#anyways yeah look internal and external conflict!! give us that!!

[squidkidnerd]

Operation Atlantis Notes - "Coffeemaking and Crime" (chapter 7)

Alright, this will probably be even shorter this time because I'm tired and just glad I finally finished this chapter lol. This actually only took around a month to draft (which as you know, for me is pretty fast lol), but one of my betas was busy so it took them a while to actually get to the chapter and then when they did I was lazy so... yeah. Also happy holidays!

This chapter is a bit shorter than average, but I think that's okay. Like chapter 6, it's also a transitional chapter, but more... plot-based? Chapter 6 focuses a lot on Three and Eight's internal experiences and thoughts, while this one focuses a lot more on external conflicts. Also, it introduces Pearl and Marina! More on them later.

Opening poem: This one was pretty difficult to come up with, but ultimately I like what I came up with. As you could've guessed, it's Eight's thoughts on the octarian immigrants she meets throughout this chapter, and what they must've gone through. What was it like, upending their entire lives to live in an entirely different place? Eight doesn't really know, so that's what she's wondering about.

Atlantis at night: This scene was fun to write. While most of the time, Atlantis is a fun, lively city, we all know there's more to it than that. Much more. I enjoyed eluding to that here, with the city showing some more of its true, creepy colors. I also added some sanitized octarians, because Three, and well to an extent, us, don't really know what they are. What are they? Something... not good, certainly.

Sleepy Three: Yay, some Eight and Three interaction! I feel kinda... bad, because I feel like they haven't been interacting as much as they should be after chapter 5, but I think it's okay. They're busy people, after all. Anyways this was cute and fun, they're both so gay but they do not realize it.

The Octarian Society: Oh look, it's these guys. Yeah, they've been mentioned as early as chapter 3, but we really haven't got anything substantial on them... until now, of course. As for why Azalea is here, well, I thought it would make sense since she's an octoling and also, like a therapist... look, it was more interesting than having just a random guy there. As for the argument that ensues here, I wanted to give more insight into why everyone's so upset about Three. These people are all refugees, they left everything they knew to find a place they thought would be better... but unfortunately, they still carry fear with them. What better target of that fear than an inkling, their greatest foe? Eight doesn't understand this, though, and I just wanted to emphasize how separate that makes her from them. Yeah, she's an octoling, but is she really if she hasn't had the same experiences as them? It's a detail I haven't seen that many people touch on, and I was happy I got to touch on it here.

Vent sneaking and Caesar cipher: Guys look, it's (some) action! Yeah, obviously Three's going to avoid fighting as much as possible because she doesn't want to be found out and captured lol. We also got some classic vent action, which I feel is slightly less implausible because of inkfishs' swim forms? Yeah. Also, the Caesar cipher. I included it as a little twist of "the password is on the sticky note" trope, and also because my sister kept sending me emails in Caesar cipher and my friend (who is actually one of the betas) made a whole-ass decoding spreadsheet. But... as Three soon figures out, unlocking the computer doesn't really mean anything. Yeah, Kamabo is very secretive and thus, they have passwords for everything. Oh well. If only there was someone who could help Three and Cuttlefish with that...

Pearl and Marina: THEY'RE FINALLY HERE!!!!!! Yeah, I had a blast writing this scene. They're both so much fun to write, in particular Pearl. She has a very distinct and expressive character voice to me, and I feel like I did a good job capturing her energy. Man, it's crime that I've never really written these too... quick guys give me Pearlina fic ideas (joke... half-joke). Also, based on this AU's circumstances, it makes much more sense for them to connect with Three and Cuttlefish than Eight and Cuttlefish, which makes me sad because I like when Eight bonds with them, but alas. They meet her eventually.

Annnd that's it! This is my Christmas/end-of-year gift to you all, you're welcome. Hope you all have a happy holidays and wonderful new years! Man, I can't believe it's almost 2024... I still feel like I'm in middle school sometimes lol. My college apps are finally done and I got into my top choice, so yay! I can already feel the senioritis setting in though, lol. Hey, that just means I might write more to keep up my motivation lol. I've already started drafting chapter 8, if I'm lucky it'll be out by February, probably.

Also, I mentioned doing a one-year anniversary thing earlier, but I don't think I'll do that... I'm thinking of a little celebration once we reach the end of part 1, which is only 3 chapters away (!!!). I read a social media fic recently and it was fun, I was thinking of doing something similar? Don't know how it would work though. Let me know if you guys have any ideas!

[nerafris]

that’s a bit rare – to speak better english rather than our native language. but if I’m being honest, its waaaaaaay better to be good at english, it’s easier to make friends across the world + nowadays everyone speaks english

jUsT DoN’t be frustrated And yOU WoN’t be ToXiC

i searched for you on steam. are you the anime girl with the short blonde hair girl picture & your level 12? If so, can I add you?

tbh all pokemons are so cute i want them all

unbreon is cooler, but you can't deny that sylveon it's so damn cute especially when she's smiling

i'm a basic person, my fav is eevee - BUT IN MY DEFENSE, HER BROWN/PURPLE EYES ARE SO FULL OF TENDERNESS

let me log on twitter really quick to search for them (not for the titties obviously)

i was saying: fuck cars, give us teleportation already

It can be challenging to see our own value, especially when we haven't received external validation. However, worth is not determined solely by other’s recognition. Also, people may be attracted to you but not express it for various reasons

It's understandable to feel skeptical about the possibility of finding a romantic partner, especially if it hasn't happened yet. While it's true that we can't predict the future, maintaining a sense of openness to new experiences and people can sometimes lead to unexpected opportunities

It's the result of basically living online since i was like 11? I get plenty of weird looks for it, and i got a rep at work as "that person that always speaks half-English", but in my defense it's *way* easier to do that when all of the industry terminology is in English anyway. Yes i am (tho the hair is pink >_<), idk why i was surprised i'm easy to be found - i did pick the tag cause i realized i never run into naming conflicts online and it's never already taken. Yes you may add me, tho i'm a bit surprised, why not dm me here? Or ask for my discord? I adore eevee too, coworker got me one for my work desk actually :3 Uhuh, of course, purely research purposes, no titties allowed ^^ You might be interested in checking out this vid, promise it's sfw, tho probably not safe for the heart: https://youtu.be/e5xueJq4Lwc Heck yeah give us teleportation, tho i'd settle for more functional public transportation too, and safer streets for cycling. And yeah, exactly, i neither have an internal sense of value nor have i ever received external validation, and as such the only conclusion i can draw is that i'm not someone anyone would want. And yeah i'm aware i shouldn't need the latter, but i can't really help it. I'm pretty sure i'm generally a person with an open mind for new experiences and ideas overall. That isn't changed by the fact that i believe i have a higher chance of winning the lottery (i've never bought a ticket in my life) than meeting someone that's into me ^^

[clonehub]

ive seen people suggest that the bad batch should have been min-maxed in order to counteract the sheer power they have as characters w/ those sets of abilities, and I agree. it would help to round them out physically so they're not just combat gods, and also it would give them weaknesses that they could deal with with other characters.

ive seen someone (why do I get the sense it was @ollovae3 who said most of this) suggest that since Crosshair has such good vision for sniping, he can hardly see anything up close. if wrecker's huge then he's got a slow metabolism to go with it, or maybe even joint problems, who knows (I think it'd also be cool if his armor was mechanical so that he'd be able to lift a 2+ ton gunship without severely hurting himself). hunter has the magnetic sensing and the Heightened Senses but also he goes into sensory overload more easily than the rest. god forbid he has a stuffy nose cause then he can't even hear. the common cold would take him out. harsh noises overwhelm him. tech's knowledge...im not sure. maybe it's severely limited to technological things, and if he has shit memory than he could need constant reminding of goals/plans, and would need help staying focused.

on twitter I was talking about how I'd write tbb given half an opportunity. hunter is the youngest on the team and so is insecure as a leader because he was decanted late enough that there was, at first, a marked difference in how much he had to learn and how much tbb had to learn. maybe crosshair resents him for this. either way hunter's emotionally a coward and avoids conflict (which would explain why he just. ignored crosshairs existence for the most part after he started hunting them down lmao)

i can understand (however corny) the brains/brawn juxtaposition between tech and wrecker. rather than be racist about it though, first tech's design is changing lol. then we don't just make wrecker the more emotionally intelligent one of the two. he obv cares about everyone but sometimes he's pushy and wont give Omega her space when she needs it. otherwise, he's got intuition for physics since he and tech or crosshair often have to work together to get past an issue. and since his powerup is entirely physical, he'd be the medic rather than tech, whos the team IT/mechanic and would only know basic first aid.

wrekcer's being the weapons specialist also means that he's got a strong knowledge of chemistry. "destruction is an art" is his catch phrase ive decided. he teaches omega a lot about the human body and also bombs.

added to hunter's insecurity: there's no particular field that he's an expert in the way the other three are. they have internal conflict in this now.

they do literally everything as a team. great for when theyre all together, but god forbid one of them is taken out of the equation, then its like a table that's missing a leg. since they almost exclusively (at least it seems like it) train with each other, if/when they actually have to face other clones, they're too used to their own fighting styles to be able to move through the conflict smoothly.

[transmutationisms]

I’m like a dog running for food when it comes to Greek mythology. It’s just so interesting how the stories mutate, like with Persephone and Hades going from kidnapping to modern retelling deciding to make them in love and Pers a girlboss who pegs. Or Medusa! Went from always a monster to Ovid’s “cursed rape victim” (I’m a little biased though cos I like that more)

literally yeah when it's done well, psychologising a myth or classical tragedy gives you So much room to manoeuvre. like okay full disclosure i made that post because i was re-reading the rilke poem "orpheus. euridike. hermes" for Reasons lmao but like there's a prime example.

in the classical tellings orpheus looking back is generally foreordained, or a commentary on the weakness of the human will, or on the essential disjunction between living and dead (ie, orpheus's 'failure' was that he tried to retrieve eurydice instead of dying to join her). in rilke we get something totally different: this very compassionate exploration of his inner experience. his senses are split (gaze runs ahead, hearing stays behind), he's longing for her, he loves her so much that his music creates an entire "world of mourning" and his lyre becomes one with his hand "like tendrils of a rosebush in an olive bough"

and then too we also get eurydice: dead, already forgotten orpheus's face, "already become root" and hindered by her long grave-clothes as she walks with the messenger-god. so this is achieving a completely different effect than the universal-moral tellings. it's all focussed on their interiority, the buildup of how doomed they are, you as a reader seeing exactly why orpheus can't resist turning around and also seeing exactly why it would be futile even if he had resisted. it's not that rilke was uninterested in universalising the characters (he does much more of it in the orpheus cycle imo, although that's also a treatise on aesthetics) but that, by bringing the psychological domain to the myth, he's able to accomplish something totally different with it

like this sounds hyperbolic but i really don't think Love Stories the way we define them now exist in most classical texts. the love is very different if it's something divinely ordered, or experienced as an external intrusion into the psyche, or used in a moral or ethical discourse (often all three at once lol). it's a signifier of something else, it's rarely dissected on its own experiential terms, even if it's used to provoke catharsis

anyway yeah i love a good re-telling and also this is a succession blog so i can just go ahead and Say that i do think succ does this in the sense that it invokes classical tragedies (sometimes by name, sometimes by theme, frequently by story architecture) but then is totally driven by character psychology and psychoanalysis. oedipus roy is interesting to us precisely because we're forced to experience the internal conflict: i love him, i hate him, i'm gonna outsource it to my therapist (no you're not). it's a whole different modality of storytelling and it gives a totally different type of depth to the characters.

[imakeficrequestsandthendisappear]

The post where I try to fix Klaus’ arc in TUA season 2

(((I guess I just am an umbrella academy blogger now)))

OKAY, so we all can agree that Klaus’s arc in season 2 (mostly with dave) was....not great. the intentions i think were good, but misguided. It started pretty good, the acting was great, but it didn’t have the lasting power. Here’s 10 things the writers should have done differently, or should do in the future (as told by me, a nobody). Yes most of this is a long Klaus x Dave shitpost 

1. Learn Basic Math:   Idk why this is so hard to fucking grasp, but Dave’s baby-faced teenager age doesn’t make any fucking sense. according to the wiki, he was born in 1939, so in 1963 he is 24 years old. the actor who played young Dave is currently 20, so was probably 19 when they filmed. 

Why? why. *instert why vine*

like yeah he’s younger, but he doesn’t need to look like a infant. The baby-est gay that ever did baby gay. it puts a weird dynamic into the whole season with Klaus. and it’s not like there isn’t someone else who can play dave....

2. Hire Cody Ray Thompson again:  ....like, I’m baffled. they’ve baffled me. This guy had one(1) job, fall in love with Klaus, and he did it with so much charm and chemistry that the whole fanbase is still quaking. he had like 2 lines. like less 3 total minutes of screen time. And we all fell in love with him cause he did so good. ((he’s also a klave stan check out his twitter))

Whyyyy couldn’t they just get him in for season? “hE’d LoOk ToO OlD” well the other kid looked too damn young. do his hair different, have him lose some bulk in the arms and shoulders, get him a k-pop skin care routine, I don’t care.

Imagine if he got to have multiple scenes with Robert Sheehan, when they had so much chemistry in just a short montage in season 1.

3. Knock it off with the homophobia: i’m not gonna talk about when Dave punches klaus it’s literally the worst part of the season. it’s not what i came here for. I want a refund. (see point 7 for notes)

4. Actually make the cult a useful part of the season: like we have hundreds of adoring klaus fans ready to do anything he tells them… could that have served a plot purpose at any point? Could that have been useful in a conflict, or some character development? No?

5. Establish the Ben possessions much earlier: probably one of the most interesting plot points from season 2 is that ben had more agency. And then 5 minutes later he didn’t. I know we have 7 main characters but did we need this many scenes with the Handler while Ben got diddly fuck until the last 2 episodes? 

6: Why Doesn’t Klaus see ghosts anymore?: like, he sees Ben. but, what about all the other ones? He got sober, does he just ignore them now? ((guys what if he conjured the spirit of JFK)) 

7: (this one’s long) Make Klaus’s arc about internal conflict, not an external conflict between him and Dave:  

Klaus is established in season 1 to be selfish, but in like a fun way. he thinks of self satisfaction before literally anything else. this comes to a head when he comes back from Vietnam and says “He was the only person I’ve ever loved more than myself” 

After this Klaus’ growth is kind of put on the back-burner for the apocalypse stuff. We never really get to see him put someone else first after that. Even when he gets sober to see Dave, it’s to fulfill his own desires. 

By season 2 his world view has shifted, he gets sober, but we need more actions toward change. he gets bored of the cult and ditches them, and he barely does anything for Ben.

(selfish but lovable)

Enter tall hunky texas boy Dave, (((who is an adult man))) who is in the closet from his homophobic family, but it’s not spelled out for us. It could be as subtle as a look, or saying a coded phrase. The audience isn’t interested in the macro-drama of 1960’s homophobia, we are interested in the micro-drama between these two characters.

Anyway, Klaus is excited to see Dave, and they like meet and have a normal conversation, where it is eventually revealed that Dave is already planning on joining the marines soon. Klaus wants to stop him but then he realizes (or Ben tells him) that if Klaus says the wrong thing (like telling Dave not to go to war) it would change the timeline and they would never meet in 1968. And for the next couple EPISODES i want Klaus to have to think about this, like it’s an actual hard decision to make. He’s a creature of habit, his instincts are selfish because he’s always been selfish, but he loves this guy so much. 

Maybe he tries bargaining, like maybe he can subtly tell Dave just enough to keep him alive, but not stop him from going to Vietnam. And Dave is rightfully confused that this person knows a lot about him, but also like… he’s kinda cute. I want weird coffee shop dates and long walks through the texas fields in the setting sun.  

But right at the deadline of “we gotta stop the apocalypse again” Klaus realizes that he can’t let Dave go to Vietnam, even if it means they never meet. Cause he loves dave like way too much to even risk it, even if it means putting his own happiness second. It’s the first truly selfless act of love Klaus does for someone. So he tells him everything, but it sounds fucking bat-shit insane and Klaus has to leave right then and there. Leaving Dave standing there like “Wtf”

Later on after the Kennedy assassination, klaus and all the hargreeves’ are named as suspects, so Dave wonders if he’s just been duped by a cult leader this whole time (but also is kinda sad about it). He enlists in the marines anyway, and this is where we stay on the season one timeline.

But speaking of time-lines…….

8. Use season 3 to retcon timeline issues: like obviously they are going to fuck around with the timeline, because of the fucking bird school and emo ben. So take this opportunity, dear writers, to figure out how Klaus’s (and everyone else’s) lives make any sense, and cut some stuff from the season 1 and season 2 timelines. (and no, Klaus and Dave never falling in love in Vietnam is not a valid choice. It’s a garbage way to make me cry.)

9: Set a whole (or most of an) episode in 1968 Vietnam: maybe this is when they are trying to fix the timeline. Idk it’s just for fanservice. They have a whole 10 episodes and they can’t give just one to klaus? bullshit.

10. (Fan Theory) Reveal that Dave was killed by the commission: the true tragedy of this romance is that if Dave lived Klaus probably wouldn’t have gone back to 2019. They might have actually lived a happy life together. But the timeline needs Klaus in 2019, to be part of and die in the apocalypse, so the commission sends someone (.....maybe not Five) out to kill his boyfriend. 

Anyway it took me so many braincells to write this post and i do not accept criticism for free, so dm for my paypal if you want to tell me this was stupid.

[stranger-who-writes-fiction]

I had a whole list of stuff I liked about Supergirl Ep. 6x07 “Fear Knot” typed out and then accidentally hit the keyboard command for ‘select all’ and THEN accidentally hit ‘b’ so.

A list! That will...be much shorter than the original! Because I’m very tired and don’t wanna type it up all over again! XD

Spoilers!

Okay, rapid fire highlights, HERE WE GO!

Space Dad was the true MVP here! Just wonderful J’onn content throughout.

The Danvers Sisters hug! I wanted exactly one thing from this episode and that was it. 

Interesting BTS info revealed about the hug: Originally, it was supposed to be the main trio (Kara, J’onn, Alex) but they trimmed it down for time so it ended up being just a Danvers Sisters moment AND, AND! Chyler’s ‘I got you,’ such a LOVELY callback to the Pilot, was ad-libbed!

Fine. Just. Make me feel feelings, show. Geez.

The Tower is a MARTIAN SPACESHIP!

Alex, re: the Tower reveal - “I love Martian technology.”

Same, Alex. Same.

 The ENTIRE* GANG OF SUPERFRIENDS got meaty character bits that build on all of the stuff introduced in earlier episodes! 

*Save for M’gann, but I appreciated they at least had a line about how she was staying behind to hold down the fort. 

Anyways, back to character stuff, in particular! We see Kelly grapple with feeling out of her depth as the lone ‘normal’ one in a group of heroes/vigilantes, introduced in...was it 6x03? AND we see the set-up for GUARDIAN, WOO!

The thing I love about the Guardian mantle, for James and as we’ll no doubt see for Kelly, is that it’s about protecting people; their weapon of choice isn’t really a weapon at all, but a shield.

:D

J’onn and Alex’s stuff more directly ties into how they’ve been handling the ‘save Kara’ mission

Obviously Alex’s fears in particular speak to the larger, ongoing stuff about how so much of Alex’s identity is wrapped up in protecting Kara, but this mini-arc of seven episodes has sort of...laser focused that? A little?

This made a lot more sense in the first draft I swear. XD

And J’onn gets to come full circle with successfully completing the mission by being both a dad AND a strategic leader.

And then poor Nia is still struggling with insecurities regarding her dreaming powers, a thread that looks like it’ll carry over into the next set of episodes.

BRAINY AND THE BALLOONS????

J’onn:

The Lena portion...occurred!

Not really gonna comment on it beyond the very good sci-fi references they packed in there. Of course, we have the Alien 3 reference (which I've opted not to include b/c it’s a pretty gross image that could be upsetting if you’re not expecting it? Also I’m sure it’s all over twitter.)

But the Kelpie also had an Abyss vibe, IMO:

J’onn’s Space Dad montage was EXCELLENT.

J’onn: “NOT TODAY SATAN”

Oh, also, the red Phantom eyes and in-synch talking in Kelly’s fear vision was very creepy.

The different pairings of various characters was cool! I really liked Brainy and Kelly chatting.

And then poor Kara! 

AT HER LOWEST!

WITHOUT HOPE!

FEELING LIKE A DANGER AND A BURDEN TO HER LOVED ONES!

Oh, that meaty character work, we LOVE. TO. SEE. IT.

And shock of all shocks, it is PAPA ZOR?!?!?! WHO SNAPS HER OUT OF IT!??!?!?!

BUT! Papa Zor-El is only able to snap Kara out of it because HE HIMSELF was snapped out of his funk by Kara!

And like. I’ve seen the complaint that this relationship has not been built up enough for us to really care but...IDK. I’m a sucker for the moment where he like, gently touches her face and delivers that hope speech and

GUH! FEEEEEELINGS!!!!

And you know what? I’m glad. That Kara’s dad is not The Worst in this particular adaptation.

I mean. He’s done some incredibly sketchy things still, but. Not quite ‘experimenting on your own child, sending her to a foreign planet WITHOUT ANY CLOTHES and brainwashing her into murdering her cousin’ levels, you know?

“That’s my family. They’re really here.”

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!

And then the hug! THE HUG! It’s so quick but it’s so good and I can’t WAIT. UNTIL AUGUST 24th! 

I also love that we got a teaser of the next episode?! That was awesome and wholly unexpected.

(OFFICE SHENANIGANS! AAHHHH LOOKS SO GOOD!)

Oh, also, Nyxly (Nixly??) lives! And catches a ride to Earth Prime, which I’m sure will go over well. XD

As always, some OVERALL THOUGHTS!

ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR DAVID! An interesting but no doubt tricky episode to direct! It came together so nicely, though, and had some genuinely neat set-ups in terms of how they used the cast and set.

(Also round of applause for Chyler’s episode last week, totally forgot to give her props in my list. FOR SHAME. For shame.)

In terms of season 6 thus far as a whole...I’ve just really liked this front half, here.

The Supergirl folks have had to work around some incredibly challenging extenuating circumstances during the final season of their show--I mean. They didn’t have their LEAD ACTRESS until several months into filming! DURING A PANDEMIC!

And while...yeah, I’ll admit I found some of the exposition in various episodes to be. Trying? And still pretty packed because they’re juggling so many characters...that they’ve managed to have such nice character bits throughout is just. GOOD. IT’S VERY GOOD. I LIKE IT A LOT.

As I mentioned above, this mini-arc of seven episodes has done such a solid job of setting up and developing internal conflicts for the characters that are exacerbated by the external conflict that is Kara’s absence. Like, everything is pretty tight! And connected! There’s such a good through-line EVEN WITH the two time travel episodes!

(And, okay, I’ll indulge in one targeted bit of ‘c’mon fandom, really?’ - I’ve already seen complaints of, ‘I thought this show was about SUPERGIRL’ re: this particular episode and like...did you miss? The whole previous episode? That was such a nice Kara showcase? And I say again: LEAD ACTRESS. WAS UNAVAILABLE. AND HAD TO PLAY CATCH-UP. ALSO, PANDEMIC.)  

(And in fact, the whole Phantom Zone plot has been a BRILLIANT bit of efficient storytelling--you not only have an in-universe reason for your lack of a lead, but also, it creates this space for the other characters to really miss Kara.

I guess the way I would describe it is like...going back to Kara’s original death in Crisis--yeah, it sucked that she died, but the entire DC Universe came together to talk about how heroic and great she was. And in a final season? Of a show called Supergirl? If you can’t have your lead on screen, the NEXT BEST THING is to have the character’s presence really felt via the OTHER characters.

With stuff like, having her inspire them! And reflecting on what she means to them, as a friend and family member!

...Again, this made more sense in the original draft? XD)

...Anyways.

My only nitpicks: I miss Will! But understand why he hasn’t been around, from a story standpoint. Also, the dialogue in some of the earliest episodes didn’t always...gel? But these last three in particular have been much improved in that regard.

IDK if I’ll keep these li’l positivity lists going throughout the remainder of the last batch of episodes--the move to Tuesday night has been tough. XD But either way, SUPER (ha, ha) excited for the back half!

[kissjane]

So, yeah, uh, I am alive! I missed a bunch of Wednesdays and Fridays... But something is coming, and I am really excited about it! It won’t be too long now...

Also, for all the missed snippets I owe you I will give you something long-ish from something called “Literature AU” I started long ago and may not ever finish. This whole conversation (and almost the whole AU, really) was inspired by the excellent a measure of stars by @lepetitepeach (in the process of being translated into Portuguese by @awake-dreamer18). This snippet consists almost exclusively of test messages, but I am not nifty enough to make it look nice, so you’ll have to deal with it as is.

~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~

Lucas Why are all these literary characters so absolutely drab?

Eliott could not let Lucas make such blatantly false statements unchallenged.

Eliott Are you insane? They are anything but! Most of them are written so delicately, full of details and intricacies and complexities, with conflicting emotions and ideals and interests, battling internal and external demons – just like real people! Remember how Antigone had to weigh up the love for her sister, her uncle, her fiancé with the love for her brother? How can you decide which love is bigger, Lucas? That’s not drab!

Lucas Uh. Okay, sorry. You are right. Wow, you’re really passionate about this, aren’t you? 😉 I’ll agree they are not drab. Just so… unrelatable?

Eliott Some, maybe. But most of them are human just like all of us. Surely you can relate to some of them? What are you reading now?

Lucas “Reading” is maybe too big a word. But I am leafing through the summary of Pride and Prejudice. Ugh. Stupid Elisabeth. And what’s the deal about Mr Darcy anyway? Everybody loves him because he’s rich? Very superficial, Eliott.

Eliott … Maybe read the actual book, Lucas. Elisabeth doesn’t love Mr. Darcy because he’s rich, but because he is honourable, and caring, and kind, and not trying to control her.

Lucas Okay. But still. I don’t see the appeal myself. They should really have a gay guy look into this.

Eliott Huh?

Lucas A gay guy, Eliott. Straighties don’t understand the appeal of any man, and women are obviously not right in the head to fawn over Mr. Darcy like that. So we need a gay’s perspective.

Eliott Well, I’m not straight, do I count?

Lucas Oh. Sorry. You’re not?

Eliott No. Is that a problem?

Lucas In case it wasn’t clear from my previous texts, I’m gay. So not a problem. I just thought Imane said something about a girlfriend.

Eliott You and Imane talked about me?

Lucas No! Uhm, no. Just came up, I guess. But, no girlfriend then?

Eliott An ex-girlfriend. I’m pan.

Lucas Oh. Okay. Well. Then you see the need for a non-straight perspective.

Eliott I suppose you might be right. Although there are some gay writers featured in the course. Oscar Wilde, for example.

Lucas Did he write about any gay characters?

Eliott Not in so many words. Maybe you have a point.

Lucas Eliott, my dear friend, you should have realized by now I usually have. So, gay Pride and prejudice? You in? I mean… We should write it. I’m sure we’d make it so much better.

Eliott You haven’t even read the book, Lucas. I don’t think you’re qualified to judge whether our hypothetical gay version would be any better.

Lucas Is that your way of saying you don’t want to work on it with me? Come on, Eliott! I’m hurt. I already have the proud and prejudiced down! All you’d have to do is actually write the book. You could use my dating life as inspiration. It’s worse than Elizabeth Bennet’s. Gay P&P might be a horror story.

[courtlyharlequin]

hi, congratulations on the 100 followers! you earned it :D i’d like to order some rosewater biscuits with deuce, please! thank you, and i hope you’re having a great day!

Shyboy

A/N: First of all, thank you! Though I’m nearing four hundred now whoops! Secondly, I’m sorry for the long wait. Thirdly, I’m sorry if this is different from my other fics for this event. The others had more internal conflicts and I wanted to spice this one up by introducing a more external conflict? If that makes sense? I’m sorry in general asdfghjkl;

Like many of your peers, you had waited for the day your soulmate would serendipitously pop into your life, whisking you away to a life filled with eternal bliss and never-ending kisses.

That was a fickle wish now that you’ve grown into a jumbled mess of emotions that one would call a young adult. Well, in your case anyway. You were now a freshman at the renowned Night Raven College. With no soulmate, your only desire these days was to pass all of your classes with a solid C. Even so, that desire changed frequently. Some days you wanted nothing more than a break, for time to slow down so you could finally process that you were no longer the child that used to frolic around in neighborhoods while elders chided your parents for being so nonchalant about your rather adventurous tendencies. Other days had you wanting your graduation date to come closer. On those days, time decided to trudge through quicksand this making all of your classes equate to a forty year prison sentence. No matter how prestigious the university was, you felt as if it was not what it seemed. The headmaster was bonkers in his own right, falling for bribery on a daily basis. The students lacked a counselor which in turn led to dozens of meltdowns, particularly among the prefects which was perfectly understandable as the job of dorm leader made you shudder from secondhand stress. All in all, it was worth the tuition— in your opinion. It was a strange place, but it had its own charm.

You sighed. Thoughts like these were useless now that you enrolled. You shook your head and pressed on forward to Café Rosé, a small yet cozy coffee shop with rose tinted windows. It was popular among locals who sought out their soulmates. Cheesy for sure, but the place paid well for a college student who was trying to get by their bills and such. You couldn’t care less about soulmate rumors; you just wanted some easy cash to help you pay rent.

The door chimed, signaling your entrance.

“You’re here, (y/n). Good timing. There’s a new employee here. I’ve shown him the ropes, but my shift is over and I must go tend to the hedgehogs at the dorms. If you could train him some more, that would be lovely.”

As prompt as ever, he was. Not even a greeting...

“Will do, Riddle. Have fun with the hedgehogs,” you waved.

“Wonderful,” he said, taking off his apron and hanging it on its designated hook before booting out the door before anyone could bid him goodbye.

You turned back to your new colleague: “Alright then, give me—”

“(y/n)?!”

“Eh? You look familiar… Wait… Deuce? Deuce Spade? Is that really you?”

“Uwahhh! It really is you! Long time, no see.”

Ah, yes. Deuce Spade. He was a childhood friend of yours. Sort of. You knew each other in middle school and got along pretty well before you  moved away and he got expelled for causing fights. You knew him for a total of two weeks and thirteen hours. Not that you were counting. You simply remembered that day so vividly due to the way his lip quivered as he waved goodbye and how bruised his cheeks were. Admittedly, you had a small crush on him as well. It had to have died down by now like a withering ember in the midst of a blizzard. This was the first time you saw him in years. This was the first time you talked to him in years.

Alright.. be cool, (y/n). It’s just Deuce. As your childhood friend, he probably won’t remember much to judge you about anything really.

“H-Hey! Yeah, long time no see,” you replied

Your mind screeched and your heart raced: ‘Gah! What are you a parrot?! Don’t repeat his words, you fool!’

“How...How have you been?”

“Good. Good. And you?”

“I’m good too,” he fiddled with the hem of his apron.

“Oh! Wait for me to get my apron so I can show you some things! What did Riddle show you already by the way?” you said, making your way to the barista’s worktable.

“He gave me a tour of the place and a rundown of the business hours, shifts, and the menu items and how to make them. That was all, I think.”

“I guess he didn't leave me with much, huh. Typical Riddle...”

“I’ve been in the dorm for a few weeks and I can vouch for that,” he sighs.

“Ohhh! You go to NRC and you’re in Riddle’s dorm too? How is it?”

“A lot stricter than I imagined but he’s super good at explaining and keeping his members in check. He helped me a bunch with my math homework.”

You tied your apron up with a neat knot: “That’s good to hear.”

“I hope so,” he said, scratching the back of his head.

“Right then. Let’s get started, shyboy.”

“Lead the way, (y/n)!”

“...”

“What?”

“You make it sound like I’m a commander of some sort.”

“I-I didn’t mean it like that!”

“I never said it was a bad thing,” you shrugged.

“Oh thank goodness.”

The door chimed, cuing a customer’s entrance.

You snickered and playfully slapped his back, straightening his posture, “You’re up, rookie.”

Deuce froze on the spot. Oh dear… You took it as a prompt to turn around to see the customer.

Ah, a girl. You had forgotten that your friend cannot function around the opposite sex. Of course, there were exceptions like close friends or relatives. But even so, he had a hard time communicating with girls. There was one time where he stopped breathing when a girl asked for his number. That particular memory made you laugh for hours on end. Would Deuce remember? While you were friends, there was a gap that had formed between the both of you. A gap made by time. You hesitated, pushing down the urge to stir up some nostalgia.

“You just have to make the order. You’re not actually going to take it, don’t worry. I got you,” you teased, elbowing his sides.

The tension in his shoulders eased as he made way to the worktable, awaiting for the order.

You smiled at him before turning to the girl: “What can I get for you today?”

“Oh, well, I don’t know. What would you recommend?” she fiddled with her hair.

“The Rosé Latte is our most popular item.”

“Oh then I’ll take that!”

“Wonderful. Here's your receipt.”

“Don’t you need a name for the order?”

“You’re the only one here so I didn’t see the need to ask for it, but if it does bother you, I’ll put a name down.”

“Don’t worry about it,” she dismissed.

You nodded at Deuce as he got started on whipping up the café’s signature beverage. That customer though… one of many who were so desperately searched for “the one” yet so embarrassed to say so. She annoyed you, to say the least. They annoyed you. It became repetitive lately—customers coming in and dilly dallying about what they really wanted. At first, it never bothered you. But now, after some much needed experience, you came to hate customers who never got to the point— especially when there was a long line behind said customer. Perhaps the draining life of a college student finally got to you, wearing down your patience and tolerance for any tomfoolery to the last straw. Regardless of what it was, customers like that irked you.

“Hey, (y/n),” Deuce nudged your shoulder, snapping you out of your not-so-pleasant trance, “Could you give this to her?”

“You didn’t even have to ask. I told you that I’ve got your back… though if someone like Riddle were to see me doing your job for you, it’d be off with your head,” you smirked.

He clasped his hands together as if he was praying to a higher power: “Just this once.”

“You know I don’t mind.”

“I feel guilty regardless.”

“Don’t sweat it,” you reassured him, taking the tray from his hand, knuckles white from gripping it tightly, “Relax while you’re at it too. Girls don’t bite… that hard…”

“That’s not a good thing.”

“I tried.”

“Fair enough… but thank you, (y/n).”

“My pleasure,” you paused, “Well then, shyboy, your savior is off to deliver your well-made latte to a longing maiden.”

In a quick motion, you spun your heel and walked towards the customer. She sat at a bar stool and looked out the rose-tinted windows with a dull light in her eyes. Her head snapped back at you when the cup clinked against the table’s surface.

“Your order, miss,” you smiled.

“Thanks…”

As per protocol, you waited at her side to see if she found her soulmate. The manager said something about giving the customer moral support and being “oh-so-kind”. You grimaced as she daintily sipped the cup, praying that you weren’t her soulmate. Your fellow colleagues actually found their soulmates just by standing next to customers while they drank this aphrodisiac-like latte. Although the odds were slim, you wanted a soulmate despite giving up on the search. However, you prayed that you would not find your soulmate at this café. You prayed that it would not be the customer before you. It wasn’t because you didn’t want a soulmate. You just didn’t want her. There was nothing wrong with her aside from being the “basic” airhead like nearly all of the customers who ordered the Rosé Latte. It was just because you did not have the energy for one at the moment nor did you have the energy to deal with her “basic” personality. Again, nothing wrong with her specifically. Just everything that happened over the past few months taking a toll on you thus contributing to your rather unpleasant bitterness today.

“I don’t feel like I’m having an epiphany…” she mumbled.

“Oh my, I’m so sorry to hear that. But… how is the latte?”

“I just realized that I don’t have a soulmate and you have the gall to ask me about the drink?!”

“Oh I didn’t mean it like that! It’s just that this was the first drink a new employee made so I wanted to know if he did well,” you gestured to Deuce.

“He...He must be my soulmate then!”

“Miss, I don’t think he is. I’m sure that—”

“He must be!”

Oh where was someone like Riddle when you needed him most?? You couldn’t handle people. Moreover, you couldn’t handle people in hysterical fits because they couldn’t find their soulmates. But, you had to be the bigger person here. Deuce would ascend into the heavens if she got close to him. Your friend had a long life ahead of him. You had to protect his future at all costs.

“No, he isn’t—”

“Yes he is! If you would just let me talk to him, then I’d know for sure!”

She did not waste a moment after that declaration; she abruptly got up from her seat and made way to the barista’s bar.

“If you could just listen to me for a moment, that would be great,” you cried, reaching for her shoulders to pull her back.

You weren’t sure what kind of reaction you were hoping for but being pushed back by the customer and colliding with the table was not it. You hissed at the sensation of your back hitting the wooden surface and the hot contents of the cup spilling onto your hand. You heard a faint “OI!” from Deuce. If a nun were present, your mouth would have been cleansed thrice with soap and holy water. Perhaps your coworker would get scolded too if he dared to unleash his inner delinquent, that is.

“You are my soulmate,” she said, leaning over the barista’s bar.

“I’m—,” Deuce paused, making eye contact with you, “I’m not your soulmate.”

“Are you fucking kidding me? After all this time? I still don’t have someone to love me? Your little promotions were a lie! There are no soulmates here.”

“Those are just rumors,” you chided, shaking off the excess liquid off your hands.

Ah… it’s a bit tingly.  

“I-It’s not personal at all! I swear! I just don’t feel the same way,” Deuce reassured.

“It’s fine. It’s whatever! I’m leaving,” she scowled,

The door slammed like a roar of thunder. The chimes echoed throughout the coffeeshop. You sighed in relief. Oh boy.

Deuce’s footsteps increased in volume as he rushed over to examine your hand. He held it as if it was a figure of class that could break at any moment.

“Does this usually happen?” he nervously laughs.

“Not really. I mean, some people don’t find their soulmates and they are disappointed, as most people would be, but they’re not extreme.”

“I’ll say.”

“But I’m surprised you didn’t go berserk at all.”

“I’ve learned to control those tendencies. She was really testing me though.”

“You’ve changed a bit.”

“You think so? I hope it’s not a bad thing...”

“Don’t worry it’s a good thing.”

“Oh you’re hand!! Wait here. I’ll go get a first aid kit and then I’ll clean this up,” he exclaimed.

“Oh, you don’t have to! It’s just a slight burn. It’s not fatal or anything.”

“It could be. Let me treat you! You could be in danger, (y/n),” he insisted.

“Fine, fine.”

“Awesome,” he beamed, running to the back room to retrieve the first aid kit.

The warmth of his hand lingered in yours. Was it always this cozy? It wasn’t the first time you held his hand. You held hands before when one of you tripped and the other would lean forward to help you get back up again. But this.. was intimate.

“I’m back!”

What on earth… a jar of honey?!

You wanted to reply, tell him that the first aid kit was by the cabinet to the right of the entrance, but you couldn’t. You could not process the words that came out of his mouth. A burn from coffee? Fatal?? You were in danger??? And his cure for that was a jar of honey???? That was Deuce for you and you would never dare to tell him the truth. It was like with the eggs from the grocery store not being fertilized. You never had the heart to break it to him.

“Give me your hand.”

You reluctantly obliged. He popped off the lid and poured a decent glob of honey onto the injured area. You came to regret your decision instantly.

“Deuce, why are you pouring honey all over my hand?”

“On MagiCam, it says that if you pour honey over a burn, it’ll make it feel better.”

Thank goodness— it wasn’t one of his shower thoughts. You weren’t sure if it worked, but you appreciated the gesture and the effort nonetheless.

“Now hold still for a few minutes and the honey should do its magic for you!”

“Got it.”

He patted your forearm, sealed the honey jar, and started to clean the spilt latte. His gaze was intense. He was concentrating real hard from what you could tell.

Deuce broke the silence: “You must be bored.”

“Well a little bit, but there’s nothing I could do since I have honey on my hand. I’m fine, don’t worry.”

“Hang on. I’ll get you something.”

“I said I was fine.”

“It’s on the house.”

There was no use arguing with him. He must’ve felt too guilty about what happened earlier with that customer. If it was like that, then you couldn’t ever decline him.

“Alright, rookie.”

He smiled back at you and then took off to the work station. Deuce was always like that— hardworking and sincere despite his resting bitch face. He was truly a rare find, a keeper. He was the odd one out. That attribute drew you to him like a moth to a flame which, in turn made you stick to him like glue, like two peas in a pod— even though you only knew him for two weeks and thirteen hours.

“Here you go,” he said softly, placing a tray before you.

There was a Rosé Latte and a plate of rosewater biscuits, which weren’t the most palatable item on the menu, but, then again, you had never tried them. You picked up the pastry, taking in its rather simple shape. Now that you looked at them, they reminded you of the crackers you shared with Deuce often at lunch...

“I’m not looking for a soulmate,” you joked.

“I knowwww! But it’s the only thing I could make without having to reference the recipe cards that Riddle gave me,” he sighed.

“Well then, thank you for your effort,” you cooed, sipping the latte.

“Anytime, (y/n)!”

You set down the mug and dunked a biscuit into the latte: “Say… what if I said you were my soulmate?”

“I- Wait- What- No- You must be joking. Yes, very funny, ahahahaha…”

“Deuce, you don’t have to give me an answer right away. I’ve liked you for a long time, but I was never sure nor did I have the courage to say anything because, well, I only knew you for two weeks before we got separated. I didn’t think you would be my soulmate, but I felt something before. It’s just confirmed now.”

“I… like you too.”

“It’s not out of pity or nervousness, is it?”

“No, I mean it!”

“I’m just messing, shyboy.”

“I—”

“We should get back to work though,” you patted his shoulder.

You didn’t give him a moment to finish his sentence. A part of you was afraid of what he would say.

“Wait!”

“Hmm?”

“Are you… Are you free this weekend? Saturday maybe?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Then… would you like to go on a date with me?!” Deuce shouted.

It was then and there that you bursted into a fit of giggles, leaving your soulmate’s face to redden by the second. It was a lovely shade of crimson. It suited him, more than you could ever imagine. It was a good look for Deuce. You hoped to see more of it. He wasn’t good with girls, or most people, really— he’s super awkward in general but he was an honest-to-goodness guy who wore his heart on his sleeve and was never a good liar.

“That would be lovely, shyboy,” you whispered, walking over to him and kissing his cheek.

You knew that he used every last bit of his willpower to remain standing. He was as stiff as a board.

Oh boy… you sure had your work cut out for you, but it should be worth it. After all, he was your shyboy soulmate.

[rachelbethhines]

Tangled Salt Marathon - Freebird

This is a fairly decisive episode in the series. I personally like it, but I can’t act like I don’t understand when others say they have problems with it. Because it is very flawed. 

Summary:  When their caravan breaks down, Rapunzel and Cassandra wander off, where they eventually meet a couple only known as the Mother and Father, who trick them into drinking a tea that turns them into birds. Though assured that they could use magical eggs to return to normal before they lose their intelligence within an hour, the group finds out that the Mother and Father have been tricking and imprisoning innocent people as birds.

Why Don’t You Have Time Cass?

So the conflict of this episode is that Cass wants to get their quest over and done with while Raps wants to treat this journey as a fun vacation. While Rapunzel has been lollygagging up till this point, and with a good reason as we’ll find out this episode, there’s no given reason why Cass is in such a hurry herself. 

There’s no overarching threat in season two, no motivating reason why Rapunzel needs to go on this quest, nor even a basic ‘ticking clock’ that the heroes have to beat. The lack of an external conflict undermines the internal conflicts that the writers want to push. 

These Villains are Such Outliers in the Show That They Make the Episode Feel Misplaced 

I don’t mind the central conceit of Mother’s and Father’s presence here. They are a standard fairytale trope and this is meant to be a fairytale after all. However, up till now the more the fairy tale aspects of the series was kept to a minimal. There’s zero explanation why the wider world would be full of magic and mythical creatures if someone as well traveled as Eugene was oblivious to their presence before now. 

My guess is that since Rapunzel herself is magic she naturally attracts other magical things to her that normal people don’t usually experience. But that’s just a guess, it’s never explained in the show and it needed to be since beforehand magic wasn’t considered common. 

Mother and Father are also out of place here because they’re played fairly straight. Other mythical and magical beings are played with a twist or are tongue in cheek about their existence. Plus, as pure villains with simple goals, they contrast too starkly with the more complex villains the show was pushing both before and after this. 

There Needed to be More of This in the Show

I couldn’t find a single image that broke down my thoughts about this scene so here, have the whole song. In my opinion it’s the best one out of season two and you could spend a lot of time breaking down an analysis of Cass and Raps characters and their relationship dynamic from it. 

Or at least what their relationship dynamic should have been. 

For you see, this is the only point in the series where Cass and Raps actually feel like friends. You get an understanding of why they would hang out together despite their differences. Yet this one episode isn’t enough to sell their ‘unbreakable bond’ by itself. We needed more scenes like this, more episodes that focused on them actually being friends and enjoying each other’s company, and more conflicts that that didn’t just boil down to petty jealousy in order to make their later breakup work. 

Behold the One and Only Time Rapunzel Actually Admits Fault and Means It

This is why I like the episode. It’s the only one where the premise of the series works. 

Cass and Raps have a genuine and understandable conflict, they feel like real friends here, and more importantly we get to the heart of Rapunzel’s issues and have her acknowledge what she’s doing wrong. It’s scenes like this why I had hope she would learn and grow and eventually come to realize how her treatment of Varian and others were wrong.   

Even after this point, while she still is selfish, Rapunzel at least stops purposefully dillidalying. Oh there’s still plenty of filler to come, but from here on out it’s typically either something external holding them up or they’re on the go throughout the episode. So it does feel like she has learned something here. 

Sadly this is damning with faint praise as that’s the only thing she seems to have learned. 

There’s Still Holes in the Girls’ Motivations Though, Because of the Lack of Set Up 

What did you drop Cass? What on earth did you actually give up for Rapunzel? You achieved your goal of being a guard and now are the personal bodyguard to the crown princess. That’s a high honor and what you’ve been wanting.

Also it’s not like there’s anything back in Corona waiting for you except for your dad, which, given that you’re now 23, it’s kind of expected to move away from him at some point regardless. I mean, if you have a close relationship with your parents into adulthood, great, but you’re typically not reliant upon them for your whole life and there’s nothing wrong with going off on your own to purse your interests and goals. 

Even then, Cass winds up throwing her relationship with her dad away the same as she throws her relationship with Rapunzel away, so it’s not like he was that important to her either. There’s also no other friends nor romantic partners in Cass’s life according to season three, so, once again, what was she giving up here in season two? 

This goes back to what I was talking about throughout season one, how Cass’s goals and motivations are just shifted around to suit the plot rather than having any follow through or internal consistency.  

We Still Don’t Know What ‘Destiny’ Means

‘Destiny’ isn’t a reason in of itself to do something. Rapunzel being scared because she doesn’t know where her future will lead is understandable, but that then begs the question of why is she even bothering with this quest. There still needs to be an external threat to motivate her into doing what she’s doing. Either keep the rocks active, have another villain racing her to the end, or a ‘ticking-clock’ prophecy that she either can’t avoid no matter what she does or that has a consequence if she doesn’t succeed.  

So Hookfoot, Why are You Just Standing There Doing Nothing?

There’s no reason why Rapunzel had to be the one breaking the eggs to free everybody. Especially since she doesn’t have hands right now and all the guys do. Even if Raps just wanted to make sure everyone else was freed before her, there’s still no reason why the other characters had to stand around doing nothing. 

Also, hi Faith. What are you doing here? 

So Are We Just Going to Ignore the Fact that Eugene Is Literally Right There? 

Like I’m sure the idea is that, in the confusion and with helping everyone else, Eugene just wasn’t made aware of what was happening with Rapunzel, until after the conflict had been resolved anyways, but that’s not made clear and it highlights one of the core fundamental problems with the show. 

Characters’ previous relationships and dynamics are ignored into order to push the focus back on Rapunzel and Cassandra and that’s poor writing. If you can’t get the audience to care about the relationship you’re writing without undermining other relationships that the characters have, than you haven’t a compelling relationship. Just an annoying one that’s going to piss off most of the audience save for the most hard core of shippers. 

And keep in mind, a romantic ship isn’t even what the creators were shooting for here. They fully intended for Rapunzel and Cassandra to be viewed as sisters. If you ship Caspunzel, that’s fine, but just know and recognize that there was a lot of gay baiting in the series. Some done on accident by the storyboard artists because Chris didn’t inform them of the sister plot twist, and some put in there by Chris himself to string along Caspunzel shippers into sticking around since they were the only part of the fan base left who weren’t pissed off after the events of seasons two. 

Yeah, This is a Lie 

Look, I don’t mind the Cass is a villain twist in theory, there were indeed things to work off of to justify it, but it’s wasn’t built up to well enough and there wasn’t enough motivation for it on Cass’s end. I’ll get more into it as we go along, but the lack of a clear underlying goal during the conflict here undermines that other conflict later in the series. 

Conclusion

I still like this episode, but I get it when others say they don’t. It doesn’t work in the context of the wider story because it’s ironically the only episode that does present the Raps and Cass conflict right. It can be frustrating to come back to this episode and see all of the wasted potential. Just like how it’s frustrating to go back to Varian’s arc in season one and realize how much was wasted there as well. The show had a lot of interesting ideas and setups that were let down by later creative decisions.  

[lightsandlostbells]

wtFOCK season 3, episode 2 reaction

In this episode, stuff ... happens ... in theory? Reminder again that negative opinions lie within, don’t read if you would prefer not to hear them.

EPISODE 2

Clip 1 - Morning after housewarming party

Zoë shows Robbe around the kitchen the night after the party, Senne goes off to “drink coffee in a clean room - it wasn’t my party” so there’s a moment of awkwardness with Zoë, I guess? I will say this: I’m not a Noorhelm fan, but I don’t mind seeing them being actually domestic instead of pointless drama, and while I don’t want the season to focus a ton on it, I don’t mind seeing drama that’s more grounded and less terrible than William and all the Nikolai rape response stuff.

A random dude who’s a one-night stand of Milan’s appears in the kitchen and Robbe and Zoë giggle. I was going to say that I wish Robbe appeared maybe a little more thrown/uncomfortable with it, or awkward, but then you can see him looking at the guy … considering … like maybe “hey I liked seeing that dude in his underwear” or just “hmmm wonder what it would be like to have a one-night stand with a man … gay thoughts can’t catch me” so like. An actual good moment! If they had combined this into episode 1, it would’ve really worked well and got us into Robbe’s attraction to men right off the bat.

But hey, both can happen! Show Robbe as awkward when confronted with proof of Milan’s gayness, yes sir there is man-fucking happening under this roof, and then at the end, have his discomfort turn to slight interest at the dude in his underwear. Robbe is conflicted in that he’s not comfortable with all this gay stuff, but at the same time, he can’t help but be intrigued.

On the one hand I think it helps to have the Isak more socially isolated at the start, but I do think Robbe and Zoë are really cute pals so far.

Clip 2 - Robbe and Noor in store (heh)

Robbe goes to meet Noor at work, she works in retail at a clothing store. They smile and make out. ...Why? Why is he actively pursuing her?

From a narrative perspective, pretend I don’t know where this season is going. Pretend I don’t know we are actually headed for a gay romance - which, hey, is kinda fair because we haven’t even met the male love interest yet. I am getting very mixed messages as to what Robbe wants. He seems to like this girl! But he didn’t want to have sex with her. OK… so maybe he’s asexual, or maybe he’s just not ready for sex. Maybe he feels nervous or like he has no idea what he’s doing because he’s a virgin, IDK. Perhaps we need to establish more clearly that Robbe’s hesitation in having sex or going farther with Noor is due to his lack of interest in girls, contrasted with his interest in guys. 

Of course, I know internalized homophobia is a thing, and that Isak did the same thing with Emma. But consider that we actively saw how his pursuit of her clashed with his inner feelings - we saw him try to avoid her, we saw his lack of interest in the bathroom or at kosegruppa , especially compared to his interest in Even, OR when he did pursue her, we saw him pressured by his friends to attend her party, or we saw him have to psych himself up in order to speak to her. There was contrast all the time. And we also saw a clear cause and effect when Isak did pursue her: Isak was Googling about how to be into girls when you’re gay. It was very clear that Isak’s external actions were at odds with his internal desires. I’m not saying that we need wtFOCK to spell out the same for Robbe. HOWEVER, we do need more to go off, because otherwise this reads as a teenage boy who likes a girl, but who isn’t super into sex with her, which could result from several reasons other than him being gay.

And yeah, there are a few moments where we tentatively broach the topic of gayness. But not many! As I mentioned previously those moments are also muddled with other issues, like the guys ditching Robbe for the girls is muddled with him being sad about his mom. Him apologizing to Milan is muddled with what could genuinely be an awkward moment, like Robbe could hypothetically be a straight dude who didn’t have the best reaction to a guy trying to kiss him? It seems like the most definitive evidence of Robbe being gay was in previous seasons, not this one.

But they’re making it feel like Robbe really likes Noor. They’re not selling me on where Robbe is in his journey. Is he trying to act straight for an audience, as Isak did? That makes no sense when he’s going out with Noor on his own, with none of his boys around. Is he in denial? Is he trying to act straight for his own sake? That makes more sense, but that’s when I really need more introspective Robbe POV. And I’m a big fan of show don’t tell, yet Isak’s season managed to be so subtle about it while making it obvious what his deal was, infusing every clip with the themes, letting us know what’s in Isak’s head. I have no idea what’s in Robbe’s head right now.

I guess maybe he went to visit Noor because Milan’s one night stand man gave him gay feelings and he needed to combat them? IDK, dude.

Anyway, Jana is there shopping and Noor drags Robbe into a changing stall, they make out, Jana interrupts to get Noor’s opinion. Robbe seems less enthusiastic but waits in the stall until Noor returns. Noor comes back in and she and Robbe make out, getting hot and heavy, borderline foreplay until Jana needs her help again. Robbe seems unenthusiastic. Noor goes back to work. Robbe gets a text from his mom asking why he doesn’t visit, does he not love her. Ouch! That’s actually a good moment for the family drama. Robbe looks conflicted.

Also, I like the shot of Robbe reflecting in the changing room mirrors. 

What was the point of this scene when the EXACT SAME THING happened in the last episode, just two clips ago? Noor tries to get it on with Robbe, he’s not into it, they’re interrupted. 

Was the point to have Jana there? Why is she there, anyway, is this going to be a plot point? Because she could have been the one to interrupt them last time if she needs to know about their relationship for some reason. Although everyone seems to know about Robbe/Noor getting together anyway, so ??? Was it to have someone interrupt them in the changing stall? Because that could have been any random customer who needed help. I mean, Noor’s manager could have yelled for her to come help with something.

The only thing that’s really different about this clip was the text from his mom, which could have occurred in ANY setting, like in the kitchen scene with Zoë.

Jana could have been there to reference her previous suspicion of Robbe’s sexuality, like she sees him and Noor and we can tell she doesn’t fully buy their relationship. But that doesn’t come through in the acting (no disrespect to the actress, because that is all on the director to come up with that angle). Or maybe Jana calling for Noor to help her could have seemed more calculated, like maybe Robbe seemed awkward with Noor, she picked up on that, and now she’s trying to help him out.

A small POV moment: we don’t need to see Jana and Noor outside the changing stall. It’s not necessary, their conversation has zero importance (like was this an ad for this clothing store or....) What would have been effective? Sitting with Robbe inside the stall, focusing on his miserable reaction, seeing him trying to psych himself up for Noor makeouts. We hear Jana and Noor talking outside the stall but it comes across as distant and detached - which is what Robbe is feeling. 

Clip 3 - Robbe goes to see his mom

We see Robbe in the hallway of the hospital - an actual good moment, potentially. He apologizes to Noor via text for leaving suddenly. She’s working, dude, you shouldn’t be there anyway.

I don’t mind Robbe meeting with his mom, that could be very good, but it’s also such a radical change that I hope they actually do something with it. If Robbe is willing to visit his mom in a mental health facility, then is he more informed about mental illness in general, and how will that affect his relationship with the Even? Etc. This is actually a big change from Isak’s attitudes about mental illness, and it doesn’t make as much sense for Robbe to parrot those same ignorant attitudes later. (EDIT from the future: lol) 

Robbe gets home from meeting with his mom. He tries to dodge Zoë’s questions about it, but she says, “You can try it with Jens and them, but not with me.” Well, on the one hand, I like Zoë and this is a nice relationship. On the other hand … uhhh, how close are she and Robbe yet, really? They’re getting friendly but are they at this level? 

Robbe is like, you don’t know how long this has been going on and Zoë apologizes. I do like that Zoë doesn’t really know what’s up and is giving him kinda generic advice? But also … I think part of the power of the Magnus talk was that Isak had been keeping the extent of his mom issues and his issues with mentally ill people to himself, when all this time he had a friend who understood. One of S3′s lessons for Isak was about opening up to people - that he wasn’t alone - and Magnus’ insight into having a mentally ill parent is one of the ways that lesson proves itself. For Robbe to be getting a pep talk about supporting mentally ill people so early on in the season seems like it could potentially undermine both the arc with his mother AND his relationship with Even, like … he’s had someone counseling him on dealing with mentally ill people all along, before he even meets his Even. I mean, Zoë basically gives the Sonja talk here. And now he’s also been in regular contact with his mentally ill mom. So while of course he can still have serious issues with mentally ill people, it does present quite differently from someone who’s been keeping them at arm’s length, like Isak. You have to account for that. (EDIT from the future: lol)

Milan comes in with his boytoy, Milan sprays whipped cream in his man’s mouth, they kiss.  This was done well, actually, because Robbe is shown in between them, and we see him taking them in, like … huh, two men kissing! Interesting! 

Robbe has a Moment and Zoë asks Milan and the guy to stop with the PDA. He calls out her hypocrisy since she’s always making out with Senne. (He’s right based on what we saw of them earlier.)

OK, Senne opening his mouth so Milan can spray whipped cream inside is actually adorable, and I kinda dig having an Eskild and a William interact in an affectionate way. 

Robbe watches the men kissing again, hmmmm. Good job, this is what we need from his POV.

Senne is leaving to go hang out with his pal. Zoë seems kinda sad he’s not eating with them. I mean all things considered, taking it at face value so far, this seems like normal couple shit and not something to make a big deal out of. Things change when you move in together or when one of you goes to university, duh. Not that it’s bad to explore this, just that it’s not a huge cause for concern yet.

I laughed because the subs say that Zoë describes the salad as “lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese” and that is definitely not what we see on screen. But at least Zoë being fussy over what Robbe eats is some good characterization, it makes sense for her.

Clip 4 - Skate park

The boys are talking about how to jerk off with a numb hand. Robbe shares a Look with a dude who walks by, Now that definitely is the Even, right? Unless they were just messing with audience expectations? (EDIT from the future: Looks like Sander to me, but I don’t know what the audience consensus is.)

Jens recommends jerking off with toothpaste … okay as a non-dick haver I cannot vouch for this but. I feel like this would lead to Bad Things. Aaron’s reaction of clutching his crotch seems apt.

Is bike dude the Even instead???

OK LMAO NO, IT’S NOOR, I couldn’t tell because of the distance at first and also because my visual processing skills are not the greatest.

See, it would’ve been better if it were the Even. Because I thought they were grilling Robbe on having sex with Noor while his attention kept drifting back to the guy on the bike, which is decent storytelling and communicates where his interest really is ... but it’s actually Noor so there’s none of that subtext there.

Robbe rushing to make out with Noor can at least be interpreted as him wanting to show off for the boys. Moyo wants to join in? Hmmmm.

You dumbasses KNOW you interrupted the sex, weirdos.

Wait, so ... what was the point of this scene? 

I’m not trying to be funny, I’m asking seriously. Everything in this scene was either irrelevant to the overall story OR something that had already been established, such as Robbe’s awkwardness about sex with Noor ... or the fact that he’s with Noor ... the boys knowing that he’s dating Noor? About the only thing that was new to this clip was the brief glance between Robbe and the mystery dude, something that could have been included in another clip. Are we setting up that Moyo is interested in Noor? Maybe they get together after Robbe breaks up with her? (EDIT from the future: no) Or there’s a dramatic scene where Jens is rushed to the hospital after a toothpaste-related dick mishap? (EDIT from the future: no, although it would have improved the season immensely)

Clip 5 - Seaside arrangements

So I guess the boy squad makes YouTube videos or w/e?

Aaron’s happy to see Amber approach. Amber asks if Noor is coming to the seaside. So what, is there a joint girl and boy squad beach trip or whatever? The seaside trip is to hook up, I guess.

God, I would actually kinda dig Aaron and Luca as a couple more than Aaron and Amber. 

Robbe looks bummed that Noor will be joining them, and at the prospect of “sex on the beach” so hurrah for that detail.

Err, kinda weird, though, that the point of this clip seems to be nagging Robbe into inviting Noor (which is fine, a way to communicate his discomfort and the fact that he’s in too deep with Noor) but then at the end Amber is like oh nm, Britt already asked Noor and she’s coming? So the whole bit with nagging Robbe ... did not matter. I think it would have worked better either way: Robbe is peer pressured into inviting the girl he didn’t want to go, OR Robbe is powerless to prevent the girl he doesn’t want to go from coming with them. It just feels like this is unfocused writing by trying to have it both ways.

So will the YouTube thing be plot relevant? 

Clip 6 - Boy squad and Noor in hallway

12:21, I see what you did there. Maybe.

Noor is handing out flyers for a school performance, she kisses Robbe. WAY TOO MUCH TIME IS SPENT ON NOOR AND ROBBE.

If I were watching this show with NO prior knowledge of this storyline, I think I would feel so unbalanced when Even comes around? Even with the previous hints about Robbe from earlier seasons.

Robbe is like, I don’t think this dance is for me, while the boys look around. Uhhh, I mean … if this is supposed to be the equivalent of Emma’s pre-drink, it’s stupid? Getting invited to drink with a girl you made out with once =/= getting invited to a dance performance by a girl you are clearly dating and making out with every opportunity. One of these is clearly a bigger deal. I get that Robbe isn’t into her (SUPPOSEDLY) but this is just a weird way to adapt that scene. He’s not trying to shake off someone he regrets making out with; this is someone he is actively instigating makeouts with, so why the sudden regret? I guess it’s because now he doesn’t want to go to the seaside with her? But he just kissed her two seconds ago! Either Robbe is trying to get out of his thing with Noor, in which case we should see him being awkward when she tries to kiss him - not smiling and touching her as he does - or he’s still fully on board trying to date Noor, in which case why wouldn’t he agree to go to her dance performance?

And the other guys are like, AGHAST because obviously they want to watch hot girls dance. So it is a direct adaptation of that Emma scene. Except it doesn’t make sense.

Also, Robbe is rude and dismissive to Noor about it, and she walks away with a frown, but that doesn’t make sense with his characterization so far!!! Because there is NO evidence of him being a fuckboy in this season, so far he’s honestly been pretty chill and sweet with Noor (visiting her at her work, etc.) and he keeps actively engaging with her on a level that Isak was not doing with Emma. I GUESS you could extrapolate to say he wants to turn her off so he doesn’t have to go to the seaside with her and bang her, but lmao, that’s me giving way more credit to the writing than is merited, and again, makes no sense considering he seemed perfectly fine with kissing her just now.

Or he tried to get out of it because dance sucks and men don’t go to dance performances? IDK, dude. I have a hard time following the logic of this scene based on what we know about Robbe and Robbe/Noor so far.

The boys talk Robbe into going because it’s his duty to help them get pussy. What charmers.

Actually, this is also dumb because they could just go to the dance performance themselves? Emma was clearly inviting Isak to her private party and the others were only invited by proxy, so Isak agreeing to go was a requirement for the other boys to attend. But in this situation, Noor is passing out flyers to everyone walking by, and the dance performance is a school function for anyone to attend, so who gives a shit if Robbe wants to go or not? They’ve already established they’re cool with ditching him to chase girls, they can just go without him if he’s being a sourpuss. I guess they need him to be the bridge between them and Noor’s hot dance friends.

Noor comes back and is happy they’re going.

Clip 7 - Milan pranks Senne

Zoë complains about Senne coming home and snoring all night, and like, lmao, that’s charming, but also … that’s just part of being in a relationship and living with people, lol. If snoring is your biggest concern, YOU ARE DOING FINE. You’re young and figuring out how to live together. You’ll be fine. 

There was probably Discourse about Milan getting “revenge” by hopping into bed with Senne, and I get it but I’m tired, dawg. Let’s just acknowledge this is hinky and leave it at that.

Senne freaks out when he kisses Milan by mistake. Zoë and Robbe laugh. Missed opportunity to show us a more complex reaction from Robbe! Gay shit keeps happening around Robbe and sometimes he has a reaction with serious thought behind it, and something it just happens, no big deal, ha ha. When the main arc for your protagonist of this season has to do with accepting his sexuality, why are you half-assing this stuff?

What is the point of this clip if we’re not getting some insight into Robbe’s POV? It’s cute that we’re getting to know the roommate dynamic, I guess. Upcoming drama with Zoë and Senne? No need for that to be its own clip instead of part of something relevant to Robbe himself. Milan likes getting revenge, as foreshadowing to an absolutely atrocious clip that happens later in the season?

Robbe considers Milan … I think? Frankly they make this seem like buildup to Robbe having a crush on Milan. I guess he’s supposed to be like, whoa, what a bold gay guy! He kisses boys!

I mean … I don’t really know what’s going through Robbe’s head. I don’t want to be spoon fed information, but I also kinda need to know what Robbe is thinking and feeling if this story is to make any impact on me. And I think I just don’t know where Robbe is at with his sexuality. It feels like maybe he’s tiptoeing into the realization that he’s into guys? Isak knew he was gay, he just tried to perform heterosexuality due to social pressure and internalized homophobia. Robbe does not seem like he knows. Which is … kinda off, because I’ve seen S1, I know he’s got some suspicion. It’s just feeling inconsistent.

Clip 8 - Sleeping arrangements

They arrive at the seaside, there’s a room with two single beds pushed together for the couples, like Robbe and Noor. He doesn’t seem too thrilled about that!

Moyo manages to make it an empty room for whoever wants to fuck, inadvertently helping his bro out.

Except Noor shows up and decides to sleep in the same bed as Robbe anyway. 

Are Moyo and Luca going to hook up, is that where their banter is heading? Who are the boys hoping to hook up with, anyway? Because the only single women on this trip appear to be Jana, Amber, and Luca. Aaron is into Amber, and I guess Jens might want to hook up with Jana again??? But who is Moyo considering? I suppose there are other girls in the area who are not specifically with their group.

Clip 9 - Robbe and Noor scene #26232452634

Zoë texts Senne she misses him, and he’s like #metoo, which is … lmao, MEN.

Amber is like, lol men. Please be gay, Amber!!!! 

She shows Zoë a pic of Senne on Insta, he’s having a good time, Amber tries to start some shit … GOD I ALREADY DON’T CARE

I mean, the thing is … I can get into couples’ mundane problems! But not when it’s a het couple having boring het drama in a season that’s supposed to be focused on a gay storyline with a primary gay romance that hasn’t even started yet.

Zoë has a sensible reaction, that just because they’re a couple, they can still have fun and live their own lives, although it’s delivered in a way that I know she is not really okay with it.

Aaron pulls Robbe aside because Noor has passed out in the grass. Noor pulls Robbe down to cuddle with him. He’s kinda ehhh about it, they make out, Noor is ready to bone. Robbe is not into it. She’s about to give him a handjob in the grass (like … within eyesight of their friends) when she pukes, a physical manifestation of Robbe’s feelings about sexy times with Noor. He wipes grass/puke/whatever off her face while she lies there, out of it. (Roll her onto her side, Robbe!)

What a pointless, redundant clip. What is going on?

TWO WHOLE EPISODES IN and we haven’t met Even yet … okay.

HOW I WOULD REWRITE THE EPISODE:

This question is hard because already they need a major overhaul. “Everything” is a copout answer.

So first of all… repetitive as fuck clips. Three clips in two episodes where Noor makes out with Robbe, they almost get sexy, he’s not into it, and then something totally unrelated interrupts the attempt. Even apart from the pointlessness and boredom of watching the same thing happen over and over again … I think you can get away with ONE example of this. ONE example of this scene where random happenstances stop the hetero sex from going down (ha). One example is perfectly fine.

It’s not even just that it’s redundant. It’s also that, so far, it’s random chance stopping Robbe from having sex with a girl. It’s not his own character actions (or his inaction). It’s very passive on his part, which is understandable for someone who is afraid of his true sexuality and is trying to go with the flow. But he cannot hope that his friends walk in, or Jana needs help, or Noor throws up, every fucking time he gets close to having sex with a girl. 

Basically the narrative is contriving to save him. It’s not Robbe making a choice to stop the sex. It’s not even Robbe letting it happen and letting that have some emotional consequences. It’s out of his hands. These clips are both preventing him from making an active choice as a character, while also not letting him deal with the emotional fallout or consequences of sleeping with a girl. And I don’t WANT Robbe to sleep with a girl! But for fuck’s sake, if you keep having this same scene play out, with Robbe not stopping it, and only random interruptions rescuing him … either stop this tedious shit, or let it have an impact on his character already. 

I don’t care about Zoë and Senne’s boring mundane drama taking such precedence in Robbe’s season. If it happens, it should be more relevant and parallel to Robbe’s personal problems! It would make more sense later on when Robbe is struggling with his relationship with Sander.

Here’s an idea to make the retail clip count. We see Robbe getting conflicted about Milan’s gay hookup. Have Robbe go to visit Noor to apologize for getting nervous and running off last night, have him bullshit about wanting to take things slow with her, etc. However, while he’s at the store, he sees, IDK, a hot dude picking out clothes, or a hot dude trying on stuff in the changing room, and he’s into it, you see him get nervous. He checks out the hot male models in the ads. Maybe Noor works with lingerie and we see Robbe looking at all the bras and underwear with this expression of “Am I supposed to be into this?” I think the scene is overall rather redundant and could probably be clipped, but with some tweaks, you can highlight the contrast in Robbe’s attraction to men and his attempts to appear/be into women.

I mentioned this above, but you could also make Jana’s presence in the store matter instead of feeling like something random. She makes small talk with him about him being into Noor, in a way that the audience recall Robbe’s browser history from S1 - we can tell she’s very skeptical of his interest in Noor, and maybe Robbe is trying to appear sincere about being into Noor but it’s not totally convincing. Then when Noor is trying to get hot and heavy with Robbe, Jana intervenes and we can tell it’s because she’s trying to subtly save Robbe.

The Even should be introduced already. Come on. 

I’m not just saying that as an Evak shipper and an Even fan. I am saying that because Even essentially kicks Isak’s arc into motion. He is the catalyst for Isak confronting his sexuality, for reassessing his feelings on mentally ill people, for basically all of his character development. Right now we have two episodes of Robbe treading water, basically. Dating Noor is treading water. It’s fine to show that Robbe is stuck in a rut - we saw that with Isak - but the difference is that something - someone - showed up to get Isak out of that rut pretty early on. It’s not just about wanting the uwu Evak moments, it’s about wanting the narrative to actually start going somewhere, for Robbe’s character to start developing, etc. 

That said, we do need to get to know Even as a character. We need to root for Robbe/Even’s relationship. Delaying that means risking that both the character and the relationship will not feel sufficiently developed.

There’s especially no reason to have this much emphasis on Noor/Robbe, a relationship that is by design meant to be fake, versus Robbe/his Even, a relationship that is meant to be authentic.

Actually, where is the tension? Only from Robbe not wanting to fuck Noor.

There are two plot threads so far that have of any weight for our main character: Robbe’s sexuality, and Robbe’s relationship with his parents. Both of them seem somewhat muddled.

It’s funny because … even many of the smaller things from Skam S3 that caused conflict are absent here?? No Isak vs. Sana and the blackmail over the weed. No kosegruppa causing annoyance to Isak. Conflict is a GOOD THING in storytelling. It provides direction for the narrative, it provides incentive to keep watching. 

So here’s how I would include the Even into this episode, other than simply redoing the OG storyline:

In line with the mystery man from my episode 1 rewrite suggestion, Robbe spends the week wondering about the mystery man. Maybe we see him keeping an eye out for guys he thinks might be The One. Maybe the equivalent of the Talk Show Host scene is Robbe seeing a dude who he thinks is the Even, but it turns out to be a false alarm, and we see his hope and interest followed by his disappointment. We feel this, too! Because we’re wondering when the hell we will see the mystery guy again. Robbe asks Noor oh so casually if she knows any of the tagging people and where to find them. Robbe happens to go to the spot where he thinks the Even might be (like maybe he’s “casually” hanging there or snooping around when he gets the text from his mom, and decides to leave to visit with her). Robbe tries to dig around social media for clues but is frustrated with his lack of information since he’s going on basically nothing. Red herrings galore. Essentially, play with how the original episode 2 showed Isak developing a crush on Even. The point is that Robbe is intrigued and desperately wants to find this guy. I mean, maybe even add a concrete element to this search! Maybe the dude dropped something of his when he and Robbe met (a piece of jewelry, a glove, IDK. Something unique, something that gives us an insight into the Even’s character) and Robbe’s “search” for the dude is on the surface so he can return this item, but obviously it’s not just about that, and we see Robbe treasuring this item and keeping it close or w/e.

Meanwhile, Robbe’s interest in men overall is becoming more evident, in how he reacts to Milan and his hookup, or maybe checking out dudes at Noor’s store. When he shows up at her workplace, it’s so he can casually ask about people she knows from the tagging scene, and oh, does she recognize this glove? This gives him a motive to meet up with her besides just wanting to make out, and he’s uncomfortable when the meeting takes that turn.

And then … he’s SUPPOSED to go to the seaside on Friday, but instead Robbe just happens to run into the mystery man! His Even! Butterflies! He returns the item to Even and the Even is happy he got it back (and maybe far down the line we’ll learn that the Even left it behind on purpose, kinda like how Even was interested in Isak all along. Those Evens, so crafty.) And Robbe lies about being sick or something and skips on the trip, and hangs out with Even, and we get a scene similar to the OG where they bond and get to know each other, but obviously not word for word, centered around their own personalities. He’s having a great time, but then it turns out that the Even has a girlfriend, obviously. Everyone else is pissed that Robbe ditched them. You know how it goes. It doesn’t have to be an exact mirror of this S2 clip, but I do strongly think we need to advance this part of the storyline by this point.

Jumping forward in time: I know that Robbe meets his Even at the seaside, so you could also just, you know. Bounce that up a bit. Work in all the other ~mystery stuff and maybe Robbe is feeling disheartened and accepting that he’s just not gonna see that guy again, he goes to the seaside as planned. But holy shit, he arrives and That Guy is there! Just when he thought all hope was lost!

Imagine if the Even had left behind, like, a scarf, and Robbe started to wear it, and he was wearing it at the seaside when they meet again. Juicy stuff.

Add more reactions from Robbe toward Milan and his date. Sometimes he’s chill about gay stuff and sometimes he’s a little more hesitant. It feels very inconsistent. There are big opportunities to show Robbe’s issues with his sexuality but the show is sliding right by them.

This is more thinking ahead, but the boys’ YouTube channel should ideally play some part in Robbe’s coming out journey. (And no, I don’t count that shitty Milan prank clip as a payoff for the boys’ YouTube channel, fuck that.) I’m not sure, what, exactly - I don’t think Robbe is the type of guy to post a coming out video and it doesn’t seem like it’d be a fit for their channel. Maybe just use the channel as a way to indicate Robbe’s comfort with being publicly in a relationship with a boy. Like at an earlier part of the season, the squad is going to do some prank and Sander is like, haha, sounds fun, can I join? And Robbe tries to keep Sander away, by making an excuse or telling the boys that he doesn’t want Sander involved, because it’s implied that he’s scared of people realizing that he and Sander have a Thing. Then later on, after Robbe comes out to everyone and is openly in a relationship with Sander, there’s a video about something else but he and Sander are casually cuddling in the background or whatever.

My big problems are the lack of focus and the bad pacing. Skam S3 has a clear mission statement, a goal. There’s an endgame in mind and each clip takes a step toward that endgame. Julie Andem knew Isak’s character arc and each clip advances a part of his journey. wtFOCK so far doesn’t seem to know what to do with Robbe. Or rather, they have like two ideas - Robbe doesn’t want to fuck Noor and Robbe is sad about his mom - but no clue about how to use those ideas to advance the story, and they seem to be dawdling instead of making the most out of a finite amount of screen time.

[botwstoriesandsuch]

Hi I was hoping to ask for your advice on writing. I’m trying to write from headcanons to little short fics (like one shots) from the readers pov but I’m finding it difficult to do so smoothly. Any idea how to do the transition without it coming out as a fanfic readers worst nightmare?

Well, I cannot guarantee the quality of my “advice” but I will give it a shot! 

Apologies for you folks that hate my big essay length posts, but I do love infodumping about the writing process :P 

So just click “J” to skip the post (if you’re on mobile...sorry just exercise your scrolling finger a bit more)

- - - - - - - - - - 

So I’ll start with the distinctions between a headcanon and a fic. On one hand, you got simpler sentences, that summarize a broader idea or scene. You might have visualized the entire thing in your head, but at the end of the day all you do is write down a few sentences or pieces of dialogue that give the broader basis of an idea and/or scene. That’s not to say writing headcanons is easy, but it is, bluntly, the simpler method.  

Writing, obviously, is more complicated. Not only are you trying to convey a more abstract idea to your reader, but you’re doing so with more layers and complexities, given that what you are trying to write is generally more detailed. You have to not only account for what your basic premise is, but the method in which you convey it. So, in a “good” fic, it typically doesn’t just focus on the basic “what is happening right now” in a scene, but can give subtleties and intricacies with its tone, themes, point of view, connotation, foils, imagery, symbolism, sentence structure, diction, context, figurative language, narrative, foreshadowing, setting, irony, character arcs, and the thousands and thousands of other layers that go into constructing story. 

And I say “story” there deliberately, as I think the best way to summarize the differences is that a headcanon is a plot, while a one-shot is a story. Your one-shot has the ability to tell different messages, details, and themes, and give several points of interest to your reader, while your headcanon is limited to the structure of its initial premise.

[And before you English nerds bash me for my definition of story and plot, please know that I am using my film teacher’s old definition, which (to quote this quizlet I found) is “Story is all of the elements of a narrative that are involved, both shown and un-shown on screen. Plot is only all of the elements of a narrative that are shown on screen.” So yeah, it theoretically could be rewritten as a headcanon is a scene, and a one-shot is a story, but I’m just nitpicking at this point half of you don’t care and want me to move on anyway, apologies!]

So how do you transition between them? Well, in honesty I don’t exactly have a sure fire way for you, saying I do would be very hypocritical. However, what I can do is point out the “gap” between headcanons and fics, and perhaps from there you might be able to forge your own path..? 

Chances are, if you’re already familiar with writing headcanons, you’ve already knocked out half of the work. See in a story, specifically in our case, fic, you have eight elements that construct it. You’ve got

Plot

Setting

Conflict

Character

Point of View

Tone

Style

and Theme

With a headcanon, (assuming it’s slightly more specific than “Headcanon that this character likes peaches!”) you’ve already got plot, setting, conflict, and character down. 

Plot: being the actual premise of your story. What happens, why things happen, how other characters react, the beginning and ending, etc.

Setting: Being the location and time of your scene/plot. The setting might be a contingency to your story, such as a prison break that takes place in prison, or maybe it is the time that is essential for your High School AU fic

Conflict: Typically goes hand and hand with your plot, although not always (obviously, plot and conflict aren’t essential when talking about fics, *winks at the nsfw side of tumblr*) But if your headcanon does have a basic plot, then it probably has some sort of conflict whether external (The Calamity kills everybody) or internal (you’re character is going through grief)

Character: This whole aspect is practically already done for you. Whether by canon from the video game or media you got it from, or perhaps by fanon, with the collective fandom agreeing on certain traits about your character(s) in question. Obviously, if you got an OC, that’s another thing, as you have to create their traits, and construct a believable way that that character reacts and makes choices throughout your plot, depending on how you characterized them

So congrats! In writing up your everyday headcanon, you’re now halfway there to making a full on fic! Obviously, 50% is still a lot, which is probably the reason you were seeking advice in the first place, so now we should move on to the other half, and arguably it is this other half of elements that give the entire distinction between a headcanon and a one-shot. So in theory, if you get these elements down, you’re on your way to writing that much faster!

Quick additional note: Another way to think of your headcanon is as an outline. While not in every case, a good way to jump from your headcanon to a fic is to stick with the major elements of your headcanon, and weaving your writing style in between. Think of the headcanon as your skeleton, and the story being the meat and muscle. Idk if that makes sense, blame my old English teacher for the metaphor

Alrighty, so for demonstration purposes I’m gonna use the very first headcanon I’ve ever written as a basis. Bear with me for a moment:

“Zelink Headcanon: Zelda Just Wants Some Snacks

Everyone always jokes and adores about how Link eats so much and cooks great food in the game (he’s gotta carbo load guys, he walks like 9 miles everyday!)

However I propose, equally hungry and feral Zelda

After Link and Zelda defeat Ganon, one of the first things they do is stop by the nearest cooking pot and eat

She hasn’t eaten for 100 years!! She’s gotta be starving!

Link just cooks up some meat skewers

“…wait I forgot the Goron spice, gimme a sec…”

But Zelda just immediately snatched it off the fire and eats the whole thing in two seconds

Link keeps trying to go out of his way to make really nice food but Zelda is just like “I DON’T CARE RIGHT NOW PLEASE LINK”

So yeah, their first date is basically just Link cooking Zelda a buffet until his inventory empties out”

Again, this headcanon has already given us half of the answers. 

We got our plot: Link, a talented chef, is cooking food which Zelda scarfs down without fear and hesitation

Setting: They are by a cooking pot, perhaps in the wilderness, away from the prying eyes of nosey villagers. This takes place sometime after the initial defeat of Calamity Ganon.

Conflict: Link keeps trying to cook “good” food, but despite the Princess’ royal upbringing, she has no care for the whole “show” of cooking with spices and garnish. She is starving, willing to eat anything

And Characters: Link and Zelda. You know... (Today unfortunately is not the day in which I construct a thorough character analysis of the two...perhaps one day...)

So, now that we have this, we start adding the meat and muscle of our story with point of view, tone, style, and theme. These elements, could be summarized as your writing style. Yes, writing style is more intricate than those four elements alone, but they do fit in with its broad definition. 

So, in essence, a way to transition between headcanon and fic is to find out what kind of writing style you’re comfortable with. 

How do you do that? Well... shocker, I know, you gotta write. 

Write first, plan the elements of your one-shot later!! 

Allow yourself to write complete utter garbage. I know you said that you don’t wanna create a “fanfic reader’s worst nightmare,” but if you become more concerned with the quality of your content before you even start writing, you will never ever ever get anywhere. You’re gonna be stuck in writer’s block for eternity, so just let the garbage and nightmares out and write. You’ll never improve if you don’t have something to improve from, you feel me? 

So, now that your mind is open and ready to write anything, whether garbage or gold, let us dive in to the parts of your writing style. 

Point of view: Do you prefer writing in third person? First? Second? Each have their pros and cons. Second person is good for your “x reader” inserts. First person is good for your narrator’s characterization. Third person is good for describing elements of your surroundings that might not be inherently obvious to your characters or audience. There are hundreds of other pros and cons to the different POVs that you can search up online, but it’ is ultimately up to you to decide which method you like best. 

When you find the method you like best, make sure you use it to it’s full potential! Use foreshadowing with your third person POVs. Use connotation, and diction to further characterize your narrator in first person. Elevate the mood and senses of a scene when in second person.

Tone: Now, this element is often confused with another literary device, mood. The difference being that you as the author have more control over the tone, than the mood. The tone, is the attitude that you as the author (or as a character/narrator, depending on your POV) have towards something. For example, your tone might be suspenseful if you withhold information from your reader, or if you have a certain choice of diction. It is typically better to look to the type of genre you’re writing for to identify what kind of tone you want. 

Mood is the feeling that the reader experiences from your writing. It’s really much more simple, a beloved character dying give a depressed mood. A cute couple hanging out will give the reader a happier mood. This is your angst and fluff feelings, if you will. (Although, please remember than mood and tone are not a binary thing, it is a spectrum, as broad and diverse as the capabilities of human emotion)

Style: Ok yes this is a bit meta, me explaining how to use style to help you construct a writing style. Blame the bendable definitions of the writing world. So just think of this as the face of your writing. The more obvious and apparent part that is unique to you and your personality. 

Think cake. Your story is a delicious cake, it is a chocolate, Zelink cake. Now, your style is the way that you present this cake. Pink frosting? Yellow? A full cake or just a slice? Chocolate ice cream cake? Chocolate lava cake? Five tier cake? Cake pops? These possibilities are the infinite ways your style will present the story.

Style, sometimes called voice, is the combination of your use of tone, mood, POV, syntax, diction, and other literary device that you commonly use in your writing. This isn’t something you learn, it’s just something you do naturally when you write. It’s what readers will like about your fics, because they like the way that you use this or that, or the way you describe this thing or that person. It’s something that can change and improve over time, but in essence, it’s what readers can read and identify as you, without even looking at the username.

Style isn’t something you have to remember, per say, like other literary devices, but it is something to be aware of as you should try to keep it consistent through your whole story. Sometimes have people have different writing styles depending on their own mood, or what they’re writing about. That is fine, so long as you keep it consistent through your whole work. A good trick for this is to listen to music that fits with the style of your writing. Use that one catchy love song whenever you’re writing cute headcanons or fluffy one shots. Use that anime opening theme for your adventurous fics and fight scenes. This way, you are keep in a consist atmosphere and your brain will be in the “Oh! It’s time to write ____ stuff!” mood. 

So just be aware of when you’re in a descriptive style, a narrative style, argumentative, or whatever style you like using. You style might even derived of the way you already create headcanons!

Theme: This is a big one. Have a cohesive theme can easily bring any story from good to great! I like to think of it as you’re story’s destiny, or reason for existence. 

Theme is an outlier for the other elements in that not only is it not necessary for your fic, it is also not necessary for your writing style either. It’s really not necessary... at all. Yet, people always use theme in their writing, even accidentally. 

Theme is your story’s underlying message, or lesson. Yes, yes, if you paid attention in your basic English class you probably already knew that, but this is a big pet peeve of mine. 

The theme of your story isn’t “true love,” the theme isn’t “innocence”, or “failure”, or “trauma”, or whatever. Theme isn’t a broad idea, it’s a specific question and an answer. 

For example: The theme of Breath of the Wild isn’t “exploration” or “time”. The theme is there is always something to seek and find, so long as you have the curiosity and courage to find it. The theme is despite the eternities of time, we still found each other. 

Your theme shouldn’t be a broad, one word answer. What about love are you trying to convey? What specifically about failure are you saying?

Theme is the entire reason why the entertainment medium exists, because artist found a way to create something compelling and interesting while also connecting them to real life things. 

When you give your reader something to really chew on, even days after they finished reading your fic, then you did a brilliant job. Essentially, you want to use theme in your story because it is what will stick with our readers even years after they’ve read your work.

While that’s all sentimental and sappy, that’s still not your biggest problem, is it? You still need to practice, you still need to learn how to use the things you’ve learned to actually write. So, a summary of what I advise you should do.

Look over and improve your old headcanons, and keep making more! Keep making headcanons and litte prompts, and let them grow bigger and bigger, and more desprictive. This could help you ease into actually writing paragraphs a bit more

Find out what you like to write. Yes, you probably already have a fandom in mind, but think back to those first four elements. What types of plots are you comfortable with, what settings, characters? Genius is only the work of enthusiasm, if you don’t like what you’re going to write, you’ve already failed

Write, write, write. Practice, practice practice. Let yourself write complete and utter garbage and nonesense. Then read it over. See what you don’t like about it. Then change it and write again. I MEAN it when I say you should write garbage. Write a completely terrible, nightmarishly cringe scene. See what you don’t like. Then rewrite it again. Repeat, repeat, repeat. In fact, it doesn’t even have to be a scene or something from your fandom. Let it be your description of a shirt, let is be some cringy poem from 7th grade. Just write and learn how you like to write. It will be so much easier in the long run

Read stuff. The stuff you read usually seeps into how you write. When you get used to reading things a certain way, you usually unconciously try to imitate it when you write. So, got a favourite fic writer? Read their stuff over and maybe even analyze the elements you like (again, think back to those eight elements I talked about) and hey, writers like it when you analyze their stuff so maybe even hit them up and talk? We like book reports we swear, most of us don’t bite. 

When you finally think you’re comfortable with your writings, maybe think about what kind of themes you’re into, or what kind of messages you want to say. It doesn’t even need to be that complex. Could be as simple as “I love this ship because it shows that you can still have flaws and be loved” Again, themes are the rEASON for eVERYTHING in the entertainment world

For further demonstration purposes, I’m going to come up with further elements for a hypothetical fic I would write based on that Zelink headcanon. So I’ve got the plot, setting, conflict and theme down. Hmm... I’ll probably use a third person POV as that is what I’m most comfortable with. With third person, I can better highlight the descriptions of Link and Zelda’s surroundings taking in the atmosphere and the aromas and and tastes. The tone will be more happy, focusing on the fun of Zelda and Link’s banter, I’ll try to create a mood in which the reader is laughing along with them, and enjoying the scene. My style will be more descriptive, again with the tastes and smells and other senses of the scene. However, I might go into a more narrative style for Zelda and Link’s banter and dialogue. While typically some people don’t want to use two different styles, I am personally familiar with the styles and know how to write them so as to blend them together more seamlessly. I might have a hint of angst at the end of the fic, as a little climax, given that the setting of the fic is after the defeat of the Calamity. I might through in some themes about how it wasn’t the material power of Hylia or the Master Sword that saved Hyrule, but the courageous and wise bond between Link and Zelda. Then...idk, a little romatic kiss for resolution because this is a fic and I can throw in some fanservice because my writing my rules. 

Babam! I just converted a headcanon to a fic.

So yeah, go write your headcanons. Then maybe next a paragraph. Then next a scene, and then you’re well on your way to one-shots and chapter fics. Happy writing and good luck!

[depressedoverdrawings]

I’ve read In the Sunroom, Keiko Takemiya’s earliest shounen-ai, released in 1970, fifty years ago. Half a century. Thinking about it makes my head spin. I'd heard it was supposed to be some sort of proto-Kazeki, but I didn’t expect the main character to be Serge. I mean, literally Serge, he’s a roma boy called “Serge Battour”, but in this version his mom’s a fortune teller, he doesn’t seem to have any noble blood in him, and he seems considerably younger. He was already adorable then, of course. Spoilers ahead, by the way. If you’re in a position to read this post you probably have already read In the Sunroom, and even if you haven’t, you probably know how Keiko Takemiya likes to end her stories. But still, I’d rather be on the safe side. Anyway, if you haven’t read it already, go read it, it’s pretty short. If you can’t find it, send me a message, I’ll help you out. Anyway, let me tell ya, Serge is not lucky when it comes to falling in love, is he? The subject of his painful affections this time is Étoile Rael, a proto-Gilbert who takes the role of the pale boy before him. He sports slightly shorter hair, the power of imagination, and a fixation on taking his clothes off. He’s got some similarities to Gilbert other than his near-identical looks, sharing that carefree gracefulness that Gilbert often displays when he’s not otherwise occupied going through horrible trauma, and also showing some social manipulation craftiness. He displays both when he pretends to be having an anaemic attack during class, both saving Serge from bullying at school (from the teacher, no less), and allowing them (and his little sister) to leave class early and spend the rest of the school day happily playing around in puddles. He’s also got many differences, though. This particular pale boy is sweet and affectionate with Serge up-front, there’s no antagonism from him. The drama in their relationship comes from Serge’s fear and lack of understanding regarding Étoile’s affection, and his own growing feelings for Étoile (a concept given its deserved attention in Kazeki). Meanwhile, Étoile’s faces the pain of seemingly unrequited love. He’s even got a seemingly healthy family (his mom seems pretty cold and distant though), having a little sister, Angel, who he at first has a happy relationship with. He slowly becomes distant from her as he falls for Serge, though, trying to push her away from them, seeing her as a rival. It gets a bit ridiculous when he doesn’t even care about her falling into freezing-cold water, being solely worried about Serge, who jumped in after to save her. Jesus Christ dude, I know you want Serge, he’s perfect and pure and literally the best boy and all, but she’s your little kid sister, come on. Ironically, this behaviour spooks Serge, and, together with Serge’s internal conflicts, drives him away, causing a falling out between them. Sunroom Serge is as sweet as Kazeki Serge however, and never stops caring about Étoile. He spends three days in a row moping around in The Sunroom, waiting for Étoile to show up, and then rushes to his bedroom as soon as he hears from Angel that the boy is seriously sick. Étoile dies. Of course he does. Not from sickness though, but from suicide. Maybe Serge’s desperate, teary invasion of his sickbed wasn’t enough to convince him that Serge fully reciprocated his feelings, even if he didn’t realize it at the moment. Maybe he reached the conclusion that a relationship with Serge would never work out? Or perhaps it was a rash decision, made in the midst of an emotional storm of pain and sadness. Regardless of why, he gives in to despair, and decides to kill himself, stabbing himself with a knife held in his loved one’s hand, in a death as trauma-inducing as it is intimate. And it is very intimate. There are many interesting concepts and deviations from Kazeki in this manga. For instance, the bullied kid here is Serge, in an inversion from Kazeki (actually Kazeki is an inversion from this but I digress). It follows a simpler, more obvious choice of bullied kid, as the persecution born from racism doesn’t require as much set-up to work, as she's only got around 50 pages to work with, instead of 17 freaking volumes. As such, this element isn’t given much depth or material, though I find it understandable. While Étoile considers himself a weirdo and an outcast (due to internalized homophobia, I’d guess), the manga doesn’t actually display him facing any social rejection, other than maybe the fact that his only friend is his little sister. Sunroom Serge, on the other hand, is relentlessly mocked by all, and so lonely, that once he makes a friend (Étoile), he runs around the town like a maniac, shouting to everyone about how happy he is. Aww. Regardless, it’s clear that Étoile, fittingly for proto-Gilbert, carries some sort of internal turmoil with him, even if it’s left vague and unexplored. But while analysing this manga and comparing it to Kazeki is fun, my favourite thing about it is, by far, is the concept of The Sunroom itself. When you’re a kid, having your own secret hideout, having that little place no one knows but you (and your cherished inner circle), it’s one of the coolest feelings ever. It certainly was, for me. At school, my friends and I “had” a couple of wonderful little nooks which we called our own, during recess. At home, I sat on the floor of a tiny little storeroom (if you could even call it that) that I’d make cosy with pillows and covers, and stayed hours reading comics, and later, books. It was so dusty, I always left the place sneezing. And it was great. And finally, in the nearby park, I “had” a little corner behind some of the park buildings, which beautifully faced the wooded hillside of the beginning of the little forest inside the park. Back then, I had no idea what “aesthetics” meant, or consciously understood beauty. And yet, the quiet natural grace of the place entranced me anyway. And it was exactly that strange feeling of loving that place in a way I didn’t understand that made me so connected to it. And here, the feeling of having your own secret hideout is so gorgeously, sincerely depicted! The Sunroom was doubly abandoned: First, it was abandoned along with the rest of the house. Then, it was abandoned in how Étoile’s parents didn’t care or even know about it, after buying the mansion. But then, the kids claimed the lonely old Sunroom for themselves, and gave it new purpose, turning it into their own little kingdom, playing, rearranging tables, messing around, unleashing that wild, unlimited imagination of childhood, that primal cosmic force, turning that dusty old room into a tiny little door to perfection, for a little while. In Sunroom Serge’s own words: Next, this place becomes a forest of fairies. With its bookshelves and aged desks... And the sunlight pouring down on us... This old, unused sunroom... Where the magic is cast endlessly. This manga didn’t make me wail like Kazeki, but it did make me tear up, right here. Anyway, In the Sunroom truly is a prototype of Kaze to Ki no Uta, in that it has similar plot beats, and character and relationship concepts. It has Serge, it has external conflict with society, it has internal conflict with one’s own mind, it has a tragic relationship that ends with the death of the pale boy; it even begins with a poem by Serge, declaring his love for his dead lover. Kaze to Ki no Uta seems, to me, like the logical end result of Keiko Takemiya taking the concepts present in In the Sunroom, and giving them eight years of dedication, working on them with masterful skill and true passion, allowing those concepts to reach their full, devastating potential. It’s awesome to see the seeds of what comes to be. Oh yeah, In the Sunroom also holds the honour of having the first ever male/male kiss in manga! Fifty years ago! Fifty years. Jesus. Anyway, In the Sunroom is bretty gud, would recommend, 8.8/10, not enough tragedy random stuff: - someone who can write should write a goofy fic about gil and étoile fighting over Serge - it’s really cool to see the improvement of her architectural drawings in kazeki - not that they’re ugly here, they’re not, but still, the change is impressive - serge nearly has a heart attack when he merely thinks of étoile naked, get a grip dude - ”étoile” means “star”, adorable

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 246: Plot Whiplash

Previously on BnHA: Hawks handed Endeavor a copy of Re-Destro’s NYT bestseller and was all “ಠ_ಠ READ THIS!!” He then flew off back to the PLF and was all “hey guys just got back from handing out free copies of Destro’s book to everyone in a 1000-mile radius, which absolutely nobody asked me to do, well anyways you can thank me later” and they were all “SWEET.” Back at the Endeavor HQ, Bakugou got all fired up to BUST SOME HEADS but Endeavor’s sidekicks were all “WAIT FOR THE PLOT YOUNG MAN.” Meanwhile in his office, Endeavor discovered a secret code in the book Hawks gave him, which basically read “HEY WHAT’S UP THE LEAGUE HAS TAKEN OVER THE MLA AND HAS AN ARMY OF 100,000 PEOPLE” and Endeavor was like “!!!!” And then we cut to the League and Toga was all “IN FOUR MONTHS TOMURA IS BLOWING THIS SHIT TO KINGDOM COME” and then the chapter just ended. Sometimes it be like that.

Today on BnHA: Tomura sits down with Ujiko who monologues a bit about Quirk Singularity and then starts some sort of quirk-upgrading process which will apparently take four months to fully set in. And also he’s like “oh btw let me tell you about One for All” so THAT’S A THING NOW, GREAT. We then cut back and forth between Endeavor and Hawks, who both somehow come to the weird conclusion that THE INTERNS ARE OUR ONLY HOPE NOW using logic that is hard to explain on account of THERE ACTUALLY ISN’T ANY LOGIC BEHIND IT, SHHH. But anyway, so Endeavor figures out the rest of Hawks’s message and he knows that Hawks is trying to figure out what the League is up to, and something something that’s why the internships are so important. Like, I get that the Terrible Trio are future legends in the making, but these guys are seriously like “well okay let’s just go ahead and rest all our hopes on them” out of the blue, and Hawks has this big monologue about how “THINGS WON’T GO ACCORDING TO YOUR PLAN, VILLAINS” and okay then!! And then the last two pages are basically just DID SOMEBODY ORDER SOME HYPE with more shit going on than I can possibly sum up so I won’t even try lol. But damn.

(All comments are my unspoiled reactions from my initial readthrough of the chapter. I did a quick edit for grammar and clarity afterward, and added a few ETAs in the process, but aside from that there are no changes.) 

okay guys, I’m feeling kinda under the weather today, but I know this chapter’s gonna be good so lesssssss gooooooo. bring me back to life Horikoshi

(ETA: lol well there sure was a lot happening in this chapter, that’s for sure. my head hurts.)

oooooh it’s a sexy Jump cover celebrating season 4!

I really need the anime team to step up and give Ochako and Tsuyu some more screentime in the Basement Arc since the manga did not do them justice. there’s only like a 20% chance of that happening, which is depressing, but it’s 2019 and the winds are slowly changing, albeit at a geriatric pace. so I’ll allow myself to have some hope. you never know

YEAH SON LOOK AT THIS COLOR SPREAD Y’ALL THIS IS RAD

hello I love everything about this. the colors, the focus on our best girls, Deku’s bizarre-yet-awesome assorted sci-fi accessories (Deku do those headphones let you communicate with space or what), and of course, the five million TVs in the background which for some reason all appear to be from the 70s. all of this to remind us to TUNE IN TOMORROW FOR THE LONG-AWAITED SEASON 4 DEBUT. I will definitely tune in! the first episode is just gonna be the usual half filler/half clip show, but honestly season 3 was so good that I could sit through a whole hour of nothing but highlights and still be thoroughly entertained

anyway let’s move on because there are GAMES AFOOT, and we’re hopefully about to learn which direction this arc will be headed in!

OH SHIT OH FUCK

yep, that’s him. Shigaraki “destruction incarnate” Tomura. I see we’re getting our weekly dose of “just a reminder that WE ARE SCREWED” even earlier than usual this chapter, huh

so does anyone else get a chill up their spine every time Ujiko makes an appearance, or is that just me? like, god. he may honestly be even creepier than AFO. he’s just completely soulless, this guy. he’s got like this Mengele vibe to him (though that may be kinda dicey to compare horrific real-life atrocities to fictional ones in a shounen manga, but I’m just trying to explain why I find him so disturbing) and it really freaks me the hell out, ngl. anyways so him wearing a surgical mask and standing in front of this weird examination chair is pretty much the last thing I need right now. go away Ujiko

so Tomura is all “I want it cuz you promised, so pay up jackass”, and like. fair, though

I really like this new art style Horikoshi’s been using for him since his Awakening. kinda curious how it’s going to translate to the anime, or even to a color spread. but at the very least in black and white it looks siiiiick

smh look at this little punk trying to downplay how insanely freaking overpowered his quirk currently is

okay first of all, “President Baldy” is only alive because you left him alive. and he also had to chop off his own legs to stay that way. like, what kind of argument is this, Tomura? “this power is far from invincible, all my enemies have to do is amputate their own limbs and then they’ll have me right where they want me.” you know what, just go on and destroy the world right now kid. you’re getting greedy now and it could be your undoing

that is a nice parallel between him and Deku there, though. now I’m craving some Symbolic Artwork of them standing back to back each holding out their scarred right arms. maybe with their respective mentors in the background. here at BnHA we prefer our parallels nice and dramatic

sdskfjlaskdj

son of a bitch. I really wish he wouldn’t say that with such utter certainty. “the next conflict will be our last.” cue me flipping through the BnHA table of contents and trying to determine just how far along we actually are here, because this is veering dangerously close to Final Battle signaling, and like, ALREADY?? TOMURA ARE YOU JUST BEING THEATRICAL OR ARE YOU FOR REAL OMG. motherfucking DARK LORD’S LIPS curling into the WICKEDEST FUCKING CRESCENT I’VE EVER SEEN, fuck me

(ETA: it occurs to me on readthrough #2 that “the next conflict will be our last” could be interpreted to mean him and All Might specifically. like, the last conflict between the two of them. and that might very well be true, and would not surprise me at all. shit.)

fjsgk now Ujiko’s talking about research. and quirks!! glkjlkl

fully expecting the camera to cut to some NOUMUS any second now oh my god. also trying not to think about how crazy ominous that fucking chair looks. and how many people this maniac has probably strapped down to it and done god knows what to them. hey Horikoshi you know what, I’ve had just about enough of this dark shit, can we please cut back to my kids now I’m feeling too unsettled. goddammit

anyhow of course we are NOT cutting away, and Ujiko is continuing to talk about quirk evolution, and now segueing into a speech about that quirk singularity thing. -- which he apparently named?? wow

is he actually going to do something to Tomura? holy shit?? this whole time that they’ve been talking about this “power” I’ve just been assuming it was something external, like some other handy dandy villain resource that AFO’s just been sitting on or something. this is not where I expected things to go. didn’t he just get an upgrade??

anyway so here’s a brief summary I just wrote up of The Past Six Months of BnHA:

Deku: [gets a new quirk]

everyone: bruh. Horikoshi really out here giving Deku AFO Powers while Tomura just sits around starving to death on a couch. what the heck

Horikoshi: [powers up Tomura to the point where he can destroy anything just by it being in contact with something that Tomura happens to be touching] [has Tomura use this power to level an entire city]

everyone: -- oh. okay, you know what, never mind --

Horikoshi: [gives Tomura an army of 100,000 people] [also gives him command of 11 extremely lethal and nigh-unstoppable killing machines, just one of which was almost enough to take out the number one hero, LITERALLY THE STRONGEST GUY THE GOOD GUYS CURRENTLY HAVE IN RESERVE]

everyone: okay we’re sorry we get it you can sto --

Horikoshi: APOCALYPSE IN FOUR MONTHS!!!

everyone: WE GET IT WE’RE SORRY PLEASE

Horikoshi: [GIVES TOMURA ANOTHER POWER-UP]

everyone: [curled up in fetal position sobbing]

starting to think the mangaka might be the actual final villain here. hmm

anyway. so I guess we have four months until Tomura ascends to Actual Godhood and proceeds to rain hellfire down upon the world. what are you all gonna do with your four months. I personally have a lot of stuff to binge, but knowing me I’ll probably just waste all my time reading fanfic while youtube videos play in the background which I’m not paying any attention to. what am I doing with my life

oh were we not done hyping him up? there’s more??

(ETA: I got so caught up in the OFA comment I didn’t pay attention to Tomura becoming a beautiful decayed butterfly in this exquisitely creepy panel here. but damn.)

-- HOLD THE FUCK UP. does Tomura know about One for All??? because I was under the impression that AFO hadn’t told him? this would change a lot if he knew this entire time, holy shit?!

aaaaaaaaand exactly one panel later Horikoshi is all “no he didn’t know calm the fuck down” lol

okay then. so he didn’t know, and he’s only just finding out now. well tbh that’s still worthy of a smiling crying emoji face though :’) this is fineeee

shit here we go oh shit

-- WAIT, SO WE’RE JUST CUTTING AWAY FROM THEM? NOW YOU CUT AWAY? YOU GET WITHIN INCHES OF CONFIRMING THE FUCKING ALL FOR ONE FOR ALL THEORY AND THEN IT’S JUST “ANYWAYS HERE’S ENDEAVOR” YOU KNOW WHAT, HORIKOSHI, I --

just. come on dude. AFOFA 2019! let’s make it happen! dammit

sigh, so looks like it’s back to the admittedly-still-epic “Hawks passes down secret information about the villains to Endeavor” plot. I guess we’re not exactly hurting for good plots all around. I may complain but honestly we are spoiled

so Hawks is saying that he actually doesn’t know the specifics of the villains’ plans yet. well shit

apparently his feathers can only pick up sounds from short range, and the villains keep escorting him away whenever they get to talking about the good stuff. well at least that explains that potential plot hole from last week. Hawks’s feathers may have a short range, but Horikoshi’s plot hole caulking gun can fill in leaky plot holes from fucking miles away. amazing

ffffffff

don’t mind me I’m just sitting here fretting about Hawks continuing to be in mortal danger and risking his life to gather information in a race against time against the end of the world. Horikoshi out here piling up stakes like a freaking vampire hunter

but in the meantime, everyone please stop what you’re doing for a moment to look at this absolute unit of a bellhop slash security guard

apologies Lord Vader he was just trying to get to the dining hall. my bad. as you were

and holy shit I hope you enjoyed that light comedic break because two seconds later Re-Destro has dropped in to fixate Hawks with one of those Lightly Menacing Smiles he’s so infamous for. so that’s just fucking great!

HAWKS WATCH OUT FOR YOUR FINGERS

omg. imagine, a showdown between the two stealth murder MVPs of the series, Yotsubashi “Sleeper Hold” Rikiya (yes I did have to look up his real name just now) and Takami “Tag Em And Bag Em” Keigo. true, RD may no longer have legs, but he didn’t need them to choke out our little mouse buddy now did he? anyways speaking of which I just remembered that I fucking hate Re-Destro and I honestly hope Hawks does kill him. it’d be pretty easy to fit him into a bag too. he’s basically just a torso and arms now

oh sure Horikoshi go ahead and spring this on me after all of that ranting why don’t you

by the way does Re-Destro have Robot Legs now, or

looool he does

I will say this for Horikoshi, he knows my weaknesses. more robot limbs please. either badass or memeable ones, either is fine

meanwhile I skipped over this panel of Hawks and Twice being buddies in order to get to the legs, and shame on me for that. let’s go back

Twice is a genuinely good guy and I hope Hawks can tell. I wonder how fake this smile is. I feel like it’d be easy to relax around Twice regardless of how tense you are about your secret spy mission which could go south at any time. anyways this is wholesome

and now we’re cutting back to Endeavor who is taking his sweet time reacting to this whole thing. Endeavor can you fucking chill with the poker face already geez

okay wait, what

are you serious?! I fucking can’t with this lady. “now make sure to throw these children directly into the line of fire! it’s good for them and builds character!” I’m sorry, I thought this was the Hero Public Safety Commission, not the Putting Juveniles Directly Into Harm’s Way Commission?? at least change the acronym to something more appropriate then. Heinous Pathetic Soulless Cowards. just a suggestion. jesus

anyway so for a moment I got confused as to whether this was implying that she’d told Endeavor about Hawks’s undercover mission. but it seems like he’s still unaware. shouldn’t be too long before he puts the pieces together though at this rate

lol in the very next panel, even

meanwhile you’re just sitting on your ass reading a book! FUCKING DO SOMETHING ALREADY, ENDEAVOR

so he’s thinking that the “preparation” part of Hawks’s message is referring to the interns. let me back up a sec and write down the entire message as he’s read it thus far

“four months from now / rising to action / until then / will send / signals / in case / of failure / preparation / numbers”

...read like that, it really does sound like Hawks is advocating to get as many soldiers ready as possible. even if that includes actual children. including Endeavor’s own son. shit. I mean, I get that they don’t have much of a choice, but that’s still so fucked up. sure, we as omniscient readers know that Deku is their one and only hope, but they don’t know that. as far as they know these are just a bunch of teenagers with less than a year’s worth of experience that they’re propping up on the front lines. and the plan is then... what? hope they don’t die too quickly?? fuck

Hawks is out here having an argument with me in his thoughts. you wanna play it like that, Hawks? fine

I don’t know what kind of “but” you can tag on to the end of that paragraph that could possibly win me over, dude, but go for it I guess

and we’re finally cutting back to the kids in question now! with Burnin’ casually trying to crush Kacchan’s hopes and dreams

okay but I love how both Deku and Shouto are like “easy there buddy, we got you” and trying to keep Kacchan from having a fucking aneurysm sob. JUST TRY AND HOIST HIM ONTO SOME DUMB SIDEKICKS, LADY. YOU’VE MADE A POWERFUL ENEMY HERE TODAY

oh shit

oh my god. are we going to get our first actual interaction between the three of them that doesn’t consist of them grumbling annoyed introductions at each other and then running off to fight an old fortune teller omggggg

I love how Deku and Bakugou look weirdly intimidated by him lol. Bakugou where did all that “YOU’RE KIND OF A JERK” confidence go all of a sudden

YESSSSSSS

GODDAMMIT, I’M STILL SO MAD AT YOU GUYS FOR BEING ALL “LET’S JUST MAKE THE CHILDREN DO IT,” BUT DAMMIT THEY KICK ASS THOUGH SO I CAN KINDA SEE YOUR POINT

NOW HAWKS IS METAING ABOUT THEM AHHHHHHH

DAMN STRAIGHT THEY WOULD HAVE. BRING ON TOMURA AND ALL OF HIS STUPID POWER-UPS. WOW I’M WEIRDLY HYPED UP ALL OF A SUDDEN WHAT’S WRONG WITH ME

AND FUCKING LOOK AT THIS TWO-PAGE SPREAD AHHHHHHHHHHH

MOTHERFUCKER [WHIPS OUT PEN AND NOTEBOOK] TIME TO ANALYZE THIS BITCH

so Ochako and Tsuyu did indeed go back to intern with Ryuukyuu again! makes sense, she is a top ten hero after all. who’s that with them, though? almost looks like Yanagi from the hair and the mask, but the costume looks different? hmm

I CAN’T BELIEVE IIDA WENT BACK TO INTERN WITH FUCKING MANUAL AGAIN. THIS GUY IS THE BRAN CEREAL OF HEROES. though I fucking love him though so yeah it’s fine

JIROU AND SHOUJI TEAMING UP WITH GANG FUCKING ORCA AW YISS BOYS THIS IS THE GOOD SHIT LET’S GOOOO

KOUDA AND MANGA TEAMING UP WITH WASH OMG. MANGA IS THE ONLY ONE ON THAT TEAM WHO ACTUALLY FUCKING SPEAKS. IS WASH’S SIDEKICK SOME SORT OF BROOM PERSON OMG

A WHOLE FUCKING ACRE OF KIDS HAVE ALL GANGED UP ON THIS CAVEMAN-LOOKING FELLA I DON’T EVEN RECOGNIZE. WHO ARE YOU. DID YOU CROSS OVER FROM THE FANTASY AU

KIRI BACK WITH FG AND BROUGHT TETSUTETSU ALONG FOR THE RIDE HELLS YEAHHHH

KAMINARI AND SERO WITH KAMUI WOODS AND EDGESHOT I’M HYPERVENTILATING AHHH. AND SHIOZAKI TOO!! I’LL JUST PRETEND I DON’T SEE MINETA THERE IN THE CORNER. MIGHT BE TIME TO DUST OFF THE OLD “CANCELLED” STAMP AGAIN BUT WE’LL SEE HOW THINGS GO

WHO ARE MOMO AND TOKAGE AND MINA AND AOYAMA (WHICH BTW IS THE GREATEST HERO TEAMUP OF ALL TIME HOLY SHIT) TEAMING UP WITH!? TELL US. AND PONY AND MONOMA. GODDAMMIT HORIKOSHI

whew! anyway. they’re all still screwed, but by golly that was nice to have that little invigorating breather of life and hope

LOL OH SHIT THERE’S ANOTHER ONE

okay, SOMEONE TELL ME RIGHT THE FUCK NOW WHAT ALL MIGHT IS LOOKING AT OR I’M GONNA LOSE IT. holy shit. he was researching the past users of OFA, wasn’t he? WHAT DID YOU FIND OH GOD. he’s not just upset, he looks one step shy of fucking crying?? did he learn about what happened to Nana’s son and his family, maybe? shit shit shit

so Yanagi is interning with Kendou then? so who was that with Hadou and Ryuukyuu and the rest. one of Ryuukyuu’s sidekicks?

IS THAT FUYUMI (SPOILERS FUCKING YEAH IT IS) AND WHY DOES IT LOOK LIKE SHE’S FUCKING PRAYING OMG. it looks like she’s kneeling at a family altar?? like saying a prayer for someone who is PRESUMED DEAD, maybe?? LIKE MAYBE A LONG LOST TWIN BROTHER OH SHIT OUT OF NOWHERE THE HYPE DON’T STOP!!

AND WHY DOES NAO HAVE HIS HAT OFF AND CLUTCHED TO HIS CHEST LIKE HE’S TELLING SOMEONE BAD NEWS. GOD WHAT THE HELL EVEN ARE ALL OF THESE PLOT THINGS HAPPENING ALL OF A SUDDEN. LIKE I DON’T KNOW WHERE TO LOOK NEXT

KUROGIRI AHHHHHHHH

WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING TO ERI’S HORN!? DOES ANYONE ELSE SEE THIS?? AIZAWA??? HELLO!?!?

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, TEAM OT3. TIME TO FUCKING SUIT UP. APPARENTLY. WELL ALL RIGHT THEN. [JACKET ZIP] [GUN COCKING SOUND EFFECT] LET’S GO PUNCH ‘EM IN THE MOUTH

y’all. this chapter was like plot whiplash. this went in so many different directions and hinted at so many different things that I’m at a complete fucking loss as to what to process first. but I guess the interns are gonna save us all, somehow. lol okay then

[keen2meecha]

Novel Prep Tag: gifted

Thanks for tagging me, @aziz-writes! You’re a gem as always!

Note: I’m talkative, so most of my side comments are crossed out don’t mind me

First Look

1. Describe your novel in 1-2 sentences (elevator pitch)

After nearly failing the application test, a young girl rejected by a superpowered society for not having a superpower* of her own is accepted into Falks, a school that teaches kids how to be superheroes. But after an attack on the school nearly kills her and her classmates, she must learn to work with her new friends before one of her oldest friends is lost forever. 

(*’superpowers’ in this universe are called Gifts, and those who have them are called Gifted. The minority who don’t have Gifts are called Ungifted. The title is ironic and also a reference to a running joke Sofia has with herself)

2. How long do you plan for your novel to be? (Novella, single book, book series, etc.)

It’s the first book in a series! Right now I have four books, but since I’m a chronic overwriter, that may or may not have to be extended to five books.

3. What’s your novel’s aesthetic?

Honestly? Aesthetics aren’t really my thing, so I’m not sure. Maybe soft warm colors, that surprised flutter in your chest when someone gives you a thoughtful present, the ache after yet another workout, that scratchy feeling in your throat when your right on the edge of crying but no one else can tell? This started out as a lighthearted superhero story I swear-

4. What other stories inspire your novel?

If you’re an anime fan, you’ll probably look at the general premise of this and some of the basic details of some of the characters and go “Wait a second, that’s a lot like My Hero Academia” and listen. I know. It’s not the same plot though, I promise! Really, at this point, I’d like to think that it’s undergone so many changes that the two are pretty decently removed, but *shrugs*. I’m not as pressed about it anymore. 

I was also loosely inspired by Harry Potter, simply because my book also takes place throughout a school year, so I’m using Harry Potter as a frame of reference for pacing (theoretically). That being said, trans rights and fuck JK Rowling am I right?

5. Share 3+ images that give a feel for the novel

For the sake of saving space, I’ll not do that this go around. But imagine fireworks, a freshly brewed cup of tea, and an overwhelmingly expensive weight room and you’ve got a pretty good image of three important things in this book.

Main Characters

6. Who is your protagonist?

Sofia Smith! The Ungifted girl with a chip on her shoulder! Also an utter jock who usually wears athleisurewear and trust me, I’m as thrilled as you are about that. I don’t work out! I don’t even know what a healthy workout routine looks like! What have I done-

7. Who is their closest ally?

I’d say it’s a toss-up between Leona Kita, a girl she meets during the application tests who quickly becomes her new best friend and is not all that she seems, and Romilly Quirke, a teacher at Falks with whom she develops a close mentorship and is not all that she seems

8. Who is their enemy?

In the beginning, it’s Kyran ‘Kruze’ Cinege, Sofia’s childhood friend-turned-enemy. However, the turning point of the novel is when it’s revealed that while she and Kruze are always fighting (physically or not), there’s someone out there who’s actively trying to kill her and that person might be a more pressing threat than Kruze.

You may also see me occasionally mention The Prophet’s Daughter, who, like all of the important antagonists in this series, hilariously still doesn’t have an actual name. It’s fine. Everything’s fine.

9. What do they want more than anything?

To become the top Hero it’s not bnha you weeb

10. Why can’t they have it?

She’s Ungifted, so no one believes she can do it. Not only that, but also every single other person in her class at Falks is highly qualified - they’re the most promising kids in the country, after all - and also highly motivated to do the same, so she’s got... a lot of competition.

11. What do they wrongly believe about themselves?

That she can hold up the weight of the world on her own - worse, that she has to hold up the weight of the world on her own. Among other things

12. Draw your protagonist! (Or share a description)

Not an artist, but I can freely say that Sofia’s face claim is Amandla Stenberg (especially Hunger Games era Amandla Stenberg because, you know, high school).

Plot Points

13. What is the internal conflict?

She’s desperately lonely, but to admit she needs other people is to admit weakness, and to admit weakness is to admit defeat - something she absolutely cannot do. I mean, not really and it’s okay to ask for help, but she doesn’t know that. We’re working on it.

14. What is the external conflict?

Sofia is fighting the entire world to become a Hero and also someone is trying to kill her and her classmates. 

Oh and each book revolves around her relationship (platonic or otherwise) with one of what I call the ‘core five’ changing and developing in a radically game-changing way. In this book, it’s her and Kruze struggling to come to terms with elements of their past and maybe overcome their conflict to become friends again...? Except their both stubborn assholes and have been fighting for so long they can’t remember how to exist in the same room without one of them blowing up eventually (literally, in Kruze’s case) (I’ll probably talk more about the core five in a different post tbh)

15. What is the worst thing that could happen to your protagonist?

Oof. Well. If someone died on her watch, that’d be pretty bad for her. Good thing that’ll never happen though! Haha...ha...hm.

16. What secret will be revealed that changes the course of the story?

Of this story? Shit maybe they weren’t after me after all. The story as a whole? Wait, you’re my what?

17. Do you know how it ends?

I actually have the epilogue of the last book already planned out! I will cry when I actually write it. But the end of the main plotline? Eh... I know who all is involved, and what all of the characters have evolved into at that point. But how Sofia and co. actually defeat the BBEG? I am... less sure.

18. What is the theme?

In this book specifically: it’s okay to step back and ask for help when you’re struggling - just because you can’t do it on your own doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to be where you are.

In the overall series: something something found family something the power of friendship.

19. What is a recurring symbol?

Oh damn, this is a really good question. In fact, since I’m still in first draft mode (although I did write maybe a good quarter or so of a zero draft) I don’t think any have really emerged that I’ve noticed yet? But I guess I’ll come back and update this if I think of anything.

20. Where is the story set? (Share a description!)

It’s set in a very fancy, very modern private school that’s on the edge of a city somewhere near Washington D.C. I’m... not great at describing environments/settings, though, so that’s all you get haha

21. Do you have any images or scenes in your mind already?

Oh yeah, plenty. I have this whole book outlined, actually, on a chapter-by-chapter level! I got excited and also bored during my three-hour-interim between classes, and there was a whiteboard just asking to be filled... I even have some disconnected scenes from future books floating around in my mind - some incredibly emotional and poignant, some glorified shitposts. Ah, writing. It’s such a magnificent hobby.

22. What excited you about this story?

The characters! No joke, there are sixteen kids in the Falks class including Sofia, and every single one of them has their own complex backstories, motivations, and character arcs - not to mention I’ve spent a significant portion of time outlining each of their Gifts and figuring out how exactly they work. I could ramble about any of them for hours.

And that’s not even mentioning Sofia’s family, the villains, the teachers... I just really love every single character in this book!

23. Tell us about your usual writing method!

Step one: watch or read something. Anything. A movie, another book, a commercial, a music video, a tiktok, I’m not kidding just about anything will do. Step two: think ‘oh, I could do that better’. Step three: jot down some early lines or general ideas. Step four: leave it to stew for a little while as you think ‘oh jeez maybe I can’t do it as well as I thought’. Step five: get suddenly inspired on it and feverishly carve out several rough chapters. Step six: let it stew some more. Step seven: get newly inspired, realize how much has changed in your mind about that earlier draft, call that the zero draft, and actually do an outline this time. Step eight: ...Write it for realsies this time!

Whew, that was a doozie! Super fun though! So, according to the rules, you’re supposed to tag the same number of people as questions you answered. So there are 23 questions, and it turns out I’ve got exactly 23 people who (I don’t think) aren’t opposed to tag games, so here, have something besides a last line tag for once! Enjoy!

REMEMBER! You are under no obligation to do this - especially since this one can seem overwhelming. I’ll be thrilled if you do it, but I won’t be disappointed or upset if you pass.

Anyways, tagging: @alcego-writes, @alanwrites, @ajbrooks-writes, @evergrcen, @jewellsfrommaruss, @brookswriting, @signedjordan, @writhoelogy, @the-violet-writer, @dustylovelyrun, @linarious, @cookiecutterwrites, @honeyprincerising, @acaptainandhisrunaway, @angelolytle, @dogwrites, @mxxnwishes, @magicalwriting, @bisexual-in-progress, @writerfae, @ocmaker, @fullydevoted, @hanboggsbooks

[writing-for-amusement]

Keep It Secret, 4

Summary:  Ever since your soulmate told you to stop writing on your skin because they didn’t want to communicate, you did as they asked even though it hurt your heart. During the first day of your new job as an “emergency woman” on a film set, you forget your notepad and planner, so you have to write on your skin. When you’re then called to the makeup trailer to deal with an emergency, you meet Zendaya Coleman, with your supply list on her wrist. You vow to keep your status as her soulmate a secret, even if it hurts, because all you want is for her to be happy. Even if it’s to your detriment.

A/N: Okay, so, this chapter is a little short, but... I REALLY wanted to break it off where I did because I like to keep the suspense going lmaoo... Anyway, I hope you like this, I’m actually pretty content with how it turned out!!! Fun fact, I actually didn’t know how I wanted to do the cat, so I legit went on a pet adoption website to find inspiration!!!!

You can still get on any of my taglists!!!! Also, what do you think will happen next?????

Disclaimer:  I do not know or claim to know Zendaya Coleman; I am essentially using her as a face/name claim to my fic idea. The same goes for the other people in this fic. That being said, I hope you like this!!!!!

Warnings: drunkenness, mention of vomit, a kitty cat, some angst, swearing

Word Count: 2023

Permanent Taglist: @pparkerwrites, @jordyns-library, @natblidaclexa, @peterseuphoria, @lesbian-x-blackwidow, @beccaboo929, @softrdj, @icecoldban

KIS Taglist: @hailqueenconquer, @imaginerequestpage, @adventurousbooknerd

Chapter 4

Zendaya kept looking at you with those perfect furrowed brows, her hair gently moving in the breeze. Internally, you were floundering for an answer, flipping back and forth between what your heart and soul wanted, and what you knew Zendaya wanted.

Externally, well, you hoped you didn’t look as panicked as you felt.

“Is it me?” Zendaya asked in a small voice.

You hadn’t thought anything could have hurt worse than your daily pain of being around her and not telling her. But this, this was much worse than that. Every atom in your body was screaming in pain, in anger, as Zendaya looked so sad, confused, and broken.

Your hands briefly reached out to take her by the shoulders to add emphasis to what you were about to say, but you let them fall back to your sides.

You bent slightly so you could look her in the eyes. Zendaya raised her gaze to yours and you gave her a pained smile.

“It’s not you, Zendaya,” you explained. “It’s not you, I promise. I promise that it really isn’t you, it’s me.” You inhaled shakily to steel your nerves. “Look, I, well, we—”

Jade suddenly laid on the horn, making you both jump in surprise. You whirled around to see her animatedly motioning for you to get going. Then, she rolled the window down and yelled in slightly slurred words, “Let’s goooooooooooooo!”

“Okay, Jade, Jesus Christ, just a minute!” you yelled back. After watching your friend slump back into the car, you turned back to your soulmate.

She was chuckling and that made your heart lift slightly. “Such a character,” she sighed lightly. Then, her eyes were back on yours.

“Zendaya, I promise, it’s not you. But I gotta go, okay? We… we can talk later, alright? I’ll see you next time you’re on set.”

“Okay, Y/N,” she said hesitantly. Then, her demeanor brightened. “Okay. I don’t know why, but I really believe you. I’ll see you soon, Y/N. Be safe driving.”

You smiled and nodded, turning back and getting in the car. Zendaya waved at you as you reversed and drove away.

“What took you so long?” Jade whined.

You sighed at her and shook your head. “Just relax. You’ll be with your cat before long. If you must know, Zendaya asked why I never let her touch me.”

Jade gasped dramatically. “What did you say?”

“Well, I was going to tell her the truth, until you butted in with a car horn!” you explained with frustration lining your voice.

“Oh no,” Jade breathed. “Oh no.”

You glanced at her and were about to reassure her, when you saw how white her face was. Quickly pulling over, you urged her to open the door and vomit out there. It might not be your car, but you knew you’d be the one to be cleaning it, and you definitely didn’t want to be driving with that scent.

Your phone chimed as your friend leaned out the door and released her stomach onto the pavement. Glancing at the notification, you saw that it was a message from Zendaya.

“Hey, I’m sorry for putting you on the spot like that,” the message said.

You dropped the phone into the empty cupholder and vowed to answer it once you got to Jade’s place. It seemed that the many daiquiris had finally caught up with Jade fully, as she was wobbling on her feet and slurring her words.

Thankfully, Jade didn’t throw up again as you helped her to her apartment. Her cat, an orange and white tabby named Cyborg, meowed from his spot on the back of the couch. He was named Cyborg because he only had one eye, but the other was a gorgeous green. Cyborg was the sweetest and most affectionate cat you’d ever met; he was also very chatty.

As you helped Jade through the apartment, Cyborg meowed loudly at you, following from a respectable distance. You nodded at him and hummed your understanding as you let Jade fall into her bed. He followed you as you went to the kitchen to get Jade a glass of water to drink before bed.

“I know, Cy, I know, she always leaves you alone,” you said sympathetically to the cat. After another meow, you said, “Well, if you want me to visit more, little kit-kat, you have to talk to your mama. I doubt she’d let me come in here willy-nilly.”

He gave a small mew.

“We can’t know what she’d say; your mama is a little crazy,” you explained as you bent down to rub his cute head. He purred loudly and licked your fingers briefly before following you back to Jade’s room.

“Drink,” you ordered as you brandished the cup at her. Jade, surprisingly obedient when this drunk, followed your command and drank it all in one gulp.

As you were tucking her in, Cyborg curled up in the crook of her knees, Jade muttered out, “I’m sorry I ruined your moment with Zendaya.”

“It’s alright, Jade,” you ruffled her hair. “You actually saved me.”

“No,” she argued gently, “you need to tell her. You need to tell her, or you’ll never become prom queen, Y/N.”

“Okay, Jade, whatever you say,” you chuckled. “Sleep time now.”

“Mmkay,” she said as she curled into her blankets. With an amused shake of your head, you kissed your friend’s forehead and left her room.

After plugging your phone in, you settled onto the couch with one of the blankets Jade hoarded for her couch. As you were drifting off to sleep, you shot straight up and snatched your phone from the table.

“It’s not your fault,” you typed out to Zendaya, “you do deserve an explanation, I just don’t know when I’ll be able to give it.” Then, after brief hesitation, you also sent, “I hope you sleep well, Z.”

Satisfied that you actually remembered to reply after dealing with a drunken Jade, you leaned back into the couch and fell asleep peacefully.

 You woke up the next morning to a pounding on the front door and a weight on your chest. A loud purring vibrated through your chest and you saw that, of course, Cyborg was curled on your chest, content as can be. His eye was squinted shut in happiness, but it popped open as the knocking on the door picked up again.

“Okay, kit-kat,” you announced with sleep in your voice as you sat up. Holding the cat in your arms, you padded to the front door and looked out the peephole.

Standing on Jade’s porch was Zendaya, looking incredibly well-put-together for what was apparently 7:30 a.m. Her hair was tied back, she wasn’t wearing any makeup, and seeing her there made your heart pound in both a good way and a bad way.

Opening the door after maneuvering Cyborg as if you were cradling a piece of luggage with one arm, you said, “Zendaya, what are you doing here?”

“I got your text last night,” she explained as you let her in. Cyborg meowed from his comfortably limp place under your arm. “Who’s this?”

“Cyborg, Jade’s cat,” you replied, holding him up. He meowed loudly. “Haven’t you met him? Jade said you’ve visited before.”

Zendaya scratched the cat’s head and shrugged a shoulder. “I think he was in the hospital that night, getting the rest of his eye removed.”

You nodded in understanding before putting the cat on the ground. He wound around your legs and mewed softly. Looking up at Zendaya, you saw that she looked conflicted.

“Can we sit?” she asked, gesturing to the couch.

“Sure thing,” you said easily, picking the cat up again as you plopped on the couch. Zendaya sat down at the other end and pulled her knees to her chest.

“I’m gonna level with you,” she stated almost immediately. “I just… can’t get you out of my mind, and I don’t know why.”

“O-oh?” you asked, translating your nerves into petting the cat that was curled in your lap and purring like crazy.

“Yeah,” Zendaya said flatly, the confusion lacing her tone. She let out a growl as she ran her hands over her head. “I just don’t understand why, why you’re so enchanting to me.” She yanked her hair tie out of her hair. “Like, even when I’m not around you, I’m thinking about you, about what you’re doing, about if you’re smiling or not. I’ve never… never thought about someone like this before.”

“I… I’m really not that special,” you admitted with a half-smile and one shoulder shrug. Cyborg meowed as you stopped petting him, prompting you to continue.

“You are, though!” Zendaya said passionately. “You are just so bright and smart and clever and sweet and fuck, I don’t know! You’re just wonderful and,” she suddenly leaned closer to you, “and I feel like you feel a lot of the same things about me.

“When I noticed that other people touch you, but you always shy away from me, I had no idea I’d get so frustrated. I started testing it, you know… Every time you shied away from me, I got more and more hurt, more and more frustrated. And I can’t figure out why it bugs me so much. All I can think is… that you’re something special. There’s something about you, something that you won’t tell me about, but I want to know… I need to know.”

Your heart was pounding loudly in your ears as you ran your fingers through Cyborg’s long fur. You couldn’t look her in the eye because you knew that once you did, you wouldn’t be able to keep the secret anymore.

It’s what she wants.

“Y/N,” her gentle voice prompted you. “Please, talk to me.”

You swallowed nervously. “I,” your voice was dry as your mind and soul fought in the most intense boxing match of the century, “I’m worried that… if you know… you’ll hate me. That… That you won’t want anything to do with me.”

“Oh, Y/N,” she murmured your name. “Nothing about you could ever make me hate you. Please, just, just tell me what it is.”

You opened your mouth to speak, only to be interrupted again.

“Y/N, is your ass still here?” Jade’s loud voice demanded from the hallway. “If you took an Uber home, I’m gonna be so mad—” she cut off as she entered the living room and saw you and Zendaya on the couch.

“Hi, Jade,” Zendaya greeted awkwardly.

“Fuck,” Jade said plainly. “Fuck, fuck, fuck. I fucked it up again, didn’t I?” Her eyes, wide with panic, locked with yours. “Fuck, did I interrupt?”

“Yeah, Jade,” you informed her, “yeah, you did.”

“But, I mean, this is your house,” Zendaya added.

“That’s true,” you nodded, “it is your house.”

“Shit,” Jade whispered. “I’m so fucking sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt the whole confession again, I’m so sorry—”

“Jade!” you interrupted her, your eyes wide.

“R-right,” she muttered, taking a step back.

“How about we go onto the porch?” you offered to Zendaya.

“Y-yeah,” she seemed confused at your loud interruption. You rarely raised your voice like that; hell, you barely yelled across set.

You got up and dumped Cyborg’s relaxed body into Jade’s arms before nearly marching to the front porch. Zendaya followed a few steps behind you, still surprised at your abrupt, almost irritated actions.

You plopped into a chair and rested your arm on the armrest, laying your head into it. Under your breath, you muttered, “Fucking Jade and her shitty-ass timing…”

Zendaya laughed at your words, making you glance up as she sat on the porch swing. Jade was lucky with the house she had bought; she’d told you that it had needed a lot of work, but because of that, the price had been incredibly cheap for an LA suburb.

“Sit with me on the swing?” Zendaya asked hesitantly.

You hesitated slightly before nodding, getting up and sitting down on the swing. You internally winced as you felt like your weight made it creak almost ominously.

“So,” Zendaya prompted a bit nervously, “you were saying?”

[hillelf]

novel prep: the hostess

not gonna lie, i wasnt tagged in this! but i really like the idea and i thought it would be helpful to me, so i did it anyway.

FIRST LOOK!

1.) Describe your novel in 1-2 sentences (elevator plot)

Four teenagers learn that they have chosen by Fate for a great cause. However, there are people who would do anything to stop them from carrying out their mission.

2.) How long do you plan your novel to be? (is it a novella, single book, book series, etc.)

as of now, i plan on it being one book with four parts!

3.) What is your novel’s aesthetic?

nature, religious imagery, warm colors vs cold colors

4.) What other stories inspire your novel?

ohh thats a good question! a lot of my favorite stories have major differences

5.) Share 3+ images that give a feel for your novel

tbh thats really hard for me! i have a specific aesthetic in mind but i cant think of any specific pics that fit. i think im gonna start tagging stuff with just #aesthetic: the hostess for general things but i do have pics in the tags for the characters!

MAIN CHARACTER(S)!

6.) Who is the main character?

there are four! quinn marton, emerald maryland, cain ornigana, and aerial whitton. each of them get sections of the story that focus on them individually.

7.) Who is their closest ally?

each other and the goddesses ethys and elpys! cain’s moms, too

8.) Who is their enemy?

the goddess adah and her followers

9.) What do they want more than anything?

to enjoy what’s left of their youth!

10.) Why can’t they have it?

they were called to greater things — and there’s an entire society out to kill them.

11.) What do they wrongly believe about themselves?

quinn thinks that she must be the one there to support others, and that she must not ask for help in return. emerald thinks she always has to be strong in order to protect her loved ones. cain thinks they are worthless and unlovable, and aerial thinks everything is her fault.

12.) Draw your protagonist! (or share a description)

i actually draw my protags a lot but am not comfortable with my art to share it yet! so i will describe them.

quinn is black, and has dark brown skin and coily brown hair. she has dark eyes and freckles as well. her aesthetic consists of pale blues, and often wears cute skirts or sundresses. she is short, but often wears heals.

emerald is pale (compared to the rest of them at least) and has long brown hair. she has blue eyes. her aesthetic is lowkey punk — dark jeans, leather or demin jackets, and black lipstick. she is also short, but does not wear heals.

cain is tan and has dark hair and eyes. their aesthetic is dark colors, golds, and earth tones. they have a fun and cute sense of fashion when they feel comfortable enough to express themself. they are very tall.

aerial is black as well as a native islander. her hair is long and braided, and has streaks of purple. she also has dark brown skin, freckles, and dark eyes. she likes to wear skirts, and a lot of purples and white. she is heavy-weight and proud of it; she is average height and the tallest of the girls.

PLOT POINTS!

13.) What is the internal conflict?

feelings of self hatred and self doubt; fear of death; trust issues

14.) What is the external conflict?

people are trying to kill the protags and later wipe out the whole human race except for themselves!

15.) What is the worst thing that can happen to a protagonist?

listen. two of them get shot. one dies and the other is forced to watch while in absolute agony and bleeding out. they all blame themselves for the terrible things that happen. one of them might (almost) get cryogenically frozen? and thats no where near everything. so idk!

16.) What secret will be revealed that changes the course of the story?

why the children of adah want the hostess!

17.) Do you know how it ends?

vaguely? there is a happy ending.

18.) What is the theme?

found family, good vs evil, the inevitability of death, love is always the answer

19.) What is a reoccurring symbol?

marble statues / religious imagery, mountains, azure-naped jays (a type of corvid!), nature

20.) where is the story set?

in a world almost parallel to our own! its as close to modern day as you can get in a world where society has been set back quite a few years due to tragedy. it takes place in a country called eliad, which in a similar geographical place as brazil!

21.) Do you have any images or scenes in your mind already?

GOD, YEAH! way too many. i am very imaginative and i daydream a lot.

22.) What excited you about this story?

the messages im using it to share! and i want ppl to know and love my kids

23.) Tell us about your usual writing method?

LOL what writing method? jokes aside, i mostly daydream, try to write what i daydreamed about, hate how i write it because it doesn’t live up to the original idea / daydream, give up for a little bit, then slowly add to / rewrite it later. its a very slow process!

im not going to tag anyone to do the game since i just did it for fun and not cuz i was tagged! however, i am going to tag my taglist for the hostess so you guys can see all the information. if u want to do it, feel free to say i tagged u!

the hostess taglist: @bbabyapollo @siarven @joysdrop @whimsicallytwisted @pheita @silver-wields-a-pen @lr-sloane