#that are MORE important than talking about our fictional characters meeting for the first time

[mcflymemes]

please don't mistake silence for hatred. please don't mistake unanswered plotting messages as indifference, or a lack of enthusiasm towards you. considering the ages of most roleplayers, many of us have bills to pay, families to take care of, medical conditions to treat, appointments to make, classes to take, homes to clean, and lives to live away from the computer that are far, far more important than writing on tumblr — life has a tendency to get in the way of hobbies and fun things like this. be patient with your fellow writers. if it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out. of course you can set your boundaries, keep your space comfortable, and softblock whoever you wish, but do so while recognizing it's probably not hatred or apathy that keeps them from leaping into your dms with message after message. they probably love this hobby just as much as you... but sometimes life gets in the way.

#rp psa #roleplay psa #rp help #roleplay help #roleplay advice #'the rpc has changed for the worse' that's your opinion #but have that opinion while also acknowledging the ages of those you write with #and recognize they have responsibilities and worlds to take care of #people who depend on them #financial strain. hardships. unemployment. housing problems #medical bills. local weather disasters #trauma in their life deaths in their family #you cannot expect instant messages or EXTREME enthusiasm from everyone in this community #when so many of us are also dealing with irl situations #that are MORE important than talking about our fictional characters meeting for the first time #would it be nice if we could all find a comfy balance #and put passion into this hobby like we did when we were younger? #oh sure!!!! but that's just not viable anymore

[indigovigilance]

The Final Fifteen is about Terry Pratchett's Death

read on Ao3

The final fifteen is obviously a major plot point, and serves a role in a story that was written long before Terry Pratchett was ever diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. But the scene itself wasn’t written until just a few years ago, during the writing of Season 2. In fact, the scene came about during a park bench conversation between Neil Gaiman and John Finnemore.

Others have noted that the non-romantic kiss that signals the story moving into the third act is a Neil Gaiman staple. The function of such a kiss, from Gaiman’s perspective, is to communicate.

In 2023 we are seeing a lot of stories written by men, for men, about men who are best friends and discover that their friendship can go deeper than the norms of society would usually allow; that platonic and romantic love are not so far apart, and perhaps the better word for a relationship that can be described this way is intimacy.

Neil Gaiman has made it clear in interviews that his friendship with Terry Pratchett was deeply intimate. They began collaborating on what would become Good Omens in the 1980’s, endured a tumultuous experience together through the first publication, wherein Neil offered to martyr himself on behalf of Terry if the book failed, and then spent the better part of two decades touring the world, meeting the people who loved their work. Neil would even off-handedly remark that Terry’s fans were so cheerful, and Neil’s seemed like they were ready to kill themselves; wouldn’t it be nice if they got married? From the outside, it looks very much as if Terry was Aziraphale-coded, and Neil was Crowley-coded, working together in an unexpected partnership to make the world a little bit more tolerable for the humans inhabiting it. I am not conjecturing that Neil and Terry had romantic inclinations the way their fictional characters do, but I think it is fair to say that their opposites-attract intimacy became an important part of who each of them were.

In 2007 Terry Pratchett was diagnosed with posterior cortical atrophy, a rare form of Alzheimer’s. As the disease progressed, he began to lose himself, and knew that the person he used to be was slipping away. He wanted to end his life on his own terms, and die as himself, but England did not and still does not allow for voluntary euthanasia or assisted suicide. He advocated for the right to die but never achieved it, and ultimately succumbed to the disease in 2015. Neil Gaiman has spoken a lot on the topic of death, and one answer of his that resonated with me reads:

Mostly it feels terrible. It even feels terrible when it’s someone who has been in a lot of pain for a long time or has not really been there for a long time and you know that Death has in some ways been a blessing: suddenly you are mourning the whole person. 

It doesn’t get easier as you age. It gets stranger. The point where you realise how many people you used to know and like who aren’t there any longer, and you cannot talk to them or see them or laugh with them is painful in a way that I had never expected. The first time that someone you had a romantic relationship with dies and you realise that there had been moments both of you shared and now you are the sole custodian of those moments and one day you will be gone and they will be lost forever is peculiarly strange and hard. 

~~~

The entire show is seeded with references to Terry Pratchett, but the most important one is the one that’s missing. Neil Gaiman cameoed as a sleeping moviegoer in S1E4, but a long time ago, he and Terry had discussed cameoing as sushi restaurant-goers, because sushi was weirdly prominent in the book. That cameo would have been in S1E1. But when it came time to do it, Neil couldn’t. Not without Terry. 

Neil: I was gonna say our location is a Chinese restaurant we’d had turned into a sushi restaurant. So Terry and I, Terry Pratchett and I, had a standing… not even a standing joke, just a standing plan, that we were going to have sushi - there was going to be a scene in Good Omens where sushi was eaten and we were gonna be extras, we were gonna sit in the background, eating sushi while it was done. And I was so looking forward to this and, so I wrote this scene with it being sushi, even though Terry was gone, with that in mind and I thought: Oh, I’ll sit and I’ll eat lots of sushi as an extra, this will be my scene as an extra, I’ll just be in the background. And then, on the day, or a couple of days before, I realized that I couldn’t do it.

Douglas: You never told me this before either. I might have pushed you into doing it, had I known. I think you were right not to tell me.

Neil: I was keeping it to me self ‘cause I was always like: Oh, maybe I’ll be… this will be my cameo. And then I couldn’t. I was just so sad, ‘cause Terry wasn’t there. And it was probably the day that I missed Terry the most of all of the filming - it was just this one scene ‘cause it was written for Terry and all of the sushi meals we’d ever had and all of the strange way that sushi ran through Good Omens.

~~~

In the Final Fifteen, it is clear that Crowley and Aziraphale want to stay together. They love each other. They each know that the other loves them. There’s nothing that needs to be said, no convincing that their bond is true and real and precious.

But Aziraphale has to go to Heaven, and Crowley cannot follow him there.

I cannot speculate what it must have been like for Neil to endure losing a friend who, though I’m sure he desperately wanted to still be in his life, he also knew that life had become a burden to him, and grieved that Terry was not able to choose the time and manner of his departure from this Earth. This sort of complex grief, we fan-ficcers know, is the kind that is often best processed through story-telling. 

I think that what we see Crowley going through in the Final Fifteen, alongside its importance to the story arc of Good Omens overall, is Neil processing his grief at losing his friend Terry Pratchett, and even the kiss, that violent, terrible, awful kiss, was the symbolic representation of Neil saying goodbye.

#neil gaiman #terry pratchett #aziraphale #crowley #good omens #good omens 2 #good omens meta #ivoc #this meta ended up being only about 2/3 the length of my usual metas and somehow that feels appropriate because Terry's life ended too soon #and the jarring brevity of this piece parallels that feeling of sudden unexpected loss #for me anyways I don't know about you guys #if this made your eyes even slightly moist you are obligated to reblog to help someone else feel their feels #I don’t make the rules #but them is the rules #blessed by Beelzebub

[moonlight-prose]

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I have spent several days drafting this post because there's so much I want to say. 2023 was filled with some big moments for me. I graduated college, met my friend group, went on night time adventures, and actually acted like my age for once. I was chaotic and fun and carefree for the first time since I turned 19. But things have also gone wrong in many ways.

Which is why I write this to you guys. The incredible people on this site. Whether you follow me, are my mutuals, or have seen my blog in passing (or in your notes), I want to wish you a Happy New Year.

While this year might have sucked for a majority of it, the light I found in this community - on this site - is unmatched. I have met some of my greatest friends here. I've cried to fics, lost my mind over characters, and written so much more than I actually expected. It's been a hell of a year and an absolute honor getting to thirst with y'all.

So here's to getting sluttier in 2024! I'm toasting my champagne glass to you guys.

I also wanted to simply shout out some very important people to me. They've made 2023 bearable and I couldn't have been happier to know them through this place. A big massive fucking THANK YOU to my darlings. You're the greatest people I know.

@soulores my queen, my babe, my bestie. it is hard to believe we didn't start officially talking till summer of this year, because i genuinely feel like we've known each other for years. from our sunday morning phone conversations, to our screaming in the dms about these fictional men, and movie days with you. i couldn't have asked for a better friend to meet this year. here's to many many more memories in 2024 (and to finally meeting in person!).

@themarcusmoreno what would be a dedication post without mentioning you! my love i am so so fucking happy we met two years ago. all because of pedro pascal. crazy to think i would have found such an incredible person who happened to love all the things i love! you're the greatest friend and i am so grateful for you. thank you for sticking with me.

@sunflowersteves vic the absolute bad bitch. THE PERSON YOU ARE. i am so so so so fucking happy you and i are still mutuals. after meeting through marvel of all things and then pedro and now top gun. there's so many memories with you i cherish. and i can't wait to make more. and a massive thank you for being such a cheerleader for my writing this year. you and ash have managed to keep me going even when times were tough.

@karasong my first EVER mutual on this site. it's so hard to think that if it weren't for you i wouldn't be writing on here. you followed me two years ago and i flipped out and the feeling hasn't changed one bit. i couldn't be happier you're in my life. from starting up the server with you, to yearning for obi-wan, life with you in it is so much better.

@softanon it would not be a proper dedication post if i did not add you babes. dia you are one of my favorite people to exist. you're effortlessly cool, have the best ideas, and i always feel so lucky that i met you. from our talks about the moon knight bois, to tommy miller, to yearning over din djarin, i have loved every single convo with you. they bring me so much joy. you are an incredible person and i am looking forward to SO MANY more convos about our favorite men!

@saradika to one of the greatest people to exist in this fandom i love love love you. your graphics and the love you show to everyone around is so incredible and bright. we seriously don't deserve you, but i am so happy you are here and that you exist. you've made 2024 brighter just by being here.

@tarrenterror25 the spookiest darling ever! when you showed up on the server it was such a good day! and you brought with you so much fun and joy that the server was never the same. i am sending you an infinite amount of love this new years and here's to more chaos with you in 2024!

to my darlings in the dilf nation server:

@arctvrvs thea babes you are iconic, lovely, and are one of the best people to exist. you made 2023 so much better just by being around to yearn over joel with you. i couldn't be happier to know you!

@fluffyprettykitty selene you are the coolest people who has the coolest fics! the love you share on fics is so incredible, it never ceases to bring a smile to my face. also you're just so awesome i couldn't have asked for a better person to join the server.

@rae-gar-targaryen my fanboy lover in crime. i'm sure i've said it countless times, but you are so cool and amazing and beautiful. you are a goddess in real life. the talent you have is so fucking incredible it haunts me. i love each and every one of your creations and i love you as well!

@mostly-megan you are an absolute sweetheart and even though we haven't talked much in 2023, i hope to have so many more conversations with you in the coming new year. sending you my love darling!

@agirllovespancakes iris you lovely human being. i remember when i was first posting hurt you would reblog the greatest comments. and it made me want to continue, because i looked forward to each one. and now that i know you love tommy too! you're so amazing and i dedicate a new years kiss to you.

@inklore you talented insanely incredible person! i could make a whole list of good things about you. i am sending you SO MUCH love for 2024. i hope it's amazing.

@outercrasis birdie my darling i want to tell you all the things that i cherish about you. from the love you showed on black velvet, to the way we screamed about bruce wayne and even frank castle, i live for our conversations. here's to so much more fun in 2024 and infinite convos about saltburn.

tagging those lovely humans who've made 2023 so incredible. please know i love you so much and i am kissing you when the clock strikes midnight. thank you for making this year so incredible!:

@stargazingcarol, @cregan-starks, @lady-of-glass-and-bone, @fushic0re, @targaryenvampireslayer, @pennyserenade, @flightlessangelwings, @stargirlfics, @goldgilzean, @kalllistos, @flordeamatista, @perotovar, @my-secret-shame, @roamwithahungryheart, @galatially, @eloquentmoon, @starryeyedstories, @oscarseyebrow, @iraot, @zinzinina, @thefact0rygirl, @iamskyereads, @navybrat817, @ifimayhaveaword, @the-godparticle

#happy new year my loves! #i am toasting to you tonight #here's to a sluttier and funnier 2024 #i am so sorry if i forgot anyone #i tried to find you all! #witch aunt talks✨

[unnoticed-poison]

Dark! Manhwa Various X Reader

~Chapter 2~

'Fuck' you thought as you turned around to face the system, who looks rather annoyed since you tossed it aside like it was trash.

"What do you want, I already told you I don't want to be part of your goddamn 'mission'." You grumbled as you sat on the sofa and leaned against the backrest, waiting for the inevitable torture to commence.

The system looked quite amused as its mouth curved upwards in an almost cruel grin. "Ah, I understand your frustration host, my apologies, but I'm afraid it's already too late for that. You see, we're already bounded."

"Bound?" you repeated confusedly, having absolutely no idea what this stupid robot was talking about. "How did you even-"

"Oh don't worry it's all under control!"

You rolled your eyes. "Right." You muttered to yourself as you stood up. "Look, I'm tired of this game, so if you can just go away and stop wasting my time that will be great." you grumbled as you stretched. "There must be a way to sever this bound, right? So hurry up and tell me so I can just go back to writing my story." you finished, looking at the screen with a bored expression.

"Now now, that's no way to talk to your future companion ~" Xian said in a teasing manner while leaning closer towards you. "but to answer your question, yes there's indeed a way to sever the bond between us!"

"Then please do so." you said impatiently as you crossed your arms and looked up at the ceiling. "I don't have all day here, I need to post the next update tonight." you added, the last sentence was accompanied by a sigh.

"Well, there are currently two possible ways." Xian began. "First option, you go with me to at least five worlds and make sure the stories go smoothly, then you can return home."

You rolled your eyes again, getting tired of listening to the same boring monologue again and again. "No thanks, I'm not doing any of that." you simply stated. "I'm happy where I am and I'm not leaving my home. what's the second option?"

Xian seemed hesitant to reply for a moment, as though trying to think of the best way to say it before leaning forward as if revealing a very important secret to you. "The second option is rather simple actually....you die." it finished, its voice laced with malice, it stepped back as it awaited your reaction.

You didn't know what to feel or what to say in shock.

"WHAT?!"

"I know this may be-"

"You're kidding. right? there's no fucking way!" you shouted in disbelief, although the sinking feeling in your stomach showed otherwise.

"I'm afraid not my dear host, and believe me when I say it's very painful...but unfortunately that's the way of our work."

"Now, I won't force you to do anything you don't want, the choice is yours."

"Go with me or die," it said softly as it waited for your answer.

You took a deep breath and rubbed your forehead, trying to calm yourself down so you can think rationally.

A few minutes passed by and the system was still waiting patiently for your decision.

"So what will it be host?"

It took you a moment before you found your voice to speak. "Fine, I agree. Just give me the details." you finally said, defeated.

What other choice did you have?

The system smiled happily. "Excellent choice! now come along please, we have a lot to unpack!"

You sighed as you stared at your chair, wanting to grab it and smash it on that damn robot.

The system seemed to notice this, as it looked back at you apologetically and tried to cheer you up, it didn't want to act that way but you left it no choice. "No need to be so grumpy host, this is a great opportunity! I get a promotion and become a higher ranking system and you meet your favourite fictional characters and get back home safely after finishing the missions, it's a win-win!"

Well, it is true, but you'll rather jump out the window than admit it out loud.

"So what now?"

"Right, right!" the system said as a bigger screen suddenly popped up on the wall next to you, displaying more than thirty manhwas and novels. "Those are all the available worlds that have a 95% chance of having the virus, to make things easier for you I've put the ones that you've read throughout the past few months in your list of top choices which are all in the first three pages, the rest are in the other pages." it pointed at the middle of the first page." may I recommend this one host."it said as it moved down and selected the novel, a small flash of green light appeared for a second before it disappeared, leaving you staring at a book with a beautiful, detailed cover, which was floating midair in front of you.

You pushed the system out of the way as you stared at the world it chose and read the title.

"Heaven Official's blessing huh.."

You muttered as you grabbed the book before opening it and starting to skim through the pages.

"Yup, I'm sure you've read this one before!"

"Well, I heard about it from a friend of mine so I gave it a go, but when that mc kept insulting that poor girl even in her death I couldn't force myself to keep reading it because it pissed me off." you shrugged as you closed the book. "But I do know what happens in that novel since my friend wouldn't shut up about it," you said as you rolled your eyes at the memory. That girl was obsessed with this story for MONTHS.

"Great! So you'll have no problem going there! we have to-"

"Hold on, I have a question." you interrupted with a raised eyebrow. "Can I at least go to a small non-important world first? You know, like a tutorial to get some experience before doing the real thing?"

"We do have those for first-time hoppers but we don't have time for that, the higher-ups want us to start as soon as possible so we have to skip it unfortunately. But that's okay though, I'm sure you'll do just fine!"

"Fine, whatever," you glanced back at the book in your hands and scowled. "I'll just say it here and now that if this man gives one, just ONE insult about my appearance I'll make the virus's job easier by killing him and the rest of the goddamn characters."

"Why? Do you dislike the main character that much?"

"Why? Don't you have that world information, he may look innocent but he roasts the shit out of anyone who isn't attractive in his eyes, look at what he said about that poor girl, and she's pretty as fuck. Imagine what he'll say about me." you said as you throw the book across the room. "I'll be damned if I let a fictional character insult me like that!"

"And besides, Why the fuck would you think a cultivation world is the best choice for my first mission? do you want me to fail or what? I thought you were supposed to guide me, not hinder me."

The system shrugged. "Fine then, I'll just choose another one." it said as it moved to pick something else.

Oh hell no "Stop right there! I'm gonna pick this time, I'm the one who's gonna suffer, not you. So I get the right to choose."

Xian sighed and stepped back. "Do as you wish." it said as you walked past it and looked at your options, skimming through the pages until one caught your eyes.

"I choose....."

˖⁠꒰⁠ᵕ⁠༚⁠ᵕ⁠⑅⁠꒱---------------------------------------꒰⁠⑅⁠ᵕ⁠༚⁠ᵕ⁠꒱⁠˖⁠♡

Hi guys!

This chapter was originally planned to be posted last week but I had to wait for an invitation to post this story on AO3 so I had to postpone it to today.

Hope you liked it guys!! <3

Anywho, exams are starting this week (right after my birthday ಥ⁠‿⁠ಥ). So until I finish them, if you guys have any manhwa or novel you want as the first mission, feel free to leave me comments and suggestions.

Just to clearfy I haven't read nor watched heaven officials blessing, I know that Xie lian insulted Xiao ying in his head but I did hear that he insulted yin yu in his face sooo.

Thank god for TikTok.

Like how is she ugly I don't see it (⁠ʘ⁠ᴗ⁠ʘ⁠✿⁠)

Oh yeah I might post next chapters just on AO3 and Wattpad in the future so I posted the links on my tumblr, just letting you know.

I hope you all have a fantastic day, until next time! 💜 (⁠◕⁠ᴗ⁠◕⁠✿⁠)

@yandere-city @cassanderasblog

#fic #yandere manhwa #yandere manhwa x reader #fanfiction #manhwa #yanderefic #yandere x reader #trash of the count's family #beware of the villainess #blablabla #dark fic

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #129

I'm home. We got in at about 10:15pm. It took some time to get everything unpacked and squared away. I also got ready for bed; it's 11:30pm now.

Suppose I can show you pictures of the plane now. I was just asked to keep the identifying number out of it. So here you go:

...Just beyond those trees is a small dropoff and a river.

...It's actually kind of miraculous that the trees held, I guess. Or so the FAA agent said. He also said that it was kind of miraculous that the plane didn't flip over; apparently, for this type, that can happen if you hit the brakes too hard.

To have walked away from something like this without so much as a scratch... it's an astounding stroke of luck, according to the FAA guy and the airport owner. I also like to think that it is testament to J's skill; pilots are given training not just to avoid mistakes, but also to know what to do when mistakes inevitably occur. Humans are human, and humans make mistakes. There's really no avoiding it; there's only handling it when it happens.

The owner of the airport, who is also an experienced pilot, says likely what happened was a ground loop of some kind. That's when the tail wheel does a weird spinning thing when you try to land the aircraft. It doesn't help that the left wing had a bit more fuel in it than the other (which is likely part of the reason it pulled to the left upon landing). I'm not sure how it can be that the left wing had more fuel in it than the right, since the aircraft was set to consume fuel from both wings.

The person from the FAA is not our enemy. It's his job figure out what went wrong, and then use that knowledge to help keep pilots safe. So we gave him all the details we could. Hopefully something good will come of it.

On the bright side of all this, I got to meet a bunch of really awesome people with amazing life stories, and I had the good privilege of listening to them talk for a while about the things they've seen, done, and experienced. I do wish I could have met these folks under better circumstances. They were kind to us even though they all could have justifiably been super duper cranky at J about the whole thing. I guess they were all super stoked that we walked away alive and with all our limbs and organs intact.

...At one point, before it was clear that we would be okay, I thought something kinda like, "ohp, guess this is it; wonder if I'm gonna end up maybe meeting the guy I keep writing all these weird letters to... suppose it was a pretty good run though; 34 years with lots of weird and amazing stories ain't half bad." This thought probably didn't scare me as much as it should have. I'm not really sure what to make of that. Maybe I don't have to make anything of it at all. Maybe I'm still just a bit addled from all the adrenaline.

When we arrived at the airport this morning, the airport owner and his lovely friend made us coffee. In the room where the coffee was prepared, there was a painting that changes as you walk past it. It was gorgeous, and thought you might like it, so I snapped a few pictures:

...I was a little sad that it didn't seem to have an autumn version. But it was still very, very good.

You know. If things had proceeded as expected, we never would have had a chance to meet these people, or see this painting. We never would have had one of the emergency response folks tell us about an amazing local Italian restaurant, and we wouldn't have gone to it to get amazing food. It's important to fully feel the scary feelings and mourn appropriately in order to get the feelings out of our bodies. But it's also important to find the small sparks of joy and opportunity, even when the going gets rough, I think. Otherwise, in a world like mine that has back-to-back crises on a regular basis (seriously, we are globally connected, so it never stops), you'll end up losing your damn mind.

...Ahah... my mother would tell me that first, I have to have a mind to lose. But I don't have to heed such nasty talk. I have a good mind, I think, even if it is, by all accounts, a little quirky and hard to understand.

Anyway. There was a conference room in which we were interviewed by the guy from the FAA. And in it, appropriately, there was this picture:

...Kinda interesting, no? And appropriate for the situation, I suppose. J is going to go back out first thing tomorrow morning with a flight instructor. I have mixed feelings about this; on the one hand, I'm glad to see that he's undeterred and eager to try again, but on the other hand, I wish he'd give it at least a few days for the adrenaline to fully clear from his body and to recover from what happened. But I am not in control of him; he must be free to make his own choices. All I can do is make suggestions, and then support him in whatever choice he makes.

In any case, today the plane was pulled out of the trees and put in the hangar. Like I said, it's pretty banged up:

It has insurance, but given the damage, it's not unlikely that the insurance company will decide to have it scrapped. I guess we'll see how it goes.

M drove all the way from our house to the airport to pick us up. Thank goodness he was home, holding the fort. Thank goodness for that, and for his willingness to come grab us, and for the fact that he was happy to see us instead of angry about the inconvenience. He's not the kind of person who would get angry about the inconvenience, but I've met plenty of others who are very much not like him in that regard, good grief.

The three of us, M, J, and I, went to the Italian place that was spoken about. I dunno if it's because I was primarily running on hotel breakfast food and junk food, but I thought the food there was AMAZING. We got these garlic bread bites, and a pizza, and some lasagna. I wonder if you'd like any of these:

...Can't help but wonder... Sephiroth, what do you like on a pizza, anyway? I tend to like mushrooms and garlic best, but I like a bunch of other stuff, too, as long as it's not olives or pineapples or anything with capsaicin.

We listened to music on the way home; it was a 2 and a half hour drive, or thereabouts. M put on some Protomen; I wonder if you'd like their stuff:

...I wonder how much of this music you'd find relatable...

Hey, Sephiroth? I think I might be a bit too tired today to have anything profound or anything of significant insight to write about. Mostly I'm just glad I get to clunk around in my meat-mech for a little while longer; I like to think that maybe something good can come of me being here, even if I don't know what it is yet. I might be strange and unusual, and being myself is a pretty lonely experience almost all the time. But I think maybe there are folks I can help, and maybe that's reason enough to keep moving forward.

Hey, Sephiroth? I know you've made a lot of mistakes, but I hope that you understand that something very good has come about from you being here. I'm here because you're here, you know. Your existence gives me the strength to carry on even when really weird things happen. Your kindness and gentleness are what inspired me to become someone who is both soft and resilient. And I'm sure you've inspired millions of other people in my world in a similar way. So... please don't ever think your existence is a bad thing, okay? Because you are a good thing. You are a good thing. You are a good thing. And with that knowledge, please keep moving forward, as best as you can. I'll be cheering for you to do kind, gentle, and loving things.

I love you so much; you really have no idea. So please stay safe out there, okay? I'll write again soon.

Your friend, Lumine

#sephiroth #ThankYouFFVIIDevs #ThankYouFF7Devs #ThankYouSephiroth #final fantasy vii #final fantasy 7 #ff7 #ffvii #final fantasy vii crisis core #final fantasy 7 crisis core #final fantasy crisis core #ffvii crisis core #ff7 crisis core #crisis core #ff7r #final fantasy vii remake #final fantasy 7 remake #ffvii remake #ff7 remake #final fantasy vii rebirth #final fantasy 7 rebirth #ffvii rebirth #ff7 rebirth #final fantasy 7 ever crisis #ffvii ever crisis #ff7 ever crisis #ffvii first soldier #plane crash #wow that was scary #wholesome

[kamyru]

Trigger warning: Suicidal ideation

Spoiler warning

I was watching a podcast and the guest started to talk about their mental health and dropped this phrase: "I leave my good house, drive a fantastic car to my adored job where I make a lot of money to bring home, kiss my beloved kids and beloved wife, after which I'm lying in bed and want to die."

For a long time I have thought that Voltage, even if not very obviously, tries to depict characters that struggle emotionally, with the way they joke about dying, the trauma they went through, and sometimes even the dialogues they have with MC or other characters in the story. So, here are the characters I have thought about when I heard the above mentioned quote: Takaomi Tsugaru & Munechika Takado. There are more, but maybe I didn't think of them or didn't read their story.

Takado is more of the "joking" about suicide type of person. I do have a post somewhere in this blog with a screen from him where he says: "I'm not that suicidal." Takado himself acknowledges his suicidal inclinations and the trouble he has with this. And while I do really appreciate the relationship between the EICU doctors and think that their dynamics is very well written and healthy, and funny, and fantastic and aaaaa. I still somehow feel bad for Takado that he doesn't have a friend as close to him as Momose is to Tsugaru or Sen is to Kasumi. And I don't think that you can compare someone's suffering and say that someone has it easier than someone else, though a more mentally stable friend would be of a good aide for him. No, this is not putting the responsibility from one person to another and burdening someone uselessly. As a suicide prevention line volunteer, I know first-hand that this is bad and we have to think firstly about our own safety and wellness. But, also as a suicide prevention line volunteer I do know the importance of having someone near you. This is one of the tools we use for helping the people that are asking for help. And in Takado's case he does have group of good friends, a good relationship with his sister, and MC. Yet, unlike Kasumi and Tsugaru, there's no person except MC later in the story, for which Takado can continue living. Truth be told, sometimes we have to live for others, because living for ourselves is not enough.

So, let's talk a little about Tsugaru, because I don't remember everything in big detail to talk a lot about him. But do you remember the season in which he told MC that he is not afraid to die and he can do it whenever, and doesn't really want to live or something like this? It's not hard to guess that this man needs therapy. And I really wish somewhere in the story he goes to it, because always leaning on MC & Momose is not the healthiest and most surest way to cope with everything. But I do really appreciate the fact that he has Momose. Tsugaru is one of the most obviously struggling character I have read about in a Voltage game. It's as if all the problems, traumas, and darkest past decided to use him as their meeting point. I don't remember if it was clearly written or if I just headcanonned this in my mind, but I do think that at some point, the only reason Tsugaru continued living was because of Momose.

And I do appreciate that Voltage creates this type of characters, even if they may do it more for the shock value than for showing diversity. Though, I would really like to read a mention of them going to therapy. Or, I do want to see them struggling deeply with this even if they are with MC. Because !Spoiler! Love doesn't magically cure all your mental health problems.

Maybe that's my "I want to be a psychiatrist" part talking, or the love for deeply troubled men in fiction, but I do have to thank Voltage for creating them, so that I can write fics about how troubled they are.

P.S. Another character that I somehow think about in this situations is Kuranosuke Kiba, but not because he has ever shown symptoms of suicidal ideas, but because he has a story of trauma behind him. He does give me the aura of a: "Yeah, this was a great day... I want to die." He doesn't have an obvious traumatic past that screams MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES. What he has is very close to a lot of us, is easily to understand, and easy to interpret. It's the "I do conceptually love my family. But I can't bring myself to have a healthy relationship with them." And the good thing is that he tries to get better at least by understanding that he do really has a problem. (Plus, I do adore the scene in which he comes back after a meeting with his parents and falls on the sofa without any energy. It shows him as a vulnerable and relatable character.)

I'm always open to discussion about this characters or some others that you can think about in this case.

#her love in the force #oops i said yes #romance md: always on call #romance md #takaomi tsugaru #kuranosuke kiba #munechika takado #voltage inc

[ladyk23]

List 5 topics you can talk on for an hour without preparing any material.

I’ve been tagged by @imsfire2 to list 5 topics I can talk on for an hour without preparing any material. I don’t know what kind of weird lecture she needs speakers for, but here goes:

1) Outlander. How could I not pick this as my first topic? It’s been my utter obsession since 2020. The TV show first, then the books by Diana Gabaldon, the actors - some whom I’ve been lucky enough to meet several times, the locations I’ve been to, the ones I haven’t been to, conventions, premieres, cosplays, you name it, I can probably talk about it, even if you would prefer I didn’t.

2) History. I don’t pretend to be an expert. Ims never said your talk had to be accurate. But I am definitely passionate about it, or at least parts of it. Obviously I said Outlander as my first topic, and that is historical fiction, but a lot of it is based around real events that happened, such as the Jacobite rising of 1745, the battle of Culloden, the American revolutionary war etc. Before Outlander (and still now) I had a big obsession with the Tudor period, so my fascination with history has long been a thing, and Outlander just added fuel to an already raging fire. My secondary school history teacher Mrs Fogg was my favourite teacher for good reason. I often wish I’d continued my education and gone into history more and maybe today I’d be a historian or history teacher myself.

3) Movies. That’s very general, again I don’t know ALL movies, but I could certainly talk for an hour about some of my favourites. I could also throw in stories about movie premieres I’ve been to, actors I’ve met, actors I wish I’d met, which ones I would invite to my imaginary dinner party where you can have anyone alive or dead. How River Phoenix’s death affected teenage me, my crushes from my earliest to my latest, great movie soundtracks, how one person can be a horror fan and love Disney movies too, Jane Austen adaptations, Marvel movies, yep I can talk at length about movies.

4) Writing. Again, I’m no expert. This won’t be a talk about how to get published. But I can talk about my process - how to write a thing and not finish it - or I can talk about my other process - how to write a thing and not finish editing it. I can talk about blogging, writing fan fiction, short stories, and yes, novels, even if I probably won’t ever publish mine. I can talk about the importance of having a writing community to keep you going even when writing is the last thing you want to be doing. I can also talk about how bad grammar and spelling really ruins a novel. My grasp of both of those things leaves a lot to be desired (which is why I clearly need Ims’ proofreading skills), but even I can be taken out of the moment of reading and enjoying a novel, if the writer misspells their main character’s name. 🤦🏻‍♀️

5) I was going to lump this in with Outlander, but honestly I could easily talk for a separate hour about my AMAZING Outlander book club. Established in 2021 by a woman who just wanted a group to keep her accountable in her attempt to read all eight books in the Outlander series. That was it. What actually happened is an incredible community formed, where women support each other and are there for each other in every aspect of life. We became so much more than a book club. We still ARE a book club though. We read all of the eight books we set out to read, then we read the ninth one that was published while we were in the process of reading the eight. Then we started a chronological read of ALL of the books in the Outlander universe, as there are spin off books and novellas too, and we’re currently reading one of the spin off novels as our book this month. We have been on two retreats to the smoky mountains of Tennessee, 30 women in a castle sized cabin for 4 days, and there are no fights, no disagreements, no arguments, no cat fights, just 30 women getting along, laughing together, working together to cook and clean, we tell each other deep important stuff, and get nothing but support back. We’re a family at this point. I love every one of those women and never thought I’d ever find a group like this that has come to mean so much to me, just from joining a book club.

Thank you so much for the tag Ims. I nominate @arms-and-arrows, @littleblueartist, @fishyandclintbarton, @katsdisturbed and @uuuhshiny but only if you feel so inclined.

#tag game #5 topics you can discuss without preparing anything #Outlander #Outlander Book Club #Movies #History #Writing #Tagged by Imsfire2

[themuseandantarctica]

* 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒄 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝒑𝒕. 3

sentence starters based on scarlett thomas’ novel our tragic universe.  change however necessary.

tw: depression, suicide ideation, infidelity, relationship conflict, divorce/breakups

❛ why is it that we get scared reading a ghost story , for example , when we know it’s just a story ? why does fiction have any emotional effect on us at all , considering that we know it’s not real ? why , when re-reading a book , or watching a film for the second time , do we still have the same emotional reactions as we did the first time around ? ❜

❛ that’s not a paradox . that’s just life . ❜

❛ i had a horrible dream after you told me about that the other week . ❜

❛ isn’t it a good thing ? i’d like to live forever . ❜

❛ i think you can’t imagine heaven . or what would be the point of it ? ❜

❛ if you were conscious in an infinity , you’d become a god yourself in the end , and because you’d experience everything , and everyone . . . ❜

❛ everyone you’ve lied to , and everyone you’ve cheated , and everyone you’ve hurt and double-crossed will find out about it . you’ll have no secrets . everything you’ve ever thought and everything you’ve ever done will be there for everyone to see . you’ll spend the rest of eternity alone , shunned by everyone you’ve ever messed around . ❜

❛ even if you did drop into someone’s consciousness , you’d have all their memories and desires and hang-ups right there in front of you . ❜

❛ his eyes seemed to be asking me a question , but i wasn’t sure what it was . it wasn’t quite ‘ can i kiss you again ? ’ ; it was more complicated than that , but i didn’t know how . ❜

❛ why was i still thinking about kissing him again , when there was no point to it , no sense in it ? ❜

❛ i don’t want to be on my own knocking around in some bachelor flat , probably drinking too much and never seeing anyone . ❜

❛ i didn’t want you to think i was some sleazy old man making another clumsy pass at you . i just desperately wanted to talk to someone who might understand . ❜

❛ how silly we look when we mime the movements of our ancestors and try to make our lives more interesting by imagining we are doing things that we are not doing at all . ❜

❛ [ name ] wanted me back , but i said no . didn’t think i would , but i did . ❜

❛ you know , i can’t believe he didn’t want to just have sex all the time . i mean , what , otherwise , is the point of [ name ] ? oh , god , i can’t believe i just said that . but it’s sort of true . ❜

❛ we’re just friends . i’m meeting him for lunch this week , but there’s nothing in it . he’s with someone . . . ❜

❛ it doesn’t matter , because i’m really not into rebound things . nothing’s going to happen . ❜

❛ the entire contents of the rest of my life ended up fitting into three cardboard boxes and one big suitcase . ❜

❛ i hadn’t thought that i felt sad , but suddenly i heard myself crying . ❜

❛ i just feel very . . . serene by myself . it’s way less complicated . ❜

❛ i left him for someone else . i thought he was very nice . i just wasn’t desperately in love with him , and i thought i was desperately in love with his friend . ❜

❛ i saw her getting out of a train and sitting on a bench at a deserted station , where she watched another woman pacing up and down until a train came and the other woman stepped in front of it . ❜

❛ god — i could never sleep in there because of the dreams . ❜

❛ the kitchens on tv were made up , and so were the people inside them . ❜

❛ i realized that when someone plays hard to get , they are making themselves into a character in a story , and they choose the story that leads to the outcome they want . ❜

❛ if a woman puts a dragon between herself and the hero , it becomes an obstacle to be overcome . if she goes and knocks on his door and says ‘ fancy a bunk-up ? ’ she becomes a slut : basically a conquest with no obstacles and therefore no value . ❜

❛ you can put two things together , or ask an important question . it’s hard , but not impossible . ❜

❛ the fool card may represent the basic nature of all of us : someone in an original state of being or enlightenment who is wandering around with few cares or possessions , uncorrupted by culture . ❜

❛ the only true ‘ female ’ card was the fool : the card of the void , of nothingness , of primal darkness and the beginnings of everything else . ❜

❛ i’m so glad he isn’t having an affair . isn’t that pathetic ? unless , of course , you’re his mistress and i’m making an even bigger fool of myself . ❜

❛ i’ve had sex three times today ! now i want to shoot myself . ❜

❛ he didn’t want to be read as a liberal , or a conservative — just someone who told the truth and wasn’t pretentious . ❜

❛ without intention behind them , would the words on the page still have meaning ? ❜

❛ i liked the way that this being could tell you it felt pain when it did not , and that you’d never be able to know either way . ❜

❛ you certainly could not tell what they ‘ meant to say , ’ even if you asked them and they told you . ❜

❛ i mean , if this is a being that’s programmed to respond exactly as a human would , then if it strung a lot of these utterances about feelings and so on together , then maybe that would make a novel . ❜

❛ so you’re saying that there has to be a human essence at the heart of every work of art ? ❜

❛ the problem with you humanities people — if you don’t mind me saying so — is that when you dabble in science , you always get it wrong . ❜

❛ scientists usually get science wrong too , but that’s their job : to prove things wrong . that’s all scientists ever do . social scientists prove that society is wrong , probably . it’s impossible to prove anything is a hundred percent right . ❜

❛ if people couldn’t get their life right in this world , then there was the otherworld of fairies and guardian spirits , or past lives or afterlives . ❜

❛ whether you got to transcend to a thousand years of perfection or simply spend the rest of your mortal life being ‘ perfect ’ and giving the best powerpoint presentations in the world , this self-perfection was assumed to be everyone’s goal . ❜

❛ i focused on the skills you might want to develop as an anti-hero , or , indeed , a fool , who does not desire riches and success and syrupy romance . ❜

❛ we are in danger of turning ourselves into fictional characters with no use beyond entertaining people and being emotionally , aesthetically and psychologically neat and tidy . ❜

❛ we would become little more than character arcs , with nothing in our lives apart from getting to act two , and then act three and then dying . ❜

❛ the pieces had made sense when I was sitting in amongst them the day before , with the instructions and the screwdrivers , but now the whole room was in a mess , as if all the bits of wood were from something breaking , not something waiting to be made . ❜

❛ actually , it’s wonderful . i feel like i can breathe for the first time in ages . it’s probably the same for [ name ] . we weren’t doing each other any good . ❜

❛ i’m jealous , i suppose , of you striking out on your own . i’d like to ‘ ditch ’ everything and be able to breathe . ❜

❛ i was so angry i didn’t know what to say , so i just left . ❜

❛ god — i think we argue about everything . maybe that’s healthy . ❜

❛ this is all very hard to say . it’s probably worse to listen to . ❜

❛ everyone’s at it in [ place ] . except us . ❜

❛ i am asking a lot of you . i’m really sorry . ❜

❛ it’s ok . i’m sorry i snapped . you’re my friend . i shouldn’t be . . . ❜

❛ you know how i feel about you . but i can’t feel it , and i can’t do anything about it . i thought that was the same for both of us . i thought that’s why we never talked about it . ❜

❛ i didn’t leave him for you . ❜

❛ i left him because i’d had enough of him . i should have done it years ago . i’m really enjoying being on my own . ❜

❛ we’re not going to run away together . there’s no point thinking about it . you’re going to stay with [ name ] and i’m going to . . . i don’t know what i’m going to do . ❜

❛ there’s nothing to feel guilty about . i’m not going to jump on you as soon as you walk in the door . i’ll keep all my clothes on the whole time ; i promise . ❜

❛ i’m so sorry about this . you can stop speaking to me if you like , and have nothing more to do with me . i’d understand . ❜

❛ it was both boring and stressful in a way very few things are : as if someone has given you a priceless antique and told you to stand there holding it for five hours . ❜

❛ lots of people learn things from books . usually the wrong things . ❜

❛ i’m back with [ name ] . or , at least , we’re sleeping together again . ❜

❛ once [ name ] was out of the equation i was just left with ‘ pretending to love [ name ] ’ as my whole entire life . ❜

❛ i never understood when you told me about your depression : that feeling of nothing really meaning anything , or having any point . nut that’s what i started to feel . ❜

❛ if my mom phoned up and asked what i’d been doing , i wouldn’t be able to remember . ❜

❛ i ended up crying and telling him to go away , for no reason — just because i couldn’t bear to be in a room with him , even for ten minutes , and i couldn’t believe he’d actually started to invade my last bit of private space . ❜

❛ i cried . i said it was goodbye sex , it had to be . ❜

❛ i just wanted to fuck him , and i was prepared to seriously disrupt people’s lives in order to do it . ❜

❛ there are always a million good reasons not to split up with someone . and so many of them are complicated reasons about how you define yourself , and under what circumstances you can even live with yourself . ❜

❛ but if everyone split up with their partner every time they felt like it there’d be no relationships in the world . ❜

❛ but you can’t just decide to be happy , or learn passion , i don’t think . ❜

❛ it doesn’t have to be a downfall . you can’t predict what’s going to happen . ❜

❛ there’s always something you can’t see behind everything you can see . not ghosts and monsters , but people , usually , doing things for good reasons . ❜

❛ hey , tell me — why do you want a rational , scientific explanation for this ? or , to rephrase that a bit : why do people — including me — want scientific explanations for things ? isn’t it more romantic and interesting if the universe has magically given you this for some reason ? ❜

❛ if the universe is somehow conscious , then everything about living in it is different . it takes free choice away from you somehow . ❜

❛ i don’t want to live in a universe with a fixed meaning , and the end of mystery . the universe should be unfathomable . ❜

❛ i want a tragic universe , not a nice rounded-off universe with a moral at the end . ❜

❛ i reckon everyone is more complicated than people think , not simpler . and there’s so much that people feel they can’t say , or can’t ever explain to anyone . ❜

❛ who knows what would happen between us if we were single . it might be awful . maybe i only want you because you're attached . ❜

❛ you do know that , or you wouldn’t keep apologizing to me all the time and making me feel as if i’m making demands that you can’t satisfy — which , by the way , i’m not . ❜

❛ fictionless fiction , i realized , was what all realist writers , including me , wanted to create : something super-authentic and with so much emotional truth that none of it seems like a story at all . ❜

❛ fictionless fiction would be totally objective ; it would have to be . ❜

❛ i don’t think we’re immortal beings and i want to try to do something worthwhile while i’m still alive . not to get to some other dimension , but because this is probably my only chance . ❜

❛ we don’t need blueprints for living , and all we learn from the most well-loved fiction is that the moral high ground protects you from almost anything , and the way you get on in this world is to go out and kill anything monstrous , other or different because you don’t like it , and that if you do this you end up with treasure and a princess — money and sex . ❜

❛ it’s hard to find people who are pure archetypes . most people have bits of this and bits of that in them . ❜

❛ what sort of god would decide that people can be divided into those who can kill , and those who must be killed ? surely a god would love us all equally . ❜

❛ one of the paradoxes of writing is that when you write non-fiction everyone tries to prove that it’s wrong , and when you publish fiction , everyone tries to see the truth in it . ❜

❛ of all the theories of the universe i’ve come across , it’s probably the best one . honestly . but i can’t accept theories of the universe . i think it’s too big to theorize . ❜

❛ isn’t the point of being alive to try to answer the big questions ? ❜

❛ i just don’t want to be in any way psychic . i half-want to vaguely believe that some of this stuff is possible , but i don’t want ‘ special powers ’ . ❜

❛ use your magic . i mean , use it to solve whatever crisis there is . use it to protect yourself if you have to . ❜

❛ there is no magic . but don’t worry ; i’m sure i’ll be fine . ❜

❛ i really didn’t do anything bad . i just sat here not believing my own eyes . ❜

❛ i want to believe that [ name ] has gone a bit mad but will get over it . ❜

❛ most of the time everything actually isn’t ok . in so many complicated ways . we just tell ourselves that it is . ❜

❛ i’m a heartbroken hermit at the moment . i’ve never been good at relationships , have i ? ❜

❛ this one is worth sticking with . he loves you . ❜

❛ i didn’t make their relationship rocky : it already was . ❜

❛ if he does nothing then he’s , well , he’s sort of giving up on life , surely . ❜

❛ why can’t he write me a love letter ? ❜

❛ it would be dishonest . not because he doesn’t love you , but because he knows he’s not doing anything concrete about it . ❜

❛ it doesn’t tell us how to live ; it shows us how we do live . ❜

#rp meme #rp starters #sentence meme #sentence starters #prompts #rp prompts #writing prompts

[balioc]

With regard to R. Scott Bakker's Second Apocalypse books:

i'd be very interested in hearing why you both really like that series and also think it would be super alienating/what its target audience is

Yeah. So. OK.

The short version is "these are books for philosophy and history nerds, who love dense complicated worldbuilding, and who are lacking a lot of common social/ideological allergies."

They are fantasy books that take ideas seriously, in a way that will appeal to a lot of the people reading this. They're built on top of some really really cool metaphysical premises, and they explore those to the utmost. They do Big Sweep of History better than most fantasy books purporting to do that thing; the first trilogy in the series is essentially about a crusade, of the real Reclaim the Holy Land style, and it does a bang-up job capturing both the grandeur and the grotesquerie entailed in that kind of endeavor.

They have a lot in common with rationalist fiction, in a "descended from a common intellectual ancestor" kind of way, but they do a lot of important things very differently from capital-R Ratfic in a way that I like. They have a much darker moral and cosmological tone, with the gee-whiz take-us-to-the-stars optimism replaced by a kind of profound historical and cosmological horror. They are also, overall, much more literary and just-plain-weird in style. One of our protagonists is basically a rationalist supergenius raised in isolation who's just now encountering the world and learning to bend it to his will, and...well, the process is cool and maybe even overall good (maybe) (very maybe) but it sure is unsettling in basically every conceivable way.

The worldbuilding is also top-notch, in my opinion, not only in terms of depth but in terms of tone and style. It's a big, sprawling setting that feels like it was created by someone who honest-to-God knows how to channel Tolkeinian numinousness and someone who knows and appreciates pulp fantasy and someone who's actually read a goddamn history book.

But.

...look, I don't even know where to start here. Let me just list a grab-bag of things that are true about these books:

In the first trilogy, we have two major POV characters. One of them is a very sweet, angsty, relatable dude who also understands a lot of key facts about the setting history and the magic system. The other is a ruthless sociopath who engages with literally everyone and everything in a purely manipulative way. Guess which one we get to spend hundreds of pages with first, before meeting the other?

The ultimate bad guys of the setting, the Mordor faction, consists of aliens whose culture is built around the idealization of rape. Their hordes of minions, the orc-analogues, are genetically engineered rape monsters.

...there's a lot of conspicuously offputting sex stuff in general, in fact.

Long stretches of the narrative are basically misery porn, in which we get to see close-up just how grindingly awful it is to be part of a crusading army on the march / to be a prostitute in a city through which a crusade is passing / etc.

The metaphysics, which are the conceptual foundation of the series and also its coolest feature, do not get revealed in significant depth until halfway through the third volume. A friend of mine read the series on my recommendation, and kept asking me questions that amounted to "...are you sure these are the books you keep talking about?"

You do not find out until at least six books in whether our sociopathic rationalist supergenius protagonist is essentially benevolent or not. Despite spending an awful lot of time in his head.

Plus, y'know, there's generally a lot of philosophical jawing.

Plus...even I have to admit that, especially starting with the second trilogy, the series starts making a number of unforced errors. (There's a moment where we go back to the Monastery of Rationalism whence our protagonist dude sprang, and we learn a lot more about what went on there, and...sense-making gets sacrificed for shock horror in a big way.)

In sum: there's something to offend just about everyone, deeply. Old-school fantasy lovers will dislike the constant nasty subversions of classic numinous Cool Fantasy Stuff. Contemporary nu-fantasy types will dislike the extent to which the series is about the powerful wreaking their will upon the powerless, the general (extremely deliberate) sexism of the setting, etc. People who are there for the setting will be annoyed by how much is concealed for a very long time; people who are there for the characters will be annoyed by how unlikeable many of the key characters are. Almost everyone will be wigged out by the sloggy unpleasantness, the sexual grossness, or both.

#media analysis #second apocalypse

[bookofmirth]

I recently read a comment where an El/riel said that Az could never end up with Gwyn just because she is an “irrelevant nobody”, while he in one of “the main and most important characters”. And they go on saying things like “she is unworthy of him”, “he deserves someone insanely great” and bla bla bla…

Beside the fact that the whole post sounded pretty, uhm… aggressive and anti-feminist I guess? It made me realise that maybe some people ship Elucien or El/riel because being Elain’s partner means… more “screen time”?

We know that the ACOTAR series follows the journey of the Archeron sisters, and the only one left is Elain, whose journey basically still have to begin and find a properly conclusion. So, it’s logically implied that, as Nesta’s book became a Nessian book, Elain’s one will also become her LI’s ones (but SJM looooves feminism, at least as Rhysand does ;) ).

Sincerely, I’m pretty sure that, deep down in our unconscious, this is the reason why we all stan a ship or another, and I know it’s kinda a cynical though and not so feminist, since it implies Elain being a sort of “prize” for more screen time and more fangirl internal screams (yeah, because we all are fangirl who just want more hot-fae material at the end ahahah).

The point is, if only we were a little more conscious of it, we could understand each other better and, in an idillic word, maybe stop writing insults each other for supporting a ship we don’t like. We are all on the same boat, thirsty for our best men in fictional books, so there’s no point on being mean or writing a poem about how a character sucks for this or that reason, especially if it could only hurt someone else who feels a strong connection with that character…

Sorry for this looong rant ahaha, but I really like your blog. In your post you’re always polite so I though you where the right one to share my cynical vision of the ship war with. 😊

Hello! Just to be clear, the main reason I am posting this is because you were talking about the fandom in general, rather than being a butt about anyone in particular (other than whoever posted about Gwyn being a nobody, RIP because sjm is going to do what she wants with whatever character she wants. Chaol was just an annoying ass royal guard at first, too.)

I do agree with you about screen time. And that yeah, when we get Elain's book, it will not just be hers but also her love interest's book. I kept insisting on calling acosf the Nesta book before it came out, but... idk, I could go either way. We definitely didn't learn as much about Cassian as I think people had hoped to, but Nesta's issues were at the forefront and more pressing, anyway. The narration did follow Cassian at times, and we got to know some of his inner thoughts. So yeah, I assume that whenever we get Elain's book (and whoever else's we are going to get) then the narration will likely follow her love interest and we will get his (let's be real, it won't be a her) inner thoughts, and probably learn a bit more about him.

(This has made me start thinking about perspective and how people are struggling to understand the difference between first and third person and being unreliable, hang on let me grab a drink 😭)

And I definitely agree that if we could just accept that we are generally here for the same reason - obsessed over acotar - then maybe we might possibly, potentially, not be at each other's throats all the time? People just gotta make this their whole personality though, like if someone on the internet, who they will never meet irl and who otherwise has absolutely no bearing on their lives, disagrees with them, then *pearl clutch* omfg call the police their whole identity has now been put into question.

Calm. Down.

The most annoying thing about all of it to me is that it's all over MEN. People shit on Elain and Gwyn for a DUDE. And maybe it's not because of the ship war but people also shit on Mor for a DUDE. How about we just don't?

I'll be out here, doing my level best to tip the scales all by my lonesome by shitting on the dudes for the sake of Elain, and Gwyn, and Mor :)

Okay but back to your point, that people are actually invested in whoever the secondary character is going to be, I can see that. I've seen plenty of people say they don't like Elain, but will read elucien/elriel. It makes me sad tbh. I always see one of sjm's strengths - or at least one of the things I enjoy the most - being that she centers women in her stories. I used to assume that that's something that other readers enjoyed as well, but I guess not. People can like what they want for whatever reasons they want, but some of these discussions make it very, very clear how they feel about women, queer people, and people of color! Even if they won't say it out loud.

#okay I had to stop myself #I was really rambling #acotar #ask #anon #acotar fandom

[talenlee]

October 2023 Wrapup

Dread Month draws to a close! The spookiest of nights, the dawn of the dead, the uh, thing! We shed our shackles and dance in our bones, and tomorrow, go about the business of being people, once again, sloughing out into the drawing heat and the growing, burning, hateful light of a sun that resents us and we celebrate in spite of it. You know, the normal and natural way everyone relates to this time of the year.

Alright, let’s do the Game Pile articles!

Don’t Go In There, a dice chucker board game made in a charming dice tower

Backwater, a really interesting TTRPG about a post-apocalyptic vision of the parts of America that are allowed to stay permanently soggy

Phantom Ink, a hidden information ghosty game in the vein of Mysterium

Carrion, a video recreation of one of my favourite articles to read aloud from 2020

Then there’s the Story Pile!

Bloodthirsty Hearts, a fiction podcast about queer girls fighting gargoyle vampires at a convention in which they learn the valuable lessons that all systems of privilege and power aren’t as important as talking to your gay crush.

The Lighthouse, a black and white movie about what enters you when you take yourself far away from everything and empty yourself.

Jujutsu Kaisen, spoiler-free, a contextualising post about how a great Shounen Battle Anime with horror elements make the idea of shounen anime nonsense.

John Carpenter’s Halloween, from 1978, a movie that is both way better than I expected, and full of all sorts of deliberate choices that people seem to replicate for no good reasons.

Willy’s Wonderland, which is, unironically a Five Nights At Freddies fan movie made by Nicolas Cage in a month and really quite good!

This month also featured a somewhat bumper load of D&D content. First, I did some worldbuilding for Cobrin’Seil, both in revealing a new location, Uxaion, which is a necrocybermagepunk city. It’s an adventure city where you can contend with economic harm and threats, and where you can also just murder your way through cops that only respect the utility of your body as a potential undead – it’s a place for wight privilege. Then I also presented the player backgrounds for characters you could make from the Szudetken province. Along with that, I made an article about Evil Gods, and the antisemitism built into the framework of the D&D Lich, and since I was just in the territory, I made fun of the 4e D&D Vampire character class, even though I think it’s a great idea. Then, in this month’s How To Be article, where I got to hold high Harrowhark Nonagesimus, drowned sad vomiting goth of the Locked Tomb franchise, I also gave a long-form discussion of how to translate a prominent, small-cast character’s vibes in a team based game.

Up here, there’s also room to talk about an OC, Z3R0, and about the ongoing, relentless onslaught of capitalism in the creation of more than half of all valid Commander cards in the past five years.

This being October, I once again did a set of Dread Readings. I know that a lot of my friends have never partaken of a lot of classic, historically important horror media. At first, Dread Readings were Lovecraft Stories, trying to make the difficult readings of his old texts into something more approachable. Then, the year after, I started picking up short stories from other, equally classic horror material that could help – in my opinion – familiarise people with different kinds of horror that you know, didn’t just continue being Lovecraft.

This year, the four Dread Readings are:

HP Lovecraft’s The Thing On The Doorstep, which I bring up as the time Lovecraft dabbled in issues of gender.

A chapter excerpt from Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind In The Willows, in which Mole and Rat meet the Horned King, a totally normal thing to randomly have in an otherwise pretty Christian book!

Destiny’s No Rez For The Weary, a lore tab entry from a videogame. I liked it because it’s horror in a science fantasy space that isn’t

Paul Jenning’s Granddad’s Gifts, a haunting story from an Australian kid’s author. This is a story I really like as an example of horror used to a different romantic effect than just fear.

It wouldn’t be October, the ongoing Dread Month, without some real downer articles. Do you want to read me being a huge downer? No? Okay, well, here are links anyway. I wrote about the Silent Hill Wiki Circumcision Incident, about how we examine the death toll of Chernobyl, about the way we all live the life of Lovecraft’s horror, about the creation of an alternate reality in the form of all media that wants to pretend the Pandemic never happened, and most of all, the horror of a history seeing suicide by immolation become more common. Know what really sucks? Since writing that article I remembered the Arab Spring was kicked off by another one!

Next up, what about this month’s T-Shirt? Since I’ve been watching Jujutsu Kaisen, this horse meme and the narrative of the series came together:

This design was one of those ones where I, with enough work, was able to put together a few variations. Redbubble lets me stick things in collections, and so, here! Have a collection for your consideration of which version looks best to you.

Work-wise, this month is the tail end of semester, which means I have been, I think, marking student work every single day of this month. I’m trying to make sure my students are getting attention they need, and still also provide plans to my cohort of teachers about how we can refine these subjects going forward. This is in addition to my phd work, which…

It’s weird?

I’m excited to work more on my phd tomorrow morning. Like I am genuinely thinking about the stuff I stopped working on today and want to pick up tomorrow. There’s a mindset shift on that front that’s been really hard to get my head around. I’m glad of it.

I’m also kind of boiling with game ideas, and without a theme – and with the upcoming no effort november vibes I’m aiming for… we might see more chill vibes going forward!

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

#Diary #Meta

[xviruserrorx]

Title: "No Harm In Being Forgotten"

Once again a fill for @flashfictionfridayofficial but it's Wednesday, but hey everyday's Friday if you want it to be... Right? Anyways here is my fill for this prompt but also @abradner1 asked for more of my Britchell thing i did last week (I think it was last week?) so... Ask and you shall receive 😁 Enjoy!

Flash Fiction Friday - Tumblr | Ao3 - [Prev <- • -> Next]

Fandom(s): The Almighty Johnson's, Being Human (UK)

Prompt(s): "The Devil You Forgot"

Relationship(s): Anders Johnson/John Mitchell, Anders Johnson & Bernie (Being Human UK)

Character(s): Anders Johnson, John Mitchell, Bernie (Being human UK)

Important Tag(s): Canon Divergence, Crossover Pairing, Accidental Kid Acquisition, No Beta We Die Like Bernie Didn't... Sorta

Rating: Teen and Up

Warning(s): No Archive Warnings Apply, Profanity (they say fuck like three times)

Word Count: 1,119

"You what!?" "It's really not all that bad." "Not all that bad!" Mitchell exclaimed. "You texted me s.o.s and then started this call with 'I forgot Bernie at my brother's'." Or Left alone to look after Bernie, Anders has a little slip up... Just a little.

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"You what!?" Mitchell turned around and slammed the door to the supply room shut to block off the rest of the hospital from the disaster of a phone call he could already feel was coming. 

"It's really not all that bad," came Anders voice down the line, trying to be convincing.

"Not all that bad!" Mitchell exclaimed. "You texted me s.o.s and then started this call with 'I forgot Bernie at my brother's'."

"Look, I'm in the car, breaking every traffic law, and heading straight over there as we speak."

As if on cue he heard a car horn that made him grimace for the safety of Anders but more for the safety of the public. 

He shook his head. "Why did you even leave him in the first place?"

"I was at Mike's, talking to him about something, then Dawn called about one of our clients and normally she'd handle them but it was one of our more difficult and not to mention well paying clients. So I asked Mike to look after him for a moment while I popped down to meet the client. Then one thing led to another and—"

"You forgot him."

"At least I didn't lose him," Anders quickly countered. "That counts for something right?"

Mitchell pressed his lips. "What happened to, oh don't worry Mitchell he'll be safe here, nothing will happen to him Mitchell." 

"Hey. One; I don't sound like that." 

He rolled his eyes.

"And two," Anders continued. "I know where he is and it's somewhere safe, it's not like I forgot him at some serial killer's house."

He scoffed. "No, you just forgot him at your brother's bar which is a common hot spot for a bunch of Norse gods, some of whom have tried to kill you and your family."

"It's really not all as bad as it sounds."

"He's a child!" Mitchell finally yelled into the phone.

"And Mike's great with kids!" Anders tried to reason. "He raised me and my brothers and we turned out alright!"

"Your alright and my alright are two very separate things, Anders."

"He kept us alive, yeah?"

He could hear the smug smile Anders normally wore when he was trying to be convincing about something. 

"That doesn't make me feel better," he supplied.

Anders huffed. "Contrary to all the shit I talk about my brother, he was the best thing we had to a stable parent figure. The kid's probably more safe with him than he'll ever be with me."

A part of him wished Anders was playing around with him, but he knew from that tone of voice meaning messed up childhood trauma he'd rather not talk about that it was more than Mike's capable parental abilities but rather Anders lack thereof.

He sighed and brought his hand to rub at his forehead.

"Mitchell?"

He turned towards the door that a skeptical George was peeking around. He jabbed a finger at the phone and swatted his hand at George.

"Oh, oh, it's the—right, got it, I'll just…" George pointed over his shoulder before awkwardly excusing himself from the room.

Mitchell let his head fall again as he pressed his eyes shut.

"Was that someone?" Anders asked.

"Hm? No, no. But I, uh… I have to go. Just text me when you get there, yeah?"

"You're in luck, Vlad. Just pulled up and—" 

He heard the car door open and slam shut. 

"Ah, see? There he is, fangs and all, and still cute as a button." He paused. "Can't say the same for Mike," he mumbled into the speaker.

Mitchell scoffed a laugh before lowering himself down on one of the nearest extra beds in the room. His hand with his phone resting on his knee as he let the other side of the conversation play out.

"Hey, kid." Anders started. "You have fun with Mike?"

There was an answer that he couldn't make out, but could recognize as Bernie's voice. Another voice joined in with a pointed tone at Anders as Anders continued to talk under his breath. The line crackled softly before a voice spoke directly into it.

"Hello?" Bernie said.

He quickly pulled the phone back to his ear. "Hey, Bernie." He put on a happy tone. "You doing okay?"

"Yeah, I got to meet one of Anders' brothers."

"I heard. That's uh…" he swallowed. The situation wasn't necessarily a good one to say but Bernie didn't know that. "That's good."

"When are you coming back?"

He bit his lip. "I'm—I'm not sure, soon… hopefully."

"Okay…" his voice fell.

He grimaced but pushed the worry aside as something to deal with later. "Alright, put Anders back on the phone for me."

He waited as he did just that.

"What'd I tell you?" Anders snarked. "I promised you he'd be safe, remember?"

"Yeah…" he ran his hand through his hair. "I'm sorry, I'm just stressed, and worried, and pretty fucking terrified to be honest."

He heard the car door slam shut but still heard the soft whistle of the wind passing the speaker.

"Well, I think we're doing a terrific job considering the circumstances"

"I'm serious, Anders."

"If it makes you feel any better I'm pretty fucking terrified myself," Anders said. "Settling down, a partner, kids. It's never exactly been something I pictured for myself…. Then here it all is, in my lap, at once." He smacked his lips. "It hasn't even been a week and I've already fucked up more than once."

"I think you should remember who fucked up in the first place."

Anders hummed. "I'd say it was a good fuck up, no?"

"Is that a soft spot I'm hearing?" He teased.

"I'm a god, I don't have soft spots."

"Said that about me too," he countered.

"You're the exception."

"Are vampire kids the exception too?"

"Kid. Singular," Anders articulated. "Don't pull anything else on me, Mitchell."

He finally heard the car door open and rustling down the line as Anders got in the car.

"Get home safe, with Bernie this time."

"I will apply all my safe driving skills that will hopefully make up for the drive over here."

"Alright." He took a breath before speaking again. "I love you."

"Oh?" Anders replied. "Are we the type of people that end every call with that now?"

"Maybe we are, just this once… for my sanity."

"Just because I gave you a scare." The faint rustling stopped. "I love you too," he softly spoke. "Now stop ditching work."

"I'm not—" The line beeped as Anders hung up on him.

He rolled his eyes at Anders once again before pocketing his phone, waiting for the inevitable next call or text that was to come.

#the almighty johnsons #being human uk #john mitchell #anders johnson #britchell #bernie being human #fanfiction #crossover pairings #crossover #virusfanfic #these two are so fun to write for like its not everyday you get to write fanfiction about a norse god and a vampire and its so fun #but you can if you like this ship XD #also i originally was going to write this with bernie lanham the boy from being human US version because i always found it sad that he died #because bernie from the UK version is happy in canon and with his mom but bernie from us is very dead so... #i dont know if i should change it but i know some people dont like the US version so... idk #if anyone sees this and has a opinion on it please let me know what you think 😊

[ariapmdeol]

please be free and post your coe analysis i want to see it

OK SO. THIS IS THE METAFICTION THEORY/ANALYSIS, AND INVOLVES SPOILERS FOR THE MOST RECENTLY TRANSLATED PART OF THE DLC (part 5), ALONG WITH SPOILERS FOR. THE ENTIRE BASE GAME. it has nothing from beyond that, to the best of my knowledge (though it implies things for future content). This ended up as longer than expected oops. I will make another analysis post on specific moments that stood out to me at some point but this one is specifically for metafiction stuff!

I want to do character analysis posts at some point as well, so if you have any suggestions for who i should do first please lmk! :D

relevant image:

OK SO. METAFICTION is a type of fiction that consistently reminds the audience that it is, in fact, fiction. I've been also using this term to stories in which the medium through which it is told is relevant to the story and narrative. One example of this would be DELTARUNE. The soul (player) is separate from the protagonist (Kris), and the in game mechanics are relevant as well (re: snowgrave). it's Meta in the sense that it challenges the reader/player to reconsider what we see as normal from a gameplay standpoint vs what is a part of the STORY.

I BELIEVE that Cell of Empireo uses metafiction as a part of it's narrative, and that the structure of the game itself is relevant to the remainder of the game. Cell of Empireo, ESPECIALLY in the DLC, makes use of the fact that IT IS A GAME as a major plot thread (i predict this to be more relevant in future DLC parts/hermits room/interlude). I've talked about this a little in the other COE theory post but. this is a DEDICATED analysis so i can go into DETAIL.

one of the earlier and most explicit hints we get of this meta narrative in COE is in chapter 6 part 2 of the eng translation. THIS DOCUMENT HERE is in the Empyrean Heaven Research Institute, and is listed without an author.

I BELIEVE the author of this document is NONE OTHER than SEODORE RIDDLE. It's either him or Mutei, but Mutei was uninvolved with the EHRI so it HAS to be Seodore. I am pretty sure he's aware of the true nature of 'this world' (the ingame world).

specifically, by referring to the 'source code of the world', I don't think they meant this metaphorically. i think they meant this LITERALLY. LITERALLY THE SOURCE CODE OF THE GAME THAT WE ARE PLAYING.

I want to specifically point out the Purple text at the end of S, before S+. it reads:

"Oh, what a surprise. Well, congratulations! I hadn't thought it possible to come to this domain without going through anything else. ......Nn? Aah, who are you? Well, no need to act so defensive. That aside. It'd be nice if hope could be found in that 'this was a process'?" "Well, but this is a matter of will. No matter how God interferes. Without one to receive it, God's love can't be written out. So, please tell me. Your 'will'." "'Do you accept God's love?'"

By selecting yes, we see the three rings of light (i wonder if its relevant that there are THREE of them...) and get sent back to our first meeting with Hatsutori. This. this is META. the game itself plays with our expectations of a 'credits' scene and uses it to PUSH FORWARD THE NARRATIVE. it breaks what is expected as a PART OF THE GAME.

It's more than just a bonus scene too; the fact that S route happened is a PART of the story as well! Haruki specifically says THIS

Hatsutori: Once again, good day. Haruki Atou-kun. This is our first time meeting, shall I say. Atou: No....... This isn't our first time.

He IS AWARE of the S route. Hatsutori calls it "arrival."

Why is the term "Arrival" important? because that is what we call the endings! the translation calls them "Arrival Points"! This links us back to the SAVE FILES OF THE GAME. Haruki is AWARE of the S route on a subconscious level. This can also link to why the game has hidden timers and route info as well-- by playing multiple times, us the player AND Haruki the character know more of whats going on! That's why it's so hard to get the S ending first try, because it relies on the PLAYER'S knowledge of what to do! We are a PART of Atou's story beyond just controlling his actions!

The three rings of light.... Three books of the Divine Comedy (Inferno Purgatorio Paradiso).... Which connects us back to "the Divine Comedy is a reality left in this world." I need to think more on what this could mean. I think this has to do with accessing the 'source code' but either way it is meta.

Mutei's document (the only one we've seen so far) expands on this when we get to see it in DLC part 5. I will put the document below (note that this is the only mutei doc we've seen in the eng TL so far. i am so desperate to understand this man so fucking bad. the second i understand whats going on with him its over for all of you).

he says this AS A WRITER. SEODORE is using this info to REWRITE the definitions of the world, and edit the source code. This is why he has that glitchy effect whenever he uses Brugmansia: he is LITERALLY rewriting the code. I think Seodore is the only one TRULY aware of this whole world as a 'story', along with Mutei.

HOWEVER. I believe that these rewrites are limited to what is REALISTIC. I believe that each COE route is a different pseudo-universe as described in Mutei's document. The minor changes build up to a butterfly effect! It's like using save files to change your actions! to reset to try to save everyone! We still follow the world's definitions, but are changing the outcome using information we've gained!

The above screenshots... The line about playthings makes me think that seo is aware of the Source code. We the player are a level above the characters, looking into their little fictional world. I think seodore wants to 'end the game'. Make it so the player CAN'T keep looping things and playing over and over. Seo is right, from his perspective people AREN'T playthings. but to us? the player? These are FICTIONAL characters in a FICTIONAL world and seodore is RESISTING that. he wants the story to END.

I believe Sanemitsu and Atou both have the power to do this as well (Harada factor). I touched on this in the other COE post but I swear to god it makes sense. Atou SPECIFICALLY acknowledges that the scenario Hatsutori expected has been REWRITTEN (again calling back to the WRITER themes). Sanemitsu... i will write him his own analysis post bc i love him

ATOU SPECIFICALLY CALLS OUT THE META ASPECT BY ACKNOWLEDGING THIS WHOLE THING AS A 'FINALE OF A PLAY'. HE HAS HIMSELF HAS DONE THE BEST HE CAN. ITS META FICTION. ITS LITERALLY META. ATOU IS REMINDING US THAT THIS IS INDEED A GAME AND IS FICTION which is DOUBLE interesting bc HE KNOWS!!! ATOU KNOWS AND HE DOESNT AT THE SAME TIME!!

anyways i cannot wait to see where the story goes! i am sane and normal over this game (lying).

#aria rambles #cell of empireo #aria answers #anon #coe spoilers #coe theory #aria's analysis #gavi no clicky #I. NEED TO HTINK ABOUT FUCKING SEODORE AGAIN #BC #IF HE WANTS TO DESTROY THE NARRATIVE #THAT. HAS IMPLICATIONS #its time to rotate them in my mind again :pensive: #>live aria theory crafting means i realize things AS I WRITE THEM

[evelhak]

📚

I'm back with talking about my books.

💜Kaapin nurkista♠️

(from the corners of the closet)

Published: 2022 by Nysalor

Genre: Young Adult, LGBT+, Fiction

My second published book, and so far the only realistic one, which was written in 2016. Mostly when I should have been writing my master's thesis. This one was written before Unitytöt, although it was published later. To be perfectly honest, I was not going to publish it, because back when I was first looking for a publisher, everyone's reply was that a book about asexuality won't sell, and as time went on I started to feel like it isn't what it was meant to be when it was written, anymore. So even if I did find a publisher for it, it would no longer be as timely and relevant as it was, because attitudes towards asexuality were changing and therefore the experiences of teenage and 20-something asexuals, whose lives this book is about, would be changing too. However, the publisher who picked up my first book, saw a description of this work on my website and wanted to publish it, so I ended up agreeing in the end. After all, this book would still be relevant to asexuals of my own generation as a retrospective look at the atmosphere of our teenage and early twenties, so if it would be relatable to no one else, at least it would be to us. I reframed it a little, to be set in a specific year (2011) which it wasn't at first, but I felt it was important now, so that people would be able to go into it with slightly more of a historical fiction lens, because it really only makes sense when being looked at from its specific time frame.

This is the story of a 17-year-old high school student Jaro, who was forced out of the closet as early as in middle school, when no one knew what asexuality was. His strongest moral support is his best friend Venla, who is still a closeted lesbian, most of all because of her judgemental girl group. Jaro has been able to live a relatively quiet life in high school apart from one bully, until things escalate and Jaro gets the blame for his own bullying. Venla encourages Jaro to go to an ace meet to find people who could share his experiences, and Jaro makes a new friend who steers both of their lives in new directions. It's a book about the experiences of an invisible minority, loneliness and bullying, as well as the belonging and empowerment of being seen by someone. Some of the book also deals with sexual abuse in a way that might be intense to some, though not graphic.

When I first wrote this book, there were no novels about asexuality in Finnish, and I felt strongly that someone had to write the first one, which is why this is written as an "issue" book. Asexuality is its main subject, instead of including the queer narrative as just another element of the story, which is more popular these days. In fact, it was already going to that direction in 2016, but I felt that asexuals had completely missed the train of books about asexuality. (As well as other less visible queer people.) Aces were only starting to gain visibility when more well known queer identities were already moving from books about queerness to books where queerness is a factor. But asexuality still wasn't well known enough that it would have felt natural for me to skip the "issue book" stage of development, so to speak. The fact that even in 2022, when this book was published, it was still probably the first or the second Finnish book about this subject, kind of speaks for itself, although more books about asexuality did come out that same year, which is amazing! There are also many aro-spec characters in this book, as well as some other queer characters.

In the end, I'm really glad I decided to publish this book. I've had the pleasure to witness that it really was a meaningful story to many asexual people, some that were also much older or younger than me. And some who were not even asexual. I think the craziest thing I've heard said about this books is that "it was better than Loveless". I don't really care about being "better than" because art is subjective, but in that exact context it was one of those moments that made me feel like... "Woah, I'm a real author". Because I love Alice Oseman's work, so to think that someone thought my book was as real as the book of someone famous who I admire, was some moment. The criticism this book has gotten has been a lot more along the lines I was expecting. Because it's a description of what queer life was as a teenager in the early 2010s, the characters get really preachy sometimes. Because that's how it was. I knew some people would not enjoy that aspect of the book. And in general, my books are never the cup of tea of the readers who don't like to focus on relationships and introspection, too. A criticism I was actually really surprised by was that the book is too "othering". At first I felt like that was such an interesting way to look at a book that is largely about the feeling of otherness. But then I realized... this criticism is actually the best comment that I could have possibly heard. Because I only heard this from people younger than me, and if the feeling of otherness is not relatable to young people, then... that's AMAZING. That's the best thing I could ever have hoped to hear from young queer people. That means society really is changing.

As happy as I am that some people have gotten exactly what they seem to have needed from this book, my own feelings towards it remain complicated. Because it's doing so much better than my fantasy books, which are my long-term passion, not realistic fiction. This is the only one of my books to have been featured on the national news channel's TikTok, and it's also the only one that was selected on a government funded list of small distribution quality literature, which allows libraries to purchase books from that list more easily to diversify their selection. It makes no sense for me to feel disappointed about this at all, but I do a little. As unknown as I am, all exposure matters, and I would rather have it for my fantasy books. (People reading my realistic fiction book evidently doesn't automatically lead them to look for my fantasy books.) This book is something I wanted to do for the asexual community, and as such it has done its job, and of course for that I'm glad that it has a little bit more exposure than my other work. But as an author, my priority is not realistic fiction, so. *shrug*

I still want to write about more asexual characters and contribute to the better understanding of different kinds of experiences, including asexuals. Community and trying to bridge gaps between people is always going to be one of the driving forces behind why I write, but realistic fiction is just not the main way in which I want to do it. I'm a fantasy and/or a speculative fiction author, because that's just my natural style, and writing realistic fiction always feels like shoving rectangular pieces into round holes for me. As much as I love Jaro and Venla and other characters in this book, I sometimes hated writing their story. I have sometimes jokingly said that I would rather invent an entire magic system to make one plot point work, than I would Google if a shop is open at a time my characters need to visit it, or how long it takes to drive from one city to another, but with this book I felt so often that it was literally true!

Still, I love all my books.

#eve's books #cover art #kaapin nurkista #nysalor #finnish books #author life

[desert-dyke]

17, 20!

Thank u so much!! Talking about books is one of my favorite things!

17. Did any books surprise you with how good they were?

There’s def a lot more books that I was expecting to love that I didn’t this year than the opposite (though majority of the books I read were ones I expected to like and I did, but that’s exactly what I expected lol). 

Two books I tried on recommendation that I otherwise wouldn’t have picked up on my own and ended up loving are 

The Library of the Dead by T.L. Huchu. This one I tore through in like two days. Really cool post cataclysm setting, where things are both familiar but also just slightly off in an unnerving way. There’s some genuinely creepy scenes that really worked for me. And while I find the educational magic aspect of this book to be the least interesting part of the story, I do like it’s conflict with the MC’s Zimbabwean magic and how she is seen as lesser for having not been “properly schooled” but also desperately wanting to be seen as a proper spellcaster. The overall mystery was easy to guess (I knew who the big bad was the moment they were introduced, and what their motives were) but I wanted to read on to find out I was right. And I was right.  

Wendy, Darling by A.C. Wise First off, retellings are a hard sell for me, and I don’t like Peter Pan that much to begin with. I read this one bc the rec was so unexpected, but I honestly really enjoyed this. It’s a strong feminist take and explores the ways gender roles constricted both men and women in the early 1910′s. I also enjoyed Peter Pan being the villain, as a boy who gets literally everything he wants. I liked Neverland’s personification, and how it ends up being a living breathing character of its own. It’s a really neat use of the genre of fantasy that I enjoyed.

20. What was your most anticipated release? Did it meet your expectations?

This year I barely read 2022 releases and with one exception all 2022 releases I read were part of series I was already reading.

A Prayer for the Crown Shy by Becky Chambers. I really like this series. It’s warm and emotional, with wild robots living in nature and an overall utopian setting that I can only hope will be our future. This one expands upon the worldbuilding Chambers establishes in book one, this time exploring various human settlements. I overall liked this one about the same as I liked book one and I think it’s a worthwhile contribution to the series. My only criticism is I believe this is also the last book in the series, and it doesn’t feel finite. The MC’s conflict from book 1 still remains unresolved, but maybe this means they’ll be a book 3? 

Hooked by A.C Wise. A sequel to Wendy, Darling. After being blown away by book one, I was excited for this one, particularly because Hook’s absence from book one suggests some intriguing things never explored in book one. I was ultimately let down by this. Everything I really liked about book 1 didn’t carry over into this one. I also would’ve preferred this one to only follow Hook’s POV, rather than bringing the Darlings back into the story again, which forced Wendy and Jane to have the exact same issues and character arc as book one. 

I think this book has something to offer to hardcore Peter Pan fans. There’s some interesting ideas but it didn’t hit the same as book one, which make me sad.

Dreams Bigger than Heartbreak by Charlie Jane Anders. I liked this one better than book one. Book one was okay, but compared to Anders’ adult fiction, it didn’t have the same edge I really like about her work. Understandable, this is her foray in YA and I can tell she intentionally wants to give positive space adventures to a cast of LGBT characters. I think that goal makes this series important. 

Whereas I think book 1 had a hard take off, book 2 really thrived with multiple POVs allowing the story to take place in vastly different parts of the universe and expanding upon the worldbuilding in a better way than “We’re confined to this traveling ship, so let me just tell you about these various aliens and cultures without seeing their homeworld.” I felt better immersed in this book, as well as came to appreciate the cast of characters better while being able to experience the story through their POV, rather than solely the main character’s. 

Also, this book leaves off in a really neat place which makes me eager to read book 3.

Also also the narrator for the audiobook is the VA for Princess Bubblegum and I could not unhear it while listening to the book lol

The one exception

Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree. This one just wasn’t for me. Bringing a cozy mystery into a fantasy setting is a really cool idea that I’m sure many readers will enjoy, and honestly I can see this being the start of a new trend. This was a pleasant read, as it’s intended to be. It’s lacking in world building. I think all fantasy elements could be removed and the story would remain the mostly the same. I also was hoping for some mutual pining between the two main characters, rather than the romance aspect being put off until the end when they finally get together (if I didn’t know it would feature a wlw relationship at its center, I probably wouldn’t have picked up on their attraction towards each other at all). And this last criticism is just a cozy mystery thing, but the lack of tension. A problem would be introduced, the MC would try  to fix it and it worked, the problem was resolved. Rinse and repeat until the book concludes. It honestly left me bored. But I can understand why so many people like it, especially if they want a gentle book with the guarantee that everything is going to be alright.

Thanks so much for the ask!

#thank you for the ask #long post

[perpetual-stories]

Story Structures for your Next WIP

hello, hello. this post will be mostly for my notes. this is something I need in to be reminded of for my business, but it can also be very useful and beneficial for you guys as well.

everything in life has structure and storytelling is no different, so let’s dive right in :)

First off let’s just review what a story structure is :

a story is the backbone of the story, the skeleton if you will. It hold the entire story together.

the structure in which you choose your story will effectively determine how you create drama and depending on the structure you choose it should help you align your story and sequence it with the conflict, climax, and resolution.

1. Freytag's Pyramid

this first story structure i will be talking about was named after 19th century German novelist and playwright.

it is a five point structure that is based off classical Greek tragedies such as Sophocles, Aeschylus and Euripedes.

Freytag's Pyramid structure consists of:

Introduction: the status quo has been established and an inciting incident occurs.

Rise or rising action: the protagonist will search and try to achieve their goal, heightening the stakes,

Climax: the protagonist can no longer go back, the point of no return if you will.

Return or fall: after the climax of the story, tension builds and the story inevitably heads towards...

Catastrophe: the main character has reached their lowest point and their greatest fears have come into fruition.

this structure is used less and less nowadays in modern storytelling mainly due to readers lack of appetite for tragic narratives.

2. The Hero's Journey

the hero's journey is a very well known and popular form of storytelling.

it is very popular in modern stories such as Star Wars, and movies in the MCU.

although the hero's journey was inspired by Joseph Campbell's concept, a Disney executive Christopher Vogler has created a simplified version:

The Ordinary World: The hero's everyday routine and life is established.

The Call of Adventure: the inciting incident.

Refusal of the Call: the hero / protagonist is hesitant or reluctant to take on the challenges.

Meeting the Mentor: the hero meets someone who will help them and prepare them for the dangers ahead.

Crossing the First Threshold: first steps out of the comfort zone are taken.

Tests, Allie, Enemies: new challenges occur, and maybe new friends or enemies.

Approach to the Inmost Cave: hero approaches goal.

The Ordeal: the hero faces their biggest challenge.

Reward (Seizing the Sword): the hero manages to get ahold of what they were after.

The Road Back: they realize that their goal was not the final hurdle, but may have actually caused a bigger problem than before.

Resurrection: a final challenge, testing them on everything they've learned.

Return with the Elixir: after succeeding they return to their old life.

the hero's journey can be applied to any genre of fiction.

3. Three Act Structure:

this structure splits the story into the 'beginning, middle and end' but with in-depth components for each act.

Act 1: Setup:

exposition: the status quo or the ordinary life is established.

inciting incident: an event sets the whole story into motion.

plot point one: the main character decided to take on the challenge head on and she crosses the threshold and the story is now progressing forward.

Act 2: Confrontation:

rising action: the stakes are clearer and the hero has started to become familiar with the new world and begins to encounter enemies, allies and tests.

midpoint: an event that derails the protagonists mission.

plot point two: the hero is tested and fails, and begins to doubt themselves.

Act 3: Resolution:

pre-climax: the hero must chose between acting or failing.

climax: they fights against the antagonist or danger one last time, but will they succeed?

Denouement: loose ends are tied up and the reader discovers the consequences of the climax, and return to ordinary life.

4. Dan Harmon's Story Circle

it surprised me to know the creator of Rick and Morty had their own variation of Campbell's hero's journey.

the benefit of Harmon's approach is that is focuses on the main character's arc.

it makes sense that he has such a successful structure, after all the show has multiple seasons, five or six seasons? i don't know not a fan of the show.

the character is in their comfort zone: also known as the status quo or ordinary life.

they want something: this is a longing and it can be brought forth by an inciting incident.

the character enters and unfamiliar situation: they must take action and do something new to pursue what they want.

adapt to it: of course there are challenges, there is struggle and begin to succeed.

they get what they want: often a false victory.

a heavy price is paid: a realization of what they wanted isn't what they needed.

back to the good old ways: they return to their familiar situation yet with a new truth.

having changed: was it for the better or worse?

i might actually make a operate post going more in depth about dan harmon's story circle.

5. Fichtean Curve:

the fichtean curve places the main character in a series of obstacles in order to achieve their goal.

this structure encourages writers to write a story packed with tension and mini-crises to keep the reader engaged.

The Rising Action

the story must start with an inciting indecent.

then a series of crisis arise.

there are often four crises.

2. The Climax:

3. Falling Action

this type of story telling structure goes very well with flash-back structured story as well as in theatre.

6. Save the Cat Beat Sheet:

this is another variation of a three act structure created by screenwriter Blake Snyder, and is praised widely by champion storytellers.

Structure for Save the Cat is as follows: (the numbers in the brackets are for the number of pages required, assuming you're writing a 110 page screenplay)

Opening Image [1]: The first shot of the film. If you’re starting a novel, this would be an opening paragraph or scene that sucks readers into the world of your story.

Set-up [1-10]. Establishing the ‘ordinary world’ of your protagonist. What does he want? What is he missing out on?

Theme Stated [5]. During the setup, hint at what your story is really about — the truth that your protagonist will discover by the end.

Catalyst [12]. The inciting incident!

Debate [12-25]. The hero refuses the call to adventure. He tries to avoid the conflict before they are forced into action.

Break into Two [25]. The protagonist makes an active choice and the journey begins in earnest.

B Story [30]. A subplot kicks in. Often romantic in nature, the protagonist’s subplot should serve to highlight the theme.

The Promise of the Premise [30-55]. Often called the ‘fun and games’ stage, this is usually a highly entertaining section where the writer delivers the goods. If you promised an exciting detective story, we’d see the detective in action. If you promised a goofy story of people falling in love, let’s go on some charmingly awkward dates.

Midpoint [55]. A plot twist occurs that ups the stakes and makes the hero’s goal harder to achieve — or makes them focus on a new, more important goal.

Bad Guys Close In [55-75]. The tension ratchets up. The hero’s obstacles become greater, his plan falls apart, and he is on the back foot.

All is Lost [75]. The hero hits rock bottom. He loses everything he’s gained so far, and things are looking bleak. The hero is overpowered by the villain; a mentor dies; our lovebirds have an argument and break up.

Dark Night of the Soul [75-85-ish]. Having just lost everything, the hero shambles around the city in a minor-key musical montage before discovering some “new information” that reveals exactly what he needs to do if he wants to take another crack at success. (This new information is often delivered through the B-Story)

Break into Three [85]. Armed with this new information, our protagonist decides to try once more!

Finale [85-110]. The hero confronts the antagonist or whatever the source of the primary conflict is. The truth that eluded him at the start of the story (established in step three and accentuated by the B Story) is now clear, allowing him to resolve their story.

Final Image [110]. A final moment or scene that crystallizes how the character has changed. It’s a reflection, in some way, of the opening image.

(all information regarding the save the cat beat sheet was copy and pasted directly from reedsy!)

7. Seven Point Story Structure:

this structure encourages writers to start with the at the end, with the resolution, and work their way back to the starting point.

this structure is about dramatic changes from beginning to end

The Hook. Draw readers in by explaining the protagonist’s current situation. Their state of being at the beginning of the novel should be in direct contrast to what it will be at the end of the novel.

Plot Point 1. Whether it’s a person, an idea, an inciting incident, or something else — there should be a "Call to Adventure" of sorts that sets the narrative and character development in motion.

Pinch Point 1. Things can’t be all sunshine and roses for your protagonist. Something should go wrong here that applies pressure to the main character, forcing them to step up and solve the problem.

Midpoint. A “Turning Point” wherein the main character changes from a passive force to an active force in the story. Whatever the narrative’s main conflict is, the protagonist decides to start meeting it head-on.

Pinch Point 2. The second pinch point involves another blow to the protagonist — things go even more awry than they did during the first pinch point. This might involve the passing of a mentor, the failure of a plan, the reveal of a traitor, etc.

Plot Point 2. After the calamity of Pinch Point 2, the protagonist learns that they’ve actually had the key to solving the conflict the whole time.

Resolution. The story’s primary conflict is resolved — and the character goes through the final bit of development necessary to transform them from who they were at the start of the novel.

(all information regarding the seven point story structure was copy and pasted directly from reedsy!)

i decided to fit all of them in one post instead of making it a two part post.

i hope you all enjoy this post and feel free to comment or reblog which structure you use the most, or if you have your own you prefer to use! please share with me!

if you find this useful feel free to reblog on instagram and tag me at perpetualstories

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