#figuring out a character's fashion sense can be tricky but also helps a lot with understanding their personality!

[soaked-ghost]

best part of having a blorbo is playing dress up with them :}

[zombtropolis-central]

Pre-amble: I sometimes make character mods for Don’t Starve Together, I’ve made two so far based on my OCs, and because PvZ still occupies my tiny pea-brain I’ve been considering making one for Super Brains (and maybe Zomboss, if I can figure out how to draw his wack-ass head) so have my rambling thoughts on how such a mod would work. None of this is going to make sense if you’ve never played Don’t Starve or Plants vs Zombies.

If I did make a mod for ol Supes the hardest part aside from figuring out if I should go through the trouble of adding his cape in some fashion would be writing his dialogue. My most hated part of the mod creation process is making custom dialogue in the speech file because: A) Making a full unique speech file with unique dialogue takes forever because every item in the game can be inspected with something that character has to say about said item. Most character mods don’t bother and either directly lift another character’s speech file (usually Wilson’s) and edit it here and there. I’ve done that, and it still takes what feels like an eon; and while you can get rid of some strings (like I get rid of the ‘Gorge’ and ‘Forge’ strings because those are events you can’t play now without mods so why bother keeping them) you’re gonna wanna keep most of them. B) DST is a game that’s still getting updates that add new content, so you’re gonna have to update that adds new content (said this in a DS server i’m in, but every time a new update comes in I groan because that means I have to update my mods’ speech files) Dialogue would be tricky because the only time Super Brains has really exhibited a personality was in the GW adaptation comic where he only briefly showed up near the end, and since I don’t have access to any newer comics, I don’t know if he’s a regular character in the comic series after the GW adaptation, so writing dialogue for him would be a chore. (I suppose I could lean into how his wiki says he believes he’s in an 80s action movie all the time, similar to how Wigifrid is always acting like she’s in a stage play? I dunno)

As for how he would play and what quirks he’d have:

He’s similar to pre-refresh Wolfgang where he’s a high damage dealer who needs a lot of food to be strong (I hope the way to code that in is easy, if I can’t figure it out I’ll merely give him 2x damage with a fast hunger drain)

Can eat monster foods without penalty similar to Webber (sadly can’t code in brains)

Doesn’t lose sanity during the evening and night as a creature accustomed to darkness. (no night vision though)

Like Wortox and Webber, Super Brains is considered a monster, as a walking talking corpse should be, and will be attacked by Pigs, Bunnymen, and Catcoons.

Now why consider making a mod like this?

A) PvZ brainrot. I could just stop there if I wanted to, honestly.

B) I’ve been teaching myself coding, and doing a mod without using the ‘Extended Sample Character’ would be a nice exercize.

C) A lot of character mods in DST aren’t weird enough. Not knocking these people (I know a lot of these people are beginners like me who just wanna play as their OCs) but so many of the character mods use the same body shape and after a while they all kind blend in to me. (doesn’t help 75% of them are anime characters) So I was like “Welp, might as well get weird with it.”

If I do make the mod maybe I’ll post it to the workshop. I dunno if there’s a lot of PvZ fans who are also DST players. But yeah, autistic brain dump over, i dont expect this to get any notes lmao. I’m going to bed now.

[arr-jim-lad]

What do you think Kakyoin's fashion choices look like aside from his uniform? I mean since uniform is a kind of standardized clothes, it doesn't give too much info about that, except for color and silhouette. I think you are the best person to go to with such question!

This is an interesting but somewhat tricky question that I’ll try to reply to the best of my abilities because that is what Kakyoin deserves

The reason the question can be a bit tricky to answer is because the fashion choices in Jojo can sometimes be very unpredictable when compared to the character’s personality, such as Fugo for example. If you were asked what kind of clothes an incredibly intelligent guy with anger issues would wear, ‘swiss cheese and a thong’ probably wouldn’t be the first thing to come to your mind lmao

However luckily, Part 3 still had a fairly down to earth look compared to later parts, with none of the characters in the main team really wearing absurdly strange clothes. Based on that, I think Kakyoin’s casual outfits would likely fall into the realm of very normal-looking, much like Joseph’s.

I drew a few outfits for him, the colours of which are based on his anime palette, treating it as his ‘canon’ one.

Okay, to start this off, I drew Kakyoin in his uniform + unbuttoned uniform

Since he sticks so strictly to his uniform, I think it’s pretty much undeniable that he wears a dress shirt underneath, but I decided to make it a bit more interesting by adding a cherry picture on his pocket, calling back to his younger self in the anime flashback.

I also want to point out his purple belt, which is based on his SAS figure. Medicos got Araki’s input on all their figure colours, and the anime-coloured Kakyoin figure has a purple belt, meaning that we can make an assumption that anime Kakyoin does as well. I took this into account with my outfit designs.

Okay so, Kakyoin wears his uniform completely buttoned up, all the way up to the neck, and he makes it abundantly clear that he feels comfortable like this. That makes me assume he’d prefer form-fitting and modest clothes, nothing showy. I also took into account that he wore a scarf in his first appearance.

These are some of my ideas for what a part 3 Kakyoin could’ve worn casually. I know it doesn’t look very “JoJo” but again.. Part 3 really didn’t when you compare it to later parts, and I mostly looked to Joseph for inspiration.

I brought back the scarf for one of these, and I decided to use his preference for simple jewellery to add a necklace that matches his earrings.

I went for purple in the middle outfit so that it wouldn’t be all green, and with the third one, I decided to give him some sorta jacket to match his original silhouette better.

Basically, I really don’t think Kakyoin’s casual fashion choices would be very interesting in Part 3. He’d probably stick to simple and modest, matching his uniform look in spirit.

I wasn’t pleased with just this though. If I’m designing JoJo fashion then I want to design JOJO fashion, not... that. So I decided to have a go at what Kakyoin might’ve worn in Part 4, which had distinctly more style than Part 3.

I was mostly looking to Jotaro to help me with ideas here, since he very nicely shows how his Part 3 design grew into the Part 4 one.

One thing that’s important to note is that his silhouette practically stayed the same. He doesn’t wear a gakuran anymore, but he still wears a coat, and a very similar hat. I took that into account when designing a Part 4 look for Kakyoin, meaning that he also needed to wear a coat to help him keep his Part 3 silhouette.

One big difference I noticed in Jotaro’s design, as well as many Part 4 designs compared to Part 3, was that a lot of the characters wear very cozy, baggy pants. I didn’t go quite as far with Kakyoin because I don’t think it would suit him, but I did make his pants wider in the first two examples.

Part 4 was also big on pins, so I added a gem-shaped pin on his lapel, and a cherry one on the third outfit. If Araki designed a Part 4 Kakyoin look he’d probably give him something less predictable (think of Jotaro’s hearts and dolphins), but well, we sadly can’t make many assumptions about Part 4 Kakyoin’s interests, and I designed these in a rush so I didn’t really put as much thought into symbolism.

I kept the cozy turtleneck from the first design of his casual Part 3 look, because I think it really suits him, with his original uniform going up to his neck and all. He has a sweater vest on the first outfit, and I once again brought back the scarf on the second one.

After I did the first design, I realized that he’d likely wear his coats closed, seeing as, again, he felt comfortable in a completely buttoned-up uniform. Jotaro kept his open jacket, so it makes sense for Kakyoin to keep his closed.

I was gonna stop here, but then I took a look at Jotaro’s Part 4 outfits again and I realized I completely missed one huge element; the colour.

Jotaro went from black to white, making a massive shift in his palette.

Every time I see anyone design Part 4+ looks for Kakyoin, they always default to green, but looking at other reoccurring characters in the story, that doesn’t feel authentic to JoJo design. Basically: I don’t think Kakyoin would wear green if he appeared in the Part 4 anime.

Well, the opposite of green is red, but Kakyoin already has red hair, and too much red is... honestly probably something Araki could do and pull it off well, but I kept thinking about that singe drop of barely notable purple on Kakyoin’s SAS figure, so I decided to just go full purple, and I made this palette shift;

I think these colours would fit pretty nicely into the Part 4 cast. I kept plenty of green in the design due to green emeralds being Kind Of A Thing with Kakyoin, but I tried to push it in the background of purple, his new main colour.

Personally, the green variety third outfit is my favourite, but I think I’m clinging to my biases of Kakyoin = green. I could probably adjust the purple third outfit’s palette to make it just as nice, but again, I kinda rushed these so I didn’t really bring my A-game into the designs.

I’ve been planning to design Kakyoin’s Part 4 & 6 looks eventually, so I’ll probably be using these concepts as groundwork for when I finally do that!

That’s pretty much all I have to say on this topic for now, I hope I gave a satisfactory answer to your question, and thank you for asking it!! <:

[abigailnussbaum]

How to do Garak/Bashir in Canon DS9

Yesterday there was a fun tweet asking people how they would remake DS9 if they were given the option today.

Which led to some fun discussions (you can see my answers here). Obviously one thing that pretty much everyone said was “canon Garak/Bashir”. That’s generally considered one of the show’s big missed opportunities, with both Andrew J. Robinson and some of the show’s producers expressing regret over never having gone there. But it did get me thinking: how would you tell this sort of story? Because look, it’s one thing to write Garak/Bashir in fanfic, filling in gaps in the canon or changing the entire tone of the story to suit your ‘ship. But if you’re retelling DS9 along basically the same lines - the end of the Cardassian occupation, the discovery of the wormhole, the Jem’hadar, the Dominion, the war with Cardassia - and with the personalities of the characters and the tone of the show largely unchanged, how do you fit Garak/Bashir into that story?

There are some obvious issues with trying to work this ship into the show’s story and overall tone. For one thing, Bashir is a Starfleet officer. We like to make fun of his early, annoying incarnation, but even in that form he is clearly a decent, principled man with strong values. It’s one thing to flirt (literally or figuratively) with a mysterious, sexy spy, but getting into a relationship with him would not only be stupid, it would run counter to Bashir’s image of himself. You could go in a dark direction with this - Garak seduces Bashir purely as a way of gaining power over him (and perhaps out of force of habit); maybe they end up in a kind of Hannibal/Will relationship. But that doesn’t seem sustainable in the long-term, or congruent with the type of show DS9 was. Bashir can’t trust Garak, and Garak has done things that Bashir would consider disgusting. That’s something you have to take into consideration if you want to write them as a long-term couple.

It’s also worth considering that, as much as the Garak/Bashir pairing lingers over the fannish perception of the show, it’s not actually that prominent in the series itself. The last episode that I would call a Garak/Bashir story, “Our Man Bashir”, is an early S4 episode, well before the Dominion War happens. And Garak is absent for a lot of the later developments in Bashir’s life - “Doctor Bashir, I Presume” (you’d think Garak, with his complicated relationship with his father, would have something to say about Julian having been illegally genetically enhanced by his parents) or “Statistical Probabilities” (a troupe of savants who claim to be able to predict the course of the war would surely be of interest to Garak). In most of these stories, Bashir is accompanied by O’Brien, a much safer option as far as suppressed sexual tension is concerned (it should go without saying that this feels like a deliberate choice on the show’s part, to undermine any idea of a Garak/Bashir relationship). Meanwhile, Bashir is absent from most of Garak’s important Dominion War stories - his relationship with Ziyal and her death, his position in Damar’s rebellion, “In the Pale Moonlight”. So if you’re going to retell DS9 with Garak/Bashir as a real ship, you'd have to rewrite a lot of these stories to take that into account.

Finally, you’ve got the show’s ending, which is an extremely dark one for Garak, who gets everything he thought he wanted - his position restored, a place of honor in Cardassian society - just at the point where Cardassia is decimated and, in his words, left dead. Working a romance with Bashir into this ending would be tricky, and risks ending up with the final scenes of Man of Steel - two people making out atop a mass grave.

(Obviously, I’m taking it as a given that this hypothetical version of DS9 is much, much better at writing mature, complicated romantic relationships than the real one. Most actual DS9 romance was painfully juvenile, and the one exception, Sisko/Kasidy, was also an extremely low-drama ship - Sisko literally sent Kasidy to jail and the next time they met they were like “so, that was a bit of a bump in the road; dinner later?” It should go without saying that Garak/Bashir would not be a low-drama ship, so the writing would need to be there to support it.)

Anyway, complicated but obviously not impossible. This is what I’ve come up with for how I would rewrite the show with Garak/Bashir as an ongoing couple. I’m sure there’s plenty of fanfic with other, better ideas.

To start with, lose the claustrophobia business. Or, you know, keep it, but the reason Garak was expelled from the Obsidian Order and banished from Cardassia is that he’s gay. (To be fair, I feel like “claustrophobia” was pretty clearly code even in the original show.) A lot of people in the upper echelons of the Cardassian hierarchy know this - Dukat certainly knows - and miss no opportunity to harass him about it.

Obviously, in this version of the show Cardassia is deeply queerphobic. I don’t think this is a huge leap. Cardassian society is deeply conformist, and family-oriented in a fascist-adjacent sort of way that prioritizes the father as the master of the home. It’s hard to imagine a society like that tolerating deviations from gender norms, and it seems fair to assume that reprecussions for such deviations would be severe.

Garak doesn’t actually have a problem with this - or at least, not that he expresses. Garak’s defining trait is that he believes in, and loves, Cardassia deeply, and espouses its chauvinistic (in both senses of the word) values to anyone who will listen. But at the same time, he’s smart enough (and enough of an outsider) to know how hollow and destructive those values really are. So Garak will explain to anyone who challenges him on it that Cardassian homophobia is right and proper, while knowing that he has fallen victim to it himself.

Bashir is out. Though “out” might not be the right word because the Federation is so nonchalant about queerness that the notion of being closeted doesn’t really exist anymore (this is a version of Star Trek where we actually follow through on the promise of a more progressive future). But at any rate, to Bashir and the other Starfleet characters, him being gay is so unremarkable that it doesn’t even come up until his and Garak’s frienship is already established. This deeply shocks Garak - he knew humans were perverted, but the good Doctor, his friend? Bashir, meanwhile, wastes no opportunity to needle Garak about his society’s barbaric homophobia (Garak: “humans may be prone to such... urges, but Cardassians are made of finer stuff”; Bashir: *rolls eyes so hard he can see the back of his head*). But at the same time, and without being entirely willing to admit it to himself, Garak is intrigued.

And so we continue for about five seasons. Garak flirts with Bashir, partly because he thinks this is a way of unsettling the good Doctor, but really because he wants him. Bashir assumes that it’s all an act, and plays along with it a little because, hey, sexy spy. But he never imagines that it could go somewhere real, and probably wouldn’t follow through if it did.

And then Bashir gets replaced with a Changeling (this is a version of DS9 where that idea was seeded throughout the first half of the fifth season instead of being decided on five minutes before “In Purgatory’s Shadow” started shooting). And the changeling takes one look at Garak, sees an obvious in, and seduces him. Which clearly causes some awkwardness when Garak finds the real Bashir in a Dominion prison camp.

Bashir finds out. Worf tells him (this is a version of Worf who isn’t weirdly sexist and judgmental about other people’s sex lives). (Bashir: “why is Garak being so weird around me?”; Worf: “he and the fake you were doing it”; Bashir: “what”; Worf: “they were boning”; Bashir: “WHAT”; Worf: “they were engaging in sexual intercourse”; Bashir: “that's not possible. Garak only flirts with me to keep me on my toes”; Worf: *shrugs* “if that’s what you want to call it”.)

So now Bashir is upset because he’s spent the last five years bugging Garak about Cardassian homophobia and it turns out that Garak was a victim of it, plus he’s now been victimized by someone wearing Bashir’s face. And Garak is upset because he let his attraction to Bashir (Garak: “my base lust!”) blind him to the fact that his friend had been replaced by a changeling, leading to him being comromised as an agent (I will leave it as an exercise to the readers which one bothers him more). And, well, if you can’t get from there to romance on your own, you may not have read enough fanfic in your life.

Then you get the war, and honestly, I don’t know. You could do an on/off thing. You could make it a very casual relationship in between the two of them trying not to die and/or lose the Alpha Quadrant to the Dominion. You could have Bashir say “fuck it, I might die tomorrow and this guy makes me happy; who cares if my boyfriend is a liar and a murderer”. You could even go the Worf/Jadzia route and have them muse romantically about having a life together after the war. But either way, they spend more time around each other than they did in the original series.

But! When Garak goes back to Cardassia to help Damar’s rebellion, there’s a lot of tension between them, because Damar heard from Dukat that Garak is a pervert (you could still keep Ziyal’s death and Garak’s anger at Damar over it; those two always made more sense as friends anyway). And then it turns out that there’s an entire Cardassian queer underground, and in typical Cardassian fashion they’ve turned it into a whole spy network with operatives at every level of government. (Garak: “why did you never approach me?”; queer Cardassian underground: “dude, have you met you?”) And they’re willing to work with Damar if he promises that in the new Cardassia, they will no longer be persecuted (I think this dovetails pretty nicely with Garak’s observation that Damar needs to be disillusioned about the flaws of Cardassian society). So all of a sudden Garak is looking at a future where what he is doesn’t make him a pariah anymore.

And then you get to the destruction of Cardassia, and, again, I’m not sure how that combines with Garak/Bashir. The entire ending of DS9 is pretty rough on romantic pairings in general, but at least when Kira/Odo and Sisko/Kasidy break up, it’s bittersweet, and in service of other new beginnings. Garak’s ending is just bleak, and I’m not sure how you deal with a romance on top of that. The best I can come up with is Bashir saying “yes, this is horrible, but you can rebuild, and if you need my help with that, I’m not far”, leaving a door open for them to reconnect in the future.

Thoughts?

[enchantednightingales]

RJC’s review of: A Number

I’d like to start by apologising for the continued use of the almost-pun “A Number” but in my defence... Caryl Churchill started it.

There are A Number of things one can look forward to in Polly Findlay’s production of “A Number” at The Bridge theatre and just three of them are Colin Morgan. Fangirls can delight that Colin’s stealth stage door exit skills have FINALLY been put to their stunning first use on stage. Colin plays three different characters with about six to eight costume changes in the space of an hour. He disappears and reappears completely anew and it is magnificently seamless.

When I first read the play I had A Number of concerns. Maybe I’m an old fashioned kind of gal but I prefer sentences to begin AND end. I’m greedy like that. I found the play far too difficult a read and I was somewhat apprehensive about the production. Fortunately, I see the text benefits from performance as Roger Allam and Colin Morgan breathe something reminiscent of natural into those lines. I tip my imaginary hat to them as well, remembering that stuff must be tricky, the majority of these lines don’t follow a natural structure and tripping on the lines would weaken the effect. 

I am not completely sold on this effect to be honest. It cries device to me and distances this tale from pertinence.  “She was one of those people, when they say there has been a person under a train” is a good example. WHO EVER says that? Ever? Nobody. I’m a great lover of words but apparently I don’t like them in this particular order. I never was one for the abstract. Be prepared for a little abstract.

Colin’s nasal and fumbling B2 makes a lot more sense in person than I could have ever anticipated when reading. A Number is obviously not quite my cup of tea shall we say but it is becoming an increasingly tolerable piece thanks to the efforts of this production. It’s an intriguing story. A failed father seeks a fresh start, sends his son into care but not before cloning him, as “tribute”. Written just as cloning became a legitimate thing it’s pushing at big relevant buttons but for my money it’s a paper thin approach. It’s definitely a conversation piece though, a trigger of questions, forcing you to think and figure the thing out. If you can be bothered to meet it half way and you kinda have to.

A Number is another “sins of the fathers” type narrative in which Salter, the father, cannot break the cycle of his own ineptitude and selfishness. A price his sons inevitably will have to pay. I won’t give that price away but it makes for a sad little story. Some emphasis on little. When it could have been bigger (that’s what she said). 

A Number hits a number of notes in its short duration. It’s kinda funny, it’s even kinda cute (maybe that’s just Colin), it’s kinda sad, kinda creepy, kinda cruel and ultimately super dark.

Roger Allam and Colin Morgan pull out of the bag a rather lovely and truly unforgettable chemistry as father and sons. I’m not quite used to seeing Allam as the “little man”. His appearance is entirely ordinary and as a character he’s far from powerful or noble. For a man usually possessed of scene stealing charisma, Allam fearlessly relished in the grim and pitiful. He’s squirming from the beginning to the end. Trying to contain the anger of his first son, trying to contain the disappointment of his second son and in the final act, trying to salvage some scrap of meaning or importance from one beautifully blasé last (of 19) hopes. Allam’s physicality when B1 is on stage is intriguing to watch as he screams fear and seeks distance. His tone when B2 is on stage almost convinces you of wholesomeness and genuine love. Salter is quite an understated journey but enjoy as Allam hits every single note of it in true masterclass fashion.

One could marvel for A Number of hours about how amazing the stage is for this production. The first night, when the room completely changed angle, my eyes widened like a kid in a Colin Morgan-themed Candy store! WOW. It messed with my mind so much that I was second guessing everything. What they can do nowadays is awesome. I still don’t quite get how it all works and where exactly Colin escapes to in-between but... that’s the magic of theatre for you. 

I’m also a big fan of the 90s kinda feel. The stack tables, the CD tower, the TV stand, the landline phone! It’s soooooo 90s I keep expecting to hear Hanson’s MMM Bop playing upstairs or something. I feel like I’m a teenager again, at my friends’ house and it’s all kicking off between her hot older brother and his step-dad again. Flashbacks.... 

My only criticism with the whole set change thing is the decision to blast some crazy sounds at you for their duration. It’s like watching a crappy horror movie with jump scares that don’t lead anywhere. It’s not particularly satisfying and ones patience for it tends to wear thin. Especially when everyone around you likes to gasp and yelp every time it happens. Personally, not sure why nobody just took my advice of playing Bjork’s “Army of Me” in-between the set changes. I’ve only got an entire playlist of suggestions but whatever. You know better. I suppose it might wake the odd theatre sleeper.

Can I talk about Colin Morgan now? 

I feel like A Number is a bit of a showcase of everything Colin can do (and do better than anyone else). He’s got the skills for comedy, for brutality, for tears and not to mention his signature LIMITLESS energy. As his self-elected number one fangirl I will quite happily sit there and bask in the pride as he totally nails this whole thing.

Colin’s three characters are all quite different. One might easier refer to them as Benjamin, Leo and... well... Michael. B2 is adorable in his almost whiney tone and sounds possibly too much like Yasmin in “Worldship Humility” accent (for my liking). I keep expecting him to start calling people goat fucking somethings but so far he’s not done it. His twitchy, stiff awkwardness is reminiscent of Benjamin but that’s about it.

B1 isn’t exactly Leo-like, he’s far too efficient for that, he just STRANGELY ENOUGH looks A LOT like him. The hoodie and denim don’t help. He’s got that similar breaking point type edge to him. B1 sounds as serious as he is and for the first time ever, Colin is somewhat unsettling, I don’t blame Roger for keeping his distance. He’s a tad nasty and Colin goes there. Customarily though Colin helps us to “see it human” with a tear or two. As poor B1 just sits there stewing in his own anger, hatred and confusion, lost to a father and lost to himself. It’s a sad tale and Colin sure won’t let you miss the point.

B1 is part of my favourite exchange which involves Salter demonstrating his worst colours when he justifies his actions by claiming B1 was something to be crushed. Representative of the lacking thought and care that can go into the creation of life that is ultimately one of mankind’s most devastating flaws. B2 speaks of being cloned from a speck and says “you threw the rest of me away”. Colin slays me with that line. I am dead now. He killed me. Here I must afford A Number with the compliment that it is effectively unsettling and unpleasant, which is, what I think it was going for. I hope.

Can I talk about Michael now? 

He’s so adorable. Can I just point out SPOILER that Michael is Irish! Even Irish clones are better! Unlike in All My Sons, Colin catches a break and can conclude this show on a happier note, he’s a happy man attune to and accepting of similarities to the likes of apes and lettuces. He’s a purple shirt of sex wearing Maths teacher twenty years away from Netflix and Chill with his pointy eared wife (possibly called Rebecca in my head) and he’s at ease with life, fatherhood and clone-being. I love Michael. When he’s on stage “you can’t help feeling wonderful”.

Dean (Gloria) has a cheerful contender for my heart. Who saw that coming?

After that ridiculous wait we all had to endure while Colin was being all lazy and stuff we finally get some Colin vs Bad Dad on stage again!

PS. Did I mention that Michael is lovely? 

[solacefruit]

hello! something i really enjoy about your stories is how naturally you blend worldbuilding and stories within the actual story itself - do you have any advice on how to do that effectively? i always worry i'm going to too far into "just listing off facts about the world" in the middle of a story if i try and include TOO much worldbuilding, but i'm a big lover of worldbuilding and have a hard time not planning out every detail

Hello there! Thank you so much. Stories within stories (fun fact: this technique is called mise en abîme or mise en abyme) is something that I’m really enthralled by and that I’ve worked hard to try to get the hang of in my own work, so it’s wonderful to know it’s something you enjoy about my writing! That feels very good to hear. 

As far as advice goes, I can offer the following thoughts:

Whatever amount of world-building you think is enough, go slightly under it. What I mean by this is that very often less is more when it comes to building a world (see my notes on Pullman’s Northern Lights here). By using a bit of restraint and cutting things down just a touch on your final edit, you can help yourself resist the thrall of the too much gene that many writers experience when talking about their world-building. Ask yourself “does this need to be here, or am I just excited to share it?” 

Unfortunately, if it’s just the latter, it’s probably a good idea to trim it: lean storytelling keeps readers hungry, and hungry readers usually ask for more. Trouble is, as a writer, you’ve got to be the one to remember that it’s always better to leave while a crowd is wanting more than stay until the crowd is begging you to stop. (cough several media series we could mention cough)

An example of this would be in a world where there are ten gods. In your first chapter, you don’t need to list all the gods. You can maybe mention one or two, and perhaps imply there’s more. Immediately, that creates mystery and a sense of a larger world; a reader gets to wonder, who are these other gods...

You mentioned you’re a planner, so I want to reassure you: keeping the story trim doesn’t mean all your planning is wasted! If you, the writer, knows the details of your world, it will come through in everything you write. The fact you know all the answers means you have a lot of control over what you want to reveal, when, where, and how. Which leads me to:

When possible, world-build obliquely. What I mean by this is that a lot of world-building can be done in subtle ways, that leave impressions of the world without having to be told directly by a character. You also can stretch out details, sprinkling them only here and there, meaning that it takes multiple chapters to piece together concepts or institutions or other world-building elements. 

Doing this can help make it never feel like an exposition dump or listing off facts, because you’re putting only tasty little morsels in (sometimes hidden) for readers to find or look back on later. The reason for it is the same as why keepers will scatter-feed animals in enclosures: enrichment. If you dump it all in one place, the animal will eat, get full and/or bored, and won’t feel good. But if you make it into a puzzle to solve, the emotional reward of finding and figuring things out for yourself is so much nicer than whatever you’re finding, usually. (Sorry to keep using animal metaphors for readers, but like... it works).

An example of this would be something like:

Anwar turned the corner onto the opulent mosaic path of the shrine district and continued towards the temple of Kenuf, furthest from the city centre. On either side, acolytes of all kinds were leaving offerings--jars of salt for Meshut, baskets of yellow lilies for Pesht--and the air was thick with the smell of incense, making his eyes water slightly. He walked as quickly as he could past the grinning crocodile faces carved on the outer wall of the second last temple, before greeting the black-robed bell-keeper outside of Kenuf’s shrine.  

I’ve made this up off the cuff so none of it “means” anything, but if we look at what’s here, we learn the following:

there’s at least four gods, possibly more

Pesht’s devotees leave yellow lilies, but we don’t know what Pesht is god of yet

Meshut’s devotees leave jars of salt, but ditto above

Kenuf’s shrine is furthest from the city (does this imply it is least favoured? or maybe least used?)

all gods seem to be named in consonant-e pattern (pe-, me-, ke-), but we don’t know yet if this is meaningful or coincidental (but if you wanted it to be, make all gods and maybe royals have this same pattern and just... leave it. let your reader infer from the text that the pattern signifies divinity)

the unnamed god is represented by crocodile iconography

the bell-keeper of Kenuf wears black robes (is this a uniform, or just a fashion choice?)

Anwar does not feel comfortable with the unnamed god in this passage (scared? disdainful? a mystery...)

A “too much” passage would offer lengthy descriptions of every shrine, listing what the offerings were and what the acolytes and other staff wore and Anwar’s thoughts about how he felt about each of the ten gods. It’s not impossible to write something like that that’s good, I do want to point out! But if you’re looking to slim things down, less is more, space out details over multiple chapters. 

Write for your ideal reader, who is clever and attentive. Some writers fall into the habit of over-explaining their world (resulting in info-dumping) because they don’t trust their readers to get the “right” vision of their world, or because they’re worried readers will overlook all the cool stuff they’ve put in. I can recommend not doing this and part of getting to that point is imagine you’re writing for the perfect reader of your story, who does get it and will look for all the cool clever tricky things you sneakily put in. Will every reader be that person? Definitely not! But if you write for that reader, you will elevate your work, rather than dumb it down and make it heavy with unneeded hand-holding. 

This kind of overlaps with the above in the sense that it boils down to “you’re allowed to leave things out, let readers make the intellectual leaps based on the pieces you give them” but it’s also saying that you’re allowed to let things rest. Put in subtle symbolism and never draw attention to it. 

Additionally, as the creator, you know all the information about the world, which is a huge power and means you can choose the exact right moments to reveal meaningful, revelatory details. For example, somewhere around chapter three or four: 

Anwar closed the door of his room, walked to the wall shrine, and fell to his knees, pulling the curtain aside. 

“Ye’emer, it is done,” he said, looking at the floor. “It is finally done.”

In the distance, the bells of the temple of Kenuf began to ring: a strident sound, sharp and mournful. The dawn acolytes must have found the body already. 

He reached forward, carefully placing the offering on the black silk of the tiny altar. The chips of animal bone looked like stars at night, bright white in the dark. 

“I don’t know why you chose me,” said Anwar, forcing himself to look up. 

The burning eyes of the crocodile statue stared back. 

And now you get to go ohhhh. You know the name of the god now, you know the offering, you know (or at least can speculate better at) why Anwar felt so uncomfortable near the temple. If you time when you reveal world-building details, you can make them do so much work for you in telling your story. 

Make up lies about your world--or at least, untruths. This maybe sounds counter-intuitive, but there is a logic in it. Most of us are not experts on our world, and your characters should be the same. They should be biased in their perspective, or limited by what they know, or perhaps even inclined to embellish details. If two characters talk about the same event, make them have personal feelings about it! Unless your character is a historian, their account of a historical event probably isn’t going to be totally correct or certain about all the details, and that’s not a bad thing. You can use that to weave in ambiguity or intrigue, or leave out important facts that will become relevant later, or contradict it later with a different telling and make the protagonist have to question who to trust or what’s the truth. 

As a species, everything we do is stories. The concept of a nation is a story we tell ourselves about what it is to be “us.” Who we each are is a story we are always telling to ourselves: I am me because I do x, I am me because I don’t do y. Often, these things aren’t The Truth so much as they are A Truth, so when it comes to writing stories into your stories, don’t forget to think about the stories characters are telling themselves about who they are. And remember that all characters are unreliable narrators, because they’re people and they’re filtering the world through their perspective. You can do so much with that. 

Use stories to create meaningful parallels for the larger narrative. If you’re featuring a story (which I’ll call tale from here, to cut down on confusion) within your story, it needs to be doing something more than just telling the reader facts about the world or passing the time. One way to make sure you’re doing that is thinking about parallels, which is to say, think of how the tale can impact the “real world” of your story. This might be the protagonist having a realisation or plot breakthrough, or later deciphering out important information or applying ideas from the story to a problem they encounter. 

You also can (and often should) create tonal and emotional parallels within the tale as well and/or use tales as a form of foreshadowing. For a very basic example, in a story that involves a protagonist who gets trapped in a big horrible maze later in the book might feature a version of Minotaur in the Labyrinth as foreshadowing, and the character might have a fleeting thought about it that later will resurface with new significance. 

I hope some of this is helpful to you! Good luck with you writing, and please write in again if there’s anything I can help with. 

tl;dr: my tips are:

do a little less and space out what you tell your reader

don’t say directly what you can imply or gesture vaguely at

write cleverly and time your moments

make use of ambiguity

make the story impact the real world

[salthaven]

Make a Change P15 (an Explanation and Summary)

Part Fifteen (An Explanation and Summary)

So, as I recently posted, I don’t plan to continue this story any longer. As much as I loved writing it, I also...fell out of love, I suppose. I just don’t have the time, passion, or motivation to try forcing myself to write it anymore, and it’s unfair to you guys to have to accept a sloppy second, something thrown onto a document for the sake of a word count and an update. I want to write stuff I’m proud of, and that just wasn’t happening with this story.

That said, one reader asked for a summary, so that they could get some closure. Luckily, I have some notes that I took as I planned the story and started writing it, and I thought you’d like to see some of them. This includes three things: 1. The schedules for most of the main characters 2. The heroes I was planning on bringing in and 3. All of the ideas I had for “Who on Earth will Marinette end up with?” (This was a doozy.) Along with this, I want to talk about other pairings I had in mind. 

With that all said, let’s hop right in!

The Schedules:

I really planned out their schedules, just so I could start figuring out who the Quantic Kids would be. I had a general idea in mind: Each student at Collège des Arts would have to take their four core classes (History, Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science), a language, and then their last period would be a two hour block that focused on their artistic talent. I set it up this way so that I could integrate the Quantic Kids into Marinette’s life. (Along with this, I made it so the whole school had lunch after fourth hour, so that the morning had four hours of classes, and the afternoon had three. I note this, because some schools separate lunches based on fourth hour, so that there is an A, B, and C lunch. I...did not feel like dealing with that, and I wasn’t sure how French schools do it but I doubt it’s like that.) 

Marinette Dupain-Cheng’s schedule: 

1. History (right next to Félix, later on stuck between him and Adrien) The original plan never had Adrien’s arrival, it was supposed to be a moment of comic relief where Marinette and Félix were just kind of half awake and barely conscious at any given time during first hour. This is why their history teacher, Mr. Marcel, was either wide awake or dead asleep. I thought it’d be a cute moment to show off the dynamics of their exhaustion or energy, depending on the day. I didn’t show this off nearly as much as planned, however, because I shifted my focus soon after.

2. Language Arts (with Allegra). A nice, calmer class seemed perfect for Marinette, who’d probably still be waking up. Allegra is calm and classy, so it only made sense to pair the two up for the second hour.

3. Science (Claude’s here!) Loud and exciting, just like their class seems to be, it was a perfect pairing. 

4. Math (with Allegra and Claude) I wanted to show off Allegra and Claude’s...chaotic dynamic. 

5. English (with Allan) Marinette wants to be a fashion designer, and she had to take a language, so she thought “hey, fashion is pretty big in America, let’s learn English”. (It was also the only class I could think of that she and Allan would take...more on that later.)

6. Fashion Design. Pretty self-explanatory.

Allegra: 

1. German. Allegra likes opera music, and wanted to mimic the sound of some German singers accurately. 

2. Language Arts (with Marinette, as mentioned above)

3. Science (a different teacher than Marinette and Claude, though. What a pity) (Also I apparently called it ‘physics’ in my notes and I just noticed.) 

4. Math (With Marinette and Claude)

5. History

6. Choir (She’s a singer.)

Claude Mercury:

1. English (It was for the theatre, but also for Shakespeare, but more accurately….for Shakespeare’s more inappropriate humor.) (and memes)

2. History

3. Science (with Marinette) (Lots of explosions and fires were planned)

4. Math (With Allegra and Marinette) 

5. Language Arts

6. Drama. He was just a simple thespian lad who wanted to have fun and make friends, what can I say?

Allan:

1. Math

2. Science

3. Language Arts

4. History

5. English (with Marinette) He likes hip hop and rap, and wanted to learn English rap, too. He, like Claude, also loves their memes, and I planned to have a few moments where he explained some to Marinette. 

6. Dance. Mainly hip hop, although the boy can break dance a little bit

Félix Agreste: 

1. History (with Marinette) He’s tired in the morning, but good at reciting dates. Again, had a lot more planned for this.

2. Math

3. Spanish. (“Come on, guys, it’s logical. It’s one of the most spoken languages in the world.” -Félix, probably.) I also planned for Félix to already know English. I wanted a cute chapter where he tutored Marinette, only for Claude to start dramatically monologuing because ‘why do you help her but never help me? The betrayal, Fe, the betrayal!’ 

4. Language Arts

5. Science

6. Music (he’s a piano boy in my heart) (maybe also good at violin) (a classy young man) 

Adrien Agreste:

1. History (with Marinette)

2. Language Arts (with Marinette)

3. Science (with Marinette)

4. Math (with Marinette)

5. Chinese (with Marin- oh, wait, we’re done with that!) This class, along with his next, is another reason Adrien relaxed so quickly at the school. By taking Chinese at school, he was able to convince his father to stop the at-home lessons, clearing up some of his schedule.

6. Music. Same as above, playing piano at school meant he didn’t have to do it at home so much.

The Heroes:

“But salthaven, you already introduced the heroes! Envision and Viperion, remember?” Haha, as if those were the only guys I had planned?

Yeah, I had more. Four more.

I wanted the Quantic Kids to be heroes. I had three of them for sure chosen, names and Miraculi assigned to them. (Allegra was my only problem child, but I’ll explain that below.)

The first was supposed to be Allegra. I was going to make her the Fox, with the name Mélodie. I’m pretty sure that was her original hero name, back during the PV stage of this show, and I wanted to pay an homage to her inspiration. But then Félix got it, because I didn’t end up giving him the Cat (yeah, I was really salty when I started this, and I was planning to go the same route that I do in my ao3 fic, Of Patience and Pettiness, and take away the Cat from Adrien to give to Félix.), as Adrien learned from his mistakes. So Allegra waits, and Envision springs to life with Viperion.

Next would be Allan. Miraculous: Bee. Name: Mellifury, based on Mellifura (aka the Africanized Killer Bee) + Fury. He was supposed to be an unexpected storm. A dancer, he uses rhythm in a way that throws off opponents. Uses the spinning top like it's another limb, throws the game way off when first introduced. 

Then we’d have Allegra. After a while, I decided that the Rabbit would be best suited for her. Messing with timelines is a tricky business, but Allegra has a knack for details and organization that would leave her cruising through her tasks with some practice. While it’s nothing musical, it would be fun to see. Name: Cottontail. 

Finally, after an interesting fight that would cause Nathalie to lose the Peacock...Claude would step in. Bold and flashy, the thespian knows how to strut his stuff. But again, he’s a thespian, and theatre kids know when it’s time to hide in the shadows and stay unseen and unheard. With dark blues that can hide in the name and stand out in the daylight, Claude would become Le Paon, turning the tide and becoming a major help for the team. [At first, he dealt with some sickness, but after a talk with Ladybug, who in turn talked to Fu, the Miraculous was fixed and Le Paon could fight as easily as the rest.] He’d use sentimentals wisely, although he’d have a bad habit of monologuing as he created them. 

The Ships:

The moment we’ve all been waiting for. Our first question: Who the hell was Marinette going to end up with? Well, that answer changed throughout the story.

The first choice: Félix. I wanted Marinette to move on from Agreste...and fall in love with Agreste. It humored me, and I was in love with a bunch of Felinette one shots at the time. (And, again, very salty towards Adrien at the moment.) 

But then I redeemed Adrien. No problem, I thought. Marinette could choose between one of the boys...and the other would date Luka! (I mean, did you see the Instagram picture of Luka and Adrien. Luka with either Agreste would be cute, just imagine the musical moments they could have together)

But then I Akumatized Juleka, and Luka was right there...and I made Marinette fall for all three guys. So I decided “Hey, she can just date all three!” And so that’s the final choice, because I’m apparently a sucker for poly ships. 

But I mentioned other ships, didn’t I? So let’s talk about those!

First: Luka with an OC. Yep, I was going to bring in a new girl. It was actually going to be one of my friends, due to a conversation we had that went as follows:

S.H. (Salthaven): So I’m thinking that I’m going to pair up Félix and Marinette. Thoughts?

F. (Friend): Okay, but what about Luka?

S.H.:  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

F.: Well then pair me up with him!

So I did. Or I was going to...but then poly ship idea happened. 

As mentioned above, I also considered Luka with either of the Agreste boys. Whoever Marinette didn’t date. Again, couldn’t happen because I went for that sweet poly route. 

Finally: Claude and Allegra. What can I say, they act like an old married couple in my mind!

And that’s everything! Once all the heroes were chosen, and romantic confessions set aside, the Miraculous Team was going to gear up and take down Hawkmoth once and for all. Fun times, the end, we all get a happy ending.

So I hope that makes up for my rather abrupt end to this story. Thank you all for the time you put in, reading my writings, and I hope you enjoy the other works I plan to create! Until next time. <3

[tlbodine]

Hi! Im writing a story that has to mix fantasy and reality, Ive always been interested in folklore, cultures, and beliefs of other people. All of these things are involved in my story, I wanted to add in a character that is Native American (Her name is Rosalie), I'm on the fence because I don't want to touch something that I shouldn't. How should I go about this? Should I change her ethnicity, Should I in someway make it my own? Or how should I write it or should I write about something else.

This is tricky. And the answer is going to be really long. Sorry. 

I want to make it clear that I am not myself in any way a representative of Native people or claiming to be one. I’m just a white lady who grew up near the reservation and have had maybe more interactions with Native American cultures than a lot of people. But at the end of the day, I’d defer judgment to people closer to the people being specifically affected. 

So, with that disclaimer out of the way. Here’s the thing. I’m not here to tell anybody what they should or should not write about. But I can hopefully give you some stuff to think about that will help you decide. 

Thing One: “Native American” is not a monoculture. There are 574 tribes federally recognized by the U.S. government. They are all culturally distinct. They each have their own histories, mythology, religion, food, lifestyle, and so forth. So before you go creating any Native OC, you’re gonna want to narrow that down to a tribal affiliation. 

You can do this one of two ways. You can choose a geographic location and then look for a tribe who lives in that area, or you can choose a tribe and then root them in that geographic location. Of course, a Lakota Sioux could live in New York, but she wouldn’t be from New York, you feel me? 

Writing about “Native Americans” without understanding their tribal affiliation and history is like writing about “Europeans” as if Italians and Russians and Greeks and Germans were all the same. 

Thing Two: If you’re going to be talking about mythology/folklore, you need to do your research while also recognizing that a lot of the most accurate and authentic information is not going to be accessible to you. 

A lot of Native cultures are “closed” cultures in the sense that they’re not going to teach sacred knowledge and rituals to outsiders. They’re just not. It’s none of your business. They’re not hiding this information from you because they want to be greedy, they’re hiding it because until 1978 it was illegal for them to practice their religion in public in a lot of the country. A lot of things from Native cultures have been erased forever or diluted by outside influences. 

So this means that if you’re writing a character whose life includes or is influenced by traditional culture, there are some things you won’t be able to portray accurately. And I personally think it would be disrespectful to just make something up, especially if you don’t make it extremely clear that you’re making it up. 

For an example of how this could work: The film Dance Me Outside is a really great mystery-thriller set on a reservation, and I heartily recommend it. But there’s one scene where one of the characters has married a white guy. She brings him home to her family and, for plot reasons, needs him to be out of her hair for a bit. So she sends him out with some of her male relatives to keep him occupied. They decide it would be hilarious to do a “naming ceremony” to give him an “Indian Name.” It’s very clear in the narrative that they’re making this up as they go along -- they are creating what they think he thinks a naming ceremony would look like, and he’s gullible enough to go along with it because he’s eager to please (and at this point very drunk). The scene is very funny and advances the plot and develops some characterization without ever actually revealing any secret/sacred knowledge. 

But in general? If something is sacred to a tribe? You don’t get to fuck around with it. You don’t get to put your own fresh spin on it or just make up stuff that “sounds” authentic. Because...

Thing Three: You will encounter a TON of fake or inaccurate information out there. Just, a ton. Because here’s the thing. White folks didn’t just commit genocide against Native people. It wasn’t enough to destroy their people and their culture. White folks have a really long history with appropriating their culture. 

So the situation is that you get a group of people whose ancestors were actively hunted like animals (there were bounties for scalps!), sent to forced re-education camps where they were frequently abused and scrubbed of their culture and language, and who were not allowed to practice their religion under threat of law. And at the same time, aspects of those religions and cultures -- that the people who made them cannot practice! -- are taken and absorbed into pop culture.

Yeah. It’s shitty. 

So when you’re researching, you need to be absolutely certain that your sources are coming from actual Native Americans from the tribe you want to write about and not from white folks who think some aspect of their culture is neat. Because, personally, I feel like cultural appropriation -- in the context of Native Americans -- is continuing to perpetuate genocide, and that feels icky. 

Thing Four: Modern Natives =/= Historical Natives. 

There is this....weird, colonialist tendency to imagine Native Americans as...living fossils, or quaint backwards people who live in old-fashioned ways, or as a thing that used to exist but not anymore. I get the impression talking to a lot of people that they think Native Americans stopped existing in the Wild West days. Like “Indian” is a category in their head alongside “Cowboy” and “Samurai” and “Pirate” or whatever. 

But that’s not, like....the case. Modern Native American people exist, and they have varied and complex relationships with their culture and history just like everybody else. Some people live on reservations and practice traditional religious and cultural practices. Some people live in small towns or cities and practice a mixture of modern and more traditional lifestyles. A lot of them are Christian. Some blend cultural aspects of their tribe with Christian aspects of religion. And so on and so forth. It will 100% depend on the individual! 

There are also aspects of cultures that get blended across tribal affiliations! This is especially true among the sort of “powwow culture” groups who dance competitively or trade crafts at powwows and fairs. 

Anyway the whole thing is VERY COMPLICATED and honestly not something you’re going to learn from reading a book. It’s the kind of nuance that’s only going to make sense to you if you’re hanging out with Native people and understand their individual lives. 

Thing Five: There are a ton of harmful stereotypes and things you maybe don’t even think about or realize are stereotypes because there is so much misinformation out there. I feel like almost every representation of Native Americans in media is bad because most of the stories are written by folks who just don’t know what it’s like to be Native, and they’re writing for a White audience. 

PHEW. Okay. That was a lot. If you’re still reading, THANK YOU. 

So what’s my answer to your question? 

I think it really depends. Why do YOU want to write a Native OC? Are you willing to put in some time and effort to research them? What kind of story are they going to feature in? I think by and large, people outside of a culture shouldn’t try to write stories about being that culture. As in, like, I don’t think a white person has any business writing a story to “illuminate the struggles” of Native people or anything like that. 

But if you want one of the characters in your horror novel to be Native because the story takes place in an area with a lot of Native people, sure. That makes sense. And if that person’s frame of reference is flavored by their culture, sure, go for it. 

But I certainly would not recommend writing a story that, for example, re-casts a sacred/mythological Native American figure as a monster (cough, Wendigo, cough), or one that creatively reimagines the mythology unless it is exceptionally clear that the mythology is being reimagined and is not meant to be accurate at all (because otherwise it runs the risk of further polluting an already almost-extinct culture). 

So...that’s my opinion. I hope this was helpful!

[ikemenshakespeare]

Title: Deviled Eggs and Sandwiches

Fandom: Ikemen Revolution

Character(s): MC, Black Army, and mystery suitor. 😉

Warnings: N/A

Prompt: Valentines First.

Authors Note: A creativity contest is being held in one of the many discord servers I’ve joined into, and this is my entry! It was due today 2/24. So although it’s no longer Valentines Day, I still hope this was a little something cute to get ya through your day. Thank you for reading!

“No! No way!” My face burned with embarrassment.

“Oh c’mon MC, it could be fun! After all, it’ll be Valentines Day. It wouldn’t kill ya to be a little spontaneous for once” Fenrir’s grin was nothing short of mischievous.

“Listen, I know you get a kick out of teasing me but I’m not naive enough to believe in love at first bar meet. Especially not when I’d have you for a wingman.” His laughter in response was almost infuriating. “What’s so funny? I’m being serious.”

“Okay. I got a better idea.” Fenrir and better ideas were almost always anything but. Still, I waited expectantly for him to finish. “Why don’t you put an ad out in the paper? A lot of people do it to find dates. When we find a guy who seems suitable-”

“We?...”

“Okay, when you, then the two of you could write eachother back and fourth to set up a nice date you’d both enjoy. And BOOM, just like that you won’t be ms. lonely anymore.” I’ll admit, if this idea somehow does work it would be infinitely better then the last. Not only that, but theirs no promise anyone will actually respond in the first place. Plus it’s only a little over one week till Valentine’s Day actually arrives, which doesn’t give anyone much time to figure arrangements out.

“Fine. If that’s what it takes to get you off my back, I’m willing to give it a try.”

“Alright!” I smiled slightly but quickly frowned. Why do you care so much anyway? As if sensing my thoughts, Fenrir stopped his celebrating. “Huh? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I’m gonna start dinner.” And with that I left the room in a hurry, no longer wanting to think of what scheme he had up his sleeve. I ran into Ray and Seth on the other side of the door.

“Alice?! What’s going on?” Seth squealed as my face smacked up against his chest.

“I don’t wanna talk about it. Ask Fenrir.” The sly smirk on Ray’s face gave me the sense he was ready to be filled in.

“Suit yourself.” A short second later they were both sitting next to Fenrir on the couch. “What’s MC going on about?” A tricky look appeared on Fenrir’s face.

“I have a master plan for MC’s first date night in cradle, and I’m gonna need your help.”

“ALICE?? My poor Alice?? Oh no no no, we absolutely will not-”

“Oh relax Seth! I’m sure you’ll approve of this one, just make sure not to tell Luka or the old man.” While Seth continued to worry over MC’s innocents, Ray had a devils smile to rival Fenrir’s.

“You can count on me.” A couple days passed by all to quickly, and there was only 7 days till MC’s first Valentines in Cradle...

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

“Come in!” I heard a knock at my door and sure as the sky was blue, Fenrir came yelling in his usual fashion.

“Mornin’! You ready to respond to your future boyfriend?” FUTURE WHAT??

“You’re telling me it worked??”

“Well of course it did. I’m the one who wrote it after all.” The cocky look on his face was already getting old.

“YOU wrote the ad?? And beyond that, I thought we discussed that I would be choosing the candidate- wait, why am I even taking this seriously??” I huffed. Even though I just woke up from an amazing sleep, I couldn’t help but throw myself back onto the mattress. I’m already tired from a couple minutes of talking to the black army’s very own maniac.

“Yeah, yeah, but we were running out of time and there was only one responce.”

“Wow, doesn’t that make me feel great?” I spoke sarcastically but I knew I was looking at him hopefully. Maybe it won’t be all that bad after all, it’s just one silly date. Fenrir wasted no time, as quickly as he had entered my room and shut the door, he began reading the response aloud.

“Dear MC, I’ve thought about it and I’d be extremely interested in meeting up, how about a late lunch date at the park in central quarter? Please respond to let me know.”

“That’s pretty vague, did he leave his name?”

“No, but I think it’s worth a shot.”

“Eh, I don’t know about that... but still, lunch at the park doesn’t really sound all that dangerous...” I went back and fourth with myself for a while until I finally came to a conclusion. “Alright! Let him know he’s on! BUT also let him know that we’re each responsible for cooking half of the meal, just Incase I get a bad feeling and it seems like he’s trying to poison me or something.”

“You worry to much, but now you’re talkin’!” And just like that Fenrir sat down next to me and we began brainstorming what to write in response. Just as before the next few days flew by, the air outside filled with love, the 14th of February had arrived.

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

Fenrir and Ray both got the day off to help assure things went to plan, a carriage headed toward the park in central quarter. It just so happened Sirius would be working in that same direction today, so all four of them rode together. Finally the ride came to a stop and MC jumped out nervously with the food she prepared in hand, she was already looking around curiously for the man writing her letters. But before the other two could follow her out, Sirius firm voice rose up.

“Before any of you get yourself into trouble, do you mind giving me a heads up of what’s really going on? Because all I could get out of Seth is that he absolutely would not participate in such a horrible act of indignity towards MC, but he promised not to say why.” Ray and Fenrir exchanged a glance.

“I guess since the plans already in full swing it wouldn’t hurt to tell him.” And so Ray did the honors.

“We tricked MC into thinking she’s going to be meeting a stranger here for lunch today. Truth is this man is no stranger, in fact she knows him quite well.” Sirius was one to keep his expressions under control but when he went wide eyed the two knew they’d got him good.

“But... that could only mean...”

LUKA?! Why does he have a blanket set up by beside the pond?? More importantly, the pond I’m supposed to be meeting my mystery date at. The facial response Luka gave back when he saw me standing there said the exact thing I was thinking.

“Angie?...” he started to stir around in his sitting position.

“What are you doing here?” I didn’t think things could get anymore awkward until Luka began to blush furiously.

“Honestly, I’d rather not say.” I just stared at him until finally he sighed in defeat. “Okay, Ray just wouldn’t leave me alone about needing to find some sort of Valentines Date. I guess you could say I gave in, and now I’m here waiting for her... if there even is anyone coming.” He hung his head low, and my heart broke just a little.

“You think you’re being stood up?”

“I think those two over there are playing a prank and now I just look stupid.” Off in the distance, standing on either side of a tree was Fenrir and Ray. They were laughing so hard, they were almost in tears. In unison they both shouted over to us a good luck and ran in the opposite direction. What a bunch of kids. I turned back to face Luka.

“I don’t think YOU look stupid, I think we both do. They set us up.” I splat down on the space next to him on the blanket, looking like a piece of old bumble gum on pavement. “How do we always get sucked into things with these two!” Luka wore a shocked expression, giving me a crooked eyebrow. I took the next thirty minutes to explain all that I assumed happened. When my story was over he looked grumpy.

“I see.” We stayed silent for a moment. Just listening to the sounds of the park around us. I closed my eyes and before I knew it I was opening them wide again. “But I guess if we’re already here we might as well finish our date- I mean...” he trailed off. I was the shocked one now, to see Luka wasn’t running away from me at full speed from embarrassment was already a surprise. Now he’s actually agreeing to go through with what I assumed would be his nightmare. A date, and with me? It only took a second before the wheels started turning in my head again. I gave him the softest smile I could muster.

“I guess you’re right. Here, I made some deviled eggs and brought some fruit. You can have some if you like.” I opened my basket to share and he gave a sheepish grin. He popped an egg in his mouth and the look of delight sent a small rush of happiness to my brain.

“Those are amazing! I decided to go pretty simple myself since I didn’t know what to expect, so if you want a sandwich have at it.” I looked at the array of different choices to choose from.

“This is supposed to be simple! Luka, you’re truly fantastic, thank you!” The rest of our afternoon was spent talking about our favorite foods and other things we liked to cook, we even took a stroll around the park. As it started getting darker Luka reached for my hand, holding it softly.

“It’s getting late, we should get on our way home.” The way he took my hand in his was so natural, it had me feeling like I could get used to this. As much as I didn’t want to admit thanks to Fenrir and all his shenanigans, I was really happy not to be Ms. Lonely, even if it was just for the day.

[unproduciblesmackdown]

let's see those Prime Numbers for the ask meme

2) favorite albums?

well i was Ready for kesha’s album Warrior to come out in iiii think it was the end of 2012 or early 2013?? i snuck out to that tour in dc that summer also. totally solid album and it was fun to have something so fun during a totally Not Fun period lol. i was also pretty into owl city at the exact same time lmao, that’s Blatantly for when you’re depressed lol...and i also eventually saw that guy on tour when a new album came out in 2015, and that was fun too, and was Enjoying Myself a factor in the tipping point of “ah jeez i gots 2 get outta here” that i had in the next month? maybe! and uhhh i listened a lot to the phoenix te amo album. that one wasnt tied to anything at all but i have heard it So much. super short and also rock solid and relistenable. and then here we are and the bmc obcr is a gift to the world b/c a) it exists and b) Cuz It All Slaps and c) it’s so fun to either sing or dance along, or cry along if it’s the agtikbi reprise and d) lgw... and e) all the eternal, well-mixed wroland vocals

3) favorite memes?

oh god lmao idk......real earlier 10s stuff was the I Say Hey he-man meme, and the “that really rustles my jimmies” meme which was real underrated......there’s been plenty of Memes where i’ve been like “this one is funny to me Every Time” but of course now looking back on it it’s like. what’s a meme??? Vine

(skipping 5 & 11 cuz that’s the Entirety of someone else’s ask and i don’t wanna just have to scrap theirs completely and i’ll get to it next!!)

11) favorite fanarts?

you know what, there’s continuously been a ton of amazing fanart where i’m like, i’m so glad i’m seeing this, & this is Artistic Fuel, and marge simpson anime has really been just this Standout Experience lmao like......idk for as Inspiring as it is, there’s only a couple things i’ve drawn that are Directly inspired, but i just flip for it all the time and like, it’s supremely expressive and like, comics that aren’t chronological but more like a Collage Of a Moment / Concept which i think is super cool and also i love when stuff reminds me that it doesn’t have to look ~super cleaned up~ to look great.

13) favorite people you know?

oh god this one really got out of control lol i started like, talking about everyone ever from this past decade. so for Convenience i’m interpreting this as “people *i* know, but they don’t know me” so that i can cheat and say will roland, voted person of the year 2019. by extension, essential supporting crew who helped us reach this point, like john simpkins or joe iconis. leave it at that!! it’s 5am and you know i’m not lying. who knew where going “wow, This guy” in late 2018 would have so much Value.

17) a fandom you wish more people were in/you had more people to talk to about?

oof hmm.......amnesia tdd didn’t really have a “fandom” even though it obviously got a lot of attention, it’dve been fun if it had though lol. it’s tricky to answer this one cuz i always prefer like, smaller fandoms and/or finding the Niche or some other way of just like, interacting with a small corner of things, so i’m never like wow god damn wish i’d been absolutely in the thick of it with this thing. i’ve been in Corners n Niches and it’s been fine by me, really

19) a fandom that you had the best time in?

HMM lol.........marble hornets sure was fun but like, a lot of that was just the content itself and not necessarily The Fan Experience, tho i sure got a lot out of it in a ton of ways. i mean tbh that’s true of each thing i’ve really Gotten Into majorly, i go hard af and then walk out the other side with these #connections or #experiences like whoa where’d these come from lol!! but really like, overall, i’m probably having the best time right now. the “fandom” is basically just our agenda lmao but like i said i’m always having the best time when it’s a pretty niche deal, And the sheer variety of Contents n Characters to draw from here is super nice, and the fact that it’s like, oh yeah and i’m finally recognizing this should’ve-been-obvious entire Passionne i’ve had since always, and that’s great too, and like, also just having the Variety Of Live / Current Unfoldings that go down.....like, everyone havin fun with the Joe Iconis Xmas Xtrav was entirely great. and just the Engagement level is basically the best, cuz like there’s the times where maybe i’ll get a zillion notes and that’s definitely fun in its own way but i always enjoy just the way smaller amount of ppl who are Particularly Enthusiastic, and like, there’s times where like, maybe i’m *technically* in this larger circle of ppl but like, totally more of like a Tangent or peripheral to that circle or whatever lol........this feels like a really solid balance of like, being sorta in this orbit of people in a chill way, but also definitely the direct interactions Existing, which is always important lol but hasn’t always been a constant throughout my Fandom Experiences at all

23) who were you at the beginning of this decade?

2009-2010 was a real distinct year lol i was in my second year of college in the middle of my teens, when i’d hardly really been getting to Explore My Interests Freely up to that point and still wasn’t, but all of a sudden it’s like goddamn i have to figure out my major???? and i’m like, obviously in the middle of only just now Really getting to figure out my identity in this deeper and more genuine way, thanks to being lucky enough to Live On Campus and be away from home like, 2/3 of the year, but i was just like, oh god i’m in Stress Hell now all the time cuz like. i’m trying to figure out my whole thing and what my ~Career~ should be and i just have no idea but am like, trying super hard all the time lol it was not successful and i was just really stressed about it all the time. i was def quieter back then.....pretty lonely at the time, i did not get into mh and gain the presence of any Online Friends until late 2010, and i hadn’t yet been sort of accepted by a small faction of theatre people via my roommate’s connections.....i wasn’t at all Out yet, and was def In Progress of figuring it all out.....i didn’t have nearly the Self-Esteem i have now lmao, it was Not a great time and in a lot of ways ‘09-’10 was the start of a downturn into Worse Than Usual Times, though in Other ways it was definitely an upturn lol like. the latter related to stuff that was important to me / who i am, the former tied to the situations i was in and the godawful morale that resulted

29) a time when the worst case scenario happened but you pulled through?

well by the end of 2012 i had my Wrath Parent deluxe mad at me big time, AND i was stuck at home all of thee time with that (not at all hours but. every day.) it was terrible!!! tf was going on in 2013, cuz that shit was definitely like, a gross blur of a lot of indistinct misery. and then, relatedly, when it was so shitty in 2015 that i was like fantastic, i am so officially sick of this i’m outta here. i revisited some Misery Posts from that period lately for someone stranger on twitter’s project or something, and boy i was having a bad time Summer Of ‘15 lol, things not getting better at home And a job that was so shitty that it was like..................bye. lol. and then i spent a year living out of a minivan. which was real lucky in ways b/c like. infinitely better than if i had not had that minivan. and when that broke down i was also then lucky enough to have this friend who was relatively nearby who’d also been willing to just like, set me up to Not have to ask the lgbt center where that trans-friendly forest zone a couple cities over was. nothing as dramatic as it could’ve been, fortunately

31) a time you were scared?

hmmm when leaving The Parents Home overnight, that was intimidating. bit of completely jumping into the unknown there, and also like, when you spend your lifetime assuming that Someone’s Arbitrary Wrath will be uponst you always, it’s hard to shake that sense of dread and doom, like ah jeez i am really potentially bringing hell on myself here........and like i mentioned with Start Of The Decade, there was just a ton of fear there all the time lol, trying to figure out virtually overnight The Whole Of Who I Am And What I Want when i’d only just even gotten to start......also i wanna say i maybe came out in 2011?? and i sort of also felt obligated to come out to my parents also (plus i think i was giving them like, one last chance to surprise me and be decent and kind of Grow Up themselves even tho i was the like, 16 y.o.) which yknow, kids you do not have to come out to anyone at all. someone was talking the other day abt how they didn’t think lgbtq “discourse” had evolved as much as you’d hope over the past decade, but idk about that, it's only a little bit of a wildly complex topic, and for starters Online Trans “Discourse” of a decade back was wayyyyyy in a vastly different place than it is now, leaps and strides really. so the way to ~really~ do it was presented kind of more rigidly i think. anyways i did it via email and was incredibly stressed to even open the reply a couple days later lol......which ended up being really weird and vague, and then there was a phone call where no one brought it up, and the only result was increased ire and resentment :( ........and then there was still like, cops encounters! near or not-as-bad-as-they-could’ve-been vehicular collisions! but tbh generally my reaction to the latter was underwhelming, except for one particular time when i was a passenger and also tense af for the rest of the ride. that’s it for Immediate fear really lol......oh wait one time i was at this decent sized Convention Panel Event and when i’m nervous i can Only talk more (it’s possible!!) and i snuck into line for the q&a and Right when i got to the mic (intimidating) they were like oop we’re low on time, lightning round!! :’] that was obviously more just a crapton of l’anxiete

37) a fashion that fell out of style that you wish would make a resurgence?

were Gladiator sandals this decade? the strappy deals that like, went up the ankles / calves? that was in fashion for a year or two and i’m into it. i like sandals and that kind of drama

41) something you learned a lot that not a lot of other people might know about?

i don’t know that i learned way a lot of anything that’s real in-depth knowledge and niche lore.........i have learned Nothing

43) an important relationship (of any kind) you had?

i had???? lmao well either way let’s say current relationships count and like, pretty much everyone in my Sphere i value a lot! i never like, have or have had a ~close~ ring of ppl around me lol like i thought it was lucky if i talked to someone Every Day (and not at all the Usual thing) and now it’s more likely that i talk to two people every day and maybe that sounds sarcastic but it’s not at all lol. i know my social stats aren’t impressive but i so appreciate what i get to enjoy and have. and other Connections might be way more like, we are friendly acquaintances, we talk on rare occasions, we haven’t talked at all in ages, we talk but only to trade cute pics of cats, Etc etc, but i seriously do appreciate all of everyone who’s cool who i get to interact with in any way and like, be in each other’s spheres and Not just like, absolutely on nobody’s radar. also obviously soph you are here in that list in case i wasn’t implying it good enough lol it is 5am and god knows deciphering what i say at any time can be its own challenge.....ur Epic Highs and Lows of bmc 3.0 is so good lmao

[princevannevar]

So, let’s talk about jeva...

... and how dirty it did Chloe, because I have a lot of feelings and I need to talk about them.

This is a topic of conversation Rose ( @bluish-rose ) and I visit often, and one we’re both pretty unhappy about. I know I’ve written pages upon pages of threads discussing all of my problems with it on Twitter, but I wanted to write it all down somewhere more accessible - and what better place than my L.A. By Night sideblog?

Since season one, we’ve known Chloe to be an important figure in Jasper’s life. She was his girlfriend of many years and once Jasper was embraced, became his touchstone - his connection to his humanity. He watched over her in secret for five years and essentially became a silent guardian for her, pining from afar and wanting to reach out but understanding and accepting that this isn’t a life he wants to condemn her with. It’s safe to say that this understanding is what made it easier for him to move on, at least from the idea of rekindling a romantic relationship with her, but he’s still protective of her and obviously cares (or cared) about her safety enough to continue to protect her.

I mean, there’s no logical reason beyond game mechanics for Jasper to worry about Chloe’s safety, but he specifically asks Ramona to watch over her anyway and threatens her with violence if anything happens to her. He cares. Or cared. More on that in a second.

We know that Chloe had her doubts about Jasper’s death since the beginning, and who wouldn’t? Your boyfriend is gone missing for three days, the investigation closes abruptly, and next thing you know you’re attending his funeral. That’s a traumatizing experience and one you can’t easily come back from, which makes sense that she’s still dealing with it later five years down the line despite her attempts to move on from it; after all, grief has no timeline.

We also know that human intuition is a funny thing, and beyond that, Chloe’s a journalist and a humanitarian. She knows something doesn’t quite add up here. The note Jasper left gave her tangible proof that her suspicions were correct, and so she began digging - and what she found nearly killed her. How ironic that Jasper’s final attempt at protecting her led her to becoming involved.

So she disappears and Jasper becomes worried, but in true Jasper fashion, he keeps it to himself. He doesn’t know that his girlfriend has been ghouled and suffering the effects of something in her system until he’s face-to-face with her delusional convulsing body, and he’s mortified. The only thing he can do is ask his friend, Eva, for a favor - a big one, one that supposedly goes against her moral compass, but she assents. Chloe becomes a ghoul who cannot be blood bound and is shoved off into Eva’s care, only for her to be abandoned by both Jasper and Eva due to extenuating circumstances outside of their control.

Corrupted touchstones are tricky. They can really fuck you up. Given how low Jasper’s humanity is already (and the fact that the character isn’t the best at emotional maturity/dealing with things involving his emotions), him shoving her off onto Eva makes sense because he said it himself: he doesn’t know how to deal with it. We see the consequences of this in the next episode, where Eva refuses to speak to him, but all is suddenly forgiven between them during their “not a date” which makes me wonder why. I cannot, for the life of me, justify Eva’s reasoning for going back to Jasper, and the fact that Chloe’s existence is swept beneath the rug frustrates me to no end.

That’s what’s frustrating about jeva to me. I can’t justify it, not for either character. It doesn’t make sense to me. There was no build-up to it whatsoever and the situation surrounding its inception doesn’t exactly justify the romance in any capacity. You’d think because of that Eva would be like fuck this and run for the hills, but nope, and I just don’t understand why.

This isn’t the only time Eva is confronted with something about Jasper that she’s morally opposed to. Him telling her he embraces and eats his childer, and justifying it as “just deserts” through Jasper’s warped world view, is horrifying, and it makes me wonder when enough is enough for her. It’s definitely not Eva’s job to help or fix Jasper in any capacity - full stop - especially considering what he’s already put her through, so what is she getting out of this exactly? What does she see in him? I want to know.

Which leads me back to Chloe: I can’t imagine how it would feel to be in her position. Jasper is the whole reason she’s involved and instead of taking responsibility for his actions, he shoves her off onto someone she doesn’t know who she later learns became his girlfriend. How badly did that have to sting. She risked life and death for him, but now, as Jasper’s presented with the knowledge that Chloe has gone missing again, his reaction is “it’s fine” - the fuck, Jasper? Are you serious?

(Granted, yes, I’m sure he’s just saying that because Jasper doesn’t like appearing “weak”, but come on. COME ON.)

I hate the fact that no one is giving Jasper shit for this. It’s a bad look for everything to happen with Chloe and to jump into a relationship with Eva. I understand that the coterie isn’t exactly privy to the situation, but fuck I want someone to chew his ass out because what the fuck! It feels like Jasper doesn’t suffer any lasting consequences for any of his decisions which is so aggravating. I love Jasper as a character, but he’s such a shit person and he shouldn’t be getting off easy for this. He needs to take responsibility for his actions and deal with Chloe instead of shoving her off onto others and ignoring her.

Chloe gets so much unwarranted flack from this fandom when they should be forwarding that energy towards Jasper. Damn.

[clefairytea]

Hello! Do you have any tips about writing from Red's POV? I really like your interpretation of him and I'm having a hard time nailing down his voice

Hi anon! I actually put off writing from Red’s POV for awhile because I really struggled to get into it too.

Red is really tricky to do because he has no canon dialogue(excluding the stuff with the Copycat in the original game which, lol,I think has been pretty solidly retconned as this point). So usually methods of like, reading a character’s dialogue and trying to replicate that style doesn’t really work. But like,establishing a strong character voice is super hard, and it’s difficult to pindown what voice even is. So, sure, Ican give a couple of tips and ideas of how I work when I’m trying to do charactervoice.

As with everything I say about writing, this is just my ownpersonal opinions, and things that work for me and the types of stories I wannawrite. Play around with them and see if any of them work with you, but don’tworry if none of them do! Just keep trying and playing.

More general tips

★First, most people need to ‘warm up’ when writing! You don’t justimmediately go into it and develop a nice flow and solid, consistent voice. Ialways think of writing a new voice as something I need to write into. So evenif your first paragraphs aren’t quite right, you’re usually better off keepinggoing than scrapping it and starting again.

★Try not to think about your characters in terms of lists of physicalattributes, quirks, or interests. I know it’s a common approach, and it is funto think about! But I find if I do that I just end up writing characters thatfeel like flat lists, and never do anything interesting. Instead, try to thinkabout what your characters are motivated by, and what they think is important,and don’t waste time listing everything about them. Let their personality bedemonstrated through their actions, dialogue, and what they think about in thenarration.

★Figure out how your character thinks! So, whether they think in say,words or pictures, and whether they tend to be focused on their internalfeelings and thoughts or the aspects of the environments.

Most characters I like writing are quite verbal thinkers –people who think in language. I find these characters easy to write because I alsomostly think in words rather than pictures or sounds. Red was super hard for mebecause I always thought of him as someone who tends to think in pictures andfocus on the external environment rather than his own thoughts. I’m the total opposite!But it was fun to try and write a character who worked in a totally oppositeway (although I don’t think I got it right). Figuring that out about yourcharacters give you an idea of what you should focus on in your narration.

★I know I mention this a lot, but make sure what you’re writing is whatmakes sense for the characters and story,and isn’t just ‘the cool scene you wanna write’. 

For instance, you might want to write a big Darcy-style loveconfession, but if that doesn’t make sense for the characters to do (and beable to do successfully) at that point in time, the character will seem totally out of character and it’ll break the voice you have. So reign it in and instead figure out what the characters would bewilling, able, and likely to do instead. OR work on creating a believable scenarioin which the characters WOULD end up doing/saying/thinking this thing you wantthem to. 

Usually, if you do this you end up with a way more interesting scene anyway!

About Red specifically

★In more specific advice, the fun thing about Pokemon characters is thatthere’s usually only a bare skeleton of the character to work with! We know afew things, but mostly we have a lot of room to play around. So, how Iinterpret and write these characters is different to how you will. And that’sfine! But (and big but), if yousuddenly directly contradict the bare-bones we have of the character, unlessyou manage to justify it very well, most people won’t really buy it.

So try to work backwards from the bare bones we have – what kindof person would dress in these kinds of clothes, for instance. Do they looklike something bought for fashion or practicality? What does that tell us aboutthem? Why would someone disappear up a mountain for an extended period of time?How are you explaining the silence thing?

There are a lot of potential explanations, but you need tomake sure the explanation you pick complements the story you want to tell. Forinstance, if you want the main conflict to be ‘Red is insanely perfectionistabout Pokemon battling to point where it’s kind of destroying his mentalhealth/relationships with others’, the explanation ‘Red went up Mt Silverbecause nothing else in Kanto is challenging enough and he’s doing hardcoretraining’ complements it. On the other hand, ‘Red went up Mt Silver because ofsocial anxiety and he’s mostly hiding out’ doesn’t as much.

★If you’re going to write Red as neurodivergent like I do, you need tobear two things in mind:

1.      Neurodivergent people are neurodivergent all the time.

2.      Neurodivergent people have interests, traits, goals,and preferences outside of being a neurodivergent person.

The former is important because a lot of people fall intothe trap of writing a neurodivergent character as neurodivergent only when it’suseful, and skim over it when it’s not.

Like, I’ve actually had to delete or amend a couple of lineswhere I was like ‘Oh wait, Red wouldn’t do/say/think that because sensoryproblems/probably not looking at someone’s face much/probably not able to readthe situation that finely in that moment’. Try to be willing to do that, evenif it makes writing that scene harder for yourself. Chances are, it will up thestakes, make the character more engaging and consistent, and provide moreinteresting opportunities for conflict and character development that will movethe story along.

The latter is important because you don’t want to fall intothe trap of writing a neurodivergent character as a stereotype, inspirationporn, or tragedy porn! That’s not to say personality traits and interests etc can’t touch on or beinfluenced by their neurodivergence, but just that most people’s identities don’trevolve entirely around it.

Okay, that’s the main points I have, I think? And also thispost is like, super long already. I hope that helps! Good luck with writing.

[lydiaandarry]

{5 Cartoons That Could Possibly Survive a Live Action TV Remake}

Hello there!

My name is Arabella but you can call me Arry, if it’s easier. I don’t know about you but I basically grew up on cartoons. And it seems to be a new craze in television history for cartoons to be remade into new adaptations for a new audience. It doesn’t surprise me that cartoons are the main source for this as they are noticeable. Recently, Riverdale and Sabrina: The Teenage Witch have been remade into CW Television Shows. And while I find Riverdale to not be that great of adaptation and murder of character. I have heard more nicer things about Sabrina: The Teenage Witch yet never watched it. Despite this and me thinking this television shows have not survived their live-action adaptations. I will be listing five cartoons that I think could survive a Live-Action Adaptation and I will explain my reasoning and how it may be done and also issues that may be concerning. Let’s invade this topic!

(Scooby Doo)

      My favorite cartoon of all time, Scooby Doo. I am nineteen years old and I have yet to grow out of Scooby Doo and probably never will. It is reaching its 50th year anniversary this year and is still a cult classic. We have had four (not including Daphne & Velma) live-action films that have featured Scooby Doo but we are talking about television shows here. I personally think that Scooby Doo could do better as a live-action television show because you can get multiple mysteries, more monsters and the characters will receive more development. You can also have guest star characters such as The Hex Girls. Yet I have my doubts due to how poorly Archie has been transformed with Riverdale. I feel like Scooby Doo will help avoid stereotypes and forced diverse tropes. As the gang is one of the most diverse group of characters ever. It would be extra amazing if they added in the 60’s-70’s fun charm that the cartoon had. And of course, kept it light-hearted and fun yet aiming it for more young adults and less-so teenagers and children. This will open doors. After watching Daphne & Velma, I do have concerns with forced diversity that may murder the characters as Daphne and Velma did not portray either character accurately. In the name of forcing female empowerment yet ignoring the female empowerment that is there. Fred is the brave, kind-hearted, hilarious and slightly clueless jock who is friends with everyone. Daphne is the fashion-motivated, kick-ass and clumsy popular girl whose greatest value is how quick she finds out things. Velma is the intelligent, sarcastic nerd who is an equal to Fred and fits in perfectly. Shaggy is the hippie who is hilarious, a scaredy cat and athletic who has yet to use more than 1% of his power. And Scooby Doo is the animal sidekick who has character development and has an actual snack named after him. It would make a great television show if done properly and written great.

(The Jetsons)

      I promise, these are not all Hanna-Barbera shows. Except that all of them could be made into wonderful adaptations. The Jetsons is about a futuristic family who live in 2062 that includes George Jetson, a hard-working father. His wife Jane who shops and takes care of the house. His oldest child and only daughter, Judy whose a teenage girl and slightly rebellious. And his youngest child and only son Elroy whose an intelligent kid. And their dog Astro and robot Rosie. Non-surprisingly, The Jetsons is actually outdated and nothing like the actual future. This adds a lot of fun aspects with mixing vintage and newly futuristic ideas. While introducing new concepts into the already existing plot. The Jetsons unfortunately was limited due to animation budget and short-running time with only two seasons that they weren’t able to expand the universe. I feel as if, a new revival of the show could potentially expand the universe and make the characters a bit more realistic. As they are your average futuristic family who can go through relatable issues while keeping with the theme. They could also embark on making Judy more fashion-forward and gifting us unique character designs for the character. As I know that Judy was my favorite character and definitely someone that I could relate to. And of course, keeping the 60’s charm and having more humor. Less dramatics for TV Remakes please! Embrace the humor. And sci-fi is definitely still selling in pop culture and with the graphics we have nowadays, The Jetsons would look absolutely stunning compared to what would have happened if they had perhaps made one in the past. Again, it all comes down to casting and writing. The real-life aesthetics of The Jetsons would be beautiful cinematography wise. It may seem a bit more impossible due to how high a budget would probably have to be to achieve most of the futuristic aspects like flying cars and in the air scenery. Yet the best thing to take advantage of with The Jetsons is how vintage the futuristic aspects are, they can really use a retro futuristic vibe. The Jetson’s futuristic isn’t on the same level as Star Wars or even typical Sci-fi. The effects do not need to be overly complicated as it is mostly dependant on vibe and charm. They could very much go for an Indie vibe where it could be made with a low budget. Choosing style and substance over realism and overdone effects.

(The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy)

     Hear me out, as this is a weird one. I grew up with The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy and I lowkey blame it for my dark sense of humor. Mandy was one of those unique characters whose clothes did not match her personality whatsoever. Billy was humorous with how stupid yet straightforward he was. And Grim is… I relate to Grim in my old age. This show was such a creative premise to young me that like I adored it. Of course, I loved all things creepy. But seeing that Billy and Mandy and the other young characters were only 9, it is a realization that it may be physically impossible to have a live-action show where the young actors could react in a way similar to let’s say Mandy and Nergal Jr. However after some consideration, I realized that as this will probably be a revamped version, that they could age up the characters. And we could see how Mandy, Billy and the rest have developed into older ages. This of course brings up a lot of new ideas and concepts, new plotlines, and new character developments. Aging them to be teenagers and even young adults can add a more mature theme while keeping the dark humor. It can be darker yet still keep the fun and theatrical side. As it would no longer be targeted to young children but more so, the audience who grew up with the show. Seeing how our childhood characters have grown up to be near our ages. This could bring up more conflicts, relationships, and dynamics. Especially because a popular ship is Mandy and Billy as they are older, so it would be interesting to see if that would come to screen and if they would be compatible being at least ten years older at most. And of course, the graphics would absolutely fantastic since we have ways to make CGI look realistic and would bring on the creep factor. And perhaps, they could even give Nergal Jr more of a character and more humorous scenes. It could survive a TV Remake in this sense because it would be more so, a sequel and they would be working on newer material and not trying to perfect older material which may come in handy with writing.

(Totally Spies)

     If anyone asked me what my three favorite girl-based cartoons were as a child, I would always respond with, “Powerpuff Girls, Bratz, and Totally Spies”. Totally Spies was my ultimate dream television show, they were my Charlie’s Angels before I discovered Charlie’s Angels. Even in my youth, they were relatable. And I don’t care what anyone says, Totally Spies was ahead of its time and very diverse. You had Clover, the fashion-forward girl with a sassy personality and although her flaw was being shallow, she usually always learned her lesson. Sam, the introverted and intelligent one of the group who figures things out quickly yet is too quick to trust others. Alex, the hilarious and tough one who has problems with being invisible. They were feminine and kick-ass and taught me that I shouldn’t be ashamed to be into clothes or hair or makeup as I could still kick ass. I think Totally Spies has the diversity that Hollywood is looking for as they will not have to force anything into the mix, it can be a relatable and humorous show about three girls who are best friends and spies. They can have awesome character designs, great dialog, and mix realistic issues into the fictional issues of being a teenage spy. While also showing girl power and how to handle evil people. While also bringing back former fashion trends, especially the 70’s that Totally Spies is known for. With cool costumes and cool gadgets. This would be a kick-ass show when given the right humor, writing, casting and charm. No one can prove to me otherwise.

(Daria)

    I am ending this on a rather tricky note as this television show really depends. With the other ones, they’re classics but changes can be made. Daria was ahead of its time and has relatable humor that even fits now. I remember discovering Daria when I was fifteen and going through a tough time and she really learnt to accept myself and my sense of humor. Now while Daria is being rebooted and I have lots of issues with the reboot before it has even come out like the fact it’s called “Daria & Jodie” when Jane Lane was a bigger character than Jodie yet they just ignore her because diversity. I do think if they were to reboot Daria properly, a live-action television show could be great. It will give a new element to the already great show. Of course, casting Daria would be rather hard as you need someone who can remain likeable yet still have a sarcastic aura. And Jane, the slightly more expressive witty best friend. And of course, Trent, the hot older brother of Jane who should have gotten with Daria! Daria is a great show for all ages, especially teenagers to young adults as it really shows the humor of common high school stereotypes. While keeping the complexity of each stereotype in its sense. A lot of Daria’s quotes still hit a string with me to this day. Especially the one where she is at college open-house and responds to the woman asking what goals she has, “My goal is to not wake up at 40 with the bitter realization that I’ve wasted my life on a job that I hate because I was forced to decide on a career in my teens”. That quote still stays by me as I am nineteen now and it’s like my life motto at the moment. And a live-action Daria could play off the nostalgia and have a lot of older watchers which will make it more money than a reboot that may destroy the characters for the sake of diversity. And forgets the true importance of Jodie. I would rather watch a live-action television show than a reboot cartoon as reboots never go well in cartoons.

    Well, that was five cartoons that I feel can survive a live-action remake and how they could. Keep in mind that everything you just read is my opinion and I am not asking Hollywood to look at my post and make all of these into live-action television shows. As the thought of that frightens me. Yet I feel like with the right cast and writers, it can be done. Thank you for reading my post. If you like my post, feel free to follow our Tumblr as I write posts on every Wednesday and Saturday similar to this one. And also feel free to like or reblog the post. I’ll see you on Wednesday! Peace out!  

[orphanblackzone]

“You are shit mother.” —Helena

Orphan Black has come full circle. Season 1 ended with Sarah (Tatiana Maslany) trying to kill her twin sister, Helena (Maslany), and the penultimate episode of Season 5—and the series—ends with Sarah trying to save her. Imprisoned in the bowels of Dyad by P.T. Westmorland (Stephan McHattie)—and emotionally tormented by Virginia Coady (Kyra Harper)—Helena makes the only choice that makes sense to her: to commit suicide to spare her unborn “bebes” from the life of torment she has endured. (And flashbacks showing the unholy acts of monsters wearing holy clothes emphasize that she has been viciously abused from a very young age.)

Luckily, Sarah’s non-convincing impersonation of Rachel (Maslany) lands her in the right place to offer a life-saving blood transfusion, which allows Helena to take out Coady—a “shit mother” if there ever was one—in brutally satisfying fashion. But we’re left with a major cliffhanger, as Helena’s water breaks while she and Sarah are trying to escape Dyad.

Joining us to break down all the plot twists in the second-to-last episode of Orphan Black is co-executive producer Alex Levine, who tells us more about Helena’s flashback scenes and gives us a few hints about next week’s huge series finale.

Penultimate episodes can be tricky because you want to build momentum, but you don’t want to outshine the finale. And “One Fettered Slave” isn’t just any penultimate episode, it’s the penultimate episode of the entire series. Did that pose any special challenges for you? Alex Levine: Oh man! Every episode of Orphan Black poses special challenges, but yes, you’re right, the pressure was high on this one. And frankly, we shifted gears very late in the process. As a creative group, the decision was made to set the story on the mainland, in Dyad, during prep, rather than return to the island. We actually overhauled the story and rewrote half the script well into the prep process, which is very unusual. But we all knew we were making the right decision by changing course.

It’s an honour to write such an important episode of the show, and I was willing to do whatever it takes to make it as good as possible. But it wasn’t easy! I am confident that we made the right decisions. And I have to give credit to a posse of young creatives for pushing to change the direction of the episode and make it great: Mackenzie Donaldson, Renee St. Cyr and Tatiana too.

This was Helena’s episode, and we find out lots of details about her backstory. How did the writers’ room decide what portions of her dark past to focus on? The Helena flashbacks were challenging but so fun to dig into. The genesis of the early convent scenes was a scene from a classic Faulkner novel, Light in August. There’s a killer in that story who has a seminal event in his childhood. So I riffed on that, and with Tat’s help, created a visceral early moment in Helena’s childhood where we see that she isn’t just an evil child, she’s a victim. The other scenes were key moments of her past we knew we wanted to explore, and it was about choosing the moments we felt would resonate with Helena’s current predicament. John was always eager to show her first kill, and the twist of her not knowing she’s a clone really made it sing. Graeme and Renee deserve much credit for the Barbie scenes with Tomas. The Barbie house that our art department created was brilliant.

Cynthia Galant played young Rachel in Episode 507. Why was Habree Larratt cast as young Helena for this episode? Cynthia was cast to portray young Rachel, and we love her in that role. She’s composed and obedient and restrained. She’s a wonderful young actor with great chops. But in portraying young Helena, we wanted to be sure we had an actor who could explode emotionally, who is wild and untameable. And Habree really blew us away during the auditioning process. Her portrayal gave us the confidence to expand the scenes with Young Helena.

I thought the scenes between Helena and Dr. Coady were fascinating, with their back and forth about Coady killing her kids and Helena being an unfit mother. In any pairing, we are looking for the deep dramatic juice. We wanted to dig into this relationship anew, because they did have a number of scenes back in Season 3 at the Castor camp. We knew Coady was struggling with her responsibilities as a mother and that helped crystallize the line in which P.T. forces her to euthanize Mark. And we figured she would want to drag Helena into that nightmare with her. Tatiana actually pushed for Coady to be harsher in the final climactic scenes. She wanted Helena to be destroyed by this woman, to properly motivate Helena’s decision to commit suicide.

The scene where Coady killed Mark was both chilling and heartbreaking. Why did she go through with it? I think people forget that Virginia is a ruthless eugenicist. She bought into P.T.’s grand vision and had the cold, evil heart to do certain things that no other party would do. She started this thing with him and she had no moral qualms about using humans as experiments. She always saw the big picture, even with the Castor sterilization plan. And she was very loyal to P.T.; she knows he has the grand vision, that she can’t do it without him. But she also grew to love Mark and became a mother by default. The struggle you see is the amoral heartless scientist suffocating her own maternal instincts. Kyra is a terrific actor and she definitely showed depth in that relationship and in that scene.

I’m sure you gave half the OB fandom a heart attack when Helena tried to kill herself to save her babies from Neolution and herself. Tell me about the decision to have her attempt suicide—and, after all she’s been through, can she handle being a mother? We had a number of discussions about this choice. We know it’s a very dark choice, that it’s almost anathema to lots of people, specifically mothers. But we saw it as a heroic choice. Helena saw that these children would end up being tortured, being used and manipulated, being twisted and corrupted as she was corrupted as a child. And she believed by making this choice that she was saving them from a lifetime of horrors. I likened this choice to the siege of Masada, one of the final events of the Roman-Jewish war in 73-74 AD. The Jews were trapped on their mountain top village, Masada, surrounded by the Romans. It was only a matter of time before the Romans, who were building a ramp, would invade and enslave them. Having resolved never to be servants to the Romans, the Jews in Masada decided to die free instead. They killed each other and last man committed suicide. But Helena is so resourceful, we had to take her to a place where she truly felt she was out of options. And it sure helps to have an actor as strong as Tatiana sell that moment and make the emotionality credible.

As for Helena being a fit mother, I think she’ll be OK, in that she’ll probably let them run around like wild pigs and climb trees and eat dirt.

If there was any doubt about it, this episode proved that P.T. Westmorland is an evil, crazy misogynist—and he’s also bald! What do you think of him as the ultimate villain of Orphan Black? Is he someone that you and John Fawcett and Graeme Manson envisioned all along? P.T. was always supposed to epitomize the misogynistic patriarchy that still pervades the world. But he really lets his flag fly in these last few episodes. I think we always knew he had to say some evil things to represent this accursed, awful world view that is the root of all the horrors of Neolution, we just needed to get him to a desperate enough place where he would let loose. I think he and Coady are joint grand villains, sort of a 1a and 1b. And by the way, Stephen McHattie isn’t bald. He’s got some hair, but he thought the better choice would be to shave his head once the wig came off, and it turned out great.

OK, this episode ends with Sarah and Helena—who’s in labour!—trapped in Dyad with Westmorland. What can you tell us about the big series finale? The best thing I can tell you is that the finale is not all run and jump/battles. We will get to see our sestras as they come to terms with life after the war. And that, to me, is the most interesting and rich part. I have to give Graeme full props for carving out of each episode and each season ample time to explore these characters simply as human beings in a very credible version of our world. I forget who, but somebody smart said sci-fi is just a vehicle to explore how people react under different circumstances. It’s only good when the characters are truly relatable, no matter how cool the sci-fi ideas are. And that’s the best part of Orphan Black—the mundane, the realistic, the human.

You have been with Orphan Black since the beginning. How has the show changed you as a writer? What will you miss about working on the show the most? I have grown so much as a writer working with Graeme and some of the best writers in Canada. Everything I write now is coloured by what I’ve learned on Orphan. The reason I stayed with the show all this time is that the material and the characters speak to me. I don’t think any other show being produced in Canada offers the same canvas in terms of all the story and humanity we get to put on screen. And Orphan Black is really three or four shows in one: a thriller, a love story, a horror movie, and a suburban satire. Where else am I going to find that, all in one script?

John and Graeme are experts at what they do. John is such a seasoned director, his instincts are so good in prep and on the floor. And obviously—OBVIOUSLY—we have the best actor in Canada, and working with her is such an incredible treat. To watch her transform material is really rewarding. She is such a professional in every way and sets a tone for all the other actors and cast and crew; and us as writers and producers. And we have a bunch of other amazing actors as well. Jordan and Kevin and Kristian and Maria, just to name our core cast. I’ve been on other series where there are difficult people, people who put their ego above the show. And that never ever happened on Orphan Black. Not ever. And that’s a testament to the quality of the bosses and department heads. Special shout out to Kerry Appleyard, our exec from Temple Street, who’s also a lovely person and brilliant creative who always helped set the tone. End of the day, I’m extremely humbled and grateful to have been part of the series.

[broadwaybydesign]

Back On Top: Costuming Patti Lupone in “War Paint”, Part I

My post about Roman Holiday earlier this week should give you some idea of the admiration I hold for Catherine Zuber as a costumer and as a designer. This season, she was nominated for a Tony in one of my favorite productions of the year, War Paint. This is a classically structured musical that uses jazzy numbers to tell the story of Helena Rubinstein and Elizabeth Arden, the two fierce rivals who basically invented the modern cosmetics industry. Costuming each of these women required a unique take, and  as such I’m going to devote two posts to the main characters in the musical, one apiece.

The first up (sure to please fellow Patti Lupone fans like @sadgirlz4patti ) is the indomitable Helena Rubinstein, who built an international cosmetics empire in the first half of the 20th century, battling anti-immigrant and anti-semitic sentiment, let alone sexism, to find her slice of American success. For a spitfire personality like her, there was only one choice the casting director could make: the divine Patti Lupone. But costuming one of Broadway’s most famous (or even infamous!) divas is a major challenge, not only because Ms Lupone has (well-deserved) high standards, but because she has a petite figure that demands special consideration by the costumer selected for the production.

Catherine Zuber was clearly inspired by the era during which Madame Rubinstein was most active and in which the musical is set: the 1920s through 1950s or so. As such, there are a number of wardrobe changes, and we can see the evolution of fashion in them. Because this is not a general fashion blog, I’m going to present these images and analyses thematically rather than chronologically; this is about the skill and artistry of Ms Zuber, not necessarily a history of the fashion industry.

The first costume I want to look at is one that has already become an iconic representation of the Rubinstein part in this musical, her purple outfit with matching hat:

The first word that comes to mind when I see this costume is “dramatic,” and with good reason. When dealing with a personality as big as Madame Rubinstein, the costumes have to match--but at the same time, they need to make sense with the actress and the part being played. Here, we see Ms Zuber using a variety of fabrics in order to make a maximum impact, and doing something we didn’t see a lot of in my other reviews: accessorizing! Yes, when dealing with costumery, a lot of attention has to be paid to the accessories, and we’ll look at those shirtly.

This outfit is a kind of skirtsuit when looked at from a distance, designed to look formal but businesslike, and still intended to leave an impression. For that reason, Ms Zuber has used three varied shades of bright purples: one for the body of the jacket, one for the satin blouse underneath, and a third shade for the hat which is close to that of the jacket, but different enough to allow it to be worn with a different colored outfit. The jacket is the most prominent piece of the ensemble, and is designed to stick out. Have a look at this other Playbill with some greater detail:

The jacket has some gold braiding and filigree work, which is a distinction we can draw from Linda Cho’s work in Anastasia. The braiding work is heavier, thicker, and designed to look visually impressive, putting one in mind of curtain ties and grand cords at some luxury hotel, holding back heavy drapery. While elegant in styling, they add some heft to the jacket and allow it to lay flat on Ms Lupone, especially given the jacket appears to be constructed from a rather light fabric; this is not unusual for pieces that are designed to be worn as part of a layered costume, since a heavier fabric would run the risk of the wearer overheating under stage lighting--not a good situation for any performance!

The jacket is unusual to the modern eye, as we can see from the first still: it’s meant to go below the knee, almost in a robe-like fashion. This is not unexpected with Madame Rubinstein’s character; a native of Eastern Europe, she would have preferred something that flowed even once she was an Australian and later American success. But the decoration doesn’t continue below the bust, unlike in some other costumes I’ve reviewed. Is that a feature or a bug?

To my mind, it’s a feature. Ms Zuber wants attention to be directed upwards on Ms Lupone’s body--as I mentioned earlier, she is quite petite, which means that you do not want people to be looking up and down the entire time (especially, as I’ll explain in a future post, when she is next to Christine Ebersole, her co-star for the production). By only accenting the top of the jacket, Ms Zuber keeps the audience’s attention where it belongs: near the actress’ face, while still giving off a wealthy, flashy feeling through the accents. This is furthered by the satin blouse and skirt underneath, which are a simple cut designed to allow the jacket to be the defining article of clothing in this scene.

As promised, however, we have to also look at the accessories. I’ll start at the top, because the hats that Ms Zuber produced are truly par excellence. Millinery (the formal term for hat-making) is a notoriously tricky art, all the more so in a theatre setting. Costumes have to be designed to take some abuse given the number of changes that are gone through in the course of an average show. Hats often suffer the most, so they need to be made to be durable. 

This one is relatively simple, as compared to the one I did a mini-review of earlier. It’s a simple velvet semi-conical cap designed to give Ms Lupone a bit more height on the stage, as well as match the outfit, and looks like something you absolutely could have scene on a fashionista of the Second World War era (as I’ve noted before, I could see this also being in my grandmother’s closet around that time, were she in a position to buy something this fine). The decoration of the hat is simple and understated: a simple gold fanned badge which matches the roping and accenting on the jacket, as well as the brooch on the right shoulder. It’s understated, but I think that it works here. When you costume a presence like Patti Lupone, you need to be cognizant that your costume can’t outshine the star. And here, Ms Zuber has succeeded.

Other outfits worn by the Madame Rubinstein character throughout the musical also display some of Ms Zuber’s eye for color and design. Here is one that is relatively simply colored, but complex in terms of texture and fabric:

Blue and white is a classic combination, and the choice to use an extremely light, almost gray blue to offset the white here is an interesting one. I’m not entirely sold (for once!) that it was the right way to go, but I can see why Ms Zuber made that decision. It blends with the background and scenery in the scene where this costume is featured, so it’s defensible, but I tend to prefer costumes where the accents are just a bit more pronounced. I do see that the under-layer of the dress is also a pale blue, but in this case I think a stronger accent color might have been a better contrast.

The body of the dress, however, is absolutely gorgeous. I’m not entirely sure on the fabric here, but it’s wonderfully light and sheer, with a lacy pattern throughout that puts one in mind, perhaps, of a spider’s web--in a good way. After all, this is a musical about figures who voraciously consumed their competition and built something remarkable. The weblike pattern on the gown itself is done with a delicate touch, which gives it the appearance of expense and quality without being overdone. What I really like is that, from a distance, the detail work would not be instantly apparent; instead, it would appear to help the dress float in air as Ms Lupone moves around, either on the settee or as she entered or exited the scene.

Given how long this post is, I’m going to close it here with some general commentary on the costumes worn by the Helena Rubinstein character, and I’ll do a separate post on the jewelry and the Blue Outfit I teased the other day; I think it’s better to break it up a little bit and give everyone a reason to keep reading!

Overall, costuming a star like Patti Lupone is not an easy task, but Ms Zuber’s choices are almost all perfect from my perspective. She has a happy talent for color matching and mixing as well as a masterful knowledge of color and an ability to balance the figure and stature of the star with her designs. Overall, I have to say that the Tony nomination was extraordinarily well-deserved, and I think that in another year, Ms Zuber would have added another award to her trophy case.

Next up for the blog: Ms Lupone’s jewelry and accessories, including a look at the Blue Hat and outfit in more depth than I was able to give them in my comment earlier in the week.

Watch this space!

[oh-my-otome]

Hi! Could you organize DTL MC's level of maturity in each suitor's route? Thank you!

Ooh, this is a tough one! 

What’s considered “mature” is going to vary based on cultural and societal norms– even age groups! I’m sure there are quite a lot of young people who believe wholeheartedly that they are mature, meanwhile their parents are like ‘lol, sit your ass down and do your homework.’

And I’m sure that the parents parents are looking at them like ‘wth did I do wrong?’

So since you asked me, let’s do it like this. We’re going to need to consider two specific things: 

First, we’ll define what “we” are. We are the avatar, otherwise known as the main character (MC). But what is an avatar? Well, avatar has a lot of definitions, from religious to scientific, but the one that immersion games mean are the second and third definitions:

2. An embodiment or personification, as of a principle, attitude, or view of life. 

3. An image (moving or fixed) that represents a person in a virtual reality environment or in cyberspace

Since the avatar is supposed to be the player, the quick and easy answer to your question is: whatever the person playing personally defines maturity as.

However, otome games are “on rails.” This meaning changes depending on the type of game you play, but in the otome sense, “on rails” means that you can make certain choices, but those choices are pre-defined. You can select what you like, but only from the choices given to you.

So this means that any given MC is of two minds: the character created by the company and its avatar who controls it. 

The MC is going to say and do things, and get into situations, that you, as a real life person may never encounter, agree with, or respond to the way the character does. 

Because you’re real, and the character is designed to have enough personality, so that the game is broad enough to be entertaining, for as many (hopefully paying, since it’s a business) people to be interested in.

And now, the second thing: how do I personally define maturity when it comes to DtL’s MC?

For me, someone who is mature acts their age and doesn’t wait for other people to deus ex machina their problems away. They recognize that there are things they can do, and things that they need help with– and aren’t afraid to ask for help. 

One of the worst things you can do for yourself is know that you need help and not try to reach out. There is always, always going to be someone out there who can help you. And, believe it or not, someone who has been in whatever situation you’re facing. 

The world is just too big for there not to be– the math is against you. Whatever you may be facing, there is someone who has gone through either exactly that, or something similar enough that the nuances are just that– nuances.

Do not be afraid to reach out. 

And that’s what I like most about DtL’s MC. She, by and large, isn’t afraid to secure a solid foundation for her emotional well-being. If you can’t help yourself, you cannot help anyone.

Another big thing for me: street smarts. There are so many different types of intelligence, but one thing everyone must learn in some form or another, is what is known as street smarts. 

Street smarts is a potent mix of common sense and all of the information you have gained living your life and interacting with as many different people as possible. You can life experience and learn to apply it to different situations to ensure your emotional, physical and mental survival. You’re able to use this resourcefulness to protect, uplift and inspire others as everyday life presents you with different situations. 

And DtL’s MC has it in spades.

Except for when they wrote Katsura’s route, because seriously wtf!?

They took a really great MC and smacked her with the derp stick. Katsura’s route can be called Home Sitting Simulator. Or Dog Watching 3000. The only other thing you do is constantly…constantly whine about how you think Katsura is in love with some lady because she’s so pretty.

Okay, and? You have to realize that what you find attractive in someone else, no matter how strongly you feel about it, that doesn’t mean that others share your view point.

MC spends a large portion of Katsura’s route hardcore projecting her conclusions that Random Lady is beautiful onto Katsura, who hasn’t given the lady a second glance.

The disconnect between the MC and the avatar is almost unbearable. We know that Katsura isn’t interested in the lady, because we’re reading it. Katsura himself expresses no interest in the lady and even goes out of his way to show that he’s interested in you, the MC. But the MC won’t acknowledge it for the longest time and that’s not fun to read at length.

I thought the writers took a promising adult MC with a college degree and tried to make her into a lovesick teenager who can’t navigate a romantic connection with another person. Until the plot decided that she can��but only after having Random Lady give MC her blessing.

This character existed solely to grant MC her Go Ahead and Frick Frack Him card. You don’t need another person’s sanction. He’s a single adult. Ask him.

Saito’s MC is pretty good. She’s very grounded. She says that she doesn’t want someone else to protect her, not because there’s something inherently wrong with being protected, but because she wants to reciprocate. She wants to be a contributing factor in the relationship, rather than lay back and let Saito save the day all the time.

Saito, being who he is, wants to keep the trope-dynamic of him protecting her, bu she b\pushes back– she learns self-defense. She’s honest, forthright and humble.

Depending on which ending you pick, she either gets shitfaced drunk or is very depressed. But still, I can see where she’s coming from. Saito in his His Affection route is the same as MC in Keiki’s His Affection route. Which is to say: you want to smack the both of them in the back of their heads.

Given that Saito’s MC’s depression, I don’t think that it reflects too much on her general maturity. She’s going through something. I still think she’s pretty good.

Speaking of Keiki’s MC, she was fine right up until she stretched out Keiki’s heartbreak by deciding for him what he’d like. Ugh. Just . UGH. I like that she didn’t push him into new experiences and allowed him to feel his way through living a dual life, by being respectful and kind.

Hijikata’s MC adapted to a level of independence that she wasn’t used to, as he’s very dedicated to his work and is interested in a woman who can handle things on her own.

It turns out that Hijikata is unexpectedly old-fashioned with some of his views and progressive with others. He wants an independent woman, but lectures her about safety when it comes to letting men into her room. His MC is able to steer their conversations in a way that gets Hijikata to think before he speaks, and she never feels afraid to speak up.

I do think she whined a little too much when he says that he wants to break up with her (because he was being threatened by Kyo). 

If someone says that they want to break up with you out of nowhere:

Get track shoes

Put your feet into the track shoes

Lace the ever-living fuck out of the track shoes

Break the sound barrier while you run away from them

That is one of the reddest red flags that ever dared to be the color red. Don’t wait around for the reason. Fucking run.

Kyo’s MC is kind of tricky. Kyo’s route is a never-ending wild ride that touches on the games origin in a way that no other route does, and you’re being threatened and attacked, so you’re never really in a situation where you get to just be normal, with no worries.

I think Kyo’s MC handled the situation the absolute best she could, given the circumstances.

Haru’s MC I worry about. Of all of the available suitors, we know that Hijikata is typically called on to torture people and we know that Okita kills a man right in front of you. We also know that Okita nearly killed a man in the act of torturing him.

Keiki orders people, who specifically came there to kill him, to be killed by at least one other person, while you’re there.

And we can safely assume that Saito, in his capacity as a samurai and a captain, has in all likelihood killed someone.

And although it is kind of weird to talk about, outside of Keiki, lethal force is part of their job.

Haru, on the other hand, has no choice. He is literally forced to kill others, lest he be killed. But Haru himself talks of it in two different ways: with absolutely no emotion, or smugly in an ironic fashion.

As a yandere, there is really no way for this MC to be with him where she wouldn’t cause some type of damage to herself. Somewhere along the way, she would be sacrificing some part of her emotional well-being to accommodate him in some way and the same is true for Okita’s MC, as he is also a yandere.

We can see this when Kirisato tries to get it on while on the job and MC is at first trying to get him to stop, but then gives in when it starts to turn her on. We see it again in Okita’s route where she takes him at his word that she should never cry or else the relationship is over.

Sakamoto’s route is almost like the writers trying to apologize for Katsura’s route, as once again we have an MC and suitor who very clearly like each other and yet they can’t seem to figure out how to get into a relationship.

Sakamoto’s MC is very comforting and kind and , similar to Keiki’s MC, allows him to feel safe in expressing his feelings, as Sakamoto tends to bottle up everything. 

Takasugi decides to be a creeper and threaten MC (writers, STAHP), which understandably scares her, but she risks her life to get Sakamoto vital information, showing that when it comes down to it, she has no problem throwing her hat into the ring to defend those she cares about.

Overall, I think the most mature MCs are Sakamoto’s, Kyo’s and Saito’s MCs, given that they experience difficult situations with as much cunning and tact as can be expected of a character with their stats. 

Particularly Kyo’s MC, who faced one difficult situation after another and didn’t fold, to the point where the writers had to make up a Mary Sue-esque handicap of having her be clumsy for no reason other than to keep her from being too good.

As the avatar, we’re living in the modern world both in the game and in real life. We are more likely to have a similar reaction to the MC when she balks at some of the old fashioned ideas that the suitors have in the game– because to us, they are old fashioned…it’s just that to the suitors, their ideas are inline with what is modern for them, since they are in their own present day worlds. Although Hijikata did get a little grandpa-y with the room thing. I feel like the other suitors would have raised their eyebrows a little bit a him, if they heard that.

The least mature would have to be Katsura’s and Keiki’s MC. If Keiki’s MC didn’t do what she did in his His Affection, she would have been fine, but she knew that he had been doing everything except literally move mountains. I have no idea why they chose to write her that way at the very end when she was the complete opposite.