#active narrators

[ohmotherwhatsthat]

The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl

Melissa Keil

🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎(10/10) (leave me be, its one of my favourite books, I’m very biased)

PG/13+ (some swearing and references to things – it’s a country town high school)

So, as established, I am exceptionally biased when it comes to this book. It is one of my absolute favourites, and one of my top 5 comfort books ever. The fact that it’s Australian is an added bonus (although probably not an un-influential factor on it being such a comfort book. (Do people from other countries get the same ‘oh I forgot this could be included’ vibes when reading books or watching movies from their own countries? As opposed to the permanently US based major media? Because that’s a BIG thing with Australian media).

This book is the story of Alba, who on top of all the anxieties about ‘what do you do after school’, and ‘I don’t know how I feel about leaving the only town that I’ve ever known’, has to deal with the fact that half the world thinks the apocalypse is coming, and so is not in her town, and maybe life is changing a little faster than she expected.

“I thought I had more time!” “But what if you don’t?” is definitely the main theme of the book. But, not in the way that it would sound. This is actually not an apocalypse book. This is a small town Australian reality fiction book. Trust me, it makes sense when you read it.

Favourite character:

As much as I love Alba, Grady might just be my favourite character. Only slightly though, I love them both pretty equally! Also I love Daniel, but I feel like that’s marginally more a plot thing than a character thing, he annoys me but I do still love it at the end. So yes. Grady-and-Alba but marginally more towards Grady. Also I have an exceptional soft spot for Eddie. But we are getting off topic.

Favourite quote: 

This is so hard, I love so many lines in this!  So, in no particular order:

“Since I am, as I have mentioned, rubbish at storytelling, I may have telegraphed the above from a bazillion miles away. But honestly – at the time – who could have seen him coming?”

“Daniel giggles, an ancient, maniacal sound of his that I remember way too well.”

“Mum takes one look at me as I hurtle into the kitchen, and she grimaces. “Uh-oh. Them’s fighting clothes.”” (I love the ‘them’s fighting clothes’ so much ok)

“I want to make plans. But I just don’t know how to make myself jump on this arbitrary schedule the universe keeps trying to set for me.”

“Visions of my fabulous adult life usually involved sharing a light-filled artists lift with Ramona Fradon, or building my own Iron Man suit. I guess its easy to dream about things that are abstract, or impossible.”

Also honourable mention – the “do you need tea” scenario kills me ever time. 

#Melissa Keil #The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl #Millie reads things #Millie reviews things #Book rec #PG/13+ #I have things to say #realistic fiction #High school #Celebrities #kinda (in a very weird sort of way) #active narrators #That foreshadowing tho #i understood that reference #squad goals #Childhood friends #best friends to lovers #road trip vibes #wheres my movie #Australian (yes that’s vibes fight me)

[irregularcollapse]

subjective perspective =/= unreliable narration

like. i am holding you gently by the face. listen to me. all narration will reflect a subjective experience. this is not the same as an unreliable narrator. the unreliable narrator lacks credibility for a specific reason - they’re an exaggerator, they’re insane, they’re a joker, they’re an outright liar. a character whose view of things is merely coloured by their backstory and experiences is not inherently unreliable, simply subjective. an unreliable narrator is intentionally or significantly altering the truth, to position the audience deliberately. it’s a specific literary device, not a default in POV storytelling.

#books #saw someone call Damen an unreliable narrator again and hmmm #he just. isn’t. #as a narrator he isn’t positioned to actively hoodwink you (the reader) #he is the conduit through which you (the reader) also discover the details of the story #anyway. today on mini lit lessons with tumblr user b irregularcollapse #mini lit lessons

[emcake1]

annual stanley parable doodle dump o7

+ close ups!

#reposting these from twt sorry #also hi I've been more active in the bird app #my art #the stanley parable #the stanley parable ultra deluxe #tsp #stanley parable #tspud #stanley parable ultra deluxe #the narrator #tsp narrator #tsp stanley #stannarrator #stanarrator #tsp mariella #paratober #ref sheet #visdev #visual development #character design

[emile-tb]

(CW - Body horror and disturbing imagery under the cut!) Art dump ^_^ Narrators featured! Mantra - @deviousnarrator Moss - @lilydoesdrawsometimes

#tsp #tspud #the stanley parable #tsp narrator #tsp stanley #tsp timekeeper #paraverse #narratorverse #AAHH I'M ALIVE I PROMISE #I can't guarantee that I'll be super active BUT I'll still pop in here and there with some art #I also got a new drawing tablet #so my productivity should be a bit better now lol #<33 #emiletb ramblings #my art #EmileTB art drabbles

[archrries]

STANLEY PARABLE FANART?? IN MY SKETCHBOOK??? IT MAY BE MORE COMMON THAN YOU THINK

#tsp #the stanley parable #stanley x narrator #stanarrator #human narrator #lovebug #tsp activity check #tspud #the narrator #narrator design #voice acting #ultra deluxe

[strangersteddierthings]

The Response

Part Two of The Interview [Part One] [Ao3]

With no exact time given by Robin, Eddie's left to kill time. He drags himself from the YouTube spiral to try and track down Steve on social media. After two hours, he concludes that either Steve has his (and official Corroded Coffin's) socials blocked, or Steve just doesn't have any. He's a bit baffled that people can even find Steve to send hate mail to him.

He shoots a text to Gareth. Can you find Steve on any socials?

He gets an instant reply.

DO NOT CONTACT!!!

WAIT FOR RESPONSE

DONOT MAKE THISS WORSE MUNSON

Eddie frowns down at his phone but doesn't argue. He probably would make it worse. He sends back 'k' and looks back to the laptop. Watches it auto-refresh but Robin's feed hasn't changed.

God, what will Steve have to say?

It's mostly true, that Eddie hasn't thought about Steve in years. That's been deliberate. Eddie was so furious back then. Robin wasn't wrong about him venting his feelings into a song, but how was he supposed to know Hey Steve would be the song the catch the ear of the people? And yeah, the lyrics are very unflattering.

A lot of their first songs were filled with rage. The whole first album is just their collective high school experiences. Songs about growing up in Hawkins and how shit that was for them, a song about Eddie's complicated feelings towards his dad, songs about dungeons and dragons disguised as fantasy ballads, things like that. And, of course, Hey Steve.

He can admit that years ago he reevaluated the lyrics and found it to be more harsh than was warranted. But he figured there was no point worrying about that. People exaggerate in songs all the time. The song is out, people still plead for it to be played during encore performances. Eddie hadn't thought it was hurting anyone to play it.

Hey Steve had taken Eddie less than two days to write. He did almost nothing for those two days except write. Fuck. He was still just a dumb kid when he wrote it, barely graduated high school. And the reason for writing it...

Eddie had know Steve wasn't out to his parents when he'd asked Steve to essentially runaway with him. Steve had worried about things like money, and living situations, and getting food. It had all sounded like excuses to Eddie back then. Like Steve was picking the safety of Hawkins and his parents' house over going out into the world to be with Eddie freely.

They'd fought about it. The worst fight they'd ever had. Yet, here Eddie is, a decade later and unable to recall anything that was actually said. Just a summary of that conversation exists in his mind, now. Steve wanting to wait. To save more money now that his hours at the grocery store would be changing from part time to full with him no longer being in school and able to work the morning shifts. Wait to get his car fully transferred to his name from his parents.

All things that adult Eddie can now see as reasonable. Jesus Fucking Christ. He remembers he'd given Steve some sort of ultimatum. He was leaving on the last Grey Hound from Hawkins to Indy. Steve could meet him at the bus stop or stay, but Eddie was going, with or without him.

Steve had shouted back. He knows they just got louder and nastier until Steve finally told him that he would be going without him, then, because they were over. Even as angry as Eddie had been, he'd held out hope. But that last bus left Hawkins with Eddie on it and no sign of Steve in sight.

So Eddie did what he did best. Channeled that hurt into anger and wrote a song. Never in a million years did he think that, in the very first bar they played at in Indy, they'd meet a man who wanted to take a chance with them and get them a demo. All they needed to do was get from Indy to LA. Eddie had a van and the motivation. The next year of his life was too busy for him to even think, much less worry about Steve and his breakup.

Well, that was a lie. He thought about it constantly and shoved the thoughts aside as quickly as they came. Easier to do when he had no way to check up on Steve. He left Hawkins with no laptop and a pay-per-text flip phone he'd bought at a gas station. Wayne tried his best to provide for Eddie, and that meant they'd had one cell phone between the two, and Eddie had insisted that Wayne keep it.

By the time he got a laptop and internet, Steve had blocked him on Facebook and Twitter. That was the conclusion Eddie had come to when he finally worked up the nerve to swallow his pride and apologize and couldn't find Steve on either platform. Another thing that had filled Eddie with anger and hurt. Steve had broken up with him and then made sure Eddie couldn't reach back out.

Now he wonders, did Steve block him, or did Steve delete his socials to stop the hate mail?

Eddie feels nauseous.

Fuck!

What's worse is that, before the fight, Eddie had been so sure he was in love with Steve. But how can he say that with how quickly he dropped him? With how he's acted ever since? He could justify it to himself when he was still freshly broken up with and hurting but that faded away as fame took over.

Hard to be sad about not having a boyfriend when there were plenty of people lining up to be with him.

He pulls himself from his head to look at the laptop. A new tweet shows on Robin's screen and he scrambled to turn off the auto-refresher.

It's a short tweet, and Eddie sees she's changed her name as well.

Clicking the link takes him to a YouTube video.

It starts with the camera slightly jiggling, presumably from someone hitting record. It's been set up in a recording studio. A stool in front of a mic that's suspended from the ceiling is the only thing in the frame.

"Alright, dingus, last chance to change your mind about this," Robin's voice is picked up from off screen.

"You can't talk me out of this," says a male voice, and without any thought about it, Eddie's hand flings out and slaps the space bar, pausing the video. His heart is pounding, and he has to take a few deep breaths. That was Steve's voice. Of course, it was Steve's voice, it's his statement video, but hearing it again. Hearing it spoken softly but determined.

Swallowing feels difficult. Eddie's last memory of Steve's voice was screaming. This is... this is the Steve he never thought he'd hear again, and hasn't realized how much he desperately wanted to. With shaking hands, he presses play again.

Steve steps into frame, takes a seat on the stool. He looks in the direction of the camera, and Eddie has to pause again, to take him in. His hair is longer than it was in high school, the ends of it touching his shoulders. He's got it pulled up in a half updo, keeping the hair out of his face. His face is familiar and yet so different. He certainly looks older but not in a bad way. The biggest difference is his nose; it's not as straight as it once was, like it's been broken and healed wrong. His strong, square face is as handsome as it ever was, perhaps more so now. Eddie's eyes are drawn to the two moles on his cheek; his eyes have always been drawn there. It was his favorite place to kiss Steve.

He's wearing light wash jeans and a deep blue Henley. And fuck if it doesn't make him look good.

Eddie unpauses again, and waits to hear the retribution he deserves.

"This good, Robin?"

"Yeah, you're perfectly in frame."

"Good. Uhh, hi. I'm Steve. Robin told me that there was a lot of fuss regarding a certain Corroded Coffin song, and that people wanted to hear from me. Which is wild 'cause like, I'm just some guy and I don't really have much to say-" Steve is saying, with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Steve!" Robin interrupts him, "I just had to help you move because someone threw a brick through your window! What do-"

"Okay! I get it! But that's not Corroded Coffin's fault. They do that whole anti-bullying thing! It's not like they don't address harassment and bullying. I-" Steve cuts off, seeming to remember he's on camera. His face turns pink. "We can argue this later. Uhh, anyway. There is something I want to say to Eddie Munson, so I hope he's watching."

He makes a 'give it to me' gesture and Robin enters frame, handing him an acoustic guitar. "I thought I'd answer using the one thing Eddie understands best. Music. So, uh, I wrote this song with Robin's help. Lyrics are mine but the melody is Robin. The song doesn't have a title but, uh, okay. Here it goes."

And then, Steve starts to sing, looking down at the guitar for correct finger placement more than singing into the mic but it picks him up well regardless.

"Do you think I'd give up? That this might've shook the love from me? Or that I was on the brink? How could you think, darling, I'd scare so easily? Now that it's done There's not one thing that I would change My life was a storm, since I was born. How could I fear any hurricane? If someone asked me at the end I'll tell them put me back in it-" Eddie is sitting down, and still he feels the floor fall out from under him.

"-Darling, I would do it again, ah, ah If I could hold you for a minute Darling, I'd go through it again, ah, ah."

Eddie doesn't hear the rest of the song because of the blood pounding in his ears. This can't be- it doesn't mean- after all this time? After everything that's happened, everything Eddie let happen, unintentionally or not.

His phone buzzes against his leg. He ignores it in favor of restarting the video and listening to the video from the start. He listens to the whole song and it ends without anything else. Once Steve's strummed the last chord, he just stands up, walks to the camera and the video ends.

He restarts the video again, and again, and again. Hears Steve sing How could you think I'd scare so easily and I would do it again if I could hold you for a minute and though I know my heart would break I'd tell them put me back in it.

It's through the tenth, or eleventh, playback that his phone buzzes again and he fumbles to answer blindly, unable to pull his eyes away from Steve on the screen of his laptop.

"Gare- It's not- what did I do Gare? Everything I thought Steve would have to say never came close to what he just sang. I can't- I don't know what to do," Eddie sobs into the phone.

There's a pause of silence before what is very much not Gareth's voice says, "Well, dammit Munson. I was calling to rip you a new one but you're already crying."

It takes Eddie a moment to place the voice, "Robin?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Robin says. "I think Steve's let you off easily, but I also know I kick a hornet's nest with my interview so I think we should work on getting this cleared up, both publicly and privately."

"How did you get my num-"

"Gareth. Keep up, Munson. I'd like us to be able to call off each other's fans. Your PR team and whoever you employee to do that anti-bullying campaign have done a pretty good job so far in telling people to back off, politely. Helps that Jeff has been on top of this from the beginning. Honestly, I think the best decision you've ever made in your life was making Jeff the front man of your band and not yourself. He's much more pleasant to talk to, and so good with people."

"Robin!" Eddie has to shout because Robin keeps saying words and they don't make sense. "What?"

He hears a sign from the other end of the phone. "You are annoying. You know that, Munson? I'll work with Gareth to get this done. I think we should be seen together, publicly. Maybe getting a coffee. So everyone knows we've made up, or whatever it is Gareth and I decide is happening. We should also meet up privately. There's a lot to talk about."

"I'm so confused."

"Nothing new. Now, when are you free to get on a plane to Pendleton, Oregon?"

"Pendleton?"

"Munson!" Robin snaps, "we just established that you live in a perpetual state of confusion. Instead of questioning me, how about you answer my questions. Now, when are you free?"

"Anytime."

"Smart answer. Get your ass to Pendleton by the morning of the twenty-third. I'll work with Gareth for all the other concerns. He's easier to deal with."

"Can I ask one follow up question at least!?"

"You just did but I'll allow one more before I hang up."

"Why Pendleton?"

"It's the nearest airport to our destination. I am not having a private conversation with you in California. I don't want to be caught speaking to you until Gareth and I have a chance to work out the details."

And then Robin hangs up.

Eddie leans forward and restarts the video on his laptop before looking up plane tickets. Fixing things with Robin might be the first step in ever getting try and, he doesn't know, apologize to Steve? Maybe even have a conversation one day.

He doesn't deserve that chance, he thinks, but he's a bad enough person to want it anyway.

#steddie #my fic #the interview #the song steve sings is Francesca by Hozier #i dont do taglists so i linked to ao3 where u can subscribe and get updates #i feel like eddies an unreliable narrator so im adding that tag on ao3 #the boy has got NO CLUE what is happening at any point in time ever #hes just a ball of guilt and regret #also i didn't clarify in the fic because i couldn't find a good way to fit it in #but gareth is not an active CC member‚ he's the PR manager #he used to be in the band but quit to finish college and be a family man #Jeff is the front man so he does the interviews/public appearances/etc #Eddie used to but like rockstar life hit him hard and he had to let someone else take that role

[askdacast]

EVERYBODY ALL BONKLE FANS SHUT UP STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING AND WATCH THIS IMMEDIATELY

THEY OPENED UP BIONICLE DAY 2023 WITH VAKAMA (YES) NARRATING AFTER 20 YEARS OF MASK OF LIGHT AND BELOVED BIONICLE S#%&POSTER ESSENGER & CRYOSHELL’S BANGER NEW SONG

#Bionicle #bionicle day #810nicle day #Essenger #Cryoshell #I watched this intro live #I had already been blasting the song on repeat #but then they pulled out the old beach chant and THE TRANSITION FROM NARRATION TO SONG #I AM FERAL RIGHT NOW #ALL SENSE HAS LEFT MY BRAIN #I’m actually too busy to watch the whole stream sadly #but my monke brain has been activated by this delightful tribute #heck yeah Bionicle forever #inject that concentrated nostalgic dopamine into my veins

[s-aint-elmo]

digging out my eah content part 4: the kittycorner (ba-dum-tss)

ID: a set of sketchy digital drawings featuring kitty cheshire. the first five make a short comic. one: kitty earnestly slow-blinks; her catlike eyes are bigger and shinier when she opens them. two: a bemused lizzie hearts playing with her deck of cards asks, “...huh?” three: embarrassed, kitty blurts, “nothing. bye.” and disappears. four: lizzie waves after her, still confused as she replies, “oh--bye???” five: maddie hatter pops up behind lizzie, blushing and delighted, exclaiming, “oh my, kitty!”  six: kitty lounges on a tree branch, smiling mischievously, one paw-like hand raised near her face as she says, “y’know, like nya” with a cat-shaped speech bubble. off-screen, indicated by a wolf-shaped speech bubble, cerise replies in all-caps: “stop.” seven: a grinning bust of kitty in a less cartoony style winks at the camera. end ID.

#ever after high #kitty cheshire #lizzie hearts #maddie hatter #cerise is here in spirit #doodles #mine #kitty made me watch eah in the first place i love her troublemaking ass #everyday i give my thanks to shannon hale for making it canon that kitty cares incredibly for her friends and shows it by picking on people #who are mean to them but is in such extreme denial over it that she'd sooner deal psychic damage to a narrator than admit it herself #i Will draw kitty being an active member of the cedar defense squad. this i swear to you

[fisheito]

Me: Everything i make is garbage i shouldn't even bother

The eiden in my head:

Me: Sorry eiden you're right my efforts have value

#any time i feel down about the act of creation #actually. any time i feel this way about... saying words in public too #when i'm typing up a comment anywhere on this site and the internal narration is constantly trying to stop me #with LOUD whispers of No one cares!! or even worse... people actively do not want to know ur thoughts!!! zip them fingerlips!!!!!! #during moments of struggle like this #i summon eiden like the powerful support assist he is #into my battle against myself #hey if he can fix kuya he can definitely fix me 😂 #he is a stellar therapist for the clan. so strong. how does he do it #a new coping mechanism!! next time you feel down about your work #imagine you're one of eiden's clan members #exhibiting Mental Illness #and he just gives u that empathetic loving look. with some weird combo of words that makes u feel infinitely better #love u eiden u damaged sweetheart ty for the cbt #eiden

[gailynovelry]

Fun concept to introduce writeblr and readblr to; slowburn worldbuilding. Picture this. You are dropped into a setting. The rules of the setting are not immediately explained to you, but as the characters move along the plot / their lives / their character arcs and the world, you start piecing things together. Maybe the characters already know what's up with their world, but you as the audience have to figure out what's up based on what you encounter over time.

#little more showing than telling #more subtle ways of telling too #there are good times and places for dunking down a chunk of worldbuilding in dialogue and narration #but i'm fascinated by stories where you have to be an active observer in order to fully understand what's going on #also i just would like to kill the expectation that one must know All The Lore by the end of book 1 #if you don't know all the lore after the first book #it might be because the later books are going to cover the spots that weren't so relevant at the beginning

[buckkeeppostoffice]

fitz narration: i experienced an Emotion that i quickly chose to push away and ignore. not telling you which one tho

#i love it when he blatantly and unapologetically chooses to leave shit out #bro could've just not mentioned it but no he's like “fyi im actively repressing my feelings at all times. which feelings? exactly 😌” #unreliabe narrator number one baby! #rote shitposting #fitzchivalry farseer #realm of the elderlings #rote

[questionablealibi]

👋

#alibi! #tsp narrator (cameo) #sona #to be re-activated soon enough

[bdoubleowo]

I think truthing is best avoided because it’s incredibly invasive and parasocial and at the very least one should keep the behavior to yourself as to not make the cc’s uncomfortable, and that anything short of the full picture (something impossible to achieve as an outside observer) could be missing context and that friendships come in many forms and there are other ways to experience relationships aside from just romantic or platonic but also I think Dream is just actually full on /r in love with George I don’t know what else to say why does he act Like That

#I’ve been like. ‘truthing isn’t great but something is going on there’ for months. probably a year now #and yet somehow my expectations keep getting. surpassed #i like to think dream chose to search for wattpad George fics specifically so he could read gnf x reader fics #dnf fics are impersonal to him. he’s a party separate from the narrator. x reader fics allow him to live out his wildest dreams #honestly there’s like. truthing that’s just believing something with your whole pussy and then Truthing where you actively search for proof #capital T truthing is invasive. i think sometimes you just gotta to believe weird shit that affects no one #shout out to my friend who saw this post rotting in my drafts and said ‘no post it actually’ #i made them start listening to heatwaves by showing them this unposted dnf post #dnf #dreamnotfound #og post

[jacksprostate]

Things I won't forgive the fight club movie for regarding the character of Marla Singer, entry C:

The manic pixie dreamgirlification of her own struggle with life and death. The narrator gets to have a serious issue driving his alienation but Marla gets her cancer removed so her pithy statement about the tragedy of death being that she doesn't fall over dead randomly is just a bit Offbeat And Interesting And Edgy haha! She's a real tourist, really, nothing ever stated to be wrong about her. Sure she overdoses. Sure you can see she's got a shit life. But she doesn't get backstory. She doesn't get a life beyond fun little statements that, when her own reason for saying and thinking them is removed, mostly just reflect the narrator. In the book, it is very, very clear. Marla does what she does because she has cancer and is afraid of The Slow Death. The Wasting. The Struggle. By taking that away you even reduce her suicide attempt. It puts it all in this context of nothingness. Sure, you can assume a depth, but I don't think we should be uncritical about the fact that they chose to remove it. Marla Singer is more than an object that bothers the narrator out of the support groups and gets fucked by Tyler Durden. Marla Singer is a person in her own right in the book, and in the movie she's just... not.

#fight club #the other major beefs are: Marla is the one who intervenes and chases the narrator down so he doesnt shoot himself at the end. she's not a #fucking damsel in distress #it's arguable she 'saves'the narrator #those are two interlocking beefs... #secondly taking away her clarity of the situation and thus her own choices in the entire later half ..... #in the movie marla arguably never even knows about the split personality thing!!! he doesnt fucking tell her!!! she just suddenly gets #pushed around by big brave masculine man protecting unknowing victim woman who is stupidly resisting #*vomits* #bro in the book marla is keeping this fucker awake. tracking him thru the night #she slaps him across the face #she makes the KNOWING CHOICE to persue him to the parker morris building #to remove her entire reason for how she acts then also make her entirely passive in the latter half of the movie when she was previously #quite active..... #literally aside from this and the defanging of project mayhem i consider this one of the best adaptations of smth ever #but they really fucking let misogyny ruin a major part of the story #sorry this is incorherent i'm just like #this is legit the only way people come up with those 'marla isnt actually real!!' theories too #because she's totally reduced from her own person into a mirage for the narrator's interest

[phin-tastic]

#i am actively giggling into my pillows #i’m so proud of my creation 😭😭😭 #made this cause i couldn’t stop thinking about the narrator reading playgirls #mostly collettes fault if i’m gonna be honest 🫡 #the narrator #fight club

[jennicatzies]

Get jolly with it

someone who isn't great at lighting draws something with a concept very reliant on lighting

#jennicatzies art-chive #the stanley parable #stanley parable #the stanley parable ultra deluxe #tsp #tspud #tsp narrator #the narrator #tsp stanley #had this activity where we decorated our teachers like a christmas tree and it hasnt left my head since #and then i thought #I can stanarrator this. #lo and behold #crimmus narratree