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sharkface-daydreams · 2 years

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well, sharkface. if someone has suggested before then maine (or bonus meta)

you are actually the first to ask about sharkface :) <3 ilu

oddly enough no bingo BUT shrakface <3 :) he is everything to me

and honestly on second though maybe he does work better as part of a dynamic bc on his own, hes very cool and scary and the ridiculousness of his dramatics works great against the reds and blues very “wait what? the fuck is that why are you so cringe” reactions to things. but characterly speaking like. this is a guy unhinged by grief. the loss of people that were close. he is unhinged BC he has no people anymore. if he had people i think that would be so good for him 🥺 kimball and wash hold fire and red team adopt sharkface challenge pls

also carolina learn what an apology is challenge jfc

i will not get into the wasted potential thing because i feel like i have screamed about that so much and i dont have the energy rn lol

BUT. thank u for ask me about shark man <3333 makes my weird little heart all glowy inside

maine gets double bingo bc hes special to me. <33333 big guy. likes to fight, doesnt like heights, doesn’t talk much, likes big weird weapons. a man after my own heart. needed more screen time imo

like he’s not a saint but people characterizing him as some. idk. sadist evil motherfucker always rubs me the wrong way. also maine =/= meta. but maine is part of the meta. u understand.

meta also gets double bingo bc im lov them <3333333333

i want to recoup some energy so i can talk more about meta bc he is my special little guy they are my big silly blorbo blob so this is going in drafts a minute

edit: did i never fucking post this?! i thought i had..... anyway. ill post this and then go look for it bc ill forget it in the drafts again

OK IM BACK

meta!!!!! honestly. to me. meta is a journey. a transformation. never fully solidified, always in flux. by the time they are actually the meta it is no longer sigma here and maine there in the same helmet. putting more and more fragments in the same organic mind must have been mental hell in a few ways for someone unused to this. the chaos. the fragments were from the same ai but they were still their own selves. u get it.

theres no way to know what went on in there the whole time and i dont trust rt to write that but he’s still. very special to me. especially post-emp. they are gone. his(their) head is empty again. quiet.

personal headspace stuff warning for those who’d rather scroll by:

especially early on in 2020+. i got locked in my head a lot. my little subsection of our headspace is an oubliette/panic room bunker cylinder. i’ve since been able to add windows and i know i CAN technically get out now. but for a long time it was just me, and an impenetrable wall of fog with no way out, and only a window way up in the ceiling i couldn’t reach. no one could reach me, i couldn’t reach out either. it was extremely lonely, very grey, and it just made me miss everyone i was able to talk to before. this is probably why i feel so attached to him, because i know what suddenly being shut off from all your system members feels like (idc that it was artificial bc the fragments were intentionally inserted, they were a system.)

feels like someone stripped you down to your OS when that happens honestly and you have to keep moving in a world that expects something of you yet. what do you do when you are back to being just one person alone in your head? how do you figure yourself out? other characters have said the meta was seeking more power... but that’s not right, i don’t think. when sigma& were in there, in the meta soup crockpot. they wanted to be human. be whole. reaching that metastability. and after they were gone. do u really think he would not have jumped at any chance to get one of them back? yeah AI are powerful. but so is loneliness.

i think maybe. if he would have lived. he would have had little introjects like epsilon made. maybe a neosigma. maybe there was a partition he started putting up when everyone else got too loud and split off a separate maine that was buried when things kicked into high gear. i dont know. there’ll never be any of this in canon so it’s only my speculation but. i like them, i like to think about them.

there show distinctly separates this transformation into several parts but only because that’s all they show us. they show us pfl maine with no ai. they show us pfl maine + sigma. they show us the boogeyman the meta is made into through the lens of hte other characters. they show us a meta a bit more clear-headed but still in possession of personality, sapient thought. but my brain wants to know (always) what happens in between. because it was never a light switch moment that caused these things, it was things stacking up over time, like anything else. i want to know how wanting to help sigma achieve metastability turned into acquiring the other fragments at almost any cost. it’s canon that the freelancers’ and ais’ personalities started to bleed into each other. how much of that happened more and more with each fragment they added?

hm. much 2 think about. i do have a meta lives au which addresses some of this. but i think i have spilled all my brainbeans and now i am tired again lol <3 but. ty for asking and sorry this sat in my drafts for months x.x ilu

#we just got a letter #ask games #rvb meta but not The meta #but ALSO the meta. and #agent maine we care you #sir that's my emotional support shark #here are my onions

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you-cant-spell-subtext-without · 3 years

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Okay, I have searched high and wide and do not see that this has yet been done, so I present to you - my analysis of the parallels between Destiel and Cas/Claire in Season 10, Ep .20 - Angel Heart. TL;DR: Claire/Cas are a metaphor for Destiel and Destiel is forever.

As a reminder - central storyline is Cas finding Claire who lands in the hospital while looking for her mom and looping Dean/Sam to help him try to connect with her (and eventually all of them get roped into searching for and then finding her mom who then almost immediately dies, because Supernatural gonna Supernatural). Dean still has the Mark of Cain with no cure in sight, and the side conflict is Cas and Sam’s concerns re: the effects because he is “getting worse” (many worried looks are exchanged!). Also important to recall that in 10.09 during the burger date of my HC dreams, Dean asked Cas to kill him if he ever goes dark side again from the Mark. SO - THE REAL STORY OF ANGEL HEART FOR ME IS how Cas’s feelings towards Claire present a mirror for his emotions towards Dean, and the inner conflict between allowing Dean to push him away (with Dean’s request that Cas kill him from 10.09 hanging over his head) or continuing to fight to be there for him/save him - as presented in the two separate one-on-one conversations/BM scenes between Cas and Dean - and then later Cas and Sam - in the Impala.

I’ve included them in their entirety from the script below, with emphasis on what I feel is important and my thoughts.

Conversation 1 - Cas/Dean

DEAN

Hey, Cas, listen, what you're doing for Claire and helping her find her mom...

It's good. It's a good thing.

CASTIEL

But?

DEAN

Well, where does it end? I'm not trying to be a dick, but truth is, you're not her dad.

In fact, you're not anything to her except a-a constant reminder of someone that's gone.

CASTIEL

No, I'm...

Responsible for everything that's happened to her.

DEAN

Look, I'm just saying, she's been surviving on her own for quite a while now, and ... and then partly because she doesn't have anybody to answer to.

You know, there's... There's nobody holding her back.

CASTIEL

We just found her in a hospital. You telling me that she'd be better off on her own?

DEAN

I'm saying she might be stronger on her own. ANALYSIS: Dean and Claire have always been very similar people to me (which is why I think they initially clash so much). This is very reinforced both in 10.09 (ketchup is a vegetable!) and in the part of this episode where Dean ends up “babysitting” Claire (a moment of silence for yet another scene of Dean actually being amazing with kids and how he should have gotten his own kids dammit). I think Dean is speaking about himself in part in this discourse, relating his own journey to Claire’s (and in true Dean fashion, falling into his usual habit of pushing away those who love him because at this point he knows the end is near). The “you’re not anything to her” is pretty blunt, even for Dean, especially after his taking special care to sit Cas down to spill his feelings re: Claire during the burger date in 10.09. I also took the “constant reminder of someone that’s gone” as Dean’s motivation for pushing people away; he’s trying to ease their pain (not his because Dean does not care about himself at all whatsoever as we all know) upon what he thinks will inevitably be his death from the Mark. The comment can also be related to his request that Cas kill him if he goes too far down the wrong path, and Cas’s presence is a constant reminder of that for Dean, of how not only is he going to go crazy and lose him but he also is putting him through the burden of ending his life. (Oh, and Dean is the King of Constant Reminders of Someone That’s Gone because see multiple trench coats in Baby’s trunk). Cas’s feelings of responsibility towards Claire also parallel his feelings about Dean - he resurrected him, and he has always felt responsible for the burdens Dean carried after that fact; (even if they weren’t directly tied to Cas) he has always felt like he burdens Dean (see the iconic 6.20 - The Man Who Would Be King). Cas’s protectiveness and urge to connect with Claire for me is a direct mirror of not only his trying to save Dean from the Mark without having to carry out his request to kill him, but also his desire to emotionally connect with him while Dean is clearly in a headspace of shoving everyone out. These are all pretty gray parallels. The next conversation though for me is fairly black and white.

Conversation 2 - Cas/Sam

CASTIEL

When this is over, should I... Should I leave Claire alone?

SAM

What? No, man. She's family. Well, I mean, she's not exactly family, but she's close enough. I mean, you two have history. Simple as that.

CASTIEL

So do you think she's better off on her own?

SAM

Cas, she just turned 18.

CASTIEL

You were alone when you left for college at that age, weren't you?

SAM

Yeah, but that's different.

CASTIEL

How, Sam?

SAM

Here's all I know ... going it alone, that's no way to live. You being there for her, even if she thinks she doesn't want you to be there for her, that's good for both of you.

CASTIEL

Maybe, in the end.

SAM

In the end. ANALYSIS: This is so clearly about Dean and not Claire to me. There is no way Cas thinks Claire is better on her own in any capacity. It doesn’t track with anything he said to Dean earlier, and it doesn’t track with any of his actions in the scenes in between these conversations (he got her a damn birthday gift for Jack’s sake if that’s not the opposite of leaving someone alone and not trying to be their family idk what is). If Dean didn’t change Cas’s mind on this, I have BIG DOUBTS that Sam would have anything to say that would so why would Cas even ask him? Also, the entire thread with Sam/Cas at this point in the season is focused on their mutual worry about Dean. Why is Cas randomly talking to Sam about Claire? And - what history does Cas have with Claire? Yes, they have had some prior interactions but can you really call that history? Dean himself mentions in 10.09 that Cas has only met her once before that episode. But there is someone else, someone who is “not exactly family” who recently expressed that it’s better off to be alone, who DOES have significant history with Cas, and that someone is also someone Sam has pretty good insight on. In fact, Cas is basically parroting what Dean said to him in conversation 1 back to Sam in conversation 2, and to me it’s not because he is concerned about Claire because he has already decided he’s going to watch out for her. The only path left undecided is Dean - and whether he allows him to push him out or continues to be there, because it is good for them both. The “in the end” clinches it - because what is Claire’s “end”? She’s young; she’s not going anywhere anytime soon even if she makes a few bad decisions (and Cas is an angel at this point; that protection is pretty mighty). Dean, however, has an end quickly approaching because of the Mark, and it’s an end Cas cannot control or manipulate. So, in conclusion, Angel Heart shows that Claire is a mirror for Dean in her mannerisms, life events, personality, and place in Cas’s heart (which is the only explanation that fits for the title of this episode, which is the same as a very disturbing 70s horror movie and that clearly does not track).

Also, let’s not forget that Claire is canonically queer, loses her soulmate/first love to an alternate reality/world until Jack saves her from it and they are reunited. So, there’s that aka the finale we all deserved.

**if you read this far, bless you, truly for reading my nonsense ;) Feel free to comment and reblog, or message with me. I could overanalyze Supernatural forever here if you’ll let me.

#destiel #spn #spnfamily #spnfandom #deancas #claire novak #dean winchester #episode analysis #spn parallels #supernatural #Angel heart #spn season 10 #they deserved so much more #devils in the details #what makes a story work #myspnmeta

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fit-as-fxck · 3 years

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January Week 3:

Good news: I’m just a few pounds away from my pre-covid-pre-injury-pre-craziness weight. I haven’t been cutting calories super hard, but I have been tracking and keeping things moderately between 1700-1900 calories. 2,000 on high refuel days. I’m going to keep going in order to trim back down lol.

Mentally, I’m in a trashcan. I blame the current times for that one and the lull before spring. I know there are certain things can do to combat this metaphorical dumpster and good fortune favors those who help themselves. I can do things to pull myself out. My soul wants something to look forward to and I’m getting hella tired out here. And even if I do find positive things to do, anxiety still lingers somewhere in the back of my mind. Can’t get no satisfaction right now, I suppose. This has been a test of mental strength and stamina of spirit. I’m probably scoring a D right now. D for downtrodden and dismal. I wouldn’t mind raising that to a C for cheerful or a B for better.

I allowed my body to recover for 4 back to back days this week. Hot baths. Hiking. Yoga. Piano music. Reading. Writing. Counting my blessings. Enjoying being a soft bitch. Letting myself enjoy that. Life is meant to be enjoyed. Plus, it’s been rainy and snowy until now. I didn’t count mileage. I’m considering this a deload week which was supposed to be next week to recover from consistently building weekly mileage the last two months. I think month to month mileage matters more than week to week, anyways.

On the flip side I decided not to be a complaining-whiny-soft-bitch as it only exacerbates my mental situation and puts me into a pit of despair and I cannot!!! go!!! back!!! there!!! again!!! and it’s time to Carpe Diem out here no matter what. I’m just needing a lot of things right now like other people, mental and social stimulation and something good and exciting to look forward to. Time is ticking!! away!! and I hate sitting here watching the years click by waiting for shit to happen. I’ve always been an introvert but goddamn it this is just too much (!!!). I want to do neat things!!! And I don’t even have any kids to tie me down this is ridiculous. A major test of will, spirit, patience, resolve. My adventurous spirit is suffering but idk maybe its self inflicted considering there are still things I can make happen, but with people? well idk everyone seems nervous. I performed a body building split to remind myself that I can pick up hard things and put them back down. Back/biceps, chest/triceps, shoulders/glutes, abs/legs. It felt good to challenge my mind and muscles in that way. Planks to strengthen my core and pushups everyday. I missed being strong. I put running on the back burner this week. I don’t have anything to train for or get excited about, not even anyone to run with right now, so I’m ok with doing that. The strength is good for me.

I’m making it a point to adventure this week/weekend. I met up with a friend on Tuesday and I’m going out this weekend with friends. Like out out. I am ITCHING for action and adventure and a stiff drink. Two girls said they would be up to rock climbing with me soon. We just need to plan it ahead of time. I just wanna get my foot in the door and possibly get comfortable with going to the meetups and showing up alone. I’m also saying screw it and going ahead with planning my trip out to Arizona (my homestate). I have a special someone out there and was supposed to go last year but with everything going on... I haven’t felt very welcomed around there (😕😞🙁😞ultimate sad) and it’s left me feeling really really down in the dumps. I’m gonna go ahead and plan it out regardless and make the trip happen. I’m mostly hiking anyways. I might see some stuff outside of Vegas and up in Flagstaff but I decided screw it this is the year to do it!!!!!! My fam is only a few hours from the Grand Canyon so I’ll be wanting to camp out there again and see the stars. Fuck it all. I’ve been on the wrong side of the Mississippi for far too long. There’s not much I give a rats ass about anymore. I probably sound terrible saying that but I have lost my marbles and I don’t think anyone is listening to this rant. Maybe I’ll find them (marbles) in the Grand Canyon. Threw my heart in there a long time ago and I better go back for it. It’d be neat as hell to run the Mesa marathon/half buttttt it’s cancelled. That’s something I’ve been wanting to do and when I looked it up a few weeks ago it put me in even more of a grumpy headspace lol. Really trying to find the light and keep on keeping on - finding a way - any way. Maybe I’ll feel more positive this fall with the possibility of running the in-person Indy Monumental orrrrr maybe I’ll find a better trail race that’s not already booked up or maybe that’s just something that’s gone up in smoke for me and I to need adapt and set my sights on something else. All I know is I need a stiff drink lol.

#personal #rant lol

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dreadhaus-literature · 4 years

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{A/N}

I’ve already talked about this before but I have more to say, so.

I don’t often cite “being old” or “getting old” or whatever. I don’t care about changing trends or hating on what’s become popular “with the kids” like some Boomer. Idc what everyone else is doing, that’s pretty much been a staple for me my whole life. I do me, you do you, we’re good.

But one thing that just continues to confuse me and my bitter old ass, and has my whole life is this concept of romance and what’s considered “romantic” or I guess, idk, “acceptable” to put into romance.

Now, let me preface my post with a couple things:

I grew up reading romance novels. Damn good ones, thank you Miss Christine. So I’m used to not only real sappy, happily ever after stories, but also the idealistic way someone ought to treat you.

A lot of what I say can be taken lightly or as a joke. For some reason this seems to be lost a lot in translation with me so let me just be clear. A lot of my points aren’t serious and are mostly just light-hearted jabs at what I’m talking about.

I’m not a complainer. I’m typically happy with anything and if not I ignore it and move on, so keep that in mind, too.

I’m not gonna waste my time with the whole “romance is different for everyone” because we all fucking know that already. This is just me talking about me.

So now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s sample the tea.

A lot of people are fucking awful at romance.

And I’m saying this having sampled a plethora of media on the subject. Bear in mind, I don’t consume media that doesn’t have some form of romance in it. I don’t read novels that aren’t romance or have SOME aspect of romance in it, I prefer ASMR videos that have personal attention triggers or are affection roleplays, I sample a fuckton of otome/dating simulation games, I consume x you/x reader headcanons and fanfiction constantly, I unironically watch rom-coms--I’m a sappy bitch. Love and affection are really the only thing that matter to me and it’s ironic as fuck considering how often I’m single, but whatever.

We already know fantasy > reality so we’re not gonna rehash that.

But that is my point. I don’t understand this sweeping trend of needing realism and shit in our escapism. That just...doesn’t work for me? It never has. I have a wild, vivid ass imagination and I know not everyone does, but it’s so fucking tedious for me to consume media and see people constraining themselves by reality because “this wouldn’t make sense in every day life”.

Bitch why do you think I’m here.

I’m a 6′2 lesbian of color with a hormone imbalance and a terrible family. I don’t fucking need reality for a goddamn thing. That’s the whole reason I’m here, to escape it.

And I’ve asked this question before, multiple times, but what is the fucking appeal of making characters mean to your audience? I know I’m probably in a minority here, but I will immediately lose interest in a character if they treat me like shit, even slightly. I am never and have never been one of those people who is all, “they could do whatever they wanted with me and I wouldn’t care,” like, nah. I’ve been treated like shit enough in my life, I come to a relationship to be treated well so you can fuck right off treating me like I don’t matter.

It’s so bizarre. Because I see it across the board. Like, all forms of romantic media is guilty of doing this, of creating these tropes of asshole types who are like, “I’m barely going to look at you. Date me,” and it’s like, my guy, you’d be talking to thin fucking air. That shit ain’t cute.

I ain’t a 1950′s housewife. You act right or you get to steppin’.

And I’m aware my independence likely has a lot to do with it. I’m 100% fine on my own so I don’t put up with foolishness, generally. Don’t have a need to, not scared to be by myself.

I very rarely get seriously invested in a lot of these otome/dating simulator games because the story is so flimsy or it’s very obviously just a ploy to “look at these pretty characters who’ll mildly ignore you” and that just ain’t for me. Looks are very much secondary in my book and if someone is attractive but they act like garbage they immediately become unattractive. If Tom Hiddleston was revealed to be some douche canoe that’d be it. I feel myself souring to characters when they act a certain way, and their appearance changes, to me. They become unattractive to me. Personality’s much more important, so the pretty pictures just aren’t enough to reel me in or keep my attention.

Monster Prom was the first one I can genuinely say I was wholly invested in. One, because I’m a monster fucker (thank you, Silent Hill during my formative years) and two, there was genuine care taken into the story. As a writer, especially a romance writer, I can be super particular about story-telling. It’s very easy to lose me to a bad story. But I loved the character concepts and designs in MP, a lot. I still do--but I will admit, the more I played, the more I got a little turned off because I started to uncover it was less about making the characters love you and more about “look how witty our banter is” or “watch how many times this character can give you the brush off or insult you, isn’t it funny?”

No. No...it isn’t.

Escapism, remember? But I’d have to be careful when I played MP because if I was having a bad day, it stung to be insulted or dumped/literally laughed at when I’m trying to feel better by escaping to a fantasy world with characters I love and who are supposed to love me.

I know I’m sensitive. And being emotionally abused my whole life has also left me with some pretty...well. Idk the right wording, but there are some things I don’t want to hear or be told because it puts me in a really messed up headspace. And so I take my opinion on what’s “mean” or “rude” with that in mind. I know these things about myself and there are times I’ll catch myself side-eying a response I get in these games, then laugh and be all, “Nah, that wasn’t a big deal.”

I have to do that in real life, too, so.

But that’s my whole point. I shouldn’t have to take myself out of the fantasy to remind myself that I’m not stupid just because some pixels on a screen are trying to be cutesy “mean” to me. No one likes to be called names or made to feel dumb or ugly or...idk, I just, that’s never been my style of writing romance and I don’t understand the appeal of it.

I always write to make my reader feel the best they’ve ever felt. No one in real life can adore and love you in the perfect way a fantasy character can. I learned that a long, long time ago. That shit really is only in fairy tales. So if you’re escaping a reality where people treat you shitty or make you feel unimportant why the hell would you choose to go to a fantasy life where characters you love are going to do the same thing?

I don’t understand writing characters, ANY CHARACTER, as being cold or aloof or mean to your reader. I don’t give a fuck who it is or what their character type is. I’ve said it before but love changes who you are, so whose to say a character who is cold and aloof and mean to everyone else wouldn’t be warm and affectionate with their lover? But that isn’t generally what I see, what I see are characters who remain exactly the same with their partner as they are with everyone else and so much for feeling special.

I can genuinely say there’s not a single character I’ve come across that I couldn’t write any way I wanted to, most especially romantically. Hell, if DC can write Bruce fucking Wayne initiating “I love you,” then you can write a character not being a bag of limp dicks to me.

The other otome game/DS I’ve gotten into is Obey Me! Been playing that for a while, and same with MP I love the character designs and the story. It’s engaging, it’s funny, the brothers are all diverse and adorable and I love them all ♥, but the same issue with MP I’m seeing with OM, too. There are times when the brothers are downright mean to you and I turn the game off for a while because I didn’t open it up to be insulted.

I can’t tell if it’s bad writing or if there’s actually people out there who enjoy that sorta stuff. I don’t talk to enough people to know who the hell this is for--and I’ve seen community comments along media where the readers just laugh it off and I generally do that, like in OM when Levi gets all tsundere or Mammon IS ON HIS BULLSHIT AGAIN (I love that idiot boy) but other times I’m straight up shut down by them and if that were me, IRL, that would be the end of a relationship.

Again, might just be preference. I don’t do hot/cold people, I spent my childhood dealing with an unpredictable household where one moment it would be okay to be in the same room or even look at my parents and the next I’d literally be shut up in my bathroom to have two sets of doors between me and them because it was safer.

Case in point? Earlier tonight I was spending time with Asmo in-game, who is just...an absolute flower and I love him so much, he’s so cute, but every single alone/personal time I spend with him he’s been fine to be touched, does that whole super cute, “More, more!” beg. So I went to touch him like always and he rejected me. Out of nowhere, after being thrilled with everything else we’d done together. And I immediately felt myself turn cold to him and had to stop myself--which is something I do IRL, too.

If you immediately switch up on me like that, don’t expect me to stick around. I can’t/won’t do it. Grew up with it, have no tolerance for it now.

And again, after I closed the game down, I was sitting there like, who is this for? Why is that even a thing? If I designed otome/dating sim games, the characters would all be receptive of MC because that’s the fucking point. If I wanted to be rejected I’d just fucking date IRL, I’m here to see pixels because I like feeling wanted, not insulted and told to go away--especially out of nowhere. That’s just...idk, mean to be mean?

It’s not that I get my feelings hurt, lol, I’m 30 years old and I know the characters aren’t real. It’s more that I’m just baffled by it. It’s illogical and leaves me scratching my head. I don’t understand what is so hard about making things perfect or why that’s so unappealing for so many people. The argument, “It’s unrealistic,” shouldn’t even be a fucking argument. None of this is real.

It’s like Joker, and how up in arms people get about seeing him written obsessive but still able to not be abusive to Reader. Like, writing him with his craziness intact, but making him obsessively in-love rather than abusive and people lose their goddamn minds.

“It’s unrealistic! He’s a psychopath, he’d never really be able to love you! He’s supposed to be abusive! This is OOC!”

Right okay but he isn’t fucking real? And your imagination is pathetic.

Going the opposite end of the spectrum, and you get a cold, aloof character like Crocodile and authors have zero issue with telling you he would never love you and he’d likely be mean to you a lot.

Cool, get away from me then. Also, why? You don’t treat the person you love the same as everyone else, otherwise...that’s not the person you love.

You wanna be realistic, let’s be realistic.

I’ve always considered my relationships like ripples in water. The people closest to me get the best of me, then further out will get some warmth and kindness but they’re not #1. Beyond that will get politeness and beyond that? Acquaintance-level. It’s like how ripples start out large and get smaller the further out they go. That’s how my heart works. I’m not going to greet my best friend the same way I greet a friend, because she’s more important and should know it.

And I wouldn’t treat my partner the same way I’d treat some rando on the street, but so many authors are guilty of writing characters so poorly there’s no discernible difference between me and some random.

And I hate it. ಠ_ಠ

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: if you struggle writing any character in-character and still able to be in a loving relationship, you’re a bad writer.

And I’ll say it louder for the chuckleheads in the back.

If you struggle writing any character in-character and still able to be in a loving relationship, you’re a bad writer.

And to be honest, I wouldn’t be...idk, 100% surprised that there’s someone out there who is actually fine with this sort of thing? Like, I know some people are fine with being denied/rejected, given the brush-off, etc, but my childhood has taken that off the table for me. It goes really south for me, really fast. It’s to the point I have physical reactions to it, I wind up feeling so bad.

But I mean, they have to be writing it for someone, right?

Let me give you two examples, though. Picture your favorite character (FC).

Example A:

FC comes up to you before you could react to their arrival, home at last, and greets you with a chaste but soft kiss. “I missed you,” is said quietly, almost secretly, against your mouth--an admission you knew no one else had heard from those same lips. The words are backed up with action, an arm swept around the small of your back, fingers cinched against your hip to keep you locked to their side so when they straightened up, they took you with them. Tethered together as you’d been apart long enough.

Example B:

FC was home, had arrived home hours ago, but had made no attempt to come see you or speak to you. Finally, you’d figured enough time had passed they’d be all right with a small interruption, but the knock on the door goes unanswered. After a second try, a brisk, “Come in,” is your welcome. Once inside, a glance is spared for you but no more words exchanged. “I missed you,” is your attempt for more attention, met with a silent nod to show it was heard, and a gesture you could be on your way. They were busy.

I would argue that, given the choice, most would go with Example A. Which is insane, considering the majority of fanfiction and game play I see tends to lean toward B.

And the wording is super particular, too. In B, the wording “be all right with a small interruption,” implies the Reader is actively bothering their lover. The brisk greeting could be said to anyone, but shouldn’t be said to Reader if they’re meant to be someone special. And the lack of reciprocation speaks volumes. You missed them? Who knows if they missed you.

And again, if you’re really into defending realism, a relationship where a character wouldn’t speak to you or if they do, they’re treating you like shit? You’re not going to form a relationship to begin with. It’s almost like how we, now, look back at those old time housewives who put up with/made excuses for their husbands who barely paid attention to them and ignored their kids altogether because “that’s just how men are”. We’re repeating it, just modernizing it.

Well, y’all are. I’m not.

Because I am of this wild idea that escapism should live up to it’s name. That I should be able to disconnect from my depressing ass reality to go somewhere that people are always happy to see me and then treat me like they are.

Reality is often disappointing and I am of the belief fantasy shouldn’t be.

And like I’ve said before, you can write any character in a loving relationship without making them OOC. It’s about the way you make the character show their affectionate side, their loving side, that matters--making a cold character a fucking frigid cockthistle isn’t the right way to do it.

Using Example B, a cold character who may not express themselves as openly, when written properly, might not say, “I missed you too,” but they might put their work aside, set their pen down, and hold out their hand for you. The attention they pay you there is how they show you they missed you, too.

An aloof/busy character who came home and couldn’t immediately come to see you, who still had work to do, might text you from their office and tell you--

“I’m home. Come here.”

No flowery language needed, you know they missed you. And idk about you but I’d get all tingly from that text. (♡´艸`)

And that’s what I’m talking about! How hard is that? Apparently very! I see glimpses of it in media, from the games to shows to movies (fanfiction leaves much to be desired but good writers are few and far between) but they always chase it with some unnecessary rude bullshit and then I’m like, well here we are again, me ignoring lines of dialogue because you cain’t act right.

But I digress. Getting into certain things at least allows me to cherry pick characters out of it and then rewrite them in my own head--hell, I’m a comic book fan. I’ve been doing that shit for decades, lmao.

Canon? Nah son.

So yeah. That’s just been tumbling around in my head for a while and I wanted to talk about it proper.

OM was the reason I finally decided to sit down and write this all down, and I have been seriously restraining myself from gushing in the midst of all my commentary--because I really do love the Demon Brothers something awful ♥ they’ve taken over in a big way. But this isn’t the place, unless I start analyzing the stuff OM does right--and that’s partly why it kept my attention where other otome/DS games can’t. Despite running into the same blocks as the other, similar media out there, OM does a lot of things right.

I won’t go into everything, just a handful of examples, because there’s a lot of subtlety that I think is masterfully done:

The way Lucifer is first to defend you and check up on you

The way Mammon turns from calling you “human” to “my human”

The way Levi shares his personal collector’s items with you

The way Satan invites you to events that mean something to him

The way Asmo values your compliments over anyone else’s

The way Beel shares his food with you

The way Belphie actually smiles at you

Out of context some of those could sound super unimportant, but the game does an excellent job setting it up so that you know all of those things? Mean that you mean something to the demon it’s coming from.

Lucifer has a million things to worry about but he leapt to my defense (before Mammon, who is technically in charge of me) and he goes out of his way to walk by my room and then texts me if I’m too quiet to make sure I’m okay--and offers to accompany me if I happen to leave my room for any reason. Lucifer is a super great mix of, “Come here. It’s lonely without you. Spend time with me,” and “I’m only asking where you are because I should be with you...for protection.” Like, okay. I’m onto you, old man. ♥

Mammon has little respect for humans and initially begins calling me “Human” rather than my name (despite being told to call me by name because yes, I did tell that ill-mannered boy to call me Dot) but then it gradually changes to “My human” and now I’m annoyed my heart skips when he does it. Him going so far as to say as “his human” I should only let him protect me because “It’s me or no one, understand?!” I hate you made me love you??? Plus he’s a masochist and I could obliterate him for it.

Levi is gonna get enough of calling me a fucking “normie”, aight. I’m not an otaku like you, kiddo, but I’m a fucking comic nerd so could you maybe chill--but the more you progress with him, the more he waits for you because he wants to show you his new manga or show or game. Someone wanting to share something personal with you is everything--god and he’s so tsundere he’s so easy to fluster. “It’s not what it looks like! I wasn’t waiting for you!” Outside my door? Right. Okay. “What, is that supposed to make me happy...? I-I’m sorry, don’t stop!” I love it.

Satan was one I wasn’t initially sure of. He’s very obviously hiding something beneath that cool, collected exterior (haha probably a lot of rage if you’ll ignore my Wrath pun), but he won me over pretty fast by inviting me to multiple events because, like Levi, he wants to experience things with me. Plus, when I get excited he appreciates it rather than making me feel silly. “That’s the answer I was looking for.” ♥ And he invited me moon-gazing so like, psh, yeah let’s get married.

Asmo I knew, immediately, I would have zero issue with. He’s the Avatar of Lust, which is one sin I’m real into. So while I wasn’t worried about him, finding out he had so many fans and lovers and the like, that I was worried would bother me. I’m possessive~♫ But the game did a huge service to me by showing Asmo wants my compliments more than anyone else’s. Him saying that to me made me coo, out loud. I’m typically not into narcissistic folks, but when it’s done a certain way? Like Tony. You can be important to a million people but if you show me I still come first? I’m smitten. With Asmo, the adorable way he’s almost like a puppy in wanting, “More! I want more! Just from you!” It’s so fucking cute.

Beel is best boy. Like, hands down, immediately crowned Best Brother. He is adorable, like the total giant teddy bear trope. And being the Avatar of Gluttony, food is everything to him. So when he started offering to share his food with me? Like boy oh my god. Freaking Sam hugging gif x100. I CAN’T EVEN EAT ALL THAT MUCH BUT YES, YES, A THOUSAND TIMES YES. It never fails to make me smile when I give him his favorite food and he goes, “You’re going to eat with me, right?” NOW I AM. Sobbing. While he tells me being hungry around me “isn’t so bad.” I’m not going to touch on the vore fetish he’s feeding in me every time he starts drooling and calling me a dumpling.

Belphie. Oh, Belphie. My difficult boy. Like Damian from MP I fucking knew you’d be a problem--WHICH IS DUMB YOU’RE A SLOTH, I’M A SLOTH. YOU LIKE NAPS, I LIKE NAPS. But he’s so aloof, he’s hard to pin down initially--but I was gonna get ‘im. I love how the game makes you glean Belphie’s caring for you from the things he says. “You’re late,” when you show up, because he was waiting for you. Or, “What were you doing?” because he wants to know what you’re up to and who with and why it wasn’t him. I adored his line, “I want to sleep but...come see me in my dreams or I’ll get mad.” Like baby I will live there. That and my other favorite is when he smiles and simply says, “Welcome back,” because he missed you and is happy you’re here.

That ^ is all quality. It shows that different character types can love and love well in their own way, without having to be assholes. Belphie loves differently than Asmo but you still know he loves you. The game falls into the same traps as others do, I’m not saying it’s perfect, but it definitely has my attention and I love the brothers now the same as all my other characters--where other games I’ve set aside and given up on.

I think I’ve rambled on about all this enough, it was just buzzing about in my skull and while I guess this is discourse? Really I wouldn’t even say it’s a hot take, it’s just confusing why this isn’t talked about more or why so many characters and games and stories and media are ruined by badly written attempts at romance.

My rule of thumb, or one of them, has always been similar to the golden rule:

Write your romance the way you’d want your favorite character to treat you.

I feel like, most of the time, you can’t go wrong with that. I certainly haven’t had any complaints, at least.

#{A/N} : commentary

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