#but it's relevant to his story and not just a style choice | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

thefudge · 3 months

Note

Advice for writing smut???

gonna do bullet-points of things i tend to live by when it comes to smut (this is just my opinion):

don't switch styles: the way you write the smut has to be consistent with the way you write the rest of the story, so if your story is more comedic or romcom-y in nature, the way you write the smut should have those stylings. i personally find it very jarring when authors decide to break the format for the smut, almost like the story has to stop for the sex intermission; if you're writing a horror story, the smut must be informed and influenced by that genre, and if you are breaking genre for the smut portion, tell us why you're suddenly switching gears (it has to be an aesthetic choice you're making on purpose). likewise, if your style in that story is more lyrical, the smut has to be somewhat lyrical too, or if your story is more cormac mccarthy-esque-cut-and-dry, the smut can't suddenly involve an effluvia of purple, sappy prose. integrating the smut in the story and treating it like any other part of the story is key to me. too often i've seen ppl switch to this anonymous pornified style when they get to the smut

which brings me to specificity. i'll talk about het sex, since that's what i tend to write most: not all men are going to be fingering or eating pussy the same way, not all dicks are big and they shouldn't be, not all women immediately get excited by fingering, not everyone moans the same way or makes the same sounds. you're writing about particular characters so it has to be particular to them. i know this is very old advice, but i think it bears repeating

there isn't an exact formula or sequence you have to follow, there aren't precise steps, you don't have to go "well, first he has to kiss down her neck, then reach the boob area, then play with the nipples, then put the nipple in his mouth, then slowly go down on her, then prepare her for entering her etc. etc. etc." this can get boring and repetitive and you start thinking of your characters as these mechanical dolls who have to fuck for your audience. and that can be a vibe too, if you do it on purpose. but sometimes you can get stuck in a porn routine (and ofc, having only the guy show initiative can also get boring)

in order to break that, insert some character moments. what are the characters thinking during this? sometimes they might be thinking of something completely unrelated on the surface, but which has a thematic relevance that can make the scene hotter. likewise, maybe they're doing smth that seems unsexy on the surface, but which, within the context of the story might be really hot. sex doesn't just involve, well, sex, but so much weirdness and humanity and creativity. two bodies (usually) are trying to do this really awkward thing together and they might have a lot of baggage and history to inform it. there's a lot you can do with that.

don't make it glossy and clean, where everyone smells of strawberry shampoo and there is never anything out of sync. the most boring smut tends to be the kind where no one makes any mistakes and everything is super efficient. i imagine it feels like using an industrial pump to milk various farm animals.

and you know what? you can make that hot too. you CAN write a kind of robotic efficient smut and make it really interesting based on the context. let's say you're writing a 1984 AU fic where ppl are forced into intimacy only to procreate and their sex drive is diminished. you can play with that premise and lean into the dehumanizing industrialization of sex, but you have to mean it, aka your narratorial voice must be conscious of these factors.

if you're writing dubcon, make the dubious part present, make sure you draw out the ambivalence and ambiguity. if you're writing noncon, the character whose consent is being violated has to be transformed by this in some way. it can be forced pleasure, for instance, but not only. it has to be a journey for them too, some kind of spiritual pit, or a form of access to terrible knowledge. i know this is a personal thing, but noncon doesn't work for me if the character being noncon'd is just sort of *there*, suffering passively. i think that sort of dead passivity can be done very well too, but the narratorial voice has to persuade me.

that being said, don't be afraid of fear in consensual sex. terror and vulnerability are a part of consensual sex too, imo, and again, depending on the story and the characters, there's a lot you can explore there

i personally find it really hot when the narratorial voice starts discussing some of the ideas that the story wants to convey during the smut. so like, you can characterize person A and outline their worldview and their plans while they're ramming person B, and the thinking & fucking are thus entwined. idk, i dig that

speaking of which, smut can convey world-building details and social/philosophical ideas, not just emotions and character beats

not all smut has to end with mutual orgasm or even one-sided orgasm, it depends what you want to do or where you want to go. again, you don't have to follow a sequence. plus, it's fun (and hot) to write about frustration and failure too.

if you want to mix up the descriptions, resort to the story & characters. you'll find it's easier to describe someone fondling a boob in a new or at least interesting way if you're thinking about that particular character in that particular story, and not just Man X from planet porn (sorry to be snarky, but mainstream erotica is soooo guilty of this)

screaming & really intense reactions are cool but they have to match the characters and the situations

sometimes, it's hotter if an effect is mild or negated, if the usual outcome doesn't happen; mix up the order of events, toy with the usual reactions. it's not about being original, it's about finding out what works for your characters. writing about sex is, in a way, a performance of it, an attempt to go through the sexual motions, to find out what works and doesn't, to engage with the erotics of text (roland barthes entered the chat)

if you are bored by your own smut, that's a problem. i know we all talk about how hard we find writing smut, and IT IS hard, and sometimes it's not enjoyable, because writing itself is often not enjoyable, but even when it's painful and annoying, it gives you that little intellectual kick like "huh, i'm creating this and making these people do this, and ohh look, i can maybe put this unnamable thing into words". but if you become bored, that's a sign you have to look at the language & characters and figure out what's not working for you

last thing i'll underline: pay attention to your narratorial voice. in this ordeal, you are the seducer. not the characters. you have to seduce us with words and context. your voice matters the most. you can persuade us of anything. but you have to be confident in your weirdness and particularity. this is your bedroom (so to speak), so invite us in.

#writing #smut tips #writing advice #smut #my thoughts #replies

606 notes · View notes

mari-lair · 4 months

Text

Let's talk about Akane's overprotection of Aoi and the dangers of not properly setting up a narrative tone.

We are told that Akane stalks Aoi because guys have been trying to force her into a relationship for years, so he protects her by beating up anyone who approaches. Nene and Kou are understandably horrified by this.

But in the very next page, Aidairo hit us with this tone switch:

What Akane is saying is contradictory to the violent and possessive narrative that was shown during his introduction, to this yandere role he played the entire chapter, but the manga is trying to convey that we should take him seriously here. Even the lighting and composition are the ones used when characters are vulnerable and Aidairo wants to show that what they feel is real.

It's strange...

Being possessive is never framed as something that leaves other characters in awe, just compare Akane's melancholic and peaceful gaze to the creepy tone used when Kou and Hanako have their "you are possessive" moment.

Both Kou and Hanako hate that part of themselves, Kou even rejects it, but it's still clear the rejection doesn't make him any less possessive. Both want to be dependable, they want to be the only choice, no one else is acceptable. It's a selfish feeling. Being 'the most important person' is more important than the joy of the person they want to help (Kou's wish is Mitsuba needing him, instead of Mitsuba happy as a human. Hanako wants to be the one to save Nene, the idea of Nene being saved by someone else does not satisfy him even if it would make her happy and safe)

So this isn't a "Akane is lying to himself" or a "he is delusional" case.

The narrative, which had presented Akane as someone violent and obsessive, wants us to believe his claim "I will protect Ao-chan... Even if she never looks my way" is not only what Akane believes to be true, but also something admirable. A sentiment Nene craves directed her way, claiming to be 'a little jealous' of Aoi, despite calling Akane scary a single page ago.

Let's rewind to see how we got here.

Akane and Aoi's stories suffer from being mostly given to us in gags for a good chunk of the manga, as they are not very relevant in the early arcs, but the crumbs come together after their confrontation in chapter 69.

Why is Akane stalking Aoi? Because he worries about her. Not about someone stealing her necessarily, but about her being hurt or forced into situations she is uncomfortable with.

They are very codependent. They have been for years.

We can see Akane being shocked at the sight of people bullying Aoi since they were kids, it isn't just 'boys who want to date her' that makes her uncomfortable. Jealous girls do too.

Even when Aoi is left alone, using clothes completely out of her cutesy style to attract less attention, and just living her life, she is still harassed.

Aoi's life is a nightmare, it straight up sucks. She hates that, and when Akane notices this discomfort, he hates that too.

He is far more protective than possessive, he doesn't care when people are touchy with Aoi as long as she welcomes the touch: Take Nene as an example.

Akane never touches Aoi at the start of the manga but Nene does, a lot. He never think "Nene is touching my Ao-chan! Unforguivable". "Maybe Ao-chan likes Nene more than me is not far!" or anything of sorts

Even when Aidairo uses the same over-the-top/creepy gag humor I personally find excessive, and Aoi straight up flirts with Nene, Akane's only thoughts about it are the usual "I love her so much"

When he does show dislike for Nene it's never because she is of value to Aoi. It's because of how dismissive Nene can be, not taking Aoi's safety seriously and easily excusing Hanako's actions.

We only see him be aggressive with Nene when Hanako possesses her and makes Aoi uncomfortable.

The problem here is the framing, the comedy focus. It's hard to take it seriously.

Everything about Akane's intro chapter is hard to take seriously. We are told he is "Hard working. Reliable. What a nice and sweet person."

But we aren't shown these honorable qualities much, not explicitly at least. The big panels, the main focus, is on his gag.

And his main joke is that he loves excessively, even for this school standard where everyone is weird (like Nene writing a self-ship fanfic with Teru) so he needs to be over the top, his behavior has to stand out!

How do they try to achieve this? Yandere jokes.

It is overplayed, they spend pages on it. WHOLE PAGES on it.

It is an old narrative trick to present a twist character as a comic relief to lower suspicion, to keep the more important characterization for after a reveal when they are oficially important, but framing all his actions as comedic and devoid of dept to make his reveal as No.1 more unexpected leaves him in a strange position: Akane is intended to be written as a protector but framed as a joke, to the point his introduction become the satire of a protector.

When he is revealed as the clock keeper and allowed to be given more focus, Aidairo try to explain his behavior and show signs of him being a genuinely caring and kind person, as the first part of his intro had promised.

But it's to late.

His crazy actions and anger issues is in most people's minds, a few lines can't erase pages and pages of his introduction as a yandere like archetype, so it's easy for first impression bias to come into play and interpret all his actions as a simple "He is obsessive." instead of trying to find dept or nuance to the established dependence he has on Aoi.

When we are shown that above wanting to date her, he just wants her to be safe and happy, it does not become clear. The reader needs to pay a lot of attention to small moments like these:

Which a casual reader likely won't. Most are reading for the toilet trio at this point in the manga.

This fumble on his character introduction makes it hard to know what should and shouldn't be taken seriously. Aidairo discarded the yandere narrative relatively quick (we haven't seen Akane's bat in ages) but this gag about being happy as long as Aoi is happy turned out to be important:

It was used to further contrast Aoi's and Akane's mentality on their big arc, and highlight how much nearly losing Aoi affected him.

So the only way we can tell what joke to take seriously cause it will be used to build up his character and what isn't important is hindsight.

I did not care about Aoi and Akane's relationship when I first read the manga, i went 'oh cool!' on their conflict, cause that was very well done, but since their characters were not well introduced, I did not notice a lot of the ideas being shown to me.

Akane is a sweet boy. That's his core, his consistency. Even with Aoi, being kind is the priority over being with her.

Let's compare him with Hanako, who is an openly possessive character, and see how they approach their love interests when they don't know if their love interest likes them back yet, and they aren't reduced to a gag (so we'll dismiss Akane being 'a yandere with a bat', and Hanako's joke of him being a tactless pervert, like peaking under Nene's skirt when her time was frozen)

(so pre-chapter 86 to Hanako and pre-chap 69 to Akane)

Hanako traps Nene, he will cling to her anytime he can, he cares about Nene and loves her dearly, he even says he "loves everything about her" but he is greedy for her attention, he is selfish, always trying to make her focus on him out of everyone in the room and keeping her in his hold, out of others reach. His unsubtle possessive nature is a charm of his, makes for an interesting character.

Akane has a different vibe to it. He doesn't have many serious moments with Aoi before their spotlight arc, unfortunately, but when he does, he focuses on reassuring her (even when her time is frozen and she can't hear him) and avoids touching her at best he can. He has known her for more than 10 years, but he doesn't act as if she belongs to him.

I am not saying Akane is not possessive of her, he is. But he tends to be more worried about her than anything.

Using hanako as the trademark of possessiveness again, check out these two scenes:

At the start of the manga Kou likes Nene, and Akane is under the impression Teru like Aoi, so both scenes follow the basic premise of "A know B has a crush on their crush, and they get possessive over a possible romantic rival being too close."

Hanako doesn't say anything, but his message is clear "She is mine."

Akane explicitly says he doesn't like Teru near Aoi but he doesn't try to remove Aoi from Teru or try to do anything violent. Why would he? Aoi is in no danger, nor is she uncomfortable, so he changes focus to the person who is troubled, awkwardly reassuring Teru that his distress is, in his personal opinion, stupid, so "chill bro".

He wasn't like that with Teru before.

He was so determined to stop the wedding he even rejected hanging out with Aoi, crying tears of blood and asking for her forgiveness in his mind but prioritizing not making her get together with Teru above her joy.

Is that because of his development? Yes! A big part is. Notice the way he treats his mental image as reality? That was his biggest flaw, he imposed his views on Aoi (the view being "everyone is stupid in love with Teru" in this case), and assumed what he believes is a universal truth, doing exactly what Aoi accused him of: Not seeing her, just an idea of her.

But the reason he went so crazy and determined, it's because Akane saw Teru as someone dangerous. Someone who would use Aoi. Hurt her. He believes he is protecting Aoi from the big bad president. A view that makes sense when we take into consideration both Aoi's history of being forced into relationships, and when we go back to their interaction.

Look at this and tell me this isn't a threat:

Teru acts as if he barely remembers her name, she is just 'that cute girl', mostly a tool for him to use against Akane.

When his view of Teru changes to someone kinder who genuinely cares about Aoi as a person, he no longer enters protective mode.

He is still bothered about the idea of Aoi being with someone else, he does noooot look pleased even with his fairy tale vision of a happy couple, but the way he treats this possible 'rivalry of love' when he does believe Teru loves her is so different from his "Don't get close to her!! I will NOT allow it!!" approach.

There is no insecure overthinking. No aggression. He is playful about it. He even teases Teru.

He just wants to focus on rescuing Aoi. A 'rivalry' isn't important. He needs her to be safe.

These two parts of Akane have been juggling for a long while.

But now, character focus is the priority, and I am thankful the damage is being undone, that Aidairo let Akane's love take up whole pages instead of small panels buried under pages of jokes.

Their codependence, no matter how many issues it has, and how it can sabotage them, is based on so much care for each other.

It's a shame I only believe Akane was sincere when he said he'll always be there to protect Aoi regardless if he 'gets to be with her', because of what we see later in the manga, not because of what had been set up in his intro.

#Every time i see the page of Akane gently cradling Aoi's face and crying over her being safe my heart break #tbhk #toilet bound hanako kun #jshk #jibaku shounen hanako kun #look at me trying to do a narrative structure analysis despite always failing lit class #aoi akane #akane aoi #aoikane #aoiaoi #long post #character analysis

256 notes · View notes

mygreatadventurehasbegun · 1 year

Text

Something I’ve been thinking about lot lately are movies that I would introduce to people who haven’t seen many (or any) movies from Classic Hollywood. If a friend came to me and asked me to recommend old movies, what would I choose?

What do I consider Old Hollywood “gateway movies”?

*Originally was going to stick to movies made before 1960, but one 60′s movie could not be ignored.*

Roman Holiday

I’ve heard this referred to as a “reverse Cinderella story” and I think that’s a great description. It’s about a woman who just wants to get away from her stressful life and have fun...even if for only one day. It really has it all...it’s lighthearted, funny, romantic and bittersweet. And while these are in no particular order, this would probably be the first movie I’d suggest to someone.

On The Waterfront

To me, this works as a great introduction because it actually is a bit of a transition movie for Hollywood...and by that I’m referring to the acting style. Nearly every actor in this movie came from The Actor’s Studio, bringing the more grounded, realistic approach to acting that modern audiences are used to (compared to the more presentational style of the 30′s and 40′s). So, this movie is a great way to ease them into Old Hollywood. And the story still feels relevant today...trying to find the courage to stand up to the big guy who has his foot on the back of everyone’s neck...and risk alienating your friends in the process.

The Adventures of Robin Hood

Of course, I was going to recommend this one! This movie is just...so much fun...even if a person is new to Classic Hollywood, they are guaranteed to find something they like about this one. Even if it’s just the swordfights or the score...but honestly, everyone I’ve shown this to has really enjoyed it (even people who don’t like adventure movies).

Casablanca

Yes, this seems like an obvious choice, since it’s one of the greatest movies ever made. But there’s a reason for that. The acting, directing and writing are iconic and you really can’t ask for more. Plus, one of the main points of the story is about sticking it to the Nazi’s. I think we can all (hopefully) agree that that’s a point in this movie’s favor.

12 Angry Men

Another movie that still feels timeless and relevant even after all these years. It discusses themes of class, parent/child relationships, justice, ignorance and so much more, you’d believe it was written today. And the performances from every single actor in that room is outstanding...there are some scenes that are so electric as you feel the tension rising.

How to Steal a Million

Another Audrey movie! This is a perfect option is someone wants to watch a fun, fluffy comedy. It’s light and relatively low-stakes...it almost feels like a send-up of heist movies, except they don’t wink at the camera. It’s just that instead of stealing something because the fate of the nation depends on it, or to stick it to the man...Nicole just wants to steal back something she already owns. And the way they go about it is absurdly hilarious. The chemistry between our two leads helps a lot, as they are so much fun to watch.

Summer Stock

If I was only going to recommend one musical from back then, I’d have to recommend Summer Stock! Not just because it’s one of my favorites, but because I do think it’s a fairly good choice to ease someone into older musicals. It’s not super elaborate and grand...no Busby Berkely musical numbers or elaborate sequences...just a bunch of people trying to put on a show. And the love story between Joe and Jane feels so real and grounded...no love at first sight, no enemies to lovers...just two people who happen to be perfect for each other, and were lucky enough to meet. This is Gene Kelly and Judy Garland at their best and I want other people to see it.

Rear Window

And if they wanted to see a Hitchcock movie, but maybe aren’t super into horror...I think I’d start them off with Rear Window. This isn’t a traditional scary movie...as with most Hitchcock movies, it’s all about the tension. But it isn’t released with jump scare and music stingers. And around the tension, you have this romantic drama between James Stewart and Grace Kelly, which is so fun to watch (and we can’t forget Thelma Ritter and her one-liners!)

And once they become hooked, the next round of films I’d suggest would be: A Streetcar Named Desire, The Maltese Falcon, Psycho, The Philadelphia Story, The Heiress, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and Meet Me in St. Louis.

Any that you would add?

#roman holiday #rear window #summer stock #on the waterfront #the adventures of robin hood #how to steal a million #casablanca #12 angry men

335 notes · View notes

punsmaster69 · 3 months

Text

20/FEB/20XX

papyrus adjusts the collar of my undershirt, and tugs at the edges of the argyle sweater he's summoned for me from the dark, unorganized depths of my dresser.

"I'M AWARE THAT YOUR STANDARDS REGARDING FORMAL ATTIRE ARE PARTICULARLY LOW..."

he straightens my collar a bit more.

"BUT EVEN AN INDOLENT SKELETON SUCH AS YOURSELF SHOULD TRY TO LOOK AT LEAST SOMEWHAT PRESENTABLE ON YOUR FIRST OFFICIAL DATE WITH YOUR NEW GIRLFRIEND!"

that word, which he hasn't let me correct him on.

that word, which i don't have proof to still deny being right or wrong, just yet.

"valentine's day doesn't count, huh?"

"OF COURSE IT DOESN'T!"

"NOT IF THE OFFICIAL PARTNER TITLE ONLY CAME ABOUT MID-PROCESS OF THAT ONE."

hands on hips, leaned forward; he discerningly stares at my collar for a few more moments. i push his hands away as he reaches for it again.

"it's definitely fine, bro."

replacing his hands to where they were on his hips, he steps back.

"...I'LL HAVE TO IRON THAT SHIRT LATER."

giving my appearance one last inspection -

crouching in front of me to pick a ball of fur from my shoulder.

-papyrus deems my attire now "date" ready.

"YOU STILL SEEM ANXIOUS."

"I CAN LEND YOU MY DATING MANUAL IF YOU'D LIKE!!"

"..i'll be ok. thanks for the offer, bro. and for all this."

i gestured to the outfit.

"SHE'LL CERTAINLY BE IMPRESSED BY YOUR OUTING-RELEVANT LOOK!"

with a proud stance.

"should one usually have a specific outfit for going to a café?"

"WHAT? OF COURSE YOU SHOULD! A PREPARED SKELETON HAS AN OUTFIT FOR EVERY OCCASION!!"

poking his exposed sternum through the slit at the top of his shirt, i looked him straight in the sockets.

"what's the occasion for this one?"

breaking the stare, his gaze fixated itself anywhere else as he repressed a flustered look.

"I-IT'S JUST A REGULAR OUTFIT! FOR DOING REGULAR ANYTHING-THINGS!! EXPLICITLY NON-SPECIFIC."

"did mtt put you up to this?"

"NO!"

at his side this time, i poked the shiny star design across the black fabric of the shirt.

"seems like a very 'mettaton' choice."

"HE DIDN'T PICK THIS OUT FOR ME."

"did you pick it out for 𝘩𝘪𝘮?"

"A-"

entirely freezing.

"N-NO!!"

"METTATON AND I ARE BOTH FASHIONABLE MONSTERS, OUR FASHION STYLES ARE BOUND TO OVERLAP SOMETIMES!!!"

"so where're you two going toda-"

papyrus shoved me to the front door.

"YOU'RE JUST STALLING!! GO, ALREADY!!!!"

"ok, ok. have fun with your crush-"

the front door was slammed behind me. i heard a side window open, followed by the fading sound of a skeleton running off somewhere.

——

i read the page.

i read the page again.

i read the page a third time.

i realize this isn't working.

instead of reading the same page over and over while hoping the words suddenly stick this time, i set aside my book and pull my cup of coffee closer. i pretend like i'm taking a break to watch the town through the window.

when i look up, she's doing the same.

"Not a very busy day, is it?"

"it's hard to say small towns ever are."

"True as that may be, it really is too nice for as few monsters to be about as there are."

"yeah, why isn't everyone outside enjoying the sun? like us?"

"...Our plans were made 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 knowing of the weather's plan to be nice. We do not count."

"our plans to sit quietly and read?"

we both turned our heads to our set aside books.

a smile crept across her face.

"...It seems neither of us were 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥-y for sitting quietly at the moment, were we?"

"don't have the 𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘦-ience for stories right now, unfortunately."

"I must confess - I was reading a while before you arrived."

"late, sorry."

"Fashionably late."

i flicked the collar papyrus was so set on straightening this morning with my thumb.

"paps insisted i be."

"Oh? Has he been attempting to adjust your wardrobe? It would explain the shift in clothing choices lately."

i decide that's why.

"yeah, he says i should try to look 'at least somewhat presentable' on.."

deciding immediately on a word change -

"somewhat presentable with you rather than just having my jacket n' shorts all the time."

"With me?"

"how i'm constantly embarrassing such a pretty lady with my drab attire in public, y'know."

"I would not consider your... 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 dressing style embarrassing. In anything you wear, I find you to be just as charming."

maybe my face got a little warm.

"..Though."

she leaned to the side to see around the table, so her eyes could make their way up the entirety of my outfit. extra effort was made to ignore how long it felt like her gaze lingered.

"I certainly approve of Papyrus' choices today. Cannot complain in that regard."

"..maybe i oughta take some more of his suggestions then."

"It is good, of course..."

she made an obvious once-over at my outfit again. i distracted myself by tapping my coffee cup a few times and taking a long sip.

"..But I wonder if it would look even better on my bedroom floor?"

coffee came out of my nose.

my reaction sent her into a laughing fit.

"Hehe- Sorry, sorry. I had heard that one recently and the chance to use it now was much too tempting."

"speakin' of floors, that..."

hiding my face with my hand was all i could do.

"heh, definitely floored me."

"Apologies again."

"s'alright. it was a good one, i'll give you that."

taking a deep breath and shoving my hands into my pockets.

"inserted with appropriate timing and all."

something in my pocket brushed against my right hand.

"Well.. 'appropriate' is subjective."

peeking at the object, i stopped.

"It wasn't really 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 in any manner."

i stared at the text on the object in my right hand.

"COUPLE'S DISCOUNT BRACELET" stared back.

"..Sans?"

my attention was snapped back to toriel.

"sorry. what's up?"

"Have I made you uncomfortable? I'm very s-"

"no, it's..."

opening my hand on the table to drop the rubbery bracelet between us.

toriel's eyes widened before she sheepishly pulled her matching one from her pocket.

for a guy without a stomach, it sure did feel like butterflies.

the question i've been too cowardly to ask outright gnawed at me.

i stuttered... 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 out.

"......a-are we..?"

tori undid the rubber latch on one of the bracelets and connected it with the other. keeping eye contact with me, she tugged on the interlocked bracelets and cocked her head slightly.

i nodded.

turning the bands over in her hands, toriel contemplated something.

"...I would like for you to be able to ask."

"if we're-"

"To be partners."

everything in me felt like it had been paused.

i couldn't get any words to come out.

all i could hear was my soul racing.

i clenched my fists, and...

"......"

couldn't look her in the eyes any longer.

she put her hands over my own.

"Then I will wait for you."

#undertale #journal #sans #papyrus #sans and papyrus #skelebros #papyrus and sans #papyton #toriel #soriel #sans x toriel #toriel x sans #got distracted for like an hour galfway through writing this making papyrus ascii art #anyway sorry i'll post the other chapter sometime later

36 notes · View notes

writingway-in-writinghell · 1 year

Text

S3E7 - Ted is not straight

Okay but apart from all the crumbs everyone’s reading (including the ~was~ that could very well allude to a subversion):

This was a Trent episode, like, purely on a narrative level, right. Trent who’s reminded of his initial doubt in Ted. Trent who came to Richmond for his book (which he’s totally naming The Lasso Way), only to find a Ted who… kinda isn’t Ted at that time. Trent who tries to coax him out of his shell with the video of Nate ripping apart the sign (and probably realizing too late that it doesn’t really help Ted at all). Trent who, just like Ted, is perhaps beginning to ask himself, “why am I here?”

Almost all cuts to him in this episode can be read purely in this light. Yes there’s subtext, the red string on his wrist etc., but those things are all VERY subtle and more a matter of blink-and-you-miss-it.

Except for one cut.

When Ted - for whatever reason, because it sure isn’t relevant - mentions he “was a STRAIGHT fella” in the US sports business.

We cut to Trent here, and only to him. We see… doubt, perhaps? The man is still so unreadable to me, but there is definitely something, and the cut alone, the cut to the confirmed gay man, while another is referring to himself as “straight” (past tense notwithstanding), in a speech where said man talks about boxes we put ourselves in and the right choice after a bunch of wrong ones…

That cut, in this exact moment, when Ted refers to his sexuality, has NOTHING to do with Trent’s arc. It can only be linked to Trent’s own sexuality imo, and to the ~boxes~ we’re confined to.

Could it be that Ted was talking about gendered expectations, about what men in sports are ~supposed~ to do and look like? Sure.

But then a simple “as a man in sports” would’ve sufficed.

Nope, he specifically mentions his sexuality.

Maybe it’s some kind of Freudian slip on Ted’s end. He specifically says “was”, after all. Sure, the whole story takes place in the past, but have you ever talked about your own persistent identity like that? Wouldn’t “a straight fella in sports, I could only really do X” be more in line with Ted’s usual speech pattern? The whole sentence just sounds stiff coming from him.

No, with the cut to Trent and the speech it all leads to, I can only conclude that they’re still doing something with Ted’s sexuality. Whether he discovers (or remembers?) that he’s bi or pan or whatever it may be (I can also see him as sex-positive ace tbh, the way he doesn’t really comment on attractiveness and more on style of others)… This is in the text, fellas.

Perhaps he doesn’t realize it yet, but Ted Lasso is not straight.

#ted lasso #ted lasso spoilers #whether we’ll see tedepedent or not I really don’t know #but their connection and the cuts? interesting #trent crimm #tedependent #tagging their ship name for… obvious reasons #I don’t think it’s delusional. it’s in the text everyone. something is there.

144 notes · View notes

thesherrinfordfacility · 6 months

Text

clearing out the drafts of Random Things I've Noticed if you can't tell but here, have another one - this building on the end of aziraphale's row of shops, on the other side of the record shop:

now im fairly certain about two things. first, it's called 'Alf Laylah wa-Laylah' - translated to english from arabic as One Thousand and One Nights. i can't quite tell at this quality if the writing below it is hebrew or yiddish, nor if it's a translation of the text above it (although, as best as i can tell? it isn't? but not sure)

im also not entirely sure on the relevance of the reference - if there is any to be had - to the story compilation that is One Thousand and One Nights, to tell the truth. the immediate thought that springs to mind is how scheherazade tells the king countless folk tales and stories over 1001 nights in order to keep him in suspense of hearing how the stories end - so he essentially stops killing women as revenge for the infidelity of his wife (it's a whole thing), whom he eventually pardons/spares from execution.

all the tales - as well as returns to the 'present' - include debate on philosophies and ethics, and explore various themes and topics, but regardless... my thoughts are somewhat jumping between this, the questions around the reliability of events as presented in s2, the flashbacks and the Lessons, etc. maybe that's not the link to make here, but it's all im coming up with so far.

but back to the building, and the second thing: think that the stars on the bottom half of the building, in the specific configuration they're shown, are the kaheksakand (estonian) / auseklis (latvian) - an eight-pointed star representing fertility and life, the triumph of light over darkness, as well as used as a protection symbol against evil (aptly placed outside the door).

there's a lot to go into re: the symbology behind '8', including its relationship to the concept of balance and harmony, especially in nature. the eight-pointed star in general, not just in the above exact shape, has dozens of cultural, religious, and mythological links (tbh it's probably featured in some capacity in nearly every culture), but i think particularly apt is how it links to venus aka. the morning star.

in the interest of keeping this brief (im sure cleverer people may wish to clarify/develop this more!!!), and keeping on track with where its place may sit in the show, i think it's first of all potentially of interest how this building is lit, given the above. we see the shot of the bentley arriving to whickber street in ep1 at night, and this particular shop (?) front is the most brightly lit... might mean nothing, might mean something:

but when the demons descend in ep5, a good portion of them appear out of the mist from that direction; a green mist (green shop?), reflecting the hell vibes we saw in ep1 etc. that being said, when crowley starts sensing Trouble Is Afoot earlier on, he's looking in all directions and certainly we see some demons behind him (in the direction of the dirty donkey) when he confronts this particular little gang of them, so unless some demons started arriving ahead of schedule, they may not have all come through this building:

but. we know from eric that the lift is broken, and the only other routes are the small lift, one at a time, or the stairs. shax obviously arrives in style, but the other demons? taken the stairs. what if this front is that exit onto earth? but just the back stairwell?

there's so many potentially loose threads to weave in here, and im sure i'll come back to this at some point, but felt it was an interesting design choice nonetheless, even if it ultimately means naff all✨

#good omens #i'll come back to this im sure #props meta #thats probably the most accurate tag for the moment

37 notes · View notes

harrysonlylover · 6 months

Note

you're right. many blogs have expressed frustration, but i don't follow those blogs. i follow you, and your posts have been all over my feed. i’m speaking up because i don’t understand. i didn’t highlight that you’re a fan and find him unattractive. i pointed the hair post out because you’ve made numerous posts about his looks, about his silence, about the people he associates with. your post on his “lost charm” was only one piece of what i listed. it’s hardly a little detail when you spam things.

your name is harrysonlylover. whether you worship the ground he walks on or you only use his name to boost your fanfic, you still have a blog called harrysonlylover that is dedicated to harry styles. you can call it what you want. what influence exactly are you hoping he has? you’ve contradicted yourself, saying you want him to speak up because he has influence, and then simultaneously followed that up with “i can assure you that a white man’s opinion who’s a singer isn’t that relevant.” his opinion matters, or it doesn’t? you want to hear he’s not a zionist? you’ve admitted you’re not even a fan of his. it’s just very confusing. why don’t you use a different celebrity’s name if you don’t like his music, his work, or him? his name isn’t doing much to boost your fanfic anyways.

I created this blog 1 and a half fucking year ago. The reason i chose this user is probably something random because as i said “let’s normalise growing out of something.” It depends on your definition of a fan. I’m not listening to his music much anymore because guess what? We grow up, explore and become into other things. This blog is personal to me because it holds memories and mutuals that i love. If you’re so wound up go ahead and unfollow me.

His opinion is irrelevant to political matters, his influence isn’t.There’s a difference. If he posts a whole ass political statement that is out of his field of knowledge then yeah that’s not relevant. But if he posts a donation link for Gaza then it matters.

Again, unfollow me because this is more about you being concerned with me. All about what i like, dislike and my posts which is quite pathetic. Why not choose a diff user? Idk my life doesn’t really depend on it. If you think that a user name is so so significant to one’s life then you’re wrong because there are users here like @harrysass or something. It’s just for the fun of it. Not everything needs to be analysed.

Don’t twist my words. I didn’t say that i don’t like his work. I said i don’t listen to his songs as much as before. Do you want to come over, make me a playlist and tell me who i should listen to? You’re so concerned with my “fan status” like what is a fan to you? Do you want me to dedicate my life to him? You don’t choose what i get to call myself. Who are you??

Again—we can give our opinions on what a person is doing even if we love them. Giving my opinion does not mean i’m sending him hate messages, bullying him or harming him. You do know that we have something called freedom of speech right? Or do you only consider someone a fan if they shut up and agree with everything he does? Because you’re obv so concerned with the fan term.

Read the sentences in italic again^

And this whole thing about him not boosting my fics— oh sorry to disappoint you but i’ll ask him to recommend my stories to everyone next time i see him.

I’m pretty sure my fics are fine. My skills and writing style exist with or without his name. If i wake up tomorrow and write something with a character called harry styles or a whole different character, that’s up to me. Or do you want to analyse that as well?

Going back to the point i made earlier to remind you that this blog is old. The user wasn’t born yesterday, i don’t wake up everyday and light a candle for him. Understand that while i don’t listen much to his music anymore, it is my choice whether i write fanfiction or not (which btw, he is nothing but a face claim. What i write is a whole other made up character but is just called Harry)

They’re also written for fun so don’t worry about boosting them because i’m not submitting them for a nyc times best seller.

This felt like an investigation so i urge you to go out, touch some grass, connect with nature and lessen your curiosity. I’ve removed my anon option because if you wish to grace me with your presence and delightful questions, do so without hiding.

#ask

25 notes · View notes

lbfad-minibang · 8 months

Text

SUMMARY SELECTIONS OPEN

There are twelve glorious fic summaries under the read more.

Artists, please select your TOP THREE favorites.

There is also a spot for you to let me know if there's anything you would rather not draw for, or anything you refuse to draw for. Although I hope to get everyone one of their top three summary choices, that may not be possible, so this is important.

Once you've read all the summaries, please fill out THIS GOOGLE FORM.

You must complete the form by Wednesday, October 4th, 2023. We are not stringent on time zones. It just needs to be the relevant date somewhere in the world. If we get everyone's picks in before that date, we will start working on assignments and they might even go out early. ;)

FIC #1 Pairings Featured: main pairing- Dongfang Qingcang/Xiao Lanhua, side pairings- Jieli/Shangque, Ronghao/Lady Chidi Genre: sleeping beauty LBFAD style, XLH’s PoV, past life, tragedy, reincarnation, fantasy, worldbuilding, immortals, fairies, demons, rebellion, angst, happy ending Major Characters: Dongfang Qingcang, Xiao Lanhua, Danyin, Changheng, Ronghao, Jieli, Shangque, Xunfeng, Yunzhong, Lady Chidi Rating: T Potential Warnings: Major Character Death, Mention of Suicide, Fantasy Racism Summary: As pupil to the famous botanist Siming, Zhihan gets to follow her master on an expedition to one of the most notorious locations of their world. The ruins of a once glorious palace. Legend says inside slumbers the last existing immortal, able to grant the one who wakes them with tremendous powers. But until today no one has ever been able to breach the wild orchids seemingly sprouting from the palace’s very walls, making them a topic of intense research.

So, Zhihan doesn’t expect to be drawn inside as she touches one of the flowers. Coming face to face with a handsome, sleeping male in the centre, she starts regaining memories of a former life as a girl called Xiao Lanhua.

FIC #2 Pairings Featured: Dongfang Qingcang/Xiao Lanhua Genre: M/F, Explicit, canonical character death (referenced), post-episode 36, reunion of DFQC and XLH, miracles do happen, aftermath of what happened in ep 36 (I don't really know what you mean by genre?) Major Characters: DFQC, XLH, Yunzhong, Changheng, Xunfeng, Shangque, Jieli, Siming Rating: Explicit Potential Warnings: Major Character Death (canonical)(referenced only), explicit sexual content Summary: Glazed Fire - the fire of mercy and compassion, a matter of legend noted only in the most obscure ancient scrolls, and never seen in living memory across the Three Realms. Only Siming in her remote exile among the stars had glimpsed its possibility when divining the fate of her only disciple and disciple’s lover. But could she have foreseen how the presence of Glazed Fire - wielded, shockingly, by none other than the Moon Supreme - would change the Three Realms forever?

(A post-episode 36 exploration of Glazed Fire and how it shapes and changes the dynamics… between Dongfang Qingcang and Xiao Lanhua, in the Moon Tribe, in Shuiyuntian, in the Mortal Realm, and between these entities. Story starts from Siming's pov (prologue), but the focus is DFQC/XLH pov. Includes their reunion post his return. I wanted to set out to explore Glazed Fire and what it is, what it means, how it differs from Hellfire, and how it changes the balance of power in the Three Realms. Also, to give stuffy old Yunzhong his appropriate comeuppance (wow I can't stand that guy!).

Ideas for art:

1. There are no good still shots of the sequence where DFQC/XLH are kissing with the Glazed Fire raging around them, his hair gradually turning black again, and the black tendrils of Tai Sui's presence being worn away by the dual presence of the Goddess of Xishan's powers and the Glazed Fire.

2. A NSFW of DFQC/XLH's wedding night - at long last - with the Glazed Fire flowing around them (there will be an explicit scene close to the beginning of the fic, and a wedding scene at the end).

3. A scene where DFQC confronts Yunzhong with the Glazed Fire - think palms meeting and energy auras competing/pressing against each other but the Glazed Fire gradually whittling away at Yunzhong's energy. Of course, on reading the fic if the artist has other ideas I'm open to them.)

FIC #3 Pairings Featured: main ship- Xiao Lanhua/Dongfang Qingcang/Changheng; side ships: Jieli/Shangque (healthy & happy), Ronghao/Chidi Nvzi (Not healthy & happy, to the lesser extent that they show up) Genre: hurt/comfort; torture; kidnapping and rescue; getting together (?) Major Characters: XLH; DFQC; CH; Yunzhong; Shangque; Jieli; Ronghao. Rating: T (maaaybe M) Potential Warnings: torture (mostly offscreen, probably some onscreen; nothing gritty/grisly enough to merit "graphic depictions of violence") Summary:

"Did you see the Moon Supreme's wrist and neck?" Ronghao murmured to Lord Yunzhong, after the fires were extinguished. "There were marks there, and I suspect many more hidden by his robes." He paused, thoughtful. "They looked exactly like the marks your whip burned into Xiao Lanhua's skin."

(Canon divergence in which Yungzhong learns of the heart-curse connection early. He kidnaps XLH while she is weak upon returning from the mortal realm, and tortures her to weaken DFQC in preparation for war. The newly rebellious Changheng reluctantly teams up with his enemies to rescue her and depose Yunzhong. Lots of physical and emotional whump & hurt/comfort. Changheng worries about XLH and, despite himself, about DFQC. My endgame ship is OT3 XLH / DFQC / CH and if they don't get together in this fic, they will certainly all get much closer. Shangque and Jieli come along to flirt and defend their friends. XLH gets an early dramatic reveal as the Xishan Goddess.

Art prompts: There will be several hurt/comfort scenes in various configurations that would be juicy illustrations. Dark & whumpy ex: XLH tortured; DFQC experiencing her wounds and pain from afar; CH & Shangque half-carrying DFQC between them. Tender reunion and recovery ex: the boys cradling XLH immediately after rescue; the awkward and emotional conversation the trio have afterward about their status; trio cuddling. Protectiveness: XLH trying to defend DFQC (both of them still drained in the immediate aftermath of the mortal arc) before Yunzhong kidnaps her. The crew being protective badasses during rescue. CH realizing that against his better judgement, he's worried about DFQC & hates how little he can do to stop him from hurting.)

FIC #4 Pairings Featured: main pairing- Dongfang/Orchid, side pairing- Shangque/Jieli Genre: fantasy Major Characters: Dongfang, Orchid, Shangque, Jieli, Xufeng, Changheng (I think?) Rating: T Potential Warnings: None Summary: Years after Dongfang's return, an assassin makes an attempt on his life, but their magic goes haywire when it meets the goddess' protection. When the dust settles, Dongfang is fine; except this isn't the Dongfang they know. Now timid and soft-spoken, Orchid and Shangque work together to find out what is behind the sudden change in his personality. It soon becomes clear he is Dongfang—but not their Dongfang.

Meanwhile, Dongfang finds himself in a world where Xishan survived, and the Moon tribe is subjugated to Shuiyuntian. Here, hellfire is just a long-forgotten legend, and as a royal Dongfang must submit to harsh treatment by the fairy realm. His beloved Orchid is the goddess Xi Yun, a ruler who is cold and unforgiving towards the Moon people.

As Orchid and Shangque attempt to find a way to bring their Dongfang back, they also need to keep the switch a secret while they investigate who was behind the assassination attempt: which also means passing off the gentle version as their bold and decisive king. At the same time, Dongfang wrestles with the drive to free his people and put Shuiyntian in its place. But he also needs the goddess' help to get back home, something that may be impossible to get if he returns to his old self.

FIC #5 Pairings Featured: Dongfang Qingcang/Xiao Lanhua Genre: Post-canon, fluff, light angst, amnesia Major Characters: XLH, DFQC, Changheng, Shangque, Xunfeng, Jieli Rating: T Potential Warnings: None Summary: Very loosely inspired by a plotline in Back from the Brink. Set after the 500 years, DFQC returns to XLH without the memories of his past. This version of DFQC is innocent and unaware of the ways of the world, so XLH must teach him. At Shangque's suggestion, XLH tries to recreate moments of their past to jog DFQC’s memory but he only remembers flashes of memories. Eventually, they go to Lucheng and run into Changheng. Changheng and XLH conclude that if DFQC cultivates his powers to the level they were at before his death, he may remember everything. After some misunderstandings, Changheng and XLH team up to train DFQC. It ends with DFQC’s memories fully restored after he’s refined the glazed fire.

FIC #6 Pairings Featured: Main pairing- Dongfang Qingcang/Xiao Lanhua, Side pairings- Danyin/Xunfeng, Jieli/Shangque, Siming/Changyuan Genre: Romance, Drama, Fix-it fic kinda, I wanted at least 5 more episodes after the finale so I wrote a thing, drama-canon compliant, post-canon, check the potential warnings but I promise it’s a happy ending, there’s a wedding, maybe two Major Characters: Xiao Lanhua, Dongfang Qingcang, Xunfeng, Danyin, Jieli, Shangque, Changheng Rating: M (planned), might spice to E Potential Warnings: Canon-typical Major Character Death, canon-typical violence, no plot armor for side characters, bugs (butterflies) Summary:

Fic excerpt:

Dongfang Qingcang felt drunk, such was his state of disarray that his woman put him in, as if reducing him to some mere mortal, out of breath and panting.

But any hope he had of catching his breath was tossed over the garden balustrade along with any remaining coherent thought as he felt Xiao Lanhua pepper kisses along his jawline.

He groaned, head rolling back to give her better access, and– gods– he felt those petal-soft lips kiss the side of his neck, and then open-mouth kiss his Adam's apple, Xiao Lanhua was so clever, so creative, so– his thoughts short-circuited as she licked into the hollow of his throat. His hand went up to grip the nape of her neck so he could ravish that perfect mouth of hers and let her know in very little words just how perfect she was when–

A cough. Loud. And definitely not for the first time.

Dongfang Qingcang was going to murder whoever was interrupting them.

“Sorry,” Jieli said, a shit-eating grin on her face that wasn’t the least bit apologetic, “We didn’t want to interrupt but if you all don’t leave now you’ll be late to tea with Lord Yunzhong.”

–End Fic Excerpt–

Fic starts about two weeks after the finale when DFQC is reincarnated.

Changheng goes missing in search for his banished mother, and in a cruel twist of fate Xiao Lanhua and Dongfang Qingcang must postpone their wedding day as they embark with Danyin, Xunfeng, Shanque, and Jieli in their quest to find him. Their search will take them to the deepest depths of the Memory Loss River, the swamplands on the outskirts of Haishi City, and to the stars beyond the Destruction of Heaven.

This is a multi-chaptered fic, expected to be 30-40k words. The draft in-progress is currently 13k words long.

Side characters, ensembles, and expected side characters and ensembles in this fic include: Lord Yunzhong, Lord Liyuan, Lord Dong, Die Yi, Ronghao (mentioned; he stays canonically dead), Siming, Changyuan, Dragon Tribe (and minor OCs), Mermaid Tribe (non-canon + minor OCs), Butterfly Clan (non-canon, clan name may change + minor OCs), a pirate crew (non-canon + minor OCs)

Thank you artists for reading, and I hope you are interested in my story!

FIC #7 Pairings Featured: Main pairing- Dongfang Qingcang/Xiao Lanhua; side pairings-Jieli/Shangque, implied Xunfeng/Danyin/Changheng, Siming/Chang Yuan; platonic Dongfang Qingcang & Changheng, Xiao Lanhua and Jieli, Dongfang Qingcang and Shangque Genre: Fluff, comfort? I guess it could also serve as a slight character study and/or post-canon speculation Major Characters: Dongfang Qingcang, Xiao Lanhua, Changheng, Xunfeng, Jieli, Shangque, Siming Rating: G Potential Warnings: No archive warnings apply Summary: Cangyanhai is no Shuiyuntian: the water flowed as tears for thirty thousand years, and everything the soil grows tastes of cold moonlight. Even the hardiest trees in the coldest winters weep bitter sap. Still, Dongfang Qingcang reasons, if his forebears were able to cultivate the land and grow crops, however meagre, they can grow beautiful things, too.

/or, Dongfang Qingcang wants to put together a garden for his wife, and starts by asking those she loves for advice.

FIC #8 Pairings Featured: Yunzhong Jun/female OC Genre: tragedy, mortal trials, accidentally falling in love, angst with a bittersweet/sad ending Major Characters: Yunzhong Jun, female OC Rating: T Potential Warnings: mild body horror, spiders, depictions of violence Summary:

A Dream of Golden Millet

Chun Shisan, a spider immortal in Shuiyuntian, has had enough of her emperor. Yunzhong Jun suffocates the life out of the heavens, unbending and unyielding in his absolute power. In the mortal world, Pu Songming is a young and idealistic scholar with nary a shadow of his celestial self. When Chun Shisan sent Yunzhong Jun to the mortal realm, it was with every intention of giving him a taste of his own medicine. Except we all know how this story goes. And it can’t end well.

FIC #9 Pairings Featured: Dongfang Qingcang/Xiao Lanhua Genre: whump, hurt/comfort, AU, canon divergence Major Characters: dongfang qingcang, xiao lanhua, possibly shangjue Rating: T Potential Warnings: None (it will be whump but nothing I would describe as "graphic violence") Summary: Whumpy AU canon divergence: Amidst the confrontation in the forest, Ronghao "accidentally" stabs Xiao Lanhua (in Dongfang Qingcang's body) as she rushes to kiss Dongfang Qingcang. Badly wounded, she stumbles into Dongfang Qingcang's arms and desperately kisses him and they switch bodies, Dongfang Qingcang swaying dangerously the instant they do. He grits his teeth and holds it together long enough to fire off a blast of hellfire that sends Ronghao and Changheng reeling. Their opportunity lost, Ronghao whisks Changheng away, while Dongfang Qingcang slowly crumples to the ground, and Xiao Lanhua drops to her knees beside him, desperately trying to put pressure on the wound…

FIC #10 Pairings Featured: main pairing- Changheng/Dongfang Qingcang, side pairings- Changheng/Xiao Lanhua, Dongfang Qingcang/Xiao Lanhua Genre: Smut, Canon Divergence, Missing Scenes, Character Study Major Characters: Changheng, Dongfang Qingcang Rating: Explicit Potential Warnings: Grief, Canonical Temporary Character Death Summary: In the aftermath of the great battle, and the great loss, Changheng has too many things to process. Before he can fully come to terms with any of them--his shifting feelings for Dongfang Qingcang; a mortal lifetime that won't let him return to immortality unchanged; the desperate hope of a discovery that could save Xiao Lanhua--Changheng gets word that Dongfang Qingcang is dying, burning himself up from the inside. What happens next is an emotional whirlwind he can't deny and the last conclusion Changheng expects is to find himself on a boat sailing through an endless sea of stars on the edge of reality, surrounded by fireflies and plied with flower cakes and sitting opposite his sworn enemy--his dearest friend--his love rival--his ally--his zhiji. The space between them is sickeningly empty of the person who belongs there, thick with tension and hope and things that words were never meant to describe. Luckily, they have more than words to rely on.

FIC #11 Pairings Featured: No main pairing. Side pairings- Jieli/Shangque, Changheng/Holly Genre: Fluff and friendship Major Characters: Xiyun (Orchid), Jieli, Shangque, Xunfeng, Changheng, Holly, Creeper, Peach and Succulent Rating: G Potential Warnings: None Summary: A short story of approximately 5k words, divided in 5 chapters. It will be canon compliant and take place after the battle of Tai Sui. Main character is Xiyun (Orchid), and the story is written from her point of view, with focus on the way forward. The red thread is promises she made to others while she was Orchid, and figuring out life as a goddess in a world where Dongfang Qingcang is no more. Quick story outline: Xiyun gets back together with her flower friends from Arbiter Hall. She brings them and Jieli with her to Xilan. In Xilan she is greeted by many people from both tribes who have come to pray to her and ask for blessings and healing. Shangque joins them there, as he once promised DFQC to never leave Orchid's side if DFQC was not around. Later, Xunfeng visits to ask for help in keeping the peace in Cangyan Sea, and reminds Shangque and Xiyun of their promises to both DFQC and to the Moon Tribe. Xiyun agrees to divide her time between the realms equally, and also finds a new apprentice for the role of keeper of the Destiny Tree in Shuiyuntian.

Snippet of draft:

Lord Changheng offered to escort them, and thus Xiyun set out for Xilan, joined by Jieli and four flower spirits. The small group arrived at the Xilan Holy Lands just as the sun set, and were met with an ocean of people. The visitors had set up tents while waiting for the Goddess, and a myriad of fires were burning in the night. Standing with torches in hand, they greeted the Goddess. Xiyun walked through an alley lit by flames - torches raised to light the path for her on her way to the Xilan Arbiter Hall. No one spoke, struck by the magnitude of what was taking place. It was a gathering of love, of appreciation, and Xiyun silently met the eyes of each person she passed. The large gathering closed in behind the group, creating a procession as they followed the Goddess on her way. Xiyun only broke free from the faces of the people when she finally reached Arbiter Hall, finding it lit by candles, and by the entrance stood a familiar figure. Overwhelmed by the welcoming, there were both tears and a smile on her face when Shangque bowed to her.

“Welcome home, Goddess Xiyun,” he said.

FIC #12 Pairings Featured: Dongfang Qingcang/Xiao Lanhua. Side pairing: Extremely minor Jieli/Shangque (their relationship will just be mentioned). Genre: romance, drama, action, angst with a happy ending Major Characters: Pretty much just DFQC and XLH, but with cameos of Changheng, Danyin, Xunfeng, Shangque, and Jieli Rating: T Potential Warnings: character death (sort of; the story takes place in the extremely far future, and all of the cast has passed away of natural causes and old age by then, except DQFC and XLH). Summary: Tens of thousands of years ago, when the Moon Tribe faced its greatest danger yet, the kingdom's most valuable resources, the Moon Supreme, Dongfang Qingcang, and the Moon Queen and Goddess of Xishan, Xiao Lanhua, were sealed away. As they slept, their powers, that of the glazed fire and the holy goddess, continued to protect and provide for the kingdom. It worked; while Cangyan Sea was ravaged, it survived and the people moved on and rebuilt.

Unfortunately, The Moon Supreme and the Moon Queen did not awaken. They were relegated to folklore and legend, though those who knew them knew that one day, when they were needed most, they would return.

In the present, in a mortal realm much like our own, two lost immortals find themselves awakening in a new world.

Cangyan Sea is different now; their friends have long passed, and the lush, deep forests are no more. The land is hot and barren, a sea of sand, a desert landscape of dunes and sparsely vegetated mountains, dotted with small rivers that fill and empty with the seasons. But the people still live and thrive, and Dongfang Qingcang and Xiao Lanhua's return will change everything.

After all, as was written in the old tales, they will only awaken when the world is about to be threatened in a way that they alone can stop.

Fun ideas: DFQC and XLH's mortal realm is much like our own, with modern technology and an East meets West fusion in clothing, architecture, etc. The Moon Tribe is, in my mind, a dieselpunk world (sort of; think Mad Max vibes with Moon Tribe aesthetics and more just 'our culture is desert based' than post apocalyptic) powered by magic and cultivation. They'll spend time in both realms. Lots of romance, of course. DFQC and XLH have been married for hundreds of years by the time the story starts. Also! Cool clothes and lots of Canglan being badass powerhouses together.

#love between fairy and devil #lbfad minibang #!mod

32 notes · View notes

midground · 1 year

Text

I think it’ll be really neat to see how Matt Mercer fares with the Dimension 20 format. Matt tends to favor attrition-style encounter design (lots of smaller, narratively inconsequential combats meant to drain party resources ahead of the Final Fight). This style is sort of the default for how 5e assumes you’ll play (hence why Short Rests exist), and it’s a perfectly valid style choice, especially for home play and for long-form campaigns.

While I don’t mind playing that style, I find it way less engaging as a viewer when it’s used in Actual Play. As a viewer, I generally prefer the D20 format of (what I refer to as) Set Piece Encounters. Big, story-relevant fights where the PCs have most if not all of their resources and abilities from the start, often with multiple paths to victory that the PCs need to discover as they interact with the encounter.

To be clear, it’s not like Matt CAN’T do this, there are tons of examples of this kind of encounter design across all 3 campaigns (C1 BBEG fight, C2 Cathedral Fight, C2 BBEG fight, C3 Museum Heist), it just tends to be reserved more for special occasions rather than being the default. But that makes sense because Critical Role is long-form as opposed to Dimension 20′s limited-run seasons.

(I really can’t emphasize enough that Dimension 20s limited-run nature is what makes it possible for every Encounter to be a big Set Piece Encounter.)

And because Dimension 20 has SUCH a strong format of alternating Roleplay and Combat episodes, because Dimension 20 seasons are limited in scope, and the Encounters are worked out with the production team ahead of time, I’m hoping that Matt really leans into it. I’m so excited to find out what he does with a limited-run season (REALLY can’t wait to know how many episodes there will be). I’m really hoping to see him flex his Set Piece Encounter design skills in the dome.

#dimension 20 #critical role #Matt Mercer #Look I could write a whole comparative analysis of Brennan's Encounter Design sensibilities vs Matt's #both are VERY good at what they do #but Brennan's style is WAY more suited to playing for an audience and it SHOWS #I watched Calamity with a friend who doesn't watch D20 #and he was blown away by how engaging Brennan's combats were #(he's used to mostly checking out during combat and playing video games while we watch)#And I Get It #But I don't think that Matt CAN'T design combats that way #I just don't think it's a realistic thing to expect in a long-form campaign

106 notes · View notes

shakesqueers13 · 8 months

Text

Awesome choice, @kaylinelizabeth4004 ! If you played the character, I'm sure you have a lot of great insight on this speech already, but let's break it down!

Sorry if you already know some of the stuff I'm going to talk about, I just want to make sure all my explanations are accessible for all levels!

Also this started out as being trying to be objective and ended with me just breaking down my own interpretation so I apologize haha. But enough disclaimers:

For background, The Tempest is generally thought to be Shakespeare's last play, or at least the last one he wrote by himself. For this reason, some scholars interpret Prospero's final speech as Shakespeare's farewell to the stage.

Fatherhood shows up in many of Shakespeare's plays, partly because it was impractical to write many mother characters due to there being no female actors, but also potentially because Shakespeare himself was a dad. We think he probably had at least four children; the oldest daughter, Susanna; two twins, Judith and Hamnet; and probably at one illegitimate son, William. As you may know, Shakespeare's son Hamnet died when he was eleven. His two remaining daughters both married.

So Shakespeare expresses feelings of fatherhood in many of his plays, possibly due to his love for his own children. Hamlet is obviously the most common example of this, but The Tempest is also very relevant to this topic due to Prospero's love for his daughter.

Additionally, Prospero is a creator; in loose terms, an artist. Much like Shakespeare, he commands the stage and invents scenarios, controlling characters and events like a writer would. Prospero references "The great globe" in act four (I believe), and "Prospero's Books" have been widely speculated on, and some interpretations I've seen have gone so far as to suggest that Prospero is making all the magic up, or writing the whole story to entertain himself or Miranda.

All to say, I favor the interpretation that Shakespeare wrote Prospero's last speech as a farewell to the stage and to the audience.

So, if we get into the line by line breakdown, let's start by looking at the meter.

Notably, Prospero's final speech is not written in iambic pentameter. It's closer to trochaic tetrameter — trochaic is the opposite stress pattern of iambic, meaning that the first syllable is stressed rather than the second. Now for a tetrameter, lines should be eight syllables, but for the most part Prospero falls short of this, coming in at seven syllables in almost every line. So it's a weird meter, to say the least. Usually when Shakespeare writes in this reverse-heartbeat pattern, he's trying to creep the audience out. The witches in Macbeth sometimes speak like this.

All this said, there's different verse-types wound all through the speech. Some iambic, some just prose... It's weird!

So what was Shakespeare's purpose in writing it this way? Well, it was certainly intentional. As I've mentioned in past posts, when studying Shakespeare, one of the first things I learned was that we never blame things on sloppy writing, or on the meter. Shakespeare just didn't write like that; his choices were very intentional. When he breaks out of verse, he wants us to notice. Like here:

"Now my charms are all o’erthrown, And what strength I have ’s mine own,"

From the first couplet here, the syllable count and the trochaic pattern is unusual. Only the rhyme scheme is familiar.

In my opinion, the answer to why Shakespeare choses to write in this style here is evident from the first line of the speech. He is casting off his charms; his poetry, his familiar meter, and all his tricks. In the context of the play, of course, these lines make sense, but they also make sense in the overarching context of Shakespeare's life. If we view it as Prospero sort of transforming into Shakespeare in this moment, it works. Of course, this is only one possible interpretation, but I favor it, as I said above. In writing 'What strength I have 's mine own,' it's not too much of a stretch to imagine Shakespeare casting off a character, and also casting off his poetry in a way, and writing from the heart.

The lines from 'which is most faint' to ' in this bare island' are pretty plot-relevant, so I'll skip over them.

But when we get to this part: "But release me from my bands With the help of your good hands."

Again, I feel like I can see right through this speech to the man who wrote it.

If you've read Midsummer Night's Dream, these lines are reminiscent of Puck's final address to the audience. Puck's line, "Give me your hands if we be friends" refers to his asking the audience to clap for him and the other players.

I like to think that Shakespeare wrote plays because he loved them, but we also know that he wrote to make money. When the plagues closed the theaters, he printed and sold his writing. He wrote for the people and hoped to draw them in. So it's totally possible that writing plays could've felt like 'bands,' or an obligation of sorts. And with the support of audiences, and their applause, or 'good hands,' he was able to amass a small fortune, and make a name for himself. He owed so much to his audience!! And he totally knew it.

So, he continues on:

"Gentle breath of yours my sails Must fill, or else my project fails, Which was to please. Now I want Spirits to enforce, art to enchant,"

Continuing to express gratitude to his audience for their support of him through the story of Prospero's journey home. Now, the use of 'project' is interesting to me, because it implies that Shakespeare had an overarching idea of what he wanted to do with his writing.

This is a tangent which I won't elaborate on here, but I am a major hater of the widely accepted theory that Shakespeare had no desire for a legacy or for his plays to live on after him. I could go on and on about that, but I won't. I just bring it up because his mention of a desire to please, presumably to please the audience, and his 'project,' again presumably to entertain the audience and even maybe to create a legacy for himself and his family.

There is a parallel to be drawn between Prospero's use of spirits in the play and Shakespeare's use of characters or actors. As we know, Shakespeare often manipulates stories with the use of the supernatural, including The Tempest itself. The relation between "spirits to enforce" and "art to enchant" is also interesting, because we can see that Shakespeare directly associates this kind of supernatural occurrences with his own art.

And in the final few lines:

"And my ending is despair, Unless I be relieved by prayer, Which pierces so that it assaults Mercy itself, and frees all faults. As you from crimes would pardoned be, Let your indulgence set me free."

Something about Shakespeare ending his career with rhyming couplets makes me so crazy. The same format as the ending of a sonnet, and he uses it to end what was probably his last play.

This is part of why it annoys me so much to hear people say that Shakespeare never wanted a legacy. These words, to me, do not read as the thoughts of a man who had no desire to be remembered. In this final section, he directly references his own ending, (or Prospero's, but I'm going off of the Shakespeare's-goodbye theory), and once again calls upon the audience to free him with their good will and their favor. His tacit apology for any faults or "crimes" seems to speak to the entirety of his career, and his desire to be freed by indulgence speaks to his choice to end with a comedy rather than a tragedy. This is an optimistic choice that makes me happy to think about, especially considering how many tragedies were likely inspired by his own life.

So yeah! I love this speech, and a goal of mine is to one day direct a production of The Tempest. I have a lot of ideas for it, haha.

I hope you find this interesting. Thanks for sending in an ask!! Also, sorry for any typos haha, I didn't proofread very thoroughly.

#shakespeare #william shakespeare #dark academia #academia #ask #the tempest #literature

21 notes · View notes

keeping-breathing · 12 days

Text

Okay okay okay let's look at this:

The One Who Waits is a short story written by Ray Bradbury and published in his collection The Machinaries of Joy, dismissed by at least a few people online for the collections over style shift away from classical science fiction which is bullshit. I love this collection and everything in it.

Specifically, the one who waits is a sci fi horror set on Mars. An unknown creature (the titiular "one", who takes the pov) that has been waiting millennia is come across by a group of human explorers. It takes them over and kills them.

I love this story. But I do wonder if this was an intentional reference or not. The one who waits isn't such a unique title, after all. But it's an odd choice i think for a show that already has a character known by a similar one, ie. The Girl Who Waited.

If it is intentional, there aren't so many things I think it could mean. They aren't going to outright copy paste Ray Bradbury's scary monster into Doctor Who. And they've kinda already done a similar creature in Midnight. So we're onto themes instead. The one who waits takes over the explorers true bodysnatcher style, but it starts with just one of them. Could this be relevant? Bodysnatching? I can't think of a nuwho example which is my area, but I'll be sure to ask my dw obsessed friend.

We also have just the general alien pretending to be human, experiencing human nature and being intrigued, and others being freaked out by it. Very possible, has happened many times in doctor who, so might just come up anyway.

I'm gonna be honest, I've calmed down a lot now after having stimmed for like 15 minutes straight. This is almost certainly just happenstance, but still very interesting to me. The special interest was mentioned on the show I like and so my brain had to do the special interest thing.

Mmmmmmm still though I would love to see that sort of curious, inhuman tone that the one who waits uses in doctor who. I think it makes for a compelling villain, because it's not Evil, it just is. It's doing what it does out of more instinct than desire. It is the one who waits. Waiting defines it and so wait it does. That's all there is to it. And that's what makes it so brilliantly disturbing.

#dw thoughts #doctor who #doctor who spoilers

6 notes · View notes

bettsfic · 1 year

Note

Hi betts! I was wondering if you had any advice for writing Feelings. I feel like my fic writing is often a lot of this happened then this happened and then this event happened. I want to make sure it feels like things are being told by my character and not just a robotic narrator reporting the events. I've been going through your writing advice tag but haven't found a super relevant post to this so thought I'd ask if you have any thoughts on injecting more Feelings into writing.

this is a great question! unfortunately it has a very Big answer.

i think it's important first to consider the greater historical context of prose. prose is a relatively new invention in the history of humanity. prior to prose, there was poetry, oral storytelling, playwriting, and what we would consider now to be nonfiction. the concept of written fiction is kind of miraculous. it allows us to perceive the nature of being another person, within the quiet of our own minds. in other words, prose allows us access to a consciousness outside of our own. a fictional story is thus one in which a given consciousness, translated into language, experiences events in a cause and effect sequence, which is called a narrative.

what you're talking about, injecting Feeling into fiction, is a concept that tends to invoke debate based on separate schools of aesthetic thought. i know writers who would read your ask and go, "uh, good? reporting events is what you're *supposed* to do." and i know writers who believe that the entire purpose of the form is simply to convey conscious thought, external events be damned. personally, although i respect the opinions of these writers, i think it's all kind of silly to think one kind of writing is better than another. it is, as all things are, a creative choice of the author. i, the reader, am only meant to bear witness to those choices.

visualize, if you will, a spectrum between these two schools of thought: the reporting of actions and external events, which we'll call exteriority, and the reporting of inner thoughts and feelings, which we'll call interiority. all fictional prose falls somewhere on this spectrum. on the exteriority side we have writers like william faulkner, cormac mccarthy, chuck palahniuk. on the interiority side, we have virginia woolf, henry james, garth greenwell, donna tartt.

this spectrum is one of narratorial access. how much access do we the reader have to the experiences of the narrator(s), and how accurate are those depictions? how much detail are we given? how are those details chosen and why?

the most exterior writing is what some call "cinematic." many people are in the exterior school of thought because they believe "show don't tell" to be literal. "show don't tell" is ridiculous for many reasons, the most obvious of which is that (when taken at face value) if i wanted to be shown something, i'd watch a movie. the real meaning of "show don't tell" is the idea you shouldn't tell the reader the conclusion they're supposed to be drawing from the events of the story. again, personally, i think it's baffling why anyone has an opinion on this, when the truth is that showing and telling is yet another spectrum and every story falls somewhere on it. to have opinions on these things would stifle my enjoyment as a reader and closes me off to discovering new things.

when the reader has the least possible access to the narrator, the events of the story can follow any character at any time, and detail only what can be seen from the outside. my favorite novel that does this is Plainsong by Kent Haruf. i once tried to write in this style and found it tedious and difficult, but i'm a very interior writer. nevertheless it was a good exercise for me, if for no other reason than it sharpened my understanding of my own style.

if you move the down the spectrum just a skosh toward interiority, you invite inner observations. these are largely sensory: what a character sees, hears, smells, etc. here's an example:

an exterior action would be, "the door slammed." an interior observation would be, "she heard the door slam."

i have heard many arguments as to why the latter is "weaker" writing. i've heard them called "filter phrases," and have even read an essay on why you should avoid them. which, again, ridiculous. it's far more important to know when and why you might deploy a "filter phrase" than to deny yourself use of a potentially necessary tool.

inner observations force the reader into the perception of the narrator. "the door slammed" is a fact. it can't be contested. the author is telling me this event occurred and i cannot dispute it or interpret it. "she heard the door slam" can be questioned. all we know is that she heard it; we have no evidence it really happened, only our trust in the narrator to convey events with accuracy, which is how we get the idea of an unreliable narrator.

let's move one notch closer to interiority. now we have inner reactions and opinions. exterior: "the door slammed. the woman stood up and locked it." now we have the opposite scenario to the one above. with an exterior action, we're given doubt. why did she lock it? we have to use context clues to determine motivation and emotion. interior: "she heard the door slam. in a rage, she stood up and locked it." the second sentence confirms for us that the door very likely did slam, and also tells us outright that she's mad at the person who slammed it.

the reader has to perform an equal amount of work for both of these scenarios. in the exterior example, they have to puzzle out the emotions and motivation of the character. in the interior example, they have to puzzle out the accuracy of events and reasonability of emotional response. both create different kinds of tension.

generally speaking, the closer we move toward interiority the less exteriority we have, because the external events of the story matter less than what the character thinks or feels about them. using our example above, an even more interior approach would be, "when she heard the door slam, she knew it was over. how had it come to this? he was no different than the last one, or the one before that, or the one before that. as she went to lock it, she vowed: never again."

since i don't have a full story drafted out, pretend "the one before that" are all examples of times this situation happened before, and so two actions, the door slamming and the woman getting up to lock it, might take ten thousand words to tell, to give us context as to why she's in a rage about it.

here's an example of nearly pure interiority from a novel i'm working on right now:

And the only logic that came to me was that everything was made up of the souls of the dead and the yet-living. It felt blasphemous—in Kinraden, the afterlife is unity in a place beyond limited human understanding. But I believed the opposite. I believed we all came from things and would return to things, and that everything, at its fabric, was the same as everything else. I was a toy truck rolling across a hardwood floor, and a sunflower opening up in the light, and a can of Campbell’s soup heated on the stove, and a pig headed to slaughter, and my father giving a sermon to an audience of people looking for answers in the wrong place, and everything has a soul and so everything suffers. And that suffering crushed me, not because it exists, but because it is eternal. Suffering is the base of everyone and everything.

(i apologize for using my own writing as an example, but i tabbed over and this was the first paragraph i saw, and it was surprisingly relevant, even though i am 100% going to end up cutting it.)

i know there is no exteriority here because i can't tell you where his body even is while he's thinking these things. i also don't know when exactly this is happening. the physical existence of the scene and his body within it is irrelevant to the information being conveyed, which is a major life philosophy and how it differs from his father's. within one paragraph, he's building a kind of polemic that will hopefully allow the reader to understand exactly how he managed to defy his father's indoctrination.

even though there's no exteriority, though, there are still images present. toy truck, sunflower, can of soup, etc. and they create visuals to hang onto so that it still feels, in a way, exterior. those physical objects, however, are not actually physical, but metaphorical.

what's also important is that this is a super fucked up line of thought and builds the state of his emotional unreliability as a narrator. he's conveying the events of the story with relative accuracy but his logical and emotional responses to them are in constant conflict. (he needs lots of help, which he will get.)

there is kind of a default in fanfiction, particularly fanfiction based in visual mediums, to convey all information within a physical scene, i suspect to stay as close to the canon portrayal as possible, because film/tv are also sequences of scenes. when in scene (direct discourse), characters are always physically embodied in spaces, moving and doing and saying things, at a specific point in time. but, circling back to my initial point, prose does not have to be embodied. it's not film. you can be fully in the mind of a character and have no idea when or where they are existing, and merely recount the events from an unstated time, if any happen to be relevant (indirect discourse).

(side note: specifically direct and indirect discourse refer to dialogue but i'm using the terms more broadly. direct discourse: "i just want that sandwich, man," tommy said. indirect discourse: tommy said he really wanted a sandwich.)

even though i've talked at length about narratorial access as relevant to consciousness, i want to touch base again to the idea of Feelings. it's hard to convey feeling in fiction, because your only tools are brain and body. either your narrator expresses their feelings in thoughts, or they express them in the description of physical experiences. it's kind of a constant battle which path you choose, but i hope some of the above can help you decide.

so now that you know the broader theory around (Thoughts &) Feelings writing, here are some exercises you can try:

begin a story in direct discourse, present tense, the events of which can only be understood through prior context. (for example, two characters are having a heated argument with no explanation as to why.) then, through the POV character's narration, move into indirect discourse, past tense, to explain the events that led up to the argument.

find a story you've written in third person and rewrite all or part of it in first person. the trick here is to become as disembodied as possible. in fact, your approach can be that you're simply writing a monologue from the character's perspective, in their voice, with all their potential misunderstandings intact.

try swinging the opposite way: write a fully exterior story (the shorter the better). then go back and thread in internal observations. and then go through and add thoughts and opinions to the events that have occurred. and lastly, go through and add greater context and cognition to deepen our understanding of the external events.

whew. this was a lot. but i hope you found it helpful!

and because i am trying to be better about self promo, i'd like to mention here that i'm a freelance editor and writing coach, and also i have a newsletter with more thoughts on craft.

#writing advice #narratorial access #interiority #exteriority #direct discourse #indirect discourse

72 notes · View notes

soraka-in-warhammer40k · 1 year

Text

Betrayer (HH Vol. 24)

I completly understand now how people keep this specific author in such high regard. This must have been one of my fastest reads throughout the Heresy so far. My only complaint, really, as always with Heresy books, is the bullshit style-choice for the cover:

You would think this book is about Lorgar and Angron going totally ham on Ultramarines, and yeah that does happen, but this is not what its about. Like, I get it, the mace-swing makes for a nice composition, but all these covers feel like such low-effort shovelware.

Notice the dude on the bottom right. He's not even LOOKING AT THE TWO GUYS ABOUT TO KILL HIM. The Heresy covers in general always feel like such low effort, when a smart stylized image could have captured the book as a whole much better. Anyways, this book is definetly not about who murders who, it's about Angron, a broken man, and the potentially only family-member that might give a shit about him, which is Lorgar - and mirroring those two brothers, it's also about Kharn (not yet named Betrayer) and Argel Tal, a World Eater and a Word Bearer respectively.

Angron is dieing. The nails are slowly killing him, and Lorgar attempts to save him along with his original mission, which is "shroud Ultramar into a man-made warpstorm fueled by the genocide of dozens of worlds to cut the Ultramarines off for the Siege of Terra". The way he managed to combine these goals however is... well... Lorgar might really, from the bottom of his heart, genuinely care for his brutish brother. But Lorgar is also of the "I will manipulate you for your own good" type of person, who is absolutely hardcountered by Angron's thick skull which takes ages of working on the man to get him even remotely walking into the direction you want him to. Their dynamic is quite entertaining, Lorgar's frustration is just so understandable.

Angron on his own is a broken mess of a person. There's not much to say about it, and he's essentially a force of nature that brings murder and mindless rage wherever he goes - by his own words he is already dead. Whatever is here now is essentially the world's longest suicide note that, much to his own dismay, will drag on for at least another 10.000 years. He has his moments in the book, as he is definetly not a mindless animal and still capable of some seriously baller lines, but he's definetly not the star among the cast.

Lorgar meanwhile is a much more interesting character in the book, mostly for the fact how you realize that there is a difference between "serving Chaos" and "serving the Gods". Those two things CAN go together, but they do not have to. What's interesting is that he and Erebus do definetly not see eye-to-eye. He even tried to have the guy killed by Kharn in the end by just giving the World Eater a tiny information that just made the man go into absolute murder-mode.

Which is interesting, because Kharn might be one of the least murder-y World Eaters there is. Note that I said "World Eaters" here and not "War Hounds" (the old name). That distinction is quite relevant in this story. Just like Angron on his own he does not exactly carry the narrative, he's not as absolutely insane or reckless as someone like Sevatar (and that guy manages it without the nails even). He is more of a calm observer that finds his legion-brothers generally less interesting than hanging out with Argel Tal.

Oh and Argel Tal... we met him in "The First Heretic", but I'd like to avoid spoilers here. Let's just say that his bickering dynamic with Kharn is a smaller mirror to their Primarchs' interaction. They are essentially a married couple at that point if you ask me, except none of them has realized it yet.

There's also the support cast around the Legion Audax and Lotara, but they are not the focus here. They are nice to have around however, and none of their segment feels like weird filler. Overall a great book, and I hope there's more of ADB in the Heresy as I go to the next volumes.

#40k book review tag so i find this later #warhammer 40k #wh40k #Angron #Lorgar #horus heresy

47 notes · View notes

literaticat · 4 months

Note

Hi, Jenn! I don’t know how to phrase this without seeming arrogant or whiny, but I write a LOT. I feel like I would be a good candidate for IP work. I think I’m listed on my agency’s site as being open to IP, but how does that actually happen? Should I push the IP idea with my agent? Do I need to reach out myself?

It doesn't sound arrogant or whiny, it just sounds like a fact. You write a lot and think you would be a good candidate for IP work. Fair enough!

In my experience that usually happens in one of two ways:

-- An editor approaches me about a specific published author I rep. Like, they are looking for somebody who is already published or "known" in some way -- like, "Because Maggie Tokuda-Hall is known for her YA sapphic mermaid fantasy, would Maggie be interested in writing a gay YA romance between Aquaman and Namor set in the baroque underwater world of Atlantis?" -- they might then want Maggie to write a little sample, or they might consider her already-published work to be sample enough, either way, the point is, they are coming to me in this example BECAUSE SHE'S MAGGIE, they aren't looking for some random other person. IF she doesn't want to do it, they'd choose somebody else, but it would likely also be somebody who has something of a name.

-- An editor approaches me (or the agency as a whole) and says something like, "Hey, we are looking to do an IP series about a diverse team of junior league Pickleball players -- think "MG League of Their Own but for Pickleball" -- let me know if you have any authors who do voicey and heartfelt MG that have an interest in pickleball!" And then we give them some names of some potential candidates who do contemporary MG and play pickleball (or whatever), who might "audition" by writing a sample. In this case, they aren't going for a specific author, they'd likely be open to newer authors, though it would have to be somebody who fits whatever demographic (in this case, sports-loving, does voicey contemporary MG), and is good at writing quickly and to a specific kind of brief.

The problem of course is, if you aren't already somewhat well-known/well-published, the first one probably isn't going to happen. The second one might! Though of course, we can't control how often these opportunities come up, OR if you'd necessarily be the appropriate choice for every opportunity. Like, if it was about a group of teenage Mexican-American pickleball players, they might want a Mexican-American sporty YA author. If it was a ghostwriting gig for a Picture Book by a specific Chinese-American pickleball child prodigy, they'd want a PB author who is into sports and is Chinese-American. You get the picture.

So while we probably have a handful of these kinds of IP / ghostwriting type opportunities come in every month, they are usually targeted in such a way that a fairly narrow swath of our possible authors would be appropriate.

ALSO: Some editors have databases of possible IP writers and agents who rep them, and are happy to add to those databases. Even if they don't have any projects cooking RIGHT NOW, your agent can reach out to editors who do a lot of IP and say, hey, I have this great person, please think of them if something appropriate comes up. This just makes it more likely that an editor will reach out to your agent when they DO have something.

So I don't think it would hurt to remind your agent: "Hey, just putting it out in the universe that I'm very keen to be considered for IP opportunities, if you hear about something that would be good for me, please throw my hat in the ring! I'd be especially interested in: [XYZ]. And feel free to be kind of specific here if you like, giving both appropriate categories (MG series? YA? PB? Chapter Books? GN texts? etc) and fave genre/style/topics (fantasy? romance? contemporary? sports stories? animal stories?) and, if applicable, any possibly relevant cultural / pop-cultural / demographic components that might come into play (I am LGBTQIA, I'm into theatre, I'm a Blasian comic book nerd and obsessed with all things Wakanda, I'm a horse person, I'm into martial arts and baking, whatever)

In other words, don't say EVERYTHING, nobody is good at and interested in EVERYTHING, and if you are being a little specific with some key words, that will help you stand out from the crowd when an editor is looking for something specific. (Like, if they are looking for a writer for a MG superhero project, they are unlikely to notice EVERY author who just puts "MG" -- but WILL notice somebody who has MG + superhero, or MG + Marvel, or MG + comic book nerd, yanno?) Yes, that WILL leave you out of some potential opportunities -- but if you're a MG/YA person, you probably wouldn't be the best fit for a PB or whatever anyway -- and IMO, it's much better all around to get an IP project that really is a fit for you, rather than just taking a flyer on something that isn't in your wheelhouse. Once you have some under your belt, and you've proven that you're reliable and good, people will think of you for further ones, too.

#IP projects #workforhire

9 notes · View notes