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stevelieber · 11 months

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Thoughts on giving critiques to comics artists.

Seeing lots of discussion from students about sour experiences with an unhelpful art teacher, so here's a long, long post about giving critiques.

NB: I have no formal training as a teacher, but I was a student, and I've spent decades giving artists feedback on their work.

When someone brings me a portfolio, I like to establish my limitations & clarify my perspective. My work is firmly rooted in traditional US comics storytelling (i.e., not manga or art-comics.) I can give feedback on other approaches but they should know where I’m coming from.

“We've only got a little time for this, so I'm going to spend that time focusing on things to correct. That doesn't mean you're doing everything wrong, or that there’s nothing good here, but it’ll be more helpful if I identify some problems and show you how to fix them.”

Why? Because for many young artists their entire sense of self worth is wrapped up in being good at what they do. (It was for me!) In school they were probably the best artist in their peer group. But now if they're hoping to turn pro, they’re at the bottom.

Sometimes you know what’s up when you see page 1, but try to keep an open mind. Some build their portfolios by sticking new pages at the back & don’t weed out the old stuff up front, so the work gets better as you go. When it’s like that I ask: “Show me your best 8 pages.”

I ask questions: "What's the goal? Do you want to be hired to work on someone else's project, or to get the story you're showing me here published?"

If 1, I steer towards a portfolio that'll showcase hirable skills. If 2, I look for what tweaks will make that particular story more effective.

"Do you have teachers giving you regular feedback? What are they telling you?" Sometimes a student is getting bad advice. In cases like that, I'll do my best to be extra clear WHY I'm giving them advice that's 180 degrees from what they've been hearing.

“What artists are you looking at? Is there someone you admire or try to emulate?” This often helps me understand choices they're making, and I can sometimes incorporate things those artists do into my suggestions.

I ask myself questions about what I’m seeing. First: Is there a narrative? If not, I make it 100% clear I'm not speaking as any sort of expert. I'm good at critiquing storytelling, but don't have anywhere near as much to offer illustrators or designers.

Can I follow the story? Or am I confused about what's going on? Are the characters and settings drawn consistently? If not, is the artist at least making use of tags (distinctive clothing, hair etc.) to keep the characters recognizable?

Does the artist demonstrate a good command of basic academic drawing? If not, Do I think they need it? Do I focus on "how to draw" or on "what to do when you can't draw?" Is the artist putting the viewer’s eye where it needs to be to tell the story effectively?

(At this point I’m usually doing little doodles to go with my instructions. I scribble out ugly little 5 second diagrams that I hope will clarify what I’m talking about. Or they might make me seem demented. Hard to say!)

Is the artist making choices that are creating more work than necessary? Is there a particular weakness? I once spoke to an artist with a portfolio full of great work when he was drawing animals and monsters, but his humans were amateurish in comparison. I spent that critique talking about drawing people.

A crit can be a grab bag. In addition to big-picture advice, I'll point out tangencies, violations of the 180-degree rule, wonky anatomy, weird perspective, places where the artist neglected to do important research, odd choices in how they spotted black, whatever catches my eye.

I also try to make a point of defining the terms, so that jargon like “tangency,” “180-degree rule,” and “spotting black” don't go over their heads. Find simple, concrete ways to talk about these things, & clarify why it's a problem when they aren't done correctly. Draw diagrams!

Recognize that even a perfectly phrased explanation might not sink in. Some lessons can only be learned when a student is ready, and it might take a year or two of work before they can understand what you were saying. It's good to plant seeds.

Are there other artists who are particularly good at solving the problems the student is trying to solve? I steer them towards that artist's work. And I always recommend life drawing & the use of reference to give work variety and authority.

Despite what I said earlier about focusing on what's wrong, I try at the end to find something encouraging to say. And if I’ve really piled on the criticism, I emphasize that I only spent the time and energy to do so because I take their efforts seriously.

If I've done my job right, they'll leave my table with tools to make their work better. And maybe in a few years they'll be looking at some younger artist's work, surprised to discover just how much you can learn when you're asked to teach.

#comics #protips #my work #comic book art #essays #teaching

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hey-august · 4 months

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I'll Be Your Whatever - Chapter 2

Story Description: Life is full of all sorts of characters - some who come and go, and others that stay. After propelling yourself into a lie you can't (won't) take back, a certain pirate captain may have a reason to come by more often. (Chapter 1) Word count: ~1.9k Warnings: SFW, some profanity. Buggy x afab!reader. No use of Y/N. A/N: Fake dating is one of my favorite romance tropes, but I have a few other classic tropes in mind for future chapters... Tag list: @rorywritesjunk @ane5e

The title comes from "your whatever" by lovelytheband.

˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗ ✩ ˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗ ✩ ˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗ ✩ ˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗

Days later and you were still wallowing in the hole you dug, which had been reinforced with pity. Self-care turned into avoidance as you stayed home and indulged in unnecessary excuses.

You did leave one morning to purchase a few groceries from the corner shop, but the background chatter and voices took the forefront of your attention. A weight sat on your chest as you worried that you would have to talk about a relationship you knew nothing about. After the outing, you decided to remain inside and come up with an excavation plan.

You passed the time by painting and completing commissions, while hoping your creative muses would help concoct a narrative that would finish off this chapter you were suffering through. Unfortunately, their jurisdiction didn’t extend that far and you were on your own.

The only story you could draft involved a recent break-up. You didn’t recall seeing the pirate clown around town often. It seemed unlikely he would show up again, so ending the relationship could explain his absence. While you wouldn’t have to continue living a fictional life, you were certain that Reeves and Bolsti would try to use this short tale to their advantage and come up with more awful one-liners that would fizzle instead of flatter.

These thoughts looped in your mind, trudging along a worn path that always ended in the same place. The monotonous thinking occupied more than half of your mind, while the remainder was used for the few activities it could manage - cooking, eating, sleeping, and painting.

One afternoon, a series of knocks at the front door abruptly paused the repeating thoughts. You hesitated on the other side of the door. Without a peephole or nearby windows at eye level to peek through, you settled for pressing your ear against the wood to listen for clues about who was on the other side. Or at least figure out who it wasn’t.

You couldn't hear anything. No voices, no chatter, no banter. Whoever was outside rapped on the door again, managing to bang their fist on the exact opposite side of your head. The loud reverberations bounced in your skull aggressively.

Annoyed with the unintentional gift from the unsolicited visitor, you swung the door open and prepared to berate them from pulling you away from important work (leaving out that the “important work” was hiding from your problems). The angry spark died at the sight of the seafarer in front of you. You barely had a moment to register the double layer of fake smiles on his face before slamming the door shut.

“What the fuck,” you said to yourself in a hollow voice. You had been afraid that your problems would come find you, but you didn’t believe that they actually would.

“I think that’s my line,” Buggy snarked as he re-opened the door. He still wore two smiles - one that was tightlipped and forced underneath his usual painted one.

“N-no, no you shouldn’t be here. You have to go.” The words stumbled out of your mouth, as clumsy and confused as the rest of you.

You still had a hand on the door, and while any attempts to close it were not obeyed by your body, it wouldn’t have made a difference. Not only was the pirate larger than you, he had already stepped inside.

“Don’t be like that, sweetheart. I even brought you flowers.”

You ignored the condescending pet name and focused on the bouquet daisies he held. They looked so out of place that you knew this was real. There was a pirate captain standing in your entryway. An entryway that felt cramped now that it was filled with his large presence. The man standing in your home had a big hat with blue tassels, ocean-colored eyes, a red nose, face paint, stubble, a long jacket, gloves, and a bundle of white daisies. Even the muses couldn’t come up with a sight like this.

“Why? What are you doing here? How did you even get here?” Although you accepted the fact that Buggy was truly in front of you, there were still too many mysteries to ignore.

Buggy rolled his eyes and pushed the flowers towards you again, their silly little heads bobbing as he motioned for you to take them. You accepted the offering, unable to ignore how nice the bouquet was. The daisies were full of life, wrapped in a bit of paper, and tied with a red ribbon.

“This is nice…did you actually buy it?”

“Sure.” Buggy’s cocky grin wasn’t enough protection against the sharp stare you threw his way. “Fine, yeah. I thought it looked nice.”

You nodded silently for a moment, looking past his scowl. A little petal stuck on his fluffy lapel caught your attention. You reached out, only for Buggy to pull away.

“It’s just a petal,” you commented, before plucking it off his coat and letting it flutter to the ground where it landed on the green carpet. “I’m surprised, you managed to get my favorite flower.”

Maybe it was because you hadn’t been outside in the fresh air for a while, but you couldn’t stop admiring the happy flowers. You turned around to grab a vase from the kitchen and Buggy followed you down the hallway. His bootsteps deepened when he stepped off the carpet and onto the wood floor.

“That probably explains why those shop people told me where you live,” he commented as his eyes drifted around.

You stopped short and the pirate plowed into you. He grabbed your shoulders, trying to keep you both from toppling over. A forceful shrug relieved his grip and you spun around. There were too many feelings and thoughts bubbling inside and your face couldn’t decide which one it wanted to emote. Shock or betrayal? Surprise? Maybe fear? Resignation? And anger, but how much?

Buggy bit his tongue. Your rolodex of emotions was the best thing he had seen all day, but laughing in your face was not part of his plan.

“They did give me a hard time. Actually, I waited outside of that damn store for hours. I thought you would show up at some point, but you didn’t. I must have looked like I got stood up.” Buggy paused and took a breath. He was trying to comfort you, not berate you. “Eventually I demanded they tell me where I could find you. Obviously they were convinced with one look at your handsome ‘boyfriend,’ or whatever, holding your favorite flowers.”

His monologue ended with a flourish of his hands, waggling eyebrows, and a laugh bursting from your mouth. There was only one store he knew you'd probably visit, so he must have been talking about Mr. Inslo or his husband. Neither of them would have given in so easily, especially if a loud, boisterous pirate stomped around the shop demanding information, like a greedy kid in a toy store. Imagining that scene unfolding in front of an innocent bystander brought tears to your eyes. Your recent isolation magnified the humor and you indulged in the levity. Satisfied with that explanation for the time being, you wiped away the joyful tears and finally made your way to the kitchen.

Buggy leaned against the doorway, which creaked under the weight. He watched you make quick work of rehoming your flowers while periodically stifling a giggle as you replayed his story.

At first he was irked at how hard you laughed at his very true story, but the glimmer in your watery eyes and speckled flush on your cheeks smothered the small fire in Buggy's chest. Laughter is like music to a clown’s ears, after all. At one point, you locked eyes with him and it brought out another fit of wheezing laughter - one he couldn’t resist joining with a chuckle. Your infectious giddiness was becoming it’s own amusing performance.

You finally calmed down as you tied the red ribbon around the glass vase with a delicate touch. A ribbon that Buggy chose himself. The florist forced him to pick, so it wasn’t anything special, but seeing how you treated it with care made Buggy feel strange. Uncomfortable. He needed a distraction.

“The shop owner told me to drop this off,” he blurted while pulling out a very small brown package from a coat pocket.

You took the item and unwrapped it to reveal a single watercolor pan. It was a special order that you meant to pick up a few days ago, but you forgot when your self-imposed shitty solitary confinement began. Normally, new art supplies would fill your heart with glitter, but this felt like you spilt ink in your chest.

You swiped a few drops of water from the vase and rubbed your finger on the paint. It didn’t take long for the block to soak up the moisture and release some pigment. You dragged your finger along the paper the daisies came wrapped in. The color was impressive and lush, the hues swirled and shifted in the water. Buggy looked up - your eyes contained the same shimming colors but there also was excess water threatening escape.

“Wrong one?”

“No…I just meant to pick it up a few days ago.”

Buggy knew your statement was true - the shop owner told him the same thing - but you were telling a half-lie. The pirate clown was also skilled in using select phrases to hide feelings. Something else put a morose look on your face. Something related, and Buggy could guess what it was.

“Right, since you’ve been staying inside like a creepy recluse and avoiding everyone because you created a biiig fucking problem and don’t know how to get yourself out of this shit-tastic situation?” The eyes that held joyful tears not long ago now looked at Buggy with despair.

You nodded. It was harsh, but that seems to be how he talks. And, honestly, you needed to hear it put bluntly like that. You were soft with yourself - making excuses, sugar coating your concerns, running away when you could.

“Let me help. We can make a deal and this whole problem will go away, I promise.” Buggy finally exposed the reason he came by. He hoped he didn’t screw up the plan before this point. Each beat of his heart echoed in his skull and he was beginning to worry that you could hear it too.

Instead, all you could hear was a small voice inside you which was relieved to hear what Buggy had to say. It knew that was the only reason he’d be on your doorstep and felt vindicated hearing the truth. The voice was also irrational, because it was telling you to accept his offer. If the irrational little voice was right the first time, then it’ll be right again. Clearly, the pirate wanted the treasure map you mentioned last time. He was desperate enough to buy flowers, but not to knock you out and ransack your home, or worse.

And even though you knew Buggy was offering an empty promise, it gave you a glimmer of hope. If he was willing to go through all the things he did to find you - to find the map - then maybe he meant some part of it.

“Okay…yes. But there need to be rules.”

The twinkle in Buggy’s eyes flickered and his smile bordered on the edge of a grimace, but he held it in place.

“Of course,” he muttered before turning up the charm and continuing, “Of course! A contract, right? I’m sure we could work something out.” He held out a gloved hand, eager to seal the deal.

The shake of your head finally jostled Buggy’s tense grin down into an irritated glare and his body drooped with disappointment. You bit the inside of your lip, trying not to smile at how quickly the intimidating pirate captain turned into a petulant child. It seemed like he wasn’t used to getting his way, which only confirmed you were right to wait.

“Contract first, then we shake.”

#buggy x reader #buggy the clown x reader #buggy x you #buggy the clown #buggy fanfiction #one piece buggy #opla buggy #buggy op #buggy the clown x you #one piece x you #one piece x reader #one piece x y/n #buggy the clown fanfiction #hey-august i'll be your whatever #x reader

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we-love-morioh-cho · 2 months

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Chapter 58 - Kaato's Return

I try to avoid long, speculating posts for my Jojolion liveblogging BUT Chapter 58 has my mind racing with ideas and I'm so excited for the Higashikata family drama that I need to get this out of my system. This single chapter has more character intrigue to me than other entire parts of Jojo, that's how much I love this stuff 😭

This post is really, really long and messy and probably more headcanon than actual analysis and will not be very polished. It'll likely age poorly and be very wrong but this is legit some of the most enjoyment and interest this franchise has ever given me. To avoid spamming the tags, I'm shoving a lot of ideas into this single post so I apologize in advance.

Kaato

One thing I've had spoiled about Kaato is that she isn't the main villain but that everyone wanted her to be. So I'm already really excited for her character but I'm not sure what to expect. Given how Jojo is written, I'm expecting there to be more to the child murder. Her intro referenced Jolyne a lot, soooo I'm thinking she was pressured by someone / set-up.

Maybe I'm just falling for her scheme like I did with Damo, but her grief and pain here feels genuine to me. If there is more to the murder, then this is a tragic situation for Kaato - she was separated from her children and has been iced out of her own family. There must be a reason she could never tell them the truth too, maybe she's still in danger?

This series tends to neglect mothers in the narrative so I'm enjoying their focus in Jojolion, plus there's some sort of parallel with Holy being established. I'm trying really hard not to stan her before knowing the full story in case it's absolutely fucked up but god is she iconique. I'll talk about her in passing in other character's sections, there's already A LOT to say and already she is a very high tier character to me.

Josuke and Kei

Poor Josuke man.....I was not expecting the hospital scene and it really got to me 💔 I'm so glad Jojo has been exploring it's protags' internal lives more in later parts, I would say since Jolyne it's felt more introspective and emotional. I'm glad poor Josuke is getting to have his grief explored and shown, it makes the storytelling so much more impactful to me at least. I must ask why Kei wasn't at the hospital, surely she must know of Holy's condition and should be involved too. Have her and Josuke even really spoken since early Jojolion? I need more of Kei as Holy's condition becomes more and more important.

What on Earth does Josuke feel seeing Kaato show up? We don't get an answer in this chapter BUT I am hoping him and Kaato will interact in the future and this will be brought up. There's just a lot of directions to go with this dynamic and I hope we get it explored. He was pretty passive during Kaato's scene, I kept hoping she would point him out and question his presence but fair enough. Also, it was interesting how him and Kei were the two outsiders during this scene - as their mother is dying, the mother of the Higashikata family appears and is clearly involved with Jobin who is also vying for the miracle cure that they need too. Crazy potential here with these characters.

Norisuke

Not to be a Kaato apologist already but I have some things to say about this man. I'm assuming that, if there is a deeper secret to the murder, he's unaware of it, but I really have to ask why Kaato wouldn't tell him?

I get that telling your two youngest kids that their mother was in jail for killing a child would be rough but GODDDDD he couldn't even tell them when they got older or at least keep his story straight? Also, evidently Jobin and Hato never told their siblings about their mother - how did that conversation go? Norisuke had to be the one to enforce that rule and I'm sure it was not an easy process.

Did Norisuke ever talk to his eldest children about their mother leaving? Because with how Hato phrases it, it seems like he brushed it all under the rug. And while it's obviously sad the two young ones never knew about her, imagine what the two eldest kids felt having known her then watching her be dragged away????? He never even showed the little ones a photo of her, that is insane and just next level to me. Was Kaato's crime not widely discussed in the town? How did neither Joshu or Daiya ever hear about it somehow?

This section originally spiraled into a HUGE theory / headcanon / speculation discussion on how the Kaato situation might've led to a divide in how the eldest siblings and youngest siblings were raised, but I'm gonna wait on that thought until I know more and give it it's own post in the future sometime.

Jobin

Jobin was a pure menace this chapter and I fucking loved it. He really let his convicted-murderer mother into his family's house, didn't inform anyone of her release, and shows up as soon as she leaves to casually drop that he orchestrated this whole thing. And then he rocked up like this -

I'm guessing he watched / listened to the whole ordeal from afar and just chose to watch the chaos? I have a lot of thoughts and theories about how Jobin views his younger siblings and this chapter doesn't help lol. Why did he do this? What did he gain from this? Absolute deranged menace behavior lmao

I'm now thinking that Jobin and Norisuke's issues with each other may have originated from Kaato. Jobin is clearly close with mommy dearest and seems to take her side over his dad's. I'm not.......the biggest fan of potentially blaming Kaato for Jobin's issues and I hope this isn't just an 'evil mother turns son against poor father' situation because I am not a fan of that trope.

Kaato briefly mentions that she's helped the family's success so I'm wondering if she is behind Jobin's philosophy of advancing the family's greatness beyond Norisuke's smaller ambitions. You know that other trope of women in patriarchal systems using their cunning and male relatives to exercise great power from the shadows, a la Agrippina and Nero? Yeah.

Anyway, him and Kaato are obvs scheming and I am so fucking keen and ready - Jobin has been a great antagonist so far and I am here for the fucked up mother-son team taking on Norisuke. The Higashikata family drama has hooked me from day one and I really enjoy the focus on their dynamics. Norisuke's final line this chapter is incomplete as he ponders something about Jobin, I love the mystery set-up with what could be going on. I adore how character-driven this story is and how personal the stakes are - I've ALWAYS wished the series explored the Joestar family more in-depth and, while it's obviously different, this part is making me veryyyyy happy with the Higashikatas. A++++ content for me and Jobin remains both compelling and really fucking funny.

Daiya

Not too much to say but this shit is so sad to me. Her entire life, Daiya's father and two eldest siblings never told her about her mother, to the point she seems surprised to even have one? Maybe this is just meant to be a joke about her being dumb / she's more surprised her mother is alive but still. Norisuke couldn't show her a photo, or give her closure or anything? A memento to think of her? Even a story so she could at least know something positive about her own mother who she surely must have wondered about before?!?! Norisuke is on thin fucking ice istg.

I could easily see Daiya latching onto Kaato moving forward and maybe even taking her side over Norisuke. Ofc she loves her dad but she's also a teenager finding out this critical bit of info has been hidden from her her entire life and is clearly so, so excited to have a mum 💔 Imagine how impactful it would be if Kaato managed to win over 2 of their 4 kids, the eldest and the youngest? I don't wanna get into speculating too much though.

Also - it was very sweet to me how Daiya was the one person who tried to approach Kaato and clearly wanted to help her up when Joshu tripped her. Regardless of Kaato's trustworthiness, I just thought that was very sweet of Daiya even if it maybe was naive 🥺

Joshu

Hate him and need to see him die rn. Kaato was completely justified and very based for attacking him and I hope she kills him with her bare hands. Literally the dinner table scene from Hereditary. What the fuck kind of parenting does Norisuke even do? Kaato's here for 5 minutes and puts Joshu in his place, while Norisuke just seems annoyed by him and has nothing to really say about him sexually assaulting Kaato in front of the entire family.

I don't want to imply that a strict mother would entirely fix Joshu's issues but holy shit, at least she would actually do something to discourage his behavior besides sighing and looking embarrassed. Is Joshu the way he is, in part, because Norisuke is a lousy dad who has implicit biases and an acceptance of his son's horrific behavior? Maybe. In an alternate world, could Kaato have whipped him into shape growing up and saved us all? I can dream.

Hato 👑

Fuck!!!!! I love Hato sm and am so so so happy she got a little spotlight this chapter 🥺. Initially this post was just gonna be about her because I'm in my Hato-obsession era so hard rn, but I had too much to say about everyone else. This will be a long section so I saved it for last but I will def return to some of these ideas when I've finished Jojolion.

From a writing standpoint, Hato is so valuable in this chapter. She fulfills a role that really no other character could and its cool to see - Hato is the only character who could realistically convey info to Josuke, and therefore the audience, about Kaato. The parents are too caught up arguing with each other and wouldn't want to tell the whole room about the murder. So who; a) knows about Kaato and her actions and b) has a good enough relationship with Josuke to convey this info to him? Hato. And what's cool is that Josuke knows this.

Josuke is perceptive enough to realize that Hato recognizes this woman and quietly asks her who she is. Despite how personal and emotionally-difficult this moment would've been for Hato, she opens up and tells him (and thus the audience) this family secret.

This next point is probably a bit more fanfic than analysis, but Hato would easily be the closest person to an ally Josuke has in the Higashikatas besides his complicated dynamic with Norisuke. It's really understated and maybe not even intentional, but Josuke and Hato logically should trust each other.

Jobin and Joshu just have an all-out antagonistic relationship with Josuke and have actively clashed with him multiple times. Josuke is on good terms with Daiya and Tsurugi, but not only did both begin by attacking Josuke, but they are both young and cannot always fulfill an equal role to Josuke because of this. Mitsuba and Kaato are currently unknowns, leaving Hato.

Unlike Norisuke, Hato has never antagonized Josuke. She has never gone after someone he cares about and, critically, is uninvolved in her family's shady stuff. She's not in the position to hide vital info from Josuke or scheme against him. All around, Hato seems pretty pleasant honestly and doesn't ever hurt others the way her siblings all seem to do - her eccentricities are harmless and Josuke doesn't judge her the way he judges other characters. In a house full of shady and bombastic people, I can see Josuke really appreciating Hato (Kei should really fulfill this role too).

In the Vitamin C arc, he specifically wants her permission before he kills Damo. Josuke can be ruthless at times, Damo is actively killing the family and it would be very justified for him to just kill the guy BUT he waits for Hato's approval. To me, that really says something - that he respects and likes Hato enough to go out of his way to consult her. Then, Hato and Josuke work together to defeat Damo, both using their stands to overcome Vitamin C. And Josuke's words on Damo being a threat and needing to be defeated helps Hato in her emotional journey - helps her reach the point where she fights back.

They're paired together a lot in this chapter and it's sweet seeing Josuke actually have a nice and healthy bond with someone in this goddamn family 😭 They really play off each other in a compelling and dynamic way, they're open to what the other says and they just generally seem to be on the same wavelength. I just see endless potential in them working together and getting along and maybe becoming like actual siblings and I hope we see more because I can see The Vision and I love them.

Focusing back on Hato, I desperately need to see more of what her childhood was like. What was her and Kaato's relationship? The only thing Kaato says to / about Hato is that she's "as beautiful as ever" and then a little quirk she had as a child. This doesn't give us a lot so I don't have a clear idea of their dynamic outside of wild headcanon. More importantly, Hato knows her mother well enough to anticipate her retaliation against Joshu. This makes me think that maybe Kaato was a stern mother who never took any disrespect and that she potentially had her stand even in Hato's childhood. There's so much potential here but it's too early to know anything.

While I know it likely stems from Araki not really intending for Hato to be a major character, from a Watsonian perspective it amazes me that Hato is as well-adjusted as she seems to be. The amount of disruption she faced as a child, losing her mother and then having her father give conflicting info is insane. Again, how did she rationalize all of this?

And then, worse of all, for her to have to look up her mother's crimes herself and find out about the murder herself - I am begging for a flashback to that event. Did she confront her father? Was Norisuke ever planning on breaking the news to her? Did she ever talk to Jobin about the crime?

I'm not gonna dwell on this too much, but this reveal makes the lack of Jobin + Hato moments so far really stand out. With their father having to raise the young ones and trying to brush everything under the rug, did the 2 eldest siblings ever confide in each other? It doesn't seem like it, their large age gap and Jobin's shadiness around Kaato gives me little hope Hato could find much solidarity with him but I might be wrong. I would love to have a scene of the 2 talking about this or really just interacting in a meaningful way.

This is much more fanfic-y and is my feminist lens coming in, but I can't help wondering if Hato took on a sort of 'motherly' role after Kaato's arrest. I'm not saying Norisuke like demanded she help raise her siblings buuuuuuuut I could see societal expectations and their family's situation causing Hato to take on this role regardless. Jobin was nearly an adult when Kaato left and seemed to go off and start his own family / pursue his own ambitions. He doesn't seem very close with his siblings and, with how much Norisuke has on his plate, I could see some responsibility and expectation falling onto Hato's shoulders. A maid could've helped but it is unfortunately a thing that eldest daughters in a family are burdened with these duties even when older sons are in the family. And with her mother gone and her male relatives set to run the family business, it just feels very likely. Would the eldest daughter even have a chance to run the business?

Hato is close with her younger siblings, she playfully teases Joshu and looks out for Daiya. While she has her own quirks, she is generally much more mature and responsible than most of her family. As the inheritor of the family curse and the business, a lot of focus would've been on Jobin growing up. Norisuke wanted to act like Kaato never existed and Jobin is distant, clearly knowing more. Hato would've been the primary female figure in both Daiya and Joshu's upbringings, she had to lie to them and keep the secret of Kaato for their entire lives. But she's not included in all the other secrets of her family, she's left out of a lot of subplots and the idea of her being involved in the business is never even suggested. Most likely, she'll remain a minor character, but god would I love for all of these intricacies to be explored. There's just sooooooo much juicy potential here, so much family drama and character arcs and social commentary and thematic stuff here and I know I'm overthinking this but idc I love Hato and her unique role in the story and this chapter has really opened my mind to a lot of ideas and possibilities.

Lastly, I just wanna point out Hato's current feelings towards Kaato and how she seems to be distancing herself from her mother. She seems distrusting and literally looks down on here in the panel above - please God give us some interactions between these two, I am so intrigued to see more of what Hato thinks about her. If there is more to the story of Kaato allegedly killing a kid, how will the family react if it comes to light? I hope we see lots more family drama and I am begging for more Hato focus especially, love her so much.

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inkovert · 5 months

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Writeblr Positivity Tag

Tagged by @pertinax--loculos. Before I begin I just wanna say...Pockets...this BFF-ship is not one-sided. You're super cool and I always love seeing you on my dash and I miss reading about your stories (haven't heard about ATN in a minute D: I know it's in the 'second draft/editing' graveyard so I get it). My only disappointment is that we evidently live in different time zones so we're never active at the same time :'(. But yeah just had to clear that up. So EHEM, onto the tag!

What motivates you to write?

Oof. I've been trying to remind myself of the answer to this because your girl seems to keep forgetting. I think @pertinax--loculos put it beautifully: 'I write for the same reason I breathe. Because if I didn't, I would die'. I don't think I'm necessarily motivated to do it at this point, it's just that I'm incapable of NOT doing it. Which inevitably makes it difficult when I find myself in a slump and desperate to give up because I can't produce anything I deem "good enough". I know despite my frustrations I will keep trying to produce something because giving up is evidently not an option. In the past though, I think I was motivated by the prospects of other people eventually reading my work and wanting to give those imaginary future people the same feelings/experiences my favorite authors have given me when I read my favorite book. But as it's gotten harder and harder to get eyes on my work, that's stopped being a motivator for me (which is probably for the best).

A line/short snippet of your writing that you are most proud of/happy with. If not, maybe share a line of someone else's work you love (just please credit them):

Can you believe it took me SO long to find an answer for this LOL. I think I'm mostly proud of how scenes I've written turned out, not necessarily specific lines. But I'll go with this one, because it stuck with me the most after I wrote it:

The last thing I truly tried to create was the destruction of myself.

Which OC makes you smile every time you think/talk about them, and what are they like?

Hands down, it's Vince. Like, I love that boy. I can think about him in relation to almost everyone in my cast of characters and I smile even harder. But I think the relationship that I love the most in my story is the one he has with Cami. It's just so...wholesome and pure and playful and loving. Like the two of them truly come to care for each other so much, in a way that almost transcends any kind of relationship (their relationship is fully platonic btw). But Vince is just a lovable idiot. He is the resident himbo. He doesn't take life or himself too seriously which makes him easy to get along with. But he also has such an incredibly big heart and is actually quite sensitive once you get to know him. But the care, respect and admiration he grows to have for Cami over the course of the story is just so beautiful to watch and is one of the parts of my story I look forward to writing/developing the most. I could ramble on and say more but I will reign myself in.

What process of writing do you enjoy the most?

I know this is an uncommon answer but...editing. Blank pages intimidate me. I hate coming up with words on the spot with nothing to build off of. But I love coming back to a chapter I've written, opening up a blank doc beside it and rewriting the chapter with stronger language/words/prose/dialogue etc. I'm often able to flex my writing chops when re-writing or editing a chapter rather than just writing it from scratch. The right words just come to me a lot easier and I can phrase things more eloquently than before. I know this is not what true true editing is...come back and ask me again in 6 months when I have to edit the completed second draft of my story and I'm writhing in agony.

What part of writing do you think you are the best at? (Yes stroke your own ego it's okay)

Dialogue. Dialogue. Dialogue. I struggle with writing an engaging narrative voice/exposition. Can't worldbuild for my life. Descriptions scare me. But ask me to write a compelling, emotional, humorous, realistic conversation between two characters and I will hit the ground running.

What is something in the writeblr community that is most enjoyable?

I think Pockets also had a good answer for this that I agree with - people never forget you. You can be gone for 4 weeks, 4 months, or 4 years, but the minute you log back on and make a post, people will welcome you back into the community with open arms like you never left. And you realize just how much of a place you actually had in the community whereas often when you're in it on the day to day it can feel like you're shouting into the void and no one's listening. But people are listening and lurking and liking your posts, they just may be too shy to approach you or prefer to be in the shadows. But I can think of like at least 5 writeblrs who I've thought about in the last month and wondered where they went off to because I haven't seen them on my dash for months. Despite my qualms with writeblr at times, there is a semblance of a community here that I don't think many other platforms have or can replicate.

A writing tool/device you use that helps you with writing? (It could be speech to text, a writing program etc)

Scrivener. Literally Scrivener. I would not be able to do anything if I didn't have Scrivener. Scrivener is my life. It literally has everything a writer could need and more. When I tell you that everyday I'm discovering a new feature on this shit as if I'm using it for the first time rather than the mf 10 years I've had it. It legit has everything. “But what about —?” Yes. The answer is yes, it can do that, too. And I'm so grateful for it. And it's a ONE TIME purchase which is such a steal. It provides you so much and asks so little in return.

A piece of worldbuilding that you like in your own story? (It could be the magic system, a particular place in the story, a law, etc)

(what an anticlimactic question to end on but I legit do not worlbuild. I truly admire anyone who can but it's not me.)

Tag some people whose works you love/have been your biggest supporters:

@starry-sky-stuff @lady-grace-pens @rose-red-ink @freedominique @vacantgodling @kaiusvnoir

And anyone who sees this and wants to jump in! Feel free to say I tagged you, happy to read your responses.

#tag game #know your strengths #world building isn’t mine #I grow anxious at the thought of it #I just make a bunch of mundane settings bc settings are needed for any story #but I don’t consider that world building

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pure-jeff-ward · 6 months

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I asked you the other day about the jeffward_appreciation instagram because it looks like they are screenshotting some of the pics you have posted.

So I assumed they must be following your blog.

Imho I think it’s ok to share things if they come from public accounts. As Jeff and most of his colleagues are public figures they are able to control their own narrative but it’s a different story coming from private accounts like Jeff’s sister who is not part of the biz. And tagging his sister is just so weird. I just wish fans can be more respectful and self-aware.

ooooh I see, I see... well there is every chance they could be following my blog and are one of the many many 500+ followers I have now! hee! since none of the pics are actually mine, I don't mind getting them screenshotted, though I would hope they're giving credit to where it's due, but I don't know how IG works and all that so....

everything you said in that last paragraph is 100000% true!!!

"they are able to control their own narrative"

^^^ this is what it should be about and even though it seems like it's a very obvious thing, sometimes that's what people don't pause and think about when it comes to celebrity lives and their friends and family too - everything turns into a commodity in this media frenzied world we live in nowadays; it's also one reason why I've learned to ignore, unfollow and block negativity that has been very rampant in other fandoms I was a part of - I don't think we need to put celebs on pedestals and see them as this otherworldly type of a figure and then pull them down and comment on their appearances and make fun and joke around when we feel like it; actors are humans first and foremost, just like you and me and everyone else and I respect them so much for putting themselves in the spotlight because I would never be able to do that myself.

And I guess me highlighting that particular line and going on this tinyyy ramble after the fact also proves that sometimes - more often than not, the narrative gets out of their control and into the fan's hands, which... if it is done with respect and self-awareness can be a good thing... I could probably go on and on and on about this for a while! 😅 so I'll just end it here, thanks for letting me know though! :p

#anonymous #replies #jeff ward #in which i ramble #a bit #lol

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araneitela · 1 month

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AHHHH you're back!! this makes me so happy because i loved coming across your breakdown of her trailer and then sad when seeing you had left. i just really love kafka and i loved reading your opinions on her! so i've been meaning to ask you about something that i hope you don't mind! but what do you think about her path being nihility? i was reading into ix and found that they are tied or represented by laziness, meaningless behavior, and was kinda surprised. do you think that ties in with her? hope you don't mind this! have an awesome weekend!!

Smiling from ear to ear?! // Unprompted asks.

Oh my goodness, this is literally one of the most heartwarming things to receive (and in my case, I got to wake up to it) and so I'm really, genuinely smiling from ear to ear over here. This is one of my favorite things, and it's been years. I'm thrilled that the little meta about her trailer found its way into her tag, because I've enjoyed feedback, even if it's criticism. I live for people trying to poke holes in my logic (to see if it stays upright, as I endeavor to be as canon-strict as possible), or to simply add to it. But I'll also say that I'm the first to plead guilty to praise, who does it not improve the mood of significantly, honestly? But truly, I'm honored that you found details in it that piqued your interest, resonated with you, or even had you look into her with a bit of a specific eye; that's why I do it. And also, character analysis is part of the joy of writing for me, after all! So thank you for this, and choosing to come to me with this, my gratitude is endless! As for your question, forgive me, because I need to give a little bit of background (or scroll down to find my bit about Kafka, I'm just in a rambling mood lately):

Sad as I am to admit it the paths in HSR are not quite as high in lore accuracy as for example, Genshin Impact's visions, are. Where visions are directly tied to a character's ambitions, drive(s) and/or passions and are thus heavily tied to their personalities and actions; paths are a little less simple, as there seems to have much more of a gameplay (the 'type' of RPG role, things like DPS, debuffer, healer, and so forth) tied to them, that counters lore to a degree. Keep reading though, as I have opinions! A good example of this for starters is Jing Yuan, he was given the path of the Hunt (and from the wiki: "Those who follow the "Hunt" Path admire determination, ruthlessness, and tenacious behavior") but his gameplay fits into Erudition's gameplay role perfectly (which is explained as follows on the same page: "Deals remarkable amounts of multi-target damage. The main damage dealer against groups of enemies") though I would also argue that his personality seems to befit Erudition much more as well (again, as per the same page: "Those who follow the "Erudition" Path admire thinking, logic, and strategic behavior"), though I don't write him, so I do not proclaim to be an expert by any means. But in essence, the difficult part becomes the fact that there can be a mismatch between a character's lore and their gameplay, which will often account for a bit of a discrepancy. I also believe some characters have been tied to a specific path, but it seems more likely from a lore standpoint, that they would be part of another but it is still unplayable. So yes, MiHoyo has made this a little complicated, for it doesn't seem common that lore and gameplay overlap one another in terms of paths.

However, I'm not someone who likes to just write off the concept of 'for gameplay purposes' too easy, I'll over-analyze before I simply dismiss anything. Now it's worthy to note that I've been away from HSR for quite some months now, and am not caught up with the story, so take what I say with a grain of salt, and anyone's always free to add to this, or help elaborate!

I wonder how the narrative paths (can?) influence each other. To keep up with Jing Yuan as an example, does he pray to Lan so that he keeps these 'Lightning Lord' powers that he has? To what extent do you need to follow a path to gain any of the powers tied to it? Do you simply take its tenets and 'hold them in your heart', do you progress your faith and live out its virtues in any capacity? Does this then vary from person to person, is it different across each path, because it depends on the temperment of the Aeon tied to it? Or does it go beyond that, and there is inherently a tie to its beliefs that stems from your heart or belief? If we're speaking of how human beings work and their nuances, nothing states that you couldn't 'pledge' yourself to one path, while still adhering to virtues and tenets of another, they simply wouldn't overshadow the former. Yep, it's complicated.

As for Kafka and Nihility/IX. Yes! I do think it ties in with her perfectly. See, while IX's description ("Those who follow the "Nihility" Path admire laziness, exhaustion, and meaningless behavior") is very clear in its message, we need to keep in mind that there are actually primarily two approaches to the concept of Nihilism as a whole. One is simply admitting defeat and falling into the belief system where one believes, just like IX, that all existence is meaningless and so there's no value in life to speak of, so why live? But then if you look into the factions tied to Nihility, you can see the Doctors of Chaos and their caption says the following: "Ponderers who inadvertently encountered the Nihility. They attempt to resist the destiny of Nihility, and try to prove to the Aeon of Nihility the meaning behind the existence of all things." And this matches with what you read when you first meet IX in the Simulated Universe, where you're presented with two options to proceed:

1: You can hate that life has no meaning, turning inwards, sink into gloom and eventually become a Self-Annihilator of sorts, which is kind of, basically, the equivalent of the antimatter legion for IX. 2. You create your own meaning in life. IX presents a belief that there is no meaning, but that does not mean that you inherently need to believe the same thing, and so you find your own significance and value in life. And this seems to be paramount to all of the characters that follow Nihility to one degree or another, including Kafka. For starters, let me remind you of some lines from her SQ to prove it:

Trailblazer: Are you sure you don't follow the Aeon of Nihility? Kafka: Do I sound that negative? No. We believe that existence has meaning, but that meaning is bestowed by ourselves, not by choices.

Kafka's entire involvement in the Stellaron Hunters originates from the fact that she seeks to feel what she's never felt: fear. And this is something that, arguably, makes people value life more than anything: knowing that it's precious, fragile and fleeting. Kafka makes an immeasurable amount of references to choice (and is surprised when it indeed counters 'fate'), and then also vulnerability, which is so tightly tied to the concept of something being able to be lost (something as seemingly trivial as the coats that she collects). You don't need fear to understand the concept of importance, or value, but it inherently strengthens it. But if you wanted a stronger motivation behind it: look at how ardently she follows Elio's script, and it's because he promised her that in the future he chose, she would have what she seeks. Is that not passion within itself? Is fighting and being part of something entirely blindly, not inherently the strongest evidence of craving, a longing for something? And is that not vehemently human? Is that not... the meaning of life itself?

#[ answered: ooc. ] apologies for interrupting your little get-together. but I’m sure once you’ve heard my request; you’ll forgive me.#[ this is SO MUCH LONGER than i intended for it to be and i'm /so sorry/. ]#[ i'm also gonna add this to my little tag-- ]#[ meta. ] the mara's tether is firmly in her grasp. she will not pull upon it before the designated time; nor shall she relinquish it.#[ because i don't know how i couldn't. ]#[ thank you again! truly! this was greatly appreciated and I'm thriving! ]#[ literally i've been thriving in both discord meta and here; i just love you guys. i really do. ]#[ have a wonderful day/night; whoever you are! may you have an amazing weekend as well! ]

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missameliep · 1 year

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With the year drawing to a close, what are you most proud of yourself for with your writing? 💜🎆 (Feel free to share this around to spread some end of year positivity!)

Thank you for the ask! ☺️

The things I'm most proud about my writing this year is the way I branched out and wrote (and posted) fics that aren't in my comfort zone, and that despite the lack of time I still managed to write.

From the stories I wrote this year, Like Poetry (Blades of Light and Shadow) is one I'm particular proud of. It's mostly angst, which isn't usually something present in my writing, and I let myself try with different kinds of narrative and style and in the end I think it worked out well, and I'm proud to not have given up when it wasn't turning out just like I wished.

Another project I started and finished without procrastinating (maybe just a little) or letting perfectionism stop me like it did so many times before was the miniseries Safe (Wake the Dead), I dedicated so much love and work to the concept of this story, and it was challenging not only writing for a new book and new characters, but in the setting of a post-apocalyptic universe that I never ventured before. But it was so rewarding to explore this universe and themes like living under authoritarianism and to question what makes us humans when the pillars of humanity seem to have vanished.

I have written other stories this year (and I was surprised that there were more stories than I remembered) and I'm happy with them as well, and even if I haven't managed to finish the ones I wished or worked on many of my favorite WIPs, I'll allow myself to be proud of what I did accomplished.

I have posted my 2022 writing Summary.

I'm tagging a few other writers, if they wish to share what made them proud as well: @princess-geek @lorirwritesfanfic @noesapphic @aallotarenunelma @lizzybeth1986 @lilyoffandoms @jerzwriter

#ask box!#choices fanfiction #choices blades of light and shadow #choices wake the dead #tyril starfury #troy hassan #2022 summary of writing

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redwinterroses · 1 year

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Hey redwinteroses I saw your post on writing with pronouns rather than writing with physical attributes and I would like to thank you for the writing advice.

However I do have to ask, how would you recommend writing a scene wherein the characters uses "They/them" pronouns? Especially in a scene wherein there's multiple characters? Is there a good indicator of "They/them" being used as a singular pronoun vs. "They/them" as a collective?

Hey! Thanks for the ask!

I'll admit this isn't something I'm super experienced with, and because culture at large also isn't used to it (yet), more care than usual may need to be taken to make sure you're always clear. Especially when writing groups; there's not (yet) a good indicator, but as I said in the original post: trust your readers. Make things clear, but assume that your readers can figure things out too.

I think most of the same ideas cross over though, similar to when you're writing something with two characters who share pronouns.

always change paragraphs when you change which person to whom you're referring

if you can't use pronouns, use names rather than titles or (*shudders*) descriptive epithets. Never never never refer to a well-known character by their hair or eye color unless it's relevant to the scene. Titles (their brother, his captain, her lover, the prisoner, the vampire, the elf) you can get away with more easily, but they should still be like, a third-level choice.

And for the love of tuna if you use "taller" or "older" or descriptive words like that, (which... avoid, but they CAN be used,) always include the nouns. It's not "they looked at the taller." The taller what? It's: "they looked at the taller man/boy/prince/soldier/etc."

When in doubt -- rewrite. It's your story. You have all the real estate in the world: if your sentence or paragraph is unclear, restructure it until it makes sense. Maybe you need to just drop a dialog tag. Maybe add one. Maybe add a new paragraph of room description to break up the back and forth so you can "start over" in the reader's mind.

Proofreaders are SUPER helpful. Sometimes you lose sight of where things are complicated because you know who's saying/doing what. Reading it out loud (to yourself or someone else) can also really help show where clarity breaks down.

Some more specific resources that might be helpful:

Gender-Neutral Pronouns in Creative Writing from the Chicago Manual of Style

Some good discussion in a StackExchange thread (with links to some other threads with additional thoughts)

How to use gender-neutral pronouns in your writing from the International Writers' Collective

And a pretty good blog on the topic from a now-defunct site called RedPenPalsBlog that you'll have to access through the Wayback Machine here: A Writer's Guide to Gender-Neutral Pronouns.

(disclaimer: I know nothing about any of these authors, and don't vouch for them across the board. But these articles seem solid enough as they stand.)

Using they/them in narrative writing is a developing form in English. But it's already way more common than it was even five years ago, and people are far less taken aback or confused by it. As long as you take care to write clear and edit clean, you can trust your readers to work with you.

Happy writing!

#redwinteranswers #honestly i would recommend looking up recent fanfic featuring ZombieCleo as they use she/they pronouns #but I think you're not in my fandom so I'll just throw that out there for anyone closer to 'home' who might be wondering #writing #not mcyt #at least not directly

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demonsfate · 3 months

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ANONYMOUS SENT [T8 SPOILERS] . . .

tbf, as a certified Kazuya Stan™️, I am hoping Jin's ending is the canon one (if the two endings are truly THAT divergent from one another at all), only because it seems we are following his story throughout all tekken 8, so for him to lose in the end would kinda be unsatisfactory in a narrative way. Even if I do like Kazuya just slightly more as a character and his victory would be kinda nice to see short term, seeing him canonically get his way at his most morally wrong and leaving him unchallenged wouldnt be a very satisfying development of his character for me, he needs his son to knock him down a peg, Jin getting both of them rid of the devil gene is a good start if it turns out true. Besides, I'm fairly confident that (in at least Jin's ending) none of them are going to die, so if Jin dies in Kazuya's ending, I'm going to be a bit pissed. I need them BOTH to make it out alive.

Anyway, here's my two cents as a Kazuya fan to show in good faith that some of us arent rooting for Jin's loss or demise 😊 Go Son Boy

Yeah, who knows how the endings will play out and what exactly it means by "[character] is victorious." Hell, it could end where they BOTH die in battle, but the outcome only changes who technically "wins".

But YEAH!! Even tho I love love love Jin and I'm a major Jin Fan, I am NOT actively rooting for Kazuya's downfall! I'm not wishing he'd get killed by Jin or anything. I still enjoy Kazuya's character so very much! However, I don't think he should win because uh... yeah. Kazuya's the one actively threatening to wipe out countries and Jin isn't (anymore LOL). I just don't get why ppl can't just... be normal and just realize you can LIKE BOTH CHARACTERS??? Or at the very least, just because you like one character - doesn't mean you have to be vocal about your hatred for another. I just find it kinda childish. 🙄 Anyway, I hope Kazuya loses 'cos the world NEEDS him to, but he doesn't have to die! And I know canonically, Jin deserves to die... but daaamn, I'll just feel bad if he has to die over bad writing that screwed him over. So, I'll be very sad if he dies, too.

And don't worry... I don't think Kazuya fans are bad lol! It's just those types that get under my skin. Usually, I only see them on Reddit - but granted, I don't browse the tags often (if at all) on Tumblr, so who knows. I'm sure there are plenty of fans like that for Jin, too. But... strangely, I just don't come across them often - Reddit seems VERY vocal about their opinion regarding Kazuya. But that may be because Reddit is full of pretentious people who think they can survive in Kazuya's "survival of the fittest" world.

#✏️ - ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴏsᴛ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴏsᴛ // (ooc)#✏️ - ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ? // (inbox)#t8 spoilers

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wingsofescape · 6 months

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20 questions for writers

I was kindly tagged by @alighted-willow for this (thank you friend, you know how much I love these!)

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

2 for now, but I have ideas for many more I keep shelved in order not to get distracted from my main project.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

88,706 (but 82k are from one fic)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

So far FMA 2003, but I did attempt a Yugioh fic a decade ago that luckily never saw the light of day. I started watching Detective Conan so maybe there will be a fic from that one day, depending on what my brain will decide to rot on.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

I only have two fics published, soooo

in the cracks of light - 87 kudos

there'll be happiness after you - 32 kudos

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Always! I love discussing observations and mutually scream with my readers. Also I really appreciate when someone takes the time to comment so the least I can do is return the favour. Equivalent exchange, if you will.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

It's complicated? there'll be happiness after you seemingly ends well, but since it's a prequel and shit unfolds in in the cracks of light... it's a fake happy ending and a prelude to loads of angst *kicks reveal chapter under the rug*

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I haven't finished it yet, but itcol will be getting a happy ending! I know it seems unbelievable now, but I promise it's a fix-it and it will end happily.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I haven't gotten hate per se, but I've had some... disagreements over the genre and some "I expected [character] to react [a certain way] because that would rush the story along" where I'm like "it's called a narrative choice that I have fully analysed and can justify, what's your problem", but other than that...

Although there is a certain very divisive topic I'm handling in my fic which could lead to hate, but I've explicitly stated I would be very liberal with the block button if someone left hate, so I guess the haters know how to stay silent.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yes! I'm actually sitting on a sex scene that was written two years ago and I can't wait to unleash it when the time comes (get it? Okay I'll see myself out).

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Nope, but I would be tempted to maybe do a HTTYD/FMA crossover.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I sure hope not!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but if anyone would like to translate a fic of mine, feel free! I'm a translator and editor by profession so if you would like a fic translated to either French or Danish let me know and I will do my best.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Nope! Me and two friends did have an idea two years ago but we never developed it to fruition.

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

Do I even need to say it... CoS Edwin all the way.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

As long as I finish itcol, I'm happy. It's more about wips I want to write but haven't started yet.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I've gotten the most positive feedback on characterisation and relationship building, as well as metaphors. I also think that for a first time mystery writer I didn't do too badly with plot twists and red herrings and kept people guessing till the end.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I overthink a lot and will get stuck until something is perfect. I overwrite a lot and I think my sentences can get clunky, and I really struggle with describing internal sensations and will overuse body language related to the eyes. Working on it, but urgh.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I speak four so it wouldn't be a problem, but I also know it can take a reader out of their experience, so I try to stick to just a few words.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Unpublished, Yugioh. Published, FMA 2003.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

It has to be in the cracks of light. That fic is my baby, it rekindled my love for writing and gave me the best community I could ever ask for. I'm really proud of myself for still being on this story even after two years of working on it and I love its plot and of course giving Ed and Winry the happy ending they deserve (and I like to stick it to the CoS director).

Tagging with no pressure @asthmaticbee @woahpip @darkpersonapeace @maples-pages @wickedcriminal and anyone I forget who would like to do this!

#in the cracks of light fic #tag games #ask and ye shall receive #thank you for tagging me

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acacia-may · 11 months

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Hello Acacia. I'm glad to see you're feeling a little better. You don't need to rush back into activity but thankfully, it doesn't seem like you won't stress yourself. Thank goodness. Just take care of yourself. But I also saw you reblog an ask game so if you want a little something to think about while you're getting better, can I ask numbers 1, 3, 10, and 36?

Hi Erika! Thank you so much for the ask! I apologize it has taken me a little bit to get back with you. I'm still not feeling the best so I'm very, very slowly easing back into blog activity. I really appreciate your kind words and encouragement, and I loved getting to read all of your reblogs & comments while I was unwell and on hiatus so thank you so much for that as well! 🥰 I'd be delighted to answer these questions for you.

Questions from this fic writer's ask game. Answers below the cut.

1. What fic of yours would you recommend to someone who had never read any of your work? (In other words, what do you think is the best introduction to your fics?)

I answered this question here, but as that was more focused on my Black Clover fics and we share more fandoms, I think I'll answer in more generalized terms for you. Out of everything that I've ever written I think "Take Care of Yourself" which is a Demon Slayer fanfiction about Shinobu and Giyuu's friendship says a lot about me as a writer and also, in some ways, as a person. I worked on that story for a very long time, and I'm very proud of how it turned out in the end. It also includes a lot of my favorite themes (platonic friendships, family relationships, hurt/comfort, healing from the past and finding the strength to carry on in the face of adversity ect.). I think I'd direct someone to that fic if they had never read anything of mine and were familiar not only with Demon Slayer but with any/all my other fandoms as well. (I also asked my sister for her opinion since she sometimes Betas my stories and she said that would be her suggestion too 😅).

3. What are some tropes or details that you think are very characteristic of your fics?

I write a lot about platonic relationships--male & female friendships, found families, and problematic/complicated sibling relationships especially. My favorite genre is probably hurt/comfort, but I'll admit I also really enjoy writing wholesome fluff & shenanigans. I also enjoy writing about happy futures for the characters I love most (especially if they have been through a lot in the canon).

In terms of other characteristics, I think I use a lot of dialog tags. I'm trying to work on using less of those. 😅 I tend to write in third person but I try to stay close enough to the POV to give them a "voice" in the narration of the piece (or that's the hope anyway 😅). I have recently been branching out into 1st person POV, but I'll admit I don't like it nearly as well. 🙈 I think I also write a lot of flashback scenes because I like trying to tie the past and present together in a lot of my stories. Overall though, I really try to try something new in every story that I write whether that be trying out a new narrative structure, genre, character(s), or perspective. It makes me nervous to try new things as a writer, but I think it's the best way to grow and to (hopefully) get better at writing.

10. How do you decide what to write?

I answered this question here, but I will also copy and paste part of it for you and also add a little bit to the discussion. 😊

Truthfully, I have a lot of story ideas that never actually get written. 😅🙈 I just don't have the time or energy to write everything, unfortunately. The ones that do get written are either ideas that wouldn't leave me alone or get out of my head until they were written down or they are ones that I write for some practical reason (i.e. a prompt from someone or for a fandom event/week). Another big motivation for me as a writer is to explain how I see a certain character, relationship, or situation.

[New] I think I tend to read between the lines with a lot of characters--especially ones that aren't necessarily painted in the most favorable light by the canon. While I don't excuse or try to explain away their bad actions (if they have some), I do tend to recognize that they may have diminished culpability or are at least more sympathetic than they may appear. My sister teases me that I have a "sixth sense" for when a character is going to have a tragic backstory. 😂 I'm not sure if I'd go so far as to say that (though it is a fun little running joke), but I do find that I tend to have a more generous/sympathetic interpretation of certain characters than my friends irl. This can make things a bit complicated when we have discussions because I feel like I have to explain why I don't think certain characters are just irredeemable jerks. I feel like I stumble over trying to explain how I see a character (especially if I see them in a more favorable light) so I find that writing about them or writing in their POV and then showing that to my friends can help them better understand my perspective and interpretation and how/why it is different from theirs. It's one of the main reasons I've written so much about Langris from Black Clover, for instance, but I've also done the same with characters from other fandoms and relationships (if I'm trying to explain what certain characters' friendship looks like in my mind for instance).

36. Do you visualize what you read/write?

Yes, I tend to visualize stories very vividly. My own writing especially I usually mentally "walkthrough" a scene/a story in my imagination before sitting down and actually writing (and occasionally I will even talk through the dialogue aloud to make sure that it isn't too clunky or awkward. My youngest sister isn't really into fanfiction, but her pet peeve as a reader of anything is awkward dialogue so I often hear her voice in my head reminding me to only write non-cringy dialogue that people would actually say... 😅 Hopefully I succeed on that point 🙈). My mental walkthroughs are really helpful to me when it comes time to actually write, and sometimes when I'm struggling to choose the POV character, I'll sometimes walk through the same scene from multiple perspectives until I find one that I like best.

I'm not sure that the level of detail I see in my head always makes it into my finished writing though. I used to be really, really wordy and descriptive when I was first starting out writing, but I got a lot of constructive feedback on how a lot of it was unnecessary and weighed down the story so I hope I strike a better balance when it comes to being descriptive now. 😁

#thank you so much for the ask #erika 💙#acacia's ramblings #fic writer ask game

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polkadotjersey · 4 months

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For the fic asks: maybe 4, 13, 29?

Hello :) Thank you for these <3

4. How many WIPs do you have right now?

Harder question that it looks ahah I have one WIP for F1 (Lifeguard AU). I suppose everything else I've started to write counts more as abandoned than a work in progress. I think I need new ideas 😅

13. How much planning do you do before writing?

The amount of planning of a fic is directly proportional to the probability I will abandon it, so ideally I don't plan much. Maybe I'll do a rough sketch for more complicated things (like non-linear narratives), but most often I start writing something and it goes on an unexpected path so I just let it happen. Then the nightmare of editing everything into a coherent story begins.

29. Share a bit from a fic you’ll never post OR from a scene that was cut from an already posted fic.

Here's an entire scene from 'got milk?' that didn't survive the editing cut (because it was really pointless 😂 also I reused parts of it in other scenes):

Fifteen minutes is a deceptively short amount of time. Jonas wastes no time in slipping into the first pair of jeans he can find, but it all derails after that.

He spends a good five minutes in front of the bathroom mirror, trying to flatten his bed-mussed hair with his hands, then fluffing it up again when it becomes too flat, then frantically dragging his fingers over the uncooperative blonde strands before giving up altogether and leaving it as it is, flopping uselessly over his forehead.

His face looks too pale even for Jonas, doing nothing to hide the blooming dark circles under his eyes. It irks him—even if Jonas has never cared much for the way he looks, it’s still an expression of weakness. And Tadej—he never looks weak. The last time Jonas saw him, he’d looked—

‘It’s Armani, eh’ Tadej had told Jonas, holding the right side of his jacket open to show him something—the brand tag, maybe, Jonas couldn’t tell you because his eyes immediately strayed to the fabric of the shirt clung to Tadej’s chest. Delicate, white linen, almost see-through, the hint of a pebbled nipple underneath—god. He’d seen Tadej shirtless countless times before, of course. Again, it’s the sort of thing that comes with the job. This shouldn’t have been news to Jonas. There was no logical reason for him to get flustered over the mere suggestion of a perfectly normal anatomical feature. Except—

‘Looks good,’ Jonas had mumbled, averting his eyes. A waiter passed by, offering him a timely distraction in the form of free champagne. (In hindsight, that was the first poor decision of the night.) At least Tadej had seemed pleased about his answer.

Except.

Except, maybe Jonas should have seen this coming. He’s worked through this in therapy too—how he shouldn’t let his feelings bottle up inside him until they blow up. How he should cut them into small, manageable pieces. Work through them, one at a time, so he can remain calm and focused.

Of course, in therapy they meant to address things like anxiety, anger, the fear of failure. Not-- Not whatever it is that grips inside Jonas’ chest whenever Tadej smiles at him. So, of course, he’d let that bottle up inside, and, of course, it has now blown up in the most spectacular, ill-advised, world-rocking fashion.

And so all there’s left for Jonas is to scour through the depths of his suitcase, trying to find a shirt that is not team-branded, or contains the words colouring history, or is an actual yellow jersey—what the fuck, he needs to start packing properly—so he can meet Tadej and figure out where do they go from here.

His fifteen minutes are up and his phone rings once more just as he manages to find a plain white t-shirt with a wash-resistant ketchup stain near the collar that will just have to do.

“Your Uber ride has arrived, sir,” Tadej announces in a mock-solemn voice. It takes the edge off Jonas’ shoulders, even if only momentarily. Maybe things can be as easy as before. Maybe nothing has to change.

“Yeah, I’m coming.”

#ask game

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smolvenger · 1 year

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Hey guys, as a quick PSA!

@chantsdemarins @mjsthrillernp @filthyhiddles @peacefulpianist @fictive-sl0th @ladycamillewrites @marissat1998 @kikster606 @terrorsqdtaty @lokisgoodgirl @high-functioning-lokipath @villainousshakespeare @holymultiplefandomsbatman @five-miles-over

I want to support writers and I would love to be tagged in anyone's work. And as some of y'all recently found out and from the reblogs, I am currently obsessed and loving everything about not only Loki but Tom Hiddleston's characters.

However, I have a trigger about cheating. Please please please please please do NOT tag me in Will Ransome x Reader works. I cannot excuse, deny, or ignore that he canonically cheats on his wife, especially with whom he had years of a loving, healthy, happy marriage.

Reading the summary of The Essex Serpent when the pics came out and having it dawn on me what happened. I began to subconsiously project myself onto Stella Ransome. I felt like it was me who was cheated on. That subconsciously, I was not good or pretty enough and that a guy I would love and be devoted to would stick his penis in another woman the second I got sick or was unable to or failed him.

Last year when The Essex Serpent tv adaptation came out, I had to work through this trigger. It was heartwrenching since I love and thirst for Tom like everyone else, but I had to block his tag for a long time on Tumblr. Although I personally have not been knowingly cheated on, seeing clips or gifs or pictures from it would nearly send me into a panic attack, make me unable to sleep at night from the anxiety, and in a horribly sad, angry mood that I would need to find something to distract myself with. Now, it's better than it used to be (go to therapy, kids).

Hell, I wrote an entire, now complete Fix-It-Fanfiction series to cope with how I felt about him with Stella Ransome taking charge of the narrative and her retelling the events of the story, grieving the affair and getting revenge on Will and Cora instead of either slowly waiting to die or drowning herself (If the gifs on Tumblr are right, I think that's what happens, someone corrects me if I'm wrong. RIP me I didn't actually watch it). The master list can be read below or on Archive of Our Own under @VasaliaTheWise.

The Link to Stella of Essex or The Vicar's Wife Betrayed on Tumblr

Link on Archive of Our Own to Stella of Essex or The Vicar's Wife Betrayed

I even enjoy making jokes and roasting him to cope. I still mutter "asshole" whenever I see him across my screen with a pic or gif that slips through the blocked tags. Posts here of me being a hater will be tagged "w*ll hate" if you don't want to read them.

But that is to say, no one on Earth can't write him or thirst after him just because I am one hater. I do my best to ignore your guy's reaction pics and gifs when I see them. I know it's not fair to crap on someone for enjoying him because of how I feel- that I can't tell someone to stop eating a donut because I am on a no-sweets diet.

To be fair, I remember reading one fic of him that is the exception (I'll tag it later) because it was so beautifully written and completely ignored his canon actions. And lots of fics in general ignore canon- and it seems many of y'all's fics do that! From the summaries, y'all's fics are more like "hot priest! wahoo! looks like there's some SINNING going on ;). Oh, and cheating? What cheating? That's not happening!" rather than "yup he was totally right to cheat on Stella." And you guys should feel free to write for whoever you want however you want! Heck, aren't a lot of us writing about Loki, who is canonically a narcissistic, self-destructive, toxic mass murderer?

I wanted to join and follow Tumblrs to feed my passion, interest, and love for Tom but was hesitant to do so because of all the reblogs and stuff regarding Will being the best thing since sliced bread and my personal feelings about this character. And I still want to with tags blocked. And now I am finally following y'all and it feels fantastic and wonderful.

I want to read and support and reblog your works. Please please please tag me in your works about Loki, Prince Hal, Jonathan Pine, James Conrad, Dr. Robert Laing, Captain James Nicholls, Sir Thomas Sharpe, Billy Magnussen, William Buxton, John Plumptree, etc. I will be perfectly happy to reblog and comment on them!

But please please please please do not tag me with anything about Will Ransome (unless it's about him getting karma for what he did and Stella being happy and being comforted).

#PSA #tom hiddleston #tom hiddleston characters #tom hiddleston fanfiction #fanficiton #fanfics #tom thirst #tom hiddleston thirst

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absolutebl · 2 years

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Please allow me a little manga shoutout~

I just found out that the English edition of Iki Dekinai no wa Kimi no Sei (which I am reading in Japanese) by Zeniko Sumiya has been out for a while already as Breathless Momentum!

(I also haven't heard of any translations scandals, so here is hoping this isn't going to come biting me like OtoTsuku did.)

I feel like the author and their works deserve some mention:

They appear to really be set on to dwarf those old trodden uke/seme expectations, as well as its conflation with the top/bottom stereotypes. It happens in all of their BL works, and they once said on twitter that they don't like people/characters be seen as uke/seme, but also mentioned the woes and dilemma over tags out of a sales perspective to make readers pick the works up. So sounds like a very aware, intentional choice.

They don't do your usual explicit bed scenes. The tweet of theirs makes it sound a lot like they are also going out of their way to avoid them as part of the uke/seme trope avoidance. Which is, I think, a really bold stance, given that some subjectively perceived 90% of the BL manga genre lives from being literal porn.

That being said, they don't go the forced sanitized sex negative, innocent-pure fluff instead either. Physical attraction and intimacy is very much a thing for their characters to deal with, and it gets very much shown. Some of their adult characters are depicted as quite horny for and palpably in it for wanting to bone each other on the regular. All the while, it never goes porny. Which seems to be a pretty darn noteworthy skill, given how rare works like that exist out in the wild.

Sometimes some visual allegories for the spice get employed, and I thought them to be quite hilarious.

They also like to have their characters get to have healthy conversions about themselves quite quickly, or have side characters pushing them to have them. Admittedly, especially in Breathless, it sometimes comes at the costs that the climax comes off as a bit anticlimactic. As in, "That was all it took? So simple?" And then to stop for a moment and go "Sure, so simple if folks actually TALKED." (Which another subjectively perceived 90% of all romance never seem to manage.)

Some titles went to be about couples in already in a relationship, so it goes and explores some domestic settings. (Also very rare in romance in general.)

What I personally also think is interesting is how some of their works has protagonists being "sexual deviants" (the characters' own words). Like in Breathless both main characters get the hots from playing music, and it gets more intense the better the performance gets. Usually any sort of such deviancy tends to be framed as something creepy, shameful or something to cringe over or is abused as a throwaway joke. This series instead rolls with it with a sense of practicality that is used in a comedic way, but doesn't feel like it's judging, and later chapters in the Japanese release even pick it back up as something they have, always will have and need to live with.

(The author also has a fantasy GL work called 5 Seconds Before a Witch Falls in Love that's also been released in English. It dodges your typical Yuri tropes, but is imo a bit too short story-styled (it also has two completely separate narratives collected in there) to really go anywhere in terms of fleshed out character development.)

I also haven't heard of any translations scandals, so here is hoping this isn't going to come back biting me like OtoTsuku did. 💦

Ooo thanks for the rec, I'll check it out. I just finished I Cannot Reach You and I have to say I found it a bit boring. So I'm intersted in something new. I'll put Breathless Momentum on my watch list (right now there's no print edition and I don't read graphics in digital, so Imma haffa wait.)

#yaoi #manga #Breathless Momentum #Iki Dekinai no wa Kimi no Sei

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mermaidsirennikita · 1 year

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Found your blog via the sanditon tag and I couldn't agree more. This season is just so effin boring for the main couple. Like. First time I don't care about an Austen hero? Like going from Theo to this random dude is such a downgrade. Brooding awkward average looking man doesn't feel like the romance hero I'd root for. Arthur's, Lady Susan's and Georgiana's storylines are much more interesting than anything Charlotte has had this season. I wish they would have at least given her Slater after Sidney left.

The thing is... and it's totally fine for people to enjoy the show after Sidney died, I just didn't (and not simply because Theo left, though I'll admit I kind of thought it would be a situation where they would clumsily make up for his departure, and... I was right lol)...

The show was always meant to be an Austen fanfic. What she wrote of Sanditon is not a "final draft", and it's not even close to being finished. It's not a full skeleton of a novel. I never expected for it to play like true Austen, because it's not, and that's fine.

Where you got more complicated, and where the show got to the point that it's just a lame horse and it's better off being put out of its misery, is that it was an Austen fanfic that then lost one of the only solid Austen bones it had, lol. And a really important bone (... his bone could've been so vital to the story). And because Austen heroes *do not die*, there had to be this sort of narrative reshuffle of "well ackshully, what we saw was sort of a prequel, her tragic backstory as a heroine", except the guy who's coming in is not a Jane Austen piece at all, he's the writer's own piece. It became this Frankenwork.

And it was... extremely boring. I saw people responding to my post saying that I didn't like the show because I didn't identify with Charlotte "as written"; I don't need to identify with a character in order to like her, but I do need to be entertained by her. While I pithily said I don't like romances with kids and her arc seems like a nightmare to me... Which is true.... I can and have been persuaded to like stories similar to Charlotte's.

Where you lose me is when I think of the girl who was excited to get off a boring farm where she helped take care of a million siblings, going to a town where she saw things that ~shocked her~ (the moment that got me to watch the show was Charlotte having her entire Awakening in 30 seconds when she saw Sidney in the ocean; the fear of her own feelings mixed with curiosity and being overwhelmed was so real) and helped Georgiana defy this overbearing man... When I say I didn't get "let me be a teacher and raise this dude's kids" (which, cool, she's working, but she is working with KIDS, the entire sum of her life is about KIDS, after she came from a farm where much of her responsibilities were about KIDS, the dynamic evolution didn't exist) as being something Charlotte would want as this young woman, that's what I'm talking about. Doesn't mean she wouldn't have kids! It just means that I thought the show's original goal was to give us more of the girl who ran off to the city and just traipsed into a brothel and gave Sidney an entire heart attack. A girl who seemed bold and reckless and a bit zany.

In what I saw of the Charlotte of subsequent seasons (which was not everything because my time is limited and I'm not going to waste it on a show I don't enjoy) was not that. And I didn't really care for this subdued version that never would have existed had Theo James decided to stick around.

And I'll be honest--if they'd come in with a dynamic romantic hero, I would've come back. At its heart, Sanditon did play like a romance, and I think that having a good romantic hero was so important for its vibe, its success. The guy they brought in was very dull for me as a viewer; the life he offered was not a romantic fantasy. It was a bit of a male fantasy--hey, the wife (who I believe shit was kinda complicated with anyway) is gone, and now you get a plucky hot governess who's gonna help you with your kids and bounce on it for the rest of your life when she's not saving the children. But the setup they were giving in season one felt more like the feminine fantasy--he's hot but he's kind of an ass and but he chills out for meee. Not saying either fantasy is particularly romantic! But it felt very much like the original goal was giving Charlotte something, whereas the next was giving the GUY something.

I'm guessing you got autocorrected to Slater from Stringer lol, and tbh, I disliked Stringer in season 1, but Leo Suter has gone on to really impress me (both as an actor and in simple leading man ways) in Vikings. I think there could've been a path where you had Stringer get an edge and come back as this successful dude with a chip on his shoulder who's not so *eager* to have Charlotte in season 2. Someone she'd have to reevaluate, as I never bought her being genuinely into him in season 1. It could've had Persuasion vibes, but with perhaps an edge.

Again, it's whatever, I'm happy for people who liked the show. To me, it was just a letdown and it felt like Charlotte's character was changed to fit the new guy they introduced. Not interested in debating that; but I don't see s1 Charlotte and s2/3 Charlotte as the same person. Not because Sidney died--because she was changed to fit an unplanned storyline.

#sanditon

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