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coldairballoons · 4 months

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i've seen a lot of people saying that saltburn (2023) isn't a commentary on class, and genuinely, i have to disagree.

keep in mind, i watched this at 3am last night with my sibling, but i'm also a literature major with a focus in literary criticism of popular culture (including film), so i do know what i'm talking about!

spoilers below the break

first of all, framing saltburn as a conflict between the upper class and lower class is incorrect. in fact, that in itself is one of the major criticisms that comes up throughout it! oliver is quite literally not lower class, but uses the preconception that the cattons will view anyone in a lower social class than them as a tool to manipulate his way into their life. despite this, he is not lower class. and you are not meant to root for him, especially not towards the end.

the marxist theory of literary criticism surrounds the idea that in every story, one of the key concepts is a class struggle. this could be between any class, but the most common is the rich vs poor duality that shows up in most stories - ex. titanic, the fall of the house of usher. the thing is, in both of those examples, the sympathy lies with the victims - the lower class. in titanic, you are meant to feel guilty on behalf of the rich leaving the lower class to die. in usher, you are meant to feel anger towards the mistreatment of those who seek out the treatment the family offers. but while usher is a clear criticism of class, is that its main genre? is is purely a class struggle movie? no. it is a story inspired by edgar allan poe that surrounds horrors of family, trauma, and yes, class, but also morality. meanwhile titanic is supposedly a romance. though jack dawson is young and poor, he is not the only sympathetic character. what i'm saying here is that media is incredibly layered, and while on the surface level, something may not be entirely a class conflict story, those undertones exist throughout, no matter what. even take hit series percy jackson for example. there is still a class discussion to be had there, with percy and his mom struggling with finances, while annabeth and her father live comfortably.

but saltburn is interesting, because the antagonist throughout the entirety of it is, as far as the audience knows, lower class. you are introduced to him, not through judgement for his living condition, but through compassion and generosity. felix offers him a hand, even when he isn't in the same group as him. that in itself is a criticism of class dynamics.

listen. i hate rich people as much as the next gen-z college student. i personally have a hit list with many a billionaire's name right at the very top. but it's undeniable that, despite the class difference, the cattons - at least venitia and felix - are kind to oliver at first. obviously, he is a part of the other, but he is still a person. elspeth enjoys his presence. james treats him as a son. farleigh feels threatened by his presence, because he knows that, if they so choose, they could replace him with oliver.

i want to talk about farleigh for a second.

i literally have not seen anyone talk about farleigh, and i am upset about it. not only is he one of the most compelling characters - a supposed american slacker who lives with his extended family and blows their money on lavish means -, but he is important in the class discussion because it affects him directly. the cattons do not support his mother. she is in america, and although they have the ability to, they actively choose not to. the reason felix is bothered when farleigh implies that it is, in fact, a "race thing", is because it is. why is farleigh the one dependent on the cattons, and risking expulsion from the family? because he is the first other that they encounter.

and then pamela, who not only has sought help from the cattons, but disappears midway through with no explanation. she goes directly from rehab to them, and although she is trying to find a place to live on her own, the cattons offer her no assistance. they offer her nothing, and complain when she is in their space. they offer her NO help, when they so easily could set her up with a small flat and monthly allowance to help her find a job.

and not only is this a criticism of the upper class - the inactivity and extremely single-minded worldview that the cattons have, the amount that they are out of touch with not only the outside world and the lower class, but their own emotions -, it's also a criticism of the upper middle class.

as someone currently in college, whose parents are a college professor and a high school teacher, i am fairly middle class. however, there are so many people in my immediate vicinity - folks i know from high school, in my classes, extended family, etc., - who are Extremely upper middle class. however, they have the comfort of certain things that i, and my family, don't have. that's just part of life. however, in saltburn, oliver milks the "middle" in his "upper middle" class. he milks it, and he runs it absolutely dry.

someone truly in his alleged position would not be able to spend the summer lavishly and hedonistically gallivanting around the countryside of england, playing tennis and smoking cigarettes by the lake. hell, someone in my middle class position wouldn't be able to do that either, especially not while attending oxford fucking university. he would likely need to work, not just to support himself, but to support his mother, especially after - again, allegedly - his father died. and not only is this coming from a place of an oversight on his part, not realizing what his privilege truly is, but it also comes from a place of oversight on the part of the cattons.

do i think that saltburn is a movie about class? nope. at its core, it's a story about a desire for power and possession, ownership and obsession. there is this intense, almost vampiric lust throughout the entire thing, and that's in part what makes it the perfect setting for discussions of sexuality, of madness, and, honestly, class. wealth is power, and the cattons have a lot of it.

#saltburn #saltburn 2023 #oliver quick #felix catton #barry keoghan #film #movies #saltburn movie #miles is dumb

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hayatheauthor · 1 year

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How To Write And Create A Subplot

A subplot is an essential aspect of any book. It helps drive your story forward and hook your readers in with a compelling narrative. A good subplot raises the stakes for the main character by introducing side characters, creating plot twists, adding another dimension to the story or revealing information from the past or future.

However, if executed incorrectly subplots can overshadow your main plot and deviate from the heart of your story. Unsure how to create and execute a subplot? Here are some helpful tips to get you started!

Why Are Subplots Important?

A subplot is a narrative thread that supports the elements of your main plot. They often build conflict or shed light on a secondary character’s story. Subplots help you create multilevel narrative arcs and build complexity and depth.

Your readers certainly don’t need to know what your antagonists were doing while the protagonist underwent secluded training, but adding this subplot builds tension, heightens the stakes and easily portrays personality traits and character flaws. This is especially true for genres such as SFF or horror where your characters often don’t know their enemy’s plan until the last moment.

Subplots are often what make your readers connect with your characters and world-building. To put it simply, if Harry Potter was written without any subplots Rowling could have wrapped up the entire series in one book.

Types Of Subplots

It’s important for authors to branch out and implement more than one subplot in their manuscript. Sticking to one subplot can often result in a poor portrayal of an important moment or make an interesting arc fall flat. A simple way to avoid this is by combining different subplots when working on your manuscript.

Mirror Subplots

Mirror subplots are essentially a subplot that mirrors what your protagonist or antagonist is going through in order to illuminate their personality traits and how they dealt with said situation. A great example of a mirror subplot would be Sophie and Agatha’s dynamics during the first book of A School For Good and Evil.

Sophie and Agatha both start off with essentially the same introduction to characters like Tedros, the faculty, their roommates, etc. but while Sophie uses a negative outlook to harm those around her Agatha focuses more on a problem-solving approach.

Contrasting Subplot

A contrasting subplot is when a smaller character faces the same situation as your protagonist/antagonist but handles the situation differently. For example, a protagonist allowed themselves to be injured in order to safely evacuate a nearby citizen but an antagonist in a similar position used the civilian to shield themselves from the attack.

Contrasting subplots cannot exist unless both characters undergo the same situation, which is why it is important to plan this subplot out before executing it.

Complicating Subplot

Complicating subplots are the most common subplot used in literature. They’re pretty self-explanatory and involve a secondary character creating complications for the protagonist. This can be as simple as your love interest’s sister spreading gossip about the protagonist, or as complicated as a grand political scheme created to turn the protagonist’s allies against them.

Romantic Subplot

Romantic subplots are often confused with romance written as a subgenre. The difference between the two is simple—a book with romance as a subgenre simply includes romantic themes, however, a romantic subplot uses romance to deviate from the main plot.

For example, if your protagonist left their usual environment to attend an event with your love interest for a couple of chapters, that counts as a romantic subplot. However, a character simply having a romantic moment does not constitute as a subplot.

Things To Keep In Mind When Creating A Subplot

Now that I’ve divulged all of the facts associated with writing a subplot, here are some personal tips writers should take into consideration when creating a subplot.

A Subplot Is NOT Its Own Story

This is an important factor many writers often forget when creating a subplot. Subplots are meant to tie into the main plot and move the story forward. They are supposed to be an arc in your story, not a story of their own.

Subplots are a great way to foreshadow events, drop hints, reveal character traits, etc. however, you need to consider whether or not your manuscript needs to have these characters. Your deuteragonist’s tragic past with the antagonist might make for a good story, but you could probably summarise those events within one chapter.

The same can be said for past love interests, ex-friends, training arcs and backstory arcs for minor characters. These factors would all propel your plot forward, however, incorrectly implementing them can ruin your reader’s immersion and deviate from the actual plot.

If you’re unsure whether or not your subplot should be included in your novel, take the time to consider these few questions:

Does your subplot help your protagonist accomplish their main goal? Or does it drastically deviate them from their initial purpose?

Does this subplot introduce a new character, a new side to an old character, or the ‘true’ version of a seemingly good/bad character?

Would your character be unable to attain their long-term goal without this subplot?

Would your world-building, character development, or a certain aspect of the main plot feel confusing if not for this subplot?

If your answer to these was yes, then you probably have a valid subplot on your hands. If not, then you should genuinely consider questions and take into account why you want to include this subplot, to begin with. If your answer is something along the lines of ‘it has so and so scene/dynamic which I really enjoyed or think the readers will like’ then your manuscript would probably do better without that subplot.

Create Conclusive Arcs

Unlike your main plot, subplots are supposed to have a start and finish. They need to have a complete arc and some semblance of a conclusion.

For example, if you were writing a contrasting subplot where the side character decided to abandon another character in order to save themselves, you need to consider what happens once you write out this scene. How do the other characters react to it? Does this impact your side character’s position in the story? And most importantly, how does this impact the rest of your plot?

You need to know where you’re going to go with your story once you have concluded your subplot, and figure out a way to tie your subplot into your main plot.

I hope this blog on how to create and execute a sub plot will help you in your writing journey. Be sure to comment any tips of your own to help your fellow authors prosper, and follow my blog for new blog updates every Monday and Thursday.

Looking For More Writing Tips And Tricks?

Are you an author looking for writing tips and tricks to better your manuscript? Or do you want to learn about how to get a literary agent, get published and properly market your book? Consider checking out the rest of Haya’s book blog where I post writing and marketing tools for authors every Monday and Thursday.

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nanowrimo · 6 months

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Beyond the Word Count: A Book Editor's Guide to Writing a First Draft

Every year, we’re lucky to have great sponsors for our nonprofit events. First Draft Pro, a 2023 NaNoWriMo sponsor, is a beautifully designed writing app for fiction writers. Today, they've partnered with Kelly Norwood-Young, former book editor for Pan Macmillan and Penguin Random House, to bring you some pro tips on writing your first draft:

In my career as a book editor, I’ve reviewed hundreds of manuscripts. I've seen the joy of authors creating compelling tales, but also how disheartening it can be to rewrite a disjointed story. I’m here to give you some strategies to address common pitfalls so that you not only reach your NaNoWriMo goal, but also lay the groundwork for a manuscript that truly deserves to be called a gripping novel.

1. Have a plan.

Even if you’re more of a ‘pantser’ than a ‘planner’, it's really helpful to have an outline. I have two favourite approaches for this: the structure-first approach, and what I call the ‘Phoebe Waller-Bridge approach’.

The structure-first approach

There are a lot of narrative frameworks for story structure, but the most foundational in Western fiction is the three-act structure. Here’s a handy guide that breaks each of the classical three acts into a day-by-day guide to NaNoWriMo:

8-day guide to Act 1

14-day guide to Act 2

8-day guide to Act 3

The Phoebe Waller-Bridge approach

I love this quote from Phoebe Waller-Bridge: ‘I’ve never thought structure first. I’ve always thought material first, jokes first, character first ... But knowing the end really helps. Then you just go as far away from the end emotionally as you possibly can.’

Sketch out your major story arcs, your character’s desires and conflicts, and the world they inhabit. The more you know your story's world and inhabitants, the less you'll stray into scenes that lack purpose or create plot and character inconsistencies.

2. Keep the story moving.

Each word needs to propel your story forward. Superfluous details or tangents that don’t serve the narrative stall the momentum you’re trying to generate for your reader.

There’s a trick you can use to move your story forward, called the question of reversibility. Ask yourself: How difficult would it be for my character to reverse their decision? The harder it would be for them to turn back, the more you’ve moved the plot forward.

3. Plant clues carefully.

Plant important elements early and make sure every element, however subtle, serves a purpose (i.e. Chekhov’s Gun).

Be sure to set up necessary components for your climax so that you can steer clear of Deus ex Machina (having that strong outline will help you here), and avoid red herrings unless they serve a clear, meaningful purpose (e.g. you’re writing a mystery and your readers expect some false leads). Misleading your readers without a payoff can erode their trust.

4. Write for the reader, not yourself.

‘There is only one thing you write for yourself, and that is a shopping list,’ insists Umberto Eco in On Literature. Even if writing, for you, is a therapeutic outlet, a form of self-expression, or a way to leave a legacy, you’re still writing to say something to someone else. Your story simply won’t be as strong if you forget your reader’s perspective.

5. Keep daily editorial notes for your future self.

While editing should wait until at least December, end each day with a brief reflection, noting any off-course deviations, potential inconsistencies, areas to research further, or moments of inspiration to revisit when you start editing.

These daily notes will be invaluable during the editing process, helping you to remember insights that are no longer fresh when you come back to the manuscript later.

6. Embrace the first-draft mentality.

There’s a lot you can do to ensure that your first draft is the best it can be before the end of November—but just as important is to understand that all first drafts have flaws.

As a book editor, I've witnessed manuscripts transform, sometimes unrecognizably, from their first drafts. Embrace the uncertainty and creative detours—because it's from this beautiful chaos that your story will find its true voice.

Kelly Norwood-Young is a seasoned book editor and proofreader with comprehensive experience across various facets of manuscript editing. Her background includes roles at Pan Macmillan and Penguin Books, extending into a successful freelance career working with award-winning authors. Kelly's work, known for its precision and sensitivity to the author's voice, has been integral to the success of both new and established writers globally.

Try out First Draft Pro: All NaNoWriMo participants can use the discount code NANOWRIMO2023 for 20% off a premium subscription to First Draft Pro! Offer expires January 31, 2024.

#nanowrimo #writing #first draft #writing advice #by nano sponsor #first draft pro #kelly norwood-young #plot #planning

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theminecraftbee · 18 days

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Thought for making the Jimmy Shipping horror "feel" less mean re: shipping and dating games- throw in some other stock characters for people to get warped into, for people that aren't usually shipped with jimmy. Like, Mumbo becomes a generic Jealous Rival for Grian and Scar's attention, or Martyn gets flattened into a user interface "ask me anything!" hint fairy

okay so first off, property police, come on, martyn isn’t a tutorial fairy he’s another love interest,

second, this is a good point! the jealousy and rival angle is inspired. I also think maybe as a reference point I could go read some of the pre-existing like, “oh no I’m the villainess in a dating simulator!” genre for a baseline (if anyone has any suggestions) or see if I can find a good dating simulator example that isn’t a subversion like doki doki literature club (the problem is that most dating sims I see get big in western fandom are already subversions and/or jokes and if I want to be true to the genre I need an example played straight; not sure if cobbling together zero escape, ace attorney, and modern fire emblem s-rank supports actually gets me something that feels true to form).

the REAL answer to this is actually the hard thing though: take it seriously. and honestly that’s part of what would make the horror work; i’d need to still do very strong character writing even with the warped characters! like, I still need to capture what makes those ships COMPELLING… just warped in terrible ways. part of the horror is that gap there, after all, between ‘what this could be if we could accept the actual flaws in it’ and ‘what is presented in an “ideal” world, stripped of that’. so it’d definitely have to do with how strongly this can still be plotted out…

(also, a little getting over my constant push-pull between “loves writing things that are a commentary on fandom tropes” and “INTIMATELY aware I have 11k followers and like, god, I want to be responsible about that”. I could do it I just need to figure out how to do it in a way that satisfies the bees in my brain about that,)

#answered

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klbwriting · 2 months

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For Love of Fiction

Fandom: Red Hood

Pairing: Jason Todd x f!Plus size!reader

Warnings: none

Summary: When Jason first started out as Red Hood he found a book that was starring none other than him. He picks it up, curious, and finds that he loves it, when the third book comes out he goes to a book signing and finds the author might be the person of his fictional dreams

Notes: ya, this happened, I'm not sure if I add some more or not, please reply or reblog if you want a part 2!

Jason hadn't started reading YN's books on purpose. About a year after his return to Gotham he stumbled across a book in the local library one night as he was waiting for an informant. He was in his gear, perusing the books on the author's from Gotham stand and he saw one with an interesting cover. It was a plus size woman wearing scrubs stitching up the arm of a vigilante in a red helmet. He was a bit shocked to be honest, seeing someone blatantly putting him on a book cover. He picked up, looking at the description.

Layla Olden was just a nurse, working to save her emergency room patients in a city torn apart by turf war. The city was being cut up by villains of all kinds and the hospital where Layla worked was stuck in the middle. The only hope for the dying city is found in the form of Red Fox, the masked vigilante who's willing to take on the worst of the worst to protect his city. One night he is injured and breaks into the hospital's storeroom, unaware that Layla is there. She sees his injuries and stitches him and starts an adventure she never planned while nursing not only the Red Fox's body but his soul.

It didn't exactly sound like amazing literature but Jason had never seen a book with him as the main character. He was fascinated by it. He set down a 20$ on the stand where the book was and took it with him. That morning after patrol he started reading and he couldn't stop. The cover and the description weren't completely honest. The book wasn't just a love story between a vigilante and a nurse, it was a character study on a man who can't come to terms with his father, or his past, and a study on how society treats women based on their appearance. The book wasn't exactly about him either. This woman clearly didn't know his identity, but she created a compelling character that Jason could relate too. The Red Fox was really Phineus Simpson, son of the richest man in the city who ran away due to his father's unsavory affiliation with the city's worst crime lords. He started hiding in underground fight clubs, learning skills and gaining connections to help him start to cleanse the city and repay the sins of his father. And Layla was probably the most amazing woman he had ever heard of. She was smart, funny, kind, but she was also sarcastic, stubborn, and sometimes self-righteous, she was everything Jason had ever dreamed of in a woman. Too bad she was a fictional character. He couldn't put the book down, the characters and the plot, the way she described the city as if it was a living, breathing creature worth love and protection. It was amazing.

And when the sequel came out he was first in line at the bookstore to buy it. He devoured it in one night, faking sickness for the first time ever in his life. Bruce had been suspicious but Jason really laid on the coughing and shivers and the man relented, going with Tim instead. The second book was somehow better than the first, giving insight into the heroine's struggles with her mother's death at the hands of Phin's father. It was also when she found out who Red Fox was and it almost destroyed the relationship, but in the end they came through and admitted their love. Jason wished he had something like this, someone who saw him like this author saw Red Fox. He was more than just the mask, more than his father, more than his past. There was a third book coming he knew, and when it released he was going to be first again, and maybe he would find the author, leave her a note or something saying how much the book meant to him.

The third and final book was due out at midnight and Jason had scored a ticket to an exclusive signing at a local bookstore, apparently where YN used to write the books at when she needed to get out of her apartment. He was pouring through the second book, trying to finish the last ten pages before he left to go to the signing. Dick wandered by his room, knocking.

"Not now Dick," Jason said, not taking his eyes off the book. He heard his brother laugh as he ignored him and stepped into the room.

"What makes you love that book so much?" he asked, sitting in one of the chairs by Jason's bookshelves. Jason groaned and stood. He might as well leave and read at the bookstore.

"None of your business," he said, grabbing his jacket and heading to the garage. "You wouldn't understand, when's the last time you read anything that wasn't a picture book?" Dick pretended to be wounded, laughing as he waved goodbye to his brother.

Jason hopped on his bike and got to the bookstore early, standing in between the shelves near where chairs were set up for the reading and Q and A. There were a few people sitting and waiting already, discussing the book themselves. Jason stayed back, not really wanting to share his thoughts, the last time he had talked to someone about why he liked the books they had fallen asleep, but that was how Tim was sometimes. He hung back, reading the last few pages, when he felt someone bump him. He jumped, turning and coming face to face with YN herself.

"I'm so sorry," she said. "I was just trying to grab that and slipped." She pointed to a book on the top shelf. It was a copy of Persuasion by Jane Austen. Jason reached for, being quite a few inches taller than her, and gave it to her. "Thank you so much, um, o, I see you're here for the reading. I uh, hope you like the book," she stammered, blushing a little before backing away and almost knocking over a stand of her own books. She turned redder, threw him another look and went to the other side of the shelves. Jason was a little star struck, but also was struck by how pretty she was, the picture on the back of the book didn't do her justice. He could see the resemblance she had to her character, she was plus size herself with matching hair and eye color. He swallowed hard, if she was anything else like Layla in the book he was in love. He moved to take a seat in the back for the reading. YN was introduced and she took a seat behind the table in front, opening the final book to the first page.

"Welcome, well I'm just going to start since I know you're very excited to know what happens to Layla and Phin," she said, smiling wide. "First, the dedication. This is dedicated to the Red Hood, who probably has no idea this little book exists, but without them both I and the book wouldn't be here. Thank you." The group clapped and Jason felt his cheeks get red. He quickly looked at the ground, pretending to be very fascinated by something on his boot. She started reading and by the time she finished he was definitely in love. Her voice, the way she held such passion for her words, it was beautiful. She was beautiful. She answered everyone's questions with kindness and even that sarcasm he recognized from Layla. She even looked back at him at the end. "Does our gentleman have any questions?" she asked, smiling at him. He blushed but nodded.

"Why Red Hood? Why not Batman or Robin or Nightwing?" he asked. That was what originally made him pick up the book and he still wasn't sure why she would choose him out of all the heroes that were in the city. He was nobody, an after thought for everyone, even Bruce and Dick most of the time. What made him so special to her? She looked surprised by his question.

"I...I don't think anyone has honestly asked me that before, thank you," she said. "Well, around five years ago I went to a Halloween party at a club with my then boyfriend and his friends. He broke up with me that night, at the party, had some stupid, childish bet with his friends about getting the ugly, fat girl to have sex with him. It was terrible, I walked out the club into the alley outside to get some air, find my way back to my college dorm room, when a man with a gun approached me. Just like Gotham to have someone mug me after I was just humiliated. As I was struggling to stop crying and get my wallet for the guy, praying he wouldn't shoot me, Red Hood drops behind him and says 'hey, leave the pretty lady alone' and punches him. The guy is flat on his back, unconscious so I wasn't in danger anymore, he could have just taken off, instead Red Hood walks me to the curb and waits for a taxi to come by, making sure I got in it safely. The last thing he said to me was 'bye gorgeous' and well, I was smitten honestly. The next morning I woke up, skipped my classes and started writing, and well, now I'm here and I still kind of have a crush on Red Hood." She was blushing furiously by the end of the speech and Jason was blushing also, staring at her.

He remembered that night. Remembered that pour woman, crying while the mugger held out the gun. Jason almost ignored it, thinking that he was above such lowly crimes at the time, let Robin handle it, but something about the way she had looked, more sad than scared, made him stop. That one night and she wrote this book for him? He was honored, flattered. He'd never felt better about himself honestly. The Q and A ended after that and she signed books. He waited at the end of the line. When he got to the front she blushed again when she looked at him.

"I'm sorry if my story was a little much before, I got lost in the memory," she said. He smiled at her. "I did appreciate the question though."

"I'm glad you answered it, I've been wondering about it for years," he said. "Um, would I be crazy to ask for your number?" He had no idea why he was even trying, he was sure she got asked this question a lot. She looked at him surprised, biting her lip in thought.

"Well, I'm not going to give my number to a stranger, but I do have an Instagram, if you follow me you could message me there? I will answer," she said. Jason nodded slowly. "Thank you for coming....?"

"Jason," he said. She nodded and wrote something in his book before handing it back. He smiled and headed out, resolving to get himself an Instagram as soon as he got home. He opened the book as soon as he got to his room

Jason, thank you for your question, hope to see you again, YN

#jason todd x y/n #jason todd x you #jason todd x reader #jasontodd #jason todd #red hood x you #red hood x reader #redhood #red hood #red hood x y/n #fictionlove

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megolololo · 6 months

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why shockwave is the most fatherly decepticon (even more so than soundwave):

(aka i’m delusional and smitten)

every character in every medium revolves around a theme. a theme in a novel or a show or a film tends to be an idea that will be explored in both the subtext and text of that medium.

shockwave’s theme, surprise, surprise, is creation and rebirth (in most tf media). his whole character is concerned with the parenting of either himself (as a way of rehabilitating after empurata) or of others (predacons, his little bots in cyberverse, or even his subordinates like tarn)

now, you might ask, what sets shockwave’s fatherliness apart from soundwave’s? how is he any more fatherly than soundwave?

allow me to demonstrate with the following screenshot from guardians of the galaxy:

yup.

shockwave was everyone’s father, but soundwave was everyone’s daddy (no not like that)

still not convinced? allow me to introduce you or remind you of the concept of nature vs. nurture. ironically enough, for someone who is only a father, shockwave is the more nurturing one. soundwave is considered a father because he is a cassette player and his “children” are cassettes

in idw1 soundwave was actually more so adopted by his cassettes rather than the other way around. shockwave, on the other hand, birthed - even if not literally - and raised all the subjects he needed to raise to prepare for either war or for life

in idw1, shockwave was like a father to tarn. post-empurata, he still chose to call tarn the name that defined him the most: “damus.” not “glitch”, not “tarn”, which are all personas and not real identities (glitch = associated with his outlier power, tarn = leader of djd) but “damus.” shockwave knows the real tarn because he was there to raise him.

(extra note: to really drill in the fact that shockwave was fatherly to tarn, shockwave thinks “damus” is tarn’s real name while megatron, right before killing him, implies that “glitch” is. megatron is a military leader; he will favor the identity that holds the most militant potential. shockwave cared for tarn; he will favor the boy he knew when he was still in the academy)

we can even still see the effects of pre-empurata shockwave on tarn, who takes great pleasure in the arts and everything conceptually and fundamentally beautiful like poetry or literature or music. and guess who wanted to be remembered for “both his brains and his beauty”?

in cyberverse, he was actually kinda like a father to shadowstriker. he took her in after she was severely injured and placed her in his unit as a form as rehab, if you will (she wouldn’t have been able to go to more militant and armed units in such a condition). though he was less there to nurture shadowstriker, as she was already a developed adult, he was there to protect her. iirc, in a scene where they get frozen by this immobilizer, shockwave pushes her behind him.

it’s the same in tfp, where shockwave, near the end of the series, shoves ratchet behind him during the spacebridge battle and fires at other autobots. the enemy is LITERALLY next to him and yet he chooses to protect ratchet from stray bullets. and to address the predacon elephant in the room, he literally raised predacons. he petted them and comforted them and gave them sustenance to live and thrive.

shockwave is cold, rational, and is obsessed with logic, yes, but he assumes this logic from what he has observed and what he has experienced before, whether that before be pre-empurata or before the war.

could he have had a fatherly and caring figure before the war? possibly. could he have picked it up from how animals assume this role automatically, as if it was biologically and universally a logical thing to do? possibly. but have we ever considered that… it’s just part of his personality?

BuT but shoCkwAve dOesnT have EmoTions

if he didn’t have emotions and therefore no personality, he’d never feel compelled to lie or have any will to do anything. he is driven. a computer is not. a computer is told to do something and will output the most logical output based on its coding. he’s self-driven and autonomous with his decisions.

so, to sum it up, shockwave is nurturing, but because he is often overruled by the need to follow a strict diet of reason and self-motivated curiosity for knowledge, this part of him is always overshadowed. he’s not a good man. he will frankly never be. but he can be a good father if he only let himself be. thank you for coming to my ted talk

#transformers #transformers idw #maccadam #mtmte #shockwave #senator shockwave #tf idw1 #tfp #transformers prime #cyberverse #tf cyberverse #character analysis #i wrote this without glasses #i love him so much #please don’t come for my ass if it’s ooc

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moth-nana · 7 months

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Night time talks

Bonten!Sanzu Haruchiyo x gn!reader

Summary: Sanzu seeks shelter at the bookshop where you work from a shooting. You take a liking to him and apparently so does he.

Not proof read!

Words: 2.3k

You had gotten a new job in a bookshop. The bookshop you worked in was cute and nice but it was in an area that was not that safe for women nor anyone really. The unsafe environment was mostly connected to all the bars and clubs that were owned by different gangs around Tokyo.

You had seen your fair share of violence when you were in your teens and successfully removed yourself from all that after highschool ended and you started to study literature and arts. You were happy when you got your new job but the place had raised your concern. Even though the shop was at the outskirts of the street where there were hardly any clubs and people mostly walked past to get to all the clubs and bars. You had had some girls come in before closing to seek shelter from some creepy individuals and you had been nice enough to keep them company and escort them to the nearest bus stop.

Today was different. You had a good amount of customers and when the late evening came along you started to prepare to close after a long day and many customers. Before you knew it someone ran into the shop. He had a pink mullet and formal suit west. He jumped over the register and crouched behind it. Then you heard bullets being fired not far from your workplace.

"Fuck this." You mumbled to yourself. You were too tired to even care to hide with the stranger.

"I advise you to get down." He whispered loudly. You looked at him. Your eyes directly caught his scars on the corners of his mouth. He looked like he could be a character from a book or a tv show that you would enjoy.

"I think I'm good. I have no reason to hide." Your answer was heard but the stranger didn't care. He yanked you down to his level. You landed on your but hitting your tailbone to the floor. You whined from the pain.

"I said I was good." You snapped at him. He gave you a side eye.

"I normally don't care if someone dies but right now I have no energy to clean up any blood from my clothes." He snapped back. At that moment you glanced at his right wrist and saw a tattoo that you wished to never see, a Bonten tattoo.

You heard some shots that were not as close anymore. You started to wake up more and realize the situation you were in. Should you get up and run? That would not be a great idea. Staying and waiting seems a more stable way to go from this.

You glanced at the pink haired man who was typing something on his phone. He huffed frustratingly and looked at you.

"The shooting is going to be over soon." He said this time quietly but he didn't necessarily whisper.

"Good, I need to get home." You moved to lean on the wall on the opposite side of the counter.

"Why?" He asked you. He seemed to be bored.

"I have a cat who I don't like to leave alone for too long. He tends to destroy my stuff when I leave him home for more than eight hours." You told him and he nodded.

"Do you have any pets?" You asked to be polite and for some reason you wanted to know more about him. He seemed dangerous and compelling.

"No, I don't really have time for pets nor do I really like those furballs." He replied to my not so creative question.

“You seem like a guy who keeps a really cool snake but I guess not.” you shrugged your shoulders and he looked at you. His pupils were slightly dilated. Your guess was that he was on drugs.

“How much have you taken?” You asked without actually thinking about it more. You acted stupid with no filter from the lack of sleep that had followed you for weeks now. You were too tired to mostly care much.

“Little enough for me to have a clear head but enough for you to get into hospital.” He stated with a smirk and then added, “You want some?”

“No thank you, keep whatever you got to yourself.” you waved your hands to show that you were declining his offer that most likely was a joke. You hoped it was a joke.

“Nice, more for me then.” He was taking something from his pocket that looked like a pack of pills but you stopped his hand by grabbing it.

“I would really appreciate it, if you wouldn’t take any substances in my presence.” He gave you a stare and you stared back.

“Fine.” He snapped and took his hand away from your grip without his precious drugs. You heard another bang and then it was quite like there was nothing outside. No people, no cars, no wind, nothing.

His phone lit up and he read the message he had received. "We are good to go." He informed you and rose to his feet. You followed his lead and rose from the floor. You dusted your jeans and gave him a nod.

“Next time warn me…”

“Sanzu”

“Sanzu” You gave him a smile. His face had carried almost no emotion other than annoyance or boredom since he had run into the shop but now he looked like he was unsure of something.

He shook his head and started heading out. With a wave of his hand as to say goodbye.

“Nice tattoo!” You yelled after him just before the door closed behind him. He turned to look at you and narrowed his eyes before walking away.

“He has some beautiful eyes.”

Youfelt like you were drowning in your own work. Everyday since the shooting had been exhausting with no help from the owner. It was like they had disappeared after you asked him if he could hire someone else to work with you.

You had to manage all the new books that came in and every decision that came with it. You liked to have your freedom but having no one to ask what they thought or was something you did a good idea made you feel exhausted.

You were stoking up new manga that came in yesterday afternoon. You heard the door opening and someone walking in. You didn’t turn to look who it was since your hands were full of new volumes of one of the most liked and bought manga.

“Hi,” a greeting just beside your ear made you jump a little and drop three volumes you had in your hands to the floor. You cringed as you thought how the cover might have gotten damaged.

“Oh fuck,” You whined before greeting Sanzu. You picked the dropped mangas up and checked their quality. They were still in pretty good condition so you put them to their place.

“It’s rude to ignore your customers.” Sanzu snickered behind you as you loaded the shelves quickly.

“Sorry for doing my job. Anyway, how can I help you?” You turned to look at him. He looked to be in pretty good shape. He looked at you with a subtle smirk on his lips.

“I wanted to come and ask you to recommend a book for someone like me.”

“Seriously?” You asked him and lifted your right eyebrow up a little.

“no,” he leaned towards you, “I needed a reason to talk to you.”

“Interesting, what do you need?” You leaned your upper body a little closer to his. You could feel the building up tension between you two.

“Your name and your number would be nice.” His voice sends shivers through your skin.

“My name is (Name), but you need to put on more effort than that to get my number.” You leaned back to your original position.

“Is that so?” His lips were curved into a big grin.

“Surely it is, I would like to have you on a date after my shift is over.” You felt daring with him standing before you like that. He scanned your face with his eyes for something. A small laugh left his lips as he straightened his back.

“Then that is what we’ll do.” He gave you a wink. He turned away from you to leave.

“19.15!” you shouted after him while he was walking out again.

“See you soon!” He yelled before stepping out of the store.

You were really waiting for the closing time. Not many customers came after he left and it made your time fly by slower than before or maybe it was because you were excited. You were cleaning up the counter when you saw him. He walked in front of the shop and you greeted him with a smile and held your finger up to tell him without words that it would take a second before you would meet him outside but he came in.

“Can you wait up a few seconds?” you asked before putting all the counted money where you should before closing. He was waiting without a word next to the door of the shop. He was leaning on the window with his hands in his pockets and a smirk playing on his face. He looked really handsome.

You finished with your closing and the last thing was to lock the place up and it would be all done. You had shut all the lights and the small shop had become dark. Only light that came in was from the streetlights outside. You walked towards the door and he opened it for you and let you walk out before him. You thanked him and locked the place up.

“Where to?” you asked Sanzu while he started walking towards all the clubs. “I was thinking of taking you to one of our restaurants to eat and then we would go and enjoy a few drinks in a club.” He summarized his plan and your nose crushed up. He seemed to take notice of that and stopped walking and so did you. He seemed amused before asking, “What would you like to change about my plan?” You had to think for a while before answering him. “I would like to do something that doesn’t involve money since I can’t afford anything fancy… Also I would like to do something memorable for both of us.” He seemed taken back by your words. “Then what would you like to do?” He asked and you took his hand. “Follow me.” You started to pull him by his hand to the closest bus stop.

That night you had taken a bus with Sanzu to the closest grocery store and bought ingredients to a dish you liked very much. You had welcomed him into your apartment and let him pet your black cat, Niko, and cooked you two food.

He had enjoyed the food you made and you two had talked about anything you two had thought of.

He didn’t really tell you much about his work, but he told you about stupid shit his coworkers had said and done that had annoyed him. You told him about your studies and your boss who had just left you with the bookshop. He listened well and asked questions. You too listened to him and liked to hear him talk. In the end he left around two in the morning.

You were at awe how he acted more humane than you thought. He didn’t seem so scary after you had pulled him into the bus and partly forced him to go to the grocery shop with you. He seemed so out of place sitting at your dining table keeping you company while you cooked and after that sitting next to you on your couch.

After that night it became a habit for him to visit at your place at evening at least once a week. He seemed to be more at ease when he got to talk to you while you made food or did some studying.

He had found some paintings in your room once and had begged for you to let him keep one so he could have something to remember you by at his place.

You had one picture of him. It was a polaroid picture of him sitting on your dining table head leaning on his hand while partly falling asleep with an actual smile.

Sometimes when he came by he had blood on his hands and a wicked grin on his face. It did scare you a bit at first but after a while of him showing up like that on your doorsteps it also became a part of your reality. It wasn’t all new, you had been a part of a delinquent world before but knowing that the things he did were more than fights in a parking lot that left bruises on both parties made you feel weird. It felt like Sanzu was easing you into his world bit by bit.

“You know that I love you, right?” You asked him as he had come out of your shower with clean clothes he had brought to your place a few weeks prior.

“Oh, really?” His voice was playful as the look on his face. “Where did this come from?” He tilted his head and you shrugged. “I just wanted you to know.”

“I love you too.”

Bonus: Before he was supposed to take you on a date.

“Take them clubbing!” Ran earned a few approving nods.

“No, take them to eat in one of our restaurants or something more expensive.” Koko disagreed with Ran and sat with his hands crossing his chest.

Kakucho was shaking his head. “Ask them. By what you told us before they most likely will not like clubs.” He was ignored by most and Sanzu decided to go with both Koko’s and Ran’s ideas. But Kakucho knew better.

#tokyo revengers #tokyo revengers x reader #sanzu haruchiyo x reader #sanzu x reader #bonten sanzu #bonten x reader #tokyo revengers x gn!reader

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queer-ragnelle · 7 months

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to make changes to a story or to criticize it you have to first understand and respect it. arthurian legend exists on a wide spectrum the scope of which cannot be overstated. that’s not an excuse. try to interpret the deeper themes behind the layers of sometimes uncomfortable medieval subject matter anyway.

insofar as retellings go, merlin characterization varies wildly and i like many of them—from mary stewart’s asexual sweet thoughtful dad type to t. h. white’s silly weirdo old man to phyllis ann karr’s creepy inhuman predator type. i just need to be narratively convinced of it.

the movie sword of lancelot (1963) had a dagonet that told fun rhymes and offered worldly advice. king arthur (2004) dagonet was a stoic warrior with two lines of dialogue in the entire film and didn’t smile once. guess which film understood the material it drew from better and utilized the character in a meaningful way.

comprehension and respect is what sets john boorman’s excalibur (1981) at the top and leaves cursed (2020) wallowing at the bottom of the barrel. i’m not watching bc i heard the legendary sword excalibur was going to be on screen—i’m watching bc i want to become emotionally invested in a cleverly written character with lofty goals and interesting flaws wielding it. i want to root for them, imperfect though they be. but their faults have to be an intentional and thoughtful writing choice, not a result of poor planning on the creator’s part, and not an attempt to “fix” the medieval material and market to as broad an audience as possible. great king bad husband arthur succeeds where girlboss nimue fails.

i don’t want arthurian legend to suffer as greek mythology has suffered. i don’t want any of it watered down for modern sensibilities but neither do i want game of thrones 2. i don’t claim to be the final judge of what a “good” or “bad” arthurian adaptation is by any means. i like all of them! but i have read enough medieval literature and modern retellings and watched every film and show and documentary on the subject i can find, so i’m coming from that angle when i say a successful adaptation of medieval stories should act as a continuation of tradition. that can only be achieved when one considers the merit of the story above all else. capitalism will try to strangle it but we can’t let that happen. palatability or edginess for the sake of being palatable or edgy has no place in mythology and literary tradition.

all good stories are balanced, and the only way to be balanced is to admire the original stories and appreciate them for what they are, products of their time though they may be, and determine what the most compelling story you can tell with that material is. then write it down without any agenda in mind. it’s an art, not a science. so in the wake of booktok trends and weaksauce fantasy adaptations the likes of witcher (2019) and rings of power (2022) created by people who don’t like or understand the source material besieging our feeds, let’s create something beautiful. go forth and make stuff. gay knights and gay rights.

#arthurian legend #arthurian legends #arthuriana #king arthur #queen guinevere #sir lancelot #sir gawain #sir mordred #sir galahad #sir perceval #sir percival #sir dagonet #merlin #writing #writblr #writers of tumblr #my post

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princesssarisa · 6 months

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C. E. and A. are Charlotte, Emily, and Anne, obviously.

Obviously, Anne is the Brontë who most clearly deconstructs the "bad boy" Romantic hero with her negative portrayal of Arthur Huntingdon in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. But what about her sisters with Rochester in Jane Eyre and Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights?

I was just reading @burningvelvet's in-depth analysis of the Byronic hero archetype in literature, which @bethanydelleman reblogged. When discussing the Brontës, they concluded that Emily plays the archetype fully straight in Heathcliff, since Heathcliff never changes or redeems himself, while Charlotte partly deconstructs it by playing it straight in Rochester at first but then punishing and redeeming Rochester so that he's no longer Byronic in the end. That's definitely a valid interpretation.

Yet I've also read the argument that Charlotte plays the "romantic bad boy" archetype the straightest, because she makes (or tries to make) Rochester a sympathetic character whom Jane never stops loving and who can redeem himself and become her ideal husband. From this viewpoint, Emily was the one who partly deconstructed the archetype by portraying Heathcliff as an explicitly bad man and an abuser, whose only possible romance is with is the similarly sublime and monstrous Cathy, and whom no ordinary girl like Isabella could ever hope to change. Although her deconstruction doesn't go as far as Anne's (so this argument goes), because she still creates sympathy for him and portrays his passion for Cathy as romantic.

Then of course there's the pop culture idea that both Rochester and Heathcliff are completely straight examples of romanticized Byronic bad boys, while only Anne was "the sensible one" who deconstructed the archetype. As seen in that popular yet (IMHO) slightly unfair Kate Beaton comic that shows both Charlotte and Emily swooning over dark, brooding men to Anne's disconcertion.

Of course the last option is that all three sisters deconstructed the Byronic hero archetype in different ways: Anne by dismissing him altogether, Emily by making him a compelling and tragic villain but still a villain, and Charlotte by punishing and redeeming him.

Which way of reading their work rings the truest to all of you?

#poll #the bronte sisters #charlotte bronte #emily bronte #anne bronte #jane eyre #wuthering heights #the tenant of wildfell hall #byronic hero

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the-meta-tron · 9 months

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Crowley ISN'T Lucifer, But...

So today, Neil Gaiman basically killed The Crowley-was-Lucifer theory, which is fine. I thought the theory was fun, but to be honest, it never completely satisfied me.

The most compelling evidence (for me) regarding the theory were two things 1) we see Crowley before the fall, creating the stars and Lucifer was the Lightbringer, and 2) a lot of what Satan/Lucifer is attributed are things we see Crowley doing in the show's flashbacks.

I don't think it was wrong to recognize that the mythology of Lucifer/Satan has connections to what we see in Crowley's character. I just think it's missing some important context.

For example, Crowley is The Snake from the Garden of Eden. We know that for a fact. The Snake tempts Eve to eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and humanity falls (aka Original Sin). Satan is never mentioned in Genesis. But over time, the snake is attributed to being Satan.

That doesn't mean Crowley is Lucifer/Satan. It just means humans in the GOmens verse tend to attribute the demonic things Crowley does to Satan over time because they simplify their own history. The same can be true for enacting wrath on Job or showing Jesus all the kingdoms of the world (tempter of the Gospels). Those things happen, a demon does them, and later down the line, they are conflated as being done by Satan.

Originally, the word satan just meant "adversary" or "opposer." It was a word that described any adversary to God, sometimes even humans. Over time the concept of satan evolved to Ha-Satan, aka The Adversary, the personification of all evil whom Lucifer and The Devil are often attributed to. So there's actual real-world evidence of these translations of any adversary becoming The Adversary, and anything anyone does that opposes God's plan eventually becomes attributed to Satan over time.

And since Crowley is the one on Earth doing things for most of human history, I'm sure most of the things he does get attributed to Satan in the telephone of human mistranslations and simplifications.

Basically, Crowley is the overworked employee who does all the work, and his boss gets all the credit.

But Lucifer, the angel Satan was before he fell, was Not Crowley, and I think that's important. A lot of people were pointing out that Lucifer questioned God, and Crowley asked questions so badda-bing badda-boom Crowley=Lucifer, but I think that's ignoring or simplifying a lot about Lucifer.

Lucifer didn't just question God or rebel against God. Lucifer wanted to be Above God. (Originally, the concept of Lucifer was a king of Babylon, and the concept came strongly from Sumerian mythology, but he was eventually conflated as the Devil/Satan in theology over time). The Book of Isaiah basically describes the main motivations of Lucifer:

Isaiah 14:14: "I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High"

The Cave of Treasures was responsible for the first and most popular proto-orthodox Christian explanation for why the angels fell. Basically, the concept of fallen angels in the Bible is dubious at best. In a lot of rabbinic Jewish literature, Satan and his satans are still angels and servants of God; they just accuse humanity of wrongdoing and punish them for sins. Christianity really developed the idea that Satan was the enemy of God, and the two of them were the figureheads of Good vs. Evil. And with Satan being conflated as Lucifer and Lucifer being conflated as a fallen angel in the Book of the Watchers and that concept of fallen angels (which in the Book of Watchers notably happened after the fall of man, the angels fell because they had sex with humans) Christianity suddenly needed to explain why all these angels became fallen in the first place BEFORE the temptation of Eve, so the Fall of Man and Original Sin was retroactively preceded by the Fall of Angels, and then they had to come up with Why They Fell.

The two biggest Sins that became popular explanations for why the Angels fell were Pride and Envy. Pride, as taken from Isaiah and attributed to Lucifer The Angel instead of Lucifer The Babylonian King, where Lucifer wanted to be above God and have divinity for himself. Envy came from the Cave of Treasures, where Satan was jealous of mankind and refused to prostrate himself before Adam. Basically, God told all the Angels that Humans were going to be the next big important thing and Most Loved by God. Lucifer got jealous because He was Most Loved by God, so he decided to overthrow God out of envy, and the reason why he tortured humans is that he still is envious of them.

So I think fundamentally, if we look at these proto-orthodox explanations of The Fall, Crowley obviously isn't Lucifer. Crowley never wanted to be God. Crowley never hated or envied humanity. He protects them. He pranks them and tempts them, sure, but without malice.

He just had questions. He was Just Some Guy Angel who wanted to make the stars and didn't understand why it had to all go kablooey in six thousand years. Heaven's institution refused to give him answers (or even let him ask his questions, based on his awe at Job conversing with God), so he went and talked to the other angels who were also disgruntled with management in Heaven but for maybe more selfish reasons (Hey Look, It's Lucifer and The Guys). And because he was unsatisfied with Heaven's system, he ended up hanging out with the wrong people, getting involved in the war, and sauntering vaguely downward. And fundamentally, Heaven is going to punish anyone who challenges the status quo. It doesn't matter why or if they had good intentions.

I kind of don't want to know what angel Crowley was before he fell. Maybe he was high-ranking, and maybe he lost his memories, but ultimately the angel he was doesn't matter anymore. The trauma of the war and the fall stripped the angel Crowley used to be and transformed him into the demon we know now. The demon he is now is the only character we need to know. It is fun to theorize, and the angel he used to be might inform the demon we see now (although I think we have most of the information we need to understand that). But the war, the fall, and his time on earth, I think, inform his character far, far more.

#good omens #good omens season 2 #good omens meta #good omens theory #crowley #good omens spoilers #gos2 spoilers #crowley is lucifer #crowley is not lucifer #the job episode

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daresplaining · 7 months

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An Interview with Christine Hanefalk

Christine Hanefalk created her blog, The Other Murdock Papers, in 2007 as a place to discuss and share her interest in Matt Murdock and his world. Over the years, she has become one of the most compelling and influential voices within the Daredevil fan community, even making a cameo appearance in the comic itself in Daredevil volume 3 #31. In 2022 she published Being Matt Murdock, a passion project centered around an area of particular fascination: Matt's legendary hypersenses. The book weaves real-world science into the vast Daredevil canon to explore the notion that Daredevil's powers, though superhuman, are not – and do not need to be – as divorced from reality as one might think.

Christine was kind enough to answer my questions about the book, and about her nearly twenty-year-long fascination with the Man Without Fear. Read the interview below...

Daresplaining: I know many people will be familiar with your blog and your longtime interest in Matt Murdock's sensory world, but could you say a little about how Being Matt Murdock first came about, and how you approached writing and researching it?

Christine Hanefalk: I started The Other Murdock Papers in late 2007 and gradually allowed myself to start writing more about the scientific and sensory aspects of Daredevil as time went on. I was really worried it might turn people off, but the opposite was true and people really seemed to dig my deep dives. And so as far back as around 2012 I decided that, one of these days, I was going to try to write a whole book on the subject.

Despite the fact that it took me ten years to complete it, with most of the work being concentrated to the final 12-18 months before publication, I had actually done some writing early-on. I think I had about half of chapters one (on the literary history) and seven (on the sense of smell) written several years ago, along with various snippets and notes that I had filed away and was able to work into some of the other chapters. I had also consistently been keeping an eye out for anything new and interesting in the peer reviewed academic literature, and managed to amass – and read through – quite a collection of books on sensory neuroscience over the years.

When that “now or never” moment finally arrived, it lined up well with a period of time in my life where I was able to cut back on regular work and devote most of my time and energy to the book. I went over all of the stuff I’d already looked at before but with more focus, and got myself reacquainted with subjects I hadn’t really touched since college, such as thermodynamics. I also reread nearly all of the comics, taking very detailed notes on how and when Daredevil used his senses to get a better idea of the overall pattern. It’s not an understatement to say that I’ve spent upwards of 2,000 hours on this project over the years.

D: I understand that you were introduced to Daredevil through the 2003 movie. What drew you so strongly to Matt as a character? How much of a role has your fascination with his powers played in your continuing interest over the years?

CH: I grew up reading comics and enjoying sci-fi and superhero movies as a kid. I was born in 1977, so both the original Star Wars trilogy and the Superman franchise loomed large in my life when I got old enough to watch them. And while I eventually stopped reading superhero comics, I always had a special place in my heart for the genre and had a certain fascination with the general idea of superheroes. That eventually steered me in the direction of the Daredevil movie when it was released in video stores (I don’t think it even went up in theaters in my native Sweden).

The specifics of Matt Murdock’s power set was definitely one thing that gave this character an unusual kind of appeal to me. I had always been interested in the science of the senses – and what happens when one is missing – and had even written a paper on sensory compensation for my neuroscience class while I was an exchange student at the University of Rochester around the turn of the millennium.

There were additional things that made Daredevil interesting of course, such as his career as a lawyer, his overall personality, and the general mood of the world he inhabited, but the combination of his power set and my already having a soft spot for superheroes definitely piqued my interest right away. Within a few months of learning that Daredevil even existed, I had read pretty much everything he had ever appeared in.

D: Do you have a favorite sense, both in terms of your own research and as a Daredevil fan?

CH: I think I probably enjoyed researching hearing the most since there’s so much to cover. It’s also fascinating to me how hearing can be called on to perform spatial functions despite having this deceptively simple, linear, time-dependent form in terms of how it is received by the ear. The fact that it’s possible, even for quite ordinary humans, to sort of “see-hear” silent objects is fascinating to me.

However, if we look at Daredevil, I’d say that hearing has tended to be overused compared to both smell and touch. While hearing is often called on to perform near transcendental duties, smell tends to be forgotten by a lot of writers, probably in large part due to the fact that we humans seem to be less conscious of smells than we are of other sensory input. For the entire history of the comic, Daredevil has often gone several issues without any reference to smell, and the things he’s been smelling have often tended to not be very interesting. It’s always a treat to see smell being used in creative ways.

Still, the sense I would be even more interested in seeing more of in Daredevil is probably touch, which I also think is used less than it could be. Sure, there’s plenty of reading by touch (print or braille), but I still think we might be underestimating the importance of touch in Matt’s life, due in part to the high expectations of the radar sense (whatever we make of it). I view the “radar” as absolutely vital to everything Matt does as Daredevil, but I also see a much greater potential role for touch to work synergistically with such an ability.

D: Do you have a favorite new fact that you learned over the course of researching this book?

CH: Yes. I do think my coming across Jacob Twersky’s writing helped solidify the idea I had about how the concept of the radar sense may have originated. Blinded in childhood, Twersky would go on to become a champion collegiate wrestler, and later a historian and author. I read both his 1954 novel The Face of the Deep and his 1959 autobiography The Sound of the Walls while working on my own book. The way Twersky describes his sense of the obstacles around him in The Sound of the Walls struck me as shockingly similar to early descriptions of Daredevil’s radar sense, including the use of the term “radar” itself.

While I can’t know for sure whether anyone at Marvel was familiar with Twersky’s writing, it’s worth noting that he was a New Yorker and a contemporary of Stan Lee and many of the others in the Marvel bullpen back in the day. Whatever the case may be, it’s clear that the Marvel creators were not the first to use the word “radar” to describe the “obstacle sense of the blind,” as it was often known at the time. Over the years, and especially after having studied the early issues in great detail, I’ve definitely come to favor the idea that the “radar sense” wasn’t meant to be understood as a literal (electromagnetic) radar, though I should add that the understanding of the radar seems to have been all over the place for most of Daredevil history. Reading Twersky definitely added considerable weight to my interpretation of the early radar sense.

I also had some favorite epiphanies connected to the radar sense, one in particular which I think explains why Daredevil’s very particular way of being blind is often so difficult to make sense of for writers and fans alike. I recently wrote a rather lengthy post covering much of that stuff.

D: While taking a renewed deep dive into the source material, did you find yourself changing your opinion on anything?

CH: I should preface this by saying that there are definitely things I’ve changed my mind about over the years, even before I started most of the work on the book. I mentioned above that my understanding of the radar sense has shifted gradually, away from the more literal take the name suggests. Looking at the comics very carefully gives you even more of a sense that pinning down anything concrete here is going to be really difficult.

Revisting the comics has also given me a new appreciation for certain runs, such as the pre-Miller Bronze Age issues. This process has also led me to reassess my earlier assumptions that Daredevil’s senses have gone through some kind of steady evolution from Silver Age goofy to modern and grounded. This really isn’t the case, especially when you exclude some of the early outliers. You can find plenty of examples of both nonsensical and absolutely brilliant “senses writing” throughout the history of the comic, but I wouldn’t say that the treatment of the senses, or Matt’s blindness, have necessarily become more grounded on average.

D: You go into great detail about how much of Matt's sensory world has not been explored yet on the page. Is there any particular, specific experience that you would love to see depicted in future runs or adaptations?

CH: Contrary to what people might expect of me given my priors, I don’t necessarily think that there needs to be more stories about his senses, blindness and so on. However, I think these aspects of the character should be viewed as absolutely essential to how Daredevil is written, no matter what the particular storyline happens to be. I make a point in the book about how Daredevil is an amazingly interesting thought experiment, and I really believe that. So I’d really just wish for writers to be more comfortable running their scenes and stories through whatever their own version of this thought experiment happens to be and making sure that what’s on the page makes sense in light of that.

D: While researching other superpowered blind characters from the comics world and beyond, did you discover any new favorites? Can we expect a spin-off blog about Doctor Mid-Nite?

CH: Ha ha, no. It’s enough of a challenge keeping up with The Other Murdock Papers these days. As regular readers have undoubtedly noticed, I’ve been considerably less active there in recent years, having to do with work on the book as well as other real life stuff that’s competing for my time and attention. I do expect it to live on for many more years though, and I do update every once in a while. I’m definitely looking forward to writing about Daredevil: Born Again when that comes out, and we also have Echo coming out in early 2024.

D: What is your biggest Daredevil sensory pet peeve?

CH: To be honest, what bothers me more than all of the silly things put together is the suggestion that Daredevil can “see better than all of us,” is “not really blind,” and so on. As much as this might sound like the whole point of the character, it also takes much of the complexity out of what Daredevil does and how he does it. As blanket statements go, it just doesn’t hold up to scrutiny, unless we radically redefine what sight is, and what the other senses – even when heightened – actually do.

D: I love the scene in volume 3 #26 when Matt evades Ikari by changing his heart rate, even though logic would suggest that Ikari could still track him using his other senses, or even just other sounds. Do you have any favorite DD moments where you let sensory weirdnesses slide just because the scene is so compelling?

CH: While it’s a whole issue rather than a single scene, I really enjoyed what Mark Waid and Chris Samnee were attempting to do with the story that sees Matt attempt to escape Latveria while losing all of his senses. The scene I’m choosing to let slide here is when Matt seems to develop some kind of heat vision (it’s frankly unclear what it’s supposed to be) as his body tries to compensate. Whenever you see hints of thermal imaging in Daredevil, that’s an indication that he’s doing something that’s much further removed from how his senses should work than most people realize. It’s not something that follows naturally from heightened senses and is more like an entirely different kind of superpower.

I definitely tend to give a writer much more slack when 1) I'm enjoying the writing overall, and 2) said writer compensates to some degree by doing a good job of exploring, or at the very least remembering, that Matt is in fact blind.

D: What are your hopes for this book in regards to the impact it might have on how Daredevil is written in the future? What are the key takeaways that you hope fans and/or potential future Daredevil creators pull from it?

CH: If people reading this interview haven’t read Being Matt Murdock they may get the impression that it’s all a long list of “don’ts” or “can’ts,” but that’s a far cry from what I’ve attempted to do. I remember reading another superhero science book a few years ago that seemed to have as its central premise that “superpowers are stupid,” which didn’t feel particularly gratifying. I don’t see it that way at all. Sure, there are certainly characters whose powers read more like magic than anything else, but I don’t necessarily mind that. We don’t have to hold every character to any kind of scientific standard, and there definitely comes a point when taking this too far just takes the fun out of it.

When it comes to a character like Daredevil, however, I feel very strongly that bringing science into the picture has the potential to aid in the creative process rather than hinder it. Daredevil is relatively unusual in that he can exist comfortably in a kind of “reality next door.” His powers are not possible in our own universe, but they are not so far removed from our normal understanding of things that we can’t attempt to make sense of them and imagine what life would be like from his perspective. Because while no one has super hearing, most of us do have regular human hearing which detects the measurable and explainable phenomenon of sound.

There are naturally things about Daredevil that not even loosening the reins of biology will address – for instance, even a science-minded writer is likely going to have to break some of the laws of the physics of sound – but understanding how these phenomena unfold in the real world helps create a good structure for how Daredevil might operate. And I feel like I’ve come pretty close to presenting a coherent “view” of the world from Daredevil’s perspective in this book.

It would definitely be a dream come true to have this book inspire future Daredevil writers, but I obviously don’t have much control over that kind of stuff. I’ve been able to give out plenty of copies to past writers and artists though, ha ha. I would want incoming writers to know that science is their friend. And that understanding some of the science makes Daredevil even more fascinating.

D: If you were given the opportunity to actually experience the world the way Matt does for a day, would you take it?

CH: Absolutely! Mind you, I probably wouldn’t want to do it for longer than a day or two and I very much appreciate my standard issue eyesight, but I think it would be fascinating to explore his world. Though in this thought experiment, I would assume that I could experience things the way he does after years of getting used to it so it’s not too much of a shock to the system. Unlike what happened in the delightfully ridiculous story where Daredevil switched bodies with Doctor Doom, and Doom appeared to adjust on the spot and couldn’t even figure out that he was now blind, I would expect it to take months or even years to learn to navigate the world the way Matt does (superhero acrobatics not included). And it’s not just about being able to integrate different amounts and kinds of sensory information. It’s also a matter of acquiring the strategies that allow for combining this sensory information with real-world knowledge in order to handle the many ambiguities which remain in a world organized around people with a more standard set of human senses.

D: Do you have any book/article/etc. recommendations for someone wanting to expand their reading on the topics explored in the book?

CH: Among the books I’ve read that I would recommend for general audiences is David Eagleman’s The Brain: The Story of You as a good introduction to the brain. If people want to progress from there I also recommend Brainscapes by Rebecca Schwarzlose. I don’t make any explicit references to Brainscapes in my book, but it’s a very solid read for anyone who wants to learn more about the role of “brain maps” in guiding our experiences. For the senses themselves, there’s The Universal Sense by Seth S. Horowitz (about hearing), and What the Nose Knows by Avery Gilbert.

Another book I read years ago that is sort of “on-topic” is A Sense of the World: How a Blind Man Became History’s Greatest Traveler by Jason Roberts. It’s not one I reference in my own book, but I guess it’s “Daredevil adjacent.” It tells the absolutely fascinating true story of James Holman (1786-1857).

D: Beyond Being Matt Murdock and your blog, is there anything else you would like to promote/mention here?

CH: Not for the time being. Maybe there’ll be a second edition of Being Matt Murdock one day, but I don’t have any such plans for the foreseeable future. What I would like to do is take the opportunity to encourage people to tackle their own passion projects. For me, finalizing this project came down to realizing that if I were to be told I only had a year to live, I would want to prioritize finishing this book. That’s how much it meant to me. And when you feel that way about something, try to do whatever you can – as much as your current circumstances will allow – to give yourself that gift. Tackling something like this can be very daunting, and I definitely had to get over my fears of making mistakes and putting myself out there in order to do this. But I’m really glad that I finally did.

For more fun facts and information on Being Matt Murdock, and to purchase your own copy, visit www.scienceofdaredevil.com

For more of Christine Hanefalk's writing, visit www.theothermurdockpapers.com

#Christine Hanefalk #Being Matt Murdock #Daredevil #Matt Murdock #Quotes #Commentary

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rinriya · 1 year

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IF Masterpieces pt.1

Wayfarer by @idrellegames

This is a unique, original and incredibly interesting game. A rich plot, deeply written characters, unusual twists and turns, lots of choices and options, and an incredible amount of work involved. This game is absolutely unique in its genre and type. “Wayfarer” combines aspects of rpg and dark fantasy literature. There are many twists and turns that make it easy for your game to take a different path. All the decisions you make are sure to be reflected in the aftermath. An absolute must-have for fans of rpg, fantasy, and books. (My MC)

Werewolves: Haven Rising by Jeffrey Dean

This is an incredibly compelling story that will make you feel like a strategist who needs to make decisions in the most difficult situations and not break down. “Werewolves” is exceptional in its genre of military fantasy. The novel is full of unexpected twists and turns. Not in a "well I guessed it" kind of way, but in a "fuck what?" kind of way. It's insanely interesting, insanely suspenseful and thrilling. Discover terrible secrets and protect those who you care about. The path you have to go through will be very difficult.

A Mage Reborn by @mage-parivir

Do you want to have your heart broken? Then this game is for you. “A mage reborn” is an author's fantasy with a fully crafted world, laws, magic, and history. The long and beautiful descriptions make the lore fun to explore and learn, and the dynamic scenes allow you to immerse yourself in battles and tense situations. You know what this novel reminded me of? A good fantasy anime. It's got that classic sword-and-magic vibe with sacrificial hero. I like that drama. (My MC)

The Fog Knows Your Name by Clio Yun-su Davis

It's a very compelling story, moreover it’s finished! “TFKYN” is an intriguing and mystical story with a dash of detective, but more paranormal phenomena. The story is filled with mystery, oppressive atmosphere and tension, which perfectly conveyed in the text. Сanon in such stories is the end result of player choices. Who they want to be with, how they want to act, and what the result will be, but in this story, for me personally, a meaningful canon is only one. It's very painful, but beautiful storyline.

The Soul Stone War by @intimidatingpuffinstudios

If you want to feel like an adventurer who gets into the most unusual and dangerous situations, then this game is clearly for you. An intriguing plot, fun company and a lot of adventure await you. Solve mysteries, fight and save the world. The plot is incredibly intriguing and you want to know all the secrets of your companions. You constantly want to know what happens next. (My MC)

Superstition by @13leaguestories

I play a lot of short stories, both IF and VN, but I rarely get emotional when I play them (I'm not the most easily impressible reader), but what the text of the Superstition did to me... I can't put it into words. It's been a long time since I was so emotionally tossed from side to side. This work is an incredible swing from which you constantly fall off, face into a dirt, but stubbornly get up and keep on swinging. This work is full of mysticism, darkness, twists and turns, drama, and oh yes, so many suffering. (My MC)

Wayhaven Chronicles by @seraphinitegames

I assure you, you will spend several nights without sleep, because “Wayhaven Chronicles” is the best modern fantasy. It's a detective story that will make you feel every dangerous and tense moment. This is a beautifully written story that you won't be able to tear yourself away from. Be a detective who's fighting for justice in this world and protecting people. Learn stunning secrets, discover a whole new world, and become the person who turns things upside down. Be the one who becomes an indispensable and important member of the plucky team. (My MC)

The Bastard of Camelot by @llamagirl28

If you love stories based on the legends of Arthur, then you should definitely play this awesome game. Become Mordred and write your own story. This is a very beautiful version of the famous legend. You can meet different people, ride a dragon, use magic and learn the secrets hidden in other people's hearts. Will you become the terror of Camelot, or will you prove to everyone that prophecies can be wrong?

Supernatural in New York by @llamagirl28

Immerse yourself in the world of supernatural creatures, meet many interesting personalities and join an extraordinary team to help and save others. This is a big and very interesting game that you read like a book! A great story, well-written characters and incredible adventures in the modern world, but with the supernatural addition. You will find colorful descriptions, many interesting references and choices that will affect future consequences. Also this story has the species nsfw scenes. Highly recommend. And tame your own dragon!

The Midnight Saga: The Monster by @the-keeper-of-midnight

If you love well-thought-out story as much as I do, then you will definitely love this game. The story takes place in the modern world, but with elements of mysticism and the supernatural. Discover a completely different world, abilities and history! There are many interesting things in game: lore, monsters, abilities, even a parallel world! This is not a standard fantasy, because the author brought a lot of unique things to the story. The game is good not only with text, but also with quests. Yes, you can visit different locations, collect legendary weapons, create an armor and unlock the secret ending. You can even die in a variety of situations, so be careful! And omg, this game contains one of the spiciest and hottest nsfw scenes I ever read. (My MC)

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sals-sonic · 9 months

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So what do you think we're supposed to do here? "Stop making problematic content", alright then no more good plots, cause forget having a compelling story or well written characters. Flush down the toilet thousand of years of classic literature and shut down intellectual freedom, cause we all know how much that's problematic and evil, forget even trying to reflect critically on things at all. Most importantly though, let's just fuck over survival victims who dare to even try to express their trauma in a way they feel comfortable with. Of course, the fact that *they* might feel bothered or uncomfortable with your perfectly good and pure content, is simply their problem, it's all about you, don't worry.

Sarcasm aside, let's make one thing clear here: this "ban" (because let's face it, that's what you call censoring media) you're wishing for, is entirely about the content you dislike, stop trying to pretend as if you have a moral high ground when really all you are is selfish at best, and at worst a fascist. Funny how your first thought when you see something that you consider problematic, perhaps even written by a victim, is to censor it immediately cause you think it will "protect" people, as if the content is the issue in the first place. It's not the art, the fics, or the ships that groom you, it's abusers. Stop taking away accountability from their actions and giving them another shield to hide behind. Stop taking away victim's voices in the name of "protecting" imaginary people. You're not helping anyone, you're suffocating artistic freedom just like a conservative who wants to ban all queer media to prevent their child from somehow "turning" queer.

The anon you are referring to has half a brain to realize that you can't control the internet, let alone people's thoughts, so ultimately, YES. It IS your responsibility to block tags, blogs and filter out what you dislike, cause no one will do that for you, and honestly? They shouldn't have to. You say that by ignoring proshippers, you "enable" us, but the truth is, if everyone would bend to the likes of entitled people like you, then we'd be the ones enabling censorship and repression. You're not holding anyone accountable for their "actions", surely not by harassing them relentlessly to bully them off a platform for literal fiction. You know, the opposite of action. Instead of even entertaining the possibility that you may be the one harming real people (which you definitely are by harassing them), all you do is sit there and whine about how your boundaries are being infringed upon, completely disregarding that you're not putting any in place or that you may be violating the boundaries of the people you criticize first and foremost. The difference is that they will block you, but you will constantly leave it up to others, thus making any boundary you have completely useless.

Do better.

#proship #anti censorship #pro fic #pro fiction #pro ship #proship please interact #anti harassment #god antis are so full of shit it's unreal #discourse #my post

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catofoldstones · 2 months

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hi i'm still here :) those things about fandom denying theorizing about jonsa just bothered me heavily since fans accepted almost every theory under the sun but hypothetical j0nsa is where they draw the line they accepted curtain of light theory and 3 heads of the dragons saving the world for years before a hypothetical cousin marriage/bethrodal that ties a lot of plot threads and themes together and resolves so much of the missing plot pieces from the show, i might not personally like it cause of the incest implications but im also consistent with hating all jon's incest ships and still keeping an open mind about j0nerys and j0nsa on a storytelling basis but j0nsa is a theory that intrigued me so much because it did make sense from the drafts,the fact that sansa will end up at winterfell with the vale army by the time jon wakes up and changes into who knows what (again fans straight up ignoring which stark is actually the closest to winterfell will never not make me laugh) to the many gothic literature and historical references george takes to especially the ashford theory thats so unavoidable i call fans extremely blind for being this in denial that it might happen as a plot point and since aegon is most likely going to be busy with dorne/cersei/dany or euron and most likely die in the south (rip son) i highly doubt sansa will tie into his plot unless thats the last targ suitor she's supposed to be betrothed with and again its kinda a big nothing theory to me cause sansa going south would be repetitive and its already been debunked with the AFFC draft leaks unless aegon wants a claim to the north which again im pretty sure he'll be engaged to arianne for martell points and allyship (also her being engaged to a secret fake bastard heir was already done with joffrey and it being completely reversed with j0n feels more complete as an end point to that theory/arc there's no way george would pass that up).

i also don't think this is all jon and sansa have to offer as characters,its what bothers me with other ship fans as well i like them as separate characters and i also feel like looking at the story, if it were to happen i don't believe it would be a fairytale romance or ending or be anytype of normal relationship, i might even be completely wrong and j0nsa might never come up (also feel like george would be wary of doing this now when media literacy is at an all time low but fandom toxicity is high as the heavens), both sansa and jon fandom theories have been through a rollercoster over the years im just happy that fans finally have theories that actually makes sense storytelling wise and not something for wish fulfillment but bias still runs amok in the fandom unfortunately and it still clouds a lot of convo about the characters and plot theories

sorry for rambling in your inbox again

Hello :3 nice to see you again

anon can I call you soulmate anon because every sentiment you’ve portrayed here is exactly what I believe too! I like jonsa too because it’s v compelling and it has good evidence to back it up, but I’m really iffed up because of the incest too. Well not because I’m a pearl-clutching puritan but because it’s not fair to Sansa tbh, as a teenaged girl in a deeply patriarchal society. If she’s the girl in grey who runs away to Jon for protection, it’ll not be as a friend who’s seeing another friend after a long time, it’ll be because she wants protection from her brother. Then comes in the question of her claim to Winterfell. If she marries Jon to smooth out the inheritance crisis, the North would still belong to Jon & not Sansa. They will not be equal in that marriage or as the lord and lady of Winterfell. However, there are far, far too many indications of a jonsa match, textually and subtextually, which I am right there with you anon, are so compelling! It would only be a blind man to not see them. And the fandom collectively vehemently denying jonsa is v funny to me because it sounds so much like

“Do you believe women are humans?”

“Yes”

“Do you believe women should have the same rights as men?”

“Yes, absolutely!”

“So you are a feminist.”

“Eww, no.”

Like, the text is glaringly pointing at something with air raid sirens and neon red lights, but what could it mean, hmm 🤔 Like c’mon guys my cat could figure out what’s going on at this point.

Though, I do believe that the Ashford Targaryen suitor could be Aegon VI for Sansa. While a lot of people believe that Aegon will marry/betrothe Arianne for that Dorne support but that doesn’t make sense to me because

1. It’s like Sansa would marry into the Tully family for support to take back the North

2. The Dornish are already burning to avenge Elia

3. Arianne is the heir to Dorne in her own right (and has had major plot around that), marrying the next King of the 7 kingdoms hardly makes sense for her.

BUT Aegon & Arianne’s plots are barreling towards each other and they very well might just get married to secure another plot point that I cannot think of right now. And I know that Aegon is doomed and Arianne survives (George, pls or else 🔪🔪) so that’s another reason why Aegon & Sansa can’t happen. And Jon being the Targeryen suitor holds so much more literary weight than a rando who has never had an impact on her or her emotions or her plot (apart from your brilliant points). Also, no I am not debating the “Dunk disturbed the Ashford Tourney so Sxn/dxr is the one for Sansa” because we’ve debated to death that even being granted the title of Maid does not mean anything like a betrothal in Westerosi society or has negative consequences (r + l & that whole war it started). Also, just because Dunk got in the middle of the Tourney does not mean that he got the girl in the end. Hope that helps. Moreover, Dunk’s asoiaf corollary is Brienne not sxn/dxr, so by their logic, briensa ftw!!!!!!!!!!

Anon, the way everyone ignored the affc outline just because it showed something the Sansa fandom had been (rightly) theorising for years now has me rolling on the floor 😂 the denial, the denial is so strong with these people, even the “neutrals”. Don’t even get me started on the BNFs. If something like this were leaked about xrya or dxny, it would have been front page news that breaks the asoiaf fandom containment lol.

Stark closest to Winterfell and takes north! C’mon now anon, don’t give these people a heart attack.

Yes well, there have been one too many people in this fandom (as is common in any other fandom *cough* jxnxryas *cough*) to reduce the characters to the ship but the block button is my lord and saviour. Shipping is so that we can bring out the best (or the worst) character traits in the people we’re shipping, not to water down the said character traits.

There’s a chance that jonsa doesn’t happen in the books or happens just in the subtext or whatever, and I’ll be fine with that as long as the stories for both Jon and Sansa have satisfying and empathetic progression. Though I would terribly like for it to happen just to dunk on the haters and the BNFs and the “skeptics” lol. I am trying to be a better person these days, but pettiness is my second daughter 🤪 and to add to this point, if jonsa doesn’t happen, that still won’t erase the heavy foreshadowing we’ve been seeing in the text till now. If some other ship had the Ashford theory, the Byronic connection, JONnel Stark marrying a girl named xrya or an ancestor Sansa Stark marrying a -whoever- in their lineage, the plot satisfaction, the narrative parallels, the textual connection, it would be considered canon by now. But no, since it’s Jon x Sansa and that is still somehow a pretty strong contender for breaking all your ships, they will close their eyes and call it a crack ship. Baby a crack ship is me and Oscar Isaac or Sasuke and Taylor Swift. But if Sasuke and Taylor had all of this evidence, it would, once again, be considered canon. Sigh, just take your Sansa hatred elsewhere man, we’re not in 2006 anymore.

Dude, I found older forums/metas a while back and there is nowhere that Sansa was mentioned w/o sxn/dxr. Sxn/sxn was just a given. It was canon, it was always going to happen and that’s just so reductive tbh. I’m v v grateful that the meta and fandom spaces (maybe just a small corner but that is enough for me) have evolved so much through the years otherwise I would get beaten here every day. It’s still toxic as hell though, with the level of trash metas that will give early asoiaf fandom a run for its money and at one point you just want to scream- you all realise that these are books, right? and we’re the readers! you’re not dxny or jon or tyrion or even fleabottom ragpickers! none of this is real 😭 i should not be coming here, armoured and with a sword, to defend my fav characters, i should be having fun here and exchanging stupid ideas 😭 but asoiaf fandom remains asoiaf fandom however well the ways of hating may have changed.

But please, always ramble in my ask box anon. I love reading your thoughts and it gives me a chance to ramble as well :)

#soulmate anon #anon asks t #jonsa #anti sansan #the rambling option is open to everyone btw #long post #don’t look

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thewriteadviceforwriters · 10 months

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Creating a Royal Character for Your Fiction Novel | Short Guide

When it comes to writing a royal character for your fiction novel, there are a few key elements that you should keep in mind. Whether your character is a king, queen, prince, or princess, they need to be believable and relatable to your readers. In this blog post, I’ll help you explore some tips and tricks for creating a royal character that your readers will love.

Research

Before you start writing your royal character, it’s important to do your research. This means studying the history and culture of the time period and setting in which your novel takes place. If your story is set in a medieval kingdom, for example, you’ll need to understand the social customs and political structures of that time.

You should also research real-life royal figures for inspiration. Look at their personalities, strengths, and weaknesses, and think about how you can incorporate these traits into your own character.

Personality

Your royal character’s personality is perhaps the most important aspect of their character. They should be complex, multi-dimensional, and relatable. One way to achieve this is to give them flaws and weaknesses, just like any other character. Perhaps they struggle with a temper, or they have a tendency to be too trusting of others.

At the same time, your royal character should also have strengths and admirable qualities. They may be brave, intelligent, or compassionate. Think about what makes your character unique and what sets them apart from other royal characters in literature.

Relationships

No character exists in a vacuum, and your royal character is no exception. Think about the relationships they have with other characters in your novel. Do they have a spouse or children? Do they have close advisors or friends? How do they interact with the common people in their kingdom?

These relationships can help to flesh out your royal character and make them more relatable to your readers. They may also provide opportunities for conflict and tension within your story.

Dialogue

The way your royal character speaks is also important. They should have a distinct voice that sets them apart from other characters. If they are a king or queen, for example, they may speak in a more formal and regal tone. If they are a prince or princess, they may have a more youthful and casual way of speaking.

At the same time, it’s important to make sure that your royal character’s dialogue is believable. They should speak in a way that is consistent with their personality and background.

Appearance

Your royal character’s appearance can also play a role in their character development. Think about how their appearance reflects their personality and status. A queen may wear regal clothing and jewelry, while a prince may dress more casually.

You should also think about how your character’s appearance changes throughout the story. Do they become more regal as they take on more responsibility? Do they become disheveled as they struggle with their duties?

Conflict

Finally, it’s important to give your royal character a compelling conflict to face. This conflict should be related to their role as a royal, and it should challenge their beliefs and values. Perhaps they must choose between their duty to their kingdom and their love for a commoner. Or maybe they must navigate a political crisis that threatens their reign.

Whatever conflict you choose, make sure it is meaningful and drives the story forward. It should also provide opportunities for your character to grow and change.

Checklist (For All You Writers)

Research the history and culture of the time period and setting in which your novel takes place. 2. Research real-life royal figures for inspiration. 3. Develop a complex personality for your character by giving them flaws and weaknesses, as well as strengths and admirable qualities. 4. Consider the relationships your character has with other characters in the novel, including family, advisors, and common people. 5. Craft a distinct voice for your character that is consistent with their personality and background. 6. Think about your character's appearance and how it reflects their personality and status. 7. Provide a compelling conflict for your character to face that challenges their beliefs and values and drives the story forward. 8. By following this checklist, you can create a royal character that is believable, relatable, and engaging for your readers.

Conclusion

Creating a royal character for your fiction novel can be a fun and rewarding experience. By doing your research, developing a complex personality, exploring relationships, crafting believable dialogue, considering appearance, and providing compelling conflict, you can create a character that your readers will love. With these tips and tricks in mind, you’ll be well on your way to creating a royal character that is fit for a king or queen.

TheWriteAdviceForWriters 2023

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