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flamingo-writes · 10 months

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What would you think if Hobie asks reader to cut the ends of his hair that bother him because of the mask and while she was doing it, she sang a nice song to him, meanwhile some little flowers began to bloom around them.

Really like the last post and this came to my mind immediately.

Listen, I’ve been daydreaming of this the entire day. I think this idea was very cute!

Also, little disclaimer: I was born and raised in Mexico, so, I’m very unfamiliar with how black people’s hair works. I know culturally it has a lot of importance, but other than that I knew very little of the different types of hair and ofc the insane variety of treatments and proper care as well as the different ways to give maintenance to different kinds of dreads. Also, as someone who has had very short hair for 2/3 of my life, as well as shaving my own head for the better part of the last 4 (5?) years, in general hair care and routines are something I’m wildly unfamiliar with, the longest I had my hair in the latest years was a 6 inch or so Mohawk I grew two years ago. Hobie has been a very good opportunity for me to educate myself a lot in hair (especially black people’s hair) and I spent a good portion of my evening watching videos/TikTok’s and reading on dreadlocks and their maintenance. If I wrote something inaccurate or wrong, please let me know, help me see my mistake, and I will fix it as soon as I can.

This came from this other request, I’m thinking of turning into a series.

Flower Bed — Hobie x Reader

Also, you said little flowers, but my brain decided to go for a full flower bed 😭 I hope you like this!

Warnings: none.

“Oí, luv…” Hobie said walking out of the bedroom, looking around you.

“Bathroom!” You shouted as he followed your voice, noticing the bathroom door opened and you kneeling by the shower.

Plants cramped in the shower as you watered them.

“Oh, never mind, you’re busy” He said.

“I’m almost done. I just need to water the ones in the kitchen sink and the monsteras…” You said as you’d todo up and stretched your back. “I’ll be done in ten minutes, what’s up?”

“I wanted to ask you if you could help me trim my hair, it’s starting to get long and gets stuck in the mask and, you know…” He asked softly. “But I can’t see the back of my head,”

“Sure, I’ll help you,” You said giving Hobie a kind smile.

He smiled back, walking up to you and kissing your forehead.

“Need help with the plants?”

“As you wish,” You replied happily. “You were asleep earlier and didn’t want to wake you, so I started watering them on my own…”

“I’m awake now,” He said. “I’ll water the monsteras,”

“Thank you, babe,” You purred.

By the time you were done with the plants, you went ahead and started helping Hobie out. You sat on the edge of your bed, as he sat on the floor. Since Hobie was tall, this was the most comfortable arrangement. It wasn’t also the first time you trimmed his wicks. He asked you to help him every few months.

As you put some soft music in the background, you got started, trimming dread by dread. Taking care to cut the hair while keeping the end of the dread rounded. Cutting just across each wick was already hard as they were thick, but you also wanted to keep them looking nice and rounded. Which was also a reason why Hobie asked you for help. You did a much better job at it than him.

Even when he didn’t admit it, or didn’t look like it, every single detail in his appearance was planned. Especially his hair. He liked taking care of it, and over all treated his hair like this very intimate thing, he hated having other people touching his hair. Except you. He actually loved it when you touched his hair, ran your hands through it, your fingers disappearing between the dreads. And the particular care and dedication which which you seemed to tend to every wick.

Deep in your concentration, watching over the little details, you were unconsciously singing. Something you also did quite a lot. When you were deeply focused on something, you’d start humming and eventually singing. Which only added to the relaxing time Hobie was having.

Between your gentle hands running through his hair, and now the soft sound of your voice singing in a low voice, going along with the music. Hobie lived for these little peaceful moments, making him feel absolutely contempt with his life. These little moments were everything to him.

As he had his eyes closed, focusing on every brought of your touch against him, he didn’t notice at first the plants growing around you.

It wasn’t plain on obvious. In fact, Hobie didn’t notice until he felt something tickling his elbows. He opened his eyes and saw flowers growing out of the floor, tiny plants growing buds and flowering. All in a matter of several seconds. And you continue to sing, concentrated. He blinked several times, wondering if you were aware of what you were doing, as he kept staring at the flowers growing and multiplying, coming out of the wooden floor tiles.

“Uh, luv?” Hobie asked in a low deep voice.

“Hm?” You hummed, answering Hobie’s question, sounding way too focused in your job as you were rounding one of the last wicks.

“Are you aware of the fact that you pretty much brought spring into our bedroom?”

“Huh?” You asked confused, breaking your hyper focus and looked around, noticing the flowers covering almost the entirety of your floor. White, red, lilac, and pink flowers, extending across your small bedroom. “Fuck,”

Hobie laughed softly.

“You didn’t notice?”

“N-no…” You whispered softly.

“That’s amazing…” Hobie sighed. “It’s beautiful, by the way…”

“The thing is I don’t know how to…un-grow them…And they’re a lot…” You said softly, the concern building in your voice, making Hobie chuckle. “What are we going to do with all of them?”

“We can always collect them and sell them or whatever, you know?” Hobie chuckled.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right…”

“In the meantime, we can always enjoy this beautiful scene, what do you say?”

“You’re way too calm for someone who has his bedroom full of flowers…”

“You made them. They’re beautiful. I don’t see the issue, basically a work of art,” He said looking at you over his shoulder, as you rolled your eyes playfully at him.

“Hobie, pollen give you allergies,”

“Sleeping on a flower bed one night isn’t going to kill me,” He pointed out. “Besides, ever since the spider thing, I get less allergies from flowers,” He said lifting a finger up, making you chuckle.

“Fine! You win this argument!” You chuckled.

“You know I love you, right?”

“Yeah, I love you too”

“That’s why I don’t mind the flowers. Because you made them,”

You leaned forward and pressed a kiss on Hobie’s cheek before you continued tending to the last two wicks.

“Thank you,” You said.

“For what?”

“Being you,” You sighed. “I’m not precisely fascinated with all the flowers in the bedroom, but the fact that you are, makes me feel better”

“Why, you’re welcome, sweet’eart. Thank you for helping me with my hair,” He said looking at you and giving you a cheeky smirk.

“Anytime,”

#hobie x reader #hobie brown x reader #hobie fanfic #hobie brown fanfiction #hobie brown #hobie brown x y/n #hobie brown headcanons #hobie x you #hobie x y/n

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captainsophiestark · 1 year

Text

Fresh Start

Stefan Salvatore x Reader

Masterlist - Join My Taglist!

Written for Fictober 2022!

Fandom: The Vampire Diaries

Prompt: “We all have our reasons”

Summary: Y/N is a non-practicing witch, living her own peaceful life in a small town after running away from home a few years ago. Stefan shows up looking to do the same thing and pretending to be human, although Y/N realizes he's a vampire on-sight. They don't press him, though, even as they start dating. When things start to get more serious, however, they can't continue ignoring the secrets and truths of each others' pasts.

Word Count: 2,228

Category: Fluff, little bit of Angst

Warnings: Mentions of an abusive family, no details or descriptions

Putting work into an AI program without permission is illegal. You do not have my permission. Do not do it.

"We're closed- oh, hey Stef."

"Hey, Y/N." My friend and boyfriend of about the last month gave me a small smile as he walked through the door of my bar. We were closed for the night, so I'd briefly been bracing myself to throw out somebody who didn't realize or want to accept that fact, but Stefan came to spend time with me as I closed things down pretty regularly.

We'd met in this same bar just over a month ago. Stefan had just arrived in town, and after moving into his house on the edge of town, he'd wandered into the bar to start introducing himself to everyone. I'd served him a drink while we chatted, and we'd actually hit it off the bat fairly quickly, which I hadn't been expecting to do with a vampire.

He hadn't officially told me he was a vampire yet, of course. But I was an out-of-practice witch. And just because I'd left my coven and come here for a different life, didn't mean I couldn't still clock a vampire from a hundred yards out.

Stefan and I had been on a few dates since we'd first met, and I kept hoping he'd trust me enough to confess his secret to me himself. Every time I thought he might be working up to it, however, he talked about something else instead. For whatever reason, he seemed hell-bent on pretending to be human while he lived in this place.

I couldn't exactly blame him, since I'd been doing the same thing since I'd left my coven at 18. Still, I at least wanted him to trust me enough to let me in the loop.

"How was work today?" asked Stefan, pulling up a barstool and watching me as I wiped down the counter. I shot him a smile.

"It was fine. Nothing too crazy, no rowdy patrons or strange and mysterious newcomers." He huffed a laugh at that, and I grinned before continuing. "Overall, I'd say it was an average day. How about you? How's the garage?"

"It's good," he said. Within a few days of arriving, he'd gotten a job at our local mechanic shop fixing up cars. I knew for a fact he was being underpaid, but he didn't really seem to care. "I got to work on an old Thunderbird today, which almost made the oil stains on every piece of clothing I wore today, somehow including my underwear, worth it."

I laughed at that, and Stefan gave me a pleased smile. I finished wiping down the counter and tossed the rag, then walked around the counter to take the barstool beside Stefan. The only thing left for me to do was put up the chairs, turn off the lights, and lock the doors, but Stefan and I had made a routine of hanging out here a bit longer than we necessarily needed to as a mini, casual date.

"Well, I'm glad you had a good day," I said. "And that you changed your clothes before coming to see me."

Stefan smirked and hummed, then reached forward to pull my barstool even closer to him. He leaned forward, resting one arm against the bar counter and around me as he got in my space.

"What's the matter? You don't want the smell of motor oil on all of your clothes?"

"I know it may sound strange, but no. No, I absolutely do not."

Stefan smiled, his eyes intent on my lips as he moved forward and trailed the hand not resting on the bar counter up my thigh. I leaned in a bit too, feeling the pull towards the man I'd fallen for so quickly. We'd kissed before, but this moment felt much more heated and like it might be leading somewhere new.

Just before our lips met, I forced myself to pause. Stefan paused too, respecting my hesitation, even as he raised an eyebrow in silent question. I wanted to take the next step with him, but... I couldn't bring myself to do it when such a massive secret still sat between us. One I was partially aware of, but that he thought I was completely ignorant to, and one that he hadn't even begun to suspect.

"Stef... I really, really like you," I started.

"I feel the same way, Y/N."

"That's good. And I've enjoyed the past month with you so, so much. I want to keep growing with you and spending time with you and experiencing life with you."

"I'm waiting for the 'but'."

I sighed. There wasn't a hint of judgment in Stefan's voice, but I needed to just spit it out.

"Bu... before we go any further, I think you should tell me why a vampire is hiding out in a small town, pretending to be a car mechanic."

Whatever Stefan had expected me to say, it wasn't that. He leaned back a bit, his eyes wide in shock, and I jumped in with an answer to what I knew would be his first question.

"I'm a witch, Stef," I said. "I don't practice much anymore, but I clocked you for what you are the minute you set foot in my bar."

Stefan huffed a breath of disbelief, blinking a few times before leaning all the way back to sit up straight on the stool. I think he was surprised, more than upset, but the charged, heated air of a moment before had definitely dissipated. He ran a hand through his hair, then cleared his throat.

"Well...As I'm sure you know then, we all have our reasons," he said, completely ducking the question. He stared around the room, doing anything but making eye contact with me.

"Yeah, we do," I said. I was not having the vague answering around questions nonsense. "I was more asking about your specific reasons though, not just the general reasons supernaturals run off to small towns."

Stefan huffed a humorless laugh, then finally looked at me. "You wanna start by telling me your reasons for coming here?"

"Sure." It clearly wasn't the answer he was expecting, but I wanted to be something special with Stefan. If I expected him to be vulnerable, I was perfectly prepared to be vulnerable with him, too. "I grew up in a terrible, abusive family, and so as soon as I could I got the hell out of the house and disappeared to somewhere they'd never care enough to come look for me. I stopped practicing magic altogether because for me, magic is still tied to all those bad memories. So many other witches talk about the freeing, powerful, and peaceful feeling of using their magic, but it hasn't been that way for me since I was a kid. I still grow vervain and some other magic herbs in my garden at home, but that's about it."

Stefan stared at me, clearly surprised by my complete honesty. I'd had a good few years now to process things and get to a place of being more comfortable with where I'd come from and where I was now, although it was never the easiest thing to talk about. But I cared about Stefan, and I trusted him. Whether or not he ended up deciding to share the details of his backstory with me, I wanted him to know mine.

"So..." I started, breaking the silence after a few beats of Stefan not talking. "You wanna share your stuff now? It's okay if you don't, but... I'd really like to be someone you can trust, you know? No big secrets if we're going down the path of a more serious relationship, and all that."

Stefan took a deep breath in and out, looking away from me as he thought. He seemed to make up his mind as he nodded, still staring a hole in the back wall of the bar, and spoke.

"My brother died," he finally said. My heart broke in my chest for him, but I stayed quiet, giving him space to finish. "My brother and a good friend both. We tried to save them, but... as I'm sure you know, sometimes the supernatural bullshit is a little too much to overcome. After that, I just... I needed to get the hell out of our hometown. It was too small, with way too many bad memories. So I did what I've had to do plenty of times in my long, long life. I left, and found a new place to start over fresh. And for the record, I'm not pretending to be a car mechanic. I am a car mechanic."

I huffed a small laugh, giving Stefan a warm smile and the most comforting look I could when he finally turned back to me. I reached across the bar to take his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, which he returned.

"I'm sure this goes without saying, but... I am so, so sorry you had to go through that," I said. "And thank you for sharing your story with me. I know it's not easy to talk about shit you want to leave behind, so... I'm glad we can talk about it, together."

"I'm glad we can talk about it too," he said, giving me a tight smile and squeezing my hand again. I smiled, a little less tinged with sadness this time, and Stefan did too. We held each other's gaze for a moment, letting the loving looks say what words really couldn't, and then I cleared my throat and straightened.

"So... I know I literally just closed this place, and I usually say no when you suggest this, but after getting into our mutual tragic backstories, it feels like a good time for an exception." I stood from the stool and headed around to the back of the bar again, snagging two glasses as I went. "What do you say we drink our favorite drinks, toast to our new-ish lives together in this town where we can comfortably pretend to be humans, and play pool until we're exhausted or the owner of the bar notices the lights and tells us to go home?"

Stefan grinned and stood from his barstool. "Pour me a double of the best bourbon here. I'll rack, and then you'd better prepare to lose."

I scoffed. "Bring it on, Salvatore. I've been in this bar working and practicing my pool game for the past two and a half years. You've got nothing on me."

"Before tonight, I wouldn't have had a very good comeback for that," he said, grabbing the rack and setting it on the felt of the table. "But, you apparently know I'm a vampire, so I can tell you I've been playing pool just about since it was invented. You don't stand a chance."

I grinned as I grabbed our drinks and set them on a table close to the pool table, then pulled down my favorite cue stick from the wall.

"I guess we'll just have to see then, won't we?" I asked. "Age vs. skill, the battle for all time."

Stefan groaned and rolled his eyes, straightening from where he'd almost finished racking the balls to give me a tired, exasperated look.

"That's the first of about a thousand old jokes I'm going to hear from you now, isn't it?" he asked. I grinned, the expression taking on a bit of a maniacal glint.

"Oh, at least."

"Then I guess I'd really better win this game so I have something to use as a comeback, huh?"

"I mean yeah, unless you want to get jokes about your age and about how bad you are at pool."

Stefan sighed dramatically and threw his head back, which made me laugh. He finished racking the table, grabbed a pool cue, and shook out his shoulders like he was preparing for a fight.

"I'll break," he said. I nodded as he stepped up to the table, lined up the cue ball, and hit it with a move so fast I literally almost didn't see it. The cue ball went flying, breaking apart the triangle cluster of balls and knocking two striped balls into pockets around the table.

I gasped, but Stefan acted like he hadn't done anything particularly impressive.

"I guess I'm stripes then, huh?" I stared, mouth open, as Stefan walked around the table to stand next to me. "Your move."

I closed my eyes and swore, and I heard Stefan chuckle next to me. I'd definitely have my work cut out for me if I wanted to beat him, much more than I'd originally expected. One way or another though, I wasn't too concerned. As I stepped up to the table to take my shot, Stefan hovering over me to try to mess up my concentration, I knew we'd have plenty more games just like this ahead of us. Despite the horrible circumstances that had brought us together, we'd found each other, and now we were going to live happy, peaceful lives, together.

Nothing but countless games of pool, terrible age jokes, oily clothing, and everything in between waited on our horizon.

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blue-mostacho · 4 months

Text

~Cherry Bomb~

Warnings: mentions of SA (not detailed), alcohol and drug abuse.

I decided to just change up a little bit the introduction of the prologue. I hope it doesn't disappoint you guys, it doesn't mean that the Billy romance is completely out of the table. That's not the case AT ALL, like, not even close. I just chose to change it up a little bit so it fits better the fic as it could lead anywhere.

I chose two songs to accompany this first chapter, you will find a symbol with the name of the song right at the beginning. As you read the chapter, the symbol will appear signaling the moment you need to play the songs and when to stop them.

Before you start reading it, please read the prologue for full context.

You can find it here.

I hope you enjoy!

Previous part (prologue), just in case bc I panic xd

Chapter One - Bruises and burgers.

★ Afraid - The neighborhood

☆ Kickstar my heart - Mötley Crüe

The tick-tack coming from the clock hanging on the wall is giving me an eye tick. I roll my eyes as the boredom is driving me nuts, yawning I stretch my back, lifting my arms. Another shitty day at work with shitty customers and shitty coworkers. I'm not very fond of people, I've never really had a lot of friends, in fact, I don't even recall having friends as a little girl. Of course, I had a couple of kids with whom I would play at recess, but that was it. In high school, I would hang out with different groups of people, but I never felt like I really belonged to any of them. It wasn't their fault though, I just didn't feel that way, you know? Like, I never had no one to rely on. On the other hand people didn't seem very pleased with my presence either, so...

It never bothered me too much, I liked being alone. I used to spend a lot of time in my head, making up stories of all sorts, fake scenarios and adventures. I had fun that way. My whole life revolved around books and comics, movies, and any other medium that would enrich my imagination. Although I must say that over the last few years, I have met some wonderful people, like Don. I met Don a couple of years ago, I'd landed a pretty decent job at an arcade in California, and the paycheck wasn't bad at all, he was my coworker. He wasn't into video games or comic books, but he needed the money to pay for school loans. Since I liked working there, the thought of settling down, getting a small room in a shared apartment, and starting a new life didn't sound bad at all. I did for a while, I was 20 at the time. I'd spent two years on the road and it was starting to take a toll on me. Everything was going well, but remember what I said about never having a real group of friends? Yeah, well, I actually had one for a short time. ★ I used to do night shifts at a local bar since I needed the extra cash to fix my car, which had broken down. When I said I had a rusty car, I really meant it. Every night, a group of six people around my age would come in and spend the night playing cards, drinking, and doing the usual shit people in their 20s do. I was the only one covering the nights, so it wasn't long until we became friends, especially since one of the guys in the group had his eyes on me. I liked hanging out with them. Soon, my shifts stopped feeling like work. Most of the nights they were the only customers, so I would just sit at the table with them and play poker until the end of my shift.

In the beginning, everything was fine, just a handful of wannabe adults having fun here and there, nothing special. But as the weeks went by, I started to notice small but weird details, I brushed them off. After all, they were in their twenties, living in a place like California, so of course things like alcohol and drugs were something usual.

During my first months in California, everything went well, I was convinced I made the right decision, but life wasn't planning on making it so easy for me, so eventually things started going south.

Don tried to warn me the few times the guys showed up at the arcade. I guess he could see something that I didn't. There's not a day that I don't regret not listening to him. I was so caught up in my own world that I missed all the signals until it was too late, and I know I deserved everything that happened.

With each passing week, everything turned more and more sketchy. New people started joining them at the bar, some of them were older, way too old. I just knew that they weren't just playing poker anymore. Slowly, they were going down a really dark path, and I was being dragged down with them.

I tried to stay out of it, but one night, one of the guys, Axel, showed up at my door. He was covered in blood, his own blood. That was his first mistake because after that they wouldn't leave me alone. I guess they assumed I was his girlfriend and tried to send him a message through me. We were actually pretty close, that's why he came to me when he needed help.

That night, he told me everything that'd been going on while I was nursing him up. After that, I understood why it's said that young people are stupid. Because we are.

Long story short, they got involved with some nasty drug dealers. I'm not talking about Eddie type of dealer. It was more of a drug network, they used to party a lot which led to them experiencing with strong, exotic substances. Safe to say they became addicted quickly, which resulted in consuming every day, and those substances were also expensive. So by the time Axel found himself knocking on my door, they were all in deep debt, and that's why he got the beating of his life. They did fuck him up real good, I was freaking out trying to convince him to go the ER to check for possible concussions. Needless to say, he refused.

After that I distanced myself from him and the rest, but as I said they already fixated on me.

Weird things started happening to me. It didn't last long though, just a couple of weeks. But I guess that's what you get when you ignore the red flags.

Don was there the whole time, he knew everything and kept insisting I cut off any ties with them, that just distancing myself wasn't enough.

I still saw them from time to time, especially Axel and Nadia, a breathtaking blonde with baby-blue eyes. I will never understand how she managed to fall into something like that, I swear she is the sweetest girl I've ever met.

I tried to help them both as much as I could, but it was to no avail.

Everything got too much for me on Axel's birthday, we all gathered to celebrate. I wasn't sure about going, but he insisted. That was his second mistake, and it was also mine. Don tried to talk me out of it, but we were just going to have dinner. They were planning on going to a club after that, but I'm not a party person, so I would just skip it with the excuse of having to work the next day. And that's exactly what I did. I had dinner, and then I went home, or at least I tried.

I will never forget that night. It was dark, the dining place we chose wasn't far from my home so I didn't take the car.

To this day if I close my eyes I can still feel the pain radiating through my body.

I would've ended up worse than Axel the night he showed up at my house if it wasn't for a couple of passers-by, but i was too late anyway. By the time the two strangers interfered, the other men had already managed to rip off my clothes between punches and have their fun with me on time. My entire body was aching, and the cold air didn't help soothe my already shaking figure.

After that I just left, nobody knew except Don. He was the only one I called once I managed to get into my house.

Eight months. That was the duration of my time in California. After that, I spent three months driving nonstop until I found Hawkins.

Today marks one year since that night, and I still shudder at the memory.

You're probably wondering why I decided to stay here after what happened, why not keep on traveling and avoid any attempt at a more stable life, or maybe go back home? Honestly, I don't know. I guess the contrast between this small town and a big city was too appealing after everything that's happened. Not gonna lie, my friendship with Eddie did help too. Of all the people that I've met in all these years of traveling, he's my favorite one. But I'll never tell him that, the fucker won't stop pestering me about it.★

The ticking of that goddamn clock still drumming in my ears pulls me out of my thoughts. I zone out a lot more than before, but I got used to it.

I groan annoyed, looking at the time. I still have thirty minutes left and I pray to God that I don't get any customers.

It's almost Christmas, so everything is decorated with tinsel and colorful lights, the streets smell like freshly lit fireplaces mixed with aromas of holiday sweets that had just been taken out of the oven.

I love Christmas, but like, obsessively. Although this year is kinda hard to get into the festive spirit, around this time is when I miss home the most. Reliving that night doesn't help either, it feels like my body knows exactly what day it is and decided to keep bringing the memories back on a loop. It's not like I think about it all the time, but sometimes it just comes to my mind like a slap on the face.

I shake my head, pushing those thoughts away, tired of the subject. I realize that I can start with my closing routine, first flipping the sign on the door as always. Soon enough I'm on my way to my car, not before grabbing some instant ramen and a few other snacks from the store. Sometimes, I walk to get to work, but the cold air of Indiana's winter is unbearable at this point.

It's a ten-minute drive home, it's already dark outside, it's almost 10 pm so my headlights help me see enough so I don't crash.

As always, I drag my feet to the entry of my roulotte, cigarette hanging from my lips like a ritual. My eyes fall on Eddie's trailer as it's parked thirty feet away in front of mine, just like every day. He's home, so as soon as I set foot in my house, I just throw my bag on the bed and rush outside again.

I make my way to the long-haired boy's door, I don't even bother knocking. Once I open it, the warmth of the house hugs my body as I make my way inside.

–Momma's home!- I shout, to make sure he can hear me. But I get nothing in response. I can hear some struggling, a frustrated 'fuck' coming from the living room. I look to my right just to find him lying on the floor with his arm under the couch, his neck hurtfully bent as his head rests on the front of the piece of furniture.– What are you doing?

–What does it look like I'm doing?- he tries to turn his head to look back at me, but clearly, he fails. I walk over there, swinging my legs over him trying not to step on him. I crouch, so now I have a perfect view of his face, it is red, and the vein on his forehead looks like it's about to explode. His bangs are bathed in sweat as he keeps struggling.

–I don't know, you tell me.‐ I try not to laugh as the words leave my mouth.

–My fucking arm is stuck under this thing.- he punches de couch with his free hand.

–How did it end up there Eds?- I don't even bother to keep it in anymore and a laugh comes out from the bottom of my chest.

–Oh it's just something that I enjoy doing...what do you think? My fucking guitar pick fell under it!- he starts out with a calm tone full of sarcasm and ends up yelling with a pitched voice.–Could you just help me already?

I laugh even harder, but I get up and place my hands under the side of the couch, lifting it up, freeing his arm. He rubs his now red, almost bruised, bicep as he mutters a "fucking couch" under his breath.

–You're welcome.- I let it down again and let myself fall on it.–Didn't it occur to you to just move it to the side?‐ His eyes snap up at me.

–Well, obviously not smartass.- getting up to sit beside me. I lift my hands in a surrendering.

–Okay okay, chill.- but I am laughing hysterically, which only increases his bad temper. His face turning red again.–Anyway, I brought ramen. Do you have any clean pots?.- I turn to look at the kitchen only to find the sink full of dirty dishes.–Nevermind.

His back is now laying against the cushions, he's lookin at the ceiling, putting on display his side profile.

Eddie has long, curly hair that falls a little lower down his shoulders. Big brown eyes, right under the waves of his bangs. We actually have the same haircut... kind of. The only differences being the orange dye in my hair compared to the chocolate of his locks, and mine has a lot more layers and volume. We're pretty similar in a lot of things, even in clothing.

His skin is pale making his pink lips stand out more as he bites on his bottom lip thinking.

–I'm too tired to cook right now.- he says with a dramatic sigh.–Why don't we go out?‐ He tilts his head to look at me.–I could use some fresh air.-I roll my eyes.

☆–Okay but I'm not driving.‐He shruggs nonchalantly.

A few moments later I'm handing him the keys to my car, as he enters the driver's seat. The sound of the engine roaring in the trailer park as he speeds off.

–The guys really want to meet you, you know?- I'm deep in thought when his voice fills the car, gaze lost in the window while i suck on a cherry lollipop.- Dustin wouldn't shut up about you after he met you.

–I mean, I will be having a few days off from work during the holidays.- I say, taking the sweet out of out my mouth, focusing on him. He's been trying to introduce me to his friends for a while now, I usually work double shifts so I barely have any free time. I kept promising him that I would find some time, but it's nearly impossible. After all, we are short on people at the store. But I did meet Dustin one evening after work, I'd stomped into Eddie's place unannounced as always. They were so focused on the videogame they were playing that I almost killed them from a heart attack. Kid's pretty cool though.

–Maybe you could join the D&D Christmas campaign.- My eyebrows rise in surprise, he's very picky about the people he allows into his D&D club. I've been pestering him about it since I came here, but he always would spit out something along the lines of it not being just a game, life or death situations and not allowing himself to recruit nothing but the best warriors he could find. Everything in a very dramatic way, just as he is. Even after I told him that I've been playing for years now, he wouldn't change his mind. Saying that the key word was "playing", and that it was enough for him to know I wasn't worthy of a place in his fantasy world or the Hellfire Club.

–Are you okay? Do you have a fever or something?- I tease placing the back of my hand on his forehead, fake concern lacing my voice. He pushes it away, not moving his eyes from the road.

–Shut up.- he laughs.–I'm just tired of listening to you bitching about it.

–Yeah, sure.‐ chuckling I place the candy back I'm my mouth looking outside the window again. I don't need to look at him to know that he rolled his eyes. He stretches his arm to reach the cassette of the car, turning up the volume and banging his head to the beat of Mötley Crüe. He speeds up the car almost to its limits, enjoying the thrill of the adrenaline as he laughs vibing to the song.

It only takes us two more songs before my car is far behind parked as we reach for the door of Richie's, I swear they make the best burgers here. The place is full, diferent groups of teenagers spread throughout the ample space. We make our way to a table and just as we were about to sit down, someone shouts behind us.

–Munson!☆

Next chapter.

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lochblocknroll · 2 months

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"𝚃𝚘 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚞𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚖 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚝 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜." - 𝖣𝗈𝖼𝗍𝗈𝗋 𝖩𝗈𝖺𝗇𝗇 𝖥𝗈𝗅𝗌𝗐𝗂𝗌, 𝖫𝗈𝖼𝗁'𝗌 𝗉𝗈𝗌𝗍𝗀𝗋𝖺𝖽𝗎𝖺𝗍𝖾 𝖺𝖽𝗏𝗂𝗌𝗈𝗋

Introductions were not what Loch would list as one of his strengths. Communication in general was perhaps not on that list at all. He certainly wasn't in the habit of throwing 'able to talk to sentient bags of meat' onto his resume, not when his ability to talk to the incomprehensible vastness of cyberspace was there instead.

Of course, putting off the introduction was not going to make it go away, much to Loch's chagrin. He let anyone go before him that seemed eager enough to get their name out and their foot into whatever doors they were trying to force open. It was like sitting in the middle of The Thing, waiting to see which test might drag the impossible creature forward. Though, if any of these people were a cryptid, Loch knew, it would make this entire horse and pony show mean something. He had had his hopes set on that particularly sour-faced man being some kind of Roswell Grey, but that hope was dashed the longer this took and the other remained exactly as stone-faced as he had when they had gotten there.

That woman, Loch thought with a glance, could be a Flatwoods Monster, though she certainly was lacking that impressive collar that so defined her kind. He'd have to see if it was misplaced or, as one of his friends had claimed, it was actually a biological defense mechanism, like the frills of Dilophosaurus. It didn't seem practical, but neither did a horse with bat-wings and that certainly seemed common enough... Gods he was bored. Perhaps—

The sudden tug of all eyes on him pulled Loch from his thoughts and he cleared his throat awkwardly, shuffling in his seat and crossing one leg before uncrossing them and crossing it the other way. Why, in the name of the Flying Spaghetti Monster did he decide to sit in what amounted to the center of the room? He hadn't felt the urge to stand and brood in a corner like some of the others, but now Loch swore every hair on his body was standing upright as an unpleasantly large number of eyeballs fixed themselves upon him.

"Well, going off of this very unpleasant attention," Loch starts, going to stand before aborting the motion halfway through and sitting back down, "it's probably my turn. My name's Loch, Doctor Loch if you want to be an ass. If you're my abuelita, I'm Doctor Matias Rojas, but I don't see her here so I'm just going to stick with Loch. I really wasn't listening to the format here, so fuck it! I'll freeball it."

He paused, taking a breath and holding it for a few seconds before letting it out. This was already a disaster, but the only way out was through and he wasn't about to end up a red shirt this early in his job. "Like I said, I'm Loch. I got hired by the Foundation and their Sincere Comrades and Partners probably... A month ago? Time's been weird lately, which I blame completely on those interdimensional Bigfoots that have to be around here somewhere. I work predominantly in tech, mainly computers and software, but given the state of this place, the details will probably go over your heads, so I'll stick to that."

He paused, thinking for a moment as his hands tapped out a one-two rhythm on his legs. "I've got a cannibalistic fish named Hannibal the muscle heads made me leave behind and a severe tech withdrawal. If anyone ends up needing me, I'll be handwriting the most pointless codes I can. But, I'm sure we're all going to get along great! Oh, also, cryptid stories. Please regale me with your best ones. I might end up writing a book or some shit about them one day when I run out of code ideas."

#loched.intro #loched.actone #loched.(dis)orientation

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stillness-in-green · 4 months

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Favorite Characters of 2023

Saw this meme template by @limayde and had to drop anything more productive because I Love Character Memes. I tried to focus on characters who particularly signified 2023 in fandom for me, not necessarily just my favorites in any given fandom, and certainly not my favorites of all time! So consider it a reasonable representation of what I read/was reading/was still thinking about last year.

(I'm also relatively sure I could fill this out entirely with BNHA characters, but if I were to do that, it would be with the goal of representing how much I was thinking about said characters in terms of Fix-It Fic(s) Brainstorming, rather than simply how much I like them. Yoichi would be prominent in the former and not present at all in the latter, for example.)

Anyway, after much painstaking cropping, here it is!

(A full list of who all these people are and a blurb apiece of my thoughts on them, as well as the meme template, can be found beneath the cut!)

Most Favorite Blorbo(s) of 2023

Lord Glück and Macht of El Dorado (Sousou no Frieren) – Macht's was the arc that turned me around on Frieren's treatment of demons—he’s so interesting, and so tragic, totally set in his ways while also yearning to change them. Glück, meanwhile, is so devoted to his word, blunt in his assessment of Macht’s character but wholly sincere about trying to give him the knowledge and environment he needs to change. My BF asked me for the spoiler-free version of what I liked about them, and the best I can sum it up as is, “A mutual acceptance despite the parts of each other they can’t understand,” and, “They’ve made each other promises that go all the way to end, to the goddamn end.” Thirty years of that! I am once again begging on my hands and knees for Frieren to get a second season, and also, if the universe really loves me, to end the first season with a tease for the Golden City.[1]

(I cheated a bit here; the central square is intended for a single supreme fave, not center-mounting one's OTP. I am, however, entirely incapable of picking one of those two above the other. Also, putting them both there does bring the character count to a nice even 50.}

1: A second tease. There’s actually been one already, a reference to Macht’s enchanted jewelry, squirreled away in some on-screen text—one of the anime’s many additions to the background detail compared to the manga.

12 Characters vs. 12 Months In A Year. Coincidence? Probably!

(Starting at the top left corner and moving clockwise.)

Shigaraki Tomura (BNHA) – 2023 was the year Shigaraki Tomura got his groove back, thank heavens. While he didn’t get much material in which to speak his own mind—really just Chapters 379 and 411, a full year apart (the latter didn’t officially come out until just a few days ago; we just got the leaks a week early). We’ll see how he holds up going forward, but even those few scenes effortlessly demonstrate just how profound a waste of time handing AFO the reins to the end game was. Here’s to not letting Heroes off the hook in the new year!

Iguchi Shuuichi/Spinner (BNHA) – Spent a lot of 2023 worrying about this guy. Still am worried about this guy. But him turning the tides of the war at the end of 2022 shifted the whole course of the battle, and new we’ve got Shigaraki invoking The Horizon to finally give us incontrovertible evidence that Shigaraki and Spinner have talked about more than just video games! 2024 is shaping up Spinaraki!

Yotsubashi Rikiya/Re-Destro (BNHA) – I provide fanart for this man because, of course, he was in the actual canon not at all last year, absent a single flashback panel from Hose Face, not at all making up for what a caricature that character was otherwise. All the good Re-Destro content I was getting last year was thanks to @nickfoo’s wonderful, wonderful fanart of him. Thanks for continuing to give this guy love, foo! (full art here)

Geten (BNHA) – Himura backstory reveal! And that revelation accounted for the only fanfic I posted last year at all, as well as being super satisfying in terms of largely clearing Todoroki Enji of the responsibility for the heteromorphobic microaggressions perpetrated by certain of his children, as well as giving us some more hints about Geten and Re-Destro’s relationship. Exquisite. (Now just let him have something to say that isn’t mostly there to Contextualize Dabi.)

Vamirio/Anne from Management (Helck) – I reread Helck last year in celebration of its anime, and just to reiterate this again, Vamirio and her determination lead her to make firm stands and fiery declarations about her combat role and priorities that Deku has never even fuckin’ thought about. Vamirio a best; vote Vamirio for Head of Management.

Samuel Murphy +Hal and Nobu (Canis: The Speaker) – Sam’s my favorite of another inseparable trio, probably because, at least as an adult, he’s the most vulnerable—not simply because he lacks the firearms or goons that his partners’ positions allow them to call to hand, but also because of his struggles with insomnia. Whip-smart, observant, and well-spoken, and I always have had a preference for the smart ones.

Jasper (Steven Universe) – I started reading @faelapis’s post-canon Jasper exploration fic Something Better last year and absolutely fell in love with it. It reminded me all over again how much I love Jasper, and how much I wanted a story that gave her all the time she needed to change.

Somei Yoshino (Yakuza Fiancée) – Last year saw the anime announcement and Yoshino’s totally amazing bathtub fight with Azami, which I guess there are cowards out there who didn’t like? RIP to them but I’m different, I guess! I’ll watch Yoshino break her terrible suitors’ fingers any time!

Wolfgang Grimmer (Monster) – Reread the back half of Monster last year solely because I love Grimmer and wanted to read his material again. A perennial favorite, manga and character alike. I love a man held together with scotch tape, stitches and good intentions.

Boutarou the Pirate (Golden Kamuy) – Probably not my actual favorite character in the series, but I finally got to see him in anime form last year after a maddening wait thanks to the delay in 2022. Shiraishi’s best ship and a feral merman (look at the way he uses his hair and tell me I'm wrong) that someone unaccountably let walk around on dry land. A+ character.

Sailor Cosmos (Sailor Moon) – Speaking of characters with a huge wait on seeing them in the anime..! God, I’ve wanted anime Sailor Cosmos since high school, and I’m thrilled to finally get her (and the merch that would accompany her).

Mitaka Asa (Chainsaw Man) – I read the first half of Chainsaw Man a while back, largely on the basis of @robotlesbianjavert’s enthusiasm, and while I enjoyed it well enough, particularly Denji’s assorted travails, I never got super invested in it because, not having to wait week to week for releases, there was never really enough time to get attached to most characters before they got unceremoniously offed. Whether it’s the week-to-week wait or just that I like Asa as a character more, she’s really done the job of getting me interested in the series. I love this loser failgirl and I want only the best for her; while I doubt that’s what she’ll get, at least I can watch her torture logic to make sick weapons and have affecting scenes about her own crippling inadequacy issues in the meantime.

36 Others

(As before, starting on the top left and moving clockwise through the BNHA Zone.)

Scarecrow/Spinner’s Number 2 (BNHA) – Scarecrow’s big speechifying moments would have been back in autumn of 2022, but I still loved him more than enough in 2023 for him to make this grid. He was reduced to a shallow caricature and still had to get knocked off a roof because no one could actually out-argue him, and through all of that unendurable authorial laziness, his potential still shines through for me. Stan the MLA, MLA 5Evah.

Toga Himiko (BNHA) – The only Villain whose Hero foil plotline is working for me on any level, though a lot is hanging on whether or not she, y’know, lives. She definitely should have gotten to stab the bejeezus out of Hawks, and Ochaco should definitely go on the run with her once Apple Cheeks realizes that the HeroAca justice system could not possibly be relied upon to do anything other than throw Toga in a hole for a few years before executing her.

Gentle Criminal (BNHA) – The only redeemed villain whose regard for Deku functions at all thematically. Lady N’s return is hogswash on multiple levels, but I will defend Gentle’s without reservation.

Kunieda + Aoyama Yuuga (BNHA) – Consider these two to be a stand-in for all the thinking I did last year about Fix-It Fic scenarios for this whole final arc. For example, Kunieda in the canon speaks far too knowledgeably both about and to Aoyama for them to be total strangers, so why not plant some seeds for their confrontations earlier? I ask the reader to consider this:

In a version of the Edgy Deku arc that allowed the rest of 1-A to get out into the world to help out with relocation efforts, they one day come across a scene of dread: a neighborhood full of corpses and Kunieda’s flowers. Aoyama has a noticeably shaken reaction, which he plays off as just horror to his similarly horrified classmates, but the truth is that he’s got prior history with Kunieda—AFO didn’t plop corpses in front of his parents to intimidate them (because that’s ham-handed and silly), but bodies were still involved. They’d turn up buried in the family's fancy gardens sometimes, always heralded by those vivid red-black flowers…

Frieren (Sousou no Frieren) – I was relatively neutral on the title character until the anime came out and I had to suffer through The Discourse about her attitude towards demons (arguments on both sides tending to be poorly considered and ignorant, both of canonical details and real-world relevance). That made me a bit more defensive of her, but even setting my contrarianism aside, I was also very pleased with how she navigated the manga’s most recent arc.[2] She’s maybe the first character I can think of who I have actively wanted to write Asexual Representation fic for, if only because my answer to, “Does she Romantically Love Himmel?” is much more complex than just saying, “No, she only saw him as a friend,” or, “Yes, and now she’s going to be sad about her Tragically Lost Love for the rest of her life and we need to write all the fix-it fics about that.”

2: She wants to go home! Her feelings for Himmel, whatever they are, are of less importance to her than going home! Despite everything we know about how she perceives time, she still values her “now” more than her lost “then”! My gloating aside, though, I was far more affected by the sword scene than I was the wedding attire or the near kiss. Being trapped in a wedding illusion? Trite, overplayed. Being trapped in a wedding illusion yet still being able to wrap your hands around your partner’s arm and faithfully guide them into drawing the sword neither of you can perceive? Now that’s intimacy!

Heiter (Sousou no Frieren) – While I had little overall use for the aforementioned most recent arc of Frieren, I did very much enjoy my favorite member of the Hero Party getting a moment to demonstrate what being The Priest Of The Party That Defeated The Demon King actually means in practice. Grausam being unable to put him down with an illusion? Being the only one who could defend his downed companions? The sheer level of trust he has in Himmel? A little bit of vulnerability where he’s bare seconds away from getting gibbed by Grausam? Heiter is the member of the party that we get the least amount of in on: Sein didn’t stay with the party long enough to serve as a point of comparison, and despite Heiter raising Fern, she didn’t assume his role in the new group, like Stark did Eisen’s, nor do her reminiscences about him get anywhere near the amount of screentime that Frieren’s do of Himmel. So for real, you guys, Chapter 118 was so good.

Edward (Shadows House) – *bangs fists on table* WORST BOY WORST BOY WORST BOY!! Anime Edward is pants, but Manga Edward is where it’s at, always keeping Kate scrambling, always coming out on top of his maneuverings against his peer group rivals, just flappable enough that his victories doesn’t look effortless, and engaging enough that his smugness feels earned rather than intended to turn the reader against him. I have no idea how the story is going to deal with the adult shadows, who are after all still just as brainwashed and wronged by Grandfather’s workings as the kids are! If anything, they’re worse off, having already been manipulated into losing the “faces” they must once have loved dearly. Thus, while Kate and her allies certainly approach the conflict with a very Us vs. Them, Adults=The Enemy mentality, the screentime Edward’s own affairs get, fully independent of how they intersect with Kate’s, along with an avowed desire to improve the House that parallels Kate’s, make me hopeful that the authors have something a little more nuanced in mind than, “Free the current victims by wiping out all the previous ones.”

Melinda Desmond (Spy x Family) – The main cast are all perfectly fine, but Melinda is interesting. Super curious to find out more about the Desmond family dynamics, and I love Melinda bouncing around with Yor. (I swear, though, judging by the collective response to the most recent chapter, the fandom is going to turn me into a Donovan Apologist yet. Only one member of that family has visible scars suggesting brain surgery, folks!!)

Anti/Knight/Gridknight (Gridman Universe) – Always my favorite single character from both Gridman and Dynazenon, and he was characteristically great in the movie as well. His scene with Akane at the end was only my second favorite beat because, while it’s wonderful emotionally cathartic (more fanservice like this, please!), it’s also kind of muddled thanks to the idea of Gridman!Anti and Dynazenon!Knight being two separate entities. Churlish to hold that against it, though, when it's so heartfelt.

Minami Yume + Asanaka Yomogi (Gridman Universe) – Such a great pairing in their own show—I once saw someone call them forced, which has always struck me as just being too high on Bashing The Hets to see that Yomogi and Yume have a great arc towards getting together, actually. Seeing them be unabashedly together and happy about it in the film was 100% delightful and deserved. Yume swooping down out of the sky on Dynarex to scoop up her wifeguy boyfriend is my actual favorite beat in the movie.

Hyura (Helck) – Firstly, the dry humor around Hyura is fantastic. (“Something like an arm grows back simply enough. That’s just common sense.” “It doesn’t, right?” “It does not.”) Secondly, she’s the biggest badass in the secondary cast. Thirdly, she and Edil have the designated rival ship dynamic (incredibly rare to see across gender lines in shounen manga), and Hyura holds her own all the way to the end. Hyura is great.

Mikaros (Helck) – “Yes, we may have lost some assets and I personally shattered the mind of one of our strongest soldiers, removing him from the playing field. But the important thing is that I personally overcame my trauma, so overall it’s a win.” What a slimeball. What a total heap. And what an excellent example of the end-stage stakes driving the title character's choice in the epilogue! I love Mikaros unreservedly.

Harold Aldo Hughes and Iwaki Tadanobu + Sam (Canis: The Speaker) – Transformation, reinvention, the fierceness of devotion and the ruthlessness of rebirth—I don’t love them quite as much as I do Sam, but they’re also both great.

Hera (Lore Olympus) – Lore Olympus is one of those series I read more because it’s interesting enough while also being blisteringly gorgeous than because I’m deeply invested in the characters, but the plotline about Hera and Kronos really has pulled me all the way into active, character-specific interest. Great, tense, painful stuff. Can’t wait to see where she goes following recent events.

Redcloak (Order of the Stick) – His last really insightful and heartwrenching scene was in the year before last—that fantastic exchange with Oona!—but for as long as I’m reading OOTS, Redcloak is going to be a favorite. God, the Law Elemental summoning is so funny.

Hyness (Kirby franchise) – This one’s entirely on my sis-in-law—like another character further down the list, I am not remotely “in” the Kirby fandom. But what can I say—tell me about a warped cult leader who started in a bad place and only got worse who still managed to get saved by the Hero taking a leap of faith that paid off, and tell me the fandom calls him a horrible abuser? Sorry, but I Have No Choice But To Stan. (full art here)

Lafcadio Boone (The Sexy Brutale) – Replayed this again last year, and it’s still great. In a sense, despite its sizeable named cast, it really only has the one character, and his story is such that I want to make every single person on tumblr that gets hyperbolic about the forgiveness and redemption of fictional wrongdoers play this game. “Time to move on, old man,” indeed.

Sissel (Ghost Trick) – Finally got the remaster of this and replayed it, and it’s also still great. Knowing The Spoilers about Sissel seriously make replays such a scream, but also man is this game really sitting on some completely over-the-top darkness not at all far beneath its candy apple red and Matrix-text green surface.

Pavitr Prabhakar/Spider-Man India (Across the Spider-Verse) – Strictly in terms of character writing, he’s very fun, but I don’t think he’s as strong as Spider-Punk or Miguel O'Hara, but on the other hand, he’s so much fun, especially to simply watch in motion. Most of the rest of the leads, however varied their artstyles might be, still feel like they move in basically the same ways, just with varying levels of grace vs. power, intent vs. controlled collapse, but because of the way Pavitr uses his thread, he moves completely differently, and it’s just a ton of fun to watch. The first character I went hunting for fanart of when I got out of the movie theater.

Gwen Stacy/Spider-Woman (Across the Spider-Verse) – I have outstanding affection for Spider-Gwen from reading her comics back when, but that opening Vulture fight, the fantastic look of her dimension, and all the trans signaling kept her right at the top, too.

Brutha (Discworld: Small Gods) – @codenamesazanka read this and a few of the Watch books last year, prompting me to do some rereads as well, and Brutha and Small Gods remain very dear to me. I only wish more artists would draw versions of him that remotely resemble “fat, simple-looking young man from a desert country in fantasy!expy!Middle East” rather than “suspiciously trim and Benedictine.”

Sam Vimes (Discworld series) – Ditto on Nal’s read above, but also chatted with foo a lot about this guy, and he’s been my favorite single character in the series since high school. It takes very little to prompt me to reread his books generally, but last year was the first time I’ve had it in me to reread Snuff, as it was previously a little too tied up in my feelings about the last few books prior to Pratchett’s death. Regardless of anything else, though, Snuff is the book for Sam/Sybil.

Mina Murray (#DRCL: Midnight Children) – Discovered this lush chonk of horror phantasmagoria last year and I’m kind of in love with it. Its take on Mina anchors it well—she’s smart and fiery but up against ingrained sexism and classism in her setting, and not too Anachronistic Grrl Power to not be hurt by that sometimes; she’s stubborn, but vulnerable to the supernatural horrors in the way any child would be. An unreliable but intriguing and sympathetic narrator.

Capone Bege (One Piece) – The other character I got onto largely without getting into the series he hails from, nickfoo—whose art I again use to illustrate—does great work with this guy, a once-jovial monster shocked back from that moral brink by marriage and fatherhood. Still gets a bit Into It at work, but tries not to bring it home, at least as much as that can be avoided when carrying both family and crew around in the same heart/sub-dimensional space. (Also, foo’s version of Bege is great, but her rendition of Chiffon is—speaking as someone who doesn’t read the series and can only gauge by image search or skimming the wiki—borderline miraculous, accurate to Oda’s lively caricature design, but so much more sensitive, expressive and human.)

Prince Kazu/Lady Chikako (Ooku: The Inner Chambers) – On the occasion of the Netflix anime, I finally tracked down and finished Ooku last year, and when I tell you that I laughed more and harder in the final arc than I did through the entire rest of the series combined… The Kyoto cast members are a big part of why,[3] and none more delightful than the stuffy, prideful, possessive, and deeply impetuous Chikako, one of the most singularly human characters in the whole 19-volume melodrama.

3: Catty ex-male prostitute turned head of the Inner Chambers Takiyama is the other part of this equation, by the way.

Gao Shun (The Apothecary Diaries) – Long-suffering stoics are my absolute favorite type, and that holds true even though Gao Shun's stoicism has been largely a humorous beat thus far. I want this guy to get more attention, but until then, I will continue to enjoy his weary exasperation every time he has to deal with Mao Mao’s eccentricities/Jinshi’s enthusiasm about same.

Mao Mao (The Apothecary Diaries) – Best female character of the season, for sure, but I’ve been reading one of the manga for a while now, and she’s a regular delight. Eccentric and ruthless by turns, painfully aware of the limitations of her position and yet wholly willing to make her own decisions and exert her own agency within those limitations without ever concerning herself with whether she should ask permission from or report to someone above her rank. Mao Mao’s mercy takes the form of knowing when to speak and when to demure, and every time I see some stuck-in-their-own-ethical-framework commenter complain about her moral compass, I appreciate it harder.

Accustomizer Stud/Tiffany (Angelic Acceptor Alouette) – Enthusiastically resourceful teenage girl who would probably be super into transhumanism if she hadn’t fallen in with angels (sic) instead, transforming into the gloriously nonbinary pile of muscles and amazing hair that is Accustomizer Stud, Tiffany’s ultimate expression of her inner self. Stud is magnanimous, gracious, and well-spoken, and they are also VERY LOUD AND FIGHTY. My absolute favorite character in a game wall-to-wall with great characters.

Yuunagi Tsubasa/Cure Wing (Hirogaru Sky PreCure) – The first Official Boy Cure with absolutely no provisos or qualifications or ways to wiggle out of it, and the show gets him just right by playing him basically completely straight. Has a costume no one would look twice at in a magical girl line-up, wastes no time on masculine embarrassment at his frills, with the only nod he/the show make towards his gender at all being to frame his role as being a knight to a princess, rather than simply a guardian to one, but it’s not really what he’s about. His actual character is driven by knowledge, studiousness, and a desire to overcome the limitations placed on him by being a human/pudgy flightless bird fairy.

Kei Miyama (Go With the Clouds, North By Northwest) – Something of a stand-in for his series generally, which I read the two most recent volumes of last year and fell in love with all over again—particularly the most recent one, which switches deftly between depictions of shattering, world-hollowing grief and the beguiling intimacy of the rhythms of life and nature. But my love for the manga itself aside, Kei’s a great protagonist, full of little contradictions and snags that make him feel much more fleshed out and grounded than your average animanga male lead, even as he’s running around doing very Animanga Male Lead Things, like solving mysteries by using his Strange Power to get information a normal person could not.

Lord El-Melloi II/Waver Velvet (Fate franchise) – Waver is possibly my favorite character of all time in any medium, so it takes very little to rekindle the love. In last year's case, it took the Fate/strange Fake special! Love to see my boy continue to wrest more narrative space for himself than he was originally allotted by virtue of being a run-away audience favorite of the Fate/Zero anime!

Ivan (Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Stood Still) – Got the remastered Blu-ray last year as a gift, and guess what? I still love Ivan in all his cartoonish mini-boss villainy layered over the pathos of tragic loss and resentment. Honestly, I can only assume he’s as well-adjusted as he is because Alberto is so inspiring to work in close quarters with (mood), because otherwise I’d think it pretty unfair that the sole surviving Bashtarle national in the story gets so little to say about/to the people who blew it up.

Isurugi Camice (Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans) – I was a bit too preoccupied with BNHA meta last year to think much about my prior fandom phase, but I still made time to rotate Isurugi in my mind from time to time. As one of my beloved long-suffering stoics, I can always make that kind of time for him. (Image source is from the cover of a doujinshi I have, because melancholy BL doujinshi is definitely more the kind of tonal zone my mental rotations were occupying than they were canon’s!)

And, finally, the blank

(If anyone reading this wants to give it a whirl, I reccommend blowing it up to x2 size; makes the small squares easier to work with.)

#memes #MEEEEEEEEMES #bnha #sousou no frieren #helck #magical girls and sundry shounen #small nonweeb corner #gundam ibo #fate whatever #sorry to the non-mutuals for the random tag-in #thank you for your fic/your meme grid and have an amazing new year

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katy-l-wood · 2 years

Text

Okay, I wanna talk about the giant work project I just did because I’m proud of it, even if it was a bit of a nightmare. Can’t give specifics because of an NDA, but I can talk general stuff.

About three months ago we got offered a REALLY big deal. Ridiculously big. Possibly our biggest ever, at least in recent memory. But to make this deal we had to provide a lot of documentation. Like a lot a lot.

Wanna guess what my company does NOT have? Documentation. Are we a museum? Yes! Do we have scientifically significant specimens everywhere? Yes! Is any of it accurately or effectively documented? No. Hell, we couldn’t even GET to half our stuff without going up on a catwalk and ducking under the air vents until a few months ago when the vents got redone. And don’t even get me started on our servers. The top level organization is...decentish, but the second you start opening folders it is all just. A nightmare. Tons of duplicates, so many IMG______s, folders within folders within folders within folders. Terrible.

So I get brought onto this project after all the initial negotiating is pretty much done. On the face of it, my job in this project was SUPPOSED to just be taking the documentation and making it look pretty. The owner of the company and our head curator were supposed to be the ones getting all that documentation.

Wanna guess what they, by and large, did NOT do? Get me documentation. We had three months to do this and it only got done at the literal last minute because I went into work (despite being mostly remote) and sat down with both of them and just went through each form with them one by one. And when I say literal last minute, I mean literal last minute. The project was due at noon yesterday and I finished at 11:59.

At the end of it, here’s everything I did for the project:

Chased down so much documentation. Either by digging through the server, or just repeatedly e-mailing people until they finally handed stuff over.

Photographed a ton of specimens. We had some photos of some of them, but a lot of the older stuff was from really crappy old cameras so the photos needed redone.

Deciphered a lot of hand-signed/hand-amended contracts that needed included, so I could figure out who the hell signed what because cursive and crappy scans are not good bedfellows. I also had to figure out what contracts went with what specimens which was quite the puzzle.

Deciphered the forms we had to fill out. They’re from a non-English speaking country and there were some translations that got a little wonky.

Edited the introduction for each section of the project, because the owner of the company is very fond of idioms and run-on sentences. Had to put everything in plainer English so it could be more easily translated.

Edited all the photo captions for the same reason.

Dealt with the fact that no one at this job calls any animal what they are, they just give them a nickname which is not helpful. I don’t know what “Doug” is, guys. I can tell Doug was a turtle, but what kind of turtle? Who knows! Not me, because YOU DON’T FUCKING LABEL ANYTHING. The bus factor at this company is terrible. If somebody dies tomorrow we’re all screwed.

Fixed a bunch of little issues in the contracts to prevent us giving away some very important rights that we should not have been giving away.

Reworked the prices on some things to be more understandable and offer different options.

Researched the locations of specimens and provided detailed maps of the locations in relation to the U.S. as a whole and the specific areas. Didn’t want to do the thing where we just said “yeah, we found it in Kansas” assuming everyone outside the U.S. would actually know where the hell Kansas is.

Formatted it all into nicely laid out PDFS with good formatting. This involved 22 separate documents, then one version that brought all those together into one big document that was formatted for double-sided printing.

And, despite having 3 months to do it, 50% was done in the last two days, and another 40% done in the 8ish days before that. I worked 55 hours this week and 53 last week. Instead of just being a designer I ended up being a photographer, an archivist, a researcher, a contracts person, an editor, AND a designer.

Ended up with a 400 page document that looks fantastic (and more professional than anything the company has ever put out). I’m damn proud of it, and I’m really excited to know how effective it ends up being, which I should hopefully know in the next couple weeks.

And I still don’t know hardly anything about paleontology beyond surface knowledge, lol. Fake it ‘til you make it.

#Makin' Bones

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clockworkspider · 9 months

Note

Ohhh that tarot prompt game is such a cool idea 👉👈

Yuzuru and Ibara?

Or, if you're not comfortable with them, Keito and Eichi because I will never shut up about them?

Doesnt need to be romantic!!

Keito and Eichi ended up with the better card draws.

Six of cups - Happy memories from the past, inner child Reversed Hanged Man - Resisting change of perspective Reversed Devil - Attachment holding one back, unable to let go

cw: end of life discussions

Keito and Eichi finalizes Eichi's funeral plans.

—

“Keito! I’m so glad to see you! If I have to talk to another lawyer I think I’m going to die two months early. Did you bring the Item?”

“Don’t joke about that. And yes, I brought it. Tho I think it’s still too soon to revisit this. My family and I will take care of everything, so why don’t you focus on living.” From his bag, Keito withdrew an old notebook. Tho the color of the cover has faded with time, the edges were as crisp as they were 18 years ago. On the cover, in the neat and stiff writing of a child, were the words ‘Eichi’s funeral plans’.

“I want to finalize this while I still have the energy, otherwise my family will have everything their way.” Eichi answered, a matter of fact.

“Funerals are for the living, you know?” Keito chided half-heartedly. Already prepared to execute Eichi’s demands, no matter how unreasonable.

“That’s why we’re reworking it, right? I’m not gonna ask to keep the pyramid, so you can relax. I’m sure with the amount of proposals we’ve overseen thus far, we can come up with something dignified enough to satisfy my family. But it’d be a shame if there’s no trace of all the hard work of our childhood selves.”

“Fine,” Keito said. He sat down, opened the notebook, took out a pen, and grimaced.

“Oh?” Eichi intoned.

“Our imagination truly knew no bounds back then,” Keito explained.

“Pass it, I wanna see!” Eichi took the notebook and poured over it, occasionally reading aloud what he thought were amusing.

“Oh my gosh, is that your writing? Did you actually make a vampire shogun reference here?”

“It was a cool scene. I think it’s very poetic and appropriate for a buddhist funeral. You seem to have agreed here.”

At that, Eichi fell silent, and just stared.

“What?” Keito asked.

“I’m just thinking of how familiar this look. You, sitting by my hospital bed, with that notebook and pencil in your hands, planning my funeral,” he said, smiling.

And now it was Keito’s turn to be silent.

“It was easier back then,” he finally said, looking away.

“I never thought I’d live this long back then, to be honest,” Eichi answered.

Keito had nothing to say to that.

—

They spent some time pouring over the details, going between reminiscing their childhood and working on the new plan in an unhurried fashion. Truth be told, neither of them had any time to waste. Still Keito argued over the increasingly silly ideas seriously. If they keep working on it, it would never become something final.

“Anzu has volunteered to organize a send-off party with our generation of yumenosaki graduates and the initial ES staff. We can incorporate some of the more light hearted ideas there instead, so the funeral itself can be more solemn, and you can take part yourself if you have the energy,” Keito said.

“Really? She didn’t tell me!”

“We were going to finalize a few things first after our session together today. She didn’t want to trouble you with it at the early stage yet, but I figured you’d want to start composing your monologues.”

“Fufufu…”

“What now?”

“Keito has changed. The past Keito would have never relinquish part of his plans to someone else.

“Well, if it’s that girl, I’m sure she’ll handle it with care.”

“Keito is more proud of our beloved Anzu than anyone, right? You’re the one who corrected all her earliest proposals. I’ve seen the mark-ups. You were merciless, you practically re-wrote the whole thing!”

“Well, she’s fixing mine now.”

“She’s come a lone way, hasn’t she? Tori too… To think we’ve started the path to our dreams with so many blunders. Back then, I never thought we’d get this far. To think that I got a chance to stand shoulder to shoulder with Wataru… And Akatsuki has come so far too. I know you and Rei fought the long fight with Rhylin execs and won. I’m proud of us.”

“Save that for the speech,” Keito said, paused, and added, “I’m proud of us too.”

“But you know, I don’t really know if i’m sold on the idea of a light hearted sendoff and a heavy solemn funeral. I know some people want their friends and family to send them off with a smile. Like it’s all going to be alright and they can go happy. That’s just lying to themselves, right? I’d rather see how much people will miss me while I’m still alive,” Eichi said glumly. Then, with a bit of mischief in his eyes. “Say, why don’t you cry for me now, Keito?”

“Don’t be ridiculous! How did the conversation even turn to here? I’m not Hibiki, I can’t cry on command.”

“But you’ll cry for me after I’m gone, right? That’s so unfair, everyone else will get to see it except your childhood friend. Rei mentioned he made you cry on stage once. And to think I missed it!”

“I wasn’t crying on stage! Stop bringing that up!” Keito snapped, then sighed, an expression of immense pain. “Anyway, you can’t ask that of me.

“It’s the job of officiant to direct the mourners and keep things together until the end. It’s not my turn to mourn until everyone else are done. To ask me to cry for you while you’re still alive. Incorrigible.” He tutted, and he didn’t say, ‘If I do, I don’t know if I’d be able to stop. If I give in to grief, and let it swallow me whole, I don’t know if I’d ever resurface.'

Eichi laughed, startling and crystal clear. “But Keito has been crying for me all these years, haven’t you?” A pause. “When I look at you, my first friend, I can’t decide if I want you to move on and be happy, or if I want you to mourn me forever. When I think of the person all of you will become without me in your lives, it hurts so much.

“In Buddhism, they say attachment the source of all suffering, right? And seeing Keito suffer is a hobby of mine.”

“You use to be so cute,” Keito muttered, “how did you grow up to be so twisted?”

To that, Eichi could only chuckle.

“Hey, Keito,” Eichi said, “I’m not ready to go.

“I don’t want to leave.”

And Keito, without words, pulled him into his arms in a trembling hug, crushing them together tighter than they’ve ever been before.

“I don’t want to go, Keito,” he repeated, over and over, between sobs he didn’t know if they were his own, “I don’t want to go.”

—

“No Eichi, we are not doing the scavenger hunt on your funeral. Don’t be ridiculous.”

“You’re already thinking of clues, right? Keito loves that kind of thing. I know you do.”

#keichi #keito hasumi #eichi tenshouin #ensemble stars #enstars #dontsteponthatfish #my fic

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oc-aita · 8 months

Text

AITA for "choosing" someone I "only knew for 3 stupid fucking months" over a friendship of 9 years?

I try for this not to bother me much since there's nothing I can do to fix the situation, but sometimes I start to think and... well. This happened years ago, too. But you know. Be warned this sounds like a bad gay dramatic book with sex in the mix, but it is entirely true. The three people involved on this are F (27M), C (23M), and of course, me (26M). TL;DR at the end because this thing got long.

First, I need to give context of the type of relationship F and I had. We were friends since I was 14 and he was 15 respectively, at that age I wasn't a friendly person at all, and after I lost my virginity at 17 (with him, important detail) it was extremely difficult to be friendly towards a guy if my intention wasn't to have sex with him, terribly shitty on my part, but we're not getting onto that. Our friendship was the most important thing for me (as I told him a few times, he was my favorite person, and I 100% meant it), we were extremely close, and it was entirely platonic (kinda? if we ignore the "slip" we had at 17 and 18) until we had sex again (20 and 21 respectively) and there we started a friendship-with-benefits thing.

Our "fwb" deal started right after F broke up with his "boyfriend", M (18 at the time). M was roommates with C (17 at the time), so we technically know each other from that time. I was there mostly making small talk and maybe going outside while F and M were pretty obviously fucking, but he was feeling pretty awkward, and like, I get it. Your roommate is getting laid while you're stuck with a sort-of-acquaintance forcefully being friendly. Also, it was awfully obvious C started to resent F a bit. It wasn't the best thing ever, but after F and M broke up, I didn't saw him again for a few years.

Until I was 24! It was pretty normal for us to go to parties, it was fun and that's how I got most of my one-night stands (because if you think having sex with F was enough, no it wasn't). For some reason, that night C was on the same party F and I were. I recognized him right off the bat, and F did too. He was looking... really lonely, and I guess it triggered a kind emotion on me, because the only thing I wanted was to keep him company. F tried to approach him, as there wasn't any resentment on his part (yet), but I told him it might not be the best idea, but I was going on his place.

Long story short, we spent the whole night together, he obviously needed someone to vent, and I was there. After the party ended, I gave him my number, just in case he still needed to vent. Pretty uncharacteristic of me, sincerely. He messaged me again a few days later, with time we kept talking about our lives and shit, and I actually fell in love for the first time in my life three months later! Exciting stuff.

Except apparently I started to "make F feel unimportant" and "won't stop annoying the fuck out of him talking about C" and "I even moaned his stupid name on accident when we were having sex" (all his words!) and, despite my efforts, F and C never got along, now mostly on F's part (in fact, things got worse), which was really stressing.

Everything reached a limit when I told him we couldn't have sex anymore, because I was officially dating C and it was a closed thing, so we should stay platonic again. And he threw a big ass tantrum, saying I was replacing "someone I knew for 9 YEARS over someone I only knew for 3 stupid fucking months", and that "if I was lying to him the whole time I told him he was my favorite person and he was actually that replaceable for me, then I was way more horrible than he thought and that I should stop talking to him altogether". And I did. Not because I didn't loved him (this time truly platonically, we never had romantic feelings for each other), but because I got hurt by the fact he couldn't understand how much this meant to me. It was the first time I felt the so-called romantic love, it was all new, maybe I didn't managed it the best way, but. Come on.

TL;DR: My friend with benefits I knew for 9 years and was my favorite person got angry I "replaced" him for someone I fell in love with, which I knew for 3 months, and ended our friendship as soon as I started to actually date the guy I love.

#original character #am i the asshole #aita #nsft #my own #(my beloved son with issues and problems<33)

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anniesocsandgeneralstore · 1 year

Note

"Turn on the heat." // "Oh, I will." // "No, I literally mean the heat! It's like ten degrees in here!" With our au?

yes kee our precious au 🥹

|| prompt list ||

prompt: "Turn on the heat." // "Oh, I will." // "No, I literally mean the heat! It's like ten degrees in here!"

au: farmhouse

word count: 920

warnings: fluff to the max, a secret other au

“It looks beautiful, Jay,” Ronnie said on a sigh as they stood in front of the farmhouse, frozen ground crunching beneath their feet.

On the outside, it looked complete. White siding with a wrap around porch and green shudders. But Ronnie knew that the inside still needed some work. The plumbing finished and floors installed. That didn’t matter though. Jake had worked so hard for the past year to build her her dream house, putting in every last detail she wanted no matter how small, and it was nearly finished. Just a few more weeks. And it really did look beautiful.

“Wanna go inside?” Jake suggested, “I mean, we drove all the way out here.”

“Sure,” she shrugged with a laugh.

Then he bent to pick her up, bridal style. Ronnie could do nothing but stare at him, wide-eyed, as he swept her off her feet with a knowing grin. Jake made a promise, when they started making up the plans for the farmhouse, that when it was done he would carry her over the threshold. An arguably outdated and traditional thing, but it felt right. As they sat and looked at blueprints all those nights ago.

But now he was carrying her up the porch steps and through the front door. A reality. A complete surprise as he carried her past the threshold into a completely finished, furnished, and decorated farmhouse. It was as beautiful and as complete as the outside. Everything exactly as Ronnie said she wanted it.

“Jake…” she whispered breathlessly as she stared around at everything.

“Had the boys come help me move everything while you were at work. Wanted it to be a surprise.” He set her back gently on her feet. “You like it?”

“God, baby, I…I love it,” she breathed, happy tears brimming her brown eyes as she turned to face him. “I love you. So much. Thank you.”

Ronnie lept into his arms and he caught her easily with a laugh, arms curling around her waist and holding her to him tight. They were going to build their lives in this house. Their future was here. When spring came she would start a garden out back while he worked on the landscaping. His nieces and nephews could come over and have plenty of room to run around. They would grow old sitting on that porch and watching the sunrises. It was perfect and it was all their’s.

“Welcome home, baby girl,” Jake whispered.

When she pulled away from him, she took him by the hand with a grin and walked him around the entire house. They both knew it like the backs of their hands after pouring over the details for months. But still, it was comforting to familiarize with the actual, physical space instead of just crude drawings on graph paper. Ronnie inspected every room, wide smile never leaving her face. And Jake watched her the entire time.

They eventually made their way back to the living room. Ronnie dropped down onto the couch with a sigh, pulling the fuzzy blanket that was once in their apartment around her shoulders. Jake flopped down next to her in his usual way, legs spread and one arm draped across her shoulders, pulling her into his side instantly. She shuddered despite the blanket and Jake’s usual warmth.

“Can you turn on the heat?” she asked.

Jake looked down at her, wiggling his brows as he leaned in. “Oh, I will.”

“No!” she laughed, nudging him with her shoulder. “I literally mean the heat! It’s like ten degrees in here.”

“Oh.” He looked slightly disappointed before he got up to check the thermostat, then he cursed with his hands on his hips. “Well, it’s not ten degrees but it’s pretty damn close. Says the heat’s on…I don’t know what the problem is.”

“Think you can fix it?”

“Not before dark.” Jake sighed as he turned back to face her. “M’sorry babe, I thought everything was ready…”

“S’okay!” she insisted as she pulled the blanket tighter, then her eyes caught on the fireplace right across from the couch. “Is the fireplace good to go?”

“Great idea, baby girl! Lemme go chop some wood.”

While he went outside, Ronnie continued to take in their new home. Built with Jake’s own two hands. She could picture it perfectly. The meals she would cook in the kitchen, with Jake coming home from a day at work to wrap his arms around her waist. The parties they would host with all their friends, with no special occasion in mind, just because they could. The laughter and joy and love that would permeate the walls and make the house into a home. She was ready for that. God, she was so ready.

The front door opened on it’s own, and Ronnie watched with a smile as the chopped logs floated into the house first. Jake followed soon after, a light sweat broken out across his brow. Closing the door, he set the logs down neatly into the holder by the fireplace — while directing a few to go into the fireplace itself, all without lifting a finger.

With the fire crackling, Jake sat back on the couch with his bride. Perfectly content. With his arm around her shoulders and her head against his chest. This was how it was always meant to be. And how it would be for the rest of the time they had left on this earth. Snuggled up by this warm fire, with a love so strong.

#kee my love #oc: ronnie bradshaw #farmhouse au #fd: top gun #jake hangman seresin #jake seresin #hangman #jake hangman seresin x oc #jake seresin x oc #hangman x oc #jake hangman seresin imagine #jake seresin imagine #hangman imagine #jake seresin x ronnie bradshaw

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depressedhatakekakashi · 6 months

Text

Coffee Shop Flirting

Words: 1,584

Coffee Shop AU

Characters: Rock Lee & Haruno Sakura (Hinata and Omoi mentioned)

Pairings: Rock Lee/Omoi & Haruno Sakura/Hyuga Hinata

@full-frontal-lotus

Rush hour was the worst.

People poured in through the doors demanding their caffeine fix. Most of them were fine, but half of them desperately needed a lesson in manners and if it wouldn’t result in Sakura losing her job she would be more than happy to give them that lesson.

Fortunately, her rush hour shifts were mostly scheduled alongside Lee and he always seemed to know right when he should switch jobs with her to avoid a fight from breaking out in the middle of the cafe.

“Hate them,” she grumbled, watching from her station as the last few customers trickled back out the door. “Why do they have to be so…”

Passing by behind her, Lee slipped a cup into her hand. The warmth of the liquid inside immediately eased her tension and for the first time in over an hour, her shoulders relaxed.

“Peppermint Hot chocolate,” he informed her, smiling when she shot him a glare. “I know we’re not supposed to bring it out yet, but you looked like you were about to explore and Kakashi told me to do anything within my power to make sure that didn’t happen.”

“He did not,” her fingers curled around the cup, holding it as if it were her lifeline in this busy, cruel world.

“He actually did,” stopping in front of the till, Lee began typing in his code and began printing out the sales details of the last hour. “After the last time-”

“She attacked me first!” it had happened over a month ago now, but Sakura still remembered it like it was yesterday. She’d been forced to inform a customer that the flavor they ordered in their drink was currently out of stock and rather than being understanding and kind the woman had decided to lung herself over the counter at Sakura.

Sakura had simply dealt with the issue until Kakashi yanked her away and shoved her to the back to cool down. She’d thought she was going to lose her job that day, but since the customer had been the one to attack first Kakashi actually took her side and banished the woman from ever returning to the cafe.

“Still, we’d all rather avoid a repeat.”

“Fine,” lifting the cup to her lips, she took a sip and felt her whole body relaxing as the warm liquid spilled into her mouth. While she enjoyed her drink, Lee claimed the hourly printout from the machine and began reading it.

“That was a good hour,” he turned to her with a triumphant grin. “There was no fighting, only one incorrect order we needed to fix, and we made two hundred and ninety-nine thousand yen.”

Sakura could feel the stress returning to her body slowly when Lee brought up the amount of money they’d made. It was a good number of course and one of the many reason’s that Kakahsi scheduled her and Lee together. Not that other combinations didn’t work, but the two of them always seemed to make the most money for the business during rush hour, and any good businessman would want to schedule staff together to optimize their monetary outcome.

Still, nearly three hundred thousand yen was a lot of customers.

The fact that they had survived without having to call in backup was a miracle, and proof that Sakura was getting better at keeping her anger in check. When she’d started the job just over a year ago Kakashi had always scheduled himself to work alongside her, and while it seemed a bit creepy at first she quickly realized that it was a precaution.

He was always prepared to reach out and pull her back if she tried to start a fight with a customer, and now that job had fallen to Lee.

“We keep this up and maybe Kakashi will make us managers.”

“Managers,” Sakura rolled her eyes. “If he does that we can’t be scheduled together anymore. Besides, Managers are never around to help out when you need it,” it wasn’t completely true. Kakashi, Gai, and Kurenai would happily help out during and after the rush, but that wasn’t the manager on duty today. Today it was Asuma, and once the rush had ended he’d left for his ever-so-precious so precious smoke-break.

“I would help,” Lee insisted. “And so would you. You’d probably be like Kakashi in fact and hover around in the front.”

“I-” Suddenly it wasn’t just the hot chocolate in her hands that was warming her up. She could feel the heat rising through her body, crawling up the back of her neck and even seeping into her cheeks. “Why would I do that!?”

“The same reason he does,” her co-worker grinned. “Speaking of which, when is Hinata due to come around?”

The heat in her cheeks flared at the mention of her girlfriend. “T-that’s none of your business!”

“It’s my business when my co-worker stops helping me with all the work in favor of hovering around her girlfriend's table flirting with her.”

“I help,” she argued. “I’m out there making sure that the tables are clean and our customers are happy. Besides, I thought you liked the challenge of working a shift alone. You’re always begging Kakashi to give you the morning shift on your own so you can see how fast you get everything done without any help.”

“It’s a good challenge,” he defended himself. “And I do enjoy it, but you don’t see me flirting with my boyfriend when he’s visiting.”

Rolling her eyes, Sakura took another sip of her drink and enjoyed the warmth that slipped down her throat when she swallowed. Once the drink was down, she returned her attention to Lee. “If you even tried flirting with Omoi when he’s here he’s combust out of sheer embarrassment.”

“He would not!”

“Try it,” she challenged him. “Next time he walks through those doors say something cute.” an idea came to her suddenly, and a devious smile stretched across her face. “I know. Next time he visits you should tell him how much you love him right as you’re giving him his order.”

Lee rolled his shoulders, forcing himself to stand just a little bit taller. An impressive feat for a man who always stood with his back as straight as humanly possible. “You think I won’t?”

“Oh, I know you will,” she admitted. “You’ll just be very sorry when you do.”

The scene came together in her mind. Omoi standing beside the counter patiently waiting for his Cookie crumble frappuccino with both hands stuffed inside of his pockets and his backpack hanging off of one shoulder. He’d be perfectly fine the entire time until Lee opened his big mouth.

Once the words ‘I love you’ left Lee’s lips, spoken loud enough for the entire cafe to hear, Omoi would melt into a puddle of goo in the middle of the floor. Or he might cumbuste into flames, or even crumble into dust under the sheer pressure of Lee’s love.

Whatever happened, it would be hilarious to watch.

“At least when I tell my girlfriend I love her, she just blushes,” she continued. “No one would ever see Omoi again if you did it. He wouldn’t be able to handle it.”

Lee pulled his bottom lip in under his teeth and huffed. For a minute he just stood there thinking through his comeback options, only to be interrupted by the sound of the cafe door swinging open to admit new customers.

Turning to greet them, Sakura grinned when she saw Omoi stepping inside with Hinata at his side. The two of them rarely ever showed up together, but this felt like a gift from the universe just for Sakura.

A perfect coincidence.

“Hinata!” She waved at her girlfriend. “I wasn’t expecting you until later. Thank you for gracing us with your stunning beauty so early.”

As expected, Hinata’s face flushed a brilliant shade of red and her hands came up to cover the bottom half of her face as she muttered out a little ‘thank you’.

“Oh, and Omoi,” she looked over at her co-worker's boyfriend. “Lee was just talking about how adorable he thinks you are.”

“Sakura!”

Lee surged forward, knocking her hot chocolate out of her hands as he scrambled to cover her mouth. It was too late though. Just the mere suggestion of what Lee might have said about him was enough to set Omoi off.

Unlike Hinata, he didn’t cover his face or even try to respond in any way.

Instead, he simply did a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn and walked right back out of the cafe.

“Sakura,” Lee’s hands dropped from her face. “Look what you’ve done. Now he’s upset.”

“I don’t think he’s upset,” Sakura snickered. “I think-”

Before she could finish her sentence, a screech pierced through the air. Without a second hesitation, Lee jumped over the counter and ran toward the door, yanking it open as soon as he could.

Once he got a good look outside, he turned his head and shot a glare at Sakura. “Are you happy now?”

“Depends,” she answered with a shrug. “I can’t see what happened.”

Stepping to the side, Lee held the door open so that Sakura could see outside where Omoi was now lying across the ground with his book bag perfectly placed so his head hadn’t collided with the ground.

“Ah,” she cringed. There was no chance Lee was ever going to let her live this down. “I’m sorry for breaking your boyfriend?”

#AU-Tober #AU-Tober 2023 #OmoiLee #SakuHina #Coffee Shop Au

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rxin3akamallory · 8 months

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I wrote a GotG OC X Canon fic??? Not Clickbait???

Hell yeah I did! It’s not really a fic but it’s a scene from Vol. 2 I’d imagine between Rocket and Magril!

For more info and images of Magril, click here! :D

Note: They become a couple by the end of Vol. 2. Rocket and Magril grew up on Halfworld but weren’t close. Hell Magril was in a cage completely opposite to Rocket’s. Magril escaped a few months before Rocket, but Rocket didn’t know, making him and the rest of batch 89 believe her to be dead. Then Rocket escapes Halfworld, y’all saw Vol. 3 so you know. The two reunite in Vol. 1. While Rocket became a bounty hunter with Groot, Magril became a Ravager and had known Peter Quill since he was a teenager. They butt heads constantly in Vol. 1, all the while they have slight feelings for one another that they deny and put on the back burner. But then, Vol. 2 happens! Without giving away major details, Rocket actually tries to make an effort to patch things up with him and Magril.

This takes place right before the Southern Nights scene in Vol. 2. I wanted to share it here just because of how proud I am of how it turned out! But yeah enjoy ig lol

*.·:·.✧ ✦ ✧.·:·.*

Magril walks outside the Milano to find Rocket on a tree branch, tinkering with something while humming to Quill’s music from the ship’s speakers.

Magril: The hell are you doing?

Rocket’s ear twitched at the sound of Magril’s voice. He peered down before rolling his eyes and going back to what he was doing.

Magril: You having a little pity party up there?

Rocket: *scoff* I don’t need any pity from you.

Magril: Oh, I’m not pitying you. I just think you’re an idiot.

Rocket: This better be important.

Magril: I just wanted to see how you’ve been holding up after what you said to Peter. Argue with me all you want, but I know you didn’t fully mean it. You better apologize to him when he gets back.

Rocket: Why should I? He’s been nothing but a pain in the ass recently. Plus I already have to carry the burden of repairing the Milano and keeping an eye on Gamora’s psychotic sister, no thanks to Star-Munch and his old man.

Magril: Come on, you just have to say two words. It’s not that hard.

Rocket: If any of us needs to apologize, it’s Quill. And until he does, I’m not saying a word.

Magril: Rocket, you know that you’re the one who started this mess to begin with, right?

Rocket: Yeah I started it, but Quill provoked it because Drax just had to rat me out!

Magril: So what? You still took those stupid batteries and now we’re on the Sovereign’s target list. Nice going there, genius.

Rocket: Huh? Really?

Magril: *sigh* Sarcasm.

Rocket: *groan* Every frickin’ time!

Magril: Whatever, care to explain why you’re not inside fixing the ship right now?

Rocket: What am I, your servant? I’ve been working on the ship for hours. Can I not get some fresh air?

Magril appears in front of Rocket, hanging upside down by her tail.

Magril: Of course you can,

Rocket: Aah!

Magril takes the small gadget from Rocket’s paws and moves behind him, still hanging upside down.

Magril: but I’m pretty sure whatever you’re doing right now isn’t as important as the Milano’s repairs.

Rocket grabs the gadget back and Magril sits upright on the branch beside him.

Rocket: Keeping us and my ship protected isn’t as important?

Magril: Protected from what? Nothing’s out here for miles.

Rocket: The Sovereign can still track our coordinates. We’re only safe for now.

Magril: And you expect this tiny little thing to protect us from the Sovereign fleet?

Rocket grabs Magril’s head and turns it toward the ground. A bunch of those tiny devices Rocket made were scattered across the ground.

Magril: Whoa. But still, they managed to fly a bunch of aircraft without being inside of them. You can’t expect them capture us in person.

Rocket: Right, the Sovereign wouldn’t. But, they would.

Rocket points farther north. In the distance, a large Ravager ship was parked.

Magril: *gasp*

Rocket: I heard it land here an hour ago.

Magril: Shit.

Rocket: You’re welcome. Now get back in the ship before they get here.

Magril: You’re gonna deal with a group ravagers by yourself!?

Rocket: I’ll be fine, go back to ship. Groot’s down there alone.

Magril: He’s fine, Nebula’s there.

Rocket: That’s what I’m afraid of, so go.

Magril: You don’t even have your blaster, you idiot! Let me help you!

Rocket: Don’t need it, don’t need you. Go!

Magril: Rocket, no! That’s suicide!

Rocket: I’m not repeating myself, get out of here now!

Rocket slightly shoved Magril away, causing her to nearly fall off the tree.

Magril: Whoa! Aah! Aah!

Rocket grabs Magril’s wrists, pulling her back up.

Rocket: Okay, new plan, you’re staying here.

Magril: Finally won over the stubborn trash panda.

Rocket: Shut up. Just follow my lead, and don’t fall. Please.

#oc x canon #fanfic #one shot #self insert oc #gotg oc #GotG #guardians of the galaxy #gotg vol 2 #guardians of the galaxy vol 2 #rocket raccoon #rocket raccoon x oc #magril opossum #magril gotg #magril x rocket #magril opossum x rocket raccoon

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lulullia · 10 months

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Lyphuriaa Progress Report #1

Well, it's been a long while since my last post, because since then I've been in input – or learning – mode and spent my days absorbing information on my favorite topic: storytelling.

Before that, I was really creatively blocked, unable to do anything but stare at the screen trying to get my body to f-ing move and start drawing, writing, or coding – with little success. And so, in the process of searching for stuff to consume and kill time with, I remembered a favorite, huge resource I had already started reading but needed to finish, and that's how I ended up switching to input mode.

Lesson learnt: sometimes, if you're blocked and taking breaks doesn't help, it may just be because you're trying to output when you're really in need of input. That can take the form of inspiration (like browsing Pinterest or going back to a favorite book/movie/game…) but also actual education (like an online course or book, articles and videos on the topic, etc).

And sure enough, as I was expanding my knowledge on storytelling, I couldn't help but go and apply that to my current projects. I'll summarize the progress made on Lyphuriaa (or more like massive problem-fixing), and also share the two amazing resources I've been binging at the end, if you're making stories too!

Bird's eye view on the plot

For the longest time, Lyphuriaa was mostly in my head, and the plot was nothing more than "Lulu's life". That's because I started imagining it when I was a kid, and so it was never properly structured the way a story ought to be. Almost exactly a year ago, I realized the problem and started fixing it, cutting the boring parts, beginning the story at a more exciting point, changing up variables…

The result was already something that felt way more like I'd enjoy reading it myself, more mature and cohesive, but it still very broken structurally. It's only these past few weeks/months that I really started digging deeper and fix the core.

The core being, of course, the three basic components of a story – the Story Goal, the Protagonist (person pursuing the goal), and the Antagonist (person in opposition to the goal being achieved). Yeah, Lyphuriaa was that broken. Let's see how exactly, and then show the current fix.

The problems

The story goal was super fuzzy. I knew it was something along the lines of "taking back Lyphuriaa to rebuild it" but NONE of the characters, or events actually worked towards it. I also had no idea on the actual steps to fulfill it. Something fuzzy like "board airship or ship, fly/sail to the place, remove any stupid goons tryna stop you, plant flag, done! then epilogue showing the place rebuilt!" Plus, I didn't have enough details on the situation on Lyphuriaa (the place), like Why did it get abandoned if its people were literally genocided to take over the land? What's the situation outside Lyphuriaa – do the winners still have their eyes on it, don't care about it anymore, still claim ownership of the land? What about other countries? etc, etc.

The protagonists – Lulu and Vlad – are completely fleshed out as characters, but the problem was within their personal goals and motivations. If I just let them do whatever they wanted, they'd go live on a boat and sail the world, not "take back Lyphuriaa to rebuild it". I just struggled immensely to tie them to the "goal" somehow. That's part of the reason why none of the plot points worked towards the goal – the main characters don't even care about it. At some point I even considered the fact that maybe, they're not meant to tell this story, and that I should change either the goal or the protagonists.

That antagonists, well, they were almost non-existent. They're the least developed element. I just knew there was one group trying to get Lulu to use her unique power to open portals so that they could invade (a plotline that's now scrapped, because I figured a threat coming from inside the world is more interesting than one coming from outside, plus, I want Lulu to be special because of what she does, not what she's born with). And another group, the ones instigating the Lyphurian war, who don't want Lyphuriaa to be rebuilt again. And that's all I knew about the people who are supposed to bring as much conflict to the story as possible. Needless to say, they really did nothing throughout the story, it's as if they only woke up at the end when the cast finally set foot on Lyphuriaa, or something.

The glaring, glaring problem that took me a lot of time to spot, is the absolute lack of conflict. I had a 2k words outline of the story, but it was just about Lulu, Vlad and a few others going on about their life, smoothly. Then there were a few events that really had nothing to do with that, aka the "main plot".

Nothing is connected

I literally have a line saying, "somehow they find her father". Like, is it something that happens randomly (in which case it's lazy), or is it unimportant enough that we don't even need to show how it happens (in which case why keep it at all?), or it's supposed to be part of the plot (in which case why have the protagonists never even show a sign of wanting to do that)…?

"Somehow" is a red flag practically all of the time in storytelling, as it breaks consistency and believability. I know that in the outline, I wrote "somehow" as a shorthand for "this needs to happen and I have no idea how to connect it so I'm leaving it to you, future self :D" but even so it's a symptom of a larger problem underneath.

Literally the last bullet point of the whole outline: "I almost forgot that the story isn't Vladleen but Lyphuriaa. So I guess here be adventures to take back Lyphuriaa! yay!"

Random fluff adding dead weight

Another easier to fix problem was scenes or entire plotlines that were completely unnecessary to the story. As I said Lyphuriaa exists since my childhood and so, there were a lot of random stuff I added because I thought it was cool and I had no idea how to make a properly structured story, but that I never questioned when overhauling it. It's only when I realized that nothing is set in stone until I say so, and that I'm not bound by these boundaries just because they've been here a long time, sometimes even since the very beginning, that I started cutting stuff and, most importantly, change key parts to make them infinitely more interesting.

The scrapped plotline. The stuff about a virus, and Lyphurians having a special purpose, is scrapped too. Cutting such a huge part of the story led to literally no consequences, and felt so relieving.

Playing around with key variables

For example, I was under the assumption that Vlad can only come in later in the story and not the beginning, and that the Liance between him and Lulu can only happen waaay later when they start having feelings for each other. But one day I had this idea: what if we start the story at the point of their meeting, and have them be lianced right then and there, maybe even against their will?

And that's how one of the key moments in Lyphuriaa was born, bringing a ton of conflict and interesting situations and characterization with it to the table that could never have happened otherwise. Now both protagonists are on-screen right away (especially since Vlad is the most interesting out of the two at first), the Liance functions like a character arc for both of them because it's a problem they have to overcome, that results in a much more interesting relationship than just lovers, and is also an interesting concept to explore right off the bat that can play a part in hooking the reader, and on and on. All of that just from changing two variables.

Yeah, I write a lot in my notes. It's helpful to order my thoughts in the present, and leave a trace of the past for when I find it again in the future.

The fixes

This is getting very long, I wonder if you'd prefer if I split posts like these in parts…

The story goal – thanks to some adjustments and lots of inspirations from the resources below, I could finally find a goal that is similar to what I had in mind, but also agrees with the protagonists and antagonists. Even though I'm presenting this as three bullet points, the truth is, it's all interconnected and should be worked on as a whole, not just one at a time. So, now the main goal of Lyphuriaa is, "to (re)build a place where all Lyphurians can call home". It's not only clearer, but also more personal, and ties in perfectly with the theme of the story (finding the people you belong with – whose side you can call home).

The protagonists now have proper motivations and goals that align with the story goal! They became tied to it way more naturally, plus it connects with the theme again and provides conflict: Lulu is a Lyphurian, and because of her species' defining traits simply cannot feel like she belongs amongst Vampires and other people. Even better, she doesn't feel safe. Lyphurian blood is a luxury for Vampires, their horns valued products, and their glowing skin scare people away (especially since most people aren't aware of the existence of Lyphurians; they may be ghosts for all they know). And thus, coupled to something else that is spoilers, she sees Vlad as the perfect opportunity to stand up for her people and make a place where they can feel at home, together (Vlad has money and means). And what better place for this if not their original homeland? (The only issue still left is to tie Vlad into this as well, I already have an idea for this that also ties into the theme of finding home that needs tweaking, but it's spoilers too so I'll leave it at that.)

The antagonists… are still the least developed, but at least now I'm clear on who are the antagonizing groups, and what's their goal so I can build what they'll do on top of that. I still need to go closer and build them as individuals and give them a personal stake. What's certain is that I want them to be smart and unpredictable, playing an intense game of "who is actually one step ahead the other?" with the protagonists. They are active, just as active as their enemy. There are also a couple other surprise major characters that don't fit in either category, but will stir trouble in trying to achieve their own personal goals – aka pushing the story forward.

You can see the difference, now the story is packed with conflict and potential for conflict everywhere. It's starting to take the shape of one intense ride! There are a ton of little tweaks that improve the story overall, here's a few…

Everything is interconnected

Sharp contrast to how it was before, now every event serves a purpose in either the main plot or in major subplots (I took the time to clearly lay out the different plotlines, that's what the very first image is about; each "row" is one plotline). Not only that, but each character has a link to the main plot, or at least thematic relevance.

The side-character I'm most excited about is Ava, Lulu's bestie. It's through her that a lot of Vladleen's relationship is brought out, because these two mostly don't need to actually talk, they can just send brain signals. Ava is the kind of person who has no filter, can't read the room, but can easily spot subtle differences around her. Kinda hard to explain, but she does a good job of getting Vladleen to show themselves to the reader. Plus, she's gonna be the center of a very big choice (aka conflict) both Vlad and Lulu will have to make, you could say the ultimate choice that will show who they truly are, what they care about more than anything else (and thus ties into the theme as well).

Little preview of this energetic and fun character~

More playing around with variables

As I was reading up on the resources mentioned before, key points of the story kept getting challenged. Long-lost heir to a throne as a plot twist? Check. Heir characterized only by their blood? Check. Mentor who comes take said heir and push them forward themselves instead of letting her walk by herself? Check. Protagonists only acting after antagonist strikes, and never before? Check. Mentor keeping key info secret for no reason? Check.

That's a lot of hidden clichés I was aware of but thought I had added enough uniqueness to them, and I'm glad the articles made me see them in their true form and their bad consequences. So I took all of those and more and switched variables around.

The most important change was a set of tweaks to Lulu and her "heritage". She not only isn't a good fit to be a ruler, but also doesn't want to rule (remember when I said the MCs didn't care about the goal?). I didn't have any specific reason as to why her bloodline was special and why it had to be the ruling one. All of this made her into something I really didn't like: a person defined by what she was born with, not by her actions. She would have never been on this path if she didn't have this blood and powers. I don't know if you can see it but, it all feels like her actions are determined by her blood; she would have always made the same choices even if circumstances were different; she doesn't have free will. And when you know that protagonists' most important role is to make choices… Well.

So the first thing I did was dig into the bloodline's origin, which made me realize that if that's how it originated, then there should be more than one family with the same special characteristics, not just one. Just this change implies so much: the bloodline alone doesn't give you a right to the throne anymore, and Lulu can just rally her people and lead them to the goal, and step down then; Lulu is no longer the only one who can unseal Lyphuriaa, if there are other families, and thus her decision to do so anyway comes from inside her and not outside; imagine the amount of exciting stuff (aka conflict) that can happen with having other bloodline members around!!! and so much more.

Lulu getting back her agency to do what she wants is the highlight, though. I remember reading/watching a pretty long manga/anime (won't say the name to not spoil) where at the end it's revealed that everything that happened, only happened because a higher entity kept resetting time until they got the course of events that they wanted to see. It truly made the whole thing meaningless, just like "it was all a dream!" endings, it means the characters never earned anything by themselves, they're just puppets; I want to avoid that at all cost.

As much as I'd like to keep writing, I think I've covered the most important parts; this is long enough as it is.

Zeroth draft

Alright, I'm done talking about the plot changes, here's something more concrete: I think I'll participate in Camp NaNo this july to get a "zeroth draft" started.

Basically, that's a draft before the first draft. It's not meant to be the first stage of the final product, but something more meta before it. I have no pressure to make it make sense; I just write with what I currently have and improvise to fill in the gaps. What I actually write can range from detailed description of the action, to one-line scenes such as "here they fight". A barebones text that I can then use to make the actual first draft, later.

This is all because, for the longest time I thought I was a planner, but it turns out I may actually be a pantser, discovering the story as I write it. So I want to put that theory to the test and write like a pantser during Camp NaNo. I really, really want to write this story.

Here's a link to my NaNoWriMo profile, where I set myself a goal of 20k words for this month. I have no idea whether it's big or small, we'll see. (feel free to add me if you write too.)

This post took me a whole day to write, but I had fun summarizing these past months' progress. I also really want to try out animating a scene, and coding a prototype with it, but I'll make a post about that when I have something to show.

If you made it this far, I thank you sincerely. I know that people who enjoy long-form content aren't extinct, but it's getting harder to find them. Reblogging and sharing helps, but a simple like can let me know it's reaching some people at least c:

Storytelling resources

Two big resources that pack a ton of valuable advice and storytelling principles.

Limyaael literary rants – about 400 individual essays, mostly geared towards fantasy. Helped me improve my story in so many ways, and I'm still halfway through it. Start from the beginning, everything is useful.

Filmento – an absolutely incredible channel, each of his videos feel like a university-level lecture on storytelling and sometimes cinematography. The video is separated into clear points, always taking example from a movie, so you can see it in action, and it's super engaging and funny to boot. Most of the stuff applies to stories in general, don't let the word "movie" scare you! See his "Film Perfection" and "Anatomy of a Failure" playlists especially.

Taking notes is a must, if I had read/watched through all of these without taking notes it'd have been a monumental waste of time since I'd have forgotten all of it. Also, it's not enough to take them, if you can't find them later, be it tomorrow or in a year (looking at you, people who take notes in Youtube comments).

My Obsidian vault has close to 1,000 individual notes, and in 99% of the time I can find any note I need in less than 5s, even if I don't remember the note's title, because I have so many different ways to search for it. So find yourself a tool that helps you use your notes, not just create and forget them.

After only a few days of reading/watching, when I came back to my story's beginning that I previously thought was perfectly fine, I could 1) immediately spot problems and 2) immediately know how to fix them. Literally, I'm tempted to say that's all you need to learn storytelling in-depth.

Enjoy!

#lulullia #progress report #lyphuriaa #storytelling #storytelling techniques #writing resources #camp nano 2023 #camp nano july 2023 #writing

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