#I’m going to make the worst version of these characters stories

[goldenhawk-k]

The main problem with MCU!clint (other than not being deaf) is the fact he’s too cool. Clint Barton is a loser idiot bozo three-time-divorced ex-carnie dumbass broke archer. And that’s integral to his character

[gamingstar26]

Yes, you are exactly right about totk!! A lot of my own complaints come from the story (or lack thereof). To be honest, it's a rare LOZ game that has a particularly complex or nuanced story, but in my opinion, the best ones more than make up for it with their characters.

My favorite game that I've played is Skyward Sword, and I desparately want to play Wind Waker, because the both of them have such fun and compelling characters that I don't really mind the simplicity of the narratives (and Wind Waker even hints at nuance the other games won't dive into!)

Tears of the Kingdom tries to use plot driven storytelling, but... expects us to be far more invested than most of us ever really are. There's hints of character driven story in there, but it all just falls flat in the end and feels really superficial, ESPECIALLY when you look at how they treat the women in this game. Zelda is JUST the sacrificial maiden (again) whose only autonomy comes from choosing to give up her autonomy. Mineru is JUST the smart character who magically technobabbles the solutions. Purah is JUST the scientist that tells you where to go. Most indicative of Nintendo's attitude in this, to me, is with Riju. The way they treat her, it's clear they want her to fill the role of the sexy one, but they know that won't go well if they go all out because she was canonically a young child in the last game. Still really gross, Nintendo you're not subtle.

All this to say that TOTK thinks it's more clever than if is, and fails to pull its own weight in any meaninful way.

All of this!!

I’ll add a bit more that I forgot to add:

Yea usually zelda games have simple plots overall (with some expectations of course) but they do make up for it with memorable characters, etc, etc…

My favorite zelda game is Ocarina of Time cause of the lore (also gameplay of course) and the how interesting it is to me and the overall themes it goes into being tragic and relatable, even tho the surface story is simple overall.(the hero of time games being my favs cause of the story driven nature yet also have fun gameplay) Also other games like skyward sword having a good engaging story with good characters (Groose is the best), wind waker being a simple coming of age story, but also having the king and ganondorf both cling on to the past, etc.

Like you said totk thinks it’s clever and fails to deliver on making us invested in a meaningful and exciting narrative, in a way it’s using tropes from previous zelda games like oot, botw, SS and link to the past without even knowing why they worked in the first place. While failing to reuse tho tropes in a more unique way like previous games have done. It’s true there are hints of character driven story it’s just ignored or mentioned in a half assed way.

Also like I said in the post the lack of consequences with the main story at the end, like Link’s arm just being restored even tho furry rauru had said it was beyond saving, and zelda being recalled back to normal, so her “sacrifice” was not worth it at all (master sword is also worse somehow like wtf zelda)

I’ve also noticed the way totk treats the main women it’s very not good, like you said with zelda she’s just sacrificial maiden turned into a dragon, mineru being exposition dump lady cause that’s all she does tbh, also has the worst Sage ability in the whole game, etc.

zelda being the worst one. (Tbh botw/totk zelda is mixed overall she’s overrated) cause she’s dumb as hell didn’t even recognize that Ganondorf and Calamity Ganon could be related, she does nothing until furry rauru and sonia are dead. Also being a terrible princess, she didn’t even do any meaningful things to hyrule’s rebuilding efforts other than build a school and some small memorials and fuck around doing whatever the hell she was doing pre totk. Also she stole links house damn it.

there’s also the way the gerudo are treated in the zelda series as a whole, but that’s a whole other topic others have done better at that. Like with totk and botw (mostly totk) being helpless yet also warriors needing help from hylians to even survive in their own home?! Like how ingame they explain that zelda of all people was the one to help them get to know the desert and how to survive better wtf? And the secret heroine side quest end, how it’s just some random hylian guy to be the hidden 8th. (There goes the 7 sages and the 8th being the hero of time theory)

Also the way the botw events are treated. they just pretend that none of the ancient tech never existed at all and refuse to mention anything about botw, only in small passes. And the side quest with the Hateno school mentioning the original calamity.

The depths having potential to be better but we’re just empty and massive instead, I like the bargainer statues those are cool as an concept. And the sky islands being boring and copy paste the same few islands throughout.

Holy shit this game makes me write entire essays of complaints. I’m sorry if I repeat myself I’m terrible at explaining stuff at times.

Now I’m going to play the zelda games I’ve never finished to cleanse myself of totk.

[littlesystems]

Sometimes you read a fic where the author is clearly and intentionally writing dead dove content like:

These garbage boys are going to torture and gaslight each other until they’re inextricably intertwined 😈 they are going to make each other the most fucked-up and worst versions of themselves 🔪 they will be so codependent and broken they will never be able to be with anyone else after ☠️

And, like, this is probably written by a pretty normal, well-adjusted person. Genuinely. The dove is dead but the author knows that the dove is dead because they killed the dove. On purpose. Gleefully. They were like “wouldn’t it be fucked up if…” and then wrote the if.

But then sometimes you read a fic where the author is like:

uwu these soft boys are soooo cute and in love 🥰 they’re so sweet and pure and good 💕 I just want them to be cutesy-wutesy and in lurveeee forever 😍 this is my new fic about soft boys being soft 💋 this is the height of romance 😘

And then the fic is. Not. The relationship is THE must fucked up, manipulative, passive-aggressive shit show where both characters are being awful to each other, but in the most socially-acceptable heteronormative way where you could 100% picture a friend of a friend telling you this bizarre story at a party while you’re sitting there like wow 😬 straight people are wild who acts like that?

I don’t read fics like that often, but whenever I do I’m always like................... 👀 you good? You doing okay? You seem to think this kind of behavior is, uh. Normal. And, uh, romantic? But these characters certainly seem to hate each other. Not in the narrative, in the narrative they’re super in love somehow but uhhh. Um. You good?

There is such a chasm between people writing something fucked up on purpose vs someone writing something fucked up on accident. And the latter is where things are not tagged properly, and they’re infinitely more disturbing imo.

[dragonmuse]

Keep It In The Box : An Essay on OFMD Season 2 and the Failure to Heal

(here in is my season two reaction. It contains many many spoilers. It's also about 3k words long so you know what you're getting into.)

“See, I have a system for dealing with all the terrible things I've seen. There's a box in my mind, and I put the things in the box..” -Frenchie, Season 2 of Our Flag Means Death

…..and then he never opens it. Chekov’s locked box has no key in season two.

On first watch, it seemed clear to me that Frenchie’s declaration was a narrative plant. Clearly the whole season would be about that box of pain and trauma being opened, sorted through and at least the beginning of healing. The show had developed a reputation after season one of being kind and focused on queer narratives of healing from childhood. Ed and Stede’s parallels in their childhood traumas were frequently on display through season one and were repeated in flashback throughout season two. Jim’s season one arc about becoming someone who doesn’t think just of revenge and can now forge meaningful connections was profound, beautiful and often funny. Izzy is an antagonist because he doesn’t want Ed to move on or stop acting like the trauma-response version of himself. The antagonist wants to stop healing. The point is to grow, to change, to learn how to love. It’s one of the things that made season one work for me at the time, despite reservations about pacing and tone.

So naturally season two should follow suit. It’s a kind show! About healing and falling in love!

For the first several episodes, the remaining crew on the Revenge go through a gauntlet of trauma, forced to do and receive violence at Ed’s whims as he careens from self-destructive behavior to self-destructive behavior. This is the wounding setup. It was dark, but it seemed like it would have a payoff and at first it did.

Perhaps one of the most beautiful moments of the season comes in one of the small respites in those early episodes as Jim recounts Pinnochio to Fang to soothe him through his grief. That was the show that I expected. The kindness of that moment struck me very deeply. It gave me some understanding of Archie too, who seems to fall for Jim right at that moment.

That scene is the show season one promised. Season two led with packing Frenchie’s box full to bursting. Here is the fight to the death between lovers, there is a first mate who is mutilated and rotting in the very walls (the rot of the Revenge itself), and there is the storm of Ed’s rage and pain that threatens to consume all of them.

So surely these remaining episodes would concentrate on finding the humor in healing from those moments. That is the setup. Frenchie has a box. The box must eventually open.

Except time and again, all the characters who suffered are told that the only way to deal with what they’ve been through is to stick it in the box and never open it again.

Pete tells Lucius that he’s unable to move on and needs to let it go. Izzy has a story about a shark. Ed’s apology to the crew which doesn’t even contain the words ‘I’m sorry’ is just…accepted. I kept waiting and waiting for a meaningful apology to the people Ed had hurt the worst with his actions, but it seems all we get is Fang saying ‘eh, no problem, I got to hit you back so I feel better’.

The playful theme of ‘pirates are just violent sometimes’ from season one becomes a grinding horror machine in season two when every atrocity visited on someone is forgiven because the narrative needs it to be. Ed and Stede spend more time making amends with each other over the bloodless night on the beach than either of them spend trying to repent for their actions towards anyone else.

And let’s talk about Ed. Arguably this season pivots on his narrative, on his path to healing and growth. A path that starts at a very low point. His moment in the gravy basket, deciding he wants to live because there are still things to live for is so great! So one might assume that what would follow would be him pursuing those things, making amends, making connections. He and Stede have a wonderful moment, talking about being whim prone and how they’ll work to avoid that, build a relationship by going slower.

Yet, at no point do either of them stop following whims. They never heal or learn from what’s happened to them. They both keep running from thing to thing, particularly Ed. It’s a whim to sleep with Stede, it’s a whim to run off to fish, and the finale gives us just more of their whims. Ed drops fishing as fast as he picked it up. He finds those leathers in the ocean, murdering the symbolism of leaving them behind. Even the inn is a whim, one of those things Ed decided he’d be good at without evidence. And Stede joins him in that without a single on screen conversation about it ahead of the moment.

Ed needs to heal himself and to do that he needs to confront what he’s done and do the work to heal the wound. Instead, he doesn’t meaningfully apologize to anyone, besides Stede and Fang. Despite Izzy’s dying words (we’ll get to that), not only do we never see the crew caring about Ed, working to make him family in the same way they do with Fang and even Izzy, he also doesn’t choose to stay with them. So what is the point? Where is the healing? Or does even Ed, beloved main character, have to live with it all stuffed in a box?

He ends the season in the leathers he threw away, in a relationship that’s barely stabilized, going to live in a house which we are told by the narrative (in that they are very very clearly paralleling Anne and Mary with Ed and Stede or why do we even get that whole Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? episode) will only end in them setting fire to each other to stay warm.

But Vee, I hear you cry, it’s a ROM-COM. This is all meant to be ha-ha funny and you are taking it so seriously!

Cool beans. Then why the hell isn’t it funny? Healing is often filled with comedy because people deal with pain with humor. You can heal and laugh at the same time. The finale especially is almost entirely devoid of laughs, almost entirely devoid of joy until the last minute for that matter. The episode that should show off with a flourish how far everyone’s come, mostly serves to show that no one has grown.

Okay that’s Ed. I want to talk about Lucius next. Our former audience surrogate (that’s taken away in season two when he doesn’t get enough screen time to perform that role and no one takes his place) really goes through the wringer. He experiences many many terrible things, including sexual assault (which is made into a grimace-laugh line that doesn’t take away from it’s seriousness because oh hey, that can be done as it turns out). He’s nervous, he’s smoking, it’s clear he’s suffering.

There’s a beautiful moment where Pete tells him ‘hey, I was also in pain. I grieved’ and that’s great. It’s good that Pete sets a boundary about Lucius not obsessing over the past to the point of occluding their future.

We even get our comedic moment where Lucius pushes Ed off the boat (still not apology, but I’d lost hope for that by then) and that doesn’t help enough. So Izzy comes in with a shark and the advice that you just have to move on.

Just…you know. Play pretend. Forget.

Shove it in a box. Ed didn’t take my leg, a shark did. Ed didn’t kill you, a shark did. Live with the person that tried to murder you because it’s your fault you dangled your leg over the side of a boat. That is the show’s message. I thought on first watch, that surely this would also come back up and be explained that you can’t live that way, that that is no way to heal. That it would become clear that this was no way through. You cannot make everything into sharks.

Lucius can move forward and still carry pain. He can still want a meaningful apology and still want to talk to his lover about what he’s dealing with while moving forward toward a brighter future.

And what of the flirtatious promise of relationships and connections being the way to heal? Look to Oluwande and Jim, whose heartfelt romance from season one was relegated to the bins of history in favor of a narrative that made him a brother Jim once had sex with. They could have had Archie AND Oluwande, who in turn could also have Zheng, but that never seems to be an option. With a single short conversation, they are broken up with, despite a brief tease at the birthday that they still ‘dance’ together, it never actually manifests. Jim and Archie never talk about what they went through. It’s swept under the rug as fast as knives are lowered.

Lucius also no longer flirts with other people, the solution to his pain is to propose and get married (but not too married, lest we forget that they’re two men, they don’t even get to be husbands or even the more respectful mates, no. They’re mateys.) This season proposes that the only happy endings are monogamous ones, where no one talks about anything painful that went before.

To ensure that message, beyond assuring the success of Oluwande and Zheng’s relationship, Jim and Archie almost entirely disappear from the narrative. Sorry you guys were given layers of trauma and no growth and not even much to do this season, we need to make sure that everyone remembers Oluwande is the break in Zheng’s day so when he says that to her five minutes later we know exactly what he’s referencing. No time for Archie to learn what an apology is or for Jim to get one line in with Oluwande that isn’t affirming their newfound broship. Must do more flashbacks to things we just did two episodes ago!

The show even dangles the conversation of the Revenge being a safe space. Why would any of them ever feel safe when the man who tortured them is allowed to walk among them and they are expected to forgive and forget? What’s safe about that? The ship is never made safe for any of them, but that’s never addressed.

And Zheng! Amazing, hysterically funny Zheng! She loses her ships, her entire way of life, the kingdom she built for herself and then…she doesn’t even get to captain the Revenge. We don’t know what becomes of her fleet, of her plans, her ambitions. Don’t worry about it, she has a romantic partner and isn’t that what every lady wants in the end?

(But Vee, I hear you cry again, there will be a season three! Maybe it will be All About Zheng! To which I say: then why did they present us with the most series finale feeling episode ever? If there’s more, I have no idea where it’s going. BUT VEE: BUTTONS AS SEAGULL ON THE GR- Fine. It’s time.)

Let’s talk about Izzy Hands.

Izzy manages more healing than anyone else this season. He reaches his lowest point, suicidal in the bowels of a ship that’s become a prison (very much in contrast to Ed’s suicidal low). The person he loves most in the world has shredded him physically and emotionally (and if you’re in the camp that thinks Izzy deserves the abuse that Ed gave to him, I would really like you to sit quietly with yourself and ask why you think there is ever anything anyone can do to deserve that treatment). He’s low, he shoots Ed to protect everyone, and then seems to plan to drink himself to death, mourning his losses.

And then another beautiful moment! The crew move past their own pain to help him. They work together for the first time and it’s to give Izzy mobility back. He treasures it. He cries over it. He uses that kindness extended to him to reach a new understanding of Stede and help him succeed, doing the work to make real amends. He sings in drag, he’s vulnerable and beautiful, celebrating the side of himself that he must’ve loathed in the first season. He’s an elder queer man, coming into himself.

He never gets an apology though. (‘Sorry about your leg’ without eye contact is not an apology. There is no responsibility taking, no acknowledgement of the weeks of torture that came with it.) Izzy also never really has an honest conversation with anyone about what it means that the man he loves punished him so severely for the crime of trying to protect the crew (yes, lest we forget, Izzy lost his leg because he was trying to keep Ed from re-traumatizing the crew and himself).

Izzy does all this work, but even he’s not allowed to take it out of the box. It’s a shark, not Ed. Ed is just ‘complicated’ (the language of abuse here is so upsetting and I think not even intentional).

And then he dies. His last act? To apologize to the man who tortured him and shot at him. To have done all this work, to take on all the blame. And then die.

In a rom com.

This show ends in a profoundly unfunny moment of telling the audience: this is the one character that did the work, that made amends, that tried his hardest to accept the parts of himself that he had a hard time embracing and formerly embittered him. He’s fully accepted his queerness and turned it into beautiful music. He’s disabled, and he worked hard to accept that. The man he loves will never love him back, so he worked hard to make Stede able to meet Ed on an even playing field. The Giving Tree gave up its limbs and its trunk, and it’s not even allowed to be a stump to sit on.

Kill the queer elder, who has managed to figure out how to live and in his own way how to heal. Kill him before he manages to teach anyone else how to meaningfully move forward (he almost gets it with Lucius, almost, but it’s meant to be rule of three, you know. Cigarette..shark…and then…and then fuck it, Lucius doesn’t even get to say a word at his funeral).

The message of this season again and again is that there is no healing, just moving forward. Like a shark. Like a bird that never lands.

That is not a kind show.

Season two is not a kind season.

It splinters people up and jams them back together without purpose or reason. It tells everyone who experiences pain that they should shove it in a box and not deal with it. No one who really needs one gets an apology of any sincerity. No one puts in the work to gain forgiveness. (Ed wearing a onesie is not The Work. Ed fixing a door is not The Work. Ed broke people that the show wants us to care about. Ed never does the work of making those amends. He fires off a Notes app apology at best. After all, it’s what he told himself via Hornigold in the gravy basket: you move on or you blow your brains out! Good thing he took his own advice and therefore had to change nothing to get his just rewards.

I would’ve taken just fifteen minutes of Ed trying to actually make amends. It could’ve been hilarious! Imagine awkward Ed trying to dance around what he’s doing with Jim and the two of them having a knife throwing competition about it. Or him and Frenchie attempting to make music together, writing a song about the raids they went on! It’s not just the crew robbed of their healing because of this, it’s Ed himself. He never meaningfully changes or makes amends. How is he any different at the end of the finale then he is standing on the edge of that cliff with Hornigold? He hasn’t moved on, he hasn’t healed. He tried one thing (fishing) that doesn’t fucking work and then he runs right back.

No one leaves this season better than they went into it. They’ve lost an elder queer, they’ve lost their joyous and queer polyamory, they’ve lost a chance for meaningful reconciliation with Ed and Ed lost any chance of looking like he gave shit if they did. Stede grows enough to accept the crew’s beliefs as important and then leaves them behind without a care.

Izzy gets a beautiful speech about piracy being larger than yourself. Ed and Stede, within twenty minutes of that speech, leave piracy. They are incapable of giving themselves to something bigger, apparently. They haven’t learned to be a part of a community. They haven’t healed from their childhood trauma or their fresher wounds. They are still just following their own whims.

Zheng’s life work is in tatters, but it’s fine, she has love. Oluwande and Jim aren’t together, but it's fine because they both have dedicated monogamous partners. Lucius was deeply scarred by what happened, never recovers much of his first season personality, but hey he got-well it’s not married exactly- but you know good enough!

Frenchie, who has a box forever locked in his head, is captain. Because the key to success is to lock it all in a box and never open it. What a message. What a show. Conceal, don’t feel. Smile because it’s a happy ending. Don’t mourn the dead, don’t try to tell people what happened to you (they will literally run away or cry too hard to listen and really you’re just bumming them out), and any meaningful change you make is only rewarded with death.

Frenchie is now a pirate captain with a box in his head full of trauma that’s never been opened, leading a crew with more wounds than scars. Wonder how that could turn out? Wonder how many years before he might want to retire and then happen to run across a gentleman pirate. As if no one learned anything at all.

[writingwithcolor]

Author with cultural disconnect: How do I write without making it seem as if I hate my own heritage?

Anonymous asked:

I’m a white-passing Asian author, and I’ve never felt all that connected with my heritage. My current story centers on a fairy (re: fantasy-world POC) child and ends with her realizing that her parents are toxic af and her human best friend’s family takes her in. This is the perfect opportunity to sort through my own issues with my heritage and finally convince my monkey-brain that it’s okay to not know how to cook Vietnamese food or celebrate tet or speak Vietnamese… But I also realize that if I’m not careful, this could easily slip into “Hey, I hate my heritage and so should you!” So how can I stop that from happening?

Writing for yourself first, not an audience

I ask you a simple question: why put pressure on yourself to have any sort of non-offensive messaging for a story that hasn’t been drafted yet and is to convince your monkey brain it’s okay to exist as yourself?

That seems like the fastest way to stop the story from being actually cathartic and instead a performance art piece when you already feel hung up on performing as “properly” part of your culture.

As I said in Working Through Identity Issues and Other Pitfalls of Representation, not all stories you write need to be for public consumption. Especially stories you’re using for your own self-processing and therapy, because you’re trying to get a cathartic moment that is rewriting your own story.

At what point does the public need to be involved in that?

I do understand the compulsion to want to post—I have definitely posted some Questionable™ material in my drive to get validation for feeling the way I do, wanting people to witness me and say “same.” It’s a powerful urge. Sometimes it’s worked, but most of the time it’s just made me feel horrifically exposed.

But you really do not have to post in public to get any sort of validation. Set up a groupchat with friends if you want the cheerleading and witnessing—people who will know your story and give you good-faith interpretations and won’t accuse you of anything. Honestly I’d suggest setting up this groupchat anyway; as someone who just got one again after quite a few years without it, my productivity has skyrocketed from being around supportive people.

Let the monkey brain have its monkey brain moment and shut off the concept the story is for the public. Shut off the concept of performing for an unknown audience. It’s for you. Be authentic, no matter how bad it would look to outsiders. They’re not reading it. Part of getting catharsis, sometimes, is being the worst version of yourself, somewhere nobody else can see it.

Deciding to publish the work

If, after you do write it, you find that you actually do want to polish it up and put it somewhere… edit it. Rewrite it entirely if that’s what it takes. Take the story through the same drafting process every story needs to go through, ripping out the unfortunate implications as you go.

Editing can be its own form of healing, as you try to figure out what this character would need to not be hateful. As you realize, once this longform journal entry is out of your head, what was bothering you now that you can see it pinned down on a page. But you absolutely do not need to write with the intention of editing in that healing. When I’ve tried, it’s fallen flat.

The healing will come from being yourself, no public involved, and writing about your feelings in their rawest form. Anything else is extra.

There’s no point in trying to put guard rails on the drafting process, not for a deeply personal piece. And by the time that drafting process is done, you’ll likely have specific scenarios and contexts that you can ask about, and you might even have ideas on how to fix it yourself once the story has a shape to it.

This is 100% a situation where there’s no real sense in idea workshopping something in the plotting stage. You’re doing something for you. Decide if it’s for public consumption later (while acknowledging “no” is a perfectly valid answer), and only figure out how to make the story not overtly harmful if you decide to put it out into the public.

~ Leigh

[jess-the-vampire]

i’ve seen a few people claim Philip stripped caleb’s jacket off his body after his death as some morbid memento, but we already have his memories on the matter and he had caleb’s jacket pre-fight and was wearing it when he first arrived.

even in his shadow form you can make out he’s wearing the coat.

Not to mention caleb is never seen wearing it in any of the memories on the isles

Nah, as much as i know people love finding new ways to make philip even more morbid, if the story holds any weight, and it probably does, it seems far more likely caleb left it back on earth with philip. There’s no evidence to suggest philip stole it or rid him of it, but that caleb ditched it when he left.

and when philip assumed a witch kidnapped his brother, he put it on, probably as a form of comfort and keeping his brother close at a time where he assumed the worst could have happened to him. Kinda in the same vein of how luz was wearing eda’s jacket to keep her close during their separation.

It seems to be quite an important object to him, being what looks like his only link left to caleb as he was on earth. With the thought he also grew his hair out to have a ponytail like his older brother it appears to be less like “Stealing” and way more like a sign of what was originally his admiration and love for his brother.

A strong desire to be close to him and be like him through his appearance, tho only the version of him that he remembers best, which was the one back on earth...not the one that left him for the isles,

(Which def fuels even more why he didn’t appreciate luz insulting it, because it was basically also insulting the brother he’s trying so hard to recreate, the one that didn’t leave him)

This isn’t even out of character that philip likes to keep mementos of his brother, he even seems to have taken his old childhood mask his brother made him to the isles judging by his memories. Tho i’m sure the jacket holds more significance because it was caleb’s first specifically.

I think it’s definitely easy now to accuse Philip of every bad thing ever, and his obsession with his brother screams serious attachment issues. But it doesn’t appear he had that jacket on originally for anything but genuine love and care for him, at first at least.

There’s no evidence to suggest caleb told philip he was leaving, or any evidence that he even tried to talk to his brother about what was going on with him. As far as we know, he left, and philip, from his pov, went out to save the person he considers his entire world from what he believes might kill and/or hurt him.

And if philip wasn’t the villian of the show, i think a lot more people would be willing to sympathize with that part of his character.

His relationship with his brother has both a lot of resentment for leaving him behind and alone, but also a lot of the original love and admiration for him he held for years.

But with the knowledge he only became a hunter because he felt he needed to fit in with society for survival purposes, combined with the fact caleb was his only family and caretaker...while only being a few years older then him at the very least....you can see how this probably fueled so many of his issues.

Wanted to make a post about this cause while he deserves the crap for the bad stuff he actually does, it’s at least worth mentioning at one point he was just a naïve child raised in a bad community who originally just wanted to keep the one person he loved the most....safe.

and at one point, that jacket was not some morbid prize he got for what he did, or something he seemingly stole, or him trying to steal his brother’s look, it was originally just something he wore....because he did love him.

And to this day, he still kept it.

[adnauseum11]

Point of Contact (John Price x Reader)

John reaches out to Kate for a favour.

850 words

CW: swearing

feedback welcome!

It is the absolute crack of dawn when Kate gets the call she’s been expecting for the last few hours. She’s up, mainlining coffee and checking her emails relentlessly when her cell vibrates across the desk.

“John?”

“Kate.”

Kate’s initial impression is that John sounds tired. Immediately she wonders if she’ll get the full story from him or have to rely on Gaz’ version.

“Gaz said you were going to have a name for me to run? What’s happened?” Her concern is unmistakable down the line.

Of course, Kyle told her what happened, but she wants to hear it from John himself. Their past squabble is sidelined immediately without discussion. John sighs and Kate can picture her friend pacing and pushing his hand through his hair in frustration.

“Her place got broken in to yesterday. Guy didn’t touch obvious jewellery, or cash, seemed to be looking for information. Not sure what type of information or to what end just yet. Dislocated his shoulder before the police picked him up so he’ll be with medical for a little bit. Could be something, could be nothing. I’m hoping we can use their detour through medical to do a little information gathering of our own.”

“You’re sure this isn’t just a B&E gone bad, John?” Kate tries to keep the skepticism out of her voice.

“Worst B&E I’ve ever seen if that’s the case. Man was empty handed after a sizable head start. Odd time of day too, right when people are getting home from work.”

“You think he meant to do more than rob her?”

“Don’t know. Scared the hell out of her at the least. But he wasn’t doing any talking and I’m no good to her arrested so I didn’t force the issue. He’s booked on B&E but he didn’t technically steal anything. He’ll get a slap on the wrist at best. Never hated being a fucking civilian more in my life.”

Kate can hear the frustration in his voice. For a man like John, used to making things happen and getting answers by any means necessary, being beholden to the laws and skills of the local police force was particularly infuriating.

“What’s the name?”

John gives her the name from the police report, spelling it out for her.

“I’ll owe you if we can get this put to rest sooner than later. I’m hoping it’s nothing and just some tweaker, her place isn’t in the best part of town but something’s just not sitting right for me. Maybe I’m seeing ghosts where there’s nothing, but I want to be sure.”

“You really should move her out of there John, either way.” Kate can’t help but prod him about it, finding it out of character for John to be lax about security.

“You think I’m unaware? I thought I was going to have to drag her out of there last night. I’m going to have to pick my moment with that topic.” John’s cranky, making Kate smile to herself.

“At least it sounds like you know what you’re up against.”

John’s huff of amusement is weak, even over the staticky line.

“This favour, would it have limitations?”

Kate switches topics easily, only half teasing. She isn’t above making her own life easier down the road, even if it temporarily complicates John’s. That give and take has been a natural part of their friendship for years.

“Cross that bridge when we get to it.” John defers, and Laswell decides to take pity on the man and let him get away with it for the moment.

“Gaz said she seemed nice. When do I get an introduction?” Kate tacitly accepts the terms of his offer, moving on to personal interest.

“After I get some answers. We’ll have dinner, my treat.” John sweetens the deal further, a peace offering for their last interaction.

“Alright, I’m going to hold you to that. It’s not every day I get the chance to meet someone who can order a Captain around in his own home.”

Kate can’t help taking a swipe at the man, Gaz’ report including just as much detail on the state of John and his woman as anything else to Kate’s delight.

“Unbelievable, fucking Gaz, listen she was not having a good time of it yesterday–“

John’s trying to explain but Kate cuts him off before he can get very far.

“Knowing you, I’m sure not. I’m also sure that after you were asked to keep it down so she could sleep, you did, you big softie. Certainly, you two left an impression on Kyle.”

Kate’s smile bleeds through the line and the corner of John’s mouth quirks up finally at her gentle teasing despite his concern over how yesterday shook out.

“Bloody hell. Don’t make me regret agreeing to dinner, Kate.” He sighs, pushing his fingers through his hair.

“I’ll update you after I do some digging John, keep your phone handy.”

"Thanks, Laswell."

John's gratitude is palpable. The knot of tension in his chest relaxes infinitesimally, and he disconnects the call and leaves the kitchen to rejoin you, still sleeping soundly in his bed.

Next Chapter

Tag list:

@deadbranch @beebeechaos @cadotoast @syoddeye @writeforfandoms

[lurkingshan]

Once again I'm here because I'm angry. There's been a lot of talk about Boston and what Jojo wanted or not to say about sluts and whatever. I, and other people I think, were struggling with the idea that Jojo would actually want that message out. So I went to see some interviews. And got kinda shocked about one thing that he said. (btw this is an actual quote.) He was talking about Boston reasons for his behaviour Jojo: Bad people don't need to have a backstory. They are just born sluts. A bad character doesn't need... (and then the interviewer says - he doesn't need tragedy to be bad) Exactly. And then he gets asked if he thinks Boston needs redemption and he emphatically says NO. And then talking about how much fun is writing the character he says this: Boston is such a fun character to write. yeah unpredictable he's like, he doesn't care. he doesn't have morals so we just like goes with the flow. bad people? no morals? humm... i don't know... So yeah, now I don't really know what to think about it. I was wondering what are your thoughts about this. I'm still gonna watch some more of this, because I'm a masochist that needs all the information, but yeah, I thought I would share. Thanks for the space

Yiiiiiikes. Okay, first let me preface this by saying that whenever I am reading/watching something that was either translated to English or spoken in English by a person with a different first language, I try not to get too hung up on specific word choice. By necessity we tend to go for the simplest possible words to convey meaning in those situations, and thus a lot of nuance gets stripped out.

That said, the sentiment is clear: Jojo saw Boston as a villain character without a moral code that he could deploy to cause chaos wherever he liked in the story. And he is definitely conflating his villainy with sexual promiscuity, which is the worst part of this quote and unfortunately aligns with the way that finale, and ultimately the themes of the show, were written. It definitely makes me side eye Jojo and as I’ve already said, I won’t be so inclined to trust him nearly as much next time.

Only Friends, however, has more than one writer, and I don’t think they all see it this way. If you think Boston is purely an irredeemable slut, you don’t write his breakup and reunion with Nick in the way that this show did. You don’t give depth to his situation with Atom. You don’t show his sincere emotion, his hurt, and his earnest desire to be with Nick while he can. With all the info we have now and in retrospect, it kind of feels like there was a bit of a tug-o-war going on with Boston’s story.

My understanding is that Den Panuwat, one of three writers on the show, is the one who adapted the novel version of the story, and there he changed Boston’s final arc significantly. Rather than Boston fucking Atom, he made his final conflict about his dad’s political career with Boston’s sexuality being used as a weapon against him. He wrote Boston and Nick ending on good terms. And he wrote a final chapter for Boston where he arrives in New York, finds a more accepting society and queer community who accept and understand him, and thrives.

I’m sure there were some non-artistic reasons why we couldn’t get this version of the story in the show (the politics story was likely vetoed for censorship reasons and they probably couldn’t afford to show us Boston in NY, for example), but the fact that Den wrote it signals that his perspective on Boston is not fully aligned with what Jojo said in that quote above. Perhaps we have him to thank for the empathetic portrayal and humanity we did see in Boston despite Jojo’s perspective on him. And Den has another show coming soon, so maybe we’ll see a clearer read of his own perspective on queer sexual politics without the GMMTV restrictions when we watch Playboyy.

[dyaz-stories]

oh gosh i just want to say that i really admire your works and how perfectly youre able to portray hyun-su !! i always get immersed in the story, you are genuinely such a great writer !! <3

Thank you so much for saying that!! Hyun-Su is such a lovely character to write and I'm so glad you're enjoying my take on him. on a tangentially related note, it's very funny to see so many fellow stays and other kpop stans following me since i've started writing for him, hadn't realized there was such a crossover between kpop and kdrama fans lol, though i guess i should have 😁

Anyway, I've written around 2k words for my next piece on him today, so here's a snippet featuring Hyun-Su's monster! Hope you enjoy it!

He shoots you a grin that makes you knees weak, and, as his blue eyes stare straight into yours, you finally understand what is going on.

You remember too well the state he was in last time you saw this— well— version of him, and your eyes run over his body, followed by your hands, checking for injuries. But while his sweater is in worst shape than usual, and you find blood that you think is fresh on there, his skin is intact under your fingers.

When you look into his eyes again, you find him staring at you, amused.

“You can keep going,” he teases. Your face starts burning and you take a step back, embarrassed, but he follows right after you, eyes devouring you. “Come on, you know you want to. Why not just give in?”

Your back hits the wall, and he leans closer, like a cat playing with a mouse. The difference is, though your heart is hammering in your chest, you don’t feel that scared. Nervous, sure, but there is no actual threat to his tone, or even to his attitude.

“I’m not— I’m not doing anything Hyun-Su wouldn’t want,” you answer, and you somehow find it in yourself to lift your chin defiantly as you do.

Meeting this version of Hyun-Su’s eyes sends a rush of heat through you once again. Beneath the amusement, there is so much more. Fascination. Adoration, even.

He lets out a brief laugh at your words.

“Please,” he practically purrs, “you can’t think that he doesn’t want this.” You stare at him, and his grin widens. “Maybe you should ask him, then.” He leans closer to you, mouth so close to your ear you can feel his breath tickling your cheek. “Ask him what he thinks about when he’s alone at night.” Your cheeks are on fire. “Ask him what he thinks about when you’re lying in bed next to him.” Your breath catches in your throat. “Ask him what he thinks of doing to you.”

He laughs again, and Lord, you don’t know how your legs haven’t given up underneath you yet.

“Come back to me if he still doesn’t have the guts to do anything,” he whispers in your ear. “For now, I think we’ll take a nap.”

That’s all the warning you get before he collapses into you and you can do nothing but slide down to the floor, holding Hyun-Su’s now unconscious body in your arms.

Full one-shot here (NSFW)

[anti-katsuki-lounge]

The worst thing about Endeavour’s retconning is that it instantly makes his family look worse by association.

Like it is quite likely that Hori didn’t intend it this way, but it comes across like abuse victims are being disbelieved, like the narrative is gaslighting Shouto that nope his dad didn’t hit his mom that was the floor, nope Touya wasn’t pushed passed his mental breaking point and almost immolated himself that was Touya being a brat.

And then there are those moments, like with Bakugou saying “he’ll live if he dodges” there is so much in the BNHA writing that puts the onus on the victim to avoid injury, like Izuku will only get hurt if HE does the wrong thing, not the explosion chihuahua threatening him.

Sometimes I feel like BNHA is almost a playbook for how to get away with abuse.

Chapters include:

Mineta: how to get away with sexually harassing your classmates and women in your industry

Aizawa: how to engage in teacher abuse

Bakugou: how to be a complete dickwad, suicide bate and bully a classmates to the point to legitimately attempted murder.

Endeavour: how to abuse the wife that you bought and children you forced her to have and then gaslight them to the point they believe his version of events over their own.

Overhaul: no words needed, that dude just has multiple chapters of his own.

Hori has huge issues when it comes to retconning. I do think he does it to make characters seem less bad, but it really harms the story.

As you mentioned, Endeavor’s retcons makes the rest of the Todoroki family look worse just to make Endeavor less of a monster.

Shota’s expulsion retcon was meant to make him seem less harsh but it does nothing except trap his students into heroics (their expulsions are still on their records which’ll make transferring to a different school practically impossible even if they don’t want to be heroes). 

I’m like 80% sure Hori was initially going to shelf Katsuki into the background to make room for other characters such as Shoto, but in an interview he mentioned how having Katsuki cry after Kacchan vs Deku motivated him to whore out Katsuki, hence why there’s a change in tone surrounding Katsuki in early season 1 compared to the rest of the series.

But yeah, Hori really struggles to write about abuse because a lot of what he’s written either comes off as being abuse apology or victim blaming.

[wisasslocs]

I know Barbie is a movie about empowering women and I’m here for it! I could go on and on about its themes and its cinema, but one thing I want to say is Ken is allowed to be talked about!

So many people are getting upset about people focusing on Ken and his role, seemingly implying that people are ignoring Barbie and the other women’s story, well they are not!! Ken is as important to the story as Barbie is. People see themselves in Ken and in his storyline, and that is fine for them to analyze and digest!

If you watched Barbie and still push people down for simply wanting to talk about the parts of the movie they related to the most then rewatch the movie with an unbiased view. Put yourself in a different headspace to understand why people want to talk about Ken. Because Ken is a parallel to what Barbie is going through but in the role of himself outside of Barbie.

People are out there that feel like they need the validation from one person either their parents or friends or peers and outside of that validation they don’t know who they are. They see that in Ken and in the end they understand that they are enough through watching Ken become the worst version of himself simply because he wanted to be validated by Barbie but in the end realized he didn’t need validation from her but from himself.

Just let people relate to the characters of the movie and state their observations without making them feel bad they do.

[carigm]

Today Millie had a fan panel in which she answered that her ideal ending would be Mike and El getting married and Will being happy and confessing to Mike (lol) and ofc the Stranger Things fandom kicked up the old Byler vs Mlvn war once again, regardless of the fact she doesn’t write the show. But I want to break down some points here about things I’ve been noticing today, but also for a while and that I think need to be discussed. Keep reading if you want.

I’ve seen a lot of hostility towards Byler and Bylers on Twitter lately, saying we’re delusional and don’t know what we’re talking about. This always seems to be the go to argument even tho it’s all in the narrative. Today it got really bad after Millie’s comments and even people that were merely disagreeing with her opinions got called everything from delusional to misogynistic.

IF the Duffers suddenly decided to ignore everything they’ve carefully crafted and put into their narrative that doesn’t make anyone delusional, it just makes them terrible writers. Who would be doing a great disservice to all three characters involved in the love triangle.

There’s been an insurgence (on Twitter) of so called “Will stans” who seem to be completely fine with the idea of mlvn being endgame because “Will can just get another boyfriend” Not only is this insulting to what the writers have already established for Will’s character but it’s also a defense and endorsement of the worst kind of lazy/bad writing that could graze our screens.

The Duffers CHOSE to tie Will’s character arc to Mike’s and El’s.

How do you expect them to undo that and create a well fleshed out character that’s deserving of Will, in 8 episodes that we know are not just gonna be dedicated to Will’s supposed love interest, because there’s a shit ton of stuff to resolve?

If this was the route the Duffers were going for, they could’ve clearly given Will a love interest last season (like with Robin) or two seasons ago (like with Dustin) And yet somehow, people think it would be totally okay for Will to get the most meaningless romance of all time as the writers ignore the same story they’ve created.

Another point I’ve been seeing a lot from these people is “Mike won’t come out. Let it go. He’s just a very unlikable character” What does that say about the quality of the writing and content you’re willing to consume then? You’re okay with characters being poorly written? And please someone explain to me how Mike’s actions, especially in S4, make any sense unless he likes Will.

The more people try to simplify this story the more plot holes and inconsistencies it creates.

The funny thing is that a lot of these “Will stans” used to be Bylers themselves but are so deathly afraid it won’t be endgame that they’ve started to use the same rhetoric mlvns use every day to justify what would be atrocious writing.

And this next thing might be controversial but I think it needs to be said.

So many people on Twitter have hit those who disagree with Millie’s opinion today with “y’all are misinterpreting Millie’s words” and let me tell you, no one has. She’s been saying the same stuff for forever and quite frankly she’s never had a coherent thought about Will. Which is fine, at the end of the day that’s not the character she plays. However, I haven’t forgotten how last year (at another panel) she was asked about Byler and said it was just a reflection of Finn and Noah’s friendship and that was what people were seeing…

Whatever the fuck that means, I guess.

Again, I’m not taking her answer today too seriously cause truth be told she’s been saying some version of this since she was around twelve, and has even at times said she was joking about it. If a wedding were actually happening she wouldn’t be able to say it cause I’d literally be a spoiler, even if she doesn’t have the scripts yet or doesn’t know I’m sure there’s things that would be off limits for any actor to say at this point.

But this defense squad that formed today begging for us to not misconstrue her words because “she really cares about Will’s character” is laughable.

Her answers regarding the topic of the love triangle have been anything but nuanced. If she doesn’t want to get into it or address it, that’s fine. It’s her choice.

But of course, mlvn stans are gonna take her answers seriously, as well as those who are now “Will stans” who basically ship mlvn too.

And to me there’s a fundamental flaw regarding the ship wars in this fandom, which these people don’t seem to grasp. At this point, it isn’t so much about “which ship is better” but “which outcome isn’t violently homophobic”

That’s it.

I don’t care how much you ship mlvn, this is the undisputed truth here.

But when your lead actors act like it’s not a big deal, it’s no surprise the fandom doesn’t give a shit.

I can only hope the Duffers were smart enough to see reason and were able to write the only outcome that won’t set television back around 10 years or so.

And hopefully one day, when S5 is out, we can get a more in depth and honest conversation with the actors about all of this.

As for me, I’m gonna lay low and not give much of a fuck until we start getting those Reddit leaks, which were very much accurate for last season. I’ll take a peak at those, and depending on what they look like, I’ll stay around or dip completely.

If you read all of this, thank you.

[tojisbbygworl]

The Worst Mistake - Hobie Brown x Black!Reader pt. 2

Summary: Hobie can’t tell if he’s tripping and that’s why he feels like shit, or if his decision is giving him a bad trip. Either way he’s coming down and he’s more regretful than ever.

Characters: Hobie, Miles

Tags: 18+, Substance Use/Abuse, ANGST, Hurt/No Comfort, Bad Break Up, AU - No Powers, Hobie lives in Brooklyn, Hobie is 21+, Miles is 18+ only cuz it makes sense for the story not weird I promise, Miles is kind of an ass, Hobie and you need a HUG, I forgot he was British, OOC but it’s because of the drugs

author’s note: Okay y’all I’m so sorry abt the wait I’ve been trying to catch up on my other stories! This part is a bit short and I’m sorry for that but I have a reason! I swear part 3 will be longer and it’ll kiss the boo boo🩵

Part 1 Part 3

AO3 Version

My AO3

Masterlist

It was sweltering in Miles’s basement/man cave. Hobie was sitting on the other end of the couch from him with his arms stretched out and head leaning back on it staring at the ceiling. He heaved quietly as to not disturb Miles, but he quickly realized that he wasn’t even paying attention to him.

The ringing in his ears came in waves. As it got quieter again, he hears a muffled voice quickly realizing it was Miles as it became clearer. Apparently, he had been talking his ear off about the group he was playing with this whole time he’s been here. “…healer isn’t pushing with us.” He sucks his teeth. “ This team is ass, bro.”

The ringing gets louder. Hobie winces and hisses hoping this feeling would go away soon. He closes his eyes, but it doesn’t make anything better. His body is aching, he’s sweating everywhere, and his brain refuses to be quiet. It’s overwhelming.

He tries sitting up again, leaning over his lap and resting his elbows on his knees. He doesn’t notice Miles look over at him. “You good?” He asks.

Hobie peers up at him. To put it simply…no. He felt like complete and total shit. And if he was being honest, Miles wasn’t helping. All he said was “Damn,” when Hobie told him about the break up and he went right back to playing. Even though they’re right next to each other, Hobie felt alone.

She hasn’t left his mind once. The heartbroken look on her face, the anger in her voice as she shouted how much she hated him then stomping away with those tears in her eyes; it was too much to bare.

He needed a shoulder. That’s why he was here, but Miles wasn’t doing a very good job at it. “Yeah,” he answered. “I need to use your toilet.”

“Okay.” And his eyes were back on the screen.

Hobie stood up and took a step around the couch then caught himself before he fell over. He thought he was starting to feel a little better when he was sitting down, but now he feels ten times worse. He gulps and looks to his side. Miles had his headphones on fully, completely engrossed in his game. Hobie blinked and looked back down to the ground.

He found the strength to walk back up the stairs to the living room. He leaned on the wall the whole time and took a deep breath when he reached the top. He had been here enough to know that the basement was the warmest place in the house and the temperature dropped as soon as you exited. He was still burning up, giving him the inkling that there was something else wrong with him.

Hobie takes one step forward and waits. His muscles were so tired, and it felt like it took hours before they regained their strength. As he stalks to Miles’s bathroom, his brain plagues him with memories of just over an hour before. He sighs and closes his eyes, now holding himself up in the hallway with both arms on either sides of the walls.

“Sigh*…Shit.” His face scrunches up and he wipes his forehead. He was almost there, just another step. Mustering all the strength he could, he grabs the wall and forces himself forward…only to crash on the ground and roll on his back. Thank goodness Miles’s parents weren’t home.

As he writhes around on the bathroom floor, his bulging eyes flicker across the ceiling. He takes both of his hands and holds them to his forehead, wincing and moaning into them. Flashes of her face were never ending as his eyes closed, and her cries rung through his ears when they were open.

“What have I done?” He asks himself in his head. He repeats the sentence over and over and over again, the pain getting worse each time. The bottom of his lips quivers and he gets a nasty lump in his throat, but just before he starts to sob, a cup enters his vision.

Hobie lifts his head up and sees Miles handing it to him. He sits up and grabs it downing the water inside it in one gulp. It was cold and it felt really nice. “Man, I thought you said you was good,” he comments.

Hobie leans back on his arms and takes in a deep breath. The water helped tremendously. He didn’t feel like he was on the brink of death anymore. “I didn’t mean it, bro.” He answers looking around. He was sitting in the middle of the corridor. ‘I never even made it to the bathroom.’

“Oh,” is all Miles says before helping Hobie stand back up. He walks back down to the basement ready to get back to his game with Hobie following behind.

They went right back to how it was before Hobie got up. Miles engrossed in the TV, talking about nothing, while Hobie was sulking high as a kite in the corner. The past few minutes were the scariest few minutes he’s ever experienced. Why was he tripping so hard? Did he take too many?

Or…was it what he did that caused him to behave that way? His muscles had such a visceral reaction to the memories of the break up, and he hasn’t stopped thinking about it this whole time. Even now, as he feels himself coming down, every thought about her made him shiver and jump. His heart pounded out of his chest and his stomach dropped. He felt anxious and queasy, but couldn’t throw up.

To put it simply, he was overwhelmingly unhappy.

“Man,” he said aloud gaining Miles’s attention. Hobie lifts his head up to look at him. “What do you think?”

Miles doesn’t answer immediately and blinks at him. Just when Hobie thought he would give a thoughtful answer, he says, “You’ll find another girl bro.”

He doesn’t know how long he stayed on Miles’s couch, his phone was still dead, but he knew he didn’t want to stay any longer. He looks back down, shakes his head and says to himself, “No.”

With that, he gets back up, his keys and phone still in his pocket, and walks back up the stairs into the living room leaving the house. Miles doesn’t even look back.

~

Hobie still didn’t feel any better when he got home and laid down in his bed. He couldn’t sleep, he couldn’t eat, he couldn’t pay attention to the show that hadn’t stopped playing since he left. He had no idea what time it was, and most importantly, he had no idea if she was okay.

He put his phone on the charger immediately and couldn’t stop twisting his head around to check it. He needed to know how she was. But he was also afraid. Why would she tell him if she was okay? Why would she text him at all? She didn’t want to see his sorry ass.

“Fuck,” he cursed. The sound was muffled by his hands rubbing his face. He was so disappointed in himself. So angry. What the hell was he thinking? He was out of his fucking mind. The shrooms were finally starting to wear off and he can’t fucking believe what had happened. Everything was going so nice. It really was a beautiful day. The picnic by the river was even better. It was relaxing. Most men would kill for a moment like that, for a girl like Y/N, and he had it. Why did he fuck all of that up? Why would he ruin their day like that?

It’s so frustrating seeing how unreasonable he was being now that he was becoming sober. He can’t reason with that part of himself and he let it run rampant. All he can ask himself is why? And how could he let this happen?

He hated not being in control of himself, but that’s what happens every single time he takes shrooms. Like a fool, he didn’t realize it sooner. Hobie is not a man with regrets. That’s just not how he lives his life. He wants to die knowing that he lived his life the best way he could. But…

“I made a terrible mistake and I don’t know if I can fix it.” He tells himself quietly. “And if I can’t fix it…no…I know I can’t fix it.” His voice cracks and he begins to sob while speaking. His mouth opens and closes, wanting to speak but not having the words to convey what he wanted to say. What could he say? He shouldn’t have taken those shrooms. But he did. And he destroyed the best relationship he’s ever had. He’ll never take shrooms again. But, what good will that do?

Next to him, his phone screen lights up. His heart beat gets faster and he waits impatiently for it to turn on. When it does, he unlocks it and heads straight to his messages, praying that he would have something…anything from her.

There’s a few messages.

Are we really done?

I love you so much. Don’t do this to me.

I don’t want us to be over.

Look, if you still want to talk, my door is always open. If you knock, I’ll answer.

Good night.

…

Okay. I’m coming.

ending a/n: I feel like even though it’s short, I think I did a good job at portraying how he feels here. And yeah, Mikes sucks here kinda. I promise you the next part will wipe all ur tears🩵🩵😘😘.

Keep forgetting to ask lmk if u want to join the taglist!

Part 1 Part 3

AO3 Version

My AO3

Masterlist

Taglist: @sh-tposter2021 @freeingrebels

[twstwinnie]

♜ Love Languages : Pomefiore

characters: epel felmier, rook hunt, vil schoenheit

tags: hurt/comfort, gn! reader, minor ch. 5 spoilers !!

other dorms: ♥︎ ~ ☀︎ ~ ✎ ~ ♝ ~ •

a/n: aaah! my favorite dorm, of course! i absolutely love pomefiore, the dynamic, and it’s characters! of course, not biased at all, but really! i hope you all enjoy! given that book 5 just came out on the eng server, there’s only slight spoilers here! just some small backstory stuff for some characters! ignihyde next after this! i hope you all enjoy! — winnie ♥︎

♜ EPEL ~

[ w o r d s o f a f f i r m a t i o n ]

» Epel grew up in a small town, on a farm. There were no kids his age around where he grew up, so he’s a full fledged country kid. Yet, he gets sorted into what he considers to be the worst dorm possible for him. In Pomefiore, he has to do all of these things— pretend to be someone he isn’t and it’s hard.

» Of course, he’s grateful that his dorm leaders are helping him overcome his backwards mindset— that he’s okay with, but even having to hide his accent, his favorite food? It feels like he’s hiding his identity— his hometown pride. Who he really is. Sure, he gets a break during club activities, and when he’s around some of his friends, but for the most part, he feels like he’s living a falsified version of what he should be. He doesn’t mind (anymore) that Vil wants him to weaponize his charm— he’s become okay with that kind of strength, but could he really not just… let loose and be himself from time to time?

» Everything is upended when he meets, befriends, and falls for you. How couldn’t he? You were kind, encouraging… you didn’t even bat an eye when you learned of Epel’s true nature. In fact, you always listen so closely to his stories about his life back home. You always allow him to relax in your presence. When he’s with you— he’s not the poison apple that Vil is shaping him up to be. He’s just that boy from Harveston. The one who grew up on an apple farm— who loves sports and magical wheel— the hard worker who doesn’t mind getting a little dirty and putting in some elbow grease if he has to.

» Your encouragement warms his heart. Hearing you praise him for things he enjoys doing— things he put work into to be good at— it makes him happy. Sure, he was born with natural beauty and charm, but being praised for something he’s born with is far different from being praised for something he worked for. You’ve told him that he was attractive, yes, but it was different with you.

» You didn’t call him pretty when he was all dolled up in his dorm uniform after Vil’s incessant makeover— no, it was after he played a rough scrimmage of magift against his club members. You’d been watching, a soft smile on your face, cheering him on every time he scored. And after a well played game, he walked over to you, hair tousled and ruffled, clothes wrinkled, no make up— sweating. The works. Yet, you looked at him with such a warm, adoring expression.

» “You look pretty like this, you know?” You hummed. Epel stared at you in complete shock, his face going entirely red. He had not expected such a compliment.

» “What’re ya on about? Vil would freak if he saw me! I ain’t even wearin’ sunscreen!” He sputtered. You laughed simply in response.

» “Yeah, but this is a more authentic you, right? It’s like I’m getting a glimpse of that boy on an apple farm in Harveston. Is it so weird I find you pretty when you’re in your element?”

» That’s when Epel realizes— wow. You found him pretty. When he was being himself. That’s what you found more attractive. He didn’t need that charm to get you to like him. You saw who he truly was and complimented him when he was doing something he loved— when he wasn’t being the beautified persona of himself. It’s only a matter of time before that develops into a blossoming love for you— for the one person who made him feel like himself. Not who his dormmates wanted him to be.

» When you start dating, it becomes evident just how much your words have an effect on him. Can you blame Epel, though? Your words are always honest— they’re praises and compliments that he’s never heard before. Things he wanted to be recognized for that someone finally saw. Compliments on his strength, his magift skills, his magical wheel driving, hell, even his accent. You always tell him that you love that boy everyone else seems to want to quell.

» Yet, at the same time, you remind him that you also love his beautiful side. Even if it’s a little bit of a facade, you still love him all the same. Every part of him he displays is another part of him you adore. And Epel can’t help but feel like the luckiest person on the planet. When he’s dolled up, when he’s a mess, even when he’s just cried from how stressed Vil makes him— how frustrated he gets— you always whisper to him that you love him. And you’ll love whoever he decides to become. You insist that you’ll always be there— and it’s a constant he never knew he needed.

» Being reminded that someone would always be in his corner whether he played the part of the farmer from Harveston, or the Poison Apple that would take down Neige— you loved him. You told him as much and it made his heart swell with joy. After every magift game, after every rehearsal— he looked to you and you’d shower him with pretty words. Pretty, but vehemently honest words. Things that no one else would say to him.

» Epel works hard. Harder than most people should— and he’s pushed even further by Vil. You recognize his efforts and praise him for it where others don’t. You tell him things that he seldom hears from those he cares about and admires. You remind him that all of the work he puts in is worth while. And that if he ever needs help— if he needs to vent, a shoulder to cry on, or just general support— you’d always be there.

» All of your words went deep. They were never superficial comments, meaningless things that he’s always heard. They were things others never thought to say. But what Epel loves most about what you say is simple.

» He loves that you always remind him of how much you love and adore him. In his hardest moments, like a light, you remind him that he’s loved and always will be.

» Your words are a type of power that Epel strives to have. To be able to remind someone that they’re never alone, to be able to make someone feel so warm and adored with just a whisper— your way with words is absolutely admirable to him.

» And Epel hopes that one day his words will touch your heart in the same way your words touched his.

♜ ROOK ~

[ q u a l i t y t i m e ]

» Rook is used to being called “strange” or “weird” or a “creep.” It’s his reputation around NRC, in fact, it always has been. With hobbies like his, mixed with the fact that he prioritizes his privacy means that he’s typically seen as rather off-standing or seen as someone who has some sort of ulterior motive. People say some pretty harsh things to him, but he just lets it slide off of him. Because he’s used to it. He’s come to expect it from most, if not all of his fellow students at NRC. Sure, Vil doesn’t bat an eye, nor do his club mates, but he knows what most people say about him. He knows that most people avoid him like the plague.

» He’s never known any different. This is how things are and he’s accepted that. He wants to say that he’s fine with it, that it doesn’t bother him because at least he gets to spend time by Vil’s side, but when he’s alone, it gets to him. Rook keeps these emotions private, though, along with the rest of his life and true feelings. Why should he share his private worries, his private life? No one would appreciate it. All people see in him is a freak with weird hobbies.

» But he brandishes his brightest smile, always happy to give the most beautiful compliments to those who say the nastiest things to him. He sees beauty where others don’t, so even if someone says harsh things to him, it’s in his very nature to respond with his own expression of beauty. Because he could not bring himself to lie and call something or someone ugly, even if they’re treating him like some sort of parasite. It’s unlike him to do such a thing. Even if it hurts to observe so many others who have someone to lean on, rely on— to share things with, he’d never project that anger elsewhere. It would be absolutely unbecoming if he did something like that, he thinks.

» But then… you come along. You’re different. That’s something he observes and quickly recognizes. Admittedly, he knew you through his observations, but meeting you properly… getting to know you is entirely different from what he expected. You did not find his demeanor scary at all. When he sneaks up on you silently, whether intentional or not, you jump, but instead of scolding him, you laugh. It’s a bright, harmonious sound— one he’s never experienced before. At least, never a laugh meant for him.

» Rook quickly comes to realize just how different you are. You know of his hobbies, but you don’t pry. At first he thought that you didn’t pry because you found it unsettling, so he had to bring himself to ask.

» “Mon ange, why do you never question my hobbies? Surely you’ve heard the unsavory comments others have made. Does that not… alarm you?” He questioned. You hummed in thought for a moment before giving a small smile.

» “I mean maybe at first before I knew you properly? But now that we’re close… you don’t have any bad intentions. It’s in your nature as a hunter, yes? Besides. You clearly would rather keep it private. I won’t ask out of respect for that.” You respond simply. Rook’s eyes widened, subtly, but enough to display a slight level of shock.

» You didn’t find him to be even slightly alarming? And you didn’t pry out of respect of him? Not because you were afraid? It was like beautiful flowers bloomed in his chest at that very moment! Rook can find beauty in imperfections, but you. You were utter perfection. Flawless. How could someone so kind and generous become friends with someone with a reputation like his? However it happened, he would not curse his luck. He was grateful. Utterly grateful.

» Rook quickly finds himself liking you more and more as the days pass. Before he knows it, he’s opening up to you, showing you all of the photos he’s taken, every album, photo— everything crosses your gaze. Even his undying love for Neige LeBlanche is revealed to you and you respond happily. He’s elated that you show interest and that you indulge him. When you spend time together, you allow him the space to excitedly ramble. Once he realizes that nothing could push you away, he divulges his love and appreciation for theatre. One that you’re happy to share.

» It takes attending just a handful of theatre performances together for you two to end up as a couple. How could Rook not be happy? You spend time with him doing things he enjoys. You allow him to teach you the ways of a hunter— and in return, you trust him with your hobbies, interests, and private life.

» For once, Rook does not have to sit back and observe you to learn about you. You aren’t afraid of him— afraid to give him information like so many others are. You tell him all he’d like to know about you and he does the same. In fact, you take so much time out of your day to spend time by his side. Dates, staying in, theatre, hunting, archery— you’ve tried it all and enjoyed every second of it. Finally, someone appreciates Rook for who he is deep down. Even with hobbies that may seem a bit strange, you still find the beauty in them. You see beauty in him that many others have neglected to ever try searching for.

» And so, Rook does something he never once expected to do as an appreciator of beauty. He tells you of all of the “ugly” parts of himself. His insecurities, his loneliness, his worries. Everything. You two are sitting side by side on his bed when it happens and he sheds a few tears when he does. Being so private, he never once expected to cry in front of another. Truthfully, he never thought he’d be able to. But he does. He admits to you things that he never thought he’d have the opportunity to say. And in the face of such an unsavory sight, you smile, wipe his tears away and lean in, pecking his lips gently.

» “I’ll spend all the time in the world with you if I have to. Just to prove that you’re worth the time. That your interests are something I wanna learn about. That you aren’t all of the hurtful things people label you with. You are beautiful. Not scary. Most certainly not a creep. Just a man who sees beauty where no one else does. And I’ll never abandon or leave you because of it.” You insist and Rook leans into your touch, thanking you softly for treating him so well during even his most vulnerable moments. For wanting to spend time with him despite these moments.

» He feels so lucky that you’ve gifted him so much of your time and that you continue to do so. And it’s in these delicate moments that he realizes— Mon ange is a perfect nickname for you. Because you are his angel.

» You’ve witnessed everything that scared people off and you love him anyway. He’s your priority. You love him no matter what people say, no matter what date he plans, you happily tag along. And he thinks, you must be an angel. Because no one’s ever treated him so warmly before.

» And for that— for you. He’s forever grateful. Because it means that for once, he has someone he loves who willingly indulges in things he loves alongside with him. A life partner to appreciate beauty alongside him, but to also remind him that yes.

» Rook is beautiful. He is not defined by the nasty things people say. And most importantly, he’s worth every second, and you’d give it to him should he want it. And to that, Rook says that yes, he absolutely would love and appreciate all of the time you give so generously. It’s why he loves you so dearly, after all.

♜ VIL ~

[ p h y s i c a l a f f e c t i o n ]

» Vil grew up with constant typecasting as he rose into stardom. He’s been the villain so many times that it’s no wonder he starts to view himself in a similar light. Then, his unique magic manifests and suddenly he can’t help but feel that the title of “villain” truly fits him. Cursing anything he touches? Did he truly need another reason for people to view him in such a hostile light?

» Of course, many people see him as “evil” because of his prioritization of beauty and his looks— but is that so wrong? Is it bad to desire beauty and take pride in it? Is it so awful to want the title of “fairest” like the Queen he looks up to? Is it so… shocking to want a title that isn’t evil or villainous for once in his life? Fairest of them all sounds much nicer to him than any of the other things people label him with.

» That being said, it seems his unique magic worked against him. When he’s young, the glaring black gloves only serve as a reminder to himself and the people around him that his magic is dangerous— that he’s dangerous. Growing up in such a mindset, in a space where people were too afraid to touch him or have him touch them— it’s no wonder that he stopped seeking that out. If everyone would just assume such nasty things, why humor them with a reaction? Why allow them the ability to reject him? He’d take control for himself.

» Besides, nowadays, he has an entire fanbase of people who appreciate him. Even if it’s for his beauty, it’s enough for him. There are people out there who see him as the hero. Who see him as the fairest of them all. Even so, he knows he’s lying to himself. Meaningful connection… meaningful relationships… is such a thing practically impossible for him? Is he a fool to wish for something deeper with someone?

» He does think himself a fool, that is, until he meets you. While yes, you’re awestruck by his beauty, you don’t let it stop you from treating him as you do your other friends. You smile in the same way, open up to him in the same way… it’s a nice break for him. You’re nice company. That’s all he thinks of you at first.

» With every hang out, he keeps his distance. Your company is enough and he doesn’t want to scare you off— lose you. You don’t put him on a pedestal like many others do, and he doesn’t want to lose that. He cannot lose his one chance to be normal. Not a magicam celebrity, or an actor— just. Himself.

» But then, you start to get more comfortable. When you see him, you greet him with a hug, smiling all the while. The first time it happens, Vil is taken aback. He feels so incredibly warm… but, aren’t you afraid? His unique magic could hurt you— does that not startle your even a little? He freezes, afraid of what might happen if he reciprocates your embrace. You seem to notice his hesitation, pulling back with a concerned expression as you meet his eyes, asking if he was uncomfortable. He’s quick to reassure you before asking that lingering question.

» “Aren’t you afraid of my unique magic? I could curse you with a touch… It’s just like people said. I’m a villain. Is it really so wise of you to be this trusting of me?” He questions. In retaliation, you grab his hands, intertwining your fingers with his.

» “Well whoever said that obviously doesn’t know you! Calling you a villain… that doesn’t fit you even a little! Besides. Why shouldn’t I trust you? Villains have bad intentions, Vil. You don’t. You never have.” You insist. He can’t help the warm smile that creeps onto his face.

» He should’ve known that you were always different. That something as simple as his magic would never scare you off. It made him… happy. Your touch made him feel fuzzy in a way that he’d never experienced before. It just feels like home, in a way. That’s when Vil quickly realizes that it’s because he’s grown to love you.

» You’re someone who allows him to be his pure, unfiltered self. He doesn’t need makeup, filters, anything. He can just be who he truly is. He can openly vent all of his complaints, get your honest opinion on his newest products, he can even express his frustrations with typecasting. You always respond with honest sympathy and encouragement. You insist that he’ll get the role he deserves. That he deserves to be the hero that makes it to the end.

» Soon enough, between many hangouts, weekends spent out in the town, even a trip to his hometown— you two become a couple. Of course, Vil insists on keeping things private. He doesn’t want the paparazzi to pry— to scare you off, but as per usual, you smile at him. You’re okay with privacy, but Vil never needs to be afraid of losing you. You aren’t going anywhere.

» However, physical touch becomes truly important in quelling Vil’s fears and insecurities. He grew up being told to always wear gloves— that his unique magic was dangerous— to never weaponize it. Naturally, that fear crept into your relationship.

» But Vil knows that you’re the perfect partner. Because in response to his fear, you give him the absolute most affection. When you two are alone, you pry his gloves off and hold his hands in yours, insisting that it feels nicer without the barrier. You place a gentle kiss on his knuckles and tell him simply— “See? You aren’t hurting me.” And then for the first time, you place his bare hand against your cheek and lean into it with a smile and Vil can’t help it. A few tears slip and you wipe them away.

» The way you put your trust in him so faithfully and wordlessly— how you ignore all of the nasty things people have said about his magic in favor of allowing him to be affectionate— it makes him happy. It makes him feel loved. Worthy. In your presence, he doesn’t feel like a villain. He doesn’t have to exercise caution because you assure him that he won’t hurt you, and he knows that he won’t. How could he not believe you with how easily you lean into his every touch?

» It quickly becomes Vil’s preferred way to show you affection. Sometimes, after long days filled with housewarden duties, you’ll spend time with him in his room. Without a word, he extends a hand out to you from his bed and you take it, allowing him to pull you to his side. He’ll intertwine your hands together as you curl into his side. He finds comfort in your warmth, always seeking it when he’s able. You’re the only person he’d ever let play with his hair, or caress his face— because you’ve been so willing to trust him. So it’s easy for him to reciprocate that trust.

» Although you two can’t be too affectionate during school, Vil appreciates that you still find ways to remind him that you love him in wordless gestures. You’ll pass him a paper and let your fingers linger on his hand for just a moment longer. You’ll let your fingers brush against his when you both walk side by side— sometimes you’ll brush a strand of his hair back into place. All small things that make him feel loved all the same.

» With you, Vil finally feels that companionship, that touch that he’d been lacking all of his life. He finally isn’t treated like an untouchable, beautiful model, rather, someone who was worth loving, who just happened to be in the public eye. You allow him that normalcy, even if your relationship is anything but.

» You are the antidote to the poison that is Vil’s label as a villain. You prove to him that he was never evil. That he didn’t have to be trapped thinking he was. That his unique magic didn’t mean he was unworthy or unable to experience meaningful affection.

» You prove to him that no matter what people say, no matter the whispers of the public— Vil is worthy of your love and affection. And you’d never hesitate to show him that.

» In the dark, you reached out your hand to him and Vil grabbed on tight, intertwining your fingers as you pulled him out of the darkness. Even while people screamed that he was poisonous, you stayed. You are his light. And as long as you’ll have him, Vil will never hesitate to show you the same love you show him every day. Because with you, he’s been able to recognize a new type of beauty in himself.

» It’s confidence that comes with being loved and appreciated by someone you value. And Vil thinks it’s quite a stunning look on him.

— fin.

[nerdypatrolcollector-blog]

Human Connections in 23.5

This show has completely taken over my mind and I am incapable thinking of anything else. In this essay, I will… no but seriously it’s been a long time since I’ve seen a shown affect me this hard in a long time so I had to write about it. None of my friends watch this show so I’m relaying my thoughts to (hopefully) kind internet strangers. 

At its core, 23.5 is a show about the craving and wanting of human connection. It’s such a beautifully written story full of nuance and consequences but ultimately is about the choices the characters make for the hopes of making a connection and keeping it. Let’s take a look at it through the lenses of our 3 main characters, ongsa, aylin, and sun (sorry Luna we don't know enough about you).

The easiest one is ongsa, this is her story and her journey through finding family, friends, and love. It is very much implied that before she moved to Bangkok, ongsa was a very lonely kid, having trouble finding friends. The more she missed out on these connections the more desperate she got and the lower her self esteem was. Maybe starting to think that it was something about her that made people not want to be associated with her. Moving to Bangkok was her chance to start over. And in the first episode we are shown how those experiences informed her view of the world, constantly blaming herself for the problems that she faced that day. And sure the show plays it off for the shits and giggles but there’s an inherent sadness to it. That desperate need for connection to sun makes her do stupid things. Of course she regrets the things she’s doing, she’s human after all, but the alternative is so much more scary so she doubles down and digs the hole even deeper. However, there’s a light at the end: tinh, chaoren, real sun, aylin. It’s only through the extension of a helping hand from tinh, chaoren, aylin and sun (people who are also craving more connections, we’ll come back to them later) that pulls her back in. And guess what? She didn’t have to change one bit. They accepted her just the way she is. Love, respect and acceptance will come but they will come to a version that is authentically us. The whole show is a journey of ongsa figuring out that lesson. 

Aylin, my favorite little alien, how long have you been screaming for someone to listen? At face value it seems like she’s the only character in the show that doesn’t care if she makes a connection with a human. With her constant insistence of “I don’t associate with human” and air of indifference. But that’s not really true. She is perhaps the most human character in the show. She spends countless hours of her life trying and desperately hoping that there is something out there that understands her. She was betrayed by her own kind and in her own desperation to find a connection she looked outside to something that might or might not exist but it’s the possibility that keeps her going. What’s more inherently human than that? We as a society spend millions on exploring outer space for the hope that we are not alone in the universe. Aylin just wants someone who is willing to sit with her and wait.

Ironically, ongsa and Aylin’s situations are mirrors of each other. They are just two people desperate to make a connection with someone else. They just adopted different ways to deal with that desperation. We are all searching for the same thing. The need and want for human connection. All of us are screaming into the endless void of the universe hoping to find someone who understands and responds. But unfortunately for so long, ongsa and aylin found out that sound doesn’t travel in space. The worst part is not only sitting alone in our own darkness and loneliness, but feel like we’re the only ones doomed to see it. 

Sun's need for connection is pretty straightforward and is mostly focused on romantic love. Sun is so desperate for a romantic connection that she feels like she's been lacking for so long. We are still unsure if Sun has ever had a crush on someone before, but she seemed pretty confused as to why she was reacting to ongsa's presence (ma'am that's called lesbianism). She thought she found that connection with Earth and in a desperate ploy to keep that connection she makes reckless decisions that only end up hurting her more.

This ended up WAYYY longer that I expected, but I just needed to get it out there. Not sure if anyone cares about my thoughts but I am throwing my opinion out there anyways.

[oc-challenges]

WELCOME TO THE OC HALLOWEEN CHALLENGE!

Calling all the monsters, it's time for the OC 2023 Halloween Challenge! This challenge has been hauntin' you for five years, and we're wantin' you to participate!

If you're new here, here's what you need to know: This is an event that takes place over the 31 days of October and presents oc creators with Halloween-themed challenges to get the creative juices dancing. It is open to creations for both fanfiction and original ocs, and if you want to participate you don't have to every one or even in order. It is brought to you by @purpleyearning / @aliverse, @elmunson, and includes suggestions by members of our discord! (special thanks to @endless-hoppington for helping with some descs)

Rules

DO NOT copy others edits.

If you are doing crossovers, PLEASE make sure that the creator of the other oc is okay with crossovers.

If you want your post to be reblogged onto this blog, it must contain the hashtag ohc2023.

Feel free to ask questions, I promise I’m more treat than trick.

Everything is up to the creators interpretation, although I have tried to include some examples for help!

Have fun!

RANDOM/THEMELESS (1st–5th) Some of the challenges that don't coincide with each other.

Day One: Life In Plastic

It's fantastic! Is your OC more of a Barbie or a Bratz? Maybe they go to Monster High, or they're an American Girl Doll with an inspiring story? Perhaps you want to make a Funko version of your OC? To put it simply, this day is about dolls as an ode to the best movie of 2023; Barbie.

Day Two: Lights, Camera, Action!

For day two, we're combining oc as canon, oc as celebrity, and oc's social media into one day where you get to choose which of those challenges you would like to do... maybe even all of them!

Day Three: Born In The Wrong Century

Movies depend on a lot of things, but time and place helps create the ominous feel for it. Like Crimson Peak that belongs to the revival gothic period of 1880s or Jason Voorhees waking up on a spaceship in the year of 2455, give your character(s) a new decade to explore and even monsters to face.

Day Four: Twisted

From reality episodes where two people experience switching roles with one another to an alternative reality where their roles are different from their home's universe, make your character experience life through a whole new perspective by making your hero the villain or your villain the hero.

Day Five: Vampires, Werewolves, and Witches... Oh My!

From Godzilla to Dracula to The Mummy, the monster-verse is rich with lore. Today we focus on those monsters that never go out of style, after all they’re called classics for a reason. Is your oc Frankenstein or his monster?

OH, YOU WANNA PLAY PSYCHO KILLER? CAN I BE THE HELPLESS VICTIM? (6th–12th) Due to its popularity last year, we're bringing back the horror character tropes week.

Day Six: The Harmless Antagonist

Ah, a classic in more than just horror; the mean gorgeous holier-than-thou character; more specifics of this are often The Jock, The Cheerleader, The “Slut”, The Bitch, The Rich Kid, etc. While they may annoy the main character or make their everyday life difficult with academic rivalry or teasing, they’re really nothing compared to the new enemy; the thing or person killing everyone. Which one of your ocs is getting brutally knocked down a peg… or the stairs?

Day Seven: The Comedic Relief

Honestly, they make even the scariest movies bearable. They're almost never the main character but almost always the most liked. They say laughter is medicine for the soul, so which of your ocs soothes the characters and the situation with a joke made at the worst of times?

Day Eight: The Denier/Non-Believer/Skeptic

It doesn’t matter the subgenre, there’s always one. They don’t believe a killers out to get them or their friends despite the fast growing pile of bodies, they claim there’s a natural explanation for the supernatural event terrorizing everyone, they just refuse to get with the program. This often combines with the cop or older-than-everyone-else character. Which one of your ocs will get killed by their stubborness before their loyalty?

Day Nine: The Harbinger

We hear about omens of death in every kind of mythology. Irish folklore warns you of hearing the wailing woman and German myth tells you to never find your doppelganger. Even Western Society in America will drift from their path if they see a black cat on the way. So which of your ocs stands outside of the haunted house and tells the redheaded twins “you’re going to die in there”?

Day Ten: The Accomplice

You never saw it coming, but you should’ve. There’s not just one killer you have to worry about, there’s two. This is the person whose been helping the killer since the very beginning, pretending to be your friend the entire time until the plot reached its rising action. You’re heart broken and the very ground shakes under your feet, the good person you once thought you knew is gone… or worse, had never truly existed. Which of your ocs is not only willing to help a friend hide the body, but kill it too?

Day Eleven: The Killer

They’re haunted and bloodthirsty, compelling in a dangerous way. Everyone has a monster within but due to some tragic backstory of abuse, hate, or ridicule, these people – or things– let the monster win. Whether they done a mask or turn your dreams into sentient nightmares, they’re the main reason why anybody shows up to movie night. Which one of your ocs looks into the reflection of the knife in their hand, and pictures themselves chopping up human bodies instead of vegetables?

Day Twelve: The Final Girl

It’s all come down to this, the last stand. There’s two people left, or at least two important people left; the killer and the final girl. She’s fought tooth and nail, and grief has made way for rage. At first she was just another potential victim, now she’s in the killers way and she won’t go down easy. In the beginning she just wanted to survive, but like Laurie Strode now she wants revenge. Which oc becomes the monsters monster?

WRONG PLACE, WRONG TIME We're exploring classic horror locations. Throw your ocs into a horror story that take place in these locations, or make up your own story.

Day Thirteen: Have Killer Fun At Summer Camp! (Location: Summer Camp)

It's Friday The Thirteenth... literally. For today, the location is a summer camp like the one Jason Voorhees terrorizes. Counselor, killer, or camper? Whatever role your oc plays, they certainly didn't read this in the brochure.

Day Fourteen: Vacation Nightmares (Location: Hotel/Island/AirBnB, etc.)

An island that magically speeds up your aging, a hotel with corridors that lead to nowhere, a psychotic airbnb host; Today is about horror in locations that are supposed to be a break from the horror of everyday life, but instead introduces you to whole new horrors.

Day Fifteen: Home Is Where The Haunt Is (Location: House or Apartment)

A home can be a place to make memories and some memories leave a scar. Focus on your characters when a place they call home is threatened.

Day Sixteen: She Doesn't Like It In The Barn (Location: Farm/Ranch)

Samara Morgan was forced to stay in the barn's hayloft to keep her burning images out of her adoptive parents minds. Framer Graham Hess had to defend his home and family from aliens that threatened to kill his son. Pearl craved to be a movie star and experienced a psychotic break where she killed those who denied her her dream. What deadly passages does the farm bestow to your characters?

Day Seventeen: Death is a Mystery and Burial is a Secret (Location: Cemetery or Tomb)

Cemeteries and tombs are the places we put our loved ones to rest, but in horror movies we find that final resting places are not so restful after all. Whether it’s ghosts, zombies, psychotic gravekeepers, or grave robbers ensuring no witnesses; how do your ocs go from mourning to trying to survive until morning?

Day Eighteen: What's The Opposite Of Miracles? (Location: Places of Worship)

Places of worship are supposed to be places of good, where people go for guidance and safety, places full of good beings and devoid of sin. But what if the bad beings sneak in or the sinless place is just a hiding place for those full of sin?

Day Nineteen: This Won't Hurt A Bit (Location: Hospital and/or Asylum)

In season two of American Horror Story, we were welcomed to Briarcliff, an asylum that became ‘home’ to the misunderstood and the criminally insane. Much like other hospitals of the past, many attempts of healing were there to disguise the evil hiding in plain sight. How does your character deal when the place that was supposed to heal them becomes the place that harms them?

Day Twenty: The Trees Have Eyes (Location: The Woods/Forest)

Shadows of the trees cast illusions, the cracking of sticks cause hairs on the back of your neck stand. The wind howls which sounds of a voice, and the birds no longer sing. The woods are creepy, desolate, and you find yourself lost in the sea of their trunks. What happens when your ocs are stuck in the woods?

RANDOM OUTLIER

Day Twenty-One: I Want To Play A Game

Some of the most recent hits in horror history have been not movies, books, or shows, but video games. From Dead By Daylight to Until Dawn, horror fans have been able to experience immersion at a whole new level by trying to make all the right choices as a character. Now, it's time to put your oc into a horror game AU. Will they live, or will they die? Only their stats and choices will tell.

STRANGER THINGS HAVE HAPPENED (22nd–27th) Character tropes are fun and all, but for the next six days we're focusing on genre tropes.

Day Twenty-Two: Solitude Causes More Wounds Than It Was Meant To Heal (Trope: Isolation)

Fear is increased when one is alone by themselves, or cut off from civilization like an reclusive island. Focus on your characters in the horror of isolation; are they forced to recognize who they truly are on the inside? Do they practice the law of nature or nurture? Do they keep their morals or own laws?

Day Twenty-Three: The Apocalypse Is The Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me (Trope: Apocalyptic)

Just as everything must begin, it also must end. This, unfortunately, includes humanity. What will happen when the world as your oc knows it ends, when that world goes from millions of people to tens or perhaps even one? Will they be forced to adapt, doomed to die, or perhaps even thrive?

Day Twenty-Four: You've Killed Me Before (Trope: Time Loop)

The best thing about the sun setting is that it will come up again in the morning, and a new day will begin. But what if the sun comes up and an old day begins? Whether your oc must solve their own murder, solve somebody else’s murder, or face difficult truths about those around them, it’s time to put them into a time loop.

Day Twenty-Five: Better You Die Than I (Trope: Doppleganger)

In real life, seeing your “doppleganger” is said to be an omen of misfortune or good luck. In horror movies, dopplegangers usually take a more direct approach in ruining the lives of their lookalike. Whether they’re an omen of bad things to come or trying to steal ones life, give your oc a doppleganger and explore the horrors of a stranger that shares your face.

Day Twenty-Six: No Wonder Everyone Keeps Invading You (Trope: Extraterrestrial)

Whether your oc was a believer before or not, life from another planet has arrived to Earth on this day. These so-called aliens come in all shapes, sizes, and colors; They can even come in a human disguise, as a deadly plant, as a machine, or even as little green men. No matter where they came from or what they look like, humanity is not ready for them. Whether we try to hurt them or they try to hurt us, how does your oc deal with extraterrestrial life on Earth and the problems this arrival presents?

Day Twenty-Seven: All Politics Is A Personality Cult Now (Trope: Cult)

What simply starts as a simple dinner meal, a visit to a secluded area where people celebrate, or deciding to reunite with the estranged side of your family, can easily be your steps toward a cult. Have your characters fight to stay alive against those who have welcomed them with sinister intent.

COSTUMES TELL A STORY

Day Twenty-Eight: Let's Be Weird Together

We all know of an iconic squad that so many people are just dying to be a part of. Well, it’s your ocs and their friends chance! Day 28 is group costumes!

Day Twenty-Nine: That Could Be Us

Love isn’t in the air but maybe it’s in the fabric of costumes! It’s time for couples costumes!

Day Thirty: I Can Be Anybody I Wanna Be

If your oc could be anybody, who would they wanna be? Well, for one night only, they can be! It's time for your oc to dress up!

TRICK OR TREAT!

Day Thirty-One: I'm Just Here For The Boos

Halloween is a time for tricks and treats, for ghost to walk among the living and us to disguise ourselves. But it can be killer, and the transference of evil can be achieved. Give your shape to another, gift them and you shall receive in turn. Ocpotluck awaits.