#this has no plot relevance but I had fun writing it so here

[imogenkol]

— DATE NIGHT

words: 2.8k rating: mature warnings: slightly toxic dynamic, no respect for waitstaff, possessive behavior, rough alleyway make-out session

notes: got a bug to write these two having a totally normal night out where they act like totally normal people :)

The rustic saloon gathered all manner of lifeforms, from humans to aliens that took a moment for Imogen to identify. She had only seen one Trodatome before on Koboh, but their appearance was not one she could ever mistake for anything else. A live band assaulted her ears with instruments out of tune and the smell of smoke and rust caused her to scrunch up her nose.

To her seasoned approximations, no one seemed to pose a threat to her or the mechanic at her side.

What a shame, she thought, longing for the promise of at least some worthwhile entertainment.

Bix made way to the bar and threw a look over her shoulder. “Want anything?”

“I will have the same as you,” she replied dismissively and signed with her hand to get her meaning across above all the noise as she searched for a half decent spot for them to claim.

A booth in the corner was as far removed as it could possibly be in the small establishment, but two human patrons already occupied the space. They utilized the shadows to let their hands wander in intimate ways unnoticed. Imogen marched towards them unfazed. 

The couple was far too enthralled with each other to notice her draw near, but Imogen announced her presence with an impatient knock on the surface of their table. They both startled at the same time and looked at Imogen with a mixture of annoyance and expectation. 

“Leave,” she commanded with a small wave of her hand, penetrating their minds with the command so they would have no other choice but to obey it. 

They blinked and suddenly straightened up as the awareness in their eyes vanished. In unison, they silently stood and headed for the exit of the saloon. While Imogen could have tolerated their presence by the bar if they had interpreted her order as simply leaving the booth, she certainly did nothing to correct their course.

With a satisfied grin, Imogen settled herself into the booth and waited patiently for her lover to return to her. 

Bix had already started partway in her direction before Imogen sat down and she passed the couple as they left, glancing curiously at their vacant expressions as they strode by with almost robotic purpose. She set down two metal cups on the table and slid in to sit beside the bounty hunter. 

“What did you say to them?”

“I simply told them to leave,” she answered nonchalantly.

“Sure you did,” Bix said sarcastically and took a generous swig of what Imogen assumed to be ale.

Imogen took a tentative sip from her own dented metal cup. An overwhelmingly bitter and stale flavor coated her tongue and made her throat involuntarily close. She nearly choked on the vile ale, but managed to get it down without making a scene. She did not try to hide her disgust, though. A scowl twisted her features as she set the pint down on the tabletop as far away from her as she could reach.

“You could at least pretend to like it,” Bix chastised as she took another sip.

“Why?” Imogen asked in exasperation as she attempted to wash the alcohol out of her mouth with some water from her canteen. “For the life of me, I cannot fathom your tastes.”

The mechanic shrugged. “It’s cold. That’s good enough for me.”

“You should have let me take you somewhere with more prestige. Certainly there would have been a drink far less offensive to one’s palate.”

“Oh, yeah?” Bix challenged as she leveled her gaze at the bounty hunter. “And how would you know the difference? You don’t drink. At least, I’ve never seen you drink.”

“We have gone out before.”

“You went to Cavo’s twice and sat in front of an untouched drink both times.”

“That is because I found the flavor to be akin to the many brown puddles riddled across Rix Road.” Yet Imogen would have preferred that to the swill from this saloon. She missed the expensive clubs she used to visit on a regular basis. “Honestly, darling, you must allow me to spoil you with an establishment worth your while one of these days.”

With a snort, Bix added in a dry tone. “Sure, let’s go to Canto Bight. You can buy me a bottle of the most expensive alcohol there and we’ll drink the whole thing while we bet on the races.”

Imogen caught on to the sarcasm in her tone and smirked. “If that is what you wish, I can make it happen.”

The mechanic shook her head and turned her attention to their surroundings as she took another swig of ale. “You’re being dramatic. This place isn’t that bad.”

Imogen joined her in surveying the other patrons. It was evidently clear that none came to the saloon for anything even remotely pleasant to consume. Most only sought whatever could numb them the fastest. She noted a couple of rugged looking workers slumped over their table and would have likely heard their raspy snores were it not for the music and chatter. Over in another dark corner, a group played cards while tensions grew among those on the losing side.

Then her eye caught a rather pathetic man begging the bartender for another drink. After repeated refusals, the bartender produced a blaster to shoo the pest away. The man threw his hands up and stomped off, only to immediately trip on a stool and collapse in a heap.

Imogen nodded at him. “I am fairly certain I once froze that man over there in carbonite and kept him in my ship’s cargo hold for several weeks. He fetched a handsome price with the Hutts.”

Bix pursed her lips and studied him with scrutiny. “I’d believe it if you hadn’t said that last part. He doesn’t look like he’s worth much.”

“Looks can be deceiving,” Imogen said. The man picked himself up on wobbly legs and unceremoniously vomited onto his boots. Her face scrunched up in disgust and she shook her head. “But your assumption does seem warranted. I never accept less than forty-thousand for my services. I doubt I could make even a few hundred credits off a man of his… presentation.”

They watched him sway on his feet as another Theelin bartender accosted him for the mess and dragged him stumbling out of the saloon with a slew of slurred protests.

“Why bounty hunting?”

The seemingly random question drew Imogen’s gaze back towards the mechanic curiously. “Pardon?”

“Why are you a bounty hunter?” Bix repeated.

Imogen squinted at her suspiciously. “Why do you ask?”

She rested her elbow on the table and leaned in, making sure to drop her gaze down to Imogen’s lips for a brief moment as a small, patronizing smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth. “It’s this thing called, ‘getting to know you’, where you ask someone personal questions because you’re genuinely interested in understanding them more.”

Imogen hummed in disinterest. “I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“Very funny.”

“You know me already, Bix.”

“I do. Which is why I find it curious that you chose to be a bounty hunter when you’re a talented killer. You like it. You’d make a good assassin.”

Imogen could not tell if Bix was insulting her or complimenting her. Either way, the bounty hunter felt that thrill stir in the base of her spine at her lover’s words just as much as that daring glint in her eye.

“Why are you a mechanic?” she deflected.

Bix did not skip a beat. “Nepotism. Your turn.”

“Do you wish to hear the honest truth?”

A devastatingly gorgeous smile became illuminated by the low light of the lantern beside them and Imogen knew she was at her mercy. “That’s all I ever want to hear from you.”

“Very well,” Imogen accepted with a forcefully curt nod. “The work of an assassin does not have enough sport in it for me. To locate a target and deliver them alive is not only more of a challenge, but it is where my talent lies. I was trained specifically to seek and retrieve. Bounty hunting is more or less what an Inquisitor does.”

“Minus the added torture and murder.”

“I specialize in hunting my prey just as much as interrogation and elimination, yes. I still get my fair share of killing in The Guild, of course. It is a profession that keeps me satisfied on multiple fronts.”

Bix’s eyes glinted knowingly. “You mean, it keeps you from getting bored.”

“Precisely,” Imogen answered with a devious grin. “However, I do find Jedi to be the most effective in that regard. I very much enjoy a challenging duel.”

“I’ll add that to the list of things I know you like to do, then.” She mumbled her next words into her cup as she downed the rest of her drink. “Murder, torture, lightsaber fights.”

“And you enjoy making black market deals and drinking cheap ale I would not feed to a womp rat.” Imogen placed her arm behind Bix and began to caress the backs of her fingers up and down her lover’s side as she stared intently at her. “What a pair we make.”

One of the bartenders — a young female Mirialan with most of her green skin exposed in a tight, revealing outfit — came up to them to retrieve what she must have assumed to be two empty cups. When she noted the practically untouched ale at the end of the table, she asked “Are you finished with this?��

“Yes,” Imogen answered without taking her eyes off of Bix, who had turned her attention to the younger woman.

The bartender continued to intrude. “Could I interest you in something else?”

“No,” Imogen said, dragging the word out in an impatient drawl. She forcefully tore her gaze away from Bix to throw a cold look at the Mirialan. “I get the distinct impression that everything here is as dreadful as that ale.”

Bix rolled her eyes and scoffed. “Ignore her. I’ll take another,” she said, handing over her empty metal cup.

As the slightly disgruntled bartender disappeared from sight, Imogen raised an eyebrow at the mechanic. “‘Ignore her’?”

“It’s the quickest way to get your attention, isn’t it?” Bix asked in anything but an innocent tone.

“Perhaps for you.”

“Come on,” Bix teased, tapping her index finger under Imogen’s chin, “you don’t think she’s cute?”

The bounty hunter grinded her teeth at the implication. “I might have thought so, if you were not here beside me.”

Bix lifted one of her shoulders in a light shrug. “I think she’s cute.”

Imogen narrowed her storming eyes and pulled her lover in closer by her waist. “Do you believe making me jealous is wise?” she mused in a low, smooth tone.

The Mirialan returned with a fresh cup of ale. As she set it on the table, Bix placed a couple of credits down as payment. When the bartender reached for them, Imogen’s hand clamped down on top of hers like the swift strike of a serpent. The young woman gasped and Imogen saw movement out of the corner of her eye — a horned Zabrak bouncer taking a tense step towards them. Imogen smiled dangerously at the girl. She supposed she was more attractive than most, but her looks did little to tempt Imogen beyond mischievous curiosity. She took a moment to lightly prod into the bartender’s mind.

The initial embers of irritation towards Imogen swiftly gave way to a sudden wave of fear. This girl knew she was dangerous, but she didn’t know just how dangerous she could really be. If only she could paint a clearer picture. Imogen felt her own ire melt into amusement as she tightened her grip ever so slightly and caused the girl to flinch. Satisfied, Imogen released her.

“Run along now,” she dismissed.

Bix leveled her gaze. “Are you that starved for attention?”

Imogen pursed her lips thoughtfully at the sight of the bouncer returning to his post. “I may kill her yet. If only to be banned from ever returning to this hovel.”

As she turned her gaze back to her lover, Imogen saw Bix bring the fresh cup of ale to her lips and tilt her head back. In two large, impressively smooth gulps the mechanic downed the entire pint. Imogen felt her mouth gape open slightly at the pronounced line of her jaw and the sight of her throat contracting as she swallowed. It filled Imogen with a familiar warm ache down below. 

Bix set the empty metal cup back down and dragged her thumb from the corner of her mouth across her lower lip to wipe away the excess droplets of ale before they raced down her chin. Imogen found herself suddenly craving the drink she held nothing but disdain for mere moments ago, if only to taste it from her lover’s lips.   

“Come on,” Bix announced and rose to her feet. “I think you need some air.”

Despite how flustered she felt, Imogen managed to summon enough indignation for a retort. “Air? Do I appear as some neglected pet to you?” 

“You don’t want the answer to that, sweetheart,” she replied with a smugness that caused Imogen’s cheeks to flare up with a different kind of heat, but one no less addictive. 

She accepted Bix’s outstretched hand without further protest and allowed herself to be led past the bar and out of the saloon altogether. 

The late evening air felt a little too cool against her already cold skin, but nowhere near the damp chill of Ferrix. Imogen had that to be grateful for and more. 

Bix’s firm hand in hers felt warm in the same way a fire did — a near constant warning not to get too close, yet pulling her in with enthralling influence. Imogen long let go of her instinct to rip her hand away from the flames of her lover’s skin.

Without much warning, Bix swiftly turned on her and grasped the bounty hunter by her coat. As breath pushed out of her lungs from the impact of her back against the side of the building, Imogen found herself feeling rather impressed by her mechanic. Not many could catch her off guard. 

Before she could sing her praise — before she could even really catch her breath — Bix pulled her into a fierce kiss. 

Imogen felt a rush of irritation from the other woman as she took her bottom lip between her teeth and bit down hard enough to make her groan. Imogen also felt the arousal that pulled at Bix’s gut when she desperately molded their bodies together and knew it had been there for most of their time in the bar. 

If this was how Bix chose to punish her, Imogen may just have to misbehave far more often…

“Careful, darling,” Imogen breathlessly mused in between kisses. 

She reached up and gently grabbed Bix by the jaw. With the small amount of control in her grasp, Imogen slowed their cadence to a deeper, more consuming kiss. The velvet heat of her lover’s tongue carried the bitter taste of ale and Imogen found the flavor not just bearable, but unexpectedly pleasant in this context. Her fingers lightly caressed down Bix’s throat. The mechanic’s hands fell and gripped Imogen’s hips tightly in response, pulling her in even closer.

A tremor went through both of their forms at the same time and Imogen had trouble discerning whether or not it came from the cold air around them. Either way, it spurred the desire to mark her love and Imogen trailed her lips down to Bix’s neck with purpose. 

Just as her teeth scraped against her skin, Bix suddenly reached up and pulled Imogen’s head back by her hair. A quiet grunt escaped her, but a smile still tugged at the corners of her mouth. 

“No,” Bix said.

“I want them to know you are mine,” Imogen insisted. 

“I don’t care about them,” the mechanic countered, assertively pulling at Imogen’s waist. “I want you to know you’re mine.” 

The swell of pride Imogen felt in her chest was so profound that her smirk grew into a grin. “I love you,” she said without a moment of hesitation. Those words were getting easier to say, however foreign they still felt coming from her lips.

Bix softened and kissed her again. This time her lips moved in a delicate, chaste stroke that caused a wave of pinpricks to spread all over Imogen’s body. “Are you mine?” she whispered into the bounty hunter’s mouth.

“Yes,” Imogen answered with a nod.

Another soft kiss graced her lips – a wordless reciprocation that Imogen could never doubt. The kiss said I love you, too. I belong to you, too. I want nothing more than that. She cupped her face and held them there in a shameless, selfish moment of pure indulgence. 

Then Bix parted from her. “Let’s get something to eat. You pick this time.”

Imogen sighed at the abrupt loss of contact, but she composed herself. After straightening her coat, she pushed away from the wall and stepped out of the shadows on unsteady legs. Bix failed to hold back a smile. Imogen ignored her smug amusement and simply motioned for the mechanic to follow. “I know just the place.”

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[epandoniah]

Now, I've been very consistently calling myself 'easily pleased' when it comes to television in general, most of all because I give having fun much more importance than actual plot integrity and structural consistencies and whatnot. All this to say, what we do in the shadows very successfully managed to completely destroy itself in my eyes.

Because, and here's the thing, I genuinely cannot make myself to call that finale, and the last season in general, 'having fun.' All the seasons before were actually very fun, even with their problems, but this one dragged on and on with no real point and episodes that bordered on boring. A lot of the characters became grating and annoying even if they weren't before. And, of course, there was the problem with Nandermo, which truthfully, has for a long time been the selling point of the show, and yet there was absolutely zero progress towards it, whereas previous seasons took great steps for it to be finalised.

But, a great finale has the power to save a season- and maybe that's why it was so hated. All last hopes for a rescue of that 'white bread with no crust' last season were placed on that episode, and whilst it was a fine enough piece of television, it completely failed as an ending to a six years long series which has been having terrible trouble in keeping itself relevant as of late.

Why did it fail? The real question is, how could it not? I definitely understand the appeal- I also enjoyed it much more than I did a lot of the other ones of the season. I enjoyed the references to the first one, the crude humour that so strongly reminds of earlier seasons and truthfully, better times. But as someone who has been here for the past three years, patiently watching the show and the not-so-subtle signs of something between Nandor and Guillermo, waiting for some sort of resolution, I feel, ironically, like Guillermo himself- Like I wasted my time.

The problem is not that Nandermo didn't become canon. The problem is that it had no resolution, no acknowledgement, nothing much more of a last word than sentimentalities and things which would be great for an ending of a season, if it wasn't the last one of the show. Truthfully, it all just felt like everything we have seen before, watered down, like the old documentary the vampires watched, except, this time, the butt of the joke was the audience.

All of this is made infinitely worse by the 'it was all a dream' alternative ending. Truly, the jokes write themselves- The laugh tracks. The whole notion that it's 'what the audience wants most.' Call me old, but, haven't we seen this exact same thing with Sherlock and Moriarty, House and Wilson, and so many others? Three time's the charm and by this point we can tell when we're being made fun of. This, is us being made fun of.

And for what, really? For eating what they, themselves, put on the table? For believing what they said? Is this an exercise in not trusting anyone? Because I genuinely feel like a child being made to fall backwards only to never be caught by the parent, so they can learn to never trust.

With Nandermo off the table, everyone else stayed pretty much completely neglected. Other than Nadja's newfound and impressive understanding of psychology, everyone was presented very little, mostly background noise to the lukewarm almost-ending of Nandor and Guillermo.

To conclude- this season, and this finale, were unfortunately, not very fun. I wish I could say they were, but they weren't, and this saddens me beyond thought, because I genuinely love this show.

There's a lot more to be said, but I genuinely just want to keep wwdits a fond memory, and not a sour waste of time. For me, wwdits has not ended, and never will- it will stay stabilised and unmoving like that, much like the vampires themselves.

Thank you for reading.

[writingquestionsanswered]

Anonymous asked: Sorry if this is a stupid question, but is it okay if I just say fuck it and write something "poorly written" on purpose?

[Ask edited for length]

I'm going to try to tackle this question in parts, because it's actually a quite good question with a complex answer. So, bear with me...

The answer to "is it okay to write something 'poorly written' depends on two things: the chosen definition of "poorly written" and your intentions with the work.

Defining "Poorly Written" - What does and doesn't qualify as "poorly written" is largely subjective, meaning that it's different for everyone and every situation. There are certainly things that fall into a more objective category... like, if your work is riddled with typos and bad grammar, that will be broadly seen as "bad writing." But, just because a few people say something on the internet doesn't make it broadly true. When you see advice on the internet like "if your character holds important information back from the reader until the end, that's bad writing," don't just assume that's true. Dig into it. Research it. Verify it on multiple reliable sources. If you can find that same advice coming from multiple reliable sources (see below) it's probably broadly true and something you should strongly consider if you want your work to be broadly successful. You can break a "rule" here and there, but be mindful about it.

Some of my favorite reliable sources for writing advice: K.M. Weiland/Helping Writers Become Authors, Joanna Penn/The Creative Penn, Writers Helping Writers/Angela Ackerman/Becca Puglisi, Jane Friedman, Advanced Fiction Writing, Chuck Wendig/Terribleminds, Kristen Kieffer/Well-Storied, Mignon Fogarty/Grammar Girl, Nathan Bransford, Abbie Emmons/Make Your Story Matter, Bethany Atazadeh, Brittany Wang

Your Intentions with the work: obviously, if you're writing for yourself or a small group of friends, just for fun and entertainment, do what you want. If you're writing with the intention of publishing and you want your work to do well, you do need to mostly stick to the "rules" that are known to work on broad levels.

The reason you see advice like, "all dialogue should serve a purpose," is because it's understood that broadly-speaking, most readers don't enjoy dialogue that is obviously fluff and serves no purpose, for the same reason that your eyes glaze over when you're in a group of friends and someone starts telling a long and irrelevant story about some minor inconvenience they had the other day. People don't like their time being wasted, and if you force your reader to read two pages of your characters having a completely irrelevant conversation about fashion, you're going to lose the reader's interest.

I see a lot of advice like, "If your characters know important information that they don't tell the audience until the end, that's bad writing..."

Part of the problem with advice that you see from random people on the internet is that, quite often, they see a bit of broad and reliable advice, but when they repeat it, they strip it of a lot of the additional information that makes it true. This bit of "advice" is a great example of that, because there's a lot of detail missing. For example, having a character withhold information from the reader is fine to a degree (this is called an unreliable narrator), but there needs to be some indication early on that the reader isn't getting the whole story. There need to be other clues the reader can pick up on throughout the story that makes them question whether or not they're getting the whole truth from the reader. Otherwise it comes off like the writer dropped it into the story at the very end for convenience or drama's sake.

Others I've seen are "If your character has a backstory that's not 100% relevent to the plot, you need to cut it"

Stories can be plot-driven (more about the plot than the characters), character-driven (more about the characters than the plot), or a combination of both (where both have equal importance.)

If you're writing a story that is partially or fully character-driven, who your character is--and how they got to be that person--is one of the most important aspects of the story. Not only because it helps the reader understand why your character is where they are when the story starts and why things need to change, but it helps explain why they make the decisions they make, who and what's important to them, why it's important for them to reach their goal, and gives us a starting point for how they're going to change throughout the story. It's their backstory that is going to build all of that up for the reader.

Backstory explains your character's important life experiences up to the start of the story. So, there is no point in going into detail about the two years your character lived on a beach in New Zealand if that experience didn't play a role in who they are at the start of the story. It just becomes useless information that serves no purpose and clutters up the story for the reader.

Or "Here's why this trope is boring and overdone and why you should remove it"

Advice about tropes and cliches are often opinion-based, because for every person who says "love triangles are dumb and here's why you shouldn't do them" you'll find people who say "I only read books featuring love triangles."

The key thing to remember with tropes is that when you read they're tired and overdone (which makes them cliches), it's fine to use them, just find a way to put a new spin on them. Find out how the trope is typically used and do something different.

And now I just feel awful. I feel like the entire premise of my story is just complete trash and I need to scrap it and start over. I feel like I need to remove everything that I actually want in a story so that it's "correct".

You definitely don't need to do that. Again, take random internet advice with a grain of salt. If it's something you're really concerned about, try to verify it on multiple reliable sites. If you can't, you're probably fine. If you can, those sites will probably also offer alternatives or ways you can fix the problem.

I'm self publishing, does it actually matter?

YES. FULL STOP.

If you are planning to self-publish but are not going to take the time to make sure you're putting the best book out there you can, you are only hurting legitimate self-published authors who do put in the effort to make sure they're putting out their best work.

Having said that...

Will people really read my story and go, "Oh dear, these characters didn't just pop into existence as soon as the plot started! They actually existed and did things before the story takes place!?

No, probably not, but that's because this is a really dramatic interpretation of the advice that backstory should be relevant.

Again, the reader doesn't give two shits that your character spent a year backpacking through the Alps unless that experience played a role in who they are when the story begins. If they had good or bad experiences during that trip, learned things, met people who matter later, etc., then that becomes plot relevant. But, if you can remove this bit of backstory from the story completely and it has no impact on who the character is or the reader's understanding of the character, then it doesn't belong there. Period. Again, the reader doesn't want to have their time wasted, so they don't want to read story after story of your character's time in the Alps if it doesn't matter.

Or "Look, and now they're having a silly conversation and talking to each to her about things unrelated to the plot! And that guy has a pet cat that's never used for anything! This is awful, poorly written trash!"

Again, this is an overly dramatic interpretation of the very solid advice that dialogue needs to matter.

That doesn't mean that every single word uttered needs to be blatantly plot-relevant, but truly, broadly-speaking, readers don't want to read an eight-paragraph argument about which pizza place has better pizza in your character's town unless this argument is in some way relevant to the story. You may be an exception to that rule... you may love to read stories that meander and have a lot of fluffy dialogue and pointless scenes, but you're in the minority, and in that case, you might be better off posting your work to someplace like your blog or Wattpad where you can use tags to find the small segment of other readers who like to read original fiction fluff.

But... the bottom line is that I don't think your story is in as bad of shape (broadly-speaking) as you think it is. Writing advice can feel very, very personal, especially when we see it from randos in internet threads who can't tell the difference between fact and opinion. So, don't take it to heart. Do some research on reliable sites, and if you can't find a bit of advice mentioned, it's probably nothing to worry about. If it is mentioned, they're probably going to tell you how to fix it without scrapping everything you've already written.

Truly, no worries! ♥

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

♦ Questions that violate my ask policies will be deleted! ♦ Please see my master list of top posts before asking ♦ Learn more about WQA here

[katzkinder]

Kitty mentioned that Hokaze’s name was not only strange for a woman, but also that it was hard to find a connection with her name and the theme the rest of the Alicein have. Now I’m no expert at Japanese names (much less Japanese itself) but I had fun digging to see what I could find, and I found quite a lot! So let’s get to it :D

Interpreted to the best of my ability, Misono’s mom has a name which roughly means “one who is quick to overcome ups and downs”

Which is why she was drawn holding Jane Eyre when she and Lily met

She’s an inversion of Jane’s story, just like the Alicein brothers are an inversion of Cain and Abel

For anyone who’s never read Jane Eyre, a quick and dirty plot summary of the relevant parts is that Jane, an orphan girl, eventually ends up in the employ of a rich man who she falls in love with, however he is married and because of that, she refuses to continue their relationship. The man of the house reveals that the reason he didn’t tell her this is because his wife was insane, and she screams and barks and growls and runs around like an animal. Eventually the woman in her insanity burns down the manor, but her husband escapes and, now a widow, it would no longer weigh on Jane’s conscience to marry him. The books ends with Jane writing about how they’re expecting their first child together. The book’s themes of morality and class differences are echoed, to the result of tragedy, in the story of the Alicein

Hokaze doesn’t manage to overcome her status of being born a penniless orphan by marrying a rich man and joining the upper classes. Instead she is murdered by his wife who has been driven mad with jealousy. Her story is one of an idealistic dream, executed in a self serving manner, confronted with reality that cost her her life

Also, the 歩 part of hokaze’s name can also be read as “fu,” a pawn in shogi :))

Mikado is the emperor, kiriko is the princess, and Mikuni the kingdom they made together

Hokaze wanted to be queen but was merely a pawn, and ultimately playing a very different “game” than the royalty around her

It’s also notable that the one who put her down that path is Lily, who shares a name with the white pawn Alice takes the place of during the chess game in Through The Looking Glass.

Her scheme also gives the name she gave Misono a very different light.

She gave him a character from Mikado’s name, “proof” of his infidelity, and the one for garden, because he is the “fruit” of her labors, the beautiful rose of the future queen of Wonderland

The extreme irony here is that Mikuni is much more like Hokaze in his actions, while Misono closely resembles Kiriko’s loyalty and ability to forgive others (at the cost of himself)

Also, Mikuni is going to hate this, but

His desire to protect misono from the harsh truths of the world, even going so far as to burn down part of his own home, is… Very, very Mikado. It’s fine if he cheats, manipulates, and even hurts Misono, so long as the result is Misono continues to be able to live with such a simple and idealistic view of love and life

They look like their mothers, inherited behavior patterns from each other’s, and also share quite a lot with their father

It’s a very beautiful way of weaving them together as a family, and also Strike’s use of word play to set Hokaze apart from the Alicein cast while also giving her name something to tie her to the theme is extremely clever. Boy is it mean though xD

Thanks for reading! Lemme know what you guys think :)

[curiouspupsicle]

Fan Fic Writer Interview

When @possibility-left tagged me a while back for @cheeseplants writer interview game, I didn't feel worthy. I had only written one fic.

But then @missunderstoodlyrics tagged me. And since I've now plotted out a new, long fic and written several chapters, I guess it's time to stop lurking in the shadows and call myself a fan fic writer (not necessarily a good one, or experienced one, but a fan fic writer nonetheless). So here we go: What fandoms do you write in? Good Omen all day long. Never read any other fan fiction (even for fandoms I love). Never written any other fan fiction. How many words have you published in 2024? Ooh, this looks sad. 1,077 in my short bit o'fluff. But I've published millions of non-fiction words since I started my first WordPress blog in 2010. So apparently, like Nina, I have things to say. If you're curious about my typical writing, check out Honey and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Day. It will be relevant to a future fan fic. What is your greatest achievement this year? It's a tie. First, managing to work, feed myself, and care for my dog rather than reading exquisite fan fiction hour after hour and day after day. And second, finding the courage to write fan fic at all despite being much older (and less talented) than the wonderful writers I enjoy. But, at the risk of my anonymity, I have written a few blog posts on the joys of doing new things badly (click the link to find the inspiration for that mantra which also ties into my next big fan fic project). So I guess I have to live my words. What are your favourite top three fics you wrote this year? Well, as a newbie, there's only one published: Will You Ever Stop Surprising Me? In it, Crowley worries that he'll get bored after averting two apocalypses just to find his angel still has some surprises in him yet. It's pure fluff set in a sex toys shop. (And no, I'll probably never write actual smut. At least not if the voices in my head when I'm reading it--are you kidding me? people in their 50s can't kiss from that position!--are any indication. What was your biggest pit of despair moment? Probably haven't seen it yet. But even in the pits, I look for hope. So I guess it was the pit where I told myself I was definitely spending too much time in fandom works when I should be looking for more paid work and taking care of my boat. But struggled to make progress. Then I realized that the long fic I was obsessing over was actually helping quell the anxiety that kept me from, well, looking for more work and taking care of my boat. What have you learned?

That it's lovely to learn from young(er) people. I admire the craft of people as young as teenagers. And the maturity and vision of writers young enough to be my children. It's fine that I don't have their skillset. I'm a beginner, after all. What three fics have you read this year that you love?

Just three? What, are you insane? Okay, since I share faves regularly on FanFic Friday (follow me if you want to be sure to see them), I guess I can limit myself. But You are an Ocean by megzseattle - After reading thousands of words with Crowley crawling into a whiskey bottle after Aziraphale returned to heaven, this fic read like a fresh breeze. Crowley moves to the South Downs on his own and befriends the protective women of the village. Extra points for BAMF!Aziraphale off-screen and found-family joy. A Portrait in Synesthia by DiminishingReturns - God creates the universe over and over trying to perfect it. She wipes out the memories of the angels every time. But somehow Crowley and Aziraphale find each other in each new iteration using their synesthetic senses. It's stunning. Delectable But Not Edible by AppleSeeds - Human AU - Aziraphale visits a Lush soap store where Crowley works determined to sample those delicious looking confections. I laughed out loud the whole way through. And while I love my clever angel, it was very fun to see him being so obtuse--while clever enough to get past the crazy embarrassment any normal person would have felt in the same position. And finally, What ideas are percolating for next year? I'm SO excited by a new fic I'm working on in which Crowley and Aziraphale are sailors who compete against each other in a singlehanded, round the world race. It will have banter, some angst, peril at sea, our boys demonstrate their feminism, and more. I don't think you'll need advanced knowledge about sailing or racing to appreciate it. And I'm using this as an opportunity to bring some events from real life sailing history to a new audience. Click to read a little snippet of I've written so far. And to see some great footage of sailing off Cape Horn. Why is this such a passion project? While I've never raced, I did live and cruise full time on a sailboat for 7 years. My boat (although I am not) is capable of doing a circumnavigation. So far, the writing and research have helped me tremendously with healing after unexpectedly ending my cruising life two years ago. Tag, answer any Qs that suit and play along (apologies if you're been tagged before and I missed it)! @pookasluagh, @di-42, @dragonfire42, @itsscottiesstark, @shadesofecclescakes, @lavendermoonlitskies, @serenity-black, @holycatsandrabbits

[nausikaaa]

Six Sentence Books Sunday

hello y'all! i've been having a busy week, trying to get all my christmas shopping done before December even begins, because otherwise i know the entire month will escape me and i'll wind up realising i've missed someone on christmas eve. despite my efforts, i still haven't got anything for my dad- usually he's the easy one to buy for, but this year i'm just stumped.

i'm also putting my billy goat Hadrian out with the girls (Juno, Daisy, Lucy and Mina) in just under a week, but Daisy was getting pushed around and picked on, so i separated her last week so she can put on a little weight and relax beforehand, because if she's stressed, she may not come into season. then it snowed. goats are herd animals, they prefer to have company, so i made sure she could see the others through the fence, but it turns out she is absolutely loving having her warm little hut to herself while the others all share the big shed, while Hadrian has a corner of the hay shed to himself, with wickets keeping him from the hay.

flattering photos of the handsome chap and damsel in distress before the snow hit:

sorry for the ramble. anyway! writing! well... i haven't been doing much lately, to be honest. when i'm in a writing slump, i like to read instead, and i view it as putting words in my brain so that it can make it's own words. it also helps me pick out things i do and don't want to emulate in my own writing. so instead of sentences, here are six books I read this year which i took something from:

We Solve Murders by Richard Osman, from which I am taking that it's okay to just use "said" instead of using a billion synonyms, as it blends in to the background and allows the story to flow more naturally. unless the way something is said is really relevant, it's better to show a character's feelings another way.

American Hippo by Sarah Gailey, which has such easy to follow yet engaging action and fight scenes, which I aspire to.

Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie, which had me sobbing inconsolably at the end. if a book prompts a physical reaction in me, that's an instant 5 stars. it's based on the ancient greek play Antigone, and though you don't need to know the play to enjoy the book, it really does deal an additional sucker punch to know how that story ends and yet hope so desperately the whole time: maybe it will turn out okay this time? a masterclass of foreshadowing and implication, somebody can literally die and it go unsaid, but you will know and it will destroy you.

Alcestis by Katherine Beutner. I hated this book. Plot? I barely know her. Consent? What's that? Resolution? Nah, pass. I learned what not to do from this garbage.

Percy Jackson: Wrath Of The Triple Goddess by Rick Riordan. I actually read both of the new pjo books that came out this year and honestly, they've shown me that sometimes a book can just be fun. There's no world ending drama, but still emotional moments and tension, and the whole story takes place over a matter of days. It doesn't have to be perfect, it can just be a good time.

The Amber Fury by Natalie Haynes. As somebody who writes a lot about grief, this book really helped with that by depicting it in such a raw and honest way, allowing the audience to connect with it even if they've never experienced the kind of loss the main character has. I do draw on my own experiences, but this helped me put it into words. It also shows how healing is always possible, no matter how severe the grief, so long as you have the right support system, something I am still muddling through.

an invitation to share some sentences or some books: @forabeatofadrum @cutestkilla @run-for-chamo-miles @roomwithanopenfire @prettygoododds @bookish-bogwitch @ic3-que3n @blackberrysummerblog @j-nipper-95 @youarenevertooold @larkral @that-disabled-princess @orange-peony @aristocratic-otter @thewholelemon @alexalexinii @confused-bi-queer @shrekgogurt @comesitintheclover @raenestee @hushed-chorus @you-remind-me-of-the-babe @noblecorgi @shemakesmeforget @ileadacharmedlife @supercutedinosaurs @artsyunderstudy @otherpeoplesheartachept-2 and @ninemagicks

[harukamitsuki]

hello! The idea of yuga being forced to suggest one of his classmates to be recruited into the LOV is so tragically fun that I might honestly incorporate that into my own rewrite. I could imagine the canonically guilt yuga feels would be absolutely increase tenfold if he had to play any role in the kidnapping.

y’know yuga’s guilt (and his canonical suicidal ideation) has so much potential to explored in fics, it’s a shame he isn’t a more popular character… but at the same time he already gets mischaracterize to Hell and back, don’t really wanna imagine how bad it would get if he was popular. *insert the “the viewer fell for the character��s facade that the viewer were supposed to dismantle” image here*

but anyways, it specifically being either izuku and mezou??? brilliant and your reasons makes complete sense. yeah, mezou being the one kidnapped could easily be the catalyst to the mutant discrimination arc. and izuku getting kidnapped also has so much untapped potential, and tomura & izuku desperately needed to have more interactions before their big fight as well.

though, since it wasn’t until post-kamino that yuga stopped distancing himself from the rest of the class, it makes me wonder if he would be confident enough in his observation skills to choose either izuku or mezou. there’s a chance he might go with a more “safe” option like shoto or (dare i say) mina.

also, oh wait, here’s a way to make katsuki less relevant to plot. when izuku and shoto are having their talk between the sports featival rounds. instead of katsuki listening into their convo, have it be yuga. It makes sense, especially when paired up with the idea of yuga being forced to suggest a student to be recruited.

In canon, Yuuga is shown to be far more intelligent than fans make him out to be. He's able to figure out the relation betwen Izuku and All Might without any external guidance or direct hints, and he managed to fool the entirety of 1-A until the reveal. The dumb guy that fanon portrays him as, the guy who's only smart with love, doesn't exist in canon.

I see this as less of an issue with fanon and more of an issue with Horikoshi's writing. He completely forgot about the traitor plotpoint, leacing fans guessing for years until he finally remembered. As such, there really wasn't much build-up to it.

Everyone was guessing Denki, or Tooru, or even the audience themselves. (That last one was a really cool theory but sadly not true). There definitely were some hints here and there, but it never felt like there was a solid foundation until the traitor arc actually hit.

As for him not really interacting with the others until post-Kamino... IMO, if you've experienced something yourself, you find it easier to recognise when somebody has been or is going through something similar.

Yuuga knows what it's like to try to reign in a quirk you were not born with, and he knows how it feels when you believe you've made no progress. He knows how it feels to be discriminated upon, to feel weak, like the whole world is against him.

For those reasons, I think, even without properly interacting with them, he'd be able to recognise how strong Izuku and Mezou are, as well as how they could seem like 'easy' targets for the LOV. He can relate to both of them, (though neither were able to relate to him).

And for your idea with Yuuga eavesdropping rather than Bakugou, while I like the idea, I'd prefer nobody eavesdropping. Bakugou doesn't eavesdrop, and Yuuga would integrate in another way with the IzuCrew.

Shouto's conversation with Izuku was insanely private. He's opening his heart out to Izuku, although I'm sure he didn't realise it, sharing his memories of only pain as a child, something that should only be disclosed by the person afflicted to the one they want to know about it.

While it may suit Yuuga's traitor status, I also can't see him using this information in any way, meaning it would be ultimately useless for him to eavesdrop.

UNLESS!! Unless he decides to report Endeavour to the League, due to his sympathy for Shouto and horror at Endeavour's actions, which could lead into a different arc entirely–

Okay, I'm liking the idea a lot more now.

Thanks for the ask!!

[catboygirljoker]

fun writing tip: you can justify making your blorbos as good at sex as you want if you also make it depressing

i will try not to be too graphic or horny and keep it mostly to character study analysis themes core motivations plot conflicts etc type discussion. still, id really prefer that folks under 18 do not interact with me on this post or about this topic in general, thanks!

for obvious reasons this post is gonna have a cut

UNLIKE HIS DIIIIICK [EXTREMELY LOUD AIRHORNS]

. sorry i just feel like hed appreciate that joke. uh anyway

Brief discussions of: BDSM, including sadomasochism; edgeplay; derealization/dysphoria; self-destructive recklessness in a sexual context.

ok. so there's this fictional guy. and i kiiiiiiind of have a crush on him. and i'm a basic bitch, so, like, obviously, when i think about him hornystyle, i want to imagine him being good at sex.

the thing is, "good at sex" is not always a particularly interesting trait to give a character! it can often be an eyerolling power fantasy trait. like "this is my oc Chuck Dongburger he has a ten pound cock and can make a babe cum just by lookin at her" yknow. it's a trait that, handled incorrectly, is more likely to flatten conflict than create it—more likely to make stories more boring than to make them more interesting.

also, "being good at sex" isnt a magical blessing that descends upon someone by chance. it is a quality that stems from a set of experiences and traits. it is a skill that one develops, or fails to develop.

so the question is, how do i justify him being good at sex? how do i make it feel believable and interesting?

the answer is simple! make it depressing! (that is, relate it directly to the character's central themes and conflicts, and therefore make it a natural part of/inclusion in their story)

in canon, xigbar has had multiple bodies, lost his heart multiple times, allowed himself to be a vessel for darkness on multiple occasions. he has endured all of this to carry out the will of his masters. every social role we've ever seen him take has been subservient to someone else, even if it has usually also involved social power over others, too.

here are the sex/relationship headcanons i have that expand on this:

related to: gender/sexuality

bisexual. for starters. obviously. his transness i have Deep Headcanons about, but his bisexuality is just "idk im bi so hes bi hee hee"

luxu is a binary trans man who experienced severe dysphoria in his original body and never felt like that body really belonged to him in the first place. to the best of his ability he has only chosen cis male vessels, including braig. in those cases he feels extreme disconnect from his body but not [very noticeable] gender dysphoria. the only thing connecting him to his cis male bodies is his sexual characteristics. theres this great art piece that has never left my brain that conveys the idea im going for. his face his hair his bones none of those are his, none of thise feel real, none of those feel right. but what does feel right is his dick.

related to: him being Good at Sex™

he is Very Experienced. he's tried a lot of shit and had a lot of bodies and largely had nothing better to do than be a horndog and kill time suckin and fuckin. he is down for just about anything with just about anybody. he knows how bodies work and knows how to deal with the exceptions and roll with awkwardness and uncomfortableness.

he is pretty good at reading people—it's a skill he has had to develop over his lifetime. he is sometimes wrong, but usually right, and reading people, understanding them, lets him feel like he has some kind of control or power over them. this is relevant because this is part of what makes him Good at Sex. he is shockingly responsive and attentive; not completely unselfish as a lover, but he won't blindly exert his will onto the other person and expect them to respond just because he has a big dick or is going faster or harder or whatever.

related to: his backstory as luxu

sex for him is a means of exerting control over the world, proving his own competence and worth to himself and another person, gaining some simulacrum of human connection, distracting himself from his derealization, grounding himself in his body, expressing and claiming his masculinity. all things, i headcanon, he also achieves (or seeks/has sought to achieve) from keyblade mastery.

he views his bodies as disposable, and knowing that he can just jump ship if he totals a body means that he processes pain differently than most people. not in a "all pain makes him horny" way*—it's more that pain doesn't make his self-preservation kick in the same way it does for other people. in bdsm/kink settings he is a masochist [as well as a sadist] and more reckless with edgeplay (when it comes to himself) than he really ought to be.

obviously i have specific personal motivation for wanting to headcanon this (he and his body are both Significantly Older Than Me) but i don't think he's too bothered by an age gap. some people it makes sense to me to imagine that they'd really want to date within their age and maturity range, but i think xigbar's chill as long as the person he's dating is a self-posessed adult. considering how long he's been alive, he's gonna have a significant gap in experience with ANYBODY; there isn't that much of a difference between him dating a 25 year old vs a 45 or 85 year old.

he has told close romantic partners about his Whole Deal before. it has never gone well. ("what do you mean youve been moving into random people's bodies in order to stay alive long enough to bring back a guy who intentionally manipulated his students into killing all of their students via senseless war??") they never understand and he doesn't know why they don't understand (i also headcanon him having severe cognitive dissonance vis a vis the MoM but that's a different post). his instinct is to put up a wall and go "well theyre just naive and stupid and haven't seen what i've seen, theyre too sentimental to understand this". he still keeps trying (if with less frequency) because he is desperate for someone to understand.

*i want to make this crystal clear: i do not headcanon xigbar as being automatically turned on by receiving or causing pain in every context, because he is a boss in a video game franchise where he fights teenagers. i am not comfortable sexualizing those fights!

(i do however think there are contexts where he might indulge in some "battle sadomasochism" when fighting another adult—maybe he makes it weird for them on purpose to fuck with them, maybe they're both into it and it's all foreplay, etc)

related to: him being subservient

youd think that when i talked about him being subservient to others, i was building up to a headcanon about him being a sub. however it feels most correct [and fun] to me to imagine him being a dom-leaning switch vers (doesnt get dysphoria from bottoming because. prostate). social role and personal dynamics dont necessarily correspond to sexual dynamics!

the headcanon i was actually building up to was that he craves affirmation in specific ways from specific people. he is desperate for someone else to give him worth. he wants to do a good job serving an authority he deems worthy of respect. he wants to be useful, he wants to serve a purpose and have a role. he hates feeling like he needs something from someone else, and feels much more comfortable if they need something from him.

he doesn't have a praise kink in a traditional sense, but he does really get his rocks off from being Good At Sex and from his lovers clearly and obviously enjoying themselves. he doesn't wanna be told hes done a good job, he wants to know, to tell from experience that he's blown someone's mind.

furthermore, in romance, he becomes a massive simp. if he likes someone enough to fall for them then they hang the fucking moon for him. he is outside in the rain crying throwing up begging for a sniff. absolutely pathetic. its not a total transformation of personality, i think he'd really hide it and really want to hide it. but i think in most situations it'd be subtle but observable. every joke he makes is directed to them and checked against their reaction; he stands at a middle distance outside of conversation kinda watching them, observing every move, memorizing their gestures and tics and quirks. he feels i love you before the first date but won't say it until five years into the relationship.

related to: i couldnt put it in the other sections and i really only made these section headers so it wasnt just big walls of text oops

he's a low empathy emotionally constipated bitch at the best of times, so he substitutes emotional intimacy with physical intimacy. picking up people at bars or dances or what have you for one night stands, satisfying them thoroughly, and then immediately dropping out of their lives.

he actively avoids romance (and any emotional closeness, including the completely platonic kind). but he hasn't always been this way. i think Dark Road was the most recent in a long long string of experiences where he lost people he was close to. he's tired of hurting people and getting hurt.

. im not gonna get into it because im trying not to be like too too horny in this post but hes So fucking brat tamer coded to me. i think you will understand at least the surface level reasons for this. i guess if i wanted to relate it to Themes i'd say something like "there is a specific romantic and sexual fantasy in being an asshole and even hurting someone and them still wanting you and trusting you and loving you and even enjoying it" but. well we dont need to go there do we

these are just the Depressing / Character-Related / Themes-y headcanons. some of my headcanons are just like "i think this would be funny and/or in character and/or hot" but you see how long this list is anyway. if i started in on all of that then we'd be here forever.

also, these are just headcanons! they're informed by analysis but shaped heavily by what appeals to me personally, what i find hot, what i find compelling about his character. if your headcanons for him differ from mine in any way, i don't think you're Wrong, because we're talking about the sexuality of a guy who comes from a video game franchise where characters are barely allowed to hold hands. this is all just toys and playing

anyway thank you for reading this post lmao its so long

JUST LIKE HIS DIIIIIIIIIIII—

[fountainpenguin]

Riddle watches New Wish - Post #2

Episode begin! Title card gives us Hazel with wings, so I'm liking where this is going. Gives me "Mile In My Shoes" vibes, and this 100% sounds like a first wish a kid would make.

Cosmo and Wanda are on their 4th godkid in a row with damaged teeth (though in Crocker's defense, his changed later). I was going to say "bold move for giving Hazel the same teeth design as Chloe," but I'm pretty sure Chloe just has a chip, not an entire missing one.

omfg HARTMANVERSE HAS A BROWN-EYED CHARACTER!!!! We get them on occasion (I think some of the classmates in "Bunsen Is a Beast" had them, I think Willy Moore and maybe the tall girl?), but they are SO RARE and now we have a MAIN CHARACTER!

Usually, purple or pink is subbed in instead, even for humans (Exhibit Flappy Bob). Oh, this is exciting. This makes my heart happy.

!!! The title card !!! has Cosmo and Wanda with their OG designs! Even though they have new outfits now! That is super clever, and they're starting us off by giving us Hazel in FOP style too, for the card. That's fun.

Let's begin!

Oh, heckin' yes, we're gettin' a townhouse! Or... whatever this building is. I am already excited about writing 'fics about that roof.

Waxing crescent moon! I am already back on my moon obsession. But oh no, they put stars in it.

Oh, that is a bold move giving Hazel a toy named Rhonda when Wanda's about to enter the scene.

WAIT I KNOW HIM!!!

... Okay, it's not the same cat, but I was very close (and yes, I have this in my files; I have a Francis-centric work that's been in my drafts a few years, though I'm not sure I'll get to it at this point).

I am FASCINATED with the possibility that the photos depict characters in 2D while their bodies are 3D. Jimmy Neutron is gonna lose his FLIPPIN' MIND.

Who is Hazel's VA, do I know her...? /Looked her up- I've seen a few of the relevant media, but I wouldn't have nailed her down in this first sentence.

She's a sibling! Oh, finally... Only rarely do we get siblings in the Hartmanverse. I was so robbed by Mikey's clones in "Mikeyplication." When we saw the sneak peek of geeky Mikey, I thought there was a chance.

Plot twist, Antony pulls a Katty Katswell and shows up for a face-off.

I'm liking the direction this is going for Hazel having a lot of big life changes: Just moved to a new place AND just said bye to her big brother who's gone off to college.

Hazel talks to herself exactly the style I do, I love her.

SLKDFJSDKLFJS she does Chloe's classic squint, I love that for her.

Her first hypothetical wish (before fairies show up) is unlimited wishes. Oh, Jorgen's gonna love you.

Her dad calls her Hazelnut :)

crying, this poor girl wants to see her brother so bad that she thinks he's "visiting early" even though there's no possible way that's true.

Note to self, Hazel's room is last in the hall, to the right, with... wow, that's a lot of doors around her.

Oh thank GOODNESS we got lightswitches. Hey why are the doorknobs so low. Is that how they build them in this universe of chronically tiny children?

OH! Mom's outfit is reminiscent of Timmy's mom's! I like that. Wow, this family loves colorful shoes. Yeah, you goofballs must be new here. We don't do that in FOP.

T'was an apartment! Not a townhouse.

First Cosmo and Wanda sighting!! I paused instantly, but Wanda's definitely gonna point out that Cosmo has his crown still up. Hers has gone down for human disguise.

And OH YEAH, BABY! We get a back view of their hair? This is the show that keeps on giving.

Time for a Post #3!

[moe-broey]

Would you like some strangely elaborate specific ass headcanons? Of course you do!!!! Also I'm outsourcing a very specific dilemma. But you have to Learn My Methods first. Okay? Okay!!!!

PIERCINGS. AS STORYTELLING DEVICES. GO!!!!

Okay! So what the hell are we looking at and what exactly am I trying to determine, here? Well!!! There's a few different facets to this.

FIRST OF ALL. REALLY REALLY CUTE AND ALWAYS SO FUN TO ME

One, two, three!!! They're a set of three, and they're marked as such by how many sets of piercings they have in their ears. It's such a small detail that happened more by coincidence than intent, but it makes drawing all three of them together feel coherent and again, fun! I also really like the storytelling/contrast of the Askr siblings having golden jewerly, while Moe's is in silver (it does mix silver and gold more broadly -- but I'm talking just the face/ears here!). You get the sense (... in addition to Moe's more scruffy appearance in general), that one is from a more "common" background.

Okay, but what's all that text? STORYTELLING.... 2

Piercings, as a way to indicate connections to other characters, and to imply background information.

First example, it's noted that Bruno has had his in for a long time (... kind of regretting the specificness of "as a kid". That's supposed to have implications, but tbh it may be more fitting for Bruno as a whole to simply have said, "A Long Time"). He wears something modest, maybe a common stone, but still eye-catching. I like to think Alfonse became enamored with it (guys can also do this???), same way he was completely smitten by all of Zacharias. One extremely questionable piercing job courtesy of Zacharias himself and egged on by Sharena (who made a generous donation and/or sacrifice from her own jewelry box) later, it's a miracle he managed to heal them. Equally impressive is how long he managed to hide them as a teenager.

Meanwhile, you see Sharena's example is pretty straightforward! Assigned ear-stabbing at birth. It worked out well, though! Aside from that one time where her piercings mysteriously closed up and they had to be re-done, when she was little. Which could mean nothing. Alls well that ends well! In fact, she liked the look so much she decided to get another set done! Which may or may not come back later...

I will admit, the saddle plugs on Bruno were an impulse decision I made drawing this out (so not a super strong design headcanon, and maybe I could draw it better w more practice tbh, test run ect ect), BUT. MORE IMPORTANTLY. That idea, AND NEXT UP: STORYTELLING... 3.

On top of noting significant connections and providing background information -- here, you have gaining more and/or doing different Things with your piercings, as a way to indicate the passage of time or a change of taste. Woah, that's a lot of text! That's just my autism showing, I'll do you a favor -- with Moe specifically, the biggest takeaway here is:

One, two, three. There are other iderations of Moe of course, plenty of awkward in-between stages. But as I've developed it, I've found that there's like... three really plot relevant parts of its life. One easy to forget, two OH GOD OH FUCK, three that's the guy who lives here now. AWESOME!!!!

OKAY. OKAY. PEONY she has BEEN HERE THIS WHOLE TIME. What's up with that?

So we have background implications/information, we have connections to other characters, and NOW. WE HAVE. Paths that diverge. Sharena, 2. Peony, 1. Plus, a little bit of shape language with those tear drop earrings... on Sharena specifically...... ohghhghhf........

I've always been really indecisive with my Peony designs (for some reason it has been SUCH A STRUGGLE FOR ME), but I do like the simplicity of this one actually. The "Princess Peach core" note about Sharena is more about her color palette, but after writing that I went You know what. Fuck it *gives Peony Princess Peach earrings*. This does feel subject to change, but the idea they could be like water droplets is so cutes... I have really wanted to give Peony earrings with a blue gem though, BECAUSE...

The blue and silver are a nod to this reoccurring detail on Peony! So not only does it tie back to Sharena (IMPORTANT), it also (theoretically.) ties together nicely overall!!

Okay. So. Where does this leave me. Why did I draw all this out? All these little details that exist in my mind, why did I go out of my way to create this elaborate in-depth demonstration? Remember when I said I was gonna outsource some shit?

PROBLEM: I NEVER. EVER. EVEEEERRRRRR KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH LIF'S EARRINGS‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️ AND THE LACK OF DIRECTION IS BECOMING MORE AND MORE GLARING EVERY FUCKING TIME I DRAW HIM‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

And what prompted all of this. What REALLY made me Think About This. I did another "ehhh Fuck It" with Lif's piercings, where he's sharing a panel with Moe, and

Ooughgughfhghhh...... them having the same earring arrangement.

But then. Then. I got autism brained about it. I can see Bruno having fuck all time to stretch his ears while on some gayass journey (... the. Timelines. Time in between Events. Maybe he wouldn't have full big stretched ears in Book 1. HOWEVER). Inconvenient, maybe, but if he's dedicated to the grind. He can do it. And I mean, have you seen his muscles? Dude CARES about his appearance. Meanwhile Moe ABSOLUTELY had fuck all time to stretch its ears before arriving in Askr. Then I'm thinking about Alfonse. NEVERMIND how much time it takes to stretch your ears, I'm thinking about the Number Rules. I'm thinking about how he's One, the first guy of a set of Three. I'm thinking about the Number Rule, to indicate Time. Why WOULD he have Three? The Number Rule, as Paths Diverging. There's Two of him, not Three. ALSO ASKING MYSELF "Would Alfonse get more piercings???" LIKE NO. BECAUSE. THE. THE RULE OF THREE. THE ONE TWO THREE. WERE YOU EVEN LISTENING‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😫😫😫😫😫

Idk am I just insane. Am I a lost cause. Lif's ears are usually covered up by his long shaggy hair anyway. But really that does just make any time any piercings Would be visible, just. I am just so deeply conflicted torn between Goth Alt Men Hot and THE METHODS‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️ THE STORYTELLING THE METHODS MY DEEPLY INTRICATE RITUALS‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥💥

[ciciciron]

When the when the autism kicks in and suddenly it's 1 am and I have a completed Lear design despite the fact he doesn't show up in my au until the sequel fic

Naturally the best course of action to take with Hoopa!Lear was to make him more emo, and also pink, and also tan because I felt like it. Severe infodump under the cut cuz I am so. about him

Brief overview of the au- it just involves a lot of multiverse bullshit, as well as pokemon-human hybrids known as either gods (for mythical or legendary pokemon, created by being blessed either by an Arceus or fusing with the pre existing legendary) or demons (people who sell their soul when they die and tangentially become part Pokemon because fun character design). The story follows this guy named Akagi as he works to defeat his father once and for all...to put it simply.

Lear, or actually Lyer because he's from the first universe in context of all of this and therefore I have to use the Japanese name, was originally human just like most of the gods. This relates to the bigger picture but like 10,000 years before the story takes place there was this big event that left half the world destroyed and time all fucked up, bro almost died lmao loser but Hoopa fused with him to save his life

He then spent the next 10k years doing fuck all but being silly and visiting random universes until it was decided he was to be plot relevant where all he did was make travel easier which some how proved him more useful than any other traveling companion the mc had before

He only agrees to it because he's searching for the prison bottle so he can actually unlock his full power instead of just being 5'2" and able to teleport. And it's convenient enough that their destinations line up pretty well and he's more protected this way

Also not to get too angsty because it'll be at least a year before I can write any part of this story because I physically cannot work so out of order but given the fact he never had his character development in masters and has also genuinely lost everyone he's ever cared about because that long ass stretch of time (where bro didn't age, I'll add, he's still 17 here smh couldn't even drown the pain with alcohol or smth) he's even more difficult and it takes a lot more for him to accept that he doesn't have to suffer alone

(Also lowkey oc x canon but you cannot come into my house and insult my gay furniture when I have good lore reasons)

Also unrelated but when I was autistically scrolling the tags for him on Tumblr I learned that other people have made Hoopa!Lear design's and I was so like...that was so fun to see hehe it inspired me to finally draw mine. I've been obsessed with him recently which came out of no where- he wasn't in the story at all until a month ago

[memento-morianon]

Fun Fact Friday

@creators-club, @bardic-tales

here are 5 random facts about my writing project!

my current main story is actually the result of multiple generations of ocs, as in I started by trying to write stories about some ocs, and then I gave them kids and wanted to write about the kids. and then I made those kid ocs into adult ocs and gave them their own kids, and my protagonist Morianon is one of those kids that is now an adult. I know the full backstory of both sides of his adoptive parents' families. His dad's parents were my first ever queer ocs. They're unfortunately no longer relevant to my main plot, but maybe I'll revisit them someday and write a short side story about em.

I also have more fantasy people species than are shown in my main plot, I just had to cut some of them to keep the world from feeling too complicated and crowded. I've got a third species connected to the orcs and gnomes, I've got lizard folk, I've got two types of unrelated merfolk, I even tried making kangaroo people once. I like designing people species! but they simply don't all fit in the plot, so I had to downsize.

Both of my protagonists were originally designed as elf children, but I changed my mind and Morianon ended up a bird dude while Evarin ended up a gnome. And while Morianon has had the most obvious visual changes, Evarin is the one who's had the most character changes! Morianon's backstory has been refined but not changed much, and Evarin has had a total shift in the narrative and taken a completely new role.

The Memento Morianon project was supposed to be one book but it's got such a slow and meandering plot that I was struggling to flesh it out while also keeping it shorter. So it's going to be a trilogy now, whoops! but on the other hand, coming up with the subtitles has also been fun! in order, they'll be Blood, Breath, and Bone, all of which tie into the themes and significant events that happen within each book.

I've done so much work on the worldbuilding and so much of it just won't be relevant for the narrative of any of my stories, so I'm planning on making a fully illustrated bonus book just to compile all my cool ideas. I mean, where else am I supposed to put all the fantasy biology art and extra details about the goblin revolution?

(image description: art of a chalicothere-like centaur bending forward to touch the ground. their unique skeleton is overlayed on their body. end description.)

[thegirlwhowrites642]

of the 7 hp books, which one do you think is the best overall and which is your personal favorite?

My favorite is OotP for a billion reasons, I think I made a post about this before but this is Tumblr so it's basically impossible to find it again.

In short: it's the one that got closer to satisfying my interest in a more politics-focused plot; I love Harry's angst (if I had written it, there would have been more, trust me); I love the hinny dynamic in this book; romione acting as Harry's parents is particularly strong here and I find that sweet (it's extremely dysfunctional for their friendship with Harry, but it's sweet as a dynamic between the two of them); we actually get a marauders scene. Mainly this.

I always re-read it when I'm particularly sad, like really really sad: tragic catharsis.

That said, the sixth book is the best-written one as far as I'm concerned. The earlier books don't have major problems with the writing, but the characters are significantly less complex (if they were a separate story from the later ones, I would probably consider them better written because I would classify them more as fairytales, but it's all the same saga).

It's also the book that clearly went through more editing work, arguably sometimes too much, but it has a pretty great pacing.

HBP relies on a binary structure that creates a very interesting opposition of light and darkness, Harry and The Chosen One, love (Ginny) and death (Voldemort). And while the writing of Ron and Hermione starts to go a bit insane in this book, what goes on with them is not relevant enough to impact negatively on my evaluation of the writing (the romione subplot at the end of the day, it's there for the drama and pure entertainment).

Harry is especially interesting in this book because it's the only chapter of the saga in which he is a fully three-dimensional character. Harry is of course three-dimensional but you tend to see a specific side of him based on the book (and in the earlier ones the characters are not deeply developed anyway).

In this book though, Harry is in control of his life (or at the very least, he feels he is). He knows about the prophecy, he works with Dumbledore, and you see him fully confident in himself, you see the hero. You also see the future auror with the subplot about Malfoy.

And of course, in this book Harry is in love with Ginny, you see the light fun side of him. You see the cocky side of him. The side of him who is satisfied by knowing Ginny is proud of him for inviting Luna to the party but is also terribly annoyed by Ginny not being jealous. You see Harry the person he could have been in a way you never see in any other of the books.

It's also a very important book because while of course, you need to take into consideration what happens in DH, this is the book you mainly need to go back to when you want to write post-war Harry. Because that Harry is in control of his life and he chooses to live that life by Ginny's side. He is gonna be a fully complex human being who will have darkness in life but also always light balancing it out.

Ironically, HBP is also the book that fundamentally sets up all the choices that make me hate DH and think it's a horribly written book but they don't impact HBP, so...

[charcubed]

Look, I personally lose nothing if Lokius doesn’t become explicit canon. And if that were to become the case, I’d also have no regrets for saying for years that that would happen in the show by the end ¯_(ツ)_/¯

I’ve said it before, but by now it would be Disney/Marvel’s loss, NOT mine. Whoever wasted or limited the potential would be the idiot, not me.

I’m simply never gonna feel crazy for noticing what’s happening in a story or silly for daring to hope it’ll be brought to fully satisfying narrative completion. That's just a me thing. Maybe this is because at heart I’m stubborn! But I’d like to think I’m not unreasonable. I can’t control whether writing stays consistent or censorship is overcome... But I just do my best to construct solid arguments, and as long as those arguments remain solid, I stand by them :)

I know not everyone would say the same, or they consider this to be "hope" or "optimism," but I see it as logic based in noticing what the text of a show/story is doing. And personally I also consider blatantly evident subtext to be "canon enough," so if we get my personal minimum, my happiness may still outweigh any potential disappointment for me.

However. Here's what I've come here to say today, in reaction to things I've seen floating around in the fandom:

While I do understand on some level why people worry that Lokius won’t be more explicitly canonically romantic because it could be censored by Disney.... At this point, I don’t understand how people can think Loki/Sylvie will still happen.

As of right now, there’s no way to argue for that in my opinion. (I'd like to see someone try.)

The show has set up a fun but very simple situation from basically the start:

They made romantic love a point of relevance in the show’s story. More specifically, they pointed out Loki's desire for a "real" romantic love, and had him learn the lesson that he doesn't deserve to be alone. They didn't HAVE to do all of those things and tie them together. They CHOSE to make romantic love relevant – and they have actively continued to choose to do that, to the point of including a mirrored dark love triangle in s2 ep3. That narrative thread simply has to be fulfilled.

So if they deliberately established that Loki wants and needs a “real” love, and his relationship with Sylvie was referred to as "fiction" so she cannot be a real love for him.... Who does it have to be?

Obviously it has to be Mobius. And of course, the whole show points to Lokius also, for countless more reasons than just this simple breakdown. But pointing this element out is the simplest argument one can make.

So either...

1. They take Lokius to full narrative completion with explicit canon, as they should and as I expect them to,

or

2. Loki's desire for a real love is left unfulfilled, open-ended, and/or made clear through subtext that it's Mobius.

Those are the options, if you ask me!

This is aside from how Lokius’ love story is now even at the core of the show’s themes and plot, which is an insanely strong vote in favor for their future canonicity.

But for the purposes of this post, I’m talking about whether we'll get explicit romance specifically, like a love confession or a kiss – and I do actually genuinely think we'll get both of those things. I'm not trying to force you to agree with me, but just to be clear, that's where I'm at with it and have been since 2021 lol.

So in regards to worrying about Loki/Sylvie...

They were never really a romance (yes, even in season 1) and they sure as hell aren't now. I can’t imagine they'll become one even IF Lokius is left subtextual.

So what actually remains to be seen is if the writers got to go all the way with Lokius, or if that central queer love story was censored on some level in the end.

My hot take is no one should be ~worrying~ about Sylki at this stage of the game. Free yourselves, people.

If the story starts abruptly going in a Sylki direction, even with only 3 episodes left, I will certainly be the first to say so lol. But I simply sincerely, truly doubt that'll happen.

(Hot take in the footer: this is not the post to get into this at length, but in case this comes up… In this house we do not use the word "queerbaiting." It is a useless, nearly-meaningless, insufferable term that devalues the legitimacy of subtext and queercoding more often than not; it's rooted in the idea that media must hit arbitrary and inconsistent checklists often set with cishet approval in mind; and it perpetuates a focus on the false and harmful myth that many creators are "cowards" instead of leaving room for nuance and the fact that industry censorship still exists.)

[gatalentan]

can u actually go over the significance of the sunflowers on the work wives’ table again? I think I missed it the first time and it sounds interesting

You have activated my trap card. Here is my thesis on the Work Wives Sunflowers.

Ok, I want to preface this by saying this is totally just a little bit of fun, and I am not totally deluded as to think this is A Thing. I have no expectations about this ship being canon, or there being Secret Meanings. It's more spotting a pattern and running with it. However, similarly - there is symbolism in this show in terms of costuming and set design, such as Janine's "love" necklace appearing and disappearing during story beats, writing on the teachers' boards being plot-relevant, etc, so it's not me being totally outlandish! For nearly 30 consecutive there hasn't been any decorations on the table, only practical items like salt, pepper, a basket of leaflets/condiments, a napkin holder etc (with the exception of Pilot, where the tables were in a different configuration, the WW are at a different table and all the tables have a little plant). For eg, here is all of S1:

In Fire, the table was damaged during a lapse of Barbara's mental health, where she became very insular with her own internal pain and didn't reach out to Melissa about it. It goes without saying that in the WW lore this table is basically a second home. The only time either of them sits anywhere else is when they fight, when Melissa ends up "sleeping on the couch" (other tables). This table getting damaged was a huge deal to Barbara and an inciting incident in her finally telling Melissa about Gerald's health problems and how it was upsetting her.

The table obviously had to be replaced after the fire damage, and was. In Teacher Conference, there is a new table, and a little bouquet has appeared, which stays through the next episode Mural Arts, squirreled away behind all the dinner paraphernalia.

But in Teacher Appreciation, the sunflowers appeared, huge and bright, two of them, a centrepiece, right there from the cold open.

An episode which, as we know, was a massive turning point in their relationship, where they fought, traded some really, really low blows that cut deep, but this time apologised on screen and reconciled - and one in which Barbara is wearing bright yellow when they do.

Immediately my squirrelly little brain started making connections about this, because they're SO bright and LARGE and PROMINENT and there wasn't any prominent decoration on the table before. My initial thought was oh, it's teacher appreciation day, this can be dismissed easily as just a gift from one of the kids. But we saw a lot of gifts being given to them all in this ep, and the flowers aren't among them. It was @cdyssey who made the stitch for me that this is probably Barbara christening/homecoming the table/the physical manifestation of their friendship/relationship after her lapse damaged it in an episode which re-cements their connection after the events of Fire, and in an episode where their bond is tested. Flowers are her thing. It has to be Barbara.

We also haven't seen any other gift that was given become a recurring feature. They are always facing the wide-angle camera, two bright faces for the two of them in the configuration they always sit in, side by side. Barbara Howard, who loves flowers, no doubt has read up on flower language before. Sunflowers are representative of "silent love, loyalty, admiration, arrogance and unspoken love". This was, without a doubt, a deliberate choice, and so, so thematically relevant for not only the unspoken but incredibly strong bonds of their relationship (platonic, romantic or otherwise), but also the arrogance for which Barbara (and Melissa) took their relationship (and the symbolism of their shared table) for granted in the episode where they appeared, and in Fire where she didn't open up to Melissa and share her pain.

The sunflowers are a physical manifestation of what Barbara feels about her relationship with Melissa, and the sanctuary that is their second home: the table. A safety and enduring loyalty that has lasted decades and seen countless other colleagues and friendships and even Melissa's marriage come and go. For each other, they are a reliable, ever-present constant, a beam of sunlight no matter what they are weathering together. The sunflowers stayed on the table for the following episode, disappeared 2x20 when Melissa was sat at the table alone (and was stressed and unmoored the whole episode), and the reappeared in 2x21, when the WW returned to the table again. And not only reappearing, but reappearing in a yellow outfit.

This cements to me that this is Barbara bringing them in each Monday - when she doesn't come into the lounge, the flowers aren't there.

As an addendum, I haven't re-checked the full series proper, but another time sunflowers have appeared in relation to WW is during another turning-point scene in 1x06, the "maybe this is it for me" scene with Barbara, Melissa & Gerald eating lunch that leads to Barbara encouraging Melissa to date again... but which also contains this look, where Barbara's mask nearly, fully slips one of the most significant times in the whole series and is a foundational moment in WW ship lore. Again, there are two sunflowers in this scene.

Yes, this whole thing is me being a delulu girl. Yes, it's me making tenuous connections for a non-canon ship and making a meal out of scraps. Yes, I fully enjoy this little theory and subscribe to it, and welcome anyone else to play around in the mud with me, too. If you wanna take this idea for fic etc, GO GO GO!

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

[skunkes]

what is dave the diver like? ive seen it a lot but nobody talked abt like. gameplay. is it good?? i think i might get it later this month

gameplay for dave the diver involves diving down to collect sea creatures for 2 rounds, this is how time progresses in the game. You are able to upgrade several of your items in order to be able to dive deeper, breathe for longer, do more damage, carry more items with you, which also progresses the Plot.

at night you work at the sushi restaurant that makes food out of the fish you bring in, and this part of the game involves selecting a menu, serving drinks, serving the food, refilling ingredients (but it is Not stressful as you very quickly unlock multiple staff members that do this all for you, since you, as Dave, have a really slow walking speed. you very quickly get to a point where u just supervise restocking the menu and such)

I think it is good ^_^ i am a person who doesnt like management games, and the restaurant part doesnt feel like that at all. (if your staff doesnt get the order out to someone in time, all that happens is you dont get the money that person wouldve paid). I really feared it would be That kind of restaurant gameplay.

There are people who complain that there are too many quests and tasks (this is a game where you have a Phone with Apps on it, related to the game after all), but every mechanic that is introduced is not done in a stressful way, is usually tied to the plot and you are given a good example of how to use it, and many things are optional, or easy to balance since the game time only progresses when you dive!

If I had known some of the stuff/eventual mechanics beforehand, I would have felt very overwhelmed! But I think the game introduces em in a good + relevant way as u progress the plot! ykwim?

I usually HATE when games are Lots of Tasks but here its like well, I need something to do while diving anyway! Maybe doing this thing will earn me more money, or a charm that buffs my harpoon gun, or reward me with an ingredient for the sushi place, or cat food to feed the cat with. Very few things are Timed (like Parties where getting certain fish will have people paying more, or having a VIP visitor you need to make a specific dish for) and the game goes at the pace of your diving expeditions, which can last as long or as short as you want, (U can find oxygen capsules underwater!), so I also dont feel Rushed. You can do all the little quests before proceeding with plot progressing main quest, you can ignore little quests, do them later etc.

Im not very good at video james, and I get stressed out by them easily, and this game has been really fun for me and not super stressful....! I don't think it's high stakes at all.... It is also very Cute moments and pretty and the music is nice. And I love Dave he is a good guy and so cute also. ...

Jerma plays a very very small amount of it which was enough to hook me (and it only gets better and more interesting from there) if u Do wanna get an idea of core mechanics without further spoilering... I also got it on sale in case I did not like it ^_^

also it OF COURSE still has its flaws, from plot to writing to mechanics, but I like it a lot! i am haveing fun