#they're not a character in the story actually

[theliteraryarchitect]

5 Reasons NOT to Use Multiple Point of View (and What to Do Instead)

I've been meaning to make this post for a long time. As a developmental editor, I see a LOT of manuscripts that use multiple point of view (where each scene or chapter is from the perspective of a different character), when they really should be using a classic single character POV. Over the years, I've come to the conclusion that writers see multiple POV as a solution to problems that really shouldn't be solved that way. Basically, they're using it for the wrong reasons. And when that happens, instead of making the story more awesome, multiple POV can actually weaken it.

Here are five of the most common reasons writers choose multiple POV (and why those reasons might be a problem). Don’t worry—I’ll also share what to do instead.

1. You Don’t Know What Your Story Is About

Sometimes, when writers aren’t 100% clear on their story’s main conflict, theme, or plot, they reach for multiple POV. It feels like a fix—after all, why focus on one perspective when you can try out a little of this and a little of that?

Here’s the thing: multiple POV actually requires you to be more clear about your story, not less. Readers will naturally look for a thread that ties all the perspectives together, and if that thread isn’t there, the story will feel scattered or aimless.

What to Do Instead: Take a step back. If you’re feeling unsure about what your story is really about, try some journaling or outlining. Ask yourself:

What’s the main conflict?

Who’s the central character?

Why am I telling this story?

Often, writers discover they actually have one protagonist, and a limited third or first-person perspective would work better. If you still feel like multiple POV is the right call, go for it! Just be sure to periodically revisit your outline to make sure the story hasn’t “gotten away” from you. (Multiple POV has a sneaky way of doing that.)

2. You Haven’t Developed Your Characters

Multiple POV doesn’t work unless each character is fully developed. Every POV character needs their own voice, journey, and reason for being in the story. If they can’t stand on their own, readers will notice.

What to Do Instead: Before assigning a POV, ask yourself:

Is this character compelling enough to hold the reader’s attention?

Do they add something essential to the story that no one else can?

If the answer is no, it might be better to stick with a single POV. Sometimes less is more.

3. You Can’t Decide on a POV Character

This one is common, especially in early drafts. You’re still figuring out your story, and it’s hard to choose whose perspective should take center stage.

What to Do Instead: Experiment! Write key scenes from different characters’ perspectives. Often, the strongest voice will make itself known as you go. And remember: just because you write a draft with multiple POV doesn’t mean you can’t narrow it down later.

4. You Need to Share Information Your POV Character Doesn’t Have

Ah, the classic "But how do I show this thing the protagonist doesn’t know?" dilemma. This is probably the most common reason I see writers reach for multiple POV. It’s tempting to throw in a chapter or two from another character’s perspective just to share that extra bit of information.

The problem? Those chapters often feel disconnected from the rest of the story. Every POV character needs to carry their weight, and dropping in a random narrator just for convenience can leave readers feeling unsatisfied.

What to Do Instead: There are other ways to get information across. Here are a few ideas:

Educated Guesses: Let your main character speculate. (“Iris kept tapping her pencil on the desk. Was she nervous about the meeting earlier?”)

Show, Don’t Tell: Use actions, dialogue, or other clues to reveal what another character might be thinking.

Bring in a New Element: Introduce a third character, a conflict, or even an object that reveals something important.

Overhearing or Spying: Yes, it’s a little cliché, but when used sparingly, it can work in a pinch.

5. You’re Looking for an Easy Way Out

Let’s be honest: multiple POV can feel like a catch-all solution to tough storytelling problems. Need to fix pacing? Add another POV! Can’t figure out how to make the ending work? Add another POV!

But here’s the truth: multiple POV is actually harder than other POVs. You’re not just developing one character—you’re developing several, and you have to tie all their perspectives into a cohesive whole.

What to Do Instead: Focus on nailing the story with a single POV first. Once you’re confident the core of the story is solid, you can decide if adding other perspectives will truly enhance it.

In Summary

Multiple POV is a powerful tool, but it’s not a shortcut. It requires careful planning and strong execution. If you’re considering it, ask yourself:

Does every POV character bring something unique to the story?

Am I clear on the main conflict and theme?

Could this story be told just as well (or better) with a single POV?

Sometimes, the simplest route is the best one.

Hope this helps!

/ / / / / / / / / / /

@theliteraryarchitect is a writing advice blog run by me, Bucket Siler, a writer and developmental editor. For more writing help, download my Free Resource Library for Fiction Writers, join my email list, or check out my book The Complete Guide to Self-Editing for Fiction Writers.

[barrenclan]

i feel a bit bad for cormorant :( im sure this isnt your intent but it almost feels as though hes settled for a life he didnt want

I'm curious what this is in response to - there's two major things I can think of, so let me explore them for a second!

So, if this is in response to the idea that Cormorantleaf wants kittens and Pinewing doesn't; lemme talk about that for a second. I tried to go into it in the last epilogue, but with their late-stage relationship I wanted to address a trope in fiction that really bothers me, especially as someone who doesn't want to have children. Stop me if you've heard it before:

Characters A and B are in a romantic relationship. Character A wants to have kids, but B doesn't, for whatever reason. They struggle, and talk about it, and eventually A says "it's okay, even if we don't have kids, I'll still love you!" It's really nice, and confirms that they love each other even if they don't want. Except, then, B turns around and says "it's so good to know that! It made me change my mind; I got over my 'fears', and now I do want kids!"

That bugs me. It's always the assumption, even if it's established that a relationship would be okay without kids, it's always on the onus of the person who doesn't want children to change their mind. It's never enough to stop at "it's okay if we don't have kids together" - and then they don't. So that's what I wanted to do with Cormorantleaf and Pinewing's relationship, and it's why I had Pinewing talk about his discomfort surrounding children so often and Cormorantleaf's potential to be a father. If Corm wanted kids more than he wanted to be with Pine - he could leave! No stopping him. But Pinewing matters more to him than having kids does. I find it more distasteful that someone would force themselves to raise children if they didn't want to (it's almost like that's a theme of the story... and kind of exactly what happened with Nightberry). Admittedly, I would've liked to rather do that idea with Daffodilcloud and Duncan instead of the main gay couple, but eh, I already had an end-of-arc theme with Daff to wrap up that would've clashed. These are the decisions you make when writing a story.

On the other hand, if this is in response to the idea that they're traveling around instead of settling down in one place, or that Pinewing is forcing him into the relationship; maybe I was a bit too subtle with what I was trying to get across. Cormorantleaf was actually the first one to suggest that they travel around together, way back in Issue 26:

Corm needs an emotional anchor more than a physical anchor. And this was especially clear in his early development, and how his relationship to Pinepaw was a bit unhealthy (and vice versa, too); he had such intense abandonment issues that he was holding Pinepaw up as a total pillar of support, and believed he wouldn't be able to survive without him.

That's why I wanted Cormorantleaf to have a chance to be on his own during the breakup, and solidfy that he could exist without a relationship, that he didn't need another person to survive. But instead that he could willingly choose a relationship with Pinewing, because it was something he wanted and something he thought would enrich his life rather than an obligation.

All that to say that Comorantleaf's hesitation in the last epilogue is not meant to be presented as "he's being forced into something he doesn't want by Pinewing", but rather "he's scared that them traveling around will cause Pinewing to abandon him, and that makes him panic and lash out".

And Pinewing would have absolutely stayed with him even after Cormorantleaf yelled at him, except that Corm happened to hit on Pinewing's own insecurities that come from his childhood of neglect and feelings that nobody actually wants him around:

You don't have to be un-anonymous to respond to this, and anyways if it's just personal feelings that's perfectly valid and not something I want to try and change. But I never meant to make it seem like Cormorantleaf wasn't happy with where he ended up, or that he 'settled' for something he didn't want.

[genericpuff]

Are there any other LO-critical projects like LR?? Doesn’t have to be comics, I like fanfic(critic-fic?) too, I’ve been really interested in reading stuff like LR

Sure is! The list I have here are just the ones I know of, there are definitely more out there if you browse the #antiLO #lo critical tags or filter your searches on fanfic sites like AO3, but I hope this gives you a good start into finding more works that scratch that itch!

Lore Asgard (AO3) - Briefly in the original LO, Persephone jokes about running off to the Norse Pantheon; Lore Asgard is what would have happened if she actually went through with it.

Lore Mictlan (AO3) - Also plays with the question of "what if Persephone ran off to the Norse Pantheon", but instead she winds up in the realm of the Aztec gods.

Pomegranmints (AO3) - Re-imagines the plot of LO if Persephone and Minthe kissed instead of fighting over Hades ٩(♡ε♡)۶

Survive the Night (Tumblr) - Not sure how long this project is planned to be but it's basically a re-imagining of LO that further explores all the deeply-rooted issues of Hades and Minthe's relationship. Very tense and emotionally raw dialogue scenes, Minthe gets a lot more agency and character exploration here.

Desire for Peace (Webtoon) - Though it's an entirely unique work separate from LO (it's not a fan comic or retelling), the creator was compelled by a distaste towards modern Greek myth retellings to create their own Greek myth comic, starring Ares as the main protagonist. It has both beautiful and unique art, and it presents a writing style that isn't as watered down and simplified as so many popular commercial Greek myth retellings tend to be. The creator is very cool and has done an amazing job at creating a true Greek myth retelling comic, without all the bells and whistles and crutches of "modernizing" the stories.

Theia Mania - Also not at all related to LO, it's just a great comic series that covers all sorts of different myths and tales, but it's most famously known for its ongoing retelling of Hades and Persephone in Queen of the Dead. Like the creator of Desire for Peace, the creator of Theia Mania is someone who Gives a Shit™️ about the source material they're writing about and does a great job at both presenting the culture of Ancient Greece at the time (so again, no modern 2000's stuff here) but also putting some of their own unique twists on an old tale. And the best part? No Demeter scapegoating to be found here <3

Lore Valhalla (Youtube/Patreon) - A brief one-shot that remakes the first episode of Lore Olympus, but with Norse gods instead of Greek. This isn't an ongoing series, just a fun project that Youtuber Crown Obsidian challenged himself to make after he read (and did not particularly enjoy) Lore Olympus.

[koryxx]

have you considered that sometimes when we're supposed to be rooting for a couple to get/stay together, ridiculous assumptions and avoidance that cause avoidable blow ups and even breakups are extremely irritating and tiresome?

have you considered that open and honest communication as a result of feeling safe and comfortable, even when you find communication and vulnerability scary or hard, is a sign of a healthy relationship?

have you considered that it's not about wanting characters to be perfect and always say/do the right thing, but rather wanting to see the couples we love actually have functioning relationships for a change, rather than completely contrived and recycled drama for the sake of it?

have you considered that the belief that happy, healthy couples are boring is a lie told by writers who simply don't know how or never tried to write interesting and engaging stories about happy, healthy couples? that what you view as interesting and compelling writing might be viewed by others as poor or underdeveloped writing?

have you considered that there's a difference between communication issues that are set up in the story as established issues the characters have that then makes the resulting conflict or breakup understandable and maybe even unavoidable and communication issues that are shoehorned in near the end that don't feel authentic to the characters, relationship, or story out of adherence to a supposed formula that must be followed?

have you considered that people complain about miscommunication or lack of communication because it's predictable and overdone, so seeing couples who actually put in the work to make their relationship functional and healthy would be a breath of fresh air?

have you considered that you don't actually have to try to make people feel bad or stupid or like they're consuming media wrong for wanting to see couples at least sometimes talk about their shit instead of every little problem or perceived problem becoming a Third Act Breakup?

"Why didn't they just communicate?? They're so stupid!" Have you considered that communicating with someone you love and value and don't want to hurt is scary and that vulnerability takes practice and that perfect characters with perfect words make the most boring stories of all

[kirkwallguy]

okay final post. i think part of the reason why i hated taash's story so much is i DID find it relatable, they remind me a lot of myself at sixteen: coming out as a teenager and being extra sensitive to anyone who doesn't immediately understand you and lashing out at your well-meaning but uninformed parents is pretty common. shathann dying before this is resolved and taash realising they were needlessly cruel out of fear of rejection COULD have been heartbreaking and an actual good way of pushing the regret theme, but this isn't what happens lol. taash acting the way they do could be fine, i like it when a character has flaws and an exploration of how messy coming out as trans is would be an interesting subversion of how fucking boring coming out stories become when you reach a certain age, but the fact that rook can't really tell them to cut it out and the fact that they have literally no reflection or regret beyond "i wish my mum and i had had more time together but at least she didn't misgender me as she died 👍🏻" makes it feel as though the writers actually think them treating their mum the way they do is somehow satisfying or good, because the game's narratives feel like they were spat out of an ai trained solely on reddit aita posts. and that isn't even getting into the multicultural angle which needs a whole essay by itself and i've already annoyed myself too much for one morning.

[lexirosewrites]

For slick sunday

I am once again asking you to imagine Scream Queen O!Steve & horror fan A!Eddie,

except in this idea/AU Eddie is the co host of a horror podcast similar to Dead Meat but it's called (u guessed it) Corroded Coffin, Eddie hosts & A!Jeff co-hosts & O!Gareth mostly works with the sound while A!Chrissy & B!Felix (unnamed freak who apparently has a canon name but idc I like the name felix & using this name made me realize gender things so it has special meaning for me now) ANYWAY Chrissy & B!Felix mostly handle research

Well they talk about all horror not just movies, they discuss books & they discuss other podcasts & of course they discuss movies. Eddie & Chrissy are slasher fans through & through, Jeff is more for the supernatural stories, when Gareth comes on an episode very occasionally he's an unrepentant fan of elevated horror like The VVitch, meanwhile if felix is on an episode it's explicitly because they're talking about cosmic horror OR horror coming out of east asia (felix is a Junji Ito devotee, as am I & yes this is me projecting onto a fictional character)

WELL their podcast is fairly popular, they're considered Z-list celebrities within popular culture maybe D-list amongst horror fans, the Corroded Coffin podcast has gone on tours & done live shows. they've even established a small podcast network they call Hellfire Club & expanded to making more shows: chrissy & felix host a folklore podcast, Jeff & a new guest every week have discussions abt the new expression of horror abt being a marginalized identity (i.e. being a black person in a white supremacist society or being a beta woman/omega in an alpha centric patriarchal culture)

Then one day their business email gets an inquiry abt a new movie coming out in the next year & the executive producer wants to know if they'd be interested in a slight PR stunt/limited podcast series around this movie.

The producer in question is one Jim Hopper, a known name who's only ever produced action flicks, apparently he's dipping his toe into the horror space bc his daughter & step-son r huge fans of the genre & encouraged him to take on a script he'd normally ignore.

The movie is called Strange Times On Main Street & it follows an ensemble cast tht r meant to b the residents of a dwindling town in nowhere Indiana in the early 1980s, the horror factor comes in when the different characters start to see things tht might not b real but all seem connected to an individual who has terrorized the town for decades, culminating in a town hall meeting where they're told there's nothing tht can b done; so the situation dissolves into an eerily quiet mob tht ends up hunting down this person & the movie ends abruptly with this guy being executed in broad daylight practically in the middle of Main street.

They agree right away. The gimmick involves Eddie & Chrissy acting like the hosts of a true crime podcast who are "interviewing" the people of the town supposedly years after the incident. Everyone is excited because there r some big names involved in the movie, most notably the undisputed scream queen Steve Henderson who got half of his fame from working his way up from among stunt doubles on action movies so he's known to do his own stunts.

Well, it's a fantastic process & absolutely everyone has a wonderful time & Eddie sort of bumbles his way thru the episode w Steve (whose character is implied to have been the one to kill the supposed antagonist) but Steve finds it cute & gives Eddie his number.

The movie does well & wins not only a Screamy Award but an actual Oscar. Steve even wins the first Oscar of his career for best omega man in a leading role. He kisses his date before going up to give his speech, who's his date you ask? Eddie Munson host of popular podcast Corroded Coffin

They announce their wedding & mating a month after the awards show

horror meet cute🥰

[feroluce]

OK so like Boothill has done a lot of wild shit. Started rebellions and riots, pulled god knows how many heists on Pier Point, played part in saving the disadvantaged population of Emerald-III, helped save the universe from Ena's Dream and the Embryo of Philosophy, etc etc

But legit the funniest- and perhaps my favorite- thing he's done is possibly accidentally causing the Holstein Aphasia.

The Holstein Aphasia is something that went down during the last Amber Era, where memory bubbles from the Holstein system relating to speech were destroyed, causing all of its residents to forget how to speak, and as a result, go mute (aka aphasia). In the present, the Garden of Recollection are still trying to rebuild these memories; but in the meantime, the population apparently has gotten on just fine by switching to written communications.

This ties in with Boothill's fourth character story, where we see him sneaking into the Garden of Recollection (something very hard to do!) trying to find info on Oswaldo Schneider.

And you can tell how pissed the Garden is about all this, not only because of the bounty, but because the Memokeeper on the Express gives such bad stinkeye that Boothill can literally feel it KFLDJASLKFJD

She can literally control who does and doesn't see her, and he can still tell she's over there, I hope she haunts him like a wraith every time he's in the parlor car FJKLASJFL

Anyway, the funniest part isn't actually the event itself, it's what came after.

The Holstein Aphasia was actually initially brought up in the IPC broadcast that plays in the parlor car, and changes between missions. This broadcast was from all the way back during the Luofu trailblaze missions of 1.2- needless to say, long before Boothill was ever introduced.

But this kills me because like! A Galaxy Ranger that wishes to remain anonymous! You don't say! Can you just imagine Boothill trying to drop anonymous hints to implicate the Cremators, because he figures they suck and deserve the punishment anyway and because he doesn't wanna get in trouble for something he did by accident JFKDLASJKFLDJSA

And the fact that the Galaxy Rangers issued a statement that they're working on a solution! They either don't know it was Boothill or, more likely, they're just covering for him- which is very very sweet!

But I'm crying imagining Boothill getting pulled by the ear while La Mancha, leader of all the Galaxy Rangers, lectures him about how he is going to be working this off until it's repaid, dammit, or his ass is grass!!

[captainclickycat]

Yeah are the characters really making stupid decisions or are they just making emotionally-charged decisions while under intense pressure instead of acting like robots? Are their actions really silly or could they be chalked up to the fact that they don't know they're characters in a horror film?

I mean the first option can definitely be true sometimes. I love horror stories and I've watched/listened to a fair few where the characters do things I can't imagine any real person actually doing in that situation. But it's definitely not as prevalent as some people act like it is.

(I'm also not sure I agree with everything the person in the thread is saying per se, but they have good points about the genre)

people are so mean about horror movie victims like. sorry but if i had gone to a cabin in the woods with my friends as a teenager you couldn't have stopped us from reading aloud from the evil tome. how were they supposed to know the ancient curse was real they're like 17

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Now don't throw tomatoes at me but I'm actually really excited to finally see malleus again— I've always loved malleus since we met him in the story, but I'm also sooo curious about what's gonna happen next,, I'm wondering the obvious thing, about whether or not we might get a parralel scenario like what happened with the KoD and silver will have to "slay" malleus or at least be the one to land a killing blow, but I also saw a really interesting post focusing on how magic is a manifestation of dreams and deep desires and imagination,,,, in that case, I may (VERY delusionally) hope that Yuu finally gets to be a major part of the story for once??? Even reading the novels, there HAS to be something bigger for yuu— while the idea of crowley simply being an incompetent airhead is fun and more comfortable, haven't you thought that meybe he pulled them into this world deliberately??

All to say, what if at some point, Yuu somehow manifests magic in a very dire moment ?? You know lol?? Agh idk. I just want yuu to finally make impactful choices but that IS too much to ask, as far as we can see for now,,, (but hey, that part leading up to ace getting is UM, and the convo between him and yuu,,, it *does* give one a sliver of hope, doesn't it? :') )

Don't worry, no tomato throwing here! 😅 I may not care for certain characters, but I’m not going to shame anyone that does. You’re free to think however you want about Malleus!

dbjsvsJcwhj My personal feelings about him aside, I am actually glad he’s finally relevant to the main story again. He’s missed out on so much of his own book OTL In the time he’s been gone, the fandom has been left to speculate about both his and Lilia’s potential death flags. I really doubt Twst will have the balls to kill off one of them, but it would be cool to at least see Silver delivering the final blow to knock some sense into (not necessarily kill) OB Malleus.

Yes, it’s true that Silver states in the recent update that magic was originally considered “a miracle borne of strong desires from the heart.” But 💦 I don’t think that means Yuu would randomly manifest magic in the final fight?? It feels more like a “let’s save the day with the power of friendship” to me, but I could of course be wrong.

I understand being frustrated that Yuu’s participation in the main story seems to fluctuate a lot, with most of their activity being books 3, 4, and segments of 1, 6, and 7. That’s not much, especially considering how long books 6 and 7 are. Sometimes (even in events) it feels like Yuu is barely there, as most dialogue options don’t involve different reactions from the characters. Even Yuu's quest to find a way home is barely addressed or taken seriously until early in book 7. Yuu hasn't gotten "real" development unless you count them realizing their Disney dreams are prophetic in book 5, taking the initiative to save Grim in book 6, and that dialogue option about them being worried they're not contributing + the related convo with Ace in book 7. All very short moments in the grand scheme of things. And honestly, I think that makes sense for the kind of character Yuu is. A blank slate, a self-insert, an outsider that's easy to exposit information to, someone with which to view the story, characters, and world through. Yuu is primarily there to be the POV character, the lenses, the camera that we see Twst through. They're not really meant to be a traditional "main character". It's possible that Twst gives them a slightly bigger role at the very end (especially with what went down in the dream in book 7), but I doubt it will be a huge triumphant moment where they and they alone save the day or deal the final blow in a crazy act of self-sacrifice. Twst has always been a story that puts the NRC boys first, while Yuu is the observer.

I've noticed that the complaint of Yuu not doing a lot in the story comes mainly from English speaking fans?? And I guess that makes sense, given how western culture tends to emphasize independence and standing out. They want Yuu to reflect that. They want to be the ones to make a difference. I don't even remember ever seeing these same comments from the Japanese speaking fans; it's definitely a less common sentiment for them. The Japanese fans seem pretty content with Yuu being an observer and taking on more of a minor or supporting role. Again, this fits in with what I understand of many eastern cultures. They're demurer, not wanting to stand out too much from the crowd and instead prioritizing group harmony. Very interesting cultural difference to note!

It's a common theory (with many variants) that Crowley intentionally summoned Yuu to Twisted Wonderland for his own nefarious motives. People found him pretty sus right away due to how he seems to not put in any real time or effort into investigating a way to send Yuu home. Plus, there's that ominous opening monologue of his to consider. However, I don't think he summoned Yuu because of their (potential) great magical capabilities. The Mirror of Darkness tells us that it doesn't sense a shred of magic in Yuu, and Leona smells zero magic on them (though that could be because it hasn't technically manifested yet, as some fans claim).

The idea is that Yuu is supposed to be plain. They are supposed to be magicless. Why? To humble the NRC students and to show them that asserting yourself violently or with great magical power ISN'T the way to go. To show them value in strategizing (which Yuu does in the prologue by helping Grim aim at the ghosts), of camaraderie. What does it say about the story's themes if Yuu, the person who is supposed to be showing them the worth of mundane things, is suddenly... "secretly ultra-strong, actually/“just like you guys” (even if it's only a temporary hope-fueled magic)? It might contradict what has already been set up. It also breaks the self-insert appeal of Yuu, since developing magic would also mean Yuu would later have to further develop things like proficiency in magic, best/worst subjects, and an unique magic/signature spell... meaning Yuu HAS to become better "defined", thus losing their blank slate nature. This would surely upset some fans who deeply project onto Yuu, have a Yuusona, etc.

Yuu can still make an impact on the characters and the world--and they have, judging by how much closer the boys are with each other--without having to be The Most Special One or like everyone else. I think it undermines what Yuu has already managed to achieve to say that they haven't made an impactful choice at ANY point in the main story when I believe they definitely have. Yuu made the choice to sign the contract with Azul. Yuu made the choice to approach Malleus. Yuu made the choice to go against Crowley's orders and go retrieve Grim from S.T.Y.X. Yuu made the choice to get Leona’s help with the contracts. Yuu made the choice to stand with Adeuce against Riddle in book 1. Yuu made the choice to let the VDC/SDC tribe train at Ramshackle. Yuu has done a lot, and all without needing to seize the spotlight or to do anything big and flashy. I don't think Yuu needs to be big and flashy. There is pride to be had in simplicity and being humble too. There is pride in representing the 90% of humans in Twisted Wonderland that are ordinary and without magic.

(An aside: so if Yuu wasn’t able to manifest magic in many other extreme instances, does that mean their desire to save Grim in book 6 wasn’t “enough”? That their desire to save Ramshackle, their one and only home in this world, wasn’t “enough”? It implies that Yuu didn’t wish hard enough for these other things they clearly care about and want.)

I think a good way to give Yuu a decent role while staying true to their design as a blank slate would be for Twst to really lean into the whole "beast tamer" aspect that was introduced all the way back in the prologue. This would work well with their deep connection to Grim as well. Assuming that Grim ends up being the final OB... We could easily have the NRC students and staff on the ropes, Malleus at his wit's end after exhausting himself with his own OB, a rampaging Grim about to end it all. And then... one lone figure shakily rises from the rubble and confronts Grim. One human. Magicless, defenseless. A human lost in an unfamiliar world, a human who believes they're useless and don't contribute much. A human who is always in need of being protected by others. But not anymore. This time, it's Yuu's turn to protect what they love--their friends, this world they've come to love, Grim. Ace and Deuce yelling at Yuu to not be stupid, to get back--but Yuu just advances, calling out to Grim and begging him to stop. And maybe it's Yuu's wish that rallies everyone and/or gets OB Grim to hesitate. That's when they can strike. Is that corny? Yeah. Does it sound like the ending to a Disney film? Sure. But it still grants Yuu, a magicless human that is supposed to be there to teach everyone about friendship, cooperation, and humility, their big moment to shine. The best of both worlds, I'd say.

[bikini-krill]

Having not actually seen Sonic 3 yet (c'mon UK release!!) here's my dumb gay pitch for Sonic 4.

Obviously they're introducing Amy and Metal Sonic, alluding to a loose adaptation of Sonic CD (where the two first appeared). Sonic CD has a time travel element which sees alternate futures, both good and bad. So here's my pitch.

Robotnik died during the events of Sonic 3. He is dead and that sticks. Somehow, our heroes and Agent Stone get thrust into an alternate future - the bad future. It's a future where Robotnik did not experience the events of Sonic 2 and 3, and so is alive and has successfully conquered the world. He invented Metal Sonic as his minion, replacing Agent Stone (who he feels no love for in this future).

It is a different character of Robotnik than we've seen, he is more ruthless, heartless and wholly evil. He's had none of the character development from the past movies. He isn't even that funny anymore. Bad-Robotnik gets reunited with our Agent Stone who is completely heartbroken to see how Robotnik has turned out in contrast to the man he knew in Sonic 3. Stone has to struggle with a huge inner-conflict because he wants to be with Robotnik again but it is simply not the man he has grown to love.

The Sonic team ask Stone to help them take down the villain, furthering Stones conflict. Bad-future Robotnik recognises this and uses it to his advantage, manipulating Stone and exploiting his conflicted feelings. Stone must accept and grieve the loss of his lover, whilst haunted by what feels a malicious ghost, in order to overcome and do what's right.

It's basically a tragic Stobotnik story. The hedgehogs and friends are also there.

[barblaz-arts]

I’ve seen you talk about Vaggie and Charlie being your two favs (which same I adore them) and Emily being you’re third…..but how do you feel about Alastor? Personally, while he is charming and entertaining and stuff…..his fanbase is obnoxious as hell. Especially some of the Charlastor shippers. I can sense the lesbiphobia from miles. I also just really dislike the blatant favoritism he gets from both the creators and the fandom. I can’t escape this guy-

I've talked about how I feel about Alastor before in a previous ask so I'll just put that back here

I totally understand how you feel, but I try really hard to not let those types of fans and antis affect how i feel about Alastor. I take a lot of care in understanding characters and the stories they're in, and I don't want any outside influence and bias to cloud my objective judgement or personal feelings.

The merch, fandom, and creator bias in favor of him is like super undeniable lmao but I actually like Alastor as much as I do any average character with his archetype. The fact that the actual show didn't let him overstay his welcome really helped, because characters like Alastor are a lot better in certain doses. Also like i said in the screenshot, he's a bigger loser than the hotshot people think he is and that's hilarious.

I think a lot of the things associated to him are just because of misguided fan content anyways. Like, all the horny art of him? That man is canonically ace. Ch*rlastor? You'd have to be blind af to think there's there's actual hope of that happening. Even r*dioapple? Lucifer still wants his wife back and Alastor is definitely plotting to kill him. Claims that he overshadowed the main cast and is the actual main character? He wasn't in all of the episodes, and only one episode in all eight focused on him, and it was the b-plot.

So yeah. Alastor himself? If I dont think about the barely recognizable schlop a huge part of the fandom likes to fantasize that he is? I have absolutely no problem with.

I've just been trying to accept the inevitable fact that he's always gonna be at the top of any popularity poll. I've just been seeing him as a mascot for the show at this point. Yunno, like how pikachu is the most popular character from pokemon even tho Ash is the main character? Or how Elsa was EVERYWHERE for years when Frozen 1 came out even tho Anna is the main protag? It just is how it is. That man is the face of Hazbin Hotel whether we like it or not. I'm not happy about it! But whatever.

[bucketofdeltav]

I fundamentally agree with you but I wish to share a different angle on that fundamental agreement.

I am also the autism, and raised by an English Lit teacher (and an engineer whose draft reports were the household scrap paper bin, so I had good examples of both literary and technical writing available from very young).

No I don't know exactly what a character's face is doing when the author says 'their eyes darkened'. I also don't, like, care, if I'm reading for pleasure. Like I recognize the emotional state that's being conveyed by the phrase, which is the core information that actually matters here, and when I'm reading I don't have to interpret human facial expressions in real time to get that information, because it's like. Right there. What is this character feeling right now. For bonus points, how does this affect what they're going to do or say next?

I've been told it's really easy to see when I'm reading Star Wars stories specifically (and sometimes which one I'm reading) because I 'try on' the characters' faces with my own face wayyyy more than with other genres, and that's because the canon novelizations go really hard on facial expressions (and Force aura which is fundamentally just a different kind of facial expression and one real people don't actually have, except when they do) because they're very explicitly referring back to film media, where facial expression is a major way of conveying a lot of emotional information at once. I really like the RotS novelization because it's very clearly timestampable to a specific film and I can go check 'what that figure of speech looks like on a human face'.

Hello yes I learned to read human emotion largely from Star Wars this explains a lot about me actually.

I can't remember where I was going with this. Wide range of human experience good. Understanding that not everyone is going to approach your writing in the same way also good.

I’m so sorry but in the nicest way possible do yall actually read books or just read words??? Cause I’ve been seeing that trend of people not understanding how “snarled” and “eyes darkened” and “eyes softened” etc. was used in a book and like…

Genuinely, do yall just not have imagination?? Or not understand figurative language??? Also eyes do literally darken and soften have you not lived a life??? How do you read with no imagination? Is this how you get through so many books in one month - you simply don’t take the time the understand the words as they are read?

[ariadnes-elixirs]

while i'm working on their actual stories....

fun facts about each of my yans!

characters: yan noble boy, yan neighbor, yan forgotten god

yandere noble boy (oliver)

struggles with people and social interaction

spends most of his time gardening and baking

has a habit of showing up unannounced to the isekaied reader's family estate

neither of your parents mind

in fact both your parents and his parents have been pushing y'all to get married

but he refuses an arranged marriage cause he wants you to fall in love with him organically

not afraid of manipulating you though

very wet cat vibe overall

he has long white hair usually tied with a red ribbon gifted to him from you when y'all were children

isekaied reader has no clue what story they were isekaied into cause both them and elliott are so far removed from the main plotline of the og story

they just kinda live in a neighboring kingdom allied with the empire where Main Plot happens

so reader has no magical advantage from knowing the plot ahead of time :)

probably the least dangerous out of everyone here

he's more of the devoted/obsessed/manipulative type

he would never want to get his dainty hands dirty unless he absolutely has to

does bury evidence of any crimes he commits underneath his flowerbeds though

but yeah he's a wet cat

definitely would try "rizzing" you up by going "PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASEEEE"

yandere neighbor (elliott)

he likes spicy food

his hair is naturally black, but he usually dyes it blue

he is an engineer that mostly works remotely from his apartment

is a prodigy, and usually works freelance cause no one can pay him enough to permanently keep him on staff

rich

overworks himself though

takes on too many jobs and sometimes forgets that he is a human being that needs to eat and sleep

but will scold you for overworking yourself

a natural caretaker

he wants to be depended on and loves taking care of people

and when he takes care of someone else he will usually end up trying to take care of himself to lead by example

so his love language (giving) is acts of service

but as you might expect (cause yandere) he is not afraid to create circumstances in which you would be forced to depend on him

he would never hurt you directly

if he does go after someone with the intent to kill, it'll only be a person that has made your life a living hell

then when they're gone he'll be that person you can talk to about it

but usually he just causes some problems with the wiring of some electronics in your apartment when he visits

and then waits like a schoolgirl on his bed kicking his feet up in the air until you call him and ask him to fix it

has the potential be to actually dangerous/threatening, but never to you

yandere forgotten god (cal)

was banished by the gods

has been stuck on his island for so long that he genuinely doesn't remember how long he's been there

loves and takes care of the animals on his island

particularly fond of birds

also a big plant person

loves growing plants and has them absolutely everywhere

they each have names and he will introduce you to all of them if you'd let him

really sweet but being alone for so long has warped his idea of love vs obsession

he's doing his best

literally no one else is around, so he isn't particularly jealous or concerned about someone stealing you from him

he is concerned about you leaving, though

so if you try to leave, he will come up with reasons for you to stay

will start with stuff like "oh there's going to be a storm later today" and later shift to more unsavory approaches

once again, never anything that physically harms you

but will go to other extreme lengths to make sure you never leave (or even want to leave)

he is a god so probably the most dangerous? but because of the situation that side would never really come out

because he would never directly hurt you or attempt to physically harm you

(kidnapping is on the table though if you are PERSISTENT about leaving + actively taking steps to leave + talking you out of it doesn't work)

but yeah he's a silly little guy who has been left alone for too long and is now slightly insane

he's still a sweetiepie though :)

a/n: sorry for all the delays. i keep getting swamped with more work :/ and have been working furiously on that

i will have more free time once that is done though so hopefully the real parts + requests will be out soon (i am delusional)

anyways, i can go more in depth on each character and other details about them i might have forgotten to mention or brushed over if y'all want. just let me know!

[lu-is-not-ok]

Are you personally worried about your interest in Limbus dropping once Hong Lu's canto is complete, since he's your blorbo? Or are you still interested in seeing what Ryoshu, Meursault, Outis and Faust's Cantos will do, as well as everything after that point?

Anon do you. Do you genuinely think there will just be No further Hong Lu content after his Canto?

Every single Sinner that has had their Canto already continues to have things revealed about them and their characters elaborated upon despite the fact that they're no longer in focus. Even when it comes to those whose Cantos came after launch! Yi Sang's resolve to change is still being tested as more of the members of the former League of Nine are introduced. Ishmael is shown to have not actually changed that much and thus still have a way to go despite letting go of her one obsession. Heathcliff had notable focus as recently as This Intervallo. Just because a character goes through their Canto doesn't mean that they stop existing and developing!

Also, even if for some reason Hong Lu just stopped contributing to the story at all after his Canto, there'd still be things for me to dissect via new Identities and E.G.O. that will keep on getting released for as long as the game continues to be live.

And. Hell. Just because I am most focused on Hong Lu for extremely personal reasons doesn't mean I'm not intrigued by what's happening with the other Sinners! Ryoshu is among some of my fave characters, Faust has been steadily growing on me as time went on, and Outis is one of the main culprits behind my Voice Acting hyperfixation because of how nuanced Kim Bo-na's performance of her is!

That's not even to mention, you know, the world and the plot and the mysteries and everything else Limbus has to offer.

I've held out with Limbus for this long already, I don't think this brain mold is leaving me any time soon.

[towers-in-starlight]

Some porn—let's call it Type 1—centers on characters doing consensual kink-activities with each other in ways that simulate nonconsent in some ways. Consensual nonconsent, noncon-themed roleplaying, et cetera.

Some porn—let's call it Type 2—drops the indirection-layer and just directly focuses on characters engaged in nonconsensual kinky situations. Characters get raped or tortured, or suchlike, in ways tuned to be hot to the audience but which those characters haven't opted into in-universe.

Type-1 porn can often converge in the direction of resembling Type-2 porn, in the name of immersion. One sees plot devices like "character consents and then uses memory-wipe-magic to forget having done so in order to get the full thrill out of the appearance of nonconsent", and narrative devices like "story POV shifts from the character doing the noncon roleplaying to the character they're playing", and so forth.

But, more recently, I've noticed that this effect is bidirectional: Type-2 porn seems to, in many cases, converge on resembling Type 1, too. It does so more subtly—it doesn't usually draw attention to its doing so in the same way—but it still does so. In particular: there's a pressure, when an author is aiming to write Type-2 porn but also is aiming to maintain a lighthearted tone, towards building the story such that the characters' activities more resemble consensual nonconsent than nonconsensual nonconsent, even as the canonical in-universe state of affairs continues to be one in which the nonconsent is in fact nonconsensual.

Taking, as a particular focus-example here, a certain noncon-focused subgenre of fantasy-adventure-porn—"protagonists go out on adventures, fighting antagonists who want to force Hot Kinky Activities on them, and said antagonists in fact succeed at this meaningfully often"—and in particular the subset of this genre wherein the author is aiming to keep the tone reasonably lighthearted, there's a natural progression of writing-decisions to make.

The nonconsensual activities can't be too traumatic for the protagonists, or for any non-protagonist characters they happen to within the narrative spotlight—rescued townspeople or suchlike—because trauma tends not to be a particularly lighthearted-tone-aligned narrative topic. They may not want the things to happen, but it's a mild sort of not-wanting, often with a substantial element of "it's in fact pretty enjoyable, just [embarrassing / in-violation-of-standards-of-propriety / etc.]" in its presentation.

Therefore, the protagonists and townspeople don't have a huge amount to fear from the antagonists. The stakes are low.

Therefore, it would feel lighthearted-tone-breakingly disproportionate for the protagonists to be too serious / lethal about their fighting against the antagonists. They'll fight, they'll put in real effort, but they won't tend to take measures against the antagonists which hurt them more than the protagonists themselves are hurt by the noncon scenes; thus, in practice, mostly just "beat them up, foil their plans, then leave them to fight again some other day".

Therefore—adding all of this up—there's a fundamental tone of play-fighting and consensual nonconsent to the whole thing. The protagonists are fighting, but not escalating to any seriously-harmful extent. When their fights put them in a losing position, they might struggle and beg against whatever is being done to them, but they aren't actually particularly hurt by it. Even though the events are, in theory, fully nonconsensual, they're not actually particularly different in their substance from what consensual versions of those events would look like. (While being much more different from what a... let's call it 'psychologically realistic'... portrayal of that sort of fighting-and-subsequent-nonconsensual-kink-activity would tend to look like.)

And so, starting from Type-2 porn, we've ended up moving substantially towards Type-1! In a manner pretty reminiscent of—although subtler than—the ways in which Type 1 sometimes moves in the Type-2-ish direction. It's a neat symmetry! And one that is, I think, much easier to miss than its inverse, if one isn't looking closely.

Bibliography

Quarta Amethyst: the game whose story was the biggest proximate inspiration for this post. Very solidly (at least as far as I've played) in the Type-2-converged-towards-Type-1 zone.

Armorverse: a series which often plays around by the blurry edges between the two porn-types discussed here, with occasional forays into both, including into both of the variants where one type converges on resemblance to the other. (Although it doesn't generally include straightforward non-Type-1-convergent instances of Type 2.)

I'm pretty sure I've encountered more stories in the Type-2-convergent-towards-Type-1 genre-space than just the aforementioned two bibliography-lines, although those two are all that's come to memory in the course of writing this post. If any readers have additional examples, I'd welcome reblogs with pointers to them!

[lorddeathofmurdermountain]

That... Sounds slightly like it's a reach? However, I do understand the angle. I mean, hell, my own mom wanted to be a cop, but when she was applying she decided against it since back then they only allowed women to do paperwork. I don't recall the movie well enough to know if there's even any other female officer in the story, so I don't know how well this checks out, but eh. The whole story IS kinda rooted in prejudices, though, so wouldn't that still be the point?

Like. Judy can't be a cop because she's a small weak unintimidating herbivore? Meanwhile carnivores are seen as borderline criminals because of how their "natural instincts" are (pretty sure that was, at one point, the same reasoning used to prosecute and/or enslave black people). It's all very on the nose about it, maybe to the point of being offensive, but I'm sure the movie wanted to say something good with it. You know, the small, weak, not-at-all scary rabbit turns out to be a decent cop, the carnivore criminal is redeemed bc he's actually inherently good and the grand mastermind behind all the challenges they face turns out to be an unassuming sheep lady, breaking the stereotype of only carnivores being criminals.

Idk. It's all very but I think it still tries to tell the viewer something good. Getting angry at the fact that a character faces some issue while ignoring that the issue is something they're meant to overcome is sort of goofy, I think. Like those people who wanna be trans-inclusive but they go so far with it that they loop back around to not including trans characters for fear of cocking it up or because they write a lot of trauma and shit.

having a normal one on twitter