#like it just dumps us in with not enough time to develop the characters

[onewordshy]

Okay I've moved on to watching Power Rangers Wild Force and it's pretty middling so far but one thing that I appreciate is that there's a real sense of danger whenever the Orgs grow giant. Like usually on these shows when the monster of the week gets giant it's just a cue to take the fight to the Megazord, but this season there's usually a good chunk of time where the Rangers are staring up in terror and the Orgs have no reservations about trying to stomp on the Rangers. I usually dgaf about the Zord fights but since this season insists on the Zords being characters (kinda) then at least they feel more useful.

[novlr]

Weird question here: do I need to describe my character's clothes? Obviously I need to if it's important to the story or setting (if they're wearing a beautiful ruby gown at a ball, or maybe dirty and torn to indicate a fight) but just on a normal day? Do readers need to know what characters are wearing?

As writers, we often get caught up in the details of our characters. We describe everything from their eye colour to their favourite breakfast cereal, and it can be so easy to go overboard with unnecessary description. Describing a character’s clothes is a danger zone for too much description. It’s incredibly easy to get lost in the minutiae and forget the most important element when writing for readers; will they find this interesting?

The short answer

No, you don’t need to describe every piece of clothing your characters wear throughout your story. Like all elements of writing, clothing descriptions should serve a purpose.

Just like clothing in real life, descriptions of a character’s clothes serve a function. This means that your chose in when to describe things should be intentional; usually for the purposes of character development, world-building, setting a mood, social commentary, plot advancement, or symbolic representation.

When should you describe clothing?

Every plot is different, but there are some key moments in a story when knowing what a character is wearing or how they are dressed could be important:

When it reveals a character’s personality or status (e.g. do they favour muted tones or bright, bold colours? Do their clothing choices signify wealth?).

During important story moments or turning points if it highlights that moment’s significance (e.g. wearing black at a funeral, or an academic gown at graduation).

If the clothing affects the plot or action (e.g. Cinderella losing her glass slipper).

When establishing the time period or setting (e.g. historically appropriate clothing descriptions to put readers into the right headspace to appreciate your setting).

If it shows a significant change in the character (e.g. a shy character who likes to blend in suddenly switching to bright colours to display their newfound confidence).

When it symbolises something deeper in the narrative (e.g. a meaningful piece of jewellery, or a bride wearing her mother’s dress for her wedding).

When should you skip clothing descriptions?

Readers don’t need to know what your character is wearing at every moment of every day. The best way to think about it is, if it’s not important to the story, don’t describe it in detail. Usually it’s enough to know that someone is wearing a jumper on an overcast day, and it won’t actually enhance the scene to know it’s a plain black one. Here are some moments when it’s probably not all that important to go into too much detail:

During routine daily activities.

When the outfit doesn’t add meaning to the scene.

If it interrupts the flow of important action.

When it feels like “outfit cataloging” rather than storytelling.

If you’re describing clothes just to fill space.

Tips for how to effectively describe a characters’ clothes

Make it matter: Make sure your descriptions reveal something about the character, whether that be a personality trade, social or economic status, or their cultural background.

Illustrate change: Highlight a change in your character, whether that be something external or a internal, emotional change.

Create uniqueness: In the case of a protagonist, especially, the way they dress can make them unique. It can contrast them with other characters.

Set something up: Describing a character’s clothes can be used for foreshadowing a future plot point.

Be selective: You don’t need to describe a whole outfit. Instead, you can focus on one or two distinct pieces, items that have significance, clothing that affects movement or action, or elements that reflect the character’s state of mind.

Don’t info-dump: You should try to seamlessly weave descriptions into the narrative. Describe actions and interactions, use sensory language, have other characters react, or let clothing be a part of a scene’s atmosphere.

Common pitfalls to avoid

There is a fine line to tow when describing a character’s clothes in a way that is effective. And essentially, the pitfalls happen on either side of that line. You will either over-describe or under-describe. So what does that mean?

Over-description

Listing every item of clothing, regardless or relevance or usefulness.

Describing outfits for every scene. We rarely need to know what all characters are wearing at all times.

Including brand names unless relevant. Sometimes, a character’s brand loyalty might be important to the plot, but if it’s not, it’s unnecessary, and potentially alienating to readers.

Getting too technical with fashion terminology. Most readers won’t be au fait with the specifics, so make sure you write in a way that most readers can follow.

Focusing on clothes at the expense of action. Nothing will bring an action scene to a screeching halt faster than a detail dump.

Under-description

Don’t ignore clothing when it would be significant. If a character has undergone a significant personal change, then it would make sense to describe how that might also affect how they look on the outside.

Don’t miss opportunities for characterisation. A lot of a character’s personality can shine through their clothes, so if you’re telling the kind of story where that could be relevant, make sure you don’t miss those opportunities.

Don’t forget period-appropriate details in historical fiction. Research and authenticity are essential in certain genres, and clothing can go a long way to setting the scene.

Don’t overlook clothing that affects movement or action. The clothing a character wears can hugely affect the believability of a scene. If a character has just stepped out of a coronation and is dripping with heavy jewellery, it wouldn’t make sense for them to go for a leisurely swim.

Don’t skip descriptions that could build atmosphere. If it’s cold and dark, make sure your characters fit into that setting. Or you can use it to contrast your character and invert expectations (like a character who only ever wears shorts, even in winter).

When in doubt, ask these questions:

Does this detail reveal character?

Will it matter later in the story?

Does it help readers understand the world?

Is it necessary for visualisation?

Could the scene work without it?

Like all descriptions, clothing is a tool that you can use. Describe clothing when it serves your story and skip it when it doesn’t. The key is to make every detail count, whether you’re describing a ball gown or a worn-out pair of sneakers.

The bottom line is that you must trust your instincts and your readers. They don’t need a detailed inventory of every character’s wardrobe, but they do appreciate thoughtful details that enhance their understanding of your characters and story. When in doubt, less is often more, but make the descriptions you do include count.

[lizzy-bonnet]

MASH has so many modes of masculinity. Hawkeye, massive ego, womanizer, very self-consciously non-violent, masking pain through humour. Winchester, whose masculinity is SO, SO bound up in class and wealth. Klinger, serving absolute cunt for several seasons before pivoting to practically being regular army. Hunnicutt, soft masculine but at the same time so route one that some of his biggest crises come when his wife cleans out the gutters by herself and works as a waitress, honestly the guy might as well have been on The Waltons for how traditionally he sees his role in his family.

But Frank such a fascinating study. He's performing masculinity so aggressively but also so poorly that it folds back on itself to become a parody. He doesn't really like his wife, but he isn't brave enough to leave her. He's threatened by his side piece and constantly tries to diminish her. He uses his firearm as a prop to make him feel big. He's the least "manly" character in the cast but he wants manliness more than anyone else. His trauma is hidden in throwaway lines. He's desperately lonely and unable to connect with others because he can't stop being such a wanker. He's petty, he's jealous, he's humourless, he's sour. Margaret eventually dumps him for someone who she thinks can give her the life she wants, and goes on her own journey of character development and when she leaves him behind he spirals instead of trying to find his own identity.

I kind of hate how undignified his ending is but at the same time, once he no longer has Margaret to cling to, what's left for him? Honestly I find him so tragic, he's such a sad little trainwreck. The narrative is often cruel to him, sure, but I also think the masculinity of the period (and still today) was really cruel to someone like Frank who doesn't have a strongly defined sense of himself the way the other men in MASH do. When I used to catch episodes in syndication he was hateable, but streaming half a season in one go just makes me feel sad for him.

[genericpuff]

What’s your current thoughts on what we’ve seen of Eleanor’s Deathbed?

IDK, there isn't enough of it so far to even make any sort of judgment, and whatever judgments I do have to make are largely rooted in Rachel's past work because... well, because we've seen this project at least twice before in the past already.

Like so far the only strong opinion I can make about it is "same shit different day". It's kind of like a fusion of Lore Olympus and The Doctor Foxglove Show, because evidently she's only been able to write and draw the same character dynamic and romance plotline for the past decade. All we've seen is the art and it's honestly fine, I think at the very least it's a great sign that the corporate Webtoons burnout is finally starting to lift and she's creating art that doesn't look like that anymore. I can at least acknowledge that as a refreshing improvement.

That said, it's still a far cry away from the stuff she used to create back in the day (in the Foxglove era) and above all else, the art at this point doesn't really matter to me, it's her writing that's always been her weakest skill and evidently one that hasn't improved at all over the years, both on account of her apparent refusal to learn but also what seems to be an incredibly limited perspective that's influenced the severely problematic undertones of her work and its messaging.

The reason these issues were so apparent in LO was because it was the first time she ever had to complete a story (and also the fact that she and WT's alike marketed LO as something it wasn't - a "feminist retelling" that was trying to "help people"). It's why LO was so enjoyable for many of us in the beginning, just for it to fall apart by the end of S2 which made us even more aware of the cracks that were always there from the very first episode, we just didn't notice them or were more forgiving of them because the story was still "setting up" and Rachel clearly "had something planned". That feeling of betrayal and frustration that's shared among everyone within the antiLO community largely started with the creeping and eventually explosive realization that Rachel did not in fact have anything planned to resolve all the questions and loose ends she had created, she was writing by the seat of her pants the whole time and she had finally flat on her face... but with the added arrogance of blaming the "haters" for pulling the seat out from under her.

Credit where credit's due, she's always been pretty good at coming up with fascinating premises and concepts, both of which are present in her pre-LO stories like The Doctor Foxglove Show and Woman King. But they never lasted long enough for us to see how they would have played out from start to finish, and so all we have to judge them by are their foundations, not the completed house.

We were able to judge LO by those metrics, though, and the way it turned out in the end proved that having a good idea doesn't automatically make for good writing.

Maybe Eleanor's Deathbed will improve upon those problems, but considering most of what I've seen so far of the 'writing' through her mini comics, eh, just looks like it's gonna be more of the same "uwu cinnamon bun girl who's casually racist / classist" x "creepy death man who's competitively racist / classist" shtick. And at the end of the day, when so many of her writing issues are rooted in - as mentioned above - her limited perspective of real world problems and over-inflated ego, I have zero reason to believe that ED isn't just gonna be LO with a new coat of paint, with all the same amateur writing, poorly developed characters, self-indulgent soapboxing, poorly disguised trauma dumping, and problematic messaging disguised as "feminism".

When I said a while back that I wasn't interested in following Rachel's work post-LO, I meant it. At the end of the day, what made me fall in love with LO originally was LO, not Rachel herself. My interest in her work died with LO, only extending to the stuff she did before as a sort of morbid fascination with where it might have all gone wrong. And I think the simplest - and most disappointing - conclusion I've ever come to is, "Rachel has always been like this, the downfall of LO just made us look."

The characters, art style, etc. of ED so far are just not compelling to me in the way LO once was, they're not even compelling to me in the way that Foxglove was in hindsight once I knew of its existence (because at least looking back at those pieces, all I could do is wonder how the beauty of those pieces was lost).

If I do ever read ED in the future - assuming it ever even materializes beyond her social media doodles - I want it to be because I'm genuinely interested in her future work, not because I entitle myself to haunting her like a ghost. I'm already surely haunting her enough as it is by not letting her live down LO, but at least I actually liked LO at one point (and still kinda do, if you count my love-hate relationship with it LMAO). I'm not at all interested in Eleanor's Deathbed on account of what I've already experienced of Rachel's work through LO (and through our deep-diving of her pre-LO career) and because, like I said, what I've seen so far is just not really all that compelling. So I just really don't have any reason to invest my time or care into it.

She, like anyone else, has the right to try and move forward from the tire fire that was LO, even if that tire fire is still worth pointing out and discussing in many ways. Maybe Eleanor's Deathbed will succeed upon LO in ways that it failed. Maybe it won't. I'm not compelled to follow along and find out. I'd rather just cut my losses.

Plus if I really want this woman to fade into obscurity the way I think she deserves, well, the only thing I can reliably do to manifest that reality is to not pay her future work any attention whatsoever LMAO Such an individual effort doesn't mean she'll just suddenly disappear, she's clearly got a support network now through Inklore and Webtoons to keep force-feeding her relevance down people's throats, but hey, we all have our own gardens, and I don't have to keep planting her in mine. The carnation that was LO still thrives on, and I care for it through Rekindled and the odd analysis post / rant about LO whenever I happen to think of something new worth discussing. But whatever Eleanor's Deathbed is or will become, it's just not something I want in my garden.

[multifandomloverthrowaway]

Viktor Was a Wasted Character

(But are we really surprised?)

This is my first post ever on Tumblr so please be nice! This is in no way hate towards any particular character or ship; personally I love Viktor as a character and all his ships, and that’s the main reason why I’m posting this. I also know like no LoL lore, so please bear with me. I’m just going to rant and dump my thoughts out here since I don’t really have fans in person to talk to about this, and it’s really bugging me lol!

That being said, I just watched season two, and after sitting with it’s ending, I do not think that the story told in the season is well thought out, and it can be very heavily seen in how characters are treated both in the show and in the fandom. It’s quite disheartening to see the fandom going through the peak-fandom era treatment of mlm and wlw relationships, and the overall treatment of the characters can be a little trashy. How people see Viktor can be very degrading and objectifying, and the whole ship wars and fallout with JayVik is absolutely disgusting. It makes me feel that many watchers did not fully understand Viktor’s character. And to a certain extent, the writers did not care for it either.

Viktor’s character represents what would happen if a Zaunite were able to become “successful” in the eyes of Piltover. Someone who had the intellect and ambition to supersede the conditions in Zaun and were able to compete with those raised in the “better city”. Thus, the questions of “How did they get to their place in Piltover?”, “What flaws do they have?”, “What is holding them back?”, “What is their experience in Piltover like?”, “Are they accepted?”, “Is there prejudice?”, and “What was their life in Zaun like?” are the core questions that make the character and their arc. This character is particularly important because this is the character that shows that those who are oppressed, no matter how “good” they are, will never be good enough in the eyes of the oppressor, especially if they have faults of their own. Viktor is fundamental to the message of season one Arcane. He helps to complete the story in its exploration of class, social, and political divide by personifying that ��what if it could work” gap.

Viktor naturally then must be an internally strong character. Giving Viktor a disability is not just good inclusion, but also a good internal motivator. We as the audience then see that his key goal to help Zaun is not rooted in pity for a former home, but rather the cause of an injustice that he was a victim to. We see his steadfastness in going after opportunities that he thinks will benefit Zaun and humanity, and constant relentless means to get there. This is in stark contrast to his personal life. His deeply rooted sentiment that he must be alone because of his disability, along with perceptions of his disability and birthplace, are why he is a closed person only reaching for science, despite being quite empathetic. They also set up his two main conflicts:

1. He is dying with little time to finish his goal of helping Zaun and humanity

and

2. The people around him want to weaponize his creation into something that can be used against his hometown

These conflicts are where the plot fumbled the character. Firstly, we do not see any ties between him and Zaun other than his illness and that he grew up there. Where are his parents that supposedly love him so much? What is his relationship with Sky, which he supposedly cared enough for to bring out of Zaun to work with him and Jayce? His lack of well developed relationships with other characters other than Jayce hurt his character development from occurring naturally. It’s why Sky’s death doesn’t feel like anything. Despite Viktor seeing her in the realm as a metaphor to his shred of humanity left, his garden dedicated to her, her emblem on his robe, we don’t know their relationship or history in his eyes. (It should have been that they were in at least a friendship. Anything less than that would not fit Viktor’s character.) We don’t see him interact that much with Mel, despite her being his close friend’s love interest. We do not see him interact with doctors or his parents. What other real relationship does he have depicted in the show other than, well, Jayce? The only other is perhaps Singed. How do these relationships play into his self perception, and perception of humanity?

Combining his deteriorating friendship with Jayce over politics and with understanding that his work will be used against him without his credit or his voice should set Viktor up for him to make decisions that will naturally lead into his lore as we know it; to create something that allows him to fix himself and others while simultaneously corrupting him, especially in Zaun. Instead in season two we see that path taken away from him within the first Act after he is fused with magic because of Jayce. This is a pity because it makes Viktor reliant on Jayce’s decisions in a way that is outside of their parallel to the power struggle between Zaun and Piltover and thus takes away from his authority as a character - his decision to fuse himself with magic and machinery to go against Piltover needed to be a result of his decisions and actions, not of someone else and magic!

Giving that narrative decision to Jayce also leaves no organic way for Jayce to come to realize who Viktor is as a person outside of just a “partner”. This is especially apparent during the finale, in which Jayce’s love for Viktor is boiled down to “I love you for who you are”… though that undermines Viktor’s illness, why that illness exists and thus his reason to be a character, and by extension… Zaun’s struggle. And yet, Viktor dies accepting Jayce’s words, despite them undermining the reason he exists! Each time Viktor is yet again denied that choice to be what his character represents. Instead he is used as the crutch to Jayce until the end of the second season. This is also why the multidimensional time travel does not work with Viktor being the mage that gives Jayce magic; Viktor’s destiny is then settled firmly in Jayce’s hands and not his own. They are not soulmates; only one’s life depends on the other’s.

Viktor then, despite having some good foundation, never becomes the full representation that his character could be. We see no growth of his insecurities and setbacks that allow him to make the choice to become who is meant to be. Rather we see that narrative handed to another character who does not fulfill his character arc fully either.

It is no surprise to see the JayVik shippers in this case. Because Viktor is so dependent on Jayce in the narrative, there is no other natural relationship for him. This is despite the fact that Viktor’s sax orientation shouldn’t be of speculation, because in the case of the story, it doesn’t matter. Whether or not Viktor is able to have physical attraction to another person is not the core of his story nor his character. (Which is why his ace designation should not be controversial.) However, that his ability to make meaningful connections with the people in his lives, whether as friends or romantically, is. And we do not see that with any other person but Jayce, who cannot not see him as a full person due to the narrative. Viktor, at his essence, is a man whose agency has been taken from him by the narrative.

The better case in the narrative would have been to let the two part their separate ways after the death of Sky and the council attack, and let Viktor be the tragic hero he was made for. The love between each character that was to have a relationship with Viktor would have been that much more apparent, especially with Sky and Jayce. Then perhaps we would not see Viktor become the “disabled tw!nk whose real relationship could have only been with Jayce because only they truly knew and loved each other” because no. Only they didn’t. Viktor always had so much more, which included Jayce, Mel, Sky, and could have been far more! He just wasn’t given the means to explore it. And not by just the characters in Arcane. By the writers too.

[armageddon-generation]

Empire of Death was bad and cemented several fundemental flaws in this season.

I watched this in the theatre, and the contrast between everyone's excitement before Empire, and their universal disappointment leaving the theatre was super disheartening. I'm gonna try to articulate my problems with episode, and how they're linked to fundenental structural issues of this season.

SPOILERS BELOW:

Sutekh

The moment the UNIT characters died the story was robbed of any stakes. (Also? Kate and Ibrahim?? During Pride month?? Disgusting)

Sutekh was pointless, big CGI spectacle who was barely there. Saying he's been latched onto the TARDIS since Pyramids of Mars was such an asspull. Why couldn't he have latched on during Wild Blue Yonder? wouldn't that make much more sense??

You're telling me the guy who holds all life in contempt is invested enough in learning the identity of Ruby's mum he willingly reveals himself??

And then they defeat him by dragging him through the Vortex just like before, which it's been explicitly stated *didn't work* last time? He just *lets* Ruby leash him??

The 'death of death is life' bit, and the idea of the Doctor representing life as a Ying to Sutekh's Yang, is a cool concept just jammed in there with no real buildup or depth.

The issue is bringing Sutekh back takes so much effort- a literal, clunky clipshow of Pyramids of Mars, a whole episode spent building up to the reveal of a silly anagram entirely unrekated to Sutekh's previous appearance. And it just... amounts to nothing. What a silly way to cap off a season meant to be jumping-on point for brand-new viewers.

Mel was just takingup space. Pointless.

Ruby's Mother

I don't have a problem with the *concept* of Ruby's mum being normal. I really like the idea thematically. The execution was terrible.

First of all it leaves so many unanswered questions (why the snow? Why was time changing? Why was she shadowed? Literally just for the sake of the mystery-box?) and represents the worst thing about this new era- RTD using fantasy logic to handwave any logic at all, and just do whatever he wants without properly justifying it.

Second, I *hate* how easy and simple and neat the reunion is. Ruby seems incapable of getting angry with anyone. She has never once argued with 15, or Carla, or anyone besides that one moment in 73 Yards. She has never expressed any kind of negative feeling towards her mother for abandoning her. And it's fine for her to reach that conclusion! It's just bizzare we never see Ruby struggle with her feelings beyond the shallow goal of wanting to find her.

(Also Carla? Has nothing to say?? Just welcomes that woman in with basically no comment? Carla is a 2D cutout of a person, used as a plot device and otherwise relegated to the single character trait of I Love My Daughter. The children yearn for the ilk of Jackie Tyler, Sylvia Noble, even Francine Jones.)

15 & Ruby

The emotion behind 15 & Ruby's split felt entirely unearned because we've never seen their bond develop. They never argue, never disagree, Ruby hasn't learned anything about herself or grown or changed. The closest we got to that is 73 Yards, which was undone. She was already brave and kind and musical and sure she loved her adoptive family when we met her in Church on Ruby Road.

Similarly, 15 tells us Ruby encouraged him to talk about family in a way he never has, but that was in what, two moments across the season? And they seemed random, unrelated to Ruby being with him. New viewers will assume 15 is just that open anyway- he was discussing fatherhood with a dead man's hologram- and old viewers assumed trauma-dumping was just a new trait of 15's personality, not Ruby-specific.

The problem is we're told Ruby & 15 are best friends but it isn't earned. I liked 15 crying initially but both he and Ruby do it so much (15 cries about 5 times in this one episode) it loses its impact and I'm becoming numb to it. There is no contrast, no downtime.

Season Structural Issues

I think the biggest problem is Season 1's storytelling priorities. It's much more interested in selling *the show* (look at our big budget! And guest stars! And how flexible our format is! Musical episode! The Beatles as props! Bottle episode! Indie folk-horror! Black Mirror! Gay Bridgerton!) it forgot to put effort into developing and investing us in its characters. I liked a lot of the individual stories this year but in retrospect a lot of them feel like they're wasting space that needed to go to essential character and theme setup.

These skewed priorities, combined with the cut down episode count, really impact the pacing of the season. Ruby and 15 were barely together! Even in Rogue they were seperated for most of the story!! We only loop back to a flashback of 15 meeting Carla in Rogue!

This is made worse by the baffling insistence on a 45-minute runtime. We know key sequences were cut from almost every episode, with highlights including:

The Gobin King invading Ruby's flat and her banishing him with scratchcards in The Church on Ruby Road: Her missing 'companion saves the day' moment!

Refrence to the Toymaker in The Church on Ruby Road, which was itself referenced in The Devil's Chord. 'I told you about the Toymaker when we first met' sir, objectively you did not.

The TARDIS jukebox playing the Sugarbabes' Push The Button in the opening scene of Space Babies, hastily cut around in the final edit. This is the setup of a running joke still in the episode, and part of the story's climax. The first encounter with the Bogeyman was also longer, with 15 taking particular interest in its skin

Extended scenes in Abbey Road from The Devil's Chord, including an apparently significant speaking role for Cilla Black, according to her annoyed actress.

Cut dialogue from The Devil's Chord explaining the musoical number was caused by Maestro's power lingering, and that banishing them undid everything they'd done. Fans inferred thos based on the rules established in The Giggle, but again, new fans haven't seen The Giggle and were left clueless.

An opening sequence for The Legend of Ruby Sunday where 15 & Ruby meet Susan as a nanny in 1947 America, a blue-skinned waitress, and an astronaut meeting a colony of giant, sentient ants. At the end of this we actually see 15 decide to go to UNIT for help. In the broadcast version he just sorta shows up.

Really what Empire of Death exposed to me is how emotionally hollow the season was. I enjoy the exoperimentalism, but not at the cost of character. And then in the finale Russell reverts to almost a parody of his RTD1 finales, with the nonsense logic and lack of consequences. All the worst bits of Last of the Time Lords and The Giggle put in a blender.

[dailyadventureprompts]

Homebrew Mechanic: Meaningful Research

Being careful about when you deliver information to your party is one of the most difficult challenges a dungeonmaster may face, a balancing act that we constantly have to tweak as it affects the pacing of our campaigns.

That said, unlike a novel or movie or videogame where the writers can carefully mete out exposition at just the right time, we dungeonmasters have to deal with the fact that at any time (though usually not without prompting) our players are going to want answers about what's ACTUALLY going on, and they're going to take steps to find out.

To that end I'm going to offer up a few solutions to a problem I've seen pop up time and time again, where the heroes have gone to all the trouble to get themselves into a great repository of knowledge and end up rolling what seems like endless knowledge checks to find out what they probably already know. This has been largely inspired by my own experience but may have been influenced by watching what felt like several episodes worth of the critical role gang hitting the books and getting nothing in return.

I've got a whole write up on loredumps, and the best way to dripfeed information to the party, but this post is specifically for the point where a party has gained access to a supposed repository of lore and are then left twiddling their thumbs while the dm decides how much of the metaplot they're going to parcel out.

When the party gets to the library you need to ask yourself: Is the information there to be found?

No, I don't want them to know yet: Welcome them into the library and then save everyone some time by saying that after a few days of searching it’s become obvious the answers they seek aren’t here. Most vitally, you then either need to give them a new lead on where the information might be found, or present the development of another plot thread (new or old) so they can jump on something else without losing momentum.

No, I want them to have to work for it:  your players have suddenly given you a free “insert plothook here” opportunity. Send them in whichever direction you like, so long as they have to overcome great challenge to get there. This is technically just kicking the can down the road, but you can use that time to have important plot/character beats happen.

Yes, but I don’t want to give away the whole picture just yet:  The great thing about libraries is that they’re full of books, which are written by people,  who are famously bad at keeping their facts straight. Today we live in a world of objective or at least peer reviewed information but the facts in any texts your party are going to stumble across are going to be distorted by bias. This gives you the chance to give them the awnsers they want mixed in with a bunch of red herrings and misdirections. ( See the section below for ideas)

Yes, they just need to dig for it:  This is the option to pick if you're willing to give your party information upfront while at the same time making it SEEM like they're overcoming the odds . Consider having an encounter, or using my minigame system to represent their efforts at looking for needles in the lithographic haystack. Failure at this system results in one of the previous two options ( mixed information, or the need to go elsewhere), where as success gets them the info dump they so clearly crave.

The Art of obscuring knowledge AKA Plato’s allegory of the cave, but in reverse

One of the handiest tools in learning to deliver the right information at the right time is a sort of “slow release exposition” where you wrap a fragment lore the party vitally needs to know in a coating of irrelevant information,  which forces them to conjecture on possibilities and draw their own conclusions.  Once they have two or more pieces on the same subject they can begin to compare and contrast, forming an understanding that is merely the shadow of the truth but strong enough to operate off of. 

As someone who majored in history let me share some of my favourite ways I’ve had to dig for information, in the hopes that you’ll be able to use it to function your players.

A highly personal record in the relevant information is interpreted through a personal lens to the point where they can only see the information in question 

Important information cameos in the background of an unrelated historical account

The information can only be inferred from dry as hell accounts or census information. Cross reference with accounts of major historical events to get a better picture, but everything we need to know has been flattened into datapoints useful to the bureaucracy and needs to be re-extrapolated.

The original work was lost, and we only have this work alluding to it. Bonus points if the existent work is notably parodying the original, or is an attempt to discredit it.

Part of a larger chain of correspondence, referring to something the writers both experienced first hand and so had no reason to describe in detail. 

The storage medium (scroll, tablet, arcane data crystal) is damaged in some way, leading to only bits of information being known. 

Original witnesses Didn’t have the words to describe the thing or events in question and so used references from their own environment and culture. Alternatively, they had specific words but those have been bastardized by rough translations. 

Tremendously based towards a historical figure/ideology/religion to the point that all facts in the piece are questionable.  Bonus points if its part of a treatise on an observably untrue fact IE the flatness of earth

[tairona-is-taken]

A snippet of my current WIP, in which the Prequels characters time travel into the post-Callista Legends era and inexplicably end up at one of Karrde's bases — which means Mara is one of the first people they meet, along with Lando, since he and Mara are in their fake relationship phase. In this scene, Mara and Lando are having a little side bar about informing Luke about this unexpected development, and Lando's explaining a) that Luke's actually gone comm silent on everyone and b) what he thinks might be the reason for that ...

“Luke said they parted amicably. Said that he’d finally accepted that he had to let her go, and he sure seemed like he meant it. But I don’t know.” Lando sighed in clear sympathy with his friend. “The first time she left, she promised they’d be together again someday. Now he knows it’s permanent. And maybe the full weight of that has finally sunk in. All the hopes he had for the two of them—marriage, kids. Rebuilding the Order together. A whole lifetime together. All of that gone.”

“Mm.” Mara made a somewhat strangled noise of assent, suddenly out of snide comments. An unseemly brew of emotions was coursing through her veins: anger that Callista might’ve broken Luke’s heart for a second time, plus jealousy and self-pity that he would never feel that way about Mara. Would never yearn for all of those things with her, would never fall apart without her.

But that was a self-indulgent line of thought if there ever was one, and she brutally quashed it as soon as it started. After all, she’d already made up her mind after Byss that she wouldn’t pursue her feelings for him—that she would be a fool to get any closer to someone who was susceptible to the Dark Side. She shouldn’t be upset that in the years that had followed, he had made it so easy for her to stick to her resolve.

“But anyway,” Lando was saying now. “That’s all just to say that it might be harder to get Luke to help out with this than you’d think.”

“Well, he’d better suck it up,” Mara said. “He’s not the only being in the galaxy who’s been dumped. And I, for one, am definitely not dealing with his time traveling father all by myself.”

“Fair enough. Although speaking of fathers—” Lando glanced at the door as if to make sure the Jedi weren’t lurking right beyond it. “This is wildly inappropriate, but I just have to say—I’m sure I saw holos of Anakin Skywalker when I was a kid, but I did not remember that he was that fine. I mean, I used to wonder who in their right mind would sleep with Darth Vader, but …” He gave a low whistle, then adjusted his cape around his shoulders with a little tug. “Apparently the answer is anyone with a pulse.”

“Oh, gods.” Mara’s face contorted into an expression of disgust. “Control yourself, Calrissian.”

[kastalani123]

ToA, but the A stands for Ares

(Mortal Ares in TTC/BotL)

Bc I think many have questioned why Ares wasn't (noticeably) punished for helping steal the Master Bolt and Helm of Darkness. He's already the Olympian pariah of sorts, a major punishment shouldn't be out of the question.

So he spends about a year in limbo before being dumped in Manhattan as a ball of immortal rage confined in a tiny mortal body. Haven't decided whether he's in his early or late teens, but regardless, he is smol with like. Toothpicks for arms.

He does not initially intend to head to Camp. He intends to squat at some fighting ring or something until Zeus gets bored. Anything to keep others, especially his siblings, from seeing the state he's in.

However, he has no weapon and nobody is particularly intimidated by a roughed-up, dirty kid, regardless of the inferno raging in his eyes. So, off to Camp he goes, just in time for The Sea of Monsters.

He. Does not know that a mortal immortal's services have to be claimed. He would've made one of his kids do it, if he had. Instead, he gets caught off-guard and Annabeth gets him. He hates it. Not only has he lost all control over himself, but he lost it to a child of Athena, to a friend of Percy's. He has a rough time with it.

Iiiiiiii don't know how Clarisse gets her ship without Ares as a god. Maybe he can summon it without his powers because the soldiers owe a debt to him regardless of his mortality? Sure, let's go with that.

(Also! Disregarding the "abusive father" characterization of PJO Ares. If there is one thing that man loves, one thing he will never be violent against, it's his kids, fuck off, Rick. He may not be a great dad (as all gods), being too rough and overestimating his kids' capabilities and being bad at emotions/empathy, but he is never raising a single finger against his kids. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean they don't have some degree of fear about not living up to his expectations)

He goes with the trio on their secret quest because he's. Kind of tied to Annabeth, at the moment, and also because it's a chance to fight and hopefully regain the shred of his Father's favour he still had before TLT. Percy hates it and they fight constantly; Ares spends a good chunk of the quest muzzled with Annabeth's "Shut up!" commands. He's not having a good time.

Clarisse is pissed that he came because she thinks it means he doesn't trust her abilities and thinks she's weak. This is Not True but Ares really fucking sucks at communication, emotions, and relationships in general, so she stays pissed at him.

His temper gets even shorter than it already was when he, Annabeth, and Percy get separated from Clarisse because he's worried and wants to hurry up and find her. Percabeth don't realize that's why, so it ends up as a huge mess. Ares is trying to rush through everything by immediately attacking while Annabeth and Percy are actually trying to plan some things out, so he ends up being kept on a really short leash. Like, "Don't do anything but follow us" short. It's almost enough to get him to spill his worries; alas, he cannot speak.

(Honestly, that probably ends up as a huge part of the story; his arc would probably essentially be to get him to open up and help him understand and deal with his emotions, but he keeps pissing people off which makes Annabeth make him shut up so he can't talk shit out like he's supposed to. The first proper steps of his character development have to happen away from Annabeth, which means it's really convenient that she gets kidnapped in the next book!)

Anyways.

Annabeth lets up on the commands when they get to Polyphemus's Island, with the caveat that he doesn't rush into anything. He wants to absolutely decimate the Cyclops for daring to capture and think of marrying his daughter, but unfortunately, he does not have the ability to do so, even with a godly power up born of his protective rage. He absolutely vows to take care of it when he regains godhood, though, regardless of Poseidon's potential wrath. This also further cements his hatred for Poseidon's children, which is honestly very impressive because they're probably already one of the things he hates the most.

His reunion with Clarisse is. Well. It certainly is. Unfortunately, they are both allergic to admitting how worried they were. Instead, Clarisse just gruffly thanks him for his help and Ares says that no one is allowed to touch his kids (which Clarisse takes in a possessive/neg way, of him sort of taking ownership, as gods are wont to do. This doesn't get rectified for. A while). They both want a hug, inexperienced as they are with them. Neither will get it.

That's about it for SoM. It'd be more about him learning about his limits and getting a better idea of his kids' limits than proper Emotional Character Development. That'd start in TTC, kind of like how Apollo really started growing after TBM.

Ares absolutely has his own flavour of trauma; more "typical" soldier PTSD and stuff about being the hated Olympian than past lovers, tho. A good bit of his arc would probably be something about learning what healthy relationships look like, how to manage his feelings in a non-destructive way, and that he doesn't always need to be "the strong one" and should be protected sometimes too. He doesn't get the same speedrun as Apollo, since he'd be mortal for a few years (until TLO), but considering his thing is more about learning how people and relationships work while Apollo's was a bit more about his ego and actions getting checked, I think that can be justified. This man has been ignoring emotions other than rage for millennia, it'll take a bit more than six months to get him to open up.

[ilikekidsshows]

"Adrien using the wish" anon here again!

I was just thinking of the potential counter-argument based on rhetoric I've seen floating around, of "But because Adrien is so reliant on Marinette these days since he hardly has anyone else/lost both his parents (true), he'd be emotionally devastated to lose her (also true), so this means he'd...be willing to make the wish/wouldn't be able to handle life without her (ehhhh no)." Tempted to use the wish? Sure, I'd be surprised if he wasn't. Forever unable to live without her and/or willing to turn into the next Hawk Moth? Yeah, no.

Adrien being the next Hawk Moth only makes sense if you know nothing about the characters and decide to go with the most surface level 'like father like son' plot-line ever (which also explains why I see poorly executed 'villain! Chat Noir who sides with Hawk Moth' fics waaaay too often for my taste).

I know the idea that he'd be able to heal after losing her doesn't sound very "romantic" (I have different opinions on love and what's truly healthy and romantic but that's neither here not there), but...like I said before, he's already proven he can handle loss? If you give him enough time? If he coped with losing his mother with almost no support, something tells me he'd find ways to heal from losing Marinette, too. He does have a better support network now after all, such as it is. There's no reason why he couldn't even...find new friends and develop a new one, need be. Hell, I just remembered the boy has already said "if you wanted to dump me, I'd understand" in Illustrhater. Tell me that sounds like someone unable to move on from her.

Also sidenote, but being able to heal would be what's best for him as an individual (and a sign of character growth and a contrast with his villain father who very notably couldn't and wouldn't move on), but since that doesn't focus on Marinette being the center of the universe, I get why it's not popular with Marinette stans.

In before I'm wrong and the show has him trying to use the wish despite all evidence to the contrary, because only ~romantic love~ and/or Marinette truly matters apparently

Instead. To be honest, at this point I'm full on expecting something will happen to Adrien one day, something severe or even permanent, maybe caused by Marinette's lying or some other mistake, to the point she will try to use the wish. Parallels with Gabe and all that. Her already over the top and questionable behavior all in the name of not losing him, yadda yadda. Don't know if they'll go this route for sure, but...the foreshadowing/potential is there.

I laughed at "mouthy amphibian" btw. 🤣 Thank you so much for the response!!! And apologies this two part rant got so long, I've just been really annoyed by this and didn't want to keep silent any longer.

---

I totally get it. It's a complete misunderstanding of what Adrien's character stands for, the little bit of character growth he’s actually been allowed even as the writers try to drain anything interesting about him away to make him less popular. Frankly, with the writers' disregard of their characters’ personalities, their obvious disdain for the very idea of Adrien having concerns outside of Marinette and their very obvious belief that Marinette is the center of the universe, I would not be surprised if they actually did write Adrien unable to deal with losing Marinette. After all, the biggest concern of any sympathetic character should always be Marinette, unless them not prioritizing her is going to be milked for Marinette sympathy.

Realistically, in terms of what has been established about Adrien's character, he would be heartbroken to lose Marinette, but he could survive her and move on and find new happiness. However, also realistically, in terms of how the writers operate, Adrien's personality doesn't matter if they want to throw the ultimate pity party over how sad and pathetic everyone would be without the most amazing, wonderful Marinette. Ignore how a lot of them would be better off without her with how exhausting the writers made her to deal with.

If Adrien got to move on, the shippers would be so angry at him for “not loving Marinette enough”. There's this idea in media that moving on from loss is healthy as long as it's not the main romantic couple. Romantic couples should never move on, because that's more dramatic and so romanticized, just like codependency is so popular because it's more dramatic and so romanticized. And, like, I’m not saying I don't see the appeal, I enjoy the occasional codependent relationship in my media. But, that's just the thing: my media. I’m a grownass adult with critical thinking skills and emotional skills. I don't wanna see that shit romanticized in cartoons made for preschoolers with neither of those skills. Anything in between there is a case-by-case basis the parents should probably be responsible for depending on how much harmful behavior is being taught to youths and how mature the youths watching and reading that stuff are.

I used to call myself a Mudkip during my iconic “Mudkip with Juniper Lee hair” profile pic era in a cheeky “but what do I know, I’m just a Mudkip” way. I figured amphibian works, since, among my changing user pics, amphibians are the most common.

[smahell]

is there a villain in obey me?

yes. according to this simple search, diavolo is the antagonist we should fear. and date. and collect cards of. for some reason.

this was sent in a discord server I was in as a very very obvious joke (hopefully) and this result is surely ai generated, or google's done a whoopsie-doodle and taken something off of reddit.

yes, diavolo can assert himself as an antagonistic force, but all of his actions are always within logical reason. though it may be against the wishes of the brothers and MC, he always does what is right for the devildom, whether that may be putting lucifer on house arrest, or locking belphegor away from his brothers.

diavolo is literally just trying his best, and he's been doing that since his father basically dumped the responsibility of a whole realm on his shoulders and abandoned him to sleep at the bottom of the devildom. his past is genuinely so sad.

so, who's the villain in obey me????

you could certainly say it's belphie.. but you can also date him. belphie changes through our the story, and as of right now, he holds nothing against humans and anyone in general. though it was a short span of time, he has gained the (somewhat undeserving) forgiveness of everyone around him after trying to kill MC.

like yes, michael, but it's very obvious with him disguising himself as raphael, going against god's will, and even his manipulation of the brothers that he wants the brothers back, and still sees them as family. even if that may not be reciprocated.

you could say father. but in a sense, lilith broke the rules, and so did the brothers. they all needed to be punished accordingly. and the brothers still refer to him as "father" and not by any other name. they don't hate him as of now.

they feel sympathy. an attachment. a connection.

in the og where michael was mentioned once or twice, the fandom was quick to assign him as The Bad Guy™, but getting to know him through nb, he really is just like all the other characters in terms of role. and throughout nb michael is doted on fondly by the brothers. it's that sort of difficult familial love estranged families can relate to.

are these good decisions? no

but he's not a villain.

if you lost the loving family and friends you knew, and you had the power to get them back through such unconventional means... michael is just using the powers he was given.

"so then.. maddie's the bad guy." okay grandpa, let's get you back to your wheelchair..

she's barely even mentioned for starters, and from what I've heard, she's not even been mentioned in nb. all she's done is made mammon cry at some point, and tried to marry diavolo. she might be a shitty person, yes, but she's never even involved enough to make out lives, or even all the brothers's lives a living nightmare. she's a very minor nuisance, at most.

all the characters do something antagonistic. every single one of them. if there was a villain it would discredit the fact that the game isn't about heroes and villains and morality, but about people. and that's what makes obey me so good. and if there was (a villain), the story would've ended by now, long before the franchise's fifth anniversary. ****

every character is morally grey, and the fact that it leaves it up to the player to annotate what is good and bad makes the whole experience more immersive and personal than ever. however, it speaks volumes concerning a lack of media comprehension that anyone would try to assign a villain to obey me.

obey me is about dating silly demon boys, and watching people live, whether that be in peace and harmony, or in tense, on-the-brink-of-destruction moments. the story has no need of a true antagonist, when we have well developed and wide range of characters gets that impact the story no matter what. enjoy the game, hate or love the characters.. whether they're antagonists or not, just have fun.

****(because the devs weren't very good at writing the first game.. so I doubt they could've had the support to have written a second one)

[edit: this was brainstormed between @prettylittlelambs and i on discord :3 thank you for sort of inspiring me and going me come up with more ideas]

[novlr]

How do you introduce side characters naturally? I have a lot of important secondary characters in my story, but every time I try to bring them in, it feels like I’m just dumping information about them. Help!

We’ve all been there. You have this amazing cast of secondary characters in your head, each with their own rich backstories and interesting personalities. But when it comes to actually introducing them on the page, you find yourself wrestling with clunky paragraphs of exposition or, worse, those dreaded character introduction scenes where the story grinds to a halt while you explain who everyone is.

The good news is that there are ways to weave your side characters into your story naturally, making them feel like organic parts of your narrative rather than additions that need explanation. So, let’s explore how to make your secondary characters shine without overwhelming your readers with too much information at once.

Why side characters matter

Before we dive into techniques, let’s understand why it’s important to include side characters in your stories. They’re not just there to fill space or give your protagonist someone to talk to. Well-written side characters can:

Add depth and complexity to your story world.

Provide different perspectives on your story’s central conflict.

Create additional tension and conflict.

Offer opportunities for subplots and parallel storylines.

Help develop your main character through their interactions.

Make your fictional world feel lived-in and authentic.

Provide comic relief or emotional weight when needed.

Introduce them gradually

One of the most effective ways to introduce side characters is to treat them like real people your readers are getting to know. Think about how you meet people in real life. You don’t immediately learn their entire life story, family history, and deepest fears. Instead, you discover things about them gradually through:

Initial impressions.

Casual conversations.

Shared experiences.

Others’ reactions to them.

Their behaviour in different situations.

This same principle applies to your writing. Instead of frontloading all the information about a character, reveal details organically as they become relevant to the story.

Example of gradual introduction:

Too much at once: “Sarah was John’s sister-in-law, a brilliant neurosurgeon who had graduated top of her class at Harvard. She’d lost her husband two years ago in a car accident and now lived alone with her golden retriever, Charlie. She loved Thai food, hated mornings, and had a secret passion for reality TV shows.”

Gradual reveal: “Sarah arrived late to dinner, still wearing her surgical scrubs. She gave John a quick, one-armed hug before collapsing into the chair beside him. ‘If I never see another brain aneurysm again, it’ll be too soon.'”

The second version gives us just enough information to be intriguing, while leaving room for natural discovery of other details later.

Show, don’t tell (but tell when you need to)

While “show, don’t tell” is solid advice, the reality is that you’ll need both techniques. The key is knowing when to use each:

Show when:

Revealing personality traits.

Demonstrating relationships.

Illustrating emotional states.

Establishing dynamics between characters.

Tell when:

Providing necessary background information quickly.

Clarifying relationships that would be confusing to figure out.

Establishing basic facts that don’t need dramatic revelation.

Use dialogue effectively

Dialogue is one of your most powerful tools for introducing side characters naturally. Through conversations, you can reveal:

Character relationships:

“Hey, boss,” Maria said, dropping a stack of files on Derek’s desk. “The Thomson case came back from legal.”

This simple exchange establishes their professional relationship without explicitly stating it.

Personality:

“Well, if it isn’t Little Miss Perfect,” Jake drawled, not bothering to look up from his phone. “Come to tell me I’m doing everything wrong again?”

We immediately get a sense of Jake’s attitude and the dynamic between these characters.

Background:

“Remember that summer we spent at Gran’s beach house? Before everything went wrong?”

This kind of dialogue hints at shared history and potential conflict without dumping information.

Connect to the main plot

Side characters should serve a purpose in your story. When introducing them, consider:

How they affect your protagonist’s journey.

What role they play in the main conflict.

How they complicate or assist the plot.

What unique perspective they bring to the story.

Create meaningful subplots

Subplots are excellent vehicles for developing side characters without overshadowing your main story. A good subplot should:

Connect to the main plot in some way.

Have its own arc and resolution.

Reveal something about the side character.

Add depth to your story’s themes.

Create additional tension or complications.

Common pitfalls to avoid

The introduction lineup: Avoid scenes where characters are introduced one after another in quick succession.

The info dump dialogue: “As you know, Bob…” conversations where characters tell each other things they already know.

The character sheet: Listing physical descriptions and personality traits without context.

The irrelevant backstory: Including details about a character that never become relevant to the plot.

The forgotten character: Introducing someone as important and then having them disappear for long stretches.

Questions to ask yourself

When introducing a side character, ask yourself:

What does this character bring to the story?

What’s the most natural way for them to enter the scene?

What’s the minimum information readers need right now?

How can this character’s introduction move the plot forward?

What makes this character memorable or distinct?

Remember, your side characters are essential elements of your story’s ecosystem. By introducing them thoughtfully and developing them naturally, you create a richer, more engaging narrative that keeps readers invested in your entire cast of characters, not just your protagonist.

Trust your readers to piece things together gradually, and focus on making each character’s introduction serve your story’s larger purpose. With practice, you’ll find that introducing side characters becomes less about managing information and more about creating meaningful connections within your narrative.

[saphire-makesart]

My Arcane character head-cannons

Viktor-

orientation; Demiromantic asexual (sex neutral) Gender; masc agender

Neuro/psych; autistic, avoidant attachment.

Love language: parallel play, receiving slightly more than practical favors/gifts, simple domestic favors (somewhat between penguin pebbling and support swapping), feeling understood, intellectual banter, info-dumping, giving deep-pressure.

Moral alignment; somewhere between neutral good and true neutral with a little chaotic good in there too

Other: complicated relationship with touch and affection but is also touch deprived, likes cats but also ok with most animals. Hums to himself sometimes.

Jayce-

Orientation; bisexual biromantic

Gender; CisMasc (but I honestly don’t mind trans HC/AU)

Neuro/psych; audhd, anxiety, PTSD, originally stable attachment but would likely have developed into anxious attachment after the events of arcane, people pleaser.

Love language; touch, gift giving, acts of service, Small signs of understanding and adaptation (support swapping), Parallel play, infodumping.

Moral alignment; neutral good a little lawful good though

Other; loves all animals except lizards and salamanders + anything else that resembles the things he ate in the anomaly corrupted future. Secretly really likes being read to while falling asleep.

Vi-

Orientation; panromantic homosexual or bi leaning heavily sapphic.

Gender: CisFem but leans neutral

Neuro/Psych; adhd, c-ptsd, quick to fight response, dyslexic (idk I’ve seen some art with it and I think it fits)

Love language; quality time, acts of service, giving words of affirmation.

Moral alignment; neutral good

Other; has bad experiences with cats and dogs but cait helps her with that, hates feeling vulnerable and will cover other emotions with anger. Hums to herself.

Jinx-

Orientation; probably queer something but doesn’t give enough of a shit to find a label

Gender; Cisfem maybe leans non-binary

Psych/neuro; DID, C-PTSD, PTSD, schizoaffective /schizophrenia, possibly BPD and possibly autism, Disorganized attachment style. (And all the symptoms of all of those)

Love language; giving acts of service, gift giving, sharing interests. Receiving words of affirmation.

Moral alignment; chaotic neutral sometimes chaotic good sometimes chaotic evil

Other; non human animals make her nervous. Has a habit of skin picking. Touch deprived.

Caitlyn-

Orientation; lesbian

Gender; CisFem

Neuro/psych; c-ptsd, PTSD, generalized anxiety, autistic. Unstable attachment.

Love language; info dumping, acts of service, playful banter.

Moral alignment; depends.. at the beginning I think she’s neutral good and at the end she’s probably neutral good but goes through phases of chaotic good and lawful neutral.

Likes dogs, perfectionist, had a complicated relationship with parents.

Mel-

Orientation; straight, or mmmaybe sapiosexual but definitely leans towards het

Gender: CisFem

Neuro/Psych; C-ptsd, struggles with her own manipulative tendencies, “gifted” (high iq).

Love language; giving words of affirmation, acts of service, quality time.

Moral alignment; lawful neutral possibly lawful evil, not that she does evil things but she does use the systems in place to her own benefit, I guess you could also say she’s just pure neutral.

Other: likes cats, wolves remind her of her mother. Writes poetry sometimes

No I didn’t just put Mel in here so no one says I think all the characters are autistic what are you talking about haha

Ik im boring I only did the main cast and only my favorites

(I came up with some of these things as I was writing it )

[suzukiblu]

I love your Kara. I’m so used to her being a one note racist when it comes to Kon-angst. Don’t get me wrong. That’s entertaining for easy angst. But it’s never criticized by anybody. How is she still on the league?

It’s nice to see her be a supportive figure who is worried for him.

Ty! ❤️ I will say I haven't read too much of Kara in the comics (Mae and Linda were my OG Supergirl back in the day and I just vastly preferred them when I was doing most of my reading), so I mostly got her vibe and backstory through the cartoons and fandom osmosis and then extrapolated a few things I hadn't seen explored about her much IN fandom for the takes on her I've written. But like, I've only really seen her be, like, REALLY anti-clone in the New 52, so I don't like to characterize her too strongly by any anti-clone sentiments even if I do sometimes include a bit of them underscoring what she's thinking/doing. Like, more like the kind of low-level ingrained bias you get from growing up in a culture with some shitty beliefs that you haven't ever had a real reason to examine than anything genuinely hateful or anything you actually REALLY believe yourself, if that makes sense.

Also lbr, it's just more interesting to me to make Kara-related issues be things like culture clash and apocalyptic levels of grief and rage that most people around her don't understand and kinda just ignore and, like, an overall frustration with other people not having the cultural context to REALLY understand what she's saying/thinking/doing, a lot of the time. Like, this is a character with a dead planet and a dead SPECIES who if things had gone to plan probably would've been "Superwoman" LONG before Clark grew up enough to even develop powers at all, much less be SuperMAN, and who SHOULD be older and more mature/experienced than all of these superpowered adults that she got dumped in the middle of who historically do NOT do all that well with surprise teenagers while also having the possibility of growing up STRONGER than Clark but simultaneously getting shit on by both the narrative and said superpowered adults, and also she's just never seemed as integrated into the hero community as, like, Dick or Babs or Kon or Tim or whoever else. Like she's just that LITTLE bit disconnected from them all, it tends to feel like to me. So there's a lot to mine there, character-wise! Like way more than just one-note clone-racism!

Anyway tl;dr: I got a lil' carried away there but I love the whole entire concept of Kara and I always wanna write her being MUCH more complicated than I usually see her getting handled. I wanna do our girl some justice!!

[spotlightlowlife]

Unpopular opinion, at this point, Blitzø is an issue.

Not because he's in the wrong, his situations suck more than him, so do some of those around him (*cough*Stolas *cough*Loona), he sucks because he's becoming more and more of an outlet for writers to play out power and sex fantasies with whilst being edgy and always quick enough to have a remark ready for others, always managing to be the centre of attention but will always be the victim too.

In every conceivable way, he's being wronged or he's punching up.

The arrangementship with Stolas is a case of him being a victim but for those who don't see it this way, Stolas x Blitzø is a chance at happiness, pauper being picked, even though their union was and will always be an inappropriate power imbalance which has now been the case since childhood, back where Blitzø was a victim of his dad, yet a few years later he somehow developed feelings for his friend who seemed like a sibling to him, but he seemed to envy him too? Either way we are too root for his unrequited 'love lost' that we can blame on a fire accidentally caused by none other than Blitzø, but we can also push blame others for this accident too.

Fizz and Barbie may be victims of his recklessness, but he means/meant no harm and he had it just as bad as them, hence the 'sorry but..' he offered Fizz.

Substance abuse got to be something Blitzø endulged in before we met Barbie who we had already been informed is an addict, Blitzø got to be both a boss and a victim during his binge which had even the sin of gluttony beat and concerned, yet when we meet Barbie, she is composed, working and has some success in being able to freely travel, having a human disguise and being able to easily manipulate others, which could have all been good, a change of tone from yet another downtrodden character and a change from a sloppy addict that may have expected, only, we had to be told Barbie was in rehab and recently so, we had to be informed that Blitzø looks out for her and is worried even though we never had never saw him track her progress previously. We meet her, there's nothing to indicate that they have spoken since Blitzø's fall out with Fizz, Barbie is pretty much work a similar job to her brother of causing destruction on Earth, yet morals come into play for just one of them? Neurotic, antisocial and traumatised, comes to earth as an assassin, excellent, no content yet and seems well put together but we have been told is an addict, comes to earth the deal, scum.

Barbie made Blitzø sad by not listening to him and washing her hands of him (again, when did they last speak? Has there been nearly 20 years of the same conversation?), which yet again has us pouring sympathy into him.

Then there's the clearly hurt and robbed Verosika, who's upset is totally glossed over because 'she's so iconic'.

The power dynamics are entirely power play, because there are too many characters supposedly of much higher standing who Blitzø easily rubs shoulders with, stands out to and crosses to no consequence, all for no particular reason, the dismissal of what he says and does is reminiscent of a movie where a ghost doesn't know they're dead or a character doesn't realise their friend is imaginary. All excluding Stolas of course but this but this is where the power play sex fantasy is.

Why are they together? Answer, Blitzø's desperation to have his business work, the whole plot to the show.

Like Hazbin, the pilot started out rather strong, it ticked every box mentioned in one episode, they were a wicked bunch but morally grey, the trip to hospital being a prime example, we met humans, we saw Earth, Stolas was a intimidating and regal, Blitzø was reckless with money and decision making, the advert on a low rating station being the prime example, along with blind nepotism.

How is it that this series hasn't had the time to return to its roots since half way through season one?

When does Blitzø get a break from all this trauma dumping and actually get to have other things going on in his life?

Realistically, someone who works has work to talk about, it is a major part of their life. Someone who runs a business tends to put in more hours than your average worker. Work gives you something to talk about, creates new experiences and problems to solve, has you mixing with other and takes up a lot of your time. Where is any of this?

Until it returns to the plot where he is a business owner actually running his business, having interactions with customers and victims, travelling to Earth more regularly, facing actual threats from those who don't care about how sad he is and are actually bothered by his obnoxious ways, I have a questions.

Where are the common teething issues business tend to have, like budget, landlords, tax, inflation, lack of exposure?

How do they pay their day to day expenses, especially since they have so much time on their hands?

Why aren't they out advertising?

How do I.M.P catch the eye of those who just died and how do these sinners pay?

When was the last time we saw a sinner?

Blitzø's direction gives the impression that he's being written for the chronically online people who wish this was them, that they were more feisty, outgoing and desirable whilst others just got them and felt their misery, something that can easily be done as a viewer, throw in the tried and tested powerful and dangerous royalty that worked so well for Twilight and 50 Shades and we have a character who can be vicariously lived through, basically the classic fairytale default damsel who people also want to criticize. It's like he's being reduced to an clownish caricature, looks the vibrant and animated character we were introduced to but that's all just in paper now, he barely stands out in any recent episodes because his presence wasn't nessessary and when he was relevant, it's for his ship or drama from his past.

While waiting to see him with his coworkers who he voyers on because he's sad and lonely, his rude and violent adult adopted daughter, or learn about the trauma surrounding his mother, or whatever is going on with his user dad, or when we will next see his troubled sister who is mad at him, his bitter ex, his best friend/ex friend/rival/friend who lives the life he should be living who he sexually harasses since reconciliation, or his transactionship, or whatever else is pushed on him and there no doubt will be more. What about his present? What about his daily life outside the misery forever sent his way for us?

He should be encountering strangers and a massive variety of situations he can't entirely control on the regular, having to draw upon his smarts, experiences and group dynamic to get out of binds or be efficient, his trauma, sadness and his sass could be a force of good.

How much of his likability is nostalgia, maybe from outside of show? Outside of the pity and sex jokes, what is being done with him?

This may all be harsh and funny enough I actually like this character, but never have I known a series where the solution to making a main character more deep was is a simple case of

'Let them get on with it!

Let them do their job!

Stick to the story!'

Well I do know one other case...

[katyahina]

Dark Souls 1 faces references Part 1: Oscar, Ricard, Solaire,

Heyyyy Dark Souls artists (all five of you who still use this website fdshfhd), I have great news for you! The curse of Dark Souls 1 (being horrendously undocumented in terms of NPC references) is over!!!

Long story short, I've seen a screenshot of Ciaran that made me question whether she actually had face data in versions of the DLC before Remastered. That started a long chain of me asking literally every person online that I could think of, with no one responding except for single Redditor redirecting me to modding community for Soulsborne, and there, out of waaaaay too many people, finally, someone was kind enough to help me out!

Their only contacts I have for reference are rayanwasalsotaken on Discord and RayanTheMad on Twitter! Yet I've only learned Rayan had a Twitter AFTER posting the screenshot dumps there, so.... 🤡 yeah that was frustrating. Twitter allow editting posts already!! They told me to be free to share the screenshots they gathered online instead of them (they said it was jarring for them to go spread images across social media and wikis. fair and valid.)! Posts will be in several parts as there are several angle shots and sometimes some explaining to do!

Oscar

Okay so, apparently, the boy does not have blue eyes! You know who does (kinda) have? RICARD!

Ricard

Well, actually not even blue, but a more dark shade of greyish green!

Nonetheless, it could be assumed blue from afar! ! And, fun fact! Whereas they look very similar, they are NOT identical!

Aside of having different eye color and Ricard's hair being more saturated (more yellow), they do have different eye shape too; Ricard's is more downturned! Ricard also has a slightly bigger nose! I guess even with limitations of NPC data of Dark Souls 1, they did try to point out the differences in vibe!

Solaire

Nothing new to see here, his screenshots are actually viral, unlike others, but here have a look anyway x) Interestingly enough, his face data changes the hairstyle in the bad ending of his questline; whereas Rayan didn't take screenshot of just that change specifically, it actually IS documented and confirmed!

(This screenshot is from different source: ( x )) I just think it is really good to know that even back in Dark Souls 1, developers bothered to add the lore appropriate changes that are not even possible to observe without datamining dhfhdsdf

Anastacia

Interestingly enough, while Anastacia uses unique model rather than player NPC base one, the data for NPC still exists in the game's files, apparently!

It is actually very convenient to have it, because her unique model does NOT have eyes texture:

At the same time, you can see that this 'unique model' appears to reuse assets from NPC data, as the model for hair is identical, and her face even has the same issue of eyebrows always being that brown color when they aren't grey. I wonder if NPC model lacked functionality intended (like NPC models weren't created to have this pose and animation), so they copy+pasted it mostly on unique asset?

Even with that, I suppose her hair is canonically more "yellow", and her player model is the only reference for her eye color.

Color of Estus Flask (the flask itself, not liquid inside of it!), appropriately enough!

Additionally, the hairbun is definitely something they've settled with even in her concept, so I suppose she holds "priority" for this hairstyle! RIP the braid though

____________________________________

Part 1: Oscar, Ricard, Solaire, Anastacia (you are here)

Part 2: Reah, Petrus, Vince, Nico, Leeroy

Part 3: Pharis/Evlana, Americus, Forest Hunter (Cleric), Beatrice, Dusk

Part 4: Shiva, Shiva's Bodyguard, Forest Hunter (Sorcerer), Forest Hunter (Thief), Forest Hunter (Bandit)

Part 5: Quelana, Jeremiah, Grana, Cut Content Character, Domhnall

Part 6: Darkmoon Knightess, Lautrec, Lautrec's Helper (Sealer), Lautrec's Helper (Warrior)

Part 7: Ingward, Kirk, Oswald, Havel, Tarkus

Part 8: Griggs, Logan, Rickert, Crystal Knight, Laurentius

Part 9: Patches, Siegmeyer, Sieglinde, Mildred, Crestfallen Knight, Crestfallen Merchant

* Shots of characters' faces datamined and provided by RayanTheMad on Twitter + rayanwasalsotaken on Discord!

* Twitter thread with the faces here: ( x )

* Data for characters Ciaran, Darkmoon Soldier (Balder) and Darkmoon Soldier (Berenike) doesn't exist and they simply copy the last face loaded, when there wasn't any loaded they use default placeholder data