#giving us character and relationship development

[cerisahh]

summary — love language headcanons for the arcane characters (giving and receiving)

characters included — jinx, ekko, silco, vander, viktor

cerisa speaks — literally started writing this the night of s2 act 3 release and only now finishing it if that doesn't tell you something about how inconsistent i am idk what does. ATTENTION PEOPLE IN MY REQUESTS!! i swear to god i will do your request in the next year for sure! viktor forgive me, amen.

jinx — gift giving. jinx's most loyal companion is her imagination so it isn't hard for her to think of gifts that are personal to you that'd you'd enjoy.

we see many of the little homemade trinkets that she's made for silco throughout the years, my favourite being the ashtray he keeps on the desk in his office. so dependant on what you're into, she'll showcase her love for you in the form of a trinket.

oh, so you like to read? she sees you dog-earing a page of your book whilst you two are in her hangout and drops her current project to fashion you a bookmark. you only notice that her tinkering has stopped when the bookmark has been dropped on your lap and she's made a blasé comment about you destroying your book for too long so she just had to make you this so you'd stop.

hiding behind a mask of indifference when giving out her gifts is kind of her thing, but she's anxious to no end to see if you like it. her mind runs a mile a minute; 'don't they like it? do the colours not match? they hate it they hate it theyhateittheyhateittheyhateme-'

until you're holding it carefully between your fingers and your mouth is making that 'o' shape it does when something unexpected has happened. when you say that it's the most thoughtful gift you've ever received she's insistent on making you a hundred more.

physical touch. stop booing me i'm right! let me explain. as we see before powder becomes jinx, she's quite normal with physical contact, we see vi hugging her, putting a hand on her shoulder, claggor helping her down to the apartment, etc.

it's after vi slaps and abandons her that she becomes uncomfortable with physical touch. silco (most of the time) lets her initiate it on her own terms.

one time he doesn't is where she's playing airplane with his shimmer device and he grabs her wrist. she lets him retain his grip for a moment but when she does move her arm away he doesn't follow her. through my own delusions i've come to the conclusion that jinx wants, maybe even craves physical comfort, but quickly feels smothered by it when it's forced on her.

despite this, with the right person i feel like she would be willing to accept physical affection from them. it would take time to establish and develop a trusting relationship with jinx but when you're there, you're there. she's also a deeply insecure person when it comes to relationships of any kind and retaining them so you'll have to slip in some words of affirmation between touches.

her favourite way to receive physical touch would for sure be you playing with her hair. running your fingers through it and scratching her scalp? congratulations, that's your new job. you mention off the cuff how you'd love to see her hair down? suddenly there's a brush in your hands and an expectant and giddy jinx sitting in front of you.

even though she trusts you, she'll still get startled and tense up if you suffocate her with too much affection. holding your arms out for a hug or patting the seat next to you so she can lean into your arms is a much better way to initiate contact with her.

a little extra headcanon, when she's doing your nails she'll use her own hands to hold your fingers still instead of a wrist rest. she says it keeps them steadier so she doesn't make any mistakes but really she craves that subtle contact.

ekko — acts of service. season two episode seven dictates this as canon i'll be taking no arguments on this day. seeing his huge mural of future vi to show powder after he upsets her really just cements this headcanon. this is a pretty big action so i'll focus on the smaller ones for now.

starting off really strong with him decorating your room for you. close your eyes and imagine him building you a shelf to store your books or keepsakes. not only building it but carving designs into it. ohh you like music? well take a look at those carvings of sheet music! and do you spy some new books in your collection (stolen from a piltover library, naturally)

with so many different types of people living at the tree, at the beginning he was pretty much forced to learn how to cook all different types of meals. it paid off though because no matter where you hail from, he'll be able to prepare you any of your favourite dishes.

the more i type about ekko the more i realise he is the best househusband out of the arcane gang. he can cook, he can clean, he's a provider - he is quite literally the entire package. him being a certified pretty boy also helps because everyone needs a little eye candy in their life.

this one is sickeningly sweet but for relationship milestones, and even just randomly, ekko will fully plan out a date night for the two of you. picnics on the top of buildings that overlook the neon lights of the undercity, just the two of you. it's so intimate.

physical touch. now this i truly will be taking no arguments on. receiving physical affection for ekko is huge. we all saw how fast he hugged benzo in the alternate au!!

with so many people from his early life either dying (benzo, vander, claggor, mylo) or leaving (jinx and vi), ekko hasn't really had anyone to offer him any form of closeness. sure, he has the firelights. it just isn't the same though.

so when you come along with all the tender hugs and fond touches that he's been deprived of for so long he knows he's done for. consider him addicted. even just clapping a hand on his shoulder after a fight, hell, LEANING ON HIM?? that man is YOURS to command for now until the end.

knowing you're just physically there and not going anywhere - not abandoning him - he's content to bask in your presence.

quick kisses and brief glances at each other come in abundance. if you're not at the firelights base then you're on the go. it's these times that make you both appreciate the time you have with each other. ekko plans to take full advantage of the downtime you both have between missions. don't expect to stray a few feet from each other.

silco — acts of service. silco's acts of service are usually communicated through orders that he gives his goons. say you offhandedly mention that some shimmer addicts have set up camp in the alley next to your apartment. when you leave the last drop and go home you notice that those shimmer addicts you briefly complained about? gone. without a trace.

i feel like he prefers to give out acts of service to you as a kind of 'i can provide for you, don't leave' kind of thing. you don't need to ask silco to do something, he'll take the initiative. he wants you to view him as a reliable provider. this sounds very 50s but he's an old fashioned kind of guy so it checks out.

not the kind of guy to do chores at the start i'm afraid. he has people for that. maybe you can convince him to wash the dishes after you cook you, him and jinx a meal. but never and i mean NEVER will you catch this man hoovering or mopping the floor. that is just simply not going to fucking happen. you'd have better luck asking him to quit smoking.

not gonna lie he just lightens the load of whatever jobs you need to do so you can spend more time together. the famed eye of zaun is clingy.

physical touch. actually controversial take no way CHILLS! similarly to jinx, silco wouldn't actively look for physical touch in any given situation. he's obviously traumatised by his former best friend choking him out and drowning him underwater. not to mention completely brutalising his eye.

jinx is likely the only person he would willingly let touch him. not even sevika on a good day gets that privilege. you would need to spend a lot of time gaining silco's undying trust. only when you two are emotionally close will you be able to share his touch.

buying you jewellery just so he can feel the warmth of your body heat as he clasps the necklace around you neck. silco is very subtle and sneaky when he wants to be close to you.

his neck is off limits to everyone, even you. placing your hand on his collarbone whilst entangled in bed together is the furthest you'll get.

vander — physical touch. oh i just know this man gives the best bear hugs. physical intimacy with vander is just safety incarnate. when he takes you into his arms it really feels like a breath of topside air after a lifetime underground.

i don't think vander would really like being with a partner that didn't enjoy physical affection. it's not only a bonding experience for the both of you to engage in but also a display of trust that he deeply values.

conveying his love for you with intimacy, non-sexual and sexual is something he cherishes. the level of mutual understanding and relationship building that comes with it is indispensable to vander. basically the keys to a successful partnership with him.

that little symbol of love in the undercity where two people touch their foreheads together? that's the most significant way you can show that you truly care for someone and it's vander's favourite way to connect with you in moments of peace.

words of affirmation. vander is the type of guy to not necessarily need words of affirmation to feel good about himself but will appreciate it all the same. he tries so hard to be a good example to the kids and in general to the populace of the undercity. he wants this life to be better. he wants to be better.

he's the leader, the protector, all the pressure is on him. affirming his efforts through words goes further than you might think.

it's you and him against the world. the brewing political storm that plagues both the undercity and piltover is little more than a distant thought when you're whispering honeyed words to and fro in the dead of night. for a man with such an imposing presence, telling him that you love and need him makes him weak.

with your words of affirmation, he's more certain of his role in the undercity than he's ever been. you renew the passion he had in youth, he wants the best for you and will do whatever he can to obtain it.

viktor — quality time. viktor is all about sharing the same space as his partner. with him being the co-founder of hextech, it's difficult for him to find time alone to dote on you. which is why you''ll often find yourself in the company of viktor (and oftentimes jayce) in their lab, them working on a new use for hextech, and yourself either studying or simply watching the magic (literally) happen.

when jayce is off being the poster child of hextech or following councillor medarda around like a lost puppy, you and viktor will settle into comfortable silences. usually with the only noise being the tinkering of science equipment or the quick scribbles of pen on paper. there's no pressure to fill the room with unnecessary chattering. just you being with him is enough. your presence is akin to a relaxant to him.

sometimes most of the time you'll need to remind him to take breaks when you've been there for hours on end and he's showing no signs of stopping or slowing down. it's a practised routine at this point; he refuses, you leave it alone for five minutes, during this time he is sneaking glances at you when he thinks you aren't looking, waiting for you to ask again.

when you do, he feigns reluctance as you grab his hand to get you both some fresh air and a proper meal. he might actually be part cat now that i'm thinking about it. he just can't help but love spending time with you.

words of affirmation. actions speak louder than words? pft, yeah right. communication is deeply valued by viktor. he's exceptional at deducing someone's intentions behind their words so don't even bother trying to get something by him. it won't work. you try to plan surprise birthday party for him? he's one of the first people to find out about it.

so when you earnestly tell him how special he is to you or how appreciative you are of him, he knows it's 100% what you actually think and BOY does that fluster him more than anything.

he isn't very big on compliments, not that he doesn't value the ones you so willingly give him, but he finds it hard to accept the good and beauty you see in him. there will always be a part of viktor, machine herald or mortal man, that refuses to believe he could be good enough for this type of love. when he retracts inside his mind and lets his doubt drown him, it's you who can pull him out of the water and onto land. telling him that you love him just the way he is will silence his uncertainty.

oh you know what would just about finish him off? making him a lunch box and putting a note in there. it doesn't having to be something poetic, even a simple 'i love you ♡' will be at the forefront of his mind until he gets back home to you.

honestly, if you're someone who expresses their love through words of gratitude or proclamations of admiration then a relationship with viktor will be smooth sailing.

[summertimesadnessirl]

It doesn't matter.

If you have done everything you can to try to get the life you want and nothing works, it doesn't matter why you got that way. All that matters is don't keep trying to get love and letting people use your desire for it against you.

I'm pretty sure it's not actually real. And it's just something they made up to sell soap.

So that's the model I work with.

As long as I refuse to allow myself to believe anyone loves me, everything works out well. When I break that, people hurt me.

People will guilt you into saying it's because you don't pick the right people but no matter what criteria you use it's always the same. And no matter what treatments you apply to yourself, it's always the same. And no matter how many new styles of communication you learn to talk to other people, it's always the same.

For me the only thing that kind of worked was doing sex work and being super fake and having several hundred shallow fake relationships that had a lot of sex and weren't boring and miserable, because whenever I've tried to not date and just hang out and do other things like working or something either people bother me all the time and are really mean and annoying or they are always "conveniently" introducing me to people they want to fix me up with. Men and women and like? Those people are always basically on the same emotional level as the people I have already dated and seem really shy and kind of uninterested in me. When I talk them out of their shell, they seem still shy, like they basically admire me for not seeming shy to them and like how I dress but don't have anything in common with me and we wouldn't have anything to talk about, or they have kind of a mental picture of a type of super assertive girl who will be into their lack of experience and want to like... put spices on them and let them sit on the counter top for a full moon cycle and then write out a recipe for them that they can use to attract someone who will love them now that they aren't virgins or something, and they don't want to admit that to me up front, which is very mean to do, to want someone to like... be your character development without asking and then not let them prepare to be left with nothing from that interaction in exchange for being a cute story you talk about with your future spouse or whatever.

Most people don't seem to want a relationship with a particular person or a particular type of relationship or even like have considered their own potential deal breakers. Not "I didn't realize this thing I thought everyone did wasn't a thing everyone did" or "i was wrong about my needs in certain areas" or whatever. They genuinely have no idea like what they do for fun that is a group activity, and they make you spend like an hour trying to figure out what they want every time they want something and most of the time when you give it to them they're unhappy.

It's like people want me to be in a relationship just so I'll be in a relationship and other people want to be in a relationship with me just to be in a relationship and even people with lots of money who can leave and who spend all their time complaining about their relationship don't want to leave their relationship. And when I'm like "I don't want to be in a relationship right now because I'm broke or whatever and I wouldn't be able to leave a relationship easily." People are like *shocked pika* why wouldn't you go enter into a relationship with someone who wants to date you based on you having a normal level of kind conversation that you would have with a person on the street and being able to give them sex? Why would you not want to break up with the person you are dating and date a random old man who did your boss a favor once because he gave you a ride in his truck? Why would you not just let other people make major life decisions for you? Why are you not jumping at every chance we give you when it doesn't look or feel right?

It feels like the goal of the whole thing is having someone else to blame for your problems. I don't wanna do that to someone. I hate when stuff isn't my fault and I have to suffer for it anyway. That's why I cut my own hair and pierce my own ears and stuff. So if it gets messed up, it's just an accident and it's because I have never done that before and I just need to figure out how to fix it and I can take all the time I need instead of trying to like... figure out the magic buttons to push to get someone who broke something to be willing to admit they messed up and will try to fix it and like... having to wonder if I can trust them if they're a specially trained and certified expert and they aren't better at doing something than a person who went on the internet and read a tutorial and kind of guessed.

Idk. It's like if you told me most people in the world don't like sex or dating or anything and they aren't in love either and there's like some kind of mystic force that attacks people who don't live with a partner by such and such a time and have a kid by such and such a time and no one told me? I'd totally be like

"That explains everything."

Was I raised without love or was I born unlovable?

[natsmagi]

ok no i need to bitch because i have remained positive and hopeful throughout most of !!-era because i believed that happyele loved their characters and wouldnt deliberately go out of their way to butcher them but time and time again i have been proven wrong on this fact. and seeing the way theyre doubling down on having ibuki, a ryukyuan kid from okinawa, join a traditional "wa" japanese unit that embraces mainland japan traditions when the mainland has continuously tried to make okinawa theirs and disregard the ryukyuan identity WHILE ALSO LITERALLY HAVING EICHI COLONIZE OKINAWA IN ATLANTIS its all just becoming too much. I am no expert when it comes to these topics so do not take my word when it comes to jp culture, conflict and the likes, but knowing how poorly happyele has continuously time and time again treated their indigenous (or middle eastern in adonis's case) cast i cannot see this going well. Not to mention how having ibuki join akatsuki goes against everything the three of them have built up and the whole POINT of their unit and that for them to even fucking put this garbage in the story they had to make keito PAINFULLY ooc to pull it off because NO OTHER REALITY WOULD ALLOW IT!!!!! theyre taking akatsukis developments and throwing it out the window in an attempt to make them something "new" and more profitable while also using a beloved group that so many have spent so much of their time loving and supporting into nothing but a scapegoat for their imperialist propaganda im so unbelievably angry that theyre doubling down on this. im so angry that theyre stupid enough to let shit like this pass

and im sure youve probably read posts explaining the aktk thing better than i ever couldve, esp considering im not an aktkP, but im also writing this to tell the fans of big units to Stop Giving In. do not feel safe just because happyele is scared of losing you, because I used to be an undeadP before getting into switch and the reason i STOPPED producing them was because they viewed the unit as nothing but a money-maker machine and would completely disregard their developments for the sake of feeding into tropes that fans liked and they cared more about yaoibait than they did the characters themselves. They tossed out any growth rei and ritsu had in opperetta for the sake of bringing back sakuma brothers conflict in that painfully annoying la mort story and theyre gonna keep doing this shit until fans tire of it. valkyrie, eden and knights are three super popular units with upcoming events, and i seriously need you to not give happyele any of your time or money because they do not deserve it.

even with switch, a rather unpopular unit, theres been total garbage pulled. in switchs case i think its safe to say that akira does genuinely really care for natsume and tsumugis relationship considering thats basically all that man even includes in his switch stories, but he never really knows what to do with sora. And i feel like he doesnt really care. Like sure i can sit here and be like "well at least MY favs seem to be doing alright" but thats purely because they keep spoon-feeding us crumbs of the units popular ships so we wont complain. i still really like their dynamic and i strongly disagree with alot of fans saying natsume and tsumugi have been OOC lately, but like. Look at sora man. i dont mind him having a little gf in the virtual world, i dont mind him growing more independent, i dont mind him relying less on his synesthesia. but the executions are just. Theyre painful. with the synesthesia thing esp bc synesthesia doesnt just go away. You couldve easily made a simple point of "you cant always rely on your synesthesia to know how people feel" because that is TRUE! but that would de-fetishize this idea these people have of synesthesia being some Magical Ability and not just a neurological condition. And with the sora being more independent; this is also something thats been needed for his story! natsume and tsumugi would often coddle him way too much, and sora himself would complain about being treated as a kid. But like. sora has started to feel so disconnected from switch in a way.....? and this has even been a point of conflict in stories, sora not knowing how to partake in ntmgs conversations because theyre too difficult, or being sad that ntmg never have time to hang out with him. But instead of working on these things, they just. keep having sora hang out with people outside of natsume and tsumugi? who have practically become a package deal at this point?? literally having sora join a NEW UNIT without natsume or tsumugi????????? i dont know. im rambling but i just wanted to get this out there. Theyre my specialest guys in the whole entire world and i just want to make people more cautious of thinking "well the aktk thing wouldnt happen to MY fav unit! they wouldnt butcher MY favs!" because they very much can. even if theres an aspect youre still hooked on, other factors are visibly crumbling because management cares only about what will bring the most revenue, and not what is best for the character

i cant help but feel the reason theyre pulling this shit with akatsuki is because they felt as though they somewhat got away with it with Double Face and raked in some extra cash because kohaku ended up popular, so now theyre doing that again but taking it to the next extreme. its disheartening

anyway. i will continue to draw and enjoy ensemble stars. But i wont be supporting them financially anymore as they clearly do not care about fans at all. if i desperately want some merch ill just buy it second-hand. And while im at it, i need you people to stop telling enstarries to get into some other idol franchise instead as if the main problem here isnt how disgustingly predatory they are. Happy Elements were THE biggest joseimuke franchise, making the most money out of all their competitors, and it still wasnt enough. they still didnt respect their fans. when the fans would continuously respect their wishes. Enstars is like the only fandom ive seen that doesnt share leaks for example, yet this courtesy means nothing to them. Corporations arent your friends, never have been and never will be. those characters arent real, they do not have feelings of their own. They were all written by someone to serve a purpose, and this includes ibuki being an indigenous kid joining the wa japanese culture unit. To use this popularity to spread so much fucking bigotry and hatred is heartbreaking. And to blame the fans for being upset over it????????????? youre disgusting happyele.

[kudouusagi]

Pash Utsumi Hiroko Interview

It's sure to be a heartwarming, Fan & Fun experience!

It's about the moments you weren't able to see in the main series.

--Looking back at the scenario meetings, is there anything that stands out in your memory?

Like the fact that there was a longer version where (series writer) Ookouchi Ichirou, the producers, and I all came up with ideas for what to do in the OVA and decided on it, only to realize it didn't fit into the time limit plan I came up with myself and so it was rejected (laughs). Of course Reki and Langa are the main characters so they're going to appear in the OVA but we really wanted to include them all... and that would be difficult to do in one story so we made it into an omnibus format.

--What do you want people to pay attention to in this OVA?

I'd like it if you could check which scenes were shown in the PV. For example, Reki and the others play karuta, but what kind of karuta is it? Who's playing against who? Will Langa, who is bad at reading and writing, be okay?! In the part with Sakurayashiki and Nanjo set in the past, what was their high school life like? What were their fights like back then? How developed are Nanjo's muscles?! Also, the unknown life of Kikuchi, which was kept top-secret in the main story, is revealed...!?! And more!

--Please tell us about what you remember when looking back on recording the voices for this OVA.

I was happy to see that Hatanaka Tasuku-san, who plays Reki, and Kobayashi Chiaki-san, who plays Langa, were still the same Reki and Langa even though several years had passed. I didn't feel any time had past... ∞(eternal) Friendship! It was also memorable how Koyasu Takehito-san, who plays Ainosuke, struggled with a certain scene. Look forward to finding out which scene it was! It had been a while since I last did the voice recording for SK8, and it brought back memories for me, making me feel like SK8 was back!

--What exactly is the theme for this OVA...?

Since it is an omnibus format, there is no overall theme, but they're each filling a gap that wasn't able to be seen in the main story.

--In order to get to know the characters more deeply before the OVA is released, are there any behind-the-scenes details that you haven't revealed yet (that you couldn't show in the first season of the TV series)?

The different headband Reki is wearing in the OVA PV is a souvenir present from his sister Koyomi. It's shaped like an akabeko with a tiger pattern... it's quite unique. Reki only wears it at home. Langa doesn't care about clothes, so he'll wear anything that's comfortable to move in, so he's wearing something strange this time. Please check out the OVA to find out the details☆

--For those who are rewatching the first season of the TV series, what are some of the points you would like people to pay special attention to?

Don't miss anything! The relationship between MIYA and Reki, the outcome of Hiromi's fleeting love, the current fight scenes between Sakurayashiki and Nanjo, the vibe of the master and dog relationship between Ainosuke and Kikuchi, etc. The bond between Reki and Langa through the whole series and how it develops into friendship, keeps your eyes peeled on it till the very end!! And since the theme song for this OVA was created with the TV series in mind, so I'm certain it will improve your understanding if you watch the whole series and think of it while listening to it☆

--Finally, please give a message to the fans of "SK8". 

We're sorry to have kept you waiting for so long, but thanks to everyone who has been waiting that the day we can finally deliver it to you is fast approaching...! There's only a few more sleeps till the OVA is here ♬ How about going to the cinema to watch "SK8 EXTRAPART" as the finale to your New Year's celebrations? It's sure to be a heartwarming, Fan & Fun experience! Please look forward to its release☆

[utilitycaster]

If I may, to give example of what a good faith argument looks like: let's take one floating out there: Bells Hells hasn't been together long. This is true! Here's some things to address:

why wasn't the campaign structured to facilitate rapid bonding and focus heavily on character development through focus on backstory over a short period of time? why not play characters who all already had a history? Calamity takes place over the course of a single day and we open with the party's relationships fully fleshed out.

Why did the Exandrian Accord pick them? technically speaking, we didn't even need a Ruidusborn to achieve the Accord's goals: they caught Ludinus before he went through the Hallowed Cage and killed him. The only reason to have a Ruidusborn is to get into the Hallowed Cage. Why are they making this decision other than "they are the characters whom the cast of Critical Role is playing for Campaign 3?"

I think this also gets to an issue that's preventing any real discussion, which is that criticizing Bells Hells for their choices (or, more often, lack thereof) is part of, but not the whole of, criticizing Campaign 3 for being poorly structured and paced and largely unsatisfying. There are in fact many stories about "guy who isn't particularly qualified for this task but does it anyway" and many of them are excellent and beloved (LOTR being one of the most obvious examples in fantasy fiction) and I think the issue is that with Bells Hells we don't really have an answer of why they are doing it other than Ludinus Is Bad and The Allies Whose Wishes We Might Betray Sent Us. I can think a story is good and the people within it suck and vice versa and honestly I maintain Bells Hells are a party that would have probably been great in an entirely different story, but they're in this one and they're not even meaningfully exploring "we're in this story and we shouldn't be and don't want to be."

[lesbianherald]

hiii I’m curious : what’s your process for creating your stories? like character development, plotting, creating arcs, etc?

thank you for asking !!! i'm going to get way longer and more thorough about this than necessary I feel it in my bones so I'm going to read more this now (I included a few tidbits from my miro board for carry the blade :) )

it's such a mixed bag ! part of this is my adhd lmao, and part of it is because, genuinely, I think each story needs something different.

almost ALWAYS (with one rare exception of a sci/fi fantasy world I've been building for years) I start with character, especially in original work. Because character is everything it's who we're following it's what the audience/readership will grab onto. Usually I have a basic premise and setting already there, but I don't build on it until I get to know who we're dealing with in the story. And then after building up the premise, setting, and plot I do even more character work after.

sometimes.... sometimes I get really impatient to start and start writing half way through the planning process. But anyways.

so I come up with character. do the basics. think about what their deal is. What is the journey they need to have, the lesson they need to learn, what themes and emotions do I want to explore with this character? Why is she important to me? Why will she be important to others?

I also think a lot about relationships

i just wrote a coming of age dramatic comedy for instance, and for that one, I broke up the story into my protagonists relationships. Wrote out the arc/story of each relationship and then combined each of these arcs into the key points that made up the film. Each relationship I wanted to be relevant to her grieving process, as she had just lost her mother. IDK if that makes sense. I wish I could show you but unfortunately I cannot.

for fic its honestly similar, but we already know character, so I usually ask what about this character/these characters am I most excited to explore.

that being said, coming home came to me in the idea for what they'd be like in modern day, and then a single idea for a single scene - their first kiss in the lab. I wrote that first, then asked myself what the context I wanted to give it was. Of course, I changed it a little once I actually got to writing and fleshing out chapter eight.

but this fantasy fic i'm writing is a fun example. I'm building out a lot. I'm building out characters, the world, the themes. - using visuals to help me kind of guide myself.

but because I have adhd and get impatient. I am outlining throughout this process to keep myself entertained. perhaps ideally you'd figure out everything first then outline then write but my brain just doesn't work that way.

in fics, especially, the relationship is so important that I really like to see how the obstacles they face, both due to their own psychology and internal pressures, can reflect the themes, create tension, etc.

but i also like to reflect on side characters too - their motivations and desires. So they don't just become like - flat little reflections of the central love story.

Finally, and this i learned from acting theory mostly - but I love it - is in each scene I like to think of what each character wants, what they are going to do to try and get that, and why they want it. In this fic, wants are something I also look at from a chapter by chapter basis.

side note - and i'm only saying this this far down so hopefully not too may people will see it - but I do have a secret subplot going on throughout the first half of this story that the audience doesn't know about.

in order to make this work I've been mapping out everything going on behind the scenes, and making sure they pair up well with events that people reading will see. it helps me plant little hints and seeds while hopefully not giving too much away (secret subplot in blue, actual story in red)

sorry i know this is such a ramble I just took my meds and had a double shot of expresso so I am buzzing right now lmao! Obviously I'm not the expert and there's not only one way. And also it really is so different for me every time. It's important to think about what the story actually calls for !

[majimaisms]

on majima's relationship to power, dignity and freedom

a friend of mine was recently talking about a character from a movie, and whether or not an emotional response (specifically, anxiety and obligation over a loved one needing help) was something that character could "effectively discipline and draw from" or "something that will always threaten to overflow rational boundaries" and posed the question as: "does he make use of it, or does it make use of him?"

this, i believe, is how majima approaches quite literally everything in his life, up to and including, if not especially, his own emotions.

i think it's an anxiety over their agency and freedom that compels a person to ask this question about everything. because they're terrified of being used against their will, without their knowledge, of waking up one day and realizing they've been a slave to something because they refused to examine their relationship to it. and i think it takes 1. someone who is naturally very emotional, as in, inclined to make decisions based on emotions rather than rationalizations, and can't afford to be this way for whatever reason and 2. someone who has been robbed of their agency and freedom in the past, to develop this anxiety. majima more than fits the bill on both counts.

it's born out of a need to maintain power over this fear. it's literally pathological. his need to make tools out of everything. it's a disease. either hes wielding it, or being wielded as a tool by it, whatever "it" may be. its a binary, black and white choice, and it's not really a choice at all, because he absolutely refuses to risk the latter happening against his will. he needs to have control over himself, his life, his decisions, all the time or he feels like hes stuck, cornered, he panics and cant keep a cool head (all of y0, '85 flashbacks from y4). he freaks out. and he cant risk that, he cant stand it either.

but it's not even about that. it's about dignity. majima tries to navigate the entirety of those situations, where he's robbed of freedom, where he's cornered, with dignity. because it's all he has. and when even that is stripped from him (the hole, y0), he seeks out the most dignified way to deal with losing your dignity -- willingly letting go of it (the lord of the night).

we see him put to impossible choices in other games (y5 comes to mind) and he handles that just fine without freaking out even when he's cornered. the difference is that in y5 he had a dignified way of resolving that situation. what actually makes him "freak out" and lose his cool is being robbed of a dignified solution. the dignity in following his principles, not betraying himself, is something he goes ballistic at the thought of losing.

it's not just that he can't "risk" not being able to keep a cool head, or that he can't "stand" freaking out, its that he can't stand the humiliation of it. of not being perfectly composed and in control of himself all the time. he's too proud. and this is why mad dog is so therapeutic for him, because its a character who doesn't give a single fuck about how hes perceived, wielded by a guy who cares excessively about how hes perceived. he learns so much from mad dog over the course of the series, i genuinely think mad dog saved his life. because i was thinking about all of this going, my god. youre in the YAKUZA???? and youre living like THAT?? no fucking wonder he had to invent a persona to larp as just to not shoot himself.

but thinking more about it, it's like. of COURSE he is. of COURSE hes yakuza. because!! as a civilian, you're just slave to the same system everyone else is a slave to. you have to bow to it, and you don't even get a choice. so... what does he do. he makes his own choice. if hes going to be a slave in a system, it's going to be a system of his own choosing that he can respect, however flawed. yes, he's not "free" in the yakuza, and that is something he struggles with, but it's more about freedom of choice for him.

like. what a fucking thing to say. you cant attach a price to my life. you cant make USE of my life. you cannot USE my death as a TOOL to further your own ends. because that's what ibuchi is saying, that he'll kill majima and his death will start a war which he will benefit from. and he refuses to BE that for anyone.

...other than, of course, shimano and the men he respects, of which there are SO few in the tojo. (hello kiryu. hello saejima. this guy is in desperate need of people he respects and he will follow them around like a dog because he really wants to surrender power and "bow his head" because he's so exhausted from having to maintain it against himself and the world 24/7.)

look at his face in this scene. he's completely distraught. over having been used in some scheme without his knowledge. robbed of his autonomy. i have never seen him look like this at any other point in the series.

true resignation. utter defeat. this is partly what birthed mad dog, nihilism incarnate. sure, it takes being faced with the possibility that makoto will never wake up to finally "awaken" mad dog, but this is where majima is drawing his strength from -- this ability to tap into a state of complete indifference. this void. death.

even sera is surprised. but this is the moment he understands exactly what kind of person majima is. because yes, of course he would. majima, and people like majima, will jump at any chance to make their deaths count, because they're constantly living with the guilt of all the terrible shit they've done up to that point. having the opportunity to die for a good cause, knowing it won't redeem them but get them at least a little closer to it, is a blessing. they don't have to think twice about it. this is the death drive he's tapping into.

above all, majima wants to be useful. i think this need characterizes his relationship with kiryu, who is someone he respects. he's basically begging to let kiryu help him throughout y3. he agrees to go back to the clan because kiryu asks, twice. he's willing to die so haruka can live, because his death can accomplish something good. it's no choice at all.

but i'm far more interested in how this manifests in his relationship with shimano. this excerpt from an rggo story comes to mind.

i think shimano was, in a lot of ways, a tether for majima. the "leash" imagery is very accurate, but it suggests an entirely negative reading of their dynamic. the truth is majima likes being leashed. not only that, he needs it. he's just very discerning about who he will let leash him. he needs purpose in his life, needs to know hes useful, and for that he needs to devote himself to someone. and it needs to be a person, because he's too cynical to believe in a cause.

what that excerpt tells me is that he lost his respect for shimano. and when he died, majima became untethered. from the world. in the absence of saejima, or anyone else who could be that for him, he's adrift and aimless. lost.

it's not a coincidence he leaves the clan immediately after shimano dies. it's because of this, because of terada (he won't bow to someone he doesn't respect), and because he has, on some level, completed a large part of his duty to saejima by establishing his own family. he is without purpose. and i think it's maintaining this state of existence for years that turns him into the depressed, defeated man we see in y5.

he got burnt out, because it's exhausting being in this kind of active conflict with yourself all the time in the name of maintaining a sense of personal power and agency. over even your own emotions. he's truly relentless. but sooner or later, it was going to catch up to him.

[mainalias]

repeatedly in datv rook will just say things with no player input. I just watched an entire back and forth occur with an companion in which I had no dialogue choices. I'm far enough into the game that this is obviously A Thing. not having agency to roleplay in this roleplaying game is already incredibly annoying, but the prewritten version of rook that I have limited ability to deviate from is also garbage. all of your dialogue is immature and annoying. it's terrible! if they were railroading the players into being someone interesting it would be at least more bearable, everything about this sucks. and I don't understand why give rook a set personality but then not give them a set backstory? giving you variable faction backgrounds but then not integrating into the world or story in any meaningful way (one of the many ways this game has cut writing and costs in this allegedly narrative focused final installment of a 15yr franchise) just means that rook has no place in the story despite being the protagonist. in da2 hawke has a set backstory due to time constraints in the development, and that was controversial, but it really works with the narrative. you have a backstory and background npcs with relationships and stakes and you are rooting for the hawkes and leandra's death scene is absolutely gutting, while still giving you options to RP hawke differently. I would rather they have just done that again then give us the false choice of backgrounds and factions that DO NOT MATTER. give me set character that's interesting if you want to cut off all our RP options because you're paring down dialogue into nothing

[zaahvi]

and here's the full ref!

ren started as a random "what if i made an ancient elf oc to ship with felassan?" thought and a few weeks later here i am, sitting on several pages of backstory, character relationships and an entire romance plot.... i'm deep in this already i fear

loredump: (mostly summarised because it's long and headcanon heavy)

renan was a spirit of devotion who (willingly) made a body to join their mentor, dirthamen. they're now one of his chosen, and arguably the closest person to him as he's kind of reclusive by that point (far post-titan war).

anyway, my hc goes that dirthamen struck a truce with solas & the rebellion after one of his followers came across the rebels' plans against him. the trade was that any of dirthamen's subjects could freely join the rebellion if they wished, and in return dirth would get any information collected on the other evanuris. he assigned renan to the rebellion as his sole agent. solas, of course, didn't trust either of them, and so told felassan to basically keep an eye on renan in case they did something suspicious.

well... that's how solas learned that exposing two people with the same brand of unhinged to each other is a terrible idea, because they ended up hitting it off and over time started developing feelings for each other. though it was very much a slow burn because... well mostly renan was panicking because the two of them are technically still on opposite sides and what if things suddenly go to shit and they lose each other? but in the end they get together because they figure that even if something bad happens, they'll just regret the lost time if they don't.

anyway, of course something bad happens. the other evanuris find dirthamen's involvement in the rebellion, give him a second chance so he has to choose between the two. of course he chooses the evanuris out of self preservation, and his betrayal is pretty much how they're able to get their hands on the lyrium dagger and kill mythal.

and renan... goes with him. they're a spirit of devotion devoted to him and fighting against him could twist them against their purpose... felassan agrees with them too because he doesn't want that to happen to them like it did to solas. so.. they had to part :/

after solas imprisoned the evanuris and disappeared, renan & felassan both felt kind of lost, they still loved each other but were officially on opposing sides. they both entered uthenera and would meet in the waking dreams, trying to ignore that their relationship was essentially doomed if either of their gods woke up/broke free.

ok there's more after but i've already written enough and that's just a summary lmao. some tidbits

the pattern on ren's cloak is their original spirit form

they can shapeshift, they mostly use raven form :]

while dirthamen & renan start off as mentor and student, it's less formal, and over time (mostly near the end) becomes more like a father/child bond.

i mentioned ren mimicked some of his personality traits and mannerisms, they also based some of their appearance off of his. i posted bust concepts of the twins here if you wanna see how i imagine dirthamen :)

solas thinks renan is weird as hell even though they're actually pretty normal... at least compared to the rest of dirthamen's followers lmao

dirthamen also thinks felassan is weird but in a way that he thinks it's funny

mostly been working on wips for the past few weeks, but i wanted to post something before the end of the year soo allow me to introduce my ancient elf oc!

this is renan ("voice" in elven), former spirit of devotion turned elf, now an agent tasked with gathering intel about the other evanuris for the rebellion as well as for their own god, dirthamen :)

[yazzydream]

Getting all my unexplored character interactions met in Phanpara. And all my suffix needs too.

Nobara really likes Miwa ("Miwa-chan!") and Miwa thinks Nobara might be easier to get along with then her fellow strong headed Kyoto peers... until she sees Nobara interacting with Megumi and Yuji anyway.

Nobara is the one who finds and identifies some fruits in the mountain to snack on with their tea, hinting at her country upbringing.

Nanami calls Panda, "Panda-kun." :,) I think he and Yuta are the only ones who do that.

Mai secretly became a Takada-chan fan after all. 😂

Maki is a fairly kind and gentle person actually. She's just awkward and speaks harshly. Good with kids.

On the same note, Noritoshi is straightforward and serious, but he's a really nice guy. His interactions with Inumaki give me life. He just takes everything Inumaki says so directly.

When Nobara speaks rudely to Mai, Mai replies with, "Watch the way you speak. I'm your senpai." Which— 😂 Mai learned from Utahime I see, and NOBARA REALLY IS THE GOJO OF HER GENERATION. (That's what I've been sayin'.)

Opposite that, Yuji really is such a good boy. 🥺 He calls all the upperclassmen senpai; "Kamo-senpai," "Nishimiya-senpai," "Mai-senpai," etc. Uh, Todo is Todo tho. Lol.

Megumi still calls Mai, "Zen'in-senpai."

In the "Dead Mall" story, I get the general vibe the Tokyo kids are more indulgent and fond of Ijichi than the Kyoto kids. Which makes sense. (They're also probably used to seeing Gojo bully him around, so. Lol.)

In the same "Dead Mall" arc, Inumaki and Panda both mess around Maki and Mechamaru respectively. Reminds me of that one s1 Juju Stroll where they wore the girls' clothes. 😆 You can see they share the same sense of humor.

Maki calls Nanami, "Nanami-san."

Yuji gets his Big Hero Moment in Phanpara, at least. :,)

[puppppppppy]

i feel like im not making any sense but does anyone else feel like there are stories that let u run with them and ones that spell everything out for you

[extravagav]

AND WE JUST DONT TALK ABOUT THIS?!?!?!!????

[arcane-ish]

One of the weirdest instincts of fandom to me is when people go on crusades that seem like they are about getting people to not ship what they don't ship. Rather than you, know, trying to convince people to ship what you ship.

Like, there a ships I don't like. I have major issues with JayVik conceptually and their affect on the show (and I think they give asshole techbro vibes rather than sweet academic vibes) and I dislike Lightcannon because I don't like Lux (because I think she gives off obnoxious cheerleader vibes and I want to punch her every time she says the "By the Light" line), I don't ship Vi/Jinx and Silco/Jinx because I think they pull off the familial relationship and interactions well.

But I make like some comment about them when it comes up and maybe one post where I explain that I don't like them.

And then I spent my time squeeing and fawning over the ships I actually like. (also: I'm aware that my ship preferences are purely personal preference based aren't some sign of moral superiority)

I thought this attitude about trashtalking a ship and pretending it is the worst thing was already really very fake and questionable in ongoing shows where there's actual ship competition. Where there seem to be actual fans who believe "If I just keep screaming about how Lana is evil and gross then maybe they'll reveal Chloe is Lois Lane and her and Clark will get together", if we just scream loud enough, they will write off the other couple and make my couple canon.

IMO doing that is already pretty shit both personally/morally towards your fellow fans, societally morally questionable when people use real big concepts like misgyny/pedophilia/racism/homophobia just because they are searching for the best "stick" to beat their opponent with and practically questionable (how often is the result really good? Also plenty of examples where pivots were made by the creators but to something very different than what the haters wanted), but I can at least understand the mindset of competition and fighting dirty even when I don't approve of it.

But ARCANE IS A CLOSED CANON (heck it's been a closed canon since before the show aired to the general public)

IMO there's a space for discussing problematic elements and trends. Whether in fan behavior (ie black characters getting ignored and unjustly shit on by fandom a lot, male characters and ships being valued and fawned over disproportionally over female characters) or canon/media portrayals (ie how do we portray mental illness and fetishize violence).

However to me none of these discussions make sense if focused on a single ship. Any of these discussions are only meaningful as part of a larger trend (ie is there too much media that excuses some sort of partner violence and how has that developed historically, how does media on the large portray systems of power, what are fascisty elements, where do they exist, why did they end up there and do we recognize them anf fall for them). Never on a shitty "Your ship is immoral, therefore you are immoral and should go away/stop shipping it" level.

Like I said, to me very few of those discussions feel genuine. Too much feels like either a very creepy wanting to enforce your will and wanting to enforce 100% of your opinions on others, forcing people to not just like what you like, believe what you believe, value what you value and hate what you hate, as good little robots who follow the perfect being. Or "I saw people have actual debates over meaningful concepts and I just want to steal this as a stick to beat my opponents with".

(and now that doesn't mean that you can never have genuine issues with canons or ships or fan behavior, I'm just saying the vast majority of "this ship is gross because" discourse feels extremely fake. If you dislike something, start by looking at yourself and being honest with yourself and examining why disliking a ship or disliking that a ship is liked by others might just be petty or highly subjective. If you see concrete individual behavior that bothers you, consider addressing that person directly in a non shitty manner, see if the conflict could be resolved, otherwise block, if you see some problematic behavior as part of a larger trend, make the effort to prove/show that trend but also examine how bad that trend really is larger context, what concrete real world ill do you see an what are the actual real world measures to address it)

Some of you need to hear this, but the fact that there is a parallel between Vander and Silco’s conflict and Vi and Jinx’s still doesn’t make Vander x Silco an incestuous pairing. When people corrected you by saying they’re not biologically related nor adopted brothers, you switched up to “the parallels to this actual sibling relationship make it incest” which is honestly one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard against a romantic pairing within the tar pit that is shipping discourse.

Vander and Silco represent parental figures to Vi and Jinx respectfully. Of course their “children” will mirror themselves in some ways, but saying that makes Vander x Silco incestuous just because Vi and Jinx are siblings would be like calling the relationship between two parents incestuous just because one of their children turned out like one parent while the other turned out like the other parent. That is madness. Absolute madness to LEAP to that accusation for this pairing.

Some of you are suffering from such seriously high levels of shipping discourse brainrot to the point where you’ve moved the goalposts of “morally okay to ship” so far up you might as well be Evangelical Christians running a conversion therapy camp. You really need to learn to stop justifying your dislike for ships in the context of morality and admit to yourself that you can dislike things without needing a moral justification, otherwise your self righteousness makes you no different from the conservative bigots I grew up around.

[t8oo]

there is some symbolism iv never considered in that one episod of pt5 where zenigata rescues fujiko before she kills lupin

[yuripira4e]

I want to preface this post by saying that I love the cat king as a character, especially one that has such a major impact on Edwin and his relationship with his queerness and learning to be okay with it; HOWEVER, I also believe that everyone that genuinely believes he should be a love interest for Edwin should read this. (Also if you just like the cat king as a character and want to understand his character better and why his and Edwin’s relationship is not something that would be healthy or “real” for either)

[alrightsnaps]

not even a hardcore thirteen era stan but it's been pretty bizarre watching doctor who fans brush off the same weaknesses and flaws they spent years criticising chibnall for now that it's rtd who's in charge