#opinon piece

[macarthurpark]

accidental pregnancy with fordsie :3

since you've made your way back to gravity falls for the summer, you hadn't stopped looking at the long lost twin of Stanley, the rather reclusive man with streaks of both black and grey in his head and a stoic frown of focus always on his lips.

safe to say, after he'd accidentally pulled you against him due to a reaction between the necklace on your bosom, the bracelets on your wrists, and the metal attracting device in his hand during a day of experimentation in the forest, there wasn't much stopping you both from developing a deeper interest.

ford was somewhat reserved, you weren't-- you liked singing karaoke at greasy's every Friday, and he couldn't be caught dead even attending such an establishment without either his brother or great niece and nephew, and Stanley would have to buy him fries if he wanted his brother to stay longer than ten minutes.

all these differences mattered little when he'd offhandedly mentioned Dungeons, Dungeons, and More Dungeons in a conversation with Dipper in front of you. after one game and a passionate screaming match between the two of you that reverberated through the mystery shack's floorboards, it was clear that a match had been made by the gods. even ford found himself unable to let you go from his mind when fall arrived and your lease had run out.

so, after some passive aggressive encouragement from Mabel on her grunkle's behalf, you stayed in your little rental in town. you took up some shifts at the mystery shack (stanley offered, not only for the extra help and lower than legal minimum wage, but also to watch with popcorn as his Sixer would grow red and all eager to discuss his latest discovery with you), and sometimes you even spent the night in his room.

it was all friendly at first, him offering a bed after you two spent the evening after playing Dungeons after his studies; it was nothing more than a sleepover, he'd tell himself! his thoughts couldn't defy the fact that his body burned to even consider sleeping nearby someone nearly a third of his age, as beautiful as you were.

(how he wasn't sheepish by those green shorts he wore to sleep, you had no clue. at least you liked the look of them when he wore them in the mornings, his hair all mussed with sleep and his glasses resting lazy on his nose.)

his bed was a twin size, too small to share between two grown adults, and he'd usually offered to sleep on the floor if you stayed overnight, even as the infatuation between you two grew obvious. No matter how tightly he would hold you close as you cuddled or how hungrily he could kiss you if you accidentally helped him with a discovery, he refused to sleep in his own damned bed, just because you were there.

until one night, he'd gotten the hint when you refused to let him go as he tried to slip away and lay on the floor.

he really got the hint when you straddled him instead of returning the stiff 'goodnight' he gave you.

the poor man's glasses had fogged up as he was fucked into next week by you.

such was the life of ford for the next few months or so, and time even came where he'd felt jealous on the nights you weren't asleep next to him.

one evening came where you weren't with him, for he'd been too busy with his work to chat. it was no big deal, not for you-- you already had felt rather drained, so it would be a peaceful night in for once. you were excited to crack open a beer, and watch some old reruns of the golden girls, anyway.

as soon as you'd flicked off the bottle cap of the beer, your nose wrinkled-- was something in the fridge bad? did a animal shit right outside your damn front door? you sniffed around till you leaned close to the fresh beverage in your hand-- and you gagged violently before dropping the glass in a panic. now there was glass and beer all over your tile!

what the fuck just happened!

you'd thought the beer had somehow went bad with such a vile smell that emanated from it, and you'd plan to give stanley the rest of the twelve pack when you saw him the next day. whether he'd drink it himself or sell it off as some sort of evil potion, you didn't care.

you tried to move on after cleaning up the mess, making some popcorn and finding almost an exact same reaction-- except this time, you did end up puking into the bowl when your senses became overwhelmed with the scent and buttery taste all at once. the better question now showed itself-- what was going on with you? How had you suddenly lost all taste for the things you loved to consume?

Later that evening, you could only seethe as Stan cracked open and drank one of your precious beers with a healthy chug, an echoed belch following you through the hallways to Stanford's office so loudly that you couldn't help but get pissed off. what a waste of perfectly good beer on that old con!

you went to ford about your concerns, even he was confused by such a reaction-- so of course, now you were sitting on his desk as he scrutinized you heavily. you'd given samples of your nail trimmings and had your armpits examined, but you trusted that your eccentric older boyfriend knew what he was doing.

"there's no tautness of skin...hmm... your palate remains the same..." He was busy muttering to himself, ignoring any actual question you made to his low words, and he turned away to look through his drawers again. He paced around from desk to desk in his lab, but Ford was finally returning to stand before you after a few minutes of scrounging.

"it could very well be a leech or some bug from swimming in that putrid lake! If you'll allow me to obtain a full body scan, I'll check to see if all is in order."

With a raise of his hand, you could see Ford had brought out this weird device that looked more like a gun than anything from your perspective. of course you shrieked and tried to dodge the end of it that was pointed at you. "hey, hey hey HEY!"

Pausing with a confused stare, the poor man was more caught off guard than anything as he watched you flail and shriek, but he was resting the object aside as he tried to calm you down.

"heavens above, y/n! its a wireless X-ray gun! it's harmless, it cant even emit radiation! sit down!" his voice boomed, more annoyed that you would think he'd hurt you than being willing to calm your sudden shock. you sat back on the counter, more shaken than annoyed or fearful, and pondering quietly as he pointed the thing first at the top of your head-- he could see the results from his perspective as he scanned over the expanse of your form.

his brows furrowed once he passed over your head, neck and arms to see nothing. he murmured and cursed to himself one more, and you were more interested in how he'd made such a device like the one scanning you now. he slowly guided the gun down your midriff, frustrated that nothing seemed to be showing itself off out of the ordinary.

"I don't understand. Nothing is--" The very moment the machine trailed over your stomach and lower half, his hand paused, and Stanford's eyes got big.

It was small, but the eyes of a scientist like him knew when he was staring at a fetus or not. It was so little, so new, but it was resting serenely inside you.

by the gods, after the last thirty years of trekking dimensions and surviving battles against demons, how did the topic of his own fertility be the last thing on his mind whilst he had been pumping you full of seed almost weekly?

From your perspective, it was humorous to see his glasses slightly dramatize how big his stare became-- you found yourself panicked the longer he remained still and said nothing about what he was very clearly looking at inside you.

"Christ! Do I have an egg or something inside me?! Let me see, Ford!"

"NO! No, no, y-you're fine!" No longer lost in shock, he yanked back the x-ray gun as you reached out for it, more panicked than anything in that moment and already very sensitive about his inventions. Even as he reassured you all was well, the look on Stanford's face didn't seem to appease you. He was shocked at whatever he saw.

"You're not making me feel any better, Ford. Can you let me see the reading?"

"i... it cant capture an image, i-it just exposes what ever is in front of it."

Ford was still being too quiet for you to stand.

"Ford, you're being dramatic! If I'm fine, then what is with this weird silent treatment? What, is there a baby or something?" You try to laugh off his fearful gaze with your ironic statement, but Ford wasn't laughing with you. As a matter of fact, that stunned stare was turning in to something more soft at your words-- more of a puppy dog's pleading gaze.

"You... happen to have a more enlarged uterus than normal?"

you both stare at one another for a long minute. ford isn't uncomfortable with the news discovered by some awry invention of his, but he's watching you closely for any sense of negative response. he's slightly even praying that you'll just smile and give him a hug with the happy news.

you burst into tears, and ford is in panic to start hugging you close once its clear you're in need his support. you hold him close, getting his jacket wet with your tears, finally calming yourself into an unsteady silence that is more familiar to you two both.

You look up at him, and you smile.

Ford smiles back, and he can feel his heart grow so warm he thinks he might start bawling with you at any moment.

"If my assumptions are correct, we've got eight months to have Mabel plan the perfect baby shower."

[supercantaloupe]

if a jew writes or creates something about Current Events specifically through the lens of judaism (particularly religious judaism, not simply cultural judaism) i think that's within their right even if i disagree with what they've written/created. but it makes me really uncomfortable watching it get spread around by goyim

[seishiroed]

giggling to myself thinking about all the straw hats + law carefully picking out their outfits for the onigashima raid. like did penguin have to roll up law’s sleeves on his shirt??? sanji having to do an emergency iron because his shirt is not in supreme condition, and zoro making him do his stuff as well. luffy digging around in the storage of the sunny to find that coat because he hasn’t worn anything that isn’t shorts and a vest in so long.

[hellzfire]

me personally, i just think that the entire yamato gender arguments are completley unecessary

like there are so many different and interesting aspects of yamatos character other than their gender identity that people can argue and have different types of disscussions/opinions about but no you just want to sit here and bash eachothers heads over whether its a boy or a girl because oda made a color spread that if you really think about, has nothing to do with yamatos overall gender identity and was most likely made for profit/fan content

if you actually care that much over a characters gender and/or willing to send death threats to oda or other people over it dni

[boytroutsofamerica]

One day ill learn to see DECIDER or VULTURE or whatever in the link for the photo I want off Google and I WONT click on it so I DONT have to talk myself out of [critical fail] reading the article by like a boring tumblr-turned-twitter user saying shit like "why would I a NORMAL PERSON who is not a EVIL KILLER OR MURDERER ever enjoy this icky yucky disgusting horror movie about people who do bad things????????? It's because I'm depressed" like ok.

I liked it because the performances as Sad Wet Rat and Unhinged Woman were fucking sexy u don't have to moralize enjoying literally everything thats not a story about a 1:1 carbon copy of your life like Jesus christ some people literally never graduated a high school English class

[famouslysleepy]

me @ my sister

i know her sense of self-awareness is below the dirt, but my god she really is that fucking shitty.

[eurydike-on-media]

I've been listening to the If Books Could Kill podcast, and the Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus episode was a really exciting find. Maybe exciting isn't the best word for it, but it's the closest. For one, I could now know what the book is about without wasting my time reading it which brings me to point two, I can now feel very grateful towards my laziness for never following up on my aunt's recommendation to read it when I was still a teenager.

Over time I intend to comment plenty more in much more detail on feminism, but for now, let me lightly address this book based on the podcast's summary and quotes. A book like this can be very damaging if someone is already in a vulnerable position. To be told that you are simply asking for help from your partner in the wrong way as a justification for why your partner is willfully ignorant and uses weaponized incompetence can be harmful. You are in essence asking for someone, namely married women in the context of the book, to remain in positions of subservience and potentially domestic abuse. By implying that marriage is a hierarchy rather than a partnership, the author asks that the misogynistic and controlling roots of marriage be upheld.

We live in an era where we are beginning to more widely accept the unpaid labor women participate in. A husband is not helping out his wife by looking after their children, he is being a responsible parent. Not every act in the home from a husband must be a show of love, some acts are chores that must be done one way or another and they should be shared, such as emptying the dishwasher or changing the baby's diaper. This book asks for women to place further pressure on themselves to make the life of their husbands easier, never once questioning whether these men may need a lifestyle change instead. To ask women to remain in relationships, to carve themselves out to fit into the mold of these relationships, is harmful.

To return to point two, I am glad I hadn't read this when I was younger and more impressionable. I am glad that I hadn't read this book at a time that may have lead me down a path of belittlement and subservience. We are not half-people meant to complete each other, but entire beings who should be willing to complement each other.

Sadly, as I grow older, I question my aunt. What kind of person is she if she read this book and whole-heartedly recommended it to a self-conscious teenage girl? How can I mend the gap that is growing between us as I learn that the woman she is doesn't align with the woman I thought I was looking up to? My aunt was such a powerful figure in my childhood, a whirlwind always pursuing something new and exciting. In my adulthood where I can see her more as a peer, I find that she is not as progressive and decisive as she once was, as I once perceived her. Today, I find it hard to bond with her as she sits on her couch binging romantic dramas and cooing over men speaking lines with sexist undertones and silencing the female lead with a kiss.

[aahsoka]

this is so…….. your son didn’t even study in the US?? would he have even been part of the conversation around loan forgiveness if he had debt???

What did he study because it seems like while some international students have to pay tuition, there are exceptions where their education can also be state funded? You think loan forgiveness is bad for people who are ‘lazy’ or whatever but ur son went to school in a country that has state funded education??? lol. lmfao even. Even if he didn’t have his tuition paid by the state I’m sure it was cheaper BECAUSE of state funding.

Maybe. Think about this for a second. You shouldnt have had to work your body to the point of needing THREE SPINAL SURGERIES so that your son could afford college. Maybe it would have been OK if he had some debt and you didn’t now experience chronic pain. Do you have medical debts? Because I want you to think about how unavoidable debt is as a USAmerican because of the very attitude you have.

Pretty sure my parents also poured their heart and souls into supporting our family but that didn’t mean they were able to help me pay for tuition because that shits fucking expensive? I have had a job the entire time I’ve been in college! It hasn’t made it any easier to afford!

How do you know that these other people haven’t face the same level of sacrifice? How are we supposed to gauge the appropriate amount of sacrifice necessary?

And you’re ok with your tax dollars going to whatever it goes to now or ? I actually do want MY tax dollars to be used to help people.

you are not ‘starting a conversation’ you are stalling it at the exact same place it’s always stopped !

then swallow it bitch

[unpeeled-human]

...

So I heard you like

Dragons

:3

And also One Piece-

So I have two questions!

Whats your favorite One Piece arc?

And what form of dragons are you most fond of? (Like whether it's setting dependant or body type based, just a favorite in general)

UMMM. FAVORIRTE ONE PEICE ARC....humm..............fuck

that's such a hard question because i love so many of them for different reasons. this miiiight be kind of an unpopular opinon but i kind of like the earlier arcs a lot. like more or less the entirety of the East Blue saga are my favorites. out of all of them......id say maybe Romance Dawn or Arlong Park. the series was just getting started and we were just starting to get to know the characters, but even then there were such important character moments. like luffy telling zoro that his choices are to live as a pirate with him or die as an outlaw at the prison- you already know luffy is kind hearted but this shows a bit of his "pirate-y" side, giving zoro that kind of ultimatum at such a critical point (zoro even asks him if he's the devil's son in response!!), and then zoro making luffy PROMISE to KILL HIMSELF if zoro had to give up his dream of becoming the worlds best swordsman. and obviously Arlong Park like. holy shit what an arc. the walk up to the park itself, the buildup, the main fight. like oda was just cooking one chapter after another

AND UMMM. DRAGONS...... i mean all types of dragons fascinate me tbh......my fav dragons are probably the elden ring dragons, though thats partly because they serve as a kind of rejection of the golden order during the era you play in, and that's a huge part of why i like them (also a huge part of why i like frenzied flame so much. just the abject denial of the current order because of how much of it is built on the backs of massacred innocents)...i unfortunaetly dont know any specific dragon species off the top of my head, i sort of love all depictions of them, though i DO super love how dragons are depicted in Chinese culture. i think the "species classification" for them would be a lindwyrm (wingless dragon with arms) though i think it depends

[my-rewrite-academia]

New Blog!

Hi. This is @harukamitsuki speaking.

So... I decided to make a blog specifically for rewriting MHA.

It's been on my mind for a while now, ever since I started ranting a whole lot about My Hero's shortcomings, and since I my post about Kurogiri and Shigaraki abandoning AfO.

I will absolutely tone down any bashing of characters, such as Bakugou, Aizawa, and Shinsou. I will still be critical, but I won't declare them as unredeemable pieces of shits, and all that jazz.

First and foremost: this is not canon compliant. It will change before canon, though not by much. (Basically giving Izuku's dream of being a quirkless hero some ground.)

The timeline will be stretched out further, with the final arc being in Izuku's third year, rather than in the first. It always bothered me how fast everything was happening, to the point that we rarely ever see the characters getting any sort of down time.

There will be no bashing of characters, with the uncertain execption of Endeavour as I'm not sure if I want to redeem him or not.

As for rules for this blog...

1 - Asks regarding opinons of certain characters are not allowed. Instead, please send them to my main blog, @harukamitsuki

2 - Asks should be pertaining to this blog specifically. Any asks not related to the rewrite will be deleted and ignored.

3 - I do not want to see asks demanding that I do this or that. If I see them, they will be promptly ignored and deleted. Asking if I will be doing this or that is perfectly fine.

4 - If I decide to implement romance, it will be my decision, and mine alone. Feel free to interpret different relationships however you want, but if I include any shipping, it will be my decision alone.

5 - This will be going arc by arc, so please don't ask about arcs that come into play much later on. I will be focusing on only one arc, and maybe setting up foreshadowing for later ones.

6 - Bakugou, Aizawa, Shinsou, and Endeavour stans will not enjoy this blog, so if you are any of them, I suggest that you do not read and/or interact. Just keep scrolling man

[tomwambsmilk]

the martin scorsese vs marvel thing is hilarious bc sooo many people read his initial comments but very few actually read his followup piece. and the thing about his followup piece is. ummmmm it actually kind of sucks. the whole followup is just him going 'marvel movies suck bc they lack auteurs with singular unifying visions' which is actually Incorrect. pretty Bad and Wrong as far as opinons go, unfortunately. but people only read the 'marvel bad' part of the conversation so whenever they bring it up they always say things like 'I think what he meant by that is the creative bankruptcy caused by the profit motive - ' and no thats actually not what he meant. I wish that's what he meant bc then he would have been correct but unfortunately we KNOW what he meant bc he told us. and what he meant was marvel movies suck bc they dont have one really smart brilliant creative genius guy (like me) at the helm. sorry.

[yekokataa]

the VVitch is very good. i recently reccomended it to my brtoher and he disliked the ending. I loved the ending. How can two blood relatives have such differeing opinons of the same piece of media you ask? Easy, I am sinful and he has never sinned.

this is the best rec

[goldenheart-supremacy]

WHERE is the Ambrosimp post I need it

Haha, literally the movie but lemme fix something up for ya.

Before making an official opinon about Ballister, Ambrosius already knew he was going to back him up because he hated bullies to the core. After getting to know Ballister... Well...

The lamentations of the "Ambrosimp/Simprosius" (<- because ongoing poll) complex...

Ambrosius won't let shit-talking about Ballister slip by without giving it a piece of his mind. It doesn't matter if it's as trivial as 'his clothes are cheap' or as major as 'he doesn't deserve to be here.' Talk shit? Get hit.

"Small shit or big shit! Doesn't matter, both needs sweeping away!"

Some of the instructors didn't care for Ballister much either, but they enforced the 'no bullying' as much as they can because 'Fuck, if we get Gloreth's descendant expelled because he won't stop beating up the other trainees, that's gonna bite us back in the ass someday'

Minors beware a bit beyond this point. But it's only slightly, nothing explicit.

Flash forward. Ambrosius loves every inch of Ballister. Foreplay takes too long with him because he wants Ballister to know how much he adores every inch and he remembers each scar Ballister got from their training years and practice mission simulations.

Ballister doesn't mind. He does tell Ambrosius if he's getting impatient though.

Post-movie, Ambrosius makes sure Ballister knows he loves his prosthetic too. He doesn't consider it 'not part of him', whether it's attached or unattached.

He makes sure to kisses the prosthetic hand first, before kissing the other.

Ballister eats anything, growing up in the streets would never make him picky about food. Doesn't mean Ambrosius doesn't move heaven and earth to make sure he eats only the best. Even if all Ballister wanted at the moment was a piece of gum, just so his mouth was doing something while working on a project.

Sometimes, Ambrosius gives Ballister's mouth something else to chew on though. (Nimona has to leave the room for that. Not because she's a minor, but just because "ugh not this again")

Ambrosius is caught between a rock and a hard place when it comes to people talking shit about Ballister or praising Ballister (especially after the movie).

Ballister sucks. "YOU WANNA SAY THAT TO MY FACE AGAIN?"

Ballister is so amazing! "Yeah, AND AMAZINGLY MINE! Off limits, got it? You can look, but you can NEVER touch!"

That's all I got for now.

[tokuxsenshi]

Sentai Body Swap Episodes rank

Okay so I finally done I watched all the body swap episodes. My favorite trope in all media so im an expert so this is the true ranking of them anyone else opinon is WRONG. (Also sorry so bad at words)

King-Ohger Episode 28. Shuffle kings

this THIS RIGHT HERE is a MASTER PIECE OF BODY SWAP EPISODES full team no voice swaps and FULL of chaos. I love everything about it. I love that Gira Jeremy Hymeno and Kaguragi learned a lesson and Yanma and Rita just want to kill eachother. 100/10 episode ART in its purist form.

2. GOGO V Episode 37. The Beauty is a Saima Beast!?

I'm honestly very surprised that I loved this episode as much as I do like I don't even remember it from watching Gogo I remember the season being very serious but honestly forgot how funny it could be. I love that this monster didnt even plan to do body swap and him going on the marriage interveiw and acting all weird but the fact he did that in Tsugumi body and the parents didnt react make me think shes just like that normally. Tsugumi is such a girl boss as well true QUEEN. 10/10 episode

3. Magiranger Episode 39. Inverse Brother and Sister and Episode 40. The Gorgon's Garden

Honestly though this was gonna be my number 1 when I started this episode was one my favorites when I watched Magiranger (despite forgoring its a 2 parter) though RIP to Houka 15 man harem. And Kai sick burning his sister. this some great mid 2000s sentai. though it being a 2 parter kinda un imporant it could been done in one so the episode be counted as 1 and together their a 10/10

4. Gokaiger Episode 27. An Unusual Gokai Change.

This another one I forgor but its a great episode and choosing Doc an Luca for it was perfect. some great sentai body swap shannies in it with doc running around from guys who think want to attack luka and being scared to hurt her body pure boi. 10/10 love Gokai so much

5. Go-Onger Episode 12. Sosuke Banki!?

I just love Go on its one my favorite seasons and this episode some the best of how wacky this season is. even with a voice swap I actually genially love this episode. and the fact the monster couldnt even spend 10 mintunes with the team because their just to insane that they couldnt even tell that Sosuke was switched. only one bad thing its set before miu so for no miu I have to give it - 100 points so its a -90/10

6. Abaranger Episode 27. AbaRed is AbareBlue

Another favorite season and this episode is not a low point honestly love that most of it just Yukito trying to be a dad and failing like dont let this man take care of kids again. like I think the only thing that bring this episode down is the voice swap again. 10/10 episode

7. Lupat Episode 16.Because You're A Friend

Another BANGER. Choosing Touma to be the body swap for this as AMAZING dont think the comedy could been better with anyone else. and the fact the Patoranger saw the monster in Touma body and basically though he some kind of play boy peek comedy. and the way they trick the monster to switch back really good. 10/10

8.Zenkaiger Episode 32. kai! Sakasama Gets Angry! Is That a Monkey?

I want to start with that the sub I watched the name the epiosde was freaky friday or is it monkey monday and like THAT WHAT IT SHOULD BE! this episode pretty alright I like Kaito running around Tojitendo Palace and completely failing at pretending to be stacy loud boy in quite boy body peek comedy. also love we get t see Flint do the Twokaizer dance even if its a body swap. 10/10 Episode

9. Dekaranger Episode 19. Fake Blue

Alright this where my real opinion shine. I LOVE Dekarangr its one my top 10 seasons BUT this episode where it was good... WAS SO BORING compared to what I was watching like I like the epiosde but for what I was making thi slist for its just not that good. 6/10

10. Toqger Episode. 21. The Runaway Bride

Another season I love but this episode so MEH. like honestly this did not have to have the boys body swap it just seemed really unessary and didnt really effect anything. The Gritta stuff was really sweet though I always felt bad for her in the show she deserved better. 5/10

11. Kyoryuger Episode 37. Revenge! The Ghost Deboth Army

Honestly this episode so boring I could barely pay attention like this one 100% did NOT need to be a body swap epiosode like did that even effect anything. 4/10

12. Fiveman Episode 36. Super Twin Strategy

I wont really reveiw this one like I did watch it and its alright but I've never seen Fiveman so I feel like maybe when I do eventually watch it i'll have an actual opinon ?/10

13. Kiramager Episode 19. Partner

I'll start with saying the Juru and Fire stuff this episode ADORABLE I love that... but I CAN NEVER purely enjoy this episode because MACH IN IT IS FUCKING DIGUSTING. like the fact whoever wrote this thogh that was comedy A SHAME makes sense the same guy who wrote episode 11 of Lupat the worse epiosde of ANY sentai I hate this episode it makes me so uncomfortable even thinkig about it. fuck mach. -1000000000000000000000000000/10

an now here at the end I'll talk about my FAVORITE swap episode and episode in general that I just couldnt rank with this since I dont 100% think it counts but I love it so we talking about it.

Shinkenger Episode 27, Switched Lives

I LOVE this episode its so funny and crazy. like taking the switch body trope but with furniture is so good. and the fact Genta turned into sushi and was almost eaten actually turned into an epiosde where he couldnt morph because he was to scared is so funny. and also Ryuunosuke the show punching bag of course gotta turn into little piss baby statue since thats what he is. this episode just great like honestly this one I feel like you can watch without even seeing the rest of shinkenger (Though why would you its the BEST SEASON) and the fact its a Chaiki and Kotaha episode just makes it even better. 10000000000000/10

[rowanwritestoomuch]

An Introduction to Small World Theory

aka my favorite theory to write with

I don't see this one talked about often, and I don't even know if its a real theory for literature or just something my mentor shared with us, but I am going to introduce you to it now if you have not considered it before.

Many books begin with two characters meeting for the first time. Often plot points, especially in romance, include meeting each other's extended social groups, friends and relatives, all of whom do not know the other party to any extent so they are forming opinons of each other for the first time.

But there are lots of pieces of media that work *because* the characters all know one another from the start, in a variety of ways. Consider the primarily comedic How I Met Your Mother or Friends. Often when a new character is introduced, the conflict or rising action of their introduction is pointing out their connection to another character where in the introducer did not know that the introducee knew an adjacent member of the party. This is a very direct way to use Small World Theory and is the most common.

But my mentor taught us a more subtle way, and it is my absolute favorite--- the indirect method. Consider this; in the place you live, you are only ever 3 people away from someone you know, whether its a friend or your doctor or a worker at the gas station you frequent. When you travel to a place you don't live (within your country/state of origin), you are generally still only about 7-10 people away from someone you know, potentially even less. Often these connections are not something we think about or even know about one another; a mutual friend who is important to one party but simple an acquaintance to the other can still make for compelling conflict if one is wronged by the other and the middle person has to consider which relationship is more important to them-- or they find out that this conflict exists, and it changes their perspective on one party.

The connection can be even more subtle than that. You can reveal a lie by indicating that one party seems familiar or alluring to another party, and then later explain to the reader that the liar seemed familiar because the pov character caught them in the lie BEFORE they knew who they were, witness-of-the-crime style, but this can be used for anything not just real crime. See, we observe other people's lives every day and barely notice, until something sticks out to us when we gain information we didn't have before. Perhaps the liar suggests they had a good relationship with an ex lover, but the MC witnessed the liar and their ex in an altercation outside a restraunt weeks before, only now realizing these two situations are connected.

Even further than that, you can give your characters a mutual motivation or development. Have one be taught by an influential teacher who later moves after the character has graduated and is again an influential figure for another character, giving them an intertwined sense of morality, or perhaps an inverse form because they were influenced by this character at different points in their lives. More options; you could make two characters familiar with one another in a way that the other characters don't immediately understand, to the point where it becomes almost bothersome, and they have to confront their nagging interest with a conversation, only to find out these characters they thought were just friends are actually blood relatives or co-workers, or even dating without anyone realizing.

These are all ways we can realistically create connections through individual characters in subtle ways, which is the meat of our theory, but what is the meal? What is the big picture? Make them all connected.

If Character A is connected to Character B then Character B must be connected to Character C who is connected to Character D and Character D connects back around to Character A. That is the 3-person adjancy we see in our real world. For maximum effect, rather than making these connections unique between each individual pair, instead have them all connected in different ways to a fifth Character E. If Character E is the ex lover of Character A, but also the co-worker of Character B, the acquaintance of Character C and the current lover of Character D, then you have motivational connections between all of these people around the same topic. If the conflict is that Character D and Character A are at odds, then Character B might be on the side of Character D due to their bond with their coworker, or they could be on Character A's side because they can't stand their co-worker. Character C might be annoyed that they're dragged into a situation about someone they barely know, or they could be a drama-hound who loves to eat up the details of other people's lives. Character B could be a gossip, Character D could be in an unwittingly abusive relationship, Character A could be an empowered victim, Character C could be an unbiased observer. All dancing around the same central point; how did Character E affect us?

Small World Theory explores the intimate connections that we have with other humans, even when we don't realize it. It helps us craft backstories for our characters that take place moment by moment, instead of years or decades at a time of doing the same thing. It begs the question; who do they know that's off screen and how would knowing that person affect the story? How can we make characters have rich, intriguing and complex lives without showing the reader every moment, every acquaintance, and without beating them in the head with exposition? Through connection. You don't even have to fully explain any of these connections, but knowing they're there can really change how you view your plot, your character's motivations and their personalities.

Always remember, write because it hurts if you don't.

til next time

[beanghostprincess]

tbh I don't really like shipping that much (aroace might do that to a bitch) as in like. i mostly just don't ship characters romantically. but i LOVE to observe and pick apart their dynamics and acknowledge the deep deep love they have for each other (and yes sometimes i will in fact be like "these bitches gay and that's just a fact" but mostly i just observe their relationships without trying to label them) but i LOVE SO MUCH your ship posts i really think you have very good takes and while i may not label some things as you do i love your headcanons and generally just like. what you say abt one piece relationships :))))) gràcies per les bones opinions lol costa trobar-les a vegades

AWWW THANK YOU!!!!!!! I am aroaspec too and I kind of get what you mean because even though I love romance in fiction (as you can definitely tell) a lot of my ships are based on queerplatonicism rather than romantic love (Zolu my beloved. Or anything with Luffy, really) and I sometimes don't get some ships that most people like because they're just too... Classical romantic types? Idk how to explain it. I guess I just look for very specific things in ships that fit my extremely poetic way of defining love and turns out that most of the time isn't even normative love.

And that is so so so sweet, thank you <33 I really try to analyze characters and portray them accurately! So I'm really happy you appreciate my takes!!!!!

Nono, gràcies a tu. És genial trobar a persones que comparteixen/l'interessin les meves opinons!!!