#yeah that pov is basically the plot

[winterlilyarts]

Pov you get trapped in a magical forest and smth is up with ur bff

Fancy-ish lighting ver under the cut

I still have a lot to figure out with lighting in digital drawings

[pipskippy]

theres something abt suzaku and lelouch that makes for really nice atmospheric dreams for me i think it’s a big part of why cg has stuck with me lolll. very fitting actually bc i originally watched it because i kept having dreams about it and got curious…

[coffeeandcalligraphy]

so like what if I showed y’all this note I wrote for a scene in moth work that never happened and it like hurt sm:

From September 23, 2019.

Transcript under the cut!

After dinner, when Suz and Eliza are talking over wine, Harrison and lonan find each other on the balcony. They naturally do this but remain silent even when they’re standing just a few feet apart. Harrison leans against the far end of the railing and looks out over Vegas. The lights shimmer and make his eyes ache. He’s hugging himself. The wind has picked up and his teeth have begun to chatter. He wants to touch lonan but he’s also very hurt. He’s not even sure how he’s ended up in this moment. By now Jeremiah knows he’s gone. He could’ve had a life with him. They could’ve gotten married. Driven a buggy across the country, lounged on the coast. The images are flashy but they feel only cosmetic. He can’t bear to look at lonan but also looks at lonan.

[aroaessidhe]

2023 reads / storygraph

Natural Outlaws and Fractured Sovereignty

NA darkish fantasy

A thief and her friend who steal from the rich to save her dying father are caught, and offered a deal by the Governor for her father’s life and their freedom, if they travel to another country to steal from the royal treasury

she has to impersonate a noble lady and compete to become the arrogant king’s new spouse, staying in the competition long enough to figure out a way to pull off their heist, with her friends as undercover servants and the Governor’s assassin watching over her as a handmaiden

Aro bi MC & he/they nonbinary MC who become a QPR, lesbian and ace trans man SCs

[chadsuke]

Comics Read in 2024:

My Hero Academia Vol. 5 by Kohei Horikoshi (2015)

My Hero Academia Vol. 6 by Kohei Horikoshi (2015)

My Hero Academia Vol. 7 by Kohei Horikoshi (2016)

My Hero Academia Vol. 8 by Kohei Horikoshi (2016)

My Hero Academia Vol. 9 by Kohei Horikoshi (2016)

My Hero Academia Vol. 10 by Kohei Horikoshi (2016)

My Hero Academia Vol. 11 by Kohei Horikoshi (2016)

Manly Appetites: Minegishi Loves Otsu Vol. 2 by Mito (2020)

Behind Her Highness's Smile by Studio Wooridle & Amid (2024)

[ID: Covers of the aforementioned books. End ID.]

[foxmulderautism]

instagram recommending me a reel for a peach frosé recipe what the fuck literally most felixcore cocktail of all time. literally just frozen peaches and rosé blended together. me when i said i'd be productive but now i'm falling down a peach flavoured cocktail rabbit hole

[aroaceleovaldez]

how Nico functions narratively as a character is always extremely funny to me because he has like, exactly 3 modes: exposition, damsel, and dues ex machina.

Exposition Mode is usually whenever Annabeth (#1 designated exposition character. #2 is Grover or insert mythological figure of the hour here. #3 is Nico) or someone else isn't around to exposition for the present cast. He has an excuse to somehow randomly know everything and everyone, no matter what, especially if it's relevant to the plot. He'll randomly develop new skills or personal arcs purely as an excuse to put him in situations where he can exposition, such as him being able to gain insight into the future/prophecies via ghosts (which is a thing in Greek mythology, but still). This is actually why it's extremely difficult for him to function as a POV character in a stand-alone story or first book of a series, because the way Riordanverse functions, the POV almost always only has as much information as the audience going into things and a secondary character explains information to them as they go along, unless it's later on into a series and it makes sense for the characters and/or audience to know that already. That's why Nico doesn't function well as a POV for TSATS but Will would work fine, because Nico's designated narrative role is Knowing Everything/Everyone, Somehow (particularly relating to the Underworld).

Damsel: he just gets kidnapped a ridiculous amount of times. Also that plus his penchant for passing out means there is ample opportunity for scenarios where Nico, despite being extremely powerful, needs to be rescued. Pairing this with how he's always off doing absolutely anything, absolutely anywhere, and somehow knows everybody, he's a perfect means to push the plot forward with an easy "oh no we need to rescue/protect Nico for the millionth time" side-quest or addition to stakes at hand. Or, similarly, if you need to take Nico out of the equation for a bit because he's too powerful and would fix it immediately: oops he passed out/needs to be protected/is kidnapped/etc.

And then as mentioned before - Deus ex machina, kinda literally. Nico is extremely overpowered for a reason; Because he's the catch-all solution to every problem. Just throw Nico at it. We can BS a new epic power for him that vaguely makes sense and yeah he's just that powerful and will pass out because of it probably. Yeah sure he can rip people's souls out and instakill things. Yeah he can teleport anything anywhere under essentially any circumstances. He'll just be a little sleepy. A lil eepy. He needs to take a lil nap. It's fine.

Basically. Solution to literally every situation in the Riordanverse: Throw Nico at it. Just throw Nico at it. It'll make sense. It'll work. Unless he's the primary POV in a stand-alone novel, short story, or first book in a series. Then it won't make any sense because you suddenly have to backtrack like 2/3 of Nico's entire narrative functions and suddenly he is Only A Damsel.

[shima-draws]

I'm a couple days late but. Lusanlu Week Day 3 is done 😤 @lusanluweek

Favorite Arc | AU of Choice

Remember that Sanlu fairy AU I mentioned and then never spoke of again. Yeah this is it lmao.

Tfw you sneak into the secret garden of the Germa Kingdom even tho you were explicitly told NOT to do so and find a very pretty boy trapped inside of a birdcage

Bonus doodle of their designs under the cut ;)

Actually kind of disappointed I didn't go all out and draw more than just a bust for Sanji's POV bc that butterfly wing coat is 👌

Spicy ass design tbh. Not sure about the top but everything else is MWAH chef's kiss (Also yes he has thigh highs. I'm repeating the pattern here I know. I would say I'm sorry except I'm not)

And Luffy looks hot af in one of those classic pirate shirts. Open collar puffy sleeves sash at the waist......SLUT BEHAVIOR!! GOOD FOR HIM!!!!

I actually did take these designs from my initial goofy World Tree comic. (Or at least I took Luffy's, I didn't like Sanji's so I redid it lmao) This AU takes some basic stuff from World Tree but the plot is completely different I prommy <3

[4ngels0uls]

Kiss cam - Chris sturniolo

Don’t like? Don’t read.

Summary: you go to Chris’s hockey game, you watch him go around, plus you’re sitting beside two random people. The kiss cam comes on while your sitting beside some random guy and Chris doesn’t like that..

Paring: fem!reader + angry!chris

Warnings: SMUT, use of y/n, cursing / swearing, shouting, yelling, p in v, oral, fingering, handjob, rough sex, stimulation mentioned, basically porn with a small ass plot💀

A/N: HELP I JUST HAD TO REDO THIS ALL

————————————————————

Y/ns pov

“Hey ml.” Chris says while walking up to me. I turn around and see him. “Hey Chris.” I say. “You coming to my game tonight?” He asks me. “Yeah sure!” I reply. He smiles widely. “Alright I gtg to get ready for my game�� he smiles as he walks away. That stupid fucking grin on his face makes me want to ride his face like crazy.

I start putting clothes on other than Chris’s shirt and my short ass shorts. I get on baggy jeans along with a tight “y2k” shirt I don’t match Chris’s style whatsoever. (Basically this)

he tells me he loves me either way, and I love him for him. His outfits drive me insane, I feel like I’m tingly inside when he wears this one outfit, he knows he does too. That’s exactly why he decided to wear it to his game.

End of y/ns pov

————————————————————

Chris’s pov

I’ve decided to wear the outfit that makes y/ns excited, she knows I’m wearing it too. This is all fun in games till she wants me to pound into her. I know she’s already thinking it. You’ll barely see the outfit when I’m playing but who gives a shit. I’m getting ready since my game starts in 30 minutes.

End of Chris’s pov

————————————————————

Y/ns pov

I’m watching Chris skate around the rink playing his game. I need him. he knows right after his game because of his slutty outfit. I stare up at the kiss cam as it goes all around beside brother and sisters, couples, friends, etc. till it comes to me and this random guy. I shake my head no. “Come on! Don’t be shy!” The random guy tells me. He leans in and Chris sees and skates towards me and this guy.

He slid to where you were and banged on the plastic protector window, “Don’t fucking touch what’s mine.” Chris yells with dominance. the guy backs away from me and looks away from me looking a total different way. I stare at Chris with shock and he winks and skates away.

a hour later

Matt drives us all home. me, Chris, nick, and Matt himself. The only noise that’s happening is the low music from the radio. “Soo uh Chris…” nick speaks up from the back. “what.” He says with anger in his voice. “never mind..” nick says. Chris grunts. We get back to the house and I get out of the car along with everybody else.

Me and Chris go back to Chris’s room. He closes the door behind him and locks it, now staring at me like he’s going to ruin my insides. He grabs my waist and pulls me towards him, smashing his lips into mine. I kiss back almost immediately. He rips my shirt off. “Chris!” I yell and pull back from the kiss “whattt?” He acts clueless. “This was a good shirt” “I’ll buy you more.” He smash’s our lips back together. He takes his shirt off and pulls his sweatpants down.

He pulls my jeans down. He pulls back, staring at my black lace set. “Cute.” He says softly. He kisses me again, unclipping my bra as he does.

The bra slides off me. He goes down and kisses my nipples. He picks me up and brings me over to his bed.He slides my underwear down and slowly rubs my clit in a circular motion. I moan softly as he does. He slides his two fingers in me as he rubs my clit with his thumb. “F-fuck..” I groan.

He pushes his fingers in and out of me as fast as possible, he hooks his mouth up to my clit and sucks along with flicking his tongue against my clit. I grab his locks and wrap them around my fingers. “Fuck Chris…” I moan. He groans at the sound of me moaning his name sending waves of pleasure through out my body.

He pumps his fingers in and out of me, feeling my spongey walls around his fingers. I grind my hips into his face. “Chris!” I scream a bit as I release all on his face. He pulls his fingers out of me and licks them. “You taste so good y/n.” He smiles softly as he licks his fingers clean. He stands up and I get on my knees infront of him. I pull his boxers down as dick springs out slapping his stomach.

I look up at him and smile. I stroke his dick a couple times then I put him in my mouth.My bob my head on his length. He pushes my head more down making my nose touch his pelvis along with making me gag. He grabs a fist full of my hair making a homemade elastic. He throws his head back a groans “y/n..” he whimpers.

I bob my head a few more times making him whimper and groan. He’s a total whimpering mess at this point. “Cumming!” He yells out. I feel his dick twitch in my mouth and his load fills my throat in white.

I swallow the load he just shot in the back of my throat. I get up off my knees making me a bit wobbly. He bends me over on the bed and teases my core by sliding his pre cum around on my clit. “P-please don’t tease” i whimper. He slides himself in slowly.

I let a long moan out. He starts thrusting slowly to let me adjust. “F-faster” I stutter. He starts filling me up more and more, pounding into me. He finds my g spot “fuck! Chris!” I moan but scream. He chuckles “D-definitely found I-it.” His brothers definitely can hear us now.“Sh-shitt!” I scream.

He groans and throws his head up again “fuck y/n you’re so tight.” He groans. I clench my walls around his dick, milking him at this point. “Fuck!” He yells. “Fuckkk Chris!” I moan. I start to feel myself get more and more sensitive. I’m practically getting overstimulated by now.

He burys his cock deep inside me making me moan as he hits me g spot like crazy, practically abusing my pussy. “Fuck.. “ he groans. I moan from his balls hitting my clit each time he thrusts. I bite my lip trying to keep quiet so his brothers don’t hear everything little thing we’re doing.

His hips slap against mine making a slapping noise. His thrusts grow slower and slower imitating he’s close. He smashes into me as I feel him twitch inside me and paint my walls white. “Fuck!” I moan as I release all over his warm cock. He chuckles “dirty slut.” He whispers. “Are you okay?” He asks to make sure. “Mhm.” I hum tiredly.I try to stand up but all I do is wobble. He chuckles at me again. “Need help?” He teases. “Very.” I say back.

He grabs my waist and picks me up and sets me down on the toilet “take a piss.” He says as he fills the bath tub with warm water. I start peeing and I wipe and he helps me up and places me in the bath.

After a bit of bathing Chris helps me out and helps me get dressed and he gives me a piggyback and we walk out of his room and see his brothers on the couch. Nick and Matt shoot us a disgusted look. “Fucking gross!” Nick yells. Chris just chuckles at him and I stare with embarrassment.

“Nasty.” Matt says in a normal tone. He only says it with a normal tone because he wants to be in Chris’s position.

…..

Ooo😻

I have no idea if I’m a Chris or Matt girl😭

[vinelark]

what r some fics that shaped your psyche? you have so many good recs im currently rereading the to an athlete dying young series

hello! you sent me this ask ages ago and i've been meaning to get to it ever since. (it took me so long to answer that i'm sure you've reread to an athlete dying young by @sonosvegliato many times over by now but hell yeah, what a good one.)

these are a few fics--dc and beyond--that have been in my "in case of emergency" epub folder (aka fics i want to have on hand immediately to reread on bad days, or good days, or even average days) for a few years now. so here is an extremely incomplete list of fics that have shaped my psyche!

for dc specifically--if i tried to list all of them i would just end up repeating my whole fic rec tag, so these are just a few of the ones i read when i was getting into this fandom that stayed with me/made me want to seek out more for these characters:

📸 surveillance series by @smilebackwards

this series located the tim drake center of my brain and lit it up like the vegas strip.

🎒 like a hinge, like a wing by @bonesbuckleup

one of my go-to rereads for pangs; chapter one is a masterclass in tension. also, one of my favorite pre-robin tim pov fics of all time.

💻 nominal by @unpretty

"you don't get it, batman is a comedy" --conversation i've had with multiple people using this fic as my thesis statement.

🌃 the jingle jangle morning by @audreycritter

the moment somebody in my vicinity says "i love dick grayson" i'm on their doorstep with this fic url.

🚉 a meditation on railroading by @eggmacguffin

there's a moment in this fic known among my friends as "baby wipes jason" and it has successfully converted no less than three people to the fandom.

and then for non-dc fic:

🌌 atlas by @megafaunatic (mdzs & tgcf)

did i read this before i had a single clue who the characters were? yes. did i return to it once i did and lose my mind a little? yes. lore etymologyplayground writes that “so so so in love and pining so hard the lines between us are blurring and we haven’t made a move yet but it’s inevitable” flavor with such a deft hand; it is in fact called the lorezone. if any friends-to-lovers pining i write can achieve even 50% of a lorezone i will have done my job.

🪿 If they caught you by @feyburner (tgcf)

i go back to this when i think about setup and payoff, when i think about subtle misdirects, when i think about the monumental task of creating whole compelling new characters in 6k words.

🧪 away childish things by lettered (hp)

one of the best de-aging trope stories i've ever read; i think of this when i want to take a trope to its maximum potential and then go: no wait, there's even more.

(another fav de-aging fic is grow by @cafecliche; shorter plot but no less pangs 🌱)

🏡 in defiance of all geometry by @idiopath-fic-smile (les mis)

a fic that's a perfect reread when i need something cozy and full of character, and a perfect touchstone when i'm pondering something where the world may not hang in the balance but the stakes still matter.

📔 The Absolutely True Story of the Yiling Patriarch: A Manifesto in Many Parts by aubreyli (cql/mdzs)

paragon of metahumor, basically. i think of this when i want to write something that's funny in both text and form.

🍚 and his wanting grows teeth by @yuebings (cql/mdzs)

masterclass in pangy backstory reveal; the way the first scene loops back around to punch you in the gut long after you've forgotten it will forever be seared into my brain.

also, most answers on this list fit the bill!

(apologies again that this answer is so belated; it took me ages to write up partially because i kept stopping to reread these fics every time i tried.)

[sendothetaurus]

How to write good dialogue

Almost every story needs dialogue - obvious right? Well, this post is about the not-so-obvious sides of conversations. I've struggled a LOT with snappy and realistic speech, so I've made it my mission to collect some handy directives. Here is what I found:

Contents

Information Dumps

Setup And Payoff

Characterization Through Dialogue

Three Simple Questions

Four-Sides Model

Depth

About Answers

Sources And Credits

⮮ Let's go! (^▽^) ⮯

Information Dumps

Everybody knows them, everybody hates reading them. But how do we avoid them? Something really clicked for me when I understood context. If your character talks about something that happened in the past, they don't need to explain what happened. They were there. Here's an example:

"It would be nice if we at least got a B for that paper. Since I will go to college next year, I feel that this is important to me."

The speaker and the listener should be aware of the exposition (regarding their last year at high school). During dialogue, these conditions go without saying.

Setup And Payoff

Instead of dumping everything at once, let the reader guess what's happening. This is done by mentioning something that is not answered right away. Also dropping hints can increase tension.

Scene 1 "Why do you always carry that with you?" she asked and pointed at the box cutter. Her friend eyed her with suspicion. "For cutting." "Yeah, but why?" "Might come in handy sometime." Scene 2 An ice cold shiver ran down her spine as her fingers felt around the bag, searching for the familiar shape. There was nothing. The other tossed the thing onto the floor between them. "Care to elaborate?" She couldn't have known. "How could you!"

Someone definitely has a secret here that they don't want uncovered. It makes the reader speculate: Does she carry the knife to defend herself or does she plan on hurting someone with it?

Characterization Through Dialogue

The general rule of thumb is: Show not tell. If a character is shy, self-absorbed or chaotic, make them act like it. Also, readers take part in the characterization of your protagonists. Make them guess why a character acts a certain way.

"C- can I have your pen?" She twirled her thumbs and looked at the ground. "What the hell, no!" Disgusted, he brushed off his hands on the front of his jeans. "I'mma better disinfect that."

Notice how the girl is stuttering and the boy has a loose tongue. Mannerisms help identifying traits in a character. Everyone has a distinct way to speak (e.g. relaxed, polite, malignly) which makes it easier to tell them apart. Sometimes there is a difference between speech and behavior. This can be quite useful to highlight conflict inside a character.

Three Simple Questions

Who wants what from who?

Why now?

What happens if they don't get it?

These questions ensure plot consistency. For question 3 the only other outcome is conflict. Conversations thrive off of conflict and it is of benefit to have a supplicant and potential provider for a solution. It's basically intention versus obstacle.

1. She wants to be his wife. He doesn't want a marriage. 2. She is pregnant. 3. She needs to provide for a baby all on her own.

Tadaa, a conflict ensues.

Four-Sides Model

The four-sides model is a theory on communication. It assumes that a message has four distinct ways of being conveyed:

Facts -> data, facts, truth and relevance

Self-Disclosure -> explicit and implicit information about the own mindset; likes, dislikes, opinions

Relationship -> information about whether the person is liked or detested; approval and disapproval; "I assume you have [this] opinion of me"; body language

Want -> a direct attempt to influence the behavior of another person; advice, desire or instruction

Since this is highly technical stuff, I'll provide you with an example:

Customer: "I always drink my coffee black." 1. Fact: The coffee I drink is black. 2. Self-Disclosure: I like black coffee. 3. Relationship (POV of the waiter): Did I do something wrong? OR It's their fault! They ordered the wrong thing! 4. Want: Bring me black coffee.

Controlling the message through sender and receiver gives a new level of influence to an author. The relationship-level is the bottleneck in a conversation that holds the most potential for misunderstandings. I'm trying to be aware of it when I write subtext (see below).

Depth

On the nose dialogue is what we want to avoid at all costs. For this reason subtext is created in stories. Read this:

Scene 1 A: "I like you." B: "Nah, I don't like you back. You're so annoying." A: "Ouch, that hurts. I'm not sure if I heard that right." B: "We were never friends. Go away."

This is not how conversations work. Thankfully, dialogue like this is not entirely useless. It conveys what the characters really want to say. The challenge is to think of a way to not say the thing but keep a similar meaning.

The true meaning behind the dialogue is called subtext (scene 1). If I don't know how to continue after a certain line, I write down the subtext first before I decide on how to paraphrase it.

Finally, I add a fitting description of expression and body language if needed. I try to keep it short and simple.

Check this out:

Scene 2 She tucked her hair behind her ear. "I need a ride home later. Are you free?" -> I like you. "Sorry, all seats' re taken," he said without looking at her. -> Nah, I don't like you back. You're so annoying. "Uhm, okay. But I'm small. You could fit me in the footwell, honestly." -> Ouch, that hurts. I'm not sure if I heard that right. He leaned forward as if he had the urge to stand. "Ha, funny. But no, I'm not planning on doing something illegal tonight." -> We were never friends. Go away.

A character's action depends on their own intention and the other's response. I feel it is easier to keep track of what's happening behind the curtains when it's written alongside the dialogue.

Simultaneously, you can keep habits and traits in check. Does the the character apply all criticism to themselves? Are they disregarding or constantly marginalizing others? Do they worry only for themselves or solely for others? Subtext truly is the most powerful tool in conversation-writing.

About Answers

Did you know that you don't have to answer every single question? In fact, there are two other ways to show an emotion without telling it.

The first one is called sidestepping. The character ignores the posed question and carries on with an entirely different topic.

A: "Do you still love me?" B: "We should get going."

It's very obvious, right? By sidestepping the question, we can assume that the character is uncomfortable or angry with the other person.

The other way to answer is actually a bit paradoxical. Through silence, a great variety of emotions can be displayed. It is recommended to refrain from actually describing silence with words like "he remained silent", "he refused to say anything", "he never responded".

- The laptop hummed. - The birds chirped in the trees. - She felt her legs going numb from sitting in an uncomfortable position. - His eyes wandered around, searching the parking lot for a familiar face.

It feels more natural to explain the things that grab our attention when we sit in silence.

This is it, folks. That's all I could find on the topic - for now. If there's anything missing, I'd love to hear it.

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ Anyway, thanks for reading, I hope this helped ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

My sources are this and this video as well as this article.

Also a big thank you to @zoropookie for helping me with the colors ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡

[slytherin-princess-x]

First day of slytherinmas:

Pretty girl -- Lorenzo x reader

Tw: mention of sex, Enzo kissing readers neck

Summary: sometimes enzo can be quite hot and cold…. (Fluff)

YOUR POV:

I love Enzo, I really do but this boy sure knows how to drive me up the wall whether it’s on purpose or not. He’s either all over me, too close still isn’t close enough; or, he’s the most quiet person ever who would rather sit in silence. Today was that kind of day. Pansy had taken me out earlier this Saturday to Hogsmead for new clothes because we can never have enough outfits, or whatever she said, but, when I got back something was up with enz. I mean he just appeared in my dorm and was lounging on my bed reading a book. Paying no attention to me. At. All. I remember the conversation I had with pansy earlier:

EARLIER:

“Well if he isn’t paying attention to you, just make him”

“And how do you suppose I do that, pansy” I said while shimmying into a sleek, black dress which had a cut up the side to my thigh.

“Make him compliment you, or make him jealous, tell him you’re going out with……Cedric or something, I dunno” she stepped into my changing room “that dress would make me stop ignoring you, damn girl” I laugh at her.

“Thank you but I can’t do that to enzo I’d feel so bad” taking Pansy’s hand she spun me around with a small laugh

“Look, y/n you’re hot. Use that to your advantage” she stands behind me in the mirror fixing my hair and zips up the back of my dress

“What do you mean, pans?”

“Your innocence kills me. Slowly. And painfully. I mean, you could always force his attention away, that’s what I’d do to blaise”

“I really don’t need to hear about yours and blaise’s sexual…..activities” I say scrunching my nose up in fake disgust which she laughed off

“All im saying is mess around with him. Tease him, suck him off, edge him till he’s begging, literally whatever you want but don’t just wait for him to notice how damn good you look in that dress….or out of it”

BACK TO NOW:

Maybe she’s right. I look at the dress hung over the back of my chair, quickly taking it in my arms I walk into the bathroom slipping it on.

LORENZO’S POV:

Damn, I hate it when she’s right, i mean she basically always is right but still. Ugh, this book is good, I mean I can’t believe Jo just like denied Laurie and didn’t marry him and then he married Amy instead like wow….plot…fucking…..twist. I look up from my book to tell y/n that the book is bad because she can’t know I like it and she’s gone, odd.

YOUR POV:

I walk out the bathroom to stand infront of my bedroom mirror once again and see Lorenzo now lying on his back holding the book up. I sigh slightly thinking I’m going to have to resort to one of Pansy’s plans

“I look so ugly, why did I buy this dress” I huff at myself lacing my voice with some lever of sadness

“What?! Who told you that? Did someone say that to you?” His voice came out panicked and full of concern, that I felt bad for doing this.

“No one did, I just look bad” he scrambled off the bed and stood behind me, his hands on my hips rubbing small circles with his thumbs. I try and stress the smirk that’s forcing its way onto my face before he could catch on.

“Your gorgeous y/n, breathtaking” his hand runs up my body to my neck tilting my head up. Sparks fly up and down my spine when he moves my hair away from my neck. I loose track of what he’s saying as my body relaxes against his and his warm breath tickles my neck. “What are you smirking about huh?” He places a kiss to my neck. “Did you just want some attention pretty girl?” He turns me to face him while I mumble a “maybe” while heat rushes up my neck to my face. He wraps a hand around my neck making me look up at him

“You jealous of a book sweetheart? Just want me to yourself, baby?” I hum a yes, closing my eyes slightly feeling the vibrations between my neck and his hand. “How bout I show you how pretty you are? I’ll give you all my attention, yeah?” he took his hand from my neck grabbing the back of my thighs, lifting me up wrapping my legs round his waist. He kneads the skin under my hiked up dress walking me over to me bed and laying me down, hovering over me.

“My pretty girl”

[electricalhuzzah]

You know who the relationship reveal is gonna be objectively insane for? Soos.

Like yeah Dipper’s gonna be furious but also he knows Bill and Ford have a history so it’s not necessarily the biggest shock. Soos doesn’t know they have any more of a backstory than Bill and the rest of the family so from his POV he brought this messed up triangle home and Ford immediately started fucking him with no preamble. If you don’t already know they’re exes who never got over each other that must be *nuts*

my good man you keep hitting the nail on the head with this shit.

to be fair, with or without the history, ford basically started fucking bill with no preamble within what? five(ish) hours of making eye contact? granted the pines don’t necessarily know that they hatefucked on bill’s first day of being human.

i didn’t mention this in the story, but in the fic, the book of bill never made it out past theraprism security measures. so the pines never got it, and they don’t know about the missing pages unless they were told. thus, the degrees of awareness amongst the pines are as follows. NOBODY CONSIDER THIS CANON TO THE FIC yet BC im still plot mappin and shit and i dont want to accidentally commit an incontinuity. ok here we go.

while dipper knew about the history between bill and ford (from the last mabelcorn i think? whichever one they done the brain scanner), i’m operating under the impression that he believed them to be advanced colleagues. somewhere between a professor-student relationship and a deity-worshipper relationship. he knew it was fucked up, but he thought it was like,,, normal fucked up.

mabel is still under the impression that bill is just hung up on his deity ex “bjorn.” ford never really got around to telling her about their history, and frankly he never really wanted to. so she also has no preamble, AND she thinks bill is just rebounding with her grunkle.

stan probably has the most context out of all them, and even that’s not a whole lot. during their sea ventures pre-fic, ford probably said something to the effect of “my relationship with bill was, in a few instances… less than professional and more than platonic. now, please, stanley, can we leave it at that?” then they got drunk and emotional and ford said a bit more than he likely should’ve. by the next morning, they were deeply hungover. ford didn’t remember saying anything; stan thinks he remembered something about someone loving a triangle and torture and eye stealing, but then again, he also seems to remember playing strip poker with a mermaid, so he’s not entirely sure how much was real.

soos. dear soos. we love soos. he’s got no context. he thought they HATED each other. and he’s begun to see bill as his employee/mentee/child who’s tryna do better. soos is reading those contracts with the theraprism to make sure he won’t get his probation officer/parental rights revoked on the grounds that his paternal figure’s brother is fuckin the convict/patient.

im keepin my mouth shut about melody for now.

OK PEACE AND LOVE AND CORNDOGS

[altocat]

A perfectly valid list of actual Angeal criticisms (from someone who likes Angeal):

Angeal is kind of boring, at least compared to G and S. He's just sorta....nice. In a strict way. He's not as layered as Cloud or Sephiroth or Aerith. He's serviceably simple.

OG purists will probably find him off-putting because he upsets the established lore.

Angeal is basically just there to die so he could easily be brushed off as a plot device for Zack's character arc. My friends and I used to call him Diet Mufasa.

He gets some of the corniest lines in the game.

He flip flops allegiances a lot. To the point where it sometimes feels like the writers didn't really know what to do with him.

He occasionally brings up shit that has nothing to do with the situation at hand.

He grossly misinterprets how his absence will impact Sephiroth and they never get the closure they need. Confirmed in Opera Omnia that Angeal didn't know that Seph would get upset btw.

His relationships with G and S are not very developed, either because of Zack POV or because there just wasn't the time or space. You have to make a lot of assumptions about their dynamic. Which is easy if you do some digging. But the game needed to be clearer.

He needed more scenes to strengthen his bond with Zack to make his death more impactful.

His relationships with Gillian and Hollander are kind of muted.

Lots of his motives are hard to figure out because the game doesn't bother to tell you. Did Genesis tell him to desert with him? What made him change his mind later? Etc.

And sure, you could answer all of these with "It's because Angeal is a bad person because I say so" but that's not the narrative the game is presenting. None of the characters acknowledge it. None of the Ultimanias back it up. None of the interviews on his character state it. Like yeah you could easily assume Angeal is a very flawed person but the simple and likeliest answer is simply that Crisis Core is a fundamentally flawed game with wonky writing which is NOT exclusive to just Angeal. I love Crisis Core. For me the wonkiness adds to its charm. I love making more complex headcanons on these characters. But they're just headcanons. They are fragments of my personal bias. They are not real.

I really like Angeal. I'm not going to tell you he's perfect or that some of the shit he does in CC is 100% rational. But there's a difference between taking a nuanced approach with limited equipment from the story and outright saying "Angeal blinks funny in this scene he must be literally Satan".

[k-s-morgan]

i know it’s pretty much a spoiler (or at least very telling of their relationship development even at this point) BUT i was wondering whether we will get to see tom actually in love with harry — at least to the best of his capacity. whether tom will realise that he cares about him and his feelings and his stupid sensibilities and everything that makes harry harry, even though most of the time what he stands for is the complete opposite of what tom wants.

so, yeah, i guess that’s my biggest question as of right now — will tom learn how to compromise in order to salvage and develop his relationship with harry, or will he be unable to quit his own ways and goals, even at the expense of this one person he supposedly desires quite a lot?

OH ALSO!!! i really wanted to say how much i appreciate harry’s strength of will and character, which we can already see from their interactions. and his self respect? his own introspection and self awareness? absolutely fucking amazing. i love love LOVE seeing them on equal ground, even though they choose to retaliate differently — which in turn is very telling of their differences.

harry not giving a flying fuck and choosing to stand against tom and even give him the occasional taste of his own medicine, when he gets fed up with tom’s bullshit, is giving me LIFE. i adore when harry has a backbone, despite coming to get attached to tom and even developing feelings for him, eventually.

Oh, yes, all of it is definitely going to happen! This is basically the main plot - getting Tom to fall in love with Harry so deeply, so hopelessly that he will be absolutely overcome by it. Trust me, love is going to twist him inside out. The same themes of obsession, destructive devotion, and monstrous, all-consuming love that were present in WHGTB will be also present in ATLWETD. The only difference is that ATLWETD is a slow-burn in this regard. It will take a while for Tom to succumb to his feelings, but once he does… The longer the fall, the more annihilating its impact.

I can even give you an approximate time-stamp in terms of the plot that will mark a huge shift in this regard. The next Hogwarts New Year. This is where Tom completes his shift into an infatuated, dangerous, possessive wreck who's going out of his mind with regret, love, and obsession. This will also likely be the point where we switch to his POV.

As for Harry, his version in ATLWETD will be pretty close to a BAMF, something I never thought I'd write. I imagine his later decisions will cause a lot of controversy among the readers, and it'll be a question as to who is more harmful to this world, him or Tom. Or both of them, under the influence of one another.

Also, if you missed these, I have two snippets featuring scenes from the future where you can see Tom who's absolutely besotted with Harry! Here and here.

[nights-at-crystarium]

i just wanted to pop by and gush about how incredibly well written vivi is because GOD. his story unfolding has made me reconsider several story beats about my wol and thats an amazing thing

theres two things that i think uve done especially well with his storytelling, being that vivi feels like an almost complete enigma to the reader, despite how intimate this story is, and the fact that vivi feels incredibly human - almost TOO human to be comfortable with

so to elaborate on the first point - i think a lot of us (and certainly i can) echo thancreds sentiment that he doesn't know vivian rell, because as intimate as this story can get with his pov, in the end, much like someone you'd meet in real life, we don't know much about him before the point we meet him, and any glimpses we get just signal that theres so much more to him than we get to see. and as much as we DO know about him, i find that every time he does one of his blank, furrowed stares that signal he's thinking something, my brain practically lights on fire trying to figure out what he's considering. to that end i really like how enigmatic uve made him from a storytelling perspective, because it makes him feel so much more real!!! i honestly look forward a lot to learning more fragments (heh) of him and slowly piecing together a puzzle of him as the story goes on. i just want to rotate him in my head lol

but also, this does segue into my other point really well, which is the fact that vivis position as wol really seems to wear on him, and he seems for lack of a better word, completely exhausted! i know (myself included) write their wols with a trait of an almost unbreakable, iron will, which is very much still true in vivis case (again, anyone who gets to the point of shadowbringers without flat out giving up is incredibly strong by default) but showing him at his wits end, exhausted with the burdens of a hero, someone just so throughly *done* with what is, realistically, a pretty shit job is well... yeah! of course he is! he's only human, and he's what, saved the world 3 times now? seen countless die before him, powerless to save them, of course he's numb. the fact that the most defining experiences of the first for him are filled with mostly such... benign experiences, and that the major, climatic moments of shadowbringers get as much fanfare as a forlong gaze, or a like. him hanging out with his fairy bestie is such a cool storytelling decision. (also before i ramble about this the decision to not even show tesleen is such an excellent decision bc like. it makes sense for him for this to not be such a significant moment. shes just another death, another tally to the thousands hes already seen. or maybe im reading WAYYY too hard into a decision to not highjack this love story with plot) basically, what i've been gushing about is the fact that vivi feels very much like a whole person, and is probably one of the most well realised wols ive ever read about. and his relationships with the world leaders, and this impossible burden hes forced to shoulder has gotten me to reconsider how i write my wol, because yeah! any hero might be strong-willed and resilient, but theyre still human, and the burden of a warrior of light is maybe, a little too much for anyone to bear.

i hope u could at least make something out of my rambles, but honestly to sum it all up i am incredibly captivated by vivi. i originally read fragments because i like ANY wolgraha content but now, i come back almost exclusively to see how vivi's story unfolds, and how graha eventually comes into the fold too. hes such a fascinating character, and i think youve done an incredible job of creating a well rounded hero, full of humanity!!! (also, if you want, feel free to post this on ur blog!!)

I think I shat myself like 5 times while reading this (positive)

Vivi being an enigma wasn't really part of the plan. We have a pool that's his lore, things I wanna tell, and a bottleneck through which it has to go. The comic format forces me to consider what bits of info to deliver when, there's only so much I can tell at a time. One deliberate choice I made is completely burn the bridge between ARR and ShB, skip, leave it empty. That already sparks questions when we see a different Vivi at the beginning of ShB (and gives me leeway, time to write with more nuance, I didn't Think about HW-SB in such scrupulous detail as ShB).

I wanted to tell a primarily ShB story from the start, but had less ambition, and planned to condense the angsty bits that you're reading nowadays into an infodump told by Vivi to no one (to the reader). Changing the receiving party to a tangible character who's eager to learn (Exarch) made the info easier to digest and anchored it in the world. This change, fwiw, happened in like 2022 while I drew the ARR arc, saw the warm reception, and got more excited about my thing. I constantly learn and try to improve, writing's a new toy that brings me tons of fun.

So, when I learned the new trick - telling things through other characters - I thought, why not make everyone slightly wrong, or rather, with a specific snapshot of Vivi in their head. Same happens irl, people only know the version of you that they're exposed to, the only person who knows the full and real you is you.

That brings me to the next point, why Vivi feels so human: I made him not as a wol/hero, but a guy I wanna ship with Exarch, his foil. Obligatory note it was dumb of me to ignore Emet's existence in that case, but that's already changed. Exarch denies himself the simple human joys, he plots his own fucking death, so I thought I'd give him a guy that teaches him how to enjoy being alive again. That was THE foundation of Vivi, his core. He's a manic pixie dream boy.

Then I started asking how and why: why he falls for Exarch specifically instead of ARRRaha? He's confident, selfish, casual (these traits are what Exarch lacks), emotionally intelligent, where did that come from? He must've had an utterly normal life and loving family before he became a hero. He grew up being appreciated and happy. OH, then his ass must LOATHE the current situation because he can't go back to that normal life! So on, so forth.

i find that every time he does one of his blank, furrowed stares that signal he's thinking something, my brain practically lights on fire trying to figure out what he's considering.

This's me carefully dropping the breadcrumbs and hoping that you notice them, and you go HOLY SHIT BREADCRUMBS, this's so validating ;w; <3 This's overtly called a story hook, though I prefer "door". So far this story's only opened doors, as in hinted at more stuff without immediately showing it. I love it when questions get delayed answers, when you get time to stew on it and build up anticipation, then, when the door finally closes, it's much more satisfying. I keep in mind all the doors I've opened, if something provokes a question, it's by design.

(also before i ramble about this the decision to not even show tesleen is such an excellent decision bc like. it makes sense for him for this to not be such a significant moment. shes just another death, another tally to the thousands hes already seen. or maybe im reading WAYYY too hard into a decision to not highjack this love story with plot)

You're 100% correct!! I'm not retelling the canon ShB story from a default wol pov, this's a custom thing focused on ships, therefore anything that doesn't contribute to said ships gets cut. You may read what's NOT shown as what Vivi doesn't pay attention to.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me, this gave me so much motivation like you wouldn't know ;//////;