#like any char you want to

[scatmaan]

i act so over the da fandom and like im a casual fan now but then i see a//nders mentioned in any context and im thrust back into toxic mode

[thedomesticanthropologist]

"I want to headcanon a character as demi or ace so I chose Astarion"

But Wyll is right there??? Astarion has a huge trauma arc about reclaiming his sexuality but here is Wyll who says he prefers dancing over sex and won't even agree to it until you agree to marry him like that is RIPE for some ace or demi headcanoning

"I want to hc a character as Trans and I chose Astarion"

Wyll is the most Trans coded character and even got kicked out of his home by his father for a choice he made about himself that he doesn't regret why not use that plot line hghgkvh

Why not Wyll I'm just

He's right there

Like u do u I'm not gonna rag on anyone's chocies but WYLL IS RIGHT THERE

I know Asty is popular I'm just flabbergasted that Wyll isn't the face of these headcanons and AU's and stuff he fits the archetypes so well ahsgdhdhdhdjfh

[doli-nemae]

sam protecting her brother ran (belongs to @clericnortke) and her crush friend shandra

[aroaceleovaldez]

I think one of the problems with the HoO characterizations is Rick kind of forgot to give half the cast hobbies and general interests, and maybe like people they know outside of their families and outside of camp, or if he did remember to it rarely gets brought up for most of them, or in the special case of Annabeth - she randomly develops a hobby in weaving for exactly one scene and then never again. Apparently she just knew how to do that, even though it is a skill she has literally never used before nor uses again.

The best examples I can give of this are comparing/contrasting the examples of when we do actually get this with the lack-thereof: Hazel and Frank are good examples. Hazel has hobbies and interests generally unrelated to all her demigod stuff (horses and art) and we see this repeatedly discussed and brought up. She also knows and interacts with people outside of the necessities of her quest/Camp Jupiter or her family - Sammy was her best friend at school and they hung out and stuff! Meanwhile, Frank, as far as we know, doesn’t know anybody outside of his family even though he presumably went to school before Camp Jupiter? His hobby is... archery? That’s the only thing he ever really shows interest in but at the same time it only rarely gets brought up except for him using a bow as his main weapon and the like two instances of noting that Frank had hoped he was an Apollo kid for a little bit. The closest other detail we get to Frank having any other kind of hobby/interest is him mentioning off-hand that he used to play Mythomagic.

Piper and Leo - We can presume that Piper knew Shel before moving to Oklahoma, because Piper used to visit her grandpa often and as far as we know that’s also where Shel lives. But we never see Piper ever mention knowing anyone else in her grandfather’s community. Heck, when she’s introduced we’re basically outright told that she doesn’t interact much at all with any of her classmates outside of necessity, and we don’t even have any confirmation that before Hera’s mind-meddling that she even acknowledged Leo’s existence. Also, Piper has like, exactly zero hobbies. We do not know what Piper does in her free time or what she likes (except vaguely that she has surfed before), only really what she dislikes. Leo at least does have some kind of excuse for not really knowing anybody, and an explicit explanation about why that is the case and how he feels about it. Leo also has a repeatedly referenced interest/hobby in mechanics that’s very core to his character.

Percy and Annabeth? Pre-HoO, they both have plenty of interests and know people outside their general circles! Percy knows kids at school. Annabeth’s general outer social circle is Camp Half-Blood, because she grew up there, but she clearly knows people at camp. She’s also super into architecture! And Percy does a ton of stuff in his free time - he skateboards! He plays basketball! He has two pets he takes care of (Blackjack and Mrs. O’Leary)! Post-HoO he’s on a swim team! But during HoO? Percy’s hobbies just kind of disappear, besides “oh yeah he uh. Does water stuff.” There’s no acknowledgement of like, “Yeah Percy sets up a little basketball hoop on the back of his door on the Argo 2 and shoots trash at it.” Literally anything! And yeah, Annabeth’s architecture interest is somewhat acknowledged, but also like, not really? We at least get some kind of “Yeah, in her spare time she’s usually on her laptop working on stuff” but we also barely get any instances of Annabeth thinking about her friends at camp except for like, Tartarus.

For Jason it at least kind of works because a.) he has amnesia and it’s implied he doesn’t really have close friends at Camp Jupiter besides Reyna, so it figures he only ever really references random other legionaries like, twice. and b.) there is also the heavily implication that Jason doesn’t have hobbies, because his entire life was so focused around his training at Camp Jupiter. This works less with Reyna, but she also kind of has an excuse for not knowing people besides like, her sister and Jason, given she ran away when she was young, Circe’s island was destroyed, and she could have only been at Camp Jupiter for like 3 years maximum at that point. And she’s not exactly the most social character. We also don’t get much indication of her hobbies, besides she also likes horses and it’s heavily implied she likes nature/gardens? Presumably, given we get like, one note of that in HoO, maybe two if you count her living on Circe’s island, and then like one more nod to that in TOA. And we only get her POV chapters in BoO anyways so again, she has some excuses. Coach Hedge also is incredibly bland besides maybe him having a hobby in sports, and... violence? Which definitely does not count. And him lacking any POV chapters doesn’t really help.

I think this is why Nico continually feels like such a strong character, simply because we know what he does in his spare time. We know he knows people outside of the camps (most of those people are gods or ghosts, but he at least knows people) and technically you could argue him knowing about Camp Jupiter between BoTL and TLO counts too. He even references his old neighbor at one point. Obviously, he’s very into Mythomagic, and that comes up a lot because it’s his special interest and is usually also relevant to their quests. He travels a lot, and apparently used to when he was younger as well. We also learn he used to have a special interest about pirates and that apparently may have played into his crush on Percy. Like, all that is so simple and minor but it makes such a difference for how Nico feels as a character. Most of Nico’s stuff though is established in the first series, which definitely helps because the first series was pretty good about giving characters hobbies and maybe some people they know - Annabeth, Percy, and Nico we’ve already covered, but also like, Grover knows other satyrs and is usually practicing music and also we know what foods he likes. Thalia is very into punk culture and music. We know she particularly likes Green Day. We know she knew the Hunters of Artemis before the events of TTC. Rachel's whole thing is that she’s super into art and she has a bunch of connections through her rich family, and she’s basically Percy’s only mortal friend. They have lives!

If you put a protagonist in a room and told them to occupy themselves, you should have an answer for what they do. They should be able to name one person outside their immediate social circle who they are generally friendly with or vaguely know, unless they have a specific reason for that to not be the case. HoO crew needs to occupy their time by themselves, no weaponry, for twenty minutes? Hazel could be drawing, Nico could be organizing his cards, Leo could be tinkering, Annabeth could be working on her laptop, Percy could be trying out little skateboard tricks. Jason, Piper, Frank, and Reyna? What would they be doing?

TOA does actually answer that question for Jason, at least, because we learn that Jason makes tiny dioramas! That’s adorable! Why doesn’t he do that in HoO?! TOA also gives us more depth to Will Solace besides “He’s a medic and does medic things” with telling us that he’s into Star Wars. Like, that’s actually so much information to work with! Thank you! And then we also find out in TOA that Nico’s also kinda into art! We still don’t get anything new for Piper, Frank, or Reyna - besides again one more potential implication that Reyna thinks plants are Pretty Okay, and that nature is Mildly Alright. Like, not even “maybe she keeps a houseplant” territory, all we have is “if she had the option, she might be interested in visiting a flower garden.” But honestly TOA at least gives us something for most of the characters we see. Like at least one thing. Most of the rest of the writing is a mess but at least the characters are mildly interesting.

Anyways, give your characters hobbies, it’s good for them.

[hella1975]

complicated relationship with taob be damned i have never peaked higher than i did when i was studying tragedies for my english class and wrote the fever dream chapter

[starflungwaddledee]

been working on answering a prompt i received in an ask the other day, and so i'm back thinking about... the Thing... 💖🎀 and thought maybe prompt doodles might help me work through this a little?

so uhhh.... if by any wild chance anyone has any ship suggestions for starstruck...??? feel free to send them through!

[petrichorium]

even if it’s not what i think it’ll be i’d love to hear your yan jing yuan thoughts 🙏

Okay in essence I think,,,,,,,, the impulse is there and he actively shoves it down 🫣

Like it’s there!!! He sees you smiling at someone and there’s a tugging feeling in his gut and he knows he could drag you away and lock you up for millennia without lifting a finger, and he really does consider it; imagines being the only one who can see you, imagines you with nothing to do but be pampered by him all day, always in his bed or his garden, never having to find you laughing and spending time with anyone else. Nothing to do with yourself but accept his adoration. How much has he given to his people, to the Luofu? Surely he deserves to be selfish with this one thing.

He could collar you without batting an eye. All his, for the rest of your nigh-infinite lives. He likes the thought, he really does.

But that only lasts a millisecond. Because above all else the Arbiter-General Jing Yuan is clever, and he knows the consequences of that line of thought—not that he’d be stopped, not at all, but that you would never truly love him if he went through with it. Sure he’d wear you down eventually but that would never be the same, and he would lose any chance of his genuine affection being returned. And his pride might never recover from that wound.

Sure, he could make you his pet, and he’d find some satisfaction in that. But it would be fleeting. He holds you too highly to want to break you; yes, he deserves to be greedy with you, and that means he doesn’t just want you in his arms. He wants your love, your life, and he wants to earn it honorably. You’re a discerning little thing, giving him a run for his money, but he’d be lying if he said he hated the chase. It’ll make it all the sweeter to win properly.

He needs you to choose him, freely, of your own accord. He needs you to want him even a fraction of how much he wants you, and he needs that desire to be your own.

[ectojyunk]

Y'know what, that post abt female chars got me thinking. I feel like there *are* some char tropes that get hated on more when its a dude. I'm thinking, if Asahi was a girl, there'd be much less "pathetic simp" and "I want to beat him to a pulp" going around and more "she's so yandere that's cute" and "she loves himmm, idm her gaslighting me"

... Or am I completely off the mark? I genuinely don't know bc I'm v gender blind with these topics

[flowryluv]

THE woMAN. THE MYTH. THE LEGEND. THE MORALLY DUBIOUS JOURNALIST IN LOVE WITH TWO CATGIRLS.

[grapecaseschoices]

UP TOP: Is the Tadpole Consumers! Sometimes being 'Power Hungry' means eating an actual worm.

Kendis Wolfcrossing (left): Bearbarian (Druid and Barbarian), She/They (nb). Romance Rolan [Maybe Minthara. Maybe Halsin. I'm just fucking around in the PT]

Kaeliana (right): aka The Dark Urge, Soradin of Kelemvor (Sorcerer and Paladin), She/her (trans). Romance Wyll.

BOTTOM DOWN: The Parental Trauma Cleric Sibs (and potentially both technically undead).

Amryl Shadowhoard (left): Ranger/War Cleric of Bahamut, They/It/She (in order; nb). Romance Wyll/Lae'zel/REDACTED [yeah that's the polyam!]. Is, technically, Isyl's younger sibling.

Isyl Shadowhoard (right): aka The Dark Urge. Cleric of Light [hhaha] of Lathander, ???? (trans and nb). Potential Romance Barcus. Is, definitely, Amryl's older sibling. Isyl remembers that fact and Isyl remembers Lathander. Everything else is secondary. Right?

[trashcanwithsprinkles]

One of my ocs has been quietly vibing with your star foxes lore for a while, if we’re allowed to yoink lore headcanons I finally have an explanation for why he’s so funky. (Fox boy of ambiguous origin)

you've no idea how happy this ask makes me

[microwaving-tesilid-argente]

reading the comments of OI stories is so unpleasant sometimes like 😭 i hate seeing people rage and curse at characters who aren't the protags. bro it's not their fault that they're antagonists and they're not even THAT annoying lmao

[seithr]

Randomly remembered the half-reason i call my oc-verse by the name it has while laying in bed. One-half of the reason i still knew, but I had forgotten what had truly, really cemented it jointly until now

(it was a song from my favourite band I haven't listened to in a while.)

(the song fit so well at the time, still does, that i needed to hold onto it for the main protagonists forever, by partially naming their story in reference.)

Does this explanation make any sense? Does anyone know why I'm tearing up remembering this. Aahh

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

*don't go to grad school out of spite, don't go to grad school out of spite, do NOT go to GRAD SCHOOL out of SPITE!!!*

[worlds-best-sippycup]

I'm 7 episodes into Trigun Stampede, and everything else that's amazing aside, you do not know how I squeal with delight every time I see Meryl. She is 100% a noncombatant character done as right as possible in an action series, and I love it.

It's ALSO for this reason that I probably won't ever watch the original 90's anime or the manga, because I feel like she'd be really annoying if she was even a little bit less carefully written? The non-combatant, fighty, skeptical, aggressive - honestly kind of annoying but in like, an endearing way - girl character so often is.

Though, Trigun does also do Vash (and Roberto, another non-combatant) really well, and it has a lot of pacifism themes, so... maybe not?

[serenanymph]

Hello, happy STS! If you had to transform your story into a different genre, which one would you pick and what would it look like?

Happy STS! Oh boy you have no idea what you've just set off. Brace yourself avalanche incoming

Okay SO I actually have a looooot of aus for beast because who doesn't like to daydream and write au snippets for their wip to run from their responsibilities. Most of these are specific fandom aus but I have thought about a sci fi au of beast, so, sci fi it is.

This would honestly change a lot of the tone and turn it into kind of a different story, but I do have a lot of fun thinking about how it would work!! In the sci fi au Beasts are a new line of android soldiers Kosei are experimenting with to keep the peace, with a bunch of fancy abilities such as flying!! Or shooting fireballs from their hands!!! It's all smooth sailing until news breaks that some of the androids' codes have malfunctioned, and they've broken out from their facilities. Naturally the government comes out and apologizes, promises they'll get this solved soon, places bounties and creates a special task force to catch them, etc etc.

Anyway, Crys is just a normal mechanic, about as far removed from this situation as any other citizen, up to the point where a boy with metal wings crash lands in his dumpster. He's about to call the hotline and send up an alert to any bounty hunters and authorities nearby - until he notices one teeny tiny problem, which is: the boy is bleeding. Like, real, red, human blood. So oops. Looks like Kosei has been messing around with human experimentation.

Anyway I went a bit insane over this au so have a tiny snippet :D

All in all, Crys’s day goes pretty normally up to the point where the boy with metal wings crash lands into his dumpster. Well, not his dumpster, per se – just the one of the dumpsters behind his apartment, in a narrow alleyway off from the main street. It’s barely wide enough to fit a hoverbike in sideways, and the red-bricked walls are dirtied with soot and grit. The sky overhead is a watery strip of blue, empty of hovercrafts. The few rows of windows looking down on him, all darkened with grime, are closed as usual – trash collection is only once a week, and the fumes are awful. At any rate, he’s lugging a sack of broken parts behind him, holding his breath, when the boy falls out of the sky. It’s fast, and it happens quite literally – there’s a shadow, overhead, the sound of something tearing through the wind, and then a speeding blur slams straight into one of the bins with a thunderous crash. It’s the one for organic waste, which is why there isn’t a sickening crunch of bone against metal, but it still sounds like it hurts. There’s the glint of sunlight against metal, the silent hum of machinery, of gears whirring and clicking. Crys tenses. All he has is a pocketknife. And then – a groan, and a curse. The figure heaves themself over the lip of the dumpster, and Crys thinks, oh. It’s a boy around his age, or at least, he looks like a boy, because there are metal wings on his back. They’re beautiful – sleek and streamlined and gigantic – but also crooked and missing chunks of plating and spitting sparks. Some of the black paint has been scratched off, showing the silver underneath. Crys knows what they’re supposed to look like because he’s been seeing it all over the city, on wanted posters plastered on every street corner and every shop window, in the pamphlets sent out to every citizen in Kosei. Crows are one of the easiest to spot. The boy in front of him is a Beast. Which means he is not a boy at all, but an android. He is also covered in wounds leaking bright red blood. Crys feels the world slip out from under him. “Ah,” the boy says, meeting Crys’s gaze. His hair is a bird’s nest, dark and wild and sticking up every which way. His eyes are the color of obsidian. There’s a weak, wobbling grin on his face, his face pale with blood loss, which shouldn’t be possible. But you don’t have to be a mechanic to know that androids don’t bleed. Which means that, though the boy in front of him is a Beast, he is not an android at all. “Any chance,” the boy manages, “you can pretend you didn’t see me?” There’s a moment’s pause. The world holds its breath. Crys hesitates, hand halfway to his hologlass. The boy topples over the edge of the dumpster and passes out.

beast taglist: @sapphos-scientist @allianaavelinjackson @arctic-oceans @space-writes @reneesbooks