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drawnaghht · 4 months

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Yuichi Usagi is [SURNAME] [given name]

lol I've written abt it before going into more specifics & making theories, but this post is just to clear it up again as a general ref for newer fans reading old or new posts abt it and finding themself confused... edit3(15.1): rightfully so! if you've ever watched more than 5 anime or just read some manga, you might recognize that Yuichi is most commonly a given name in Japan. Even viewers familiar with japanese would have made the same assumption. But the show itself uses it as a first name, so it becomes confusing. After jan 6th we found the behind-the-scenes lore for that too.

- clearest tell in the show itself that Usagi is his first name - his auntie calls him Usagi. What auntie calls their sole nephew or close family member by their family name? ... which would have to be her own family name then too...???

Secondly. He introduces himself as Usagi the more he's in the city. First as Yuichi Usagi, but then after a few chases, he gives up and introduces himself to Kitsune as "Usagi"in the 1st episode. boy wants to be known as Usagi haha.

edit 2 (8.1.2024): as of 6.01 we have official confirmation that this is fact + a little backstory! Yuichi is the boy's surname

the whole show, all the other characters use japanese naming convention - e.g. Gen introduces himself as Murakami Gennosuke to the Bat Squadron. it seems the other younger characters call each other by given name basis because they're either all around the same age or don't feel like using family names for each other. Often characters don't have family names because they're orphans (Chizu, Kitsune, Hana). Or it's the only name they go by in general (Tetsujin, Lady Fuwa).

it's that simple! you can headcanon whatever but at least know the show itself has named him this way.

I've already written about this b4 too but Yuichi can very rarely be a family name (apparently). there might be other reasons the show crew gave him Yuichi as a family name, but if that doesn't cut it, you can always adopt my theory that he has a rare two given names.

But yeah, the show makes it clear that Usagi is his first name. It's a spinoff based on Usagi Yojimbo and some of its stories and ideas, and made by fans of the comic and Stan's work. They decided to give him this name, for whatever reasons, and it's his name used in the show. There's too much much work in the show itself for them to give him a random name either, "just because they're ignorant" or even just bc they didn't research. They clearly did or the show wouldn't have some surprising elements to it as a spinoff or as a past+future combo of japanese aesthetics.

Him and the comics' original Usagi, Miyamoto Usagi can share a first name. I know it looks confusing coming from other shows where evryone has specific names. I know it's just generally confusing as a tmnt fan... but their names and tags can co-exist as-is. maybe i don't get out enough into other shows but I've never seen a fanbase stretch themselves so into a pretzel over characters sharing their first name. also Miyamoto Usagi is based on a famous historical samurai, more precisely - Miyamoto Musashi. His movie depiction was what inspired Stan Sakai in the 80s... ppl in real life share first and last names very often so it just doesn't bother me personally that they share one name, but not their family name. So I don't get anymore why ppl are upset that his name is a combo of two first names... I believe there's also a irl children's book author named Usagi Yuichi (maybe pseudonyms being animal names is more common in japan?idk) so I wonder if the crew knew about that 🤔

clearing this up again bc every time I see someone say smth about this show and it's some misunderstanding on top of a misconception, I just wanna make a simple chart to explain things lol. but i don't know if ppl would care even. I know ppl sorta dislike this show or don't care abt it anyways. but then... why talk about it? why share info like a fan who knows or cares about it... and then it's false info... so idk, if they're not a fan, don't take them at face value, but even if they're a fan, it's easy to share info without a source and have others think it's real. Be ready for info to change or your first impressions to break. I've mostly only theorised or drawn from the show itself so far, but even things I say might change if other evidence is provided. So... lol lets all just read into this show calmly I guess.

edit (7.1.2024): lol another thing to add that I didn't think about: there's a 1000 years between the generations of Miyamoto Usagi and Yuichi Usagi. so them not having the same surname would be considered quite normal (and so far, no evidence to conclusively say that M! Usagi is a grandpa... the scene between Usagi and his auntie in the evening in ep 1 also seems to allude that there are many generations between the og era and the future era and that Usagi's auntie is speaking of her own direct great grandfather and Miyamoto Usagi separately...

Anyway. That's all! Hope this is helpful to newer fans.

#yuichi usagi #srtuc #samurai rabbit the usagi chronicles #usagi chronicles #samurai rabbit #samurai rabbit: the usagi chronicles #aghht srtuc post

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aristocraticelegance · 2 months

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Reading for February 2024. This was a Tanith Lee heavy month, because as I try to make my way through my backlog of books purchased at secondhand book stores I have been forced to confront the fact that I own far more Tanith Lee than I've actually read. This is because I don't come across her books that often, so when I do I buy them all and hoard them.

The Secret Books of Paradys I & II, Tanith Lee, 1988. I started reading this several years ago, because the first half is 2 novellas, so I would read one and then go do other things, and then come back. The second part is a novel, but it is organized in such a way that it reads similarly to a collection of novellas, but more clearly interconnected. The thing about Tanith Lee's writing is that she presents you with any number of fantastic, horrible, or fantastically horrble things and doesn't blink once. In one story a character is buried alive and then comes back a different gender. Another one starts off with sexual assault AND THEN SOMEHOW GETS WORSE. There were regularly parts throughout this collection where I had no idea where it was going next, but it was great. If a collection of horror-fantasy stories set between ancient Roman and 1920's pseudo-Paris sound like a good time to you, it's worth reading.

Cordelia's Honor, Lois McMaster Bujold, 1986-1996. Technically this is two books, Shards of Honor and Barrayar, but I had already read the first one and while I thought it was fine, I wasn't really interested in reading more. However, I've heard enough good things about the rest of the series that I decided to read the second half, and I'm glad I did. Technically sci-fi, but set on a planet that's late 18-early 1900s coded, it's an interesting look at pregnancy and motherhood through that specific lens. There's not a lot of pregnancy in sci-fi; you'd kind of think there'd be more by now. Still not my favorite of McMaster Bujold's (the Chalion books are great), but I feel motivated to read more of this series now.

3. The White Serpent, Tanith Lee, 1988. I have no idea how she published all of this in one year. I assume it was not all written in one go. Anyways, in a bold move I chose to read the third book of a trilogy without having read the previous two books. This is because I found this one at Half Price books, saw it was by Tanith Lee, and thought the cover looked cool. This wasn't a huge issue, because this seems to be a series of stories set in different generations in the same world, so events from the previous books are mentioned as historical details. I really liked this one; Lee is great at telling big, sweeping stories in a relatively small space. I also like her approach to rendering deeply sexist societies, simultaneously blunt in the way the characters are confronted with the reality of their situation and nuanced in how they manage to navigate it. Also? She can describe a sunset like no one's business. This is what's wrong with fantasy today: no one describes the sunsets or the trees. I want to know about the trees!! (Also weather plays a weirdly important part in this book. Like a major plot point hinges on some really bad weather). I realize I've said nothing about the plot, and that's because it A. doesn't matter and B. is impossible to summarize. At the core of it is a guy who is a gladiator in a kind of fantasy Rome-type city, but a lot happens before and after that. There are also some white people (literally white) who might be aliens. I'll probably go back and read the first two books, since this one was pretty weird. Modern readers might take issue with the way race is handled (see above RE: bluntness and nuance) but I can't really say much on that front.

4. Black God's Kiss, C. L. Moore, 1930s. A collection of the Jirel of Joiry stort stories from the 30s, which I only learned existed about a month ago. There was a lady protagonist in sword and sorcery! Written by a woman! Amazing. I did generally like these; the titular story was great (except for the very end, which I did not like, but the sequel story kind of made it better). I've seen these stories described as female Conan meets Alice in Wonderland, but the wonderland bits reminded me more of Arthur Machen's work. Some great descriptions overall, even if some parts felt dated in an annoying way. Also, this particular cover is ridiculous, but she is described as running around in a chain mail shirt with her thighs out, for some reason. Presumably because sword & sorcery abhors a pair of pants.

Link to January's books

#reading #books #reading 2024 #tanith lee #c. l. moore #lois mcmaster bujold #text #honestly if you like anything on this blog you should be reading Tanith Lee

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stra-tek · 8 months

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Excerpt ??? (I've lost count) from I Survived Kirk, my forthcoming fanfic autobiography of a bitter redshirt on Kirk's Enterprise

The entire reason this book exists is as a rebuttal of Risk is Our Business. I’m not sure how much of that was written by Kirk himself and how much was his ghost writer, but the man depicted in that book is not the man I worked under for years. Not in personality, not in reasoning. Not in anything. I see it as more whitewashing of history, more misinformation to pass along to the next generation. This book exists as a counterpoint. I’m no James T Kirk, I haven’t done the things he has. I’ll never be as famous and this book will never be read by anywhere near as many people. But if I can get through to just a few that’s fine by me. So long as the truth as I know it is preserved in some way.

I first met James Tiberius Kirk when I reported aboard the USS Enterprise as a crewman in 2264. He came in with a reputation, as the hero of what they were calling the “Gioghe Incident” where he’d taken command of the USS Lydia Sutherland, and although he lost his ship, he’d saved many lives. He’d just been given a medal and a promotion.

The entire Enterprise crew was gathered in the shuttlebay for the change-of-command ceremony. I was right at the back, in front of the mammoth clamshell doors. At the other end of the bay, Captain Pike wished everyone well and Captain Kirk gave a short and completely unmemorable speech.

He seemed like a nice enough guy. Young for a captain but confident in himself, enough so that you wanted to follow him. And people would – for better or worse.

Our historic five-year mission was to begin with a routine patrol of bases along the Klingon border, ferrying a touring troupe to entertain the base personnel. It was meant to be something nice and easy to get the crew accustomed to each other and their new commander.

Kirk’s mother and father both served in Starfleet. Daddy Kirk rose through the ranks, becoming first officer of the Einstein-class deep-space scout USS Kelvin. When James was born, George decided an assignment closer to Earth was preferable to years-long missions in deep space. He transferred to become security chief of Starbase 2, the K-class space station roughly two weeks from Earth which I’d just left.

Apparently George and Winona Kirk’s Starfleeting was more important than raising kids, since they left Jimbo with relatives on Tarsus IV.

A teenage Jim Kirk survived The Tarsus IV Massacre, which cannot have left him without some serious psychological scars.

What was The Tarsus IV Massacre, you ask? It was quite a big news story throughout the Federation at the time. An alien fungus ruined an Earth colony’s entire food supply, and with help too far out to prevent mass starvation, the colony’s governor, a man named…Anton? Arnold? A-something Kodos decided the cull the “less useful” members of it’s population, so that the ones he decided were worthy of survival would survive long enough for help to arrive.

So, he murdered half the colony’s population. And then – here’s the kicker – rescue arrived much earlier than expected. Early enough that nobody needed to be executed. Except they already had. Oh dear.

The scenes shown on the newscasts were shocking and graphic. Far worse than anything I’d ever seen in my life up until that point. Usually you hear just hear about murders and horrible events with options to click for more details and gross images. Here we got shocking images of piles of charred dead bodies, many children, in our newsfeeds. It was mind-blowing and harrowing to see things like this are still happening in Federation territory. On a Federation colony world, no less.

It gets weirder, there were people asking how Kodos would be thought of had rescue arrived when expected, and his mass executions had saved half the population rather than doomed the whole? While it’s an interesting scenario, the entire idea of this Kodos being the one to decide who lives and who dies is repulsive. Much more on James Kirk later. And more on Kodos, too.

#star trek #kirk #pike #my fanfiction #star trek fic #i survived kirk #star trek the original series

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hippolotamus · 6 months

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Weekend WIP Game

Rules: List your WIPs below (if you only write one fic at a time, feel free to include future WIPs/ideas!) then answer the following questions. Then, tag as many people as you have WIPs (or more).

Tagged by the lovely and talented @welcometololaland @jesuisici33 @wikiangela @daffi-990 @thewolvesof1998 @pirrusstuff @your-catfish-friend Thank you friends 😘

1. WIP List:

Honey when you call my name (Buddie)

you’re where I wanna go (Buddie)

The darkest fairytale (Buddie)

come close (let me be home) (Buddie)

run to the water (and find me there) (Buddie)

With my heart in my lap (Twylexis)

If you like Fashion & Baseball (David/Patrick)

I light the match to taste the heat (Buddie)

printer!Buck (buddie)

Untitled (original work)

2. Which of your WIPs is currently the longest?

you're where I wanna go at 18.7k and no end in sight

3. Which WIP do you expect will end up the longest?

Excellent question. I honestly don't know between you're where I wanna go, with my heart in my lap and the original work. Two of them are historical AUs with separated lovers so.... could be a bit

4. Which WIP is your favourite to write/the most enjoyable to write? Why?

TBH whichever one is giving me the least trouble lol Although I've been excited for you're where I wanna go for a really long time (it's over a year in the making) so probably that one. I love researching the details and really leaning into the feels.

5. Which WIP do you find the most intimidating to write? Why?

The Darkest Fairytale because it involves magical elements and I've never written anything like that before.

6. Which WIP do you experience the most self-doubt about. Why?

The Darkest Fairytale for the reasons listed above but also the original work. I plan on putting that one out as my first book (!) and that's scary AF.

7. Which of your WIPs will you seek out a beta/sensitivity reader for? Why? All of them. Unless I'm doing a super quick prompt I get at least one other person to beta read all my stuff. Extra eyeballs is never a bad thing.

8. Have any of your WIPs been struck by the curse of writer's block? Of course! So I bounce around to whatever's working for me. And if they're all being stubborn I take that as a sign to rest a bit (even if it's frustrating as hell).

9. Which WIP has your favourite OC? Tell us about them? Hmmmm, I'm not really sure yet. Of course the original work will be 100% OCs so I guess that one. They don't have names yet, or even that many details. The main character is a recently single woman who has always been attached in some way. So she finally has this chance to figure out what she likes and have a bit of fun. And then she meets a younger woman, they have fun together and it starts to turn into more than just a good time. Our MC gets spooked because she doesn't think she's ready or capable of doing that again just yet. Anway, I think they'll be an interesting dynamic to explore.

10. Which WIP is the sexiest? Honey when you call my name or I light the match. I guess it depends on your definition of sexy? The former explores Buddie after Eddie witnesses the Buck/Lucy kiss in 5x11. The latter explores Buck having a day he needs to get out of his head and Eddie knowing just how to handle that 😉

11. Which WIP is the angstiest? I think you're where I wanna go or with my heart in my lap for different but kinda similar reasons. In both cases the lovers are separated for years and having to deal with that in their own way as they continue to live their lives without their other half.

12. Which WIP has the best characterisation (in your humble opinion)? Maybe just because I'm so partial to it but I'm going to say you're where I wanna go. Also because I'll get to explore the personalities of familiar characters across decades of their lives.

13. Which WIP has the best scene setting (in your humble opinion)? So far come close (let me be home) since it's seen the characters in more detailed locations so far. But honestly I think it'll be a toss up between this one, you're where I wanna go, and with my heart in my lap.

14. Which WIP have you worked the hardest on? Any of the historical AUs. I need to know that I'm representing the time periods accurately. Even if no one else knows I'll know and it will bother me.

15. Which WIP do you have the highest expectations for? Why? I'm going to guess the smutty ones because they tend to do best generally. I'll want all of them to do well but it will hurt more for the historical ones if they don't. Mostly because I'm most passionate about them and will want everyone to be as excited as I am 🙃

16. Do you dream about any of your WIPs? Not yet.

17. Do any of your WIPs have particular complexities that your other fics don't? run to the water and the darkest fairytale have the magical elements that I'm not as familiar with. Printer!Buck is going to require a ton of research around old school printing techniques as well.

18. Which WIP is the funniest or has the most humour? None of them are particularly humorous but maybe come close (let me be home). It's a Bridgerton AU so there will be a lot of sniping and antagonizing between Buck and Eddie. And Chim will be a heavily featured character so you know he always brings the jokes to any piece.

19. Do any of your WIPs contain outside POVs or a deep dive on a character other than the main ship? How are you finding that process? Not so far, and I'm not sure if I'll explore that at all.

20. Tell us one thing we don't know about one or more of your WIPs. run to the water (and find me there) started as a 'message in a bottle' prompt that was just supposed to be a quick little thing. As I was writing my brain said hey, what if Buck was a merperson??? and it's growing to be a whole lot more (because of course it is).

no pressure tagging @shortsighted-owl @eddiebabygirldiaz @stereopticons @giddyupbuck @disasterbuckdiaz @forthewolves @watchyourbuck @ladydorian05 @buddierights @heartshapedvows and anyone else I regularly tag/who wants to play

#weekend wip game #getting to know me #getting to know my fics #this required a lot of brain power!#pretty obvious i'm really in it for the historical aus huh?

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nightofnyx8 · 9 days

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hello!! 2, 4, and 16 for the fic writer ask please ☺️💕

I'd love to!

2. a character whose POV you’re currently exploring

I've really taken a deep dive into Loid Forger with Song of the Raven. He's such an interesting character to me, with major flaws but also some complex intentions, and yet he has a really tender heart at his center. I love how he is a shadow of James Bond and yet he defies all of his stereotypes at the same time. As with my own headcanon of him being demisexual, it's been interesting to dive deep into what that really means for a spy who's been on dozens of honeypot missions only for him to fall in love with one woman in particular, and the battle inside of him between his duty to fight for world peace and the family who so desperately loves and needs him.

4. a story idea you haven’t written yet

Ahh I have so many AU ideas for twiyor it's ridiculous. I have a single-dad actor/kindergarten teacher au I want to explore, as well as quite a few smutty one-shot pieces just swirling around in my head (there's one where Yor makes him find where she sheathes her stilettos after three weeks of not seeing her that's so vivid in my mind haha).

But I think the one I want to write next is a ballerina AU in the 19th century. During that time in the Paris Opera House, young ballerinas were treated so poorly and were very vulnerable to social and sexual exploitation from so-called patrons. I have this idea that Yor is assigned to seduce a foreign agent under the codename "Twilight" in order to get close to him and kill him to get her and Yuri out of poverty, but she ends up falling in love with him instead. I adore historical fiction, and I think it would be a fun piece to write as I branch off into more original works.

16. favorite place to write

I have a couple! I love my desk, as it's right next to my window along with a stack of books and some tea. I'm currently reading Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross and The Things We Leave Unfinished by Rebecca Yarros if I ever get stuck while writing. There's also a cute little cafe up the street that I like to write at if I have a little more time over the weekends.

#thanks for the ask!

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authoralexharvey · 1 year

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INTERVIEW WITH A WRITEBLR — @vermontwrites

Who You Are:

Vermont || they/them/she/her

Writer with an avid love of museums, staring at paintings and reading murder mysteries. Mysterious and yet readable, oddly obsessed with drawing demons. I have a collection of half written in notebooks and too many sketchbooks to count.

What You Write:

What genres do you write in? What age ranges do you write for?

Adventure, fantasy, historical fiction, paranormal, sci-fi. New Adult and Adult.

What genre would you write in for the rest of your life, if you could? What about that genre appeals to you?

Fantasy. Magic and new worlds really invoke a sense of belonging for me. I want to explore medieval towns with dragons and potion stores. I adore magic and elves and the lure of those stories.

What genre/s will you not write unless you HAVE to? What about that genre turns you off?

Non-fiction. Facts are cool, but I'm not the one to write those things. I find it tedious and too time consuming to make sure every tiny thing is correct.

Who is your target audience? Do you think anyone outside of that would get anything out of your works?

Adults. Perhaps teens would enjoy my works as it may allow them to feel a sense of belonging, but my characters are adults and so I assume teens would find it harder to relate to them.

What kind of themes do you tend to focus on? What kinds of tropes? What about them appeals to you?

Enemies to lovers, found family and the good old only one bed. I live shoving two characters that may be icy toward one another into a situation that makes them a little closer. In love or in family bond.

What themes or tropes can you not stand? What about them turn you off?

Whumper. Is that a trope? Either way, I dislike it.

What are you currently working on? How long have you been working on it?

Golden Veins. Its been a series I've been planning and worldbuilding for for about 2 years.

Why do you write? What keeps you writing?

I write because I enjoy it. It lets me escape the real world. I keep writing because it keeps me from the boredom.

How long have you been writing? What do you think first drew you to it?

I used to write silly stories when I was 10, but then got serious when I was about 13. I liked the ability to be creative and put all of my ideas onto the page and find pride in my work.

Where do you get your inspiration from? Is that how you got your inspiration for your current project? If not, where did the inspiration come from?

Everywhere. TV shows, movies, other books. The inspiration for my current work is The Lion King as well as some other writers on AO3.

What work of yours are you most proud of? Why?

I'm proud of most of my works. I don't see any reason to pick one when everything I write brings me joy and pride.

Have you published anything? Do you want to?

No. And no. Maybe just on AO3.

What part of the publishing process most appeals to you? What part least appeals to you? Why?

I've never been interested in publishing my works. Maybe a short story, but the whole thing is tricky and just doesn't appeal much at all.

What part of the writing process most appeals to you? What part is least appealing?

Planning and character design. I love writing an outline and also writing about my characters. Character design is most enjoyable. I hate editing though, drives me to boredom.

Do you have a writing process? Do you have an ideal setup? Do you write in pure chaos? Talk about your process a bit.

I just open the document, put on some music and go for it. It's chaos, yes, but only in my mind.

Your Thoughts on Writeblr:

How long have you been a writeblr? What inspired you to join the community?

1 year. I joined at the recommendation of a friend.

Shout out some of your favorite writeblrs. How did you find them and what made you want to follow them?

@abalonetea - I don't recall how I found her work but the aesthetics alone made me follow. @woodhousejay - Again, my brain is mush, I don't remember how I found their account but I did. Their art is amazing.

What is your favorite part about writeblr?

Interacting with the community.

What do you think writeblr could improve on? How do you think we can go about doing so?

Just as I said above. We should all interact more with one another. I should likely try more.

How do you contribute to the writeblr community? Do you think you could be doing more?

I contribute my art, I suppose but I think I should reblog more when I can.

What kinds of posts do you most like to interact with?

Character introductions.

What kind of posts do you most like to make?

Art and character snippets.

Finally, anywhere else online we may be able to find you?

I have Instagram I hardly look at, but links to media I use is on my Tumblr.

Questions For Fun:

What is your favorite kind of museum to go to? Have you used anything you've learned from your visits in your writing?

My favourite museums are the ones with anything historical. Natural History Museums are quite enjoyable. I've learned a lot from museums, I use the things I've learnt more so in my art than my writing.

Do you have an OC you default to when drawing? What about them makes them so drawable?

I default to drawing Zazu or Silviano. I like their body types and the lines of their clothing and bodies.

What is your favorite murder mystery you've read? Why?

My favourite murder mystery I've read thus far is The Museum Mysteries, a series by Jim Eldridge.

#writeblr event #writeblr celebration #writeblr #iwaw

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karahalloway · 11 months

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This or That - Tag Game

Thanks for the tag @angelasscribbles!

Historical or futuristic?

Historical - always. While I've read/watched sci-fi, it's not one of my favourite genres as I much prefer fantasy (which tends to be more 'historical' in setting). Dunno why... Just always been more intrigued by the past than the possible future. Maybe because there is more 'romance' to it, somehow...

Opening or Closing Chapter?

Ohh... Hard! Opening chapters are great if they can grab your attention and suck you into the story from the first page... but closing chapters can be awesome too if they tie up everything nicely, or leave you on a cliffhanger (in an earlier book - hate cliffhangers at the end of the series/standalone book - I NEED CLOSURE PEOPLE!)

Light and Fluffy or Dark and Gritty?

Dark and gritty - while I don't mind light and fluffy, I don't think I could deal with it for an entire book. Like @angelasscribbles and @jerzwriter said, it is much more satisfying to struggle through the hardship with the character, see what they're made of, and come out of the other side stronger and more mature/aware.

Animal Companion or Found Family?

Gah! This is hard! I love animal companions - they are basically like people! But found family also works, so... Both?

Horror or Romance?

100% romance 😅 Can't stand horror - never could. I have nicer things to do than intentionally scare myself half to death and deal with heart palpitations for 2 hours lol

Hard Magic or Soft Magic?

Not quite sure what this question is asking... But if it's asking whether I prefer 'overt' magic to 'implied' magic, then definately overt magic (magic wands, spells, sparkling light shooting from fingertips, etc.) Because I love the idea of there being more to this world than we can see/touch with our 5 senses!

One project at a time or Juggling 2 or more?

A year ago, I woud've totally said one project at a time. But now I'm in the brave new world of having half a dozen projects on the go at the same time 🫣 So while it's nice to have options to bounce between depending on what mood I am in, I am desperately trying to get this list down to like 2-3 projects max because having to many unfinished things on my plate stresses me out 😅

One award winner or One bestseller?

Bestseller, definately. Partly because (a) I don't think I can write the type of book that would be considered to be an 'award winner', and (b) just because you've written an award winning book does not mean that people actually 'like' you book (as award winners tend to be avant guard in some sense, and deal with 'heavy' topics... at least that's been my experience/impression). I 100% believe that books should be for enjoyment, and I think that's better reflected with a bestseller, as opposed to an award winner.

Fantasy or Sci-fi?

As I said above, definitely fantasy over sci-fi.

First Draft or Final Draft?

Ohh... Hard 😅 While starting a first draft is always exciting, I do love the final, polished aspect of the final draft ever so slightly more.

Love triangle in everything or No romantic arcs?

Love triangle, definately! I much prefer some sexual tension in my fics rather than just platonic interactions. It ups the ante to delicious and juicy heights!

Constant sandstorm or rainstorm?

Rainstorm, obviously. I mean, I don't know about you, but sand sucks. It gets everywhere and it's itchy and annoying and gah! While I don't particularly like being wet, I'd take that everyday over sand - sorry residents of Arrakis!*

*Just because sci-fi isn't a fave genre of mine, does not mean I'm not aware of it lol

Tagging my permas in case anyone else wants to share!

Permatags:

@twinkleallnight @lovingchoices14 @kingliam2019 @petiteboheme @angelasscribbles @aussiegurl1234 @nestledonthaveone @queen-arabella-of-cordonia @tessa-liam @alyshak92 @secretaryunpaid @princessleac1 @walkerdrakewalker @tinkie1973 @twinkle-320 @knaussal @nikkis1983 @lunaseasblog @ficloverevie @indiana-jr @differenttyphoonwerewolf @kristinamae093 @eversoaringqueen12 @peonierose @3pawandme @alexabeta @veebug8 @fangirling12566 @queenmiarys @lancelotsimp @coco-lina-s @lolablackwrites @ivyflowers13 @persephone13 @hollygirl1269 @adri-ja-96 @harleybeaumont @katedrakeohd @uneravine

#this and that #tag game #kara halloway

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loregoddess · 26 days

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2, 3, 8, and 19 for the fandom game, for any fandom(s) you feel like talking about :)

(for 3, fic and/or meta posts, can't actually remember if you've posted straight up fic before haha)

2. My favorite fic from the fandom that I’ve read

I haven't read a ton of fic sadly (although I haven't read a lot in general the last few years due to college making me read So Many academic papers and books that I got burnt out and haven't quite recovered my love of reading. Yet). Although, my friend @lookerdewitt has written literally some of the best fic I have ever read, so I would probably say one of their fics.

3. My favorite fic from the fandom that I’ve written myself

I have actually sort of written fanfic (both legit fanfic, and also a few "thinly veiled technically fanfic if you changed the names" for a fiction writing class that I had to write several stories for and wanted to see if I could get away with it), but I haven't actually. Shared those fics with anyone? Partly bc I have historically almost never finished any fiction writing project that I have started, ever, and partly bc I'm just shy about sharing my writing in general.

I have been working on a LoZ fancomic idea for the past uhhhh four or five years (technically last decade since I first came up with the idea in late high school and then had it sit in the back of my head for several years bc all I had was a setting and a handful of characters), and I have never in my life stuck with a project this long, so I guess that would be my favorite from my personal works bc it's apparently something I care about enough to not abandon entirely. I've actually made a decent amount of progress on my "detailed outline" recently, so here's hoping I can stick it out and actually get to the script and then to drawing pages one day.

For meta posts I think my favorite is actually my analysis of the Octopath 1 cast and how the major antagonists in each of their stories acts as a mirror and foil to each character. I really enjoy analyzing stories in general, but I so rarely write it out, so I was happy to actually do so for once. Gave me a lot of confidence for all the other meta and headcanon posts that I wrote afterwards.

There's also a Legend of Dragoon meta post sitting partly-finished in my drafts where I analyze themes surrounding each dragoon spirit and its wielders, which I haven't finished bc I only remember to work on it when I'm doing my yearly replay of LoD, and also bc it started looking like it might need to be a series of posts due to uh....length. Like I make a lot of lengthy posts, but each dragoon spirit's analysis was about a short essay's worth of words, and there are eight spirits soooo....hopefully I'll finish that one day, bc it's an analysis I've spent years thinking about.

8. Is there anything I wish people would write more about in fics? (A dynamic, an exploration of an arc, just a character that doesn’t get much screentime, etc)

I'm always a sucker for post-canon healing/recovery/rebuilding arcs. Can't get enough of them honestly (when I have the motivation to read). There's something so fascinating about looking at a character who Went Through Some Stuff, but the main narrative didn't look at the effects of that, and so a dedicated writer took up the challenge of trying to explore what comes after.

Most of my favorite characters are weird side characters who don't get a lot of love from the writers of canon or fans, so I'm always glad to see stuff for them as well.

19. Favorite headcanon

Oh hmmm, there's a lot and it depends on which media we're talking about, so if you're curious about a specific game let me know. Off the top of my head though hmm...

Okay I have this headcanon that Milo TriStrat snorts when she laughs genuinely. Like sure she's got the ladylike proper, cute laugh that's part of her spy job and totally fake, but when she is being fully honest and laughing for real, she snorts.

#space-spring #ask game #I still don't have an ask tag #the fact that I got an idea in high school wrote a short blurb that I didn't feel was going anywhere and shelved said idea for uh #close to a decade before I suddenly all at once had a plot to go with the setting and characters like #never throw out your old stuff I guess you never know when it'll come back to you

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neverhangd · 10 months

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doing bits and bobs on the blog, obviously. rn i'm in potc hell (thank the gang lmao, s/o for dealing with me go to: @mvrtogg, @itismissswann, @norringtxn / @collectorofmuses), and i just realized that the majority of people who follow me may not have read this page (or even known it existed!), so i wanted to give two important bits of context!

1.) anne bonny walked so her archetypes could run.

i literally found out two weeks ago that anne bonny isn't stupid famous. whaaaaaat? but actually, that did shock me. maybe it's because i had two pirates phases and like research, but i've known a little bit about her since i was a kid: specifically, that she was a kick-ass pirate woman. i've learned a lot more since then, and i love to share it; i joined a group that i thought had a pirate phase only to learn that...they hadn't. and had no idea who anne bonny was outside of being a character someone before me had written as well.

it was exactly then that i realized anne bonny isn't a super famous kick-ass pirate woman and i felt like that one part of dogma. someone was trying to explain how my take on anne bonny both was and wasn't in-line with the previous writer's and it took me a while to realize they were asking what show or book i used for canon because they doubted she was the same character, despite sharing the archetypes. so. just so it's out there, here's an incomplete list of archetypes we can apply to the historical figure anne bonny, kick-ass pirate woman:

riches to rags (gave up a privileged life to marry a pirate)

the redhaired irish

girlboss/tits out for piracy (she would famously whip her shirt off in battle so men would know they'd been killed by a woman)

did it for love (left her first husband and became a pirate with her second)

it's a love story (whatever else they were, history tells us jack and anne were in love, even if i don't usually use that on this blog)

three's company, too (anne and read were absolutely an item at the same time as anne and jack)

ambiguously queer (i advocate for a bisexual anne, but the only lady-type lover she took was read, who can be fairly read as transmasc, putting some doubt on the full connotation of her orientation/s)

short fuse (she was known to fight over basically anything)

2.) what in the url?

since anne bonny isn't the kickass pirate bicon of my dreams--we'll get her there, one day!--it's relevant to also share what the fuck my url actually means. because she was a woman a pirate a woman and a pirate alive during the early 18th century, we actually don't have much record of anne speaking for herself. the most popularly known quote we have was spoken directly to jack rackham just before his execution:

if [you] had fought like a man, [you] need not have been hang'd like a dog. -A General History of Pyrates, Daniel Defoe

she said this to him because he and his men were the reason the ship had been caught and they had been taken prisoner and she took that very personally, as well she should! (it turns out that both anne and read were pregnant, anne by jack and read by their husband.) the larger thing is, she wasn't wrong: when the ship was invaded, only three people stood on the deck fighting: read, anne, and an unnamed pirate who presumably died in the struggle. everyone else was hiding below decks. read, in fact, famously fired TWICE down at the hiding men, killing one and injuring another.

the really wild part of all this, though, is the ending of anne's story. we don't know it.

anne's execution was stayed on account of her pregnancy, as was read's. read would die in prison from a fever, and presumably their child did as well; anne, on the other hand, simply...disappeared.

...but what is become of her since, we cannot tell; only this we know, that she was not executed. -A General History of Pyrates, Daniel Defoe (which, if you keep wondering why i'm referencing it, is considered THE source)

officially speaking, we may literally NEVER know what happened to anne. all we know is she NEVERHANGD.*

thank you for your time and attention! ♡

#✗ out of character #✗ dash commentary #✗ rp commentary #* but ask me about what probably happened #✗ herstory

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7r0773r · 4 months

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Brief Notes on the Art and Manner of Arranging One's Books by Georges Perec, translated by John Sturrock

But literature is not an activity separated from life. We live in a world of words, of language, of stories. Writing is not the privilege exclusively of the man who sets aside for his century a brief hour of conscientious immortality each evening and lovingly fashions, in the silence of his study, what others will later proclaim, solemnly, to be 'the honour and integrity of our letters'. Literature is indissolubly bound up with life, it is the necessary prolongation, the obvious culmination, the indispensable complement of experience. All experience opens on to literature and all literature on to experience and the path that leads from one to the other, whether it be literary creation or reading, establishes this relationship between the fragmentary and the whole, this passage from the anecdotal to the historical, this interplay between the general and the particular, between what is felt and what is understood, which forms the very tissue of our consciousness. (Robert Antelme or the Truth of Literature, pp. 2-3)

***

To begin with, it all seems simple: I wanted to write, and I've written. By dint of writing, I've become a writer, for myself alone first of all and for a long time, and today for others. In principle, I no longer have any need to justify myself (either in my own eyes or in the eyes of others). I'm a writer, that's an acknowledged fact, a datum, self-evident, a definition. I can write or not write, I can go several weeks or several months without writing, or write ‘well' or write ‘badly’, that alters nothing, it doesn't make my activity as a writer into a parallel of complementary activity. I do nothing else but write (except earn the time to write), I don't know how to do anything else, I haven't wanted to learn anything else... I write in order to live and I live in order to write, and I've come close to imagining that writing and living might merge completely: I would live in the company of dictionaries, deep in some provincial retreat, in the mornings I would go for a walk in the woods, in the afternoons I would blacken a few sheets of paper, in the evenings I would relax perhaps by listening to a bit of music…

It goes without saying that when you start having ideas like these (even if they are only a caricature), it becomes urgent to ask yourself some questions.

I know, roughly speaking, how I became a writer. I don't know precisely why. In order to exist, did I really need to line up words and sentences? In order to exist, was it enough for me to be the author of a few books?

In order to exist, I was waiting for others to designate me, to identify me, to recognize me. But why through writing? I long wanted to be a painter, for the same reasons I presume, but I became a writer. Why writing precisely?

Did I then have something so very particular to say? But what have I said? What is there to say? To say that one is? To say that one writes? To say that one is a writer? A need to communicate what? A need to communicate that one has a need to communicate? That one is in the act of communicating? Writing says that it is there, and nothing more, and here we are back again in that hall of mirrors where the words refer to one another, reflect one another to infinity without ever meeting anything other than their own shadow.

I don't know what, fifteen years ago when I was beginning to write, I expected from writing. But I fancy I'm beginning to understand, at the same time, the fascination that writing exercised — and continues to exercise — over me, and the fissure which that fascination both discloses and conceals.

Writing protects me. I advance beneath the rampart of my words, my sentences, my skilfully linked paragraphs, my astutely programmed chapters. I don't lack ingenuity.

Do I still need protecting? And suppose the shield were to become an iron collar?

One day I shall certainly have to start using words to uncover what is real, to uncover my reality.

Today, no doubt, I can say that that's what my project is like. But I know it will not be fully successful until such time as the Poet has been driven from the city once and for all, such time as we can take up a pickaxe or a spade, a sledge-hammer or a trowel, without laughing, without having the feeling, yet again, that what we are doing is derisory, or a sham, or done to create a stir. It's not so much that we shall have made progress (because it's certainly no longer at that level that things will be measured), it's that our world will at last have begun to be liberated. (The Gnocchi of Autumn or An Answer, pp. 26-29)

***

To question what seems so much a matter of course that we've forgotten its origins. To rediscover something of the astonishment that Jules Verne or his readers may have felt faced with an apparatus capable of reproducing and transporting sounds. For that astonishment existed, along with thousands of others, and it's they which have moulded us.

What we need to question is bricks, concrete, glass, our table manners, our utensils, our tools, the way we spend our time, our rhythms. To question that which seems to have ceased forever to astonish us. We live, true, we breathe, true; we walk, we open doors, we go down staircases, we sit at a table in order to eat, we lie down on a bed in order to sleep. How? Where? When? Why?

Describe your street. Describe another street. Compare.

Make an inventory of your pockets, of your bag. Ask yourself about the provenance, the use, what will become of each of the objects you take out.

Question your tea spoons.

What is there under your wallpaper?

How many movements does it take to dial a phone number? Why?

Why don't you find cigarettes in grocery stores? Why not?

It matters little to me that these questions should be fragmentary, barely indicative of a method, at most of a project. It matters a lot to me that they should seem trivial and futile: that's exactly what makes them just as essential, if not more so, as all the other questions by which we've tried in vain to lay hold on our truth. (Approaches to What?, pp. 32-33)

***

2.1. Ways of arranging books

ordered alphabetically ordered by continent or country ordered by colour ordered by date of acquisition ordered by date of publication ordered by format ordered by genre ordered by major periods of literary history ordered by language ordered by priority for future reading ordered by binding ordered by series

None of these classifications is satisfactory by itself. In practice, every library is ordered starting from a combination of these modes of classification, whose relative weighting, resistance to change, obsolescence and persistence give every library a unique personality.

We should first of all distinguish stable classifications from provisional ones. Stable classifications are those which, in principle, you continue to respect; provisional classifications are those supposed to last only a few days, the time it takes for a book to discover, or rediscover, its definitive place. This may be a book recently acquired and not yet read, or else a book recently read that you don't quite know where to place and which you have promised yourself you will put away on the occasion of a forthcoming 'great arranging', or else a book whose reading has been interrupted and that you don't want to classify before taking it up again and finishing it, or else a book you have used constantly over a given period, or else a book you have taken down to look up a piece of information or a reference and which you haven't yet put back in its place, or else a book that you can't put back in its rightful place because it doesn't belong to you and you've several times promised to give it back, etc.

In my own case, nearly three-quarters of my books have never really been classified. Those that are not arranged in a definitively provisional way are arranged in a provisionally definitive way, as at the OuLipo. Meanwhile, I move them from one room to another, one shelf to another, one pile to another, and may spend three hours looking for a book without finding it but sometimes having the satisfaction of coming upon six or seven others which suit my purpose just as well.

2.2. Books very easy to arrange

The big Jules Vernes in the red binding, very large books, very small ones, Baedekers, rare books or ones presumed to be hardbacks, volumes in the Pléiade collection, the Présence du Futur series, novels published by the Editions de Minuit, collections, journals of which you possess at least three issues, etc.

2.3. Books not too difficult to arrange

Books on the cinema, whether essays on directors, albums of movie stars or shooting scripts, South American novels, ethnology, psychoanalysis, cookery books (see above), directories (next to the phone), German Romantics, books in the Que Sais-je? series (the problem being whether to arrange them all together or with the discipline they deal with), etc.

2.4. Books just about impossible to arrange

The rest: for example, journals of which you possess only a single issue, or else La Campagne de 1812 en Russie by Clausewitz, translated from the German by M. Bégouën, Captain-Commandant in the 31st Dragoons, Passed Staff College, with one map, Paris, Librairie Militaire R. Chapelot et Cie, 1900; or else fascicule 6 of Volume 91 (November 1976) of the Proceedings of the Modern Language Association of America (PMLA) giving the programme for the 666 working sessions of the annual congress of the said Association.

2.5.

Like the librarians of Babel in Borges's story, who are looking for the book that will provide them with the key to all the others, we oscillate between the illusion of perfection and the vertigo of the unattainable. In the name of completeness, we would like to believe that a unique order exists that would enable us to accede to knowledge all in one go; in the name of the unattainable, we would like to think that order and disorder are in fact the same word, denoting pure chance.

It's possible also that both are decoys, a trompe l'oeil intended to disguise the erosion of both books and systems. It is no bad thing in any case that between the two our bookshelves should serve from time to time as joggers of the memory, as cat-rests and as lumber-rooms. (Brief Notes on the Art and Manner of Arranging One's Books, pp. 66-69)

***

P. HOW I CLASSIFY

My problem with classifications is that they don't last; hardly have I finished putting things into an order before that order is obsolete. Like everyone else, I presume, I am sometimes seized by a mania for arranging things. The sheer number of the things needing to be arranged and the near-impossibility of distributing them according to any truly satisfactory criteria mean that I never finally manage it, that the arrangements I end up with are temporary and vague, and hardly any more effective than the original anarchy.

The outcome of all this leads to truly strange categories. A folder full of miscellaneous papers, for example, on which is written "To be classified"; or a drawer labelled 'Urgent 1' with nothing in it (in the drawer 'Urgent 2' there are a few old photographs, in 'Urgent 3' some new exercise books). In short, I muddle along.

F. BORGES AND THE CHINESE

'(a) belonging to the Emperor, (b) embalmed, (c) domesticated, (d) sucking pigs, (e) sirens, (f) fabulous, (g) dogs running free, (h) included in the present classification, (i) which gesticulate like madmen. (j) innumerable, (k) drawn with a very fine camel-hair brush, (l) etcetera, (m) which have just broken the pitcher, (n) which look from a distance like flies.'

Michel Foucault has hugely popularized this 'classification' of animals which Borges in Other Inquisitions attributes to a certain Chinese encyclopedia that one Doctor Franz Kuhn may have held in his hands. The abundance of intermediaries and Borges's well-known love of an ambiguous erudition permit one to wonder whether this rather too perfectly astonishing miscellaneity is not first and foremost an effect of art. An almost equally mind-boggling enumeration might be extracted simply enough from government documents that could hardly be more official:

(a) animals on which bets are laid, (b) animals the hunting of which is banned between 1 April and 15 September, (c) stranded whales, (d) animals whose entry within the national frontiers is subject to quarantine, (e) animals held in joint ownership, (f) stuffed animals, (g) etcetera (this etc. is not at all surprising in itself; it's only where it comes in the list that makes it seem odd), (h) animals liable to transmit leprosy, (i) guide-dogs for the blind, (j) animals in receipt of significant legacies, (k) animals able to be transported in the cabin, (l) stray dogs without collars, (m) donkeys, (n) mares assumed to be with foal. ('Think/Classify', pp. 84-86)

***

K. SOME APHORISMS

Marcel Benabou of the OuLiPo has thought up a machine for manufacturing aphorisms. It consists of two parts, a grammar and a vocabulary.

The grammar lists a certain number of formulas commonly used in a majority of aphorisms. For example: A is the shortest route from B to C. A is the continuation of B by other means. A little A carries us away from B, a lot brings us closer. Little As make big Bs. A wouldn't be A if it wasn't B. Happiness is in A not B. A is a malady for which B is the cure. Etc.

The vocabulary lists pairs of words (or trios, or quartets) which may be false synonyms (sentiment/ sensation, knowledge/science), antonyms (life/death, form/content, remember/forget), words that are phonetically close (belief/relief, love/leave), words grouped together by usage (crime/punishment, hammer/sickle, science/life). Etc.

The injection of the vocabulary into the grammar produces ad lib a near-infinite number of aphorisms, each one of them bearing more meaning than the last. Whence a computer program, devised by Paul Braffort, which can turn out on demand a good dozen within a few seconds:

Remembering is a malady for which forgetting is the cure

Remembering wouldn't be remembering if it weren't forgetting

What comes by remembering goes by forgetting

Small forgettings make big rememberings

Remembering adds to our pains, forgetting to our pleasures

Remembering delivers us from forgetting, but who will deliver us from remembering?

Happiness is in forgetting, not in remembering

Happiness is in remembering, not in forgetting

A little forgetting carries us away from remembering, a lot brings us closer

Forgetting unites men, remembering divides them

Remembering deceives us more often than forgetting

Etc.

Where is the thinking here? In the formula? In the vocabulary? In the operation that marries them? ('Think/Classify', pp. 93-94)

#georges perec #book quotes

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alesseia · 9 months

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make me write: poll!!

jumping on the poll bandwagon because I have not touched Scrivener in FOREVER (read: two weeks)

unfortunately, I do not have multiple stories like most people on Writeblr since I keep fixating on the same story and its characters, lmao, so IDK if I can do the same thing everyone else is doing

HOWEVER, I will be taking my thesis in BFA Creative Writing this year and I am going to do doing something based on my main story! I was planning on finishing Book 1 (which I already have 4 chapters for), but my thesis adviser is heavily discouraging I do a full novel (minimum requirement for word count is only 15k and we're supposed to finish writing that with revisions by early December) so I've got a bunch of backup plans just in case I can't convince her!!

so here's a poll + bonus read more for further description of thesis ideas!!

Book 1 (Excerpt)

This is actually the option my adviser recommended the most. I have already written the first four chapters, even doing major revisions, and that already hit the 15k minimum word count, so she said that just revising these chapters would be the easiest option.

My biggest gripe with this is that I don't want to end it after Chapter 4. It ends on a mediocre cliffhanger, and we don't meet the other two main characters until later on. Not to mention, the BFA CW majors in my university get to (independently) publish and sell copies of their thesis at the end of the year, so it would be much more satisfying if I do the full Book 1.

Anthology: Thematic

I was thinking I could do instead a thematic short story collection linking the common traits of the main characters (Axel, Avery, Leandro, and Nathan). Each of the short stories would focus on a different MC's backstory. The central theme would be their loneliness.

The stories are (without giving away certain plot twists in Book 1):

AXEL: a story about a group of friends playing together, which turns out to be a product of Axel’s imagination

AVERY: the story behind the fallout with her ex-friends

LEANDRO: Leandro talking to his family about getting friends while figuring out he's a trans guy

NATHAN: Nathan talking to other children working under his drug pimp spirit stain dealer

Anthology: Characterization

This one was inspired by fanfiction, specifically the concept of the same characters in alternate universes. How can you tell the character is still the same character when they have a completely different backstory and setting? Up to where do you draw the lines?

The various settings are:

Historical — Pride and Prejudice but set in the late Spanish colonial period and from the POV of Elizabeth’s (Avery) best friend (Axel)

Sci-fi time travel — From 2099 CE, Axel is asked to travel to 2013 Metro Manila to chase after a time-traveling criminal (Raven)

Urban fantasy (Aswangs) — Axel the friendly manananggal helping their friend Leandro, who recently discovered they’re a manananggal

Modern real-life — Axel signing up their friend Nathan on a blind date auction during high school fair season

Alesseia (Original) — Axel discussing how to beat Rex with all of their friends

Anthology: Timeline

A short story collection featuring the same character, likely Axel, at different points in the series. The series is divided into three arcs, so it would likely be:

Before Arc 1

Between Arcs 1 and 2

Between Arcs 2 and 3

After Arc 3

The Actual Book 1

The actual book 1 of Alesseia. Tentatively titled the Dragon's Deed. I really, really, REALLY want this, but like. it's gonna be what, 50k words 😭 so unless I pull a NaNoWriMo again, I can't blame Ma'am

Anyway if you read all that, thank you SO much!!! I really appreciate your support 😄 wishing you the best of luck with writing as well!!

#polls #writeblr #writeblr community #writing polls #make me write poll tag #make me write #ashentalks #ashenpolls

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faustandfurious · 2 years

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7 habits of highly effective people is also my red flag because i read 2 of the habits, then failed to create a habit of reading the rest of it :( it's still sitting there 2 years later lmao curious: what are your bookshelf *green* flags?

Honestly my main reason for getting a copy of 7 Habits was a desire to understand the source of all those corporate buzzwords and ideas you meet everywhere. If your manager has read and internalized 7 Habits, you should probably read 7 Habits if you want to understand your manager and counteract the worst of the corporate bullshit. Know your enemy, and all that.

The green flags are trickier because I've seen plenty of people like good books for bad reasons, and I don't think you can judge someone's character purely based on what they read. However, a healthy mix of different genres is usually a good sign - someone who can appreciate the more "highbrow" literary classics and reads historical/political nonfiction, but isn't too pretentious to pick up a mass market paperback fantasy novel. Some diversity when it comes to authors is usually a good sign too, not because I think you need to tick all the right representation boxes when you compile a book collection, but because there are so many great books (even classics *gasp*) written by women/queer people/people of colour/people from different countries, that having a bookshelf that's > 90 % white, cishet, male authors from English speaking countries (and I see this more often than you'd think) just comes across as lazy and uninspired, like you're terrified of even looking at a book that might be by and about someone who has a different perspective on things.

Other than that, I think well-worn nonfiction books about obscure topics, and clusters of books dealing with the same topic from different angles, are good signs because they show genuine interest in reading and learning. Poetry books in general are a green flag (unless it's only Rupi Kaur or other easily digestible Instagram poems from the bestseller lists), because only people who truly appreciate literature will sit down and read a volume of poetry by a lesser known poet whose poems require some actual effort to understand.

#anonymous elf #answered

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aroturier · 11 months

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THIS OR THAT?

Dear me, someone actually tagged me in one of those questionaire things. This is a first--or at least a first time I spotted it. Thankyou @thatmysterywriter, for thinking of me...dunno how long ago you sent yours out into the ether but I'd only just seen it. Better late than never? Perhaps?

...anyway...

Historical or Futuristic

I currently only write for Kuroshitsuji so of course I only do historical. I'm not too interested in fururistic reading or writing. That said, I must confess I rarely pass up a Futurama or Star Trek marathon, but with Futurama, I think that's more about the comedy than the setting. Plus I have a bit of a crush on old Zoidberg.

Opening or Closing Chapter

Am I supposed to choose what I like or what I'm good at? If I'm choosing what I like, then I have to protest because how can you possibly have one without the other?

As for what I'm good at (or at least what comes easier--I don't think I ought to say what I am or am not good at, that's the reader's call), I need to get into a partnership like the one the authors of The Destroyer series had going. One guy would write the opening (this would be me,) and then the other guy would finish it. I feel like I've never properly written an ending to anything whereas i'm always thinking up beginnings. Maybe because like Professor Tolkein I'd rather live in my chosen imaginary worlds than write an ending and then have to exit the lands of my imagination and rejoin the mundane?

Light & Fluffy or Dark and Gritty

My taste in both writing and reading fluctuates depending on my mood, as can be seen in the variety of styles and kind of stories I create but I definitely have a strong bias for the dark and shockingly raw and gritty stuff.

When I write all I'm aiming to do is jerk a strong emotion of some kind out of my potential reader. I'm not too fussed exactly what emotion it is.

Animal Companion or Found Family

Goodness, I see no reason to choose. Kuroshitsuji is both a found family story and an animal companion tale, even though most of the animal companion element happens 'off camera' so to speak. We all love stories about the servants of the manor acting as a found family to each other, to the young master and even to the demon butler, though he fights it tooth and nail (or should that be fang and claw?) So...

'Both?'

'Both.'

(together)'Both.'

Horror or Romance

Again, I see no reason to choose. I'd rather be dead than caught reading one without the other.

Hard Magic or Soft Magic System

I'm not certain I understand the distinction here, but if it means sort of free-floating magic without definite laws or parameters then no, I wouldn't like that. If the opposite of that is what a hard magic system means then it has my vote.

Stand-Alone or Series

I take them however they come, the only thing I care about is that they are well-written. But if there is a whacking great series of books then so much the better. Of course more is better!

One project at a Time or Always Juggling 2+

I...almost don't now how to answer this. I don't think I'm a typical writer-if there is such a thing. I started out an artist but then my eyes went bad and I had to think up a new creative outlet. I never read fiction at all until somewhen well past my fiftieth year. I started writing fiction before I'd started reading any which is definitely strange.

At first I'd get a random little scene pop into my head, and I'd write it down and move on, always short things. then I started collecting scraps of ideas, pieces of ideas, things I saw in other places like books, TV, life, etc., and I'd collect them, occasionally working them into other things I was writing.

Always in the back of my mind I'd be thinking of a novel I'd like to write but never getting anything done on it. I write down lots of ideas, beginnings and scenes, but in the end the ones that really get written come on me like a fever or a thunder storm blowing through. I'll need to go write them down like right NOW or else they escape me. Writing down ideas rarely captures the essence of what I was wanting to capture or evoke in a given story. Only the ones that come over me like a case of the flu ever really get properly written up into proper stories so I guess it boils down to a one-at-a-time kind of writer. Should've just said that and have done.

One Award Winner or One Bestseller

Neither, actually. I really like writing for a small group of people to whom I can speak and share impressions and suggestions. Fan Fiction is perfect for this sort of thing. They are usually an appreciative audience and are working on the same skills I am. I'm not interested in fame or wide acclaim. Just a few friendly, honest voices is much better.

Fantasy or Sci-Fi

I think I'd prefer to read fantasy, and I suppose Kuroshitsuji fits into that category. But for TV viewing I think it's hard to beat those awful sci-fi movies of the '60's for a good laugh. God I miss sitting up late on Saturday nights watching Martians invade earth or Godzilla kicking Tokyo's ass again...

Character Description or Setting Description

Well of course the room means nothing without some people in it, so you must have both abilities in your writer's tool box.

If you're asking which I prefer, I don't prefer either. A writer who can write descriptions could, I'm sure write a good description of either one.

If you're asking which I like to do or excel at, I again don't have a preference. I do like describing both characters and settings over action scenes. I like writing fight scenes, but it didn't come to me naturally. I had to learn how.

I think if you're going to divvy up writers into categories, those ought to be Characterisation/Description writers or Action writers. Those are the two categories I think writers all fall into. Either they rip through the plot with a lot of action and lots of things happening in their stories, or they dwell on the emotions and feelings of characters. And usually (in my experience) a writer who is good at action will struggle a bit on the characterisation of his characters and the one who likes to dwell on the emotions of their characters will struggle a bit writing action.

I think I am more of the characterisation and description kind of writer by nature, and had to learn how to write action scenes like fights or battles.

First Draft or Final Draft

Often I struggle getting that first draft down on paper. Not always, mind you but sometimes it really is like pulling teeth for me. It reminds me I started life as an artist not a writer.

Once I've got that first draft down I absolutely love the editing process. I love it so much I go wandering around amongst the current writers in my chosen fandom begging them to put me to work on their stories. Pretty sure I'm so damned eager for it I come off like the giggling Undertaker and scare them off with my creepy begging. (Laughing) They don't realise I don't give a damn if they change anything I suggest, I just love to edit. I learn a lot from it too, looking things up to make sure my suggestions are correct.

Editing is a joy to me. Finding that perfect word, getting the punctuation just so...oh well.

People who might enjoy this? Dunno, so I'll just send it out to some familiar names. Don't feel obligated.

@lestatdesade

@thegildedacorn

@invisiblegargoyl

@apocalypticromantic666

#quiz-thingies #non-kuro

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aerial-jace · 1 year

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13, 1 and 2 for the reading ask game?

(Ask game!)

13. Do you plan to attend any author events?

Not really! Guatemala is not really a stop on any authors' itineraries like ever, the only authors' I could attend events from would be locals. And, well... I don't really read in Spanish for entertainment? I've been reading almost exclusively in English since the 7th or 8th grade. And whatever author events I may end up attending, it's probably going to be in the context of an academic conference.

What are 2-5 already published fiction books you think you want to read in 2023?

My top 5 must reads for this year:

When Christ and His Saints Slept by Sharon Kay Penman. This is one I left off halfway last year but I was thoroughly enjoying. Commitments got in the way and I never got to finish it. I enjoy the intertwining of politics and family that inevitably comes from reading medieval historical fiction and I'm already attached to the characters as portrayed here. Even though Stephen and Maude's conflict is one I already know the conclusion to, I yearn to see how this author particularly tackles it.

Time and Chance also by Sharon Kay Penman. This is the sequel to the last one, dealing with Maude's son the king Henry II. Particularly I'm interested in seeing how the story between him and Eleanor of Aquitaine is handled. This is not only one I know from my casual interest in medieval history but also from Elizabeth Chadwick's Eleanor of Aquitaine trilogy (The Summer Queen, The Autumn Throne, and The Winter Crown). Given Penman's writing focuses more on the narrative from the perspective of English nobility as opposed to Chadwick who was telling her story I'm curious to see how they compare and contrast.

Watership Down by Richard Adams. The founding classic of the literary genre I write for most often, animal xenofiction of the complex society variety. I intended to read it for its 50th anniversary on November last year, but again life caught me busy.

The Unreal and the Real by Ursula K. Le Guin. This is a short story collection. Le Guin is an author I've heard endless good things about and I want to dive deeper into her body of work. Thus this anthology seemed like a perfect starting place.

Starlight by Erin Hunter. I really should finish my readthrough of The New Prophecy. The arc is constantly teasing me with story ideas and concepts I can't realize unless I actually have read the books and chewed on them for myself. This is very much a read I'm undertaking for my craft.

2. What are 2-5 already published nonfiction books you think you want to read in 2023?

Let me put my nerdery in full display. From my nonfiction selection, I have...

Pantheism: A non-theistic concept of deity by Michael Levine. This is pure philosophy and theology, drawing not from a single source or tradition and trying to bridge the gap between them all as it makes the case for the pantheistic position.

Ancient Teotihuacan: ancient urbanism in Central Mexico by George L. Cowgill. My education as an archaeology major has centered the Maya area pretty heavily, so I'm looking to remedy some of my knowledge gaps in the broader field of Mesoamerican archaeology. A text like this that condenses the seeks to condense the current state of knowledge about this very important site seems like a good start.

Ancient Maya Politics by Simon Martin. I read excerpts from this in my epigraphy classes but I want to read the whole thing!

The Murray Bookchin Reader by Murray Bookchin and edited by Janet Biehl. From what I know of Bookchin's ideas, he seems to align with me politically quite well and I want to dive deeper into his ideas. And on that same vein...

Ciudades sin miedo: guía del movimiento municipalista global by various authors. This books is written as a guide to take Bookchin's ideas of municipalist politics into practice, so I'm definitely interested in checking it out as well. As you may notice, the only Spanish book in the list! I do it like this because municipalist politics have been most developed in Spain, particularly Catalonia, so of course I want to hear from them in a language closer to their own.

#ask game

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