#i say like they don't rotate through my head like a carousel

[amoreemioo]

honestly? ares loved his career, he really did. he loved his fans, his staff, his family — everyone that played a part in his success would always have a special place in his heart. nothing would ever be able to change that fact. he was pretty sure he owed them all the world, and then some — so of course it hurt to reschedule shows, to disappoint all of those people previously mentioned. and while that place in his heart would always be there, it was nothing compared to seunggi's place in his heart. he would always come first, not to mention in such a delicate time, you know? ares would be there for him in every way possible, he'd make sure things were okay — or as okay as they could be. it would take time, but ares would make time. he'd make sure seunggi knew he had someone in his corner, that someone cared enough to show it, and he would not be persuaded otherwise.

as far as he was concerned the only thing that mattered for the next, what, three months, was the two of them.

and ares wanted to spend that time wisely. he wanted to let seunggi recover physically, mentally — he wanted to make sure he could adjust from being in a rehab, to having his freedom. ares wanted to be there for any temptations that might pop up, he wanted to make sure seunggi knew that he could always be honest about them, too.

but, also?

ares wanted to spend quality time with the man he loved the most in the world. he wanted to make good memories together, he wanted to think about their lives, together. ares wanted to go on trips, and sleep in late. he wanted to hold seunggi's hand in an ice cream parlor. he wanted to fall asleep with his head on the others shoulder on a train. he wanted to have stupid, cheesy dates —

which is why he was dragging said man to the roof top of their paris apartment, unwilling to let go of his hand for a second of the walk.

don't ask when ares had managed to sneak away to set this up — or do, that's fine. he simply took advantage of his fiancé's nap, is all. pillows and blankets (a ton of pillows and blankets in the form of a fort, no less), snacks and drinks (wine and take out), a projector all set up and ready for them to hit play (seunggi's favorite movie, of course). if ares could have dragged their bed up where without waking seunggi, he might have! he supposed an air mattress would have to do. it's been a while since they've had a proper date, and all ares could do was hope this was good enough. no prying eyes, no waiter to interrupt their conversation — and they were literally home! they could go inside and crawl into their bed with a moment's notice.

plus it was just in time for the sunset, too, which — he hadn't totally planned? but it worked, you know? it would be dark enough for their movie in a few minutes, and they got to see the sunset?

"i even asked for a key to make sure we don't get locked up here." it was said with a smile, mostly a joke, as he pulled his fiancé in for a peck to his cheek, and then his lips. it didn't matter that ares had given the other a kiss on the way up, nor that he almost got them tripped up on the stairs going for another kiss. it's been a while! and it didn't matter to him that seunggi had been home for a few days (at least), ares was happy as could be to have him again. and again. and again.

"having you all to myself under the stars was too good to pass up."

@fooleds

[swaps55]

Swaps! Master of povs. Any advice on writing multiple pov-fics? I'm working on a multi chapter fic that would thrive if it was written in multi povs, alas, that's hard and I don't know where to start. Any thoughts about the process, or any chance you have already answered such an ask before and can link me that? (as always: love your writing. It's gold. Thank you for letting us be part of your journey.)

Oh, yesssssss, I live for multiple POVs! Thank you for the kind words!

Now, keep in mind, I wheel and deal in multiple POVs. For me there is no such thing as too many, which I am sure a lot of others would disagree with, and I don’t think you see it used and abused in published work the way I do it. But hey, I’m writing for free, and my fic in particular is predicated on the idea that every POV is on the table except for the main character, and I will use whatever POV I need to center the one POV I can’t have.

What a lot of sensible people will do is settle on a fixed number of POVs, say, 2-4, they’re willing to rotate through and try and distribute them somewhat equally. The Expanse series does this, for example. So one way to do it is to think about the story you want to tell and select your POV carousel based on who you think you will get the most mileage out of. If you have a story taking place in different locations simultaneously, you probably need a POV character for each. If you are looking at two different sides to the same story, you probably need POVs that are antagonistic to each other.

Or you can be like me and use whatever POV seems most useful at the time, no matter how many it winds up being in the end.

With the caveat that rules are made to be broken, and I am writing this as more of a peek into what I do vs a treatise on the right and wrong ways to do it, this is a breakdown of some of the exercises I work through when choosing and working in multiple POVs.

Be thoughtful about whose POV you want and why. One of the benefits of multiple POVs is that you can get wildly different perspectives on the same series of events. Different characters see the world differently. They notice different things. They interact with their world differently. These are things you can use to your advantage, and act as tools to tell your story. One of my favorite things to do is use the POV of a character who absolutely would not clock the important takeaway I’m after in a scene, but the things they notice and observe make the reader able to clock it. What that character experiences might be very different from what the reader experiences. I’ll often ask myself, ‘what does this character give me that another character wouldn’t in this scene, and why is that important?’

Spend time sitting between the ears of your chosen POV character to get a feel for how they see the world. I usually wind up marinating in a character’s head for a while before I dive into their POV for the first time. What state of mind are they in when we meet them? What’s important to them? What are they thinking about? What drives them? How can you use those drivers to connect back to your central narrative? You'll see a character you think you already know in a whole different light if you spend the time you need to really think about these questions, how to answer them, and what that means for the story. You’ll be really glad you did it.

Treat the POV character as the hero of their own story. One of the struggles and rewards of working in multiple POVs, especially POVs who are not a main character, is that those POVs have to work on two levels: they have to further the plot/character arcs of the main characters while honoring the motivations and goals of the POV character. It can be really difficult to find the right way to line both these things up, but it’s worth doing. If you just write a POV character in service of the main character/plot, it falls flat. (This is honestly true of any character, POV character or not, but for the sake of this post we’re focused on POV.) I’ve done a lot of agonizing over how to center a POV’s character’s own narrative within a larger context. Your character doesn’t know they are in a story. They don’t know they aren’t necessarily the main character. That’s where multiple POVs can really shine: by letting that character have their own agency within a bigger narrative, you can add a lot of depth.  

Make your POV shifts clear and easy to follow. This can mean sticking to a single POV per chapter, or using a clear scene break if you’re switching within a chapter. Establish your new POV as quickly as possible so your reader doesn’t get lost or confused. I could go into a whole other discussion about head hopping and multiple POVs vs. omniscient POV, but that’s getting off track.

Have fun and be creative! If you’re wheeling and dealing like I am, sometimes POVs you never would have considered otherwise can offer you a totally new perspective. My “No Main Character POV Rule” led me to try the POV of a character I never would have otherwise tried, and it has dramatically shaped the story in some really powerful ways. Don’t be afraid to try something off the beaten path!

I hope any of that helps. I love multiple POVs. The kaleidoscope of perspectives it offers is such a fantastic tool that I really love using, and I hope you have a lot of fun with it!!!!!!