#writers converge on that sound
Text
What No One Tells You About Writing Fantasy
Every author has their preferred genres. I love fantasy and sci-fi, but began with historical fiction. I hated all the research that historical fiction demands and thought, if I build my own world, no research required.
Boy, was I wrong.
So to anyone dipping their toe into fantasy/sci-fi, here’s seven things I wish I knew about the genres before I committed to writing for them.
1. You still have to research. Everything.
If you want any of your fantasy battle sequences, or your space ships, or your droids and robots, or your fictional government and fictional politics to read at all believable.
In sci-fi, you research astronomy, robotics, politics, political science, history, engineering, anthropology. In fantasy, you have to research historical battle tactics, geography, real-world mythology, folklore, and fairytales, and much of it overlaps with science fiction.
I say you *have to* assuming you want your work to be original and unique and stand out from the crowd. Fanfic writers put in the research for a 30k word smut fic, you can and will have to research for your original work.
2. Naming everything gets exhausting
I hate coming up with new names, especially when I write worlds and places divorced from Earthly customs and can’t rely on Earthly naming conventions. You have to name all your characters, all your towns, villages, cities, realms, kingdoms, planets, galaxies, star systems.
You have to name your rebel faction, your imperial government, significant battles. Your spaceships, your fantasy companies and organizations, your magic system, made-up MacGuffins, androids, computer programs. The list goes on and on and on.
And you have to do it all without it sounding and reading ridiculous and unpronounceable, or racist. Your fantasy realms have to have believable naming patterns. It. Gets. Exhausting.
3. It will never read like you’re watching a movie
Do you know how fast movies can cut between scenes? Movies can balance five plotlines at once all converging with rapid edits, without losing their audience. Sometimes single lines of dialogue, or single wordless shots are all a scene gets before it cuts. If you try to replicate that by head-hopping around, you will make a mess.
It’s perfectly fine to write like you’re watching a movie, but you can’t rely on visual tricks to get your point across when all you have is text on a page – like slow mo, lens flares, epically lit cinematic shots, or the aforementioned rapid edits.
It doesn’t have to, nor should it, look like a movie. Books existed long before film, so don’t let yourself get caught up in how ~cinematic~ it may or may not look.
4. Your space opera will be compared to Star Wars and Star Trek
And your fairy epic will be compared to Tinkerbell, your vampires to Twilight, your zombies to The Walking Dead, Shaun of the Dead, World War Z. Your wizards and witches and any whisper of a fantasy school for fantasy children will be compared to Harry Potter. Your high fantasy adventure will be compared to Lord of the Rings.
You can’t avoid it, but you can avoid doing it to yourself. When people ask about your book, let them say “oh, you mean like Star Wars” to which you then can say, kind of, except XYZ happens in my book. These IPs will never fade from the public consciousness, not while you exist to read this post, at least, but Harry Potter isn’t the only urban fantasy out there. Lord of the Rings isn’t the only high fantasy. Star Wars isn’t the only space opera.
Yours will be on the shelves right next to them, soon enough, and who knows? You might dethrone them.
5. Your world-building is an iceberg, and your book is the tip
I don’t pay for any of those programs that help you organize your book and mythos. I write exclusively on Apple Notes, MS Word, and Google Suite (and all are free to me). I have folders on Apple Notes with more words inside them than the books they’re written for.
If you try to cram an entire college textbook’s worth of content into your novel, you will have left zero room for actual story. The same goes for all the research you did, all the hours slaving away for just a few details and strings of dialogue.
There’s a balance, no matter how dense your story is. If you really want to include all those extra details, slap some appendices at the end. Commission some maps.
6. The gatekeeping for fantasy and sci-fi is still very real
Pen names and pseudonyms exist for a reason. A female author writing fantasy that isn’t just a backdrop for romance? You have a harder battle ahead of you than your male counterparts, at least in the US. And even then, your female protagonist will be scrutinized and torn apart.
She’ll either be too girly or not girly enough, too sexy, or not sexy enough. She’ll be called a Mary Sue, a radical feminist mouthpiece, some woke propaganda. Every action she takes will be criticized as unrealistic and if she has fans who are girls, they will be mocked, too.
If you have queer characters, characters of color, they won’t be good enough, they won’t please everyone, and someone will still call you a bigot. A lot of someones will still call you a bigot.
Do your due diligence and hire your army of sensitivity readers and listen to them, but you cannot please everyone, so might as well write to please yourself. You’re the one who will have to read it a thousand times until it’s published.
7. Your “original” idea has been done before, and that’s okay
Stories have been told since before language evolved. The sum of the parts of your novel may be original, but even then, it’s colored by the media you’ve consumed. And that’s okay!
How many Cinderella stories are there? How many high fantasies? How many books about werewolves and witches and vampires? Gods and goddesses and celestial beings? Fairies and dragons and trolls? Aliens, robots, alien robots? Romeo and Juliette? Superheroes and mutants?
Zombies may be the avenue through which you tell your story, but it’s not *just* about zombies, is it? It’s about the characters who battle them, the endurance of the human spirit, or the end of an era, the death of a nation. So don’t get discouraged, everyone before you and everyone after will have written someone on the backs of what came before and it still feels new.
1K notes
·
View notes
Text
It’s gonna be fine (HG relay fic)
Thank you to @writer-in-theory for passing the baton to me! Thank you to @harringrove-relay-race for hosting this event!
It was a death wish, heading into the upside down on his own. Steve knew this but he had to do it. He had to make sure, make sure that Billy was gone. To let himself grieve and move on, move on from Hawkins, from the dumb kid he used to be. He’d told no one that he was doing this in case they tried to stop him. Stepping out of the Harrington house late at night, with a flashlight and his baseball bat, Steve headed into the woods behind his house.
The woods at night were creepy enough, but Steve’s brain was working overtime to psych himself out of doing what he was doing. It felt as if his brain was at war with his heart. Logically, he knew Billy was most likely dead. His heart didn’t want to believe it though, hoping against the inevitable that Billy was somehow alive. He jumped at any small noise, whether a twig snapping underneath his shoe or an animal rummaging in the darkness.
“Just keep moving Steve,” he muttered to himself.
Eventually, he reached the portal in the trees, it was perpetually open now, since the earthquake in Hawkins. An eerie red glow illuminated the trees around him, everything was completely silent in this part of the woods, apart from the almost tide-like noise of the portal, it was like the thing was alive and had a pulse. Steve steeled his nerves, almost three years of dealing with all this shit and it still scared him, but also gave him an adrenaline rush. He wasn’t sure which one was worse.
He stepped into the world full of monsters, his only source of light was his flashlight and the occasional flash of red lightning. From where he was, he was still in the woods, remembering the route he had taken with Robin, Nancy, and Eddie to what was Lover’s Lake in this bizzaro version of Hawkins. He was heading in the opposite direction, towards the ruins of Starcourt Mall, the last place he had seen Billy.
Coming out of the woods, he saw the upside down’s version of his house, just as quiet and unlived as it was in the normal Hawkins. It was sad in a way, even in this nightmare version of Hawkins the Harrington house was still empty. Nevertheless, Steve carried on through into the town.
This part of not-Hawkins had more monsters roaming about, forcing Steve to take a more roundabout way. Demodogs and the taller, more humanoid ones, what did Dustin call them? Demo… Demogorgons. That’s it, demogorgons. The faceless monsters roamed these streets more freely, feeding on the weaker ones and fighting over territory. Steve needed to be extremely careful and not make any noise to attract them, or else he’d never make it to Starcourt. Most of them had converged on Main Street, where the larger ones were taking their share of a dead demogorgon’s flesh. So if Steve took the left off of Cherry Oak Street and took the route to the community pool, he could get to the mall without being seen. Easy enough right? The monsters were too interested in their dinner to pay attention to anything else, and Steve easily slipped by into Cherry Oak Street. Nice and easy right?
Abandoned cars littered the streets, some with the windows smashed in, some overturned with the suspension ripped out. Some were just straight up on fire. The overturned cars made good hiding spots if any demodogs came snuffling by, Steve figured the smell of motor oil would cover up his scent, although some demodogs did nearly discover him. Luckily for him, the motor oil and the smell of burning drove them away. He still didn’t feel safe as he slowly made his way through the street, looking over his shoulder every other moment. It was too quiet, all of his instincts were screaming at him to get out of there. Run like his life depended on it.
But he had to be patient, lest he become a demogorgon’s dinner.
A booming flash of red lightning sounded in the sky, all of it relegating to one place, the Starcourt Mall. Something must be happening there. Could it be the Mindflayer? No it can’t be right? They killed it last year. Billy sacrificed himself to save them all. Steve could still remember Billy’s agonised screams as the Mindflayer’s claws pierced his flesh. Steve knows Billy did it to save everyone but, but he regretted not being able to get Billy out of there before the mall went on fire. At least then he could’ve been buried properly.
Still he slowly soldiered on, moving towards the wreckage of the mall. The roof was cracked open like an eggshell. Twisted pieces of metal exposed to the sky. Billy’s totalled Camaro was in the foreground, the windscreen cracked and the engine still steadily burning. That car had been Billy’s pride and joy, it was sad to see it in such a state.
A flash of movement from within the mall caught Steve’s attention. Too big to be a demodog, too small to be a demogorgon. Steve’s heart wanted it to believe it was Billy, but there was also a chance that it wasn’t and Steve was just walking to his death. Which sometimes, if he was being really honest with himself, didn’t sound too bad.
Steve entered the dilapidated building, taking in the wreckage that was caused last summer. Shopfronts destroyed, the plants torn from their pots at the root, shattered glass and neon tubes everywhere. He chuckled when he caught sight of the Scoops Ahoy building with the sign hanging off the wall. Those sailor uniforms had been ridiculous. But he still was sure he’d seen something moving in here. Steve wasn’t sure if he was seeing things but he was sure he saw a flash of dirty blonde hair.
He wandered through the lower levels of the mall, not daring to go upstairs in case it was unstable. Nothing seemed to be in here except maybe a dust bunny rolling through. It was too quiet and Steve didn’t like it. He felt like he was being watched, or maybe he was just being paranoid but his grip tightened on his nail bat.
His brain told him he was right to be paranoid when he got tackled from behind. His bat fell from his hand and landed somewhere on the floor. Whatever had gotten him was strong, managing to get him into a headlock. It looked humanoid, from skin that looked like it was once tanned, veins that looked a darker blue than usual popped from the skin. But the voice. The voice was familiar.
“What are you doing here pretty boy?”
“Billy? Let go of me, I’m here to help you.” Steve struggled against Billy’s grip. Even though he was taller, Billy was stronger, managing to hold Steve down.
Billy laughed mirthlessly. “You’re here to help me? Why didn’t you help me when I was possessed by the Mindflayer then?” Billy put more pressure against Steve’s throat and roared at him to answer.
Steve didn’t really have a good answer for him, his best bet was that he didn’t know he was possessed. That didn’t seem to please Billy much.
“You didn’t know? Really? That’s your excuse?” Billy sounded hurt. As if Steve had told his biggest secrets. Even though after their fight at the Byers’s house after Halloween, they had started to become maybe-friends over the Christmas break, both stuck in Hawkins with nothing to do. They’d settled some differences over shared packs of cigarettes and shitty beer from the Pay’n’Go. But what could Steve say? He wasn’t entirely privy to the kid’s Upside Down plans.
“I’m not saying this to save my neck. I genuinely didn’t know you were possessed by the Mindflayer. I was busy being beaten up by Russian soldiers trying to open a gate to this hellhole because they thought I was part of the Navy from my work uniform.”
Billy couldn’t help but laugh at that. It was so ridiculous that it couldn’t be anything other than the truth. He let go of Steve in his fit of laughter.
“True those uniforms were ridiculous, how the hell would they think you were Navy?”
Steve would have laughed too if he wasn’t catching his breath.
“Uh sorry, I thought you were him,” Billy replied sheepishly, “he’s mega pissed that you guys destroyed the Creel House by the way.”
“Who Vecna? Yeah we figured, but I’m just here to get you out of here if you want me to.” Steve offered a hand to Billy, the olive branch for him nearly choking Steve to death.
“But everyone thinks I’m dead.” Billy looked sceptic about Steve’s offer, like it was too good to be true. “Why would they believe it’s me and not a monster. What about Max?”
It tugged at Steve’s heartstrings to hear Billy sound so concerned about Max, also because he probably has no idea what’s happened with her. And Steve dreads telling Billy about it.
“Something is wrong with Max, I don’t know why but I can feel something is wrong. Please Steve, tell me, is Max ok?” Billy’s tone was so desperate, Steve really wanted to lie and tell Billy that Max was fine. But he knew Billy wouldn’t appreciate being lied to.
“Max… she got targeted by Vecna. She’s in the hospital right now, in a coma. If she survives she’ll probably be blind for the rest of her life.”
Steve held Billy close as the tears fell. Letting Billy go through the motions of it all. Trying to placate Billy by saying that it’s all gonna be fine but it felt insincere since Steve couldn’t really believe that himself.
“You’re right though, it’s gonna be fine, I’ll make it fine. For Max.” Billy’s voice was still shaky but with a determined tone. “She’ll need her big brother right?”
“Yeah, she will. So you wanna get out of here?”
“Yeah.”
Now I’m passing it over to @manwrre!
44 notes
·
View notes
Note
I was discussing this with a friend of mine and I’d be interested to know your take.
We’re both big comics nerds for the batfam, and we’ve come to the consensus that even with the out of pocket moments, arcs that don’t hold up well(fugitive comes to mind), and the slew of other post crisis issues—We think the best version of the batfam would be right before Damian was introduced.
I know how this makes me sound and I’m not sorry, Tim as robin was great and I loved him as the younger brother of the fam but also not bruce’s son let them be weird friends like before identity cri-
I’m getting off topic. I apologize.
Batfam feels very bloated modern day, and I genuinely preferred when Jason was a crime lord, Dick and Tim were close tightknit brothers. Babs was oracle and Cass was batgirl. I’d want Steph to be alive and not taking cass’s job but one thing at a time. (also tim and cass are lovely as siblings/friends)
What is your ideal batfamily composition, what do you have the most fun with?
And I hope you’re doing well!
Oh here’s a dangerous question.
My favourite period of Bat comics is probably, hmmm, 1996 to 2004. Not only are there some great writers doing work during that period, the family dynamics are interesting and complex because there's fun levels of tension between various members, but also there are almost equal numbers of male and female characters and the women are allowed to be messy and complex and flawed while still heroic. You've got Bruce, Dick, Tim, Barbara, Helena, and Jean-Paul, plus Cass from 1999 onwards, with assistance from Steph, Selina and Dinah to varying degrees.
What characters and dynamics do I find the most fun? Well, I like there to be tension in the Bat family. I like every person in the group to be linked in differently, with different relationships with other members, rather than being "Bruce and his kids". There's this concept I have of what is the 'core' of the Batfam in the period between 1995 and 2009: it's not Bruce, it's actually a trio, consisting of Dick, Tim and Barbara, all of whom who have very strong ties to each other, managing and balancing the rest of the family between them.
Dick manages the broader community ties, rather than the Gotham ones. Dick's the one who all the other families know and are most likely to approach for help; he's got the respect of the Titans but also of the Justice League. Dick is basically the public relations guy standing between the Bats and everyone else.
Tim is the glue of Gotham. Tim knows everyone in Gotham and has teamed up with them at some point and knows how to convince them to come and help out, even if they aren't on good terms with the rest of the Bats, and can force people who are normally opposed to work together. Tim's the reason all the Gotham vigilantes aren't six separate bitter blood feuds or a perpetual mafia war.
Barbara is the expertise. She's not only the coordinator and planner who ensures that everything runs smoothly, who has everyone's contact details and the ability to pull in the specific assistance needed, but she also maintains contacts that still see Dick as 'Bruce's kid' with the way most of the Justice League only are familiar with her as an adult hero. She's got the best JSA contacts via Dinah. She can stand up to Bruce and tell him to back down and pull his head in in a way the other two cannot. And she's the only one of the three who has a proper working relationship with Jean-Paul Valley.
The changes in the Batfamily dynamics by firstly removing Barbara from Gotham, and then adding Jason and especially Damian, forced the shape of the dynamics to centre themselves around "Bruce and his sons" and "everyone else", rather than being a spread network that converged on a trio.
My ideal Batfamily? It's Bruce, Dick, Barbara, Tim, Cass and Damian. While I think that Damian is part of a very clear change of direction in storytelling, I think there are worthwhile stories to tell about his dynamics with the others listed here, and on balance he allows for new directions of storytelling.
(Yes, there's an obvious name missing there. It's deliberate. I remain unconvinced that having Jason around as 'family' is a better use of his character than as a ghost haunting the narrative or, if he must be alive, as an extremely irritating villain)
60 notes
·
View notes
Note
Do you have any TOA fic recs?
Oooh ok let me think.
The classic, Were I That Burning Star by @californiannostalgia. Seriously this fic is incredible and I think anyone who’s been in the fandom since like 2020 would cite this as a formative part of their fandom experience. The original Apollogist fic lol.
Speaking of older fics, A Convergence of Apollos by Keyseeker (@flightfoot) has always been a favorite of mine. I cannot believe this fic is almost 4 years old, but I remember following it religiously when new chapters were coming out. All the characters have incredible interactions, and Keyseeker’s writing is just amazing in general. This is definitely one to check out! (p.s. I know Keyseeker has a fic rec of her own, so if you want more after my list, check out hers!)
Anything by @tsarinatorment, but especially her newest fic, Eclipse. I know a lot of work has gone into this fic (At least from what i’ve read in the ToA discord lol) and it’s absolutely paying off I am obsessed.
There are a couple of reading the books fanfics for ToA, but I have a soft spot for Secrets of the Sun by @sierice and @ukelele-boy. it hasn’t uploaded in a bit, but the fifteen chapters that are out are pure gold and I love them lots.
Speaking of reading the books fanfics (or watching them, in this case) I cannot leave out the God’s Eye View series by Keyseeker (still @flightfoot lol). Like I said earlier, her writing is stellar, and she does so much interesting character work with the gods. If you wish Olympus was focused on more in the Riordanverse, these fics are for you.
And another fanfic of this genre (Can you tell it’s a favorite of mine?) Hidden Oracle by Kaeyuh (I'm not sure if they have a tumblr sry!) is one I’ve recently been enjoying. The characters are super solid and I’m excited to see what directions it goes in, definitely a great fic to follow!
Both Cooler Than Me and The Tail of A Pollo by ceruleancats (@falconfrost) are so sweet and I love them, definitely check them out.
OH ALSO. Apollo and the Aftermath!!!! Which is apparently also by ceruleancats and I didn’t realize!!! Trust me this one is so good. I swear Apollo’s pov sounds like it’s straight out of the books it’s written so well.
(un)normal by m_arnie (@m-arnie-xx) was written for sunflower sibs september and it’s so good, literally so good pls read it. Honestly all the fics from sunflower sibs september were great, it’s a collection on ao3 (sunflower siblings september 2022) if you want to read them all
Speaking of that, we've had two years of ToApril and both of them have had a lot of incredible fics, so if you want a lot of ToA content I'd go there. I believe both are also collections on Ao3. This year was under ToApril 2023, and predictably, the year before is ToApril 2022. Lots of fics to enjoy!!
@firealder2005 has recently made a series called The Works of Apollo and I am obsessed??? Definitely a great read, they're so so good.
There’s so many more fics that have been written and are amazing, but I don’t want this post to go on for too long, so here are all the recs I have off the top of my head! Honestly, this fandom is blessed with some stellar fic writers.
#these links took forever to get right lmao#trials of apollo#sunny speaks#ask#long post#fic recs#I have read most of these fics at least 5 times#fic writers carry this fandom god bless
126 notes
·
View notes
Note
HELLOOOOO would love to know about human incarnate. AND history's flowers. AND 13 for the fic writer questions. goodbye
OKAY OKAY OKAY IM SO EXCITED I LOVE THESE FUCK ASS THINGS!!!!! let me divide them….
13) your strengths as an author
i love writing prose. imagery my betrothed. connecting tiny threads into one useless piece is my bit on the side. basic dialogue when ik what theyre gonna talk about, but making it SOUND like them is a wholeeeeee other ordeal. so yeah, i'd say Prose. i like those, and people have said i use good word :)
history’s flowers
so you know the song bouquet by itchiko aoba ? well a good chunk of the song is mainly flowers, so ended up a fic like “crowley and aziraphale through history, but a flower that is mentioned in the song is present in an encounter we see”. like ‘plumeria’—its a ficlet in the garden and a bush of plumerias happens to be nearby or part of the scene ! its mostly chrono, but i tried to keep it as close as possible. not too much has been written yet other than the garden of eden example i gave you, and there’s a lot of flowers, but im gonna dew it all 😌
human incarnate (under cut due 2 length)
okay THIS one’s a bit more complex and infinitely longer. its a reincarnation story ! but of course, not exactly what you might have seen before. now, bit of context, i’ve mever really liked human aus—they are some amazing works out there and i’ve read a good chunk dont get me wrong, but its not exactly something i seek out—im there for the mystical, the immortal dance, etc etc. but one day this story just came up, and i COULDNT let it go. so: human aziraphale and crowley trying to stop the apocalypse but theyre actually an angel/demon duo but reincarnating every few decades. so one day they died (this if ofc plot relevant but if i explain it its ANOTHER long ass paragraph, so lets just say it involves fire and one of my favorite historical events *not alexandria*), and they started incarnating together, some lives never meeting and others meeting once or others changing them entirely, only to eventually truly converge in the present day (like 2008) in time for heaven and hell to realize the trick and the apocalypse on the brink of beginning. easy no memory shtick and stuff, and the appeal is 1) trying to stop armageddon without their respective powers/knowledge, and 2) relearning their love story one life at a time. its the exact balance of Supernatural and Human i would love to read, but never have seen. there might be fic like that out there (and i’d love to read it) but this is hopefully something I can execute nicely. some highlights:
- raising warlock is a such a funnier ordeal becayse they dont have powers to help them out. its a DISASTER
- them figuring out their miracles and their limitations when their powers slowly start tricking back (they're not yet where they're supposed to be, but after heaven and hell's first contact, they arent exactly human anymore, are they?) like warlock's birthday ! its just funny to me..
- crowley and aziraphale's limited contact before armageddon is about. its just a neighborhood crush, nothing more, but then it escalates like THAT ? imagine the guy who curates your flower bouquets you bring to your grandpa's grave (he's not related to you) (and he also happens to be you) and looks kinda pretty ngl is actually your immortal enemy you've been locked in a homoerotic relationship with since the beginning of time. and is a DEMON. of HELL. woah
- hell and heaven don’t really frighten aziraphale and crowley most of the narrative, until the plot ramps up. at first, theyre just Fuckin Weird to them, and seeing a few chapters of them just ridiculing their HEAD OFFICES without knowing just how powerful they can be makes me crack up
- crowley's tattoos (including the snake, which he has NO IDEA where it came from)
- aziraphale's bible and prophecy collection (inherited from his grandpa) (whom he is not related to) (who is also him)
- theyre both trans. one cool thing about this is that aziraphale intentionally chose his name based on the angel who guarded eden, which is HIM. for some odd reason, his name never did fade from the bible editions, and he is still known to this day. Cough Cough Crowley Cough Cough anyway also he and crowley both cycled through some other names before reaching their final ones, which are all names they’ve had in past lices :) because while their past lives have been connected to their old identities in some ways, it wasnt until 2008 where it really became similar. its almost like they knew things were coming…..
- (this trans fact is revealed during the six hours of drinking after adam is delivered <3)
- the bookshop fire
- holding hands at the end of the world
- no stars to run to, because crowley doesnt even know he built that one. but he still fucking loved astronomy anyway!!! he used to want to be an astronaut, you know. before the world tore him down
- aziraphale, on the other hand, never knew what he wanted to be. Good, that he knew, but Good at what?
- all of the fcuking.... scenes.... hittinf anathema, tadfield manor, I JUST!!!!
- some of their cliched past lives being the following: pirate/naval captain, bodysnatcher/cemetery caretaker, brandy spy/allied bookseller, 17th century witches, fugitive/aristocrat, and ofc, present day: struggling florist/bookseller who doesnt really sell any books and lives off of his grandpa's fortunes (again, not related) (who is also him)
- crowley growing up on the velvet underground and aziraphale growing up UNDER A ROCK. queen plagues them both...
and yeah ! its gonna be pretty long, i think. thanks 4 the ask, and happy timezone 💗
10 notes
·
View notes
Text
reading update: june 2023
as promised (to myself) I spent all of gay months reading books by and/or about the gays, no exceptions! (unless you count the heaps of old Batman comics I was reading, but come on. it's all pretty fruity.) the trend will be continuing into July as well because I overshot and still have book I need to finish, so in the immortal words of Janelle Monáe: happy pride forever!
anyway, what have I actually been reading?
Empress of Forever (Max Gladstone, 2019) - man, I've been meaning to read this FOREVER! and I'm glad I finally did. Gladstone's space opera follows ultrawealthy tech genius Vivian Liao, a sort of dykey Lex Luthor who's CERTAIN that she's the good guy. okay, yes, she's trying to get control of the nukes, but she's not going to use them. it's just that the world's a mess and she needs to be in charge. unfortunately our girl Vivian doesn't get far in her master plan before she's transported across the galaxy and finds herself on the run from the all-powerful Empress in the company of a cybernetic monk named Hong and the legendary space pirate Zanj, the Empress' greatest enemy. from there our heroes are off on a slow, messy quest across the galaxy as they make new friends, grow as people, and strive to bring the Empress down. it's a very long book and can feel slow in places, but all of the time devoted to fleshing out the characters ultimately pays off as their stories converge into a resonant narrative about the notion of identity and what it means to be yourself. if you like Becky Chambers' Wayfarer books of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, get on this shit.
also hey listen Max Gladstone is having a bit of a Moment rn; the book he coauthored with Amal El-Mohtar, This Is How You Lose the Time War, is getting a huge boost thanks to the Trigun (????) fandom??? over on Twitter, and you should definitely go check it out
Not Gay: Sex Between Straight White Men (Jane Ward, 2016) - Ward is a brilliant queer feminist writer; rigorous and insightful while keeping her work imminently readable. while the title may sound facetious, Ward actually takes entirely at face value that there are men having sex with each other an engaging in otherwise homoerotic activities - mutual jerkoffs, hazing rituals that involve anal penetration - that sincerely aren't stemming from a place of gay desire and asks us what the fuck we're supposed to make of that. what results is a fascinating look at masculinity and the intricate rituals that both subvert and maintain it. shockingly thought provoking for a book that contains so many transcribed craigslist posts of men looking for straight guys to have totally normal hetero dudesex with!
The Latinos of Asia: How Filipinos Break the Rules of Race (Anthony Christian Ocampo, 2016) - I was lucky enough to get to see Ocampo (who is gay) speaking at the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity this year, and naturally I had to buy one of his books while I was there. I strongly suspect he's about to become one of my new favorite nonfiction writers, because the Latinos of Asia was a brilliant read that I really couldn't put down. Ocampo (who's also Filipino!) delves into the formation of Filipino-Americans' racial identity, and finds that many feel caught between the most conventionally accepted racial categories - feeling alienated from the idea of Asian identity, which is often perceived as pertaining to East Asians like Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans, and instead relating much more firmly to Mexican-Americans and other Latinos. it's a FASCINATING study on race and one (of many!) loopholes that exists in this very large, messy, totally made up construct of race.
A Lady for a Duke (Alexis Hall, 2022) - for my pride month romance novel I wanted to read something that I might actually like. I've previously adored Hall's genre-fucking ultra-queer Sherlock Holmes pastiche, the Affair of the Mysterious Letter, and Lady for a Duke was really well-reviewed, so my hopes were high! and you know what? I fucking loved this. it was like cotton candy, perfectly sweet and made to be inhaled without a second thought. Our Heroine Viola was the heir to an estate who faked her death at Waterloo so that she could run away and be herself - that's right baby, this is a 19th century trans lady romance! she reconnects with her old BFF the Duke of Gracewood, who's been catatonically depressed since losing his best friend in the war, and reader, you will not believe what happens next. just kidding, you totally will: they want to kiss each other so bad! they're yearning so bad and it's great. it's a very silly book and Gracewood is the most unexpectedly forward-thinking 19th century duke EVER who is instantly down to accept Viola entirely as a woman and thinks that having biological children is overrated, and you know what? that rules. I'm not reading this book for historical accuracy I'm reading it to watch a man beg his girlfriend to fuck him tenderly in the ass. and she does!!! if I'm being honest everything after they finally hook up is kind of nonsense and the book probably is too long, but god it's a delightful time.
Chlorine (Jade Song, 2023) - back in the days of twitter I started following Jade Song as soon as they announced selling this book, the story of a competitive high school swimmer succumbing to obsession as she fantasizes about becoming a mermaid. finally getting to pick up the book from the library and actually read it felt crazy after existing in potentia for so long! while Song's novel is a little rough in some places in exactly the way I expect from a debut, it's still gripping and visceral. our protagonist lives in an intense and demanding world, striving to please an overly handsy coach, wanting to please the immigrant parents she can barely speak to, stumbling through sex with boys on her team while longing for her female best friend. through it all she fixates on mermaids, and the story is told in flashbacks building up to a drastic act of self-mutilation at a swim meet. it's definitely not the right book for the faint of heart or anyone looking for feel-good fluff, but it's harrowing in the best way.
Vagabonds! (Eloghosa Osunde, 2022) - gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous! Osunde celebrates queer life - those called vagabonds, society's outliers - in Lagos, Nigeria, slipping between the real world of social stigma, oppressive religion, judgmental family, and dangerous politics, and the world of magic, gods, and the unreal, blending the two together in an effortlessly dizzying effect. the ultrawealthy hide behind layers of flawless masks to conceal their identities, a lonely woman dying of cancer summons up a daughter than only she can see, and a young man channels the devil to raise his murdered lover. while the stories start bleak, firmly establishing the danger of life on the margins, they gather speed with increasing warmth and love as the story progresses, eventually bringing all of our protagonists together in glorious, life-affirming celebration of vagabonds and all who love them. Nigeria, in Osunde's hands, reads much like family - imperfect, sometimes even awful, but also capable of harboring tremendous love, surprising tenderness, and still worth holding out hope for. I think measuring books in terms of relatability is a fool's game, but as an American queer watching more and more legislation and persecution roll out against my people each day, it was hard not to feel a cord being struck. Vagabonds! is a beautiful reminder that queer resilience is eternal, and reader, I did cry.
Quietly Hostile (Samantha Irby, 2023) - I was a ride or die bitch for Sam Irby even before she picked up and moved to my small Michigan city, effectively becoming my neighbor. (not really, but she is married to the mother of a friend of a friend, so.) despite this, I will freely admit that I was a little underwhelmed by her last release, 2020's Wow, No Thank You. it's possible that WNTY was damned by its March 2020 release, putting it in the awkward position of being a humorous essay collection creeping out into the world at a time when everyone was paranoid and nothing was funny; maybe on a reread I would receive it a bit more warmly. Quietly Hostile, on the other hand, is just stupid funny right out of the gate. Sam Irby is old (see: in her early 40s) and going downhill, writing candidly about peeing her pants everywhere, adopting a rancid little dog, getting sent to the hospital with a severe allergic reaction, and jacking off to plot-heavy porn of elderly lesbian nuns. it takes a little bit of work to get me to actually laugh out loud at a book but man, I was chortling. if you don't already know her work, this is a sign from god (me) to check Samantha Irby out now.
what am I reading now?
Black Water Sister (Zen Cho, 2021) - the was one of the oldest queer novels(TM) on my list and I really wanted to knock it out for pride month. the Malaysian setting and culture is a welcome addition to contemporary urban fantasy, but I'm not sure I'm crazy about the story overall. and yet, I'm over 200 pages deep and don't want to give up, so ? I guess I'm persisting.
Giovanni's Room (James Baldwin, 1956) - my local library lost their copy just in time for pride month, so I bought one on ebay for all of nine dollars. haven't started yet, but I'm really excited to finally pop that proverbial Baldwin cherry!
36 notes
·
View notes
Text
tagged by @geryone to post 9 book recemendations!! i think ive mentioned all these books before but theyre my current favorites <3
brother by ania ahlborn - michael is the youngest in a family of serial killers. ignored by momma, for better or for worse, and unable to please his tempestous older brother, rebel, he tries to cope in a house of horror.
any man by amber tamblyn - chronicles the aftermath for several men who share trauma: they're all victims of the same female serial rapist.
pin by andrew neiderman - orphaned, codependent siblings leon and ursula are more than willing to blur the lines between sibling and lover. bound together for life, the only weak link between them is the realistic anatomy dummy named pin that leon believes is alive.
choke by chuck palahniuk - victor is a sex addict unable to stop forcing himself to chock at restaurants just so people will save him. the fact that his mother, who was equally possessive and neglectful to victor during his childhood, has dementia and is now dying has absolutely nothing to do with it.
bath haus by pj vernon - what would you do if, when deciding to cheat on your partner, the man you meet at a bath house tries to strangle you? what would you do if your would-be murderer than begins to stalk you? do you go to cops? do you confess to your partner? or do you simply crumble under the constant fear?
lost souls by poppy z brite - several stories converge in the small town of missing mile, north carolina. steve and ghost are best friends and musicians dealing with steve's recent breakup and ghost's sudden visions of monstrous, incestuous twins. zillah, molochai, and twig are a ragtag trio of murderous vampires on a cross-country roadtrip, drunk on hedonism and death. nothing is a young, depressed teenager desperate to find family and belonging while figuring out his growing longing for blood.
drawing blood by poppy z brite - 25 years after bobby mcgee killed his wife and youngest son before committing suicide, trevor, the eldest child spared for some unknown reason, returns to the house that destroyed his family. death, however, leaves stains that can't be erased. down in louisiana, zach is a hacker on the run from the fbi, his hypersexuality, and his ptsd. but demons, personal or otherwise, have a way of catching up.
house of leaves by mark z danielewski - there is a house that is bigger on the inside, chronicled for decades by an old, blind man. his life's work is found by a young tattoo artist who in turn becomes obsessed with the writer and his tales of houses and minotaurs and ordinary people thrust into mind-bogglingly extraordinary situations.
the sparrow by mary doria russel - emilio sandoz is a priest with a group sent on a mission to follow an extraterrestrial sound wave to its origin. what happens on the far distant planet haunts the man once he returns home.
tagging: anyone that wants to say i tagged them ❤
27 notes
·
View notes
Note
Okay so the teaser basically confirms that Orianna is Singed’s daughter. Like, the music box playing in the background and the sound of a clock ticking while he looks down at the locket that contains a photo of her, most definitely thinking of her.
I wonder what age the writers are going to put her at. Her LoR redesign makes her look quite a lot older than her Lol design. Maybe they’ll put her about Jinx and Ekko’s age (physically. No clue how old they’d want to put her mentally)? Around that 15-17 mark? Kind of that middle ground where she isn’t freshly out of pre-teens but also not an adult.
There’s like a red string board in my mind with “machine herald”, “Orianna”, “Singed”, “Orianna’s dad”, “clockwork”, “Ekko’s melee weapon is a clock hand”, “firelights”, “reject societal norms”, the “I thought you’d understand” “I understand now” exchange, and like a dozen and a half other things pinned to it.
Also Convergence had Orianna’s dad as a character, and while I may be thinking to hard into this, maybe Riot wanted us to be freshly reminded of that story line for a reason.
Don’t know if it “confirms it” outright, but the signs are certainly all there. I remember the exchange with Corin in Convergence, and it could definitely work, if they were trying to remind us all of him/his connection. TBH my knowledge of Orianna is severely lacking, I really just know what I’ve managed to soak up through Twitter osmosis. But if we’ve learned one thing, it’s that the Arcane team is very liberal with the hints and Easter eggs. And all of those things you listed certainly do seem to be intentionally nodding at something.
Forgive me for my lack of knowledge, but does Orianna’s story tie into Viktor’s? I know that she’s heavily modded/entirely robotic now, but that’s pretty much all I know. Does she have some sort of inspiration for Viktor or vice versa?
#arcane#arcane league of legends#league of legends#singed#orianna#Viktor#machine herald viktor#arcane s2 teaser#asks#ace answers
18 notes
·
View notes
Note
So apparently (https://sonic-city.net/2023/11/19/main-idw-sonic-the-hedgehog-comics-to-enter-hiatus-during-fang-the-hunter-miniseries-run/) the main IDW comics are going on hiatus for the Fang the Hunter miniseries, which I presume will be four issues like usual. And I'm like... hm. Apparently during Imposter Syndrome the comics went bimonthly too, but this will be four months without any mainline issues. And that is not even counting the inevitable delay Fang's series one hundred percent certainly will have, because that has been plaguing IDW since day 1. That could also have an impact on when the main issues will resume.
It makes me wonder how the plot of said mainline comics will go. All the stuff currently happening (Mimic infiltrating, Clutch infiltrating, Surge and Kit legit not even infiltrating but just going to drink coffee with Amy for shits and giggles, and whatever is going on with the New Diamond Cutters because please let Lanolin's and Whisper's fallout have some kind of consequences) either need to be resolved in two issues, or will leave us on a cliffhanger for at least one-third of a year. And also, this just seems like both a terrible way to keep people interested in your story? Not to mention how it reflects very poorly on IDW that they apparently don't even have enough staff to create two Sonic series simultaneously, or the creators are so burned out by the main comics they need this break to recharge, or whatever else is going on here. I find it a very interesting decision to pause the comics, and not exactly in any good ways.
Surge and Kit will return next issue, #68. At #69, the main story will halt to make room for the Fang miniseries. Either the new Surge arc will be ridiculously short, or it will be put on hold for four months. Either way, I can't imagine her fans will be pleased.
For reference, the four Scrapnik Island issues came out alongside issues #54-#56.
This is both stupid and a sign that IDW is running on fumes. Wasn't the Fang miniseries done? Wasn't the point to advertise Superstars? The game has come out. I certainly prefer Fang over Surge lol, but marketing wise, giving priority to her (and all the converging plotlines) seems the most obvious choice to me.
Everything about current IDW screams that it's close to dying. The art has degraded and they're basically running with two main artists, the story has become pure fluff, now they need a break to make room for a spinoff miniseries... I don't know chief, none of this sounds promising to me.
(not that I would lose much sleep if the comics went down. but you know what I mean :V)
18 notes
·
View notes
Text
First line meme
post the first line from the last 10 fics you posted (and are there any patterns?) - I got tagged by @chocolatepot, @naranjapetrificada, and @epersonae, thank you all!! 💕
If I Get Lost Along the Way
Ed wasn’t even sure why that night was his last straw.
2. Poetic Justice
It was kind of funny, in a way - the one time Ed actually wanted a lover to be rough with him, he couldn’t get it.
3. Outburst
Ed could look back with fondness, most days.
4. Blackbeard's Reviews
Being a professional sex-toy reviewer wasn’t as glamorous a gig as it sounded like it would be, really.
5. Better Days Ahead
Stede got the scariest phone call of his life at about noon on a random Wednesday.
6. Sackcloth, Hugs, and a Warm Bath
Wearing sackcloth wasn’t meant to be fucking comfortable.
7. Jeff, 48, Looking for Some Fun
Stede Bonnet was born to be a hopeless romantic.
8. Everything That Rises Must Converge
The captain’s cabin on the Concorde had never seemed so big before.
9. Over Dinner
Why was it always over dinner?
10. All His
“Bad news,” Stede groaned, slipping into the seat next to Ed. “Lucius just texted. Pete’s not feeling well, apparently, it doesn’t sound like they’re going to be able to make it.”
Hm. I really like to start fics with Ed pondering about how miserable he is in his current situation, apparently. I seem to favor shorter, snappier sentences, and I was a bit surprised to notice only one started with dialogue because I remember that being a habit when I was more inexperienced (if you're curious, the thing that's making Pete feel unwell is just getting something stuck up his ass. rip).
I think a lot of the writers in my circle have already gotten tagged, so no-pressure tags (and sorry if you've already done this/been tagged and I missed it!!) to @jellybeanium124, @batsarebetterthanpeople, @spirker, and whoever else sees this and wants to do it! It was a lot of fun <3
6 notes
·
View notes
Text
get to know your fellow fanfic writers better ༊ ✧.*
Tagged by @chaos-monkeyy (1000 years ago 😅)
1. when did you post your first ever fanfic?
I started posting in Feb 2021!
2. first character you wrote for:
I think the first chapter of Fumbling Towards Ecstasy was from Shallan's POV.
3. main character(s) you’re currently writing for:
Not much has changed: Kaladin, Shallan, and Adolin take up a great deal of space in my head and in my fic, including my current WIP Plausible Deniability (Explicit), for which I'm currently procrastinating the last chapter as I do this, lol
4. character(s) you haven’t written about before but plan on writing about soon:
I don't think I've published any Elhokar! I do have a Moash/Elhokar I started in 2021 that I would like to figure out and get out there.
5. fandom(s) you’re currently writing for:
Stormlight Archive, my beloved. My obsession for the last three years!
6. platonic pairing(s) you currently write for:
I did an RP with @wanderingchanneler with Kaladin & Szeth reluctant road trip travellers to friends, and xe's been working on editing and posting it. It's updating weekly - Convergence (Teen)
7. romantic pairing(s) you currently write for:
Mostly Shakadolin, but otherwise it's fairly eclectic. Actually now that I think of it, I write a lot of sexual stuff, and I write a lot about love, but I don't write a ton of explicitly romantic stuff. Except maybe Shakadolin 😂
8. your top 3 tags on AO3 (if you post your works on AO3):
If it's only Additional tags, then it's Oral sex, RoW spoilers, and then a four-way tie of Fluff, post-canon, canon compliant, and PWP. If it includes character tags you'll never guess: Kaladin, Shallan, and Adolin, in that order.
9. your current platform where you post your works
AO3, baybee!
10. snippet of the wip you’re currently working on:
Here's Teen-rated excerpt from my draft chapter of Plausible Deniability:
“What do you mean, you don’t feel the same way anymore?” Laran demanded. “We. . . did things together! Didn’t you like it?”
“No, no, it’s not that,” Veil said. Storms, how could she describe what had happened to her desire? “I just don’t feel like doing those things anymore. I still want to do other stuff. . . ”
Laran crossed her arms, lit from the side by Salas’ violet light. “What, like kissing? Over the clothes stuff? It’s not like you ever wanted to be out with me in public. What’s left?”
Veil shrugged. “Okay, we could play Towers at the barracks. Have dinner at your stew–”
“Oh, so you can ogle the Highmarshal while I dodge Lyn’s questions about the nature of our relationship? Yeah. Sounds great,” Laran fumed, turning abruptly to look out over the mountains.
Veil could tell where this was going. “We could do whatever you want. What do you want to do?” she asked, trying not to sound like she was begging.
The tall Windrunner was silent for a while, then let out a long sigh. “I don’t think I want anything else. You know, Veil, some relationships shine like spheres, and others flash like lightning.” She turned to look at Veil. “It was bright while it lasted, but I can hear the thunder now. Goodbye, Veil.”
Without another word, Laran stepped up onto the balcony railing and pushed off, flying at speed into the darkness.
“Everstorms!” Veil cursed into the night. She hoped it wouldn’t go this poorly with Ral when she saw her tomorrow.
Tagging @felagund-fiollaigean, @rydiaasuka, @if-one-of-us-falls, @illustraterg, @cosmererambles, @meadowlarkx and anyone else I can't remember at the moment, pretend I tagged you if you'd like to do this!
8 notes
·
View notes
Text
First Lines Game
Rules: share the first lines of up to ten of your most recent fanfics and tag up to ten people. If you have written fewer than ten, don’t be shy and share anyway.
tagged by @yourmadnesswon <3 <3
Chrysalis
The thin, jagged crack of light hovers undulating in the air in a beckoning dance, promising sanctuary on the other side.
Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc
Sam waits, kneeling, for his execution.
He watches Dean pull the scythe back for the fatal strike and closes his eyes, half out of dread, half out of mercy.
Make All of My Nightmares Come True
Kearney, Missouri is miles behind them, and a chasm still fills the space between Dean, behind the wheel, and Sam, pretending to try to sleep on the passenger side. Sam is supposed to be getting some shut-eye so he can take over driving in a few hours, but he’s still wound up and sleep won’t come despite the soft rock Dean put on.
Your own brother trying to kill you will do that.
Threshold
He’s standing at the threshold, but he can’t quite seem to make himself go any further. The double doors in front of him challenge him, judging, questioning, repudiating his worthiness. It’s difficult to find the will within himself to move forward, but going back is not an option. Not anymore.
Enemy Within
Bobby and Sam pull into the drive that leads to the burned-out shell that was once Bobby’s home. The place where Sam and Dean could once turn to when they needed to regroup and lick their wounds. The place that once was the only occasional island of stability Sam knew other than the Impala.
With ice cold hands takin’ hold of me
“I think you’ll want to see this for yourself.”
He doesn’t, as a rule, concern Himself with individuals; they are not in and of themselves important to the whole of the species. They are molecules of water compared to the tide, necessary, providing a medium to shape a pattern, but one more or less has little impact in the grander scheme.
Taking Care of Business
He’s just settled in with a glass of Craig and The Drama of the Gifted Child when the King of Hell is interrupted by the irritating sound of a throat being cleared. He shuts his eyes and pushes aside the urge to disintegrate the offender. There is a delicate balance between instilling the correct level of fear and retaining enough staff to run a functioning court.
Penny for your Thoughts
In retrospect, Garth should’ve known better. 20-20 hindsight is a harsh mistress.
He should’ve known that the automatic fight-or-flight reaction causes muscles to tense, not relax. He should’ve stepped in front of Dean again, blocked his line of fire. He should’ve made sure that the gun was pointed away from Sam before he threw the punch.
Convergence
Bright dim bright dim bright dim
We need bait that fits the demo… Chain around neck choking… I don’t think I want it back…
Filet of Soul
Sam glances across the Impala to the passenger seat to Dean, who has finally conked out, leaving Sam alone with his thoughts in the aftermath of nearly losing him to an Amazon.
“Now isn’t that ironic. And here you thought we were the unstable one.”
Almost alone.
No-pressure tags, just including some folks who I know are writers and might enjoy participating. Apologies to anyone I didn't tag because I can't keep different Tumblr/AO3 handles straight; please consider yourself tagged!
@wilsonthemoose @adirotynd @a-wondrous-thing @petrichorsam @quickreaver @themegalosaurus @trials-era-sam @tigerlilynoh
27 notes
·
View notes
Note
Have you heard that ubi is using ai for “ghostwriting” for their npc dialogue :/
Oh, no I wasn’t aware. So I did a Google search on it and yeah… they are. This feels like a slippery slope.
Ubisoft said “Ghostwriter isn't replacing the video game writer, but instead, alleviating one of the video game writer's most laborious tasks: writing barks. Ghostwriter effectively generates first drafts of barks - phrases or sounds made by NPCs during a triggered event - which gives scriptwriters more time to polish the narrative elsewhere.”
So take that as you will.
I’m on mobile so excuse the ugly link but here’s the statement from Ubisoft about it:
https://news.ubisoft.com/en-us/article/7Cm07zbBGy4Xml6WgYi25d/the-convergence-of-ai-and-creativity-introducing-ghostwriter
9 notes
·
View notes
Note
Adding off that one anon that said u were using ai or smth: in tje tags u put blind writer but u also put dyslexic so r u blind or dyslexic?) U cant be both lol.
“dyslexia can affect individuals who are blind or have low vision. Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that impacts a person's ability to read, write, and spell. It is related to difficulties with phonological processing, which is the ability to recognize and manipulate the sounds of language. While dyslexia is often associated with difficulties in reading printed text, individuals who are blind or have low vision may experience similar challenges with braille or other tactile forms of reading and writing. It's important to note that dyslexia is a diverse condition and can manifest differently in individuals, regardless of their visual abilities.” Quoted from some people who are partiality blind and have dyslexia, google, and my OWN mother who told me I was diagnosed with dyslexia first.
I was diagnosed with a reading and writing disability before I even began to loose my good eyesight. Do some research and maybe ask me if I was blind since a child or if I developed it. You guys love trying to find everything wrong. I WAS DIAGNOSED WITH A READING AND WRITING DISABILITY BEFORE GETTING TOLD I WAS SLOWLY GOING BLIND!! Many of the symptoms of dyslexia are also present in functional vision problems like convergence insufficiency, or poor eye teaming.
I began to go blind in 2021 and was professionally diagnosed by a doctor that I had dyslexia in 2016. Smh.
☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾☾
4 notes
·
View notes
Text
Why I like the Shaman Azula theory so much
Quick background if you haven't seen TLOK: The Shaman is a character that appears briefly in The Legend of Korra who helps the Avatar connect with her very first life, Wan, after being attacked by a dark spirit. There is a theory that this character is Azula. Due to the Shaman having so little screentime, there isn't really concrete evidence to prove it, but there's no evidence against it either.
What we do know about the Shaman is: She is an elderly woman living on Bhanti Island, where the fire sages originated. She is introduced during series two using a new firebending technique.
(a form of spirit bending, used here to diagnose Korra with holding dark spiritual energy. The movements seem reminiscent of Reiki - but don’t quote me on that. I don't think this technique ever gets referenced again in the show, which is a shame.)
The sages that find Korra bring her to the Shaman, so it is fair to suggest she is well known to have knowledge/expertise in this area. She advises using a pool of spirit water; submerged in it, Korra is reconnected to the Avatar spirit and her past lives - saving her life in time to fight Vaatu during harmonic convergence. The Shaman later tells Korra about how the sages have been raising flying bison since the war ended.
The reason the theory has any weight is mainly because the shaman looks like this: (I’ve added the gaang, young and old, for age and art style comparison)
[ID: Twelve images, ten of which show Zuko, Katara, Aang, Toph, and Sokka as they appear in ATLA and TLOK, the first image shows the Shaman next to Azula. End ID.]
(Also, if anyone can tell me how to get images to display smaller on tumblr, I’d love know.)
Considering what the rest of the gaang look like, it feels pretty valid. What I like so much about the theory is that it offers an Azula who has continued to master firebending techniques into her old age, is unbothered by a few hairs out of place, saves the Avatar using spirit water, and raises baby flying bison. Not to mention she is a respected and seemingly appreciated healer. (the Shaman doesn't use fear, is what I'm saying) I know it sounds like she is the total opposite to Azula in ATLA, but it's the parallels that kinda make it for me. Aang and Zuko go from enemies to best friends in a year. A key theme of the show is 'no one is born completely evil'. I believe over seventy years Azula could change enough to at least save the one person capable of stopping the world from descending into ten thousand years of chaos and destruction. (C’mon,Toph joined the police.) The fact that this character saves the Avatar using spirit water - the very thing that undoes Azula's whole life in book 3 feels meaningful.
Do I think that the writers did this on purpose? Not really. The shaman was originally going to be blind before they decided it made her too similar to Toph, who returns in the following series. Not to mention the way Azula is represented in other post canon content by the creators. Do I think that someone working in character design thought it would be funny to draw an old firebender with suspiciously familar bangs? Maybe.
I also love how the total lack of evidence just leaves the door open for more backstory. What paths could Azula possibly take that end with becoming a contented old lady who pets sky bison and knows secret firebending techniques? The only real factor in whether it’s a believable theory or not is the limits that we choose to set on character growth.
44 notes
·
View notes
Text
WIP DAY
Tagged by: @derelictheretic & @fadedjacket -- thank you lovelies! 💖
Tagging (although completely optional as always): @starsandskies @chyrstis @chazz-anova @words-and-seeds @weekend-writer @deputyash @deputy-rice-pudding and anyone else that wants to do this! I truly have no idea who to tag anymore on these things...
A/N: Um... hi! It’s been awhile 😅 To be honest, I have been working on stuff on-and-off. Just at my own leisurely pace. Finally feel like I have something worthwhile to share though, but we’ll see. It’s a bit longer than I’d like to post for a WIP Day, but who knows when I’ll actually get it done so 🤷♀️
Before we get into it, I suppose I should mention the fandom it’s for at this point? It’s FF14 -- so, uh, be aware of Shadowbringers’ spoilers for this, I guess?
- - -
Fatigue tugs at you. The familiarity of this place plucking at ancient memories, the emotions ringing on the vibration, the echoes a faint afterimage; unrefined, barely a silhouette in the dark, but there all the same. They leave you dizzy, unfocused, feeling inebriated over this queer battle of wills; the invasive merging of memories not your own but– but they… they are– were?
You climb on the bench, spitting an exhausted sigh as you settle, harshly pressing your hands into your eyes. A tremble wracks your frame, the heavy taste of Light clogging up your throat. Even the feeble defence of your hands can not hide you from the intrusive memories, outlines clearer upon the pitch backdrop. Overlapping, intertwining, converging. Are you swaying? It feels like you are swaying. The Light writhing, agitated beneath your skin. It is all starting to make you feel sick.
Swallowing down the urge to gag you cautiously manoeuvre yourself. Lay down with your arms at your side, leeching the coolness of the stone through your clammy skin. You feel so warm, so grossly uncomfortable in your own body. Like it is no longer yours, as if there is not enough room. Never have you felt so small.
At least the leaves above you are pretty, somewhat distracting in their gentle sway against a phantom wind. Glimpsing past to the murky green beyond, you trace the rays of light that filter down from the ocean’s surface. Watch with absent interest as sea-life leisurely glides above the heavens, like birds on the wind. Find yourself mentally mapping out the sky, the stars that typically populate its canvas. The next time you leave the city you should take a spare journal with you, start compiling all the constellations you come across in your travels. That way, when you return you can give them to your friends; and when you ultimately have to leave again you can all–
…
… …
You curse, aggressively shove the ball of your hands into your eyes. A weak sound cracking loose in your throat, frustrated tears burning as they escape down the side of your face.
That didn’t– that’s not your memory. It is not yours… and that hurts more than words can ever articulate.
It is not even the fact that you can’t remember them, or that they don’t truly belong to you. It’s how they make you feel that kills you.
You have always felt adrift in the world, always felt like something was missing. Only ever found in dreams and those painful moments of unwarranted nostalgia. It is why you originally set out on your travels. Vainly searching for clues in foreign tomes, collapsing ruins and distant lands. Looking for that mystical place that has ever resonated within you, the dual silhouettes that have ever compelled you back to them; that have ever urged for your morose soul to come home.
Those memories, painful as they are, they…
You scrub at your eyes. Cringing as you raise them above your head and see the liquid Light smeared across them. Shakily exhaling you drop them, uneasily wiping the oily remnants off against your attire. Try not to think too hard at the fact that you are crying Light, so contaminated that you are literally leaking the stuff. It is only because of Ryne and sheer willpower that you have yet not succumbed. Holding on because you must, because there is no one else. But…
Emet-Selch was right: you are all but a Sineater, at this point.
The temptation to surrender is there. In this hidden nook, within this skeleton of glorious Amaurot and amongst the ghosts of a resurrected memory you wonder if it would be so bad to give up. To finally rest. Or, at the least, to indulge. To not have your potential final moments be wrought with non-stop strife and conflict, but to be softened by the hollow comforts of a life never lived. Of memories never made. Of a love never shared, yet depthless and timeless; eternal.
#i love this game#can't wait for the next patch#and to get all the lynx's - woohoo! 2 down and more to get#my writing#my wip#tagged#tag game#wip day#wip game#different from my usual game/fandom of choice but i'd like to try and branch into all the stuff i enjoy#show my appreciation and love as a fellow hobbyist creative#derelictheretic#fadedjacket#thank you again for the tag lovelies!#sorry it's taken so long as always
8 notes
·
View notes
Last Seen Blogs
thatonebaritoneplayer-blog1
That One Tumblr Page
bee-o
Aude id esse aliter!
cater-guru10
cater guru
thejoanmitch
Sans titre
serial-update
Serial Update