#or really focus on his speech patterns

[powerseeking]

its not much, but i’m proud of myself for being able to get to all my asks for a prompt meme done aaa

#･ †▐░▒ a meek human with to much power in her hands ╱ ooc ･ #sometimes focus or brains struggles to answer all the asks i get for a prompt i reblog #so cries even if it took me a few days due to energy i did them all!! #now its mostly drafts or other stuff to reply too #i say as i go to look for other memes to reblog FHJSFHJSF #i'm slowly easing myself back into writing vergil (especially his speech pattern) and aaaa #i really am having fun being back on him and getting to write roleplay stuff again ;v; #eventually i'll finish my ww blog so i can get started on him too sfhjfsh #just gonna gently vibe as i think about what i wanna work on as i cook food aaa #･ †▐░▒ weakness shall be overthrown ╱ delete ･

[http-finnick]

𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 - 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐫

finnick odair x fem!reader

summary: |soulmate au|as you sit in the sand with your soulmate, finnick during the midst of the 75th hunger games, he starts to toy with you telepathically. (blue quotations mean their talking telepathically)

request: Hello! I saw the soulmate au you did and I love it! You mentioned liking to write it so I’m here to request another soulmate au that I haven’t seen very many people do! Can you do an imagine where Finnick and reader have already met each other and already know that they’re soulmates, and they can telepathically communicate with one another? Maybe they’re in the Games together and Finnick is just telepathically flirting with her for some reason, and Katniss and Peeta are confused to why you’re smiling for no reason?

"I know we could die any second, but you look gorgeous"

you sucked the side of your cheek as finnicks voice swims into your mind, you don't even dare to look at him as you and the rest of the small group sit together on the beach

"aw, come on love, don't ignore me"

you had a deal with him not to do this often in the games. it muffles your hearing and the things he says distract you all together

"thank goodness for those game makers, or whoever made that suit, it hugs your body so-"

"finnick. what do you want?"

"there you are"

"I'd assume we'd take first watch tonight after you and finnick did it last night...thank you for that by the way" katniss sighs as she finishes the short conversation she had on the side with peeta.

you try and snap out of his thoughts as he stares daggers at you with a stupid grin on his face you try and block his words out

"fuck I cant wait to marry you...and have children...boy or girl?"

"uh.." you cough as you scratch your face, trying to focus on katniss as her brows start to furrow and peeta side eyes you

"boy or girl?"

"I'd really.."

"answer them."

"I'd really appreciate that guys...thanks" you clear your throat as you want to bury yourself in the sand from embarrassment. he's toying with you, unfair.

"alright...Finnick, whats your thoughts on the ocean back there, is the fish safe to eat, or do you not wanna risk it?" Peeta chimes up, perfect.

"remember when we were younger and I told you I wanted two boys" you grin as you stare at him innocently, he clears his throat and sits up slightly to try and focus.

"I think now I want two girls...or maybe one girl, one boy...what would there names be, love?"

"I'd..um...I'd have to check" he stumbles, flip-flopping on his words as his cheeks glow red

"Ok, do you think they're safe though?" katniss says, annoyed.

"or remember that time at home when we had to go to a dinner party and you walked out in a suit"

"right, sorry"

"I tried not to jump on you allll night."

he audibly let out an airy laugh, obviously remembering the memory

"you failed miserably, love" your shocked to see him chime in, he eyes you with an almost bit-back smile

"there you are"

"Finnick can you answer us please?" she almost yells

"you looked so handsome"

"I- uhm...I can't"

"answer them."

"I don't...I can't say...I'll take a look and tell you then" he breaths out, happy the torture is over

"okay. what the fuck is going on" katniss sits up as she looks at you both

"you guys keep eyeing each other and can't seem to answer the simplest questions. and I don't think that poison mist affects your speech pattern" she bites and you just laugh bitterly

"I'm gonna take a look at the fish now" Finnick stands, embarrassed.

"yeah you do that" katniss scoffs

"love you" you tell him as he turns to walk backward, looking at you as he mouths the words "love you too"

an: omggg this was so much fun to write! thank you so much for enjoying the last soulmate au, its really fun to dip into different and au's and such so this is really cool! ilysm <333

#finnick odair fluff #finnick odair x reader #finnick odair imagine #finnick x y/n #finnick odair #finnick odair x you #finnick odair fanfic #finnick odair rp #finnick odair headcanons #thg headcanons #thg fanfiction #thg rp #thg finnick #thg x reader #the hunger games #the hunger games rp #the hunger games imagine #the hunger games fanfiction

[notaspectator]

idea: Omen copies people and tries to imitate people he likes. at first, it'd be hard to tell. but he's picked up on Viper's speech, and from time to time (...as funny as all the other agents find it) he'll repeat what brimstone has said to him. little speech things. but it becomes more obvious when it comes to behaviors. like, how if someone talks to him but does the "talking with hands" thing, he'll try to copy it. except he doesn't speak, because he doesn't understand the two things are connected. it becomes an uncanny imitation that reminds everyone else that Omen is not like them, and Omen cant understand what he's doing wrong. He's doing what he's seen others do, so why do they find it so strange when he does it? When people breath in a certain, noticable way, Omen pretends he's breathing the same way. It takes time for anyone to notice, but Omen does copy it and never understands why it unnerves the others. and say, when they're on a multiple day mission, he'll copy how people prepare to sleep. because he doesn't understand, and he just wants to pretend that he is like them, even if it means laying there for hours in silence because everyone sleeps, except for him, so that must mean that sleeping is a trait of living things. now, this also comes around a LOT with specific agents. like cypher. since Cypher y'know has a mask with eyes that pretend to blink, i like to imagine he also is very expressive with his body language to make up for the fact he has a mask. and Omen would copy the way Cypher likes to tilt his head, or the eccentric way Cypher waves his hands about. Cypher finds it interesting, and would often subtly do unique things such as a certain gesture or a walking to a certain pattern just so that he could see Omen imitate it later, either with him or elsewhere. The only time these little imitations seem *real* and *lifelike* is when Omen isn't trying to do them. Like how Omen will often imitate breathing just on his own, or the way he likes to keep a hand on the wall as he walks by because it is grounding and he likes to know where he is relative to the walls around him, or how he leans toward things he finds interesting so that he can focus better and hear them clearer. Omen doesn't realize that he is trying to put together a collage of everyone's unique traits in a desperate bid to make himself seem human- he doesn't realize that the little things HE does are what make him seem alive. that those little things are proof that he is not just going through the motions and making a fake personality from bits and pieces of everyone else, because he has his own thoughts, opinions, and little quirks that no one else shares. Omen really hasn't existed very long, has he? and yet, he's already killed countless people. from copies of friends, to copies of himself. how could that not fuck somebody up? he went through unimaginable pain, and cannot even hold himself together on a bad day (quite literally), and has looked himself dead in the eye and shot a replica of himself dead. When he has only known the VALORANT protocol- has only known Viper, who isn't known for her empathy- how could he have ever figured out what makes people human? where would he have managed to come up with the idea that his emotions are his own? where does that leave time to realize that he does not have to desperately copy people so that he can be SOMEONE? or really, so he can pretend that he is alive, in some compacity? and I love the idea that Cypher, who struggled with the same problems, sees Omen struggling and he helps him. Cypher is all too familiar with thinking he is not like the others, and has already grappled with the idea that something about him is wrong. and maybe he isn't quite over that idea, yet. maybe he's just pretending he is, but he'll TRY so that he can help Omen, because he just cant let Omen struggle with those thoughts alone. and Omen realizes, that even if he might not be human nor technically alive, that it is okay because Cypher loves him either way, and thats enough for Omen to want to keep going.

#valorant omen #valorant headcanons #Omen *has* to have issues #i do not take criticism #valorant cypher #cyphmen #shadowire #wow there are so many ship names #they are so cute though

[ichangemyusertoomuch]

does anyone else cry at how much internalized homophobia Ianto has in Children of Earth?

I really would've loved them to focus on it more. they showed it enough to peak my interest, but they could have had more of Jack helping him past it.

on it's own, Ianto's sister's reaction to him liking Jack (and essentially coming out to her) made me cringe, because that's someone who was brought up in the same way as Ianto was (like how siblings have similar speech patterns or manners, because they were taught by the same parents). it immediately tells us that his family aren't exactly comfortable with gay people - though, luckily, she cares about Ianto enough to simply be utterly surprised and not suddenly dislike him. but Johnny (her husband) had the worst reaction immediately after Ianto and his sister talk (I'm not gonna repeat it) but I think it really showed how people in that area were really against the lgbtq+ community, or at least had awful and/or stereotypical opinions. (side note: when she was asking Ianto about he and Jack, he asked her if her daughter should really be hearing this. very heavily implying how wrong he feels he is)

but Ianto, someone brought up in this area, ends up with Jack, and the fact that they're both men hadn't been shown as an issue at any prior point. but suddenly in Children of Earth they present it.

for example, Clem states that Ianto is "queer, I can smell it" (whatever the hell that smells like) (probably fruity) (😂 I'm sorry, sorry), but then Ianto turns around, angry and yells "Oi!".

in the time Torchwood was made I suppose the whole world was a bit more homophobic, but it was not once an issue before then. so you have to presume it's just them trying to flesh out his character (which it successfully does).

which brings me smoothly onto my conclusion. if they were to create this subplot of internalized homophobia, then they probably should have actually made it go somewhere and not just leave me crying on the floor.

👍✨ (tysm for reading this all, if you got this far 😂)

(I haven't listened to any Big Finish audios, though I'm planning on buying some, so if there's anything there that goes further into this: I wouldn't know 😕)

#ianto jones #torchwood #small essay #to be honest. i don't actually have a point to this post. i just would love you guys' opinions #janto #jack x ianto #torchwood essay #essay #it's not really an essay #have a good day x

[lamemaster]

Ways to Coax Your Beloved

Pairing: Glorfindel x Reader

Genre: Romance, fluff (i swear) , sprinkle of angst

Summary: What began as a minor disagreement now feels like an insurmountable chasm between you two. Never before had an argument lasted so long.

AN: written directly on Tumblr interface this is my mania. Enjoy!

"I've brought us some snacks," you carefully balance the tray on the balcony railing. "Cakes, tea, cookies, crackers, cream rolls – I've got everything." He remains facing away from you, his back tense and unyielding to your words.

"Glorfindel," you take a hesitant step closer, your hand hovering in the air. But before you can say more, he disappears once again. This has been the pattern for a week, the longest and most trying week of your life.

What began as a minor disagreement now feels like an insurmountable chasm between you two. Never before had an argument lasted so long. Your beloved simply did not care to hold on to grudges for long.

Sighing, you lifted the tray, contemplating an excuse that wouldn't draw the pitying gazes of the kitchen staff.

"How do you coax a sulking elf?" Erestor looks up from his book. You had never really conversed much with him before this. There was never a reason to. "Specifically a thousands of years old being whose been born twice and is quite a legend."

Much to your surprise, Erestor does not find your humor hilarious. Leave for slight amusement in his eyes there is little appreciation for your jest.

"I would rather you not discuss this with me," the stern looking elf replies as he simply turns back to his tomes. Yikes! Awkwardly swinging your arms you try to plan for a slightly less awkward exit. "Ah yes," picking up the closest book you plan for your emergency exit from the unforgiving company, "I would like to get this book."

With another scathing look directed your way, Erestor meticulously wrapped your borrowed book in a fancy-looking cloth. "Keep it away from any water, heat, or dirt. Any damage is unacceptable," he instructed curtly.

You solemnly nodded, understanding the gravity of his instructions. "Sounds good," you responded with a casual tone, but Erestor's raised eyebrow reminded you that casualness wasn't his forte.

As you turned to leave, you almost collided with the bookshelf, which seemed to have crept up on you. "Oof," you muttered, swaying your way out of the room.

Then, Erestor's voice halted your steps. "Try Asfaloth," he suggested.

With a wide grin, you turned around and threw a jolly salute to Erestor, who had already returned to his books as if nothing had changed.

Armed with Erestor's invaluable intel, you ventured to the stables. Before arriving there, you made sure to thoroughly search your quarters, Glorfindel's rooms, and other frequently visited areas of the dwelling. Finally, you descended to the stables, where your beloved's horse awaited.

"Asfaloth, my boy, how I've missed you!" Your heartfelt enthusiasm was met with an equally excited neigh from the elegant white stallion. Despite towering over you, Asfaloth possessed a temperament that invited nurturing from anyone.

Performing a playful dance with light stomps to celebrate your arrival was entirely unnecessary but undeniably enjoyable. Or perhaps it was the not-so-well-concealed carrots you held in your hands that fueled your jubilant display. "Have you seen him?" you posed a question to the horse, though you knew full well that, despite elven claims, horses did not possess the gift of speech.

Approaching the gentle giant that was Asfaloth, you deftly ensured that he didn't gobble the carrots too quickly. "Patience," you murmured, adjusting the treats to prevent any mishaps. Abandoning the idea of petting the eager horse, you directed all your focus toward preventing a choking incident. You were acutely aware that Glorfindel would never forgive you if Asfaloth were to asphyxiate on your offerings.

"Where is he, Asfaloth?" Your fingers continued to caress the munching horse as you briefly entertained the idea that, just maybe, the elves were right, and Asfaloth understood you.

No fancy braiding or delicate floral decorations adorned his mane this time. "Why is he avoiding you? What have you done?" you pondered aloud, earning a pitiful whine from your equine companion. "I know, incredibly rude, I must say," you commented, deciding against attempting to braid Asfaloth's mane for the sake of both the world's sanity and your own. Instead, you settled on a comfortable pile of hay, hoping you weren't sitting on Asfaloth's dinner from the previous night.

"I brought him flowers, snacks, I even endured the drudgery of laundry, and I despise laundry. I got him books, a random flute, baked him a cake, and even learned a new card trick. But not a single reaction!" You confided in Asfaloth, desperately hoping for some form of understanding and equally enthusiastic compassion. To your relief, Asfaloth seemed to offer a sympathetic snort at just the right moment.

"You wouldn't believe it, but I even dared to venture into Erestor's little cave for intel. I'm at my wit's end, my friend," you sighed, realizing that the hay pile was indeed quite comfortable.

"I mean, I could try going to the nearest town for something, but I doubt I'd find anything better than these snobbish elves. Besides, those townsfolk charge outrageous prices," you continued, and Asfaloth leaned in, sniffing your satchel in hopes of more treats. Allowing the horse to continue his investigation, you didn't stop him. "I might dip into some of those savings. Perhaps Glorfindel would appreciate some rustic tools, eh?" Tired of Asfaloth's curiosity, you playfully tossed your empty satchel into the corner, which, for some inexplicable reason, Asfaloth chased like an adorable hound.

Tucked away in Asfaloth's cozy abode, you couldn't recall when your consciousness had faded into that blissful six-hour nap – the kind you cherished above all others. In the realm of bizarre dreams, you found yourself pinned to a pile of hay, unable to relinquish the unconventional comfort. Maybe Erestor had been onto something when he recommended Asfaloth.

However, your tranquil slumber was abruptly shattered as a metaphorical tsunami wreaked havoc on your sleeping form. Gasping, you struggled to make sense of the blurry world that seemed to whirl too rapidly for your groggy vision to follow.

"Y/n, oh Eru, you're awake!" A voice echoed through your sleep-addled and hazy thoughts.

Grasping the strong arms that held you close, you attempted to piece together the disaster that had overtaken you. "Wha-" your words faltered as you laid eyes on the tearful and sniffling elf standing before you. It was your first time witnessing such an emotional display, and you couldn't quite believe that elves were capable of producing snot.

Shaking off your mental fog, you slowly realized the peculiar predicament you were in. You were seated on a pile of hay, within the stable, beneath Asfaloth's unflinching gaze, and enfolded tightly in the embrace of the Balrog-slayer himself.

"I-I thought you left. You left like you said," Glorfindel stammered, your hands gently cupped your hiccupping beloved's face as his words tumbled out faster than you could process. "I couldn't find you… I had to… I rushed here, and then, you were… your eyes closed like that." Using your sleeves, you wiped away the relentless tears (and yes, even the snot) that streamed down his face as you sought a way to soothe Glorfindel's overwhelming emotions.

You couldn't help but internally curse yourself for your rambling that had led to this emotional upheaval. Days ago, beneath the relentless blanket of snow and impenetrable clouds, your thoughts had wandered without restraint.

"It happens, Glorfindel," you offered in an attempt to console him, "weariness of the world is unavoidable, even more so for Men. A slight change in weather can trigger it. After all, we are bound to some place beyond this." Your words seemed to offer little solace, evident from your beloved's reddening face.

"It is only natural to ponder death or the end. We Men are born with this burden, so it's not unnatural for such thoughts to sneak in. We call it 'existentialism.' But those ramblings mean nothing right now. I would not leave you, vanish into thin air, or transform into an insect just because the snow wouldn't relent." Your words carried a hint of playfulness, but there was undeniable truth in them. You would depart one day, for a fate separate from his. Before that day came, you both would endure the passage of time, a force that dared not mar the Balrog-slayer.

You harbored thoughts about evading him before he witnessed such a sight, but you knew you had some time left. A few years before you would spend eons waiting for another reunion.

But you chose not to speak of those deeper truths.

"But," you interjected, and Glorfindel perked up at the unexpected word. "I would tell everyone about this if you don't stop being an absolute grump." Just like that, the tension surrounding you both dissipated. "Imagine, 'Balrog Slayer, The Balrog Slayer,' in the stables – hmph!" Your words were cut off as Glorfindel playfully covered your face with his hand.

Even with reddened eyes and a rosy nose, your beloved looked every bit his old self. All traces of your angst and his sorrow dissipated into the slightly stinky breath of Asfaloth.

#the silmarillion #tolkien elves #silmarillion x reader #romance #fluff #glorfindel x reader #glorfindel imagine #glorfindel #human reader #asfaloth #Asfaloth is a cutie

[nokiatelava]

✿✿After The Storm✿✿

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

Author’s Note!- This is my first time writing a story and even think about posting it! Please understand that it might not be the best as I am still trying! (the warnings probably don’t even make sense)

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

Summary- The past few months of your life have been at the lowest they’ve ever been. Feeling lost, with the thought no one was really there for you drove you mad, causing you to distance yourself from your family. The ones you love. But they came to your rescue to comfort you through your hardships.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

Warnings- mentions of depression, mentions of anxiety, mentions of wanting to self-inflict pain, begging (for her life), nightmares, wannabe angst, comfort (my heart is to sensitive)

‧⋆ ✧˚₊‧⋆. ✧˚₊‧⋆‧❁❁❁❁‧⋆ ✧˚₊‧⋆. ✧˚₊‧⋆‧

You don’t know why you feel like this. The feeling it’s, it’s hard to describe. You’re here, you feel yourself here, you know you are here.

But you feel so far away… You feel, numb and lost.

All you felt was confusion, never knowing where anything was, what was going on. You were a mess 24/7. It made you feel useless. You were never used to feeling so gone. Having these feelings caused thoughts that made you feel worse. More insecure.

These thoughts were getting in the way of your life. How could you feel so useless although you had things to do? You had people to take care of, your family.

You had a place in your family, in the clan. You had a role, so how did you still feel so useless? You were losing your focus during the day. Your nights were shortening day by day. The thoughts would seep into your brain, picking at the deepest parts of your memories.

The few minutes of sleep you had were filled with terror. The things you saw, the scenes that played out. Memories from war, exaggerated to points of alternate endings, pain, family, it was always slipping in your ‘dreams’. The subjects left you with your eyes wide open at night. Looking, watching, protecting your family at hours where your family was supposed to relax and let the stress of the days fade away.

Though for you it felt as if the stress was increasing. You watched them, looking at their sleeping peaceful faces for hours, recognizing their breathing patterns as ‘safety precautions’. An excuse you used to reassure yourself as not being creepy.

You were the oldest. The oldest sister. The first child. The first baby. You were born to protect.

Deep in your mind you knew you only watched them because you wanted them to be safe. Sleeping makes you vulnerable, you have to be aware of your surroundings at all times.

Hm. Those words sound so… familiar.

“Don’t be vulnerable, at all. Keep your eyes open, and be aware of your surroundings at all times.”

And there you were. Y/n Sully, at the ripe age of 14, sitting in a war meeting listening to your fathers plan and motivational speech right before a raid.

It was terrifying. Hearing all these big words, half you didn’t understand, half you knew you could not pronounce after hearing it once even if you tried.

It made you nervous, the scenarios your father was describing were all gruesome, supposed outcomes that would happen if something were to go wrong.

Your father, Jake Sully, was talking at a pace that was hard to catch up with, the words flowing out his mouth so simply it confused you.

Now it was hitting you, your body started to feel all hot and bothered, squirming lightly in your seat to make it look as if you were only adjusting yourself comfortably on the thick wooden chair.

You squinted your eyes, staring deeply at your fathers mouth to see if any of the words would somehow start to flow together correctly.

But they didn’t. They never did.

Your vision started to double now, your ears muffling out as a ringing started to settle in your ears. All you could see was your fathers mouth just moving, and moving, and moving.

A small gasp rang in the air of the hut. It was quiet, the only sounds being a few small snores and shuffling from limb twitches every few seconds.

Your eyes were now open, once again. Your eyes could now only look around at the ceiling of your hut. Your ears twitching to every sound that was produced.

That dream… It was somewhat normal tonight? Although it did get you a bit nervous and quite overstimulated, you thought more about it. That happened 3 years ago. 3 years ago you were only 14, just 14 but already experiencing the world of war, and of danger.

Now you were 17. What a big number..

14 and 17, they sound so different it looks like such a big gap, but they’re not. Just three years ago being 14 you would still be counted as a baby not a teenager.

But now since you are to say you are 17, people see you as an adult, someone who is of age and needs adult duties. Oh how you wished to 14 or younger again.

To relish in the way people still treated you like a child and called you baby.

A loud snore is heard to your left, you are suddenly out of this type of trance. And realize you sat up, ignoring that, you turn your head to look to your left.

Just to see nobody but the All Mighty Lo’ak, spread eagle with his mouth wide open. Light gurgles, groans and snores are all that is heard from his open mouth.

You smile warmly at your youngest brothers antics, remembering what it was like to sleep so long at night.

Now your eyes burn, irritated, red and itchy all day long from your lack of sleep. Moving your eyes to look around caused your sockets to ache.

Thin, bright red veins crawl around your sclera. You thought at one point your thick lashes covered them up fine when all of this started happening.

But your inflamed eyes stood out like sore thumbs. You gained deep, dark circles right below your eyes that didn’t help you with your lashes “cover up”.

The people around you, your family, all noticed. Of course they did, how could they not? They see you everyday, they see your face everyday. So it was only a matter of time wasn’t it?

When all of, this, first started with you, everyone was worried. Your silence.. Was almost sickening. They weren’t used to it, you being so quiet, when most of the time they would all be able to hear your voice in the background.

Whether you were talking to someone in the hut, or yourself, which they found so normal. But when you stopped talking to them and yourself..

All they could feel was stress settle into their bones, the stress caused anxiety filled thoughts to meddle into their heads about you.

The constant ‘are you okay’s?’, being asked so much more frequently than before started to annoy you.

You loved your family. You loved them so, so much. But when they would ask you that same question over and over and over again it made you feel… nervous?

It always felt like as if you couldn’t speak. Your tongue feels 10 tons of lead as you open your mouth to speak. Your throat feels as if there was needles poking in your esophagus anytime you took a breathe to start speaking.

Your body felt like it was eating away at its self from the inside to out. It felt like a void, a black hole was setting in your body and was slowly starting to expand before it would eventually, swallow you whole.

There was another shuffle from the bed rolls placed in the hut. It sounded closer and much more, eager?

Y/n’s head turned to her right quickly, seeing her fathers silhouette start to sit up. Her eyes widened as she quickly laid herself down, closing her burning eyes and slowing her breathing.

She’s gotten away with this before, she’s the best pretend sleeper there is. She heard her father groan as he stretched and yawned, and that’s when it hit her.

The sounds of the birds and different animals chirping out sounded in the distance. Y/n’s eyes widened once more.

‘Just how long had she been awake?’

She closed her eyes, hoping for some type of miracle of sleep to take her into slumber. But of course, it never happened.

She heard the process of her father getting up, then, he gently shook her mother awake. Both of them exchanging a morning kiss that was very audible.

‘Gross.’

That’s the last thing she wanted to hear. We’ll sort of, it could have been worse.

But, in a reformed order, she waited for the dawn chorus to get more of a melody before she “woke up”, which was when she always woke up in the morning.

As the creatures sang and chirped louder, Y/n shuffled on her sleeping mat, rising slowly while rubbing her eyes and yawning. Jake and Neytiri smiled towards her.

“Good morning babygirl.” Jake said as he rose out of his mat stiffly, waddling towards Y/n to give her a kiss on her forehead.

“G’morning dad.” Y/n was able to force a raspy voice to submerge herself more into the act that she “just woke up”. “Good morning ma’ite” Neytiri’s sultry voice spoke towards Y/n.

Y/n looked towards her mother, “Good morning mama.” Y/n said with a small smile. Her parents soft words made her feel like a little kid again, remembering when they lived high in the trees deep into the forest of Pandora. Small tears brewed in the corner of her eyes before she blinked them away.

“Today, is not a busy day. You and everyone else, including me and your father don’t have much to do. Call it and ‘off day’ if you will.” Y/n’s ears perked up. Off day? No plans or revisions? No raiding or hunting?

“Oh… We’ll that’s nice. I might go into the forest later. Forage some herbs for grandmother, and grab fruit for us?” Y/n looked towards her parents, a questioning look on her face as she non-verbally asked for permission.

“That’ll be fine ma’ite. Very much appreciated from us and your grandmother.” Neytiri spoke, Jake was still tired, his eyes narrowed in exhaustion as he sat on their mat slouched. The small rolls on his stomach bunching as his pudge was poked out.

Y/n always thought her fathers stomach looked funny but cute, besides a baby’s stomach of course. Although his and a baby’s could be close in comparison.

As the morning stretched on, all of her siblings began to awake as the sun went higher in the sky. Neytiri was now making breakfast, some fruits that were freshly picked, by you.

You all sat at the table, legs crossed as you ate the slices of fruit off the large banana leaves, which were also picked by you.

You were quite the forager, and warrior which always shocked people. They always wonder how you balance training non-stop, but forage herbs and pick fruits.

Breakfast was as it usually is. Your siblings somehow managing to bicker as they stuffed their faces of the sweet fruit.

“Lo’ak! Can you just shut up!” Kiri yelled as she finished swallowing a piece of her fruit.

“You want me to shut up!? How about you!? You’re so annoying!” Lo’ak’s words were muffled as he tried to keep the piece of fruit in his mouth.

“Hey! Both of you. Knock it off.” Your father’s authoritative voice quickly cut off any type of rebuttal Kiri planned on making.

“And Lo’ak, you know you talk with no food in your mouth. Especially at a table!” Tuk spoke to Lo’ak with a giggle in her voice.

“Yeah I know…” Lo’ak mumbled.

While all that happened you thought of what you were going to do today. Since it was an “off day” you thought it might be a good time to finally talk to the person you’ve been begging to see.

Eywa, The All Great Mother.

She would help you. You knew this. She helps everyone, you’ve been meaning to talk to her for a while.

You chewed on your cheek nervously as you thought of when it would be a good time to leave, and what to say once you get to the Tree of Souls.

“Y/n?” A small voice faded into your ears as you were snapped out of your trance. “Hm?” You responded quickly as you looked down to your left.

Tuk was looking up at you, a hopeful look in her eyes as she stared at you.

“What do you plan on doing today? Can you hang out with us? Please!” She wrapped her arms around your forearm as she clung to you. You smiled down at her as you put a hand on her head.

“I’ll hang out with you guys, I just have something to do before I can.” You responded calmly as you stroked Tuk’s head.

“Do you have toooo?…” Tuk whined out as she pushed her face against your arm. “I would call it important. Maybe it has something to do with you… I don’t know though.” You shrugged as you made a questioning tone.

Tuk’s head shot up to look into your face. “Something for me? Do it! You can go do it!” She shook your arm as she grew excited.

One thing about Tuk, she loved gifts. Or any type of surprise that she could keep. So you made sure to remember to bring something back for Tuk.

“Well… I should be heading out now then, no?” You looked towards your parents for permission. When they nodded, you did too before rising to your feet, your body bent sideways as Tuk still had herself wrapped against your arm.

“Hurry back okay? Please! I want to play with you!” With a begrudging look on her face, Tuk slowly let go of your arm.

“I won’t be gone for long Tuk, I promise!” You raised your hands in surrender as you started to walk out the hut.

“Bye guys, behave for mom and dad while I’m gone!” You turned back as you waved. Hearing small and quick “byes” and “we will” before you sent yourself off into the forest.

Once you were on the grounds of the forest, you walked through the thick trees that outlined the clearing to the Tree of Souls.

Your body became fidgety as you got closer. Swallowing thickly as a lump started to form in your throat.

The tall stature of the tree intimidated you. The light pink tendrils swaying with the small breeze that passed by sent almost a comforting blanket of air as you became less nervous growing closer to the tree.

As you approached the trunk of the tree, kneeling down you grabbed your queue from the back of your head before you reached out gently grabbing a small bundle of the tree’s tendrils.

You took a deep breathe before you connected yourself to the tree, making tsaheylu.

A bright light enveloped your vision as you closed your eyes, a warmth washed over your body as you ‘seen’ the silhouette of what seemed to be a young Na’vi woman.

“Y/n, my dear child.. Why do you come to me?” The light yellow silhouette was now closer in front of you. Resting what felt like a warm motherly hand on your cheek.

“Great Mother… I-I am here to ask you a few things… I do not question your will, or the fate you decide. But I am wondering, why do I feel like this? Why does my body hurt all the time? Why can’t I just function normally with my family?”

Tears started to spill down your cheeks as you shot the questions out desperately like wildfire. You just wanted an answer. You feel as if you are not worth anything anymore.

“Oh Y/n.. Let it out, child. Cry and ask all the questions you want.” The woman that was speaking to you had to be Eywa. She was so warm as she held you close to her, her voice smooth with a soft tone.

“Great Mother help me please! I feel so gone, I have thought of hurting my own self just to know that I am real.. I don’t want to feel like this anymore… Please help me, I’ll do anything..” Your voice was soft as you begged quietly. Leaning into the hand on your face and warm body that stood in front of you.

“Do not fret child.. You will be saved, you are loved. Do not ever forget that. Everyone, is here for you.” Her soft hands caressed both of your cheeks as she leaned forward.

You were only able to get a glance of the features on her illuminated face. And oh, was she beautiful. It was the most divine thing you’ve ever seen.

A small smile broke out onto your face at her soft affirmations, nodding slightly in appreciation of her kind words.

“Thank you Great Mother.” You could see the white of her teeth as a smile appeared on her face.

She pulled you in closely to give you a hug. And it was the best one ever yet. The feeling of security, and happiness welded into your heart and spread through your body.

The feeling was nostalgic as it was the same feeling you always had when you were a young girl. Living in the trees of the forest with your parents and younger siblings.

“You’re welcome, my child…”

After that, the bright light appeared again before quickly fading out into black before you opened your eyes.

Your face was wet with tears and you panted at the greatest spiritual experience you’ve ever felt.

“Oh Great Mother…” You said once more before disconnecting your queue from the tree. Your body felt eccentric, a calm but brewing excitement was in your stomach.

You stood and began to turn away from the tree, walking back into the ones that outlined the clearing.

As you continued to walk back, you remembered. Something for Tuk, the herbs for grandmother, and fruit you wanted to pick.

You shut your eyes as you remembered you still had quite the stuff to do. Deciding to just try and get over it quickly, you did them in order.

In the end, you ended up with eight flower crowns, herbs you remember your grandmother needed to restock on, and fruits that were ripe enough for you and your family.

Now not just Tuk was getting a flower crown, but everybody was.

Once you were back to High Camp, your hands and arms full as you walked to your grandmother’s tent.

Once you were at the entrance to the tent, you spoke quietly, “grandmother? Are you in here?” Peeking in slightly, you saw your grandmother in the corner of the tent, rummaging through the drawers she left her herbs in.

She turned to look at you, a smile growing on her face. “Yes, yes I am here paskalin, come.” She waved her hand in a motion that told you to enter the tent. And you did.

“I was in the forest, and I decided I would grab some herbs I remembered you needing. Oh, and I made you this too.” You explained before showing her the flower crown you made for her.

“Oh yawntutsyìp, it’s beautiful, and thank you so much for the herbs. Come here.” She stood as she went forward and embraced you. You were completely joyed with the second hug you received today.

“It’s alright grandma. No need to thank me, it’s what I have to do, and what I should do.” She smiled as she kissed the top of your head.

“We all don’t deserve you, you are the sweetest girl I’ve met.” Your grandmother pulled your face back ash she decided to pepper it with kisses, like when you were a baby.

“Grandmother! Don’t do that! I’m not a baby no more and that tickles now!” You held onto her forearms as you tried to lower our her grasp, but she laughed and left a few more before she let you go.

“Okay, okay. But I do not promise that I won’t do it again.” She pointed at you with a smile. You gave her one back before you gathered all your other belongs and left. Now heading to your hut.

As you were at the entrance, you heard light conversations, your ears twitching forward as you heard the familiar six voices.

When you walked in, it felt as if all eyes snapped to you, a small silence adorning the hut before you spoke quietly, shuffling farther into your home.

“Hi guys..” It wasn’t long before Tuk shot up from the ground, her tail wagging as she ran to you.

“Y/n! You’re back! Did you do what you needed to do?” There was an eager look in her eyes as she looked at you, being expectant that you may have gotten something for her.

“I did. And here’s this.” You spoke with a smile as you placed the flower crown on her head. She jumped up and down in excitement before taking it off to look at all the flowers and their pretty colors before putting it back on her head.

“Thank you Y/n, thank you! I love it so much!” Tuk smushed her face against your stomach and wrapped her arms around your legs. Smiling more now, you rubbed her head and her back in soothing way before she let go of your legs.

Once she let you go you walked over to all your othe family members who were still gathered calmly at the table.

“And this is for you guys.” You felt shy as you passed around the flower crowns to your family at the table, a small purple blush settling on your cheeks as your skin felt warm.

“This is so pretty Y/n, thank you!” Kiri spoke as she placed hers on her head.

Lo’ak spoke next, “thank you sis, it’s really pretty.” When you looked over at him he already had it on his head, a bigger smile broke out onto your face.

“It is lovely ma’ite, thank you.” Your mother was next, then your father. “It’s beautiful babygirl, thank you.”

“Thank you a lot big sis, I really like it.” Neteyam was last but not least, you backed up as you looked at your family, happy as they all collectively wore what you made them.

“You’re Welcome guys.. You don’t have to thank me, it’s the least I could do.” You shuffled with the last flower crown in your hands.

“Least? You’re always doing the best for us, I mean I’m pretty sure nobody has a better older sister than us. Like come on, your the coolest.” Lo’ak raised his hands as he complimented you. Your family around all nodding and talking in agreement.

“Y/n, did you make one for yourself too?” Tuk asked as she looked at you.

“Well I made an extra one just in case someone lost theirs but I wasn’t planning one for me, no.” You answered question honestly, you never wear the trinkets you make unless someone forces you to because you never want to.

“Y/n. Put that flower crown on now.” Tuk put her hand on her hip as she gave you her sassiest tone. Your eyes widened at her sudden change in behavior before laughing and putting the crown on your head.

“You look beautiful syulang, the colors look perfect on you.” Your dad’s sudden compliment threw you off a bit, but not to much, he’s always saying something nice.

“Thank you dad.” You said with a light smile.

Tuk perked up as she remembered you were all supposed to go out into the forest, and she was going to make you go regardless of what you say.

“Okay, so can we all go now to the forest? Y/n your going,” she wasn’t asking you either, more so demanding that you go with all your siblings.

“Fine, fine! I was planning on going anyway Tuk, relax!” And that’s exactly what she did, sort of.

“Okay then come on come on let’s go!” You and the rest of your siblings all shuffled up to follow along after Tuk, going to make your way to the forest below.

Once all of you were on the forest floor, conversations erupted between everybody. You were brought into most if not all the small debates and bickers your siblings would have.

Tuk, not entertaining the incessant topics, hopped around as she interacted with all the different plants in the forest, giggling non-stop at all the plants reactions, or movements to her touch and presence.

You kept your eye on Tuk, just to make sure she wouldn’t drift off or touch the wrong thing. She was still so young anything could happen in the blink of an eye.

Which was bound to happen as you seen Tuk approach a txumtsä’wll, a poison-squirting plant. A very dangerous plant, labeled as one of the most dangerous if you don’t pay attention to how close you are to it.

“Tuk! Don’t touch that!” The panic in your body set and rose as Tuk’s hands and face were only mere inches away from the plant, she looked over at you in confusion as you quickly made your way towards her, pulling her quickly by her wrist away from it.

You ran quickly, a bit farther from where your siblings stood, a txumtsä’wll is such a huge plant, you don’t know how you didn’t notice it before.

Just then as your sibling jogged closer to you, a bit scared at your reaction towards the plant, the poison shot out. Hitting a tree that was right across from it. The poison deteriorated the tree, burning through the bark and sinking deeper into it.

Tuk stood in absolute terror as she saw what happened to the tree. Pandora is a dangerous place, though it is home to the beautifulest of plants and people, it has its parts and aspects that are the exact opposite. Killer plants and na’vi exiles that traverse the planet puts dread in your heart, making it feel more heavy.

You looked down at Tuk, turning her away from the mutilated tree, rubbing her hands subconsciously as if you were scrubbing them.

“Tuk, Tuk you didn’t touch it did you? You didn’t touch it right?” Your voice was strained as you hope to hear her say no.

“No… No i didn’t touch it…” Her voice was quiet, but you kneeled answer hugged her as a way to comfort her nerves as well as yours. You let out a breathe you didn’t know you were holding as soon as she wrapped her arms back around you too.

You picked Tuk up, holding her head against the crook of your neck and continuing to walk. The rest of your siblings decided to ignore what happened and continue to chitter as you walked.

That was before Lo’ak decided to look into the sky and notice how eclipse was more than closely about to settle in.

“Shit-“

“Language.”

“Eclipse!”

You all paused in your walking all throwing your heads back to look up and see how eclipse was gonna happen.

“Oh shit, shit shit shit! Come on!” You rambled as you turned back the other way and technically started running back home.

“Just how long have we been out here?” Kiri asked as you all still ran, Tuk still in your arms. “I thought we were hitting an hour soon not two or three!” You said as you panted, it would be better to call your ikran now and just fly home.

“We should call for our ikran, we’ll get home quicker and have more breathing space from curfew.” You said as you stopped, panting as you turned towards your siblings.

They nodded and immediately started calling for their ikran, and you did the same. Soon, you heard the familiar screeches of the precious beasts. Once they were on the ground you all settled onto your respective ikran, Tuk sitting in front of you, before you all set off, flying home.

You were all able to successfully reach home, just in time for curfew.

The five of you rushed into your hut, chests heaving as some of you bent down, slumped as you took in the much needed air.

Your parents’ attention turned towards all of you immediately, ears and eyes observing.

“What happened? Are you all okay?” Your father was the first to speak. Standing and walking over to you all, he grasped your shoulders first, his eyes held heavy with worry.

“Y/n.. what happened?” You panted a bit more before stuttering out your answer,

“W-we just wanted to make it h-home on time *huff* within curfew.” Your father visibly relaxed, a small smile coming on his face as he let out a light chuckle, your mother fanned the food with a smile on her face also.

“We’ll you all made it back just on time, come, sit. It is time to eat.” Lo’ak almost threw himself on the table, settling in his spot around the table.

“Jesus Lo’ak how greedy can you be? You almost destroyed the whole table!” Kiri exclaimed, annoyed by her brothers gluttonous actions.

“Shut up Kiri! Gosh! Can’t do anything without you bellyaching like a baby!” Lo’ak quickly responded back with his own comments.

“Well maybe I wouldn’t be bellyaching like a baby if you didn’t act like one either! You act like you’re five! Grow the he-!” “Kiri..” You gently placed your hand against her shoulder, smiling playfully.

“Calm down, let’s not fight and just enjoy dinner okay? You’re fine.” You turned your head towards Lo’ak, who was sitting with his arms crossed against his chest as he held a childish pout on his face.

“Lo’ak, you’re fine too, we know you’re hungry, eat.”

“He’s always hungry-“

“Kiri!” You squeezed her shoulder a bit tighter before you ended up ushering all your siblings to just sit and eat.

Dinner passed by slowly, which you were grateful for. Today, it felt like you had a new chance at life once more. You talked all throughout dinner, conversing with your parents and siblings about your day out. You all laughed as you brought up all the weird looking plants and funny acting animals you seen while adventuring.

Once dinner was finished, your body felt warm and full with the food that was held within your stomach, a hazy feeling in your head that felt to similarly to the feeling of nostalgia.

A small smile was etched onto your face as you helped clean up the table, though against your mother’s own protests.

Now it was time for all of you to go to sleep, you would be lying if you said you weren’t nervous. Only feeling as if you would be granted the blessing of sleep if you hoped and prayed.

You were now all settled into your sleeping mats, shuffling to get comfortable and saying goodnight, everyone began to close their eyes as the activities of the day finally made their bodies feel spent.

You were on your side, your front facing towards where your parents slept, you smiled as you seen the way your mother’s back was pressed against your father’s chest, his arm draped across her as they laid close together.

That was the only thing you looked forward to once you became older. Finding yourself the true love you’ve always wanted, a relationship healthy and full of love. Like your parents.

You adjusted your body to where you were now on your back, staring up to the ceiling of the hut, a warm blush enveloping your face as you thought of yourself having kids.

You calmed your mind so you wouldn’t get excited and chase your sleep away, your eyelids felt heavy, a good heavy as you felt the long-awaited feeling of sleep finally catch up to you.

Your eyes shut as you felt yourself fall into the world of your own slumber, alas, having the best dream of your life.

Author’s Note - Hi again! If you made it this far all i want to say is thank you for even reading! I don’t like this all that much but i feel so proud of myself for even finishing it and not just deleting it! But once again if you even read all of this, thank you so much 🤍!

#jake sully #neytiri sully #y/n sully #neteyam sully #lo’ak sully #kiri sully #tuk sully #avatar 2 #sully family #sully family x reader #sully family x sister!reader #jake sully x daughter!reader #neytiri sully x daughter!reader #avatar: way of water

[jimmy-dipthong]

Really good anime translation: コタローは一人暮らし

I complained in a post a while ago about how I mostly think english translations of anime aren’t very good, and @japanwords asked me if there were any anime I know of that have good translations. I don’t actually watch that much anime so I didn’t have a good answer, but recently I found one that really fit the bill: 『コタローは一人暮らし』or “Kotaro lives alone”

For those who haven’t seen it, it’s a show about a 5 year old kid who lives alone without any parents or guardians, and makes friends with his neighbours in the apartment complex (a lazy manga artist, a woman who’s a hostess at a local nightclub, and a scary yakuza who finds Kotaro unbelievably cute). These friends end up helping Kotaro when he needs someone to act as a guardian, such as when he enrols at the local kindergarten.

The other thing you have to know about Kotaro is he speaks like a Japanese feudal lord.

This really is the crux of what makes the translation so good, because how the hell do you translate that?! The way they chose to do it is by using archaic english phrases. He kinda speaks like a Victorian era gentleman, and he sometimes even verges on sounding like a stereotypical medieval knight. This works perfectly, because Kotaro is actually imitating a character from his favourite cartoon: a samurai hero/feudal lord. Let’s look at some examples:

「放すである」 "Unhand me!"

A simple example to start with, I thought it might be interesting to compare how a 5 year old might actually say this, and how I would translate that:

「放してー！😭"」 "Let goooo! 😭"

Even though the japanese uses the same verb (放す), the english translation is completely different. The choice here to make it “unhand me” (much more evocative of a time period) instead of just “let go of me” (simply a longer way of saying it) is a perfect example of the care this anime puts into its translation.

狩野：「美月さん、アイス食べます？…… あれ？」 “Hey, Mizuki. Would you like an ice cream cone? …… Hello?” 美月：「アイスをもらうけど私、狩野くん誘ってないんだよなぁ」 “While I appreciate the ice cream, you know you weren’t actually invited, Karino.” コタロー：「お邪魔である」 “Interloper.”

邪魔 is a notoriously difficult word to translate, and the natural-sounding corresponding english phrase will vary quite wildly depending on the situation. In non-feudal lord speech, it usually gets translated to something like “you’re getting in my way” or “get out of here” or even “you’re a burden” (my least favourite).

Here, it’s creatively translated as “interloper”! A great way of sneaking in some archaic english while deftly handling a classically difficult-to-translate word.

コタロー：「わらわは写真が大の苦手なのだ」 “I am ill-disposed to having my picture taken!”

Here we have a slightly longer sentence which shows us a bit more of Kotaro’s unusual speech pattern. He uses the archaic first-person pronoun わらわ（妾）and often ends his sentences in なのだ. なのだ is not a particularly odd grammar structure to use, but it is unusual to use it unabbreviated (i.e. not shortening it to なんだ and/or adding よ to the end) especially when using it in speech rather than in writing. Not abbreviating it (as would be expected in a formal situation), but immediately contrasting that formality with the informal だ rather than です causes the speech to sound archaic without actually using any archaic vocabulary.

Now, if this show only translated the old-timey speech pattern well, I’d still call it a good translation. But the attention to detail and focus on natural sounding language extends to the other characters too!

Let’s take a look at an example of Karino’s speech. This is from ep 3; we already know a fair bit about who he is - a manga artist who doesn’t leave the house much (mostly works from home), usually wears comfortable clothes around, leaves things til the last minute and is generally a pretty lazy guy. I say this because the following translation doesn’t “work” (that is, the english and japanese wouldn’t mean the same thing) if it was spoken by a different kind of character.

phone rings 狩野：「担当さんかー」 “Oh great, it’s my editor” 狩野：「お疲れ様です、狩野です。… はい … 今日原稿を？はい、わかりました。じゃあ、後で」 “Hello, this is Karino. How may I help you? … Yes … Wait. Now, now? … Uh-huh, yes. Okay, thank you, I’ll be there soon.” コタロー：「どこか行くのか？」 “Do you need to go somewhere?” 狩野：「仕事。出版社に行く。今回もダメ出しされんのかな？」 “Yeah, I gotta go to work. There goes my day. … I’m sure he’ll just rip it apart like he always does.” 狩野：「あの人結構グサグサ刺さる事言うんだよなぁ」 “The way he criticises, it’s actually pretty hurtful.”

I really like this translation, it feels very clever and results in very natural sounding english. I said this wouldn’t work for a different character, but I think even for the same character, this translation wouldn’t work on ep 1 - the audience wouldn’t have the context for the translation to omit the specific words it does and get away with it.

For example, the line 「今日原稿を？」 directly refers to a manga draft, but the draft isn’t directly referred to in the english. But it ends up being ok, because we can infer that he’s handing in some sort of draft for review from a later line (”I’m sure he’ll just rip it apart…”). Also, 「出版社に行く」 directly states that he’s going to the publishing house, but the english simply refers to it as “work”. But we can infer this too - he’s going to see his editor, and since most of his work is drawing and writing, which he does at home, we know that when he says he’s “going to work”, he’s actually going to the publishing offices.

Prioritising the natural sound of the script over the specific details is a bold choice that really pays off, imo. This is some of the most natural english I’ve ever seen in an anime translation. I recommend checking it out if you’re interested!

#langblr #japanese #japanese language #language #translation #learning japanese #essay #jimmy blogthong

[popponn]

things about isagi yoichi

i'm keeping a list about isagi for reasons (mostly personal amusement) (please do feel free to add or correct them). contains possible spoiler for manga up to chapter 230 so far and light novel. will get longer, probably, as time goes on. (update, it gets longer and up to uber match ending as of today.)

considerate. almost like a people pleaser. actual people pleaser at first.

pragmatic. thinks very calmly, even when angry it seems, but his words still sometimes get too much.

think things through, sometimes too much.

is confident, but not unaware of his own weaknesses

start pretty insecure.

seems to be sheepish - happy when someone praise / support / pay a large attention to him (pretty humble) (interview, that one kid in station, his family)

how he acts depends on who he is interacting with

switch to a more polite speech pattern whenever nervous (pretty obvious in japanese text, like in the interview scene after bm vs mc).

seems to be less competent on other things other than soccer

looking at his favorite manga / song / shows (most are medias with children as the main audience in mind), either really loves his childhood or doesn’t pay attention to many things after soccer. seems like the latter.

a really healthy family dynamics. his parents are very supportive of his dream.

loves katsu curry.

is a pretty 'normal' high school guy it seems. tissues near the bed, thigh fetish, read manga. speaks normally.

i really don't get why he has a habit of making sure his ahoges stand up in v before a match but god thats cute.

can be really rude and impatient sometimes

is good with people, but seems to enjoy alone time too. seems to be an introvert.

at least on screen, never really talk about how it was in ichinan with the blue lock guys. either it didn't bother him that much consciously or is the type of person who gets along with everyone but no one really knows the background of in details. (put it simply might be more introverted than he appears to be, especially considering how he usually is with people)

seems to be uncomfortable with new people in his personal space (early bachira + kaiser)

while doesn’t ‘like’ rude people, seems to grow ‘used’ to them and even openly admire them (barou + rin)

does not seems to easily prejudice / be judgmental to someone. is really patient (respect to barou, that one chapter with tada from ichinan, still praises kaiser despite the antagonism between them)

his fashion sense is pretty... this is very subjective as i don't have the word for it yet, but yeah, is either not good or pretty old fashioned. (in anime official arts)

when it comes to soccer often looks angrier expression wise

really egoistic. unsurprisingly.

sometimes is pretty self centered in the way that “this is my fault” sometimes, rather than focusing on someone else. but most of the time his self centeredness comes out as “i want this and i will get this”.

on some moments also seems to focus more on what he is not satisfied with rather than what he is satisfied with. might be caused by the storytelling beats, but if taken into consideration how he always wants to improve, it's not unsurprising.

seems to be more goal / result oriented, but is not dismissive towards the process.

whenever he sees someone better than him or something seems to be ‘impossible’ for him, most of the time his responds are ‘i have to work harder for it’. sometimes there are moments of insecurity, but they are fleeting and always went back to ‘i will overcome this / him’ as a respond.

very!!!! competitive. but it’s blue lock.

both in and outside soccer, seems to be very independent

seems to be more analytical by nature rather than intuitive, especially in learning style. complete opposite of nagi.

often starts noticing things from little things and details first before going and getting the bigger picture. detail oriented person? at least in soccer.

yeah soccer nerd.

if the 0 valentine choco, his reaction to seeing live two women getting played in karaoke, and how he didn't immediately went to girls in bowling alley—yeah. definitely 0 experience with girls.

is not wishy washy. knows what he wants and is not the type to change his preference because of his surroundings. did just act as if his preference is different / just doesn't say a thing or walk away when it isn't, back in ichinan these habits are obvious. in blue lock, he doesn't actively try to make other people uncomfortable and even still accommodate some out of the field, but clearly has become more outspoken in his preference or for his comfort. boy really grew more confident (and i love him for it).

he asks santa for ps4 and other than yeah normal highschool boy behavior idk how to dissect or overanalyze this yet give me a sec or a year.

like treats!!!! seems to be partial to sweets, but he also enjoys sour candies according to egoist bible.

doesn't like being ignored. and it kinda shows.

his beef with kaiser is hilarious—but it make sense because kaiser obviously bring it up even out of field (that locker room scene after yukimiya isagi argument), taunts isagi every chance he got (vs barcha, vs mc), and whatever happened in the match. isagi better than some bluelockers and me fr frfr considering he still did not try to punch kaiser's mug.

which bring the point doesn't seems to enjoy fistfight. either shitty at it or just chose not too. but looking at his trend of being shitty at things that are not soccer and his canonically low stats especially before blue lock. yeah might be shit at fistfight (with also a bit of the latter because how do one not try to sock kaiser in the face after *gestures wildly* all that. footnote, i admit the bias). (karaoke, shidou vs rin duking it out pt.1—my guy was dying and he wasn't the one duking it out)

tidy, but not overly tidy to barou level. but realistically comparing it to stereotypes of high school boys? real tidy. (could be seen in blue lock exhib's display of his u20 arc locker and team white bedroom)

wants lil sis or big sis because of my neighbor totoro. idk how to dissect this either but—yeah not a rare thing for an only kid to say, actually.

seems to be more of a street smart kinda guy.

his tenacity in befriending or at least interacting with rin is admirable. shipping lense or not it really is.

he gets along with almost everyone. shipping lenses or not, also amazing especially for an introvert.

he says the wildest shit on field like uh yeah things he said with yukimiya was said to be cencored a little because in jp someone said he was calling yukimiya something else i don't know to say in english.

but is actually not an absolute asshole in field, saw yukimiya broke down and bro actually took a second to pay attention and moved on. until he got provoked, that is.

actually rarely become the one who approach other people first (kira, bachira).

can really got extreme when in high tension (shoving chigiri off, that 100℅ kill you @ kaiser).

turns out he talks about the thigh stuff bashfully. (it's cute.) but i still wonder why he likes lobster. like i feel like something is there. why is his taste in everything that is not soccer makes me wonder what the fuck is up with him. favorite song? cm jingle. fashion sense? honestly casual, but his sense in pattern and color is genuinely so bad im hurting. this point is so full of personal bias feel free to skip it.

seems to be pretty oblivious to things about not-soccer. especially his surroundings. not to the dense point but seems like it stems more from his focus at soccer. but this trait seems to go hand in hand with his self centered tendencies.

(this is bordering to hc, but) it seems like while is indeed obsessed with soccer, more than "oh he is only good at soccer", is more of a "if he wants it he will find a way to get it". but taking in account how his personality used to be in ichinan / pre blue lock, it's unsurprising that he doesn't want that mamy things. even in soccer that he is passionate about, he didn't back then. there is also the fact that he seems to have tendency to hyperfocus into something (i.e.: while still taking into account of others in soccer, think more of them as 'factors' than 'people'), so it may seems like the reason he got or became good at something is like "oh isagi is lucky / specialized in that", but it seems hard work and dedication really does put a big role into it, unsurprisingly. could reach that level in soccer because he is dedicated into it, tldr.

this part also became quite visible if taking into account he wants to play specifically as a striker. he is focused in this very specific thing he wants, that's why he managed to get it / improve in it.

if i did not miscount, he directly has a conversation with ego twice. and in both he is extremely impolite, calling ego names in one (u20 arc). while the other happened after he lost against rin in 4v4, and seems like he is still not happy with the loss. ans it shows. he is pretty rude when ego talk about luck which he himself noted was a big factor there. (man hold grudge.)

so yeah, seems like rather than "possessed in field" it could also be "possessed in everything related to soccer", though fudther research is to be conducted.

is pretty introverted even in blue lock. while sometimes he shares his insight to other people about his play, sometimes he also did not do this (recently you can see this the most in his interactions with ness). but yeah, this is the thing he shares about the most, something related to playmaking and soccer. but other than that nothing—at least on screen.

his pretty peaceful and uneventful background could be factored into, however ichinan highschool is pretty much his tragic backstort and not a peep about that to even bachira it seems. a possibility is that he is hyperfocused towards soccer. not to say his self centered part that is more of "what can i change about myself for this situation" and "i can't change others' way of thinking".

however seeing how that one meeting tada goes (post u20 break) and he said nothing to correct tada, even though he secretly disagrees—then also his parents who seems pretty oblivious to his soccer performance and how he casually acted about his lost against kira despite crying and screaming on public just before that—yeah, seems like a pretty private person. it's not that he is oblivious or do it out of malice, but mostly seems like he just doesn't comment about it and more of the listening type. and even when someone close ask the right question it seems like he doesn't try to show much expression or how he actually feels.

personal bias but yeah this is no longer """being polite""", this is actually being private to a very concerning degree. like the time he opened up about his worry, and still pretty related with soccer, that is completely visibly vulnerable seems like it was with nagi after 3v3 with rin (and see how that ended up. tho this make the fact that he and nagi became pretty close afterwards in such a short time a bit unsurprising. this two indeed kinda have quite a lot bonding moments outside and inside the field, shipping lens or not). like no wonder this guy snaps in soccer field, it's pent emotions fr.

but if how he is after u20 any indication, it seems like he really is very reserved outside of field that it kind of resembles how he was before blue lock. (who knows after nel arc (still bm vs uber rn when i write this, tho the match seems like ending), because boy seems grumpier there. not blaming him tho, it's battle royale inside that team.)

doing a little skimming but it seems like when talking about something he really never put focus on his feelings. it's either what's going on, others' feelings, or an opinion of his but if there are any feelings most of them stays in monologue and thoughts only.

adding to that nagi note, personally found it funny that he nearly get into same team with nagi TWICE (pre u20 team selection, nel choice where he is conflicted between german or england) but he never followed thru with it. this probably has more to do with nagi's motif & such rather than his, which this post wasn't here for sry nagi, and the fact that both that they are protagonists in the main and spinoff. but yeah, personally? it's funny it happened twice. especially factoring the fact they are close enough to have each other's number and isagi admits he has a nice chemical reaction with nagi.

i genuinely wonder how he interacts with kaiser outside of field. like. dude. i know it's funny.

might also add now that it seems the four people he is closest with is bachira and chigiri. was, with kunigami too but yeah. bachira especially, with the two keep being called two side of a coin/a soul. again, shipping lens or not, they are pretty close and isagi really seems to have come to a point where he is okay with bachira's habits no matter how odd. (personal bias, really sweet considering bachira has no friends before this and isagi while is friend with tada WE KNOW HOW IT ALL TURNS OUT). with chigiri, seems like the type of friends who look out for each other (isagi once shown checking his knee and messaging him, while chigiri is the first one jumping into action when shidou nearly kicked him). then you also add that chigiri only ever, on screen at least, opened up about his past to isagi and honestly yeah. shipping lens or not, these two definitely the looking after each other dynamic. kunigami come back, or at least interact with isagi more pls.

WHICH ALSO, seems like isagi is the only one reo kind of opened up to with his insecurities after the 2nd selection—kunigami and chigiri seems to get it too, but at least it was never shown on screen that he opened up the more vulnerable side of his anger at nagi and isagi to them. these two has a pretty good relationship it seems after that screening room scene. (might revise or at to this when epi nagi reach this part)

but this seems unsurprising in some ways because isagi really seems like the listening type. some people said these type of people is good when it comes to getting people opening up. also seems like isagi really never run his mouth so good choice actually. (look at him even he doesnt open up his own emotion how could he do that with other people's emotion. what is this a sign of pent emotion or just a sign of actual limited emotional intelligence when it came to processing them? who knows. blue lock's highly stressful and intense environment is also a factor here but hey, look at how isagi was in ichinan. might be old habits)

he is scarily cold and detached to his bonds when it came to soccer, it seems? like, he is still capable of sympathy even during the heat of the moment, unless you make him angry (both cases: yukki). but for the sake of his play his priority really is on "this is the play that i want" rather than friendships and stuff. on one side, professionality. on the other, yeah egoist.

outside of field doesn't seem to go out of his way to dig up about someone's backstory in "asking and digging and wanting to talk about feelings with them", but will listen if told. (i.e. chigiri acl convo, reo opening up, casually talking about soccer again after noa ego relationship bomb drop, etc.) seems to be more as 'minding his own business and being not nosy', which is kind of in line with his politeness.

then you bring soccer and his ideal play and it gets really cold. he really think of soccer as 'cruel' and it kind of shows with how little he thinks of outside-of-field-relation during a game. (really shows if you compare how most characters personal story, rin and reo for example, has a huge impact on their play) his brain really has an on and off switch with the niceness.

at some point in blue lock, his closest circle is bachira, chigiri, kunigami (could be canon or could be due to the fact these four are kind of the quadruplet of bllk). he is pretty much the guy most of everyone knows and has at least spoken with once after u20 tho.

but other than those 4, it seems that the one he have more highlighted rivalry are niko, barou, rin, and nagi, with yukimiya coming in later in bm. it's funny how isagi seems pretty attached to them in a pretty friendly manner in some ways. barou and rin is just on another level of "i will kill you" getting answered with "sure, okay, geez" (and it's hilarious. with barou, isagi shared meals, was a roommate, and went bowling together once. with rin, he did yoga, laughed at his death threat, and was pissed because rin was impolite. i can go on but moving on). nagi and isagi canonically get along pretty well out of screen. isagi is roommate with yukimiya—i didn't except this combo back then but i really want to know their interactions in that room, especially during and after their conflict.

then there is hiyori, kurona, and nanase's case whose relationship with him is more on the 'supporting side'. with reo, it seems to also fall into the rivalry category—but this guy's relationship with isagi is kind of more about reo-nagi relationship than with isagi himself. with aiku, it's rivalry between defender and attacker (resembles niko the most but the things these two said to each other is way wilder). then there is kaiser—i will wait til nel arc is done.

there are crumbs with some other charas like sae—but these two didn't interact (yet?) in canon. with noa, it's admiration and respect, to put it simply, but it seems it's leaning more into actual mentorship that is more casual compared to how most of bm is with noa (imo, take this part with a grain of salt). with ego, it's...surprisingly complicated on a meta level from my perspective at least.

isagi clearly agrees and thrives with ego's philosophy, but other than taking ego's words/guidance isagi was rude to him. then there is stuff like some part of their design being similar to each other (v hair, eyes on some panels tho this also happens with other charas, beta isagi sketch) and how during nel ego - isagi similarities get commented by noa and snuffy (tho on snuffy case is more of barou - isagi is like ego - noa, who is who tho we don't know for sure). it feels like there is more on these two for the future.

with his family, it's just sweet. his family is proud and supportive of him. and seeing how isagi is pretty independent as in his attachment style is very secure in blue lock, even with how ichinan basically turned him into a people pleaser, yeah definitely and canonically a good family there. he greets them every morning as part of his morning routine, and he is the only character who mention this in said trivia.

enjoys his alone time, based on his trivia. the introvert part is loud and clear.

he doesn't really get jealous easily. like rather than envy, it's more of frustration directed towards himself or straight up being pissed because said someone played a factor in why he couldn't make a goal. but most of the time, when he sees someone's strength, it came out more as an admiration and "i should do more and stand out more too!!!" rather than comparing himself and feels negativity. this especially never happen to his perception towards his capabilities. the closest thing we ever get to him feeling envy is perhaps the parts where he goes "i don't have weapon like them" when talking about chigiri's speed, kaiser impact, and others' specialities. but even then it never really lingers.

and from that probably also shows that isagi is really good at looking someone's strength or specialities. but this seems to also happen in looking at weaknesses and chances. he really does tries to take into account tendencies, skills, blind spots, etc. honestly thinking about this make sense why he immediately collapsed after vs mc, the information loading must be insane. but all in all, the main point is that he is pretty good at reviewing and observing stuffs indeed.

high achiever with an amazing durability. as said word by word by kaiser himself, this guy look at something way more amazing than himself and keep taking it as a challenge. aka his mental strength is insane—or his competitiveness is just that crazy. no wonder he thrives in blue lock where so many people want to him eat alive.

after thinking for a bit and connecting it with the 'not teaming with nagi during the u20 tryouts', it seems like also the guy who avoids his comfort zone, in area of skills and plays in this case. he seems to actively challenge himself.

seriously the type of guy who do and chase what he wants. egoist indeed.

but thinking about that, it also speaks of his adaptability and flexibility. while the part that definitely carries more tension, seriousness, and definitely didn't take shit came out so much in soccer, the way he interacts with those who are friendly with him is so different with those who are antagonistic with him. though so far, with the exception of kaiser it seems, he at some point ended up in a pretty good relationship with some of those—rin and barou are most telling. the antagonism is back on when they are in seperate team tho, but hey this is blue lock.

his moment of satisfaction is really fast—as in he like cheers for a bit, most of the time, then focus on the next challenge. this could be caused by: 1) blue lock highly competitive and rapidly changing environment; 2) it's just how he is build.

#blue lock #bllk isagi #isagi yoichi #isagi #bllk #bluelock #this is like character study #if character study is literally studying a character who lives rent free in your head for three months and counting #so still #character study #i guess #ehe 👍 #for my own sake im putting this tag #im just rambling at this point but hey

[kybercrystals94]

Teal Paint

Read here on Ao3!

Angstpril 2024 | Day 18 | Prompt 18: Left Behind

Rated: G | Word Count: 1526 | Summary: Memories left behind... | Character Focus: Hunter, Crosshair, Tech, Wrecker, Omega, Echo

*some slight spoilers at the very end for Season 3*

Tech finds a reasonably tame city to spend their brief period of downtime between missions. It took several months, but they’ve finally scraped enough credits together, and today is the day. The streets are crowded with evening traffic, the Batch walking close together to avoid being separated.

“Did you know,” Tech says, informatively, “that facial tattoos are among the most painful, depending on the location on the face?” 

“Thanks, Tech,” Hunter grumbles, “that’s really helpful.” 

“You’re not going to talk us out of it,” Crosshair adds resolutely.

Wrecker nods. “Yeah, we’re gonna do it no matter what you say, Tech!” 

Tech huffs. “On the contrary, I’m quite eager to observe the process. I just believe that being well informed is beneficial when making a life altering decision.” 

“Maker, Tech, getting a tattoo isn’t life altering,” Crosshair says. 

“It’s awesome!” Wrecker declares. “You should get one too, Tech.” 

“I prefer modifications that can be modified,” Tech retorts.

Crosshair leans close to Wrecker, puts his hand up to shield his mouth from Tech, and loudly whispers, “He’s too scared.” 

“That is not true.” 

“Aww, Techie’s scared,” Wrecker crows, throwing an arm around Tech. “I can hold your hand, be brave for the both of us.” 

Tech tries to extract himself from Wrecker’s grip. “I am not scared! I have stated my reasoning clearly and concisely. Fear has nothing to do with it.” 

Hunter rubs his hand across the left side of his face, a fist of apprehension balling up in the pit of his stomach. He isn’t having second thoughts, he’s almost positive that he’ll be happy with the results. He and Crosshair spent hours with a pad of flimsi sketching and scheming. Crosshair wanted something subtle, meaningful, a reflection of himself. Hunter, to his brothers’ surprise, wanted something bold. A statement. Memorable. Of the Batch, he most resembles, in appearance and speech, a reg. But he is no more a reg than any other member of his squad. He might not be able to easily change his facial structure or vocal pattern; however, inking half his face with the dark contour of a skull seems like a good start. 

“What do you think?” Crosshair asked, holding up the sketch he’d made of Hunter. 

Hunter grinned, taking the pad and admiring the simple lined likeness to himself, the skull motif shadowed deeply with graphite. He loved it. It was perfect. Exactly as he’d imagined it. “Looks good,” he told his brother.

Wrecker, at the last minute, decided that he also wants a tattoo, although his ideas are scattered and untethered to any sort of theme. Even as they approach the tattoo parlor, he is still undecided, claiming that it is going to be a surprise. 

“A tattoo is permanent,” Tech tells Wrecker again, having resigned himself to being tucked under Wrecker’s arm for the remainder of their trek. “You should at least have some sort of idea.” 

“I do,” Wrecker says, “My idea is that it will be the coolest tattoo in the entire galaxy.” 

“That is not an idea,” Tech sighs. 

At Tech’s direction, they turn off on a side street, the crowds petering off the further they walk. It doesn’t exactly feel like a bad part of town; however, it is less kept, the buildings showing their age and wear. Hunter is beginning to wonder if Tech got them lost when they turn another corner and a neon sign blinks the word “TATTOOS” at them, the flashing light practically searing into Hunter’s retinas. 

“They should get a brighter sign,” Crosshair snarks, “we almost missed it.” 

They step inside, and find the business deserted except for a human who stands up from a chair behind the counter. He is covered in colorful ink, his natural pigment completely lost under the tapestry of mismatched designs across every inch of his exposed skin. 

“Now that must’ve hurt,” Wrecker mutters to Tech, but he might as well have screamed it from the rooftops. 

Tech rolls his eyes. 

The man smiles, flashing white teeth. “Only hurts ‘til the pain goes away.”

“Naturally,” Tech agrees sardonically.

“I’m gonna guess you lot are here for some ink,” the man says. 

“They are, I am not,” Tech replies quickly. “I am here to observe.” 

“Not a fan of needles, huh?” the man asks. 

Tech opens his mouth to deny the accusation, but Wrecker gasps out, “Wait, needles?” 

Crosshair groans. “We went over this, Wrecker.”

“Yeah, well” Wrecker says, “it sounds different the way he says it.” 

“How?” 

Wrecker heaves his broad shoulders in a shrug. “I’ll just wait on my tattoo. Until I think of something good, ya know?”

Crosshair steps around Wrecker and jerks his head in Hunter’s direction. “He and I are getting tattoos. These are what we want.” He pulls two pieces of flimsi from his pocket with their chosen designs, pushing them across the counter. 

The man takes them, looking over the details. “Straightforward and to the point. I like that. C’mon around and we’ll get started.”

Hunter takes a deep breath. 

He’s not turning back now. 

<<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>>

Hunter and Crosshair decide to add to their armor to coordinate with their new tattoos. The next time they’re on Kamino, they find their leftover paint and set to work, Tech and Wrecker joining them. Inspired by Hunter’s new half skull tattoo, they decide to incorporate the symbol into all of their armor in some way. 

“So help me, Wrecker, if you tip over another can of paint…” Crosshair mutters, snatching up the at-risk bucket from Wrecker’s proximity. 

Wrecker is sprawled out on their barrack’s floor, taking up far more than his fair share of space. His paint brush flicks up, sending a spray of heavy duty white across the room. 

“You’re cleaning that up,” Tech says from his place at the table.

“No one will notice,” Wrecker assures them. “Maybe they’ll look like clean spots!”

Hunter sighs. “That’s not a good thing, Wreck.” 

Wrecker ignores the comment, instead dropping his paintbrush onto the tray Tech ordered him to use and holding up his helmet. “What do you think? It’s a skull.” 

“Not a human skull,” Tech points out. 

Wrecker shakes his head. “Human skulls are boring.” 

“There’s supposed to be red on your helmet somewhere,” Crosshair gripes. 

Wrecker reaches over and plucks Crosshair’s fine tipped paint brush out of his hand, the bristles still dripping red paint. Crosshair sputters a curse as Wrecker happily begins painting with the stolen utensil. 

“Hunter!” Crosshair cries, “Tell Wrecker to give it back.” 

 Hunter doesn’t even look up from his work. “Let’s share our toys like big kids,” he coos, earning a chuckle from Tech. 

“I’m gonna give it back in a second,” Wrecker says. “Almost done.” 

Crosshair growls something rude in Huttese. 

“There!” Wrecker says, tossing the brush back at Crosshair, the sniper catching it from the wrong end, paint staining the palm of his glove. Wrecker turns his helmet again to the room. “See? It’s perfect.” 

The number 99 is brandished across the forehead of his helmet in dripping red. 

“Subtle as usual, Wrecker,” Tech says. 

Wrecker grins. “Thanks!” 

Hunter sits back and admires his own helmet’s new design, carefully imitating his inked face. It’s exactly how he imagined it. 

<<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>>

“I like this color,” Omega says, pointing at a swatch of teal paint. “Oh, and this orange is nice.” 

Tech glances at Hunter, clearly questioning the decision to let Omega choose their new armor colors. Hunter shrugs. At least it will look…different. Which is exactly what they want. 

“What about this one?” Wrecker asks, pointing at the yellow swatch.

“Yes! I like that one too!” Omega cries. 

They purchase the three cans of paint and some brushes before heading back to the Marauder. Omega is beside herself with excitement. “Do you think the paint will work on my helmet?” she asks. 

“Sure, kid, ‘course it will,” Wrecker says cheerfully. 

“I’m gonna use orange on mine, then,” Omega says. 

That evening, spread out under the Marauder’s wing, the Batch set about repainting their armor. Wrecker can’t bear the thought of covering up the skull on his helmet, so he settles for removing the bright 99 from it instead, sanding it down and repainting the area white. With Omega’s help, he uses orange and yellow to accent the rest of his armor pieces. 

Tech and Echo decide to monopolize the orange paint, leaving very little to Hunter. With a sigh, he picks up the teal paint, and pries it open. Omega beams at him. “I think that will be a very nice color on you,” she tells him sincerely, and suddenly, the color doesn’t seem so bad. 

<<>><<>><<>><<>><<>><<>>

“All the armor’s been stripped. But we’re still not gonna blend in,” Echo says, tossing Hunter his helmet. 

The colors of his past lives have been removed with finality. He knows it is necessary; however, he can’t help but feel the pang of loss as he stares at the familiar piece of himself he’s had for so long, devoid of the visible memories lingering like ghosts behind him. 

Maybe they’ll paint their armor again, when all of this is over. 

If they all make it back. 

END

@the-little-moment and @just-here-with-my-thoughts 🥳 I can't believe we've only got 4 more stories/chapters each to go!

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#angstpril2024 #day 18 #prompt 18: left behind #the bad batch #star wars #fanfiction #ao3 fanfic #ao3 writer #tbb hunter #tbb tech #tbb omega #tbb crosshair #tbb wrecker #tbb echo #angst #fluff #memories #tattoos #painting armor #family #fics by kyber

[dearwriters]

Hi there.

I was wondering if you have any advice on balancing an ensemble cast? As in, how do you manage having, say, 6 pov characters without the reader getting bored, impatient, or forgetting a character until it's a chapter of theirs again?

Thank you for the work you do :)

How to Balance an Ensemble Cast

Hey, thank you for your question! While I personally do not have a lot of experience writing ensemble casts, I think the following points would be helpful to consider when planning/writing one:

Getting into the characters Point of View: Lenses and Distinct Voices

One of the most important things about Multi-POV-narratives is to give each character a distinct voice so they don't just bleed into each other. This concerns:

a) the content of their narration: Ask yourself: What is this characters "lense", their specific frame of reference through which they see the events? This can depend on their background, their interests, knowledge, viewpoint etc. How do they see the world differently than the others? Try to imprint the narration of the POVs with the characters personality, especially if you are writing in first person. A very sarcastic character would view the same events quite differently as a very optimistic, bubbly character. Different characters would notice different things. This can be established by something as simple as focus points: maybe an artistic character narrates a lot about the colours around them and a detective character is very perceptive about peoples body language or stuff like that. Maybe the soldier is focused on battle strategies and the details of their surroundings, all while their love-interest is focused on them.

b) the form of their narration: Best case szenario, you would be able to identify who is talking, just based on their voice. This should be noticable in dialouge but also in narration. A very academic character would maybe use a slightly different vocabulary than a character who's more about street smarts. How do their speech patterns correlate to their person and background? Another example: In the popular contemporary novel "The Flatshare" one of the POV characters isn't really talkative. The author chose to reflect that in their narration via a fragmented narration style, using as little adjectives and full sentences as possible, while still keeping things readable. You can find more information about Character Voice in this post.

Overall, when it comes to differentiating between POVs, ask yourself: How can the personality, believes and expertise of a character affect the way they see the world and thus the way they narrate?

Anchoring your Scene

This is a little tip I picked up from the YouTube channel of author Sacha Black (great writing advice, check her out!). Multiple POVs can be quite challenging, especially if there are time/place jumps between the POVS. Thus, to not confuse your reader, it is important to quickly establish who is talking, where they are and when they are. Person, place, time. This needs to be clear so the reader isn't lost (unless it's your goal to confuse your reader, which would certainly be a valid goal). In some books the chapter header indicates POV, which is a very quick and easy way to establish at least one of those factors, but there are other ways to do this.

Making every POV count

If you want to avoid your readers being bored or even skipping POVs it's important to actually have a distinct reason of evers POV to exist. Thus, everybody needs a piece of the puzzle for the plot. Just like in the point about lenses and voices, you can use the differnt personalities, backgrounds and knowledges of your characters to let them uncover and drive different pieces of the story. Every POV character needs a reason to be here and a way to contribute.

Having multiple POVs is actually a great way to create tension, because the reader will know a lot of information not every character knows. It's the old Hitchcock-principle of letting the reader know about a bomb under the table the characters don't know anything about. Use the distribution and retention of information to your advantage.

Furthermore, everyone needs their own character arcs. A compelling character is all abouts goals, motivations and conflicts (more about the whole "GMC"-concept in this post) that tie them to the bigger story as well as having their own wants and needs (check out this post if you like) plus having flaws and the corresponding concequences (more about that in this post).

Those are just some of the big things I'd recommend you to think about. I hope this helped!

Have fun writing!

#dearwriters #writing advice #writing help #writing tips #writblr #multi pov #ensamble cast

[velvet-vox]

The paradoxical nature of Qilby: part 2

Going back to the end of the previous part where I declared Qilby an autism icon, it came to me the realisation that autism is really the only way to justify some of Qilby's actions and odd behaviour; as a big brother and autistic person myself I also would force the people I care about to engage in my interests, I understand on a subconscious level that what I am doing is wrong, but I just care about it so much that I need to share it with them at all costs.

(Even though I would never go as far as starting a war with another species just to force my race to go on a family trip with me).

And like, no offence to Yugo or the Elatrope council but it is my theory that all the Yugo haters have begun popping up due to some people head cannon that him and his family is inadvertently ableist, which (although I might agree considering their dynamic and who their mother is) I don't think it's completely warranted; as someone else pointed out if mental health and psycho analysis existed in the Krosmoz then Nox would have never come to be; if somebody explained what autism is to Yugo then maybe he would be more lenient on Qilby (or maybe not, after all he is his brother), Nora also doesn't know about autism but she is more accepting of Qilby's oddities even if she doesn't like them, and Qilby SURE AS HECK DOESN'T KNOW WHAT AUTISM IS.

Side note: Shinonome is not necessarily autistic, since my sister understands me perfectly and she isn't on the autism spectrum herself, but she clearly has inherited her more passive personality from her mother while Qilby has probably taken more from his father meaning that even if she was she probably wouldn't go about it in the boisterous manner of his twin.

However all of this is just a head canon and not the focus of this post. What I instead want to point out and analyse is the list-like approach of Qilby to anything and how that reflects the way many autistic people approach mostly every conflict in their life. Let me explain:

The way this list-like methodology works is entirely centered around a priority system, so basically Qilby schematizes in his head what he needs to do and say in which order and he has to follow it religiously in order to get anything done, so like on his to do list there is:

First: Confront Adamai and Grougal. Second: Get Rushu's army and alliance. Third: Confront Yugo and Phaeris and take them out. Fourth (interchangeable with third): Get the Dofus. Fifth: Go the Emrumb to get the children. And Sixth: Leave the planet.

And he has to do them in this order because this is the way that he has envisioned them.

This is also reflected in the way that he goes about science and space travel: he reaches a planet, discovers his species, analyses them, classifies them, compartmentalizes them, collects some, rinse and repeat in the next world.

And finally, I want to bring up his two most famous sentences of season 4 to showcase how this priority based thought process carries on to his speech pattern and family view.

"My dear Yugo, we are brothers, before being enemies"

See?

Qilby realises on his relationship list that Yugo is its enemy, but that before that he is its brother, that's what has the biggest priority for him in this moment and in general. But that's not even the most interesting part:

"Farewell Yugo. My brother, my king."

This phrase of course has been plastered all over the fanbase, but like.... did anybody ever think about how weird this sentence is? You would expect Qilby to say brother as his last word, as a final acceptance nod to the fact that deep down he does care about Yugo. But no. Instead he says:

"Good luck"(the situation's dramatic, so he's giving Yugo an encouragement as the first thing)

"My brother,"(Yugo is his demigod brother born from another Dofus)

"My king."(lastly, Yugo is also his king, as sentenced by Chibi in a previous life)

Qilby could have just called Yugo brother as his last word to show that he cares, but instead he decides to call him king, a title that means very little to him on their relationship chart, to show that he values him so much that he is going to use a term that means very little to him just to let Yugo know that he is willing to acknowledge the part of their brotherhood that he doesn't care about as a substitute acceptance nod to the aspect of their dynamic that he values the most.

#wakfu yugo #wakfu season 2 #wakfu qilby #wakfu season 4 #wakfu adamai #wakfu grougaloragran #wakfu phaeris #wakfu shinonome #krosmoz #ankama #autism #autistic traits #autistic trauma #wakfu nora #wakfu nox #wakfu eliatrope #wakfu chibi #wakfu

[peaches2217]

Peasley has a habit of unconsciously mirroring people's actions when he's comfortable around them. His whole life is more or less a performance for his future subjects (one that he enjoys greatly, make no mistake, but a performance nonetheless), and there's very few he can truly relax around. There's a part somewhere in the back of his brain that's not really sure what to do when he's not in Performance Mode, and the subconscious response is "Well, what's the person we're with doing? Start there." But his whole life, it's largely been subtle enough that those he's close with either haven't picked up on it or just don't feel the need to comment on it.

Luigi, autistic king that he is, has stims aplenty: he'll flap his hands when he’s excited, deep in thought, or having trouble articulating himself, he'll rock or sway when he's sitting/standing and has nothing else to occupy himself, he'll focus on a pattern or image and trace the lines with his finger, etc. Naturally, as they spend more time together and grow closer, whenever Peasley observes him stimming, he starts doing the exact same thing, something he's just. Completely unaware of at first.

The first time Luigi points it out, Peasley is beyond embarrassed. He finds all of those stims so endearing, and he fears his mirroring comes across as mocking, because he knows Luigi is self-conscious about a lot of his neurodivergencies. He's on one knee and three paragraphs into a lengthy speech about how he'll monitor his actions closely and ensure it never happens again when Luigi assures him that he knows there's no malicious intent. In fact, he finds it equally charming! And it's oddly comforting too, having a loved one not only observe and accept those stims, but participate alongside him.

And sometimes, when they're deep in conversation and he's less likely to be realized, he'll intentionally start stimming, randomly and with varying degrees of subtlety, just to see if Peasley starts mirroring him. He always does, and he never realizes that he's doing it unless Luigi suddenly can't stop snickering, at which point he smacks his hand or tackles him to the ground (depending on how many people are around) and laments how cruel his dear lover is, both laughing all the while.

Just... green bois having unusual habits that bounce off of one another so well, I love that thought so much 😌

#I've been thinking about them all day and I've been so eager to get home and type this out #my GOD I love my boys 😭 #super mario bros #smb #prince peasley #luigi #luigi x peasley #luisley #superstar saga #m&l rpgs #peaches has opinions

[the-arctic-commune]

Oh PLEASE go on with Techno and accents and portrayal?

LMAO this came in within SECONDS congrats.

I don't really have a ton of citations for you. I think this shifted a lot as the dream-team-centric part of the fandom incorporated and learned about Techno as a person and not just Dream's rival, and if I'm being honest I don't have Thoughts so much as I remember having Thoughts in like mid-2021. General attitudes towards Techno shifted wildly from his “monotone,” “emotionless” reputation in early 2021, and the things I remember thinking about kinda stopped applying. I don’t remember what posts bothered me or why I wanted to bring it up.

But. People talk a lot about Techno's speech patterns, and it's true that in an industry that encourages getting as close to newscaster-neutral as possible, his voice can stand out a bit.

In early days when Dream and Techno were very much set up as rivals and people were trying to justify who would/wouldn't win in certain scenarios, it was actually pretty common to claim that Dream has more mechanical and tactical knowledge than Techno. Techno was cast as the brute-force fighter in these essays - comparatively unknowledgable but mechanically gifted. This is a really bad analysis - Techno’s knowledge of the things he cared about was encyclopedic, and his and Dream’s strengths are a lot more similar than they are different.

Where this intersects with voice is that in a US speaker’s perception, Dream has a pretty standard urban American accent, and Techno, as has been noted by fanfic writers everywhere, does not.

The most notable aspect that gets commented on is "g-dropping," the change of the "-ing" sound to "-in." People who don't do anything else to indicate peoples' speech patterns in writing will make sure they write down that Techno's sayin' something, not just saying it.

(This is called an "eye dialect," the use of a nonstandard spelling to emphasize a pronunciation.)

But that's far from the only thing that marks out Techno's accent. If you've watched his introductions to people (i.e. SMPEarth), you might notice that it's not uncommon for people to assume he's from the South, especially Texas, and to be surprised he's from California. The most commonly-known "California accents" are all very urban- and middle-class-centric, while features of Techno's accent (he can sometimes sort of "break" dipthongs and slur or drop syllables, and most especially the g-dropping) are more associated with rural accents in the US, and especially the rural South. And I don’t think that’s entirely dissociated from the way that so many people were so quick to assume, all evidence to the contrary, that he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

Obviously we don't know a whole lot about Techno's background, so I have no particular thoughts on how he ended up with the accent he did (though it sounds to me like it shares some features with the poorly-described "inland rural California English"). The only thing I can say is how it's perceived, which is as containing a lot of features that US speakers are going to mark as rural and working-class.

(A really fascinating part of this is his seeming inability to really code-switch at all; his Sir Billiam voice contains just as much g-dropping as his normal speech, whereas most people attempting to sound like a rich person would focus on speaking "correctly" and get all those nasals in the right spots. My own g-dropping is markedly more noticeable when I’m with my family than when I’m [location redacted]. But this is more sidetracking linguistics than... ok ok uh back to the point.)

Well... I guess like I said I don’t have much of a point any more, and I probably should have written this post a year back when I did. I certainly don’t have anything quite as obvious and pointed as Xeph’s discussion of how stereotypes about Northern England get applied to certain people (esp. Philza, Jack).

I just have, like, people talk a lot about Techno’s voice, and other blogs brought up a lot of really good points about how perceptions of his speech likely intersect with his ADHD and how neurodivergence can effect speaking patterns (speaking of which, a lot of neurodivergent people can struggle with code-switching! hmm). But I think an aspect that got missed sometimes is the way that those perceptions can also overlap with accent.

And also sometimes I see people pointing out Techno’s speech in a way they don’t for any of the other Dream SMP members. If there's one feature that you consider notable enough to mark while keeping everything else textbook, I think it's worth taking a minute to ask yourself why the feature stands out, and what connotations highlighting it might have. It’s not always a bad thing to do so! It’s just worth taking a second look.

#technoblade #dream smp #words #long post

[wasyago]

Love your art! I was super inspired by your Gillion design specially. He's so squishable (positive).

Do you have a specific process for designing characters? Be it original or reimagining canon designs of fandom

thank you!! :D

hmm, well, i don't remember the last time i properly designed an original character, so nothing on that front. for reimagining designs... i don't have a step by step way i do it, it varies from character to character, but i can point out some of the things i do that might be helpful?

i largely base my designs on the vibes the character gives me: their manner of speech, their actions, their story and personality. and also the world and environment around them if it affects the character. it sounds pretty obvious but like, duh.

im gonna try and explain on gillion's example since its the one you mentioned. he's a himbo, a swimmer and a paladin, so he's gonna be buff or at least a little thicker. he's a triton, so he's short. he's also short for the reason that he is in an unfamiliar for him world and he might feel small in it. he's also short because it makes him look almost child like, connecting it to his trauma and lack of childhood that manifests in his behavior now. gillion is kind or at least trying to be, so his features will be softer and rounder. but sometimes he's chaotic or harsh, so he has some sharp features too. though they're secondary, the softness is still the main focus.

i also really like to think and overthink the designs while drawing. i try to keep everything simpler and less detailed, showing personality with shapes rather than uhh presence(?), but that means that details i do include have a lot of thought behind them.

one of my favorite things is practically. i love to think about what a character would realistically wear in the climate they're in, which clothing would be comfortable for their anatomy and field of work. would certain things get in the way or would they be helpful? how would they style their hair, do they need it tied back or do they not care? would they wear make up, why yes or why not? etc etc etc. i like asking myself questions and answering them in the design.

continuing with the gillion example. he's constantly wet because he's a triton (again, yes), so it would be more comfortable for him to wear a wetsuit. other clothes may stick to him and be uncomfortable, or get stuck on his fins, etc. he doesn't have any piercings, there's no way he would've gotten them in the undersea, and on the surface i don't think there was anything meaningful enough to promt him to get it. plus fin ears. he doesn't have his hair styled in a complicated way because of the coral on his head. doesn't wear a lot of jewelry because he jumps in the water a lot and it'll easily get lost. no belts or flowy bits because they constrict the movement and might get in the way.

and then like. all the personal headcanons and preferences and little bits and things. there's a lot of elements that i draw just because i like how they look. or because that's a comfortable thing for me, or because it's cute or hot or sad or whatever. or because i saw it while looking for inspiration and i really liked it. just bullshitting with the design and making it my own, yknow?

for gillion. gave him a cool long tail and lots of fins everywhere because i like it when inhuman characters are openly and visibly inhuman and have distinct features. and gillion is VERY much not human, part of his personality is being confused about humans. big ol yellow eyes with slits — look cool, also doubles as an inhuman feature, also makes him look curious about the world. small black stripes all over his body — make him look more fishy, plus because there's a lot of them and they're all the same they form a pattern that looks more like a natural anatomical feature and draw less attention. coral that goes around his head and not only the front like a tiara— makes it feel more three dimensional and looks cool in perspective (also i kinda just drew it wrong and never fixed it). coral and fins are pink — adds some much needed color variation and contrast, plus pink is one of the more natural colors which again make him look animalistic and not magical, plus ties in with pretzel. his skin is closer to green than blue — removes blue from the color pallet (especially with his eyes being yellow instead of blue), making the design more coherent and pleasing, allows me to properly introduce reds and purples without it looking like a mess of colors (although it still does sometimes). sharp teeth — fish, cute. yellowish underbelly — supports the yellow for the eyes and makes it stand out less, plus again, animalistic feature. little to no details on the clothing — creates good negative space that lets the eyes rest and focus the attention on everything else. his fringe and hair are floating around and don't follow the laws of physics — personal headcanon that it always looks like he's under water, plus adds roundness to the design because of the waves and curls.

ookay haha sorry didn't mean to write down literally every design decision here-- kind of derailed the post again.

basically yeah, for me designing is like a dialog with myself where i ask and answer questions. also something that wasn't mentioned are references and inspiration. if i don't have a good idea when i start, i usually scroll through my gallery or pinterest for some time to get ideas and figure out the general direction i want to take the design, maybe also find some fun stuff to include, etc.

hopefully this long ramble was at least somewhat helpful or gave you insight on my progress. i wanted to draw some things to also visually explain the design decisions for gill, but i think I'll do it later and in a separate post, and maybe include chip and jay too...

umm good luck 👍👍

#yagotalk #how to yago

[yusiyomogi]

people who say that jake as a character has only 2 layers don't understand how bad hussie's writing actually was. no, the way jake's character was built is such a confusing mess.

first of all, like all alpha kids, jake was written in the backwards way: someone who we only knew in the form of mysterious 1-dimensional parental figure needed to be fleshed out in the form of a main character. but here's the first very weird choice made by hussie: the big part of grandpa's and nanna's characters was the fact that they are, well, old people. with old-timey outlook on things and speech patterns and stuff like that. and for some bizarre reason hussie desided to write jane and jake as sorta (?) old people who are also teenagers. they are unmistakingly grandpa and grandma, but not because they had their character traits, but largely because they're still old people.

another layer to this is harleybert legacy. it makes sense of course, hussie put a lot of attention to this sort of "genetic predispositions" when it comes to all characters of homestuck. but for some reason jake got the worst case of it. his thing is that he's an exaggeration/flanderization/satire of what john and jade as characters were. john likes shitty movies? jake likes all the movies especially the shittiest ones. john is a bit goofy? jake is the goofiest. jade is excited about the game and somewhat naive at the start of the story? jake is completely oblivious to everything and only cares about adventures. jade has a weird pet? jake has a whole island of weird pets. jade is overpowered? jake has the biggest absurd dumb-looking form of power in the comic. just compare this to the much more subtle writing of dirk and roxy and you'll see that there's something almost mean-spirited in the way jake is written. i have no idea why.

next layer that hussie decided to add to already badly written character of jake is the weird parody on misogynistic tropes. here's the question hussie present to us: what if we have "a useless sexy woman" character but he's a boy instead? and i still have no idea what hussie was thinking here. it's not like this trope was super popular at the time (early 2010s) and someone desperately needed to make fun of it. it was more of a late 90s thing really. it could be some form of ironic self-critique, but i don't think it was the case, because, if anything, hussie did a pretty good job writing women in homestuck. but here's a boy who's a parody of something that had not been relevant for 15 years or so. who's everyone's love interest and no one think about him as a person. this wasn't even a clever commentary really. jake isn't happy with his situation, but it's not an important point in the story and nothing comes out of it.

another layer to jake's character is that around this time hussie decided to put a lot of focus on classpects. especially thanks to calliope and aranea, a lot of act 6 is focused on the weird self-analysis of the story where we are basically forced to look at it through classpect reading. the unfortunate consequence of this is that all new characters are very confined to their classpects, but skilled writer can work with that and even make character writing more interesting than it was before. you'd think that hussie could use this opportunity to explore classpects more, make them deeper by writing complex characters, but. ugh. that's not really what they did?

actually hussie took a bunch of character traits from already existing characters and gave them to the new ones. jake is a page? tavros is also a page. so jake is a bit like tavros, because of course tavros personality was always connected to his classpect. hussie wrote a vast majority of homestuck through "backwards self-justification" method and that's exactly why jake's personality connects to tavros. and funnily enough, since hussie kinda hated tavros's personality (which is so so weird to me), they also ended up hating jake's personality as well. which, i think, was eventually the reason hussie gave up completely on writing jake.

that said, reading homestuck serially, i liked jake. i still like jake! fandom had a very different outlook on his character and i remember we all kinda found him relatable and waited for his "big" moment where he finally says what he thinks and chooses what he wants to do with his life. hussie didn't go the route we hoped for, at all.

#homestuck #sorry for my english #tbf i like the way fandom treats jake #maybe he's badly written but we can work with that #well. at least people who are better writers than hussie #text post

[justa-smalltown-gargoyle]

Hi! coming here after reading the "people hate WFA" speech

I read about people hating on it because "it's not dark enough" (not a lot of times but enough to recognise the "pattern"), and although it is indeed the truth, and something we (fans of a crime fighting vigilante who dresses as a bat to scare his enemies) might not be used to, I think that's the beauty of it!

It pushes aside fights and gore to focus on feelings (like the time Dick felt overwhelmed or Steph didn't feel enough) and relationships we wouldn't see otherwise (Tim and Damian acting like siblings or Jason and Steph bonding over shared trauma)

And I genuinely think it's stupid for people to get angry if WFA is the only/the first comic someone has read about batman/batfam. It has every member of the batfamily (+some characters like Wally, Roy, Poison Ivy or the "Kent family adventure") and you can read it to have a general view on the characters, so you can take a liking to them and read more comics. It's honestly a really good starting point!

btw I'm sorry for sliding in here with this long speech but I don't see enough people liking WFA on my tl

Hiiiii thanks for sending a message!

YES, I think it gives room for the more domestic lives of supers which I really have always loved. I also think that Batman fans can tend to take things too seriously at times- I wish more media made embraced the wildness that is Gotham, Batman, and his rogues. Like theres a guy who kills you if you don't get his knock knock joke right for gosh sakes. (but that's a personal opinion of mine)

Also I see a lot of people talking about "I hate fandom versions of characters, WFA represents that, Dick Grayson is a stupid shell of a man" which again....what WFA are they reading?

The fun and more emotional comics make the characters more rounded to me. It makes them seem more real and three dimensional.

I agree with all you've said here, it's a good starting point, but if people just want to enjoy that comic alone that is literally fine. How people handle their anger about the series just seems to be so gatekeep-y and talking down to the people that are new to the fandom which makes me upset.

Thank you for the long speech and im glad to have another buddy that likes WFA :3

#batfam #batman #bat family #dc #dc comics