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scarecrowismybabygirl · 2 years

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Build me your perfect casting for a new movie about our sassy little twink Scarecrow (we really need one) Any characters, any actors.

Let's start with our sweet boy Jonathan: I don't think I can (and I certainly don't want to) accept anyone other than Mr. Murphy for this role. If he was great in The Dark Knight trilogy, he'd probably be even better now: more age appropriate, less boyish, but just as attractive AND creepy, because for me those are the two main traits any live action adaptation of Scarecrow needs. This time I'd probably make his hair dark auburn at least.

I also need more movies where he wears glasses

Now, given that this is practically impossible, there are a couple of more realistic options I wouldn't be so mad about:

Bill Skarsgård

This is a very self-indulgent pick. I find him attractive, he looks good with glasses, and he knows how to be scary. Is he the best actor for the role? I don't know. Is he hot enough for me to overlook that and enjoy a very slutty and sexy Scarecrow again? Yes.

Caleb Landry Jones

He would be my first choice if I actually answered with my brain. He can look very creepy and messed up (as he did in Antiviral), but he still has that cute boy aura about him. Extra points for being a redhead because I'm a Year One bitch.

Michael Pitt

What can I say? I like him in villainesque roles and he makes a great psychopath. I wasn't particularly fond of the way he portrayed Mason in Hannibal, but if he went the Funny Games route, we could have a very good Scarecrow.

Young Christopher Walken

I can almost hear "call the police" here. If I had a time machine he'd be higher up in the list.

For our angsty playboy Bruce:

Robert Pattinson

I'm not sure if this is a popular or unpopular opinion at this point, but he might be my favorite Bruce. I like the emo take and I genuinely enjoy his acting. I couldn't understand the backlash when he was announced as the next Batman, but I was introduced to his work by Cronenberg's Cosmopolis (I was never a Twilight girl, no hate to those who like the franchise), and I've also seen how capable he is in other indie movies, so I knew he would deliver.

I also adored Christian Bale's Bruce, and I'm a bigger fan of TDK than The Batman, but Battinson has a special place in my heart.

Now let's think about the movie. I never spent too much time pondering on what my ideal Scarecrow movie would look like because we all know people just want yet another Joker movie and the chances of this happening are close to zero, but there are two things I would like to see:

His background story. We all know that, no matter the universe, he always gets tormented beyond what any human could -or should be able to- stand. I feed on trauma and seeing my favorite characters mentally and physically destroyed, so this is a must. If you ask me, I favor the great-granny option because it's crueler and makes for a more interesting character.

The parallelisms between him and Batman. This may be one of the most interesting points raised by Year One. I want them to be portrayed almost as mirror images. Their actions are fueled by childhood trauma, their motivations are driven by fear, but they end up fulfilling radically opposite yet complementary roles... I want this to explore the nature vs. nurture debate on what makes someone's psyche develop in a specific way, and I want it to be dark and twisted. Give me an even darker Bruce.

As for what other characters I'd like to see here, without a plot in mind, I can't really go deeper, but some options would be:

Great granny Keeny: because in my mind she's the main catalyst of his villain downward spiral. I want her to be somewhat attractive and comic book accurate (let's face it, she's FINE), but I have no one in mind. I picture her as an older version of either Bedelia Du Maurier from Hannibal or Ethel Cripps from The Sandman... Maybe an artificially aged Gillian Anderson would do the trick.

Linda Friitawa (Fright): a very underrated and ignored character that I'd like to see a live action adaptation of. Again, I never fully developed a plot in my mind, so I don't know if there would be a possibility to fit her anywhere and I also wouldn't want to take away from the homoerotic undertones of Scarecrow and Batman's love/hate relationship, because that's essential for me and my very self-indulgent, half-baked idea of a Scarecrow movie. Anya Taylor-Joy would be perfect here.

...and that's it for now. Although I'll probably regret not mentioning Nygma (not Nashton) and a few others as soon as I hit "post"! ♡ Thanks for your ask @ninja-potato-shelby-solomons ♡

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deconstructthesoup · 1 month

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Personal Ranking of the Fantasy High Moms, From Worst to Best:

Arianwen Abernant: -19999/10. She's not as bad as Angwyn, since she's convinced herself she's a good mother, but her "I just want the best for you" shtick isn't any better, and the fact that she's ignorant about how horrible she is doesn't make up for years of neglect. And she also attempted to rope her daughters into raising a being of pure nightmares because she lost her status, so.

Donna Applebees: 0/10. Conservative, racist, judgmental, only loves her kids conditionally... you get the gist. Also, she's absolutely a Karen.

Hallariel Seacaster: 3/10. Yes, I know, she's a MILF, she's got such an iconic vibe, she's a badass with a sword, but none of that excuses years of being emotionally absent from your son's life. She's not a bad person, but she unfortunately doesn't know how to be a mom. Sorry, Hallariel. I wish I could rank you higher.

The Last Phoenix: 5/10. Bird. She's a bird. We don't know enough about her except for the fact that she is the last phoenix, she started out as a "haha Arthur Aguefort is a crazy motherfucker" gag, and she gave us the incredible gift that is Ayda. I cannot rank her fairly, but given that she is Ayda's mom, she goes on the list.

Roz Last-Name-Unknown: 6/10. Same deal with Gorbag---we don't know enough about her for me to properly rank her, but we do know that she was a teen mom, and she's made the choice to reconnect with her son and be in his life. Props for that.

Sandralynn Faeth: 7.5/10. I am ranking her realistically, but let it be known that I love her so much. She is such a beautiful example of a flawed person who consistently tries to be better, and even though she does relapse into old behaviors, she's still growing---and outside of the serial cheating (that is a response to trauma, by the way) and occasional lapses in social skills, she's a pretty damn good mom, all things considered.

Cathilda Ceili: 8/10. She's the parent that Fabian needed, even if he didn't always realize it. She's sweet, she's caring, and if anybody hurts her boy, she will fucking rock your shit. (Also, the reveal of Cathilda being an incredibly fearsome and ruthless pirate outside of Solace was one of my favorites.)

Wilma Thistlespring: 9/10. She's a caring and supportive mom who writes songs, is sex-positive, and loves her son! Again, she does need to recognize when she's embarrassing Gorgug, and she needs to recognize that he's gotta learn how to be angry, but still! We all love her!

Lydia Barkrock: 9.6/10. While she doesn't quite get the full score due to the fact that her son was briefly an ass, it clearly was not her fault, and from what we've seen of her, she is a fantastic mom. She's a badass disabled powerhouse who cooks incredible spreads and cares about her son and his friends a lot. I love her a lot. She's amazing.

Sklonda Gukgak: 10/10. She took that spot in her very first scene, where she poured water in her cereal so Riz could have milk in his, and she's been holding it up ever since. Despite the fact that she's constantly swamped with work, Sklonda is literally one of the best moms you could ever ask for. She deserves the world and it's a constant injustice that she's not getting it.

Bonus: Garthy O'Brien, while having transcended gender and therefore not being able to fit into either of the "mom/dad" rankings, is an 11/10 parent---not just to Ayda, but to everyone younger than them who they've essentially adopted. Words cannot express my adoration for this person.

#honestly if all of the bad kids had siblings i'd do a sibling ranking #i mean i guess fabian technically has a gazillion siblings out there but they're all dead or something #ah well #dimension 20 #fantasy high #fantasy high: junior year #arianwen abernant #donna applebees #hallariel seacaster #sandra lynn faeth #cathilda ceili #wilma thistlespring #lydia barkrock #sklonda gukgak #garthy obrien

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elizabethrobertajones · 1 month

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Dean & Cas Are In Love

A hopefully one day conclusive study of these assholes, hopefully told as briefly as I can.

[it went fuckin canon? Rendered useless in my own job. Posting these gifsets from my drafts for @mittensmorgul who can make better use of them than me.]

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I clearly picked this out to highlight the conflict between the three of them, and how the dynamic with Benny present also serves to highlight a lot of the things we can’t see when it’s just Dean and Cas talking at each other so urgently they pretty much forget that Benny is there.

Cas tries to convince Dean out of it again and Benny is hearing what Cas is putting down and understands that Cas has very different motives and intentions to what Dean has, and that their quest has hit a dead end here, and now they simply have to survive around this obstacle. So he tries to show Dean gently as he can that Cas is not moving on this and will keep finding reasons to nay say the plan for whatever reason.

The choice of “are you hearing what he’s saying” as phrasing is well chosen to have Benny urging Dean to re-evaluate what he’s looking at when he sees Cas, which is important when up topside he’s then making up a different interpretation of what happened to Cas and tormenting himself with that. Showing that at this point Dean is NOT understanding and reading Cas well, caught up in his hero fantasy of rescuing them all and having a nice happy family reunion at the end of this.

A good clean win.

Benny is more realistic and also an outside eye, so he can clearly read that this is not in the cards, and try and poke Dean to seeing it.

Dean immediately hate-crimes Benny and makes it plain he’s not bending to this reality, but this is what Benny is going to have to deal with; I think Dean is reading it as hostility between Cas and Benny that neither wants to work with the other and would rather the other was not there. In truth I think they’re already kinda connecting better over what is the objective reality than what Dean’s living in, and if you look at it from their point of view, Dean’s being by far the least realistic one and living in a hopeful state which I think is crucial to survival for him but unfortunately not going to be very emotionally healthy in the long term.

You know, normal Dean Winchester coping mechanisms.

And that ends the tour of posts Lizbob had saved up from 5 years ago! Glad to get this out of my drafts, sorry I am not making gifs any more and haven’t watched Supernatural since I was trying to catch up before the finale then heard the news and immediately stopped trying to catch up :P Happy for you or sorry that happened I ain’t reading all that etc.

#8x02 #destiel #It's sorry though not happy XD #my stuff #lizbob gifs #dean n cas are in love #dean and cas are in love #I gave away my entire collection of DVDs that same month hahahaha

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90percentstudios · 2 months

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In your opinion, who is by far the worst written character you've made? Explain. (3-5 sentences)(That's a school joke btw but I do actually wanna know who you think your worst character is.)

oh my god, this is shaping up to be a bit more than 3-5 sentences but i just watched a contrapoints video and i'll never be concise again.

if a screwdriver is a good screwdriver because it manages to fit the screw, a character is a good character because they serve their purpose in the plot. a purpose like protagonist, antagonist, foil, silly buff tiger that is incredibly shallow but that's kind of the point so how can i argue that she's a failure of a character when she's literally my favorite and i would die for her? ... anyway i forget what point i was making but here are my worst written characters because they (arguably) failed to fit the screw.

cop-out answer: my first draft of cody from 2017/2018 was sooo one-dimensional. he felt like a homestuck dirk knock-off made more bearable because he wasn't condescendingly smart or serious. i couldn't develop his character because he was just so damn happy all the time. new cody is my favorite character, and therefore objectively the best written character in existence. he's got more realistic problems, genuine relationships, and is a great conduit for me to vent the problems i have with authority figures that i didn't even know i had.

real answer: the pa1 characters are pretty shallow. in their defense and the defense of those who love them, their simplicity ups the comic appeal. like brownie wants to delete herself via chocolate. is it realistic? no, but if it were i guess it'd lose silly points. the ridiculous pa universe's suspension of disbelief relies on everyone being a stupid nonsensical dog. so imo they fulfilled the purpose i had for them, which was creating a joke fantasy in which you had no choice but to make friends or die, my two favorite things at the time.

but i have a new favorite thing now, and that's making high complexity, open-ended statements about society or whatever. a better written pa1 would mean including exposition about patches' horrible home life/antisocial diagnosis, or a scene where olive and co attempt to call 9-11 like any sane dog would do, or more stuff about the contentious history between cats and dogs to explain coco's murder of the entire school.

speaking of, i think my worst written character is pa1.5 coco. she fulfilled the role of causing the apawcalypse in pa1, helped stop the apawcalypse in pa2, but somewhere in between there should've been a scene where everyone shakes and sobs over the realization that murder = bad, even if you are a funny gay halloween cat.

#cool kid cody #purrfect apawcalypse #90% denny

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broken-synchronicity · 1 year

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Something that came up recently in discord with @/shuuenmei and @/klonoadreams and friends

And it has occurred to a lot of us older writers, especially now with the prominent use of the AO3 tagging system, is that younger writers seem to have trouble grasping the difference between the kinds of 'insert' fanfics.

So, as someone who has written all the variations there off, I've decided to try and write a reference sheet for what the differences between an OC-insert, a Self-insert, and a Reader-insert.

The OC-Insert

"I have created a character and will put them in a situation."

Everyone has an OC or a dozen, whether or not you've done anything with them. It's a right of passage of sorts for young artists and writers to create their cringe angsty OP character for their favorite show/game. We've ALL done it, it's how we learn how to make better characters for later projects, or practice new ideas.

In writing, the OC-insert fanfic will often have hallmarks of:

Wish fulfillment often in the form of a fix-it of some form, expansion of Canon, or the proposition of a Canon divergence idea (especially in the case of the OC being related to a Canon Character)

The OC having very little to no (known) traits shared with the author, and is often heavily described or even given a character reference sheet

The OC often is already a part of the world they're made for with taylor made powers or skills, or, in the case of a particular kind of wish fulfillment often seen in younger writers, an OP OC meant to allow the author to do what they want

However, the OC is often still limited in knowledge of events as with the rest of the characters, even if they might find out faster than in canon

Often written in the Third Person (he/she/it/they), occasionally in First Person, and almost never in Second Person

The OC-insert is the creation of a character to allow the author to present their idea. OCs are often ways to practice writing traits or scenes a writer isn't used to writing with a character they know 100% about in a world they mostly know.

Think D&D, you make a character and make them react to situations they are presented with. This is the OC-insert.

The Self-insert

"I am putting myself in a situation."

The Self-insert happens nearly as frequently as the OC-insert, if not more. It is the Author placing themself, or in the case of the SIOC, a very close apprximation of themself, into the show/game of their liking.

The hallmarks of a Self-insert fic include:

Also often wish fulfillment, but in the form of escapism and occasionally power fantasies. Often fix-its when in regards to canon story.

The Author proxy usually enters the world from our own via any sort of means. Reincarnation after death, magic, making deals with deities/demons, anything.

The proxy usually has most of the knowledge of the world they are entering, or on the rare occasion, very little to none. There is often no in between.

The proxy may or may not gain skills or power native to the world. In the case of SIOC, the proxy may already have some minor helpful skills. The proxy can become OP, but doesn't often start like that.

Self-inserts are often more realistic looks into the world they are inserted into, expanding on many issues and hidden scenes that might have occurred in canon

Most often written in First Person (I, Me, My), occasionally in other povs. I personally write Kal in Second Person as a stylistic choice.

The Self-insert is for the Author, to show how they personally would have reacted, or helped, or gone about something. It is a catharsis for some authors in some ways, a way to deal with emotions or situations that they can't IRL.

Think games with player inserts, particularly RPGs with branching paths, or old Pick your Adventure type stories where you pick an answer at the end of the part and then go to the corresponding page of that answer. These are how you, the author, are reacting and choosing.

Most fanfics that follow the story for games/shows like Twst are one of the above two; LiT, for instance, is an SIOC.

The Reader-Insert

"I am putting you, the reader, in a situation."

Reader-inserts are all over, but they most frequent in places where there is a high level of Fandom interaction, like here on Tumblr. Reader-inserts are generally very short, and often only about how canon characters react to presented situation. These are your "x reader" blogs and tags.

Reader-inserts often have hallmarks of:

Almost always prompt based wish fulfillment of the highest order. 98% of all reader-inserts are simply for readers to love on a character of their choosing without consequence

Most have no basis in canon, or only have canon as a setting and are very minorly reactionary to Canon events

There are very, very few reader insert fics that are well written to follow along with a Canon story, and even then, the "reader" character will gain definite traits and can break immersion and even eventually be considered an OC

The "reader" will almost never be described unless it's part of the prompt to help with immersion, and may occasionally be referred to by a nickname of some kind, but otherwise will have a blank space ("____") or (Y/N) to show where your own name may be placed, or any other traits in some case.

It is also often headcanon central, with a lot of authors' ideas as to how a Canon Character will react to a given prompt.

Almost always written in Second Person (You), very, very rarely anything else.

Reader-inserts are often.... poor quality, as stated, because they are wish fulfillment and do not often undergo any rigorous editing like a story based fic. But they can be used to practice how an author can write their idea of a particular character or a specific (often romantic) scenario.

Think otome games and imagine blogs here on tumblr. Most of the time, it's less you, the player reacting and them the characters reacting to your choices.

None of the above things are bad to write. Hell, I was a mod for an imagine blog for years, and it did indeed help with how I write. They all have ways to help a writer grow, but they are all very different forms of fics. You can't look at a self-insert and call it a reader-insert because it's not you, the reader being inserted, it's the Author. It's not an OCxCharacter story if it's the reader who's supposed to fill in the details.

So PLEASE, for the love of god, tag your fics correctly.

#writing tips #writing #insert fics #how to tag your fics correctly #sync being random #PLEASE P L E A S E TAG YOUR SHIT CORRECTLY #I HATE FINDING READER INSERTS IN THE OC TAGS WHEN THERE ISN'T A SINGLE OC

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vixstarria · 5 months

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Baldur's Gate 3 Tav Ask Game

Following this post by @spacebarbarianweird

The list of questions is from @tolkien-fantasy.

My Tav's OC lore under the cut. This is the lady in all my fics.

Here she is being pleased with herself for being a little shit. She was not, indeed, better than those juvenile antics.

Why did you pick the race you did for your Tav?

Half-elf, for I am a basic bitch (and one who likes the idea of their character having a longer-than-human lifespan)

Why did you pick the class you did for your Tav?

Bardlock. Heavily leaning bard in HC. A bard is a lot of fun to write, but I prefer to play magic types.

What is your character’s moral alignment?

Chaotic neutral.

How did you choose your Tav’s name, if you gave them a unique one?

She doesn't use her real name. Her patron insists that she calls herself Asmodea, in honour of Asmodeus. It's meant to be ironically pompous, because frankly she's a pretty shit warlock.

What are your character’s strongest and weakest stats (strength, charisma, etc)?

Maxed out charisma, but needs to resort to asking Str 8 Astarion to open jars for her. Wisdom is clearly not up there either, given some of the choices she's made.

What is your Tav’s origin story?

I started typing out an essay, but will try to condense as much as I can:

Unwanted child between elf (mother) and human (father), raised by father. Doesn't know elven side of family. Was sent off for schooling as a young adolescent. Father dies, any and all traces of family fortune gone, only debts that she would now have to take over. Unable to continue studies, gets kicked out. Can't go back home. What do? Hooks up with guy, guy turns out to be bandit. Joins and runs with bandits for years. Picks up bard skills along the way. Banditry gets progressively worse, more violent and dangerous, and she eventually says "fuck this" and sneaks off with whatever loot she can carry. Keeps changing names and appearance and lives as a traveling bard for the next decade or so.

Enters pact with an otherworldly being shortly before events of BG3. Not her brightest moment, but one that kept her out of jail, at least.

Then nautiloid happens.

What was the most significant moment in your Tav’s origin story?

I would say suddenly finding yourself penniless and roofless and having to learn how to survive was a pretty big deal.

What deity, if any, does your character worship?

None.

What is your Tav’s biggest priority or goal?

Part of the terms of the patron's contract is keeping them entertained, so she is, indeed, forced to live in 'interesting times', or create them personally.

If your Tav didn’t become an adventurer, what else would they be doing?

She didn't really have particular plans for her future before everything went haywire.

What is your Tav’s most used weapon or spell?

Eldritch blast. Pew pew.

What is your Tav’s favorite school of magic/weapon type?

Realistically, anything ranged.

How does your Tav fight in a combat situation?

Poorly. Tries to stay away from hand to hand combat as much as possible. Stays close to Astarion.

Does your Tav know any other languages besides Common?

Note: OP doesn't know enough DND lore to really say. Let's go with whatever human language is appropriate for the Sword Coast area + bits and pieces from numerous other languages that she's picked up in her travels.

If your Tav could/does multiclass, what other class would they choose?

Is a bardlock.

Which of the companions does your Tav trust most?

Astarion because bae. Karlach because friend. Lae'zel because predictable.

Which of the companions does your Tav distrust most?

Shadowheart. She always seemed like she had an ulterior agenda that she might foresake everyone else for.

She's not too fond of Gale's bomb and all the surrounding circumstances either.

Who is your Tav’s biggest rival?

She doesn't really think of her companions in those terms. Wyll's clearly a better warlock, but she simply accepts that.

Who is your Tav romancing, if anyone?

Astarion. Of course it's Astarion.

If you’re romancing anyone, why did your Tav fall for them? And why did that character fall for your Tav?

They connected through a shared sense of humour, impulsivity, dramatics, and desire to make the world burn just to see what happens.

If you’re romancing anyone, who fell first and who fell harder?

They arguably started falling more or less at the same time. Astarion fell harder.

How does your Tav act around their crush?

They started off by putting on a show of a massive love affair as a running gag to amuse themselves and annoy their other companions, until at some point it wasn't acting anymore. Related fic.

What is your Tav’s favorite moment they’ve had with their lover?

She rather enjoyed seeing him tear out a bandit's throat with his fangs to protect her.

What is your Tav attracted to? What are their turn-ons and turn-offs?

Attracted to humour, independence and self-sufficiency. Likes it when people are straightforward and can keep up with her.

Incompetence, neediness or just plain being boring are major turn-offs.

Does your Tav have any biases against other classes or races?

Not any more than the average person. She's met plenty of different people on her journeys. Goblins, half-orcs and drow are, in her experience, even worse than their stereotypes. The tieflings she's met have mostly been lovely though, she doesn't understand the hate for them.

What is the most prominent color in your Tav’s color scheme?

Doesn't really stick to any particular colours as doesn't want to be too easily recognised.

What is their sense of humor like?

Inappropriate. Also finds great joy in just being immature at times.

What is your Tav’s guilty pleasure?

Horrendously bad erotica novels. A hobby she shares with Astarion, actually. They keep a running tally of each instance of "velvet-wrapped steel" they come across, and occasionally perform dramatic in-character readings at camp for everyone's benefit, when the writing is sufficiently atrocious.

How easily offended are they? How do they act when offended?

Not easily at all, or rather doesn't let it get to her. She will remember, however, and is not above enacting petty, spiteful revenge.

How does your Tav react when someone insults their friend/partner?

Usually by saying something like "no, it's not worth it, let's just go, oh no, how will they ever walk again, that sure is a broken kneecap, shame about the face, welp, there go the teeth" and not actually intervening. Astarion can take care of himself.

How does your Tav dress for different occasions, like very fancy situations?

She hasn't had a chance to dress for a fancy occasion since she was a teenager. I think she would go all out given the opportunity. A combination of practicality and allure in everyday life - her vocation does require that she presents well. And that she is able to get away quickly should shit hit the fan.

How did your Tav get their scars, if they have any?

No major scars.

What is your Tav’s relationship with their family?

Doesn't know mother's elven side, and father's dead. She's got extended family, somewhere, but they've never been close.

What is your Tav’s opinion on nobility and authority?

Fuck the police. Eat the rich. She's technically still on the run from the law, not that 'the law' is competent enough or cares enough to find her.

How does your Tav react to wearing the Wavemother’s robe? How do they react to their partner wearing it?

They think it's hilarious and argue about who looks better in it. Neither will admit, but they both think Gale wore it best.

What is your Tav’s favorite type of environment? Like in a tavern, a library, out in the wilderness, underground, etc.

Honestly, she is sick and tired of taverns and the wilderness. She craves being someplace comfortable and more refined.

What would your Tav’s Zodiac sign be?

Sigh, OP is not into this, but going by the stereotypes - Aries might suit.

What is their favorite season?

Summer. Because fuck snow, fuck rain, fuck mud, fuck cold.

Where in the world does your Tav want to visit the most?

She's never had a chance to sail and is curious about that.

What is the biggest mistake your Tav ever made?

The banditry definitely wasn't a great choice.

What animal best represents your Tav?

Some form of talking parrot that might shit on you as they fly overhead

What flower/tree/plant best represents your Tav?

Four leaf clover

What does your Tav smell like?

Honestly, not that great at the moment, but hopefully she'll find a bath soon

What song best represents your Tav?

Oh boy. Gogol Bordello - Not a Crime came to mind. It's got the energy of something she might play. And the lyrics are suitable.

What would be your Tav’s favorite music genre?

I think she would have an eclectic taste, leaning towards the more lively end of the spectrum.

What role would your Tav play in a highschool AU? (nerd, jock, bully, goth, etc)

Theater kid that's always skipping class

What is the most important item your Tav has?

It's for practicality rather than sentimental value, but she does need her instruments. She's also got numerous notebooks where she jots down notes for her stories.

Where does your Tav feel most at home?

She may be tired of them, but she is most at ease and in her element in a busy tavern.

What is your Tav’s philosophy on life?

Trust your gut. Don't ask for permission. Better to regret doing than regret not doing.

Does your Tav think more with their heart or their brain?

She flips a coin when conflicted.

What does your Tav want in their future? (domestic bliss, more adventure, a family, etc)

Some kind of stability, at least for a while. Doesn't see herself as a mother or housewife though.

What is your Tav’s worst fear?

Helplessness and loss of freedom

Is your Tav easily tricked or deceived?

No, she's very distrustful given the amount of tricking and deceiving that she's had to do herself.

If your Tav was granted a single wish, what would it be?

Immortality. Like I said, she isn't particularly wise.

How does your Tav feel about keeping secrets, both their own and others?

She'll respect other people's secrets if they respect hers.

How would your Tav react to a love confession?

Oh I have a whole fic about that.

What are your Tav’s biggest insecurities?

Struggles with impostor syndrome generally. Can't believe she hasn't gotten everyone killed yet. Why are they following her?

What is your Tav’s favorite food?

Anything with a bit of a kick to it. Dislikes bland food as much as she dislikes bland people.

How generous is your Tav, especially to those they don’t know?

Generally, she's not. Rather, she can be generous with information, not so much with money, items or time - unless it doesn't really hinder her or she stands to benefit in the long run. No point helping those who can't help themselves. She might make an exception for children or other women - she knows how rough it can be.

If an evil character told your Tav that they wanted to change and help them, would they believe it?

This would have to be an actions speaking louder than words situation. She'll believe it when she sees it.

What does your Tav want to be remembered by?

She's documenting the current journeys, but hasn't decided yet whether to keep her name in it. Or if so, which name.

What Tarot Card best represents your Tav?

Really not my forte. Perhaps Page of Wands.

What would be your Tav’s major in college?

Literature

Does your Tav consider themselves a hero, villain, victim or something else?

A reluctant participant and chronicler.

How good is your Tav at giving advice? How good are they at following it themselves?

“She generally gave herself very good advice, (though she very seldom followed it).”

How does your Tav get along with each party member?

Karlach is her best friend in the group. She wishes she could have had Karlach with her as a travelling companion over the past 10 years, watching her back and stirring shit up with her.

Gale annoys the shit out of her with the unrequited crush he's got for her.

She finds Lae'zel to be a breath of fresh air with how she says exactly what she thinks, and actually feels like she can relax around her.

Shadowheart unnerves her somewhat. She doesn't really trust any religious fanatics.

She would ordinarily be annoyed with someone like Wyll for the excessive altruism, but he is genuinely such a kind and openhearted person that she can't help but like him. She is NOT allowing him to co-write their adventures though.

Is somewhat intimidated by Halsin's sheer life experience.

And then there's Astarion, but you know about that.

What are your Tav’s other hobbies?

She drinks. She cheats at cards. And she writes. Whether it's chronicling their journey or original stories that come to mind. Thank goodness for that bag of holding, she's been lugging her notebooks around for years, not having anywhere to store them.

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #write your tav #bg3 tav #my tav #baldur's gate oc #writing

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redinkscrawl · 3 months

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Redd Reviews: THE WORLD KEEPS ENDING, AND THE WORLD GOES ON by Franny Choi

Genre: Poetry

Major Tropes: Dystopia, utopia

Representation: Written by a queer Korean-American and discusses Korean-American issues, though the book is not explicitly queer (to my knowledge.) Little to no disability rep.

My Thoughts

Franny Choi’s The World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes On is a book about many things; apocalypse, dystopia, history, future, COVID, race, trauma, life… but it is also very much a book about endings, beginnings, and continuances. Choi’s lyrical play and word choice often leans into this theme, with poems like “We Used Our Words We Used What Words We Had” and “I Have Bad News and Bad News, Which Do You Want First” blending the beginnings and endings of lines and stanzas. The world has ended, after all, but it has also continued right along.

One time the world ended was in 2020. Choi’s poems are all tinted by a post-COVID perspective for me, and possibly for the author as well. It’s impossible for me to know if lines like “...stitched by girls who look like me but for their N95s…” refers to masks worn for COVID-related or other reasons (poor workplace conditions?), but my perspective on these lines post-COVID is certainly tinged. Given that the author does outright reference COVID in other poems, I find it hard to believe that these lines weren’t at least left ambiguous on purpose.

My second favorite poem in the collection was “Field Trip to the Museum of Human History.” Choi says this poem was inspired by Ursula K. Le Guin, and I clocked this immediately. What’s fascinating for me is that I checked The Winds’ Twelve Quarters, the only non-children’s book by Le Guin I’ve read (though I have others on my to-be-read shelf!) and I don’t believe I’ve read The Dispossessed, the story Choi says the poem was inspired by, nor any significant passages from it. Le Guin’s influence over the poem is just that strong. And now I have another book to add to my TBR shelf!

Related, I really enjoyed the scifi aspect of the book overall. I’m a big fan of exploratory, speculative fiction and have sought in the past a way to write a scifi or fantasy poem without it being a hundred pages. Obviously, Choi achieves this goal in “Science Fiction Poem” and “Field Trip to the Museum of Human History,” but even more than that she achieves this goal in “The World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes On,” if in a more watered-down form.

My favorite poem in the collection was “We Used Our Words We Used What Words We Had.” I’ve always been slightly fascinated by nonsense poetry and literature, but most nonsense doesn’t make my spine tingle like this poem does. Instead of being silly and charming, this poem cuts deep at something… but I don’t know what. Sense is abandoned for lyricism; phrases are structured for rhyme, consonance and assonance, rather than for meaning. It’s a beautiful poem, and I don’t get it. But I think that’s the point. This poem certainly inspires me to play more with my words, regardless of hard meaning and in favor of effect. The piece is a playful celebration of sound, and I wonder if this has anything to do with her background in spoken-word poetry.

This collection of poems is somewhat haunting for me. I’m frequently a doom-thinker, almost obsessed with intrusive visions of my own death and the death of the ones I love. In my dreams I fair better, as brilliant revolutionary leader or crafty apocalypse survivor, but still the doom is there—why is the revolution necessary? What caused the apocalypse? This is not to say I believe this collection is possessed by an untoward sense of doom—I think any sense of doom the collection has is warranted and realistic. But it’s inconvenient. It forced me to face things I try not to face, for fear my sense of doom would grow greater. The moral of the story here is that there is no remedy, or at least no easy or permanent one. Even if we prevent one apocalypse, another will follow, almost certainly. That said, “Protest Poem” does give us some hope for changing the future… A sense of ‘something will always be wrong but at least it can be less wrong or for less time.’ Additionally, The World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes On is greatly interested in knowing others.

In this way, Choi’s book reads like a manifesto of sorts, or perhaps half a manifesto. Most manifestos expose the wrong in the world and give a list or at least a sense of the policies, ideals, aims, etc. that would correct that wrong. Choi does a lot of the former, and much less of the latter. I struggle to see a call to arms in this book, despite the aforementioned “Protest Poem.” She establishes empire as the root of evil in some poems, but fails to present a solution to empire. I think this is intentional, and partially because I don’t think the speaker believes in any true, hard endings. Of anything, not just empire. Is this depressing? Possibly. But love doesn’t end either, nor compassion, nor progress. In this way, I believe The World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes On does carry some sort of hope, should you choose to read it that way.

The World Keeps Ending, and the World Goes On is filled with poignant lines and exploratory poems with few misses, but a few pieces lost my attention at times.

Rating: 🌎🌎🌎🌎/5

Check out waffalet's elf girl maker here.

#poetry #franny choi #bookblr #poetry book #poetry book review #book review #butredd #korean american poetry #hope this one isn't too weird; it's modified from a response paper lol #dystopia #utopia

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shadowsif · 2 years

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What are your favourite ifs/WiPs?

So this got out of hand. And then my internet crashed and my Tumblr crashed and I had to rewrite this all… I might have missed something and I could rec more, but I need to keep this readable length.

The first one I ever read: Zombie Exodus: Safe Heaven. This was before I followed any creators on the forums/Tumblr. Liked it and played multiple times the first few chapters but I have not kept up with it. Of the published I’ve read or started a lot of them but nowadays WIPs are flying high above most of them in terms of quality. My taste has also evolved, you could say.

The big, long, angsty ones:

A Mage Reborn by @mage-parivir

Long, good story in high fantasy world with anime influenced vibes. Good RO choices and other NPCs. Some stat balancing and actually reading stuff to get the results I wanted required, which is why I needed to start it a few times before I got over my hang-ups and got really into it.

Shepherds of Haven by @shepherds-of-haven

Epic high fantasy story in a deep and thoroughly thought-out world. LOTS of Ros (Trouble is my <3) and NPCs. Also involves keeping track of your stats and thinking before choices. Long one. I mean, really long. In tone, to me, a bit darker than A Mage Reborn even with the BBQ. I have at times wondered how well this could turn into an video game.

I, the Forgotten one by Bacondoneright (the work is on Dashingdon but has no Tumblr)

No magic but an eastern European inspired world. This might not be for everyone as it deals heavily with wartimes in ‘realistic’ medieval world. Involving homophobia, misogyny and lots of death and adult themes. I played a male MC to skip some of that. Lots of stat balancing and following, hard choices and angst. So much angst. You will have to be in a certain mood and have hours of time to read through it but if this sounds something that you’d like to try I encourage it. The writing and plot are really good and the overall quality is better than most. But it’s a hard read.

Mind Blind by @mindblindbard

Modern superhero world where you play a nobody in a family of somebodies. Good mystery, lots of angst and awesome ROs and NPCs. (Grayson has my <3) Not so stat heavy than the others. To my knowledge is close to being finished and I can’t wait to throw money at it.

The Exile by @exilethegame

All the angst. Oh my god the angst. A fantasy world with ‘monster hybrid’ people and you’re exiled and suffering and nothing is going to be good again. The last update left me infuriated. If it would be badly written I could stop reading it and be happy again but no. Have to keep going back. 10/10 would recommend.

The Northern Passage by @northern-passage

Even if I’ve never played or watched the show this has Witcher vibes. I’m sure I will die or kill someone accidentally or something else horrible. Lea is what keeps me going back. The asshole. Love it.

The shorter, angsty ones:

Ouroboros by @honeypeabrain

Plants. Lots of plants in a fantasy, slightly apocalyptic world. The world is really intriguing and the plot pulled me in at the start. Loved especially the option to customize one of the possible Ros. Can’t wait for where the story goes and the RO routes that have been teased. (I have not made up my minds who I like the most)

Ripper’s Plague by @ripperplague

One I have recommended before. Steampunk world where you are a ‘mad’ doctor with past full of trauma. The humour is fun and the story is turning up to be intriguing, even though not all the major players have been introduced yet. Love the way everyone just casually hits on the MC. It’s hilarious.

The not so angsty ones:

College Tennis: Origin Story by @allieebobo

Play tennis, go to college, annoy, and charm everyone while succeeding at everything. Or that’s how I play it. Gets really into the actual games and tennis but everything is written by a person who clearly knows what they are doing so it’s all good. Recommend it even if you’re not into tennis. Living like a jock is fun.

Anything written by @leftski-if

Lots of monster romances (werewolves, vampires, orcs etc.) Light hearted stories in more serious worlds. For more mature readers, not because of NSFW but of tone that’s written with more mature readers in mind. (at least to me) You want a good, hard hug from a RO that’s three times your size? These have it.

The adventures of Sherlock Holmes- An affair of the heart by @doriana-gray-games

It’s Sherlock Holmes but make it actually gay (if you want to). The writing equals the originals by sucking the reader in. There’s murders and mysteries and maybe the tone is not especially light but to me Sherlock Holmes and the stories are comfort read and so is this. Can’t wait to meet H of the ROs, but in the mean time Lestrade is and awkward duck who gives me sandwiches.

Defiled Hearts: The Barbarian by @defiledheartsblog

Look. Listen. Does the story start with your family being murdered and you being sneaky and enlisting to the Roman army? Yes. Do I still consider this more light-hearted one because I’m having too much fun being pain in Marcus’ backside? Yes. I really need to restart another save and be less confrontational and before I get myself murdered at some point when I’m caught. The writer knows a lot of Roman times, and the Picts while taking liberties to introduce inclusivity and fantasy elements.

Ifs with really short demo so I haven’t really got into them yet because of that but the premise sounds awesome:

Absentia by @absentia-if

Having been ten years stuck in a void and then coming back without time passing for you. What could go wrong?

Sinners and Saints by @sinnersandsaints-linwrites

Hah! I’m in danger!

Novaturient by @kalorphic

Smexy agents doing secret agents things. Gimme.

Shoutouts to things I have read but weren’t for me at the time:

Citadel- A medical Romantic Drama by @bouncyballcitadel

Writing and medical knowledge top notch. Unfortunately, I’m still recovering from the last semester and couldn’t focus enough to read with thought and failed at everything. Which caused me to quit, start again next day from the start and then rinse and repeat. Will have to try again at some point when I have more spoons.

Blood Moon by @barbwritesstuff

Modern werewolf story. Awesome writing and lovable characters. Is to my knowledge finished if you don’t count editing, rewrites etc. Have played it about but not the last few updates. Another one I’ll try again when I find my spoons somewhere.

There are lots more that I follow or read but these came to mind. I also acknowledge that I have a problem with remembering names and have a bad habit of skipping paragraphs while reading, so I tend to forget especially shorter ones. I have not included ones without demos because I have gotten my heart broken a few times when the creators disappeared after posting awesome premises but no demos.

This got really long… Hope this was informative?

#recs #all the recs #im sorry this is so long #ask anon #anon ask #ask answered

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electraslight · 1 year

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the sheer amount of hate ive gotten 4 the simple choice of making like. 2 ben 10 characters fatter than normal is astounding to me. like ive been getting asks like this since the first time i drew ben 10k as anything more than a shrinkwrapped bodybuilder

and now that i draw kevin chubby im getting people digging through the archives of my art to look for any semblance of him skinnier than normal and telling me he looks better that way

and this has all happened more than once. like what is your guy's problem? it's not realistic for them to both be shrinkwrapped or whatever, ben has the fat gene from his dad and grandpa max and kevin doesnt have time to work out the normal way and he needs to pad himself out bc of the gaps between when he can find his next meal, plus actually strong ppl in real life are fatter bc you need some padding on your muscles, bodybuilder muscles r literally just for show. 'oh but its fantasy' well this is MY fantasy, what makes it so different from canon? theirs literally no reason to be pressed that i draw characters fatter besides fatphobia, and even if you dont like it dont fucking comment it on my posts!! i swear to god you guys are assholes. im drawing more fat people just to spite you

#liz speaks #vent

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justreputationnoexplanation · 4 months

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Ask game 2023 swiftie edition 🩵 As a longtime football girlie I have to ask 18, but if you’re not into it then 23 💙

I am also a football girlie, but I'll go ahead and answer both anyways lol

18. Favorite football/KC Tay moment

Not directly related to them, but my fave football + Taylor related things were: a. my mom and another friend of mine (neither of which are Taylor fans) both made sure to inform me that Kelce was both a great player and, by all accounts, a genuinely great guy and they were happy for him and Taylor. My mom even let me update her weekly on Taylor's presence at the games and what she wore and all that stuff, including watching the Karma "guy on the chiefs" video with me. so like for both its just that we got to bond over major interests overlapping and I could finally talk about Taylor in connection with something they cared about, instead of just screaming about the surprise songs constantly. a. I'm in a fantasy football league made up entirely of Swifties, and the chaos of figuring out if anyone had him drafted was lots of fun (I was not the one who had him which is extra unfortunate because i really could have used a good tight end) c. at the end of every appt after we've got the next one scheduled, my therapist asks whats going on with them and what I think about it s just like closing conversation. it just amuses me greatly.

23. If you could pick your top two songs for surprise songs what would they be? I would have to go with Dear John (Guitar) & Soon You'll Get Better (Piano). That being said, I feel like SYGB is one of the few that she probably won't perform at any point. My next choice, Would've, Could've, Should've, I don't think she'd play with Dear John, just for her own emotions about it. Plus, it's also a guitar song, not piano. This brings us, finally, to a realistic choice of Innocent on Piano. That was probably a lot more of an answer than you wanted, and I almost feel like Vizzini in The Princess Bride, logicing my way around pairings like poisoned wine lol.

Thanks for the ask!!

#thanks for asking #ask

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underthebrightmooninterests · 1 year

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5 great Kdrama’s you probably haven’t seen

#1. At A Distance Spring Is Green

At A distance Spring Is Green: 2021, 12 episodes

coming of age, college romance

main lead: Park Ji Hoon & Kang Min Ah & Bae In Hyuk

summary: A coming of age story about young people in their twenties and the problems they face in university. Nam Soo Hyun and Yeo Joon, two boys with contrasting personalities, unexpectedly become friends when working on a project together.

Depicts the realistic worries and conflicts of university students in their 20's, centered around 1st-year student Yeo Joon. Even though Yeo Joon has an attractive appearance and comes from a wealthy background, he carries pain inside. His character is a puppy-dog freshman who takes a liking to a sunbae and follows him around, leading to an unlikely friendship between two very different boys.

opinion: (Can you tell I went through a Park Ji Hoon phase? lol) This drama really doesn’t have a revolutionary storyline which is why I think so many people didn’t watch it. But, I can name multiple reasons for why you should watch it, even if it’s only once. The warm romance between Park Ji Hoon and Kang Min Ah, the brotherly love between Bae In Hyuk and Park Ji Hoon and the dynamics of the trio together were all big reasons for why I enjoyed this drama as much as I did. Furthermore it has a meaningful plotline that you can analyze to your hearts content and watching the characters heal their traumas through their friendships with each other was very heartwarming. I haven’t read the webtoon it was based on but as far as the drama goes, I definitly enjoyed it and would recommend you give it a shot.

#2. 18 Again

18 Again: 2020, 16 episodes

romance, fantasy

main lead: Lee Do Hyun & Yoon Sang Hyun & Kim Ha Neul

After nearly twenty years of marriage, Jung Da Jung and Hong Dae Young seem to be well settled in their domestic lives. The proud parents of a pair of eighteen year old twins, the devoted couple have worked hard to build a happy home together. But what seems like an ideal life on the outside is really anything but. Fed up with Dae Young’s incessant nonsense, Da Jung is at her wits’ end. When Dae Young announces that he’s been fired, Da Jung gives up completely. Convinced life would be better without her husband in it, Da Jung wastes no time in filing for divorce.

Shaken by his wife’s decision to leave him and utterly disappointed in where life has taken him, Dae Young takes a hard look at his life. It doesn’t take him long to see all the places where things went wrong, and soon he finds himself regretting absolutely everything about his life. The moment the thoughts of regret enter his head, his body is instantly transformed into that of an eighteen year old, while his thirty-seven year old mind remains intact. Suddenly given the chance to re-do his entire life, Dae Young changes his name to Ko Woo Young and enrolls himself in his children's’ school. Seeing life from an entirely different perspective, Dae Young soon finds that despite keeping his middle-aged brain, he still has a lot to learn.

opinion: This drama really had no right to be as good as it is. I watched this purely because a drama based on the 2009 Zac Efron movie ‘17 again’ just sounded so stupid that I just had to check it out. Someone please tell me why this was one of my favourite drama’s from 2020? The acting was great, the plotline kept you hooked and the drama managed to capture the story of life choices and regret better than the 2009 movie did. Also, it doesn’t have a weird incest plot line like the movie did which is a plus ig. Highly enjoyable story that makes you love and root for all the characters involved, there’s not really any huge negative points to note in my opinion.

#3. Hit The Top/ The Best Hit

The Best Hit: 2017, 32 episodes

Comedy, romance

main lead: Yoon Si Yoon & Lee Se Young & Kim Min Jae & Cha Tae Hyun

Lee Ji Hoon and Choi Woo Seung are two childhood friends who also happen to be preparatory students for the civil service exam, although Ji Hoon has a secret dream to be a singer and songwriter. One day they meet Yoo Hyun Jae, a popular but problematic member of a popular '90s idol group who accidentally traveled through time to the year 2017 from the year 1993. Thus begins the story of passion, love, and friendship among 20s youth in the entertainment industry.

opinion: I feel like I have to preface this recommendation by saying that it has been YEARS since I’ve seen this and I’m purely going by my memory of really loving this when I first watched it. I also don’t remember it being 32 episodes but the episodes are only half an hour so it’s basically just 16, one hour episodes. This drama was enjoyable, very entertaining and had a unique concept but there is a part of me that feels like they didn’t quite know what they wanted it to be. At some points it felt like a sitcom and in other points I felt like they spent so much time on the mc that it was just straight up romance. That being said, I don’t think any of those elements really take away from this being an enjoyable viewing experience none the less.

#4. A korean Odyssey

A Korean Odyssey: 2017, 20 episodes

Comedy, fantasy, romance

main lead: Lee Seung Gi, Oh Yeon so, Cha Seong Won

In 2017, Son Oh Gong and Ma Wang are in conflict with each other as they look for a true light in a dark world where evil thrives. Having made a contract with Seon Mi 25 years ago, entitling her to seek help from Son Oh Gong whenever she calls him in exchange for letting him free, the two meet again in a fateful encounter. From there, Son Oh Gong is bound to his protective role towards Seon Mi, the little girl he had met years ago.

opinion: When I tell you I was OBSSESSED with this drama while watching it, I really mean it. The acting is good, the comedy hits and the dynamics between the characters are very entertaining and probably one of its strongest selling points. Every scene between Lee Seung Gi’s character and Cha Seong won’s were GOLD. That being said, if I’d have to note one down side to this drama it would probably be the fact that the later half starts dragging a little and the drama could’ve probably been told in 16 episodes. I’m also still not sure how I feel about the ending. All of that being said, this is drama was good overall and fueled my Lee Seung Gi obssesion to what it is today.

5. Tomorrow

Tomorrow: 2022, 16 episodes

Action, fantasy

main lead: Kim Hee Soon, Rowoon, Lee Soo Hyuk

Choi Joon Woong seeks a job, but it's hard for him to get hired. One night, he witnesses a man trying to end his life and decides to stop him. He gets acquainted with grim reapers Koo Ryeon and Im Ryoong Gu, who belong to a crisis management team. Their purpose is to prevent people from committing suicide. After Joon Woong ends up in a coma and becomes half-human and half-spirit, he is employed by a company of grim reapers as the newest member of the crisis management team.

opinion: South Korea ranks fourth in the world when it comes to suicide rate. This drama explores that heavy topic with fantasy elements and surprisingly funny comedic moments. The topics in this drama are HEAVY but the drama does a good job at not becoming gloomy or depressing to watch. ‘Tomorrow’ does a great job at both tastefully discussing serious matters and undercutting the heavy stuff with sweet moments and comedy. minimal romance but maximum trauma.

#kdrama #kdrama recommendations #tomorrow kdrama #at a distance spring is green #a korean odyssey #hit the top kdrama #the best hit kdrama #18 again #18 again kdrama #2022

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sillyrabbit81 · 1 year

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@sillyrabbit81 hi can you give me some tips on how to write a smutty Henry Cavill dare Mills and Boon type like story? Thankyou 🙂

I know I’ve answered something like this a few times before, but I can’t find the post! This time I swear I won’t lose it. I’ll probably add it to my masterlist somewhere. But anyway, here are some tips for you.

How to write a story with smut

(Things that I consider useful anyway)

Below the cut

Read smut. Reading is essential for any writer, it helps you to learn what works and what doesn’t. Read “good” and “bad” smut. Read both because you can try and get a better idea of why one works for you and one doesn’t. Use that as inspiration or a template for how to construct the scene. DO NOT JUST COPY A SCENE. But look at how the writer uses imagery, look at how often they talk about emotions and how much is spent discussing actions. Look at word choices, sentence length etc.

Ask yourself why you are writing smut. Not in the broad sense, but in the story you’re writing, ask yourself why they are getting it on. Is it just to get off? Are they exploring kinks? Are they falling in love and moving to the next stage? When you know the why, the how is a little easier.

Dig into the characters, make the sex match who they are and make it make sense. Eg, if your character is a virgin or someone with very little experience, chances are they will have some nerves about the experience. If they aren’t nervous maybe suggest why they aren’t, like are they really comfortable with their partner, or really excited so they don’t feel nervous. Little character details make the scene richer and more enjoyable to read.

Know what you’re writing about. I’m not saying you have to have had sex or engaged in the act you’re describing. I’m not going to lie, it helps, but it’s not essential because in the end, if you aren’t writing a self insert, it’s not about how you felt during the act, it’s about how the character feels. Research what you don’t know about, I sometimes research things I know about anyway to get a different perspective on what I’m writing about. Sometimes, I find things out I didn’t know.

Use a thesaurus with a warning… some words may technically be right to use, but just feel wrong. Like describing something wet as “moist” may technically be correct, but the word turns a lot of people off so may not be appropriate in all cases.

Same with metaphors or euphemisms, I know I’ve done this, most writers probably have, but a badly placed metaphor can make people laugh when you really don’t want them to.

Write. Just write (I seriously need to work on this myself). Write it all down, use poor word choices, use whatever, just get it on the page. Then go back and edit it. Sharpen the sentences, change or remove jarring words, add more context.

Be realistic. A lot of times, sex isn’t perfect, people laugh, they miscommunicate, things fall out of where they should be, people say dumb things, sometimes it hurts, sometimes it’s over too quickly or takes too long, sometimes you had garlic last night. Smut writing is fantasy, so you don’t have to make things go wrong all the time, but sometimes adding a little bit of realism makes the scene so much better and it is often a chance to develop characters further too.

If it turns you on, it will probably turn someone else on too, but it won’t turn everyone on. Be aware of that, and that it's okay to write something that not everyone is into. Obviously some things are more niche than others, but if you like it, then the authenticity of your writing should help. Don’t just write something to be popular because most people can see through that. If you’re writing something that isn’t your usual kink, that’s okay, I’ve done that, but try to find something about it that you like and focus on that.

Don’t try to put everything into a scene. Sex isn’t always a million positions, doesn’t always hit every kink, and it's usually better if it doesn’t. A lot of my scenes are only one or two positions, they aren’t even that kinky a lot of times, but they can still be sexy because of the other things that are happening for the characters. Especially if you’re starting out, keep it simple, don’t add anything that isn’t necessary and you can write extremely hot vanilla, missionary position sex scenes, so you don’t have to go crazy. Hell, you don’t even need them to have sex to write a hot scene.

Discuss with friends. If you can find a Beta reader, that’s great! But if you can’t, you could just talk in general about a scene with a friend. Make friends with other writers if you can, and discuss these things with them, share ideas, problems you encounter etc. Learn together.

Know your audience. If you’re setting up a story for a romantic love making session and one of the characters suddenly brings out a whip, you’re going to lose some of your audience. If you want to write that, then go ahead, but don’t set your audience up for one thing and then switch it up on them, most of the time they don’t like it. What you can do is allow characters to explore some things like a couple that may be heavily into bondage, might over the course of a novel experiment with different sex, but you need to set it up so it makes sense to the audience and they are willing to come along for the ride.

Learn about storytelling techniques. For example, know what makes a Mills and Boon story a Mills and Boon story, learn the tropes, the beats to hit, learn the genre. This isn’t to say that you can’t play with the genre, but you have to know the rules before you can break them. Learn about 3 act, 5 act structure, the hero’s journey etc. Again, you don’t have to follow them, but you should know them.

That’s all I can think of right now. There’s always more to learn, sometimes when I write, I focus on improving one aspect of my writing. And not all of this is important all the time. If you’re writing a 500 word drabble, there isn’t space for novel like character development.

I hope this helps.

❤️ Rabbit

#penneferofvenerburg #ask sillyrabbit81 #writing advice

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persnickett · 10 months

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A9. Who was your first ship? B4. Who is your current favourite author? What is their best story? B6. What is your favourite story trope? Why? B9. Who is your OTP? C6. Is there anything in canon that made you want to quit the show? What was it? Why did you hate it? [tmr] D10. What is one story idea you really want to read but no one has written yet?

-💖 {currently having heart broken & repieced by the blood culmination}

Hellooooo and thank you for the ask <3 A9. Who was your first ship? Hmm. Had to go back all the way to live journal to check that one but I think it depends if it means romantic ship or not? My first fanfiction was supernatural fanfiction featuring the brothers but my first ship must have been Dom x Brian from the Fast and Furious series. I haven't had the heart to revisit it since we lost Paul (10 years this year!?!) and I think I'm most comfortable that way. Then I went through my (10 year) die hard phase then ended up here, not a lot of history to share, really! B4. Who is your current favourite author? What is their best story? Tolkien is my favourite author always and we all know his best story lol. I think this means on ao3 though so I'd say I tend to revere the things I can't do, so my favourite things are poetic descriptions and stunning world building. Which means I have to recommend my two darling loves Tattered_Dreams and singtome. I haven't read all their stories yet - all gifts to myself for when I finish tbc! - but I can tell you that Hard Rock/Callisto is singtome's opus (be ready for angst) and though it was never finished, the world building in Amalgamation by Tattered_Dreams once had me so enthralled I nearly broke my ankle on it (true story, I stood up after reading it, not realizing my leg had gone to sleep and rolled my ankle. I limped for a month and people made Newt 2.0 jokes, it as fab and absolutely 100% worth it).

B6. What is your favourite story trope? Why? Oh god. I'm... this very contrary person who tries to avoid tropes (not possible, everything that can happen is a trope) and write each story as 'it's own thing' so I have a hard time answering this. Idiots to lovers? Probably? I don't think it's quite miscommunication that I write (though I hear that irritates some people to the nth degree lol) but my characters are always a bit dense to signals, or reluctant to risk falling in love or believing their interest is actually interested. So slow-ish burn I guess, though I don't have many long fics besides the obvious exception. Characterization and inner thought narration style are my favourite things to prioritize in writing so I think it's all the over-analyzing that makes it fun and satisfying for me to write out. I also like bed sharing kljasfkas lol. (Edit: I just realized I answered this as a writer out of habit and this is a reading quiz. So I have maybe already answered my favourite things to read with poetic word choice and fantasy/sci-fi worldbuilding above but my favourite tropes to read probably are the same as the ones I like to write. Slow burn definitely, with a lot of characterization that feels well thought out and true to canon, and I also enjoy the compartmentalization in any type of courtesan/sex-worker fic, or any adjacent situation where the characters have an 'arrangement' . Anything where characters can be getting it on but thinking the other feels nothing for them and their feelings are unrequited heh - usually most simply because the act could be part of their job. It's probably because it just feeds a slow burn in a realistic feeling way for me. Characters' thought processes feeling Realistic is a big priority for me in a good, satisfying read. Marriage of Convenience is always one that usually works for me much better than Fake Dating for this reason, too. A green card or insurance fraud gives the whole act a Reason characters are working so hard at all the lies other than just. Fooling people lol.)

B9. Who is your OTP? Still Newtmas.✨ C6. Is there anything in canon that made you want to quit the show? What was it? Why did you hate it? [tmr] I saw the movies first and then read the books simply because I needed to write fanfic that would save Newt. It was actually a really funny experience because I had never seen something and felt the distinct NEED to create for it, or fix it, before (and I had sort of drifted from fanfic, only writing a short one a couple times a year, and I hadn't had a new obsession in years). All my other ships I had come to backward, ie. I felt a need to write, and found characters that would suit what I needed and then dug in. Newt's character and his tragedy really took hold of me. And I felt I needed to know the books in order to write acceptable fanfiction. I nearly didn't make it through them. Dashner himself has admitted to the gender issues that I felt were prevalent and toxic all throughout the books so that was pretty difficult for me, but the book I nearly didn't finish was tfc. The torture of a 4 year old child and the way it read like fanfic of his own work were not doing it for me lol. D10. What is one story idea you really want to read but no one has written yet? OOF lol I want to read all the stories and have so little time, so I don't feel equipped to answer this one at all. I hope everyone writes the ideas that come to them! Writing and reading are both such powerful experiences that everyone should have the pleasure of indulging in at least a little bit in their lifetime. <3

#ask game #reading

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ri-writing · 1 year

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Deep Art Thoughts With Ri

Been thinking a lot about The Nutcracker (the ballet). When I was a kid, I was terrified of the Mouse King but as an adult, he’s probably my favorite. (Where is my Villain Deconstruction Piece on Mouse King a la Maleficent and Wicked? Oh, god, someone write me a Mouse King musical pronto. Can TikTok get on this?)

But today I’m going to talk about holiday ballet fight choreography from a fighter’s perspective. As a side note, I’m not going to be talking about technique. I’m going to be looking at broader fight understanding, mindset, and characterization.

Wow, you’re still with me? Okay then....

I have a lot of feelings about how choreographers approach the fight scene in the ballet, but the ones who do the best with "how does a fight work?" have Mouse King help bring about his own downfall. In these stagings, Mouse King makes two common fight mistakes that play into his loss - which is good! These are real fight mistakes people make every day! It also provides an in-story explanation for why Mouse King loses when, on paper, Mouse King should win. Yes, this is a fantasy story with magically growing Christmas trees and dancing hot drinks, but even in fantasy, character arcs should still make sense.

Mouse King’s first mistake is that he is over-confident. Yes, he should be the better swordsman. He's a grown ass adult who leads mouse armies in actual battles. He should be able to beat a ten year old. But, if you don't take your opponent seriously, you are putting yourself at a disadvantage. (For a more “real world” example of this, it is also Apollo Creed's mistake in Rocky, which nearly costs him the fight). I really like it when choreographers highlight the Mouse King’s overconfidence and arrogance, with him playing to the crowd of both the other mice and the audience. He clearly thinks he’s here for the dramatic final victory and wants to make sure all the mice have a front row seat so they can write ballads in his honor. We love Mouse King who clearly is more focused on receiving the glory of all mousekind than the fight he’s about to enter. When you’re not taking your opponent seriously, when you’re over-confident, you aren’t bringing your best to the fight. Any fighter can beat any other fighter in the right conditions. Yeah, it might be a 1 in 10,000 shot, but there’s still that 1. There are reasons Underdog Stories are A Thing - they do happen. Mouse King’s over-confidence cuts against him, and it’s a great choreography and storytelling choice when this is portrayed.

Mouse King’s second mistake is when he gets distracted. In most versions of the choreography, the little girl (Clara or Marie) throws her shoe at him. Usually it is staged so that Nutcracker is losing the fight and is about to be finished off by Mouse King, when Clara/Marie throws her shoe and hits Mouse King’s back. Instead of focusing on the opponent in front of him with a sword, Mouse King turns to go after Clara/Marie. This leaves him open and the Nutcracker stabs him. There are lots of ways people can (and do) play out the shoe-toss. I like this particular staging because it feels more realistic than, say, Mouse King dying simply because he got hit by a shoe. Getting distracted is a way people lose fights. Anyone who has ever gone into the ring learns this lesson at least once the hard way. Your attention should be on your opponent - not the corner judges or the scoreboard or the fans. When I would train students for competition, I’d get other students to cause distractions so we could practice for this. Having Mouse King lose the fight in part because he takes his attention away from his opponent is another good storytelling decision and I appreciate when the choreographer emphasizes this sequence.

For me, at least, these choreography decisions make it easier for me to suspend my disbelief about other things and to find the theater experience immersive. The protagonist wins and the antagonist loses not because they are Good and Bad, but because of very human behaviors. The choreography and characterization make the outcome make sense, and leaves me feeling satisfied with the resolution.

#martial artist talks ballet #no really #I ramble about the fight scene in The Nutcracker

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annarellix · 1 year

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The Malevolent Seven by Sebastien de Castell

‘Seven powerful mages want to make the world a better place. We’re going to kill them first.’

Picture a wizard. Go ahead, close your eyes. There he is, see? Skinny old guy with a long straggly beard. No doubt he’s wearing iridescent silk robes that couldn’t protect his frail body from a light breeze. The hat’s a must, too, right? Big, floppy thing, covered in esoteric symbols that would instantly show every other mage where this one gets his magic? Wouldn’t want a simple steel helmet or something that might, you know, protect the part of him most needed for conjuring magical forces from being bashed in with a mace (or pretty much any household object). Now open your eyes and let me show you what a real war mage looks like . . . but be warned: you’re probably not going to like it, because we’re violent, angry, dangerously broken people who sell our skills to the highest bidder and be damned to any moral or ethical considerations. At least, until such irritating concepts as friendship and the end of the world get in the way. My name is Cade Ombra, and though I currently make my living as a mercenary wonderist, I used to have a far more noble-sounding job title – until I discovered the people I worked for weren’t quite as noble as I’d believed. Now I’m on the run and my only friend, a homicidal thunder mage, has invited me to join him on a suicide mission against the seven deadliest mages on the continent.

Time to recruit some very bad people to help us on this job . .

My Review: It's the first adult fantasy book I read by Sebastian de Castell and I thoroughly enjoyed as it's gripping and well plotted story with elements of grim dark and epic fantasy and a lot of fun. Cade Ombra and his companion are not the good guy who fight to improve the world, they fight because they want to be paid and when you're involved in a suicide mission may be you need to involve some guys who are very bad if you want to survive or at least try to survive. Because your mission is to kill the seven deadliest mage on the continent. That said it could be the retelling of the Seven Samurai or other stories involving 7 heroes or anti-heroes. But we're on the anti hero side and there's always a lot of humour that keeps the story entartaining even when it could be too gory or grittyl I loved Cade because he's a realist but also a good guy at the heart even if life was harsh and killed a lot of illusions and dreams. A gripping, highly entertaining and well plotted story. Excellent storytelling and character development. Highly recommended. Many thanks to Jo Fletcher for this arc, all opinions are mine

The Author: Sebastien de Castell had just finished a degree in Archaeology when he started work on his first dig. Four hours later he realised how much he actually hated archaeology and left to pursue a very focused career as a musician, ombudsman, interaction designer, fight choreographer, teacher, project manager, actor and product strategist. His only defence against the charge of unbridled dilettantism is that he genuinely likes doing these things and that, in one way or another, each of these fields plays a role in his writing. He sternly resists the accusation of being a Renaissance Man in the hopes that more people will label him that way. Sebastien’s acclaimed swashbuckling fantasy series The Greatcoats was shortlisted for the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Fantasy. the Gemmell Morningstar Award for Best Debut, the Prix Imaginales for Best Foreign Work and the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. His YA fantasy series Spellslinger was nominated for the Carnegie Medal and is published in more than a dozen languages. Sebastien lives in Vancouver, Canada with his lovely wife and two belligerent cats.

http://www.decastell.com https://twitter.com/decastell

Book page: https://www.quercusbooks.co.uk/titles/sebastien-de-castell/the-malevolent-seven/9781529422801/

#dark fantasy #grim dark #Jo Fletcher Books #blogtour #NetGalley #review

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mrsdallway · 2 years

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i hate aftg stans and ao3 (yes i'm talking about you specifically since u r so special what r u gonna do about it? punch me? punch the screen weirdo

one of those days i found out there’s an age regression aftg fanfic and i’m. so. fucking. disturbed. ugh the moment i see a dead dove do not eat fic i suddenly become a 50yo conservative white straight man and I KNOW I SHOULDN’T BE DISRESPECTFUL TOWARDS WHAT I DON’T UNDERSTAND but… it’s so weird and problematic. ao3 is a hellhole wtf why would someone write something like that about andrew??? i couldn’t believe it so i started reading just to see how it really was and it made me so uncomfortable i couldn’t finish it like… it was pure gross fetish, i wanted to throw up. i have a 7yo sister yk..... and i know there's more out there like aaron/andrew fics wtf wtf wtf

i write about aftg bc i think it's about marginalized people and it gives me hope. we, aftg stans, always end up romanticizing it as a found family trope but it is not. it is about trauma. period. the foxes are not a family, we read them that way bc we need hope. they are realistically complex characters yet we (me included) put them as caricatures in silly little coffee shop aus bc we need hope. and they give us hope. we feel their pain and sometimes relate to it so we need to put them in a 100k long enemies to lovers fic.

but ao3 has no bounds. internet is already such a lawless place where humans vent (ha) the deepest parts of themselves but ao3 is... something. there's incest, pedophilia, zoophilia, rape etc. and maybe punishment really isn't the best choice i mean freud explains or whatever right? and what is seen as pervesion is subjective. but what is weird about ao3 is that the works we use as inspiration to write are not that subjective. they give us a solid base, it's the author's perspective and ideology. i understand the appeal of headcanons but why stan a book by the distorted image you made of it? fandoms give up any depth and fidelity to the story in favor of its own fantasies. HOWEVER, in contradiction, all of this is also the best thing about ao3. ao3 is where we can grab harry potter, a transphobe's book, and make it queer. it's subversive, it's resistance, it's revolutionary, it's beautiful. fanfics are free, in all possible meanings, and that's inherently political and vital for our society. as a ficwriter myself, i love desecrating pieces of literature, i love the profane of fanfics. but some aftg stans are being fans of what they want the book to be but it is not. a big part of the fandom is made of cisgender women and minors who romanticize triggers and fetishize aquileans AND ARE NOT READY TO READ AND INTERPRET AFTG. the other part of the fandom is made of weirdos. yes i'm being a hypocrite i know i'm cringy too but CARAIO VEI i hate how shallow we are. what am i even doing in this pigpen!!!!!!!!!!!!!! living is better than dreaming.

I've got no interest

In any theory

In any fantasy

Nor in what's beyond

Nor in face painting

Whees and yays, or melodies

To match my yawning

Morning dreams

I've got no interest

In any theory

Nor in those things from the east

Astral novels

My hallucination

Is to bear the daily life

And my frenzy

Is the experience

With what's real

A black person, a poor person

A student

A woman on its own

Blue jeans and motorbikes

Gloomy regular people

Girls kept by the night

Revolver: Sniff it, your bitch!

The miserable park dwellers

With their newspapers

Sheeps, table, work

My body falling from the eighth floor

And the loneliness of people

From those capital cities

The aggressiveness of the night

The traffic movement

A delicate and joyous young man

Dancing and shaking his body

Is too much!

Blackheads, pimps on the face

Rock music, Hot Dog

"Play it cool, Baby"

Twelve colorful youngsters

Two police officers

Fulfilling their cruel duty

And defending their love

And our life

Fulfilling their cruel duty

And defending their love

And our life

But I've got no interest

In any theory

In any fantasy

Nor in what's beyond

Let alone the prophet of terror

Announced by the Clockwork Orange

Loving and changing things

Interests me more

Loving and changing things

Interests me more

— Alucinação (Belchior)

#i'm drunk on corote fuck you fuck the person who wrote an age regression fic about andrew #i hate it here #discourse #vent #rant #tfc #tkm #trk #aftg #all for the game #the foxhole court #ao3 #fanfic #andreil #andrew minyard

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