#[[ he's trying so hard xD ]]

[boombambaby]

Blinks. "What, like Emperor robes? You want to turn me into a chinchilla, dress me in Emperor robes and put a bow on me. Wow, my hottie hot hottie is a weirdy weird weirdo." THAT was supposed to be an inside thought! Just like the time he caught her going crazy over the llama smashing game at Mudka's. "You're still very much a hottie, though." She is. Don't give him the pout, it's almost worst than the stare! Now he feels bad. "Normal girlfriends don't try to dress their chinchilla boyfriends up-- you know that right?" Kuzco softens at the sight of her looking so sad and sighs, slinging an arm around her shoulders and giving her a squeeze. It's only a half hug, in case she still wants to slug him. "Of course I don't still have it. I told you I broke it off-- you're the only hottiest one for me, Malina." He means it, too! "As long as you don't try to rearrange the palace, and paint my throne."

"News flash for yourself, my darling! They do! And also they can get dressed in cute little robes, which I will make you wear by the way. Period!" She pouts and crosses her arms. He should start praying for Inti to save him alright. After all that jealousy she's experiencing because of his provoking, she will get revenge alright. "And my boyfriend is a jerk for not letting me baby him as a chinchilla". Malina sniffs dramatically now, starting to feign sadness. Talk about throwing tantrums.

"Uh.. n-no.. OK YES i did! But it was to investigate where did you disappear to! Ah I see. That famous girlfriend of yours... you don't have that now, do you?" Malina figdets with her fingers and she feels uneasy at the thought of her boyfriend having something of his ex. Phew she truly believes his little lie. Malina, instead of giving him her Malina Stare, sighs defeated and stops fidgeting with her fingers, she looks at the ceiling trying her best to ignore his unfortunate comments about that hottie princess and how he was mesmerized by her at first. "As much as I hate to agree, you're right. We weren't. But we're now so I want to know who's your hottie, her or me?!"

[zu-is-here]

romantic,,, ♡

[letsmcfreackingloseit]

And for the holidays I give you memes! Memes everywhere!

I hope that all of you are having a wonderful time, but if not, I at least hope these silly doodles brought you a little joy!

I'm going to keep this short and sweet today, so to round this of: These doodles are based off of the fanfic Apex Polarity, which is written by the lovely @naffeclipse and Eclipse' design is based off of @themeeplord 's fantastic design!

And as a bonus, you will find an alteration and a bunch of Yeti slogans/puns under the cut:

and if you're wondering why I made so many gd yeti puns, it was for michael's mug. You gotta have some fitting and funny slogan for all mugs. Btw If any of you know some good yeti slogans and/or puns, please call me, I've been struggling.

Michael; local cryptid believer, but not cryptid enjoyer

Vanessa; POLAR BEARS

Eclipse; I'm having the best time of my life! :D

Y/n; I'm having A TIME :')

[codenamejudas]

"Alright. So. You can either camp in one spot. Like, say, a ten foot radius. OR. You can spend the day hiking a trail."

"And if I'm doing one, then I can always just go do the other one at the exact same time." He knows what Judas is getting at, but watching Judas get so frustrated about this is adorable. So, Jaden's choosing violence in this house tonight.

[shepscapades]

shep I was talking to my brother about dbhc xisuma as one does and mentioned that ask about not being able to puzzle xisuma's face together mentally and my brother joked that the reason you put the spoiler bars and such on his face is cause you cant draw his whole face yet 😂

anyway I might have talked his ear off about dbhc idk tho lmao

LMAOO NOOOO!!! MY SECRET FINALLY IS OUT!!! /silly

[animenotaizai-art]

Doodles, doodles~

[pixelatedraindrops]

Happy Birthday Yakou! 🚬💙🎉

The best roommate, mentor, boss, father figure and caretaker Yuma could ask for💕

I had to try to make something for him. I’ve grown to adore him almost as much as yuma as I kept putting them in various scenarios the past half year.

(its kinda for both of them since their birthdays are only a day apart from each-other??)

So yeah, birthday cuddles for them both~ 💜💙

[s2pdoktopus]

There weren't enough fanfics to satisfy my inner GinZura trash so... I drew this...

[a-spacecadet]

Thinking about how the animals from the Madagascar movies don't actually talk...

If we were to watch the movie how it was really happening it would be just a bunch of animals making indiscriminate noises at each other lmao

[thatscarletflycatcher]

Tumblr isn't letting me find again @fictionadventurer's and my own posts on epistolary novels, but I have been thinking about it again, because I fell down a Goodreads review rabbit hall and I have thoughts again.

So many people dislike the style, and honestly, I don't blame them, because it's so often done... not well. It is in some aspects, a deceptively easy one, and in others, deceptively hard. And because I'm trying to write a novel with this format myself, I have been thinking about what makes or breaks an epistolary novel.

I talked yesterday about TGLPPS, because it is an interesting case to analyze. I have thought many times about it, and cannot think of a single non-merely-aesthetic reason for it to be told in an epistolary style. A lot of it depends on -British- people who have survived some terrible war conditions willingly opening up to a stranger about their experiences, and that's made... even more difficult if the medium is letters? typically writers will appeal to tropes like making the reserved character drunk, or have them share an extreme experience in isolation with the stranger to create sudden intimacy. None of this is possible in writing; if anything, one is much more self-conscious about the things one writes than the things one says; verba volant, scripta manent.

It seems to me the story would have flowed much more naturally if Juliet had been stranded on Guernsey for some reason -like the first author herself!- suddenly Dawsey commenting that he got a book from her library makes so much more sense! Yes, certainly, if you met a stranger out there, and they introduce themselves and you realize you have a book that once belonged to them, you would tell them so! And it is in this way that the epistolary format does violence to a story that would otherwise sound much less contrived.

Another problem is the large cast of characters and multiple settings. For all I complain about Dracula, Stoker manages this pretty well (of course he has the model of The Woman in White, but TWiW has fewer povs), at least on the first half, because structurally the storylines of the characters are converging, and that does a lot to guide the reader in the understanding of the character's relationships. TGLPPS's relationship structure is more of a multidirectional flow chart, and that becomes confusing really fast.

Another novel I read reviews for recently is one set in WWI, composed of back and forth letters between two lovers torn apart by war, and one common complaint was... that the climactic scenes, the times they meet, etc all happen... off-camera. It is a fair complaint, but also one I cannot really blame the author for, because that's what usually happens with real life compilations of letters of that kind. Sure, usually the editor/compiler will fill in the blanks sometimes and add an epilogue of sorts explaining what happened afterwards, and that is possible if you are writing it fictionally too, but some may think it spoils the effect of immediacy and whatnot, which, fair too.

But it makes me think of how aware Jean Webster was of these difficulties, and how deftly she managed them in both Daddy Long-Legs and Dear Enemy. Both novels have aged badly in terms of content and message, but they are very interesting stylistically.

DLL is a bildungsroman with a dash of romance; through Judy's letters to daddy long-legs we can see how she grows as a person, gaining independence intellectually and economically, and as a writer, as her grammar and vocabulary change and grow. Between making Judy an orphan who hates the orphanage where she has lived her whole life, and one where she lived past the usual age of being thrown into the world, Webster does away with the need for letters between Judy and her friends and family: all her friends and family are her college roommates and her benefactor, who is the person she writes to. The benefactor scheme also makes it so that she doesn't have to write dll's replies, which in turns makes it much more natural and acceptable for the reader when Judy writes him the ending's love letter describing the feelings and impressions of their finally meeting in person and in truth; Judy has become a writer, and she is so used to write to him as another person all the time, that it just makes sense for her to write to him one more letter at the point where her benefactor and her lover become one and the same person. She has written a novel where the core is the correspondence between lovers AND managed to include as well all the moments of their meetings that we would otherwise miss.

Dear Enemy is a similar, but longer and more ambitious story. Instead of one relationship-connection (Judy and Daddy's), we have Sallie as a nod of connections: she's Judy's friend, Jarvis' "employee", the boss of several characters, has a tense colleague-boss relationship with the visiting doctor, a boyfriend of sorts in Washington, and a family we have met before. It is, in that way, a similar setup to TGLPPS: a urban girl of means becomes a fish out of water in a different setting till she ends up assimilating to it, and settling definitely through marriage. But Webster does a few things differently to make it click.

For starters, it is clear to her that this is the story of Sallie's maturation -I have sometimes talked of Dear Enemy as a novel where a Mary Crawford-like character undergoes a transformation arc. The happenings and stories she meets and tells Judy about along the way serve this arc, besides standing on their own as case studies to illustrate the problems, ideology and solutions proposed to the secondary themes of the story (education and social reform). I feel like TGLPPS is much more interested in Guernsey's survival through the war, in which case Juliet's story is already a frame, which, again, makes the epistolary format cumbersome rather than complementary.

Dear Enemy adds more correspondents, but it is very austere/economical with them, and narrows the letters we see to only those Sallie sends. YMMV regarding if it was too much cutting or not, but the undeniable effect is structural soundness; you are never confused by what is happening or who is writing to whom. We can guess the Honorable Cyrus Wykoff probably wrote some indignant letters to Jervis, and those would be funny to read, but... would they be worth the break in the flow of the narrative? I don't think so. To this effect, just having Sallie write a line to the effect of "I expect at this point you have at hand an irate letter from the Hon. Cyrus" is enough to paint a picture for the reader. Perhaps a letter or two from Dr. MacRae would have helped develop his character more -definitely a first read of the story obscures how much misdirection there is in Sallie's narration to Judy, which in turns tends to create an impression of suddenness to the closing letter that doesn't come across well to the reader.

The choice of Sallie mainly writing to Judy is, IMO, a really good one too. It not only establishes a connection with DLL, but it also allows for the intimacy that makes disclosure believable (something TGLPPS struggles with, as I mentioned above). When you add a few letters to the doctor and Gordon and Jervis, you also get a better perspective of Sallie's personality, how she deals not only with a friend, but with acquaintances, romantic partners and coworkers.

From all this it is pretty evident that for Webster the main function of epistolarity as format is aiding in showing psychological and moral development. But that's not the only thing the format can be really good for: perspective is another, and Austen uses it to great effect in both Lady Susan and Lesley Castle.

Both stories deal with mainly static characters, but who have very strong perspectives of the same situation, and it is this singularity of setting and story that anchors the narrative to avoid confusion, while the variety of perspective brings interest. In Lady Susan, we are dealing mainly with the marrying off of Frederica and seduction of Mrs. Vernon's brother, Reginald. There where Lady Susan paints Frederica as an undisciplined, irrational and ungrateful daughter, her sister in law, Mrs. Vernon, paints her as a sweet girl and a victim of her mother's ruthlessness and lack of love. Both agree that Reginald is being seduced, but, of course, with opposite goals: Lady Susan wants him to succumb, Mrs. Vernon, to escape, and this is a delicious struggle for the reader to follow!*

Lesley Castle being an earlier effort, and unfinished, does show some of the defects I have mentioned before (mainly, the relative confusion of having several correspondents in separate storylines), but illustrates well this same perspective effect: Margaret writes to Charlotte about the new Lady Lesley, and the new Lady Lesley writes to Charlotte about about Margaret and her sister... and in these contrasts lies the main interest of the narrative.

Some conclusions to these musings, then:

Not every story is suited to the epistolary format.

The epistolary format seems to work the best when it is used for either A) showcase psychological and moral development B) to play with perspective on people and/or events.

One of the main difficulties of the format is finding a narrative element to anchor and structure the letters around.

It must have a core couple of correspondents, or at most, two. More than that will make it confusing (unless, perhaps, the story is very short and about a single event or two).

A delicate balance must be found so that the secondary correspondence doesn't cut the flow of the main one, and if possible it must feed into it.

*It is interesting how Love and Friendship, being such a delightful -and I sustain one of the best ever- Austen adaptation, is by force of the perspective switch towards a more impersonal third person, more about a love story between Frederica and Reginald than a struggle between Lady Susan and Mrs. Vernon. Which isn't dissimilar to how adaptations of DLL end up being more about the romance between the leads than Judy's coming of age in college; tropes aside, I feel like if the epistolary format is well embedded in the story, it's going to be nearly impossible to reproduce the effect in adaptation.

[handsomethrowrug]

@musemelodies - Continued from here

-

Oof. Tetchy. For once, Scar was trying to be polite and sociable, and instead he gets greeted with raised hackles.

"Oh please. Take a deep breath before you pop a blood vessel from stress. I was merely asking out of curiosity. Like I said, meerkats aren't commonly found so close to Pride Rock." This was why Scar didn't usually reach out to chat. Animals always took it the wrong way. Wonder why that was?

"And it isn't like I'm deliberately watching you. There are only a certain few types of animals that pass this close to Pride Rock. Anyone who casts a glance out toward the plains would notice a new face."

[in-my-loki-feels]

Currently in my "scarf up any merchandise I can find" stage of President Loki obsession. There is, sadly, a real dearth of it. :(

[indiefox]

wow look at these puppies do you think anything will happen to them

[skyward-floored]

Ooooh, another thought for your Incredibles au writing! I know you've already done a Malon rescues Time from Majora, but could you maybe continue your story from Plane and simple, where they have to rescue him now from Dark Link? (I've finally read through everything you've got on AO3 for this au, and I'm at work for three more hours, but I had to get this to you before I forgot!) Thank you, you're amazing! 💖💖💖

I’ll be honest with you, I haven’t written much of that scene yet! (though I am planning to!) XD

I’m sort of working my way through the movie events starting at the beginning (with changes of course!) and since Time being freed is a later on one, I don’t have very much of it written.

Buuuuut, all that being said, I have worked a fair amount on the scene that comes directly after Plane and Simple. They’re not at the point of saving Time yet, but it’s leading up to it. And since you asked so nicely and I’d hate to leave you without anything, I’ll share the scene as it is right now! It still needs a little editing, and is subject to change of course, but this is what I’ve got so far :)

(The scene before this one)

———

Malon brushed some sopping wet hair out of her face, looking around at all her sons treading water alongside her. They all looked pale and shocked, eyes wide with adrenaline, and were looking to her for direction.

She took a deep breath, ignoring all her aches and pains she had received in the past ten minutes or so, and pushed away her anxiety.

Time to get down to business.

“All right. Those were short-range missiles. Land-based,” she explained, then pointed off towards where the trails from the missiles were still in the sky, lit by the setting sun. “That way is our best bet.”

“You want to go toward the people that tried to kill us?” Wild gaped, and Malon nodded.

“If it means land, then yes.”

Legend frowned from his piece of debris, brushing his bangs out of his face. “Surely you don’t expect us to swim there?”

“It’s gotta be miles away,” Wind murmured.

Malon gave them all a firm look. “I expect you all to trust me. We’ll make it work, just like we always do. Now come on, let’s get to work.”

They quickly rigged up a flotation device then, pulling debris together with Malon’s lasso to create a rather messy raft. Malon held her rope tight as they all piled on, almost afraid the raft would fall apart if she let go, but the knots held. Legend turned into a rabbit to save space, and Hyrule quietly held him as Wild kicked his legs with his super speed, propelling them across the waves, Wind helping where he could.

Land eventually came into view, just like Malon had said, but it was well after dark by the time they all made it to shore and dragged themselves up onto the beach, both physically and mentally spent.

Malon collapsed on the ground, taking a moment to let her aching muscles relax, and glanced over at who had landed next to her. Wild lay a little ways away, looking half asleep on the sand as he breathed heavily, exhausted from helping propel the raft. He caught her staring and shifted to look back, still out of breath.

“What a trooper,” she murmured with a smile, reaching over and brushing a hand through his hair. “Good job hon. I’m so proud of you.”

Wild smiled tiredly back. “Thanks mom.”

They all eventually dragged themselves to their feet, making their way up the beach and to a nearby cave. Twilight and Legend gathered a few pieces of driftwood so they could make a small fire to dry off with, and by the time it was built, most of them were shivering from their damp hair (though the suits were doing their job, Malon realized to her relief).

The warmth helped though, and soon they were all huddling around the little fire. Wind and Wild were both leaning tiredly against Twilight, looking half awake, and Hyrule sat next to Legend, the two of them slightly huddled together.

After a long while, Malon let out a tense breath, and they all turned to look at her.

“I think your father is in trouble.”

Legend snorted at that. “In case you haven’t noticed mom, we’re not doing so hot ourselves.”

A few chuckles went up at that, and Malon stood, sufficiently dried and rested from her time by the fire. She stretched a bit, loosening her stiff muscles, then dusted off her pants.

“I’m going to look for him. And that means you’re in charge until I get back Twilight,” she instructed.

“Aw, what?” Wild and Legend complained at the same time.

Twilight smiled. “You heard her.”

“Mom, you can’t just go by yourself,” Wind protested worriedly, “these guys are—”

“Dangerous,” Malon interrupted. “And trust me, I’ve been in this sort of situation many times. I know what to expect, and you all don’t, so I want you to stay here and stay safe.”

She reached into her pocket then, pulling out the masks Fi and Ghirahim had given her, which she handed over to her boys.

“Put these on,” she said, and they all gave her slightly confused looks. “Your identity is your most valuable possession here. Protect it. And if anything goes wrong, use your powers.”

Wind frowned. “But you always say never to use our powers in...”

“I know what I said!” Malon said with a surge of exasperation, and they all went quiet. She sighed and took a steadying breath, then gave Wind an apologetic look.

“Do you all remember the bad guys on those shows you sometimes watch on Saturday mornings? Or the ones in the books you all like to read?” she asked, and they nodded. “Well, these guys are not like those guys,” Malon explained seriously. “They won’t exercise restraint because you’re children. They will kill you if they get the chance. Do not give them that chance.”

Her sons went silent, but nodded as she finished, their expressions equally worried and serious.

“Twi, I’m counting on you,” Malon said, giving his shoulder a squeeze. “Don’t be afraid to use your abilities. You’re stronger than you think.” He looked intensely worried, but nodded anyways.

“Mom?” Hyrule said quietly, so quietly that Malon didn’t realize he’d spoken. “There’s something I...”

Malon still didn’t hear him. “I’m counting on you all. Be strong, Wind, make tornadoes if you have to. Don’t be afraid to use your skills Legend, Hyrule. And Wild, if anything goes wrong, I want you to run as fast as you can.”

Wild perked up immediately, a huge smile on his face. “As fast as I can?”

Malon smiled back. “As fast as you can.” She leaned forwards and drew them all into a tight hug, then stood up again. “Stay hidden. Keep each other safe. I’ll be back by morning... with your father.”

Then she slipped out of the cave.

She’d barely reached the edge of the jungle when a voice called her name, and she turned to see Hyrule jog up, his face distressed.

“Mom, before you go, I just wanted to say that what happened on the plane, I-I’m sorry. I wanted to help, I mean, when you asked me to, I just...” he stuttered, then lowered his head. “...I’m sorry.”

Malon felt her heart ache, and she placed her hands on Hyrule’s shoulders before drawing him close, giving him a quick hug.

“Oh honey, it isn’t your fault,” she murmured gently, “It wasn’t fair for me to suddenly ask so much of you, I’m sorry I yelled.” She pulled back and met his eyes, giving him a serious look. “But things are different now, and doubt is a luxury we can’t afford.”

She cupped his cheek in her hand, and Hyrule swallowed, still looking uncertain.

“You have more power than you realize, honey,” she said more softly, “I know you can do this. Don’t think so hard. And don’t worry. lf the time comes, you’ll know what to do.”

She let go of Hyrule, and gave him one last reassuring smile before she turned and ran into the jungle.

“It runs in the family.”

[blackbutler-readerinsertsandjunk]

anyway Sebastian holds some disdain for romance, until he has a S/O and a long-term relationship

it's not because he doesn't feel it at all

it's because he doesn't understand it

even the romantic feelings he feels himself, he doesn't really understand them

he either mistakes them for lust or just dismisses them as something silly and fleeting

and, often, they ARE fleeting for him; people don't stick around long enough for him to separate what's what and figure out if his feelings are genuine

the hell that he knows doesn't have soft, sappy, gentle LOVE. he doesn't understand romance because it isn't how most demons operate. lust? sure. a physical, selfish pleasure, or yet another means to an end to get what you want.

but romance? genuine care for another person, treating them with tenderness, and largely selfless when it's sincere?

he doesn't get it, because he's never been exposed to it in the demon world. even platonic love usually escapes him. his own mother didn't LOVE him, she just saw him as a little thing to control and have power over. none of his many sexual partners have LOVED him, it was strictly sex that he and they engaged it for nothing but a selfish release.

he wants to learn, or else he wouldn't have entered into an actual relationship in the first place.

he can see why someone would want him in a sexual context. he's attractive, he's charming, and he's good in bed. he knows very well that someone wants satisfaction from sex, and he knows how to satisfy another person.

he can't see why someone would want him in a romantic context. he can fake romantic gestures, but when he tries to make his own without mimicking someone else's, he feels like he fumbles it. why would anyone want to kiss his forehead softly, or hold his hand, or lie in bed cuddling instead of wanting him to fuck them into the mattress? WHY?

he doesn't understand it. he wants to, but he doesn't. he can't look at himself, in all his monstrous truth and jagged edges, and see what someone else sees that makes them want to treat him like some precious thing.

and, really, maybe it's BECAUSE he doesn't see anything worthy of actual love in himself that he desperately, desperately needs it.

[longagoitwastuesday]

Going through the Utahim.e tag had me checking several times if at some point I had clicked on the G.ojo/Utahim.e one instead