#flaws make them realistic and more human and dynamic and interesting

[mari-monsta]

If you don't like marinette then you don't support women's wrongs and you also can't handle a gorlboss slaying sorry I dont make the rules

[nauticalnotions]

The Art of Character Development: How to Breathe Life into Your Fiction

Welcome, Fellow Writers!

Are you ready to breathe life into your characters and have them leap from the page into the hearts of your readers? Good! Developing characters is one of the greatest enjoyments for writing fiction. So let's get started on this great journey of discovery!

1. Get to Know Your Characters

Before you write convincing characters, you need to really know them. Think of your characters as human beings with past histories, dreams, and flaws. Here are some ways to get to know them better:

Backstory:

What in their past has made them who they are?

Did they have a happy childhood?

Were there any traumatizing events?

This will often determine motivations and actions.

For example, if your character has been brought up in an orphanage, they may have trust issues or perhaps independence.

Personality Traits:

Are they introverted or extroverted, pessimistic or optimistic?

Knowing their core personality will help project what their actions and reactions would be like in a given set of circumstances.

Perhaps your protagonist, Emma, is an extroverted optimist who lights up a room with brightness, even in dire situations.

Strengths and Weaknesses:

Nobody is perfect, and your characters shouldn't be either.

Make the characters more human by giving them something both admirable and a flaw that rounds them out.

Emma can be wonderfully brave but very impulsive, leading her sometimes to heroism and other times to disastrous folly.

2. Establish Clear Goals and Motivation:

Characters need goals for the plot to have direction and motivations to explain why they pursue those goals. Ask yourself:

What do they want?

Their wants vary from saving the world to searching for love to achieving personal redemption.

Emily, a draftsman, aches to be a famous explorer, a dream her long-dead father never attained.

Why do they want it?

This can be found in their backstory and personality.

Perhaps Emma's father was an explorer who went missing on a wild search, and now she feels a deep need to carry on his legacy and find out what happened to him.

3. Show People, Activities, and Scenery

Dynamic characters tend to rebuild and alter throughout the story. This is often based on life's complications and conflicts. Here's how to effectively outline your character growth:

Conflict:

Put your characters in situations that push them as far as possible.

These challenges force them to make uncomfortable choices and face their flaws.

For example, Emma has to decide whether to save a friend, testing her bravery and impulsiveness.

Reactions:

Show how your characters react to these challenges.

Do they rise to the occasion, or do they struggle and fail? Both outcomes can lead to growth.

Emma might fail to save her friend due to her impulsive nature, marking a turning point for her.

Introspection:

Allow these moments of introspection to your characters.

They allow readers to understand the change in them.

Emma could sit near a bonfire and reflect on her father's legacy and how to become a better leader.

4. Cultivate Relationships

People's relationships with others often define their personality. It might be a friendship bond, family attachment, or enmity; all reveal different dimensions of personality and contribute to character development. Consider:

Allies and Friends:

Allies and friends usually have your best interest at heart, but sometimes they could work in opposition to you.

How would they impact your protagonist's decisions and developments over time?

Emma's best friend, Leo, might argue with a lot of her decisions, making her more thoughtful.

Opponents and Antagonists:

An antagonist challenges the characters, putting them in situations where growth comes from unexpected places.

A realistic rival for Emma could be a highly skilled but ruthless explorer who pushes Emma to reconsider her methods.

Love Interests:

Romantic relationships show vulnerability and may drive change.

Falling in love with a local guide might teach Emma the importance of patience and planning.

5. Use Dialogue Effectively

Dialogue is a great way to develop a character. It reveals personality, conveys emotions, and shows growth. Consider:

Voice:

Each character should have a distinct voice corresponding to their background, personality, and state of mind.

Emma might use exuberant, adventurous language while Leo might be cautious and thoughtful.

Subtext:

Sometimes the unspoken part holds more meaning than what is said.

Use subtext to add depth to your dialogue.

For instance, when Emma says, "I don't need help," it could mean she's afraid of showing weakness.

Conflict and Resolution:

Show characters responding to conflict through dialogue and illustrate how interactions escalate.

Emma and Leo can argue about the best way forward, expressing their viewpoints and eventually finding a resolution.

6. Show, Don't Tell

Instead of telling readers about a character's trait, show it through actions, dialogue, and inner thoughts. For instance:

Telling: John was brave.

Showing: John entered the dark alley; his heart was pounding, but his will remained unflinching.

7. Ensure Consistency and Believability

Make sure your characters act within the line of their personalities and motivations. If they do something that feels unnatural, believe there are reasons for the change. This makes the development of the characters organic and reliable. If Emma becomes reserved, note the experiences that lead to the change.

8. Reflect Real Human Experience

Great characters reflect the complexity of real human experience. They have doubts, make mistakes, and aren't always likable. This complexity makes them richer and more engaging. Perhaps Emma makes a selfish decision that puts her team at risk, creating tension and growth.

9. Foils and Contrasts

Foils are characters set against your main character, highlighting their traits and growth. By setting a character with opposite traits next to the protagonist, you highlight their development. Zara's ruthlessness can highlight Emma's growing sense of responsibility and ethics.

10. Be Flexible

Sometimes your characters develop in unexpected ways. Allow this evolution and let your characters tell you who they are. This elasticity can lead to more authentic and surprising growth. If Emma's journey shifts from being an explorer to a leader, embrace it!

[edwinspaynes]

Okay sooo this is a weird ask but I was curious. I love both TID and TLH and was wondering... why do you like TLH so much more? I really enjoy both just in different ways and I'm interested in what might have tipped the scale for you.

I mean, I don't want people to get it in their heads that I don't love TID, because I do. TID always will have a special place in my heart, even if I prefer TLH. My love for TLH is a positive thing about TLH, not a flaw in TID.

That being said, here's why TLH hits different:

Matthew, Alastair, Thomas, Cordelia, Grace, and Christopher.

But for real, the characters. In TID, I absolutely love Tessa and Will, but while I like all the side characters, I don't feel the all-consuming 'I'd take a bullet for you' feeling for any of them. In TLH, I would take a bullet for 6 full characters and like/am interested in almost everyone else. So like, I have a much more widespread stake, and I find them more interesting.

The character dynamics. I don't just mean the ships, though Thomastair & Jordelia & Gracetopher are imo complete perfection. I mean the entire group's dynamic. All of them are neurodivergent. All of them have unique ways of relating with everyone around them, and the relationships they build are a fascinating web. Like, if you throw Lucie in a room with Thomas or Grace, she becomes immediately interesting even if I don't really like her much; Anna's dynamics with Matthew and Cordelia are enchanting even if she frustrates me sometimes. All the characters have their place and they all have such an intricate and enticing web connecting them together.

The miscommunication. I know this is why everyone gets mad at TLH, but... you have to ask why. Why are these miscommunications happening, psychologically? What makes these characters tick at the frequencies required to make them miscommunicate like this? In my opinion, every TLH character is to some degree sympathetic in their miscommunications; they all have valid reasons for lying and concealing the truth. What's driving them?

I also really like the emphasis on human trauma. Alastair and Cordelia grew up in an abusive home; Grace's mom was also horribly abusive to her. All three characters cope with that. Alastair deals with an abusive partner who groomed him. Matthew deals with PTSD and addiction, and he needs to confront that (and does so). James has to cope with some really horrible sexual trauma and does so in a very realistic way. Thomas deals with grief in an underrepresented way (taking the form of action). There's a lot.

I think by this point you're getting that I just really love the TLH cast. It's character-driven. TID's more plotty and the characters (to me) feel a bit less fleshed out, even if they're wonderful.

Belial is an extremely cool villain. I love how erratic and inhuman he is. Mortmain is boring AF despite his rich backstory. He just has all the personality of overcooked pasta.

I'm a much bigger fan of light academia than dark academia. Give me spring sunshine! Flowers! Spinny dresses! Picnics! Sledding parties! Balls! Gorgeous outfits!

I'll also admit it's just nice to see the weird, cringe, neurodivergent queer friend group save the world for once.

I just genuinely think Cassie grew as a writer in the past several years, and the prose of TLH is better than that of TID. I do think that TID is a better-plotted and better-paced series, but I don't think the writing style is as good. This is a hats-off to Cassie.

The end of TID is distressing and grim, and reminds me that like, good things don't last. By contrast, I really like the end of TLH, it's the exact kind of ending I like: open-ended and hopeful.

[of-solitude-past-and-present]

YOUR WRITING>>>>>

I don't know how you came up with Naga Scaramouche but I've been brain rotting for days now 😩

Do you have any ideas how'd he'd react if someone goes out of their way to look for reader after they disappeared?

Especially if they mightve been a love interest at some point or the person clearly has feelings for them 👀

(referring to this)

A friend of mine actually came up with the idea for naga scara!! Together, we fleshed out the plot. It wasn't originally a fic, though, it was just a rp that got me brainrotting afterwards. I couldn't stop thinking about the whole concept until I finished writing Hidden in the Sands. The fic literally wouldn't leave me alone unless I was working on it LMAO

I'm going to take this as an excuse to talk a bit about the behind the scenes here (you have NO idea how much I've wanted to infodump about this fic)–originally, the reader was actually my friend's interpretation of Lumine and Sanad was originally my Alhaitham. I also played the part of Kuni himself. It was a bit awkward, actually, because Alhaitham and Kuni had to talk to each other a little bit and it felt like I was talking to myself.

I've changed the personalities of the reader and Sanad greatly, as you might have already guessed, since Sanad behaves nothing like Alhaitham; Sanad's more like one of those "prime examples" that Alhaitham talks about when he says, "Book learning alone is not enough to cultivate intelligence." Sanad is, intentionally, a very flawed but still reasonably likeable character. I want to talk about him too. Oh boy, looking back on this I sure did talk a lot about an OC I don't think anyone genuinely cares about.

I wanted to make him come off as normal, like an actual human person. He really is just a regular dude, he's just been kinda brainwashed by the Akademiya, as shown by the lines, "The Akademiya has declared them to be just baseless nonsense, so of course I don't think they actually exist." and "Desert dwellers tend to be... fearless." He's absorbed many commonly held beliefs (and biases) in the Akademiya, a textbook example of someone who's been taught what to think rather than how to think. I wanted him to be realistic. However, he's still funny, charming, and overall good-willed, even if he's spineless and very easily led.

I've greatly changed the fic from the original rp, and only the base premise (yandere!naga!scara and the whole "commissioned to find the culprit for some strange murders in the Hadramaveth") remains the same. It went through several versions at first. In fact, before I came up with Sanad, I was going to have Cyno replace Alhaitham! But ultimately, I realized Cyno was actually competent and I might have had to write a proper fight scene, which I did not want to do. You can still see a remnant of the first draft I chose to leave in (from when Cyno was the disposable companion) in the bad joke Sanad tells at the beginning of the story.

Using Sanad also had other benefits that I feel helped pull the fic together!! His cowardly nature gave reader a chance to endear themselves to Kunikuzushi, for refusing to abandon Sanad even after he (frankly, understandably) ran away. Even this early on, I had decided that whatever backstory naga Kuni might have had, it absolutely had to revolve around betrayal since canon Kuni's backstory is so deeply tied to it.

It's a really minor pet peeve of mine, and it doesn't bother me too much, but I usually don't really like it when the yandere starts to fixate on the object of their obsession for no reason than, like, "love at first sight" or "they simply caught my eye for some vague reason I cannot put into words." It's not bad, per se, and it's not even a solid rule of mine! I can think of several fics I love that don't give a solid reason, though the characters in those have such a dynamic that you still understand why one became so interested in the other to begin with... (I'm making this more complicated than it is, I think, but I'm beginning to think it's just I just don't care for it when the MC has the depth of a piece of paper.) Anyway, I'm getting derailed again, but I chose to give Kuni a reason to empathize with the reader in the form of Sanad and his "betrayal" because of this preference of mine.

However, and I think I've touched on this a bit in a previous post, this wasn't the only reason Kuni decided to spare them. In fact, even after he decided to leave you for last, he still thought he was going to come back to kill you. What really interested him was your insistence on saving Sanad even after what Kuni perceived as a betrayal. Why would you try to help someone who didn't even make an attempt to help you? It doesn't make sense. You're too soft, it's endearing.

Whether or not Sanad's actions are justified is debatable, though I personally understand them. He's never fought in his whole life. If you, the experienced monster-fighting adventurer couldn't do it, how could he? He doesn't even have a sword. It's certainly cowardly and rude to say the least, but given the circumstances, I think it's the choice most people would make in that situation. Of course, it's absolutely something Kunikuzushi could have (and did) twist into something completely different. I think I made it pretty obvious, but contrary to what Kuni said, Sanad had no such malicious thoughts when he left you there. Kuni is extremely jaded; his perception of the world has been mostly shaped by the betrayals he's experienced, and he's no different in this AU. As I said before, Sanad's not a terrible person, just terribly average. If he had survived, he absolutely would have had survivors' guilt.

Anyway!!! I'm not sorry about the infodump, thank you for giving me the slightest reason to tell you all about it. Here's what you actually asked for.

Kuni views most people as inconsequential, little more than helpless ants. He doesn't care about them in the slightest. If anything, they irritate him. So when someone shows up–an old friend, a crush, anyone–his first thought is to get rid of them if they venture too far in, and especially if they see him. Even if he doesn't know that they know you. If he lets them go, more will come. If he finds out they're looking for you, specifically... well, it doesn't really change his plans. He's going to kill them no matter what.

It does motivate him though, to be a bit crueler, to make it last a bit longer. What they are to you doesn't change the outcome, but it might sour his mood a bit more if they were anything more than friends or family. It's not likely that he'll leave them be long enough to find this out, though. Logically speaking, they're probably not going to tell a monster like him all about the friend/family/crush they're looking for in this desert, especially not when he's clearly unfriendly.

It's not totally impossible, though. This hypothetical person would have heard all about the strange attacks (as mentioned in the fic), so seeing a large half-snake person could make them realize that Kuni was most likely the cause for your disappearance (even though they'd assume it was murder and not kidnapping). Even so, I doubt they'd have a little chat over tea about who all Kuni has murdered recently.

Anyway, I digress. Assuming he figures it out somehow, whether or not he tells you about them depends on his mood and your behavior. Unfortunately for you, dealing with people irritates him. Especially when they're specifically looking to take what's his from him.

He'll come back covered in blood either way, but if he's in a bad mood, or you haven't been on your best behavior, he'll tell you all about what they looked like. He makes sure to mention that they were looking for you, and describe in detail everything he did to them.

"I'm going to leave his corpse out to rot in the sun," he hissed into your ear, pulling away to look you in the eye, "for the vultures and serpents to feast on. It serves him right. He was on a fool's errand; it's impossible to retrieve what's lost to the sands."

[stromuprisahat]

there's no wrong answer about this I'm just curious: if you had to choose between all the characters of the grishaverse show Vs books, which would you go with? And yes, I mean with all their flaws and writing narrative (for instance show Ivan > book Ivan etc)

Alina Starkova- book

She's a nutcase, herd of psychiatrists could make a living out of treating her. Codependency, self-gaslighting, confidence issues... it would be interesting, if we could blame it on her life-long wasting sickness. What makes her better for me is her honesty. She doesn't want to be part of this story.

The Darkling- both

I can't pick one, I love them too much. I like to think book!Darkling is less cold than we're lead to believe, because we mostly see him through the eyes of his enemies and when we get his POV, he immediately adopts the biggest bunch of losers around. He's more of a wet cat, show!Darkling hopeful idiot. They are both much better than I would ever be in their situation.

Zoya Nazyalensky- book-TGT

I never liked her, but she was tolerable as a mean bitch.

Malyen Oretsev- show

They retconned the hell out of him to make him less of a dick, what's left looks like a nice boy, supportive brother with a name and preternatural skills from the book.

Baghra Morozova- neither

She's a horrible hag and one of the true villains of Grishaverse. I hate her immensely.

Genya Safin- book1 or show

The wasted potential! One of those characters that should've been MC... minus her post-S&B lobotomy.

David Kostyk- book

... because Luke will always be d'Artagnan to me.

Nadia Zhabin- neither

She's only there to prop up the current MCs and gain some diversity points.

Marie- neither

One-dimensional punching bag.

Ivan- both

Book!Ivan is realistic joy, Simon Sears' scowl and delivery of that one speech in the carriage would make him proud.

Fedyor- show, for now

TBH I don't remember him much from the books. He was only briefly in the first one, and I didn't get to him again in the next. I love his loyalty and dynamics with Ivan in the show.

The Apparat- neither

Another true villain. This time in creepy, manipulative, cultish way. He should have burned.

Kaz Brekker- book

The whole "human trafficking's okay, where there's enough money involved" plot...

Inej Ghafa- book

They made her into another religious fanatic. Plus Inej "I'm gonna become captain of the ship to disassemble slavery" Ghafa doesn't care about other girls being sold?!

Jesper Fahey- probably book

I've read the books two years ago, and Jesper's the one I cared about least, so...

Nina Zenik- book

They made hormonal teenager into adult deserter. When you age her up, her whole romance with Matthias is like a Jewish resistance member abandoning her work to save Gestapo officer's life, because he surely changed.

Matthias Helvar- neither or both

Look, I'm all for the story of a murderous bigot changing into a better person, but a.) Book made it too quick for me to believe it. b.) Show sort of forgot what he was doing in the first place and made Helnik only into two soldiers from enemy countries.

Dubrov and Mikhael- couldn't care less

They're just a canon fodder to make Malyen sad. And horny dicks to Alina in the book.

[allfoolsinluv]

In 2022, I read an ungodly amount of fanfic haha. Not only has it been my favorite way to escape from real life, but it also brought me into the orbit of some really cool people, and I'm glad I got to spend part of my year joining this neat little community 🥰 I thought it would be fun to put together a list of some of my favorite fics from this year! This is by no means a completely comprehensive list, but if you'd like to see all of the fics I've read & loved this year, you can check out my full fic rec tag! So, without further ado, here are some of my favorite fics of 2022 😄

SERIES

Lie to Me by @iamskyereads

Ahhh such a good fic! I live for Javier & his human lie detector. They have such amazing chemistry together and I love them as a couple, but I also adore how interesting and well-written they both are as individuals. I love reading about them when they're together, but I also love seeing their lives/work when they're not. Also, the political & bureaucratic drama is so entertaining! I love it. Everything about this fic is *chef's kiss* 10/10

The Crush by @the-ginger-hedge-witch

Ok I am, admittedly, a bit behind on this fic (thx life 🙃), but it is not an exaggeration when I say that I think about this fic all the time. Javi & Isa have occupied their own little part of my brain since part 1. This fic is beautifully crafted and I love how well all of the elements come together in this story. The "forbidden" love, the small-town dynamics, the strained family relationships... ugh, this fic really has everything. I can't wait to catch up on it!

Learning to Live by @wheresarizona

JAVI & CIELITO MY BELOVEDS. Omg these two just melt my heart. I love their love!! It's so nice to see Javi getting the happy, love-filled life he deserves post-Colombia. These two were meant for each other and I have a dopey smile on my face every time I read about them 🥰

Irredeemable by @joels6string

Oh my god the emotional ROLLERCOASTER this series has put me through... so worth it lol. This fic is so well-written, I love it so much. The plot is incredible--truly an unconventional love story, but one I found myself quickly hooked into because of the characters. Dieter & Poppy really are the shining stars of this fic. They're real and raw and flawed and imperfect but that's what makes them so good. I love them & I love this fic

Everything and More by @dincrypt

The way this fic makes me want to quit my job & find myself a rich sugar daddy LOL. Just kidding (mostly 😉). Ugh I love this fic so much. The evolution of Din & Sweetheart's relationship is my favorite part of it. It flows so naturally and feels so realistic. I am a sucker for the pain of "idiots in love who don't realize the other person is also in love with them" and boy does this fic DELIVER on that lol. Din & Sweetheart are forever on my mind and I can't wait to see how their relationship progresses next!

Sunshine On a Cloudy Day by @pedrito-friskito

Oh my Frankie 🥺 This fic melted me into a PUDDLE. Such a sweet love story. I love how they progress from friends to lovers. How she stood firm in her decision to not be with Frankie if he wasn't going to be clean. How he worked on himself & got clean because he knew she'd be worth it. And seeing them grow their little family 😭 I love them I love them I love them

Funny Girl by @radiowallet

I cannot mention Cat in this list without absolutely gushing over how much I adore her prose. The way she writes is so beautiful and so elegant without falling into purple prose. I feel like I'm gliding every time I read something of hers, and Funny Girl was no exception. I loved this fic with my whole entire heart. The build-up to Dieter & Funny Girl getting together was intense but so worth it. Their characterizations were phenomenal. The ending was so bittersweet, I still think about it months later. Truly one of my favorite--and one of the best, honestly--fics I have ever read.

GOOD. THINGS. TAKE. TIME. by @oonajaeadira

I know the original GTTT was posted last year, but I discovered it in March or April (I can't remember lol) of this year and absolutely devoured it. I love how Adira has taken such a small character from one episode of a TV show and turned him into a compelling & complex one. PATS from Calls no longer exists to me, there is only PATS from GTTT lol. I love the progression of his & Preciosa's relationship throughout this series. It feels so real and I just love how they've grown into their relationship over time.

Celestial Navigation by @write-and-buried

Oh how I absolutely adored this series. I'm a sucker for coffee shop AUs, soulmates, and Dieter Bravo, so this fic really had everything for me 😌 I loved the opposites attract feel of this fic, and how in the end it turned out that they really weren't all that different after all. I love how supportive Dieter was of her and how he really gave her the space to grow into her own. And how he wasn't pushy with her when it came to their relationship, he let her guide the pace and come to him naturally. Literally perfect for each other, these two 🥺😭

Locked Down by @something-tofightfor

Another fic that I am a little behind on but holds a dear place in my heart 💗 I just adore these two. I love how their relationship blossomed from friends to lovers to actually being together. I love how he waited for her to be ready to admit that their relationship would work, even if they were apart. How thoughtful Dieter is in this fic makes me swoon. THE RING gets me every time I think about it 🥺

Love Triangles by @littlemisspascal

Oh my GOD this was one of the cutest fics I have ever read! I loved the atmosphere of this fic, and I thought it was so creative how the cast of The Bubble were all tenants in the same apartment building. The Disney nicknames were so adorable 🥺😭 I loved the slow burn of this fic--it made Dieter & Lady finally getting together that much sweeter 💗

Click here for part 2, a list of some of my favorite one-shots that I read in 2022!

[soemthingsparkly]

i would absolutely love to share a rant!

all the characters are so psychologically fucked up in such a realistic way that i didn't see represented much. grian venting to tango about feeling left out. the fact that he felt left out at all over something so small. they're so codependent and i love it.

and then there's scott and jimmy's dynamic. scott kissing jimmy and then jimmy venting to grian and then grian just responding with "HE DID WHAT??????" and then at the cafe. the idea of someone doing something they shouldn't have and then having a panic attack over a third party's opinion on it is so... idk how to say it. like i said, a type of fucked up that you don't see talked about much and i relate so hard to it. it's clear scott's probably trying his best out at least trying a lot to not hurt jimmy but he's failing miserably and i don't think he even realizes it. and like. yeah. ive been there. i don't actually know why scott broke up with him but i get the vibe it was supposed to be like. to help jimmy in some way. like "oh wait ive been toxic maybe i should end this for his sake". but doing that obviously hurt jimmy, especially since he didn't say *why* he did it. and scott obviously did something really drastic and sudden so he's not doing well either and he really wants to go back to jimmy. he knows he's being manipulative and it's not on purpose but in trying to stop and be better he keeps making things worse. and like. this is all a side thing. this fic is mostly about mumscarian and you threw in this flower husbands sideplot but it's still so fleshed out and so *real*.

and speaking of the mumscarian thing the way you write their friendships, especially grian and mumbo's is amazing. it's not like. a stepping stone to a romantic relationship even though they are going to end up in one. very "not more than friends, different from friends" vibes /vpos. it doesn't feel like they're ending up in a romantic relationship. it feels like they're making their relationship romantic and i love that so much.

grian just texting mumbo that he's bored gives such hcs7 vibes and like he yeah they're so codependent and it's so obvious from grian's side my god

and the way you write pearl is amazing, she's got this sibling energy and it's great.

the way you write all of them is amazing actually. i can hear everything they say in their voices. the clockers are on point, especially scar and bdubs.

i could keep going im sure lmao but anyway great fic i love it if you read this ill cry /pos

This has been sitting in my ask box for a while because I just love it so much anon and I was like~~~ how do I respond to such a long ask with the same level of enthusiam?

I wanna break this ask into chunks and there's bits of your ask I wanna respond to directly, so...

all the characters are so psychologically fucked up in such a realistic way that i didn't see represented much.

I'm glad you think so! I definitely feel like I'm being a little bit risky with how I'm presenting some of the, I suppose, human consequences of being human?

I think a lot of what fandom (in general) consumes gets a little over-sanitised these days. Our favourite characters aren't allowed to be flawed like real people, they must be flawed in a way that is either endearing, entertaining (sarcastic or snarky), or easily forgivable.

But that's not always that interesting when it comes to wanting characters we can truly relate to?

Grian gets upset he's left out not just because he has Trauma™, but because he does have a co-dependancy on Mumbo that borders on unhealthy. Tango tells Grian to, in not so many words, get over himself and try and have fun - not because he knew Grian would respond well to it, but because he's blunt and doesn't know how to comfort people gently. Bdubs makes fun of Scar for being disabled, because he knows that everybody in that group chat understands he's joking and that his comments will never leave that group chat (in-world that is, of course, everybody who reads the fic will read them).

And Scott for example, is not a very well-liked character amongst readers at the moment, but he's absolutely one of my favourite to write. You put it pretty well here:

he knows he's being manipulative and it's not on purpose but in trying to stop and be better he keeps making things worse.

Like yes, exactly. He's trying to do better, but the actions he takes that he thinks (or is being co-erced into believing via mental illness) will make things better, keep making things worse and he doesn't really understand how to do it right. And haven't we all been in that position before?

And yet up until chapter 17, we've only ever seen into their dynamic from the outside. We've only ever seen Scott's actions from Jimmy's POV or from the POV of someone who cares about Jimmy.

And somehow it's Jimmy, of all people, defending Scott.

It's absolutely fascinating to see readers reactions and I'd be so happy to talk about this forever and ever and ever, hehehe.

And what you said about Mumbo and Grian's relationship, here:

very "not more than friends, different from friends" vibes /vpos. it doesn't feel like they're ending up in a romantic relationship. it feels like they're making their relationship romantic and i love that so much.

I'm actually SO glad you feel that way about them, because that's exactly the way I feel about them, too. They're not just friends, so much as they're Grian and Mumbo. The idea of them being friends almost suggests an alternative of them being not friends and I just don't there's a way in this world that they can exist and be without one another. So yes, I love this a lot and I love that you feel that way about them.

Thank you so much for this absolutely beautiful message - I am such a fan of analysing characters and their interactions and all that. Frankly, thank you for giving me a space to talk at length about the way these characters are in this fic!!

Here is a tissue for the tears, I hope you don't cry too hard. Remember to stay hydrated <333

Lumi <3

[incorrectbatbquotes]

hi i’m sylvie your favorite admin in the world and i’ve been hyperfixated on batb (1991) since I was 14 so here’s my definitive (mostly spoiler free) review of every book based in the universe of batb (1991)

1. As Old As Time (alternate universe)

Like a 6.7/10. The characters were well written and I liked the imagery. Felt very reminiscent of the musical adaptation which I liked. A lot of characters to keep track of though and I don’t love the uh. “subtext”. somebody else in the fandom mentioned their issues with it and i don’t remember who it was but yeah that. I liked it but the flaws unfortunately bring it down a few notches. still a decently interesting read. mrs potts was such a fascinating character in this I really loved how braswell wrote her. sadly no name for the beast this time but that gets addressed at one point so??

PROS

It’s a neat concept

The writing is really good

Pretty and spooky imagery

The characters are well written especially Mrs Potts (beatrice my beloved)

had some genuinely dark moments that fit surprisingly well

CONS

weird subtext iykyk

too many characters. so many names

some scenes happen really fast and move on with no explanation or callback to it

2. Belle Takes Flight (sequel)

2.1/10. Its meant for a younger audience but theres really good books for younger audiences and this aint one. I liked that it kinda centered around belle’s friendship with lumi and cogs bc its a fun dynamic but the boys come off as incredibly useless and bumbling the entire time especially when theres high stakes? like are they idiots? yes (lovingly) but oh my god it was rough like you could take them out of the plot and it would still make sense. on that note i subtracted 50% of the rating right off the bat bc this book fatshamed cogs every chance it could. the dialect felt very on par with the movie which was nice but the messy plot, inconsistencies, unlikable new characters, and like the constant reminder that cogs is plus sized really almost made me dnf. also the prince still has no name. read anything else on this list unless youre that content starved like i am actively begging

PROS

the way they talked was very on par with the movie? at least the main trio. they said mrs potts was irish?? h u h?

belle and her dads-in-law(s?) goin on an adventure is such a fun concept and again i like getting to explore their dynamic when not in a “please fall in love with our son-figure boss so we can have hands again” type situation

i liked elise. i thought she was cute.

CONS

bad decisions made by the characters and by the author simultaneously

the new characters were poorly written and had the capability of being really interesting (i was hoping granny was like a mechanical engineer or something before she got introduced. like cogs breaks his leg and elise is like “oh granny t will fix him” and my immediate thought bc of the phrase “fix” was like. steampunky prothetic leg omg so cool and she’s gonna help belle fix the hot air balloon but nah)

belle is the only one out of the three who contributes anything to the story which like yeah ofc but you could switch which servants were there and nothing would change

in case you forgot how cogsworth looks as a human, worry not! because this book will remind you. at every opportunity. like two times in one paragraph on page 4 type opportunity. I physically winced. if all your development for this character boils down to “he’s fat and he’s short and did I mention he’s fat” like. you lost me so fast babe.

3. Rebel Rose (sequel)

8.5/10. If Rebel Rose has 100 fans, i’m one. If Rebel Rose has 10 fans, i’m one. if Rebel Rose has 1 fan, it’s me. If Rebel Rose has 0 fans, it’s bc i died. clearly meant for an older audience but still kept the charm of the film. loved the dynamics between the characters and making the servants feel more realistic while still keeping their personalities and quirks of their animated counterparts. also gave the beast a name thats NOT adam so bonus points. lgbtq rep thats done well too so ANOTHER bonus point. pls emma give me a sequel i’m on my hands and knees

PROS

bro i could go ON

mature but not too mature yk?

I already said everything i need to say this book slaps

CONS

I dont give any books about monarchy and government type stuff a 10/10 because there’s always some issues with that. a book set during the French Revolution will have its faults regarding that but its not the focus of the book

4. The Beast Within (prequel/alternate universe)

4.5/10. this one is. weird? like I genuinely dont know how to explain it? the writing is nice, i like how creepy the witches looked physically, and it’s a better ya batb book than BTF but those the only good thing I can think to say about it? all the characters were flat and the PACING IS SO BIZARRE? like I genuinely thought there was a point where my archive.org borrow time ran out and the pdf stopped working but nope the pacing is just so genuinely bizarre. I don’t love the involvement with Gaston, it felt super forced. apparently this book is part of an expanded universe bc ursula from the little mermaid was mentioned??? i have so many questions that I won’t get answers to. i want to dislike it but i’m just so confused. like i might just make a separate post of how much this one confused me but I cant give it a lower rating than BTF because that one just made me mad. i think the fact that i had the coraline soundtrack on in the background might’ve convinced me it was better than it was bc it was good atmosphere music. read coraline instead of this idk it’s almost 4 am.

PROS

it was better than Belle Takes Flight

I like the Prince’s inner monologues. the writing was charming at times and had moments where it was really pretty

the coraline soundtrack makes it better

the moving statues were a cool element i wished we got more of that

the curse slowly taking effect is an element from the musical i love so it was nice seeing that used in another version

CONS

really weird pacing. like we go from the servants turning to objects to IMMEDIATELY belle getting attacked by wolves

the witch sisters were weird inclusions. like at first i liked the concept and their physical descriptions are freaky and cool but after a while i got confused? this whole book confused me but maybe i’m too old at my cant-rent-a-car-in-america age.

I’m really hoping most of my confusion was bc this was out of order in a series and I didn’t know it bc why was ursula there?

the prince (who still has no name) goes from being a massive jerk to talking about how much of a family he views the servants as and i think this was supposed to show how him slowly turning into a beast was messing with his head but it didn’t come off that way (the closest things you had to a mom and dad go missing and you dont go looking for them??? like you just tell everyone else to? when you were JUST talking about how much you care about them? “where’s my not-dad go find him” AND YOU DONT SEE THAT MAN FOR MONTHS???

i dont like gaston’s inclusion. i feel like his childhood bff being another snobby rich nobility boy wouldve been better.

it starts too late for a prequel. we never get explanations for where his parents are, why he’s the way he is, etc. like the story starts just a few weeks before the night he got cursed.

a lot of things happen and dont get explained or things happen offpage and is only spoken about in reference. (gaston murders a court painter bc beasty boy told him to? beast’s fiance’s mom kills herself? ursula fucking kidnaps his fiance? the entire part where he meets belle?)

IN CONCLUSION

Stan Rebel Rose

Enjoy but be critical of As Old As Time

Acknowledge that The Beast Within exists but don’t hope for consistency

Stare angrily at Belle Takes Flight and find better books for 13 year olds. I’ll make a list and everything if you want and i’m 7+ years out of the intended audience

(also regardless of my opinions, i send all my respect to each of the authors responsible. writing is hard, writing for the mouse™️ is probably harder. there were things I enjoyed in all of these, even if I didn’t love the book overall. i’m an actor and a costume designer, not a writer. dont take the opinions of some internet neurodivergent as gospel yall)

[bookandcover]

I can’t possibly do this book justice in writing about it. It’s tied (with Human Acts) for my favorite book of 2022. I know this book is stylistically an inevitable favorite: it’s my preferred genre (realistic literary fiction), and it seems deliberately written for someone who derives glee from every literary allusion and who is waiting to draw intricate plot deductions (sometimes people try to get me to stop analyzing things I read/watch because “doesn’t that take the fun out of it?” No, that’s exactly where the fun is, I respond). While these characteristics certainly describe me and what I find most rewarding in literature, I’m not, however, a gamer, and I probably missed the joy of many allusions to games and gaming. Given the book’s masterful literary self-awareness, surely gaming is treated with similar deftness. In spite of this, I gained a new appreciation for the world-building of gaming, caught up in the incredible narratives and aesthetics, the haunting liminal space of the game world, the attention-to-detail in development (of Ichigo in particular). 

From its early chapters, Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow leans on excellent prose and thorough, measured character development to succeed. The first half of the book lulls the reader into a false sense of security, sliding backward and forward in time as it develops the central characters of Sam and Sadie, as well as the figures who surround them: Anna Lee (Sam’s mom), Marx (roommate and producer), Zoe (Marx’s girlfriend), Sam’s Korean grandparents, Ant and Simon (dynamic, young techie couple), Sadie’s sister Alice, and Sadie’s Jewish grandmother Freda. These early chapters have some clever and thoughtful reveals in the plotting: we have to infer that Sam’s broken and mashed foot was the result of the car crash that killed his family, through their absence in these hospital scenes; there is the reveal of Anna and Sam’s hasty departure from New York for L.A. as another Anna Lee leaps to her death; we also confront the truth of Sadie’s depression (an abortion she had just before Sam reappeared in her life). These early chapters gather strength through realism. 

Sam and Sadie are deeply flawed, incredibly relatable characters. As a brilliant young woman at MIT, Sadie struggles through her college relationship with her professor Dov (truly the worst, and the only character with whom I never sympathized). Sam sees in his reunion with Sadie the potential for a collaboration that will revolutionize the gaming world, and pursues reconnection after having cut her from his life when they were kids. Marx installs himself as perpetual cheerleader, and self-sacrificing friend, while also being a bit of a playboy who stays friends with all his exs through sheer charm and good will. Each character is, in turns, deeply relatable and utterly exasperating. These characters are real in their contradictions: Sam’s stubbornness about his disability and his refusal to let this define him (almost to a fault, as he risks his life, and lashes back at those who have his best interests at heart), Sadie’s fearless pride in making her holocaust-focused game Solution for her MIT classmates paired with her long-term fixation with securing Dov’s good opinion, Marx’s whimsical break-ups as he grows bored with people, yet loves Sam and Sadie unconditionally. It’s the time spent on characterization upfront that earns the devastating, beautiful second half of the book. 

In the second half of the book, so many details from the first half (details that were seemingly trivial) return to the forefront. This seems less plot-driven and more a perspective on realism—focusing on the way we make meaning of our lives, holding onto and romanticizing particular moments and memories, imbuing objects with sentiment, relying on language to fills empty holes we cannot imagine ourselves falling into, yet do. 

The section that vaults this book into life-changing, transcendent territory is the section called NPC. In a point of view shift from the rest of the book, this section is entirely first-person POV for Marx Watanabe. The character who has played third-wheel to Sam and Sadie throughout their professional relationship (and their complex, interwoven friendship, as well as Sadie and Marx eventually falling in love) suddenly takes center stage. It’s an apt metaphor. All of Marx’s theater background comes to bear, as he gets, for once, to play the main role. Later, after his death, Sadie immortalizes him in a game she designs, where the role of Macbeth is played by a tall handsome asian man (when Marx, in real life, was relegated to the role of Banquo). As Marx’s death story unfolds, interspersed with real-time events as he lies dying in a coma and moments from his complex history with his two closest friends, we receive a full reversal of ours and Sam’s expectations for the NPC. Sam calls Marx an NPC; we, too, dismiss him in comparison to the furiously vivacious Sam and Sadie for much of the book. Yet, the supporting role he played in life, and in death, is crucial, essential, and one of real agency. It’s our loss if we overlook the NPC. 

This section beautifully and poignantly reframes and repurposes the early sections of the book: from the reappearance of Sadie’s EmilyBlaster game in the moment Marx is shot to the titular reference (I was waiting for it!) about how Marx wanted to name the gaming company (ultimately called Unfair Games) after his understanding of the promise of retries and redoes imbedded in the concept of a game. This section is an exercise in literary mastery and plotting, a shocking record of the violence humans are capable of, and a tear-jerking account of a single and unique life. Even though I knew, before reading this section, that Marx had been shot to death in an active shooter scenario at Unfair Games, I was not expecting the realism of this scene. I felt inside it. I felt the brutality of what humans are capable of, and I felt how human (instead of inhuman) we are in the face of, and in the perpetuation of, violence. I bawled my way through this section of the book and felt exhausted, wrung-out, after reading it. Every moment was charged and deliberate—the placement of the story of Sam and Marx’s early roommate-bonding over a rehearsal of the scene of Banquo’s death in Macbeth to the way the men who bring guns to Unfair are seeking Sam, striking back against the diversity he has embraced as the emblematic Mayor of Mapletown who grants gay marriages far ahead of his time. 

The final section of the book is titled Freights and Grooves and connects to the Emily Dickinson poem quoted at the beginning of the book: 

That Love is all there is,

Is all we know of Love;

It is enough, the freight should be

Proportioned to the groove.

This mysterious poem—little, monstrous—is explored at the heart of the book. What is love that it must hurt us? But it never hurts us too much—the hurt love causes, the weight of it, carves just so deeply a change in us. Love’s no more than we can handle and exactly all that we can take. Or perhaps this poem means that any love is unknowable in portion to the impossible, unnamable nature of that love? To name love, to know it, is to simplify it to a point that it no longer resembles the love itself. In this book, I loved how, at each turn, the connection between Sam and Sadie is unique love, love that transcends lovers, traumas, hurts, and losing touch. It’s love that is unknowable and all-knowing, and every time Sam tries to name it, to force it into something more familiar, are the moments that show how that romantic love would be a weak approximation of the enduring love these characters share. 

[lindira]

8, 25, 32, 69, 77 and 87 for Aeric? :D

Yay! Thank you for asking!

8. What do they believe will happen to them after they die? Does this belief scare them?

Aeric is functionally agnostic and has never had a strong belief in Dalish religion, but especially so after the events of Trespasser. So he doesn't believe in Dirthamen and whatever. He does believe that souls pass through the Fade, though where they go after that, he doesn't even pretend to know. He would like to think that the souls of the dead can find their loved ones again and exist in some fashion with them for eternity.

He's scared of death in the way anyone will be afraid of dying. But he's comforted in the belief that his soul will go somewhere and be with his deceased loved ones, even if he doesn't know what that kind of afterlife would look like.

25. What is their biggest flaw?

I'd probably say Aeric's biggest flaw is that he's too much of an optimist and idealist. That sounds like a bad job interview kind of answer ("My biggest flaw is I'm TOO perfect!"), but he is sometimes unrealistically optimistic or idealistic and that has backfired on him on occasion. When those hopes or ideals are dashed, it's a big disappointment for him.

He's been fortunate in the Inquisition because that stubborn hopefulness helped him browbeat Ferelden and Orlais into some semblance of order, but in his day-to-day life that can cause problems. For example, he has a very clear idea of what he thinks a parent should do and how they should act. His parents aren't perfect and often floundered in parenting him. So when his parents often failed to defend him from his Aunt Deshanna (who hates him) in the name of keeping the peace in their family, that soured them in his opinion somewhat. He also doesn't realize it yet, but his optimism about what life would be like in Tevinter with Dorian is... not realistic. And that's going to be a hard pill to swallow for him.

32. What is their self esteem like?

Aeric generally has a good self-esteem as an adult and is confident in who he is. He had a much lower self-esteem when he was a child and teenager, largely due to his clanmates bullying him. He learned over the years not to give a fuck about what other people say about him, though being purposefully excluded or being insulted will still obviously upset him sometimes. His self-esteem also takes a hit after Trespasser because suddenly he doesn't know his place in the world, but he does eventually recover once he finds some purpose and direction in his life.

69. How did the people in their environment growing up affect their personality?

I talk about this above, but he was bullied a lot in his clan. They thought he was weird and broken and too interested in human things. He was always pretty quiet, but the attitudes of his clanmates made him pretty withdrawn. It's why he often likes to be alone when he's upset, because he feels like being around people will just make him more upset. However, his dynamic with his clanmates also made him a really independent person and developed within him the ability to let a lot of insults slide off his proverbial back, which was really helpful as the sole Dalish in the Inquisition. It also helped develop his sense of compassion; he hates people in a position of power stepping on people who are hurting and marginalized.

77. What is their most prized possession?

Aeric's not very materialistic, so I had to think on this one a bit. Before Dorian, his most prized possession is probably his family pendant that he always wears (but that I often forget to mention in fics unless it's plot-relevant, lol). His father had him and his sister Paikea carve and paint their own pendants when they were kids, and Pai's pendant was what he buried when she died at the Conclave.

Then after he establishes his relationship with Dorian and they have to be apart, Aeric's most prized possessions are his letters and the sending crystal. He keeps every letter from Dorian in a bundle and reads through them often. He also LOVES the painting of Paikea's grave-tree that Sera makes for him and will eventually make a frame for it to hang up in his home.

And then, after Aeric and Dorian get married, his very favorite thing in the world are their wedding rings. :D

87. What is something they regret?

Two things. First is when he went hunting with his older cousin, Ierin (the Keeper's son) when Aeric was a young teenager. Ierin abandoned Aeric in the woods, but then got himself gored by a boar. Aeric found him and didn't go for help right away because he froze. Ierin still might not have survived if Aeric had gotten help immediately, but Aeric hates that there was a chance that Ierin could have survived and didn't, because of him. (This is also partly why the Keeper hates Aeric.)

Second is trusting Solas. Aeric doesn't know how he would have known that Solas was behind the Conclave blowing up or that he's the Dread Wolf. But Aeric is nevertheless mad at himself for thinking Solas was his friend.

From this 93 OC Asks game!

[writeleg1ant]

Crafting Love: Tips on How to Write a Romance Novel

Are you ready to write a romance novel that readers won't be able to put down? Whether you're a seasoned writer or new to the craft, we've got you covered with essential tips and steps to bring love and passion to life on the pages of your novel. In this article, we'll explore the romance genre, developing engaging characters, crafting an engrossing plot, building emotional tension, writing irresistible dialogue, creating memorable settings, and mastering the structure. Follow our expert advice, and soon you'll be on your way to writing captivating love stories that your readers will cherish. Key Takeaways: - Understand the romance genre conventions - Develop relatable and compelling characters - Create a well-crafted plot filled with tension and conflict - Build emotional tension to keep readers engaged throughout your novel - Write authentic and captivating dialogue

Understanding the Romance Genre

Writing a romance novel demands having a deep understanding of the genre’s conventions. Romance novels offer escape and a sense of hopefulness, often culminating in a satisfying and happy ending for the main characters. To achieve this, writers must adhere to certain rules and elements that readers expect from this genre. What Makes a Romance Novel Unique? “Romance novels are the only genre where readers have a clear expectation of the outcome – a happy ending.” Romance novels revolve around love and relationships, often exploring themes of passion, desire and intimacy. While other genres may incorporate these elements, romance novels make them the central focus. Typically, the story is told through the eyes of the main characters, allowing readers to experience the emotional journey and growth of the relationship. Elements of a Successful Romance Novel Here are some essential elements every romance novel should include: ElementDescriptionCompelling CharactersThe main characters should be well-rounded, likable, and relatable, allowing readers to connect emotionally with their journey.Emotional TensionThe relationship should have obstacles and conflicts that create tension and stakes, keeping readers invested in the outcome and rooting for the characters.Engrossing PlotThe plot should be engaging, moving the story forward, and integrating essential elements of the romance genre.Authentic DialogueThe dialogue should be natural, authentic, and reflective of the characters' personalities and background.Memorable SettingsThe setting should add depth to the story, creating ambiance and evoking emotions in the readers. Understanding and incorporating these elements into your novel will help you craft a compelling, satisfying, and memorable romance novel.

Developing Engaging Characters

In order to craft a captivating romance novel, you must first create relatable and fully realized characters. These characters will be the heart of your story and drive the emotional connection between the love interests and the reader. Here are some tips on how to develop romance novel characters that will keep readers invested in your story. - Start with a character profile: Before you start writing, plan out your characters by creating a profile that includes their physical appearance, personality traits, backstories, and what drives them. This will help you keep your characters consistent and add depth to their interactions. - Make them imperfect: Realistic characters are flawed, and readers can relate to characters with imperfections. Adding vulnerability to your characters will make them more relatable and human. - Create tension: Characters with opposing beliefs and desires create emotional tension within a romance novel. Use character flaws to build internal conflict, and use external forces to create obstacles for your love interests. Remember, characters are not static. They should grow and evolve throughout the story. By developing your characters in a layered and dynamic way, you can cultivate a connection between your readers and your novel that will last long after they finish reading.

Crafting an Engrossing Plot

A well-crafted plot is essential for a gripping romance novel. The plot development should keep the readers engaged and invested in the characters and their story. Begin with a central conflict or obstacle that the protagonists must overcome to be together. Use romance novel plot development techniques, such as creating tension and conflict, to keep the readers hooked throughout the novel. Hiring an editor or seeking feedback from beta readers can help to fine-tune your plot. "A plot is a series of events deliberately arranged so as to reveal their dramatic, thematic, and emotional significance." - Jane K. Cleland

Building Emotional Tension

One of the most critical elements of a compelling romance novel is emotional tension. By creating a rollercoaster of emotions that your readers can relate to, you can keep them engaged from the first page to the last. Here are some practical tips for building emotional tension in your romance novel: - Create relatable characters: Make your characters relatable, flawed, and human so that your readers can empathize with them. This connection will make it easier to evoke emotions. - Use conflicts: Conflict is the backbone of any good storyline. Your characters need to face obstacles and have differing goals to create tension. - Focus on desires: Give your characters strong desires that conflict with each other. For example, a desire for love versus a desire for independence. - Use body language: Actions speak louder than words. By describing your character's body language and facial expressions, you can convey their emotions without telling readers how they feel. - Use dialogue: Dialogue is an excellent way to reveal the emotional tension between your characters. Let them speak their minds, argue, and make up. A good conversation can create a lot of tension. By using these tips, you can build emotional tension that will keep your readers flipping the pages. Remember, the key is to evoke emotions and make your readers care about your characters.

Writing Irresistible Dialogue

In a romance novel, dialogue is an essential element for creating realistic interactions between characters that also advances the plot. Writing authentic and captivating dialogue is a skill that every romance novel writer needs to master. To help you create irresistible dialogue, we've gathered some tips: 1. Make Dialogue Sound Realistic Dialogue must sound authentic to be believable. To achieve this, listen to how people around you speak and try to incorporate that into your writing. Avoid long and unrealistic speeches and opt for short and snappy sentences. Include pauses and interruptions to make the dialogue feel natural. 2. Use Dialogue to Reveal Character Dialogue is an excellent tool for character development. Use it to show your character's personality, values, and beliefs. Choose words and phrases that fit their background and circumstances. Consider how they articulate their thoughts and feelings, and whether they are direct or indirect communicators. These nuances create believable and engaging characters that readers can relate to. 3. Use Dialogue to Build Tension Dialogue can be instrumental in creating tension. Use it to reveal information that conflicts with what the other person expects or increase the stakes in a situation. The dialogue should provoke a reaction from the other character, such as frustration, doubt, or shock. Tension keeps the story engaging and the readers invested. "I'm sorry, I can't marry you," she said, placing the engagement ring back on the table. "What? Why not? Is it something I've done?" He asked, bewildered. "You never told me you were married before," she replied, looking away. 4. Avoid Exposition Exposition is providing background information. While it is essential to include in a story, characters delivering exposition through dialogue can sound unnaturally formal. Instead, use exposition sparingly, opting for showing the action rather than telling. When choosing to use exposition, infuse it with attitude or personality traits to make it sound like natural dialogue instead of providing too much backstory at once. 5. Use Dialogue Tagswith Care Dialogue tags are phrases that describe the action or mood of the speaker and their dialogue. While essential to identify speakers, excessive dialogue tags (he said, she replied, etc.) becomes tedious to the reader. Using action verbs or descriptions to denote who is talking can replace dialogue tags in certain situations. By using our tips in crafting believable and engaging dialogue between your characters will add depth to your romance novel and make the story more relatable to the reader.

Creating Memorable Settings

The settings of your romance novel are more than just a backdrop. Elements of a successful romance novel often include creating a rich and immersive setting that allows readers to feel transported to the world of your story. Here are a few tips to make sure your settings are unforgettable: Consider the Time Period The time period of your story can play a significant role in setting the scene. Consider what elements are essential to the era you are writing about and how they can add to the romantic atmosphere. Showcase the Details A great way to create a memorable setting is by paying attention to the details. Showcasing unique aspects of your setting can help bring it to life and make it stand out in the minds of your readers. This could be anything from the scent of a field of wildflowers to the architecture of a historic building. Use Sensory Language Your readers should be able to experience the setting through all five senses. Use sensory language to paint a vivid picture in their minds. Consider how the air feels, how the sun casts shadows, and the sounds that may be present in the environment. Do:Don't:Describe the feeling of grass between your character's toes. Talk about the aroma of fresh-baked bread wafting from the local bakery.Talk about the weather in a generic way. Blandly describe generic trees or buildings without detail. Create Contrast Using contrast in your settings can help create a memorable and compelling atmosphere. For example, a soft, romantic scene set against an industrial backdrop can heighten the romantic tension between characters. Remember that the settings in your romance novel should add to the overall story and enhance the romantic atmosphere. By creating rich and immersive settings, you can make sure your readers are fully invested in your story.

Mastering the Structure

When it comes to writing a romance novel, the structure is key. The way you organize your story can make all the difference in keeping readers engaged and invested in the plot. To help you master the structure of your novel, we've outlined the key elements to keep in mind: The Setup Start by introducing your characters, setting the scene, and establishing the central conflict. This is where you lay the foundation for the story and set the tone for what's to come. The Rising Action This is where the story really starts to take shape. Your characters are faced with challenges and obstacles that keep the plot moving forward and build tension and drama. The Climax This is the pivotal moment when the main conflict of the story is resolved. It's where your characters' emotions are at their most heightened and where the biggest plot twists usually occur. The Falling Action After the climax, the story winds down as loose ends are tied up and the characters begin to find resolution. Emotions are still running high, but the focus is shifting toward the ending. The Resolution Finally, we come to the resolution. This is where you tie up any remaining loose ends and bring the story to a satisfying conclusion. Make sure the resolution reflects the themes and mood of the story, and leaves readers feeling satisfied and fulfilled. By following these key structural elements, you'll be well on your way to crafting a romance novel that keeps readers engaged and emotionally invested from start to finish.

Conclusion

Crafting a romance novel requires passion, dedication, and attention to detail. By following the tips and steps outlined in this article, you can create a compelling story that will capture readers' hearts and minds. Remember to understand the conventions of the romance genre, develop engaging characters, craft an engrossing plot, build emotional tension, write irresistible dialogue, create memorable settings, and master the structure. As you write, keep in mind that the key to a successful romance novel is to evoke emotions and create a deep connection between the characters and readers. Use vivid descriptions, authentic dialogue, and relatable situations to bring your story to life. In conclusion, writing a romance novel is a challenging but rewarding experience. With persistence, creativity, and the guidance from this article, you can create a love story that readers will cherish and remember for years to come. So, go ahead, start writing, and make your romantic dreams a reality!

FAQ

How do I write a romance novel? To write a compelling romance novel, start by understanding the genre's conventions and reader expectations. Develop engaging characters, craft an engrossing plot filled with tension and conflict, and create emotional tension that keeps readers hooked. Master the art of writing irresistible dialogue, create memorable settings, and follow the key structural elements of a romance novel. What are the essential tips for writing a romance novel? Some essential tips for writing a romance novel include understanding the genre, developing relatable characters, crafting a captivating plot, building emotional tension, writing authentic and captivating dialogue, and creating vibrant settings. Following these tips will help you create a compelling and satisfying love story that resonates with readers. What is the process of writing a romance novel? The process of writing a romance novel involves several steps. Start by brainstorming ideas, outlining the plot, and developing your characters. Once you have a solid foundation, start writing the first draft. After completing the draft, revise and edit your novel to refine the storytelling, characters, and plot. Finally, polish the manuscript and consider seeking feedback from beta readers or a professional editor before preparing for publication. How can I develop engaging characters for my romance novel? Developing engaging characters for your romance novel requires understanding their motivations, desires, and flaws. Create characters with depth and complexity by giving them relatable qualities and realistic personal journeys. Consider their past experiences and how they shape their perspectives on love. Remember to develop compelling chemistry between the main characters and explore their emotional growth throughout the story. What is the key to crafting an engrossing plot for a romance novel? The key to crafting an engrossing plot for a romance novel lies in creating tension, conflict, and obstacles that challenge the protagonists' journey toward love. Develop a compelling conflict that keeps readers invested in the outcome and consider adding unexpected twists and turns to keep the story engaging. Balance the romantic elements with other plot aspects to create a well-rounded and satisfying reading experience. How do I build emotional tension in my romance novel? Building emotional tension in your romance novel involves creating stakes for the characters and maintaining a sense of anticipation and longing. Use internal and external conflict to keep the characters' desires just out of reach, and gradually escalate the emotional intensity as the story unfolds. Balance moments of connection with moments of longing to keep readers emotionally invested and eager for the characters to overcome their obstacles and find love. What are some tips for writing authentic and captivating dialogue in a romance novel? To write authentic and captivating dialogue in a romance novel, listen to how people speak in real-life conversations and incorporate that natural flow into your characters' interactions. Use dialogue to reveal character traits, build relationships, and advance the plot. Show subtext and unspoken emotions through what is left unsaid or implied. Keep the dialogue engaging and meaningful, using it to deepen the connection between the characters and enhance the romantic tension. How can I create memorable settings in my romance novel? To create memorable settings in your romance novel, bring your locations to life by using vivid and sensory descriptions. Consider the romantic atmosphere you want to convey and select settings that enhance the mood and tone. Research and incorporate unique details that immerse readers in the world of your story. Make the settings not only a backdrop but also an integral part of the romance and character development. What are the key structural elements of a successful romance novel? The key structural elements of a successful romance novel include a strong opening that hooks readers, a well-paced plot that keeps them engaged, and a satisfying resolution that wraps up the love story. Introduce the main characters and the conflict early on, maintain tension and conflict throughout, and provide a resolution that fulfills the readers' romantic expectations. It's essential to balance the development of the romance with other plot elements and subplots. What should I keep in mind when writing a romance novel? When writing a romance novel, remember to keep the focus on the central love story. Balance the romantic elements with other plot aspects to create a well-rounded narrative. Prioritize character development and emotional depth to make the love story relatable and engaging. And most importantly, write from the heart and embrace the emotional journey that comes with crafting a captivating romance. Read the full article

[aliceinteyvat]

Okay so I have so many conflicting thoughts about the Miraculous Ladybug Awakening movie I can’t really express it well so here’s a list of things I like and dislike about it. Spoilers under the cut.

 things i like about the miraculous movie:

marinette's family is so wholesome

the songs are pretty good especially Hawkmoth's even though they are generic kids movie pop songs usually

the animation is beautiful

Nathalie is a better parental figure for Adrien

Gabriel is a better character all around

The new character designs

The new location designs

Ladybug & Cat Noir's dynamic is more realistic for teens

Master Fu is cool

The kwamis are better characters I like how they had more of a say in their holders

The kwamis having a realistic form and a kwami form

Nino is a better character

Marinette gaining confidence through being Ladybug and sticking up for herself

Adrien politely turning down Marinette instead of being dense

Adrien's mom having a meaningful backstory and seeeing them as a family

Overall has a good message of being yourself and helping others

The voice acting is 1000/10 for most lines

The background characters look awesome not as many repeats unless it's on purpose

Marinette's not just obsessed with Adrien she cares equally about her dreams, her family, Ladybug's mission, Cat Noir, her friends and, Adrien.

The heros have to work harder to save the day

Adrien has character flaws! He's more like Cat Noir even as a human boy!

Cat Noir and Ladybug are equally powerful and work better as a team

Hawkmoth actually is good at being a villain and the damage to people and Paris is way more meaningful

HAWKMOTH IS A GOOD FATHER FINALLY

GABRIEL'S BACKSTORY IS BETTER

Sabrina doesn't suck(I hate the show Sabrina she’s as bad as Chloe and Lila just too cowardly to own it because she knows it’s wrong but does it anyway)

The ending is so good even though it’s cheesy

things i dislike about the miraculous movie:

the changing voice actors for the singing is so strange it feels like they’re lip syncing the entire movie

some cringe lines like "she's a hero no, she's a she-ro"

Gorilla is gone???? Why???

How Adrien met Marinette

How Gabriel got the butterfly miraculous

Alya's only personality trait is being Marinette's bestie and Ladybug's fan and into Nino like nothing about her as a person just her relationship to everyone else

The tuning for some of the songs sounds so fake

Adrien shutting people out after his mom’s death makes 0 sense for the character

The akumatized villains aren't as interesting or funny

Most jokes fell flat to me but I am older than the target audience

Important side characters in the show are completely ignored and their stories messed with for the sake of the movie’s plot

[sweetbitterimpossiblecreature]

A Brief And Concise Summary Of Is Wrong With The ACOTAR Series

I think we can agree that a lot of ACOTAR is pretty iffy. Consider this a very brief refresher.

What's Wrong With Feyre/Rhysand (juxtaposed against Feyre/Tamlin)

Rhysand drugs and sexually assaults her in Book 1

This is "for her own good". Because he "has no choice". Despite the fact that, from what we know of the plot, Amarantha thinks that Clare Beddor was the one Rhysand was diddling, and is only interested in Feyre because Rhysand, "her" man male, has taken an interest in her.

If we extrapolate from this we can figure that Rhysand is the one directly putting her into danger.

Now, let's be clear: drugging someone is bad. Sexually assaulting someone is bad. One could argue there were extenuating circumstances. But if, in such a situation, what your mind goes to is "I know, I should assault this person... for their safety" I have questions about your moral qualities. There were a million things he could have done. He could have done whatever he did to Clare - that is, remove her ability to feel any pain - easily. He could have helped her escape. Under The Mountain, he - while still there unwillingly - has a lot of power, as Amarantha's side piece. Maybe this would have resulted in him being punished- however, he is hundreds of years old and a badass motherfucker, and she is a nineteen year old human girl.

Now, onto Tamlin. Obviously not a lot of people really ship F/T anymore after ACOMAF, because compared to F/R, it's boring. I read another person's post about it, which was very enlightening: they said that Feyre's personality is essentially a mirror. When she is with Rhysand, she's snarky and malicious- because she is "bouncing off" his energy. When she's with Mor she's super feminist and "in awe of her strength". On the other hand, Tamlin is kind of an empty character. He's a pretty boy with anger issues, which should be more interesting than it is. SJM manages to make him bland. Because Feyre has nothing to bounce off of, (a lot of this is from the person's post), she and Tamlin together is mainly just him introducing her to his world.

What Tamlin Does: prevents a skinny twenty year old from going on dangerous missions with him and combat-trained soldiers, accidentally blows up a room with her in it, and, at the end, prevents her from leaving the house.

This is not a Tamlin apologist post. Obviously it was really fucking gross of him to do that, and their relationship was toxic. However, a lot of his abuse stems from their inability to communicate, as well as own negligence. He does not knowingly and purposefully sexually assault her or rape her mind. And tbh, leaving a girl without combat training at home while he goes on missions with a bunch of muscled sentries is... kind of reasonable?

Again: not a Tamlin apologist post. It was abuse. However, if Rhysand is "allowed" to sexually assault, mind-rape, and drug Feyre "for her own safety", why is Tamlin demonized for preventing her from leaving his mansion "for her own safety"?

Another pertinent point: Rhys is never punished for sexually assaulting her. It is brushed off as part of his "mask" or that his hand was forced. Jesus Christ my dudes, his hand was not forced under her skirt. If he has to maintain his gross rapist abuser tyrant oppressor mask... why? Who did that benefit beside him? None of his actions remotely helped Prythian. They were done solely for his buddies - five people safe in a rich hidden city - and no one else, which is explicitly stated.

Finally, the power dynamic is fucked up. Feyre is less than twenty five years old. Rhysand is 500. There is a tendency in fantasy romance to romanticize a centuries year old man with a young girl, because the man does not show symptoms of age, and so it is easily ignorable. However, can we just briefly acknowledge how fucked up it is? Rhys is over five times older than Donald Trump, Harvey Weinstein, Jeffrey Epstein, and other known predators/abusers. She is twenty. That is really fucking gross. She is in a vulnerable position and he takes rampant advantage of that.

If he had wrinkles, liver problems, and erectile dysfunction, more people would acknowledge it.

Let's be clear: I'm not saying writing a book with an uneven power dynamic is automatically bad. For example, in The Locked Tomb series, which is in my opinion THE BEST FANTASY SERIES THAT HAS GRACED THIS EARTH (lol i'm starting fires), one main character Harrowhark Nonagesimus is in a position of power over Gideon Nav, the other main character. However, this is not glossed over or romanticized. Gideon resents Harrow for this- there is a relationship of mutual antagonism, fraught with unwilling familiarity and intimacy from growing up together. They are roughly the same age. While there is a certain power dynamic (in that world, there is a dynamic of necromancer and cavalier, i.e. sorcerer and sword) the "empowered" character (Harrow) emphatically respects her and does not abuse this power, although both would of course deny this, and she does make a show of threatening and being aloof. In short, while Gideon obeys her, Gideon also has power over Harrow, and the idea of what is essentially slavery is not romanticized.

Feyre Doesn't Face Any Consequences For Her Own Actions

Let me present a radical notion: a guy preventing you from leaving his house does not justify completely fucking ruining his country and harming the people inside it.

In other words: Tamlin does not deserve what she did to him.

I know that sounds iffy. We're conditioned to think that if someone is an abuser, then they are the scum of the earth, they deserve to die, torturing/murdering/doing anything to them is completely A-OK. However, here's another radical notion: someone harming you does not justify you doing worse.

Obviously, the effects of psychological abuse can cause you to hurt other people (see: Nesta), but Feyre deliberately and maliciously (oh, God, that insufferable POV of her in Spring Court; she reads like a cartoonish Disney villain) dismantles his country. She uses sexual manipulation (Lucien), torture (causing the sentry to be whipped), and mind-rape (who didn't she do this to? lol).

A summary of the entire first half of ACOWAR: "It smelled like roses. I hated roses. For this capital offense against my olfactory system, Tamlin and the entire Spring Court deserved to burn in hell. I knew exactly what I was doing. I smiled at him sweetly: no longer a doe, but a wolf. He didn't see my fangs.............." *aesthetic noises*

Man. I'm starting to think SJM had a horrible experience at a Bath & Body Works and took it out on the rest of us. Don't do it, Sarah!! I know Pink Chiffon and Triple Berry Martini are way too strong, but don't take it out on an innocent population!!

She steals from Summer Court (there are, yk, other solutions to theft. Like maybe asking politely) and ruins Spring Court. Her boyfriend - yeesh sorry, MATE - does nothing while a dozen Winter Court children are murdered.

Now: moral ambiguity is not automatically bad. Again using The Locked Tomb as an example, in the second book (spoiler alert), Harrowhark has a sort of moral ambiguity. She was raised from the beginning to worship the King Undying as God, and so she obeys him without question. Because of this, she commits a lot of crimes in His name: she "flips" - i.e. kills - the life force of planets, and she plots murder (albeit the murder of someone who tried to kill her first). There is no attempt to justify this. There is also no attempt to paint her as a virtuous and yet also badass Madonna figure. She is desperate, plagued with the "wreck of herself", and the book clearly displays her moral pitfalls. While her POV is of course colored by her mindset, it also is limited by her lack of information, and we as readers can acknowledge that.

BACK TO ACOTAR: Feyre is seen by everyone as gorgeous, formidable, and essentially perfect. Rhys sees her as flawless, "made for him", wonderful, beautiful, blah blah blah. (THEY ARE SO BAD FOR EACH OTHER; THEY EXCUSE AND GLORIFY EACH OTHER'S CRIMES, IT'S SO BAD, GUYYYS). Tamlin is insanely batshit in love with her, or whatever. To the Night Court she's the High Lady. In this way she personifies the Mary Sue character. (Excerpt from the TV Tropes page on Mary Sues: "She's exotically beautiful, often having an unusual hair or eye color, and has a similarly cool and exotic name. She's exceptionally talented in an implausibly wide variety of areas, and may possess skills that are rare or nonexistent in the canon setting. She also lacks any realistic, or at least story-relevant, character flaws — either that or her "flaws" are obviously meant to be endearing. She has an unusual and dramatic Back Story. The canon protagonists are all overwhelmed with admiration for her beauty, wit, courage and other virtues, and are quick to adopt her as one of their True Companions, even characters who are usually antisocial and untrusting; if any character doesn't love her, that character gets an extremely unsympathetic portrayal." Sound familiar?)

There is the Ourobous scene. And yet, paradoxically, while presented as an acknowledgment of her flaws, it is in fact a rejection of them. She sees her own brutality... and instead of recognizing that she has these deep, deep moral flaws and realizing that she needs to grow and be better, she in fact "accepts" them.

Guys: Self love means: "I'm important to me, so I'm going to get a massage today after work", or "heck, why not splurge on some expensive lotion, you only live once" or "you know what? I had a tough day today. I'm going to get that strawberry cupcake". SELF LOVE DOES NOT MEAN "oh, I accept all the war crimes I have done, I love myself". LOVING YOURSELF DOES NOT MEAN ABSOLVING YOURSELF OF ALL WRONGDOING.

It's this refusal to acknowledge wrongdoing that is so grating about ACOTAR. It's so goddamn one-sided. And you can tell that after Book 1, SJM decided to completely change the trajectory simply because of how jarring Book 2 reads compared to the first one.

Also: Feyre is a very, very young girl (compared to the other ruling fey) who did not know how to read for the majority of her life. She has no experience whatsoever in politics. Her being High Lady is not a win for feminism.

Rhysand: He Sucks

First, he is 500 years old. He should be written as such, not as some 20 year old virile frat boy feminist. Fantasy is all the more compelling for its elements of realism, which is a concept that SJM does not appear to grasp.

Second of all, his morals are absurd. He is written as the Second Coming of Christ, as someone who can do no wrong, ever, and his flaws only serve to make Feyre love him more. Anything shitty he does is written as part of his "mask" and she can See Beneath It and knows that it "hurts" him to maintain this "mask".

Fellas, WHY DOES HE HAVE TO MAINTAIN THIS MASK???? There is no reason for it. If A) he does not give a shit about Court of Nightmares (we'll get back to that), only about Velaris, and B) Velaris is hidden/protected from the world, what is he pretending for?

It would not hurt him politically to be seen as someone who cares about his country.

"Pretending" to be "Amarantha's whore" does not in any way shape or form benefit the macro-world that is Prythian. In Amarantha's name, he commits atrocities. He commits war crimes; he systemically oppresses entire societies. It doesn't even really benefit Velaris, because Velaris is already hidden.

Let me put this in a real-world perspective. This would be like if Donald Trump was suddenly like: "I know I was a shitty president but IT WAS ALL PART OF MY MASK, WHICH WAS TO PROTECT THIS MICROCOSM OF PRIVILEGED PEOPLE THAT I CARE ABOUT". Like: okay? Sorry, or whatever, but I don't actually give a shit. What about the parents of the children who died? What about Clare Beddor? What about the people who were held in slavery, murdered, tortured?

Rhysand: omg it sucks that my cousin Mor was oppressed by this toxic misogynistic culture from the Court of Nightmares.

Also Rhysand: lol whatever, who gives a shit about Court of Nightmares. They all suck. They meanie. Lol what did you say? That there might be other girls just like Mor who are oppressed by this system? Lol whatever. I can't do anything, I gotta maintain my Mask. I gotta sit on this throne and show the entire Court that not respecting women is completely okay.

In summary: by parading Feyre around as his "whore" (!!) he demonstrates by example that it is completely okay for the Court of Nightmares to abuse their women.

A good ruler cares about all his people. Rhysand cares about a tiny tiny fraction of his people: those who were fortunate enough to be born into Velaris.

God, I'm exhausted. Onto Nesta:

The only character who successfully breaks the Mary Sue effect Feyre exerts on her people is Nesta. Her POV for the first half is a joy to read.

Obviously it sucks that Nesta was a huge bitch to Feyre for the beginning of her childhood. However, it was wrong for Rhysand to threaten her- he is a man male with a huge insane amount of power, and it is not okay for him to threaten to bring the brunt of it down on a young girl because she was a bitch to his girlfriend.

I've seen a lot of discourse on the morality of F/R sending her out of Velaris. Here is my two cents:

It was okay for them to cut her off of their money. If they don't want to enable her self-harm, that is their choice. Again, it's their money, even if it wasn't fairly earned (Rhysand born into an enormous fortune).

It was not okay for them to banish her from Velaris with the implication that she was an embarrassment. Let me explain.

If Rhysand and Feyre are talking to her as sister/brother-in-law, then that is that. They have the complete right to express disapproval and try to help. However, they should not be using their royal privilege against her.

If they are talking to her as ruler to subject, then they have the power to banish her from the city. However, a ruler would not give a shit about a random subject getting drunk and having sex. So, they should not be talking her about her problems as a ruler to subject.

I've heard it compared to her being sent to rehab. However, rehab is a system designed to help people with certain problems. It has specialized medical centers and involves therapy. Nesta gets her life threatened multiple times. It is not rehab.

In summary: why did SJM inflict this upon us. Throne of Glass was actually good! GAHHH! After the first few books she completely whipped around and introduced the idea of males and mates and fey and that C is actually A and the quality took a huge nosedive. Sigh.

Final horrible but unmistakable truth: The entire ACOTAR series reads like a bad A/B/O fic. I hate to say it but it's true. We're lucky there were no heat cycles. OH WAIT

[gaycatwizard]

I feel like "bad/flawed characters that are still likeable" are just some of the Best characters and tend to have a bit more emotional staying power, that they're more relatable and more interesting, more memorable. We need more of them, but they're really... hard to do? Not necessarily hard to make, but hard to do well. Because the amount of flaws and Badness (in a moral/philosophical sense, not quality of a character's design and personality) can vary so drastically, along with the amount of redeeming traits and their potency. It can be hard to want to "copy" or mimic the exact ratio from the character that inspired you. Tangent: it's fine to be inspired by one or more works. It's fine to allow it to influence your works. It's hard distinguishing from "I want to do x, but that's basically just rewriting one of my inspirations but with a palette swap" and "this inspires me so I want to use certain elements/themes/ideas/technical aspects of it." That's not the issue here, y'know. But like... I think the sheer variety you can have in Loveable Asshole characters like that, in the ratio of how bad and how good they are, is part of what makes them so interesting, so realistic, so powerful. Like... there are characters who are overall pretty good people, but are rough around the edges in a way that clearly makes them sympathetic and likeable. There are characters who are basically layer upon layer upon layer of mistakes, hatred, and bile with the tiniest nugget of good at the center, that you rarely get a glimpse of, but feel something raw and enthralling because of that. Like... I think Bojack Horseman is a good example, especially because it has a lot of different Likeable Bad People varieties and it does them all really well. Also Bojack Horseman is a good show and, not unlike JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, I want to talk about it at every given opportunity. Bojack himself is a cynical, selfish, destructive, defensive, spiteful, jealous, vain, self-loathing, stubborn piece of shit. He's a bad person and that's... kind of the point of the show. But his entire character, his entire arc that spans the whole of the series, revolves around the diamond buried deep in that rough. He wants to change, but he's so set in his negative ways (and so used to being surrounded by such negativity and toxicity) that he doesn't really know how. Every time he wants to change, he doesn't know how and fails to keep up with his new habits. Every time he's doing well and making progress, some external factor comes in and pushes him violently back down the mountain, back to square one. But he makes an effort, it's very obvious that he doesn't like being this way, that he regrets the things he does, that he feels remorse for the pain he's caused, and he does finally change and improve, things do finally get better for him. His foil (who has such an AMAZING dynamic and relative arc with him I could write a whole essay just on that), Mr. Peanutbutter, is sort of the exact opposite. They have similar careers and positions in the world, but everything goes right for Mr. Peanutbutter. Everyone likes him, everything is handed to him on a silver platter, he's perfect, he's happy, he's attractive, he's popular, he's everything Bojack isn't, and yet somehow he's drawn to Bojack and always wants to try and be his friend. But as Bojack slowly improves over the show and the softer, nicer, Better side of him becomes more and more prominent and common, the negative side of Mr. Peanutbutter slowly gets revealed over the show. He's also selfish and stubborn and stupid and persistent and dangerously disconnected from reality and his interpersonal skills are absolute shit. He puts on that act to make people like him. As the show goes on, it's slowly revealed that he doesn't really pay attention to the wants or needs of others, like, at all. That he only ever really cares about himself and just wants to do and be everything and anything as long as people like him and it makes him happy, regardless of who it hurts. It's amazing. It's in F is

for Family, too. Netflix Adult Animated Sitcoms are very often hit or miss, but these two are absolute homeruns. Frank, the protagonist, of F is for Family is selfish, violent, short-tempered, arrogant, judgmental, ignorant... but he's remorseful and introspective and intelligent and, in a very convoluted and misguided way most of the time, incredibly caring and devoted. He is a piece of shit and he's terrible, and a lot of why he's still likeable, why he's allowed to be so politically incorrect and abusive is due to the setting. Parenting norms were different back then and, now with hindsight, we know that those norms weren't good and you should NEVER hit or yell at or emotionally degrade your kids. The show is a perfect mix of "everyone is a product of their time and environment" and "no matter the time and place, people are people and we have the same thoughts and feelings and struggles," all without glorifying or excusing the terrible actions of the characters with the excuse of the time period or due to being "protagonists" or having redeeming traits. They're human, flawed, some incredibly so, and that's what makes it so good. It's part of why I like F is for Family more than most Adult Animated Family Sitcoms. You've got the typical stupid, selfish, arrogant, etc. Bad Dad and his Housewife, but there's still chemistry. They're still unique, three dimensional characters that clearly love each other and have a reason to still be together despite arguing and hardship. Same with how Frank and Sue treat their kids. They're not great parents, but they're trying to do their best (which isn't always good) and they do clearly love their kids and want the best for them. Their kids are resentful at times and hate their parents for some of the things they do, but they do stick together at the end of the day because there's that underlying realization that none of the mistreatment is done with malicious intent. That doesn't excuse it, but they're all just fucked up and trying to do their best. And they do have sad, relatable characters that are clearly bad people and aren't likeable, despite having sympathetic traits. Like Ginny. Her husband, that she loves dearly, is gay and simply doesn't love her the way she loves him, their marriage is hollow and empty. But she constantly forces her suffering on others, regardless of whether they want to hear it or are emotionally equipped to do so. Attempting to leave the conversation or explain that other people have problems too means, to Ginny, that you're a terrible human being who can't be there for someone in pain or that you're selfish and disgusting and never stop thinking of yourself. She has every right to be upset, but she takes it out on others and manipulates them, and that's not okay, and the show depicts it that way. There are so many options for character arcs with these characters, too. They don't even have to be related to their flaws, they can be entirely external or related to something like relationships or interests. You can show someone working on their flaws, acknowledging that they're not perfect and they might be bad, but that they want to do better and actively try to do so; they don't avoid responsibility or blame others, they own up to it and do their best to improve. Hell, even just coming to the realization that you are responsible for your actions, not anyone else, and that you have to put in effort to change could be that arc. You can have someone get worse, whether an intentional path of bad decisions without regard for others or a failure to understand which decisions are right. Some people have redeeming traits, but still aren't redeemable. Some people don't get better. Some people still get better, but get worse first. There are so many real, relatable options that show the darker, uglier side of life that we so desperately want to experience and perceive (likely due to the cathartic and taboo aspects), and bringing up flaws and shortcomings and anything else in this context can start interesting conversations and challenge

us to think about things we may not have before, or from a new perspective.

[hollowandmerciless]

So it was a love story after all

One of the things that has been said over the years about Attack on Titan is that it had no romance. Isayama, was the general consensus, didn’t write a love story. AOT is not about ships. It’s about the nature of humanity, about hatred, about racism and the will to survive. It’s got its roots in Norse mythology, in real life events from the recent past and a more ancient past. But love and romance, so everyone thought, never had a place in this story.

How wrong we all were.

As it turns out, Eren’s motivation for everything he did was always his eternal and undying love for Mikasa.

Here’s where I stumble.

I never saw any convincing signs of Eremika in this story. I didn’t like their dynamics in the first place – Eren seemed annoyed with her a lot of the time, or at best consider her his adopted sister – and what really rubbed me the wrong way during the entirety of the story was Mikasa’s unhealthy obsession with Eren. Yes, he saved her, and yes, she’s an Ackerman, who are known for their intense bonding to their host (although this was a false assumption as well, according to Zeke), but her obsession was unhealthy and annoying to the point that I was unable to see her character development or her actions. 

Her looks didn’t make her special to me (contrary to a lot of male fans I encountered on social media and irl), to me she was just one of the characters, albeit a rather uninteresting one, so I wasn’t paying as much attention to her as they did – we all pay most attention to our favourites (which in my case are Eren and Levi and to a lesser extent Hanji and Connie), and as a result I may have been blind for any character development she had. 

Maybe it’s because I’m a woman and I feel like she’s one of those poorly written -“the man is my only goal in life” -women. Women who in a story solely seem to exist as an appendage to the main character and have no life or will of their own. Eren and Mikasa were, in my opinion, never equals in this story.

I know many people do see Mikasa’s character development, and do see meaningful interactions between Eren and her, but I’m sorry, I can’t see them unless I use a microscope, and I think this is the main flaw in Isayama’s writing: with all the twists and foreshadowing (which I so thoroughly enjoyed), some hints he left are way too small, while some of his red herrings are too in your face to ignore. 

It also feels like Isayama changed the ending too often and forgot about a lot of foreshadowings along the way.

This is why it feels that we’re left with so many plot holes – if you read closely, there aren’t many, but the red herrings were sprinkled so abundantly throughout the story that we may have expected way too much. The origins of the Ackermans, the importance of Historia’s’ baby and “who is the father”, Zeke’s presumed 4D chess and Eren’s 5D chess, the Underground cities as protection against the rumbling, what caused the titan forest trees to grow so large, what happened 854 years ago in the year 0, Reiner heavily being foreshadowed to become the new Helos, what is the Hallucigenia thing, where did it come from and how does it create titans, where did Ymir’s first titan come from if there was no one in PATHS yet to build it – we don’t need all these answers, but somehow Isayama made us believe there was more to this than there actually was, and that’s why many of us feel robbed of the ending we wanted or expected.

The Historia storyline bothers me the most. The dynamics between her and Eren were much more interesting and realistic than those between Mikasa and Eren. To begin with, they were equals. Whatever happened, they always had each other’s backs. So it made sense to me that Eren had at least something to do with her choice to have a baby, especially because he was so vocal against it. Instead, she too married a guy who hadn’t been particularly nice to her in the past and nothing of it had anything to do with Eren or his plans, or their shared memories of previous founders. 

Parallels between OG Ymir and Historia seemed abundant, but apparently, in the end, we were supposed to see an essential parallel between Ymir and Mikasa. Her Stockholm-syndrome-love for the first King Fritz felt like a sort of deus ex machina (and yes, if you reread chapter 122 there were hints, but so scarce, so small, that they didn’t seem to hold much significance).

I find the fact that OG Ymir needed to see someone break loose from the clutches of obsessive love in front of her own eyes to finally break loose from her own love for Fritz a bit far-fetched, especially since I consider that this is what the entire story hinges on.

(Now we do understand why Isayama had Levi so severely wounded in chapter 114 (the explosion). Had he been fit, then he had most likely been the Ackerman who killed Eren (because this has been foreshadowed too, multiple times) – and that wasn’t supposed to happen. It had to be Mikasa, or else OG Ymir wouldn’t understand how to break loose from her bond.

Another thing that bothered me was Eren’s sudden confession of his love for Mikasa to Armin. Like I said, I found the Eremika dynamics particularly uninteresting, so this confession felt very unnatural and far-fetched to me – but, again, this is what the entire story is built upon. 

He does what he does for them, specifically for her.

It’s actually kind of sad that some fan theories were better/more interesting than the canon ending, but Isayama is the creator of this story and we’ll have to accept his ending – I do know that the more I’ve been rereading the final chapter, the less it bothers me how the story wrapped up. I might even come to like it, and when I reread the full story (which I will certainly do, I LOVE this story) I’ll pay more attention to the small hints Isayama sprinkled between the lines for us about the love Eren felt for Mikasa, to see if his words in 139 will finally make sense to me.

For now, Eren’s motives don’t feel real or grounded. If he’d cried about the millions (billions?) of deaths he’d caused instead of about Mikasa, it would have made more sense in the grand scheme of things. He’d cry for the lives he’s taken, and for the realisation that it has all been in vain, because the ones he tried to protect so that they can live long and happy lives, will now be consumed with grief and survivor’s guilt.

Still, could any of this have gone differently?

No.

Eren was rightfully desperate when he, from behind the bars of his cell, yelled at Hanji if there was another way. Because there wasn’t.

The irony was that Eren always fought for freedom, but all his life he had been a slave to his own destiny. He was unable to change the future, and could only try to influence it. Or else, as Kruger said, this cycle would repeat itself, again and again.

All in all I feel there was more to this story than what we got, it could have gone deeper, more foreshadowing could have paid off instead of being a red herring.

A bittersweet ending

Levi surviving and finally getting closure with the knowledge that this was what all of his old SC friends died for, brought me to tears. And that smoke, was that the disappearing of his Ackerstrength? 

The frame where he travels the world with his carers/adopted children Gabi and Falco and his new best friend Onyankopon (friend? lover? just look at that glance they share) made me so happy that this is now the desktop background of my laptop.

(I hope they’ll travel to the AOT equivalent of the UK so he can finally enjoy some decent black tea)

To me, at least this part was sweet. The rest: bitter, even the fates of the Alliance members. This is a story with an open ending. We don’t know if they’ll succeed on their peace mission, we don’t know what the Yaegerists will accomplish, we don’t know what the rest of the world will do; all options are open again, but maybe that is the point. Eren never meant to end the hatred, there’s no fighting the nature of humans. Erwin knew this already: mankind won’t stop fighting among themselves until there’s only one person left. 

Eren’s goal was to end the titan era, and at the cost of his own life and that of 80% of humanity, he succeeded. 

Learning that Eren, who held freedom in such high regards, was a slave to his own destiny all along was painful and ironic, but in a way he lives on as a bird, finally free, finally Vogel aus dem Käfig.

Thank you, Isayama.

[kitkatopinions]

You know, it’s an interesting thing to see RWBY fans act like it’s a bad faith criticism when people don’t automatically assume that everything Ruby does is one hundred percent good and justified. In fact, ever since season six, it seems like people consider the only proper way of thinking to be A) assuming that anything bad that’s happening is entirely not Ruby’s fault. B) assuming that anything Ruby does in these situations is justified, needed, and good. And C) assuming that Ruby is going to fix anything bad that’s happening shortly.

I’m becoming more and more convinced that much of the so called ‘bad faith criticisms’ that mega fans and simps are concerned about are frequently just people not assuming that those three things are always true. Many fans have taken to filling in the blanks for CRWBY, which is something that’s generally expected in all media with a strong fan presence, but is taken to the extreme in RWBY where many fans are now deciding things and deeming them canon all in the name of making Ruby look as blameless and good as possible. That’s why there are fans insisting that Ironwood invaded Vale and has no combat experience, it’s completely untrue with no canon to support it, and yet is seen as the only definitive reading allowed by many fans, and that’s because it makes Ironwood look like he’s always been a horrible incompetent fool, so Ruby no longer looks bad by lying to him and then casting him aside. That’s why there are fans insisting that Ruby and co had to get across the border to Atlas quickly and couldn’t waste any time waiting, that’s why fans insist that Cordovin forced Ruby’s hand by not giving her a peaceful option despite the peaceful option she literally offered on screen. That’s why there are fans insisting that Ruby only stayed in the mansion in volume eight because she couldn’t leave Nora or because Ironwood would’ve arrested her and she was forced to prioritize her safety because she knows she’s imperative to the war. That’s why there are fans saying that no reading where any single person was left behind in the evacuation from Atlas to Vacuo is acceptable despite Qrow, Maria, and Pietro all being left behind, and the concept of ‘Ruby saved everyone’ being unequivocally false due to the soldiers that died facing Salem, the on-screen deaths of named characters including Penny, and anyone who Cinder knocked off the bridge.

These fans are ignoring canon things like that, canon things like there being a clear and peaceful solution to getting over the Atlas border, and Ruby spending episodes and I think around an in-show day despairing that she doesn’t know what to do and wants someone to come save her where characters are literally telling her she needs to leave the mansion and Ruby gives no solid reason why she shouldn’t except that they shouldn’t pick sides. They ignore any indication in canon that Ruby is just wrong or just faulty and construct a narrative where Ruby is one hundred percent right and sympathetic, and then they consider anything that didn’t automatically adhere to that rule to be ‘bad faith.’

“Why didn’t you just assume that Ruby was going to apologize to Ozpin next season? That’s a bad faith criticism, this is a story, so not everything is gonna be resolved super fast.” “Why didn’t you realize that Ruby was right to be upset with Ozpin and was justified because Ozpin lied to her about important things? Oz should be the one apologizing to her, that’s a bad faith criticism.” “Why didn’t you realize that Ruby only lied to Ironwood because she wasn’t sure she could trust him? Her situation with Oz is completely different, he isn’t learning his lesson and hasn’t apologized. Ruby is going to trust James later and prove she’s better than Oz.” “Why didn’t you realize that Ruby never would have trusted James because he’s always been shady and she knew that and she only worked with him in the first place because she had to in order to use his resources?” “Why didn’t you realize that James was the one not trusting Ruby and she was the one trusting and he broke that trust and Ruby was willing to work with him only he wasn’t willing to work with her?” “Why didn’t you realize that Ozpin was always bad and incompetent and Ruby is being gracious to allow him back in her group now that he apologized for not trusting her?”

What we have is a bunch of people deciding what’s going to happen (and quickly forgetting they said that if it doesn’t happen,) re-writing what did happen, ignoring the canon as it’s happening, and filling in any blank they get with whatever makes Ruby look as good as possible, and then they consider anything that doesn’t comply with that to be bad faith.

Ruby is a flawed protagonist. In fact, she’s way more flawed than what the show expects us to think. She’s naïve, she lacks foresight, she’s reckless, she overestimates her own abilities and her friend group, she’s stubborn and only listens when she wants to, she’s arrogant at times, she’s become unforgiving, she’s at least somewhat controlling with her friends, she only sees in black and white and alienates anyone who doesn’t fit her exact moral code, and she’s recently taken to mood swings, shutting down, and bouts of indecisiveness that freeze her up and prevent her from taking possible life saving actions, she’s more ‘ends justify the means’ than she admits, and she’s hypocritical.

Now, if you don’t read Ruby with all of that and think I’m being a bit too harsh, that’s fine. There are good things about Ruby too (though admittedly I’m seeing her amazing traits from the early seasons way less in the recent seasons,) and she does some good things. But she does have flaws and she does make mistakes, and what I’d really like to see is less people constantly making excuses for literally everything she does or says, and more people admitting when she makes mistakes. Maybe a “she really should’ve asked Penny before turning her into a human” instead of a “of course she asked her it was just off screen you loser!” Maybe a “she shouldn’t have decided to lie to Ironwood without talking to her team about it at least,” instead of a “the team trusts Ruby and she would’ve asked them if she’d been given a chance you stupid freak!” Maybe a “Ruby really froze up for a good portion of season eight, she made quite a few mistakes, I wonder how she’ll come back from it,” instead of “Ruby was forced away from the fight because Ironwood would’ve had her executed and she’s smart enough to know that!”

Main characters in stories are supposed to make mistakes and have flaws, it gives a personal growth that’s relatable to their victories and gives opportunity for growth in character dynamics, and goes towards making them feel more realistic and likable. Of course not everyone is going to like, say, a main character who is arrogant and over steps boundaries, but that character also can therefore grow and change and adjust, and that is very likable to most audiences. The best protagonists in media are deeply flawed characters that try hard to overcome not only the big problems they face, but the small conflicts that come from their own actions and the reactions they have to what other people do. Ruby should have flaws, she should make mistakes, and she does! One of the biggest problems with the show RWBY is their refusal to treat Ruby’s flaws as flaws and their inability to let her grow. And one of the biggest problems with the fandom is people’s inability to treat Ruby’s flaws as flaws and their insistence that everyone adhere to the rules of ‘Ruby is always justified, always right, and will always fix everything.’