#if plot feels flat

[helpful-writing-tips]

If your plot feels flat, STUDY it! Your story might be lacking:

Stakes - What would happen if the protagonist failed? Would it really be such a bad thing if it happened?

Thematic Relevance- Do the events of the story speak to a greater emotional or moral message? Is the conflict resolved in a way that befits the theme?

Urgency - How much time does the protagonist have to complete their goal? Are there multiple factors complicating the situation?

Drive - What motivates the protagonist? Are they an active player in the story, or are they repeatedly getting pushed around by external forces? Could you swap them out for a different character with no impact on the plot? On the flip side, do the other characters have sensible motivations of their own?

Yield - Is there foreshadowing? Do the protagonist's choices have unforeseen consequences down the road? Do they use knowledge or clues from the beginning, to help them in the end? Do they learn things about the other characters that weren't immediately obvious?

credit:@cedar-west

[hotcinnamonsunset]

when art (below left, print by Anna Haifisch) inspires art (below right, follow up by @molabuddy) inspires art (above, hand knit cardigan by me)🐕

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Gaslighter? I hardly know her!

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[a-bugs-world]

i am so positively (NOT) normal about them!!

FunnyBunny shippers (ME) were fed so well with the new episode i kept having to pause to squeal

" You threw me out of a moving truck. :| "

[stealingyourbones]

Nothing Butt Nightwing is genuinely the worst thing I’ve ever seen DC produce and that’s saying something

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

See, I think Charles’ annoyance and frustration with the Cat King really was just pure protectiveness and not any kind of jealousy - it’s understandable, because Edwin is not telling him what happened even though something clearly did, which is not typical for them. Edwin doesn’t usually hide things like this! Of course he’s worried!

Charles’ reaction to Monty, on the other hand, is difficult to explain in a way that isn’t jealousy. You could say he’s being protective again, but Charles shows no sign of distrust in Monty, and had no idea of who Monty was or that he might betray them - he was actually very chill with him, except in a select few specific scenes. You could say he just doesn’t like him because he got brushed off during their first meeting, but not only does that not seem like Charles at all, it also doesn’t make sense, since, again, in most instances, Charles is genuinely friendly and is happy when Monty compliments him and seems to have come around to liking him (it completely flies over his head that this is a petty jab at Edwin on Monty’s part but oh well hahaha). You could say it changes up their status quo a bit and that bothers Charles. I do think this bothers him a bit, but I think, unlike Edwin, Charles’ fear and frustration here is directed more at situations (the Cat King whisking him away for several hours, as an example) than others. He’s sociable and likes being able to talk to new people. There’s absolutely no way he’d begrudge Edwin doing the same - and he doesn’t… with Niko. Edwin and Niko hit it off and become very close and that never bothers Charles at all. He’s incredibly endeared to her, just like the rest, and for the most part, he’s chill with Monty too, and smiles pretty knowingly when Edwin confesses to him having awakened some feelings. The only exceptions, where he shows definite annoyance, are when Monty first shows up and gets really in Edwin’s personal space to show him the astrology chart he made, and when Edwin is so sucked into the book Monty gave him that he doesn’t hear that Charles is talking to him, to which he annoyedly says that they seem to have been “spending a lot of time together”.

You could say he’s unused to having anyone get in Edwin’s personal space like that, but, again, Niko. She’s very tactile with him and he doesn’t seem to mind all that much; they spend time together watching things. If it was just someone getting close with Edwin in general, not only would that be weirdly possessive for the character, but it would also mean he would show discomfort with anyone getting close, I think. Does Charles see Monty as more of a potential threat than Niko, seeing as he knows her and her personality and doesn’t know Monty? Well, maybe, but again, Charles shows no sign of distrusting Monty at all.

Monty is a boy. Okay. So something about seeing Edwin so close to a boy that is not him, getting lost in thought over something this boy gave him, really rubs Charles the wrong way. Charles appears to catch on just as quickly as anyone else that there is something (or it looks like something) between Edwin and Monty. He is not surprised when Edwin comes out to him in episode 6, and in fact, seems to have just been waiting for him to verbalize it. He smiles and is not bothered at all by Edwin showing (what he thinks is) a romantic interest in Monty - he just doesn’t like it when Monty clearly shows a romantic interest in Edwin. Um. Well. Well.

Charles is jealous. I really don’t know what else to say.

Look, when I first watched this show, I actually didn’t want them to end up together romantically - I love the idea of one having fallen in love with another who does not reciprocate and the two of them still loving each other just as much. That Edwin’s confession made them closer instead of making things awkward is such a beautiful outcome to this build up and I absolutely love it. However. On my two rewatches, I caught a lot more little details, and I think it would be very strange if the show did not follow up on this. That, plus the deliberate quality of these “jealousy” moments where the camera focuses on him, Charles’ Orpheus coding throughout the show, the fact that Edwin’s arc was far more about realizing his feelings for Charles specifically than just coming to terms with his sexuality, and that even the actors admit that Charles’ response to the confession kind of left things open, it really seems to me like the path leads to a romantic endgame for them, or at the very least, that this possibility will be explored in more depth.

**This is just my reading of it. Please do not use this post as a gotcha for anyone who loves them as a platonic duo or people who really love Crystal and Charles together (because let’s face it, they’re super cute too). I’m just doing my rambles. As per usual.

[natsumiikan]

I just finished the natlan archon quest after putting it off forever and it was mind-blowingly mid but I think I realized what the problem is. There's no Yuri 💔

[beeteal]

2/3 of the portraits done...here's fatima! and uh. somone a lil freaky! totally normal work photo

old version under! cant put a read more for some reason

[camellcat]

I genuinely HATE xillow on the show. on my first watch I screamed and ew-ed every time they got a little too flirty, and then full on closed my eyes and cringed when they actually kissed. I hate it so very much. I adore every single aspect about their relationship except them actually "going somewhere" with it

but the xillow in my head? the xillow in my head. the xillow in my h

[youngpettyqueen]

I need the Doctor Who finale NEOW because I really cant decide how I feel about Wish World and I need the second part of it to solidify my opinions

(spoilers in the tags you have been warned)

[nightmarerodent]

Why The Kombat Kids work from a writing standpoint and the Defenders don’t

Not that the Defenders aren’t great (we love them), but they are very much a product of Mortal Kombat’s early days and Midway’s throw everything at the wall and see what sticks method of character creation. There’s a lot of bloat to them. They work great as individuals but as a team they lack cohesion. Also, there’s too many of them, there’s at least 8 at any given time.

From a writing perspective, that’s too many characters. This is why they are broken down into their basic narrative elements and split up accordingly. Unfortunately this also means they swap their narrative archetypes a lot. Kung Lao is the Lancer, unless Johnny or Scorpion are in the room. Liu Kang is the Leader, unless Sonya or Raiden are there. Sub Zero is the Tough Guy, unless he’s moonlighting as yet another Lancer. Jax is the Brains until Nightwolf enters the scene, then he’s also the Tough Guys unless Kitana is there, then she’s the Tough Guy but also the Heart and so is Liu Kang, unless he’s busy being the leader. It’s a writing nightmare. No wonder Raiden is just stood there half the time, the writers were so busy with everyone else that they literally forgot he existed for a second. The spider web of connections, relationships, and tropes would be different for any writer to uphold and maintain even in a book, let alone a video game.

We spend a lot of time with these characters, across many eras, but we still don’t know how each Defender fits with each other. The key to writing any team is to actually write the team. Interpersonal relationships within the group is key to any narrative revolving around teamwork and with the Defenders constantly flip flopping their archetypes to fit any given scene it leads to some very questionable and out of character decisions. We also don’t have a solid base for how every one of them would interact with the other. Each character that’s not part of the main Hero Squad of Liu Kang, Sonya, and Johnny get maybe one or two scenes together, if that. Mostly of them just being in the same room. Like Sub Zero shares maybe five lines and two scenes with Johnny Cage and we’re supposed to believe that they’re close friends now? They met five seconds ago, and in one of those scenes I’m pretty sure it was a different Sub Zero.

Enter MKX and the new plot line of the next generation of fighters. New character specifically designed to be on a team, each with a specific archetype from the narrative Five Man Band in mind as their main focus. Whittling down the bloat of so many characters and personalities you get Cassie, both a literal and narrative mix of Sonya and Johnny, filling the role of Leader. She’s there to decide the corse of action the rest of the party will take. Kung Jin is her Lancer. He’s there to cause interpersonal tension within the group, challenge the Leader’s authority, and grow as a person. Next is Jacqui as the Tough Guy. She is the intimidating one that keeps the Lancer and enemies in check. She also shares the Brains archetype with Kung Jin, the party member that uses their knowledge to get the team out of sticky situations, usually caused by the Lancer or bad guys. Filling the mandatory stop of team ninja and occupying the often overlooked but critically important archetype of Heart is Takeda. Literally the only thing keeping the team together, his job is to dissolve tension within the group and resolve conflict. This role is also the most likely to be put in the damsel in distress position, and I’m glad they kept that trope for him. He’s such a princess. Good for him.

Throughout the entirety of MKX they stick to these roles and never once stray from them. They are ingrained into their personalities. You can very easily point at each of them and tell the relationship they have with the others. It’s clearly defined. Even when the team is split in MK11 Cassie never fills any other role other than Leader and Jacqui remains in the Tough Guy archetype, even when other characters, like her father, that usually hold that position are present. The only difference is that they swap her Brains sup type for Heart to help fill the void of Takeda not being there and Johnny, who fills the role of Heart in the game, not being in that particular chapter.

Maybe this is a bit rambley. I just really appreciate the decision NRS made to create new characters for a clear and direct porpoise rather than trying to rehash the older ones to try and fit a new narrative, and the decision to have the remaining Defenders grow into mentor roles and focus in on the more clearly defined relationships rather than have them scattered about. Shame it only lasted for one and a half games. At least they took notes for MK12 and put a greater focus on developing the character relationships rather than just pointing at the bad guy and have them hit them constantly.

[a-most-beloved-fool]

see I do like soulmate AUs, but I exclusively like slow-burn soulmate AUs. I need there to be pining and angsting about it, is the thing. love at first sight means nothing to me, and predestination is boring if it's easy.

[the-prince-of-the-ravens]

probably the main reason i prefer fma 03 to brotherhood is that brotherhood sacrificed character for plot and as a result none of the themes hit properly and the storylines in general were much less compelling so even though the plot was more cohesive none of it made an impact on me anyways that’s just my two cents have a good day everyone

[5283]

what a shit ending????? how did se eun's parents manage to kidnap a whole ass class???? did their parents sign some kind of forged agreements before letting their kids be tested on??? what????

[ask-indigo-park-swapped]

Does anyone know what the sea serpent's motivations and goals are for well.. villainy? If so, please tell me!

Now that you mention it, I'm not so chicken sure why he does the things that he does. I had just chalked it up to... greed, or something. All he ever does is steal stuff...

Either way, we haven't seen him in a while, so it's not like I can just bird up and ask.

[meowmeowuchiha]

I just wanna say that despite my criticism of a few elements from the trailer as well as my criticism of the new art style that started with 3

I am still excited to play Borderlands 4 it's gonna be so fun