#essayofthoughts

[utilitycaster]

1. Why do you like or dislike this character? - Percy and/or Keyleth?

I like both of them, so:

I like Percy for the surface reasons of intelligence and witty comebacks and the general Taliesin Jaffe Arrogant Guy Is Confidently Wrong About Many Things reasons, but more specifically I like how incredibly aware he is of social structures and doesn't dismiss them as stupid or fake or meaningless just because he is aware how much artifice is involved. I love how much he validates Vex in this, as someone who's been on the other side of that social divide most of her life and who knows she "shouldn't" care but does, deeply. It would be so easy for him to say "look, titles are stupid and fake, I should know, I have one," but instead he says "no, I see what this means to you, because yes it's all an accident of birth and yes it is kind of stupid and fake, but it's also the reason why you lived rough for your teens and early 20s, and you are not silly for wanting this security." I also think he's a great exploration of guilt and of someone who has a lot of complicated feelings from the gods but does value their counsel; we don't get a lot of characters with that sort of nuance. His scene with the Raven Queen remains a standout for me and for all he can be melodramatic and obnoxious at times, he is also like 25, traumatized, and should be at the club. I think the question he answers (why would someone invent the gun) is an interesting one, and I think the way that his story ends up with the obvious inevitable happening and yet he still finds happiness is unexpected and wonderful to see.

I like Keyleth for a lot of reasons people will probably be annoyed about, which is...she is annoying. Annoying women: may we know them, may we be them, and may we raise them. Anyway, I think her terror of doing the wrong thing at the cost of doing anything sets up a fantastic arc for someone who is expected to become a leader. I admire how she knows she's not the most eloquent and is scared of her responsibilities but does not back down from speaking up when she disagrees with the party. I like how she's perhaps the only example of lifespan angst that is actually portrayed as making a lot of sense, especially since she is also extremely young (probably shouldn't be at the club given the bar crawling results. She should be at ZooLights and have like, one cider.) I think in general her fears are incredibly real and make sense for the character and shape her, and that's not something you see portrayed with this amount of depth very often. I stuck with the VM-era portrayal of Percy but I will say I especially love how Keyleth is portrayed in Campaign 3, because Percy hasn't changed a ton in adulthood, merely mellowed out a little, but Keyleth very much has as she's grown in confidence, as she was only at the beginning of that during the Campaign. I think her relationship with Vax is incredibly good for both of them; her sense of belonging to a place and his ability to support. I do like that she gets angry, especially after so much time being insecure, but I feel much has been made of her anger and I don't have a ton to add there, and also while I like that she is angry and expresses it, there are other characters I gravitate to for that specifically. Also I have incredible respect for her having to take on a much bigger magical burden than expected; I have said this before but my longest-running character was in a campaign where the player playing sorcerer switched to ranger, and the cleric left, leaving me as the only full caster and primary healer (though thankfully we got a baller paladin shortly after). The fact that Keyleth had to, and could, be whatever the party needed mechanically was a godsend. I know VM died a lot but they would have died like 20 times more without her and Scanlan and especially without her.

#answered #essayofthoughts #cr tag #*bad percy fan voice* i don't actually care about his mechanics very much. i mean big damage is fun and i love an action surge #but i have never been able to give a damn about dps

[esotheria-sims]

Making a dedicated post for this WCIF so it doesn't get lost!

@essayofthoughts wondered where I got the pretty roof from my recent community lot photoset:

The answer? It's by Red Sonja at The PlumbBob Keep!

#essayofthoughts #wcif #wcif build mode #wcif roof

[rightpastnowhere]

Gwen doesn't talk to Percy so much about why she's curious about medicine. Everyone assumes she's just as much of a nerd as her dad and she IS to be fair, and her mum has healing magic, and auntie Pike and auntie Keyleth so like. Obviously. And doing it the hard way is cool and more prestigious and can also deal with things magic can't (*points at Blorb's wisdom teeth fic*) so yeah, of course.

The real reason is that all of the kids know about Percy's scars. Vex wore him down on pyjamas in bed and while he wears pyjama bottoms he doesn't wear shirts so much anymore - he's a furnace, he hardly needs it - and all of the kids have very distinct early memories of the day they realised just how different their dad's skin is to their mum's. Not in colour, they vary in colour too, Gwen especially, but- texture. The feeling of scars, some shiny and some twisted and some ridged and all old, and the abrupt edge of Percy's shoulder where the scars suddenly all vanish into smooth skin.

None of the kids get told the story early, but Gwen hears hints from her older siblings: she's button cute and really good at convincing them to make bad decisions, after all, of course she does.

And so she does as any daddy's girl does: she decides she's going to make him better. Scars come from injuries, bad injuries, and CLEARLY his were REALLY bad and so she is Going To Make Them Better, Damnit. (Language, Gwen!)

But she is. She just isn't going to tell him that yet, because he'll make the Face. But you see. She's gonna find a way to fix scars, all because she loves her dad.

FUCKFUCKFUCK????? FUCK ? ?>!?!? ?! !? ?! ? >

oh my god, ,oh my fucking god,., , she's gonna fix her dad............... she's gonna make him better................................... oh my GODDD

kid logic fuckin. kicks me in the heart sometimes. because so often it is so simple and yet the intentions are so purely GOOD. and gwen puts together injury + medicine = better, and she loves her dad so much that she wants to make him better,,,,,,, and i can imagine vex sewing up her owlbear stuffie time and time again (because we know it was passed down velora), and she wants to do the same, but she's gotta research it!!! and she !!!! and she!!!!!!

i love parent-child bonds but there's so little about how the devotion can flow back the other way, when that breaks my heart just as much, if not more. seeing kids who love their parents and just want to help them just makes me so fucking emotional cause they see the world so plainly, and it's plain and simple that they love their parents and want to help!! and i'm barely making sense i think but i just. i love this HELP

#<333 ty tyt yty ty #i cannot thank my friends enough help #this night!! is a good night now #gwendolyn de rolo #percival de rolo #vex’ahlia #perc’ahlia #critical role #vox machina #fave #essayofthoughts

[omgkatsudonplease]

🧩 ⇢ what will make you click away from a fanfiction immediately? 🥐 ⇢ name one internet reference that will always make you laugh 🥤 ⇢ recommend an author or fanfic you love 🍬 ⇢ post an unpopular opinion about a popular fandom character

what will make you click away from a fanfiction immediately?

[character]/reader. I Would Not Say That :')))

and in close second:

[character] bashing. Being the antagonist is one thing. Being flattened into a 1-dimensional hater to be easily defeated and disposed of is another entirely.

"x is Dark and y is Light, can their love survive????"

rude misspellings of Dumbledore's name

buckfast angst (aka angst for shock value rather than character growth)

name one internet reference that will always make you laugh

"Hi, my name is Enoby Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way..."

recommend an author or fanfic you love

when I was getting into Ron POV for my WIP I read Blackjack and it was hysterical gold. pitch-perfect Ron POV!

feel free to dig through my bookmarks, too; all of those are fics I really really enjoyed!

post an unpopular opinion about a popular fandom character

I highly doubt Draco Malfoy is second only to Hermione in terms of academic marks; I would sooner put Theo Nott and at least 5/10 of the Ravenclaws in their year ahead of him. (This is entirely because I've taught rich kids and they don't really care about school because they can nepo baby their way to the top.)

#asks #essayofthoughts #hp #lily vs suefics

[dragonpyre]

More fanart while I job hunt. Based on @essayofthoughts‘s fic A Whisper On My Shoulder. Go read it, it’s good

#percy de rolo #percival fredrickstein von musel klossowski de rolo iii #cassandra de rolo #vox machina #critical role #cr #critrole #cr fanart #critical role fanart #fanart #fan art #my art #essayofthoughts #finfiction #fanfic #tlovm #the legend of vox machina

[boomerang109]

SOMEONE in the CR/VM fandom writes dyslexic Cass and i cant for the life of me remember who and tumblr search is shit so it won’t tell me

but i just rewatched that scene where pike taught grog how to read (😭) and it was in a compilation so it cut off before the end but im pretty sure if i remember correctly he doesn’t even remember enough to remember the spelling of his own name when the fox’s cunning potion wears off

and ik that eventually he must learn how to read?? that might’ve been covered as something they did in the year off? but ik they let him take twenty minutes to read giant at some point when they really don’t have twenty minutes to spare and like im pretty sure canonically it’s pike who teaches him to read

BUT. this was a long-winded way of getting to. GROG AND CASS BONDING OVER TROUBLE READING!!! and being “behind” in their “age-appropriate” studies. and just. grog who’s a hero of emon and loved and happy despite not having the intelligence that cass is being forced to speed-run as someone who is not only behind in her studies from trauma, but also as a ruler of Whitestone. and maybe she can’t take exactly the same ‘fuck it’ mindset as grog, but maybe he can inspire her a little bit? and maybe she can help him try a little harder to learn things he DOES want to learn, where before his anger would’ve made him say fuck it even if he really did want to learn? cause pike can match him in a lot of things, but at the end of the day she’ll never force him to do things, but cass has that de rolo entitlement that can actually be helpful? and yeah.

CASS AND GROG

#idk how coherent this is. im avoiding finals but need to stop so like I’m just posting but #cassandra de rolo #grog strongjaw #CASS AND GROG #also I think #dyslexic Cassandra de rolo #dyslexic cass #is either essayofthoughts or ghostofwhitestone or romeojulietiwish #BUT i didn’t want to tag anyone cause I’m really not sure and didn’t want to misattribute and/or bother anyone with my post #however if you see this and are like ‘boom dyslexic cass is primarily from blank writer’ please lmk and I will add credit! #also idk if im dyslexic I don’t think I am (I think it’s probably the adhd) but I do sometimes experience dyslexic-like traits so like #i might write this idea at some point and would aim to do so with the utmost care (but obviously if I have unintentionally phrased anything #poorly please lmk! just cause I mean well doesn’t mean I’ll execute things well) #anyway. im off to attempt to work on finals. wish me luck! #boom writes cr #boom writes cr headcanons #boom writes

[mikkeneko]

PSA for Google Docs writers

[Edit] Also for Firefox, as per @essayofthoughts in the notes: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/delete-g-docs-type-to-insert/

If you (like me) use Google Doc to write fanfic, you may (like me) have been annoyed by the new "feature" they added in the past few weeks, "Smart Chips," where by default every time you open a new line it auto-inserts a "@" symbol and then prompts to add additional people into the doc for review or whatever other useless thing I immediately closed out of.

There doesn't appear to be a way to turn off this "feature" in GDocs however someone has put out an extension that nixes it:

#fanfic author psa #google docs #this irritating son-of-a-clippy did cause my formatting on the last chapter of IDV to be messed up #but that one was partly on me for not checking better #and letting myself be distracted

[burr-ell]

Genuine question bc i always psyche myself out of writing due to this exact fear, how do we differentiate and avoid Shallow Angst when we pursue writing character studies? Situational angst seems straight forward where it's like oh no character got Hurt and now needs to be Comforted (the "plot" seems out to get this dude hurt and everyone centers on said dude with little other exploration), but say we did want to look at canon grief, using Vex as the example; what is the good way and what is the bad way to explore it? When do we go too far into excluding the rest of the story?

So I had conversations with @blorbologist and @essayofthoughts about this very thing, and what it basically boils down to is this: are you looking at these emotions realistically, taking into consideration the massive spectrum of how these characters interact with them and attempting to push past your own limited perspective of how feelings work, or are you just using them as a vessel to convey how you feel about something or what you think should happen?

Because there are plenty of very good fanworks that involve angst! Angst is, in simple terms, the examination of anxiety, dread, and sadness, and that absolutely has a place in the creation of art. Well-written angst attempts to find the character's voice in it all—it considers how they've dealt with emotions like that in canon, it asks what real-life expressions of grief or sorrow make sense for that character to convey based on their personality and past history, and as all good fanworks (and original works) do, it comes from a desire to understand someone who is not like you.

Take the example of Vex:

How would Vex deal with the loss of Vax? Based on what we know about her, I think it's safe to say that yes, she would be leaning a lot on Percy and Trinket, burying herself in her work some days to avoid the worst of it, but there are also days she'd be avoiding Percy, and maybe even Trinket, to go off on her own. I think she'd hold resentment toward the Raven Queen, even as I think she'd also want to keep the shrine standing in Vax's memory and actively push herself to forgive her. It would be complicated even further by her pregnancy, and all of the hormonal imbalances and physical complications that would entail. It would be complicated even further by the fact that she and Syldor canonically attempt to reconcile specifically in the wake of Vax's death; while I doubt they'd see much of each other in the first year or two, I think they would both be making incredibly awkward and loaded overtures that would be emotionally complicated and draining.

There are times she would lash out and times she would be hollow, and there's a lot she probably wouldn't be able to talk about because she just can't, because grief isn't something you can often put into words. There's a lot she'd also laugh and joke and smile about, because coping with loss means letting the wound scab over. There are times she'd be able to connect to Percy and Keyleth over the loss and times she couldn't, because the loss of a loving-but-complicated family and the loss of a lover don't feel quite the same as the loss of a twin who was all you had for over a decade.

There are a lot of ways to convey all that! There's no "right" answer; this is up for interpretation. But I do think "Vex will never braid her hair again cause Vax used to do that!" is definitely a wrong one.

Vex and Vax were codependent, but I think people tend to overstate the degree, and tend to ignore their canonical relationship development and Vex's characterization. I think it's important to note that Vex actually handles being separated from Vax during the Trial of the Take arc much better than Vax handles it; she makes fast friends with Zahra and generally seems to be enjoying herself and having a good time. Vex closes herself off a lot, but I think an underrated part of her speech at Percy's resurrection is how it recontextualizes the titling in Syngorn—he made her a part of something precious to him, and by the end of the campaign her stated goal is "make Whitestone the tits". Vex didn't just like, wind up as a city figurehead by marriage and shrug and decide to make the best of it; she was offered a chance and made it her bitch. The Raven Queen took part of Vex away when she took Vax, not all of her.

Yes, the loss is incredibly tragic and the end of Campaign 1 is bittersweet, but there are ways to portray Vex dealing with it that don't involve the general tenor of "ALRIGHT EVERYONE, DAILY REMINDER TO BE SAD ABOUT VAX". Like, I don't think Vex's first thought when she saw Laudna's body was "she looks just like Vax :( time for my daily Two Minutes Sad". (My issue with that isn't even whether the thought might occur to her—it absolutely could! But after thirty years, I doubt it would have been anywhere near the same level as "this innocent young woman was horribly killed for looking like me and I have to help her however I can; also if Delilah comes back I can should must and will tear her a new asshole". Like, the Vax thing might have come up long in the aftermath of her and Percy's inevitable late-night alcohol-induced therapy railing, but probably not before.)

A lot of the shallow angst you see in fandom generally has the same voice—not necessarily because it's written by the same people (although you do see many of the same people purveying it), but because the trending popular angst has to trend and be popular somehow, and it does so by channeling thoughts and emotional expressions that are broadly approved and accepted by the community, whatever that community happens to be. The characters in these fanworks behave the way that they do regardless of whether or not it makes sense in the narrative because shallow angst isn't about the narrative—it's about making your audience sad in the specific, narrow way that you are sad. It's about projecting yourself and your own emotions and how you would deal with them onto a character instead of trying to really understand someone who's different from you.

In our discussion, Blorb described fanworks in a way that really resonated with me—they're conversations with canon. Good, effective conversations are real attempts to communicate with people, trying to understand where they're coming from and connecting with who they are. Shallow conversations are one or multiple parties only thinking of the other person as a reflection of themselves, getting out their own thoughts and feelings with little interest in trying to figure out who other people actually are. And it's not that I think people who make these kinds of works are ontologically bad; it's that I think they're stifling their own creativity and growth. Everyone deserves better than to be limited to themselves.

#cr meta #vex'ahlia #critical role #based and vex'ahlia pilled #asks

[critter-genfic-events]

Canon Divergent AU Recs!

This week, we have canon divergent AU recs! A dozen different what-ifs to explore below the cut - and as ever, if you like them, remember to comment or kudos!

Catch A Falling Star by Rainydaydecaf (32921,Mature) Warnings: Feeblemind Pairings: Beauregard Lionett/Yasha Nydoorin, Essek Thelyss & The Mighty Nein

The Nein find a feebleminded Essek down in the sewers along with the beacon.

Reccer says: It's got a great spotlight on each of the Mighty Nein as they interact with the feebleminded drow - from Fjord babysitting him and Kiri to Beau giving him a haircut - and feels true to the characters and the world

pressure cracks by BananasofThorns (10271,Teen) Warnings: None Pairings: Fjord & Caleb Widogast

Fjord is a student at Solstryce Academy. Professor Ermendrud requests a private meeting with him.

Reccer says: It's got echoes of Fjord and Caleb's dynamic in the pirate arc, combined with scourger Bren

The Star and the Wildflower by devil_seabird_king (ShaaKi) (8173,Teen) Warnings: suicidal thoughts Pairings: Caduceus Clay & Essek Thelyss

A young Essek is becomes friends with a young Caduceus Clay

Reccer says: This is a combination that doesn't get enough love, so it's fun to imagine what they'd be like as childhood friends

A Whisper On My Shoulder by EssayofThoughts (251169,Mature) Warnings: Major Character Death Pairings: none

Percy's not the only member of his family to survive the Briarwoods' attack. He's just the only one to do so alive.

Reccer says: A true epic that imagines Cassandra as a ghost by Percy's side throughout the initial parts of Vox Machina's journey. Amazingly well thought out

some ever after no one could predict by QueenWithABeeThrone (15343,Teen) Warnings: None Pairings: Leofric/Una Ermendrud

Over thirty years ago, Una Ermendrud went into the Feywild and met a satyr named Garmelie. thirty years later, Caleb reunites with his godfather.

Reccer says: I love how practical Una is in this, and how that practicality cuts through the feywild magic.

both my broken hands are true by quothhh (1805,Teen) Warnings: None Pairings: Veth Brenatto & Caleb Widogast

In a world where Yeza was taken by the goblins instead of Veth, Caleb and Veth manage to meet anyway.

Reccer says: It's got some killer lines and also a great example of the Caleb and Veth friendship

watch my back, and keep the blade by jadeandquartz (3553,Mature) Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Major Character Death Pairings: Orym & Imogen Temult

Laudna permanently dies. Imogen and Orym head after Otahan for revenge

Reccer says: An amazing bit of angst

You Think You Can Rid Yourself Of Me So Easily? by sparklegem (3724,Mature) Warnings: Hurt no Comfort Pairings: none

Percy's cursed weapon is not as easy to get rid of as they think.

Reccer says: I liked it

to know that this war was winless by quanshi (burningdarkfire) (834,Teen) Warnings: none Pairings: Beauregard Lionett & Caleb Widogast

Beauregard meets Bren for lunch

Reccer says: I love scourger Bren vs. Beauregard fics, and this is a lovely little taste

The Fool and the Soldier by mare_astrorum (200,000+,Mature) Warnings: None Pairings:

Mollymauk Tealeaf survived the Mighty Nein's encounter with the Iron Shepherds on Glory Run Road, but a short time later, a spirit began hunting him, claiming that he stole his body.

Reccer says: One of the most insane things Matt dropped during the wrap-up was where the campaign might have gone had Molly survived. This is such a wonderful exploration of the concept of the Tombtakers as reoccurring enemies and Molly still with the party that is wonderfully IC, extremely detailed, and a lot of fun. It's going to be a long one and it's ongoing, so buckle in.

Magic Jar by Anonymous (3211,Teen) Warnings: none Pairings: none

The mighty nine, if Caleb was a soul in a magic jar

Reccer says: It's a fascinating premise and an amazing thing to think about

you'll let it go by pigflight (1590,Teen) Warnings: major character death Pairings: Delilah Briarwood & Laudna

What if Delilah convinced Laudna to take the shard?

Reccer says: wonderfully angsty and delicious

If you liked this rec list, follow along for more! We'll be posting a new list with a new theme each Monday. Want to make your own recs? Check out use this form to submit!

Next week, we're featuring your featuring explorations of grief, in all forms. It'll also be a day late, as next Monday is Christmas.

After that, we'll Pike Trickfoot, mysteries, and then monsters.

If you're looking for some more, check out some fics written in the critter genfic bingo tag, or the older rec lists! Or you can request your own card and join in on the fun!

#critical role #critter genfic rec lists #gen fic #bells hells #the mighty nein #vox machina #caleb widogast #veth brenatto #percy de rolo #essek thelyss #caduceus clay #fjord stone #beauregard lionett #mollymauk tealeaf #laudna cr #orym of the air ashari #delilah briarwood

[essayofthoughts]

does your GOD believe in you? by EssayOfThoughts for @exhaustedwerewolf

Kashaw has been married to Vesh since his birth. When he's fifteen, she comes for him.

Read Chapter 1 of 7 Here | Thanks to @rightpastnowhere for the image!

Please note that this fic contains cult grooming, assault and rape of an underaged teenager, self-harm, recklessness with wellbeing, unaddressed trauma, aftermath of a massacre, burial of the dead, psychic groping, and battlefield gore so if you don't think you can deal with that, be aware this fic is probably not for you!

Playlist

Let Me Live / Let Me Die - Des Rocs | Used To The Darkness - Des Rocs | Maybe, I - Des Rocs | Skin To Bone - Linkin Park | Blue Song - Mint Royale | Cthulhu - Gunship | Tenebre Rosso Sangue - Keygen Church | Flesh - Simon Curtis | Alejandro - Lady Gaga | Read Between The Lines - Tom Cardy | Heat Waves - Glass Animals |

#kashaw vesh #vesh #cr fic #my fic #tw scars #HEED THE TRIGGER WARNINGS

[utilitycaster]

Genuine question that you can answer privately if you feel like: how on earth do you have the patience to deal with so much of the c3 fandom bullshit around gods and character dynamics? I admit, I came to CR late, have only watched c1 all the way through so far, and was thoroughly burned out after the MCU, but you seem to have the patience to tackle this week after week and I'm curious as to your self-care tactics? I've never managed it myself. I love your meta and respect your work immensely.

Hey! I hope you don’t mind, but I don’t really have self-care tips. Like, I sleep and drink water and exercise and eat vegetables and spend time outside and with friends and all that, but honestly I just don’t get burnt out by fandom bullshit much. I can however speak to why I don’t.

I don’t really care what internet strangers think about me. I’m curious to the point of nosiness so I’m interested in how I’m seen by others, but also if someone who only knows me from Tumblr posts dislikes me, that’s really not my problem (unless they get obnoxious towards me in which case, I block them, check on them once or twice to ensure they’re not getting volatile or obsessive, and if they’re not, ignore them until the end of time.)

Similarly, if people have opinions I don’t like, I’m interested in understanding how they got to that point, because sometimes I’m wrong! But also a lot of people really do just watch things with a specific narrative end in mind - whether it’s validating their personal beliefs/experience, or making two characters end up in a romantic relationship together - and will twist whatever they see into evidence, and I don’t have to give that any room in my mind. I may make a separate post if it’s a common opinion I’ve seen frequently and I have something to say, but I'm not going to get on their posts and tell them to shut up.

To that point, I’ve also realized that the vast majority of people who are unpleasant to others online - certainly the ones who have given me the most irritation - are people who cannot stand that opinions and experiences other than their own exist. This means that they care so much about what other people think, and are furious that you're speaking from your perspective and not theirs. If you block them and keep talking about your own unique opinions and experiences, there’s nothing they can do other than seethe for eternity.

Finally: you do not need to be in a fandom to enjoy a work! I very deliberately don’t write meta about most other things I read or watch unless I really have something to say. I like being in this fandom, but there are plenty of books, podcasts, and shows I watch that I just don't talk about online much, and I don't think that's lessened my experience.

#answered #essayofthoughts

[esotheria-sims]

Pomegranates can represent the underworld, death, rebirth and especially fertility I believe? also, WCIF that outfit Annika is wearing in the post? /post/746841566839193600/ It's so lovely!

[post in question]

Yes, all very true! I'm holding off on revealing which of these meanings is relevant for Annika just yet... but where she got her dress from is no secret at all! 😄

TS3 Scarf Dress with Long Skirt by Davina Ojeda at PBK

#ask #essayofthoughts #wcif #wcif bodyshop #wcif clothes

[rightpastnowhere]

the chat is on its bullshit again

(art by @blorbologist)

other hooligans @katia-dreamer @essayofthoughts

#i’m tagging this because i want people to see the wonder that is the de rolo candy #percival de rolo #percy de rolo #essayofthoughts #perc’ahlians chat #that’s ANOTHER reference

[blorbologist]

hallo! just wondering if you had any tips for staying in a character’s perspective? i find i tend more towards an omniscient narrator rather than an actual 3rd person and am not really sure how to change that

Heyo!

I talked to @essayofthoughts about this, because imo they do this exceptionally well - I actually struggle with it too! So Essay might RB with thoughts after I'm done.

On my end, I mostly... focus on voice, vibes and internal state, if that makes sense?

Voice:

Step one is I usually try to make sure I get a good handle of the character's voice, because their dialog and internal monologue should be at least somewhat similar. You can also find a lot of insight into how a character thinks in how they talk, but I think Essay might get into that more so I'm leaving it brief.

2. Vibes:

Each character brings some things to the table that will impact how they see the world and interact with it. Vex, for instance, is very perceptive, so entrenching myself in her POV also means having fun looking for tiny details she can pick up on. Percy spends a lot of time weighing his words, so with him you can have very long bits of internal monologue between snippets of dialog where he thinks things through. You can draw from their knowledge to make the POV feel more like theirs (recognizing spells they know, or species native to their home environment, or potential ambushes if they're used to that, etc.)

3. Inner State

This is my favorite one! Use the emotions your character is experiencing to distort their internal monologue. Vex freaking out about a social situation in Syngorn, or Percy on the verge of a panic attack because the Briarwoods were mentioned, or Vax being ridiculously in love with Kiki (and Gilmore) and waxing poetic about them for Hours. You can use the discrepancy between what your character knows VS what the reader knows (VS what other characters know) to build tension or some smug irony - it's why shipping fics are so much fun, because we know these fools will wall in wuv and that's the reason their hearts are skipping, not indigestion.

Hopefully this was a bit of help! I feel I personally don't produce very different inner voices due to my writing style, which is something I'm fine with. But Essay's are quite exquisite, and if they're down to answer I'm sure they'll shed more light on their process :D

#my writing #ask #writers on tumblr

[officialtrashbin]

Final stats for my 2023 year on a03! Will this motivate me to finally update after my hiatus? Who the hell knows.

Anyway, a special thank you to everyone who read and kudo’d and left comments and bookmarks, here’s to a successful 2024!!!

Special shout out to all the wonderful and beautiful and amazing friends I made this year in the depth of my Critical Role fixation, including @katia-dreamer @essayofthoughts @blorbologist and @chaseyesterdays!! 💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕

I would commit sins for you all.

#2023 a03 stat wrap up

[chamerionwrites]

Tag Nine People You'd Like To Get To Know Better

FAVOURITE COLOUR(s): Rusty red-orange, deep cool spruce green, bright cobalt blue, wine red, the various shades of slate green/grey/blue.

FAVOURITE FLAVOUR(s): Weirdly difficult question, in that what I think I most enjoy about food is the way that different flavors and textures complement each other to become more than the sum of their parts. But I am a huge fan of deep rich fruity-savory umami (sundried tomatoes, a great red chile sauce, things braised in red wine) as well as absolutely any kind of citrus or fresh herbs.

Also, while this isn't exactly one thing and it might be simpler just to say that I like strong flavors, I fall firmly into the These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things camp on a lot of polarizingly funky/briny things (smoked salmon, goat cheese, blue cheese, olives, anchovies, preserved lemons, etc).

Also the taste+aroma of both fresh bread and corn tortillas hot off the comal is imo the human equivalent of catnip, ie "provokes immoderate feral delight on some bizarrely primal level."

FAVOURITE MUSIC: The very sexy Bermuda Triangle where blues/rock/folk bleed into and/or influence one another. Anything else that takes my fancy, including but not limited to a lot of soul, post-punk, and highly danceable salsa or big band swing stuff. Sad jazz. Gratuitously melancholy strings. Great lyrics, great harmonies, deep rich vocals.

FAVOURITE MOVIE(s): I have never in my life been able to pick one favorite book, but Pan's Labyrinth is easily my favorite movie.

FAVOURITE BOOK(s): This is the impossible question to me but The Periodic Table, Signs Preceding The End of The World, The Things They Carried, The Little Drummer Girl, and everything Arundhati Roy has ever written are all on the list somewhere.

FAVOURITE SERIES(es): The Same Sky is exquisitely good and The Night Manager is my id-stroking comfort rewatch. I also loved Andor and the first season of Hannibal.

LAST SONG: I was just going through this tag earlier.

LAST SERIES: Thanks to holiday craft fair season I have had zero ability to do longform TV anytime within the last few months. (Also, frankly, multi-season TV series are the one of the most difficult media formats for my brain to engage with; it's a fantastic storytelling medium when done well, but I personally have a much harder time sitting down for two hours of TV than for two hours of reading and thus getting started often feels like a huge commitment. I am really a 3-6 eps and done miniseries person at heart.)

That said I am a big podcasts-while-working person and I've been listening to a lot of Friends At The Table and Bad Gays recently.

LAST MOVIE: The Wind That Shakes The Barley, which has been on the Somehow I've Never Seen This And I Really Should list for a while. It has promptly been moved to the OFC It's Possible To Make A War Movie That Doesn't Glorify War, Y'all Are Just Fools And Cowards list.

CURRENTLY READING: ...I have to admit that I'm re-reading Kissinger's Shadow (to Mark The Occasion).

CURRENTLY WATCHING: Nothing (see above), though I have ambitions of giving Black Sails a shot.

CURRENTLY WORKING ON: The sketching stage of some linocuts, some experimental worldbuild-y map-drawing (important as Cartography And Its Imperial Misuses are kinda thematically and plottily relevant to the story, at least in its nebulous conceptual form).

TAGGED BY @silkenred (thanks!), and TAGGING (only if you want ofc) @sassysnowperson, @tobermoriansass, @cosmonauthill, @essayofthoughts, and anybody else who feels like doing this. (No really, I'm shy about tagging but please do the thing if you're interested.)

#ask box #about me #my posts