#and i feel like a lot of people tend to write characters after the trauma of abuse

[nostomannia]

I ranted about this in a voice call earlier but I think I should put it into writing here, as well as some extra thoughts.

Have you guys ever thought about how we can kinda start to woobify abuse victims? Or at the very least like. Not give them agency or even actively take away their agency? I've had that happen before with Solita and it bugs me.

Deity is her abuser. But they're her parent. Her best friend. Her most hated enemy. Her purpose and her downfall. You can't just take them away without even consulting her about it. Or on the flipside, take her away. It's like if you took away someone from their abusive S/O or parent by force, without verbalizing and convincing them that 'hey, this person is horrible.'

Solita NEEDS the agency to walk away from Deity. If she doesn't, she falls back into a cycle of toxic dependency on someone else at BEST. At worst, when her ties are cut from Deity, she will flat out end her own life.

I understand the sentiment of wanting to save someone from an abuser. That's an entirely natural reaction. But if the person doesn't understand, or believes that they deserve better, where's the closure? That's not a satisfying end, is it?

Solita will actively place herself in the way of any attempt someone may try to rid her of Deity, so it's not like she's gonna stand by and watch. SHE'S the roadblock every single step of the way. Going behind her back is only going to break a relationship or plainly just break her.

Easy solutions sometimes make the situation worse. Taking someone from an abuser, no matter how right morally it is, can still just be kidnapping.

[allthingswhumpyandangsty]

why does it comfort some people or bring them joy/excitement to imagine their favorite characters in terrible situations and being hurt physically or mentally? wouldn’t you want your favorite characters to be happy and safe?

I’m sure I’ve seen this exact ask being sent to another writing blog before, so seeing one in my own inbox was a little surprising. but anyway, I’ve said this before, but I don’t mind saying it again because lots of people seem to still be confused about this; the enjoyment of imagining or seeing fictional characters in terrible situations in which they are hurt and/or scared is called whump. people who enjoy whump tend to express their interest through art, such as drawings, writings, etc. whump has a community on several online platforms, as well as here on Tumblr. we are simply known as “whump community”.

moving on to your question, “why does it comfort us to imagine our favorite characters in agony?” — there is no definitive answer to the question, because different people enjoy whump for various, different reasons, and all of these reasons are valid. however, what I can give you is some examples of the reasons why people enjoy whump

reasons why people like whump:

some people use whump as a reflection of what they’ve been through, and they let their trauma out by channeling the trauma through fictional characters. to make it as simple as I can, some people use whump as a coping mechanism to help them heal from any traumatic events in their lives.

while whump is indeed about pain, it can also be about the comfort (the healing process) that comes after the pain. I personally known several people who heal by writing whump stories in which their favorite characters went through and survived terrible things that happened to them. the comfort part of the whump was used as a symbol of hope for these people, in the sense that they hold on to the idea that if these fictional characters can survive horrible things that happened to them, they (the writers) can survive and heal too.

some people use whump as a way to let out their frustration, trauma or pain. an abuse victim may fantasize about hurting their abuser back by creating a fantasy world in which their favorite character was hurt, but later healed and/or get their revenge.

it’s also worth mentioning that one doesn’t have go through their own trauma in order to be able to enjoy whump. 

some people like whump where their favorite character is hurt because they just Want to Hurt These Little Guys. 

some people like whump where their favorite character is hurt because they like the part where their favorite character gets comforted and is nursed back to health after they are rescued.

whump that’s followed by comfort (whump with a happy ending) is valid.

whump that has no comfort (whump without a happy ending) is also valid.

because whump is a genre, just like how lots of people like horror movies just for the sake of liking them. 

the term whumperflies is used to describe the euphoric feeling a person experiences while watching, drawing, writing or reading a whump scenario that hits right in the feels. for lack of better comparison, some people experience whumperflies that come close to an orgasm, whether or not whump is a sexual thing to them (some may enjoy whump as a form of kink, while some may enjoy whump for reasons that aren’t sexual at all). for some, whumperflies are these tingling sensation in the chest and/or the stomach, for someone else, whumperflies is like when you ride a rollercoaster and the ride is going down from its highest stop. there's no wrong way to experience whumperflies, as different people describe and experience them differently.

so, yes, some people may enjoy whump just for the euphoria whumperflies bring. and some people — myself included — can’t get whumperflies unless the character that’s going through pain is their most favorite character; it’s like… because you love this character so much, you’re so connected to them, you're so emotionally invested in them that you can only get whumperflies if it’s them going through the torture, meanwhile other characters just don’t make you feel half as strongly.

and that’s explain why people in the whump community prefer their favorite characters to be the ones going through hell.

and again, just like how movies have different genres, whump is a genre — people who like whump aren’t “freaks” or “red flags” in real life, even if they like whump for reasons that aren’t about coping mechanism. whump is a genre and a form of art, and most importantly, whump is fiction. it’s not real.

I do understand why people who aren’t into whump tend to be confused by the concept of whump, and I do understand why these people think being a fan of a fictional character only means wanting said fictional character to be safe and happy, which is why whump is not for everybody, and that’s okay too.

the thing is there is no wrong way to be a fan of something that’s fictional, you can like this fictional character so much you want to see them cry and covered in blood for whatever reasons, and that’s okay. as long as you’re not hurting anybody in real life.

there’s nothing wrong or abnormal about people who enjoy whump, just like how there’s nothing wrong or abnormal about people who like horror movies. it’s fiction and it’s a form of art. and I believe everybody is allowed to express and enjoy their interests through art in whichever way they want, as long as they’re not harming anybody in real life.

[menaceoffandoms]

LMK analysis rant: Mei

I said I was gonna do this and I'm keeping to my word! The only thing that may stop me is my procrastinating... and the fic I'm slowly writing but uhhhhh-

ANYWAY- We're here to talk about Mei, our favourite white horse dragon pepper girl!

Mei stands out as the most different from her inspiration, something the writers perfectly portray in the yellow-robed demon episode of s4, which is likely to do with how little they had to go off of. Despite being one of the pilgrims in jttw, Ao Lie dose very little in the novel. His most notable chapters being when he's introduced and when the group faces the yellow-robed demon, which is why we met him in that memory in the scroll. Combined with my belief that Mei isn't a reincarnation of Ao Lie -- just his descendent -- means that Mei is one of the most unique characters in the entire show.

There's just less source material for her to draw from, it let's the writers have more fun and do more things. It's not that they don't make the others characters unique -- they like to play very fast and loose with things over all -- but Mei feel like her own complete and original character. She's inspired by Ao Lie in the same way Mk is inspired by Monkie King basically and she all the better for it.

Being the female lead (isn't it interesting how most of the female characters in this show are villans?), Mei is a refreshingly strong, confident girl who begins the show as the most powerful cast member. Being a descendent of the great dragon gives her amazing powers that no other cast members have, a birth right that leads to her being the most protective of her friends and the first to help out in any fight.

What she has in power, however, she lacks in experience. Mei has no mentor -- other than her parents, but I believe its safe to assume they weren't very focused on teaching her combat -- which leads her to trust her gut more, rush into things and learn through observation, like when she mimics what her great x1000 uncle did in s3.

Overall Mei is an excitable, energetic and loving person with a "You only live once" kinda attitude, for lack of a better explanation. Even still, she has her own insecurities and flaws which make her all the more interesting. Due to the shows run time, Mei and many of the other main characters don't really get explored as much as Mk, however what we do see of these struggles and fears is incredibly interesting even on a surface level.

Her tendency to rush head first into danger without first examining the situation or creating a plan, truthfully, tends to work out for her, but it can't always. It's something shown perfectly in s4, when Mei is the only member of the group to not get a star from Master Subohdi, however what a lot of people seem to miss is how Mei actually did earn that star eventually.

When they leave the temple and head to the celestial realm to try and stop Azure, Mei leads them there with no plan at all. As such, they fail and need to be saved by Mk. Faced with proof of Subohdi's criticism, Mei makes the more important amendment to Mk's plan in the s4 special. I don't think we've even seen Mei make a serious plan until this point, which feeds back in to another one of her flaws: being unable to take things seriously.

This isn't something I see said about Mei often, but when watching her character I think it's externally obvious. Don't get me wrong, Mei can be serious, but usually only in moments of vulnerability or high stress. For example: when talking with her pearents, after she gained the Samahdi fire and whilst imprisoned by the Yellow-robed demon.

I think this flaw is Mei's own version of Mk playing dumb. They both behave this way to lessen the emotional impact of serious things, to protect themselves and help those around them deal with trauma or difficult topics. Mei and Mk really are two sides of the same coin and I'd love for them to do more with that in the show.

Going back to Mei's parents, one of her biggest struggles is reconciling who she is with who she's meant to be. She is a noble dragon, a descendent of the great dragon of the West Sea and practically the successor to Ao Lie. It's a lot to live up to and -- evident in episode 3 of season 1; Welcome home -- she doesn't believe she dose.

Mei is confident in her abilities, she's sure of her strength and quick to help those around her, but in the face of her legacy she stands uncertain. It's another thing her and Mk have in common, though in vastly different flavours, and it's interesting how this legacy colours Mei as a character.

She wields the dragon blade, proving herself as a worthy part of her family and gaining the approval of her parents, however the stark difference between her and the rest of her clan is more blatant than ever. We see this perfectly in season 3 when they visit the great Dragon of the East Sea, Mei being put into fancy clothes she instantly ruins in order to have a place to hold her sword. She fights against her uncle, fights against her family, because she knows they'll never understand her. But even still, she knows she's still one of them and she's so proud to be.

Becoming the vessel of the Samahdi fire is only more proof of Mei's legacy and connection to her family. It gives her a moment of pure vulnerability where she vents her frustrations and fears before rushing away, wanting nothing more than to protect the people she cares about.

When Red Son finds her she's still serious, but even with just a basic understanding of the fire within her Mei falls back to her normal nature; a silly excitable girl not taking things seriously. We see this after Red Son attacks her with the spears and when she's eating later on, but even if her attitude doesn't show it, she's still listening and taking the training seriously. She just needs to be silly so she won't freak out again.

Since we're on the topic of the Samahdi fire, I think most people can agree that the way it was handled post s3 was very poor. With only one mention of it in s4, by Master Subohdi no less, I assumed that the fire had been resealed, this time correctly. Something that dangerous should be locked up, even if a capable wielder is around. It would also prevent power creep and stop the show from having another Wukong predicament, by which I mean a character so powerful they need to find a way to prevent them from trivialising whatever threat they have to face in the plot. Wukong will get his own post soon don't you worry...

Instead, we learn in s5 that Mei still has the fire, she just kinda forgot? She learned to fully master it when breaking out of LBDs mech, so since the fire was no longer a raging uncontrollable inferno she just didn't realise it was still there... for an entire season. Yeah it feels lazy and honestly is probably the worse written choice the show has even made. Even still, it dose lead to a very interesting and in character moment for Mei.

When attempting to seal the willow wisp with Red Son, Mei loses her confidence, believing that she lost the Samahdi fire and thinking she's lacking. Mk getting Monkie Kings powers was one thing, but the rest of her friends now having cool weapons and magic? If their all so strong and only getting stronger, then what's the point in Mei? She was the strongest but now she might be the weakest, and that terrifies her cause if she's weak she can't protect people. How can she act when she's powerless to do so?

This dilemma is quickly resolved by Red Son telling her she's had the fire the whole time, amending it's use to Mei's lightning motif she's had since s1 -- I know fire benders in ATLA use lighting but come on -- and basically saying she's been using the fire the whole time. It takes away from Mei's whole struggle to be honest, but I do think there's potential for her to relearn this now tamed Samahdi fire so she can better use it. Just depends if the show wants to do that...

Moving on from my thinly veiled complaints about season 5 (I like it I swear but it is the weakest seasons to me so far), let's talk about Mei's role in the group a bit. Aside from being the token girl, she's also Mk's best friend and the only other character his age and acts around the same age as the shows target audience. Mk's the main character and leader, Tang is the lazy historian smart guy, Sandy the loveable giant, Pigsy the cynical brute and Mei's youthful and silly power house.

I would love to go into some narrative tropes, specifically the 5 man band since jttw is one of the primary bases of the trope, but I've realised I have far too many thoughts about that to fit here. This is the 21sh paragraph and I'm sure at least some of this is a mess, but I hope I'm getting my point across! Overall, Mei is an extremely compelling character how often gets side-lined due to run time and other stuff, but is honestly one of my favourite characters in the show.

[lookinglass-fic]

A bit personal, and also cw/tw for mentions of suicide/suicidal ideation//

I lost my best friend to suicide two years ago. And I can't lie, the themes in OFMD season 2 are hitting hard. Ed is definitely my comfort character, and I love him so much and just want good and nice things for him and want him to be happy.

The sucide themes are... heart-rendingly accurate and make total sense, in ways that I feel certain that someone(s) in the writing team and/or crew have had experiences with this particular thing.

It's bringing up a lot of grief and some unearthed trauma for me, I think. But I think it's also a great opportunity to talk about what you can recognize in friends and loved ones who might be having ideation.

In re-watching episode 2, I noticed some things. The day after the cake topper incident, the morning where Ed tells Frenchie, "I had a very rough night last night, but I think I got all of the poison out of my system," he's cleaning up the cabin. He's cleaned himself up. He's chipper. It's the same morning he gives the gun to Izzy, the same night that he goads the crew into killing him.

And please note, I am not an expert. I'm not a psychologist or therapist, I'm not qualified to dole out real advice. I've just become... intimately familiar with warning signs of suicide the past few years after joining some support groups and being part of discussions and hearing dozens upon dozens of stories from the people left behind. And this is just advice from one human being to others who might need to hear it.

People who have long-term ideation can tend to have a sudden upswing in the day or two immediately preceding death, and it's because they've made the decision to go ahead with it.

My friend had seemed to be getting better. He was chipper, sending photos of things he liked and generally texting/calling people in a cheerful mood. The day it happened, he was on a hike sending me pictures of rabbits and magpies.

If your loved one is going through an incredibly rough patch and has a sudden upswing in mood, if they start cleaning up by giving things away or making big changes, it's time to check in. It's time to find a way to break through to them and see if there's anything at all you can do to stop them from going through with it.

This show brings so much attention to so many things, and they get so many things right. I'm in a kind of a weird mental place right now just because this is bringing up a lot of feelings for me, but it's only because it's so accurate and hits so close to home. If this can help even one person, then it's worth me being weird on the internet about it.

And for anybody out there struggling... just find one thing. Just one thing to keep you here until tomorrow. Just one thing to stay for. Warmth. Food. Intercourse. Anything. Just please stay.

[glade-constellation]

I think I’m starting to realize that Nexus may be one of the most misunderstood characters in the show.

Am I a fan of Nexus? No, not really. I find him funny to watch because, besides EAPS Monty, he says the most out of pocket shit. Never know what to expect when he opens his mouth. But besides that, I just can’t find any interest in him.

That being said, I recently have been doing a deep dive of his character to prove a theory I had, which turned out to be partially canon in today’s episode. I didn’t think Nexus had the Ruin virus, I don’t think he ever had it. After watching one of the introductory episodes in EAPS, I started to theorize that Nexus became what he is purely because he is a Moon. I still think this is true, and was simply sped up by the harvesting of dark star power.

This might be a long post, so strap in.

So. Nexus. I don’t feel dramatic in saying he’s possibly one of the most hated TSAMS characters, or at least most of the fandom’s least favorite. A good bit of the fandom believed he was infected by the Ruin virus, or was just a victim of terrible story writing, because it just didn’t seem possible for him to go this far. Sure, he was deeply traumatized by Solar’s death on top of many other things, but that didn’t seem like it would turn him completely evil. I was also one of the people who believed the Infection theory, as shown by my many posts during Nexus’ corruption arc.

Funnily enough, it was Eclipse of all characters that changed my view of Nexus and who he is. During “Eclipse and Puppet meet the NEW SUN”, Eclipse makes a very big point in relating himself back to the original Moon. It’s something I remembered from Eclipse’s lore, but had never really sat down and thought over. I believe @/samoftheswamp had a post that I 100% agreed with. Eclipse has all the memories of the original Moon before the separation, but is only made up of the kill code and very small fragments of Moon coding-wise. Everything else about Eclipse in that regard was filled in by Sun. He then continued to tear apart his own coding to make Bloodmoon and Lunar. Despite all of this, due to his memories, Eclipse still very much considers himself to be the original Moon.

How does any of this relate to Nexus? Simple. The coding and memories. Despite Eclipse and Nexus being completely opposites in both of those things, Eclipse still falls in line with Moons far more than he does Suns. V4 Eclipse talks a lot about how much his old self, and even current self, acts so similar to Moons. Though he appears as a Sun, Eclipse is a Moon by emotional and psychological standards.

I would also like to point out that Solar specifically say the only reason he was different from most Eclipse’s was due to his Sun’s influence. Everything that happened to Eclipse also happened to Solar up until his Sun decided to try and help him. That means that Solar also falls under the Moon category.

Now that we’ve established who counts as a Moon, let’s get into why this is important. One thing every single Moon has had in common so far is their villain arc. Moon has had several mini ones, mostly influenced by other people. Eclipse was a villain up until very recently. Solar was almost a villain until his Sun stepped in. Killcode was a villain until his change of heart. Bloodmoon was just, a villain. Hell, even Cringe Dimension Moon went evil. And now we have Nexus.

Am I saying all Moons are destined to become villains? Yes, but no. I think all Moons have a possibility of becoming a villain, and it is their choice to be one or not. Every Moon we meet tends to go through some sort of catastrophic event that leads them to this choice. OG Moon was built with a kill code. Eclipse, Solar, KC, and Bloodmoon all were a piece of that kill code in some way, on top of other trauma in some cases. Nexus never had the kill code, but he’s been through several different instances of trauma. He literally woke up to the world under Eclipse’s rule. He also had to witness the death of someone he considered a brother in his very own arms. All of these characters have had an instance where they were able to choose between being good or evil. Solar shows that Eclipse didn’t have to be evil, his coding wasn’t fully controlling his actions. He chose to be a villain. Killcode was evil by design, but chose to become good, whereas Bloodmoon was accidentally created as a murderbot and chose to stay evil.

I really want to focus in on Eclipse and Solar real quick. A lot of these characters are antithesis of each other, but Eclipse and Solar are supposed to be the perfectly representation of “what if”. Solar’s whole existence shows that Eclipse chose the path he went on. Could he have been influenced by the kill code? Yeah, definitely. That’s totally an option. But Solar was just as corrupted by our understanding. The only reason he was able to become good was because someone stepped in. Someone treated him like a person and showed him a different way. Eclipse never had that, and ended up choosing the path of evil since that influence was never given to him.

All this to say, it is completely in character for Nexus to have chosen the path of a villain by his own volition. Moons have always been portrayed to have the ability to turn evil. It has never actually mattered what their coding is or what trauma they have been through, every Moon has had a moment where they have had to make a choice. Will they be a hero, or become the villain they were “destined” to be?

I do not think Nexus was of complete clear consciousness when making this decision. Not because of a virus or kill code, not even the dark star power he may have had a the time. It was simply his mental health. Eclipse and Solar are a perfect example of how mental health can completely change a character. Nexus’ entire life was made up of disaster after disaster, which he felt completely responsible for. When Solar died in his arms, it was his snapping point. He was standing on the edge, teetering between sanity and insanity. He felt as if his family abandoned him, on top of his already present self blame and hatred, and he fell. (It does not help that his family failed pretty spectacularly in helping him, but that is the reality of most situations like this. We as an audience were of sound mind when coming up with ways to help Nexus, but the Celestial family was not. They all had their own things to focus on, and couldn’t give Nexus the help he truly needed, despite them thinking they had. Hindsight is a bitch when it comes to scenarios such as this.)

I don’t like Nexus. The story they seem to be telling with his current character arc is the same as Bloodmoon’s, that some people just aren’t worth saving. I do not believe in this sentiment at all, and also believe Nexus could have been handled much better than he currently is. But I cannot deny that how he is acting is actually incredibly plausible. It is not out of character for him to have become what he currently is, even without outside influences. Him harvesting dark star power just happens to make his fall into insanity even more likely.

(I would like to add that none of what I just wrote was against the writers and/or actors in any way. This is a “forever” roleplay show made using VRChat on YouTube. I am in no way expecting greatness. I enjoy having Nexus and characters like EAPS Monty specifically because they play into my more out of pocket sense of humor. I would also like to reiterate that all of this is simply a theory, and how I view the characters of the show. You are completely allowed to have your own opinion! Also, if you read this whole post, thank you! Even if we don’t agree, I am grateful you put time into reading this extensive post.)

[silentcrowsilentravens]

I haven't posted in ages, man :') Mandy definitely isn't a character that calls for a particularly fluffy fluff alphabet... But I want to try and get a feel for writing her, and this felt like a good way.

(Gender ambiguous).

Warnings: mentions of violence, death, and past trauma.

A = affection (how affectionate are they? How do they show affection?)

While perhaps not the most verbally affectionate, Amanda is rather physically affectionate.

She's a tactile person, and she fuckin' loves touching you. All over. All the time.

Amanda's affection is a little... aggressive at first, but after time, you'll see softer stuff mixed in there, too...

...The A segment gets expanded on throughout this, so I won't ramble too long right here.

B = body (what is their favorite part of their partner's body?)

Eyes. I'm not sure why I feel so strongly about that. I just do.

She'll sometimes stare into your eyes for so long that it verges on uncomfortable. Or perhaps unsettling.

Your neck is a close second, though. She loves marking it <3

C = cuddling (do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?)

Yeah. She does.

A lot actually.

She will hold you tight. Full-on gorilla grip, fingers tightly clenching the fabric of your clothes or kinda digging into your skin.

Her preferred position is pressed against your front, her head tucked under your chin.

However, she also enjoys pressing against your side with her legs and arms fully wrapped around you.

D = dates (what do they like to do when they go on dates with you?)

Typically, Mandy doesn't like to go out for dates. And if she does, she prefers to go to places that don't have a lot of people.

Little hole-in-the-wall restaurants, fast food joints sometime after midnight, sitting on the bumper blocks in parking lots after stopping at food trucks.

Hanging out on the couch, watching a movie, or playing video games.

E = emotions (how do they express emotion around their partner?)

Very blatantly. And intensely. Amanda isn't somebody who reacts to things passively. When she feels something, she feels it with every fiber of her being.

Joy is typically the only thing that tends to come across as subdued from her.

But everything else? Rarely. You probably won't have much trouble telling what she's feeling.

F = family (do they want one? If they do, when?)

Growing up, Mandy didn't have one. She lived with her dad, but he was never family or anything close to it. And now, she almost feels like she isn't deserving of one. She is, though. Of course she is.

Having John as a father figure, and you there as a loving partner?

That's more than Amanda could've ever anticipated or asked for, in her eyes.

G = gifts (how do they feel about gift giving? What are their habits when it comes to this?)

Although not a huge fan of receiving gifts herself, Amanda does enjoy giving you gifts every now and again.

She prefers to leave them out for you to find rather than giving them to you directly. Often, the item will be accompanied by a simple note on a torn scrap of paper that says "for you" or something similar.

It's also one of her preferred methods of apology following minor screw-ups.

H = hugs (do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?)

About as much as cuddling.

And similar to when she cuddles you, she will squeeze the life out of you. There's no escape. Occasionally, it even gets a bit hard to breathe.

Like, listen here. Amanda prefers you in her arms over anywhere else.

Her face will be buried in the crook of your neck... Or your chest, depending on how tall you are.

I = injury (how would they act if their partner got hurt?)

She freezes up when she first sees you hurt.

Following that, there is immediate panic and freak-out.

"What the hell happened?!"

There's a decent amount of cursing as she patches you up.

And after, if she finds out that you got hurt because of someone else, you best believe that Amanda is gonna be asking you tons of questions about them. She needs to know all the info you have so that she can track them down, abduct them, and rig up a special (impossible to win) trap just for them.

J = jealously (how jealous do they get? What do they do when they're jealous?)

Mandy does not like to share you haha. At all.

She will, but she won't be pleased about it.

She's not very good at hiding when she's jealous, either.

Amanda will say "I'm not jealous", but it will be obvious from her facial expression, the way she's standing, and her tone of voice that she is. Very, very obvious.

K = kisses (how do they like to kiss their partner?)

The majority of the time? Roughly.

Mandy is somebody who will be pinning you against the wall or nearby furniture.

She'll be biting your lip and sticking her tongue in your mouth before long.

Her hands will likely have a firm grip on your wrists, biceps, the sides of your face, or hair.

She doesn't typically make her kisses brief, either.

L = love (how do they show their partners they love them?)

If Amanda isn't being all touchy-feely, then she's showing her love for you through acts of service.

You say the word?

...Not necessary. She's actively in the process of doing something for you.

She'd give you her last cigarette.

Or kill a guy for you. Maybe more.

M = mornings (how are mornings spent with them?)

Chances are, you probably don't wake up before Amanda. She likes to sleep in until noon.

You wake up to her snoring quietly and holding onto you, unwilling to get up.

So... mornings are simply spent there. In bed.

If you want to get up before noon, you'll need to either pry yourself out of her grasp or wake her up and convince her to release you.

N = nights (how are nights spent with them?)

Nights are when Amanda is most busy with her apprentice work for Jigsaw. Planning, building, abducting, etc. You often don't get to spend long with her because of that.

She'll typically spend the time right before she needs to work hanging around you, though.

And if she's putting traps together, there's a good chance she'll let you hang around. As long as you don't touch anything without asking.

Oh, and hey, pass her that drill.

O = openness (when would they start revealing things about themselves?)

Not for a while.

And telling you stuff from her past? That'll take even longer. Amanda will tell you only once she's ready, and it'll be painful for her. Like pulling teeth.

She might not be hard to read in terms of body language, but she isn't an open book when it comes to verbally sharing things. She's a closed book. That only select people are allowed to look into.

P = pet names (do they use pet names? If so, what do they use?)

She does, but just occasionally.

I can only picture her using "babe".

Half the time, it comes out after she's already said your name. Like "[Insert name here], babe, check this out."

Q = quizzes (how much would they remember about their partner?)

Quite a lot. Mandy remembers the things you do and say pretty well.

Specifically when they relate to the things you do or don't like, though.

She knows the smaller stuff. Your favorite thing to order from the restaurants you go to together, your favorite movies, games, brands of drinks/food, and other stuff like that.

R = remember (what is their favorite moment in their time of knowing you?)

Regardless of wherever it was and whatever happened, her favorite memory is definitely the moment she first met you.

After all, if not for that happening, Amanda wouldn't know you at all. And that's not something she likes to think about.

She isn't even sure what she would be doing with herself if she didn't know you.

S = security (how protective are they? Would they like to be protected?)

As previously mentioned, Amanda will kill for you with little hesitation.

If you're important to her, then nobody gets to hurt you. If somebody does, her rage will be immediate.

She'll make sure that they'll hurt. And quite a lot.

T = time (how long would it take for them to get together with their partner?)

A while.

Regardless of whether you both have a level of chemistry early on, it'll be a while before there'll be a clear definition to your relationship with her.

With previous partners, that wasn't the case. But Amanda has been through a lot.

There will likely be a period where you're already acting like a straight-up couple, but she still only calls you a friend.

U = upset (how do they act when their partner is upset?)

If it's an outside cause? She might try to comfort you.

However, if you're looking for verbal comfort rather than physical, it's pretty 50/50 whether it'll be effective or it'll simply make it worse.

Mandy herself is the cause? Then she'll need a minute before she even acknowledges it. Perhaps a few extra to cool off depending on what happened.

V = Valentine's Day (do they celebrate it with you? How?)

She doesn't care about Valentine's Day. Or most holidays, for that matter. Throughout most of her life, she's never had people to celebrate anything with and make memorable experiences. So when those days come around, it's typically just another day for her.

Valentine's Day in particular is just a load of commercialized bullshit, in her opinion.

Like, whatever. Amanda doesn't need some holiday to do special shit with you. If you want flowers or candy, she could get those for you any time.

She can drop by a gas station right now and grab a few candy bars for you.

She can go outside and find flowers. She'll rip them right out of the ground for you. They'll probably be messed up when you receive them, though. Some of them might also be weeds... And she's just gone and tracked a lot of dirt inside.

W = warrior (how do they feel about their partner fighting? Would they fight beside them, etc.?)

While certainly not something Amanda's opposed to, this also isn't expected from you whatsoever.

So, if you jump in to help her if she gets in a fight or step in front of her protectively, she'll be utterly shocked.

For a solid couple of seconds, she can only stand there with a blank look on her face.

The people she's met willing to do that for her are few and far between. It really starts to set in how much she means to you.

It's also incredibly hot of you.

X = x-ray (how well are they able to read their partner?)

Mandy's halfway decent at reading you.

Like, I wouldn't say she can always pick up on the subtle stuff, but she will most of the time. You won't need to spell a whole lot out for her.

Y = yes (would they propose to their partner? How?)

Marriage is something Amanda is utterly, completely indifferent about.

Like, she could not give less of a shit if she never got married. It's whatever. However, if you really want to get married, then yeah, sure, she's down. Anything for you.

If she's the one to propose, she will pop the question in the most casual way imaginable.

You guys would probably be watching a movie or something, and she would turn to you and go, "Hey, wanna get married?" like she's asking you if you want her to grab anything from the kitchen for you.

She goes out and acquires the rings after that.

By that, I mean she goes out and steals them. Maybe off the cold, rigid fingers of a couple of victims from her unbeatable traps.

Z = zen (what makes them feel calm?)

Simply having you around to talk to her is often a big help to Amanda.

Alongside a bit of space until she indicates otherwise.

Keeping your hands empty and where she can see them, too.

[not-poignant]

Hurt/comfort is such a restorative genre to me, I genuinely can't imagine many stories that wouldn't be benefited by its presence in some way. I'm biased, because that's my genre, it's what I want to read and it's what I want to write for the most part.

But it's a genre as a writer that let's you break and mend (even if your breaking is just the flu or something), and as a reader you can trust that there will be mending. We all need restoration in some parts of our life, or comfort, or care, or a sense of healing. Some of us need it a lot more than others (it's an amazing genre for lonely people).

As I shift in different publishing spaces I've felt pushes to pigeonhole myself as like a 'fantasy romance author' or whatever, but the truth is I'm a hurt/comfort author, and every other genre is secondary to that and always will be. The thing that makes me angriest, honestly, is how rare genuine hurt/comfort is in published stories (though the ratio is going up), and how stingy the comfort is whenever it tends to come, as though it's somehow more valid in a literary sense to be cruel, cheap and spare with the mending. As though it's somehow more elite and accomplished to leave the thing you broke in many pieces, just in case it leads to a sequel, or leaves the reader 'thinking or feeling deeply.'

(And I don't mean 'thinking about the story' - I mean 'thinking about a deeply broken world where no one gets any kind of meaningful succour and the pain and agony is the point' or 'feeling deeply that life isn't worth it and even after extreme trauma and a 'hopeful ending' you will still feel like the world is a terrible, unsupported, empty place.')

I don't mind that some books do this to make a point, but you can tell some books actually did want a somewhat hopeful ending but the authors just never learned the technique of how to provide comfort across all its spectrums to a character who need/s it, because it's so rare to see it done neatly in published works.

Romance probably has the best examples but imho, I don't see any reason why we also shouldn't be expecting more of it from every other genre, from hard science fiction, to horror. It doesn't have to be in everything, but why isn't it more prevalent?

(I have many theories as to why, mostly around misogyny and patriarchy and ruined intimacy culture/s and more, I'm just frustrated with it).

[butterflydm]

this is random but i just remembered that ages ago i saw an ask game for asking fic writers their 5 favorites/ones they're most proud of of their own fics, and i would love to know yours if you're up for it! it would be so interesting to hear a Butterfly Career Retrospective haha

feel free to be flexible on the number and discuss as many or as few fics as you feel like, and to count a whole series as a single entry (like voice, although if you have any particular favorite installments or interludes within that that you'd like to note i'd be curious to hear that too!)

This took a while but I finally got it done, @markantonys!

I have written a lot of fics, so this was a difficult challenge. I am somewhat helped out by the fact that old fics tend to fade out of my memory… but then if I reread a bit of them, I tend to remember why I wrote them and what I loved about them. I did not limit myself to five fics (I tried!) but these are roughly in reverse chronological order of when I posted them.

not in the stars, but in ourselves - trying to bob and weave and make something that feels narratively satisfying out of the mess that is Mat Cauthon's late series arc has become something of a hobby of mine! This is fic is one of several where I narratively examine parts of the canon that didn't work so well for me and try to rearrange them into something that feels like it rings true for the previous characterization and choices.

This fic in particular really made me see how the roadblocks that existed in each of the character's main plotlines was so much easier to solve if they had access to the other main characters (and I suspect that's part of why Jordan kept them so unnaturally separated during these arcs).

I also really enjoy the romance in this fic, and how the characters interact with prophecy in more unexpected ways, and how Rand and Mat help each other through their traumas, and how each of the members of the polycule bring their own perspective to the relationship.

the caffrey exception in White Collar fandom - this fic languished mostly unfinished on my harddrive for a long time before polyweek gave me an excuse to finish it up and post it! I wasn’t really in White Collar fandom, was the problem, and I always write and post more consistently when I have fellow fandom people to encourage me. I also was originally watching WC with my (now ex-)girlfriend and I stopped watching after we broke up, iirc, so I didn’t actually finish the show until years later. And by the time I was writing it, I didn’t feel like there was all that much visible fandom around. But it had a nice little response during polyshipweek, so I was really happy with how it all turned out. Makes me think that one day maybe I’ll finish up and post that RENT fanfic that’s been on my harddrive for eighteen million years.

negotiating with the truth in The Wheel of Time fandom - you can tell I got fancy with this fic because I gave the chapters titles, lol. This fic leans hard into Mat being an unreliable narrator and playing around with that, and it was a lot of fun to focus on and explore that part of him. I do love a lot of the fics I've written in WoT so trying to narrow it down more was tough (and I still only managed to narrow down to three!) but I really loved writing this one and exploring the differing ways that Mat and Rand were approaching this relationship of theirs and how they come to a compromise in the end. I think I really liked that they genuinely do have different wants and desires that need to be navigated.

voice interlude: feels like falling for the first time in The Wheel of Time fandom - this is, a little bit, subbing in for the Voice series as a whole, but I wanted to pick out a complete story and not something still in progress. I am pretty hopeful that Voice will get finished (there are three more main fics in the series, I think — one that mostly spoils through bk9: winter’s heart; one that mostly spoils through bk12: the gathering storm; and then one with whole-series spoilers) but I have some fairly long unfinished works in past fandoms, so eggs and hatching & etc.

What makes this fic in particular stand out to me is how I was able to really take this one moment in time in the series and expand on it so that I could deep-dive into Mat’s characterization and what he was thinking and feeling, and it’s such a revelatory moment for Mat. I enjoy showing characterization via writing about sex, and the interludes in the Voice series really allow me to do that.

my mouth (your lips) my hands (your hips) in The Magicians fandom - This fic where Margo and Eliot approach Quentin on this more equal ground (of them competing to see which of them can land him first) and it developing into a true polyam relationship… I really loved exploring how messy but ultimately loving it was. I also loved delving into Margo as an aromantic character in this fic, and how the great love of her life is her best friend.

A lot of my own fears and pains and worries made it into the three main characters in this one, though all in ways that make sense with their own base characterization, I think. There’s this one line that Eliot thinks - “he had always been better at self-preservation than bravery” and that is 100% canon Eliot but… yeah, it’s also me. One of the things I am working on in therapy is loosening the stranglehold of my self-preservation so that I can be a little braver when it comes to reaching out to other people.

If you like my poly fics in WoT fandom, you might also enjoy my marqueliot fics (but I wouldn’t recommend the show tbh. Or, well, I might rec it up until the episode “All That Hard Glossy Armor”. That’s a good one to end on. And it’s a Margo episode!).

searching for a sound (we hadn’t heard before) in The Magicians fandom - I wrote some serious fix-it fics in this fandom. But this fic was me taking the kind of ridiculous angle on a plotline that I think that the show might have actually pulled off, if it had been so inclined. This fic was also me balling up all my frustration at the poor writing choices and lobbing it at the show’s forehead. It was very cathartic to write. And I think it’s pretty funny too, so that’s a bonus.

(I’m Not Calling You A) Liar for Steven Universe fandom — I am cheating here and including a vid. This vid is… if I sliced up my heart (Hannibal style) and laid it out on a plate, it would look something like this vid. I actually started watching Steven Universe because I saw the “Stronger Together” clip with Garnet but soon after I started watching… holy shit, Pearl and her deep heartbreak over Rose just grabbed me by the throat and did not let me go. Watching her slowly process and begin to resolve her grief was a very healing experience when I was watching the show. There was something very much intensely yearning about Pearl at the start of SU, and how she was trying so hard to hide it (from Steven but from the other gems as well). But she can’t move on until she confronts and heals!

My favorite of the vids that I’ve made, I think, and the one I’m proudest of. There is maybe one single clip that I would change now if I went back to edit it again, but that’s it. I’m fully satisfied with the rest of it; and this is not the case with most of my vids. My Yuri! On Ice vid is probably the other one that comes closest to feeling like I wouldn’t change anything now.

Enyo’s Daughter in MCU fandom — so I am a bit of an odd one out in MCU fandom, because the ship that I liked the best, over any other… Tony and Natasha. Iron Man and Black Widow. It’s a complex and thorny ship, but I liked exploring it. Tony and Natasha both get to be messy and fucked up and exploring situations like that can be interesting. It was written pretty soon after the first Avengers movie came out, if I recall correctly. I never did finish the sequel to this fic, which I am kinda sad about.

Any fandom where canon is currently developing can be kinda tough for me to stay ahead of, in terms of writing any big fic series(es) — this is also why my big Star Wars WIP is destined never to be finished, tbh. I started writing it before a lot of the current canon even exists, and trying to go back and finish it would be difficult because the new shows & movies have changed so much and it can be hard to mentally reconcile what I knew back then vs what I know now when it comes to canon. Once the new MCU movies after Avengers came out, this fic was kinda doomed to never get the sequel finished, alas. And this is why WoT having a closed book canon has made writing fic for it easier, I think.

Melt into Time from American Idol RPF — time-travel fic! I’ve attempted it from time to time, but this one I actually finished. I don’t remember the actual process of writing this anymore, because my memory is for crap, as I mentioned at the start, but it is probably my favorite fic that I wrote in this fandom overall. It deals with second chances and a lot of yearning and people being emotionally messy (a theme for me, for sure).

Justice, Be Not Blind from Dexter — my one and only Dexter fic. What I remember most about writing this fic is that despite how short it is (less than 1k), I did so much research. Miguel Prado was hands-down my favorite character who ever appeared on Dexter and so I wanted to write a fic for him, but I wanted it to sound as true to his character voice as possible. I don’t even really remember the extent of the research that I did and it’s been so long that I couldn’t tell you anymore whether or not the character voice is accurate, but I remember how much I wanted to get this right and how much work I put into trying to get Miguel to feel genuine.

Travelers Without Map or Compass for Doctor Who fandom - cute romantic fluff, but I’m very fond of it. It captures a sort of vibe in the Doctor & Rose relationship that was very appealing to me, and I enjoyed exploring and expanding my thoughts on some of the rooms in the TARDIS.

Another Nameless Planet in the Star Wars (Prequel) fandom — I wrote longer fics in Star Wars fandom but honestly I think I captured Anakin best in this small fic that’s not really about anything in particular except Anakin wanting to be treated as an equal (by Obi-Wan specifically).

I have fics that I wrote before this point, but most of them I genuinely don’t remember writing to the point of going, “huh, oh, wow, I guess that was me, huh?” lol. But going back over my fics… man, it really is like having the deepest yearnings of your heart spread out in front of the world sometimes, isn’t it?

Thanks for sending me on this journey to the past! I hope you enjoyed it. <3

[vampsquerade]

Hello, hope you're having a good day/night

I was wondering if you could write some platonic hc's for Ghost or König (or both if you're up for it), just some general comfort, interactions with them.

Got 2 specifications tho, could the reader be gender neutral and an artist?

Thanks sm for reading this, and thank you even more if you decide to write it <3

And If the spot isn't taken (incase of future interactions), can I be the 💧(tear/water drop) anon?

hello, i’m having an amazing night as i’m currently writing this before publication! i hope you’ve been doing well and you most certainly can be know. as tear anon 💧 i’m going to go ahead and write both of them just for you <3 thank you for requesting so so much i wish you a wonderful weekend and i hope you enjoy :,)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ghost and König Platonic Headcanons

Trigger Warnings: slight mentions of trauma bonding, slow but shaky friendships,

Ghost

☆ Simon as an ally is reliable, but Simon as a friend? He was a very interesting character

☆ He always loves to tell new jokes to those he tends to be closer to, often to their disdain because of how bad they were

☆ So when nobody else liked them, Simon would go to you and tell them to you because you thought they were laughably bad

☆ It helped Simon get closer to you as well and before you knew it, the two of you were friends

☆ The two of you would constantly exchange complex inside jokes to each other, often turning some heads because of how little it made sense to them

☆ And every single time Johnny asked about what you guys meant, you’d only tease him further

☆ Whenever you were in a terrible mood, Simon knew when to back off and not test you further, even at times going out of his way to calm and comfort you

☆ Gives you weird and specific nicknames; the man can’t really socialize in a way that isn’t mildly aggressive, what can you do?

☆ If you’re younger than him, he practically begs you not to be like him once you’re his age. Simon would rather die than have someone he was close to be just like him

☆ He’s the more mature one of you two in general though, always has to stop you from starting fights with people

☆ When Simon found out you were an artist, he teased you for how much you made sketches of him and the others

☆ You panicked slightly because you tried your best to hide that in sketches of wildlife, buildings, and other things you’d seen as you traveled the world

☆ Simon would compliment your art a lot however, often appreciating the work you did

☆ He’d also sneak up on you while you were sketching someone just for that little spook that made you mess up

☆ Obviously apologizes for it as well, and knows when to not say anything that might startle you and cause you to mess up

☆ He has also paid you money for a sketch of him you made that he really liked

König

♪ Despite his large stature, the Austrian man was a pretty chill and gentle guy

♪ König and you clicked when sent out on a mission after you joined Kortac, despite his anxiety slightly getting to him and him thinking you were gonna bully him

♪ Shared interest in sniping between the two of you is the reason why you two became friends so quickly

♪ König’s like the big brother between the two of you, whether you’re older or younger than him

♪ He worries about you whenever he doesn’t hear from you, when you get injured, and all that

♪ König is hellbent on getting revenge on whoever injured you too, he’s the scary dog friend confirmed

♪ Outside of working together however, he’s always the one to send you letters or come see you in person to hang out

♪ He prefers to hang out at either of your homes, but he doesn’t mind stepping out for something

♪ König’s anxiety slightly holds him back from engaging with the outside world, but having a friend with him makes him feel okay

♪ He’s definitely trauma dumped on you but that was when he came back from a mission so distraught it brought it out of him, and you were more than happy to comfort the giant and let him know he’s okay. You’re the soft comfort sibling to him

♪ When König found you one day making a painting while you were at home, he asked if he could watch you because the brush against the canvas was a really nice thing to see

♪ König’s asked a few times if you could help him draw something and has been happy ever since then

♪ He loves when he catches you sketching him too while out in the field and you’ve found the time to do so

♪ König loves posing for you as well, often incorporating some of his weapons and grenades. He also loves helping you with foreshortening and perspective

♪ Only trusts you with sketching his face, but it has to absolutely only be headshots

♪ Sometimes König falls asleep when he’s sitting next to you watching you sketch, as the pencil’s graphite against the paper relaxes him a bit

[raes-writing-space]

My Comfort Characters + Comfort Prompts!

Alright! Since it's Spring Break I'm going to try and get some writing done with some of my comfort characters. They might be short prompts (unless I get really into them) but I'll try and post at least one story a day, maybe even two if I have the time!

SOME OF THESE WILL HAVE MATURE THEMES AND MENTIONS OF TRAUMA. TW: SA Mention in one of Matthew's Prompts.

Here is the characters with the prompts that I'll be going for (some based off of my own experiences but put in a way that others can relate to.):

Dick Grayson/Nightwing - Being Touch Starved/Wanting A Hug (General Comfort) Sometimes being a hero is taxing, and when your body is trained to handle blow after blow... sometimes a hug is enough to make you release a lot of feelings you didn't know you were even holding in. Dick Grayson notices your change in demeanor, and just does a simple act of giving you a long hug and telling you it's going to be okay.

Tadashi Hamada - Academic Burnout Comfort After doing your best in your academics, you still feel like you're falling behind or just on the wrong academic path in general. Tadashi helps comfort reader that if they want to take a break and rethink things, it's totally okay.

Matthew Anderson - Having To Grow Up Too Fast/Lack of Childhood Comfort After having to take care and deal with so many traumatic things at a young age, it's made you feel like an adult, even when you weren't. Now that you are an adult, looking back and realizing you couldn't just be a kid and have a normal childhood really upsets you. Matthew comforts the character and shows them that while it might not be the same, it's still possible to just act like a kid and heal your inner child.

AND (TW: SA Mention) Matthew Anderson - Respecting Boundaries Comfort You and Matthew have been dating for awhile. However, you're finding a hard time telling him about your past experience with being sexually assaulted. When Matthew starts noticing that you're starting to distance yourself from him before things start to heat up, he asks if you're okay and comfortable with him. When you tell him the truth, he comforts you and tells you that he will always love you regardless if you want to have sex or not.

Yuji Itadori - Perfectionist Tendencies Leading To Self-Esteem Issues Comfort You've been wanting to become an jujutsu sorcerer and help people your whole life, but you hold yourself to a different standard. After making a tiny mistake (which does not feel tiny to you at all) you start to doubt that you'll ever be good enough. Yuji comforts the reader and tells them that we can't all be perfect all the time, that we need to forgive ourselves from time to time, and we can only strive to do our best.

Obey Me! Satan - Learning Disability/Gifted Child Burnout Comfort You used to be great with academics when you were younger, and maybe in some subjects you still are just as good. But now that you're older and in a completely new academic environment, no one but Satan sees how you struggle to study, and stress yourself out to the point of crying when the words on the page seem to get jumbled up and not make sense to you. Satan helps you take a break, then helps make the studying process a little bit easier.

Ruggie Bucchi - Not Knowing When To Take A Break Comfort You're the type of person who is so used to being tasked with everything. Cleaning, cooking, studying, and caring for others, but that means you tend to forget to take care of yourself a lot. After feeling overwhelmed by the tasks you have to do, you make yourself on the verge of being sick because you can't seem to just pause anything. Ruggie helps the reader by forcing them to sit down before they collpase, and helps share the load with the reader and shows that it's possible to let other people take care of them too.

Cove Holden - Struggling With Things Changing Comfort Takes place around Step 3, when all of your friends and family are taking about their plans for the future, you start to realize what that exactly means. The feelings hit you all at once that things aren't going to be the same anymore, and while you're happy for your friends and family, the change still scares you. Cove reminds you that no matter what happens, he will always be there for you through everything, and that while things are changing, some things will always stay the same.

[ithuriels-criativety]

How to write a harmless character (meaning someone who can't or will not physically fight)

There seems to be a misunderstanding between a harmless character and a peaceful one. The peaceful do not want to harm anyone, the harmless is incapable of doing so. None of them are bad traits to apply to a character, but the limits many others possible traits, so there is a list of very few characters that represents this traits (mainly the "harmless" trait).

Peaceful characters that belong among the main ones tend to be retired soldiers or someone with great skill in combat. It is not uncommon for them to be put in a critical situation where they need to use their knowledge, be it to protect someone or any other reason. I advise you, writer who are interested in this kind of character, to avoid making your character being underestimated, this is becoming a cliché that push away many readers.

Well, my actual point with this post is to advise about the "harmless" trait, based on my experience as a reader of course. Here it goes...

✨The harmless type✨

Most of the time this characters are kids, old people, woman or non-combatants civilians (basically mobs), which is infuriating! I am sure that upon reading the title you had thought one of this, so why don't I give you some examples of my creativity since you do not have enough? (I am kidding, I'm sorry).

The character who was once a great warrior known on the whole realm for their skills and now is just an empty shell. It would be really interesting if even being powerless now people respected them or he had students who would look after them.

Someone who was born with a weak body or an illness that couldn't be cured but wouldn't kill them. Being weak doesn't mean they're powerless, this character can be really smart and lead someone else or be a powerful person in business or politics and not to be ignored even by people with strength enough to wipe them out of the earth.

A person who has all they need to be the strongest or one of the best warriors but for some reason choose to not fight; be it a pacifist or someone traumatized and hater of violence. Make sure that they don't know how to fight if it is the second option! They may not learn how to after overcoming the trauma, something like "I don't need to fight to be who I am" or something (Personally, I like a lot the plot of them just not being into fighting; having all the genetics they need to be strong and just choosing to be peaceful and out of trouble).

Having their strength blocked by something that could be self inflicted. May it be a "curse", an injury or just not being allowed to use everything they have.

There are very few literary works that involve a truly harmless character that is well built and I can't even remember any who does to recommend, but you could be the one to add to this scarce list.

That's it. Feel free to add more prompts to it or use the ones I displayed here.

[the-cypress-grove]

I saw your "So, you want to write vampires..." post, and I was wondering if you can do something like that for zombies? Completely okay if you cant though !!

So, You Want To Write Zombies....

I had intended to turn the "So you want to write BLANK..." into a series so feel free to make requests of different creatures or things to so I can prioritise what you will find useful. I haven't written about zombies in a while so this will be a little rusty. Tell me if I need to change or add anything. With that said, ONWARDS!

Origins

This is more important than with my vampire episode. Most zombie stories are usually set in or around the initial outbreak so it is vital that YOU know how it started even if your characters don't.

Potential Origins you might want to consider:

Experiment Gone Wrong: It was believed to be a cure until patient zero died and rose again.

Experiment Gone Right: It was a biological weapon deliberately created and released.

A Result Of Climate Change: Some sort of virus, bacteria, or fungus was trapped in the ice and, as the icecaps melted, it was released.

Magic: An option for if you're going for a more fantastical setting.

Virus / Fungal Infection: A classic, but a good one.

Aliens: It's a result of alien interference.

2. Build Your Zombies

There are many things to consider when your deciding what traits your zombies will have and a lot of that will stem from your origins. Do they just shuffle or can they run? Can they evolve or change? Can they speak? How is the infection spread e.g. is it by touch, by biting, is it airborne? Are they affected by the cold (with no body heat it might freeze them solid or at the very least slow them down)? Are they affected by the heat (this will speed up the rotting process maybe causing them to fall apart)? Do they congregate in groups? Is there a cure? Can it even be cured? How quickly will an infected person turn? Can they swim / move through water? Can animals be infected or can they carry diseases? What are the zombies senses like e.g. can they sniff people out? How do they hunt e.g. are attracted by noise, or smell?

All these will factor will determine how likely it is for your human character to survive.

Most importantly, what are you going to call them? In most media, zombies are never called zombies.

3. Themes

The zombie genre explores some of the most interesting themes (at least to me), as often the true monsters of zombie stories tends to be what humanity becomes when law and order is overturned. How far will people go to survive? Who are the true monsters; the zombies, or the people left behind?

4. Characters

Whether you have one human character or, more likely, you end up having a group, it's interesting to explore the pack bonding that occurs when these people trauma bond with each other. They go from strangers to a family unit willing to kill to protect each other.

Some things to consider:

Who is more likely to survive the initial outbreak? First responders will probably die first as they will be on the front lines during the initial outbreak. Most people in cities will die. Rural communities / those who live in isolation will be more likely to survive the initial stages.

Humanity WILL change: in order to survive people will become increasingly ruthless and selfish. This is an arc you may wish to explore through a character.

Who will be valued: doctors, vets, anyone with combat experience, will be highly valued by survivor groups. What skills will your groups need/look for? If your story takes place years/decades after the first outbreak are these skills taught and handed down or were they hoarded. What professions are more likely to survive your zombies?

Trauma: ALL your characters when exposed to your setting WILL be affected. They will all handle this in their own way. It is up to you to decide how they do it and how it manifests. Are they paranoid? Are they mistrusting? Do they try to drink to forget? Do they push others away because they lost people? Or are they clingy?

5. Setting

Your setting will have a great impact on your characters. Cities are likely to become overrun, rural communities are likely to last longer. In the cold, zombies might be slow or stop all together until they thaw. In the heat, they might rot quicker and fall apart.

If your story takes places years after the first outbreak it is likely most stores will have been stripped of their supplies by various groups.

Places where communities might form:

A bunker: is this the beginning where people are afraid? Is this later on when they need to leave when they are running out of supplies? Have generations lived down there?

A boat or a series of boats: it's mobile and zombies are not likely to be able to swim. How do they get their food? How do they get clean drinking water?

A prison: It's defendable, but how did they clear it out?

An old castle or fort: they're built for defence but how do they get supplies?

Hills / Mountain: the terrain makes it difficult for a hoard of zombies to navigate.

6. First Response / First Days

This will be where most stories begin. The response will depend on your selected origins. Who are the first to die? Who is more likely to survive? How desperate is your character to survive? How smart is your character? What is the government's response (do they want to help, will they send in the armies, or will they burn cities in an attempt to contain the zombies)?

Where does the outbreak begin?

How quickly does it spread?

7. Decay of Modern Society

All rule and law WILL breakdown, but how long does it take? This will happen quicker in some groups / people than it will in others. What rules will groups enact amongst themselves?

Have buildings become rundown and overgrown? Is tinned food still good? How have people adapted to their situation? Do cars still work?

8. Supplies

What are people eating? How are they getting it? What about clean water? Medicine?

All this will impact how long your characters will supplies and can add conflicts and dangers for your group. A zombie in a well will taint the water. A store that's been cleaned out will leave your character hungry, desperate, and irritable. If your character is diabetic, how are they getting insulin or NOT getting insulin. What about asthma? Can they find inhalers?

9. Dangers

Obviously, you have the zombies but there are other dangers out there.

Consider:

Other people within their group, other groups, or lone survivors.

The weather

Unstable buildings

Injuries and illnesses

Their own mental health

Eating the wrong plant

Animal e.g. roaming packs of starving dogs

REMEMBER; WHILE ALL WILL CHANGE, HUMANS WILL ALWAYS BE HUMANS. SHOW THE BAD, BUT ALSO THE GOOD.

[margotbamborough]

I'm just jotting down a few themes I've noticed so far in the Running Grave!

Food/hunger/weight: while Robin's undergoing forced starvation in the cult (again, a common form of mind control used by cults) Strike is on a diet. A lot of references are made to characters being under- or overweight. For instance the detail that one of the ex-cult members developed a binge eating problem following her traumatic experience with the cult. Food (and Strike's and Robin's respective relationships to it) has been a pretty consistent motif that has popped up throughout the series so far and it's being made very explicit in TRG. There's definitely an idea of unhealthy relationships with food being explored. (Though also jkr just likes to write about food lol that's pretty clear in hp as well)

Disconnection from family: While Strike is actually connecting with his family more than we've seen before– forging a new bond with Lucy and her family, taking care of Ted, getting to know Prudence– the cult's MO (as is the case with most cults) is the opposite, to alienate victims from their families. We're getting to know several families who have been torn apart by UHC. The central family to the mystery is of course Mazu, Wace, and Daiyu. There's specifically a focus on mothers: there are several mothers or expecting mothers in the cult, Leda, Mazu, Ilsa (the book starts at her son's christening with her as a new mother). Even Bijou's apparent baby-trapping schemes fit into this theme, though I'm not sure how thats going to play out yet.

Mental illness/trauma: Prudence is a psychologist, and several of the cult victims either suffered from mental illness before being recruited or as a result of the trauma they experienced. Lucy discloses the fact that she's in therapy to Strike, a fact which surprises him, and encourages him to pursue therapy as well. Robin and Strike are both characters who have a great deal of unprocessed trauma, which they've slooowly been coming to grips with throughout the series, but I think so far this is the book where it's been most directly addressed. As of yet mostly in Strike's case, though given the nature of what's happening at in the cult I imagine I'm going to start seeing some of Robin's too.

Empathy/forgiveness: I'm not sure how to word this one but there's a feeling that Strike is becoming more open to understanding others and feeling more empathy towards them. He's a character who has previously been somewhat harsh and judgmental towards the people he deals with both in his personal life and his work– I'm not complaining, it's a good bit of characterisation. But after having criticised/scorned Lucy's lifestyle for the entire series so far, he's finally beginning to understand why she is the way she is and respect her. His realisation that she's actually incredibly brave was a HUGE moment. In general, Strike's inner monologue has been much less critical of the people he interviews than it typically is. The cult has a very black and white mentality, people are either good or evil, and I think this is something Strike has tended towards in the past- so TRG seems to be putting forward the notion that people deserve understanding and kindness. That nuance is important. A big issue when dealing with victims of cults is that many of them have been coerced into doing terrible unconscionable things that are difficult for the rest of us to understand, and many of them struggle with guilt, while outsiders struggle to forgive their actions. Steve Hassan explains this very well in his book (which is referenced in TRG and read by Strike)

I may expand on this!! These are just a few thoughts I've had so far

[the-daily-dreamer]

A lot of people say that Aemond not wanting to kill Luke doesn't make any sense.

I would like to know what you think about it since you always have good arguments. 💚

Aww thank you so much!

Ok. So I’ve seen the argument that it makes no sense that Aemond wouldn’t want to kill Lucerys and also that Aemond should have known better when pursuing him so he must’ve been ok with the death.

Personally, I really don’t think Aemond wanted to kill Luc. I mean look at this reaction.

That is an OH SHIT look. It’s clearly unintentional and not what he wanted to do.

However, I also don’t think it’s a bad writing choice that Aemond didn’t want to kill Luc. I think that it’s actually very in character for Aemond based on his characterization this far in the series and also his history.

See, we need to recognize a few main facets about Aemond in order to attempt to understand his motivations and intentions. 1) He is usually the calmer, more rational, and more reliable of the two brothers. 2) He underwent a serious trauma as a child and was bullied (by Lucerys no less). 3) He has a habit of doing ballsy and poorly thought out things as a way to feel superior, more specifically when he’s in an environment where he feels inferior or his trauma is brought up.

And it’s these three points interconnected that all play into why I think it’s perfectly in character for Aemond to not want to have killed Luc.

Aemond’s behavior in normal circumstances is to not create problems like his brother. He doesn’t sneak out or sleep around. He studies and trains. And his mother clearly sees him as the most reliable of all her children. Taking this into account, I don’t think Aemond would want to murder Luc because it would DEFINITELY create problems, especially with a potential war brewing. It just doesn’t fit the character motivations we’ve seen this far to intentionally murder Luc. And that’s why I genuinely don’t think he would.

However, there have been scenes where Aemond does act out. And those scenes are what people use as proof that he would want to kill Luc and why the writing choice is bad. For example, the fight scene when he loses his eye, the toast scene, and most especially, the storm’s end scene before the murder.

All these scenes show a harsher, though rare, side to Aemond. A side of him that is willing to push buttons and intimidate others. But where does this behavior come from?

That’s where the bullying and trauma comes in. Every scene that we see Aemond lash out in has some relation to his mistreatment in the past. The fight scene is his first time feeling powerful in comparison his bullies (the strong boys), and then he only reacts harshly and violently when he his first provoked by them. The toast scene is in direct response to Luc laughing at the pig (a callback to the bullying Aemond faced from the Strongs and Aegon). And the scene at Storm’s End is him seeing Luc again after the dinner.

In all these instances, Aemond is confronted by traumas he has experienced or one of the abusers who did them. He clearly hasn’t handled his trauma the best because he lashes out when confronted with his past. And thus, his reactions tend to aim for making him feel stronger and more powerful than the people who hurt him and made him feel small and inferior.

When he is in the fight scene, he finally has confidence and feels powerful. So when attacked by his bullies, he calls them bastards and threatens them. It makes him feel better to finally overpower them after years of torment. In the toast scene, he has a direct callback to his bullying and clearly no remorse from the boy who stabbed his eye out. He can’t be violent because of the company at the table, so he implies the bastard status of the boys. A subtle way to bring them down and make himself feel big again. In Storm’s End, he finally doesn’t have his mother or any family to stop him, so when Luc appears and he feels that inferiority creep in again, he lashes out and tries to scare and intimidate Luc so he feels better again.

What I’m trying to get at is that after years of torment and being made to feel small and unimportant, Aemond reacts to being confronted with his trauma by trying to reassert himself as better and more powerful and bring his bullies down.

This all culminates in the scene where Luc dies. When Aemond is riding Vhagar, chasing Luc down he’s on top of the world.

He’s laughing and smiling and taunting. He feels powerful and dangerous and is reveling in the fact that the boy who mutilated him is scared shitless of him.

Would he have taken Luc’s eye? Possibly. I wouldn’t be shocked if he genuinely had that intent. But I think his main goal was to scare Luc. To shrink him down and make him feel small, the way he felt as a child being bullied and losing an eye. I don’t think murder is on his mind. It’s superiority. Fighting away the pain he had as a kid.

Genuinely, I don’t think that Aemond not wanting to kill Luc is poorly written. It’s perfectly in character (as far as I’m concerned) for it to be an accident. Aemond is not the type to plan on murdering Luc, based on his usually rational behavior. But, Aemond is also a traumatized kid on the inside and he lashes out. When confronted with his trauma and having Luc there, he responded the way he always does and tried to scare Luc to feel powerful and better about himself. Unfortunately, he didn’t think through that his actions could have far deadlier consequences than he intended. And that’s why he’s so shocked.

[fireflysummers]

Final Thoughts on GO S2

I'm probably gonna pull back on discussing S2, at least publicly, after this. I did actually like a lot of the season, but it's triggering some of my religious trauma and also the fandom is already stressing me out. So here, let's have some final thoughts.

First and foremost: I am not a Gaiman simp. I've read a decent amount of his work: comics, short stories, essays, and novels. Aside from Good Omens, I've liked Coraline and The Graveyard Book the best by far, whereas American Gods just. Did Not Connect with me, even though it's should have, given the stuff I tend to enjoy.

However. Regardless of whether I like a given work (or even like how he adapted it, a la parts of The Sandman TV series), he is a veteran writer who has proven that he does, actually, know how to write a story with consistent characters.

Beyond that, I do actually believe that he's trying to do right by Pratchett, and loves and respects the story and characters they created together. He's generally shown up as an ally to a variety of social causes, and directly and respectfully responds to fans on Tumblr. While no saint, I feel that there is cause to give the benefit of the doubt that things will resolve satisfyingly in S3, and that there is Intention about some of the things in S2.

This, of course, does not absolve it of being "bad," but even here I think we need to articulate better the different types of "bad" that people are reacting to. There seems to roughly be three camps here: 1) People who thought it was "bad" because of how it ended, with the breakup and a lot of unresolved plot threads; 2) People who thought it was "bad" because it struggled on a technical level with its set, lighting, directorial choices, editing, etc; 3) People who thought it was "bad" because they felt the characterization was significantly off and that the internal logic of the series had been violated.

With regards to Point One, the only solution is to Wait and See. Judgement should be reserved until the story is properly finished--easier said than done, especially considering the current media landscape, and the number of series or franchises that fail to live up to their promises.

Point Two isn't something I understand well enough to contribute meaningfully, except that I suspect the pandemic affected this aspect the most and am willing to give it a bit more mercy. That aside, I for the most part I don't find it bad so much as not as good as S1. Except for the parts with epilepsy warnings, surely there could've been a better way to do that.

Point Three... that's the stumbling block for me, and I find it interesting that most of the folks who struggle with this point in particular are long time fans of the book.

I trust that instinct.

There are two different directions to go from here. The first is the assumption that these problems are a result of ego, carelessness, or lack of skill from the showrunners/writers/director. It's cynical but not unjustified. The second is the belief that the breaks in lore or characterization were intentional, building towards a much grander conspiracy. Of course, even in this case I don't think it forgives the lack of signposting that would indicate that this is a choice rather than an accident. It just makes it feel clumsy and poorly constructed, a major risk on a show that hasn't had its third season confirmed.*

However, regardless, it still feels salvageable. I've enjoyed reading a lot of meta on all this, and I've pulled some things from others (particularly That Theory by @ariaste), but I don't really want to put forth a single, defined theory myself. Instead, here's some questions I've got, why those questions are important (to me, at least). Actual theorizing comes after, and anybody who snidely mentions Sherlock in the comments or tags is going to get auto-blocked. Like seriously, I'm aware that some stuff is a stretch, but it's fun??? To theorize????? And I'm here for me and my peace of mind rather than trying to argue a point.

*I have some suspicions here, particularly with Gaiman stating that the decision from Amazon would come much faster than The Sandman's second season (which was four months). I don't know enough though to say if that's actually significant.

Questions

Who the fuck is telling this story?

This is the most important piece, in my opinion. There's this assumption when reading books (or research papers, newspapers, etc...) that the narrator who is writing the words is a non-presence, Neutral and objective. That's not the case, and an important part of literature critique is figuring out who the narrator is, and what their goals are. Oftentimes, the narrator and the author are the same person, but with Pratchett's work, particularly on Good Omens and Discworld, the Narrator was its own unique character.

This is why people struggle adapting Discworld to live action--that medium requires a Reason for having a Narrator, and especially in the age of method acting that's often considered immersion-breaking. Good Omens worked so well because they not only kept the Narrator, but they made Her God.

This added some really interesting new dimensions, such as the scene where Crowley speaks to God about his fall and the destruction of humanity. He doesn't receive an answer, but we're watching from God's perspective, so we as the audience know that She's listening.

Another advantage of making God the Narrator is that it justifies all the goofy little asides we get into the lives of minor characters (i.e. Leslie the Mailman), without losing focus. It helps the world feel like it’s full of people, rather than characters and plot contrivances, and the theme that individual people and their choices are important. The Narrator is such a central character of Good Omens that without it, the story struggles to stay focused.

It also highlights a key difference in the writing styles of the two authors. Pratchett’s work tends to introduce four or five totally unique plot threads that feel completely disjointed until the last act (if not even later), when it turns into a Chekhov’s Firing Squad. Plot twists around secret identities and backstabbing and schemes are relatively rare, as the omniscient Narrator doesn’t lie about the intentions of people or their actions.

Gaiman’s writing is typically not like that, to my knowledge. He buries characters in misdirection and hints, and you never know the true identity or motives until all the chips are down. It’s a perfectly valid way to approach storytelling, but it makes it jarring to see it in S2. The lack of a Narrator is a huge reason why S2 doesn’t feel like Good Omens to some folks.

My gut feeling is that the decision to shift from the original Narrator was highly intentional. It helps to obscure the thoughts and intentions of people, and it also muddles the insights that we’re supposed to take away. (I would have loved hearing God monologue about what’s going on in Jim’s head. I think it’d do a lot to make him seem less.... obnoxiously stupid.)

More than that, it brings up a reasonable potential plot point of: Where did God go? Why isn’t She present in the story? Even in her early appearance in the Job flashback, she doesn’t sound like the narrator for last season. After the first part of her speech (which Gabriel later quotes), her tone turns casual and condescending, which might line up with her being a bit of an asshole, it doesn’t line up with the whole “dealer of a mysterious card game who is always smiling”).

Also, I don’t think it’s safe to assume that nobody is telling the story either. Just because they’re not making their presence known doesn’t mean they aren’t there, and in a story like Good Omens, that’s concerning.

Wait, where's Satan?

Another person I saw while scrolling the tags pointed out that Satan is nowhere to be seen this season. He's really only mentioned in reference to a bet God made in Job, but then Crowley is the one on the ground causing mischief. There's no Hail Satan among demons (like Hastur and Ligur did at the start of S1).

That's might be because the writers didn't want us to think it was important (a la Hastur), but that feels off. Given that Satan speaks directly through the radio to Crowley in S1, complimenting him on his work, it's safe to say that he was at least aware of and involved in the goings-on in Hell. The fact that he wasn't even an worry for Beelzebub in abandoning their post? Feels weird.

(Also if you know where that post is, I'll happy credit + link)

What is Maggie?

Look, I love cute lesbians in love as much as the next queer, but I don't like Maggie. I don’t think she’s a person. Contextually, she’s a plot device, but I agree with That Essay that she might be an actual Plot Device.

Her characterization is simple and relatively shallow—a bit of an airhead, ray of sunshine that’s supposed to remind you of Aziraphale. When she describes her past to Nina, it’s almost robotic (also, her story implies it was Mr. Fell who first rented to her ancestor, not Mr. Fell’s great-grandfather like Nina implied). Her emotions are over-dramatic and seem to be turned on and off at random (scenes with her crying to Aziraphale about her woes had my “manipulator” senses going off for some reason).

When asked about a song, she not only IDs the song, its singer, and its year, but how and on what it was distributed. (Honestly thought this would’ve been something interesting, because she’s been pretty ditzy so far, it’d be interesting if she had like... an insane memory for music history.) And then she’s the one that sets Aziraphale on his little investigation by giving him the transformed records, while also planting the seed about her love troubles with Nina. Later, her advice to Crowley is... not awful, but feels insincere and a bit too forward, given her own self-proclaimed lack of relationship experience.

I don’t know what she is (a demon, hastur with amnesia in disguise, a literal plot device inserted by the current storyteller, etc...), but there’s something not right with her.

(Also the joke of “who listens to records anymore, it’s so old fashioned” just doesn’t land, lots of people buy records, and I’m saying this as somebody who has worked at a record store before.)

What's going on with Aziraphale?

There’s something Off about Aziraphale, and it’s not his choices at the end of the season. That makes total sense if you read him as somebody with severe religious trauma getting dragged back into the abusive system because other people need him and he’s been promised the ability to change things.

But I do think something is happening to his memory. Nearly all the flashbacks are from Aziraphale’s point of view and retelling, which means that they’re less reliable than God’s version of events in the previous season. Many of them don’t make logistical sense (post-church scene in 1941), depict Crowley as meaner or more sinister than we know he is, or frame events... weirdly. The scene with him trying food for the first time feels Really Bad, especially when the series has previously established that he’s a) prim and proper and b) his interest in food is one of the beautiful things that connect him to humanity, not some kind of gluttonous sin. Also he turns down alcohol.

Their meet-cute at the  start of the universe also doesn’t line up with their reactions to each other in Eden, or the fact that knowing each other Before has never come up or been hinted at anywhere ever. I don’t know what’s causing this to happen, only that Aziraphale repeatedly looks pensive when coming out of flashbacks, and Crowley is never there afterwards to corroborate said memories.

His actions also seem pretty inconsistent with what we know of him—i.e. I refuse to believe he would ever mistreat his books, even if they’re just old encyclopedias. Also, he feels a bit too...forceful in trying to get Nina and Maggie to fall in love? I mean, he didn’t exert that much direct influence on even Warlock, when he was actively hoping that the boy would turn out angelic rather than neutral.

I don’t think this removes his agency in that last decision, so much as explains how he was in such a vulnerable place at all. He still needs to apologize and fix things, because he messed up, and even if he hadn’t he still seriously hurt Crowley.

What's going on with Crowley?

There’s something Off about Crowley. The most obvious thing, of course, is his memories. At multiple points in the present day, characters state that they remember him or have met him before, only to be met with confusion. This is especially concerning given that he has a nigh photographic memory for faces (something mentioned in the book when he immediately IDs Mary Loquacious, 11 years after a 30 second conversation).

Overall, he seems to be better known by other supernatural entities this season, in ways that often tie him back to his angelic identity (i.e. saying they fought together in the war, Aziraphale stating he knew the angel he used to be, etc...). This doesn’t feel right, because S1 we see that Hell is largely apathetic towards his schemes, and definitely does not defer to him at any point in any capacity.

Then there’s the issue of his power level. It’s always been speculated that Crowley was a powerful angel prior to falling, when he mentions in S1 his involvement with star making, his seemingly unique ability to freeze time, and creating a pocket universe for Adam before the confrontation with Satan. He also has a tendency of breathing life into inanimate objects, like his plants or car. He also has the regular demonic skillset: miracles that can adjust physical appearance; the ability to change inanimate objects (like paintball guns into real guns); the ability to manifest clothing and similar items; and summon hellfire to his fingertips. This, plus the way he monologues to God with a degree of familiarity rather than reverence seems to indicate that he was Somebody Powerful and Important Before.

But in S2, his skills are significantly expanded upon. The miracle he and Aziraphale summon sets off alarms in heaven and hell, and it’s powerful enough to mask Gabriel from the Archangels. He summons a miniature sun to rain fire on Job, which is way bigger and flashier than anything we’ve seen him summon in S1. (If he needs fire, he alters the course of a dropping bomb, without creating one himself.)

Yet he’s able to cloak his presence so well he goes wholly unnoticed in heaven, or in front of heavenly agents on earth (i.e. the Job flashback). Muriel can’t clock him as a demon, or even as another supernatural being, despite their auras usually being pretty significant, such Aziraphale immediately sensing the archangels when they arrive.  He’s able to interfere with files that Muriel claimed required clearance (although I feel like that might just be a snark about Obeying Without Thinking? I would really need a Narrator to know.)

I might be misremembering, but I don’t think we’ve seen angels or demons transmogrify living beings before either. In the book, Crowley brings Aziraphale’s dove back to life after the failed magic show, and occasionally sinks ducks, but he doesn’t alter them? Not even Adam demonstrates that skill in S1. But he has no trouble turning Job’s children into lizards, however temporarily. Boy that would’ve been convenient during the flood. Or when the guard stopped then from getting to the air strip.

I might be misremembering, but I don’t think we’ve seen angels or demons transmogrify living beings before either. In the book, Crowley brings Aziraphale’s dove back to life after the failed magic show, and occasionally sinks ducks, but he doesn’t alter them? Not even Adam demonstrates that skill in S1. But he has no trouble turning Job’s children into lizards, however temporarily. Boy that would’ve been convenient during the flood. Or when the guard stopped then from getting to the air strip.

I don’t have any real issues with his characterization in the present day parts of S2, but there’s something weird happening with Crowley.

Where's all the people?

I really like a lot of the new characters, but how were there only like, 2.5 new humans named in the present day? Flashbacks don’t count bc the humans are all dead and can’t affect the story.

As much as I like Nina, she and Maggie don’t drive the story beyond being an occasional and awkwardly inserted plot contrivance? Both are actively robbed of their agency at several points, forced into situations that they could not have avoided or escaped. I’m not really sure what growth they’re expected to experience other than deciding not to date each other after everything. I literally can’t tell you anything about Nina other than that she remembers her regular’s orders, runs a coffee shop, and has a textbook abusive partner we never see. The only meaningful interactions they have are between those two, or in conversation with Aziraphale and Crowley.

Compare that to S1, where Anathema gets hit by Aziraphale and Crowley, but her primary relationships are with Newt, Adam, and Agnes Nutter (I think that counts as a relationship). We know that she’s got a wealthy family back in Puerto Rico, and that she was literally raised to save the world, and that she isn’t happy under all that pressure. Newt on the other hand is connected to not just Anathema, but Shadwell and Madame Tracy. He never even directly interacts with Aziraphale and Crowley. We know about his hobbies, his struggle to hold down a job, and his almost supernatural ability to destroy any electronics he touches. I don’t necessarily like how their relationship came together, but they were both very, very well fleshed out characters with unique backstories and goals. They weren’t just... waiting around to give Aziraphale and Crowley a new questline.

And while there’s no requirement to include a large cast of human characters that are exerting influence over the story, the lack of it is another aspect that makes this season feel not like Good Omens.

Also, it's just. Really weird to me that the events of S1 aren't really referenced at all? Like, Adam isn't mentioned, nor is Warlock. I don't expect them to keep track of the humans they met on the airfield for 20 minutes, but none of it is ever specifically referenced as far as I can tell, beyond Crowley threatening Gabriel. Like, I get that it's been a few years, but the pair caused a big enough disturbance that you'd expect some kind of ripples in their supernatural communities.

Promised by the Narrative (Obvious Chekhov's guns that I will be legitimately upset over if they do not go off)

A sincere apology from Aziraphale to Crowley that doesn't come with the expectation that Crowley will come back to him, but because he deserves an apology, even if the choices Aziraphale made were done with good intentions. Aziraphale does not expect forgiveness, and is shocked when Crowley grants it without hesitation.

A clear declaration of love from Aziraphale, which can't be rationalized away by either of them.

An "I'm Sorry" dance between Aziraphale and Crowley, but with greater sincerity and gravity. The most important piece is that they end up dancing together, which signifies a mutual apology and dedication to come together.

Since kissing is on the table, I expect an actual joyful, mutual kiss between these two assholes.

A shared cottage in South Downs.

Predictions/Theories (just some fun thoughts I've had)

When Adam declared that Satan was not his father, he didn't make himself not the antichrist, but accidentally crowned his human dad the King of Hell. Nobody knows this, because Adam doesn't have a good measure for "normal" supernatural situations, and Mr. Young because he's so "normal" that he explains away all the magical bullshit that's started going down.

When Adam declared that Satan was not his father, he erased Satan altogether. However, this left a vacuum in both power and reality. The defection of both Gabriel and Beelzebub only widens that crack. In an attempt to Fix things, reality is warping the story. Crowley has become leagues more powerful between S1 and S2, as the narrative is trying to force him into the role of his previous boss. Aziraphale is unknowingly being pulled into a similar version on the Other Side, perhaps to replace Gabriel or perhaps to replace God herself, who has been fairly absent in all this. The alterations to their memories or past have come about to keep the narrative running smoothly.

When the Metatron asks Nina whether anybody has ever asked for death, he was actually referring to Death, the sole remaining rider of the apocalypse.

If Maggie is indeed a Plot Device, it would be a fascinating exploration of Free Will to see her become aware of this (cue existential crisis), and then fall in love with Nina on her own terms, rather than because she was written that way.

Hastur will be back. Somehow.

The reason why S2 focuses so much on the supernatural characters is because S3 will be about how the events in S1 have changed the political landscape of heaven and hell. Angels are questioning their roles, demons are yearning for something more. It's scaring upper administration, and then the two most reliable folks in employment run away to alpha centauri. Recruiting Aziraphale and getting him back in line prevents him from becoming a martyr, control the range of his influence. The series reasserts its theme of choice and agency by highlighting that Aziraphale and Crowley aren't that special, they've just had the chance to live and grow, and that the others have free will too, if they want it.

The reason why they wanted to separate Aziraphale and Crowley, is not to get Aziraphale on his own, but to get Crowley on his own. He literally stopped time and made a pocket universe in front of Satan last season. He's powerful and dangerous and somebody wants to see that reigned in.

Wishlist (stuff I desperately want to see)

Crowley getting an audience with God and an opportunity to ask his questions, only to refuse to do so because he's found his own Answers and he no longer needs hers

Aziraphale and Crowley growing more into their book incarnations. Aziraphale becomes confident in his sense of morality, which he developed the hard way through millennia on earth besides humanity. He slowly learns what it means to be loved, unconditionally, but also is better at asserting and maintaining his boundaries. Crowley, still anxious and unwinding, works through his fear of abandonment, providing him opportunities to be kind and gentle and nurturing--all traits that he's aggressively hid since being a demon.

Hand holding. I know that Gaiman was referring to Ineffable Bureaucracy, but I still feel like we'd benefit from meaningful hand holding, especially since that got cut from the adaptation of the book.

Shifted focus away from the supernatural shenanigans, and back onto the humans that actually drive the story.

Cameos from S1 characters (if not a more substantial appearance).

The Four Other Riders of the Apocalypse.

Cursed Thoughts (why I shouldn't be allowed a social platform)

Ineffable Bureaucracy turns up in season 3 because Beelzebub got Gabriel pregnant somehow.

[foggyfanfic]

I think the thing that keeps me hooked on Encanto and Bruno is the implications of a mentally ill person in this setting.

Like he is all but confirmed mentally ill, and it’s not a curse, it’s not a metaphor, it’s not even PTSD or Cinematic Crazy Disorder, he has OCD. He has real person OCD, we know his compulsions and can make pretty good guesses at his triggers and obsessions, it is OCD. In a lot of fantasy we know that surely mental illness must exist, because presumably these people have brains and brains are where mental illness is stored, but we don’t often receive confirmation that it does exist. Even when characters start showing signs of PTSD, mileage varies on accuracy, and it often gets hand waved as normal trauma instead of clearly being a disorder that could potentially require a doctor’s help to treat. They have yet to state in canon that Bruno has OCD, but they put it into the script, they built it into his character, and they didn’t even go for the usual Has to Have Everything Neat and Tidy variety that we see in media, instead they’ve made a point to show his compulsions and generalized anxiety. This isn’t Detective Procedural OCD, it’s Based on My Aunt OCD.

And that more than anything has me thinking about the structure of this society and this family. I find myself writing mentally ill OC’s for this fandom more than for others because it feels more organic in the Encanto verse than it does the Buffy verse. I spend more time wondering about Alma and her family history, does she have a cousin or siblings that are like Bruno, or does she just assume he’s like that because of the magic? It seems obvious to me that the Madrigal family tends toward anxiety disorders, and after the comics I’m more convinced Bruno is autistic as well as having OCD, how long until some doctor comes to town and is like “Oh, hey! You guys all have mental illnesses!”? It’s the 50’s in the movie, so knowledge of this stuff ain’t great, but Mirabel would be 89(?) today, her grandkids might have been diagnosed, her great grandkids would definitely be the right generation to receive a diagnosis. Oof, but we saw when Encanto first came out that some people consider mental illness to be a White Thing, so how does the intersection of racism and colorism affect this? Does the great grand kid that looks like Pepa have an easier time getting anti-anxiety meds than the great grandkid that looks like Félix?

I should actually probably take my ADHD meds or this is going to get long.

I’ve been weaving Adelaide into more stories because she was originally designed as a vehicle for Camilo to have heavily autistic kids and grandkids, but ever since writing Juan I keep thinking about the experiences of two autistic kids in a rural village that doesn’t know what that is yet. And I want to play with that! Like he doesn’t struggle with facial expressions so he would fly under the radar, but she does struggle with proper emoting so she doesn’t. On the other hand, he went through a very showy phase that got him labeled annoying, but she’s a girl, and quiet, and society likes that. He has a good relationship with his family, so he has mentors and friends; but she has a bad relationship with her family so she has a found family and when Bruno comes out of the walls she would cling to him because he is an Adult that is Like Her. His special interest is math and math is useful so he gets plenty of opportunities to play with it, her special interest is stars and that’s cool and all but stars are not a job. How do people in rural 1950’s handle sensory issues? How accepting are people of those with mental illness when they don’t realize that’s why little Romero is like that?

And what about the downsides of untreated mental illness? We see through Bruno how isolating that can be, but I inherited my broken brain from my mother and she has taught me all the ways NOT to handle it. How many people in Encanto are self medicating because they have bipolar disorder and no clue that’s what’s happening? I read that folks with autism or OCD can often get swept up in fundamentalism because the rigid Right vs Wrong world view presses all the right disorder buttons for them. So how many of the most heavily Catholic people in town are mentally ill?

Oh my god and schizophrenia! I read that hallucinations and delusions can often reflect the culture surrounding the person with the disorder. So! In Encanto, a paradise that’s surrounded by a super violent conflict (because this is taking place in Actual Real World Colombia in the mid-20th century), what does that look like? Do they have aural hallucinations where they think they can hear distant sounds of screaming? Do they have delusions that they’re keeping the miracle alive by never letting their candles burn all the way down? How does the culture of the Encanto affect people with schizophrenia?! How are those people treated?!

I know it’s a Disney property, so obviously they’re not going to release a series that does a deep dive into what mental illness in the Encanto looks like but ugh! I have so many questions, do I really have to write all the answers myself?! Rude. I mean, I’m going to do it, if I have the time and energy I am one hundred percent going to write a story about being a mentally ill person in a magic rural village. But still!

Stay tuned for a longer story about Adelaide than I’d ever planned to write, and a stream of consciousness about how Julieta’s gift should affect PTSD. If I get around to it.