The Things The Hargreeves Each Say To Vanya In The Brain Eating Scene Match Up Perfectly With How They

Hii :) do you have headcanons for the Bichie Instagram edit?

babe you know i do!!!

this ask is referencing this bichie edit i made a few days ago

So I’m gonna start with their bios which come from this quote that I posted a few days ago.The context is that Bill is breaking down about Georgie and Richie is (in his own way) comforting Bill. It’s sort of implied that this is the first time Bill has shared his feelings with anyone about this.

For me this sort of sets the tone that Richie is the one who can be there for Bill while Bill is there for everyone else. Like, he’s the Losers’ leader and he takes that responsibility seriously so he’s strong for them.

But sometimes he can’t be and for that he has Richie.

So ever since that conversation “you would?” “’course.” has become kind of a thing for them, like a secret code in both serious and light situations.

for example:

When Bill is feeling super frustrated by his stutter he vents to Richie about how he technically got strategies from his speech therapist but his parents won’t give him time to practice with them. “Well shit, I could practice with you Big Bill.” “You would?” “Course.”

When Richie gets it pretty bad from the Bowers gang and he’s closest to Bill’s house so he heads over for some PEACE and Bill puts bandaids on his cuts (returning the favor from when Richie bandaged up Bill’s hand in the novel). “Jesus Rich, if I c-could get my h-hands on Bowers, I’d kill him.” “Oh, you would? All sixty pounds of you Big Bill? “C-course Richie, I’d just take em out with that slingshot you’re so sure could kill someone,” they crack up laughing.

When Richie is nervously crying in Bill’s room and kinda gasping but not getting words out (Bill tries to lighten the mood with an ironic ”s-spit it out, Richie” but it doesn’t really work). Finally Richie just manages “What if sometimes i think i like boys? Not always, but sometimes.” “Then you’ll b-be my b-best friend who likes b-boys, not always but s-sometimes.” “I would?” “Course.”

When this conversation is repeated when Bill starts to think the same thing.

When they ditch the school dance because they’d rather be listening to their music anyways so they head out to the park and turn up Richie’s walkman as loud as it will go, pressing their faces together to share the headphones between them. Restless, Richie stands up during a slow song and makes a big joke of asking Bill if he would like to dance. “Yeah, okay.” “You…you would?” (eyes wide, because Richie definitely didn’t think that would actually work) “Course.”

When Richie drops Bill off after a movie night with the Losers and Bill hesitates instead of getting out of the truck because recently something is just ~different and he thinks they should talk about it. It’s Richie that finally says “Hey, Bill?” “Yeah, Rich?” “What would you think if i kissed you?” “I think I w-would like that.” “You would?” “Course.”

When a few weeks later they’re laying in the bed of the same truck out by the quarry and Bill asks “Richie, would you wanna be my b-boyfriend?” Richie laces their fingers with a smile. “Course.” and to anyone else that might seem like a not-enough answer but…you guys get it by now.

“True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.”

(the avengers + defining moments + schools of ethical thought)

Accidentally swallows the coin I was buried with and gets left on the dock for eternity because I couldn't pay the ferryman

Suffering from writer’s block? Why not develop your character a little bit more? 

it goes like this:

waking up was one of the hardest things for me to do. at least, the most dreaded. and then you happened to me, and I most looked forward to going to sleep, because I knew I’d wake up to messages from you—because unless I had work, you were the one who always woke up before me.

and it was a little pathetic, but I’d go to work and text you all through lunch break and I would smile at my phone like all those stupid, lovesick girls in movies and my coworkers would ask, “oooooh is there a boy?” all suggestively, and I would shake my head and say, “my friend sent me a funny meme” because that’s easier than explaining that talking to you lit my chest on fire and I loved every second of it.

and you collected all these tiny details about me, and I you, which is a weird thing to live with in the aftermath. because I know you hate hot sauce and you were flower girl at your aunt’s wedding and you’ve never seen Matilda, and I used to pull those facts off the shelf and we’d laugh or reminisce or make plans, and now they just sit there and collect dust and there’s nothing I can do with them but know and know and know.

and the things you could do with everything you know about me. where do they go? do they sit inside your chest, collecting dust, too? or did you throw them out?

and now there is no one I talk to until I fall asleep and no one I wake up to, either. and if I’m smiling at my phone, it’s usually just a stupid meme that brings me momentary laughter but not the all-encompassing joy you used to bring me. and my chest is a lot less bright and a lot more empty, with the shape of you crawling around inside it.

and I keep telling myself that I will stop missing you and my life will close up around the space you used to take up. but it hasn’t yet.

i knew i was going to die when i saw you for the first time in twenty-seven years. 

your voice, first—oh, that voice—and then i turned and saw you, across the room, across the great divide—and i swallowed hard because i knew. i was going to die for you because i would always die for you. remember? all those times i ran for you, jumped off the quarry for you, drove your truck fast down the highway because you liked when i got reckless—all that stupid shit i did for you, no question (a little pushback, maybe). i would die for you, simple. and i knew when i looked to you and you looked back to me that i was going to.

but i didn’t want to. i fought it every step of the way. i could see—if i just made it through the dinner, if i just made it through the pharmacy, if i just made it through the ritual, if i just made it through the sewers—there was a life with you, waiting patiently.

i wanted to make it.

we have lived a life of should-haves. all of us—and it goes back further than that summer: we should have turned left on jackson instead of right when we were just kids and maybe we never would have found ourselves in it’s path. and i should have told you, so many times. i had every chance. i should have followed you, gone wherever you wanted, driven west in that car i saved up for and forgotten all about new york, forgotten all about anything that wasn’t you. but we never really got it right.

when the claw went through my chest, it didn’t hurt. when i said your name and my mouth filled with blood, it didn’t hurt. when you laid me against the rock and pressed your hand to my stomach, it didn’t hurt. 

but it hurt when i laughed and it hurt when you smiled that split-second smile. (that’s when i knew i would not last much longer). it hurt when your smile fell. it hurt when you walked away from me. it hurt knowing i could not get up and follow you. and it hurt knowing that when you came back to me, you would have to find me dead and i could not hold you—i would never be able to make the pain go away anymore and i would be the cause of it.

i knew i was going to die for you a long time ago. i had just forgotten for a while. i didn’t know it would be like this—i thought maybe you’d hold me a little longer, maybe i’d tell you then.

i don’t know what i said while i died. i wanted to say, i wish you wouldn’t go. i wanted to tell you i was sorry i would not keep my promise to hold on. i hope you know i wanted to. i remember the blurry and fragmented image of you, walking away after slipping your pinky from mine. most of all, i wanted to tell you that tomorrow, we should get up early and go back home to our place, how about it my love?

but the last thing i remember is you, behind me on the cliff at the quarry on a summer day, reaching out to take my hand before we jumped, your voice shouting my name. and then—

would it be a nice day tomorrow? would the sun be shining on you, the way i always liked? 

i wonder. 

On Writing: Dialogue Tips

It’s only natural that novels and short stories are usually dialogue heavy - it’s a written medium. We need the characters to talk. However, a lot of the time we have difficulty writing dialogue. 

Hopefully these tips will help some people!

How to Make Your Dialogue Better:

Relationships and voices matter. Unique voices matter, and character relationships will affect how they speak. Think of how strangers or friends or siblings would interact. Even friendly strangers will hold themselves back a little. Think of how Iroh and Zuko from ATLA talk, for example. Their relationship is clear from how they speak, and they have unique voices. Iroh frequently spouts wise idioms and is generally calm and serene, while Zuko is all anger and urgency. Think about how your characters feel about each other and how they might interact.

Summarise the boring parts. A common mistake in bad writing can be to repeat in the dialogue what was just described in the inner monologue…exactly how it was just described. You don’t need to do this; summarise it. Reword it. And you don’t need the characters to go through the usual motions of small talk every time they meet. It’s boring and a waste of words.

Avoid name drops and dialogue tags. At least, don’t use them too much. People don’t say each other’s name constantly in dialogue without a reason (see Captain Holt repeatedly saying “Rosa” in B99 because he didn’t want her to feel dehumanised. This was for comedy but the point stands). Dialogue tags are fine, but they should feel invisible. Try to use verbs more extravagant than “said” or “asked” sparingly, and don’t end every piece of dialogue with a dialogue tag. As long as every new piece of dialogue is on a new line, it should be clear who’s speaking, and it won’t bore the reader. This will also help vary your prose/sentence structure.

Create pauses through narrative. By breaking the dialogue up with narrative, the characters will pause in the reader’s mind without you having to specify that they’ve paused. This is a handy way to avoid using dialogue tags too much. It can also make the dialogue easier to read if it’s not all smushed together with no breaks. Especially if you have a long passage of one person speaking; long, rambling speeches aren’t that popular anymore (not that they have no place, but that’s another story).

Dialogue isn’t perfect. People make mistakes; they forget words and lose their train of thought when they speak. They change topics and get lost in the moment. This can add realism to your dialogue, and can be a fun way to show character. But don’t do it too much or the scene will go on too long without getting to the point. And try to avoid too many ‘um’s and ‘er’s - they may be common in real life but they can drag the prose down if used too much.

An example I have is from Big Hero 6 (a movie I love by the way, but this was bad): Tadashi: What would mom and dad say? Hiro: I don’t know. They’re gone. (this is good, this is fine) Hiro: … They died when I was three, remember? (NOOO)

Dialogue should show something important. There’s a common idea that dialogue has to move the story forward or get cut out. This isn’t necessarily true. However, dialogue should tell the reader something about the characters or the world they live in. This comes back to cutting out the usual mundane small talk. Dialogue doesn’t have to move the plot, but it should be there for a reason, even if it’s to show the relationship between two characters, or how they feel about something that isn’t central to the plot. It doesn’t have to move the plot forward, but there has to be some reason for the reader to see it.

Fantasy/Sci-Fi Writers: use apostrophes! “I am not”, “I did not”, “I do not” - this can feel unnatural if all your dialogue is like this. You don’t need to write all your dialogue like this. Don’t be afraid of the apostrophe! Apostrophes are great! It won’t make your characters seem too modern, I promise. Don’t make the dialogue too awkward or stiff. After a while, they’ll stop sounding human.

How to Make Writing Dialogue Easier:

Write your dialogue like a script. If you’re struggling with the dialogue in a scene, try writing it like a script and omit the narrative (aside from very basic actions). I’ve done this once or twice; sometimes it’s easier to figure out what you want your characters to say when you’re not bogged down by writing the narrative, especially in a scene where the dialogue is especially important. You can incorporate the narrative later.

Read your dialogue out loud. Reading out loud can help you see how your dialogue will sound to the reader. It can help you spot weird sentence structures, or if something sounds out of character or inhuman. You can also get an idea of the characters’ voices. If you have a willing friend (and you’re not too embarrassed), try to get them to read with you!

Colour-code your dialogue. This is a trick you can use for scenes with more than two characters. By colour-coding the dialogue, you can clearly get a sense of each character’s voice, see who’s speaking the most or the least, etc. You can use this to redistribute roles and dialogue in the scene, or maybe experiment with adding or subtracting characters depending on their contribution to the scene. It can also help you keep track of all the characters, which is generally harder in written medium when you can’t see the group in front of you.

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I wish movies could be about LGBT characters without being written off as “gay movies”. Why don’t you just call it a “movie”? Nobody calls your movies “straight movies”.

What’s going to make you happy right now? Is it some cake? Is it a nap? Is it calling your mom? Is it going on a drive and blasting music? Is it taking a bath? Is it reading a book?

Check in with yourself because you deserve that happiness, whatever it is.