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quibbs · 10 months

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So, I've got kinda a comic making question I was hoping you coukd give some insight to. I've been planning on making a webcomic and I wanted to know how you go about outlining a chapter? You see, I have scriptwriting experience for comics, but I was doing it in the way you might for an issue of a typical western comic book, so I had a cap of 22 pages. And since webcomics don't have that cap, I was wondering how you handled how many pages each chapter would be? Is it just as many as you deem fit for the beats of the chapter to flow well? Or do you have a page count you aim for per chapter and adjust as you see fit? I know there aren't any like. Rules for doing this, but it's just something I've had on my mind lol

hmmm unfortunately for the most part my process is oops all vibes: I definitely tend to work under "as many as I deem fit for the beats of the chapter to flow well," but i think there's probably at least a few things about my process that I can elucidate that might help.

i tend to organize my written outline by ACT [ general idea for what takes place and what conflict is taking place in the character,] and then underneath that would fit CHAPTER [what ideas i am trying to establish] , and then underneath that would fit SCENE (written dialogue, setting descriptions, stage directions). I like to start with the biggest overlying connective tissue between scenes and then get smaller and nitty grittier as i write.

this is very quickly made and generalized, but for example if i was telling a story about someone going to the grocery store:

ACT ONE: the discovery of the secret

a girl goes to a the grocery store and discovers the secrets of the sinister, hidden, dark grocery store underground. character should be set up to be so driven by hunger that she just might do anything to satiate it.

CHAPTER 1: (set up)

how does she get to the grocery store? how do i succinctly establish the character of this story? what is she lacking that she should grow to be able to receive by the end of the story?)

scene1 (girl wakes up from violent nightmares with a dark pit in her stomach. she reluctantly gets out of bed).

scene2 (girl goes to pour her cereal and notices that she is completely out of coco puffs. her previous gut feelings that the day would go poorly are confirmed)

scene3 (girl drives to grocery store, for aforementioned coco puffs. another dark feeling tugs at her and is yet again rewarded for it's honesty by a cheerful grocery store employee slipping her a note simply reading "help."

CHAPTER 2 (building tension)

how does the character respond to the call of action and what does that say about her? what are the red flags i should establish now that will foreshadow just how wrong and disturbed this work culture is? what am I trying to SAY by writing it like this- what will the viewer take away, inadvertently or not, by framing the grocery store underbelly like this?

scene1 (girl is alarmed but calmly walks down the aisle. this is not her problem. she is so hungry. she walks toward the coco puffs. her heart sinks: they are out of stock)

scene2 (her heart lifts again when another employee calls out to her, holding the coveted puffs. the girl accepts them, grateful that she will finally have breakfast, when suddenly she notices another note has been slipped to her under the box. "i know who you are. meet me in the bathroom in 5 minutes and change everybody's life here forever."

scene3 (she's had enough. she races to the check out line with the puffs and in her hurry, she notices the box isn't making any noise as it shakes by her side. not like coco puffs in a box often do. she realizes with a heavy heart that it's empty. she sighs and turns around. she reluctantly walks toward the bathroom... almost like she's done this before.

ACT 2: doing something about the secret.

character is officially thrust into this underground network of grocery store vigilantes against her will...she is not happy... she swore she left her days of fighting middle management crime behind her and yet..... these embittered employees are stoking old fires in her heart she had once thought unstokable. we learn about her relationship to this lifestyle and how it led to the person she is today.

etc, etc, etc, and so on, and so forth.

Basically, I don't plan out how many pages I'm going to have. i usually only find out by the time i'm finished sketching it all; and usually by drawing it all out you end up having more ideas, which adds more scenes, etc, etc, etc, webcomicing never ends and never will

My general rule of thumb is to always use as few pages as you can possibly afford without taking away from the story. make it as short as you possibly can while still letting it be as long as it needs to be.

Pacing is everything. the page count truly does not matter as long as the flow is flowing; it entirely depends on your story! your chapter could be 2 pages long if it made sense in the story for it to be 2 pages long (side note: desperately been trying to find a place for a 2 page long chapter for years now but it's never reached fruition. one day. you wait).

IK this is coming from a girl who writes 200 page long chapters, haha. I like to think that I'm getting better at being briefer, but somehow, i never end up briefer than 200. your story could be different! most are. it should be. don't do what i do.

that being said, my overall advice is to always prioritize pacing and writing over an arbitrary page count quota. if the length feels good for the story, then do it. I hope this helps! mwa.

#LONG POST #HOPEFULLY HELPFUL!!#tips and tricks

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alexandersimpleton · 6 months

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(Tumblr doesn't do italics, I'd recommend reading this on ao3)

He swam forwards aimlessly. His tentacles moved in a repetitive motion, and his stare was blank, far off in the clouds. He wasn't even in the ocean anymore, he vaguely noticed, but he didn't really care. If a human caught him now, than at least he'd be put out of his misery.

The boy caught himself calling them humans in his mind. This only sunk him deeper in his self pity. He wasn't part of some ancient society that humans didn't know about, like in fairy tales. He used to be one of them, a long time ago. The boy hadn't had the chance to keep track of days.

When he had first been cursed, when he was in military school, his child self had been excited. He had swam away from it all, and played with the fish. He had pet a sting ray, played hide-and-seek in the coral (which was helped by his newfound ability to shapshift and colorshift), and taken a nap on the seabed.

But then he woke up the next day. He was hungry. Really hungry. He had actually killed a fish. Now it seemed mundane to the boy. Hunting was just a part of his life. But still, at the time, when he saw how the fish swam away, how the blood clouded the water when he bit into it.. he still shivered a little when he thought about it. And when he had found a shark that tried to eat him, and really realized the situation he was in. He had tried to contact a human for help, but soon realized he couldn't speak. He had gills rather than lungs, after all. The human had mistaken the boy for a siren. The human had tried to kill him, and hang the "siren" up on his wall...

The merperson had tried, over and over, to get someone to help him, but all the humans had done was throw him back into the sea. He had accepted long ago that he was just some creature in the ocean, no different than a shark or a jellyfish, and that the closest thing he'd ever have to a human life ever again was the school uniform that he kept in his cave as it no longer fit him, and the robe had fashioned out of fabric from sunken ships-

The merperson snapped out of his trance as the river emerged into a pond. It wasn't the pond that phased him, though. It was the girl sitting there. She was surrounded by swans. He was about to leave when something hit the water. It was a frog. It has dropped out of the girl's mouth. More of the creatures flowed, the swans greedily gulping them up.

The merperson stared, perplexed, for a moment. What.. just happened? Whatever. It was rude to spy on people.

The boy swam back across the lake, away and away, into the ocean.

But still, he couldn't help coming back the next day. The whole scene had inspired him. You see, one of the things he tried to hold onto from his human life was writing. He had loved reading when he was a kid, but any books from shipwrecks would be ruined by water, so he decided to write all his stories down instead. He etched them down into wood, stone, whatever he could find. Eventually, when he couldn't remember the stories anymore, the boy had started writing his own. He knew it was an empty comfort, but writing reminded him of his intelligence. It made him feel like a human.

But anyways, he needed a lay of the land. He wanted to write a story about a particularly beautiful princess who attracted graceful swans, but she was rotten inside, and the swans were attracted to the toads she spit out with her words. And her younger sister was less beautiful, and attracted ordinary, gross fish, but it was because of the beauty she had inside her heart, and the fish swam to gold that flowed from her lips. It was a classic fairy tale format.

But, halfway into the pond, he realized the girl was back. In panic, he rushed to the edge of the pond and camouflaged himself around a rock.

He stared at the the girl. He didn't know if you could breath heavily with gills, but that seemed to be what was happening right now. She hadn't been looking. The merperson let out a figurative sigh of relief.

Now all he had to do was get himself out of this situation. He just had to find an opportunity.

The merperson, who had been staring at the toad-spitting girl, got his eyes torn away by movement on the bed of the pond. The swans had missed one of the frogs.

He hadn't eaten anything in a while. It looked like a good snack. The boy knew he shouldn't. But, maybe...

The squid changed his coloring to that of the bottom of the pond. He inched closer. And closer. Bit by bit. And while nobody could possibly notice, quietly snatched the amphibian with one of his tentacles and dashed back to the rock, hiding the creature under his tentacles.

As he swam away, having conducted his original plan of running while nobody could see him, he looked at the amphibian. He grabbed it with his tentacle from his hand, and at the thing alive with his beak. As weird as it felt, the boy's human taste buds didn't like frog very much.

But still, maybe he'd come back here tomorrow. There weren't any predators, and his squid half allowed him to be perfectly healthy with just frogs and the occasional fish. The only things to worry about might be the human and the swans.

And so he did come back the next day. When he got an opportunity, he swam and camouflaged himself with a rock closer to the girl. He watched the frogs, and he waited, and when he got the chance he snatched it with one of his tentacles. But this time he was a little braver. He got more frogs, and neither the girl or her pets were any the wiser.

And he was braver the next time too.

He didn't come every day. Somebody would get suspicious if he did. Plus, he would like the monotony of a routine like that even less than now. And it was nice to stimulate his taste buds with fish that he could eat with his human mouth without gagging.

And even he was braver the next.

And the next.

Until one of his tentacles got noticed.

The squid saw the girl look. She looked at him as he camouflaged back into the rock. It was too fast for Frederick to stop the action.

But then she looked away. He expected violence. He expected her to scream. He expected a reaction. She just looked. And then she went back to feeding her swans.

The boy just started, baffled. And then he left.

He was hesitant to come back the next day. Would she have someone after him? Would she kill him herself?

He hesitantly looked around the bend in the river. She was looking right at him.

The boy stared at her back, scared.

After a while of their standoff, the swans started to look up, food not falling anymore. The girl looked back down at them, and started talking again. But as she did, she caught one of the frogs in her hand. She tossed it gently. It hit the squid in the face. The girl cringed a little.

He cautiously picked the amphibian up from off the floor. Still eyeing the girl, he swam off with it. Normally he would stay all day, but he had a story to write about a mermaid taming a giant squid.

When Renée finished feeding her swans, she stood up and walked towards the club building. She remember the route by heart by now.

Curtis should be back with those books by now. They were about squids and octopi. She couldn't quite tell which one she needed.

Recently, she had been seeing something other than fish in her pond. There was what looked like a child, but the odd thing was, instead of legs, he had tentacles.

She had been scared at first. She wondered what it was, and what it wanted from her. She quickly realized, however, what he wanted from her was food. She understood. She was a food source that wouldn't try to eat you. Whatever this thing was, he had just gotten lucky.

But regardless, something about him reminded her of a wet cat. A very wet cat. So now Renée was determined to befriend whatever this thing was, and the first step feeding.

As she was about to walk into the building, Curtis stopped her with the books. Renée grabbed them and nodded at Curtis, not being able to reach her notepad because of her book filled hands.

"If I may ask," Curtis told her, while they walked into the building together "why do you need these? it's rather out of the blue."

Renée put the books down on the table.

I've been seeing a merperson in my pond she wrote down.

"A.. merperson? I wasn't aware those existed in real life." Curtis said. He was trying to keep his composure, but he was utterly baffled.

Me neither she responded.

Curtis pondered for a moment.

I only saw him yesterday, but I have no idea how long he's been showing up

I'm pretty sure he wants my frogs she giggled a little as she wrote it down.

Cutis remembered something. "Renée, the ocean is still wildly unexplored, so merpeople could exist, but there is something else..."

Renée looked at Curtis expectantly.

"I'm hoping I'm wrong, but scientists have recently discovered a curse on accident. I won't describe the ritual, but if you take a dead animal and a victim, than you can essentially fuse the victim with it."

Renée startled. This kid.. he looked younger than Renée!

"Of course, I could vary well be wrong. Just make sure to take caution."

Renée nodded as she took her books to study upstairs.

He hadn't come back to the lake that day. He was busy. He was eating a salmon at the moment, thinking about this girl. Why wasn't she doing anything?

Anyone would try to kill him. He was a freak of nature!

The swam to a small rock. On top of it were stones, pieces of wood from shipwrecks, dead pieces of coral, and several other things, all with stories etched into them.

He picked one up from near the top of the pile. It was the first story he ever wrote. It was about a princess. She had long golden hair and eyes the color of grass. But this princess was cursed. Instead of legs, she was cursed with slimy, grotesque tentacles, that wiggled uncomfortably in the water. The curse spread to her skin, making it rugged and covered with white spots like mold on a sandwich.

But still, she meets a prince above land who finds her beautiful. The prince saves her from her horrible life and brings her to his castle. He keeps her in a fish tank, and she feasts on fresh sushi and lives in luxury fir the rest of her life. The boy wrote it to remind himself. Remind itself that he wasn't human. Living in some fish tank for humans to see was the best life it could imagine now.

The merperson felt its eyes start to burn.

It stuck his hand deep in the pile, and fished out something out with the suction cups on its fingers. It was several pieces of coral tied together with string. It had decorated it with seashells and tinier bits of coral. It was colorful, just like the character that used to be painted with his own ink on the front.

The Little Prince.

It clutched onto the "book" and let itself sink to the floor of the cave. It hugged the book, and it cried.

The next day, the thing felt exhausted. It didn't want to hunt today. It didn't want to do anything today.

The thing was hungry though. It needed to eat. It figured the frogs would be easier. And thus, it swam back to the pond, not even realizing it still had its first story in the grip of its tentacle

Renée was thinking the little squid boy would come today either, but then she saw something emerge from the bend in the river. It was a boy with golden hair, and eyes the color of grass. His skin was rough and came up in stiff peaks. It was covered it spots that were white like snow.

The squid didn't bother with the rock this time. He just became the color of sand and lie on the floor. The girl looked at it, concerned.

It looked back at her in a lazy way, its eyes clouded.

One of the swans swam over to it. The squid didn't notice. It did notice, however, when it took the piece of driftwood that it was still unconsciously clutching.

The merperson snapped into alertness. She couldn't read that! It was- she would-

Y'know what? It didn't care anymore. Maybe she should have killed it as soon as she saw it. Than it wouldn't have to do this anymore. To hunt, and to run, and to suffer like this. Wherever it went, the perperson figured he'd have fun petting all the dogs and playing with the cats. Maybe he'd even get his legs back.

It created a cloud of ink that covered half the pond to hide his tears.

Meanwhile, as renée read the story, she started to understand. Curtis was right, wasn't he? This wasn't some weird, magical animal. This was a person. A person who didn't even think he was one.

As the ink cleared, it looked up at the girl. She was looking at him, horrified.

The merperson, for the first time in front of her, let its colors go back to normal. The bottom half was yellow. It was smooth, but a totally different kind of smooth than human skin. Some of this yellow showed up in patches on its upper body. It also had white spots that also showed up on the thing's upper body. It's skin was pale, and it's eyes were green. The thing's hair looked messily cut, and it was extremely tangled.

She stared at it for a moment longer. The merperson looked back up at her.

The girl threw herself in the water and hugged it. The water went up to her shoulders, but she didn't care.

"I.. I'm sorry." She said, not caring about frogs that came out along with the words.

It, in her grasp, started crying too. The squid hugged her back with his arms, and it's tentacles wrapped around her, neither of them caring if his suction cups stuck to her.

When the hug had finally ended, the two sat on the bank. The girl's dress was soaked. She had a note pad out and a pencil.

The two looked at the clipboard, neither knowing what to say.

The sand stuck to them both as the sat.

The girl picked up the note pad first.

So, is it true? Are you really a human?

she passed it to the.. the boy.

The boy looked at it. He solemnly wrote

i used to be one

not anymore

His handwriting was messy. He couldn't exactly practice in the middle of the ocean.

The girl passed it back

You seem like a human to me.

He looked at the girl, baffled. He raised his tentacle with his hand.

The girl took the note pad back

What, is Thermidora not a human just because she has lobster claws?

The squid was about to write who is thermidora and why does she have lobster claws but erased it. Instead he wrote

humans have farms

humans have castles

humans go shopping and have weddings and funerals and books and

He noticed a tear in his eye

humans don't have to hunt

humans don't have gills

humans don't have tentacles and slimy skin and spots

animals do

The girl read what Frederick wrote down.

Did you have to do that?

The boy nodded. He kind of just assumed.. guess it wouldn't be so normal for humans. Woops.

Well, you won't have to do it anymore! I'll get Curtis. It seems like you can leave the water for a little bit, we'll figure something out.

The girl tried to get up to get whoever Curtis was, but he grabbed her arm. His suction cups gripped onto her.

Looking up at her, he mouthed 'please don't go'

The girl sat back down. The boy mouthing 'thank you' even if she couldn't see it.

The two sat down for a while. It felt nice just.. having another human there.

i dont know your name the boy wrote.

It's Renée. What's yours?

He wanted to tell her that he didn't have one anymore, and that he wasn't a human like her. But still,

frederick

Renée wrote back That's a nice name.

He blushed a little, before writing could you say it out loud

Renée nodded

She unzipped her mouth. "Frederick."

The boy felt tears force their way out of his eyes, running down his already wet cheeks.

"Are you alright?" Renée asked.

Frederick blushed more.

I just haven't been frederick in a really long time

Renée nodded in recognition.

im drying up i should get back in the water

Renée nodded again.

As Frederick was throwing himself into the water, he saw rustling in the brush. When he could see though the splash, someone in a suit was there.

Renée ran to him with her note pad, which was now wet. She scribbled on it, trying to find the right words to say.

"Renée, your clothing is soaked! I came because you were taking usually long, and it's a good thing I did."

Renée interrupted him with her note pad. Frederick couldn't see what was on it. The two humans were facing away from him.

"I.. oh. I was hoping that wouldn't be the case. Is he still here?" Renée nodded. She motioned to the pond.

The man looked over the pond. He only saw seabed and some stray frog. Frederick realized he had disguised himself out of reflex. He relaxed his body and let it go back to normal.

The man stepped back, before kneeling over the pond, just before he touched the water.

"I technically can't invite you, but I'm sure Prez would be glad to accept you into The Cursed Princess Club, should you want to join." Curtis said.

Renée showed Curtis a note pad I don't think he can talk.

"Oh. Uhm, can you come out of the water to borrow Renée's note pad?"

Frederick climbed back onto the sand, taking Renée's note pad again.

as long as my gills are wet

"Very well. My offer still stands. The Cursed Princess Club is a support group of sorts. For cursed people like you."

doesnt princess mean girl

"Well, yes, but all genders are welcome."

Frederick thought for a moment. This felt nice. To have someone treat him like a person was nice.

Frederick nodded.

The man had come back with a fish tank full of water on a cart. Frederick couldn't walk, and neither Curtis nor Renée were strong enough to carry him, so they had to improvise.

Frederick climbed into it and they started on the route back. Frederick tried to help with his tentacles that were much longer than his arms, but the man still did most of the pushing.

Frederick grabbed Renée's stuff from our of her hand

who is this guy

Oh! That's Curtis. He's Prez's butler.

Frederick nodded and resubmerged his head in the cool water.

Frederick only opened his eyes only when he felt himself stop moving. In front of him was a tall woman in a suit.

Curtis talked to her about him. About how he had been cursed and where they found him. A few other people naturally came because they were curious.

Frederick felt nervous under the attention. It was now occuring to him that he hadn't actually spoken with another human being in.. well he didn't know.

He looked back at the lady in the suit. She smiled at him. It was an encouraging smile. One that made Frederick realize that maybe things wouldn't be so awful.

#cursed princess club #cpc fanfiction

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urlocallesbiabs-reblog-sideblog · 4 months

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tried to fall asleep but can't bc im thinking about writing extensive public reviews of gay romance webcomics i adore

i love you, "check please"

i love you, "tripping over you"

i love you, "always raining here"

i love you, "star rangers: magical space cade squad"

i love you, "ring my bell"

i love you, "kiss it goodbye"

i love you, "soulmate"

i love you, "say the right thing"

i love you, "strange and wild"

i love you, "black and blue"

i love you, "zocker"

i love you, "revelation of eros"

i love you, "heir's game"

i love you, "ghost lights"

i love you, "life outside the circle"

i love you, "green and gold"

i love you, "heartstropper"

i love you, "hungry heart"

i love you, "novae"

i love you, "it's kind of a funny story"

i love you, "faroff"

i love you, "one night mate"

i love you, "sora & haena"

i love you, "puu"

i love you, "r. u. screwed"

i love you, "the king in the sun"

these are all recs, btw. i've read many more, but these are the cream of the crop. these are the gems of my extensive, many-years spanning collection <3

#vika's webcomic reviews #<- i'll make this a thing just watch me #vikarambles #comics #queer culture

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metalichotchoco · 1 year

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I’ve been wanting a chance to take time and really iron these boys out

These three goobers are from my concept of a webcomic called haunted hospitality. Kyle Oleander (the one in the middle) moves into his grandma’s house to save on rent while going to college, unfortunately for him two ghosts also happen to be “living” in said house. It’s story mostly about domestic day to day life with horror elements, dealing with mental health and living a more fulfilling life.

Gabriel is on right, he’s a greaser from the 50s who is the main “opposition” to Kyle besides Kyle himself. He’s loud, outgoing, social and a young punk at heart. He’s his foil in every sense of the word. He’s a class phantasm ghost, limited to a painting.

Dylan is on the left, he’s from the early 60’s and has a more supportive role but is more inherently dangerous to Kyle. He’s cheerful, very hungry and air-headed. Both ghosts kiss btw lol. Dylan is more than happy to be a follower in Gabe’s plans, it’s more fun than doing nothing after all. He’s a class geist ghost, much much more real much more dangerous too. You can’t fool your body you can only fool your mind.

youtube

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the-nysh · 2 years

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(eisenartworks) hello, resident Garou expert. I in desperate need of ur help. I saw u offer ur take on Garou's sequence, and I did get a few good ones on reddit, but I'm afraid I can't pick. What are your thoughts? :0

Thank you so much 😊

*gasp* 👀👀!!!! YES, @eisenartworks I am here to help! (or provide the content to brainstorm more ideas) 8'D

Ok, so if you wanted to match his character’s progression with the same 5-step sequence as the others, it'll depend on how much ‘completeness’ of his story you want to show (aka from his childhood all the way to the end of his arc - with his eyes opening under the waterfall), or focusing only on certain parts of his story to emphasize, like on the tragedy or a hopeful message for ex. So choosing which moments to include or eliminate depends on that - on what overall theme you want to show.

Because there’s already a symbolic progression of his eyes shown ‘monsterizing’ over time in canon (teetering on a fine line of balance & duality between his human/hero and ‘monster’ sides), so including when one half turns red, to the ‘human’ side waking when he’s on the surface after saving Bang, to the ‘monster’ side opening as human again under the waterfall at the end - that could be a consistent theme to focus on for ex.

Also because he goes thru countless external transformations, so if you want to fit everything into 5 images (unless you compromise room up to 6) we’d have to creatively combine or condense down different parts of his story together, to focus on his most important internal (emotional) turning points of growth/change instead. That means we can confidently exclude all the moments where he’s deliberately unconscious or passively not in full control/awareness of his own actions, because they do not reflect his innermost feelings (or actively progress his heart’s true values/goals). So the part where he’s sleep-fighting vs Darkshine, the part where he’s ‘feral’ unconscious arriving at the surface (vs Bang), and faceless Cosmic Garou (under the influence of ‘god’) can all be eliminated as ‘not actually him’ - we can’t even see his real eyes there anyway. BUT the ‘cosmic’ Garou who’s come to his senses after Tareo’s death - now THAT moment is far more important to his journey’s self-realization. :’D

And I’ve previously compiled a bunch of photosets documenting his expressions that can be used as references, but also confession: I have a wip file of his eyes I haven’t finished. Because I’ve observed how he’s the character with the most panels focused on dramatic close-up crops of his eyes (yes especially even in the webcomic!) and I just wanted to collect them all, but they happen to align with the type of story progression you’re after, so among those panels I can help narrow down which (manga) moments are most important! 8′D

Childhood - if you wanted to begin his story with his childhood (to consistently match Genos & Saitama’s who started with theirs), then it’s the panel where he’s crying angry, bitter tears in frustration at his teacher dismissing and talking down to him after he’s suffered from injustice. The moment he learned this is what he hates about how the world works. Where he’s either surrounded by the mob of ‘Tacchans’ representative of his worst (repressed) childhood trauma/humiliation, or lit by the anime’s dramatic spotlight while he sits powerless and frustrated (at being ‘alone’ and weak, with no one to support or understand him) on the chair.

Lone Wolf Hero Hunting - so he begins his hero hunt on the night of a full moon, (if you want to document his shifting phases of the moon, cause his arc ends with a gibbous one) complete with the aesthetic of a grinning/hungry wolf (nocturnal hunter). At this part of the story, his dark eyeliner is most prominent (cause it will fade later on). The panels that best represent this stage of his story (imo) are these, especially his ‘my eyes have adjusted (to the dark)’ panel.

Red Garou, Monster Hunter - (condensing more moments now) but here’s where he has the red eye, red hair, and fresh scar. All at once. The turning point (aka a reality/naivety check) where the monsters literally backstab him to kidnap Tareo, and he declares war (alone) on the Monster Association. (Gaining the tattered ‘scarf’ thru facing Rover and getting charred by Orochi’s flames.) Significant because this is the first time he switches targets (from fighting heroes) to unleash true lethal intent vs monsters. The angriest, bloodiest, most intense, and disgusted at real monsters we ever see him (in seething feral fury in response to save/protect Tareo.)

Transformed Monster ‘Hero’ Garou - (so eliminating Spiral Garou pains me, because it was so short-lived) but this part is when his body monsterizes with the external shell of a ‘costume’ - but ONLY after he awakens to himself from saving Bang, with the realization + focus to ‘follow his heart.’ The symbolic, cracked open ‘window’ to his human eye here is so important! ;o; Cause this was the point he took action at his peak (antihero) ‘moral best’ - appearing like a monster, but saving everyone (including other heroes & Tareo) on the surface and destroying the baddest monster cadres with his own power. The moments where he took action because of, or in response to Bang (’awakened’ with the crack over his eye crumbling off his face, or the ‘blessing’ moment with the waves crashing from defeating the Centipede - in contrast to Red Garou’s fire/rage) are probably the strongest representations of his feelings here.

‘Cosmic’ Garou’s emotional epiphany & resolve - so if the above was him at his peak, this becomes his lowest (emotionally). After ‘god’ interferes to fuck everything up, forcing Garou to learn what True Absolute Evil actually entails (not what Garou ever actually wanted) and experience the traumatic devastation & despair and self-loathing of having unknowingly killed Tareo himself. D: So horrific. (Note: actual Garou fans do not celebrate the faceless corrupted Cosmic ‘God’ entity, because it does not represent his true feelings, his own awareness/agency, or the person Garou actually is at all; he was cruelly used to destroy the humanity he’d previously staked his life to protect.) So it’s only after he finally comes to his senses, with his full face -both eyes- notably showing again, that matters most here. The strongest (most cathartic) moments being when he shares that beat of empathy with Saitama over their mutual loss of their most important person (still with residual ‘stardust’ tears grieving for Tareo - esp if you want to compare/contrast with Garou’s angry tears as a child), and then resolves to fix everything he never intended (choosing to sacrifice himself as a hero to help save the world.) Especially with the aesthetic of him still wearing his cosmic space ‘shell,’ the irradiated night sky with a watchful gibbous moon, or even parts of him turning to salt already.

Bonus: Waterfall Garou - cause whether you include or eliminate this moment (or exclude the first childhood one to include this one for a total 5, instead of 6) I like it because his story ideally shouldn’t end with his ‘death’ it finally shows him being ‘cleansed,’ with that one eye - that had symbolically been half ‘monsterized’ red before, opening up (as human) to new future possibilities.

So if you begin with crying kid Garou and end with him grieving over Tareo, that’s one approach (showing two different kinds of tears, keeping a bookend theme coming back full-circle in a way, and consistent with Genos & Saitama’s by including Garou’s childhood too.) But if you start with his hero hunting and end with the waterfall panel, it shows a more ‘complete’ progression of his active (present-day) journey instead, leaving off on a more hopeful, open-ended note (rather than ending at the implied, doomed tragedy of both his & Tareo’s death.) And because his arc is ‘complete’ anyway, it feels only fair to show most of the whole thing, imo. :’3

#opm #garou #anonymous #replies #eisenartworks #long text post #whoa that got long but hopefully i helped describe his most important moments and turning points to consider #if i were doing it i'd include the waterfall panel #but if not bound by 5 images i'd include all 6 to show his more complete story ;o;

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walnutcookie · 1 year

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if we got rogue-almond and rogue-walnut can we get some almond and walnut dad-daughter headcanons please? i need to feed my demons, they are very hungry

RUBS HANDS MISCHIEVOUSLY . i have some angsty shit that happens in my fanon with them but i dont think yoy were asking about that so HZBZKWNZ

- walnut looks up to her dad a lot . i think thats pretty obvious since...yknow.....hes a detective..shes a detective.. oh yeah kinda off topic but i have a cookie run oc named hazelnut and shes almonds mom the detective stuff runs in the family

- related to above, almond sees a lot of his mom in walnut and its probably made him cry a few times (never in front of her ofc)

- walnut is like. Almonds whole life. he hates his job sooo much but 1) he needs to keep the lights on and 2) he doesnr wanna get a different job because itll break walnuts heart and shatter her dreams

- sometimes walnut writes things on little sticky notes and sticks them on her dads desk :]

- almond is one of those dads who has a million photos of his kid in his wallet

- almond nags walnut about having healthy habits and shit and she nags him back because he doesnt follow his own advice

- walnuts real name is garfield ii

- almond is a Lot less grumpy around walnut because she just makes him happier. hes a completely different guy around his daughter

- hes also . Overprotective! this is canon as we've learned from both tbe painting affair and the little sneak peek of the webcomic (which im still waiting for) but

- walnut is probably able to convince him to do silly things like do the cat filter with her in that one pic

- ONE OF MY FAVES i hc them both as trans (almond ftm walnut mtf) and even though almond doesnt use magic anymore and is Very very highly against it (ill explain another time but in my fanon he knows magic) his mom used magic to transition him so he did the same for wawa :] he had to sit down and probabbly like passed out from exhaustion because hes not used to how draining magic is but walnut was sooo happy so it was worth it all the way

- another hc based off of canon but . almond does walnuts hair for her every day :] she doesnt like it being done by anyone else

- coffee runs in the family

this one is longer than usual sorry i have more than this too

#almond cookie #walnut cookie #almond answers #almond rambles

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bgb16999 · 7 months

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Heartless Reread

It's been six years since @heartless-webcomic by @myrastuff ended. I did a full reread and wrote down my thoughts, mostly stream-of-conciousness. I'm mostly elsewhere on the internet nowadays (you can find me on the fediverse at @[email protected]), but since Heartless is hosted on Tumblr, and since I was using Tumblr as my main social network back when Heartless was current, I figure I ought to put this commentary on Tumblr too.

This post will contain SPOILERS for Heartless.

2023-10-01

It was six years ago that I first discovered Heartless, as the comic was part-way through Chapter Six. It's been four years since my last full reread. When I first read the series I was completely enthralled (allured?) by a series that was so unapologetic about the protagonist being AroAce, and I seriously considered picking a name based on one of the characters. When I did my reread four years ago, I didn't make a bunch of mostly-stream-of-conciousness notes, so I'm going to do that now.

Chapter 1: Death The cover page shows Clara with blood on her neck, yet her teeth show she has clearly been vampirized already. The story opens as a circular narrative, with Clara writing about her journies one year later. She assures us it's true, and wonders if we are ready for "so great a change," before she allures and feasts on a random person in the street.

Now Clara sets the scene: two months after she turns 18, in 1852, the first chapter post-prologue truly begins with Chapter 1: Death.

The first page after the front-matter begins at Daniel's party. I'd forgotton the Baron was mentioned on the first page. More importantly, however, is what's under the page: the artist's snarky one-sentence page-summary! The first one is "In which our intrepid hero is more properly introduced." At this point in the story, Clara is definitely not intrepid. Clara's human teeth look rather uncomfortable: it's little wonder she prefers unlife as a vampire.

Our heroine's first meeting with Daniel is perfect. I can't tell whether Clara is rejecting what she thinks is a romantic advance, or just completely oblivious as I would be at that age. The author summary says she avoided a "romantic encounter," but of course Daniel didn't really have romance in mind, since he's gay.

Then things kick into high gear as we get our first true introduction to both Elizabeth Knight and the Baron. This is my first reread since I picked a name similar to Elizabeth (and my first reread since I picked a middle name similar to Clara), and Elizabeth's introduction is every bit as badass as I remember. Elizabeth considers the humans of London to be her subjects just as much as the vampires. William makes a strong first impression as a villain by killing the protagonist. I love Daniel and Elizabeth's discussion about whether to vampirize Clara. Also, I'd forgotten Daniel calls her "Liz." More important is that Clara sees Elizabeth use her fangs, but faints before she can see Daniel's fangs.

Chapter 2: Welcome

Clara awakens as a vampire with "concerns about her situation," and complete terror of Daniel. I love how her scream carries across three pages. We get introduced to Genevieve, who partially calms Clara down with words, and unsuccessfully attempts to further calm her using the Allure. Clara's new friends look awfully uncomfortable when she says she is hungry, since they haven't yet told her what she is now. As she bathes, Clara reminds me of one key way she is in no way similar to me: her strong sense of smell, heightened by vampirism. Sound and smell don't normally translate to a comic, but the author does a splendid job showing how Clara can sense the heart of a random passer-by on the street. Clara shows her fangs and red eyes as she drinks blood tea, all without realizing what's happened to her. What's in the scones she's eating? I don't recall if we ever find out. And now, even after assurances from Genevieve that Elizabeth is good, we see Clara is still terrified of Elizabeth.

As Elizabeth becomes the latest to fail to Allure our hero, we get one of my favorite humorous clashes of expectations: Clara is ashamed to admit to reading penny dreadful novels, because they aren't "appropriate for a young lady," while Elizabeth is disappointed to find the kids these days learning about vampires from penny dreadful novels instead of whatever the old fashioned way was. And we meet Permelia, the last member of the main cast and the only unabashed acemisic (though we don't know she's heartless-misic yet). Oh goodie, one of my favorite snarky-author-page-summaries: "In which Elizabeth bemoans the state of kids these days."

The chapter closes with Elizabeth and Daniel realizing Clara's orientation, and plotting to use her against William. I love all of these characters, and all except Permelia make a strong first impression. My view of Permelia's first appearance is likely also tainted by how I know she acts later. The author has been very quick to give us a sense of her world and where the story is going, but the characters are what make this comic a joy to read.

Chapter 3: Promenade I forgot about these cute kids waking Clara up! Clara's "RAAR!!!" to her bedroom mirror is just as sweet as I remember. Daniel is interrupted before he can explain to Clara exactly what they are fighting, which is good for drama because Elizabeth's demonstration later is important. This is the part of the story where I start to suspect old vampires like Elizabeth have a fear aura: Clara quickly overcomes her fear of her new powers and the other vampires, but she's still terrified of the one vampire who's done as much as anyone to help her.

I also appreciate the twist that vampires in the Heartlessverse seem to be the same people they were in life, as it's a change from what other media does. And since it's 1852, I like seeing pre-Stoker vampires who dislike sunlight but aren't actually harmed by it, as Clara and Elizabeth go walking outside in midday. We get the full name of Baron William Lazarus, and Clara still struggles with the behavior she's learned from human society.

Wow, I love Elizabeth's flowery demonstration and description of the Allure, and Clara's shocked reactions when she realizes it takes only "a passing thought," of the sort she doesn't have, to control someone's mind.

Just as Mrs. Pendergast gives us a hint of what will happen in the rest of the story, Clara is distracted by husks. Elizabeth says husks are "things." And the process to create them is what she is fighting against. Clara is willing to join the fight.

Chapter 4: Lessons

Clara is frustrated that she can't be allured, indicating she hasn't yet fully accepted that she's ace. Wow, Permelia really does not like Clara, even before finding out her orientation. Maybe it makes sense, as Permelia has no idea why her leader is treating this new vampire like she's so important.

Clara's first sparring match goes poorly inspite of her immunity to the Allure, but Genevieve's advice turns out to be a lot better than Daniel's. Ah, right, this is when we first explicitly learn that Genevieve Henley (Viv) has a hopeless crush on Liz.

Now we get to the real heart of the chapter, and arguably the heart of the story. Or, the lack of heart, since we finally learn the meaning of the title. Due to her unusual status as a Heartless vampire, Clara has to learn about vampire culture a few decades early. Vampire culture lacks some of the problems of human society in 1852 London: no one questions having a black woman as their leader, for example. But other bigotries are alive and well. Elizabeth's illustrated descriptions still give me chills. Finally, Permelia reveals that she, just like our heroine, can eavesdrop, and finally tells Clara the title of the comic. Oh, and Permelia is the first character to display unreserved acemisia. Fuck her. Not literally.

Ah, now I remember, this is the chapter with a rollercoster of multiple scenes that feel like the "end." Clara asks us to understand her decision, and I think I do, but it's still probably the second-worst decision Clara makes in the entire story. The author summary, "In which our intrepid hero refuses to think things through," is a taste of what's to come in a chapter and a half. As Clara arrives home, I still feel excitement at the cliffhanger despite knowing exactly what will happen next. Come back next time for the final two chapters!

2023-10-02

Chapter V: Home My reread continues with Chapter 5. Having got a taste of how vampire society treats openly heartless vampires, Clara does what many struggling queer creatures before and after her have done: She attempts to get back into the closet. Clara tries pretending once again to be a straight human. Falling right back in with her family, Clara finds her parents still want her to get married ASAP. She also finds that no matter how hard she may try to pretend, she is NOT human anymore, and she still has to eat a vampiric diet. The progression of Clara's body language as she hungers, feeds, and heals her victim provide a rollercoaster of flowing emotions. But none of that compares to Clara finally putting her foot down and telling her mom she doesn't want to get married, only for her mom to make excuses about it. Oh and there's a vampire eavesdropping. Now everything Mrs. Pendergast told us in Chapter 3 comes back, and Clara is the latest "troubled" girl to fall victim to the Baron's scheme. I remembered the seamstress warning Clara about the vampire, but forgot about Clara telling the seamstress how wildly overconfident she is.

Remember last chapter when I said running home was the second-worst decision Clara makes? This is the worst. Clara allows herself to be taken straight into the Baron's shadow prison, without discussing her plan with her allies. For someone who reads so many novels, she should know that failing to communicate with your co-protagonists is always a bad idea. But the author did a good job building up to Clara's poor decision, as the conversation last chapter lead her to lose trust in Elizabeth and Daniel.

Chapter VI: Rescue This chapter has everything. Comprising nearly a quarter of the length of the entire series, the final chapter of Heartless is by far the longest. It was mid-way through publication when I caught up, though I don't remember exactly what page I caught up on. The author comment under the cover page says that it is "very likely the last chapter of Heartless, at least in this storyline." At the time, I assumed that meant a short break before Book 2, but that didn't happen.

The chapter opens with Clara and two human shadow prisoners drawn by carriage towards the psychiatric shadow prison. Immediately jumping out at me is the fact that Clara looks just as scared and miserable as her companions, in stark contrast to her confidence at the end of last chapter, and in spite of the fact that she could have easily avoided coming here by fleeing to Elizabeth the previous night. Clara's fear turns to terror as she sees her killer for the first time since the night of her death. And…another vampire tells Baron Lazarus that the girls have "excellent marriage prospects." I totally forgot that: what is William planning on doing with the girls whom he doesn't husk-ify? Does he want his vampire girls to marry into the human nobility, to potentially get more vampires who count as "nobles" among humans, or are they talking about vampire marriage? I don't remember ever finding out, so maybe it isn't addressed.

Ooh, bonus art of Elizabeth reciting a Christmas poem that Daniel is tired of.

Once again, I love the facial expressions from Clara's companions, especially the darker-haired one. Clara's excitement at her successful use of the Allure is topped only by her companions' total confusion as to what happened. I love Clara's deflection, and I wonder if she ever tries contacting her "new friends" again after the events of this chapter, given that we know Elizabeth deals with humans who support her cause. As Clara finds Viv, we get perhaps my favorite snarky-author-summary in the series: "In which it is brought to light that our heroine hasn’t really thought this through." The "nurses" remind us that despite Clara's immunity to the Allure, she barely has any practice fighting other vampires. Of course, they assume she's noble, because ace erasure.

The Baron reveals that he is a man of tradition, and that means threatening to kill the hero's friend to get her to talk, before trying to Allure her. Right away, we learn some key information about how the Allure works: A vampire doesn't automatically magically know if their Allurement attempt succeeded, as William clearly thinks he's in control of Clara. Oh, and a snarky-author-summary I'd completely forgot about, "In which our heroine has rather improved her poker face."

A connection I hadn't thought of before (or forgot about) is that both the Baron and Clara's mother assume Clara has the same orientation, though for different reasons. Clara's mom assumes Clara is straight because she assumes all humans are straight, while William assumes Clara is straight because she's apparently not attracted to women.

Right at the midpoint of the chapter, Clara does the most badass thing in the series: come out to William while stabbing him in the eye with a sword. She's done pretending to be straight, she's done pretending to be a meek human. She's the star of the story and the title character, and she wants us to know it.

But the Baron is an elder vampire, so he can survive being stabbed through the head. Our hero and her now-unallured friends are on the run. I forgot Clara is still sort of squeaked out seeing her best friend drink a husk's blood.

Elizabeth's entrance is totally badass and oh yeah Daniel's also here but he's nowhere near as badass as his leader. My first time through, I thought the Baron's line to Elizabeth about how the council will have her head for apparently sending a heartless assassin was supposed to be foreshadowing to set up Book 2. The author-snark-summary reminds us that this was only "light" assassination. Evidence for my elder-vampires-have-fear-aura hypothesis might be accumulating, as Clara is terrified to see Elizabeth transform. Then again, it may just be the overall situation she's afraid of. Either way, I love how the transformed elder vampires look. Elizabeth and Viv must be proud that their protege gave William an injury that persists even as he shapeshifts. I also love seeing the shadow prison burn, just as Elizabeth knocks William out the window.

Ah, the callbacks: Clara is just about to ask how old Elizabeth is when she gets cut off by a moderately angry Vampire Queen. Here's another line that feels like foreshadowing for a future book that never came: Elizabeth says that thus far her methods are the only way to keep power away from people like the Baron. Sounds like the kind of thing our protagonist could eventually solve, given a few more books.

Daniel and Elizabeth's banter as the Vampire Queen falls unconscious still gives me giggles. The Baron is still alive, Clara brings the ending full-circle with her book, and my reread of Heartless is done.

Six years later, I still love these characters and this world. At 146 pages including bonus art, the story is just long enough to get me really attached. While the story did end at the end of an arc, it still feels like a cliffhanger ending: how will William get the Council mobilized against Elizabeth and Clara? How will Clara overcome the acemisia on her own side from people like Permelia? What happens to the human girls Clara rescued? What word do vampires use for nonbinary folks? We may never know. Even so, I love every page of this series and I'm grateful for what we got.

#asexual #asexual representation #ace #aromantic representation #aromantic #emily griggs #heartless #heartless comic #heartless webcomic #heartlesscomic #clara adams #elizabeth knight #acemisia #amisia #aphobia #acephobia #asexuality

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slotttralist · 3 months

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#edward moreau #hungry heart #monster #ghost #cryptid #oc #original character #art #digital art #hungry heart webcomic #comic #webcomics #webtoon #tapas

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elishabethskull-lace · 4 years

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— I know, I know!

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oldlibearty · 7 years

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I really wanted pizza when I drew this. I experimented with a different lining pen, and slightly smaller panels.

#turtle #starr the turtle #pizza #hungry #cute #comic #webcomic #comic strip #hunger #funny #humor #heart eyes #my art

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shima-draws · 3 years

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Well, because of following you I have watched Senyu. And my watched I mean I have Binged all that crunchyroll has tonight, and what started as a 5 min RPG slapstick with a corruption undertone has now rendered my heart to pieces. the last few episodes have left me a mess. How dare. Well, I’m off to consume more Senyu like a hungry, emotionally sappy caterpillar <3

What people believe Senyuu to be about, as in a goofy crack comedy:

What Senyuu actually does to you:

Anyway omg I’m so glad you enjoyed it!! It really hits you right in the feels when you least expect it to. I hope you continue to read the webcomic and dive into the even more emotionally scarring backstories all the characters have!

#Especially Ros......#Senyuu #Shima answers questions #I always feel so victorious when I get other people into Senyuu #IT REALLY DOES MAKE YOU WEEP IN DESPAIR #otakumagicmusicgamer #EDIT: I FOUND A BETTER GIF TO FIT MY WORDING. LMAO

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i-did-not-mean-to · 2 years

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Things that grow and thrive

@pistachiozombie

So, here is my tiny ficlet of one scene between Bofur and Leanna...

Words: 1,4k

Warnings: comfort-fic, fluff, purple prose

I am not intimately familiar with the intricacies of the characters, so please forgive me if I got anything wrong.

It was an honour and a pleasure and I am very much looking forward to the next instalment of the webcomic...

So, for your entertainment and pleasure, I give you my (pathetic) try to recreate that magic:

Deep breaths, in and out, Leanna told herself again and again.

Pretend the sweet air is water, washing over you without that clingy feeling of being wet ruining the soothing effect of the…oh! It was all for naught..

Everything was such a mess, like a garden after a vicious thunderstorm or a pantry raided by hungry fauntlings and she didn’t have the energy to set it right again – which only added to the feeling of drowning.

A nameless, faceless dread took hold of her heart like a poison no flower or herb could counteract in time, and she felt her chest grow tighter by the second; she hated getting upset, especially at times when it was so vital to stay focused.

They needed her. Sven, this confusing, loud company of dwarves, Bilbo, they all needed her to not be a burden.

“Leanna?”

Oh no, not now, not like that, she thought – wiping at her wet eyes – and turned around to see Bofur trundle up the path leading to the little hide-out she had found for herself between the high trees and their soft song. He – of course – could not hear the whispers of the leaves and the gentle humming of the roots, no, his heart beat to a different tune that came deep from within the rocky soul of the earth all things alive dwelled on.

“Hey, where did you go?” he asked, kneeling on the ground a bit too early which forced him to advance on his hands and knees even though the crowns of the trees and the endless sky were so unreachably far away that both of them might have been a hundred times their own height without ever being able to touch them.

“I…I needed some time alone,” she tried to smile, heat blossoming like spring petals under the milky hue of her cheeks.

“Should I leave you to it then?”

Leanna knew that he might well have crawled all the way back to the others if only to avoid offending her by literally walking away.

For a moment, she was torn; she felt miserable, but all her attempts to shake herself out of this funk had failed and Bofur – this far – had always managed to make her feel safe. She liked having him around, he reminded her of sun-warmed peaches and a steaming cake right out of the oven: simple and true.

“Are you okay?” he probed further after a long moment of silence, lifting his eyes to look at her flushed face and the feverish glint in her eyes, “Are you taken ill? I can go and get whatever you need…you’ll just have to tell me what that is?”

He gave her a sheepish half-smile that made her throat relax enough to let out a small giggle.

There was such solace in his kind companionship; Bofur had ever been excited to learn about her and her life, never once judging or condemning her, and she often had the feeling that they shared a sense of optimism against all odds.

“I am not ill, I just…” How to explain that she felt helplessly overwhelmed by everything that had happened? He was used to a life on the road, but she had deep roots that had been jostled once too often and now, she felt adrift in a hostile world.

“Your leaves are growing out,” he commented and – immediately – her hand flew up to pat the growth that had saved her life. She was only too aware of the fact that dwarves were not particularly fond of green things, so she was afraid that the flourishing part of herself – her head and her heart – would be displeasing to him. The mere thought hurt.

Turning away and into the tree she was leaning against as much as she could, Leanna did her best to disappear; she was not the kind of woman to scream and shout, pointing accusing fingers at the drop of a hat, and hence, she hoped to just remove the offending sapling that was her fragile soul from his field of vision.

“Did I say something wrong?” Bofur cocked his head, his brows furrowed in confusion.

“No, no, I’m just…” – “You’re unwell, lass, I can see it,” he contradicted softly, extending one hand without actually touching her.

“It’s been a frightening time, huh?” He leaned back, stuffing his pipe with meticulous care, waiting for her to come out of hiding – literally and figuratively.

“I’m sorry about the leaves…I…” Leanna stammered, patting her head again as if she could make the natural phenomenon of growth reverse by simply willing it so.

“Why sorry? I…like it. There have been too many dead things lately,” he said and the grave, mournful note in his voice told her that he knew well enough that many more of those were to come.

“I thought you dwarves were not fond of growing things?” Leanna peeked out from her hiding spot, shifting her body subconsciously towards the warmth radiating from his smile and his calm movements.

“We are not fond of eating them…if they’re not wrapped in meat,” he pondered aloud.

“These are literally wrapped in meat and bone,” she giggled, surprised to find a spark of her own humour flaring back to life.

“Yeah, well, I do not intend to eat you…” he grinned, a wolfish sharpness tugging at the corners of his mouth as if that was but half the truth, “If I ate you, I couldn’t look at you anymore and I do enjoy looking at you.”

He grimaced as he realised how strange that sounded. “You’re a bonny lass,” he chuckled, “and – no matter what people say behind our backs – we are not a bad people, us dwarves I mean.”

The heat in her cheeks flared into roaring flames that rivalled her hair, no doubt, upon hearing the sober compliment.

“I know, I am…I am quite worried about you, you know?” she admitted as much to him as to herself.

“Ah, don’t be, we’ll be fine!” he didn’t sound nearly as convinced as he tried to make her believe and that kind of vulnerability cut deep into her soul, but the dagger struck the iron core of her most essential being and her innate bravery rang out clear and strong, joining the song of the trees in their eternal slumber.

Lighting the pipe he had been turning in his fingers for the last few minutes, Bofur shrugged: “I am a simple man of simple pleasures.”

Leanna got a little closer still, drawn in by the aromatic smell of the pipe weed and the sound of his calm voice.

Tears were glistening in her eyes still, but the curve of her smile had grown a little steeper already.

“Eh, do not trouble yourself over a bunch of dwarves.” He grinned, taking off his ludicrous head and rapping his knuckles against his skull thrice, “some say we have rocks in there and not much more,” he grinned, “so, you growing living, thriving things out of yours is pretty awesome!”

“I’m sure that’s not true,” Leanna cried out, clapping her hand over her mouth in shock.

“Well no, Bifur has an axe in there, haven’t you seen?” Bofur laughed merrily, coughing when he swallowed the smoke he had just exhaled.

“Bofur, I’m serious!” Leanna swatted his arm playfully, her sombre mood blown away like cobwebs by his chattering.

“I am too,” he grinned, taking her hand that lay just next to his on the grass, “what really matters is that whatever grows or doesn’t grow in our heads, we harbour all of our strength right here,” and with that, he placed her small hand on his chest.

Leanna could feel his heart, beating strong and steady under her palm, and there was something so comforting in the steadfast rhythm of it.

“Things that grow and persevere are good, Leanna, never doubt that!” he murmured with a smile so tender and intimate that the stars shone a little brighter and the air smelled a little sweeter all of a sudden. Bofur was the promise of summer when the snow lay deep and heavy on dead branches, he was the certainty that the sun would rise even when the darkness was so thick one might have tried to cleave it with a knife, he was a sweet song when the mournful silence quenched words unspoken on trembling lips.

And just for tonight, Leanna decided that she could believe him.

#fanfiction #bofur #leanna #OC #pistachiozombie #request #what an honour #what a pleasure #IDNMT tries new stuff #I hope you don't hate me now #I try hard #I did my best

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selenitewords · 2 years

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Selenitewords 🌙 An Introduction

Hi! You can call me Selen for now. This is my blog for my creative works, and other things I collect pertaining to my creative hobbies! Amongst writing, you can find some of my art, some writing advice and info, some art advice and tutorials, prompts, and other tumblr users' projects!

26 years old; she/her (or he/him) pronouns Two spirit; nonbinary and bi; Canadian First Nations

My creative works contain a lot of the following: themes of trauma and healing, themes of the importance of community and togetherness, stories of resilience and recovery, found family dynamics, religious themes with criticisms of christianity, existentialism and cosmic wonder vs. horror, love of all kinds and intensities, casts of colour as well as LGBT & queer characters.

Ultimately, I want my work to be a comforting hug to whoever, wherever, needs it, as we all navigate through a tough world and a reminder that you and your struggles are seen, and we can make it through them.

Current WIPs!

Heart of Glass // Draft 1.2

A drama novel about Jules, an indigenous two-spirit man who finds himself facing situations that challenge what he's learned, and relearns what it means to be family, to trust, to love, and of course, to love yourself.

Star-Crossed // Draft 0

A surreal romance of two complementary cosmic beings who might risk the universe if it means to just hold the other.

The Umbra Saga // Scripting

A fantasy webcomic. A fallen kingdom, a hideaway prince, an exiled princess, a troubled knight, a secretive sex-worker, and a power-hungry queen. What happens when you try to not avenge only your home, but your loved ones, and your own lost childhood?

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princesssarisa · 3 years

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Character ask: Beauty (Beauty and the Beast – the original tale)

Tagged by @ariel-seagull-wings

Favorite thing about them: She's loving, brave kind, selfless, intelligent, open-minded... There's so much to like about her. But what I probably like best is that she's a protagonist in every sense of the word. Unlike some other fairy tale heroines, she's not an empty figure of beauty and virtue, defined more by how others feel about her and by what they do to her and for her than by anything else. She's the central viewpoint character who has the central character arc and whose choices drive the story. Add to this the Beast's constant concern for her happiness and consent, and there's no question that the narrative values as a person, not just as a love object or a role model. I suppose this is partly because the story originated as a literary salon tale, not a simple oral folktale, and partly because its original authors were women. But it makes her stand out in the pantheon of fairy tale heroines as especially relatable.

Least favorite thing about them: Depending on the version, the theme of "Her sisters complain endlessly about their poverty, but she bears it cheerfully" can be a little grating. If she genuinely chooses to try to be content and genuinely realizes she needs little to be happy, then it's fine; it even foreshadows her love for the Beast, since it shows her ability to find happiness in unlikely places. But if the point just seems to be that a good girl never complains, then it just seems to be promoting obnoxious passivity. The same applies to versions where she wholeheartedly forgives her sisters, even though they bully her and despise her enough to want the Beast to kill her – even Cinderella's stepsisters never tried to get her killed! The fact that Disney's Belle unabashedly longs for a better life than she has and unabashedly insists on being treated well by others is one of my favorite Disney departures from older versions of the story.

Three things I have in common with them:

*I love roses.

*I love books and music.

*I try to be open minded and see the good in everyone.

Three things I don't have in common with them:

*I'm an only child with both parents still alive.

*I'm nowhere near as brave as she is.

*No one would ever give me the nickname "Beauty" based on my looks.

Favorite line:

From Jeanne-Marie LePrince de Beaumont's version, when the Beast calls himself a "monster":

"Among mankind there are many that deserve that name more than you, and I prefer you, just as you are, to those who, under a human form, hide a treacherous, corrupt, and ungrateful heart."

Three lines from Andrew Lang's retelling in The Blue Fairy Book, which was the principle non-Disney version I grew up with:

"The Beast must be very hungry if he makes all this rejoicing over the arrival of his prey."

"Indeed, I should be ungrateful if I did not care for such a kind Beast. I would die to save him from pain. I assure you it is not his fault he is so ugly."

"Oh! Beast, how you frightened me! I never knew how much I loved you until just now, when I feared I was too late to save your life!"

brOTP: Her father; her brothers in versions that include them, since they're usually portrayed in a positive light; her sisters in retellings like the two Robin McKinley novels and Megan Kearney's webcomic that make them sympathetic.

OTP: The Beast/Prince.

nOTP: Her father or any of her siblings.

Random headcanon: Her real name is "Enora," a Breton name meaning "honor." Yes, this is a shout-out to Robin McKinley's Beauty, where the setting is British and the heroine's real name is Honour. But I've always liked that naming choice. Not only is her nickname meaningful, but her real name proves to be fitting too, as she shows her dedication to fairness (trading her freedom for her father's because the rose he took was for her) and, despite the brief delay, to keeping her promise to go back to the Beast.

Unpopular opinion: She's not "more feminist" than Disney's Belle, as critics of Disney often claim, but neither is she inherently less so. Both Beauty and Belle are admirable in their own ways. Beauty shows strength and resilience by accepting her family's loss of fortune without complaint and shouldering all the work that her lazy sisters neglect; Belle shows a different kind of strength by openly wanting a better life than she has and than her neighbors think best for her. Beauty falls for a Beast who treats her gently and kindly from the start, never making young readers think they can change an abuser; Belle knows equally well how she wants a man to treat her and refuses to let the Beast abuse her, only becoming his friend when he earns it by becoming gentle and kind. Beauty is the single dynamic protagonist of her own story, whose journey of learning to see past appearances and love the Beast is the tale's central (and only) character arc, whereas Belle is a more static figure and the Beast becomes "the true protagonist" (as Disney people often say) whose character arc dominates; but Belle is her story's moral center, who, rather than being taught to love a deserving Beast, teaches him to be worthy of her love, which is empowering in a different way than being the one who learns and changes the most. They're both excellent characters.

Song I associate with them:

"If You See With Your Heart," from the Cannon Movie Tales adaptation: