#because she takes on some of the characteristics of the people she steals from. So if she's only stealing from villains... well.......

[my-thoughts-and-junk]

thinkinggg about. race in adventure time

[theladysherlock]

My girl Jess can have a little villain arc. As a treat. 

(Honestly this was just an excuse to play with some new glass textures I got in Clip Studio, and I’m having a great time)

ID Below the Cut!

ID: Jess, a young blonde woman is hovering mid-air with the use of stained glass wings, both fists clenched. The wings are outstretched and made up of lime green, dark green, magenta, and purple feathers. The wings also have a soft glow around them matching the colors of the feathers nearest the outline. Jess has her hair pulled back in a high ponytail and is wearing a cropped white t-shirt underneath an unzipped dark gray biker jacket, as well as some gray pants and dark boots with buckles. She also has white bandages wrapped around her fists like a boxer. Her eyes glow the same lime green as her wings. The background is made of dark gray and black smudges, and there’s a hint of orange near the bottom of the piece to imply flames below her. 

[the-ace-with-spades]

I need a fic where Ghost and Soap are on the run but like, framed and on the run.

They're on an assignment, just the two of them, to co-lead a team for the prevention of assassination for some big-name politician (dunno, I like to think this would happen either in usa or in the uk...) and it's all done and they're about to pack their shit and go back to base when Soap gets an encrypted call from Price to tell him that a video of Ghost killing the same big-name politician is on the telly

It's not Ghost, obviously, but it's someone of Ghost's posture, in Ghost's gear and Ghost's mask.

Also obviously, Soap doesn't believe it.

They get surrounded pretty fast by the local SWAT-like team and Soap makes Ghost use him as a hostage so they can escape with a minimal amount of maiming -- Soap is pretty sure Ghost could escape on his own, but it'd be a bloody mess that would follow him after he was proven to be framed.

Of course, Ghost tries to get Soap to leave once they're out of the danger zone. He does not.

Cue Ghost and Soap on the run while Price, Gaz and Lasewell try to find out who is framing him.

Simon's existence was erased so much that there are no pictures of him anywhere so instead, his APB has a sketch and a description. Problem is, the scars on his face were included, and way too characteristic to miss them (whether it's the glasgow smile or other scars, dunno, but you get my point). At first, it's really hard to move around because scars/mask + Simon being like 6'4 and built like a tank scream 'notice me'. Simon grows out a beard - it's red-ish blond colour so he ends up dying his hair red too. He absolutely doesn't care but Soap mourns because he's barely started being able to see Simon's face and hair and now it's all changed up.

Soap doesn't have an APB at first, but after a couple of days he is named as complicit (because he's seen helping Ghost run) and his photo is out. He has to shave the mohawk because it's too eye-catching (he's fucking bald and he hates it). He has to rein in his accent because he is described as glasgowian scottish. He can't call his maw so he sends her a random postcard he picked up a few towns ago and sends a short and cryptic message, hoping she believes he's not a terrorist.

Soap also finds out Ghost knows way too many shady people and knows way too easily where to look for even more shady people if he needs something the former people don't have. They steal shit out of necessity, often clothes and food, but sometimes they pickpocket cards and wallets. Some days they sleep in the car, some days they stop at questionable motels or hostels, and some days they don't sleep at all. They have burner phones but don't contact Price at all.

There would be a mandatory 'taking care of each others' wounds' scene (no bandages, please, you rarely use bandages in healthcare nowadays) after a dangerous run-in, a mandatory 'pretend to be a couple to lose the trail' and after that, an awkward 'there was only one bed' scene where things happen for the first time and they have a sloppy handjob or two.

They're probably trying to escape the country but can't do it via air because of the APBs and have to make their way to some shady port and even shadier ferry or cargo ship that won't run their fake passports in the system if they pay well enough.

Ghost is surprising Soap once again with an off-shore bank account and a knowledge of whichever country they're in's language. They move somewhere less crowded but not small enough that two Brits would be weird. Some people refer to Ghost as Soap's husband.

Weeks or months go by.

"What if they can't prove I didn't do it?"

"You faked your death once, love, I think you can do it twice."

[lemotmo]

They closed their ask box. I hate people 😭😭

I hope it's temporary

A. Hi anon. Before I respond, I want to take a minute to say that I think this will be my last answer for a bit. My ask box needs a break, lol. It's a little hostile in there right now. Some of the asks/messages are lovely, thank you for those and I will see how I feel after the holiday.

Now with regards to your question. You can absolutely headcanon. No one is saying you can't. I would never say that. That's part of fandom and it's fun. What I was saying to that particular anon was that there's a difference between headcanoning scenarios you would like to see for your favorite ship/character and outright stealing another characters actual canon history to give to a character you prefer. That history belongs to Eddie not Tommy. You're correct though that Tommy shares some characteristics with Eddie, pretty sure that's the point. So in theory, sure, they could have similar storylines but they don't. The reason they don't is because Tommy is a minor character, and as such he will never have a storyline written for him. That's the way plot points work. They're designed to push a main character's storyline forward. Eddie is a main. Buck is a main. Tommy is a plot point, at least as of this writing. Pointing that out is not mean. It's not bigoted. And it's definitely not homophobic. It sucks to love a character the show doesn't care about. Most of us have been there at some point. We have fallen for a C or D character and have headcanoned a reality for them far better than their show was ever going to give them. It happens. There's nothing wrong with it. But it still doesn't make him anything more than what the show is telling you he is. And again, as of this writing, he has been written as nothing more then the guy Buck is currently seeing. But lots of you don't even seem to care about Buck with regards to the ship. There are messages in my ask box from people telling me that they don't care if Buck and Tommy break up because they will just ship whoever they pair Tommy with next. They won't pair Tommy with anyone next. When his Buck storyline is done his services will no longer be required. And that is what all of your anger is really all about.

If season 8 has Buck telling Tommy he loves him then that will be canon, you're correct. It is also canon that Buck told Taylor he loved her. I don't think you will get much argument from people on that. But it didn't matter. They broke up. She's gone. That is also canon. It's Buck's canon history. And you can't erase it. Just like you can't erase Eddie's canon history. That was my entire point. I've said from the beginning Tommy not being Buck's endgame doesn't mean he's not important, in some capacity. He will always be Buck's first. And him just being that is okay. That's important. There is no need to make it more. Fandom is meant to be fun and this has become unnecessarily exhausting on every level. I have been very pro Tommy, for what I believe the shows purpose for him is. Refusing to pretend he's more doesn't make me homophobic. That argument is juvenile and stupid and is only being made because there's no actual argument to have. Unless the show makes him more, than what they have so far, you all are just shouting in circles. Love him. Ship him. It's okay, I promise it is, but you have no reason to be angry that others don't. You have no right to be angry at Oliver for not promoting it. You have no right to be angry at Ryan for playing the character most of the audience wants with Buck. The show promised you nothing. Oliver said nothing. Ryan didn't do a thing.

You admitted in your ask that you have been blocked by Oliver, Ryan and the official show account. Do you know what you have to send to an official show account for them to block you? You have to send something pretty disturbing. And one person having multiple accounts doesn't fix the block. It's very easy to identify multiple accounts being run by the same person/IP address. That's not hard and it doesn't require advanced computer knowledge so I promise you the moderators running the show account know how to do that. So you can create all the accounts you want, and you said you have multiple, but like you also said they're all blocked. Ten or so people pretending to be 50 or 60 different people is still a very tiny fandom and I have no idea what you think that's going to accomplish. Other than getting all 60 accounts blocked. We have no proof that Tim is the one who put a stop to the cameo videos, you can't make that statement, but if he did, he had every right to do so. They got entirely out of hand. Like I said in a previous answer Lou wasn't' talking to a wide audience, none of the view counts ever went past 2,000 people. The count may be higher now if people uploaded them to YouTube, but those extra hits mean nothing. That is a tiny, tiny fandom, and there is nothing wrong with being a tiny fandom. But it was clear the same 8 and 9 people were the ones purchasing the cameos and then they were turning around and spouting his PAID content as canon facts, and anybody who dared say otherwise was homophobic. That's not how any of this works. Lou was very careful to say, each and every time btw, "yeah I can see that", "sure I guess you can say that", "I played it as...". Zero part of any of those words should lead anyone to believe he was stating facts. Those same people though then turned around and openly bragged about demanding the show give us a Tommy begins episode. Openly sending Oliver hate because he didn't follow him back on Instagram or promote the ship. And most inexcusably disgusting of all bragged about telling Ryan they wished he had committed suicide. That is sick, immature and highly disturbing behavior. And for what? There was never a reason for any of it. So I hope it was Tim who ended it. Oliver and Ryan didn't do anything wrong. They have every right to want to tell the story they want to tell for their characters. You have every right to disagree with them. It's that simple. You have no right to the abhorrent behavior that followed. And Oliver, Ryan and the show have the right to block you over it, but you don't get blocked by them just for saying you ship Buck and Tommy and everyone knows that. I have no doubt that this is not the response you were looking for, and in spite of everything, ships are meant to be enjoyed by whoever enjoys them. So ship away. Enjoy it. But you cannot force them onto others. That is a simple truth and it shouldn't be that difficult to understand. 💗

I really hope it's temporary but I do understand it. Great response though.

Once again, thank you for sending this Nonny.

First of all, it's a sad state of affairs when someone is pushed to stop talking basic common sense and truth on their own personal fandom blog. All because others don't like their opinion and have decided to spout hatred. I'm so tired of this insane behaviour of attacking people for having an opinion on a character or a ship.

So much to unpack in this post. But I'm just going to pick out a few topics that I have something to say about. The rest of it has all been explained so well by the OP's answer.

The fact that some of these people got blocked by the cast and the official account is crazy. When I read about the fact that someone bragged about telling Ryan they wished he commited suicide??? Seriously? Are these people for real? All of this over a fictional ship on a fictional show? This isn't just one bridge too far. This is ten million bridges too far. It disgusts me on a basic human level and frankly? It should disgust everyone.

The fact that some of these stans are saying that, even if Buck would break up with Tommy, they would want Tommy to have someone else? It's once again rooted in this stubborn resistance to see what is truly happening on the show. Tommy isn't going to stick around. He is going to play his part and leave as plot devices tend to do. I don't understand what they are hoping to gain with this shortsightedness? It will only get them hurt and disappointed in the end.

The whole Buck will tell Tommy he loves him in season 8 is also, once again, based on a headcanon. This time a headcanon made by one BT shipper who claims to be in secret contact with Tim. He gives her secret season 8 spoilers. I mean... really? How is it that people fall for this kind of nonsense? If some Buddie shipper would make a post about having contact with the showrunner and him telling them that they said Buddie is going to kiss in episode 2 of season 8? I would laugh out loud and bring out the 'Sure Jan' GIF. I mean, people cannot be that gullible, can they?

I admit though, the one thing the BT fandom do have is that Tommy will always be Buck's first when it comes to his experiences with a man. And I also admit that, personally? I hate it. I wish they would have found someone else. Someone who had the acting chops to actually show some emotional depth in his scenes with Oliver. Someone who didn't have a shady past. Someone who was more understanding and less dissmissive. But I guess that was also part of the story the show was trying to tell us. It was showing us that Tommy isn't 'the one' for Buck. In every scene it became more and more apparent that this relationship isn't going anywhere. But I'm just bummed that Buck, once again, fell into a relationship that ultimately is going to cause him hurt. I'm so tired of that. His next relationship better be with Eddie, so he can finally be completely happy with someone (after a lot of drama no doubt) and settle down, which is something he obviously really wants. The same goes for Eddie by the way. I just want to see that man happy at this point. I want him to figure himself out and fall for Buck. No other boyfriends necessary. Just let them be happy together. Do you hear that 911? LET 👏 THEM 👏 BE 👏 HAPPY 👏 TOGETHER! Thank you!

So yeah, that's about all I wanted to add. Just some observations really. Their message doesn't really need explanation or addendums. It's perfect as it is.

This will be the last update from the anonymous OP for now. I get why OP wants a break though. Dealing with fandom used to be a fun experience. These days it's like taking a walk in a swamp. You never know what's going to happen when you're there. Things could be peaceful or you could be attacked by a giant alligator, without any warning. It's exhausting, that's what it is.

Anyway, OP? Whoever you are. Wherever you are. Take a break, relax. I wish you sunshine and happiness during your break. I'll leave you with another anon message I received yesterday:

"I hope this gets back to that one anonymous blog we all love but I'm so sorry you're getting hate from those people for simply stating not only your opinion but the obvious truth that most of us have been able to see from the beginning. Your answers are always so eloquent and concise yet never malicious, it's truly a blessing to see a Tommy fan with actual common sense lol."

Remember, no hate in comments or reblogs. Let's keep it civil and respectful. Thank you.

If you are interested in more of the anonymous OP’s posts, you can find all of their posts so far under the tag: anonymous blog I love.

[miss0atae]

The classic fairy tale rewriting with San and Vee’s love story in Century of Love (Ep 7 – 8) :

[gif by benzatthanim] @benzatthanin

I have to admit I was inspired by this post from @mikuni14 post about the classic fairy tale rewriting idea (thanks again for the inspiration!). Quick disclaimer before starting: I know that the screenwriters and the original writer of the book were not really inspired by classic fairy tale. I just feel like the series has so many characteristics that you can find in classic fairy tale and I’ll show it to you here.

So what is a fairy tale? If I had to summarize, I would say it’s a short story where the main characters (San and Vee) must face ordeals and fights against their enemies (Evil Uncle, Rich Man who wants to live and Doppelganger of Vad / Wat). To be able to reach their goal, they will have the help of sidekicks (Tao, Tee and San’s family). Heroes from fairy tales are usually inexperienced at the beginning of the story (San is stuck in the past and full of nostalgia). They must find their way to understand the meaning of their life (In Century of Love I would say it's "what is true love?"). The classic fairy tale follows a narrative outline:

[gif by pharawee] @pharawee

1. The initial situation:

San fell in love with Vad / Watt, but she was killed by her fiancé, so he used the help of the five-colored stone of the goddess Nuwa to be able to stay alive and young until he finds the reincarnation of his love.

[gif by sanvees] @sanvees

2. The disruptive element that modifies the initial situation:

Vad / Watt wasn't reincarnated as a woman, but could be a young man named Vee whose personality is quite different from Vad / Watt. San has trouble accepting the situation even if everything seems to prove Vee is the one he was looking for.

3. Adventures that advance the action and the ordeals that the hero must go through:

San and Vee get to know each other and slowly fall in love. San is starting to accept Vee could be his new love. He also has to stop living in his past. Vee has a criminal past and a sick grandma that he wants to take care of. Several people came in between the two lovers: a childhood friend (possible reincarnation of Vad / Watt previous fiancé), villains who wants to steal the stone, jealousy and loss of self-confidence.

4. The element of resolution

5. The final situation.

Still waiting for these events to happen.

[gif by jimmysea] @jimmysea

Century of Love also presents some recurring characteristics of fairy tales. Fairy tales belong to the world of wonder and imagination. If Century of Love is happening in a world that looks like ours, it still contained fantastic elements such as supernatural characters and magical artifacts. In the story, San is near immortal so he can be the same as what he was when he first met Vad / Wat, so her reincarnation can recognize him. It’s possible because he got the power of the five-colored stone, a powerful and magical artifact given by a goddess. Usually fairy tales were written for various reasons: examining the human condition or talking about modern issues. In Century of Love, San was stuck for a long time in the past and felt out of place with the modern time. I think he took “waiting for his lover” literally. Many other people made a really good take on why San was acting this way before meeting Vee and I can just advise you to read them. The story is more complex than what it seemed at first. To name but a few, you could read this post, this post or this post. It may feels like it’s just to work well with the character, but in fact, any of us can risk being stuck in the past for various reasons: tragic events, holding on to things or people, mental health issues, fear of change, blaming ourselves… Just like fairy tale, Century of Love has an educational value and is trying to provide the viewers some kind of life advice.

I would even say that after watching the last episode, I felt like Century of Love could be compared to a rewriting story of the famous fairy tale “Beauty and the Beast”.

So in Beauty and the Beast the story is more or less about a young girl called "the beauty" who sacrifices herself to save her father, sentenced to death for picking a rose in the domain of a terrible monster. Against all expectations, the Beast spares Beauty and allows her to live in his castle. She realizes that, behind the features of the animal, a man is suffering as he is the victim of a spell. He is a generous being who only asks to love and be loved in return.

So now, let’s see how Century of Love changed the story to… a young man called “Vee” agrees to marry a cranky meanie grandpa with a young face, San, to save his grandma. His goal at first is to find the powerful artifact San possessed to cure her. Against all expectations, San is nicer than what he seems to be and allows Vee to live in his house with his family. Vee realizes that behind the sternness of San, a man is suffering, victim of the power of the five-colored stone. He is a generous being who only asks to love and be loved in return.

Doesn't it work well?! Put new Vad / Watt or Suchat as the villain Gaston (only present in Disney version of the Beauty and the Beast) and San family as the supporting characters living in the house of the “beast” and you'll get the story wrapped with all its important characters.

Beauty and The Beast is a tale that teaches people to distinguish moral ugliness from physical ugliness. The true foundation of a solid love is kindness. Compassion and esteem can create love and you shouldn't judge someone by his look only or his past. Those are also the “life advice” that Century of Love is teaching us through the love story of Vee and San. It is more powerful than just thinking you need to be with the reincarnation of your past lover. San loves Vee for Vee. Now, I just hope Vee will see that he also deserves to be loved. His acts of true love is what made San overcome his habits of staying in the past.

[shitty-blade-runner-reference]

alice post

i think alice and kara are a foile-a-deux going on there, i think not only is kara in her weird "denial" that bumps the game down a full letter grade, where clearly they put in the alice twist at the last minute and then didnt go back and edit to make sense but alice is TERRIFIED of people realizing shes an android. i think its alice's strongest motivation besides the characteristic anxious attachment that manifests as constantly requesting kara to reiterate/reassure that she's willing to take care of alice. ("i'm cold" bro we know youre not cold you just want to make sure the adults around you care that youre uncomfortable; as a video game character you are annoying but as a person i'm analyzing youre valid and im validating you) alice has an insane amount of some kind of internalized dislike of androids. not that she hates other androids, she seems to like them, but she definitely thinks it would be better if she was a human and not an android. (alice's third strongest motivation is actually that she has a really vivid sense of ethics? this is characteristic of kids sometimes: they've been watching shows where all the morals are things like "dont steal" and "dont bully," but alice is very firm on what she considers right and wrong. she'll chastise kara for violating that, which is incredibly ballsy coming from a child that regularly gets abused when adults are angry with her) alice keeps a photo of the human girl she replaced, standing with a happy version of her dad and a mom that's around and remembers her and recognizes her. alice looks at pictures of humans and is like "haha can we please be like them please kara i would love to be a human child with a human mom and dad :')" if you try to prod alice about what you've realized, if kara puts together the clues while at rose's house, alice completely shuts down in terror because she thinks youre going to leave her for not being a real child. alice does NOT correct kara's weird delusion. alice doesn't offer to interface to immediately warn kara that todd destroyed the last kara, she communicates it with spooky little drawings even though its an actual life or death situation. alice draws herself in her little spookychild abuse crayon drawings with red blood - even inside the little locked chest that represents the secrets in this house that alice knows about. alice is over the moon when jerry treats her like a human child and puts her on a carousel. kara mentions its the only time she's ever seen alice smile. its probably because alice is having a pure moment of carousel!!! just like human child!! everyone thinks im a person so they're being nice to me!! when my dad knew i was an android he was awful! alice is an interesting character written very badly. i do think @thiriumhound is correct that shes a deviant but also she is on some kind of third axis of messed up that has nothing to do with whether shes still obeying her program

[laurasimonsdaughter]

Shapeshifting Dragons

I sometimes see people wonder if the idea of a dragon that can take on a fully human appearance is a modern fantasy invention. Or solely inspired by (East) Asian dragons, which are almost invariably noble and frequently appear human. Because European folklore is more well known for “dragon slayer tales”, in which the dragons are purely beastly. But! Slavic folklore absolutely has dragons who are capable of transforming themselves into (beautiful) humans!

The dragons from Slavic fairy tales still have typical “western” dragon characteristics (wings, scales, claws, maw), but they often act far more human than animalistic. They frequently live in castles, use weapons, sometimes even ride horses, write letters, or get married to humans. And some are described as fully shapeshifting into humans:

Dawn, Evening, and Midnight (Afanasev, 1866, trans. Guterman, 1946)

Three princesses are abducted by a whirlwind and three brave brothers Evening, Midnight and Dawn set out to find them. Dawn finds the youngest princess in an underground realm in a castle. She greets him, feeds him, gives him strengthening magic water and then: “At this moment a wild wind arose, and the princess was frightened. ‘Presently,’ she said, ‘my dragon will come.’ And she took Dawn by the hand and hid him in the adjoining room. A three-headed dragon came flying, struck the damp earth, turned into a youth.” The princess puts sleeping potion in the dragon’s wine, picks the lice from his hair (implies he is still human) until he falls asleep. She calls Dawn and he cuts off the dragon’s three heads (implies he’s full dragon again) and burns the body. He then rescues her sisters from a six- and twelve-headed dragon. The three princesses marry the three brothers.

The Footless Champion and the Handless Champion (Afanasev, trans. Guterman)

Two champions, Marko and Ivan, decide to steal a priest’s daughter to be their sister and housekeeper. Once they go on a week long hunt and when they return the girl looks ill and thin. “She told them that a dragon had flown to her every day and that she had grown thin because of him. ‘We will catch him,’ said the champions. (…) About half an hour later, the trees in the forest suddenly began to rustle and the roof of the hut shook: the dragon came, struck the damp earth, turned into a goodly youth, sat at table, and asked for food.” Ivan and Marko seize him and thrash him until he begs for mercy, promising to show them the water of life and the water of death. He tries to trick them into jumping into the lake of death, so they throw him in “and only smoke was left of him.” They do bring the priest’s daughter back home before carrying on with their other adventures. [The concept that a dragon’s presence can drain a maiden of her life force shows up in other stories too, but in this particular context it almost seems like the dragon is just? eating her portion of the food? Also the fact that she was abducted from her home by the two supposed heroes and the dragon is only visiting and asking for lunch really puts this into a weird perspective.]

King Bear (Afanasev, trans. Guterman)

A tsar’s son and daughter are abducted by the King Bear but eventually escape with the help of a magical bullock who conjures a lake of fire that the bear cannot cross. They live by its shore for a while in a fine house and Ivan hunts for their food. “Meanwhile Princess Maria went to the lake to wash clothes. As she washed, a six-headed dragon came flying to the other shore of the lake of fire, changed into a handsome man, saw the princess, and said to her in a sweet voice: ‘Greetings, lovely maiden!’ ‘Greetings, good youth!’ ‘The old wives say that in former times this lake did not exist; if a high bridge spanned it, I would come to the other side and marry you.’ ‘Wait! A bridge will be here in a trice!’ answered Princess Maria and waved her towel. In that instant the towel spread out in an arc and hung above the lake like a high and beautiful bridge. The dragon crossed it, changed into its former shape, put Prince Ivan’s dog under lock and key, and cast the key into the lake; then he seized the princess and carried her off.” When Ivan finds his sister missing and his dog locked up he goes to ask help from Baba-Yaga, finds the dragon, kills him, and takes his sister home. [This story ends with the standard “they began to live happily and prosper”, but it really seems like Ivan should have asked Maria if she was even in need of rescuing.]

So there we are! Proper folklore roots for all our mysterious strangers with a hint of scales around their flickering eyes~

[sillygo0fycl0wn]

Doodle ideas for an AU where the characters are shinigami! :D I totally wanna draw these other than whiteboard but we’ll see sobs- And I might make some more, these are just the only ones I had ideas for

Have some small notes down below!

Light: A shinigami who takes his job way too seriously to the point that the others don’t ridicule him for working so hard but fear him. Many call Light a truly immortal shinigami because he has so many lives under his belt, he might as well be the last shinigami standing during the end of humanity (and no I do not think that “unnamed shinigami” is Light so..)

Intelligence: 9/10 || Curiosity: 5/10 || Proactiveness: 10/10 || Sympathy: 1/10 || Kill Count: 10/10 (probs gonna butcher these characteristics)

— —

Misa: She is well known for her weird sense in killing people. Misa will go to the human world in order to kill by hunting the person she finds interesting and once they’re dead, she steals any sort of jewelry or other accessories from their body. Every part of her is from a victim.

Intelligence: 6/10 || Curiosity: 4/10 || Proactiveness: 5/10 || Sympathy: 3/10 || Kill count: 7/10

— —

L: He often craves to go down to the human world simply for their sweet delicacies. He has such horrible taste that only the strongest of flavors can be registered on his tongue - something the shinigami realm has naught of. Other than that I don’t have too many notes for him yet.. probably.. sits and acts creepy idk- One small note though is that he’s based off a mix of a sheep and a goat representing both the evil and good hearted nature of his character (yeah I know it doesn’t look it, I’ll edit later..)

Intelligence: 9/10 || Curiosity: 5/10 || Proactiveness: 8/10 || Sympathy: 5/10 || Kill count: 4/10

— —

Matsuda: Just a silly little guy who I wanted to design because I love him so much :3 He’s a pretty friendly shinigami which gets him ostracized 😔

Intelligence: 4/10 || Curiosity: 6/10 || Proactiveness: 6/10 || Sympathy: 8/10 || Kill count: 2/10

[acourtofthought]

Hey, what do u think about fans saying Sarah is giving Lucien personality traits to Azriel? I do notice that he went from “misterious” (*cough*boring*cough*) to actually showing some personality, which is interesting…

It feels like SJM isn't completely sold on what she wants to do with Az because his character isn't cohesive as of late.

We went from Cassian saying that even he and Rhys can't get Az to open up after centuries yet suddenly he's casually chatting with Nesta and Bryce in HOFAS even though they literally do not trust Bryce and he's only been real friends with Nesta for a few months. He had moments of still being aloof but he was more open around Bryce and Nesta than anyone and that's odd since we don't even see that between he and Cassian in SF.

Where Az, instead of snarking back at Eris for what he said of Mor, exploded into a rage. Where he barely said two words to Koschei and looked genuinely scared yet suddenly he's cocky and sassing to Vesperus after she had been released from her coffin and he had learned she made his kind.

Where he stopped Gwyn from asking him to demonstrate whether he could sing because he didn't feel like it yet was humming in front of Bryce.

Where Az literally has never shown physically affectionate behavior towards anyone throughout the series yet he's stroking Nesta's hair and thanking the mother.

It's not necessarily that she's stealing Lucien's characteristics or other characters who are similar to Lucien from other series so much as it seems she's suddenly recycling them for Az to show how he's being developed to become a MMC but it feels off for him? Az is canonically cold and aloof, where he only brings out his gentle side for those he deems kind of weak (like he does with Elain), who you have to pull teeth to get anything out of and who doesn't say much so it is just a bit odd to have scenes that look suspiciously similar to the Lucien scenes that came before when it does at this point seem out of character for how he's previously been written.

If this is the direction she wants to take Az than that is her perogative but it's a little tricky to hop on board when it is so drastically different from the Az that came before, especially the Az in SF and his bonus. It's the "I'm going to tell you rather than show you" tactic and that's a bit more difficult for some to get behind because we didn't see the evidence of why he's suddenly become someone different than what he was previously portrayed as. Saying his growth happened off page feels too easy a cop out.

It would be like Elain suddenly becoming a bloodthirsty warrior in the next book. SJM can do that with Elain's character if she wants, right? After all, Elain is her creation and maybe that's the final arc for Elain she's been building to when she added the line in the bonus about gardening resulting in something pretty but getting one's hands dirty along the way. But I think it would still ring false to certain readers because of everything that came before it and I don't think they'd be so easily swayed to have people telling them "well this is clearly what SJM wanted to do with her so you just need to accept it". An author can write whatever they want in their books but that doesn't mean every reader is going to buy into what feels like a new direction for a character "just because".

[justthoughts1310]

ATLA and Marvel have the same misogyny

So... I've finally made it to episode 8 of Netflix's Live Action ATLA.

This may be shocking for some of you, because I wrote a post about how Netflix ATLA is misogynistic a month ago, but now I'm back again.

I specifically want to talk about the absolutely ridiculous and bullshit feminist virtue signaling that we are habitually forced to endure.

The scene I am specifcally referring to is the scene in which Katara demands that Master Pakku let's her fight. Then all of a sudden, the camera pans to all of the healers in the Northern Water Tribe (the female water benders) who stand ready to fight.

Yet, despite their immense power, they are begging this old as man for permission, instead of just doing what needs to be done.

This scene is giving... stupid. It's giving the 999th Marvel movie that NOBODY freaking wanted... okay! Does anybody remember that scene from Avenger's End Game (of course you do), in which all of the female avengers assemble, and it's one female cameo after another? I have no idea who liked this scene, but I didn't. I HATED this scene! I thought it was tacky and cringe, and I didn't understand why I felt that way.

Then in the Marvels, there's this scene in which Captain Danvers gets knocked down, and then there's this sequence starting from when she was a little girl playing softball in which she gets knocked down and gets back up.

The whole thing is soooo cringe.

It's cringe because it's heavy handed. It feels like one of those inspirational quotes you put on your wall that says something stupid like "She believed she could so she did..." or "Shero" or "Herstory".

It feels like a moment in which the male writers were like, we got to make women feel seen, so let's stop the flow of the entire movie and series and whatever is going on and have this really stupid overproduced moment in which the women look like bad asses, before we hide the women back in the background and let the real heroes (the men) take over.

All of this despite the fact that in hindsight, of all of the avengers assembled there to fight Thanos that day (both male and female, alike), Scarlett Witch and Captain Marvel were the only one's canonically strong enough to stop Thanos. Yet, we can't have that, because a man needs to be the hero.

Like stop stealing women's W's. It happens all the time in shows like Naruto, in which the most powerful kunoichi will get caught up by the most stupid insignificant thing, so that a man can end up saving her and she becomes the damsel in distress.

The narrative of women can be strong but never as strong as men because men need to be the hero is weak and tired, tell a new story!!!

Especially, because it really isn't all that true anymore. After the industrial revolution and the boom of tech, women and men's physically strengths have become increasingly more similar for decades. Why, because very few people need to carry giant logs and chop down trees to survive anymore! You don't need to be swol to complete a spreadsheet.

I digress.

My point is what these scenes from ATLA and Marvel have in common. It's the reason why they are both cringe.

Men don't see women as women who are unique human beings with our own unique desires. Therefore, male writers force powerful female characters to embody male characteristics that appeal to men.

You know all that flexing and all the abs and the sweat and the thirst trap scenes of half naked men like Thor and Captain America (even the scene with Sokka in it). Do you think those scenes are for women? Well, they are not. They are for men. Men get hard-ons for these kinds of scenes, and these scenes are specifically created for men and the male gaze.

Then they try to extend this to female characters, to show that they are feminists. However, this completely ignores the female gaze and female motivation.

The scenes really are women quietly asking for permission (not really) and then men loudly given women permissions to stand out and be powerful, but only in a way that satisfies the male gaze. Which considering the fact that men are socially conditioned to like feminine or overly sexual women, I have no idea who these scenes appeal to!!!

Like bro... read a freaking book. Learn about history!!! Real history!!! Women do not need the permission of men to be powerful, intelligent, strong, tactful or ambitious. Women have already been all of these things since the dawn of time.

Therefore, women don't need weird cameos that break up the pacing of the story or scenes of little girls playing sports, getting knocked down, and getting back up to feel seen. Women and girls do not need to be convinced that we are powerful. We already know it. We've been working in the background for centuries while men have taken credit for our labors, efforts, and endeavors.

All we need is for men to get the hell out of our way! We can see it right now with education and employment. Ever since women were allowed to attend school, women have outperformed men in education is almost every subject (and men and women are at par with each other in Math and Science). Women are also out enrolling men in college 2:1.

So instead of giving women 5 minutes of permission to be powerful in movies and shows and embuing them with masculine characterists, write a compelling female character from the beginning of the show. Develop her character as a person, who has to deal with the unique intersectionality of being a woman. Don't make her whole personality being a woman.

And if you cannot, write a compelling female character, then get a woman to do it!

End Rant. Thank you for attending my TED Talk.

[thechaoticdruid]

~My Tav for roleplay and story purposes~

Name: Winnie (Winnifred)

Gender: Female

Pronouns: She/Her

Class: Druid (Her favorite form being the direwolf. I also like to imagine she has some doggy-like characteristics because of it lol), she's also multi-classing as a wizard for reasons.

Age: 23

Race: Human

Hair: Reddish brown

Eyes: Pink

Height: 5'3

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral (With a bit of a good lean I suppose)

Love interest: Astarion

Backstory: Winnifred was raised deep in a hidden forest village, amongst her fellow druids. Her grandmother was the archdruid of their circle and took to raising her after Winnie's parents went missing (aka the likely died horribly on an adventure.) Winnie lived a peaceful, but boring life in the village for thirteen years until eventually it was raided by goblins and everyone she'd known and loved was slaughtered before her very eyes. Winnie was captured by the horde's leader, a strange drow wizard who only allowed her to live because he thought she'd be the perfect test subject for his 'experiments'. She never learned his name, but since the event his face has haunted her nightmares. Winnie remained his lab rat for weeks following the raid. Eventually however her suffering came to an end when a band of adventurers came to her rescue. Apparently they were old friends of the family though she had never once met any of them. They freed her from the prison she'd been held in before setting fire to the goblins camp, killing every last one of the circle's murderers....Well all except for the drow...

Sometime after that Winnie was taken in by Arva, a half elf who just so happened to be the leader of her rescuers. She brought Winnie back to her group's hideout in Baldur's Gate's under city and for ten years Winnie learned how to survive on the streets, using some not so heroic skills Arva had taught her....

•Just stuff about Winnie•

Winnie is weird.

She rarely takes anything seriously and will usually use humor as a way to keep herself sane as she puts it.

She's definitely not a saint but there are some big no nos for her when it comes to morals. No harming innocents, children, or animals.

Self righteous rich tits can suck it tho

"Think you can just spit on me? Huh!? I'll bite your fucking ankles!"

Winnie is an insomniac with permanent raccoon eyes. Shh...don't say anything she gets self conscious!

She has really low self esteem when it comes to her appearance.

Growing up all the other children in her village used to call her ugly a lot. Pretty much all of them aside from a gnome child named Demi.

Winnie liked Demi. Demi used to call her tall.

Winnie isn't particularly romantically experienced. Mostly due to her low self esteem and urge to faint or run away screaming when around someone she finds attractive.

Astarion is her first everything really.

Moving on from that Winnie has a bit of an obsession with cheese. It's like her favorite thing ever.

If you have any she will steal it.

Her handwriting is awful.

She has a habit of pretending to be dumber than she actually is to throw people off.

She identifies herself as being interested in men exclusively, but if I'm honest she does have a bicurious streak.

Mostly because Karlach once asked her what she would do if Astarion was a girl.

Karlach is like her best friend, but don't tell Star he'll get jealous. Shhh...

Has a little plant in a small pot that she affectionately calls Vern.

Currently writing erotic Bloodweave fanfiction titled 'Blood Mage' as a side job to afford Astarion's costly wardrobe. Shhh.... don't tell Gale.

Likes to draw exaggerated doodles in her journal a lot. Usually illustrating important events in her life.

She often dwells on something she remembered one of the older druids saying before the raid. The elder druid described Winnie as "a weed amongst the flowers."

Winnie used to flip the old lady off behind her back all the time.

Will probably be updated and expanded on. Feel free to ask questions. I might make a separate one of these for my Durge .

IMPORTANT: While I am open to doing a little roleplay here and there I'm only doing it with users above the age of 18. Anyone without their age on their blog will be blocked or ignored. Also I'm not comfortable roleplaying the canon characters at this time so don't ask please.

[cosmerelists]

D&D Class & Alignment of Stormlight Characters

If Stormlight characters were assigned the D&D classes & alignments that most suit them (in this blogger’s opinion), what might those be?

1. Kaladin: Lawful Good Paladin

Kaladin follows a strict code of honor--so strict that he loses his powers when he makes two conflicting promises and cannot keep both--and he cares deeply about what is right. As someone who fights to protect others and to maintain a moral code, paladin makes sense for him. Plus, I mean, it rhymes. 

2. Dalinar: Lawful Good Cleric 

Dalinar does not fight these days; he carries no weapons and uses only noncombat powers, like restoring people’s stormlight or rebuilding broken masonry. As someone who draws power from a deity and has a restorative role, cleric feels right for Dalinar. As for his alignment, well--he follows a very strict code, like Kaladin, and strives to do what is right. Most recently he was willingly to wager his own soul to keep Odium locked away. 

3. Jasnah: Neutral Good Wizard

Jasnah is definitely a knowledge-based character, and knowledge is what wizards are all about. I wouldn’t exactly call Jasnah lawful--she rejects the religion that most of her peers follow, and there was that time she deliberately baited some thieves into attacking her so that she could kill them all. She’s definitely willing to cause social upheaval--as queen, she decides to free all slaves despite Dalinar’s protest that this will cause too much social upheaval. She is determined to follow what is good and true, and to use research to determine what that is.

4. Adolin: Neutral Good Fighter

Adolin certainly cares about codes and about honor, but he also stabbed a guy through the eye in a deserted hallway, so I couldn’t in good conscience call him “lawful.” Especially not when he later declares that he feels fine about the murder, since it made things better overall. He does care about right, however, and so I went with “neutral good.” Adolin is a duelist, which makes him a fighter in D&D canon.

5. Renarin: Neutral Good Cleric

Renarin can see the future--divination!--and heal, so cleric is the class for him. Renarin is somewhat lawful--he repeatedly jumps off of a balcony when Zahel tells him to--but he also, say, scrawls incoherent messages on the walls because he doesn’t want anyone know he can (irreligiously) see the future. He bonds a corrupted spren and invites Rlain to do the same. So while he respects rules too much to be chaotic, he’s also willing to forge his own path.

6. Lift: Chaotic Good Rogue

Lift’s mission is to remember those who have been forgotten, and she’s the first to stand with Dalinar when he’s facing down Odium’s army in Thaylen City. On the other hand, she is a thief by trade who takes great delight in stealing ever new and more adventurous lunches...but only from people who can afford to be stolen from. 

7. Nale: Lawful Neutral Ranger

As a Skybreaker, Nale cares only about the law of whatever land he is in, far more than any abstract ideas of “right” or “wrong.” Nale will murder a child if it’s legal. He argues that humans cannot determine right and wrong on their own, and so the only moral path is to adhere strictly and utterly to the letter of the law. Nale is also something of a bounty hunter--he follows Lift through various countries, and you’ll often find him trying to hunt down some criminal or other. His talent for tracking and hunting people down gives him the characteristics of a ranger.

8. Szeth: Lawful Neutral Rogue

Back in the day, Szeth dutifully followed his Oathstone no matter what was demanded of him--doing things he he knew were wrong because he had to follow his master’s rules. Later he became a Skybreaker, the most lawful netural of all the orders. Currently he’s pledged to Dalinar, and once again, he’s basically outsourced his moral code and will do whatever Dalinar commands. Szeth is the Assassin in White--good at covert missions, good at hiding when he needs to, good at getting into wherever he needs to be. A rogue, then.

9. Shallan: True Neutral Rogue

Shallan is at home in gray areas. She infiltrates the Ghostbloods partly to bring them down, but also partly because she desires the knowledge and power they offer. As a Lightweaver, she’s very good at lying but also advances by admitting to deep truths. She has a habit of murdering people, mostly for good reasons, but still. She is excellent at disguises and infiltration, at tailing people while losing her own tail--at spy stuff, basically. I could see a “neutral good” argument for Shallan, but to me, her motivations are a bit too gray, even if she is ultimately a protagonist. 

10. Hoid: True Neutral Bard

Hoid tells Dalinar that he would let Roshar burn to get what he wants--with tears in his eyes, perhaps, but still he’d let it burn. Hoid will go out of his way to give Kaladin a moment of peace when Kaladin is in the dream hellscape, and he’ll be there when you need him, but he’s doing everything for his own purposes, whatever those may be. And he’s a bard. Like, pretty much literally. 

11. Lezian: Chaotic Neutral Barbarian 

Lezian--or the Pursuer--is a force of true chaos. Most of the time he’s fine with just causing destruction, but he will fixate on anyone who manages to kill him--and will do whatever necessary to kill that person in turn. He’s quite literally being driven insane from having been alive so long, so he’s highly unstable to boot. He’s also a brawler--he gets in close, grapples, sometimes cuts your spinal cord repeatedly with a big knife, that sort of thing. So I went with barbarian for that brutal and up-close fighting style.

12. Odium: Lawful Evil Bard / Deity

Odium may be bent on shattering the other shards and taking over the cosmere, but he certainly is lawful about it. He is bound by the rules of his shard, and his main strategy is to make deals that will bind both himself and others. He even wants to make sure both parties understand and willingly commit to the deals he offers, explaining to Dalinar that he’s not someone who will try to rules-lawyer his way out of things. If he succeeds in his evil plans, it will only because the rules let him do so. As for class...well, since he relies mostly on persuasion and talking, he feels bard-like to me. But he’s also just straight up a deity. 

13. Taravangian: Lawful Evil Warlock

For the record, Taravangian would call himself “good” but, uh. He needs prophecies, so he creates a hospital for people to die in and hastens them along if they’re not dying fast enough. He trades the whole world for his own city to make sure that humanity survives. He assassinates most of the world’s leaders. From the point of view of the narrative, Taravangian is evil. But he is lawful--he follows the Diagram assiduously. It is Law for him. He gets his power first from a deal with the Nightwatcher and later makes a deal with Odium--and making such deals for power is what a warlock is all about.

14. Venli: Neutral Evil Wizard

Venli is also a knowledge-based character, I’d say. She starts out as a researching trying to discover new Forms, and getting intel is always a part of her character. She also, to put it succinctly, does what is best for her. She manipulates the Listeners into inviting their gods to return, since she wants power, but then ends up not liking her new life as the “last” remaining Listener. So she immediately foments rebellion, but quietly so it’s not too dangerous for her, and she ends up bonding a spren from both sides. She does eventually join the radiant side...but decides to abandon the battle for the Tower once she realizes her mother might still be alive. So she’ll sometimes do good, sometimes evil, but most of all she does what is best for her in the moment. 

15. Flashback Dalinar: Chaotic Evil Barbarian 

Pre-Nightwatcher, Dalinar was a guy controlled by the Thrill. He just wanted to find people to fight and people to kill. Sure, Gavilar had reasons for the battles Dalinar was fighting in, but that Dalinar didn’t really care. He just wanted more war. Plus, at times he was so consumed by the Thrill--some might say he Raged--that he killed not only his enemies but also any allies who happened to get too close. And let’s not forget the time he burned an entire city alive.

Dalinar may more lawful good these days, but in the past he was very much the opposite. 

[celabi]

Let me preface this by saying many aren't here for this. But I want to hear if you have any angsty thoughts about creepmouche? What would make him bored in reader, and is there a possibility his obsessions could be redirected to some other person? Or how would he deal with a reader who outmatched his scummy energy and was too much to handle for him? If you have no thoughts, feel free to just not answer this ask, I'll understand, since this isn't the usual cup of tea served here! 💕 thank you so much for writing though!

Honestly… I don’t think reader could ever bore Scaramouche just because he is already way too far into his deep obsession. She (you) excites him way too much to the point where every thought in his head is pretty much revolved around her, leaving no space for any negative or doubtful thoughts that could taint the perfect image that he holds to her. Meaning there’s no way that he could ever think to love anyone that isn’t you, Because just the thought of being in the presence of another leaves a disgusted taste on his tongue.

I haven’t really added Scaramouche’s cannon betrayals in this Au, but maybe (not including his mother, Ei, who I plan on adding more interactions with down the line) he could of had two friends before he met you that had abandoned him, which had left a massive impact on certain questionable characteristics that maybe have overtime, fed into and slowly started to harbour his overbearing and possessive feelings— to the point where he has never thought to ever give up on you, or project these unhealthy feelings to another.

I’d say if reader had the same type of behaviour as him— like a hidden dark obsession or just being a straight up borderline yandere, he’s taking it as a win. With you being as weird as he is, he’s can finally put his embarrassment off to the side and no longer have to feel ashamed when he does these questionable things, like stealing your underwear and setting up cameras in your room. It excites him to think that there is a huge possibility you enjoy it as much as he does.

If you do share these tendencies— he knows that he’ll no longer have to worry about you falling for anyone other then him. He’s already a very jealous person, so if you voice your obsession towards him and distaste towards others, he’s grinning like a maniac and telling you that he always knew you were perfect for each other, like god had handpicked two lovers that were destined to be with each other for eternity. Because that’s how long he will love you.

Nothing is ever too much for him to handle— mainly because he is as far along into his obsession as he possibly can be. Meaning, he’d do absolutely anything for you without a second thought, as his pride lays long forgotten behind him. In his vision— everything you say is automatically correct and anything you do is absolutely perfect, nothing less.

Idk something like that 🤷‍♀️ thanks for the ask! It was really interesting, and very different from what I usually get— because everyone wants scara to be so love drunk for the reader l m a o <3 (me too but like)

i hope this was okay, but I just don’t see him falling out of his obsession, or loving another. I guess that’s what abandonment issues does to some people lol 💁‍♀️

[whoiwanttoday]

It is June, in case you didn't notice, and June is Pride Month. This one has a darker tone than last years because the world is lashing out at our queer friends and that is awful. I don't tend to speak in absolutes very often because I am of the belief that the internet is a machine that is designed to strip everything of context and nuance and boil things down to worthless, easily digestible little bites, but I will speak in absolutes here. If you have a problem with anyone on the LGBTQ+ spectrum because they are LGBTQ+ you are a bad person. It is not a problem with them, it is a problem with you, and you can go straight to hell. I don't care what your reasons are because what you take issue with is an immutable characteristic of a person, it is who they are thus you are awful. I don't think I'll get a lot of blow back here because this is tumblr but I just want to make that clear. And I know about the only community that will take issue with this that has any sort of purchase on tumblr are the TERFs so I want to be 100% clear I mean you too, you hateful fuckheads. I will stand by the trans people on this site and elsewhere and I promise you I am more than willing to die on that hill. There are a lot of ideas and thoughts I will entertain and engage with you on but I will not tolerate or even discuss the degradation, dehumanization, and intimidation of my friends. So because this is Pride I thought why not do some posts for my queer friends. People who are important to me who need to know they are loved and valued. Thus I am starting with my friend Kat, who has to my knowledge been lucky and not faced a ton of blowback in her life based on her sexuality. Still, there are forces in the world that want her to know they think she is less than so it is important to provide a voice that says the opposite. I don’t think her gayness is acceptable, or passable, or something I am fine with, I think it is a fantastic part of her. Is it all she is? Of course not. But it is something she is and makes up a part of the whole that is Kat and it is a thing she has always been and thus is inseparable from the being that is Kat and Kat is wonderful, so it is a part of her I love because she wouldn’t be her without it. So I am posting Jessica Nigri because @kat-eleven luuuuuuuuuuuvs Jessica Nigri. She sorta tries to deny it sometimes but here is the true history of Kat and Jessica Nigri. She once told me she wasn't that into Jessica Nigri, Jessica Nigri didn't really do it for her. She told me this quite a few times which is a weird thing to keep bringing up but is actually a thing a lot of people do with their crushes. Then a pattern emerged where she would send me a reblog of mine and go, "Whoa, this girl is super hot". I would then inform her that said hot person was Jessica Nigri, who Kat claimed to not be into. This kept happening again and again until finally Kat admitted that Jessica Nigri dressed as Tracer was one of her favorite things ever. So I have included that pic in here. As well as one where Jessica Nigri is cosplaying as a male character because the other thing I noticed is all the times Kat would note, "Wow, she looks so good here," it was when Jessica Nigri was cosplaying as a male character. Because she is really into it when Jessica Nigri looks like a boy, so I made sure there is one here where she looks just like a boy and to steal a friend's joke, I will say, "And what a boy. Look at the size of those pecs!" So there you go, happy pride, today I want to fuck Jessica Nigri.  

[wumblr]

robot from my dream (microsoft paint rendition)... i can't draw and it's hard to suggest three eyes in that configuration without looking like haniwa but it was very obvious they were nearly-hemispherical glassy black cameras. like an iphone

i was sitting out on the back porch of a ranch house in a rural area where my family lived (not a place i've ever been). and a couple of quadcopter drones flew by, surveilling the area and i said "that's not good." and then two chunky rectangular flying drones, like the size of a whole server rack but cased in white plastic, went by and i was like "that's worse." and then these guys showed up and started setting fire to the back fence

so naturally i had to wake up my whole family (most of whom are dead, in real life, not in the dream) like "hey, fire, fire, there's a robot with three eyes and a bowl-shaped hat setting blue fire to the backyard we've got to go like now" calmly and with an amount of patience that was not really appropriate given the circumstances. and they believed me, which was surprising, given how bonkers the thing i had to say was, but presumably the backyard was visibly on fire. i don't know

and everybody was moving fairly slowly so i was like "what are we doing here, do i have time to pack a bag" and my mom was like "yes, but remember the conventional advice" and i was like "what" and she was like "it has... to follow... a theme..." (i never got an answer for what this meant and i did not pack a bag)

eventually we made it downstairs to the garage (i have never lived in a house with these characteristics) and my aunt's car, like an 80s corvette or something, was just. constantly running. and i understood that was obviously not the car we were taking because it was always parked there, in a sort of alcove, always running, with a tube connected to the exhaust so it didn't fill the garage with carbon monoxide. and the stairs weren't exactly finished so there was just a steep step down at the end and i told my mom to be careful and she was like "get a load of this guy, thinks i can't step down" and stepped down just fine. she must not have been as old as she was when she died but i was also not younger than i am now

and then, reel missing, we were in a main street drugstore with a bunch of other people who were also trying to escape the blue fire robots and i was scouting out the shelves to see if there was anything worth stealing, which would have represented the first escalation to looting of the day so i was hesitant but obviously it was the thing to do, even if people argued with me about it, but it was all, like, picture frames and magazines and greeting cards

some guy was like "get away from the windows" (most people were gathered near the glass-door storefront) and everybody fell silent and found somewhere to hide and i laid down on the floor. i remember not looking out the window because it was more of a risk of being seen, but i also remember knowing that the villain of the story, whoever was controlling the robots, was standing outside peering in. with a spherical robot with three eyes. she was dressed like it was 1890, you know, like with the frizzy loose hair pulled up under a big hat. then i woke up

[theeccentricraven]

Ten Tips to Naming Characters

I’ve seen many aspiring writers express both in person and on social media that they struggle to come up with names for characters. Some have even said, “Why is it so hard?” I, however, have never found it hard to come up with character names. I’ve even been told, “Lucky you!” I wouldn’t say my instinct is just luck. From a young age, names have been fascinating for me, partly because I’m from a big family that had baby name books hanging around. If you’re struggling with character names, there are ten tips that make coming up with a character name a breeze. 

Think of your favorite names

We all have favorite names. I sure do. Sometimes when coming up with a name for a character, especially the protagonist, I use a name that’s always been one of my favorite’s. Presto. My character has a name. 

2. Read baby name books and websites

Baby names books or websites can be your best friend. They can help you find names under certain languages, provide meanings, common associations, popular names by country and region, and a great list you can steal from. 

3. Study name symbolism and meaning in literature 

When you study names used in literature as well as popular entertainment, you can find interesting symbolism that describes the character. For example, in Nathanial Hawthorne's “The Scarlet Letter” there’s a character named Arthur Dimmsdale. “Dimmsdale” in Old English means “gloomy valley”, a description that fits his character. The TV series “Lost” had special meanings behind the name of each character, such as how Jack Shephard takes on the role to be the leader of the group.

4. Consider the vibes surrounding your character

Oftentimes when I come up with a character name, I think about what kind of vibes I feel with that character and ask myself what name goes with those vibes. There might be a feeling or emotion I feel goes with a name that suits the character. If I think of a character who I feel has a strong desire for justice, then I could give the name Justin.  If there is a character who I associate with love and affection or valiance, I might give the name Valerie.

5. For fantasy and sci-fi, mix and mash words

If you’re writing fantasy and sci-fi, you don’t need to be a full on linguist like Tolkien was, unless you passionately want to be. Coming up with elf names, magic names, alien names, etc. can be done just by mixing up existing words. Sometimes I take the halves of words, mix them up, and combine them. Animorphs author K.A. Applegate has said that she came up with the Andalite word “nothlit” by seeing a sign for Hilton Hotel and rearranging the letters. 

6. Name a character after someone you would like to pay homage to or mock

Sometimes I name characters after someone I knew in real life who deserves tribute. I’ve also come up with villain names by naming them after people I don’t like or notable people in real life. Be careful with this technique to avoid getting sued.

7. Study languages

Again, you don’t need to be a linguist like J.R.R. Tolkien, but if you learn another language or study linguistics in general, it’s interesting to learn the characteristics of languages. I’ve studied a lot of Spanish and Irish Gaelic that I like to use for my character name creation.  

8. Take names from other sources, like movies, books, mythology, religious books, history, places. 

In the end, you can just steal names from places, movies, books, the Bible, etc. You wouldn’t want to do this for a unique name the author invented or one that is heavily associated with an iconic character. There are plenty of names that are free for grabs. Maybe you would like to name your character after your favorite movie side character, favorite villain in a book, favorite Bible figure, favorite saint, favorite mythological hero, or favorite historical figure, etc. 

9. Use name generators

I haven’t used these myself, but I’ve seen there are a number of websites that can be helpful name generators. Examples:

www.fantasynamegenerators.com 

www.behindthename.com 

10. Don't overthink it

This might be the most important tip. I think the main reason why some writers struggle is that they overthink it. While the tips above are nice, they aren’t required. You don’t need to have literary symbolism behind the name or allude to some significant historical figure. In the end, it can be as simple as just using a name that you like or just randomly picking from the millions of names in baby name websites and Wikipedia.

I hope that helps. Have fun!  

Photo by Tatiana Syrikova: https://www.pexels.com/photo/crop-unrecognizable-freelancer-typing-on-laptop-during-tea-break-3975677/