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a-student-out-of-time · 1 year

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Happy Near Year Mod! Thank you for making this blog, it's gotten me thru some rough patches, I hope you have an amazing wonderful fantastic 2023 for you and all your friends who help make Student out of Time the fun story it is n.n

//Thanks, everyone ^^

//Yeah, it’s crazy how the year’s already almost over. It honestly doesn’t really feel like it, but here we are.

//2022 was....a mixed bag. It had numerous moments where it seemed like things were once again getting worse, only to do a massive turnaround. World War III is not on the horizon, no matter what you might hear from alarmist sources or clickbaity videos. Nevertheless, we still have a lot of issues that need to be addressed, some old and some new.

//On the other hand, a lot of good’s happened both for the world at large and for me personally. I think I’ve put out some of the best arcs this blog has seen this year, and now that I’m working more closely with more creators, I’m hoping to continue that trend.

//Not only that, but this year was where I actually got a lot done. I managed to improve as an artist and writer in ways I didn’t think I ever would, and I’ve really made some steps forward not only in writing this blog but also in my other projects.

//I also wanted to take a look at the arcs that’ve come and gone, and ask myself if my opinions on them have changed. So have they?

//Ehh...not really, but upon reflection, my early stuff really isn’t as bad as I used to think it was:

//You can see the areas in which I felt I needed the most improvement ^^;

//But at the same time, as we inch closer to 1,000 followers, this year really got me thinking about how so many of you actually really seemed to enjoy my early stuff and still enjoy what’s going on now.

//For a long time, especially in 2021 and earlier this year, I was considering possibly running a poll on whether or not I should reboot this blog. I was convinced that everyone had the same issues regarding my earlier stuff as I did, and there things that they couldn’t get passed that hampered their ability to enjoy the story.

//But now that we’ve moved further and further into better works, such as arcs I’ve written with Mod Poi and Mod Honey, and the assistance I’ve gotten from TA, Mod Carol, Creepercraftguy and others, it’s honestly made me move away from that mindset. Not to mention the number of asks I’ve actually gotten in regards to that issue have been minimal.

//I actually saw a great video the other day from Zoe Bee called The truth about being a content creator (or, "quit apologizing and be an artist"), where she talks very earnestly about the struggles of being a content creator. I related to it on a lot of levels, but the part that really stood out to me was the ending where she showed comments from people who genuinely enjoyed and appreciated what she does. And it reminded me of all the kind and supportive followers I have here.

//Depression makes it hard to feel like you’ve earned any genuine kindness, and when people give it to you in that state, it doesn’t feel real or you don’t feel like you can accept it. But you can, and you should. When people appreciate what you do, that means you have made a real, tangible impact on someone’s life in a positive way.

//I’ve made it no secret that I struggle with that negative mindset, but I’m trying every day to get a little better at it. Sometimes I need breaks, and sometimes I don’t feel like I’m doing enough, but I’m working on steadily improving my outlook on myself and life as a whole.

//I’ve always said, if people enjoy works you don’t care for or don’t like, that doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with them. On the contrary, it can mean that someone got something out of it that maybe you didn’t; that maybe they saw it in a unique way and it appealed to them.

//In the case of works you yourself make that you don’t like, but other people enjoy, maybe it goes to show that your perception of yourself doesn’t have to be so negative. You’re the one who’ll think the most about the flaws of your work, but the people who appreciate it will like it for its strengths.

//To everyone who’s ever followed me and enjoys the work I do, you guys are the reason I feel like I can keep going. It makes me happy to know you like this giant nerd’s ridiculous ideas ^^

//And I don’t want to hype things up too much, but with what we have planned for the coming year, it’s only gonna get better

//Happy new year, everyone!

#mod talks #a student out of time

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sonianvmd · 3 years

Text

thh characters with a crush on you

warnings: none, maybe some swearing but otherwise nothing major

oH and mentions of murder and death but this is danganronpa so im going to assume u expected as much

a/n: so we kickin this blog off with a bang, writing for LITERALLY THE ENTIRE TRIGGER HAPPY HAVOC CAST LMFAOAOAOAO (excluding hifumi, yasuhiro, and the two despairs doe bc i’ve already made that clear)

also some character’s sections are shorter than others im sorry i just couldnt think of as many bullet points for them *tiktok cry emoji*

edit: I FORGOT CELSESTE FU K SORRY

spoilers under the cut!!

★ 彡 ★ ミ ★ 彡 ★ ミ ★

makoto naegi

when he realizes he likes you, he doesn’t necessarily panic or anything, but he does get nervous

nervous around you, that is

y’all saw how he was with sayaka

if he says anything that might sound intimate then he’ll immediately rephrase it or reassure he didn’t mean anything by it

he really only does have good intentions but his wording just kinda flops sometimes

he appreciates how you listen to him and value what he says

you don't make him feel dumb or inferior compared to a bunch of ultimates with actual talents

he’ll muster up the courage to tell you eventually

let’s hope his luck comes through 😁

byakuya togami

now when THIS man realizes he likes you, he a bitch nigga bout it 😐

he can't believe he fell for a common plebeian such as you

but it was hard not to

the way you preferred to get to the point

the way you were aware of your situation and didn't sugarcoat how you felt about it, although you certainly were nicer with it than him

he's ruthless

anyways

you knew your priorities and spent no time trying to use your resources

he noticed how much you had in common; in you, he saw himself

and we all know how this mf feels about himself 😐

he’ll be quick to defend you in class trials

he won’t realize he’s doing it but he just subconsciously protects you

but just because he doesn't notice it, don't mean the rest of the class brushes past it as well

yeah they on his ass LMFAOO

kyoko kirigiri

kyoko is very good at keeping her composure so she won’t be very obvious

she’ll probably just hang around you more

she’ll also defend you in class trials, calmly

“oh, it couldn’t have been [name]. i remember seeing them in their dorm around the time the murder took place.”

hifumi probably finna say some dumb shit like “aye what was you doin in their dorm doe” but anyways

she finds you respectable

if you have anything to contribute, she’ll let you take the floor

when she tells you, she’s very composed, but also very indirect LMFAO

she’s not too sure on how to express her interest in you but maybe she’ll go about it like “well, [name], now we’ve made it here, would you like to step back into the world with me?” or somethin else along those lines idk

take her hand

pls

toko fukawa

y’all know her whole “master togami” shtick

yeah so 😁😁😁😁

no but fr, toko ofc still has her borderline stalkerish 🧍🏾‍♀️ tendencies

she’ll often find herself staring at you, either in the library or in the morning meetings everyday at breakfast

but she isn’t as straight forward as she is with byakuya

i actually think she’d be mad shy and non confrontational

the whole thing she kept up with him ? yeah, never again

if you approach her first then she’ll be able to get a few words out but for most of the conversation, she’ll just nervously play with her braids

you’ll most likely put two and two together

unless ur a makoto kinnie bc then you’ll have to wait till someone else puts it in place for u but anyways

if you decide to approach her about it, you’ll kinda be backing her into a corner bc she’s just bad at deflecting things lmao

she’ll eventually confess (begrudgingly but hey i mean its better than nothing)

expect much stuttering and a gesture like giving you a small gift

and not to be that writer that uses japanese terms in english writing but toko seems like a tsundere but not really if that makes sense?? so she’d probably shove it in your hands and if you try to say something then she’ll just try to play it off as not a big deal lol

calls u a baka 😍😍

aoi asahina

i know y’all all see how she is with sakura

yeah.

aoi is the kind of person who’d like to spend time with their crush rather than shy away from them

she values you and your friendship very much

bring her donuts

just trust me bring her donuts

she doesn’t really realize she’s into you like that for a while but believe me, she is, the whole time

and yeah i think she’d be nervous to tell you bc that’s just natural but ultimately she’d be cool about it

uh oh looks like we goin for a swim

sakura ogami

similar to kyoko, she’s very calm

despite her big and bad appearance, she really is a sweet girl

she cares for you and your well-being very much

will indeed go on x games mode for you

the way she tells you is very sincere and well spoken

kith her

naow

im sorry this is like the shortest one i couldn’t think of much for her 😔😔

leon kuwata

flirtatious ass mf

and he’s lightskin

so this just cannot go well

y’all know that bit where it’s like the guy yawns and stretches his arms up and then wraps one around your shoulder

yeah that’s literally him LMFAOO

he’s very confident

he was fairly well known with the ladies at his old school so you know he’s rhockin wit it ‼️

but

you feel.. different than usual ??

those girls were just lil flings n dates bc he was nice enough to accept their confessions and it boosted his ego anyway so it was a win win

but you

he was genuinely interested in you since he had saw you the first time

he didn’t just acknowledge your appearance

he learnt about your personality and your hobbies and what you liked and such, and he really cared and wanted to hear you talk about it all

he felt the need to really make an effort to show you how much he respected and had affections for you

he doesn't tell you in a grand way

probably just asks you out to a movie or somethin

he's chillin

mondo owada

you know

for being the biggest, baddest, most respected biker gang leader

or just for being in a biker gang period

mondo’s a huge softie lol

yeah he gets violent but he’s a sweet guy who cares about and is loyal to his friends

so mfs need to be nice to you

or they gettin whooped

when he decides it’s time to tell you how he feels, he thinks over his words and he’s all confident there’s no way you’d reject him but then he sees you in the halls and goes 🧍🏾 LMFAOOO

he’ll push through but it’s like he’ll walk up to you and look away from you because he refuses eye contact and just go

“so y/n, would you wanna.. tch.. come to a drive-in movie with me or somethin’?... dumbass.”

real smooth mondo i think you got em good job

please tease him LMFAOO it’d be so funny

he’d probably yell but you can tell he’s not mad so you just keep going with it

but once you’re done tormenting him, you do agree to the movie, don’t worry 🙏🏾

also mondo would call his s/o doll

that is all

chihiro fujisaki

my fav dude in a dress <3

chihiro would be quite shy, but that’s just how he is tbh so no surprise there

he’s very kind so he’d check up on you often just to see how you are

he cares about you v much

the way he confesses is one that consists of a red face as he offers you a box of candy or something similar

and he’d feel honored that you reciprocate his feelings

he’d be very scared to tell you his secret but once he does, he’s delighted to hear it doesn’t make any difference to you

he doesn’t know how he got so lucky with you

not only because woooo they like me back but also because you like him despite,, well everything about him LMFAOO

sweet lil boy

i’d feel like he’d talk about you to alter ego a lot

and when u meet the program for the first time, he’s like “oh! you must be [name]! master’s told me all about you :)”

sobbing i miss him

kiyotaka ishimaru

okay here’s the thing

if taka were to like someone

i can’t tell whether he’d be more strict because he doesn’t want them to get in trouble (and also so it would hopefully divert any suspicion that he DOES like you since he treats you the same as everyone else, only more)

or if he’d hold back more because he favors them LMFAOO

so imma write a lil bit for both

in the case that he was even stricter:

he’d prefer to be around you because he believes the best way he can make sure you stay out of trouble is to make sure you don’t get into any in the first place

of course it’s impossible to monitor you every second of every day but he does his best to make sure you’re doing well

if he sees you do anything out of line, he’s shutting that shit down IMMEDIATELY

but in the case he let up:

he’d still lecture you but noticeably less than the other students

if your feet were resting on top of a desk, he’d ask you to move them and then leave you alone rather than yell at you and forcibly move them himself

if you notice his behavior towards you in comparison to the other students do not tease him about it he will go as red as his eyes /hj

either way he’s confessing to you with a polite but exaggerated bow while holding out a well thought out letter with both hands

sayaka maizono

she will tell you

idk why but i feel like she’d be straight up lol

she’d make sure she’s sincere

she is the ultimate pop idol and all so she wants to make sure you know that she really does like you and isn’t playing a sick joke on you or anything

ok bc

while i do think she’d tell you

i’d feel like she’d be a little indirect just to see how you feel

like she’d give you a free ticket to one of her upcoming concerts with a kind smile

and naturally, you're like :o

and of course you come to support her

and seeing you smile at her from the crowd and cheer her on was the encouragement she needed to push her to ask you out

for real this time

she asks if you wanna come to a concert with her and ur like “oh yeah i love ur shows!!” bc ur dumb and then she’s like “no i mean.. for another artist” and eventually it hits you that she’s asking you out and ur like “oH YEAH YEAH SURE THAT SOUNDS GREAT YEAH OK” LMFAOO

———

i really hope that this is good LMFAOO this is my first time writing for dr so 😃👍🏾

fun fact i finished toko’s section first and taka’s last 😁😁

and i’d like to thank @mius-imagination @bloodygir n the rest of the discord for helping me figure some of these characters out *simultaneously whips and nae naes*

bye ive been working on this for like weeks this took forever

———

edit: here’s a deleted section bc i kept blanking for this character 😍

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cassandraclare · 4 years

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I'm sorry to hear that your hard work was leaked but I was curious about what happened. I hope the person faced consequences because that was a very selfish thing to do leaking your work like that :(

I haven’t taken action against the person who leaked the book. I know who they are, since they uploaded the page I signed for them, and I was able to match that against my records.

I haven’t refrained from taking action because I feel sympathy for them. I don’t. It’s beyond shitty behavior to receive an early, signed book as a gift, and to then leak the entire book online. It’s a shit thing to do to the authors and an equally shit thing to do to other fans. However, I don’t want to put myself (and Wes) through the exhausting, grim and expensive process of legal repercussions. It doesn’t mean what this person did isn’t horrible, and it doesn’t mean they haven’t cost the entire fandom any chance of there ever being an early contest giveaway like that again. They did. There never will be. There will be no ARCs of Chain of Iron, either, and you can thank them for that, too.

Part of what makes piracy such an issue for authors goes far beyond the individual assholes who upload and distribute and translate stolen books. It’s that the whole system is set up to make it incredibly difficult for us to do anything about it. Publishers do little to nothing to prevent piracy, and authors shoulder the entire burden of searching out and reporting illegal copies of their books. And even then, we’re dependent on whether or not the reported website feels like complying with copyright laws or not. Twitter is incredibly slow to respond, Tumblr is about fifty-fifty on bothering at all. They’re legally required to take action, but they also know that the effort of doing something about it if they do not falls on exhausted, overburdened artists who often can’t afford to follow up with a lawyer’s letter.

And like, I get being broke and wanting to read books; there were a lot of books I had to pass up reading when I was broke (I will be forever grateful to the library system of New York and Brooklyn, which is how I read books at all from about 2001-2004.) I was broke enough that I slept on a bare mattress because I couldn’t afford sheets, but I’m pretty sure if I broke into Bed, Bath and Beyond and stole a bunch of fitted percale bedding I wouldn’t have encountered much sympathy if I got caught.

I talked about this on Twitter before, and I’ll say it again here though I know it will make very little difference: pirating books doesn’t just hurt the author of those books. It hurts everyone at the publishing company, where the margin of profit is razor-thin (and yes, publishers should do more to protect themselves against piracy; I agree there); it hurts bookstores, especially indie bookstores (I remember doing an event at a store that told me, sadly, that they were likely going to have to close because people “came into the store, looked at the books, took notes, then went home and pirated them.”) It hurts libraries, who rely on circulation for funding, and the shutting down of libraries hurts people who actually can’t afford books.

Now, I know is no way to talk people out of piracy; the internet has normalized it, and besides, people will generally do the cheaper, easier thing — you can’t talk people into not doing something they want to do by telling them it’s wrong, in my experience. They’ll find ways to justify it, whether it be that they can’t afford the book or it isn’t yet available in their language or that they find the author “problematic” and this is the way they’ve chosen to punish them.

The reason I put “problematic” in quotes is because yes, of course you can read and enjoy work that has problematic elements. Pretty much everything has some element that’s going to be found problematic by someone — which is exactly why deciding that it’s morally excusable to steal from people you think are creating flawed work is more than problematic. Holding creators accountable for their work means critiquing that work, not stealing it.

I listen to a lot of political podcasts, and some of them review work by extreme right-wing politicians etc. who have written books that the podcasters find morally despicable but wish to, or need to, review and discuss. Since they don’t wish to give money to the authors, they buy second-hand copies or take the book out of the library. They certainly don’t steal, translate and distribute copies of the books because they genuinely do not like them and do not want more people reading them. That’s what it looks like when you have an actual moral problem with a book or author.

However, running multiple fan accounts for a book series, naming your internet identity after characters from that book series, and talking endlessly about “your favorite parts” and how this is “your favorite book” entirely invalidates any argument that you’re doing this because you think the books are bad, evil, etc. If you claim a book is actively homophobic or racist but are so desperate to read it that you’ll steal it, so excited about it that you’ll share that stolen copy, so obsessed that you’ll illegally translate a whole book and provide that stolen translation to as many people as possible, and so dedicated to the fandom that you’ll name yourself after the characters in the books and write poetry about them, I have to tell you: the last thing that looks like is that you actually find the books problematic, regardless of what you say to the contrary. It looks like you like them but don’t want to pay for them, because in fact, that’s the case. (Either that or it looks like you’re really into racist, homophobic books, and making sure as many people read them as possible, which is your problem.)

One of the issues I have with piracy is that it teaches you to hate creators. You have to hate them, because you’re doing a fucking awful thing to them and you have to justify it. This results in lying about creators — about their process, their translations, their research — as if somehow, even if they were bad researchers, that would justify widespread theft. (It doesn’t.) Those who steal books wind up in a headspace where they are obsessed with the content of the books, and entirely unwilling to accept the reality that those books were created by a real person that they’re really harming. It encourages the mentality that I didn’t create Jem or Magnus or Will or Cordelia: they came from some kind of sparkly outerspace planet and I was just lucky enough to get to write down their adventures. It invalidates the hard work creators put into what they create, and in fact, erases their very existence. The internet attitude toward creators is already incredibly toxic (especially if they’re women, LGBT+ and/or BIPOC) and the feeling of entitlement to free content, and vicious hatred toward those who aren’t providing it (even though a lot of creators, me included, provide a great deal of free content) contributes to that. Genuinely, if you’re stealing someone’s work, the least you could do is not also be an asshole about them. (Or pretend you’re Robin Hood. He stole from the rich who had taken property and goods from the poor, and returned that stolen wealth. He didn’t steal from artists and independent bookstores and use that stealing to benefit himself and his friends. The idea is actually kind of funny.)

I understand there is a pressure to be up to date on the books that are being released so as to participate in fandom, and I do get that. Unfortunately, piracy has real consequences that stretch beyond just hurting me and Wes. Because LGBT+ books are pirated at such an incredible rate, and we’ve definitely seen that with TEC, I am left wondering if there will ever be an actual Spanish translation of TEC, or whether the publisher will decide not to bother because it’s already been so thoroughly pirated in Spanish. I have to wonder if there will even be a third book of TEC at all, or whether publishers will feel it isn’t worth doing. And I have to wonder why the people who create this situation so often have usernames that include Jem or Magnus or Alec or Cordelia or Julian or Tessa. What an incredible misunderstanding of those characters, to imagine a world in which Will Herondale or Magnus Bane or James Carstairs would approve of stealing books and harming writers. And why name yourself after a character who absolutely couldn’t stand you? I don’t know. I don’t get it, any more than I get hating someone who provided you with something you claim is your favorite book.

That was a much longer answer than you were probably expecting or hoping for, and I know I’ll get yelled at quite thoroughly for writing it. Writers always do, when we engage with the issue of piracy. I know most of you reading this acquire your books honestly; most of you are not like this at all. But like most things on the internet, a small amount of people really do have the power to make things pretty rotten for everyone else.

#brother-sixpackariah-carstairs #piracy #tda #tlh #tec

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thoughts-on-bangtan · 3 years

Text

Let’s talk: Serendipity with a side of 4 O’Clock and other guest appearances

by Admin 1 and 2

We’ve been meaning to write a analysis/theory/discussion on Serendipity for the longest time, especially after I once mentioned in a previous post how I think the song can be interpreted in a way that works for both vmin and namjin. So, while I’ll add my thoughts in regard to the latter, the vmin portion is more based on conclusions and thoughts Admin 2 arrived at. I think their idea presents a perspective I haven’t really seen anywhere else before yet, so I think it’ll hopefully be interesting.

As with any song analysis/discussion/theories, this only represents some of our interpretations which don’t have to be right and no one is meant to take this as gospel. Art is subjective and while we all listen to the same song, read the same lyrics, our understanding and thoughts may/will vary, so you might not agree with any of what we say and you are not obliged to do so. This is just meant as a discussion, some pondering, and perhaps we can discover something along the way that we haven’t considered yet.

With that being said, let’s get into it.

Additional preface: this post will work off of the assumption that both vmin and namjin have romantic feelings for each other and/or are together. If this isn’t an angel you’re interested in reading about, this likely isn’t the post for you. Furthermore, if you’d prefer to put on your delulu hat for the duration of this post, please take a moment to put it on now. Enjoy!

All lyric translations are from doolset.

Serendipity is the opening song on Love Yourself: Her, the first album of the Love Yourself trilogy, and was released September 18th 2017. Of all the members, Namjoon is the only one credited as lyricist on it along with four other people (two outsiders, Slow Rabbit and Bang PD). Based on that we can say that Namjoon definitely had a big influence of the content of the lyrics and the story they tell so analyzing the song in the context of Namjoon makes sense. But at the same time the song is Jimin’s solo so I don’t think it is that farfetched to think that he kept Jimin in mind when writing the lyrics, and judging by how attached vmin, and especially Tae, seem to be to this song, thinking that there might be more to it than just the fact that it’s Jimin’s solo, again, seems like a sensible conclusion to arrive at. In 2020 Tae even used a moment where he recommended Serendipity (as part of the digital Map of the Soul ON:E Exhibition which, by the way, opened on Jimin’s birthday) in order to wish Jimin a happy birthday.

Serendipity /ˌsɛr(ə)nˈdɪpɪti/ as: the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.

Looking at the meaning of the title and the big focus on the concept of destiny displayed in the lyrics, I think it makes a lot of sense in the context of Bangtan. The members themselves have spoken about how it was meant to be them, these seven men, and just think about how many different factors had to work in their favor for them to end up not only as trainees for BigHit but also as members of BTS. If Seokjin hadn’t gotten on that specific bus and gotten off on that station the BigHit staff might’ve never seen him and approached him, if Tae hadn’t gone with his friend to the audition and hadn’t gotten talked into auditioning himself, he wouldn't even be an idol at all, and if Jimin’s dance teacher hadn’t encouraged him to audition he wouldn’t have come as trainee to Seoul either. And if one of the BigHit producers hadn’t seen Namjoon, hadn’t shown him to Bang PD, BTS wouldn’t have been created at all. As the lyrics themselves say:

이 모든 건 우연이 아냐 All this is not a coincidence

Timeline wise we think Serendipity is about two different moments in time depending if you look at vmin or namjin. For the latter I’d say it’s about the beginning of their relationship which, if namjinists are right in our thoughts and theories, would put this sometime 2013. Meanwhile for vmin, Admin 2 actually thinks it would be 2016, more specifically the time of the dumpling incident, so before FIRE was released. This also leads us to the main idea that Admin 2 arrived at and thought of, being that Serendipity and 4 O’Clock tell two sides to the same story, as in Tae in 4 O’Clock is the one waiting for the other person, who describes the moment in time and the feelings he had when that person came to meet him. Meanwhile Jimin is the one who came to meet him, who asks him to love him, who cried because of his feelings and who’s telling him about those feelings and thoughts (as displayed by the sentiments of Serendipity). Namjoon also wrote both, and he knew as many details of the incident as Tae was willing to share with him which, seeing how filled with emotion and deep the lyrics to 4 O’Clock are, I’m sure were rather extensive. How else would he has been able to write such beautiful lyrics?

Actually, to sidetrack for a moment, Admin 2 thinks that it’s not a coincidence that Namjoon isn’t just on 4 O’Clock was writer but also as artist, that in a way he also verbalizes his own pain/troubles through his verse even though, as far as we know, namjin never had anything that would be like the dumpling incident, but in this sense it’s more about what the incident represents rather that the literal event. As in, for vmin this was the big fight they had, a majorly significant moment that brought about a change in their dynamic and bond, and according to them it was their last big fight in general. Like a moment that was destined to happen in order to allow for them to later down the line grow into what they are today in connection to each other, but we think it was also a moment in which, while they might’ve realized and opened up to each other about their feelings, it was also when they had to realize that despite there being more to their feelings, it wasn’t the time for it.

As the lyrics in Serendipity say:

설레는 만큼 많이 두려워 As much as my heart flutters, I’m afraid

운명이 우릴 자꾸 질투해서 because the destiny keeps getting jealous of us

너만큼 나도 많이 무서워 As much scared as you are, I’m, too, scared

When you see me When you touch me

Destiny in this case represents their career and them being idols, being part of a group destined to become the phenomenon and the superstars they are today, meaning that this destiny stood in the way of their bond in a romantic sense. They had to prioritize this destiny over their feelings, over wanting to be with each other, because they were afraid of the repercussions that could otherwise bring upon them (as well as the other members). Besides, they could also look at namjin who, in a way, came before them. If theories are right and namjin were together sometimes starting in 2013, they had to eventually split romantically for the greater good of the band, so if their relationship had to take the back seat, so to speak, destiny having gotten in their way (gotten jealous of them), how could vmin know it wouldn’t be the same for them? Besides they already had so much going on with Jimin’s feelings of jealousy due to Tae’s Hwarang hyungs, Tae’s work on the drama keeping him away from the band and exhausting him even more, and the sad things still to come which they couldn’t know at that time just yet.

From Sweet Night we know that they had a first chance that Tae didn’t take, that he couldn’t have known that one day he would wake up and feel more for his best friend, as in Jimin, even though, deep down he realized that he’d long reached the shore already. So, in that park that night the conclusion they arrived at was that while they couldn’t move forward with their feelings (because perhaps Tae didn’t even know just yet the extent of his own), he realized that Jimin is an angel after he told him that he at least wants to be his source of strength which subsequently unleashed arrows of pent up emotions from his heart. So while it was a positive event in sense of it bringing clarity, to a certain degree, about their feelings for each other, it was also one of sadness because they knew they couldn’t follow those feelings. Remember how when performing 4 O’Clock Tae cried in the end? If it were a song just reminiscing about two friends making up at the park after a fight over them being stubborn about dumplings, would he really feel saddened enough to cry, to get to that level of emotionality?

Later in the song the lyrics say:

이젠 곁에 와줘 Now, please be by my side

우리가 되어줘 Please be us

I don’t wanna let go no

그냥 맡기면 되는 거야 We can just leave it to fate

말 안 해도 느껴지잖아 We can feel it even if we don’t talk

Here the important part would be the line about how they can leave things up to fate, which can be interpreted as even if things might not be what we want them to be right now or anytime soon, they will happen eventually because that’s how it’s meant to be. The lyrics generally make a lot of mention of how their love is destined, how their happiness together has been destined since the universe was first created. So it shows a sense of trust that regardless of what will happened, or might’ve happened in the past, they will find their way back together eventually (in a romantic sense). Like, again, in Sweet Night where Tae didn’t use his first chance but hopes he’ll get a second one and, judging by the hopeful tone of the song and everything that we know currently, it looks like he got it and it worked out in their favor. The same, I think, can also be said about namjin.

Looking at the lyrics of Serendipity, the idea of them being fated even though their meeting was serendipitous, Namjoon is basically telling us that here, too, he believes that his connection to Seokjin, if we are correct in the interpretation that Seokjin is the lover hinted at throughout different songs on the Love Yourself albums, was also meant to be and that it will remain as such even if they had to step away from each other romantically, that while they used to be scared back in the day to be together, to open up to each other about their feelings, it still was destiny and that it would work out in the end. Looking at how much they’ve influenced each other, how Namjoon even went as far as saying that Seokjin is his muse/inspiration in a way, would such conclusion really be all that farfetched?

The first line of the quoted verse also reminds me of the same sentiment that Jimin wrote about three years later for Friends in which he wrote:

언젠가 이 함성 멎을 때 stay hey Someday, when these cheers die down, stay hey

내 옆에 함께 있어줘 Stay with me by my side

영원히 계속 이곳에 stay hey Forever, keep staying here, hey

We know that forever/eternity is a big thing when it comes to Jimin and Tae which we’ve seen as early as 2014 with the picture of their intertwined hands that Tae posted on twt with the wish of them keeping going together for a long time and then with Jimin’s addition of saying forever. Later during Bon Voyage 4 he also said that again, how he wants to live with his lovely Taehyungie forever, and years before that how he wants them to be together until they’re grandpas.

So, in a way, it isn’t just destiny they trust that will be in their favor, but it’s also their active wish and “work” in that direction, that it’s not just something a higher force has foreseen for them but it’s also something they consciously want for themselves as well. All because of that serendipitous fact that they ended up as trainees and members of BTS.

넌 내 푸른 곰팡이 You’re my blue mold (penicillin)

날 구원해 준 that saved me

나의 천사 나의 세상 My angel, my world

Here is where we can draw two connection directly to Tae and Jimin, one because of something Jimin said about Tae years prior and the other due to the fact that as recently as the second half as 2020 (DICON Magazine) Tae said he had Jimin saved on his phone as Penicillin. We also know that after the song came out, Tae made a phone case for Jimin with the word penicillin on it which Jimin proudly used and showed off.

Furthermore penicillin itself is something that can save you, and while we might not know from what, exactly, Jimin needed to be saved, he did say that Tae is more than just his close friend, he is also his savior.

As for Namjoon, there was certainly a time where he would’ve needed someone to save him, from himself and his dark, less than life positive, thoughts (as displayed by the lyrics in Always) but also the world around them back in 2015/16 where he was seen as the worst of the worst for things he’d said that had been purposefully misconstrued and misunderstood, as well as lyrics he’d written which, again, where taken to mean things much different from what he actually tried to say. While there is nothing I can use or base any assumptions on that Seokjin would be the one/was the one who saved him, contextually, I don’t think it would be farfetched that he did help him and was there for him during that time, much the way the other members surely were too. Based on what we know about Abyss and the background of that song, we know Namjoon helped Seokjin in some ways with it, so if Seokjin came to him and spoke to him about the hard time he was having in 2020, it isn’t that out there to think that Namjoon might’ve done the same back in 2015/16, and during other times between when they first met until Namjoon wrote these lyrics, right?

난 네 삼색 고양이 I’m your calico cat

널 만나러 온 that came to meet you

Love me now touch me now

Calico cats are very rare, and usually you’ll only find female calico cats, meaning that male ones are even more rare than that. Looking at Namjoon as a person, I’d say he is a very rare type of person as well, I mean, how many teenage underground rappers turned idol group leaders who might also be queer and is also a literal genius do you know off the top of your head? Furthermore calico cats are seen as lucky cats in many cultures and places so in this sense Namjoon/Jimin would represent something lucky/positive that came to their partner which, if we again look at things that were said over the years, Jimin did say that Tae is the happiest when he’s with Jimin.

As for Namjoon and Seokjin, this could be connected to the fact that Seokjin was thankful that Namjoon is on their team, their ally, instead of someone from another group, thus seeing it as luck that they are together (Rolling Paper FESTA 2020), like he is their good luck charm that played a major role in them getting to where they are, so to speak. And yes I’m aware that he said that three years after the song was released but it wasn’t the first or only time he ever voiced such sentiment. Seokjin has underlined how much he admires Namjoon’s abilities as leader and lyricist many, many times over the years.

“Our leader, RM. This guy is amazing. There are 2 more older guys than him, yet he is great as leader. I want to thank our leader personally.” -- Seokjin as a concert which, judging by their hairstyles (and the use of Namjoon’s old artist name) must’ve been some time around Dark & Wild perhaps?

As a side note, the mention of calico cats reminds me of a picture Seokjin posted for Namjoon’s birthday in 2019 (so two years after Serendipity had already come out) in which Namjoon is seen asleep while sitting and hugging a calico cat plushy. You’ll recognize both the plushy and the ARMY B*mb hat as part of the VCRs for 4th Muster in 2018. So I’m mentioning this as more of a cute thing rather than some kind of definitive sign of any sort really. By the way, that same cat plushy can also be seen when Tae lies sleeping and Jimin sits next to him singing the calico cat line and places the plushy on Tae.

But, what I think is, for me at least, the biggest hint toward Serendipity being, to a degree at least, about/inspired by vmin is the fact that early in 2017, February more specifically, Jimin and Tae both called each other their soulmates during one of their fansigns. And what are soulmates if not two people destined to meet and be with each other, two people quite literally meant for each other? And here Jimin is singing a song about how his love for this person and his happiness with them was fated, that destiny had this planned for them regardless how scared they may be and how destiny (outside factors) might be jealous of them (keep getting in their way).

Furthermore, isn’t it curious how this song, specifically, is written as gender neutral instead of with female pronouns like their songs in the past or even Outro: Her off the same album? Yes, Namjoon explained in their interview with Billoard that this decision was one he made because these rare moments and special things in life are something that transcend genders, cultures and barriers between people, and love is also something that doesn’t care about genders, in this case love and destiny don’t care about the fact that they are all the same gender because they are fated anyway, they are soulmates, each others fated person, and their happiness is meant to be in one way or another. Together.

#vmin #namjin #song discussion #serendipity #4 o'clock #Jimin #Taehyung #Namjoon #Seokjin

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collisiondiscourse · 3 years

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Man, why does it feel like the threshold for success has a time limit? I always feel like if I'm not an insanely popular artist or powerful influencer by the time I turn eighteen, then I am an utter failure and a waste of my teenage years. I think one of the biggest pitfalls of how the generation of kids today has been raised is that we've basically been socialized to think that our best achievements have to come in our youth or else they become virtually worthless.

Like... Oh? you're a talented pianist and played in front of an auditorium of hundreds at an opera house? how old were you when that happened?

A forty-seven-year-old would be met with a few impressed nods, maybe, and people congratulating them for all their hard work and experience.

A fourteen-year-old would get news articles. they'd go viral on the internet and thousands of people would be clambering over each other to sing praises of how they were blessed with such innate talent.

I get it. It's impressive, right? Because they're young and haven't had plenty of years of experience. These kids, by all means, deserve all the praise and attention for working hard to get where they were!

But that's not the case, is it? And the culture of people putting more credit for young people's achievements doesn't even fuckin end there.

Because not only does this exact same pattern happen with literally every single thing ever, even totally non-competitive hobbies like painting, it happens with such frequency that it's considered normal. Articles use age markers about successes to serve as clickbait for their articles. Cable companies start shows purely about young prodigies and how they've beaten their adult competitors. Because who wouldn't wanna hear about a ten-year-old chess champion, right?

And what's even worse is that it then becomes a competition even among young people themselves! You scroll down on a video of a pre-teen playing Winter Wind and I promise you there will be at least one asshole saying shit like "This kid is not impressive. I saw a nine year old do the same thing the other day!"

It eats away at you! It really fucking does! because we go down this stupid rabbit-hole wherein younger and younger kids get paraded around and raised to be prodigies and meanwhile here you are, sixteen, and having a panic attack because you can't go back in time and force your eight-year-old self to keep playing the violin. It's stressful. It aches. Instead of bringing up younger people around us, we're stuck in this miserable zone where we constantly get compared and pitted against each other because we couldn't "maximize our childhood".

Isn't it enough to just... exist?

There have already been many conversations on the nature of college. How it's utter BS that people have to choose what career they want for the rest of their lives as early as junior year in HS. But what a lot of people don't talk about is just how early people are forced to decide what hobbies they want to do for the rest of their lives. People who start learning how to play an instrument at 28 can't do so without constantly being questioned why they started so late. A drawing with decent coloring garners more credit and attention for the average tween than the struggling middle-aged woman, despite both having an equal amount of experience with visual arts.

Parents constantly tell their children to study harder, to practice more--to just keep on work, work, working until their children become the perfect model dolls they use flex to one another over brunch. It's constantly having your name be followed up by your latest achievement and not anything about who you are as a person.

"This is Codi. She is a straight-A student and got invited to compete at Harvard."

"This is Codi. She is on her school's math team and knows how to play the piano."

"This is Codi. She is--"

I am a human being, thank you.

It's never "This is Codi, and he loves fashion and losing at video games." or "This is Codi, and he likes listening to annoying pop songs from the early 2010s and laying down in the rain."

Why? because none of that matters! None of that is worth listening to because anything less than what I can do to represent my family, my school, my team, my country will never be anything more than a waste of time. It's toxic, how today's generation of teenagers have to be celebrities or important figures or champions or prodigies before they are people.

It gets worse, though.

People start counting your talents like tally marks for points. You can't "just be an artist" anymore. If you draw, then you also have to be good at writing. And poetry. And graphic design. And a sport. Oh, you only know one language? Oh, you've only learned the basics of the guitar? It's like a fucking marker, ticking off boxes to determine the worth of these teenagers on the marketability of their achievements.

And, okay, it's a misrepresentation to only blame parents, right? Because it's a systematic thing. A new societal expectation for kids to be the next fucking Renaissance--with peer pressure for things like relationship experience and wild stories too. We kids now worry about not being special enough, not phenomenal enough, or beautiful enough, or talented enough, or smart enough, or experienced enough. And it's weird!

It's weird how teens now flex how tired and burnt out they are! It's weird how I've had conversations that turned into competitions of how many bullshit responsibilities we have on our plate. It's weird how I've met kids on the honor roll that are so adamant to prove to people that they've gone to parties, had alcohol, and slept around.

It's a goddamn tragedy, watching so many of my peers turning into burnouts before they've even graduated high school.

We are expected to be the most. If that one singer could do it, if that one global warming activist could do it, if that one Olympic athlete could do it--then why can't you? Why can't you have over 20.7k followers on Twitter? Why can't you have started your own band and release a popular album? Why can't you have published your own book by now? Why can't you be good enough?

I sit here, typing away at this stupid post and being unhappy and feeling like I am not good enough. I am an artist. I am a writer. I speak more than one language and play more than one instrument. I used to be a straight-A student and nationally competed in maths and sciences competitions. I am an international finalist for my sport and have multiple gold medals from foreign countries.

Yet still, I feel like my timer is running short.

#codi.txt #idk im just. ranting i guess lol #vent #tw vent #long post #tw long post #listen to codi ramble about stuff literally no one but he cares about !!#sorry im just. in my feelings rn

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magnhild · 3 years

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Nora Valkyrie, Identity, and Purpose

Hey everyone, Blaire here, and almost exactly a year ago, I made this mess of a post where I laid out all of my thoughts on Nora and what I thought the show could have in store for her.

And honestly, most of my ideas were way off, and not at all correct. Also, the post kind of flopped.

Thankfully, Volume 8 has given me a chance to redeem myself, and write another, more coherent, essay about my favourite RWBY character; where this Volume seems to be taking her character, and what it means to me, personally.

Buckle up.

To the vast majority of people in the RWBY fandom, Nora is the least-developed character, and the one most lacking in dimension. Most of her character seems to be defined by two things; her energy and love for fighting, and her relationship on Ren.

Volume 8 took note of these conceptions, and addressed them head-on.

Of course, any keen-eyed viewer will have noted Nora’s hidden depths even before this volume, which I noticed in last year’s post. She is perhaps the most perceptive of the main cast, at least, when it comes to people’s feelings and relaionships. She was the only one to really comment on Pyrrha’s crush on jaune, and the first to bring up Blake and Yang’s growing relationship. It was also her level-headedness that resolved RNJR’s argument in Volume 4, Chapter 9.

Volume 7 also showed us her innate desire to protect the weak, and her disdain to those who have the power to help, but refuse. I personally get the feeling that this was her driving motivation in becoming a Huntress; to protect people who cannot protect themselves, perhaps because she doesn’t want anyone to have to grow up as she did. Nora’s fury at Ironwood in V7C7 is esepcially signifigant, because it’s the angriest we’ve ever seen her before, even more so in that this anger is directed at someone with much more authority than her.

But these little details were only the tip of the iceberg. These were traits she already had, and while they help to add layers to her character, they’ve done very little in terms of her actual development.

This is where Volume 8 came in stronger than any other.

Volume 7 hinted to us that Ren and Nora’s relationship was beginning to get more complicated, between their bickering, Ren’s dismissiveness at Nora, and their kiss in V7C6. By the end of the volume, it was clear that they were still struggling, despite their clear love for each other. Volume 8 carried this thread along, having them split into different parties, and Nora giving Ren a bit of attitude we’ve not really seen her direct at him before.

She’s frustrated with him, and disappointed that he can’t see what she sees. But despite her tough front, V8C2 then hints that she’s sadder about the split than she’s letting on, after May brings up Nora’s ‘friends’. C3 then brings this to a head, where we get a conversation that sees Nora opening up to Blake and Yang, and revealing a deeply sad truth about herself- that she has no idea who she is without Ren, because she’s spent so much of her life with him and him alone, and her feelings for him have shaped so much of who she thinks she is. We’ve never seen her so hopeless and lost, especially after she reveals that, as far as she’s concerned, all she’s good for is hitting stuff.

Right in these few minutes, the show takes how the audience percieves Nora, and reveals to us that those two core traits are the gateways to a far deeper insight of her character. She’s known for her relationship with Ren, but wait- what about when he’s not there with her? She’s known for hitting stuff, but wait- that’s all she thinks she’s good for.

It’s revealed to us that, not only is this how most of the audience percievs Nora, but it’s how she percieves herself. And for all her energy and upbeat attitude, deep down, she thinks incredibely lowly of herself. For all her confidence in her fighting abilities, she lacks confidence in herself as a person.

Surprisingly enough, the ‘who am I?’ character arc is one that was hardly explored at all up until this point, despite it being one of the most common and signifgant character arcs in fictional media. And I don’t think many of us at all could have imagined that Nora would be the one to get that arc, when she’s always seemed so self-assured on the surface.

And then, when Penny is in need of help, Nora takes Weiss’ advice to heart, and does the one thing she believes she’s capable of- being strong, and hitting stuff.

Nora overcharging her Semblance to take down the wall is seen by a lot of the fandom as some kind of win for Nora; as her ‘big moment’. But while it’s certainly a really cool and badass scene, it was far from a triumph for her.

This was Nora at perhaps her lowest point so far in the series. This was Nora figuring ‘well, if this is all I’m good for, I’ll do it to the extreme’. This was Nora thinking her only purpose was to greatly endanger herself for the sake of others, because she figured she was the only one who could. And she almsot got herself killed for it.

While certainly a defining moment, it was far from triumphant. It wasn’t a win. It was a self-destrcutive act that reflected how little she thinks of herself; that she’s not worth anything unless she’s pushing herself to the limit doing the one thing she thinks she’s good at.

And to drive the knife in harder, it backfires horribly.

Because now she’s bedridden and critically injured, with scars that are probably permanent; a reminder of her lowest point, forever marked on her body. She can’t fight now, can’t help at all, and Salem has launched her attack on Atlas.

And in her half-unconsious state in V8C7, she realizes this, delivering an absolutely heartbreaking line:

As far as she’s concerned, her last attempt at doing what she thinks only she can do- what she thinks is all she can do- has prevented her from doing anything of worth at all. She lost one half of herself when she split from Ren, and now she’s lost the other half too. The two things that she defines herself by are gone. And the worst part is, we don’t know if she’s awar of the fact Salem has begun her attack. We could very well see her fully wake up, only to realize that the world has begun ending while she was unconsious, and she can’t do anything about it.

Now, this scene, and Nora’s struggle in this Volume as a whole, hit home for me in particular.

If you follow me on Twitter, you’re probably aware that Nora is only of my hightest- and only- kins. And I’ve only been able to relate to her more and more after what we’ve got of her in this Volume.

I am chronically disabled. I have a connective tissue disorder known as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which fucks up my body in a multitude of different ways, but signifigantly affects the joints. For me, it hits worst in my back, ankles, and my fingers. The fingers are my main problem. To make matters worse, I’ve also been victim to intense pains in my shoulder, which came out of nowhere a couple of months ago and have only gotten worse since. The slightest movement aggrevates it. As any follower of mine would know, I am both an artist and a writer. I create both for fun, and I’ve studied writing as a profession. It is these things I’m known for being good at, and not much else.

Thanks to my disability and my shoulder though, I have to do these things less. Even on perscription pain medication, it still hurts. It hurts to write this even now; my shoulder feels like it’s burning up from the inside. It will only get worse over time.

So, I’m finding myself in Nora’s position. I can’t do what I’m good at anymore, and I don’t know what to do with myself as a result. Not doing these things makes me feel lazy and unproductive, and makes me feel that the people around me will abandon me so long as i can’t keep providing them content. And I’ve gotta say, it hurts a lot, and I don’t just mean physically.

Because of what I’m going through, it’s especially important to see my favourite RWBY character just so happening to be dealing with the same problem; the same loss of idenity and purpose. We don’t know who we are or what we’re good for without the things we think define us.

While I’m unsure of my own future though, I find comfort in knowing that Nora’s problem will be tackled and addressed; that her friends will help her to rediscover herself and find her true worth. And while we’ve got a while to go until we’ll be able to see the Volume continue, I’m incredibely excited to see where Nora’s arc goes, especially if we can get some backstory along the way. I find myself wondering if her life before Ren is part of why she thinks so little of herself without him- was it the way she was raised to think? Is this the fault of her childood circumstances? Or is this just something she developed on her own, after becoming too dependant on Ren for comfort?

Whatever answers we get, I have faith that Nora’s story will be told well, and I’m very sure that it’s only just beginning. Even if she finds her worth before the end of the volume, her story won’t be over yet, not when we’ve still likely got at least four more volumes to go after this one.

In just seven episodes, Nora Valkyrie has gone from one of the least developed characters, to one of the most interesting and relatable, at least, in my eyes. There is so much more depth to her character than having a crush on Ren, and being the strong girl who hits stuff. There’s a layer of tragedy to her character that we’re touching upon now, and I’m excited to dive into it.

Thank you all for reading!

#rwby #my writing #rwby analysis #rwby spoilers #nora valkyrie

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miraculousfanworks · 2 years

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Artist Spotlight: Spibbyz

The Miraculous Fanworks Discord server's spotlight highlights content creators in the community! Each month, one artist and one writer will have their accounts and content promoted on our social media accounts.

This month’s artist of the month is Spibbyz! See the writer of the month post here!

Izzy is a fantastic artist, posting a variety of content with unique designs and concepts! From darker pieces to cute cuddles, she's done it all.

We’ve interviewed Izzy, asking her questions about her artworks, fanworks, and advice for other artists!

1. How long have you been drawing in general?

I have been drawing ever since I was 14, so it’s been about four years! I got into drawing after visiting my cousin, who works as a storyboard director for different animations. I’ve always been interested in the arts but 14 is when I started to really take art seriously. Now, I’m actually studying to be a graphic designer, so this choice is currently changing my life. Wild!

2. How long have you been creating for the fandom, and what's your favorite part of the process?

I’ve been creating for the fandom ever since 2017, so about the same amount of time as I’ve been drawing. I think my favorite part of the process is sharing works in progress and seeing my friends/followers get excited about them. I also recently had someone recreate one of my pieces of artwork (the first time that’s ever happened!) and that made me feel really warm inside. There’s something about people viewing something you’ve spent a lot of time on and be inspired to create themselves! Another thing I really love is being able to collaborate with so many people. I’ve participated in two zines so far and am currently finishing up stuff for the ML Big Bang (whoop!) and the sense of fulfillment I get when working with others is amazing. Collaboration in smaller ways is another highlight too; asking for feedback on WIPs and talking about others about their own creations really add to the experience!

3. Has there been anything in particular that influences your style?

There are a lot of artists who have really helped me to learn and get better as I draw more. Some of my earlier influences were other ML fandom creators like Ceejurs, Eden Daphne and Laia Lopez, but more recently I’ve been finding inspiration outside of other fanart. Lately, I’ve been getting inspiration from revamped comic books (specifically spider man) and renaissance paintings for their use of color. Tim Burton is another inspiration of mine as I’m starting to draw more gothic/creepy stuff that doesn’t really wander into the horror category. I also get inspired by Edwardian and Victorian fashion when drawing clothing for characters. Their dresses and jackets are the definition of fabulous!

4. Do you have any advice you'd like to give to other creators?

Create for yourself! I’ve been having more fun with my art recently because I’m making content that I would personally like to see. Obviously, we as artists and writers love when other people consume our content, but it’s so so so important to enjoy what you put out into the world as well! Another piece of advice is to think outside the box. Sometimes niche interests don’t get too much traction due to, well, being niche, but it’s sometimes nice to be completely creative. I do that with my vampire AU(s) and those allow me to create all types of pieces that are unique to me as an artist.

5. How do you think the identity reveal is going to go? Feel free to write something quick if you want to!

To be honest, I do wish the reveal had been legit at the end of Ephemeral(it was written so well ;-;), but I think a good alternative would be to write something super dramatic to make up for that. I think it’s going to happen during a final showdown with Hawk Moth where he will take one of their miraculous, probably Marinette’s, leaving the reveal one-sided at first. Maybe that’s just how I want it to go down, but hey, you have to manifest what you want to happen! I just hope it happens sometime soon because I’ve been ready for years :>!

Izzy can be found here on Tumblr @spibbyz and on Instragram under the same name, spibbyz. Some of her works include a Roswell-inspired Marichat comic, a vampire!Chat Blanc Mariblanc piece, and an illustration from one of her own fics, "Driven by the Strangled Vein". Go check them out!

Interested in being featured? Come join the server!

#miraculous ladybug #ml #miraculous fanworks #creator spotlight

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whatyoufish4 · 3 years

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Episode 1 - “Glorious Purpose”

“Do a lot of people not know if they’re robots?”

Here’s the thing about being a fan of MCU!Loki (and, really, about many of the MCU’s characters) -- we have to keep getting lucky with the creative teams.

I’ve mentioned before that I didn’t really take notice of Loki until The Dark World, and my love of the character was sort of exponentially grown by both Ragnarok (and arguably Infinity War, in its weird way), as well as by Ewing and Garbett’s comics run on Agent of Asgard. I know of loads of fans, though, who love Loki best in his Avengers 1 appearance, or who loved him from his first appearance in Thor 1 -- and their mileage varies on their feelings towards The Dark World and, especially, Ragnarok.

And -- without getting too far side-tracked -- this makes sense, to me. While there have been some repeat writers on the Thor movies, Loki has been written by numerous people -- and the director of every Thor movie (as well as Avengers 1) has been a different person. It’s almost inevitable that every Loki fan is going to find some Stories better representations of “Their” Loki than others, because, hey -- what’re the odds that that new writer that comes along is going to write Loki in a way that made the character originally resonate with you?

I mean, granted, we’ve got one massive asset in our favor, and that’s Loki himself -- Tom Hiddleston. Hiddleston has, I think, worked hard to keep a through-line of logic to Loki; the character may have bounced from Shakespearean Tragedy to Supervillain With Pathos to Snarky Walking Shoulder Chip to Redeeming God of Mischief -- and onward to Heroic Sacrificial Avenger and Trickster Escape Artist -- but Hiddleston’s care and effort and very presence help tie it all together. (Also, there IS a logic to Loki’s ultimate character arc, there really-truly is -- but that’s a whole other post.) Still, the fact remains: if you’re a Loki fan, every next chapter of the character’s story has an element of luck to it. You have to be lucky, as a fan: that you keep getting writers that are not only good writers -- but that can tell a Story with this character that, on some level, resonates with what the character means to you.

All that said? I was hopeful, with Loki. I’ve never watched Rick and Morty, but the showrunner did at least have a comedy background (and I wanted desperately for Loki to actually get some comedy; he’s the god of Mischief, please let him have some comedy) -- and the showrunner and director Kate Herron both seemed to be invested in the project. Hiddleston was back, of course-of course, but there were other actors I enjoyed showing up (more on that in a minute). Best of all, the trailers looked right up my alley: I liked the time-traveling premise a lot, loved the quirky otherworldliness, the surrealness of it. (I’m a massive Alice in Wonderland fan.) So I had hope.

But I was well aware that, at the end of the day, the writing was either going to be good, or it wasn’t, and so I crossed my fingers and waited.

So I’m so excited to be able to truthfully say that the pilot wasn’t just better than I’d expected -- it was better than I’d hoped for, better than I’d dared to hope for.

One of the things I’ve been saying about my excitement for this series is that, as much as the Thor-and-Loki sibling friendship is my favorite relationship that Loki has in his life -- I was super-intrigued to see more about who Loki is when he’s not around Thor. It wasn’t until I was watching the pilot a second time that I realized that this is also the first time we are really seeing who Loki is when he’s around himself. I mean, we’ve seen glimpses of it, sure -- Loki reading his book for real in his cell when he gets the news about Frigga in TDW is still the moment I point at as the moment I officially became a Loki fan -- but still. Overall, it’s a rare thing.

And in many ways, this episode is all about who Loki is when he’s with himself. Not just in serious moments (like when he’s by himself and watching his own future play out on the TVA recording) -- but in littler aspects. The beginning of the show was almost surreal (we have waited so long, I can’t believe it’s really here, that I’m WATCHING it) -- and man, is it quirky and surreal and weird -- but I was pretty sure they had me hooked when a worried Loki is considering the sensor in front of him and murmuring to himself, “Do a lot of people not know if they’re robots?” Partly because it made me laugh out loud -- but also because I was so happy. We have not, to my knowledge, ever heard the god of Mischief make a joke almost entirely for his own benefit (I mean, I know the TVA clerk is there -- but Loki is really rather talking to himself). This was the moment Loki became the protagonist, for me, and in a quirky, funny, whistling-in-the-dark surrealist-humor kind of way.

In a weird way, the show almost has to create Loki as a character. Of all of Marvel’s non-main characters, I would argue that Loki is among the strongest of personalities; you know who he is, even averaging 20-30 minutes of screentime at the best of times in the films he’s appeared in. But while he’s had growth and regression and change and arcs -- he’s never been a main character before. That’s something new, and it gives the character a new feel -- while still being Our Loki -- and I was really impressed with that.

... and that may be because Waldron (showrunner Michael Waldron, that is) did something I kind of basically didn’t dare hope for -- he grounded the character in his Story up to this point. Not even just in Thor 1 and Avengers 1, which is all the Story that Loki has lived through up to this point -- but Waldron, kind of surpassing my wildest dreams, is also able to find a way to have Loki experience the rest of his Story, even though it hasn’t happened in his timeline yet. Loki gradually learning the events of TDW, Ragnarok, and Infinity War are a wonderful meta move, because -- while, no, the events haven’t happened to him, he hasn’t experienced them -- he at least knows about them, and has had a visceral emotional reaction to them, and been changed for knowing them, at least to some degree (subsequent episodes will tell us how much). That’s important to me because we, the audience, know about them, too, and completely erasing them in all aspects from this show would make for a kind of cognitive dissonance between the main character and the audience. I was grateful, grateful, to Waldron for making the events of TDW, Ragnarok, and IW matter, even if they weren’t experienced by Loki first-hand. But they’ve impacted him, as they’ve impacted us.

All that isn’t to say that Waldron and Herron don’t put the emphasis on the events of Avengers 1, and Loki’s actions and choices during that film, which is, of course, timeline-wise, the most recent things that have happened to Loki. I honestly expected the show to take up the Ragnarok baton of having Loki redeem himself partly through arcing (the Elevator Scene, choosing to be more, choosing to come back for his people and for Thor), but also partly through re-toning who and what the character is (ask me about the This One Time He Turned Into a Snake story sometime, because I have thoughts about that scene).

Never in a million years did I expect the story to actually interrogate Loki, and flat-out ask him: did you hurt all those people because you enjoyed it? As much as it’s not what I love about the character, or why I love him -- Avengers 1 is still Loki’s most famous, iconic on-screen appearance, and I give major props to Waldron and Herron for deciding to do something with that, to interrogate the character and get at the heart of why he does what he does. We need to check in with Loki, establish that he doesn’t hurt people for the joy or the pleasure of it, but rather because of what his own twisted philosophy has led him to believe about what it means to have power and courage and choice. This scene -- and his ability to (I think, sincerely, given what he’s seen? I know it happens fast, but: c’mon, y’all, they only have six episodes to play with) his ability to drop his bravado and his guard and admit honestly that it’s not want but fear that made him choose to be a monster -- is what, I think, opens the door into Loki being able to be, not just a protagonist, but a heroic one.

... and a shout-out goes here to Owen Wilson, who, wow-geez, just COULD not have been a better choice for Mobius than any other actor in the history of Marvelling. I will freely admit some bias here -- I’ve been a fan of Owen Wilson’s since the early 2000s -- but I kind of can’t get over how lucky we are to have him here. Because here’s the thing about Mobius: he’s here to be Loki’s friend. He’s here to be the guy that sees potential in Loki to be something more. And he’s gotta find it and see it at a point in Loki’s timeline when Loki is at his very worst -- when even Thor has given up any hope “of finding my brother still in there somewhere.” He’s also gotta see that hope without coming off as an idiot -- and I appreciated those moments where he uses the time-looping devise to keep Loki from, y’know, punching him in the face, or even when he comes back into the viewing room with a TVA “melt stick” at the ready in case the previously-escaped Loki has designs to do him in. Mobius is not shown as a fool ...

But he’s also incredibly kind and affable, and his patience and compassion with Loki seem genuine. Wilson has always played his characters with a kind of laid-back geniality, and I’ve always enjoyed it -- but here it becomes an incredible strength of this character. I can buy that Mobius is a timeless agent of time, I can buy that he has studied Loki and he knows him ... and I can buy that he is smart enough to be on his guard while also kind enough to approach Loki with empathy. The scenes with Loki watching his history and his future play out in front of him, while being interrogated about who he is and who and what he has chosen to be, don’t work without an interrogator who we feel is on Loki’s side while also not being blindly trusting of him.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the clear fact that they’re doing some version of Agent of Asgard, a Story that is desperately important to me. It’s a version that has different shades to it, of course -- Agent of Asgard’s Loki is trapped by the universe’s perceptions of him, and his perception of himself, while Loki-Series Loki seems trapped by time itself: the timeline happens how it happens because it has to happen that way, and what does that say about choice? (Indeed, Choice Vs. Fated-Timeline seem like a driving force of the show, thematically -- right up to Loki bitter acknowledging that his once-vaunted boast I am burdened with glorious purpose has become a cold truth that he has existed up to this point to cause suffering and destruction so that those around him can become “the best versions of themselves.”)

Of course, being inspired by Agent of Asgard (right down to thanking Ewing and Garbett in the end credits Marvel at some point you gotta start paying these creators for their ideas tho), the journey of the Story -- and of the character of Loki -- is probably in line with the idea of refusing to fit in the box the universe (or the timeline) wants to stuff you into, because -- as a wise god of thunder once said -- you can choose to be more. Whether or not the streaming series sticks the landing for me the way the Agent of Asgard comic did remains to be seen -- but, for now, I can honestly say I’m pretty psyched to be along for the ride of finding out.

#on board the loki bus #loki series #loki series spoilers #thank you for the commentary loki it's not at all distracting

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dragonchoice · 2 years

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A Dragonchoice day out

Dragonchoice - You Choose: Candidate is nearing launch (and Search is still open at https://www.dragonchoice.com/you-choose!) - but the UK contingent of the Dragonchoice dev team recently had a weekend out in London!

Dragonchoice writer/game designer Faye Upton, artist and test lead Chris S. Baily, and 3D artist Mat Baily visited the Science Museum, Natural History Museum, and London Zoo in search of inspiration - and found quite a lot!

Chris did a lot of sketches, and here are the results (plus a bonus photo!)

We just had to take a photo when we came across this specimen of everyone's favourite drinking game magnet at the Natural History Museum! This is actually the first time I've seen this particular species of Draco lizard - not the more common Draco volans that many people seem fascinated with as a "real life dragon." I do wish that the London Zoo had had some live Draco of any species - that would have been pretty awesome to see, since they're pretty delicate animals, and somewhat difficult to keep in captivity.

This was my first sketch of the weekend, in the Science Museum - looking up at the various small planes hung from the ceiling to get a good mental picture of fighter-plane size. The rough plane sketch is a Lockheed 10A Electra, 38' nose to tail.

Below it, I'd been thinking about the actual overall proportions of Pernese dragons, and what works for my personal aesthetic preferences, the overall "feel" of the dragons from the books, and the bits of descriptive content we actually get. I've added a couple of approximately 38' dragons - a rather long-necked, small-headed and short-tailed fellow, and a more typically proportioned longer-tailed dragon, with my usual favourite fella for scale, the 6-foot-tall B'nana. The 42'ish fellow feels more like a blue to me than, say, the largest queen dragon ever.

We know from descriptions in Dragonsdawn that Carenath is meant to be just over 16 hands high (5'4") at the shoulder the first time that Sean rides him - but there are some figures given in the DLG and by AIVAS suggesting that he's meant to be visibly smaller than Ruth at 18' nose to tail. That leaves us with some really weird proportions (although this is exaggerated!) - and I have to admit, this particular dragon build is very much a "Thanks, I hate it!" I can say with some certainty that I do not believe that Carenath is this short of neck, body or tail, because there's really nothing graceful about that.

Of course, the highlight of any trip to any natural history museum is the dinosaurs. It's no secret that most of my dragons are based on generally dinosaur-like ideas - so these are pushing the dinosaur resemblance to the extreme, to see if there is a build and body shape that really looks like it works.

The large fellow ("Girth") in the middle was based on NHMUK R5674 - Mantellisaurus, the iguanodont in the entry hall of the museum. This feels a little too short in the neck for me, and visually speaking although the shoulder height isn't bad for a green, I'd want probably a third again the length to really balance her out - 20' nose to tail just doesn't work here for me.

In the upper left we've got "Width" - a generic medium-theropod based dragon (something sort of small Allosaurid) - again, 20' nose to tail - and again, too short in the neck, although I think the forelimbs are closer.

Then, down in the lower left, we've got "Length" - who is based on the sauropod dinosaur Camarasaurus (scaled down to the 20-foot length we're using for reference) - although I quite like the proportion of those legs and she looks like she'd have that skip-hop gait, she'd need to be at least twice the size (height and length) to be even a green in terms of shoulder height that's described in the books - popping her up to around 40' nose to tail.

And lastly, in the upper right, you've got "Yeth" - who is closer to my usual dragon proportioning - and again, would be too short in the shoulder to be the right size for a green.

This one was a random doodle that wanted to happen while I was sitting in Dragonchoice Central, the room where the fanfic magic happens - mostly to explore "can I draw something recognisably humanlike" (IMO the answer is still "not really, not without references!")

This one was a very sketchy one because it was drizzling lightly - this was day 2, at the London Zoo. I do really want to explore the "walking posture" of a kangaroo for Pernese dragons - it's that awkward hop-skip.

So that was the Dragonchoice team building day out – featuring ancient monsters, modern lizards, vintage aircraft and the odd live animal! And hopefully we’ll have whetted your appetite for some of the art that will feature in Dragonchoice – You Choose: Candidate!

#dragonchoice #dragonchoice you choose #pern #anne mccaffrey #dragons

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mercurysnitch · 3 years

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1976 Guitar (200 follower celebration)

Summary: An Australian runaway walks into a London pub... and finds herself having a drink with the one and only Roger Taylor.

A/N: As promised, my little celebration piece. I actually started this after I hit 150 followers, but I put it aside because I wanted to work on other things, and then decided to keep it for my next follower milestone. Which ended up taking a lot longer than I was anticipating, but hey, we got here in the end.

Just fyi for clarity, the reader here is Australian, but living in London after finishing journalism training. Yes, even in the 70s London was full of runaway Aussies. But it must have seemed a lot further away in the days before instant messaging and video chat and free phone calls over the internet.

Title is from a Skyhooks song, recorded well after the 70s, incidentally. The bits in italics are lyrics from the song. This isn’t a song fic, and I honestly can’t remember why this is set in 1976 (I think it just sort of popped into my head like that) but those particular lyrics seemed quite fitting.

Warnings: Drinking, light swearing

*********************************************************

...one night I met a girl at the Sebel bar

And she taught me how to play that 1976 guitar

London, 1976

You decided you liked English pubs soon after you moved to London. They were cosier than the airy places you were used to back home, and the clientele were a lot less rough. Most of the time.

Your favourite pub was your local, just around the corner from your poky little second-floor flat. Decent food, good drinks, and interesting people. The bands playing on Saturday nights were always worth a listen too. Tonight, though, was a weeknight, which meant you were there for a stiff drink and maybe a nice greasy pub meal.

You hardly looked at the bartender as you flopped onto a stool. He floated over almost instantly anyway. "What can I get yer?" "Whiskey please" you ordered, attempting to be polite but mostly sounding tired. The barman smiled. "Coming up." It was fairly empty in the pub, so he returned with your drink almost immediately. You smiled gratefully and wasted no time taking your first sip. But you'd barely swallowed it, still dealing with the afterburn, when you heard a huff of surprise from a neighbouring stool.

You turned in the direction of the noise to discover the source: a youngish bloke with shaggy, pale blonde hair and big blue eyes. He looked strangely familiar, but you couldn't think where you recognised him from. If you weren't so annoyed you would've been taken aback by how attractive he was. Instead you glared at him. "What's your problem, mate?" He flashed you an annoyingly pretty smile. "Nothing. Just don't see many girls drinking whiskey like that." "Like what?" you shot back. "Like they do it all the time. Suits you, though." He flashed the smile again, and you felt your anger ebbing away.

Seeing the smile again seemed to jolt your memory. "Fucking hell," you gasped, "you're Roger-" "Don't say it" Roger hissed, cutting off your exclamation. "You'll tell the whole pub and then I won't get a moment's peace all night." You immediately looked downcast. "Sorry." Roger smiled reassuringly. "It's alright."

You eyed Roger curiously. "So tell me, what's the drummer from Queen doing in a place like this?" He broke into a cheeky grin. "I could ask you the same question" he said flirtatiously. "I've had a very long day and I live around the corner" you told him. "What about you?" "We used to play here, in the early days" he explained. "I always liked the atmosphere, and the people are always… interesting."

Suddenly you noticed him eyeing you up with curiosity. "I like your accent but I don't recognise it. Where're you from?" he asked casually. "Australia" you told him cheerfully. You noticed his expression fall slightly. "Not from Sunbury, I hope" he joked. You grinned cheekily. "Melbourne, actually. But I don’t blame you for not liking Sunbury." Roger was shocked. "You know about that?" You nodded. "I was there. It was a great day, actually, for me at least." Suddenly you smiled. "Anyway, whoever thought booking Queen to play at Sunbury was a good idea clearly knew nothing about bloody Sunbury. Or Australians, frankly." Roger smiled grimly at the memory. "God that was a shit gig. Might be the worst reception we've ever had." "If it makes you feel any better I enjoyed your set" you told him softly. "Queen's just a bit too sophisticated for most Aussies, I think." "But not you?" he asked, smiling. "But not me" you agreed.

"So what brought you to London anyway?" Roger asked. "I got sick of Australia" you told him. "It's so… behind, culturally. Anyone who's a serious artist or writer or whatever buggers off to London or somewhere first chance they get. So when you're still there you feel so far away from everything, it really feels like you're at the arse-end of the world sometimes." Roger grinned. "Arse-end of the world. I like that" he mused. "But I don't think you've come to the other side of the world just because you thought Australia was boring." You stared at him crossly. "Oh yeah? Why d'you reckon I'm here then?" you asked, challenging him with a look. "I think you ran away from something" Roger declared softly. "As far away as it was possible to get, just about."

You stared at him in shock. Now you thought about it, he wasn't exactly wrong. Suddenly your expression darkened. "Well, I suppose I'm running away from my mother and her bloody expectations of how I should live my own bloody life" you grumbled. He quirked an eyebrow. "Expectations?" "She wants me to be like her" you explained. "Find a nice bloke with a ‘suitable’ job, get married, buy a house, pop out a few kids, be a bloody housewife for the rest of my days."

"And you don't want that" Roger said quietly. He understood how it felt to choose a life different from the one your parents wanted for you. "No, I bloody well don't" you agreed. "I want to achieve things with my life, have a proper career." Your mother had told you several times that there was no point trying to advance in your job since you were just going to quit when you got married anyway. The recent feminist revolutions seemed to have entirely passed her by, but then Australian society in general did have a tendency to run a bit behind on things like that.

Roger's gravelly voice pulled you out of your thoughts. "And what might that career be?" You smiled. "I'm a music journalist. Well, I'm a researcher right now, but I'm trying to freelance a bit on the side." Roger nearly laughed. "Y'know, most music writers seem not to like us for some reason" he observed wryly. "But I get the impression you might be an exception." You grinned. “Wouldn’t you like to know.” "Maybe I would" Roger quipped.

You both drank quietly for a while, Roger gazing at you curiously. "Y'know, you never did tell me what's driven you to drink on a Wednesday night" he commented, casually as could be. "You really want to know?" you asked incredulously. Roger nodded. "Wouldn't ask if I didn't, love." You sighed. "Well, I was supposed to have a date last night, but he stood me up, which was just a delightful way to spend an evening" you said, your voice dripping with sarcasm. "Then this morning my boss was even more of an arsehole than usual, and I found out my article that was supposed to be published next week got pulled from the issue, so god knows if it'll ever see the light of day now. And then when I got home the disappearing date had the nerve to ring with a pathetic excuse that I'm almost certain he made up, and apparently he was blind to the possibility I wouldn’t want to reschedule the date he missed until I spelled it out to him."

Roger winced in sympathy. "Christ, that is a shitty day." “Well, it seems to have improved since I got here” you observed, flashing a sly smile. Suddenly he grinned, not bothering to be subtle about eyeing you up again, almost appraisingly this time. “You know, I could make it even better, if you’re interested” he said smoothly. You cocked an eyebrow in interest. “Oh, really? And how exactly would you do that?” “Have dinner with you” he replied, not missing a beat.

You blinked, shocked. “You want to-to what, take me out to dinner? Why?” “You seem interesting” Roger said, shrugging. “Besides, I like having company when I’m out, being alone’s not as fun.” You had to agree with him there. “So is it a date, then?” you asked, still a little uncertain about the turn your evening was taking. Roger smiled cheekily. “If you want it to be” he said. He seemed nonchalant, but you thought you detected a flicker of uncertainty under the rock-star swagger. You grinned. “You know what, bugger it. Take me on a dinner date, Roger.”

******

There were some decisions in your life you would live to regret, but going on that first impulsive date with Roger wasn’t one of them. One date very quickly became many, and before you knew it Roger was a fixture in your life. Well, as much as a touring rock star could be, anyway. You found it oddly satisfying writing a postcard telling your mother you were going out with a shaggy-haired rock’n’roll drummer, knowing he was almost the complete opposite of the sort of person she wanted you to pair up with. You’d also finally managed to get an article published in the paper, but, predictably, your mother’s response to your postcard entirely neglected that achievement in favour of detailing every reason she thought you should leave Roger and return home immediately. None of them really held much weight, and the suggestion your actions would damage your reputation back home was in your view rather forcefully disproven by the enormous quantity of messages you received from both friends and relatives congratulating you on both the article and your choice of boyfriend.

You did eventually find the things your mother wanted for you with Roger, in a way. Technically you never actually got legally married, but you were deeply committed to each other. And you did end up with the big house and the family of your own, alongside a flourishing career in rock journalism. It wasn’t always easy, juggling everything and getting people to take you seriously as a journalist, but you wouldn’t have it any other way. Sometimes, just sometimes, you were just a tiny bit grateful for that shitty day in 1976.

In '74 we got tight, in '75 we starred

Then we learned to play that 1976 guitar

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A/N: I don’t think there’s too many Australianisms in here, but feel free to ask if you’re confused!

Taglist: (as always let me know if you want to be added/removed/think you should be on here but aren’t - it’s been so long some tags have changed since I added them) @wandering-at-midnight @royal-avengers @trumanjo @ohmygoditsanthonyedwardstark @itsametaphorbriansblog @wineandwanderings @simplyvictoria-93 @kotoamor @j1224 @florenceivy @jennyggggrrr @mercurycrowley

#roger taylor x reader #roger taylor fic #roger taylor imagine #queen fic #queen imagine #ben hardy x reader

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phantomsilva · 3 years

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Thoughts on Rott

I’m not very active because of time, but I really need to put this out. So now that everyone has had their rants on rott… It’s my turn.

A reminder that all I’m going to talk about, is simply my opinion on the matter. Oh, and this will be a pretty long text.

ROTT SPOILERS(I guess)

I’m not even gonna talk about how OOC the characters were in the movie, I think other profiles already did a pretty good explanation of that, and I actually expect it from a movie.

I’d like to talk about resettings and about how as a writer myself (at least in my native tongue) I swear I’ll never use a timeline resetting as an ending in any canon fiction of mine.

To begin with, resetting being used as a resolution, an ending, is by concept disrespectful.

First, it disrespects all characters’ arcs.

Everything every character went through, their growth, their pain, their victories, is completely thrown at the garbage. It means nothing anymore because all of them went back to the start, none of it ever happened and there is no way in canon to know if it will happen the same way again.

I don’t know about you who is reading this but a big part of the reason I follow a series is for character development. That was the one thing in toa I was always proud to affirm it was chef’s kiss. Well, none of this exists anymore, jokes on me.

So, my second point: Ending with a resetting disrespects the viewer.

I think it is bad enough when you waste two hours of your life watching a movie, for the resetting to happen at the end. But then it was only two hours. Rott was a movie, but it was a part of a 5 years franchise. 5 years that we spent waiting for new stories to come, to see our favourite characters grow, come back or even die. All the engagement, happiness, and other emotions we felt while following these same characters were completely meaningless when the franchise ends with “And so we are back to the beginning”. I think it is even worse when they complete it with “and now everything is different and you don’t know what is going to happen… But we won’t tell you how”.

The disrespect doesn’t even end there for me lol . Besides the “So, and it was all for… nothing” feeling, I think the specific way it was done in toa affects it on another level.

Trollhunters was a comfort tv show for me, I found it in a very difficult time of my life and have been rewatching it for fun in stressful weeks.

I saw someone commenting “how can I enjoy the rewatching if I know in the end none of this ever matters?”. That is my problem with the specific way they used it. It affects my rewatches. Maybe it is still too early, but everytime I think about rewatching season 1, I realize there is no reason to do it. And not because I already watched it several times (thanks anxiety), but because all of this was undone and maybe never even happened.

I never expected an ending would ruin a whole franchise for me and I followed Steven Universe weekly. Worst case scenario, I thought we would have had a weak ending that could easily be forgotten, or continued in our fics. We would lose some characters, like we’ve lost Draal, but when we revisited them in past seasons they would still be there.

Revisiting past seasons now just tastes bitter.

I see Jim riding his bike on episode 1, I see Strickler with his character arc, Steve that has grown so much as a person.. And then I remember it was all for nothing. All of it was erased and, canonically, they will always be on square one.

I saw someone today saying “It is worse than ‘it was all a dream’ ”, and that is it. “It was all a dream” is already a disrespectful trope, this was worse.

If you are still here, I'm sorry, there is more to this rant. I won’t be repeating the disrespect thing though, I think I’ve made my point.

There is another aspect of the resetting that I really want to talk about.

Have you ever watched Dragon Ball? Yes, guys, I’m that old.

Dragon Ball was known for the trope of reviving characters. We always used it as an example to criticize this trope.

Reviving characters out of nowhere or with frequency takes the weight out of a character’s death. The spectator doesn’t care anymore when they see someone die, because they will come back in the end, and you feel that the writers take killing people very lightly because of that.

Difference between Reviving Characters and Resetting Timeline as an ending is that Reviving Characters can be good if used with caution. Resetting Timeline can’t, and that affected writing in Rott.

I found it strange how so many deaths felt light there, and to me the explanation is: they knew in the end it wouldn’t matter, so they didn’t need to put that much weight into it. “If none of this ever happened, I can kill whoever I want however I want.”

Which takes me to my last point of “Ending with Reset Timeline is bad by concept”.

When you know you will reset a whole world to the start, you can do any crazy thing to the plot or the characters because you don’t have consequences from that. Which, to me, explains the “wtf” feeling a lot of the fandom got while watching so many OOC scenes and silly situations during the movie. From a fandom who was waiting for an ending for more than a year, it is really disappointing.

Now, of course I’m not saying any of this was done on purpose, or with malicious intent. I think the writers had very good intentions, we know there were crew there who worked on other seasons of TOA. I even get the concept of “the adventure will continue forever”. I just think they forgot to read the fandom room.

Anyway, I really wanted to share my feelings about the “Resetting Timeline as an ending” trope (?) because I don’t think the issues here are limited to TOA. All points T made are pretty general and I got it from all the works I’ve seen using this “solution”. I’ll advocate any day that this is a lazy and disrespectful solution, no matter who uses it or where it is used. Unless, of course, you do give me the whole franchise rewritten after the resetting, but that ain’t ever gonna happen.

I’ll take from TOA the amazing artists and storyboarders I found out here. The stricklake discord that gave me so much joy over the last two years and let me meet great people. Even the screenshots and beautiful scenes from the movie because the art was Amazing! That part I'm taking with me. Oh, Good Aaron, of course, cause now I’ll be following his work wherever he goes because this man is amazing. Actually, only him to make a good situation out of this. As he himself said, all headcanon is now canon.

So I’ll be disregarding the existence of rott, as I disregard the existence of the last airbender, take the rest of the franchise with me and any post-Wizards/rott rewriting fics I’ll find. And if I don’t find one I’ll write one. Nothing can be worse than resetting timeline ending.

I hope someday I can revisit the old seasons without this bitter taste, though.

That being said, I’m open to fic suggestions. Rott AU's, Rott erasement, post-wizards AUs, you name it. Do you need a reader? Send it to me.

And I’ll be doing stricklake month, once I recover from this.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

#toa rott #rott spoilers #long rant #the disrespect #everything is canon #trollhunters #Good art cant save bad writing #howdidyoufuckedupsomuch #nothing can be worse then resetting #give me fics #tales of arcadia wizards

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btsvsmysanity · 3 years

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OK so I've seen a lot of people talking about how "BTS isn't the same" after Permission to Dance got released yesterday. Now, I wasn't going to open my proverbial mouth about this but I write fanfic and readers have gotten friendly with me on twitter so I'm waiting for someone to ask me at some point. What I'm going to say here, I won’t be able to say to them because it's an account for my writing and there's a level of pseudo-professionalism I keep up. So basically this is me getting it all out so I can be like "Oh yeah, I love it" when it eventually gets brought up (honestly, I hate twitter so much, I just wanted to write my angsty fanfic in peace without people wanting Namjin smut and not taking no for an answer)

Okay, I'm just going to say it, I don't really like Permission to Dance and you know what, I'm okay with that. I also don't like BTS Cypher 1 (from 2013), I don't like Where You From (2014) or Moving On (2015). Plus a couple of others. That's fine because I don't expect myself to like all of their songs, it's just not going to happen.

In terms of an apparent decline in quality for BTS;

I haven’t been so excited for an album to come out that I barely sleep and then listened to it non-stop for the whole of the first day since Map of the Soul: 7. Don’t get me wrong, there are songs I adore on BE (Looking at you, Blue & Grey) but unfortunately neither Dynamite or Life Goes On was among them. I also struggled with BE because it tended towards the mellow side and while BTS' slower and ballad-type songs end up being among my favourites, they take me longer to get into, especially without some up-tempo songs to carry me through the album on my first run through.

However, I don’t blame that on the quality of the music. Aside from the things I've explained above, the thing that really hooked me on BTS at the start was getting into the theories so obviously the albums with an overarching "plot" pull me in more. And some of it is just down to personal preference. I mean, of all of BTS albums, there are 2 albums where I never skip any song (for those interested, they are: HYYH 2 and MoS: Persona) because some songs I just don't like, and some songs it just depends on my mood and sometimes I'm just stuck in my ways (Sorry, Kookie but 2! 3! will always be the fansong for me as much as I enjoy Magic Shop). And you know which albums I always say are my favourites? Dark and Wild and LY: Tear. Because I know I won't ever like every song they put out but I love 90%+ of it so BTS still own my soul.

Now, on the topic of them releasing English language songs.

I mean, they can say what they want- they're doing it to get better sales in America which is a whole other issue that I'm not qualified to dissect.

Do I like them? As I've already said, I'm not keen on Dynamite or Permission to Dance. But that’s because (and Butter is included in this), they just don't feel like BTS songs.

When Dynamite came out, I felt bad about that and so I had an idea and looked up the people credited with writing/producing the song. You know who wasn’t on there? The in-house BigHit production team (other than pdogg for "recording engineering") or a single BTS member. It's 1am so I'm not checking now but I'm sad and I've read a lot of the production credits for BTS songs and you know who's always on there? The rapline. Because they write their own verses, at the very least. That's why they don't feel like BTS to me, because BTS just singing the song isn't enough. And speaking of the rapline writing their lyrics, that brings me very nicely to my second point...

The lyrics aren't great. I mean, compared to other English language pop songs, they're amazing but compared to BTS' Korean lyrics? They don't hold a candle to the poetry and the word play they achieve in their Korean lyrics. People that I know have heard these English language songs and said to me something along the lines of "Why do you rave about their lyrics? They're pretty basic" and it makes me want to scream because they're not wrong but also, I wrote a mini-essay once on the lyrics of Spring Day because they're so beautiful and meaningful. I feel like it's almost dumbing down BTS and I'm there, trying to explain to non-ARMY about all these nuances and messages in their music. And it's not like you can't be poetic in English, I have awful memories of doing my English lit GCSE that say otherwise, the writers just need to try harder.

I know what some people might say, they're releasing these upbeat songs to break into the market better then they might release something more meaningful. To that I say: you can do both and BTS have before. The song that comes into my mind is Baepsae. That song slaps (THEY CALL ME (CALL ME) BAEPSAE... sorry) but they still managed to talk about the unfair expectations on younger generations who don't have the advantages of the older ones. And to me, that's BTS, music with a message. I know so many ARMY love BTS for that. We've all seen stories of how BTS have saved people's lives. I've been in some very dark places mentally and it was BTS that pulled me out of it by telling me the dawn right before the sun rises is the darkest and that loving myself is harder than loving others. That's the BTS I fell in love with. Not meaningless pop that, while I enjoy it because I am a basic bitch who loves a good beat, I can get from a hundred other artists.

I don't really know where I was going with this but to wrap up:

If you like Permission to Dance, all power to you, my friend. Life is short so go enjoy the song, sing it in the shower, whatever, be free.

If you don’t like it, that's also fine. And if you're like I was with Dynamite, wondering why you're not feeling it because this is BTS, you're supposed to love it, maybe some of what I've said will resonate with you and you can figure out your own reasons why.

I look forward to BTS' next Korean album but until then, I'm going to keep enjoying the hundreds of songs I love by them

#permission to dance #my thoughts #keep it civil #bts

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carryonmywaywardcaptain · 3 years

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A Supernaturally Marvelous Fic Challenge

Calling all Supernatural and Marvel fanfic writers!

I don’t know about y’all, but writer’s block and lack of motivation have hit me harder than ever this year. It’s no secret that 2020 has been a giant crap show for a lot of people, but our precious fics and fandoms can be such a great escape from it all. In an attempt to spread some inspiration and feel good vibes, I wanted to make my follower celebration something that might help both writers and readers.

Below you’ll find all sorts of prompts (dialogue, songs, AUs, etc.) because you never know what might inspire you. Since we’ve all had a tough year, there’s a catch! You’ve got to give it a happy ending.

Make it fun. Make it sassy. Make it steamy. But for the love of ALL THAT IS GOOD AND HOLY please wrap it up nicely with good things and a “fluffy” bow. Cool? Cool.

Now, on to the rest:

This is my follower celebration for both blogs, so please consider following @carryonmywaywardcaptain, @carryoncaptainrogers, or both!

As you may have guessed from the title, prompts can be written for Supernatural or Marvel (extra love and virtual hugs if you choose to write about Dean Winchester or Steve Rogers because they are the loves of my life. But there’s still plenty of love for the rest of the Avengers & TFW!)

Angst, smut, crack, and fluff are all welcome, but remember to give it a fluffy/positive ending and tag the warnings accordingly (Please steer clear of smut if you’re under 18. Stay young and innocent, babes.)

No limit to how many people sign up for each prompt. Feel free to combine prompts or even combine fandoms in a crossover! Whatever gets your creative juices flowing.

Send an ask with the prompt you want to do and the pairing you’re planning to write (life gets busy, so I’ll do a reminder post before the deadline if it’s helpful for you!). Reader inserts or OCs are both fine.

Tag me in the A/N and use the hashtag #supernaturally marvelous fic challenge by December 20th January 31st. If you’re garbage at deadlines like me, I’m super flexible and won’t hold it against you if you get it done later! I’ll reblog SPN fics on this blog and Marvel pairings over on @carryoncaptainrogers so your fics are seen by the fans who need them most :)

Got another idea you want to write and/or read about? Shoot me an ask and maybe I can add it to the mix!

Make sure to check back once in a while in case more prompts are suggested and added! Without further ado (oof, this is long!):

Some song ideas:

“Boss’s Daughter”- Pop Evil

“Night Moves”- Bob Seger

“It’s Been a Long, Long Time”- Harry James

“I Won’t Say (I’m in Love)”- yes, from Hercules

“Hold You in My Arms”- Ray Lamontagne

“Better Man”- James Morrison

“Perfect for Me”- Justin Timberlake

“When We Were Young”- Adele

“Holding Out For a Hero”- Ella Mae Bowen’s version

“Come Around”- Papa Roach

“From Eden”- Hozier

“To the Man Who Let Her Go”- Tyler Shaw

“What If I Stay”- Chris Young

“Drift Off to Dream”- Travis Tritt

“Take Your Time”- Sam Hunt

“T-Shirt”- Thomas Rhett

“Not Strong Enough”- Apocalyptica, Brent Smith

“What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?”- Lee Ann Womack

“Right Where You Want Me” or “Better With You”- Jesse McCartney (because I love them both and just couldn’t choose lol)

Feel free to suggest songs from the shows/movies! I know the above are random. I tried to have some variety.

AUs, Tropes, etc.:

*gasp* And there was only one bed… (Bed sharing)

Confessing FEELINGS (or “everyone conspiring to make them confess their feelings already”)

Neighbors

At a concert

Fake relationship for some event/case

Royal/Medieval

Soulmates

A/B/O

Friends/Enemies/Strangers to lovers

Comforting the other person

Dialogue prompts:

“I didn’t mean to turn you on.” “Well, it’s a little late for that!”

"Stop telling me you’re okay.”

“Can you please come and get me?”

“Sometimes you can be a real dumbass, you know that?”

“Because I care about you!”

“I’m right here. I’ve got you.”

“Who did this to you?”

“Well...what if I go with you?”

“Give me a chance to change your mind.”

“Plot twist!” “Screaming ‘plot twist’ doesn’t make this suck any less.”

“What did I say?” “You told me to stay out of trouble.” “And what did you do?” “The opposite of that, obviously.”

“You can do so much better than him. I wish there was some way I could make you believe that.”

“Not enough? You’re...everything.”

“Well this was fun... Let’s never do it again.”

“I need you to do something for me. You owe me a no-questions-asked.”

“Don’t look at me like that! You know what it does to me.”

“Wait! Just...take me instead.”

“You can’t keep it all inside, you know? Bottling it up won’t do any good.”

“I can’t stay away from you. I’m tired of trying.”

“Have you seen you? You’re like a damn dreamboat.”

Random things my kiddos at school have said:

“Hey Mrs. America! Mrs. Captain America.”

“You know what your problem is? DAT attitude.”

“How did it taste?” “Like disappointment.”

“Do we got a fucking problem?”

“When am I not wearing my sassy pants?”

“Words are hard.”

“I’ve been screaming internally my entire life.”

“Can I jump over the fence?” “No, but thank you for asking.”

“That’s not very cash money of you.” “...I don’t know what that means.” “That’s okay. I just felt like saying it.”

“What do you call a blind dinosaur?” “Dead.” [P.S. the answer is Do-you-think-he-saw-rus]

Shenanigan ideas:

Karaoke night at a bar

Thanksgiving dinner

Christmas lights

Slow dancing

Prank War

Ice skating

Mistletoe

Ugly sweater party

Gift exchange

Creating/sharing holiday traditions

Please reblog or tag your favs who might be looking for a little extra inspiration!

CarryOnCap Crew (Forevers):

@abswritesfandoms @amanda-teaches @cosicas-cuquis @crist1216 @droidyouseek @emoryhemsworth @ericaprice2008 @flawless-disaster @janeyboo @jenn0755 @ksgeekgirl @maresmiley @memyselfandmaddox @notyourtypicalrose @randomparanoid @rynabarnesrogers @sandlee44 @scarletsoldierrr @shann-the-artist-moon @sheerioasteroidpanda @shynara51 @someday-when-you-leave-me @star-spangled-man-with-a-plan @thisismysecrethappyplace @torntaltos @waywardbaby @waywardrose13 @weebid @whimsicalrobots @wintersoldierbaby @wintersoldierissucharide @yesfanficsaremylife

Cap’s Marvel Crew:

@amoonagedaydreamer @bangtan-serendipity @bubbabarnes @lilacs-with-lavender @msgreenverse @nomadstevergxrs @palaiasaurus64 @scarlettsoldier @selina-kyle89 @smokeandnailz @troublermalik @twittytelly @valkirsif

Cap’s SPN Crew:

@adoptdontshoppets @akshi8278 @alexwinchester23 @bi-danvers0 @deangirl7695 @dean-winchesters-bacon @fandomoniumflurry @pisces-cutie @supernaturalenchanted @superromijn @waywardnerd67 @x-waywardaf-x

Other amazing writers came to mind in case you’re interested in participating, feeling inspired to bless us with more of your beautiful work, or wouldn’t mind reblogging/tagging other writers (Please forgive me for spamming you!):

@luci-in-trenchcoats @supernatural-jackles @evansrogerskitten @cajunquandary @after-avenging-hours @fvckingavengers @mywritingsblog @bitsandbobsandstuff @prettyyoungtragedy @kittenofdoomage @angelkurenai @impala-dreamer @redgillan @gaybybirth @invisibleanonymousmonsters @221bshrlocked @sgtjbuccky @captainrogerss @katymacsupernatural @buckyofthemyscira @captain-rogers-beard-mainblog @dancingalone21 @atc74 @smol-and-grumpy @hannahindie @kdfrqqg @sis-tafics @idreamofplaid @deanssweetheart23 @because-imma-lady-assface @covered-byroses @captain-kelli @heli0s-writes @deanwinchesterswitch @roonyxx @jay-and-dean @ladywinchester1967 @spnfanficpond

#supernaturally marvelous fic challenge #CarryOnCap's fic writing challenge #fic writing challenge #follower celebration #marvel fanfiction #spn fanfiction #supernatural fanfiction #fanfic writing prompts #fanfic writing challenge #fluff #dean winchester x reader #steve rogers x reader #bucky barnes x reader #sam winchester x reader #supernatural reader insert #spn reader insert #marvel reader insert

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felassan · 3 years

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Gamers For Groceries 2 event

A Twitch stream event from a few days ago. It can currently be re-watched here (it was fun & interesting, so I do recommend to check it out direct). This post contains some notes on things of particular interest & relevant timestamps, in case this is useful to anyone (for example bc of accessibility reasons).

First up is the All About Animating panel, a series of mini-interviews with game devs (animators) asking what they do, how they got there, and advice for anyone interested in getting into the industry. Some or all of the devs that were interviewed are currently working on DA4. They talked a bit about their day-to-day work and a lot about the craft of game dev animation in general. This segment runs from timestamp ~38 mins 40 secs to 1:07:50. Some notes:

[sounded like DA4] Right now the creature team are working on different creatures in a way which involves going through a lot of mocap data

At BioWare they have a pretty big technical animation team, to support their animators, so each tech animator has a different specialty. Tech anim involves animation support, character art support, and rigging the characters so that the animators can pose them

[not sure if re: DA4 work specifically, another project or a general comment on the craft] One of the featured animators’ area of specialty at the moment is faces and hair (building the control structure for face animations). First they had to decide how the face rig and its control structure would work. This involves a lot of performance capture of live actors for things like cinematics and gameplay animation, therefore the rigs for bodies and faces have to be able to accurately capture the full range of expressions and emotions that the actor is portraying. Right now the stage that this dev is working on most is setting up the heads that they’re getting through the pipeline from character art e.g. making adjustments based on feedback from the cinematics team. “Polish - just trying to get realism”

Hair tech has come quite a long way in the last few years [in the industry]

[not sure if re: DA4 work specifically, another project or a general comment on the craft] Hair is very complex to get right. “In the past most games have used card-based hair, which is basically like sheets of polygons with a texture on it that looks like hair, through layers of transparency. But real hair is strand-based, digital strands, so we’re starting to look into that kind of tech - try to get more realistic, more beautiful hair, but there’s always a performance cost to hair. Layers of transparent things are always an expense, they need to balance like, it looks good and moves well, but it doesn’t make your computer or console chug. [...] I guess we’re in the prototype stage but we’ve almost got a set pipeline. It’s always fun to experiment”

In Mass Effect 2 or 3, Miranda’s hair was as expensive as a whole character (!)

[on balancing hair costs/performance, general] It depends on things like character importance and how many characters are on-screen at the time. When you’re in gameplay fighting a bunch of monsters you’re not going to be giving full beautiful hair to all the characters and the monsters, as it will cost too much. (Having a helmet on is a convenient way to get rid of hair.) But if it’s a cinematic scene, with 2 characters talking to each other in a dramatic context, there’s a better budget for nice hair allocated

Some of the hair in Anthem was quite expensive in cinematics. They kept getting bugs from QA saying (for example) that a character’s hair was tripling the performance cost in the scene, so it would go back to character art so they could take away some of the hair cards. “Tough balance, quality versus cost”

“I wish all the characters could have beautiful strand hair”

For p-cap, a lot of the time they don’t want to be too prescriptive in terms of the direction that they’re giving the actors, as the actors know what they’re doing and have a lot of experience, so they give them vague instructions that they then riff off of

[sounded like DA4] They recently did a mocap shoot

[sounded like DA4] There’s a bit more productivity happening now in the pandemic situation; now that the animators are not all going to the capture lab in Vancouver in person for shoots, if it’s not their turn to direct a shot they can instead be working on something else on their computers (multi-tasking). ((Lead DA4 Producer Scylla Costa recently gave a talk at a games festival on the challenges of DA production during the pandemic. In part of this talk he talked about various benefits and drawbacks to the remote-working situation. He also talked about and showed some behind-the-scenes stuff for p-cap and mocap. Notes, images and link here))

[sounded like DA4] Special mocap suits were sent out that they can use with a laptop to go anywhere and shoot motion capture. It’s not as high fidelity as what comes out of the capture lab, but it’s really good for prototyping stuff. Before the pandemic they did some of this (going to a park and shooting some running around)

[sounded like DA4] In one of the shoots they had some actors who were really well-trained in dancing. They were trying to get them to do some combat stuff. This was a bit challenging in the pandemic situation as there’s only so much they can demonstrate/portray as an example to the actors from a distance on camera. “It’s hard to describe what a ‘dodge to attack’ is through the camera to somebody who has no idea what combat looks like in video games”

[not sure if re: DA4 work specifically, another project or a general comment on the craft] The pandemic has really affected performance capture for the face side of things badly, as in order to record, the actor gets dots painted on their face in specific locations by a makeup artist. They can’t do that right now because of social distancing/restrictions, so they haven’t been recording faces at the moment

The more detailed a face, the more joints it has, the more the cost to performance is

---

There was also the Writers’ Block panel, featuring DA writers Mary Kirby, Sheryl Chee and Patrick Weekes, and DA editor Karin Weekes. The timestamps for this segment are ~2:37:50 - 3:26:20. Some notes:

PW has never been weirder than when they were writing Cole on DAI

PW thinks that they accidentally wrote part of “Timber” by Kesha into Solas at one point and they were like “Well, okay, I have to stop listening to Kesha”

For Sheryl, after a while Blackwall’s VA always nailed doing his lines. She loved the quality of his voice and so after a while would always hear his voice while she was writing. This really worked out

^ Mary had this with Merrill. As soon as they cast Eve Myles she listened to several hours of her in Torchwood, and then just wrote to the way that she spoke as much as possible

^ PW had this with GDL as Solas and FPJ as Bull. As soon as they heard FPJ’s delivery, they were like “Oh, okay, I have to write some lines differently, because Bull is smarter than I realized”. With GDL they were like “Okay, he’s going to put poetry into anything I say, in the best way possible”. In early drafts of Solas lines there were parts where they [PW] wondered “Is this too melodramatic? Is this too tragically-angstful?” and then they would hear GDL and be like “Oh! [It’s fine] Game on!”

For localization, German words are often quite long so they often have to make sure that everything fits on the GUI

They think scenes like the romance scenes sound prettier in the Italian versions

Behind the curtain in creating the in-world languages: PW: “There are some awesome websites that have every elven word, like ‘Here are the translations and verb tenses and conjugations’ [etc], [...] and usually Mary and I get very sad slightly looking at those pages going like ‘Does that mean that we have to stick to that?’ [...] The rule is, if I’ve looked at the Wiki and the words, and I go ‘Here’s the correct grammatical way to do it’, and if that turns out to be too long or too many disconnected syllables and it just looks bad or sounds bad, then we shorten it to something simpler, because the key is we want to give the flavor of a foreign language, but we don’t have the world-building budget and capacity to make something that is going to be dictionary-real [in a way that] someone could go through and translate all the background things written on the old temple walls”. Part of the reason for this is the consideration for VAs, who already have to act while bearing lots of things in mind, like the cues in the script for each line

Mary: “For building a language, the first things that I started with for qunlat, elven and dwarven, was what words do we need to use the most? Greetings, farewells, words for friend and enemy, basic things that will come up easily in conversation. After that it’s ‘How difficult is this for other writers to use?’ Can they just pick it off the Wiki? Do they need just one word? Do they need to write whole sentences, and how does that work? Qunlat has almost no grammar to it because asking anyone to learn how to use Qunari grammar and conjugate verbs in a pretend language is impossible, and then once you’ve done that a human being has to be able to read it, while not knowing what any of it means”

PW: “One thing that I was really impressed with with Mary in particular doing, Mary was one of the big lore people across the entire DA series; I can look at a word and go like, ‘That has two A’s in a row, that’s definitely a Qunari word. That word is kind of long and maybe has some apostrophes and has a couple of flowy vowel sounds, that’s probably elven’, I think that’s what’s important. You want players to be able to look at a word, players want to feel smart, [like] ‘Oh I don’t know what that means but I totally know that’s a word from the Qunari people!’”. Mary: “Every language has its own set of phonemes, the sounds that they make, and the sort of word structure and spelling so that it gives a flavor to that language. Hopefully that is always chosen to be pronounceable, because again, very important that the words can be said by human beings :D”

Sheryl: “One of the fun things to do is to make up swear words in the fake languages [...] Recently Brianne wanted a word, I don’t know if she managed to find one”

The origin of bosh’tet in ME: it’s just saying “bastard” and slurring it

PW: “I feel like there are times when past writers kind of leave traps for future writers, where past writers will go ‘Okay, I’m going to write this detailed phrase in a codex entry but don’t worry, it doesn’t matter if it can never be said aloud, because it’ll never have to be voiced!’ and then, next game, guess what guys! Look what you have to make someone [a VA] say! And you’re like [facepalm], c’mon!”

Karin: “Now, four games in, we have pages and pages of all these examples, and I wanna say this, well that’s how we said something before, well that’s ridiculous, I don’t wanna say that, but now we’ve said it and it’s out there, so it’s like, how do we, y’know, how do we evolve, and sometimes we just go ‘Screw it! Languages are living languages! We’ll just say it like this now!’”

PW's favorite is the sarcastic Mythal’enaste, “Because it’s the sarcastic Mythal's blessing that basically means you’re getting screwed over somehow. I love it because Mythal nasty! Whoever wrote that clearly never thought that someone would have to say this out loud”

Sheryl wrote Bull’s joke icicles line. She also wrote Isabela’s big boats line - Jennifer took it out but then DG was like “No it has to come back”

They have a pun test, they get a few of them and have to allot them wisely so as not to oversaturate on the puns. “Is this good/bad enough to be one of the times that we pull the trigger? We did have one of those recently, I obviously can’t talk about it, but it was pronounced Okay to go ahead”

The ‘baby-est’ writer is Brianne, who’s been there 8 years

It makes PW sad that the players never get to see the writers’ temp-text [placeholder text when portions are a WIP]. “People have the best temp-text". Mary: “The number of conversations that I’ve temped in like ‘WELL. I hope nothing BAD happens HERE’”

Q. If you could bring in anybody from outside of gamedev, who would you like to work with and do a writer’s session with? PW: “I will say romance novelist Nora Roberts, she is really smart and also she knows how to write inside a genre, and do wonders within it. Her structure is so good. If you pick up one of her books, you know here’s when this is gonna happen, here’s when they’re gonna meet, here’s when this first moment will happen. We’re all experienced and I feel pretty good about that but I really like all of the things she does that way, and also I am a sucker for romance so I would love to bring a romance novelist in and just have them look at our scenes and go ‘Okay here, no, they should pull the tie so that the article of clothing comes open, we need a sense of how warm the skin is here’ - something like that. I’d wanna see what they could do with that”

“Luke writes the best worst lines”

“I’m always impressed with Mary getting away with lines. There are lines that I look at like, wow, you buried that one. [...] The only players who get that line, I feel like they earned it if they went that far into it. [...] And then Varric or Merrill says a ridiculous line in a one-time throwaway”

Karin: “The group dynamic, you’ll see conversations or snippets of a lunch chat or a thing we’ve been joking about and you’ll see it get pulled in, and how all of you [the writers] are able to take a normal kind of thing - as normal as we get as a group anyway - and then turn it into a moment, and use it to further the plot or use it to further a character. It’s just the cleverest thing and it happens in so many different ways. [...] The little snippet of life, then how you crafted it into this very cool thing”

Quartermaster Threnn was written by PW in half a day. “When I was writing Threnn, ‘Okay, this is a good-hearted [person], I was doing a little bit of Steel Magnolias, southern, no-nonsense, but like, blue collar Steel Magnolias’. This is someone accustomed to the ways of the world so she’s going to call a spade a spade. If you come up to her and you’re an elf she doesn’t recognize you and says ‘Buckets are over there’ because she thinks you’re there to clean, [but] ‘Anyone calls you a knife-ear you come to me I’ll take care of it’. It’s problematic but she’s trying - the good-hearted person rooted for the wrong group on every occasion. She was a proud Loghain supporter, she gets really exited if he comes to Skyhold. That was a fun character for me to write because I had a viewpoint in my mind. I remember someone was like ‘Threnn is really important to me’. And you have to honor that, cause you’re like ‘Cool, it means so much to me that this connected with some part of you’”

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Also of interest was the Mass Affection panel, in which BioWare devs looked back in over a decade of history to remaster a classic. It featured devs who worked on MELE. The timestamps for this segment are ~3:36:09 - 4:24:37. Some notes:

When the pandemic hit the MELE team were in a relatively awkward spot. They were really entering into what they consider full production and were on-boarding a bunch of teams, as well as training and on-boarding third-party external partner specialized teams worldwide. When the pandemic hit, BioWare and EA were super on top of it. They were tracking it weeks beforehand, getting everyone their computers ready, and getting everything encrypted. When the middle of March 2020 hit they were home rightaway. EA were nothing but supportive throughout the entire thing. They got money every quarter for stuff. It functionally ‘hit’ at 4-6 different times for them as the pandemic occurred in different places throughout the world at different times depending on each country’s response plan (and their external partners were in different countries). “So it was one of those things where it was just like, every day we’d come in like can we still work with this company anymore? Do we need to find someone else? Do we need to pull people in off the other projects at BioWare to fill gaps here and there?”

There was a bug on Virmire at the part when you’re coming into the STG camp. If the Mako had its new boosters on and you came hurtling in really fast, it cut to the cutscene, but the Mako hit a jump and when Ash was like “What do we do now?” the Mako ended up literally flying around in the background sideways and then crashing into the camp

Another bug: when they were re-tuning the guns, the physics force on some of the guns with Hammerhead rounds was so high that when you were fighting some of the Thorian Creepers, you could ragdoll them so hard that you could basically embed them in the roof. They’d be moving so fast that they’d penetrate all the walls with their legs dangling out. It was so easy to do and you could do it to everybody. You could launch a geth halfway across an Uncharted World

Another bug: with Shepard’s casual appearance in ME3, if you didn’t have it set up perfectly correctly it would default to Grunt for some reason. You’d be walking around as Grunt, going on dates as Grunt, and your face would be all scrunched up because it was all mapped to human bones still, so it was just, like, Nightmare Fuel of Grunt

Another bug: in ME2 on Illium when trying to recruit Samara, the Asari enemies just would not stop screaming - regardless of whether they were hit or not, it was endless screaming. Later one of the devs got an audio file of the scream, endless and looped, and now one of the devs has it on their phone and uses it for their morning alarm tone

“Shepard would come up to characters and they’d just be screaming”

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There was also the Programming Variables panel, talking about what hurdles game programmers face. Some [or all?] of the devs that were part of this panel are currently working on DA4. They talked a bit about their day-to-day work and about the craft of game dev programming in general. The timestamps for this segment are ~ 4:24:46 - 5:06:02.

[source]

[insights/notes from Gamers For Groceries 1]

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