saved-for-me-own-stories

[saved-for-me-own-stories]

I have gotten Yelled At by angry, deeply invested readers (mainly my sisters). My characters, so far, have not. However, the Yelling At is usually on behalf of said characters, so...

Any writer knows that the highest compliment your own character can receive is getting Yelled At by an angry, deeply invested, reader.

#salt and light #my writing #writing in general #nothing specific #it's happened with a lot of them

[saved-for-me-own-stories]

Honestly, I think both can be true, even if one or the other is more common. I would also add that a third way people go about it is to make all their female characters the same Girl Boss Don't Need No Man Slay Queen type, as if that's the only thing that will make women meaningful characters.

(All it actually means is that they can't see female characters as meaningful unless they're filling male roles, which is stupid.)

As a writer, I try to make my female characters both interesting and feminine! I try to make sure they don't all just blend together, and that they have differences from both the other female characters and the male ones - and not just in the same story, either!

For example, I have a couple of Little Girl Characters: Lina Lane and Ruth Halwende. They're from different times, different stories, different situations, and are different ages. But I also wanted to make sure that their personalities weren't carbon copies of each other. So I just sat down one day and looked specifically at the ways that they were or could be different. And it worked! I genuinely don't think their stories would be the same if they were switched.

So you see, as writers, we should just try to write every character as well as we can, male or female. That's what I'm trying to do, anyway.

And what the internet will do with that once I'm published is none of my concern.

“female characters often have weaker writing compared to male characters” and “audience is unable to appreciate female characters no matter the quality of the writing because they subconsciously see female characters as women first and people second” are two statements that can, should and will coexist

#salt and light #my writing #the prometheus curse #lina and the locust #ruth #lina lane #i should post my findings about them sometime #it was interesting

[saved-for-me-own-stories]

OC Birthday Facts: Ruth

Birthday: March 8 (she’s actually 8 at the time of the story) 

How she usually spends it: As we’ve said, the tradition is for them all to go out for a special day in town, and the birthday child would pick somewhere to go and somewhere to eat. Ruth was very little for most of these, but I think she would always shout, increasingly closer to the top of her lungs, “Park!” And despite Seth’s consistent complaints that the park is so boring, that’s where they’d go every time. They’d walk around, play, climb trees, pick flowers (and sometimes get in trouble for it, depending on the park). They’d usually have at least a small picnic, just for the principle of the thing. But for their actual meal, they’d usually just go eat at whatever place caught her eye on the way back to the car or house. Nowadays, she usually settles for the picnic, but everything else is about the same. Parks don’t cost money, and she’s happy that way. 

How she would choose to spend it: Well, if she were to do anything different, she’d want to see more flowers. The parks are always super nice, but there’s never enough flowers. She wants to go to a field or something that has lots of flowers everywhere, and there’s all sorts of pretty colours and sizes, and you can pick as many as you want. 

Favorite birthday dessert: Lemon Jell-O cake. That’s usually what she picks. Although, she also quite liked it when, one year, they couldn’t find the cake pan and made the cake/Jell-O mix into cookies instead. 

Best birthday in her past: I’d say her sixth birthday. That’s the one she remembers most clearly, and it was her last birthday with her parents. She got all dressed up in her prettiest yellow dress, and they went to the park. But then it turned out to be all rainy when they got there. The others thought that ruined the whole thing, but Ruth wasn’t the least bothered by the rain. So they stayed. She played and jumped in puddles and got all wet and made her dress all muddy. But she got in a splash fight with the boys and Daddy, and she remembers all of them laughing, and it was so much fun. Then when it started getting a little heavier rain, they ran to find a place to hide. Seth found them a perfect spot: a gazebo that fit all five of them, surrounded by flowers. He said he was just looking for a dry spot, but she’s convinced he picked that one specially for her. She could just tell. Then they had their picnic in the gazebo—a tea party picnic at that, a surprise from Mommy. It was a while before they left, so they ended up just going home after that. She fell asleep in the car, leaning on Ty’s shoulder, muddy, exhausted, and the happiest she remembers being. 

Worst birthday in her past: Not that she remembers, but it was probably her second birthday. She was just a little baby then, but she was miserably sick with a fever, and wouldn’t stop crying. She could hardly even sleep, she was feeling so bad. If you ask her, though, Ruth will probably say she hasn’t had a worst birthday. 

Best gift: To be honest, if you asked her, she wouldn’t be able to decide. Her doll, Daisy! No, the drawing book she used all the time! No, the princess dress with the poofy sleeves! No, the shoes that were all pretty and sparkly! Most of her presents have had a turn at the top. In her heart, though, the gift she loves the most is probably one she doesn’t even remember getting. The day she was born, her daddy and Ty and even Seth each picked her a different flower and gave it to her and Mommy. Daddy got it on film, like he did with a lot of their birthdays. Then, when she was little, Ruth watched that video, and she was in absolute awe of the whole thing. She never forgot it, either. 

Worst gift: Probably one of those little variety boxes of little cookie things from her grandma before she died. It looked really neat, but Ruth literally couldn’t find any of them she liked.

What she says she wants: Honestly, she’ll probably tell you some random really cool and elaborate thing that ends up turning into some adventure or other. Like she’ll start by saying she wants a fairy princess dress, and then she can go and hang out with the other fairy princesses, but then there’ll be a secret evil changeling sneaking into the fairy castle and she’ll find out, and she’ll have to warn the fairy queen, but then he turns into a dragon and… well, you get the idea. That’s part of why she gets such a kick out of Ty’s birthday gift ideas.

What she actually wants: Not much, really. I think she just wants her own little garden. The kind of place where she would plant all her favourite flowers, and Seth would spray the sprinkler on her to be silly, and Ty would help her put rocks around the path, and they’d all be there, and they wouldn’t have to leave, and the world wouldn’t be any bigger than that place and that day. That’s all.

As always, thanks goes to @isfjmel-phleg for the template! I'm really enjoying these.

#the prometheus curse #salt and light #ruth #birthdays #character template

[saved-for-me-own-stories]

Utter Ruth vibes, honestly

#the prometheus curse #my writing #salt and light #ruth

[saved-for-me-own-stories]

Okay, but this is making me think endlessly of the Halwendes. They've been in and out of foster situations for years, and nobody ever wanted to take all three, because Ty was already a teenager by the time they started. This last time, they'd have been split up entirely.

This, though. This is what they would want. Even though two of them are older, even though they're difficult at times, even though they're slow to trust, to have those kinds of parents, who'll never give up on them, who'll listen to them, who'll love them - all three of them - in a way they've not been loved in years.

“if you want to adopt kids at an older age, that’s just lazy and you’ll miss the important developmental years. you won’t be able to connect.” okay but consider this:

1. I will not be able to handle a baby, but I will definitely be able to manage and guide an older child

2. no diapers. hallelujah

3. As a foster child gets older, their chance of adoption plummets. Adopting an older child gives a late break to someone who would have otherwise had to age out of the system

4. my plans for adoption are none of your concern

#the prometheus curse #my writing #salt and light #the halwendes #ty #seth #ruth #tw language

[saved-for-me-own-stories]

Hmmmmmm...

Maybe.

I mean, when the Halwendes were actually with him, they seemed to be okay. And since we're currently in Book 1, and everything's still kinda normal... yeah. Actually, yeah, I think I would trust him to watch my potential kids. He'd totally keep them enthralled with his stories (and, even more so, with his silliness). It still could be a little iffy, like with random practical things they might need, but I think it might still be okay?

It'd be better if him and Melisande teamed up. He'd keep them entertained, and she'd keep track of the practical side. Then when they fall asleep, Naphtali would just look at them like he's never seen a kid before, and wouldn't even notice how Melisande would be looking at him.

...now I really want them to have kids someday, dangit.

would you trust your icon to babysit your children be honest

#the prometheus curse #naphtali #my writing #the halwendes #salt and light

[saved-for-me-own-stories]

I LOVE this factor, and I'm absolutely going to be applying it to all my original ships.

Okay here's how the Delight Factor works. I'm using it in reference to romance, but it's flexible.

It's something fundamental to one character that the other character delights in. Something about A that causes B to beam. And this is important, this isn't a physical trait they find attractive nor is it directly related to how A is treating B romantically. This is a very essential and individual part of A.

It's essentially the opposite of the One Trait that Drives the Other Crazy Factor.

#my ships #writing tips #salt and light

[saved-for-me-own-stories]

This

This could be Melisande and Naphtali

Because she is absolutely the cemetery angel and he is absolutely the gargoyle and GUYS. IT FITS THEM SO MUCH. THE VIBESSSSSS

do you think a cemetery angel and a gargoyle could fall in love

#the prometheus curse #salt and light #naphtali #melisande #promesande #i think that will be their ship name #also this could be an epic AU

[saved-for-me-own-stories]

OC Birthday Facts: Naphtali

I'm finally back on this thing! I'm very excited to start posting these again, and especially for my man Naphtali. He's a blast.

Birthday: January 20, 1839

How he usually spends it: Running. Like, constantly. He is always brimming with energy on his birthday (possibly built up from a month of being cooped up), so he runs everywhere. He probably doesn’t even have the patience for breakfast. He just grabs the closest human (usually Baron) and goes outside for a roam about the grounds. Yes, it’s cold. No, he doesn’t care. Baron isn’t a fan of this, but he usually has a decent time by the end. (Melisande knows they’ll be hungry, so she makes a picnic lunch for them and has Travers set it up near where they are. Naphtali always has fun trying to find it.) When they eventually come inside, Naphtali just gets dressed up in his finest clothes and waits to see what happens. Sometimes, there’s a ghostly ball. Sometimes, there’s a feast. Sometimes, something else entirely. Melisande (with ghostly assistance) makes a grand dinner and some sort of dessert. He doesn’t make the plans for his birthday, but he always enjoys it.

How he would choose to spend it: He very much wishes he could see more of Melisande on his birthday. She’s almost always off making preparations, and he hardly gets to spend any time with her. Some years, it’s a little better (I think a few times, he even managed to pull her along on his exploration of the grounds). But he misses seeing her. He also misses spending birthdays with his family and some of their friends who aren’t there anymore.

Favorite birthday dessert: Oh, he has a huge sweet tooth, I think, so he’s very happy with whatever delicious dessert he gets (especially if it’s a surprise). However, he’s secretly a little biased toward the pies Melisande makes.

Best birthday in his past: His first birthday after the War (I think he was turning 27). Oh, he’d had fine birthdays even during the War—the Flint-and-Steeles were grand fellows, and he loved to be in their company—but to be home? With his family, with Melisande, with Baron? Not out in the middle of the woods, just waiting for combat to resume? It was wonderful.

Worst birthday in his past: Any birthdays where he’s cooped up in his room. He’s had a number of these, whether sick or injured or just still feeling horrible from before (tell you later). The worst was probably his sixteenth. He was miserably sick, he couldn’t go out and do anything, he hardly saw anybody most of the day except for servants and Doctor Galvan and whenever his parents or Melisande came in to visit. He never saw Baron at all.

Best gift: Okay, this one won’t make sense to anybody, because it would be slightly spoilers if I explained it properly, but the days that Melisande tells him are the absolute best birthday surprise he ever gets.

Worst gift: In the past, it was any sort of long trips on his birthday. Not that he didn’t enjoy whatever place he went to, but being cooped up in a carriage most of the day was unbearable. His parents eventually figured out either to tell him about the trip on his birthday (but actually go a different day), or to leave the night before his birthday and arrive that morning.

What he says he wants: Honestly, he doesn’t care terrifically what he gets. He’s happy with most things. But when he’s asked, as a kid or now, he usually would just reply that he wants a surprise. Whatever they do, whatever they give him, he’s most excited when he doesn’t have a clue what it is. (The phantoms, and especially the Band, have taken this as a challenge to try and startle him on his birthday. Nothing too bad, but just little pranks. They have an ongoing bet year to year as to who will succeed. Naphtali, of course, thinks it’s hilarious.)

What he actually wants: To be with all the people he loves best. Maybe it’s just an idea stuck in his head, but he genuinely feels more alive the day he was born. That’s why he never plans his birthday—it’s not about the things he does, but the fact that he’s alive to do them. His birthdays always remind him of that. And that’s why he wants to be with the people that he’s alive to see and talk with and be with at all. If he could have his way, they wouldn’t be apart all his birthday through.

Also, I'm going to tell you now, I think he will be very interested to find out how the Halwendes spend their birthdays, so that's fun.

As always, credit goes to @isfjmel-phleg for the template! :)

#the prometheus curse #birthdays #naphtali #character template #salt and light

[saved-for-me-own-stories]

Oh it's Desi! Oh, the Book Scavenger should totally rig something up like this for him just in case. I love that.

Imagine being buried alive and then seeing this little guy with a backpack suddenly arrive

#the last book scavenger #salt and light

[saved-for-me-own-stories]

Lina vibes XD

could you please do one for a puppy with floppy ears who is tired? thank you :3 love this blog btw!! it is very inspiring

ab9f7d || #e4dac2 || #ab8861 || #7a6a5d || #533e39

#lina and the locust #lina lane #salt and light #color palette #little sweetheart <3

[saved-for-me-own-stories]

You know what should be a thing? Four Loves fics.

Like, you have four chapters (or scenes, or sections), and each one focuses on a different kind of relationship within the fandom you're writing for. One for familial, one for friendship, one for romantic, and one for agape.

And I mean, it could all be for the same relationship, and just showing how they are that for each other. Or it could be four different relationships (which is probably what I'd do, personally). You could honestly do it with multiple fandoms if you wanted. Whatever works.

I don't know, I just think this sounds like the kind of thing y'all within the Salt and Light community might like. Write a Four Loves fic for your favourite fandom.

#writing #fanfiction #salt and light #four loves fic #from my other blogs

[saved-for-me-own-stories]

I have a number of these, and the rest I now want to have in some villain or other. This is a good point of reference for that, actually.

#unspecified story #my writing #writing in general #villains #salt and light

[saved-for-me-own-stories]

Anyway! I appreciate that Dracula actually does seem to answer the question of "could a vampire survive on just the Eucharist?" even if it doesn't notice it's doing it. Because it seems weirdly clear that Dracula only drinks blood to begin with as a result of being damned and thus barred from God's grace—it's not that Communion wouldn't provide the same nourishment as normal blood, it's that normal blood is in itself a substitute for Dracula's inability to receive the spiritual nourishment of Divine Grace.

And on a related note I now firmly believe that if Lucy were Catholic and had received Communion on any of the nights she was attacked Dracula could not have drunk her blood. It would have burned him from the inside out.

#salt and light #my writing #short stories #themes #kilian daylight

[saved-for-me-own-stories]

And then the process repeats, because you keep having ideas, and it's all so infuriatingly worth it

#my writing process #my body will hate me in the morning but my story will love me #it's been sitting for far too long

[saved-for-me-own-stories]

Oh, my poor Ty. This sums up a large part of his being perfectly, and it makes me sad.

“I have spent so much of my time surviving that I am now unsure how to live.”

#the prometheus curse #ty #salt and light

[saved-for-me-own-stories]

Okay, I had this saved ages ago, probably because of some vague "Princess of the Seventh Star" thought. But now I'm starting to think that it's exactly the kind of thing Nolan would think looked absolutely awesome.

Like, if say Colleen (or one of his other sisters-in-law, or anyone else) made this for him as a Christmas present, he would keep it as a decoration in his house all the time.

Yeah, he just kinda loves space stuff. Why else do you think we got the black hole thing?

“Madeleine Silarjuangat” Solar system. Hand embroidery. Unique piece. Custom order. 32 cm in diameter. Thank you very much Kirt, I was so proud to have the opportunity to embroider the solar system for your wife’s birthday! I also love the little personalization on it with the addition of “Madeleine Silarjuangat”, which means “Madeleine’s World” in Inuit, named after your wife ❤️ DMC embroidery threads, cannetille, Swarovski crystal beads, 24k gold plated beads, stone beads and glass beads on linen. Wooden frame. My Etsy store is reopened 😀 You can now complete your purchase as usual. I also take custom orders, you can contact me by private message if you are interested. https://www.etsy.com/fr/shop/OphelieTrichereau

#lina and the locust #salt and light #nolan lane