#the execution plot etc are awful

[vennithewhitevan]

Small update! (for my like 7 followers)

I'll be removing HH and HB from my fic list and won't post about them anymore, except a few more details if I want to. I'm out of the fandom now and focusing more on other shows/animating stuff myself, I just don't enjoy it anymore.

Ngl I'll probably watch S2 of HH when it comes out, but only for the sake of not making the same writing mistakes Hazbin's crew made.

Right now I'm focusing more on Scavengers Reign (the fandom's so small wtf) Metal Family, and others I can't think of rn

Thanks to anyone that liked my HH posts!

[medumyce]

you know that thing of when you finish a book series that you found deeply mediocre but then you go in the tag and find out that everyone in the entire world except you loved it

[catastrophicdisasters]

apologies, i'm still angry abt TUA S4

so, if we take out all of the blatant issues with the season (character assassination, 'resolutions' that create more plotholes than they solve, rushed scenes that make no sense, side plots that go nowhere, raymond vanishing for no reason, etc etc), what are we left with? let's see:

fatphobia (multiple jokes made about 'chubby Diego', when David just looks hydrated and healthy)

SA played for jokes (it's clear that Klaus having sex while possessed is supposed to be funny, but he's being held hostage and forced to do this for money, when we already know he didn't even want his powers back??)

cheating

problematic / borderline problematic age gaps (either way you spin it, either Five is physically 20-26 while Lila is likely mid 40s, or Five is mentally 70s while Lila is mid 40s; Aidan was 19 while filming, and Ritu was 34)

waiting for the actor to come of age before introducing a romance (we already know what some fans can be like over Five/Aidan, this will not have helped; I would be horrified if I found out the show runners had planned a romance arc with a coworked 15 years older than me and then waited for me to turn legal age to execute it)

sexism (i was reluctant to call it that but i also don't know what else to call it - Lila basically had her agency stripped away to become the love interest two men fought over; Steve wanted Five to have a romance and didn't care who with - use Lila simply because she was there)

complete disregard of character trauma (Klaus being buried alive despite it having been mentioned in every prior season that he was locked in a mausoleum by Reginald, including literally being left to die)

possible overstepping of an actor's boundaries (i've not been able to verify this, but i've seen it said that robert sheehan has requested not to do sex scenes?) (still havent been able to prove this; wasn't an issue with other roles so... hesitant to leave it)

actors requests being ignored (David asked multiple times if the Lila cheating sideplot was required, but clearly it went ahead anyway)

bad cgi

that awful vomit montage

Reginald (im not quite calling it abuse forgiveness but uh. it's not far off tbh)

i don't even know what to call this, but basically told the Hargreeves the abuse they suffered was their fault because they shouldn't even exist??

what did i miss? (im sure there's something)

from the replies:

the song in the ep3 dance scene uses a slur for romani people (and is also about a man and an underage girl)

SA dismissal (it's literally never addressed that Allison SA'd Luther last season. like, at all. everything's just a-okay now!)

more sexism (Allison's arc was also reduced to serving men; there's a single line to explain that Ray left, with no mention of why (i could go OFF about this but this post isn't supposed to be about mishandling of characters); even after everything, all her bonding with Claire comes through Klaus's storyline. also, Sloane is just gone and nobody gives a shit - Luther has one line and that's it??)

so many issues with consent (all of the girls shown in the place Klaus works look drugged / Klaus doesn't want to be there and doing any of that, it's all against his wishes / they all get their powers back against their wishes - although they do tell Ben that wasn't his choice to make / Klaus gets his powers back against his will when Allison is pressured to do it to save his life)

[xmaruu11]

Greetings Maru! I hope you are having a lovely day. Your and Kitsu's work on Double Hearted is genuinely so awe inspiring and lovely that it motivated me to pick up an old comic idea or my own! (Which, funily enough, also has to do with superheroes)

I was wondering what the script process is like and generally get a few advice on how to do dialogue script and page by page script. I have the overall timeline of the story that would probably fit within 4 volumes and a general sumary of each chapter for volume 1, but I tried to sit down and Script page per page the first chapter and I was completely stumped after 5 pages. Like I have the general idea, but executing it is giving me a bit of trouble. How do you do it personally? And how does that work with a separate artist? (As in, you give the script and they make the comic layout, how much of their work leads to the script etc...) I'd love to know.

Thanks for taking the time if you answer this, and I hope you have a wonderful day :]

HELLO HELLO HELLO!

Thank you for all the kind words :D!!

For the script writing process, Doody and I already have the plot of DDVAU stablished, from the start to finish and what main important plots need to happen to get to that point in the story. This way, it helps us know what we need to build up and what we should pay more attention to or less.

Usually we focus on Volume per Volume, yes we have some ideas on chapters that are gonan happen in future Volumes, but we don't write them until we need to draw them. This way we have more creative freedom and we can take things away if needed.

I DONT write all the scripts in one go, rather, I plan them on vcs, chats or in my head, and when its time to write them (usually when doody is starting to work on the previous chapter) I already have a clear idea of whats going to happen in the chapter and the view is as updated with the lore as possible!

Also, Doody can also change the script and dialogues as much as they please. They know the story and the characters as much as I do, and they have full creative control like I do. Similar to how they get surprises when I deliver final scripts, I get surprised with new dialogue when they send me the thumbnails SPEAKING OF THUMBNAILS! I usually edit the comic and help with the composition or sometimes I make thumbnails myself! this comic is a very big collaborative project! So we both have a lot of work together

[bhnsby]

followup on villain rankings- your top 4 are definitely THE top 4 but id love to know what factors gave them their placement or what makes one a better villain over the other etc... julia is her whole own beast imo

OKAY SO

My top four CHARACTERS are completely different being Heather Justin Courtney and either Julia or Scott but I stand by my villains I believe

Starting with heather I think there’s definitely some plot armour and she’s less of a villain to me and more of just an antagonist. Like yeah she’s a bitch and she’s mean to everyone but she doesn’t really scheme or do anything that isn’t just thought of in the moment. But by GOD is she funny and just awful. She’s so straight up horrid to everyone that she is arguably the biggest threat in any season from an explicit standpoint, as Alejandro, Scott and even Julia only effect certain people (be their teams or specific people they target), unlike Heather who even pre merge pisses off Leshawna, gets Eva eliminated just for being there, argues with 75% of contestants, reads gwens diary for no reason, makes fun of 95% of contestants, gets people eliminated just because she doesn’t like them anymore and more. She’s just a menace and I don’t think any villain comes close to her pure effect on the characters.

But Alejandro has a different thing. His effect on the story is what makes him so effective. He doesn’t really impact as many characters as Heather, not just because there’s less of them but characters like Gwen, Blaineley, Ezekiel, Izzy and even Sierra and Cody have pretty much nothing with him, and none of their eliminations have anything to do with him scheming to get them out. He’s less outwardly villainous to everyone, even to the people he’s manipulating, meaning we get less of heathers fun evilness and more of a calculating and manipulative villain. And, especially for total drama villains, he’s done well. Yeah he has some plot armour but it’s so hard to write a story without plot armour. What makes him the best is that the viewers can see him being evil but the contestants can’t, allowing for some great interactions and downfalls. Yeah Bridget pisses me off but man I can fully buy it. He by far is the contestant that thought about the long game the most, with almost every choice allowing for that. As we see by the ways the eliminated contestants voted, he still had many characters willing to side with him over Heather AND Cody. And him taking Heather to the final was a smart move on his part, by making sure the most hated contestant was heading to the finale with him he was basically secured a win (in universe it would seem. Of course the audience can see that Heather (the rightful winner) was going to win, but for him and most other characters it was going to be him or very close at the least). Uh idk what my point was going to be here but Alejandro to me is the best villain because he actually feels like one? A lot of other “villains” just seem like antagonists to me, but Alejandro’s execution was handled so well (for tdi standards especially) that I could write whole paragraphs for him on the ins and outs of him, but alas I have two more to talk about.

Scott gets too much hate sorry “his plan makes no sense!” Okay well it worked? I’d even get the argument somewhat if he WASNT LITERALLY BASED OFF A PRE-EXISTING SURVIVOR CONTESTANT WHOS PLAN ALSO WORKED. But yeah what I like with Scott that I can’t say for the rest is it makes total sense to me how he stays for as long as he does. His plan actually isn’t that stupid because he easily framed B, the dawn thing he had planned out in advance, sam Dakota and Staci all fucked up on their own, and the other eliminations also all make sense. The only one I have any issue with is Bricks but that’s completely separate from Scott’s. What I think makes him better than Heather is that while he has her “explicit cunt” energy he also has Alejandro’s more hidden evil traits. He doesn’t show his full capability to be a dick but still shows some to allow for some funny interactions and more obviously antagonistic traits, but we also get to see his scheming, manipulative and more … cunty? Dickheady? Idk man more bitchy side. My biggest gripe with him is it often feels like he doesn’t have as much to do as the other villains, and I feel as if we don’t get as memorable interactions. He’s a cunt to Sam but we don’t get as much as Alejandro and Owen I feel, somewhat a cunt to Lightning and Brick but they have more memorable interactions with Jo, fucks over Dawn in her elimination episode but it’s over almost as soon as it starts, leaving the only significant interactions for me being Zoey and Mike. I feel like there’s so much they could’ve done to give him more to do and more to say, I think there’s plenty of interesting interactions that we never got to explore, and I don’t think it’s because of the 13 episodes, rather the fact they only got 1 season.

Julia is here for pretty much one reason: she’s so much fucking fun. She’s heather if Heather did a line of coke before competing, had a suppressed blood lust and has the most intense relationship with any character in all of total drama that wasn’t even canon. She never shows remorse for what she does, never apologises, repeatedly goes after the same people, holds grudges and doesn’t even get a proper comeuppance. I love her. The main reason she doesn’t get to place as high as the others is lack of intent. We never really see her properly be as manipulative as the others, and doesn’t have as much planning that had to go into her character as her strategy is pretty much fuck everyone else, winners love winning (you guys get me). On pure fun and entertainment levels, her and heather definitely beat Alejandro, but as objectively good villains, they definitely impact the story a lot less. Whereas world tour literally revolves Alejandro, there are plenty of things and other defining characters that move the story in different directions. As a villain Julia might not be as good as the other three, but she’s arguably 1st or 2nd most entertaining.

Anyway that’s my reasoning I have more to say but once again I’m a clout chaser please always ask me more ❤️

[synchodai]

just an aegon ii rant

The thing about Aegon that makes people root for him more than Joffrey is that Aegon just seems like everyone's punching bag in a way that Joffrey wasn't?

Aegon did horrible things, don't get me wrong. He raped a woman, he bullied his younger brother, he's implied to have his bastard children join fighting pits (this was never outright confirmed — Arryk only lightly alluded to Aegon doing something shady while they were looking to crown him), and he executed innocent ratcatchers as retribution for his murdered son.

But his rap sheet isn't any worse than Daemon's (murder, grooming, being a cop, etc.) or Criston's (his murder of Joffrey Lonmouth was downright homophobia /jk) or even Rhaenys's (talk about killing innocent people, right?), but for some reason all the characters hate Aegon's guts specifically? Given the people on this show, why?

It's like if Joffrey Baratheon threatened to kill Arya's direwolf and her best friend in episode 1, but he never does anything extraordinarily malicious or sadistic in the next episodes after that. And yet his own family just keeps treating him with outright contempt anyways despite him being their key to power.

Yeah, Aegon should be shamed and punished by the narrative for the horrible things he does...but nothing ever going his way and emphasizing how much of failure he is at every turn is just overkill, man. At some point, this amount of narrative humiliation has nothing to do anymore with dealing with the consequences of his bad actions or his personal failings, and it just makes every character look like they're taking turns unloading their frustrations on an acceptable target.

It's not fun to watch someone get kicked around by their entire family for no reason when he's never done anything especially horrible to hurt them other than be somewhat gormless. Otto most likely doesn't even know or care about Dyana, so does he despise his grandson simply for being a drunkard? For having an addiction? He was plotting to install him as king but all they ever did to prepare him for it was....yell at him and slap him around?

And on Aegon tormenting Aemond with his bullying, it's not like Aemond especially hates humiliating people in public since he regularly does it himself. When Lucaerys smirked at Aemond when they were served a pig in that dinner scene, Aemond bullied Jacaerys and Lucaerys back and Aegon was on his brother's side defending Aemond from getting attacked. Aemond isn't some put-upon victim who's been tolerating his brother's constant abuse — he obviously punches back. He has a hair-trigger temper and has messed up more things for his family's plans than Aegon has. Aemond's the one who was involved in the Driftmark fight that almost implicated Alicent for treason, Aemond's the one who made the Strong toast, Aemond's the one who killed Lucaerys and damaged their cause. And all three times, Aegon defends him!

This is all to ask why? Why are they writing his character like this? Why does the story and other characters keep piling on this dude? Why make Aegon's family hate him? Why make him awful at everything and good at nothing, not even riding his dragon who he has had for over a decade? Why give him these almost sympathetic moments with his brother, son, smallfolk, and dragon, only to have all the characters not show him a lick of sympathy?

Why do they all hate him for being an incompetent king when he straight up gave them the option of him abdicating by running away to Essos? They all act like he's the one imposing his incompetence on them, but they're the ones who forced the position on him. "Every man on that council earned their seat." YEs, Aegon didn't earn his seat — because it was forced on him and I am clawing at my eyes wishing the show would acknowledge that!

Is it supposed to be a deliberate commentary on the tragedy of hereditary monarchy? To show the Hightowers' cycle of abuse (even though no other Hightower is getting consistently hit and berated even after committing the WORST crime)? Is the show making him so pathetic and incompetent to make Rhaenyra more dignified and regal in comparison? Or is it doing this deliberately to woobify Aegon? To have his family and life be horrible so the viewers have built up their sympathies for when he gets his emotionally-resonant plot beats in the end?

Even if that's the case, the means certainly don't justify the ends. There's just no logical consistency to how these chracters treat and view Aegon and it's getting frustrating to watch sometimes.

[unhingedmarvelandclassicwhobuff]

Apparently at some point MCU fans collectively agreed that the Blip takes place on October 17th, 2023. Which is today. So I figured I'd take the time to detail the four biggest reasons why the time jump in Endgame was a universe-shatteringly horrible idea that should never have seen the light of day

the absolute biggest problem, of which there are many, is the fact that countless people died as collateral damage in the initial Snap. Hell, we are shown it in the Infinity War post-credit scene with those multiple car accidents and that helicopter slamming into a building. And that was just the tip of the iceberg; imagine how many planes crashed because the pilots were dusted, or how many babies starved because both their parents were dusted, or people who may have died on the operating table because a surgeon got dusted. All of these people are totally ignored. It's never so much as mentioned when talking about bringing everyone back, and Tony insisting that the last five years remain unchanged is implicitly saying all of those people remained dead when the dusted returned.

the second big problem with this plot point is that it's used as an excuse for every character except Nat to be totally unrecognizable. Bruce becomes Professor Hulk, Thor gets fat, Tony has a family (and I fucking love how the movie inadvertently says he just let the world rot for five years instead of using his billions of help. That is 100% in character for him), Clint went on a mass killing spree, and Steve... I actually have no idea what made him change so radically. None of this is shown to us at all, it's just told to us.

this is less a problem with Endgame and more a problem with Phases 4 and 5, but the other worse thing about this development is that absolutely nothing has been done with it. Far From Home played the time-jump for comedy, WandaVision had that one great scene in the hospital and then did nothing else, Shang-Chi had a singular throwaway line about the Blip, Hawkeye had that one neat visual of getting Snapped from Yelena's POV and then nothing else, Multiverse of Madness had a single conversation where Strange wonders if letting Tony have his way was the only way to save the universe, Quantumania had a single scene addressing the homelessness issue and then nothing else, and I think Secret Invasion tried to do a bit of a look at how Talos reacted to the Blip, but that show was so awful that I'd rather not think about it. The only projects to do anything at all with the Blip as a major plot point are Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Eternals.

the fourth and final massive problem with the Blip is pretty simple yet complicated; it ignores the absolutely insurmountable societal implications both the Snap and the Blip would have. Think about it; half the fucking universe disintegrates into ash. There are SO many things that would do to just human society alone. But even more importantly, five years after all those people were declared dead (meaning wills are executed, spouses remarried, jobs and homes redistributed, etc) those people suddenly reappear, and from their POV it's only been a second. Just to put it in perspective, the Snap happened on April 29th, 2018. Doesn't that feel like forever ago? If the Snap were real, all those people would have been gone until today. That is such a huge mindfuck that I'm shocked no one went insane. And even looking aside from the psychological impact, all those people are pretty fucking screwed. Far From Home had a single scene addressing this, then promptly forgot about it.

My final point is less of a problem and more of an amusing byproduct; since Tony directly forbids Bruce from undoing the last five years, that means the events of WandaVision, Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Hawkeye, No Way Home, Multiverse of Madness, and Secret Invasion are on some level his fault. That’s fucking hysterical.

I suppose I'll be absolutely fair and say that rewinding time isn't a morally perfect solution either, as you would be erasing any maturity the survivors gained during those five years, as well as anyone born in that time. But that's just all the more reason to NOT HAVE A FUCKING TIME-SKIP!!! I still think the only reason it was done was for cheap shock value.

All in all, the five-year time jump is the single worst major plot point in the MCU. Fight me.

[syndrossi]

Just wanted to say I really admire your writing pace and the quality of the writing, considering how busy you seem to be with your professional life! How do you do it? I could never I fear (in awe)

Also, have you ever considered writing an original story of your own, or do you have ideas for one? Just curious 😊

❤️ The way I did it early on was a lot of prewriting, a strict per day count (1000 words minimum that I tracked on the NaNoWriMo website), giving up a few hobbies, and more. 😅 Around ch17+ I was struggling with the work-life balance, sometimes doing little other than work and writing. I don't recommend, it often felt like a second job, even though I enjoy writing!

Early on it was quite a bit easier. Stories in the early phase tend to be more "open", plotting and execution-wise. You know your first arc, and nothing is messy yet, so you don't have to spend time untangling things and figuring out what dozens of players in the game might be doing. It's why you see a lot of long fics fizzle out around the middle; you've gotta ride out that messy period of writing, or in some cases figure out how to tie everything up neatly for the finish.

These days, my pace is less enviable. I do get those quick bursts on the AUs and prompts, because they're "open" and less polished, where I can write anywhere from 1-3.5K in a day and then wish I could apply that focus/energy to Resonant! I'm curious to see if it's just a product of struggling with the pacing as we approach the end of a mini-arc and kick off the last (or second-to-last, depending) arc of Resonant.

On the original story front, I wrote 200K or so of something so far removed from its original fandom that it might as well have been original. It was during my fandom hibernation phase, when I just wrote for myself--dozens of stories in that setting, short and long, AU and "canon", different generations, etc. It was very freeing to be able to write something that no one other than me would ever see. I could be a lot less critical, and far more indulgent. Funnily enough, I mentally went back through the main plot/villain of that and realized that I drew a good chunk of inspiration for the Volantis+ angle/plotline from it, even though they're executed very differently.

I doubt I'd write anything "else" original, at least with the goal of getting published, because I honestly enjoy fandom so much more. It's a different energy, and you're much closer to the people who enjoy the thing you do. It feels much more collaborative than locking yourself away to write something worthy of publishing. (Also, I like my writing to be a hobby, rather than another form of "work"!)

[the-sunniest-angels]

Hi hello so. I finished wings around April and it still has plagues my mind all the way till June. No joke it is a absolute masterpiece, I love recommending it to others!!! It's one of the only fanfics I've read that genuinely feels like it should have fanfics of the fanfics. ANYWAYS, I was wondering about any inspirations you had while writing it??? This has been a question I've been pondering for the last 2 months since finishing haha

Omg hi I'm honored you have a question for me, I love your blog. 10/10 you are talented at the Art of Tumblr™

I'm so glad you liked the fic so much!!! It is every writer's dream for their fic to be worthy of more fics hahaha

To be honest, a LOT of the motivation was bc I was going through a major religious allegory phase at the time of writing. Like, I think I wrote probably 3 different full-length original novels featuring angels, demons, and the like. I don't really know where it came from. I hadn't consumed any relevant media prior to entering The Angel Obsession Of 2024™ so I really don't know what the original motivation was or why the fixation hit so hard lmao. At the same time, I was SUPER obsessed with Icarus metaphors and the symbolic power of a character who is doomed to fall finding a way to fly instead. So anyway story inspiration for Wings came a lot easier when I was already so obsessed with so many of the motifs that we see in the story.

Also, Wings actually is the second draft. I wrote the first when I was like twelve, haha. I don't recommend reading the original version except for purposes of helping anyone feel better about their own writing. My middle school self had a great idea but god-awful execution. After that I stopped publishing fic updates for about seven years and then returned to fandom in college, where I am finally going back and finishing and revamping all the old stuff. What this all means is that some of the major elements of Wings were actually devised years ago--the treaty, the "make me a Guardian!" loophole, Luke being the prince, etc etc. All things I took from the original plot! So the skeleton of an outline was already there, and I just had to fill it in.

And from there it was, to be honest, a lot of daydreaming about how to create the absolute most dramatic situations (hence all the times it feels like a climax chapter even though it's actually not), to incorporate all my favorite literary devices (foils, dramatic irony, religious symbolism lmao... The list goes on, I'm sure), and then to put it together in such a way that plot is still comprehensible. I created my outline and started my brainstorming playlist. Decided on the tone I wanted to set (vaguely Hozier lol) and then started writing :)

I wouldn't say there was any particular piece of media that inspired Wings so much so as like a very intense obsession with the concept and several years of this story kind of existing in the back of my mind. I'm old enough now that I'm starting to finally have a more firm understanding of my writing style, and I've been in the fandom for long enough to feel like I really understand these characters now. It was a perfect storm of factors that came together to create a story I'm genuinely proud of :)

Again I'm really glad you liked it!! Sorry I don't have a more, like, tangible answer for you, but I hope this answers your question :)

P.S. since a lot of the inspiration comes from my process of outlining itself I thought it would be funny to include some of my favorite parts from my chapter-by-chapter outline. You'll notice I really make my outlines too detailed in a lot of ways, but in my defense: I'm a yapper. Enjoy.

[dangermousie]

oooooh nooo. did they actually fuck up Jing or is he just one of the characters you're annoyed they removed important scenes with?

If they knew they couldn't have CX actually kill Jing because of censorship, they should have worked on restructuring his arc up to this point so that made sense. They can't just give him the same arc and then change the logical conclusion.

I wasn't annoyed with Jing per se but I was annoyed at the removal of a lot of his arc - like when he literally gate crashes her ceremony of becoming a nun (!!!!) and I just think that the second half of s2 put him into background to such a degree he ceased to be interesting to me - he was barely there and not given much to do when he was - that reunion scene was just so abrupt and filmed so randomly, I didn't even have a chance to care. A lot of second half of s2 felt like Cliffs Notes version in general but it got really bad by the end and I think Jing was hit by that along with most of the rest.

He's lucky he wasn't Cang Xuan - what they did to that character and that arc are utterly criminal! I agree if they knew they couldn't have him be a killer, then rewrite it way earlier - as is, it is like building building building and then NOTHING.

But also, in wrecking his arc, it wrecks Xiao Yao as a character. In the novel, it made sense she peaced out never to be seen by CX again - the person closest to her killed her love AND also confessed he was in love with her and etc etc - in fact before Jing comes back, she was planning to become Holy Mother ie be in one place where CX could never gain admittance. She felt blindsided and betrayed by the person she loved most (even if as a family only.) By the time Jing came back and she got married, the relationship between the cousins was irrevocably broken.

But here? She NEVER finds out CX loves her romantically. He is not in any way responsible for Jing's death. Sure, he can't execute Xinyue for the murder because she's the queen and it will start a war, but especially after Jing comes back alive, it makes NO sense for XY to just peace out in such a fashion that CX can never see her again - like why how - he's her beloved brother who approved of her marriage and where there are good reasons why he didn't punish his queen who ultimately did not murder anyone (and owed her nothing) - none of it makes any sense! It makes her awful tbh. (They try to do the thing where he says if he could choose the crown or her, he'd choose the crown but she is not shocked and it's not treated as a reveal because it obviously isn't.)

The whole structure falls apart.

(It also makes Jing weaker because it's one thing to not be able to guard against the freaking emperor of the world and another a fellow clan and plots by idiot Xinyue.)

Honestly, demon boy is the sole character who emerged from this with any semblance of a coherent character.

The title doesn't even make sense any more - it always came across to me as largely about CX losing XY forever (and vice versa.) But why does he lose her forever here? It makes zero sense.

It's like if they made Goodbye My Princess and at the end "psych!!! it turned out FL's fam were all alive and protected by ML and she got her throat stitched up and they lived happily ever after." It's not that it's a bad twist in a vacuum but it makes no sense with these characters and this story.

[bonefall]

Since you mentioned only cats and a few other distant animals are sentient, does this mean foxes are getting their sentience removed? Midnight can talk to foxes in the books and even convinces some foxes to leave a patrol of cats alone (the foxes are WEIRDLY violent and talk about eating the cats too lmaoo).

I assume Hollyleaf's changes mean the Fox Cub Incident is either being moved or just removed entirely, I always found that small plot point interesting in face of all those "Non-cat in clan" AUs. Seems like something that could be interesting if an "us vs them" argument was formed from it, especially if it was targeted against Midnight and calling her unholy yknow?

Yeah, that sapience is gone completely. In this universe, language is limited only to humans, cats, and some distant animals that are far outside the range of Albion (elephants, bottlenoses, some parrots, etc)

And Hollyleaf's story especially. Ngl to you, I don't like that fox idea. Or anything about Hollyleaf's Story. I think it was the worst possible route to take.

"Hollyleaf will be a mother to this evil creature to learn what it's like to love something that hates you. It is so sad to be your mom Leafpool (Squirrel-who?). Don't you feel like a shitty daughter now, Holly? Let's not ask any questions about the code btw, or how you were already filled with crushing shame from it. Or how it made you so disgusted about the idea of pregnant nuns that you flipped your shit and ruined the lives of your entire family. No, what really mattered about this situation was maternal empathy. Also here take the nearest male character we can find to ship you with, we accidentally made Cinderheart too gay when she was upset about your death lmao"

But, digressing, putting my distaste of that novella aside,

WC is profoundly xenophobic already with just the cats, and I think it was a CATASTROPHIC mistake to make it so every animal is secretly intelligent but speaks animal language. Now every conflict between cats and their predators is an ethnic dispute! You're chasing out groups of people perfectly capable of reasoning if you bridged the language barrier, but they're also ACTUAL PREDATORS.

AT BEST; It's the same uncomfortable situations that Zootopia and Lion King ends up tripping over. In Zootopia, predators are used as an allegory for oppressed groups... but predators are MADE to eat prey. A rabbit is RIGHT to be terrified of a fox, twice its size with a jaw made for catching bunnies. In Lion King, lions have divine authority to rule over their dinner/subjects, and chase out any animal based on their personal ideology... which just so happens to only be leveraged against rival predator species.

(Nerd preemption: yes i know about lion guard. I do not think diverse Lion Cops were the solution you think it is.)

Carelessly adding sapience to "natural systems" often ends up accidentally justifying bigotry. Bigotry doesn't MAKE SENSE, it's bullshit we made up and perpetuate through culture, but food webs are completely logical. The rabbit fears the fox because the fox eats rabbits. The lion hates the hyena because they compete for the same food. Gazelles don't happily submit to an overlord who is divinely capable of deciding who should live and who should die, it's just nature.

But it gets even worse-- because it's actually WORST CASE; the Erins saw that complicated moral problem and went, "don't worry! They're actually born evil! Foxes just talk about food and killing things :)"

like... my brother in cats, YOU gave them language in the first place! What was the fucking point if they were just going to be evil barbarians anyway?!? For ONE scene where Midnight could show off her Duolingo streak???

So to summarize,

It was an awful idea to start with

It was executed in the worst possible way

In a series that is already plagued with xenophobic sentiment, this somehow made it even worse and more direct

If it was completely nuked it from the story, the series would be immediately better with minimal change. Holly caring for what is essentially the clan cat-equivalent of an exotic animal like a chimp or a tiger cub would have done the same thing

There is not even a glimmer of an idea here that justifies the poison that full sapience does to the wider implications of the series.

Don't even get me started on the Badger Debaucle in TNP, which is actually in my top 5 for most vile things in WC

So if I don't explicitly say that a species in BB is capable of true language, assume it is non-sapient. Talking animals like Midnight and Rat Leader are magical individuals-- gods, curses, etc.

[celestie0]

heyyy!! how are you doing? i hope you’re well 💗

i’m writing this fic of mine and i’m having trouble with creating conflict and angst🥲 every idea i come up with doesn’t work the way i want it to so i thought i’d ask you cuz you’re highkey my inspiration lol, it’d be sweet if you got any tips you could give

hi love! i'm doin alright thank you :) hope you're well too!!

aw i'm so honored that you want my input haha <3 i hear you, creating conflict n angst is so hard in fiction but also so much ends up relying around it, and it can be really frustrating to have an idea but then it kinda crashes and burns

my advise for creating conflict:

have both circumstantial conflict and character driven conflict. likeee for example circumstantial conflict is the situation (ex failing a class makes a character do xyz, financial woes makes a character do xyz etc and it complicates things) and then character driven conflict is like stuff a character does because of their personality traits or previous experiences (ex character was trust issues in relationships or they're overly stubborn etc) i think it's easier to justify your conflicts in your stories if you have multimodal sources of them. gives you more flexibility too

definitely don't commit to a conflict if you don't know how it will eventually resolve. this will lead to insane writer's block down the line

draw from your life experiences! i find the most engaging conflicts are the ones that closely resemble how it would be in real life. no need to create anything super dramatic, i think it's more about execution of the feelings that the characters are going through during their adversity rather than the severity of it if that makes sense

don't overthink it too much. sometimes when i'm writing and trying to build conflict between my characters i have thoughts like "oh this feels so forced" or "oh it comes off as such an obvious plot device for xyz" etc etc. it's okay if the conflict is cliche, or repetitive, or doesn't make sense in some cases. it's hard to write an iron-clad conflict/resolution arc. if i'm being honest, i have only seen such a thing successfully pulled off in very few media i've consumed LOL even like professionally written stuff. sooooo just take it easy. i suppose that is part of the conflict itself! the author's inability to perfectly display it! beauty in imperfection xd

as for writing angst:

i think angst is aaaaaaaall about showing not telling. like it's easy to write "she felt ___" or "he wept for hours" stuff like that, which is all good n great n definitely should be stated here and there. but preferentially when it comes to angst, i like to provide more "details" surrounding things? like idk it's corny to pull from my own source material for an example LOL but like in ihm ch7 when reader is looking through her mother's things to start putting stuff in boxes. like yes i wanted to portray that she was sad but like the little details about the sticky notes her mother placed around her room n stuff i thought would more so show exactly why looking through all of her mother's stuff was so devastating for her

appeal to aspects of life anyone can relate to. sure, your characters are their own people and will have their own thoughts n feelings n stuff separate of trying to appease any reader's personal feelings. however, there are certain human feelings i think are relatively universal, which will likely be present in any conflict, and so appealing to those will really help drive the angst home

idk i'm running a blank on anymore tips here sorry bb LOL

don't feel discouraged!!!!! you've got thisss!!!!!

ok good luck byeee

[sonicasura]

Transformers Earthspark: Personal Changes

I figured I should write this as I plan to write stuff on it. Transformers Earthspark, an show with interesting concepts despite the mixed execution. I honestly like some of the ideas proposed by it in Season 1 as they aren't actually bad. We rarely get a post war setting for the series since most writers prefer the standard formula and the Terrans hold potential when you remember that Cybertronian are an endangered species whose numbers have only decreased due to war.

This is mainly a simplified list on what changes you'll see in my work involving Earthspark. Points with an asterisk * are new.

Dot doesn't allow her kids to become child soldiers. She wouldn't have a problem if it was self defense lessons as there are people who don't like Cybertronians or will harm her family for the Terrans' nature. Otherwise, the Maltobots are allowed to learn about Cybertron's history and culture.

Megatron is a rogue with the personality of an asshole cat. (Murderous nature partly fizzled out for causing problems to people he dislikes.) The Decepticons had fallen apart after a nasty dispute and gone their own ways. Megatron vanished once GHOST began to hunt any bot not aligned with them. He hides out at the Maltos upon discovering a massive plot that would put all Cybertronian life in danger.

Bumblebee remains rogue as his trust in Optimus is in tatters. He gets involved with the Maltos under the same reason Megatron does and is responsible for the Terrans' self defense training. (Megs handles their history/culture.) Tendency to have war flashbacks.

No Emberstone saves or Prime reverence. Mo is traumatized by Quintus' false reality dream and doesn't like the Cyber Sleeves anymore. Jawbreaker alongside Thrash help with her trauma. Scars are prone to occur alongside the chance of life changing injuries for everyone.

GHOST Autobots have a tense relationship revolving Optimus. This only grows once Bumblebee's current location becomes known. Optimus often questions if he made the right choice as he looks at the unanswered orders involving his rogue Autobots.

Decepticons begin to reform under a new cause. The preservation and protection of the Cybertronian race as GHOST attacks intensify. Starscream leads them under an anti-hero alignment since they will do things the Autobots won't to keep themselves alive. (Think Venom or A-Team.)

Fighting between siblings specifically Robby vs Mo, Twitch vs Thrash, and Jawbreaker finally snaps. I seen potential conflict involving these five that no way in hell is gonna be ignored under my watch. Nightshade and Hashtag act like mediators at times but some fights can't be dissolved so easily.

More enemies for each respective group alongside painful clashes such as Bumblebee vs Optimus. Flora/fauna mutated by Energon, bad Autobots like Pharma/Sunder, and more volatile Decepticons like Astrotrain. No one is having fun when shit hits the fan.

Disabilities like Dot's prosthetic leg are on display. Mandroid slowly gone insane due to Energon poisoning through his experiments as once neutral views regarding Cybertronians were corrupted. First exposure is creation of the Arachnamechs. His students' death amidst the friendly fire tips him over the edge. *

Experiments involving humans and Cybertronians herald by Mandroid. Most of his Energon induced is a result from trying to hybridize both in some way. He eventually forgets about Alex after the second confrontation. Examples: Synthetic blood that boosts healing, skin which repairs through Cybertronian nanites, etc. *

Karen and Agent Schloder are distant with each other. The former isolating herself despite the latter's attempts to reach out. He works at GHOST to keep an eye on her but soon realizes Croft is a lost cause. *

Alex begin to tone down his obsession involving Bumblebee after awhile. He realizes it makes the bot uncomfortable and bring back awful memories. Bumblebee is still Alex's favorite but it is on a healthy level. *

Dad #2 is addressed properly to the Terrans. They learn that not everyone would be okay with the term or might not be someone they can trust. Parental figures is a concept the kids want to understand better so any further issues and discomfort are avoided. *

Terrans are taught Escrima alongside various aspects of Filipino culture. Everyone has their own different style towards the martial art and interests in other cultures were broaden. Dot often picks up books for them. *

The Emberstone is a chaotic manifestation of evolution without proper containment. It often causes trouble for the Maltos by spawning monsters, mutate nearby wildlife or producing twisted visuals for them to adapt against. The last disturbance results in Wheeljack showing up to contain the artifact. *

After the season finale, Twitch remains half blind as her body rejects any replacements offered by both former factions. She learns to live with her disability and alters her Drone alt mode to add a visual guide to further help. It takes quite a while for Twitch to thrive after multiple mishaps. *

That's all I could think of at the moment but will expand the list should more be added or changes are needed.

[iamafictionfreak]

Having major mixed feelings about RDJ playing Dr Doom, peeps.

On the one hand, I'm like... the Iron Man, is now playing a villain?

Let's not forget that the actor isn't the character, as some people tend to do so. He's playing a different character. But it still feels... sad? Is that the word?

RDJ's Iron Man became a kind of symbol in the real world too, not just in fantasy. Time has been tough on many of us so maybe we dig a little too deeply into our little fantasy getaways, but to have RDJ now embody the villain? Yeah, that's a little... ouch.

And a little awesome.

Confusing too.

Infuriating.

Trouble is, RDJ has a presence and he brought humanity to his Tony Stark role. If they don't get someone to match that level of charisma on the opposing team, if they don't find an actor or actress able to make us empathise with them even when they're being a massive clusterfuck of a hero, or if they make them the embodiment of perfection instead of relatable, then... well, it's a problem. No one's going to root for the new band of heroes if the villain's more sympathetic.

TS will always be RDJ and vice versa. He brings with him Pepper, Happy, Rhodey, Peter etc. Associating the actor with both the biggest hero AND the villain? My brain doesn't know what to do!

Here's hoping whatever he does with the character, or whatever the executives decide, it doesn't disrespect his role as IM.

On the other hand, I can't imagine how pissed Dr Doom fans are knowing that once again, there fav is being represented by the wrong ethnicity.

I had a similar negative reaction to Scarlet Johannsen being cast as BW. I ended up liking her her but it still itches. She didn't even manage the accent!

My expectations need to learn to cool it but it doesn't change how I feel.

Now, RDJ is a great actor. I have no doubt he can pull it off, but MCU near destroyed my love for marvel after endgame and that alongside the shit coming out in the comics in the last few years? The way MCU stopped being a place filled with hope? They'd have to do something truly special to bring me back into it.

Hysterically Deadpool and Wolverine have my blessing because in 3 seconds they brought back some feels. Irondad feels, days of cheesy older marvel movie feels etc.

I like dark stories. I don't need the sunshine and rainbows others do, but we dealt with TS's death, then Steve fucking off in a heel turn decision and creating a plot hole the size California, Peter's worst nightmare coming true and having to live with it forever, don't get get me started on rhodey and Wanda etc...

We're never getting closure or healing for TS's death 😂. We're just not guys. It's not something we can easily accept, if at all. So this whole thing feels great and terrible and awful and nostalgic and brutal and intriguing and and and and...

So, yeah. I get the discord.

But RDJ's great.

But I love Iron Man and his legacy even as I hate that they killed him off.

But Dr Doom's something I've been waiting to see!

BUT LOOK AT WHAT THEY GAVE US IN ENDGAME. WE'LL GET SCREWED OVER AGAIN.

BUT!

WHAT

IF

GUH

Yeah, there's a lot. We shall see.

After all, we're all used to a lack of satisfying closure.

[lord-squiggletits]

This might be bc of my personal reading of exRDI/OP bc I'm pretty sure the authorial intent was to just write Optimus as having some fall from grace/borderline tyrannical edge but like

I really kinda wish the story had been written as more of a political intrigue, almost GOT-esque thing (sorry for the cliche) where like, instead of Optimus being written as the narrative's scapegoat to be condemned both by the characters in universe and the meta narrative, he was just written as...morally gray? With more of a focus on "this is a shitty situation where no decision is good" rather than having Optimus just be some sort of white guilt stand-in of how oh, he's a Prime so that means the most important part of his legacy is how Cybertronians are awful and he's no better than the other ones etc.

Like Barber doesn't write Optimus as EVIL or in a way where he's unilaterally condemned as a person who did more harm than good, it's just imo the vibes of the story is more of a dark political/war story where no person is clean and there's no solution to the war that doesn't involve moral compromise. Instead Optimus is forced to make these moral compromises but then everyone else in the story loses their absolute shit and immediately starts calling him a tyrant or a fascist or something.

Like idk, it was partially an issue of the set-up. Because for one, it was really hard to take it seriously when the humans went "omg he's annexing Earth the Autobots were literally the colonizers all along!" (I think the dialogue was written almost exactly like that too sjdjsidn, so bad dialogue was also another issue) yet were perfectly fine working with the Decepticons led by 1. Soundwave who personally helped execute the attempted invasion of Earth and 2. Galvatron who constantly talks about wanting to kill these puny organics. I feel like I would've been able to take humanity's fears of being colonized again more seriously if like, they hadn't literally teamed up with The Colonizer Faction just bc Soundwave promised they were good guys again. So really it's just execution + plot holes + bad dialogue.

And another thing about the annexing of Earth specifically that I wish got talked about more (mostly by the fandom more than in universe) is that like. Basically the reason Optimus did that was because the neo-Decepticons were planning to invade Earth again, but since he's not actually a formal political leader any more he has no power to actually force a war to stop them/request military back up. But also, Starscream didn't give a shit about Earth and neither did the Council of Worlds, so appealing to the government for help defending humanity wouldn't work either. So Optimus annexing Earth was an absolute clusterfuck yes, but in a way it was also kind of a shrewd political move to force Cybertron to dedicate a spot in the government for humans and thus grant humans a say on Cybertronian politics.

What I mean is that in a story/with an author like that of GOT, where the setting is grimmer and every character is morally ambiguous, I feel like Optimus would've had way more room to be an interesting and compelling character. Bc then instead of the story immediately screaming "ALL HAIL OPTIMUS DID YOU KNOW OP ANNEXING EARTH TO THE COUNCIL IS BASICALLY THE SAME AS MEGATRON ATTEMPTING TO GENOCIDE EARTH," Optimus could have been played around with more as a political figure making the shitty decisions in an effort to stop another genocide. Instead of just unilaterally condemning Optimus and immediately comparing him to fucking Megatron of all people, there could've been more focus on the politics of it with maybe some sort of theme of how "being a leader in war is an inherently unethical position where every decision you make will lead to death/conflict/hate."

Like idk I just think it would've been more interesting if the narrative spent less time going "zomg Optimus is totally a tyrant now" and instead went all in on exploring the political conflicts and how far politicians (Optimus now being one, since he's declaring wars and forcefully acting as an ambassador that no one asked for) can go on manipulation and forcing people's hands for the sake of an ultimately good cause. I mean, Windblade was doing shit like covering up for Chromia who killed people in a bombing, making backdoor deals with Starscream, and conspiring with Optimus to bypass Starscream/overthrow him as Cybertron's ruler somehow. The difference of course is that Windblade and exRID were written by two different authors with genre/thematic differences, but as a reader it is really disappointing to see two different political narratives where "a hero turned politician turning to morally gray/unethical methods to outmaneuver a deadly opponent" is treated as clever and heroic for one character, but tyrannical and worthy of ostracization of another character.

Like for God's sake this narrative where Optimus gets lambasted at every turn sometimes by people who work with/are literal tyrants/terrorists themselves is so fucking exhausting. I'd rather read a story that focused more on the idea of, well what Optimus did was unethical but on a political level it was actually advantageous in several ways. Then you could write a story that really dives into a view of like, idk... Does power inherently corrupt or is it just situations like war that allow leaders to seize power and become tyrannical? Are politics an inherently dirty field where the only way to beat your competition (and secure a decent future for the nation) is to become underhanded and manipulative yourself? Is it okay to bypass or work against rightfully elected officials when those officials are turning a blind eye to things like war and invasions and historic racism?

ExRID did somewhat touch on these themes to be fair, but I feel like in Optimus' case they were either poorly executed or just thrown away in favor of having every other character talk shit about him and how he's the worst person ever. Bc like goddammit, I do think Optimus' polarizing and sometimes bad decisions as a character DO make him skirt on the edge of tyranny and shouldn't be downplayed, but on the other hand, I feel like no one (fandom or in-universe) ever tangles with the OTHER side of the story, which is just... Would it have been unethical for Optimus to NOT have done anything? Cybertronians literally put a colony on Earth, injected Earth with alien technology and sleeper agents, used Earth as an incubating ground for dangerous elements like Ore-13, invaded Earth and killed 1 billion people-- after all the shit Cybertron did to Earth, is it not fair (even morally obligated) for Cybertronians to clean up their shit and help Earth defend itself against a crisis that Cybertronians caused? And if Cybertron's government/the individuals within are racist enough that they don't care about Earth, don't see it as their problem, and don't even see human life as meaningful since they don't live that wrong anyways... is it not, in a way, a good thing for Optimus to have overstepped his authority and forced diplomatic relationships between the two planets? So that humans had an actual political channel to go "fuck you, we're in your Council so you'd better ally with us" and so that Cybertron would be forced to go "welp can't write off these humans as Not Our Problem, guess we have to help them." Doesn't forcing Earth to be part of the Council in a way legitimize Optimus' fight to help Earth, since without a formal political office he's just a rogue general fighting an unauthorized war, but with the government involved, defending Earth now becomes a politically sanctioned act?

Like idk. I guess exRID and OP did get into some of this stuff, but as a whole it felt like the story underutilized its political elements and got bogged down in shit like pointless crossovers, and constantly pausing the narrative to have Side Character #2847 talk about how Optimus is a fascist, and having Optimus go on white guilt-esque monologues about how maybe all Cybertronians should die and are unworthy/unable to ever have a peaceful society because their society colonized other planets.

Just so much wasted potential honestly. ExRID/OP as written felt like it was going way too hard into "omg Cybertronians bad and Optimus is actually a tyrant" instead of just writing a complex story and letting readers come to their own conclusions. And also lambasting Optimus for doing things that other characters did (or characters who did even worse things), but letting those characters exist in peace while Optimus has to just be some allegory for colonialism that has to be torn down at every turn because that's Deep and Intellectual.

I just like the kinds of stories about politics that play around with the ethics of it all, like, "this politician is a shitty person but their policies actually prevented some sort of disaster from happening" or "this person did something illegal and defied the law but they did it because no one else was doing anything" or even "everyone hates this person for forcing them into a political deal they didn't want to be involved in, but the fact that they were all forced to become allies actually allowed them to cooperate and save themselves in a way they wouldn't have been able to alone" (which is pretty much literally how the annexing of Earth ended up going).

Like man I don't want to sit here being lectured/having my favorite character be lectured about how much tyranny is bad. I want my favorite character to do shitty things and then go "whoa that was shitty...but also kind of smart...but also caused a lot of problems...but also solved some other problems that could've turned awful if he hadn't forcefully resolved them."

[delicateperspective]

Have there been blinds like this in the past about L? I saw one on February after that awful RS article that said it was surprising LP was outed before other his other former boy band members but I don’t know about before that. I guess I am feeling a bit weird about a few things - first all the original articles pulling from Reddit and using the word stunt over and over, then how poorly executed this is almost like they aren’t even trying to make it real, and then this blind being put out. It seems like the idea is sort of being seeded to the gp - on purpose? I could be wrong but would love your thoughts.

There has been blinds many, many times in the past.

About Louis, about Harry, about Louis and Harry together. About them with other people. About breakups. About reunions. Etc. Many different blinds. Many different sources. (I do not suggest that anyone takes the time to dig through the past 15 years of blind items because if you go into it without knowing how this gossip usually spreads/works, you are going to make yourself very upset/mad very quickly. Especially when it comes to talking about Louis and his family. There is some really shitty stuff in the blinds.)

One of our very first blinds came in 2012 and is so ledgendary and iconic that its got a youtube video.

Which came from this blind.

I don't think that the INTENTION is to seed the idea of Louis' queerness to the world. If they were going to do that, I feel it would look a lot more like what Harry has done. Louis certainly wouldn't have to try very hard to seed the idea that he's queer.

I think that the people running this show have lost the plot. They don't have the tabliod hold they had. The public (other than solo Louies) have always questioned Louis' sexuality since the band days. And the ridiculousness that is Zara was made to entice more of a love-triangle/drama/in the headlines romance more than it was meant to be scrutinized.