tak is the main antagonist for this crossover fic im writing and due to the lack of canon content beyond literally that one episode and some of etf, sometimes i worry im not doing her any justice or it鈥檚 too ooc. what do you think would be the best way to write tak in your opinion? (if you happen to have any advice on the matter. just wondering! byeeee馃拑)
i'm genuinely so relieved at the specification of "in your opinion" because i have such a strange long-lasting attachment to tak that i think i would second-guess my thoughts on her in an objective vacuum to the point of just saying "she should be purple". but as it is i now have the freedom to go stupid crazy about it
i think there's a number of crucial elements to tak, but i think the one that people miss most in writing her is that she isn't just meant to be a more competent counterpart to zim - she's a direct parallel in terms of her ego, motivation, and backstory (the latter particularly as a result of treatment by irken society)
like zim, tak has an enormous ego and an audacity that places herself above anyone else, even the empire itself (see: her custom invader insignia. that's like drawing a crucifix but substituting yourself for jesus after being refused by the church), and like zim, in spite of her disregard for the empire's rulings she's striving for recognition both by it and within it (to quote her: "the plan i have in store for this nasty rock will so impress the tallest that they'll have no choice but to make me an invader"). the same way zim "quit being banished", tak "escaped" from the janitorial squad she was placed under as a stopgap job until the next elite test in seventy years
i've seen some people write her as tall, but in my opinion her being only very, very slightly taller than zim is not just a stylistic choice but an essential part of her character that draws her backstory together: technically that janitorial job wasn't even a punishment, it was just deemed the most suitable position for her in the absence of official imperial proof that she was capable of anything "better" or "higher" that would've been afforded to a taller more easily
that she made it so far in the elite course at all in spite of her height gives context and precedent to the competence and sheer refusal to admit defeat she exhibits in her attempt to destroy earth, a planet she initially believes is already undergoing an officially-sanctioned invasion judging from how bitterly she tells zim about what should've been "rightfully hers", down to specifically mentioning the great assigning - loops back to her audacity, in that she has zimlike degrees of ego regardless of how hard the circumstances logistically are aligned to stomp her back down (see again her quote where she confidently states her plan to hijack an official invasion will impress the tallest to the point they won't mind her flagrantly flaunting the rules). she would've spent so much of her life striving to meet her own exceedingly high expectations, not the exceedingly low ones assumed of someone her height, that this likely isn't far from her standard procedure of "show them i can do it better than the rules say"
what sets her apart from zim, i think, is in how much she's allowed herself to let those miserable expectations get to her and leave her pettier, more vindictive, less grandstanding speeches like zim than showing off everything she's capable of as often as possible, no matter how necessary (ALL the stupid parkour she does for no reason) - which i think is admittedly less her fault than partially being the result of her having actually experienced her confidence failing her when the entire future she'd set up for herself was pulled out from underneath her
unlike zim, who experiences failure regularly but never has it truly sink in, tak had the entirety of her progress wiped off the board in a single moment as a result of circumstances entirely beyond her control: i think a large part of the reason she resents zim so deeply and sincerely isn't solely because of the practical consequences of her missing her test (though it is in no way insignificant to it) but because he was the one who broke her streak - he was the one who made her brutally aware that no matter how she built herself up, no matter what proof she offered, she could still fail and be crushed into exactly the nobody she was expected to be
and she just cannot abide that, no matter what, because even if the memory of helplessness and humiliation will never go away (not that she'd acknowledge it wouldn't), if she can make him hurt the same way maybe that will give back to her some of the power and control over her life and her identity that she lost in losing her potential status as a real, sanctioned invader
also, i do think she should be purple. she seems to have a great attachment to aesthetics and individual style, given her custom pseudo-elite uniform (which we see her wearing even in training, on her test day), the fact she designed and programmed her hologram specifically to have the distinguishing marking of a beauty spot in the same place she has one on her actual face, and her penchant for making nearly every damn piece of her tech purple some way (minus mimi, who while being her own bootleg SIR unit still follows the same red color scheme as a functional one) - even the cockpit of the spittle runner she pilots is initially purple before it's ejected as an escape pod, and the magma pump's interior looks like this:
girl likes giving things her own little touches whether that's in terms of her trademark color, her near-blasphemous custom imperial logo, or her doing a tactical slide between bars of a railing instead of just stepping normally onto the floor
32 notes
路
View notes
Also more real life commentary this is why we Need Writers btw
Why we need people who are Trained In Writing to Write
There is such a difference between writing and writing
SSE's writing is primarily bad because it's written by people who do not write, the reason why Helena's version of the story is so good is because Helena writes. She's an author. She understands narrative, and character, and what goes into a story. From what I can tell most of SSE's writing team. Are legitimately just devs who are put on writing duty for the week. And it shows. None of these people Write.
(And also why you should support people in the profession because it is an incredibly undervalued skill in all forms of media and yes that is to say if you complain about the writers strikes happening in America right now you're fucking dumb)
12 notes
路
View notes
When I started playing volleyball I was really bad at everything and I never found "my" thing. I wasn't powerful or jumped high enough to attack or block, my passes were pretty mid I didn't have much control, and my reception on it's own was ok.
But god I loved to chase that ball. I would throw myself on the ground if it meant we could keep playing. Sad thing is we didn't have a proper place to play so we played on gravel and it hurt a lot but I'd still do it.
And then I found out about liberos, and our french one Grebennikov. He was so cool. The club closed the next year on my third year of high school and I barely got to play that year.
But I remember playing with my friend's parents' friends in Czech Rep, after so long without practicing, and with a big language barrier but how fun it was to try and save ever ball I could for them (I was so rusty it was embarassing haha!)
3 notes
路
View notes
Best Medical Writing Course in India by GAADS Learning.
Advance your career with our specialized Medical Writing Course. Gain expertise in scientific communication and to be superior in the healthcare industry. GAADS works on job-oriented short-term courses, which make your professional life on a growth trajectory.
2 notes
路
View notes
Get the Best Entrepreneurship Training Program from Insadec Training.
Get the best Entrepreneurship Training Program from the best trainer in Delhi NCR. Insadec Training focuses on developing sales skills to set up the sales system in your organization which is essential to lead any profitable business. Insadec Training has given training to Fortune 500 companies, SMEs, Institutes and Individuals.
2 notes
路
View notes