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prettyboysdontlookatexplosions · 4 years

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Hi! Your dialogue has always been amazing, but it stood out to me even more in the latest chapter -- I think because we got to see Alice, and Eliot, AND Quentin, and new characters Luisa and the Selkie... If you feel like talking about it (no pressure), what's your process for this like? How do you nail characters' voices so well? They all come off as having different patterns of dialogue, tone, HOW they say whatever they're going to say.... I love it :D

omg anon this is such a flattering ask!!! i feel like this is an annoying thing to say but it does feel like i should mention up front that dialogue is probably the aspect of writing i do least consciously - like there are lines i could probably peel back and determine why i felt like writing them that way was right for a particular character, but i likely didn’t put any of that into words at the time. this is extra the case when doing something like writing fic for a television show - if there’s dialogue i’m basically always hearing the voices of the actors performing it, and that kind of steers what comes out. (one of the reasons the magicians is a lot of fun to write for is that the characters all have very distinct and well-defined voices; also i am lucky in that, as i have mentioned before, quentin and julia in particular are like the most demographically similar characters i’ve ever seen on screen to me and my oldest friends, so they especially feel very intuitive for me, haha.)

in terms of process, honestly a lot of scenes/fics start basically as more grown up versions of the daydreams i would have on long car rides as a kid where i’d make up a new episode of sailor moon in my head or whatever, and the narrative etc. fills in around that. one thing i’ve done differently in this series which particularly in the first part is so dialogue-heavy is that when i’ve had a scene really stuck in my head i’ve gone ahead and jotted it down as just a transcription of lines back and forth until i run out of steam, and then when i came to it in the actual drafting process i sort of tidied it up/built from there (a bunch of julia & quentin’s exchanges on the road, and most of the phone calls with eliot, started out that way). so that has been fun and part of a general effort to remind myself that you get to the good stuff by writing down whatever you think of on the way, and that part of it is really like playing, or daydreaming. and then for actually writing out a dialogue scene, my focus will be on like, getting everyone to say what i want them to say, more than on how it sounds, which kind of arises organically.

a couple other dialogue thoughts...

—my high school theater teacher told us once that actors doing an accent will sometimes ground themselves by picking key words/sounds to really get right, which is a principle that you can kind of apply to dialogue, too, either in terms of particular verbal tics, phrasings or constructions they tend to favor, the types of comparisons they make, etc.

—a weird amount of how i think about the world comes from high school theater, lmao... anyway my high school PLAYWRITING teacher once gave me some feedback on a scene which was that you can establish characters as people who swear a lot by having them swear a lot at the beginning, and then backing off and being more selective so your audience doesn’t get tired of/numb to it - the audience will still feel like the characters are swearing a lot, because they’ve decided the characters swear a lot so they sort of fill that in subconsciously, but the actual swearing can have more of an impact/be less cluttered. that’s not a universal rule ofc and for swearing in particular i don’t rly follow it for the magicians because the writers of the show clearly don’t either lmao, BUT - i think you can generalize this to, “if you’re clever about how you establish that something is normal, you can use way less of it than you might initially think you need to get the same effect.” i will for example sometimes go back if i’ve had a character say something paragraph length and take out a couple “likes” and other kind of naturalism-markers, because you don’t need to use them as much as people do in real life for the reader to feel like it’s realistic.

—kind of related to that, a while ago @yeats-infection said something like, “you’ll never be able to capture the full complexities of human speech on a page, so it’s better to choose how you’re stylizing and commit to it!” which is IMO great advice that i have been trying to really internalize. damage control in particular absolutely does not have “realistic” dialogue but it (hopefully at least! haha) scans as authentic / doesn’t pop as non-realistic because it’s all taking place in a story with a particular heightened, exaggerated, go-for-broke tone, so it feels real *within* the fabric of that universe. (wreck my days is kind of the opposite - a story with very sparse, almost colorless dialogue, where the characters say pretty much as little as i could get away with to tell the story, which works because it’s a story about silences papering over this churn of emotions behind them.)

—also related from that, i think a LOT, like a LOOOOT, about rob thomas once describing the dialogue on veronica mars as “how teenagers would talk if they had 24 hours to think about it”... first of all that’s a great description of the great dialogue on that great show... but second of all i feel like it points both to how much fun and liberty you can actually have while still being believable, AND what you need to do to make it work, which is the same thing you have to do for every other thing, namely: keep it rooted in character. this is to me the difference between rob thomas and someone like aaron sorkin or joss whedon — all three of them have created work with dialogue you could say is “artificially clever,” but in something like veronica mars, the dialogue all feels like the smartest and cleverest version of the specific character who is saying it, as opposed to the other dudes’ stuff, which often (to me at least!) feels like... generically clever, interchangeably clever, like any of a number of characters could say it. so like a huge part of my M. O. in writing damage control was absolutely like, “what is the meanest/funniest/most fucked up thing quentin could say in this moment,” and like, that works as an M. O. for that story because going to those extremes is, i mean, to be clear, extremely entertaining to me personally which is always my #1 reason for writing fanfiction and should be yours also, BUT, also, because leaning into those extremes is a way of illustrating how wildly disconnected quentin is from his own interiority, as well as being (particularly with eliot) one of the things he’s doing to try to feel slightly less dead inside. and also, it works because none of the things he says would really make sense or have the same effect coming from anyone else.... specificity is always the name of the game!

—related to that, it helps to listen closely to e.g. canon if you’re writing fic for a show, but it also helps to pay attention to authors whose dialogue you like to expand your toolbox for “tricking” the reader into feeling like what they’re reading is “natural.”

—two fic-specific things that are sort of peeves of mine, which, if they are not peeves if yours ignore this!!!! fic is for fun!!!! but: (1) no one on earth and no characters on the magicians use pet names with anywhere near the frequency of characters in fic especially not when they have such perfectly good affectionate and non-cheesy nicknames for each other in canon (2) i have read many a fic in my time (truly like across years and fandoms, this is not remotely magicians specific at all and in fact might even be less prominent here than i’ve usually seen) that was good and fun and well-written and well-characterized and the dialogue felt like the made-up people i knew and liked..... UNTIL it got to the sex scene and absolutely everything they said could have come from a porn dialogue generator. bonerkiller! obvs if you’re writing something where like the whole point is to write erotic content about [throws dart] quentin coldwater getting off on sucking dick while dressed as a french maid or whatever, i mean, ultimately as always do what serves the story! but if the sex scene is PART of a story rather than the whole point, imo it is sexier to have characters sound like themselves even if that means saying fewer very explicit things, or saying them more awkwardly or less “sexily,” than to go from zero to “want your huge cock in me baby, gonna fuck me so good” etc etc regardless of who’s boning. (i feel like this trend has died down a bit but there was a while where i felt like every sex scene in fic showed extreme arousal by having the characters too turned on to use the pronoun “i”... like a lot of “wanna suck your dick” “want you inside me” etc... possibly all of you are doing this in bed all the time and i am embarrassing myself by acting like it is not a universal symptom of acute horniness, but like really it struck me so odd to act like this happens every time people have sex that it started taking me out of the scene whenever i read it...)

#thank u for this anon it was an extremely fun way to procrastinate on writing this sleepy saturday afternoon #and also i feel like trying to actually think through this more than i usually do was helpful!#also i always feel like talking about this kind of thing #bc i like all writers am insanely narcissistic about writing and love getting permission to do so #askbox

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fantroll-purgatory · 4 years

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Xanatl Cambre, or whatever!

I read homestuck the first time when I was 13 and now that I’m rereading it I realized I processed almost 0 things in it the first time. So this is BASICALLY my first homestuck oc as someone who understands what the hell is happening in homestuck. I’m only about 3000 pages in, so I might have some misunderstandings still, sorry! Please go crazy telling me what I could fix or change, and I also have 0 clue for his appearance soooo.

Okay! I’ll do my best to tighten this character up a bit!

Name: Xanatl Cambre

Pronounced “Shan-uh-teal Cam-bray” (for the Aztec god Xolotl, and the coloration of darker axolotl’s- axanthic + the Spanish words for walk and fire/light)

Camnar is a seven-sweep-old violet-blooded troll who failed to fully complete his metamorphosis, for some reason or another- it happens! He possesses an extra set of fully functioning arms, a small flippy-flappy finny-tail-nub, and big bright purple shiny eyes. Everything else seems like it’s grown in okay, probably. Though he was fully capable of surviving his grub trials, his defects are admittedly uncomfortable enough to maybe have earned culling when he was only a few sweeps old, if not for [name here], a jade-blood with a penchant for healthy freaks and everything there is to learn about them (ESPECIALLY messed-up metamorphisizers) assisting in chopping off the extra bits every once in a while when drones come around. And definitely NOT keeping them in a walk in freezer to study. He’s not crippled or weakened by any of them, anyways, they’re just weird to look at- his eyesight might not be great, but he wouldn’t admit it.

Fire, salamanders in general, the Aztec god Xolotl, and all around childish imbecility are all pretty big parts of and inspiration for his character.

Hmmm. I feel like this passage comes off as fairly ableist, so watch your language here (i.e. “freaks,” “crippled,” “childish imbecility,” etc.). There is nothing wrong with a jadeblood being interested in mutants who remain healthy or in Xanatl not being weakened by losing body parts or even in him being childishly careless but language matters and I don’t feel comfortable letting it slide.

Interests: Penchant for outdoor land activities, especially camping. Loves using the time on those camp-outs to start fires, make star-maps, and attempt to commune with the dead through rituals found on old forums (with little success).

I like this bit as an emphasis on the fire theme, and I actually really like that you made a seadweller with that fire theme!

A very keen interest in the occult and black magyks generally, but too lazy to go all the way with it, and too scared to perform it in his underwater home. A notable interest in weather-tracking, especially large storms and how they grow, change, and die. Mild inclinations to cannibalize other trolls- luckily, most don’t fit in his mouth.

WGAT

Finds great joy in training his lusus to do tricks and assist in hunting for dinner. A great cook! Especially loves spicy food (mustard flowers grow around his hive, and he uses their seeds/”eye of newt” for a kick a lot of the time). General propensity to put whatever he can fit into his mouth in his mouth that caused a lot of sickness as a young troll. One of his favorite non-food things to eat that isn’t necessarily dangerous are agave americana plants, which he grows and keeps all over the top floor of hive (he probably could not keep any other plants alive). Spends a lot of time with [insert jadeblood’s name], but mostly out of the obligation of their friendship, because he’s kind of tired of her cutting his fingers off to study their regrowth. He’s also mildly obsessed with siren stories and myths, but he doesn’t really know why.

He lives in a two-story hive. The lower story sits below the water in a somewhat shallow muddy canal, and the top half hugs the shoreline. He spends most of his time in the bottom half, though.

Ooooh I really like that setup!

Personality: He’s kind of a coward. Very averse to change, but not fully content in his quiet life. He doesn’t particularly like company and when other trolls are around he feels urges to hurt them until they go away/are digested. Those urges don’t make him uncomfortable or guilty. It’s natural! Despite enjoying his outside time, most things he indulges in are sedentary- he’s very lazy and drowsy most hours of the night. He’s very defensive of his interests and his home, a little insecure in general. His high caste boosts his self esteem and his mutations knock it down- though he’s very removed from his society as a whole, self isolating with abandon, he dreams of mingling with the upper class in the deep ocean. Every troll and lusus around would probably kill him if he tried though, haha! He doesn’t like to talk about his emotions, or his future.

Wow unfortunate mood.

Special Abilities: None! Not notably strong, compared to any of his peers. A pretty normal kid/fish. Well, his extra arms and tail have some regenerative properties- he’s not sure if this extends to the rest of his body, and he refuses to test it.

Strife Specibus: Mandible-kind. Xanatl’s teeth are fairly small and underdeveloped, sharp but tiny. He has a set of big dentures he fits over his own teeth, fixed from a few native canal beasts lost teef.

Ooooh I really like that! You could also maybe have him fashion Greek-fire like molotov cocktails that he is verrrry reticent to use since it would burn his house down possibly.

Fetch Modus: Not sure! Maybe something to do with those lame circular life-cycle charts. Or a call to lotl’s regenerative abilities, like it breaks a piece off the item and it has to regrow so he can use it.

Hmmmm. What about a MITOSIS MODUS, which accepts an item and begins the process of cell division. For the next 24 hours, the item is inaccessible, but after those 24 hours he has two of the item!

Symbol and Meaning: Oh, no idea.

I’ll explain a little more down under title assignation, but I think Aquamini, Sign of the Idiosyncratic works exceptionally well.

Handle: neotenticSalamancer OR neotenicNecramander ? I wasn’t sure if it HAD to follow the GCAT thing, and if it did, what to use.

You don’t have to follow GCAT! Those trolltags were specific to Hussie’s narrative and you don’t have to adopt that convention. I actually really like neotenicNecromander it’s cute.

Quirk: So I have two ideas for this:

replaces “sh” sounds with “x”, misspells often, not one to xout or use capital letters in general, and ends sentences with his tail =>

u232 3 to r3plac3 “e” and 2 to r3plac3 “s”, 32 billion b3ing th3 numb3r of ba23 pair2 in th3 axolotl2 g3nom3… 2till u232 th3 cut3 tail too tho =>

Ooooh I like the first one for readability! Like yes leetspeak is a valid quirk but also I like when people break from that.

Lusus: Giant salamander-sized two-faced Xoloitzcuintli-type amphibious woofbeast. Not sure what to call this guy! Maybe “Mudpapi”, like mudpuppy.

I love that nickname :D

Land: Land of Tilapia and Lightning, LOTaL (haha). Big beasts and big storms both threatening to swallow him.

I super appreciate the acronym so I wanna keep that, but the first word of the Land usually related to its feel and the second to its quest. I can kiiiinda see how you could build a quest around lightning but the Vibe being tilapia doesn’t quite track for me. What about Land of Torches and Lightning, so it’s a bright planet but with two light sources trying to extinguish one another?

Title: I’m not sure I want him to ever god-tier because of his crippling fear of death and change. Like he would probably just blatantly refuse to, and stay content with being at the top of the echeladder pre-god tiers. I don’t know what his title would be, it’s a tough one! It’d be funny to make him a seer (for axolotl’s terrible eyesight, and the myth of xolotl crying his literal eyes out), but he’s probably a page. Of what? I’unno.

:) I think he is for SURE a Page of Doom then. He has so much to do with death and rot and a lack of embracing that, and I can see potential for the character to really grow into that.

Lunar Sway: Derse? I’m inclined to want to give him both, because of the minor twin theming, but not sure what the rules are there.

Ehhhh his personality is a lot more Derse with the desire for control over his circumstances. There are certainly cases where characters can have two moons but I don’t think this is it.

Thank you!!

No problem! I hope this helped!

-TR

#violetblood #seadweller #submission #review #tr review #xanatl #cambre #xanatl cambre #anonymous

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1358456 · 5 years

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Review Response, May 26 - June 1, 2019

Another week, this one with the Legacy update. ... Though that was technically last week...

Legacy #007

1) I'm so excited to see were this will go poor moon and sun I can't wait to see what will happen. Also I can't wait to see what you'll have for moon's full team

Poor Sun... he wasn’t even in the chapter. Haha... What I’ll have for Moon’s full team? I’m waiting for her to fill up her canon team before I overhaul it.

2) Um, holy sh*t that was brutal

Perhaps it was. Hehe...

3) Why you gotta do moon like that feelsbadman

Hey, now. I said I was going to set Moon on fire in Legacy from a LONG time ago. Like... back when I was going through my Ultra Moon version. What is the reason behind Moon getting an attire overhaul? Her previous clothes burnt off. That’s why. Heh.

4) Firstly, the scene at Red's living room at night was adorable. Poor Y, so lonely... (actually, not really) And secondly, damn! That was so f*cking brutal! Oh god, please let Sun, Moon and Lillie be OK! Can't WAIT for the next chapter!

I'm also really anxious about the enemy's next plans and (hopefully) Blue's confession.

Hehe. Poor Y, just stuck in the middle of three couples. Damn it, X!! Hehe...

I like how absolutely everyone thinks that it’s Sun. Sun hasn’t appeared in Legacy yet. He’s not the one synonymous with “malasada”. So Sun is FINE. Moon is in the top 5 favorites thus will be able to walk this off. Lillie... is expendable.

... And Blue’s confession didn’t fit in the chapter thus it was postponed. Drat.

5) Things sure did heat up in this chapter and quickly. If there’s going to be platinum possibly in a icey situation next, then would y follow this trend of top favourites with something related to lightning/dragons or endangering the whole group? After that would leave us with red and blue hmmmm?sorry just some speculations

Anyways this story is one of my faves so keep the good work up!

This chapter was hot! It sure heated up! Aha...ha... ... Ahem. ... What, you speculating on some elemental shenanigans? Or... I guess types, given Pokemon. Heh. ... Nah. Y’s Dragon shenanigans has to wait until her Dragons fully evolve... soon.

And thanks!

6) Oh God, how do you even survive a direct hit from a Fire Blast? Hopefully Toxapex managed to get out somehow or at least the dex-holders and Lillie survived in some way (I don't think you'd kill them fast, though, but I just hope "lifelessly" was just an adjective as opposed to what I'd rather it didn't mean). Look at that, X can get jealous after all, huh? And poor Platina..glad she at least has Dia for some emotional support.

Now I really wanna see Dia floor those thugs. Awesome writing as always and can't wait for the next chapter!

Well, you usually don’t. But if you’re in the top 5 of my favorites, your durability increases!! Hehe... ... This was a glancing shot, I guess?? Sun is not in the fire, so he’s fine. Moon is... well, in the top 5. Lillie is expendable. And the guy who literally everyone mistook as Sun is equally expendable. ... Hell, even more, since I like Lillie more than that guy.

Yes, X will get jealous! He better be nicer to Y and fast before he loses her!! Hehe... And yes, Platinum has Diamond for emotional support as always. Her sweet Diamond. Her one. Hehe... ... Oh, Pearl’s there too.

With Diamond and Pearl using new/updated teams, they shall be quite the formidable force, enough to wallop any thugs who attempt to hurt their Lady! Her true knights!!

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Destiny #002

1) I FUCKING KNEW IT. I NEVER TRUSTED THIS PETER BITCH FROM THE MOMENT I SAW HIM. Anyways, it's been a long time since I've reviewed, but here I am! Ugh, let me tell you, your stories five me life. I was so engaged that I wasn't even paying attention to the screaming, whirring, and the song I was listening to. Your writing was very smooth, like always, and it definitely did not feel like anything was rushed. Even though you put in three different stories in the same chapter. I am curious though, as to how they all tie together. Because now it seems that the only stories that might go together are Blue's and Y's stories, but then you wouldn't add in Platinum's for no reason. Unless... this vacation she goes on is to Kalos... If so, you are definitely very clever. Now, I think it was Mac who spoiled this for me. He said there were going to be deaths and I want to ask you, "HOW COULD YOU?." This is going to make me cry as I am already really invested in the story because your plot and writing is just so damn good. And honestly, even if you make me cry, you are a blessing and I would not be able to live without this. Thank you so very much.

I’m glad you’re really enjoying my stories, Mel! The multiple “stories”, as you put it, are to show the Dex Holders doing their own things before they all converge together. For Platinum, it shows her enjoying her life and time with her friends in a very sweet and cute setting!!

... Is the fact that the story will have deaths really a spoiler? ... Well, I guess if you never fully read my non-compilation stories (SA, Destiny, Legacy), then... I suppose. Oh, don’t worry. Destiny won’t make you cry as hard as SA would. Huhuhu...

I look forward to seeing more!

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Destiny #003

1) I keep forgetting to put my name on these things dammit. Anyways, by the time I realized I hadn't left a review for this chapter, I was already on the next. That is how engrossed I was. But moving on to other matters, reading this chapter really took a toll on me, form the beginning to X and Y, realizing from your oh so subtle hint that Platinum was going to be a victim of this dude, to Diantha being defeated. It's tough, 'cause you're good at causing grief. Consider that a compliment from me because I find that a very useful talent (but I'm still cursing you for it). I have a feeling the other dexholders will be in this fic, so I am actually really curious as to how they all fit into this story. It would be great to see my babies once again. And with the way you write I find that they're not OOC like in other fics. That is very difficult to do as I'm sure you know, and I applaud you for that as well. Something I have noticed tho, is you haven't outright said that the enemy in this story is the Peter we met earlier. And that makes me wonder because naturally one would think that it would be Peter. But hmmmm, could it all be a misunderstanding? I don't think so, but it's a possibility. Anyways, its been a pleasure to read your work (like always) and I greatly appreciate you writing this!

Interesting to think that this chapter took a toll on you already. If THIS takes a toll on you... huhuhu... ... I mean, what? And yes, the others will be in the story. ... I think Destiny has everyone in it except for the BW2 cast and SM since Generation VII didn’t exist at the time. Destiny began when the XY arc had started, hence X and Y’s teams not being full or fully evolved. Your “babies” will have their moments in glory!

And thank you!! I was hoping to get your review for the next chapter before I made this post, but damn. Well, that response will have to be next week then. ... On Sunday the 9th, though since I’ll be gone for all of Saturday. So you have 8 days to cram in as many Destiny reviews as you can!!

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DE #001

1) SPOILER WARNING FOR BW2

HES BACK! Now we need a chapter about it

Kind of late spoiler given the clusterf*ck that’s been going on since the update, but... heh. Yes, he’s back. Hell, it’s about time. Now, a chapter about it... well... I have one in mind that I’ll be working on... eventually. No doom though.

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Heart #003

1) HOLY CRAP I love this fic so much? Haughtyshipping is my favorite (followed by commonershipping) so I’m so happy I found a work so well written and thorough!

Thank you! ... Well then. Thanks to you, I might have to update this story once more before this year ends.

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Heart #004

1) Heh. That was pretty devious of White. I kind of want Y to find out what she did just to see her reaction. Then again, she'd probably kill White even if she is her senior.

Pearl's being quite sneaky. I wonder if Diamond will catch on to what Pearl's doing once he notices all of the extra clothes Pearl brought. He isn't the smartest of the dexholders, but he would be quite perceptive of anything that involves Platinum like that.

I'm sure the time at the villa will be a fun read, and I look forward to it.

Well, Short Story - The Feast is basically what happened in this chapter, except with the focus on the lunch, and White’s revenge. And in that one, since the “issues” of Heart is not present, the focus is all on White and Y. And Y does find out in the end that it was all bullsh*t. And thus vows vengeance. And so the infinite cycle of revenge begins again.

Oh Diamond will notice what Pearl is doing immediately when he shows up in the villa, and then doesn’t leave. Now the issue will be to hide their conflict from Platinum. ... But will he succeed with that?

2) AAHH this chapter was so cute! I love the female dex holders getting to hang out— so sweet! I’m so excited for the next chapter, too:). Amazing work!

Oh, I love writing interactions with the younger female Dex Holders. ... Especially since three of them are in the top 5 favorite Dex Holders... And thank you!

#qna

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