#//This is not entirely realistic but it's for The Drama let me have this

[bee-bee-kyuu]

Play OVERBOARD.MP4?

[Sourced from Chatter]

The video films the latter half of a confrontation between a blue haired, tan-skinned girl and a shorter, blonde girl. The audio is grainy, but the basic gist can be made out.

"Why..?"

"Why the fuck not!? You took a week from me. I'll take your shitty art. Seriously, how the fuck do you take art and still suck ass?"

"Stop trying to hurt me, Grace. I don't care anymore. I just want to know why you led me on for a week and-" The rest cuts out.

"...I dunno. My friends dared me to. And you kinda deserved it."

The blue girl's response doesn't pick up.

"I mean- Sure, you gotta be nice to weird kids or whatever, but you were like, kind of a total-" It cuts out again. Kai hisses.

"Stop that!"

"It is true. It's creepy that you get so loud and touchy. It's embarrassing, to match. You give me secondhand embarrassment, Kaiser!"

Kai jerks forward, before stopping herself. She looks oddly calm. She whispers something, and Grace's eyes widen. She slaps Kai, hard across the face, and Kai retaliates in turn, punching her in the stomach instinctually. Grace grabs her in a headlock, and the two tussle across the bridge, even as students run to get involved and pull them apart. Through the crowd, the video picks up Grace, pushing Kai against the wall of the bridge, against a gap in the metal fencing where her upper body dangles freely.

Grace yells something indecipherable, the word "Ocean" barely able to be heard, and Kai shakes her head, mouthing something that barely looks like "Please stop". And to her credit, it looks like Grace is about to, before the crowd surges in, and someone barges into Grace. She lets go of Kai.

Kai falls through the fence, and into the sea.

[themeraldee]

I think a great awkward sex fic could be homelander making love for the first time.

Not losing his virginity, but having sex with someone he loves

anon you're sooooooo smart!!!! I love this idea so much. After being in such a funk this reignited me and I had to write it now!! It took a different turn at the end but I don't dictate what the characters do!! thank you for this idea and please enjoy 🩷

Imperfectly Perfect

[Masterlist] [AO3]

18+ Only | 2.7k | Homelander x fem!Reader | Awkward sex. Realistic sex. Embarrassing sex noises. Feelings of inadequacy. Homelander being a mild drama queen. Cunnilingus. Unprotected sex.

Looking back at it, it was meant to be perfect.

Homelander eagerly ushered you back to his penthouse after an incredible date out. He pulled out all the stops, renting out the top rated, most expensive restaurant just for you. He spent the entire night charming your pants off with his strangely charismatic and at times awkward self. 

Buzzing with anticipation he couldn’t wait to show you what else he had in store for you. You’ve changed his perception of everything. Ever since you’ve wormed your way into his heart, he’s locked the way out and threw away the key. You’ve made him feel like nobody else ever has and he thought it high time he repay the favor. That’s why tonight had to be perfect. 

He wanted to show you what awaits you in your shared future.

He had some poor Vought employees absolutely drown his penthouse with bouquets of rich red roses, rose petals strewn across most surfaces, candles illuminating every corner, highlighting the glittering gold of the picture frames adorning his walls. Smooth jazz played in the background at a low volume sealing the deal on what ended up feeling like a scene plucked from an elaborate Valentine’s day ad.

“Wow! This is—wow! Homelander, you didn’t have to do all this.” You looked around the space, taking in the change with a shock and awe on your face. This quickly turned into a beautiful bright smile that made Homelander feel like he was on top of the world. He’s obviously doing something right.

“Anything for my girl.” He pulled you in gently, making the dress he’s picked for you twirl prettily. “Come with me,” he pressed a kiss to your soft lips, letting them linger for a little while while he inhaled the scent of your perfume—also his choice—and the roses surrounding you both. At that moment he thought that tonight would be perfect, one for the books.

And now? It didn’t take long for it to already be turning into a disaster.

From his point of view at least.

You’re sitting at the edge of the bed, leaning back on your arms as you watch the show. You asked to watch him take off his suit, promising that you’d give him just as good of a show as he would. 

Prior to this he has taken his elaborate suit off thousands of times anytime he’d go to bed. Now he’s struggling as if both of his hands were left-handed and this was his first suit fitting. He’s so tense, his nerves tighter than a bow string making his hands shake while he unclasps the cape, immediately folding it on the rack out of habit before he continues unzipping his suit. His heart is beating like a drum in his ears, he wouldn’t be surprised if even your ordinary ones could pick up on it. 

It’s not that he’s never had sex. It’s just that the anticipation of what he’s built up in his head is making him overthink his every move. He needs you to know that he can be like this for you. Because the perfect mainstream image of romance is what every woman dreams of—right?

When the zipper gets stuck and doesn’t let him unzip like normal he panics internally. There were meant to be no hiccups today! 

Observant that you are, you stand up as soon as you see him struggle and swear and take the step closer to him. “Let me help you.” You put your hands on his before sliding them up his forearms, then shoulders before going down to rest on his chest.

“How about you let me undress you and then you undress me.” You give him a cheeky smile, trying to break the tension he put himself into. “Does that sound good?” You ask quietly and breathy as you undo the zipper he was struggling with. 

He nods curtly, feeling ashamed that he’s admitting to a fault on his part.

But with the continuous dreamy eye-contact you slowly help him out. Undoing clasps, and zippers of his convoluted uniform. 

He was less worried about you seeing him naked than he is about the whole performance of it all. He’s let you see him without the suit before. Early into your blooming relationship you’ve stumbled upon him covered in blood. It only made sense to take the shower together as you helped him wash all of it off. But even then, he didn’t want it to go further. He said he had plans and asked you to let him make it perfect. 

When he’s finally fully naked he pulls you in for a hot kiss. It’s almost in gratitude at helping him mend the situation and put it back on track. He walks you back to the bed pushing you on it. He’s only about half hard, which is unusual for him as Homelander easily gets a hard-on in a split second anytime you just look at him a certain way. So it’s a surprise that he’s not panting and leaking with the way you look tonight. 

Clearly, he’s still stuck in his head.

With each kiss he presses into your skin, tasting the softness of your every spot he gets more and more excited. Slowly melting into you with each little huff you let out as he kisses your body, undressing you in tandem. “You’re so fucking beautiful.” He growls into your ear before kissing you flush on the lips. Hot and heavy, he licks into your mouth, moaning at the way you pull at his hair when you rake your fingers through it.

Just as you want to take some control back, treat him the same way he’s treating you, he stops you.

“Nuh, uh. Ladies first. Let me make you feel good.” He rumbles as he pushes your hands off his body. You look pleased at his words, giving him an excited little grin.

And just like that, he’s finally taking control of the situation again. He’s got a script in his head and he needs to follow it to a tee.

Down on his knees, he pulls you closer to the edge of the bed. Already spreading your legs open, unabashedly inhaling the scent of you, already aroused and wet for him. He grins like a shark to himself. Without giving you much heads-up or taking it slow he just straight up buries himself in between your legs.

Just the smell of you had his cock finally turning rock hard, now with the taste of you he feels it twitching, drooling precum from the tip.

He’s licking you open, spreading you with his tongue. Like a mad man who doesn’t know where to focus first, with little rhythm he changes between strongly sucking at your clit, pointing his tongue sharply and running circles around your clit right before shoving his tongue into you, tongue-fucking you just like he imagines will leave your mind blown.

Except. 

“Little softer, please.” You sound out in between sweet little sighs. You’ve taken to running your nails through his hair, giving his scalp a little massage while he went to town on you.

“M’sorry.” He mumbles into your pussy as he quickly looks up at you. He slows down with his urgency though he’s a little peeved at the way he’s not been able to rock your world yet. 

“Don’t be—ah—it’s great. I just like it a little softer.” 

It’s great? Great?! It should be mind-blowing, incredible, glorious! Not just great. Immediately his ego takes a hit but he doesn’t outwardly show it. In his mind you should’ve been moaning and shaking for him, coming on his tongue while he got his fill of you. 

This doesn’t happen.

And while he’s doing better, making you moan a little louder, forcing small gasps out of you as he softens his tongue flat, gently laving over your clit before sucking on it softly. He’s not making you cum and that’s killing him.

You suddenly sharply tug on his hair and at first he thinks you’re getting close but you pull again and he looks up at you confused.

“Come up here.” You guide him up.

“But you didn’t finish.” He scrunches his eyebrows confused and for a second he looks like an innocent sweet puppy. 

“I don’t wanna come yet. I’m actually usually done after one orgasm so I reaaally want to have you inside me for the big finish you know?” You sign that off with a wolfish grin that he immediately eats up as he climbs up to devour you, making you taste yourself on his lips. 

With the thoughts of being inside you where it’s all soft and warm and really just made for his cock, he abandons his thoughts of inadequacy. 

And as much as you want to participate, Homelander keeps pushing you off, instead focusing on your body and all the places he hasn’t managed to kiss yet. 

When he swats your hand away from his cock again you ask. “Why won’t you let me return the favor?” 

“Another time.”

“But I wanna blow you! It’s not fair, why can’t I?” You keep pouting and you’re as adorable as you are annoying because as much as he’s sure your mouth will feel amazing he’s even more certain that your pussy will be fucking incredible. And he definitely won’t make it through both.

“Because I’ll bust, alright?” He swats your hands away instead pinning your wrists down onto the plush bedding making you yelp in surprise and arousal. He can sense the way that got you all excited. “Now just let me fuck you… please?” He says before kissing you again.

You automatically spread your legs. He kneels on the bed, sitting on his heels as his eyes immediately lock onto the sight of your pussy, still pretty and wet for him. A sight that makes his heart swell. Part of him was worried you wouldn’t want him with such voracity. He made sure to keep some lube on hand in case you wouldn’t get wet enough for it to be comfortable for you but he was preening that he managed to get you this wet. 

Homelander let one of his fingers glide down your slit, gathering the slick before pushing a finger in, immediately groaning at the intense heat of your cunt. He couldn’t wait to get his cock in you.

He gathers more slick that you seem to be making an abundance of but this time he gives his cock a few strokes, giving it a nice, wet coating. “So perfect for me.” He whispers out more to himself than you before he shuffles closer, holding his cock in his hand, rubbing it up and down your slit before eagerly pushing in.

The sheer tight heat of you has him gasping, you’d almost think he was in pain if it wasn’t for the blissed out look on his face.

When he sinks all the way in, he takes in your pretty face, your softly parted lips, gently flushed face and a look in your eyes that he’s sure he’ll never forget. You look at him with such love and adoration it’s impossible for him to stop the, “I love you,” that comes out of him before he kisses you.

“I love you too.” You say with a bright smile when he lets you breathe.

 He thinks at this moment, there’s no way this could be anything less than perfect.

Getting lost in the sensation he picks up the pace. He fucks into your faster and harder with each stroke and it’s not bad but it’s too too much from the get go. Homelander doesn’t see this. In his head he wants to make you cum before he himself finishes which with his track record might not be a very long time.

“Hey hey hey, slow down. You don’t need to go all hard and fast so quickly okay?” You say with a breathless little laugh, looking a bit rattled from the way he’s been fucking you into the mattress.

Fuck. He fucked up again. He’s disappointing you. That thought makes his heart hurt and jaw clench. But Homelander doesn’t let it show as he just nods at you, kissing his tension away, trying to get his head back into enjoying himself as much as he should.

But the universe isn’t kind to him and when he eases himself back into you, pressing his body against your sweat-covered one, the glide of skin on skin well… It makes a sound that could only be described as a fart!

You burst into giggles at the comical sound and you seem to think that’s it but Homelander is mortified. His eyes widen and he gasps, pushing himself off your sweat-slick skin. “That wasn’t—I didn’t—”

When he tries to explain that it wasn’t him it just makes you laugh harder.

He doesn’t get it—you’re laughing! It’s so incredibly embarrassing and it’s ruining the vision he had for the night. Tonight was about him finally opening up to you, letting you feel just how strongly he feels about you and it’s been a disaster from the start.

He feels himself softening inside you so he pulls out before you notice and he grumpily pulls away from you, turning to sit at the edge of the bed to sulk.

Your giggles died out as soon as you noticed him pull away. “Baby? Don’t be upset. I’m not laughing at you.” You sit up, reaching over to him, moving closer. 

“It’s fucking embarrassing! Tonight was meant to be—well not like this!” He’s upset and he’s trying to take it out on you as if pretending that it’s your fault is gonna soothe his hurt ego.

“It’s okay. It’s normal, it happens. It’s literally just skin on skin. Bodies make funny sounds!” You try to soothe him by rubbing his arms and shoulder, occasionally pressing a kiss to his head or side of his neck.

“You shouldn’t be laughing at it like this whole thing doesn’t matter.” He said with a bite in his tone, almost accusing you of not sharing his feelings.

“I’m laughing because this does matter to me. I’m comfortable around you. You make me feel at ease and let my guard down. I’m laughing precisely because I love you.”

He doesn’t respond and you continue soothing his hurt feelings.

“It’s beautiful, the way you’ve prepared this place. But do you wanna hear a secret?” You move closer to him and turn his head with your finger. “It’d be just as romantic without all of it. Even if the first time we had sex was in a broom closet. Or whatever. The point is—it’s you. That makes it all so special.”

He sighs with palpable relief and he nuzzles his head into the hand you placed on his cheek. He could just about devour you for being so amazing. 

“I just wanted it to be perfect for you.” He admits his insecurity, giving you the ammunition to rip his heart in two if you wanted to. He knows you hear the ‘I want to be perfect for you,’ he’s really trying to convey. 

“It is perfect. Tonight, the whole thing. Everything that’s happened. It’s been perfect. I’ve been loving every second of it.” You kiss him on the lips and he melts. He turns so he can embrace you with the kiss, feeling the tension finally slip away. With no expectations, he can enjoy you the way he should have from the start.

“Come on, lie down. Stop thinking.” It’s your turn to press him into the mattress as he lies on his back staring up at you with pure adoration.

Just like that, after seeing you on top of him all pretty and loving his cock is back at full hardness. You finally wrap your hand around it, giving it a few strokes before you lower yourself down on him.

“We’re getting to know our bodies. You learn what I like, I learn what you like. None of this thinking of what it should be like. Okay?” He nods at you although he’s very preoccupied with taking in the incredible feeling of you wrapped hotly around him, sending his mind into a frenzy.

You bounce on him, showing him exactly how you like it, what angle and what pace and in the meanwhile you coo sweet, soothing words. Clearly seeing just how much work his hurt ego will need to get back to normal. 

And somehow, in the end, it’s so much more perfect than he could ever imagine it to be.

Taglist (you can add yourself to be notified anytime I publish a new Homelander story): @infinetlyforgotten 

[moonwoodhollow]

2k follower gift: Casa de Tedeji 22 - a cc lot by moonwoodhollow It’s finally time for one of my favourite buildings I have done in a while; Casa de Tedeji 22! Casa de Tedeji 22 is a mostly unfurnished residential lot that is best placed in Ciudad Enamorada. This lot was inspired by the film Roma, and I hope you'll find it as charming as I do! This building consists of three different houses, and you could either have just one family living there, or you could fill all three houses with families and watch the drama unfold. Either way, I hope you have fun with this lot & thank you again, for 2k followers!

More screenshots, info + download link under the cut!

Building background

As someone who's never been to Mexico, I still wanted to create a somewhat realistic building for Ciudad Enamorada that perfectly fits into the world.

The house that I first thought of, was the 'main' house in which most of the plot of the film Roma by Alfonso Cuarón took place. Even though I watched the film some time ago I often kept thinking back to the house and the architecture of Mexico City in the 70s. So I looked up the filming locations and found out that the house actually still exists, you can read about more here and here if you're interested.

While building I obviously changed a few things from the original structure, because I did not want to recreate the house entirely, as I didn't have too many inside-the-house photos, so I went to googlemaps and got inspired by the neighbouring houses and that's how this building or these three buildings came to be!

So what do you get?

Case de Tedeji 22 is a 30x20 residential build best placed in Ciudad Enamorada on the Mansión de la Pasión lot. It probably could also work on other lots, but it looks best on that one. The lot is unfurnished, meaning I only added the outdoor decor but kept the houses completely unfurnished except for flooring and wallpaper + a floorplan for each house.

house one: 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, a fenced-in garden

house two: 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a balcony, courtyard

house three: 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms (1 ensuite), rooftop space

If you own For Rent, you could change the lot type to residential rental, but obviously, even without that pack, you could play with up to 8 sims/three families on this lot.

Uses items from the following packs: I will update this, once I hop back into game, but I own almost all packs.

Download: Google Drive(195 MB) | Also up on the gallery: aeromantica (but you’ll need the cc files from the Drive folder!)

Is the CC included? Yes.

A BIG THANK YOU to all the CC-creators, without their creations, I wouldn’t have been able to build this!

TOU: Please don’t claim as your own or put behind paywalls etc. If you find any issues (wrong/missing files, etc.) please let me know + tag me if you’ll use the building, I’d love to see it in your games.

If you like what I do and want to show your appreciation, I have a ko-fi!

[writingwithfolklore]

Maintaining a Consistent Tone

                Tone is deceptively difficult to maintain because after we set up all the important worldbuilding stuff at the beginning, it can be easy to forget to reinforce those details that ultimately create the tone of our piece.

                Tone is comprised of:

Voice

Subject matter

Core emotions evoked by characters/world/events/etc.

It’s important to maintain a consistent tone (or an intentionally evolving one) across your entire story as it acts as the background to what’s happening and is part of the hook readers are latching onto at the beginning. Imagine if Wednesday the show dropped the creepy act halfway through and just let the events play out amidst a normal, realistic backdrop. That’s not why we started the show, and so we’d likely not finish it.

                To keep up the tone we establish in the beginning, you’re going to want to single out the key words, details, and moments that did that work for you. Word choices, character moments, introductions to settings, etc.

“creaked”, “whined” or “croaked” all mean the same but create a slightly different feeling--horror, drama, fantasy.

                Do characters use a flashlight or a lantern or their phone light? Are there segments of silent introspection, or funny banter and quips?

Does the forest loom or does it blanket?

                The details and words you pick out here should be maintained across the entire piece. It’s not enough to mention the first time they need a light they pull out a lantern, you have to make sure that detail keeps coming up all the way through the middle and the end too.

                As well, these word choices impact the voice you are using, so sticking to the ‘vocab’ of your world is important in creating that tone (and a better overall flow).

                Any other ways you can think of? Let me know!

[eggroll-sama]

Touchstarved Love Interest on a Hike

You and the touchstarved gang go on a forest hike. What could possibly go wrong? (I know this is really OOC, realistically they wouldn’t go on a hike together because the drama is crazy, but hey, it’s fun to imagine)

AIS

Doesn’t say much, but is enjoying the quality time. He lets the others take the reins because he trusts them.

Looks good wearing a T-shirt and shorts and lots of passersby check him out. Leander is not pleased.

The most physically built out of the five and doesn’t break a sweat even on the steep areas.

Can probably carry all the backpacks and still be fine, but won’t offer unless you beg him what a dick. Oh you want me to carry some of your stuff? No. Why? I don’t want to. In the end he would carry them for you.

Very unprepared. He just wore casual clothes and hiking shoes. Asking Kuras every 10 minutes if he can get a sip of his water or use his sunscreen.

Shows that he cares about the others when he slows his pace to match the slowest person in the group. It’s Vere. He listens to his complaining.

(More characters under the cut)

Looking out for any signs of danger.

Won’t take any pictures on the hike. If you try to take a picture with him he’ll either smile wickedly or lick your face for a reaction.

He’d get hungry and eats a poisonous mushroom even after Mhin pointed out that it was poisonous. Shrugs and throws away the mushroom cuz there was no flavor.

When he reaches the destination, he’d be impressed by the view and peacefully sit while drinking some oolong tea. Vere stole it from a hiker and gave it to him. How kind of him.

KURAS

Kuras likes to wander and discover new places so he said yes. He wasn’t pleased there would be other members Vere joining them. He tries to hide his distaste and focuses on the trail.

Is taken in by the nature and how the sun casts light between the trees and making a beautiful scenery. When a cool breeze passes and his hair flutters, it almost looks like their a forest fairy.

He brought extra water because he knew there would be somebody that would forget.

If he noticed you’re tired, he’d suggest that they’d take a break. Also brought a First Aid Kit if there was an accident. He’s a doctor; it would be embarrassing if he didn’t bring one.

The most elegant hiker. It’s very peculiar seeing him hiking because it looks like he’s gliding. He doesn’t break a sweat and has an amused look on his face the entire time. What is he thinking?

Walks beside Mhin and listens to them talking about random biology facts. Is very interested in what they have to say and will even point out at herbs as they pass by them.

Ignores Vere who keeps making backhanded comments about him from behind. Will keep quiet about a ditch, root, or a spider up ahead. Smiles when he hears Vere scream behind him.

He’d probably come back again by himself or with one extra person, either Mhin or MC.

LEANDER

99% chance that this whole thing was his idea. He’s an active guy and likes to spend time with others. He’d probably done the hike a number of times before.

The one leading. He’s prepared and has all the basic necessities, even things you wouldn’t think of. He caters to your needs the most. If you ask if anyone has x y and z, he’d be the first to offer it. He wants to be relied on and show he’s a competent man!

Acts as the “trail leader” of the group. Has a map in hand.

He whistles when he isn’t talking.

Highly susceptible to bug bites.

Notices that the group is functioning in pairs, Mhin with Kuras and Vere with Ais. He’d feel like a third wheel and will talk to you the most. Will get mopey if you talk to somebody else. If you notice he’s been quiet, join him at the front and talk to him and he’d be overwhelmed with joy.

Puts on a lot of deodorant and the others try not to cringe at the smell. Mhin or Vere would point it out and he’d laugh, but he’s dying inside.

Gets competitive when a bunch of hikers giggle to themselves over Ais. Oh wow is it getting hot out here, let me just take off my shirt and show off my sculpted abs. Ais knows exactly what he’s doing and side-eyes him.

When he reaches the destination, he tries to makes a speech about how proud he is of everyone and yada yada, nobody is listening and doing their own thing. He’s distraught. At least the view is nice.

MHIN

Doesn’t like anyone there except for Kuras and MC (Leander is tolerable).

Gets fed up really quickly with Vere’s complaining and Leander’s nonsensical chatter.

The one covered up the most because they get easily sunburnt.

Brought a gallon full of ice cold water and would not share.

Surprisingly agile and has high endurance.

Super unlucky, would step on the weirdest sh*t on the hike.

Enjoys the wildlife around them. Points out at things they’ve read in books. Will get really deep into it if you reciprocate the interest.

Keeping track of the map because they don’t trust Leander. Has caught him going the wrong direction a few times.

Looking out for danger #2.

Munches on plain crackers when they get hungry and looks like a hamster. If you point it out you’ll get stabbed.

Once at the destination, they try to find a souvenir rock. If you ask them what they’re doing they’ll shoo you away. If you give them a nice rock you found, they’d carefully analyze it before thanking you with a small blush.

VERE

He is not happy to be here. And he will make it clear from the very start.

High chance that he said yes cuz Ais was going.

Can’t stand listening to Kuras and Mhin being nerds and Leander talking about the time he almost got married to a middle-aged nun. HUH?! HOW DO YOU EVEN DO THAT-

Complains and super snarky at the very beginning, but gradually starts to quieten down due to fatigue.

Stealing stuff from fellow hikers just for the heck of it.

The best dressed hiker. Many people are in awe how sexy he looks. And yes, he made one of his admirers buy it for him. He will wear it once and then throw it away.

Sweat gives him that natural glow :0

Vere WON’T forget about the sunscreen and bug spray. He won’t let a hike ruin his skin for the rest of the week.

Does not look out for danger, IS the danger.

Rare sight of Vere with a high ponytail. Ais grabs him by the pony tail when he wants his attention.

Once he reaches the site, he’s going to take a quick nap under a shade. You can join him, but be wary.

[bugsbenefit]

[chanting] HORROR S5 HORROR S5 HORROR S5

no but the fact that there's still people not ready for s5 to be absolutely horrific is wild to me. not only is ST a horror show, it's also consistently increased it's horror factor

s1 has a lot of psychological horror with Will's fate being unknown and us not knowing what the monster is, what it can do, and how it works

then s2 goes into massive psychological horror set up with Will's experiences with the MF, and then jumps you out of left field by having the Demogodgs kill everyone in the lab, including showing Bob, a known character, get torn apart alive

then s3 doesn't just have people unwillingly killing themselves via chemicals and a massive human flesh monster, but also shows you people graphically exploding into human meat mush

and then s4 gives you full suicidality metaphor via Vecna, and shows you teenagers, including one main character, get every bone in their body snapped, flung around like a ragdoll, and violently killed

the horror gets worse, more explicit, and closer to the characters each seasons

and then there's also interviews where it's openly pointed out that the party aren't little kids anymore and that they'll finally be able to play a bigger part in the explicit horror aspects. like, s5 is going to be BAD bad. Caleb has even alluded to s5 (or parts of s5) potentially being R rated before

anyone here thinking that s5 will focus primarily on things like "cute relationship goals" is probably going to be let down and Also blindsided by the horror aspect of the show, especially because it's not often acknowledged in a lot of fanspaces. ST really is the "shipping show" in some parts on here, despite always having been very much horror. yes there's gay main characters and a gay main pairing, but this isn't heartstopper or young royals, it's an entirely different genre. the drama doesn't just come from miscommunication or societal pressures, the drama also comes from the fact that a human meat monster could realistically bust through the ceiling at any moment

ST IS A HORROR SHOW AND SEASON 5 IS GOING TO BE SO HORRIFIC I CAN'T WAIT GIMME GIMME GIMME

[skyloftian-nutcase]

Hey there, if you’re back in the realm of the living after your nights….

I was wanting to know what some of your favorite linked universe headcanons are? They can be ones you came up with or someone else's that you like.

Sleep well and recover from the stress!

I'm mostly back in the realm of the living! I really wanna write stuff, just need to get the brain to work with me.

Some of my favorite LU headcanons, hmmm...

Twilight has a country accent. He masks it very well, something he learned to do during his journey, but it comes out when he's emotional or tired.

Warriors doesn't mind that he's attractive. He isn't ashamed of who he is or how he looks. He does not like having his looks used for anyone's benefit or gain though.

Hyrule is the least able to relax of the entire Chain. He's used to being hunted constantly, and he's always been a traveler who wanders on his own with some of the hardest journeys (not that he realizes it) of all the boys. He is acutely uncomfortable in a group initially and doesn't let his guard down easily, even if he doesn't quite act like someone always on edge.

Sky sleeps all the time because he never sleeps well, so he's always feeling exhausted. Also, he's fairly convinced Time doesn't really like him, so while he doesn't go out of his way to get Time's approval, he does greatly appreciate when he gets it.

Wind may be the exuberant optimist of the group, but he's actually pretty level headed and realistic too. He just doesn't always convey it well due to the immaturity of his youth.

Time has mentally adopted all the boys and feels responsible for their well being.

A good number of the boys know basic care for a lot of things, but there are some who are better at things than the others and become the Team [Insert Skill]. For example, Warriors is the Team Medic because he's accustomed to field wounds and medicine. Legend is the Team Seamster as he's the best at mending and the like.

Warriors made an Enemy List of those most likely to betray or hurt him when he first met everyone before realizing he was with a group of Heroes of Hyrule.

Legend loves adventuring. He just doesn't know how to deal with the consequences of them.

Four is absolutely horrible at keeping secrets, unless they're his own because he wants to hold on to them for drama's sake

Wild is actually one of the chattier Links. The chattiest are Wind and Warriors.

Time sucks at addressing emotions, even compared to the others. Malon has helped him address things, but without her he's clueless and tends to fumble through it when others are upset/hurting. He does try, though.

...I'm pretty sure most of these are just my own headcanons but oh well lol

[autumnmobile12]

I am happy for Natsuo's decision to go no-contact with his father. I think that's the best choice he could have made.

But I am sad that it had to come to that.

I genuinely think there was a part of Natsuo that did want to forgive his father, not because Endeavor deserved forgiveness but because Natsuo did want the father figure he'd been denied his entire life. For every time he comforted Touya, he had to have held some bitter thoughts that encompassed, "At least he loved you once. I never even had that." Only he could never say that out loud for the sake of his suffering sibling.

Still, no matter how much he may have wanted that, he knew there was no way Endeavor could realistically make up for his ruined childhood and so there was no way he could forgive him.

So yes, I am sad that Natsuo's circumstances led him to the completely justified choices he made.

I hope he has better luck with his in-laws.

...

That said, there is one thing about that decision that concerns me and that is the fact he will not allow his future children to meet their grandfather. And I don't mean that in an, "Aw, at least let your toxic father meet his grandchildren."

No, this is my concern:

Does Natsuo plan on hiding his father's identity from his children entirely? I cannot stress what an emphatically bad idea that is. One, unless he cuts contact with both his parents and remaining siblings, it's impossible. Two, even in the unlikely event he does go that far, his kids will figure it out one way or another. And if they find out the hard way, that's only going to cause resentment/raise questions. "Why did Dad lie about Grandpa? What else is he hiding?" Transparency is the only option to avoid that kind of drama.

If Natsuo does tell his children about his family, will he be comfortable with the idea that they may want to meet their grandfather regardless of what they've been told? In spite of their upbringing, kids are their own entity and not a complete reflection of their parents. Even if they know Natsuo's side of the story, even if Natsuo paints their grandfather as the unspeakable monster who destroyed their family, even if he makes it clear exactly what happened, there is still a fifty-fifty chance they may want to meet the man in question regardless, if only to sate a curiosity about where they came from. Natsuo can say 'no, absolutely not' all he wants, but that's not a decision he can control once his children are legal adults.

And in that scenario, he would be putting his kids in an awkward situation where they have to choose between alienating their father and meeting their grandfather. If they choose their father, then they will spend the rest of their lives wondering, "What if...?" If they choose their grandfather, they run the risk of Natsuo resenting them for going behind his back. No matter how Natsuo feels, unless Endeavor dies before it becomes an issue, this is a boundary that's going to be tested in some manner when his kids get older.

...

I'm not saying Natsuo doesn't have good intentions in wanting to protect his future children from what he went through. He has no obligation to capitulate and play happy family, but the above scenario is a very real situation that could absolutely happen whether he likes it or not. If he doesn't navigate that carefully, his determination to keep Endeavor away from his new family could very well end up pushing his new family away from him.

I guess what I'm saying is, "Natsuo, however justified you are, don't become the next Shimura Kotaro."

[autisticlancemcclain]

wip tease number god knows, truly

The phone doesn’t ring for more than two seconds. Which is crazy, because New Altea is an unfathomably huge number of lightyears away and also Lance’s phone signal is perpetually garbage.

“Ahoy,” greets Allura when the line connects, because she is strange.

“Ahoy,” Lance greets back, because he loves her.

They sit in silence. He can hear, vaguely, the clicking sounds of compacts being opened and closed, and the particular humming noise she always makes when she’s putting on eyeliner.

It occurs to Lance, for the first time, that they have known each other so long and so closely that to the outsider, their relationship might be quite strange. The thought makes him smile widely.

“So,” he says.

Allura hums again. Deliberately, this time.

Lance takes another long time to answer, digging the toe of his boots into the ground. He spies a worm wiggling in the newly churned dirt and bends down to pluck it, writhing, out of its hovel. He quickly snaps a picture and sends it to Pidge with the caption, ‘didn’t know you were on Earth today.’ She responds with a grotesquely realistic custom clown emoji.

“There is a possibility. Perhaps. That I do not actually want to be a farmer.”

“No shit,” replies the Queen of New Altea And Also Lots Of Other Things Lance Can’t Remember, blithely.

Lance sniffs haughtily. “This is quite the revelation, you know. I’ve had four panic attacks about it.”

“You have an anxiety disorder. You had a panic attack about malevolent gut bacteria last week.”

“…This is true.”

“Also, whenever I feel you need to be humbled, I ask your mother to send me stuff from your childhood. There’s a video in particular I enjoy of you sobbing about the prospect of being anything but an astronaut. You looked at a cornfield and threw up. You were four, I believe.”

Lance does, actually, vaguely remember that. Well, he remembers Luis writhing on the floor, weeping with laughter, and kicking him in the shins. He also remembers the cornfield, if only because he distinctly remembers lobbing a piece of corn at Luis’ head, also.

He was a very expressive child. Also, Luis is a turd.

“I am entitled to a period of self-reflection,” Lance says primly.

“It has been an Entire Year, knobhead.”

“I needed time to collect my thoughts in peace and on Earth. I died, you know.”

“Oh, did you,” says Allura drily. “I wonder how that went.”

Lance’s smile widens. He lets her have this one. “Fuck farming, okay. I’m bored. I love my family to pieces but I need to be closer to drama. Give me a job.”

“That is a garbage application, Leandro.” He hears the distinct sound of a nail polish bottle being shaken. “I should hire someone more qualified.”

“How about you hire deez nuts.”

“Hm,” she says, and he can hear her grinning. “On the other hand, I need a second in command who is unafraid to challenge me. You know, in case I grow corrupt with power.”

She pretends to deliberate for a moment.

“You’re hired. I’ll send someone to come pick you up tomorrow.”

“Is that someone going to be a hot, tall Altean in a slutty outfit?” Lance asks hopefully.

She can’t help a laugh. Lance grins triumphantly. “You’re fired.”

“Is that a yes?”

“I’ll think about it.”

She hangs up.

[lamialamia]

We have a problem: why am I watching this sex scene again?

Ah. Sex scenes. You wild wild beast. The crossroad of many discourses and analyses and opinions and essays and now, here I am, a mere casual ww2 rpf fan, throwing my own hat to the ring. In this blog post I'm going to talk once more about sex scenes -- two in particular -- and why the eff one of them matters, making the ww2 rpf more compelling and the other did not.

Disclaimer: Whether or not sex scenes are needed in media in general or the right way to implement them across the vast spectrum of art is not part of this discussion. Please keep in mind I'm trying to complain about the writing decision in the small scope of the HBO War shows.

I have discussed the problem with the Crosby/Sandra plot line in a previous analysis here. But I think the problem with it requires another (and maybe a third) write-up. Here, I want to talk about why the tiny sex scene between Crosby and Sandra in episode 7 is a waste of screen time.

So, we have the sex scene in MOTA episode 7. It is somewhat explicit and it was clear it is consensual and that the people who are fucking is very into it. In comparison to other sex scenes in HBO War fandom, it doesn't exactly stands out to me with just the imagery of the act (of course this is a personal opinion, whether or not I find a sex scene hot or bad or corny or lovely or [insert adjective here] is not universal).

However, my problem with this sex scene between Crosby and Sandra is that it doesn't matter to the story.

After getting it on with Sandra, and then after she left him, Crosby never talked about this affair in anyway. Not over the narration, expressing some kind of sentiment over it, not with Rosie or any other guy, so me, the audience, have no idea what he think about it or how he might be affected about it. We didn't know what Sandra think or feel about it either because her scenes are about her spy works and that's it.

You might say: well he doesn't have to tell us how he feel if the show can demonstrate to us the same thing.

Yet, MOTA never did that. Furthermore, the show never portray the sex between them matters to the characters beyond getting their rocks off. And then, the sex doesn't matter to the theme of the episode nor the overall theme of the show either. It's just something that happened.

(Sad to say that maybe this sub-plot distracts me from the rest of episode 7 and 8)

This might be consider 'realistic'. In real life, people can have sex just for the joy of it. Which is true, but in a drama mini-series, the choices to include or exclude details must take in consideration whether what is on screen is valuable to the story the show is trying to tell. Why are they including this sex scene instead of the hundred other real life details that don't make the cut? We don't have a training montage for the pilots, we never learn how Quinn and Bailey get back to base from Germany, we never have the D-Day invasion sequence,...

Let's have a comparison to another sex scene.

In The Pacific episode 3, Sidney Phillips met Gwen in Melbourne and started a romance with her that ended in them having sex before he got shipped back to Pavuvu. Personally for me, it wasn't an awesome sex scene either. Both Gwen and Sidney were awkward, they kissed and the entire thing ended with him kissing her bare shoulder.

But what truly matter happened latter. When Eugene arrived in Pavuvu and reunited with Sidney, he asked Sidney about what combat was like. And to answer this, Sidney mentioned him sleeping with Gwen not to brag about his sexual conquest but to make a comparison with the brutal battles he survived.

Despite the fact that the two of them grew up together, in just a small amount of times, Sidney have been through things and done things Eugene hadn't. All of that (both combat and his brief romance with Gwen) had changed Sidney to the point that Eugene could not longer connect with him. There was now a chasm between them. Eugene looked at his friend and tried to understand him but couldn't. There were things that must be experienced to be understood.

And then, Eugene himself went through life-changing events. The war changed him so much that when he returned to Mobile, he once again couldn't connect with Sidney

Or his brother (who was in the Army and was in the euro theatre) -- another person who had gone through the war himself.

Both Sidney and Eugene's older brother had returned home before him while Eugene had just came back, fresh off the board with his mental wounds, and it showed the chasm had formed between him and these two men who supposed to shared this brutal experience with Eugene.

In fact his brother specifically mentioned how Eugene is still a virgin, which highlight further how he was 'missing out' on that particular experience that both these men have.

And this all started when we were still following H company and witnessed Sidney and Gwen having sex. That small thing compounded over time. It snowballed into all these differences and distance that Sidney would have with Eugene, and then Eugene would be having against his own hometown, his brother, his family, and his best friend. It served to show how war had did its number on Eugene in many ways.

The sex scene between Sidney and Gwen mattered to the story, it served a narrative purpose eventually.

Crosby and Sandra's sex scene did not. And to include it meant there would be less screen time for any other story line, leaving not just the sub-plot of Crosby's arc weaker, but the other ones as well. Overall, this creative decision left MOTA a weaker show in term of its writing.

[average-mako-enjoyer]

Mass Effect LGBTQ+ representation issues and some headcanons

I've seen a few Mass Effect posts about the sexuality of the trilogy's characters, and I'd like to add my 5 cents, since none of those posts take into account the whole xenophilia aspect of canon relationships. And some of us are here for it. For the aliens. I am here for them. I'm not sorry.

Also, I have to acknowledge the fact that Bioware has made some very questionable choices, and the in-game representation is bad. Like BAD-bad.

I.E.(this list is going to be looong):

All Male Shepard/Kaidan Alenko dialog for ME1 and ME2 was written and fully voiced, but NOT INCLUDED in the final version of the game. And I know that the same thing happened to FemShep/Ashley, but that a bit different because...

The only "gay" romances in ME1 and ME2 are for femShep, and either with a female-representing human-like aliens (who like to dress in tight clothes that emphasize the size of their breasts), or with the equally feminine Kelly Chambers in ME2. Because, you know, guys who buy this game will be more tolerant of two "hot chicks making out" (insert a bunch of mods that make your femShep wear only lingerie and look like a TikTok e-girl) than a more realistic same-sex romance.

Especially when this romance is between two guys. Because ew. Right, Bioware? But you also wanted to sell your games to LGBTQ+ folks, so you installed a…

… so-called "gay button" into your games.

Before ME3, no one except for "hot chicks asari" states their sexuality. You can go through two entire games as a straight character completely surrounded by other completely straight characters. Oh, maybe Kelly likes aliens a little too much, but "who doesn't like asari", right? Even asexual salarians are into them. Sure, a straight woman like femShep…

"Hot chicks making out" really sells those game copies, I guess.

If you think ME3 is better, think again. The only two gay characters in the game are Cortez and Traynor, and they are both supporting characters, who are not even in your squad!

Cortez and his whole "I lost my husband" drama is conveniently placed on the lowest deck of the ship, so if this story offends your bigoted sensibilities, you can just ignore him along with the "dumb jock" Vega who is really unpopular with the players. Is it because he's really friendly with an openly gay character? Oh, who knows?

Meanwhile, Traynor is either mocked (oh, she found EDI voice hot and commented on that! what a shame! awkward lesbians, amirite?) or fetishized (don't get me wrong, Donnelly is funny, but his remarks about Traynor are even more yucky than the way he talks about EDI and lube).

But don't get mad about all this, because all the women in the trilogy are fetishized and heavily sexualized. The best example of this is Samara, whose character design is a war crime.

Bioware made Benezia look horrible (she tried to make Saren change his ways not with her power or wits but with those giant bazooms and the cleavage, I guess), and then they doubled down in ME2 and gave a warrior samurai nun a boob window. A FUCKING BOOB WINDOW. Because boys buy games, and they love boobs, y'know.

Oh, and any inappropriate remarks made by NPCs in the game are directed only at the femShep. Just like the MShenko romance, the male version of the dialog is fully voiced, but conveniently excluded from the game. Because guys can't tell other guys that they look hot in "that soldier getup". That can make bigots uncomfortable.

And let's talk about bi representation, because Bioware apparently hates bisexuals as much as straights and some queers do (trust me, as a bisexual I've experienced both types of hatred, and it's ugly). The only bisexual characters in the game are Kaidan and Diana Allers.

If you're a bigot playing as the maleShep, you can "safely" kill Kaidan on Virmire in the middle of the first game and not have to deal with his uncomfortable love confession at all!

So, yeah, Bigots: 1, Representation: 0. The bisexual is successfully killed, congratulations!

If you play as femShep, you won't even know that Kaidan is/was bi. Because who wants a bisexual guy who is comfortable with his sexuality? You can't sell that kind of romance to the good ladies who buy this game.

Diana Allers romance, meanwhile, is laugh-worthy. If you play as maleShep, you won't even know that she's bi. And if you're femShep, this romance is as insignificant as the one with Kelly, you won't even get an achievement for it! You can also kick her out of your ship without any consequences, so she will be KIA offscreen. You will find about it via fucking email. Bigots: 2, Representation: 0. Both of dirty bisexuals are successfully killed, congratulations!

The bi-xenophile Kelly suffers the same fate: no achievement for her romance, you cannot continue the romance after ME2, and she will either take a poison pill and die or be killed in the Collector's Base/Citadel offscreen in ME3. If she survives both the base and the Cerberus attack, you won't even get to say goodbye to her before the final battle of the game. Bigots: 3, Representation: 0

9. And I almost forgot about Omega DLC that kills the only female turian in the game. Who's also into asari. God, they did her dirty.

"Those were different times," you might say, but all of this could have been fixed in 2019, when the Limited Edition was released. Instead, we just have fellow modders changing the design of Benezia and Samara, restoring MShenko (one of the most healthy, respectful, and mature romances in the entire trilogy) and other gay romances in the game, making all NPCs flirt with your character, adding female turians and krogans to the environment, etc., etc.

Still, I think these games are great. The characters, the cinematics, some aspects of the writing, great! I love that canon. But the LGBTQ+ representation in those games sucks. Big time. But that doesn't stop me from having a bunch of headcanons. For the sake of convenience, I'm going to separate out all the characters for the games in which they debut.

Mass Effect:

MaleShep/FemShep: Both are canonically bi. Both don't mind the alien physiology thing and polyamory. Both are "married to your job" type, so they were okay with casual sex and one-night stands, and only mellowed out while in charge of the Normandy crew. Because of convenience, both had more hetero than same-sex hookups.

Ashley: Straight as a plank and xenophobic, but not homophobic. She's definitely into maleShep, but more into the idea of him as a sole survivor/war hero/butcher of Torfan than an actual person.

Garrus: He likes turian and quarian women. And both fem and maleShep. But with maleShep, he's more busy with the whole "flirt him to death" aspect of their bromance, so there's really no time to get on the floor and get dirty.

I also feel that turian society in the game is very patriarchal, so Garrus has a bias towards femShep and feels less restricted by her rank. With mShep, I think he would have only acted if mShep had specifically pursued that relationship. But mShep is also more interested in just flirting with Garrus.

Kaidan: Canonically bisexual (more into women) and demi. Not into aliens, but not xenophobic. Not a stranger to casual sex, but would really prefer to go steady because #introverted and has enough problems already. "How can you flirt with all these people, Shepard, it's exhausting…"

Liara: She's into both versions of Shepard. And maybe a bit into one drell. Classic demi/asexual. Also, imo, all asari are agender and Liara is not an exception.

Tali: Is a mess and can definitely go cross-species (her romance with Garrus is canon, after all). She's also a massive nerd and a bit kinky. I think she's into human/turian/quarian males, but maybe this femShep really is THAT SPECIAL.

Wrex: Krogan women - that's his sexual orientation. Real bros with mShep, more cautious with femShep because bias. Another "married to his job" character.

Joker: Straight and nerdy. #Irony. Too cool for homophobia.

Chakwas: More married to her job than anyone on this list. Cool lesbian aunt.

And this post is already so long that I'll make a separate one for ME2 and 3.

[ninyard]

Okay, so if the concern is about legal realism, the most likely scenario is that Aaron never goes to trial. Most crimes in the US never go to trial.

A decent lawyer could probably at least get a plea bargain for involuntary manslaughter (couldn't make a case for involuntary in court, but the entire plea bargain system is bullshit), which can potentially carry a sentence of parole only.

The main issue is that Aaron wants to be a doctor. However, pleading to involuntary manslaughter would not necessarily preclude a medical license. Now, he would have to explain the whole thing both when applying to medical school and while applying for a license, and make the case in both cases for why killing someone with an exy racket under those circumstances doesn't make him unfit for the profession. But he would probably also have to explain an acquittal on the grounds of self defense: ethics boards ask you to explain what happened if you have ever been charged with a crime. So like. Again, the involuntary manslaughter plea would probably not be much worse for becoming a doctor than the acquittal.

With a good lawyer, he could be off probation by the time he graduates.

But other asks are right, barring plea bargains, from the viewpoint of legal realism, Aaron's case is basically exactly what the voluntary manslaughter statute is intended to address.

Now, the other reason the most likely outcome is that Aaron's case never goes to to trial is that there's every possibility of the Moriyamas leaning on the DA to dismiss it. They absolutely do not want to risk the trial turning up anything that might lead back to the resources Riko used to get Drake where he was, with the FBI still very much snooping around.

That said, to heck with legal realism. Consider the drama.

the idea that most cases never go to trial intrigues me. like, murder trials included? a crime that is punishable by the death penalty in sc?

i don’t really understand much about plea deals/plea bargains. i could see the moriyama’s getting involved because at the end of the day it was rikos mess and neil has a big FBI connection to dangle over their heads that would lead to it being dismissed. BUT i don’t think cass would let it go, even though we don’t know much about her, she doesn’t seem like the type of woman who could be bought out of seeking justice for her son that was murdered. but who knows!!!!

and on your last sentiment i COMPLETELY AGREE. as much as my brain won’t let me be inaccurate about these kinds of details if i keep trying to be realistic about the most unrealistic book series ever, then i’ll drive myself INSANE. i’ll actually have a law degree before i get to the end of the “aaron’s trial” tweet series. so i’m just tryna come to terms with the fact that it may not be an entirely realistic trial but if that’s the case then. blame the american justice system! yeah fuck those guys! it’s not my inaccuracy noooo! it’s the fucked up justice system!!!!!

[novella-november]

This isn't going to be another "you hate fanfiction!!" because very obviously you do not, but it is prompted by the discussion of branching out into original work, since it's something I often struggle with when trying to make that jump. Do you or any of your followers have any good resources on beginner worldbuilding? I really struggle with it.

Thank you!

If you check out my post where I made a "Prep Calendar" for Outline October (Which is a November-prep alternative/ supplement to Ominous October, the spooky short story event), I actually made a rather rough calendar outline of how to go about world building in advance for November;

The basic first steps for me are usually just three things:

Who are your characters

What kind of world do they live in (aka setting)

Whats your main plot/conflict?

To start worldbuilding at its lowest level, start with number one and work your way up; figure out what kind of character you'd like to write, where they live, and go from there!

Here is the prep calendar I threw together in MS paint, I definitely reccomend downloading it on desktop to actually zoom in to see what all it says lol.

And as a bonus, I will even make a fun, silly little exercise for anyone who'd like to get some practice in!

If you want to join in, grab a pen and pencil, or open up your favorite note-taking app :D

Here we go....!

Let's start out by saying that my basic concept for a character is *spins mental wheel of random ideas*....... a talking deer! 1) So now that I have decided that I want a talking deer character, now I have to decide: A) do *all*deer talk? B) Do *all* animals? C) Or is it just this one singular deer who is special? 2) If it *is* just this one singular deer who can talk, are they: D) otherwise a perfectly normal deer who just happens to be able to talk? E) Can they talk because they used to be human? F) Can they talk because they used to be an Alien or encountered Alien Tech (scifi) ? G) Can they talk because they used to be a Magical Creature or ran into a Magical Spell (fantasy) ? 3) Now you get to decide, mostly if you chose A or B from #1 but also useful for C : H) Is your story a more personal nature documentary, with realistic interactions between predators and prey? I) Is your story going to be a unique world where deer have built a society with technology and know how to defend themselves from predators? J) Is your story a unique world where all animals can talk and are equally sentient, therefore predators are revered as gods or keepers of the dead, who bring all back to the circle of life and prevent the spread of illness and disease, with older animals proudly going "to the wolves" to give their life to their brethren who consecrate the bones of the dead and keep resources plentiful? K) Or are predators the monsters in the dark, the teeth that bite, the slavering jaws that kill to live and *cannot live any other way*, so has learned not to regret? L) Or even, predators who feed from the already-dead when they can, and eat their fill of berries, nuts and fruits when they cannot, because they do not wish to take the lives of others for their own sake?

*clears throat* ahem. Drama done (can you see why I love worldbuilding) ,

go ahead and pick a letter from each of the above options, and jot them down on your paper or note-taking app.

You now have: A basic character, their backstory, and a basic setting!

From three-ish questions from a basic idea, you can spawn multiple possibilities, each of which can branch off into their own unique iterations!

Here's a few more, if you'd like to continue the exercise as further practice:

What is your deer's name?

What do they look like / what kind of deer are they? (deer of various species are found over almost the entire world, so there is tons of variety! :D )

What kind of world do they live in?

How do they interact with humans?

*are* there humans in your story?

What kind of zany or terrifying adventures would your talking deer and a human go on?

What kind of adventures would your talking deer go on with other deer or other animals?

How does your deer get along with other species?

Do they have friends from other species?

Do they have rivals from other species?

Do they have *sworn enemies* from other species?

Do they have a *love interest* from another species?

etc!

I am hoping this game/exercise is helpful, my brain being both autistic and ADHD means I am, at the drop of a hat, ready to start spouting more and more ideas sparked from a single concept at any given moment!

And yes, if you did this exercise, please feel free to use your deer character in a story, draw art of your deer character, etc!

If this exercise was helpful to you or fun, please feel free to tag any deer creations with "NovellaDeer" , I'd love to see them!

You can easily adapt this exercise to any story concept you need to worldbuild; pick what basic idea you have for a main character, and start asking yourself questions about them and their circumstances, and let yourself come up with multiple, contradicting answers for each question; the more the merrier!

After you've decided which starting answers you like the most, you can work your way down the list, asking follow-up questions, and before you know it you will have your very own original character :D

And do not feel like you need to keep your character exactly the way they start out as; characters evolve over time, and you may find yourself changing their "base" character to suit your story or to suit your tastes as you get more experienced with writing and world building!

[gotskamstuff]

MY THOUGHTS (THAT NO ONE ASKED FOR AND A BIT TOO LONG) ON THE WHOLE “RUDY IS LEAVING THE SHOW/JJ IS DYING” SPECULATIONS

Sometimes I wish I was one of those people who enjoys tv shows and still is very passionate about it but without entering the world of the fandom ‘cause I would be a liar if I didn’t admit that all the things I’ve come to know about the cast in past couple of years have ruined my experience with OBX a little.

Even this whole “JJ is gonna die” speculation, let’s be real it’s not the first time we have discussed this in the fandom and we basically ask ourselves this question every season and yet now it feels different.

I don’t believe speculations coming from unknown sources and I don’t believe in rumors as a solid proof… HOWEVER again I’d be lying if I said that finding out that Josh Pate (one of the main producers of the show) has abruptly unfollowed Rudy and there’s seemingly something that happened between the two, didn’t stir up the fear in me that yeah maybe he could be leaving the show. Because let’s be real, the actors having drama is one thing, but one of the producers cutting ties with you IS A WHOLE DIFFERENT STORY.

This is why it feels different this time.

I remember genuinely fearing JJ was gonna die in S2 when in the trailer they showed his head wound and I was incredibly scared about it, but it was a “devastating” fear still with a tingle of excitement about the storyline involving a possible Pogue death and with curiosity on how the story could possibly move forward…but now? Now it feels completely disappointing knowing that IF JJ dies it will be simply because he wanted to leave and honestly it would completely ruin the show for me ‘cause to put it quite frankly I would lose my trust in the story writing.

I am in no way a snowflake when it comes to characters dying in shows, sometimes I even love it ‘cause as devastating as it can be it can also be an amazing shock factor for the show but it needs to be done with purpose both for the story and for the character.

JJ dying for me would ruin the entire show and it’s not just because “omg Jiara” “omg JJ is my favorite character” “omg the show wouldn’t be the same” but because realistically it would ruin the entire arc of his character.

Regardless of who your favorite character is based on personal preferences, objectively speaking JJ is the best written character of the show and one of the characters who was given the most depth and one of the most interesting storylines, there has been a great amount of good writing when it comes to JJ’s character development and a character like him ending with death would be like throwing all that work out of the window.

I think it’s a pretty common thought amongst the fandom that JJ’s arc to end in a right way for his character would be to literally having him live his future that he so badly believed he could never have. For the whole show JJ has projected hos lack of a future and his impossibility to ever have anything good for himself, his entire story and growth was about him overcoming that and accepting he can prove everyone including himself wrong, to then end his character like “syke you actually do not get a future and you never get to live it” would completely destroy the entire arc of his character and nothing about his journey from S1 to S3 would have any meaning whatsoever looking back at it.

And I want to make it clear that IF (once again it’s still all speculations) JJ dies I still would not put ALL the blame on Rudy for leaving ‘cause actors leave shows ALL THE TIME and there’s an endless number of things you could write to take a character out of the picture especially for JJ who always had an element of unpredictability to him.

If Rudy was like “hey listen, I’m done with the show” the producers could have 100% put their foot down and still negotiate something reasonable for both parties to leave the door open on his character like “ok your choice free to go, but we are not killing the character…would you come back for the final 2 episodes of the entire show?”

And JJ could have tooooons of possible scenarios for him to leave: following his dad, breaking up with Kiara and leaving Kildare…the INSTANT they mentioned the surf trip in the show they had the perfect opportunity to use it as an excuse to make both JJ and Kiara or one of the two leave at any point to be lost somewhere in the world offscreen. So no it wouldn’t be all Rudy’s fault ‘cause there’s a lot of ways to mostly get rid of a character without killing him and closing the door for good.

This is probably gonna sound bad but I’d rather see the show end all together with S4 than seeing it getting dragged out for longer and longer meanwhile the main cast slowly leaves one by one and especially if the writing gets more and more superficial for convenience.

I HONESTLY HOPE THAT AFTER S4 ENDS WE’LL LOOK BACK AT THIS TIME WHEN WE THOUGHT RUDY WAS LEAVING THE SHOW AND LAUGH…but I don’t even know what to believe anymore. I didn’t believe it until I saw the producers cutting ties with him which realistically sounds like a “good life and goodbye”.

WISH WE COULD TURN BACK TIME TO S1.

[jayweek]

Class Rivals - You (or your character) and Heesung hate each other in the classroom, but an incident leads to something more happening.

genre: class enemies to lovers, slow burn, a little comedy and drama. a little sugestive (idrk?). sfw. words: 1.4k.

tw: mention of ex boyfriend that was toxic. (If there is more or any other mistakes, please let me know. thank youu!)

_____

Heesung has always thought you were pretentious and bossy. It seemed like you didn’t know anything, yet you knew everything. And he hated that. Throughout every semester, either you or Heesung were at the top of the class. And Heesung always hated it when you were on top of him.

With the arrival of the Charity Event for the Hospital that partners with your college, you were anxious because you knew your ex-boyfriend would be there, as he works at the hospital.

________________

Arriving at the classroom today, you saw that despite hating Heesung, you hated your ex even more!

Heesung is everything your ex envies. He’s popular, successful, and probably intelligent too, but you hated to admit it. Especially since he always looked at you with disdain in class or when you ran into him on campus.

...

Two days before the charity event, when class ended, you decided to make your last move. You thought there was no other choice. "Either him or no one."

"Hey, Heesung!"

You approached his desk, and he widened his eyes in surprise but then continued with his usual cold demeanor.

"What is it?"

"Do you want to go to the charity event with me? I need to piss someone off, and I think you’d be perfect..."

"To your ex?" - he cut you off. - "I’m in!"

Heesung might think you’re a snob and everything, but he hated your ex even more. He used to play with every girl's heart, and you were no different, so he sympathized with the cause.

"Wow, I didn’t expect you to agree so easily" - you couldn’t hide your relief. "I’ll see you there then!"

"Okay! But don’t expect me to."

He had that mischievous grin that suggested he was up to something.

_______

On the day of the Charity Event, you dressed in your best formal outfit and got all dolled up. You wanted to make a strong impression. Even though your ex is a jerk in real life, he’s still coveted by girls - which bothers you since he always makes a mess of anyone he dates. So, you wanted to show how well you’re doing now after your breakup, even if it’s not entirely true. You just don’t want your story to keep repeating itself with others.

"I have to value myself. I will get over it. I do."

______

You got Heesung's contact from the class group chat and sent him a message.

"Hey, Heesung! It’s me, Y/N. The charity event is today, don’t forget. Will you pick me up at home?"

He replied almost immediately.

"I’d rather die!"

You were now used to his way of speaking. But you knew he would be there anyway.

You arrived very early at the Charity Event, bringing your donation. To your surprise, Heesung was already there, anxiously looking at his wristwatch.

"Oh, there you are!" - you said.

"Hey! Do we have to start pretending now?"

You were surprised by his attitude; he already seemed like a golden retriever wagging its tail.

"It would be good!"

"Ugh, really?"

He was back to being his usual grumpy self. He was actually well-presented, wearing a formal outfit in shades of brown and white, with his hair nicely styled and a different perfume.

"New perfume?" - you asked. You were enjoying teasing him.

He widened his eyes again and then continued seriously.

"Yeah. I usually wear this one when I go out." - he paused, now putting his hands in his pockets. - "Okay, what do we have to do?"

"Just stay close to me and treat me well."

"Okay, just don’t expect me to kiss you!"

You laughed, but he remained serious.

_____

As the event started to get crowded, Heesung put your hands around his arm to make the "relationship" look as realistic as possible.

"Is this good?" - he tried to speak discreetly.

"Yeah, it’s fine!" - you tried to smile despite feeling a bit strange with the closeness.

You had barely spoken before, and now you were walking arm in arm.

...

You both walked around, and both your faces lit up seeing the donations for the Hospital coming in more and more.

"Isn’t it great to see people committed to helping?" - you cheered.

"Yeah... it’s really nice."

He had a faint smile, as if he was embarrassed deep down, and he really was. With each of your words, Heesung felt more regretful about the harsh judgments he had made about you.

After all, you were just an ordinary girl with good grades. Despite still being a bit snob to him and liking a good competition.

Deep down, he was afraid you would surpass him and all his years of effort would be in vain.

__________

Soon, the teacher of the hardest subject Heesung had ever taken came over to greet you both.

"Well! If it isn’t my two most diligent students!"

Heesung was suspicious. Professor Will had never smiled at him like that, let alone complimented him!

"Good night, Mr. Will! Are you enjoying the event?"

"Indeed, my dear! Indeed!"

He walked away, laughing. Professor Will was always eccentric, especially with his laugh and his choice of clothes, which were always very colorful and boldly patterned.

With Heesung, the professor barely spoke.

One day, Heesung scored 90 on his exam, and the professor threatened to fail him. Soon after, he said he was joking and laughed.

That moment was awful for Heesung. He had studied hard for that subject, but it ended up being his worst grade of the semester. Failing a subject would ruin his resume, which he worked so hard to perfect.

...

"Do you have a thing with him or something?"

Heesung's abrupt question startled you. He had a serious tone and a suspicious air. Now it was you who had wide eyes.

"Who? Professor Will and me? Of course not! Are you crazy?"

He paused and continued to watch the professor turn the corner.

"I don’t trust that guy. I don’t want you near him."

"Okay..."

You decided not to prolong much the conversation because you thought it would lead to nowhere. Heesung seemed to have a solid opinion about the professor, and nothing you said would change his mind. Still, you decided to add something.

"Did he do something? I never noticed anything before..."

Heesung was once again impressed. This time, by your empathy towards his opinion.

"He never treated me well before, even joked about failing me despite my grade being sufficient. It wasn’t the best, of course, but it was clearly above average. I didn’t think it was fair for him to joke about something so serious. It’s someone’s future."

Heesung's confession tugged at your heart.

You both continued walking.

"Oh, I didn’t know... that’s really frustrating."

"Sorry for assuming that about you; it wasn’t fair of me. I just don’t trust that he’s a 100% good guy. He treats certain students very differently."

"Thank you."

You said simply with a slight light smile. Looking at his face now, instead of serious and judgmental, he seemed concerned about his last action. Which you thought was fitting.

_____________

After, you both enjoyed delicious treats and got distracted by the musical performances at the Charity Event.

The food stalls were being dismantled when a kind elderly vendor called you.

"Kids! Can you help me take down the stall, please?"

It was a fortune cookie stall, your favorite.

"Sure!!" - you said cheerfully and promptly.

Heesung was busy examining the stall with his hands on his hips, probably thinking about how you guys would dismantle everything.

Meanwhile, you noticed the short, smiling elderly man walking toward a distant stall. "Strange..." - you thought.

At that moment, you heard a noise. It was Heesung tripping over with a tray of fortune cookies!

And he was falling towards you!!

Some bells from the fortune cookie stall jingled with the wind as Heesung landed completely on top of you, both of you on the ground. You laughed, and he was determined to keep the tray of cookies from hurting you.

"Well..." - he said, leaving the tray on the ground to focus solely on your eyes. - "I really prefer when I’m on top of you!"

You both laughed. He got up and he helped you get up too. Now you guys had an inside joke.

"Maybe so, but this semester, my name will definitely still be on top of yours!"

"Not a chance!"

[mirageofadesert]

On a heartless path of his own: A character study of Tantai Jin from TTEOTM

aka: an excuse to talk about Tantai Jin, as well as Luo Yunxi's acting, excessively

For some reason all media in these posts were taken down due to acopy right claim. You can still see them on reddit!

Born into tragedy, living out someone else's script, destined to suffer all the hardships of humanity, only to rise above it all and ascend to godhood - Tantai Jin's journey is one of epic proportions. It's a story of struggling to control your own destiny, learning to love and grow, but ultimately sacrificing everything for the greater good. And while the story is larger than life, Luo Yunxi's excellent acting grounds it in humanity - drawing the audience into the tragedy that is the life and death of Tantai Jin, Ye Xiwu's husband.

The empowerment of embracing powerlessness

“Dignity? It means nothing to me. For me, personally, this bowl of rice matters more. I can’t survive without food. But I had had dignity would have died long ago.” (TTJ in E02)

As a devil's fetus, Tantai Jin is born without love strings and therefore without the ability to process emotions. This is exacerbated by the loveless and harsh conditions in which he grows up. Struggling to survive from an early age, Tantai Jin lacks any form of control or agency in his own life. The audience pities him, easily excusing his psychotic tendencies on the unfortunate circumstances of his life. And while this is true to an extent, in the context of Till The End Of The Moon's literary and poetic approach to storytelling, I would argue that he is also a "Kunstfigur" - a symbol of humanity, rather than the representation of a real person.

In this sense, Tantai Jin is a stylistic device to tell a story about humanity and fate. The term "Kunstfigur" comes from German literature and theater, and describes a character who stands at a certain distance from reality, i.e. reflects it in some way. Tantai Jin did not become evil, he was born with something evil. The people around him abused him, not just because it's human nature to do so, but because they noticed that there was something wrong with him, something unsettling. We see this best in his two maids who witnessed his birth and childhood. The actions of all these characters are not meant to be realistic, they are a comment on the reality of humanity. This is what makes Till The End Of The Moon such a compelling (and controversial) drama.

What makes Tantai Jin's suffering so special is that even when he reaches a new low, he never seems truly weak. There is so much emotion in his expression that even when he is deliberately schools his face to look indifferent, you can always see a hint of underlying emotion, often some kind of deviance, burning in his eyes.

Saving face, avoiding humiliation and embarrassment are powerful incentives for behavior. Pride or ego make us try to avoid these negative experiences. But what if these negative experiences determined our entire lives? Tantai Jin fears neither humiliation nor belittlement, only hunger and betrayal. He has not only become accustomed to them, he is unable to process them properly. More than that, he has understood how accepting humiliation can be empowering in itself. There is power in being seen as weak. There is power in making others think they have power over you. There is power in letting go of pride. There is power in not fighting back, in not giving others the satisfaction of seeing you struggle and suffer. And it's not just that he lacks the threads of love and doesn't understand human emotion. It's the way he accepts his fate that makes him feel powerful.

This is unique for a character in fiction. Such a role is usually reserved for the court jester or a concubine. Tantai Jin is neither. I think what makes these characters so different is also Luo Yunxi's subtle but excellent acting skills. He is able to portray weakness without ever feeling weak. His approach to acting allows him to express many complex emotions in every single scene. It's not just in his facial expressions, but also in the way he immerses himself in a character, studying it beforehand and pushing himself to his physical limits when necessary. I don't think many actors would be able to create such a convincing character as Tantai Jin.

This last scene is fascinating not only because of the excellent acting, which makes the special effects seem almost real because of the convincing way Luo Yunxi interacts with them. It's also interesting for other reasons: After Tantai Jin feels real (magical) power the first few times, it's implied that he will succumb to it, become hungry and greedy for more - but he never does. These episodes (e.g. the nightmare demon and the crow attack during the wedding) are meant to give the audience a glimpse of a possible future in which Tantai Jin becomes fully evil, which never materialises. When Tantai Jin comes to power, he's nothing like the Devil God.

He does feed excessively on demons, but this is either never shown on screen or presented as a necessity of war. He gains his throne not in a great battle, but through small acts of power rather than great ones - fending off rodents, sharing soup with the court officials, showing humility and wit with the scholars, and making positive changes to social policy so that his people don't have to suffer hunger and hardship as they once did. On the battlefield, Tantai Jin's power is great, and no opponent stands a chance against him. But being a king is not just about the power of one man - it's about the lives of the soldiers he leads, the lives of his people, the safety of his tribe and the happiness of the woman he loves.

Setting on a path of love

“The immortals say, body, heart, and mind are three different parts. When the three parts are unified, the internal elixir is formed. Empty thy heart to unite soul and character. Calm thy body to silent energy and mood. Steady thy mind then all three merge into one. Destroy your desire for romantic love, and then you can understand the universe and all lives. This is the one and only way of the Hearless Way. (LSS in E06)

At the beginning of the story, Tantai Jin is on the opposite path to the Heartless Way. He has no real desire for romantic love, until Li Susu as Ye Xiwu awakens those feelings. Moreover, her kindness takes root in his heart and begins to blossom. Quite literally, as you can see in the scene below:

Through Li Susu's acts of care and love, as well as her determination to protect his life, Tantai Jin slowly falls in love with her. Even without her, he was never cold-hearted. He was compassionate towards animals, never unnecessarily cruel - at least not on purpose or before he was pushed too far. So his newfound ability to process emotions and experience love is not limited to Li Susu/Ye Xiwu.

He shows it to his mother's tribe, in his negotiating skills with Ye Quingyu, in his relationships with Pianran and Nian Baiyu, and in his ability to lead a country. He is a natural leader and a good ruler. Tantai Jin proves to be tenacious and hardworking, loyal, intelligent and even dignified.

in certain mannerisms, or in the elaborate way Tantai Jin dresses now that he has access to proper clothing. Or in the way he personally leads his army, just as Mingye did. (Mingye's influence may be most visible when Tantai Jin becomes Cang Jiumin). It may even have influenced his views on Ye Bingchang. Most importantly, however, is his shared experience of the tragic but deep love between Mingye and Sangjiu. He slowly begins to face and accept his feelings for Ye Xiwu and tries to win her over - while still learning to process feelings of love, jealousy and rejection. His love for Ye Xiwu becomes obsessive and suffocating. His insecurity and jealousy become blinding to a degree that costs Xian Lin his life and Ye Xiwu her freedom.

The battle for Tantai Jin's heart has always been both emotional and magical, as the evil bone resides within it, leaving Li Susu no choice but to pierce it with nails manifested from the love the same heart felt for her.

After Ye Xiwu's death and sacrifice, Tantai Jin loses his mind in grief. His morbid obsession with Ye Xiwu leads him to hold onto her corpse, and later drives him to take his own life in an attempt to be reunited. After failing, Tantai Jin spends the next 500 years single-mindedly searching for his beloved's soul, experiencing excruciating pain on a daily basis. The tragedy of this event is that he is searching for the wrong soul. He still doesn't know when someone else took over Ye Xiwu's body, or what the flashback Ye Xiwu showed him in her last moment really means.

His love for Ye Xiwu has blinded him to everyone around him: His friends, his subordinates, and his people. He no longer cares about anything but his dead wife, not even his own life.

The Heartless Way

There is a misconception about the Heartless Way, especially among international audiences who lack cultural context. It's rooted in Buddhist and Daoist ideas that "heaven and earth are heartless" or "heaven and earth are not partial". What this means is that the Heartless Way is not devoid of emotion, it's quite the opposite: It is about overcoming personal attachments so that one can love and have deep compassion for every living being. It's about equality, not putting one life above another. The idea of the Way itself is probably linked to the concept of wuxin, which is achieved when a person's mind is free from thoughts of anger, fear or ego during combat or everyday life.

While it is Li Susu, who has decided to peruse this way in order to seal the evil bone within her body, I think Tantai Jin has, unbeknownst to him, set on the same path – and even if it’s just within the meta story-telling of the drama.

As Cang Jiumin, Tantai Jin’s love grows. At first, he is still focused on reviving his long death wife and therefore tries to stay in the Xiaoyao sect. However, his time there has subtle but far-reaching consequences. The first task, Cang Jiumin is entrusted with, is to help an old, blind woman trapped by her inability to accept the death of her only son. For this mission, he is given a sword by his master:

This sword is called South Branch. Forged by my Master when he was still alive. It was transformed from plum blossoms. It has the heart of spring and the soul of the frost. It carries no killing intent. If you see the world with kindness, you’ll have no obsession and see true freedom. I’ll give it to you as a witness. When you can awaken it, you can understand it. (E30, Master Zhao You to TTJ)

Tantai Jin witnesses how obsession, even when it's the all-consuming love of a mother, can destroy a person. The old women's story mirrors Tantai Jin's own inability to come to terms with Ye Xiu's death. He tells the women about his beloved wife and how she taught him to be a good person, something he is no longer sure he is. His need for Ye Xiwu was inherently selfish, and he never really thought about what she would have wanted. When the old women ask him if he would turn into an evil person to get his wife back, he briefly considers the possibility of using the power of the Devil God, but decides against it because it's not what Ye Xiwu would have wanted. In the end, Tantai Jin uses a lie to redeem the old woman. He, who never had a mother, embraces her as she dies in his arms. When he returns to his master, something has been set in motion: Tantai Jin lets go of his obsessive love for Ye Xiwu.

Most of the following scenes in the third arc, which are not directly related to the rebirth of the Devil God or Li Susu, are related to this theme. For example, the secret technique of the Xiaoyao sect, the Xiaoyao Swordplay, requires him to "follow and practise his heart". From this point on, Cang Jiumin gains power through diligent practice and kindness. Tantai Jin's ability to love begins to grow, soon encompassing his master and sect brothers. Another example is that the symbolism of food, which had always been a symbol of his relationship with Li Susu, is now used in relation to his sect brothers and master. Tantai Ji begins to care more and more about other people's lives, as shown when he tries to protect everyone in Jiang from Si Ying and Jing Mie (even a tyrant like Cen Mi).

When he transforms the Heart Guard Scale, he has a vision, an epiphany. He sees all the important people from his past living happily in another reality. I'm still not quite sure what it means. But in that moment he understands that he doesn't have to fear the power of the Devil God, that he is in control of his fate.

Having all the power, while having none

Tantai Jin started out with no power, control or agency over his life. He has gained all of this only to reach a point where none of it matters, none of it is enough. He is powerless against his destiny to become the Devil God, but that doesn't stop him. He goes from accepting his fate as a hostage prince to fighting fate itself.

He attempts to trick the Devil God and his minions before using the Xiaoyao Sect's Incarnation-Abandoning Array to trap and kill their army. This technique requires him to sacrifice his own life - and he is willing to do so:

So he gives in and surrenders to fate and the unimaginable powers of the Devil God he once feared. This leads him to face the echo/essence of the Ancient Devil God in a battle for dominance. It's here that he finally realises that he has always been surrounded by love and kindness. He acknowledges the love of his parents, his maids, his subordinates, his sect and his friends, and most of all, Li Susu. She taught him to love and to feel emotions, breaking through the darkness that was his life under the thumb of the Devil God. It is this realisation that leads him not only to fully embrace his fate, but also to ascend to godhood.

However, even with the power of the Devil God and his own godly powers, he is still powerless when it comes to the most important thing: stopping the activated All-in-Distress Way from destroying the three realms and the living beings within them. All his powers are pretty much useless. Tantai Jin has gone from being powerless to having all the power imaginable, and it's still not enough. There is only one way to save the world, and that is for Li Susu herself to ascend to godhood, kill him and thus destroy the All-in-Distress Way.

Therefore, Tantai Jin sees no choice but to free Li Susu from her romantic love for him, so that she can attain the Heartless Way. In doing so, he reinforces his own by embarking on a Heartless Way of his own. As previously quoted, "Heaven and Earth are heartless", and in this sense Tantai Jin is trying to be partial to her pain. And even though we know he's not, he's still trying to sacrifice his love and his remaining obsession for the sake of everyone, for the greater good. Not only does he have to destroy Li Susu's love for him, he has to kill his own by acting against his own desires. This is the heartless way.

In these scenes, the two newly ascended gods are in Tantai Jin's mind and heart. We have already seen these inner places symbolised by space and sky. It visualises how Tantai Jin has achieved inner peace, embraced by light and tranquillity.

I think that even as gods, Tantai Jin and Li Susu were still deeply in love, but they don't put each other above anyone else. In a final sacrifice, Tantai Jin rejects Li Susu's wish to be reincarnated together, destroying his immortal essence and thus himself for eternity (or so it seems).

In this post, I tried to approach Tantai Jin as a character in TTEOTM through two theme present in the story: The metaphor of the Heartless Way and motive of embracing power and powerlessness. Tantai Jin’s hero's story has led him from being without power and agency, a mere pawn of more powerful men and gods, to gain power and love before losing it. He was born without love, appearing heartless, only to gain the ability to feel emotion before having his heart broken (literally). Eventually, he gives up his worldly obsessions, emotions and ego, while developing a deep compassion for every living creature. In the end, his ultimate power lies in his sacrifice and his ability to love.

We have reached the end of this post. I warned you that it was going to be excessive… if you've made it this far, thank you for your time and patience! I hope I haven't made too many spelling mistakes! I originally wanted to highlight more of Luo Yunxi's acting, but I ran out of space. I think I will make a separate post about that.

I would like to thank my Twitter friend ~NPY~, with whom I have been discussing this show for weeks now, and who has helped me with many of these thoughts and ideas. Also a shout out to the reddit user who explained the misunderstanding of the "heartless" path!