#3rd person pov and all that

[uwudonoodle]

I'm writing one character who is highly educated and very well read, so has a large vocabulary. I'm writing another character who, while isn't stupid, is less so. I feel like I'm somewhere in the middle and struggle to write both of them.

[serpentface]

Full ref outline of the main White Calf characters, a dysfunctional noble family and two monks, all tied with the titular sacrificial wild oxen calf.

Left to right: Couya Haidamane, Faiza Haidamane, Janeys Haidamane, Hibrides Haidamane (née Uryashta), Brakul 'Red-Dog', Palo Apolynnon, Tigran Otto.

Design notes and very brief character summaries below the cut

Couya Haidamane

Odonii priestess, assigned to the sacrificial white calf, pretty sure that God has chosen her as Its emissary. Half sister to Faiza and Janeys. Constantly three seconds away from killing Janeys with a rock. Friends with Hibrides.

Has an awkward demeanor, doesn't talk much, borderline humorless, both intentionally and inadvertently intimidates those around her, regarded as strange and unsettling, very much in her own head most of the time.

32 years old.

Wardi and Titen-Wardi, born and raised in the city of Wardin.

5’9’, yellow-brown eyes, light brown hair, lanky muscular build

Usually wears a men’s styled robe.

Wears a standard issue Odonii's veil and headband.

Almost always carrying her pistol with no sheath, and usually positions it to be prominently exposed.

Often wears her hair unbraided, which is somewhat unconventional.

Terminal resting bitch face and signature cold, dead eyed stare.

Has a mole on the left side of the face, above the lip.

Routine bloodletting scars on the side of her left index finger.

Doesn't wear jewelry unless she has to.

Faiza Haidamane

Senior Odonii priestess, personal friend of the king and a de-facto leader of the pilgrimage, sister of Janeys and half sister to Faiza. Just desperately trying to make sure everything goes alright.

Skilled with diplomacy, shrewd and pragmatic, charismatic and confident, has a bit of a martyr complex about protecting those around her and enjoys power.

35 years old.

Wardi and Titen-Wardi, born and raised in the city of Wardin.

5’6’’, gray eyes, brown hair, wiry build

Hair is almost always braided and worn down the front.

Wears a standard issue Odonii's veil and headband.

Likes to keep her arms bare, and usually wears her cloak around the waist outside of blazing sun or very cold conditions.

Wears a lapis lazuli necklace

Has a serpent pelatoche bracelet she wears on her left wrist, a gift from the king Stavis Amanti.

Really likes the color blue (blue clothing is typical wear for Odonii but it's a thing for her specifically)

Routine bloodletting scars on her lower left forearm.

Janeys Haidamane

Unaccomplished wealthy brat mercenary, is in command of 25 soldiers entirely due to nepotism via Faiza. Married to Hibrides and sworn brother/lover to Brakul.

Generally regarded as unpleasant and an all-around jackass, perpetually anxious and spiteful, superstitious and intensely religious, low self esteem.

34 years old.

Wardi and Titen-Wardi, born and raised in the city of Wardin.

5’6’’, gray eyes, brown hair, wiry and stocky build

Upper arms, thighs, chest and back are covered in razor scars inflicted by Brakul.

He and Brakul have a matching scar through their left eyebrow.

Routine bloodletting scars on his palms and left thumb.

Hair is usually worn slicked back with (obnoxiously scented) oil. When untreated, it’s wavy and falls in a part down the middle.

Has sideburns and a thin beard on his chin. This is the full extent of facial hair he can grow.

Almost always wearing at least one pelatoche charm, usually as a cloak clasp.

He and Faiza look very alike and can pass for twins.

He and Couya share a signature dead eyed stare

Hibrides Uryashta

Daughter of an Erubinnos chancellor, brought along with the wives of noblemen attending the pilgrimage. Miserably married to Janeys. Has a strained platonic emotional affair with Brakul. Friends with Couya.

Shy and somewhat lonely, very nervous about her presentation, very intelligent, frequently condescending, puts up a serious and tough front but is very sensitive. Heavily germaphobic.

5’2’’, hazel eyes, dark brown hair, delicate build

Yuroma-Wardi, born and raised in the city of Erubinnos.

29 years old.

Always well protected from the sun, rarely seen outside without a hat or veil.

Her hair is kept in very long braids, worn down the back.

Wears closed toed high heeled shoes, which keep the wearer away from dirty city streets.

Usually bedecked in jewelry, especially fond of pearls. Has a particularly fine odatochent necklace.

Really likes wading birds and ducks, a lot of her clothes have bird motifs.

Routine bloodletting scars on her right thumb.

Brakul 'Red-Dog' (actual full title- Brakul virsum Kuligan et Borunil an Briyonis ne-Taig an Bict-Urbinnas)

Originally of the Bict-Urbinnas people and considered a 'heathen' by most compatriots, mercenary with a passion for riding sports. Mostly present on the pilgrimage due to nepotism by proxy. Illegitimate father of Hibrides' children, sworn brother/lover of Janeys.

Usually quiet and placid, calculating and thoughtful, prone to startlingly intense emotional outbursts and fits of melancholy and just really fucking annoying self-pity.

37 years old.

Bict-Urbinnas, born and raised in southeastern Greathill in the Erubin River Valley.

6’2’’, brown eyes, light red-brown hair, heavyset muscular build.

Doesn’t particularly like cloaks, and usually wears a less common tunic over his robes.

Has tattoos- clan identifiers on his face and family history on his upper arms, a purely decorative dog over his heart.

Usually keeps his arms covered in public to minimize annoying questions about aforementioned tattoos

Face and forehead is frequently sunburnt, a problem of his own creation (he doesn’t like hats)

Usually wears riding boots and spurs.

Head shaved close to the scalp

His upper arms, shoulders, chest, back and thighs are covered in razor scars inflicted by Janeys. The dog tattoo is avoided.

Matching eyebrow scarification with Janeys.

Palo Apolynnon

Newly initiated Galenii monk, son of glass traders from Godsmouth, assigned with Tigran to the sacrificial white calf.

Thoughtful and analytical, somewhat catty and vain, suspicious of others and slow to trust. He's going through several personal crises that have him under a lot of stress, and has a fairly pleasant (if guarded) personality under normal circumstances.

23 years old.

Kos-Wardi, childhood spent in the imperial city of Godsmouth with a few years in Kosov.

5’10’’, brown eyes, light ash-brown hair, very skinny, lanky build

Has dark purplish-gray patches on his skin from use of hidije in his youth, an (ineffective) alchemical treatment for epilepsy

Only wears his sunglasses in particularly bright conditions/around water (having picked up on sunlight on water being a trigger)

Large forehead and long face.

Benefits socially from not being visually identifiable as a eunuch, though his facial hair has stopped growing.

Usually keeps his hair in a single braid, wrapped around the front (somewhat unconventional)

Has one iron ring per ear, showing he is a 1 year Galenii initiate.

Usually wearing a standard issue Galenii robes, cloak, and sash.

Tigran Otto

Galenii monk since the age of 11, son of immigrant Ubiyan laborers, assigned with Palo to the sacrificial white calf.

Nervous, cowardly, impulsive, a fast and excessive talker, superstitious, very book-smart but devastatingly foolish in action.

19 years old.

Ubiyan, born in a farming village on the Brilla river, has lived in the city of Wardin since the age of 11.

4’11’’, brown eyes, brown hair, short and heavyset build

Perpetually sweaty

He has five iron rings per ear, a sign of a fully initiated Galenii.

His features are considered soft and androgynous, and he is easily visually identified as a eunuch.

Keeps his head shaved to stubble.

Usually wearing a standard issue Galenii robes, cloak, and sash.

Wears a Galenii ceremonial dagger and routinely takes it out to fidget with it.

[hermitcraftx]

The problem with a lot of traffic life interpretations in my opinion is they don't understand character foils or don't employ them in their writing. Grian-Martyn and Scar-Ren are genuinely pretty good character foils for a series that is not really scripted or planned out like a book is. I could go on and on about how they parallel each other and the similarities between them. Even the smaller details between the four usually match up

leaving the rant in the tags so I don't have a huge block of text again ueueue

[romanticatheartt]

Just some observations...

TOG is written in 3rd person, all the characters are written in third person. CC is also written in 3rd pov. And their bonus chapters.

The first trilogy of ACOTAR, which is for Feyre, is first person. We had 3 chapter's from Rhys and they're also first person.

ACOMAF has one bonus chapter for Cassian and Nesta and it's written in 3rd.

ACOFAS is multi pov. Feyre, Rhys, Cassian and Morrigan. Feyre's and Rhysand's pov are 1st person BUT Cass' and Mor's are 3rd person. In the same book.

ACOSF is 3rd person. It changes between Nesta and Cassian. We have 2 bonus chapter from this book, one is from Feyre's pov and the other from Azriel. Azriel's pov is in 3rd person but Feyre's is still 1st person.

So... only Feyre and Rhys have 1st person povs.

Here's also a video of SJM's interview for ACOSF release day:

"Even though they [Feyre and Rhys] still are the center of everything"

Now this can mean a whole lot of nothing lol. It's just interesting...

[carlyraejepsans]

ohghh i have a REAL fun idea for a fic but now I'm too excited to actually write it i just keep pacing around my room instead

[causenessus]

fighting for my LIFE in this omi fic rn I'M TRYING SO HARD TO WRITE IT IN SECOND PERSON BUT I KEEP DEFAULTING TO THIRD PERSON

[ambrosiagourmet]

This may or may not end up in a fic but I was Thinking About a Farinsha Idea yesterday and had to scribble it down immediately because it captured a Dynamic in a way I don't want to forget

[trcelyneart]

Alright now I have officially made one (1) fanart, it's time to contribute with fanfiction too

[youphoriaot7]

It's already getting late when Cellbit and Richas set out to finish the tasks. There's only the museum left, but they forgot to catch it on the way back to the house. Richas insists they do it before bed, however, so they decide to take the walk back to the main square, a comfortable silence settling between them as they head out.

There's a flicker of something on the edge of Cellbit's vision. It's been there for a few hours now, constantly hovering just outside of his field of vision. But it's starting to drive him nuts, and he rubs his fingers across his eyes in the hopes that it might get the image to clear.

It clears, alright. Just not the way he expected.

A figure hovers directly in front of him. They're about Richarlyson's height, and they're following along at his side. The white hood covers their hair, coming to a little point at the top, and the blue designs scattered along the hem stick out—if in a bit of a...ghostly fashion.

He blinks. And blinks again.

But the figure is still there.

Acting before thinking, he reaches out, grabbing Richas' shoulder to tug him back a few paces. The boy stumbles, turning to glare back up at his pai before scanning their surroundings for whatever danger he thinks Cellbit sees.

The figure in white turns as well, the image flickering slightly as in faces them. There's a soft smile on their small face, and they raise a hand to wiggle their fingers in a wave.

"...do you see them, Richas?"

The kid glances around, confused, before looking back up at Cellbit with a raised eyebrow and a shake of his head. Cellbit manages to tear his gaze away to look down at his son's reaction for one second.

When he looks back up, the figure is gone.

He tries to put the incident out of his head, pass it off as insomnia and move on, despite Richarlyson's worry. But it keeps happening. When he's talking to Forever in the president's office, the little figure is crouched behind the desk, peering up at him. When he heads upstairs to talk to Mouse, they're there, swinging their legs off the edge of her bed. When he works on the Ordo late at night with Roier, they appear, running around the chairs with child-like glee. And none of them seem to notice, always glancing at him in concerned confusion if he brings it up.

It takes him way longer than it should've to figure out what's going on.

One day, the keychain on his backpack falls off. The hook gives away, and the small egg he'd taken from the adoption center smashes face-first into the dirt near his castle's waystone. And he doesn't realize it right away, proceeding about his day as normal.

When he comes back near sunset, he happens to glance down—and there it is, laying in the mud. Quickly, he crouches down, dusting it off as he clasps a hand around it.

When he stands back up, there they are. Kneeling in the dirt near the waystone with a look of pure grief etched onto their features, the figure in white flickers a few times, the translucency of their outline uncertain.

Immediately, Cellbit pockets the keychain and moves over towards the child. They aren't looking, head in their hands as he kneels down next to them. Hesitantly, he reaches a hand out, trying to touch their arm.

It doesn't work, of course, it goes right through. Ghosts aren't solid. But it must've been jarring enough, because the child looks up at him in surprise.

"You...can see me?"

It's less of a whisper and more of a breath, the words just barely audible in the quiet autumn evening. Cellbit nods, too afraid to speak and break whatever spell it is that's allowing him to interact with this spirit.

The child smiles hesitantly, almost nervous. Then, in a breeze, they vanish.

But they're not gone. Not really. He still sees flashes of white in the corner of his eye, generally whenever he's least expecting it. The keychain stays tied to the backpack—extra sturdy, now. Wherever he goes, the child follows.

Unforgotten.

[werewolfsmile]

I'm only gonna keep talking about these characters for the rest of the month so I may as well share a bit of info!

RK the Werewolf

"Oh that? That's RK! Y'know, because he almost became roadkill on the front of my Tahoe the other night."

On the run from the only pack he's ever known, RK collides with the human world one fateful night - literally. Fearful of everything but with nowhere else to go, he remains in his wolf form and takes a chance on the human that hit him in the first place.

Levi Hawkins

His dark hair was not long enough to fall over his eyes but still long enough to be terribly mussed from sleep. One sleeve of his shirt had pulled up, exposing the length of his wrist and the tanned skin that disappeared behind the fabric. He was … attractive. I could not deny that.

Hitting a wolf with his car was not something he intended, but that single event will change Levi's life forever. He's a practical man, a fixer, so he does what he can to fix the wolf up and give him time to heal. But the wolf heals faster than should be possible, and Levi is too intrigued to let him go.

Serena Oakley

"Well, I suppose that's fair," Serena begrudgingly agreed. "As annoying as you are, the world would be a darker place without your ugly mug in it."

The last thing Serena expects is to get woken from her sleep with the news that Levi has hit a dog. But when the dog turns out to be a wolf with broken bones that heal overnight, she knows there is far more to this wolf than meets the eye. After all, she has secrets of her own.

[caimitos]

saw a post about projecting your ethnicity onto a character and started missing vespa ilkay. so so bad

[labyrinthofcrystals]

Goblin being silly <3

[eyepatchdate]

ok so the book series im working on finishing (on final book and these are books for young readers so its an easy clip). The 4th book, which is the last one, is jarringly in first person when all the other books were 3rd person limited. Its. Very strange and one of the reasons i never liked this book as much lol

[arttsuka]

Read your post earlier about being harassed by some scum and just want to say I'm sorry to hear about it my dude (idk your pronouns I'm sorry, but I call everyone dude regardless of gender.) It can be quite hard sometimes, just simply existing and being nonsensically bothered for it. I can understand this quite well as a visible butch, whenever I'm out alone, I'm always slightly afraid of being confronted (if I'm not mistaken for being a boy first.) But no matter where you look, there will be assholes. Yet on the other hand, there are perhaps more lovely, kind human beings out there. Whenever your art comes on my dashboard, it makes me chuckle to see the mountain of wonderful jedtavious pieces that you've created. It might seem hard in those moments when you're being harassed and the overwhelming wave of fear of confrontation hits you, but know that the wave will eventually pass, even if it seems like your drowning. Get well soon my dude and to quote Jedidiahs bestie Arthur Morgan, you're ok boah

This made me tear up, thank you.

I know there are kind people out there behavior (this ask is proof of that, someone who doesn't know me being kind for no reason other than that they can), it's just that society promotes bad behavior. It's 'normal' for some people to pick on others for a quick laugh, it's what they were taught growing up. I have hope that the new generation of kids will be better on that regard, have more compassion for the people around them. Patriarchy hurts everyone but that's common knowledge at this point.

And I know my existence does not warrant harassment, it's just hard to acknowledge that all the time. The negative confrontations stick to my brain and it's like a pile, building up until it becomes too hard to ignore.

I have that mentality that you should treat people how you want to be treated (just like newton's 3rd law, or is it the 2nd?) and it really sucks that this isn't the reality we're living in. No matter how kind you try to be there are always some bad apples out there.

I'm glad my drawings bring some joy to people, it really means a lot to me (I'm always very critical of my 'art' so relieving compliments is very awkward? in the sense that i never know how to respond without sounding robotic).

Thank you for taking time out of your day to send me this long paragraph, I really appreciate it.

Btw I too think dude, bro, gurlll etc are gender neutral.

I'm really bad at words, I can't articulate my thoughts very well so I hope I'm not coming off as I'm uninterested or ungrateful.

[silusvesuius]

n*loth is literally a demon i mean iHold on YAAASSSSS!

i mean it 😒😒😒

[amtrak12]

I do find it fascinating how many readers take a character statement as the Absolute Truth and don't consider there may be layers of hidden meaning tucked beneath the surface. This happens over and over again in my Lucifer fic, particularly with Chloe's dialogue.

The most recent example is when she said 'Our relationship doesn't matter. Rory's more important.' and some readers were like 'Doesn't seem like she's very interested in a relationship with Lucifer. Where does she think Rory came from then? Doesn't she realize if she doesn't sleep with Lucifer, Rory won't exist in the future?'

When the context of this argument and that line is it's the DAY after they learned this toddler is their daughter from the future and a mere TWO WEEKS after Chloe learned angels were real and her partner was the literal, actual Devil. This woman is stressed as fuck! Do you analyze the romantic feelings you've been suppressing since the object of those feelings rejected you when you're stressed as fuck? Cause I sure don't! She's in survival mode right now! I thought that was obvious??? STOP TAKING ME AND THE CHARACTERS AT OUR WORDS! WE'RE ALL LIARS IN THIS NARRATIVE!