So last time, in Part 1 of this discussion of …sunnier villains or antagonists, we had left off talking about how toxic positivity is all about the toxic person's comfort. And that this need to impose a certain behavior, dogma, and/or approach to reality in their environment leads ...
Toxic Positivity, Toxic Acceptance (Part 2)
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Feb. 11, 2023Character trait: Toxic Positivity, Toxic Acceptance (Part 1)
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Jan. 28, 2023
Usually, antagonists or villains are emo and gloomy, angry and aggressive, suave and sly, or any combination of that. They are not generally associated with positive traits in their personality, or at least positively-associated traits.
And that's a shame, because real life sure does have a lot of variety ...
Meet the Found Family
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Jan. 14, 2023
Last year (har har har obligatory New Year's Joke done) I'd started talking about Found Family, one of my favorite tropes in pretty much any narrative work, from movies to novels to comics and webcomics. Found family is when a bunch of characters, usually unrelated and mismatched, end ...
Found Family
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Dec. 17, 2022
There's a weird hermit living at the edge of a street. Rumours fly about him and what he does all day, whether he's a criminal or a psychopath. People don't go near him or his property and any interaction is minimal. Until a young vagrant kid stumbles ...
Your politics vs. Your characters' politics
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Dec. 10, 2022
Okay, this is a semi-rant and train of thought post, because I've had a couple whiskey and I'm Having Thoughts About Things. You have been warned.
There was one thing that always bothered me in villains that monologue in movies (I also see it in how social media ...
A Short Expedition into Sweet Exposition
Banes at 12:00AM, Dec. 1, 2022
I know we've talked about exposition before, but a couple examples popped into my head recently…even though the examples are not recent.
When I was a youngster I loved the Hulk character. Today I remembered a specific issue of that comic, from way back, where the Hulk was ...
Embracing "good enough"
Emma_Clare at 12:00AM, Oct. 1, 2022
For the past month I have been taking a break to catch up on life. Between appointments, exams, social events and trying to catch up on the washing I’ve left about the apartment I have been mulling over something a psyche recently mentioned to me.
He said that I ...
Fantastic Bestiary 13: The Galerian
Andreas_Helixfinger at 12:00AM, Sept. 18, 2022
This is gonna be a bit of an obscure pop cultural Fantastic Bestiary rundown, but heck with it, it’s my article series and I’m doing it anyway. I’m gonna talk about the Galerians today. To start off, Galerians is a tank-control style survival horror video game for ...
Venting Your Frustrations Needs Elegance
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, Sept. 3, 2022
So it came to my attention that J.K. Rowling has taken revenge against her ‘internet trolls’ by writing a new book called The Ink Black Heart. According to reviews (I haven't read the book) the plot of the book reflects the author's experience of mass-condemnation over her ...
On Designing Outfits
Tantz_Aerine at 12:00AM, July 9, 2022
Character design needs careful planning on all levels: from the character's psyche and personality to their body type, mannerisms, hair, and of course, outfits.
Like in real life, what a character wears is a reflection of their personality and their general situation.
There's a reason why Jessica Rabbit ...