#at the end of the day they’re fictional characters so ones no better than another

[musclesandhammering]

I’m so nervous about this op because you seem like a Dean fan (no shade at all!!) but.. *cracks knuckles*

Dean is honest to god the most insufferable asshole of a man on any tv show. In real life, he’d be the 40 year old douche sitting at the end of the bar hitting on 19 year old girls until they got uncomfortable and then he’d physically attack their boyfriends when they tell him to lay off, end up getting kicked out of the bar (while everyone cheers) and then harass everyone in town with the story of how the local bar has gone woke and discriminates against “real men”. I’m serious. If Dean’s got 1 hater, it’s me. If he’s got no haters, I’m dead.

He consistently is just mean and nasty and aggressive toward everyone in his life- especially people he cares about- even in relatively laid back moments. He has the attitude of someone who thinks everyone around him is just incompetent and he’s so sick of dealing with them (Sam and Cas in particular).

He despises any and all supernatural beings. Even the ones who haven’t done anything wrong. Like he’s just disgusted with anything that isn’t human. Like.. to the point that it really really feels irl white supremacy-coded. Anything inhuman should be exterminated.

He had a shitty childhood but he consciously chooses to make his Man Angst everyone else’s problem. He fully embraces the self pity and believes everyone in the world owes him because of how bad of a hand he was dealt.

He’s cold toward his friends- especially castiel. During the whole Jack dying situation and other situations, he purposefully said and did things that rubbed Jack’s death in his face knowing it would hurt him just cause he was feeling pissy. He goes out of his way to let cas know he doesn’t care about his feelings. He’s treated cas like an incompetent baby since they first met (baby in a trenchcoat) knowing full well it hurt his feelings. He blamed Sam for trying to live a normal life instead of looking for him when he was in purgatory even though he himself tried to live a normal life instead of getting Sam out of the cage like a year before.

He pervs on high school girls, he slut shames homicide victims, he objectifies every woman he meets, he loves racist porn, his go-to insults for any woman he doesn’t like is sexist shit (bitch, slut, whore, cunt), he’s the type of uber macho dudebro that no one likes, and iirc there’ve been times where he basically no-homo-ed other guys.

He treated jack- an actual child- like absolute shit the entire time they knew him (to the point where Jack tried to kill himself) and then had the audacity to turn around and say he was like a son to him after he was gone.

From a doylist perspective, he’s the writers’ favorite and they’ve written the whole universe to revolve around him, and from a watsonian perspective, he knows the universe revolves around him and fully believes he’s the most important person in the room at any given time.

I used to write long detailed metas with specific examples of all this but I haven’t watched the show in several years and don’t plan to because I don’t need the stress, so I apologise if all this is vague.

I hate him so fucking much. …Respectfully. (😂)

is there any people who hate dean or sam that can tell me why without comparing the two. like every anti-dean (or sam) post is like

“dEan hAs dOnE _____ And sAm WouLd nEvEr dO tHaT”

like let’s see some real hate!! tell me you hate dean or sam because they suck even out of relation to other each other!!!!

[devilishchaos]

Needy | Rúben Dias Imagine

Rating / genre: M (18+); smut, fluff

Pairings: Reader x Rúben Dias

Summary: Y/N is needy for vitamin Rúben.

Warnings: Explicit smut, explicit talk, unprotected vaginal penetration (don't do it!!! stay safe!), hair grabbing, thigh riding, size talk just for a sec

Word Count: 2 307 words

This is a work of fiction. The story, names, characters and incidents either are product or the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

You were watching the training livestream on the Man City YouTube channel, trying to catch a glimpse of your man training on the field. The Etihad Campus had an open door day so the training could be watched online and since you stayed at home today and spent some much needed chill and relaxing time, you decided that you had nothing better to do than to thirst over your man. 

Watching him work hard made you come to the realization that you missed him a lot today, missed his touch..you craved him, not being able to feel his skin on your own or to please him the way he could please you - drove you absolutely insane. The only thing you could think about was Rúben..and his long fingers tracing down your body, starting around your nipples and touching them until they’re rock hard, then going lower and lower so he’s brushing over your inner thighs, teasing you until he lightly runs one of his fingers through your folds, coating it with your wetness before slipping it in, soon adding another one and pumping them in and out of you in a slow way, making you desperate for more, begging him to put his mouth to your dripping pussy and fuc- 

The ringing of your phone snapped you out of your daydream, Rúben’s name appearing on your screen. You furrowed your eyebrows and looked at your laptop to see the stream had ended, meaning training was finished and Rúben was almost free to come home to you. 

“Hello, handsome.” you said when you picked up the phone, trying to not let him hear the trembling in your voice after turning yourself on by fantasizing about him..and his hands. 

“Hi, amor. I’m just calling to say I’ve finished training. We’ll have a quick recovery session and after that I’m heading home, okay? I love you.” Rúben hung up right after you said the three words back, indicating he was in a hurry, but it made you smile that he still took the time to call you. 

The agony of waiting for him to enter your shared apartment followed by your little daydream had caused you to be wet for the rest of the day, your panties soaked by now and you were needing a release and to have Rúben with you was a must. 

After what felt like eternity, you finally hear the gentle clicks of Rúben’s key unlocking the front door of your guys’ apartment and feel a rush of excitement fill your chest. You immediately leave your spot on the couch to greet him. 

Rúben, with his backpack over one shoulder and his shoes in hand, barely closed the front door when you said 

“I want your dick..right now.” 

That made him turn towards you so fast, his backpack slipped off his shoulder. 

“W- What?” Rúben asked puzzled. 

“Hello, love. Welcome back. How was training? I want your dick.” you paused for a second and closed your eyes, took a deep breath in and added “I want it now. Like I have to have it..right now. Please, Rúben.” you gave him your best puppy eyes. 

With his mouth slightly open, Rúben was flashing in rags at you and simply said “Okay.”

“Perfect. So..youuu..wanna do it on the couch or in the bedroom?” 

“Wherever you want, baby.” and with that you took his hand and led him to the couch, because it was closer. 

You tore his jacket off him, dropped it on the floor and pushed Rúben to sit on the couch, then straddled his thighs. 

“Wait, wait, wait..I- I-..um..I’m not..I have to..” Rúben nervously tried to explain that he wasn’t hard yet 

“Shh..relax. I’m gonna take care of you.” you lean in for a kiss and he revels in your sensual embrace, loving your soft fingers tracing around his abdomen, feeling around his chest. Rúben lets out a noise, halfway between a purr and a grunt, hand gliding from your ass to the hem of your (his) big t-shirt as he tugs it over your head. You aren’t wearing anything to cover your breasts, which he’s eager to kiss. 

Taking his own t-shirt off, Rúben tosses the garment over the back of the couch. The roaring fire, coming from the fireplace, coupled with the heated friction between the two of you, makes things hot very quickly, temperatures rising as he pulls you in for another kiss. 

Your touch is voracious, groping and kneading into every available space of skin, molding Rúben in ways that he never thought were possible. You are passionate and exploratory, like the lick of an open flame, leaving behind incendiary sparks that make his stomach church with anticipation. You reciprocate his kiss, open-mouthed and heady as his palm falls against one of your breasts. 

Rúben moves you up, so you're straddling just above his hips, enough for him to have room to kiss your body. Each caress of his mouth to your flesh makes you shiver, fingers blindly skimming about to tangle within his hair. His lips are snug against your breasts, leaving behind pleasant trails of red marks. 

Allowing his mouth to wrap around one of your nipples, he begins to lightly suck at the sensitive nub, groping and squeezing at the one left unattended. Your fingers are tangled throughout his dark hair, melding your body to his as he showers your chest in appreciation, throaty sounds escaping from you. Rúben’s attentive, kissing and sucking until he pulls away, face pressing into the valley between your breasts. 

You can feel his cock prodding into your thigh at this point, twitching and throbbing inside of his pants, full of an aching want for you. Being on top of him doesn’t relieve anything either, but Rúben isn’t finished with you just yet, adjusting your legs until they’re situated atop one of his legs, and not straddling his lap. The material of your panties happen to be paper-thin, you are able to feel the sinewy muscles of his thigh.

Rúben places his mouth everywhere he can reach, letting out some husky whimpers as you begin to grind yourself into his thigh, attempting to find the perfect angle. Tilting yourself forward, your fingers grip his hair, his mouth tracing all over your neck, feeling you start to rock atop his thigh as you find the perfect amount of friction. 

A soft moan tore past your parted lips, feeling the muscles of his thigh, the angle at which you grind your pussy into him..the sensations sending shivers up your spine. Rúben’s hands grope at your hips, holding onto the curve of your waist as you ride his thigh, coaxing your face closer as he kisses you with blinding passion. Heat pools between your legs, soaking your panties in the process even more, if that was possible. 

“Rúben..” you moan against his mouth, his hands guiding you along, pushing you onto his thigh with each roll of your hips.You are putty within his grasp, able to be molded and bent as he saw fit, steadily rocking your clothed cunt into his thigh, making you squeak and mewl. 

As you’re riding his thigh, chasing after the growing sensation of your orgasm, Rúben’s palm splays out across the small of your back, face nestling into the crook of your neck as he shoves you further downward. He’s exuding more of his strength, letting your clit rub against the muscles of his leg, moving you with a force riddled with friction. 

His cock throbs and twitches within his pants, aching to be inside of you, but Rúben is willing to be patient, watching you move on top of him with a slight clumsiness, but he’s beyond understanding. You’re absolutely perfect..you’re stunning like this, straddling his leg and moaning his name, mouth having fallen apart to express your state of bliss. 

Rúben eases you forward, planting hot, messy kisses against your soft flesh, feeling your legs quiver around him as he jostles his thigh against your slit. The sounds you make are beyond delicious, he’s absolutely enthralled by you, mesmerized as you desperately careen into him, wanting an orgasm so very terribly. 

You feel his hand drift toward your ass again, giving it several greedy gropes and squeezes as he nudges you off of his leg. There’s a dark, wet splotch left behind, not that it bothers him, and before you know it, you’re situated on your back, Rúben between your legs. He’s tugging your panties off, gently sliding them down until they’re somewhere around your ankles. 

“I need you..” you whisper, Rúben responds with a husky noise, a throaty rumble that fills your stomach with warmth. The crackling of the hearth is beyond atmospheric, filling the living room with heat, making your skin break out with light perspiration “..Rúben, I need you..so bad.” you say it again, feeling his cock knead against your soaked folds. 

Rúben's face is hovering above yours and he settles for showering you in needy kisses, mouth settling along the curve of your jaw and just to the side of your jugular. 

Grinding his groin into you, his cock pushed past your folds, slathered with a sheen of precum, throbbing and hot as he teases your cunt. Rúben is well-endowed, you’ve come to learn, thick as ever as he slowly rolls his hips into you, keeping your legs apart. The noises you let out are vulgar, abhorrently sinful as he sluggishly thrusts his way into your aching slit, a low groan escaping from him in the process. 

It’s incendiary, the rush of heat between the two of you, chest to chest, flush together. Your hands come underneath his arms, feeling the muscles of his shoulder blades move, knees constricting his hips as he begins to find a pleasurable pace. Each roll of his hips finding a way to stuff you completely, until he can’t go any further. 

Rúben was horribly possessive in the moment whether you fully realized it or not, dominating you and keeping you pinned underneath him. Even when trapped within the throes of passion, Rúben’s mouth is furious, relentless as he covers your chest in amatory kisses, alternating between your lips and breasts. 

He sets a pace that reaches deep inside of you, lacking callousness or a hastiness. Rúben savors each bump and sliver of friction, rutting into you at a slower crawl. You squirm and moan underneath him, as his cheek nestles against yours and you quiver out of sheer excitement. 

“R- Rúb- ben..ugh..yess.” you croon, shuddering when you feel his teeth scrape along your neck, hips rutting into you. Rúben’s pace becomes increasingly steady, cock pounding into you with those torpid thrusts. A feverish heat creeps across your flesh, nearly burning you alive, though the fireplace seems to contribute to such a sensation. 

Your nails sink into the dips of his shoulders, eliciting a heady, wanton growl that tears out from the back of his throat, ripping through you as goosebumps collect along your spine. Rúben’s cock continues to pound away at you, trembling as your walls clench around him, his stomach pooling with warmth. It’s a sensation that drives him wild, coupled with your nails wringing into his back, leaving behind red trails. 

Rúben can’t get enough of you, drunk on desire, drunk on the feelings you stir within him. Wistful and desperate to please you, he begins to drag his hips back, cock nearly out of you completely before he slams himself back inside. 

The living room is silent, save for the crackling of the dying fire and your intermingled noises, Rúben’s throaty groans and your mewls. He plucks one of your hands away from his shoulders, intertwining your fingers together as he pins your arm back against the leathery sofa. 

It’s perfect - he’s perfect, holding your hand as he fucks you into the couch. 

Your knees are wrangling onto his hips, squeezing and coaxing him closer, your free hand snapping to hold onto his arm, muscles tensing and flexing underneath your fingers. Rúben picks up his speed as he chases after his orgasm, throbbing cock sending pulsations of heat into you, shockwaves even..as you lazily grind your hips against his, careening inward for another blistering kiss. 

He shudders, his thrusts stuttering as he cums inside of you with a throaty moan, feeling your cunt clench around his cock, your fingers clinging onto him as if you were a drowning woman. Rúben huffs, snapping his hips into you again as he fills you up, peppering feather-light kisses all along your jaw. 

You happen to cum in tandem with him, sticky and messy as you involuntarily push your thighs together. Rúben’s gaze is adoring, simply put - lovesick. His thumb strokes across your cheek, pulling out of you with a soft grunt. 

Rúben puts your (his) t-shirt back on, retrieving some articles of clothing that were lost along the way. His touch is gentle, tender after everything as he tidies himself, sinking back into the sofa. He’s quick to scoop you up, placing you back into his lap. 

Curling into his chest, your palm settles along his abdomen, tracing patterns onto his ribcage. Rúben seems to voice his enjoyment of such a gesture, letting out some noise that’s a cross between a hum and a purr, hands massaging into your hips, cheek nestling against the top of your head. 

Rúben stares at you as if you’re the only person he’s ever known, the only one for him, placing his fingers underneath the t-shirt you wear, caressing your skin. 

Neither of you say anything - you don’t need to. Whatever just transpired between the two of you conveys all that you need to know, any unspoken feelings having bubbled to the surface. You press a kiss into his mouth and snuggle against his chest with a smile of contentment. 

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Once Upon a Time 2

Warnings: non/dubcon and other dark elements. My username actually says you never asked for any of this.

Characters: Andy Barber

Part of the Bookstore AU

My warnings are not exhaustive but be aware this is a dark fic and may include potentially triggering topics. Please use your common sense when consuming content. I am not responsible for your decisions.

As usual, I would appreciate any and all feedback. I’m happy to once more go on this adventure with all of you! Thank you in advance for your comments and for reblogging.

That man is back. You see Andy’s gray jacket as he passes through the front doors. You shouldn't recognise it so easily.

You adeptly scurry behind the end of the bookshelf and hide. You know you shouldn’t do that, he’s a customer, but it’s the third time he’s been there in five days. You’re exhausted, not just of him but everything.

Only after his last visit did you realise he’s stopped asking for Pine. The shop owner has grown elusive and the managers bold in his absence. They barely walk the floor and leave you and the other associates to deal with truck and customers alike.

You hide up around the bestsellers and pretend to sort through the Top Picks shelf. As you do, your headset beeps and Chelsea calls your name over the line. She asks you to pop into the fiction. Great, she’s passing off another customer. All she does is scroll through her phone and drink her sugary lattes.

You hit the button and tell her you’ll be right there. You don’t need her yelling at another old woman. That cost you a store credit and a lot of stress. 

You head along the far wall and turn into the fiction section. You don’t see Chelsea but you find a familiar face nonetheless. Andy smiles and gives you a wave.

“There you are. Wasn’t sure you were working,” he greets as you approach wearily. Of course, it’s him. “I finished the last book so… actually, I don’t know if you watch it but I heard there were some books for that Bridgerton show. I just got into it– is that lame?”

He chatters a lot. He has a certain air to him. He can be charming but also seems to believe that everything he says is interesting. You wish he’d realise that to you he’s just another customer. The worst type; the sort that believes they’re your only one.

“I… I’ve seen the first episode but I haven’t been able to catch up,” you humour him, “we have the books. Some of the most popular sellers.”

You guide him down the aisle towards the spread of colourful covers. He follows and stops to peruse the title. He scratches his beard as he hums.

“Thanks, uh, I didn’t even ask,” he turns on you again, “how are you doing?”

You answer with your usual, the thoughtless, “good, and you?”

“Eh, long day at work. Figure I’d stop in on my lunch. Try to distract myself,” he undoes the top button of his coat, “toasty in here, huh?”

“I guess,” you shrug, “was there anything else you need help finding?”

“Uh, no, I don’t think so,” he deflates just slightly, “you’ll be around though, if I do?”

“Sure,” you answer as you repress a wave of agitation. 

You back away as he watches you, almost mournful. You assume he’s a little lonely. You hear divorce is rough. A bit sad to see. He’s probably twice your age and he makes you think of those guys who mope when you tell them not to grind on you in the club. You’re not much into that scene but every now and then Ginny talks you into it.

You see Chelsea a few shelves down. She has an airpod in and her headset dangling. You’re not surprised. Her acrylics tap on her phone as she paces blindly up and down. She won’t be much help.

You stop by the shelf of Garfield comics and fix the few books switched around. Customers tend to mess up more than they buy. The colourful books no doubt attracted children who didn’t know better than to leave chaos in their stead. That’s why you steer clear of the children’s section, even if the plushies are cute.

You spin back, wanting to head back up to best sellers but a tall figure appears from the end of a row. Andy waves at you again, several books against his left arm. He comes towards you as you reluctantly advance.

“Hey, uh, think I found what I need,” he announces, “I was looking at the online shop and you sell the little book lights?” He holds up his fingers to show the size, “they clip onto the page.”

“Oh, uh, yes, those are at the front,” you point, ���right on your way to checkout.”

“Great,” he hugs the books tighter. You stand in the lull, expecting him to say more. He clears his throat and traces his fingers around his mouth, “uh, well, you… you can’t check me out?”

“I’m not on cash until one,” you say. “Sorry, but someone will be up there.”

“Mmm,” he nods and looks down at his armful, “you’re so helpful. I wanted to fill out the survey for you.”

“That’s fine,” you shake your head, “really. I hope you enjoy your books.”

"Yeah, I don't know if I should watch the show first or after..."

"Hmm, I don't know," you say. "I hear they're both good."

He doesn’t move right away. His face falls as he lingers. You don’t know what to do. That’s about the nicest way you can say go away.

You put your hand to your earpiece and look away, “yeah, one second, be right there,” you say to no one. “Sorry, gotta get back to it.”

You inch away and twirl around, swiftly dipping down an aisle. His long sigh tails after you as his disappointment nips at your heels. It’s not like he’s done anything wrong, he’s been polite, but it’s a bit much. There’s at least six other associates he can bother. You’d prefer it if he did.

[codenamesazanka]

I need help writing the league of villains for a fan fiction. Like can you give me tips on to write their dialogue and stuff like that

Thanks for the ask! Here are some things that I think would be helpful, but please be aware that it's my approach to writing the League the way I interpret them. I'm sure there's people who finds my fic wildly inaccurate in terms of characterization. Sometimes I go back months later and disagree with my own stuff, given new information or outlook. You'll have different interpretations than me, and that's okay. And thus,

Tip #1: First of all, it’s fanfic, it’s fun, and it’s yours. You can do whatever the heck you want! It does not matter at all what you do with the characters, their dialogue, their personalities, their relationships, etc. I’ve read plenty of AU fanfics where I could not recognize Shigaraki Tomura/Shimura Tenko, despite the character having the name, but I still liked the story okay. Really, it’s all up to you and what you want. 

That said, to actually answer your question:

Tip #2: Re-read the manga. Read the scanlations - multiple versions from different scanlation groups. Read the official. No version will be perfect, some are better than others (Viz Official has its issues, but it is done by a professional translator and I tend towards it; Fallen Angels (Chapters 1-150s) was the first to scanlate and iirc they even included translation commentary at the end of their chapters; I found mangastream to be more accurate than Jaimini (Chapters 150-250s)), but having a variety of translations will give you insight into the intention of a dialogue, and different ways of achieving it. Read the original Japanese, if you can. 

Tip #2.5: Best way to figure a character, I find, is to describe the panels they’re in as if you’re writing a very plain, objective, impartial image description. Now you have an overview of their outward behavior, their actions, their dialogue. Using that, you have the basis for developing their motivations and personality. It’s the difference between ‘Shigaraki used gamer lingo a few times here, so he is a gamer... therefore he’s obsessed with games and that’s all he does’ and ‘In the first 100 chapters of the story, despite speaking sometimes like a gamer, Shigaraki is actually seen reading newspapers rather than holding a game console’.

Put another way, don’t assume generalized descriptions or traits for a character and write them based on that. You risk writing a trope or archetype or situation rather than the actual character. 

When a loved one dies suddenly, people will be in shock, before sobbing and weeping uncontrollably. That’s generally true, but the character may manifest grief in a different way. Someone close to Toga is killed - what does she do? You can write her breaking down crying, that’s perfectly reasonable. But if you look at the manga, when Twice is killed, she doesn’t cry right away. She gets angry; she lashes out. She’s deeply hurt by his murder, of course! But the tears she sheds for his passing are few in the immediate aftermath - her grief mostly takes the form of slicing Heroes’ throats.

Tip #3: Read everything else, for inspiration, for background knowledge, for tone, for your own gain outside of fandom.

Just the other day, I read Real, the wheelchair basketball manga by Inoue Takehiko. Its three main characters are marginalized by proper society - two because they’re disabled, one because he’s a high school dropout - and there were moments where I was reminded of the League’s situation. In the first chapter, the high school dropout makes a final visit to school where his teachers didn’t think much of him, and his classmates looked down on him. As he leaves, he thinks to himself that everything he does ends in failure and he’s an idiot, all the while he takes a dump at the school gates as a parting gift.

While I can’t see anyone from the League doing that exactly shot for shot, the spirit of it - being seen as a fuck up, being unwanted, being defiant in face of that, even in a inadvisable way - is similar.

Tip #3.5: Another book I’ve read years ago is Codes of the Underworld: How Criminal Communicate. It was very informative, and I think back to it sometimes when I write for the League. 

Criminals face severe constraints on communication imposed by the action of the law, and, unlike the rest of us, cannot easily develop institutions aimed at circumventing them. This central feature of criminal lives makes communication and above all reliable communication exceptionally hard to sustain. For instance, the same secrecy that protects criminals from the law hinders their opportunities to advertise their goods and qualities… In the underworld, moreover, punishments for mistakes and irrational behavior are harsher than they are elsewhere. In the world of regular business, failures of communication can lead to a loss of business, but in the underworld they can result in years behind bars, or worse.

I don’t follow it exactly, because the League is in a children’s fantasy story, and maybe this was obvious but now that it was written out to me, I know how to give the Villains an “edge” to them that a non-Villain might not have, because as Villains, they do often logically would to be secretive and brutal and cautious. Dabi walking around in broad daylight meant their hideout was discovered and All Might literally took down the wall to the bar; a breakdown in negotiations with Overhaul meant Magne dying and Compress getting his arm blown off. 

Tip #4: Related, let the League be assholes, because sometimes they are. Let them be mean and cruel and problematic. Sometimes they’ll be jerks to each other. Nearly all of them grew up in bad circumstances where they probably were not taught important lessons and details about respect and boundaries and being nice. They are definitely not going to be aware of the intricacies of fandom's (oft-American and oft-terminally-online) consensus about problematic behavior. And that’s fine. 

I remember once receiving an ask about why Shigaraki would pull Twice’s mask off in Chapter 224. Wasn’t that terrible of Shigaraki? Yeah, it was. It was also the quickest, most efficient way to get Twice to quit his arguing with the rest of the League, so Shigaraki can announce that they are going to rescue Giran (what Twice was arguing for). After that, he puts the mask back on for Twice. If you ask me, I’d say Shigaraki thinks this evens out - he does something mean that he knows will freak out Twice for a moment, but it’s because he’s arguing for Twice’s side, and he’s putting on the mask back at the end. 

You and I would likely never do something like that because we know taking away someone’s important assistive aid, even for a moment, hurts them and we don’t want to cause them pain for even a second if we could help it/there’s not ‘evening it out’/it demonstrates a power unbalance that perpetuates ableism/there are other ways to stop someone and grab attention/we know not to touch someone even the slightest without permission/etc. But does the character you’re writing know all this? Does he care? Does he think it’s worth following these rules? Does he have time for it, does he have incentives for it, does he have the lucidity, does he think he’s an exception because of this and that, etc, etc. 

A lot of things, most people often just don’t know until they’re taught to be specifically aware. As an example: When I was younger, I knew broadly that taking things without permission was bad; but what if I took these pair of scissors from my friend’s desk and used it and put it back before the owner knew? The owner is my friend. They once told me it was okay to take it, so it counts even today, right? It was just a pair of scissors, a common household item. My friend did not care; still does not care. But knowing what I do now about things like violations of boundaries, explicit consent, the continuation of these concepts for the most trivial and mundane things even in the deepest of friendship or familial ties - I feel the need to ask to use something. That’s me and what I’ve learned through the years, though. It’s probably not going to be [fictional character].

And sometimes the League are just bad people. Shigaraki tried to kill Toga and Dabi at their first meeting. Mr. Compress is seemingly a-okay with kidnapping and murder despite his ancestor being more of a Robin Hood type. Spinner likely knowingly doomed his family to even worse ostracism and harassment from his fantasy-racist hometown when he ran off to join a group of well-televised terrorists. 

That’s also fine. They’re not real. They’re fictional Villains, and you’re temporarily using them as hand-puppets to tell a story. 

Tip #5. For dialogue, it helps knowing what each character’s voice/speaking style sounds like. Some basics:

Shigaraki: 

“Shigaraki speaks with the normal masculine contracted speech, but with a sinister tone. Surprisingly not very cussy. He likes aggravating other people though.”

Caleb Cook notes that Shigaraki talks like an overgrown kid. (In comparison to ReDestro, who “uses more SAT words, since he’s had a formal education.”)

He can be a sarcastic smartass.

Kurogiri:

“Kurogiri is Extremely Polite”

He only refers to Shigaraki as ‘Shigaraki Tomura’. Always the full name, always just that.

He speaks very formally and respectfully; however, there is also a nastier side to him that comes out when he faces off Heroes: Saying to All Might, “I can't say I like the idea of having blood and guts inside my gate, but… if they're yours, I’ll happily oblige.” (Chapter 18); mocking Eraserhead and Mic when they're being sad over him, “Have you mistaken this place for a confessional of some kind?” (Chapter 254)

Dabi: 

“Dabi is like Shoto but ruder, though not to Bakugo’s extent”

He calls people names: Toga most often, as 'crazy'; he called Spinner 'lizard' once; when he first met Shigaraki, he said 'gross'.

Note that all the examples above are people younger than him; as far as I know, Dabi refrains from name-calling his allies who are older than him: Compress, Twice, Skeptic.

He inexplicably politely calls Ujiko ‘Ujiko-san’.

Compress:

“Compress is kind of like Sero. He’s got that trickster tone to him. Gets rougher when things don’t go his way.”

Likes to call himself an ‘old man’ at age 32; talks like an older gentleman as well. 

Twice: 

Twice contradicts himself a lot. Generally, he says one thing, his alter then says the opposite of that immediately afterwards. 

However, when things are urgent or serious, his alter’s speech fades. See Chapter 148, when he confronts Shigaraki about the Overhaul plan - he spills out his feelings with no contradiction. See Chapter 224, after they find out Giran’s been kidnapped - when arguing with the League about whether to say Giran, he’s completely coherent. 

Twice argues back with the alter sometimes, rather than the alter simply blurting out the opposite of what he says. 

After he gets over his clone trauma, the alter seemed to have…integrated into himself? He still speaks in contradictions, but less so, and it doesn’t seem to be a separate voice speaking out involuntarily

Spinner: 

“Spinner also speaks the normal masculine contracted speech like Kirishima and Kaminari, but he talks like Tokoyami during the Forest Lodge arc because he’s a Stain chuuni.”

An average, normal guy, compared to the rest of the League: not very polite, but not particularly rude; no great wit or affect (after he stops being a Stain fanboy), but not unintelligible; game references infrequently.

Giran: 

“Giran is also like speaks the normal masculine contracted speech similar to Shoto, but he’s a lot more mature.”

He calls Shigaraki “Shigaraki-san”, being polite towards him as a customer. 

He calls Twice by his last name, ‘Bubaigawara’, likely because they seem to be friends beyond just business. 

Toga: 

Toga is a generally polite girl, talks like a teenager. 

She can be bad at explaining herself! Seems to forget the people are lacking context for the things she says. “Hey, my best friend Jin just got killed by a Hero, which makes me sad, as well as worried that I'm going to be cut down like nothing as well, especially because I've been told how abnormal I am, even though I think I'm a normal person just like you, because I have emotions like love and fear, as any regular human does, and that lifetime of repression has hurt me.” -> Whatever she actually says to Uraraka in Chapter 289.

Only Toga uses first names with honorifics with the other League members. This is her being cute and desiring familiarity, but still polite. 

　◦ Twice is ‘Jin-kun’

　◦ Shigaraki is ‘Tomura-kun’

　◦ Dabi is, at first ‘Dabi-kun’; after she finds out he’s Touya, he’s ‘Touya-kun’ 

　◦ Spinner is ‘Spinner-kun’

　◦ However, Mr. Compress is simply ‘Mister’ 

Conversely, only Mr. Compress and Twice call her ‘Toga-chan’. All the 20-somethings dudes call her just ‘Toga’. 

*Note what the League calls each other. They all call each other using Villain names. If the male members of the League are using first names and honorifics for each other, they’ve either gotten extremely close and intimate and weirdly polite, or they’re being possessed by AFO. 

Tip #5.5. Instead of fretting over writing good dialogue right away, just write whatever you need to get a scene over with. You can go back later to change the tone and speaking style of the sentence.

Here’s a line I had for Dabi at first: 

“Whatever hospital he works at should be shut down for incompetency in background checks.”

Wayyy too formal. Here’s the line after I went back and fixed it:

“Whatever hospital he works at should be shut down for being shit at background checks.”

Still not my best shot, but better. Sometimes all you need is just to change a word. 

Tip #6. Humor. The League is ridiculous and hilarious. Always try to have fun with their interactions and antics.

[mikailys]

MCL NewGen Ep 9 Commentary

I poured blood, sweat, tears, and money to finish this episode. I fought my inner demons to convince myself that they didn't deserved my money but here we are: with a concluded episode and me with 30 euros less in my bank account 🥲 As always, this post will obviously contain spoilers under the cut so beware~

Ngl after the disaster of episode 8 I had zero (0) hopes for this new one, I wasn’t even excited after everything that happened last month (e-girl pack, episode 8, Halloween event and so on) but I have to admit, this one surprisingly exceeded my low expectations by a landslide by finally giving some insight on the LIs about time i might say.

But first thing first, the cost. This episode was hella expensive, I spent 2604 aps, of which 1832 were free. I'm following Jason's route so I know it's more expensive than the others but I didn't imagine this much. I genuinely hope the others will be shorter and that this was just an exception given the backstories cause I can't handle every ep being like this 😩

As a Jason's girlie, I was ecstatic about this episode. For once, his presence was well-contextualized, he didn’t come off like a stalker and we weren’t the damsel in distress. I didn’t expect him to start trauma-dumping on Candy so soon, considering they don’t see each other as often compared to the other LIs, but I’m glad we got to know him better. I really hope Candy’s attitude toward him will start to soften 'cause she’s always on guard around him and it’d be nice to see her relax and trust him a little more, especially after the intimate moment they experienced in this ep.

I must admit tho the premise didn't really appeal to me and I was skeptical this would be another silly ep with all the Devenementiel crew doing stuff but luckily it wasn't. It all starts with Devon telling us that, starting the next day, a group of interns will be joining the team and it turns out these are Devon’s younger brothers, Gebril and Joen.

Overall I liked the time spent with them. I agree that there were a lot of unnecessary moments and some parts I could’ve gladly skipped but it was a cute scenario, and finally we get to meet some new characters for a change also idk but Joen's attitude kinda reminds me of Armin oh I miss himm

Since we're here let’s already get to the sore spot of this whole ep: the whole Tasha situation. I don’t care if it’s wrong to have beef with my fictional sister, but I’m honestly speechless at how she and their mom acted during the internship situation. You knew for months that you needed to pick a company for your internship and yet, the night before, you have no plans because you delayed the application?? And now you’re asking me to call up my boss at 8 pm to beg him to include you in the internship that’s supposed to start tomorrow? Are you out of your mind?!?

Also isn’t the whole traineeship supposed to be organized by the school? I’m not sure how it works in France, but I was quite confused—here in Italy the school usually guides you through the process and handles all the paperwork. It’s unusual for students to be left on their own in a situation like this...

And the mom is even worse cause she just says "I don’t want to judge you for how you’re acting with her because if I were in your shoes I wouldn’t know what to do either" like uhmm you’re the mother, not me?? If you knew about this the whole time –and she knew for months– why didn’t she help Tasha earlier? Or better yet, why didn’t Tasha ask us weeks ago instead of the evening before? And yet they’re just chilling while playing cards omg you have no idea how much this stressed me out it's so stupid but yet so infuriating like the fact that they only have a bathroom in a mega villa but whatever i guess.

After we refuse to help her, Tasha mysteriously ends up joining Goldreamz for her internship. I’m honestly confused, once again, about how this happened because the night before no company had accepted her and now suddenly she's got the job?? Did Jason see her candidacy last minute right before clocking out the office? If I missed something pls let me know cause I genuinely can't wrap my head around it lol.

What a way to twist things...

But anyway, I honestly liked this option. I admit I would have never imagined this plot for his route but I’m glad they went this way. I loved seeing Candy’s reaction when Tasha told her about working with "the devil" and I also enjoyed her reactions to the ambiguous conversation between Candy and Jason in his office watch Tasha being the first to get the hints about their situationship lol

Maybe it's for the better, we don't want to let our lil sis know we blew up big time our first solo project.

Once Tasha leaves, Candy asks Jason wtf he’s doing and he assures her that he doesn’t have any ulterior motives. He just thought it would be an amusing situation for both him and Candy. After a quick recap, we get a better understanding of Candy and Tasha's relationship. It seems like there’s a bit of a rivalry/competition between the sisters—something I would have never guessed, considering we've only seen Tasha about three times since the beginning but okay. I only wish to see more of their sisterhood but I guess we won't any sooner since she's going to her father for a while, that sucks.

After some usual bantering, we find out that Jason envies our relationship with Tasha since he’s an only child, which leads him to open up a bit about his past. We learn that he found comfort in solitude, often isolating himself by going out on his father's boat in the middle of the ocean. I admit this was unexpected, I never would’ve guessed he’d be so into the marine world - as we'll see soon in the rowboat scene. It adds a surprisingly nice contrast to his otherwise business-like persona.

Touched by Jason’s childhood story, Candy spontaneously suggests they take a boat ride right then and there, to experience the peace and solitude he felt throughout his childhood. This was a cute gesture from Candy ngl, I thought she would simply nod and listen to his story but no. This is the first time she takes such an important first step with him in their relationship and I'm proud of her.

But, once arrived tho she has to ruin everything destroying the cute little moment...

Oh my God. You strangely enough managed to get him to open up about his difficult childhood and you still can’t help but joke about him being the big bad guy? Ugh I take back whatever I said about you Candy, you're dumb.

Thankfully, Jason doesn’t seem that much bothered by her comment and they get on the rowboat. I was lowkey hoping for a cute moment where he offers her his hand to help her aboard but nope, doesn’t happen. Honestly I’m convinced this is his subtle payback for that insensitive joke, if so props to you J.

Anyway, he starts rowing and soon we find ourselves in the middle of the lake. This is where the heart of the episode unfolds imo. We finally get a glimpse into his family history. Jason opens up about his father, a scientist deeply passionate about the ocean, that tragically passed away shortly before he turned 19.

This is the moment where I truly lost it. I swear, I was a sobbing mess.

Jason’s vulnerability hit me harder than I expected. We already knew about his father, but hearing him tell the whole story was tough. I can barely imagine what he went through at such a pivotal age. The emotional distance between him and his mother after she got remarried definitely played a big role and when you add his strained relationship with his stepfather into the mix, it’s impossible not to feel for him. It's such a tragic backstory, I hope they don’t mess it up from here on out. My pookie deserves better :(

As for the special scene, it wasn't that much but I liked it. Unfortunately, I can't post the screenshots since I’ve hit the limit per post sigh but it was such a sweet and heartwarming moment. It offered a smooth transition from the heaviness of the conversation to their usual playful banter and I really appreciated how it slowly lightened up the mood without taking away from the emotional depth of his story. I have to admit, I wasn’t really a fan of the illustration. The setting and moment were adorable - it totally gave me Rapunzel vibes with all the whimsy and charm - but Jason’s expression feels off, it’s almost like he’s a villain plotting revenge rather than being swept up in the moment lol. Plus his proportions seem a little strange mmh. Candy, on the other hand, looks gorgeous so gg.

And that’s it. Afterwards, Jason accompanies Candy back to her house, reminding her that despite the little walk down memory lane, things haven’t changed between them in his eyes, and he expects the same from her. Oh, and let’s not forget she owes him an intimate story too as if the whole Ioan drama wasn’t enough.

With that, he leaves and the episode ends with Candy having her same old crisis whenever she spends a little time with Jason.

Now, I’m really curious to see if Jason opening up will actually shift things between them or if it’ll stay the same old. At this point, Candy doesn’t have much of an excuse to keep trash-talking him - he hasn’t done anything to harm her or Devenementiel, yet, and he’s actually been there to help her on multiple occasions. I’m hoping she drops the whole “he’s the devil” mindset because he’s honestly shown more support than hostility in the latest eps.

But honestly I can't hide that rn I'm more worried about the next episode. Thomas having an incident was on everyone’s bingo card -even though I didn’t expect it to happen this early- but here we are. I’ve got so much repressed trauma from everything with Lysander that I genuinely have no idea what to expect next 🫠

[izukumidoriyashusband]

I. Midoriya,, confession

—

—

Izuku Midoriya x Male!Reader

Word count: 604

Characters mentioned: Izuku Midoriya

Alternative ending

Part two

note//: All of this is fiction and has nothing to do with the actual characters. I do not claim to own these characters or have made them. This is fiction and for personal entertainment. Thank you and enjoy. NOT PROOFREAD. I apologize for the mistakes. Do not repost anywhere, I do not mind reblogging, please and thank you. (Had to add the bold text and all that I made in Google docs b/c it didn’t transfer over. Didn’t know that.). @izukumidoriyashusband

tw !! : angst, crying, rejection.

Summary:

Izuku has liked you for years, he understands the fact that he’s your best friend and he wouldn’t do anything to ruin that but he just can’t hold his feelings in any longer. Will you accept his feelings or will you shatter his heart? There’s only one way to find out.

Sitting on his bed, Izuku always wondered what was so great about you. Was it the way you style your hair?

Maybe it was the way you walked around the world like you owned it and nobody, and I mean nobody, could tell you otherwise.

Or maybe it was the way you actually gave a shit about him.

You don’t care about how powerful his quirk is.

You’ll still challenge him head on and shit, maybe sometimes you will lose. Other times, you’ve managed to outsmart the boy

‘How do I get rid of this feeling in my chest’ Izuku thinks to himself

‘You tell them.’

Another voice other than his own responds to him.

‘That’s it! I’ll tell them.’

He’s constructed a plan to tell you everything.

Was it better in his head?

It’s 2pm on a Friday. Training took up a lot of the day but for some reason, the UA students had nothing to do now but relax.

“I’ll make my move now,” Izuku whispers to himself.

“Uhh. What move?” Y/N asks in a whisper as well, startling poor Izuku and having him jump back.

“Oh! Uh nothing! I’m just thinking of ways to study better…! Heh.” He responds in a panic, receiving a ‘I totally believe you’ look from you.

“Sureeee. And I’m Batman.” You respond in a very sarcastic tone. The one Izuku loves to hear, it makes his heart skip a beat.

“But um, Y/N?” “That's my name, ‘Zuku.”

“Can I talk to you for a moment? In private? Please?”

Y/N stares at the boy for a moment before giving him a silent nod.

Izuku wastes no time, grabbing Y/N by his wrist and heading outside of the UA building, he receives weird stares from people he passes but he’s too focused on making sure his heart doesn’t jump out of his chest.

When they’re outside, Izuku finds a tree under the shade, he’s breathing heavily and he’s visibly shaking.

He lets go of Y/N’s wrist and takes a deep breath.

“What’s up, bro?”

God that word brings so much pain.

“Well um… Y/N I’ve liked you for so long and no matter what happened, you were always right there. You made me feel like the best person to ever walk the earth and-“

Izuku is too busy talking to notice your wide eyes and how you look almost…disappointed?

“I wanna cherish you forever. I wanna give you the love that no guy ever will. I wanna be the one you come home to. The one who holds you at night when you don’t feel well. I wanna have arguments and the times we forgive each other. I want to have those late night talks with each other about nothing and make it into something, all I wanna say is I love y-!”

“Let me stop you there.” You interrupted his sentence and he takes a look at you finally.

Did you always look this aggravated?

“I’m sorry but you’re only my friend. For fucks sake, I call you my little brother to my friends and family.” Y/N’s tone is no longer warm but cold.

Izuku’s heart. Shattered into two.

‘Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t cry.’ He repeats in his head over and over, drowning out your voice. He cannot bear the rejection, even though he knew it may come.

He runs off in a flash, not wanting to hear it. The last thing he heard from you clearly was you yelling his name.

Izuku is now in his room. Pillow in his chest and crying.

“H-how could I be so stupid..?” He cries into his pillow.

‘How could he ever love me..?’

[messenger-of-stupidity]

10 Redacted ASMR Headcanons

Mainly because I CANT STOP THINKING ABOUT HOW HOT VEGA IS

like... GOD DAMN

No this sadistic fuck is perfect, he can manipulate/mansplain/manslaughter me all he fucking wants. Anyways, onto the content you’re actually here for instead of me thirsting over this fictional character T-T

Redacted Masterlist

---

1) Vega once brought Warden something and sat in the far corner staring at them because he wanted them to wake up to see how they would react. Warden stayed still and pretended to be asleep for three days because he was freaking them out.

2) Guy pretended not to know who Honey was when they were ordering a pizza and he picked up the call to take their order. He thought it was funny but Honey just wanted their fucking pizza for once.

3) When Cutie wants to be Geordi’s head, they’ll make a telephone with their hand and continuously make it ring until Geordi picks up.

4) Every solstice party Angel follows David around asking for him to “turn into a pubby for me, Davey. Pleeeaaseee?” he pretends it’s annoying but he actually finds it cute that Angel is so obsessed with his wolf form.

5) During arts and crafts dates with Baabe, Asher gets too impatient to wait for the hot glue gun to melt the glue stick so he’ll hold a lighter over one end so he can use it like an Elmer’s glue stick instead.

6) Vega dresses nicely but pretends to not know that he’s dressed better than most humans because “ew human customs are gross and icky”

7) Milo will make fun of Sweetheart’s mimic of his accent and it goes around and around until what they’re saying is unintelligible. 

8) Freelancer made some really bad art of Huxley and Damien as a prank and gave it to the two elementals. Damien wanted to tell them that it looked horrible but Huxley made him be nice. To this day it’s hanging up in Damien’s apartment and he absolutely hates it. Gavin was in on the joke and he as well as Freelancer find it absolutely hilarious.

9) Angel’s idea of interior design is finding something on pinterest boards and applying it to one room. All the rooms that David lets Angel decorate have no matching aesthetics with another. It’s kind of like a fever trip.

10) Warden likes the peace gardening has. But the moment you overwater or harm their plants they get severely pissed off and become kinda scary. They’re just a very protective plant parent.

[inseasofgreen]

(holds mic out) Can we have an insight with regards to your naming schemes and how you come up with them? Your collection of names are quite unique, cohesive, and impressive for me!

A lot of tears and vocal stims (only half joking) but yes!! I am one of those readers/writers who adores names “fantasy” names. I will die on the hill that “Overlord Zurkuth” is better than “Overlord Dan”

I’ll going to using my countries Ivaenia, Saevi, Vultis, and Zenier as the examples for this first bit.

So for my name schemes in regards to POTO, a lot of them derive from a the simular letters/sounds. I had in mind that I wanted them to all be variations of the same “language.” A lot like how Latin is. For POTO the language isn’t real (yet) but I wanted it to be believable. As it’s pretty obvious with the country names, a lot of ‘ae’ ‘v’ ‘i”. That’s the kinda back bone of the fictional language, which I then gave their own little spins to. Giving them their own different, but same feel to them. It also helped flesh out the language even more, giving it a lot of S’s and Z’s— which more on that later. As for how I got to the final names, I went through a lot of Generators and found even more sounds I liked. I also looked up different languages and listen to the sounds of their words through google translate. Another big help is dissecting real life words, much like I did with the generator. Even better if they have meanings that a line with said culture. The city Pyros in POTO is ripped straight from pyromaniac. The most associated character with Pryos is Zemorri, who is associated with fire and dragons. Now that I have an even better base of my language, I moved on to Character names.

For this part, I’m going to use Zrato/Irayo, Zaentriaean, Iveaenian, and Oscai names.

So back to my mention of S’s and Z’s. In my little fictional Latin, I decided that S and Z were once the same letter, but as the people who spoke the language moved around the Nite Region, they became two separate sounds and letters. A very weird bit of lore, but it helps tie it all together in my opinion. The Z tends to be used in Vultis the majority of the time, and S everywhere else. Vultis takes a lot of inspiration from ancient middle east, think Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and Persians. So I based their language off of modern day Arabic and Farsi, with a hint of Hindi as Vultis is a very large country (an empire if we’re being real here) and so I wanted different regions to have different vibes. So mixing all of that together, there’s so much to pull from, along with my fictional Latin to help guide me. There’s so much that goes into a Zrato/Irayo name because of how much I pull from, so I’ll go over the more notable names. Obviously, we have Zemorri, which have the “Ze” we see a lot. “Morri” actually came from Momemto Mori because it fit his character arc well. From Zemorri, I got Zevetta, which is a bit more melodic than most of the Zrato/Irayo names, but I ended up giving her region of Vultis more melodic names, so it works in my mind. I also got Xenari, Nazari both following similar melodic vibes. Ivemaar, “i” and “v” fit within the scheme, and “maar” come from the Farsi influence (also apparently means snake.) There’s a few odd ones that I got just some combining random sounds until I got something I liked, that being Qhuirex and Rhiari.

So Zaentriaean names tend to have the typical elf feel. I decided they would favor the “ae” sound, and pretty much ran with that. I did draw inspiration of Valerian names from ASOIAF, because they’re so pretty. As for how I come up with them, I will literally sit and combine all sorts of mashed up words until I think it sounds pretty.

So I actually already had Sciosa as a name from a long ago scrapped wip when I was in middle school, so how I thought of it I couldn’t say. But it did give me some great material for Ivaenian names. I was able to play around with the S and Ci of it, which got me Cyren, Cyn. I love the way “il” sounds and looks, so I combined it with is ‘os’ from Sciosa, and I already had two names with y. So “Ilyos” was born. Ryon is literally just Ryan but I didn’t want to just name him Ryan, and A’s are more Zaentiraeal than Ivaenia, so I swapped the a for o, which is littered through out Ivaenia names. Ivaenia still has some of the Zaentiraeal feel to it, and so some of their names to have “ae.” My thought process is those closest to the kings off dawn king to have more names influenced by the kings of dawn. The further removed, ei. A commoner, or nobility that lives to the north and thus closer to Zenier, the more Zaentriaean their names will be. The Kings of Dawn are often thought of as gods living amoung mortals, and with the common practice of not naming your kid too closely to a god’s name, I can see commoner’s erring onto the side of caution, while nobility who is around the chaotic family, feel like they are on the same playing field. (I have mentioned Nelia and Nae’lia in a previous post but that is the only exception to the practice)

Oscai names! So this one is actually the most straight foward. They’re all Latin, or Latin-esque names. I throw in a few C’s S’s V’s and so on from the other names, but they all derive from Latin.

Okay! I hope this was helpful, I tried to explain my thought process behind it all. It’s really just a bunch of sounds and me sitting at my desk talking gibberish to myself until something sticks. There’s also a lot of world building and lore behind it all which I think plays a big part. But my best advice is find languages, fictional or real, and dissect them into sounds you like. Okay I’m actually done now. I need food.

Good luck!

[separatist-apologist]

Your response to my message about WNGOOS was so interesting, and I hope my excitement didn’t come across as pressure, above everything I support authors writing whatever and whenever they feel like!

But it’s enlightening to hear you talk about how gwynriel fans can get pigeon-holed, and it’s strange to think that elucien doesn’t have the same fanaticism attached when we arguably have more canon characterization for both Elian and Lucien than we do for gwyn and az. And maybe that’s why? They’re easier to project upon because they’re more malleable? But at the end of the day, they’re still fictional and I can guarantee that the same folks who disagree with your interpretation of them will likely be disappointed with SJM’s actual canon characterization of them when the time comes too. It’s a good reminder to take all of this less seriously and enjoy the fandom and the fiction and the plotless smut and the smutless plot! And thank you for writing both so prolifically!! I know for one I read every word you write 😂 and will support you whatever you choose to do!

I think this happens in most fandoms, to be fair. A couple VERY well written fanfictions get dropped that are wildly popular, coupled with just the way people view characters and it shapes the interpretation of a character.

I don't think there is anything wrong with this, just for the record. I come from Star Wars and this runs RAMPANT over there. I think even for well established characters (please no one bully me but like, Dramione comes to mind), people create new thoughts and storylines and attempt to stitch motivations together in a way that makes sense. Other people enjoy them, they build upon them, and it becomes very popular (for a reason!), and a lot of people enjoy it.

Again, I don't want to speak negatively about gwynriels because I like both the ship and the people who ship it- and even within ACOTAR I see this. I see interpretations of Elain ALL THE TIME I'm like, cite your SOURCES, but its popular because people like this interpretation of her motivations, her potential, etc etc.

I also want to say that I think gwynriel as a ship feels difficult to write when you consider all the pieces you need to stitch together. They have a LOT of combined trauma that, when I was working on LIBTM, I found really hard to like...give a voice to? I think there are tons of very talented authors who have done a beautiful job with their characters- far better than I ever managed to- and deserve every inch of attention they've gotten.

And with all that out of the way, I do think if you really love a specific vision of a ship, and a person you like who writes a different ship steps in, you might be hoping to see that vision of it, too. I think for gwynriel especially, there is a lot of pressure to make it loving that also once existed in the elucien ship because of the outside criticisms. So we can't make it vaguely toxic, or enemies to lovers, or even tense because folks come in and are like "SEE EVEN THEIR OWN SHIPPERS THINK-" and I want to say that because I think it adds nuance and layers to how some of this happens.

I have done the same thing. Remember Exile? I wasn't afraid of other eluciens coming in mad at me hahaha. I was afraid of the people who stalk this blog 24/7 so they can write another vague I don't care about (but two years ago I cared SO much) (time doesnt it give some perspective) in which they paint with EXTREMELY broad strokes, as if a fanfiction I wrote is somehow speaking on behalf of every single person in the ship. Sometimes you just want to explore a dynamic, you know?

Anyway- all of this to say that I don't blame the people who felt like that, nor am I trying to victimize myself. A lot of my problems exist inside my own head. It would be a lie to pretend I don't want people to like the things I read, but I also get SO nervous when things get popular in a large way because I feel like I can't deliver the things people want and I'm going to let everyone down.

[onetoomanyyy]

Can you do a relationship/friendship analysis of Nami and Ichiya with all your hcs and beautiful big brain

Okayyy 😋😋

I don’t even mind having to do all this writing because I love sharing my headcanons hehe

(I’ve touched on some amount of this previously, so I will probably skim over certain things.)

Ichiya and Namida met shortly after Ichiya first moved to Inkopolis, and quickly became friends. Ichiya was the first really close friend that Namida had, and while that wasn’t quite the same for Ichiya, he ended up treating Namida a lot better than he had his previous best friend, Beika. (He never really understood that Beika cared for him a lot more than he thought he did, but something about the way things ended between them made him feel as if he didn’t put enough effort into being Beika’s friend.)

Despite the different ways in which they learned to play (Namida with a typical music education and Ichiya being self-taught), they were able to bond over their love for music. Ichiya, who wanted to start a new band in Inkopolis to finally achieve all his rockstar dreams, brought up the idea once they had started regularly playing together. (Their styles didn’t really go together, but Namida’s piano was able to sort of fill in the cracks of Ichiya’s guitar, resulting in a more complete sound.) Namida, who had never considered being in a band but had been longing for something different, gladly agreed and they started up Squid Squad. 

They are best friends!! There’s hardly any canon evidence for this, but hey, there’s also nothing against it. that’s part of the fun of these characters; you get to make up so much stuff for them because you’re given so little. So..they are best friends!! They’re pretty affectionate with one another (mostly initiated by Namida; it took Ichiya a while to get used to it) which led to a lot of their fans speculating that they were dating. Just simple things, like always leaning on each other or bumping shoulders with the other while they were talking. This speculation got to a point where they started doing romantic things in public on purpose to mess with their fans more. (One of the few good things that came out of making a public appearance)

Namida didn’t mind it when Ichiya accidentally made a snide comment or something, which Ichiya greatly appreciated. However, this started to fade from her not minding it to straight up ignoring it, which stemmed from fear of a rift between the two and the already present tensions between him and Ikkan. She later wished that she spoke out more against his actions, which may have prevented things getting as bad as they did so soon. However, Ichiya thought that Squid Squad probably would have fallen apart regardless. Doomed by the narrative and all that

They didn’t see much of each other during the six or so years between the breakup and the formation of Front Roe, but neither of them ever really found a “replacement” for the other.

In the present day, Namida teases Ichiya a lot more, able to recognize his faults and call them out if needed. He feels she’s justified in this, even if sometimes it gets on his nerves. Their relationship was never unhealthy, but it’s definitely healthier now. They’re slowly easing back into being physically affectionate again. They regularly go out to eat together and are no strangers to crashing on each others’ couches. They are best friends !!

Thank you for the ask I always love to talk about my favorite fictional squid musicians :)

[desultory-novice]

CW: Serious but vague talk about the complex feelings associated with the loss of a loved one and mourning - both in Kirby and in real life. Some personal stuff and once more for good measure mentions of death and mourning.

-

I know I don't owe anyone an excuse for my brief absence, but I was completely caught off guard this year when I realized the anniversary of Planet Robobot fell just days before the passing of my own father last year. No surprise I didn't make the connection last year, but it hit me this year and it hit hard.

I know that they're not the fandom's most popular characters ("most hated" may be more like it?) but I feel almost painfully close to the story of Susanna Patrya Haltmann and Max Profitt Haltmann. For I was also a child who was torn between being really mad at my father for his flaws and mistakes while also pining for this idealized parent-child relationship we didn't have, to the point of often spurning the bond we did have because it wasn't going the way I imagined it. I also had to watch close up as he wasted away, his senses going one by one, till he looked more and more like a fading shell of a person.

...You know, I didn't even finish playing PR until last year or maybe the year before? Of course I knew the story spoilers. But I couldn't make myself play it. I finally did because I felt I had to. And I'm glad, even if finishing it left me with a weird sense of sadness. A sense of sadness that finally came full circle a few months later...

I thought I would draw something for the anniversary this year. Something sad, bittersweet, poignant, meaningful. Something akin to a tribute. But my pen just wouldn't move. I don't think I have the words or the visuals to fully express what I felt about it right now. It's why, even though I really do like these two characters, I hardly ever draw them.

It's this closeness that renders them blurry in my vision.

...I suppose I might as well talk about this while I'm here, but I have this ask in my inbox about the Merry Magoland Branch AU. About Joronia and Max and what happens to them after their souls are freed.

'Do they come back to life?'

...God, I've written one thousand answers to that post in my head.

Part of my brain says the "right" answer to give - here on my Kirby blog where every story has a happy ending or at least a chance at salvation no matter how grim - is "of course they come back to life!" The Merry Magoland Branch AU is a sad but cutesy fractured fairy tale of a story where everyone ends up better than they started! Besides, they’re already souls. What else would happen to them? Just quietly go off to rest? That wouldn’t be satisfying!

...

But another part of me looks at "Kirby," a series that has characters who have "died" and come back to life and characters who have died and stayed dead and I feel like, as painful as it is to those such as the Sectaranza shippers and the other fans of of the implied dead cast members...

...they're not coming back. They can't come back. They shouldn't come back. Even in a completely fictional setting, even in a silly AU, it is hard for me, personally, to make myself change what has happened. What has been done. 

Don't get me wrong, I've even scribbled out a few "everyone lives!" scenarios but I've never been able to draw a single one... I tell myself that if a miracle happens and one day I'm scouted to make a Kirby comic or animated series or movie, something where I get to retell the world from the beginning, I would not have it so the "dead" characters die, if only because they are unique enough that I would want them around to use for future stories. Like Moretsu Pupupu Hour, with its funny Sectonia who is literally allergic to peace. Or that one manga I haven't read where Susie and her father run some kind of puzzle store??

But again, that would be a Kirby I had control of from the beginning.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm proud of Kirby the series for not being so grimdark “realism” that Marx, upon blowing up, turns into meat pasta and instead comes back with a smile and laugh to kick exploding jester balls at people all because you waved a magic heart-shaped wand. 

And I'm absolutely content with letting spunky wizard Magolor mercilessly fight his way back through some sort of purgatory dimension and start life over as a medieval salesperson, building up good karma one microtransaction at a time. I think that stuff is important. (Well, not so much the microstransactions.) But I'm also proud of it for letting some characters... not come back. 

Dark Matter Blade is both a badass and strangely attractive (...just me?) for an eyeball made of dark matter but despite the fact that maybe all he wanted was friends, despite the fact that it's implied he rescued Gooey from Dark Matter and hid him on Popstar to protect him from Zero, despite the fact that he should have become a good guy and was instead used heartlessly by Zero like ammunition, losing the few marks of individuality he'd been able to keep thus far (his hair and armor and cape) he's just gone. He'll never join the others on Popstar. Never enjoy the warmth of a spring day or get to be a sibling to Gooey. He'll never even get to explain things to poor Gooey that they ought to know, and he was probably the only one who could.

It's tragic. It's upsetting. It's unfair.

And it's...important, much as I hate to say it.

Dess secret... but I actually get a little mad when people want Taranza to "...hurry up and find a new girlfriend and stop being in mourning all the time" because... I think it's okay for Kirby to have "a character who is in mourning." I suppose there's no real reason he can't be "character who was in mourning who was able to find love again" but I also kind of like that he's THERE as a character for anyone who has lost a loved one and is still sad about it. For those who haven't begun rebuilding their life just yet.

Gooey is the one who lost someone without every really knowing what he had/could have had. Susie is the one who lost someone and also has to get back to work because that's a real thing too.

I didn't really mean to talk about death and mourning in Kirby (for a second time) but I think part of me had to as well. At least if I was ever going to go back to regular posting. I don't even really feel as if I even captured everything there was to say. Like I said, I don't really have the words. 

But, yeah, anyway, if you've ever seen me politely push back when someone brings up Susie or Max discourse of the negative variety on my blog, hopefully you have a slightly better understanding as to why I respond the way I do.

[seraphirism]

Hello, 🐈‍⬛anon is here!!

Sadly, I don't have really an opportunity and mental strength to give akuneko enough time, work's taking a lot from me☹️I still didn't even read the Butler's Wedding Party, I'm so far from the fresh events, gosh... I guess I'll have to force myself to catch up otherwise I'm scared that I won't be able to do so and the game will be closed by the time I'll have enough time (sorry for the dark thought I just was scarred by how Senjuushi was closed TWICE and I didn't had enough time to at least read the main story😭)

Anyway, I'm really hyped up for the Sanrio Collab Halloween!! Very interested to know what happened that sanrio pookies suddenly came to the world of our butler pookies (is it bc the third ultimate bbgirl of this title Bellen woke up?/j)

hii, 🐈‍⬛–anon (*^▽^*)!! hope you’ve been doing well!

I totally get it. since the summer event (the cruise one) i haven’t been too active as well 😭 i just login from at least once in two-days so i can collect enough gems (the ones needed to unlock memories of the butlers in the album).

and I’d say many of the events are filler content with lore dropped in small bits. they’re not extremely connected so you wouldn’t be missing out on much if you read the recent events for now and leave the previous ones.

god, don’t scare me, 🐈‍⬛–anon 😱 aknk won’t end it’s services ✨ it’s doing very well (like its always on top 15 or above in rankings) so it should be very unlikely (devs, please don’t think about it 🙏)

you played senjyushi too?! I played it as well \(//∇//)\, not the older one but the Rhodoknight one that ended its services this year. it put me in such a slump when it ended its services. i knew it wasn’t doing the best (it was literally 31 in ranking 😭) but god i loved it too much.

i started playing it a month after the new game launched. what got me into it was Snider 😔💖

I have gotten obsessed with fictional characters from time to time (quite a few i can name) but very few can hold a candle to how i liked Snider ✨ (i read his entire affection story from the older game and my obsession became deeper.)

i literally had every single card of his besides his Halloween card (the purple themed one) + his first anniversary card. i didn’t spent a dime on the game but I grinded hard enough to have all his cards, unlock all event stories of his + anything with him. plus, of course besides Snider, i loved UK’s faction, Kathariste and France’s faction a lot 💞!

I didn’t get to read the last few updates of the main story either 😭 i read till the introduction of the third part of the main story right before the bomb dropped for Like-two—and then they announced EOS and it made me so depressed. Senjyushi R was the reason i tried to learn japanese—it was my favourite game. before senjyushi, afterl!fe had also ended its services so senjyushi was another blow to me.

but I’m glad it’s getting a switch release! better something than nothing! as much as i regret the fact that the story will end and i won’t ever get see Mark, Like-two, Jitte, George, Snider, Enfield and so many more characters again with new content again, I’ll have to satiate myself with what i have 😔

i literally started akuneko because i didn’t have another game to obsess over after senjyushi. i also left akuneko two years ago because i wasn’t able to focus on senjyushi with akuneko 😭 it’s my rebound partner.

back to akuneko, I’m excited as well for the collab! I’ll read the event story in the weekend if i can make time. silent hill 2 remake was released too so I also want to play that (or at least watch the play through 🌫️)

you know, you’ve stated the best reason for sanrio pookies coming into the aknk world—it’s the awakening of the ultimate baby-girl, Bellen. I’m not accepting the reason the writers will choose in the event story—the actual reason in my heart will always be the awakening of Bellen 💞

[ceciliatan]

Are we in a Golden Age of Queer & Trans SF/F?

Hello and welcome to another ctan monthly update! It’s Pride Month, so today let’s talk about queer science fiction and fantasy. First some housekeeping: Mailchimp has been driving me nuts, with the newsletter sometimes displaying so tiny on mobile devices it was illegible. I’m trying on a new template today, with new fonts. Please let me know if this one looks better to you (or worse!) than before so I can keep improving it. Second, my apology this is a bit later than I intended, but I had knee surgery on Wednesday and as you can imagine it’s put a bit of a cramp into my schedule. I’ve discovered I would rather have my knee hurt and my brain work than be “pain free” but feel seasick from narcotics. Apparently opioids are not my friends! Bleah. And now to my slightly linkbait-y topic: are we in a “Golden Age” of queer and trans SF/F? Yes, yes we are, end of essay. Just kidding, of course I’m going to explain WHY my answer is yes. For the SFWA Nebulas Conference this month, I had proposed this question as a panel topic and was highly gratified it got chosen—even better, they let me moderate the panel, and SFWA populated it with a terrific slate that included Jordan Kurella, Charlie Jane Anders, Zabé Ellor, and L.P. Kindred. (I had also proposed “are we in a golden age of Asian SF/F?” which I also believe has a yes answer, but that one didn’t make the slate, so I’m trying to arrange it as a Zoom panel for later this summer for Capricon’s online programming. Stay tuned.) Jordan unfortunately had to miss the Nebs, so the other four of us soldiered on without him. One terrific thing about the slate of panelists is we had basically three generations represented. (If only we’d had a Boomer, we could have had four generations!) We each had different entry points to SF/F. So when I asked “Who was the first character in SF/F you read who you knew was queer?” we had four drastically different answers. Illustrating how far we’ve come: I, the Gen X “elder” on the panel, was the only one whose answer was a villain. Back when, it was a common trope to make a villain “extra evil” by slapping a coating of sexual deviance on them. Baron Harkonnen in DUNE was the first “gay” character I encountered. If only I’d stumbled upon Samuel R. Delany before Frank Herbert, eh? I didn’t get to Delany until I was in college. The first positive depiction of a gay character I could think of I read around 1990, in Ellen Kushner’s lovely book Swordspoint (Amazon, Bookshop), but the gay relationship between Alec and St. Vier is so delicately written there’s a kind of plausible deniability about it. But at least they’re both main characters—heroes, even! That book remains one of my faves to this day. Swordspoint was published in 1987, and right after I read it, another important book was published, Uranian Worlds, a bibliography compiled by Eric Garber and Lyn Paleo. Billed as “A Guide to Alternative Sexuality in Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror,” the book had first been published in 1980, and by 1990 needed a new edition because so many examples had to be added. Uranian Worlds was a complete bibliography of EVERY short story, book, or novella that included EVERY bit of representation of LGBTQ characters in sf/f/h for nearly fifty years… and it was only 280 pages long. Think about that. The editors of Uranian Worlds had scoured literature for every possible inclusion, small presses as well as large ones, queer lit mags as well as Asimov’s, for decades. And what they came up with just barely filled one not-that-big book. Nowadays, we have that much queer sf/f/h being published every year. If that ain’t a Golden Age, what is? The panel also talked about who the first SF/F writers were who we knew were queer or trans: for me it was Samuel R. Delany and Rachel Pollack (Rest in Peace, Rachel!) Now, I know more than I can count just from among my Twitter mutuals—and that’s not even counting the hundred-or-so queer writers I edited at Circlet Press! But speaking of writers being out. We discussed whether an author “owes” it to the audience to come out. Short answer: no. If you missed the discourse a few years back about “the helicopter story,” I won’t recap it here, but suffice to say it was just one high-profile example of an author being attacked online for apparently either being insufficiently “out” or not “visibly” conforming to audience notions of queerness, resulting in the author being treated like some kind of interloper or exploitative outsider…. which they might not have been. At this panel was the first time I felt there was consensus in the room that harm has been been done to queer and trans writers (by members of our own communities!) with the incessant questioning of “authenticity” and the demands on the public baring of identity. We’ve sharpened our knives to attack the systems that oppress us, but we can all too easily turn them on each other if/when we judge someone is “part of the problem.” As LP succinctly put it: we have to allow writers some grace. Zabé made an excellent point: you can’t treat sexual identity marginalizations exactly the same way you treat other marginalizations. Sexuality and gender are fluid, complex, and changing. There’s a huge difference between a white author pretending to be an author of color “for clout,” and an author who is in the closet or in transition writing about queer characters as a way to figure out their own sexuality or explore their identity. Charlie Jane mentioned that she and I know multiple writers who started out looking like “straight women getting off on writing about gay men” who are living as gay men now. Give people grace. Not everyone has the same safety, opportunity, or self-awareness to be “out.” In the late 80s and early 1990s, right after Swordspoint we had a small spate of queer flowering in SF/F, with Melissa Scott and Tanya Huff and Mercedes Lackey (Vanyel is the ultimate “bury your gays” trope, though…!) and others. Book publishing in the 1990s also went through a pro-diversity spasm, self-castigating about being too white, and SF/F being too male-dominated, as well. There was much talk about trying to diversify the writers being seen in anthologies, in best-of lists, and on award nomination slates. But the writers couldn’t just appear out of thin air. Not then. But they can now. We literally conjure them out of the aether—the Internet. What’s different now that has led to such increased numbers of queer and trans writers, but also the vastly increased representation of authors of color? It’s the Internet. The same Internet that is problematic as described above, nonetheless allows marginalized writers a visibility we wouldn’t have otherwise. It means that, for example, Hugo awards nominators can discover writers somewhere other than on a bookstore retail shelf. Editors can find and “meet” writers somewhere other than within New York publishing’s white-dominated cocktail circuit. This time when 21st century diversity initiatives have been launched, thanks to the power of the Internet, the writers and editors who emerged have been able to network and build a privilege structure of our own. Some of that happens with the help of SFWA, with things like the AAPI or BIPOC meetups at the Nebulas, and sometimes it happens with us building our own email lists, Discords, online magazines, anthologies, you name it. Instead of backsliding when the industry loses interest in the latest diversity “fad”, we’ve been able to keep expanding the opportunities for each other, to keep pulling each other up the ladder. It’s still not as strong or wide-reaching as some “old boy networks” out there, but SFWA itself is a far more diverse and welcoming place than it was in the 20th century, and the Nebulas conference really demonstrated that. There was much more said on the panel, of course, including what the four of us would consider a Platinum Age to be. (Btw, if you register as a Nebulas online attendee, btw, you can see the archived videos of all the panels from this year’s conference, including ours, and also participate in SFWA online programming all year round.) One final thought: it’s worth remembering that not only is this proliferation of queer and trans voices in the sf/f genres a massive improvement over 35, 25, or even 15 years ago, it’s also happening at the same time as a ton of book banning and book burning all across the USA. In fact, I believe book banning is so hot right now BECAUSE there are so many books coming out that don’t conform to the heterosexual conservative norms. SF/F has always been a place to dream of being different, and the genre is finally realizing its subversive potential. In the 1980s and ’90s we used to march through the streets chanting “We’re here, we’re queer, get used to it.” It feels to me like within the SF/F world, people finally have. DGC Vol 4 is live! Another month, another new edition! Volume 4 (of 13) is now live in Kindle Unlimited. In book 4, Moondog 3 hits the road for a major cross country tour and Daron must contend with a homophobic opening act, a budding friendship/attraction with a rock journalist, and the inexorable magnetism of Ziggy pulling him into his orbit every night on stage. READ IT NOW IN KU: https://amzn.to/3VuJvxN AND DGC VOL 1 is now WIDE! Book one is now on sale at various other outlets besides Amazon, although check out the “A+ content” I’ve added to the Amazon page, snazzy, no? Find vol one on Bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble paperback, Barnes & Noble Nook, and request the ebook to libraries through Overdrive. OR ADD IT TO YOUR GOODREADS TBR: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9447189-daron-s-guitar-chronicles WIP Report I’m excited to report that one of the short stories I wrote while trying to get my brain back in gear after I had COVID in September has sold to Julia Rios for Worlds of Possibility! The title is “This Goodly Frame, The Earth,” which is a Shakespeare quote because I failed to think of anything else and Shakespeare is a good plan B. It’s about intergenerational diaspora trauma among the women of a filipina-american family, eldest daughter syndrome, and what happens when a ship full of humans that can bend space and time returns to an Earth in climate crisis far sooner than expected. It’s kind of hopepunk, I guess? Meanwhile, Windmark, a.k.a. “the unexpected dragon book,” has passed 50,000 words, but I feel like I’ve barely gotten out of act one? But I’m notorious for misjudging how far into a book I actually am. Until I’m actually done I really can’t tell you where the act breaks or beats are. I just know when it is done, then it will be obvious. A wisecracking nonbinary power bottom just showed up to boss around the hero (from the bottom, of course) and is in danger of taking over the story. I think I’m having the problem that both my main characters are suppressing their emotions so much because of the past trauma that made them hate each other, that they are coming across kind of flat and all the secondary characters seem much more colorful and interesting! Clearly something has to crack soon… I’m also having the problem that I’ve set up a really misogynistic culture, which means our heroine and all the female characters are very much living under a constant threat of sexual violence. I know we’re in the post-Game of Thrones era, which was rapey as all get out, but I really did not set out to write what is essentially female body horror with this book. I sidestepped the issue in The Prince’s Boy by having no female characters… except in the end there is the body horror once the villain comes into physical contact with our heroes. I have to figure out where this one is going to land and how exactly my heroine is going to come into her power. It’s funny, I had half convinced myself to just write another all-male cast book… and then this female-bodied character put her foot down and demanded to be written. So I just have to figure out how to do her justice. AND NOW PHOTOS FROM THE NEBULAS CONFERENCE Met Nghi Vo in real life for the first time! Many Circlet Press alums were at the Nebs (and Moniquill won one!) Caught up with David D. Levine (another Circlet alum), here with Vela Roth and Amy Young-Leith (and me)  With Kate Pennington. Who knows a lot about whales!  And SB Divya. And I have way more photos than this but this is enough picspam, don'tcha think? Tour Dates & Upcoming Appearances 2024: - July 11-14: Readercon, Boston area - August 7-11: SABR National Convention, Minneapolis - October 16-20: World Fantasy Con, Niagara Falls 2025: - January 17-20: Arisia, Cambridge, MA (new hotel: Hyatt Cambridge) - March 12-15: ICFA, Orlando, FL - August 13-17: Worldcon in Seattle, WA Upcoming Cons Readercon last year was a really great time, with a very good outdoor hangout area that turned into a nonstop literary green room party. I just got my schedule and it looks like tremendous fun. July 11-13 in Quincy, Massachusetts (just a few miles south of Boston proper). My reading will be on Thursday night. Should I read from the unexpected dragon book? Or the hopepunk story? Or something smuttier? Hmmm......  Parting Thoughts Okay, no book recs this time, but I will leave you with a link to one recipe, because it is strawberry season here in New England, and that means it is strawberry PIE season, as well. It’s also the season when fresh basil starts showing up in the farmer’s market. Some years ago I took the idea for a dessert we often see: a sort of dessert salad of strawberries served cut up with chopped basil, with a dressing made of balsamic vinegar and maple syrup, but I made it a pie instead. Find the whole recipe at my blog: https://blog.ceciliatan.com/archives/2412 By next month maybe I’ll have read some of the books in my pile and will have some recommendations… I have to finish the proofs and edits on Daron’s books 11, 12, and 13 first, though! Until then! -ctan Read the full article

[danganronpasurvivoraskblog]

Probably because the main takeaway people get from Survivor is how much agony the villains can be subjected to by the Anons.

Not to mention Kuripa and how he deals with villains also meant that when it came to assigning jobs to the various Mods/Important Anons in the Afterlife, you got to be the Punisher.

I mean I find it funny that I’m supposed to be in charge of food and drinks, because while I haven’t deeply explored RA’s powers, one of them is the ability to possess people but it comes with drawbacks. One of them being due to being dead, RA can forget about basic biological functions so she ends up accidentally neglecting those she is possessing. Breathing is something bodies do automatically but it’s common for her to forgo sleep, drink and sleep.

But look at it two ways. Firstly you aren’t torturing people on your own as I’m sure you have Rpg Anon as your torture assistant, and this means any villains/antagonists you hate will fear the ever mighty out of you.

//Zetsubou are mainly symbolic of the idea that some people are just rotten and CAN’T change. It’s a sad reality, but that’s why they’re so important as villains due to what they represent.

//Tsumugi and Celeste are the two prime examples of this. Tsumugi was transported to another world where her fiction was reality, and Celeste was given a second life after her death in the killing game.

//They both got given a second chance to live their lives and do better. But they both chose not to take it. And the same can be said for most of Zetsubou’s ranks.

//Also, as important as he is to the story, and even though he has often proven to be right in some regards, there are two things to note about Kuripa:

Kuripa does believe in redemption. It’s only the worst kinds of criminals, LIKE Zetsubou, who he knows have refused to turn over a new leaf in favor of being evil, that he puts to the slaughter.

It is repeatedly enforced throughout Survivor that Kuripa’s actions are NOT CORRECT, regardless of the justification behind it. At the end of the day, his vigilante actions make him just as much of a monster as the people he puts to the chopping board, as seen through his crazy outbursts. He himself is not a sympathetic character either, especially since his way of showing affection is acting like an ass.

//And yeah, for emphasis on the point, abusing Zetsubou is something I just let my anons do, not something I actively encourage. Sometimes I even don’t answer asks about it because at this point, I’m so burned out by it.

//Above all else, I just value people expressing themselves and doing and asking what they want to do, as long as it’s within reason and doesn’t cross any notable lines such as hurting people IRL.

//Which is more than I can say for some people.

-Mod

[my-mt-heart]

Les Caryl

Not wishful thinking. Not a ruse. Carol is coming back, and I’m grateful. Mainly, to Melissa McBride for everything she’s given us over the years and for everything she’s willing to give us in order to keep telling Carol’s story. It’s easy to see how much of her heart and soul has gone into this character, and I never want to take that for granted. We all have different reasons for loving Carol, but I think a lot of us draw inspiration from watching an underdog like her turn into the hero everybody needs. It’s been nice to see that mirrored in our fight over the past year to remind AMC how imperative she is to TWDU’s success. 

Whether you participated in blitzes, sent letters, spammed AMC’s/TWD’s social media accounts, or just kept Carol in the conversation on your own terms, you persevered just like she did and now you’re reaping the rewards just like she better will. It just goes to show that when people come together to support a female lead with as much talent and grace as Melissa, that and a little bit of hope can make a huge impact. 

For anyone who didn’t have hope or didn’t want to set themselves up for more disappointment, that’s more than fair. Maybe yesterday’s confirmation will give you something to look forward to again. Nothing is ever guaranteed, but if you find comfort in these characters, it’s perfectly okay to let yourself feel that too. Love what you love.

I know there are some who wanted Melissa to just walk away and leave Norman/AMC in the dust, but unlike Carol, she isn’t a fictional character. We aren’t entitled to her relationships with other people, so we just have to trust she knows how to navigate them on her own. Like I mentioned earlier, landing new roles comes with its own set of challenges regardless of one’s reputation or talent. Casting is a meat market and options for actresses over 35 are limited, especially when execs want to factor in their hair color (because how can they appeal to men 18-49 if they have gray hair 🙄) or their social media presence (because if they’re not active on Twitter, what audience will they bring 😑) All of this is to say, it’s perfectly reasonable for Melissa to choose another path, and no, it doesn’t mean she’s gritting her teeth while she does it. I’m comfortable believing she’s happy to co-lead Caryl’s show. I mean, you saw that smile, right?

I realize that at the end of the day, we’re all just trying to do right by someone we admire, which is tricky from our vantage point because it’s so easy to treat her like she belongs to us, and we have to keep reminding ourselves that she does not. I can’t speak for anyone else, but for me, the intention of campaigning in Melissa’s name was to leave the door open for her to come back on her own terms. If she’s getting everything she wants, if she’s being treated with the respect she deserves, then that’s a win in my book. If this whole ordeal motivates AMC to create a better work environment for all their female talent/employees going forward, even better. 

I know this isn’t news, but I’m still going to hold off on watching the show until Carol comes back and if that sounds biased, let me stop you right there. Let’s put aside the BTS fuckery for a second. Let’s ignore the fact that Carol and Melissa are the ones who got the short end of the stick and need my support the most right now. Not only does S1 sound unappealing to me, it actually hurts too much to think about the ways Daryl’s character has been used for personal gain rather than story integrity, which pretty much guarantees a retcon no matter how long it lasts or how drastic it is. His growth over the past 12 years was some of the best I’ve seen on any show let alone TWD, and I want to preserve the version of him I was drawn to in the first place, the version three out of four showrunners actually took the time to nurture. This version. If it’s all just a marketing ploy, trying to target Carylers’ biggest fears to relieve them later, well, I can’t support that either. Caryl fans have been put through enough over the years, especially in the last season, and I think it’s wrong to try to manipulate them into settling (and paying) for less than what they really wanted. 

Do I think we can still get something worthwhile in S2? Yes. I just don’t want to risk torturing myself to get there. Anyone who’s read my blog for a long time knows I would generally give the show the benefit of the doubt because I assumed the payoff would come sooner or later. Needless to say, it didn’t. I know why it didn’t and I hope those issues have been properly dealt with, but if I want to maintain that Caryl/Carol are important for viewership, then I need to watch and subscribe for Caryl/Carol. If I want Melissa to get the pay hike she deserves, then I need to tune in when she’s on my screen, not before. I do trust her judgement for what it’s worth, and I want to look forward to S2 provided there are no irreparable damages beforehand and TPTB put their audience first, meaning they deliver on the promises they made.

The biggest promise, UNAMBIGUOUS CANON, is crucial for story integrity, character growth, and representation. It shouldn’t be a huge undertaking when the chemistry can practically write itself. Daryl and Carol never have nor ever will need gimmicks to keep me invested. 

While we wait for Caryl to reunite, I hope the fandom can start to heal and get back to spreading endless love for one of the greatest ships on television. I’ll never stop mourning the loss of the spinoff we were supposed to have, and part of me still hopes we can get it back someday. But I’ll hope for the best on the show we’re getting right now. Caryl deserve it, Melissa deserves it, and the fans deserve it. 

[whinlatter]

Hello! I just read the latest chapter of Beasts and I am, once again, blown away by your skill. I don’t usually read fics in the HP fandom (not sure why, to be honest- there are so many good ones!) but yours are far and away my favorite of the works I have read. (Re: Beasts, I would like to note that your portrayal of Hermione is dead-accurate and delightfully layered. I appreciate the kindness with which you write her, as neither a saint nor a monster— just a deeply traumatized teenage girl.)

I’m not sure if you dispense writing advice on here— if not, feel free to ignore the following— but if you are, I would love some pointers! I’m sure part of it is my anxiety talking, but I find whatever I write to be irritatingly juvenile. You do such a wonderful job of bringing nuance to your works, and I’d appreciate any guidance you have for amateur writers looking to take their fics to the “next level,” so to speak. Also, on a broader level, any tips you have about nailing characterization would be very welcome. I know the ultimate answer to my questions is simply “time and practice,” but I have a genuine desire to improve, and I figure there’s something I can do to hurry the process along.

In the interest of not wasting your time, I’ll wrap it up here. Many, many thanks!

Oh man, I’m blown away by this comment, are you kidding me? Thank you so so much. You really don’t know how much that means to hear (saving this to look back on on a rainy low self-esteem day).

On writing advice... I'm always a bit hesitant about offering writing advice, even though I have benefited so so much from other people’s advice over the years in lots of different ways (probably because I suspect few of us ever really see our own work very clearly). This is also sort of hypocritical of me because I literally teach (non-fiction) writing as part of my job, lol, but maybe this is my imposter syndrome syndroming.

Anyway, I’ve been thinking a lot about this question since you sent this, and wanted to say something that might be useful. I actually ended up going back to the (very bad) fanfiction I wrote about 15+ years ago for another fandom (I will not be linking this here lmao), to see what I do differently now and what I’d gotten better at. This was both a very unsettling but also very cathartic process, lol, because I think I’ve gotten a lot better since then (though, truthfully, it couldn’t have gotten much worse).

So, having done that, I’ve tried to put some writing advice and reflections and thoughts below that I think I’ve learnt since I first started writing and that I feel I’ve found out the hard way (by getting it wrong first time around). My points below are more ‘what I admire in other people’s work and ‘what I would like my writing to do’ rather than me thinking I do all these things well all the time, especially on the nuance and characterisation questions. Some are going to sound super obvious but I definitely did not know them once and have definitely had to work to learn all of them, so I really hope they’re useful to you all the same.

Having now sat down and read my truly truly dire past fanfiction (which has a lot of reviews on it telling me, in no uncertain terms, how and why the work sucked), I think these are the things I wish someone had told me or the things I've learnt after a long long time of getting it extremely wrong...

Writing should answer a question, or a series of questions. I think the big shift from the fanfiction I used to write is that I would start from the premise of ‘I want to write these two characters in X setting’ or ‘I want to fill in Y missing moment’. It’s not that these are bad premises - often, fic ideas start this way - but there needs to be a step after this idea before the writing happens, which is the ‘what question would this answer and what would the answer be’. To give an example, for Orchards I always wanted to write a Harry/Ginny summer teenage love story, but I never really thought of it as answering a question, and so every version I could imagine doing of it was unsatisfying. It was only when I realised the question I had was how does someone fall in love and not realise it (and, I guess, and what do they do when they’ve realised it too late?) that I was like ohhh ok, the fic needs to answer that question, and the conceit is how do we get from A (not being in love) to B (falling in love, but not knowing it) to C (knowing it, and being tormented by knowing it). The later layers the fic took on and that I now like so much - flashbacks, use of the future tense to switch to a period where Harry knows he’s in love but can’t do anything about it - all came after that realisation, and I think the fic is more satisfying for me as a writer because it answers a question I had always had in the back of my mind but hadn’t made conscious.

Show, don’t tell - so, signpost, but give the reader credit. Work that I really admire and take the most from is work that doesn’t beat the reader around the head with the point of each scene. You don’t need to tell the reader how x character is feeling. ‘Ginny felt angry because she thought Hermione was being dismissive of other people’s feelings’ - that’s a note to yourself as a writer more than it needs to be expressed so obviously written to the reader. On a first draft, maybe you need that line to be written out as you figure out how characters are feeling in that scene - that’s completely fine. But as you edit, think of ways you can show that kind of emotional response without coming out and straight up saying it. Try to cut lines that state emotional responses so starkly and jarringly, because they take the reader out of the flow of the scene. How might Ginny as a character show she’s pissed off in ways that are legible to the reader (especially a reader of fanfiction, who is familiar with her)? How can we show Hermione being dismissive (not making eye contact, for instance, or saying curt, dismissive statements that shut down the conversation). This relates to the next point which is… 

Make the setting work for you - or even let it be a character in its own right. It’s rare in any form of fiction writing that the setting or the activities around characters are incidental. This is especially true for HP, where the author uses the setting throughout to both build a sense of atmosphere but also parallel/symbolise the dynamics of the scene at hand, like little winks to the reader. The weather is often the most obvious way of doing this. As the author, you play god - the weather is exactly what you want or need it to be to best serve the scene. That doesn’t mean necessarily happy scene has to = sunny, or sad scene = rain,, but it could mean torrential rain = huge release of something pent up that’s been building for hours (think of the rain pounding on the tent when Harry and Ron have their screaming match in DH - it’s like a fourth character in that scene), or too-hot sun = rising pressure, huge discomfort, feeling prickled and angry and trapped with no shade (think of Harry at the start of OotP, in the heatwave). It doesn’t have to be weather, either. If you want to show how a character is guarded, struggling to let another character in, why not have them have the conversation hovering in a doorway, with the door partly closed? If you want to write a scene where two characters are thinking about their future together and really getting somewhere emotionally, why not have them have the conversation in a moving car, heading towards a meaningful destination (you could even have the instigator of the conversation in the literal driving seat, if you want to suggest dynamics of control or maturity). These are just examples, obviously, but the writing I really admire does this so well (and rewards re-reads for that reason).

Find a motif or a hook. This is more a personal preference, but I love reading pieces of writing that have a clear framing. The post-war summer fic I’ve been working on for nine thousand years lol only really started coming quicker once I finally found a conceit - an image, really - that worked for me (the fic is called Rubble, and the conceit is: how do you literally build a house that is a family home, as a way of thinking about rebuilding after the war, told around the Weasleys as a family). For Orchards, there are a few motifs: ‘the truth’ as a character; ‘truth or dare’ as a game, but also as a metaphor for Harry and Ginny’s early love story, and Quidditch (love is a quaffle). In Beasts, I have motifs and hooks that I hope to stretch over the entirety of the fic, not least this idea about beasts and beings and the hubris and the monstrousness of the wizarding world - I wanted to write a postwar fic for a long time, but I didn’t have a conceit that allowed me to get at the type of story I wanted to tell for ages. Within each chapter, I also like to have a little motif: so chapter two it was ‘coming back’, chapter three it was sleep and dreams, chapter four it was the soul/what makes a person who they are, chapter five was the sea. Some of these were more successful than others lol, but it helps me to fashion and discipline a piece when writing and when editing/cutting to think: everything in this piece, in some loose way, needs to link back to this theme I’m trying to thread through.

Make sure people sound/think/behave like people. I’ve put points specifically about characterisation below, but this is a more general point: characters shouldn’t sound like generic talking points, they should sound like real people putting together sentences. I think in fanfiction writing, because we often want to resolve flaws in characters, write about characters we love and admire, or want them to have the difficult conversations or hard confessions that they don’t do in canon, we sometimes can both idealise them and make them sound like very self-aware consistently compassionate angels who are experts at expressing exactly how they’re feeling in extremely emotionally healthy and communicative ways. It would be nice if our characters all did that, sure! But what makes for immersive, compelling writing is when characters try and struggle and fuck up and live their flaws, and sound like real living breathing failing growing people.

You probably need to lose the last line. The last line of a fic is important, but sometimes you can lose a reader who’s been with you the whole time with a clumsy last line or one that’s excessively cheesy or overly summarising or just seems like an afterthought because you wrap up. I say this as a real mea culpa because I still suck at last lines, but the best advice I have gotten on this is, if in doubt, cut the last line you were going to go with, lol. Let the scene end without the line you think is a great summative profound line or something reassuring or overly comforting for the reader. I am definitely still learning this (the end line of chapter four of Beasts I’m still considering cutting or editing severely lol - it’s too on the nose for my taste, and I don’t love it), but the last lines I do like most are always the most minimalist, sparse, simple, or even abstract. basically - if it sounds like chat gpt could write your last line (chat gpt loves an on-the-nose happy ending - eg. ‘Hermione knew it was all going to be ok after all’) then go back to the drawing board.

Embrace critique. This is a very subjective one, especially for writing fanfic. Writing fanfic is a rich and rewarding hobby but I recognise that it is a hobby and a source of pleasure, so lots of people prefer not to get constructive critique. I’m actually being a bit hypocritical here as I don’t currently have a beta for fic writing, but I do have a brutal self-editing process (oh, the scenes and sentences I’ve cut!) and I have spent the last decade of my life in academic writing and sharing my work-in-progress written work over and over and over again, often for a couple of hours every few weeks in front of a room of people more senior and much smarter than me all with my written work printed out in front of them ready to tell me what I got wrong and what I need to change or get better at, lol. This has been bruising to say the least, but it 100% has made me a better writer and disabused me of a lot of the bad habits I picked up when starting out, and kicked the ego out of me thinking I didn’t need to edit and draft and re-draft everything several times. I’ve also spent a long time reading and editing and responding to other people’s work, in the same way, and that’s also been super productive to help me think about how to better communicate written ideas, fiction or non-fiction. So I think real improvement and growth in your writing has to come from getting a thick skin and being able to take critique from people you respect, who are constructive not destructive, and who believe in your talents, your right to show them, and want to see your work presented in the best possible way.

On characterisation specifically...

Look for similar scenarios in the books and see how the character reacts to those. I go back to canon a lot to find plots that are analogous to the plots I’m writing to see how characters physically and verbally respond to them. My thought processes are like, Hermione and Ginny in conflict? Head to HBP when they clash over Harry and Sectumsempra to see how they fight lol. Need to write a Weasley ensemble scene? Head to Goblet of Fire Burrow chapters pre-world cup to see the family dynamics in full swing, and see how the text conveys warmth and love between the characters, while also attending to power dynamics and changing/fractious relationships, down to the adverbs used to describe how people speak, how they physically occupy the space. (I used this chapter a lot when writing the beach day scene for the latest chapter of Beasts, because I knew I was going to have a scene that in part shows how Bill operates an older brother, especially how he deals with his parents and Percy, but also how to distinguish Bill from Charlie when they’re often characters that can get blurred together a bit as ‘the older ones’.) I’m doing this a ton with Hermione atm, because I think she sometimes exists in fanon differently to how she appears in canon and I didn’t want to just assume I knew her speech patterns based on reading a lot of fanfiction about her, but also because Hermione, unlike Ron, doesn’t have her existential crisis within canon but probably (I suspect) has a post-war reckoning that speaks on insecurities and traumas that do occur within the canon text. So if I’m looking at Hermione struggling to relate to the student body, I need to go back to the canon text and find moments where some of those dynamics were already starting to come into play (eg. Hermione not getting Quidditch, Hermione’s responses to Neville telling them what life was like under the Carrows, Hermione’s relationship with other girls in her year eg. Lavender and Parvati).  

Relatedly: look at how characters that are similar to each other react to certain scenarios if you don't have enough evidence of how one character might behave. I decided with Beasts that, while Harry and Ginny are not the same person, they are characters that often react in certain situations similarly, so if I don’t have an example of how Ginny herself would respond to a certain situation (eg. injury in Quidditch), I can use Harry’s response as a bit of a guide for what Ginny would be like. That scene in chapter two where Harry and Ginny discuss her going back to Hogwarts actually borrows lines from Dumbledore and Harry’s conversation in the purgatory King’s Cross after Harry’s ‘death’ - ‘I have to go back, don’t I?’ ‘That’s up to you’ - because although Ginny deciding to go back to Hogwarts is not exactly the same as the decision Harry makes not to ‘go on’, it seemed there were enough analogies with it that I could borrow little lines and colour from that scene. (I have a bit of a cop-out dumb joke to myself in this scene - Harry saying to Ginny ‘we’re the same’ is me nodding to swapping out two very similar protagonists).

Play the ‘there’s a pigeon in the living room’ game. There’s lots of different versions of this exercise for improving characterisation, but I like this one: if this character woke up tomorrow, went into their living room and found a pigeon in it, what would they do? How would they respond? Would they scream/swear/laugh/calmly acknowledge the situation? How would they physically respond - would they try to get the pigeon out, if so how would they physically try to do that? What words could you use for how their body would move in the space while they tried to, say, open a window, or shoo it out the door? Would they call someone to help, if so, who, and why? What would they say, and how would they say it? It's such a stupid game but I do really find it helpful to better inhabit the character, especially if the character is very different from you as the author.

Good characterisation means trying to get everyone right. The trouble sometimes with fanfiction writing is that we have our main character as someone that we love and want to write about, and then harness all other characters in the service of our main character’s personal development. But that’s not really how real people behave - people rarely walk around thinking all day every day about one specific main-character person they know, lol (I always think of the bits in Inception where everyone starts looking at the person in the dream…) Strong characterisation means having at least a working understanding of what motivates every character that interacts with the main character in the fic, that thinks about how both characters perceive their relationship, and how their behaviours and the things they say might change based on who they’re talking to. Characterisation is deeply relational, and very much about how characters react or respond in a way that’s highly specific and contextual. It just takes a lot of really boring slog work of figuring how characters’ typical sentence structures, their body language, their thought-processes, who they gravitate towards, the kind of arc or change they are capable of. It’s important not to come in with judgement, and from a place of wanting to understand and empathise with a character. (It's why I don't really write characters I don't fully understand or 'get' - I'd do a horrible job!)

The last thing I want to say is that the best advice I ever received is pretentious and cloying but true: it's to know your gift. You say you find your own writing ‘irritatingly juvenile’. But in even asking a question like the one you’ve asked, you’ve shown you’re clearly a thoughtful, curious and creative person - and thoughtful, curious and creative people will always produce writing that other people will get something out of. I’ll bet your writing has real strengths, some that you don’t even see and others that actually (at least I hope!) you recognise and that you’re really proud of. This doesn’t mean you can’t develop new skills or improve or challenge yourself. But starting any process of improvement by clearly identifying what you’re good at (knowing your gift), figuring out why you’re good at it, thinking about how best to showcase it and believing you have a right to show this talent or skill is really important. I know this is excruciating to do but I really recommend making a little list of things and starting from this point of acknowledging you have stories to tell and ways of telling them that other people will admire and benefit from you sharing with them. You'll never actually want to improve if you come from a place of being horrible to yourself as a writer. What you do has worth, and wanting to improve is a journey we're all on, just trying to find ways to better share what we have and have it mean something to someone else who comes across it.