mostly stars, partially dust. @polaroidsandstardust - Tumblr Blog

Zuko, finally finding his five year old adopted daughter after hours of searching: Sokka, why is Korra on top of the fridge

Sokka: she's in time out

Zuko: why

Sokka: I just remembered the time Aang woke me up before sunrise and then wouldn't let me go back to sleep and he may be our daughter now but that doesn't mean he can get off the hook for his crimes

Korra: I'm in jail :D

gayavatarstyle

Zuko: Young lady, this is non-negotiable. Now get in the tub

Baby Korra: okay [gets in the tub while bending all the water out]

Zuko: okay, that one's on me, instructions were too vague

gayavatarstyle

Sokka: she's earthbent a wall in front of her door because she's mad at us. Can you PLEASE get rid of it

Toph: sure [kicks the door open]

Korra: NO DADS ALLOWED IN MY ROOM UNTIL I GET THE POLAR BEAR DOG I WAS PROMISED

Toph, to Sokka: you didn't tell me you owe the kid a polar bear dog

Sokka: oh come on I didn't think she'd remember! Where am I even supposed to get one?

Toph: I don't know Ponytail, figure it out [goes into Korra's room and earthbends a bigger, stronger earth wall in front of the door]

Sokka: toph

Toph: you know our demands

oneiriad

I wonder if, in superhero universes, the villains ever get contacted by those “Make a Wish Foundation” and similar people.

I mean, the heroes do, of course they do, kids who want to meet Spiderman or Superman or get to be carried by the Flash as he runs through Central City for just thirty seconds.

But surely there are also the kids, who - because they are kids and sometimes kids are just weird - decide that what they really, really want is to meet a supervillain. Because he’s scary or she’s awesome or that freeze ray is just really, really cool, you know?

robininthelabyrinth

Oh, man, that would absolutely be a thing. The heroes would be so weirded out by it. The villains with codes of ethics would totally band together to force the villains without one (should they be the one requested) to do their part for the cause.

katyakora

But imagine the person who has to track down the villains and organise everything?

Like, the first time it happens, no one actually thinks it’s possible, but one of the newbies volunteers to at least try. They get lucky, the kid wants to meet one of the villains who is well known to have a personal code of ethics (eg one of the rogues), and it takes them weeks to track the villain down to this one bar they’ve been seen at a few times, plus a week of staking out said bar, but they finally find them.

So they approach the villain, very politely introduce themselves and explain the situation, finishing with an assurance that, should the villain agree, no law enforcement or heroes will be informed of the meeting.

The villain, assuming it’s a joke, laughs in their face.

At this point, the poor volunteer, who has giving up weeks of their time and no small amount of effort to track down this villain, all so a sweet little girl can meet the person who somehow inspired them, well, at this point the employee sees red.

They explode, yelling at this villain about the little girl who, for some unknown reason, absolutely loved them, had a hand-made stuffed toy of them and was inspired by their struggle to keeping fighting her own and wasn’t the villain supposed to have ethics? The entire bar is witness to this big bad villain getting scolded by some bookish nobody a foot shorter than them.

When the volunteer is done, the villain calmly knocks back their drink, grips the volunteers shoulder and drags them outside. The bar’s patrons assume that person will never be seen again, the volunteer included. But once they’re outside, the villain apologises for their assumption, asks for the kid’s details so they can drop by in the near future, not saying when for obvious reasons. They also give the very relieved volunteer a phone number to call if someone asks for them again.

A week later, the little girl’s room is covered in villain merchandise, several expensive and clearly stolen gifts and she is happily clutching a stack of signed polaroids of her and the villain.

The next time a kid asks to meet a villain, guess who gets that assignment?

Turns out, the first villain was quite touched by the experience of meeting their little fan, and word has gotten around. The second villain happily agrees when they realise it’s the same volunteer who asked the other guy. Unfortunately, one of the heroes sees the villain entering the kid’s hospital and obviously assumes the worst. They rush in, ready to drag the villain out, but the volunteer stands in their way. The hero spends five minutes getting scolded for trying to stop the villain from actually doing a good thing and almost ruining the kid’s wish. The volunteer gets a reputation among villains as someone who can not only be trusted with personal contact numbers but who will do everything they can to keep law enforcement away during their visits.

The volunteer has a phonebook written in cypher of all the villain’s phone numbers, with asterixes next to the ones to call if any other villains give them trouble.

Around the office, they gain the unofficial job title of The Villain Wrangler.

beka-tiddalik

The heroes are genuinely flabbergasted by The Villain Wrangler. At first, some of the heroes try to reason with them.

Heroes: “Can’t you, just, give us their contact details? They’ll never even have to know it was you.”

The Villain Wrangler: “Yeah sure, <rollseyes> because all these evil geniuses could never possibly figure out that it’s me who happens to be the common thread in the sudden mass arrests. Look man, even if it wouldn’t get me killed, it would disappoint the kids. You wouldn’t want to disappoint the kids would you?”

Heroes: “… no~ but…”

The Villain Wrangler: “Exactly.”

Eventually, one of the anti-hero types gets frustrated, and decides to take a stand. They kidnap the Villain Wrangler and demand that they give up the contents of the little black book of Villains, or suffer the consequences. It’s For the Greater Good, the anti-hero insists as they tie the Villain Wrangler to a pillar.

The Villain Wrangler: “You complete idiot, put me back before someone figures out that I’m missing.”

Anti-hero: “…excuse me?”

The Villain Wrangler: “Ugh, do I have to spell this out for you? Do you actually want your secret base to be wiped off the map? With us in it? Sugarsticks, how long has it been? If they get suspicious, they check in, and then if I miss a check-in, they tend to come barging into wherever I am just to prove that they can, even if they figure out that they’re not being threatened by proxy. Suffice to say, Auntie Muriel really regretted throwing my phone into the pool when she strenuously objected to me answering it during family time. If they think for even one moment that I’ve given them up, they won’t hesitate to obliterate both of us from their potential misery. You do know some of the people in my book have like missiles and djinni and elemental forces at their disposal, right?”

Anti-hero: “Wait, what? I thought they trusted you?!”

The Villain Wrangler: “Trust is such a strong word!”

Villain: “Indeed.”

Anti-hero: “Wait, wha-” <slumps over, dart sticking out of neck>

The Villain Wrangler: “Thanks. I thought they were going to hurt me.”

Villain: “You did well. You kept them distracted, and gave us time to follow your signal.” <cuts Villain Wrangler free>

The Villain Wrangler: <rubbing circulation back into limbs> “Yeah well, you know me, I do whatever I have to. So I’ll see you Wednesday at four at St Martha’s? I’ve got an 8yo burns unit patient recovering from her latest batch of skin grafts who could really use a pep talk.”

Villain: “… of course. Yes… I… yes.”

The Villain Wrangler: “I just think you could really reach her, you know?”

Villain: <unconsciously runs fingers over mask> “I… yes, but, what should I say?”

The Villain Wrangler: “Whatever advice you think you could have used the most just after.”

Villain: <hoists Anti-hero over shoulder almost absently> “….yes.”

The Villain Wrangler wasn’t lying to the Anti-hero. They know that the more ruthless villains would not hesitate if they thought for one second that the Anti-hero would betray them.

But this is not the first time the Villain Wrangler has gone to extreme lengths to protect their identities.

Trust is a strong word. The Villain Wrangler earned it, and is terrified by what it could mean.

weezley

My first official deadpool headcanon is this. This this this.

fireandwonder

Okay but this whole concept actually makes a lot of sense, because villains are a lot more likely to be disfigured/disabled/use adaptive devices (bc ableist tropes), so of course, say, a child amputee is going to be more interested in the villain with a robot arm who almost destroyed New York than the heroes that took him down.

Also, imagine one of the kids gets better, and a few years down the line becomes a villain themself, except their crimes are things like smuggling chemo drugs across the border for families that can’t afford treatment, or stealing from corrupt businessmen to make donations to underfunded hospitals (idk this turned into a Leverage AU or something) and every time the heroes encounter her, they’re like “oh no. she’s getting away. curses. welp, nothing we can do.” Though it isn’t that she can’t take them on; bc of course once the villain from way back when found out what she was up to, he started helping/training her.

“I thought they just hired someone to dress up and pretend to be you,” she says, amazed, when he reveals himself. “I didn’t think they actually got the real you!”

Every year the Villain Wrangler gets a very expensive gift basket from the pair.

kelssiel

and for the kids who don’t get better the villains are there too, they show up to every funeral, they bear too small coffins on their shoulders and the heroes stand aside

they are fierce with grieving families assuring them that their child will not be forgotten, and they don’t balk at negative emotions, they don’t tell people to be strong or “celebrate their child’s life,” because these parents have every right to their grief and anger

and the lost children are never forgotten. flowers appear on graves during birthdays and anniversaries, heroes find pictures of those kids and they carefully take them down and ensure they’re delivered to the villain’s cell, and a few villains can be seen with friendship bracelets wrapped around their wrists the cops have learned not to try and take them off

beka-tiddalik

And then one day, one of the evil geniuses who happens to specialise in inducing bizarre genetic mutations meets a young fan who was born with a rare genetic disorder that is slowly killing them, and realises that they can help.

Another, who created their own exosuit, talks to a young fan and suddenly understands how much the technology that they have built for themselves could revolutionise quality of life for people with muscular dystrophy, or paraplegia, or other disorders that confine people to wheelchairs with little mobility.

A third thinks of a way that their nanobots could be used to detect and remove cancer cells when their fan, who had been in remission, writes to say that the doctors have found a new metastasizing tumour.

Then shortly after, an evil genius specialising in cloning is contacted by an old colleague asking if a suitable heart couldn’t be grown for their young fan with a congenital heart condition who needs a donor.

Suddenly, a pattern of villains offering (and marketing) their insights and resources to improve medical science starts to arise. Many who had previously been operating on society’s fringes are shocked to receive public accolades, research grants and job offers from major companies because of their work.

A grassroots movement arises advocating for imprisoned villains with appropriate qualifications and/or experience to have access to resources to conduct research for the public good. The Second Chance Rehabilitation Project launches.

(It is an open secret that only people who have been vetted by the Villain Wrangler are allowed to join, because the Villain Wrangler has by now a meticulously set up method and intelligence network to run background checks and character references through ensure that none of the children wishing to meet their role models get hurt.)

Being able to say that one is involved with the Project begins to look really good in parole hearings. The Villains involved perform their own quality checks on one another, because if one of their kids got hurt, then all of their kids could potentially lose out, and the ones that are serious about the Project are not having that. (Also, the ability to collaborate with other geniuses is the most interesting thing to happen to most of them since losing to various heroes, and most consider the intellectual stimulation to be worth putting up with the ridiculous egoes and inevitable personality clashes that arise.)

Reformed Villains come out of the woodwork to advocate about better mental healthcare, and support systems. Savvy universities and private labs quietly take their advice, setting up better mental health supports and laboratory safety standards to prevent the Brain Drain caused by losing their less stable scientists to the Costumes.

The Villain Wrangler watches all of this develop with a smile.

Their plan succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.

animentality

I’m so down for these posts that assume the best of people instead of the worst

eeyore9990

Okay, this part caught my attention: “…the Villain Wrangler has by now a meticulously set up method and intelligence network…to ensure that none of the children…gets hurt.” Which led me to the heartbreaking realization that one DID. Get hurt, that is, by the villain they idolized.

And all I can think is that the Villain Wrangler didn’t call in the heroes. They didn’t call in another heart-of-gold villain. No. The VW rolled up their sleeves and went after this person themself. This project is their baby, after all. If they get the accolades for the successes, they must also shoulder the burden of the failures.

The VW hunts down the villain that crossed the line. Their punishment is swift and horrifying; no hero would have the stomach to mete out justice in such a way, and no villain would have the desire to get quite that much blood on their own hands.

There’s. So much… blood.

The Villain Wrangler never forgets. They increase security, increase the hours and background checks… they increase the graveside visits to the child they failed.

Just the one. But one is one too many.

shrewreadings

Of course, you all realize that we just uncovered @copperbadge‘s secret identity, don’t you?

tardisqueen13

This is amazing Does anyone remember the superhero one? I would love to read that again @conversationswithbenedict @earlgreytea68 @starrysummer-nights @green-violin-bow @consultingpurplepants @mssmithlove1

ookaryi

《Whenever I see you, the world is covered in cherry blossoms. 🌸》

joker-ace

WELP here’s the project I did for school that I wanna work into a more personal project throughout this summer and in the future as well. I haven’t done a comic in a long time, so there was a lot of experimenting here and I’m gonna apologize ahead for my shaky storytelling cuz writing is not my forte, although I do plan on fixing this up in the future. It’s a sort of prequel to what I wanna do for my zodiac kids, so it was just a lot of messing around with them. Nothing is historically accurate; its psuedo history and fanstasy so hahaHA

crazyunlikeyou

Reblogging this nth time because this is a masterpiece

yokizu

I’m a Leo and this makes me happy. Your work is amazing, OP.

#wow!#gorgeous art #inspiration

masilvi

I can’t believe I made part 3

I ran out of energy midway, but sloppy comics are funnier… right??

[Part 1] [Part 2]

Bonus:

And all was well.

anxietyproblem

wolfinthethorns

Honestly, in my work as a therapist, I’m seeing this A Lot, and tbh I still don’t have a satisfactory approach to it. A heavy dose of Existentialist “create your own Purpose” tempered with “when the plane’s going down, put your own oxygen mask on first”, but… yeah, there is no ethical way to work on individual emotional distress without acknowledging the systemic socioeconomic, geopolitical fuckery going on at the moment, and the sheer grief that comes with it.

castielific

I’m a guidance counselor/psychologist for teenagers and it’s getting really hard to motivate young people to work for a future they don’t believe in.

They look at ther future and see global warming, wwIII, unemployement, political unstability, poison in everything they eat, the earth and animals dying all around them.

I saw this video where someone was asking french teens in the 50s how they imagine the future would be. The war hadn’t been over for long and yet it was all positive with like peace and flying cars and such. Then they went and ask the same questions to nowadays teens and hell that was depressing. Some still had hope, but it was just that “well I hope I’ll have a nice house and maybe some kid” but there was such a hesitancy to it, like they didn’t dare to hope too much.

People mock Greta Thunberg but what they don’t get is that when she said “you stole my dreams”, it was the truth.

Young people don’t get to dream like they used to. They don’t dream anymore, they grief all that won’t be anymore and that’s just so fucking sad.

gothicprep

remember when jared leto absolutely terrorized his suicide squad castmates and turned himself into a laughing stock bc he misinterpreted what method acting is, only to have 7 minutes of screen time and be cut from most of the film’s promotional material? i know it was a while ago now but i dnt think anything more satisfying will happen in our lifetime

bi-furiosity

ok but the full extent of margot robbie’s vindication is frankly legendary. she wanted a better chance to relish her role as Harley so, like an absolute icon, she went to warner brothers and pitched a movie to then. now we’re getting an r rated girl gang movie about harley getting out of her shitty relationship w/ joker and going on a chaotic ass roadtrip with a bunch of other female heroes. it’s going to be the first superhero movie directed by a woman of color and there are multiple major characters of color, including a Latina lesbian. can you believe margot robbie obliterated jared leto’s tired ass joker with one fell swoop?

raptorific

and two really important updates: 1. all planned future appearances of Jared Leto as the joker (Joker solo movie, Joker/Harley movie, etc) have been indefinitely tabled, including his planned appearances in the Suicide Squad sequel, where he’s pretty much the only cast member of the first movie not returning 2. The Joker is confirmed to have a cameo in Margot’s Birds of Prey movie (likely for the scene where she leaves him). They’ve opted to use a body double for the part rather than inviting Leto to reprise his role

dddiamond-dog

opted to use a body double

i’m crying

fernacular

Bicepsual curls ft. Rey Finn and Poe

Original gif from here

fernacular

capnperaltiago-deactivated20211

brooklyn (19)99

mybisexualwife

thtdamfangirl4

HE HAS BEEN LOCATED

gregwuzhere

I was not gonna reblog this without Captain Holt lmao

iampikachuhearmeroar

why is andy samberg’s hair more beautiful and flowing than mine

sugarmint-dreams

My personal favorites from this year, thank you guys so much for the support <3

anxietystitches

Despite everything, it’s still you.

quigonjesus

BECAUSE TODAY IS THE 46TH ANNIVERSARY OF STAR TREK AND I HAVE NOT SEEN THIS ON MY DASH ONCE

I am severely disappointed in you Tumblr.

paramaline

yes thank you

mangroveswamp

At first, I was thinking, “I am not going to reblog this. This is two plus minutes of ridiculousness.” And then I kept watching and— *clings to video* Hello Startrek, how are you today? ;)

everkings

Fav video of the decade - #6. A classic.

whitepeopletwitter

quantummindclassicalheart

To clarify, they are bisexual, not lesbians:

https://twitter.com/fancy_foxtrot/status/1205747696813756416

slumberinggirl-deactivated20210

Still iconic

lynati

WHEN DO WE GET THE COMIC SERIES AND/OR MOVIE?

dirtydirtychai

It keeps getting better:

Bonus:

srsfunny

Finally Found These Guys

seriousfic

And people say Shaggy isn’t a good investigator…

kaylapocalypse-deactivated20201

Actually

The question I get the most is how I write characters that feel like real people.

Generally when I’m designing a human being, I deconstruct them into 7 major categories:

1. Primary Drive 2. Fear: Major and Secondary 3. Physical Desires 4. Style of self expression 5. How they express affection 6. What controls them (what they are weak for) 7. What part of them will change.

1. Primary Drive: This is generally related to the plot. What are their plot related goals? How are they pulling the plot forward? how do they make decisions? What do they think they’re doing and how do they justify doing it. 2. Fear: First, what is their deep fear? Abandonment? being consumed by power? etc. Second: tiny fears. Spiders. someone licking their neck. Small things that bother them. At least 4. 3. Physical desires. How they feel about touch. What is their perceived sexual/romantic orientation. Do their physical desires match up with their psychological desires.

4. Style of self expression: How they talk. Are they shy? Do they like to joke around and if so, how? Are they anxious or confident internally and how do they express that externally. What do words mean to them? More or less than actions? Does their socioeconomic background affect the way they present themselves socially? 5. How they express affection: Do they express affection through actions or words. Is expressing affection easy for them or not. How quickly do they open up to someone they like. Does their affection match up with their physical desires. how does the way they show their friends that they love them differ from how they show a potential love interest that they love them. is affection something they struggle with?

6. What controls them (what they are weak for): what are they almost entirely helpless against. What is something that influences them regardless of their own moral code. What– if driven to the end of the wire— would they reject sacrificing. What/who would they cut off their own finger for. What would they kill for, if pushed. What makes them want to curl up and never go outside again from pain. What makes them sink to their knees from weakness or relief. What would make them weep tears of joy regardless where they were and who they were in front of.

7. WHAT PART OF THEM WILL CHANGE: people develop over time. At least two of the above six categories will be altered by the storyline–either to an extreme or whittled down to nothing. When a person experiences trauma, their primary fear may change, or how they express affection may change, etc. By the time your book is over, they should have developed. And its important to decide which parts of them will be the ones that slowly get altered so you can work on monitoring it as you write. making it congruent with the plot instead of just a reaction to the plot.

That’s it.

But most of all, you have to treat this like you’re developing a human being. Not a “character” a living breathing person. When you talk, you use their voice. If you want them to say something and it doesn’t seem like (based on the seven characteristics above) that they would say it, what would they say instead?

If they must do something that’s forced by the plot, that they wouldn’t do based on their seven options, they can still do the thing, but how would they feel internally about doing it?

How do their seven characteristics meet/ meld with someone else’s seven and how will they change each other?

Once you can come up with all the answers to all of these questions, you begin to know your character like you’d know one of your friends. When you can place them in any AU and know how they would react.

They start to breathe.

hazy-forest

This is actually like the best character creation system I have read so far. Op lays it out as simple as possible so even people like me who don’t really care for character creation can easily figure out what they need to do to make a complex, interesting character. I will definitely be using this!