#concept: plotlines

[fima11]

You should post your Ocs more often they are so pretty!! I'll love to know more about them!! (^o^)丿

Thank you!!! I really wanted to share them all and decided that tumblr would be the best place for that (safe space for weird thoughts).... So here's a bit more of Melissa because she is very important to me.

It's so funny because I know nothing of her. No one knows actually. Melissa literally randomly spawned in my head one day.

But I always draw her when I want to reconnect with my feminity and to feel the spirit of freedom she resembles to me, because no one knows her, she never settles anywhere, but she will always help you if fate makes you cross your paths somehow.

She is my inner psychologist and an older woman figure that doesn't judge for self expression or for your struggles. Melissa is more of a weird aunt type of person rather than mother, but you want to trust her. She knows what you're going through, and she'll give you an advice. That's why she took Therese under her wing.

There's also Niaz, other woman beside little Therese Melissa actually helps. But throughout the story it looks more like Melissa just trolls the hell out of Niaz, but they like each other, truly.

[pulsingvoid]

god the pilot had the tone down. nat trips on acid pre-crash and sees her creepy classmate misty across the flames in a way that could just as easily be misty stalking her/the team from the outskirts as it could be a hallucination (i go back and forth on this all the time). then the bonfire turns into the fire from their cannibalistic rituals in the wilderness which seemingly implies that nat sees into the future for a moment but it could just be part of the nonlinear editing. pj harvey's eerie down by the water holds you by the hand and pulls you in deeper as the screen gets engulfed in flames. such a loaded and dualistic and tone-setting sequence. i want to live inside it

[mulders-too-large-shirt]

s7 episode 21 “je souhaite” thoughts

welcome back to M2LS for the newest episode liveblog!

i have to say, this feels monumental. we are almost at the end of s7. i know a lot of people enjoy this episode, and i’m in the mood for something light and airy before we descend into the s8 angst. 

yes, you must recall that i googled this show and read the wikipedia page a year ago before i started watching it, so i know some things. but to be honest, i’m kind of sickly excited for the s8 angst😈there are some particular tropes at play that i’m looking forward to investigating.

but! we have to get there first. and i plan on getting all of my s7 stuff around before watching the finale for cliffhanger reasons. and also, my posting will probably get way less regular very shortly… but it was a brilliant year of 2 or 3 posts a week that we shared. 

anyway. let us get comfy and cozy and started!

reading the description… a man without a mouth…? a corpse without a head? a genie?? what will mulder wish for!! and why the french title… lmao. let us see

(post-episode thoughts: peace and love. and also may i SPECIFICALLY note goodwill toward men!!!!)

we open in missouri. someone is looking for anson, who is reading a magazine filled with pictures of boats. i support him chilling in a storage unit and looking at boats instead of working. 

he hasn’t cleared out 407! oh. don’t tell him he won’t amount to anything! “a monkey could do this job, right, jay?” “well, you can’t, so what’s that say about you?” <- OOP! jay commands him to go clean out 407 THIS INSTANT!

he cracks the lock on the storage unit, which is filled with old furniture covered in plastic. and many cobwebs. and a rug. with something in it! it jumps! then unrolls it as spooky music plays…. OH! a woman? with a gem under her eye! was chilling in the rug!

she opens her eyes…. and he seems to have vanished! jay comes back to the carpet rolled out. but then jay starts to grunt. HE LOST HIS MOUTH? well. that must be the guy without a mouth part of the episode explained.

how will bro eat or drink!!!

intro time… literally GET spooky with it. i love the scene of baby agents with the guns. very short intro. we must have an action-packed episode.

mulder is at the desk, asking someone- who i presume to be jay- if he can get him some coffee, or water, or anything. he shakes his head no. probably because he has no mouth. and mulder goes over more paperwork, bouncing his pen around. i do love that man.

OHHH SCULLY… she opens the door, says good morning, and then makes a very funny face at mulder when she realizes there is someone else in their space. AWWWW. my princess :(

LMAOOOO her pointing and mouthing “who is that?” I LOVE HERRRR!

LMAOOOOO, THE WAY SHE GASPS WHEN SHE SEES HIS FACE AND THEN CATCHES HERSELF WITH A “NICE TO MEET YOU” <- THAT IS MY QUEEN!!! she wants to be POLITE!!!

it seems jay cannot say certain words. mulder shows scully the pictures of his mouthlessness, while jay says that anson did this to him. so i guess they cut him a new mouth somehow. which is good, all things considered! glad he found a doctor who could do that.

so anson told jay to shut up and then… jay had no mouth. yeah. anson was found several days later, but refused questioning. mulder points out they had nothing on anson- but politely!

“they had to make me a whole new mouth”, replies jay, and that would also make me so mad, so i sympathize

poor guy is mopping up his new mouth blood…

the agents head to mark twain trailer court in missouri, which must have been a long drive slash flight.

scully is telling mulder about the effects of a disease known as scleroderma, which is the overproduction of collagen, and i love her so dearly. there is so much tenderness in my heart for her. but mulder is like… that doesn’t just happen in a blink of an eye! mulder shoulder grab….

she’s still coming up with various medical reasons for a vanished mouth. and i see this episode was written and directed by our friend vince. tbh, i can’t really remember if he has a certain style of episode. i’ll probably figure it out along the way. 

(so. i see he's a little shippy at moments)

LMAO, SCULLY GRABS HIM AS THEY SEE THE GIANT BOAT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TRAILER PARK… this show is so funnyyyyy sometimes.

anson sees them approach, saying they must be from the IRS, and warns someone named leslie to get rid of them. scully says hi :) and leslie starts to stutter that the boat is not theirs! they’re… holding it for someone else. “and they pay the taxes on it” “oookay” <- AWWWW. i love her reactions when people are being weird.

leslie tries to shut the door in their faces, but mulder does not allow this. oh, leslie is anson’s brother. mulder sees someone in the back… and says hello. she looks goth.

leslie says jay’s mouth thing comes from chemicals. like, one time, his brother found a guy with a meth lab in the storage unit, so, they should check that out. LMAO.

mulder declares he knows what is going on here… then they investigate the storage unit of mystery. he finds a calendar from 1978, and scully says it’s too bad, this furniture is really wonderful. (my heart skipped a few beats at her admiration of it all)

it’s expensive- very expensive. tell us more about your fancy furniture knowledge, queen. maybe anson stole something from in here and then dipped. and then used the money to buy a boat… “there’s your crime: theft”

my heart is just overcome with love for these two. idk what is wrong with me on this fine evening. maybe nothing is wrong with me and everything is supremely right. 

mulder finds a picture in a frame and calls her over. it’s a picture of a guy with three women surrounding him- one of which was the goth lady from the trailer! chilling in a fancy car. queen. and she hasn’t aged at all, despite the photo being very old. 

anson says that he has two down, nothing to show for it. “you got the boat” points out leslie. which anson declares has done him no good! goth lady says it’s like a white elephant. “so what the hell did you give it to me for?” “because you asked for it” <- ohhhh, clock his tea!!! he argues that he shouldn’t have had to specify the boat should have gone in some water!

this genie queen…. 

OH. leslie says maybe he could use the last wish to get rid of the boat, and anson threatens to put him in a home. now, i can support slacking off at work, but i cannot support this sort of language. genie is playing with the TV remote that is in the shape of a woman’s body. classy

“you could always give that guy his mouth back” LMAOOOO 

leslie suggests money. an infinite number of wishes. she kills both of those ideas quick. 

“you know, i have a thought. granted, it’s pretty obvious” (she gestures to leslie’s wheelchair) LMAOOO they don’t pick up on what she is saying at ALLLLLLL 

anson FINALLY says he is absolutely ready: he wishes he could turn invisible at will. use it to sneak around, pick up stock tips, snoop on women. james bond stuff. she tells him it is unoriginal. and then declares that it is done. 

BUT HE DIDN’T SPECIFY THE CLOTHES PART, LMAOOOO. absolute rookie mistake.

so he strips right there. she asks him to please turn invisible. and he does! then he goes for a walk. runs straight into some trash cans. he is on his way. hollering about being invisible. 

goth genie disappears. her work is done. anson runs around, invisibly kicking and pushing stuff. sees some women across the street. presses the crosswalk to approach them in a creepy man fashion. but the cars can’t see him!!! and he gets hit by a tractor trailer!!! 

well. instant justice for objectifying those women.

an undisclosed amount of time later, a biker trips over his rotting invisible corpse.

scully is here. an empty stretcher is pulled into her lab. and the assistants ask if they can leave. an autopsy on an invisible guy! that has to be new for her.

she traces his figure. looking for that glowy powder. gently taps it on….. she looks so excited. LMAOOO, LOOK AT HER HAVING FUN WITH IT. girl is gonna need soooo much of that stuff. she makes out a face!!!

eventually, she has made the whole guy yellow. and mulder comes by to antagonize her. the body has a perfect match to anson’s dental records- scully thinks he must have been hit by a car or truck. “and he’s invisible” “yes, he is” <- she seems soooo excited. i’m happy for her.

OHHH, she says it is the best thing she has seen in their 7 years working together. it will change the boundaries of science! she is covered in yellow powder, and he looks at her like she’s the whole world, which she is.

mulder says it is amazing, but he doesn’t think it has anything to do with science. sad scully face. he looked up that guy from the photograph they found back in the storage unit- turns out he made $30 million in a year. and then died of… hold on, let me google something. she is sooo taken aback by whatever it is he says.

ah. death by extreme boner. LOOK AT HER FACEEEE, she does not wanna think about that, LMAOOOOOO

he thinks the mystery woman is the link between the strange old man and anson's case, and therefore they ought to investigate. but scully wants to stay with the body to make sure no one comes and messes with it- it is truly amazing. and he nods and smiles. she is still covered in yellow. i love her soooo much. 

back at the trailer park, “you suck” has been written on leslie’s boat, while mulder tells him he is very sorry for his loss. leslie wants to know if his brother suffered- mulder says no, but asks about the invisible thing. and then where the woman went. he thinks she is a genie! and then they start singing a song together. good for them, i suppose.

leslie says he doesn’t know what mulder talking about. and mulder says you should hand me the object containing the genie right now- for your own safety. leslie wheels away. grabs a case of something. hands it to mulder. who tells him he is doing the right thing. did he really give him it?? i don’t buy it…

scully is taking a million pictures of invisible man while leslie goes back to the storage unit to see if the genie has returned…

OHH, scully doesn’t want to leave the dead guy. “come on, he’s not going anywhere” <- OHHH HER PAINED EXPRESSION… I LOVE HERRR. and she says “bye” to the body before leaving, then tells mulder so excitedly that a group of researchers will be flying in from harvard to inspect him!!

she investigates the little box leslie gave him… which mulder says is what the brothers keep their weed in. LMAO, HER FACE AGAIN- THIS WOMAN IS KILLLLLING ME.

why do i feel the body is going to go missing….

OH! mulder pulls up a video of mussolini which has the genie woman next to him, LMAOOOO. i did not see that coming. he ran her image through the facial recognition database and then the national archives. AWW. he is so clever. 

and then she’s with nixon!!! “both men who got all the power they ever wished for and then lost it” <- ohhh…. very interesting. maybe the act of wishing is doomed in itself… or maybe their wishes were stupid, and mulder can come up with the perfect ones.

back at the storage unit, leslie has found the genie!!! “can we just get this over with, please? three wishes. go” <- LMAOOO I LOVE HER. so she must live in the rug and he brought the rug back to the boat.

she gestures to leslie and says “your disability” …. LMAOOOOOO, HE SAYS HE COULD WISH FOR A SOLID GOLD WHEELCHAIR- BAHAHA, KING!!!

but there is something he wants more than a solid gold wheelchair. is he going to wish for his brother back? what will happen to the body if he does??

scully presents the body to the team of researchers…. but there’s nothing there. NOOOOOO, POOR THING. she’s reaching for him and coming up with nothing.

anson is a zombie!! leslie is not pleased. he did not ask to bring him back to normal- just back. another technicality oversight.

so leslie wishes zombie anson could talk- even though genie says no, you don’t- he insists. and zombie anson just opens his mouth and SCREAMS.

OH, POOR SCULLY SAYS SHE SHOULD SHOOT HERSELF AS MULDER INVESTIGATES WHERE THE BODY WAS…. NOOOO QUEEN, NEVER KILL YOURSELF!!! she was so happy. she thinks it was too good to be true. in her sweet green sweater. mulder says he thinks the disappearance was the result of a wish. who would want anson back? 

cut back to the boat with leslie, where anson is STILL SCREAMING, LMAOOO. he asks leslie what he did to him. leslie wheels away, muttering he wasted two wishes on him. anson turns on the stove…. he tries to light a match as leslie plans his third wish. 

the agents return to the boat as anson tries to light a match. leslie decides on his final wish: LEGS!!! but anson lights the match and blows the whole place up just as he makes his choice! the agents are nearly blown away!!! SCULLY BLOWING HER HAIR OUT OF HER FACE AS SHE IS SPRAWLED ON THE PAVEMENT, LMAOOO

and the rug THUDS behind them. 

THEY FIND THE GENIE!!!! he asks to call her jen. scully wants an explanation!!! mulder wants to know if she is a good or evil genie! “the only thing you people are cursed with is stupidity” <- get their asses. people have not changed a bit, she says. but they smell better now. 

“you’re saying that you have been a firsthand witness to 500 years of human history” <- oh scully, you big nerd, i would ask the same question.

she says she used to be human in 15th century france. she unrolled a rug. found a genie. asked for a mule, a sack that was always full or turnips (amazing!), and then…. great power and a long life. but in french, of course. hence the title of the episode. she says she should have been more specific. 

she wants to know if she’s under arrest, and scully is like… well, can’t think of anything you did, so feel free to go. but she can’t! mulder has to make his wishes! bro begins to contemplate. 

will his overthinking prove worthwhile?

back in his apartment, the genie says she doesn’t think scully likes her very much, LMAO. “oh, i don’t think she knows what to make of you” <- a very measured response. and he doesn’t know what to make of her either!

he tries to ask what her wish would be… she wants to live life moment-by-moment instead of worrying about what it isn’t. she’d drink coffee and watch the world go by. 

“you say that most people make the wrong wishes, right?” “without fail. it’s like giving a chimpanzee a revolver” LMAOO

he thinks the trick would be to make a wish that benefits everyone. 

he asks for peace on earth. she groans. “what the hell’s wrong with that? you can’t do it?” and then it’s done. he looks out the window….. everyone is gone!!!! NOOOOOOOO. he asks for scully, LMAOOO. aww, he goes back to their office…. calls out for anyone…. looks for skinner…… calls the genie back. “you know damn well that is not what i meant” 

LMAOOOO, SHE IS BULLYING HIMMM

AND HE WISHES TO UNDO THE WISH AND STARTS YELLING AT HER… BUT HE IS IN SKINNER’S OFFICE AND HIM AND A TON OF OTHER PEOPLE REAPPEAR IN A MEETING WHILE HE IS TEARING INTO HER

“i think there another possibility here, and that’s just that you’re a BITCH” <- LMAOOOO

NOOOOOOO, SKINNER HEARS ALL THIS!!!

so mulder is typing up his final wish on the computer so he can get it PERFECT using super legal language that CANNOT be misinterpreted.

in comes scully, saying skinner called to check on him- is everything alright? “you don’t remember disappearing off the face of the earth for about an hour this morning?” “no” “well, i guess everything’s okay”

i predict that he is going to wish for this genie to be free so no one else can make these sorts of mistakes… and also because he is a nice guy deep down

LMAOOOOO, THE WAY SHE TURNS AND ASKS THE GENIE IF SHE COULD GIVE THEM A MINUTE PLEASE, BAHAHAAAA. the genie doesn’t go anywhere. “like today?” and then she is gone. 

love when scully gets so mad her carefully curated facade of politeness cracks- it always makes me giggle… tell that genie to GTFO so you and the bestie can have a chat, dr. scully. i support you!

if this REALLY is a genie- what he is doing is very dangerous! he thinks he can make a perfect wish and fix the world. “maybe it’s the whole point of our lives here, mulder- to achieve that. maybe it’s a process that one man shouldn’t try and circumvent with a single wish” <- ohhh, scully and her wisdom… and mulder and his puppy dog eyes…. she goes to leave. he keeps typing. then he says he is ready for his last wish.

AWWW, I PAUSED TO SEE THE THING HE WAS TYPING BEFORE HE TURNED IT OFF. it reads, in part: “i hereby do lay out my wish with consideration of every loophole possible” <- awwww, he was trying so hard!!! he wants to save the world!

back at his place, he puts in a movie with scully, teasing her about not wanting butter on her popcorn. they’re watching caddyshack. “it’s a classic american movie” “that’s what every guy says. it’s a guy movie” “okay, when you invite me over to your place, we can watch steel magnolias” LMAOOOO. they crack open some beers (possibly some other generic sort of soda or bottled beverage, but it LOOKS like a damn beer. only making note of this because i know what happens in the next episode). she laughs as he tries to toss his cap into the trash and misses.

ohhhhh, so they must not do regular movie nights… it seems like that anyway, based off of how she asks what the occasion is. well, don’t worry. movie nights are still gonna happen in fanfiction, even if they don’t talk about anything deep.

seems like he is willing to do at least a LITTLE deep talking tonight, though: “i don’t know if you noticed, but i never made the world a happier place” “well, i’m fairly happy. that’s something” <- OHHHHHH MY GOD. i’m gonna fall to my knees. and they smile at each other. she asks about his final wish. 

and we see that the genie is…. watching life go by in a cafe!! drinking a coffee!!

OHHH MY GOD.

immediately rewinds. 

i need to google what caddyshack is. it is a comedy about golf. writing that down to inform his taste on other matters. OHHHH, and his “i don’t know. just felt like the thing to do” when she asks why a movie night… STOP.

i kept thinking they were going to kiss again, but they didn’t. THEIR SMILES AT EACH OTHER…….

stop. mulder choosing to wish for something that would help the genie….. because he knew he couldn’t fix everything on his own… and he realized this only because scully pointed it out to him... an actual moment where he recognizes his well-meaning hubris... and the genie’s smile as she gets to live her dream… he is just a nice guy…

rewatches the scene AGAIN. her laughter when he misses the trashcan. and her nervous tapping fingers on the bottle. the fish tank in the background. and her smile when she says “that’s something” and he’s looking at herrrrr and AUGH.

and the way they get to have this rare moment of peace after so much pain…. oh my GOD, i need to lay down.

and knowing what i know happens next…. well. like i said, maybe it’s root beer and not real beer. maybe there’s a time skip of a few significant weeks or months between this episode and the next. the designs on the bottles are vague!!

RAHHHH i need to explode a little, please give me five minutes. 

(watches it again) the way she looks at him when she asks what his final wish was, AHHHH

oh my god. so yeah, this one lived up to the hype, LMAO.

a balm for my soul before we plunge into the dark times. which, like i said, i am kinda sickly excited for anyway. they said we need to pile on the silly ones NOW before things get crazy. 

i have a bunch of question as to how this next arc is going to pan out given that i know like, the very basics. but i shall try my best to be incredibly patient and wait for the answers even if they are retconned into existence a decade later, which i think is what happened. that’s the sort of stuff i bring to the table: patience (<- said by someone who is lying)

shoutout to the genie- she may have been a bitch, but she was THAT bitch. like, she took down mussolini AND nixon… that’s getting the job done!!!

ahhh…. so refreshing to feel their happiness in canon. it just bathes over you. like a balm of some sort. i can’t imagine how people see this as not worthy of exploration. you need these moments to breathe to give the audience rest in between a million episodes of saving the world. because at a certain point, saving the world isn't enough of a reason to justify the story you’re telling. you have to show us why the world deserves to be saved: because it has moments of real and genuine connection and love that make all the suffering worth it.

SIGH.

i’m sure i will have more thoughts tomorrow, but right now i need to go just sit and ponder. listen to the rain. read a book. think about what it means to be alive. 

okay, so it’s been a few days since i watched the episode, and i still have so many thoughts. one of which is that i was so SAD scully didn’t get to share her discovery of an invisible corpse with the whole world 💔 my poor queen… she was SO happy to dab all of that yellow powder on a body. not sure if we have ever seen her more excited. and she was covered in the damn stuff and it was soooo cute.

and mulder… he is just a nice man. sometimes his character writing is inconsistent or sometimes he gets ahab-y, but like at the end of the day, that is a guy who, with his full chest and heart, asked a genie for world peace. baby. baby boy. he may be a grown man, but to me that is also a baby. you understand, of course.

and he was so SMUG when he thought he figured it out lmao “can i call you JEN?” like this man 💀💀 he killlllls me!!!

and then let’s talk about scully just kinda accepting that, sure. maybe we do genies now. idgaf. we can’t arrest her. and also can she PLEASE give us like 5 minutes alone? LMAOOOO, that sent me OVERBOARD “like, today?” <- you TELL HER!!

but of course she had lots of deep and true scully wisdom to impart on him: that making the world a better place takes hard work, and maybe that is why we are here, and we cannot simply wish perfection into existence. which. when you think of the context of their stories and how much they have lost, but they keep trying to make the world a better place, even if it’s a little bit at a time, be it through finding scientific truths or putting dangerous criminals behind bars or making each other smile… SIGH.

an excellent episode. i will cherish it and hold the memories close as i type up my end of s7 favorite moments lists and then dive into the finale and s8. i look forward to meeting some new faces and seeing if i enjoy them and also obtaining a temporary citizenship in angst nation. but also i cannot do TOO much angst (gestures to s4), so we will have to see how i feel about the whole thing. i am approaching with an open mind and heart.

[r0sy-maple-m0th]

hi I was trying to go to sleep and that's when my psyche decided to remind me about my neglected willtresor outlaw / bonnie and clyde au

and OH MY GOD i can't sleep now i had to race to tumblr lmfao 😭😭

will just works so well as the bonnie stand in since i hc he likes to write (cuz of the two journals on his desk) and bonnie would often submit her poetry to the newspaper

he also would want a taste of stardom since he's often cast aside in life, and he wants to feel that attention similarly to how bonnie wanted to be a famous actress

and obviously he's willing to do anything for monty, the clyde stand in, even if that means killing someone

or a few someones

[nerdsandbabyteeth]

Cyberwoman redesign

[thewhizzyhead]

I've discussed with my friends how genius it was to input the recurring theme of "finding and employing true will" in a turn-based RPG where everything is all laid out for the player, but it's another level of insight entirely to have the concept of freedom of choice integrated in almost every major plot point thus far - from the main character's journey of making their own choices despite being brought into existence basically with a predetermined script in mind, belobog's journey towards resisting the eternal freeze to combating it after centuries, firefly's life with a disability and her struggle to push forth nonetheless, to Sunday's whole dilemma on whether futility is all that is left in attempts to protect the weak.

Different as all these plot points and more may be, they all share one thing is common which serves as the very core of a game whose gameplay design limits the very player to only a few options per turn: What choices will you make to fight against what is fated?

[andhumanslovedstories]

my "Shen Qingqiu did not unlock the OOC function" fic is now four chapters and 20k words long. It basically just finished Act One. I write my stories somewhat out of order, so I've got a lot of already done on the later chapters. That's where all the stuff that really motivated me to make this fic so much longer than initially planned. To get through that, I've got to get through this absolute bottleneck of a chapter. I keep looking at it and being like, "but what are those sons of guns doing in chapter nine." God I hate the transition chapter slump. I keep considering if I can just do a time jump, but 1) I'd be time jumping a lot of stuff I do want to write and 2) skipping stuff that is pretty key to the idea "here's the canon but different."

I'm trying to avoid my usual go to for writer's block, introducing a new perspective, because that is how stories balloon. But the two POV characters I got have very limited views on what's happening. BUT I don't wanna make this story on track to be 100k words. BUT in the process of writing this post, I thought of a way to write it which would also help me out with my other problematic transition chapter. BUUUUUT it would require the addition of multiple POVs. BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUT I really like the idea I just had. And so on and so forth etc etc, my goal is to get this chapter out by the end of the week which means at some point I'll need to stop chasing my tail, but GOD have I mentioned I hate transition chapters.

[thethiefandtheairbender]

wolf king is an adaption of a book series in 2011 so it isnt really walmart dragon prince. it just has Awful, Terrible, No Good pacing

Oh yeah, not literally. (My friends and I did a bit of a deep dive to find out more about the creators / production history while watching; and both creators of The Dragon Prince recommended the series to fans 'cause friends of theirs worked on it.)

That said: point still stands that there are a lot of overlapping elements in Wolf King that I think TDP does better, even just comparing their season ones.

For ex, in Wolf King I felt like I never knew what the characters knew about the world. Drew not recognizing the creature attacking him in the first ep or what was happening to himself made me think he didn't know anything about werelords or that they were pretty Rare. But then later on with Whitley it's clear that he does know what werelords are, so... just not Ratlords for some reason, despite recognizing others?? Okay?? Meanwhile in TDP they put their lore world drop at the beginning to establish things (I wish WK had done the same rather than waiting an episode) and I always know what the main kids know: Callum and Ezran are humans who don't know a ton about Xadia besides basics (it has magic, it's in the east) and stories (elves drinking blood) and Rayla knows a little about magic (because she's Xadian) but not a ton because she's not a mage

Also Vankaskan is just... so one note? Like he's just an evil mage who serves the royal family and does unnecessarily shitty things (like the fruit) for No Reason beyond Being Evil, vs even in just S1 of The Dragon Prince it's made very clear that High Mage Viren genuinely loved the royal family/king in his own way, turns on them after feeling betrayed/discarded, and justifies doing terrible things through his own logical lens (i.e. telling his son to murder the boys/princes he grew up with because having a child king on the throne will be a sign of weakness)

Having magic and/or forbidden magic as well (it is very clear even in S1 tangibly why dark magic is Iffy, to say the least) vs necromancy in Wolf King being creepy and worrisome, sure, but...

IDK, it's like whenever a parent or character in s1 of Wolf King died (3 total I think?) I never cared / felt anything. And it's not like King Harrow or Runaan spend much time with their children; Harrow and Callum have literally two (2) scenes together, only one of which is a solo scene; and Runaan-Rayla have 3 before they're split up for the entire series... but TDP still gets you to care because they use the limited time they have (9 episodes) really really well!

Vega also felt like a less developed Finnegrin... both pirates with their own ends, both present a bit more gentlemen-ly but are deceptive and/or monsters underneath and while I appreciate they didn't want Vega to be an Antagonist™ the same way Finnegrin is (who tortures 3 of the main cast, chains them, and makes the main character decide which of his friends is going to get their hand cut off) I still got a Much better sense of who he was and how he operates in the two episodes we have him for because character relationship/characterization treated/written like a priority

For a quick example I'm gonna compare Soren and Hector:

Soren is in 8/9 episodes of TDP S1, and Hector is in 7/8. Both work for a more shadowy mage, have a younger sibling, etc. Hector, who is by far the best developed character in Wolf King, probably gets more screentime given that he ends up travelling with the main character Drew vs Soren being in B plots (sometimes only having 1-2 moments in an episode).

But in Soren's first episode (1x01) which also has to establish so much else for everyone/everything, we get a clear picture of him! He's a bit of a smug bastard towards Prince Callum, who he teaches swordfighting to; he's Claudia's big brother and is willing to tease her; despite being an ass to Callum about being the king's stepson, he's willing to help the kid with Callum's crush on Soren's sister; and he's harshly reprimanded by his father, Lord Viren.

I can therefore deduce that maybe the reason he's hard on Callum is because the king is a better father than his dad; he loves his sister and wants his own dad's approval; and, deep down, he cares about the princes like Callum. He's smug and proud and insensitive but has a kindness to him and genuinely wants to protect the royal family, who all seem like good people. Again, just from episode 1, and he's not even a main character at this point.

What do I know about Hector after all of season 1? Well... I know he's very loyal to Drew, though I don't really get why besides Drew is a wolf lord (even if I do enjoy their gay ass dynamic); I know he wants to be a mage but still cares about his birthright as a Boar Lord; I don't know how he thinks about magic in general or why he wants to be a mage besides... knowledge is power? Which is a vague ass statement, tbh, that also holds zero thematic weight.

Meanwhile TDP has a "knowledge motif" of knowing vs not knowing that starts quietly in the first few seasons but still with consistently, begins in earnest in S4 and then comes to dominate the rest of the show (+ bonus verbal and sometimes literal cannibalism motif).

like Wolf King's pacing is not good / way too rushed, but that bleeds over into everything feeling wonky or underdeveloped, hence reducing interesting characters and concepts to Walmart Versions of things TDP did better, consistently, tbh. Hence, Wolf King IS Walmart Dragon Prince — to me, at least.

[canadianno]

Ah yes old gods, tell me more without doing any spoiler

-alz

Oh!! Hmmmmm uhhhh!!

Before Narinder, there was only ever one past bearer of the red crown- Death herself. In the same vein, the crown of Life (which is lost) has only ever had one bearer, who was Life himself and also Deaths' sibling.

My design idea for them thus far is like- Death is a black crow and Life is a white crow, but that's not set in stone yet

[jeweled-blue-eyes]

Joan of Arc isekai AU where after the real saintess was martyred, her twin appears and pretends she is her sister who was resurrected by the lord in order to get revenge on those who betrayed her

[an-actual-floof]

really loving the animated series so far

[megafreeman]

I was talking about Saints Row to someone who never played Saints Row recently, and they asked me why do I invest myself in this series' story if I hate it so much which is so funny. But you know what? I'm beginning to think that's what makes this series so appealing in the first place.

Thinking about it, Saints Row 1 was an amazing entrance to the series, and the start of the Saints saga. Not to mention that it was literally ahead of time in the terms of delivering a deep, thoughtful storyline that took itself seriously. And then, they did something insane, something that GTA never did (this is really important, considering that at time, the reputation it had was "GTA clone"), but did a direct sequel to the first game, with a lot of returning characters. All while perfectly capturing the mix of wacky fun and serious storytelling, and all that the same Rockstar rebooted GTA with brand new cast and direction, which made Saints Row stand out on its own as a series in comparison.

And then it just went downhill from there, getting further and further from the original deep and serious direction, even being a Mass Effect parody at one point (That's the part that made the person ask me this originally btw). This usually causes the fandom to pick a favorite entry and then base their entire perception of the series on the tone set (usually SR1 and SR2 claiming the majority)

And that's where it gets fun, where you form a unique bond with series. The fanart, the fanfiction, the fanon. Because every has their interpenetration of the series, everyone tends to reimagine their own take on the individual games to fit this interpenetration. From small things like adapting Saints Row 1 to be about a female Playa, to completely rewriting SRIV and removing sci-fi elements from it.

Dex and Troy are a perfect example, where everyone has their own take on the two characters because Volition did a terrible job writing them post-SR1, and we just soak that up, take notes from each other??? Can you imagine doing that in some other fandom? Imagine going to someone in Mass Effect fandom and telling them you rewrote their favorite character in the later games because you hate the direction devs took. You'd literally be put in witness protection.

And because everyone is doing this, this creates an unique environment in the fandom where we aren't really toxic to each other and our takes on the series, because we understand its just our different experiences of the series. Especially since almost everyone I met on Tumblr fully understands that fanon is something personal to a person writing it, and it makes the experience of sharing it and consuming it a lot better compared to someone on YT or Reddit writing their "ideal" SR sequel that always seems pushing their fanon as "one true canon" compared to being a cool little story you make and share with your friends.

[synthetic-sonata]

this guy has a ref now

[florallylly]

at the request of absolutely nobody, i present my vaguely fleshed out steddie mummy au 

sources: i still own the mummy on vhs 

there’s a possibility that the whole story of hamunaptra could be tweaked a bit to fit the story of henry creel/vecna/one into imhotep’s story, but the actual nitty gritty doesn’t matter as much as the actual dynamics and relationships between stobin and eddie. the important part is that a man is cursed to be buried alive, immortal but destined to awaken only to take vengeance. 

fast forward and eddie munson ends up drafted into the military. (rick is apart of the french foreign legion stationed in egypt, and i’m not entirely sure how he manages it but eddie munson is apparently a colonel). things happen and eddie finds himself running away from the battlefield, only to stumble upon the ruins of hamunaptra. except they aren’t really ruins and hamunaptra is a myth. so he runs, but when he gets back to the city, alone and half dead, eddie finds that in his rush to leave, he’s grabbed some sort of puzzle box. 

at the same time, one robin buckley has dedicated her life to learning more about ancient egypt. her passion for languages led her down a rabbit hole, and she drags her brother steve to egypt with her for further study. 

robin is set up with a job at a small museum, working as an archivist. unfortunately, it’s a lot more tedious than she anticipated. it would be a lot better if she could work with steve, but forgetting his glasses at home nearly everyday isn’t super helpful when it comes to trying to sort books. 

so what is steve doing in egypt, you may ask? evie’s brother jonathan in the movie literally schlepped around egypt fucking around with his sister and figuring out his next get rich scheme. steve isn’t really the type to open up his own nightclub in shanghai (a la the mummy: tomb of the dragon emperor), but just like jonathan, steve happens to stumble across a cryptex containing a map of the lost city of hamunaptra. 

as an aside: i see steve doing the same minimum wage jobs he did in hawkins, just in egypt. i think it would be funny and makes so much more sense to me than him kind of skulking around for news of possible treasure. (bonus: the party in egypt, and dustin coming up to steve with a “brand new discovery” and it’s eddie’s puzzle box that he’s swiped. (THOUGH NOTE: evie and jonathan’s family is Rich. Rich Loaded. Rich Loaded British. So honestly, he doesn’t even have to work)

either way, when robin opens the cryptex and finds the map, she’s astonished. this is what she’s dreamed of her whole life—being an explorer and discovering lost civilizations. so she gets steve to find out where the puzzle box came from. his search leads them to the prison, where eddie munson is destined for execution. 

the two of them talk to eddie, and eddie tells robin he’s seen hamunaptra in person. he’s been there. he’s walked the same sand that pharaohs had and seen the ruins that no other have laid their hands on. but eddie refuses to tell them the location, but steve convinces (bribes) the warden to let him go. 

so the three of them set off to the city of the dead. 

the details of the trip would make this post way too long, but i’m thinking about dynamics rn… 

eddie is a little standoffish at first, sure that these rich kids won’t be able to handle themselves, and he’ll be stuck carting around two spoiled brats. and robin and steve don’t necessarily trust him. robin is wide eyed and blinded by eddie’s knowledge of hamunaptra, but steve keeps trying to keep her in check. 

at first, eddie thinks steve is cold to him because of some upstairs/downstairs prejudice or big brother protectiveness. and eddie flirts even harder with robin, delighted every time he sees a scowl on steve’s face. even if robin keeps rolling her eyes and ignoring him, he isn’t looking at her anyways. he’s too busy searching steve’s eyes for some spark of disapproval. he doesn’t see that though. he sees worry and concern and fear. and that’s when eddie starts warming up to them. 

[inazumaclown]

i have a LOT of opinions about dark emperor kazemaru bc ofc i've always been a kazemaru stan but i became a kazemaru kinnie by season 2

[haylee-bb]

Dramione The Great AU

I need someone to write a Dramione fic inspired by The Great!

Hermione would be Catherine, and Draco would be Peter. The plot would have to change a bit to fit the characters. I was thinking the power struggle between Dramione could result in a shared leadership with Hermione and Draco both coming together to reform Russia after the coup. Hermione would still take power herself for a time, struggling like Catherine did, and during that time, she and Draco would start to understand each other more and grow to respect the others' strengths. They would, of course, fall in love in the process but would also come to realize the benefit of ruling together and how they help fill the gaps in each other's worldview.

In my opinion, Narcissa should definitely be aunt Lizzy, but Andromeda would be a good choice if you wanted to stay more in line with the show. Plus, she and Hermione would be more likely to grow close quickly so I could see the merit in going that route. If Narcissa was chosen, I suggest replacing Peter's mother with Bellatrix in the sense that Draco's trauma would come from his aunt instead of his mother.

Grigor and Georgina would obviously be Theo and Pansy. Arkady would be Blaise, and I have the tentative thought that Luna could be Tatyana. Ginny should be Marial, and Orlo should be Harry. Ron would be Leo. I have the idea of Snape as Archie and possibly Remus for Velementov.

The side ships have the potential to be very interesting. You could keep Harry and Ginny together and have the plot shift with that, or you could follow TG canon and have Ginny and Theo be a thing eventually with Harry being demisexual and possibly with someone else.

Point is, I have IDEAS and THOUGHTS, and someone needs to do something with them ASAP because I lack the energy both mentally and physically to take on another project.