#note: I might be. filling in gaps but I'm interpreting

[jacksmysterylabyrinth]

Something I felt while ruminating about Yuma has me really... kind of

...jesus...

*endgame spoilers*

He’s paranoid. As. Fuck. And being mentally cornered like that, is the major driving force behind opening up the Book of Death in the first place.

He had to force himself to undo all the life experiences up until he became Number One - how many years that was, who the fuck knows - but you already get an idea that Yuma is nothing if not stressed, all the damn time, so whatever it was that led him up to that title probably wasn’t a cakewalk either. Stress upon stress upon stress, and worse, with no one to truly put confidence in back then.

It meant that he also couldn’t trust himself to do what was necessary without turning to extreme, drastic means. Hell, Chapter 3 is enough to show that the Master Detectives can accomplish awesome things without the need for that book, just as long as everyone was on the same page and using their power. What’s more, there’s a very good chance that if Yuma had boarded that train with Number One’s memories intact, that he could have faked being drowsy in order to corner ‘Zilch’ and stop the massacre from ever happening. It’s still a tremendous risk, but hardly as risky as going in experience and memory-less. He could still use the cook’s identity without compromising his own, and yet?

This is what Vivia meant when he said that ‘it was already up to his neck’. Yuma had been ruined, in his heart and head. He still wanted to do right through that, but he was so blinded by his fears - whether of outing himself, endangering people he might get close to, betrayal, whatever - that he sought the help of a death god to guide him without his troubled memories. Because a contract with a supernatural being is likely to be more trustworthy than a fallible human.

What’s more, is this is such a human reaction to feeling cornered. Have you ever wanted to throw away your memories and start from scratch, only this time with someone who knows you by your side, to guide you through your fresh idealistic self to the place you want to be, rather than a jaded husk of a person who’s completely lost when reaching out to others? Redo your brain chemistry?

I feel like if I had that chance, I’d probably have taken it, too.

[another-lost-mc]

I hate how Mephistopheles has no lore. I'm making an OC that out ranks him and the fucker has no established rank??? Sir your whole goddamn thing is "I'm a noble, goddamn it" and like no rank? No bitches? No nobility??

So I'm picking one (Grand Dutches, technically?) and going with the punches, but how do you fix Solomare's near non-existent lore so well?? This shit is hard! Mad props!

I'm grateful that we got more Mephisto lore in Nightbringer, but like many characters, new info or interactions are few and far between except when it's needed as a plot device. lol

Even though Mephisto isn't a member of the Ars Goetia, he's a Faustian demon or what I call a "named" demon which has important relevance in my personal world building. Other than that, we know that his family has deep roots to the Devildom nobility, are highly influential, and that he was basically raised to be Diavolo's friend. We know his special power now thanks to Nightbringer, but my version of it is a bit sinister because, you know, demons.

Unless you're new around here, my solution to gaps in the game's lore or storytelling is solved by personal headcanons/world building and creating OCs. I knew I wanted to write more about Mephisto, and that meant exploring his relationships and history outside of what the game told us.

Before NB existed, I was already developing his little brother OC because using characters/info only found in the games limits the potential for complexity and drama. Plus, writing an OC for Mephisto's brother helped me develop my own interpretation of Mephisto's character too.

When the game only leaves us crumbs to work with, here's what my brainstorming looks like to try and explore possible ways to fill in the gaps:

Creating an OC for Mephisto's younger brother: Mephisto is a named demon and part of the demon nobility. My thought: his brother is probably a named demon of some importance too.

Naming Mephisto's little brother: After doing some reading, I learned Mephisto wasn't part of the Ars Goetia, but that didn't mean his brother couldn't be. Result: I just picked a name off the list that I liked. LOL

Note: I have friends that have OCs based off other Ars Goetia demons so I purposefully avoided choosing those names because I write about my version the Devildom assuming those OCs exist within it.

Developing Bathin as an OC: Okay, we have a name. Cool, that's usually the hard part. Now we have to build him up from nearly nothing! What I knew about his character before NB released: he was significantly younger than Mephisto (I imagined the same or slightly younger than Luke with a similar childlike appearance) and that Mephisto was a very attentive and doting older sibling. Based on the RAD Sports event in OG, I concluded if he was that protective of Luke, he would be even more protective of his younger brother as well. I also interpreted the events and assigned Mephisto his demonic trait (having a tail of some kind instead of wings). In my mind, demonic traits are something that might be part of the family's heritage, so I decided that Bathin would look similar to Mephisto in his human form and also his demon form.

Identifying gaps/issues with Bathin's character: The main concern I had to address for Bathin was his existence as a demon of the Ars Goetia. Solomon has pacts with all of them, and this implies that he would also have a pact with Bathin - a literal demon child. Oops!

Questions I needed to answer:

Why would Solomon want a pact with a child and how did this happen?

Are there any limitations/restrictions if a pact is made with a demon child that isn't mature/"of age"?

Should I change his name to something else to avoid this issue? Nah.

Solving Bathin's existence as a child in the Ars Goetia: I basically wrote a world building theory about demon death/exorcism and respawn cycles to explain which demons can respawn and which ones cannot. Naming conventions and the impact on existing pacts are part of this theory.

Conclusion using fill-in-the-gaps world building:

A form of the death & rebirth cycle exists for demons.

Using theory, Bathin can exist as a member of the Ars Goetia because he was killed/exorcised as a mature demon. His essence/power exists within the version of him that was reborn later.

Implications and things to continue developing:

Bathin made his pact with Solomon as a mature demon and the pact persisted through death, although as a child the pact is weak and practically unusable.

Demons who respawn usually have no memories of their previous existence, but Mephisto would remember him from before. That can explain why he might be close and very protective of his younger brother. Solomon would also have memories of past!Bathin as well and that could have some interesting effects on how Solomon interacts with Mephisto as well.

Demons that are exorcised and respawned might carry some lingering physical evidence of their death - for example, the power of an angel's grace maiming some part of their body. This helped me visualize Bathin's physical appearance and explain any potential scars or flaws he was born with.

Child!Bathin won't be a copy of his former self, so there is potential for drama/angst as those that knew him best before re-learn the "new" him.

The possibility to explore Mephisto as a child and how his friendship with Diavolo was fostered/pressured by those around him (and Bathin's feelings/attitudes about Mephisto's potential (mis)treatment).

Explaining past!Bathin's untimely demise in the first place and the characters/circumstances involved.

If you ever wondered how I take a random throwaway reference in the game and expand on it to create an OC, here's what the process looked like when I was developing Mephisto's brother. He's very precious and though I doubt we'll see much more of him in the game other than some vague references, I enjoy writing about Mephisto enough that dedicating an OC to his little brother was worthwhile.

I'll end this with a treat for those of you that decided to read through all this rambling:

[starburstfloat]

TXT The Name Chapter Freefall Analysis: Metaphors, Queer Coding, and Thematic Overtones

I've written extensively about the thematic overtones and narrative arcs present in TNC Temptation, and I think that going into a Freefall analysis reqires prior knowledge of Temptation, so if you have no context, I'll do my best to fill the gaps (but I still recommend everyone views Temptation through an analytical lens since it has many intriguing themes that set the tone going into this next album).

For some quick context though:

The Name Chapter albums are coming of age stories. When talking about coming of age (which is my main literary pleasure), we typically think about stories that center on protagonists who are shifting from a place of innocence into maturity. Indeed, we witnessed this pipeline in TNC Temptation: our protagonist, navigating the blurry waters between boyhood and adulthood, was still naive and complacent. He got swept away by the devil to a so-called paradise and, over the course of the album, became aware that something about his surroundings was inherently wrong - somehow, along the way, he had been misguided, and it was up to him to leave:

The album ends when our protagonist chooses to jump into the sky and abandon "paradise" forever, with the weighted knowledge that leaving means there's no coming back. It's a beautiful track that as a stand-alone provides a classic coming of age character arc. As he abandons one world for another, he is faced with a new series of challenges - this is where TNC Temptation ends, and TNC Freefall begins.

Let's take a look at each of the tracks and how they contribute to the character-centered coming of age narration that began in the previous album. As always, my analysis is coming from a literary (might I add queer) lens, which means that I strongly examine lyrics for their thematic and metaphorical interpretations as I would a book. So while I do have some knowledge on TXT's lore, this post is more concerned with the Name Chapter by itself, and not the juxtaposition of all their discography (minus a few connections I will point out). With that in mind, let's dive in~!

The album's name itself sets the stage for quite an adventure: Freefall. In contrast to Temptation, whose title alone suggests an inadvertent pull towards the forbidden and alluring, Freefall suggests an intentional step towards freedom, or at the very least a step towards the lack of its opposition, namely imprisonment or confinement. It's a really clever album title choice, and I wonder if it was intentional that they chose words that have different connotations of passive versus active overtones.

Note how the word temptation feels more passive than the word freefall. The former is something that is done to someone, whereas the latter is something someone does. And what is more coming of age than shifting from passivity into confidence? Is this title truly as cleverly thought out or am I just a semantic nerd? Idk, but it works for me, and I'm eating it up!

First track we have is Growing Pain. There's growing happening, and boy, is there some pain too.

This song feels much more rugged than anything else they've done before, and it definitely captures the intensity of falling from the sky and crashing down to Earth. Where Farewell Neverland was borderline a lullaby, Growing Pain feels like a battle cry. Kai opens with "Been free falling, into the sky", but the word he uses here for sky (허공) also translates into "void", which is quite fitting for the abysmal feeling of the track. The chorus is riddled with sensory language:

(lyric translations obtained by @translatingTXT on twitter)

This not only emphasizes the harsh descent and the audience's visualization of the fall, but overall sets the tone for the remainder of the album. I find it interesting how most of the lyrics read as commands ("Open your eyes / Look at the ground / Don't avoid it at any cost"). It's like they are guiding the audience to do the same thing, with Soobin even breaking the narrative to use second-person voice ("You just gotta face it").

From a conceptual standpoint, this opening is a powerful first chapter that brings our protagonist back to Earth. He's just had the fall of his life - bleeding, broken bones - and despite this, we get Taehyun affirming "I have no regrets!" The intensity of his pain contributes to our understanding of just how desperate and determined he was. What an opening!

Title tracks are always conceptually the most appealing, and Chasing that Feeling does not disappoint.

Beomgyu's opening lines here are pretty iconic:

Although this is the official translation, I did want to add a little bit if nuance after looking at the Korean lyrics. He says "천국을 등진 난 / Fall from the sky". The verb 등지다 means "to turn one's back to", and he's conjugated it as an adjective, so more literally he's saying, "I, who has turned his back to heaven, fall from the sky". This means the emphasis lies on the fact that he has fallen from the sky because he has estranged himself from heaven. I hope this isn't getting too technical and boring, but linguistic nuance is important to me, especially when combining it with literary analysis. And, if we're indulging in semantics, allow me to bring up the fact that actively choosing to fall from heaven feels very queer and parallels the queer subtext in 0x1 Lovesong:

Anyhow, the opening lines in CTF almost read like the SparkNotes version of what we just experienced in Growing Pain LOL it's just our narrator summarizing what happened (he's jumped and fallen, nearly to his death, and has somehow salvaged himself to get up again).

The overall theme of this song is courage. The feeling that they are chasing is courage. And the songwriters sure have a poetic way at capturing what that chase looks like. There's some awesome figurative language in this track. Yeonjun tosses in some similes: "Down to Earth like a meteorite" and "Feels like I'm on fire". You can see and feel all that heat and speed. He even mentions "I prepared to die", which really emphasizes the desperation and passion our protagonist feels. Kai's "My fate, come and kiss me" is a dope line, but I love it even more for its personified language:

Kai adds -아 at the end of the word Fate, which is used when you're calling out someone's name, hence the personification. I especially appreciate Kai's line "I was lost like a child" because it's clearly a nod to who the protagonist was in Temptation, specifically Devil by the Window and Sugar Rush Ride. He continues with "I finally saw the truth / And I feel so alive". Thematically, this whole album seems to be about finding oneself after a period of being misguided or mistreated. I can imagine this song would be a big comfort to anyone who's experienced abuse…it's about giving yourself permission to leave, igniting that flame of courage to just get up and do it.

The transition into the third song is satisfying.

Some of you may recall I interpreted Back for More as a track that parallels Temptations' Devil by the Window (DBTW) in terms of narrative voice. I still feel this way about the song. It very much reads like the devil who narrated DBTW. Consider the lines "There's a magic to how we living / There's a magic to what this is / It's like a dream and we're both day-tripping". It's reminiscient of the devil urging the boy to fall asleep so he can take him away in DBTW: "Just fall asleep / Sweet dreams / You can't get off this ride", but with Back for More it sounds like the devil is now trying to convince the protagonist to stay.

The voice also turns rather caustic, which leads me further to believe it's the devil narrating:

"All I know is if you walk away / There'll be something / There'll be things you can't replace".

Right before the chorus too, there's an added warp effect on Soobin's voice that makes it suddenly deep and contorted, and he says "Baby, that's okay because", and the lines "I can see you coming back for more / If you walk out that door" play. Makes me think that the devil believes the boy will be back to play again. From a narrative choice, this could be one of two things: 1) the audience is supposed to see how disillusioned the devil is, which merely places our protagonist on a pedestal and whose pursuit to leave becomes all the more heroic when juxtaposed to the true intentions of the villain; or 2) it's meant to foreshadow that our protagonist does indeed return - in which case, I'm seated and grabbing my popcorn for the cinematic finale that will be!

The following track Dreamer is a very important track in the album. It's a narrative shift that leads both the audience and the protagonist towards an epiphany. Here, we witness our character reaching a low point in his journey. First, he was living off a high of jumping into the unknown, surviving, and making a declaration to never give up. Now, we witness a trickle of regret:

But, just before the chorus, a critical scene unfolds: he's hanging his head low, despondent, when suddenly a bright light appears: "On that night when I was only looking at my toes / The brightly shining star / The pouring light".

Bright light has many symbolic connotations in literature. Some lean religious, such as bright light often appearing during moments of divine power. Generally, it is used to convey a moment of wisdom (consider the expression "lightbulb!" when someone has cracked a puzzle).

We quickly learn that this blinding light is in fact a star:

"I finally found it / The star that waited so far away" , to which he further comments "I regained my name".

The star represents a moment of wisdom, of recognition - he finally realizes who he is and what he wants. Now, I don't know about you, but with an entire album series titled The Name Chapter, mentioning names seems pretty freaking important! He hints why he suddenly remembers his name in the following line:

"I'm a dreamer with memories of stars". This is a direct reference to their 2019 track Nap of a Star, which features lyrics like:

This makes me believe Dreamer is about coming back to one's childhood dreams. Our protagonist was so caught up in temptation that he lost his way, and now that he's run away from that world, he's grown despondent thinking he has nothing concrete that he's really chasing. That is until he remembers his childhood dreams.

I like how in traditional coming of age stories it's about leaving your childhood and entering maturity. Adulthood is the end-all, be-all. However, this album's story looks to childhood as the answer. It give us a boy who gets swept into adulthood, seeks to pave his own way, untainted by false promises, and among his tumultuous journey, he realizes the answer lay within himself all along - he merely needed to give his inner child the courage to be the person he always dreamed about.

This sentiment is reinforced by Soobin saying that he now feels like "a new born child".

The entire song feels like a comforting lullaby. Very much the older sister version of Nap of a Star, which is beautiful no matter how you think about :')

Yeonjun ends the song with a whisper of "Let me break it down for you", which suggests we're about to get a flashback or some sort of background context going into the next track, which (spoilers!) we very much do.

If Dreamer is about coming face to face with one's childhood self, and the dreams we'd long forgotten about, Deep Down is about uncoiling all the layers of shame that lie within that same child.

Yeonjun starts Deep Down with a reference to Crown, their debut song:

Crown is about a boy who one day woke up with horns growing on his head, and how he emotionally dealt with that sudden physical anomaly. This shame is evidently still ligering, as Beomgyu points out: "Even if I try to run away endlessly, I eventually just run into myself and that thorn" and later again "I tried running away and ignoring it / But fate is so cruel". This suggests that he never fully got over the shame of feeling different - he merely pushed it deep down. However, Kai sparks a moment of change: "Right before I break you in the pitch black darkness, I realize / There is no me without you".

I find it interesting how they've chosen to personify the thorns, calling it "you" (in Korean as well, not just the translation). It humanizes the thorns, no longer making them something abhorrent or disgusting, but something that merely exists, and something they can talk to.

The pre-chorus is very touching, navigating a protagonist who grows to accept himself: "Tell me / The difference was me, right? / So deep down, I need you more / Now I see what I can see / It's a crown / It makes me shine"

Deep Down is about meeting shame head on and encouraging your childhood self to embrace who you always were, without a need to hide anymore.

I don't think anyone needs my help interpreting this when I say this song is for the gays and the neurodivergents. For the people who noticed very early that they did not fit in, and tried so hard to hide what they interpreted as a disgusting or humiliating piece of themselves.

(Closeted besties make some noise lol)

And can we take a moment to appreciate how beautiful it is when our protagonist chooses to accept himself? Literal tears in my eyes when Kai and Taehyun say:

Need I say more than I tear up listening to this song everytime? Oh wait, this is an analysis post and not a diary entry, SO - in terms of the narrative arc, we're halfway through the album and have reached a major internal shift, which means things can only go up from here! Let's take a look at the next track, Happily Ever After.

Confronting your childhood self also means dismantling a lot of unrealistic childhood visions, one of which is the false idea of "and they lived happily ever after". Here, TXT address the naive vision they had that life would be smooth sailing once they overcame some trials. Our protagonist, initially a little winded and disappointed that the classic fairytale ending isn't what adulthood is like, chooses to take this newfound realization with a swing of optimism:

"Wow, the unknown end makes my life more beautiful"

I love how this song is the most childish sounding off the album, with repetitive cute choruses of "la la las" reminiscient of school children singing a tune, yet somehow it's one of the more mature ones.

While Happily Ever After is about embracing the spontaneity that life throws us, and finding fun among the chaos, the following track Skipping stones is the more reflective and allegorical of the two. I consider Skipping Stones to be the end of the concept album, because Blue Spring was intended as a fan song, and Do It Like That was just added for…well, vibes? LOL

The idea behind Skipping Stones is that water is still until it gets hit. Like skipping a stone, there will be ripples created by an impact, but the water always evens out again: "The water that swallowed scars will become calm someday"

Soobin explained it well on Eunchae's Diary show (I would add screenshots but I've maxed out on images).

Our protagonist encourages us to see that comfort is found in considering the bigger picture of life: it's not about pushing through a single storm, but rather seeing that everything evens out and calms again in the long-term. The audience affirms this through the song's repetitive reminder that we will handle any difficulty "Just like always / Just like you always have (done) "

There's a sense of confidence that parallels the ending we got in Temptation with Farewell Neverland - the self-assuredness that no matter what happens, he will be okay, because he is making a choice on his own volition. But compared to Farewell Neverland, which centers so strongly on the emotional choice to leave Neverland, Skipping Stones feels more like an invigorating and supportive friend encouraging you to try and see their outlook on life. It's very much a song that breaks the fourth wall of the previous narrative since it uses the second-person voice a few times, directly saying "you" to call upon the listeners.

It's a touching song, and a satisfying way to conclude this part of the protagonist's journey. Will there be another album in The Name Chapter, despite him having found his name now? I feel like there's still room for conflict and growth, and I am ready to dig it all up whenever the next comeback comes around.

Overall, Freefall is a satisfying followup to Temptation, which felt pretty unbeatable in terms of a conceptual album storyline, and which I still say purely from a conceptual standpoint is a step above Freefall (sonically though I find FF to be superior).

Freefall shares Temptation's sense of impulse, but now it's more grounded in maturity. Temptation introduced us to a boy who blindly followed desire; now, he chases what he truly desires on his own volition, and encourages us to do the same. It has moments of exhilration, passion, resilience, and a few queer-coded epiphanies along the way, which is all your girl could ask for.

What are your thoughts on the album from a narrative / conceptual perspective? Do you think we'll see more from The Name Chapter, or was this TXT's way to close the entire TXT lore and start comething complertely new? Let me know, and as always thanks for reading this far :D

[peppermintquartz]

When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass it on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love! 💙

OK here goes. I'm very shameless about my writing, actually. You might regret asking me this!

One thing to note: I lean towards the darker side, so if you do browse through my fics, be wary and read the tags. Lots of dead doves. And since I tend to write one story in different parts, I have grouped those that tell the same story.

1. Red Mist / Black Moon (Shadowhunters)

This set is one story, starting from Magnus rescuing Alec and then Alec saving Magnus. There are torture scenes which, frankly, I didn't go as dark as I would now, but the main focus for me was the relationship between Magnus and Asmodeus. Incestuous overtones in Red Mist becomes outright references in Black Moon, but there are plot reasons for it. I also loved doing the Chinese bits and also the multi-verse / trans-dimensional shenanigans bits.

2. Finn's Playroom (Pro Wrestling)

This is pure self indulgence. It has porn, plot, BDSM, angst, fluff, romance, friends with benefits, friends(?) with benefits, murder, attempted murder, torture, sexual abuse, recovery from abuse, breakup, make-up, BAMFs out the wazoo, childhood trauma, and lots of lore buried in there. But it's sexy AF. I gained a whole buncha wrestling moots with this fic!

3. In a Cottage by the Sea (Hannibal)

Oddly enough, this is the only one on this list that has no Dead Dove.

I wrote many Hannibal fics, and while I love the work I put into Bread & Music (massive age gap fic without Daddy kink), this one truly tested me as a writer because I tried being super minimalistic and sparse. I think, style-wise, this was the hardest to create, and I genuinely love this particular fic.

4. Contact / Touched / Caresses (Bleach)

Extremely Dead Doves. Be warned.

This is an interconnected story about the love between two of the main villains on Bleach (i reject Tite Kubo's interpretation completely), and in their unrepentant evil-ness, they are utterly devoted to each other. Love does not make a person good.

This was written 20 years ago, almost? so the quality of writing is sometimes 'eeeeeh' but i am proud that i did this in the first place. I wrote three different POVs of the same story, with some chapters happening concurrently, others filling in the blanks between the chapters of the other fics, it was completely insane, and I was utterly possessed by it because I was uploading one chapter every day or every other day. Lots of readers started rooting for the villains to have a happy ending... (see: number 5)

(This was written and shared on FFdotnet and transferred over to AO3 by copy-pasting from a download, so there are many typos. But given there are 263 chapters, and over 596,000 words in total, I am not editing this.)

5. Over All Things / I Will Remember You / You Will Remember Me (Bleach, conclusion to the above)

...And because of the impact of number 4 on this list, I could write this concluding trio of stories, again with multiple POV of the same incident, and I know I made a lot of readers cry.

For the very evil guys.

But, see, I woke up crying because this story unfolded fully in my head, so of course i had to inflict the pain on everyone else.

Thank you for letting me ramble about my fics, I really appreciated this ask!

[jaguarys]

Hello! I don't know if someone already asked, but if not, please tell us you thoughts about Danaël?

Thank you for asking! On a real note I super appreciate all the LL asks that people have been sending, I LOVE to yell about this series.

In a lot of ways, he's really the straight man of the series, but I honestly think that's sort of what makes him so great. He's the one who the rest of the group revolves around, not just because he's their leader, but he's also just their focal point. He's the one who brought them together; he's the one they follow. I think in a lot of ways he's the one they aspire to and model themselves after, and I do firmly believe he's the best of them.

He's also truly the definition of haunting the narrative. His absence is more acute than his presence in a lot of ways, and I think narratively it's a lot more important. I'm genuinely obsessed with the way the series shifts after his death–– it's a tangible absence, and no matter how much they try to cover the gap he leaves, there's just no way for them to.

Of course, the series post-Anathos becomes a lot darker, but I also think it's just more... bleak. They've really and truly lost their core, and they don't ever regain the sense of family their group had before. They scattered during their recovering period following vol 10, and they never fully reconverge much as they might want to.

I don't think it would be impossible, had they had the time. They're focused on trying to rebuild what they had, when I think what would have been best would be to create something new. And, I think, being that he was the glue, they never really learned to fill those gaps (and actually communicate. I think he was the one who made them talk to each other, holy shit (affectionately, they're dumbasses)).

I absolutely adore him. I won't get into his Dynameïs version here but I think about that a lot too... really depends on how you want to interpret Kalandre's hold over their group (are they still themselves? Are they entirely other people? Is it full control or just influence? I'm obsessed.)

[blackkatmagic]

Hey, blackkat!

I've been reading your star wars fanfictions for a while now and I'm seriously intrigued by all of them. My favorite is running with lightning feet and I'm currently reading efface the footprints in the sands--poor Master Kolar...

Anyway, I really wonder how you approach writing. You seem to be able to write very consistently and keep track of many stories all at once, which are things I admire very much about you. Would you be able to give some advice on that?

Also, I very much love your characterization of more 'minor' (less appearance in canon) characters and how you breathe life into them with your dialogue. Really make me wonder how you make that out--what do you consider, or do the characterization/dialogue just pop up, fleshing themselves out?

Yeah, I really hope you don't mind me asking these. Again, love your writing very much. Would continue to read your stories always~~ Thank you for sharing them (and putting all your effort into writing them!)

Hi! I definitely don't mind, and I've answered similar questions before in my writing advice tag, if you want to scroll through some other answers that might be worded better.

For how I approach writing...the inconvenient answer is that it's mostly practice. I've been giving myself a goal of 500 words every day for the last....10-ish years, probably? Just consistently sitting down and doing a thing, writing without worrying about quality and only quantity, with lots of WIPs always going at the same time, really helps in figuring out how to juggle them. I usually keep a file of vague notes, one doc for each WIP with a bunch of keywords and ideas I want to hit eventually, and plot twists I'm aiming for, though I don't ever really outline things, and that helps a lot with keeping track, too.

As far as characterization of minor characters goes, that's the part I enjoy most about writing, and it's one of the easier parts for me, so I'm not sure I'm the best at putting it into words. But basically, you have to get to the very core of how you see the character - what their baseline personality is, what motivates them, what their goals are. It's something that can change between fics (which I think is one of the joys of minor characters; you don't have to stick to one defined interpretation), but it is something you have to nail down, imo. It also takes some filling in the gaps with headcanon and some leaps in logic.

Take Agen for example: canon gives us the information that he lost his padawan on Geonosis, incorporated Tan's lightsaber crystal into his own, and is an incredible swordsman but too blunt and aggressive to be diplomatic, while still being very loyal to the Council/Order. He gets called "the Council's attack dog" in the comics. Also, in the wider universe, we know that Zabraks have a reputation for being aggressive/warlike, and at one point Qui-Gon calls Maul it, even though he has to know what Zabraks are.

Those are all the canon facts. If you go back and fill in the gaps: Agen is someone who's grieving deeply, and he's incredibly devoted. He uses Tan's lightsaber crystal against Palpatine, which means he's sentimental, and he's not willing to speak against the Order in public, so he's at least that tactful. At the same time, he has no patience for people who get in his way, and he's willing to use force to cut through them. He believes in other Jedi until they irrevocably prove themselves traitors, and then he's stern and willing to remove them by whatever means. At the same time, he's very aware of his reputation, and he knows what people say about him/other Zabraks, but he's stubborn enough (at peace with himself enough) that he's not going to change.

From that sort of character summary, you can figure out the way Agen talks pretty easily. He's blunt, and he doesn't always think about the impact of his words, but he can be compassionate and thoughtful, particularly given his own grief. He's willing to defend anyone, and he doesn't make a fuss but always tends towards action - that means short sentences, usually directly to the point with no niceties. He's polite, because that's usually the fastest way to achieve something, but he's not overly deferential. He has a sense of humor, but most people miss it because he's so blunt.

Taking a character and dissecting them like that is something I have a lot of fun doing, which, well. I'm a therapist irl, so that probably helps. But I think it's very much just about breaking a character down into component parts and applying them to whatever you're writing - if you understand why someone reacts a certain way, it's a thousand times easier to figure out how they're going to react in a new situation. And after that, getting them to sound right, getting your dialogue to fit - it's all about practice.

[sablegear0]

"Why not just write your own stories?"

At time of writing, I am taking an online course about Ethics and Legal Issues in Publishing. I say this as context because the class forum is discussing fan fiction and where it falls in terms of "fair dealing" (the Canadian version of "fair use") and the "moral rights" of a copyright holder to their work (a creator's right to be associated with, and protect the dignity of, their work).

Within this discussion, one of my classmates (who by their own admission is a bit "out of the loop" on this front, they're an older individual who was around before the internet and online fan spaces became a thing) was asking -politely I must note, they were very open to discussion and having their mind changed- about the purpose of fan fiction. They said they don't really understand it. Why write with other people's material? Why not just write your own stories?

To that, I wrote this, which focuses on the why rather than any copyright issues. I just wanted to put out there how I felt about fanfic and the "why" behind it to hopefully show this person where the impulse comes from. What's the purpose of something so legally dubious?

==

I think I might have an answer to "Why not just write your own stories?" and a bit of an explanation of the "purpose" (I guess?) of fanfic from a very fannish angle.

First and foremost: writing is hard. Writing something original is even harder. That's part of why I'm not writing "my own stories" (insofar as original characters and plots, more on that in a moment). Part of the appeal of fanfic is that someone has already done a good chunk of the world building, plot development, characterization, and audience investment for you. It's easy to jump right into the kind of story you want to tell when you're borrowing elements the audience is already familiar with to tell it. It's a bit like playing with toys in that sense; a Barbie's harrowing expedition to the top of bookshelf-Mount-Everest is more compelling because we have a sense of who Barbie is already.

Second, and perhaps most significantly, the vast majority of fan fiction is an expression of love for the original material. Getting to glorify or explore characters you've come to love, giving plot points and characters the time you feel they deserve is satisfying. In this sense, fanfic is often born of a desire for more. And if the fandom can't get more from the source, they'll make their own from scrap. Many fanfic stories fill in what the writer considers "gaps" in the canon, or explore relationships or elements of a character that may be implied (or the fan feels are implied; re-interpretations and "head-canons" abound in fan spaces) but not explicitly explored in canon. Or they can be "fix it" fics, in which nobody dies or tragedies or undone - which may undermine the grand literary intent of some events, but sometimes you just want to see your favourite character get a happy ending because they're your favourite!

Fanfic can also be an exercise in writing techniques and style, which is primarily how I use it (the audience comes free with the territory! The feedback not so much, but not everyone is a literature critic...). After the purpose of general appreciation, I've found the second biggest purpose of fanfic is so the writer can work through something. Try out a style or explore some thought or issue or realization in their own life. They do so through the lens of familiar characterizations but by introducing new themes, new issues, new twists. In this way the fan writers are "writing their own stories". Many of these exploratory pieces can get quite personal! (I have also done this.) They're just using established elements as a kind of shorthand, so the audience understanding is already there when they begin a story exploring something like trauma or identity or grief.

So fan fiction is a lot of things to fans: it's an open forum for discussion, it's a common language, it's a sandbox full of toys, it's an art gallery, it's graffiti on the works in the art gallery, it's a modern retelling of a period piece, it's a historical recasting of a digital-age story, it's a band-aid, it's therapy, it's practice - but most of all, for a lot of us, it's just how we show our love.

[paradoxcase]

Chapter 5 of Harrow the Ninth

Another broken memory, with the broken skull, in the third person, of a scene from Gideon the Ninth but involving Ortus instead. I went back to this scene in Gideon briefly so that I could compare

So here is where the "necro suitcase" comment is clarified, I see

In the original scene, she didn't do this (the sitting on dirt thing). Gideon mentioned that it's something that necromancers in the stories she read did, but Harrow didn't do it for whatever reason

Gideon originally just mentioned that the planet had a lot of water, and was mainly interested in the fact that it wasn't frozen or boiled away, but Harrow here is saying that all she can see is water, and Canaan House. I guess it's possible that Canaan House is somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, but what if this is something like what happened in Homestuck where future Earth became a waterworld that was entirely ocean? I guess it might explain why there aren't people living there, and why no one has wood or paper anymore, but like, there are people in this universe living on Pluto and Mercury, I'm sure they could figure out how to support a decent population on a planet that is 100% ocean, too

In the original scene, Harrow said the planet was a tomb, but there's nothing in the narrative here to explain why she thought that, and she doesn't say that this time around

I honestly don't know what Ortus did mean by "bone frenzy" here, unless it just meant blood lust or something, and how he thinks it related to Harrow's schizophrenia, and how Harrow thinks it could be misinterpreted, but interpreting poetry has never been something I've been good at. Is Mattias Nonius, and Ortus's epic poem about him, going to become more relevant in these Ortus-related memories?

Ok, this is funny, because I was 35 myself four years ago, and definitely did not feel this way about it, and actually still don't, living forever still seems pretty cool to me, modulo situations like Cytherea's and the whole thing where the Lyctors are being eternally pursued by Resurrection Beasts. Given that neither of them know about those things in context of this broken memory, I think this might just be Ortus, personally

She did talk to the pilot at this point in the original scene. But here we get a cryptic note that only Harrow can see:

I have no idea what this means, but I'm reminded of Cytherea's "you lied to us" message at the end of Gideon the Ninth. This therefore seems like the person who said, or wrote this was probably a Lyctor, and someone else's thoughts or memories or whatever are getting mixed up with these broken memories. I'm curious now if these broken memories were just a side effect of Harrow's Work, or if they were specifically intentionally rewritten as a separate step, or if they are just Harrow's imagination trying to fill in the gaps of memories or pieces of memories that are just gone now. If they were specifically rewritten, I'm guessing something about how that was done injected this message in here, but if it's just post-Work Harrow's imagination, this might be something that she heard someone say at some other time and then forgot about

In the original scene, Harrow offers Gideon a veil to shield her eyes and Gideon puts on sunglasses instead. Here this scene ends without Ortus covering his eyes at all, or Harrow worrying about him, which is sort of interesting

[spider-stark]

hi!! i love all of your aegon works, always love reading your writing, you always have creative and imaginative ideas!! i was wondering if you have any tips or things you keep in mind when writing for aegon? i want to start writing for him but don’t really know/have a grasp on his character yet ^^

oooo I love this question so much! and thank you so much for reading my work, I'm so glad you like it! apologies in advance if this gets long, but I just really love talking about things like this!

Tip 1. Consume as Much Content as Possible

This goes for writing any new character. Assuming you've already watched the show, you can take it a step further by: reading fan fics, head canons, and watching edits!

For me personally, I find that this can really help to not only inspire ideas, but also help you to gain a better grasp on the character. You can take notes on their mannerisms, personality traits, appearance quirks, speech patterns, etc. by doing this!

Tip 2. Expand on those Traits

As of right now, Aegon's character is not super fleshed out in terms of the TV show because he had such little screen time. Because of this, it's your job as a writer to kind of "fill in" those gaps in his character!

For example, we see in the show that Aegon is at least somewhat insecure regarding how his family views him. Affection seems to be a somewhat foreign concept to him. A lot of his dialogue shows these little kernels of insecurity: "I've done everything you asked me to and I try so hard but it will never be enough for you or father." "My father never wanted this. He had twenty years to name me heir and never did." "He didn't like me." "Do you love me?"

At the same time, we also have examples of Aegon being rather arrogant and flippant: "You dare put your hands on me?" "You do know how the act is done, don't you?"

For myself (and many others) I interpret Aegon's character as being very indulgent and entitled, but also as using his arrogance as a shield for his insecurity. He craves what he's never had--affection, love, trust, etc.---but also fears that he isn't worthy of it. Because of this, he's just as likely to push someone away as he is to pull them close.

Tip 3. Don't be Afraid to be Creative!

Mostly with how you interpret his character and portray him!

Let's use mannerisms as an example. In a fic I'm working on rn, I write Aegon as having the same nervous tic as Alicent: picking/chewing at his cuticles. This is one of many ways that you can draw from the characters around him to be creative with fleshing out his character and making him more 'real'.

Additionally, interpret things however you want! Some people might not like it, but that's not what matters. Your fic = your world!

For example: the Aegon & Dyana storyline in the show. I've seen some fic writers use this as a reason to write Aegon as being misogynistic (which is totally valid). I personally use that scene more as fuel for Aegon being classist, rather than misogynistic!

Like many royals, I don't see Aegon as viewing servants and small folk as people---the things he would do to a servant, I don't think we would see him do to a noble born girl. Still makes him a morally questionable character, but it also adds more layers to his character that can be manipulated in fiction and add to a storyline. You can also disregard these more negative and darker traits all together as many other Aegon writers do!

Tip 4. Write :)

Honestly, the best way to get into writing for a new character is to just try it! Mess around and experiment with them and see what happens with it! Writings supposed to be fun, so just try to think of a scenario for Aegon that you wanna write about and give it a shot!

It can also be helpful to have friends that enjoy writing/reading to give you advice and help when you need it! If you ever need someone to go over an idea with or have questions about something you're working on or thinking about, I'm always available to help :)

[tarnishedxknight]

Headcanons: Gabranth's Physical and Mental Condition/Status From the Pharos Onward

{out of dalmasca} Not my day on the rp schedule to be on this blog, but I've finally finished watching the FFXII "movie" to refresh myself and I've got some things to say. It took me long enough to find time over several months to do it, haha, but it's finally done. For anyone else who wants a refresher or even if you've never played the game before, the movie I watched is here. It distills it down to important cutscenes, conversation, and major quests/battles that are essential to the main story. So if you don't want to play the game or just don't have the time, that movie will tell you everything you need to know about it! =)

Below the cut are some thoughts/headcanons I'd like to share after finishing the movie, while it's still fresh in my mind! Note: this concerns my version of Noah/Gabranth on this blog and will be very canon-divergent.

Having finished the movie, I've got some comments and headcanons I'd like to discuss. I also want to make sure everyone understands how I write Gabranth, because he's very canon-divergent. Because of the way the main FFXII game was chopped up when they decided to change who the main protagonists were, I've had to extrapolate, assume, fill in, speculate, and use a bit of imagination to explain a number of things that happened to Gabranth in the final phase of the story. I'd like to clear some things up as far as how I choose to write him and what I think was going on with him towards the end of the story and his life.

Also I realize now that I got some of the conversations mixed up with regard to timing when I was answering some asks of late, so... oops my bad. I haven't played it in a long time so some of the more important conversations were all jumbled in my head. Don't mind me, I'm just constantly putting the whole game in a mental blender and using whatever I want where I want, hahaha.

Okay. So. When they decided to create Vaan and Penelo and make them the main protagonists and focus instead of Basch and Gabranth, the development team removed the third act of the story, among other things, that detailed the story between Basch and Gabranth. That’s why it’s never said in the game that Gabranth has nethicite poisoning, or what the two brothers are even feuding about beside Basch who “fled our homeland,” as Gabranth put it. That’s also why the last part of the game seems rushed and thinner on story than the rest of the game, because they removed a lot of it.

Specifically, they removed a lot that occurred in between the battle with Gabranth/Cid at the Pharos and the final showdown on the Bahamut. Me and Noah's other mun ( @greyingeneral ) have tried to piece together what the rest of the story and missing details from that omitted third act might have been by looking at the manga, dev notes, Gabranth’s game mechanics, and his list of abilities/spells. Below is how I interpret my version of Gabranth based on everything I've researched and discussed with others as well as how I piece together the parts of the game in trying to fill the gaps where missing material once was.

At the point of arriving to confront Basch, Ashe, & Co. at the Pharos, Gabranth’s nethicite poisoning was catching up with him and addling his mind, hence his erratic and aggressive behavior. It is canon that exposure to nethicite makes one more aggressive (e.g. what happened to Bergan and Vayne). Gabranth was also reacting to the increase in Mist at the highest ascent of the Pharos. Just like the Bahamut absorbed the Mist released from Reddas destroying then Sun Cryst, so too would Gabranth’s body begin accumulating it too. He already has some Mist inside him from the nethicite poisoning he acquired in Landis. Mist… likes itself, heh. It will accumulate itself like a magnet, “sticking” to magical things or to things which already contain Mist and causing it to intensify. So Gabranth was feeling the simultaneously detrimental and invigorating effects of this increase in Mist exposure when he confronted the party.

Now… I headcanon that Gabranth actually died at the Pharos when Cid/Venat threw him against the wall. He heals fast due to the Mist in his body, but not that fast at that point in his life, and things can still kill him like they kill a regular human. My best guess is that he slammed his head so hard or maybe his back was broken from the impact of hitting the stone wall, and that’s how he died.

There’s a surprising amount of support for this in canon. First of all, that’s why you just… don’t hear from him again until later. He doesn’t help anymore against Cid, doesn’t confront Basch again, doesn’t try to follow the party, no one's talking about him anymore, nothing. Because he’s dead.

Second, if you look at his game mechanics before the Pharos and then after, his abilities and spells skew more towards magic than purely martial or weapon-based abilities, and he acquires a lot of magic and special abilities that are consistent with revenants and other undead creatures in the game. How do I know that? Because they match some of the abilities/spells of actual revenants, ghosts, wights, etc. that you can fight if you venture into the Necrohol of Nabudis. Which, I remind you, is full of undead creatures and people who were reanimated by the Mists that resulted from Reddas (then Judge Zecht) detonating the Midlight Shard. So, Gabranth was accumulating a lot of Mist from the charged environment at the highest ascent of the Pharos, he seems to just drop out of the story completely for a while following what looks to be a high impact blow to his head and back, and his abilities/spell list change from that of a Judge Magister to something more matching a revenant type creature by the time we see him again in the Bahamut… everything seems to add up that there's been a significant change in him.

But that’s not all. Basch’s reaction to Gabranth upon seeing him at the Bahamut is, “So, you have lived.” He sounds… surprised. Inasmuch as Basch ever shows emotion about anything, I mean that was… surprised… for him. XD But even so. Why would he be surprised? Because they already checked his body at the Pharos and knew he was dead. There’s a delay in between death and reanimation, so it wouldn’t have happened right away. And because Gabranth wasn’t in a full-scale nethicite explosion as the people of Nabudis, the Mist wouldn’t be quite as intense, so it might take longer to reanimate him.

There is also the question of how Gabranth got to the Bahamut in the first place, and more importantly, how he got there almost as fast as the rest of Ashe and her party. Aside from the fact that we never got told what Gabranth’s ship was, if he even had one (I gave him one, because come on), we never really see him move… anywhere. It’s always… sure I’ll go, and then… I’m there. XD But even if he woke up seconds after the party left, got on his ship, and immediately set course for the Bahamut… how did he know to go there? He was unconscious (or dead, or in-between life and death) during that entire conversation where they decided where to go.

One might say, well Vayne over on the Bahamut knew of Cid’s fate, so that means Gabranth must have gone to the Bahamut, beat Ashe & Co. there, and told him, right? Nope, it was Venat. Occuria can move damn fast, they’re incorporeal, heh. As the party was arriving at the Bahamut, Vayne already knew what happened to Cid and was saying things like, “What say you, Venat?” So Vayne was already talking to him then. Her? It? Did they ever say? I’m not sure, but regardless, heh. Vayne didn’t mention Gabranth at all, which means he might not have known what became of him, or he didn’t care, both are equally plausible. And when Gabranth next encounters Vayne, he’s… challenging him. So I don’t think Gabranth would have quickly run over to Vayne to tell him what was going on because at that point, his loyalties were 100% with Larsa and out in the open.

So how did Gabranth get to the Bahamut so fast? The party took him there. I headcanon that either the party, out of respect for the fact that he was Basch’s brother, or maybe Basch himself decided it, took Gabranth’s body with them and kept it on the Strahl. Maybe he was even laid where we see him lying at the very end of the game, where he later finally died permanently. They were merely saving the body for later burial or maybe for return to Archadia, and when they docked at the Bahamut, left the Strahl, and went to confront Vayne, Gabranth woke up shortly after that, now some sort of raised, in-between, revenant-like being but not realizing it, and left as well. Realizing where he was, his first thoughts would have been of protecting Larsa, so he would’ve been trying to find him and ran into the party along the way.

This also explains why Gabranth kept going after several devastating injuries. After being so badly injured at the Pharos as to be effectively taken out of the plot for a time, he comes back wounded and weaker but still able to fight. Basch & Co. beats him again, and he falls. They leave to confront Vayne, and Gabranth gets up again, and is able to fight Vayne despite the fact that he should be almost dead. After Vayne fatally wounds him (you can only kill a revenant with fire/explosion, decapitation, or bifurcation, and the consensus after reading various sources is that Vayne almost bifurcated Gabranth’s body at the waist with one of his attacks (I've seen it mentioned in more than one place but can't find a canon source), enough to kill him, but just not instantly), he falls and seems to die. Then later we see he’s barely alive on the Strahl, though this time when he “dies,” it’s permanent. The fact that he keeps getting wounded to the point of what looks like death but then keeps coming back is consistent with revenant game mechanics. They have regeneration abilities. So if he can just stay “alive,” his body will continue to regenerate itself. Only Vayne’s devastating attack on him at the end of the game is enough to kill him, with the effects of the wound (damage to major organs and bleeding out) taking hold faster than his body could regenerate.

So… is Gabranth alive, dead, undead, or what at the end of the game? I hesitate to say he’s undead. He’s not rotting, he doesn’t look undead, he still has his sanity despite being a bit unhinged at times, and some of the most specific undead traits and abilities that others have in the game, he doesn’t have. I do think he “died” at the Pharos, but he’s a special case. He’s been living with a low level of Mist in his body for more than half his life. I think when he wakes up after the Pharos, he’s something between life and death, an immortal maybe, more like a vampire. In defiance of death but no longer completely a mortal being. Not invincible, mind you, the rules of killing a revenant still apply, but I think… immortal. I think he will stop aging from that point, and if nothing manages to kill him, he will live indefinitely.

Then why do I write him as “dying” from ailments associated with his nethicite poisoning (lung issues, his cough, issues with his eyes and mental health, etc.)? Two reasons. First, that’s what he believes (but of an unreliable narrator situation going on here) and what all doctors who attended to him in Archadia believed because that’s the syndrome of nethicite poisoning usually entails. But people with nethicite poisoning usually die a lot faster, or they’re a lot sicker that he is. So...

...he’s definitely a special case, and I think it has to do with Ashe’s special brand of Dynast magic. I headcanon that the magic of the Dynast Kings is the only type that can fully and permanently heal/cure nethicite poisoning. When Basch’s own poisoning (he left Landis but was still exposed by the initial explosion) caused him to eventually fall deathly ill, a very young Ashelia who was still learning her magic made a child’s wish that her dear friend would get better soon and accidentally cast her first major healing spell, unwittingly curing him. What does this have to do with Gabranth? I'm getting to that, heh.

This heads right into another headcanon I have, and that is that Basch and Gabranth, as twins (identical, no less) share a soul. For all you MCU fans on this blog, it’s absolutely like Wanda and Pietro. They sometimes feel what is happening to the other or know what the other is thinking, and some things that affect one, can potentially affect the other. When Ashe cured Basch years ago, some of that healing bled through the bond and healed Gabranth without him even knowing. All he knows is that he woke up one morning feeling freaking awesome for no reason, lol. From then on, Gabranth became this strange combination of low-level poisoned, partially healed with ancient Dynast magic, still having Mist in his body, but living with this weird stasis of his body breaking down with Mist-caused illness and simultaneously regenerating itself also because of the Mist. So that very unique set of circumstances and characteristics resulted in Gabranth becoming… something no one has ever seen before.

So I consider him either back from the dead, kindof, or alive but with one foot on the other side, heh. Like... someone who's been touched by death, or who is forever changed by the experience of having experienced death for a time, like people who have near-death experiences and claim to never be the same again. Not undead, not dead, but not 100% alive either, not in the traditional sense. Like an immortal vampire without the blood-sucking, heh. He's his own being, heh.

Okay, now that I've explained that (if it made any sense at all haha), I just have some more comments on Gabranth's emotional ranting at the Pharos, specifically with what he kept saying to Ashelia. (If you want to watch the scene I'm going to describe, you can start here and watch until 5:30:35.) He seemed to be egging her on, to choose violence and revenge, and it begs the question... why? Does he want to kill her? Was he looking for a reason? And why would that be? He really has nothing against her personally and in the grand scheme of things, she wasn't that valuable of a playing card to him as far as his goal of stabilizing the Empire. Actually, goading her into using the nethicite could obliterate Archadia, so why... would he push her to do that? It doesn't seem to make a lot of sense, but to me it kindof does.

If you listen to Gabranth talk during this time, he's breathing really hard, like he's strained or he can't catch his breath. He also sounds angry, emotional, erratic, and volatile. All of that is because he's reacting to the Mist, although he really doesn't realize that. Despite him merely going there to assess where Ashelia's head is at and to pass judgement accordingly, he starts pushing her to choose revenge, saying, "Why do you hesitate? Take what is yours. The cryst is a blade. It was meant for you. Wield it. Avenge your father. Yes, it was I who wore Basch's face, who cut down the life of Dalmasca. Lady Ashe, your father's murderer is here! I slew your king. I slew your country. Do these deeds not demand vengeance?" When she picks up the sword, he continues, "Yes! Good! Find your wrath! Take up your sword. Fight, and serve those who died before you!

Ashe ultimately decides against using the nethicite for revenge, and goes on to say, "Even with power we cannot change the past. What is done, is done." To which Gabranth replies, "Yet without power, what future can you claim? What good a kingdom you cannot defend? You claim no need of power? What of your broken kingdom's shame? The dead demand justice!"

There's... a LOT to unpack in what Gabranth is saying. Personally, I think he's projecting all over Ashe. Read his lines again, but this time imagine he's talking to himself about Landis. Imagine he's talking about his own rise to power in Archadia, feeling he needs it to avenge the past, to somehow change it, because he's stuck in it still. Imagine also that when all his power is stripped away, deep inside, he thinks very little of himself. He blames himself for Landis, for his own perceived weakness. The fact that he would serve Archadia after it destroyed Landis deep down really disgusts him. The fact that he murdered King Raminas disgusts him. The fact that he didn't avenge the dead of Landis disgusts him.

Think about things in that context and read his lines again. They suddenly start to be a lot less about Ashelia and what she should do for Dalmasca, and start to sound a whole lot more like Gabranth itemizing his own failures, regrets, and self-loathing. It's almost like he's yelling at himself when he's yelling at her, as if to say... Aren't I a terrible person? I should be punished for the things I've done. I should be ashamed. What about my fallen homeland? I should have avenged the past and the dead.

And then of course the fact that Basch chooses that choice moment to interject only pours salt on Gabranth's wounds. Basch is the absolutely worst person to try and de-escalate the situation, because Gabranth is already agitated beyond what he can control because of the Mist. He's not going to calm down, he's going to rage against Basch. Mist doesn't just make you crazy and aggressive, it makes you emotional as well. It can bring to the surface things you normally wouldn't express.

Basch says, "Then I will defend queen and kingdom both." And then... Gabranth starts projecting again. "Hah! Defend? You? You who failed Landis and Dalmasca? What can shame hope to keep safe? Your shield is shattered! Your oaths poisoned those you would protect!" That's... All of that is Gabranth feeling like things are falling apart, like he's failed Larsa, like he's failed the Empire that he shouldn't really even be serving in the first place. He's poisoned all he would protect. But nope, it's Basch's fault! Everything bad in his life is Basch's fault because that original sin of Basch abandoning him and Landis so many years ago was what Gabranth felt ruined his peace of mind and his life forever. Nothing was the same after that and he became a terrible all person because of Basch. So he lashes out at him. It's... a whole lot of projecting, and frankly, ranting. He's not a well person at this point. It's almost like he's on a drug the way he's racing and raging. Sad, really. I feel badly for him at that point because there's so much pain in what he's saying but he just won't admit it. I just want to hug him, heh, he really needs it.

Alright, this post is getting long enough. XD If I think of anything else, I'll add to this, but I just wanted to get it all down somewhere while it was fresh in my mind. Feel free to comment on any of this if you like, or to use the information in it as fuel for threads, starters, AUs, whatever, as this is the main way I choose to write my version of Noah/Gabranth most of the time.

[anghraine]

One of the things that I hadn't thought about a whole lot before the ROP meltdowns was the distinction between two quite different sorts of non-canonicity.

(Note: I know some people just don't care about it, esp in Tolkien fandom, but this isn't about that.)

The first type of non-canonicity I think of is the most obvious—when something is not canonical because it is actually contradicted by canonical information. It might be more accurate to call this "anti-canonical" or "counter-canonical" or something like that.

The second type is when something isn't in canon, and thus is literally not canonical, but is not directly precluded by anything that is in canon, either.

Fanon sometimes falls into this category—things that Tolkien (or whomever) never actually said, but which is possible within the bounds of what he did say, and which gains such widespread acceptance that people don't always realize it's non-canonical in this sense (but not anti-canonical). A lot of individual headcanons are also of this type—the whole concept of a headcanon was originally "thing that isn't in canon, but isn't contradicted by canon either and is true in my head."

Now, I'm not actually arguing that The Rings of Power only contains one of these kinds of non-canonicity. It definitely has both! But something I found intriguing (and annoying) about a lot of the discourse is the way "X isn't canon because it's contradicted by Tolkien's statements" got completely conflated in some circles with "X isn't canon because Tolkien never specifically said it was true."

For me, the most glaring instance is the mostly dudebro types who heatedly insisted that Galadriel never used any form of weaponry and it's counter to her character for her to fight physically blah blah they RUINED her, Guyladriel blah blah. Inevitably, others pointed out that she is canonically athletic, tall, considered masculine in her youth, and at least in some versions, fights in at least one bloody battle. The Guyladriel dudebros would then be like, "yeah, but he doesn't say her athletic training involved weapons, or that she used weapons when she fought in battle, she could have used magic, that's her whole deal. So a Galadriel who wears armor and can use weapons is still against canon."

And it's true that a Galadriel who wears armor and can use weapons is not canon in the sense that Tolkien didn't spell that out. But he also didn't spell out that she never used a weapon in her thousands of years of life (personally, it never occurred to me that the version of Galadriel who joined battle on the side of Teleri at Alqualondë was not using weaponry or didn't know how, given the general characterization of young Galadriel in "The Shibboleth of Fëanor"). So it's very debatable whether ROP making her skilled in combat is intrinsically against canon or simply against a particular interpretation of canon in some quarters.

And I do think that lack of distinction between gap-filling (even gap-filling I personally dislike) and rejection of canon is really common across pretty much all segments of canon. Not everyone is as obnoxious or bad at reasoning as the Guyladriel types, but I do think it's always a mistake.

[blerdeblerdeblerr]

Ambiguity in Black Sails:

One of my favorite things about Black Sails is its ambiguity. I'm sure I'm not coming up with many new insights here but this has been on my mind a lot lately and wanted to write down my ruminations. So many of the relationships in Black Sails have blurry outlines. James and Miranda, Miranda and Thomas, Jack and Anne at times, Silver and Flint, etc. I love how the show leaves so much wiggle room in these dynamics for us to project our own insights. Same with a character's sexuality, or a character's ending (gulp).

They are defined just enough for us to feel invested and satisfied, but just vague enough for us to apply our own interpretations to parts of it. I think it was Jon Steinberg who said something like 'the story demands that you feel something.' It requires us to fill in gaps based on how we feel about a character, a relationship, an action. And it's incredible because it means that we will love it more for the spaces it leaves us to fill in. Making it partly our story, too.

To you, Flint might only like men, and that is why his relationship with Miranda seems so distant and stale. Or maybe he loved both her and Thomas both romantically, but the loss of Thomas created such a void between them that they could no longer connect with one another. Maybe Thomas and Miranda were a marriage of convenience, great friends with real love between them but no romance. Maybe they all shared one another in a truly polyamorous relationship. The beauty is that it's never explicitly defined, so we choose based on how we feel and our own experiences. How I read those relationships doesn't invalidate a different reading.

Or, how you interpret Flint's ending has almost everything to do with how you feel about Silver - as a character, as a partner and friend to Flint, as a storyteller, as a man who refuses to share his past, as a lover to Madi. Do you feel for him? Does he annoy you? Do you trust him?

Silver's Choice:

For me, Silver's choice at the end, whichever ending you believe, is driven by love. But it's a selfish form of love. Taking away the choice and agency of the people he cares about the most while simultaneously destroying their life's purpose, their causes that they were willing to die for. To me his crime is not killing the war to save them, but taking away their choice entirely. He chose for them, knowing full well it was not what they wanted.

(Also worth noting that I think Madi is far more altruistic from the start. To me, Flint's motivations are dubious and debatable for a long time, as I believe he was fighting from mostly rage, revenge and grief from S1-S3. But I think post-cage / post-fireside / S4 Flint is a far more settled and integrated version of himself, finally fighting for more altruistic reasons - after unburdening his past to Silver and eventually becoming more closely aligned with Madi.)

But I cannot hate Silver for wanting to protect the woman he loves, just as I cannot hate Flint for killing Gates to keep his fight alive, nor can I hate Eleanor for hoping to gain her father's respect and despising Vane for stealing that possibility from her.

Jon Steinberg also said, "It is genuine and it is complicated, the way it is always complicated when you love someone."

[librosamarillos]

Can you give some advice to writers who will write for Maegor? Do you have any recommendations for writing for normal Maegor and yandere Maegor? Can you please share?

I don't know if I'm one for writing advice anon, and I can only speak for how I write him, which can be pretty ooc from time to time.

I think reading Fire and Blood is a must, as that's the place we get all canon information on Maegor. Now, I've seen a few people online argue that the maesters are biased against the Targaryens and Maegor because he was against the faith, but I don't think it's to the extend they're making it out to be (just a personal thought, again, depends how you read and interpret it). I think two things can be true at once, so that depends how you want to write him in your story. Is he your protagonist, your antagonist, your love interest, your villain?

Now, I don't know about you, but when I'm reading fanfics, I don't care that much about canon compliance. Since Maegor is not a character we get PoVs from (like the Asoiaf characters where we get to hear their thoughts, beliefs and motivations) there's a lot of free reign to fill in the gaps. I'm more of a "You don't need to make it realistic, but make it believable." kind of person. Meaning, even if you change canon events and/or characters, make sure it makes sense for him to be the way you write him out to be. It's not believable to have him be a complete villain with no reason, everyone has a reason to do something, and in my opinion, the more complicated, the better. Human emotions can be confusing and conflicting and they don't always follow logic.

Now, what we get from him in canon is the following:

Maegor was quarrelsome, quick to take offense, slow to forgive, and fearsome in his wroth. He was a rigid man, unyielding, and unbending. He preferred fire and steel over settling issues through discussion, and showed cruel tendencies early in his childhood. Although he had many companions throughout his youth, he had no true friends, and even as an adult Maegor trusted no one.

This is a great place to start your character building!

Now as for yandere stuff, I love reading unhinged shit, not gonna lie. Go crazy, that's my favourite kind of yandere type, but like I said, make it make sense in your story. Keep in mind the motivations you give him, any personal beliefs he might hold and any preferences. I keep an embarrassing amount of notes for each character, chapter and theme. But the most boring answer of all is to practice, I'm afraid, so just give it a go! (Having him covered in blood helps <3)

I don't know if this even counts as help or anything, but have fun with it! And make sure you outline!

[neverwanttofallasleep]

I Never Want To Fall Asleep - Character Gallery

I'm a visual person, so this was an important part of the writing process for me and I thought I'd share some inspo pics! I've had a pretty solid idea in my mind of each character but I've purposely left out most descriptions within the story so you can fill the gaps however you like. If you were curious - this is what I pictured when writing! x

Y/N - 24

Notes: she’s a fashion girly, so she loves clashy colours, interesting prints, textures, shapes etc. I’m writing this story as a plus size girly myself and I wanted to include some representation here as well as some different skin tones and ethnicities - but that being said, she is whoever you want her to be :)

Jake - 26

Notes: this story is set in an AU Dreams and Gold Tour era - late 2022, moustache, peak Jack Sparrow. This is what I picture! I know he only wore that white suit once for the Metallica event, but in my fantasy he wears it for DIG ;)

Sam - 23

Notes: facial hair Sammy is NOT my fave… but what a cutie?

Lennon - 25

Notes: I imagined her as a POC, but it’s totally open to interpretation for the reader

Josh - 26

Notes: definitely post haircut DIG Josh…

Danny - 23 (almost 24!)

Notes: Danny may or may not wear eye makeup 24/7 in this universe :)

Bonus pic of tour vibes:

Lily - 26

Notes: Lily has that kind of old money aesthetic, definitely short hair. Someone Y/N might be a bit intimidated by!

Freddie - late 20s

Notes: Freddie looks like every guy I’ve ever dated lol

Julie - 27

Notes: Jules is trans and also plus sized. Not relevant to the story, but important to mention

Pete - late 60s

Notes: I love Pete. Pete looks like my uncle (not pictured)

Kai - early 20s

Notes: None. He’s perfect

All images from Pinterest.

[trashlie]

Hiii!

I read your post about i love yoo and i am so impresed by how smart you are that you see all of this details and all hidden symbols in this webtoon, like wow. Thats why i wanted to ask you what kind of books and movies do you like to watch? Do you have any books or authors that you think may helped you be so good at reading through characters mind and their body language so well? Sorry for any English mistakes im still learning :P

Nonny you are too kind, you flatter me, really! <3

Honestly - and this feels embarrassing to admit - I haven't really read books in a LONG time. I went from being a really voracious reader and writer to unchecked ADHD manifesting as depression really wrecking my interest in things and my focus/attention span. I'm slowly trying to get back into it! I finally got myself a library card so I can try digging back in! Part of how I got into webtoons at all is because it was much easier for me to plough my way through those, although funny enough, so many webtoons I read have NOTHING on the subtext present in I Love Yoo so.... lol. Sometimes you just need light reads, you know?

But really, I think a lot of how I read and view ILY came from the community itself. Webtoon.Theory set the bar and so many of the theories we as a community hold on to (The Chess Theory, what it means when characters' eyes are closed, the Yoshi theory/Rand was adopted into the Hirahara family) came from their own analyses and theories, and to be fair, I think a lot of how I now interpret ILY is based heavily in those formations. Would I ever have thought anything of what characters mean when their eyes are closed on my own? Frankly, I doubt it. I read a lot of theories! When I first got REALLY, REALLY deep into ILY, like on the this is on my mind 24/7 obsession level, I had a LOT of time on my hands. Thanks to a user on tumblr, I'd discovered the reddit and that there were deep theories about ILY! At that time I definitely had some thoughts of my own about Yui but I had only recently re-read it so I was till, yknow. Normal about it at the time.

But once I found the sub-reddit I dived in deep! I went through lots of old posts and read them and their comments, taking in theories and applying it to my own interpretations and held on to things I agreed with. I think once you have that kind of "base foundation" it's easy for you to start looking for things, too. I'm a particularly emotional reader, so I think I tune into emotions a LOT - often in lieu of other little details or notes. @youuuimeanmee writes a lot of analyses I wouldn't ordinarily think of myself - like I never considered applying Nol and Shinae's score in DDR to being a signal that he's always a step ahead of her, but when I read that I was like NO WAY THAT MAKES SO MUCH SENSE!

Talking with the community is really what does it for me! A lot of the times when I get on here to throw together my big "thought dumps/reactions" whatever my posts about the new episodes are lol it's usually after I've been on reddit talking back and forth with people, sharing our ideas and merging them into something far more cohesive than my initial first reactions. I fill in the gaps of my own reactions - oh yeah this little detail I didn't pick up on, oh i interpreted that this way but I like your idea you might be on to something. Sometimes the sheer process of just talking about an episode for a few hours is like.... idk when you marinate meat - the process just brings things to the surface, helps you see things you missed or look at it a new way. And in that process, it means I'm reading and re-reading the episode multiple times. My initial first reaction NEVER has anything on my re-reads because now that you know what's coming you can focus on the other details, take in the expressions and the lighting and what is this body language meant to imply what does this expression look like?

But also - I mean it when I call it the ILY brainrot lmao like it is on my mind ALL the time! I'll be working and it's just there at the back of my mind, me mulling over things. (Lately I've been really fascinated by the way quimchee depicts really emotional moments for Nol by hiding his eyes. SO OFTEN when he is "breaking" we don't see his eyes, just his mouth, and something about that just really STRIKES me. How is it so much more emotional and impactful when we don't see his eyes?! idk but I'm obsessed with that detail lol)

Not to really sell myself out but lmao when I got REALLY deep into ILY and discovered all those theories and peoples' ideas and expectations I did like.... 2 more re-reads? lmaoooooo look I was holed up in bed after surgery with a LOT of time on my hands lol the first reread I did was me just keeping in mind the theories - especially the eyes closed theory - and paying attention to the details, to the body language, to all the things unsaid. You get this a LOT from Kousuke and Rand, I think! And taking these details in helped me reshape how I saw a lot of these characters! The second re-read I did was with emotional blinders - reading all these scenes with Nol and Shinae and with Kousuke and Shinae without any romantic implication and looking for what else it could glean about their characters and their dynamics. Something that confused me for some time was what the Kousuke and Nol face off early in ILY, when they all 3 went to dinner together and they were taking off their jackets meant. So many people wanted to apply a romantic lens to it but that never felt right, but at the time I just didn't understand what else it could be. But as we get to see more into Kousuke and we get glimpses at how deep his paranoia runs, the way he's been comparing himself to Nol - competing with him, to some extent - it starts to make more sense. Of course it never had anything to do with Shinae and instead everything to do with them and the bad blood between them, Kousuke always trying to undermine Nol at every opportunity and always frustrated when Nol defies expectations, etc etc.

I've lost track of how many times I've reread ILY but that's the other thing. Rereads, especially as you learn more in the present story, always help illuminate things! I remember doing a reread and picking up that there was something weird about how Alyssa reacted to Kousuke, showing more interest/concern in him, but once I was thinking about that, I noticed it was even weirder than I'd originally thought, with Yui bringing her up to Kousuke a couple times. As you pick up on things, going back you're able to see the foreshadowing, the foundation laid down, and I think it helps you going forward, because you're becoming more and more familiar with what signs look like, how they get hidden in plain sight, how they apply to what we know about the story so far.

So all that to say - it's not necessarily that the media I take in has prepared me nearly so much as engaging with the community and really consuming the thoughts and ideas of the community was my biggest help! But doing a LOT of re-reads and learning to read into the characters and what they say - or what they don't say - with what we know about them helps, too.

This one is harder to really describe, and I guess it's one of those things that over time you start to pick up as you better understand the characters and their motivations and fears? For instance, when it came to Yui and Kousuke, it had become very clear in that flashback of Kousuke's when he met Nol, that he had been manipulated a LOT in his life - that Yui was soooo deft with her manipulation that it didn't come across looking like what it was. There were still a lot of readers at the time defending her, insisting that she's done everything out of love for him and genuinely trying to do what she thought was best for him. It was hard to try to demonstrate that Yui talking badly about Rand and his affair in Kousuke's hearing range as absolutely a calculated move, that undermining Rand at every turn was calculated to strain the relationship but ALSO make him rely more on her and took advantage of Rand's frequent absence. Things like that! And now we can see plainly that it really was that all along. Even recently she has swapped out the gift Rand gave Kousuke to make him feel like Rand doesn't even try, has twisted words to imply Rand cares more about Nol that he had no time to wait around for Kousuke (despite yknow that whole conversation that had while Kousuke was out being her chasing him out but okay!) and of course, the tea. The drugging.

But yeah, in the end, I think the most important thing is to read other peoples' thoughts and theories - and I don't mean the webtoons comments sections because YIKES ON BIKES lmao - and try to apply it to how you see and interpret things and how could it alter things. Go back and reread scenes and try to examine in them in a different way. What could this scene mean if you remove an romantic expectation? What could this scene mean if you take Kousuke at face value? Actually Kousuke is such a good practice of this because lmao he's a pretty bluntly honest character, but he very OFTEN feels like he's trying to convince himself of things that on a subconscious level aren't so. That whole club arc is just full of it!

One last point I have is that a lot of ILY is written to subvert popular, but bad lol, tropes from other media but especially shoujo manga and boy did I read a lot of that, too. When you know the tropes and the cliches, it's easier to see when it's being subverted. For instance this current arc is bringing to life the "why does my kokoro go dokidoki" cliche of a female lead not being able to identify her romantic feelings for another character and instead just being naive. This is often used to draw out the realization and confessions and has a tendency to get REALLY frustrating because often there's no reason for the misunderstanding! A character will be doing some romantic gesture to her and she'll be like gee golly why do I feel this way? You can see it being subverted with Shinae because a. she has had NO time to process anything that's happened this entire night let alone the shift between her and Nol and b. she lacks not only romantic experience herself but EVEN IN HER LIFE. And knowing that this is a subversion, it leads us to assume that this won't be drawn out and made into some kind of tense mess, and that we can expect to see this resolve much sooner than we might think.

This was also especially true for Kousuke, who was framed very much like the first lead of a romance, where the cold, cruel, rich man secretly has a heart of gold - or discovers a heart of gold - when he comes to meet the plain but bright, unassuming normal girl who somehow gets under his skin. There was a lot of expectation that we'd see that - especially when Kousuke had that moment of kindness and placed his hand over Shinae's to provide her comfort. I think a lot of readers took this as a sign that yes, we are going to see more of Kousuke's soft underbelly - but it was incredibly subverted in that it turns out the asshole with a heart of gold is, in fact, an asshole and lacks the heart of gold, and we watch him crumble slowly over the course of the story, gradually revealing just how truly awful he can be.

Trope subversion of course relies on you having an understanding of popular tropes and cliches and things that get used a plot device rather than to actually improve the writing/characers/story and quimchee does it a LOT, and SOOOO well! This also tangentially leads to being able to pick up on plot devices like foiling and parallels. I feel like parallels are my catnip and I'm ALWAYS pouncing on them when they show up lol. This sounds like so much but again I think it's one of those things where you start to see it once you become aware of it, which once again ties back to digging into the community and sharing our ideas with each other!

I wish I could say that I had read lots of books that had made me better at reading into things but frankly, in school, I was not a super critical reader. I did well, sure, but I was no webtoon.theories breaking ground with theories that shaped the entire way we view the story on a whole lol. I've mostly become a more critical reader as I've gotten older and come to understand people a little better, had more life experiences that gave me better insight to things I may not have understood as well when I was 18 compared to now, haha! I truly mean it when I say I owe it all to the fandom on a whole. If I wasn't constantly interacting with the community and going back and forth with our interpretations and thoughts and ideas I would not have nearly as much insight to share with you guys! <3

(Also do not feel bad about your English, it's good!)

[rubberduckyrye]

As I'm re-editing my Genshin fic, I've kind of came across a realization that I feel like I should share.

So this started with the fact that I've been hella struggling to write my fanfic in general. I realized that the reason why I was struggling was because I was trying to fill in EVERY gap of the story--a flaw of my own writing that I have decided to work on with this fanfic. Instead of filling in the whole thing, I should be focusing on important notes and points, and let my readers interpret the things left blank for with their own headcanons and imagination.

This is definitely a perspective shift for me, and before I wrote Chasing the Voided Moon, I always felt like I would never be able to complete a long haul project like it. Then I did, and the rough draft was done in just seven days. That is, of course, not including editing, but that's beside the point.

Now I'm thinking about how much I love rereading that fic, how it's my favorite fanfic to reread--and I wrote it just for me, for myself. Yes I did write it with others who were displeased with the interlude quest in mind, but the reality is, that story is a very important one for me too, as someone who relates to a lot of Scaramouche's mental health problems, rage, hurt, and trauma. The moral of overcoming your traumas, sins, and accepting yourself is important to me.

This fic also taught me that yes, I CAN wrote a whole ass novel--and it got me started on thinking about original characters and stories again. Original ideas that I never thought I'd be able to even consider as a serious endeavor. Now, I'm slowly but surely working my way up to that end goal--to write a novel worthy of publishing. That's what this Genshin fic is--the next step in the process. It's time for me to write a story on my own, without references, with new characters not in canon, and tell it.

Working on this fic has taught me that condensing information and even cutting things out is just necessary for some narratives. I can't possibly expect my readers to care about every single mildly interesting point when the overall story has yet to continue. And with this mindset of "leave blanks for the readers to fill in" settling in, I've realized that I am getting closer and closer to writing my own story.

I know this might seem like a jump in my thought process, but bear with me--I started thinking about how people want to monetize their fanfics, like how fan-artists monetize their works. I was thinking about how I was someone who was annoyed with how fan artists could pretty much make a living off of their fan art while fanfic authors have to put up with the idea that their fanfics need to stay as celebratory works, and never ever should be monetized. Ao3 will even banhammer you if you so much as mention ko-fi or patreon or commissions.

I was annoyed by it--until I had the realization that I could make original novels.

I always assumed that, because I just couldn't ever write a novel, that I would never be able to make money off of my own creative work. That fanfic writing was the closes I'd ever get to it, and so, I wished desperately that I just, could monetize that. I wish that this one thing that I could do well, that I know from experience that people would pay real money for my writing--I wished that I could just, do that without legal repercussions.

Now I'm kind of sitting on the other side of it, thinking that like... maybe monetizing fandom was a mistake. That maybe the people who are far more aggressive about fanfics and monetization are people who don't believe they can create something that will succeed out there in the world of original fiction.

I still think that fanfic authors get unfairly treated in regards to monetization, and copyright in general? I just want to abolish it. But still... just, food for thought. Maybe it's important to let people know that they can create something beyond fan works.

Just some random thoughts I've had today.