#inspo: liaht

[incandescent-creativity]

While I’m talking about restructuring entire wips, I keep thinking about changing essentially everything about LiaHT, too.

Like? Does it even have to be three books? Could I just skip all of what I’ve written, and have the story be entirely Nora dealing with these two strangers who showed up on her doorstep?

I’d probably have to change it then to be “an angel who discovered Michael’s treachery, and was assigned to a human already being tempted by a demon in the hopes it would kill them, but then the angel told the demon and they had to flee to the human realm to escape my wrath”

SO THEN, Mal and Olu would show up to Nora’s under this uneasy truce, instead of the firmly in love stage I’ve had them at. Which is more interesting AND places the reader in Nora’s position of completely clueless “what is going on here.”

#find later #inspo: liaht #my wips

[incandescent-creativity]

Fast WIP Facts:

Lies in a Holy Tongue 

What is this? A stand-alone story crunched down from what used to be a planned trilogy.

Genres? Low-fantasy, in the sense that it’s a queer angel x demon romance but it also takes place in San Francisco.

Characters? Nora, human lesbian who loves plants and baking. Olufemi, the Guardian angel in love with the world. Maluka, the smartass demon who fell into this by accident before committing with their whole heart.

Themes? Faith and love, being queer and Christian, and standing up to power.

Origin story? I got an ask from an anonymous stranger in 2018 and then it took on a life of its own. Average tumblr stuff.

Tagline? What would you do if two strangers claiming to be divine showed up at your door with intimate knowledge of every part of you? Road trip, of course.

Can I find more? Of course! I have wip pages, an ask box, a consistent tagging system, and I check notes religiously. I’m an open book (pun intended)!

#lies in a holy tongue #inspo: liaht #my wips #fast facts #left to right that’s Olu then Nora then Mal !!!

[incandescent-creativity]

Because I have been on an angel kick as of late, do your angels and demons for LiaHT have "true" forms (true in quotations because it's subjective but I didn't have better words and am too Sleepy to think too hard) that are damaging to human view? Or that may be not damaging but instead concerning/put-the-fear-of-god-in-them? ((This brought to you by my Ophanim tattoo and also my general interest in the Appearance of things Holy and Otherwise)

and you're VALID

This is only something that the seven Archangels* have, and it's called their Nephilim form!

I don't know the difference between nephilim and ophanim, but the idea is that the archangels can explode into mega-powerful forms of eyes and wings and fire by turning themselves into open conduits for God's power.

It's like turning on a faucet, and allows you to wield -- well, not the full might of God, because that's... a lot, but like, way more than you usually can.

The only catch is that, while in this form, you cannot do anything that is against God's will. This surely does not come with any loopholes and is not plot relevant in any way.

* who? you can meet them here <3

(I also have an inspo: nephilim tag that I will put on this post that contains lots of good inspo pictures!)

#inspo: nephilim #incandescently answered #bardicbeetle #inspo: liaht #inspo: archangels #my worldbuilding

[incandescent-creativity]

The @flashfictionfridayofficial is perfectly timed today to help me write the opening scene of LiaHT!

My doorbell rings.

This is unexpected, and therefore unwelcome.

“Aster?” I yell down the hallway.

“Not me!” her sweet voice calls back, clear as crystal and twice as shiny.

But I’m not expecting anybody, either.

Throwing the dish towel over my shoulder, I stifle a sigh and move towards the front door.

The person standing on our teeny-tiny porch makes it seem even teenier and tinier than normal. They are tall, almost taller than my entire doorway, and have broad shoulders and actually defined biceps. Their skin is a warm dark brown, and their tightly coiled hair is cut short over the curve of their head.

They’re wearing a tan turtleneck, and a gold bracelet on one wrist. Technically, their pants are denim, but it’s that well-made, dark-wash denim that would turn its nose up at being called “jeans.” If it was an attempt to dress as a common peasant, and not some radiant angel from the upper-class, they kind of missed the mark.

What is someone like this doing here? They must be lost.

Both of those statements seem a little forward, so I put on a customer service smile instead.

“Uh, hi. I think you might have the wrong address.”

The stranger recites my address perfectly, including the zip code and country.

“And you’re Nora Collins, right?”

I am wracking my brain for some sort of crime that the government would want to send someone like this after me.

“Am I in trouble?”

The stranger laughs. They exude joy, and sound perfectly at ease—perfectly the opposite of how I feel.

“No more than anybody else. May I come in?”

I am not prepared for such a forward proposition. “Um. Sure.”

The tall dark (and sure, handsome) stranger steps in, ducking their head slightly. They look completely out of place on our secondhand couch, but the discrepancy doesn’t seem to bother them.

“Aster!” I call again, partially to warn her and partially to make sure she’s listening if I get attacked. “Company!”

“No need for your roommate,” the stranger says. “This is somewhat of a private matter.”

I don’t see how that could be, since this is the first time we are meeting.

“She probably won’t join us,” I say honestly.

Aster is more of an extrovert than I am, but she also has noise canceling headphones and several ongoing creative projects.

“Perfect,” they say, pleased. “We have a lot to talk about.”

#lies in a holy tongue #inspo: liaht #character: nora #my writing #my excerpt #flash fic friday #flash fiction friday #liaht trio #well. two thirds of em.

[incandescent-creativity]

I also think that, for plot reasons and to avoid anything about the “No MY religion is the right one” debacle, when humans die the universe just takes care of them and puts them where they need to be.

For some this means the Heaven/Hell model, for others it’s ghosts, sometimes it’s just fading away entirely, could be reincarnation, etc etc.

This makes things interesting for narrative themes in the sense that there are still some questions that even divine powers can’t solve, and also solves worldbuilding problems in a sort of handwaving, creative-privilege, authorial way.

#my worldbuilding #inspo: liaht #inspo: heaven

[incandescent-creativity]

11 and 12 for the ask game bc these sound so fun lol. the duality of reviews

11. Write a 5 star review for your WIP.

5/5 entirely queer cast

12. Write a 1 star review for your WIP.

1/5 entirely queer cast

#inspo: liaht #incandescently answered #mecharose #part of me was like Should I make a real answer to this??? #and then I couldnt decide which wip to do it for so

[incandescent-creativity]

HAPPY STS!

How’s your writing coming along? You can ramble about it here!

I'm thinking of just sorta... skipping some time, and writing what I want to write, which is the actual road trip part of the book.

I started one or two chapters of Mal and Olu actually meeting Nora, and talking to her for the first time, and that's all well and good.

But I kind of hit a wall, and I think it might be time to adopt that [Get There] tip that I've seen tweets of reposted.

Like? What obstacle am I hitting? I don't know how to write Nora learning to trust Olu and Mal? how to write Nora choosing to go on the trip with them?

If I can't figure it out, why should it stop me from drafting? I can just skip it and fill in the bits I skipped over later.

I feel like I'm describing this as some sort of revelation, even though I know this is a tried-and-true tactic employed by writers all over. But it's not usually how I write. I've always said I like to write in order, so I can reference what happened before, but I've written some of LiaHT before. I can wing it.

Probably.

Even if I can't, I feel like I should give it a whirl.

#incandescently answered #helathorloki #inspo: liaht #storyteller saturday #shhh i know you asked this last week but i didn't have anythign to say last week hehehe

[incandescent-creativity]

1,438 words of LiaHT today! That means I finished chapter 1 :D

#inspo: liaht

[incandescent-creativity]

#I wish there was an in between 1 day and 1 week lol #this could be a 3 day thing #but oh well #polls #inspo: liaht

[incandescent-creativity]

Ooooh are we sending asks? I’ve seen you reblog some LIAHT things recently — is that what you’re actively working on? Or is another WIP currently occupying your brainspace?

We’re about to. I’m starting a revolution.

I did outline LiaHT recently, and it made me very excited to write it.

I’d say it is occupying the most brain space lately! If only I could fix my Dropbox so I can write!

#the fix is in the works I’m just hitting a wall it’s okay #cwritesfiction #incandescently answered #inspo: liaht #thank you 💙

[incandescent-creativity]

Hi! I hope you're having an excellent day! I just wanted to say I've loved the concept for liaht for ages, and I wanted to give you an excuse to ramble about it. Tell me all the things! If that's too vague, what are Nora's relationships with Mal and Olu like? does she consider them friends? family? nuisances? something else?

THANK YOU!

Nora's relationship with Mal and Olu goes from complicated to simple over the course of the trilogy.

Because we have to remember that she meets them in an extraordinarily unconventional way, ie the two of them showing up (on her porch) (very in love) (very in love on her porch) and deliver absolutely mind-boggling news (angels) (demons) (God is real) (and worried about you).

And then while she is actively boggling, they have the AUDACITY to add, "Oh and by the way we need to go on a road trip to these national parks like right tf now sooo pack up and take us pls?"

SO she has to sort out 1. whether she believes them on several different counts (who they are. their description of the afterlife. their story.) 2. If she does believe them, what does that say about them? about her? about the world? 3. what she's going to do now.

Nora has a fucking time of it at first tbh

But as she spends time with them, gets to know Mal and Olu as people (they're so very recently people), adjusts to their open, sincere, inhumanly earnest love for her, she can't help but love them back in return.

While it started as a lot of existential and practical worries about them, it ends with "I love them." and really. What more is there?

#incandescently answered #liaht trio #indecentpause #inspo: liaht #character: nora

[incandescent-creativity]

Wait a flip flopping second is the reason LiaHT isn’t working like I want it to because their story is meant to be a friends to lovers instead of an enemies to lovers

#inspo: liaht #lies in a holy tongue #find later

[incandescent-creativity]

Tell me how your WIP is going, as one of your characters

Olufemi: “Progress is slow. But the journey can be just as interesting as the end result. I do not blame Nora for her reticence to trust us, nor the author for endeavoring to produce something she is pleased with. And she is pleased with what she is producing, so I am pleased as well.”

Maluka: “Yeah, we’re a tortoise in a race for sure. But we’re taking up a lot of brain time, even if there isn’t as much actual writing time lately.”

Nora: “Taking things slowly has never bothered me. If there isn’t a deadline, why rush?”

#Roselin i hope you know you’re a genius for this question #what a fun format! #incandescently answered #roselin-books-official #inspo: liaht #liaht trio

[incandescent-creativity]

Happy STS! If your OC could have a YouTube channel, what would it be like?

Oh I love this

I think Nora would do cozy-game let's plays! Farming games, any game with a cute cat, lil storefront simulators, that kind of thing. She has everything in pink specifically to annoy Gamer Bros (TM). Large following.

Olufemi would make would make vlogs, although not traditional ones (?) where it's them at a desk talking about their day. I think it would be quick clips of that, but the bulk of it would be B-roll type clips of cars passing, flowers bouncing in the breeze, waves rolling, etc. As they explain what they thought about today, etc. Some of it does get religious, so their following isn't huge, but those loyal followers know that their thoughts on God and faith are pretty unique.

Maluka does all sorts of stuff, but never shows her face. Music remixes, spotlights on their favorite tattoo parlors, videos of her doing graffiti and/or parkour, occasionally a video of just a bunch of text going up and fading away on this rant about what's wrong with the city management and government and that kind of thing. Doesn't care about the size of her follower count but has had quite a few videos go viral.

#writingamongther0ses #storyteller saturday #inspo: liaht #incandescently answered #liaht trio

[incandescent-creativity]

Oh am I dumb? Is my vision so near sighted I cannot see the easy answer in front of me?

One of the biggest reasons I find writing LiaHT and its sequels is setting up Heaven. Hell and demons are easy; they are ghosts tormenting humans and occasionally checking in with each other as they try to stay under the angels’ radar.

But the best I’ve been able to do for Heaven is “idk there’s an insane amount of angels and they run everything”

BUT NOW

(tldr humans have the creativity and drive that angels get burned out of them when they Ascend, so Heaven is organized and run by humans with angelic supervision, rather than the structure-less mess I have going on now)

Heaven! is supposed to be enjoyable! right! Isn’t that the point? You get to do what you like, for as long as you like, without issue!

With the amount of human souls that are around, surely a number of them must enjoy organizing things! administrative work! clerical stuff! architecture and design! Why should they not get to do that??? Hello?

I am thinking of the “some people just want to be secretary” post. You know the one.

This allows the angels to allow the humans to sort of... run themselves. Angels don’t retain any memories of their former human lives; they are burned out of them when they Ascend from human > angel. 

So the angels struggle to match human creativity, and the archangels don’t have a prayer (ha). So the peaceful productive option is to just let em create what they want.

Within reason, of course! Humans can’t even manipulate the Heavenly realm. That is a service the angels can provide with their magic. There are entire organizations, staffed by human and angel, that evaluate proposals. If these proposals get approved, the angels go out in teams to reshape Heaven into what the humans want!

I am also very pleased that this contributes to the “Heaven is extremely bureaucratic” theme that I have going on.

AND this creates a very open, friendly, “We’re here to help!” vibe so human souls view angels positively while ALSO allowing angels to operate on a more secretive, manipulative level. 

For example, the humans might propose some changes, but angels are the ones to approve those ideas, which lends itself very easy to making sure things align with agendas. And when they construct them, they often build in surveillance options, too. Magical ones, probably. That’s a detail to work out later, if it ever becomes plot relevant (unlikely).

#anyway apparently the solution to my wb-ing woes is ''talk to luc'' bc then i'll figure it out #thanks luc #my worldbuilding #inspo: liaht #liaht angels #inspo: heaven

[incandescent-creativity]

It's so annoying that my brain reads liaht correctly. Where's the fun in that?

My phone used to autocorrect it to light for a while. I thought that was rather fitting.

Now it auto capitalizes LiaHT for me lol

#sleepyowlwrites #incandescently answered #inspo: liaht