#who ignores human history and history based dramas and art and basically everything

[la-pheacienne]

Sara saying that rhaenys wouldnt kill alicent cause theyre both mothers and women, despite alicents family being a direct threat to her own, and alicent and rhaenyra reconnecting after hurting eachother for 20yrs because now theyre both wives will never not piss me off. Do they not understand that alicent rhaenys and rhaenyra are humans first and foremost? Not mothers, not wives, not victims, not women but HUMANS. Like ned, stannis, daemon, aerys, robert, viserys were all husbands, fathers, and men each with their own beliefs goals and experiences that shaped them and yet if you put them all in room together no one would ever suggest that these guys would ignore everything about themselves and wouldnt all start fighting eachother one way or another just cause of those basic commonalities. Thats not how humans work sara

I have nothing to add, you said it all bestie.

[fear-before-valor]

AU Ficlet: Jim, who was raised by the Order from the age of five, attends Arcadia Oaks High, for his first day of human high school. Weird things happen in Arcadia, though, and his appearance seems to be one such weird thing to the residents in this small, strange town... 

Aka: How an Order-raised Jim met Toby and Claire

Words: 2939 II Warnings: none II ok to rb --

Jim dropped his backpack at the empty desk next to one Tobias Domzalski’s, one of the only people at school who’d been properly friendly to him so far. It was Jim’s first day of mortal high school, and he’d been vetted mercilessly by every student group but Tobias’s, though he was beginning to suspect that said group consisted of only Tobias.

Of course, Jim had been screening his peers right back, but it was still exhausting. He thought he’d been ready after the Order’s… extensive lessons on humanity, and how to fit in with the mortals like himself, but already, everything he’d done felt like it must have been a social faux pas of some kind.

Act quiet around the quiet kids? Then no one speaks, until the silence grows so long that it’s awkward, and starting up a conversation makes it feel painfully forced. So, okay, maybe find some louder kids and try to blend in with them. Except, they start to grow obnoxious, and at some point, the headache simply stops being worth it.

Jim wasn’t even going to dare try and bond with the overly studious; he wasn’t here to vie for valedictorian, nor was he all that interested in making grades that separated him from the pack. Not to mention, he much preferred whatever lessons the Order could teach him anyway. They were very practical things, going over philosophy, strategy, combat, computations. He was already conversational in Bellroc and Skrael’s original languages, and though he knew Spanish would be equally valuable, the Spanish teacher seemed… intense, in a way that Bellroc and Skrael, who could likewise be rigorous sometimes, were not.

In fact, the only class he was indeed eager to take was history—and, okay, perhaps physical education didn’t sound horrendous, so long as he was careful about holding back in certain areas—because while he could learn plenty of history from his very ancient guardians, to hear of human history from the mouths of humans, like himself… it sounded unique, in a way that he hoped was amenable, at the very least, if not genuinely interesting or entertaining.

As he sat down in the chair beside Tobias, the boy seemed to light up, beaming over at Jim, a reaction that he hadn’t expected from his peer. He’d thought he’d rather botched his first conversation with Tobias in homeroom that morning, as he hadn’t known anything about anything that Tobias had referenced (what on earth was Gun Robot?). But, evidently, he must have done something well—or at least, acceptably— because Tobias was leaning over and excitedly holding out his hand to show Jim something which clattered in his palm as he moved. Politely, Jim glanced over to see what it was, and—oh.

Oh no.

That was definitely the remains of a troll.

Tobias was holding out small, grey pebbles for him to see, on which Jim could just make out hints of tattoos that had been etched into the troll while they were alive.

Holding back his mild panic, he gave a tight smile and a nod, as his classmate diagnosed them incorrectly as gneiss—which, admittedly, Jim thought wasn’t a bad guess, really. It’s not like the other boy had any reason to think that the rocks he was holding were anything but an average metamorphic stone.

Tobias was looking to Jim for a response, though, so he opened his mouth to speak, breathing in—

—magic.

Jim froze once more. The distinct tingle of magic had just washed over his senses, keen and undeniable, unlike anything else he’d felt that day.

It was raw, underdeveloped, not yet bolstered by the right teacher, but it was there, and it spoke in tones of purple, pulsing with potential.

Jim was no wizard himself, much preferring combat to the arcane arts, having not a strong penchant for it or its intricacies and delicate, temperamental nature, but even still, he’d been raised with the three most powerful magic-users in the known world. They’d taught him from youth how to recognize when magic was present, how to glean as many clues as he possibly could about it, or who might have cast it, might be walking in it, based on its style and scent, its intensity, or its intentionality. He wasn’t quite the best at sensing the finer details, nor could he find it when it was masked, but when it was open, unhidden, he could feel it like a mild electric shock that one might get when touching a door handle in dry weather; he could sense it like the faint scent of ozone during a storm, or like a prickle on the hairs on the back of his neck, when lightning was about to strike.

What’s going on? He thought, as he turned his head in the direction of the epicenter of the magic. First, there’s troll remains in the hands of a classmate with the same schedule as him, and then there’s—the girl, there. The girl with the blue streak in her hair.

The witch.

She’d caught him staring, as she set her books down on a desk in the front row, a couple columns over from his. Beside her plopped down two more girls—her friends, Jim noted, as they chattered familiarly, cheerfully.

The girl gave him an awkward smile, then, and Jim realized that he must have been staring for a few moments too long, so he rapidly flicked his eyes back to the surface of his own desk, trying not to think about the flush he could feel splash across the back of his neck, or the tips of his ears.

Tobias did not grant him such grace.

“Ooh,” he grinned, smug as a cat in a sunbeam. “That’s Claire Nuñez. President of the drama club, valedictorian candidate, great actress. She’s tied with Seamus Johnson and Shannon Longhannon for top of the class right now, I heard. She’s wicked smart, and—Jim?” Tobias huffed, “Are you paying attention to me?”

Jim’s eyes darted back to his new friend, from where they’d been briefly studying Claire Nuñez’s back, trying to get a more in-depth read on her arcana. He nodded distractedly. “Yeah, yeah, smart, a president; I heard you.”

Tobias sighed, shaking his head. “Jim.”

Jim raised an eyebrow, indicating that he was listening.

“She’s out of your league.” He deadpanned. “She’s super popular, and you’re, no offense, definitely not.”

Jim shot Tobias a confused look, brow furrowing. “What do you mean?”

The boy stared openly at Jim. “What do you mean, ‘what do you mean’? Do you really not— Oh my god.”

Jim blinked. “What?”

Tobias shook his head. “Jim, you’ve kinda… scared a lot of the people in our class today. They don’t know what to think about you. You’re like a giant question mark! No one even knows where you came from—”

“Ohio.” Jim recited his cover story, which Skrael had helped him pick the night previous. They’d chosen a city that started with a c… right. “Columbus, Ohio.”

Tobias shot him a deadpan look. “Okay, fine, Jim Lake from Columbus, Ohio. Why’d you suddenly move to Arcadia, then? Why not L.A.? Why not Burbank?”

Jim frowned. “Do you interrogate every newcomer like this? My parents got a good job opportunity here.” He held up one hand, “And before you ask—real estate.”

“Oh yeah? How come I haven’t seen them put up ads, then?” Tobias crossed his arms. “I’m just saying, dude; I think you’re cool, but you freak a lot of people out with that brooding, silent thing you do.”

Jim snorted. “I do what?”

“Y’know—”

“No, I don’t know—”

“You act, like, all silent and mysterious when people try to talk to you.” Tobias shrugged. “I don’t think it’s a bad thing, but some people don’t seem as ready to brush it off as me. I’m only telling you so that you can make more friends here.”

“Well, I have you, don’t I?” Jim’s head canted.

Tobias blinked, floundering at that. “Well—y…yeah, I guess so, but—”

“I mean, we are friends, aren’t we?”

It was Tobias’s turn to go a bit pink, shaking his head in bewilderment. “If you want, yeah, but—”

“Then there we go. I have a friend.” Jim smiled.

Tobias tried to protest, “But—” only to find himself cut off as Mr. Strickler strode into the classroom at that moment, placing a leather briefcase on his desk with a decisive thump. Cacophonous voices incrementally petered out, as attentive heads turned to the front of the classroom, where Mr. Strickler had pulled out a stack of syllabi, handing them to the student nearest the door, with the instructions to “take one and pass them,” spoken precisely to the class.

Tobias looked like he wanted to say something when Strickler turned his back to write his name on the chalkboard, but Jim shushed him from the corner of his mouth, opening a fresh, blank notebook as he did so. This was the only class he’d bothered to buy a separate notebook for, and, to be frank, was the only class he’d even intended to take notes in at all.

Tobias looked chagrined, but not angry, as he rolled his eyes and went to fetch a pencil from his own bag. Might as well have something to do with his idle hands for the next hour.

—

As his first day was winding to close, Jim had to admit, having a friend at school did end up making it a little easier.

The rest of his time there had passed largely unremarkably, since a rather thrilling start to the history curriculum. Jim’s hand had shot up just as much as the apparent reigning top of the sophomore class, one Miss Claire Nuñez’s, had— a fact which had, according to Tobias, already begun to percolate across campus.

The lesson had only briefly covered the basics of ancient Rome, going over a bit of easy, more widely known trivia, to see what the class already knew about their oncoming first unit, but, nonetheless, Jim had been eager to jump in, to talk almost directly to Mr. Strickler, going back and forth in the form of a discussion. He’d spoken quietly, quickly, and he’d felt the eyes of his peers glued to his desk, but had ignored the sensation altogether, in favor of listening to what his teacher had to say about aqueducts, instead.

When the hour had finally come to an end, in fact, he’d packed up slowly, most of his classmates abandoning the room as quickly as they could—the lunch period was about to begin—though Tobias was kind enough to wait for him. As such, Tobias was the only other person present to hear Mr. Strickler stop Jim after class, paying a brief compliment to his performance that day, and accompanying his words with a poster for the history club. Jim didn’t think his furtive smile had gone entirely missed by the teacher, but as they’d exited into the now mostly empty hallway, he forgot to worry about it further, as Tobias wasted no time in asking him how the heck his new friend knew so much about history already?

Jim had shrugged it off, saying that it was his favorite subject; and besides, didn’t Tobias— “Seriously, dude, it’s Toby, by the way”— know more about geology than anyone else in their class? The compliment had made Tobias—Toby— preen, and he’d promptly dropped the topic, instead launching into an enthusiastic lecture meant to coach Jim through the cafeteria process. Jim, who had tried to jump in to say that he’d heard this at orientation the week prior, but Toby had shot him an appalled look at that, swiftly informing him that orientation did nothing to help the social side of things. Sure, he knew the motions, but did he know how to do them without standing out in the crowd? Absolutely not—in fact, the thought was almost laughable, according to Toby.

So, Jim had grinned, followed Toby’s lead, and had just barely survived the ever-important lunch line waltz.

The rest of the day had passed mostly the same way, in the end. Toby, having warmed up to Jim, took him through the whole rest of the day, guiding him through the intricacies of Arcadia Oaks High, and by the time the final bell was ringing, Jim almost felt like a normal student. Some of his peers had even started waving to him in the hallways; he’d broken the ice, after all.

Well. He’d thought so, until Toby had said goodbye, peddling away on his bike toward home, leaving Jim alone in the courtyard by the bustling lockers, surrounded by students eager to either go home, as Toby had, or to dive into after-school clubs and sports.

Jim opted to take his time, though, to enjoy the Southern California sun, as he strolled casually across the campus, toward the front of the school grounds.

As he rounded the corner, though, intending to head toward the Arcadia Oaks sign, where he’d stop and shoot off a text to the Order that his first day had gone well, and that he’d be home soon, he felt a tap on his shoulder, instead, and heard a throat being cleared behind him.

He knew who it was before he even turned to face her; her magic had given her away as soon as she’d reached a hand for him.

Despite this, Jim whirled as if she’d caught him by surprise, schooling his features into something startled but friendly, relaxing his shoulders as a polite smile crossed his face, upon seeing her. “Oh, hey. Sorry, I wasn’t expecting—” he rethought his words, shaking his head. “Never mind. …It’s, ‘Claire,’ right?”

She nodded, returning his smile. “Yeah! And you’re ‘Jim Lake’, hm?”

Something about the way she asked that question sent up a warning bell in the back of Jim’s mind, but he tried not to look unsettled; it was probably just nerves.

“Yup; just Jim is fine, though.” He added with a casual laugh.

Claire tilted her head, continuing. “So, you’re quite the history buff, huh?”

Jim’s hands dropped to his pockets, as he glanced at his shoes, then back up to her. “Uh, yeah, I guess so.”

“You guess?” She teased. “You were on fire in class today.” She lifted her chin, to look at him head on. “Do I need to worry about you unseating me, Jim Lake from Columbus, Ohio?”

Jim snorted, shaking his head. “No, no; it’s not like that. History’s just a hobby.”

“Pretty intense hobby, if you know half as much as you seem like you do.” She raised an eyebrow at him.

Jim grinned. “Intense? Like being the president of drama club, the vice president of debate, and the supposed shoe-in for the lead in the play this fall?” he recited, much to Claire’s surprise, who shot him an impressed look.

“Huh. You sure do pay attention, don’t you?”

He glanced around, making it a leisurely movement, concealing the way he was searching for anyone who could overhear, before his eyes met hers again, as he said, “Only to certain people.”

Claire blinked, cheeks reddening, mistaking his meaning. “Oh, yeah? What kinds of people?”

Jim rolled the dice. “Well, people who seem nice, or kind, who I could make friends with. People who do things I wanna do, too, so I can have an ‘in’. Like clubs, and things.” he clarified.

“And, uh…” his voice grew hushed, “Magic-users in the human world.”

Claire’s face fell. “What was that last one?” Her nose scrunched with the skeptical look that overtook her features.

Jim’s eyes darted to look for an exit, realizing coldly—fearfully— that he had grossly miscalculated.

“Uh…” Stupid. He chided himself. Think of a lie before you go backing yourself into a corner. Skrael would be disappointed in him if he were here.

“Did you just say ‘the human world’ like you… aren’t human?” She stared at him suspiciously.

Jim blinked. “What? No. I’m human. Of course I’m human.” He gave a strained laugh. “What else would I be?”

“…Someone who thinks they aren’t?” Claire’s brow furrowed.

“It was a rhetor- well. I mean, I guess that’s true. But I’m not!” He smiled weakly, and then froze for a split-second, rapidly adding, “Someone who thinks they aren’t human! I know I’m human!”

Claire’s eyes shot to the street, where, to her poorly hidden relief, her dad had just pulled up to the curb, there to pick her up. “…Right. Well, Jim Lake from Cleveland, Ohio, my dad’s here, so I need to go, but this has been… interesting.”

Jim nodded rapidly, shooting her one more smile— a sheepish, apologetic one— as he gave her a shy wave. “…Yeah.”

Claire hoisted her backpack onto one shoulder, giving him a half-hearted wave back. “…Bye, Jim.”

“Bye, Claire.”

As she turned to leave, Jim frowned to himself. He wasn’t sure why, but something felt wrong. He supposed it could have been the awkward manner in which he’d acted, but in a flash, he decided that wanted to see her again, just in case that wasn’t it. He couldn’t be too careful.

So, before he missed his chance, he called after her retreating back, “See you around?”

Claire stopped, hand poised on the handle of the passenger side door, freezing there for a heart-pounding pause.

Then, she shot him a look over her shoulder, one of interest, meeting his eyes deliberately. Jim got the sense that he should heed it carefully.

“Yeah. See you around, Jim.”

[aiyassalt]

Claudia’s Character Assassination

This post is a follow up on my recent Claudia hot take in which I state that Claudia was another character intentionally ruined and demonized by the writers (not unlike Viren) for the sake of shipping.

I know what ya’ll are thinking: I’m just being a butthurt Claudia stan, but based on recent discoveries (such as a certain article from Polyon), I’m (mostly) making a case based on facts.

“Whoawhoawhoawhoa, aiya?” you cry. “Don’t you think you’re being ridiculous and going a bit too far with your Rayllum hate?!”

Au contraire, my friend, I’m not. An article published by Polygon in the last year (yes, I know. I’m late but whatever) came out and confirmed a few facts:

Callum/Claudia were supposed to be endgame or at least canon.  

Rayllum was never in the cards, but the writers, supposedly claim that they decided to switch things up during the storyboarding phase for S2.

“The Callum-Rayla romance sparked in a moment during the storyboarding phases of season 2, when the pair sat down for a heart-to-heart. A lingering glance on Rayla’s part prompted the writing team to consider the potential of the duo, and they continued developing it through the rest of season 2.”

However, further along in the article, the writer talks about how the staff are completely aware of fandom happenings and have developed a…”strategy” concerning fandom.

“The Dragon Prince writing staff are aware of the possible relationships their fans are hoping for, say the creators, and “good ships and trash ships” are a source of constant chatter and scrutiny in the writers’ room. After a season 2 creative retreat, a gallon of corn oil inspired writer Neil Mukhopadhyay to put a name to those moments that leave a bit too much room for romantic possibilities. “Shipping oil” became the go-to slang for when scenes felt slathered with dialogue or character blocking that could send the wrong message.”

So, it starts to become clear that Rayllum didn’t happen because the writers had a lightning bulb moment and realized it “made sense.” It has everything to do with trying to appeal to the fanbase’ wants and ideas of “appropriate” ships.

“Okay,” you say. “So the writers decided to make the juggernaut canon to make fans happy. So what! What’s the big deal? What does this have to do with Claudia?”

It has a lot to do with Claudia (and to a lesser extent, Soren) and it explains why the writing for her character in S3 felt incredibly off and dismissive for her. The writers talked about “shipping oil” for certain pairings and being concerned about “sending the wrong message.” What if the writers decided to possibly tone down certain shippy scenes? Or even go further and decided to cut out scenes or even rewrite certain character arcs to:

Accommodate the sudden pro-Rayllum direction they pushed the story towards and not threaten their endgame ship?

Make the Rayllum fans feel better and more confident about their OTP rather than feel insecure and threatened by “trash” ships getting an upper hand?

LBR, as much as Rayllum like to deny it, they’re not that secure about their ship. It’s why we see a portion of Rayllum fans continually bashing Claudia. Why, throughout S2, we started seeing an uptick of Rayllum fans calling Callum/Claudia problematic and/or abusive (no, I’m not joking or hyperbolizing; this actually happened) and trying to frame Soren/Rayla as “p*dophilic”.    

Think about it. S3 seems like it was written by a Rayllum fan with a (“hidden”) hate for Claudia. We never get to hear exactly her own thoughts about her father and her moral choices in S3. We don’t see her worrying and reeling with guilt over Callum and Ezran falling out with her. The girl we see clearly crying after telling Callum the truth about his dead father is suddenly not concerned about her childhood friends being in Xadia while she’s hearing rumors about Xadians possibly prepping for warfare. We witness Callum showing a baffling lack of concern for Claudia, a character who is supposed to be not only his childhood crush, but his childhood friend staying with her father who Callum acknowledged as someone who has changed for the worse (according to the books).  We get Nyx, a Skywing elf who possibly has never been in contact with humans, acting like a straight-up in-canon Rayluum shipper and being fine with a Human and Elf being in love rather than being disgusted. I would continue, but I don’t want to make an incredibly long post.  

And LBR: if Claudia (and Soren maybe) went with Callum and Rayla in S3 or S4, there would be trouble in paradise for the Rayllum ship and present more nuanced writing. Besides Callum x Claudia and Soren x Rayla having more chemistry than Rayllum, Claudia and Callum have more in common than Callum and Rayla do. And Soren and Rayla serve as better foils for one another and share more parallels together. Both Callum and Claudia are interested in magic, books, art, and history, had to serve as parental figures for their siblings, and are crafty and adaptive wildcards. Meanwhile Soren and Rayla are the youngest members of their individual organizations, good warriors who balance out each other’s weaknesses, and possess a lot of determination and ambition to prove themselves to their parental figures.

Imagine Soren and Rayla bonding over parents disappointing them and putting a lot on their shoulders. Imagine them confessing they have no idea what they want to do in life, and were put on their current career paths due to societal expectations. Imagine Claudia and Callum having a couple of tense moments due to her lying and trying to capture Zym, but eventually reconciling (basically, a gender reversed Zutara arc). Imagine Callum showing Claudia his Sky Magic moves and revealing it is possible for humans to do Primal Magic without needing a Primal Stone. Imagine Claudia then deciding to embark on training and dedicating herself to learn specific type of Primal Magic (such as Water or Moon, or even Earth) with Callum’s help. Imagine Callum and Claudia deciding to go on dates that also function as research trips to explore ruins and to discover the truth as to why and how the myth that humans can’t do Primal Magic was perpetuated. Imagine Rayla and Claudia’s initial interactions being full of hostility due to their past experiences and Claudia being a Dark Mage and Rayla going on a self-righteous anti-Dark Magic rant only for Claudia to break out of her typical goofy and upbeat persona and bring up the history of humans in Xadia and point out the birth of Dark Magic has nothing to do with humans wanting to kill creatures for the shits and giggles, but for survival and fighting against oppression. And as a result, Rayla actually undergoes actual character growth.

The scenarios I’ve described here sound 100x more interesting than the Rayllum Drama Desert mess. I’m also absolutely positive that they would absolutely make certain characters as more sympathetic (such as Viren, especially if Claudia defends Dark Mages), put a dent in Rayllum’s popularity and Rayla’s Perfect Waifu status and drive the Rayllum fandom bonkers. And the TDP writers knew it, which is why Claudia and Soren were given the arcs they have in S3.

I will never be over how Claudia was sacrificed at the altar of fandom pandering, and most of the fandom waving it off because, whatever, she’s no longer in the way and she’s an icky teenaged girl. Never. A refreshing character like her didn’t deserve the treatment she’s gotten thus far and will continue to get if the writers insist on pandering to vocal fan factions. Shame on the TDP writers for making such an ignorant, amateur, and disastrous move.

[hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger]

Symbiote Spider-Man #1 Thoughts

Tl:dr version: Screw Ahmed’s ASM annual, THIS is a black costume story done right!

I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect with this book.

In spite of the back pages from editor Devin Lewis (who I am shocked to discover is about my age...Jesus) this is a title clearly existing because

a)      Venom had a movie last year

b)      Mysterio will be in a movie this year

c)       Venom is perennially popular

d)      The black suit is perennially popular

e)      There is an event coming up centred around those who were hosts to symbiotes, Spider-Man being the most famous

And as a side note the Spider Office/Peter David himself seem keen to maintain a PAD led title of some sort. No complaints from me, older creators shouldn’t be thrown away, especially one as talented as PAD.

However in this issue PAD has delivered quite frankly his best Spider-Man work in YEARS, possibly a whole decade. His 2099 book? This blows it out the water. His Scarlet Spider work, lol please.

I attribute this to 3 key factors:

a)      PAD is writing a character he honestly likes which wasn’t the case with Ben Reilly

b)      PAD is writing the character in the status quo he’d obviously prefer which wasn’t the case for 2099

c)       This being an untold tale series that’s also a mini, this title cannot be derailed by crossovers which was the case in...pretty much everything Spider related he’s written since 2005

This issue was magnificent.

It is essentially Peter David doing Untold Tales of Spider-Man but set in the Alien Costume Saga.

Untold Tales’ writing intended to evoke a bygone era (coincidentally 30+ years before its publication, just like this series) but with a dash of modernity.

This series is much the same.

The dialogue is mostly modern but leans a bit more towards the past, is happy to use editorial captions for comic references (something most modern comics are afraid to do for some reason) and is doesn’t feel all that out of place with the stories of 1984!

The same cannot be said for the art which is obviously nothing like what Frenz and (to a less extent) Leonardi were doing back then.

However even then, maybe I just didn’t notice but the art honestly seemed...okay. Considering this is Greg Land this surprised me. Maybe someone will do a breakdown to prove me wrong but I didn’t notice anything that wrong with it.

Well that is until Felicia turned up then you realize he was obviously tracing. She looked a little like Pamela Anderson to me but god knows who he was ‘basing’ her on.

The only REAL art problem I noticed was the miscolouring of Felicia’s hair. She was a regular blonde as opposed to the platinum blonde she is supposed to be, but you could just say that was artistic licence.

Though it becomes harder to ignore since she’s supposed to resemble another blonde woman earlier in the story. I guess she was platinum blonde too?????

ANYWAY, the story itself is solid.

It’s a Mysterio character piece first and foremost and you can tell PAD loves this character a lot. I was worried it was going to be another origin for Mysterio contradicting his canon one but it wasn’t. It honestly felt very much like a story we might’ve gotten from back in the 80s had anyone been that interested in Mysterio.

It brings up the good point that, IIRC is entirely true, that (at least at this point in time) Mysterio never killed anyone and has him have a crisis when he inadvertently leads to a woman dying.

Honestly the main problems with this story were the woman arguably getting fridged and how maybe lame the set up for it was. She was literally introduced, established as having a family and axed within the same scene. Okay that scene plus Felicia concluding the costume was alive. I guess you can No. Prize it away but it seems kinda weird that neither Peter nor Felicia brought up how she called it right that day. Maybe they just forgot. Also maybe it was a bit of a continuity error that Felicia calls out Peter for being angry that she doesn’t accept his normal life. Then again I think you could massage continuity to make it fit.

Speaking of Felicia PAD likes the character, PAD likes this era for her and for the series (no shit, this was around the time he began writing Spider-Man so he’s very much at home here) and along with Spencer and Marvel over all he seems to be throwing Felicia much love now Slott is done abusing her.

Unlike in Ahmed’s shitty ass Annual last year Felicia is on point here and entirely within character (love her flirtation) with PAD throwing us a moment that I’m sure must’ve happened off panel at some point but we never get to see it.

Felicia basically confronting the ghost of Uncle Ben. PAD nails the tension between the Peter/Spidey/Felicia love triangle but does it correctly. Too often people oversimplify that she simply wholesale rejected his life as Peter Parker when the truth is whilst that was Felicia’s initial reaction, she did TRY to accept that side of Peter.

Going to Ben’s grave formally meeting Aunt May (she’d previously done so in costume) does that. She likes Aunt May, she’s sympathetic towards Peter (she lost her Dad too remember).

This is good drama no one ever milked!

Plus it, along with many other moments in the issue were just funny, you could tell PAD  was having a good time and he’s a witty writer in general.

I think a key component of this issue’s success is that it’s well researched. I’d somewhat forgive PAD for not re-reading the Alien Costume saga since it was around the time he was working on Spider-Man, but apparently he re-read both trades collecting the Alien Costume Saga and you can tell.

Unlike Ahmed who clearly didn’t read these issues because he made blatantly obvious mistakes, apart from the teeny tiny nitpicks I mentioned NOTHING in this issue is out of place.

And I know because I double checked!

Numerous times I thought I’d spotted an error.

-          Aunt May knowing Peter dropped out of college

-          The Human Fly being alive

-          Spider-Man’s aggression which I thought was being implied to be the symbiote’s fault

Nope. Nope. Nope.

PAD danced between the raindrops of continuity expertly. Aunt May found out Peter dropped out in ASM #253 DURING the Alien Costume Saga. The Human Fly was in fact alive, seen in a story shortly before Peter went to Battleworld. Peter’s aggression has an entirely different and logical explanation.

It was a job worthy of Busieck. Much kudos to PAD! Much shame on Ahmed.

Okay now let’s talk about the elephant in the room, or rather the twin set of elephants.

Yeah in this story...the Twin Towers are just fine.

There is a very interesting explanation at the back of the issue as to why this was.

Essentially PAD and Marvel were in two minds (ironically) about including the Towers for obvious reasons, PAD even having an alternately written scene in mind.

Now from a reader point of view it was a shock, I felt something so that’s good. And PAD being in New York when it happened I think lends him a certain degree of licence to touch on the tragedy. He actually already has in his 2099 book, a character revealed as a latent Inhuman comments that her life was shaped by the tragedy. That was maybe the first time ever since the ASM tribute issue that I recall a Marvel title using 9/11 as a piece of history as a story element much as they use WWII all the time.

The rationale behind doing it at all was that it was more immersive in the period, because obviously in 1984 the Twin Towers were still there. Although I wasn’t sure if PAD’s implication was that if you backtracked from this point in Spider-Man’s life to the point when he had the black suit that the Towers would still have been there. Because the latter would not be true since at most Peter would’ve been 17-18 and that’s if you accept he’s 35 NOW!

Regardless I think it worked well, I think Marvel handled it tastefully and I respect that they made the effort to justify it as opposed to just throwing it out there.

It’s also very much in line with the ethos of Untold Tales because IIRC whilst the stories were not EXACTLY set in the 1960s they were effectively set in the 1960s and had the same fashions.* Along with the Towers PAD also throws out references to the Muppet Babies and Power Pack who were huge in the 1980s.

All in all I can’t recommend this title highly enough.

BUY IT!

P.S. the only other complaint I have is that we’re apparently getting the Spot later and the Spot didn’t show up until after the Saga. So...we’ll see what happens there.

*Even though nobody in the actual 1960s looked or talked much like Stan Lee wrote Peter and the gang to but you catch my drift.

[edourado]

Tag time!

Thanks my darling @carry-the-sky 💗💗💗

1. how tall are you?

Look, I’m not sure. Every time I go to the doctors, they tell me, but I forget. Something around 1,64m. I don’t know what that is in American;

2. what color and style is your hair?

My hair is a brown/black lump of son of a bitch. I wear it a little above my shoulders, and it does not know what is wants. It’s straight but also wavy, it’s as fine as a newborn’s and it hates me;

3. what color are your eyes?

Super duper brown. I’d say black, but it’s like the darkest chocolate you can find, the kind that only grown up grown ups like;

4. do you wear glasses?

I do, mostly to watch tv and go outside. Like, I CAN drive without them, but it would be ill advised;

5. do you wear braces?

I do, my friends, yes, because when I wore them the first time, I was an overly anxious bench, took them off before I should, didn’t wear the retainer, and also my orthodontist was a bit of a lazy bum that just cared about the check every month. So, here I am, adult bracing. Yaaaay;

6. what is your fashion style?

Oh, well, shit. Ideally, comfortable fashion. Realistically, an uncoordinated mess;

7. full name?

Princess Consuela Banana Hamock

(What kind of question is this, quiz? It is the internets);

8. when were you born?

I’m a 90’s baby, and that’s all you need to know, QUIZ;

9. where are you from and where do you live now?

I’m from Brazil, I grew up in Brazil, but I now currently live in Brazil;

10. what school do you go to?

I have 911 in speed dial, just FYI;

11. what kind of student are you?

Very competent, had an easy time learning, but OH SO LAZY. My grades were never PERFECT, but I can only blame that on myself. Whenever I tried A LITTLE BIT, I aced everything. Lucky for me, the things they teach in schools are 50% of them useless, so I don’t feel really guilty or incompetent. But that’s now, when I was a kid I measured my self worth 100% based on my grades, so I always thought I was a mediocre human at best;

12. do you like school?

I like learning, but no, I don’t really like school. I never did get used to the traditional learning and teaching methodology. And I do teach, and ignore most of the schools ~training, because my commitment is to my students, and the school’s is to their pocket;

13. what are your favorite school subjects?

If it’s not math, physics or chemistry, I’m into it. I would LOVE to have been a scientist (y’all are real life super heroes. I worship and envy your brains), but this chick likes history and languages and literature. Basically if it doesn’t pay well, I wanna do it;

14. favorite TV shows?

I have established that I don’t like picking favorites, but currently, Sense8 (forever), The Punisher (in spite of that ending), Daredevil (who had the grace to end well), Good Girls, Grace and Frankie, the Korean dramas my sister brought into my life and I will thank her forever;

15. favorite movies?

Pride and Prejudice 2005 (duh), About Time (don’t touch me ok?), 5 to 7 (My core has been compromised by this movie), Before We Go, One Fine Day. Do you see a pattern?;

16. favorite books?

I don’t have one that I keep coming back to other than the Harry Potter saga, but I wouldn’t say they are my favorites. The one that stunned me the most was Gone Girl. For a number of reasons, the bigger of them being that it made me realize that nothing is black and white, and human relationships (be them romantic, parental, brotherly and sisterly, professional, friendships) are complex and people are complicated. Good people can do really bad shit, and bad people can and do experience valid emotions. This book fucked me up, basically;

17. favorite pastime?

Writing and reading and Netflixing. Also, who am I kidding, I like to go shopping;

18. do you have any regrets?

Answering “no” to this one means you don’t reflect on your actions and take no account of the impact of them on the people around you. Of course I do, we all SHOULD have regrets, since no one is born perfect and we learn a bunch of fucked to shit from an early age. We HAVE to try and grow up and evolve, so if you don’t regret anything, you’re doing something wrong. Sorry for getting intense. This is a sensitive topic with me (and I promise this is no shade to anyone, since I have only read @carry-the-sky ‘s, and her answer was the correct one);

19. dream job?

If you pay me to travel and write and absorb art and food and culture, I would never ever quit;

20. would you like to get married someday?

If I ever find my way to Chris Evans or Michael B Jordan, yes, sure;

21. would you like to have kids someday?

Look. I like them kids. I do. But I never had any desire to have them, myself. Gimme a baby to play with and hold, I’ll happily do it. But I’m 29 and the urge to birth my own is either late to the party or not coming at all;

23. do you like shopping?

Yes. A little too much. I’m trying to dial it way down, for the sake of my mental, emotional and financial health, but I do love it;

24. what countries have you visited?

USA, France, England, Mexico. The list is WAY shorter than I’d like, I’m working on expanding it;

25. what’s the scariest nightmare you’ve ever had?

Is this therapy? Are you tricking me into therapy? I don’t know, dude, I think I had one where my sister died horribly? Probably this one;

26. do you have any enemies?

This IS therapy. In the grand scale of life? Yes, the current president of my country is my mortal enemy, and the likes of the American Clown ya’ll didn’t elect but sits at the White House are my sworn foes. But, personally, no, I’m not interesting enough to have enemies;

27. do you have an s/o?

Potatoes;

28. do you believe in miracles?

Potatoes exist, so yes.

Joining Carrie’s chorus and tagging @ejunkiet, @devilbunnyking, @lightofpage, and adding @westonfollower, @murdocksassassin, @ambrosiaswhispers, @tacohead13, @kteague, @lpdwillwrite4coffee, @goddamnitkastle, and also the everyone that follows me. I’m tagging you.

❤️

[creatorofclay]

Mobile information

Rules

Basic RP rules and courtesies. No god modding, unless it’s something small to move the story forward.

Personal blogs do not reblog my threads, ooc posts, or headcanons. You are welcome to follow, reblog art or memes or things that I specify can be reblogged. Please please don't reblog any of my threads and RPs.

Mun =/= muse. I promise I am far better than this disaster man.

Dark themes may be present here. And in the same vein: I support writing problematic themes. This does not mean I support them IRL, it just means I support writing them in a safe space. Take that however you want.

I am open to anyone and I don’t have any exclusives, but please bare in mind that I do follow my muse. Sometimes he focuses more on certain threads than others.

DO NOT like a post multiple times or unfollow and refollow multiple times to get my attention. No one likes to see that and I WILL hard block you for it.

I am not mutual exclusive. What does this mean? It means that following is not a requirement to rp with me and that I may not follow back right away. When someone new follows, I don't always jump on and follow right away. It keeps my dash clean to people I know or talk to and interact with. Now, if you are mutual exclusive and you follow me, meaning you want to write with me, I encourage you to reach out. I do that when I follow people I want to write with, whether it be sending asks or liking starter calls or even sending a message. (I don't really do starter calls, I know, but asks are always open, even anon) If you follow because you want to write me, TELL ME.

IN ADDITION TO THIS: If you do wish to message me to start an rp or something, do NOT just message a short message or single word. If you have something to say, I would rather you say it up front. I don’t appreciate the little messages that are just meant to get my attention.

I may be open and non selective, but I DO maintain the right to deny rping with you. Especially if I know you are someone who has had issues with people in the past, immaturity or not respecting boundaries or just plain ignoring what someone says. 

To any and all Gavin muses: Default of my blog is that Elijah is an only child. I will absolutely be your brother if you'd like, I just ask that you let me know it is your intention so we can work out their relationship and childhoods (if they were together, if they knew, etc). it's the only thing I absolutely ask we plan out ahead of time. 

I work evenings(typically) in retail full time IRL so my time can seem scarce or sporadic sometimes. I only ask that you be patient with me, but you are also welcome to poke me if you feel like it’s been a while since I responded. I try to get to everything in a timely manner.

I don’t have any triggers, and I tag everything that is triggering in my posts. If you need something specific tagged, don’t be afraid to ask me. You can send an anon even, if it helps. All triggers are tagged "tw trigger" from me

My side blog is a Simon blog! @itisnothingtodie! He used to be his own account, but when my activity shifted over here to Elijah, I figured it was best to keep him much closer. He is still very low muse at the moment, but if you are interested in him feel free to message me there!

I also now have @finalfcrm, which is my special RK900 blog! My special boy, interact at your own risk ;)

Also be aware if you follow him I follow back from this blog.

Icons are gifts from the lovely @rob0badge uwu

Be gentle with me I am soft. But, I am always happy to make new friends! 

Chloe is also a muse here!!

Private/By request only for any long form RP and any sort of friendships or romantic ships. Everything with her should be discussed before hand to help me out. (Chloe isn't as straight as Elijah, so anyone is welcome. Chloe is welcoming to all love and new to relationships outside of her home. Just bear in mind courting her means dealing with Elijah to some extent)

Asks to Chloe are open to EVERYONE. You need only specify if it is for her. Asks by default are answered by Elijah.

I will not rp Chloe with any Elijah blog at all. This is because her personality is based very heavily on Elijah’s, and my portrayal of him naturally, so it won’t make much sense for her to be one way when other Elijah’s are not the same as mine. (@repliicantceo is the only exception because Eli and Elliot are not actually Elijah)

Chloe was meant to have her own set of tags, but I've changed my mind about that lmao All interactions will still be tagged either Elijah ic or Chloe ic. She will still have her own musing and aesthetic tags

When it comes to shipping…

I am multi-verse and multi-ship, however I will only ship with female muses.

All romance will only be with those over 18 please.

I ship chemistry above all else. If you feel like our characters could have something, let me know! We can talk it out to see how it would go! And also at the same time, I encourage you to follow on if your muse has a crush. Unrequited drama can be very interesting.

Be aware that if you include yourself into a verse with a certain muse I already ship with, there will be drama and choices will have to be made. All interactions are default verse Elijah unless specified otherwise.

That being said... I am also open to poly-shipping if it interests you~

Mun

My name is Ash, I’m 26, she/her pronouns, and I (still, i know) have a deep love for Detroit: Become Human.

My primary RP blog in the fandom was Simon for months, but, Kamski has always been an interesting character to me. He’s exactly the kind of villain/antagonist that I really like. Mysterious, ulterior motives, and fascinated by the main character in some way.

I am incredibly shy, but I’ve been trying to come out of my bubble, but, don’t be afraid to approach me with something if you want. Even if its just to ramble about something in your life or a headcanon you came across. I love it all.

I have a discord, it is much easier to reach me there. Just ask me for it. I am always online on mobile, don’t let the offline status fool you. 

Verses/Timelines found here!!!

History

muse relationships here!

Elijah Kamski was born on July 17th, 2002. He attended the Universirty of Colbridge at a young age and was a bright pupil to Amanda Stern. After graduating at the age of 16, he went on to found CyberLife, moving to Detroit to begin his research into creating domestic intelligent androids. It took years to develop his formula for thirium, but he was finally able to use it the way he wished.

In 2022, his android became the first to pass the Turing Test. Kamski’s thirium 310 solution proved to the world that the artificial beings were ready to move to production. The original, RT600 model, became Kamski’s star, and one he treasured. She was his personal assistant as he worked to create more and more androids, watching his company grow.

His status and company grew and grew, creating a name for himself and putting androids in every home, workplace, and office they could. He was proud of his work, but he always had a curiosity with more. He wondered if the machines he created could someday develop their own consciousness like the sci-fi novels he so loved growing up. Could it really be so easy as a single thought or number change? What if his own Chloe became her own person? Would she stay or would she leave him? Could she be her own person in the real world?

All of his questions couldn’t be answered before his mentor from his university, and good friend, Amanda Stern passed away in early 2027. With her help, he had been trying to answer his own questions, but, both of their busy schedules, along with her sudden illness, got in the way. Kamski was devastated, but, luckily he had a few good friends, including a painter who came to be better known in the 2020’s.

Determined to prove his theory about the consciousness of machines, Kamski proposed to his company the idea of sparking an android revolution. He already had the pieces needed, the perfect leader and a space to control it should things get out of hand. But, the executives didn’t like the idea. They thought he had lost his mind with his grief and was just seeking other outlets. But, sparking an android revolution without any real way to stop it was a terrible idea for business. They old Kamski maybe he just needed a break from it all, give himself time to grieve on his own time. Kamski took the action to heart as a betrayal and stepped down from his position.

He continued to work for the company for a year or so, working on his side project in secret. During this period, he retrofitted his “perfect leader” instead to be a caretaker for his dear friend after he was in an accident. No longer worrying about trying to spark the revolution, he left the programs needed for it inside him, but, took away his connection to the main program he would need to control it.

Finally deciding to officially leave the company, Kamski took his original RT600 he built, as well as a couple ST200s, to keep him company as he isolated himself from the world in his home. His house was built on the edge of the lake, overlooking the peninsula that the CyberLife tower was built on. He saw fit to still keep watch on his old company, if only for curiosity’s sake…

As for Chloe herself…

The RT600 spends her days at Elijah’s side, caring for him and making sure his life doesn’t fall apart. With a personality penned by Elijah Kamski himself, she resembles her creator in more ways than one. She can be just as clever, just as sneaky, and is absolutely protective of those she cares for. A loyal machine with the freedom of a deviant, but she’d never truly leave Elijah.

(To be updated if necessary)

[kurahieiritrjio]

World building

Sharing an old project based on an Ice Aged Greece to help focus the concepts here.

Believe it or not coloration is the greatest imagination grabber of all. It focuses the scene to provide the setting. Shape comes second. Lumpy, rounded, square, flat, twisted, gnarled, fuzzy, oval, squat, sloped, angular, and circular all give distinctive impressions of how something looks. How many shapes can you think of that describe rocks, tree limbs, cave mouths, faces and body builds. Animals and plants all have distinctive colors and features of shape that should be combined when you describe this element to give a breathtaking four dimensional feeling kind of setting to promote any written scene.

Here is a worksheet that is helpful to help you figure out your world, Example used is Ice Age Greece. Ignore the Futuristic tags since I devised those for my own worlds. This worksheet was designed for space travel obviously. However this will be helpful in explaining how your world is a character that all other characters must interact with at all times whether they realize it or not. In some cases I will also add notes for you to consider before you fill out that section.

 Generalized Outline- World Building Basics: Science Fiction

Astronomical/geological Section:

Planet Name:

Planet Class:  Moon, Super Terrestrial, Terrestrial (Earth like)sub-jovian, Jovian (Think Jupiter) Sub-terrestrial (Think Venus or Mars For Size):

If Terrestrial; Is it Like Earth Now, the Past, or Futuristic (very High tech):

How Is This Planet The Same or Different From Our Planet?

Type of Atmosphere?

Geography: Mountains/deserts/plains/woodlands/ Swamp/ Oceans, Etc. Physical Features Include Size/ Gravity/atmosphere/ Moon(S)/Sun Class: (F5 Lower Strength White Through F-9 Lowest- to G Class Yellow (Our Sun is in This Category= G1 to G9 (9 Is Weakest) or K Class (Red Dwarf Close to Death =Plot Added Drama)/ Constellations of Note:

Maps: Get Graph Paper and Build Your Own Maps or Buy Some D&d Type Maps and Then Do Mental Alterations or Chop and Pastes onto Larger Sheets to Create a Map to Help You See Where Your Characters Are Going to and Coming From! (No Matter What Genre You Are Writing it helps you to see the distances the characters cross so they don’t do 100 miles in a week at one time, then two hundred miles in one week somewhere else. Pace and Time Laws Do Not Change, and Therefore You Will Have to Give Space and Time References to Build a Good Story:

What Natural Resources Exist (Such as Mining Resources to Build Technology from If Applicable)? Yours will be stone/animal/flora heavy:

How Are These Resources Utilized by The Dominant Species Specifically?:

Climate: Distinct Seasons; Summer/winter/spring/ Fall/dry/wet/ & Types of Weather Patterns: Ie. Snow, Rain, Arid, Humid, Tropical:

Temperatures Expected Average Highs/Lows During Each Season:

Flora And Fauna Section:

Food Sources: What Do People And Animals on Planet Eat?

Domesticated Animals: Types of Livestock For Work or Food Can Your Planet Support Based Upon Geography And Climate?

What Types of Companion Animals or Pets Does Your World Have, If Any?

 Wild Animals:

What Kinds of Animals Does This Planet Support Naturally? How Do The Main People And Animals From The Wilderness Regions Interact? Are Wild Animals Carnivores, Omnivores, or Herbivores, or Some of Each Type? What Is The Food Chain Like? Ex: Herbivores Need Plants in Large Numbers to Eat So The Carnivores Can Eat Them And The Omnivores Eat Both Meat And Plants Aka Like Humans Do:

Are Any of These Wild Life Animals Intelligent Like Your Dominating Species Is Intelligent?

 People or Races Section:

Population Size:

World Population:

City Population: (Only Those Needed For Story Line):

Town Populations:

Village Populations:

Specific Race (S) of Note:

In What Ratios? (I. E.  30% White Skin, 15% Black Skin, 12% Blue Skin,  65% Green Skinned)

 Culture And Society:

Villages or Cities, Rural or Suburban, Inner-city Versus Outer-city (Think New York With Brooklyn And Other Suburbs For Inner Outer City Concept)

Language(s) Spoken:

Specific Cultural Aspects: (Hunter Gatherer/ Farmer/ Industrialized?)

Holidays, Celebrations, Rites of Passage, Family Traditions?

What Are The Most Important Festivals And Holidays?

How Important to Culture Are These Rituals And Holidays?

Behaviors Frowned Upon?

Behaviors Approved Of?

Word or Phrases Specific (Idioms) to The Region in Question?

Any Known Origins to The Words or Phrases Used by People of This Area?

Significance of Following Cultural Enrichment Forms:

Art:

Music:

Dance:

Entertainment:

Leisure Activities:

Dress/fashions:

What Forms Do These Items Take?

Gender Roles: Which Gender Is Dominant or Is There No Dominance at All?

How Does Society Enforce Those Gender  Roles Through Education, Through Expected Conformation of Roles Between The Two Genders?

Family Structure:

Who Raises And Teaches Children?

Who Cooks Meals by Tradition?

Do Extended Families Live Together or Is it Parents And Children Only in Each Dwelling?

Are There Different Types of Food Eaten in Different Social Classes or Unified to Region (Japanese Eat Stir Fry/ Americans Eat Steak And Potatoes as Example)

Social Class: Warrior/spiritual, Wealthy/working/poor/middle Class Etc:

Where Do Each Class of People Live And Do Their Dwellings Vary From Class to Class?

Do Clothing, Personal Items Such as Jewelry or Fashions Vary Based Upon Class And Wealth?

Do Hairstyles And Similar Things Vary by Class And What Types Are There? (Long or Short Hair? Beards or Mustaches Etc Go Here)

 Genealogy: Build Bloodline Maps For Visual Bloodline Traits And Such For Future Reference, Even If Not Mentioned in The Story Per Say, They Can Be Great Ways to Add Tension Based Upon Race And Other Background Hints You Don’t Go Into in Depth And They Make For Very Interesting Characters!

 Religion(s): )Major Notes) An example: Greece never followed the standard proto religious format of Gods created the world and Universe. They always felt the Universe created the Gods both male and female as mediators between Universe and man, plants, and animals. It was one of the very first cultures to embrace pantheons or multiple Gods belief system. That is the reason it still influences out modern world to this day. Instead of fatalistic driven human sacrifice to appease the Gods, these guys actively sought out more than one God to get the decision they wanted long before the classic era Mythology tomes of their ancient religion was passed into a physical written format. That needs to be shown in action to some extent. Have these people doing rudimentary rituals reminiscent of much later Classic era Ancient Greece religious ceremonies. Read classic Greek Mythology. The titans of earth and sky are the well known distinction that sets ancient Greece apart from the rest of the world.

This provides a very strong tool for making the story line zing if you explore the mythology for the oldest recorded roots, and downgrade the best known Grecian ancient rituals significantly into a more generic shamanic norm. Give clues to the later evolution into Greek specific rituals through your prototype religion which tickles memories of school classes that touched upon the classic era Greek in many schools. Then readers will really stick with your story because they will be desperately trying to figure out where the main is living.)

 One God or Many? Name Some And Denote Genders Implied:

Spiritual Philosophies:

Beliefs About Birth, Death, And Afterlife?:

Does Culture Condone Burial, Cremation, or Something Else?:

Why?:

Who Is in Charge of Places of Worship?:

Does This Place Have Magic Practices And If So How Does That Affect The World on a Planetary Wide Basis as Well as Locally?

How Does Religion in General Impact The World?

Will it Have Relevance in The Plot Line of The Story? Or Will it Simply Be a Low Key Element That Helps Define Character Behaviors in Story Line?:

Do Different Races Have Different Gods?

Does Technology And Religion Co-exist Peacefully or Are There Strong Conflicts Between The Two Factions?

(*myths from Religions Alive or Defunct/ History / and Politics Are Always Relevant to the Shaping of a Character’s Behavior and Actions!)

Architecture: Describe the houses and buildings with some interior details so we can see where everything is in relation to living quarters and/or communal get together areas.

 EDUCATION SECTION

What Levels of Education Exist on This Planet or in a Specific Area?  Give List of Educational Expected Forms Such as Home School to High School and College If Possible.

For my world Education system, who trains under which hall (This Is The Term For Schools Based Upon Highly Specific Technology, Medicine, Textiles, Political, Police, Computers or Space Travel in My Sci-fi Series Which Means Trained to become a Journeyman Level For The Particular Trade... It’s a Guild Based Trade Society Kind as You Can See....If You Choose Hall Style, Is Training Off Planet, or Planet Sponsored (For Home Planets With Resident Halls)

Give List of Halls And What They Train Help Insure Plot Consistencies And Add Details to Plots.

What Forms of Specialized Education Systems Exist If Any for your genre and expectations by readers?

 Time Section:

 What Calender or Other Methods of Measuring Time Exist? Include Clocks And Time Pieces, or Sun Dials, as Well as Give Some Form of Indication as to Whether or Not This Society Is Aware of Months And Years Passing. (All Technology Using Species Will Have Both Clocks And Calendars For Certain as Will Any Medieval Societies Have at Least Calenders If They Have Oceanic Shipping And Trade With Outside Races And Nations)

 Technology Section: (If in your case it is flint napping, and wood work, basket making and similar, you do need to have this down pat to be believable.)

Technology, Science And Jobs Section; Is Technology Eco Friendly or Industrial Pollutants Generating? Large City Complexes With Factories & Refineries, or Smaller Information Dominant Social Structures That Have Pleasant in Home Offices, Smaller Scientific Designated Areas Versus Agriculture Regions.

What Levels of Technology Exist on This World (Horse And Carts/ or Cars And Planes/ Space Ships And Higher?)

Communications Systems Include Mail, Phone or Other Forms of Vocal/written Communications. Are There High Tech Telephones or Is There a Mailing System? How Does it Work For Sending Info Like ‘Help, We’re Being Attacked! Send The Militia!’ How Does it Work If Calling Home to Say, “Hey Mom And Dad I’m Getting Married Next Week, or I Got That Great New Job!”?

Is Technology The Same Planet Wide or Only in Specific Regions?

Is Technology Distributed Based Upon Racial or Economic Factors or Equally Shared?

Is There a Technological Aspect That Will Have Significant Impact Upon The Story?

What Is The Major Forms of Transportation? (Horse And Carts/ or Cars And Planes/ Space Ships?)

How Does Technological Advances Shape These Forms of Transportation?

What Level of Technology For Weapons Where Applicable? (Forges/Assembly Lines/robot Workers as Examples)  

Are There Any Weapons Restrictions, And Are Those Restrictions Important to The Plot Line?

How Has The Technology (Or Magic) Helped to Build up or Destroy The Society That Uses It? Is it Still Helping to Build, or Destroy Its Users?

 Medical Section:

What Level of Medicine Exists?

Who Does The Healing?

What Technology Is Involved, If Any? (Shamans And Witches And Magic Users Would Use Herbs or Crystals)

If Technologically Advanced What Types of Medical Care Is Available to The People (Hospitals And Insurance Company Concepts  Go Here)

What Types of Diseases And Illnesses Are Common?

Are They Curable, or Lethal?

Who Cares For Sick Family Members With Non Lethal Colds?

 POLITICS SECTION:

Governmental Questionnaire:  

What Kind of Government(s)  Exist in This World? (Story Relevance Specific) (Politics Is Always Relevant to Some Degree in Every Story Line!!!)

Does Your Planet Have More Than One Government?

Sovereigns = King Queen, by Birth With Dukes And Lords

Democratically Elected= President And Congress as Example Elder’s Council,

Land Holders Council, Dictatorships, Ogliagarchy, Parliamentary (Limited Sovereign- Must Get Elected Groups Agreement to Do Certain Things) Militant (Yes it Is Different From Tyranny, A.k.a. Dictators),  Cooperative (A Lot Like Ogliagarchy, But a Smaller Group Making The Decisions),

How, & Why Did This Government Come About?

Diplomatic Corps) How Many? Any Special Training required?

How Are Relationships Between Countries? Are Any Currently at War With Each Other? If So, Why?

 Taxation

How Does it Work? Purchases Taxed Only, Land, Paychecks, Possessions, Birth Fees?

Taxes and Regulations upon Imports & Exports Where Applicable. Community Based Trade Without Taxation Such as a Village Would Be Seen as Normal. Trade? Name Some Imports, Exports (Look at Geography for Natural Resources to Come up with These Items- a Farming Community Will Trade Grain and Food Stuffs with More Industrialized Areas for Things like Forged Metal Goods Etc)

Are There Taxes on Imports and Exports?

Trade Section/

Large Mass Goods or Specialized Goods. Example, Are They Like Corroscant From Star Wars.. Must Import Food And Water to Survive.. Or Like Mon Calamari... Lots of Exports, Lesser Imports Due to Self Sufficiency. Export Raw Materials or Finished, or Refined Goods.  

How Are Goods Imported and Exported? (By Ship/truck/train/caravan/plane Etc...)

How Is Local; Trade Carried Out? (Barter May Exist in Local or a Credit Ledger You Pay off When Harvest Time Is Done as Example)

Economics:

What Types of Currency Is Used? (Money And Coins/ Credits or Plastic Cards/ or Implanted Chips/ Gems or Barter Forms (A Chicken For a Bag of Grain Example) Currency? What Are Denominations in Credit/ Money Forms For Your Planetary or Nations? Driads For Coalition as Example. If You Have Major Ports of Call Built Into Your System, You May Have a Star Grouping Form of Currency Such as Example Star Wars Driad, as Well as an Internal Set of Indigenous, or Planetary Specific Currency. Are the Monies Based on Metals, Papers, Fabrics, Jewels and Crystals, Microchips, Cards, or Barter?

Is There More than 1 Monetary System to Be Considered for this Story Line?

 LAW SECTION:

In Depth Judicial System: What Rules For Theft or Does This Species Idolize It? Violence (Warrior Species Will Probably Have Ritual Battles And Other Forms of Accepted Violence And Laws That Uphold Forms of Ritualized Violence)are There Laws For or Against Sex Crimes? Or Any Other Form of Judgement Ruled System Such as Divorce, Wills/probate, And Drug Slave Trade Laws or Bans Etc. And Who Enforces... Military <Militant Rule Government System> Private Security Groups (Hired by Government?) Regulation Trained Police or Law Enforcement Agency That Is Government Backed. Embezzlement, Fraud/perjury, Domestic Situations: I.e. Traffic Tickets/ Monetary Disputes., Lawsuits, You Get The Idea.

What Level of Law Enforcement Exists?

Is There a Structured Legal System Such as in America With Lawyers And Courts? Or Is it ‘Caught And Hung Same Day’ Variety (Antiquated/medieval) System?

Who Makes And Upholds The Laws of The Region?

What Are The Laws And The Consequences For Breaking Them?

 Basic History:

Any Major Wars? Inter-species to Interplanetary?  More Than One Country/nation And Governmental Styles Will Have a Past War History. First Space Voyage, Famous Treaties or Constitutions With Who Signed And Why? These Are Good to Make Obscure References to in Novels That Take Place Elsewhere If Only to Remind The Reader of The Exotic Setting Without Having to Bash Readers Over The Head. Major Holidays, Interplanetary And Galactic? Design a General Interspecies Calender, or National Holiday Calender Depending on The Genre Writing. History World and Local

Wars of Significance?

Treaties of Significance?

Major Discoveries That Have Altered History

Natural Disasters, and Other Events That Have Altered History?

Are These Histories Directly Affecting Your Story Overtly, or Simply Shaping Character Behaviors (Same as Religion)

If Important to Main Story List Some Ways it Will Affect the Characters and Story Line Potentially.

History of Interactions Between Different Societies?

Important Historical Figures That Influence a Culture or Society? In Example:  Religions Created By, Governments Designed By? Laws That Make Differences? Metals Found and Forged for First Time? (You Get the Idea Here)

 MISC POSSIBILITIES

Military.. Draft Based or Volunteer Corps? Paid a Good Wage/ Poor Wage? Does This World Have Sets of Treaties to Provide Troops in Time of Crisis in Example  Coalition Sponsored or Local Provisions Such as Lord Calling on Vassals, or Do They Have Full Time Experienced And Trained Army or Similar Liberation Intentioned Forces? Example : Major Ports And Military Platforms Paid For by Coalition Agreements in Return For Skills Such as Tech Support, Housing For Warriors, Docking/repair Platforms in Space Etc...(Sci Fi Examples)

 For Fantasy Only Section:

Magic:

If There Is Magic on this World Is There More than 1 Type of Magic (Type Is Healing or Warrior, or Holy Relic Making, or Getting from One Place to Another in Examples)

How Does Magic Work in Your World? Cast and Get Immediate Results or Cast and Wait, or Perhaps You Need a Power Object to Do Anything at All.

What Are the Limitations of Magic? (Example Magic Might Not Work to Resurrect the Dead, but it Might Be Able to Recreate an Arm If You Lose One in a Fight)

What Magic Taboos Exist? (I.e. Creating a Frankenstein Would Be a Taboo in Many Cultures):

[dramacravings]

saimdaaaaaaaaaaaaang!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this writer fucking respects and centers women. young saimdang’s love of art, poetry, education, and travel drives her story forward even as she receives an equally compelling romantic storyline with a well-matched, caring partner who likes, respects, and supports her. modern seo ji yoon’s storyline is driven by her love of research, education, and an appreciation for art and history, and she receives undivided attention for those qualities even as a woman who is a mother and a wife. even the existence of her family and her role within her family–as a wife, mother, and daughter-in-law–was all initially part of a deal with her husband that would allow her to follow her passions and study as an adult (which puts a whole other spin on the politics of gender, labor, wealth, and marriage to add to questions asked in dramas like we married as a job and secret love affair).

[this got away from me and it’s a poorly articulated mess. now you know.]

in addition to these great lead female characters, the two women are surrounded by men and women alike who all play a role in driving the story forward, no matter their station or position in society–(an audience member posing a question to a professor’s assistant at a conference, a poor young woman learning to read, etc.). even the smallest details from episode four’s sageuk setting warmed my uptight, neurotic little heart. small things like household leaders listening in on and getting information from female servants, another young female servant (choi hwieum dang) is explicitly given a certain complexity, specific interests, and desires outside of her station and outside of her interest in saimdang’s boyfriend (i’m not even calling him a mc at this point bc…he’s not really a lead yet (i love this)). she teaches herself to read and write in the dirt, and has an appreciation for art herself. not only is there a consciousness of class in the similarities and differences between saimdang and hwieum dang–what interests they’re able to cultivate, what lives and loves they’re able to live, despite both being talented and driven–but the script actively engages you in hwieum dang’s pov, her desires, pain, and motivations. the writer (PARK EUN RYUNG) absolutely does not demonize or make her seems small or petty in her actions, even centering her narrative and pain in a moment with the male lead in which he seems distant and selfish, and what would be a moment to write off the second female love interest as clingy or selfish in another inferior drama. idk, what i’m trying to say is, in another drama you would have to read between the lines to appreciate her or not be a little annoyed by her (exaggerated) actions but this drama takes her so seriously, there’s no need to read between the lines bc the writer actually sees her as a whole person and not a(n explicitly female) lazy plot device to add drama to the story. even her feelings for saimdang’s boyfriend are complex and you have to (have to!) wonder where her own motivations and desires for him lie. he’s handsome, kind to the poor such as herself, engages her mind, but she isn’t getting that kind of attention from anyone else, and in the moment when she most needs his help he dismisses her. they’re from different worlds. it’s unfair, and she wants revenge for the unfairness of her life, for what little his or siamdang’s kindness can even be worth in her situation. i can’t wait to see where life takes her. can. not. wait.

shortly after this incident between hwieum dang and sd’s boyfriend, saimdang’s parents are trying to protect her life (not her honor) and there were just a few details that seemed strange to me bc we don’t usually get this level of awareness in drama characters, especially female characters and /especially/ female characters who aren’t leads. saimdang’s mother is afforded basic reasoning skills and notices an intruder’s messy footprints in their home even as her husband tries not to alert her to him, rather than being ~completely oblivious~ to what was going on and probably messing everything up bc of her ignorance, which is something we see a lot in other dramas and WOMEN are often the ones who get scapegoated for this lazy writing. and THEN (this made the whole thing even better), saimdang overhears her parents’ conversation in front of the intruder, meaning she isn’t kept in the dark re what what’s going on (with /her/ life), what direction the story is going in. the story isn’t moving ahead without her understanding of the larger motivations–essentially, why she won’t be able to marry her boyfriend. not only does the drama respect its women but it respects the audience and doesn’t write in stupid shit, like driving plot lines forward with character ignorance or misunderstandings. idk, i feel really weird focusing on like, her mother making a correct inference about a situation, but this really does feel very generous (and so, so thoughtful) for a supporting, older female character. maybe it’s just me but these details really get to me, i don’t think i’m making up how scarce the existence of something as small as this is in other dramas.

go hye jung, seo ji yoon’s independent, caring, smart scientist friend and colleague, also a servant (lady-in-waiting type) of saimdang’s in the past, even presents interesting parallels and highlights how women’s roles have shifted from joseon to korean society (a significant period of time yes, but not in the same forward moving progressive ideology we’re often faced with). these women play similar roles in the past and present, though we haven’t seen contemporary or older sageuk choi hwieun dang yet. a lot has changed, and yet certain details retain similar threads. we see both saimdang and ji yoon marrying as part of a deliberate negotiation they made in order to get what they want in life beyond love or financial security, specifically. young saimdang’s naive love and potential marriage match is on the surface very sweet and based on mutual attraction, while at the same time saimdang’s ability to fulfill her dreams hinges on her boyfriend whatshisname’s decision to follow through on the promises he’s made. saimdang really can’t travel without him as her escort, which soon becomes apparent when saimdang is nearly killed traveling to the buddhist temple in the mountains. ofc this trip was one she took herself and the situation that resulted was in part driven by hwieum dang, who did not deliver saimdang’s message asking her boyfriend to escort her to the mountain. he doesn’t show up and saimdang and hwieum dang go to the mountain together where they’re both injured. later, the whole household gathers to protect and heal saimdang while hwieum dang, who saved saimdang’s life, is only chastised for being absent all day and told to get back to work, her wounds ignored. this sequence of scenes to and from the mountain is focused on hwieum dang

in the present, ji yoon’s ability to follow her passion can still be given or taken away by the men in her life–namely her husband and the professor, but also in a way her son, whose presence greatly influences where her energy is spent and how she negotiates her home life and her career. here we see how her mother-in-law plays a role in this, thinking the best of her son and acting in a way that her daughter-in-law did not want to tell her about a trip abroad for work where she wouldn’t be able to take care of her son, yet she still admires and treats her daughter-in-law well. meanwhile, go hye jung, her colleague and friend has a very different experience as a modern woman than she had as a servant to saimdang. she is a scientist/lab tech/idk at a university (or some other lab?), she lives on her own in an apartment, helps saimdang solve mysteries re her research, and while we don’t (yet, hopefully,) see a lot of her life outside of saimdang (and she is sometimes stereotyped as a fat female character, more so as a servant in the past than in the future), we are able to contrast how ji yoon’s alliance with her husband and professor have have allowed her to do more than hye jung, in theory, but that those privileges come with strings that can close and open doors to ji yoon depending on how she behaves, how these men choose to react to her behavior based on their own often selfish needs and desires, which are all more complex than we initially get to see, but ji yoon is still the one paying the price and bearing much of the burden for the political and financial situations our characters find themselves in. and STILL ji yoon is the lead and it’s not all about how she suffers, still the story is about the mystery and the life of another woman, saimdang, that drives her forward and motivates her to get through the difficulties of her life. i’m bawling about it. it’s too good.

even the men are interesting and complex without these details concealing or excusing their flaws OR allowing their stories to take precedent over the women’s stories. saimdang’s boyfriend isn’t one dimensional or just handsome but neither are we required to disengage from saimdang in order to understand him or his motivations (bc he’s not the lead–i know he’s a lead but, i’ll believe it when i see it lol). he and saimdang share a love for art and poetry, yet we see more of his interest in saimdang bc saimdang’s interests and future are prioritized. when the king/prime minister(?) comes to see who gyeom is in love with (boyfriend’s name is gyeom! i remember now), his majesty meets saimdang on his own–we only know second-hand that gyeom has spoken to others about her. here, saimdang’s interaction with this man is prioritized, NOT gyeom’s account of saimdang to him.

a lot of this shit is just basic taking-all-of-your-characters-seriously and i’m annoyed that women can write woman-centric stories with equal gender ratios, prioritize women’s narratives, and STILL write men as three-dimensional human beings, but men can’t do the same. i should be used to it by now but the fact that it isn’t surprising doesn’t make it any less fucking annoying. whatever. but i mean…there are men writing politically rebellious poetry to each other and crying about it (i was moved lol) in this drama and you’d never see women doing this with the same level of care in another drama. you just don’t. whatever though! you all already know this. /i/ know this. i’ll shut up now, but i had to mention the rebellious poetry and the crying.

anyway. saimdang is an island of its own in dramaland right now. i’ve read some comments that the first two episodes weren’t really grabbing people but i had the opposite reaction. slice-of-life/drama is my favorite drama category, but it’s rare that we see a story with fantastical or political or mystery elements that really explores the lives of women like this and i couldn’t help but be drawn in by that. not /only/ that though, bc i think the story is smart and well-paced and engaging as well, and i love how the past/present parallels are being drawn, which is often pretty messy or not compelling in other dramas that try to do something similar. i’m considering checking out tomorrow with you but i just can’t imagine being as moved by lee je hoon’s time travel adventures with His Wife, who i’m anticipating will be more of a motivating factor for the male lead’s emotional development and his actions but i’ll be happy if i’m proven wrong. i do know that other writers and dramas appreciate women, it’s just been a long three-month drama dry spell, and a long year, and i needed this drama rn. i love saimdang / light’s diary / the herstory / memory of colors. kimyoungkwang seokangjoon gongyoo leedongwook flowerknights janghyuk yeonwoojin namgoongmin jisung rebelthiefguy and leejehoon can get the fuck IN LINE where they belong, as far as i’m concerned.