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sixthwater · 3 years ago

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Pick A Card - What Type of Character Would You Be

Today we will be looking to see which character you would be or what tropes you would fall under within a piece of fiction, so don’t take this too personally and have fun!

Focus on which picture you resonate with, makes you the most comfortable, is the more familiar, etcetc. Take a deep breath and choose whenever you are relaxed. (Left → Right, Pile 1 → Pile 3)

Decks Used: Star Spinner Tarot, Archetype Cards, Believe in Your Own Magic oracle, Arcana of Astrology, and Rebel Deck

Pile One: Lost Child

You, my friends, would be the character that is innocent at heart, but tries to ground themselves to seem mature. Like they’ve earned their spot at the adult table. I’ve been trying to figure out what trope to assign you because at first I was going to go with "The Woobie" but it wasn’t quite that, and then I realized it’s because there’s a constant back and forth between this excitement (Choleric) and a more calmer front (Phlegmatic), which is actually reflected in the colors here. Even for those bouts that it gets really bad and goes into a Melancholic mode, the purples are here too, so let me actually start breaking this down. Lmao and “Skeletons” by keshi is playing:

Feel bad, go to bed Wake up even worse, yeah So sad in my head

With our 3oW Rx, KnoP, and HiPr Rx, it’s showing me that while the Knight is what’s being shown to the world, the Priestess still lurks in the background (fitting), which results in that 3oW struggling to finish projects. It’s like the Knight wants to be practical and ground himself. He sees things for what they are and ‘pssh ghosts aren’t real dummy’—whereas this Priestess is sort of just whistling in the corner of every scene you pass and flashing things before your eyes and going ‘what? Idk what did you see?’, testing you, like did you really smother her that much are you just pretending like you aren’t in touch with her, because she knows you’re not. So yeah you want to look closer but what did that KnofP just tell you? So this all leads to the stalemate of the 3oW Rx. You just kind of. Sit there and go back and forth within your mind over which side of yourself you want to sit in for the day but you’re never able to really balance either of them because at the end of the day they’re opposites that are difficult to bring together, but there’s another reason to that.

We have “Child: Wounded” and “Lioness: You’ve earned all your stripes”. For the princess card, I asked for which section you’d belong to if you were a character, and it’s the princess section meaning you wait for no one to save you and you can save yourself, but it’s interesting that these two came out together so it takes on a new meaning. This can range from you having a past with actual abuse or patterns of people pointing out the ‘weird’ things they consider you to do, which would tie back into you smothering certain aspects of yourself that you now feel like you need to hide and put others forward. However it’s something that you’ve fought through, survived, and now it’s a part of your life that you either refuse to forget as proof of the person you are or in a way you’re ‘happy’ that it brought you to better people or better things—and as I’m typing this my favorite song “Exorcism” by Clairity is playing, and this part is standing out to me

So I'll reclaim my body and my soul Banish the broken from my bones You're no longer my religion So I take on a whole new energy Manifest a better part of me

So yeah. Proud of you. Moving onto the astrology cards, these are qualities that you would give off or people would pick up on as a character I was SO giddy when I saw them and then realized the colors matched up Directly with the other cards, we love that here. We have Virgo and the Twelfth House, which pretty much repeats everything I said earlier with that KnoP and HiPr fighting with each other. It’s also interesting that these two cards are opposing signs/houses as well. For the waning gibbous moon, it states that “you may be feeling ostracized by your community” and that files in neatly with your child: wounded card. With the lunar eclipse card, that’s usually a sign that during this time truths will be revealed to you, so along with virgo this is screaming that your character would be one that has endured a not so happy childhood, and grew up steeling themselves, learned, and wants to put a better energy/heart back into the world to make sure other people wouldn’t have to experience that Or wants to make sure no one could ever hurt them like that again. Might be a little bit of both, but Virgo has a bad habit of being emotionally cut-off for people they don’t care for and then going All In for those that they love, but regardless they are service oriented and twelfth house is all about truths unshe- ah. Maybe you’re an oracle LMAO. Like the healer or token magical character that ~knows~ the unknown so everyone seeks their guidance. That would make sense with the troubled past because if a young kid just starts going off about how someone is gonna die in 4 days in a specific way and it happens that would probably be very concerning. Anyway onto the last card

The last card I wanted to pull was something your character would be caught saying or ‘an iconic phrase’. You guys got “Get the fuck out of your head: Get in your heart, it misses you”. Really trying to sell it here. Uh. Really I’d be repeating everything for a fourth time LOL. It’s very much head vs heart, my heads in the game but my hearts in the song vibes. Your character in a story has a lot of internal conflict but feels like once they go along on the heroes journey they would help to unravel a lot of their deeply rooted issues and would be coming out a lot happier, I’m happy for them. So actually, since I think some of this is…..hitting outside of fiction, I’m going to pull a positive therapets card (don’t tell the other groups sshhh).

Character Ex: Vanya (Umbrella Academy), Yatora (Blue Period), Honey (Ouran High School Host Club), Forest Whitaker (Jingle Jangle)

I hope you have a fantastic morning, day, evening, night, wherever you are and I hope yoooouuu had a good glass of water today 😊

Pile Two: Everything’s Good Here

Let me be honest, yall confused the hell out of me at first. I thought you guys were the token charmer, and then the dude with the stick up your ass, and then party kid, but I got it we’re good. I Will Say though, that “Get Up And Move” by Kumi Koda was Stuck in my head while I was trying to actually think and now that I’ve mulled over everything that’s hilarious, because it’s not even really for the song, I was just thinking ‘get up and move your boooddyy’ before realizing the “Move Your Ass” card was there along with Hygeia. Quite literally fucking—go do something LMAO but I’ll add it anyway since she’s a good party song.

Starting with our main three cards: The Devil Rx, 9oW Rx, and 4oW. This is pretty clear to me that there was a- Ok I have no clear reasoning behind this so let’s use this as like, an example because after all this is supposed to be if you were a character. You were set up to follow this path, expected to fill certain shoes and fit this portrait or character (heh) that other people had in mind for you and it was difficult, some could say Annoying, because that wasn’t what you wanted to do. Eventually you got fed up and decided uh, ‘well I’m not gonna do this anymore?? Sorry guys’. Maaaybbbeee rebelled a bit too hard, and eventually made a deal that like ‘can I be myself at least if I’m gonna be doing this shit can I have a little bit of freedom’? It’s giving me those vibes. The Devil Rx calls for independence and breaking from addiction but you still have this 9oW Rx, which still shows that theres an input of way too much energy and things are still wearing you down. However it’s being balanced with a 4oW, so think of an equivalent of going to your 9-5 job and they ask you to do overtime but they promise you can have like Monday off or you’re thinking the entire time “man at least I can head straight home to binge some Netflix/straight to the bar to hang with my friends”. There’s a give and take with what’s wearing you down in this role you’ve taken but you’re balancing it out with what brings you joy, and you had to bargain or fight for that. I’m getting a sort of “I’m just looking out for myself” prioritizing vibe here, but it’s not negative. In The Devil card, he’s looking away from others, with eyes closed, who are tied out while he’s able to ‘escape’ if that’s what we’ll call it today, and in the 4oW she has her eyes closed and is looking down. Still content but there’s a sort of distant feeling in all of these cards that’s sort of feeling like “yeah I love you and I can make emotional connections but you’re going to have to fight for it and I’m prioritizing myself first always because why wouldn’t I?”. Which like, after a hypothetical childhood like that yeah why wouldn’t you. So combined with this Judge in shadow, I don’t think it’s a misuse of authority or being a prick or anything. If anything I think it’s either being brutally honest about how the world works (not everything is going to work and people die sally), or whenever people need your skills sometimes maybe you don’t actually try as hard as you should. That would probably be the misuse of authority. Now I’m understanding why I wanted to put this song on—Up To No Good by The Hoosiers, it’s a song about a man cheating on a girl so it didn’t fit but he keeps telling her that she’s foolish for just trusting him despite all the signs and kinda mocks her tbh.

I don't wanna be the one to tell you the world is broke But you're so innocent you cannot separate fire from the smoke Words drip like honey dear how sweet it is to hear But not everything that you are presented is as it appears

I’m getting like a child prodigy that is a Huge smart-ass and would rather being doing ‘more interesting’ stuff than their supposed job most of the time. Like ‘yeah yeah this has to be done or it’ll cause a rip in our galaxy I’ll get to it before 5 leave me alone’ and you pass out for uh eight hours, very stressful for everyone involved. You’re fun to be around though when there isn’t something important going on.

For the section you’d belong to we have “Universe: we’re all just stardust”, which is in the mermaid set. Which makes sense combined with the rest of your cards. It is said that “the mermaid finds her voice in this one” which I think is quite neat since the whole story up there speaks about creating your own path. On the other hand, this stardust card talks about understanding that we are all connected and that we must all help each other and do our part as there are bigger things besides us within this universe, since we are mere specks or dots on a map. I think this Really makes sense because if someone is weighed down with such a heavy burden or important role from childhood, then they would immediately understand how small we as humans are or how complex the world is. Especially if it’s a role they mastered. Thank god I watch anime or I really would’ve been stumped on this. SO! The astrology cards that I was laughing at earlier. Fifth House, Neptune, Hygeia, and the Twelfth House. This is actually hilarious you are definitely a character that the majority audience would fall for LMAO. So with Neptune and Twelfth House, this an obvious sign that

1. Your character would be capable of many things that they would choose to hide from nearly everyone they meet for various reasons (don’t ask me to do it, treat me like anyone else, a sore spot, etcetc),

2. Your character is insanely gifted and looks like they’re working magic to the untrained eye but they’re just well-known/chosen for a reason

3. Got some escapism problems

What do you use for that escapism?? Well we got the fifth house right there. You Love To Do Anything that stimulates those little brain cells of yours. Party? Ok. Flings? Ok. Those little already made cross stitches that you find in Michaels? Ok. Whatever you can do that doesn’t involve your job you’re gonna do it. Hell I can even see oversleeping since there’s Hygeia asking you to get yourself together and get a schedule put in for yourself along with the aggressive “Get the fuck outside”. Which is interesting because I was asking for what You would say. So in one sense I think you would be well aware that you’re slipping or being a little lazy, but then again, your job is stressful ☹ we gotta hit the boop boop button and cause the serotonin for two more hours you know.

Character Ex: Lavi (D. Gray-Man), Break (Pandora Hearts), Killua (Hunter x Hunter), Klaus (Umbrella Academy)

I hope you have a fantastic morning, day, evening, night, wherever you are and I hope yoooouuu get that schedule set in place, I have heavy 6th house placements I can help 😉

Pile Three: #iconik

Yes I have a biased pile No do not tell the other piles. Pile three….the amount of youtube essays that would be made about you……the way you would impact a generation that is way after your time…..the way you would divide the media…..your impact truly. Congratulations, you are the Token Mean Girl Pile!!! However at the end of the day, everyone (the media) falls for you so like? You’re winning anyway. You will never be seen slipping unless karma comes for you like it does every morning as if breakfast is served. Let’s get into it

To start off with our main three we have: The Lovers, 7oP Rx, and Justice. Alright, so this confused me at first because I thought you were the second love interest doomed to fail and well you Are, but Definitely not in the way I thought you were. The Lovers is sort of like, your front. You present yourself as this doe-eyed, fresh, and sort of innocent individual who would always put their partner first. It’s also the very first thing that others notice about you as well, there’s an immediate attraction that people would (well, other characters) catch and they think you’d be the perfect partner even though they know Nothing about you, but that’s perfect for you and you use that to your advantage. You can play the part and you’re emotionally intelligent—you know what people need and can sense how to operate with different people. Some 7th house energy going on here. Relationships are very important to you but not in a love way, it’s just that you know connections are extremely important for. Well, everything. Careers, Status, Opportunities—the people you know truly can change your life overnight so where’s the harm in just ‘playing nice’. Which is where the 7oP Rx comes into play. There is a lot of work put into things that ultimately, don’t stay in your life and will fall apart rather quickly because lies don’t stay hidden, no matter how well you think you can hide them. It’s a wasted investment considering it’s for something that you’re dipping your toes in to see if there’s a short-term win or to see if you can get a long-term connection, but that connection will be lost if you screw over the person you used to get there so either way? Hard work for nothing. So then we have the very interesting Justice card. This card plays out in two ways. One way is, very obvious, karma will come back to bite you in the butt. You come at someone with ill intent, then that will be served right back at you at some point. The second way, though, is that with your general honest composition, you get rewarded by the universe for not putting up with shit whenever people with even shittier intentions with you hurt you. Let me explain

For your archetype, we have “Bully”. Haha! Oh my god and “Crowded” by Jeannie Ortega started playing. Anyway, this fits right into your character trope that you come off as an extremely intimidating person. You’re not afraid to say what everyone would usually say behind closed doors or after that person is gone. Look up any clip of Fallon Carrington from Dynasty when she interacts with her step-mother or…well anyone, and that’s the energy that this card gives off. At the same time, this gives you the ability to confront your inner demons and whatever deeply rooted issues that causes a lot of your problems that you might deflect onto others. It gives you the strength to fight a lot of your battles. Which only adds onto that intimidating energy. If people aren’t used to talking to someone that will straight up tell you “hey you did this wrong you’re looking a little ugly also don’t touch me” then they’re probably not going to want to be around them lmao. However, at the same time that if you’re being an ass and causing conflict in other people’s life, since you’re willing to confront others when they’re being assholes or doing something that even You wouldn’t do, when you’re being horrifically wrong, then the world will come to protect you and deal out karma for you and hand you your Justice at the same time. Which is why this Justice card was very interesting to come up, as this happens with all the characters I listed as examples. While they ruined. About nearly everyone they interacted with, they also stood up for themselves, refused to take things lying down, and when they were fucked over they did get their own justice with the help of others or on their own. Big Saturn dom energy and we fucks with it.

You were also sorted into the mermaid section with the card “Villain: you can always rewrite the story”. A joke at this point. On one hand, mermaids are beautiful and they’re related to sirens, and they’re usually written as gorgeous creatures that could only possibly exist in fairy tales (Venusian energy). Either way, this card speaks about how even if we lose to shitty events or people in our lives, we can still rewrite our endings to make them better, or that we don’t have to leave them to end in tragedy. We are the writers of our own lives and we can do what we want with it. Now with the astrology cards that sealed your fate and was even Funnier: Psyche, Taurus, Juno, and Ascendant. So with the Ascendant here, it’s very clear that mask/front that I spoke about earlier, it’s very important. Whether it’s what you show others or that people only notice your appearance or beauty first. However, with this Taurus here, while it’s a Venusian planet, it still is stubborn and will tell you off if it oversteps boundaries. It appreciates it’s comfort and finer things, but don’t fuck with it. Having this here is a really nice bridge from the surface to inner world though, because your character clearly is a softie to those they actually have a bond with. Psyche and Juno are asteroids that deeply invest themselves into their relationships to the point of nearly destroying the world around them to make sure their relationship can thrive and doing whatever they can to make sure it can survive and improve. So whether or not it’s a false or real one that brings you happiness, relationships are at the center of your life and what makes you operate.

Finally, our last card for your fantastic catch phrase: “Don’t talk to anyone. Don’t look at anyone. You need some fucking time alone. And you know why”. This is….fitting for either you saying this to someone to put them in their place in a tough love sort of way or being Told this from someone very close to you in some sort of needed character development arc of sorts. The weird thing with this pile is that instead of songs, I thought of more moments and lines from scenes so Absolutely, you’d be an iconic character that would be remembered and clipped on youtube for years. Probably the character people would remember the most even if they hated you.

Character Ex; Fallon Carrington (Dynasty), Sharpay Evans (High School Musical), Jennifer Check (Jennifer’s Body), Ami Kawashima (Toradora)

I hope you have a fantastic morning, day, evening, night, wherever you are and I hope yoooouuu continue to take over the world with that boss ass energy you got going on there.

#pick a card #pac #tarot #tarot reading #friends tried this and it was hilarious but also sorry 4 calling u out #mysticalcreations

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aclosetfan · 3 years ago

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Hey-oo! How are you doing on this fine day (or evening) I've just started Winter break and omg it's heaven for me. I've got a lot of late work due but... Eh. ANYWAY, I'd like to hear more about Parasomnias If you're able to and I'd love to hear your thoughts on Princess! How would you portray her in headcanons and stories? Apparently, I did forget one of my recommendations, & its not a fanfic but a comic entitled, "The Powerpuff Girls Re-imagined." The story is compellingly different but great.

holy shit, first off, The Powerpuff Girls Re-Imagined is so good. I read through mommy-dearest. UH YIKES! It's super great if you love horror, gore, and fuck-up stories. And the art??? No joke, it's just freaking amazing. A lot of time was spent on these panels, and you can seriously tell

And the number of easter eggs from the original series??? Phenomenal. All the characters, even the minor ones, that make an appearance in just the first few chapters makes my heart sing.

Also, it shares my headcanon that HIM is the reason Professor obtains Chemical-X in the first place! I love when people do that! (the Samurai Jack connections are also hella cool)

content warning to my followers interested in the story: adult themes, sexual assault & harassment, depictions of child abuse, gore, serious body horror, inaccurate portrayals of mental illness (especially portrayals of Dissociative identity disorder). Definitely rated M for mature.

Here's the webtoons link: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/the-powerpuff-girls-re-imagined/list?title_no=30479

The rest of the ask is under the cut!!

Princess 👑:

I cannot stress to you enough how much I LOVE Princess. She's probably in my top 3 villains of the show. When I was little and watched the show, I absolutely hated the brat, lmao, but as I got older, I really started to appreciate her for the witty comedic relief she provides. I especially love her in the Christmas movie.

I think she really balances out the three girls well. She's their perfect opposite. Spoiled, mean, bratty, selfish, and the list goes on. But she's definitely not a one-dimensional bully. She's brilliant and tbh a good leader once she gets her head out of her ass. I think the most interesting part about her is her family life. Obviously, in all the episodes that portray Princess's household, Princess seems to run the roost. She's cruel to maids, demands money from her father, and even yells at her mom, but in the episode Bought and Sold (where Princess buys the town and makes crime legal), she ends up showing visible fear at the thought of her father being mad at her. This indicates to me that Princess isn't as "in charge" of the estate as she's portrayed. Instead, I think her father uses money as a substitute for love to keep Princess at arm's length away from him.

It was that episode where I think I figured out what the writers were really trying to do with her (besides the surface-level anti-capitalist jokes that I love). Stay with me on this, my explanation gets a little long, lol.

It starts with the PPG. The Powerpuff Girls movie establishes that the girls become heroes because the City needs them. The Girls, who were previously run out of town and desperate for love and acceptance, eagerly accepted. However, throughout the show, the City's love for the girls is almost conditional, "You save the day, and we'll love you." Like, the City ditches the girls idk how many times fr, but they always come crawling back. The theme I get from this pattern is "love is work, and relationships aren't always easy." I think that's difficult for the Girls.

Princess, however, doesn't see the Girls' hard work at building and maintaining those relationships. On top of the superpowers, she sees something she doesn't have. The girls are loved, get the attention she craves, and have a strong family bond. I honestly believe that Princess is lonely (watch that episode with Robin and try telling me I'm wrong). She wants to be like the girls because she's jealous, not of their superpowers (she can buy that just like Batman, lol), but the social aspects!

When Princess is rejected by the girls, it isn't just a "hey they didn't let me into their club" but an "I've been rejected by my personal personification of love; there must be something fundamentally wrong with me. Why is it so easy for them? Why can't I be loved?" And because she is a snotty brat who usually gets whatever she wants, instead of reflecting on herself, she goes right to the defense and lashes out. Like, how dare they decide she isn't "good/strong/ perfect" enough! She's more than enough to be on their stupid team!! She's not the selfish one. They are!!

She's enough, she'd tell herself, she has to be enough, right?

So she snaps and becomes the villain we all know and love. She feels the Girls' rejection on a deeply personal level and will do anything in her power to force them to accept and love her the way she sees fit. But, as established before, love is work, and Princess (opposite the girls) hasn't worked a day in her life for anything, so she'll never learn. I think that makes her character pretty tragic. She's a sad rich kid with no one to love. If she doesn't have a redemption arc, I'd see her growing up to be very bitter and cruel.

ANYWAY, I obviously have a lot of thoughts on her lol, but I'll stop there. I hope that all makes sense. In sum, I think her character nails the "love can't be bought" trope. Of course, I could totally be wrong, but at the very least, that's how I like to interpret her character! And I try to portray her as such in my work, but I haven't really used her character as much as I'd like which is a real shame given how much I adore the character. Lol when I do prompt requests people really only want ppgxrrb things so i guess I've just fallen into the pattern of writing them instead.

I think about her a lot, though, and definitely pair her up with Robin more than any of the three girls. I could go on about those two's relationship forever. I've got a story plotted for them and everything, but true to my fashion, I haven't gotten around to writing it yet lmao classic.

Parasomnia:

If you've actually made it this far, lol, the next part of Parasomnia is being drafted! It's longer than I had anticipated, so it's taking a bit of time. However, I really want to get the emotions right for this one.

This next chapter is split between two different times. It follows a time in the past and then every so often cuts to the present. I've got every scene written out for the present tidbits, but I'm still working on the past (where all the fun really is)!

I think I'm going to find a good mid-way point and split the chapter in two so I can actually post some original content on this blog, haha! I don't want to say too much about the chapter, though. I want it to be a surprise. It's kind of a dumb surprise, but still, it's a surprise!

Please be patient with me. I promise I'm working on it 😂😂

#congrats on being done with school for the fall semester!!#we freaking made it man #who cares about late work at this point #ppg princess #parasomnia ppg fic #anon asks #the powerpuff girls re-imagined #there's a lot going on in this post #let me know if i need to clarify or expand on anything!!!#awesome rec btws like wow i wish i was that talented!!!!!!

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bettsfic · 4 years ago

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Hello i hope you are doing well! I was just wondering if you had any advice re: writing kissing/sex/etc scenes effectively without making it sound super clinical and "insert tab x into slot y"? I know there's a balance to be struck between writing out all the physical bits vs what your audience actually needs to get the gist of the scene, and you do it so well in your writing.

sorry for the delay answering this! first i’d like to direct you to @star-sky-earth‘s tips for good sex writing. truly, she is the master of smut, and her breakdown is better than anything i can tell you.

here are some big-picture thoughts i have about sex writing, in no particular order:

recently i’ve been asking myself of the purpose and function of sex scenes. when i started writing, every sex scene de facto had to be pornographic, with the intention of reader arousal. over the last several years i’ve really stepped down from that idea, because most of the time i’m writing sex scenes to

unveil character

increase or release romantic/sexual tension

explore some facet of sexual identity and intimacy.

with that in mind, i haven’t necessarily been artfully describing throbbing cocks or slick folds lately. i’m more interested in the lead-up and consequences of a sexual interaction between characters. i’ve been practicing what i call the gloss-over and fade-to-black, where i either summarize the scene or skip it entirely. it felt a little bit like a self-betrayal the first time i did it, because i always like to read sex scenes even if i’m not reading them as porn. i’ve been playing with a “less is more” approach to sex.

in original writing, particularly literary writing, i think smut can sometimes be a hard sell (see: taking years to publish my short stories, which are all very, uh, porny). i had to practice writing sex as exactly how you put it, insert tab x into slot y. i think there’s something to be said for sex writing that is the opposite of pornographic, but also isn’t cringe, you know? like writing sex that is an honest and loving portrayal of the act. sometimes i think that’s hotter than throbbing cocks and slick folds. by that i mean, keeping the sex scene exactly the same sort of narration as the rest of the story, just another thing that happens in a greater conflict (pwp notwithstanding).

in a romance, sex or the first kiss is the highest-stakes moment. it’s the scene where characters are the most vulnerable. the greatest stakes most stories are capable of are creation and destruction. creation being sex, in either a literal baby-making way, or a metaphorical “creating a relationship together” kind of way. destruction being, of course, death. romances and comedies tend to end in creation; tragedies in destruction. so the first kiss, the first time having sex, and the wedding are all narratively emblematic of one of the greatest possible stakes. death and failure fall at the opposite end of the spectrum.

so, with all that said, i think sex writing very much comes down to the sentence-level construction. here are some smaller-scale thoughts:

in terms of genitalia epithets, personally i’m not fond of any words other than cock, cunt, and clit, with the occasional dick thrown in. i don’t mind other epithets when i read, but i just don’t like them for my own writing. let’s use “cock” as an example. “cock” is a noun, which means it’s either the subject or object of a sentence, which in turn means it’s the thing doing the action or receiving the action (pun, sorry). as the subject, it would be “his cock throbbed.” as the object, it would be, “he touched his cock.” navigating the naming of genitalia is i think one of the hardest (sorry) thing about porn writing. i try to use “cock” et al very sparingly, because when it comes up (sorry) it’s more jarring/surprising. that means i have to construct sentences around nouns which, as you might imagine, is difficult. often, when cock is the object, i’ll refer to it as “himself” instead, which i’m sure has a fancy rhetorical term i can’t think of right now (update: metonym. it’s called a metonym). (and i’m sure some linguist or rhetorician has probably written a whole paper on how problematic it is to refer to genitalia as one’s entire person). for example, “he stroked himself.” out of porn context, you get a very ambiguous image. one can stroke any part of one’s body. however in context, even though it’s not directly stated, we can assume he is, in fact, jerking it.

generally speaking, in non-porn narration, i’m not fond of adjectives. again, i’m speaking to my own style here, and not prescribing it for others. but it’s taken me a lot of time and thinking to figure out how to construct my own writing style and i made the executive decision to use adjectives somewhat minimally (explaining why is probably a separate post). however, when it comes to sex scenes, i let myself use them a lot, as a treat. adjectives can concisely develop and complicate images. “cock” doesn’t tell me much about what image to conjure. “red, swollen cock wet at the tip” tells me a whole lot about what said cock looks like. here, red and swollen are adjectives and “wet at the tip” is an adjectival phrase. developing images is key to an arousing sex scene. imagery establishes physical response without resorting to “it felt good.” there’s nothing wrong with “it felt good” but if you’re trying to get your reader off, “red, swollen cock wet at the tip” is going to do a better job of it.

now to verbs. verbs are my favorite because they neatly package (sorry) action and imagery together. the word “thrust” conjures a different image than “grind.” both, however, push the scene along. once you establish that the fuckening is happening, you don’t really have to do much else. when you watch porn proper, you get however many minutes of said thrusting, and that’s what, for some people, is alluring. however, in writing, you can’t really write that exactly as it happens. it would be “he thrust. he pulled out. he thrust. he pulled out.” and nobody wants to read that. presumably. maybe someone would dig that, idk.

so instead of “he thrust x100″ or whatever, you use verbs to notate changes in the scene. on a big scale, it would involve changing position. on a smaller scale, it might be, colloquially speaking, “hit the spot that made him see stars.” each change, or verb, is usually increasing the tension to lead to the (literal) climax of the scene. the number and scale of the changes dictates the explicitness and pacing of the scene. the bigger the change in a single verb, the less explicit and shorter your scene will be; the smaller the verbs, the longer and more explicit it becomes. for example, “he got undressed” is different than describing an entire paragraph of removing each article of clothing. “she came” is different than describing each wave of orgasm, etc. which you choose depends entirely on, as i mentioned earlier, the purpose and function of the scene.

okay so that’s enough about the nitty gritty of sex writing. i’d be remiss to spend so much time theorizing about sentence-level construction without giving you an activity or exercise as practice. so here’s how you might start out writing a sex scene if you’re totally lost. please note, this is not a rule, or even a guideline. it’s an experiment to help you get words on a page so you can revise it into something better.

try out a paragraph with a sentence of each of the following, in this order:

action: character A does something to character B

reaction: character B reacts (moan, crying out, etc.)

image: dependent on what POV character is seeing, but the point is to pause in the action to describe something

repeat

if you stick to this too closely, you’ll definitely sound clinical, but also if you keep this pattern in mind, at least you’ll get a scene down. when you go to revise, you can move things around, throw in some dialogue, and most importantly, internal narration. internal narration during the sex scene is the key to moving forward whatever the actual plot of the story is (if applicable).

god i hope this makes sense. if it doesn’t, feel free to drop back in and ask for clarification. anyway, happy porning!

#writing advice #Anonymous

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arcane-nari · 3 years ago

Note

[some hc offerings for you! 1.) nari is very good at at lying, but usually doesn't; 2.) she is quite fond of fractals (and other such repeating patterns in mathematics, like the fibonacci sequence); 3.) she does have a favorite creature but refuses to admit which, perhaps even to herself; and 4.) (extremely hot take) ...she actually likes bellroc and skrael :Vc]

Gimme your Nari headcanons :)

1. How funny, we’re polar opposites here. I HC nari as being nigh incapable of lying myself, both because she has Zero skills for hiding her emotions (observe) and how it’s her nature to be radically genuine even if it’s to the detriment of others (Post here). Your nari vs my nari fight!! (jk no fighting here, all headcanons are good headcanons)

2. Fractals...good.... I’m thinking about ferns that curl up and how trees and pine cones are both fractals. I feel like -- maybe her horns, were they more opulent, would be fractals now.

3. oooh, i never thought about that. I think in my mind, Nari would have a different favorite animal almost any time you asked, but ooooh.....

4. oh man idk....that’s kind of spicy..... idk if i can still say all headcanons are valid anymore...

Jk I’m right with you. Nari never stopped loving Bellroc and Skrael, and it killed her to stay away from them, even if it was for the greater good. Having to fight her family -- the people she’d spent aeons with.... can you imagine that kind of grief? Anyway she’s so happy to have everyone back together and eating ice cream and playing video games and that the balance is being repaired while the demigods learn the good parts of modern technology.

#ooc #ask #answered meme #flamekeeperbellroc

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myelocin · 4 years ago

Text

home is along the sky, because you are the sun

synopsis: “if i ask you the question about what you wanna ask from life and how you’ll feel if you let go, how would you answer?”

characters: hirugami sachiro, you, hanamaki takahiro

genre/warnings: fluff, domestic!au, poly(?) relationship [or friendship idk it really depends on how u], baker!makki, aspiringphilosopher!sachiro, just fluff rlly

wc: 2,400+

a/n: wow, how where do i even go from here. this is for you, @strawbericream, the person who created a safe space for me to find home in even before i started this blog (also the inspiration why i started this blog in the first place). all my love and good wishes for you & the path you take. continue to see the beautiful parts in life, teresa :)

Hirugami Sachiro asks you to watch the stars with him one day and the story begins like that.

“Do you even know anything about the constellations?” you ask, leaning back and watching the midnight blue unfold. From your peripheral vision, you see him shake his head. He was probably smiling at your question too. You don’t turn your head to confirm; it’s safe to say you know him well enough to be certain of that.

“I don’t,” he replies, traces of mirth swaying in the tone as he cranes his head to face you. “I just like to watch when the world is still and pretty.”

“Poetic,” you comment, then later chuckle when he knocks his shoulder against yours. Sachiro had a habit to be soft in both his actions and words—something you adored, you decided.

“I try to be,” he admits with a sigh, hands raised in mock surrender. He sounds a little dreamy, you think; fitting for someone like him.

Despite the occasional sound of the cars zooming past your building in the streets below coupled with the constant buzzing of your phone against the plastic Tupperware next to you, the moment you stayed in silence with him felt almost dream like. The good kind, too.

Because at 23:11 in an open rooftop of the apartment complex you’ve been living in, you stare up and render yourself speechless when the milky way above you begins to dance in the sky.

Slow swirls, twinkling stars, and wisps of something you don’t know but think is beautiful anyway. It’s much like life and the world, you suppose. Just filled with moments of things that pass your eye every day, but only truly see its beauty when you clear your mind and just look.

You look at Sachiro beside you, looking like he’s within the clouds and smile.

“What do you think about when you see the world?” you ask him.

“I just try to observe and not really think,” he replies, and you nod because he says it in a tone that makes sense.

There are too many hours within the day where all that consumes your thoughts are questions of whether you’re taking two steps forward or four steps back. In a sense, Sachiro’s words hold a semblance of truth to them because sometimes what you really need to do is just look at the world as you allow it to just be.

Where you don’t question why the sun rises, sets, or moves with a pattern in the sky every day. Why the moon is the reason for the push and pull of the waves that also happened to be the representation of the desire to be “free”.

Of what makes the blood in the veins flow and represent life even if the sight of it could also mean the loss of life.

In the irony of things, your thoughts spiral after Sachiro beside you tells you to do the exact opposite of that.

So you look up.

The stars above look like splattered dots as some merely blink, while others twinkle. You can’t decide which one you prefer; they all connect to you in a way. And as you keep staring, you come to realize that the night isn’t pitch black, but rather a dull gray—because when the clouds of a deeper hue roll in sight, their colors are vibrant.

The wind says hello and you shiver in time with the ruffle of Sachiro’s hair. It looks soft, you muse. You know it’ll feel like it too.

“If I ask you the question about what you wanna ask from life and how you’ll feel if you let go, how would you answer?” he asks, turning to face you.

You look at him, taking note of the expression on his face that sort of borders the edge between teasing and genuine curiosity and sigh—pondering about his question.

Life is well, too unpredictable to ever commit your heart a hundred percent to one stationary thing and expect life to deliver it. Even though there are some things you want, at the same time, asking life to deliver the specifics would be like trying to balance on water.

And as for letting go, well, you turn your face away from him and look up into the sky again. At the clouds looking like heavy cotton on a blank canvas. You can still feel Sachiro’s stare at your profile when you exhale and sigh, “I don’t think there’s answer; just live life and let the current flow I guess.”

He smiles; Sachiro knows you got his message.

“It’s gonna rain,” you comment, breaking the silence again as the wind picks up and the blinking stars hide behind the clouds aching to weep,

Beside you, Sachiro hums.

“We’re not gonna get up are we?” you add with a laugh, realizing his intention.

He laughs, eyes meeting yours in the middle when you crane your neck and do the same. Even under the dim lights, you could still make out the hue of a soft walnut.

The color of warmth—promising. And it was fitting, because you always found that Sachiro’s words were rather nurturing.

“Why don’t we just let the world be,” is what he says as the two of you lack back down and face the sky, basking in the world and letting the current be, as the raindrops begin to fall.

You consider Hanamaki Takahiro as the being that’s heaven sent because two days after letting the world “be” and laying in the pavement, drenched in the rain with Sachiro, you’re at home with your head held in between your hands and a sniffle to remind you of the cold you’re braving through.

“On a scale of one to ten how much do you regret laying in the rain and pretending to be in a music video for fun?” Takahiro laughs as he plops down on the seat next to you.

Sniffling, you roll your eyes and grab the mug he held out to you.

The mug in your hands felt warm, and when you inhaled you smiled—Takahiro was quiet in many ways about his affections, always preferring to mix his comments into bouts of humor, but he was always the one to remember the little things.

You recall that you’ve only mentioned your favorite kind of tea once as a passing comment when you were at a grocery store together some years ago, but every time you’re at his apartment, you always smile when you see the familiar packet tucked into the corner of the pantry next to the mug he knows you like the best.

“What were you even talking about?” he asks again, shuffling closer to pull the blanket closer around your frame.

“He said some poetic shit again and I got carried away, so look at what happened,” you pout as Takahiro’s own expression lights up in mirth in front of you.

“Did you learn something, though?”

“I always do,” you answer him with a soft sigh, bringing the mug closer to your lips.

“So am I the dumb friend that only gives you tea while Sachiro’s the one that gives you life changing advice?” Takahiro huffs, expression one of mock offense as he leans against the seat.

Smiling, you close the gap in between the two of you as you sit next to him and drop your head on his shoulder.

“No, you’re the one that always grounds me back to earth and make me feel like the ugly world is okay,” you confess, craning your head up and pressing a kiss on his jaw.

Takahiro hums, stretches one hand over your shoulder as he brings you closer to him while his head drops on top of yours.

“Warm,” you murmur, your mug of tea set on the table but hands still warm against Takahiro’s palm.

“You’re leaving soon, aren’t you? How do you feel?” he whispers, his hand rubbing your shoulders and chest rising and falling in time with his breaths. You can still taste the lingering flavor of the tea on your lips, and the low rumble of Takahiro talking about nothings in the room vibrates your cheek pressed against his chest.

“I feel warm,” you murmur again, then smile when his other arm comes around and secures you in a solid embrace. He smells faintly like pine; and for a second you slip into the thought that it’s winter outside, and you’re under your covers while the world outside swirls with the current.

“Of course you do,” Takahiro laughs, then presses his face against the crown of your hair.

You fall in to slumber with the thought of home the only thing in your mind.

When you wake up, you’re in bed facing the window. You’re left feeling a little groggy for a few moments as you sit up and rub your eyes, thoughts a haze as you gradually allow reality to trickle in your senses.

The blinds are shut and the blankets pooling in your lap still feels warm. Warm like sleep.

Like the mug of tea cradled between your hands earlier.

Warm like Takahiro’s chest as the scent of pine and spring lulled you to sleep of what you could guess to be just hours ago.

It’s already 12:03 am, you realize when you open the door and take slow steps into the hallway, your slippers making light noises over the wooden floor. Blinking away the lingering remnants of sleep, you peer into the hallway, faded light trickling from the kitchen into the area where the hallway opened into the living room.

Then, when the haze in your thoughts clear, you blink and scrunch your nose when you realize the room smells faintly like strawberries. Bunching up your blanket and draping it over the back of the couch next to you, you walk towards the kitchen in curiosity.

The room around you feels warm; like the kind of warm that lingers in the room when you’ve been cooking all day.

“There she is,” you hear a voice to call as you round the corner and enter the room. It’s Sachiro, you notice. He’s leaning against the counter to your far left as Takahiro next to him stands with a bowl of something whipped balanced in his hand. You have half the mind to ask you why they’re at your apartment instead of at home, but you suppose that because their presence is always welcome, at the moment you don’t really seem to mind.

“Morning,” Takahiro greets as he turns his head to look at you.

“It’s midnight,” you comment as you take a seat in the table on the side that faces the two of them.

“It’s also your birthday,” Sachiro laughs as he carries the rack of what you assumed to be cooling layers of cake and takes the seat opposite to yours.

You scrunch up your nose and fold your arms over one another as you lay your head and face him. He smiles, in the way that’s gentle and patient before reaching over and booping the tip of your nose.

“You forgot about it didn’t you?” Takahiro adds with a laugh as walks over and takes a seat in the side between the two of you.

“It’s still night in my book, so I’ll feel like it’s my birthday when we hit tomorrow,” you yawn, feeling your eyelids grow a little heavy. “Why are you two baking a cake?”

“Because we know your schedule’s only gonna pile up from now,” Sachiro says in a matter-of-fact tone.

“And because it’s your birthday,” Takahiro points out, scooping a dollop of the cream into the first half of the cake.

At the sight, you perk up and scoop a little of the excess on the side of the bowl, plopping it into your mouth. You brighten up, smiling as you recognize the taste.

“Strawberry cream?” you grin at Takahiro.

“It’s your favorite isn’t it?” he asks, despite already knowing the answer.

“Happy birthday,” Sachiro greets in a sing-songey voice, leaning his body forward and grabbing your hands in his. He stares at you, smiling eyes and all as the warmth in his voice ricochets in the quiet room.

“You excited to start this new arc?” Takahiro asks, taking a break and facing you with his head propped up by the palms of his hand.

“I am,” you reply softly.

“Issei, Tooru, and Hajime texted early saying congratulations,” he adds and you beam at the mental image of them. They always did bring you smiles, you realize.

“We’re proud of you,” Sachiro says, squeezing your hands.

You smile, thinking back to his question that night. Of what you wanted to ask of life, and you realize that instead of asking it for something you want to say thank you instead. For the good parts, good memories—lasting memories and connections you’ve made.

In reality, the current you’re on still flows without assurance towards any direction, but for now, you realize—in this room, in this moment, the waters are nothing but calm.

You hear Takahiro scoop another dollop of the strawberry cream into the second layer of the cake as you listen to Sachiro pose another question where you know would let your thoughts drift into unknown waters again.

But in the moment, because you’re home, you smile and tell life thank you.

Takahiro and Sachiro look at you as you stare at them, a dreamy look in your eye that only tells them you’re drifting somewhere good.

The two share a look and laugh softly.

It’s a little past 12:40 in the morning when the streetlight visible down the street from your apartment window flickers like it’s going to go out anytime soon, and Takahiro’s finished crumb coating the cake, that the three of you finally snap back to the present and share a smile towards each other.

Your schedule with the unmarked checkboxes lay next to your laptop at your desk while the plans for tomorrow piece themselves together at the back of your head. Wherever the current takes me, you think.

“Thank you,” Takahiro says, and beside him Sachiro’s smile mirrors his.

“For?” you laugh.

“Just cause,” Sachiro laughs and intertwines your hands with his once more.

When you smile at them, they catch themselves a little blinded.

They’ve always thought that you’ve belonged with the sun.

Thank you for the stories and smiles, Teresa. Here’s our wishes to your future! May you always always tread in the beautiful parts of life. <3

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hauntlikeaghost0 · 4 years ago

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drowning | d.m

summary: you are draco’s lifline.

warnings: little bit angsty but in a fluffy way

a/n: wrote this on my phone so ignore weird spacing but i think i really like it?? idk hehe

༒༒༒

draco’s life was falling apart. slipping and tumbling, crashing down around him faster and faster as time went by; and there was nothing he could do but watch. watch as the rubble buried all his friendships, all his confidence and innocence, all his happiness. and all he could do was prey and beg and just hope that people will forgive him when it was all over. hope and beg and prey that despite seeing his face on the opposite side, despite seeing him next to the people that tore down their home, they won’t see him as the enemy. they won’t see him as evil. but just the battered and broken boy that didn’t have a choice. the battered and broken boy that couldn’t lose anymore.

as he looks out over hogwarts from his place in the astronomy tower, he mulls this over. no, not mulls, he grapples, he obsesses. mind racing repeatedly over how hopelessly fucked his life is about to become. he wonders desperately how he could have possibly let it get this far, he wonders what would have happened if he’d had just said no. surely his parents would be dead now, possibly himself, maybe even you.

now, himself and his father, he could deal with, he could accept. karma’s a bitch and boy did the malfoy men know how to anger her. but his mother, she was the only person to ever make him believe in love, in care, in hope. she would do anything for him, despite him knowing he could live a hundred lives and never deserve that. and you, oh god you. the only person to ever make draco feel as though he was lovable, not worthy of love, as he is convinced he never will be, but somehow, by some sort of miracle, you loved him. you were stubborn as hell and drove him insane but, praise merlin, did you care for that boy so fiercely and so passionately that he almost believed you when you told him he was a gift. he had some bumps and bruises, some scars that would take time to heal but he was precious and beautiful. irreplaceable.

the school grounds were bathed in darkness, stars littering the deep navy sky, reflecting off the black lake as though it were a mirror and dancing around before draco’s eyes. despite the late hours, a few lights still remained, glowing warmly from scattered windows around the castle, inviting the boy to dive into their saftey. an invitation he ignored. although his entire life was constantly casted in shadows, draco still finds a strange comfort in the darkness. the idea of going unseen but still being able to see it all, and, he supposes, it’s just all he’s ever known. he finds darkness at home, darkness at school, darkness in his mind, even some darkness in you, as no one can truly avoid it.

he drags his cold hands over his face, pressing them into his eyelids and watching as patterns appear and swirl beneath the pressure. the only thing that calls his attention away is the familiar sound of your pattering footsteps, climbing the old creaking stairs behind him.

“draco?” you call out as you reach the final step, catching a glimpse of the instantly recognisable platinum hair, only made harder to ignore in the silvery moonlight.

“over here.” he replies, not moving from his position of gripping the metal railing. you instantly recognise the tension in his shoulders and the stiffness of his neck. his mind is elsewhere, lost in what if’s and worst case scenarios.

you take a deep breath, heart already breaking for the boy infront of you, begging yourself to keep it together for him. to be the solid shoulder for him to lean on while everything feels so unstable. “i see you” you breathe out and make your way closer.

you arrive at his side but his eyes stay fixated right ahead, so many emotions swirling in his icy blues that you wonder whether there’s anyone there at all. his hands still grasp the bar infront of him so tightly his knuckles are white and all you can think to do in that moment is lay your, slightly smaller, hopefully warmer, hand atop his.

“you are the best thing that ever happened to me.” you speak out, mirroring his position and fixing your eyes upon the silhouettes of two birds dancing and twirling across the ever darkening skyline. “you know that right?”

you feel him turn his attention towards you, vision locking intently on the side of your face as though trying to discern something so impossibly complicated.

meeting his eyes, you raise your brows. not in a teasing way, but almost so as to open up more of your face to him, to put on display all of your emotions for him to read, desperate for him to find complete sincerity. he only shakes his head.

“i don’t deserve you.” is all he says, eyes glassy but the ghost of a smile appearing on his lips.

rolling your eyes, you reply: “do you think i give a fuck about what people deserve?” there’s a playful tint in your voice, only barely disguising the complete seriousness. draco lets out a short laugh at this, turning to lean his elbow against the railing, finally allowing some lightness to return to his features.

“draco fucking malfoy,” you jab a finger into his chest, “if i could, i would hand you the world with three tiny finger holes in the top and let you use it a fucking bowling ball, me being each one of the ten pins. i would let you repeatedly crush me with the world, which you hold in your hands, because i feel that’s what you deserve.”

“now, i feel that’s a bit rash.” he says, gaze softening even further and a more solid grin making its way upon his face. there’s humor in his voice and it adds a warmth to the night.

“it’s not up for debate.” you snap back, keeping up your serious facade for another two beats until draco rolls his eyes, chuckling to himself quietly.

the sound of his laughter and the beautifully curved grin on his lips brings a sort of joy to you that you can’t quite understand. a sense of pride, not at the fact you managed to make him smile, but at the fact he still can, after all he’s been through. when that beautiful, damaged boys face lights up in the way it just had, everything feels right in the world, nothing can go wrong, nothing can harm you, because draco is happy, draco is happy. it may only be for a moment, a brief second in a lifetime, but it gives you hope, it makes you warm. and you did mean it when you said that boy deserves the world, he truly, truly does.

a silence settles between the two of you and your attention shifts back to those same two birds, now sat comfortably atop one of hogwarts many spires, pressed up against eachother, keeping eachother warm.

“can i have a hug?” a timid voice speaks up from beside you. it’s such a weak and frail sound from someone who appears so casually strong that your heart clenches in your chest, turning your attention towards the delicate boy to your left. you smile up at him as warmly as you possibly can and slowly place a hand on his pale cheek, dusting your thumb lightly over the soft skin and relishing in how it heats slightly beneath you touch.

you only nod in response, dropping both your hands over his shoulders and drawing him into you, so closely and so tightly, he wonders if you’ll ever let him go. he decided he definitely hopes not. instantly, draco is wrapping his arms around your waist, holding you just as securely and somehow managing to bring your body impossibly closer to his, hips and chests flush together. you feel the butterflies fly wildly in your stomach, a sensation not uncommon when being around draco, as he nuzzles his head into your neck, inhaling deeply and making goosebumps shoot up across your body at the feeling of his soft breath against your skin.

“you deserve the world, draco malfoy.” you breathe out softly, sincerity laced thickly in your words, begging for the damaged boy to hear it and willing for him to finally believe it.

draco only grips you tighter, no words escaping his lips but an almost silent sniffle coming from his place snuggled into your shoulder. again you feel your heart in your throat and, in order to fight back your own set of tears that are balancing so dangerously close to falling, you begin to move from side to side, swaying oh so gently like branches in the wind. you cling onto draco and he to you, realising what you’re doing and moving just the same. you place a hand softly on the back of his head, sliding your fingers into his hair and drawing a hum out from the back of his throat that makes your knees buckle slightly.

you continue to sway for a few more moments, draco grasping you like the lifeline he saw you as and you holding him tenderly, savouring the feeling of his closeness as though it were the last drop of oxygen you’d ever receive. he begins to sway you in a circle, turning the pair of you around until your back was against the cold metal railing. you flinch slightly at the feel of the icy iron through your thin bed shirt, followed by the loss of draco’s weight against your neck, however the coldness is soon replaced by a flooding warmth when your eyes lock on his. the amount of emotion seeping from them brings a lump to your throat. there’s still the ghost of the hopelessness that always resides in his steely blues but right now, as he stares and you so intensely, all that can be seen is love. suffocating and overwhelming, soft and beautiful, completely overflowing, powerful love.

it takes everything in you not to scream, yell from the astronomy tower that you could never be more happy because he fucking loves you and you fucking love him and everything’s shit but you’re both in love. so intensely and passionately, in love.

and then he opens his mouth and the words spill like silk from his lips, curving around your heart and tying a beautiful bow atop it. a name tag hanging from the ribbon reads his name and you are sure it will never say any other for as long as the pair of you live, and even then after:

“i don’t want the world, dear, i only want you.”

then the tears spill and his lips meet yours. there’s fire and passion behind the kiss that has him pinning you to the balcony, hands tights against your waist. fire and passion that has you curving into him, hands lost in his hair. but the tears dancing between both your hot lips brings a sorrow to the kiss that makes your heart clench, a neediness that comes only from a broken boy, clinging to you with lust and simultaneously hopeless desperation. draco nips on your bottom lip lightly causing you to gasp softly which he takes as permission to begin the dance between your tongue and his own. each time you go in for more he treats it as receiving another breath of life, the love you’re presenting him with, filling his lungs and quenching his thirst better than anything else ever could.

finally, you pull back, gasping for air and running your tongue over your lips, weirdly addicted to the taste of draco mingled with both of your bitter, salty tears. he does the same, signature smirk adorning his features before he gently leans his forehead against yours, dropping a kiss to your nose that makes you’re heart swell.

“i love you, (Y/N), endlessly.” he breathes out, hand coming up to run his index finger delicately along your bottom lip.

“i love you too draco, endlessly.”

and in that moment, draco smiles. really, truly earnestly, smiles.

his world may be crumbling around him, he may be drowning in the darkness that spills from every person and every crevice of his mind; but, right now, on this balcony, with you in his arms and him in yours, it’s not the moon or the stars that’s keeping the astronomy tower alight. it’s you. it’s you and the love that you allow him to feel, the love that, when he’s with you, seeps from his very bones, pouring out of him and drowning the both of you.

and what a beautiful way to die.

𝐹𝑖𝑛

#harry potter x reader #draco malfoy x reader #draco malfoy x y/n #draco malfoy #draco malfoy one shot #harry potter imagines #draco malfoy imagines #dramoine #draco malfoy angst #draco malfoy fluff

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lettrespromises · 4 years ago

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> LettresPromises informs you : You have one notification.

> Letter object : The tamer of the flamboyant flames of passion.

> Todoroki Shouto sent you a letter, would you like to read it?

@mangosnakesandpeaches sent a letter : ❝heyo! its aydudenoway, just moved to my writing account! request number 1/3 : okay okay, so ya know how people always tend to write like, dom shouto and sub reader? what about dom reader and sub shouto. like, damn as much as i like dom shouto, kinda want to see some dom reader nglll. could this be a drabble/imagine and not too too graphic NSFW? i hope this is okay! ahhh okay okay so idk if you started writing my request (dom reader) or not, but could i add onto it real quick? breathless Shouto is all im saying. im so sorryyy for this being so sudden! if you can't add it, thats okay!❞

author’s letter : ❝dear @mangosnakesandpeaches, thank you once more for trusting me with your ideas and letting me express through words the love i have for this man and this man only!! hot take but i do kind of feel you.... like.... shouto is low-key a sub to me (aside from pegging ofc.) anywhoopsies!!! i hope you’ll like this and i tried not to make it nsfw which was a bit confusing but?? nonetheless, i hope you’ll enjoy this promised letter.❞

Genre : Erotic but not explicit smut, fluff. (Please consider that the characters are aged up.) Warnings : Cursing, foreplay, innuendos, sexual deeds. Word count : 1.6K.

After personally handing crushing losses to many villains throughout the entire week, admiring the hint of a shy smile adorning the face of civilians torn by fear as a gleam of hope while they’re being saved, secretly glancing at the newfound scars worn as medals on the abused flesh of your skin when no one is looking, any hero would be mentally and physically drained, as if your body was just the host of vacuity. And rightfully so.

Thus came the ever so needed tradition of self-care with Shouto, this renaissance of an evening was held every Friday night ever since you both graduated from U.A. No word was needed, the sole acknowledged information of today’s date was enough for the both of you to understand that today had your name as a synonymous of self-care written all over it.

This context explains why you found yourself enveloped in Shouto’s embrace, a physical testimony of just how much he loved and cherished your presence, if you will. These oh so special Friday nights also drew a contrast with your everyday life as heroes, it was also the perfect opportunity to say (or paradoxically declare in a silent manner) just how much your presence was needed to one another as the cons of being a pro-hero weighed on your mind like the sword of Damocles. To put it more harshly, the inevitable curse of never knowing if the day you were bound to spend together would be the last represented said cons.

His arms found shelter on the area above your hipbones, and every time he would let his genetically given large palms roam on this area, he would always wonder if said area had been carved to fit perfectly the form of his hands— Shouto liked to think that perhaps this was yet another sign that you were meant to be, he always tried to find poetic parallels everywhere.

His thumbs were brushing invisible shapes on the flesh of your hips left bare by the intervention of Shouto’s hands, these brushes were anything but calculated, yes, they did respect a certain common pattern— but each time they felt similar, they always felt new at once. The semi-random nature of his gestures were the living proof that the documentary being played on the TV was semi-interesting as well.

You, on the other one hand, were sheltered in Shouto’s warm and welcoming embrace, your head fit right in the crook of his neck, and as per usual, Todoroki found yet again another poetic parallel drawn by your jointed souls. Nonetheless, if Shouto’s stare was focused on the succession of bright lights radiating off of the TV, yours was laying on the personification of your source of happiness— your boyfriend himself. After all, wasn’t staring at him way more interesting than some documentary being played? Nothing could compare to some well-deserved ‘staring at Shouto session’, but said sessions came with the slight danger of being caught, oh well…

« Love, I believe you’re doing it again. » Shouto blurted out which made you unconsciously flinch in response.

« Doing what exactly, mhm? » Oh, the fake tone of innocence could have been heard from miles away, and it sure as hell didn’t go unknown under Shouto’s radar.

« You know what I’m hinting at— staring. » But this time, it was his turn to stare at you, it was a mutual game now.

« You’re saying that as if staring at you was illegal, I mean, looking this hot should totally be considered illegal. » Shouto’s blood rushed under your newly left comment, causing his cheeks to adopt a rosy tone.

« Y/N, I’m a pro-hero, I’m not quite sure I can be considered as a villain… Is looking a certain way truly illegal? Should I change something about my appearance? » His heterochromatic eyes found yours, and a certain desire for reassurance chimed in the way.

« Shouto, baby— of course not! You’re perfect the way you are, I was only messing around, you know? » His desire for reassurance fades away and instead, you are met with a gleam of content as you continue :

« What I meant to say was… You’re so handsome, so out of this world… » Each word leaving your lips and connecting to his eardrums was accompanied with the fitting gestures to emphasize just a bit more the comforting undertone of your speech. It all began with a swift shift of position— you were now sitting on Shouto’s lap, a crucial position which guaranteed you the upper hand of physical exchanges.

« You’re divine, Shouto… » The longer your eyes met his, the more you were secretly convinced that he was indeed out of this world, thus, you underlined this statement by tracing an invisible line from the corner of his lips to his jawline under his intrigued facial expression. An intrigued expression, perhaps, but he was begging to hear more.

« You’re have all the qualities one could dream of, don’t you? » This rhetorical question was signed with the manifestation of the presence of your lips upon the flesh of his neck, Shouto let out a gasp he ignored he was holding and tilted his head to give you more room to play with as an answer, longing for the next lines of your tirade. Instead, the soft pressures left by the pecks were replaced with biting motions, and interchanged with sucking motions at times. This newfound balance of pleasure on Shouto’s newly bruised skin was the cause of a chain reaction— first, his lips parted as if he was gasping for oxygen, he didn’t need it, it was more like a precautious deed than a clear remedy to something he needed; then, his lids closed shut, in anticipation of the bliss which was bound to course every inch of his body; eventually, a deadly sin named gluttony got the best of him and encouraged him to let his palms wander on your derrière. A bold action quickly reprimanded by a quick slapping motions on the back of his hands.

« No touching, got it? Keep your hands to yourself and maybe, just maybe I’ll reward you. » A sentence so embedded with delicious sin which became amplified under the spell of your whispers, right against the shell of his ears. There was no vocal response on his end, only a line of chills from the back of his neck to the bottom of his spine, sure, it wasn’t vocal, but it was such a sweet way to respond to the temptation.

This comment would be stating the obvious but you had the monopoly of the game, you controlled the fate of the protagonists and bent the rules your way— some would call it cheating, you’d call it having the world at your feet. An adventurous hand traveled underneath the fabric of Shouto’s shirt and, on its journey, felt the various kinds of reliefs sculpted on his body. The rock hard sensation of his abdomen against the soft flesh of your palm was one of the sweetest contrasts. Your hand followed a vertical path— first, a journey near his pectoral muscles, and a tragic fall to his growing bulge right beneath you, you couldn’t help but bow your lips into a grin which echoed to a thousand of hidden desires and beyond while Todoroki looked at you with pleading eyes.

« Aren’t you such a good boy to me? You did as I said, baby, keep going for me, yeah? » Shouto knew that the way you would pronounce each individual word was a hint to what was bound to happen, and the precise manner you moaned « good boy » near his eardrum was just a mere indicator amongst a myriad of them that you would not give up on your iron hold any time soon. Your lips eventually met his once more in a heated exchange, the advantage of the height played in your favor to assert dominance and set the done of the secret ballet between your tongues. Meanwhile, your palm was dangerously stroking the oh so growing bulge in Shouto’s underwear— and when your tongue would twist in a clockwise direction, your hand would do the opposite and vice-versa.

Shouto could feel you through all his senses— and although his lids were shut closed, this couldn’t prevent him from picturing your frame towering over him, he would always remember everything about you, even the most trivial details anyway. The gluttony in him cursed at him and screamed to touch you, but he knew better than to fall under the spell of his temptations. If he couldn’t manifest his pleasure physically, he could still do it orally— and thus a silent melody resonated in your mouth at the contact of your tongue with his. Said melody ended in the crescendo of the volume of his uneven breaths after breaking your kiss due to the lack of oxygen.

His cheeks were crimson red, his mouth was set agape to let fresh air fill his lungs again, his eyes echoed nothing but an irresistible paradox of pleading and will to continue further, his head felt dizzy under your sweet toxins which had just penetrated his mind… He was so addicted to you.

You let a smirk grow on your face in response to the aftermath of your antics, knowing very well that this was just a way to foreshadow what was bound to happen : « You’ve been so good to me, pretty boy, so, so good. Guess who’s going to have his reward now, baby? »

He knew he was going to get his reward, but at what cost?

#shouto x reader #todoroki shouto x reader #todoroki x reader #shoto todoroki x reader #shoto x reader #mha x reader #bnha x reader #shouto todoroki #todoroki

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neptune-midheaven · 4 years ago

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Halluuu im back haha i just realky love your interpretations and they are easy to undersand... i have aries rising and my mars is in libra they aspect each other in opposition. How would you interpret that?

💓💤Knew it. Idk why ! but i just knew you have some sort of libra-aries conflict pattern... thing BAHHA

but with an aries-libra opposition, mars to asc, you have imbalance and conflict between who you want to be and how you want to use your energy for the things you accomplish, you want to be peace seeking one way and the other you want to be independent and strong. You want to harmonize or go against other’s needs. This is a really confusing axis to have for an opposition, very strong conflict in your personality. But there is a way to balance this, taking other people’s needs and your own can be your “way out” of this loop you’re stuck with !

#aries rising #libra mars #ask #astrology

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youdontloveme-yet · 4 years ago

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Episode 8 analysis.

This is going to be messy, so brace yourselves. It took me 3 hours to completely analyze this episode, so if there are spelling mistakes fuck you, I’m tired and idc.

This is going to be intensely FULL OF SPOILERS, so whoever has not watched episode 8, better not read.

Okay, let’s start off with a warning. The series is heavily based on numbers and symbolism, which means that if you are not a huge fan of math, logical thinking and finding shit where nobody else is seeing it, it may once again not be your cup of tea.

Well then, have fun with this thing that wasted my brain for 3 hours.

Okay, first scene is tricky, I went back to it a few times throughout the episode, because it wasn’t adding up. We have this tied up man, being thrown in a burning barrel, right? Yeah, so this is basically where the flashback starts. Not when Supot starts talking or anything. This is a heavily symbolic scene again, as it represents us with the meaning of oppression. If one pays attention, it is explained later in the episode. The symbolism behind it is the oppression of minorities. It all starts back in 1984, when the people with special abilities had just been noticed and were heavily oppressed. Supot talks about how at the beginning it had been very hard for those of their kind, since they have been oppressed. And those who were not useful or were troublemakers were immediately being disposed of. Because we all know that humans go to extremes when they are afraid of things they do not understand.

While we are at it, and since I am not really going to do this in chronological order. This is where the flashback starts and where it comes to a conclusion. It is the exact same burning barrel as the one where Yuth supposedly dies. I’ll probably mention it again along the way.

Aside from the flashback we have a very interesting take on Pang and Supot’s conversation and later on young Supot and the minister. Idk if anybody has noticed the camera angles in this episode. They are quite important. First we have the room with the black board, where Supot and Pang are talking. The camera angle is slightly to the left, with Pang’s back facing us and Supot facing him, this, in my opinion, is a symbolism for who has the upper hand in the situation. You might think that I’m crazy and this is just reading too much into, but it’s not, because there is the exact same parallel with young Supot and the minister. Of course, later on in the episode we have the exact opposite, which is the minister having the upper hand and Supot slowly gaining the upper hand from Pang.

And the opposite:

Notice how much smaller young Supot and Pang look and how the minister and Supot suddenly seem more in focus :))

The next thing I am going to talk about is the number symbolism in this episode. The whole episode is based on the number 2. Everything starts in 1984, right? Then we have 1986, when young Supot marches into the ministry. After that we have 1988, when they conduct their experiments. Fun numbers, right? Except there’s nothing fun here. It’s a number sequence – 4, 6, 8, and after 8 is 10, which in this case is 0. And which year is in the present? 2020. Now, you may think that this is just some game that the writers did or something, but it ain’t, sorry. The number 2 is in literally everything this episode. We have Supot and Yuth, who are 2 people, right? From here comes the cursed pattern, my dudes. They come in pairs of 2 – SupotYuth, ChanonPom, PangWave. Except that ChanonPom are an alternation to the pattern, which means we are back to the number 2. I’ll talk about this along the way, but let me finish with the numbers, before I forget my thoughts again. According to google the number 2 is a symbol of partnership and balance, but sometimes it may also be the symbol of opposition or conflict. Every single major event in this episode (’84, ’86, ’88) happen two years apart from each. Then in the house scene when Yuth disappears, we have two plates on the table, who are flipped upside down and a half empty/full plate, which for me, is symbolism for the two pairs that have fallen and the one (PangWave) that is on the line, meaning there’s a 50/50 chance

history will repeat itself. I’ll come back to this scene again.

The next thing I’m going to talk about is why ChanonPom are an alternation. Well, WELCOME TO THE PARALLEL HELL! SupotYuth = PangWave. I know, I know, you all know that. But did you know that Yuth had the same potential as Wave? Less evolved, but the same regardless. Remember that scene in the house, when the phone rang and Yuth ran off? Yeah, that was Yuth. He can manipulate sound waves I guess, as it was foreshadowed with the whole sound equipment he was using for his and Supot’s experiment and we all know that that is how they tell us about their potentials. Now, this is not even all of it. The basic is: the leader, who can manipulate thoughts and the co-leader who can control technology. Okay, from here, we have the parallel of using their powers on each other. Supot had used his powers on Yuth (Pom also uses his powers on Chanon, even though they are an alternation to the pattern), and even though he doesn’t continue with the experiment, we know that he has used it. And remember the scene, when they are eating and Supot grabs Yuth’s hand? Yeah, that is a parallel with when Wave said to Time that Pang could use his ability on him, but wouldn’t, because Yuth makes Supot confirm that he will never use his potential on him. Yes, I know it is not exact parallel, but it cannot be one, because there are many more variable into the equation in the present, than there were in the past. Okay, here I am not that certain, but I think there is one more parallel. As we all know, nobody in this fucking series dies, so Yuth was not killed, he faked his death. Now, you may ask, where is the parallel with PangWave? Oh, man, it’s in season 1. When Wave faked the whole thing with leaking the Gifted information. They are parallels, because the aim of both actions are to provoke their partner to take action.

On a side note, or not really. You might wonder why I think that Yuth faked his death. Well, many, many reasons. A person cannot die to fire as fast is the first, because we are led to believe that he got killed and thrown into that barrel, right? Which is incorrect on so many levels. As I said, a nobody can die as fast from fire. But what if he got shot and thrown in, you might ask? Well, human flesh burns kind of slow and creates shit load of smoke, which was not there. Then there’s the fact that that barrel is not nearly big enough for fit a whole body, in order to do so, one will have to cut the body in parts. Next we have the neatly put glasses on the ground. No fucking cracks on them. Very suspicious. Fuck that, but they have metal frames, which upon contact with the ground should get disfigured. Another thing is that the only possible way for those glasses to be that intact is if the height from which they are dropped is below 1 meter, as we know that is not the case. Another tell tale sign is when young Supot is at the ministry and the minister asks WHEN he got there, which means it was not him who called, which also means that my theory about Yuth’s potential is cementing itself. He also asked WHICH friend and confirmed that he has no idea what Supot is talking about. So, basically Yuth has the same potential as Wave and faked his death.

I think that by now, you can see why ChanonPom is an alternation to the pattern.

Anyway, the next thing I want to mention is the similarities between Supot, Chanon and Pang. I’m going to start off with saying that all of them are very complex characters with very intense inner struggles. Starting from Supot, we have this bright young man, who has a vision, right? Well, he has a god complex. He is obsessed with his vision and disregards his loved ones and morals, because of his ideals and what he believes in. He is also very patriotic and self absorbed, which are all red flags for someone who has a god complex. He is convinced he can change the country and leave a legacy. And in his pursuit, he loses every single thing. Guess who else loses everything? Both Chanon and Pang. But here comes the difference. They are all the same basically, but they have the variables to the equation that is the Gifted program, while in the past Supot just shot in the dark with nothing but trial and error. Chanon and Pang have hero complex. Both want to save the people they love and keep them safe, which leads them to fucking shit up even more. And while Chanon is an alternation, Pang is steadily threading in Supot’s footsteps.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention about the ChanonPom alternation. They have switched roles, as you have already guessed. That is why they are the alternation to this beautiful pattern.

I have definitely not covered everything, but these were the most important parts of this episode. The whole thing was a weird foreshadowing.

Also, I am still not entirely convinced it was the ministry that leaked the information about the program, because it seems too obvious honestly. Yeah, the minister smiles when he sees the news, but like it bugs me… They either leaked it themselves, or enabled the A.G. or Darin coerced Punn to do it. It’s just too easy if it’s the ministry. And I think that it was done in order to lure Supot out.

I decided to not write down the whole psychological analysis I did of the characters, but rather do it another day in a post dedicated only on that.

Ah, before I finish. If somebody may be wondering what is on this board:

It’s the sound sequence that triggers the Gifted cells.

Huge fucking thanks to @thegiftedseries-incorrect-quotes and @wxsuthorn for brainstorming with me and reading my crazy shit.

So, peace and thank you for coming to my TED talk. Byeeeeee.

#tgg #tgg spoilers #tgg ep8 #the gifted graduation #the gifted graduation spoilers #the gifted graduation ep8 #the gifted graduation analysis

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amphtaminedreams · 5 years ago

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Paris Haute Couture Week S/S 2020 Plus a Little Jacquemus: Okay, Dior DID Suck (Part 2/2)

Hi to anyone reading,

First of all, thank you! I have never had a post do as well as the part 1 of my haute couture week review did and I am so overwhelmed with the positive feedback. This is probably funny to read for those of you getting thousands of reblogs on your posts, me acting like I won an academy award because I got a couple of hundred, but honestly I don’t expect any traction when I write on here (it’s basically just me word vomiting everything I’m thinking as if people want to hear it aka. mouthing off into what I thought was the void) so if you did read it, thank you! I do spend a long-ass time on these so it means a lot:-)

I’ll leave the self-indulgent ramble there though as it’s probably not what you came for and jump straight into part 2 of my thoughts, starting with Jacquemus. Yeah, I knew what I was doing when I tagged that in my last post. Simon Porte Jacquemus is the man of the *fashion* people right now; I’ve even found myself coming round to the Le Chiquito bag despite my original thought being “well, that’s fucking useless”. I know, I know, technically it’s not haute couture; it was part of Men’s Fashion Week, but it happened around the same time and everyone was talking about it on Twitter, so I feel like I have to include it.

In a way, it kind of reminds me of Bottega Veneta’s last RTW show, in that, especially with the women’s outfits, we seem to be sticking with simple, fitted garments and chunky, more statement jewellery. I’ve got to say I like the styling here a lot more though, and in general I’m a fan of this collection. The collared tops with cut outs underneath blazers are cool and I can’t wait until it gets warm enough for me to not feel dumb wearing my headscarfs like this; there’s a LOT of summer outfit inspiration. It’s not a mind-blowing collection or anything but it is effortlessly sexy and that’s something I wish I could say about myself. Most of us can only hope to look half as good as these models do whilst making the effort but at least Jacquemus is aspirational, lol.

I also fucking adore this colour palette. I’m sick of neutrals literally just meaning brown and white; the navy, sand and muted khaki is a fresh edition to what is usually interpreted as the colours you’d seen worn by Disney’s Riverboat Cruise staff and only Disney’s Riverboat Cruise staff. And I mean, come on-what is more neutral than typical English school carpet blue.

Next for the whole reason I had to make this haute couture week review 2 separate posts: Jean Paul Gaultier’s final show.

In the best way possible, it’s a lot. I don’t even really know where to start, except to say that I guess this is a fitting last show; a celebration of everything campy, messy, weird, performative, and punk is the perfect send off for a brand whose best known perfume of the last few years is called Scandal. More than anything, the final show represented the range of characters and cultures that have influenced JPG throughout his half-a-decade-long career, the lines that supposedly separate what is “masculine” and “feminine”, “old” and “young” and ultimately art and fashion blurred in the most exaggerated way possible. Sure, there are some looks which are individually a bit messy here but the way they were grouped into almost chapter-like segments meant that when you see them all together, they work. Nods to the patterns and structures that recurred from season to season were sprinkled throughout, from sailor stripes to corsets to the expected whirlwinds of colour. I’ll even allow the wellies in that one outfit; if I can get over bucket hats in Peter fucking Pilotto’s last RTW show, I can get over some questionable shoes here. Middle aged fishermen and boys who liked to pose with monster carp in their Tinder pictures as some weird display of masculinity everywhere rejoice.

Now onto a show that I personally found slightly disappointing: Margiela.

I think this one is a bit TOO weird for me. Like if you’re gonna go avant-garde, go all out. Chiffon gimp masks (I don’t know if that’s the intention here but that’s what I’m getting, sorry Maison) are something I’m not particularly fond of and I’ve never been a fan of the Tabi boots in the first place, let alone when they’ve seemingly been blown up to Michelin man style proportions. I didn’t find the show to be a total lost cause-I enjoyed the colour palette and I’ve always liked that contrast stitching detail, plus the bowler hats are interesting-but on the whole considering how much I liked the last RTW show, this is a bit of a let down.

The looks I included are salvageable but (I feel mean saying this) there were genuinely a lot of pieces that did just resemble bits of fabric draped over each over with no discernible rhyme or reason, so much so that they reminded me of some of the monstrosities I saw at a Drag Race pub quiz this one time where we had 5 mins to make some garms out of loo roll and then have a team member model them for points down a makeshift runway.

Ralph and Russo was alright. There were a few pieces that I really liked but again, I can’t help but compare this collection to the last, where it felt like the fussy details of bows and sequins and feathers and the Barbie Dreamhouse palette were utilised with a direction in mind. Here, I don’t get that. As ever, the gowns are gorgeous and I’d pay good money just to try one on for five minutes but as an overall collection I’d say there was a lack of higher vision, which is probably the snobbiest sentence I’ve ever written so forgive me.

As for Ronald Van Der Kemp, I could’ve done without including it to be honest, if it weren’t for the few pieces I’m in love with: the velvet cape, fur trimmed jacket and blue satin dress are probably my favourite pieces here.

So onto a collection I liked a lot more: Schiaparelli.

The influence of nature from flowers in bloom to insects to the organic structure of the human skeleton is as present as ever, though this collection includes a lot more delicate symbolism than usual. Honestly, the details make it for me; the brooches, earrings and facial jewellery are other-worldly touches to outfits that could otherwise be simple fashion magazine editor on-the-go. That’s not in itself a bad thing! The suits are gorgeous. I mean, I’m talking fashion editor in New York in a power suit yelling orders down the phone while she rushes along with a coffee. A Miranda Priestley in the making type woman. THAT’S a modern take on the divine feminine that Maria Grazia should’ve been going for; our goddesses aren’t women who sit around looking pretty (though that helps too) and place curses on mere mortals anymore, they’re women who get shit done.

With regards to Valentino, which was also a delight, let me start by saying this colour palette is EVERYTHING. It’s ugly sisters in Cinderella fantastic, and we know those 2 were the real fashion icons really. Other than that, I adore the Old Hollywood silhouettes from the gloves to the Liz Taylor-in-Cleopatra-level-dramatic earrings. Everything is opulent and expensive-looking and pretty much what we’ve all come to expect from Valentino. A strong 8/10.

For me personally, Viktor and Rolf was a standout and one of my favourite collections of haute couture week. It’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea and I know it’s at the complete opposite end of the spectrum to what was probably my other favourite collection, Elie Saab, but this is just my style down to a T, the perfect balance of grungy and cutesy that I want to achieve.

There’s probably going to be a lot of objections to the temporary face tattoos and I get that, but I think they’re fucking sick. I obviously wouldn’t get a permanent one lest my mother murder me in cold blood however if I did, you bet I would be pairing them with frilly-ass babydoll dresses that you could pick up in Camden Market like this.

And last but not least (that would be Dior), there’s Zuhair Murad.

Sigh.

IDK, man. Seeing Zuhair Murad dresses on Tumblr and WeHeartIt (remember that site? It still exists!) as a 14 year old was one of the things that got me into fashion, so it sucks that almost every time a new collection comes around, I feel underwhelmed. Disappointingly, the brand hasn’t really progressed all that much since 2013. It goes without saying that the stoning and the embroidery and sequins are stunning and would make anyone feel like a princess but from a critical point of view, I’m just not seeing anything new here. Whereas I feel like Elie Saab, for example, reflected the growing fascination with East Asian fashion and recognition of the supremacy of the region’s street style in his haute couture last collection, Zuhair Murad seems to be stuck designing the same dresses he was 6 years ago.

To pick one example, the rounded stoned necklines are so outdated that they’ve been making their way onto department store prom dresses for years. I get that it’s supposed to be a reference to Ancient Egyptian style and I respect that, I was one of those 8 year old that was obsessed with mummies and the “Curse of Tutankhamun”, but couldn’t it be done in a more interesting way? It’s Maria Grazia’s spin on Ancient Greece all over again. Now I get how how the I imagine very niche subsection of people who are into fashion and Julius Caesar (okay, so I don’t even know if they still believed in mythology and all that malarky at that point in history but just roll with my comparison here) might’ve felt going through Vogue Runway. Anyway, I hate to end on a critical note and so be clear, these are still absolutely magnificent dresses. If we ignore those ugly round necklines, that is.

So that’s it for this post! If you read part 1 and 2, I hope you enjoyed it! As always, let me know your opinions and feel free to disagree. I’m literally just about to start trawling through all the A/W 2020 RTW collections though I imagine that’s gonna take me way longer to do than this, so I wouldn’t expect that for a month or two. In the meantime, I’m trying to fit shooting a Euphoria-inspired lookbook into my days off work which is looking atm like it’s going to be the end of March, so look out for that, and also a review of the red carpet fashion from this season’s award shows.

As ever, thank you so much for reading and again, thank you for the reception on part 1 if you were one of the people that read it. It makes staying up til 3am with the jitters seem worthwhile, lol!

Lauren x

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not-poignant · 4 years ago

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Hello, I love your writing and I love how you manage to write complex characters and antagonists I can totally sympathize with (Augus, my precious), so I was wondering if you have any advice on that? Also, how do you decide on a love interest for your MC? Sorry if this is too broad of a question, but your writing advice is always super helpful.

Hiya

I‘m glad you’re enjoying the writing! Honestly I don’t know if I’m going to do a good job of explaining these things, but I hope whatever I say helps!

Writing a sympathetic antagonist

Firstly, most importantly, they have to be sympathetic! I know I know, that sounds stupid, and obvious, but it’s true. Don’t expect every reader to still like your antagonist, they won’t. Not everyone likes villain, antagonist or even antihero fiction.

Re: garnering sympathy:

Show the character as genuinely vulnerable. (Consider Augus being hurt by Gwyn in the dungeon, even if most of it slid off of him, that gag certainly didn’t). (Consider that even though Eran is Mosk’s captor and actually not a very nice person, we understand his motivations for being mean - he has lost his entire family, and he believes Mosk is the reason. He’s shown experiencing constant culture shock, totally alone, and he doesn’t understand the new world he finds himself in). (Consider that Efnisien is living an extremely bleak life, post violent injury, and that he is shown to be vulnerable to his own patterns of thinking).

Show the shift in their attitude that makes them more relatable, or that gives the readers hope that they’re not about to revert back to who they used to be. (Augus clearly being far more even-minded and less destructive for the sake of it). (Eran constantly questioning how Mosk could be capable of his evil, and double-checking on himself, and it obviously being insecurity when he decides that Mosk is evil after all). (Efnisien is forcing himself to attend very personally challenging therapy sessions, and we can see that not only has he not hurt anyone in 3 years, we can see evidence of a life lived that tries to avoid opportunities to hurt people ever again).

Make them human, create common ground. Show them eating food, getting dressed, responding to a major (or minor) injury. Show them loving another character even if they only ever love one other character (Augus saying ‘careful’ to Ash in Shadows and Light was actually the moment that some readers fell in love with him or became intensely curious about him - and so while most readers came around to him in Game Theory, just having Augus genuinely love and feel protective towards his brother was enough to create sympathy and empathy). (Consider Efnisien and his love for Gwyn). (Consider Eran’s love for his family). Make it so that people literally can go ‘oh, I eat food that way’ or ‘oh, I’ve tried to hide an injury before’ or ‘that’s how I get dressed’ or ‘I hate summer too.’ Give them details that can stack up over time and create common ground.

In the case of characters who have done absolutely egregious things, whump the everloving fuck out of them. Like, this was legit a thing I did in Game Theory *deliberately* in order to create increased sympathy for Augus. Even people who have the most intense revenge fantasies re: a character burn out on them after a while. A person who is like ‘yeah I can’t wait to see them tortured and suffering and going through awful pain’ will, very often, get that and realise they didn’t want that much of it. And they will turn to sympathy instead. It’s worked an absolute fucking treat with Augus and Efnisien in particular.

Have someone who is worse opposite your antagonist. (Augus had the Nightingale. Eran has Olphix and Davix and, well, Mosk’s entire family. Efnisien has Crielle and Lludd). Give your villain a villain.

That’s it. You don’t have to make them ‘good.’ You don’t have to rationalise what they did. You don’t have to make excuses for what they’ve done or what they’ll do in the future. Your readers can make up their own minds on that, and they will, with or without your guidance. Augus can still be a waterhorse that eats people and sometimes uses compulsions because he’s impatient. Gwyn can still just straight up murder people without giving them much (or any) warning first.

When you don’t encourage sympathy based on a ‘good/bad’ binary, you can still have your antagonists and villains kind of stay where they are. They might do heroic things, they might do villainous things, the point of empathy is that they’re often doing and thinking relatable things, even if the subsequent actions aren’t themselves relatable.

I don’t do these things for villains that I don’t want to be sympathetic. But I must admit, I am enjoying showing different facets of Davix in The Ice Plague, even though I don’t really intend for him to be a transformed villain or anything.

Deciding on a love interest

This one is harder. Mostly because in some ways, it’s ‘simpler’ on the surface. All you’re doing is looking for a character who has qualities that strengthen your other character, and balance out the imbalances in your primary character and vice versa. They will need to have some things in common too. They also need to get along, and have a reason to get along (especially if it’s rivals to lovers).

Like, it’s hard to describe how I do this because I don’t spend a lot of time on this part. I tend to just...idk, ‘know’ what another character needs and build off that. And that’s fucking useless to break down for other people. BUT, it does mean I can at least use my doofuses as examples:

Augus and Gwyn: They are both people who favour diplomacy over war, but can be extraordinarily bloodthirsty when a situation calls for it, and they’re both actually pretty snarky and bitchy people (things in common). Augus is proud of his sexuality and does not see the point in not fully embracing who you are as a monster, Gwyn rejects his monstrous self and is not proud of his sexuality or his role as a sub (Augus strengthens Gwyn in this, and complements what Gwyn lacks). Gwyn is extremely bold and secure in his ability to manage a Kingdom and also protect his loved ones, he is very able to step forwards into his future decisively, fully confident in his ability to do what is best for the people around him and the nation (Gwyn strengthens Augus in this, and complements Augus’ insecurities in this area).

You can find lots of other examples of complementary traits in Augus and Gwyn in particular (Augus had a happier family, Gwyn didn’t. Gwyn has military and physical training, Augus mostly hasn’t. Augus understands fashion and courtiers, Gwyn doesn’t. Gwyn understands tracking and large-scale military operations, Augus doesn’t. Augus understands finer interpersonal relationships, Gwyn doesn’t. Gwyn understands politicking that’s specifically malicious or manipulative (like the Raven Prince, Augus doesn’t).

Mosk and Eran: They are both people who are extremely determined and share a common goal (Mosk took a little while to get online with that goal, but okay). They are both actually very earnest at their hearts and want people to be happy with them, and they both need guidance from people in positions of authority. They’re both hot-headed (in different ways, but they both absolutely fly off the handle all the fucking time). Ultimately, they want to feel warm and supported (things in common).

Mosk is extremely aesthetic and cares for beautiful things and scenery, at all times, he tends to tune into an environment based on its beauty, Eran on the other hand tends to be a bit stuck in the past, and isn’t always quick to see the beauty in the present. (Mosk enriches Eran’s life in the present, but helping him to focus on what might be beautiful in the present). Eran likes to feel as though he’s helping people and he needs to feel needed, Mosk needs someone to take care of him (Eran enriching Mosk).

Tbh you could come up with a lot of examples. Places where they ‘complement’ each other are also places of potential conflict. Eran being hopeful and optimistic is definitely a point of contention between Mosk and Eran when it clashes against Mosk’s pessimism, even though it’s good for Mosk to be around more hopeful attitudes, and it’s good for Eran to be more realistic sometimes.

ANYWAY. Basically, yeah, I... this second part I’m a lot worse at, sorry. The process of coming up with love interests is very organic, and I don’t actually like, sit down and plan these things. Which means I don’t have a formula to share. (I am very much just making shit up as I go).

Idk if any of that is helpful, but I hope it is. <333

Please don’t listen to my writing advice lol.

#asks and answers #dodgy advice #pia on writing #pia on characterisation #fae tales #i feel like i've answered a lot of comments and asks in the past #about how characters have opposing views #or skills #that actually marry up really well together #in fanfiction #Jack and Pitch were probably the most obvious ones for this #i can't believe how long this post is #you know other authors could say this in like 10 lines?#amazing #wanderinggods

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