#it’s too enmeshed

[ninawolv3rina]

I know Javier (the crab guy) is technically for a futuristic/sci-fi thing but I was wondering if you've ever thought about repurposing him into a setting like Duffy's, or Look Into Her Many Eyes.

Also, a broader version of that question is, how do you know when a character isn't meshing well into a story/setting and whether you should scrap them entirely or find another way to repurpose them?

What helps you determine if a character is necessary or can be replaced by someone or something else? Especially if you're attached to the character and/or something the character does in a scene or in the story.

These are REALLY good questions!

RE: Javi. I have TOTALLY considered dropping him into Duffy’s world. I think the biggest clash would be that he and Duffy are very similar characters and her universe might not have the room for two egos if that magnitude. That said, if I ever think of a brief enough plot for them, I’ve thought about how that would go. Look Into Her Many Eyes is gonna be far too low tech and contained for someone like him tho lol.

Character meshing: There’s a lot of factors for this. The biggest time it ever happened to me was with Harriet - in draft one, Harriet was a man. Her character really wasn’t working out for me, because i felt like he was repeating a lot of the same themes found in Marlowe and Arvin. I had to take a step back and think about exactly what you’re asking - what’s not working here? Is it something I can change? Would it be better to remove it entirely?

For Harriet, the answer was No, I can’t take her out. To divvy her lines to Marlowe and Arvin would completely change their relationships with Quincy, and to remove her entirely would be to remove a neccesary part of the narrative - that not everyone is willing to open themselves to change, not everyone CAN be redeemed. So, i needed to change it. But how? What wasn’t working? I think i had two options - change his personality, or change something else. And idk when exactly it hit me, but i realized the tone of Quincy and Harriet’s relationship would change DRASTICALLY if Harriet was a woman. Like, the tension became less predatory (Male!Harriet came off like a sex pest in some scenes), and there was a sense of wry amusement and mutual respect that hadn’t been there before. Also, her relationship with marlowe became less brotherly and suddenly I had a whole new relationship - Marlowe and Harriet have a mother/son bond without me changing almost anything other than the pronouns in those scenes.

Idk if that answered the question. I wasn’t particularly attached to Harriet as a character, more to what she accomplished in the story.

There ARE characters I’ve been attached to that don’t work perfectly. Usually I can just feel that they don’t work before I even get past drafting. Eyes, for instance - I Knew I had to have a priest character for the story to work, but every version of a priest i tried to slot in mentally just didn’t work. that happens a lot - it’s never the character that’s the problem, it’s the Way That They Are. I more often find a hole where i need a new character to move things forward than i find one just taking up space that needs removed. Idk why that is, maybe I’m more efficient than i give myself credit for. I get pretty brutal about what I feel does/doesn’t work before I even start writing (see: my post on headcanons where i talk about axing Quinlowe as a concept)

Anyways! sorry for the ramble and thank you for the question!

[asleepyyeti]

longtime best friend!simon, johnny x reader

johnny discovers that simon has someone waiting at home for him. they fall for each other, but simons friend has to make it clear--simon will always come first, to them.

Simon is regretting his decisions.

He supposes this isn’t really his decision–Johnny (because of course it was Johnny) had caught him rifling through a package you had sent him, and it had been downhill from there. 

(Knew you had a bird at home! Gaz is going to love this–

Not my bird.

Aye, ‘n i’m the king of bleedin’ Scotland–

Just a friend.

Oh, even better–didnae think ye had any o those either! You’ll have to introduce us to the lass.

Over my dead body.

C’mon, L. T., we’ve gotta meet the only other person who can bear to put up with ye–

Johnny narrowly dodges the paperweight thrown at his head.)

He regrets not locking the door to his room, though in his defence, no one but Johnny was stupid enough to enter without knocking. You’d texted him a week ago to tell him the package was on the way, and he’d been itching to get his hands on something like home.

(His favourite blondies; a balaclava and a gaiter you’d made him; a tea blend you’d tried while exploring Cardiff with a friend; a photo of the neighbours cat, Pappardelle (that preferred the two of you) lounging on the sofa; an envelope thick with notes, all the things you’d wanted to share with your best friend that were too long for a text; one of your hoodies.)

Johnny had made good his threat to tell Gaz, and the two of them had somehow won the war of attrition. Even Price appeared interested, though he seemed to think he was doing a good job at hiding it. Simon gave no sign that he'd been worn down until he entered the rec room one Friday afternoon and told them to scrub up.

“Meeting ‘er at 1830. Leaving at 1730, with or without you.” 

They’d all been beside his vehicle at 1715.

Now, he was watching (and, unfortunately, hearing) you and Johnny perform a horrendously loud and off-key version of ‘Shut Up and Dance’ at the karaoke machine of your favourite bar, and the regret rears its head again. It’s not that he cares that the two of you had thrown your extremely drunk arms around each others shoulders, or that Johnny’s eyes are sparkling with something, it’s that he knows, now, that he’ll have to share you.

“I–I don’t think… hm. This is harder than I thought.”

“Take yer time, hen. I’ve nowhere else to be.”

You nod. “Right. Yeah. Okay. It’s just–no potential partner ever gets past this bit. And I’m not exactly chomping at the bit to ruin," you gesture between the two of you, "this.”

“Try me,” he says, his grin as easy as ever.

You sigh. “Okay. It’s Simon–I’m not in love with him. Before you jump to conclusions.” He holds his hands up in faux-surrender. “Sorry–everyone always thinks… anyway. Simon is family to me. Not like family, he is my family. And sometimes… sometimes you have to prioritise family. What I think I’m saying is, sometimes Simon is going to come first. And I understand if that’s a dealbreaker, but I–I won’t compromise on that.”

Johnny beams at you as if you’d just told him they'd discovered the moon was made of shortbread.

“Hen, that is–come here.” He doesn’t give you a chance to move before he’s bundling you in his arms, squeezing the life out of you even though you make noises of protest. “Thank ye for being honest, love. Ye know the way the L.T. described ye when he was off his face on anaesthesia?” You shake your head. “His soulmate.”

“Simon? Simon said that.”

“Aye, well, he was fuddlet up ta the eyeballs, but–medicated words, sober thoughts, ye ken.”

“Well, I’d agree. He’s--platonically--a part of me.”

“I feel the same way about my family–though I suppose you ‘n Ghostie got to skip the bit in your teenage years where you’re trying to kill each other.”

You hum. “Feels like he’s trying to kill me when we go to the gym together.”

“O, aye, he’s a monster–anyway, this hasn’t changed anything, love.”

“You’re sure?” you eye him skeptically.

“Well, ye wouldnae begrudge me having to skip a date or miss ye on leave to visit my sisters, would ye?”

“No, of course not.”

“So if ye have to–or want to–cancel or rearrange things because of Ghost, I won’t hold it against you. Was that the only thing ye wanted to talk about?"

You nod. "Yeah. Well, didn't think there'd be much else to say."

"Nae bother," he grins, "I've plenty to catch you up on. Let me get ye another drink--Gaz and I got up to something last month that I've been dying to tell ye about."

You don’t fully trust Johnny's word until it’s put to the test.

He and Simon were both on leave at the same time, and Johnny had spent the first week of that leave with his family. During the second week, the two of you had planned to stay near Lake Windermere for a few days, a midpoint between you. That had been the plan–until Simon came home from therapy.

You could tell it hadn’t gone well from the lack of greeting. Simon always called out when he knew you would be home–your answering call gave him the comforting knowledge of your safety. You don’t hear him shuck off his shoes, or shuffle out of his coat. Instead, he shuffles into the living room and all but collapses into the sofa. His eyes are almost glazed over. You wonder how he even managed to get home.

Immediately, you know you won't be leaving him alone for the rest of the week. You're loathe to even take your eyes off of him for the time it takes to shoot Johnny a message.

< johnny i’m really sorry

< but i can’t meet you tomorrow

> ?? what’s going on hen

< simon needs me

< i wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving him on his own right now

< i’m sorry i know you’ve already paid for this place

< how much was it? i’ll pay

> don’t be silly!!

> now we’ve a couple of options

< ???

> if you think he’d be okay, you could bring ol ghostie up with ye

> if he’s doing better, we could stay for a couple of days at the end of the week, with him or without

> if none of that works out, i can always come down to you if he doesn’t mind

> but how could he say no to my charming company 😎

< you are a godsend, john mactavish. thank you so much

< i’ll keep you posted

> of course love

> let me know if either of you need anything

> <3

“‘m surprised I’ve not had the shovel talk yet, L.T,” Johnny says one evening. They’re sat on a step at base, staring out into the woods as Simon smokes and Johnny tries his best to peel a clementine. (‘Easy peelers’ my arse, he grumbles.)  

“Figure you know the score.”

“Aye, but, would ye not feel better threatening me a bit?”

“Why’d I need to do that?”

“Dunno, make sure I stay on the straight ‘n narrow, treat yer lass well.”

“You will.”

“Well ‘o course a will, L.T, just–”

“If I didn’t think you’d treat ‘er well, you wouldn’t ‘ave got this far.”

He can tell it isn’t an empty threat. “There been others who didn’t make it this far?”

“A few,” Simon grunts.

“An’ where are they buried?” Johnny jokes.

Simon takes a deep drag. He exhales even deeper. There’s something like a smirk in his voice when he replies–something knowing, something a little off. “Now, that’d be telling, MacTavish.”

[likeadevils]

See Blue Boy is kinda tangential and important (sll does exist and i forgot about it) but the main story of the project is The Tortured Poet and how he tortured her and won her over then left her alone, feeling angry betrayed sad and more.

except joe is over way more of the album that just the songs written exclusively about him. he's in fortnight and fresh out the slammer and the prophecy and peter, he's there when she says "am i allowed to cry?" in guilty as sin, matty is the loss of her life because she gave away everything to be with him. like the main story of the album is matty, but it's impossible to disentangle that main story from joe. like, in the same way mean girls is about more than regina george, there is more than one tortured poet on the album

[thatswhatsushesaid]

there is a lot of very good commentary happening in the notes on that "did jgy kill jin rusong" poll in the tags, but i think i am finally too burnt out on that subject even to vote and reblog the poll. tl;dr i don't think there is a definitive answer either way and i don't need for there to be a definitive answer to find jin guangyao interesting and sympathetic.

[yuridovewing]

the erins will write the most horrifying realistic depictions of abusive relationships and then go online like "omg we literally invented the most wholesome romance..."

[mellowthorn]

i finished my da2 replay with anders rivalmance and i chose to kill him and now i can't stop listening to "i'm not calling you a liar" and it's making me very very sad :(

[gailiag]

fun etrii facts: her carbuncle, Mimo, is a creature of many mysteries. It's responsive to her emotions, and may become particularly volatile when she's angry or upset. it may or may not have accidentally developed sentience. some of her friends swear that it has upon occasion flashed a full set of human teeth at them, though etrii herself has never witnessed this. she still does not fully understand why mimo can do half of the things it can do. mimo's arcanima glyph is also extremely difficult to replicate, on account of the decades it took to develop having introduced several load-bearing errors. if the lines aren't squiggled exactly right it will not work. it's a mess. but it's her mess.

[hauntingblue]

WATER SEVEN BABYYYYY

Look at robin reacting when luffy says he wont give her up.... 🥺🥺

This is a joke right now but its actually a one piece tenet aldjsisjka

Usopp aksbaksjakqk the foreshadow is foreshadowing... Also Robin being happy with the crew after the Aokiji incident... Fuck!!!!

Sanji thinking robin just vanished or flew away and suddenly usopp is soaring thru the skies... imagine

AAAAARGGGGHHHH YOU CAN SEE THE GEARS TURNING

Zoro talking to merry..... only while he is alone of course

Why are nami and sanji matching ajdhakjsk look at the citrus sisters

Carpenter: maybe it was the government

Gov agent: I don't think so, also don't say that they are everywhere

LUFFY SUPPORTS WOMEN'S WRONGS!!!

Don't scream att chopper like that!!! Look at him... So small....

Imu tease???? (No) (Also I've changed websites again bc the translation is kinda off , I can't find a good quality b&w spanish translation and the colors scare me (i want the real manga experience))

GET HIM ICEBURG!!!!

I truly forgor if this is just a lie about her wanting to find the rio poneglyphs or genuine because she wants to die and will do it for them... because in skypiea she says she is not interested in the weapons so maybe if the gov pardons her but considering what she wants is illegal then idk abdjabjs this is such a dumb thing to forget... like thats important girl where did it go (reading this after remembering and it's kinda funny... i will make any sacrifice to kill myself (and keep you safe)... she goes HARD)

Little paulie and mozu and kiwi.... omg hello (the SBS says the twins wanted to be shipwrights too omg)

Franky's backstory is small but it does so much for me like it is so central to the themes... boats and people...

DID SOMEBODY ORDER MORE TRAGIC BROTHERS?

The fact that franky needs to learn this lesson to pass it on to robin.... do you understand how big this is.... also Tom does exactly as he says and takes responsibility for franky and what he has done... because he has done nothing wrong AND THAT'S HIS SON and he just punched spandam bc he wanta him to feel the pain franky feels... Tom is such a man..... proud of having built eater 7 up with the sea train.... goes out with a boom.... should we all kill ourselves....

I am crying again................... franky my god.... and the fucking frog!!! And of course franky can't stop Tom's hope for his island... of course he can't.... he hasnt learnt the lesson yet but this guy isn't over yet!! He has a life of being a pervert cyborg ahead!!! Iceburg following Tom's footsteps but franky not being able to do that bc of his guilt....

This is one of the coolest things chopper has done btw...

NAMII 😭😭😭

Robin damning the world for her crew when all she has ever done is damn her companions for her own sake.... how big is this...

I can't take this...... it's always nami in these positions... it happens AGAIN in Zou with Sanji... there is no way

The love letter gag is too good like damn that's so funny

AND IT'S NAMI GOING THROUGH IT AGAIN!!!! SHE LOVES ROBIN SO MUCH!!!!

[landgraabbed]

idk why marius is here djsdfjsdf

[bauliya]

hbo supernatural would have canon incest and you know this in your heart

[hellgram]

what's interesting about anne blacksails bonny as a remarkable entry into the loyal hound genre is that she's introduced as vane's attack dog of all people. which like yeah he's her boss and leader and it speaks to how much he values her potential usefulness because it's certainly not her value as a person he has any consideration for as the captain of the NPS (nassau pirates' ship) Violent Miss O'Ginny but the show demonstrates VERY early on that there's no real respect/loyalty between them as individuals (her readiness to abandon him and how effectively he reins her in on pain of death in 103). it's what it says abt her loyalty to jack because it's the intensity of his loyalty to vane that gets her on side bc she's jack's attack dog to the core. partners til they put us in the fucking ground. loyal hound & pathetic wet cat slash paper towel. and that other guy

[aydascomprehendsubtext]

Ive been trying to collect my thoughts for like two weeks now on what sally reed’s real happy ending would look like and I have found absolutely no answer but it is I think helpful in understanding what’s going on with her last episode before she agrees to go with barry.

Because it’s an absolutely bonkers decision and we see absolutely none of her deliberation really - in fact she has a connection with an agent and might be able to get some minor roles! So it’s kind of surprising when you see her decide to go to her home where you both know he is. Like it’s weird! Until you remember Barry is about how the entire entertainment industry is inescapably exploitative especially towards women. The thing is that Sally wants to be famous but tied up in that is needing to feel safe and powerful. Its not worth disentangling the two theyre co-constitutive. And with Joplin? When she was her own boss with recognition and power? It was taken away from her in a heartbeat and there was no recourse. And she’s furious because she thinks if she’s just good enough and if she works hard she should be owed it. And if someone else like Natalie or Barry gets it she can’t handle it.

And so her entire subplot in episode 4 is in this frame the most concise perfect storytelling. She gets back and is so close to the Thing that will Make it Better, it’s the moving and fame and production and the lights flare. And then she meets a famous oscar-winning director who’s working on a project she hates, with actors cast to be conventionally beautiful and a nonsense plot and 90% green screen. And Sally acts for her, assuming that being good will actually get you something, and fails! (Don’t EVEN get me started on the gender politics here. the only man is the agent offering her a gig but it also doesn’t move the needle because women in barry do misogyny too)

So the realization that HAS to come is that this is futile. She will absolutely never be powerful without someone holding a trapdoor that can take it all away. You can direct CODA and you’ll still be stuck here. She will never be safe. And she can’t go home. So after that, well. Barry.

[angel---eater]

alright. playlist for dave and dirk letsgo. some prefacing stuff cause i have a lotta Thoughts abt their relationship and how absolutely unhealthy it is but also how much they wanna be around e/o, and how thats a constant inherent tragidy between them

first up undertale + game over reference for the cover photo because vibes

there are a couple songs in here that are technically what a lotta ppl would consider love songs, like for romantic couples, but im taking them and spinning them on their heads for the context of how i see dave and dirk

the way i see the striders is that they're both struggling with oppositional attachment problems. dave with his emotional estrangement from bro, and dirk with his idolization and wish fulfillment of how he sees a!bro. dirk loves dave. this is an inarguable, textual fact. dave isnt sure how to feel about dirk, not in totality. these problems combined, outside of the meat+candy timelines, i think would play out as the two of them either remaining painfully foreign to each other or - important word useage incoming - enmeshed

the lalondes struggle with similar estrangement/idolization problems, but theres something about the striders and their specific emotional issues that makes their attachment shit go TURBO

they dont know how to approach e/o in a balanced way. its all or nothing for them both. usually 'all' for dirk, and 'nothing' for dave, which feeds into dirk's 'all' and in turn pushes dave further into 'nothing' even when he doesnt actually want that. its a horrible cycle of wanting to actually know each other but not knowing how to think of the other without seeing someone else. they could be completely hands off and not talk to each other at all for months or literally be sharing pockets and talking about rooming together, and those phases transition into e/o quick. and then those plans fall through and it starts all over again. its weird, it aint right, its painful for them both, they just want to be okay around each other, but they dont know how. theyre far too close to cherubic bullshit for me to pass that one up

[shallowrambles]

So I've been thinking. It's funny how enjoying meta is somewhat embedded with trust.

Like, if you're "friends" and have followed a person for a long time, you have more a sense of their values, and it's easier to read their difficult meta because you trust more that they're being charitable/nuanced.

If you don't know them, it's harder to trust that they're not funneling difficult topics into rationalization of liking/supporting gross shit.

[slowdrippingnoise]

(I can't remember how much sense this makes w/in Canon Order Of Events but. eh. canon will not change my mind anyway)

to me (complete headcanon) huey and hal's relationship was a kind of primer/preview/etc. for hal and julie. huey strikes me as the type that, once he has his kid back, treats him as an all-purpose "automatically on my side/beholden to me" thing between a person he can rely on and vent to And someone he can blame for all kinds of mild to minor fuck-ups. I did that because you were being like that- why can't you be good all the time so I don't have to do that, why are you selfish? (hours later) oh hal I'm sorry, let's forget about all that, you're my best friend Idk what I'd do without you you're the only one who gets me- on and on.

very generic-brand normal Badparenting. huey probably mostly ignores hal's emotional needs/anything that makes him a Person Distinct From Huey. nothing is all that dramatic though and soon julie and emma are there so they both have other people to talk to. hal loves his dad. huey loves having his kid again. they're so regular ^_^

[eleventeenthealbum]

The influx of sister incest posting makes me want to kms