#but i also rlly want the show to do good from a writer's perspective

[coles-scythe]

Ngl ever since I watched TADC, Pomni has been rotating in my brain like rotisserie chicken. Feeling silly, might make her an F/O.

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

ok so like i get where ppl are coming from with the “the crew loves izzy” takes but also like. ok. i think that take involves a certain amount of reading very deeply into the text to a degree that is almost reading against the text at some points. it’s like when ppl pour all this energy into an underdeveloped and unportant side character—none of those layers ppl add to the character are strictly contradicted by the text, but it clearly wasn’t what the writer intended for anyone to really focus on. and yeah, death of the author, just bc the writers didn’t intend for ppl to think abt something that hard or care about it that much doesn’t mean we’re not allowed to do whatever the fuck we want. but bc i love analyzing the shit out of this show i do want to talk about WHY i think the textual support for this headcanon isn’t rlly there.

first of all. when archie is like “why are we trying so hard to save this guy, he’s kinda a dick” and jim’s like “yeah but he’s our dick.” rather than elaborate on what makes izzy special to them they’re like “it used to be that the crew all had each other’s backs no matter what and things were better back then” while reminiscing fondly about 1. olu and 2. that shot from season 1 where the whole crew is hanging out except for izzy who’s sulking in the background hating everyone. if this was supposed to be an “izzy’s a dick but we love him anyway” moment i would expect jim to talk about. yknow. izzy. instead to me ot comes across more like an “izzy’s a dick but crew is crew, we stick up for each other even if we don’t particularly like each other bc it’s us against the world” which isn’t as impactful from an izzy stanning perspective but i think makes for, like, an interesting allegory abt the queer community. we all gotta defend the rights of ppl in our community even if those specific ppl are dicks and we don’t get along with them.

second of all. after they save izzy’s life and get caught by ed they all leave the room and then a few minutes later a gun goes off. maybe someone saw ed leave the room before the shot was fired, but either way they think either ed just killed izzy or izzy just killed himself. and then they DO NOTHING ABOUT THIS. nobody checks on the body. they put all this effort into saving izzy’s life and then when their efforts are foiled they do not seem that bummed out about it. the next scene with any crew member in it is frenchie talking to ed on deck, and ed is like “go take the day off” and frenchie is like “oh nice!” and he’s like, confused and a little concerned about ed suddenly steering the ship rlly erratically, but he also seems pretty excited about getting some time off (after so many raids in a row i would be too lol). and THEN!!! in the next scene where we get the whole crew, they’re crowded in the hallway that leads out to the deck and the conversation they have isn’t “oh my god i can’t believe ed killed izzy after we cut off izzy’s leg” it’s “maybe ed’s better now? maybe killing izzy was all it took? he seems pretty cheerful for the first time in ages, maybe ed’s okay?” like literally they think ed just killed izzy and they are more worried about ed’s emotional state than they are grieving a beloved shipmate

then in 2.04 the crew B plot is so blatantly “the crew struggles to trust each other again but after seeing izzy be incredibly sad and pathetic they remember that a good crew has each other’s backs no matter what and so they extend izzy some unearned kindness and make him a new leg” that i’m amazed that other interpretations even exist. like literally they’re all drawn away from screaming at each other with weapons drawn by izzy making some dramatic announcement and then falling and then drunkenly crawling away and refusing their help rambling “youre born alone you die alone” over and over again or whatever melodramatic bullshit he said. like he’s muttering abt being miserable and alone and there’s a WHOLE ROOM OF PEOPLE!!! standing RIGHT THERE!!!! like “oh hey man do you need help standing up? no? no ur just gonna crawl away? um. ok.” and then they all go “well at least we’re not as fucked up as that guy. maybe we should do something nice for him?” like they are literally almost explicitly motivated by pity, not fondness. which yeah, it’s probably fucked up the way they use izzy’s new disability to sort of emphasize how pathetic he’s being, but i think the intention there is not that izzy’s pathetic bc he’s disabled, he’s pathetic bc he’s refusing to accept help. like the crew doesn’t go “yikes 😬 at least we don’t have his issues” abt izzy falling down when his makeshift prosthetic breaks, they go “yikes 😬” when he bats away their hands and goes on a weird mumbling tirade. definitely not the most sensitive way to depict izzy in this mental state, but that’s a different post probably. for the sake of THIS post tho: the takeaway i got from this scene is that the crew is remembering how to be there for each other again. it’s easier for them to let go of their paranoia and stop being so defensive and distrustful when izzy is there as an example of what happens when you’re TOO defensive and distrustful. “the crew makes a leg for izzy bc they care about him on a personal level” did not seem to be the focus of that story arc. to me.

in 2.05 we get our first ever instance of a character expressing appreciation for something izzy said or did or some trait he expressed (except for stede that time in 1.06 when izzy backed stede up on wanting to do a fuckery, which he only did specifically bc he wanted stede to fucking die and ed was taking too long), and it’s lucius saying he loves the shark izzy whittled. but during the entire episode leading up to that scene izzy is either in syede’s storyline where he’s not engaging with the crew or he’s getting snarked at by lucius, and not in a fun teasing way. like during that whole bit where izzy steals his cigarettes and calls him “twatty” lucius just looks so fucking annoyed and then uncomfortable. and then at the end of the episode izzy is sort of offering him advice and lucius is just sarcastically like “that sounds healthy.” and within this storyline, the point of these scenes isn’t rlly abt the developing and deepening relationship btwn izzy and lucius, it’s abt lucius individually coping w his trauma. izzy in this episode kinda exists in a weird place in the narrative, where he plays a supporting role in two different characters’ (lucius’s and stede’s) storylines without getting a central arc for himself. and both of those two storylines are only really about lucius and stede respectively, izzy is just there as this a static character who imparts wise advice. which is a very weird role for him to take, imo, but on top of that it doesn’t rlly contribute any sense of like, actual bonding btwn izzy and the other two.

and in 2.06 they just enjoy the show izzy puts on. they like listening to him sing. it’s all very cute! but also. i would not say that it shows the crew really cares about izzy?? i was in pit orchestra in high school and all the lead theater kids were always fucking assholes but they were also rlly good singers and it was fun to listen to them. i would mouth along to the words being sung by bitches who seemed to be trying to be sharpay evans irl for some bizarre fucking reason. like, cartoonishly mean girls. so like, the crew listening and dancing to izzy’s song doesn’t rlly sell “the crew loves izzy” to me. if anything, i would say that actually a stronger indicator of the crew loving izzy would be wee john sharing his makeup, and it’s a shame that we don’t get to see this happen. i mean that genuinely, i think that would’ve been a great moment to rlly strengthen izzy’s arc and it just. doesn’t exist on screen. and this isn’t like the finale where we know for a fact that they had to force a 40-minute episode into 30 minutes, Calypso’s Birthday has a runtime WELL under 30 minutes. it would’ve been SO easy to add another like 45 seconds of izzy and wee john getting ready together, but the only moment they show us is izzy walking in and discovering drag for the first time. it feels like the focus of this scene is less about a moment of connection between two characters and more about izzy individually having a gender breakthrough—and that carries on with the rest of the performance, too. bc it’s a performance, it’s everyone looking at izzy, it’s izzy a half step away from the crew as he puts on a show. the narrative framing of all this puts the focus entirely on izzy as a solo act, not on izzy as part of the crew. they like his performance, but we aren’t rlly shown evidence of the crew liking him as a person.

and that’s kinda it for izzy and the crew! up until he’s actively dying in ed’s arms and they’re all in the background silently weeping, at least (and btw, speaking from experience but uhhhh it’s pretty normal to cry when u watch someone die even if u have literally no connection to the person dying). even when they’re helping him back to the ship, ed is the one who notices he’s injured, nobody notices until he’s already giving izzy support. and i fully believe roach flips off izzy’s grave marker with fondness, but that’s also like. the only little personal moment any of them aside from ed has during the funeral. they do all laugh at his pinocchio joke earlier in the ep but idk if that one line can carry the entire weight of “the crew loves izzy” on its own. apparently there’s some shots during the zheng v stede fight where izzy can be seen in the background close to jim and archie??? but like, you can’t tell me a background shot of izzy standing near some crew members is strong textual support for the crew loving him. and i don’t think i need to argue abt any scenes in s1 bc literally every single crew member who was on that boat, ivan and fang included, was about to fucking drown him in the fucking ocean.

there is one single scene that gives actual strong evidence that anyone other than ed likes or cares about izzy. it’s the part at the end of impossible birds when fang is crying after ed shot izzy. so maybe fang specifically loves izzy, even tho izzy used to pull fang’s beard a lot and fang didn’t like it bc it hurt. idk.

here’s the thing tho. in 2.01 the writers use dialogue very effectively to tell us about the kraken era. the crew doesn’t say much, but what the do say tells us a lot: we know that archie thinks the kraken era is all normal pirating stuff, jim felt like the wedding raid (which seems like their only raid on a civilian ship and not a military one) was a step too far, frenchie is Not Okay but he’s doing a fantastic job repressing everything, izzy looks tired but the specific thing echoing in his head right before he starts crying in front of the crew is ed telling him “if you can’t do the job, someone else will.”

and we know fang, who’s known ed for decades, has never seen ed like this. and the specific thing he mentions as something he’s never seen from ed before is not batting an eye when ivan died. meaning that even before meeting stede, fang would’ve expected ed to have some sort of reaction to ivan dying.

and the thing about ivan is that we know next to nothing about him. he has very little dialogue in season one. we don’t even know how long he’s been working with ed—long enough to have at least heard about fang having to put his dog down bc “the love of a pet makes a man weak” when fang joined ed’s ship years ago, even if ivan wasn’t actually there yet at the time—but we do know that watching ed tell ghost stories was apparently the most open and available he’d ever seen ed get. so it doesn’t sound like ivan and ed were especially close. ivan was almost certainly less close to ed than izzy was.

if fang expected to see ed have some sort of reaction to the death of an ordinary crew member (who mightve been working for ed for decades, might’ve been working for him for months, we really can’t say) who wasn’t even that close to ed, seeing ed casually and unflinchingly inflict a life-threatening gunshot to his first mate must’ve been fucking earth-shattering. and interpretation is also supported by what fang actually says while he’s crying at the end of 2.01—it’s not “i can’t stop crying, izzy’s hurt” or “i can’t stop crying, izzy’s going to die.” its “i can’t stop crying, ed shot izzy.” more than the imminent demise of a crew member, fang is shaking and sobbing and traumatized because he can’t believe ed would do that.

and if that feels like a reach, just remember what happens after the leg is cut off, after the crew most likely believes ed shot izzy again, this time 100% fatally: the whole crew is crowded in the hallway, and fang asks “do we think he’s… better?”

fang is not sad about izzy. or if he is, it’s dwarfed by how much more sad fang is about ed.

in conclusion: have fun with ur headcanons i am not the boss of you but also there is less canonical textual evidence of the crew loving izzy than some of y’all seem to think k byeeeee

[funnywormz]

just finished sonic prime s2! some quick thoughts below the cut before i go to bed (spoilers ahead!)

- i liked this season a lot! i think i preferred it to the last one tbh

- the characterisation of sonic and shadow was ON POINT!!!!! love how they're portraying shadow in this season, he so often gets flanderised and mistreated by writers that it's nice to see him depicted as a more nuanced character again. sonic is a charming little fellow as he was in the first season, in general this portrayal of him is one of my favs. and the dynamic between them is so good. sonadow was 12 year old me's first ship ever so my inner pre-teen is LIVING rn as you can probably imagine lol. even outside of that though they play off of each other very well and their interactions were a highlight of the season for me. also the moment where shadow was falling gave me SO MANY flashbacks lol, thankfully sonic caught him this time 🥺

- the animation was also at a very high standard as it was last season, sound design and music were great too. ik it's been said a million times before but i do rlly like how they animate sonic's ears perking up and flicking around like a real animal's ears, very very cute

- to expand on sonic's characterisation, i do think this is definitely one of my top portrayals of him in like....... anything. this sonic is very emotive and expressive and he obviously cares a lot about people, and yet he's not the most emotionally intelligent and often misses social cues because he's so tied up in his own thoughts and perceptions. he doesn't come across as rude or annoying or selfish though, he's just genuinely not the best at reading people or being able to think outside of his own perspective which, as an autistic person, i find very relatable. he's flawed in a very realistic way. i can sometimes find sonic a slightly grating or annoying character but this take on him is one i enjoy a lot, you can tell he means well and he wants to help and cares about things very deeply, which i appreciate a lot.

- i do hope that they're going to explore shadow's character more next season and i ESPECIALLY hope that they're going to play around more with the idea of him and nine being foils to each other. it seemed rlly clear that shadow's trust issues were meant to reflect/parallel nine's same issues and subsequent betrayal of sonic, it's an interesting touch to have them reflect each other and i rlly hope they revisit it.

- i rlly loved the black rose and rusty rose dynamic and interactions too and i also hope we see more of that next season. the roses should start a union

- now im gonna get onto the negative points sorry. ik ppl will hate me for this but i really don't like dread. he just feels like an unnecessary addition to the plot and whenever he shows up i just feel like "ugggh not this guy again". his design and character is cool in isolation and he has some great moments but overall im not a fan of how they used him this season

- i had the same problem with this season as the first which is that it felt like there were a lot of unnecessarily long repetitive fight scenes with very little plot. this is more of a subjective thing in terms of my personal tastes, but at times i found it pretty tiresome and would even start skipping the fight scenes lol. they just get pretty predictable and same-y and it feels like obvious padding to prevent the plot from advancing too fast and it just gets frustrating

- i would have liked for the characters to have had a bit more downtime to interact and stuff this season. it felt like a few of those endless fight scenes could've been replaced with some fun interactions but idk. ik it's a show for little kids so they want to keep their attention with Big Explosion so i don't blame anyone for doing it this way, but these are just my personal feelings on it

- in general it felt like the stakes were SO HIGH for the entire season that it stopped feeling exciting pretty fast. i think that interspersing the action with some down time would have made the action more meaningful. it kinda felt like after a while the stakes stopped meaning anything bc they just kept ramping up constantly

- that being said, the prismatic titan was SO COOL and i greatly enjoyed sonic's showdown with it, my inner 12 year old was going INSANE

- i think that dr deep came into his own as a character much more for me this season, he was rlly funny and a lot of the jokes landed with him pretty well

- chaos sonic was SO FUN it's a shame we didn't get to see more of them

tldr: it definitely has flaws but overall i had fun. excited for more rodents in the future........

[cogbreath]

thank u for ur reply!! i always love ur insight :) n ive read the article before LMAO now that was a classic example of his pretty privilege working cus if he didn’t look the way he did, his behaviour would’ve raised eyebrows. but no…he was viewed as a quirky silly guy by his roommate LOLZ. makes me wonder if mohammed atta would be viewed the same way if he were white passing.

anon you fascinate me im very very intrigued by the fact u already know so much abt this... keep sending asks its soo rare that i actually do get to talk to someone who already knows this much abt this. Anyhow I would reason to bet he might have been viewed more sympathetically if that were the case, however, in any case he was arguably more reserved and stoic by comparison so i think even if he was, people would be maybe a bit more suspicous with him, especially cuz fitting in seemed to come more naturally to jarrah for various reasons... atta never seemed to want to fit in more than he needed to in order to stay under the radar. I know that atta and jarrah did also butt heads abt this to some degree, i know that atta was suspicious that jarrah might even give up on the whole thing cuz of how he kept backsliding. I also think a lot of writers can "see themselves" in jarrah while they really cant with atta, he's an unfamiliar personality imo, specifically bc most writers in the anglosphere come from a secular culturally christian perspective. I think they r sympathetic to him because they start to realise that this sort of stuff really is something that "just anyone" could find themselves getting roped into thru means of being radicalised. Meanwhile I think they view atta as someone who already was quite "radical" at least in their eyes. of course, this is just my experience, but I've had many of my muslim accquantinces comment on how its actually quite a shame that atta took the path he did, because they feel he was otherwise quite promising, and might have made a good scholar or something along those lines. So thats the other side of things if you will. I think I can agree with that perspective myself. Of course its important to not get too engulfed in that mindset, because you can't forget they made the choices they did.

But yeah, there are many things about atta that Ive read about that i find to have been equally quirky and silly of behaviors, but i find myself annoyed how writers (even terry mcdermott does it in his book, perfect soldiers. which is a bit disappointing bc hes a writer who i otherwise rlly enjoy the perspective of on this) dont seem to think that way and paint it to be something as flaws or show of bad character when really, personality and behavior quirks have little to do with his actions. Yknow what i mean of course. Demonizing behaviors that have nothing explicitly to do with being a terrorist. You are really fun anon, its fun for me to get to discuss this stuff, the psychology/characteristics/behavior of those involved with the hamburg cell. its fun when i get to discuss it with more than just my super close friends. sometimes i get nervous ppl might think im trying to be a sympathizer/idolizer but i think i make it more than clear its not the case though xP. its undeniable that its a pretty understudied and underdiscussed facet of 9/11. U see it for other crimes and criminals but not really ever on this side of the fence. I feel its a case of dehumanization borne from islamophobia. Easier to get ppl to feel hate when you paint the perpetrators as faceless monsters. If u ever wanna dm me off anon u are super free to. Also, if you have anything to share that is interesting like a video or article or anything like that, feel free to send it! even if i have seen it or read it before, i would be eager to discuss my thoughts and feelings on it.

[b6cky]

Hi, i just read your entire bucky masterlist and I really liked it, dont know why you dont write anymore but i hope youre doing good <3

hi there anon i’m rlly happy to hear u like my bucky fics :) ❤️ i’ve written in a post before why i don’t really write anymore, but i’ll use this anon to explain so ppl can see this when they check my profile :’)

1. why don’t i write anymore?

when i got into moonknight, i made a post for people writing for the show, because i am diagnosed with DID and wanted to give my perspective on how to write a character with DID since i thought it would be helpful for writers who wanted to accurately portray the disorder (despite the show’s slightly inaccurate portrayal due to it being a tv show). i also talked about terminology to use blah blah blah, but the post got a lot of traction and i didn’t really expect it to get that big tbh? and i did get a lot of positive feedback from some people and i was really pleased with that, but i also received a lot of negativity from it, which really weighed on me for a while. i received so many hateful anons of people sending death threats, ableism and some telling me i didn’t have the disorder i had been dealing with my whole life and been diagnosed with? i pretty much stopped logging into this account after this, because it sucked A lot! this account used to be a safe space for me to write fics and now it’s not and i’ve moved from here but i am really glad that people can still read the fics on this account and enjoy them and i will not be deleting any of them, this account will be kept as it is.

2. why don’t i write for bucky anymore?

Tbh i lost the hyperfixation but possibly when the stars align again and i’m somehow hyperfixated on bucky again i’ll write a new fic for the ppl who followed this account for bucky fics 😭

tdlr, i got a lot of hate from a post that was intended to be educational and i was in a bad place mentally for a bit bc of it 👍 im v thankful for all the support i’ve gotten though, it means the world to me and i’m happy to hear that people like my writing even though it’s kinda old now 😭

[satocidal]

Loved it? Oh, God, you have no idea how much I loved it!

Like, it was softer than I expected and I adored it (I guess I'm too used to my old usual angst coming from my own fingers lmao) and I adored how it felt so realistic honestly like I could totally see Suguru liking someone bold and lively and seemingly almost opposite of himself! (after all, he is Satoru's best friend, lol(

As for Haunting Adeline, it's good (got to like page 150 or so out of almost 600) but I adore so much the tension and how Zade is both a manipulator but deeply obsessive with Addie, ngl

(Can one tell I'm deeply into Alpha/Omega? No? Should I make it clear with a long, detailed description?😅)

I will have to read that Cult!Geto. A lil bit mean, yummy 😋 (especially if he's mean with his d and hand wrapped around my throat—)

As for my friend, she's amazing, but going through a lot lately. Family stress + a relative being unhealthy + first year of Uni knocking+ mental illness is never a nice combo so I do get her but it's like the fifth day and i don't worried as fuck

Did I miss something? 🤔

Oh! The 13 and 15 year difference between us is not that bad considering they're rlly good kids and I love them dearly, ngl. But it does get exhausting. Especially considering I was in a very stressful situation myself not too long ago and still live in it a little (Uni sucks the will from my soul sometimes). Their love does make it worth tho (and the free food and coffee lmao)

Also, it's kinda payment in my mind for how much my sis is helping me rn even tho she'd never hold it over my head (I need new glasses. And while I had the money to spend on said glasses, I had 0 for food and cigs and she's helping me on this one)

But yes, I agree Hacker!Suguru is just ughh. Like, a lil (maybe more) obsessed, absolutely the type to give you the chills, surely could and has killed some really nasty dudes such as traffickers…yeah

Never getting over Suguru being big and strong and intimidating even tho he's such a kind soul, genuinely. I love him dearly (he looks very hot wiping someone else's blood from his skin, sorry not sorry)

~🦊

I love how long this is— and tbh, i knew what I was writing wasn’t like, what you exactly asked for but I was sort of using that idea in a Satoru fic and 😭 yes. Because angst in fact is>>>> and tbh why I see him going for someone like that is because it probably makes him learn a lot, like shows perspectives yk?

Personally I’m not into yandere or omega/alpha dynamics but the maybe I’ve just not delved into the right stuff — altho I think I won’t be into it, I feel like I should try reading on it more to get a good idea on it. As in, it helps writing but be my guest and explain as much as you’d like lmao

I won’t spoil much and it’s not any particular plot lmao I just initially wanted to write smut but then idk and it’s like cult geto and you’re a non-sorcerer but at the same time he’s sort of in love with you (classic and obviously). I don’t expect much interaction on it with people and I’m so afraid because many people (like yk the bigger and more popular fandom writers) have already done this idea so it is overdone slightly? But I just wanted a go at it.

That’s good for you for sure because I personally could never💀 I just really don’t at all like kids and I do hope things get better for you soon.

And I just saw this feel like this hacker guy and this girl (idk what movie’s edit it was but istg that’s my inspo now) though I do apologise because it may take me a day or two (a week?) to deliver because I got this test coming up. And suguru who can manhandle you>>> wait though- suguru wiping your blood (just as an idea sorry if you’re not into that!)

[nightcolorz]

Same anon here, hello and sorry. I wanted to phrase earlier ask better but limit restricted me. My intention was to offer other perspective, why some ppl act what happened is permanent, since you wondered about why they feel like that. I did include too much of my personal opinions though & my tone was bad. I'm sorry if it gave pressure, it was attempt to discuss but landed poorly. You don't need to explain your views, feel free to toss that ask in the bin. I wish you well & won't bother more

ofmd finale spoilers keep scrolling followers who haven’t seen it, lol

Omg don’t worry about it 😭 I appreciate the follow up anon sm very sweet of you, but it’s all good. I don’t think you were rude in your original ask, it just (along with other comments on my post) made me realize that I didn’t have a good enough grasp on my opinions and my analysis to be having discussions about them yet. (considering i only saw the episode once before I went to bed, then posted that post like at 6:00 am when I woke up after I scrolled tumblr for a bit, saw some very sad posts that made me sad, and half conscious posted what I was thinking). I was frustrated but mostly sad that I was seeing very little theorizing and interesting analysis and a whole lot of sad posting about how the finale was awful and the show sucks now (I very much enjoyed the finale and very much love this show so I was ??) and I wanted to encourage the type of culture I remember when s1 ended and everyone was sad but excited for more (how I feel currently). The toxicity that’s starting to come about in the fandom (not the sadness, that’s understandable and valid, but the leaps of judgement and hatred and arguing) is really getting to me. I liked the finale a lot and I always trust these writers to ultimately make good decisions. I don’t know what direction they’re going to go in but I know they’re not out to hurt us and have a love for these characters and for this show and this fanbase that is rare to find. Whether it’s permeant or not I believe that 1. This isn’t the end of Izzy, and 2. Its going to be good. I was trying to encourage this type of thought with my post. But again, I’m not as confident as I’d like to be when it comes to writing and posting my opinions, so I took down my post bcus I knew I didn’t have a good enough grasp on the episode to discuss it with ppl yet. I wasn’t expecting all the engagement and I got overwhelmed lol. And the thing is, I don’t necessarily disagree with your perspective and I totally get the sadness and the disappointment, but at the same time I also do feel differently on some level that I couldn’t find the words for. I couldn’t rlly come up with a response, just am not in the place yet for discussion. I generally like to think through my feelings concerning an episode (or any piece of media that affects me strongly emotionally) before I post about it or analyze it, and it was my bad for posting smth that encouraged discussion when I wasn’t in a place for it yet. I’m going to rewatch the episode some time today hopefully, if not today tomorrow, and by then I will be more prepared. There’s no need to feel guilty! I understand the place u were coming from and I wish u well as well (and wouldn’t mind being bothered more if u so wish)

[heiterbroward]

Next to Normal...crushed it! (zero percent!)

Have a lot to say! Rlly don't feel like writing this tbh, but the ep was Alice-centric so it was inevitable! Anyways, love how they changed so many of the Alice/Betty songs to generate pity for Alice. For example, I was actually hoping that Betty would sing "I've Been" since it would finally allow her to address her own feelings and frustrations. But nope, they cut all the lyrics that mention that ("And every day this act we act gets more and more absurd/And all my fears just sit inside me screaming to be heard/I know they won't though, not a single word") ("And I'm weary to the bone/cuz whenever she goes flying/I keep my feet right on the ground/Now I need a lift and there's no one around") and left all the parts talking only about how the situation affects the mom.

Plus Kevin singing "You can't give up now...she shouldn't be alone," like what is this show's obsession with acting like it's Betty's obligation to nurture her own mother? Is that not the mother's job? Not to mention how never, not once, have the roles been reversed in these types of situations.

Like the song "Maybe." I also was looking forward to Betty and Alice singing this bc it might give them a chance to finally hash things out and for Betty to stand up for herself. But they seriously had the nerve to switch the parts! "Maybe we can't be okay/But maybe we're tough and we'll try anyway." That line is supposed to be the mom trying to reassure the daughter, not vice versa. The mom was the one who had making up to do. When has Betty ever not been there for Alice? She spent her entire run on the show trying to keep Alice out of trouble and dealing w the consequences of her unhinged and selfish decisions.

Plus did I pull an Alice Smith and hallucinate or didn't Alice spend the first four seasons trying to make sure Betty got into a good college? And in the graduation ep, didn't Betty say she and Alice were going on a road trip before she starts college? So clearly Alice was okay w her leaving then. I can't w her! Big Blaine Anderson season 4 energy, and it's not cute.

I was also floored that "I Miss the Mountains went to Alice singing about a literal mountain instead of to Veronica. But I guess that would make too much sense considering it was actually applicable to Veronica's situation. Also it didn't even align w what Alice was feeling...it quite literally contradicted. That song is about missing the highs and lows and wanting the pain, but didn't Alice want the complete opposite? The whole point was that she COULDN'T handle the pain, so she numbed herself out w a fantasy. Such a braindead choice.

"I Am The One" was just sad. Like Betty is sitting there begging Alice to care about her bc she's always tried to be there for her, but Alice is too busy daydreaming about ghosts of Polly (who she mistreated and gave up on when she was alive) and Charles (who literally isn't even dead, like go visit him in jail). And it was made even worse by the fact that it was a child singing to their parent instead of just a husband singing to their wife. A child shouldn't be put in that position. If they had kept Alice in the parental or supportive perspective even once in any of these songs, it would've provided the tiniest sliver of redemption. But I guess the writers can't even do that right.

Whole ep was a circle w it starting and ending w Betty being there to support Alice. Like what development was made? That she stopped having hallucinations? Go her ig except when in the history of the show has she ever lived in reality anyway? She just had a momentary downgrade from chronic denial to straight up psychosis. Kool. Um, and where was Hal?!

About Varchie, I am so sick of them! Like omg when they're with other people they want each other, but every time they get together and it's the least bit stable, they get sick of each other somehow. And instead of working through the conflict, they just delay it by breaking up then getting back together at a later time without talking about the previous issue that very much still lingers in the air. And ya'll wonder why it keeps coming up, bc you won't think of a solution, boo boos! They don't know what they want.

But also, how is Barchie gonna get back together without it looking like Archie's rebound? If they wanted to go this route, they should've spent the season building it up instead of making Varchie a thing all season just to switch it up at the last min for shock value.

Same w Jabitha. Everyone expected them to be a thing at the start of season 5, so why make Bughead hang out for one ep then make him a simp for Tabby the next ep out of the blue? All you did was make Bugvarchies mad for no reason. Could've just continued Jabitha's build up from a friendship into something romantic. It was going well until this ep. Also, "Perfect for You" did not really fit them lyrically. It most fits Bughead, and I don't even care for them! And why didn't Barchie sing "A Light in the Dark?" Wasted trope much?

Oml and Toni/Fangs?! Literally wtf...like when did they start being attracted to each other? Could've been when Kangs was still together for all we know! *plays Rupaul shady noise* Hope this means Koose endgame can still occur! We can do it guys, let's go! Tabby's parents better not even be in it. Don't need Hiram vs Varchie pt 2. Get some new material, dumb.

P. S. The best scene by far was Cheryl throwing a drink on Penelope! And at least Hiram wasn't in it.

[sortagaysortahigh]

Hey! I just finished never have i ever and wanted to discuss it with someone. So i was team ben at the end of season 1, but i’m kanda happy how it ended now, like paxton showed a real character growth. Still little sad for ben especially when he found out that he and devi could be together. Loved fab and eve, they are amazing (happy for fabiola becoming her nerdy self again). Didn’t expect for writers to put eleanor and paxton’s friend together (i feel like they were heavily hinting at it). And i really hope they won’t try to make devi and ben a couple in season 3 (if there will be season 3) because it will be too forced and i don’t want that. I’m absolutely okay with how it ended

I TOTALLY AGREE WITH THIS NONNIE. i really loved the ending like okay paxtons old ass definitely rubbed me the wrong way a few times but overall this season his character had sm growth and the genuine connection between him and devi was rlly present. I also loved how we got to see the reasons behind why he didnt rlly wanna be publically with devi bc at first i was like hmmm you did not just reject her after being her sneaky link for how long?? And i think that showed a TON of growth past his old superficial mindset alongside genuinely forgiving devi bc yeah she kinda sorta did have to do w his big injury but she also rlly helped him get his shit together and she did that as a friend bc this season it was evident that she wanted to be with ben the entire time (even when she was studying w paxton). I rlly think he has so many redeemable qualities and im def team paxton now. This season i get that ben was rlly hurt bc i would be too but the way he took it out on devi consistently and he publically slandered her and treated her like absolute shit was just him being bitter and petty and i rlly hated that. He cared for her when ppl werent around but as soon as they were it was back to “nah fuck you david” and idk i hated it but i guess it makes sense from a writing perspective bc ben and paxton are supposed to be polar opposites but theyre both evidently insecure in different ways and ben is an insecure little shit that takes it out on people. I rlly did love seeing more of devis character growth as well and also the fact that people had to acknowledge that yeah shes an angry bitch who probably has bpd (spoken from an angry bitch w bpd) but shes mourning while navigating high school and trying to understand all of her own emotions at once. I def think she had some shitty moments this season but the apologies and makeups madeup for them. Also i cried during the scene when her mom calls her crazy bc ik what thats like ans i genuinely think that for a lot of people devi is a good main character and shes relatable in a lot of ways. Like yeah my homegirl might be a piece of shit sometimes or a selfish asshole but when you were sixteen/seventeen so were you. And when you bring in the elements of grief and mental illness into the equation and manage to execute it well (which i think the show did) it allows those who have been through the same thing feel more connected to her story.

Ik i went on a tangent but i rlly loved this season sm

[spookyrobbins]

thinking abt s9 again and it still pisses me off how much of az's experiences and disability is viewed from callie's pov (like literally at some points). like disclaimer here bc i understand that the people around an amputee are affected by it too and i understand that (esp at the time) showing callie's pov and struggles was extremely novel. but callie's pov should have been a supplement to az's, not replacing it?? bc literally every single one of az's ig accomplishments?? 1/8 – darkness anon

are seen from callie's pov. it even goes into the way they film certain scenes. (note that i am not like a professional filmmaker but i did take courses on art interp) comparing two scenes - the scene where az walks across the apartment to the door w her prosthesis and like trips and breaks shit along the way vs the "i got back up" scene which are very different scenes that occur in the same location - i noticed smth rlly interesting abt the way the audience is positioned 2/8

in the first one. there is only one portion of the scene (lasting maybe one second) where we do not see arizona in frame. in fact, most of this scene, we see arizona from her side, and at the end, we see her facing forward, toward the camera. and that's significant bc when they do that, we don't see things like the character sees it. we see it like an audience. we literally don't see az's perspective even when she is the Only character on screen. the closest we get to that in this 3/8

is the split-second frame of the vase breaking and one of the outside of the apartment, pointing to where the files bailey promised should have been. what the scene conveys isnt necessarily az's experiences, as a result, and instead is showing us the results of bailey's plan to get az walking again, which is linked back to callie's feelings abt az's response to the amputation and,, yeah. admittedly though, this scene is probably one of the most arizona centric scenes in the season. 4/8

comparing a scene with similar setting - the i got back up scene - is super interesting though, because we can see that the directors are filming az's scenes the way they are on purpose. bc that scene starts from callie's perspective and stays there for the rest of the scene. we start with the camera behind callie as she stands outside the door of the apt, and then cuts to a side/frontal angle so we can see her expression at the sound of az giggling behind the door 5/8

then she opens the door and we cut to a frontal angle so we instantly see callie's reaction to smth behind the camera and then turn around and show us what she's reacting to. compared to how they framed az opening the door in the 9x06 scene (they focus on the empty floor first and then pan up to az, emphasising the importance of the empty floor over az's reaction). and even when the camera is focused on az and sofia, it's callie's voice that we hear first and she asks if az 6/8

had a good day and then az reveals oh well i fell down and then we cut back to callie for her reaction. and then az responds w "i got back up". but the "i got back up" part? literally lasts less than a second before we cut back to callie again. and after that the cam cuts between focusing on callie and watching az and sofia from callie's pov (u can argue that the focus on callie is sofia's pov but i dont think that makes much sense? idk) but yeah. its like really weird too bc 7/8

in the same ep, they have the scene where az actually falls and its filmed so similarly to this scene in some ways and even though some of these techniques are used on az, it emphasizes alex's pov more than it does az and ugh idk. s9 irritates me in both the storyline and filming ig is the conclusion here. and uhh just realised how super long this got so like. feel free to not,, respond? like i get that this is like ridiculous and im sorry my dude 8/8

no no but you're so right. i've said it before (i think) and i'll say it again: the show disproportionately favours callie's pov over arizona's (it does this with other characters, like meredith's over derek's, but to a slightly less extreme i think) - part of this i think is bc callie was there first and arizona is written as a love interest exclusively. but the whole amputation storyline really showed this to an extreme

i also think that the amount of time spent in callie's pov is part of the reason that the cheating felt so extremely ooc/cheap emotional payoff. i've seen various places where people have said that cheating can be part of depression/ptsd/trauma (and i fully agree/believe that) and that could fit in arizona's storyline - except the audience never really saw her dealing with that. there was the stuff at the beginning of the season and then arizona seemed fine? and the challenge of arizona i think is that she's very internal and taking away teddy and mark (to an extent) sort of limited her external processes, which left the viewer thinking that arizona was doing okay. but the effect of not showing us arizona's pov is that it comes out of left field (which is you were writing not filming from callie's pov could work bc limited 3rd person) is that it just seems out of character and tawdry and you have to create miscarriages to explain her behaviour

the way they filmed/wrote 95% of calzona's scenes in s9 were focused on callie and her feelings. even scenes that on the surface seem to be about arizona are really centered on callie. like for instance the shoes before bailey's wedding. arizona is struggling with self-worth and beauty and this would be a perfect moment for arizona to have ownership in her journey - instead we get callie yelling at her about how "everything is about the leg", which i think does a disservice to arizona and also to callie's character, which has often been based around empathy (don't get me started on callie's empathy and how it relates to arizona lol) like you said, every one of arizona's moments/accomplishments is not really about her. and that was a problem with arizona's character from the start - it's never really about her - it's about other. for example: her telling callie about tim was about reassuring callie's feelings versus it being a moment to add depth to arizona's character

one more thing: i think the writers majorly screwed themselves with the amputation sl/how they approached it. in the same way that the plane crash dominated like 4 seasons on a wider scale, arizona's leg and amputation did on a smaller scale, but they set it up so poorly that it was almost unsalvageable. they wanted the pat on the back for having a disabled character, but they mismanaged the storyline so atrociously that by the time s10 rolled around they were sort of screwed and didn't know what to do with callie and arizona. it's also notable that by like what? s11 they just stop talking about arizona's leg entirely

lol my part got long too so i'll leave it here

[storybookprincess]

HI i absolutely love your writing and i admire it sm and seeing your posts about aus, different fandoms, etc rlly makes my day idk if this ask is repetitive but i was wondering if you have any writing tips? like anything at all whether it be for planning or organizing ideas or writing plot or setting or whatever - i just really admire the way you handle your work !! have a lovely new year too <33 -sizhui :3

ahhhhhhhhh sizhui hello!!!!!  thank you so much for this sweet ask it really brightened my day!!!!  thank you for saying such kind things about my writing it truly means so so much to me TTT^TTT

there’s so so much i could say about writing tips, but i don’t want to be here all night, so i’m going to give what i think is my biggest piece of advice for growing as a writer.  it’s going to sound very simple, but it really does work.  and the advice is to develop your metacognition as both a reader and writer.

metacognition is just a fancy way of saying your thinking about thinking.  i think that often, when we read or write, we get caught up in the flow of the task & forget to take a step back to consider why exactly we think, feel, and do the things we think, feel, and do.  this is all sounding very abstract & general & probably doesn’t make much sense, so i’ll provide some examples.

metacognition as a reader is going beyond “i love this story!!!!” to “why do i love this story?  what elements are contributing to my enjoyment?  why do i think this is good writing?”  as you develop your metacognition as a reader, you’ll be able to say things like “this story is really well paced.  the writer seemed to slow down time & draw out a really intense emotional moment, and it made the scene much more powerful for me.”  or maybe “this story used a really repetitive sentence structure, and it got monotonous.  varied syntax would’ve improved the story a lot, because i found myself getting bored.”  or “i loved this author’s use of figurative language.  their metaphors really deepened my understanding of the characters’ experiences.”  metacognition will enable you to see not just that a story is working, but why it’s working.

and then you just steal the bits you like!!!

okay, i’m joking, but i’m also sort of serious.  once you’ve identified the parts of stories that you enjoy the most, you start incorporating them into your own writing.  obviously you’ll want to draw from more than one writer you like to avoid outright copying another author’s style, but if you find a certain element of a story really compelling, try it out for yourself!!  and this is where the metacognition comes in again.  let’s use our pacing example.  you found an author who you felt paced their stories really effectively.  as you develop your metacognition as a writer, you’ll be able to ask yourself “would this scene be more powerful if i found a way to slow it down?  am i spinning my wheels & taking too long to get to the point of this scene?  are there enough beats and pauses in my dialogue so that it doesn’t read like a screenplay?” so on and so forth.  once you can analyze what is an isn’t working in your own writing on a meta level, you’ll be able to implement that knowledge & improve your stories.

there are lots of ways to improve your metacognition.  if you’re reading a lot of fanfic, commenting with the specific elements a writer did well will help you learn to identify why a story was enjoyable.  discussing your own writing ideas with a friend will help you articulate what you’re trying to accomplish in any given scene/chapter/story.  a beta can give you feedback that will show you how your story looks through someone else’s eyes.  comments on your own fics, especially ones that go into detail about what’s working, will also help with that external perspective.

i know it sounds ridiculously simple, because it basically boils down to “don’t just read & write.  think about reading and writing,” but developing your metacognition will help you grow leaps and bounds.  and it’s the sort of process that you’re never truly finished with.  every writer on the planet is continuing to evolve their understanding of why stories work the way they do.  as your metacognition improves, you’ll be able to write more precisely and deliberately and get better at communicating to the reader what you want to say!!

thank you again for this ask!!!  answering it really really brightened my evening!!!  i hope you also had a happy new year & have a great 2021!!!!! xo

[xxskycrystalxx]

Mystic Pop Up Bar Thoughts - Episode 10

To the writers: Umm I didn’t ask for my heart to be broken into a million little pieces.

[SPOILERS AHEAD]

-

-

-

I’ve read recently that perhaps Death really isn’t death, but it’s Won-hyung, and it was super plausible so it didn’t rlly surprise me when episode 10 showed us what rlly happened. I’m more concerned about the fact that Won-hyung was so hellbent in exacting revenge that he killed his own father essentially. Death didn’t deserve that, he was a good person, just blinded momentarily because of his regret in not being a good father to his son. I felt rlly bad, but what’s done is done. Hopefully he can be redirected but tbh idk.

This whole episode was literally just showcasing the sadness and regret that Chief Gwi has had for 500 years. Turns out, he did know everything, about his past, about who he is, and who Weol-Joo is to him. So all the stuff Weol-Joo has said to him about her past, about the pain she suffered, all of it he understood because he was the main reason as to why she’s suffering, and it quite literally breaks my heart. The way he said that Weol-Joo didn’t need someone who loved her right now, but someone who can help her, and the pain and sadness in his eyes is just so heart-wrenching. This episode also had Chief Gwi’s mother appear, and honestly I didn’t like her before, and I still rlly don’t now, but I can see where she was coming from, from a mother’s perspective. I also want to point out that Samshin is definitely Weol-Joo’s mother, the scene where Samshin and Chief Gwi interacts, confirms it. She also thinks that Chief Gwi has done enough, and I’m crying again because he feels like he’s done nothing.

I liked how Kang Bae was able to defend Yeo-Rin when she met her ex at the supermarket. Good going Kang Bae! And Yeo-Rin is confirmed as the reincarnated cinnabar, which was pretty obvious from last episode, but they’re basically a match made in heaven... literally.

Besides finding out that Chief Gwi IS the prince, we now see the side of him that loves Weol-Joo. We can clearly see his feelings, his frustrations, and pain. He literally did and sacrificed everything for Weol-Joo, and he would choose to do the same things in a heartbeat. The panic and anguish he felt when he heard that Weol-Joo signed the contract that expels her reincarnation and sends her to the hell of extinction, was just so painful to watch. In the end he took her punishment as his own, and that’s when I started crying. Yeomradaewang said that he had already served his full punishment and more, he did enough, but he still goes and takes Weol-Joo’s punishment. Get a guy like Chief Gwi who will literally go to hell for the one he loves. Makes me emotional again.

Lastly, the preview. It’s just a mixture of angst, comedy, and cuteness. Kang Bae finding out that Weol-Joo & Chief Gwi dated in their past lives was hilarious, that date that Chief Gwi & Weol-Joo is on, and that slap is just—. I’m guessing that Weol-Joo & Chief Gwi will reconcile, seeing as though they’re quite calm when Kang Bae learns of this revelation, which also explains the date (yes they’re on a date leave me be). The slap, I can understand, but still it hurts to see Chief Gwi getting slapped by the love of his life. Poor boi, give him a break. 🥺

This episode has definitely brought us on quite a journey with the characters and the revelations make everything so much clearer, but now that things have been revealed, we’re in for a lot of angst in the last two episodes and I’m totally NOT prepared to cry my eyes out when I watch the last episode. Just praying for Weol-Joo & Chief Gwi to be happy together and live their lives as they wanted before with their son, Kang Bae, at their side, just being the cute chaotic family that they are. Now excuse me, while I replay the episode and cry because of how much pain Chief Gwi is in and how everything is just too sad. 🤧

[franeridart]

hi!!! first of all i adore your art so much!!!! like daddy jesus, it gives me life. u draw rlly good poses, so maybe u have some tips? or any good places to find references cuz i can only find pretty stiff looking pictures and thats sad :((((

Tips! Yes! I have those, since it’s a thing I’ve always struggled a lot with too, so I ended up hunting down and hoarding tips like an artist dragon with fancy pictures of gold - disclaimer, even though I know of these tips it doesn’t necessarily mean I’m good at following them. Because I’m a mess. SO! TIPS!

 - When trying to decide on a pose, try to picture the whole action behind it instead of just the single instance! If we were to talk in animation terms, I’d say try to picture the whole sequence instead of just a single, specific frame of it. What is your character doing? Picture in your head the whole movement, and then pick a frame that’s smack in the middle of it - this is because generally the stiffer moments through an action are the beginning and the end of it, so drawing the middle will give your pose a lot more life! If you’re unsure about exactly which moment of the action would work best, draw thumbnails of a few different “frames” of it and pick the one that flows best for you

 - Related to that, when looking for references generally I prefer looking for videos instead of pictures, specifically to get a better sense of how the whole movement flows and where it would be best to stop it. In the same vein, I’ve made a habit of at least partially always keep an eye out for body language while watching movies/tv shows/cartoons&anime, because while real life is just as much a good source of reference as anything else, actors and animators tend to exaggerate movements to make them more captivating and eye-catching, and that’s what we’re looking for when drawing too! It’s all in the drama of it, look for the drama

 - “A real life person wouldn’t do that/move like that/bend like that”, that’s okay, this isn’t a real life person! Exaggerating the shapes and lines is a good way of increasing the flow of your pose, as long as you don’t make it grotesque then pushing on the shapes and curves is always a good idea! Unless you meant to go for grotesque, in which case push all you want, who’s to stop you. In this specific area action lines are your best friends, so if you feel your pose is stiff or lacks life, try finding the action line in it and push it more - you can find a lot of youtube tutorials on action lines and gesture drawing, in case you want to look more into that! Only god and my youtube history know how long I’ve spent doing just that

 - Talking about youtube, if you want to work on your flow a good way is to try out the one minute figure drawing exercises - they give you a pose, you have one or two minutes to sketch it out depending on the video, then it moves to the next pose. It’s a good way to loosen up your lines, in my experience! This is a nice playlist for that, in case you wanna give it a go!

 - Rewinding a bit and going back on body language, if you want your pose to feel alive and be realistic while at the same time conveying a specific mood or feeling, maybe you’ll want to look into how people express themselves through body language! I always see this suggested to writers to set the mood without explicitly stating the emotion, but it’s a wonderful tip for artists too the way I see it (mostly so if you’re drawing a comic, actually!). A good list is this one, give it a skim!

 - More than a tip it’s a trick, really, but giving a prop to your character can help make the pose more interesting - there’s only a finite number of things a character can do standing alone by themselves with nothing to occupy them with, an object or an animal or a second character to interact with really do make finding an interesting pose easier!

That was a lot of theory there, wasn’t it, let’s go for some practical tips too (featuring Horikoshi’s pencil sketches, because I love them and he’s very, very good at this whole posing thing)

 - If you picture your character as standing in an open space and the eyes of the viewers as a camera, moving the camera around them to find an interesting angle adds a lot of depth to the pose. It can be really, really tempting to just draw them from the front and eye level, but sometimes even just raising or lowering the camera the smallest bit helps with giving the drawing life - perspective! I know, I hate it too orz but we’re working hard to overcome that problem, because look at Horikoshi’s latest Kirishima sketch!

so alive! So beautiful! The pose in itself isn’t all that special, but the angle he decided to draw it at sure helps give him life. A thing I do often is to draw a thumbnail of the scene I’m trying to draw from the most boring angle possible, to make sure of where everything is, and then metaphorically move the camera around to try and find a more interesting angle to portray it from - it helps! At least, it does for me haha

 - Keeping it asymmetrical makes the pose dynamic! Let’s look at Toga over here

Her legs and arms are an obvious example of this, but specifically I marked for you the hips line and shoulders line to show you how they aren’t paralel either, because that’s a little thing that’s generally a good idea to keep in mind when you want to give a bit more of movement to your posing! It’s true in photography too, actually. If you want a full body selfie to look good, try keeping shoulders and hips on non-paralel lines, it makes the whole thing look a lot more professional 

 - Keeping that Toga pic as our set example, hair and clothes give a lot of movement to the pose too! If you draw someone in the middle of an action, their clothes and hair are (possibly, if the clothes are loose enough and hair long enough) going to move with the action too - they show the direction of the motion, so keep that in mind when drawing them. Additional tip! If your character is just standing still, wind is a thing you can always make use of to give a bit more movement to the whole set-up!

 - It’s a good idea to keep all the noise in your pose on one side, to give it a bit more balance and make it less chaotic - let’s use Jirou here as our example

the lines on the right side are a lot more simple and straight than the ones on her left, as I tried to very roughly mark for you - all details and “noisy” bits are all on the same side too, so that your eyes can easily focus on what’s important in the pic without getting lost all over the canvas. Balance and asymmetry! Again! It’s an easy way to make poses interesting, after all!

 - That said, it’s not like you can never keep it symmetrical - the human brain actually likes that symmetry a whole lot, finds it compelling! It has to be perfectly symmetrical, though. Let’s look at Bakugou, because why not, always a good time to look at Bakugou

if you drew a line in the middle of his face and down his body, you’d see he’s pretty much perfectly symmetrical - that’s nice! That works! ...why does it work, though? This goes a bit more into composition and less into posing, but this has to do with the rule of thirds: generally and very simply, the rule is that for a picture to be well composed it needs to be set so that the main focus isn’t smack in the middle of the canvas. Some examples with the pics I just posted up there!

The way the bodies are positioned and the way in which the empty spaces are used respect the rule of thirds pretty dang neatly, and that helps make the pictures look less stiff too, between the others things! It gives balance to the whole composition, and makes it more lively! (The reason why it works with Kirishima is that the focus of the drawing is less him as a whole and more his face and right fist - so very neatly positioned! I’m in awe, ngl)

Bakugou’s case is a bit different thoguh, and that’s why the symmetry works there!

when you want to go for the symmetrical look you sort of need to forget about the rule of thirds, as far as I’ve been thought - symmetrical means tidy, and it’s only really tidy if it’s symmetrical based on a line traced right in the middle of the canvas, so Bakugou’s center is right along the median axis, and his pose works even if it’s pretty stiff, by all means.

(this goes into the rules of making a good portrait work, actually, but the lack of empty space all around him helps with keeping it looking well composed and tidy, too. There’s a lot of little tips and tricks that help make a pose work when it comes to composition, really!)

(Also, to be fair this last bit about the rule of thirds wasn’t exactly necessary or particularly well explained, I’ll be real, but while browsing Horikoshi’s twitter I realized how neatly all his sketches follow the rule and I needed to gush about that for a sec, it’s how being a fan works haha hope it was useful at least a bit to you, though!)

[reinerispretty]

hi ur a rlly good writer so i was wondering if u have any tips for us beginners? specifically those who wanna start writing atla fanfics :)

first thank you so much!! that is a very kind thing to say and i adore you!

i am a lil worried that my tips won’t be super helpful bc while i have been writing for a long time, i feel like i always say the same thing other ppl say lol but here goes!! my main tip would be to just take an idea and run with it. literally it could be a whole storyline or just one phrase you want a character to say, and just shape your story around that and you’ll be super surprised ab where you end up going!! also don’t be afraid of stepping away in case something isn’t turning out the way you want it to! instead of forcing urself to write, take a break or write something else, and come back to it in a few days!! a fresh perspective really helps a ton :) as for tips for writing atla fics, i’d say don’t be afraid to steer a little bit away from canon. bc sometimes i’ll write a scene and think it’s great, post it, and then watch avatar and be like “well lol this small detail was wrong oh well” like fanfiction is supposed to be fun and literally no one’s perfect and no one is expecting you to write verbatim what’s happening in the show!! this is more from my experience but i also know people like when the characters are written more accurately, but don’t be afraid to make them do something or say something readers might not necessarily expect!! all in all, if you like your writing and you are proud of it, post it!! i’d love to read anything you write in the future :D

[professorjjong]

Rose: Any advice for a new writer?

tons! :3

1. Read & Ask Questions--reread ur favorite books/stories, or rewatch ur favorite movies/tv shows/video games (story-oriented) and ask urself: why do i like this? then, what don’t i like about this? i think it’s easiest to start w/ stuff you have strong opinions about, which is why i recommend going back to ur faves. but learn to ask questions about everything. watching a movie and u find urself very interested in what’s going on? ask urself why. at first you may not have very specific answers, but as you develop this skill it’ll get easier and easier and you’ll find yourself more able to explain what you do or do not like about something, or, what is good and what is bad about a written work. make sure you spiral: “why don’t i like this work? i don’t like the main character. why don’t i like the main character? i think he is written poorly. how is he written poorly? his backstory does not explain why he acts the way he does. why doesn’t it? etc. etc..” 

2. Join a workshop-- some writers i have talked to rlly love workshops and some rlly, rlly hate them. it’s easy to find arguments for and against traditional workshops,  or non-traditonal ones, but, even if you decide you don’t like them and don’t want to continue with a workshop when you’re more developed as a writer, i feel like i owe a lot of my improvement as a writer to being in workshop. one reason piggy backs off the first: you’re going to have to explain to your peers what you think works and what you think doesn’t work in their pieces. this skill, being able to break down where the “problem” might be is, in my opinion, the most important thing to being a writer, so workshop is a great place where you’re going to be forced to accurately explain and justify your opinions. secondly, criticism. being a writer is all about being on the receiving end of criticism and, not only accepting that criticism, but using it to better yourself. writing is all about growing and changing and getting better, and giving others a platform to give u advice and criticism is the best way to grow and change and get better.

also, importantly, in workshops you’ll be able to see a wide-variety of pieces. you’ll realize what you like, what you don’t like, what works, what doesn’t, and be able to try new things. it’s the best place to mess up and be experimental, because, yeah, getting negative feedback may suck, but eat some ice cream, take the night off, & be kind to urself, then get back to it. ppl are in a workshop to grow and get better, not to earn praise (tho it’s nice when it happens).

3. Write every day -- this sounds a lot harder than it is, trust me. write every day doesn’t mean write 1k words every day. for me, i just try to write 100, usually before i go to bed. sometimes i delete these 100 words the next day, but that’s not what really matters. what’s important is to develop the habit of writing. if you want to write, you should love it. i feel like i met many writers in workshops who didn’t love writing. they love stories and telling them, but writing it feels like a chore. yes, sometimes it’s work, sometimes it’s very hard and exhausting and all i want to do is go to bed, not chug away at my 100 words that ill probably just delete, but i love writing, even if not at that moment. and doing it every day keeps writing and whatever piece im working one at the forefront of my mind. ask urself: do i really love this? 

4. writers are readers, trust yourself -- if you’re having trouble continuing your piece or you feel stuck, honestly? you might have messed up somewhere. i feel like the inner “editor” in every writer’s head is their inner reader, which is experiencing the story not from the perspective of the creator and, when something is off, sends out alarm signals. i’m in the ‘writer’s block doesn’t exist’ camp. you can always write--sometimes its harder, sometimes u might need to take a break and work on something else for a while, but it’s never impossible and you never need to just stop. if something’s not connecting, the reader in you is saying “i don’t like what’s happening here.” and u need to ask “why?” most recently, i was stuck in a scene in my piece. i felt like no words could go out. so i sat down and asked myself for a while why i couldn’t come up with anything, then i got my answer: the climax was coming too soon, the reader in me wasn’t immersed enough in everything that came before to feel ready for the emotional high that i was wading into. so i calmed that scene down, wrote one or two more, than, ready, got back into the climax.

trust yourself, when something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t.

5. have fun-- don’t write a piece you don’t like. if you’re not enjoying yourself, ask that inner reader what’s not working. or, ask yourself: am i as interested in this subject matter as i thought i was? do i like the style i’m going for? it’s kind of a negative of workshops: if you’re not a very confident person (like me) it can be difficult to not get swept up in everyone else’s opinions. but, ultimately, it’s your piece. it’s your story. if you feel in your gut that it must be a certain way, then do it--don’t make yourself miserable. writing is hard and emotionally-draining at times, but you should be doing it because it is fun, not a chore.

i have much more advice but i’ll stop here at what i think are some of the most important ones. best of luck dude

[ibuproffie]

wtf WAS this season of got

i just finished watching and like...? i have so many questions? cut for spoilers i guess 

ding dong you are WRONG i’m just going to incoherently ramble because i was like ??? for the whole thing. fyi i’ve read the asoiaf books multiple times so that’s kind of informed a lot of this rant because i just don’t see grrm ending the series like the show ended. 

so since s7, we’ve really seen this whole rush of stuff and the process of dany taking back westeros has been really dialed up to 11 for no goddamn reason. i mean the leaders of dorne were murdered, edmure tully was irrelevant, the tyrells were just all killed off, stannis gang killed off, no mention of varys’s fake targ plan (which personally i was cool with; i don’t love that tbh). which is...part of the thing that makes got...good was the intrigue; the mass of characters and subplots and ambitions etc. and i didn’t rlly say anything because i thought ok, it’s not great but at least we’ll get a really satisfying s8. 

the white walkers? sis WHERE? were they?? WHO were they?? the whole show they’ve been hyped up as the big bad, the catalyst for bringing ice and fire together, so to speak, and then they kill all of them off in one episode? isn’t this the greater evil that the people of westeros must unite behind that they’ve been foreshadowing all FUCKING show?? don’t they put things in perspective?? show the futility of life and the importance of humanity?? like what the hell? (side note: arya killing the night king was cool af but...narrative, but also...WOMEN so i’m torn) and then, i thought, “well maybe they were killed to have more time for intrigue but like...anyone who hasn’t firmly chosen a side is fucking dead” so lol to that my dudes

the dothraki? weren’t they all killed in the fight with the night king? how did they all show up to besiege kings’ landing at just the right moment? how many dothraki are there? i could ask roughly the same question about the unsullied but the dothraki were more egregious so imma just call them out 

danaerys?? ma’am what?? fyi Evil Targ Dany isn’t a dany i would totally hate; the books have foreshadowed that dany has some potential for being a bad guy or at least a worse guy than she was at the beginning. anyone who says there’s no way dany could be a hot steaming yikes hasn’t been paying attention and that’s just the tea...she’s been told her entire life that she’s special because of who her parents were, she’s been extremely popular and successful just by using brute force and not listening, really, to her advisors. it’s always been there; she’s always been a little bit of a gamble. however, what i do have some problems with was that evil dany was just dropped out of fucking nowhere. like, they killed missandei and she just inexplicably torched the city, killed people who were surrendering (which if you remember, the only reason she killed the tarlys was because they WOULDN’T surrender so wtf dany) and started seeing traitors everywhere. if you’re gonna have a character start doing an about-face like that, you’re going to need to foreshadow it a little bit. because it just seemed rlly out of character. this season, all of danaerys’s decisions, which have usually been framed as “brutal but necessary” by the story suddenly became “extremely irrational and a threat to everyone”. for chrissakes, she should be fucking worried about jon eclipsing her in popularity because he has a better claim to the throne and is a man even though she’s done all the work!! it makes sense for her to kill varys because he was trying to murder her (like so many other characters tried!!) legitimizing gendry makes sense-hell, stannis tried to do the same for jon!! these were not totally out-there calls for dany and didn’t really count as evidence of her growing insanity or whatever. in addition, her goal shifted from “i want to reclaim my birthright” to “i want to create a utopia over which i rule indefinitely” which is not a desire that i have ever read from either show!dany or book!dany. she’s simply not naive enough to think she could do something like that. also (and this is kind of a pattern w s8) dany’s arc seemed to suggest that she was trying to be better than her family. the whole crux of her claim is that she’s better than aerys was, that she was learning that the family members she idealized her whole life could be terrible and cruel and that she didn’t want to be like viserys or aerys or even, really, like rhaegar. how many times have we heard this?? to just drop the whole “you-can’t-escape-your-nature” shit on us now is not only really fucking bleak, but bad writing. also jonerys just kept on getting worse and worse; the romanticization of incest on this show was too fucking much and i just couldn’t. why would danaerys, who was trying to escape her nature, desperately want to hook up with her nephew?isn’t there enough of this on got for god’s sake? what happened to her being a new targaryen? what fucking happened? 

jon? i don’t love r + l =j but whatever, fine. may i ask what the point was, ma’am?? may i fucking ask, why bring back jon snow from the dead? wasn’t he the “prince that was promised”? then why in god’s name did he not take a more active role in the fight against the white walkers? if he’s azor azhai reborn, was danaerys his nissa nissa? and what did that sacrifice accomplish in his arc? or is melisandre full of shit all along and it’s just all up to chance? and then what was the point of setting all of that up? you can’t just abandon subplots like this guys; you just can’t. 

bran? had no point, the worst character objectively... WHAT tomfoolery gave tyrion the bright idea to make him the king? isn’t he supposed to be smart good god

braime? excuse me what? FUCKING FORESHADOWED ALL THE GODDAMN WAY THROUGH, WE GET A TENDER A** FUCKING SEX SCENE THAT ISN’T GODDAMN GROSS AND THEN they’re like “nope sike!! see!! jaime can never change!! you thot that was a redemption arc sweaty!! twincest for the win!!” like this isn’t happening in the books and you can’t fucking change my mind, grrm did not set up this arc to disrespect jaime or brienne like this. part of brienne’s arc is going to be realizing that she is desirable and deserving of love. mark my fucking words. this was part ii of this weird “we can’t escape our nature” shit that kept cropping up this season for no reason. and look, i’m not just going off on this because i’m a hardcore braime shipper (sorry not sorry). i’m going off because it literally doesn’t make sense. if you foreshadow a huge character arc that will redeem the character, tease it, and then go in the complete opposite direction, that motivation for the character goes all over the place. at this point in the narrative he had cut his ties w cersei; he realized as tyrion pointed out that they had a toxic relationship and that while he still cared about her to an extent, he had come to the realization of what an intensely horrendous person she was, and it didn’t fucking matter if she was pregnant with his kid because she (unlike him) wasn’t making any sort of strides to be a better person. and then there’s brienne who is possibly the only soul in westeros who believes there’s more “good jaime” than “killing kings and crippling little boys jaime” who is his physical equal as well as his legit friend (like how many friends does jaime really have right) who he’s beginning to have feelings for because of their shared traumatic experiences and similar goals and the writers just...fucking ignored all of that previous buildup. and braime never had to necessarily end happily (see the cersei paragraph); i personally think that one or both of them are going to die in the books, but it really was a gigantic slap in the face as well as to book canon “throw this in the fire” anyone?? 

and cersei? don’t get me wrong; i’ve wanted her dead for so long but come the fuck on and remember the goddamn valonqar prophecy. that’s ignoring a huge part of her motivation for being so “evil”. because she knows her doom is coming and is doing her best to prevent it. jesus fucking christ. jaime was supposed to kill her (and maybe die in the process but ya know) because i personally think tyrion’s done enough kinslaying. to have her die in that way was both anti-climactic and ignoring the narrative again. they just shouldn’t have included the prophecy if they were going to butcher it like this jajkjfalk