#original character do not steal [tm]

[toastshark]

Why only participate in one October challenge when you can draw for TWO!?

So here’s oc-tober: fav oc + cringetober: heterocromia, featuring Red + differently glowing eyes :]

She doesn’t usually have heterochromia so I cheated here a bit lmao, in my defense her eyes used to be green in their initial design and I thought about giving it to her before, plus her current red eyes in lore are the result of magic, so it acts a neat lil reference to all that. Also glowy magic eyes are cool af

Anyways, Red! Current main oc of all the main ones. She’s what happens when the hero of every fantasy rpg or adventure game ever finishes the big adventure and now just chills with the farming sidegame or building castles for their 20 dogs.

After saving the kingdom 4 years ago (at the end of said fantasy adventure), Red was made a knight at the castle, but quit shorty after and went back to their small town home because they couldn’t and didn’t wanna live up to the ridiculous expeditions of being The Hero. Still loves adventuring and helping out others, but only out of own volition and not for some title-bound duty.

She wants to be at least a bit recognized for her actions, but also hates how everyone treats them differently once they hear who she is as if she’s divinity, or become disappointed the Hero is different from what they expected. At the same time, also feels quite selfish (after all, shouldn’t knowing you’ve helped be enough? Not very heroic, is it?)

There’s a bunch more but I currently lack the energy to write it all down so…that’s the gist of it at least backstory-wise lol. I’m not listing the personality traits here (despite what this backstory probably reads like they’ve also got actual properly negative ones) Not sure if adding any of this was even still part of the prompt but ehhhhh ^^

[beardedhandstoadshark]

What is your OC's moral code?

have any of them ever done anything illegal?

Oh dear, morals. That’s pretty complicated, so this one’s kind of a text wall and I‘m reading it as "which lines would/nt they cross?“

Easier thing first, illegal activities - Yes. All of them. To various degrees of willingness, but none of em got a clean palette lol.

Not even Yel, and he’s what I believe you’d call a "goody two shoes“? His morality is pretty attached to rules compared to the rest of the gang. The only one who would follow rules for morality reasons. Would also beat himself up over accidentally saying something that wasn’t true because he thought it was, cuz lying’s bad. A part of what he thinks he’s refusing to do because of morals is actually because he’s scared of consequences, though. In the incredibly rare circumstances that a) it’s pretty clear that the less "moral“ choice is still the obviously better one, and b) he’s either extremely done with everything or super stressed/scared, would break that moral code. And then feel SO bad about it afterwards for a really long time.

Mage‘s thing is basically "I might be an asshole but even I have standards“, and how high the standard is is directly proportional to how much he’d gain + they like someone + fun it’d be to see them break. Will also often break that moral code in both "good“ and "bad“ direction with no remorse afterwards, though. The moral code does not involve laws, telling the truth, or "taking the higher ground". No "ooh if you do this you’ll be just as bad as them!“ nah. Revenge time even if it means shoveling a grave for both of em.

Red’s moral code is "be good“ and she has pretended not to have a crisis about what that exactly means for the past 4 years. As of rn, it’s at "help people, do good stuff, be kind, heroic, an example for others, but also don’t follow rules if they’re stupid or it’s necessary“. The last one Red 100% knows isn’t something considered "good” at first glance but also doesn’t care, cos between Red and other folks only one actually lived through what it means to be destined to save the world and it wasn’t them. She knows the world isn’t actually in monotone, but will try their best to act with kindness and compassion. (Noticeably, doing something that goes against that is not a break of moral code in Reds eyes as long as it’s "for the others’ own good”.)

Deniz basically goes by:

Does the action hurt anyone (including person doing it)?

Yes -> don’t do it

No -> next question

Is it fun or helpful?

Yes -> do it

No -> next question

Is it necessary?

Yes -> do it

No -> don’t do it

Like. There’s lots of case by case debating with himself if all options kinda suck but that here is pretty much the base for his morals that everything else is going off from

Aaaand then there’s Violet. It’s always been "the greater good justifies all“ for her but also. Has no problem twisting things into seeming for the greater good when they’re just for her benefit. But when that isn’t the case, they’re the same as Deniz (she kinda got it from him, actually.) Violet‘s morals are basically a combo of Deniz and Mage, minus the "falling into the deep end“ tendencies of the latter, but plus "once someone crosses the line they deserve no mercy in that regard“. I do you as you do me and such, only the action done isn’t necessarily the same as the action received.

[tocstshark]

Can They Dance: A list

Violet: Yes. Walzes and Court Dances and all that jazz. Whatever counts as fancy royalty stuff, she had to learn it.

Mage: homeboy listens to kpop. Also sometimes dances while vibing with his magic. Imagine movie scenes where someone‘s groovin while fighting but the fighting‘s throwing magic instead. Sucks at "official“ dances though.

Yel: Shy about it but smooth af in pair dances.

Red: "it can’t be too different from sword-fighting, right?“ that is to say, can’t dance, but would probably be quick at learning the basics. …whether or not it goes past those basics, or they’re any good, is a different story.

Deniz: Country dances. Not Country the music style (oh HECK no), country as in. A bunch of people dancing in a circle or line and there’s like 4 steps you actually gotta know how to do and you can rush in between or drop out the line at any time.

[crimeronan]

hi guys ^-^ today or tomorrow i'll be setting up and optimizing my fiverr profile, which is where i'll be selling my writing/editing services. in order to establish my profile, the services will be dirt cheap for a little while.

i'm anticipating having a gig for writing 300 to 500 words of copy for $5 (i'll decide what level of stamina i have when i get there). for context, my usual rate is at least 3 cents per word. this is A Steal (TM)

i am happy to do creative fiction as people's copy. for legal copyright reasons, i can't commission fanfic, But if you ask me for a story that's "like" certain characters or AUs, i can give you stories with original names/settings that are... exactly what u want. with no copyright infringement.

all i ask in return is that you guys give a five-star rating and write a short positive review if you're up for it.

if i can get a couple jobs here it'll improve my profile 100000% and save me Months of waiting for my profile SEO to work. you will be doing me A Huge Favor 🙏

eta: i had to update my tax forms so it may be a few days before those get approved! i'll reblog this with proper links once the gigs are live.

[bookishfeylin]

I hate that that’s SJM’s MO when she writes otherwise all the time. “They’re incompatible because blah blah blah.” And then there’s like 2-3 books previous that say otherwise.

She did it in TOG by saying Rowan only ever saw all of Aelin and accepted her as she was. When he couldn’t even respect the boundary she set by wanting to be called Celaena, never mind punching her and holding/pinching her tongue to shut her up. And then you have Chaol, who, although I loved them together, wouldn’t have been with her if he knew she was half fae from the get and that canonically is part of his character development in HOF, where he has to learn to let go of the prejudices he was taught growing up. (Also this development is promptly thrown in the trash in the next book, obviously to get rid of him as a love interest because Chaolaena stans were holding on since it was still open to them being a thing.) And then you have Dorian, who didn’t even care that she was an assassin, didn’t care that she was fae when it was revealed to him, was ready to throw away his right to the throne for her.

But I’m supposed to believe Dorian wasn’t the original endgame she set up in the first three books and novellas and bonus book tour story releases because “he never saw her for all she was” when he, in fact, did and was the only who did?? Ok.

Sarah literally dedicates ACOMAF to explaining why every possible thing about the Spring Court is actually evil(TM) hence why Feyre is incompatible with living there but we textually see that the opposite is often (not ALWAYS, but OFTEN) true??? Tamlin's courtiers *do* try to befriend Feyre! She's just so traumatized she (understandably!) doesn't want to engage. Tamlin *does* try to include Feyre in politics, introducing her to court and having her present at the tithe which is pretty much all she can do at this point being illiterate and with her trauma making her to withdraw from even doing these things as well. Feyre not being able to help rebuild villages isn't a big conspiracy theory to keep her cloistered in the manor, but rather is shown to be the people themselves wanting to rebuild their own homes by themselves so they turn down her help??? The writing just bends over backwards to claim things that we objectively see aren't... true. At all. And it's incredibly annoying. Because no, as mentioned above the Inner Circle are not the first people to attempt to befriend her! Her trauma just mysteriously changes to make her want to meet people all the sudden. And no, Rhysand is not the first person to attempt to involve Feyre in politics and whatnot. Again, her trauma stopped her from doing the Spring Court's more mundane politics but somehow made her want to be actively involved in the Night Court's whacky politics where she's getting fingered as a distraction and is stealing from potential allies for some reason. and why does her trauma fully vanish in less than three months. why And the people of the Spring Court aren't evil for respecting their liberator and wanting to rebuild their stuff themselves???? I've yet to figure out why they're vilified for this and contrasted with the citizens of Velaris.

Anywayyyyyy about Throne of Glass specifically: someone correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Dorian endgame in the originally published Queen of Glass fanfiction, and the original fanfiction was shorter than the final, published series? @longsightmyth

[simcardiac-arrested]

Whats wrong with predator 2018?

it’s been like 10 days i’m tired but i CANNOT stay silent anymore The world deserves to know. you will not believe how awful this movie is

1. the moment the movie starts you just understand that it…is not going to be good. it was made in 2018 so of course it has that edgy self aware marvel humor of Uhmm he’s right behind me isn’t he ? (and then you check shane black’s other works and he directed iron man 3 and everything suddenly make sense) LIKE IM SERIOUS there’s just a scene in the first 10 minutes where this Woman In Stem character goes Lol why did we name this thing The Predator? it’s more like a Hunter or a Huntsman it’s more like a Bass Fisherman LIKE WHAT ARE YOU SAYING? WHAT AM I HEARING RN? it’s so fucking stupid and i hate this type of humor so much like CAN U BELIEVE WE’RE IN A MOVIE? ABOUT THE PREDATOR (DUMBASS NAME (LOL))????

2. i mention the Woman In Stem character specifically because she is. also not good. i’m not going to act like the predator movies have always been the best with female characters (even 1987 has its issues) but at least they were actually BEARABLE. The girl character in this movie is just like. this annoying 2010s smartass quirky girl archetype that we put in our movie because you wanted Women(tm) right? there she is we even made her quirky!!! we’re not going to give her a single likable quality though. we’re going to write her Bad . is this what u wanted ?

3. which is not trying to imply that the other characters are written Good . they’re all written Bad they all fucking suck. none of them have any charm or likable qualities and there’s nothing to get invested in. AND THEY DON’T HAVE ANY FUCKING DYNAMICS BETWEEN EACHOTHER!!!! it’s like they just exist in the same space and that’s It . they don’t get any interesting relationships or interactions . they’re all just so nothing

4. like halfway through the movie it just turns into unapologetic US army propaganda—which is fucking ironic if you know what the original predator was made for (commentary about american terrorism in central america in the 80s under reagan)—the main character’s wife just starts suddenly going off about how he’s so cool and doing so much for his country and he’s in the army waowww wowww We need to shoot everyone who’s worked on this movie and im serious.

5. i…..do not know who this movie was made for. like who is it supposed to cater to? one of its main things is autism and mental illness and yet it has the shittiest portrayal of both. But especially autism. like what if we made a movie about how autism is the next step in human evolution (?!) and autistic people are like superheroes basically (?!?!!!?) and the entire plot hinges on the fact that The Predator wants to become autistic by stealing the autistic character’s autism dna (?!?!?!?!?!?!?? WHAT? WHY ARE THERE EUGENICS IN MY PREDATOR MOVIE? IS ANYONE ELSE SEEING THIS?) (and then the autistic character in question like. actually has unironic superpowers. look he gets overwhelmed by sounds but he can instantly understand and translate predator’s alien language!!!!!!!!) And then the next minute one of the characters says Lol isn’t it crazy how we can’t say the r slur anymore? Fucked up world. LIKE SERIOUSLY WHO IS THIS MOVIE FOR? I FEEL LIKE THIS MOVIE WOULD PISS OFF BOTH THE “WOKE” AND THE “EDGY ALT RIGHT” AUDIENCES EQUALLY . shane black probably thinks autism speaks is a charity i dont even know

6. too much predator in this movie. When i say that they should make a predator movie where every scene has the predator in it YOU SHOULDNT FUCKING LISTEN TO ME IM JUST AUTISTIC. a predator movie is a THRILLER The Fucking Predator himself should appear like. a few times at least until the climax. but nooo this 2018 ass movie just has the predator running around in every scene (btw this predator moves really fucking weird in a human way. Like they usually at least make him move semi alien-like and uncannily, but this movie didnt even bother with that) (also their design is uglier than the original) (also it suffers from the same problem as the 2010 movie by adding a Bigger Cooler Buffer Awesomer Deadlier New Predator LIKE WHO ASKED FOR THIS. WAS MY OG WIFE NOT ENOUGH FOR U) Anyway yeah if you didnt get it yet: this movie doesnt understand what impact or subtlety is. at all

7. the worst thing is with the finale. you see every predator sequel loves to reference the original 1987 movie because well, it’s iconic! it has a lot of meaningful moments and lines! Specifically in the ending of the original movie, where the main character asks the predator “what the hell are you?” and the predator echoes it back at him. Supposed to symbolize us army = monsters who kill without meaning yadda yadda u get it. anyway so in the 2018 movie finale they start to reference this moment too. the main character asks And what the fuck are you (ooo f bomb we’re SOOOO edgy and 2018core) and when the predator starts asking it back the main character just goes SHUT THE FUCK UP😂 and shoots him. it’s like. my hatred for this movie was indescribable at that moment. I’ve never actually genuinely watched a marvel movie so i just took people at their word when they said it was a genre of movie that fucking hated movies. but after watching the predator (2018) which is basically a marvel version of predator? yeah i get it. What if they made a movie that hated its source material and had 0 respect for it. and also hated its audience. and hated being a movie

8. they made the dogs ugly

[deeply-unserious-fellow]

HOT TAKE TIME!!!!!! The episode Nowhere to Hyde from the most iconic show of all time, Scooby Doo Where Are You, is one of the most accurate adaptations of the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde there is.

HERE ME OUT HERE ME OUT-

First of all. Hyde is just a horrid man.

Just-just a horrible green man who's only here to steal shit and have a good time. He communicates exclusively through pointing at things and laughing all evil like & grunting. Which Hyde doesn't actually do in the book but like tell me he WOULDN'T do that, generally speaking. He's ugly as shit. He doesn't kill anybody but he does try to turn Shaggy into a frog which has to count for something! Just a strange, horrible, evil little dude, which is what all the best Hyde's are!!! Kinda wish he was short but like. I understand why he isn't. Scooby villains can't change their heights-

Second; The relationship between Jekyll and Hyde is very similar to the one in the book. He is, quite literally, a disguise Dr. Jekyll puts on to engage in Nefarious Activities(tm) so he won't have to face the consequences! Pretty standard Scooby Doo villain thing, which is probably why this is one of the better interpretations, Scooby Doo villains are notoriously Just Normal Guys in costumes. Sure the whole addiction element is removed because Scooby Doo also wasn't doing supernatural/sci-fi shit back then, but still! It's better then a lot of other adaptations! Jekyll's explanation at the beginning of the episode plays into the pop culture idea of J&H, sure, but to be fair Jekyll kinda started falling into that mindset in his confession. In the original novel it's more of a coping mechanism so he doesn't have to face the fact that yes, he DID do those crimes, instead of just being a cover story, but it's still a noteworthy parallel. Also everybody is shocked by Jekyll and Hyde being the same person even though it's kinda obvious. Like obviously in the original novel everybody thought it was impossible because a guy completely changing their body at will is an absurd concept but still-

And my final point, appearently the events of the original novel actually happened in this universe??? I mentioned this in a reblog a couple days ago and it doesn't really. Add anything to this argument but somebody has to say it!!! The fact that everybody consistently refers to Hyde as 'the Ghost of Mr Hyde' means there wAS PREVIOUSLY A NOTORIOUS GUY NAMED MR HYDE WHO DIED!!!!!!!! Also DR JEKYLL LITERALLY SAYS HIS GREAT GRANDFATHER WAS THE ORIGINAL DR J. LIKE THEY ARE LITERALLY RELATED FUCKIN- Also appearently after Jekyll died everybody found out about him being Hyde? Which I wanna know how THAT happened. Like did Utterson or Poole go public with his confession? That seems kinda out of character for them but whatever. Maybe somebody else got their hands on it...

And that's why Scooby Doo Where Are You s2 ep1, Nowhere to Hyde, is one of the most accurate adaptations of the story of Jekyll and Hyde. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk :)

[trickstarbrave]

mary sues are i think a real phenomenon but have been misused to the point the term is basically useless.

sues are like. narrative black holes. they take what could be an otherwise interesting story by warping it around a central point of gravity to the point things start to lose coherent sense as everyone's lives revolve around the central character to the point the narrative is a slog to get through

but over the years ppl who have been eager to yell at teenage girls on the internet have tried to codify various traits as "sue traits" with guides on "how to not write mary sues" or immediately dismiss any and all characters as mary sues. girl main character? mary sue. powerful female character? mary sue. female character starts to have any fucking narrative significance? mary sue. female character is sad and depressed? mary sue! female character has no redeeming qualities it seems and is bland as can be? ALSO A MARY SUE.

being a mary sue isn't a fucking personality type for a character. you can write the perfect character via bullet points but if in the narrative they are a black hole that actively makes the story worse and lose coherence, they are a mary sue. likewise you can have the most specialist character ever who is uber powerful and always saves the day and is super beautiful and popular but so long as the narrative has structure, stakes, and is interesting they are not a mary sue.

i suppose it's not really a surprise as over the years stories esp in fandoms have been less about the narrative and more about cutting the story up into bite size easily consumable pieces. therefore people dont wanna be able to look at a narrative as a whole to explain the mary sue phenomenon as that will be a lot more work, effort, and time to rebuild the story from the ground up because ultimately the problem is not the character, it's the narrative either not serving the character properly, or the character not suiting the narrative.

younger people and beginners tend to make mary sues (including male ones) all the time. because they are still getting the hang of narrative structure and stakes and those take time to learn and develop. having a mary sue problem doesn't make you an eternally bad writer also, nor does it make you garbage, nor is shaming someone for doing so going to make them grow on any level. and also ultimately its been about shaming women and girls in particular. massive online bullying campaigns have been born out of "this girl is popular and i dont like her dumb female oc she has to be a mary sue because the oc is interesting and we need to harass the creator and her fans endlessly!!!!" meanwhile men can write the most boring slogs of mary sue stories that i have never even seen a teenage girl in fandom come even CLOSE to being as bad as, and they get pats on the back because their super original do not steal John Everyman (tm) character is super powerful and gets all the bitches and never struggles at anything ever.

and like. no one sets out to write a mary sue. trying to say "dont write mary sues" is stupid. it doesn't tell you how to actually avoid it. because ultimately how you avoid "writing a mary sue" is just by writing and reading a lot and learning how to write longer and more complex stories and building a narrative that works with the story you want to tell. which means ultimately you cannot just "avoid" writing a mary sue. you have to get comfortable first with writing a mary sue.

[lolotheparagon]

Sofia the First Season 4 in a Nutshell

Oh boy... Season 4. The one with the Wicked Nine story arc.

Day of the Sorcerers - 1/10

For some inexplicable reason, the writers wanted to redeem Cedric and finish off his story arc of being a villain, DESPITE 3 ENTIRE SEASONS OF HIM CHANGING PASSIVELY OVER TIME AND BECOMING A GOOD GUY AND A GOOD TEACHER TO SOFIA AND THE CHILDREN, BUT NOPE WE GOTTA HASTILY CONCLUDE THIS CHARACTER ARC. SO LETS HAVE HIM TAKE OVER THE KINGDOM AND ACTUALLY NEARLY SUCCEED ALL BECAUSE THE BILLY WEST WIZARD AND A BIRD PERSUADED HIM WITH VERY LITTLE CONVICTION. Its fucking hilarious cos at the third act, all it took to get Cedric to stop usurping the throne was Sofia giving him a glare like a child angry at her dad for not picking her up from soccer practice. And despite nearly taking over the kingdom, Cedric gets a second chance thanks to Sofia and her mum and everything just goes back like nothing happened. WOW ITS ALMOST LIKE THIS WHOLE EPISODE WAS COMPLETELY FUCKING POINTLESS.

The Secret Library: Tale of the Eternal Torch - 2/10

Remember, kids. If you have a history with invaders constantly trying to take over your home at every opportunity, befriend them! Its always good to share your land, even though its your land by right! Thank god we're dealing with dragons here not people, otherwise this wouldve been REALLY FUCKED UP. I mean this is fucked up, but still.

The Crown of Blossoms - 9/10

Finally, an episode that didnt make me wanna gouge my eyes out! A wonderful lesson about not using other people's valuable treasures for a festival and you should rightfully give it back to them. Even the boring Clover being greedy sideplot doesnt bother me.

Pin the Blame on the Genie - 0/10

Oh great, another episode about the Culturally Fucked Up Genie Police and the kid genie getting needlessly harassed and villified by the public all because of one racist wizard's opinions. Btw its established that the Genie Patrol have prison cells for misbehaving genies, WHILST THEYRE IN THEIR LAMPS. So its a prison within a prison. WTF?!

The Mystic Isles - -5/10

So, this is the famous Mystic Isles special...Honestly, for a world that's supposed to be where all magic originates, this is pretty dull. Like isn't the world of Sofia the First already magical as fuck? There are magical creatures everywhere in Enchancia, what makes this place so special? Also I really dont like the alicorn Skye, his oldtime medieval mannerisms get older after 5 minutes and it really feels like the show one-upped poor Minimus, since he was Sofia's first flying horse. Oh yeah and Sofia wants to be part of the Crystal Justice League or some shit, cos we need SOMETHING for our main character to do!

The Mystic Isles: The Princess and the Protector - 4/10

A tough fairy named Chrysta becomes Sofia's mentor into becoming a glorifed cop for the EverRealm and because she has this preconception of Sofia being this spoilt snob because she's a princess, Chrysta proceeds to not teach her anything and snark at Sofia throughout the majority of the episode. In any other series, this would be hilarious but here, I just feel sorry for poor Sof. I really grew to like Chrysta later on but this was NOT a good first impression.

The Royal Dragon - 6/10

Crackle and Sofia in Spyro form joins a dragon summit and the former fight with her egocentric rival in order to get people's attention cos her rival always steals people away from her before she can even make friends. Ngl I was expected to hate this episode but it was worth it to see that Crackle's rival is just as insecure as she is and made up half her boasting was made up so people would be friends with her. Also Sir KMR the Knight appears again to play schoolyard pranks on a bunch of dragons cos he's a petty bitch lol

The Mystic Isles: The Mare of the Mist - 6/10

Minimus is understandably pissed off that Sofia arrived with a brand new alicorn TM as her new best friend and tries to string along both of them on her new mission to find this mystery horse for a test. I dreaded this episode was gonna go with Sofia gaslighting poor Minimus into thinking Skye is the better companion and he should deal with it. But No. Sofia couldnt even finish her test cos the mystery horse she was looking for chastises her for not considering Minimus' feelings and favouring Skye over him. I like that, it really puts Sofia in a humbling position and helps her realise how important Minimus is to her.

Through the Looking Back Glass - 9/10

Its a good Cedric episode so its already a step up and we get to see Calista again, which is always fun. We find out the actual reason why Cedric has had this reputation from everyone, especially his sister Cordelia, that he was this bungler who would never amount to anything, and its revealed to be a completely accident which Cordelia forgives him for and apologises for all the teasing and petty rivalry she had with him over the years. Its a very sweet victory for Cedric and I honestly wish THIS was the final episode of his character arc than Day of Sorcerors cos it really shows how much he's improved as a person since Season 1 and that he doesnt need to take over the kingdom to prove his worth. Side note: I love how Sofia and Calista team up to clear Cedric's name and its cute to see Sofia act like a big sister to Calista.

Princess Jade - 8/10

Wasn't expecting a non character like Jade to get her own spotlight episode but here we are and its really sweet! I love how Jade was originally excited to go to Royal Prep to be with her bestie Sofia when they found out Jade's a descendant of royalty but quickly grows to hate it when she realises she'll never see Ruby or any of her village friends that much anymore, her entire life is changed upon this revelation...AND THEN WE GET A FUNNY AS HELL SIDEPLOT WITH AMBER BECOMING A MASTER ARCHITECT. Why wasnt this an entire episode alone about Amber being into architecture, that is wicked cool?!

Ivy's True Colors - 0/10

Ooo, the villain Princess Ivy's getting a redemption? Skip

Too Cute to Spook - 10/10

And we now return to our scheduled programming of serotonin-filled spookiness cos this time Sofia, Lucy and her toxic witch friends are doing trick or treating and Calista wants to join in but they dont want her to join cos she's too adorable to be scary and they're worried she'll "cramp their style." But Calista just wants to have friends and make Sofia happy. Man, I miss when Sofia the First episodes were like this.

Pirated Away - 8/10

After crashing into a pirate ship by accident, Miranda, Sofia and Amber have to help a bunch of geographically challenged pirates find a golden figurehead so Sofia and the family can see a meteor shower along the way. We get to see Miranda being a bad ass mum, Amber learning to respect her mother's word and have a heart to heart talk with her and a lesson about just fucking listening to people.

The Mystic Isles: The Falcon's Eye - 5/10

Oh goody, another Mystic Isles episode and this time, Sofia has to search for the Wicked Nine, a bunch of magical items belonging to the greatest Disney villains of the past to stop the villain from the Mystic Isles special, Prisma from gaining all their powers. Cos apparently Sofia the First really needed a daedric artifact storyline.

The Mystic Isles: The Great Pretender - 4/10

The Mystic Isles: A Very Mystic Wassalia - 7/10

Okay, the fact Chrysta has spent the whole of Christmas with Sofia doing protector tasks in order to distract herself from her incredibly lonely life cos she has no family or friends to spend the holiday is truly sad. I really felt for her when Sofia rounds up everyone in the Mystic Isles for a Christmas party. Just...awwww.

The Birthday Wish - 10/10

Sofia has a shit birthday so she wishes for a redo of her birthday and she gets it...40 times over. Yknow that segment with Huey, Dewey and Louie in Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas? Its basically that but with Sofia slowly going insane. The biggest highlight is definitely Sofia getting more exasperated and pissed off with each repeat. Its so rare to see Sofia mad or even angry cos Sofia's a very grounded kid who's got a big heart so seeing her being pushed to the limit is hilarious. And as always, there's a good lesson about looking on the bright side of things, which is especially true since Sofia still had a pretty good party to begin with, despite how chaotic things got.

In Cedric We Trust - 8/10

I feel like this whole episode was an apology for Day of Sorcerors cos this ep tries to address the fact Cedric nearly usurped the throne a few episodes ago and Roland's not happy about that. But unlike a lot of kids shows where the villains make shoddy attempts to atone for their actions and the characters just immediately forgive them without any repercussions, Cedric is nowhere near the levels of vile monster levels of Starlight Glimmer or Catra so im a lot more on board with Cedric's redemption cos he's got a far better track record of being a good person than any 2010s redeemed villain combined. Also Cedric earnestly trying to restore Roland's trust not just to get everyone to trust him again, but also because the two shared a friendship together when they were children is very sweet. I kinda wish that was explored a lot more in the show earlier. I wouldve loved more Roland and Cedric bonding.

The Mystic Isles: A Hero For The Hoodwinks - 5/10

Clover wants to be a hero like Sofia so he pretends to be one after hitching a ride to the Mystic Isles and manages to garner a fanbase of flying hedgehogs. Trust me, its not as exciting as it sounds.

The Mystic Isles: Undercover Fairies - -5/10

Another boring Chrysta episode, this time its about Chrysta having a bad experience with other fairies cos they all thought she was too rough and tough and not delicate enough to be a fairy. I mean, good for Chrysta to embrace her femininity but I really dont care at this point.

A Royal Wedding - 10/10

Aunt Tilly's wedding? Okay sure, but what if there was a main plot where its revealed Amber is actually the heir to the throne, not James, causing him to have an identity crisis and immediately tries to humilate Amber in front of the whole reception but nothngs working cos James still thinks Amber is her season 1 self, not her current self who's mastering all her royal duties like a pro and not caring about getting her dress dirty. So he accidentally summons a sea monster, which causes havoc at the wedding and can only be calmed with the promise of cake. So Amber, Sofia and James work together to stop said sea monster and the twins reconcile, James makes up for his actions and Amber dubs her brother First Knight. A heartwarming episode with a dash of crazy shenanigans thrown in. Finally, James gets a good story right before the show finishes.

The Royal School Fair - 3/10

Its nearly the end of school for Sofia and the gang but the former doesnt know what school she wants to go to after finishing Royal Prep, so everyone tries to get her to join their personal fave school rather than one of them sitting down with her and actually working it through with her. Oh and for the cherry on top, Amber signs Sofia up to join a school WITHOUT HER CONSENT and despite being called out for it, Sofia decides she wants to go there anyway. OH FOR FUCK'S SAKE. WRITERS, YOU HAVE ONE JOB, DONT TEACH KIDS TO BE COMPLACENT WITH PEOPLE'S BAD BEHAVIOUR.

The Lost Pyramid - 4/10

Sofia and the gang are exploring the inside of a pyramid, where they have to rely on different senses other than their eyes to solve the pyamid's riddles? Nice! A blind princess who's also an archaeologist?? THAT IS SO FUCKING METAL I LOVE THAT AND OH MY GOD, HILDEGARDE. GO AWAY!

Return To Merroway Cove - 2/10

"Remember, kids. If your parents are infantilising you and don't think you're capable of handling more difficult tasks, prove them right! That'll show 'em! Wait..."

The Elf Situation - 8/10

Sofia encourages James and Amber that just because a peace summit is looming over them and that they're trying to prepare being future monarchs with newfound responsibilities, doesnt mean WE CANT HAVE FUN. And she's right! You guys are in your early teens, enjoy life while you can before the ! Btw i love how 3 kids managed to solve a years-long rivalry with two elf clan leaders in one afternoon when the king took years to get them to reconcile but to no avail lmao. Especially when the two elf leaders in question were mostly petty squabbling and got along the moment someone suggested to do something fun. See, Sofia's always right!

Forever Royal - -6/10

The sheer mood whiplash from an absolutely wholesome first act that wouldve been a great bookend to the series with Sofia graduating Royal Prep, Amber training to be queen, James becoming a full-fledged knight in training and everyone in Enchancia is all coming together to celebrate how much our main character has grown over the couple of years...only to spend the last two acts of the special hastily wrapping up the entire Wicked Nine story arc with a brand new villain instead of the one we've been building up over and the season, complete with higher stakes, a world-ending threat and ending with Sofia defeating said villain like a Kingdom Hearts cutscene spiritually reminds me of this

CONCLUSION

Oh boy this was a difficult season to get through. S3 had a weird story arc with the Secret Library, but at least that wasnt NEARLY as intrusive as the Wicked Nine arc, where it clearly felt like Craig Gerber tried to crowbar it into the season, especially for how out of place the usual episodes are. Craig said in one of his podcasts that the Wicked Nine was meant to be a serialised story arc for the whole season but Disney shot him down, saying that it'll be too complicated for a pre-school show. And honestly, I fully get behind Disney on that. But Craig had enough creative power to jam that shit in so we're stuck with a boring ass daedric artifact plotline that meanders until the finale, clogging up what couldve been a decent season to wrap up the series.

Still, apart from that awful last season, I really recommend Sofia the First. It's such a cute, fun show that has its problems and defnitely isnt for everyone as its very straightforward in its themes. But if you like musical numbers, silly characters and cute saccharine stuff like me, you'll like this show just fine.

Peace out, bitches

[chaosthatsmellsgreen]

Netflix's Avatar The Last Airbender thoughts, part 3/5

about Team Avatar and side characters

Missing adventures: oh yeah, about that. so we had references to The Waterbending Scroll, The Great Divide and The Fortuneteller. basically these episodes are canonical in NATLA, although whatever run-in they had with the pirates was clearly not about a waterbending scroll since Katara already has it. (more on that later) and i'm not saying these are top tier episodes (i'm partial to The Fortuneteller because Sokka is fucking hilarious and also because kataang), but what's important to understand about ATLA is that even their little side adventures are important because they build character and relationships. that's not filler, it's very much the backbone of the original show. in NATLA, there is very little distraction for our heroes, and therefore we get to see less of their everyday lives and their bond

Team Avatar: i think this is an issue between Aang and Sokka as well, but their moments with each other are much better executed, and so it's less noticable, and then of course Katara and Sokka are family in a literal sense, but also get a lot of time to bond and work on their connection. the overall effect of all this is that Team Avatar (which they also call themselves waaaaaay too early for my liking, but eh, i'd look past it) doesn't feel as close and as bonded as the show is saying they are.

KOH. FUCKIN'... KOH. okay so you know how spirits are very neutral and self-serving in ATLA? they don't really give two shits about humans and their problems and just focus on their own goals? yeah so apparently Koh is just Evil (TM). this is the same issue as LoK had with the spirit world was having to make it more black and white than it was in ATLA. Koh... honestly, he wasn't really evil in the OG. he steals faces because that's what he does, that's his place in the universe. (if you read the comics, it's mommy issues, basically, but still that's not evil, that's sad, and clearly this Koh has the same origin story as the comics, because statue.) he's completely fair to Aang, even very, very helpful, as long as Aang plays by his rules. now, obviously we don't know what ATLA Koh would do if Aang's friends followed him to the spirit world, probably the same as he did in NATLA. he was just so much more intriguing in the original show where he was more than "creepy centipede spirit monster"'

Katara: Katara is so... timid. LET MY GIRL YELL!! she's a hothead, and a very passionate person. to be clear, i don't think this is Kiawentiio's fault, i think it's writing and maybe direction. she barely even gets to get mad during the water tribe episodes, a place in the story where in the original she was BIG mad. it's the closest Katara gets to original Katara, but even there she's very reserved and nowhere near as passionate as she should be. like her duel with Pakku was an on the spot, hot headed, unplanned decision, in this, she lets Pakku insult her, walk away, and then she goes off to contemplate whether she should fight him. i also like that she got quite far as a waterbender by herself, but i wish they gave her some time to train with a master and actually earn the title of master, not just be bestowed it after showing basic combat prowess. she was a very talented bender, but her having discipline and being a diligent, hard-working student is just as important a part of her character, and i don't love the "i'm a girlboss so i don't need anyone to teach me" arc. she's also very much idk, i call it perfect-washed in my head? all her flaws are removed (she doesn't steal the water bending scroll, she doesn't lash out at her friends and family when she's frustrated with her waterbending progress, and the whole thing about her not being nearly as angry or loud, too) and all that's left is this perfect, talented, flawless girl. which is, you know, i wanted to see the Katara i knew, and she didn't feel like the same person. if i try to ignore what i wanted to see, and focus on the character they were building, she does seem relatively consistent, i just find her boring because she ends up being pretty much a Mary Sue.

Sokka: i think Sokka is really well done. he's funny, he has depth, despite removing his sexism, he still has some of his rough edges, and so he doesn't suffer from this perfectisation. i'm glad they acknowledge both his humour and his intelligence, i think a lot of what they chose to build NATLA Sokka around is good insight into who Sokka is and why he was an important part of the Gaang. i find it weird that they are eluding to him not actually wanting to be a warrior, that it's something he's pushed to be - but, well, if that's a direction they want to take his story, i don't think it's necessarily bad. the one thing i hate about it is....

Hakoda: i'm so. fucking. bored. of everyone having to have a shitty relationship with their fathers. Sokka always wanted to live up to Hakoda, but Hakoda clearly didn't care if his children were like him. all he ever expected of them was to be good people, and all he ever did was love them. you're trying to tell me that a dad who was characterized as telling his daughter that he missed her and her brother by saying "I missed you so much it would ache" is going to publicly shit-talk his son because he didn't properly pass his coming-of-age ritual at <13 years old? (let's ignore that actually Sokka never even did the ice dodging because he was too young to, before his father left, another reminder that he was still a child when he was left as the oldest man of their whole tribe, and even though NATLA is putting a lot of emphasis on that, they somehow miss the point that Sokka wasn't even of age when this responsibility fell on his shoulders). it just doesn't follow. and yes, this is actually a bit of the story and Sokka's motivations that is technically done just fine, i'm just soooo bored of it. Sokka himself did want to prove himself to Hakoda, but Hakoda never actually needed any proof that Sokka was... idk "worthy"? of being his son. so yeah, i hated all of that, even though it was fine and consistent in execution

Bumi: is literally the same issue. i prefer ATLA Bumi, even though NATLA is probably more realistic in what 100 years of war and constant, impossible decisions would do to a person. i just... i always loved that there is someone, anyone that Aang used to know, one person who's still alive, still there, who knows who Aang is and what the world used to be like in his time. seeing Bumi be so... honestly, downright cruel to him, it just made me really sad. and in fairness, i think it was supposed to make me sad, so it did what it aimed to do. like i said, same issue as Hakoda, this was done alright, it's just too different from the OG for me to enjoy

Oma and Shu: i loved the animation style for the tale of two lovers, i think it was wonderfully done. as for them being F/F, i can take it or leave it, i don't really care. it's one of those Netflix-style token representation things, it makes no difference to me either way. i'm glad it's made a lot of people happy though

Yue: so the fox thing was a little weird? jury is still out on whether i liked that one or not, it might take me a rewatch to decide. other than that, i enjoyed how they fleshed her character out. the whole thing with Hahn was a little strange, but eh, i'm fine with that change. i liked the forbidden romance thing she and Sokka had going, but i think them just having a normal romance is completely fine. i thought their connection was done well, i was overall very happy with her and her relationship with Sokka

PART 3/5

START // NEXT // PREVIOUS

[axe-trio-commanders]

I'm curious about Olirus! What's their Deal(tm)? (Also I would like to hug Zori. Not because of any particular reason but because I think she needs one)

- @fractal-quadrilioquy

Yesyes Olirus!! (sorry this took a lil, needed to get screenshots and also. Awakeness) So- Olirus Quickshot is one of my newer cats, and sort of like... I dunno, my most lowkey, normal-ish character...? Which is. Completely relative considering the nonsense everyone else gets up to, but here's the gist;

Olirus was, originally, just a pretty darned good sniper, originally working under Iron before joining the Vigil, primarily because she thought Almorra was just really, really cool the first time she heard about her, and Olirus really wanted to go all-in and fight dragons. She was pretty renowned for taking shots with pretty good accuracy for how many shots she could take, and how quickly- she's not an assassin, really, but she's good at taking out a large number of pretty long-range targets. So she joins the vigil, climbs a few rungs up the ladder, everything's going great! They actually defeated Zhaitan! Woo!! ....And then Maguuma happens, and- pending probably another post and a heavy TW- Olirus is suddenly Much Less Jazzed about the Vigil. Not that she things the Vigil is wrong, just... wrong for her. And her continued mental health. So, after taking the airship to Elona, Olirus just kinda... bounces, trying to just. Disappear in the chaos. She eventually finds a job as a guard for this exotic raptor racing facility, which is... well, it pays money, even if she doesn't like her boss very much. ....Until a group raids the place, she gets shot in the arm with a necromantic-energy-packed ammunition that is now attempting to slowly rot away her arm, and instead of, say, doing anything to help with that, her boss just fires her instead. So now she's slowly losing an arm, and doesn't have a job. So she does what any reasonable charr would do, which is steal her favorite raptor (Her name is Cherry) and book it again. (This is Cherry)

Eventually, she recieves help with the arm from... (admittedly I have this part less decided, so some necromancer/scientist someone who decides to be nice without immediate payment)- which stops the decay even if it won't heal the arm. It's still functional, though it is pretty smelly and she's worried it'll be more fragile than normal, so she's made a special glove to fit around it. At this point, she decides she's honestly done with any job involving having to use violence, and you know what she figures is the furthest possible thing from her prior occupation in the Vigil? Candy-making. She's going to make a candy store. And run it. And use the proceeds to take care of Cherry. And anyone who threatens her candy store, or the children who come to buy from it? ...Well, she does still have a rifle, and she isn't half bad with a pair of daggers, either. They just have fun themes, now.

(.....this character was at least partially inspired by the fact i thought you could flavor the azure railgun skin as mint-chocolate themed. Also I wanted a character I could just kinda fit into any au or rp space...)

[toastshark]

Drew an oc. Finally managed to find a design I‘m ok with for now. He’s a fire spirit. Originally wanted to aim for obsidian but the look shifted more towards ambers and charred stuff I think? The hairstyle is a leftover of the obsidian idea, maybe I’ll go back to that, or change the bangs at least lol.

Also used the drawing as practice to try out some new things, like the way I do the background and shading styles

Character traits currently include and may be prone to change:

low-key vibes

disinterest sad

perpetually tired

softie

not talking or physically expressing much but rather doing actions

*tells person how unnecessary and shortsighted doing something is* *does not leave when they go do it*

gremlin minus the active energy

Doesn’t have a name tho so if anyone’s got suggestions XD

Tbh I’m not sure if I wanna keep the outfit as it is rn? It’s seems too dark? Also the turtleneck + baggy pants combo is technically the same outfit as Mage‘s, but his got sleeves, so idk

[beardedhandstoadshark]

Idk if you're still looking for inspiratio, it’d be fun to see your ocs reacting to their original designs :)

Red: *squealing over adorableness of beginner adventurer Red but also heavily questioning their choice of shoes*

Yel is hiding in shame from his banana-hair (and Deniz pointing it out. And Mage‘s teasing about it. Wait no Violet please don’t agree with them too-)

That is not the og design for Mage iirc but it’s the oldest I could find. He had blue eyes originally, it became lore relevant! Anyways idk if it’s readable but that says "realized he has no idea where the bag went"

Meanwhile Deniz is mostly just happy that his pants aren’t like leggings now. My guy lives at a sunny place, that was really bad

And Violet:

:) sorry

[tocstshark]

magic forest doggo Yel gets a magic forest doggo who‘s adorable and precious idk when, where or how, but he gets one and he‘s a precious good boy because look at that boy, and the doggo makes him genuinely smile with a full :D smile instead of just the usual kinda subdued one because Yel loves animals and the doggo is full of love. Yeah.

[natalieleif]

Listen.

As a Real Author(tm) with a Real Book(tm) coming out soon, I want to note that I accept all fanfiction, fanart, and posts about it, period.

I also know how fandoms work. I grew up with em. As such--if I'm lucky enough to get a fandom response--it's pretty likely that I'm gonna see content that I never even fathomed while writing. The sorta stuff that's gonna make me go, "Ew. That's horrifying. I wish you wouldn't do that with my characters."

If you're reading this now, it is your responsibility to ignore me entirely and keep making that weird stuff.

Once I've put a story and characters out into the public, it isn't entirely mine anymore. Art is a conversation between the creator and the person viewing it, and part of me posting art publicly is accepting that conversation.

Yeah, I made the original thing. But any reactions to it, perceptions about it, or art created as inspiration from it? Those are yours. I can't stop them any more than JKR can tell the Harry Potter fandom to stop being transgender for even five minutes, or Hartman can convince the decades-old Danny Phandom that ghosts somehow aren't dead people.

I know social media loves to blur the lines between creator and fandom. Tumblr in particular seems to love the idea that a creator is your best friend and their characters are too precious to risk misinterpreting.

But listen. Sometimes you gotta break into your best friends' house, steal their toys, light the house on fire, and leave a note saying, "Thanks!"

That's art, babey!

[enddaysengine]

Legend and Callings (Scion)

One of the things I love about Scion Second Edition is how flexible the system is. There are A LOT (tm) of concepts the system can represent with a Scion, which is essential for a game that draws on every single mythology as its source.

Scion 2e doesn't have levels like d20 games, but Legend serves a similar role. As the Legend stat goes up, Scions become more powerful and their actions become more engrained in the collective consciousness. They get their Legends to go up through Deeds - feats of heroism that resonate through culture and Fate. For Heroes, Deeds alone are enough to make their Legends grow, but Demigods also require specific milestones to fuel their apotheosis.

If Legend is roughly equivalent to level, then Callings are classes. A Calling describes what a character is capable of as well as the role they play in mythology. Mortal, Origin-tier characters (who are still roughly the equivalent of action heroes) only have a single Calling, but everyone from Hero on up is more dynamic, having three. Callings let characters access Knacks, granting them incredible - and sometimes supernatural - abilities.

Also, while Callings are player-facing mechanics, this is one case where the characters in the game have a sense of them too. While not every pantheon would use the same names for the Callings, these are mythic roles. Heroes may not be savvy enough to recognize the patterns Fate is nudging them into, but the Gods are.

Technically, most antagonists and NPCs in Scion don't have Callings, only player characters and Gods. I like to define them for anyone who gets a speaking role since that's a helpful shorthand for their personalities and how they may react to other characters. Between that and stealing Virtue/Vice from Chronicles of Darkness, you can get a rough sense of who someone is and how they act quickly.

In Scion, deities are defined more by their combination of Legend and Deeds than by what they are Gods of (which is also important! But Legends and Deeds take the top spot). One of the mechanical summations of those Legends and Deeds is their Callings (the other is the Legendary Title). Callings define by how Gods interact with people and the stories those people tell of them. So a Demigod looking to make the leap to big G status had best understand that.

There are no Scions among the Glorious - the secret society is a group of disgruntled individuals who believe the Deeds of Heroes overshadow the accomplishment of mortals. While a few of them are out-and-out maltheists, most respect the Gods, they are just frustrated by how society extolls those with divine lineage. It is common for the Glorious to feel they have lost opportunities because of Heroes meddling or to hear them likening Hero worship to nepotism. The organization aims to show that mortals are as good as Heroes by thwarting Heroic Deeds and denying the Scions their victory. For most Glorious, this means becoming the best in their field to outcompete divine rivals, but more radical member resort to sabotage or even violence to bring Scions down.

Odin wants to change. He's not as big a dick as Zeus (who is?), but he's hurt plenty of people along the way. It is time for him to let go of being a Trickster and embracing the Liminal Calling of a traveler. The problem is that rewriting your mythic archetypes isn't easy to do as a God. The Allfather will need the help of a band of rising Demigods if he wants to pull this off without a hitch.

A Hero has lost her way. Everything changed so fast for Hannah after her Visitation by Re. She was already struggling with her first year of university, and now she's been chosen by the sun God? As a result of her uncertainty, Hannah's become unmoored from all of her Callings - which Aten sees as an opportunity to give her new meaning, reforged in his light!