Writing Tips - Beating Perfectionism
1. Recognising writing perfectionism. It’s not usually as literal as “This isn’t 100% perfect and so it is the worst thing ever”, in my experience it usually sneaks up more subtly. Things like where you should probably be continuing on but if you don’t figure out how to word this paragraph better it’s just going to bug you the whole time, or where you’re growing demotivated because you don’t know how to describe the scene 100% exactly as you can imagine it in your head, or things along those lines where your desire to be exact can get in the way of progression. In isolated scenarios this is natural, but if it’s regularly and notably impacting your progress then there’s a more pressing issue
2. Write now, edit later. Easier said than done, which always infuriated me until I worked out how it translates into practice; you need to recognise what the purpose of this stage of the writing process is and when editing will hinder you more than help you. Anything up to and including your first draft is purely done for structural and creative purposes, and trying to impose perfection on a creative process will naturally stifle said creativity. Creativity demands the freedom of imperfection
3. Perfection is stagnant. We all know that we have to give our characters flaws and challenges to overcome since, otherwise, there’s no room for growth or conflict or plot, and it ends up being boring and predictable at best - and it’s just the same as your writing. Say you wrote the absolute perfect book; the perfect plot, the perfect characters, the perfect arcs, the perfect ending, etc etc. It’s an overnight bestseller and you’re discussed as a literary great for all time. Everyone, even those outside of your target demographic, call it the perfect book. Not only would that first require you to turn the perfect book into something objective, which is impossible, but it would also mean that you would either never write again, because you can never do better than your perfect book, or you’ll always write the exact same thing in the exact same way to ensure constant perfection. It’s repetitive, it’s boring, and all in all it’s just fearful behaviour meant to protect you from criticism that you aren’t used to, rather than allowing yourself to get acclimated to less than purely positive feedback
4. Faulty comparisons. Comparing your writing to that of a published author’s is great from an analytical perspective, but it can easily just become a case of “Their work is so much better, mine sucks, I’ll never be as good as them or as good as any ‘real’ writer”. You need to remember that you’re comparing a completely finished draft, which likely underwent at least three major edits and could have even had upwards of ten, to wherever it is you’re at. A surprising number of people compare their *first* draft to a finished product, which is insanity when you think of it that way; it seems so obvious from this perspective why your first attempt isn’t as good as their tenth. You also end up comparing your ability to describe the images in your head to their ability to craft a new image in your head; I guarantee you that the image the author came up with isn’t the one their readers have, and they’re kicking themselves for not being able to get it exactly as they themselves imagine it. Only the author knows what image they’re working off of; the readers don’t, and they can imagine their own variation which is just as amazing
5. Up close and too personal. Expanding on the last point, just in general it’s harder to describe something in coherent words than it is to process it when someone else prompts you to do so. You end up frustrated and going over it a gazillion times, even to the point where words don’t even look like words anymore. You’ve got this perfect vision of how the whole story is supposed to go, and when you very understandably can’t flawlessly translate every single minute detail to your satisfaction, it’s demotivating. You’re emotionally attached to this perfect version that can’t ever be fully articulated through any other medium. But on the other hand, when consuming other media that you didn’t have a hand in creating, you’re viewing it with perfectly fresh eyes; you have no ‘perfect ideal’ of how everything is supposed to look and feel and be, so the images the final product conjures up become that idealised version - its no wonder why it always feels like every writer except you can pull off their visions when your writing is the only one you have such rigorous preconceived notions of
6. That’s entertainment. Of course writing can be stressful and draining and frustrating and all other sorts of nasty things, but if overall you can’t say that you ultimately enjoy it, you’re not writing for the right reasons. You’ll never take true pride in your work if it only brings you misery. Take a step back, figure out what you can do to make things more fun for you - or at least less like a chore - and work from there
7. Write for yourself. One of the things that most gets to me when writing is “If this was found and read by someone I know, how would that feel?”, which has lead me on multiple occasions to backtrack and try to be less cringe or less weird or less preachy or whatever else. It’s harder to share your work with people you know whose opinions you care about and whose impressions of you have the potential of shifting based on this - sharing it to strangers whose opinions ultimately don’t matter and who you’ll never have to interact with again is somehow a lot less scary because their judgements won’t stick. But allowing the imaginary opinions of others to dictate not even your finished project, but your unmoderated creative process in general? Nobody is going to see this without your say so; this is not the time to be fussing over how others may perceive your writing. The only opinion that matters at this stage is your own
8. Redirection. Instead of focusing on quality, focusing on quantity has helped me to improve my perfectionism issues; it doesn’t matter if I write twenty paragraphs of complete BS so long as I’ve written twenty paragraphs or something that may or may not be useful later. I can still let myself feel accomplished regardless of quality, and if I later have to throw out whole chapters, so be it
9. That’s a problem for future me. A lot of people have no idea how to edit, or what to look for when they do so, so having a clear idea of what you want to edit by the time the editing session comes around is gonna be a game-changer once you’re supposed to be editing. Save the clear work for when you’re allocating time for it and you’ll have a much easier and more focused start to the editing process. It’ll be more motivating than staring blankly at the intimidating word count, at least
10. The application of applications. If all else fails and you’re still going back to edit what you’ve just wrote in some struggle for the perfect writing, there are apps and websites that you can use that physically prevent you from editing your work until you’re done with it. If nothing else, maybe it can help train you away from major edits as you go
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Test of Love (Chapter Two)
Chapter Two
Chapter one
Summary: You had so much fun with Suguru the last time you went out, so you decide to go on date number two.
A/N: Bit of a Suguru centric chapter. Gojo girlies, don't worry. He'll get his time.
CW: Borderline NSFW, alcohol
W/C: 5,771
Credit to @benkeibear for the banner
Your body sinks into your chair, Yaga’s voice becoming a low hum in your ears. It was usually hard to focus at staff meetings, but it was even harder when you were only going over information you already knew about. That happened a lot. Being friends with Gojo offered many perks, one being insider knowledge about the inner workings of Jujutsu society.
Your eyes focus on the map behind Yaga showing the last attacks until your vision starts to blur. God, you were so bored. A vibration coming from your pocket shakes you out of it.
Gojo: What underwear are you wearing :)
You: You’re annoying
You: What underwear are you wearing
Gojo: A lacy thong
You: You’re full of shit
Gojo: Wanna come find out?
You stifle a laugh, which catches the principal's attention.
“I’m sorry, am I boring you?” He calls your name, squinting his eyes at you.
“No, I apologize, please continue.” You say back, embarrassment flooding your system as all the teachers' eyes fall on you. Gojo pokes your foot with his, an easy smile playing on his lips. What a shit.
You don't even get the opportunity to try to focus before your phone is vibrating again. It’s from an unknown number.
Unknown: Hey, I had fun last time we saw each other, would you be interested in hanging out again?
You: I would love that! What do you wanna do?
You keep your eyes locked on the screen in your lap. You hadn’t saved Suguru’s number yet, but you knew exactly who it was.
Unknown: The choice is yours, sweetheart
You ignore the heat that begins to spark underneath your face.
You: Why don't we go out to eat?
You: I’m not picky on where, I’ll let you decide
Unknown: Perfect. I’ll make reservations
You were excited to see Suguru again. The two of you had been texting off and on ever since your date, and you really enjoyed his company. It was exactly what you needed after a long day of working your ass off. You did feel bad that you didn’t tell him the truth about your occupation, but you didn’t really have much of a choice.
“So far the attacks haven't been anything too serious, but they are troublesome. I called this meeting together to let you know that we will start to have constant patrols near the school to try to avoid another attack.” Yaga steps to the side, briefly looking at the map before turning his attention back to the group of sorcerers in front of him.
You rest your head on your hand and flick your eyes across the room. You were at a loss on what to do about this situation. You were busy thinking about Gojo and Suguru, when you should have been thinking of ways to handle the problem at hand.
“Hm, no.” Gojo says calmly, his hands behind his head.
“No?” Yaga repeats.
“No.” Gojo tilts his chair back until it’s almost about to tip over before he leans forward again.
“We should have the students survey the area to get experience. The curses aren't too high of a grade so they should be able to handle them easily. We can cycle through the first and second years so they get breaks from patrolling. I mean, the students are here anyway. We can send out recent graduates to handle the larger threats, they can also jump in here if needed. And if it gets really bad then we’ll only be a few miles away.”
Silence settles over the room. It wasn’t a bad idea. The students went on missions anyway. You didn’t have to be worried about them being too far out of reach, either.
“Do you think they’re ready for that?” Yaga asks.
“Yeah, Yuuji might need a little more training but everyone else is fine. Unless, you have no faith in your students?” Gojo says your name.
“They can definitely handle it.” You look towards Gojo.
With his plan, higher level sorcerers would be freed up to handle bigger threats. You wouldn’t tell him, but he could be smart. Sometimes.
“Alright. We’ll try Gojo’s plan to see how it goes.” Yaga sighs, calling the meeting to a close.
You stretch your arms while walking back to your classroom. You were so fucking tired. Between texting Gojo and Suguru, you haven't been getting much sleep. Luckily, your students were out on a mission today, allowing you time to catch up on grading papers. At least you wouldn’t have to use too much brain power.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Gojo asks, long legs striding up beside you. “Who’s that?” He peers over your shoulder to look at your phone, watching as you type a message to Suguru.
“Don’t worry about it, and my classroom. You should probably go to yours as well.” You unlock your door and enter, not bothering to close it behind you as Gojo would only kick it down.
“You didn’t wanna see my lacy thong?”
“Maybe next time, Gojo.” You stand next to your desk and turn around, tilting your head back to look at him.
“How does tonight sound?” Gojo says with a wicked grin.
As much as you wanted to hang out with him…
“Can’t. I have a date.”
“And it’s not with me?” He looks at you dumbly.
You laugh, you hadn’t told Gojo about your date with Suguru. You didn’t really see a need to.
“You’re in an open relationship, isn’t it only fair that I can see who I want as well?” Not that you were necessarily official with Gojo.
Gojo pouts, staring down at you as you step closer.
“Is it your first time seeing him?” His blindfolded eyes follow you as you stop centimeters in front of him.
“My second.”
“Did you guys go all the way last time?”
Your throat feels dry at the question.
“It’s none of your business. And no. We didn’t even kiss.”
Gojo’s shoulders relax a bit at your admission.
“Aw, you jealous?” You joke, lifting a finger to point into his chest.
Gojo grabs your hand, yanking you closer. It catches you off guard, leaving your feet to wobble. You use your other hand to steady yourself against him.
“I don't have any reason to be jealous. You’ll be crawling back to me after your little date.”
The oxygen feels like it’s sucked out of the room, his lowered voice simmering in your stomach. Gojo lowers his blindfold to highlight his point, his blue eyes staring hard into you.
“Is that so?” You ask, breathlessly.
When did his lips get so close?
He hums before leaning down closer. His woody cologne fills your senses, making you immediately dizzy. Gojo watches your expression closely before his white lashes flutter shut while he presses his lips against yours. Soft and sweet. His lips were like sugar as they meld to yours. There’s no tongue, but you don't need it. Your body temperature is rising all the same.
He pulls away and smirks down at you before stepping away. A cocky bastard. You run your thumb along your bottom lip, indulging in the tingling sensation that lingered on you.
“I don’t need to be jealous if I got to kiss you first.” He says with a chuckle, turning around to head out of your classroom.
You can't deny the heat that was beginning to spread in the lower half of your body. You would be a liar if you said you had never thought about kissing him before. It happened only seconds ago and you were already replaying the scene in your head. At least he kissed you, you weren’t sure you would’ve made the first move. Even if you were glad he kissed you, a part of you hated him for leaving you high and dry.
“Have fun on your date!” He calls out over his shoulder, turning the corner to exit the classroom.
Bastard.
You huff and settle down into your seat, hoping the rest of the day would go by faster.
~~~
Luckily for you, it does. And strangely enough, Gojo hasn’t texted you at all since your encounter with him. You were kind of expecting him to pester you for details about the date. It wouldn’t be too far out of the realm of possibilities for him to show up and insert himself. That would be funny, you thought. Gojo and Suguru together would be interesting. They’re on opposite ends of the spectrum, the mere idea of them interacting puts a smile on your face.
The sun is beginning to set as you gather your things to head out for the day. Suguru told you what restaurant you guys were going to, not that you had ever heard of it. He also said he wanted to pick you up if you’d allow it, which you graciously accepted. The restaurant was higher end, in a richer part of Tokyo. You had only ever been to that area several times with Gojo. You were kind of nervous to go, feeling slightly out of your realm, but you knew you would have a good time if you were going with Suguru.
You stand in front of your mirror, rubbing your hands down your outfit. You decided on a black dress that landed just above your knees, the perfect mix between sexy and classy.
Checking your phone, an idea pops in your head. Would it be weird to send a picture of your date outfit to Gojo, considering you were also seeing him?
Yeah. Probably.
Oh well.
You lift up your phone and take a picture of yourself in the mirror, checking it before sending it to Gojo. Right as you send the photo to him, a notification pops up at the top of your screen.
Unknown: I’m here, are you ready?
You: Yes!
Grabbing your clutch, you hurry outside to find Suguru waiting for you. He’s leaning against his car, head tilted as he looks around. When he brings his eyes to you, you feel a chill down your spine. He reminded you of a fox. He wore a black button up with black slacks, his hair tied up into a neat bun.
“You look beautiful.” His velvet voice floats over to you.
Your eyes flutter down at the flattery as you make your way closer to him.
“You don’t look too bad yourself.”
Suguru chuckles and steps aside, grabbing the passenger door handle to open it for you, resting his hand against the top of the door so you don’t bang your head. His car smells like wood and leather, an intoxicating scent that instantly fills your body. He rounds the car before sliding inside the drivers seat, eyes flicking to look up at you.
“How was work?” He asks, pushing the keys in the ignition before pulling out of your parking lot, driving towards the restaurant.
“It was okay, my coworker was kind of getting on my nerves today. He kept getting in my business.”
Suguru smirks, arm flexing as he grips the steering wheel loosely.
“Sounds like someone I know.” He responds easily.
The building comes into view and it looks even fancier than you were expecting. You could see the low lights past the windows with tables evenly spaced throughout the place. There was even a terrace on the top, apparently a rooftop bar according to Suguru. You make a mental note to see if he would bring you up there after you ate.
Suguru gets out before you and opens your car door again, causing your heart to race. You had never been with someone so gentlemanly before. He offers an arm out for you to take, leading you towards the front door. Once you step inside you’re able to see just how busy it is. There was a short line in front of you, and it looked like every table was taken. You remember that Suguru told you he made a reservation, which eases your nerves a bit. That being said, you still felt out of place.
When you get to the hostess table, a young woman glances up at you before doing a double take, eyes settling on Suguru.
Can’t say you blame her.
“Hello sir, did you have a reservation?” Her eyes gleam as she bites back a grin.
“Yes, under the name Suguru.”
“For 7 pm?” She looks back down, studying the list in front of her.
“That would be it.” He lifts a hand up to brush his palm against your arm, wordlessly comforting you. He must’ve been able to tell you were nervous.
“Oh, it looks like we accidentally double booked the table. Let me go and see if the other couple has already arrived.”
Suguru’s brows furrow and you bite your lip. What would you do if your table wasn’t available? You really didn’t wanna go back home, and the two of you were already dressed so nicely.
The woman returns with a somber look on her face. She fidgets with her hands while looking up at Suguru, completely disregarding your presence.
“I’m so sorry, it seems your table was already taken. We can put you next on the list for when another one opens up?”
“Do you know when that might be?” You ask.
She looks down at you, as if she just realized you were there.
“Probably 30 minutes.”
You and Suguru stand in silence for a moment, debating your options. You could wait, but you were also really hungry, a fact Suguru must have noticed.
“I think we’ll look for another restaurant.” He excuses you both, a soft smile on his face.
As the two of you exit, you look up towards Suguru.
“I can always cook something for us back at my house. I don’t think my boyfriend will be home for a while.” He wonders out loud, checking his watch.
“No! It’s okay, I wouldn’t want to intrude like that,” you say quickly, “why don’t we just walk around and see if we can find something nearby?”
Suguru squeezes your hand and agrees, walking alongside you down the sidewalk. There’s a slight breeze in the air, ruffling your hair as you make your way further down the street. It was extremely busy since it was a Friday night. There were groups of young people congregating together, laughing loudly. It had been awhile since you spent the night on the town. You honestly rather preferred to stay curled up in bed with a good book in your hands, but you couldn’t deny the joy you felt as you walked beside Suguru, weaving your way through seas of people.
“Oh! How about here?” You point towards a food truck parked on the side of the road.
Suguru’s brows fly up in what you assume is surprise before he trains them back down. He didn’t seem pompous, so you were hoping he wouldn’t complain.
“I haven’t had their food in awhile.”
“You’ve been here before?” You whip your head towards him while pulling him closer.
“Yeah, my boyfriend really likes it.”
Weird, the only other person you know who eats here is…
“What can I get for you!” A cheery older man says, poking his head out the side of the window.
“Did you know what you want?” Suguru asks you.
“Oh, um, I’ll just get a slice of the cheese pizza.” You murmur, looking at the menu printed on the side of the van.
Suguru orders a slice of the same, and the older man takes his money and trades off two paper plates. It looks greasy and wonderful, just how you remember it being.
“Thank you!” You exclaim, grabbing your plate before sliding to the side, standing at the edge of the sidewalk.
The pizza melts in your mouth the second you take a bite, the golden cheese sliding down your throat. You let out a groan of approval, stopping in your tracks when you notice Suguru’s eyes on you.
“I-I’m sorry!” You fluster out, cheeks immediately heating at the attention.
“It’s cute.” Suguru whispers with a small grin, before taking a bite of his slice.
You bite back a smile as you sink your teeth into the pizza. Honestly, you had no idea what you had done to get so lucky. Most women dream of dating a hot, sweet, funny guy. And you had two of them? You weren’t quite sure what to do with yourself.
A gust of wind blows by, causing your body to shiver. Suguru steps to the side to block the wind from chilling you further, reaching a thumb out to swipe a bit of marinara sauce on your lips.
The action almost felt parental, but you were beginning to notice that trend with him. It seemed like every action he did was in care of you, constantly looking for ways to help out.
“What did you want to do once we finish?” He asks, already halfway done.
You ponder the idea for a moment. Really, your options were endless on a Friday night. Suguru was still a bit of a stranger, so you weren’t really sure what he liked to do. Your eyes drift around the area you’re in, taking note of the establishments. A bright sign catches your attention.
“Do you like dancing, Suguru?”
Suguru’s eyes follow yours, seeing the club that stood several businesses away. There was a line out the door, but it was moving pretty fast. It had been awhile since you’d gone to a club, but the idea sounded very tempting. It was fun to let loose, plus you wanted to see what Suguru looked like under the flashing lights. Maybe that was a selfish desire, but you craved it.
“Yeah, is that where you wanna go?” Suguru laces his hand with yours once you finish eating, the two of you walking towards the club.
Just like you thought, you aren’t waiting long before you’re already in the front, flashing your IDs to get access. A waft of alcohol hits you in the face along with the cool breeze of the AC. It was slightly cool outside, but you knew you’d need the comfort the artificial cold provided once you were packed with the other bodies.
“Do you want anything to drink?” Suguru asks, his voice slightly louder than his normal talking tone in an attempt to speak over the blasting music.
You nod your head and follow him to the bar, his hand holding yours tightly so you don’t lose each other. His palm is large in yours, easily overshadowing the size of your hand. His skin was warm, but not in an uncomfortable sweaty way. It felt calming, protective.
When you arrive, you order a mixed drink while he gets a glass of whiskey. Hopefully the alcohol won’t get to you too fast since you had just eaten. The idea of being drunk in front of Suguru kind of mortified you, you still wanted to make a good impression.
The alcohol burns down your throat as you sip the drink, setting it down on the counter once you’re finished, only to find Suguru’s eyes already looking at you. Just like you expected, he looked amazing under the lights. Flashing colors illuminated his face, his tall stature even more daunting when compared to the other men in the club who didn’t even come close to his height.
“Let’s dance!” You yell over the music, digging your nails in his arm to drag him to the dance floor.
He smiles as he allows you to maneuver his body, standing him in front of you. His cologne goes straight to your head as you press yourself against him, throwing your arms around his neck.
“It’s a little busy.” He observes, mumbling in your ear.
The brush of his breath against your ear causes you to gasp, gripping on him tighter.
“It’s better that way, I won’t get embarrassed since no one will be watching me.” You respond.
“You have nothing to be embarrassed about.” Suguru guides his hands up your body, the slow drag making you want to groan. He brings them back down and settles them on your waist, holding you tightly against him.
You sway your body to the music, standing so close to Suguru that you can't see his face. You aren’t sure you want to see his face. The alcohol was flowing through your veins, and you were afraid of what you might do were you forced to acknowledge his presence.
Bodies dance beside you, the heat of the room finally crawling up your spine. Your neck is starting to feel sticky already, but you’re too drunk on the moment to care.
Suguru’s body feels hard against your own, and you can't help but find yourself wondering what he looks like underneath all his clothes. He looked strong, you could practically feel the muscles that bulged underneath. Your mouth begins to salivate at the image you start to conjure up in your head, the sight borderline pornographic. The more you think about it, the more you can feel your restraint begin to slip. It wouldn’t be so bad to make a move, would it?
Bravery, it was a fickle thing, wasn’t it?
You were in need of it every day for your job. You needed it so often that you tended to forget that what you were doing required it at all. Sometimes it was hard to summon.
It also tended to be easier to use when you had the aid of liquid courage flowing through you.
You drag your hands down, softly scratching the skin of his veiny forearms while you pull away from him. He looks down at you with raised brows, waiting on bated breath to see what you were going to do. The music changes, giving you the last boost you needed. You turn around, placing your ass against Suguru while grabbing his hands, guiding them to your waist once more, and you start to follow the music.
You didn’t mean for it to be filthy, you really didn’t. At least that’s what you tell yourself.
It was too hard to resist the beat of the music so you decided to let your body do the talking for you. Quickly the two of you find a rhythm together, your bodies moving in tandem. Suguru digs his fingers in your waist, keeping you pulled tight against him. You allow your eyes to flutter closed while you sing along with the music surrounding you, the vibrations of it filling your soul.
“This feels so good!” You speak over the music, telling Suguru.
“Hm, is that right?” He questions, guiding your hips back and forth.
The lowness of his voice crawls over your skin, sparking a match deep inside your stomach. You meant dancing felt good, but now that you thought about it, your bodies pressed together also felt amazing.
You throw a hand back, placing it on Suguru’s head, bringing him closer to you. Closer, you needed him closer. What the hell was in the drink you had? You were feeling unstoppable.
You grind your ass against him harder, noting the way his hands tighten around you. It sends a rush of excitement over you, only beckoning you to go further. You run your hands over his arms again, delighting in the rumble you feel come from his chest.
“Careful, baby.” Suguru warns, placing a slow kiss on your neck.
How could he tell you to be careful if he was going to tempt you further to the deep end?
“Or what?” You find yourself asking, looking over your shoulder.
Fuck.
You were treading on a thin line, and you knew it. His eyes are narrowed in on you, peeking at you from thin slits. He doesn’t look angry, he looks determined.
Suguru reaches down, curling his fingers underneath the hem of your dress. He doesn’t pull it up, he just slides his fingers across your skin, causing goosebumps to prickle you.
You lean forward slightly, pushing your ass out more against him. If he wanted to tease you, two could play at that game.
It felt like you were the only two ones on the dance floor. Your bodies moved in perfect sync, almost as if you had danced this way with him hundreds of times before. Your mind was dizzy, drunk on the feeling that sunk in your chest.
As you move, you’re able to feel something underneath you. You only have to glide back and forth several more times before you’re able to deduce what that something was. When you look over your shoulder you see Suguru looking down, his brows furrowed as he watches you grind against him.
It’s as if he can feel your gaze, because he’s flicking his eyes back up to you. Your stomach immediately drops once you’re caught, but you still delight in the look he’s giving you. A low pressure builds in your core.
He takes control, practically moving your body for you. You want to feel embarrassed, but you don’t. Not when you know that there’s probably twenty other couples doing the exact same thing.
You feel like you’re a patient person, never jumping the gun on hardly anything. But in this moment, right now, you’re desperate.
You turn around, wrapping your arms around him and yanking him down towards you. He instantly gets the hint, grazing his lips against yours. The two of you look into each other's eyes through heavy lids before you press your lips together.
Kissing Suguru was everything you thought it would be and more.
His lips tasted smoky like the whiskey he drank earlier on in the night. It suited him. You press your mouth against his harder, silently begging for more. No matter how urgent you felt, Suguru refused to cooperate. He moves on his own time, guiding his lips over yours while his hands trail down your back. It’s painful to wait, your body craving to taste him.
Suguru slips his tongue through his lips, grazing it against yours before you open your mouth. Fuck, was the room always this hot? Your tongue molds against his, heavy breaths being shared between you two. He slides his hand down your leg, hiking it up against his hip.
The new angle causes some friction against your core, leaving you reeling. If you didn’t have better self control, you might have just ripped your clothes off in the middle of the dance floor.
You moan against his lips, making him smile. His fingers grip your leg tightly, so tight you’re sure you would have bruises tomorrow morning.
His tongue easily follows yours, neither dominating or submissive. You didn’t care if anyone’s eyes were on the both of you. Suguru had you completely entranced. You were sure if he told you to do anything, you would do it.
You wrap your arms around his neck, reaching up to pull his hair tie out. You run your fingers through his silky hair, appreciating the way it flows through each digit. When his hair falls down, you’re able to get a whiff of his shampoo and probably conditioner (there was no way this man didn’t have a multistep routine). The scent was that of lavender and frankincense. It was calming, just like him.
Pulling back, you open your eyes to look at his face. He was so fucking handsome. Suguru’s lips follow yours, but you reel your head back even more, granting you just a sliver of space. How cute. His eyes flutter open to look down at you, as if offended you stopped kissing him.
His amber eyes cause your breathing to stumble, the intensity punching you in your gut.
“You’re a brat, aren’t you?” He asks, as if he already knows the answer.
“Why don’t you come find out?” You respond.
He stares at you for a moment longer, gaze calculating in the way he watches you. A pang of fear grips you, but it’s overshadowed by the alcohol in your system.
“Let’s get out of here.” He leans down to whisper in your ear. It’s not a question, it’s a statement. One he knows you’ll agree to.
Suguru pulls back, bringing his hand up to move some of your hair out of your face, behind your ear. He looks at you like you’re delicate china, something he wants to hold and protect.
Fuck, you really feel bad for not being able to tell him the truth about yourself…
You force yourself to snap out of it, too intent on enjoying this moment with Suguru. You place a quick kiss on his lips and tug him towards the exit.
How long has it been since you got laid?
The prospect of sex was rattling around your brain, making your mouth go dry. When you were dancing on Suguru you could tell he was big, and that fact only messed with you more. Could you take him? Something told you that he would make it fit.
Suguru slides his keys from his pockets, opening the car door for you once more. Part of you wasn’t even sure you’d be able to wait until you got home to have sex with him.
“Your house or mine?” You ask, out of breath from the anticipation.
“Mine’s closer.” He starts the ignition, holding his arm behind your seat to back out.
Of course he backs out like that.
Your fingers twitch in your lap with the need to hold him again. The idea of sitting on his lap while he drove was almost too tempting.
Suguru makes a series of turns until you’re waiting at a stop light, your stomach tingling.
“Suguru, how much l-“
Suguru turns around and grips your chin. He smashes his lips against yours, effectively cutting you off. You can’t help the squeal that falls from your lips at his action. His tongue brushes against your bottom lip, making you raise a hand to grip his shirt.
“Be patient, little one.” Suguru murmurs, pulling back to look into your eyes.
You furrow your brows, seconds away from groaning. The red hue on his face changes to green and he’s moving back into place, pressing his foot on the gas.
Handfuls of nice apartment complexes pass by the car as you speed to his house, making you wonder just how rich he was. He said he was a freelancer, but you didn’t know of any freelancers who made this kind of money.
“We’re here.” He says, easing the car to a stop.
You lean forward to peer up at the building in front of you. It was incredible. It had to have been at least twenty stories, with glass paneling all around. You’re too busy gawking at the apartment to notice Suguru opening your door, waiting outside for you.
“Oh, sorry. This is really nice Suguru.” You mumble, taking his hand as you step out.
Your eyes are locked on the building as you get out, wondering what the inside looks like. It definitely had to be nicer than your place. You were starting to be glad that the two of you didn’t go to your apartment, you weren’t even sure you had picked the laundry up off the floor and here he was living lavishly.
Suguru tilts your head back to him, garnering your attention once more. He presses his lips against yours, trapping you against the car. His mouth was much more frenzied by now, as he pulled away to leave hot kisses down your neck, sinking his teeth in your throat softly.
You let out a quiet moan, which makes him grip you tighter. The two of you were beginning to gather attention, as you could feel the heat of people staring as they walked by.
“S-suguru.” You mumble, tugging his shirt.
He pulls back and looks down at you with feral eyes before stepping away. Suguru grips your hand, lacing his long fingers around yours while you follow him clumsily to the doors. He nods once to the front desk attendant before stopping in front of the elevators. Your body heat is steadily rising as you get closer to his apartment. His hand flexes around yours as the elevator slowly inches closer and closer to the bottom floor.
The second the doors open he’s dragging you inside, pressing you against the shiny walls. His lips are back on your throat in an instant, his hot breath caressing your neck as he nips you. The elevator was too small, the heat the two of you were emitting only circulating making you even more dizzy. You moan and dig your nails into his shirt, pulling him closer to you. His hips press into you, and you’re able to feel his hardness again.
Hell, if he wasn’t going to make it fit, then you were.
Beeps from the elevator fill the small room as you slowly crawl to the next floor. Your eyes are glued to the red numbers at the top, watching them get higher and higher.
Suguru sinks his teeth near your jugular and begins to suck, relishing in the groan you release. Your lips are slightly parted as you indulge in the sensation of his tongue working your neck. He was definitely going to leave hickeys, but you didn’t care. You bring your hand down and graze his crotch, brushing past his hard cock. Suguru takes in a quick breath, his fingers digging harder into you.
The elevator beeps once more before you’re at floor twenty, the doors slowly opening.
“Suguru-“
He pulls away and smashes his lips to yours before stepping away. The look in his eyes is a far cry from his appearance when you met him in that quiet bookstore.
You sink your teeth into your lip as he leads you down the hall, perfect white tiles lining the path as you go. The wetness between your legs was beginning to borderline on uncomfortable, and a throbbing sensation was shooting up from your core. Suguru stops in front of a door and rips his keys from his pocket, jamming them into the knob. Simultaneously he’s turning his head to kiss you again, finding the fact of being away from you unbearable. You hold the side of his face and stick your tongue out, tangling with his as the door opens and the two of you stumble inside.
“Oh, you’re home early.” A voice comes from inside the house.
Suguru pulls away from you and looks over his shoulder.
“Satoru, you said you wouldn’t be back until 11.”
…Satoru?
Tag List: @tojislittleprincesss, @dinolvrrr, @kimi01985, @constawrites, @spookysoowpprince, @reosnagi, @faerie-soirxx, @platrom
If you want to be added to the taglist just let me know, please specify if you want to be added for all my works or just this fic
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Imagine how perfect it would be if it turns out that Salem is actually COUNTING ON the heroes killing Cinder out of revenge?
As in, Salem has a failsafe in place to ensure that if Cinder dies, she can still recover the Maiden powers from her. Perhaps Salem has a small grimm (similar to what Cinder used to extract the powers from Amber) imbedded deep inside Cinder, or some form of mental conditioning to ensure that if Cinder dies, the Maiden powers WILL go where Salem wants them to. Either to Salem herself or perhaps one of her other hybrids or perhaps even a specialized grimm Salem has modified to specifically serve as a storage-device for the Maiden powers until Salem can find a new holder for them*.
Meaning that when Cinder just can’t resist her raging hate-boner for not-actually-dead Ruby and sneaks/tears off to Vacuo against Salem’s orders to murderify her once and for all, Salem isn’t actually worried.
First Salem decides that Cinder has finally lost her ‘free will’ privileges and triggers the ‘assuming direct control’ protocols of Cinder’s grimm implants/prosthetics, causing Cinder to forcibly undergo a horrific and painful transformation into a full grimm hybrid just as she’s about to fight Team RWBY. Complete with Salem giving a terrified Cinder a classic ‘you have outlived your usefulness’ telepathic speech.
At this point, Salem can see only two possible outcomes to this charade: Either Grimm!Cinder is able to survive her rampage and make it back to her, now an entirely obedient slave. Or she’s killed by Team RWBY and co, in which case Salem can still get the Maiden powers back and find a new host, making this far more of an inconvenience than a true setback. And with any luck, perhaps Cinder’s rampage will manage to do some serious damage, maybe kill off a few of Salem’s more prominent enemies.
Even when Ruby is able to hit Grimm!Cinder with a full-power Silver Eye blast that manages to obliterate the vast majority of her grimm-attachments, even if she’s lost direct contact, Salem still isn’t worried.
After all, there’s no way the heroes will be able to resist killing the girl who has done so much to hurt them and take so many of their friends from them.
But then Ruby does the ONE thing Salem wasn’t counting on.
She shows Cinder MERCY.
Instead of simply being killed, Cinder is captured. And is therefore removed from Salem’s influence and given the opening to be shown genuine sympathy, positivity and kindness for what may be the first time in her life.
At the very least, from Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang, who have already seen first-hand the horrors of Salem’s grimm-experiments back in Atlas. And in Ruby’s and Yang’s case, are almost certainly grappling with the looming possibility that their mother was subjected to similar horrors.
And thus, through acts of mercy and kindness, Team RWBY is able to completely blindside Salem, removing one of her most vital agents from her control, and ultimately turning her AGAINST Salem.
Salem has always counted on her enemies showing cynicism, ‘pragmatism’ and cruelty.
But her enemies showing optimism, idealism and KINDNESS?
THOSE are the things Salem ISN’T expecting.
Not to mention it would play PERFECTLY into the themes of ‘Choice’ that have always surrounded Cinder: By chasing after Ruby to Vacuo, Cinder; the girl who has spent her entire life being denied a ‘choice’ by those in power above her, is finally MAKING a choice. And after spending the entire show dancing obediently on Salem’s strings, Cinder is defying Salem. And through this choice to defy, Cinder inadvertently puts herself in the position to be finally FREED of Salem’s control.
All because of Ruby.
Oh, and also the reactions of all of the people who have spent years now baying for Cinder’s blood would be fucking hilarious XD I mean just imagine the show pointing directly at everyone clamoring for Jaune or Ruby to ‘take revenge’ and how Cinder ‘totally deserves to die’ and effectively saying “Yeah, so the villain was actually counting on the heroes to do EXACTLY THAT.”
--
*And if anyone is going to say something like ‘grimm can’t use maiden powers’, let me reiterate that it is to STORE the powers. Let’s not forget that we have seen grimm being used as a conduit for Maiden powers when Cinder stole part of Amber power and later tried to steal power from Raven and Penny. So it stands to reason that grimm could also be used to store the power as well. Which all frankly makes perfect sense when we consider that both the grimm and the magic of the maidens ultimately come from the same source: The God of Darkness (remember when he called magic “My gift to them”?)
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top 5 fable ships go
I don't know ship names very well so please forgive me
I've also decided to do 5 platonic and 5 romantic because yes
ROMANTIC
5. Wetbird- I am a proud Icarus POV main and I enjoy a healthy bit of Vens POV as well. There is something about this ship that just feels very right to me and also they both have experience with Fable so I feel like they'd have this ability when something might set the other off with trauma and stuff
4. Ghaae- The OG polycule on the server and they can do no wrong in my eyes. They support each other so nicely and its just wonderful.
3. Isla/Enderian- The momssss. I love them sm for so many reasons. Enderian being protective of Isla and only soft for her is mmmmm/pos
2. Ocie/Centross- you guys I love them. I love them so much. They are so similar and I love them so much and they're just mmmmmmm/vpos. How to I explain the love I have for these two.
Wolftross- I hold them in my little hands. As a Centross POV main(until the cathedral, ofc), watching this relationship form was one of my favorite things ever. From the castle back to spawn to s3, I love this ship with my whole heart.
PLATONIC
5. Rae/Wolf(Nightingstar?)- Okay so I love these two as a duo, and the cast can do what the cast wants to do with their characters. Now, with that being said- something about them becoming romantic didn't and still doesn't sit right with me. I can totally see the two in a QPR, they have a great dynamic as partners, but I just prefer them as a platonic ship.
4. Ari/Momboo- I have seen like three posts about them as partners and I hold them in my hands. The sun/moon imagery. The potential for nicknames. They would be wonderful QPPs.
3. End duo- They're such close friends. They are always there for each other. I hold them in my hands.
2. Ghosty/Momboo- LOTW and the guy she revived. The everlasting friendship. Their beauty as a duo. They are so good you guys I don't know how to sell this please just trust me on it.
Prison duo- I could go on for so long about why these two are the perfect platonic relationship in my eyes. They have similar trauma, saw each other at their worsts, when through so much shit and came out as best friends. Icarus taking off their jacket, which they don't do often, in front of Centross. Icarus letting Centross give them a tattoo. Icarus barely fighting Centross when he took off their gloves. Centross showing up on Icarus' doorstep with a skulk injury. Centross fighting Fable for Icarus. Them, everyone.
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Why Podfics are Important
A big part of why I like podfics so much is because to me it is an accessibility feature. There are times when I cannot look at a screen due to light sensitivity or I don't have spoons/brainpower to interact on Tumblr or or I'm too unfocused to read a fic but I still wanna be distracted and think about blorbos and podfics are perfect for that.
The problem is that there aren't very many of them.
When I first discovered them, I filtered for LU fics with no smut or MCD and there were only like 27 podfics. I listened to all of them in about 2 days. I was disappointed there weren't more, but the ones that were there were all excellent. So I asked myself why not try my hand at making them?
It took me about a week to figure out how to record audio, edit, where and how to host it, and how to link to AO3; and now that I know how to do it, I can record and post a fic in a couple of hours. You don't get alot of attention or fanfare for doing it--podfics are nowhere near as popular as ordinary fics, but it's a public service and its just plain fun. Actually its addicting. Every time I finish recording and posting a podfic my brain is like a sled dog pulling on a rope begging "More! Do more podfics!"
In an ideal world, I think every fic should have a podfic version. It would benefit everyone, not just disabled people. Not only are they good for low spoons time, they're also great for ordinary times when you're doing chores or riding the bus or something and you want something to listen to, just like you would listen to any other podcast. Not to mention the fact that by making podfics, you get to learn the valuable modern skill of recording audio and posting it.
I have a motto: "Try anything once," meaning, I'm game to try out learning any new thing and there's no commitment to do it long term or even do it more than that one time. Its just fun to learn and experiment. I've been trying a new thing every year for the past several years and have had fun gaining a bunch of oddball jack-of-all-trades skills like slacklining, longboarding, watercolor, digital art, and podfics.
I'd like to encourage everyone to try making a podfic and seeing how they like it (it does take a couple of podfics to really get your feet under you though). If you like it, or if you're willing and able to, making more podfics would be an invaluable service to provide for the fandom. And if you can't make podfics for whatever reason, why not just listen to a podfic and drop a kudos or comment or something to let the person doing them know that you appreciate it?
If anyone wants to know how to podfic, please feel free to reach out to me and I'll do what I can to help. Also, I'll be putting together a "how to make a podfic" post in the near future so keep an eye out for that.
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poached- sydcarmy
a/n: came across this idea by @the-real-bruce-banner and fell in love!!!
please don't read if you have emetophobia!!!!
summary: carmen said some terrible things, can he fix it?
pairing: sydney adamu x carmen berzatto
warnings: mad angst, carmen is so mean, heartbreak, feelings of disappointment, talks of vomiting, no happy ending :(
Carmen slammed the door of the office so hard, he was sure he’d broken it off the hinges.
It had been a gruelling four weeks. Everyone could see it. Carmen had flown off the handle, again.
He felt uncontrollable, his life unmanageable, and his restaurant? Broken.
What was it this time? You may ask. Well, it all started with that damn poacher.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------
He looked so fucking smug. His nice suit, his expensive glasses, his gucci shoes- in the kitchen of all places. He was supposed to be looking around the kitchen, looking around for a new Chicago restaurant that was meant to be interesting, more of an experience than a meal. But he was paying too much attention to the staff. To Sydney.
Carmen’s fists balled and the tension in his body rose. Why was she talking to him? She had no reason to. Then again, she had no reason not to. Who was he to stop her? They were meant to be business partners. She could talk to whoever she wanted, he wasn’t her father, nor was he anyone who should dictate her life.
So why was she talking to that guy?
“He’s a poacher,” Ritchie puffed out a large cloud of cigarette smoke. “I’ve seen what those guys do. They just sweep in and take your people, just like that.”
Carmen’s blood boiled.
“People like working here, we’re a family. He’s not getting our people.” Fak reassured the both of them. “Don’t worry about it.”
“I’d be worried,” One of the new wait staff, Lindsey chuckled as she stamped out her cigarette. “I heard they were offering Chef Sydney her own restaurant.”
She walked inside as Cramen’s eyes glazed over and his ears started ringing.
Sydney. Sydney leaving him. Sydney, his Sydney, leaving him. She would go off, she’d be amazing- better than him. She’d made the menu she wanted, not the one he did. She’d call the shots, she could do it too. She did it on opening night. She was more than capable. She was the perfect person for the job.
Fuck.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was late. 1:07 am to be exact. Carmen thought he was the only person left in the building, too busy reading over bills and bank statements, while simultaneously thinking about how he could even try to run the Bear without Sydney. She pushed him to be better, to do better.
What would he do without getting to see her face in the morning?
A knock sounded at the door and pulled him from his thoughts. He called ‘it’s open’ without thinking. And there she was. Standing in front of him with her jacket on, and his in hand.
“Hey,” she smiled softly, he rolled his eyes.
“Yeah?” He asked, a rude part of him emerging. Sydney was taken aback, why was he speaking to her like this?
“I was just wondering if you wanted to get out of here? I know this place that’s still open now, it’s pretty good-”
“If you want to leave, leave. I don’t need you. Just leave,” Carmen blurted out. Sydney stared at him. The tension in the room grew, Carmen eyes trained on hers, daring her to say something.
“What?”
“I don’t fucking need you. I don’t fucking want you. Leave.”
He was livid but his voice was unusually calm.
“Ok, fine,” she scoffed, throwing him his jacket.
“Don’t come back here. I don’t want to fucking see you again,” he seethed and slammed the door behind her as she nodded, irritation and anger behind her eyes.
How could she betray him like this? How the fuck did he trust her?
He vowed to never trust anyone again that night.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Four weeks without Sydney. Four weeks of hell.
The restaurant wasn’t the same, everyone blamed Carmen for leaving, everyone hated him. He hated himself. He was brought out to serve a dish, some bullshit influencer he didn’t care about, but he was willing to put on a brave face and smile for their pictures, when a certain poacher caught his eye. He stalked over, irritation and discomfort clouding his better judgement.
What was he doing here when he’d already taken the best chef?
“Good evening sir,” He smiled at Carmen, his ridiculous British accent pulling at a nerve in Carmen’s brain. “Can I help you with something?”
“What are you doing here?” He asked. Point blank, he wanted no bullshit. “You both got what you wanted.”
“I’m here to enjoy my food, might as well try what I missed out on,” He scoffed. “You have some very loyal people, Berzatto. Even Chef Adamu didn’t take my offer of her own restaurant. It’s such a shame.”
Carmen’s world came crashing down. “What’re you talking about?”
“Chef Adamu? She turned down the offer, she stayed, am I correct?” He asked. Carmen didn’t answer. He was too busy trying to get to his office bin in time, before he vomited. He’d fucked up. Sydney didn’t leave him, he’d kicked her out. He’d been so mean. He was fucking horrible to her, and she had wanted to stay. Even after getting kicked out, she didn’t take the offer.
Fuck.
Once Carmen stopped spewing his guts into the small office bin under his table, he got up and picked up his damn phone, dialling her number.
Voicemail. Straight to voicemail.
“H-hey Syd. Look, I-I kn-know I fucked up. I was so s-shitty to you, a-and I deserve to be fucking… I-I don’t even know. I was so fucking arrogant, and fucking rude and just f-fucking m-mean to you. I- I didn’t know what to do. I thought that you were l-leaving me and I-I just went into fucking a-autopilot, I was a total ass and I’m trying to say I’m sorry.” He went quiet for a full minute, his brian finally slowing down. “I’m sorry.”
“This user has blocked you.” Read in the chat between the two of them.
His voicemail wouldn’t send.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------
And that brings us to now, slamming the door so hard it probably broke.
He’d really fucked up.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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1st thought: NATLA vs ATLA's pacing, plot-line, characterization...
Hello everyone, For my first post, I’d like to start with NATLA & ATLA storytelling format differences which plays a huge part for each counterpart’s story direction. Also, I’m not a native english speaker so apologies in advance for grammatical errors!
I grew up watching the show since I was young and every year I do a re-watch, I’m now working in the entertainment industry and had experiences in script writing for comics. My first impression of the live action show was just okay because I binged it till 4 a.m(never again), after another rewatch I fell in love with the show and came to appreciate it much more. It’s true that the only way to truly enjoy it is to judge the show on its own merit but I also agree it's impossible not to compare with the OG show, being an amazing animated show ever made. The LA show isn’t perfect, but it was very fun and just everything I could ever asked for. I’m so happy I got to watch ATLA again with a fresh mind! I can accept most of the changes they made and even prefer the live action’s version, unfortunately the script and directions for many scenes could be a LOT better. I'm glad that the casts were outstanding and very likeable (in and outside the show), especially for my top 2 favourite characters from the OG show, Aang and Katara.
Gordon Cormier was able to embody such a complex character as Aang, having to act as the main character (in a huge high budget show), a fun-loving demigod with incredible responsibilities, while being the only survivor of a genocide, is not an easy feat especially for a child actor, little dude did his own stunts! He even acted the mocap(motion capture) expressions for his digital double, mind you.. He was 12 years old!
Kiawentiio is an excellent indigenous actress, Katara characterization in NATLA is different from the OG show, instead of starting off as the sassy-strong willed Katara that we were familiar of, NATLA Katara started kinda timid+wooden, sulky, shy but hopeful, and later on as the story progresses, we can see her becoming more brave, and confident, and even more better.. Her bending ability progression is shown gradually alongside her confidence! To put it simply, NATLA Katara is given an arc to grow. And I found myself rooting for her even more (because I know what she will be in upcoming seasons).
Unfortunately, NATLA Aang & Katara didn’t get enough praise & love that they deserved, this is due to the changes on their characterization that felt unfamiliar to majority of audiences which are the OG show watchers.
Let’s talk about the main reason why the main GAang (and a lot of other characters, actually) character development plotline ( in season 1) changed in this adaptation; the changing of narrative format, adapting cartoon show to a live action drama.
Many would argue that NATLA has similar total running time with ATLA(the OG animated show) “then why can’t they do the pacing like the OG show?” I think it’s impossible to compare the two (plotline wise) as both have different episodes format and mediums. NATLA has 8 episodes with 1 hour~45 minutes long running time for each episode, whereas ATLA book 1 has 2 episodes with 20 minutes running time for each episode. In ATLA the audiences are given time to breathe for each episode due to short running time, and even shown Katara’s monologue in the beginning of all episodes for a fresh start, therefore episodic format works well for ATLA. In NATLA the show is 45mins~1 hour long with no breaks and no intro monologue (except for episode 1) so the episode runs full stop. And because it's an 1 hour show, the storyline should have a clear purpose & tension to make the audiences emotionally invest with the story. The episode narrative format follows a Three-arc structure(inciting incident->midpoint->climax followed by aftermath) each episode is always high tension, has a main theme + lesson that ties multiple plotlines all together cohesively and continuity with the next episodes, which is why it's hard to show the GAang taking a lot of detours in every episodes as it doesn't help much with the tone and narrative direction of the story. With these two formats in mind, many things could fall flat if they had adapted ATLA’s plotlines 1:1 to NATLA. The biggest aspect is : characterization. Let’s be real, it's live action show.. we're seeing actual children, actual humans emoting, actual 12 years old getting attacked by fire blasts.. It would feel jarring to see Aang riding Elephant koi minutes after he found out his whole family was brutally killed, It would make sense to see him feeling guilty and not letting Katara (and sokka) to fight alongside him in ep 7 after he accidentally brought them to spirit world and almost got them killed in ep 5(but I’m glad Aang comes to terms with it!), also if sokka’s (blatant) sexism is solved within 1 episode (in kiyoshi island which is only the 2nd episode) it wouldn’t feel as rewarding because it's solved too early (also the sexisms wouldn’t land well in live action..could feel too forced or.. cringe).
When people complained that the characters personalities changed, I think many people mistaken it for the tone of the show. NATLA did very well on capturing the horror of a genocide and 100 years of war, the situation feels more dangerous, fire can actually burn you to crisp and not only knocking you back like the OG show portrayed (I understand it’s a show for kids). If the tone of the story changed, of course the many aspects would change as well. It’s kinda sad because the heart of ATLA is these three kids doing side quests with jokes, goofing around while being the hero in the midst of 100 years of war... which unfortunately for the most parts, those moments are taken out in NATLA(glad it's mentioned in the background!). But again, like what i wrote in previous paragraph, due to running time and episode format, this plotline has to change.
Many people feel dissatisfied about the characterization for the GAang, and felt the Fire Nation squad’s development are better written, while I agree that the show felt more favourable towards the FN characters but this is due to the fact that The Fire Nation squad characterization and development are more or less the same as the OG show, they feel more familiar to us and even Azula & Ozai are more fleshed out in NATLA, Whereas our main 3 characters personalities changed quite a lot, cartoon gags won't work well in live action adaptations, the trio mostly shown doing side quests that felt like main quests (less goofing around) and are given their own arcs that’s slightly different than their OG show counterparts. So naturally as an OG show audience(mind you, many of us have watched the show 20x+ probably) watching NATLA’s GAang would feel a bit jarring, like they don’t look familiar, they felt…wrong. But I disagree. Do note that our main 3 character developments are more subtle than the Fire Nation squad, which is why I think they're easily overlooked by the majority of audiences(hence the endless wrong takes people have online). I’d say, the Fire Nation squad(especially Zuko) development is more ‘telling’ than the main GAang in both ATLA and NATLA, it’s more easy to ‘see’ an antagonist turning into a hero whereas the main GAang roles are the same throughout 3 seasons, their developments happened ‘internally’ (psychologically). I wholeheartedly agree that book 1 episodic format is more favourable towards OG GAang dynamics, therefore I can see why the NATLA writing team changed their character development direction. Tl;dr despite its changes, I love the main 3 character arcs in NATLA as we can see their character development clearly;
Aang actually seems very.. very.. guilty and more responsible for being the Avatar although he lacks confidence due to his grief. I love how his ‘running away’ from his duties is basically him asking past avatars to take over his bodies to fight on his behalf, like he keeps saying ‘I’m the avatar, I have to do this’ but when he actually has to face the reality he just stutters and asks for backup from past avatars and even giving away his body to the ocean spirit. And I really like that he feels very guilty of the death of his family to the point that he cannot defend himself and he just accepts everyone's blame for running away (although it’s not true). I also don't see the problem with Aang not running away but instead taking a short walk(or fly) with Appa.. the weight of guilt is still the same, if anything.. it's more depressing because he didn't intend to run away.. he was just trying to mentally prepare himself to take on the role, also Aang grew up in a loving peaceful and supportive environment.. with a mentor like Gyatso, I don't think Aang would take such a daring decision to run away. There are so many details that I really like about his 'new approach' of characterization throughout the season. I'll elaborate more separately in another post (same goes for Katara and Sokka).
Katara is tenacious and hopeful but she’s carrying a huge guilt of her mother’s death which blocks her bending skill from developing and later on able to overcome it. Honestly, seeing her new character arc feels more rewarding! also her bending ability development feels more natural than the OG show, and it’s very nice to see that she’s also very creative at it! imitating other bender movements, that’s a sign of a master. And although many people dislike the idea of her becoming a master despite not having a proper education, I love the fact that she’s able to achieve it by her own effort, and I think the writers intended to do this so Aang can solely practise water bending with Katara, Katara probably will play a huge part in shaping Aang as the Avatar (I’m internally screaming, I will elaborate more in future posts)
Sokka is no longer ‘sexist’, but his ‘sexism’ translates in different form, just not verbally as the OG show. He's a little cocky(and judgemental) in the beginning because he’s carrying this huge responsibilities (that he wasn’t ready to take) he’s trying to look strong (no time to grief unlike Katara, he has to step up as the big brother) and finally learns that sometimes just being present with someone who needs him, physically (not just fighting like how SWT tribe leaders defines leadership value, at least the way he sees it in past memory scene during ep 5) is also as valuable (I’m happy that his main character development isn’t from him being sexist).
Going forward, from the trio last scene in ep 8, I believe we will see the trio that we know of, joyful but wise Avatar Aang, brave and strong but very caring Katara, supportive-charismatic leader Sokka.
Kataang has always been my favourite pair from the OG series. I'm a sucker for the friends-to-lovers trope, I find this relationship to be very honest and grounding. There's no better lover than your own best friend, your own person. the pacing that the OG series had, helped a lot in building Kataang’s relationship growth(also the whole team), It flows naturally and gradually, the friends-to-lovers trope is explored really well in book 1, which is possible because book 1 episodic format. In NATLA, I am glad to see that Aang didn't fall in love with Katara right after he wakes up, Katara didn't even pull Aang down during avatar state in Southern Air Temple(I’m glad it was Gyatso, makes soo much sense honestly), and many many scenes from the OG show that got removed (Aang showing off his skill and making Katara jealous in Kiyoshi island for instance) nonetheless I was really really happy to see hints here and there and it finally pays off when Katara pull him out from his avatar state in NWT (I will elaborate more in another post) I’m so EXCITED to see slow burn KatAang, I have predictions of what their relationships development could look like in upcoming seasons, i’m hopeful that the writers can elevate their relationship dynamics better than the OG show, and since we’re getting teenager Aang & Katara, I’m very very excited to see more mature approach of their relationship growth.
Closing thoughts, ATLA was amazing but you see.. nothing is perfect in this world, there's always room for improvements, book 1 felt like the creators weren’t sure whether the audiences would like to see more and they were trying to play it safe because they knew how heavy the show would be later on but at the same time it was a NickToons show, fortunately this is NATLA’s advantage over ATLA, since the show runners are aware of the whole storyline, able to raise the rating to PG-13(iirc) + with the episode count and running time, they were able to push back and pull in components from different seasons, for instance they pull in Ozai & Azula (because there might be not enough time to flesh out both of them in later seasons & to enhance the tension because they pull out the comet plotline due to irl actors aging) and push back the trio's characterization by giving them starting arcs to grow as our heroes.
There are so many things that I appreciated about NATLA, it’s so sad to see the a lot of people refusing to accept the changes and rejects the potential. Sure the scripts could be a LOT better, but if you see the nuances and details that they added to strengthen the plot-line you’d be surprised how well thought out the show is.
End of thread, thanks for reading this long ass thread! I’m open to any discussions, suggestions and opinions! See you all in my next post!
P.S i appreciate the follows, reblogs and love! also i cant seem to post a reply, hopefully this issue will be solved soon
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I mean... We need a little spying fic now.. Swiss loves to watch his big boy get it on.. 👉👈
Perhaps not exactly what everyone is expecting...the course this follows was set down long ago. Forcedfem involving heels under the cut.
You know he does though. And when Aether picks up a package from the delivery truck, it's all very casual you know. Swiss only catches the anxious way his tail curls around itself because he knows the guy so well.
Alright, so it's a sex toy. He thinks, stalking Aether back to his rooms. Stepping quickly and quietly over the slats of the roof. He thinks about what Aether might want that he couldn't get from anyone else here. Really solid vibrations, probably. Swiss likes the real thing personally, but he can't deny the allure of a steady rumbling pressed right up against sensitive, swollen spots.
He doesn't even close his curtains. It's like he wants to be spied on. He closes his door, locks it even and just stands there. Holding that package to his chest with his eyes closed. Breathing steadily to calm his fluttering heart. He's so cute.
Aether sits down on his bed. Swiss lays down on his tummy, props his chin on his hands. The sun is warm against his back, the tiles perfect and hot on his skin. Such a nice day. Such a nice view. He wishes he had a blunt to really round the experience out as Aether cuts into the package, unwraps the brown paper away from the white box within, gingerly lifts the lid, and...
It's not a sex toy.
Instead it's a pair of... shoes? Small and black and shiny with an ankle snapping heel length for anyone inexperienced.
Of course Swiss knows immediately who they must be for. Someone just as small with dark eyes and a snappy nature for anyone who wasn't privileged enough to see his softer, more feminine side.
Swiss has to bite his lip in glee as Aether reverently holds the little heels up for inspection. No flaw, obviously. How much had he...how long had he spent searching...and other thoughts like that are quickly wiped away when Aether hugs the pair to his chest in one arm and tilts his head back in an obvious groan Swiss would give anything to hear. He knows what's going on up there, he's imagined it too. The way he would slip them on and hesitantly stand up. Wobble around like the delicate thing he is until he was caught up in a stronger pair of arms. The way his legs would look in them while they both pinned him, pleasured him.
Made her tell them what a pretty girl she was.
Aether's head hangs low now. His mouth hangs open. Swiss wonders giddily if he's going to drool on the shoes. Now or later. Satanas, he hopes he gets to watch. He already sees the expression of hopeless horror over Aether's shoulders as he kneels to slide one little shoe on first. Maybe he'll kiss the ankle, the calf. Up past the knee and make his thighs shake. Swiss is so lost in this perfect picture his mind paints for him he nearly misses it. How Aether holds one shoe to his cheek, like someone is already wearing it and he's no better than a footstool. He drops it quickly, like it burns him and Swiss snickers. Big guy is just as quick to pick it back up, check for any scuffs. Aether laughs at himself, a little chuckle. A little shake of his shoulders, or was that a shiver of nerves?
Swiss can see he's chubbing up from here. Can hardly blame him. What a feast he must be devouring in his mind, tearing into it without care. Swiss can't wait to count the bitemarks left behind and as Aether brings the shoe up to his cheek again, eagerly groping his cock, rocking his hips, Swiss settles in for long haul. In the name of information gathering, of course.
After all, he's a very considerate man. Wouldn't Aether like his help broaching the topic of those dangerous looking shoes with their delicate little Droplet? She can be such a a nervous girl, after all...
Sometimes she needs convincing.
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Sympathy for Jin Shirato
In all honesty, I actually feel just as, if not worse for Jin, than I do Chidori; especially in Reload, despite Chidori being the most fleshed out of the Strega three. This character analysis will not include developments from Shadow Cry, as I'm not aware of most of its contents enough to include it.
(P.S. There are no visuals because for some reason, Tumblr doesn't want to save with them.)
I think the motivations of the three Strega members are very important. All of them came from the same background, as child experiments; and thus, we can draw fair conclusions from them.
Takaya wants to get back at the world for hurting him. He's a man who is very weak-willed, and wishes for death, as long as it means others come along with him. He's adopted this view in which his only purpose in life is to bring everyone down with him: as he's been granted the power to do such (in the form of Hypnos), he's under the impression that his life is meaningless otherwise. This is why he's so unwilling to give up the Dark Hour to SEES; he's unwilling to start over, because in his mind, he's built up meaning for himself.
Takaya doesn't really care for anyone; everyone he comes across, to him, is either an asset he can use to achieve his goal (Jin and Chidori), or an obstacle (SEES). As much as I'd like to believe Takaya genuinely did care for Jin and Chidori, I can't see it. At the end of the game, Takaya becomes a cult leader; Strega had always had parallels to such, and cult leaders, like Takaya, don't typically care about their followers. Rather, they see them as tools, to get their way.
From my point of view, Takaya is an irredeemable piece of garbage, in the games, and cannot compare to Jin or Chidori in terms of sympathizing potential. As previously stated, I'm not accounting for Shadow Cry in this post, so I don't really know how the pathetic wet cat man is portrayed there.
Chidori's motivation is that she, quite literally, has no motivation. She finds no purpose in life, and therefore, doesn't really care what happens either way. In her eyes, dying just means she'll never wake up again, and the end of the Dark Hour? "Cool, more days to live until I inevitably die," is probably what she would've made of it. Either that, or, "oh no, Medea!"
Chidori's motivations are so radically different than both Takaya and Jin's motivations, and I believe this is why she was able to break away from such a cynical, nihilistic line of thought, much more easily than the other two. The only reason she followed, and was loyal, to Strega, was because Jin and Takaya were similar to her. Other than that, she held no regard for them, and did not consider them friends. It did not matter, to her, who she followed. If Takaya had been a better guy, maybe with hopes of reform, she probably would've turned out better as well. The only person she really cared about, until Junpei, was herself; as selfish as that sounds. She considers Medea her only true friend, as a representation of how she isolates herself, in order to not be afraid of death.
So, where does that leave Jin?
I believe Jin, unlike Takaya and Chidori, possesses a trait that neither of the other two have: genuine care for the few people close to him.
The reason Jin doesn't want the Dark Hour to disappear is very similar to Takaya's; however, as shown in Reload, this isn't really the case. We have to remember that Takaya, essentially being a cult leader, even before he starts such, is incredibly manipulative and charismatic. Think of Jin as a young, impressionable dude, who is at an incredibly low point in his life; someone who is emotionally vulnerable, someone who can be targeted. The perfect candidate for a potential cult member. Then comes along Takaya: someone who is kind to him. Someone who treats him with dignity, with respect; someone who is there for him when he needs it most. Someone who 'saves' him.
Kind of like Chidori, I believe Jin could've fallen for anyone; it didn't have to be for Takaya, it just had to be someone who was kind to him during the darkest time of his life. Unfortunately for him, Takaya does not truly care for him, unlike the vice versa, and whatever kindness Jin experienced from Takaya may or may not have been an act of manipulation. Kind of like how cults usually target young, impressionable, emotionally vulnerable individuals. Jin was manipulated into siding with Takaya; and kind of like a cult member and a cult leader, the member would align with the leader's ideals. Therefore, I do not believe Jin's true reason for standing against the Dark Hour's absence is the same as Takaya's.
This is not to say Jin doesn't have a 'real' reason; unlike Chidori, I believe he does. His statements on 10/31, being: "If the Dark Hour disappears, we might forget everything that happened, won't we? / I'd forget you and Chidori, the things we did together, our time at the facility... All of it." I find this line an incredibly simple way of painting Jin in a sympathetic way; and yet, it's incredibly tactful.
Jin values the time he's spent with Takaya and Chidori; he values them. To him, they're like family. They are what SEES is to Makoto/the protagonist: his friends, the only friends he's ever had, and he'd rather die than forget about them. The only problem is that both Takaya and Chidori hold little to no regard for him. I'm somewhat sure he knows this, and yet, he still chooses to view them in such a way; even after Chidori pays virtually no mind to him as a person, and when Takaya separates from him in the final stretch of Tartarus, knowing that Jin would probably die.
This conclusion does raise some questions, though; when Chidori sacrificed herself for Junpei, why didn't Jin say anything? Rather, why didn't he try and stop her? After all, he's mostly silent, and Takaya does most of the talking during the sequence.
Strega's philosophy on death is to not fear it, as it is inevitable. Perhaps this is also why Jin does not show sadness when Chidori dies? To Jin, as well as Takaya and Chidori, they've accepted that they will all die someday, because of the suppressants, as well as their Personas. Jin doesn't view Chidori's death as sad, not because he doesn't care for her, but because Strega has already established that death is inevitable for people like them.
Another potential reason for Jin supposedly not caring for Chidori's death is the presence of Takaya. As a cult member is to a cult leader, Jin is dependent on Takaya. Since Takaya only views Chidori as a pawn, perhaps Jin would take on Takaya's view on the matter; to Jin, Takaya is wiser than anyone else.
I really can't think of any other reasons as to why Jin wouldn't show much emotion during Chidori's death, other than either one: Jin specifically referring to Takaya, and only adding Chidori in as an afterthought, in his quote, or two: bad writing. The first one I doubt, as I feel like Jin would be one of the last people to tell a half-truth (to Takaya, of all people, to boot); especially since his last name is Shirato (white door), referring to how he can't keep his fatass mouth shut when talking about important information with SEES. I don't really think the writers would make such an oversight; adding Jin's sympathetic statement, and then forgetting to make him sympathetic otherwise. Not saying it's not possible; it definitely was, considering the quality of the villains' writing in the older versions of Persona 3. I just find it unlikely.
This all just goes to show that Jin could've ended up just like the SEES members, if not to a greater extent than Chidori. He loved the ones he was close to, and he believed in bonds, to some extent. Of course, maybe not in the way SEES does, but the point is that he did; and bonds are the entire premise of the Persona series. Takaya never believed in bonds at all, throughout the entire game; he's too focused on himself, so he's out of the question. Chidori doesn't believe in bonds until Junpei shows up, even with Jin and Takaya in the picture. Jin is the only Strega member who would go as far to die for his found family, the only member who loved his companions from the start.
The more I think about it, the less I really blame Jin for who he became. Like I've mentioned before, you have to think of Jin as a cult member. A cult member who was 'indoctrinated' by Takaya, because he was naive, impressionable, and a lost soul; looking for someone to love him, respect him, stay by his side, and 'save' him. Would you fault a lost soul, someone who is incredibly emotionally vulnerable, as well as naive, for being manipulated into a cult? Sure, you could view Jin as 'stupid' for falling for Takaya, but that's the thing: people who become cult members aren't always stupid. They could be the brightest, most mature person you know; and that's not the point. Cults target people who are lonely; who want love. No matter how bright, mature, talented, well-read you are; at the end of the day, you are not immune to manipulation, if the manipulators pull the right strings.
I think that's what's most scary about Jin: his story revolves around how someone so bright, so talented, someone who was one the right track, who more or less had the right mindset about relationships, was thrown off course, because he was also lonely, naive, and lost. It's very similar to many people who join cults; his character, even in Reload, can be written off as just some cynical, Takaya-obsessed bomb maniac, kind of like how a lot of people write cult members off as off-putting, evil, and sadistic. I think Reload did a terrific job at exploring this part of his character, even if it was just a few extra scenes. Or maybe I'm just overanalyzing because he's my favorite character lmao, who knows?
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MOOT GAME: " make up a trope for your moots and their biases. doesn’t need to be romantic. can be crackfic/funny/anything you want ^ㅇ(๑>◡<๑)ㅇ^ "
a/n: this is sooooo cute!!!!! thank you for sending it in <3
bee and oh seungmin - friends to lovers
♡ @xhfics
they would meet through a mutual friend and with time they’d begin to slowly develop a really special bond over many shared interests, passions and their lovely silly friend group. they’d have multiple moments where they would finish each other’s sentences and giggle like “wow, we’re the same person!” and their friends would only grin at each other cause they already know exactly what’s happening. both of them value friendship a lot so when one day they realise they have more special feelings towards each other they’d be cautious about it, however, once seungmin confesses to her, that would be the best day in both of their lives and suddenly everything would make perfect sense.
eli and junhan - college au w/ slow burn
♡ @elllisaaa
their story would feel like a best selling young adult novel with a prettily illustrated cover. eli studies literature, he’s an art major and fate brings them together when they’re both doing their own thing in the library, but one of them runs out of pens. the truth is both of them have secretly already observed the other because of their regular study sessions, but they didn’t have enough courage to go up and introduce themselves because “they look too cool…”. it wouldn’t take them long to get to know each other and soon enough they’d start meeting in the near coffee shop sharing about their lives outside of uni too. junhan would be smitten with eli’s beauty and artistic personality, she’d quickly turn into his muse!
ki and hendery - love at first sight
♡ @teasteeper
hendery would turn so animated when he meets ki for the very first time - in the best way possible! he’d be so enchanted by her beauty, her lovely personality, there’s no way he wouldn’t fall for her after he starts a conversation with her while they wait in line somewhere (he’d let her go before him). he’d confidently ask for her number and a few days later he’d ask her out on a date. he’d want to do it immediately the next day, but he’d prefer to not look like a weirdo and blow his shot. literally everyone around him will know he’s in love, because he’d be all smiles and heart eyes, but if someone asks him about it, for a while he’d be really secretive, cause he’d think it’s too good to be true. but little does he know ki is head over heels too!
bunny and beomgyu - soulmates
♡ @lunicho
they would literally meet in a way that you think would happen only in the movies. a silly accident where one of them bumps into the other and immediately falls to the ground to pick up all their stuff with multiple awkward sorry mumbles, or they get stuck in an elevator (hopefully none of them fear elevators lol), or their orders at the coffee shop get switched or something like that… but actually that was just fate doing their job cause they’re meant for each other. they both have an immaculate talent of storytelling so every time they’re with friends everyone would love listening to them talk about their experiences, but especially about the cute story of how they met that never becomes boring!
dee and jeongin - neighbours au
♡ @jeongin-lvr
they’d keep meeting in the elevator, at the front door and the grocery store across the street and every time it would get harder and harder to separate. their conversations would flow perfectly and they would not realise how time flies when they stay in the middle of the hallway, keys in hand, talking on and on about different things. till one day jeongin realises he wants to spend more time with dee and asks if she wants to come over so they can watch the movie they talked about the previous week while he cooks something delicious. of course, he ends up paying more attention to dee than the actual plot of the film.
lili and park jisung - forced proximity
♡ @kgyam4
they’d have to work together on something which will result from them just knowing each other’s faces and names because of a mutual friend, to them suddenly feeling like they’ve known each other their whole lives. maybe they were left alone with the task to pick a movie in the living room while their friends are preparing drinks and popcorn in the kitchen. they wouldn’t know when and how but from discussing different titles suddenly they’re sharing random stories about their lives and what first expressions they had of each other which makes jisung a bit flustered but more than that - intrigued and attracted to lili. he’d hope next time they see each other to be left alone with her again.
julia and theo - coworkers w/ a bet
♡ @sunnyyangie
they’d be each other’s favourite colleagues and they wouldn’t hide it - not from one another nor from the rest of the company. what they would hide is their attraction though (sometimes very poorly), until randomly out of boredom during their breaks they bet on something that would force them to communicate even more with each other, even outside of work hours. they’d have so much fun competing with each other, and when the bet is over they’d be looking for excuses to start a new challenge until taeyang decides to just shoot his shot cause julia looks just as whipped as him!
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I wish we knew more about how bsd characters figured out they have abilities. The fact that transferring an ability is confirmed to be rare implies that most characters just randomly figured out their abilities. Like did Kunikida one day write in his planner “I need to buy new glasses” and suddenly glasses spawned in his hand? Did Tanizaki play tag on the playground and just matrix-ed into thin air? Did Fyodor just randomly touch another person and see them drop dead in a pool of blood in front of him?
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I cannot believe that season. truly just. there was not a single episode I didn't sit down to without a genuine conviction that *this* would be the episode where they spit all over everything I loved about the show. I braced constantly throughout the episodes as they kept setting themselves up for Very Stupid story choices only to pull the rug and go "HAHA surprise, idiot!!! We've given you exactly what you wanted <3". until the final episode which was NOT what I wanted and also exponentially better storytelling and character development than any of the ideal scenarios I'd constructed.
something deeply meta about it all. truly a chaos season for the chaos god, where the most chaotic, unexpected, transformative thing they can do is to be good.
Spent the day processing my love for this season only to have your message sum my thoughts and feelings up perfectly, thank you so very much for sending it 💖
Same as you, not for a second did I go in truly expecting anything from s2. Owen and Mobius have my heart, always will, so primarily the show was a vehicle to provide whatever crumbs of his scenes and chemistry with Tom I could get and with the start of every episode I braced for the moment that would get ruined in some way, only to be continually hit with everything I've ever wanted in a show or pairing right up until the finale. Which, while not what I would've chosen, was beautifully crafted and an almost Shakespearean tragic romance that will haunt me for the rest of my days and is still infinitely better than the nightmare scenarios I'd been floating around in my mind so at least there's that and it's impossible not to be thankful for eps 1-5 for giving content anyone could dream of and more 😅
Besides the obvious ending, I'm mostly crushed our Loki and Mobius didn't get a proper goodbye but honestly believe Loki decided to seek out s1 Mobius instead knowing s2 Mobius loved him too much to ever let his sacrifice happen and it would've been too much to bear, so having made his mind up already he at least tried to visit a version most likely to validate his choice. Just wish the Mobius now waiting until the end of time had at least a similar opportunity, but I'm just thankful he didn't lose his memories and could make his own decision that his faith in Loki is what's carried him before and will continue to do so now.
The flip of their characterization from order or chaos is exactly what has me convinced Lokius will reunite because how can they not with such an open ended future?? Even in separation they revolve around each other and they're the only ones left wanting. Mobius and his life are in ruins with nothing but the passage of time and possibility of some spent with Loki ahead while Loki's surely going to find a way to meet halfway when the choice of order has not only made him potentially the most powerful being in existence but one who spends eternity looking at the only person who ever saw him back.
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Getting real sick of a certain subset of Destiny players complaining that it’s a baby game and crying to Bungie to nerf exotics and abilities when their ENTIRE POINT IS TO BE STRONG in specific ways as if they are being locked into using them.
IF YOU WANT AN EXTRA CHALLENGE STOP BEING SUCH A DPS GOBLIN AND JUST EQUIP SOMETHING THATS NOT TOP TIER META AND STOP COMPLAINING JESUS FUCKING CHRIST
MOOD. Go off.
It's incredibly annoying to me. They always use the argument of "the game should FORCE me to do things, I should not SELF-IMPOSE challenges." And like. ? I'm sorry but what? It's a video game for a big audience, it's here to be playable and accessible to the widest possible playerbase. There are plenty of ways to make the game difficult for yourself, so knock yourself out if that's your thing, but don't force others into it.
Like, I enjoy hard content, I regularly at least attempt day 1 raids, I do master raids, GMs, solo and solo flawless content and all that. But only when I want to. Sometimes I don't and I don't want to suffer in a patrol zone or struggle in a seasonal activity I'm doing for the story. The majority of the players don't want that. Designing games for the professional gamers only has NEVER been a good idea and never will be. Fifty streamers can't sustain a video game. It needs casual players who will want to come back to the game instead of feeling defeated.
One of the reasons I really enjoy helping others is because I know that casual players tend to struggle in stuff that's basic activity for me. I've seen people unable to get through a strike. I've sat for 10 minutes rezing someone who couldn't do the jump in a seasonal activity. I want those people to be able to play basic content without feeling frustrated and I want them to know that there are people out there who will help them out.
And this doesn't apply just to basic content, although it should start with that. I think all dungeons and raids and everything should be things that all players can complete. Fine, doing a master raid with all challenges should be tough, but it should be achievable with time and practice, not impossible. What a lot of these "pros" want is just completely divorced from reality.
It takes days and days of practice every time a new master raid is out for me and my team (all with thousands of hours of playtime) to get comfortable to finally finish it. We're far from casual players and it still takes a lot of time to be able to finish hard content. Making it even harder is insane to me. Like, if something is so hard that my team full of people, each with 5000+ hours of playtime and a coordinated team that's been raiding together for years now can't finish it, that means it's absolutely impossible for probably 90% of the playerbase. That's wild to me. Raids and GMs should have more people playing them. If master raids are too easy for you, Mr. I-Play-Destiny-For-A-Living, that's on you buddy. Unequip the super god tier god roll meta guns and loadouts or play something else.
And ofc, another excuse they make is "if I don't use meta, I am not going to win a raid race!" Then don't. Idk. Let me play you the tiniest violin. This affects literally nobody except a grand total of 50 people. Run your meta in day 1, and play with random shit otherwise. Play raids with all white weapons. Play without mods. Play without a HUD. Do things solo only. I don't know, make up a way to spice things up for yourself. I'm not interested in that and neither are 99% of the players out there. The game is genuinely hard enough for the majority of the players. On top of that, I am here to feel like a powerful space fantasy superhero. I am NOT here to die to dregs in patrol zones. If there's ONE thing that I know for a fact that put people off from Lightfall (as in this year of Destiny), it's the difficulty changes. They're annoying, frustrating and for some a barrier to entry more than anything else.
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jack would be a stem kid because he loves doing experiments the scientific method is his best friend he loves being hands on and getting to be like I was wrong but the right answer is way cooler than I thought it would be and he loves the connections between art and science, like the way chemical reactions are responsible for why pottery glaze looks so cool and how talented at art you have to be to be good at any kind of diagramming or bio illustration
and davey would be a stem kid because people are more impressed by good grades in science and math classes than english classes so he works harder at them even though he really loves language more than numbers and when he ends up in a class with jack who seems to be goofing off all the time he's annoyed by how little work he seems to put in until he realizes actually jack is really smart but completely unaware of it because he thinks he's goofing off when he's actually running pretty well-designed experiments for fun (unsanctioned by the instructor) in between steps of the lab.
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ok i'm not a bridgerton person so to say but i also totally am a bridgerton person and you know what i think is funny. how people reacted when it was first announced this would be Penelope's season. saying she wasn't leading lady material and they couldn't see a whole season about her and Colin. it's so fucking clear why someone would think that that it's not even satisfying to smack it back in their faces. why isn't she leading lady material? she's fucking lady whistledown, she's a barbie. if Nicola can't be a leading lady bc she's thicc with nice tits, what hope is there for us pasty bitches who are thicc and have nice tits I dare ask. if anything it makes her more likely to slay it in my eyes.
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hello everyone! a quick break from your scheduled art posting to talk about this incredible fic i think ever bloodweave enjoyer should read.
i know it'a already very popular, but imo it's a must-read. i could not praise this fic enough for what it is, the amazing ideas it brings to the table, the incredible execution of the timeloop trope. it's by far the fic i look forward to seeing in my inbox the most (not that other fics aren't absolutely gorgeous), because every chapter is just. a delight to read. it's got angst, fluff, and an amazing romance, but the plot is what really makes it stand out. it's tight, packed with great characterisation and has perfect pacing. please give it a shot if that sounds at all interesting to you. oh yeah, and did i mention that it's got art for every single chapter? yeah, read it. bask in its genius.
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