#but it might idk weaken the stakes a bit

[trashbatistrash]

,

[robotlesbianjavert]

Bare minimum, and I mean bare fuckin minimum for how the Shouji backstory & characterization could have panned out in a way that I still think would suck, especially if it ends up with the same conclusions that Shouji is pushing, but at least gives his character just a bit, a CRUMB of set up.

Establish through giantess heteromorph lady (and ideally similar incidents) that in the wake of Gigantomachia / prison break / PLF to the wind, the common citizenry have resorted to using heteromorphs as scapegoats and punching bags, suggesting that acceptance and progress are conditional on supposed “stability” and “peace” (ie, that the stability and peace everyone has been living with has always been fragile and false), and now they risk being kicked out of shelters and attacked in the streets. Things are looking reminiscent of the chaos following the advent of quirks, where the nature of humanity was called into question.

These are the circumstances that allow the PLF to gather an army. Heteromorphs who have been regularly subjected to abuse have nothing to lose, and those who maybe faced microaggressions but otherwise thought things were cool feel largely abandoned by the heroes, and thrown under the bus and scorned by the non-heteromorph population.

In comes the PLF, with Spinner as their symbol, explaining “Hey. you know that this was always simmering under the status quo. You’ll always be the first victims, because they don’t see you as human, and as soon as shit gets tough they’ll show their ass. These aren’t conditions you can live in. So let’s make sure that status quo can’t be reinstated.”

Also, maybe the PLF are making up for what the heroes and society are lacking, providing shelter and protection to the scared heteromorph civilians! I know my friend the ant guy would do this.

Because following Deku for the entirety of the PLF raid aftermath was pointless, let’s follow the students who are trying to do hero work and deal with trauma or whatever. They try to help some citizens who just spit vitriol at the heteromorph kids, mainly accusing them of being idk. Villain sympathizers or potential villains themselves. Subhuman.

City kids like Tokoyami and Kouda are startled by this particular level of hatred and how it’s exhibited. There’s Shouji’s opportunity, as the country kid who has dealt with his before, to come in with his backstory.

A more-or-less natural segue instead of being stuffed into a context-less flashback, something that suits the idea of the kids having to cope with and understand the conditions of their world in the aftermath of a society-changing event. It better sets up the stakes involving this narrative thread going into the final battle, gives a bit more space to developing the positions the heteromorphic people are in, why they’ve taken on this fight, and the thoughts of the students, wouldn’t interrupt the later conflict with awkward flashbacks. There could have been a flow!

But it involves honest introspection from the heroes, sympathy towards the people who have suffered under the status quo that the heroes are trying to restore, indicates that the PLF/villains might be better equipped to respond to the needs of the marginalized thus introducing that dreaded nuance this last act has lost, weakens Shouji’s already bullshit arguments about how to react to all of this, and takes away attention from Deku’s whatever the fuck he was up to.

And maybe I could have seen more of Spinner’s cute lil propaganda merch.

But god forbid any of that happen.

[azraqnar]

Thoughts on Agony of a witch (Spoiler warning! (Duh))

Oh boy I was doubting this series’s before but not anymore! This episodes is easily the best in the season. Grom doesn’t have shit on this episode! Everything was just great about AOAW, the music, the suspense, the action, the story, the animation, it was all wonderful!

- for one, Hooty is damn creepy when he fights not only does he effortlessly kick the emperors covens ass (you’d think they’d be more powerful than this but whatever) but he has a tea party with their unconscious bodies after. That was an interesting (& creepy) choice & it has me curious if Eda created him or not. We need a hooty backstory.

- Eda’s curse is getting worse and after episodes of not mentioning it they finally acknowledge how bad it’s getting & how Eda needs more potions or a higher dosage to barely keep it under control KEY WORD “BARELY”. It does remind me of when my aunt had cancer and her chemotherapy stopped working they had to higher the dosage. Good job on finally talking about it.

- When Luz leaves I do like how Eda & King reflect on how the “vibe” of the house changed when Luz showed up & how King thought they were gonna eat her (I guess it confirms witches do eat human kids)I am picking up a familia love from Eda & King so now we have the found family trope (Which I love). I thought it was cute when Eda decided to make a cape as a sign of gratitude & how it sets up how important this cape is when Eda talks about the material it’s made out of.

- Luz’s class is going on the field trip to the emperors coven but isn’t Bump the principal not a teacher?At my school whenever we had a field-trip it was the Teachers that went with us not the principal, Bump didn’t even play a big role so they could have swapped him out for a Teacher & nothing would change.

- Amity’s leg is still broken so she can’t attend the field-trip, which I thought was a good idea she didn’t go. I feel like the writers would try to force in more Lumity moments and it would distract from the plot. I do like Lumity but if Amity was there then fans would focus on that rather than the story & the last two episode were Amity focused so she wasn’t needed in this episode. Smart move from the writers, maybe if her legs heals next episode she could be there but idk.

- Now while Luz was thinking about stealing the healing hat I was a bit conflicted on it. I don’t like how the show is telling viewers it’s okay to steal but In Luz’s case it’s for a good cause, she wanted the hat so she could heal Eda’s curse. It’s like those cases you hear of people stealing groceries to feed their families, I felt the same here. Yeah stealing is bad but if it’s for saving someone you love is it really that bad? Idk if the writers wanted us to be conflicted over that dilemma but they succeeded.

- “Good luck with puberty” I laughed when Lilith said that, can’t believe Disney let that slip in.

- I have to say I do like the lore we get in this episode. Emperor Belos established the coven system 50 years ago to “honor the titan” which is the boiling Isles where they might get their magic from, before that witches were doing wild magic in what was called “the savages ages” it’s setting up more lore about the emperor like how did he rise to power? Who was he before? What were these “savage ages” like? If it was 50 years ago then there still are witches & demons that were alive in the savage age & they could tells us what life was like before. It also means Emperor Belos is 70+ years old. I’m just saying a human could live that long. 👀

- Now emperor Belos, wow his designs looks cool as hell, his voice is amazing too, it’s kinda sinister yet soothing at same times. As shown, it looks like he’s in a weakened state, he has to take these weird bird glowing green slime thing to have energy. We don’t know why or how he got like that, but it seems like he wants to Capture Eda so she doesn’t try to overthrow him since he’s weak. In fact, that might be the reason for the coven system, if he limits their magic then they aren’t strong enough to overthrow him. We only saw him for a bit but he gave a good impression when Luz said that no one will know about her stealing the hat we hear Belos voice echo: “ I will know” in the most bone chilling voice ever! The crew did a great job on him! Tho one thing I noticed is why is every big villain always in a weakened state? Darth Vader, Hordak, Aaravos, Zarkon, every anime villain. I just noticed this trope is overused, but I hope we can see Belos at his strongest and see how powerful he is. I have high hopes for him!

-Lilith discovers Luz is there & decides to use her as a decoy to lure in Eda. Which she succeeds when Eda goes there all angry for daring to drag Luz into her issues. I love how Eda doesn’t even try to stay calm she just straight up attacks Lilith & you can feel her angry.

- Speaking of that fight, best fight in the series thus far! The animation, the spells, the music, the raw emotion, it was all down great! It does remind me of a DBZ style of fighting when they’re moving so fast that your eyes can’t catch up & their magic surrounding them like Eda went super Sayion, I’m not complaining I like those kinds of fight & The intensity you feel in the fight is overwhelming. Luz’s life is at stake and Lilith even uses her as a human shield. She knows how much Luz means to Eda & was willing to kill her. Hell, she even threw Luz toward the spikes and Eda had to save her, then they both struggle with Eda trying to lift her up & Lilith trying to press her against the spikes & then Eda slowly turns into a monster THIS IS HOW YOU WRITE A FIGHT (takes notes she ra)

- Now the biggest bomb drop in the series. IT WAS LILITH WHO CURSED EDA. she blurted it out in a rage of jealousy it seems. They were insulting each other on how one is better than the other. Then when Lilith says “THEN WHY WERE SO EASY TO CURSE?!” My jaw dropped, I suspected they would tell us but not this episode, you see can see the hurt & betrayal in her eyes when it was her own sister who cursed her. Like ouch. From what I suspected is that Lilith was jealous of Eda from what their exchanges told us. But why was she jealous of Eda? Friends? Magic capabilities? Power? Maybe fighting over a crush? What? Whatever the reason is does not excuse doing that to your sister and your YOUNGER SISTER AT THAT. Goodness & I thought Edric and Emira took it too far with the diary thing. I’m officially part of the hate Lilith club. Idc what you do but hurting your sibling like that is the worst thing you can do to them, just imagined how much Eda suffered for DECADES with this curse. No redemption can fix that. But boy do they need Family therapy or just punch it out that works too.

- I loved it when Eda went into rage mode when she found out it was Lilith who cursed her. Her own sister. Like damn that has to hurt knowing your own family did that to you. She deserved to beat Lilith to a bloody pulp & I’m happy she didn’t even bother to listen to Lilith she just wanted to attack her & I don’t blame her one bit.

- Ugh the scene where the curse overtakes Eda was a heart wrenching one. She knows she slipping away and tells Luz to take care of King & Hooty & to stay safe before she slips away. When Lilith told Luz that Eda is with her true family made me want to punch her more than Amity’s parents. You feel how helpless Luz felt & I hope they work towards her character with that feeling because Luz is happy go lucky & seeing her in despair makes for great character development.

- it kind of reminds me of when Queen Angella sacrifices herself In season 3 but I hated how they never acknowledged it since season 4 & she doesn’t even return by the end season 5, they pretty much forgot about her. We know for sure Luz will never leave Eda behind & will go save her.

- So we know Luz will go back to save her cuz we do see her wearing the cape Eda made her in the promo. Also we have 1 episode left so we know she’s gonna attempt a rescue mission for Eda but will she succeed? She’s up against the emperors coven! She’s gotta pull all her cards on the table & team up with her friends.

- A witch loses a true way. It could refer to Lilith officially turning to the dark side or Eda being lost in her curse even into season 2. Knowing Disney, they will give us a happy ending cuz it’s Disney but I will be pleasantly surprised if Luz fails to save Eda by the next episode.

- One last thing, I like the credits had no music, just silence. It reminds me of in full metal alchemist whenever a character dies the credit are always silent. I guess it’s meant to represent despair in a way? Or change? Yeah it think it’s change.

- This is why shows should focus on the plot because when you do, it delivers for some great storytelling & this episode surpasses all of the episodes combined. when you focus on the story & lore & characters it makes for great emotional impact of an episode and I hope Dana and the crew continues to do this. This show has so much going for it & people who only watch a show for a ship are clowns because this is what you’re missing out on. an amazing story. I applause Dana & the crew for this episode, really outdid yourselves!

- Overall 9.7/10 it was phenomenal!

[rathologic]

the humbles idea you brought up with artemys three besties sounds interesting. it could be interesting with how you play through the game as well, and if you let certain people die, they may not allow you to take their place or something. with how the three represent three diffrent parts of the game (rubin through medicine and the kin, lara through the people and how the plauge effects them, and griff through its crime and how/why people end up that way through the plauge itself) if you go against what they're for to hard they might reject you fully. idk if this would even be good i just agree with your points because i had no motivation to do the other routes because it was just.... really boring since nothing had a diffrent consequence.

(before I get into the answer for this, from the "other routes" bit were you playing p2? i'm assuming so bcs that's what my post was about, & p1 does sort of handle deaths*. but definitely do play the classic routes it's better in just about every way, Especially in terms of this narrative strength)

yeah! :) in general 2 suffers from "the Bound don't have the depth of interpersonal relationships as they used to" syndrome & giving them stakes in other characters' lives would definitely help there! i think giving the apple basket direct symbolism of those varied parts would make up for that too, they just feel like a couple of guys to me... like it would rule if they held the haruspex accountable for his action/inaction when it comes to People Dying Of Plague

i would not say 2bin represents the kin at all- the writers took away any association he previously had in P1 and now he just hangs out with isidor and violently hates the kin and they try to kill him, i guess, it makes no thematic or backstory-wise sense but if we're talking rewrites i'd redo him entirely haha :(

* in p1 people dont die from plague they're just infected and presumably die later if you don't cure them; this weakens stakes a LOT and i do think they should be able to permadie but it was maybe a bit too complex for the og game to handle

[wygolvillage]

been thinking about how i would make a remake/reimagining of simons quest. long post ahead. might be a little stupid since im no game designer or writer or anything lol

random gameplay stuff

it would be metroidvania style, but not all in the castle. imagine it like ooe but the map is interconnected.

i would keep the day/night cycle but it would be less obnoxious of course... probably there would be a little clock on the HUD showing what time it is and how close you are to nightfall. villagers would go inside during the night, but you can still enter churches. churches are your most reliable healing method since save rooms would be pretty sparse in the rest of the world map, and saving at the churches also allows you to skip straight to morning or nightfall if you so desire. being stuck in the middle of the woods during night can be disastrous if the player is ill-prepared since monsters grow stronger then.

there would still be puzzles to figure out and complete, and it would still be a bit cryptic (not to the degree of the original of course), but there is a supporting character i would put in who you can ask for hints at any time, and hers are a lot more straightforward (more on her later). important items are gained through quests rather than bought with hearts, but drop rates would be VERY forgiving since it’s required. like, a villager promises to give you the red crystal if you can get him some fish meat from a merman, which would have about a 40% drop rate... i kind of wanted to preserve the sense of fighting monsters to forage for materials the original has without making the game a total grindfest :P

additionally, materials dropped from monsters can be used to craft food items after simon teams up with the aforementioned supporting character. like i said before, save rooms wouldn’t be super common so it would be implemented as a way to heal yourself when you’re away from town.

the bosses would be decently difficult to compensate with there being very few of them- a true challenge, but they can be beaten with both playable characters if the player is skilled enough

the plot would be expanded upon as well so lemme give a little summary

it begins in simons house where he wakes up having trouble breathing. he’s been struggling with some physical illness ever since battling dracula years prior, especially a nasty bite on his arm he sustained during the fight, and that arm has been turning a pretty nasty shade of grey, like its wasting away. he goes outside to a graveyard near a local church to try and get some fresh air, but it is largely unhelpful. suddenly, he spots an old woman standing at one of the graves. he looks over at him and says mysteriously “ah... must be a horrible night for a curse.” simon is like “what do you mean?!” the old woman tells him to “resurrect him and destroy what remains, or nothing will remain of you”. she then disappears into thin air, implying she’s a ghost or something equally spooky. simon is like “destroy what remains... dracula’s remains?!”

the game starts properly in the graveyard and surrounding forest as simon heads in a fairly straight path towards the town of jova, where he meets a woman a few years younger than him named agnes. agnes’ parents were killed by dracula’s forces when he was resurrected back then, and she admires simon greatly for defeating the dark lord (shes also implied to be a descendant of grant danasty!). she decides to accompany him on his quest after hearing about his curse. he asks the head priest of the town if he knows about dracula’s remains, and the priest tells him that he heard of some of dracula’s followers placing some of dracula’s body parts in their strongholds to worship, and points him to the direction of the first stronghold and hands him a stake. he also warns them that bringing all of his remains together can resurrect the dark lord and it holds a remarkable corrupting power.

simon and agnes then become a character swapping duo (just like portrait of ruin hehehe). agnes is low on defense but can deal plenty of damage at a close range, and her signature weapon is the golden knife. she’s fast as well, whereas simon is more of a slow, defensive character who is best at keeping distance between himself and the enemy. agnes is smart, but impulsive and stubborn, and doesn’t like being told that she’s wrong. simon is a stoic but kind individual who tends to keep to himself. their personalities occasionally cause conflict between them during the adventure, but they eventually grow to become really good friends.

eventually they reach berkeley mansion, the first of the strongholds, and its aesthetic is very much “dark evil church”. there are the usual skeletons and bats and stuff, but some of the dracula followers are regular enemies as well. the first boss is a human who has dedicated his life to following dracula (specifically to contrast against the priest dude who gave simon the stake and directions) who uses magic attacks and stuff. beating him earns simon dracula’s rib, which functions suprisingly well as a shield (which becomes important later).

the adventure continues on like this, going from town to mansion to town, with simons curse becoming more and more hindering to him (from a story perspective not a gameplay one. simon wont become worse to play as because that would be lame as hell). they go to the other mansions, with the bosses being carmilla (guarding the nail of vlad, in a mansion thats very much a vampires lair), olrox (guarding the eyeball, in a massive dining hall themed mansion) death (guarding vlads ring in a Spooky Clockwork Skeleton Mansion with slogras and gaibons and all the usual death stuff), and in the final mansion... there is no boss. just as simon is about to grab the heart, agnes stops him.

Agnes: You told me you were going to destroy the remains, weren’t you?

Simon: Of... Of course, Agnes. Why do you ask?

Agnes: Why haven’t you?

Simon: ...

Agnes: We have almost all of them. You remember what the priest said, right? That bringing them together can resurrect Dracula.

Simon: Well... I haven’t exactly been truthful, Agnes. The old woman who sent me on this quest didn’t tell me just to destroy his remains...

Agnes: So you’ve been intending to resurrect the Dark Lord this whole time? For your own selfish gain?

Simon: This curse will kill me if I don’t.

Agnes: ...So it’s true, then. You’re willing to risk the lives of thousands just to save your own skin. Lives like my parents’... Lives like mine.

Simon: I...

Agnes: There’s no need to explain yourself, oh great hero, Simon Belmont. (Scoffs) If you care more for yourself than anyone else, strike me down now!

surprise! simon has to fight against his best friend! tbh i would be pissed at him too lmao. and it’s a tough fight, as agnes can deal a ton of damage and is hard to dodge. killing her like any other boss will give you the bad ending, where simon realizes she was right and lets himself succumb to the curse out of guilt for her death. the way to the good ending is to use dracula’s rib as a shield (i told you it would be important!) or dodge/survive her attacks until she tires out (the shield is the best method though), and realizes simon doesn’t want to hurt her. they have a touching emotional moment and simon assures her that he beat dracula before and can do it again, but he will need her help. agnes nods, and they head to the ruins of dracula’s old castle, which is totally empty. there’s no music, while the rest of the game has been filled with catchy tunes, here there’s only ambient noise.

they reach the throne room and place drac’s remains on a pedestal, where they begin to glow with dark energy. blood is dripping down the walls and stuff, and the count is returning to the mortal plane as thunder booms in the background. simon begins to doubt himself. if he loses now, the world will be plunged into darkness, and it will all be his fault. but... agnes has his back, despite everything. they fight dracula together, and though it’s tough with simon’s weakened body, they eventually prevail, as simon drives the stake into his heart, the curse finally lifted.

the game ends with agnes and simon returning to jova. agnes admits that she’s still upset with simon for lying to her, but she would be even more upset if he died slowly because of her. simon sighs, stating that there was no easy solution to the situation they were in, and asks for forgiveness for breaking her trust and risking so much for his own desires. agnes says maybe one day she will forgive him completely, and she still considers him a friend, but she needs some time to herself. simon nods, and they go their separate ways.

SO YEAH idk if this is even good but i hope u at least enjoyed reading it. maybe ill make designs for this version of simon, and for agnes too ofc :D

...yeah, not exactly the happiest ending, but i always found it kind of weird that simon was so willing to resurrect the count to save himself from the curse, so that’s the main conflict i decided to add to the story. its not the sort of conflict that can be easily resolved. theres no easy answer... agnes was right about simon risking other peoples lives being wrong, but she was also wrong to insist that he just give up and let the curse kill him instead. its Complicated idk... Castlevania II: Simon’s Trolley Problem

edit: actually i decided there would be two "true endings" after using the shield in the agnes fight. the one i described, and a second one where they decide against resurrecting dracula and simon lives out the short rest of his days with agnes until he dies of the curse. both endings are considered equally canon and valid

[sagemoderocklee]

Hi two questions! If you’ll take them. Question 1. On your blog it says Boruto free-zone, but do you like Gaaras son? Idk his name, I don’t watch the show but I would like to get on opinion on him. Question 2. I’m writing a LeeGaa fanfic and was wondering if you had any tips about writing them. I’m a little worried about making them OOC, like I am all fics honestly but I really want to get this right before posting. And tips? Thanks, love your blog!

Hi, anon! Sorry for not getting to this sooner. It’s been a long week to say the least. I hope I can give satisfactory answers to your questions because I’m still exhausted and a lil bit sick from my move this past weekend.

As far as Gaara’s son, Shinki: I think he’s a good kid, but it’s very unoriginal writing in terms of his origins and his personality. He’s Gaara 2.0. I have nothing against him and I think he’s an adorable lil goth child, but as with all the Boruto kids they’re just different versions of their parents with slightly different backstories and in a lot of cases a lot less trauma. I don’t really think there’s anything compelling about the series–the stakes seem pretty low compared to Naruto, the writing is just not good, and I was always more invested in the original Naruto characters. Boruto is a cash cow–it’s piggy-backing off of Naruto’s success to keep making money off people emotionally invested in the series. 

Now, the big question: Since I don’t know what you’re writing, all my advice is going to be pretty generic, but obviously you’re welcome to ask more questions and even send me private messages to chat. 

So I think it can be really dependent on the fic in question–like if you’re writing a modern AU, you really have to figure out what makes the characters who they are and what is the inherent draw between the two of them, then divorce them from all Naruto context. They aren’t child soldiers, they don’t have ninja magic, there’s no tailed beasts, etc. Any AU is going to be a little more complicated because you have to think about how you’re approaching the characters more creatively. 

If you’re writing in canon, then it’s a little easier because you don’t have to take them out of Naruto-world and put them elsewhere while still maintaining the characters. 

I have recently answered a similar ask about this sort of thing, though it was specific to the characters, which is of course important, but if you haven’t looked at this post, it’s a good place to start in terms of who Gaara and Lee are, because ultimately if you’re not writing the characters correctly, the relationship will also suffer in terms of the writing. This is also a good post in terms of general writing advice, and you can also go through my gaara, lee, or gaalee tags to see any other asks I’ve answered about these two and this ship to get some of my perspective on the characters and their relationship. 

Here’s a good breakdown on what I think a good GaaLee fic, canon or AU, needs to have to be successful, which I’ll extrapolate on under a cut: 

A Solid Foundation

Individuals

The Law of Attraction

Balance

Avoid Contrivance

Be Creative

The Journey

So now that we got the main points presented, let’s break this down.

1. A Solid Foundation

The biggest road block to a successful GaaLee story is laying a foundation. We don’t get a lot of their friendship in the actual series because of the pacing of the series, so we need more of a foundation for a believable, compelling romance.  

For me, I’ve always personally preferred slow burns, but with certain ships, slow burns feel more necessary–I need to know why these two are close enough to form a romantic relationship. I need to know what groundwork the story I’m about to read is laying for them. A solid foundation can be anything, but it needs to be there. I need to know that they’ve had more than a handful of interactions. While the Gaara vs Lee fight, and Gaara rescuing Lee from Kimimaro are both very good pieces of their shared history, I still want to see more than just that and I think that ultimately it strengthens a story and strengthens the relationship you’re presenting when we have a good foundation. 

Gaara especially needs a good foundation to develop a romance with someone and rushing right through the building blocks makes it harder to see him forming those feelings and pursuing that relationship, so it’s vital when approaching a GaaLee fic to keep in mind the way this character can and will fall in love. Lee is more prone to developing crushes on people at first sight, and while that crush can develop into a deeper love, Lee doesn’t only need to have insta-crushes on someone to fall in love with someone. With Lee, there’s a lot of options for how you approach romance, whereas Gaara is more limited. 

When building a foundation for these two ask yourself what the starting point is–set aside the Gaara vs Lee fight, set aside the Kimimaro fight; we already know about those fights. What is the start of the foundation for your story? What’s the spark? What’s the thread that ties them together? Figure out what the building blocks are for your story, and don’t rush through building that foundation. Don’t limit and weaken the romance by forgetting to build it on top of a good foundation; don’t forget that a solid romance is built on a foundation of friendship and trust. 

2. Individuals 

An important and often forgotten aspect to writing ship fics in general, is the fact that you’re writing a story about two different people coming together. They are two separate, individual people with their own desires, ambitions, beliefs, motivations, etc. They do not cease being themselves once they enter into a relationship, but often times, much like with the lack of a foundation, people forget to allow these characters to maintain an identity outside of the person they are in a relationship with. 

Lee’s whole world shouldn’t revolve around Gaara, and Gaara’s whole world shouldn’t revolve around Lee. Give them depth, give them a life outside of the relationship they have. Don’t lose who they are as individuals, because then you lose who they are as a couple as well. They share their stories with one another, but their stories shouldn’t only be about one another. 

And, along these lines, if you don’t have a grasp of who these characters are as individuals, then you’re not going to have a grasp of who they are as a couple. Always ask yourself simple questions when approaching road blocks in your story: who is this person? what do they want? why do they want it? how will they get it? That tells you a lot about a character either in the moment or as a whole. Who is Rock Lee? What does he want? Why does he want it? How will he get it? You can also ask yourself the opposite: who isn’t this character? what do they not want? why don’t they want it? how will they avoid this? Who isn’t Gaara?–meaning what sort of person is he not, (ie callous and cold) What does he not want? How does he avoid this outcome? Also knowing how far a character is willing to go to either get or avoid what they want can really help. 

An example scenario: Gaara loves Lee, but the only way he and Lee can be together is if he gives up being the Kazekage. Gaara cannot and will not give up being the Kazekage. Being the Kazekage is a part of who he is. As much as he loves Lee, he cannot give up his village and he will give up Lee over his village. 

So, building around that gives you a lot of options to talk about who they are and what struggles they face as individuals and as a couple. What they value and how it can cause tension, etc. 

Again, one of the most important things, in my opinion, is having a story outside of these two; giving them motivations outside of each other, giving them relationships outside of each other, etc. 

3. The Law of Attraction

With writing romance, there are a couple of things to consider in terms of why two people might be attracted to one another–from physical to emotional, the choices you make in building the romance itself need to be grounded. What do they see in each other? What attracts them to one another? And is it compelling enough to build a story around?

Everyone has something they find attractive in someone else from looks to personality. Did Lee feel a spark the first time Gaara smiled at him? Was it the green of Gaara’s eyes that first made Lee stop and stare? Was Lee’s kindness and determination what first made Gaara’s heart skip a beat?  

Find those moments that draw them to one another–it’s like gravity, and it should keep pulling them closer to one another until their orbits are so tightly connected that interference with that orbit would be devastating. The stakes don’t necessarily need to be high from the outside world, you can have your modern AUs and still have an intense emotional connection between the two, but it has to come from somewhere; the attraction needs flow naturally. Often times, the best and most natural expression of attraction in stories is done subtly. Sometimes, we’re not really aware that we’re drawn to someone until we’re already caught up in their orbit–and I think that’s a good way to present Gaara and Lee. Both kind of oblivious until it’s glaring them in the face.

So find the gravity between them and let it grow. 

4. Balance

One thing that I personally love about GaaLee is that they are such polar opposites that they balance each other out. Not too long ago, I answered this ask about Gaara and Lee and the symbolism of the tiger and dragon from their fight–it’s pretty apt though to think of the way they impact each other as yin and yang. It’s a balance. They become better for having each other in their lives. 

In general, when talking about a healthy romance, it should be enriching; it should feel like it compliments both people. Gaara and Lee compliment one another, and I think that should come through in the story itself, even before the romance is explicit. Gaara calms Lee; Lee excites Gaara. Where Lee goes left, Gaara goes right, and together they make a perfect circle. 

Finding where they differ, will help you find where they create balance within each other. 

5. Avoid Contrivance

One of the things that always sticks out to me with GaaLee fics is that it feels like people don’t know how to get them together. How do we get Lee to Suna? How do we get them to fall in love? etc. There’s always this like confusion, this sort of floundering to think up new ways to make it happen because I think everyone’s stuck on the idea that Lee has to be in Suna for them to fall in love. Obviously, in more recent years, there’s been an upswing of Gaara visiting Konoha as a premise, but even with that context it feels like grasping at straws for the how and that leads to contrivance, and most importantly to falling back on that one fic from ten+ years ago as a building block for a GaaLee fic. 

Let’s face it, if you don’t want them to do long distance, yes Lee will inevitably end up in Suna. But he doesn’t have to always be in Suna for them to start a relationship, and if you’re gonna have him be in Suna, it probably shouldn’t be because he’s a diplomatic envoy. Lee isn’t a diplomat. He is so far from being suited for politics and diplomacy it’s honestly hilarious. I’ve done it. We’ve all done it. But he’s not gonna be an envoy for diplomatic liaisons between villages, and that needs to be acknowledged. Lee is a man of action, not words, and definitely not the sort of games that politicians play. 

So when you inevitably decide that Lee’s gonna go to Suna, be creative. And outside of that, think of ways to get them out of Suna and Konoha! There are endless possibilities! Don’t limit yourself! 

There are other contrivances in fanfics, but that’s always the one that gets me because it often feels like people are placing Lee in Suna because they just don’t know what else to do. I have Lee in Suna a lot for the fics I write, but there is always a good reason for it. Make sure to have a good reason that fits in line with who Lee is and why he might be there. And tbh Gaara and Lee are friends! It’s totally okay for him to decide to make a stop in Suna on the way home from a mission to see his friend! 

Aside from that, I feel that the other biggest contrivance is that Gaara is always… immediately into Lee and it’s just… not realistic. Allow them to take time with their relationship, don’t just shove them together. Gaara taking one look at Lee and being like “yes, that one” is just… it’s not who Gaara is. Like it’s not always applicable if we’re talking about like AUs, but people all too quickly forget that Gaara underestimated Lee. He took one look at Lee, thought he was a weird, weak kid and dismissed him. Then promptly got his ass handed to him by Lee. Gaara did not take Lee seriously at first in canon, and it is heavily contrived when his first glimpse of Lee in an AU is a love at first sight kind of thing. 

Another note, a big thing that frustrates me is Gaara not having like any concept of things like sex, romance, etc. Like he’s not some shut in who’s never heard the word sex, and I’m deeply tired of seeing his “sexual awakening” because it’s always like really gross and lowkey homophobic because there’s always this sense that people want to make him asexual but they make him sex repulsed (as if that’s the only way to be ace) and don’t know how to do it without being like “eww sex with another man!?!?!” Like there are ways to write asexual characters without being gross, but you wouldn’t know it the way fandom writes so just be careful with that sort of thing. 

In general, sexual awakenings often feel contrived, but that’s just my onion.

6. Be Creative 

I know I said this already in number five, but it bears repeating. Be. Creative. I wish like… any of my fics were finished so I could like point to them as examples of the many and varied ways you can tell a GaaLee story, but trust me, I have like 20+ WIPs/fic ideas and each one of them is different from how they meet to how they fall in love so I know it’s possible. I think a lot of people get sort of bogged down by the lack of fic content and by the fact that everyone and their mother won’t shut up about that one fic from 10+ years ago. But I promise you can be original, creative, and groundbreaking. This fandom doesn’t exactly have a lot of ground to break, but you can still do it! Think outside the box! Don’t limit yourself to Lee going to Suna! Don’t limit yourself by making it love at first! Don’t sell yourself short by forgetting to take your time developing them, their story, their relationship! 

Think of something completely out of left field and then just fucking run with it! Figure out how to make it work for these characters, within this world! But go for it! Don’t be afraid to make mistakes! I promise you I have GaaLee fics that I wrote from 8 years ago that SUCKED. But it helped me learn how to write them! It helps me grow as a writer! So take a chance and be creative! 

7. The Journey 

One final note, the other thing that I have found that trips people up with writing–and this is honestly general advice, but I’ve noticed it a lot with GaaLee fics which is why I bring it up: The pacing. 

People are so in a hurry to write a GaaLee fic to give this fandom that’s so desperate for fic content something that they just… rush right through the story. Like I’m gonna be real with you, I don’t care that Gaara and Lee end up living happily ever after. I wanna know HOW they get there. I wanna know how they even get to that first kiss. I want the journey. The journey is the payoff, and I know I’ve pretty much been saying this the entire time but it’s just so important. The amount of times I’ll see a fic that’s like 12 chapters in but only has like 20k words… I’m like ???? what’s even happened? what’s even drawing me in? what’s compelling me to keep reading if you’re 12 chapters in but only have 20k words. 

And don’t misunderstand, you can say a lot with a small number of words, but if you’re telling me a story and you’ve got 12 chapters and only 20k written, then you’re pacing is off. Pacing is vital to executing a story well, and if you’re pacing is off then you’re either rushing through the journey or, quite simply, the journey isn’t there to begin with. Like it’s painfully obvious to me when a writer wants to skip all the messy in between bits and just get right to the shipping. And sure it’ll get you views and comments, but you’re missing out on the best part.

If the journey isn’t the pay off, then you’re not telling a story; and while this is general writing advice, it is so important to the integrity of this ship. They need a story. They need epics. They deserve epics. So stop thinking about that final kiss, and start thinking about what happens in the moments before that kiss. Think about the space between the kiss, not the kiss itself, because that is where the story is. The kiss is just ‘the end’. 

Anyways, I’m gonna wrap this up because it’s taken me… like three days to write this and I’m tired from work and moving and just everything lol I know this isn’t like super specific, but like I said, if you have specific questions feel free to ask on anon or message me privately! 

[sometimesrosy]

So I binge watched the whole show and didn't know bellarke was a thing until I looked at the 100 tag. Idk if it's just that I'm gay af and dont understand straight relationships, but I always thought it would've made the show stronger if Bellamy and Clarke could hold positions of power w/o being romantically involved. I assumed all their affections were platonic / sibling-like.

We all ship the way we ship. We see the connections that are relevant and important to us in our lives. It could very well be that because you are gay, you don’t look for that connection in a M/F relationship. This is one of the ways that fiction is so great, because we all make the meaning of it that we need to see.

If you binged the whole thing, then you probably got something out of it. It wasn’t Bellarke. And that’s perfectly fine. 

I clearly don’t have the same experience as you. I think they were platonic in the beginning, but their relationship deepened over time. One of the things I like about Bellarke is that their relationship ISN’T built on sex and I think all the best romantic relationships have a base that is much more meaningful than just sex. To me, their relationship is the definition of true love. Step by step they grow that love so that it is deeper and deeper and encompasses what I see not to be platonic and certainly not sibling-like but rather spouse like instead. Spouses are kind of, by definition, not platonic. It’s not a teen romance story or a soap opera romance. If it were that might make the story weaker. And it would be a bit trite. But that’s not the love story they’re telling.

I am drawn to the deeper relationship of Bellarke, that is slowly grown, and built on a true partnership. I believe this is the root of the best romantic relationships.

I’m not sure why keeping it non-romantic would make it a stronger story. I’ve heard people say that getting Bellarke together would be cliche, simply because they are m/f, but I have to say, they simply don’t depict m/f relationships of this depth that often. So other than being a man and woman in the relationship, I don’t know what’s typical about it. And seeing as they HAVE been holding positions of power without being romantically linked, I don’t know why something would be weaker in the story or their partnership if/when it turns romantic. Does who you love make you weaker? Does romance weaken a hero? Does a romance with a strong male character make the lead female into a lesser character? 

I think they’ve worked really hard to keep Clarke and Bellamy equal.  To me, seeing a woman in a romantic relationship that was truly supportive and equal, and also transformed the world with their partnership, THAT is something empowering and revolutionary and feminist. Does a woman need a man? No. Does a human being need love? Kind of. Yeah. And I think The 100 is, at heart, about love, and how love makes survival worth it. 

I could argue with you about all the ways Bellarke isn’t platonic, or compare the way Bellamy treats Clarke with the way he treats his actual sibling, or I could make a list of the romantic storytelling techniques they’ve been using in Bellarke scenes since the pilot, but I won’t. 

This is a bellarke blog, and a lot of what I write is explaining and defending and analyzing the bellarke story. It’s not all I do, but it’s certainly what gets reblogged the most. If you want to understand how I could see Bellarke as romantic or how the story grows their romance story you can search my blog for #bellarke development. If you don’t believe that Clarke or Bellamy is in love with the other, try #loves. If you’re interested in understanding the interpretation.

Mostly though, I’m not sure why why you sent the anon. I have no stake in your connection with Bellarke being platonic. You can keep on thinking it’s platonic and it’s not a problem for me. They do have a strong and beautiful non-sexual relationship. However, I’ve been following pretty closely and it’s clear to me that they are building an epic romance that is the backbone of the story, and that it started out platonic and grew with every definition of love over the course of four seasons is not proof that it’s platonic and better that way.