#Tbh I'm generally bad at connecting music to characters and stories

[amethystina]

There is a specific song that reminds me a lot of Yohan x Gaon for some reason that is very cloudy for me, sometimes I have theories but I don't know. I always hear it when I read WHTD, so you can imagine how many times it was repeated while I was reading, right? Maybe you know it, but I'll leave it here anyway.

especially in the part where she starts to say: “when you wake up next to him in the middle of the night…”

Maybe you know why it reminds me of them so much better than me. 💜

I don't know if I can say for sure since music is a very subjective thing, as is how we interpret lyrics. And I tend to be pretty literal tbh, which isn't everyone's favourite way of interpreting music. So I can honestly only guess based on what I can read in the lyrics, especially since I'm not very familiar with the artist xD

But, with that in mind, I guess it might remind you of them (and Who Holds the Devil in particular) because it seems to be a song from one woman to another woman and the second woman is pretending she's straight even if the two of them clearly has some lesbian tension going on. And I guess that's more or less the situation Yo Han is in with Ga On right now? Like, just switch "girl" to "boy," "boys" to "girls," and "next to him" to "next to her," and "his wife" to "her husband" etc. and a lot of it might as well be Yo Han speaking to Ga On.

The future wife mentioned could be Soo Hyun or just some unnamed woman that Yo Han assumes Ga On will end up with in the future, since Ga On is clearly determined to pretend that he's still straight, which means he'll probably marry at some point.

And I do think that Yo Han would be pretty petty about that, yes. I actually got an ask a while back, asking me what I thought would happen if Soo Hyun and K didn't die, but the majority of the drama played out pretty much the same afterwards. And I think we'd probably end up with a scenario quite similar to this song. Where Ga On ends up in a relationship with Soo Hyun and pretends that he's straight, but slowly but surely it becomes clear that he's really not.

He wouldn't have much luck, in other words.

Anyhow! When it comes to the lyrics, I especially like the part "You'd have to stop the world just to stop the feeling," which I think could have several meanings, depending on what angle you want to take. One is that "if you want to stop being gay, your only choice is to stand still and stop evolving" or "the only way to stop yourself from wanting me is for the world itself to stop spinning." And whichever interpretation you choose is pretty suitable for them, I'd say. Especially the latter is a pretty good summary of what their relationship — and the connection they share — is like if you ask me.

The only thing that could guarantee that Ga On can let go of Yo Han (and Yo Han of Ga On) is if they both ceased to exist. Nothing else would actually work.

Even if they're separated, they'd still obsess over each other.

So yeah. I can see why you draw parallels, especially if one views it as something from Yo Han's POV, where he's snarkily criticising Ga On's increasingly clumsy attempts to pretend he's still straight. Because they both know he's not.

And Yo Han would definitely be the kind of person to say "I told you so" in that situation.

[flystill]

hi can i ask which newmann fics you wld recommend 👉👈 (saw your tags on that one post abt quality fandom fics)

my dude, my new bestest bestie, every day i wake up and DREAM someone will ask me this question. I will say, I have two central favorites, and there are some other greats you can find via the usual methods on AO3 [eg. Anthology is objectively very good although it's not my personal favorite favorite]) They are both extensive reads, so if you haven't read them, they should keep you busy for a while. If you have read them, then sorry this post will definitely come off like a bad infomercial and you can dm me to discuss further or something.

Anyway, both of these are continuations of Newt and Hermann's stories post-Pacific-Rim-2013, bc I started reading this stuff a decade ago (and tbh I just ignore uprising's existence in my personal canon but absolutely zero shade to those who love it [so valid!]). Anyway, here we go with the infomercial:

The pièce de résistance, my raison d'être: Designations Congruent with Things (downloadable here as pdfs, or i can send you like an ancient AO3 pdf, there are other options if you ask the right people) There is A LOT going on here. This fic has a prequel and a sequel, they're all part of a whole multiverse that is the the inimitable writing of cleanwhiteroom. There's fanart, there's a real band that's created the music of a fictional band, there's UC Berkeley, there's mind reading, there's love, there's loss, there's use and well-informed misuse of the works of René Descartes and quantum mechanics. This is the fic of all fics in my eyes. No way I can capture it in my paltry words, go read it, Out of Many Scattered Things, and Aftermath if you have any interest in newmann or honestly well-written science fiction in general.

Occam's Razor by BlairRabbit. I love this fic. SUCH a soft spot for the original characters in it. Every time I think of a nuclear cooling pool or a church altar, I think of this fic (for better or for worse). Where all the action of DCWT is sans-Jaegers and predominantly outside the PPDC, this one takes place right in the totally awesome fast-paced world built by GdT. Admittedly, I don't reread this one as often as DCWT, but it's got this vibrant and warm-hearted quality that's hard to forget. (AO3 link here)

So, let me know if this helps! I tried to be informative of the 'vibes' without telling too much of the plots. I'm sorry, I tend to filter AO3 with a >~80k word minimum and I love physics (this probably shows in both these recs), so if those are not your cup of tea, i apologize for unhelpfulness. Genuinely, DCWT left an indelible impact on my psyche, so if I can help even one other person find that kind of connection to a story (any story), it would feel a job well done.

Happy reading!

[visualtaehyun]

Rules: List 10 of your comfort shows, then tag 10 people

Thanks for tagging me y'all @sorry-bonebag @twig-tea @rocketturtle4 ✨

My criteria for a comfort show are gonna be 1) any piece of media 2) that I've watched more than once and 3) that I will keep reaching for. That's it. I can't even explain what the common denominator is tbh?? It's just- the kinda movie or show that I need on DVD to easily put on again and quell the brain worms (yes, I physically own all but #4-#6).

1. My School President: What can I say, this show took me entirely by surprise! I started watching a few days before episode 4 aired - aka the pinky touch ✨ the conversation in the stairwell ✨ and the origin of Gem4th's fanclub name being Khun Nuu ✨ - and fell right in love with it. I love musical storytelling, I love coming of age stories, I love a good romance, and I love found family/friend group dynamics so this really hit the spot for me. I guess these apply to a bunch of my choices for this tag though haha

2. Cutie Pie: I've talked about this show in another tag game (as "A show people find bad but you will defend") and all of that still holds true so I won't repeat it here. I'll just add that this show introduced me to Nunew who's my favorite artist these days. :)

3. Love In The Air (Love Storm): Yup! The show that most people on here seem to recall as that extra horny one lol It's one of the first Thai QLs I watched along with as it aired, maybe even the first one. I started watching when episode 2 came out, I think? And I just loved the D/s-dynamic, lovable brat Rain, and these rookie actors so much that I not only went looking for the bts, cast reactions, and interviews but I even started following Twitter translators for the show and cast. This show (and ZeeNunew lol) was basically my introduction to how the Y industry works, what Thai fanclubs are like, and got me well and truly interested in learning Thai. I think I've seen it enough times to speak along by now cause I also used my familiarity with it to study Thai. And now that BossNoeul are finally getting a new show, I'm really looking forward to seeing them in new roles!

4. Not Me: It's simply brilliant. And it's so grounded! You know how lots of tops in Thai QLs are rich, a CEO, drive a supercar, and live in a gorgeous modern home with huge windows (and death stairs lmao)? I love that Not Me starts in a place of privilege but has White leave that behind pretty early on. Bangkok really is a city where you can constantly see the divide between rich and poor. So I appreciate this show even more after having been to Bangkok. Not Me's characters look unfiltered and real and that's how the entire show feels as well. I just love what P'Nuchy has given us here! Oh and +1 for White narrating his entire story, I just kinda love that in general (also enjoyed Kawi narrating Be My Favorite). The next two kinda fall into one category: shows I loved as a kid, remembered - found - rewatched as a teen, and still fondly remember.

5. Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne: This is a magical girl anime that I first would have seen on TV in 2001. In hindsight, this show's religious themes may have influenced me in my love for fictional faith and devotion. Just a thought, haha, totally don't have more than one dnd character who is majorly connected to divinity, faith, and devotion, even though I personally am agnostic...

6. The Weekenders: I routinely cite this as my favorite cartoon (and I watched- just- So Many as a kid omg). Since I watched this on German TV, I only know the German dub which was honestly really fun. If any Germans read this and have seen that show: Wirsing! The rest is movies all the way down!

7. Timeline: A 2003 movie with a bunch of well-known actors that arguably qualifies as a B movie because it flopped so hard at the box office. It's my trash though. I chose it at the video store, brought it home, loved it, and then proceeded to rent it like once a year lol! It's basically a bunch of archeologists and history nerds travelling back in time to the Hundred Years War to save their professor. It has my preferred time travel dynamic of Everything is fixed and whatever traces in time you leave were already there to begin with.

8. Inception: There's several Christopher Nolan movies I love but this one is just so grand and fun and maybe I also had a bit of a crush on Elliott Page back then 👉👈 I'm a born nerd so naturally teen-me used "Non je ne regrette rien" as my alarm for years lmao This category is basically just Disney & co. musicals lol

9. Mulan (1998): If you asked me to choose my favorite from the entire classic Disney musical line-up, it would always be this one. It's the queerest, of course I'd always choose it!

10. Anastasia: You know, I looked at my shelf full of cartoon musicals- no wait, High School Musical and Pitch Perfect are next to them, hm, wELL- at my movie musicals shelf and it came down to choosing between this one and The Swan Princess (1994). And this one just kinda won out because "Once Upon A December" is impeccable! And now I've got it stuck in my head 👍

Since it took me a few days to get back to it, this has clearly made the rounds already. Who to tag?? Uh-- @pharawee @airenyah @telomeke and whoever sees this and wants to do it of course!

[greycappedjester]

I really like connecting songs to characters, and I was rereading Haikyuu at Hogwarts when “Never Love an Anchor” by The Crane Wives popped up on my playlist and WOW it is so BokuAka I think. Which leads me to my question: would you ever plan on creating a playlist for the Haikyuu at Hogwarts series? All the characters are so unique and fun so I’d think it’d be so cool to hear it all combine within music I guess LOL.

ALSO CONGRATULATIONS ON THE DOCTORATE, DOCTOR!!!!

Oooh, okay, so I'm now listening to that song as I type this out and it's really good and I can definitely see the bokuaka vibes.

For a playlist...tbh I'm really bad at coming up with playlist for others since my mood for songs I listen to while story planning is basically entirely VIBES and songs that I can run to (I typically do story planning while running since I like moving while I think). Anyway, but what this means is that my songs sometimes really, really don't have lyrics that connect at all to what I'm story planning. So any playlist I did would be pretty weird and not fitting.

Umm, I can say that a lot of bokuaka scenes I've planned for Hq at Hogwarts were planned while I was listening to the first half of Not Alone from the Very Potter Musical (typically I'm only kinda a musical fan but that song I really enjoy and, for once, actually fits the BokuAka vibe). For Hq at Hogwarts in general, I always associate it with Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes. Heck, I'm pretty sure I was listening to that song when I decied for real to actually start writting the series.

That said, I love hearing what other songs people associate with ships/stories/etc.

Thanks for the ask!

[ekholocationn]

I BEAT PORTAL REVOLUTION, HERE ARE MY THOUGHTS

Here are ALL of my thoughts about the mod, good and bad! If you want the TLDR, it was a really great experience and I would definitely recommend it to fellow fans of the portal franchise!! Gonna give it a solid 8/10! It's just that there were a lot of things about the end that bugged me ^^;

SPOILER WARNING FOR THE MOD BELOW

So, let's start with the good. This mod was STUNNING visually. The graphics were incredible and very true to the game, and the added touches just brought a personal feel to it (such as a glow for the light bridges. I absolutely loved that!!!). All of those massive rooms with dynamic lighting, getting to see the surface, and getting to see the moon was cool (though the rest of the ending... i'll get to that). I had fun with all the environments and got wowed numerous times! So many moments where I would just stop and take in the scenery <3

The test chambers were also all incredibly fun to figure out, and not so difficult that I had to constantly be checking a walkthrough for how to solve something. I adored all of the new mechanics that were used, such as the vents, the waterfalls, and those laser cubes!!! Those were so much fun and brought such a cool twist to the lasers auuugh

I also ADORE the music. It feels very Aperture, and I liked how the mechanic of the different test objects playing music was implemented for this too!

And don't get me started on the characters. Sterling was a lot of fun when he was introduced (I'll touch on him more later though) but EMILIA. oh my gosh i LOVED her character so much. I loved how she touched on the AI backup thing aperture had going on, and her personality was generally just a blast to have around. Out of the two new characters in this mod, she takes the cake for favorite by far.

Last but not least on my list of positives, the callbacks. All the little references and easter eggs to Half Life and the official Portal games had me in a vice grip dude. Like that one overgrown version of a momentum chamber from Portal 1 that you got to go through top-down, I loved seeing that ;;; And Emilia's talk about how Caroline never consented to being put into GLaDOS, or how it's mentioned that GLaDOS' pieces got scattered all across the parking lot XD I always love when fan games call back like this!! Really shows the love for the source material!!!!

Now, for the things I didn't like. And tbh, a lot of these have to do with Chapter 8.... actually, all of them have to do with chapter 8 i think

What was that ending? You go through all of this trouble, all of this buildup.... just to end up in stasis again on the moon forever? That feels so fucking pointless? Like what was the point of doing all of this and going through all of this trouble other than shutting the spire down? Our original goal was to rebuild the facility, and then it gets changed halfway through...... idk, doesnt sit right with me. Im all for a story that ends the way it begins, but.... eeeeeeeh.

Also, what was the point of making Sterling a twist villain? It felt so unnecessary? 'Lol you're not doing what I want anymore, soooo I'm gonna kill you now.' Like there was no impact. There was no grand scene for it like there was with Wheatley. There was no feeling of 'oh shit, oh fuck, this is bad, what the hell is happening' that you SHOULD feel when a twist villain is announced. It just kind of.... happened.

Sterling's character just felt like a joke to me by the end. Finding out he used to be Emilia's vaccum cleaner robot? Like that's silly and all, but it felt so sudden. It felt like the devs wanted there to be some connection between these two characters, some witty banter at the end of it all, but it felt so.... forced.

Also, this might just be me having trouble, but that last momentum fling you have to do to reach the last button is so infuriating to accomplish. I could not for the life of me figure it out. I kept knocking my head on SOMETHING on the ceiling whenever I did place the portal on the wall correctly. Idk. That specific fling just upset me so much and left me with such a sour taste.

The ending of a game should stick with you, but this one just.... didn't. I feel like I could replay this entire mod but skip chapter 8, and still feel fulfilled. The ending felt rushed, it felt pointless. It felt like they were trying to build to something and then just. Fell short.

Overall, this mod still has a lot going for it. In terms of Portal mods I've played, I don't think I rank it above Mel, but it's still definitely something I'll be replaying in the future. Even with my thoughts about the end, I give it a solid 8/10 because everything else was super well done! I can tell that there was a lot of time and love put into this mod, and I seriously commend the devs for creating such a love letter to the Portal series. I truly hope that this mod lands a spot in the hall of fame alongside Mel someday, it does deserve it <3

If you're a Portal fan looking for a fresh challenge, I do highly recommend it!! It's a great experience and easily completable in a single day, the five to seven hour estimate on the steam page ended up proving pretty accurate.

Had a lot of fun with this mod and I could probably say more, but my fingers hurt so Im gonna end the post here lol. Thank you for coming to my ted talk, its 2am and im going to sleep

[hellfirenacht]

Prev anon here, and yeah I can respect that. Tbh I also had a shit time reading it tho lmao, I only really started to like it during my re-reads.

I never really re-read the weed deal scenes however because I kinda hated that plot tbh,,

I did feel like the book was def outta character tho..

But the scene I disliked the most was him arguing with Ronnie? Like dude, wtf? She was worried about her Best friend because he just disappeared on her?? and he just snaps at her with his comment about her having a scholarship to NYU when he was just talking about how excited he was for her?? (tbf he does admit that he only pushed her away bc of his insecurity later in the book but fucking stillll 🫠)

And then they're make up is so rushed at the end of the book? "Oh hey, I'm sorry" "ok cool" "want a ride?" "No" *Kid getting beat up* "hey I'm a freak" *end credits* WHAT??

Anyway, I'm really sorry you had such an awful time reading FOI tho. I legit cried at times because of how much of a dick he was in that book for whatever reason?? I mostly just tried to scavenge whatever little pieces of his backstory that I could get- like Eddie waiting with him mom for his dad to come home as a kid, Elizabeth introducing him to Chicago blues & teaching him how to dance to it and such, really just any references to his mom.

My favorite scenes were definitely Eddie in the recording booth with Paige where he opens up to how music and his kind of music is important to him, Eddie going to the record shop and crying at seeing a record that his mom had and also Eddie's house burning down weirdly enough? You can just feel Eddie's literal fucking panic as he watches his mother's records melting in the fire and to me, it really just settles in that his mom meant a lot to him and it's honestly probably my favorite because of that?

but yeah, seriously- I'm sorry that FOI is really triggering for you :( </3 so I sincerely hope you have a good day & you're my favorite writer btw !! (Wing man, the isekai series and 'cmom it's just one night' are my personal favs) /gen /pos

Anon, you have all of my love and affection. It will never cease to amaze me that people like my writing and go as far as to call me their favorite and for that I will always appreciate you 💜 (sorry I'm also fucking slow lol)

Anyway that said...

Eddie going from insecure to sure of himself was so phoned in! It was scenes like him fighting with Wayne and Ronnie that made me feel like this book could have been written for anyone who wasn't Eddie. Again, it feels like there's a huge disconnect with both Eddie's. It felt so generic and just beat by beat for how the story went.

Also, let's talk about Paige here. Do I have a weird jealousy thing with her and Eddie? Yes. But the way the fandom treated her like a bad guy was such B's her biggest crime was liking Eddie and doing what she thought would help both of them.

"Eddie in FOI gets all the bitches" NO! He got one girl who had an interest in him, who HE USED, just like the two girls before Eddie USED HIM. he said that the girls he dated before only wanted to get with the freak and were never actually interested in him. He wasn't even The Freak then! He was as much of a "freak" as Johnathan in season 1. Paige was even upset when he came to her again and he only wanted her to sign him. Like, come on guys.

Also I'm with you when it comes to Eddie and his mom's back story. The record scene made me cry. I also nitpick and take bits and pieces. "take what resonates, leave what doesn't."

So in my fics, Ronnie and Eddie will always make up. Eddie WILL grovel though. I'm sorry but Eddie is not innocent in that book. But he is 18, so I get it.

It always comes down to "this doesn't connect. I don't feel closer to Eddie" but that's just me being a broken record.

[fivehundredsporks]

Here is my finished list!!!

I'm gonna talk about each tier/entry individually just to go over why I like/love them (also our favs are gonna be diff and if yours aren't on here don't bust a nut or anything)

Constantly Rotating in My Mind:

so this tier is for my absolute favourites, they've pretty much become part of me at this point and I think about them non-stop, starting with;

Bleach (Anime + Manga)

So, where the fuck do I even begin with this one lmfao, Bleach is honestly my top favourite piece of media, ever, to me. everything about this just clicked with me, from the art style to the fights, the music but those aren't what made Bleach my favourite, sure they helped but it wasn't what sold me. What sold me was the characters, from the protagonist Ichigo, to the supporting characters and villains It's the characters in Bleach that always just stood out for me the most and made me love the series, especially their arcs! with Byakuya's probably having my favourite arc, besides Ichigo (but tbh I'm biased with him since he's my fav character) They all just have such believable motivations, goals and relationships. (also quick side note but I'm sick of the Orihime slander y'all better put some respect on her name, just because she got with Ichigo over Rukia and also just because of the anime's adaptation of her.)

Trigun ('98 Anime)

Trigun is honestly a recent addition to the list! I only actually watched it in January this year! But it quickly made list because I found it to be so compelling, it's got it's comedic moments for sure with Vash, Meryl and Millie but its also got such tragedy and sadness in it with not only Vash and Knives relationship (which isn't as explored in '98 as Maximum and Stampede, although you could say that about alot of '98's adaptation) but also with Vash's struggle when he eventually ends up taking a persons life, his relationship with this parental figure, Rem and his best(boy)friend Wolfwood. To the setting! it all just spoke to me and It's quickly ended up becoming my second favourite!

Jujutsu Kaisen (Anime + Manga)

If I had to describe the JJK manga in just one sentence It'd probably be along the lines of "It's so over, we're so back, its over) It's got a lot of peaks and valleys, and I don't mean that in a negative way of it being bad, but in it's triumphant moments and then being cast back down into despair (recent chapters being an example lol) But like Bleach, what I find really compelling about JJK is it's characters! It also has some of the best written characters in an anime, especially its villains! I really like the writing behind them, especially Suguru Geto's corruption into a villain! But also just how messed up the Jujutsu sorcery world and how insane you actually have to be a part of it.

Hellsing (Anime + Manga)

I'll keep this one short, Its Vampire Nazi's vs Dracula, with some badass female characters and music, also its gory as shit 10/10.

My Love Mix-up! (Manga)

This is the first BL manga that I've actually ever read! As someone who has grown up with just a general lack of LGBTQ characters and romance in their media, to find that their is an entire genre of manga for it was really eye-opening! I ended up becoming really invested in the "will they wont they" kind of relationship going on between the 2 MC's for the first few volumes, especially Kōsuke Ida, him navigating that, first of all what does it mean to "like" someone when you've never romantically interested in someone before, but then when that person is same sex. spoke to my own personal experiences growing up. It's what made me like the manga so much, also it's comedic moments! It's actually a very funny manga, especially the side couple.

Full Metal Alchemist (Anime + Manga)

FMA has one of the best stories I've ever seen in an anime/manga, the way it's so inter-connected and all the threads of plot/characters are so weaved together are! so! good! The characters and their arc's! Scar being a prime example of this! (I'm really struggling to articulate why I love this show so much lmao, look I really just love it do I have to justify everything??)

Blue Flag (Manga)

This is a LGBTQ+ story, that I'd actually recommend you just go and read it for yourself! I don't really wanna spoil anything, and if I talk about this manga I will!! just go read it now!!!!! (side note I can't believe the series got cancelled??!!!! like???!!! because of that we really got to miss out on a relationship between 2 characters!!!! and even though they get married at the end!!!!! It's still kinda vague!!!!!)

Chainsawman (Anime + Manga)

Again, one of the thing's that made me absolutely love Chainsawman is the characters, but most of all it's their motivations, and how "human" they are. and by that I mean just so, normal. Which is a weird thing to say, but when the norm for Shonen MC's is that they wanna fight and kill god, having one whose main goal is 1, Touch Boobs, get a girlfriend and have sex, it's really refreshing. It just paint's what a "normal" kid that Denji and the juxtaposition that is towards Aki, whose goal is to kill the Gun Devil. That kind of character writing is a what really drew me into the manga and made me love it. (ALSO I'm vastly oversimplifying thing's bc I don't really wanna spoil so that's just the gist of it) Also like the Found Family of Denji, Aki and Power. But I'm just a sucker for that trope!

I Think Our Son Is Gay (Manga)

This is some REALLY good positive LGBTQ representation, not just from the "MC" of the story Hiroki and him navigating being LGBTQ but from his mother's perspective as she tries be supportive/encouraging of him but also learning about what it means to be LGBTQ and what they face/go through. It's really heart-warming and sweet! I do want to throttle the dad sometimes though, I get that he's (supposed) to be learning and challenging his own bias' but if he upsets Hiroki again he will be catching these hands.

Our Dreams at Dusk (Manga)

Another LGBTQ+ story that I would highly recommend that you just go and read for yourself, It's in my opinion very powerful in it's depictions of the different LGBTQ identities covered in the story, and the struggles they face at the ages that they do! HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend this one (I believe the author is putting a new series out soon but I need to check up on that)

Castlevania (Anime)

This. Fucking. Series. It's got some absolutely amazing art and animation work on it, that just gets better and better with each subsequent season! Just like the characters! Not only are they just amazingly written with such depth, but their arc's and development are just some of the best in fiction.

Golden Kamuy (Anime + Manga)

Honestly, this is probably the Gayest Anime i've ever watched, without it actually being gay. But also it's probably the funniest anime I've ever watched, I've never laughed as much at something as I have watching this. It's also got a great story with a great kinda Sibling relationship between Sugimoto and Asirpa, and poor Tanigaki, literally the bara comedy relief of the show (Also I believe the author compared the characters dick sizes at one point? its crazy, in a good way.) I'd highly recommend!

Soul Eater (Anime)

Such a unique premise, Death himself runs a school that teaches people, regular school stuff, but also how to fight. Also some of the students can turn into weapons that the other students wield. And the moon has a face. So naturally its very good (also in a roundabout way its the sequel to Fire Force) HOWEVER The manga wasn't done when the series so I'm petitioning for a Soul Eater: Brotherhood so we get the full story!

Mob Psycho 100 (Anime + Manga)

One of my favourite aspects of this show is how it shows that nobody is too far gone, that nobody is beyond redemption and growth as person. It's a message I think a lot of people really need to hear, You can just decide to be a better person and leave the past behind you, while still learning from it. And all it takes is a Middle Schooler beating the shit out of you and calling you lame. (Also WaWa, I'm constantly rotating him in my mind)

given (Anime + Manga)

Pain. just, pain. I really like how the anime (and manga) handle the topics of grief, lose, love and toxicity. But also how to move on from that, how to process it and the importance of knowing how to communicate. It really makes for a beautiful if not incredibly sad story. (also fuck you Kaji, you know what you did.)

Sasaki and Miyano (Anime + Manga)

On the opposite side of the spectrum from given, we get Sasaki and Miyano! It's really just pure fucking fluff. It's a sweet slow-burn love story, that'd I'd really recommend if you like that kind of thing, also the fucking end music slaps.

Neon Genesis Evangelion (Anime + Manga)

Ooooh boy. NGE Is an anime that I think everyone takes something different from. whether it's the themes and messages it's trying to convey to the audience, or it's cool visuals or fights. It's got something for everyone. For me it's the message of self-love and acceptance it's conveying to the watcher through the eyes of Shinji, that we all have value and a place in the world, that it's okay for us to be here. But also it's message that escapism isn't a good thing, that we need to face our problems head on instead of hiding away from them. And then the Rebuilds building upon this and giving us even more! I'd highly recommend watching!! Just be a good mental head space lol.

Castle in the Sky (Anime)

The first Ghibli film I ever watched!!! Absolutely fell in love with the art style and animation ever since!

Howls Moving Castle (Anime)

Honestly, same with Castle in the Sky! second Ghibli film I ever watched and fell in love! such gorgeous visuals! and a beautiful story! one of my favourite films of all time!

[amlovelies]

feel free to ignore this or to only do some haha but i'm curious about 🌌 for all of them 🙈

oh goodness pd you're making me work today aren't you?

🌌 MILKY WAY - what was the inspiration behind your oc? what was the first thing you decided about them?

answers under the cut since there will be a lot of them 😊

dinah(twc)- answered here

emma(twc)- I wanted a scaredy cat detective. someone who would hide when there was danger and was really just too soft for the world she's been pulled into. I also wanted to romance Nat and I thought her overprotective streak would pair well with a more anxious detective. and I wanted her to have a cleft chin! that was very important to me

kira(twc)-when I first started playing ifs I was making a different oc for every ro and as a result they weren't always very distinct from each other personality wise. kira was pretty much just another dinah to try on adam's solo route. she's developed more and become more distinct since then though.

Riley(twc)-I was inspired by samira wiley who I think is just so beautiful. riley is one of my few ocs who actually has a face claim. I did want her to also have glasses and be plus sized but with similar facial features to samira

cynthia(fhr)- my friend cristal was a big inspiration for how cynthia looks! cynthia didn't really come to life until after I'd played rebirth a few times and finally played the retribution demo. the braid scene destroyed me and just gave me such bad brain rot. so basically the first thing I decided about cynthia is that she is so very in love with julia (I mean aren't we all at this point?)

vesper(fhr)- answered here

curtis(fhr)- my inspiration for curtis was to make a step who used humor a lot to deflect. one who doesn't take anything too seriously. I was planning on setting up for the chen/ortega throuple but it just didn't really vibe. I was really stuck on curtis for while I couldn't really figure him out. I knew I wanted humor to be a part of his whole things and for him to choose sidestep as a villain name because I hadn't tried that yet. it took a long time to come together but I absolutely love how he has developed

Romi(fhr)- okay so this one is a little embarrassing. the original plan was for romi to have a secret crush with julia. lots of pining and that whole queer expereince of being in love with your best friend but it taking a long time to figure that out and then being afraid of ruining things. anyways the first thing I choose was her name which is a play off of romeo to go with julia/juliet. but then I chose the wrong thing and ended up with ricardo 🤷‍♀️

James(fhr)- I created james when I was having a hard time connecting to romi. the first thing I decided was that I wanted him to have a mirror image puppet so I could explore that content in the game

Addie(a6)- I was thinking about the music box that the traveler has and decided I wanted to have mine be a dancer so that there was a deeper connection to this one piece that she has from her old life.

Narni(a6)- I needed a mean oc to butt heads with cal and damien. first thing I decided was that I wanted them to have like purple skin because purple is the best color

Daen(a6)- they aren't super developed tbh. I wanted a human traveler since I had the other races. I wanted him to be a jokester, generally good natured and always down for a good time

jay nordsen(tnp)- answered here

lark barrow(greenwarden)- first thing I decided was that they would have a shaved head because at the time I really wanted to shave my head and could do so vicariously through an if

sozan(atoc)- I'd already played through what was available of atoc at the time so I was thinking what sort of character would be interesting/how I could see a person reacting to what we knew of the story so far. I wanted her to be a survivor more than anything else. they've spent most of their life on the run which has made them blunt and a little rough around the edges.

bernie wiseman(mindblind)- I heard about sally's route and knew I had to play it. bernie is super underdeveloped. first thing I decided about her was probably her name bernadette and nickname bernie because I thought it would be super cutere

bethany blake (body count)-I needed to romance charlie. honestly the first thing I decided about her was the she would be anxious and probably so ill cut out to go on a reality show

kenna of shadows end- no real inspiration beside wanting to try out manerkol's romance route. first thing I decided was that she would be plus sized and have a roman nose

molly lucas- the main thing I knew I wanted with molly was for her to hold out for the step 4 love confession. because god it's glorious. just as much slow burn as I could possibly get out of the game

aiden- the newest baby! I was inspired to finally create an oc for the exile after reading the chapter 4 update (I knew I would eventually it was just a matter of when the brain rot would hit) he's a pheonix and I wanted to do something a little different with his appearance than the red hair to represent flames so instead I went with grey like ash as if the mythosi blood has burned him away reduced him to ashes which feels very fitting seeing how we are introduced to the commander. I also knew he was going to be in love with sabir because how could you not be?

anwyn- first thing I decided was that she would be a bitch. that was the main inspiration lmao. also came up with some tragic backstory stuff. honeslty like her name and class were among the last things I actually thought of.

okay I'm exhausted now and am going to go take a nap

oc emoji asks

[mistresseast]

A big thing too is there is no guarantee Atlus will do anything with what they baited in Royal and I know that's why I'm frustrated. I know a lot of people don't have confidence because nothing they've done with Goro makes sense, and its based on getting fans to spend money, not because they care about a character, so it feels like sunk cost? He's still left out of things and I wouldn't feel negative about Royal if I knew for sure they would bring him back. Ppl are tired of being baited.

If you were just after commiseration: ugh! I know!! It’s so frustrating! Atlus is bad in general about payoff and the problem is on glaring display with Goro. You’d think with a whole ass remake and all the money Vanilla made, they’d have the resources to figure out how to handle a complex character in a satisfying way, but those homophobes couldn’t write their way out a wet paper bag and the brilliance of Goro Akechi was almost certainly a happy accident.

If you want my more tough love advice and analysis: expecting a big company like Atlus (ESPECIALLY one with Atlus’s reputation) to deliver on the very specific stuff that fans like us want is indeed a one-way ticket to frustration. I won’t go into speculation about how the character of Goro came to be, but I will say that he feels like a character who was developed for one purpose and then as the writing went on he adopted more importance to the story but the initial plan for what happened to him didn’t adjust to match. Stuff like that happens in writing all the time, and particularly in stories as complex and with as many people working on them as p5. So when I feel like something about Goro’s handling doesn’t make sense, I try to look at it from that perspective. It’s not a deliberate mishandling or a disregard for the character; it was just an early-development failure to accurately predict what would be necessary for his specific arc. And imo Royal put a lot of work into fixing that, but the simple fact is that a truly satisfying outcome for this character would require some significant rewrites and adjustments to the basic fabric of the game, and the devs just aren’t in a position to do that, for lots of reasons. So no matter how much I like the third semester, nothing we were going to get was ever going to feel as complete as it could. So if you are holding out for canon content to somehow justify or validate all of the energy you’ve put into this character and shuake as a ship, then I’m sorry to say you’re probably right and that nothing we get will ever feel like enough. If you feel like that means being engaged with the story and characters isn’t worth it, then you should consider putting your time into something else, to save yourself the frustration. I can’t say how much of the “baiting” around Goro’s character is intentional, but I don’t have any confidence that this lingering feeling of incompleteness is going to be resolved, and I know that people do leave fandoms for that reason. Personally, I am pleased and compelled enough by what we have to stick around, and in fact I might prefer Atlus leaving well enough alone at this point. They’re notorious for wrecking character arcs and tbh I don’t trust them not to ruin Goro Akechi. They can just hand him off to us, it’s fine. We’ll treat him better.

As for Goro being left out of stuff, maybe I just don’t pay enough attention to the tie-in media, but I’ve never been as upset by that as I know a lot of people are. It’s disappointing that he’s not in Scramble, it really, really is, and I wish he could have had at least a cameo, but I also understand why he’s not there and it’s not a malicious choice by the company. Scramble was in development at the same time as Royal, so characters whose very presence would spoil Royal obviously couldn’t be included, which also leaves Sumi and Maruki in the lurch. It’s not ideal but it is understandable. Goro is in the dancing game, as well as pq2, and he just got to be a major part of the train mystery AR game that happened a while ago. He’s even getting a lot of love in the musicals, showing up early and getting more attention at this point in the story than he did in the actual game, almost like the writers are realizing his importance should have been seeded earlier and now, with hindsight, are able to correct some mistakes. He gets a lot of fun stuff in the anime, which I generally don’t like, but their handling of Goro is one of the things I approve of. Rokuro Saito, who writes the Mementos Mission manga, obviously likes him and puts effort into his appearances. I suppose I’m not really sure what he’s been “left out of” other than promo material and like,,, some official art. Due to the nature of who he is in the story, he’s a difficult character to work into things. The people creating this content walk a thin line between not wanting to spoil Vanilla OR Royal for folks who might still spend money to buy the game, and knowing that Goro’s status as a “traitor” means it’d be weird for him to just be included in group shots of the characters. Do I wish there was more content of him? Yes, but I also don’t really see a concentrated effort to leave him out of stuff.

I’m not trying to invalidate your feelings at all, of course. I see sentiments like yours all over the fandom from people who clearly enjoy the story and care deeply about the characters, and I know exactly how frustrating and pointless it all feels. I toss and turn at night thinking about all the ways the game could have treated Goro better, treated Akira better, treated its own themes better, and sometimes I just want to claw my own skin off at all the wasted opportunities, But ultimately, I channel that discontent into my own creativity and appreciate the folks who work to make sense of the nonsense. It’s not a dealbreaker to me. These negative feelings only serve to remind me how much I love these characters, and I know none of us would rage so hard if we didn’t connect to this story in some way. But I can’t count on the source material to make me happy. That’s not the source material’s job. And in the end you have to ask yourself if it’s worth it to you to stick around for something that’s only going to keep disappointing your specific needs.

I don’t want to discourage people from coming to me to vent, but just know that I've been through the gamut with this fandom and I’ve got opinions about Everything, so if that’s not what you need, sorry! I just want to soothe negativity if at all possible but I know not everyone is interested in a lecture <3

[obeymematches]

Hello! May I request for a matchup?

I am a bisexual, Demigirl ENFP-T personality type.

I'd say I'm somewhat independent but would love to have someone by my side to happily live with, I find trust as something that is very important and due to past reasons it can be difficult to earn my full trust. I try to always be a reasonable and mature person, but I can get irritated at a few things (like LGBTQ+ discrimination, racism or plain asshole stupidity) that can tick off a temper, but usually I'm a person of patience, though if I do get really angry then I'm gonna also end up having a mental breakdown later -. I'm fine with waiting and am usually very forgiving. Religiously I'm an atheist, technically ex-christian due to family reasons. I come from Estonia, so I'm bilingual with English and Estonian but am also learning Russian and German. (Thinking of learning Japanese one day too)

I'm a rather fidgety person, fingers always have to be doing something, I can also have rather terrible memory sometimes with things and can forget.

I have low self confidence and self worth, usually struggle to be optimistic and can be rather emotional, also often an absolute empath when it comes to fictional characters for example.

I can be a workaholic and can be terrible at taking care of myself, I easily lose track of time and can forget to eat at times, also have a fuzzy appetite so sometimes I might not want to eat anything at all. I care alot about other people's well being though, for me appearance doesn't matter, I care for the personality and think everyone is beautiful in their own way. I am a short chubby brunette with a boy haircut and brown eyes, my hair is often thick and poofy and sometimes hell to take care of, due to some health reasons I have an itchy scalp and have to often scratch my head. My fashion depends on just if the clothes are comfortable to wear in the moment, that's it. I wear glasses due to a bit of a negative in my sight.

I sometimes struggle to have a balanced sleep schedule and am often stressed.

I hold a strong love for animals and the nature around us. I especially love cats and reptiles and own a cat and a leopard gecko who I would die for.

Fiction is an important part of my life, the moment I get interested in in some show or franchise you can expect me to become an absolute nerd for it, (good example is Pokemon.) I am the type to analyze characters and really care about everything. Books, shows, movies, theatre, anything goes. I really also love music, 60% of the time you can find me listening to music somewhere, maybe even singing, I multitask alot too. My music taste depends on what connections I make to fictional media, especially that of my own, aka stories and characters I've created. My mind is always going like a 1000km/h with all types of thoughts, my own fictional universe only keeps expanding which I wish to share with the world. My dream is to become a writer one day, which I'm very passionate about, and another thing I really want to do one day is travel the world. I also do some art and animation, but intend to keep it as a hobby on the side.

I'm an ambivert, shy and hesitant around new people especially those of higher authority and importance, but incredibly outgoing with the people I'm familiar and comfortable with, never getting tired from them. Affection starved, expect lots of hugs, not that much into PDA tho. For me first impression matter, on my part, I am quick to think that people hate me or are annoyed with me.

Even with my fuzzy appetite I do like food, especially of strong flavour, I tend to seem to like asian or Italian food alot. I'd say I'm decent and cooking but not very good at baking.

Minimalistic, not very demanding when it comes to anything, it's basically like "Better than nothing." would be the type to live in a rather small house one day. Somewhat organized in my own way, sometimes I can act a little OCD though when something is out of place in a manner that it's just - no.

I can be rather talkative, when getting in a conversation with me expect to talk for hours about all types of things, wherever the conversation goes. Even better when it's over a cup of tea or a long walk somewhere outside.

I usually try to be as polite and kind as possible, though I sometimes struggle, I always try to have hope for the world, despite my incredibly pessimistic mindset.

For a partner, I look for someone I can geniuenly be happy and comfortable with, someone I can be open with and not worry about being lied to. I would be incredibly loyal to them and I'd hope them to be as well, of course, I don't get jealous or worked up if they're hanging out with friends. I want them to also be happy, someone I feel like I could spend the rest of my life with. Someone who'd be okay with traveling and seeing the world with, someone I can just have a moment to relax with, sometimes just talk and listen to eachother. Like stated before the appearance for me doesn't matter, it's the personality- what's inside that does. I shall note, the harmless teasing can get to me. Someone who's a geniuenly good person despite whatever flaws they might have.

I hope this is long enough ^^

Hi my dear patient anon! 

guess what time it is!✨

i put a read more because it’s one long post! 

OK so as I read through your request I had Levi, Belphie, Beel and Satan on my mind. Though Belphie is out of the picture fast since you have low self-esteem and if anyone then he probably would take advantage of that. Satan too I think. (I know in general he is viewed as an overall good boy but i feel like he might scare someone with low confidence levels when he is at his worst. also he can be manipulative too if there is a situation)

wait- damn- Simeon also exists (also Mammon? though with him and you it’d be a very rough start)

so after some elimination and comparison between dynamics including Simeon, Levi and Beel I decided to match you with Levi but I highly encourage befriending the other two!  ✨ Simeon because of the similar interests + excellent cooking and Beel because he is a mom-friend + you’d always have something to eat too if he is your friend! 

phew it wasn’t an easy decision but here it is! 

Okay so let’s see Levi

Okay first things first I think we need to change your level of confidence my friend. Which means starting off this relationship as friendship - honestly he is on the same page as you regarding this for similar reasons so you two can relate to the other. But once you gain a healthy amount of sense of self-worth + confidence I think this friendship could develop into a very loving and healthy relationship! 

Just because he is a demon I don’t think he would use you, lie to you, manipulate you or anything similar to that. I mean you have similar interests and in canon Levi shows just the bare minimum of interest to someone whose lifestyle + likes aren’t similar to his. Also you’re his only friend besides Henry so why would he treat you bad I mean come on!!! he’s not stupid!! 

Since your relationship is based on being friends trust will come in time, do not worry! Levi is also picky when it comes to ppl so again as you are in the same boat you understand the other deeply. 

I mean Levi can be serious when the situation calls for it but in general you being with him would give you a nice balance with your maturity. He’s not childish but he has different approaches! Meaning he could learn from you but you could also learn from him! 

Tbh i highly doubt he would ever tick you off either or purpose or not. He is mostly annoyed by stupid ppl (like Mammon) and normies but since you are also into anime you’re safe!  

You having an interest in languages is something he will find fun! if i recall in the devildom there’s only one language? (they speak human for you though) so finding out about human world lore like that through you is going to be fun! also pls learn Japanese with him! (pretty sure he already knows so he could help you practice)

Okay so he can also spiral down due to lack of self-worth + self-love but as his friend you’re not supposed to let that happen!! 

well he also tends to forget about himself but on a side note he is very caring about you and your health so he is faster at taking care of you than himself. That’s why you have to look after the other especially at first when both of your self-worth levels are so low. 

pls tell him he is beautiful he will be flustered for the rest of the day but it’s worth it trust me

he absolutely finds glasses cute af he just has to look at you and !!!  

He’s not big into fashion either, though he would love to cosplay with you so hopefully you are ok with wearing cosplay sometimes!

Also your workaholic tendencies might get to him sometimes? like i’m not saying he is lazy but for sure he could do better. Thanks to your influence he will do better! 

the two of you gushing over fictional characters is just so cute;; think about that!! 

ok he is your #1 supporter of becoming a writer!! pls let him be your beta reader aaaaa

well both of you are passionate so the emount of encouragement happening in this relationship is to die for

him being a shut-in means he’s not very big on traveling, but if he could go with you he’s quick to change his mind! 

he also has trouble balancing a healthy sleep schedule but that just means you two can spend more time together so it’s a win-win situation

pls leave your cat with Satan when you visit Levi’s room because of Henry :( your gecko is more than welcome though!!! 

okay he is also affection starved af but he would never initiate to save his life so here you being an ambivert is helpful!! also it leaves you space to tease him which is always fun! 

regarding food you have a nice balance going on, he is more of a baker and you are the opposite! though cooking/baking with the other is always fun!! when he notices your lack of eating he will make sure to order/bake delicious food from the human world for you! 

well he isn’t the messiest so hopefully your OCd wouldn’t kick in when you spend time in his room. I like to HC that he is actually very clean. If anything is out of place in his room it is because it was meant to be there. Or he was in a hurry. 

about long walks outside you’d probably have to nag him a bit but soon he will realize that it’s actually not so bad.

bby is one of the most loyal demons out there so no worries you’re safe!! however he can be jealous easily so it’s nice that you are also loyal! just make sure to clear boundaries before establishing a relationship! 

he’s not one to tease you but he is very into you teasing him, so that’s that

overall i don’t think this relationship would have huge conflicts - sure, you have to nag him about going out but he is not going to protest once he learns that it’s actually. fun. to go out sometimes. i’m more concerned about the two of you’s self-worth and confidence levels, but again it’s about what you do for growth and it’s not something that can’t be changed if you want to change it. besides these i think it’s a very healthy relationship and you both can be yourselves!  

[tossertozier]

you mentioned possibly doing a ben or mike writing guide.. would you.. be willing to post a mike one. i'm plotting a fic and im struggling to get my mans down?? also i think abt ur fics weekly bare minimum.

hi there!!! i did my best. i tried to not sound preachy or like a know it all bc y’all know i can barely write. i hope this is helpful in some way!! disclaimer of of course this is all just my opinion & there’s no wrong way to write, you’re the only person who can tell your story!!

[[MORE]]

i think the first really important decision you have to make as Person Writing Mike is his

family & background

-are both of his parents alive?

-if yes, what’s their relationship like?

-if no, who’s his primary caretaker? what’s their relationship like?

-if no, when did they die? did he cope well with it? what’s his relationship with their memory like?

these are really really where you gotta start to write mike imo. or any character! i think one thing stephen king is to be admired for is he doesn’t neglect the parent-child relationship as so many people who write youth do. your parents are the most important people in your life for a long time. i don’t think there’s a wrong or ooc way to answer the above questions tbh. canon has really left a wide open field for you to run amuck in.

(example: i’ve mentioned in the past that my & tfat mike being a small adult is no mistake and intentional. it’s a bit of a throwaway scene, but i mention in on pointe that mike’s parents are coming. it’s intentionally done there too. mike is goofier, more outgoing, more immature in general in that fic in the small bits he’s in & that’s all a response to his familial life. )

culture + friendships

after you answer those questions, important follow up questions are:

-are the losers his first set of friends?

-how much social exposure has he had?

-has he dated? who is he attracted to?

-who influences him? (celebrities, family, culturally)

-what are his cultural interests? what does he do in his free time? how would that impact how he interacts with the rest of the world?

again, no wrong way to answer these. i’ve seen a super broad spectrum of indirect answers to these questions. even thinking about where he might pick up patterns of speech can make him feel much more like a realized character. i’ve noticed some people dip fully into aave to an extent that doesn’t even seem logical in their character’s current situation & it can really seem like a caricature, but i think to write mike without any sense of aave at all is a little ?? too. just be cognizant of it is my only real advice here. it doesn’t so much matter as long as you don’t forget who mike is which next point

humor & personality

-what do you think he would find (shows, comedians, youtube videos) really funny?

-does he have something he quotes often? something he started saying ironically but never stopped?

man i know i’m all there’s no wrong way to write mike !! in this post but i will say real quick that i think mike is funny and i don’t really respect depictions of him where he’s not. i think this is where the movies really just fucked up. book mike drops some of the funniest lines of the book. and honest to god tip is to write out a scene as you feel the urge too, look away for five minutes, look back and give half of richie’s lines away. (or... dialogue.) this sounds like a joke but it was what i did when i first started writing & tfat

i’d always be like “n the funny part goes... to richie.” and thats a fandom inclination too. nooooo. avoid this trap. it doesn’t even make sense. have u ever been in a friend group where only one person... makes jokes? that’d be genuinely so weird. especially bc if you give the joke away to someone else, you can also build on it. amazing things start happening when u start thinking of the characters in flexible patterns. like for example, i almost always give absurdist humor to stan now. wholesome to ben.

mike’s humor is largely situational to me. solid comedic timing & he’s an observant person. sometimes i read back my own writing & have to change the pov bc richies making jokes about things he would never ever notice to make fun of. mike would. mike genuinely sees all. i think he’s just got one of the most analytical brain of the losers. & i think intelligence is subjective and people are smart in different ways but i think it’s foolish to write him as anything other than incredibly intelligent both academically and emotionally. he’s just a natural observer and pattern notice-er. which brings me to my next mike thing:

love & selflessness

i think the biggest part of mike being harder to flesh into a fully realized person is the fandom tendency to make him kind and nothing else. here’s mike. he’s nice. next. bc the book kind of points out his selflessness in his decisions and it makes itself one of his strongest character traits.

especially bc nice seems to trump him having any other emotions. ...no?

i believe in general, but ESPECIALLY in the case of mike, that kindness is a choice. it’s one i genuinely believe he’d make, over & over again. but a choice he makes. he gets annoyed with his friends being annoying like anyone else would. he gets hurt when he feels left out. he feels tired & anxious & hungry and all those other human things. sometimes he might not let it show outwardly, but there’s a difference between that and not giving him feelings at all.

people are selfish. it’s a defense mechanism. it’s to protect us. it’s not a bad thing. we think of how the world impacts ourselves first. we don’t always act upon those thoughts or voice them, but don’t forget to let mike have them. he doesn’t need to be happy for his friends all the time, or rooting for them or supportive. he should have his own things going on.

also. mike’s not a doormat. yes, he stays in derry. but those were life-death consequences for generations of children. it’s really not comparable to almost any decision mike would make in a pennywise free universe. yes, he made a sacrifice in the book but i don’t think he’d just lay himself down in any given universe to whatever fate wants to hand him. but this is where i end this topic bc i’m actually only barely beginning to get to this topic in my own fic!

it’s hard writing the losers young sometimes bc i do feel relationships are naturally a little unbalanced based on basic maturity levels as young people. sometimes friendships just are unbalanced bc of who people are at that time. everyone involved can still be good people in these relationships. it’s about growing together and learning how to be good friends to each other.

for example, in &tfat: certain losers are always checking in with others. others are really wrapped up in their own shit and don’t really notice what bothers the others. it would probably take a chart the size of a textbook to explain how i think this dynamic wholly pans out in full. and yeah, i think it grates on mike a little bit that he is always the checker and never the checkee.

but even when mike snaps, even when he gets upset, i always write it coming out of him with a lot of love. i genuinely think mike, regardless of experience in that fic, has the deepest understanding of love as its own concept and an understand of how exactly it rules his life and and his relationships. mike knows to feel strongly about something he has to care about it. there are lots of things he just doesn’t care about. in the book it’s stated he’s difficult to connect with as an adult. he’s distant. he’s focused on what he wants to focus on. i think mike is actually the most interesting when he becomes a little bit of a disaster man with very little time for what doesn’t interest him.

which last thing, dislikes & disinterests

-what annoys him?

-what makes him genuinely angry?

-what bores him to tears?

i always make jokes that i bring up the nastier parts of the losers bc i love nasty boys but thinking of things people don’t like is as much a part of them as the things they do.

for example, in &tfat, i write richie as making fun of “nerdy” things like anything you could find at comic con. i write bev as not giving a fuck about sports. bill doesn’t care about richie’s music tastes. eddie hates getting condescended to.

bc of the ... kind thing, mike’s one of the harder losers to do this with. i genuinely think mike would listen to any of his friends tell him about anything. & he knows, in return, they can’t say shit when he wants to ramble about history. but dislikes can also be super situational.

again, for example in & tfat: mike doesn’t like when his friends talk about college right now. no one is really being sensitive to him at all. he hates getting blamed for stuff that isn’t his fault, mostly bc it keeps happening.

anyway. i based a lot of my mike (mostly sense of humor and personality) off of a mix of real life friends of mine. it’s a luxury. i know. i’ve been blessed to have friends from literally all walks of life & for me borrowing little habits & quirks & sayings & jokes to slip into my fics and characters is my way of writing one massive love letter to those ive known. i hope i’ve helped you in some way anon. n if not.... don’t be sad i’m hardly one to take writing advice from anyway jandjxjx

overall, as i used to do often, i’d genuinely stop myself and say: is this a person, or a convenience for the plot? and if it was the latter, sigh, and get my backspace key ready.