5 Books To Read To Write Better Stories

I updated my taglist with links to the more noteworthy theories.*

*…that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re good. they just got a lot of notes.

Here’s are the links for mobile users:

Undertale:

A CHARActer Analysis (bring snacks)

Don’t GOAT Breaking My Heart

The Soul in the Machine

Where is Frisk Post-Pacifist?

Deltarune:

Meta

Kris, Frisk, and Chara are Nonbinary (and why it matters)

Weak Points

On Susie’s Very Cool Gender

Frisk-Kris Parallels

Ralsei Parallels 

Deltarune’s message isn’t that escapism is a bad thing 

Taking a Closer Look at “Tea Theory”

Deeplore:

A More Compassionate View: The Red Soul is Here to Help

Deltarune’s Timeline May Have Been Reset Before

Two Characters Control the Save/Load Screen

The Red Soul Turned Yellow and Saved Kris on its Own

Who is the Narrator Talking to When They Say “You”?

Things that Support Chara being the Narrator in Deltarune

Super Forbidden Acid Lake Dialogue I Intend to be Annoying About 

How to Hack the Susie Plush Into Your Game (pre-bug fix) 

Why There May Be More Types of Boss Monsters 

Kris Has a Trusting Nature (And May Trust Us) 

Let’s Talk about Papyrus! 

We Don’t Know Where Asriel Is 

Susie May Be from a Human Community

Ralsei’s Astral Projection Habit - It’s Not About Us. It’s About Susie.

Things that indicate Noelle may return to the Dark Worlds

Ralsei’s Prophecy has ties to Gaster

Taking a Meandering Look at the New Green Room

Kris and Susie may have been friends in the past (and had a falling out) 

What age was Kris adopted by the Dreemurrs?

Friendship Propaganda:

Kris and Susie

Kris Grew To Care About Susie (Chapter 1)

Kris Cares About Susie Outside of Our Influence (Chapter 2)

Kris May Have Considered Susie a Friend Before Chapter 1 (Halloween Pencil)

Kris Deliberately Gives Susie Space

Kris wasn’t afraid of Susie even before she joined the team

Kris wants to spend time with Susie

Susie is still a little insecure about her friendship with Kris

Susie might have wanted to be friends with Kris since before Chapter 1

Susie is putting a lot of effort into connecting with Kris

Kris and Susie are both choosing to be friends and there’s nothing we can do about it

Kris and Susie may have been friends in the past (and had a falling out)

Ralsei

Ralsei’s Not Afraid to Get Mad at Susie (which is good)

Susie’s friendship with Ralsei changed over Chapter 2

Kris Considers Ralsei a Friend

Noelle and Kris

Why Noelle values her friendship with Kris

Noelle is an incredible friend and reaches out to Kris constantly

Noelle has been saving Kris (on both routes)

Kris was likely sincere when they said they were friends with Noelle

Noelle and Kris are supportive of each other’s relationship with Susie

Both Kris and Noelle enjoy reconnecting

 Susie and Noelle

Noelle is NOT “Unhealthily Obsessed” with Susie (A Cranky Post)

The Susie and Noelle Friendship Propaganda Post

Noelle is genuinely interested in Susie as a person

Yes, there is evidence Susie has a crush on Noelle

Misc Warm Fuzzies

Alphys Might Be Trying to Look Out for Susie.

Things that indicate Undyne might bond with Susie

The Reason Kris Refuses to Give Spamton the Soul

 Susie Has the Biggest Heart on the Team

If your plot feels flat, STUDY it! Your story might be lacking...

Stakes - What would happen if the protagonist failed? Would it really be such a bad thing if it happened?

Thematic relevance - Do the events of the story speak to a greater emotional or moral message? Is the conflict resolved in a way that befits the theme?

Urgency - How much time does the protagonist have to complete their goal? Are there multiple factors complicating the situation?

Drive - What motivates the protagonist? Are they an active player in the story, or are they repeatedly getting pushed around by external forces? Could you swap them out for a different character with no impact on the plot? On the flip side, do the other characters have sensible motivations of their own?

Yield - Is there foreshadowing? Do the protagonist's choices have unforeseen consequences down the road? Do they use knowledge or clues from the beginning, to help them in the end? Do they learn things about the other characters that weren't immediately obvious?

042 - board meeting

edit I KNOW THE BATTER TALKS MOB TALKS TOO . THEYRE NOT ALL SILENT PROTAGS

NEED HELP WRITING? (a masterlist)

I have likely not added many that I've reblogged to this list. Please feel free to roam my blog and/or ask/message me to add something you'd like to see on this list!

Synonym Lists

Look by @writers-potion

Descriptors

Voices by @saraswritingtipps

Show, Don't Tell by @lyralit

Tips & Tricks

5 Tips for Creating Intimidating Antagonists by @writingwithfolklore

How To (Realistically) Make a Habit of Writing by @byoldervine

Let's Talk About Misdirection by @deception-united

Tips to Improve Character Voice by @tanaor

Stephen King's Top 20 Rules for Writers posted by @toocoolformedschool

Fun Things to Add to a Fight Scene (Hand to Hand Edition) by @illarian-rambling

Questions I Ask My Beta Readers by @burntoutdaydreamer

Skip Google for Research by @s-n-arly

Breaking Writing Rules Right: Don't Write Direct Dialogue by @septemberercfawkes

Databases/Resources

International Clothing

Advice/Uplifting

Too Ashamed of Writing To Write by @writingquestionsanswered

"Said" is Beautiful by @blue-eyed-author

Fanfiction Authors: HEADS UP

(Non-authors, please RB to signal boost to your author friends!)

An astute reader informed me this morning that one of my fics (Children of the Future Age) had been pirated and was being sold as a novel on Amazon:

(And they weren't even creative with their cover design. If you're going to pirate something that I spent a full year of my life writing, at least give me a pretty screenshot to brag about later. Seriously.)

I promptly filed a DMCA complaint to have it removed, but I checked out the company that put it up -- Plush Books -- and it looks like A LOT of their books are pirated fic. They are by no means the only ones doing this, either -- the fact that """publishers""" can download stories from AO3 in ebook format and then reupload them to Amazon in just a few clicks makes fic piracy a common problem. There are a whole host of reasons why letting this continue is bad -- including actual legal risk to fanfiction archives -- but basically:

IF YOU ARE A FANFIC AUTHOR WITH LONG AND/OR POPULAR WORKS, PLEASE CHECK AMAZON TO SEE IF YOUR STORIES HAVE BEEN PIRATED.

You can search for your fics by title, or by text from the description (which is often just copied wholesale from AO3 as well). If you find that someone has stolen your work and is selling it as their own, you can lodge a DMCA complaint (Amazon.com/USA site; other countries have different systems). If you haven't done this before, it's easy! Here's a tutorial:

HOW TO FILE A COPYRIGHT COMPLAINT FOR STOLEN WORK ON AMAZON.COM:

First, go to this form. You'll need to be signed into your Amazon account.

Select the radio buttons/dropdown options (shown below) to indicate that you are the legal Rights Owner, you have a copyright concern, and it is about a pirated product.

Enter the name of your story in the Name of Brand field.

In the Link to the Copyrighted Work box, enter a link to the story on AO3 or whatever site your work is posted on.

In the Additional Information box, explain that you are the author of the work and it is being sold without your permission. That's all you really need. If you want, you can include additional information that might be helpful in establishing the validity of your claim, but you don't have to go into great detail. You can simply write something like this:

I am the author of this work, which is being sold by [publisher] without my permission. I originally published this story in [date/year] on [name of site], and have provided a link to the original above. On request, I can provide documentation proving that I am the owner of the account that originally posted this story.

In the ASIN/ISBN-10 field, copy and paste the ID number from the pirated copy's URL. You'll find this ten-digit number in the Amazon URL after the word "product," as in the screenshot below. (If the URL extends beyond this number, you can ignore everything from the question mark on.) Once this number has been added, Amazon will pull the product information automatically and add it to the complaint form, so you can check the listing title and make sure it's correct.

Finally, add your contact information to the relevant fields, check the "I have read and accept the statements" box, and then click Submit. You should receive an email confirmation that Amazon has received the form.

Please share this information with your writer friends, keep an eye out for/report pirated works, and help us keep fanfiction free and legally protected!

NOTE: All of the above also applies to Amazon products featuring stolen artwork, etc., so fan artists should check too!

Writing Theory - Conflict 101

THEORY

goal + obstacle = conflict -> plot

You may have heard that a story needs conflict, but what does that mean?

No, it's not explosions. Or murder. Or smut.

Your character wants something, that's the goal. Something is in the character's way, that's the obstacle. The way your character deals with the obstacle to reach their goal is what makes an engaging conflict.

You see this on a plot level as well as on an individual scene level: Character wants X, but obstacle Y, so they have to go do Z

Conflict is like the engine of the plot, so if it's missing in a scene, then it's likely to feel redundant, boring, as if the story came to a halt (because it did; the engine stopped).

The goal and obstacle pair generally appear in two orders, with a "reaction" element:

Character sets a goal, but an obstacle happens, so the character reacts by changing course

Something happens (obstacle), character reacts to it and decides on the next action (goal)

You can alternate between the two, then you get something like this: character tries to accomplish something, something gets in their way, forcing a new approach, character reacts to the changes and decides how to move on from here, sets a new goal, tries to reach goal, faces obstacle...

This can also keep your character active rather than passive. Even in a reactionary scene, your character is responding and making a decision, rather than being a puppet to external forces. It can be smart to not have too many reactionary scenes back-to-back, as this can also feel passive. The goal-obstacle-reaction type scenes don't really have this problem and you can intersperse them with reactionary scenes now and then for variation.

You can have one major goal and many smaller goals. The goal(s) can also shift over the course of the story.

If you struggle to think of an obstacle, ask yourself: what is preventing my character from achieving their goal right now? Why can't they walk up to the villain and defeat them? Why can't they pull their love interest into a kiss? Why is your story longer than two paragraphs?

Ideally, goals and obstacles (and conflicts) are interwoven with character development, theme, etc., making for a solid plot where all these elements form one smooth fabric together. As a beginner, it's alright to first pick one thing to exercise rather than trying to balance all these things at once. Learn to create these bare bones of a plot and then improve upon that foundation.

EXAMPLE: Revenge of the Sith

Anakin would like Padmé to not die. = goal; He doesn't know how to prevent it. = obstacle

Stop the Sith = goal; Not knowing who the Sith Lord is = obstacle

These form conflicts and they push the plot forward. There are several smaller goals, like defeating Dooku/saving the Chancellor, preventing Palpatine from dying, manslaughter, killing Obi-Wan...

A scene with the goal - obstacle - (reaction) order: Anakin wants to use Palpatine's knowledge (goal), but Mace Windu is about to make that permanently impossible (obstacle). Thus, Anakin needs to pivot from yelling to slashing in order to reach his goal.

A scene with the obstacle - (reaction) - goal order: Anakin, the superstar Jedi, has just helped a Sith Lord kill a Jedi master (obstacle/problem; goes against the bigger "stop the Sith" goal). This has an effect on him (reaction; "What have I done??") and leads to a decision: join Palpatine. This then sets him on his next goal(s): destroy the Jedi to prove he's worthy.

Here you see how those two "types" of scenes flow into each other.

EXERCISE

Write two short scenes - one for each type (reactionary and goal-obstacle-reaction). They don't have to be unrelated.

Now, write another two scenes, but this time make them successive.

See if you can do this in the form of a short story: write 5-10 successive scenes.

Celebrate that you've just written a story! :D

These techniques, like so often with writing, need practice to sink in. So write some fun short stories or wacky scenes, and you'll notice you get better the more you do it. Have fun!

Don’t GOAT Breaking my Heart: an Anti-Hate Meta for Toriel AND Asgore

I’ve seen a lot of hate going around regarding the situation these two are in. Sometimes, in defense of one goat someone viciously bashes the other. It doesn’t have to be like that, though.

                                                       TORIEL

It seems like a lot of people are condemning her dislike of Asgore in their defense of him. But…I think we should try to understand her point of view too.

                              Why is she so mad at Asgore?

It is heavily implied the children he killed were her children, in the same way Frisk is. Maybe for years.

It’s safe to say Toriel didn’t just nab these kids’ shoes and send them on their way. Some or most of them stayed long enough to need to new shoes and grow out of their old ones (or they’d still be wearing them when they left the Ruins) - a process that takes months or years depending on their age. Their old ones were put in the bin. They left, and died in their new ones. Rinse and repeat.

Added to this is the photo frame in the children’s room. This frame is empty; if it were meant for her old family in New Home, it would still have them in it or not be there at all. It’s empty because the children, the humans who occupied the room before, in the picture died.

They were not just children that were murdered; they were her children. The same way Frisk is.

This isn’t just two exes disagreeing over policy; from her point of view, he killed six of her children (only one way into the underground, and that’s the hole in the ruins; Chara fell there too) and was starting on a seventh. It’s understandable that she can’t forgive him.

                           But did he kill the other 6 humans?

Unfortunately, yes.

The humans made it to Asgore, but they didn’t make it past him.

It seems the other childrens’ items were lost along the way, and scattered over decades, not markers of the childrens’ graves; it’s mentioned that the “faded ribbon” was dropped down a hole. The other items likely met a similar fate; however, all the humans made it Asgore at the end. They did not make it past him.

                        Why did she take Chara when she left?

She didn’t do it out of spite, but believed that they deserved a proper burial.

          Why didn’t she leave the barrier, and kill six people herself?

Toriel never wanted that plan to go through.

Toriel never wanted humans to be killed to break the barrier, even to free her kingdom. She would never have killed anyone to make it happen.

She didn’t call him out because she thought he should have left the barrier to kill more humans, she called him out because he gave everyone false hope and killed people; if four humans died and no others arrived then monsters would still be trapped forever, but the humans would still be dead.

Even when she’s facing down someone who killed her children, she cannot allow someone to take his life. She didn’t just come here to save Frisk; she came to save Asgore. No lives could be taken to exit the barrier. The value of life was absolute.

                                                     ASGORE

…and I think we should try to understand Asgore’s plight as well.

                     He declared war in a moment of devastation.

When Asgore declared war on humanity, he had just lost two children. He watched his son die from the wounds the humans inflicted on him, when he didn’t raise a finger to harm them. Humans who locked them in a hole to rot for thousands of years.

                          …and then couldn’t take it back.

The kingdom was in despair too; they had lost their prince, they lost their hope for reconciliation with the humans with Chara. He promised his entire kingdom he’d take the humans’ souls and free them.

He saved his kingdom from despair, and by the time his own grief had settled it was too late to take his promise back. He couldn’t take away their hopes and dreams.

He had a duty far beyond six souls of the humans - who doomed them to their situation and murdered his own son after he cared for one of their children - to the thousands of people in his own kingdom. It would have been justified for him to leave the barrier and kill six more humans after he got the first soul, right?

    Even after everything the humans did, he still valued their lives.

This is why he didn’t leave the barrier after getting the first soul.

He couldn’t state outright that he didn’t want to kill them to the kingdom, and plunge them back into the horror of being trapped in the dark forever. But he still hoped to never kill another one, even after they kept coming. Even after the sixth. If he could avoid killing even one, he would. To this end, he even instructed his scientists to find any other way to break the barrier, without a single other person having to die.

For the record, here’s how he looks at Frisk when he sees the very last soul he needs to free his people from millennia of imprisonment that they never deserved:

He takes two steps back and stares at Frisk in utter horror. There’s a long silence. He actually panicked when he saw Frisk.

            And how many times does he try to to spare your life?

Translation: Please don’t come into the next room.

“If not, I understand. I am not ready either.”

Translation: Please turn back.

There’s still time.

And when he finally does fight you…

He holds himself way, way back. He has the ability to one-shot you. He has the potential to not get a scratch on him from Frisk’s tiny LV 1 self. What’s going on here?

Because they are made of magic, monsters’ bodies are attuned to their SOUL. If a monster doesn’t want to fight, its defenses will weaken. And the crueler the intentions of our enemies, the more their attacks will hurt us.

This is how much he doesn’t want to fight you. Along with holding back his last attack, so you can only ever die if you’re already at 1 HP.

                       So why’d he destroy the mercy button?

He doesn’t really want to win either. And in the event he loses, he doesn’t want mercy. If Flowey doesn’t show up…

He dismisses his idea of living with Frisk peacefully as a fantasy, says Frisk and his other human child “have the same look of hope in your eyes”, thinks Frisk could be the Angel of the delta rune prophecy, and believes they can free everyone from outside the barrier. He then takes his own life.

                   He was not wrong to want to spare the humans.

Despite their souls being necessary to free everyone, It’s important to understand the stakes here. With each successive soul, he is not just looking down at the possibility of taking another child’s life when they show up. If he gets 7, he will no longer have an excuse to stay below ground. He will have to break it. He will then have to destroy the lives of billions to let his people on the surface.

                                        but if one shows up….

If a human shows up in his castle, it is because they want to leave. The confrontation is then inevitable, because they have to take his soul to do that. He never hunts them down. But if it comes to fight, he has a duty to fight and try to take their soul, for the entire kingdom. Their hopes are riding on him. So he killed them.

…and the barrier really couldn’t have been be broken without 6 of them, and the souls of every monster underground except Napstablook.

I think it’s possible to appreciate the agonizing position Asgore was put in, as a person so gentle he couldn’t even painlessly take the lives of humans, who killed his son and trapped them underground, with the hopes of the entire kingdom, and the destruction of an entire species, resting on his shoulders to do it.

I think it’s also possible to appreciate the position of Toriel, who has lost several of her children to his hands, and can’t forget it or forgive it, but still believes he deserves mercy.

It’s no competition. Please love both of the goat parents. Neither are bad people and they’ve been through too much.

Bonus: Are they ever ever getting back together?

 They are not ever ever getting back together.

…but he’s still smiling in the end, isn’t he?

Part 1

Cale sits on Alberu’s bed.

This… feeling, of his memories and feelings all contradicting. It’s a little disorienting.

His hands are dirty, but he knows they’re clean. He could lay down and roll around on the princes bed, but his memories show a blatant disregard for what the prince thinks about what he does, yet he knows that he has respected and cared about the prince for a long time-

So what is it? Does Cale secretly respect him? Is his disregard an act? No, it’s not. Disrespect is… a way to show respect? To hide his respect?

Cale develops a headache. There’s a lot of new information in his mind, rolling around like a thunderstorm, and it’s really starting to hurt.

His hand caresses the side of his head, and he aims his face into his lap, a frown forming. It… hurts.

It hurts.

Hopelessness drags on his new and good emotions. It hurts. He- he hates pain. His hands tremble.

Alberu watches Cale, unsure what could’ve happened to cause him to start crying. With a shaky mind, Alberu walks over to the frozen child sitting on his bed, making extra sure that his footsteps create noise. God, scaring a child? Scaring Cale? That would be a nightmare. He wouldn’t know how to handle it at all.

Despite Alberu’s desperate wishes, Cale is deep in his subconscious, overwhelmed by a self-induced headache.

So when Alberu reaches over for the boys shoulder (like how Cale would comfort everyone), Cale flinches. Hard. He throws his body to the side of the bed and pulls his arms up to his chest, staring up at Alberu’s figure.

Now, the Prince isn’t stupid. He knows what a flinch means, what it implies. Then why- he fumes- why is Cale of all people showing these responses? How bad did he have it in Korea?

So, while Cale lies on the bed and stares, Alberu decides that he’s too tired to deal with this. This is incredibly annoying. This is- fucking depressing. He hasn’t slept for two days and suddenly being forced into babysitting duty is grating on his nerves.

He walks away to order the nearest servant to deliver cookies to his room, while he starts to brew tea. When the boy on the bed has a clear head and Alberu has some more strength, he’ll consider asking what’s wrong.

Bringing the tea over to the bed, Cale stares at the cups.

“Dongsaeng?” Alberu sits on the bed next to Cale, who stops laying down. “Do you like sweet tea still, even when you’re like this?”

Cale pinches his lips together. Forgoing a verbal response, he nods his head to the question and starts to reach out.

‘Dirty’

‘Careless’

‘Irresponsible’

His hand freezes, and goes through a dozen calculations. Should he ask to grab the cup? He wouldn’t normally do that, no. Should he act more like an ignorant child, not as mature as he feels? Should he ask what he should do?-

Alberu watches the emotions that flit across the young face. They are all incredibly subtle, as if he’s used to being so insecure but hiding it underneath a layer of confidence. Alberu relates to it on an uncomfortable level.

He almost expects the kid to ask if he should take the cup, but Cale firms up his face and decides to disrespect the Crown Prince anyway by grabbing the cup and taking a big sip of it.

Good, Cale reasons, looking at Alberu’s face. He’s not mad, like he predicted. He’s learning the limits of the people he trusts because, while he’s in this different body and has this smaller mind, people will react unpredictably. Anticipate violence, prepare for rejection, and accept whatever he can get his hands on. His old lessons from when he was a kid float into his mind, and they provide a comfort that none of his older memories have given him yet.

They sit in silence, sipping on tea and observing each other. The other children are disturbingly quiet, but they aren’t crying or angry. They’re just… watching. Raon seems to be the most restless, while On and Hong wait from a distance.

Those three children recognize the signs of abuse the most. Ever since he opened his eyes, they could see it all. The hesitation. The fake confidence. The awkward tense-relax-tense game that Cale is playing in his mind. Like he’s trying to convince himself that he’s in a safe place, but it’s so hard to believe that he instinctively goes back to base one whenever he succeeds.

They’re going to launch their ‘attack’ in a few minutes, but only after cookies. A servant quietly brings in a tray, keeping her eyes very specifically on the desk she needs to leave it on. Raon still turns him and the kittens invisible for the brief time she’s there, but she looked so focused that she probably wouldn’t have seen them had they been sitting right next to the crown Prince. On applauds her in her mind.

Cale keeps his mouth shut. The last thing he should do right now is talk. He knows when he isn’t welcome, and while the (fond?) exasperation from the prince is not quite the same as Cale is used to, it’s close enough. He plans to stay quiet and do nothing. It’s dangerous to think about anything else.

What if he ruins his companionship with Alberu forever? That would be- bad. For when he’s able to be big again, of course. It would be… what’s the word?

Inconvenient.

Cale doesn’t feel 7 years old anymore. His mind has been growing, in a weird way. Like he’s subconsciously fighting against the curse by maturing his mind at a faster rate. He can think a little more clearly, analyze a little more precisely.

He finishes his tea and puts it down. He’s tired.

‘Dirty’

‘Disgusting’

‘Filthy’

He looks down at his hands. He turns his palm over, examining it. He sighs in relief. Clean. He’s clean right now.

He’s startled by a red ball of fur pressing its face into his open palm.

“Hong?” His voice is soft, open just like his palm.

Hong purrs, and Cale falls for the distraction. He sets out to pet the kitten who is so innocently asking for them.

All of a sudden he hears Alberu shout from his side and a flash of black streaks across his vision. He looks up, but then On has transformed into her human form and the 12 year old body is stronger than it should be, with how easily she grabs the 7 year old and throws him by the pillows.

Cale barely finishes bouncing from being thrown when he gets crushed by Raon.

“Human!”

Cale opens his eyes and looks up at the blue eyes peering down into his soul. “Raon…”

Raon cuts him off, resting part of his weight on Cale.

“We’re having naptime! Majority vote! You have to sleep, human!”

Cale frowned. He hadn’t had any cookies yet.

Raon interprets him wrong, and suddenly Cale is being thrust into Alberu’s arms. “Adults are always the best at cuddling! We’re leaving you to our most experienced member so you get the full package! Alberu, don’t let Cale go.” His words leave a chill in Cale’s body, and he resists the urge to shudder.

Then he realizes that Alberu’s arms had really tightened around him. Cale squirms, because, what? Why can’t he just cuddle with the kids?

The answer becomes abruptly clear. Cale, smooshed against Alberu’s chest, surrounded by two human cats and a dragon who insisted that he lay on top of the pile- discovers that, while Raon could use magic to restrain him, the human with long arms is just more effective at restraining people comfortably.

Cale pouts. He didn’t get any cookies.

Ron, Beacrox, and Choi Han arrive at the princes room. Ron was worried about him, while Choi Han was concerned that he wasn’t adjusting well. Does he feel safe? Has he eaten? Is the fact that they aren’t in Korea making it difficult? Meanwhile, Beacrox is just angry at a lot of things right now.

They found the demonic worshipper, but after torturing information out of him, they realized that Cale is in the Demonic God’s hands now. Killing the demonic worshipper doesn’t even break the curse.

They had run into Bud and Glenn while investigating, naturally. The merchant king had offered all of his resources to track down the culprit, which helped somewhat in finding him. Glenn offered them a quick teleport back to the palace, and they accepted.

“Young master-“

“Cale-nim!-“

“My friend! Sob!- um?”

Ron, Choi Han, and Bud speak all at the same time. They all pause however, at the sight of Raon glaring at them intensely. A transparent black shield covers a lump of bodies, and Glenn recognizes it as a soundproofing spell. He gets goosebumps at the mana swirling around the rest of the room dangerously.

Choi Han felt stunned. It has been a long while since Raon pointed his wrath at anyone in their family. What happened?

Ron then smiles, a chill covering the room instantly. “What are you covering, little dragon?”

Raon uncharacteristically stays silent. He looks like a real dragon at this moment, all cold glares while he drapes himself over his hoard.

Then Choi Han puts the dots together. The Crown Prince is missing, documents unfinished. The kittens can be vaguely seen on the side of the pile that Raon is laying on, and if he’s correct-

Cale is in the center.

Choi Han’s eyes sparkle at the opportunity in front of him. Bud takes a careful step away from him, but he’s not paying attention to that.

Choi Han loves small cute things. What’s more cute than a bunch of his favorite, small cute people (minus Alberu, who isn’t small, that he suspects is in the back) in a big cuddly pile?

Cale murmurs in his sleep, feeling an icy chill on the back of his neck. Someone’s plotting against him.

He becomes unsettled, pushing lightly against Alberu’s arms in protest to the sensation. Alberu, who has fallen into an incredibly deep sleep, just tightens his arms. Cale decides to ignore the feeling, after getting that slight ‘scolding.’

His mind, which had become around 9-10 in the short time that he had been thinking intensely, quiets. He allows himself to be comforted, and doesn’t notice the way his mind falls into that of a 8 year old during this nap.

He breathes softly, falls deeper into his sleep, and can’t feel the curse settle over his mind.

Choi Han fails in his attempts to sway the dragon to let him see. Raon, smarter than your average 6 year old, understands what Choi Han wants and what Cale wants, and that Cale should get what he wants right now. Privacy. Raon becomes even more determined to protect Cale while he’s in this younger state.

He’s vulnerable.

The dragon in him growls at this. Everyone in this pile has been abused. He doesn’t know much about Alberu, but he saw the understanding glint in his eyes, so Raon determines that the Crown Prince is also under his protection.

Do the people outside their bubble understand that? Do they think that his human just happened to land in the middle of the pile, blocked from the world’s eye?

Raon huffs at Choi Han’s antics, ignores Ron’s vague threat, and summons a second shield over the soundproof one, this one solid and not transparent.

The human told Raon that it’s okay to be selfish. He wants to hold their little group closer right now, and he doesn’t want to share.

Cale flinches in his new, deep sleep. Raon lays his head back down on the pile, using magic to keep his human the perfect napping temperature.

He curses that he can’t do more right now.

The Soo Trio & Earth Abilities

Let's talk about Earth Abilities for a moment, shall we?

It's been a long-standing debate in the fandom whether Cale has more Abilities than just 2. Of course now it’s at least 3, since he got Embrace from Lee Soo Hyuk. However, just like how the area where Cale and the others live was never called “the whole world”, merely “the two Continents” implies that there might be more continents in that world, Kim Rok Soo had never been stated to have “2 abilities”. Instead, he was called a “Multiple Ability User”.

It was especially worth noticing when OG Cale!Kim Rok Soo was talking with Choi Jung Soo about it. He said he was getting hang of his new Abilities, but Choi Jung Soo warned him that Kim Rok Soo was a “multiple Ability User” and that his Abilities were hard to master.

Furthermore, it appears that Abilities evolve over time, as in the beginning of the cataclysm, most people seemed to have only 1 Ability per person – Park Jin Tae was an unusual case, and thus kept it a secret.

What form Abilities take highly depends on the person’s personality and interest. For example, there was person at Kim Rok Soo’s shelter who used to be a music major, and her ability allowed her to project her voice for others to hear from far away.

Kim Rok Soo’s first Ability was Record. Which fits his personality of someone who has excellent memory and is able to process all information to his advantage. His second Ability, gained after years of working for the Company, was Instant. Yet again, it fits with how desperately he wished to rush in and save his team. He’s also someone who breaks the rules to achieve his goals no matter what it takes, so no wonder his Ability allowed him to transcend time itself.

Unlike Lee Soo Hyuk and Choi Jung Soo, who tragically died quite young, Kim Rok Soo lived to his late 30’s. He had time to develop more Abilities afterwards. I don’t have valid theories about what his third Ability could potentially be. I suspect it was probably something passive, such as “Perseverance” or something. Perhaps it’s an Ability that allows him to stay conscious for as long as he needs to in order to accomplish something. It’s a wild shot, but it’s as good of a guess as any. There haven’t been any clear hints about that yet. Perhaps I’m wrong, and it’s all just red herring – maybe Kim Rok Soo just had 2 Abilities all along and that was it.

Let’s talk about Lee Soo Hyuk and Choi Jung Soo for a moment, shall we?

Lee Soo Hyuk is a fascinating case. He’s clearly someone special. He doesn’t seem to be a Single-Lifer – because he naturally reincarnated after his death. And yet, even Monsters recognize he is someone unusual. He is a natural-born hero: he has the charisma, the skills, and the ideals of one. And his first unnamed Ability was incredibly strong – it allowed him to cut through anything. The power was described to be eerily silent, cutting through the air itself.

...And that Ability previously belonged to Choi Jung Gun, aka. Nelan Barrow, the first Dragon Slayer.

Why the heck Choi Jung Gun decided to hand this ability to Lee Soo Hyuk is a mystery. He doesn't exactly strike me as a generous type. I’m very curious to learn about that story in the future. For now, I just assume Choi Jung Gun saw potential in Lee Soo Hyuk (there was implication that he’s able to see some ‘Threads of Fate’ during his meeting with Cale in the Sloth Test) and decided he should have it due some circumstances.

After getting that Ability, Lee Soo Hyuk developed Embrace. We know Embrace came second, because he did not use it in the Sealed God’s Test, despite going against an Unranked Monster and giving his all. It was also a very peculiar and unusual Ability – it was even able to seal a God!! That is no small issue, Lee Soo Hyuk’s Abilities are all busted!!! No wonder he was such a big deal in Korea.

And finally, we get to Choi Jung Soo. He’s the one I really wanted to talk about from the start.

You see, we all forget that Kim Rok Soo was not expected to be the successor of Lee Soo Hyuk. In fact, everyone in the Company expected it to be Choi Jung Soo. Considering how incredibly skilled Kim Rok Soo was, that’s quite a big deal.

Choi Jung Soo gave Choi Han his Miru Ability – his own variation of it being the White Miru – but looking at Lee Soo Hyuk and Kim Rok Soo, it becomes obvious that he must have had another Ability.

And that’s where chapters 580 & 581 come in.

Cale meets Choi Jung Soo and is incredibly happy to see him. Choi Jung Soo is naturally wary of the person who has Rank 1 Monsters such as the Dark Tiger following him. Cale then thinks this:

“‘He’s wary of me again.’ He could tell that Choi Jung Soo was quite wary of him. That was why Choi Jung Soo was focusing his gaze on him instead of the monster Alberu or Choi Han who had a sword on his side. Cale could tell that Choi Jung Soo's ‘intuition’ was still there after seeing Choi Jung Soo be wary when he was trying to speak as warmly as possible.”

Choi Jung Soo, on the other hand, thinks this:

“The fact that such a person had recognized him through foresight was shocking, and it was weird that he was being so friendly. He also found something weird about himself as well. ‘...I don’t feel any wariness toward him.’ Choi Jung Soo had been quite tense since the world became like this. It was because he was weak. This world was now one where the weak could be preyed upon by the strong at any moment. But for some odd reason, he didn't feel any wariness toward this man named Kim Rok Soo even after hearing how strong he is. Choi Jung Soo found that the current situation was even more chaotic as he had never felt this way before.”

Choi Jung Soo feels wary NOT because he’s distrustful towards Cale. In fact, it’s exactly the opposite. He’s wary BECAUSE he’s not feeling distrustful, and finds that very strange!

Don’t you see what this is??

This is, yet again, foreshadowing, my friends! Choi Jung Soo has an ‘Intuition’ Ability!!

It makes a lot of sense! His first Ability wasn’t the White Miru – because when Choi Han starts training him, he doesn’t have that yet. Choi Jung Soo recognizes Choi Han’s style as familiar, but not the Ability itself. It should have been a dead giveaway if Choi Jung Soo used the same-looking dragon power.

Park Jin Tae had a similar Ability, which allowed him to recognize individual’s strength based on the pressure they gave off. I think Choi Jung Soo’s Ability has less to do with strength, and more with intent. Especially because he thinks this regarding Choi Han:

“Choi Jung Soo realized something at that moment. They had said that Choi Han was the strongest person in the group. ‘But why-’ For some very weird reason... ‘Do I have even less wariness toward this person than even Kim Rok Soo?’ Choi Han was standing there with a stoic expression, but it did not seem threatening at all to Choi Jung Soo. It didn't seem to be because Choi Han was younger than Choi Jung Soo. ‘What is going on?’ Cale continued to speak as Choi Jung Soo became even more confused while looking at Cale and Choi Han.”

Choi Jung Soo feels completely safe with Cale and Choi Han, which confuses him extremely. Those individuals are the strongest, and yet, he feels absolutely no ill intent from them.

That is no mystical connection, or Choi Jung Soo recognizing Choi Han as his family... That is not at all what is going on here. Choi Jung Soo’s logic dictates that he should feel wariness towards the two strongest individuals, and yet his Ability is telling him: “Those two are Completely Safe. You can Trust Them.” Because both Cale and Choi Han love him already as family, even though he doesn’t know them. That must have been very confusing.

I am very looking forward to Choi Jung Soo reuniting with Cale and Choi Han in the Murim world later. I am very sure we will learn more about his Intuition Ability there. I’m convinced such an Ability would be very useful for recognizing allies and forming a rebel group to fight against the Hunters.

Do not underestimate the subtle powers. After all, Cale’s Record was able to change the fate of multiple worlds so far.

So, there you have it! All known Abilities of the Soos:

Lee Soo Hyuk: “Slashing” Ability (received from CJG), Embrace (given to Cale)

Kim Rok Soo: Record, Instant, possible third Ability

Choi Jung Soo: “Intuition” Ability, White Miru

I was gonna post this as a reply for this post by @he4d-banger but it got too long so I’m making it a separate post.

I have talked about this before but I’ll talk again because I love talking about Cale’s complex emotional state.

More than pushing them away, Cale completely ignored his grief which has made him completely emotional constipated. This has lead to many side affects which get glossed over most of the time since we read the novel from Cale’s pov.

Some that I can remember from the top of my head right now are: dissociation, selective memory, depression, anxiety, stress and tons of physical problems like eating disorder, etc. which I’ll get into more another time. His self destructive tendencies based on the decisions he makes are all because of his emotional constipation.

Cale’s denial over his own symptoms has become chronic over the years even tho it’s fairly visible from other peoples perspective. Some instances I can remember where we see Cale’s condition from other peoples pov are: moments when Alberu tells him he’ll definitely get his slacker life, everyone’s reaction to him smiling after crying, Choi Han meeting younger Cale, the villains’ reaction when Cale gets angry, everyone telling him he’s too weak and skinny, Ron and Choi Han’s pov during side story 7 after Cale dreamed about CJS and LSH first death anniversary, etc. Everyone can recognize that he’s not well.

And about the venting on destroying stuff, that’s exactly correct. Many times when we see the fight from the other pov of the villain, most of the dialogue is about how angry and terrifying Cale looks. Of course part of that could be due to the effect of Dominating Aura, but they specifically mention Cale’s expression and the look in his eyes a lot. That’s what truly terrifies them. Cale doesn’t recognize this but he’s really expressive, everyone says that he’s very expressive and lets his emotions slip through his face.

Another case when he couldn’t control his emotions anymore was when he cried. An interesting fact is that people who aren’t used to crying and/or hold themselves back from crying, once they do actually cry they can’t stop the flow of tears and are motionless and/or rather calm and quiet. It’s that silent unstoppable crying that Cale displayed. His grief finally exploded after meeting LSH and he couldn’t understand the sadness he was feeling at that moment because the meeting ended with consolidation and relief. All the pain over the deaths of his best friends finally released.

That is a complete contrast to his reaction in side story 7 after the first anniversary of his team’s death. When he arrived home he just collapsed on the floor expressionless. Not once did he cry. But the way he collapsed at that moment said a lot about his state at the time. All the stress accumulated in his body from holding back his emotions all day today affected his physical health to total exhaustion

Actually in my opinion SS7 is one of the best chapters about examining Cale’s emotional state. There are multiple visible of him suppressing his emotions like: keeping a neutral expression all day around, refusing to mention what day it was tomorrow even though everyone knew, not closing his eyes in front of the grave because the memories would resurface, the small panic attack shown by his shortage of breath, background silence and feeling of heaviness, and you can see how burned out emotionally and physically he feels. The only way he wouldn’t feel these things was by working, as it is noted multiple times throughout the story that he never took days off.

And my favorite moment was when we see Cale waking up from the dream and very clearly experiencing signs of ptsd and a panic attack. He was feeling cold despite the entire house being heated with magic, cold sweat running down his face, shortage of breath as soon as he woke up and a distressed expression as shown from Ron and Choi Han’s pov He also felt the need to hear noises and pet the kids to make him feel a sense of attachment with reality since the silence in his memories made him feel suffocated. Tho Cale himself couldn’t recognize these symptoms.

That side story also shows how he has grown emotionally throughout the novel now becoming more emotionally open with others.

I can also go on about his selective memory, anxiety, get more into his self destructive lifestyle and about his obvious signs of depression during his team leader days and early part of the novel while touching on his childhood trauma, but this post is already long enough so I’ll leave those for another day.