gets slotted into the ‘sexy kickbutt love interest’ stereotype. The place where this type of sexy tough chic love interest stereotype is really egregious is in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Natasha Romanoff played by Scarlett Johansson (who isn’t an action star yet either.) She has her moments, but most the time she is just the love interest. You could remove her from the movies or replace her with any other agent and it wouldn’t really matter.

A good example of the male power fantasy is one of my favorite franchises, the Expendables. Let’s take the first movie, would it have been as strong if the male characters had been replaced with female and vice versa. I say yes, if the story had remained the same. Bernadette Ross worried about some hot headed male artist she left behind on a banana republic island as her soul sister, tattoo artist, Tool gives a little monologue about when she felt she lost her humanity. Noel Christmas Lee coming back to find her boyfriend has taken up with an abuser, tracking the bitch down and scaring the shit out of them so they’ll leave her man alone. However, we all know that if the movie had been conceived as a bunch of women first, it would be vastly different.

Look no further than the planned ‘official’ plot lines of the Expendabelles for proof. The Expendables, the tough male mercenaries, are charged with getting a Chinese businessmen. They whip together some zany vehicles and go in guns blazing. The Expandabelles, the ‘tough female’ mercenaries, are charged with getting a doctor. They whip out their sheathe dresses, stiletto heels and killer lipstick. (This isn’t at all sexist. /sarcasm) That is the male power fantasy at play. Our female action heroes have to be super sexy! (Not. That was more sarcasm by the way.) For the marketing! And that was not why people wanted to see an all female Expendables cast!

I own sheathe dresses and I have my heels. Here is the thing about most sheathe dresses. They are made of fairly thick woven material in order to keep their shape, most often a cotton ponte. This fabric has next to no stretch whatsoever. So, unless you’re wearing a Herve Leger bandage dress (and I’d say not even then but at least the Herve Leger has some stretch to it) or even a pretty comfy t-shirt dress, then you aren’t going to be doing any fancy kick butt moves. And running in heels is an art form, especially anything over two inches.

A kick butt female mercenary isn’t going to walk into a dangerous situation armed with no more than her killer smile. She, like a male mercenary, is going to strap on body armor, grab as many guns as she can carry, put on some grease paint and maybe throw a few grenades. (Or maybe I just like grenades.) It is insulting to the female gender to do otherwise. Let’s leave sexpionage to the bad spy flicks (and the French and the Russians.)

Make no mistake, most the female action stars are still some sort of male power fantasy. Lara Croft, male power fantasy, Selene, definitely a male power fantasy (corset cat suit? Really?), Alice, male power fantasy, every female comic book hero, check, male power fantasy. At least, Lara Croft dresses somewhat more practically than most on that list.

Hollywood sees the female character as a marketing tool. And part of that marketing tool is how much sex appeal does she have. A female action star who puts on body armor and grease paint isn’t in their to do list because they don’t see how body armor and grease paint can be marketable. Body armor and grease paint and Doc Martins aren’t sexy (at least to them.) Once again, they are trying to fit the male power fantasy where all the women are beautiful and use their sex appeal to kill. They don’t want to hide the female body from the male gaze because then why would the boys watch the movie? (Umm, that’s pretty degrading to men right there too.)

Hell, it’s hard to find female fighter pilots in movies (maybe it is those unsexy jumpsuits.) In fact, most of the female action roles lately have been in action comedies or comic book properties. These movies still put the female heroes into secondary roles or even worse, treat the female action role as some sort of joke, which is belittling.

Despite the success of Alien, Resident Evil, and Tomb Raider, Hollywood is still choosing not to do these types of roles. They are choosing to write females as tropes first and as people second and using ‘sex’ as marketing/marketability. Until they choose not to do that, we’re going to suffer from poorly made female action movies like Elektra (Jennifer Garner) and Catwoman (Halle Berry) where they think that a skin tight outfit and some high heels is a replacement for character development. It’s frustrating, since I’d love to see an all female version of the Expendables that embodies the true spirit of the Expendables, do or die missions and lots of explosions.

Jing a ling, jing a ling.