#replies: vivi

[wiishescametrue]

✰ ⸻ Random Peyton Sawyer Quotes I Like.

❝ It's giving your heart to somebody. That's the scary part. ❞ Buck to Vivi, because curve ball >> Friend bonding // @holdingontostardust

He wasn’t wrong about that. It was scary to give your heart to someone. You had to hope they wouldn’t break it into little pieces. She wasn’t sure where she and Eddie fell on that. She had been hurt to be sure. But part of her also understood why it had happened. He had so many unresolved feelings about Shannon and that woman really had been her doppelganger except for the hair.

“It is the scary part. But you do it, anyway, right? I guess now all I can do is hope that we can fix things with counseling and therapy on Eddie’s end.” Hazel was trying to teach her to crochet with some kit. She was going to have to confess to Hazel that she was horrible at it. “I don’t understand this at all.” She tosses the kit into the nearby hamper. She can have Hazel figure it out when she comes by again.

“I remember you giving us a hard time the night we came back after getting married. You were valid about that though. We were drunk off our asses and probably should’ve thought that through. Drunk brain has no thoughts though. Drunk brains only do.” They should have waited to get engaged and married like normal people. Maybe their situation would’ve been different. She couldn’t be sure.

“The thing is, I really like being with him and Christopher. I know Chris isn’t mine. But he’s a great kid and I like that we have our own connection. You probably get what I mean right? You and Christopher are buddies.” She’s going to look to see if there’s anything to drink in Aria’s fridge. She feels weird not offering him something.

“You want uh…a soda? It looks like we have soda or something that could be lemonade. I also have bottled water which might be the safest at this point.”

[prcttyvxnom]

vivenne ‘vivi’ hyun ┈ « tag drop. »

[nights-at-crystarium]

i just wanted to pop by and gush about how incredibly well written vivi is because GOD. his story unfolding has made me reconsider several story beats about my wol and thats an amazing thing

theres two things that i think uve done especially well with his storytelling, being that vivi feels like an almost complete enigma to the reader, despite how intimate this story is, and the fact that vivi feels incredibly human - almost TOO human to be comfortable with

so to elaborate on the first point - i think a lot of us (and certainly i can) echo thancreds sentiment that he doesn't know vivian rell, because as intimate as this story can get with his pov, in the end, much like someone you'd meet in real life, we don't know much about him before the point we meet him, and any glimpses we get just signal that theres so much more to him than we get to see. and as much as we DO know about him, i find that every time he does one of his blank, furrowed stares that signal he's thinking something, my brain practically lights on fire trying to figure out what he's considering. to that end i really like how enigmatic uve made him from a storytelling perspective, because it makes him feel so much more real!!! i honestly look forward a lot to learning more fragments (heh) of him and slowly piecing together a puzzle of him as the story goes on. i just want to rotate him in my head lol

but also, this does segue into my other point really well, which is the fact that vivis position as wol really seems to wear on him, and he seems for lack of a better word, completely exhausted! i know (myself included) write their wols with a trait of an almost unbreakable, iron will, which is very much still true in vivis case (again, anyone who gets to the point of shadowbringers without flat out giving up is incredibly strong by default) but showing him at his wits end, exhausted with the burdens of a hero, someone just so throughly *done* with what is, realistically, a pretty shit job is well... yeah! of course he is! he's only human, and he's what, saved the world 3 times now? seen countless die before him, powerless to save them, of course he's numb. the fact that the most defining experiences of the first for him are filled with mostly such... benign experiences, and that the major, climatic moments of shadowbringers get as much fanfare as a forlong gaze, or a like. him hanging out with his fairy bestie is such a cool storytelling decision. (also before i ramble about this the decision to not even show tesleen is such an excellent decision bc like. it makes sense for him for this to not be such a significant moment. shes just another death, another tally to the thousands hes already seen. or maybe im reading WAYYY too hard into a decision to not highjack this love story with plot) basically, what i've been gushing about is the fact that vivi feels very much like a whole person, and is probably one of the most well realised wols ive ever read about. and his relationships with the world leaders, and this impossible burden hes forced to shoulder has gotten me to reconsider how i write my wol, because yeah! any hero might be strong-willed and resilient, but theyre still human, and the burden of a warrior of light is maybe, a little too much for anyone to bear.

i hope u could at least make something out of my rambles, but honestly to sum it all up i am incredibly captivated by vivi. i originally read fragments because i like ANY wolgraha content but now, i come back almost exclusively to see how vivi's story unfolds, and how graha eventually comes into the fold too. hes such a fascinating character, and i think youve done an incredible job of creating a well rounded hero, full of humanity!!! (also, if you want, feel free to post this on ur blog!!)

I think I shat myself like 5 times while reading this (positive)

Vivi being an enigma wasn't really part of the plan. We have a pool that's his lore, things I wanna tell, and a bottleneck through which it has to go. The comic format forces me to consider what bits of info to deliver when, there's only so much I can tell at a time. One deliberate choice I made is completely burn the bridge between ARR and ShB, skip, leave it empty. That already sparks questions when we see a different Vivi at the beginning of ShB (and gives me leeway, time to write with more nuance, I didn't Think about HW-SB in such scrupulous detail as ShB).

I wanted to tell a primarily ShB story from the start, but had less ambition, and planned to condense the angsty bits that you're reading nowadays into an infodump told by Vivi to no one (to the reader). Changing the receiving party to a tangible character who's eager to learn (Exarch) made the info easier to digest and anchored it in the world. This change, fwiw, happened in like 2022 while I drew the ARR arc, saw the warm reception, and got more excited about my thing. I constantly learn and try to improve, writing's a new toy that brings me tons of fun.

So, when I learned the new trick - telling things through other characters - I thought, why not make everyone slightly wrong, or rather, with a specific snapshot of Vivi in their head. Same happens irl, people only know the version of you that they're exposed to, the only person who knows the full and real you is you.

That brings me to the next point, why Vivi feels so human: I made him not as a wol/hero, but a guy I wanna ship with Exarch, his foil. Obligatory note it was dumb of me to ignore Emet's existence in that case, but that's already changed. Exarch denies himself the simple human joys, he plots his own fucking death, so I thought I'd give him a guy that teaches him how to enjoy being alive again. That was THE foundation of Vivi, his core. He's a manic pixie dream boy.

Then I started asking how and why: why he falls for Exarch specifically instead of ARRRaha? He's confident, selfish, casual (these traits are what Exarch lacks), emotionally intelligent, where did that come from? He must've had an utterly normal life and loving family before he became a hero. He grew up being appreciated and happy. OH, then his ass must LOATHE the current situation because he can't go back to that normal life! So on, so forth.

i find that every time he does one of his blank, furrowed stares that signal he's thinking something, my brain practically lights on fire trying to figure out what he's considering.

This's me carefully dropping the breadcrumbs and hoping that you notice them, and you go HOLY SHIT BREADCRUMBS, this's so validating ;w; <3 This's overtly called a story hook, though I prefer "door". So far this story's only opened doors, as in hinted at more stuff without immediately showing it. I love it when questions get delayed answers, when you get time to stew on it and build up anticipation, then, when the door finally closes, it's much more satisfying. I keep in mind all the doors I've opened, if something provokes a question, it's by design.

(also before i ramble about this the decision to not even show tesleen is such an excellent decision bc like. it makes sense for him for this to not be such a significant moment. shes just another death, another tally to the thousands hes already seen. or maybe im reading WAYYY too hard into a decision to not highjack this love story with plot)

You're 100% correct!! I'm not retelling the canon ShB story from a default wol pov, this's a custom thing focused on ships, therefore anything that doesn't contribute to said ships gets cut. You may read what's NOT shown as what Vivi doesn't pay attention to.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts with me, this gave me so much motivation like you wouldn't know ;//////;

[purpleneutrino]

oh i MUST ask about Eternal Pose 👀🧡💙

My girls!! 😭 This one is close to my heart and will probably take me a long time to finish. It's Nami POV and centered around how she deals with leaving Vivi behind at Alabasta, but never having confessed her feelings towards her. Vivi is desperate to stay in contact with Nami and the others (via letters or Den Den Mushi) but Nami firmly tells her no, as she is worried that it would put Vivi in danger if their correspondance was intercepted. She also wants to try and forget Vivi as much as possible for the sake of her own feelings. Vivi agrees, but she is also stubborn and makes attempts to contact Nami anyway. Nami's feelings make it hard to say no to her...

Here's a small snippet!

The second-hand shop sold a variety of sailing trinkets. As Nami made her way towards what looked like an amalgamation of navigational and shipwrights tools, she caught the eye of the day-dreaming cashier—a girl probably only a year or two younger than she was—and gave her a small smile and a nod. The girl blinked dazedly for a moment, giving her a shy smile back before glancing down at her newspaper, a light pink on her cheeks. The movement caused her shimmery mane of silver hair to catch the light, making it almost appear blue. 

Nami’s heart skipped a beat.

She turned back quickly to the disorganised shelves. They heaved with everything from sextants to piles upon piles of old maps and ship blueprints alike. There wasn’t anything in particular she was looking for, she was only here to pass the time and maybe pick up a new inkwell or two, but the habit of seeking out a good bargain was something that never truly went away, no matter how much berry she gained.

Her eyes fell upon a collection of dusty log poses, all in varying states of disrepair. Probably being sold for spare parts, she reasoned. There were also a few eternal poses amongst the pile that looked to be in better condition. She picked up the closest one to inspect it, dusting off the side where the destination should be carved into it, except the wood had become so worn that the name of the island was completely unreadable.

“Useless,” Nami muttered quietly to herself as she made to put it back on the shelf. No wonder it was so heavily marked down in price. Eternal poses weren’t exactly cheap.

Just before she could replace it on the shelf, she paused. The name on the eternal pose that had been hidden behind the one she held was now fully visible. Her hand shook a little as she reached for it, tracing the letters gently with her fingertip as she wiped away the dust.

“Alabasta…”

Nami bit her lip, turning it over in her hands under the guise of checking its condition—flawless—and price tag—way more berry than she could justify—when all the while her mind whirled with a sea of emotions. She stole a glance back at the cashier again, and her hair only seemed more blue.

The cashier looked up and spoke, but Nami could only hear her own heartbeat thundering in her ears.

“What?” Nami said faintly and the cashier gave her a kind smile before repeating herself.

“Do you need any help with anything?” 

“O-oh! No, I'm okay. Sorry I'm just browsing.”

The cashier’s smile became amused as she took in Nami’s flustered look.

“No problem! I’m here if you need anything.”

Nami watched curiously as the cashier gave her another quick once over before looking back down at her newspaper. Her cheeks were pink again.

Smiling, Nami observed the girl tucking her hair behind her ear, her eyes very clearly not reading the words in front of her at all. It was always flattering to be looked at in that way. On any other day, Nami might have even pursued it further, but…

She took a breath.

Mind calmer, Nami looked back down again at the eternal pose. She gripped it tighter.

Making a decision, she turned and walked back towards the till. The cashier smiled brightly.

“Just that one?” She said as Nami passed over the eternal pose to her.

Nami nodded, heart hammering as she counted up the last of her berry in her purse—the boys would have to make do without any more handouts today. She watched as the cashier read the name on the pose, mouthing the syllables silently to herself without any sign of recognition, before placing it carefully in a paper bag. 

“Does it point somewhere nice?” She said conversationally. “Somewhere sunny? Nice beaches?” Her eyes roamed over Nami again, taking in her long hair, worn loose, and her tangerine sundress. She passed Nami the bag as she spoke, their fingertips brushing. Her touch was warm.

Nami pulled away gently. Whether the cashier looked disappointed or not, she didn’t know. She kept her gaze on the bag instead, smiling.

“Home,” she said.

[silvertsundere]

Vivian helping some kitties by ton! 🥰

[bondibee]

🙎

(this is for the OC ask thing its not just a judgy emoji)

suggested by their very own teammates, smh....

[sumiiikitty]

seriously oda has only ever mentioned egypt as inspiration for alabasta, if he wanted to create a place resembling India he would have and he even mentioned that once, rurubu is NOT a reliable source as it literally has errors in it, people also using that one color spread of Nami and Vivi as proof when it has nothing to do with Alabasta and is just what it is, a color spread

THANK YOU ANON!!!

I don’t understand how hard it is to understand this. They’re not written by Oda, it’s just his name on it! People are using these data books over the manga which absolutely boggles my mind.

And the outfit…it takes one google search of “Egyptian belly dancing outfit” and it resembles the clothes Nami and Vivi are wearing. And even if they are wearing Indian clothing, like you said, it’s just a color spread. Oda has the straw hats playing sports or chess, does that mean it’s also linked to the current island that they’re in? No it’s just him drawing for fun.

Arabasta isn’t and never was an Egypt/India island. Oda 100% had Ancient and modern Egypt in mind when he was designing/writing out this arc. It’s all just being retconned right now, for God knows what reason.

[yinyuedijun]

tumblr user @/satsusa gave me insane yakuza au brainrot w their comment on that suo fic and now all I can think abt is suo in the clothing/style of those bonten arc covers in tokyorev LIKE TELL ME HE WOULDNT LOOK SO GOOD IN ONE OF THOSE

[everseens]

@fadinglights sent ✒ for a randomly selected trope starter ( love at first sight )

work was usually the same old, same old; found himself running around town just to get quotes for articles that nobody would ever actually read. it was all mindless work, really, at least for him-- they found themselves dissociating whenever on location for a new story. but that changed pretty quickly once laying eyes on the unfamiliar figure standing in front of him. this area was small enough as it was, why had he never run into them before. "sorry, do i know you?" he asked, even though they knew for a fact that he hadn't. "i mean, uh--" stumbling on their words, they finally found the right ones to sputter out. "are you new to town? i feel like i would've seen you before."

[youngestdaughtersyndrome]

lee I saw a post and was reminded. you had me blocked for like two years LMAO and now look at us

I NEED TO SAY THAT WAS UNINTENTIONAL I NEVER MEANT TO BLOCK YOU......... i think i was hitting a prev tags thing and accidentally clicked the block button and was like. Oh i'll go back later and unblock but i fr have terrible short term memory 😭😭😭 and then i figured it out and here we are!!!!!!! Anyways i love you im sorry i did that lol <3<3<3 kisses kisses kisses

[wrylu]

Hahaha… what’s your favorite thing to order at coffee shops? ////

"sorry i was late.. overslept, again.. i look a bit disheveled too, don't i? eheh.. my favorite thing to order is tea, how surprising. so, how are you?"

[saotome-michi]

I saw your post abt Yamato and Carrot and that made me think, would you say Vivi didn't check the three boxes you mentioned either?

She definitely checks 2 and 3, but I don't know about box 1.

I'm just asking bc she didn't stay with them after Alabasta either, so I'm curious abt your opinion.

Ooooh good question!!

Before I answer that, I just want to quickly go over why I think it's important that all the strawhats are introduced as outcasts in some fashion.

Firstly, pirates are criminals. Their very existence is seen as an affront to the current order of the world, the laws of the World Government. And Luffy in particular lives by a free-spirited moral code. Hence, each of the strawhats being introduced as social outcasts or socially unconventional shows their affinity to Luffy and to living as a pirate.

Secondly, pirates, or specifically the strawhats, are dreamers. And for many of the Strawhats, their ambitious dream is a part of the reason why they're not fit for their hometown, why they have to leave and sail for the horizon (I actually think a great example of this is when the Cocoyashi Villagers are preparing to fight Arlong and Nojiko tells Nami to leave the island "because she has a dream").

Vivi, in my opinion, does not tick Box 1 and that is why she doesn't join after Alabasta. She is of course exceptionally brave in ways that set her apart from other Princesses, but she is not perceived as a social outcast or even socially unconventional in Alabasta at all. The people love her and in all her flashbacks we never see any signs of her feeling the desire to leave Alabasta or to not be the Princess of Alabasta. Her dream is for Alabasta to flourish, to see her people prosper. And that's why she doesn't leave. Because, as she says, "there's no denying how much I love this country".

Vivi is also the first of what I personally call "Luffy's Royal Fan Club" i.e. the Princesses and Princes who befriend Luffy as he helps save their country. When you look at Shirahoshi, Rebecca, and Momonosuke, they also tick one or two boxes, but, like Vivi, they're all too attached to their home countries to leave.

[quarterdollar]

is she cunty enough

SHE’S SAVED!!!!

[nights-at-crystarium]

HIIIIIII YES I read all the tags!!

My hc is that his body doesn't grow/change almost at all due to the merge with the Tower, a different sort of a stasis from the one he used to skip 200 years. (Thematically fitting with the umbral aspect, heh). That'd explain how he retains his impressive musculature as a staff user who spends a lot of time poring over the books or simply talking to people.

Small exception: his hair and nails still grow at a glacial pace. Had they stopped, they'd end up in a horrible worn-out state a mere few years later, and, luckily, this doesn't seem to be the case.

I just like to objectify him okay o/////o He stopped being human when he made himself one with the Tower, he doesn't need sleep or food, his body's one of a kind thing that defies logic and enables thirst so I say it gives us the right to build whatever unhinged hcs we like.

Bonus: some of my visual refs for his crystal :> One thing that I fully dismiss on the ingame model, it should and must be as shiny and pretty as possible.

[earth4angels]

Nattie. If I were to post a snippet of this Jace fic I’m writing based off the Disney movie Hercules, would it help put you in a better mood?🥹👉🏼👈🏼 I hate seeing you in a funk:(

I WOULD DEFINITELY GET IN A GOOD MOOD YES ABSOLUTELY 🫵🏻🫵🏻 but baby don’t worry, i’m doing okay! i love u so much <33

[queenimmadolla]

Babes, i need to know what’s up with heather holloway lmao! Why are you do obsessed with her? Its def not a bad thing, just curious :)

I BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ONE, here’s why i love Heather :)

One major thing is the injustice and lack of acknowledgment she gets from the fandom. ST3 came out in 2019 when fake feminism was on the edge of retirement, not kept quite as in check as it has been since 2020 *shoutout to drew afualo and the mass of people who decided it was finally time to defend women and female characters*—i know if she had been introduced in st4 she would have gotten the love and defense she deserved like Chrissy has—stemming in this case from the hate Heather and her actress received from billy fans back then because they interpreted her as a possible love interest for him and hated her into pretty much non-existence. Some people had the audacity—and still do—to approach her actress and tell her she looks plain and not very pretty. She’s got a decent amount of screen time, a pretty badass role as an unwilling side villain and I cannot figure out for the life of me why she’s forgotten about. Especially since she was a pretty big part of the plot for ST3. The fandom treated her very much so like the older women at the community pool did.

And it just breaks my heart that two younger girls Heather didn’t know were the only ones in the entire town that noticed she was missing and cared enough to notice something wasn’t right with her (not even her parents noticed she was different, though you can see with their comfortable family portrait that while they might not have known her very well, they still genuinely loved her and she loved them) and when she didn’t show up to work, none of her coworkers gave a fuck about her. So, that tells me she wasn’t really popular.

It wasn’t until after st4 came out and i rewatched the entire series, that i developed my obsession with her because i noticed my absolute favorite thing about her: she’s not anything special, she’s just a teenage girl who wasn’t popular, didn’t grab the attention of her hot co-worker, wasn’t his love interest, sat down with her mom and dad for dinners and was criticized by older women for simply existing. She was a normal teenage girl, just like i was. And it’s kind of self-deprecating to admit it, but there have been plenty of times where i thought if i would have gone missing, no one would notice and it made me really sad to notice that was the case with her.

I also love the symbolism with her being a lifeguard and how she went to Billy’s aide when she thought he was in trouble, even if it got her killed in the end. Don’t even get me started on the fact that her occupation is one that makes people need her (always have to have a lifeguard on duty), makes me think she might have gone for the job because of that. She’s not popular, doesn’t have a whole lot of friends but now she’s needed somewhere, she’s got a place. And the experience i got with Eddie was very similar to the one i got with Heather, I honestly thought she would survive. El and Max were trying to save her and everyone, so surely if the main characters were trying to help her, she’d prevail, right? No. She died a horrible, gruesome death.

And other than a quick name drop in st4, she was forgotten about. There was no Nancy like character to seek revenge on her behalf, no Joy Byers character to mourn her loss, no Murray character in her life to miss her as a friend. She’s just gone.

Naturally, what with me favoring the underdogs, I feel the need to protect and defend her, and maybe give her some justice. Which is why the Reader in Cruel Summer is based ENTIRELY on my interpretation of Heather, I actually debated on just writing a Heather/Eddie fic, but I was pretty sure it’d go largely ignored because it’d be about Heather, and i was afraid more people would hate her if I paired her with Eddie, so I went the Reader route. But all those character traits about Reader in it, Reader’s portrayal, everything, is how I imagine Heather Holloway. She deserved so much freaking better. If you try to scroll through her own damn name tag, you’ll find she’s still somehow barely in it. VERY FEW, and i mean FEW edits, pictures, anything about HER. IN HER OWN TAG! It’s been almost five years and you can still barely find a trace of her. Even KEITH gets more recognition. Fucking Keith who doesn’t have a last name and has less screen time in all of stranger things than she had in one season of it.

YEAH. WHEW, that’s a lot. That is a lot of information. But thank you for letting me rant about her, again lmao. Anyways, everyone pay more attention to Heather.