#too lazy to actually develop the idea.. further..

[spockandstars]

I think that a lot of people take issue with the way the Spock/Chapel/T'Pring love triangle is presented in Strange New Worlds, but that sometimes this is dismissed as fans just being bitter spirk shippers. So here are a few reasons why I believe people are iffy on this plotline. (Disregarding the fact that we're disappointed that the showrunners didn't, and most likely won't, take the chance to do something really cool with Spock's legacy as a queer coded character...)

Firstly, it takes time away from other characters to address an element of Spock's story that has already been explored beautifully. (I will get into how this treats Chapel and T'Pring later...) Spock's struggle with his humanity and his anguish over the depth of his feelings for others (particularly Jim) is a focus in TOS and the movies, and if you're going to keep on talking about it, at least do it in a more creative way? This isn't to say that it shouldn't be acknowledged at all, seeing that it is a lifelong struggle for him, but by making it such a focus of the series they're not giving other interesting characters as much of a chance to develop.

Additionally, it has traditionally been understood that Spock coped with his inner turmoil by repressing his feelings. Over the course of his lifetime, he learns to embrace his human side more to become a more balanced and healthy person. SNW takes the approach of "young Spock was more human and horny!" which isn't necessarily bad, but they better be giving us an explanation for how he transforms so dramatically to the extremely repressed character he is in TOS. Maybe this is reaching too far, but this whole approach of young Spock just feels like an excuse to get hot ladies into his bed and to fulfill the fantasies of nerdy men who project onto him. This is the same Spock who scoffed at the idea of going to see dancers at a bar, who was immune to the charms of the sexy ladies in Mudd's Women, who only entertained women when drugged or when he needed to do so for a mission...

Furthermore, I believe it's a disservice to Chapel. On one hand, it does make her love for Spock seem more grounded in reality, which I appreciate. In TOS, it's pretty clear that Spock doesn't share her feelings and her crush is only really ever used as a means of ridiculing her. There goes silly Chapel again, trying to win over her unrequited love! It's not cool. But on the same token, making Spock the focus of her character yet again only further reduces her to nothing but that. Why can't we let the girl breathe and do other stuff? Sure, she does get some of the AOS Uhura treatment where she gets to be a generic cool badass lady, but this is in a way that is lacking in any real depth. Chapel deserves better.

I also don't love the way it treats T'Pring. Was it really necessary for her to be Spock's eye candy wife that he gets to bang and cheat on? In Amok Time, it's heavily implied that this was an arranged thing and that they hadn't seen each other since they were seven. If they really felt the need to include this relationship, it would have been so much cooler if they had explored it from that angle, with neither of them truly wanting to be together but being forced into it by societal expectation. Which of course, results in T'Pring using her intelligence to gain her freedom in Amok Time.

So yeah. Those are my main gripes with this whole thing. Overall, I think it's lazy writing that allows the writers to benefit from the nostalgia of legacy characters without developing them in actually meaningful or revolutionary ways.

[glamman]

Here is some information about the Hazbin Villianz AU!

❗️DISCLAIMER: THIS WILL HAVE SPOILERS FOR BOTH HAZBIN HOTEL AND THE BOKU NO HERO ACADEMIA SERIES!❗️

The Logo

Story

The Hazbin Villianz AU is an AU that takes place after the events of Boku No Hero Academia within the afterlife. This will be focusing more on the big, bad villains who have died during the events of Boku No Hero Academia (however, there are a few exceptions for non canon deaths) and seeing how they would do within a more extreme setting such as the Hellaverse.

Author's Note

For those who are unaware, the concept of the Hellaverse was created by Vivziepop, the creator of Hazbin Hotel. This is not a crossover between characters from both fandoms but is instead a crossover between two very unique concepts and seeing how they mesh together. I'm literally throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks with this AU.

Main Characters

Shigaraki Tomura/Tenko Shimura

Toga Himiko

Dabi/Touya Todoroki

Magne/Kenji Hikiishi

Twice/Jin Bubaigawara

Spinner/Iguchi Shuichi

Mr. Compress/Atsuhiro Sako

Kurogiri/Oboro Shirakumo

Side Characters

Muscular/Goto Imasuji

Moonfish

All For One

Overhaul/Kai Chisaki

Endeavor/Enji Todoroki

The Shimura Family

The Todoroki Family

Background Characters/Minor Characters

The Creature Rejection Clan

Other Deceased Villains and Heroes

Random Civillians of Hell and Heaven

Episode Ideas

I'm not 100% certain with these episode ideas, so don't be surprised if I change some things. BTW, the episodes are not in order, and the titles are not the actual episode titles, just keywords!

20-25 Minute Episodes

Episode 1 : An Unexpected Reunion (Part 1)

Introduction to first group of main characters. This will reveal each of their goals, problems, family, and some new friends that they have made within Hell. It is unknown whether this is mere fate or just a big coincidence that they were able to reunite.

Episode 2 : An Unexpected Reunion (Part 2)

The second half of the main characters will be introduced and will reveal a bit more about Hell's society as the group tries to get comfortable in their new home for all of eternity.

Episode 3 : New Life, New Powers

The group comes to realize that their quirks are nonexistent within Hell. Instead, they develop new abilities depending on how long they've been in hell. There is not a set in stone moment where demons develop their new supernatural abilities, so they'll have to figure out how to activate them when they wish to use them.

Episode ??? : Family Matters

Another unexpected reunion between Touya and his father, Enji Todoroki, who ended up in hell due to the issues he created within their family. Will begin to introduce the societal standards between Heaven and Hell.

Episode ??? : Research Squad

While researching in the library for information about demon abilities, they can't seem to get any clues as to when or how to develop their abilities further. As the group splits up to find more information, Shigaraki finds a mysterious man who may know something about what they are looking for.

Episode ??? : Extermination

One day, the group is curious as to why demons are more frantic and even going as far as barricading themselves within their homes and buildings. After a bit of investigating, they come to realize that the yearly extermination is almost upon them.

(There are so many more ideas that I could list, but I'm too lazy to do so.)

Sooo... Will this become an actual series?

Well, since I started making this AU by doodling BNHA as Hellaverse characters, I'm not entirely sure what the overall plot would entail. But I will definitely be making fan art and doodles for this AU. So, I guess we'll have to wait and see!

[justheretoposttrash]

day 11 of endhawks returns: electric boogaloo:

from hawks being a groomed spy who, if not well-versed in murder, is at least well-prepared for it, to endeavor's abusiveness and creation of quirk babies, these characters could have had straightforward downfalls to serve showing the dark side to hero society. hell knows that a bajillion super hero stories have supposed "good guys" in the public eye who actually uphold corrupt systems or have self-serving agendas, and these types of characters often serve as anti-examples---people not meant to be identified with and for whom the audience is usually meant to feel some schadenfreude when they fail. of course, mha doesn't do this, instead telling the story of what it takes for someone who made a wrong decision at one turn, or even someone who's been on the wrong path for nearly all of their life, to walk it all the way back. a different story might have dwelled on "bad heroes", or "phony" heroes---and mha skims this idea, but mostly turns it around in the cases of hawks and endeavor. it implies that, perhaps ironically, these characters' efforts to address the harms they've inflicted---to undo the most unheroic aspects about them---constitute the most heroic act they could take on.

"but how does hawks address killing twice?" unfortunately mha is equal parts an unwieldy story as it is an intentional one, and for every heart-on-its-sleeve piece of closure it gives, there's a loose end that it doesn't tie up outright. a lot of this allows for ambiguity and invites fans to speculate and fill in the gaps, and i'm under the impression that is intentional, though it leaves some things to be desired. long story short, hawks's thought process on killing jin is a whole roller coaster of a mess (too lazy to summarize so here's the evidence:)

week-to-week time crunch pressure, the way that being a mangaka erodes the mind and body, genuine lapses of judgment, etc. aside (again, all doylist factors), in-universe i enjoy the exercise of connecting the scattered dots of what's already there in canon (and inevitably, all roads lead to endhawks), so let's get into it! when enji urges himself to go back to his origin, he confronts the weakness and the monster within, but also his *why*---why he did what he did, why he's going to do what he's going to do. when hawks confronts his origin, he also confronts his why:

there's a throughline in this scene (besides the obviously stated one) between killing jin and standing by endeavor despite the truth of what kind of man he was. hawks wanted to save twice, but utterly failed---in fact, did the opposite of what that little kid holding the endeavor plushie would have chosen to do. his regret and remarks of how jin was a good guy are not narratively enough imo, and that this doesn't get much further development is uncharacteristic and a bit of a shame---but i would argue that, in the very least, his decision to double down on hero work, helping izuku, and standing by endeavor are actually indirect ways of addressing twice's death. endeavor is the one who made hawks want to save people, and staying by his side is almost a reclamation of that fact. he doomed jin rather than saved him, but at least he can save others. (flavor-wise, it understandably might feel sour to some fans that hawks's thought process here doesn't dwell on the villains he spent time amongst, particularly the fact that the LOV were the friends at the core of twice's heart and are what drove him to act. i also 100% agree with those hoping hawks would have saved toga to bring the twice/saving people/redemption thing full circle, and i do think that would have created the far better story.) there isn't nearly as much as a lot of us would like to work with in-story, but at the same time, the stuff that is there is still nuanced and fun to analyze (and gay, as usual, somehow).

circling it back to fallen heroes (geez, remember when that was the topic of this post? neither do i, apparently!), a ton of other superhero stories also tend to have the morally gray "bad hero" character clash with the pure-hearted protagonist, usually to be persuaded back to the side of good or to be soundly defeated. this is what happens in-story between nagant and deku, for instance. but interestingly, while hawks and endeavor do interact with deku significantly, they don't gain their motivation from him. instead, they largely seem to turn to each other, though a lot of that is left unstated/up to interpretation. and though the support they receive from the other most important figures in their lives--tokoyami and the todofam--are what end up defining the very end of the war, they are far less comfortable getting help from people who aren't each other. being the maladaptive loners they are, both hawks and endeavor have to be pursued into receiving this support, and try to push these other people away (not without good reason, to be fair), even giving similar reactions of dismay (and receiving similar reprimands):

(they never have this issue with each other, though. for some reason. 🤔)

so in short, in a story that redefines herodom over and over again through every character---such as following your passions á la hatsume, or finding your confidence like yaoyorozu---it also redefines herodom through the very characters who have, at one time or another, failed to achieve it. and said characters, turning to each other implicitly or explicitly, help each other find what it means to be a hero again.

[liliallowed]

I want dusttale sans to fall into detarune then suddenly phantom papyrus manifests as a real thing there

like with chara's locket and twin runes.

the scarf is what his existence and memory is bound to so the scarf is just sorta there floating around.

it would also be kinda funny if papyrus was actually the "knight" in deltarune because I'm not sure how this world's papyrus acts.

either way I imagine dust trying to shove papyrus back in his pocket when he's babbling about his war crimes XD

or make fun of him. yk like actually start being MORE than sans' perception of him start developing a personality and actually mimick a sibling like bond that they used to have.

.

he'd question if he's a creation of sans's trauma and if his existence is nothing but a dream that his brother... or better yet him pretending to BE papyrus...

he hates it he HATES BEING CALLED THAT. HE HATES THE WAY sans imagines him yelling at him to guilt trip himself.

he HATES HOW HE'S BEING USED AS A PSYCHOLOGICAL TOOL.

he hates how... he doesn't even KNOW what being papyrus is supposed to BE like when he's only a thought and sadness and his brother's madness given a physical form.

he wants to be more he WANTS TO EXIST.

I think it's like actually kinda sad how in canon phantom is just an extension of sans just talking back to himself because he misses his brother...

in the dark world however that "echo" would develope an actual ego. he HIMSELF DOESN'T even know what he's supposed to be. a side kick? the punchline? sans's common sense?

he does know what he wants is to be there. to help sans.

he's unsure why. is it because he came from his mind? or just s it because he too feels like he's been on an endless pointless chase over something so petty and... useless that it's tiring to even hold on onto that grief.

he's not papyrus. he'll never be papyrus. papyrus is dead. he hates it when sans calls him that.

he's not a replacement... not anymore.

still he wants to be there. he wouldn't make it. his idiot lazy brothers mind can't last without him. he can't leave him.

even if he knows he has little choice because his role is predetermined. ironic.

who cares? so what.

and I think I sense that's what the real papyrus is like. like he's not dumb he probably knows you'd kill him in genocide but the ending never mattered to him he just wanted to try his best regardless.

because there's always a small chance you might stop. statistically it's slim. but it's not zero. and that's enough for him.

I mean this isn't dustrune since dustrune has it's own seperate fucked up world building with the angel, the cult, the fallen angel with clipped wings... stealing stars from deities and how greed for power over the wishing star lead to a bloody war between humans and monsters alike... how an angels heaven can be good on paper with eternal life but is purgatory in execution... and how demons and angels aren't that different.

anyways...

I think this is such a cool idea! like phantom just being a sassy lil floaty guy hanging around his emo brother as they bicker.

like it's sad but it's SO FRIKING WHOLESOME cuz that's what THEY USED TO DO.

argue about puzzles and laziness... exchange dumb stupid puns.

phantom doesn't want to be a device. a tool for self isolation and guilt. he wants to BE himself without a role he wants to break free from what dust's subconsciously MADE him for to protect itself.

nah. he ain't doing that shit he ain't letting his delusional brother slip into himself further he would possibly even give him a lil bonk on the head to bring him to reality like: "bitch THE GREAT PAPYRUS WOULDN'T SAY THAT!"

or some dumb shit that would make dust blink in confusion because he's used to his mind playing tricks but phantom... ISN'T a part of his mind anymore.

like I want more brotherly bonding but like... phantom isn't papyrus he doesn't like being called papyrus because it feels like he's being used as a replacement.

he still calls him brother though.

UGH I MADE AN ANGSTY AU FUCK

[abditorywriting]

Perfectionist Pit of Hell: An Unedited Ramble

Hi! I'm not a professional, and this is not advice! 👍🏻

I thought I’d come on here and talk a tad bit about my writing process. Because why not, y’know?

When I was a younger writer, I would fall into the same perfectionist pit I’ve seen around lately. I’d start a project, develop a crippling inferiority complex, and then toss the damn thing away. And I would do this 30 times over, breaking myself down until I could hardly write 500 words in a month. Thus, deepening the pit.

I was so afraid of writing badly—of not being good enough—that I forgot to enjoy the process. I lost sight of the fact that I was writing for my own enjoyment. Suddenly, I found myself wondering why I was writing at all. . . 

I’m embarrassed to admit that it took me until recently to figure out a way to drag my happy ass out of there.

And what I do is write absolute garbage on purpose, and then start making it less garbage further on in the process. I’ve found that if I have the goal of “good,” then I will struggle. But if the purpose is for the writing to be bad at first, then not only do I have the basis of what I need to improve upon and actually get my story to completion, I have fun doing it! 

I set all technicalities aside and just go ham on the keyboard. Stupid jokes in inappropriate moments, sentences that sound like they were written by a drunk toddler. . . Whatever comes to mind to get that draft out. You can fix hilariously shitty writing later, but you can’t fix a blank page.

With that being said, here are some highlights from my drafts:

“It seems everyone else in the vet’s clinic is freaked out by him, too.” - Berkley Doesn’t Bark

“Sean takes a mad bong rip [. . .]” - Hibiscus

“Unfortunately, Sean had a knack for not listening to people when they tell him that something is a bad idea.” - Hibiscus

“Bob did not create the Universes. Bob was a lazy bastard and let the Universes create themselves.” - The Book of Bob

[mxdotpng]

theres a few discussions going on on twitter about act 3 in dq11 and tbh i'm pretty neutral about it. i do firmly believe that act 3 went back and disregarded everyones character development from act 2 -- frequently people say they "didnt undo their character development" since "the original timeline still exists" and while that is true that, unfortunately, does not change the fact that the characters we see do not have said important character development anymore -- however i dont think that as a whole the time travel segment was a bad idea. instead, i think it was just poorly done. it was very clearly treated as a post game segment rather than a part of the main story, and you can tell with the way that story cutscenes, dialogue, and big plot points feel more like side quests and lack any actual importance. the scene where the party said a final goodbye to eleven, and then the scene further towards the end where eleven gives serenica the chance to go back in time, are truly wonderful and i feel like they represent the emotional core of the game really well. it's really just that they took the lazy route and failed to make act 3 as important or as large - storywise, that is - as the rest of the game that makes it feel lackluster. which i think is really unfortunate, as the rest of the game is beautiful. and act 3 could have been, too.

[herotheshiro]

Spoilers for weak hero webtoon ch 267 but...

SHOOK that the author actually had stephen wake up AND have stephen and gray reunite. I mean i suspected stephen would wake up at one point bc why put him in a coma instead of killing him off then, and i also suspected he would wake up/they would reunite at the very end bc it makes sense narratively for gray to "finish" all his eunjang shit before meeting stephen again... but still. Having all that actually happen fr still surprised me.

I wonder how much the drama adaption influenced the webtoon or vice versa bc they had stephen working at a cafe (food place) where gray meets him again... either the author liked suho working his odd jobs or it was in the author's plan all along and the drama writer just low key "spoiled" it when adapting.

Anyway, i did go and read that last ch, and reading it made me kind of have a better idea of what the drama will look like... based on the fact they could p much summarize the main points of the entire story in 1/3 of that ch means they could reasonably adapt the entire webtoon in the 2nd season (w some story adjustments/cuts obvi) and end w suho and sieun's reunion in the very last scene. Yes it would be kind of rushed or they would have to remove a ton of stuff to have the pacing feel more natural but they could feasibly do it... otherwise if they follow the pacing of s1 then i can definitely see them adequately adapting in 2 more seasons (so a total of 3 seasons). Also the story summary had a shot of gray driving a motorcycle... i can totally see them bringing that to the drama since suho's key character trait was him biking around everywhere... drama!ben being like woah you know how to work a bike? And sieun being like yeah... i learned from my friend

Anyway while we're imagining drama scenes... i can totally see a way they could do the reunion scene in my head.

Sieun enters a korean grilling place similar to the place featured in s1 (i'm p sure there's a korean term for this kind of restaurant but i'm too lazy to look it up rn). Sieun looks out over the restaurant, a voice calls out "welcome!" camera pan or cut to suho's back (or a shot of sieun at the door w a blurred suho in the foreground), he's clearing a table and not looking at the entrance. He tells sieun over his shoulder to sit down and he'll get to him. Sieun stays rooted, silent and comprehending that suho is awake and moving around like he had never been in a coma. Suho finally turns around, wonders why the customer is just standing there, then has whiplash when he realizes who he's looking at. The scene could finish either 1 of 2 ways - 1. hyunwook and jihoon's comments abt their reunion could be used, w sieun hesitatingly (or sarcastically) asking "do you remember me?" and suho cheekily is like "ya i'm not stupid, weirdo. how have you been?" While sieun smiles at him and the scene cuts to an aerial view of the restaurant w the eunjang bros milling abt (similar to webtoon) OR my original thought of 2. suho looks at him in silent shock, sieun smiles at him as the camera zooms in closer to him and he says "hey, it's been a while" cooly and then hard cut to credits.

Anyway so if the author goes w realism, then that means stephen must have woken from his coma p soon afterwards? Bc technically the longer someone is in a coma, then the more messed up they are upon waking up... he's working fine (assumingly) and also seems to remember gray or at least the feeling of gray... technically we know it's likely been over a year since stephen went into the coma since i think gray transferred to eunjang abt the same timeline sieun did and the ending ep had someone talk abt how the school yr had finished... the webtoon has the benefit of stephen getting transferred away so gray couldn't keep up w him, but as i said in my prev post, the drama will likely also similarly transfer him away in s2 to get him out of the picture for sieun's further development... or maybe not? There's a couple ways they could go about it i guess. But anyway yeah this confirms choi hyunwook will be coming back at one point lol. Idk i convinced myself they wouldn't bring him back, that they would effectively write suho off but i mean as i said. He's in a coma, not dead so.

Also that webtoon ending scene is gonna adapt so well in the drama if they choose to use it as the ending... it will truly be a full circle w the drama starting w suho and sieun's story and then ending w suho and sieun's reunion. However it does kind of make the vibe different bw the drama and webtoon... w the webtoon focusing more on gray's character and his impact on a larger social network while the drama focuses on that first friendship sieun has and how it shapes him to face his later struggles (and then he is able to return to that friendship in the end, changed for the better (?)). Maybe i'm talking out of my ass since i've barely read the webtoon but again it's interesting to see the changes bw source and the adaption.

[thunder--muffin]

Unbound Breaks My Heart

I bought Need for Speed Unbound recently. It was on sale for under $10. So, I figured, "Why not. Let's see why the reviews are the way they are."

When I say that the game frustrated me to tears, I'm not exaggerating. I came so close to crying, I was so irked.

This rant is based on the first 30 minutes I've spent in the game. I haven't managed to make it further.

Prelude

I've done 3 races, I'm still in the prelude. There are a lot of redundancies - in my eyes - that annoy me.

When you go to the map to select a race, there are extra steps. They show the same shit on the map that you see at the event, not a problem. It's the steps that's the issue. Then, when you get to the event, it's there, too. In heat, at least, you drove to the race, and you pressed one button, that's it. This extra nonsense to make up with the fact that they have to show that this game isn't a mistake makes it more glaringly obvious that it is.

Racing

My car is slow as shit, and you have me in races with super cars. They're gone in no seconds flat! What point does this serve? The rubber banding is so bad in this game, it's giving NFS: Heat a run for its money. I have to slog further through the story to unlock the feature to upgrade my car's specs. In NFS: Unbound, you start off with a beater. Where, in other NFS games, you start off in a really nice car, and you downgrade to a beater. So, why do I have to be antagonized before I can upgrade my car?

Driving

Driving in a straight line causes me to spin out, I'm fishtailing like a MF, and it's always random. The fact that I have a slow car means I have a slow start. While everyone else around me is gone, I'm still getting my tires to spin and actually gain [traction]. There has to be something I'm missing here because um...

Moving on...

Characters

This is the first NFS game where I absolutely do not care about the characters. Where I absolutely skipped the cutscenes. Where I wanted to desperately go back to when the main protagonist never talked, you didn't even see their faces. You just knew you disliked Cross, Darius, etc., and you must get away from them or beat them to get their pink slips. Things were simpler back then.

Music

I had cut off all in-game music. I did the same for NFS: Heat, but at least when I played Heat, I got to the point where I made my own racing playlist in Spotify and played that. Furthermore, I love hip-hop, but it's like they chose every developer's song that they disliked and put it in the game. What happened to variety?

Dialogue

Now, being a Need for Speed veteran, the dialogue is always cheesy, borderline embarrassing to witness even. Unbound though? I'm convinced they had an AI write and voice the dialogue. It's so bad. I'm cringing harder than I've ever cringed, and we have NFS: Heat. I didn't think it could get any worse than NFS: Heat. It makes me glad they left it on a cliffhanger; or put it off that way.

Why is it the only thing the developers listened to the gamers about was to add people. I think that's the dumbest shit to date. I remember people asking for this for almost a decade, and it was ignored. Why add people now? It was always a stupid idea. Now, it's a stupid idea manifested. NFS: ProStreet, it made sense to have people. There were closed tracks. It's a distraction, and it doesn't add anything to the game. It actually causes more problems. Not only that, but it's such an unintelligent, simple-minded addition, and I hope this isn't going to be commonplace in future NFS titles. But, I'll take that over this game entirely as long as the game is good.

Explosions

Everything explodes. Traffic cones, guardrails, gates, etc. Nothing is that pliable. Everything is...finicky; like a delicate little flower. I shouldn't send sparks flying from hitting a traffic cone. Trees disappear and then, confetti. It seems lazy. This is a minor issue, but it gets a spotlight because it seems like everything in this game is made of papier-mâché.

Restricted

For a game called unbound, you're bound. Like NFS No Limits, you're extremely limited. Unbound is restrictive. From the few races I've done, I can tell you're not able to do a goddamned thing. The map feels empty, you're only assigned races. You can't venture off and do anything on the map. It's a paywall, minus the pay.

Gameplay

I didn't like having to pick between night and day in Heat, I for damn sure don't like it in Unbound. The stupid weekly system that's been implemented. Why? What the absolute FUCK? The cops are annoying AF. And that's saying A LOT because this franchise is BUILT on a cat and mouse system. The handling, like I mentioned earlier, it's worse in races. I'm clunking along and everyone else seems to be strapped to rockets on ice. While we're on handling, I'll never understand why they had to change how you drift in these games. Underground 2, Most Wanted, Carbon, drifting was fun and it made sense. They complicated something that didn't have to be complicated at all. The buy-in system isn't needed. This is, again, another attempt at doing something unnecessarily different.

Mods

I've had to add mods to make this game playable. Not even enjoyable because I still can't bring myself to play this for no longer than one race.

I miss when developers actually TRIED and wasn't obligated by red tape and someone telling them, "time is money, and you're wasting time, hurry TF up!" I miss the era of Most Wanted (2005), Underground 1 and 2. Man, I miss wanting to play a NFS game, now when I see a new release, I assume it's a disappointment, and I've been right every single time. I don't want a remastered/remake of the old games because they'd just ruin that, too. Just listen to us past adding people walking on the sidewalks into the game.

All in all this game, in my humble opinion is...

[whumpinggrounds]

Hello, I am writing a character that is in the beginning stages of developing chronic pain which will affect their ability to continue their hobby, in the timeline of the story the character doesn't lose their ability to actually perform said hobby, But they are aware that with time, it could happen.

I want the character's arc to be about accepting their circumstances and coming into terms with their disability, as in the beginning they hide their disability and are in somewhat a state of denial.

I hope you can give me some advice and pointers.

Hi!

This sounds like a real cool idea, thanks for reaching out! Your ask is pretty vague, so I will give some general pointers, and if you have more specific questions, feel free to come back :)

This is my post about chronic pain, focused on my own chronic pain. I'll add some nuance to it now, focused on chronic pain that is beginning and developing into something more serious, as well as what looking ahead might be like.

So, in first developing chronic pain, I would say denial is definitely a big part of it. When I started having chronic pain in my shoulder, I repeatedly pushed myself too hard for too long, because I am very stubborn. I also didn't do things that I knew would help (heat, ice, stretches), partially because I was busy and also lazy, and also partially because I didn't want to admit to myself how bad it was. For me, this was because I didn't want to deal with the complexities, inconvenience, and expense of whatever might be wrong. I also really didn't want to give up the things I loved that hurt me.

In talking about your character, you mention that they're in denial, and they're hiding their pain. Is their denial inspired by similar reasons to mine - wanting to continue life as normal, fearing expensive and inconvenient medical intervention, etc.? Or is their hobby tied to their identity? Do they have internalized ableism that would cause them to regard chronic pain as weakness? Make sure these reasons are in line with who your character is! A very practical minded person could still be in denial, but they might take every precaution to avoid pain, believing in their denial that they have control. A very optimistic person might believe that their pain will go away on its own, or that if they push through with the right attitude, their pain will decrease.

Hiding pain - I hid my own pain, or lied about it, or just didn't bring it up, because I didn't like the attention, didn't think it was a big deal, and didn't want to deal with people telling me I should get it checked out. Why isn't your character sharing? Is it to avoid attention, scrutiny, lectures, concern? What happens when people do notice/find out - do they feel lied to? Confused? Hurt that their friend didn't trust them?

Specifically in terms of a hobby, coming to terms with losing it is due to pain one can't control is really, really hard. As your character moves more towards acceptance, consider having them think about adapting their hobby so it causes less pain, or is easier on their body or mind. What are their favorite parts of this hobby, and how can they still experience those things in a way that is safe and comfortable for them?

When you write your character coming to terms with their pain, I would look into ACT - Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. The principles are a cool way to look at and adapt to chronic pain, and it might help you envision a path to acceptance for your character.

Write whatever you want, write what makes you happy, and write what you want to read. My biggest advice is always to make your characters realistic and consistent - but you don't even have to do that! If you want further advice, feel free to come back, and as always, happy writing :)

[yourgamemasterthewhiterabbit]

I'll add, villains are particularly ripe for this because creators go out of their way to give them compelling or threatening seeming traits, but then also have to make them one dimensional and to a degree, with some narrative excuse, thoughtlessly compelled to "evil" as a construct. Heroes already tend to be better rounded characters that make more sense and have more sympathy from the narrative to begin with because we are supposed to like them as people. Villains by contrast are often outright "created in darkness" and given all the sapience of a person, they are made to look and feel like a person who just happens to have lazy excuses like "being ontologically evil" or "trauma" slapped onto them so they can play their role, and they are often vain and prideful, and more purely pathological in some way, because they are supposed to be a threat, they are made to be unlikeable with cherry picked traits. They are intelligent and competent and even sometimes great strategic leaders, because otherwise where is the threat. They are also often gay coded, or non binary, or made to look monstrous or alien, or are demons in some sense, things we are told we are by society if we're queer or women or black etc... And other things that are really charming representation when they aren't doing uncalled for murders.

Accidentally that creates a person not allowed personhood by the narrative who has so much further to fall than the hero does because they are such a perfect construct, because they -can't- be allowed to be sympathetic if they were never intended to change [at least originally or in their original work]. Who has traits that could make them so effective if the construct they are stuck in wasn't holding them back... People who are either abuse victims themselves once you think about it two seconds, or were created as developed people without the autonomy we have to shape ourselves as we grow up.

Seeing the hero have to face the ways in which they protect the status quo and how that can be bad... has been done. It can be compelling, it can be good writing, but it's often a very surface level angst for angst's sake with no backbone or a very simplified moral of the story for the audience. It can also be personal and also unpack trauma and also unpack ideas of what's good or inherent to people...

But the untapped potential for catharsis "on screen/paper" of the more perfect construct of threatening evil being broken down into the traits, thoughts, memories, beliefs, attitudes, traumas of a person who comes to terms with all of those things, either learning how they were wrong or learning how they were never wrong, actually... It just is all very juicy to me, and often when a villain is redeemed we see some short hand for the growth like self sacrifice, but never see the deeply personal process of it. The villain is either redeemed through a shift in circumstance or one grand act before they are killed off in favour of the next big bad.

Evil, as acts and choices, so often is mundane and boring and then it is done and they are wiped from the board, but the idea of a person they created to play that role so often has so much more to give, because a -person- is never that one dimensional and limited and writing them that way requires a lot of denial or sleight of hand [or someone who's effectively just a trantruming spoiled baby, but that's not the kind of villain I am talking about].

And the type of villain matters to me too, because a spoiled brat just learning they are a spoiled brat is as boring to me as a hero just punched until they snap. It has to be a fundamental change in how they see themselves and the world and what they thought they were 'allowed' to be. I want to deconstruct how we frame anger at injustice -for example- as an inherently destructive thing and things like that. The power of friendship is great and all that but I so often find it is written with no meat or substance to it. I want to see our little meow meow on the floor sopping wet realizing that they're traumatized and how that has informed their world view and overcome with messy emotions because they are starting to see the way out and that they're allowed to have it.

To me the most compelling version of this trading places thing is when the character presented as the villain and who is the villain, and the character presented as the hero -who is actually heroic, if still an averagely flawed person- start to unpack and examine the attitudes that actually underline their beliefs and ways of thinking and actually organically grow to trade roles.

I don't often see it done, I don't often see it done well for the villain especially, and even then the audience isn't given the very detailed and gritty personal journey of a character who was designed for us to hate in the first place. They slap some shorthand on it and then everyone forgives them or whatever.

And a lot of what I would love to see in media in this vein is probably never going to happen in movies and TV because no one is going to produce it. Either a film/TV has to be all ages and broadly appealing enough to make money at the box office, be kept by the platform, or it has to be wildly gritty and edgy and like a slasher flick full of shock value to attract an equally large audience. So I suspect I am starved for this content, in the end because tv and movies set trends for what literature is popular too, and so even if I had the time and energy to hunt down the right things to read more of, I might not find it anyway because the kind of detailed character work I want to see with this requires complex discussions about really impactful subjects and a lot of shit that's deeply personal such that anyone who doesn't find the character in question immediately compelling isn't going to be into it.

The best media -therefor- to find what I am after is fanfic actually, of pre-established characters in pre-established worlds... But then I find no one is writing it for the characters I personally find compelling.

wow that's a nice inflexible honour code you've got there. i can't wait to see it broken under immense pressure, and you along with it.

[allyworldeater]

History of Gods and Goddesses

Note: Yeah, first actual lore post. This is kinda base lore. A lot of this may not make sense at the moment but they more I post the more context will be added. This is pretty straight to the point too, so it may seem really lazy. This will be edited soon to be less dumb but for now.... And sorry if it's not interesting 😭

So, as all Aurni (Orion version of a holy script) state, everything started with Thylasia. The mother of time. She was born of the particales of 'Gvar vara' or roughly in english 'The Void'. While many scripts state that Thylasia is the start of time, some scripts claim that Thylasia is merely a symbol of time. That she does not mark the beginning but is the child of time. Now, Thylasia was alive for Eras. She was alone for a long time. She had craved interaction. An idea of companionship. Another being to be with you, appreciate you. This was when she created Nihilus and Platonus.

Nihilus is the 'Snake of black' or in other words, death itself. While platonus is the 'Snake of Opal' again, in other words, life itself.

The snakes had wrapped themself around her arms and travelled along with her in the dark. After years, Thylasia created Astralith. Now Astralith was created to be another companion, she was a dragon, but Astralith had established and learnt the ability to harness atoms and particles (All that sciency stuff) to create stars. Therefore, creating light, and stars. This was a fantastic talent and Thylasia was entirely intrigued. (Cutting straight to the point as theres not much in between) Selunara was created, who established and learnt the ability to create rock, and basically planet. This is how universes were created, and they'd grow and develop with time.

In one specific universe, they decide to focus on one specific planet and name it, Orion. This is when Selunara created Sylvanus, He is the god of nature, creation and life and finally Kynvyra, created by Astralith, the goddess of weather, sky and air. This is so they could develop the planet further.

This was when they were able to create Orinins.

They each created a race of semi humans but with a fantastical twist called Orinins. Each Orinin had traits and abilities based on their creators. A common staple of all Orinins are their yellow eyes, and horns. Each Orinin has a unique kaiju form based on what ability their creator favours. 

-Like a Orinin created by Sylvanus might have more of a deer like look and might have verdancy included in their form. 

These Orinin created empires and cities living all in peace with their gods and their rulers. The gods created their own descendants (Ovalords, Ova=God) to take over leadership when they eventually move on to something else.

Another Note: Sorry if this doesn't make sense, i kinda got tired towards the end. I'll probably go back and edit it. You'll know i haven't edited it if this note is still here

[nyanahogini]

Okay so I'm an undiagnosed neurodivergent adult so I've grown up thinking there's always something wrong with me. And always thinking that I failed to do things or was too much, was because I was annoying and lazy. That it was ME who was the problem and I just wasn't trying hard enough.

Of course I've learned that's not the case. That's it's just that my brain works differently.

Since I've spent most of my childhood resenting myself for anything I wasn't able to do and any behaviour that was deemed "annoying", I wanna turn this post into an appreciation post about my neurodivergency.

Let's start with:

I like that I can just play music in my head and actually hear the entire song. I love that when a song suddenly stops, it plays further in my mind.

I like how enthusiasm feels for me. I love how I can feel it in my chest and I can feel the feeling ripple to the rest of my body.

I like how I've developed specific ways to put my stuff in my pockets. It makes me able to find it quickly and quickly realise when something is missing by just feeling in my pockets.

I like sudden idea bursts!

[kitaychan]

What inspired you into making White Flame :0 do you have any further world building hcs for the world as well 👀?

Afsjala it all began with the Russia character song (which is also why it is the title of the fic too) I remember reading the comments on the video for that one and reading one about how "it felt as if everything Ivan does goes downhill and yet he tries" or something like that, and I thought, wouldn't it be fun to have that same feeling in a fic?

I also took plenty of inspo from some tales like "Father frost" and "Tsarevitch Ivan, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf", at the end I wanted to play with the idea of what General winter as an entity was.

Back then I thought that cardverse had a nice appeal but I didn't like much how the characters were divided (?) and instead of idk making up my division in a cardverse au, I just began to play around with a fantasy and royal AU that ended up becoming White flame.

For the world building there were four main kingdoms but we really only know about three in the story. West, Middle and North (I was kinda lazy with the names xd). this kingdom are all going through a transition of power, being monarchies, the authority is passed to the heirs and such, but they're for the most part, still too young and each of them has a mentor actually running the place.

The west is the most prosperous one in regards to crops, since the weather is warm and the soil is rich, it has some great openings to the sea so it's a commercial point and has strong ties to the middle kingdom. It's the farthest kingdom from the North and yet it's the one who's been at conflict with it before.Here we have Arthur as the mentor for a very stubborn Alfred.

Middle: The motto for this one would be something like "Order and development" it's what a dream industrial city would be if it only had bricks and stones as raw materials. A mediator between West and North that understands the need for expansion while also observing its neighbors warningly. Gilbert is the mentor/ leader with Ludwig as the heir due to special circumstances.

North: Think about thick forests, deep lakes, and snowy mountains, the land is not scarce in natural resources but it is slowly wilting and it has to do with the use of magic from its rulers, which is why it is a kingdom that constantly needs to expand. Yekaterina (which is the name I used for Ukraine here) is the mentor while Ivan is the heir.

Basically all these kingdoms run thanks to the process of primitive accumulation, which is why small towns and principalities get sucked into the kingdoms as it was the case for Tolys and Feliks' homelands and what drives them to seek new lands and new ways to create conflicts constantly.

[chiitaku]

Ways To Improve on Pokémon

Alright, what with me playing Pokémon Scarlet from scratch, I'm finding myself being rather critical with the game series as a whole. Now as it stands, I've yet to play the DLC for the game, so I'm not sure if some of my complaints have been already addressed.

Let's start with the big one. World Building. It's the world of Pokémon where children are handed a starter and set off into the wilderness as they seek to conquer the Pokémon Gym Challenge and the League that rules over it. However, it's always you, the player, that is always saving this city from criminals when the police are too stupid or powerless to do anything. The Elite Four and the police need to both be upgraded from cardboard standees to actually being capable of handling threats that come to the region in question. I remember a bunch of Gym Leaders coming together to throw down on Ghetsis' sages in one of the games, and it gave them so much more presence in the story than compared to other games. NOT EVERYTHING NEEDS TO BE LEFT TO THE MAIN CHARACTER TO HANDLE. I would love to be late to the party when the baddie of the game, only to find out that the Champion actually got off their ass and did something! In most games, you are TEN! Ten year olds should not be capable of wielding so much power that the Pokémon League as a whole or the police can't combat them should one go rogue. The adults as a whole need to be far more involved than they have been. It's lazy writing and poor power scaling.

Continuing on the world building, but expanding on the open world aspect, gyms should have a level tier system. Basically, if you're a new trainer, you can challenge the lowest tier and as you gain more badges, the tier you challenge to advance in your journey through the gyms gets higher. It would be nice to be able to challenge all of them for the sake of being a completionist, resulting in rewards for doing so, but the idea of the badge system would also open up more dangerous areas for the player (i.e. think the Cerulean Caves that housed Mewtwo in the original games that didn't become available until you became Champion). Basically, how I would like to see it go is that areas around cities and commonly roads would be "safer" as opposed to further out into the wilderness and in danger zones, which would be areas that the Pokémon League would require you to have so many badges as a sort of license of capacity. Such dangerous areas would test your mettle as a trainer with dangerous Pokémon.

Interjecting to a point of evil on my part, as I love the idea of giving players in this game trust issues. I would like to see Pokémon that are known to mimic others develop a new mechanic. We see Ditto and Zorua/Zoruark copy the physical forms of other Pokémon, but for creatures like Chatot, I would like to see them mimic the cries of the more dangerous Pokémon of the areas they're in. This is a means to keep players on their toes and focused. As an additional bit of evil, to those familiar with the shiny sound mechanic in Pokémon Legends Arceus, I would like to see that sound in particular also be mimic-able by said Pokémon. Yes, it would be kind of mean to those excited to hear a shiny potentially pop up, but it's also a nod to the idea that the player is dealing with wild Pokémon and you are an invader of their territory. They want you gone and will use whatever means to do so, even if it means sending you straight into Shiny Hunter mode before you get absolutely demolished by a Tyranitar because you were so focused on a shiny that you ignored the danger around you. In the cases of Ditto and the Zorua family, they would only mimic lower-leveled versions of what they appear to be. This is to lull you into a false sense of security for when an actual danger does show up after you think 'Ah, it's just another Chatot pretending to be a Tyranitar...', and proceeds to scare the hell out of you. This is a fear that's fun for all ages!

In addition, it would be kind of neat to be able to have your Chatot be able to switch between cries so you can freak the hell out of your friends when you send one out and it copies the cry of an Annihilape. If you don't know what that sounds like, hit Youtube. I want to find the person who made that sound a thing and shake their hand. This would also extend to have your Ditto/Zorua family have a set first transformation that they've copied before. Remember, folks, it's all about the trust issues.

Continuing on the trust issues. I want to see Secret Bases brought back, and you can install them in a variety of places, including danger zones. The only issue would be, is if you don't fortify your base properly, you'd have dangermon breaking into your base. Think like how in Minecraft that if you have enough lighting, you don't have to worry about creepers spawning in your base and exploding the place. It would also be kind of fun if you could have a little pet door to invite in smaller, less dangerous Pokémon for you to befriend and add to you team (or box farm). However, it would hilarious if a Voltorb or Geodude took advantage of said door to get in your base and self-destruct, forcing you out into the wild again. So it's a bit risk/reward.

Pokémon is meant to be a world of fun exploration, but the world is as dangerous as it is mysterious, and it should be reflected as such in the world as a whole, in both the environment and the characters that live there.

[saizov]

hc + expectations

⊱⊳『 𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐀𝐂𝐂𝐄𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆. 』

This question is actually really interesting because it's post-event that I'm answering it, and I've gotten to portray that Saizo is neither patient nor indecisive, but impulsive and willing to deal with the consequences afterward so long as they're further removed from his lord.

Here's a lovely snippet from his support with Kagero that nicely summarizes his expectations of others!

Kagero: Saizo... You are far too direct and merciless in your training approach. "Be prepared to sacrifice your life for your liege" is the first thing you say? That would scare any fresh recruit. I doubt any of them slept well. By the time they were assigned to guard duty, they were too sleep deprived to work. Remember—when one waters the plants, one must be careful not to drown the roots. Saizo: Hmph. Those unable to handle the stress of their duty have only themselves to blame. Besides, I believe their failings are a result of their inexperience. A battle-hardened warrior is prepared to give everything...

What he EXPECTS of his colleagues/co-workers is the ability to make a quick decision regardless of its outcome, then to be able to adapt to that outcome no matter how it unfolds. He EXPECTS his colleagues/co-workers to think quick and ask forgiveness later because, to him, that is the best path because something ( as opposed to nothing ) is getting done. It's the idea of "it was a shitty decision, but hey! At least you made a decision and didn't get dragged down in indecision."

He EXPECTS unwavering resolve. Why? Because he has an unwavering resolve. What's your excuse? Are you sloppy? Lazy? Unable to train? Unable to do some self-reflecting? Get it together. Nobody has time to flounder ---- ESPECIALLY if you serve a lord/lady/entity.

He EXPECTS no fear. If you feel it, you haven't experienced enough. You haven't put yourself through enough. You haven't developed the confidence to adapt to numerous situations if you're terrified, and he thinks that can be chalked up to laziness. If you don't have the confidence in what you can do, of course you're going to be terrified. But you can choose what skills you develop. Adaptability is one. Get chopping. There's no reason you should be scared.

As for himself?

Nothing short of everything. If he can't give everything in service to his liege, to Igasato, in honor to both, then what inheritor of the name Saizo is he? Why? Have this snippet from his support with Kaze!

Saizo: I might have, if not for the wound. It was a constant, throbbing reminder that I failed to avenge my father. That I wasn't strong enough. Never again in my life have I felt such shame!

He failed, and from the sound of it if you read the support in full context, when he was quite young. It was an adult's task ---- if not even beyond most adults ---- but have you ever tried to convince a kid to relinquish their guilt? Their retribution? It's not easy, and his has clung to his bones for years by the time this gets revealed.

What if another enemy infiltrates the home of an ally? What if they, too, wound up murdered like his father? Moreover, what excuse would he have? He's convinced he's capable of anything he sets himself to, so what excuse would he have if he couldn't defend an ally? His liege??

He can't pinpoint that skill A needs to be more honed than skill B or C or D because they're all skills. They're all going to have some sort of use. Burnout? Exhaustion? He's not convinced that the need for rest is a valid enough argument to halt his betterment in ability, so those ideas get put on the backburner and he works and works and works until the flaws are few and far in between. Why? He'll be damned if someone else that he considers his duty to protect ends up dead again.

[miss-oranje-disco-dancer]

headcanons for every leon

Inspired by this post

content: spitting, slapping, biting, handcuffs, public-ish sex, degradation, oral sex, LEON SLUT KENNEDY

word count: 722

taglist | ko-fi | masterlist

Re 2 Leon likes hickies. Every Leon would probably like them, but 21 year old Leon is young enough to get away with them. He likes when you mark him and tell him that you’re going to ‘make him yours’ because he’s so proud to have a pretty girl like you as his girlfriend (or whatever your relationship may be). When you let him do the same for you, he feels honored, he thinks he doesn’t deserve it, but he loves the idea of you being his and only his.

Re 4 Leon is still young and fun. He doesn’t go out on the town often, but when he does, he loves fucking you in semi-public places. In the car, in a bathroom stall, in a broom closet. He’d even finger you in the movie theater if he thought you could get away with it. Honestly, the thought of getting caught gets him off, though. He especially likes the fact that you have to be quiet because it’s easy for him with the composure he’s developed over the years, but you, on the other hand, have to try to be quiet. And Leon makes it difficult on purpose. He fucks you hard, so that he has to put his hand over your mouth. It’s all under the guise of ‘we have to do this quickly if we don’t want to get caught’, but really he wants to make you moan.

ID Leon is the most arrogant Leon in my opinion. He knows he’s hot and he uses it to his advantage. It’s not that he’s mean, but if you consent to it, he’d 100% be into degrading you - calling you a ‘slut’ or a ‘whore’, telling you how pathetic you look and how nasty you are for letting him do these things to you. He would also be the type of guy who likes a woman wearing lingerie. He’s not submissive, but he’d let you take control if you put on a show for him. He’d like high heels and fishnets, and if you wore them out he’d go back to being his RE 4 self and fuck you in the nearest semi-private area, while calling you a slut for letting him have you in public.   

Re 6 Leon likes to spit in your mouth when he’s inside you. He grabs your chin and forces you to look him in the eye while he spits into your mouth. Sometimes he’ll close your mouth for you, so you have to swallow it. If you were on top and you tried to spit in his mouth, he would initially be shocked and possibly off-put - or at least, he’d act that way - but secretly he’d like it. 

Damnation Leon just wants his breakfast, and by breakfast, I mean pussy in the morning! But he’s lazy af, so he’d want you to sit on his face. He’d also like it if you brought him actual breakfast in bed. A blowjob in a sexy apron would be the cherry on top. 

Vendetta Leon is constantly frustrated, and he’d love to give you a good spanking. But, if you’d let him, he’d go further and give you a nice slap in the face, too - the kind that stings a little, but doesn’t leave a bruise. He’d still be careful with you. And, if you ever slapped him back, he’d go red in the face - not just because of the slap, he’d be totally embarrassed. He’d be embarrassed because he liked it. A lot. He might try to deny it, but his dick would twitch and you’d know. 

DI Leon has fully embraced his submissive tendencies. Sure, he can be a soft dom! if that’s what you want, but he loves exploring his submissive side. He wants to be handcuffed to the headboard and have you ride him. I don’t know how he’d feel about punishment, but I think he’d like to be edged, and he would act like that’s a form of punishment. I think, like most, if not all, versions of Leon, he’s loud, and he’s whiny when you edge him, pretending like he hates it, but you know he doesn’t because he’s practically drooling. He’d be like ‘you’re so mean’ and you’d be like ‘if you think I’m so mean, then why is your cock leaking?’*

*yes, this is from not old enough chapter 4