#i've had kids tell me more interesting and insightful things than many of the adults in my life

[1990danieljohnston]

tired of people thinking i have a “talent” with kids. getting along with children doesn’t require any special ability. it’s as easy as being understanding and patient. if you just stop and open your adult brain you might discover kids have very important and smart things to say

[the-bloody-sadist]

Me-Centered Narration in Fiction

"For characters' hearts to be open to readers, characters must talk to us quite a bit about what's going on inside. In many manuscripts, the characters don't disclose much. Often they, or rather their authors, simply report what's happening to them--a dry, play-by-play conveyance of the action. Even the witty, ironically detached first-person voices of Young Adult, New Adult, and Para-Everything fiction aren't necessarily open. An ironic, snarky, or perky tone can be used to avoid true intimacy with readers. Literary writing isn't necessarily intimate, either. A life "closely observed" doesn't mean we'll care about it." -Donald Maass, The Emotional Craft of Fiction

Welcome to the new tag, Sadist's fiction advice!! For those of you interested, I'll be taking bits out of books I personally studied all my life to learn how to write--the majority of those being by the fantastic and insightful Donald Maass, whose writing help books I've collected for my shelf! If you want to start anywhere for your own novel, start with him. I'm not fucking kidding. He's THE BEST out there.

Let's start with some discussion on that first quote, alone! Most often, the first thing that turns me off to a story is the main character's voice. I'm an extremely picky reader, nowadays, after growing up reading, and especially after discovering the fanfiction world. But one thing that I actually tend to like more about fanfiction is that a lot of the authors--since their source material is an existing couple of characters that they can research and have a template to add their own details to--are not afraid to explore how that character talks to the reader and sees the world.

In so much of professional fiction I've found only bland, annoying main characters who fail to make me laugh with their sarcastic quips about living on earth. It's just...boring. It's all the same. And don't even get me started on the erotic world, because what are they ON?? I've never found more abrasive or boring main characters than in professional erotica. I've tried and dropped nearly every gay romance I've come across with a pretty cover (meaning NOT a stock image of a hunky, shirtless man because ew, low effort)...and literally none of them except one grabbed me. And that one took CHAPTERS UPON CHAPTERS of dealing with yet another boring main character just to get to the love interest that I was curious about. And if you're curious, that book was the Captive Prince series by C.S. Pacat. I will slander it, I'm sorry. The writing is frustratingly basic and the prose is very weird at times, and Damen is a cardboard cutout in my opinion. Laurent was the saving grace of that series, and if not for him, I would've dropped that book on chapter one.

Captive Prince eventually got much better, so it's still one of the only good ones I've ever read, but--BUT--Damen's inner world? Boring as shit. I wanted to know his complexities and conflicts, the things that directly impacted his worldview and the ways he was a multifaceted person. I really wanted him to win me over. But I mostly skimmed a lot of the "thoughts" that were going on in his head, because he had none that were worth listening to. He wasn't unique. He wasn't particularly conflicted about anything interesting.

In direct contrast to that, probably my favorite romance to ever exist in the LGBT category is Anne Rice's The Vampire Armand. Talk about a fascinating writer with a strong voice. Anne is INSANE, for one. The things she puts together on paper are wild and ravishing and they will fucking sweep you off your feet. And that's what I'm always looking for. We see the world through the vampire Armand's eyes, who has a riveting and thorough perspective--far different from the pessimistic narcissism of most modern tellings of vampire "romances" (Twilight can eat my dick). He feels tangible, terrifying, and so warm at the same time. He displays a full and seasoned view of the world, and it reads as realistic for someone having lived so long. Marius, the boy who is with him who's caught up in sexuality, is a fantastic contrast to Armand, and thus provides a thrilling relationship dynamic of push-and-pull. He is headstrong; Armand is mature and set on rules.

Ugh, I could go on and on about how good Anne is when it comes to these things. Her characters are top-notch every time, and though there are sometimes exceedingly long rants about topics that neither interest me nor entertain me, somehow the way that she structures it in her characters' voices could convince me otherwise. (I still skip some of the LOOOONG expositions on history and religion but LMAO, I could read it if I had time.)

Let me infuse some more of Donald Maass into this, going on with his advice from The Emotional Craft of Fiction:

"Elsewhere I have advocated building the world of the story not by describing how it looks, sounds, feels, smells, or tastes, but rather by conveying characters' experience of that world. Opening the emotional world of a story is just as important, but doing so involves delving not only into characters' experience of their world but also of themselves.

For some authors this can be uncomfortable. Plot-driven storytellers, for example, may fear that they're slowing the action. Character-driven storytellers can be afraid of getting their characters' inner lives wrong, believing that even a tiny misstep can ruin years of effort. Both fears strangle emotional effect. The truth is that there is nothing wrong with opening up characters' inner lives. The bigger problem is that most authors don't do so enough. That said, letting characters simply gush on the page isn't terribly effective, either."

I always hesitate to talk about my own writing, because it feels egotistical to use my own as an example, but since you're here because you either like my writing or my art, well... 😂 I feel like it's the best way to give you a glimpse of how I think when I create them! Plus I know you want to hear about it, so I'll put my self-deprecation in the closet.

That said, let's talk about Dancing With Death--particularly what Maass mentioned in presenting world building through the eyes of your character and not the physicality of the setting. I am not someone who enjoys the observation of fantasy cultures and elements that we don't have in the real world. I simply do not care. I don't like Avatar for this reason--the entire world of Avatar is the biggest character in the story, and I don't care. Biology and science is boring. There's no interesting person to see the world through, so I find myself lost on why I'm watching it as a story, when it feels like it should be a video game to explore instead.

This being the case, my portal for the world was Emery, whom I consider to be the least interesting character I've ever created LMAO. Probably because he's so normal, and basically everyone else I've created is wildly off-kilter on morality, thought process, and mental health.

BUT!

My workaround for this character concept was having him come from an isle with a directly opposing culture to the one he'd be entering for the story. Now, I'm not much for introductions to characters living their normal life, so I started right off with Emery arriving in Gailda, so that the reader could find out organically how much different Gailda was to Emery's home in Dorne. Pretty much everything he comes into contact with--starting with the isle's ruler, Taushin--is entirely backwards to the way Emery has been raised. It adds interest because it adds inherent conflict. But the complexity here is that Emery came to Gailda of his own accord. Because he was curious about Gailda, and wanted to see if it was really as bad as the rumors he'd heard.

He travels there under the pretense that he's going to go free some Pets (the bed slaves of the world structure). But the readers should suspect right away that this isn't the case. Emery is a reckless, curious little man. He thinks he's an upstanding citizen, but he's naïve and--as we soon find out--pretty easily swayed.

So, seeing the world through Emery's eyes makes the world seem new and horrifying and thrilling to the readers--at least, this is my aim, of course! Going off of the current feedback I've received, most readers saw it this way. And while Emery might still be my least favorite man in my repertoire, he has deeply conflicting views, which constantly create dilemmas he has to resolve.

If you can keep a character on his toes, talking to the reader about the choices he has to make and how his morals might object to those choices, it opens up an intimate connection between us and them. The more specific their problems, the more chance the reader has to relate. What would they do in that situation? Don't make it easy.

For instance, one of Emery's first choices involves Minx, a Pet who's sent to his chambers the first night as a custom of Gaildan hospitality. Emery has come to free the Pets, so seeing Minx in his room instantly creates a dilemma. He thinks he can resolve this by not sexually interacting with Minx. But of course it's not that easy. Minx has to have intercourse with him, as per his master, Taushin (the ruler of the isle whom Emery is "doing business" with), or else he'll be punished. Then it's up to Emery whether he'll protect Minx by fucking him (LMAO), or not fucking him and knowingly submitting the boy to unjust punishment.

Okay, well that's enough rambling for my FIRST FUCKING POST. I hope this helps you, or otherwise lets you know that I'm just as long-winded in discussions as I am in my stories. 🥲 But in stories, that's a good thing! I hope that's what you've learned, today. Get to know your character by writing how he thinks and sees and feels the world around him, and make him INTERESTING, goddamnit! The more intricate and unique, the more we're inclined to listen to his inner world.

I'll leave you with another quote on that same page from Donald Maass's book--and feel free to send me asks about this topic or to let me know if it helped you! If I don't have feedback, I'll likely not continue these posts. It's hard to write and ramble to an audience I can't see. T_T Tumblr makes it tough for comments and likes!

"Creating a world that is emotionally involving for readers means raising questions and concerns about that world. It means both welcoming readers inside that world and making them curious, or uneasy, about where they are. First-person narration, the self-absorbed voice of our age, would seem to do that automatically but that belief is deceptive. True emotional engagement happens when a reader isn't just enjoying a character's patter but when she cannot avoid self-reflection, whether she's aware of it happening or not."

If you're interested in my own work that I talked about, Dancing With Death, and haven't read it, some of it is on Tumblr! Here's a link to the first chapter. It's more polished now than what is posted, but when it's published someday, you can see it in its full glory!

Dancing With Death chapter 1

About Donald Maass' The Emotional Craft of Fiction

[solo-ojo-jojo]

Excerpt from an upcoming OTH fic

Author's note: I've been working on a multi-chapter fic about Keith and Karen (as it stands, spanning a decade or two) partially inspired by this exchange between Karen and Whitey in season 3:

"You had Camilla for a lifetime. I had Keith for a few weeks." "Whose fault was that?"

I had a lot of thoughts about what their relationship was like in the years before the start of the show, including what opportunities there had been for the two of them to try something more than friendship, because you know there had to be at least one instance where they had considered it. I had no idea where it would lead me, but the muses have been kind, and I have been excited to share part of what I've been working on.

Coming back to watch OTH as an adult has been interesting, and I've found myself more invested in the storylines of the adults' lives/relationships than the kids' (at least so far). I've also really enjoyed the episodes of the Drama Queens podcast that I've listened to and the insights I've gained into many of the characters and their motivations.

The following excerpt is a few years into their friendship, set in the fall of 1986, and will likely end up being the fourth or fifth chapter.

The working title is Is Almost Enough?

(don't mind my rudimentary photo editing skills of Keith & Karen circa 1986. I'm basically only happy with the insertion of the "TH" onto the sweater) Original photos (at the end of the post) are promo stills from Voyage of the Rock Aliens (1984) and The Cutting Edge (1992), respectively.

One Tree Hill Fanfiction | Keith Scott/Karen Roe | Rated T

Alternate Universe - Pre canon | Inspired by canon | Everybody Lives/Nobody Dies | Friends to Lovers | The Slowest of Burns

Story summary: A look at Keith and Karen throughout the years, starting with when they met in middle school. They have their ups and downs, but with a few tweaks to the events in this universe, they eventually find a happily ever after—together.

Chapter summary: Who am I kidding? Keith told himself. Left to his own devices, he would never have worked up the nerve to ask her out. But now that the opportunity was here, he wasn’t going to let the moment pass him by.

* *** *

Despite the brisk chill in the October air, Karen found herself sitting across from Keith at their usual study spot in the quad. Having finished her chemistry homework, she pulled out the novel she had started reading the prior day. The modern gothic authors were a new favorite of hers after recently being introduced to them in her English class, but that afternoon, the copy of Flowers in the Attic that sat in front of her was seemingly no longer enough to hold her attention.

Instead, she found herself peeking up from the pages to look at Keith, admiring the way the breeze swept through his hair and secretly wishing that her fingers could do the same. She loved the look of concentration on his face and the last thing she wanted to do was break his focus when she was so proud of him for deciding to apply to a couple of four-year universities in addition to the local community college. There was a fleeting thought of how much she would miss him next year when he was off at college, but she brushed it aside. There was something she needed to tell him, and Karen didn’t want to wait a moment longer.

“Dan and I broke up,” she said abruptly.

Keith’s head jerked back, but he kept his eyes on the application he had been filling out. “I…” He steeled himself and looked up at her expectant face. “I’m sorry to hear that, Karen.” He tapped his pen on the table as he thought about what to say next. “How are you, uh–how are you doing with that?”

“Well, first I was pissed. But that was before we broke up. And then I was relieved. Because I didn’t have to put up with his crap anymore. And now… Well, now I’m…” she looked into Keith’s eyes, her expression growing hopeful as she came closer to the words she had been holding onto for far too long. “I’m happy. Because there’s this other guy who I really like.”

She watched as Keith’s face dropped, suddenly becoming stoic.

“And I’m hoping that… Well, if he likes me too, he might ask me out.”

“Oh,” he said quietly, not picking up on her hints. “Well, I hope that works out for you.” He looked down at the application once more, and found that her news left him unable to make sense of the words on the page in front of him.

“Keith…” Karen waited for his gaze to return to hers. She gave him a look, willing him to understand. She smiled shyly.

“Oh!” A slow smile grew on his face as the realization hit him. Flustered by being put on the spot and Karen’s nervous smile as she hoped for reciprocation, Keith hardly had time to process it all. For all the time they had spent together over the years and the almost unlimited array of topics they discussed, one thing he had never come close to telling her was that he carried feelings for her of something more than friendship. He liked to think that, eventually—when enough time had passed after her break-up—he might have come up with the idea to ask her out on his own. After testing the waters to find out if she was even interested, of course.

Who am I kidding? He told himself. Left to his own devices, he would never have worked up the nerve. But now that the opportunity was here, he wasn’t going to let the moment pass him by.

“I… Karen…” his chest puffed out with confidence and his chin lifted as he asked her a question he thought he would never say. “Do you want to go out on a date with me?”

Karen’s face lit up, and Keith felt his heart soar.  

“Yes,” she answered. “I do.”

“You’re sure it’s not too soon?”

“It’s not soon enough.”

----------------------------------------------------------

That's all, folks!

I hope there's at least one person out there who enjoyed this, because there's a lot more where this came from.

If you did enjoy it, I'd love to hear what you think!

Lastly, here are the originals that I edited for my version above.

[bi-kisses]

(1/?) I've got a kink/fet discourse question, and I'm not sure how to broach it without it sounding awful. Have you seen people taking their kinks/fetishes to places where they don't belong offline? When it's happened, do people who share in it tend to speak up against it? Do they get shouted down or accused of bigotry when they try to tell the kinky person not to push their kinks on non-participants?

(2/?) I've had a few run-ins with pup players in a sfw furry group I manage say that pup play isn't adult/+18 and have been pushing for pup hoods to be accepted in our pg-13 group. Which is, uh, not a good look. It says more about them. Really, we've got one rule that's visible in two spots: We have kids and families that go to our events and hang out in our chats, so of course we don't fetish/kink stuff being posted.

(3/?) Thankfully me and my fellow admins have come to a consensus that we don't want it in our groups. The few pup players we have had didn't post anything graphic; just a picture of them in their pup hoods doing innocuous stuff--but it's still them in their pup stuff. I've removed their pictures right when it's come up and told them that it goes against our rules. Again, it's been a small number of pup players who have done this. They've left when I've reminded them of the rules.

(4/?) There aren't many of them to begin with. We don't have a problem with anyone else as long as they don't post nsfw/adult shit or do something bad. So that got me wondering if it's been my bad experiences or if this is a trend I need to be worried about. I know we've got overlap between critters and furrys. I've had to explain that while it doesn't have to be sexual, pup play has always been an adult thing given where's come from.

(5/?) The idea seems to be that a pup hood is no different than a fursuit or costume and that it isn't an adult thing And I know that's a lie .People carded at fet/kink events, and I know children aren't generally permitted in those spaces because of safe/sane/consensual and legalities. I've seen images of pups interacting with kids, and I know that doesn't speak for all critters--much less all kinksters/fetfolk(best word I could think of, sorry).

(end) I wanted to hear some other perspectives, and know if it's just been the few pups I've seen being the extreme vocal minority or if this is a more widespread issue with other kink/fet groups. I don't see rubberists or other fetishists doing this. The few pups I've had to deal with think it's part of being a furry. I guess this is a "yes but actually no" kind of thing exclusive to furry overlap? This doesn't help the furry/lgbt=pedo stigma, much less for kinksters/fetfolk either. Help plz.😭

I've had the unfortunate experience of a witnessing a DDlg couple in public, though it was in a relatively child-free context. Beyond that, no, I can't say I've seen too many kinksters try to insist their interests aren't sex related, beyond some very... questionable BDSM enthusiasts who seem to think that a BDSM lifestyle isn't inherently sexual. I'm not really sure what to say to that beyond it being just so genuinely stupid it's not worth arguing.

I'm not much of a furry myself, though I like drawing sfw furry stuff because there are so many cute styles, so I don't know much about the community.

Also: Sorry that I left these asks sitting around for ages, because it was a multi parter I wanted to answer it on desktop and I just rarely ever go on tumblr when using a computer.

People with more insight than me, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

[autisticmight]

how does someone who knows little-to-nothing about it get into sanders sides? i saw thomas' vines, and i've been sort of tangentially aware that the facets of his personality that he portrayed in the vines have since become characters, but there's a whole bunch of new ones??? what the fuck is a janus???? HELP. tldr where do i find The Lore? plz obi wan ur my only hope

it’s very simple!!! you hyperfixate on thomas sanders’s content in, like, 2016? and then he uploads a video called ‘my true identity’, which is a bit weird, but you love those vine characters. then he uploads more, and it becomes a trend. apparently people in the comments are shipping the prince guy and anxiety. you rewatch the new year’s video an embarrassing amount of times with your dog

i had a whole paragraph here about why i like the series, and why i dropped it and then picked it up again, but it was just a block of lowercase text and i guess it’s kind of hard to read

anyway, here’s the playlist of every episode, but i’m going to put a summary of the series and individual episodes under the readmore, while also ranking them, because i am Special Interesting and i like being useful. and i guess i’m gonna write using. like. actual grammar. if the readmore doesn’t work, then. have fun reading my infodump

here we go

Sanders Sides: A Summary

Fictional Version Of Thomas Sanders (known as Character!Thomas, and will be simply referred to as ‘Thomas’ henceforth) has ‘Sides’, which are parts of his personality that have been exaggerated and personified. It’s a nice little series set in some kind of semi-urban fantasy world, but mostly in Thomas’s living room. It mostly uses the idea of ‘Sides’ to represent the inner schemata of an individual. In simpler terms, you know when you’re conflicted, and you end up arguing with yourself? Yeah, it’s that.

Also, don’t read the comments, unless you want to disregard the care I’ve taken to not put spoilers in the Season 1 Summaries.

Season 1

I’d like to split this into parts, because there are a lot of things in earlier episodes that conflict with later characterisation. However, it’s also fun to watch them, and then rewatch them after some of the longer episodes, and feel your heart shatter!

This half of Season 1 was made solely by Thomas. It tends to be a bit more scattered, and can be watched out of chronological order, or completely skipped. Yes, I’m telling you that you can skip literally all of this section, if you want to. However, these are also the easiest videos to watch, and offer a taste of Silly Sanders Sides Hijinks without the emotional commitment.

My True Identity (6 min) - Thomas delves into the three aspects of his personality; his Logic (Teacher Guy), his Creativity (the Prince, also called Princey), and his Morality (Dad Guy who is Not Thomas’s Dad). At this point, the characters are far more similar to their Vine counterparts, and the characterisation clashes with later episodes. (3/5 - A nice way to see if you’ll enjoy the humour of this series)

Way Too Adult (5 min) - Thomas is asked by his family to help cook Thanksgiving dinner. Dad Guy pops up and discusses with Thomas how he can better learn to take care of himself. Features a talking stove, which is part of the reason why I classify this series as urban fantasy, and the start of a running joke. (2/5 - A fun, albeit rare, look into Dad Guy being responsible. I actually prefer this to My True Identity, but ranks lower due to conflicting with later S1 characterisation.)

Taking On Anxiety with Lilly Singh (6 min) - Thomas hopes and dreams to get rid of his Anxiety, who is a sassy, snide guy, sitting on the staircase. Princey, as the embodiment of Thomas’s hopes and dreams, is... Usurped by an imaginary version of Lilly Singh, who helps teach Thomas how to cope with feeling anxious. (3/5 - Introduces some secret tools that will help us later. The tools are Thomas being able to travel to various places in his head, and also Anxiety.)

A New Year of Lying to Myself... In Song!! (7 min) - The first video wherein you realise that this is A Thing. Thomas welcomes in the new year, hoping that 2017 will be better than 2016. Logic shows up to help him figure out some New Year’s Resolutions, accompanied by Dad Guy and Princey. Anxiety joins in to point out that Thomas has rarely, if ever, kept to his resolutions before. Through the first musical number of the series, the Core Sides and Thomas figure out simple, achievable resolutions that Thomas can use to improve his wellbeing. (4/5 - Unintentional foreshadowing in the form of a bop.)

The Dark Side of Disney (6 min) - Princey, not for the last time, enthuses about the wonders of Disney. However, Anxiety also appears, insisting that Disney is not as wholesome as it first appears. They argue and bond, despite the fact that Thomas still hasn’t redacted his statement regarding his hopes and dreams to get rid of his Anxiety. (2/5 - I have strong feelings on the meaning of ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and ‘The Little Mermaid’, both of which are shrugged off in favour of the tryhard-edgy ‘blegh stockholm syndrome’ and ‘blegh change yourself to get your man’. Still, it’s a fan-favourite for a reason, and the endcard always makes me smile.)

I’m in a Disney Show!! (6 min) - Princey enthuses about the wonders of Disney, because Thomas is in a Disney show. He talks about what happened, while the Sides (mostly Logic) suggest clickbait titles in order to entice people to watch the video. (2/5 - L*gan P*ul is mentioned, as he was also in the episode.)

The Mind vs. The Heart (6 min) - Thomas finds himself split between following his mind, Logic, or his heart, Morality. Features onesies, and looks further into the characters of Logic and Dad Guy. (3/5 - Pretty calm and peaceful, to be honest. It’s nice.)

Then we move onto the second part of Season 1. This is when Thomas’s friend, Joan, began to offer their input into scriptwriting and directing. They’re most of the reason why Sanders Sides is an actual series, instead of being silly skit characters in short vlogs. From here on in, episodes become more complex, and work on an actual timeline.

Alone on Valentines Day (9 min) - Thomas is rather upset that he will be, as the title says, alone on Valentine’s Day. The Sides try to help him figure out how to get a date with an imaginary version of his friend Valerie, but each of them has a weirder way of going about it than the last. (4/5 - Far more cohesive than previous videos, but Thomas still wasn’t fully out as gay, so his hypothetical date is a woman. Yes, I took points off because of that. Yes, I’m about to erase the 3/5 to make it 4/5 because Valerie is a delight.)

Losing My Motivation (9 min) - When Thomas finds himself procrastinating, Logic takes it upon himself to find out which side is causing it. In order to get into a deductive mindset, Logic dresses up as Sherlock, while Dad Guy joins in as Watson. Once the case is solved, an important piece of information is revealed: the Sides have names. (Logic’s name is revealed) (3/5 - It’s just a fun little video, and I can’t keep giving every video from here on in 4/5, or that’ll ruin the whole thingy.)

Sanders Sides Q&A (9 min) - Exactly what it sounds like. There’s not much else to say. (2/5 - I love it, but it’s not really necessary to understand the whole series. It’s just extra characterisation.)

Am I Original? (12 min) - Thomas finds himself in a creative rut, trying to think of a completely original idea. Princey requests full creative control - “full-on Daydream Mode” - in order to rapidly consider and enact many different concepts, all while trying to make something that has never been seen before. (Princey’s name is revealed) (4/5 - Important characterisation for Princey. I originally rated it lower due to Thomas’s inability to rap, but upon rewatching, i found that the ending dialogue between Princey and Thomas was worth two points, rather than the single one I gave it previously.)

My Negative Thinking (13 min) - When Thomas messes up in an audition, his ego - Princey - is out of commission and being cared for by Dad Guy. Therefore, the only Sides available to aid him in this situation are Logic and Anxiety, neither of whom can help Thomas in the way he wants to. Anxiety is worsening Thomas’s mental state, so Logan proposes a debate in order to combat those cognitive distortions. (4/5 - A fan-favourite episode which offers a lot of insight into Logic and Anxiety as characters. It is useful as a tool for identifying cognitive distortions in real life, which may help with the individual’s mental health. Even though it introduces another running joke, it’s educational and fun, and it develops their relationship in a positive manner, I just don’t particularly enjoy it.)

Growing Up (15 min) - It’s Thomas’s birthday! He’s in his late twenties, and he’s still a kid at heart. He hasn’t done his laundry, he's silly and immature, and he feels like he isn’t at the point that he needs to be in his life. Therefore, all the Sides, except for Dad Guy, who ironically embodies Thomas’s inner child, work on trying to make him more mature. (Morality’s name is revealed) (3/5 - Features the concept of Voltron Shirt. I love this episode, but there is a noticeable change in audio quality at the end which affects how enjoyable it is.)

Making Some Changes (15 min) - Back in Thomas’s living room, and in opposition to his view from the last episode, Anxiety is worried about how life changes in unpredictable ways, and especially about losing contact with Thomas’s friends. Therefore, in order to keep Thomas’s friends permanently by his side, Princey gets them all to shapeshift. (3/5 - It might be skippable, but it’s just really, really fun.)

Becoming A Cartoon (10 min) - Adding to the whole urban fantasy thing, it turns out that animators can literally, physically turn people into cartoons. Thomas wants to be a cartoon. Princey catches Anxiety in his arms and says “everybody loves the villain,” and I think that’s all you need to know. (1/5 - Co-stars B*tch H*rtman, known for Fairly Odd Parents, Danny Phantom, and Being A Bigot, who did the character designs for the Sides, if not the actual animation. And the designs are kind of. Eh. Just watch some fanmade animatics.)

Accepting Anxiety (23 min) - Part 1: Excepting Anxiety (10 min), and Part 2: Can Anxiety Be Good? (14 min) - HOO. If the musical number or the animation didn’t clue you in, this video confirms that Sanders Sides is A Thing. Remember how Thomas hoped and dreamt to get rid of his Anxiety? Remember how he never redacted that statement, or even expressed a bit of remorse? Well, here, his wishes come true, and he doesn’t feel bad about it at all! That’s because he has absolutely no shame, caution, or fear of death. Yeah, he’s a mess. Therefore, the Sides make him take them on a magical quest to Anxiety’s Room, in order to un-mess-ify Thomas. (Anxiety’s name is revealed) (5/5 - The team really went above and beyond with this one. Like. Hoo. That’s it. Just. Hoo. Hoo. I’m an owl.)

And that’s Season 1!!! I’m going to add Season 2 in a reblog, because this has taken roughly three hours and it’s been really difficult to not spoil their names!!! which i did anyway because their names are all easier to type from muscle memory!!!

[randomprose]

Pt.1 Dude! I've been thinking the same thing ever since Sasuke stopped being driven by hate! I was like "you know he honestly isn't a bad choice". When he's not insane he actually understands the reality of having to run a nation and how it isn't just optimism/popularity/recognition like Naruto thinks it is. Naruto could've been his assistant or pep squad to remind him to not forget about bonds but even Sakura would've been a better Hokage than Naruto. She started a medical program for ORPHANED

Pt.2 CHILDREN BECAUSE SHE KNEW WHAT NOT HAVING PARENTS DID TO HER TEAMMATES. She has the ability to mature as seen from her progress from being annoyed at her parents to opening the clinic to help those who didn't have parents. She understands that the village's future rests in the hands of their youth! Sasuke almost destroyed the world for goodness sake! If someone gave him the time and helped him find the truth about the elders shit wouldn't have spiraled out of control the way they did.

Pt.3 Naruto had Iruka as a father figure but Sasuke only had the memory of a shit dad who belittled him. Remember when Sasuke pointed out that he actually LOST a family so Naruto couldn't possibly know what he's going through. I think if they both had someone hear them out as kids they wouldn't have gotten so mental. The village treated the children like weapons instead of human beings. I was rooting for either Sasuke or Sakura to become Hokage. Even Gaara knows ruling a nation ain't about

Pt.4 about everyone liking you. It's about the people of the country. Sasuke understood his clan were still people who didn't deserve to be discarded so easily and Sakura understood that orphaned kids traumatized by war shouldn't just be left untreated and alone because they probably won't mentally recover fully. So many wasted possibilities. Sakura probably already saved the village because none of the orphans are gonna be nut jobs coming for the Hokage's head b/c of the system ‎(ﾉಥ益ಥ）ﾉ ┻━┻

Naruto didn't have the right reason in the end. He honestly would've been better traveling instead of Sasuke because then he could make bonds/turn bad guys good more than Sasuke can. That's his thing! Being stuck in an office isn't his strength, heck that's why Shikamaru is there to guide him/strategize. Ok. All done! I'm sorry if that was long but I thought no else felt the same way! (ﾉಥДಥ)ﾉ 

fyi, this is about this meta post 

(thank you for your wonderful insights, anon!! don’t worry. you’re not alone in the whole “naruto shouldn’t have been hokage” biz.)

look, there are a whole number of reason why i started being inactive in the naruto fandom like halfway through shippuden and one of them is when i realized that naruto's reason for wanting to be hokage is essentially, well, shit. wanting to be hokage because you want to be recognized by everyone is like saying you want to be president just to prove you can and just so people will call you president. in other words, you want to be president just because. and maybe i'm being a little too into this but i studied int'l studies in uni and i majored in polisci and int'l politics so forgive me if i'm being a little nit picky in the whole naruto being hokage biz.

literally anyone in the series could've been a better hokage candidate than naruto, but i'm not gonna delve outside team 7 because 1. nobody outside of this trainwreck of a team expressed their desire to be hokage; and 2. it'll just be too troublesome (and hella long).

i'm gonna start with Sakura. this is gonna be short because while i think she's the best candidate to become hokage out off all three, she never expressed her interest in it. I agree with what anon said. Sakura, under Tsunade's tutelage most probably, grew to understood and form her perception of what it means to run a village. for her the future of the village rests on its youth. thus, she knows that it's important to have the children of the village to be physically, mentally, and emotionally sound so that they'll grow up to be adults who are physically, mentally, and emotionally sound and not raging lunatics out to destroy the world for revenge or whatever twisted ideology they formed growing up without guidance. if sakura had become hokage, her aim will be to make sure the village is not and will not be producing damaged homicidal maniacs/sociopaths/psychopaths.

on Sasuke, this is gonna be long because fuck if i'm ever gonna get over his clusterfuck of a life and how the series decided what to do with his story. basically everything sasuke threw at naruto when they were kids (the whole "you will never understand me" shit) is true alright? again, i agree with anon here that if the village treated their shinobi children as humans instead of weapons before they could even run they wouldn't end up being so batshit crazy. the only flaw i could fault Sasuke though is he never tried to let anyone in and he never tried to make them understand. but on him wanting to be hokage, despite his general years of being revenge and power crazy, you got to admit that that wouldn't happen if the village didn't fucking screwed him (and his family) ten times over. look, it doesn't matter that the Uchiha were planning a coup, the fact of the matter is they wiped out a whole fucking clan. and they used it's heir itself to do it by practically manipulating Itachi to do it in a twisted sense of nationalism and peace or whatever. and look how that all ended up. they wiped out a whole fucking clan. i'm not too particular on how the politics play in the naruto-verse work but i'm pretty fucking sure there are a lot of ways they could've contained the Uchiha other than wiping them off. whatever happened to domestic diplomacy? and don't fucking tell me talking it out wouldn't have solved anything because that's basically what Naruto fucking did the whole of the series. Sasuke had a good reason for wanting to be hokage (putting aside the fact that he initially wanted to raze konoha to the ground) because he understood the machinations behind running a shinobi village. he understood that being hokage is basically being the head of an essentially military governed village. Sasuke knows the flaws of the current konoha government--has suffered and lived through it--and he knows what and how to change it. if Sasuke had become hokage, he'll make sure that what happened to the Uchiha will never be repeated.

and again, on what anon said, Naruto didn't have the right reason to be hokage in the end. his strength lies in good PR and making people like him--not fucking desk work. Shikamaru is basically co-running the village at this point. Naruto should've been the one to travel. he should've been Konoha's ambassador. i mean he has a demon sealed inside him. if he runs into any trouble, he could just easily take care of it. but, no, of course not because he has to have the hokage title otherwise the whole point of the series is moot.