#so either the character archetype is a lot more universal than I thought it was

[lovely-hikari-cosplay]

Logically, this season was filming while AS8 was airing so the queens couldn’t have seen what the other queens did for RDR Live

BUT

How else do we explain how extremely Jimbo-coded PJ’s performances was

[btc-official]

criteria and archetypes of a tumblr “failgirl” (possible emerging counterpart to sexymen)

by comma

section i: “fail”

bad at everything or scared of everything or just really unlucky. she’s trying sososo hard and being sososo brave anyway

the universe is out to fucking get her. she’s constantly being put in Situations, or unreasonably hated by other characters. this is usually in a lighthearted mundane way but girls who have genuinely experienced the Horrors can count if they’re pathetic enough

pathetic in that weird spamton way where people either want to take her to therapy or put her in the microwave

showers once a week at most. no bedframe. you know the type

section ii: “girl”

so so so SO autistic and/or transgender

you can immediately tell just looking at her and everything new you learn about her just confirms it more

fuck canon fuck the haters fuck whether it even makes sense. the vibe is so strong that everyone just accepts it as fact. she told me herself

failboys do exist and seem a lot easier to agree on than their counterparts sexywomen. why must women constantly be questioned #feminism

apollyon

bocchi

kobeni

shinji

komi-san

keter

spamton

noelle holiday

alphys

harry dubois

euclid

rainbow dash

minori hanasato (project sekai)

trixie (mlp)

penny (pokemon)

yuri (ddlc)

mikan tsumiki (danganronpa 2)

meeeee <3

contentious/unconfirmed

monika (ddlc): is so scared and has no idea what she’s doing the whole time but she hides it so well that she comes off as a sexywoman

glados (portal): sexywoman with trauma. yeah she is so so repressed but i think lesbians are just like that

queen (deltarune): so so bad at her job but she has actual self-confidence + i feel like she’s just doing it on purpose for funsies

jerma985 (collective hallucination): i don’t know if he actually counts or if i just want to add him because it’s funny

final thoughts

i’m not trying to make rules this isn’t comprehensive do what you want forever. i just made this to help identify failgirls so we can discover more of them… together! <3

…because i’m trying to think of enough popular ones to do a poll at some point

[bubblekidaesthetics]

Baby gays be gayin 💚💫💖

When we first got introduced to Valentine in the Monster High universe he was just another villain. His whole spill was kinda cool tho.

Collecting the hearts of girls in love as trophies, thus making it impossible for them to ever love anyone again??? I was immediately hooked. And it was a Draculaura-centric movie too, so there was a bonus.

However it wasn't till many years later that I discovered Valentine's diary and boy did it deliver.

If that sounds kinda like the gay archetype, well, put on ur listening ears for a sec, 'cause we've got a story for you. Apparently, according to the creator of Monster High, his diary was supposed to have him come out as gay. It was a collector's item anyway. Kids wouldn't have had a chance to buy it as it was a convention-exclusive doll, but Mattel said and I quote "It is not the right time"

An extract from the original post of the creator which just goes to show how little influence they truly have over their own creations.

Well, the gay route was a no-go, so instead they had to be sneaky about it. If you read the diary, the core, the framework of the original idea is still there. Evident especially in the May 3rd entry:

"I now know that what I did - stealing love - was because I thought that's what emotional vampires were supposed to do. But it never felt quite right. I thought if I kept doing it, it would eventually feel right. Then when Draculaura called me - well, Toralei really - I thought that if I could get the heart that got away, it would change me, and everything would be fine. But I was just a real pain in the fang to everyone and made a fool of myself. So I've come to the conclusion being myself has to be easier than not being myself, right? Back then, I hated the thought of who I really was, and that conflict made me become someone who wasn't me. It's time to be true to myself, but it's scary."

Like come on!!!! How can it get queerer than that?!? He is one foot away from coming out of his coffin with glitter make up and rainbow hair!

But then the diary had to go the sneaky route. They knew they couldn't make him gay... At least directly. They had to be increeibly sneaky about that. Just then Spelldon Cauldronello steps onto the scene.

Written into the diary as a blink you'll miss it moment, Spelldon is Casta Fierce's younger brother. Up to that point there was no mention of the character in Monster High cannon. but his interaction with Valentine, well... It was short for one. But a lot was packed into that very short meeting. Keiran Valentine upon first meeting him spaces out, after which they spend some time together gettin to know each other better, ultimately ending with Valentine asking Spelldon for his number.

You'd think there'd be more, yet sadly that is where Spelldon's part in Valentines story arch stops. There was clear intent there to create a more inclusive Monster High, for which I am grateful. Despite not giving us a look at Spelldon's design, the fandom took it upon themselves to create designs and fanart, thus keeping his character alive.

The design I used in this piece actually belongs to my incredibly talented friend @i-have-serious-brainfreeze . He created this design of the nerdy Spelldon on a whim, and since then I have been utterly obsessed with it. So much so that I choose to create a fanart piece of the two bby gays.

As of now, Gen 3 made no current mention of either Valentine or Spelldon, so it's safe to say their story has been shelved for the time being. However, things are moving on the Monster High representation front. Twyla has been cannonicaly made autistic, Frankie nonbinary, and Clankie steered slowly towards a canonical romantic relationship.

If there ever is a better time to bring back Keiran Valentine, it certainly is now.

I'll be here waitin Mattel. I'll be here💖

[thebiggestfuckgiven]

a thought I’ve been having since i started reading and writing DP x DC material:

The concept of “AU Curses”

—

It is known that each genre has a certain set of tropes (some of them clichés from how overused they are). Still, they have something defining of them. Music, scenarios, character archetypes, etc. The same can be said for fanfics. Specifically, for each genere, sub-genre, sub-sub-genre, etc. they have.

AUs have their own tropes because they align more closely to traditional genres. However, it’s when AUs take place in the universe of a different fandom or when crossovers occur that it gets interesting. The tropes/classical formula for each respective universe influences the other, creating something unique that then transforms into its own set of tropes (if created with sufficient frequency across the fandom).

The Danny Phantom x DC crossovers have become their very own sub-fandom, so large that some people might even consider it separate from the original fandom. It does have its own unique set of tropes, heavily influenced by DC’s classical formula, which tends to lean a lot into the darker, grittier aspects of heroic actions, human nature, and the self.

This doesn’t mean that the DP formula has had no say. No, completely on the contrary. DP formula overtakes the story when it comes to the story’s Main Conflict and some of DC’s mysteries (canon or writer-stated). It also takes charge when it comes to a few of the slightly nonsensical (endearing) scenarios the original DP formula is known for.

This all being said, one big trope common in this newly formed DP x DC formula, is that the story (naturally) always begins either with an introduction of a Bat family member into Danny’s life or vice versa. The city of Gotham is often times a catalyst for both of these things.

Across most DP x DC crossover fics, the following outline (the formula) is commonly read. When Danny encounters the first sign of a catalyst (Gotham or the JL or an alien ghost, etc), it is usually at the start of a new period in his life. A fresh start, a rescue, a safe haven, or a new relationship. Each of this immediately lead into being involved (as a civilian or his alias) with a Bat family member (also as a civilian or their alias). More often than not, this then leads to a series of misfortunes in Danny’s life or nosy investigations into his private life, which also causes its own set of issues. Depending on the catalyst, these misfortunes can be downright disastrous or a mere annoyance.

One can interpret this in two ways. It can be an AU Curse specific to the DP x DC crossovers. As soon as that catalyst pops up, Danny becomes automatically destined to meet the Batfam and his life begins to drastically change, for better or worse.

Or it can be considered a DC curse, where the moment a new variable is introduced, more new, crazier things begin to follow it and the situation becomes progressively worse or more convoluted (or both) for all the characters present in the plot. This DC curse would be an aspect of its respective universe that almost completely overtook most plot tropes within the DP x DC fandom, in small or grander ways.

It’s interesting to see how the fandom has developed all of this on a near subconscious level, simply because writers took their favorite and the most liked aspects of either universe, and used it to shape their stories. To begin it, all a writer has to do is introduce the catalyst. Everything else will follow.

Interestingly enough, the AU Curse can also be seen from an outside, reader perspective in the sense that fans of the original source (Not the crossover material/formula itself) will sometimes be subjected to it. This happens when the crossover material begins edging into or gaining popularity over the original source, so its fans begin seeing less of the material they enjoy and more of the crossover one. They see a catalyst (crossover fanart, a fellow fan who starts getting into it, or a writer who starts creating content for it), and suddenly the original source is overtaken by all the newly formed characteristics of the crossover material.

I might be interpreting some things wrong, or not have the full scope of the dubbed “DC Curse” I outlined. So if anyone wants to share their own views or correct anything, you’re more than welcome to!

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Psycho Analysis: Egg Fu

(WARNING! This analysis contains RACISM! Seriously, just look at this fucking guy, holy shit! What were they thinking?!)

People always have different answers to why people just don’t know Wonder Woman’s adversaries to the same extent that they know Batman or even Superman’s, despite her being one of the Big Three of DC. Some say it’s because Diana is all about diplomatically resolving conflict, and thus ends up befriending her foes. Others claim it’s because she kills her enemies. I’m not sure if either of these groups know what they’re talking about because I don’t read comics as extensively as some, but considering what we’re talking about here I’m guessing DC wants to keep people from knowing her enemies because if they do, they’ll find shit like Egg Fu.

Like, just look at this fucking guy. Look at him.

Like I get comics were racist back in the day, but this one takes the cake. What's even more insane is how they keep trying to revamp and revitalize the character in the modern era, from being a bad guy from Apokolips:

To... whatever the hell this is:

There's got to be reason, right? Why are writers so dead set on trying to rehabilitate the racist communist egg man?

Motivation/Goals: As a Yellow Peril villain, Egg Fu exists to show the EVILS of communism while also making sure to show Asians in the most unflattering light possible. He's not particularly good at either job to be honest, dying every time he comes across Wonder Woman and being so utterly absurd a concept it's hard to take him seriously at all. Like, he's an egg. For what reason? I mean yeah there's the pun, but why is he a fucking egg in-universe? What's the benefit of being an egg with a prehensile mustache? How exactly does it help dominate the filthy Americans (oh, I'm sorry, the Amelicans).

Final Fate: In his very first appearance, Wonder Woman does the right thing and fucking cracks this egg:

When the next Egg Fu shows up, she does more of the same:

Unfortunately, when another Egg Fu named Dr. Yes (he's a robot duplicate, because of course he is) showed up, he got away.

As for the modern Egg Fus, they're probably still kicking around. I'm not reading through fifty issues of storyline to discern the fate of some rebooted racist egg man, sorry.

Best Quote: Surely such a character as Egg Fu must have some great dialogue! Let's see, how about...

Oh. Oh dear. That's, um, not great. Uh, what about...

Oh fuck that's even worse. Er, there has to be something here...

Oh god, the only thing worse than racism is finding out a mid-tier DC movie starring Dwayne Johnson has arrived!!!!

Yeah no this guy gets no points in this category, his dialogue ranges from generic bullshit to the kind of stuff you'd hear from the City Wok guy on South Park.

Final Thoughts & Score: So a while ago I reviewed Fu Manchu, a villain that absolutely fascinates me. He is the archetypal Yellow Peril supervillain who has had an absolutely undeniable impact on popular culture, altering history by spawning legions of imitations (such as Egg Fu here) as well as doing things such as giving a name to a style of facial hair. As with all villains that have such a colossal influence, he got an 11 with an asterisk denoting how monumentally racist the character was, despite their being positive aspects to him that were fair for the time period he was created in.

Now imagine that but without any of the positive qualities. That’s Egg Fu.

This is such an absurd, baffling supervillain even for the time he was created. Like, okay, I get racial stereotypes were prevalent in a lot of comics… but a giant communist egg with a prehensile mustache?! Far be it from me to suggest writers were on drugs when coming up with their wild ideas, but you have to admit that substance abuse would go a long way towards explaining why this was allowed to happen. Simple racism can’t explain this; it’s a giant fucking egg.

I think the sheer insanity of it all is what draws me to this character. Not only is it blatantly racist, they also keep trying to bring back and reimagine him. And like, yeah, that’s kind of sick and I love when weird-ass ideas get revamped and recontextualized for the modern era… but Egg fucking Fu? It’s bad enough we had Egg Fu the Fifth and his evil clone Dr. Yes all within the span of a year before being dropped for decades, but then they decided to dust him off and try a redo? Why?

I think the appeal to try and revitalize him comes from the fact that, as far as stereotyped and racist caricature villains go, Egg Fu is so fucking bizarre. Like I can't stress enough this is a giant communist egg who speaks in broken English and has a prehensile mustache. In a sea of Yellow Peril villains he easily stands out despite being relatively obscure from the sheer fact he's not simply a racist stereotype; he's an insane racist stereotype that just boggles the mind as to what the writers and artists were actually trying to say with this.

The history of this character is just so weird, his very existence is weird… He’s the opposite extreme of Fu Manchu for me. While Fu is fascinating for his impact on culture and deserves the highest marks with that caveat that he’s also extremely problematic, Egg Fu gets a 3/10 with a similar caveat. He’s so bad it’s good, but he’s bad because he’s a racist caricature, which isn’t great. I see this like I do the movie The Conqueror, the movie where John Wayne played Genghis Khan. Yes, it’s absolutely absurd and tasteless that these white people are playing Asians, but at the same time everything about this is so absurdly racist it crosses the line twice and somehow manages to become hilarious. Like what are you even trying to do here? It’s offensive in a way where you can’t do anything but laugh at them because they genuinely thought they were on to something here.

And that’s ultimately how I feel about Egg Fu. They really thought they were cooking something with this one, but this egg didn’t poach them any new readers and he hasn’t gone over easy with modern audiences. It’s really hard not to crack up at this complete yolk of a character. So yes, Egg Fu is enjoyably bad in a “What were they even fucking trying to do here?” sort of way, and he’s definitely one of my favorite insane comic book villains that time has forgotten… but there’s no denying that this is a character who is inherently problematic.

Anyway, this review has given me excessive racism poisoning, so I think I'm going to review a comic villain who isn't horribly offensive next time.

COMING SOON! PSYCHO-ANALYSIS: HEMO-GOBLIN!

The South African white supremacist vampire who gives people AIDS!

(Just kidding, I'm reviewing Snowflame).

[kpchrs]

What's your favorite characterisation decision in LiS?

Do I even have one

Hello, Anon! ... Whoever you are 😏 I don't really have the energy to compose very detailed and organised writing right now but I hope you can still enjoy it. Btw, people might not know this but I actually... never played beyond S1 LOL I want to, but buying games is not my priority right now. So, Sean? Alex? Who? xD

Well, what I thought of first is Chloe, as a whole. The fact that she is so... flawed. She's hardly my favourite character, but I will always defend her characterisation. (But her biggest fans do it faster than me so I'm never needed. And, also they are better than me at that anyway lol)

It's okay that people don't like her, but I still want people to understand her and know where she comes from. That her attitude comes from the place of trauma. People want other people to process trauma perfectly, but that's not a realistic expectation of ALL individuals with trauma. People who love and hate Chloe are people who understand that and dismiss that respectively.

My favourite characterisation of Chloe - people may be surprised - is when she says this: "I gotta blame somebody. Otherwise it’s all my fault. Fuck that."

Yes, yes, it's an awful thing to say. Some people hate her for that and that's valid.

But I just nodded along when I first encountered that in my first gameplay. Well, it's partly because I was in a very head-empty state when I first played. I only realised it wasn't okay to say when I searched for people's opinions. But I also nodded along because I understand her somewhat (but I won't elaborate on why because I don't really understand the reason much either, but it's related to her immaturity and brattiness lol)

In her context though, it's more that she's so angry and hurt by life; she directs it outwards, not inwards, so it will suck less. Piling it up inside is heavy and stuffy and painful. Everyone needs catharsis. It's easier to let out your anger at something concrete, something you can see, something clear. Which is why she blames everyone. I think that's very realistic.

One of my two top favourite characters in LiS is Victoria. She's a total Queen Bitch archetype, you know the drill. The first thing I thought of was when Max found her anime figurine, it made me laugh so hard until now. I love Nerd Victoria. But that's the silly fav.

My ACTUAL favourite is in the alternate universe and she said this to Max:

"You're not pissed at me, right? Right?" and "Max, if you’re mad, just tell me, k?"

As we know, Victoria really "hates" Max. She is also very insecure. Makes you wonder, hm, what makes her scared + reverent of AU Max that way? It gives you the other side of Victoria that is really fun to think about. The root, I'm sure, is still her insecurity.

I have a belief that that's not how Victoria acts around Nathan, her closest best friend. With Nathan, Victoria gets to be her real self. That Victoria is Victoria who half kisses ass and half wants to be liked by this... AU Max. Kinda similar to her attitude towards Jefferson, I guess.

She seems like a lot less opportunistic and manipulative with Max though. I think this is because Jefferson is the road to her ambition and Victoria did everything she can to achieve that.

Max doesn't/can't give her that so why does she kiss ass? I think in this alternate universe, Victoria likes her genuinely, not just because Max is the new Queen Bee or something so she bows to her. AU Max is distant and seems to be a master of push and pull (unconsciously?), that's why Victoria looks like she's walking on eggshells lol

Honorary mention is Maxine. Max is the most realistic character in LiS, in my opinion. Other characters are such archetypes that some people thought Max was just a self-insert character. If you dig deep into her character you will realise that... Max is just a normal girl. Do you know how hard it is to write someone like her?

Max is not an extreme character, she's in the middle, but she still has a distinct voice. She's grey and realistic. I don't have the energy to elaborate more though lmao

Some people hate it, but I really LOVE that in the AU, Max is so different, but somewhat the same. She's only more blunt, doesn't take bullshit from anyone, and more bitchy too. And this should be because of her self-confidence or when it becomes negative, it becomes borderline arrogance. This is the Max who is not dampened by guilt and grief. How very interesting.

Now everyone knows that I'm obsessed with the alternate universe. I don't really make it a secret though.

And wait, what's up with me and bitchy characters? lol

(Nathan's characterisation is the shittiest decision the devs ever did.)

Thank you for the ask!

Kris

[mrv3000]

So Ahsoka's completely aired, and to wrap up there are things I liked, things I didn't like, and things I'm indifferent to:

Things I didn't care for:

1. It was rude to show Zeb in The Mandalorian and then not have him in Ahsoka!

2. A few of the characters were way too stiff. I'm not sure if it was the writing or the direction because I've seen some of these people in other things and I know they can act. What the heck?

3. So they go to another galaxy and wind up at one of the most bland-ass planets ever. Sure there were a few big statues thrown in here and there, and the boneyard above the planet was interesting, but Peridea itself is boring as hell to look at. It doesn't help that they've nearly desaturated those scenes. This is a screencap and I haven't done anything to the colors or the lighting. It's an intentional choice (it's a place you're not supposed to want to be at), but I'm still not a fan since it's the backdrop and sets the mood for lots of scenes.

4. Leaving out too much character stuff. Action and lightsaber duels are fun and all, but when you fade to black on things like the Ezra and Hera hug? You're denying the audience emotional payoff. If your whole plot boils down to moving pieces around to give everyone a new starting point for your next story, then you need more character stuff to give it weight. The Anakin and Ahsoka interactions were solid, but the other characters and those relationships? Not so much.

5. The Mortis stuff. I've never really been a fan. I just sort of sigh deeply and ignore it. The Star Wars characters are already myth archetypes, so creating even myth-ier in-universe myth archetypes just makes me tired. (I personally like to get all handwavy about it and think of the Father, Son, and Daughter as beings who went off the rails and were a cautionary tale in Too Much Force, rather than the Sledgehammery-Deeper-Truth-and-Foreshadowing beings they were meant to be.)

Things I'm indifferent to:

1. Thrawn. I get that they need a Big Bad in the Mando universe, but I'm not either wild about him or annoyed with him. He's...there. He's filling a role.

2. The Night Troopers. Maybe not so much indifferent (they were very cool looking) as confused about them. Were they originally stormtroopers pulled along with Thrawn and Ezra? If so, why were they called Night Troopers if they weren't a creation of the Nightsisters? They were zombies but only later at the end? Where did they get all that red ribbon?

Things I liked:

1. Anakin and Ahsoka. I fully admit that I'm completely biased because I'm more of a fan of The Clone Wars than of Rebels. This is what I was hoping for and I loved it. The only way I could have been happier is if we'd seen Obi-Wan.

2. Related: the live action Clone Wars. I thought it was fantastic. If this was a proof of concept for future live action Clone Wars, I think it passed with flying colors.

3. Live action Chopper lol. It was basically identical to the animation.

4. Sabine's cat. Not just because it's a cat, but because they used an animatronic instead of CGI. Please do more of that.

5. Baylan and Shin. They were interesting! (Too bad they and the story wandered off.)

6. Sabine using the Force. I do like that they leaned into the idea that the Force is something that's part of all living things. Compare Force use to freediving. Freediving is going to be a whole lot easier if you can automatically hold your breath for 30 minutes (ie "Force Sensitive"), compared to someone whose baseline is 60 seconds (ie everyone else in the galaxy). It's possible for ordinary people to use the Force to some extent, but it takes a LOT of training that most people aren't willing to do.

Overall the show wasn't flawless, but I did enjoy watching the series and I'm glad I did.

[purplekoop]

Hey are people gonna get pissy again when the S6 Support Hero ends up using "magic" instead of conventional tech

Because like, due to the fact instant healing technology isn't a thing that's real yet, most Overwatch healers instead either use conventional firearms that have advanced healing tech in addition to standard shooty stuff (which right now is just Ana and Baptiste), or end up using something that basically just looks like magic, regardless of in-universe explanation.

Overwatch tends to use fantasy tropes for a lot of its healers since it's generally a role not very thoroughly explored in other shooters, so they instead use magic-based archetypes from genres where it's a much more established concept.

Almost every current Support hero is inspired by conventional fantasy RPG tropes. Mercy's the standard cleric, also obviously inspired by Medic TF2 and... y'know, angels. Zenyatta is literally a monk, but his playstyle and mannerisms are also very much based around martial arts magic monks. Lucio is a sci-fi interpretation of Bards Ana, while very modern-themed in her release state, was originally developed as more of an "alchemist" character, which still shows with her Biotic Grenade and her role and voice lines in the Junkenstein modes she's in. Moira's very much a "dark spellcaster" type, maybe a "warlock to the patron of science" if you will Brigitte, the tanky, damage-dealing, buff-aura-sharing healer is very very clearly based on Paladins And Lifeweaver is very directly stated to be Overwatch's take on a Druid type of character. Even former support Symmetra is very much a sci-fi take on spellcaster design themes.

The only exceptions are Kiriko, who's more based on Japanese mythological and cultural tropes, and Baptiste, who is probably the most definitively tech-based and modern-styled Support on the cast literally with his design thesis being "what if we had a cool guy loaded with random gizmos".

So that's the overwhelming majority of the current Support roster that has healing based around fantasy tropes rather than sci-fi or modern theming like, say, most of the Damage heroes.

So, yeah, this got more longwinded than I planned, definitely don't need to go too in-depth speculating on the S6 support yet, but just kind of thought about that and how irrationally irritated people get about Kiriko, Ramattra, and Lifeweaver all in a row "destroying Overwatch's thematic identity or whatever when like. It's not a big deal, I promise.

[absolutebl]

This Week In BL - Lots of comfort hugs & car kisses

June 2022 Wk 1

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. Organized by which ones (in each category) I’m enjoying the most.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Triage (AISplay Mon) Ep 5-6 - This is not just a time loop show anymore. The way they’re unfolding this narrative is more like a mystery. And so far that aspect is working better for me than the actual mystery did in sister-show Manner of the Death. This drama keeps improving every new ep, which I didn’t expect from a groundhog day premise, they usually get more dull not more exciting, it’s smart, I like that. Also Fiat blond is v cute. 

Dear Doctor, I'm Coming for Soul (iQIYI Weds) Ep 11 - Metha is finally on their side to uncover the sins of the past and expose the bad guy who defamed daddy. Redemption arc! Meanwhile, side dishes got an “around the back of head not at all a kiss” kiss. I haven’t seen that from Thailand since Make it Right! Retro “we not gay” camera action used because the actors aren’t comfortable with each other. Tut tut. 

Sky in Your Heart (Fri YouTube) Ep 1 - Is it derivative? Yes. Do I care? No. There’s so much Thai stuff these days, that I think we’re going to get more & more works that derive more & more plots from previous successful shows. So, yeah, this is basically Tale of Thousand Stars only shorter run and faster paced. And I’m not mad about it. So far I like this 2nd installment in the series a lot better than Star. I think this story is cleaner, the characters better portrayed, the conflict more understandable, and in general it feels more mature. Also I guess this should be added to my short list of BL‘s that are told from the seme’s perspective? Linguistically: these two are formal with each other using pom/khun. 

KinnPorsche (iQIYI Sat) Ep 9 - Big is my favorite best boy, but he's getting so much screen time for so little plot-use payout there’s a good chance he’s the mole. Meanwhile, Pete is sent into the viper’s den. I liked that this episode was mostly manipulations and plot. I think Tawan is a good character, well cast. So for me this was one of the better episodes we’ve had. On Wik & Chay as a couple, I’m going to be controversial with this statement: It was a mistake to switch out Gameplay. He and Jeff just have MUCH better chemistry together. I suspect they did it because they wanted a younger, more innocent looking actor for Chay, but these two just aren’t working for me as a couple. I get nothing from them and they don’t seem much connected to the rest of the show, either. I never thought I’d say this about a Jeff plot line, but, its boring me. 

Close Friend 2 (Viki Thur) Ep 5 - Pierce finally comes out, and it goes as smoothly as expected. Workplace homophobia and further conflict still abound though. It’s fine, well acted and directed, just not really my kinda plot. 

My Secret Love (YouTube Sat) Ep 2 - Being forced by a university to be a BL couple is ABSURD, but it is giving them permission to lampoon tropes which I kinda enjoy. Otherwise it’s VERY awkward with poor chemistry across the board. I do not like the lead couple, tom/jerry is one of my least favorite dynamics (it always seems mean spirited). I already have 2nd lead syndrome and he hasn’t even really been introduced. So far the leads remind me of My Boy (which I DNFd) X BonDuen from My Engineer (who I dislike). I prefer the sides. Specifically the closeted LTR couple (Longa & ?) they use rao/ter together, which I find VERY cute. (Look, the names are hard since what I am seeing in captions isn’t in the MDL listing.) I’ve watched worse BLs for better side couples before (cough cough Brothers), so we shall see how this goes... 

Thai BL - Finished this week! 

La Cuisine (GaGa Sat) Ep 13fin - Honestly, I enjoyed it but it is awful slow. Thank goodness GaGa has 1.5x speed option. It also takes the faen fatale archetype to the next level of extreme evil. Everyone got a cute couple ending, even characters I didn’t really recognize, couldn’t remember, or showed no chemistry. But hey, shrug. Also, Sky & Phai = unexpectedly great kiss. Why did we not get their thread (and Kitty’s for that matter) throughout the show? It would’ve helped with the pacing a lot. (Honestly, these two actors probably should’ve played the leads, IMHO). In the end, la cuisine is sweet and kind of pure and like Thai desserts perhaps a little too time-consuming for the Layperson. Because of the pacing and the focus on the bad girl character, I did dock it a point. But if you like stuff in the Oxygen vein, then this show is for you, and far better than most Thai BL pulps. However, I suspect that I enjoyed it more than many would. Full review here. 7/10 RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS 

That’s My Candy (Viki Tues) Ep 6 - Amnesia trope. Sigh. And then I guess a reboot for the romance and because they are older they can make it work this time? What did I just watch? This was terrible. Full review here. 3/10 NOT RECOMMENDED 

Meow Ears Up (GaGa Tue) Ep 8fin - I liked this BL and found it sweet, I’m not opposed to the catboy (pet) trope, but I guess it was trying to be too Japanese about it while the set up was all sweetness and Thai style, because they fudged the ending. For me, that’s a fatal flaw, 4/10 NOT RECOMMENDED (full review here)

Cupid's Last Wish (YouTube Sun) Ep 10fin - This is one show where I didn’t mind the one year time jump at the end it contributed to a very very strong final episode. In fact probably the best ep of the series. It wasn’t enough to save it for me. But it certainly did excel. EarthMix gave a really good final kiss too. Still I never liked this show nor really enjoyed myself mostly because of Win’s character, no full review, 6/10. WORTH WATCHING FOR SOME, BUT FLAWED

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Fukou-kun wa Kiss Suru Shikanai! AKA Mr Unlucky Has No Choice But to Kiss! (Japan GaGa *rec*  & Viki Fri) Ep 7 - Is this turning into a tradition, where we get the opposite POV in the penultimate episode of a Japanese BL? Regardless, it was really nice to get Naoya’s perspective. I’m still really liking the show, I’m not sure if it has a story arc at all, but that’s Japanese romcoms for you, quite frankly. 

Plus & Minus (Taiwan Viki *rec* & GaGa Fri) Ep 9 - This one is waffling a bit, I think I’ve decided to think of it as more of a soap opera - Taiwanese style, then an actual show with a proper story or anything. It seems very episodic. I actually like the main couple a lot more than the side couple, which is not normal for me.

Love in Spring (Korea grey) Ep1-4 - It’s very Korean historical comedy, much more so than the historical KBLs we’ve had so far (Tinted with You, Nobleman Ryu’s Wedding). It is, unfortunately, also a bit over acted (especially the whipping boy trope driven “bad guy.”). To be fair, there is a lot of scenery chewing going on. The cross dressing is definitely played for laughs, and there is a Cindefella element as well. Bad wig warning. There’s a lot of voice over thoughts, people explaining what is going on to the viewer (we KNOW), and also talking to themselves as exposition. None of this is good. But it’s a big cast and high production values for such a crappy script. I will stick with it if I can and definitely watch if it gets picked up for distribution. 

Getaway (Singapore Mon YouTube) Ep 2 - didn’t drop? Or I didn’t catch it, but then again I don’t know what their schedule is. Weekly? Every other week? Monthly? 

Gossip

Korean production studio Silkwood (Peach of Time) announced 3 new BLs: 

PT is Love: friends of 10 years who’ve been hiding feelings for each other enter the same university. Plus MURDER.

Love is like a Cat: A new star, called the Cat Prince for his cold arrogance, goes up against a charismatic puppyish director. 

Space Bakery: A spaceship crash-lands into and destroys a small bakery shop. Of course this means the alien and the baker end up living together. At the same time, other aliens-in-hiding all around the city start hunting for them. 

That last one tho. Woah. 

Casting finally announced for Japan’s long awaited (by me, anyway, it’s AGE GAP!) Wash My Heart AKA Minato Shouji Coin Laundry (manga by Yuzu Tsubaki). It’ll star Kusakawa Takuya (Rokkaku of Cherry Magic) and Nishikagi Sho (bit part in My Love Mix Up! also in Muchuu-sa, Kimi ni). Premieres on July 6 on TV Tokyo, no word on international but irozuku is going to sub it!!!! 

Plot: Middle-aged former corporate drone, Akira, now peacefully runs his grandfather’s beloved coin laundromat. One day, high-school student, Shintaro, stumbles in and despite the age difference they became friends. Then Shintaro finds out that Akira is gay...  

New Taiwanese Bl announced My Tooth Your Love (from Result Entertainment - We Best Love series) with script by Lin Pei who loves VERY traditional yaoi tropes, she’s the writer of HIStory1: Obsessed, HIStory2: Right or Wrong, HIStory2: Crossing the Line, HIStory3: Trapped, WBL, & See You After Quarantine?!! Stars Andy Wu (Amensalism), Yu Jin, Michael Chang, and Alex Chou (composer/musician and the other bartender in WBL). 

In Case You Missed It

Japan’s movie adaptation of Miso's Koi Kogare Utae AKA Sing In Love released in theaters, no word on international distribution. About a teacher who encounters a mysterious man from his past, who is strangely obsessed with him. 

Love Mechanics is coming to WeTV end of this month (?) but they are pretty bad about English subs and international distribution, so we are hoping GaGa saves the day (like they did with My Ride). But it’s Viki who has the original En of Love Series. Who knows where it’s going. Fingers crossed. 

Next Week Looks Like This:

All three midweek shows end their run next week. Much anticipated Thai BL Check Out is about to start. Rumor is it will release to their YT channel but the eng sub version will be behind a paywall. I’m willing to bite, but it better be REALLY good and I intend to watch without subs first. We already KNOW the chemistry is on point with these two, though. 

This week’s best moments?

I love how practical and bureaucratic the reaper business is in Thailand. I bet they have spreadsheets. I feel very seen. (Dear Doctor) 

When a show reviews itself (Mr Unlucky). 

Plus and Minus the head cradle hug, a favorite of mine. 

Truth bomb on Close Friends 2. 

Look I just find sweaty gym bunnies coming out relatable, okay? (Close Friends 2) 

Well, La Cuisine, that couple and kiss CAME OUT OF NOWHERE. But hey, we’ll take it, while simultaneously feeling like WE WERE ROBBED. 

(last week)

[z0nic]

i need to know your favorite parts of archie. i wanna hear you talk about this so bad. er. read your thoughts about this so bad. zonic is obvious but what else (leaning toward you with chin in hands)

hmmm well if im going chronologically mecha madness is an easy one to put in. people talk about it all the time as being hype as fuck but it is. its hype as fuck idk what to say. a less discussed one is super sonic vs hyper knuckles. that was ALSO hype as fuck but had less stakes than mecha madness it was a lot more light hearted. sonic quest is also a fun little thing related to the classic games but its pretty entrenched in the current comics plot. and then after robotnik died the politics stuff is very hit or miss but it was pretty convoluted sometimes. however the whole sonic+tails world tour/fighting ixis naugus went pretty hard. not good 100% of the time but its really fun stuff. archie knuckles has some fun stuff too once in a while but not enough to reccomend full bits of it. if anything i would reccomend reading the arc where elias is recovered from angel island since it concludes a side plot from the sonic series. sonic vs knuckles battle royale is also good. the return of robo robotnik is built up really well, as well as the issue where sonic gets his adventure design via shenanigans with the super emerald. the adventure adaptation is slept on honestly, it plays very by the books in terms of adaptations because of behind the scenes reasons, but its still quite enjoyable to see the game's story put into the terms of archie AND how those developments affect the plot later down the line, and this is the last and in my opinion best full game adaptation in preboot. the rest are either omitted or only cover the beginning or abridge them into side stories. honestly ALL the stuff with mammoth mogul is a blast to read because he brings a very unique villain archetype to sonic that eggman doesnt, where eggman lacks foresight and patience mammoth mogul is literally immortal and concocts very elaborate plans and schemes. the plot about the source of all/sword of acorns is pretty good too, although that may be only when compared to everything else of its time so your mileage may vary. sonic adventure 2.5/tossed in space is a MUST READ though. even if you don't know archie that is really just top notch stuff. return to angel island also really nice especially if you want knuckles moments. jon grays art really does help a lot in this case. and of course the extended anonymous saga is awesome too, especially if youre a long term reader since it brings in a lot of stuff from previous stories. house of cards is dogged on a LOT which i dont think is quite fair. its a pretty compelling read. the scourge stuff could get grating depending on your opinions, but it has its moments. hedgehog havoc being a highlight of those moments too. the entire iron dominion saga is a good one too, (including journey to the east of course.) and its nice seeing it shake up the status quo with more game elements incorporated. the new mobotropolis thing is pretty short but its fun. extended chaotix being in knothole/the city leads to some fun moments as well since angel island is in a bit of a complication. of course that leads to the whole knuxerjak thing, which is quite honestly really awesome stuff if not resolved in a pretty lame way. the sonic universe series as a whole is really fun but highlights include the silver saga tails adventure and chaotix quest. and to cap it all off the whole mecha sally arc (coupled with silvers whole. gestures) is nice although again. the ending is pretty cheap which is a big problem with a lot of archie sonic arcs as a whole.

Now in terms of smaller MOMENTS. I mean. damn thats pretty hard to pick out since there are so many characters and interactions. but general rule of thumb if character pairings are out of left field that almost always means they'll be fun to witness if not only for a little since most stories are sonic centric. expected character pairings are also nice to see sometimes if only to deepen established relationships. in terms of set pieces it really depends on the artist, but action scenes are usually done well when there is low amounts of punching and high amounts of slapstick/cartoony violence

[plctwists]

HAN SOHEE  23  FEMALE  SHE/HER — ; where do you get your inspiration, KIM MINA ? you’re so INTUITIVE , i can’t help but think of DYING ROSES , DRINKING EXPENSIVE WINE FROM THE BOTTLE AT DAWN , A MESS OF CIGARETTE BUTTS , WET BRUSHES AND CRUMBLED PIECES OF PAPER when i hear your name . your friends tell me you can be FLIGHTY sometimes . i guess it’s understandable given the circumstances. besides , i can’t even imagine how stressful PAINTING classes must be — not to mention you’re also in THE RED AND GREEN CLUB ! you’re a NEWCOMER , right ? yeah, i thought so . either way , welcome to mugunghwa ! 

hi all! i’m max, she/her, 21+ and super excited to be here! ‪♡‬ my new years resolution is to be active for the next 3 months so i can find out who k*lled jisoo :D anyways, this is my little manic pixie dream girl, flighty escapist painter miss kim mina! she’s still very much a wip and it’s my first time writing a character like her, so please do excuse any messiness and characterization issues thank u 

(also do like this post if you would like to plot!!) 

and more info about her can be found in her about page here ‪♡‬

basics

scorpio sun, cancer moon, scorpio rising

born 12 november 1999 in seoul 

lived in berlin for seven years when she was eight 

currently a second year painting major, specializes in oil painting & dabbles in watercolor. was previously at seoul national university

personality n vibes

infp

positive traits: caring, intuitive, creative, self-aware

negative traits: self-centered, escapist, dishonest, flighty

neutral traits: imaginative, secretive

character inspirations: the white lotus s2’s daphne, nevertheless’ jae eon, looking for alaska’s alaska young, if we were villains’ meredith, industry’s yasmin

archetypes the hedonist, the hopeless romantic

associated aesthetics: dying roses, messy rooms and messier lives, running away when things get hard, cigarettes butts and wet brushes carelessly strewn into an empty bottle of expensive wine, sharing knowing smiles in crowded rooms, vintage chanel bags stained with paint

trivia

best way to describe her: sweet but incredibly unreliable. soft-spoken with an air of mystery around her. the type to give you a vague, non-descript answer.

distances herself from reality because a. she doesn’t want to confront her trauma and b. it’s more fun romanticizing and dramatizing everything anyways

the kind to pretend that bad things don’t happen (she lives by the motto: “do whatever you have to do to not feel like a victim of life.”)

morally gray compass. will always find excuses for herself whenever she does something objectively wrong.

a manic pixie dream girl because she wants to be. deep down she knows that she’s fucked up and everything’s fucked up but would rather avoid a crushing reality than face it bc she has the opportunity to choose to ignore it. she may be self-centered and an escapist, but she’s not that stupid and not that unaware. she’s just wilfully ignorant rly

desperate for love, given her lack of love during her childhood, sort of a pushover but see below: will hurt u behind your back

she would never hurt someone, she says. but she is perfectly fine with doing it behind her backs and finding some justification on why it wasn’t that wrong anyways (shes a gaslighting queen)

she’s a fucking liar - misremembers events (wanting to dramatize them? just lives in a world of her own? no one fucking knows), saying whatever it takes to incite the reaction she wants, telling one thing to one person and another to someone else, always refusing to admit that she has lied

if you ask if she loved jisoo... she wouldn’t really have an answer. but she did love the idea of jisoo - the knight in shining armor, the boy who swept her off her feet away from shitty seoul

after jisoo’s death, nothing has really changed about mina which has led to a lot of talk about her “suspicious behaviour” but in reality, mina is detaching from the situation (as with what she did with her sister)

she’s numb about it, hasn’t really allowed herself to process - instead, throws herself into painting, buying expensive shit, dying her hair, speaking about him in present tense

background (tw death) 

summarising to things u need to know: parents dgaf about her, older sister died when she was six and she started building her own world, sent to berlin to study, came back to korea, cheated on her then-bf with her best friend’s boyfriend so she ran away with jisoo to mgh 

youngest only child of the kim family (tbc on what they do but they are rich but they are not in art world)

family lacked love, as with most rich families. hers never even tried - mum was a socialite, too busy chasing her youth with champagne flutes and mercurial highs to give a shit about her. dad just gave a shit about work more. maybe they never wanted children? maybe it was just part of their societal duties? mina has never tried to understand it and perhaps, never wants to

had an elder sister who she was quite close to

but when she was six, her sister passed away in a freak accident 

mina’s escapist tendencies intensified

made up stories about adventures of her and her deceased elder sister, started drawing and painting disturbing material to the point that her nanny, concerned over mina’s development, begged her parents to send mina for a psychological checkup

they found nothing wrong but her parents distanced themselves even further. she’s not sure whether it was because they couldn’t handle the loss of her older sister, or she scared them, or that they realized that there was no point even trying anymore

one of her parents’ friends and a teacher at her prestigious school saw that she had a gift for art, told her parents mina had potential 

she was then shipped off to berlin to hone her art in a prestigious art school

when she was fifteen, her grandparents threatened to cut her parents out of their will if mina didn’t come home, and so, she was sent back to korea for her high school years, where she did struggle to fit in but it wasn’t like mina really tried. continued painting, went on frequent overseas trips to europe, stirred a lot of shit and ruined many friendships

got into seoul national uni - started sleeping with her best friend’s boyfriend, even though she was taken herself (why? for the shits and giggles? for the inspiration? just because mina wanted to? because he looked at her drunk one night and said, “you’re really pretty” and she didn’t want to hurt his feelings, so she did it behind her best friend AND boyfriend’s back, just to get the brief affection of someone who doesn’t even matter now? who the fuck knows)

essentially fucked her entire social life over and that was when mina realized she fucked up because seoul wasn’t like berlin where she could just run away and never return

around that time as well, she’d been talking to jisoo and when he (deeply in love with her at that point, and unaware of what had transpired) suggested she transferred over to mugunghwa, mina felt that it was the best possible option given the whole dramatic mess of her life.

over at mugunghwa, no one really knows what happened in seoul or why mina transferred. there are rumours about it though 

wanted connections

thank you if you made it this far! she only recently transferred to mgh during the spring semester so i don’t really have that many wanted connections!! always open to brainstorm :)

someone who has an inkling of what went down in seoul and is/was deeply suspicious of her relationship with jisoo

someone who puts her on a pedestal, and truly believes she is as great as they say her to be 

someone who keeps her grounded? or as grounded as possible? 

someone she does not like because they were mean to her face lol 

painting classmate friendships ‪♡‬ 

[art-bible-discord]

CHARACTER DESIGN INTRODUCTION

Everyone wants to design a character that looks great but also stands out on its own. Design is a lot of fundamentals and one that is not so simple: appeal. We often see good and bad designs in media all the time. You can look at some anime and see generic designs and at other times you will see designs that stand out entirely. Design is not something you get lucky with but something you put a lot of thought and effort into. It is not just about art but research and understanding. People who are bad at designing don't research things and also end up copying already existing designs.

What makes a good design?

If you need to, look up designs you think are good and see what exactly they are doing right. It's important to look at artists better than you and see what they are doing that you are not.

Silhouette Importance

A silhouette is supposed to convey what a character is supposed to be in either what they do for a living, personality, skills, or culture. It is about planning to convey what makes this character unique compared to other characters in that universe or within our own. Take a look at examples of people's work that shows the bare minimum and silhouettes of characters

How to Start your Design

Answer all of these questions: Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? - Archetype: Trope: Spin: Specs: ​

Next step:

Once you are done answering those questions you need to think about three more things: Culture, the universe, and overall idea. You need to reference accordingly, finding images that match the type of thing you are going for. Make sure to have more than 10 images for the base of the design and five unique elements you want to add (over 15 references).

​It's important to have more references and ideas to take from than to just have the same ten images for all of your characters. Expand and avoid having characters looking the same. If you want examples of characters who are family or from the same culture, look at Avatar the last Airbender. Lastly, reference different face and body shapes and avoid making similar faces. There are too many shapes for you not to use them, if you struggle with this then you need to look at different faces of people in a country and body types.

Here is an Example of Detailed Concept Finished

This is one of the characters by KnightZhang

I would also suggest following all of KNKL Design series as he is a professional in the industry and designs for games. He has a whole series on what he does for designing. And remember, your first few concepts will probably suck. Keep in mind, that  getting a second opinion and critique on all stages will improve your design also. 

[lostjulys]

Opinions on superhero and space aus?

WELL. it depends. since my major beef w/ a lot of aus is specifically that most of the time. characters & relationships & dynamics r fundamentally intertwined w/ & informed by the original context. and by taking them out of that framework u lose that contextualization. so unless u do that good & take into account the difference in setting altering characters & everything else. i will not like it.

.... anyway in theory i fucking love superhero aus. i love cape shit. so much potential so many fun interesting dynamics and tropes and archetypes to use and subvert and play around with. SO many interesting possibilities for manifestation of personality or selfhood in relation to power. in practice i fucking HAAATE cape aus!!!! bcos they BARELY EVER!!!! play with the fun stuff!! pisses me off!! maybe this is just because i have very high standards but. !!! >:((( !!!!

like. well i'm gonna assume yr part of mcytblr & use for example the fucking myriad of superhero/vigilante/villain aus that just appeared like toadstools overnight. (there r only two of those fics i like, youre gonna go far kid by greyquills & corpseart's one, but that's less cos of any excitingly interesting premise and more because they're both genuinely excellent writers who know how to make the conventions work.)

they are. all the same. the sbi dynamic is Always the same as in canon despite the fact that it is an Entirely different context. there's never any real backstory other than like, 'he raised them/found them on the street/took them in!' . tommy is Always on the other side. their cape names are always like, really fucking boring, btw. just saying. like. just abysmally boring. so yeahg if u hand me a superhero au i will probably look very pained and unwillingly accept it then stealthily dispose of it. but in theory???? hell yes hell yes. liek. love-hate relationship. one day i'm gonna write a cape au simply because of my dissatisfaction with the genre.

space aus........ HELL yes.never met a bad space au and have in fact met several VERY good ones. SO much capacity for delightful things such as angst and horror and tasty worldbuilding which are all things i adore <3333 i am probably skewed btw because i've read your words destroyed my planet by unda which is.... by far and away my favorite piece of fancontent like. Ever, and i've got a mountain of thoughts on the universe they've created in that fic & the way they go about it, so, idk. biased. (wow that fic's almost at a million words. goddamn) also in my experience. writers who make space aus are usually like. either into Good media or good at what they do. i trust the star trek/star wars/sci-fi podcast enjoyers with my LIFE when it comes 2 well written fic.) okay yeahg this is a long enough post. thank u anony i appreciated the opportunity 2 perorate. <3333

[shiraishi-kanade]

2, 4 and 20 with Kanade for the ask game, please?

Hi! Sure :D

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

I honestly like a lot of things about Kanade but I think that I especially like her being a little bit silly despite her story being very much... With darker tones, I suppose. I like the way she's not exactly socially awkward but also a little bit definitely is, the way some N25 members outright though she was scamming them because of the weird way she reached out for them to form a group, her absolute "no thoughts head empty" moment while picking her username, the fact that she can't type on her phone well and mostly uses stamps when she has to despite spending more on her time on Nightcord, and many more. All those details make her a very fun and enjoyable character instead of being a little overly edgy "self-hating emo girl that never leaves her room" archetype, I suppose?

I also like the way that they're taking her writing in, with Kanade slowly learning to take care of herself and be more mindful of her lifestyle. It's a slow process, and her motivation isn't exactly healthy yet either, but I think she's both extremely relatable to a lot of people in that way and the fact that she's making progress is very encouraging, too. This is Sega deviating from making a character easily digestible for marketing and comedic relief purposes and instead giving her an arc that matters for her and I suspect is very helpful for people who struggle with the same, and I can respect that a lot.

4. If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in?

I don't have a lot of media I'm invested in, so that one's a bit of a struggle to answer, but I honestly think I can imagine Kanade fitting into Stardew Valley universe pretty well. I mean, as an NPC, her relationship with the Farmer could be very interesting, with the player helping her open up and take care of herself more, I suppose? But also Kanade would not survive outside of a megapolis, god bless.

20. Which other character is the ideal best friend for this character, the amount of screentime they share doesn't matter?

I'm going to sigh dramatically and put my An & Kanade selling pitch aside and say that, in my opinion, it's probably Minori. They're similar in their philosophy and share similar values in the way that matters, but also Minori helped Kanade to look at her own suffering and purpose from another perspective - and thought they didn't spend much time together, Kanade did actually learn a lot from it and reflected on some of her self-destructive behaviours. I feel like she could definitely use a friend in Minori, closer than they are as right now - someone who is equally passionate about bringing hope to other people, but someone who has a much... Balanced approach to it, I think.

Thanks for the ask! :D

[dailyadventureprompts]

Do you have any ideas for factions or cool groups like that? Or how to use them well?

Drafting the Adventure: Factions

While any setting is going to boast a panoply of hierarchies, guilds, conspiracies, and groups of competing interest, when I refer to "factions" I am speaking primarily about in-universe organizations that the party can become a member of. Writing about factions in any generalized sense is pretty tricky, considering they can be any number of the following:

Something that all, some, or none of the party end up joining. whether due to qualification or interest.

A secondary form of character progression that can unlock benefits based on your place within the hierarchy of the organization, independent of XP attainment or level

Major or minor force within the campaign's politics/overall story, locking players into or out of big lore and decision moments

Whole new casts of NPCs the dm will need to prep and the party will need to familiarize themselves with.

With all that said, I tend to look at factions with an "investment first" lens, in that I tend to include them when I think players would enjoy playing part of a particular group, either because it serves the story to have them as part of a hierarchy, or because it gives characters who'd otherwise be wandering sellswords a sense of identity that their player might not have originally thought about.

In terms of deciding what factions to put in your own campaign, I can't caution you enough about trying to plan out lots of factions for your own campaign. I've seen one too many DMs try to go the "skyrim route" and make individual factions for each of the major character archetypes, clogging up their world by detailing multiple organizations that the party may never see. Joining a faction should be something the whole party can do, and is pretty much it's own adventure arc run parallel to the main campaign.

So then what should a well built faction look like? Here's a few ideas for you to mix and match:

An ideal faction recruits the sort of people the characters are when they have an opportunity to join the faction. Party is a bunch of scoundrels half way to being outlaws? They get an offer from a criminal organization. Party are mid level champions of the realm? Welcome to the Historic order of Saint ____, defenders of the kingdom. Party nearly died last time they did a monster bounty? Well why not join our Hunter's guild, we negotiate collectively for fair compensation for work and pay benefits to your loved ones if you bite it.

Joining gives the party a new sense of identity, and allows them to interact with the setting in a different way than they did as simple dogooders and mercenaries. Joining a pirate crew means you've made an enemy of the navy, but get to participate in raids and visit the black market. Joining a mystic order gives you access to the deep lore and marks you as special among the common people, but your actions are now more scrutinized than ever.

While ranking up within a faction does grant more power, it should not be based on character level , but instead on performing deeds in line with the group's ethos and goals.

Since most parties have trouble coming up with group names, joining a faction gives them something to call themselves, as well as iconography they can use to mark themselves out as part of the same group.

[gnbrkrs]

On artificial beings, nihilism and the world: why I think the story of Meteion and Hermes is not a "science gone wrong" story.

This isn't a post have planned to write or even turn out to be this long, but a sudden thought process turned it into what it is now, so I thought I'd post it here instead because I felt it was too long for Twitter. I saw @autumnslance post on the importance of the other Amaurotines peer-reviewing Meteion which lead me to think about how much her and Hermes's story looks like a way too common "advanced creation gone wrong" type story that is way too common in the science fiction genre as a cautionary tale against learning about the things man was not meant to know (a point I personally also find arguable, but that is a topic for a different post). We have Hermes as a scientist desperate to know a world-changing revelation, and Meteion as his means of achieving it. Much like in such stories, the creation goes wrong and causes a massive catastrophe the heroes have to stand against. And yet despite looking so much like those tales, it somehow manages to be something else entirely.

Although on the surface, their characters look like pretty common science fiction archetypes, a lot of deeper meanings, philosophical even, are present in their characters that makes the stand very apart from those once one thinks about it, to the point that those archetypes start to look like shallow images. Just like a lot of other things in Endwalker, their arcs touch the questions such as life, it's meaning, death and despair, which in their case are the central themes surrounding them. And where a lot of other authors would have questioned either the need for further scientific advancement or the limits of science, Natsuko Ishikawa instead chooses to ask questions related to these themes, turning the whole story into a conflict of views and ideologies, as opposed to a conflict between man and science with it's products.

Despite her differences from Aether-based beings (which cause questions from both several characters and the player as they learn more about dynamis later on, especially during the Ultima Thule section of the story and some post-game content), Meteion is shown to have human-like understanding and independent thought (which could also be said about the memories we interact with at Ultima Thule), with both her and Hermes initially being shown as empathetic (with her literally being able to sense feelings) but doubtful beings hoping to find meaning to life and the universe, believing that there is a way out there to dispel their doubt. Both of them, coming from the peaceful civilization that Amaurot was, saw the stars beyond as a much softer universe than it turned out to be, and despite what they said, were not prepared to hear it. Just like many people for all sorts of reasons, they found something they couldn't bear it without it shaking their entire worldviews and turning them into something different (temporary, in Hermes's case, because he decides to erase his memory, only to have it resurface in the afterlife and later incarnations, adding to his tragedy). And though the circumstances surrounding their experiences are very fantastical, the way their pain shapes them into embodiments of despair and destruction is all too relatable and realistic. After all, many would break if after a life of peace and prosperity, all of a sudden they started seeing only death and suffering without a cause, an idea that is further echoed by the stories of the Ancients that chose to summon Zodiark.

Both of those characters end up representing the nihilistic philosophy that comes from those that do not see any redeemable qualities to the world, or that they are negligible, that, when confronted with life's unfairness, decided that living is nothing but a punishment, with death being the release. A view I have seen all too often both in real life and in some of the older works of my homeland's literature, one that is considered "mature" by some. And Which leads me to believe that the tragedy of Meteion and Hermes (who is also complicit because he didn't even try to stop her) is not one of her being an artificial being. If anything, I find her being an entelechy more humanizing than anything, with empathy, a quality universally regarded as a virtue, becoming their undoing, along with their subsequent failure to understand certain things. What I believe is the real tragedy of Meteion and Hermes in this case is the fact that they lived in the light for all their lives and could not handle the darkness as a result. After all, the idea that all things are doomed to die is not presented as a great truth man was not meant to know. The Scions and many others know it and are able to live with it. Emet-Selch, Hythlodaeus and Venat were able to deal with it. Etheirys in it's entirety is able to live with it, despite not even knowing the full story. Even the shades of the Ea, who feared the end of the universe so much, eventually are able to come to terms with it. No, the conflict that lies in here are things unique to Hermes and Meteion as individuals, qualities unique to them that couldn't have been solved with outside influence.

What would have happened in the case if the rest of the Convocation peer-reviewed Meteion before Hermes sending her anywhere... I am not certain. The way their society focused on research, improvement and knowledge and had no qualms about creating life (or taking it, which is what prompts Hermes to go down the philosophical path he eventually goes down), I am inclined to believe that they would have eventually ended up approving her, all of her capabilities would have likely been deemed beneficial to both the Ancients (who knew nothing of what was beyond Etheirys and could learn more, or could use her to communicate with other life forms on the planet itself) and to the hypothetical people on the other stars (who could benefit from the wisdom of the Ancients in the event they were less technologically/ magically advanced), with the whole thing eventually proceeding the same way as it did in canon, with unexpected results following her return (since more people likely would have known, there is no telling that there wouldn't be more who reacted the same way Hermes did). In the event that they hadn't approved and chose to revert her instead, however, I don't believe his questions about the universe would have ceased to be. He may have refused the Convocation's offer and grown incredibly resentful of it (which could have fueled his doubts even further), but one cannot kill curiosity, even if said curiosity ends up killing the cat.... Multiple times. Whether through remaking her or by some other means he would have kept searching until he found it (since Ancients could theoretically live forever and often seemed to die by their own choice), only to be faced with the horrifying conclusion he could not bear with and it's aftermath.

Hermes is not the mad scientist doing things for the sake of it despite how he seems to be at first, if anything, just like many people in-universe and out of it, he asks the same question and tries to find his own meaning to it. Just as Meteion is not a monster born of one's hubris. Instead, their tragedy lies in their inability to initially understand that the pursuit for meaning on it's own is meaningless, and one may live just for the sake of living. Perhaps a somewhat selfish thought by the standards of some, but one that has given so many the power to carry on, because despite all the suffering many still want to live for the beauties of the world. This is the view a certain Meteion (since there are many of them, and the story doesn't specify which one we are talking to most of the time) faces with Emet's final act, one that causes her to separate from the rest of the Endsinger. The answer both she and Hermes sought was not in the lack of pain, but in living with it. So through the conflict of ideas of Meteion and Hermes with those of many other characters, Endwalker's messages oppose cynicism and nihilism themself. And while such a conflict may be many things, the one defining thing about it is it's humanity. Which is the reason why I do not consider the arcs of Hermes and Meteion a "science gone wrong" story. In the end, the villains are just as much people as everyone else.