Let me ask you; where do you think the heart is?

ᚑ      ᚑ

When the touch is gentle:

»-♡→ Brushed »-♡→ Grazed »-♡→ Caressed »-♡→ Stroked »-♡→ Patted »-♡→ Cradled »-♡→ Rested against »-♡→ Smoothed »-♡→ Trailed along »-♡→ Glided over

...or comforting:

➺ Squeezed ➺ Held ➺ Embraced ➺ Wrapped around ➺ Clasped ➺ Pressed gently against ➺ Rubbed ➺ Supported ➺ Steadied ➺ Cupped

...or affectionate:

➵ Ruffled ➵ Nuzzled ➵ Kissed ➵ Linked arms with ➵ Nestled against ➵ Curled around ➵ Leaned into ➵ Rested a hand on ➵ Laced fingers with ➵ Pulled close

...or romantic:

̗̀➛ Traced ̗̀➛ Ghosted across ̗̀➛ Brushed against ̗̀➛ Skimmed over ̗̀➛ Lingeringly stroked ̗̀➛ Ran a thumb along ̗̀➛ Tilted their chin ̗̀➛ Tucked a strand of hair behind their ear ̗̀➛ Pressed their forehead against ̗̀➛ Intertwined fingers

ᚑ      ᚑ

Organized by emotions!

ANGRY/ANNOYED:

Insulted, goaded, jeered, argued, bickered, raged, scolded, complained, nagged, quipped, chided, snarled, ridiculed, snapped, retorted, protested, grumbled, whined, accused, badgered, threatened, lashed, ranted, scoffed, retaliated, stormed, sneered, boomed, roared, yelled, shouted, barked, grilled, fumed, heaved, insisted, bellowed, taunted, sassed

HAPPY:

Beamed, cheered, gushed, bubbled, chirped, resounded, praised, sang, trilled, chorused, tittered, complimented, effused, jabbered, rejoiced, approved, chimed, chatted, exclaimed

SAD:

Bawled, cried, blubbered, sobbed, wept, sniffled, wailed, agonized, grieved, mumbled, groaned, sniveled, apologized, lamented, fretted, gurgled, croaked

CALM/NEUTRAL:

Added, began, addressed, agreed, called, announced, confirmed, described, continued, disclosed, echoed, greeted, emphasized, informed, mentioned, implied, mused, observed, prompted, offered, recited, started, recalled, uttered, reckoned, ventured, went on, pronounced, voiced, noted, remarked, commented, interjected, shared

SCARED:

Cautioned, gulped, swallowed, keened, panted, gasped, shrieked, trembled, shuddered, yelped, warned, hesitated, stammered, stuttered, pleaded, murmured, sputtered,

CURIOUS:

Hummed, questioned, inquired, quizzed, queried, wondered

Thought you might need this.

I know I did.

Long post ahead

1) He lets Rukia see him at his most vulnerable

Rukia was the only one that Ichigo told about 17 June being Masaki’s death date. He has talked to no one else about Masaki – not Inoue, not even Chad. More importantly, Rukia was the only one he talked to about “killing” Masaki. Imagine: this guy has been going about the past 6 years blaming himself for his mother’s death and has told NO ONE about it, not even his family. Yet he’s able to unburden himself to Rukia, someone he met mere days ago, and this later enables him to talk to Isshin about it at Masaki’s grave.

2) He threatened Byakuya over Rukia

Ichigo fought both Rukia’s and Inoue’s older brothers and takes both of them to task for wanting to kill their sisters but ONLY takes the threat towards Rukia personally. He spends more than 2 pages vowing to make Byakuya “cry while apologising” for saying he’d execute Rukia because HE “DIDN’T LIKE IT”. Pffft boi you’re so in love. 

“DON’T EVER SAY THAT IN FRONT OF RUKIA AGAIN I WILL DESTROY YOUR BANKAI” 

vs the fight with Sora:

3) Reflected in his eyes

Alright, maybe being reflected in someone’s eyes is more a narrative trope than how Ichigo is shown treating Rukia differently from Inoue, but you know what I mean. Inoue becomes part of the scenery to Ichigo whenever Rukia’s around (I’ll link again to this excellent post that has examples). Heck, even when Rukia’s NOT around he ignores/shows no interest in Inoue. 

seven. months. He had seven Rukia-less months, with Inoue - the hottest girl in school - thirsting after him, and he was STILL indifferent towards her and unaware of her very obvious feelings for him. That’s how little interest he has in her. Also, did you guys notice that in ch 423, he didn’t even acknowledge Inoue once after waking up from his post-dangai coma, despite her shouting his name after he woke? His focus was 100% on Rukia.

Inoue herself laments that she cannot see herself reflected in K-kun’s eyes during the Grimmjow fight. whereas for Rukia:

(Also, gonna go off on a tangent and talk about the “five lifetimes” confession. If being reflected in someone’s eyes has romantic connotations, what does it mean for Inoue to be confessing to a SLEEPING Ichigo? Not only is she not “being reflected”, his eyes aren’t even open to her. The narrative emphasises over and over that Inoue’s feelings are “one way sympathies” and are not being reciprocated.)  

4) Ichigo thinks about Rukia CONSTANTLY

He repeats words Rukia said to him to Isshin,

he constantly tells people Rukia is important (“She changed my destiny”)

he’s tsundere about Rukia’s absence in the FB arc, fooling absolutely no one, 

and his fullbring is activated while thinking of her

I can’t think of any instance where he’s had something similar for Inoue. No internal or external dialogue about what she means to him or anything to show that she held a significant position in his thoughts or heart. 

5) romantic gazes and eye smex

Ichigo gives straight-up romantic, tender gazes to Rukia with Inoue excluded in the background. Both instances here are CLEARLY romantic. The Farewell Swords/Bleach My Soul scene was so romantic that Jump Shop plastered it on their wall :’) 

make sure its the right idea and right time

you might get a new exiting idea every day and start planning it, promising yourself “this is the one im going to finish” but still ending up abandoning it for another one by next week because it either stopped being exiting or you ran into an issue which convinced you its too difficult or just wrong

you can fix this by reflecting and using your revelations to choose the right project

what do you like? what do you like reading about? what do you like writing about? what do you know a lot about? what are you good at writing about?

accept that there may be ideas you like as concepts, maybe you’d like reading them but not writing it into a book yourself.

is there an idea/theme/anything you’ve had in mind for a long time and havent abandoned? why is that different? list things you’ve liked for a long time. doesnt even have to be writing related

there are many new exiting things to put your focus on for a week or maybe even month but if you truly want to be consistent, its time to look at what you’re able to be consistent about

at what point do you usually abandon projects? why? whats the furthest youve gotten? what got you there?

its really important to understand the reason behind abandoning your previous projects to do your best avoiding that in the future

whats your favourite part of the writing process? which one do you struggle with the most? which part do you simply dislike? is it possible that maybe you only like the idea of writing a book or having written a book? why do you want to be a writer

when choosing a project, consider how much you’d get to do the parts you like about writing and how much you’d have to face the parts you dont

what do you usually do when faced with a hardship during the writing process? what could you do better? if someone came to you and told you all of these problems, what advice would you give them? do you think you give up too easily? what makes you give up exactly (a feeling, a thought, a mindset, a trait, etc)? what would happen if you never changed any of this? would you even finish a book ever?

the writing process isnt easy. there isnt a single author that didnt go through writers block or a plot hole that seeemed impossible to solve at the time. this is why its inportant to have the right project that is worth fighting those hardships for while enjoying the journey

try to understand the difference between something not being right for you and something simply being difficult at the time

is this project you?

is this the project you’d like to be known for?

why this project? what does it mean to you? what do you like about it?

is this the project you see yourself writing about, every step of the way? it could be helpful to make a list of everything you’d need to do in order to finish this specific project—researching a specific topic needed for the worldbuilding, coming up with all the characters, etc

which parts of this book would you enjoy writing about? which parts would you not? is it worth it?

if you find that this project isnt right, revisit the first reflection list you made and choose some key elements you’d like to include in your books, be known for, and write about. revisit your book ideas and put together a book idea that includes these elements and do reflection on that one too

whenever you feel like giving up, ask why. is it because you no longer like the project or is it just difficult? why? maybe the problem is not the project but what it has become? try going back to the very start and core of the idea and seeing when it turned into what it has become? if this is true and you realise you dont like your project anymore, go back and change the entire thing. its totally okay and happens to writers all the time. this isnt wasted effort, this is you discovering yourself as a writer and what you want your project to be. its never too late to change up everything about your project.

to solve this, make a mindmap of every possible path your story could take. write down everything and choose 2-3 you like most. then write them all down separately and reflect on which one would be the best. list the pros and cons of each one. remember: reflection is so important in every step of the way

before giving up

lets say you found yourself stuck again. everything seems difficult and you want to give up. remember that you’ve come so far. remember that its okay. and remember how many times this has happened in the past. you’ll most likely run into this moment with every single project and multiple times at that.

do all of those same steps again. reflect. change it up.

what exactly is the problem and how could it be fixed? (yes, it can be fixed but you might be looking at the problem the wrong way. you need a fresh perspective)

if you still feel like giving up, tell yourself “i can give up if i still want to after this step”

let go of all pressure and think of whatever you’re stuck on. maybe its a plot hole, maybe you cant figure out what should happen next, maybe your characters arent working with you how you want them to. now, without any pressure (just let go, maybe take a break, meditate) just think of the stupidest solutions. think of this project as something that barely matters to you. like it belongs to your friend you’re giving advice to.

i was totally stuck on where i wanted my book to go because no matter what i chose, there was an impossible plot hole i had to solve. that was until i let go of all the pressure and a totally unexpected solution just found me. something id never have come up with if i kept on cracking my brains to the point of hating writing, myself as a writer, the project itself, and everything else for that matter. i took a break, i looked over what i had with a fresh perspective and the starting idea it all sparked from. i realised that i could just switch up some things that i never even thought i could change because they were part of the starting point of the idea. i did what i feared would ruin the entire idea but in reality, it saved the entire book.

remember youre not alone, there have been millions of authors feeling the same way you do now. and you can use that to your advantage. look for other peoples stories and advice. look at interviews of (your favourite) authors (or artists in general), look for tips, reflect on everything, learn through trial, error, and reflection