Every Adventure Requires A First Step.

Leona Kingscholar x Reader: Love Letters (3)

The 3rd part is here! For the sake of this fic, we'll pretend Episode/Book 2 either never happened or happens later lol

Hope you enjoy! No spoilers or warnings for now but this might change in future installments :)

PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 [!] | PART 4 | PART 5 | PART 6 | END

SUMMARY: To get Ace and Deuce to complete the favor, you must engage in cafeteria warfare to secure deluxe menchi katsu sandwiches! You also meet a mischievous beastman.

Would you really do this much just to get Ace and Deuce to watch Grim? Well, you admit your ulterior motive to agreeing to this was to try out the deluxe menchi katsu sandwich. 

You really doubt you'll get the chance to try out some new foods ever again. Not until the far, far future in which you finally earn some madol. You'd been living off of Crowley's free lunch pass this whole time. You really have to bring up pay at some point with him.

"Go!" You shout as you race forward, holding a tray above your head. Ace and Deuce had gone around throwing a few pieces of food or messing with people's trays and had already incited this chaos. 

Of course, nobody knew it was them specifically with so many people around. They had started an all-out food fight. 

Grim incinerates any food that comes near you with a small puff of blue flames. You catch him also swallowing the incoming food sometimes. He balances precariously on your shoulders. You slip through the disrupted line and finally, you make your way to the front of the queue while everyone is distracted.

There, you secure a few deluxe menchi katsu sandwiches with the money Ace and Deuce loaned together. You also get an egg salad sandwich.

You hold them close to your chest, hiding them in your blazer. You're sure if you get caught with these, you were going to get jumped by several people. 

You carefully slip through the crowd until you're near the exit. There you spot familiar green hair and glasses. "Trey! Thanks for the chocolates! Happy Valentines!" You wave at him. Trey notices you for sure and waves back. 

"[Name], are you alright?" He asks, looking a bit concerned. "Yep, Grim's been protecting me." You nodded. "Nyahahaha, I'll eat everything they throw at me dazo!" Grim smirks. 

"Oh? And where's Ace and Deuce? Did they start this?" Trey smiles, looking amused. "What? No, I was with them when it started. But then I lost them in the crowd after everything uh, happened." You lie casually. 

You can feel him scrutinizing you briefly but he relents in the end. You let out a quiet sigh of relief. "Do be careful. Have a happy Valentines day, [Name]." Trey nods with a smile. "You too!" You yell, "Grim!"

"Nyahaha! Leave this to me dazo!" He hops onto the top of the tray you're holding, now above the crowd, he begins blasting fire to stop the incoming food from hitting you. You open the door and quickly flee the chaos. That should've been the signal for Ace and Deuce to leave as well. 

You get out of there and lean against a wall, taking a break. "Uwah, I can smell it from here dazo! Gimme!" Grim grins, he paws at your blazer where the sandwiches are. "Here you go." You pass him the packaged sandwich. 

"Ah crap. I completely missed the lunch time free-for-all. The deluxe menchi katsu sandwich Leona wanted is already sold out." A beastman with dark blonde hair and large animal ears walks out the cafeteria with a sigh. You squint at him, he looked…had you met him before?

There was no way, you really don't remember meeting any guy with adorable, fluffy ears! Plus, his face was cute. Okay, sue you for liking guys with cute animal ears and maybe a tail. You don't spot  a tail on this guy though. If you think about it, they were just like catboys. 

You stop that thought before it can go further. If you want to survive, you can't just approach danger like this! The above average guys here were the worst.

Your friends were definitely attractive in your world's standards. However, in Twisted Wonderland, this seemed to be the norm. Your friends also happen to all be troublemakers, even though some are less obvious.

Therefore, it was best you steered clear of this guy completely. You get up and begin walking away. Grim is too busy munching on the sandwich to question you, he only follows after you, sandwich in hand, "Nyahaha! The taste of victory, I'll take my time savoring it!"

"Hey, you. Is that a deluxe menchi katsu sandwich?" The boy approaches, spotting you two. Grim, why! You panic. "No, what's that?" You turn around with a curious expression. If you ran, you'd end up looking suspicious and you doubt you could outrun a beastman. 

He sniffs the air. Oh god, he could smell them on you. The beastman stares at your chest. "Hey, my eyes are up here." You glare at him. He raises an eyebrow. "Shishi, I didn't mean to! Not that there's anything to see here." He smiles at you with a mock cheerfulness. 

You deadpan at him as he laughs. You watch as his gaze turns to Grim. "The deluxe menchi katsu sandwich is the sandwich your familiar is holding right now." He gestures toward him, staring at you with an amused look. "Hey! Who are you calling their familiar dazo?!" Grim snarls. You don't like this.

"That's pretty great, y'know? You got your hands on a deluxe menchi katsu sandwich, huh." He grins at Grim. "Huh? What's it to you?" He shot him a wary look. 

"I have to get that sandwich no matter what, but they sold out right in front of me. So, I have a proposition." The beastman pouts, his ears tilting downwards, "Could you trade me that deluxe menchi katsu sandwich for my mini bean paste bread?" 

You clench your fists, you must stay strong and resist. "Huh!? No way in hell dazo!" Grim scowls, "We fought for those!" 

You've never been so thankful for this stupid cat. "Now, now, don't say that." He smiles, "...Here you are."

It's as if some will comes over you, your hand reaches into your blazer and you pull out a deluxe menchi katsu sandwich as he does the same, pulling out a mini bean paste bread. 

"Fgyaa!? Henchman, don't give it to him dazo!" Grim gapes, looking betrayed. "My arms and legs are moving on their own! I'm not doing this!" You shout, trying to stop your limbs as you walk closer to him. 

You switch items with him, horrified to see the mini bean paste bread in your traitorous hands. 

"[Name]! What are you doing!?" You can't even turn your head but you can see Ace and Deuce racing toward you in your peripheral. "Negotiations complete. Shishishi! Thanks for being kind enough to trade me! That mini bean paste bread is just as good." He begins backing away as you test your fingers. 

"It being tiny is a defect. Thanks and bye-bye!" He waves and runs off with a smirk. "No!" You cry after him, chasing him. He's too fast as you expected though you chase him down a few hallways before he jumps out a literal open window. 

You bitterly hope he broke his legs or something down there. "Wh-Why in the great sevens would you give away the sandwich?!" Ace pants, running after you. You're all in a random classroom now. You slump against the wall, defeated. 

"I didn't! He must have some sort of magic that takes over your body or something!" You yell, frustratedly waving your hands around. "F-F-Fgyaaa! My deluxe menchi katsu sandwich!" Grim whines. "It could be his unique magic but still…ugh!" Deuce growls, he looks like he's about to punch the wall and you can't say you don't feel the same. 

"Oh I see, you just kinda went along with it. That happens sometimes." Ace hums in understanding. "No, that's not it all! I can't explain your stupid magic stuff!" You glare at him. "Geez, no need to get mad at me. I'm not the one who gave away the sandwich." He rolls his eyes. 

You rip a bite from the mini bean paste bread with a scowl, "It should be totally illegal to have magic that overrides free will!"

"I don't think there's any rule against that."

"Seriously?!"

You completely forget about the letter and card as you all sulk in the empty classroom.

-

"Leona, I'm back with lunch." Ruggie calls out, dangling the packaged sandwich in one hand and holding an ice tea in the other. He nudges aside branches and leaves as he makes his way through the botanical garden.

"Hnh, already afternoon?" In a small clearing lies a handsome beastman with brown locks and braids. His tail with a tassel at the end sways lazily as his animal ears twitch under the warm sun. 

"Were you by chance sleeping here all morning? You're gonna fail another class." Ruggie sighs, handing off the sandwich and ice tea to Leona. He peeks inside the package and shakes it around a little. 

"Seems like you got what I…" Leona pauses suddenly with a frown as he sniffs again, "Where did you get this?"

"Ughh, Leona, you always want the stuff that's the most competitive. It was already sold out when I got there so I 'negotiated' with a random student." Ruggie explains, exasperated. 

"Which student? What dorm did they belong to?"

He raises an eyebrow. He really wasn't sure why the usually apathetic Leona cared so much. Still, he racks his brain to recall.

"Oh, it's the student you kept getting me to secretly deliver stuff to and to find out where they sat, I think!" Ruggie snaps in realization. He suddenly stares at Leona, a look of surprise and confusion painted clearly.

"Ah, wait…it's because you have a…um, on them, right?"

Ao3: HERE

If you see it posted anywhere or by anyone else, it's not me.

Very interesting! Thank you very muchh! Also, Vil having a peacock emoji is hilarious

If I may add on about the ships, There are specific emojis that indicate that an artist likes that pairing. Examples: 🐉♦️ ; ♣️🌹 ; 🏹👑 in their bio.

Telling this because I had a mutual in the fandom before complaining about it but not directly to the artist thankfully that she didnt know that the artist she likes ships a certain pair when there is the emojis in the artist profile.

I can give examples of twitter artists that makes content for ships but it’s the ones I know of.

Rook x Vil (@Hrmkkuuyo) (@vv_rv0)

First one makes manga type stories and second ones makes cute baby arts. (≧∀≦)

Trey x Jade (@clodol333)

I like that artist artstyle and their coloring method. I look forward to their art a lot. They make kind of story-like content too. (o^^o)

Ace x Deuce (@neterumitai)

I don’t exactly ship them but it seems like a lot of people do judging by their following and likes of Adeuce.

I didn’t give a lot since I prefer self ship so I am not focused on character x character ships but still love it. Hope this helps. ☆彡

[Referring to this post]

Oh shit yeah! This is so useful. Often, artists may use emojis in place of ship names, which will help more with your search.

Each character has a certain emoji or two commonly used, which will greatly help you in sifting for all kinds of fanart. Here’s a list of the emojis used for each character:

NOTES TO READ

As far as I know, most dorms do not have a dorm-specific emoji except for Octavinelle. Octavinelle uses 🐚.

Some characters have more than one emoji.

Ruggie, for example, also has 🐆, though I’ve seen donut being used more often.

Kalim is a special case for having at least 6 emojis for him. 😂 The emoji listed on the image is ☀️, but I’ve seen 🦦, 🕌, 🏝, 🦂, and 🏜.

Vil also has 🦚. Personally from my experience, I’ve seen 👑 used more often, but apparently, 🦚 is common.

Idia also uses 🔥. I think same goes for Ortho.

Sebek’s emoji is actually ⚡️. I’m not sure if people use 🐊 for him.

Silver’s emoji is actually ⚔️. I don’t know if 🗡 is used. He may also have 💤.

Crowley also has 🎩, which might be more commonly used.

Crewel also uses ⚗️. It might actually be the more common one.

Trein’s emoji is also 📖. I hope I got the right book emoji. 😭

Sam also has ☠️, which might be more commonly used.

OMG Beautifull

Lilia!! 💚🦇

I’m really proud of this one, and I love Lilia so much he’s such a weird old man.

Incidentally, I’ve listed this pic and my other twst posters up on Etsy! You can get them HERE!

Leona Kingscholar x Reader: Love Letters (6)

motivation flopped :(

Rook shows up as well as a surprise guest...

Hope you enjoy! No spoilers or warnings for now but this might change in future installments :)

PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4 | PART 5 | PART 6 [!] | END

"Beauté! How merveilleux!" You squint, shielding your eyes.

"Fygaa! He's so shiny dazo!" Grim grunts. "You've finally decided to seek me out, a smart decision, Trickster!" Rook Hunt was a very bizarre student. As a Pomefiore student, an NRC student on top of that, he was naturally eccentric and beautiful. 

Yet he has that edge to him that makes you want to run far, far away from him. "Uh, I'll just leave you all to it…make sure Rook doesn't blow anything up." Trey quickly closes the door behind him. 

"Trey, don't leave us!" Ace whines, placing his hand on the door. "Tell me when you're done." They could hear Trey's voice getting further, he has definitely ditched them. "It's not time to be a coward, Ace!" Deuce nudged him. 

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Hunt." You decide to wave as he stood up and took you by the hand. He gives a light peck to your hands and looks up at you with those cunning green eyes. You squeak and flinch. 

"Oh my great sevens, ew." Ace groans, covering his eyes. Deuce stands on the side awkwardly watching the interaction. "You smell funny dazo." Grim sniffs the air, looking warily at the Pomefiore vice dorm head. The more accurate assumption was that Rook Hunt simply did not smell, at all. 

"Don't be rude, Grim." You scold him. "I've already known about you for a while, mx. It's merveilleux to meet you in person! My name is Rook Hunt, at your service." Rook introduces himself properly. "You can just call me Rook, Trickster." He adds with a smile. 

"Okay." You simply nod, this guy weirded you out. From the way he had spoken to you, you could already assume he knew of your situation. You are fairly sure Rook was stalking either your admirer or you. 

"So, you know about the thing…?" You ask just to confirm. "Oui! You've come to the right person to find your prince charmant!" Rook nods eagerly. "Good! Then, spill! Tell me who it is!" You also eagerly lean forward. 

"Fufu! But I cannot expose one's secrets as le Chasseur d'Amour!" Your face freezes before it turns into an empty expression of despair. You slowly sink to the floor, you wish to become part of the floor.

Life might be easier if I were the floor. I could just exist all day…not needing to worry about any overblots or secret admirers. I could get stepped on all day by hot- Wait. I don't want that… You blinked blankly.

"[Name], are you okay!?" Deuce shakes you frantically. "Why am I here…just to suffer?" You weakly grunt, flailing limply in his arms. "Henchman, you owe me tuna dazo!" Grim joins in shaking you, the best he could with his little paws anyway. 

"Oh my! What a tearful display of peine d'amour!"

"Alright, enough being dramatic! Hey, you! This is your fault." You hear Ace snap. "Oh, how your compagnons care for you." You spot Rook wiping tears from the corners of his eyes. "Ugh." You grumble.

"There's no need to worry, Trickster! As Monsieur Dandelion said, he indeed has eyes the colour of emeralds and he is indeed a student of Savanaclaw as you merveilleusement guessed!" Rook finally provides you a few hints. Deuce stops shaking you as you slowly get up. 

"Ace, I think we are going to be looking into every Savanaclaw students' eyes." You turn to face Ace, with a serious look on your face. He scrunches up his nose. "No way, you can do that on your own." Ace rolls his eyes, looking away from you. "Maybe we should ask Cater again…" Deuce suggests. 

"There's no way he would keep track of something like that, idiot." Ace scoffs. "Oi! I don't see you making any helpful suggestions!" He glares at Ace. "Aghh, I'm getting hungry again from thinking about our lost sandwich dazo!" Grim groans, rolling on the floor. "I'm sorry!" You wail, you really didn't mean to give Ruggie the sandwich. 

"Excuse me." The door to the alchemy classroom opens suddenly, a tall man with teal hair and mismatched yellow eyes stepped into the room. 

"Monsieur Prémédité!" Rook greeted him cheerfully. "Hello, Rook." The new student smiled politely in response. His eyes did a quick scan of the room, those heterochromia eyes landing on…you?!

You wave awkwardly. Ace slaps your hand down. You give him a questioning look but he continues staring skeptically at the student. You look to Deuce to find he looks a bit unsure as well. This might've been some weird dorm tension so you observe the student's armband. 

Octavinelle? You try your best to recall what Cater and Trey had told you that day. It's based on the Sea Witch and its main trait is compassion. Probably has a lot of mermen, right? You still don't understand how this relates to beef with Heartslabyul or Ace. You swear to the Great Sevens, how did he get into the bad graces of so many students already?

"Oh, are you busy at the moment? I could come back later." He turns back to Rook. "Hold on a moment, Trickster. What are you here for, Monsieur Prémédité?" Rook asks, turning his attention to the Octavinelle student. 

"Just the special fertilizer for mushrooms. Are they still in the cupboard?" He asks politely, staring at the cupboard behind you. 

You quickly shuffle aside nervously. The Octavinelle student notices this and you hear him chuckle quietly. Please hurry up and leave. The audacity of these guys. 

"You've gotten Crewel's permission, oui?" Rook tilts his head. "Yes. For my alchemy project this week." He nods. "You're working on luminescent fungi, correct? It's in the cupboard, Monsieur Prémédité." He gestures to the cupboard. 

"Fufu, yes, that's correct. I wonder how you figured out already." The Octavinelle student laughs, he walks toward the cupboard and crouches down.

"If I may be so presumptuous, your name is [Name], correct?" He suddenly asks you. You weren't that surprised. You're rather infamous due to the welcoming ceremony incident and then the chandelier one. 

"Yeah, it's uh, nice to meet you, Mr…?" You trail off awkwardly. "Jade Leech. Fufufu, I saw you were running around campus, asking for someone." He smiled, amused. You flushed. You probably did look like a headless chicken, huh?

It was too late for your dignity here anyway. "O-Oh, uh, yeah." You nod. "Do you by chance know a Savanaclaw student with green eyes, Leech?" Deuce asks hopefully. "Hey, don't go asking everyone, it's too vague anyway, stupid." Ace scoffs, he's still staring skeptically at Jade. 

"A Savanaclaw student with green eyes, hm? Why exactly are you looking for them, if I may ask?" He tilts his head, still rummaging through the cupboard. "Reasons…?" You offer unconvincingly. "Fufufu, well, if you don't wish to tell me, I wouldn't want any student getting into trouble because of me." Jade replies, pulling out a bag of fertilizer. He easily pries Grim away from trying to get into the bag of fertilizer.

"Fygaa! You're too crazy strong dazo!" He scowls, shuffling to your side. "Can you even eat fertilizer…?" You squint at him doubtfully.

"We don't need your help then." Ace snaps, yanking you further from Jade. "Fufu, there's no need to be so wary. I'll offer you a free hint. He's an important figure in the Savanaclaw hierarchy." Jade smiles, standing up to his full height. 

Important position? You weren't quite sure what that meant. The only thing you could think was either the dorm head or the vice dorm head. You don't even know if this information is to be trusted. Before you can even thank or ask him about that, he turns toward Rook. 

"I'll be taking my leave now, thank you for allowing me to borrow this." Jade thanks Rook with a nod. "No problem, Monsieur Prémédité! Just be sure to return it when you're done." Rook beams back. 

"[Name], if you ever need any assistance or advice, the doors of Mostro Lounge are always open." Jade offers before shutting the door behind him. His heterochromia eyes twinkle with amusement and you're definitely freaked out by this guy.

"Ugh, that guy gave me the heebie-jeebies dazo!" Grim declares rather loudly. "Ah, watch it! Don't say stuff so loudly like that, you're gonna get caught!" Ace hurriedly glares at him, still glancing warily at the door. "Um, that was…interesting to say the least." You laugh nervously.

"We won't take up any more of your time now, Rook. Thank you for the information." You want to leave as quickly as possible to collect your thoughts. "Thank you so much for the help!" Deuce adds as well.

"You're welcome, Trickster!"

"I don't wanna be here any longer…" Ace grabs the both of you by the wrist and drags you out of the Science club room. "Fyga! Wait up dazo!" Grim growls, scampering after you three.

Ao3: HERE If you see it posted anywhere or by anyone else, it's not me.

Lilith’s Life

Appearance

Lilith appears to be a thin pale woman with long pale hair and a set of white wings. She has an off the shoulder floor length dress with puffy sleeves. She was often seen smiling.

Personality

Lilith is hinted to be very playfully and sometimes painfully blunt—When she first met Michael she compared him to a jellyfish which upset him and got her in trouble. She was spoiled by her brothers who completely adored her but she was especially close with Belphegor and Beelzebub who she was almost never seen apart from.

Belphegor notes that when Lilith got mad about something it was hard to snap her out of it, she was also easily scared. As described by Mammon she was very cute and mischievous.

She enjoyed playing hide and go seek and liked visiting the human world with Belphegor. She fell in love with a human, so much so that she’d risk facing the ultimate punishment to save his life.

MC is often described as being very similar to Lilith so it can be assumed Lilith’s personality is also similair.

Lilith’s Life & Legacy

Lilith, like all angels was created by her father, God. She was the youngest of the seven siblings. She became very close to Belphegor and Beelzebub and was almost never seen without them. Lucifer and her other brothers loved her very much even though she sometimes gave Lucifer trouble.

Lilith spent her days happily with her brothers on picnics, playing hide and seek, and flllwing her brothers around. One day she decided to visit the human world with Belphegor and fell in love with it.

Lilith continued visiting the human world without permission and met a human man she fell for. She kept her celestial origins a secret and they presumably were courting.

At one point Lucifer visited the human world to see what kind of man this human was and was relieved when he saw he appeared to be a kind man.

One day the human man was overcome with an incurable illness. Out of desperation to save the man she loved, Lilith stole fruit from the tree of life to save him. For an angel to alter a human’s life span is forbidden, what she did was immediately found out and she was brought before the seraphs (presumably) to hear their judgment.

Lucifer was unable to stop the verdict and Lilith was sentenced: to be wiped from existence (OG game), have her wings taken from her and cast into the darkness to wander for eternity and never be reborn (Nightbringer)

Lucifer had already had thoughts of leaving the celestial realm but with this verdict he and his brothers decided they couldn’t sit back and let that happened and Lucifer began the war. Lucifer did not insist his brothers follow him into battle but they did so anyway for Lilith’ sake.

It’s not clear if Lilith was imprisoned and later freed, but she did take part in the war.

On the day of the fall a spear was aimed at her at the same time Belphegor was targeted, Beelzebub could only save one and chose Belphegor. He described Lilith having terror and sadness in her eyes as she was struck (implied to be her wing that was hit) and they all fell.

Bleeding and unable to use her wings to save her, Lilith fell to the Devildom. As an angel it wasn’t the fall that nearly killed her but the celestial weapon combined with the Devildom air in her weak state. Lilith did not turn into a demon when she fell as she was meant to die.

Lucifer found her and pledged his loyalty to Diavolo to save her in time. Diavolo risked war to save Lilith by having her reborn as a human. In the game it’s not specified if he simply altered her genetics and erased her memories and sent her back to the human world or if he had her reincarnated, but in the comics it is shown Lilith was turned into an infant and literally reborn.

Not much is known about what happened to Lilith after this. She had no memory of being an angel, of the war, and of her dear family. Since we do not know in the game if she was still grown and able to reunite with her love we don’t know if she ended up with him in the end; however she would fall in love and marry and have at least one child. She is stated to have had a long and happy life as a human.

Upon her death, Lilith remembered everything, about her brothers, being an angel, the war, and Lucifer’s sacrifice for her. Lilith did not go into the light, instead she stayed behind to watch her brothers as a spirit. She stayed for so long that she forgot how to go to the light and waited for an opportunity to say goodbye though she didn’t have the strength.

In the game, Lilith is able to use some power to send a RAD application profile of MC to Lucifer’s feet by having the window fly open. Lucifer chose MC for this reason and Lilith was able to use her descendant to help her brothers. MC would have visions of Lilith’s life including Lucifer’s final words to her, they repeated these words to Lucifer to prove they were Lilith’s descendant.

Lilith thanks MC for their help and is able to move on.

In the comics, MC uses some of their power to have Lilith appear before the brothers one last time so they can say proper goodbyes before she finally ascends into the light.

Summary

Some may criticize Lilith for what happened in the wake of her actions to save her love. But who can really blame her? She fell in love with someone, she’d do anything for them, she’d die for them and she did. In desperation to save her love, she did not think about the consequences and even if she had, I can’t imagine she’d have thought her brothers would start a war.

Lilith’s death severely traumatized her brothers but this wasn’t something she could prevent, she was shot and unable to use her wings to save herself. After her death she watched over them and lead MC to them to save them from their pain and help them bond.

Lilith’s legacy includes her descendants who all had angel blood through her but no one was able to use these powers (presumably) until MC made pacts with power demons.

In the end, Lilith’s legacy is MC, a human who is pivotal in uniting the three worlds all because of Lilith’s love and ultimate sacrifice for someone she loved.

Answer Unclear

Oh, you. No-one can figure you out. Some people love you, some people hate you, some people just don't care. You're hot, but also ugly, but also bland. You're funny, but also serious, but also a kind of weird grey zone. Honestly, keep doing what you're doing. It's pretty cool, in my option. Though a lot of my friends would disagree.

I am but a blob floating in the vast ocean of dreams! 

for my bestie westie @hayamu​ ! also, anybody else who’s up for it!

NEW CHALLENGE

1. FIRST, create a picrew using this maker, and then 2. SECOND take this quiz on how fandom would see you if you were a fictional character.  3 (THIRD) POST YOUR PIC AND YOUR DESCRIPTION IN THE REBLOG!

Bastard (Good)

You’re a bastard. A wet cat, if you will. And we love you for it. You’re a little shit, but in the good way. You are the baddest babygirl. You killed a man, but you looked good doing it. You flirted with the hero and the enemy. All of Tumblr is madly in love with you. Congrats, I guess?

Tagging EVERYONE but especially @magicaltear, @the-beeses-kneeses, @wafflesrisa, @mykingdomforapen, @marbat, @scientistsinistral, @halberdierminister​!

that is actually SO CUTE

I received a couple asks asking if I think Kalim picked up on Jamil's habit of hiding when he's embarrassed, and you know what that's adorable and I absolutely agree lmao

If you somehow manage to get him flustered or really embarrassed, yeah he's hiding while trying to laugh it off like he's just fine haha nothing weird he just does this it's totally normal he promises

“This is your daily, friendly reminder to use commas instead of periods during the dialogue of your story,” she said with a smile.

Weak Words To Cut

Here are some weak words than you can often remove to strengthen your writing. I have made these changes as I edit my own novel, so I included examples from my writing to show you the difference.

When editing and cutting words, we are not talking about dialogue because everyone has a unique way of speaking, and it’s important to keep true to their voice.

Note: these are all general guidelines, and you don’t have to use all or any of them. Creative writing gives you a creative licence to choose how you write. Do what works best for you. Always.

Suddenly: technically speaking, everything happens suddenly, so use the word sparingly or it will lose its effect.

I don’t remember ever seeing a man in such little clothes before, and I suddenly despised the one piece left. I don’t remember ever seeing a man in such little clothes before, and I found myself despising the remaining piece.

Keep: When it disrupts your character’s life, and you want your reader to really take notice.

Cut: if removed and there is no change, then it’s not necessary

Then/Next: this is typically a filler word. All events happen in a sequential state, so it’s not always needed.

Then She was gone, her steps echoing through the halls.

Keep: You want to keep the word typically when something is changing in action, description, etc.

Cut: If removing the word does not change the meaning, then cut it. Typically if this word starts the sentence, it’s unnecessary.

Just: this is a filler word, and can almost always be removed.

I was just a game to him, nothing more.

Keep: if removing it makes your sentence confusing or changes the meaning, then keep it. Usually using the word words well as a limiter word. (Eg. it’s just me and my dogs tonight)

Cut: when it’s unnecessary and changes nothing.

Really/Very: these are weak qualifying/descriptive words, and you can absolutely find a better synonym

Your mother is really nice lovely.

Keep: typically these words are fine to keep when not used to enhance an adjective. (Eg. very next day, really think, very back of…)

Cut: if it’s being used to enhance a weak adjective, cut it and find a better word.

Is/Was: this is usually a passive voice, which isn’t usually the best for fiction novels, active voice is always preferred. Naturally this is a verb that you can’t cut from all places, so here are some tips.

Everyone was too busy focusing on their shopping to notice a human sliding between sales booths. Buyers and sellers occupied themselves with their shopping, too focused to notice a human sliding between sales booths.

Keep: when delivering information quickly its always best to just state the facts, so don’t worry about trying to find flowery words to describe everything.

Cut: If you can show what the person or object is doing instead of simply saying it, then change the sentence.

Started: every action has a start, so don’t write it unless you can tell me why it’s important now to know that’s it’s started.

The boy started to rant in his native tongue. The boy ranted in his native tongue.

Keep: if your scene is being interrupted or is still unfinished, then go ahead. This one is a little harder to see sometimes, so just see how you feel with it in vs removed.

Cut: it’s it’s unnecessary information, and nothing changes to the story or sentence when removed, axe it.

Seemed: again, this is more of a show don’t tell kind of thing

Time seemed to slow slowed as I held Vera tight against me.

Keep: if a character knows something intuitively

Cut: if you can show why the character is perceiving what’s happening

Definitely: this is typically just confirming facts that are already known to be true. Repetition is unnecessary without a purpose.

He definitely saw me, but I wasn’t mad about it. (This instance can for sure be removed, it’s unnecessary. However, I want this emphasis here, so I chose to keep it)

Keep: if it’s your character who is confirming facts as 100% accurate and ridding previous doubt

Cut: remove and nothing changes

Somewhat/Slightly: usually this is used when only trying to use a partial effect of a word, so the easiest fix is to change the word that it’s describing.

I looked away, slightly embarrassed.

Keep: if the words is truly the best way to describe what was happening in the sentence.

Cut: when you can use a better word to describe your action/emotion/whatever to be more accurate or it’s unnecessary.

Possibly/Likely/Probably/May/Might: much like some of the other weak words, these are just filler. Something either is or isn’t, and it’s best to describe here you can.

Probably Not with the way he was speaking to her.

Keep: if your character isn’t sure of something

Cut: if you can describe what’s happening, or it can be removed without changing the meaning

Somehow: this is usually an indicator of missing information

I thought I was an average girl in every way, and now I was somehow the first human to ever survive. (I don’t use somehow often. I am keeping it in this instance because none of the characters know how it happened yet.)

Keep: if your character is missing the information and doesn’t know how something became true or transpired

Cut: if you can explain how something came to be.

Adverbs: this is a great category of words to use in writing, but if used too often, it can distract from the story. A good rule is finding an even balance between adverbs and active verbs.

I squeezed her cold hand tightly in mine and made a promise to save her. Clenching her cold hand between mine, I promised to save her.

Keep: if it improves your writing by making it more clear and efficient.

Cut: if it makes more sense to use active verbs to describe what’s going on.

Totally/Completely/Absolutely: all filler words

He grinned at me, his plate almost completely full while mine was near empty. He grinned at me, his plate still full while mine sat devoid of even a crumb.

Keep: if it’s important to the story to know with 100% certainty, and this word gives the most accurate description

Cut: whenever it’s not needed

Thing/It: missing information/ lack of description

I was just accepting all the things they said as truth. I was just accepting all their fantastic explanations as truth.

Keep: if your character doesn’t know what it is

Cut: whenever you can find an actually description or name the object

Have any more words you think should be added to the list? If something does not make sense or you have questions, let me know down below.

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Happy Writing!

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