#i mean one of the main themes in this show is hunger and the way it turns people into wild beasts

[beastsovrevelation]

[stardustizuku]

Unfortunately I came across a very strange and misinformed video about Black Butler.

It’s not good. Don’t watch it. Unless you wanna ruin your day, in which case have fun.

Despite it all, I watched it. What left me wondering, however, was how off the mark the person who made the video was on, well, everything.

From their insistence that the Book of Circus Arc theme or point is non existent, to reading Ciel’s character so badly they genuinely thought the Green Witch Arc did nothing for his character development.

While baffled, it also made me think on how someone could read Black Butler so badly.

Sure, you can say that there’s no real way to read or interpret something “in the wrong way” but interpreting The Hunger Games as a pure battle-royale action story would make you believe it’s bad.

“Why are we focusing so much on how the capitol preps them?” Or “Why isn’t Katniss winning everything?” Or “I wanna know more about the rebellion” All questions that miss the actual point of the story - which is criticizing (not solving or ignoring) the way that media distracts us from violence via spectacle.

The same thing applies here. While there is no “right” way to consume media, there’s things that the author makes clear they wanna focus when creating a story. Things that, if you understand, make the story you’re reading actually make sense.

And in Black Butler there’s three things that you have to understand to properly get what Yana is saying.

Sebastian is the protagonist

Ciel and Sebastian’s relationship IS the story.

And that relationship is, fundamentally, a positive one.

A quicker version of it would be:

Black Butler is a love story from the POV of Sebastian, and you have to ship it to get it

- but that’s not entirely true.

You can still look at it as a complex but ultimately positive rship and get in broad strokes of what it’s conveying. It doesn’t have to be romantic. Although, it helps much more than a platonic framing.

(That said, interpreting their rship as father and son, still isn’t the best way to go about it. Mostly because by its very nature of “soul consuming” their relationship is extremely sexually charged. And hey, if you’re into that I don’t judge. However, if you’re desperately trying to interpret their rship as NOT romantic to the point you fall back on heteronormative patriarchal ideals of nuclear familiar as framing device, I don’t think this interpretation bodes with you)

Now, having all that ground work:

Why do I say these are the key components to understand BB?

Okay so, first,

1. Sebastian is the Main Character. The protagonist.

There’s a lot of people who wanna argue against it, claiming he’s either the villain or the antagonist. Both wrong.

He does not function as an antagonist. Even if, and an emphasis on if, you consider Ciel to the protagonist, Sebastian isn’t a narrative antagonist.

If you wanna go back to Creative Writing 101, be my guest. An antagonist is directly defined by the protagonist. It’s the opposing force. If the protagonist wants A, the antagonist wants to stop them from getting A.

Sebastian’s catchphrase is “Yes, my Lord”. He never opposes Ciel, in fact quite the contrary. By the mere fact they’ve created contract, it means that they’ve both agreed in the inevitable outcome.

People want to frame Sebastian as the villain, because Ciel having his soul taken by a demon, would be a BAD END in the context of their moral compass. They see Ciel as a frail victim of abuse, who’s being tricked by Sebastian, who wants Ciel’s soul.

Which is an. Interpretation. A bad one. But still one.

The narrative (and whether the narrative fits your personal moral compass and lack of critical thinking is irrelevant) treats Ciel as an agent in his own destiny. The abuse he suffered was the moment in which he had no control. It’s only after he meets Sebastian that he can rid of both his guilt and his despair, and do what he wants.

In this case though, it’s revenge.

The famous “Asthma” scene shows this. If Ciel is taken back to his past, he becomes helpless. Swarmed with pain and memories that make it so that he can’t even react. Sebastian is his saving grace. If Ciel didn’t have him, and the power he wields to rebuilt what’s broken, he would crumble once more.

If Ciel has a panic attack, because of all the pain he has, Sebastian picks him up and says “you are not a helpless child anymore, you are not a victim anymore, you have the power to do anything. So, what do you wanna do?”

Ciel’s answer is to kill them.

A proper analogy would be to say that, if Sebastian offers a gun, Ciel pulls the trigger. They are both at fault. Sebastian, strictly speaking, is not here to directly cause Ciel’s downfall, but as a tool Ciel uses to plunge into the abyss.

If, again if, you were to frame Ciel as a protagonist, Sebastian falls closer to the “Voice of reason” character. Not a literal voice of reason, but a literary one. If you have a protagonist and an antagonist exchanging ideals, the Voice of Reason serves to engage with the protagonist on their own ideals.

That said, Ciel isn’t the protagonist. The story quickly falls apart if you interpret it as such.

Things such as Ciel’s character arc being…shall I say odd?

It’s not that his character arc isn’t there, but it’s never lineal. His goals stay the same, the only thing that happens is that we start to peel back the “why”s of his goals. Throughout the series it’s never about Ciel understanding himself better, he knows who he is, he knows what he wants, he knows why he wants it. He doesn’t ever need to uncover these, but simply remember them. Because it’s always about the audience understanding Ciel.

He knows he wants revenge.

In the Circus Arc: He knows that he needs Sebastian because without him, the pain of the abuse he suffered would be too much to bear. But WE are introduced to it.

In the Book of Atlantis: He knows that with this new lease he does not want happiness and peace, he wants revenge. The one being told this is the audience.

In Green Witch Arc: He knows that their revenge isn’t for his family, the real Ciel or guilt. It’s because he wants it. He’s angry, he’s upset, and this is entirely for him. The one being told this is the audience.

Except. Not really. The one either discovering or remembering these key moments - is always Sebastian.

Sebastian is the one who reassures him that he now holds the power of a demon to override the pain. Sebastian is the one who remembers that to override that pain, Ciel wants revenge. And Sebastian is the one who discovers that that revenge isn’t built out of grief or guilt, but for himself.

We are witnessing it all, through the eyes of Sebastian.

This is why we have an extremely vague idea of who Ciel is, Sebastian does not have the whole picture.

If you haven’t been reading this manga with your eyes closed, you’ll realize we have a better grasp at Sebastian’s character than that of Ciel. We get a lot of insight on how he thinks and what he values through light hearted dialogue he has with the servants. You even see the character development in these little interactions.

Think about how when he first arrived to the mansion he magically created food with no regards to taste, but when he meets Bard he states that food is created to see whoever will eat it, smile.

That is character development, more than you will be able to see from Ciel.

Because Ciel’s character, while not static, doesn’t go from point A to point B. Mostly, cause it doesn’t need to. He went through that when he lost the real Ciel and got Sebastian. Everything we are watching is the falling out.

Now, given the fact that I’ve told you that it makes more sense for Sebastian to be the protagonist/main character, and that he 100% isn’t either a villain or antagonist in ANY of the interpretations you can get:

Do you believe me?

If you don’t, you’ll probably believe Yana herself.

This is from the first Volume, where Yana herself describes the process of making Black Butler. The primary idea behind the creation of BB was a butler as a “hero”.

If you go back to the introductory chapter, you notice that Ciel is barely mentioned. He’s simply the one to give Sebastian impossible tasks and standards that Sebastian must find how to overcome.

Ciel is properly introduced until the NEXT chapter. The second chapter has this formula too, introducing Lizzie as a problem to overcome. Although, to Sebastian the best way to “get rid of the problem” is simply to indulge her.

The issue here being that the problem isn’t as simple as a business meeting but something directly tied to Ciel and Ciel’s past. Each time that Sebastian has to solve a problem, it chips away at Ciel. While with Lizzie he shows a persona, once he’s alone with Sebastian he acknowledges the toll it took on him. It serves to build Ciel as Sebastian’s master, and how some problems aren’t as simple as discarding a tablecloth.

The third and the fourth, are a unified narrative, with a similar premise to the first chapter. Ciel gets kidnapped and Sebastian must find a way to retrieve him without raising suspicions.

If the first chapter is to set up what Sebastian must do as a butler, the third and the fourth serve to set up what he must do as a demon.

The entirety of the volume, and up to Book of Circus Arc, is about how Sebastian tries to follow the increasingly absurd orders that Ciel has - it is not about Ciel trying to solve them.

That’s how they work, we follow Sebastian for the most part, because he’s the one having to come up with the solutions.

If anything, in early Kuro, where the emphasis was more on a slice of life conflict, Ciel is the antagonist. He’s the one creating problems for Sebastian to solve.

What’s more, in the second volume, the very first chapter is one from Sebastian’s POV. So far, we hadn’t gotten an entire chapter from Ciel’s POV. In fact, I would find it hard to point to a single chapter where Ciel is the POV throughout. The reveal of real Ciel and the flashback is the closest contender.

But once we move past early Kuro, and into Book of Circus, this set up changes.

It’s fairly easy to assume that Ciel is the main character, because from this point on the conflict of the plot sorta surrounded him. We spend a lot of time with him and with his story. The enemies start being people directly tied to Ciel and Ciel’s trauma. Rarely, if at all, we get to see Sebastian before he met Ciel.The framing device for the story, is Ciel.

This is where point 2 gets intertwined.

2.- Sebastian and Ciel’s relationship IS the story.

The story begins at the point where Sebastian and Ciel met. Who Ciel was before he met Sebastian, informs why he’s the way he is when he does. You have to know all he went through to understand why he’s a brat, why he lashes out. However Sebastian’s past doesn’t matter…because Sebastian himself doesn’t care much for who he was, before he was “Sebastian”. That’s also part of the narrative.

Unlike Ciel, he doesn’t seem opposed to revealing information from before the contract. He talks about how pets from where he is from are gross, he talks about how he knows how to dance because of other places he’s been to, and alludes to the life he's lived before.

Just that, to him, they're footnotes.

He makes allusions to a very bland, uninteresting life, up to the point he meets Ciel.

That’s why we don’t know more about his past.

As for why we focus on Ciel’s story…okay maybe we need Creative Writing lessons 102

I studied Dramaturgy for about 3 to 4 years. And something you notice is how play-writing is the quintessential story telling. It’s making it work with the bare bones of a story.

Some other mediums have more finesse, more depth, or more spectacle - all amazing things that work for whatever they’re created for. But understanding a play, how and why it works, helps understand the fundamentals of any derivative story telling medium.

Particularly, conflict.

Conflict is dialogue and dialogue can take many forms. A story, in its essence, is a dialogue between two opposing ideas.

Take Batman, for example, who embodies the ideas of justice and order. On his own, he’s not a well rounded character.

If you ONLY present him, in a vaccum with nothing else, you don’t have a character. You have a list of characteristics that you’re supposed to know.

You only know who he is when you have dialogue with another character.

I say Dialogue, but it doesn’t necessarily mean spoken language at one another. Dialogue can mean fist fighting, playing tabletop games, talking to other people about the other, or even just a competition. The idea is to simply to compare and contrast both ideas.

If you want an example on how tabletop games serve as dialogue, watch the video “Well, Someone Had to Explain the Liar’s Dice Scene” by Lord Ravecraft

Another example, were we to retake Batman, you have him fight Joker. Who’s the embodiment of chaos and randomness.

In the following picture, you get far more information than the one previously shown. While the Joke fights with daggers and fake guns, Batman only uses his fists. He doesn’t use the tricks that Joker does. His serious demeanor, contrasted with Joker’s glee at the dangerous situation. The fact that Batman has a deathly grip on Joker’s shirt, while the Joker doesn’t, which shows a desperation to catch him.

You are being shown, through a dialogue, who Batman is.

It’s so much easier and much more effective to explore a character through another character.

This is the reason why Shonen has a tendency to make incredibly good gay ships. If you want to explore Naruto’s personality, and his feelings of inferiority, you HAVE to have him interact with Sasuke.

If you wanna understand Hinata’s passion for volleyball, you have him enjoy himself the most with the only other crazy motherfucker who’s as obsessed with volleyball - Kageyama.

And I think that originally, Yana had this problem.

Sebastian was the protagonist, but she had little room to develop him as a character in the confines of the manor, dealing with random enemies.

She likely tried to create Grell as someone of the same stature as Sebastian. Someone who could be this other person to engage dialogue with and show or allude to his past a bit more.

The problem being that Sebastian didn’t care for his past. Or really, engaging with anyone. He sees everyone as below him, but when confronted with Grell who isn’t below him, he doesn’t wanna talk to her.

So you’re stuck in conundrum.

How do you have dialogue with a character, that as a character trait, doesn’t really wanna have dialogue?

Well, Grell also solves the problem. Because only the moment she gets him to start any semblance of a dialogue - is questioning why he’s serving Ciel.

And this is the moment when it’s perfectly cemented that the focus of the story is their relationship.

Why is Sebastian here? Why does he stay? What did he see in Ciel that made him want this extremely convoluted contract?

THATS the dialogue.

THATS the conversation we’re having in Black Butler.

We need to know Ciel because understanding who he is, let’s us know WHY /Sebastian/ is here.

Then slowly, with the introduction with the Undertaker, we find out Sebastian’s conflict.

Which is…

He’s scared of losing Ciel. It becomes apparent with the constant imagery of the Undertaker taking away Ciel and at some point even obtaining r!Ciel’s body, that he’s worried it might happen.

But he can only be worried that Ciel might be taken away if he wants to stay near Ciel.

And that’s his character arc.

Realizing that he actually likes Ciel, cares for him and the role he plays a butler that he doesn’t want this to end.

In the first chapters, he doesn’t feel a need to protect Ciel anymore than what’s strictly necessary. Just don’t die, that’s about as deep as his involvement in chapter 4 gets.

But by the Green Witch Arc, he feels a need to protect Ciel from ANY harm.

This is why I also said

3.- Their relationship is fundamentally a positive one.

In broad strokes, Sebastian to Ciel is the person who allows him to survive. He’s not worried about giving up his soul since he’s already dead. While Ciel to Sebastian, is someone who’s making him have fun. He’s slowly becoming more and more attached to Ciel and the life he has with Ciel.

Their relationship is not that of just a predator and prey, but also of master and pet.

In the terms that Black Butler itself would call: Sebastian is a wild wolf acting like a collared dog.

Ciel is aware that the wild beast will eat him at the end of the day, but if he clings hard to leash for now, he might just be able to have Sebastian maul his abusers.

Sebastian as a dog, currently finds that he enjoys being a chained dog.

(This is demonstrated in the Green Witch arc where he quite literally says, he doesn’t wanna be a wild beast and prefers to be a butler)

And much like the actual DOG Sebastian, Ciel constantly interprets his attempts to get close and protect him, as an act of aggression.

This push and pull of Ciel’s perception of Sebastian and Sebastian’s true motives is what feeds the story.

And the briefs interludes were that isn’t the case (what other people call the “plot”, but I would refer to as the connective tissue) such as Sullivan and Wolfram, the other servant’s past, the grim reapers and the like, serve as a parallel to Ciel and Sebastian relationship. Either to signify how they care for each other, highlight their weaknesses or fears, or explore how they feel.

It’s no surprise that Sullivan and Wolfram are parallels to Ciel and Sebastian. A sheltered sickly child who seeks the protection of a cold hearted machine that only knew how to kill, but who eventually found he cared for her genuinely.

Undertaker and Claudia’s relationship being heavily paralleled with them, even though we aren’t 109% sure what they had but heavily implied it was a romantic attraction from the undead supernatural creature and a Phantomhive.

Everything is a parallel.

That’s why, like the approach of the terrible original video, is flawed.

Trying to interpret Black Butler as action scene after action scene, with mystery after mystery with the only connective tissue being the mystery of who burned down the mansion - is missing the trees for the forest.

That’s not the point.

And if you’re too much of a prude to engage with gothic horror in its gothic horror game, I see little point as to why you even bother to engage with it at all.

A lot of people, including the person who create the video, simply refuse to acknowledge Black Butler IS the story of Sebastian and Ciel as a close and positive relationship, romantically and sexually charged. The reason for it being that they’re “put off” by it.

Part of me wonders how much that is genuinely true, and how much is just performative outrage. It’s like ignoring the fact that Cersei and Jami are in an incestous relationship and try to frame it as “platonic love”, because the idea of it is THAT off putting.

But regardless of that, if you don’t like the fact that it’s as canon as canon can get, I would reccomend you don’t engage with the story at all.

As I’ve explained, the entirety of the series is about them. If you refuse to see Sebastian and Ciel as, at the very least, a duo that cares deeply for the other - you aren’t reading Black Butler.

I have no idea what you’re reading.Perhaps your own biases and subconscious stigma with British aesthetic. At that point, watch the fucking British Royalty Gossip Magazine. You’d find more substance there.

Just don’t be like the person in the video, please? Don’t play dumb. Don’t ignore the fact that Yana is a Shotacon, don’t ignore the fact Sebastian is a hero, don’t ignore the fact that the entirety of the story is based on Sebastian and Ciel’s dynamic.

Because if you do, you are ashamed. You are ashamed of what this story is about. You don’t wanna engage with the text, you want to engage with yourself. You wanna project into Ciel whatever traumas and experiences you have, for the sake a vanity project, where you come out as the morally superior.

You don’t wanna talk about Black Butler, you wanna talk about how good YOU are. How you “don’t sin” by watching it “without all the gross unholy stuff”.

Which is the exact opposite of what BB is about.

So, if you don’t want to, save us all the humiliation fetish and leave.

[genevievefangirl]

How to AO3 - A Tagging Guide Masterpost

Maybe it is the autism, but I've always found AO3's tagging system to be extremely fascinating and fun. However, I know that many people do not share my love and find it frustrating and difficult.

Now after over a decade of reading fics on there I can say that I have *opinions* on how works should be tagged. I have seen many people lament over not knowing how to tag, and if that's you, here's a guide!

Blanket Disclaimer – Tagging is inherently subjective.  There are very few cases where a fic is truly tagged ‘incorrectly’ since an argument can be made for or against the inclusion of most tags.  Besides the 4 major warnings (and selecting a fandom & language), everything else is optional (and you can even not do those 4 if you choose “Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings”).  So take a breath and relax, you will be fine.

Additionally, since tagging is subjective, this advice is how I think works should be tagged.  You are free to disagree, but these are the guidelines I use and the interpretation that I think makes the most sense.

Alright with that out of the way... here we go!

1. What are tags even for anyway?

Tags are advertisements for your work. Each tag should be considered with care, don’t just throw on a tag for no reason.

There is one main question I want you to take away from this entire post. If you remember nothing else, remember this. When considering to add a tag, ask yourself:

Would a reader looking for this specific tag be happy with this story?

The answer to that for every tag on your work should be an enthusiastic YES. If the answer is no, cut the tag (with a few exceptions – mostly kink/warning related)

2. Ratings

The lines between some of the ratings can get fuzzy, but I generally think about them like I would think about movie ratings.

Not Rated This is the one to use if you either don’t want to rate your fic or are unsure.  When people search, this will be treated like M and E fics (meaning a warning will be shown about possible adult content when people click on it). G - General Audiences Suitable for everyone. You could show this to someone under 13 and it would be totally fine. T - Teen Think PG-13 or the equivalent rating in your country. I would categorize total fade to black sex scenes in here and violence on the level of the original Hunger Games books. M - Mature Adult themes such as sex, violence, etc, but not exceedingly graphic. This is where partial fade to black sex scenes go as well as scenes in which the sex is described but not in detail. For violence, I would put anything in here that doesn't spend a ton of time describing the gore. E - Explicit Porn and graphic violence. This is where smut goes. I do also think that when AO3 readers see an E rating they expect sex so if you are rating something E for violence and there is no sex present, you might want to put that in an additional tag so as not to confuse people.

For ratings - use your judgement. Some topics are inherently dark (suicide, non-con (even off screen), death, etc). It is up to you to pick what you think that appropriate rating is for your story based on what you think.

3. Archive Warnings

When you get to this section you will be confronted with 6 checkboxes: Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, and Underage Sex.

The last 4 of those (Graphic Depictions of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, and Underage Sex) I will now call the 4 Major Archive Warnings for the rest of this post.

Now let's walk through each of the 6:

Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings - You pick this one if you do not want to select any of the others. If any of the 4 Major Archive Warnings exist in your story and you don't want to tag them, then you MUST select this option to be in compliance with AO3 Terms of Service.

No Archive Warnings Apply - You select this if none of the 4 Major Archive Warnings exist in your fic.

Graphic Depictions of Violence - Often people get tripped up with what counts as 'graphic' for this warning. I usually think about this one in relation to the source material the fic is from. For example, what might qualify as 'graphic' in one fandom might differ from another. But I tend to use the movie rating scale again (anything that would be too much for PG-13 gets the warning), but again it is up to your judgement.

Rape/Non-Con - Pretty self-explanatory. If your fic has this at all, you should tag it. When I see this tagged the implication to me is that the assault occurs on-screen. However, if you want to tag if for off-screen non-con no one will stop you.

Underage Sex - Again, self-explanatory. If your characters are underage and have sex, tag it. Technically, for AO3, underage is considered under 18 no matter where the fic takes place or where you are writing it, so take that under consideration. (This tag can get complicated with immortal beings, aliens, ghosts, or other supernatural elements, just use your best judgement).

Major Character Death - I have the most to say about this one because I find it the most confusing of the 4. I will attempt to not go on a rant here about how I really dislike this one (but man do I hate it). Here are some questions I often see about this warning and how I would answer them: 1. So... who counts as a major character? AO3's official answer to this is to use your judgement. Which isn't super helpful. I think the warning should apply to major characters in your fic not the source material. For example, if your fic's main character is Leon and Arthur dies at some point, but he wasn't a focus of your fic, then I don't think MCD should be tagged. (This might be my most controversial tagging opinion) 2. How do I determine who the main characters are in my fic? Here is my approach - if your story has main ship X with characters A and B driving most of the plot and character C is also there, but is not the main focus of the story, then killing C does not count as Major Character Death. However, if the story is about a trio of characters A, B, and C and A and B also happen to also be in a relationship, then killing C would be Major Character Death. In the end it is up to your discretion as the author, but I would think about how much the character contributes to make a determination. 3. What about temporary death? Do I have to tag MCD for that? I don't think so. The Temporary Death tag exists for a reason and that should be sufficient. 4. Okay so I don't think the character I killed is a major character, but some people might disagree and I don't want people to be mad that I didn't tag MCD. What should I do? Tag Character Death and leave it at that. In my opinion, that is sufficient warning that someone might die. 5. What if the characters are already dead at the start? Like they are ghosts or something? If your characters are essentially immortal creatures whose natural state is dead then I don't think you need to tag MCD. The spirit of the MCD tag is that a character is going away. If the characters are dead but still around then I don't think that is MCD.

Yeah I have a lot of MCD opinions... but moving on!

3. Categories

These are for the type of romantic relationship is in the fic.

Gen - No romantic or sexual relationships, or relationships are not the main focus of the work. F/F - Female to Female F/M - Female to Male M/M - Male to Male Multi - more than one kind of relationship or relationship with multiple partners (so both Poly relationships and fics with multiple relationships as the focus go here). Other - Relationships not covered by the other categories.

4. Fandom

This one is usually easy. You just tag the fandom for the fic you are writing for. Done! But there is an instance where this can get confusing...

When do you tag multiple fandoms? You tag multiple fandoms when you are using elements from another fandom in a CROSSOVER instance! Do NOT tag it if it is used in an AU instance! The difference is subtle, but for example, I am writing my Dead Boy Detectives Hunger Games AU, but since I am NOT crossing over with Hunger Games characters and am only using the Hunger Games setting, I do NOT tag Hunger Games.  However, if my fic were to use characters from Hunger Games (like if Katniss showed up for a chat), then I would tag it. This is important because: 1. Some people filter out crossovers and you don't want your fic to be considered a crossover when you are just using it as an AU. 2. Tagging other fandoms where you really aren't using the characters floods the other fandom tag with works that aren't really related to that fandom and that isn't a nice thing to do.

5. Relationship Tags

/ vs & - they mean two different things! The / is for romantic relationships. The & is for platonic relationships. There are times when tagging both is acceptable. For example, if your fic is ambiguous about if two characters are together then you can tag both. Also, if the 2 characters haven’t gotten together yet, but they will at some nebulous point in the future beyond the end of the fic, I think it is fine to tag the / tag since it is pre-slash, but that depends on personal preference.

Poly Ships - “But what if I have a poly ship?  Do I tag the poly ship and all the sides of the triangle (or square, or pentagon, you get it)?” It depends on personal preference, but here is how I would do it- Remember , the key for adding any tag is “Would a reader looking for this specific tag be happy with this story?” So, for example, if you are writing a poly fic with characters X/Y/Z and X/Y have scenes together alone and Z/X have scenes alone, then you tag the poly ship and those sides of the triangle. But say Y/Z don’t have much development outside the poly ship, then you don’t tag them. Poly ships can make your relationship tags quite long, but it is better to cover your bases adequately. This way, if people don’t want the poly ship, they can filter that tag out, but if people don’t mind, they will still be able to find your fic while searching for the non-poly tag.

Side Ships - “X couple are the main focus of my fic, but Y couple is there too, should I tag both?” It depends on a couple of factors. If someone clicked on your story just for the secondary Y ship, would they be satisfied? Is there enough content to justify it being a Y ship story or are they just there to support the main X ship? - If they are just in the background and mentioned but get zero onscreen development or scenes DO NOT tag it in the Relationships section! - If they get screen time and development, then DO tag them in the Relationships section. If Y ship does not get enough development to be tagged in the Relationship section, you can tag them in the Additional Tags section. This allows you to highlight couple Y's presence in the fic without clogging up their relationship tag.

6. Characters

Now you might think that if a character is in a relationship tag, then they should be automatically assumed to be in the fic. THIS IS NOT THE CASE. Perhaps a fic includes allusions to X being with Y, but Y isn’t actually present. In that case, only X should be in the Character tags.

On the flip side, if both members of the relationship tag are present in the fic, always tag characters in the Character section too! If someone is just filtering on X and doesn’t put anything into the Relationships section, then they will not find your fic if you don’t tag them individually!

How many characters should I tag? Do I tag everyone? In shorter one shots, you can probably get away with tagging all the characters even if they only have a small role. But in long fics, choices must be made. Tag everyone that you feel gets adequate attention and contributes significantly to the plot. Again, would a reader looking for this specific character be happy with this story?

7. Kinks

I’m not gonna get into the specifics of this because I don't really want to and it isn't my area of expertise, but you know what these are 😂

If you are writing smut, then you should tag the tropes you are using so people can properly filter on what they want and don't want to see.

8. Warnings (outside the Major 4)

There are a lot of warnings you can tag for outside of the Major 4. Here is a list of some of the common ones I have seen:

Suicide

Self-Harm

Incest

Manipulation

Alcoholism

PTSD

Minor Character Death

Gun Violence

Non-consensual touching

Body Horror

Dub-Con

Torture

Psychological Horror

Abuse (Child Abuse, Domestic Violence, Animal Abuse)

Homophobic Language

Grief/Mourning

That is in no way intended to be a comprehensive list, but you get the idea. If there is something in your fic that you feel might upset someone, consider tagging it.

9. Time/Universe

Tell people when/where your story takes place!

Alternate Universe - in which something is changed from the canon universe. I usually sort them into 2 major subcategories: 1. Canon Divergence - The fic changes an aspect from canon, but still is in the same general universe. 2. Other AUs - These fics go wild! It can be anything from the classic Coffee Shop AU to an AU based on another fandom property (Harry Potter AUs, Hunger Games AUs, etc) Get creative with your AU tags! If the tag for your specific AU doesn't exist, make it yourself! Also, you can tag multiple AUs for one story if they all apply (such as tagging both Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse and Alternate Universe - The Last of Us Setting)

Canon Universe - The fic takes place in the fandom universe with no changes. There are also subcategories here! 1. Pre-Canon - takes place before the timeline of the source material. 2. Post-Canon - takes place after the timeline of the source material. 3. Canon Compliant - takes place during the timeline of the source material and doesn't change that timeline (think missing scenes)

Almost every fic should have either an AU tag or one of the canon tags!

10. Gender Swap/Trans Characters

Remember that tags are advertisements! If you are writing about trans characters or gender swapped characters, people want to find that! Let them know and tag it!

11. Genre/Big Tropes

These are the big ones. Every fic you post should have at least one of these tags:

Angst

Hurt/Comfort

Fluff

Smut

Romance

Humor

Crack

Every fic has a feeling you want to evoke or emotion you want to convey and that is what these tags are for. Let the reader know what they are in for!

12. More Specific Tags

This is for everything else. This is where you can have a lot of fun. If there is something in your story you want to highlight, put it in the tags! Here are some examples!

Amnesia

Friends to Lovers

Enemies to Lovers

Slow Burn

Mutual Pining

Fake Dating

Miscommunication

Pregnancy

Mpreg

Jealousy

Abandonment Issues

Codependency

Cuddling

Fake/Pretend Relationship

First Kiss

Love Confessions

Hurt (insert character here)

Protective (insert character here)

Time Travel

Apocalypse

Established Relationship

Or literally anything else your mind can think of! The possibilities are ENDLESS!!!

13. Joke Tags

AO3 is not tumblr, so do not treat the tags like you do on there. The goal of the tags is for readers to find your fic if they want to read it and filter it out if they don’t, so don’t take up a ton of space with joke tags.

However, some joke tags can be fun, and I don’t mind seeing some of them, but keep it limited to a couple at most. They are most useful to clarify something about a tag you used. For example, I tagged “Slow Burn” but right after that tag I put “but also they literally share a bed all the time so… take that as you will”. It is a joke, but it also provides useful information to the reader.

14. How many tags is too many?

AO3 limits you to 75 tags, but you should probably never be approaching that number. I’d say ask yourself that main question (“Would a reader looking for this specific tag be happy with this story?”) for each one of the tags. That should help you narrow it down to the main ones your story represents.

A reasonable goal is that your tag list and summary should just about fit onto a phone screen so a reader can see all of it at once.

I have about 30 tags (including everything) on my current long fic with over 90k words; you don’t need a million tags.

AND THAT'S A WRAP!

My God this too me way too long to make, but I hope this is helpful! Now go tag like an expert!

[writingquestionsanswered]

What's "Filler" vs What's Relevant

Anonymous asked: How do you know when something is “filler” that needs to be deleted, or if it can be kept? I often see advice saying "your characters should talk about nothing but the plot... no frivolous banter or silly arguments, because it's useless, self-indulgent, filler-fluff." But then I watch or see things and it's like, hm... there sure are a lot of things happening here that aren't plot relevant, yet the audience adores it. For example, in a popular episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender, called "The Tales of Ba Sing Se," nothing relevant to the main plot (stopping Fire Lord Ozai) happens. Instead, characters shop and go to a spa, rebuild a zoo, and go on a date. Part of the episode is even dedicated to one character's running off after having a nightmare. Nothing that we learn or that happens in the episode is ever relevant again as far as I recall, yet 19 years later, people still talk about how much they love that episode. So, I’m really confused as to what counts as useless filler/fluff vs what's important information. How do you tell the difference?

[Ask edited for length...]

First, it's important to note that a Nickelodeon cartoon from twenty years ago is not a great measuring stick for how to write fiction in 2024. ATLA, from what I've heard, is an amazing TV show, full of heart and top-notch character development. But it was also a cartoon created for and written to be enjoyed by children as young as age seven (the low end of Nickelodeon's demographic at the time), so it was following different guidelines from what you'd be following if you're trying to write a short story, novella, or book.

Case in point, the ATLA episode "The Tales of Ba Sing Se" is what's known in television as a "vignette," which uses short, self-contained stories unified by concept and theme to explore character relationships, growth, world-building, and to expand on themes that are important to the overall story. So, while the episode may not have contained plot-relevant elements, as get a glimpse into the minutiae of the characters' daily lives in Ba Sing Se, the characters and their relationships are still pushed forward, even if in only the tiniest ways.

And, again, this is a TV show with 61 episodes, not a short story, novel, or book, all of which are structured differently than a TV show.

On the Subject of "Fluff"

I want to be clear about the fact that if you're writing fan-fiction, fluff is just fine. And even if you're writing original fiction, you can get away with a little bit of fluff... you just need to be clever about it...

Filler, Fluff, or Relevant?

If something is absolutely necessary to move the story forward or understand it, it's plot relevant.

If something doesn't move the story forward and isn't critical to the reader's understanding of the story, but it helps them understand the characters or world in a way they didn't before, it's probably fluff that's been dressed up in a plot relevant costume. (That's the "you need to be clever about it" bit from above, which we'll get to in a second...)

If something isn't necessary to move the story forward or understand it, and it doesn't add anything to the reader's understanding of the characters or world, it's filler. It's just words on a page that serve no purpose, and it should be cut.

On the Subject of "Moving the Story Forward"

To clarify, in case anyone is wondering, "moving the story forward" means advancing the plot from one scene to the next scene. In other words, to use The Hunger Games as an example, Prim's name being drawn in the Reaping moves the story forward, because it forces Katniss to volunteer in her place. It moves the story from Katniss being a bystander at the Reaping to being a tribute. Another example, using Twilight, when Tyler's van skids into the parking lot and almost smashed into Bella, it forces Edward to use his otherworldly vampire strength to save her, which confirms in her mind that he's not human. It moves the story from Bella being curious about this weird boy at school to realizing he is something else and wanting to know more.

Dressing Up Fluff to Make it Relevant

Let's say you're writing a story about a young woman who stayed in her small town and went to community college while her high school besties went off to a college she couldn't afford, and now they've returned and she's trying to maintain these important friendships while struggling with feelings of resentment, jealousy, and feeling left behind.

Now, let's also say you have an idea for a really cute scene where your protagonist and one of these friends goes to a museum together for an afternoon. And as it stands, nothing plot relevant happens in this scene and it doesn't add anything to the reader's understanding of the characters or world. It's just something silly and fun you think would be cute in your story. How can you turn it from fluff to relevant?

To start with, look at your character's internal conflict... wanting to maintain the friendship while struggling with jealousy and feeling left behind. What could happen in the museum that could play on that? Maybe they stop in front of a reproduction of the Venus de Milo and the friend starts talking about the semester abroad she and the other friends did in Paris. This is a perfect place to explore the protagonist's feelings of jealousy and being left behind. If the character talks about her thoughts and feelings in that moment, either inside her head or with the friend, it gives you a chance to expand upon these feelings, explore why they're happening, and even to add further conflict. Maybe she confronts the friend and it doesn't go over well. Or, maybe she lies about something to feel better about herself, and that creates problems later.

Another option would be to look at the next plot point that needs to happen. Is there some way this scene can be used as a stepping stone between two existing scenes? Could something be added to this scene that raises the stakes or or makes the next scene more interesting?

While I'm sure there are some scenes you just can't make relevant no matter how hard you try, usually you can find a way if you just take the time to brainstorm and try out different ideas.

One Last Note...

On the rare occasion you end up with a fluff scene that has no relevance and can't be made to have relevance no matter how hard you try, write it anyway. Then, take it out, save it someplace safe, and hang onto it. These kinds of stories make GREAT incentives for things like newsletter sign-ups, subscription perks, web site bonuses, etc.

I hope that helps! ♥

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

♦ Questions that violate my ask policies will be deleted! ♦ Please see my master list of top posts before asking ♦ Learn more about WQA here

[inkblotsonmyhands]

----- SPOILERS FOR SUNRISE ON THE REAPING BY SUSANNE COLLINS + BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES + HUNGER GAMES TRILOGY-----

one thing about me is that i loooove to overanalyze a piece of media. i just finished reading sunrise on the reaping after highly anticipating this book for a couple of months and now need to put down my thoughts about it somewhere so here we are.

for the majority of this discussion, im going to be comparing sunrise on the reaping, the ballad of songbirds and snakes, and the hunger games trilogy as three stories. im regarding the entire hunger games trilogy as one story because i see that as the story of katniss. the ballad of songbirds and snakes is the story of snow. sunrise on the reaping is the story of haymitch.

i think sunrise on the reaping is the worst hunger games book. that doesn't mean it's a bad book; it's just that the original trilogy and tbosas (which i personally loved) set a very high bar. i'm starting this off with a disclaimer that, although most of this post is criticism, i definitely did enjoy reading the book and i think it's generally pretty good. it's just not incredibly good.

this story explores two main themes: the first being propaganda, and the second being the question of why an oppressed population does not fight against authority. i think it tackles the theme of propaganda pretty well. we see multiple instances of media being altered to represent a certain narrative. haymitch operates within the games as a character he makes up, the "rascal" and tries to put out his own propaganda, but the capitol beats him at his own game and uses the rascal against him. there's also the posters in district 12 and the capitol, haymitch's reaping, louella's death and lou lou, and certainly many, many more examples im forgetting to mention. this is done well. however, i don't think the book does an amazing job at tackling its second topic. the thing is, susanne collins' books have a pattern of posing a question which, by the conclusion of the book (or series, if you look at the hunger games trilogy), the main character answers for themselves. the hunger games is about just war theory, which asks what is an acceptable cause for war and what are acceptable actions during a war. the series explores different takes on the answers to these questions through different characters, most prominently peeta and gale. simply put, gale stands for violence and peeta stands for diplomacy. by choosing peeta at the end of the series, katniss makes a decision about her own stance on the topic. the ballad of songbirds and snakes is about the social contract theory. snow has to decide what the purpose of the hunger games is, and he concludes by the end of the book that the hunger games exist as a representation of the natural state of man as described by thomas hobbes. sunrise on the reaping asks why haymitch, all the tributes, district 12, or the entirety of the population of the districts do not rebel against their oppressors: snow, the peacekeepers, ultimately the entire capitol, who they outnumber easily. and haymitch's answer to this question is... nothing. he just thinks about it a bunch of times but doesn't get anywhere beyond that. and yes, the reason he doesn't manage to answer that question is probably because he is busy attempting to carry out a rebel plot and failing, which is reasonable, but the story as a whole suffers from that question remaining unanswered. the propaganda point, while well done, is not a question. the book is just showing many examples of something. interesting, but not necessarily engaging. the other hunger games books invite the reader to think about the moral question of the book themselves and give deep insight on the main character through the way they go about answering it. sunrise on the reaping largely fails to do that with the kind of depth that the other books did.

this brings me to my second point. sunrise on the reaping (before the epilogue) ends with haymitch on a complete low, having failed to carry out his rebel plot and lost his family and girlfriend. the hunger games ends with katniss still traumatized and recovering, but free of the oppressive regime. the ballad of songbirds and snakes ends with snow ready to rise to power, having destroyed all evidence of his wrongdoing, and the one person who knows it all vanished. basically, the other two stories do not end on entirely sad notes for the main character. there's nothing wrong with a sad ending in a book, but it definitely took away from my enjoyment of the book because there was no reward at any point. the entire story felt futile, and, to make it worse, i knew throughout the story that it was going to be futile. the happy epilogue is also not particularly rewarding because it has basically nothing at all to do with the events of the book. i would say that the book's sad ending didn't even really impact me because it wasn't a surprise. the saddest moment to me was probably louella's death, but it had been so long since that happened by the end of the story that it didn't really compound at the conclusion. even then, louella's death was not particularly devastating, because i barely had any attachment to the character.

i think sunrise on the reaping suffers most severely from being an unplanned prequel. what i mean by this is that it was obviously not planned out while the hunger games trilogy was being written. this is absolutely normal and expected; the ballad of songbirds and snakes was also obviously unplanned. the difference, however, is that tbosas takes place 64 years before the start of the original trilogy. the only character from tbosas who is present in the main books is snow himself, and he's the villain who is not having regular intimate conversations with the hunger games' main character and multiple other characters. snow is in a position where his backstory could really be anything and it wouldn't throw off the hunger games; it would only recontextualize it. do i think susanne collins' had thought up lucy gray baird when she said that district 12 had only had two victors before katniss and peeta? no, not at all. she may have had a vague idea that she wanted district 12's first victor to have a history with snow, but i highly doubt she was a fully realized character. in fact, i would guess that the reason why she said two victors but only introduced haymitch was to give herself a nonspecific character she could come back to later. if you asked her while writing catching fire, "who was haymitch's mentor in his games?" her answer may have been "the first district 12 victor", or "that's a secret", or "i haven't decided", but you know what i think was definitely, definitely not the answer? "katniss's unlikely allies, wiress and mags."

sunrise on the reaping reveals that haymitch was close to many significant characters from the hunger games trilogy, then says that the reason why we get no indication of this in those books is because he decided to distance himself from everyone after snow ruined his life. the fact that he knew all these people so closely, though, does recontextualize a lot of the hunger games, but instead of adding fun gotchas, it just makes a lot of the story baffling. for example, we are told that haymitch is so traumatized from his games that he doesn't associate at all with any of the people he knew from that time in his life—yet, when beetee, who hatched the rebel plot that got beetee's own son killed and ruined haymitch's life, hatches a new plot centered around haymitch's childhood best friend's daughter, her boyfriend, and several other people he knows, haymitch simply goes along with it with little to no protest. if haymitch is apathetic to everyone and everything, why isn't he apathetic to the concept of revolution entirely? isn't his motivation not hurting himself and his loved ones no matter what? another example is the dynamics of the youth of haymitch's time in district 12. if maysilee, merilee, and astrid were the best of friends before the games, how is it that by the hunger games trilogy merilee and astrid had basically nothing to do with each other?

moving on. lenore dove suffers from a serious case of tell-dont-show, admittedly because she was off screen for most of the book. i will say that i found it very difficult to care about her and their relationship given how little time she spent actually doing anything in the story. her most important moment, i would say, was the conversation she and haymitch have the morning of the reaping, where she says that the reaping is not an inevitability, although i did think that haymitch didn't actually engage fully with that idea and there could have been more done with that line of thought. i also found her death to be, for lack of a better word, silly. lenore dove's death hinging on her happening to find a bag of poisoned gumdrops in a wholeass meadow and haymitch happening to feed them to her is just too chance-y to me and not the kind of calculated move snow would pull.

going further, snow fully ranting to haymitch about the covey for no reason and basically voluntarily revealing to him that the first district 12 victor was his sweetheart also seems very out of character for snow. it is definitely in character for him to be obsessed with lucy gray even after such a long time; but i found the verbal reveal of it all to haymitch rather contrived.

i don't want to end on a negative note, so im going to talk about some things i did like about the book. like i said before, i think the point about propaganda was displayed well. i think the book's greatest strength, however, is that it shows how long the revolution in the hunger games was in the making. admittedly, the failed rebel plot isn't wildly interesting to read, but i appreciate how it shows that the rebels successfully managed to break the arena in the 75th games but had been at it for years. i would also like to add that most of the criticisms i have stem from understandable causes, like lenore dove being tell-dont-show because she simply cannot be present during the games. the main thing i think didn't really need to be done was the abundance of cameos. i think a couple small cameos would have been a nice nod, but the way almost every character we got to know in this book was present in the humger games was a bit much to me.

in conclusion, sunrise on the reaping adds an interesting new perspective to the world of the hunger games of the role of propaganda in an authoritarian regime and the slow, failure and sacrifice-ridden rise of rebellion. its shortcomings betray the traps of writing an unplanned prequel to a very tightly woven and intricate story, but is still overall a decent book. in fact, i would say that without the hunger games and tbosas for context, sunrise on the reaping is a wonderful book, but given those masterpieces exist, the most i can truly call it is "decent".

essay clear.

[yanderes-galore]

I need a concept of Henryk from Fear And Hunger 2, please!

Keep in mind I haven't exactly played the game, I mostly like researching characters and lore, so I hope I get a decent character read on him...!

Yandere! Henryk Klimkov Concept

Pairing: Romantic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Stalking, Mass murder (Poisoning), Jealousy, Possessive behavior, Delusional behavior, Cannibalism mentioned/implied, Mature themes, Forced relationship implied.

Henryk is a passionate chef who enjoys cooking.

It's actually one of the main things he enjoys.

He's laid-back at times but also... insecure.

He often seeks approval for his cooking from other contestants, no doubt meaning he'd cherish his obsession's approval over anything.

He's impulsive, often a flirt or making perverted remarks.

Originally these would be directed towards Abella... but if you become his obsession, he can be crude with his compliments.

He also has a tendency to get into fights, even if he can't win them.

He's shown to be anxious as the time limit of the festival continues... which no doubt makes him progressively worse as a yandere.

His first formal encounter with you is no doubt at the Mayor's Manor.

You meet him in a trance, going insane due to Rher's influence.

He has such a weak mind.

When you snap him out of it, he's puzzled... looking around in confusion.

Then his eyes land on you... and he apologizes before asking for help with finding food.

He wants to cook for the rest of the contestants and is quite thankful you snapped him out of it.

That's how you meet... and his obsession starts.

His obsession, like the others, is no doubt caused by Rher's influence.

Or some other dark force.

In the game, if saved before his Moonscorch at the manor, he will appear to cook for you and your party.

He never joins directly, insisting he just helps you without combat.

So imagine Henryk becoming obsessed with the approval of his obsession, often cooking to help you and your party.

But, of course, he likes you way more than the rest of your party.

He could care less about them... not like they saved him.

Henryk would try to be charming, often flirting or making comments as he gives you food to take.

He'd probably do anything for your praise, your comfort often soothing his anxiety.

Your talks with him are often about his cooking or him trying to show his interest in you.

I almost feel like he'd be a yandere to have transference, clinging to you because you happened to be around at the right time.

Speaking to you soothes him during this festival, hearing you say his cooking is good makes his heart flutter.

It may not be love at first sight, but it certainly feels like that to him.

Henryk actually gets worried when you leave with your party to explore Prehevil.

He hopes you come back and don't die.

Even worse, what if you Moonscorch?

What if he Moonscorches.

Henryk's obsession would last for three days, he isn't strong enough to survive this festival compared to the others.

Not in the mind, that is.

His obsession would continue until the third day if you saved him on the first day.

He wishes you'd reciprocate his love...

Instead he's forced to watch you from afar as you eat his food.

To a degree even he knows he shouldn't be this fond of you within three days.

But he can't help but feel drawn to you.

When he's not cooking, he's asking others to keep track of you or even sneaking out to find you himself.

By day 2 he's stalking you like a hunter looking for a deer.

He's eying you as if you're the tastiest meal he's ever seen.

He wouldn't actually eat you... hopefully...

Yet within two days he's desperate to follow you to the ends of the Earth.

Due to his fragile mind, Henryk snaps by the end of the second day.

He moves to PRHVL Bop with the rest of the contestants, but his attention stays on you.

He can't help but hate the fact all these contestants are around you.

He wishes you'd stop taking your party everywhere, that you'd stay with him.

Everyone here's going to die anyway, he knows it.

So he snaps....

Henryk makes dinner for all the contestants, all smiles as he speaks to you affectionately.

He made a bowl of food just for you, best you eat up, love!

By the next day, you realize what Henryk has done.

Just like in the literal event by the start of Day 3, Henryk poisons all the contestants but you.

He's on the verge of insanity, chuckling to himself in the corner as you're surrounded by the corpses of your party members.

Before long his eyes snap to you, a grin on his face.

He's on the verge of Moonscorch.

"They were going to die anyway... but I didn't want them to hurt you, either...! Now, it's just us, forever and ever...."

This would end with Henryk dragging you away to the Mayor's Manor, no doubt to Moonscorch with you.

After all, your mind is dwindling too, isn't it?

You witnessed the chef kill everyone, yet he spared you.

"Would you believe me if I said I loved you? You look so appetizing... especially in those clothes...!"

You swore you saw Henryk salivating when he confessed, eyes drawn to you with a certain hunger...

By the time he drags you into the manor, locking you away in a room he picked just for you, it's over...

He'll Moonscorch and so will you...

All you can do is stare fearfully into his hungry gaze, begging for some sort of mercy as he approaches you.

"Just one taste, love... I bet you taste divine...!"

[physalian]

Color in Fiction! (Once You See it, You Cannot Unsee it)

White versus black, red versus blue, Gatsby’s green light, Dorothy’s ruby red slippers, Belle’s blue dress.

Color is perhaps the most ubiquitous motif used across both fiction and reality to thread people or objects through a common theme, or to pit two ideologies against each other beyond their verbal spats. Color is also perhaps the simplest motif, but that doesn’t make it any lesser in its potency.

In fiction, color is an easy way for the audience to learn as fast as possible who’s on whose side, and who their opponents are, and today, we’re going to look at a few.

But first: Crash course into color theory:

Warmer colors evoke passion or uncertainty, movement and excitement, happiness and warmth, but also rage, aggression, love, and lust. The cooler colors evoke sadness and serenity, but also youth and spring and winter and death.

Most of the time when a creator wants to juxtapose color in a narrative or other work, they’re going to use inverses, just google one of the hundreds of teal and orange movie posters. Inverses are whatever colors lie at opposite sides of the wheel. Blue and Orange, Red and Green, Purple and Yellow. These pairs show up either in opposition, or as an ensemble of one character or a group or team.

Part 1: Black and White

Yes it has grounds in racism, but black and white are also accepted to mean chaos and order, good and evil, death and life.

In a show like Lost, themes of black and white are constant. The black and white backgammon pieces, the colors of the Dharma station logos, the show’s main title card, God stand-in Jacob (Lucifer from Supernatural), and his unnamed brother, the Man in Black.

Black and white show up *everywhere,* in some places subtler than others. In fiction with a male and female lead, if they are coded in black and white, the man is almost always the one in black. Black means strength and mystery and this deep, almost corrupted darkness. White is purity, femininity, youth, and nurturing, when a woman wears it, unless she's the villain.

Villains in white are very often surprise villains:

The White Witch (Chronicles of Narnia)

Saruman (Lord of the Rings)

President Coin (Hunger Games)

Hans (Frozen), Mayor Bellweather (Zootopia), Auto (Wall-E)

Elizabeth from Pirates of the Caribbean is an interesting case. She begins the first movie wearing light colors and being trapped in the pure and lawful life of the governor’s daughter. She ends her arc in the third movie in solid black (through several costumes) a badass Pirate King and wife of the new Captain of the Flying Dutchman.

Men in black are chivalrous, dark knights, or morally grey vigilantes, silent badasses, or edgy badboys. Black is also of course reserved for villains a la Darth Vader, or Severus Snape and Voldemort and a million others. The "Black Knight" is his own trope, whether he's in a fantasy setting or not.

Women in black are temptresses, or seductive badasses. Black is the color of corruption, sin, and angst in western media 9 times out of 10 unless a narrative wants to subvert it.

I could do an entire essay on black and white in Lord of the Rings alone but here's a few other contrasts: The white Tower of Ecthelion, Minas Tirith, the "White City", the White Tree, Gandalf the White. The Black Riders, Black Speech, Black Land of Mordor, Orthanc (Saruman's Tower).

But you don’t have to make your character’s entire costumes black and white, no, you can just make their hair light and dark.

Part 2: Hair

**Possibly also because racism but we don’t have time to unpack all that right now**

When you have your male protagonist and his male foil, love interest, competition, companion, lancer, or villain, most of the time (in western media where blonds are in abundance) the more noble or “good” character of the two will be blond, the other brunet, especially in a love triangle. If two male characters have opposing ideologies on any level, they will often have opposing hair. A male and female lead duo will also tend to have opposing hair, but it’s most obvious what they’re doing when it’s two dudes and not just coincidence.

Here’s a nonexhaustive list, with the brunet first (ignoring if the adaptation was faithful):

Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamnee (LoTR)

Aragorn and Boromir (LoTR)

Aragorn and Theoden (LoTR)

Denethor and Faramir (LoTR)

Thorin and Bilbo (Hobbit)

Jack Shephard and James “Sawyer” Ford (Lost)

Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar (Brokeback Mountain) *Also have opposing hats*

Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent (The Dark Knight)

Tony Stark and Steve Rogers (Marvel)

Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers (Marvel)

Loki and Thor (Marvel)

Nico di Angelo and Will Solace (Percy Jackson)

Percy Jackson and Jason Grace (Percy Jackson)

Sherlock Holmes and John Watson (the Cumberbatch one)

Sam Winchester and Dean Winchester (Supernatural)

Edmund Pevensie and Peter Pevensie (Chronicles of Narnia)

Gale Hawthorne and Peeta Mellark (Hunger Games)

Damon Salvatore and Stefan Salvatore (Vampire Diaries)

Tom Buchanan and Jay Gatsby (2013 Gatsby)

Caledon Hockley and Jack Dawson (Titanic)

Notable nonexhaustive exceptions:

Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy (Harry Potter)

Percy Jackson and Luke Castellan (Percy Jackson)

Jacob Black and Edward Cullen (Twilight)

Batman and Superman (DC Comics)

Luke Skywalker and Han Solo (Star Wars)

Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Star Wars) *wardrobe makes up for it*

*Feel free to tag the ones I missed

Not every brunet on the list is a “bad” guy, nor is every blond the “good” guy, but compared to each other, the brunet tends to be the more morally grey, the more corrupted, the one who’s ideologies end up getting them hurt or killed or proving them wrong. Or, the brunet faces more demons, has a darker personality, or tends to have a “shoot first ask questions later” philosophy.

This of course goes out the window if the media is set in a region or with a cast of characters who are meant to share similar features, like how there’s no blondes at all in Last Airbender (otherwise Aang would absolutely fit the pattern).

Whether that’s Frodo getting corrupted by the Ring and Sam being his rock, Jack Twist getting murdered while Ennis lives on, or the beloved Dark Knight and his bat-black demons while Harvey’s White legacy saves Gotham, next time you write a brunet and his blond competition, ask yourself just why you’re doing it.

*Side note, I’m pretty sure Harvey Dent, when he’s animated, is usually a brunet, but he’s also usually Two-Face by then and no longer a hero*

I don’t even have time for black and white in anime or the trope of the white-haired anime boy and since natural hair colors are kind of moot, I don’t think the same rules apply. But outside of the westernized “black knight vs white knight” I do want to dig deeper into color motifs in anime at some point.

Here's some notable dark and light dichotomies nonetheless in wardrobe and/or hair:

Kirito and Asuna (Sword Art Online)

Lelouch and Suzaku (Code Geass)

Midoriya and Bakugo (My Hero Academia)

L and Light (Death Note)

Medusa and Stein (Soul Eater)

Sasuke and Naruto (Naruto)

Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye (Fullmetal Alchemist)

Eiji and Ash (Banana Fish)

Kyoya and Tamaki (OHSHC)

Yuri and Viktor (Yuri!!! On Ice)

Dracula and Alucard (Castlevania)

Part 3: Red v. Blue and everything in between

The megalith that is the color motif extends past the white/black dichotomy.

It’s also red and blue.

If red is pitted against blue in any story, red is always the team the audience is supposed to root against, unless this is sports. Red is the color of the Sith, the Fire Nation, red eyes are seen as evil, red is blood and rage and wrath and fire. Red is the color of evil empires. Blue is the color of heroes. It’s water and healing and camaraderie, serenity. Blue is the color of rebels and underdogs.

Red versus blue is in everything from the color of lightsabers in Star Wars to the color of cybertronian eyes in Transformers, to the color of the Water Tribes and Fire Nations (with some exceptions a la Azula’s blue fire) to the colors of the pills in the Matrix. Red is the ‘dangerous’ choice, blue is the ‘safe’ choice. Unless your character is patriotically sporting the red, white and blue of the UK, USA, or France.

Villains usually only wear blue if they're ice-coded, or belong to a faction wearing navy blue uniforms.

Red versus blue also shows up between leaders and their lancers. The first one I can think up off the top of my head is Robin and Raven from Teen Titans.

Purple is also usually lumped in with the bad guys and green with the good guys, but purple and green also show up a ton as contrasting colors of the same character like the Hulk or the Joker. But both can swing either way. The Decepticons in the early cartoons for Transformers had purple everywhere and reclaimed it in Transformers: Prime. Megatron, Soundwave, Shockwave, the Vehicons, Airachnid, and the Dark Star Saber, and some G1s]. Prime also has three sets of red-blue dichotomies within their factions: [Arcee/Cliffjumper, Optimus/Ratchet, and Knockout/Breakdown].

Green is the color of more Jedi, and the Green Lanterns, but green also represents sickness or disease or generic evil energy a la Loki, Dr. Facilier (Princess and the Frog) or the Hyenas and Scar in the Lion King.

Pink is really up in the air, as is orange and yellow, especially when it comes to female characters, especially female anime characters.

But enough about color dichotomy.

Part 4: Color Singularity

Color singularly is either meant to evoke a specific emotion, like using blue everywhere to represent sadness, or it’s meant to be a bold statement in an otherwise grayscale world.

I mentioned a few at the top of the post and I’ll elaborate on them here:

In Great Gatsby, green and yellow are very important colors. The “green light” is this real object at the end of the titular character’s love interest’s dock. This light and this color are motifs that represent Gatsby’s longing for Daisy and to return to a glorious past he can never have again (it’s also the color of American money). Yellow is also everywhere in this book. It’s the color of his chekov’s car and several dresses at his extravagant party. Yellow is the color of his current life of glitz and glam and riches (and is also the color of gold). If you listen to one of the accompanying songs to the 2013 film, Florence and the Machine’s “Over the Love” recognizes the importance of yellow in the narrative.

Dorothy’s red slippers in the Wizard of Oz are hyperbolically bold, especially since the movie starts out in black and white. Color is a huge piece of this film- the Emerald City, the Yellow Brick Road, the horse of many colors. Red scientifically is the color humans tend to notice first, those shoes were made to be remembered. Color in Wizard of Oz is the symbol of the fantastical, which was really helped by the time the film was made and simply seeing so much color on screen dazzled audiences.

Red catches your eye faster than any other color, and red in a world of black and white sticks in your mind, just look at Schindler’s List.

Belle from Beauty and the Beast, along with a lot of fictional women wear blue. Blue is biblically Mary’s color, and at one time was the color marketed to women before the shift to “blue for boys”. In the original Beauty and the Beast, Belle was the only character who wore blue, because she was an outsider, and outlier, a free-thinker. Or at least, Belle is the only one who wears blue until she dances with the Beast. The live-action remake didn’t maintain this extra level of the narrative and that’s a shame.

I didn't mention eye color much above (also maybe because racism) but blue eyes, especially animated blue and green eyes, go to characters who are more hopeful, heroic, nurturing, morally just, honest, or brave than their brown-eyed counterparts, unless he's a blue-eyed Tall, Dark, and Handsome. Blue-eyed people tend to be blond, so the traits go hand in hand for the "good" character.

Weirdly enough, this also applies to blue-eyed animal characters -- your animated anthropomorphised villain is rarely going to be drawn with eyes that aren't brown, black, green, red, orange, or yellow.

Because color is also a subliminal or overt way of foreshadowing in both written and visual media as much as any other motif and recurring symbol. You can foreshadow death, or impending doom, or an eventual identity reveal, whatever you want.

You can also subvert the usual associations with specific colors. Black doesn’t have to mean evil in your world. Black can be life, too. White doesn’t have to be pure, white can be clinical and sterile and lifeless (but please no more lady villains in white pantsuits, that's its own cliche at this point). Shake it up a bit every once in a while.

So whether it’s dueling ideologies or the very forces of good and evil, a harbinger of doom or a secret tell, or community and camaraderie, or an enduring hope, you can represent it all with a careful dose of color.

[atalienart]

As a woman, honestly I am way more invested in MMC's because their stories are usually more varied and interesting; female-lead stories are almost always one of two things when you boil it down - romance or revolution (sometimes both if it's a dystopia/romantasy). Either the point of the story is to give the reader something to ship, or it's a very obvious message about one or several of the injustices of the world. And nothing is wrong with either of that, don't get me wrong, but I personally don't read because I want steam or to be preached at/reminded of real life problems. I just want a good goddamn story. And I can name WAY more books and book series I've read that actually gave me that where the main lead was male rather than female.

One of the few exceptions to this general rule is when the lead is a child, like Alice in Wonderland, Coraline, or The Wee Free Men, because in those cases the MC is too young for either romance or social justice; their goals are usually much simpler and, to me, more relatable (wanting adventure, wanting to go home, wanting to find a lost family member, etc). Unfortunately most books with young leads are also written for young readers, which, again, nothing wrong with that, but it would be nice to have YA or even adult books with child leads where the plot is allowed to be a bit more mature and dark.

Granted, most of what I've said is based on my experiences with middle grade and YA books, so take it with a grain of salt. But to me it says something (about my personal tastes at least) that out of my top ten favorite book series ever, six were written by female authors with male MC's, three by male authors with male MC's, and one by a male author with a female MC (but the name of the series is that of the MMC).

That's true, usually the MMC's stories are more personal, the FMC often fights for the greater good. I honestly can't stand the "fight the government" plot and whenever I hear "for fans of The Hunger Games" I run in the opposite direction. As for the romance, I love it, but it's usually written in a way I don't find appealing.

And yeah, I mean, real life problems can be shown in unobtrusive way but it's easier to just show a problem and say "look, this is really bad". What authors forget about is problems come from something, they have a source and have layers and nuances. Also behind the "wanting adventure, wanting to go home, wanting to find a lost family member" needs to be hiding something else too, otherwise the story would be really shallow in my opinion idk. But I agree that often characters don't have personal goals. What do they actually want? Throwing off the government always seems like an afterthought, just because it supposed to be the right thing to do. And romances are also pretty weird, the aim is just to get laid and have a baby. Also as much as I like romance plots, I also love when the characters have some other interactions.

You like YA but I wish to read more books about grown-up people. And dark themes are great but I need some hope at the end too. I'm really tired of choosing between YA and grimdark. I'd like something without the grimy roughness of male fantasy filled with worldbuilding and dry history but also something without black and white morality and always right MC who fights for everyone that's common in female fantasy.

Also, I'm super interested in you favourite books!

[panlight]

can I be anon pls? i saw an old post where you said you weren't 'shippy' and i'm just wondering, not to be rude, but what's the point of fandom if you're not shipping characters? that's like . . . the whole thing isn't it?

Not rude at all! It sure seems to be the way a lot of people engage in fandom!

For me, though, what I mean about not being shippy is that I personally tend to not get super invested in romantic pairings. Tell me the story, and then I'll decide if I like it or not, but I very rarely find myself screaming at the TV/Book/Whatever "JUST KISS ALREADY!!" If I am going to 'ship' something, it's usually me being like "oh, this Established Couple is very cute" but the "will they/won't they" pairings or love triangles don't interest me much. So in Twilight or the The Hunger Games it was never like, "omg I hope she picks Edward/Jacob/Peeta/Gale!!" I was curious about where the story might go, but I wasn't ever actively cheering for one over the other.

I really loved The Good Place, but got just the tiniest bit annoyed in later seasons when most of the mains got paired off because I liked the ensemble. But it didn't ruin it or anything, I just didn't super care about any of the pairings. I wasn't watching it for romance, I liked the unique setting, the lore, the characters as individuals and as a group.

Another example is Good Omens (what's with the 'Good' theme?). I loved the first season. Loved the lore, loved all the fun characters, loved Aziraphale and Crowley's relationship over the millennia, all great. I was kind of bored with the second season, though, because it became much more insular, much more 'the Aziraphale and Crowley show,' which a lot of people already saw it as, but I hadn't seen it that way previously. I missed the bigger plot, higher stakes and larger ensemble of the first season.

In fandom spaces I'm just generally more interested in lore, in backstory, in characters as individuals or ensembles than I am in romantic pairings. I don't dislike the romance! But I tend to prefer it as part of a larger overall plot rather than the main focus. "Why did you even read Twilight, then?" you ask. I was reading it as a vampire story, not as a romance. I sort of naively thought after the first book established E/B as a couple the other books would be more about their adventures navigating the vampire world. It didn't really go that way, obviously, but by then I was invested in the (mostly secondary) characters so I persisted, and the lore is interesting, even if I interpreted the vampires as darker and sadder than the happy ending suggests.

[maagicmushies]

Nen Talks #3 Kurapika

Hey. You got a free hour or two to spare? If not, fuck off because we're talking about Kurapika's abilities, their symbolism and their connection to his story line and this will be a yap session because he is one of the most storied characters in the series with the highest number of abilities.

So, I think for Kurapika it mostly makes sense to talk about how Nen abilities in chronological order, starting with the Dousing Chain. It's a silver chain with a ball at the end attached to his ring and while it is Kurapika's main chain for combat, the real interesting thing is that the name isn't just for show. Dousing Chain can be used to read maps and tell lies. We're already starting strong because Kurapika is someone who HATES being lied to or even having information withheld for him. All hunters are greedy to an extent, because to be a hunter means to constantly want something that you don't have. Kurapika is this with information, he (unintentionally) compromised the safety of his entire clan just because he wanted to experience more, learn more. The Dousing Chain is this hunger for knowledge taken to it's full form. You cannot lie to Kurapika, nor can you hide anything from him.

His next chain is the Chain Jail on his middle finger and no, I don't think that is a coincidence. It's a gesture brimming with spite and anger and how Kurapika binds the Phantom Troupe. There is more to say about Chain Jail, but it's better saved for a little later on. Next up is the Holy Chain, allowing Kurapika to heal himself or others. This one is almost purely subtext, but Kurapika has a lot of holy themes tied to him. He wears a monk's garb as his primary design for the Yorkshin arc and his primary adversary, Chrollo, has a lot of "anti-christ" theming going on with that evil bible, a cloak adorned with St. Peter's Cross and his twelve disciples. Kurapika is the holy soldier on a mission of righteousness while Chrollo is the embodiment of everything that Kurapika strives to avoid.

The turning point in Kurapika's abilities is the reveal of Emperor Time. It's not a chain, but instead a state he enters when his emotions reach a fever pitch and his eyes go scarlet. Instead of Kurapika being a Conjurer with 100% potential in conjuration with diminishing returns everywhere, it turns him into a specialist with 100% potential everywhere. This is the ability of someone who wants to do everything on their own. Hunter x Hunter's cast is initially set up like one of Togashi's previous works, Yu Yu Hakusho where everyone has their own strengths and no one can truly do anything on their own. However, Kurapika defies this, breaking away from everyone and trying to find any way to be his own team. It's not that he's selfish, it's just that this is HIS holy war and doesn't see the need to drag his friends into it. This aspect of Kurapika isn't just spiritually destructive, but physically destructive because late in the manga it is revealed that there is another restriction tied to Emperor Time. One second for the Emperor shaves off one second of Kurapika's life. As his search for his clan's eyes gets harder, he needs to use Emperor Time more and more. No one really knows how much time Kurapika has left. We just know that he has lost at least 6 years of what he would have had originally, and likely much more than that. After he completes his quest, that might be it. He might just fully burn out. Kurapika has acknowledged this possibility... and is mostly ok with it. Just like Gon and Killua (and his arch nemesis, Chrollo), he doesn't have a ton of self worth, that's what allows him to grab ahold to this great power in such a short time and leads well into the Judgement Chain on his pinkie. Judgement Chain forces someone into an oath with Kurapika and if the oath is broken, the chain which is wrapped around the heart will crush the heart, killing them instantly. I think the allusion to "pinkie promise" might be intentional? As said earlier, oaths and truths are a big thing to Kurapika, so this makes sense but the real tragic thing here is that Kurapika has used Judgement Chain on himself. In order to stop himself from going out of control on his revenge quest, he has made a Judgement Chain vow with himself to only use Chain Jail on Phantom Troupe members. Failure to acquiesce will kill him. Kurapika... still doesn't really know what will happen if he accidentally uses it on someone who isn't a troupe member. It's this lack of foresight and lack of self worth that keeps showing up for him, Kurapika just keeps digging down with no plan on how to get back up and seems to be resigned to the idea that he may never get back up.

The final chain and the one I likely have the least to say about is the Steal Chain. It's his index finger. It basically sucks someone's aura out of their body and then gives that aura (and the ability carried within it) to an ally using Stealth Dolphin. Steal Chain holds a similar role to Chain Jail in Kurapika's characterization, this idea that some nen users are terrible people who need to be chained to hell, having all of their godly nen powers removed. Kurapika really likes this idea because he even uses Judgement Chain to impose this on Chrollo. It fits into that religious theming that keeps coming up with Kurapika, his mission is one of righteousness or at least that's how he sees it.

There are largely two forms of story telling done through nen in Hunter x Hunter. One form hints at a characters backstory and struggles and how they've evolved past it while the other hints at the core of who the character really is. Kurapika's skillset is a fantastic case of the latter, because you get such a vivid picture painted just by knowing what these does. His obsession with truths and oaths, his religious subtext with the troupe and his lack of self worth. It's all communicated through his chains and eyes and this is honestly a fantastic showcase of what a "main character" ability looks like for this series.

[dirtyhancls]

sunrise on the reaping thoughts, spoilers ahead

overall enjoyed it quite a bit - i was really interested to see how suzanne collins would surprise us given how we already knew the main plot points of haymitch's games and it was really delightful to see the ways it so drastically differed, and more importantly the ways in which panem and the capitol were so obviously incompetent - such a fascinating look into a hunger games nowhere near as polished as katniss and peeta's. obviously this is driving home her point about propaganda and how narratives are shaped but i also think it's sooo interesting in how it ties into the last quote in the beginning with regards to what narrative is shaped - specifically one in which the capitol is presented in the best light possible, where its mistakes and inefficiencies are wiped away because it pushes the narrative of the capitol as all powerful and inevitable - empire survives in part because we believe its survival to be inevitable!!! just because the sunrise rose on the reaping yesterday doesn't mean it has to again!!! i am forever black sails pilled but like. so true bestie.

oky for sure the politics and ideas in this message were like. very heavy handed lmfao, lenore's death in particular making me go 🤨 but i think there's a degree i'm willing to forgive this because well, ya novel lmfao, but also considering the political climate today and previous reception of the other books where people obviously didn't get it... well what can you do except hit them on the head with the hammer harder? yes i am always team trust the audience i love subtext but mayhaps sometimes you need something like this. something something challenges of writing a book about propaganda for an audience fairly primed for propaganda etc etc suzanne collins obviously had something to say and said it lol

the fanservice criticisms... i get it, i was very on the fence when katniss' parents showed up but i think most of it works for me - the ripple effect of one lucy gray haunting the narrative, lenore being rebel because of it, giving haymitch the push to pursue that (implit submisssion hello), the narrative parallels between him and katniss. i think it mostly works for me because it serves to emphasize the fact that the rebellion has been in the making for years, and katniss happened to have the timing and the luck, katniss as a living reminder to haymitch of the ways in which it failed before... thinking about how everyone spends so much time protecting katniss from the truth of the rebellion in the later books in the hopes of not repeating the mistake with haymitch probably... 😭 okay i'm off track. i think maybe the stretchiest stretch was otho mellark lmfao but its kind of interesting to see how small the community of district 12 is in comparison to katniss' experiences, wherein she's very closed off

lenore oh lenore... girly you are barely a character but its okay, she's basically cosette lmfao. thinking about brandon taylor's moral worldbuilding essay - the impulse to have every character be in depth and gray and explored flattening the experience... sometimes characters are just plot devices and that's okay. the bigger criticism being of course who gets to be flattened and who gets afforded full narratives

maysilee!!! girl i love you never stop being mean!!!!

plotwise some of it didn't really add up to me / was clearly suzanne collins needing to make certain things happen aka beetee and the potato in training, conversations with plutarch but at least its plot in service of the larger point... yes there is certainly an element of nostalgia factor in reading this but in the end i think i'm willing to give this book the benefit of the doubt because i can see what it's trying to do, which is more than just being a cash grab - like r*ick riordan being a great example of someone continuing to write in a universe with no care or thought to continuity and theme lmfao

[astrxlfinale]

Thoughts/HC on Caelus's past.

Will involve spoilers from Amphoreus.

One of the biggest aspects I want to touch on is how loyalty in itself seems to be a very big deal for the him. For a long while I always wondered what the hostility garnered towards the Stellaron Hunters initially stemmed from. Since from the very beginning with Kafka, you never see this impression that fondness simply went away. For that much vitriol to be spilled in some options, it's clear from the TB's point of view that this groups means a lot to him.

Hell, even in many situations outside this theme like in side events. Caelus's fondness to often contact them, want to invite them to many Penacony events an active side of his heart. You see how in this new 'life' that the Astral Express crew have also fallen under this very particular banner in their current circle, where going out on any limb to ensure their safety would be a matter done without hesitation. Then they hit me with this line that really put a lot into place for me.

Now THIS? This caught me right here, for there's two responses between Kafka and Firefly you can get a glean for, that heavily highlights this.

Now I don't believe the terms they left on were bad at all as like they had a fight. The conditions however of the memory loss itself, and how the Trailblazer's development (it looked like they learned a LOT about life in general in their company) comes to play out. Its similar to any of the other members, they all converge underneath these banner in order to find the most fruitful outcomes they ache to have actualized.

The loss of memories, how this had to be done in general I believe is where so much of that pain comes from the Trailblazer as a 'betrayal' despite being required. Despite their stance of being wayward passengers, they've come to really find a sense of community despite their initially muted background. They were quiet, executing missions and sharp thinking were par for the norm. That said, the search for something very human (a sacrifice I believed was made with the memory loss) was already a part of his search.

___

In general, the newer impression I'm getting on the Trailblazer is how there's a VERY good chance they're a creation. I'm not gonna get into the 'what or how' as that's still in the shadows. Yet, when they joined, one of the main highlights that even Pre-Stellaron, he was VERY capable, to where there's appropriate comments that talked on that matter.

This is from Kafka's pov.

To this other moment.

This merely gives me an impression that a heavy shot of history with them was spent in a more 'mechanized' stance as well. Effectively good at what has to be done, where purpose was the biggest guiding bullet compared to anything else. Yet being solely made for purpose was denying them of a natural, more normal hunger for the 'smaller world' compared to the larger than life executions.

I believe this is why Firefly provoked a sense of camaraderie with him. When you around getting resposnes like this-

Stronger waves of emotion were actual events if they were to be etched on their features. Looking at it now, the current Caelus really does embody a lot of what it looks like the prior 'him' wished for. Recognizing the weight of autonomy, taking their life and basking in it in a way that highlights freedom of the soul above all else. (In all of it's cruel or kind splendor.)

In terms of these memories being framed into this particular sphere, I believe that moment where everyone called to him, glanced back and showed you have a place here is a powerful motivating factor, one that's much more intimate and serves as a pivotal part of their foundation.

So in short? Betrayal WOULD be very big on their list in terms of getting on their bad side. However, to really have that sting be made, you need to be in the depths of personal circle to where he'd actively turn away from any sense of mortality for your sake.

It's an oldie but goldie moment for me here but.

Caelus at this moment was ENTIRELY prepared to make his choice.

Once this interruption came to be, and how he understood Yanqing's hotblooded temperament, he was wholly prepared to go on an offensive that would destroy all heroic repute gained in the XIanzhou then. Even without his memories, this was a severe and weighted choice his heart decided to follow through.

So in seeing this? Kafka (who didn't use Spirit Whisper on him at ALL. Cause keep in mind, she didn't note the keywords of 'Listen to me.') came up with this in the spot, and how could anyone doubt it?

And then you get this look of genuine confusion of like '???' cause WHEN and also WHY is she setting it up this way? At this point and time, it truly clicks that Caelus's loyalties are on what he holds dear, not the freshly made or the altruistic veins. Kafka found importance in ensuring these relations are kept and maintained, this is what a lot of risk was forged in the Script to come and actively create.

And from another viewpoint? She doesn't want him to lose elements that would make a beneficial future.

In a way you can always see that Kafka truly is a soul that's devoted to be by her side, and in kind the TB is someone who truly would risk it all, burn bridges and just find another way if the idea of harm befalling the Stellaron Hunters becomes a very real possibility.

This contention due to loss memories, and yet very real emotions is just food for the ages for me. DAMN does it feel nice to have more emotional aligned insights on this!

[humanradiojmp]

Murder Drones Episode 8 Blind Reaction Part 2

Contains spoilers

Cyntessa’s “kay” feels like her version of “I love doing anything.” so cocky and up for anything, but that might just be her downfall.

Guys, the nightcore song is called “BiteMe!” Can this get any better?

It actually has some motifs similar to “Uzi the Drone Killer”, arguably one of the main music themes of the series, so yes, it can.

NOOO! Not Uzi stabbing N! It’s probably a trap or a trick, but still.

Bye J

I mean, yes, but no. Or like a number of blinks and winks

Not using N’s love of dogs against him. or more like the good memories they had before this whole thing

Guys pay attention! V is fighting the abomination alone!

I like the “Let them swallow you” lyric to represent the solver’s insatiable hunger

How you like it now Cyn?

Bit of a callback to the fact they are vampires, or vampire adjacent. The burning in the sun just felt like an appropriate ending for the abomination that’s been haunting everything

Is it over?

The solver has gotten eaten. And their reaction is priceless

But won’t that corrupt/take over Uzi now? or even kill her? that’d be a tragic way to go. Destroyed the monster but you destroyed yourself in the process.

Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, ew, e-

Oh no, she’s dead!

Nvm, we’re good. but is it over? Truly?

We really needed more Thad, honestly. So much characterization gone to waste

Heh, like mother, like daughter.

You could say their hearts are connected. Hope there’s a proper reunion. Please. Please. PLEASE! They’re literally soulmates.

OMG girl, seriously, OC?

But in all seriousness, the battle scars for what she’s gone through is such a nice touch. Her half toned eyes are there to show what happened happened, and she came out alive

And we all know everyone is going to have at least one oc with this new canon trait

It really is a hero’s journey. It came full circle. Now she’s more assured of herself, has friends, and the colony is safe.

We stan a supportive Khan. Character growth.

Not Doll’s corpse!

She’s still a chaos gremlin

Also can we just take a minute to appreciate how far the animation has come from the first episode to now? everyone at Glitch should be proud of their improvement. This series is a testament to their efforts and skills and it’s absolutely wonderful.

I really like how the end credits show everything that’s happened and how it’s changed. Like the partial solver symbol over the planet, Khan and Nori did get a reunion (YEEEEESSSS!) and N finally getting his rummy game.

DOLL?!?!?!?!

Liam Vickers 2D animation, nice touch

The funeral for Doll deserved

And the kids can be kids now. also deserved.

Honestly, everyone who’s worked on this should get a round of applause and a big ol’ “Thank You!” From the production to the voice acting, to the animation, to the sound and music, to the crazy ideas in general that happen to work so well. Thank you so much for making this series a reality. I may have gotten into it later than some others, but I love this show as much as those who’s been there day one. It is a little sad to see it’s done, but I’m also glad it ended as well as it did.

Cyn lives in Uzi’s mind now

F O R E V E R

first part

[a-bottle-of-tyelenol]

(Going off anon for this one wish me luck)

How

How do you write over a couple hundred words

Like genuinely how?? I struggle so much with keeping a continuous plot and keeping things interesting that i just,, cant. If youve any tips please feel free to share with the poor 💔

Omg hi!! Going off anon is scary lol I’m very proud of you!

I think a lot of authors’ first answer to this would be to practice, which is definitely true and very fair. No beginner will ever be able to write tens of thousands of words on their first try. I’ve been writing for over a decade by now and I remember when even a thousand words would take me hours and hours. The speed and comfortability comes with experience.

That being said, it’s not the most satisfying answer so I’ll try my best to tell you what helps me! Just keep in mind that I’m audhd so some of this might not help if you have one, the other, neither, or just a different flavor of it.

Putting it under the cut because I yap a lot.

First of all, find a piece of media that makes your brain go brrr. It’s a very common piece of advice in art to find a blorbo and just keep drawing the shit out of them over and over again until you’re good at drawing, and this is basically the same idea. It doesn’t have to be a show or movie for fanfic, it can be a trope or genre for original fiction too (I, for example, am obsessed with fictional politics and government dynamics so writing about them is really fun for me and every single one of my book ideas involves those things), but whatever it is, it has to make your brain go brrr. Hyperfixations or special interests are highly encouraged here! The more you like it and can talk about it, the more you can write about it!

Secondly, what helps me is asking myself why I’m writing something. It’s a question with double meanings— why do I want to write this in terms of commentary and why do I physically want to write this. A lot of my fics are born out of my need to fill specific niches. I’m the first agere writer in three separate, relatively popular, fandoms because I saw something I liked, wanted to read agere for it, and realized there was none. I also coined a ship in the Bungou Stray Dogs fandom and wrote the first fics for it after I realized no one else thought of them. I had a need and I filled it— this is what people mean when they say to write for yourself or to write what you want to read.

Now, the more important part of the question is in terms of commentary. Very, very few of my fics are mindless fluff because I actually struggle a lot with it. I don’t know if you’re a Hunger Games fan but the author of that series often says that she only writes when she has a reason to— when she has something she wants to say. I’m the same way. Even my one shots have some kind of purpose to them; sometimes it’s as simple as a character study (or me wanting to force people to consider how I interpret a character) and other times, it’s answering a question or exploring a theme that is really meaningful to me. The story I’m working on right now is a MHA fic where Bakugou runs away and joins a circus. The message of this fic is all about how free will and the choice to be what you want can lead to someone thriving. It was also born out of my want to explore a particularly fascinating aspect of circus culture and my love of depicting arcs about self-discovery and identity!

When you know what you want to write and why, it can lead you down the rabbit-hole of how you want to express those ideas in a way that fulfills that need!

It’s a series of asking yourself questions. Why is my main character here? What are they doing? Where are they at in the beginning of the story and where do I want them to be by the end? Who do I want them to interact with? How do I want them to showcase this thing I want to talk about? Ect ect ect

Using that circus fic as an example: asking myself why Bakugou is at the circus leads me to plan out his backstory (his family wanted him to take over the family business, something he didn’t want to do. This lends itself well to that idea of choice and freedom). What is Bakugou doing? Well, if he’s joining the circus then he should probably be a performer (which leads me to making up an act for him). So on and so forth. You ask yourself a million questions, which will lead to more questions.

And then, you can use those questions to figure out plotpoints. If Bakugou isn’t born in circus and he didn’t become a performer until he joined, I therefore need to figure out how he becomes one and plot that out. Then, I can inject scenes of him practicing and using that as ways to have him interact with other characters!

Which leads to my third point! The idea is to use all of this to make an outline. Every single fic I write has one and, in my opinion, it is extremely hard (bordering on impossible) to write a cohesive story without one, even if it’s only a one shot.

Plotting out each point (being plotpoints and how you want specific scenes to go) lets you keep things consistent and makes it easier to stay on track. If all I know is that I want Bakugou to join a circus and become a trapeze artist, it can be really easy to lose track of everything that comes before and after that if I’m just winging it. I often get really overwhelmed thinking of things on the fly and it’s the easiest way to kill a story idea for me.

But if I break it down into:

- Bakugou gets picked up by the circus

- Bakugou decides to stay because his parents would never think to find him here

- Bakugou joins ring crew (basically like the technical side of circus)

- Bakugou meets the trapeze troupe

- Bakugou tries trapeze and realizes he’s really good at it (meanwhile, the trapeze act is on the brink of being cut because they’re down a member)

- Bakugou becomes a trapeze artist and performs with the circus

Then it suddenly becomes a lot easier to then break things down even more. Suddenly, I have a lot of space to inject other scenes— like him being convinced to join ring crew, him discovering that the troupe is on the brink of being cut and deciding to help them, him practicing, him convincing the circus owner to let him perform, ect

I also had a subplot about Bakugou hiding his identity because his parents are well known fashion designers and he’s a big enough name as their son and a model that he’s scared of anyone finding out who he is and telling his parents (or, more importantly, forcing him to reconcile with an identity he no longer wants anything to do with). This adds scenes of inner turmoil as he decides not to tell people, anxiety as he fears someone knowing, scenes where someone does find out, scenes where he purposefully tells someone, and (for my plot) scenes where he discovers that he no longer wants to reject such a core part of himself.

Just explaining this to you has already given me a couple hundred words! Now imagine how much I have actually written for it!

(100k— the answer is 100k.)

I’m not the most consistent with my outlines ngl and mine are all really sloppy but it genuinely helps keep you on track and makes it way easier to cut things out that aren’t interesting. What I like to do is write out a chapter as just “he does this and says this and then meets her and she does this” until I have enough plot to fill a chapter. I’m pretty good at figuring out how many actions it takes to fill my word count (something that just comes with practice) so it might not be the best way to do it for a beginner. I’d recommend experimenting with your planning and figuring out what lengths you like for chapters and how much you can plan to put in them.

I play DND occasionally as a dungeon master so I got a lot of these skills from session planning. I had to learn roughly how long it would take my players to do a set number of plot points in 3-4 hours max so I could then plan the right number of things for them to do each session. My first ever session as a dm took six hours and, ever since then, I’ve never been wrong in how long I think a session will take. I just need the data to base things off of first. Chapter planning works pretty much the same way with me having a wordcount of roughly 10k-20k each chapter and being able to guess how much I can plan out that’ll fit within that cap.

(This also works for one shots btw! Those outlines are just shorter or, in my case, less constricted because I don’t put wordcount caps on one shots.)

Fourthly, I talk a whole lot and I’m incredibly long winded (as you can probably tell xd) so I’ve never actually struggled that much with word count. I was fifteen years old writing 10k in like four hours after school because I’d been hyperfixating on my beyblade fics lol. It’s honestly one of my weaknesses as a writer— that and pacing, which kind of goes hand in hand with my inability to shut up LMAO

Part of it comes in the fact that I do a lot of internal monologuing and I try to be super conscious of adding immersive details— focusing on the senses (taste, touch, smell, ect). Of everything, I struggle the most with action scenes (fights, as an example) and dialogue. I prefer doing a lot of character work and find it fun to focus on internal conflicts and arcs so it’s a bit hard to give advice for something that just comes kind of naturally. It does help me to excessively use metaphors or allegories— like I use water in my circus fic to represent freedom so I go on a lot of tangents about it (sections that depict bakugou drowning metaphorically, sections that depict his love of swimming, sections about storms and rainfall, ect). I do this with everything and usually assign every character or conflict some kind of other thing, like water or cards or something else tangible, that I can use for metaphors.

I would recommend picking focal points in each scene to really focus on— whether that be an important character moment internally or some kind of setting description that matters a lot to the scene. Remember that everything you say, and purposefully don’t say, matters a lot. You don’t have to describe your character getting out of bed and getting ready for school because that stuff can just be implied. What you CAN focus on is the fact that their alarm clock says the wrong time, despite every other clock saying the right one. Why is the alarm clock different?

Finally, don’t push yourself to write. Let yourself get in the groove but if it isn’t working then it isn’t working. It’s fine to take breaks and only write a couple words at a time. Progress is progress, regardless of how much. If something isn’t working for you, try something else! There is no shame in rewriting something or just scrapping it entirely and working on something new.

I didn’t finish regressuary because I needed to write for something else before my head exploded. I’ve been taking a small break on my main fic because I’m really struggling with where I’m at in it, plot-wise. Hell, my circus fic had last been updated nearly a year ago because I lost interest. I read somewhere that if you’re bored, so are your readers and I think that’s good to internalize as something to remember. People will always prefer reading something that you’re clearly passionate about and writing is supposed to be fun! Every rule placed on it is self imposed. Word count doesn’t actually matter, and it’s fine to just do whatever feels the most comfortable.

Doing what feels good is always better than forcing yourself to do something— that’s really the best way to keep writing.

For me, a lot of being able to write comes with my hyperfixations because those are fun and engaging. If I’m not hyperfixated (if I’m not ENGAGED), I can’t write. I’ve only very recently gotten any kind of ability to write regardless what my interest is, but a lot of these longer fics are ones that I still have a fixation on (they’re just not as all consuming). Always write what YOU want.

Anyways!!! Yeah I don’t know if this actually helps but this is just a whole lot of things I could thing of that help me! I hope you get something out of this jumble of rambles lolol

[oleanderbailey]

WIP INTRO: Into The Vortex

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dark romance | psychological thriller | horror erotica Portland, Oregon, 1995

started: August 2022 | status: first draft

Themes:

☽ - maladaptive romance ☽ - trauma & mental illness ☽ - cannibalism as a metaphor for cannibalism ☽ - descents into madness

Blurb:

Ives Gannet is not well. Really not well. Ives fantasises about being destroyed. Slaughtered, consumed and disregarded as the final act of love. She masturbates to it at night in her flat at Upland Apartments; the thought of giving up her body in such an extreme way. The ultimate gift. She seeks someone worthy of this gift. Decent men are few and far between as it is in Portland, but finding someone who could truly love her and indulge this fantasy... it's impossible. Everyone treats her like shit before they have the right to, and she's growing weary of it. Weary enough to drown her sizzling anger with booze every night. Bill Kane lives on the top floor of his apartment block. He is unkempt, asocial and greasy. He harbours dark fantasies of carnage that for years, he has buried deep. But, as the nights of winter grow longer, his willpower grows weaker. He slinks into the bars of Portland to people-watch. He sits there, just "watching"... until a woman approaches him. She reeks of drink, but is coming on strong - he can't not take her back to his place. She's perfect. If one thing leads to another, that's not his fault. He can't help what he might do.

Taglist:

☽ - general tag ☽ - intro posts ☽ - writing excerpts ☽ - photos ☽ - playlists ☽ - related crime ☽ - related psychology ☽ - Ives Gannett ☽ - Bill Kane

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𖥔 MAIN CHARACTERS 𖥔

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IVES GANNETT

Intro:

Ives Gannet is not well. Really not well. Ives fantasises about being destroyed. Slaughtered, consumed and disregarded as the final act of love. She masturbates to it at night in her flat at Upland Apartments; the thought of giving up her body in such an extreme way. The ultimate gift, to give her life an ultimate meaning. She seeks someone worthy of this gift. Decent men are few and far between as it is in Portland, but finding someone who could truly love her and indulge this fantasy... it's impossible. Nobody seems to have the genuine desire to give her life meaning in this way, and she's growing weary of it.

Basics:

☽ - Name: Ivory Anne Gannett ☽ - D.O.B: 11 March 1974 (21), Brighton, UK ☽ - Gender: cis woman ☽ - Sexuality: bisexual ☽ - Ethnicity: white British ☽ - Appearance: underweight, bulging eyes, un-styled dirty blonde hair, green eyes, slightly tanned complexion, masculine grunge-y clothing ☽ - Medical: Graves' disease (overactive thyroid - causes bulging eyes and extreme weight loss) ☽ - Mental: hybristophiliac, masochist, ASD

Personality:

☽ - Positive: resilient, insightful, brave, charismatic, quick-thinking ☽ - Negative: unempathetic, untrustworthy, envious, impulsive

Quote:

"I believe that the one absolute display of affection is to give your life to someone for selfish purposes. Not so they can do something beautiful, like live and breathe and continue to walk the earth, but to do something absolutely fucking depraved – and love them despite that. Hell, love them FOR that. I fully intend to hand over my life, and then my dead body, so my soulmate can fulfil whatever lustful desires they may have. Even if it’s just once, it’s more meaningful than marriage, it’s better than sex, it’s... perfect. It’s my true sign of love."

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BILL KANE

Intro:

For as long as he can remember, Bill Kane has been running from himself. He blames his abusive mother for showing him the wrong side of human nature, or the childhood head injuries he sustained from this same parent, but no amount of blame can negate his urge to kill. With an educated background, he was destined to do decently in life, until he made the mistake to stop running. Now, the hunger to murder festers inside him, and he is very quickly losing the energy to hold back the tide of violence. One small push would surely send him over the edge, into the vortex of insanity.

Basics:

☽ - Name: William Lee Kane ☽ - D.O.B: 3 December 1962 (32), Roseburg, OR USA ☽ - Gender: cis man ☽ - Sexuality: heterosexual ☽ - Ethnicity: white American ☽ - Appearance: stocky upper-body with a slender lower-body, orange hair, brown eyes, pale complexion, masculine clothing (usually un-styled - think plain t-shirt and jeans) ☽ - Medical: none ☽ - Mental: homicidal urges, sadist, ASD

Personality:

☽ - Positive: loyal, reliable, orderly, knowledgeable, quick-thinking ☽ - Negative: emotionally unaware, rude, asocial, selfish, uptight, insecure, nihilistic

Quote:

TBW~

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𖥔 SIDE CHARACTERS 𖥔

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HOLLY GANNETT

Intro:

TBW~

Basics:

☽ - Name: Holly Ruth Gannett ☽ - Relation to MC: Ives Gannett's older sister ☽ - D.O.B: 1 May 1969 (26), Brighton, UK ☽ - Gender: cis woman ☽ - Sexuality: heterosexual ☽ - Ethnicity: white British ☽ - Appearance: chubby, smudged make-up, styled dark brown hair, green eyes, slightly tanned complexion, feminine gothic clothing (often revealing) ☽ - Medical: None ☽ - Mental: ASD

Personality:

☽ - Positive: caring, unrelenting, positive, hardworking ☽ - Negative: placid, low tolerance for anger, self-indulgent, unaware

Quote:

TBW~

--=.𖥔 ݁ ˖☾𖤓☽.𖥔 ݁ ˖=--

MONICA CABRAL

Intro:

TBW~

Basics:

☽ - Name: Monica Xiomara Cabral ☽ - Relation to MC: Lives in the same apartment complex as Bill and Ives ☽ - D.O.B: 5th June 1949 (46), Guadalajara, Mexico ☽ - Gender: cis woman ☽ - Sexuality: lesbian ☽ - Ethnicity: mixed Native Mexican ☽ - Appearance: TBW~ ☽ - Medical: TBW~ ☽ - Mental: TBW~

Personality:

☽ - Positive: TBW~ ☽ - Negative: TBW~

Quote:

TBW~

[robylovi]

Hi! I noticed we have a lot of fandoms in common (ATLA, Gravity falls, Spy x Family, Ghibli, Animorphs, Percy Jackson, and Hunger Games!) I was wondering who some of your favorite characters are and why! :)

Ok first off, ily for sending me an ask 👆 and I’d love to tell you !! Be prepared for me going off AJSJS

ATLA: Every character in this show is sooo well written but probably Azula. She’d like to be loved. She needs to be feared. She has done so much in order to accomplish said fear and yet, when she does get it, she finds herself utterly alone.

Obviously from an outside perspective you can think “Well yeah, evil will drive people away” but this is all she knows !! This is all she’s ever done and it’s always worked, it always made her father validate her, it made her conquer cities.

She’s not even really able to comprehend why it all came crashing down, she is the culmination of years of manipulation and abuse and her own recreation of it. I want to look inside her brainnnn.

Gravity Falls: I absolutely love Dipper Pines and his overcomplicated plans and his pen-clicking. It’s so endearing how a much of a genuine nerd this kid is. (Also the sass 😭)

Honestly, I know a lot of ppl don’t like Mabel but I really like how they’re both so unapologetically themselves. I love her sweaters and her cute lil earrings and her PIG. They’re such charming main characters and I love how realistic their sibling relationship is.

Spy x Family: YOR 😭 I LOVE HER SOO MUCH ♥️ She’s so cute and I love it when someone says smtg completely normal to her and she interprets it as murder-esque. Also how much she cares abt Anya?? She is trying her best and I adore herr.

Ghibli: Ok so. I have Ponyo literally tattooed onto my body and I made an amigurumi of her and I have a poster of the movie on my wall but also???? I have such a soft spot for Totoro. Idk why that guy brings me sooo much joy.

He makes me so happy, I want to jump up and down at his lil theme song, such a cutie. (Honestly, Ponyo’s theme song also makes me unreasonably euphoric like what juice did they put into them)

Animorphs: I literally love all of them but my faves are probably Marco and Cassie. Marco’s story makes me feel So Many Things in general but also the way he tries to be the Funny One™ despite it all?

The way that doesn’t seem like something that should take that much of a toll on him, but then it becomes expected even when he’s at an all time low. LORDDDD.

And my god Cassie?? She has a moral code but she doesn’t act like she’s better for it nor does she put it over the overall mission. I made a lil drawing of her today and I added the quotes of “I’m never doing that again.” (After she killed a Hork-Bajir) and “May I be forgiven for what I’m about to do.” (Referring to David). Because damn, despite it all, she’s still doing what needs to be done.

She hates the things she has to do and she’s terrified of not hating it. And yet, her best friend doesn’t. Probably sees her as a coward for it. Probably because she’s scared of what that would mean for herself otherwise. I feel sooo much for her.

PJO: Ok, I’ll be basic and say Percy but god I absolutely ADORE this man. He’s so funny?? This series was probably the first I picked up on my own and this guy’s POV just made it an absolute blast.

Also, having loyalty be your fatal flaw??? I love that, I love him. And it fits so well with Annabeth’s being Hubris cause she’ll be like “I can jump that far” and he’ll be like “ykw hell yeah.”

THG: Again, I may be basic saying Katniss but this woman goes Through It. I like how at first she’s kinda similar to Yor in which she takes a pretty average convo and thinks it’s being used against her like “He’s being so nice to me, obvious murder strategy”.

But also fuckkkkk the way she’s doing it all for Prim?? The way she can’t save her anyway?????? The way she survived The most traumatic experience anyone her age could’ve possibly lived through and was forced to go through it Again.

She becomes a symbol for the revolution not because she’s some chosen one but because she’s lost everything and is rightfully pissed at the government. An icon.