#why are you plotting. i always struggle to write characters who have the power to do what they want yet refuse to for some reason

[screamingatanemptyroom]

Screaming at an Empty Room -

Reintroduction/Update

Hello everyone! Probably too late to do an intro, given that I've been writing on this blog since 2017, but since I've returned after a few years away from writing, I wanted the opportunity to talk about my blog and projects completed and my upcoming plans!

I go by Avaleon everywhere else on the internet, but respond to pretty much anything, including Screaming, hey you, etc! Started this blog in my mid 20s, and aged normally into the early 30s from there. I love writing, have always loved it, but between work and life, it's definitely something that I mostly do late at night and on weekends. I love hearing from people, but I usually answer asks in bunches, and typically right before I post writing. Love hearing about other people's projects as well!

I write short stories, novellas, and occasional full length novels. I am not published, but actively working on self-publishing some of my full length works. Everything I write is posted online, I enjoy sharing my work. The main reason to self publish for me is to have physical copies for myself or anyone who might want one!

My short stories can be found under the #writing tag on my blog. As for the long completed stories, I'll post them below the cut!

Love you Tumblr, happy to be back!

A. Full Length Novels (100,000+ words)

Please Fix the Story!

Description:

I don’t know who I am. I don’t know why I’m trapped in this never ending cycle of rebirth. All I know is that I wake up inside the worlds of unfinished stories, with a mission to accomplish the author’s wishes and stabilize the worlds now headed for destruction. I do my best, hoping, praying that maybe if I complete enough missions, I’ll be able to remember my past and return to my home.

It’s just fixing stories, it should be simple enough.

So can someone explain who this random villain is who keeps following me to each world?

Masterpost linked here

2. I Can’t Eat Love

Description:

Lenora did not have a wonderful life. After her engagement to Prince Ronan is broken, she loses everything… her reputation, her home and her family. Starving on the streets, she dies angry and bitter at how her life unfolded… only to wake up in her old bed, fifteen again, five years before her death. 

Now she must struggle to change her fate, and the fate of the around her. This time she won’t trust in something as flimsy or changeable as love. No, this time she’ll have the power and the money she needs to protect herself. 

Lenora has already lost everything once. She’s not going to lose again. 

No matter the cost. 

Masterpost Linked Here

B. Novellas

I Refuse to be a Named Character

Description:

I woke up inside the world of one of the best selling fantasy book series “Deadly Crown.” Intrigue, handsome heroes, adventure… sounds great, right? Just one problem: all the named characters except the main hero and villain die, are replaced and their replacements die. Being important in this story is a death sentence, so I plan to move to the middle of nowhere, and avoid the plot! 

It should be a fool proof plan, so why do the main characters keep dragging me into the story?

Masterpost Linked Here

2. Living in a Rewrite of my Own Book World

Description:

This is the story about an author who gets hit by a car right before she can finish her bestselling book series. Trapped in the role of a terrible side character antagonist, she must find a way to change the story’s ending. Not just for her own survival, but for the characters that seem just a little too real to be fiction. (30K words)

Masterpost Linked Here

3.Baby’s First Revenge!

Description:

When Charlotte is betrayed and killed by the friend she sacrificed everything for, she thought it was the end. Instead, she found herself reborn as a baby, with her killer still enjoying the fame of stealing her work. Now, she's coming after him, and plans to make him pay... But first, nap time.

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7

4. The Supervillain’s Daughter

The story of Erica, a girl who finds out that her brother is the kidnapped child of superheroes, and that her parents are villains. Years later she is the best agent in the Villain Suppression Unit, and hates everything to do with superheroes. So of course she isn’t pleased when she is paired with the strongest man alive, especially because she knows him. But with even darker parts of her past surfacing again, she will have no choice but to join forces and save the world. 

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4

Other smaller works and the incomplete ones can be found on this page

Thanks everyone!

#Writeblr #writeblr intro #writers on tumblr #reintroduction after all this time #Fantasy #sci fi #short stories #thank you everyone who has stuck with me #and welcome to anyone just finding me

[sanctus-ingenium]

I'd looove to hear a little about your worldbuilding process if you don't mind sharing. How do you go about it? I know you have shared in a few posts already but just wanna know moree. Also where did it all begin? What inspired you? (eating it all uppp!!!)

hi!! I know I wrote a big long thing like last year or the year before about the process to making a setting but I cannot be arsed to find it rn so here's some disconnected thoughts

Overall I don't really make Headworlds or Worldbuilding Projects the way a lot of people do (which is why u keep hearing me say 'setting' over and over) because mainly what I make are stories in the order of characters -> plot -> world. those three things have to serve one another in that order of importance, so the world itself bends to serve the narrative. for example, ultimately idgaf where the holy beasts' skeletons come from, that is not important because the beasts are basically just a big plot device to serve the story. i can make some post-hoc justifications for their existence (and i did) but at the end of the day it will not and does not matter how they work or where they come from. the world is full of mysteries that will never be solved because the characters are not in a position to solve them. aside from a single border conflict, the world outside the mezian empire is nebulous and unimportant.

I don't enjoy working in a world -> narrative order because what I want to produce isn't just a series of info posts or artpieces about a setting, but a closed and self-contained story which is the justification for the entire world's existence. Headworlds that are all world and no character don't interest me.

So basically in the process of worldbuilding, I have to serve the story. A while back I made a post about continental history around Inver, all these wars and occupations and schisms and so on. All of those exist solely to provide a particular political climate, justification for Aquitan's theocratic structure, and the spread of the southern church north into Inver. I already had the idea of this church, that it would be integral to the country as a main political faction, so now I have to figure out how it got there and the political ramifications of that. It's all worldbuilding for sure, but it's a support structure underneath the story about how that church eventually changes world history, because i wanted to write a story about a church lol.

I guess if I wanted to explain The Process for a world -> characters setting i'd just be giving you How To Write A Story 101 lol. But basically: I think of a concept which interests me (big mechs yay). Then I think of a conflict that might arise (where does the fuel come from? who controls that supply? what might that do to the concentration of power in this area?). Then I put a character in what I consider to be the most interesting position to observe the effects of this conflict (a knight, an enginesmith, an exile), and honestly the main plot generally writes itself after that. I extrapolate the hook from that.

In terms of characters, I try to avoid calling them 'ocs' because in my mind 'oc' tends to be a very static stand-alone thing. Like I couldn't make a useful ref sheet of my characters because they are all changed by the story. I couldn't say 'he has a carefree personality' because in a few chapters no he fucking won't. in the same way i struggle a LOT to talk about my Siren setting which as close to a specbio 'headworld' as i'm ever gonna get, because I am worldbuilding in vastly different time periods at once in a world which is always changing, i can't make a post about for example a map of Siren because that's just a map from one era, I'd need to make a dozen maps to show how things change, how time affects it all, etc.

Because nothing is ever static and everything is in flux, pretty much the only way I can handle a setting like this is, again, just to focus on a few small stories centered around a cast of characters separated by time (i have... 4 distinct stories in Siren. maybe more). this is actually a frustrating barrier to me sharing any information at all about this place lol i'm the struggler

Where did it all begin? When I was 11 I used to write stories in my copybooks in class. There has never been a time where I was not making stories and where my stories were not the only important thing at all to me, superseding literally everything else. I learned how to draw digitally in 2011 because I wanted to draw my characters.

What inspires me? Everything lol. I actually don't have time to Consume Media much, I struggle watching movies or tv and I mostly hate video games because I would much rather be productive and sitting and watching a screen feels like a waste of my time. but I like reading books because I can take them with me on my phone. I get ideas from all sources but mostly non-media sources, like obviously mythology but also my history with the church and my scientific education. Usually nonfictional sources interest me the most (i was going to write a whole story that was a post-apocalyptic plague plot based on canine transmissible venereal cancer haha and even to this day that's where "the Immortal Hound" title comes from, little easter egg in inver)

#sorry this is barely coherent

[writingquestionsanswered]

Hi! So I’m trying to work out my antagonist for my fantasy story. I’m worried he’s flat. Without boring you with too much detail…he’s an ancient being (basically magic that became sentient, so he’s almost a force of nature that has gained emotions and desires) who is seeking revenge on his siblings after he was blamed for a crime he didn’t commit. He manipulates some men in power to help him get closer to this goal. Is this enough of a motivation? I know that’s not much to go off of. I want it to be a story of hope and that the majority of people will choose good in hard times. Am I making any sense at all? Is it worth even continuing in this direction?

Stakes: Struggling with Antagonist Motivation

Yes, you're making sense. And yes, it's worth continuing in this direction. It just needs a little more work.

You have your character's goal, which is revenge against his siblings, who I'm assuming are either the real perpetrators of the crime, the ones falsely accusing him, or are framing him, or some combination of these. You have your character's motivation, which is being blamed for a crime he didn't commit... but what's missing are the stakes.

Stakes are best described as what your character risks losing if something happens, or what your character lost as a result of something happened. In other words, "What's at stake? What could be lost?"

A lot depends on the specific situation in your story, but there are a lot of potential consequences for being accused of a crime. Lots of things potentially at stake: loss of privacy due to investigation, loss of freedom due to imprisonment, loss of reputation--which can cause the loss of income, social standing, and even relationships. Depending on the nature of the crime, someone could have certain rights taken away, could lose access to their children, they could have personal belongings taken in as evidence or destroyed. This is probably just the tip of the iceberg, but you see where I'm going with this. Which if any of these make sense for your character? What does he lose because of this accusation that is so upsetting it sets him off on a path of revenge?

Once you have that figured out you can start to map out his character arc if there is one. Or, you can have a better understanding of how (and why) he proceeds and how that impacts the protagonist's journey through the story.

If you need additional help, check out my antagonist post master list here. My Character Development and Plot & Story Structure master lists have some other posts that may help.

Happy writing!

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I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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[inawearyworld]

free if you truly wish to be: chapter iv

shit goes DOWN. as y'all have probably gathered. bc. yknow. the plot of the movie. but first there's a song yayyyyyyyyy

2023!wonka x oc, this chapter ~2.5k

god, i love musicals.

(edit: realized after posting that i was looking at the wrong page of the screenplay while writing this and therefore royally screwed up the song structure of a world of your own but it’s fiiiiiiine)

once again, thank you mat for that interview taking a typical one-dimensional dahl villain and letting him be a more complex character. also i should probably throw a content warning on this one for depiction of a slightly abusive relationship

but i promise everything's gonna be okay soon-happy new year everyone!!

part three fic masterlist part five

While going through a time of personal growth involving trying to unravel one’s identity from that of one’s rich and powerful husband, it often happens that there are advantages to said husband being wrapped in worry over a new business rival-and, therefore, spending far more time at the office.

Wren’s favorite advantage at the present moment was that she was the only one to watch the mail come in.

Deep purple stationery was the signal she looked for-and steadily received, then returned with her own emerald letters-every day. The notes included scrawled updates regarding the operation to allow the earnest young chocolatier his day in the sun, anecdotes about the group of launderers that supported it (who she’d snuck out to meet often enough that they now felt like a second family), tales of a mysterious orange man, and exchanges of advice, witticisms, and Shakespeare quotes.

The handwriting was inexperienced, and there were more than a fair share of spelling errors toward the start of their correspondence, but she didn’t care a whit.

We’ve got the shop, Willy had written one day. For now, the task is digging through its decrepit debris and designing its decoration. (The credit for those words goes to Noodle-she says hello.) There are so many possibilities, I barely know where to start.

Start with the “why”, Wren wrote back. That’s what I always do. If there’s a piece I’m struggling to sing and I lose motivation to practice, I go back to the reasons I love the piece, even all the way back to the reasons I love the arts in the first place. Maybe there’s something in there for your shop-what made you want to share your chocolate with the world? (And hello to you too, Noodle!)

My dear Wren, came the reply, you’ve just given me the best of ideas.

He told her then about his mother and the inspiration she provided. Wren would be lying if she’d said a tear hadn’t fallen onto that particular letter.

As for how to keep him safe from the Cartel, police, and every other corrupt authority, Wren did her part by becoming Florence again whenever necessary. She acted less suspicious around her husband, leading him to be less secretive-although the gain in information was miniscule, it was better than nothing.

Felix’s rages would range anywhere from tittering, jealous rants to scheming monologues during which his whole being seemed to take on a lower, darker, more calculating tone. She’d listen carefully to all of these, tactfully calling out anything that might get him to consider he was wrong, but that had little to no effect.

Plan B, then, she’d realized, is all I can do.

So, whenever Felix seemed particularly incensed or just on the verge of coming up with how to destroy his rival, Florence would swoop in with wine and dark lipstick and a low-cut dress. She’d endure being his caged pet songbird, his doll, his perfect plaything, only because she had the growing feeling that things were about to change.

If Willy’s shop becomes successful enough to be completely undeniable, maybe the Cartel will finally acknowledge him as an equal. Maybe I’ll finally be seen as an equal, too. Maybe things will finally be truly fine.

So, night after night, she’d sit on her husband’s lap, twirl his tie, and kiss his neck until he’d forgotten the name of Wonka.

The same could not be said for her.

~

Due to just how glamorized she always had to be while in public, it didn’t take much to come up with disguise enough to be able to visit the new shop on its opening day.

With a fluttering sense of hope, Wren approached the fourth building of the Galeries Gourmet, blending in seamlessly with the sea of soon-to-be-wonderstruck passers-by. She cast a few nervous glances to the window of the Fickelgruber office, at which the man stood in his usual stance. There was no chance, though, of his recognizing her trademark ginger flame amongst the crowd; it was safely tucked under a dark, low-brimmed hat.

This could have set her mind at ease, but the fact that he looked even more smug than usual as he surveyed the ground below him made her nervous.

Did they plan something?

She was distracted from this worry by a sudden flash of color at the long-empty shop’s door. Willy Wonka stepped through, looking more himself than she could have ever imagined. He addressed the crowd with a flourish, and she marveled at his ability to combine showmanship with authenticity.

He took a skeptical older man’s arm, leading him to the shop’s entrance, and began to sing.

All at once, the shop transformed before all of their eyes, flooding with color, and the music settled into a sparking pulse that thrilled Wren to the core.

Willy grinned, fully in his element, and the doorway went dark. Gloved hands presented chocolate wonders as their creator sang them into existence. When he lit a match, the store seemed to come alive, and Wren gasped.

If his letter was anything to go by, the sight he had created was an homage to his childhood on his mother’s boat, brought to life in a way nearly too beautiful to be true.

Willy and the other man danced up a bridge of sorts as his song continued, proudly offering his shop as a world for each of his customers to call their own. Overtaken and lifted by the enchanting environment, Wren squealed with the rest of the crowd and ran into the shop, ripping the hat from her head and allowing her auburn curls to tumble freely down.

She threw her head back and laughed aloud. Her lack of makeup, and plain blouse and skirt replacing the usual emerald-colored finery, gave her assurance that she wouldn’t be recognized here; this was the closest thing she’d experienced to liberation in a very long while, and she relished it, along with the sweetly simple soar of Willy’s voice across his song.

When she looked up at him again, he was sitting on the boat that floated on the circling chocolate river, and she noticed he’d already been staring with a sideways grin. As the bassline that came from nowhere launched into a rollicking chromatic vamp, he tipped his hat to her, and she gave an enamored wave.

The second verse passed, and suddenly he’d reached her, extending a hand which she took without a second thought. He helped her onto the boat, then pulled her alarmingly close, but before she could say a thing about it, a cloud of smoke appeared around them.

Wren blinked and realized that she and Willy were now at the base of the massive chocolate tree in the center of the shop.

“How did you-”

But he only smiled and started to dance his way up the tree.

“A world of your own,” he sang, then gestured an invitation straight towards her.

This’ll be easy enough, she thought, nearly bursting with joy.

“A place to escape to,” she continued, running farther up the tree to meet him in the middle. His expression filled with awe upon finally hearing her sing, and they began a whirling back-and-forth.

“A world of your own-”

“-where you can be free!”

“Wherever you go, wherever life takes you…”

“This is your home,” she sang to him, twirling herself into his arms and beaming with pride. He’s found it-he’s created it.

“A world of your own,” they finished. He looked at her for a moment, seeming struck, then kissed her hand and disappeared through the branches of the tree to continue with the song’s bridge. She let out a dazed and happy breath, taking a moment to let her gaze roam the shop from her perch in the chocolate tree.

She didn’t know what would happen next, but she’d be damned if she wouldn’t let herself enjoy this moment.

~

What did happen next was…as an understatement, not what any of them had hoped.

She wished she could say it was a complete surprise, and she wished she could have done more to stop it. The candy started having disastrous effects, the customers understandably balked, and it was clearly not Willy’s fault in the least. In a blur, the shop was in ruins, and Wren sat in shock with the little group who’d worked so hard to make it magical.

The candyman himself was devastated; not just by the massive setback, but by the absence of his mother’s spirit. Wren and Noodle sat by his side, but Abacus ushered them up. It broke Wren’s heart to think of leaving him like this-if the truest and most trusting dreamer on Earth can be broken down, where’s the hope for the rest of us?-but she somehow still felt she had to follow the group out.

She felt a hug around her waist and a held-back sob, and looked down to see Noodle clinging onto her. Wren immediately knelt to her level and hugged the girl close, finding it hard now to keep back her own tears.

“Terrible shame what-”

“Florence?”

Slowly, she opened her eyes, her breath dropping to the floor.

Slugworth had spoken first, a smooth and practiced opening to what would have turned into a gloat. The voice that had interrupted him was genuinely shaken and clearly belonging to her husband.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered to Noodle, who nodded. “You can go, you shouldn’t have to see this-”

“Florence,” his voice came again, at a loss. She took a breath, stood up, and faced him with tears in her voice.

“Hi, Felix.”

Silence.

Slugworth looked with growing puzzlement between the woman and the girl, and Felix could only stare at his wife with dawning realization.

“You’ve been working with him,” he said simply, every usual quirk of inflection having vanished.

For a moment, the wash crew surrounded her in an attempt at a shield, and she heaved a breath to keep back a sob-of fear, of gratefulness for these friends that had become family over the past weeks, of everything suddenly crashing down.

“I’ll be okay,” she said quietly to the wash crew and perhaps to myself. “You all should go. Like you were going to. I’m sorry.”

They didn’t move.

She looked at Piper, whose worried hand was on her arm. There was an unspoken vow of protection between the women in that moment, but Wren’s eyes pleaded, so Piper nodded sadly, took Noodle’s hand, and the group left.

Wren was almost afraid to look at Willy, but she did; the boy was staring at the old chocolate bar in his hands, looking as if he could barely process a thing.

The sympathy in her gaze must have been far too obvious, because she suddenly heard footsteps, felt a hard grip on her wrist, and gasped in pain as it was yanked up and backwards.

“Darling,” Felix hissed with a sinister edge, though his voice was breaking, “I don’t know how or why this betrayal-”

“Betrayal?” she finally cried out, breaking free from his grasp as Willy rushed between them. “You lot have just poisoned dozens of innocent people, all for a business rivalry, and I won’t-”

“If you want your family not to starve, you had better lower your voice,” he barked.

Every speck of air seemed to leave the room.

“...My family?”

“I may have been distracted enough for the past weeks to ignore the mail that came in and out of our house, but I had not always been that blind. I thought your compassion to be an incomprehensible gesture, but I let it slide. When I felt like it.”

…They haven’t gotten everything I’ve sent.

They haven’t-

“In fact,” he continued, “it served as what was almost a pleasant reminder of the truth. For your family, for your stupid dream, and for your sweetly dependent soul-you need me.”

“If you knew I was poor, why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because it’s the same way for me!”

This was the peak of what had been a building explosion, and this was the moment in which they both remembered there were other people in the room.

“What?” the four besides him breathed, almost in unison.

“Oh, you heard right,” Felix launched into speech, the characteristic gestures starting to work their way back into him. “I came from nearly nothing, just the same. But I did what I had to do to climb to the top. I cast them all away, left my old life behind completely, and I suppose it was a foolish hope to think my wife would do the same. But she-but you-you are nothing but a guileless, deceitful bleeding heart.”

“I…”

Tears blurred her vision.

“I am…genuinely sorry that you felt you had to hide your past, but that doesn’t excuse trying to make the rest of the world match your insecurity and fit your little chocolate mold. And if that makes me a bleeding heart…I’m proud of the title.”

For a moment, the man looked as if he would allow his wife’s words to affect him.

Then his face, normally so expressive, turned completely cold.

She’d lost him.

She’d never truly had him to lose.

But she looked at Willy, and she thought of the wash crew, and she realized she finally had a truer support system. And if she could try to start over, find some other way to earn money to send to her family without interception, and some other way to reach the dreams that felt so far away at the moment, she knew Felix would be wrong: she didn’t need him.

After a long silence, Slugworth cleared his throat.

“Get her out of here. We have business with Mr. Wonka.”

What?

Her and the younger man’s eyes widened, and they grabbed each other’s hands on instinct, but a small number of policemen came around the corner of the shop door at Slugworth’s order. They clamped hands on her shoulders and dragged her away from Willy as the Cartel stood silently and watched.

“Wait-wait, no, I-”

“Wren-”

She struggled, fought, kicked, but was forced into the backseat of a police car-

“Let me go, you corrupt bastards-”

“Wren-”

“Let me-”

“Just drop her somewhere in town,” Felix said coolly. “Somewhere that isn’t my home.”

“WREN!”

The car door was slammed, and the last thing she saw was the Cartel advancing on a dazed Willy, opening a suitcase of cash.

All she could do was scream, and the scream turned into a cry.

They did indeed drop her somewhere. She burst out of the car the second it had stopped, and the officers drove away without a word.

Sick with worry and trying to regain her breath, she looked around, almost fainting with relief when she saw the laundry building. Piper, having heard the commotion, stood outside, and they looked at each other for a moment before Wren fell sobbing into her arms.

This is not over.

#fiytwtb #wonka movie #wonka 2023 #wonka #willy wonka x reader #timothée chalamet #timothee x reader #timothee chalamet fic #timothee chalamet fanfiction #timothee chalamet #wonka x reader #timothée chalamet x reader #wonka fanfiction #wonka fanfic #mat baynton #mathew baynton #mathew baynton x reader #mat baynton x reader

[demonslayedher]

Shall we talk ☆Pillar Filler???☆

(As well as the rest of the episode?)

Keeping it behind a cut because it's not yet available for everybody and a lot of people will appreciate being surprised (I know I did)!

First, how about that new OP??

I love how it sets this arc up for being a pause in the constant life or death struggle (for the Pillars anyway, hahaha), and pricks at how the Pillars always feel they are struggling to compensate for their weaknesses, and the inky hatred that fills their hearts which Oyakata-sama knows they've channeled into defeating Kibutsuji Muzan at all costs. I also had a passing thought the other day about how so many Japanese legends of demon slaying require the hero to call upon a non-human higher power, or use something like a poison or alcohol to weaken a demon before they stand a chance of defeating it. In the end, the medicine that Tamayo and Shinobu develop does serve this crucial role (and the sun fulfills the role of a higher non-human power), but it's otherwise ironic that instead of temporarily weakening a demon to their own level, the usual course of action is to use Breath to temporarily increase their power to that of a demon.

Attaining a mark sure increases the role that "temporary" already played in their lives, and it's really no question that they would choose to pursue that option, even knowing the result.

(Also, CHUNTAROOOOO)

So anyway, onto that filler!!

I loved it.

First, the nitpicking just to get it out of the way: why did a demon need to bother tying up a victim???? Whhhhy? Like, at least they didn't pull a Speedy with some contrived "this demon just toys with victims and leaves them injured instead of killing them" routine that makes for a happy low-stakes Piller Filler episode while showing utter disregard for what demons are and why the Corp risks themselves to stop them. (That said, I always love seeing other Corp members fulfill their own Corp duties with no relation whatsoever to Tanjiro, who is just one piece of a much, much larger whole.)

But rather than write what would ultimately be stupid dialogue with an insignificant filler demon, it's nice that Ufotable did not bother developing the Castle Demon. The totally undeveloped baddies are easy to cast off as Blood Technique (but maybe they could have looked a little cooler if, like, they were vaguely wearing samurai armor or something instead of just being in skin suits? Whatever, not important.) I appreciate that Ufotable did not bother to answer these questions of "why is the victim tied up" because the point of this scene was very obviously not about her or the demon. (I like to think Iguro cut the ropes and then told her to get to safety but just, like, left her there on the top roof).

So as for what this scene WAS for... hot dang, did it accomplish that!!!

The purpose was to make Sanemi and Iguro look cool, and it sure as hell did that. WHAT GOOD CHANBARA, those show-offy sword-play moves against a mob of nameless villains were just so deliciously well choreographed, and the people who can appreciate that were also likely to really appreciate the use of a castle as a purely fun battle setting. Ufotable was probably like, "Our biggest fans are nerds for KnY's touches of traditional Japanese folklore and culture, and for swords and swordplay, so you know what else will probably get them riled up? Yeah, let's give them a castle fortress."

And then everyone cheered, like, "Yes, yes, the fangirls like demonslayedher on Tumblr will never know what hit them."

But then some brilliant person spoke up and said, "You guys, I have the perfect finishing blow."

And everyone said, "What? How could we possibly top this scene that not only purely makes Sanemi & Iguro look cool, but also serves their characters and the plot nicely by showing how the Pillers don't feel they can rely on the other Corp members, and that even though they speak sharply to them they show concern for them by their actions? You know, especially slyly since anime-only fans will get to appreciate a new side of characters whom they haven't gotten to bond with much yet for only having seen their mean sides mostly and none of their battle coolness, and also slyly because the hardcore manga fans know that these two are buddies?"

And then the brilliant person says, "Let's give them that fortress."

The brilliant person was then crowned Ruler of Ufotableland and the fans lived happily ever after.

Speaking of Pillar Filler, I also want to point out how nice that opening exposition between Shinobu and Kanao was. First, what a nice way of incorporating Kanao into a nice episode that gives us a nice little dose of everyone in the Corp cast, even by adding that little scene of Amane and Ubuyashiki too. I loved the little touches that develop the Butterfly Mansion, like the fact that on the path there, they have a stone sign that says "Butterfly Mansion" and a line of carved Jizo statues (to protect travelers and (deceased) children) with little butterflies. And that moment of Nezuko frowning as the sunlight goes behind a cloud? Wonderful. And Shinobu essential saying to Kanao, "I trust you with defending everyone here in the now VERY LIKELY EVENT OF KIBUTSUJI MUZAN ATTACKING while I have to go off to a Pillar Meeting now that you're back"? I looooove iiiiiiiiit. That also says a lot about the trust other Pillars have in Shinobu to entrust her with Nezuko instead of putting any pressure on her to take part in Pillar Training, as clearly they don’t know about Tamayo, and it's really anyone's guess if they know about the poison or not (though the light novel implies Himejima might have an inkling but doesn't know). Being Pillars, though, I doubt any of them would tell her she's wrong for being prepared to take down a demon in any possible way.

I love, love, love, love the treatment of all the straight-from-the-manga scenes, like "Welcome home, Inosuke" (except for the added 'did you miss me, Aoi-chan' because canonically Aoi is the one kind of girl who is not his type), Tamayo speaking with Oyakata-sama's bird, Mitsuri's "explanation" of the mark, and every single Pillar interaction. I love the amount of respect they show to Himejima (and how Ufotable slightly expanded on this), and I am so excited for the extra Himejima content this season. In the new marketing materials released on the same day as the episode/movie, they make stark use of one of the kanji characters in his name ("cry out"), which is a very nice touch. And the use of BGM!!! Especially the touches of Giyuu's and Mitsuri's themes during the meeting!

*happy sigh*

It is nice to be a fandom citizen of Ufotableland.

[partywithponies]

BEGGING U TO ELABORATE ABOUT THE WHIFFERDILLS

OKAY OKAY listen. listen. I'll give you the brief version.

Whifferdills, originally from the Doctor Who comics, where things can get already get really weird and conceptual, are one of the most alien alien species in the Whoniverse, even by comics standards. They're shapeshifters, right? Nothing new or strange in sci-fi. Except usually when a shapshifting character or species is plot relevant and lore-important, the writer will write in some kind of limitation to their powers. Some kind of set of rules. But when it came to Whifferdills, they just... didn't.

Whifferdills can be anything. Literally. They can be inanimate objects. They can be puddles of liquid. They can be microbes. They can be the size of mountains. They don't seem to have one set default form that they revert back to, they're supposed to be always changing. Frobisher staying in one form most of the time is established to be him just being a little freak by his own species's standards, and even then, the form he stays in is. A penguin. Because he just likes penguins. Whifferdills don't age, at least not physically, unless they actively choose to, because they have conscious control over what their own bodies do at all times. They are functionally immortal. They are almost impossible to kill. Try to throw them off a cliff and they'll shapeshift instantly into something that can fly. Try to drown them and they'll shapeshift into something with gills. Throw them into a vacuum and they'll shapeshift into something that doesn't need to breathe at all. They don't inherently need to breathe at all. Shoot them or stab them and they'll just shapeshift the wound closed. In his first story Frobisher shapeshifts into a burger and survives someone literally eating part of him and is entirely unaffected outside of being mildly annoyed.

All this to say, Whifferdills are weird as hell and OP as shit. There is literally no reason to assume they reproduce sexually or organically. Why would they even? How would pregnancy even work, in a being whose body is by design supposed to be ever-changing? And how can you spend half your existence living as insects or cash registers and still have a concept of gender? Again, why would they even?

And to bring up just a few specific moments: in one comic, Frobisher (in penguin form) mistakenly believes he's laid an egg, and The Doctor (with the air of someone who's had to explain this before) tells Frobisher that this is impossible, because he's a male penguin, and Frobisher still seems a little confused by this. And to be clear, Frobisher is supposed to be highly intelligent. Frobisher is a notorious wanted criminal. Frobisher is a professional private detective. The Doctor sees Frobisher more as an equal and a partner than a companion. Frobisher plays chess against the TARDIS for fun. And Frobisher struggles to remember the difference between male and female penguins, the species he has a vaguely autistic special interest in.

And in the Big Finish audio The Maltese Penguin, Frobisher makes an offhand comment about he finds the humanoid form particularly tricky, because they have all these "odd dangly bits" that he can't see the purpose of.

I put it to you that Whifferdills do not even have a concept of biological sex or gender, because it's just so far outside of their perception of life and the universe. The TARDIS just translates Frobisher as "he" and Francine as "she" for the benefit of us the audience and the benefit of people like Peri, who in return could not even begin to fully comprehend the lived reality of a Whifferdill.

#doctor who

[mdhwrites]

What do you think about the four most popular ships in Amphibia (Sashanne, Sasharcy, Marcanne, and Sashannarcy)? Even if shipping and romance aren’t that important and only used to teach a lesson or for a comedy episode, it’s pretty obvious that the relationship between the girls can be seen either as platonic or romantic.

So I'm going to first give my one sentence thoughts on each by concept and then canon before going in deep on this:

Sashanne: A unique dynamic that is actually very context specific so hard to actually recreate and I'd argue most people don't even try or get close in fan works (myself included)/I do like them but I 100% think they needed a couple years to figure out their lives away from each other or else post Amphibia they would have likely become toxic in a new way.

Sasharcy: Classic nerd and popular pairing/FUCKING NONEXISTENT.

Marcanne: A bit more nuanced since it's much more the slacker and the passionate one as far as a dynamic goes but not in the way you expect./Held back by a lot more tell don't show, especially in the first couple episodes that Marcy is introduced but it's cute and you can EASILY see how this whole trip will have made Anne be able to appreciate her oldest friend more.

Sashannarcy: In concept these are actually a GREAT polyamory trio and I love that it has such mainstream appeal with a fandom/I don't think it works from the show's perspective because of how well defined Sasha and Anne's relationship is while Marcy struggles to have a presence.

In case you didn't notice a running theme, these ships have essentially the same problem as my greatest problem with the show: Marcy. Her weaker writing compared to the rest of the cast and the fact that she serves a narrative role more than she acts as her own character makes it hard for me to be compelled by her canon self in ships. It's akin to why Willow and Hunter don't appeal to me from a shipping perspective. I like characters, not plot devices. Yes, Marcy is better than both of those characters as she actually has a firmer character than either but that doesn't fix that her narrative utility comes before who she is most of the time.

The other big element that maybe has always held me back from shipping them in canon once I watched the show is actually the fact that I agree with the show: As teenagers, they were AWFUL for each other. Marcy needs her own, personal strength that she found some of in Amphibia but needs to actually put to use in the real world. Sasha brutally changed so much of herself and was clearly struggling with that, over correcting or still wanting to run even to the end. She asks if it's okay for her to abandon Marcy after all, even after she's gone so far to make up to Anne as to give up ALL power in her life which isn't healthy either. Anne is the closest to being ready for a relationship after Amphibia but Sprig's Birthday/Give a Frog a Cookie showed that her self sacrificing tendency for her friends and her desperation for approval still. She may do it for better people than for Sasha but she is still struggling.

They all just need time to figure themselves out as people because your relationships SHOULD NOT DEFINE YOU. That's kind of part of the point of the ending. Take the good and grow as a person, whether you lose someone by choice or by circumstance. That includes for the trio as friends or romantically.

Okay, but I did mention something potentially quite controversial which is my Sashanne take. See... Their dynamic in most fandom works is the overzealous, brash one versus the patient, more responsible one with Sasha and Anne respectively. That is accurate post Amphibia but it also carries NONE of their baggage and usually leans a lot more on Sasha's tomboy nature instead of the fact that Sasha is a girl who can both kick your ass and then worry about having chipped a nail. The complexities of Sashanne that make it so compelling in the show just don't show up as much except as an obstacle to get over to get together. That works for shipping but it's not why their friendship is as complicated and interesting as it is in the show. It doesn't have the punch it should and it's damn near impossible to replicate because that level of history is hard to depict. It only functions in the show as being well depicted because of how much time is spent essentially breaking Anne out of Sasha's control, which is part of it. Anne is someone who pretty much left a cult and Sashanne is her having to decide to now be with her cult leader but not slip back into the mentality the cult taught her. That's... not easy to put it mildly.

But then again, a lot of people just take Sasha and Anne working together for a greater cause to mean they have literally no issues anymore despite Sasha's Angels existing. I guess that happens when somehow the entire fandom doesn't give a fuck about Amphibia but only the trio. sigh

Let's end this on a positive note though which is that if I am so rough on essentially all the Sasha relationships for needing time for Sasha to genuinely internalize her lessons, Marcy is the opposite. While I complained about her above, the strength to the fact that she's a pretty well defined, nice character who can be used mostly to support others arcs is that she more neatly fits into a position for shipping. Her awkwardness and nerdiness is PRIME romance fodder (there's a reason a shocking amount of romantic protagonists are clumsy but that's for a different blog) and her passion makes it easy to understand why someone would want to be with her.

And I do want to say some thoughts on Marcanne. Even if they start on a rough place with more tell instead of show, it actually does kind of work in this context. A complaint I've had about other relationships is not actually knowing what the other is interested in their partner for besides "That's the hot one." There is ZERO ambiguity here. Marcy likes Anne because of her compassion, something she probably has worried about wearing out herself. Anne has always appreciated Marcy's intelligence but Amphibia has made her understand Marcy's passion far better than she did before and Anne clearly actually is into that now that she better cares about others properly. This also clearly shows their chemistry as we know the strengths and weaknesses each of them cover for the other, though not perfectly as they're both still human and the same things they admire in the other can cause anxiety and worry in themselves from comparing themselves to their partner. Marcy in Wartwood and Scavenger Hunt are all it takes for all of this to come out and it leads to more romantic chemistry, and a genuinely dynamic look at what they could be, than a lot of romance movies manage in their entire runtime.

In conclusion, I like all of them in general. In practice, I find most of them deeply compelling within the show. It's just... It doesn't drive me to want to write them during the show romantically because I agree with the show. They're complicated, both as a trio and as themselves, and they probably could use a more solid ground for themselves before they really start working on each other.

And that is honestly even better to me because it just makes them all the more interesting.

======+++++======

For anyone curious why I didn't talk about Sashannarcy at all despite literally being a polyamory writer, it's because I kind of wanted to keep it to the ships that I think are properly represented in the show and Marcy and Sasha get essentially zero time together to try and form a relationship beyond "Marcy thinks Sasha is really fucking cool while Sasha barely gives Marcy the time of day if she's not also giving attention to Anne." The theoretical would be fun to talk about but it's pretty much only the theoretical and I decided to keep the blog more focused on the practical.

Also had a moment after this of going "Huh. I wonder how much of me being demiromantic is playing a part in how I see these.?

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

#amphibia #Marcanne #Sashanne #Sasharcy #Sashannarcy

[oddballwriter]

Heya!! Literally been obsessed with your writing all week and there are no signs of me stopping 😭 was wondering if I could request a blurb (or hc’s if that’s easier. I don’t mind!) about any of the moon boys with an writer/author!reader? maybe reader is always going to them about plots and characters and when second opinions? add whatever you please! thank you for doing all these request for FREE btw you’re a great writer!!! 🤍🤍

Test Readers

꒦꒷꒦꒦꒷꒦꒷꒷꒦꒦꒷꒦꒦꒷꒦꒷꒷꒦꒦꒷꒦꒦꒷꒦꒷꒷꒦꒦꒷꒦꒦꒷꒦꒷꒷꒦

Summary: You're an author and the moon boys are surprisingly good feedback. 

Warnings: Mentions of some fighting in the book/story the reader is making 

Author’s Snip: I didn't want to do just Steven so I did Marc and Jake but ended up just doing those two, which I think is actually great.

Notes: I did not proof read this. 

I’ll shut up now. Enjoy! And don’t be afraid to request.

꒦꒷꒦꒦꒷꒦꒷꒷꒦꒦꒷꒦꒦꒷꒦꒷꒷꒦꒦꒷꒦꒦꒷꒦꒷꒷꒦꒦꒷꒦꒦꒷꒦꒷꒷꒦

One thing you never had to worry about as a writer was finding test readers. Because the boys were your test readers. Well, it was mostly Steven who did the reading for you chapters to see how well it flowed and if it kept people reading because, well, it's Steven. He burns through books like he gets paid to do so. But you knew Marc and Jake read them too.

In a way, it was good that they did because you knew that Steven would like anything you made. So with Marc and Jake being the type of men to just out right say their opinion was great.

"I don't like where you're taking McIntire's story and character." Marc piped up as he wrapped his arms around you while you sat with your laptop typing up something else. "How come?" you ask. "He feels too... edgy now with everything you added to him." he explains. 'Well, the point is that he's slowly remembering who he was and all the things he's done," you remark, "And he's meant to struggle with that because he doesn't think that he could ever do that as the person he is now." you add.

"Yeah, but," Marc says before scrunching his face to show that he still doesn't like how much there is. "You're right." you sigh and confess, "I was kind of thinking that he was being a little too over powered.". "It sort of takes away from why he did what he did in the first place." you mention, mostly to yourself. "I'll put more focus on that instead." you comment.

As for Jake. If you're being honest Jake is the type of reader who looks more for drama and action. Which somethings isn't needed when there's a "peace time", as you like to call it, in your chapters. But sometimes his suggestions actually work out.

"I'm just saying," Jake remarks as he watches you review over your pages for the newest chapter in your story. "These two characters have a rivalry and hatred towards each other and this is their first time meeting after everything has started the actual story." Jake explains, "So why not have them argue and have a bit of a fight." he concludes. "But this is the first time they actually have a meeting with each other. Every other time was in passing." you argue.

"Doesn't the bad guy already know who your main guy is? He's known all along, no?" Jake asks. "He has an idea that the protagonist has something to do with the legend but he doesn't know that it's him." you explain. "Well, how about the big bad comes to the realization that it is the legend that he's been seeing?" Jake suggests.

You lean forward in you seat and think as Jake goes on.

"I'm not saying have the final fight right now. What I'm suggesting is that you have them maybe get a few punches in to give your readers a taste of that the final fight might be." he says.

You tilt a brow and speak, "That's actually a pretty neat idea.".

"See." Jake teases.

#moonknight #moon knight #moon knight x reader #moonknight x reader #steven grant #marc spector #jake lockley #steven grant x reader #marc spector x reader #jake lockley x reader

[thana-topsy]

Hello! I hope this isn't too much of a loaded question, but do you have any general tips for writing? I'd like to give fanfic writing a shot at some point.

Not at all! I'm always happy to talk shop about writing! As far as general tips go, there are some things that I think everyone could benefit from, so I'll try to condense my opinions and suggestions into A Numbered List. (We'll limit it to 5 suggestions for now).

Read Actively I mean this in the sense of really chewing on whatever it is you're reading. Dig into the meat of That One Paragraph and look for things you enjoy, things that tickle your brain. I'll give an example from something I read recently, which is our lovely @kookaburra1701's newest story "Aristeia" "They crested the final hillock; Mor Khazgur dominated the shallow valley below. When she had been younger, Borgakh had often imagined the longhouse was a lazy cat asleep on a bright green rug, curled up against the rocks of the Druadach Mountains. When the stronghold’s goats were pastured in the glade, they played the role of mice scurrying about under the cat’s nose." I was just ENAMORED by this passage. The whimsy, the rhythm of some the repeating consonants -- stronghold's goats, glade -- and just the imagery it drummed up, reminding me of those fanciful imaginings of my own childhood. So don't just read a lot, but read actively. Read works that inspire you, authors that impress you, and subject matter that's similar to the type of stuff you want to be writing. And think about why you like the things your like, and draw that inspiration into your own writing. Imitate your heroes until you're no longer imitating and it's just how you write.

Accept Constructive Criticism This one is always a challenge in the beginning. The Ego is a powerful little devil, and it'll try to confuse you. It'll tell you that your value is tied to the words on the page. But I'm here to tell you that YOU are NOT the words on the page. Take an objective stance on your prose and your plot. Everyone starts somewhere and (hopefully) nobody ever stops learning or improving. NOTE: Notice I said constructive criticism. This does not mean you should let people tear your work into shreds in bad faith. Listen to people who want to see you improve and also find joy in the craft of writing.

Read Your Writing Out Loud This is kind of self-explanatory. You'll get a really good feel for your own rhythm and flow VERY easily this way. And you'll catch almost any mistakes right away.

Cut All Unnecessary Words This is getting into the technical side of things, but why not? One of the first books I read on the craft of writing (whose title unfortunately escapes my mind at the moment) contained this advice, and it is STILL something I struggle with. Obviously, when you have a character with a specific voice, sometimes they get flowery in their internal speech and observations. I'll use Aiden as an example: "The fort loomed over them, massive and severe. Aiden attempted to judge the architecture and found he wasn’t quite sure what race or nation could have possibly built it. Or when it was built, for that matter. Second era, perhaps? The design seemed more Breton than Nord: austere, angular, and formal. But so close to the Velothi mountains, it could have been Imperial."  I bolded words that don't actually add anything of value to the descriptions here. We lose nothing by cutting them out. But they're how Aiden thinks about the world around him. So I keep them to give shape to his internal processing. I'd say to try to write without these kinds of flavor words first, then start adding them in. Learn the rules before you break them, or break the habit before it becomes the ONLY way you write.

Write Every Day This one is tough in the beginning, but it's so crucial to becoming a better writer. WRITE. EVERY. DAY. Even if it's just 200 words, do it. Make it your little morning ritual or evening wind-down. Pick a time that's just for you and your words. Close all your tabs, put your phone on silent, and just write. Be alone with the world that you are trying to create. And soon enough, you'll find that you can't go a day without writing something. And what a joy that is.

That's my list! I hope you found these tips useful! I also recommend reading books on the craft of writing, too.

Best of luck on your journey! You have infinite possibilities before you.

#topsy's asks #writing meta #writing advice #on writing #fanfiction #fanfic meta

[byrhop]

Why were California and Russia plots so important

I’ve seen a lot of people complaining last summer about how the Russia and California plots were unnecessary and just a waste of time. I’m here to dive in into the brain of the duffers and tell you exactly why they did this and why it was the exact opposite.

I have 3 main points to make:

1. Developing Vecna’s background

The duffers are smart and probably already had the idea about what s4 and 5 are gonna be about while writing s3 and maybe even earlier. So put yourself in their shoes, they want to introduce this big bad that will end up being the mastermind behind everything and they need time to introduce him properly.

Now imagine this: Will, El, Joyce and Hopper are in Hawkins and the planned story for s5 would have to immediately get into motion. What’s the story? Due to the play, we can guess that Joyce and Hopper knew Henry. The dots would be connected much sooner, leaving no time for us to have a question mark over our heads trying to figure out how the Creels play into all of this.

Another thing is our dear William Byers. We know he’ll be very important in s5 and there is no way Joyce knowing Henry wasn’t connected to his s1 disappearance. Will is connected to Henry, if he were in Hawkins, this plot would start immediately. We’d have to find out more about the connection sooner, Will would again be put through supernatural hell and we’d most likely be introduced to him struggling with his sexuality through vecna which i would hate. Like this we at least got a glimpse into Will already figuring it out on his own and even accepting it.

If El hadn't lost her powers and stayed in Hawkins, she would immediately locate vecna and he would probably remind her of everything that happened… and there goes all of your time to introduce Vecna slowly with a mysterious effect to him, we’d have the same characters in supernatural mess as always and no time for sadie sink to shine. Which brings me to my second point

2. Focus on other characters

What does this mean? For example, Will is an important character who was sidelined for a while, but we know he will return to the center stage next season. In season 4, we saw that he had grown more confident, likely due to a more open-minded environment. The smaller plot that he had will become more significant in season 5.

Mike usually leads the party, but in season 4 he didn’t which led him to voice some of his insecurities. However, when was the last time something significant happened to him? I believe it will in season 5.

But, what about other characters? If we assume that Will, El, Mike, Joyce, Hopper (and probably Nancy and Jonathan) will be the main focus in the next season, when will there be time for the rest? That's why season 4 was important - it gave the Hawkins crew more focus and developed their final stories, so they only need to be finished and given proper closure. If our Cali and Russia crew were in Hawkins, there wouldn't be enough time for other characters because they would be the ones in the middle of a supernatural mess.

3. The relationships

Russia and Cali had a common theme going on when it comes to relationships. Both jopper and byler (no matter if platonic or romantic) experienced having to spend time without the other person to realize how important the relationship is to them.

Mileven struggled with issues that they didn’t even know they had before. It doesn’t matter whether mileven or byler will be endgame, we know that Mike deeply cares about both of them, and the distance definitely made him realize a lot of new things about his relationships with those two.

Jopper was on the verge of getting together last season, but his “death” made them realize there is definitely no time to waste and made their feelings for each other perfectly clear.

Conclusion

Relocating characters was important to make space for forming a background for a probably packed plot that is coming next season. If they hadn't done that, season 4 would most likely be the last season, and it would feel incredibly rushed (they even originally planned to have only 4 seasons). This gave them an opportunity to focus more on the characters and their relationships, and paved a path they're about to follow to their final closure.

Although there's still a lot of stuff left open, particularly with relationships, I feel like most of their problems can be solved with one big and important conversation. Season 5 was definitely tricky to write because there's so much going on, but if you think about it, we already know the big bad and quite a lot behind his motives, giving us 7-10 hours to give the show a proper ending without spending at least 2 hours introducing a new villain or characters. That's precisely why the way season 4 was written was extremely important.

#stranger things s5 #stranger things s4 #stranger things #will byers #mike wheeler #eleven #dustin henderson #byler #mileven #jopper #lucas sinclair #cali crew #analysis

[agentrouka-blog]

Regarding that post about 'Magical Targ Gene Attraction TM~✨'- as someone who has tried to read Jonerice fics before, some of those fics really do feel like that. Just instant attraction and pulled by magic cuz they cant be bothered to write genuine connection and actual bonding and chemistry.

Honestly? At the end of the day the main reason why I dislike this ship so much is because it gives me way too much Pretty White People couple you see in a lot of YA romances. Its so boring and def not the type of ship I want for a series like ASOIAF

(post referenced)

Yes, boring is about the only way to describe it.

Magical leads with elemental imagery are heirs to fallen dynasty, propelled into leadership positions in run-up to apocalyptic struggle, somehow inevitably fall in love to reinforce each other's Very Special Status and, thus mutually amplified, fulfill their magical lead destinies - magically.

It's the most superficial and bland reading in the world. All tropes, no substance, no twist, no development, no meaningful engagement with the central questions of the book series. I saw it be a popular theory in the fandom way back when I was a casual reader and show watcher and had never heard about jonsa yet. I was bored to tears and went right back to focusing on my darlings Sansa and Arya and Jaime and Brienne - characters whose plots seemed actually connected to character development.

Jonerys - especially this unsurprising idea of an inescapable 🌟magical connection🌟 - has nothing to do with who they are as characters or the actual meat of their individual arcs. It, in fact, utterly relies on ignoring those things. It almost requires their attraction to be forced by external factors to overcome the logical barriers inherent in their very characters.

That's why it felt so startling and satisfying when the show seemed to veer right past that stupid theory and let them be enemies in Season 7 at first. Suddenly, there was logic, compelling and consistent conflict, a deliberate crushing of that bland development everyone had been taking for granted. It was exciting! It made sense!

(I was far away from discovering jonsa as a theory then, btw.)

And then they took that away. And it felt just as bland and unmotivated as the pairing was always inevitably going to be. It relied on ignoring their characters and their arcs as it was always inevitably going to have to. Because there's no 🌟magical attraction🌟 in an adult series about political power struggles and ethical ruling and conflict management in the face of apocalyptic destruction. Only a yawning, underwhelmed "why?"

I know why I don't believe this couple will be a thing in the books. It's bad.

#anti jonerys

[kitsunefyuu]

Do you prefer Yoichi or AFO?

As characters, people or story purpose? Well if I'm honest, and likely many might not agree, like truly honest for Character and Story purpose in the canon that would be AFO. Obviously in real life I would get along with Yoichi a lot better and like him so much more. But in the story he is more of a plot device then a character. STILL WAITING ON YOICHI POV OF HIS CHILDHOOD BUT STARTING TO THINK WE AREN'T GETTING IT.

We get more out of Kudou and Bruce, while Yoichi is just oh look he so tragic. But man isn't even allowed to speak his own story or express himself fully. 😭

Note I love Yoichi I do, but his personality is basically, heroic, first user and AFO little brother. He gives basically NOTHING for me story wise to work with at the moment. And when you aren't someone that into his ships that personality that makes him even harder to write with. You would think we get something in the back story right? But his role is still very much the same, heroic baby brother and AFO little brother. It never delved into.

It does allow more freedom to decide whatever, but I don't LIKE deciding whatever. If it isn't obvious when I write I only write using what canon has actually shown as evidence in their personality. And this is the thing I struggle with when writing Yoichi. We've been given crumbs on Yoichi EVEN THOUGH his life was just as shitty he seems... Fine???

I seriously doubt that but canon isn't showing me anything and he's so detached from AFO it kind of makes me go wtf you're so heartless. Like yeah he an ass but aren't you a little sad about him dying or just some pity- Closest thing was him talking to AFO and Kudou in that flashback but even that was from AFO AND KUDOU POV. Like are you serious? Give this man something!!!

And it means I struggle to write with him as don't have any introspection of him to work with along with his lack of talking point not involving his brother.

Doesn't mean I can't, as I try my best to make the closest assessment to his character as I can. But it why I end up more drawn to AFO when it comes to the stories I write.

I prefer AFO and he is my favorite character. Would I like the adult self in real life? Hell no, I would despise adult him but that natural as he still a bad person, but as a character and for a story he is amazing. He is someone that is shown many different layers among all the lies, falsehood, and denial. The backstory shown gave me so much to chew on because his childhood was a god damn mess. I can write tragic stuff because I know how he would handle it, basically not well at all with dissociating and denial.

It showed him surviving in a cruel world where those were power were scorned and hated. How he and his brother were neglected as well as ignored like Tomura were. The dead look in his eyes, how he struck out against those talking about attacking metahumans. How he tried to bond with Yoichi and related to the villain surrounded by people.

How he wanted everyone to be like Yoichi, aka someone he provided for and always looked at him. To be acknowledged always by everyone and relied on.

As people I adore Yoichi more. But for writing and story purposes, AFO is my god damn favorite poor little meow meow. As I love the tragedy and torture that comes into creating such a monster. To show my sympathies and pity for the man who couldn't be anything but this.

Now saying all that. Give me some Yoichi backstory from his POV god dammit. I'm struggling writing him and I'm doing my best with the scraps given.

#All for One BNHA #all for one mha #yoichi shigaraki #all for one #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #yoly's talks #Shigaraki Yoichi

[schafpudel]

Epidemiology of the Raven's Blood

Part 0: Prologue

Realistically, the blood does things because it's convenient to the plot of the anime, and no deeper thought needs to be put in than that. However, while it does explain inconsistencies in its writing, it's boring and not fun to my pattern-seeking brain. I like to piece together coherent internal logic to stuff in fiction, even if I know the authors themselves didn't think that hard about it. It's fun to me!

At the same time, Princess Tutu's meta-fictional conceit does give us some wiggle room to borrow the Doylist understanding and smuggle it back into a Watsonian explanation. So...

In-universe, I think, the purpose of the Raven’s Blood can be understood as a plot device to easily convert a separate “character” and their body into a narrative extension of the Raven; that this is why Drosselmeyer would write it into the logic of his story. Bored of a character you introduced previously and want to heighten the stakes? They're a toadie of the Raven now. And when we go a level down in fictionality...

To the Raven, other living things exist to be exploited. The only use you can have, beyond being a meal, is being a pawn who can get it what it wants – and what it wants is to consume. Like some ancient castle-bound vampire or wicked dragon, its power and intelligence are ultimately in service of a simple predatory desire. If you are neither edible nor manipulable, you are simply a nuisance.

Diseases and parasites will manipulate pain and pleasure, fear and love, the body and the brain. But while a real disease or parasite’s goal in psychological and physiological manipulation is to reproduce, to turn the infected into a means by which to spread itself to new hosts... the Raven's curse is uninterested in this. What matters, to the Raven, is that the cursed becomes a minion and a pawn, who can bring its prey closer to its own mouth.

Part 1: Lay All Your Love On Me

Did you know rabies induces spasms of fear and hallucinations in its victims, to get them to bite? That the characteristic fear of water is caused by the virus tightening its victims throats if they even think of drinking, all to the end of preventing the miserable animal from washing away its contagion-rich saliva? It presses levers and pushes buttons of abject misery on the control panel of the animal, on its quest to get what it wants.

One symptom of the Raven’s blood illustrated by Mytho’s progression that fascinates me is pain. This is not simply a magic juice that makes you evil; it is a sickness.

Let’s look at the the scene in episode 19, where Kraehe dances a pas-de-deux with (a clearly pained, unwilling, and unhappy) Mytho to try and convince him to “give in” to the Raven’s Blood and become her prince. She succeeds, causing Mytho to become possessed by Raven!Mytho, who immediately retaliates that he’s owed her love as a prince and that she should love him more, and him alone. (Strange, as Kraehe/Rue has never once indicated that she has any romantic feelings towards anyone else at all…)

What’s odd is what happens immediately after this point. Mytho’s eyes widen, as if what he’s just said has triggered some kind of… realization. We then see him tremble and close his eyes as they shift from pink to gold and back, indicating – as always – either a struggle between Raven!Mytho and “the Real Mytho,”or a struggle by Mytho against the Raven’s blood influence. (It often seems the show isn’t entirely sure whether to treat Raven!Mytho is a corrupted mental state and therefore part of Mytho, or as an intrusive raven persona possessing an agency-less Mytho’s body against his will.)

Mytho, once again under the blood’s control, pushes Kraehe away and stumbles off, clutching himself in a self-hug as he mutters about not having enough love. The crows rejoice as Kraehe looks on sadly.

This is clearly, from context, not just about Raven!Mytho needing to acquire love for sacrifices, because demanding more love from Kraehe would not accomplish that goal. He feels like he needs love, exclusively directed at him, from as many sources as possible. Viscerally, like a hunger or an addiction. And it hurts. The audience is invited to share Rue’s concern and sadness at this pitiful sight.

(This narrative choice *gets* at me a little, because we are not normally meant to sympathize with Raven!Mytho. By and large, he is treated as an unambiguously evil Other that has usurped the “real” Mytho’s body and identity. Yet here, he elicits pity. The monster in the prince is pitiful.)

Here’s the same body language earlier, in episode 15, as Raven!Mytho meets Pique to sacrifice her:

Saying he needs her love immediately reads as an act of manipulation: “only you can give me what I need” as emotional priming for the ritual phrase that will turn her into a willing sacrifice. It also reads as simply a statement that he needs her for the purpose of the sacrifice. (It is, of course, able to be said openly because Pique does not have the context to know this, and accordingly run the fuck away.)

But going back after episode 19, this moment (and several others, on a rewatch) feels a little... re-contextualized. All the above is still true, yes. But it also seems that Raven’s Blood Mytho really does feel like he needs other people’s love, on a visceral, gnawing level.

And the Raven eats love.

'I'm in control of the situation', Raven!Mytho said, sweating, "I'm not getting owned,"

If a real parasite did this - if, say, there was some animal that rewired its victims brains in such a way that they could only feel relief from pain when taking steps towards feeding it or its young - it would be internet famous for its insidiousness. Can't you imagine? There'd be a Bogleech.com article and everything.

As Mytho’s condition progresses towards its final stage from episode 21 onwards, we see these feelings explicitly infect the psyche of Mytho further, shown physically trembling as he describes his disorientation and confusion:

By the end of episode 23, Mytho's... condition has run its full course. Yet the pain continues, and it only gets more obvious that these are spasms of literal, physical pain. In episode 24, Mytho shudders in pain as he screams, clutches his chest, does some agitated fouettés, bows over in pain again, and then jumps out the door as he begs for somebody, anybody to dance with him.

We also get confirmation that the physical pain is accompanied by emotional pain, such as intensified feelings of loneliness:

(And, judging from other scenes, as well as Rue's behavior, intensified jealousy too.)

But Mytho cannot get anyone to dance with him, in this state.

(Saying the Raven "awakened" him, in episode 19 - did he mean the suite of demonic powers that the Raven's Blood has granted him? Did he mean the uncharacteristic charisma, eloquence, and manipulative cunning that burned in him like a fever while under its power? Those boons were all just to make it easier for him to seduce prey to feed the Raven. He loses them all once he's outlived that purpose.)

(No need for the infected slowly lure prey in with a silvered tongue and honeyed charms when they have a big strong beak to peck hearts out of chest, after all.)

He is no longer useful as a lure for prey.

His only remaining use to the Raven is as food himself.

Part 2: Serving Your Heart On A Platter

(In its own post on account of the image limit.)

For now, though, our conclusions:

1. Mytho's life is terrible. It is known.

2. Rue probably suffers from magically and emotionally induced chronic pain!!! and has her entire life!!!

Thanks for coming to my Lecture. See you next time for Part 2.

#princess tutu

[k-s-morgan]

︎This is the first time ever I'm writing to a writer as I'm a lil anxious about my English. But after many years of reading your flawless work (TGSTLTH), I really couldn't hold myself anymore; if I stay silent one more second, I'm going to explode from repressed emotions.XD

I'm absolutely going crazy over your storytelling. I think nobody -and I do mean NOBODY- was this close to perfection with the characterization of Sebastian and Ciel. It's like you are working together with Yana herself. You've really managed to catch every aspect of their relationship that made this whole storyline (manga and anime) the way it's been, which seems to be the entire reason why I still can't get over Kuroshitsuji. It's just so dark and dramatic... the bitter power struggle between these two and the way they compete for control —which is pretty entertaining to see when you think about it because both parties are unable to maintain any type of control or authority over the other.

From what I see, this fandom has mixed feelings about S2 of the anime. Some love it, some ignore its whole existence, and some people are okay with it. Unfortunately, I'm the second one. I like the story arcs that are canon to the manga. When I first started to read TGSTLTH, I really thought that fanfic would follow the storyline without S2 in it since you reflect the complexity of the bond they share as a human and demon so prettily. I've always wondered if Ciel, as-twelve-years-old brat, managed to become Sebastian's living hell, how much of a pain in the ass he would be as he grows older. And the plot has several unresolved mysteries that have not been addressed yet. That's why I'm not a big fan of S2; it closes off all the possible ways this story can go as its ending. However, you are the only one who could warm me up to S2; I trust you.

I read the snippets. It was surprising to see Ciel doubting his appearance. I was questioning whether his look-alike was truly superior or if it was just the circumstances influencing his perception. I feel like it's mainly his fear of not being good enough for Sebastian to stay. Which explains his continuous freak-out about the possibility of his soul being unworthy. And I clearly remember Sebastian thinking, "The boy wasn't nearly as pretty" upon seeing him.

Your talent is exceptional and beyond comparison. Please never stop writing. Stay safe...❤❤

B.

Ps. If my English is difficult to read or understand, please feel free to ignore this.

Hi! Please don't worry, your English is absolutely fine! I'm so happy you've been enjoying Those Gentle Slopes so much, and I'm honored that you feel like I did justice to Ciel and Sebastian. They are my favorite characters, and Ciel is probably my most favorite character ever, across all fandoms, so I really treasure the chance to work with them and get such lovely feedback from other readers.

With S2, yes, it created a lot of controversy in the fandom, but also yes, I love it with my whole heart! I always call it a love letter from Sebastian to Ciel. I do have some issues with it, like the exccessive sexualization in general and of Hannah in particular - it feels just awkward sometimes, but the main plot and especially the resolution make me ridiculously happy.

I agree that the bond between a demon and a human is fascinating. I enjoy exploring it a lot, and I so look forward to all the adventures Ciel and Sebastian will have. But I also think that it cannot go on like this forever: even if Ciel got older, sooner or later, something wuld have to give. He'd either die from old age, which would feel like a very underwhelming ending to me, or Sebastian would eat his soul likepromised - but then I'm sure we'd have ended up with the Red Valentine development, where he's lonely, miserable, and missing Ciel. The idea of Ciel becoming a demon in a way that puts such a strain on his relationship with Sebastian - it's like a new life for their bond. So many new conflicts and possibilities could emerge from it - new settings, new events, new power struggles. If you stick around, I really hope you'll like it! And I really appreciate your trust.

And yes, you're absolutely right, Ciel is prettier than his look-alike (at least from how I envision it). Sebastian probably overestimates the difference between them a bit because he's biased in Ciel's favor while Ciel is freaking out because he's been feeling insecure and unworthy for a while at this point, and learning about Sebastian's second contract was just the last blow. These two idiots…

Thank you for your wonderful ask again! I hope you enjoy the next chapter.

#my fics #sebaciel #black butler #kuroshitsuji #ciel phantomhive #sebastian michaelis

[five-of-cr]

here's the thing about matthias: he isn't the honorable, reformed hero some of the fandom seems to see him as.

yes, he was raised by a tight-knit family of comrade soldiers and decides to betray them in the end. of course that took incredible strength. i don't deny that. but we also need to recognize that the drüskelle are not just some rogue cult. they are a core part of the fjerdan government, who is trying to wipe out the grisha because they are seen as dangerous. that's literally just genocide. however indoctrinated someone is, this is something that is evil from every angle, even if the character can't or won't see it.

and look, i love a good redemption arc, but matthias is such a passive actor in his. he falls in love with nina against his will. she changes his attitudes toward grisha because she's beautiful and kind so all grisha can't be bad, right? this a classic example of the trope of separating the "good ones" from the rest, where you cherry-pick specific individuals to point to as exceptions to a group's nature, which is still implied to be evil. you have to do a lot more than fall in love to truly unearth and address the roots of bigotry.

tbh, this is my biggest critique of the books as a whole. i loathe the "love conquers all" trope that pairs together a character from the oppressed group and one from the oppressors, letting the one show the other through the power of love that being bigoted is not nice. it puts all the responsibility on the former to prove their humanity, and gives all the credit to the latter's ability to be persuaded to recognize it. and then it inevitably leads to forgiveness, because the character has "earned" it by changing their views, once again making the victim seem like the villain if they don't absolve the oppressor of their past "mistakes". also, it's incredibly unrealistic for someone to fall in love with a person who actively hates them and considers them sub-human. in real life, people have to work on their bigotry before that happens, not use the relationship as a plot device for character development.

i think the idea of writing a character like matthias is neat. i think portraying someone's struggle to throw off the suffocating, hateful dogma they've been fed all their life is a story we need more of. i think personal growth of this variety should be celebrated, because otherwise people would never change. but i don't think the people, fictional or real, get to do this without facing profound consequences. it is not enough to feel sorry. it is not enough to apologize. it is definitely not enough to fall in love. and i think writing that lets people off the hook like this grossly oversimplifies power and oppression, and ends up being a feel-good way to romanticize people who cause a lot of harm.

a last note: my opinion is 100% influenced by my being bipoc. matthias is a classic aryan supremacist, even if being aryan isn't the thing he's being supremacist about. my gut reaction to that type of character is always going to be mistrust, both because people in real life have given me reason to be mistrustful and because characters like these are often written in a way that makes you sympathize with oppressors. i don't think matthias earns that trust, and i don't see why i owe him my affection as a reader.

#i know i'm usually a 'haha silly little textpost' blog (and don't get me wrong i still am) but this has been on my mind for a while #to be clear i don't think you have to hate him as a character to be a morally upstanding person #and there's nothing inherently wrong about relating to him either #but i do think we as a fandom (a very white one at that) need to acknowledge this #especially because it carries over beyond fiction #stories are powerful and the messages we take from them stick with us even after we close the book #plus even by the end he still is very bigoted #and i realize that he would have had more time to work on himself if he hadn't... y'know #but that's why i like fanon matthias a lot better #he's usually further along in his unlearning process or he actually has to experience that process in a realistically painful way #in fact i really *like* matthias fanon where he actually grapples with his hatred and comes out a better person for it when it's done well #i.e. when he isn't simply forgiven by everyone (especially nina) because he says sowwy #i am thankful to leigh bardugo for creating this universe AND i think she fumbled the matthias redemption arc #nuance!! it exists!!! #ok rant over #also absolutely NO calahan hate on this post #in this house we do not equate characters with their actors #soc #soc spinoff #matthias helvar #helnik #nina zenik #sab #six of crows #save six of crows #save shadow and bone #shadow and bone #crooked kingdom #grishaverse

[literaryspinster]

I’m on ch 3 of your limoreau fic and I’m struggling a bit with the decision to make Powerlad racist, why does every story about Black people have to involve racism as a plot device?

I don’t believe it does. I just made that specific choice because one of the big themes of that story (and The Boys itself) is toxic celebrity culture, and I wanted to convey that theme in a way that felt somewhat high stakes without getting into big conspiracy territory or putting Marie through what Starlight went through (or any other sort of physical violence).

A privileged celebrity having their problematic nature exposed, only for their fans and those in power to go out of their way to protect them, often at the expense of the less protected people in their orbit, is something I’ve witnessed online multiple times, and as a Black woman it’s exhausting to see. I can only imagine what that’s like for those more directly affected. That’s kind of what I wanted to explore with that plotline.

I also don’t think racism is a thing that just exists in media to make Black people feel like they can never escape it. It’s an actual part of our lives. I’ve been disrespected and hurt on account of my race, and while the fact that that’s happened doesn’t define me, or even figure into my day to day life as much as it once did, it is something I’ve felt the need to grapple with in various ways, including through writing. I also address queerphobia and sexism but racism is what I feel the most equipped to unpack because it’s what I’ve dealt with the most in my interactions with people (I’m a part of the queer community but quite straight-presenting, and am not a part of a profession or lifestyle that’s heavily associated with men or manliness, so sexism isn’t something I tend to feel on a visceral level).

Furthermore, I believe racism is one of the ‘isms that speculative fiction actually tends to be the shyest about. I’ve watched plenty of mainstream content where sexism is addressed repeatedly, meanwhile race is never commented on in any way in spite of the cast of characters being racially diverse (The Beauty and the Beast remake is the example that stands out the most to me). Or I’ve seen white women dealing with sexism and only Black men dealing with racism while the Black women in the story are just kind of there (i.e. Outlander, a show I could not finish in spite of all of the praise it received). Or some entirely fictional creature or concept is meant as the stand in for racism. I understand wanting to read about different things, but I do believe that there’s a middle ground between making our stories entirely about race and just pretending that it doesn’t exist.

All that being said. Fanfic is meant for escapism, I get that. I wasn’t trying to make anyone feel annoyed or let down or anything like that, I was just doing what I always do when I’m writing a fanfic that’s not a complete AU, playing in someone else’s sandbox with someone else’s toys. The Boys is all about satirizing topics like public bigotry (and yeah, it’s a Gen V fic but the point of it was to imagine them in The Seven so therefore on The Boys). I’m not always a fan of how they go about it, but I do appreciate its point of view a fair amount more than something like South Park, or even the show’s own source material. I doubt I would have stuck with it for three seasons if that wasn’t the case. So when writing for a show that frequently lampoons racists and other types of ridiculous people, the decisions made with Powerlad came pretty naturally. If I’d known I’d be disappointing people to this degree (you aren’t the first to comment on this) then I would have maybe gone in a different direction. To be honest the criticism has taken the wind out of my sails a bit.

In spite of everything, the rest of the story is planned out and partially written. Even though the fandom is understandably in a bad place right now, I hope the way everything plays out feels rewarding to people who choose to finish.

#limoreau #gen v #the boys #marie moreau #i didn’t mean to write a whole novel 😅 #fanfic