#but some parts of it are always fun

[technomancyshenanigans]

im getting pretty good at making pretty cocktails :3

[ruporas]

captain's warm hugs! (id in alt)

[lemongogo]

env practice ft the reunion scene

[panthermouthh]

“You doubtless recollect these papers. Here they are. Everything is related in them which bears reference to my accursed origin… the minutest description of my odious and loathesome person is given, in language which painted your own horrors and rendered mine indelible. I sickened as I read.”

[abd-illustrates]

Are you gonna make the playlists for the heartless characters public? Or has that already happened and I just missed it

AH I haven't shared my character-specific Heartless playlists as some of the songs on them were SUCH specific picks that they risk being highly spoilery lol 😅

(For funsies tho I'm gonna put some of my non-spoilery-est top tracks for each character under the cut! 🎶)

HEARTLESS: Heartbeat – The Midnight

ALCHEMY: Transform – Julianne Hough (this was the very first track on Alchemy's playlist it is SO them)

FLINT: Change Your Heart Or Die – The Midnight

EIRA: In The Cold – Vincent Lima

DOPPEL+GLASS: Call Them Brothers – Regina Spektor (And "Still Here" from Treasure Planet, but especially the Alex Ubego version)

RIVER: Machine Learning – Janani K. Jha

CREED: Hunting Witches – Kyle Stibbs

LORELEI: Siren Song – Lambia (Also: Ado’s version of Unravel 😩👌)

DIANA: Hell’s Comin’ With Me – (the Chloe Breez cover in particular)

LANCE: Blood Upon The Snow – Hozier (Most of his playlist is the kind of metal and high energy tunes you might expect for him, so this one's a fun outlier :3c )

BANDY: HARLEQUIN! – Vana

DOCK: Eye For An Eye – 8 Graves

[mobius-m-mobius]

I can rewrite the story.

Loki 1x01 // 2x05

[s0fter-sin]

i need ghoap frantically making out against a door finally taking the leap on their feelings. need ghost grinding against soap, expecting to find him just as hard as him, only to feel nothing

and in all his wisdom and experience, he concludes soap was tortured and never told him

he’s trying to think of a delicate way to say he understands, that he’s been through it and it doesn’t change anything about how he feels (and who the fuck touched him so he can hunt them down and rend them limb from limb)

meanwhile trans!soap’s just trying to find the best angle to grind his cunt on ghost’s thigh

just it never even entering ghost’s head bc he’s never known a trans person but he has met plenty of people who’ve been tortured - himself included - so of course that’s his logical leap

soap takes off his shirt and he sees his top surgery scars and ghost asks if he wants him to kill the one who did it and soap just hums like, “actually, man did pretty good, they healed real well,” and ghost’s just teary-eyes with awe at how well he’s coping, “looking on the bright side, that’s my johnny.”

imagine he thinks johnny was fully castrated but sees he’s determined to still have a sex life with him so he buys packers and straps to help him bc hell yeah healing and soap’s just like, “holy shit i’ve never had such a thoughtful partner before, such a sweet man, lt.”

[bonefall]

Hey, what makes a character a 'plot device but not a character'? And how do you not do that? I'm trying to do it on purpose but also I need to still make them interesting because it's on purpose, yknow?

A good skill to pick up is to learn to criticise criticism itself. A "plot device" is simply a thing that moves the plot along, it's a neutral literary analysis term! Usually, when people are angry that "a character has been used as a plot device," it doesn't mean they hate plot devices. It means they're gesturing at something deeper.

Runningwind and Bumble are equally plot devices in their deaths. They are both killed by the antagonist to escalate political tension. Runningwind is rarely "accused" of just being a plot device, and yet, we're talking about Bumble for the same thing.

So, why?

Well, Runningwind is just a background character, but in life, he was a part of the community. He was characterized as impatient but responsible. Yet, he wasn't SO important that he died with a bunch of unresolved plot threads.

He is mostly an extension of the entity of ThunderClan. His killing by Tigerstar, and the fear and paranoia that settles on the group after this, feel like a progression of the story insteas of something forced.

Bumble, on the other hand...

Is hated immediately by Gray Wing, when she's established as Turtle Tail's friend. Bumble's abuse at Tom the Wifebeater's hands invites even MORE investment. The rejection is shocking and upsetting. There's a story there about our main characters being imperfect; jealous, bigoted, and judgemental.

But, she is simply killed off. Everything they set up for this character is gone with little personalized fanfare. It's not a tragedy with a lesson about cruelty, or something anyone regrets.

It's just... plot. Gray Wing whinging that no one will like his shitty brother now that his body count is 2.

More than that, in the discussion of women in particular, "Fridging" was coined to give a name to the way women characters often don't get their stories told at all. There is a CULTURAL trend of female characters facing disproportionate violence, for the sake of advancing male plots.

Bumble has a lot going for her. Petal had a lot going for her. Turtle Tail had a lot going for her. Bright Stream had a lot going for her. When they died, they took their potential with them.

It's not always wrong to kill off a character of high potential, mind you. In Gurren Lagann, Kamina's death is sudden and shocking, leaving a massive hole in the hearts of the cast that never heals. Grappling with that loss, but also letting his memory fuel them, is a major theme of that story.

All that to say... there's no formula for avoiding it. You've gotta identify what the deeper issue is, in your specific narrative.

I can't say for certain what that will look like for your story, but here's some things I keep in mind;

When you make characters who exist to die, make sure they're people before you axe them.

Ask yourself; what about them does the cast miss?

If they just miss them because they were (pre-existing relationship), go back to the drawing board.

Fluttering Bird as an example. Who was she? Dead sister. Why do they miss her? Dead sister. No traits until after her death.

Runningwind was short-tempered and helpful. Kamina was a valuable leader who made people believe in a brighter future. Swiftpaw was fiesty and desperate to prove himself. The better characterized, the more profound the loss usually is.

If this is a female character who is dying just to serve the plot, be aware of cultural bias and tropes. How is the gender ratio looking in your cast? Is this happening disproportionately with your girls?

Note how Quiet Rain's litter had both a boy and a girl, but the girl was chosen to be "weaker" and wither away.

And how most of the time in DOTC, whenever a man had to be upset, a girl would get killed for it.

If you ever feel like the character on the chopping block is NOT a full character, ask yourself why it needs to be a character at all. You don't need to spend narrative time building out someone when a literal object of high value might suffice.

"My sister died when I swore to protect her and I can't face my family" = Old. Tired. Ive seen this.

"I lost my heirloom sword when I swore to protect it and I can't face my family." = Fascinating. Why was the sword so valuable? Will they really not take you back? How did you lose it?

When you do kill off "high value" characters, try to make sure you're not leaving too many plot threads hanging. Or at least make a point of how they will never get closure.

[gummi-ships]

Kingdom Hearts 3 - San Fransokyo

[myokk]

the new fifth-year✨

[slavhew]

toodeee

everything is transient. only an easy to draw guy is forever

[ofdreamsnwishes]

“You are staring.” Barista!Jaemin whispered in your ear, making you jump and spill the hot coffee on yourself. Swearing under your breath you quickly move to the sink, running some cold water on your hand to, hopefully, avoid getting a serious burn.

The boy snickers behind you, trying to apologize and offering to help, but you know it’s not really genuine, Jaemin is just trying to mess with you, as if annoying the hell out of you was the best part of his day.

“I understand you are the owner’s son and you’re not really obliged to work, but at least try to uphold your parent’s café reputation.” You whisper-yells at him, glaring into his soul, hoping that for once, looks could actually kill.

“Oh I am. I’m making sure that our employees are not slacking off, you know, staring at our costumers with heart eyes…” There’s a mischievous glint in his eyes. Shit, he knows.

“I wasn’t staring AT the costumers, my gaze just happened to be there.” You defend yourself, too prideful to admit that you were, in fact, staring.

You were trying to convince yourself too, because really, you shouldn’t. Not at Mark of all people. Not at the guy that was currently there waiting for your pretty coworker to arrive.

“Bullshit.’ He deadpans. It was infuriating how he always seemed to look past your excuses. ‘Maybe we should ask Hina and see what she thin-”

A hand flies over Jaemin’s mouth, your panicked eyes meeting his.

“Do. Not.’ A warning. Too bad Jaemin loved the bickering so, of course, he had to poke his tongue out, slightly licking your hand. Pulling away, you shoot him disgusted look. ‘You!”

An awkward cough startled you two out of your argument, Mark standing near the cashier, shy smile and a gentle voice to accompany.

“Sorry to interrupt… But, could you give this to Hina when she comes by? Something came up and I need to leave.” He has a small paper bag on his hands, what you could assume was some kind of jewelry based on the logo. Your heart drops. Right, Hina.

Before you can answer though, Jaemin is quick to talk, swiveling past you and putting on his best customer service smile.

“I’m sorry, we are not allowed to accept gifts from customers.’ It’s a lie. ‘The owners are very strict about it.” Another lie, Jaemin’s parents were sweethearts.

The older boy’s eyes widen, a blush dusting the tips of his ears. “Oh…! Sorry, I didn’t know about that…” He scratched the back of his head, excusing himself and leaving shortly after, a dejected look on his eyes.

It’s silent after that, Jaemin taking the order of the next customer in line and you busy yourself with tidying up the counter.

“What do you even see on him?” The boy beside you asks, once he took all of the costumers orders, putting a hand on your shoulder and moving you aside so he could help with the beverages.

“For starters he is the opposite of you.” You grumble and he lets out a dramatic gasp.

“So you’re telling me I’m not your type?”

You pause, looking at him, syrup bottle midway in the air. Honestly, what went on inside of his head sometimes? You? Liking him? That’s the first thing be asks?

“No?” You give him a side eye.

“Damn… Too bad, you’re exactly my type.”

“…”

“…”

“What?”

Jaemin winked at you, finishing up the beverage he was doing and taking the one you were doing, calling the names on the cups. He acted as if he didn’t just drop this bomb on you.

“Jaemin, what-”

“The customers are waiting, come on, finish their orders first.” He singsongs, not looking in your direction, hands busy cutting a cake slice.

Hesitantly, you turn away, almost dazed as you work on the next order in line. Maybe if you looked a bit closer you might’ve seen the red dusting his cheeks, the back of his neck and tip of his ears. He slipped up.

[callisteios]

I have a new uquiz for you, go on a pilgrimage with me. discover who you are.

[starry-bi-sky]

Out of Context Danny Phantom Memes for a fic i haven't posted (yet)

[imaybe5tupid]

Why bother? (Why bother?) It's gonna hurt me. (It's gonna hurt me.) It's gonna kill when- (Why bother!) -You desert me! (Gonna hurt me!)

Set after Nightmare. Laios is reminiscing and contemplating.

[northern-passage]

clementine