#from a writing standpoint at least

[the-monkey-ruler]

I was reading The Monkey King's Daughter (you can read the whole book for an hour) and apparently the protagonist is also Guanyin's grandchild? Can Guanyin be shipped?

I mean I can’t say like what are like the moral implications of shipping GuanYin itself cause that is so not my place but I’m still going to answer this cause it kinda of interesting when it comes to modern media. First off saying that like I have never really seen romance done with GuanYin. At least in a serious way. But if I had to take a guess it can be seen as 'possible' as much as like shipping anyone in Chinese mythos, in that isn't really taken seriously at all. In a lot of modern fan spaces there are a variety of crack ships for more humorous or hypothetical situations like I have seen literally the Star of Venus shipped with Jade Emperor just cause. But I don't see much with buddhas or bodhisattvas in either post-modern media nor in fan spaces. At least that isn't Wukong or Sanzang since they are both Buddhas. And I have done a whole thing about how Wukong for decades wasn’t seen as a romantic figure until like there was a huge character reconstruction, but that isn’t usually the case for most characters.

I would say that the most mainstream instance I can think off the top of my head is The Lost Empire (2001) where it had the main character has a romantic plot with Gaunyin herself. Of course, that wasn't really a masterpiece within itself but this was considered like a 'bad choice' more so that it was just a very strange and awkward romance at that.

Funny enough I think I see more romantic for humor's sake on Guanyin in comic books or games as likes gags at most. Like in Westward comics (later a tv series) Guanyin has a celestial-turned-demon trying to pursue him that he always rejects. Another is more play for laughs but Guanyin in the Fei Ren Zai where people just don't know it's Guanyin and think she is so attractive.

I've seen some games that have Guanyin as like a pretty boy/girl but otherwise nothing even close to a romance plot. Those are more just for like aesthetics of making every character look overly attractive to sell it.

The best I can say is that is just kinda strange and a little strange personally but I can't say that it can be taken seriously. I mean Wukong is supposed to be a Buddha by the end of the novel, so if The Monkey King's Daughter has it that a buddha can have a daughter then there wouldn't be anything stopping the author from having a bodhisattva having kids.

[blueskittlesart]

*sigh* thoughts on Nintendo's botw/totk timeline shenanigans and tomfoolery?

tbh. my maybe-unpopular opinion is that the timeline is only important when a game's place on the timeline seriously informs the way their narrative progresses. the problem is that before botw we almost NEVER got games where it didn't matter. it matters for skyward sword because it's the beginning, and it matters for tp/ww/alttp (and their respective sequels) because the choices the hero of time makes explicitly inform the narrative of those games in one way or another. it matters which timeline we're in for those games because these cycles we're seeing are close enough to oot's cycle that they're still feeling the effects of his choices. botw, however, takes place at minimum 10 thousand years after oot, so its place on the timeline actually functionally means nothing. botw is completely divorced from the hero of time & his story, so what he does is a nonissue in the context of botw link and zelda's story. thus, which timeline botw happens in is a nonissue. honestly I kind of liked the idea that it happened in all of them. i think there's a cool idea of inevitability that can be played with there. but the point is that the timeline exists to enhance and fill in the lore of games that need it, and botw/totk don't really need it because the devs finally realized they could make a game without the hero of time in it.

[pinewoodpipit]

Some of my thoughts about writing smut which I thought I'd share.

For those who don't know, I'm on the ace spectrum, and I also have disabling health issues which affect my intimate life. I am not going to go into any more detail than that, as it's private. That said, though, it proves to be a challenge when writing smut, as I'm approaching it from the perspective of an outside observer.

I think sex scenes can be used just like any other scene; like a fight scene, I enjoy writing them from the viewpoint of exploring characters, and ideally progressing their growth and/or the plot in each encounter. Not every sex scene will do this - I've written smut one-shots which don't really explore characters, and those are because it's actually a fun kind of scene for me to write from a technical standpoint, outside of storytelling.

I see very often that people reduce erotica to just being mindless porn, or indicating that writing with smut in it has inherently less substance and worth than writing without it, regardless of how carefully written the smut is. I pretty vehemently disagree with this viewpoint.

Sex scenes, in my opinion, are a writing tool, just like any other. Writing good sex is a skill of its own and it's one I'm still developing, but it's absolutely something that has worth, and I think it's a huge shame that so much of the writing community treats it with some kind of contempt, as if it's somehow inherently lesser than, when sex is an incredibly important and human topic, and suggesting it shouldn't be talked about can be an incredibly slippery slope to the kind of tight-lipped purity culture attitude which leads to shaming people for having sex within queer communities, and other such dangerous things.

I have a fic about ace-spectrum Fade upcoming where I plan to talk about this topic a fair bit, but I wanted to talk about it here, too. I'm very passionate about it. Purity cultures regarding sex, particularly between queer people, is a dangerous thing to back into that can very easily lead to conversations which frame sex (particularly LGBTQ+ sex) as some kind of perversion rather than something completely natural, and I will always defend erotica as an art form as valuable as any other.

[wazzi2ya]

Funny how up to this point I've never seen anyone mention how Alastor's name means "defender/avenger"

[grim-echoes]

Any thoughts on what's up with the Accelerated Dynamics nightmare dungeon? The obvious surface is about corporate greed, but how does that relate directly to Jimmy's life like the other nightmare dungeons do?

i've been slacking on the analysis posts a hell of a lot but this is one of the dungeons i've been looking for an opportunity to talk about because it's another one of those inclusions in jatpm that i think gets overlooked because it doesn't have an immediately obvious interpretation like some others do (or, as obvious as is possible for your average jimmy fan). i've done a lot of thinking about it, and a while back had this realization (slight tw for very very brief suicide mention, also obvious spoilers ahead):

kasey definitely put a lot of his own personal grievances with capitalism into accelerated dynamics, but in my opinion it's an incomplete picture without taking megatropolis as a whole into consideration. terminal illness is extremely costly to treat and particularly in the US, it's (in my experience) much more terrifying to imagine being unable to afford the cost of healthcare than it is to actually fall ill and require treatment. even with insurance covering the cost of medical supplies and bills most people continue to struggle to feed, clothe, and house themselves, and that's assuming they do have health insurance that covers the right necessities to begin with.

i say this because i doubt jimmy's cancer treatment was at all affordable given that he's already been through chemotherapy once before, and has spent the entirety of his second battle comatose while his family continues to work not just to support themselves, but to try and save his life. this isn't to argue that money troubles were absolutely a factor in his family's life because of his illness because we don't know much at all about their financial situation--more that this is a terrifying reality for many, many families fighting illnesses, and megatropolis is representative of something that jimmy and his family don't have the luxury of anymore: leisure.

accelerated dynamics is set in a sprawling city landmarked by arcades, shopping malls, theaters, toy company headquarters, and a massive school campus, all adjacent to a high-class beach resort. it's a stark contrast in atmosphere that was likely very intentional--accelerated dynamics is devoid of personality and wonder in comparison to bonita vista or even shinryu and features workplace ambience as its area theme and visuals of skeletal employees hanged outside the office windows. i think a lot of people were incredibly disappointed in mr grouse as a character to see that his humble beginnings had led him to this point, but i think the commentary runs a lot deeper and touches on this incredibly grave aspect of illness and thus jimmy's personal life that can be easy to miss for the trees; mr grouse tells jimmy before the fight that he used to dream of his banking business growing bigger and bigger and that now, with the advent of it having grown so big that it's now expanded into an entire enterprise, he understands the power and influence that money can buy him, but more than anything he now conceptualizes how terrifying it is to lose that wealth.

his dialogue after the fight is an admission that wealth completely and utterly eroded his morals and that jimmy should enjoy his innocence while he can--this is the incomprehensible, horrifying world of adulthood that he couldn't possibly understand at this age--and it's very clear that this is (one of) the intended angle(s) of this dungeon's theme where jimmy will never live long enough to understand the complications of growing older and losing his innocence to concepts like late stage capitalism, but mr grouse phrases his dialogue like an earnest request for reflection, something for jimmy to consider in a way that his brain can more easily deconstruct--think of all the things you could do if you had practically infinite wealth, and the only thing you had to worry about was not having money.

if jimmy and his family had infinite wealth, then maybe they'd be able to afford luxury resorts and theme parks and theaters and shopping trips again. if jimmy and his family had infinite wealth, maybe they wouldn't need to work themselves into an early grave over their child's deathbed.

[ariminiria]

AU where instead of Desi, Jack manages to get Cage to come back to fill in for him

[syn4k]

ah yes. the [adjetive/adverb] [noun]/[verb]er, my favorite Tumblr meme of Nov. 2023

[baronessofmischief]

I think Tarzan also has one of the best setups for a villain who monologues their true intentions at the end of the movie.

Clayton’s introduction is someone we hear before we see, spending the entire time hacking through the brush bragging about his accomplishments as a safari hunter. He lives for the thrill of the hunt and the recognition, praise, and notoriety those exploits garner. It means when Tarzan is restrained at the end on the boat, it’s entirely in character for Clayton to brag about exactly what he plans to do in betraying them and capturing the gorillas. He doesn’t even have to do it for long, just long enough to break the spirit of the hero before throwing him to the lowest point he’s been in the story.

If you’re going to have a character monologue it can’t feel out of place or disrupt the flow and pacing of the movie, and it definitely can’t be out of character for that particular character to give it. Too often monologues can sound like they were written for the satisfaction of the writer instead of serving the story, and when that’s the case it’s a “kill your darlings” scenario; every word in a monologue has to be necessary, or else it needs to be cut out

[caesarclowningaround]

adam for you as well!!!!!

favorite thing about them: I love that we get a taste of what he was like before he was turned into the beast. I loooove getting to see that prologue and see what a spoiled, vain brat he is at the start!!

least favorite thing about them: That he never says he loves Belle out loud. Like, WE KNOW HE DOES THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT. But it always irked me that Mrs. Potts gets that line. Like?? RUDE??? That's his line dammit

favorite line: "wiLL yOu jOiN mE fOR diNNeR??" I mean, he had better lines but that one always puts a smile on my face and isn't that what life is all about?

brOTP: Adam and Lumiere!!

OTP: Jafar/Adam/Belle (I know Jafar isn't in BATB but I love this ot3 with all my heart and you'll have to pry it from my cold dead hands to get me to say otherwise)

nOTP: idk if Adam/LeFou is a thing, but i would not be into it XD

random headcanon: Adam LOVES makeup!! He loves to have Plumette apply it, he loves to apply it himself, he love love LOVES smearing some color on his face!!! Bonus HC: modern AU!Adam also LOVES glitter!!!!

unpopular opinion: I think it's fine he didn't say "Belle it's me!" after he turned back into a prince. It doesn't need to be a word-for-word scene from the cartoon and in fact I'm still bitter he didn't arise out of a bed of rose petals like they originally intended him to. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN SO AESTHETICALLY PLEASING!! But I digress. It's fine they cut that line.

song i associate with them: "I Would Do Anything for Love" by Meat Loaf

favorite picture of them:

Trash Prince in his best costume sitting in his stupid throne like the brat he is. I fucking adore this pic 🥰

[meownotgood]

okay so... I just realized it's five days until halloween and there's been no progress towards my gun devil aki fic... I'd say there's about a 95% chance it isn't gonna get done in time

to be honest, I'm still kind of tired out from my last long fic, and I've been enjoying making these short low energy drabbles

don't wanna disappoint so I think what I'll do is try to work on a short gun devil aki drabble, it won't be as good as my usual work and it's just gonna be pure horny no plot lol, but it'll be something to munch on his halloween

[lunarblue21]

Sid in IA1: has basically zero plot relevance; is disconnected or really, more unconnected from the humans (the overriding element tying everyone together) in his backstory; functions primarily as a supporting comic relief to lighten the tone of Manny and Diego's heavier backgrounded stories in the main plot, is the one character most easily subtracted from the cast if need be, because he has NO relevance to the "destruction humans cause" plots in Manny and Diego's backstories nor does he have any impact on Diego's redemption arc since Diego's heart changes because Manny saves him, making him rethink everything and because of Roshan's love towards him whilst Sid contributes basically nothing to either of those arcs that give both Manny and Diego character development as their own characters and because of their impact on each other, they help each other grow. Sid meanwhile, has no character growth/development in IA1. He ends the same character as he was in the beginning.

Sid in the sequels: shoehorned into plot relevance by basically making him into a Black Hole Sue where everything revolves around him - IA3 is an egregious example of this, the only exception is IA4, where the cast becomes sort of an "ensemble" again a la IA1 but with character development lacking, unlike IA1, where Manny and Diego have strong character development during their arcs - still has virtually zero character development despite being made a plot-driver in the sequels, has lost his function of the comic relief to support/uplift Manny and Diego's darker-toned arcs and essences as characters since he is squished into a "main character" role when Sid is best suited as a "supporting character" since his entire IA1 purpose was to provide leaven and a contrast to Manny and Diego's more sombre tones and circumstances.

Taking all of that away from him in a comedic context leaves Sid an empty vessel of a character in the sequels.

[freunwol]

the best thing to do late at night is get really sad about miu iruma

[icearts]

I've been working on an lmk season 5 rewrite CONCEPT for the last three hours now and I'm about 2100 words in and still haven't gotten into the plot itself, is this how writing works?

I'm actually working on coming up with a name for it and everything, but right now all i got is 2100 words of unfocused ranting about the wasted potential of my favorite characters- I kid you not, I've barely mentioned the main fucking characters of the story, that's how invested in everyone else I am atm. This rewrite's an ensemble project and considering the fact that most of the writing on the actual story I've done has been complaints about the wasted potential of Nezha, li Jing, and the Samadhi Fire, it might not even center around the monkies as much. But yeah, if anyone's interested in reading some of the rewrite (CONCEPTS AND RANTS I am not smart enough to actually write prose) I'm working on, let me know. It's a work in progress I may never finish, but damn it's been fun

[halfdeadwallfly]

well today i found out i have an exam at the same time as a concert i was going to but i also got into the poetry writing class i was waitlisted for so i guess the theme of the day is balancing wins and losses

[captainsparklefingers]

When you haven't written anything in like 2 or 3 weeks, a sudden burst of creativity that ends with you writing 573 words and ending the scene you'd been working on in your crappy lil story feels like a victory.

...of course the burst doesn't last but hey, any progress is good progress, right? And maybe that'll make working on this easier, too. Today isn't over yet, maybe the juice will come back, and even if it doesn't, I'll take a win, no matter how small.

[puppybong]

a little life is one of the books that changed me fundamentally but i wouldn’t recommend it to anyone unless they were my puppy baby kitty beautiful angel