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yoisami · 6 months

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˚₊‧୨୧ DISTANCE

[૮₍ ˃ࡇ˂ ₎ა]: this was supposed to be a longfic but i am not bothered + don’t have time so just take the climax lol

tags: itoshi sae x gn!reader, 1k wc, angst (ig?) with a happy ending, rejection, unestablished relationship, reciprocated feelings, not proofread i'm sorry

the salty air that’s drifted from lapping waves fills your senses, provocative to your wounded heart that’s yet to be healed.

your breath hitches when your eyes land on sae, standing in the distance and near the shore, silently gazing at the collection of stars that embroidered the night sky.

your beats of your heart echoes within you as your hand rises to rest against your chest—you're nervous, humiliated, disappointed, and quite frankly, you don’t want to approach sae.

especially not after the incident that occurred three days ago, where you offered him your heart, hopeful about your confession, only for him to reject you without saying anything, walking away like your love was a disease.

but it’s exhausting to have meals in silence, save for the awkward noise that wooden chopsticks make against paper bowls; it’s exhausting to know that you’re the sole reason for the elephant in the room, and it’s exhausting to hear the same phrase from your best friends when you apologise: “it’s not your fault”.

and for the sake of your best friends—for the sake of the remainder of this trip in okinawa, you’ve left the house to confront sae, and the only thing that’s relieving the tension in your system is the song conjured by the ocean.

wish, wash. wish, wash. your footsteps follow the rhythm to the song. your courage grows with the number of footprints you’ve made in the sand, and soon, you find yourself standing near him, keeping a comfortable distance between the two of you.

and in this invisible barrier that keeps you apart, are many things that have been left unsaid.

“i haven’t thanked you for the coffee you made me today.” warm and sweet, it was left on the kitchen counter for you by sae, which you assumed was his token of apology that you quietly accepted. this morning, you enjoyed the coffee with a sour heart.

he turns around, eyes widening slightly because he’s become conscious of your presence, and it’s overwhelming him. guilt pricks his shoulders, but he locks his gaze onto you—the person his heart and mind were dwelling on for a long, long time.

you hold his gaze momentarily, permitting yourself a minute to forget about all the hurt he’s inflicted upon you and to fall in love with the teal in his eyes again.

sae looks away. “you don’t need to.”

“it’s good manners to.” you smile at him for the first time in three nights, but it resembles your forced ones more than your genuine ones.

and it tugs onto sae’s heartstrings.

“you don’t have to be so polite to me—we’re close.”

his words grazes the wound in your heart. you’re friends, so of course you’re close to each other—sae’s also an arm’s reach away, but right now, he’s unreachable.

you don’t intend for it to be a whisper, but it is—the words are weak, and you’re not sure if you mean it entirely. “yeah. we are.”

the silence returns, and this time, the waves’ song doesn’t encourage you—it’s breaking you apart, and you’re holding yourself together with all the strength left in your body.

“i wish you could have said something to me when i confessed.”

sae does too. he’s ashamed, disgusted at himself for hurting you, and the pit in his heart only expands when he hears you sniffle. your eyes are searching for something in his—he doesn't know what it is, but there’s desperation behind your irises as you step closer.

“why didn’t you say something back?”

he doesn’t respond. as regret twists his stomach, making him feel sick about the situation, the anger you’ve concealed these past few days is beginning to seep out. the look in your eyes have changed, and sae’s deprived of things to say to you. or, more like, he doesn’t know how to say it to you—how to tell you that he wasn’t supposed to reject you.

“you could have at least said ‘no’, and i would have been okay, sae! but you didn’t! instead, you got up, walked away, and left me with my thoughts—left me to think if there was something wrong with me!”

perhaps this was the first time sae’s ever heard you so frustrated, so anguished, and he doesn’t dare look away, knowing that if he does, something terrible will ensue.

“you should’ve just told me you don’t feel the sa—”

“but i do,” these three words tumbles out his mouth as sae averts his attention to the sea, and then back at you, hands gripping onto your arms. “i like you too.”

your train of thought short-circuits—his proclamation has emptied you of your words. “then why did yo—”

“because i’m terrified that if i let you in any closer, i’ll end up hurting you—even more than now!” his heart is pulsing, and his hands are trembling against your skin. sae doesn’t know what he’s doing, but whatever is happening right now, it’s all to redeem himself for all the wounds his actions have left on your heart. “i’ve pushed people away, and i’ve hurt them with my words, and god, i don’t want that to happen to you!”

“and i don’t know if i can even do or say all the things people do to their lovers. i’m shit with my words; i’m terrible at showing affection. how am i supposed to make you happy if i can’t do any of these things?”

finally, the barrier cracks, and you’re leaning, indulging in each other’s touch—something that you and sae have yearned to do for a long, long time.

his embrace is clumsy, but you grasp onto him like it’s the last time you’ll ever be this close to him. “you’ll learn—we’ll learn together, yeah?”

with synchronised breaths, and fingers that lace together beside your pressed bodies, your hand closes together, holding onto a handful of his shirt.

“don’t push me away again.”

sae doesn’t think he will again.

#૮(ˊ ᵔ ˋ)ა — ୨୧ by saki #dont ask me what this is bc idk myself either #but all ik is that this was SUPPOSED TO BE A LONGFIC HELLO #but i didnt like how it turned out #so i wrote this #its cliched but sighs take it or leave it #blue lock #blue lock x reader #bllk #bllk x reader #itoshi sae #sae itoshi #sae x reader #itoshi sae x reader #sae itoshi x reader #itoshi sae angst #itoshi sae x you #sae x you #sae itoshi x you

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prodigal-explorer · 9 months

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how to write children's personalities

(this is part of my series, how to write children in fanfiction! feel free to check it out if you want more info like this!)

this is the main aspect of writing children that i see people mess up so often, especially in the fandoms i'm in (sanders sides and undertale). children are not adorable little noodles with no brains and no concept besides being cute and silly and crying. children are beings that are just as complex as adults, and they deserve personalities to match. this will make them way more interesting to read about! let's get started!

since there are so many aspects to personality to talk about and i don't want to sit here typing for ten years, we're going to do this guide a little differently. i'm going to divide these issues into archetypes, write a short description, and then make a list of do's and don't's for each one!

archetype one: the cute little baby

okay. babies are cute. we all know this, and i'm not saying it's a bad thing to make your babies cute. a lot of people love reading about moments with adorable little babies. but here are some ways to step this kind of thing up, and some things to avoid if you want to improve upon writing this archetype.

do's:

give the child character another archetype besides this one. though "cute" is the foundation for a lot of child characters, it's not a personality. and if a character is vital to your story, then it needs a personality. that's just a rule. you will read more about other archetypes further along in this post!

make the moments symbolic. though it doesn't seem like it from an outsider's perspective, basically everything a baby does is for a reason, and every action a baby makes can say something about their personality. if you want this baby's personality to be energetic and curious, have them crawl around and explore things, and laugh a lot, and babble. if you want this baby to be more sullen and shy, have them cry quietly instead of wailing, or have them squirm when being held by new people.

make the actions of the baby's guardians affect the mannerisms of the baby. babies act differently depending on how the people taking care of them act and react. for instance, if the baby's guardians are very busy people, then maybe have the baby cry very loudly whenever they want something, since they know that it's the only way to get the attention of their guardians. stuff like that can add depth to a character and to a general story.

don't's:

decide that the baby is cute and call it a day. sweet little babies are cool and all, but they get very boring to read about after a while. this can barely even be considered an archetype because of how bland it is when it's by itself.

keep this archetype around for too long. as babies turn into toddlers and then children, they don't act even remotely the same way. it's strange and off-putting to read about a seven year old acting like a two-year old, unless it's a very clear character choice that is a result of explicit actions and events.

make the baby know that it's cute. realistically, children don't understand the concept of cuteness until they're around toddler age. if then, you want to make the kid be like "i get what i want when i'm cute, so i'll act cute!", then sure, that's hilarious. but when they're two months old, they're not batting their eyelashes because that's their personality. they're batting their eyelashes because they got something in their eye. the main thing that makes a baby cute is that they don't know they're cute. they're just figuring out how to do ordinary things.

make everything a cute moment. while babies are awesome, raising them isn't always sunshine and rainbows. make the baby do something wildly chaotic, because babies do wildly chaotic things all the time. not only does this make things more realistic, but it makes things very interesting!

archetype two: the shy kid

as a former shy kid, i know good and well that these types of children exist, and they are very real and valid. however, there are certain ways i've seen them written that are just terrible because once again, this archetype cannot be considered a full personality on its own. let's get into the do's and don't's.

do's:

make their shyness a deliberate choice. kids aren't usually naturally shy. kids are usually more curious than cautious. is there a reason why the kid is shy? there doesn't have to be a reason why the kid is shy, but there could be a reason why the child is NOT outgoing/curious. try and give something like this some deliberate cause, instead of just making them shy so they can seem more precious and infantilized.

make their shyness manifest in diverse ways. not all shy kids cling to their guardian's leg and sit alone during recess. there are different ways to be shy. you can be aggressively shy, or fearfully shy, or shy due to general unwillingness to change.

make their shyness have realistic consequences. someone who's shy is probably not going to have many friends, if any. not all shy kids magically meet an extrovert who adopts them. someone who's shy probably has underdeveloped social skills, which can lead to them being less emotionally intelligent down the line. this makes the shy kid archetype a lot more three-dimensional than just a wet noodle of fear.

don't's:

infantilize shyness or treat it like it makes the kid some sweet, precious angel. not only is this very uncomfortable for shy people to read, but it's generally unrealistic. shyness doesn't affect how good or bad somebody is - it's a neutral trait.

use shyness as a tool to make characters seem younger. shyness does not indicate age. fear manifests in many different ways, and shyness is not the only way.

rely on cliches. not all shy people have the same journey, and the idea that a shy person becoming more outgoing is the "goal" is not only a bit offensive, but it's very cliche. shyness is not always an obstacle to be overcome.

archetype three: the happy-go-lucky kid

oftentimes, the reason why children characters are written into stories in the first place is to give a little bit of lightheartedness and innocence. to add a unique voice among all the cranky, stingy, burdened adults. but you have to be careful when writing this archetype. i personally really dislike this archetype as a whole, but i'm going to put personal feelings towards it aside because honestly, there's no valid reason to dislike it besides opinion.

do's:

give the kid a trademark. maybe this kid makes a lot of little jokes, or maybe they always see the best in a situation. give the kid one thing that makes them happy-go-lucky instead of just giving them everything because nobody is endlessly happy all the time in every way.

go deeper. while happiness is very often genuine, sometimes, it's a mask that hides something else. this can be an interesting way to sort of spice up your happy-go-lucky kid character. maybe the kid is hiding a big secret behind all those jokes.

don't's:

make the character always happy. while children tend to have simpler thoughts, they don't have simpler minds. this child needs to have thoughts, real, genuine thoughts that aren't just happy things.

see happy-go-lucky as a trait that is exclusive to children. comparing happiness to childhood and viewing them as the only places where the other can exist is just wrong, and it's kind of depressing. maybe give happy-go-lucky kid a happy-go-lucky adult to exchange jokes with!

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those are the archetypes that i see a lot. but now, i'm going to suggest a few child character archetypes that i LOVE that i don't see enough in fics! feel free to use any of these that you like. alter them, combine them! these are, in my opinion, some of the most fun child character personalities!

the spoiled brat: "i want this, and that, and that, and- why aren't you giving it to me?? if you don't give me what i want, i'll tell on you!". spoiled brats are so fun to read and write about, especially when they have absolutely no reason to be spoiled given the current situation (think riches to rags). they've got everything, humor, angst, and best of all, lots of pockets for personality. think about why the child is spoiled. were they enabled by their guardians? did they grow up rich, with access to everything they wanted? think about whether you want the child to stay spoiled. does something change? do they learn how to improve their materialistic and selfish tendencies? there are so many opportunities to play with the personality of this child!

the know-it-all kid: while i do see a lot of know-it-all kids in media, oftentimes, they don't actually have personality besides bossiness and intelligence. i love know-it-all kids who have depth to them. kids who are constantly spouting information because of their sheer love to learn. kids who have one specific thing that they know everything about, so they never stop talking about it. kids who tell people what to do and act like they know best because they don't have a lot of control over anything at home, so they grasp at whatever control they can find elsewhere. i think this archetype could open up a lot of ideas for personality further down the line. it also has a lot of variety with humor and angst, and general depth.

the serious child: this is an archetype that i cannot get enough of. i love a child that doesn't think they're an adult, per se, and still enjoys kid things, but just has such a calm and regal air about them that isn't learned. it's just natural. think of the kid that doesn't really get excited about things conventionally, but you can tell they're happy by their faint smile. the kid that seems to live in slow motion, and doesn't mind this fact at all. the kid that sits alone at recess just because other kids scare the birds away, and they want to see how a bird acts when it doesn't think its being watched. i love kids who have poignant thoughts, because their thoughts are so creative and different from adult thoughts.

the adult-ified child: now this is another archetype i can't get enough of, but it's for a different reason. this child, on the other hand, does think that they're an adult for one reason or another. maybe their guardians forced them to grow up too quickly. maybe they just wanted to grow up quickly by themselves. but this child has thoughts that are too big for their little bodies. they explore things that aren't meant to be explored when their brains are still so small. they do everything too quickly, they stumble through life as if a clock is ticking somewhere. to me, they're just haunting to read about. it feels wrong and dangerous to just watch them do things that hurt them because they don't know any better, but they're on a page. nobody can stop them. it's just so tragic, i'm obsessed.

the prodigal child: this archetype isn't really as deep or detailed as the others, but i do appreciate it. this archetype is for a child who knew who they wanted to be from an early age. a child who wanders into a ballet class and finds out they're better than the ten year olds by the time they're five. this archetype often pairs really well with the know-it-all kid or the adult-ified child because usually, children don't experience what it's like to be the best at something until they're a lot older. this is just a really cool archetype when you aren't quite sure what to do with that main character's little sister.

the chaotic child: this archetype is so much fun to read and write, to be honest. this is a child that just does as they please, whether it's out of curiosity or for pure enjoyment. think of the crazy stories that your guardians have about you or your siblings being absolutely insane. scribbling in a book and then demanding that the library publish their version. trying to ride the dog like a horse. cutting up clothes in an attempt to be a fashion designer. this one is just plain fun!

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now, there are so many more archetypes out there, but those are just my spotlights and recommendations! i hope after reading this, you feel more equipt to write child characters that have real, engaging, interesting personalities!

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