#I need help determining a certain plot point.

[noxumboots]

Ryley Robinson enjoyers, I have a question!

I'm planning out some...story endeavors, and I'm having trouble with what to do to our beloved blorbo. I won't give any details yet, but I will ask you this:

[missimaginx]

CELEBRITY CRUSH | KA12

pairing: kimi antonelli x f!brazilian!tennis player!reader

plot: where kimi needs to introduce the paddock to you, his celebrity crush.

warnings: narrated in first person (kimi's pov); female reader; italian-brazilian female reader (but you can just ignore that); female tennis player reader; kimi being a nervous and lovesick mess around the reader; possible grammatical errors; english is not my first language :).

a/n: images taken from pinterest. this is my first time writing a one shot 🥹, hope you like it (wc: 3k)

remembering that this is just fiction, all the people portrayed here have their own personalities and their own relationships.

MIAMI GRAN PRIX — 2025

I’m sweating.

Like, a lot.

And I’m not even wearing the race suit yet.

“…and it would be great if you could show her around the paddock, Kimi. She’s Mercedes’ special guest because of the shared Adidas sponsorship, so be nice. Engaged. Natural.” The Mercedes PR finishes with that professional smile that, at this point, feels like the devil’s grin.

I nod. That’s all I can do. Because, honestly? I’m speechless. In shock.

Y/N L/N is going to be here.

THE Y/N L/N.

The girl who lives in my head like she pays rent. The tennis prodigy. The one I watched playing at the Australian Open when I was sixteen and became absolutely certain she’s the love of my life—even though she doesn’t even know I exist.

I’ve seen her on TV. On Instagram. On TikTok. In interview replays. I’ve read articles from Brazilian sites in Brazilian Portuguese and tossed them into Google Translate. I know what brand of racket she uses. I know she likes passion fruit juice and has a superstition about a red hair tie.

And now she’s going to be here.

With me.

Getting a paddock tour.

And I HAVE TO BE NATURAL.

“You’re pacing.” Ollie says, sitting on the press room couch with the most bored expression in the world. “Again. You’ve literally circled the table three times.”

“I’M SHOWING HER AROUND THE PADDOCK, OLLIE.”

“Yeah, you said that. Three times. In different volumes.”

“She’s going to look at me and think ‘who is this idiot?’ And then I’ll stutter and trip over myself and maybe even throw up! Ollie, I MIGHT PUKE IN FRONT OF HER!”

“You’ve raced in torrential rain with zero visibility. You can handle a girl.”

“She’s not just any girl! She’s Y/N L/N!”

“Right. The love of your life you’ve never said ‘hi’ to. Got it.”

“You don’t get it! She’s incredible. She’s focused, determined, elegant, funny—she laughs with her head tilted to the side, and when she’s concentrating on a match she wrinkles her nose in this way that—”

“Okay. That’s it.” Ollie throws his head back, laughing. “Kimi, for the love of God, breathe. You’re just going to show her around, and if it all goes terribly wrong, you’ll never see her again.”

“NOT HELPING!”

“But… what if it goes right?”

I freeze. What would ‘going right’ even mean? She noticing me? Laughing with me? Following me back on Instagram? Calling me ‘Kimi’ with that cute Italian-Brazilian accent?

“You should ask her out,” Ollie says.

I turn to him like he just suggested I break into the FIA president’s office.

“Are you insane?”

“Why not? You’re the same age. She’s an athlete, you’re an athlete. She’s Italian, you’re Italian. You’re both young, rich, good-looking… basically an Adidas commercial couple.”

“I won’t even be able to say ‘hi’! You want me to ask her out?”

“Get ice cream. Ask her out for ice cream.”

“I’M NOT ASKING Y/N L/N OUT FOR ICE CREAM!”

“Why not?” he crosses his arms, laughing. “You think she’ll say no? That she’ll laugh in your face?”

“Yes! No! I don’t know!”

The door opens and Gabriel walks in, energy drink in hand and looking like he was dragged out of bed.

“Good morning to you too,” he says, flopping into the chair next to me. “Everything okay? Kimi looks like he’s seen a ghost.”

“He has,” Ollie replies before I can defend myself. “Or, well, he’s about to. The love of his life.”

Gabi frowns. “Huh?”

“Kimi’s had a crush on a girl for like three years and just found out she’s gonna be here today. In the paddock. As a Mercedes guest. And he has to give her the tour.”

Gabriel blinks, processing. “For real?”

“Totally. He’s already planning his escape through the Williams garage.”

“Who is it?”

“Y/N L/N,” Ollie says.

“Y/N?”

My stomach drops.

“You know her?” I ask, trying to sound casual. (Failing completely.)

“Of course. We’ve known each other since we were twelve. Her parents are friends with my uncles. And she’s INSANE on the court. Just won the Miami Open, did you see?”

“I DID,” I answer with something close to religious fervor. “I watched the whole match. Twice.”

My world tilts.

Gabriel Bortoleto knows Y/N L/N.

GABRIEL. KNOWS. HER.

“What’s she like?” I ask before I can stop myself. “I mean, off the court. Does she like music? Movies? What’s her favorite ice cream flavor? Is she talkative? Quiet? What’s her favorite color? Has she ever dated? Does she—”

“Mate,” Gabi laughs, slow. “Breathe.”

“I am breathing.”

“Doesn’t seem like it.”

Ollie laughs out loud. “Told you it was serious. He’s had a dossier on her since 2022.”

“I just want to be prepared!” I protest.

Gabi looks at me like he’s finally getting the full picture.

“Mate. You’re in love with her, even though you’ve never met?”

“Not in love in love. Just… maybe. A lot. Since forever.”

Ollie grins, the smug smile of someone enjoying someone else’s drama way too much.

“And you still think you shouldn’t ask her out?”

I sink into the chair.

“This is going to be a disaster.”

And Ollie, beside me, pats my shoulder. “Or it’s going to be the beginning of a story we’ll laugh about at your wedding.”

“Not helping.”

“But it’s true.”

And, for the first time, I let that wild thought creep into my brain.

What if… it’s not a disaster?

I’ve only been waiting for two minutes.

But it feels like forty-seven years.

The Mercedes hospitality is quieter now… or maybe it just feels that way. There are still people around. An engineer leaving a meeting room, a kitchen staff member switching trays at the buffet, a couple of marketing folks talking quietly on a corner sofa. But to me, everything seems in slow motion. Like the whole world has faded into background noise while my thoughts race faster than my W16.

I’ve done all the interviews. Talked to more journalists than I can count, answered the same questions so many times the words lost all meaning, and even smiled genuinely when asked about the race. Now there’s just one thing left…

Her. Y/N L/N.

I shift in my seat for the fifth time in two minutes. Run my hand through my hair. Zip and unzip my jacket. Try not to sweat. Fail miserably.

The PR said she’d go get her and bring her here. Told me I just need to be polite. “Natural.” As if that’s possible when I’m about to meet the girl who’s lived rent-free in 90% of my brain since I was sixteen.

I rest my elbow on the armrest, trying to look casual, but my knee’s bouncing. I force myself to breathe—and that’s when I hear it.

A laugh.

Light, crystal clear. With an accent. That kind of laugh someone gives when they’re being polite but genuinely kind.

And I know it’s her.

It’s ridiculous, but I know. The sound hits different. Like the universe has been waiting for her to show up so it could finally be in color.

I hear the PR’s voice along with hers, getting closer every second, and something inside me switches on. I straighten up. Run my hand through my hair again. Try to remember how to say “hi.”

And then she walks in.

And nothing—absolutely nothing—could’ve prepared me for it.

She steps in beside the PR, eyes wandering curiously around the room, and my brain shuts down. Like, literally. Total blackout. Blue screen.

Y/N L/N walks through the door like the universe hit pause so she could have time to exist. The mint green dress—yes, mint green, because she once said in an interview that it’s her favorite shade of green—looks like it was made for this soft lighting. It matches her white sneakers and the dark green lanyard hanging around her neck. It brings out the warm tone of her skin, the insane green of her eyes, the waves of dark brown hair I’ve seen in so many videos—but live, it’s different. It’s better. Everything is better. Every detail.

She smiles, a bit shyly, and glances around like she’s still adjusting to the new environment.

And me? I’m frozen.

She’s… smaller than I imagined. For some reason, in pictures and videos, she looked taller. But now, standing a few steps away from me, her shoulders slightly hunched like she’s shielding herself from the attention, she looks… real. Human. Beautiful in an almost unreal way.

“Y/N, this is Kimi Antonelli. Our driver, and your official tour guide today,” says the PR, lightheartedly. “Kimi, this is Y/N L/N, who you probably already know, but just to remind everyone—she just won the Miami Open.”

But I don’t hear any of that. Or, I do, but it’s all background noise behind her image. I’m too busy… existing in a trance.

She extends her hand, smiling.

“Hi,” she says, with that adorable Italian-Brazilian accent that makes me want to write poetry. “Nice to meet you. And thank you for having me here.”

I look at her hand. Then her face. Then her hand again. Then—

Do something, Kimi.

I shake her hand like it’s made of porcelain. The touch is light, but it feels like a shock. Not the bad kind. The kind that wakes you up.

“It’s… it’s a pleasure,” I say, voice slightly higher than usual. “Like. Really. A lot. I mean—welcome.”

Y/N smiles. God help me, she smiles.

“Thank you,” she says again, with a tiny laugh that makes her nose scrunch up. Just like I love. “I’m a little nervous, to be honest. I’ve never been in a paddock before. Everything looks so… serious.”

“It’s… yeah. It is. But not always. I mean, yes. But also no. It’s fun. Sometimes.”

STOP TALKING, KIMI.

She laughs again, and by some miracle, she doesn’t seem to think I’m completely insane.

The PR chimes in, all cheerful:

“I’ll leave you two to walk around and get familiar with the place. Y/N, anything you want to know or see, Kimi can show you. He knows every corner of this paddock with his eyes closed.”

I nod. Maybe too quickly. Y/N smiles again. And for one whole second, there’s just this.

Her.

And me.

And the suicidal mission of not falling even harder.

The PR leaves us there and vanishes before I can beg her to teach me how to be a functional human being.

Y/N looks at me expectantly, a slight smile on her lips, like she’s silently asking, “So… what now?” I try to remember what the PR said. Show her around the paddock. Right. Easy. I know this place like the back of my hand. I’ve walked through here half-asleep thanks to jet lag more times than I can count. But now, with Y/N by my side, everything feels different. Bigger. Brighter. More… paralyzing.

“So… uh, welcome to the paddock,” I begin, trying to sound casual while gesturing like a school trip tour guide. “This is the Mercedes hospitality. It’s where we eat, have meetings, drink bad coffee, and try to pretend we’ve got our lives under control.”

She laughs. She laughs. And I feel like I’ve gained +10 confidence points… and -15 coordination points because I almost trip over one of the couches.

“It’s a lot calmer than I expected,” she says, looking around. “I thought it’d be, like… chaos. Loud. People running around with tires on fire.”

“Oh, that’s more outside, in the garages. In here we only lose it mentally.”

She giggles again, and I decide I could listen to that sound on loop for the rest of my life.

We start walking slowly, and I steer the tour toward the one place where I feel safer: the team garage. My territory. Maybe here I’ll seem less like a clumsy idiot.

“This is the team’s garage,” I explain, pointing like I’m showing her a sacred temple. “That’s where the cars are, over there’s the tires, back there’s the engineers’ station, and in the far back is where I pretend to understand everything Toto says when he starts throwing quantum physics terms around.”

Y/N watches everything with genuine curiosity. Not the polite kind of interest people fake just to be nice — she actually wants to understand. It’s real. And that somehow makes her even more perfect… and me even more in love.

“Wow… so this is where it all happens,” she says, almost reverently.

“Yeah. And also where it all goes wrong sometimes,” I add with a crooked smile.

“What’s the top speed again?”

“Depends on the track… but in Monza, for example, we can hit 350 km/h.”

“Three hundred and…?” She blinks, stunned. “You’re kidding.”

“I swear.”

“What’s it like?” she asks, her big green eyes—bright, locked on my very average brown ones.

The question catches me off guard — not because it’s rare, but because of the way she asks it. Like it’s magic. Like, for a second, I’m not just the Mercedes driver… but someone she truly admires. Someone she wants to understand.

“It’s…” I take a breath, searching for words that do it justice. “It’s like flying, but with the ground really close. Everything becomes instinct. You feel every movement of the car, every curve in your body. The adrenaline is insane, but at the same time… there’s a weird calm in the middle of the madness. Like time slows down for a few seconds.”

She stares at me, fascinated. A small smile forming.

“That’s… beautiful. And kinda crazy.”

I shrug, unsure what to do with the heat rising in my ears. She thinks it’s beautiful. This. Me. Help.

We keep walking, passing behind the garages. Some teams are organizing equipment, others just killing time. The sounds of tools and conversations blend into a kind of soundtrack.

At one point, we turn a corner and — of course, obviously — we run straight into them. Ollie and Gabriel, standing by the dividing wall between the Haas and Sauber garages, chatting, until their attention shifts to us.

“Look who finally showed up,” Ollie says, flashing that smug teen villain smile. “Our very own Romeo.”

Gabriel takes a bite of the sandwich he’s holding and raises his eyebrows when he sees Y/N.

“Y/N!” he says casually. “Long time! You good?”

She smiles—warmly. “Hey, Gabi! I’m good. You? Still cheating at Uno?”

Gabriel gasps in mock outrage. “I never cheated!”

Ollie laughs. “He cheats at rock-paper-scissors too, Y/N. Watch your back.”

Y/N bursts out laughing, and I smile… but there’s that tiny twist in my stomach. That annoying little reminder: they’re friends. She and Gabi have a kind of closeness I don’t have. Yet.

“Well, we don’t wanna interrupt the date,” Ollie throws out, raising an eyebrow.

“It’s not a date,” I say—way too fast.

“Of course not,” Gabriel says, smiling. “But if it were, you’d be killing it.”

Y/N glances sideways at me with that knowing smirk that makes me trip over my own thoughts.

We keep walking.

“Sorry about them,” I mutter, slightly embarrassed.

“Don’t be. They’re funny.”

“They’re insufferable.”

She laughs again. And this time, it’s freer. Unrestrained. That’s when I realize: she’s relaxed. The Y/N who was tense and reserved when she got here isn’t here anymore. Now it’s just her — and me, desperately trying to look functional next to the girl of my dreams.

We reach a more open part of the paddock, with a side view of the track. The sounds of drivers rushing between interviews, photographers clicking away — it all hums in the background, a reminder that the world out there keeps spinning.

“Tired?” I ask.

“No. I’m enjoying this.” She looks ahead, then at me. “It’s cooler than I expected.”

“You seem more relaxed now.”

“I am. You made it feel… lighter.”

And that’s when the moment shifts. It turns quiet. Intense—in a good way. In a way I’ll remember forever.

We stop near a low wall. The wind plays with her hair, and she tucks a few strands behind her ear, absentmindedly.

“Sometimes I feel kind of lost,” she says softly. “Like… everything happens so fast I forget I’m still just an eighteen-year-old girl.”

I get it. More than I should.

“Yeah… I feel like that too. Like I have to be a grown-up all the time. Responsible. Flawless. Representing the team, Italy… and deep down, I just want to be playing video games. Or… having time to figure out what I feel. To fall in love. Without it feeling like weakness.”

She turns to me. Her green eyes — beautiful in a way that doesn’t feel real — lock onto mine with something careful. Something interested. Something I don’t want to name yet, because maybe it’ll hurt if it’s not real.

And that’s when it hits me: this? This walk, this moment, this smile?

It might be the only chance I get to be like this with her.

I remember what Ollie said earlier. Ask her out.

It’s crazy… but what if?

If it’s a disaster, at least I’ll have a reason to drive like a maniac on Sunday and forget this ever happened.

Y/N’s phone buzzes. She checks the screen.

“My agent. I’ve got to go shoot with Adidas.”

No. Wait. I still—

“Ice cream,” I blurt out, stumbling over the words. “I mean, like… maybe… you… get ice cream with me, I mean, go out— we could— if you want, of course…”

She blinks. Then laughs. Tilting her head slightly, just like I’ve seen her do a thousand times on my phone screen. And for a second I consider quitting F1 and becoming a stand-up comedian if it means making her laugh like that more often.

“Are you asking me out or ordering dessert?” she teases.

“Asking you out,” I manage to say, finally like a functioning human being. “With me. Ice cream. Later. Someday.”

Her smile grows. Slowly. Beautifully.

“I’d love to.”

My brain reboots. Three times.

When my soul finally stops spinning at the speed of my heartbeat, I realize Y/N is pulling a pen out of her purse—one of those permanent markers fans bring for autographs.

“You got any paper?” she asks, uncapping the pen, looking at me.

I get lost in her eyes for a second. Here, in the golden light of sunset, they look more hazel than green. Gorgeous.

“I…” I blink a few times, trying to return to the realm of functional humans, patting my jeans for paper. “No… but…”

Her phone buzzes again, and from the way she groans, I know it’s her agent texting again.

“You can write it here,” I say quickly, holding out my hand.

Y/N blinks, looking at me. I blink back, looking at her. I feel the tips of my ears burning—and I see her cheeks turn pink.

She blinks once more and smiles before stepping closer and touching my hand. The lightness of her touch is already familiar since I shook her hand earlier. And it sends the same electric shiver up my arm, straight to my heart, making it pound even faster.

I watch as Y/N writes her number on my palm with the black permanent marker. And this is one of the rare times I thank the universe for my good memory—because I know I’ll remember how the wind kept tousling her hair, how the orange sunset lit up her focused face, and how her brows furrowed slightly as she tried to make the numbers as clear as possible.

When she finishes writing, I don’t know if it’s my lovesick mind playing tricks on me, but I swear her fingers linger on mine a little longer than necessary before letting go.

“Text me,” she says, smiling and blushing again. “And don’t take forever.”

Before I can come up with a reply, she leans in and presses a quick, warm, perfect kiss to my cheek.

“I honestly thought you weren’t gonna ask me,” she whispers, like it’s a secret.

Then she turns with a soft “see you soon” and disappears down the corridor.

And I just stand there. Frozen. Dazed. Touching the spot where her kiss landed like I’m trying to save it forever.

And for the first time all day, I think:

Maybe Ollie was right.

Because this… definitely wasn’t a disaster.

[comicaurora]

Hi, Red. I'm hoping you can put on your writing advice hat for a second. I've tried to write stories several times and think I'm pretty good at outlining plots. But the wall I always hit is that when I try to write the character's dialogue they all sound the same, ie they talk exactly the same way I do. At which point I give up. Any suggestions?

Ah, character voice! A tricky blend of strategy and ✨vibes✨ goes into picking one, but mostly they can be drawn cleanly from the underpinnings of the character themself.

Narrowing in on a character voice can be helped initially with some basic brute-force Q&A:

How polite/formal is this character? Would they pick their words carefully to avoid offense? Do they use honorifics or nicknames? Are they impulsive and often thoughtless, saying things in clumsy, unpolished ways that might offend? Do they aim to offend?

How confident is this character? Do they stutter, do they pepper in "um" and "ah"? Do they always know how the sentence will end before they start it? Do they turn statements into questions or vice versa? Are they guileless and open? Guarded and wary? What, if anything, makes them shut down?

What does this character prioritize? An explainer wants their audience to understand exactly what they're going for, so their dialogue will be clarifying and perhaps a bit long. A character who doesn't care what anyone believes might not be willing to waste time explaining themself. A character who cares more about everyone getting along might spend their dialogue defusing arguments or placating emotional rough patches; a character looking for a fight might aim to create those rough patches.

How silly is this little guy? Some characters will spot opportunities for levity and go for it. Some characters can't help themselves and will turn everything into a gag. Some will recognize a joke and pointedly ignore it until everyone gets back on track. Some have no sense of humor. All of this will determine what kinds of lines they will and won't say.

How emphatic are they? Some characters would never dream of using an exclamation point. Some couldn't end a sentence with anything else.

What's their frame of reference? One person's normal is another person's incomprehensible. A character totally at home in a certain environment or situation will carry themself through it very differently than someone who's out of their depth.

How insightful are they? Are they profoundly introspective or are they holding the door shut on their collapsing tupperware stack of emotional issues? If someone else is in distress, can they find a way to help, or do they maybe get frustrated at their inability to do so? Can they glean what's bothering someone or do they need to be told? What kind of things are obvious to them, and what flies over their head?

And etcetera. There's tons of questions you could add here, but they're just to get a gist. A character voice is genuinely less about tone and accent and whether or not they use contractions and more about, like. Would They Fuckin Say That. Everything else is icing as far as I'm concerned.

[nina-ya]

Synopsis: You and Zoro like each other and its painfully obvious to everyone but either of you. The crew has a plan to get you guys to kiss once and for all! Pairing: Zoro x Reader CW: None, fluff • ficmas masterlist • ko-fi • discord server •

The Thousand Sunny was decorated top to bottom with twinkling lights and garlands. A towering Christmas tree, almost too big, stood proudly on the main deck, adorned with ornaments handmade by Usopp and Franky. The scent of Sanji’s cooking filled the air, booze was flowing, and conversations went on. 

Nami held court with Robin over cocktails, Brook played various renditions of Christmas carols as per Chopper's request, and even Luffy had managed to keep himself from wrecking the feast for once, though you could thank various crew members physically holding him back for that one. 

You hovered near the edge of the festivities, enjoying your drink while stealing glances at a certain green-haired man. Zoro leaned casually against a wall, half-drunken sake bottle in hand, expression softened by a faint blush from the liquor warming his cheeks. His disheveled green hair framed his sharp features like the holly wreaths that hung lopsided above the doors. You could hardly look away, even though he seemed completely unaware of the attention he was drawing- yours or anyone else's. 

Little did either of you know, the crew was plotting. 

“They’re impossible,” Nami muttered, swirling her drink as you glanced at Zoro for the fourth time in the last minute. Robin smirked, while Usopp joined the girls and leaned in to conspire. 

“We’ve got to make this happen tonight,” he whispered with a curt nod. “It’s Christmas! The mistletoe thing is perfect!”

“So what’s the plan?” Robin asked as she took another sip of her cocktail. 

“I already filled the others in, but the plan,” Usopp started, brandishing a small bundle of mistletoe from his pocket before distributing them to the girls, “is stealth. I have handed everyone one of these. And the moment they’re together, we just hold it above them! Easy!”

It turned out to be far from easy. 

Every attempt to catch you and Zoro under the mistletoe was thwarted. Either Zoro would move unexpectedly, or you’d dodge away to refill your drink. At one point, Brook planted himself in front of both of you, playing a Christmas carol trying to get you two to stay still and sing along, only for Zoro to slip away with a comment about needing more sake. Luffy’s attempt to dangle a mistletoe over your head ended in disaster when he thought the cranberries were real, and nearly choked after eating the styrofoam decoration. 

The crew’s determination only grew with each failed attempt. 

“Timing,” Nami hissed after yet another failure. “We need the perfect timing!” 

“Or a miracle,” Jinbe added with a chuckle.

Off to the side, of course, Zoro was growing suspicious. It wasn’t like him to feel so watched around the crew, but tonight, he couldn’t shake the sense that the others were up to something, and he was determined to figure out just what that is. It didn’t help that every time he looked your way, he caught someone whispering or shuffling toward you two,

He tried to brush it off, attributing the actions to just the crew being odd balls as usual, but he just couldn’t stop from feeling that something was just off. His thoughts were interrupted when he glanced over at you, both of your hearts skipping when you locked eyes. There was something about the way you looked tonight, standing in that doorway, that pushed aside those suspicious thoughts to make room to commit you to memory. Emboldened by the sake and the holiday cheer, he made his way toward you. 

Zoro moved closer, a faint smirk tugging on his lips as he noticed your expression soften in response. The buzz of the party faded, replaced by the sound of his boots thumping against the ground as he approached. He stood across from you in the doorway, leaning back on the edge. 

“You can’t avoid me forever,” he remarked, and you swear you could hear teasing in that tone of his. 

“I have no idea what you're talking about,” you quipped back, eyes flitting away rapidly as you attempted to keep your composure. 

Zoro, of course, raised an eyebrow, unconvinced by your playing dumb. His eyes traced your features, lingering just a moment or three too long, as if he was savoring the sight of you. A softness glimmered in his gaze-- there was just something about you that made his thoughts spiral until you entirely consumed them. 

The tension grew the longer you two stood there saying nothing. There was an undeniable pull, an unspoken yearning that neither of you dared name but absolutely felt. You found yourself leaning ever so slightly closer, almost involuntarily, and your heart hammered at the thought that maybe he felt it too. 

“I’m not that easy to dodge, you know,” he added, his voice a touch quieter, as if he was carefully crafting words that were meant only for you. 

Before you could respond, the sound of commotion snapped you out of the moment. You turned to see what the source of the disturbance was, and your eyes widened at the sight. 

A comically haphazard tower of crewmates had formed behind you, each precariously balanced on each other's shoulders. At the top, Chopper dangled a mistletoe in his tiny hooves with the help of Robin's ability to steady the human pyramid below. 

Zoro’s expression contorted into complete and utter disbelief and you could help but stifle a laugh at the sheer absurdity of it all, though his disbelief morphed into a fondness when he saw the amusement dancing in your eyes. 

“Really?’ you asked, sputtering out a laugh as Zoro rubbed his face with a sigh. 

“Come on, just kiss already!” Nami yelled out as her arms shook from the struggle to support the human pyramid. You glanced back and forth between the mistletoe and Zoro until what they wanted you two to do finally hit. 

You were a deer in headlights for a moment, heat flooding your face. Your eyes darted around the room until they finally landed on Zoro, who was staring at the mistletoe with an expression caught between annoyance and resignation. 

Zoro sighed, his gaze flicking to you. The insistence of the mistletoe and the rising pleading of the crewmates gave you no escape. 

“Are we going to leave them hanging?” Zoro murmured, trying to hide his nervousness under a layer of confidence. 

You hesitated, biting your lip before taking a steadying breath. Closing the gap between you felt like leaping off the edge of the crow’s nest, though as daunting as it was, you couldn’t deny the magnetic pull he had. You leaned in slowly, aiming for a quick peck to satisfy the growing demand of your audience. 

Your lips barely brushed his when Zoro moved, surprising you. His hand came up to cup your face firmly, tilting it as he deepened the kiss. The way his lips moved against yours made your knees weak. The kiss was filled with the weight of all the things you never said to each other. Every confession you practiced in your head, every dream about each other, every second of yearning was all released into this one moment. 

The crew erupted into a chorus of cheers, whistles, and exaggerated whoops. You vaguely registered Luffy's laugh and Sanji’s indignant wails, but everything felt muffled compared to the racing of your heart. Zoro kissed you as if nothing else existed. 

It wasn’t until a loud crash broke through the noise that you both pulled apart. You turned to see the human pyramid in shambles on the floor, a tangle of limbs and complaints spilling out as Chopper flailed atop the pile, still holding the mistletoe. 

You looked back at Zoro, whose flushed face mirrored your own. His fingers lingered at your jawline before retreating, and he straightened up. 

“Well,” he said, “guess they got what they wanted.” 

You laughed, breathless and giddy, unable to stop the grin spreading across your face. “Merry Christmas, Zoro.”

“Yeah,” he muttered, gaze softening. “Merry Christmas.”

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

What did you think of the eternity float story? I know you’ve said before you prefer events with strong storytelling/writing so I was wondering if this one hit the mark for you?

Any hometown event comes with the usual shortcomings of a hometown event. Low stakes, a lot of eating and souvenir shopping, etc. Eternity Float is no different from previous hometown events in that regard.

BUT!! ☝️🤓 Putting aside my J word and TLM bias (although I’m the type of person that evaluates media MORE harshly, not less, when the characters/media I like are involved), I do think Eternity Float is a step up from most other hometown events because it is slightly more ambitious. I’d argue that the highlight of this event’s story isn’t the wedding/Eternity Float, but instead the subtler secondary plot about how Jade has changed since his childhood + middle school days. Throughout the event, there are many details that feed into this recurring idea of Jade once not having interest in land or not having the belief that he could comfortably be on land. Then he becomes curious somewhere along the way and starts dreaming and working toward that dream. He decides to stop staring longingly at the land to become a part of it. And knowing just how competent he is in other areas now (such as being able to meet all of Vil’s demands; see: Jade Dorm Uniform vignettes)?? How much extra work did he have to put in to get to this point?? Jade isn’t a natural genius like Floyd is; Jade has actually had to put in tons of time and energy to develop all these skills, to learn the polite mannerisms of his mother, to present as pleasant, etc.

Jade genuinely expresses multiple times in Eternity Float that he is grateful to have made these memories with everyone. He also talks about how his past self would be amazed to see himself today more than once. We hear stories of him in the sea but also hear about how he’d visit Ultramarine City to actively learn about life on land. We meet his old land boot camp instructor. Just listening to him share about his experiences, you get the sense that he really worked hard to be able to walk and study on land as competently as he can today. It carries that wistful and hopeful and determined spirit of Ariel, and it harkens back to TLM source material without being outright stated.

We hear from Georgina, his mother, about how she frequently worries about Jade and is glad he has friends that support him and try to understand him. Now, this could also be said for the other family members we meet in hometowns, but the difference here is that Georgina’s worries actually help in scaffolding Jade’s growth. She is concerned about how Jade is faring on land because she may be aware her son is a literal fish out of water and may have lacked confidence before—but now she is put at ease after seeing that Jade does have a social circle and is having fun on land. (The only other parent whose worries about their kid has major story relevance is Dylla in White Rabbit Fest, as Deuce would later go on to honorably win the Rabbit Run against delinquents that had disrespected her. By the way, I also consider White Rabbit Fest to be one of the better written hometowns.)

This is especially important because we see in his book 7 dream that Jade, above all else, believes in himself. Eternity Float is the character growth Jade needed for book 7, it’s done sooo much better than his actual Draconia-induced dream BUT I DIGRESS— To imply that there was a point in time in which he did not have that confidence in regards to living on land is really fascinating and also implies previous growth. It manages to walk the line of keeping Jade mysterious—which is a large part of his appeal to a certain fanbase—while also demonstrating to us how his character has developed over time.

The event still has missed opportunities, of course. We could have gotten a better glimpse into Jade’s past if he actually knew the bride and groom instead of being complete strangers. Or maybe the land boot camp instructor we ran into in town could have been introduced sooner or stuck around for longer to drop more lore about kid!Jade. Still, I think it’s overall a bit stronger than the usual hometown event. Nowhere near the quality of Glorious Masquerade, mind you, but for sure one of my favorite hometown events.

[daisyvisions]

I Wanna Be Your Dog - (k.yh)

➺ Pairing: Rockstar!Younghoon x Assistant!Reader

➺ Summary: Your job as an assistant to the band is simple: handle their schedule, and do what they ask you to do. But how far are you willing to help one member out with a certain ask if it means keeping your job?

➺ Word Count: 3.8k

➺ Warnings: Smut (18+, minors DNI), fem!reader, unprotected sex, creampies, edging, male masturbation, guided masturbation, handjobs, slight fingering, riding, lots of making out, groping, sexual fantasies, mutual pining (?), younghoon is down bad for reader (sub!younghoon if you squint), marking, mentions of hookups, pet name used (baby)

➺ A/N: Finally, my birthday fic for Younghoon is up! I had planned to write for rockstar younghoon ever since this tiktok edit came out last year. This was not the original story I had in mind but I hated how the outline was going and decided to save it for another member and use this plot instead. Title is inspired from the song of the same name by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts because the lyrics fit so well with one particular scene of the fic (iykyk). Proofread once, enjoy 😉

➺ Network & Tag: @deoboyznet @snowflakewhispers @winterchimez @aimeecarreros (thank you for introducing me to the song 😈)

For as long as you could remember, you've always wanted to work in the music industry. There was something about that chaotic world that you thought was magical. You were so determined to become a part of that universe you didn't care where you would end up.

And that is how you became the assistant to one of the hottest acts to ever grace the stage.

At first, you were way too excited to be involved in the day-to-day of the band's schedule; you didn't even care if you had to run many blocks just to get the specific brand of coffee they wanted.

But soon enough, the rose-colored lenses you had on would crack. Not only did you have to take care of the band's schedule and be at their beck and call, but you were also in charge of cleaning up their mess.

Which is the reason you ended up sitting through a one-hour phone call with the band's manager as he practically yaps your ear off about the band's lead guitarist.

"Do you know how many NDAs I had to sign just so these groupies would keep their mouths shut about Younghoon?" Jacob exclaims.

"I know, I'm the one who prints and mails those documents for you." You sigh heavily.

"The board is getting pissed off. It's getting too much! He has a sex addiction at this point!"

"Well, it's not like we can make him wear a chastity belt or a purity ring to stop him! You know how he gets." You reply, trying to hold in your frustration from how long this call has been going.

"They are in the process of promoting their next album and going on tour. If Younghoon keeps this up and the press finally catches on, it will not be a good look for us all." Jacob takes a deep breath and pauses for a moment.

"I need you to keep him in line," Jacob says to you with a stern voice.

"What?! How the hell am I supposed to do that?"

"I don't know, you're the assistant. It's your job to take care of those guys. Do something about it or you can say goodbye to your job."

Jacob puts the phone down immediately without even waiting for your reply. You throw your phone to the side, your heart racing as you feel the frustration consuming you, and it's not even eight in the morning.

You can't afford to lose your job. Not after you've worked so hard to get where you are already. And you will definitely not lose your job just because Younghoon can't keep it in his goddamn pants.

No, you're going to do something about this no matter what it takes.

As you insert the spare key in the lock of Younghoon's apartment, you're instantly startled as a figure appears before you. Her disheveled appearance already tells you who or rather, why she's in his apartment. Great, another day of running into a groupie.

"Oh, Lin, isn't it?" You try to give her a smile. You introduce yourself as the band's assistant.

"Oh—hi," she responds, but her eyes were looking elsewhere. "Excuse me, I gotta go, late for… an appointment," she mumbles.

"Of course, it was nice meeting you!" You put on that people-pleasing voice. Lin nods in return before stumbling out the door. You make a mental note to track her address and send her an NDA later in the day.

You walk further into Younghoon's apartment, already listing out in your head the mess you have to clean up later as you quickly scan different areas of the living room. You find him still dead asleep in his bed, probably unaware that his latest conquest has left the building as you walk closer to sit on the edge of the bed.

"Younghoon? You awake?" You gently shake his shoulder. As you continue to wake him up, you're caught by surprise as he grabs your arm and pulls you into his embrace.

"Hey baby, up so early?" His deep morning voice rings in your ear as his face buries into your neck.

You try to keep yourself composed as you wriggle yourself free, but your eyes widen at the sudden realization that doing so was a mistake as you feel something hard digging between your ass.

"Younghoon, I—"

"So eager for round two, huh? Don't worry, baby, I'll let you take the lead this time." He kisses a sensitive spot between your neck and shoulder as his hands start drifting near your hips. Before anything escalates, you pull his hands away and reach behind to flick him in the forehead.

"Younghoon, it's me!" You shout, sitting upright once more and shaking off that fluttering feeling growing inside your stomach.

"Ow. What the— oh. Oh hey!" He smiles at you. "Where's—"

"Already left. Witnessed her walk of shame just as I was going in," you smirk. "I brought you breakfast; better see you outside in ten minutes, alright?" You slap his shoulder to wake him up.

"Alright, alright, I'll get up," he groans as he turns to his side.

"Aw, all this for me? You shouldn't have." Younghoon slings his arm over your shoulder as he watches you set all the food on the counter.

"Just sit down and eat. We need to talk about something." You shrug his arm off.

"To talk… What did I do this time?" He sarcastically replies as he sits across from you.

"It's not what you did this time; it's what you keep on doing, Younghoon." You grab his plate and fill it up with the food on the table.

"Look, Jacob called me this morning, and he's not happy with your—" You pause, trying to come up with a proper way to address the problem.

"With my… what?" Younghoon takes a big bite from his plate, his eyes trained on yours as he waits for you to finish.

"Your sex addiction." You decide to get straight to the point. "You fuck nearly every girl that bats her pretty eyelashes at you or even gives you a decent amount of attention."

"Hey, I can't help myself, you know? This is the rockstar's life, after all." He shrugs as he takes a sip from his glass.

"Yeah, well, if you don't get that controlled and continue thinking with your dick, it's not gonna look good for the press," you reply.

"Since when have we cared about what the press thought?" Younghoon asks with slight irritation in his voice.

"Please, Younghoon, I need you to keep it together just until promotions and the tour are over. My job is on the line here." Your voice starts quivering. Younghoon sees your eyebrows scrunching and the tiny tear forming at the corner of your eye.

Oh, how he wishes he could kiss those worries away right now and keep you close to him. Seeing you like this whenever you're frustrated or upset makes his heart ache with a feeling he can't explain. It's probably because he has a soft spot for you, ever since you started working for them. And if he's the reason that you end up losing your job, he doesn't know how he'll be able to sleep at night.

"Please?" Your tiny voice calls him back to reality as your soft hands hold one of his. And how could he ever say no to you?

"Alright," Younghoon sighs out. "I'll do it. But it's not gonna look pretty." You chuckle at his response.

"I promise you can go back to doing whatever after the promotions. Deal?" You gently squeeze his hand for reassurance. Younghoon places his other hand on top of yours and squeezes in return.

"You got it, boss."

Much to your surprise, Younghoon does a fairly good job at keeping his word. At first, it was a bit difficult, but he somehow managed to pull through.

He couldn't forget that one time he was almost about to fuck the girl lying on his bed until he suddenly remembered your face and how upset you would've been if you found out what he was doing. He couldn't bear the thought of disappointing you, so he just came up with a lousy excuse for the groupie to leave and fisted himself later in the night until he was satisfied enough.

And since then, that's what he had been doing to get by. He was either fucking his hand or fleshlight while imagining all the different one-night stands he had in the past. But as the days went by, it was getting harder for him to reach that sweet release. Not even watching porn would get him off the way it did before.

He needed to touch and be touched, a pair of lips kissing him everywhere, and moans of pleasure ringing in his ear… he couldn't wait till the tour was over until he could finally ravish someone and forget their name the next day. Sounds like a shitty way to live but hey, this is the kind of life he chose for himself.

Just two more months, Younghoon, what's the worst that can happen?

Sweat starts to form on Younghoon's forehead as he vigorously pumps his throbbing length. He had been trying to get off for a while now, but it seems nothing has been working. This was the worst case of blue balls he has ever had, and if he doesn't cum any second now, he might go insane.

Younghoon starts to dig deep into his memories of past hookups to see if there was one moment he can use to get himself off. There was one memory that seemed to pop into his mind, but not any of the hookups he had remembered. No, it was a memory of you. The day you came into the apartment to talk to him about his problem.

He recalls the smell of your perfume when he buried his face into your neck, the way your ass rubbed against his morning wood accidentally, and how soft your hands were when you held his hand during breakfast.

His cock throbbed in his hand remembering those small moments, playing an imaginary scenario in his mind wherein you didn't stop his hands from traveling to your hips. How he would've pressed himself into you further and continued kissing your neck. How his hands would’ve groped your breasts tenderly as he whispered filth into your ear and you would’ve moan his name in response.

"So pretty…" he murmurs to himself as he bucks his hips up, thinking how beautiful and kind you've always been to him even if he tends to be an asshole at times.

He moans at the thought of how soft your lips would feel against his own, remembering the time you drunkenly kissed him on the cheek during that one after-party a few days ago. He had to quickly turn away from you to hide his cheeks turning pink.

God, he knows his abstinence from sex has gotten so bad to the point that even the smallest gestures from you are enough to send the blood in his veins right down to his cock. He's never been this hard in his life, and he can't tell anymore if it's because he's blue-balled or because he's thinking about you.

Either way, Younghoon was all up in his head that he didn't even hear his front door being unlocked as you let yourself in.

Your visit to Younghoon's tonight was unplanned. He had forgotten his lucky leather jacket in the studio a week ago, and you took it upon yourself to get it dry-cleaned for him.

As soon as you got the call from the dry cleaners, you thought it would be nice to drop by his place and surprise him with his newly cleaned jacket and bring his favorite food for a late night snack. After all, you wanted to show him how grateful you were for keeping his word.

"Younghoon?" You call out his name. You knew he was home after spotting his keys and wallet on the console table. You try to call his name again but still no response. He must be asleep. I should go check on him, you think to yourself.

Younghoon? He hears your sweet voice ringing in his ear. God, he must be down so bad if he can start hearing you call out his name, as if you're right close by. He can already feel himself closer to the edge as he hears his name once again, pumping himself to the point of no return until his door suddenly swings open.

"Younghoon, I— Oh my god!"

"Shit!"

You both catch each other by surprise.

You tried to look elsewhere, but the image of Younghoon jerking himself off is now burned into your memory, and you don't know what to do. Younghoon, on the other hand, whimpers from the loss of his orgasm.

Had you been delayed by a second or two, he would've released his load onto his stomach, relieving himself of stress. But now, he's on the verge of crying as he feels himself getting incredibly pent up.

"I'm so sorry, I'll just go—" You turn around quickly.

"No, wait!" Younghoon's voice stops you from closing the door. You couldn't help but turn around and face him once more. He looked like he was in pain, his eyes becoming watery as he deeply breathes in and out.

"Help me…" He cries out to you.

"W-what?" Your eyes widen. He can't be serious, right?

"Please! I can't— been trying. I can't do it." A tear falls down his pale cheek.

"Please, it hurts so bad…" He whimpers once again.

"Younghoon, I can't—"

"Please! Just this once. We'll never speak of it again—" He pleads like his life depends on it. And with the way he's looking at you like you're the only one that can help him get out of this sticky situation, how could you say no to him?

"A-alright." Your feet move towards him even before you replied, your body already deciding for you on what you need to do next.

You sit beside him, placing your hand on his thigh as you glance over his hand gripping his cock. You feel your core pulsate at his pink tip peeking out from his fist. But you try your best to completely ignore whatever intrusive thought you have and place your hand on top of his, gently holding it as you look into his eyes.

"Just this once, okay?" You hover above his cock enough for your spit to fall onto the tip and move his hand slowly up and down as you guide him through his orgasm.

This wouldn't be the first time you've seen his cock. The first two times were by pure accident and from afar too. But nothing could've prepared you from seeing his member up close.

The way the veins are protruding from how rock hard he is at the moment, wondering what it must feel like to fill you up to the hilt. You try to think of anything deemed unsexy as you stare at his manhood, but that ends up failing as you start to feel your underwear slowly getting wet by the second.

While you're too caught up in your own thoughts, Younghoon couldn't help but stare at the way you looked at his cock, all slack-jawed and dreamy-eyed. It was like you wanted to do more than guide him, like you were ready to devour him any moment from now. As if a dark cloud of lust is slowly taking over you right before his very own eyes. And that was turning him on a lot.

He subconsciously reaches out for you with his free hand, his fingers holding onto the back of your neck as he pulls you in for a kiss. Your lips are even sweeter than he had imagined, making his heart beat so fast from how soft they feel on his own. Younghoon knows this moment won't last forever, so he decides to just enjoy it while it lasts.

You instantly moan from the feeling of his lips on yours, holding his wrist as you lean forward to press yourself against him. You pull his hand away from his cock and replace it with yours instead, the softness of your palm wrapped around his length making him hiss in pleasure. You start to grip him harder, controlling the pace of your hand jerking him off.

Younghoon groans into your mouth as he slips his tongue inside. His hands grabbing onto your hips before pulling you closer to him to straddle his lap. You continue to jerk him off as his hands start caressing the sides of your body.

"Please…" he whines into your mouth.

"Tell me what you need, Younghoon—" You kiss his cheek before moving down to his neck.

"Wanna touch you— fuck— Can I touch you? Please let me touch you." His eyebrows knit in pleasure as your lips suck a particularly sensitive part of his throat.

Too busy with lightly sucking on his skin, you grab one of his hands and guide him to the front button of your pants, signaling him to remove the article of clothing from you for better access. He wastes no time helping you out of your jeans and having you back on his lap.

His fingers slowly sliding beneath your underwear, groaning at the sensation of how wet your folds are. He's honestly amazed at how you're able to get this wet without being touched; it motivates him to slide his fingers between before finally circling around your sensitive bud.

You let out a soft whine as you feel your knees turn into jelly. All you could think about right now is to sink yourself down onto his member and ride him into the sunset. Somehow it was like he could read your mind as you feel his hand pull your underwear to the side and the other pull you by the hip to align your entrance right above his tip.

"This okay?" You look down at him.

"Y-yeah, more than okay." He stutters.

"C'mere." You lean down to kiss him, slowly letting yourself sink down to the base of his cock.

Both of you let out a breath you didn't know you were holding until you finally sat on his lap. The feeling of Younghoon being fully sheathed inside you already has you seeing stars, and you haven't even moved yet. He swallows your moans as he starts bucking his hips up, holding you in a tight embrace as he fucks himself into your tight hole.

"You're beautiful, you know that?" He mumbles as he pulls his lips away from yours to get a good look at your face.

The way he looked at you as if you had a halo around you was making the butterflies in your stomach flutter like crazy. You knew the effect he had on you, especially when he would randomly flirt with you. But for some reason, the effect of his words felt different.

It was like he was confessing something he had locked up inside of him for a long time, making you blush like an idiot. Your eyebrows knit in pleasure as his thrusts start to become faster. Your walls are gripping him like a vice; he knows he's bound to reach his peak anytime soon.

"Let go for me, Younghoon, you can do it." You whisper in his ear.

As soon as you say these words, a sudden burst of warmth blooms inside you. His hips relax onto the mattress as he comes down from his high, but his hands guide your hips up and down his cock, helping you reach your own release.

He must've been so pent up, you think to yourself as you feel him still incredibly hard inside you. The tip of his manhood nudges that sweet spot deep inside you so good you feel yourself nearly falling over the edge.

"K-keep going, baby—" He breathes out. "Use me."

You take control of your own movement and bounce on him like there's no tomorrow. Your fingernails raking the sensitive skin on his chest as you chase your own high. Younghoon can feel himself reaching his own high too the more you keep this pace up.

Everything about this moment was making him absolutely dizzy. Your walls practically choke holding his dick, his first load already dripping out of you and coating his balls, and the way the squelching sounds echo in the room as you use him for your own pleasure?

He will never look at you the same way ever again. You've officially ruined him for anyone else after this.

"Younghoon, I'm gonna—"

"C'mon baby, cum on me. Fuck— make me yours." He mumbles as he feels close to the edge with you.

After a few more bounces, the rope inside you finally snaps, making you cum so hard you feel like you're going to faint. Younghoon's second release follows right after yours, but this time his load is more than the first. You both know for sure that as soon as he pulls out, a waterfall of your mixed juices is bound to rush out of your hole. So you just decide to keep him close longer as you both try to catch your breath.

You lay your head on his chest, listening to the sound of his breathing pattern slowly regulating as he rubs his hand up and down your back. You both bask in the silence a little longer, secretly savoring the moment before you have to part ways.

"Younghoon?" You lift your head to look up at him. He hums in response.

"If— if ever you need help with this at a different time…" You pause for a moment. "I'd be happy to volunteer." You feel your cheeks burn up at the thought of doing this with Younghoon again.

"Yeah? You wanna help me out?" His eyes widen, his heart beating faster again knowing this wouldn't be the last intimate moment with you.

"Yeah, just as long as you sign an NDA about it." You jokingly reply. He chuckles and kisses your forehead.

"Well, get ready to print a lot of those—" He grabs your ass and gives it a good slap, making you yelp in surprise.

"—because you have a lot of catching up to do."

[avelera]

There's three qualities in point-of-view characters that I find extremely rare in fanfiction and I think it colors why some characters feel OOC and why often, in original fiction like YA fiction or protagonists written by younger authors often seem overly passive and thus struggle to move the plot, and those qualities are:

Self-Confidence

Assertiveness

Determination

These qualities in a protagonist or point-of-view character help move the plot and create characters that people actually want to read about, but they are surprisingly absent in a lot of fiction. Below the cut, I'm going to dive into why I think young writers struggle with writing characters with these qualities and offer what advice I can for how to develop the capacity to write these qualities even if you lack them yourself.

I've written elsewhere at length about how fanfiction writers often seem to struggle or deliberately eschew certain common characteristics of male characters who were created by male creators, especially masculine pride, and I think the causes for the above characteristics being absent might correspond with that absence as well.

Basically, my theory is this: most writers tend to be introverts who spend a lot of time alone and inside their own heads. Fanfiction writers tend to skew younger and often skew female. There's a lot of big societal conditioning trends that make introverted young women not particularly self-confident, self-assertive, or determined, and fiction is an escape for such people and they often inevitably project their own qualities onto the characters they are writing.

For example, in fanfiction, projecting profound levels of self-doubt onto a character who, in the original canon, might be relatively more assertive is pretty common, especially since statistically popular media is awash in male characters written by male creators and male characters made by male creators tend (big generalization) to be more determined and self-assertive than your average young female writer curled up writing alone in their room. Perhaps in part because male power fantasies tend to involve projecting onto a determined, assertive, and self-confident character (or characters who achieve those qualities) and so because popular media tends to be aimed at the wish fulfillment of young men, these characters tend to be very visible and present and take up a lot of space.

But that is not the only reason fiction tends to be dominated by assertive, determined, and self-confident characters. The other reason is because passive characters who want nothing and do nothing are absolutely fucking unbearable to watch and/or read because they are so fucking boring.

I'm not criticizing those who struggle to write self-confident or detemined characters, nor am I saying that every character needs to be self-confident or determined. However, many an an arc is made by characters who have self-doubt overcoming that self-doubt to become more assertive and self-confident, in part because a character who stays passive and riddled with self-doubt is very difficult to watch or root for.

Generally speaking, audiences like characters who eventually find their way to achieving what they want and that requires a certain level of actively pursuing their goals despite obstacles, which requires them achieving some level of determination and self-confidence (perhaps through lack of other options, for example, when saving the world it's really hard to be bothered by things like whether or not people will like you if you are too assertive with them when the planet is going to blow up if you don't. Plenty of plots have moved shy characters into being assertive characters by placing a literal or figurative time bomb under them that forces them to achieve those qualities or die if they don't act fast).

And just as another note, none of this advice is coming from a place on high where I claim I've never struggled with writing self-confident characters. I know for my own part I've written my fair share of self-confident, determined, often male warrior characters as suffering from profound levels of self-doubt in my own earlier works (like Thorin Oakenshield in my fic Prayers to Broken Stone, as one commenter noted) and a writer can't help but project onto the characters they write.

It should be noted of course that determined, heroic characters can be riddled with self-doubt, indeed it can be a powerful motivator but, I would argue the difference between a strongly and a weakly written character riddled by self doubt is whether that self-doubt motivates them to take action (a thing most audiences want to read) or makes them to collapse into paralysis and inaction while they feel sorry for themselves (a thing most audiences swiftly find unbearable after a certain relatable period of inaction has passed).

The reason I often circle back to this question of why there are so many passively written protagonists when audiences tend to prefer characters who take action and want things is because I caught myself writing these more shy and self-doubting characters and in an effort to get better at writing active characters, I began to actively work on how to write determined, self-confident, heroic, and yes, often male characters so that my fics actually reflected their canon selves. To develop a voice inside me that says, "Maybe I wouldn't thrust myself forward and challenge the gods themselves in a moment like the one this character is facing, but by golly, his willingness to do so in canon was what drew me to him so I'm going to develop a voice inside me as this character that can spit in the eye of the gods themselves if it means this character getting what they want and, also, move the damn plot forward."

This attempt to craft more assertive and often (but not exclusively) male characters also makes me take particular note when fics tend to make these canon assertive characters more passive, more shy, more unwilling to take active steps to achieve what they want, less motivated, less determined, and more riddled by self doubt. Again, not as a criticism, but in my own ongoing study trying to understand this trend, how canon differentiates from fanon, how to write more active assertive characters myself, and inevitably, what I would do differently to achieve this.

In the absence of some catch-all answer for other writers, I would say this: not all characters of course need to be assertive, determined, or powerfully motivated. No writing advice can or should be applied to all writers.

However, the major difference between the canon characters people are drawn to writing into fanon, and the fanon copies that are created, is often in the level of craft. And one element of the level of craft that professional writers tend to have mastered over fan writers is motivated characters.

In professional writing, especially script writing, it is a maxim that a character should have a goal in every scene, they should always want something, even if they are literally chained hand and foot, suspended in a jail cell, physically prevented from achieving any kind of goal, they should still rail against their circumstances, plot ways to escape, and dream about getting out of there.

Passive characters who don't want anything are everywhere in fiction and they are almost universally unbearable to read after a certain point, because even the most powerless character in the world should want something, even if it's a sandwich they just can't achieve no matter how hard they work. At least if they want a sandwich and can't achieve it for some reason we have the makings of a plot arc, probably a comedy.

And if you as a writer struggle with the little thing called "plot" it's usually because the characters don't have a goal they're trying to achieve because the act of trying to achieve a goal and facing obstacles along the way is what tends to create your average plot, even if that goal is just to make a sandwich and being continuously thwarted by missing ingredients and constant interruptions from nosy neighbors. Many a Looney Tunes sketch has been crafted from something as simple as someone wanting a sandwich (or a meal in general, see Coyote and Roadrunner) and not being able to achieve it.

Saving the world is just a bigger version of trying to make a sandwich (ie, achieve the reward) to gain what you want (presumably, in both cases, to live a bit longer) and in both cases, the more concurrent motivations you can layer on top (save the world AND get the girl!) the more developed and interesting your story gets (ex. save the world, get the girl, AND get a cool leather jacket as your personal life's ambition! idk lol).

So my advice, if such a thing can be of any help, is to sharpen the voice inside you that wants things, even if it's just for your characters. A voice that is determined, a voice that will Kool-Aid Man smash its way through any prison walls that get in the way of their goal.

Because I swear to god if I have to read one more shy passive protagonist sigh and whinge their way through doing absolutely fucking nothing and doubt themselves every goddamn step of the way, while all the characters around them do more interesting stuff, I'm gonna lose my damn mind.

[shannonsketches]

Something I really, really love about super's manga and what I think is so appealing about Vegeta's character arc in general is that it's, in my opinion, good, earnest restorative justice in fiction.

Vegeta has no say in how he's raised, he's conditioned to have a certain mindset and worldview that he has to put in the work to pull himself out of. It's messy. It's ugly. He relapses. He faces it. He works on it. He learns that death and justice aren't the same thing, even when it comes to himself. He grows.

But his backstory never serves to excuse his horrific actions or his shitty behavior. Not by Vegeta himself, and not by the narrative. (At least not in the manga.)

It's never used as a sob story excuse about why he's allowed to be like this. It's never used to explain away why he's a bad person or imply that everyone needs to be nice to him. It's never, as my friend puts the trope, 'Aw, poor little war criminal.' There are people who forgive him and there are people who don't. Obviously the forgiveness of his immediate community affects him in a positive way, but the lack of forgiveness from people he's harmed also affects him in a positive way, and the narrative slowly rewards him because he's making the decision to do and be better, regardless of whether or not anybody claps (in fact, there's a whole bit in BotG that he does not like it when people call attention to and quite literally clap for his decision to do and be better).

He gets an arc about how that has no bearing on his decision to do better. He asks, point-blank, if someone is still angry with him for a horrible thing that harmed them. He's given an honest answer. Rejection doesn't change his determination to help the people who are left to save, not even for a moment. He accepts that it's permanent damage, keeps helping, and does not bring it up again.

The narrative tells us it's no one's responsibility to forgive him, and more importantly the narrative tells us he knows that, and knows that it's entirely his responsibility to keep trying to do better for the people who are still here.

He gets a minor plot bringing attention to the fact that he bears the weight of his father's legacy, and while he gets to deny that his fathers decisions were not his responsibility -- he gets a follow up plot that addresses that he was (and was wholly intending to be) just as bad, if not worse, given a seat of power.

He gets that whole arc to explore how there's nothing he can do to change his past. He is not responsible for the sins of others, but the burden of his past is something he has to take with him into his future, and that guilt is not entirely a bad thing. The guilt is something he chooses to embrace. It gives him empathy he didn't have before. It gives him awareness of himself and his power from the new perspective of self-imposed kindness, and allows him to help someone much like himself be less alone and navigate the anger without making the same isolating mistakes.

(Toriyama's version of) The story starts rewarding him (in terms of his stated, consistent goals) when he starts actively, knowingly, and willingly pursuing kindness toward others on his own, and it becomes his natural response. He's never going to be a sweetheart like Gohan, or the Fun Opponent like Goku, but slowly he becomes the best version of himself, while still very much being Himself. And it's only after his goals are completely freed of malice and insecurity that he's able to meet them.

I just think that's a neat moral and a really well-done way to write restorative justice.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Hey, there. Can you help me with this? I am stuck on creating with this motivation for my WIP.

Those who seek death shall live, and those who seek lives shall die How do you create a character with this type of character motivation? either is an important side character, villain, mentor, or even main character?

Hi! Some writers like to use character tropes as inspiration when they get stuck with a certain idea. Here are some examples I found for you that you can use as a guide. And alter as needed for your story:

"Death Seeker" Trope

At some point in the past, some characters have had a traumatic experience, found themselves dishonored, committed a crime they could not repay, lost everything worth living for, caught an incurable disease or just became bored with continued existence.

For whatever reason, rather than turning to suicide, they went off seeking battles to fight, hoping to find an enemy who would kill them, and achieve an honorable, heroic, awesome, or otherwise acceptable death, sometimes going as far as outright surrendering and offering their life to their enemies. 

Martyrdom Cultures may regard such a character as a role model, even if upon closer examination they might seem like a Martyr Without a Cause.

In cases of cruel Irony, the characters who snap out of it and find something to live for often end up dying or getting killed shortly afterwards anyway.

A real life example:

Jeffrey Dahmer frequently expressed his wish to die for his crimes while in prison. When he was attacked by another prisoner who attempted to slit his throat, he refused to press charges and requested to be returned to the general prison population. Only a few months later, he was beaten to death by another prisoner. His last words were, reportedly: "I don't care if I live or die — go ahead and kill me."

"I Cannot Self-Terminate" Trope

Perhaps they've just been wounded in a vital area and know they are going to die slowly and in agony, and just want to die with dignity/end the pain quickly. Perhaps they are prisoners and being tortured, and the hero cannot break them free but could shoot them.

In any case, while they're ready or even eager to die, they cannot do it on their own. This can also count as a Heroic Sacrifice, sometimes.

If the character is robotic, this may occur due to influence from Asimov's Laws. Specifically, the Third Law states that a robot may not harm itself, or through inaction allow itself to be harmed, unless doing so is required to uphold the First or Second Law. Even when not following the hierarchical laws of robotics, it could still occur if a robot is simply programmed for self-preservation.

The victim may plead for death even when it is possible for them to be saved, owing to the pain. The hero is likely to override that, often saying No One Gets Left Behind.

Accidental Murder: Occurs when a situation that wasn't intended to be lethal ends with the death of someone anyway.

Anyone Can Die: This is easily defined as definite Truth in Television, because all living organisms are mortal and are bound to, by statistics at least, eventually die for any number of reasons, with no fiction writers to determine how it happens. When used poorly or too frequently, this trope can cause Too Bleak, Stopped Caring, possibly with audiences uttering the Eight Deadly Words, as the audience won't see any point in getting attached to characters that they expect to die sooner or later. A good way to check if this trope applies is to see if who survives is an important plot point, rather than only how they survive.

Cheated Death, Died Anyway: When a character narrowly escapes death on occasion (and perhaps more than one occasion), only to die shortly thereafter anyway…in a completely different way. Exactly how close the two incidents have to be varies, so the important factor in this trope is the presence of irony. This can apply in a matter of minutes, months, or even (in rare cases) years; the deciding factor is the Bait-and-Switch element of the death.

Death Is the Only Option: The only way to achieve victory is to die.

Forgiveness Requires Death: In order to be forgiven of their crimes, the character must die.

Heroic Sacrifice: Sacrificing your own life for the greater good.

Jumping on a Grenade: Sacrificing oneself by using one's own body as a shield against a deadly threat in hopes of sparing others.

Metaphorical Suicide: A despondent character willingly resigns themself to a fate similar to death without actually dying.

The Problem with Fighting Death: …is that even if you win, you'll still eventually lose. Killing or imprisoning Death might not offer protection either, as his sister Entropy goes around making everyone grow old and wish to die while Death Takes a Holiday or cause a plague of ghosts as the souls of the dead get stuck on Earth. This is the problem with fighting Death, Hades, The Devil, Psychopomps, Anthropomorphic Personifications or even God; you just can't win. However, a draw may be possible with creativity. If all that matters is that there be a Death, then replacing him with someone friendlier or someone with whom deals can be struck and honored can be a way to go. This can be done by appealing to someone higher on the divinity ladder, getting someone else to kill and replace Death (or doing so yourself, if you're willing to accept the job for the rest of eternity), and flying out of Hell are all possibilities. In this way, one can say Living Forever Is Awesome.

Who Wants to Live Forever?: If an immortal being grows so sick of eternal life that they just want it to end already.

Sources: 1 2 3 4 ⚜ More: Notes & References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

Hope this helps inspire your writing! You can look through the sources for more information on each trope.

[morallysuperiorlips]

Struggling With Your Worldbuilding? Here's Some Help!

Alright, so. Worldbuilding. It's either your favorite thing in the world, or the bane of your existence. Either way, I'm here to help.

Worldbuilding, for me is a very long, tedious, and never ending process. Like everything I output, I base a lot of my things on vibes and aesthetic and personal feeling. It's all innate. However, I can't teach innate so let me tell you about the "routes" I go on when I'm mapping a world.

When it comes to worldbuilding, whether you're writing fanfic or something original, I found there are two roads you can go down when building up your lore:

Character-Based Worldbuilding and Fact-of-Life Worldbuilding.

Character-based worldbuilding is exactly how it sounds--it's a matter of feeling out the character and seeing what it is they like to do and how they function. From there, you might find "oh they like to do X, I want them to do X in the plot." From there, you can determine how X would work its way into your world, and from there you continue to ask yourself questions to further build your blocks upward.

I find it's really helpful to start with a character and find things you want to see them doing, then spark the road of block-building questions by kicking off with a "okay, how can I get this to work?" And this can go for a major plot point, or something as trivial as a side scene. And prepare to KEEP ASKING QUESTIONS because things will continuously pop up as you think about it and consider different angles, etc. etc. etc.

Fact-of-life worldbuilding can come from little puzzle pieces and inklings of things you want to see built into any given world and basically doing the same as above and crafting upward. This can go for a major plot point or some background lore that doesn't see much of the light of day but is there to help build a more lived-in world.

Still unsure of where to begin? There's also room to look at a story and think "what am I writing? What aesthetic/vibe do I want out of this?" and once you can answer that, do some visual intake to jump start your brain.

Look up things that are in line with the vibe you want. Watch shows that follow an aesthetic you crave. Read books in a similar bracket. Take notes of the things you've seen and push and mold them together in a way that reflects what you're going for.

FOR EXAMPLE, my WIP is heavily noir-esque, gothic, dark, so I took in a lot of content that catered to my desired vibes. While doing that, it helped me build into the "routes" I have.

I watched certain scenes of Attack on Titan, and as I witnessed the titans obliterate everything, I decided "Okay, I want the eldritch beasts in my world to get big enough to obliterate everything, what do I need to do within my world, that fits the setting and isn't directly copying AoT that can make that happen?"

When I watched Bridgerton and saw these women in flowing dresses in a regency aesthetic, I said "I want to put my protagonist in that aesthetic in this story, with a modern, darker, twist, so what needs to happen in the universe to get there, why would that aesthetic exist in a modern society?"

When I watched Hunger Games and saw all the capital people mingling around one another at the Victor's Ball in Catching Fire, I said "I want a scene like that in my fic, what needs to happen in universe for that to make sense?"

Likewise, I witness a lot of dumb shit irl, or am apart of certain things, or hear certain things and just think "I want that in my story, how do I need to build my world to get these things to fit?"

It's a lot of trial and error and cutting and reshaping. The world for my current WIP took me 10 years to build up and to this day I am still chipping away at it and changing things about it.

Side note, but I also always encourage working both major plot worldbuilding and trivial worldbuilding, because oftentimes major plot worldbuilding can lead to trivial worldbuilding and vice versa, and you should never knock the background shit. It gives readers stuff to theorize and speculate about aside from the plot, which I think is always fun. And again, that helps provides a very lived in world, which should always be the goal.

As always, have fun and go fucking write something today <3

[blacklister214]

Elena's Love Cynicism

Since finishing The Lady's Companion I've been meditating on Elena's psychology and how that psychology affected the plot. I think Elena's major struggle is centered on the fact is that she has been conditioned not to believe in unconditional love.

When she was young her parent's emotional and financial support was wholly contingent on her repressing her own desires. They give her zero personal autonomy right up until the point they engaged her to a man over twice her age whom she has never met.

She is inspired by Gabriel into embracing freedom and rebellion, eventually culminating in their running away together. For a time she is extremely happy, given that she gets love from Gabriel while simultaneously enjoying the freedom his lifestyle allows. The pregnancy unfortunately changes that. A baby would force responsibilities on herself and Gabriel. She would no longer be able to meet the prior behavior expectations of their affair. She is so certain of his rejection that to protect herself she runs from him without a word. This to me is deeply tragic, because from everything I saw in the show that man deserved the chance to step up. Instead she runs back to her parents who confirm her fears that unconditional love is a farce.

Cristina and Santiago also suffer for Elena's cynicism. Elena dismisses Eduardo after one conversation with his mother. As determined and resourceful as she is, she could have easily hired a PI to track him down and sent Santiago or Gabriel with the Cristina's letter. She doesn't because she has no faith in his affection for Cristina. She is protecting Cristina as she would protect herself, which turns out to be a mistake in this instance.

Even if Elena was convinced Eduardo was a POS, she could have convinced Cristina to confide in Santiago. He would not have given the secret away, and chances are thanks to his feelings for her and his love of the family he would have agreed to the marriage.

Even if he declined, he could have helped locating a husband who would not object, either a gay one or someone who needed the dowry. While not ideal, it would have been better than everyone massively betraying their family friend.

In my opinion this series will end with Elena learning to stand her ground and have faith in another person even when things get hard.

[rahabs]

Was there anything you liked about Veilguard?

The hair was an improvement over Inquisition's notorious fifty shades of bald. Emmrich had a lot of potential and was easily the best of what turned out to be bland, underdeveloped batch of companions that the game makes you coddle and affirm at every turn (or, in Taash's case, an insanely childish companion that I felt I had to babysit constantly). Davrin was also fine. The architectural design was beautiful to look at, even if the cities felt empty and stale. Some of the armour was nice, and an improvement on Inquisition. I wasn't a fan of some aspects of the CC (but that's more my general dissatisfaction with BioWare constantly issuing massive overhauls to the designs of elves and qunari, so it's not Veilguard-specific), but it was also a marked improvement over Inquisition. Combat was... fine. It got dull after awhile, but it was just your standard stuff. Nothing offensive. Solas' voice acting was great for the .5 seconds we got to see him. Some of the other characters were voiced well.

As I've said, my main issue just lies in the sterile, corporate writing--not just the companions. My dissatisfaction also extends to the general culling of roleplay options (and some of the reasons why they were cut--namely, because a certain head writer was against players being able to do things he personally didn't approve of, and yes, it's common knowledge as Weekes was vocal on social media about it for years), the rampant lore issues (which BioWare has always struggled with in this franchise; lore consistency is not Dragon Age's strength), the coddling and hand-holding (not just for companions but for all major plot points; it's like the game thinks we're all stupid toddlers who need everything spoon-fed and told to us in the most simplistic terms, leaving no room for nuance or discussion), and just how... demeaning a lot of this game felt, I suppose? Someone pointed this out once and it stuck with me, but this game feels more like it was designed for "lonely people who really like found family fanfiction and project way too hard onto interactive media." Everything's just constant affirmation, constant "how-are-yous" from Rook to the companions; you cannot disagree with a companion or risk hurting their pixel-feelings, even when the companions are objectively acting like arseholes. It kills the roleplay aspect BioWare has always been famous for.

Editing this response I gave to someone else on this post, because I should have expanded originally:

[…] I think part of the reason Veilguard fails is that, unlike DA2, in trying to cater to that “found family” crowd and recreate the feeling people got with DA2 especially, the writers forgot a crucial aspect of what makes found family dynamics work, or what makes them feel worthwhile to the audience: the conflict.  Part of the impact with DA2 is it takes time—literal years—for Hawk to help build that dynamic, and there are serious differences of opinions and many arguments, whether between Hawk and one of the companions, Fenris and Anders, Isabella and Aveline, Fenris and Merrill, Anders and Merrill, Aveline and Merrill, Sebastian and Anders, Hawk and their sibling (whether Bethany or Carver), et al, etc.  Can you imagine if Fenris and Anders had had one minor disagreement and Hawk held their hands and went, “I see you’re feeling a lot of big emotions about this, are you okay, maybe you should try getting along and seeing things from his point of view?” and that was that? Because that’s essentially what Veilguard does, and it’s part of why the game rings so hollow and the found family dynamic seems so contrived: it feels unearned. It is unearned.

In the end Rook feels more like a therapist to a bunch of whingey thirteen-year-olds than a leader of professional adults, and the sterile writing as well as the writers' deeming determination to coddle their audience just makes this M-rated game feel G-rated, and not in a good way. In the risk of going into spoilers, I'm not going to rant about the Executors (though know I hate them so very much) or about the whole thing with Southern Thedas (yes I'm mad, because it's so unbelievably lazy), but so many aspects of Dragon Age's lore was just... watered down to the extreme in this game.

Also, the fact that they turned the Antivan Crows, of all things--you know, the same Antivan crows who purchase and recruit child slaves, who kill them if the deviate, whom we've spent three games going "man, you guys are kind of nasty, aren't you" at, etc--into this soft, fluffy, weird little uwu family unit really stood out to me as a symptom of this game's overall problem, which is, again, the infantile writing and the overall issue of over-sanitisation. Everything has to be uwu family friendly and nice and no one can ever have bad thoughts or do bad things or be mean! Good vibes only! I mean, we spent years being told about Tevinter and its legacy of slavery, particularly in Minrathous, and there's none of that in this game. Just more good vibes because can't risk anyone being upset or encountering challenging narratives!

Also, a petty grievance: BioWare also failed to improve on the issues with the dialogue wheel from Inquisition, meaning you'll choose an option and then Rook says something completely different. Again.

I'm just so thoroughly disappointed in it.

[quillsandblades]

What could be the reasons for Hange's death?

I’m not best at doing these analysis posts, but I’ve had this in my mind for a while now and it needs to get out.

As a sort-of writer, I know there’s always reasons to kill off a character, especially if they're well-developed and play a crucial part in the story. So what could’ve gone through Isayama’s mind when he decided to kill our precious Hange? Here’s what I think.

First of all, reading the manga I really felt like her death was forced, staged. It didn't seem right, didn't seem to fit. Now I don’t know if the rest of you felt this way but I sure did. And that's why I'm gonna talk about why I think Isayama killed her.

There are four points in this post and each explains a potential reason:

1. To make the readers cry

And who do we know that holds nearly all these characteristics, and died?

Many characters are killed just to give a truck load of emotional damage to the readers. And sometimes authors enjoy it — don’t get me wrong, we love the characters, it’s just what even is a good story if devastated readers aren’t sending you death threats for killing their fav fictional character? Such characters often possess some or all of these qualities: Lovable, witty, humorous, determined, has big goals/dreams, you get attached to them easily and if they have a love interest that you’re invested in, and they both got plans to *ahem* live peacefully once a certain war is out of the list of duties, it’s over for you (IFKK 😭).

Maybe Yams was in killer mood the day he wrote chapter 132. I wonder if he’s doing the evil laugh somewhere, thinking how we’re suffering every day.

2. It’s crucial to the plot

These kinds of deaths aren’t in the author’s hand, and they really hurt us sometimes. I have a few characters very close to my heart and I hope I never have to put them to death cuz I may not have the willpower to write ahead if I do. It happens when you get dead-ends (yes you can get dead-ends even in fiction as well, at least that’s what I think because the setting or world you create has to have some limits), when the rules you have set up to make that world start to cage you in. And sometimes there’s no option but to kill them. Their death is important, it’s a key point, or maybe it’s part of what their personality demands. It’s needed, and it hurts.

But coming to Hange, I can safely say that’s not the case. Her death could’ve been avoided. In the manga she barely managed to get much time. Yes the plane made it, but it’s Hange we’re talking about and she has a big brain. She could’ve made a less harmful plan to stop the Colossal titans right there, I don’t doubt her intelligence at all. Or someone could’ve helped. The part about titan shifters saving their strength was a flimsy excuse Isayama, cuz taking out a Colossal isn't such a back-breaking task for the Shifters - they’ve had worse and done better.

3. Some other character needs to take the spotlight

This happens when our character is in the way of someone else’s glory. They need to be taken off the stage so the next one comes up.

For Hange I’d say, that was Armin. I think Isayama might have wanted to give the stuttering blonde kid a glow-up, and I gotta say it worked well. I’ve seen countless posts where Armin back then and as commander is compared and people are like, ha! Y’all used to laugh at him cuz he was a timid, scared little thing but look at him now, Commander of the scouts and such.

I’ve seen him get a lot of hate for not being strong enough, not being confident and such things. So what does Isayama do? He takes that character and upgrades him to Commander. I think he’s wanted to do this for a long time, to show just how much potential the kid has, and take it as a character development. He was chosen over Erwin and then Hange. He couldn’t be Commander after Shiganshina cuz Hange was named successor. He got his chance in ch 132 and took it. The only way to make Armin Commander was to kill Hange and so we had to part with the crazy genius we loved. (I don't hate Armin though, it's Isayama's fault not Armin's)

But here’s the thing, she could’ve still come back. Battered and bruised, and Armin would still be Commander as the title was already handed over. Then why go all the way and kill her? Here’s why.

4. External reasons

This and the 3rd point, In my opinion, are the main reasons for Hange’s death.

The external factors here include her relationship with Levi. The man has a HUGE fanbase and he’s shipped (and shippable) with so many characters it’s concerning. And the most popular ships are Ereri (this one doesn’t even make sense) and Eruri. As a character that’s so popular among fans, I don’t think Isayama wanted to confirm anything related to his love life as that would only create rifts among fans or even drop his popularity. By keeping it vague he kept the fanbase up. But what has Hange living got to do with it?

Well, we all heard her ‘Let’s live here together’ confession. It’s probably the most romantic thing anybody said to Levi canonically and no one can deny it gives hints. Then comes Levi's double meaning statement of ‘Unrequited titan love’ and I’d say that pretty much sealed the deal. ‘Devote your heart’ was the cherry on top and now if Hange returned they both would be so canon.

But for the sake of argument, let’s say all of that meant nothing romantic. But if Hange’s still alive we all know she’d never leave Levi alone in his impaired state after the war. She’d be the one pushing his wheelchair around and since they’re already veterans and very close friends, Levi would only tolerate having her around him at all times. So if someone’s gonna say that all of those ‘confessions’ meant nothing, then these facts are proof enough that after the war Levihan had all the chance of being canon. So if Hange had lived these two would have been a sealed deal - but that isn’t possible in reality due to Levi’s popularity.

So, Hange dies and Isayama avoids a ton of mess for himself.

All of this is entirely my take on breaking down my fav character’s death, not saying it’s 100% legit. Just a harmless analysis.

[comicaurora]

Hey red, what's your opinion on some modern writing that's very lamp shady? And do you have any advice on how to avoid "Well that just happened" dialogue?

It's an interesting question!

The thing is, lampshading exists for a reason, but it's not the reason it gets used a lot of the time. Writers might lampshade a narrative choice they're insecure about, while characters lampshade because the things they go through in a typical story are kind of bonkers, and we might expect them to notice. If a character signs on for a simple mercenary expedition and ends up discovering they're the long-lost prince of a kingdom they've never heard of, that's weird and they probably feel weird about it. If an ally is determined to 1v1 their super overpowered nemesis with no help from their friends, those friends might have opinions about how dumb that is.

This is a form of lampshading that doesn't break immersion because it's entirely in-character and doesn't lean on the fourth wall. There's a difference between a character noticing how weird their life is and a character pointing out how cliched a recent experience was. In the latter case, the character is treating their life like a story, and while it IS a story, they shouldn't know that.

There's a spectrum here, with "complete sincerity and taking every turn of the plot at face value" defining the 0-point and "complete self-aware uninvestment" at the far end, but healthy levels of lampshading live somewhere in the middle. Characters at the 0-point accepting everything that happens without question can feel just as weird as characters that won't stop pointing out the TVTropes entry they're currently living. It's about what it makes sense for the character to find disruptive or noteworthy. A hardened badass probably won't see the need to point out how bonkers a recent fight scene was, but a newcomer to the Cool Bombastic Adventure scene might be really excited when they pull off a cool special move and want to point it out.

I think this is why the recent D&D movie worked for a lot of people, because while the main characters all lampshade their lives to varying degrees, the way they do so makes sense for all of them. Edgin is a bard and storyteller so he has a slightly meta perspective on a lot of things, purposefully avoids playing along with certain narrative conventions and sometimes responds to other people's dialogue by critiquing their dialogue instead of just responding normally; Holga doesn't really care to understand how the world works and so keeps pointing out that they should just use magic to solve their problems, which is probably the most popular lampshade in the whole genre; Doric and Simon don't get a ton of time to shine character-wise, but they'll both occasionally poke holes in the pretense of the story they're in. The thing that makes this all work is Xenk, who plays absolutely every moment completely 100% straight and is entirely immersed in the objectively ridiculous setting of D&D. Same goes for most of the villains, except for Forge, who's probably the wackiest and most self-aware character in the entire movie, but in a way that makes him feel callous and disregarding of the people around him, like he's uninvested in the world not because he knows he's a fictional character but because he has too much money and power to care about anything. The ways each character does or does not lampshade their surroundings make sense for who they are as people and reinforce their characterization and place in the world instead of undermining it.

I recently watched a couple episodes of Stargate Atlantis and noticed something similar - the main character and, to a lesser extent, the rest of his associates from Earth have a tendency to make wry observations about his objectively bizarre life and the eccentricities of the people around him, which helps contrast against the extremely serious and businesslike Cool Space Warriors they keep accumulating, which helps make them feel (a) distinct from each other and (b) relatable considering all the weird stuff that happens. And the protagonist switches off the quips as soon as things start looking perilous for his team, so you never get the impression that they aren't invested in the story they're living, and as a result the various quips and lampshades come across more as a habit or a coping mechanism than a disruption to the narrative itself.

So basically I think you can get away with a lot of lampshades as long as the character doesn't feel like they know they're in a story.

[lgcxjasper]

☕- plots and connections wanted!

hi friends. now that i believe work is getting to a smoother point, i've returned bigger and better than ever. this is long overdue, but i'm here now for some much needed plotting and connections for my lovely over the pond boy, jasper here! this will be a revamped version of his previous plot page, simply(and aptly) named after popular tea flavors. please don't hesitate to reach out and/or like if something catches your eye. or, if you just want to plot, hit me up!

if you'd like to know about jasper, here's his dossier here.

chai [ m, long-standing trainee, any age] you've been a trainee at legacy for a long time, and sure you weren't perfect, but you were certain you had what it takes to debut before him. instead, you still find yourself in trainee rooms, wanting to prove yourself, and mr. london gets to be in a new group, much to your dismay. what follows is dark glares, maybe some slight shoulder checking, and maybe not the nicest of words from either. will this ever be resolved? or will there always be bitter blood?

london fog [ m or f, any age] you've never had a change to go overseas, and frankly, jasper is a little fascinating. from the accent to the mannerisms, you think it's pretty cool to be from a place that you've only had a chance to admire in movies and pictures. and jasper, luckily, doesn't mind being a little bit of wonder, answering and every question. what starts as a curiosity grows into a cool, unique friendship, learning about culture in a whole new way.

extra sweet [ m or f, '02 liner or older] jasper is pretty good at holding his own, but when he meets you in the hallways of legacy, he's surprised at the bold personality. he thought he was suave and charismatic until he had apparently met his match, and here starts the playful game of tit for tat. just when he think he has you, you always one up with with a clever retort, and he finds his ears burning. how do you do it?

english breakfast [ f, '01-03 liner] you two just weren't quite met for each other. a blind date going completely wrong-- if everything could have been off kilter, it went that way. no matter how you tried to fix it, the night ended up horribly, but it still made your cheeks hurt in laughter. no dates, but at least there's a lifelong friendship out of it. worked out, right? arnold palmer [ m or f, any age] jasper has been putting his pen and fingers to good use lately, when he's not training, he's determined to find a empty studio to write and create in. you couldn't help but be drawn in when he's left the door cracked one day, and even if you don't have the same style, your tips and insight give a breakthrough in order to finish a song that had taken him a while. from then on, it seems like a perfect pairing of composition, becoming close creative pals.

matcha [ m or f, leader of an idol group, any age] he's never been a leader before, let alone a leader of an entire group. he knows he's got a lot to learn but... maybe in a quiet tone, he's a bit nervous about what it all brings him. the last thing he wants to do is let every one down. thankfully, you're there to give him a breakdown, give him tips and tricks, and just be a listening hear when it gets too much.

oolong [ m or f, child of a famous parent] jasper doesn't talk much about his life as mrs mae's son, though he's sure he could quite a bit. with you though, there isn't a lot to be said. perhaps their parents already know each other, or you just have parent that also constantly has fans following them around, but regardless... you can somewhat get his pain(or maybe you don't?)

[yingfelis]

Hey! I want to request if you don't mind, Fu Hua x Mantis!Reader, basically this reader I really like that fic lmao, thank you anyway!

Hellooo <333 ofc I actually hadn’t read that one yet until you requested this and it was so cute I loved it

I hope you don’t mind any sort of plot holes or such cause I actually haven’t really finished the ER/PE story yet 😓 (also sorry if the ending seems kinda rushed)

I found you, you found me

Fu Hua x Mantis Reader

You had been in the moths much longer than Fu hua due to getting caught up in honkai attacks at a young age.

When both of your parents had died the moths was the only place left for you to go

You dedicated everything into fighting because in truth what else was there for you to live for?

Due to this you became a mantis at a young age, not caring for the risk of the outcomes, you were one of the few who volunteered and one of the even fewer that survived

But you couldn’t feel anything, your already dull life seem to grow even dimmer.

You lost taste in food and anything that affected the normal human senses seem to dwindle for you

However that does mean you can actually be near and interact with Kevin without feeling his coldness. (This makes him secretly happy)

Everything just felt empty though, no matter what you would do in the end it got you nowhere, life was simply a chore and fighting was all you knew how to do.

Then she had to walk into your life, a broken yet determined girl had suddenly came crashing into your life…. Well technically it was you who came crashing into hers, literally

Being flung through the battle grounds and crashing into the raven haired girl was not part of your usual routine but here you guys were.

Honestly it was just a simple clearing out mission nothing too big but you being you couldn’t feel an injury on yourself until it was too late and a sharp pain took over your body

A large honkai beast took notice of this weakness and immediately rammed into you sending you flying. You would had probably gotten more injuries had a certain young girl around your age appeared in your way and help break your fall

As you got up and were about to apologize/say thank you, you instead had to grab the other girl and duck as an attack was hurled at you two

Snapping out of it you both immediately got back into battle, on the battlefield you two were warriors, not human.

However after the battle, that same girl managed to find you again. She introduced herself to you

“Hua…” you said testing how her name rolled off your tongue. It was surprisingly easy and something just felt right about it.

Hua nodded her head with a small sound of confirmation. “And you? Who might you be”

“Call me Y/n” you said bluntly and a look of realization came across her face.

“Yes, I believe Kevin had mentioned you to me just before this” she said, which didn’t surprise you much. Kevin was fond of you due to you being unaffected by his current state and also one of the few who had successfully became a mantis.

“Mhm, Dr. Mei had mentioned another mantis would be in this mission. If I’m not mistaken we must be around the same age then.” Hua nodded in confirmation as silence fell upon you two.

Hua, not knowing what to do, studied you a bit and instantly noticed your injuries that you seemed to pay no attention to. “Are you going to treat your injuries soon?” She asked, pointing them out

You looked dumbly at her before looking down at yourself. “Ah… I had forgotten about these. Perhaps I should, but it would take too long.”

“So you’re just going to go untreated” a hint of concern was present in her voice

“Perhaps, I’ll see what I can do for myself though-” you felt a hand grab your arm as you were dragged away

“Come, I will at least apply the necessary first aid needed” you dumbfoundedly followed Hua as she led you away from your previous spot. She made you sit down as she grabbed a box filled with medical supplies.

You both sat in silence as Hua begins to clean and bandage up the wounds that were littered around your body.

It was a comfortable silence and you couldn’t help but to feel relaxed and warm at this feeling of being taken care of

Wait….

Feel?

That isn’t right.

After that interaction you found yourself meeting with Hua more often. Whether it was coincidence or your own body unconsciously leading you to her you wouldn’t know

At the very least Hua doesn’t seem to mind the company so you’ll continue to stick around her.

Though this got some teasing from Elysia and intrigued looks from a few others. Your almost instant connection with Hua felt almost like second nature.

You’re not sure why, and Hua doesn’t seem to understand the extent of how out of character this is for you but you can’t help but want to stay with her and protect her from everything. Even her own mind sometimes.

Yes, perhaps jumping in front of an attack with an already unstable body that was on the verge of breaking due to overuse in battle was not the best idea you’ve ever had.

But in your defense, it was aiming at Hua and her getting hurt right in front of you es just unacceptable.

As you awaken in a hospital bed, your eyes immediately noticed the sleeping figure laying their head down next to you.

“Hua…” you mutter, unable to not keep her name from escaping your lips. It was such a pleasant feeling, to say her name, you could do it a millions times if it meant the warm feeling inside of you would remain

Hua stirred before her eyes cracked open. They seemed dazed for a moment as she processed everything

You were awake, her body snapped up, eyes looking at you in shock. You stared back with an unreadable expression like always

Hua simply relaxed a bit as her hand gripped the bed sheets tightly. “You’re awake, thank god” her voice was quiet with a bitter yet relieved expression

You nodded and took the hand she was gripping onto the bed so tightly into yours, loosening the grip of it. You didn’t like it when she did that all agitation and stressed, you liked it when she was relaxed. Hua knew this

“Even now you’re still focused and worried about me… why? You could have nearly died due to my ignorance.” Hua was frustrated, why did you always do this, why for her, what did she do to deserve such protection from you?

“I didn’t want to see you hurt” You responded calmly, almost like it was as obvious as what color the sky was

This only made her more frustrated. She stood up “you think I want to see you hurt too!? Y/n what you did was reckless and idiotic, had your body not mange to pull itself together you would not be here. The mission would have been a failure and I—…”

Hua’s voice died down at the end as she looked down

“I could have lost you too… and it would have been all my fault-”

Hua found herself not being able to continue as arms wrapped around her abruptly pulling her close. It was a bit of an awkward position due to you still being bed bound but it was warm

“Y/n! What-” “I’m sorry hua please forgive me”

She looked at you in shock as there were silent tears in your eyes. Why? Why were you shedding tears for her? How were you shedding tears? This all confused her

“Hua, none of what happened was your fault. I was so scared to see you hurt, I wanted so badly to protect you. I didn’t even know I could still possess these emotions or any emotions. But you still make me feel them and I latched onto it.” You didn’t even let her get a word in before continuing again.

“You make me feel things I never would have thought I could possess again. In this soulless life I found comfort in your warmth, so please don’t think badly of yourself.” Hua was in no way a love expert but even to her this sounded like a confession. It comforted her in a different way then normal, it was so warm.

So warm that the icy cold exterior she had melted immediately as she cried in your arms. You started to panic fearing you had done something wrong. “Hua? Hua I’m sorry please don’t cry.”

You tried to brush the tears away gently cupping her cheek only for her to lean into your touch… and upwards. A soft pair of lips met yours and you froze, the only thing you could manage was to close your eyes.

As she pulled away you both stared into each other’s eyes. A small blush dusted her face as your mouth was hung open in shock. “I have never once liked seeing a comrade put themselves in harms way. You are no exception to that fact. In fact, you are the one person that I cannot lose.”

Your eyes softened at her words. You let Hua curl up against you as you held her. Leaving a kiss on her temple. “I won’t leave you Hua, I never will. A moth cannot stray from it’s light, and you burn too brightly for me to loose you”

After that, you two were officially dating, though never stated out loud it others it was obvious.

When it came time for the previous era to come to end and the current era to begin, you were along side Hua.

However due to the complications it was decided that while you both were to complete the same task it would be in different areas.

This sadden Hua but you brushed it off “no matter how long it will take I will come back to you, whether you have forgotten me or not will not stop me from being by your side.”

These words brought her comfort as she knew you had meant those words. Entrusting Hua’s care to Fuxi and Nuwa. You two had to part ways

Eventually, Fu Hua’s memories of you had faded until they were completely destroyed in the fight against Sirin. This had broken her in a way she couldn’t understand.

In times of need she found herself longing for the comfort of someone familiar she couldn’t remember, she found herself unconsciously seeing certain fighting styles that made her lost in thought

You were someone that took on many identities over your lifetimes. Fading into the background was normal for you, you had done that a lot during your time with the moths.

Leading others to the goal while remaining undetected was much easier than actually being the leader.

However eventually someone had taken notice of your presence. A man by the name of Welt, Welt Joyce, the first Herrscher of Reason.

Then boom you were sucked into the chaos of Anti-Entropy generally assisting them from time to time while still keeping your identity mostly hidden from others.

You helped them make better tech using your knowledge from the previous era which basically had made you Einstein and Tesla’s go to test subject lab partner

In exchange, they kept your identity a secrete, help you fulfill the goal of passing on your knowledge to the correct era, and finally, gave you tabs as to how Fu Hua was doing.

Despite the many years that have passed your memories of your light was something you treasured. Even if her journey didn’t include you in it, it doesn’t matter to you. Knowing she’s safe is enough for you.

Only after the whole HoS and HoD incident was when you two finally reconnected. Fu Hua had obtained some of her memories back and that included those with you. At first it pained her a bit to know she had no idea of someone she had treasured so deeply before.

She didn’t know how you were or if you were even alive. Had you change? What were you doing for so long? Had you kept you promise or did you forget about her by now? It was all confusing to Fu Hua

Due to the injures she had sustained in the battle with Dominance, Fu Hua was referred to a few days of rest (despite saying how she was feeling fine)

She was getting an examination with Tesla and Einstein when they had told her how they were expecting a “lab partner/a stoic idiot” to show up soon. They said how they would like her to meet said lab partner, which confused her a bit but she didn’t questioned if.

“Doctor Einstein, I had gotten your signal. Was there something you needed to discuss-…” You paused at your eyes took in the very familiar face and body of your (past?) lover. You stood in shock as Fu Hua looked back mirroring your expression.

Einstein ushered doctor Tesla out as she gave you a knowing look and felt you two alone.

You blinked “Hua..?” You asked trying to see if she had recognized you. Which the answer was obviously yes. “Y/n” the name had rolled off her tongue so easy. Yes, it felt right

At that confirmation, the room grew silent. Fu hua didn’t know what she could say to you. Not like either of you two were big talkers before anyways.

Then, when the silent tears rolled down your face that reminded her so much of her memories of that night she stood closer to you and cupped your face.

Wiping your tears she was greeted with the realization of how the roles were reversed now yet it still felt so right.

“Hua… I found you”

“You found me, y/n”

Fu hua gently held you as you basked in her warmth, like a moth to a flame, you had been guided to her once more.