#because sometimes i look at how many things in fantasy i'm totally not interested in

[fictionadventurer]

Fantasy is philosophy’s more gorgeously painted cousin. You can’t just tell a child a blunt fact about the human heart and expect them to believe you. That’s not how it works. You can’t scribble on a Post-it note for a 12-year-old: your strangeness is worth keeping, or your love will matter. You need to show it. And fantasy, with its limitless scope, gives us a way of offering longhand proof for otherwise inarticulable ideas: endurance and hatred and regret, and power and passion and death.

-Katherine Rundell, "Why children's books?"

[tanoraqui]

Dungeon Meshi Liveblog: In Which Chilchuck Begrudgingly Has Feelings for his Coworkers, and Kabru Has...Something. He Sure Has Something Going On Over There.

Before we continue, I feel I should clarify 2 things:

I've been trying, ish, to avoid spoilers for this comic, but I've watched through the Golden Country episode and more importantly I'm so bad at not reading spoiler-y but interesting- and insightful-looking analysis. So, much of this commentary isn't wholly original and any particularly genius theories of future events are likely made with actual foreknowledge.

When I said on the first post that I was starting the comic because "I need to know what happens", what I specifically meant was "I need to know how the Laios-Kabru dynamic ends up, and the general geopolitical situation, so I can accurately daydream what sort of tariffs they'll set in the kingdom of which Laios is definitely not going to be the one managing the political, economic, or social minutia." Tariffs are going to be important, okay. They're a key way a nation-state interacts with other nation-states, especially one with rare materials to trade, powerful neighbors who want them, and the natural barrier of an ocean. Truly, every fantasy series ever should be required to have an epilogue or many an additional book/season/etc of a The West Wing-style depiction of day-to-day governance of whatever resulted from the story's climactic finale.

Okay, back to the liveblog.

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Inch resting. The manga characters, having met the Mad Mage, keep using she/her pronouns for them, where in the anime they used he/him. I assume one of these is just, like, wrong - some translation choice was made before truth was revealed later in the course of publication?

But it makes SENSE that the characters wouldn't necessarily know, at this point! The Mage's appearance is pretty gender-neutral, especially as an elf, an notably gender-ambiguous race. So the characters in the manga picked one guess and stuck with it, and the characters is the very slightly alternate timeline of the anime picked another and stuck with that!

Now: having used they/them throughout this musing and previously he/him because a) the show and b) that's what I saw in fandom, I think I'll switch to referring to the Mage with she/her pronouns now. Because A) that's how the thing I'm reading apparently will be doing it, and B) they still call her "Lord of the Dungeon", which is obviously the greatest gender option of all.

...however, the manga does keep saying "lunatic magician" rather than "Mad Mage" (caps mine), which is a TOTAL failing in drama. Always alliterate, preferably archaically.

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Orc woman: Ugh, this halffoot sucks. I'll tolerate his company only as a favor to the vegetable guy.

Orc woman after listening to Chilchuck complain about his coworkers for an hour: Nvm, this halffoot is a worthy and loyal friend of the vegetable seller, and I guess those other guys too. He's just emotionally constipated about it.

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Laios just has these soft little fond smiles sometimes and I? want to hug him?

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MY MAN IS BACK!! Kabru wink count: 1 this chapter, 4 total [updated as I read]

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Corpse Retriever: If you don't report us for trying to get you guys killed so we could collect a retrieval fee, we'll let you kill those two of our guys who are already unconscious and collect that fee yourselves. We'll just take 30% of it, for not telling on you.

Kabru, internally: Hm. Well, I'm not king of this dungeon yet, but nonetheless I feel comfortable passing and executing a just judgement upon you for your many known, presumed and planned crimes. Emphasis on 'executing.'

Kabru aloud: I accept!

Kabru: [starts killing them with a classic faint, wide-eyed smile]

What a guy. He's even holding that knife so well. Look, next he's analyzing social trends and acting ruthlessly to adjust them toward the direction of the greater good!

What a guy. Truly this is a "so my type that it's embarrassing" situation.

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I can't efficiently crop panels to show all this, but favorite parallels in these chapters full of parallels:

Kabru's breakdown of the Touden party is like Laios eagerly explaining and analyzing the behavior and anatomy of monsters (including, though we don't know it yet, calculations for killing them - though we DO see him saying that humans are easy to kill because he knows all the physical weak points!)

The references throughout these two chapters, by Kabru and his party, to the interconnected socioeconomic dynamics of the island and dungeon - the corrupted system fails to check corpse retrievers, the Island Lord as an annoying but necessary bulwark against the Elves, the dungeon growing hungrier as fewer adventurers go down because there's less money and more risk - are so so so like Senshi and Laiois discussing the dungeon biome's ecosystem and food pyramid.

The whole vibe of the party re: their respective weirdo tallman leaders. We watched Team Laios develop this, recently crowned with Chilchuck's near-tearful argument to turn back for a rest, which means we can recognize it when we're dropped into it with Team Kabru: that "this guy is SUCH a goddamn weirdo, but I already followed him into some level of hell, so I'm obviously not turning back now." Kabru's party does think he's weird - "You remember so much about other people that it's creepy." "Why are you enjoying this?" But they're also pitching in on the speculation like Team Touden all hel cook monsters. Compare:

Also!! Something something predisposed beliefs and presumptions of others... This party is so eager to assume the worst of our party, even though our party objectively saved them from perma-death twice, once from ghosts and once from being eaten by fishmen. Chichuck is greedy and bossy, Senshi smells so...notably...that he's judged to be sketchy af... Kabru is trying his best with what info he has, he knows it's not enough to pass a judgement and he wants more, but it's very...uncomfortable? To see this sort of discussion of people we know are great, when we're so used to watching monsters be killed with exquisite understanding and respect.

...I'll chew on that angle of theme more later. Man, you know how, say, what makes the musical Hamilton so good is at its heart it's just like 5-10 leitmotifs that interweave to create every single song? Dungeon Meshi is like that. Hmm a Dungeon Meshical...

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"Yeah, yeah, we've all heard your weekly lecture about how someone responsible and sociopolitically conscious needs to take the dungeon and the throne or everyone in this region is doomed. None of us can wait to see you flip off the Island Lord to his face. Eat your rations, buddy."

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JUST THE CUTEST, INNOCENTEST, POLITEST, HELPFULEST (WITH NO ULTERIOR MOTIVATIONS WHATSOEVER) YOUNG MAN!! LOOK AT HIS BIG BLUE EYES AND EAGER LITTLE SMILE!

[3 seconds earlier:

I'm obsessed. In the spirit of this comic: I want to eat him with a spoon. I want to take small divots out of him and lick each one carefully off the spoon, luxuriously exploring and enjoying the complex texture and flavor. Like he's a really good pudding. And then I want to see if, if he and Laios kiss, do they both explode in antimatter.

[mellosdrawings]

i loved seeing your character sheets for yuu and hayeli, especially hayeli’s!! it’s clear that a lot of thought went into them and i think his on/off mode is such an interesting concept (also a pomefiore student with blemishes?? yes please!!)

i’d be super curious what your creation process looked like, i.e if where there concepts you scrapped or how you went about choosing a name for them (it’s just a topic i love talking and hearing about but of course you don’t have to get into it if you don’t want to :])

not me also having ideas for an oc with mirror magic, but based on the mirror from the snow queen instead

First I'm so glad you like my characters! It seems Hayeli's bad skin is very popular and I love it! Give me more teenagers with bad skin and not making a huge deal out of it please!

As for my process... dear, that'll be a long post.

General process

Ok so my general character creation process starts with two ways:

1. I have a role to fill in a story that can't be fulfilled by a pre-existing character

2. I have a vibe and I need to turn it into a character

From those needs and/or wants, I'll go through several steps:

1. Age: surprisingly deciding on a character's age first unlocks at least half of its mental and physical design. Is it an adult who already has its shit together or a teen in the middle of a crisis?

2. Vague personality: is the character going to be introvert or extrovert? Shy or outgoing. Proud or self depreciating. Bubbly or quiet. Easy to anger or chill. It doesn't need to be its full personality yet, just guidelines.

3. Race: for fantasy and realism. A character's skin color and cultural background will shape how they view the world a lot!

4. Gender and sexual orientation: i usually decide on the gender based on how many characters I already have of each gender, or whether I want a character to be traditionally feminine/masculine or the total opposite of what's expected. Obviously the gender will affect the design, but the orientation will also affect how the character reacts to others.

5. Assets & weaknesses: for fantasy, it'd be their powers and their shortcomings, for action it'll be their strengths and the things they haven't mastered yet, for romance it'll be their best personality trait and their worst.

Once I have that base guideline, I can start working on a chara design. Age and race help with the body, personality and strengths/weaknesses help with how they dress and present themselves. (An outgoing person will have an easier time dressing in original ways while a shy person would be more traditional for example.)

Once I have a design, I draw shitty little doodles and meme redraws until I have a better sense of their personality. Slices of life and comedy and angst are great way for me to get to know my character. For writers, it'd be writing random scenes to test the characters' reactions.

Then, I double down on the strengths and weaknesses. Make them stand out. Make sure they are coherent to the characters. Make sure the weaknesses are as important as the strength. (For example, I have a character who has super speed. Arguably one of the most cheated powers in existence. I counterbalanced it by giving him poor stamina. In theory he is all powerful. In practice, not so much.)

Lastly, I chose a name. Sometimes it's just about how the name sounds. Sometimes I'm looking for names to mean something. If your character is POC, think about whether they'd have a common name or a name from their own culture. Both are valid but you need to think about it! (For example, I have two maohi characters in the same story. One is called Fray (common name), the other is called Tanemahuta (maohi name) because they and their families have different relationships with their own culture.)

Yuu

Well, that's a strange one since Yuu already does exist in the game, but it's a blank slate, a place holder. Let's make them something worth remembering, shall we.

First, I went with their gender. Most of my placeholders characters end up nonbinary because that's what I am and also I can't be bothered to role-playing gender when playing a simple game.

Then I went with a vibe and a bullet list of things I wanted to keep from the game and things I wanted to add.

To keep:

1. Not very proactive

2. Not very talkative

To add:

1. Raccoon

2. Clever/cunning

3. Physically rather weak

From there I made a design that gave "raccoon vibes". Semi long disheveled hair, lazy eyes, lazy dress up.

Now, what was important was to make up for their weakness: they don't have magic. The world around them is harsh and they get threatened by characters having breakdowns every two months. What is there strength? For Yuu, I wanted them to be clever and cunning. Have them actually outsmart our dear schemers. That's Yuu's one and only strength, they're a schemer themself. They see others as cards that make up their hands the same way Leona sees others as chess pieces. Once you have those big pieces from earlier plus the survival instinct, you get a character that is easy to handle. They don't talk much, keep everything to themselves, manipulate others from the shadows to defend themself.

But. Let's give them one more weakness, shall we? It's funnier that way. Let's make them yearn for connection. They are a teen who got kidnapped from their family. Let's give them a big family. But they are rather independent too, so let's find a way to remove the parents from the picture to explain why they are already able to fend for themself. Now make them yearn for real friendship. Make it obvious their manipulation comes from defensiveness. Have them slip up when they interact with people they genuinely end up caring about.

And there you have Yuu.

Hayeli

Now, for Hayeli, I started out with a vibe. He's actually pretty old, comes from before the game was even released when there were only countdown arts and some vague informations about the game. As I said in his description, he's based on the Evil Queen's mirror. I didn't know at the time there were already plenty of mirrors in the game haha

Contrary to my usual process, I started with his powers first. His Signature Spell had to be something about mirrors. The easy way out would be to have him shape-shifting. There are plenty of angst and fun opportunities from shape-shifting. But that was too simple, I didn't like it. Instead I went with the capacity to copy others' magic. In game there was already Azul being able to steal others' magic through a high requirement spell, so I went with this kind of power. High requirement high reward. I don't like for my characters to be overpowered and I wanted Hayeli to just be average in magic, so I doubled down on the requirements to make his magic near useless.

Then I went on to his gimmick. He still didn't have a personality or body at the time, I really went full mirror first. Hayeli is a mirror. He copies others' magic. What if I double down and make him copy everything as a by-product of his Signature Spell? Ok, now, since I still don't like overpowered characters, how do I make it ruin his life?

And so we come to the problem of his personality: he doesn't have one. He's a blank slate. A mirror. He reproduces others' behaviors and mannerisms and personalities and he has no control over it. He has no idea who he is himself. The angst creates itself.

Once there, it was easy process for the rest. Make him a body. Average size since he's just a copy of others. Pomefiore attitude and presentation since he's in Pomefiore. I like curly hair and there aren't enough of them in Twisted Wonderland so I went with that, but they couldn't be long since Yuu already has semi long curly hair.

I still needed one way to recognize him. Make him pop amongst the other characters. What makes Hayeli physically Hayeli?

1. Moles. So many moles.

2. Bad skin. He's in Pomefiore? Do the contrary of what's expected there. Give him a malleable standard face and add bad skin to it.

3. Strange eyes. He's a mirror who can reproduce everything he sees. His eyes are important. Make them pale like mirrors, make his pupils white to reflect others, make the shape a bit blurry as if the mirror isn't perfect.

And there you have Hayeli's body!

Oh. A name? Google translate, please tell me how to say mirror in different languages please. Mirror in Armenian is "Hayeli", I like the sound of it. Sold. So Hayeli shall be Armenian irl, that'd probably be on the frontiers of the Scalding Sands (thanks a friend for helping me with that part), so maybe I should make his skin darker. Besides, dark skins in a dorm that values beauty is also not the first idea people get. Sold!

(Somewhere during the process, I actually had an objective with Hayeli. "Make him represent Teenagehood itself". Teenagehood is a particularly difficult period, teenagers try to become their own person independently from their parents. They copy each other and all the people they look up to to find what suits them best, but they also hate not being able to tell who they are as a person. Hayeli represents that struggle, and that's also why I gave him a heavy bout of acne and red cheeks and baby fat but a lean body. Teenagehood isn't pretty, and it shouldn't be. Hayeli is awkward, his body is morphing a lot, he has no idea who he is or who he wants to become, he copies others without realizing. But he also has a lot of fun. He cheats at tests, he bothers his classmates and dormmates, he has fun with makeup, he tries a lot of new things. While Yuu was meant to represent survival, Hayeli is meant to represent teenagehood, for better and for worse.)

There you have all of Hayeli's creation process.

TLDR: Mostly I just... don't go with the very first thought I get. Do you know that Pixar or maybe Disney process where they give up on the first dozen ideas they get because it's too "normal" and easy to guess? It has its flaws but I think it's not that bad. I go with the contrary of what's expected (dark bad skin for a dorm that represents beauty) or I push the concept further if I can (copying magic instead of shapeshifting). And most importantly, I give my characters flaws and weaknesses. That's the most important part of the creation to me. What can I give him that'll make him struggle? The scenario writes itself as soon as you give your characters challenges to overcome within themselves.

[lazulian-devil]

"Into the Frayed" Project

Im making a little masterpost for my audio drama WIP, which will allow me to conveniently send you where you need to be sent if you're interested in it.

Here are all posts I've ever tagged with "Into the frayed". And here are all the ones that relate specifically to the production process. Theres also the gods, if you want to look at the worldbuilding.

Whats "Into the Frayed"?

Into the Frayed is a fantasy audio drama, told via letters. It happens in my fictional world of Valfern (Val coming from the german word "Wall" meaning wall or fence, Fern coming from the german word for far, in the distance, or yonder). If you wanna know how to say that properly, google how someone would say Walküre (thats Valykrie) in german. The "fern" is honestly fairgame because I say whatever feels best. Sometimes more german, sometimes more english. Go bonkers.

Valfern is a world in which magic isnt perceived as positive, instead being a corrupting and malevolent force. Unfortunately, magic doesnt care much about its public perception and therefore sinks its teeth into many a thing, including people. These people are called "Jinxes" and generally ostracised. Theres a whole lot more to it (old gods and new gods and a surprising amount of plant research) but thats the gist :p

Our protagonist is Vaughn, a person (because I havent cast any voices yet, they could be any gender) who is slowly developing into a Jinx and needs to run away from their village to save themselves. They take this journey together with a Ravensworth (thats a fancy title for a mercenary) and write letters to their last ally among wolves: Franzis, their childhood friend. Vaughns goal is to make it beyond Sentinel, the city at the mountains border. Its a known story that the people beyond dont view Jinxes as Jinxes and if they just make it that far, they would be fine.

So only one question remains: Will they make it?

So, what now?

I'm working on finishing a "Proof of concept" episode, that has the first exchange between Vaughn and Franzis and is about... 5 letters aka 10-15 long? If that works out and I like it and enjoy making it, I have enough of a plot outline to script a small seasons worth of content (no more than 90 minutes total, because of sanity).

I did plot out the entire storyline and the supporting cast, but one needs to start small and grow steadily instead of burning once and brightly.

Anyways. I hope this gives you some insight into what I'm doing. If you have any questions, do ask. Especially world building questions.

Otherwise, I'll just start word vomiting all my research in small tidbits into my Tumblr.

Bye :)

[eve-to-adam]

I LOVE your art, especially as a fellow (albeit amateur) artist who’s OBSESSED with the whole Wars of the Roses period rn. In that vein, I was wondering if you had any advice/good resources as to researching fashion for character design reasons? Thanks!

Hello! :)

I'm excited to hear about other people - especially artists - interested in the Wars of the Roses era! I know that nice feeling - that thrill of excitement you get when you try to create something like this. It seems sublime to me! <333333

I don't know exactly if you want my advice and recommendations to be general or strictly about WOTR and implicitly the Middle Ages, but I will focus on the second option, because the process is the same.

Before starting, I want to specify that this is strictly my approach and that there are multiple ways to achieve the same result, as long as they make you feel comfortable.

My first advice would be this: try to be sure what exactly you want to illustrate. Although sometimes indecision can lead to unexpectedly positive results, most of the time it can cause your characters/illustrations to lack substance, which is caused by a lack of consistency. It's one thing to create a complex character and completely different to end up with an inconsistent one. What I want to say is that you have to make sure that you draw some specific barriers in order to obtain an optimal result. Try to figure out your character's personality before you dress them - don't forget that clothes are as important a component in character development as the details regarding interests/ambitions/favorite food, etc. Depending on the status, the concerns of your character and the context in which they are, you can deliberate the shape and color of the outfits. Taking into account these aspects, you allow yourself to deliberate: what kind of outfit would X wear? Does it match their personality? Is it having the desired impact? Shape, length, pattern? What about the colors? Are they expressive enough to give us a clue about the state of our character? What do we want to express through that outfit?

My second advice: Be creative! Use the resources you have to create the most original outfits. Of course, here it depends on how you approach the problem - you can recreate outfits up to 100% if you want to make a study or your own artistic documentation, but I, personally, put more value on originality.

For example - and this is a purely personal approach, not a standard to follow, because each of us wants to experiment and express things differently - when I create outfits, I tend to take elements from different pictures and combine them in this way so as to result in a completely new outfit. (There are times when an entire outfit takes shape in my mind just by looking at a pair of sleeves, or there are times when I sketch the entire outfit and have to search the entire internet for a suitable collar for this type of outfit. Or, I simply realized in the middle of the process that my character would not seem like the type of person to wear such a robe). Of course, considering the process, you have artistic freedom, so you can afford to illustrate totally original elements.

At the same time, try to give credibility to the character. Above we were talking about the substance. Well, one of the rules of character design is world-building. Many works of animation or comics with the fantasy genre contain elements inspired by the Middle Ages, and this is because the stories always have their origin in reality. Your character is only a part of a larger whole called the Universe. Depending on the genre of your story, the character must be an integral part of it, so you must take care of the particularities. If the narrative takes place in 1450, your character must have an appearance corresponding to the respective times. If the character serves in the army, we show them in the uniform specific to the period imposed by us; we also take care to give it a certain rigidity, hardness. If it's a detective, we introduce distinct elements such as the coat and hat, etc. Of course, speaking of fiction, we allow ourselves certain liberties for the sake of design.

Although during my university studies I was told to keep the character design as simple as possible, I chose not to follow this advice, lol. Because simplicity does not characterize me. The reason I'm bringing this up is BECAUSE if you're not familiar with the details/ haven't mastered the approach yet, it would really be advisable to keep the character design as simple as possible. Here is the reason: Originality. Particularity. When you create your character, especially if there is a long line of characters in the background, you must take into account the fact that the viewer must be able to tell them apart. Try to give each of them one or more distinctive signs, which can mean practically anything - a mustache, a mole, a longer neck, a special body shape, a patch on the eye, a more atypical hairstyle. I will not say that this aspect can necessarily be achieved through clothes. Here's the reason - imagine that your character is 5 m away from you and is looking at you. Under all those layers of clothing, how can you tell for sure who it is without that distinctive mark? Your character must be unique, it needs to stand out with something. Your character must be recognized by the public, even from a distance.

The rest depends on your tastes and your personal approach.

When I start working on an outfit, the first thing I think about is: what can I do and what can't I do? Did the clothing item I'm thinking of really existed or is it just a product of my imagination?

In most cases, I turn to the illuminations from manuscripts, tapestries, illustrations, portraits, paintings, etc., because absolutely nothing is more delightful than consulting the source directly.

Manuscripts that I have used over time in my creative process:

BnF Français 599 (De mulieribus claris).

Compilation arthurienne de Micheau Gonnot. Gautier Map, La Queste del Saint-Graal, La Mort le roi Artu.

Français 995.

BNF Fr874 (Héroïdes d'Ovide).

Croniques abregies commençans au temps de Herode Antipas, persecuteur de la chrestienté, et finissant l'an de grace mil IIc et LXXVI.

Paintings. You can use them to search for other such examples on the Internet:

Cornelis Engelbrechtsz - Konstantin & Helena.

Hans Holbein - Virgin with Child.

Hans Memling - Altarpiece with Virgin and Child, Jan de Witte and his wife.

Hans Memling - Maria Portinari.

Eliseo Sala, Malinconia o Pia de' Tolomei.

Antoni Peris - Altarpiece of the Life of Virgin - Altarpiece of the Nursing Madonna.

Filippo Lippi - Portrait of a Woman with a Man at a Casement.

Simon Marmion - Exterior of St. Bertin Altarpiece Wings. 1459.

These books may also help you. I chose the ones that also contain illustrations:

Herbert Norris – Medieval costume and Fashion.

Kathy Elgin – Costume & Fashion. Source Books.

Mary G. Houston – Medieval costume in England and France. The 13th, 14th and 15th centuries.

Francis Grew, Margrethe de Neergaard – Shoes and Pattens.

Talbot Hughes – Dress design.

I hope my answer was helpful! :)

[inventors-fair]

More than Playable: Typal Runners-Up ~

And our runners-up this week are @feyd-rautha-apologist, @misterstingyjack and @nine-effing-hells!

@feyd-rautha-apologist — Leeches' Kinship

Sometimes when reading these cards I'll go back and look at sets, and this one made me realize that there were indeed quite a few vampires around Strixhaven! If this wasn't intended to be on Strixhaven, well, that's my bad, but that's also what ya get for not including it in your submission. Having a cheap drain effect is pretty awesome, although clever limited players will know that you wouldn't want too many of them in your deck at the expense of creatures. But then, the creatures you get (if they're vampires) will be all the better, so win-win.

Morbid as a Witherbloom mechanic would be more than reasonable, IMO. If there's overlap with the Silverquill folks, that's fun as well, possibly. They do both overlap with vampires! And there's that little sweet spot for where overlap matters, and I think having overlapping subthemes with one small lean makes for a cool draft common that suggests to the players how flexible they can be. I may or may not have talked myself into liking this card a lot more than I did initially but that could also be the Vampire's curse. Hardly matters—I dig this thing and think that it gets one withered thumb pointed right up.

@misterstingyjack — Worldsoul's Boon

What I'm enjoying about the flavor is that most of the elves are assumed to be in white and green, but on Ravnica, there are plenty of Golgari elves, Simic elves, and even a few kickass Gruul elves to boot, and most of the mono/multi white cards wouldn't even come close. I feel that the flavor text itself is a little on the nose, and I'm not sure right now if it's implying that elves are closer to nature or if it's more along the lines of fantasy racism. Convoking is awesome, of course, but just plain attacking is pretty much right along green and white lines, yeah?

That said, if you have a one-mana Elf, turn two adds an additional three power to the board on top of potential lifegain. I feel that this could've definitely been pushed to three mana for that reason alone, and not just because there are a plethora of one-drop elves in any given format that you should keep an eye on. Small notes: 1) I also don't think you needed "then" in the first trigger; 2) Is it just me or is the text on this card really squashed? Anyway, let's back up to the good stuff, because as much as this might suggest typal at first glance, I think it speaks more to Ravnica's diversity in species and the eventual feeling of playing hybrid in a manner that's honestly pretty smooth. Having an Elf is a bonus, not a requirement, but having a creature? That's all that matters in the end. Just gotta have the RIGHT creature. Neat design and unexpectedly interesting!

@nine-effing-hells — Greater Glories

Whoof. It's a real conundrum if this card's undercosted or not. Obviously, Forced Adaptation is the baseline here, but we have to remember Luminarch Aspirant and the like which can give the counter on the combat step that the creature attacks. So you're gonna get the buff straight away, and then every turn thereafter. Now that said, it's pretty fragile, and auras fall off more than we'd like most of the time so I'll give you that. Still, for two mana, this is an aggressive all-star, and I'm not sure if I'm too down for how that plays out.

But we're also pushing boundaries here, and I think we both know that for three mana this card would be practically unplayable. Even if it gave trample for that cost, that's fairly steep, and I'm sitting here biting my metaphorical nails trying to make a decision. In the end? There's a non-zero chance that this card would be really annoying in a set without strong combat interaction and/or removal for either creature or aura. I don't hate it, and the Warrior aspect totally checks out for green on any world. Theros is the first one that comes to mind, but I'm equally drawn to Kaldheim, or really anywhere that's got warriors! It's a versatile and challenging card.

General commentary will be up soon as it's up. @abelzumi

[rainbowsky]

GG Esquire Cover Story

A lot of people have written me about the cover story GG did for Esquire magazine. There have been some interesting responses in my inbox, many of which have baffled me a bit, to be honest.

People have asked me for my thoughts on it all, so here they are! 😊

I've been picking away at this for ages, sorry it's coming so far after publication of the article. I have a few things like this in my drafts that are taking me a while to finish writing. I don't have the sustained resources to work on things for very long at a stretch these days.

Disclaimer: Please remember that this is an OPINION piece - my take on the article. I have no special insight, and everyone is free to form their own perspectives and responses. Don't take what I say as fact. It's just one opinion among many.

The photos

I have to start out by talking about the photos, because they truly set the tone for (and perfectly illustrate) the article.

These are not the typical magazine spread photos that a lot of fans are used to seeing. Here GG is practically unstyled. The GG you would see in his downtime. His hair is tousled, his clothing is very casual. His poses are also very casual. He looks like he could be just hanging around his hotel room scrolling through his phone.

These photos are such a gift. They feel so fresh and candid and relaxed. Total Boy Next Door. I absolutely love them.

What a relief to see these photos. Nothing ostentatious or overstyled, nothing aggressively brand-forward (some of what he is wearing is his own personal clothing). Just GG. I nearly fainted. 😅

The article

The original article can be found here, and there is a fan translation here.

My relief in seeing these sweet, casual photos of GG was matched only by my relief in reading the article.

To be honest I'm rarely very excited about the sorts of interviews or stories that accompany these types of magazine covers. They are generally fan servicey puff pieces that cater to a certain type of reader - the kind of people who want to become more invested in an idol fantasy.

They tend to be fairly overtly PR pieces, aimed at positioning the idol in an appealing and often romantic, personable way that makes them more accessible to their fans.

I have often been dismissive of interview statements that other fans have taken to heart, which has caused some friction at times, but what can I say? I think a lot of what's typically covered is awkward, fake and fan servicey. I talk a little bit about that in this post.

I didn't go into reading this article with any particular expectation, except that my expectations were low and I wasn't expecting any surprises. But, much to my surprise, I found a smart, interesting, poetic, uncompromising look at a side of GG that we've rarely seen.

My biggest takeaway from this article was that GG wanted to dampen, rather than fan the flames of, fan fantasies about him; to give people a more realistic sense of who he is and what he's about.

I have rarely been prouder of him than when reading this article. It feels like with this interview he is setting boundaries and putting his honest self forward despite expectations and even demands about who he should be and what he should represent.

Sidebar Rant About Fan Culture

Sometimes I see GG's life as being like an episode of Black Mirror. He is a protagonist who has been strangled by his own fame, in some ways held hostage by people who believe that they made him who he is and put him where he is (despite the role they've frequently played in holding him back).

The situation for stars at his level is pretty crazy. Fans genuinely believe that they know better than their idols what is best for them and their careers, and they will - totally unironically and with a straight face - deliver lists of demands and conditions to their idol and their idol's management team that they expect to be met if the star hopes to maintain their love and support.

These demands can be quite detailed. How they want the management team to be structured, the types of projects they want the artist to take, the types of statements they want their idol to make, etc. It's insane.

And GG's fans have been especially difficult, because they are very deeply invested in old school ideas about fan culture that are no longer viable in the current climate. Pushing traffic, 'comment control' and 'clarification' (aka fan wars), attacking anyone they perceive to be a rival or opportunist or anyone they believe isn't treating GG how they think he should be treated (despite having no access whatsoever to verified information about how he's being treated - i.e. it's all based on their assumptions). Using dirty - even dangerous - tactics to try to harm rival fandoms, regardless of how much that puts GG at risk.

Despite the fact that their behavior has caused problems for him in the past. Despite the fact that he has repeatedly begged them to stop behaving the way they do. Despite the fact that his career has nearly been killed by this type of behavior. Despite the fact that there has been a seismic shift in how fan culture is being treated in China, and despite the policies that have been put in place to curtail some of that behavior. They just don't seem to have gotten the memo.

They have learned absolutely nothing from their past mistakes.

Increasingly, they do not seem to have his deeper interests at heart. At times they appear to be supporting him for their own vanity, clout and sense of accomplishment rather than genuinely loving him for who he is. They seem to take more pride in their ability to bring traffic, out-vote other fandoms and move brand merchandise than in who this sweet, smart man is and what he does.

They actively push some of the most toxic, hateful ideas you can find in fandom. They are some of the key drivers behind the whole 'desperate illiterate' hate campaign against DD, and in so doing put both GG and DD's careers at risk. They are constantly spreading hate and lies about DD and trying to bring scandal upon him. Any time an anti-DD campaign surfaces online, they jump on it and fuel it to the best of their ability.

These are people who have had so many opportunities to grow and change, and emulate GG's kindness and maturity, but have repeatedly failed the assignment.

Being a star can't be easy

I often wonder how GG really feels about his fans. How much of the fan culture mayhem he's fed up with, and how much of it he's taken in stride as part of the job. I know it drives me crazy, but he's obviously got a better perspective on it all and would be a lot more accustomed to it all.

As I said in a previous post, I think we need to treat the idea that he absolutely adores his fans with some degree of skepticism. There's a very real noose around his neck, and that can't feel great. I personally believe he wants to loosen that hold a bit.

With this article GG seems to be saying, "Here I am. Support me or move on, but this is the real me."

He seems to be setting some boundaries and giving fans a glimpse behind the curtain at the real him. He is challenging them to accept him for who he really is, or move on.

I feel like he is taking cautious steps toward loosening some of the stranglehold fans have over his career.

GG is a smart, savvy person. I have no doubt that he is well aware of the assumptions about him. I don't think it was an accident that this interview broke down some of those assumptions.

I love him so much. He continually blows me away with how sharp and tough he is.

Disillusionment and growth

Of course, that's not the entire story of the article. There is some alienation and loneliness here. Frustration and struggle with identity.

One of the most powerful lines in the entire article was when he said that he works for this Xiao Zhan guy as well. When he talks about not knowing anymore which GG is real and which is the persona.

"There are two Xiao Zhans, one of them is here, that’s me. There is another Xiao Zhan, the Xiao Zhan in quotes, but he is probably not me anymore. We are all working for him, including myself."

I admit I was surprised by how fractured he sounded. Not surprised that some of this has happening - that is totally to be expected given his fame - but surprised that he'd talk so openly about it. He's not normally so candid about his personal experience of fame, or about its emotional/psychological impacts on him. In his post-2/27 interviews he brushed off any notion of the emotional burden it was placing on him, for example, even though it would have been understandable had he admitted it.

What stands out to me in all of this is how powerfully he is distancing himself from his idol image and showing a mature, serious, in many ways ordinary person. How boldly he is reminding the audience that there is more to him than meets the eye.

Some might read that as cynical and jaded - the star who is playing the game by performing a role that's separate from himself. I read it as the opposite. I read it as self-actualizing and self-preserving. He doesn't believe his own hype. He is just doing a job, working for this persona, while maintaining his own integrity and independence despite all the pressure to perform and be perfect.

The mountain was such a powerful image. Climbing the mountain as a child and seeing it as this nearly insurmountable ordeal, and then later as an adult feeling like he can take a couple of long strides and be at the top. It is such a metaphor for his career and his success. And that speaks of a certain amount of demystification and disillusionment surrounding his dreams.

It was reminiscent of the line, "Though his dreams have lost some grandeur coming true" from The Circle Game by Joni Mitchell.

Certain jobs, when taken on, become something completely different from what we thought we signed up for.

I have often been asked why I don't open a restaurant. I always jokingly give them this very earnest and serious answer, "Because I like to cook."

If I were to open a restaurant, food would be among the least of my concerns every day. I would have to deal with marketing, I would have to deal with staff and the day-to-day running of the facility, supplies, vendor relationships, finances and management. Food would be very low on the list of things I'd have time to concern myself with.

I feel like the same has happened for GG. He thought he was becoming a singer or an actor, when it turns out he was becoming a celebrity instead. Those are totally different jobs, with totally different demands, activities and limitations.

He enjoys taking on new roles and learning new things and expanding on his skills and working on interesting projects. I doubt very much that he enjoys managing a persona, or navigating fan expectations, or addressing yet another fan-created scandal. I doubt very much he enjoys being held to the standards the top traffic star position puts him under. I doubt he enjoys the restrictions it places on his career or on his personal life.

I doubt he enjoys the limitations on what he is able to show of himself in that job.

Having the kind of job where you have to hang up your personality at the door like an overcoat every day when you walk in - that's a lonely, lonely world to be in. Soul-destroying.

I have long felt that this situation isn't sustainable for GG over the long term. I have wondered what he will do to shift things into a more comfortable, more stable existence for himself. I feel like this article gives me some ideas about that. And it is a relief to read because I get the sense that he is fully aware of that problem, and working to address it for himself so that he can continue doing what he most enjoys - acting and performing.

We have all had these theories - I'm sure most of us have, anyway - that he is trying to shed the idol image, the 'traffic star' image at least to some degree so that he can be accepted as a serious actor with a serious career.

This is a common career path for idols who want to stay in the industry past their idol shelf life. But it's one thing to believe GG might be working on that, and another to feel like I can see him taking brave steps in that direction.

Some surprises, some not

There were some things that surprise me from this interview, and some things that I was not surprised by.

One thing that really stood out to me is how much his real personality shines through. The smart, witty, intense GG we've all seen in The Untamed BTS and in some of his XNINE activities. It was a surprise. I guess I was expecting to see the persona GG - not the real GG. It was so good to see him that I nearly got choked up.

This is the GG that is very no bullshit; blunt and honest. This was the GG who outed DD for using his own meme pictures or for sending him too many selfies. This is the GG who firmly stated he wanted the het scenes deleted. The GG who was very forthright, clever and affectionately prickly with his XNINE brothers.

GG has said in the past that he is not as sweet and sentimental as his fans think he is, that behind the scenes he can actually be ruthless and demanding. This is the GG we've caught glimpses of and that he is talking about in that statement. The real, unvarnished GG.

I didn't dare hope that he would be so candid. He is usually so image-conscious. Not 'fake' by any means, but conscious of how he is coming across and careful not to offend. But in this article he has brought himself unapologetically to the forefront and for that I love and applaud him.

Another surprise for me was when he was talking about how he handles his inner struggles. I was surprised when he said that he doesn't like to talk through his problems. I had always assumed that - as a very authentic, emotionally intelligent, compassionate, personable person - he would be the kind of guy who would reach out to others during times of need.

Instead he said that he doesn't like to talk about his issues. He had such clear and rational explanations for why that even though I can't relate to his approach, I can understand it. This approach can be interpreted as self-contained, self-sufficient and pragmatic. 'If it can be fixed, fix it. If it can't, set it aside. No point talking about it.'

There's something very Zen about letting go of what you can't immediately change, rather than dwelling on it or digging into ruminations about it.

I also found his rationale for avoiding other people's confidences interesting. He 'doesn't want to be a suspect', he 'doesn't want to be burdened by other people's secrets'. I can definitely see how his approach could prevent people from getting caught up in each other's drama, and his mindset reflects healthy boundaries that can help preserve friendships.

I can see GG's characteristic cautious self-protectiveness in this approach. He's smart, strategic and - based on many things he's said in this interview - quite introverted. This approach serves all those aspects of his personality.

There's that old saying, "loose lips sink ships" and that is especially true for someone so much in the public eye. It's good that he has the sense to keep his mouth shut about personal things.

There is wisdom to that approach. It reminds me of the old nursery rhyme about the owl:

A wise old owl sat in an oak, The more he heard, the less he spoke; The less he spoke, the more he heard; Why can't we be more like that wise old bird?

Having said all that, I don't personally share the same view or the same approach in my own life. I am very much someone who likes to talk things through, and who likes to be a listening ear and a support to others as well.

I think there is a lot to be said for the way this type of communication can deepen relationships, help people better understand each other and become more bonded. Sharing burdens, sharing feelings, sharing confidences. It's riskier but the rewards can be significant.

A lot of the biggest problems in the world come from lack of communication or from crossed wires. Talking with others face to face is a great way to clear up confusion and help people stay connected and bonded.

Being the sort of person people can confide in and who talks about things that are on my mind - this really enriches my life. Although I feel like GG has done a great job of making his approach make sense to me, and even seem appealing in ways.

I want to caution people from over-interpreting these statements from him to assuming GG is uncommunicative with DD. As someone who lives with a partner who is exactly like GG when it comes to 'talking about things', I think it's highly likely that GG has a different approach with those few people who are closest to him. There's a pretty big difference between being emotionally and socially open with friends and colleagues, and being emotional and intimate with a partner.

An ordinary boy

The article focuses a lot on his childhood and some of the nostalgia and memories of his past. It's so interesting and illuminating to read about where he came from, and about the parts of that ordinary boy that survived through to adulthood. The geography of the city and the buildings are used as a metaphor for the changes in his life.

He started out in the factory district, in low grey concrete buildings full of vibrancy and activity, passed through a rainy uphill commute and ended up among shining glass skyscrapers. What a journey he has been on, and he's only 31 years old!

The fact that he's been able to maintain his integrity and authenticity and avoid being devoured by the persona - that's such a testament to his character. He really is the whole package. Smart, strong, determined, sweet, compassionate, ruthless, creative, introspective, pragmatic, down-to-earth, cautious. I have always appreciated his breadth as a person. He is very multi-dimensional.

I've talked about that a bit in the past. It's part of why I feel so frustrated sometimes when fans have really shallow, superficial, fan-fictiony takes on his personality. The sweet, soft-hearted aesthete. The tragic beleaguered victim. The playful, cute, dorky romantic. The sexy, saucy, light-hearted, effeminate artist.

None of these takes can even scratch the surface of who he really is. The more I know about him the less I think I know, but I at least know one thing: he's so much more than fans give him credit for.

Florist GG AU

I wasn't remotely surprised to hear that he sometimes thinks of quitting. Even fans sometimes daydream about him quitting. Getting his life back, getting his freedom back. Living a quieter life. Surely there are many times when he is reminded of everything he is sacrificing to do what he does. Times when it feels like too high a price to pay.

But reading this article, I can honestly say that I feel he is up to the task he's taken on. He really does know who he is and what he wants, and he has all of the integrity, emotional and psychological strength to make the most of this career.

My hope that he will start to shed some of the toxic traffic fans and build a stronger, more enduring, more rational fanbase. That he will begin to break free of the shackles of stratospheric popularity and settle into a more stable, satisfying career as a respected actor.

AND SINGER. PLEASE GG! 🥹

It was such a great article, and I feel like I got a glimpse of something new about him that I did not know, which is so rare. I feel like I've been gifted more insight into him, and I have so much gratitude for his willingness to share that with us all.

Regarding candy

A few people wrote me in a big panic over 'what this article meant' for GG and DD's relationship. They had worked themselves up into a state where they felt that if GG and DD were in a relationship, GG wouldn't have said or felt the things he did in the article.

Glass-hearted turtles will need to transform themselves into tortoise-shelled turtles, or they will not survive this fandom. And frankly, those kinds of takes on things sometimes reflect a lack of life experience or realistic understanding of GG and DD as ordinary humans in a relationship.

Some turtles seem to view everything from or about GG and DD as either proof that they're a couple, or proof they are not, with no neutral content and no in betweens. In short, they look at everything GG and DD-related to see what kind of candy it is. And the thing they need to get through their heads is

👉🏻 almost nothing from or about GG or DD will actually be a candy. 👈🏻

Anyone who has ever been in a serious long term relationship knows, there's actually very little about our day-to-day lives that revolves around our partner. My interests and hobbies, most of my social interactions, certainly everything about my work has absolutely nothing to do with my partner. He almost never comes up as a topic or factor in any of it.

And yet we are happily married, and have been for a long time.

As I am frequently saying, GG and DD are individuals first, a couple second. We need to love and respect them in that same order.

This article is about GG and his career. It's an important article about his inner life experience as a celebrity. It has absolutely nothing to do with DD. I find it baffling why anyone would expect it to.

If you are looking for candy, most of the time you will find no candy. If that causes you pain, you are in the wrong fandom. GG and DD aren't here to give us candy. They aren't here to prove anything. Nor should we be. They don't owe us anything. Certainly not 'proof of life' in their relationship.

If you read that article and didn't get that message, then you missed the entire point of the article. GG was saying to everyone, "I'm not just what people think they see, I'm not just what people expect or what they want me to be, underneath I'm a real human being."

Turtles who remember that, and who are able to love GG and DD as individuals, will be longer-lived and happier.

GG and DD's relationship is for and about them. It exists for each other, not for us. I've no doubt they appreciate the love and support turtles give them, but it's not their job to feed us. It's not their job to be trained ponies prancing around for our amusement. They don't owe us anything. Certainly not any candy about their relationship.

More on fan expectations and black-and-white thinking here.

[eclipsecrowned]

30 for truthful tuesday. [looking at you autistically, microphone in hand] // @umbralined

Pupper wishes to get Kadi in trouble. Kadi will gladly get in trouble over this one.

There is a specific breed of mun, often belonging to a certain demographic but it happens regardless of income education race or gender, who think their muse is God's gift to the community. Whether you find them here on tumblr, in the badlands of forums, or among your discord experiences, it is inevitable that you will meet someone who just cannot handle what their muse actually is.

In their own head, usually because they are hella projecting onto the muse, this muse is the best thing since sliced bread. They are a near perfect copy of the mun -- let's use our former friend [REDACTED] as an example.

All her muses were able-bodied middle class east coast American women who came from military families and were proudly straight Americans whose brand of liberalism was just conservatism lite. And because that muse is so much like her -- and pick any of them, Beth, Elaine, Charlotte, even in fantasy she'd just adapt Veerle or Adamaris to be the super special white gurl foreigner -- this muse is perfect.

This muse does no wrong. Everything this muse does is cool, funny, badass. Everything this muse does is right, even in instances where the audience tries to call out obvious racism, homophobia, classism, unchecked mental illness. This is not a critique of the character's behavior/the biased writing, but of the creator herself, because the muse is a funhouse mirror of their player. Fuck you. She's going to write what she wants to write.

Except it stops being about just their muse. Suddenly, it's about you as a collaborator having a muse. Here's the role your muse has been pigeonholed into. Here's the script. Here's how in awe or cruel they are to her blessed muse. Here's what your muse is allowed to be -- remember when she'd veto my muses having disabilities or poc love interests as if that was her call?

It's no longer collaborative. It's the Beth/Elaine/Charlotte/Veerle/Elysande show, and we're just living in it. Our muses are there to talk about how cool she is, how women want to be her, how men want to make babies with her. And if you play a villain, the men obsess over her and the women want to torture her. No one can be objective about the character. Who could be objective about God's most perfect creation?

And it gets worse. The creator, totally unchecked and unable to be held in check moving forward without having an actual IRL mental breakdown, is further assured of her own skill. Her muse is perfect. The war crimes ensue, sometimes metaphorical and in [REDACTED]'s case actually for real in universe. The apologia of 'well if my muse did something bad they did it to someone worse,' except they as grown adults are unable to admit their character is capable of doing any wrong. If you are among other partners doing a plot, they refuse to be on the sidelines of it.

The relationship as collaborators and as friends becomes unsustainable because you are dealing with someone who refuses to be reasoned with, and will forever be the villain when they retell the story because you wanted a shared platform, not to be an accessory to a muse you can no longer stand.

I've been on this site since 2012 and I have seen many such muns high on their own muse's farts. Literally if you give me the most special and important heroic muse without an iota of nuance, whether Canon or OC, I'm checking out. I've seen canon serial killers be idealized as 'good people' due to possessing either the lifestyle their writer has or desires, and canon abusers be excused as 'well I mean, his wife is annoying.' I have seen OCs, many times, hold entire servers and communities hostage to their whims, whether as moderators or as simple members of a group. I can name 6 separate incidents across 12 years, and it always goes nuclear, scorched earth, kills communities and friend groups and servers. I refuse to play.

And again, fiction =/= reality, but the way people handle certain themes or concepts can say a lot about how they'll be as a collaborator --

[denial-permanente]

Thank you and Tom for sharing a bit of your sex life with us.

Given your last publications, it seems like you have too much asks from men thinking with their dicks. So I will try to raise the standard.

Since Tom was always the one proposing many kinks to try, and now it seems that you two stick with your kink (him permanently caged, only foxing, and caged orgasm at your discretion - ok writing that I already feel my question somewhat irrelevant 😅), but does he miss some other kinks? Do you think it will please him to try something else?

I know most old couples tend to stick with something they are comfortable with, but since Tom seems to be keen to explore new things...

You answered that, for instance, pegging did not interest you because there nothing for your pleasure there. But is being that selfish healthy? I know selfishness/unfairness is very kinky by itself and is probably one of the reasons that excites Tom to the point to be able to orgasm with minimal physical stimulation. But, besides this fantasy, don't you mind trying something else more for Tom than for you? Does Tom still ask about other fantasies? Did you talk about it? Did you tried some since he's permanently caged?

Maybe the fact that in the past you rejected the other kinks, but now accepted this (huge) one, is already a lucky success to stick with it?

I'm interested in your experienced answer, and if possible Tom's point of view, for my own relationship.

Sorry if my ask looks judgemental. I don't master English sufficiently to be able to transcribe exactly what I think into words. In no way I judge you ("selfish" or "unhealthy" is not a value judgement), I'm just asking how you truly handle and think about the situation.

Thank you

Tom was the first boyfriend I ever had who took the time to make sure I enjoyed things. He was considerate. He does like to say that I'm spoiled, but I prefer to thi k of it as I'm just being treated the way I deserve. 😅

I have occasionally indulged a few of his fantasies, usually if he asks me. I like to surprise him, and be in the mood for it. But he doesn't really ask much anymore. He once said that being permanently locked like this is living a fantasy so he doesn't get the urges as often.

I think it's sometimes hard to get the point across of what our relationship is like. For us, being locked isn't really the focus. It's the intimacy and really good feelings when we make love. I don't go around thinking "my husband is locked up" except when we're finally in bed together.

But to my husband every morning he wakes up feeling a tight cage. For him, he's getting a constant reminder of what we're doing and that seems to be enough for him. If that makes sense.

But we do have an agreement that I am totally in control over that part of him and that his pleasure always come from pleasing me. Is it selfish on my part to keep doing this? Maybe. But he thanks me often and shows his appreciation for my control whenever he can. So... who comes out ahead here? 🤣

[castlebyersafterdark]

do you have any thoughts on mike's masculinity? i personally LOVE that that's what they've created for mike, the experience of invisibility and just being a man who is also gay. the way finn looked in s4 didn't change anything for me, because the writers intend for him to be a certain way and modern aesthetics just don't apply. if he was a different actor there'd be no question really (but finn is perfect and looking more grown as the days go by anyway) and i just love love thinking about how he embraces being queer while being technically invisible (but i'm sure he embraces a couple visible things along the way) as he gets older

This is a very old one that I never finished answering for some reason - I guess because I wasn't sure of my thoughts and how to word it, still unsure how to perfectly phrase a lot of it. But, just riffing on some things...

I think the thing with Mike - is not that he's this hyper-masculine character, and he doesn't need to be. But he still fits somewhat of an "ideal" image, but not so much a male/masculine fantasy - he's the every-man! He has the protector role. The planner. He's dressed like a typical 80s boy (nerdy, but nerds in 80s media have always been the adventurous or girl crazy types, while still being misfits - so many examples. This is important as he's pushed into that with Dustin and Lucas, but pointedly he's different like Will is different. But the audience might see him this way surface level - but paying attention, we know that's inaccurate)

He's Mike - which is a guy still being soft and kind to his friends ALONG with his blunt, sometimes abrasive and crude actions. Look at him and Lucas in the basement shoving snacks in their faces while being totally gross, but such teenage boys - juxtaposed with Will's reactions. THAT is so telling. Clearly a divide between personality types there. You see how amused Mike was? You see how Will even in this stupid comic relief scene posed himself as different?

He's the character that audiences are kind of meant to relate to the most. He's the leader. He's the stand in for 80s protagonists in this sort of media, simultaneously that while being a character to (ugh I hate the word but it has usefulness sometimes) subvert that expected role. That's why it's so interesting and important that his journey doesn't end up expected and standard and well, conforming to all that. Boy gets the girl, boy sacrifices himself, boy has the nuclear family dream. He's capable and the poster child for adventure mystery stories, he's Such A Boy, but... he's also queer. That's so cool.

It's nice to see several very different story arcs in regards to sexuality with our queer characters. I'm not going to dive into Robin's story right now, but there's one. And then we have Will and Mike. Very different characters, but for them they're so entwined they have to be put together. Will being unable to truly hide who is he because of who he is and how unforgiving and unkind society and the era is to a boy like him, vs. Mike who can go through that same society and town and be invisible for what he is, just because his nature doesn't really unintentionally flag anything. He gets bullied and made fun of for being a weird nerd - I don't think he's getting bullied for being gay. That's Will. Now, that might change in season 5 for reasons yet to be seen on screen, but so far, that's not been Mike's story.

Just a few thoughts. Still not completely as in depth as I'd like, but it's always worthwhile to examine.

[thevikingwoman]

Author Interview

tagged by @galadrieljones thank you!

1. how many works do you have on AO3?

57

2. what's your total AO3 word count?

197,188

3. what fandoms do you write for?

Dragon Age, Uprooted (Naomi Novik), Wayfarer IF, Final Fantasy XIV.

only the latter two in the past year.

4. what are your top five fics by kudos?

Temporal Arrangements (Dragon Age Inquistion, Solavellan, E) Time Travel canon-divergent AU

Home (Uprooted - Naomi Novik, Sarkan/Agnieszka, T) Canon coda

Ar Lath Ma (Dragon Age: Inquisition, Solavellan, T)  Post canon fix it fix

Pies (Uprooted - Naomi Novik, Sarkan/Agnieszka, M ) post happily ever after domestic fluff

Temerity (Dragon Age: Inquisition, Solavellan, E) post canon enemies/not really enemies bdsm smut

5. do you respond to comments?

I try to respond to all of them! I love getting comments and when I comment I love getting replies on comments myself.

I may forget though, and I'm sorry! I love comments

6. what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

God Slayer (Solavellan, T) I really like this one.

7. what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Most of my fics have happy endings, though I really like them with a tinge of uncertainty or bittersweetness.

the most straight up happily ever after is probably Hay, (Solavellan, E) which is just a very self-indulgent little happy fic.

8. do you get hate on fics?

I don't think I ever had?

9. do you write smut? if so, what kind?

I do write smut! I love writing smut, it's such a good challenge and it makes me happy. I love characterization through smut - and it's such an interesting way to do characterization. That said, sometimes I'm just thirsty and I want to see two characters smash. I'm not pretentious about it. I'm here to have fun and I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting to read or write porn.

I write all sort of smut? I do love playing with power dynamics in sex scenes.

10. do you write crossovers? what's the craziest one you've written?

The closest I've written is Comfort, a Solavellan vampire fic, which uses some BtVS lore? It's not crazy tho!

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of!

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I know of either. I think I'd be a little apprehensive.

13. have you ever co-written a fic before?

nope. I'm not sure how i'd do that? writing feels like a solitary thing, even when asking for feedback and input.

The closest is a shared timeline/ideas where my OC interact with another person's OC and both of us wrote in the same continuity.

14. what's your all-time favourite ship?

hmmm. Once I've not written for and probably never will, Spike/Buffy.

if it's writing for, I'd say it's still Solavellan.

15. what's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I think if I want to finish it, I will? I have some old WIPs, but the reason I'm not finishing them is lack of want? Do or do not kinda thing I think.

16. what are your writing strengths?

I've told I've had good pacing. I think I write pretty good smut.

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

Descriptions? I tend to not want want to describe things. I'm also not great at moving characters through space - he went to the door, he looked out etc? I tend to slip into passive voice when writing characters moving around unless it's combat action or sex.

18. thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

nope.

"Hello," he said in Spanish

is perfectly valid.

A few short words like endearments - where the speaker would use a specific term in a different language than what's spoke is fine. Items that are specific and not translatable and would typically be borrowed words in a different language are fine too (kimono. computer. kayak)

19. first fandom you wrote for?

Dragon Age

20. favourite fic you've written?

This is SO hard. I was just looking at some old fics I really really love?

but I think right now, I'll pick my newest fic, Passing Through (wol/Tansui, E) because I love it very much and I had so much fun with it.

tagging @myreia @roguelioness @coldshrugs @allaganexarch @bearlytolerant @buttsonthebeach @scionshtola @galadae @wickedwitchofthewilds @redinkofshame @ellstersmash and @kittlesandbugs and anyone else who wants to! tag me!

[spellboundheartsaga]

Hearts of Bronze: Building Cultures

I like to think of myself as a creative person who can come up with completely new and fresh ideas that in no way real world things but that is honestly not accurate. Now that I'm no longer young and naive about where my ideas come from I have fully accepted and embraced using real world references.

It really started off with names. I don't like to use common everyday names in my fantasy worlds like John or Jane. There's nothing wrong with doing it. Sometimes a familiar name next to wildly unrealistic concepts is a really interesting juxtaposition and a lot of writers explore this relationship. It's just not my jam.

I wanted names that were unique to my worlds but I began to notice that all my names sounded the same. That's fine if all your characters are from the same country/region but I tend to write about things happening in big cities or empires, or journeys across continents. It's a ton of fun picking names out for major characters and reoccurring side characters but stories are filled with NPCs that are only mentioned in passing (I mean, I guess in a story they're all NPCs, but I do have a gaming and DnD background so in my head, that's how I refer to the minor characters that may only get a line or two. I often still name them because I think it helps me fill in the world and add dimension).

I now use things like fantasynamegenerator.com because it has the high fantasy names but it also has generators for real world names. Some of these are too commonplace to appeal to me but some are pretty unusual. I pick a real world culture and use that to inspire names for a specific country or culture in my story. This way characters of he same region have a subtle thread that ties them together and outsiders stand out.

In Hearts of Bronze, I have Khem and Carthago as two rival desert countries and the empty desert between them is the main location for the story. My refugees are from a Northern country called Aethel, that was defeated and absorbed by one of their rivals (haven't named the conquerors yet as they will not be a player in the story).

I am using ancient Egypt as an inspiration point for Khem, Phoenicia for Carthago, and Rome for Aethel. I call these inspiration points because while I pull references from them, I am not trying to set the story in these locations or be historically accurate to their cultures and traditions.

Having said that, there is a logical reason that the Egyptians dressed the way they dressed and built their homes in specific styles. Loose, linen clothing would be comfortable in the hot desert sun and mud brick buildings with thick walls and flat roofs make sense in an environment where the walls insulate and keep the inside of the home cool. There's no need for a steeply pitched roof if it never snows and hardly rains. At night, that becomes very pleasant additional living space if it's flat. You don't put your cooking oven inside your living space when your goal is to keep that area cool.

I'm also looking to historical references to add some realism to the technology of my world. Yes, there's magic and that will change significant parts of my cultures and their daily lives. But, it helps me to have a baseline and then consider how that changes society. In this story, I'm looking around 700-ish BCE. We're into the Iron Age but bronze is still commonly seen in weapons and tools. Steel is exceedingly rare. One of my mistakes already is thinking that archers would have been standard but as I research the Roman army of this time period, they actually had slings as their long range weapons. I hadn't at all considered dedicated spear men in addition to swordsmen but this was a staple for them. A massive part of my story is he founding of a whole new city, taking a dried up oasis and starting from scratch. I don't know how many fields a city needs to grow enough food or how the city would be laid out given that it is totally planned and not developing organically over time.

Which is why I'm now at my local library reviewing reference books on ancient Egypt and Rome. I'll use their traditional clothing to inspire my world's fashions. If the terms are obscure enough, I'll straight borrow them. I'm not ashamed of my references. I'm also looking at how their cities were laid out to add realism to my own. My Aethelians will try to build their new homes in the style of their homeland but that's not going to be livable in a new environment. Part of my story's drama is them making mistakes and learning to adapt. To do that, it helps to know how an Ancient Roman's home would look like and how that differs from those in Ancient Egypt.

How do you develop your cultures and countries?

[findroleplay]

I'm seeking 1x1 Discord based RP again, friends. Specifically as one of two of my characters really, though I am always open to making more OCs if need be as long as the idea floats my boat and you think we'd vibe!

I am a lazylit, 1-4 paragraph in 3rd person writer. I'm here to have fun, not fill word count quotas, and I really dig people who feel the same. I love open and communicative partners who are just as excited about their OCs as I am about mine. I'd love to get some MxM, NBixNBi or MxNBi (with me playing either of those) plots going tbh. Will consider FxNBi for the one NBi OC if I like your idea, but no promises.

Please go on my blog and read my pinned post before you contact me. Some short notices before I get into it: I am 32, you should be over 21 to RP with me, and your muse should be over 21 or, even better, over 25. No anime/manga faceclaims. Nothing too 'off the wall' either. I won't RP against a Hazbin Hotel character for example. My links aren't done yet but I can ping some stuff over if you're interested.

These characters, and their accompanying plots/universes, are generally made for adults only. They are adults, they do adult things, and I too am an adult that wants to write about adult things. So smut, sex, whatever you want to call it is inevitable. I don't mind sometimes fading to black but sex and sensuality are important to both of these characters' stories and I don't want to totally ignore that!

As such, I'm only really looking for people who are cool with a good smattering of smut and kink, and some heavier topics too, which can include Omegaverse if we decide to go that route, cruising & cottaging, anonymous sex and all that comes with that, underworld supernatural goings on, kink of varying types (of course that's depending on your preferences and mine, and how they mesh!)... Just, be mature and willing to write about adult things.

Now onto what I'm looking for. I have two characters inhabiting my brainbits at the moment.

CIARAN O'CONNOR [FC: David Tennant in Good Omens] (which is just one of the many aliases that he has gone by) is lonely. He's been lonely and hungry, in fact, for the past 1200 years. Bitten and turned by a vampire long since perished, when he was at the ripe age of 48, Ciaran has wandered the Earth for a time longer than most people find possible to even imagine. Cursed to walk alone forever, or so he thinks, he pushes away anyone who tries to get close, believing that they will be in mortal peril if they so much as befriend him.

I'm looking for ideally a Male or Nonbinary character to play alongside this Masculine Nonbinary character, but I'll consider Female characters too for Ciaran, for a modern with supernatural plot. Give me fellow vampires, werewolves, the undead, selkies, shapeshifters/changelings! I'd love to find him a Werewolf to play against to teach him how to love and find companionship after 1200 years of loneliness, and maybe we could introduce some omegaaverse shenanigans in there too if that is a thing you also enjoy.

PROFESSOR LEON RITTER [FC: Michael Sheen in Good Omens] - a literature professor - has newly moved to [city of our choosing] from Berlin. He's looking for a few things, chief amongst them for his past to stop following him around. He's a simple man who lives for writing and his books, as well as his pet Chihuahua, Betty. He seeks solace in stories... And sometimes in the darker corners of the city's streets and parks, too.

I'm looking for Male or Masculine Nonbinary characters to play alongside this Cis Male character. This plot is more grounded in reality than the previous, and has no supernatural or fantasy elements, (unless we decide to do something like modern omegaverse? IDK, I am open to that though!) I'd quite like to go one of two ways with him - a younger person, maybe a mature student in his classes, finds out what he does at night and at the weekends, simply by coincidence because they're also out cruising and cottaging, too. Or alternatively someone to calm him down and make him take care of himself for once.

I really, REALLY want to keep their face claims as is. I don't enjoy playing gym bunnies or most models, and want to keep their approx ages as they are also. It's the one thing I'm really inflexible on this time around folks, sorry if you're not a GO fan I guess!

If you're interested in plotting or chatting about either of these folks, please message me on oli.writes.stuff on Discord and we can get something worked out! <3

-

[omegaverserping]

I'm seeking 1x1 Discord based RP again, friends. Specifically as one of two of my characters really, though I am always open to making more OCs if need be as long as the idea floats my boat and you think we'd vibe!

I am a lazylit, 1-4 paragraph in 3rd person writer. I'm here to have fun, not fill word count quotas, and I really dig people who feel the same. I love open and communicative partners who are just as excited about their OCs as I am about mine. I'd love to get some MxM, NBixNBi or MxNBi (with me playing either of those) plots going tbh. Will consider FxNBi for the one NBi OC if I like your idea, but no promises.

Please go on my blog and read my pinned post before you contact me. Some short notices before I get into it: I am 32, you should be over 21 to RP with me, and your muse should be over 21 or, even better, over 25. No anime/manga faceclaims. Nothing too 'off the wall' either. I won't RP against a Hazbin Hotel character for example. My links aren't done yet but I can ping some stuff over if you're interested.

These characters, and their accompanying plots/universes, are generally made for adults only. They are adults, they do adult things, and I too am an adult that wants to write about adult things. So smut, sex, whatever you want to call it is inevitable. I don't mind sometimes fading to black but sex and sensuality are important to both of these characters' stories and I don't want to totally ignore that!

As such, I'm only really looking for people who are cool with a good smattering of smut and kink, and some heavier topics too, which can include Omegaverse if we decide to go that route, cruising & cottaging, anonymous sex and all that comes with that, underworld supernatural goings on, kink of varying types (of course that's depending on your preferences and mine, and how they mesh!)... Just, be mature and willing to write about adult things.

Now onto what I'm looking for. I have two characters inhabiting my brainbits at the moment.

CIARAN O'CONNOR [FC: David Tennant in Good Omens] (which is just one of the many aliases that he has gone by) is lonely. He's been lonely and hungry, in fact, for the past 1200 years. Bitten and turned by a vampire long since perished, when he was at the ripe age of 48, Ciaran has wandered the Earth for a time longer than most people find possible to even imagine. Cursed to walk alone forever, or so he thinks, he pushes away anyone who tries to get close, believing that they will be in mortal peril if they so much as befriend him.

I'm looking for ideally a Male or Nonbinary character to play alongside this Masculine Nonbinary character, but I'll consider Female characters too for Ciaran, for a modern with supernatural plot. Give me fellow vampires, werewolves, the undead, selkies, shapeshifters/changelings! I'd love to find him a Werewolf to play against to teach him how to love and find companionship after 1200 years of loneliness, and maybe we could introduce some omegaaverse shenanigans in there too if that is a thing you also enjoy.

PROFESSOR LEON RITTER [FC: Michael Sheen in Good Omens] - a literature professor - has newly moved to [city of our choosing] from Berlin. He's looking for a few things, chief amongst them for his past to stop following him around. He's a simple man who lives for writing and his books, as well as his pet Chihuahua, Betty. He seeks solace in stories... And sometimes in the darker corners of the city's streets and parks, too.

I'm looking for Male or Masculine Nonbinary characters to play alongside this Cis Male character. This plot is more grounded in reality than the previous, and has no supernatural or fantasy elements, (unless we decide to do something like modern omegaverse? IDK, I am open to that though!) I'd quite like to go one of two ways with him - a younger person, maybe a mature student in his classes, finds out what he does at night and at the weekends, simply by coincidence because they're also out cruising and cottaging, too. Or alternatively someone to calm him down and make him take care of himself for once.

I really, REALLY want to keep their face claims as is. I don't enjoy playing gym bunnies or most models, and want to keep their approx ages as they are also. It's the one thing I'm really inflexible on this time around folks, sorry if you're not a GO fan I guess!

If you're interested in plotting or chatting about either of these folks, please message me on oli.writes.stuff on Discord and we can get something worked out! <3

/

[psychewritesbs]

Y'know I'm more of a Gofushi and Sukufushi gal (as problematic as they can get by today's average shipping standards 😅), but I'm really liking the possibility of Megumi and Hana being endgame. So far Gege has yet to get rid of her so that means she might still have a role to play. But also I think Hana just perfectly encapsulates Megumi's naive tendencies and I think it would be neat to see both of them mature from it.

Imagine, Megumi telling Hana that he's not as perfect as she thinks he is and that he's not sure if the real him is exactly what she wants. And Hana learning to look past her idealized version of Megumi and see for herself whether she still feels the same way. I know people like to joke how she's like an obsessive fangirl but I think she respected his boundaries well when they're together. It's just that, she was emotionally charged during the confrontation with Sukuna and said those 'possessive' words. But let's not act like most of those who're calling her out won't be screaming their lungs out if it was Yuji who said it (no hate just an observation cause the topic is almost exclusive in shipping discourse 😔).

Also they both have matching and opposite symbolisms too. The shadow and light, a blessing and an angel? Even if what Gege has in mind is not romance, it would be such a waste not to build them up as friends at least. Otherwise what was the point of introducing Hana, separate from Angel, and giving her a connection to Megs? (Pls. Gege, you've already dropped the Tsumiki plot, at least let me have this)

And if ever they become canon I think their dynamic would be like how I imagined Toji and Mamaguro's relationship was.

oh anon, look at you making wild confessions on main 😂. While gofushi is not my thing (I just don't care for Gojo that much) I stand behind sukufushi. Ditto of doing it even in today's squeaky clean shipping environment where shipping anything that is slightly problematic gets you crucified.

I also recently discovered higumei? Which I am sure will make many people cringe. I just like the hc that Higuruma's self righteousness would have a shadow feminine such as is Mei Mei.

So yeah, I don't necessarily ship meguhana but I like the symbolism of opposites in it a lot too. And I just love your hc about meguhana so much because there's something soooo real about it. Between Megumi's lack of self-love being at the core of saying something like that, to Hana having to come to terms with the real Megumi and not her idea of him.

I'm reading a great book on the topic rn called On the Way to the Wedding, and Hana's obsession with Megumi is basically ruled by a "ghost lover archetype" where she idealizes an image of her ideal male counterpart and lives in that fantasy world waiting for the day she can save him. I think that's totally what happened when Sukuna fooled her. She was simply playing out an archetype that we could all play out.

Other than the whole double standard against female characters (for some reason, as you say, in this fandom it sometimes feels like the men get to be in love w/each other but if it's the woman then it's wrong), I think for me it also irks me that people can be just as cruel as Sukuna when it comes to Hana's naïveté.

Another thing I love about what you said is the idea that their dynamic would be like mamaguro and papaguro's. Kinda interesting to think that Hana could give Megumi the meaning that mamguro gave Toji.

Thanks for stopping by 🫶🏼😀.

[in-my-feels-probably]

hey there! i'm interested in getting option 2 for the 1.5k event. i would love the vampire diaries/the originals fandom.

pronouns: she/her

interested in being shipped with the boys

hobbies: singing in a band, reading fantasy novels, taking long naps, collecting things like stickers/journals/postcards, drawing, crocheting

i'm an INFJ Ravenclaw

i'm a very short redhead with blue gray eyes. common people i'm told i look like: lucy hale, florence pugh, hailee steinfeld, danielle campbell

personality time! (oh gosh)

i'm the type of person that people regard as being very well adjusted but honestly i'm having a mental breakdown most of the time.

i'm a deeply empathetic person, i care a lot about others and sometimes i forget to care for myself because of it. if someone i care about is in trouble, or needing my help, i will drop everything i'm doing to assist them. i also love sending care packages and letters to people.

i have taken in many of my friends throughout my life because they needed a place to stay. unfortunately, this aspect of my personality has also led to me being scorned many times (i see the good in people and tend to overlook the bad).

BECAUSE of that scorn though, i have developed some trust issues.

on the flip side of my sensitive/kind nature, i can be very feisty. when i'm frustrated i just want to beat up something, and i become very passionate towards injustice. my friends say i'm like a kitten with a knife.

additionally, i would consider myself a brave person. I don't struggle to have hard conversations with people (i don't like them but I'll do it), I've stood up to every bully I've ever had, and I've asked out every crush. unfortunately, this has led to me being rejected multiple times (contributing to my sense of no one ever being able to love me)

due to my trust issues and rejections, i tend to feel like an outsider in most of my friend groups. it can be very lonely.

TO FINISH IT OFF (this has become too long), i would consider myself a wise/intelligent person (i give good advice), resilient, but also easy going.

i'm a words of affirmation girlie, so i would love in a relationship to feel supported and welcome when i often don't feel accepted in a space.

i also would love someone who doesn't mind me going on about my hyperfixations for hours (which i will do when i get comfortable).

i'm also very touch starved but i will never initiate it (i like when my friends hug me but i will never go to hug them first).

hope that information was helpful! i realize i sound crazy

hi!

thanks for participating :)

i ship you with stefan!

i know damon is more of the collector type, but i feel like stefan is too when it comes to sentimental things. a lot of things he could collect would have bad memories attached to them if he got them in one of the periods his humanity was off. but, when he saw how much you liked collecting things, he’d attach new memories to them. he’d gift little things to you if you expressed interest in them, i totally think one of his love languages is gift giving.

stefan is also a really empathetic person. he’s directly protective of the ones he loves, and he’d admire that you’re the same way. he feels a lot for the people he cares for, even taking on their feelings as his own. he’d see that you felt as deeply as he did, and it would bring you closer together. knowing the signs of a breakdown because he’s all too used to having them himself, he’d be especially helpful for when you felt overwhelmed and anxious. and he’d know he could lean on you when he felt the same, knowing you were one of the only people who truly understood the complexity of those feelings.

hot take, but i think stefan is a glass half empty kind of guy. he’s has too much happen to him in his life to remain entirely optimistic. he puts on a good front, but you’d be able to see right through it. he’s quick to think of the worst case scenario—the good part of that being he’s always prepared to deal with it. and while he can he incredibly patient, he also has a short temper. but around you, he’d learn to control it. you’d make him feel like it was ok to try and have a better outlook on his life and circumstances.

he’d understand that life has made you a little reserved when it comes to learning to trust people. and he’d feel extra special when you let him in and let yourself be vulnerable with him. he’d also 100% be down to be with you and away from the group. while he enjoys hanging out with friends, he’d much rather be alone with you. when you needed a day to recharge, he’d be happy to give you it. but he’d never let you shut him out, and he’d never let you feel lonely. you’d be stuck with him for better or worse. quality time is another love language of his. he’d find it so endearing when you’d ramble on about your hobbies and interests. no matter what they were or how much he was or wasn’t interested in them, he’d be content to hear about them just because you enjoy them. and he’d be happy to join you with them.

i don’t think physical touch is that important to stefan. while he’d certainly enjoy hugging you and holding your hand and being close, he doesn’t need to. he’d never want to do anything that made you uncomfortable, and he’d be content just being in the same room as you. but he’d also be able to sense when you needed a hug, even if you didn’t ask for one. he’s so good with words, he’d make you feel comfortable enough to initiate touch with him yourself if you wanted to.

—

one perk of being a vampire nearly two centuries old is the sheer amount of journals he’d been able to collect over the years. one day, he’d take you to the library in the house full of books from various time periods. he’d show you a small section off in a corner that damon never bothered venturing over to full of leather bound journals—some filled, some empty. he’d pull a almost entirely blank one off the shelf, handing it to you.

he’d smile as you looked at him in amazement, gently flipping through the pages. “where did you get this? it’s beautiful.”

“chicago, 1929,” he’d recall, flipping it over to show you the initials carved into the spine. “i had a loft above this speakeasy there. it was left on the counter one night after close, and no one came to claim it. the bartender was about to throw it away before i got to it.”

you’d open the journal once more, your brows furrowing as you looked at the front page. “just this page was written in. and this isn’t your handwriting, so it must be from whoever left it behind. why didn’t you rip out this page and start it over? you kept it with you all these years just to never use it?”

he’d chuckle, glancing up at the shelf of journals tucked away. “i never needed to. i had plenty of others to use. it seemed like a waste.”

“why not throw it away if you planned on never using it?” you’d ask, holding it out for him to take.

“i don’t know. maybe i was waiting for the right person to come along. you’d certainly get more use out of it than me.”

your eyes would light up, making him smile. “you’re giving it to me?”

he’d nod, his eyes softening on you as you beamed up at him.

“baby, you could have the whole shelf if you wanted it.”

—

i don’t love how this turned out but i’m sleep deprived and i don’t wanna make you wait any longer, so here you go! i promise i’ll write something better next time if you’re here for 1.7k lol. thank you again for participating! i hope you enjoyed this :)