#and it still all adds up. the foreshadowing was there it just meant something different than you thought.

[natjennie]

i think mostly we as a culture need to stop pretending media is for us and instead recognize that it's for the people making it. "the show didn't do the thing I wanted it to" is so not the point. did it do what the people making it wanted it to do? did it tell the story they were trying to tell? than it was successful. if that doesn't align with what you wanted to happen, don't get up in arms about it. don't badmouth the creators and throw a tantrum. that's what fan works are for. the text is the text, and it told the story it was telling. you wouldn't be like "ugh shakespeare is insane for act v btw like there was no reason for juliet to kill herself she should've just waited and then her and romeo could have been together wtf this ruined the whole play" like no!!! the themes were there the set-up was there the foreshadowing was there shakespeare did what he intended to. just because it wasn't a happy ending and just because you thought it should've went differently doesn't mean it was bad. read a fic where juliet lives and move on.

#this is about ghosts but honestly fandom in general #stop pretending the creators of things owe you certain story lines. they're making it not you #i explained it like this to my sister: #imagine you're reading a book and there are sort of hints and scenes that you take to interpret a character as gay #you cite quotes and talk about the themes and the impact of your interpretation #and then at the end of the book the character comes out as asexual. #and then a lot of those scenes and quotes that you were using as evidence for your interpretation- #now they could be construed to have been pointing towards them being ace all along #just because it wasnt the end you fabricated in your head based on your understanding of the hints #doesn't mean it wasnt always the writers plan from the beginning. #AND it doesnt mean you can't keep imagining a world where they're gay instead #it just means that the writer was leaving those clues to point you towards the ending #and you interpreted the clues differently #bbc ghosts #ghosts spoilers #bc like. if last resort was the ending #you could 'read' the whole series with the understanding that they weren't going to leave the house #and the foreshadowing would add up #but now with the special. you can go back and 'read' the series with the understanding that they leave #and it still all adds up. the foreshadowing was there it just meant something different than you thought. #stories have beginnings middles and ends #you predetermined the ending while still in the middle and got mad when you weren't right. #does that make sense?

[chirpsythismorning]

I know it's sort of on the nose (eye), but...

Let's talk about the heart(s).

I realize a lot of fans dismissed this as reaching recently, and so everyone sort of shut up about it, but I can't let it go. Especially when acknowledging what is literally happening on the show itself aka YOU'RE THE HEART, has convinced me that none of this is reaching. In fact, I'm certain that the heart imagery in the California poster(s) was intentional and intended to foreshadow requited Byler in ST5!

HEAR ME OUT!

The Duffers, when asked about the significance of the s4 posters, got excited, saying that it was indeed foreshadowing done by marketing, only to shut up instantly, steering the conversation elsewhere.

A little bit before season 4 actually premiered, fans got these posters as promotion and started noticing the hearts in the trees fairly quickly. So, this isn’t something that was only recently discovered well after s4 premiered. No, this was something fans caught onto way before 'you're the heart' was even a concept we were aware of. And I think there's a reason for that, in that it was foreshadowing what was still yet to come.

So, for starters, look at each of these trees individually…

They all look like your basic, run-of-the-mill palm trees. They have texture to them, which makes them fairly unique like trees often are. They were designed for the eye to instantly qualify them as trees.

These TWO below on the other hand, follow a different formula.

These trees look like hearts, point blank. They are much more defined into a shape than they are meant to look like realistic trees.

One heart is on the left and one heart is on right in this poster (smack dab where the rule of thirds lies, might I add). The left heart is a little bigger and therefore easier for the eye to catch first, while the heart on the right is a little smaller and therefore harder to notice, but it’s there.

Now get ready, because what actually sort of sealed the deal for me, is that it’s obvious these two trees, are the exact same.

Here you can see I reverted the right heart horizontally, and yep... They’re the same. Even down to the little detail of the small tree accompanying both of them. You can clearly see they are the same image, just copy/pasted, shrunk a little smaller and reverted horizontally.

So what does this all mean…?

Well, a couple weeks after Vol. 2 dropped on July 1st, after rewatching the van scene a bajillion times, numerous fans started to notice a heart shape in the light of Will’s eye. And once you saw it, you couldn’t unsee it, especially in edits that enhanced the quality of the scene and made it even more prominent than how it looked in the show.

But the thing is, the heart doesn’t stay there the entire time in Will's eye. There’s moments where it’s bright and clear as day, and theres other moments where it's just barely visible. And I think that was probably necessary, otherwise it would have been a little too obvious. But it's still just subtle enough, and within the context of the conversation literally happening on screen, YOU'RE THE HEART!, that it's... wow. It's beautiful.

Even more interestingly, similar to the posters, while there is a more prominent heart on the left, that being the heart in Will's eye in this scene, his heart is also accompanied by a second heart to the right, which is also slightly less obvious, but it’s there, and it's in Mike’s eye.

There’s moments where it’s bursting or, to even fit the context of the scene, ‘falling apart” (it quite literally falls apart the moment Will says those exact words).

Yes, Mike's heart is a little smaller, it's less distinguishable. And there's times when you can't really see it at all, just like Will's, but it's there, all while Mike looks, dare I say it, in love?!?

The van scene took over half a day to film, and a lot of evidence points to the fact that there is way more going on in this scene than meets the eye. (Like the fact that Will's monologue in the van parallels perfectly to Mike's monologue at surfer boy pizza...)

"I know it's sort of on the nose"

NO ITS LITERALLY ON THE EYES, YOU EVIL GENIUSES!

This, on top of everything else???? Like, Byler is so inevitable at this point, there’s seriously no room for doubts anymore.

I also want to add that, fans noticed Lonnie (Will's dad)'s car in the background of the main Cali poster, and we also know the actor who played him attended the table read for season 4. Which means that this poster has another element to it that confirms it's indeed foreshadowing what is still yet to come in season 5, not just season 4... So it's not a reach to theorize about the significance here of Mike, clearly walking towards Will, while everyone else is walking forwards. After all season 4 was just the beginning of the end. And the posters are confirmed to have hints pointing towards endgame...

#you're the heart #without heart wed all fall apart #heart eyes #heart trees #byler #byler evidence #byler proof #byler endgame #byler theory #stranger things #stranger things spoilers #stranger things theories #stranger things theory #stranger things meta #stranger things 4 #stranger things 5 #stranger things 4 poster

[steamberrystudio]

03/12/2023

Hey everyone! Time for the bi-weekly tumblr update for Steamberry stuffs!

Summary

Finished editing Chapter 5 (WSC)

Decided an additional chapter was needed to fix pacing/plot stuff.

Received some new BG art (WSC)

Worked on the GS lore book including adding profiles and short stories

Ramble

Okay so in my last update I was in the middle of editing chapter 5 and was nearly to the start of chapter six in editing Asher's route. I finished up chapter 5...

At that point when I was looking ahead, I started feeling like I wanted to add in a transition scene to move between Chapter 5 and Chapter 6.

As I started plotting out this scene, one of my ideas took on a life of its own and I realised that it might be better to interject a new, fleshed out story incident that would allow me to slow the pacing as well as flesh out the setting and universe a little more. This incident would also let me tie into some earlier events and connect them to something that occurs in chapter 6, also foreshadowing the chapter 6 incident.

 Ultimately, this became too much to call a "scene" and I decided to branch it off into a supplementary chapter (IE a chapter a bit shorter than the others and meant to be released along with another chapter.

That is what I've been working on since the last update.

This chapter has now served to set up multiple important things.

And is currently 17000 words long (it's going to end up closer to 25k by the end I think. There is a pretty significant story branch that happens at this point based on a specific player choice (That is or is not available based on other factors). If the choice is available and if the player makes that choice, it leads to an entirely different flow of events for a substantial portion of the chapter. That's what I'm currently working on writing.

I have it plotted out in a very detailed way and just have to write it.

Chapters with heavy branching are always a bit of a doozy to write and the WSC chapters are pretty long in general (the longest chapter is 62,000 words right now). So yeah.

Adding new content is still a part of editing I suppose. At least sometimes. I was so excited to cut 4000 words of content in chapter 5. 

Then I added 17000+ more. So.....

That sounds accurate for me. 😱

I've been having a lot of health struggles the last couple of weeks mostly related to chronic fatigue and pain. That, in addition to some really irritating "real life" stuff. But things are still moving forward.

Current word count is 440,000 words.

Regarding the GS lore book - I've been adding character profiles to a "people" section and have also been working on some of the short stories/drabbles. It's close to 300 pages at this point. 💪

Other Stuff:

As usual, I have received a completed BG and sketch, acquiring the game environments at a steady pace.

Upcoming Weeks:

This is getting into a busy time of year so I have a lot of real life distractions even apart from HEALTH. ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹 Progress always slows a little for me during this period since we have a lot going on.

But here is the plan.

Try to finish adding the profiles to the lore book. (Noooot sure I will. There are still a lot to go and the formatting for them is tricky. And I'm alternating between adding profiles and finishing writing a few side stories I've had ideas for for a while)

Try to finish chapter 5.5 for WSC

That's all for this week. There should be on more update here before the end of the year. See you then! 💪💪

#whenstarscollide #indie otome #amare game #gilded shadows #updates

[coraniaid]

Very (very) slowly carrying on with my Buffy rewatch.

I really like Fear Itself. I think it's probably the best of the show's three Halloween episodes. Maybe not one of the truly top tier Buffy episodes, but certainly a very fun and solid one.

I'd completely forgotten about the scene Buffy shares with her mom while getting her costume prepared for the party. In my memory Joyce really isn't in this season much at all. It's a really nice shared moment too, of the sort I wish we'd seen a bit more often. (Although it's not clear to me exactly when Joyce is meant to have found out that Ted was a robot. When did Buffy tell her, and why?) And canon confirmation that Joyce has friends other than the late and unlamented Pat!

Anya is a fun addition to the group, even if you have to do some mental gymnastics to reconcile this version of the character with the very different version we saw in a handful of episodes last season. Still, this version is charming enough that I don't really mind doing that ("Xander is in trouble! We've got to do something right now! Aren't you listening? Xander is trapped!" she says to Giles by way of introduction, only to respond to his question "Where are Buffy and the others?" with a wonderfully uninterested "Oh, they're trapped too, but we've got to save Xander!").

It's nice to finally get some real character development for Oz -- seeing his fear of losing control of his werewolf side and of hurting Willow -- though it's made more than a little bittersweet by the knowledge that this is all in service of writing him out of the show forever in just a couple more episodes' time.

Also lots of foreshadowing for Willow's later character development ("I can handle the dark forces as good as anyone else.  It’s not that hard!") and indeed for the wider theme of the season itself (with Buffy and Willow's argument and Xander's fear that he's becoming invisible to his friends). It's easy to get distracted by how goofy and underbaked the Initiative arc is this season, but there actually really is quite a lot of good season-long characterisation going on here.

Who knew that opening a new bus lane in Dublin could cause so much supernatural trouble?

If I could change one thing about this episode, I'd have Buffy confronted by a vision of Angel/Angelus when trapped in the basement, rather than some random frat guy (and we know the show was still doing lots of crossovers at this point, so I feel it could have happened). You'd need to change barely any dialogue, but I think it would add a lot to lines like "They ran away from you; they always will. Open your heart to someone and ..." or "No matter how hard you fight, you just end up in the same place. I don't know why you bother". (I mean, obviously Buffy's angst re:Parker is already meant to not just solely be about Parker, but why not make this even more obvious?)

I feel I've been very dimissive of the show's lighter episodes recently (well, of Something Blue in particular), so it's rather nice to be reminded that the show actually can be pretty funny when it wants to be.

#btvs #buffy rewatch 2023 #(I know it's the wrong year but that's the tag I picked and I'm afraid we're stuck with it)

[prfctmxxnlight]

let’s talk about

the snow ball

how it foreshadows byler and how it explains mike’s sudden change in behavior in the next season(s)

gonna start this by saying that (allegedly) there are no coincidences in this show, everything means something, and a big thing the writers like to do is parallel scenes and foreshadow situations with others, this is how i interpreted this characters and scenes so you are free to disagree

if something has a parallel, it is similar to something else, but exists or happens in a different place or at a different time, and it could happen between different people

i think that when people think of the snow ball their mind immediately goes to mileven and lumax, so you might be wondering how in the hell would that ever contribute to the idea of byler being endgame? you just have to pay attention to the love triangle between max, lucas and dustin

we start this whole thing with lucas asking max to dance and her agreeing, dustin being visibly upset

while all this unfolds, this random girl that no one knows and has no relevance to will in the future, asks him to dance

will reluctantly says yes, after being pressured to by mike (which he later seems to regret) and we get this shot

as viewers, we’re supposed to be focusing on dustin. this whole scene is supposed to be about him “not getting the girl”, it’s supposed to make us feel bad because he is sad, and it’s showing us that ultimately max chose lucas

but we are also supposed to “read in between the lines”, yes, this scene is about dustin and how devastated he feels max likes lucas and not him, but it’s subtly showing us the same for mike and will

the way mike is looking at will and this mystery girl is the same way dustin is looking at max and lucas, with sadness, and we overlook this because that’s how the directors and writers intended us to. we are supposed to be focusing on dustin, the audience isn’t supposed to realize that there is something else going on between mike and will, this is just buildup, subtle buildup

something i’d like to add to solidify how mike and will are a parallel to max and lucas’s relationship, is the fact that they share quite a few (romantic on the lumax side but seen as platonic on the byler side) parallels between each other, im not gonna get into it rn, but these are just a few examples

going back to the dance, we see the two couples paired together: max and lucas and will and rando, we know by now that max and lucas are endgame, there is no denying that

here’s the thing, this scene is supposed to represent that dustin’s romantic relationship/feelings for max are going nowhere, it’s supposed to show us that while he did have a crush on her, there isn’t any hope for them anymore (we solidify this thought because dustin gets a girlfriend the next season and max and lucas, although they break up by season 4, are still in love and still going strong)

obviously both lucas’s and dustin’s feelings for max are very obvious, because they want the general public to know what’s going on, there really isn’t any buildup for a future dustin and max relationship, or for a “will max and lucas end up together?” storyline, because the intention was to show the audience that they will

so again, how would this foreshadow byler?

think of it this way: max and lucas represent mike and will, so if mike and will often parallel max and lucas, this was a way showing us that lumax being endgame, means byler will be as well, really the love triangle between max lucas and dustin represents the one between mike, will and el

in this scene mike is being paralleled to dustin, showing us that while he wanted more than a friendship, that’s all he’s ever gonna get

the thing is tho, will isn’t dancing with anyone relevant, not someone who will come back and want to date him and not someone he has feelings for, if putting mike and dustin in the same position meant that it was the end of whatever romantic relationship could’ve been between them and their crush, they would’ve paired will with someone he actually likes

or

they would’ve switched mike and will’s places

they would’ve shown us mike asking eleven to dance in front of will, and will being the one that’s upset

in the oficial script of season 2 we see this

this doesn’t actually happen tho, instead we get mike pining over will, which i think is a clever way to subtly show that he had feelings for him from early on as well, feelings he wasn’t aware of. because while he probably did have a crush on el, he also had a crush on will. only his feelings for will had been there for a long time being mistaken as friendship, something he came to realize until that night at the snow ball

after convincing will of dancing with the girl, there is immediate regret in mikes face, (as previously stated) i think mike going for the kiss with eleven was his way of trying to see if he really has something other than platonic feelings for will, or if it was nothing (this is also the last time we get cute and wholesome mileven, right after this it’s mostly mike and el constantly fighting and having an unhealthy relationship)

i think this is the moment michael wheeler realizes his feelings for his best friend hence why we get this scene in season 3

and why right after season two, mike starts acting different

#listen i know this is a mess but it made sense in my head #feel free to tell me if this is stupid/a reach because idk if this is me being somewhat clever or just plain delusional #trust me i know this is all over the place #also i read this so many times it somehow started making sense idk #byler #byler analysis #mike wheeler analysis #stranger things #mike wheeler #will byers #i’m just gonna post this and hope for the best lmao

[dinitride-art]

Possessiongate and Will in S2- or Why Mike is Completely Fucked

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA- OKAY so, I had the great idea to go into season two and try and see if there was anything similar about Will’s possession in relation to what we might be seeing with Mike- And oh my fucking god- you guys aren’t gonna believe this shit

First of fucking all, we’ve got ‘Loch Nora’. Y’know with the purple and yellow flowers there and just a few red ones (reocurring imagery for season 2 but I don’t have TIME for that in this post- it’ll be in the next one when I get to it I swear). Really similar to ‘Lenora’ and Mike’s flowers that he gave to El. This is also where Will has his second episode. 

Look at his left eye.

Look at this absolutely horrifying level of forethought. And subtle visual storytelling. And, no, it doesn’t even stop with just this.

Like even just in this one we see Will’s left eye get scary dark. Like, this was put in here before we even knew about Vecna or before the show introduced his lore into the canon. Like??????

Now, I’m putting Mike in here because how Mike is being lit in season two is exactly how Will is being lit in season four. It is literally so wild. They’ve literally traded places. AND it makes sense for them to be lit this way because they are each others ‘light’. In season four Max’s whole plan was to hide in the light and maybe the reason that Mike and Will are being lit like this

Is because they’re trying to hide in the light to fight off Vecna (/the mind flayer)- by looking to each other

And here to, it’s more subtle- but in their backgrounds are very different. Mike’s in front of the light while Will’s in front of the dark (and in front of a blue light so that’s a point for blue lights meaning possession). I’ve done nearly a 30 part analysis of lighting in season four so I’m not gonna include any more examples of Will being in the light but trust me. He is. Exactly like Mike is here.

In the car with Bob, while talking about standing up to whatever’s bothering Will- Will’s left eye is dark. Like, this is a consistent thing that’s happening whenever the Mind Flayer comes into play. It’s also seems to be a thing for Mike too in season four- which is where I FIRST noticed the possibility that a darkened left eye could indicate possession by Vecna. And now I’m checking season 2 and ohhh it’s breaking my brain. Snapping it like a little twig- like how Jonathan snapped steve’s face in that alley in season 1. 

This is just to add to the ‘Mike’s definitely being lit different in season 2′. This is consistently happening/it’s very intentional. And it’s paralleling season four so god damn hard.

Okay, so when Will stood up to the Mind Flayer- it didn’t go very well. Like, at all. But I wanted to note that this Upside Down is blue and in episode nine of season four the two colour themes are red and blue. This is just adding to the season 2 and 4 parallel list- because I think that they’re meant to parallel each other/relflect each other. I don’t for sure know why, but I’ve known that this has been happening with the plot for a few months. I have a hunch it’s got something to do with time and or the Upside Down just as like general themes-

BUT ENOUGH OF THAT. BAck to why Mike’s definitely (most likely-probably- I’m pretty sure on this one. But keeping a healthy margin of error) being possessed in season 4. Kids head is not full of rocks, just an evil man trying to steal his brain. It’s a much more forgivable offence.

There is a focus on Will’s eyes at the start of episode four. And we might be able to kinda start to see even here Will’s left eye darken/be in shadow.

AND THEN IT BEGINS.

This right here- look at his eye- look at it. I have been staring at it and I am on the floor. Who does this??? Who puts this much shit into the god damn foreshadowing?? The Duffers apparently, mad lads.

It’s a lot subtler here but you can still see the difference between Will’s right and left eye. His left eye bag is just slightly darker than the right. Well, not slightly, but it’s not really noticeable unless you’re looking for it.

This is episode five and there’s a few things that are scaring me here. First of all, that jaws poster in Will’s room. It was also there when Mike and Will were having their ‘best friends’ heart to heart- and honestly? A lot of the heart to hearts in season four are Will trying to comfort Mike. And by doing that they’re paralleling a lot of what happens with Mike and Will in season two. They’ve just traded spots. But that poster is in a different position in relation to Mike in season four. It’s directly behind him- like how it’s in line with Will if that makes sense? Who we’re meant to notice who it’s about has changed.

Also Will’s eye gets SCARY here. Like creepy af

It’s getting a lot clearer here what they’re doing with Will’s left eye but in a way that we wouldn’t of had the slightest chance of even knowing to look at it without season four. Without Vecna being introduced, there would be very little reason to look at Will’s (and Mike’s- fucking Mike. Jesus. I can’t.) left eye. 

A few other thing that season 2 Will and season 4 Mike have in common;

Black shoes with white laces.

Being really fucking out of it and confused.

Blue god damn lights. There’s a lot more of these that are probably better examples, like Mike from the Monologue and Will in the Upside Down during episodes where all the lights are blue- but I just didn’t want to go searching for them.

Believing the person they love about somethin that fucks them both over/doesn’t work or go as planned

So, Michael, your head is not filled with rocks. You’ve just been trying to fend off the evil man who is trying to take over your mind. Welp.

Babygirl you’re possessed.

#possessiongate #byler #stranger things #st season 2 & 4 #mike wheeler #will byers #there is more #this is just mostly about the damn left eye parallel because that shits wild #but then ive also collected other stuff that parallel the seasons #and make this make this even weirder #and back it up kinda #because if everything else is being paralleled #then it makes a lot more sense for this to be an actual thing thats happening

[theshe-devil]

SO DEAR PEOPLE,

-GG REBOOT SPOILERS AHEAD -

I just saw the finale. And as I initially only watched season 2 for the polyamory relantionship between Aki, Max and Audrey, I will very understandibly post and discuss first about them:

I will adress the scene, oh you know what scene (Thomas is a very underrated actor, that isn’t for debate), and it was heartbreaking to watch through.

" What an absolute...fool", you can feel his pain.

Max realized that Audrey & Aki had no intention of breaking up between them even tho they all agreed that is "all for all or none for none".

And the fact that they (Aki & Audrey) broke the very pact that convinced Max to start a relantionship with them (his first of a kind too), hurt him more than the break-up per se. That must have been very hard on Max, with also him realizing that they don’t love him in the same way he loves them.

I am not saying those two aren’t in love with Max. What I am saying is that :

They didn’t fall hard, at least not like Max did for them.

They don’t seem to know that they have fallen in the first place.

It was dissapointing to see them ultimately break up. I don't intend do deny it. But I do understand the directors's take on this for a various number of reasons:

They are teenagers. They make mistakes, they try hard to learn from them but they also follow their instinct a lot. The instinct to just take it. To just do it. This is the part of their life when they are exploring, finding themselves, starting to risk things. And so on. This whole new unexplored area is scary. And insecurities are always gonna swim their way through.Breaking up, drama, a very large amount of overflowing emotions, failed relantionships (platonic or romantic ones)- these are very common between the ages of 16-20, more so in the GG universe, where we have a little taste of arrogant, entitled, used to get their way or/and selfish teenagers. They are gonna make bad decisions(fully aware). And this js the process of them reaching maturity. All the bad in the means of good ( a saying from my country, it means that we have to pass very bad times to reach the fullfiling ones at the end)

Polyamory was a new thing for all of them. How do u compromise so everyone it’s happy and comfortable? As we could see from this season, it was tricky and a bit difficult. Again, they are teenagers. They don’t know how this works, they are scared and they are trying.

They ALL needed time apart from their other 2 partners. (Something that didn’t happen (A+A) entirely...) To grow and see where they standed outside of their relantionship. You know, having different plotlines for each of them, like the original GG. I think the 3 of them coming together after all of that would have made a much bigger impact than them staying together now.

They were gonna be ENDGAME. As I said before, them coming back together in the end of season 3 after some time apart would have made a big impact, and a much awaited moment. It appears they were actually gonna do that, as I recently found out:

They did add that scene where Audrey stares at a painting simply because it reminds her of Max.

But they didn’t add the dialogue between her and Aaron, nor the context of her staring. Because they knew when they were editing the episodes that they wouldn’t get renewed for another season. They cut a lot of scenes filmed in Italy beacuse of that. The episode was meant to be longer.

They didn’t know that fact when they filmed tho, another proof that originally, those 3 were meant to end up together sooner or later.

In another words, I was right when I said that Audrey looking at the painting was foreshadowing their (Aki's and Audrey's) longing for Max in the future.(in a hypotetical third season)

I am kind of mad (just a little) that they knew this was a farewell, and they still ended, with such a negative note too, the poly relantionship. (A type of relantionship that is almost always portrayed as unreal and non-functional, which, unfair)

But again, I see where they were coming from with this. Safran said himself that it wasn’t their intentions to portray polyamory in a bad way, and that they believe it's real and does work for some people. (See the images attached).

And it would have been splendid if a third season would have been released in the future, so we could see them play this out, (as characters with unique storylines too), how it's gonna be Aki's and Audrey's turn to fall as hard as Max fell for them.

Just when it started feeling like a true familiar show....it gets canceled. Altho I am not a fan of their "keeping Luna and Monet out of the group in meaningful moments".

But maybe they would have changed that.

Oh well.

You can not have everything.

Can you?

#aki menzies #aki x max #audrey hope #max wolfe #audrey x aki x max #audrey x max #gossip girl #gossip girl reboot #max x audrey #aki x audrey x max #gossip girl hbo #gossip girl 2021 #max x aki x audrey #akimax #aki x max x audrey #aki x audrey #audrey x max x aki #audrey x aki #max x audrey x aki #max x aki #hbo max #polyamarous

[thedawningofthehour]

Hi!! Yes, hello, I cried again, thank you for that. Even though you said we „shouldn’t expect too much“, my heart is still very much cracked haha

ANYWAY, since the guessing game is still on, I was thinking a lot during this chapter. My guess is, either Raph has a really stupid idea that he‘s thinking through right now and that‘s why he‘s been so quiet OR smth happens to the Hueso place and he like sacrifices himself to get his family to escape like idk maybe EPF or smth knocks at the door and he holds them off

And so I was wondering if you could tell us when this stupid thing is gonna happen, I have a feeling it might be like the book 2 finale or somewhere close to that??

ALSO, I was wondering how you organise your chapters and the plot you write about. Do you have like a pinboard and put the NYC map on it and connect the dots with red yarn? (Detective style) or do you use some program or are just…weird and memorise it all?

Maybe he hasn't actually had the stupid idea yet, but he's definitely ruminating on everything that eventually compels him to make that decision.

The stupid thing will be a direct consequence of the final climax, so it'll be coming up here soon. I'm going to put up a poll probably after the next chapter.

I'm giddy that we're getting there, honestly. There's a foreshadow I put in literally in the single-digit chapters of Book 1 and when I wrote that I couldn't imagine actually getting to that point. I always feel like I'm going to die or something before I finish stuff, like, I was shocked when I finished doth.

Oh my goooood I am so terrible about plotting and outlines and stuff. I always, always feel like I'm in elementary school filling out a worksheet. I am basically this guy

except there is no paper because I haven't written anything down I'm just sleep deprived and rambling and smoking copious amounts of weed. (I have never smoked weed)

I know generally how the plots go, and as chapters draw closer I start thinking more specifically about where parts should go and where they would fit best. The whole war kick-off thing, that originally was going to happen after the third reverse-kidnapping, (the mall with the mercenaries one) but Gale and Mikey were still having their library trips, and that just seemed like an...awkward thing to have hanging over them. And it just didn't have to be. I could have cut that arc short, delayed the third reverse-kidnapping until after after the library meetings were discovered, or I could push off the war. And the war didn't need to happen then-if anything, it complicated the other plot points that needed to happen. And I think it worked out for the better this way.

I'm not totally satisfied with this method though. When I was writing Book 1, I had probably about half the fic written before I started posting-it was all in one document, Donnie's scenes were all together and Leo's scenes were in some incomprehensible order and often unfinished because I wasn't expecting to post anything and would just stop when I felt like it, when I finally committed to putting it to order I think I had like eight documents open at one point and three different highlighter colors to denote what I'd done in the master document, it was an ORDEAL-but it meant that I could group scenes together based on what was most effective, move things around very easily. The fact that Leo and Donnie's chapters were pointedly not happening at the same time helped a lot too. In Book 2, I end up writing with two, maybe three chapters planned ahead in my brain, and I feel like that forces me to sometimes rely on short-term climaxes that add to the word count but don't really do much for the story overall, or put off certain things that I don't particularly feel like writing at the time or don't know would work there. Book 2 would probably be significantly shorter if I'd plotted it out the way I did Book 1.

...What were we talking about? Oh! I do actually have a map of NYC open pretty much constantly in my fic window, it probably shows when they were driving around last chapter that I was literally going along the border with my pointer finger. But I'm terrible and I don't write any of this shit down. I usually remember, but there have been occasions where I've completely forgotten what I was going to do, and I think it was chapter 32 where I had pretty much finished the rest of the chapter and then realized I'd forgotten the final Leo scene-which was a pretty major scene. So I guess...yeah, weird and memorize sounds correct, but I don't actually do it that well.

#if you can parse anything here bless you #i wasn't planning on typing this much so it's very much stream of consciousness #doth asks

[redux-iterum]

Reread anon here!

Wanted to comment on a few fun things I noticed~

Lizardtail seems to be working on anger issues, in one scene Tigerclaw warns him before a gathering, and in another later chapter Lizardtail catches himself when he’s snapping at fire and continues what he’s saying in a much calmer tone. I thought this was a neat background character thing bc it’s happening at the start completely independently of rusty/fire - Lizard is just a young warrior trying to improve himself, and one of those things includes his temper. As Fire joins the clan, that means he is affected and affects Lizard, and it’s fun seeing the iconic snarky Longtail reimagined as someone who knows he has a temper, and is trying to chill out - he’s wary of accepting Firepaw at first, but as it becomes clear this is what the leader, seer, matriarch, deputy, legit all clan leadership agree on, Lizardtail trys to make an effort, even if he doesn’t personally agree.

And also a completely separate thing !!

During a training session with Firepaw, Tigerclaw offered to give him a few tips, and gave advice on how to fight like a ShadowClan cat- being small and vicious, going for vulnerable point quick and fast.

And then ! Tiger teacher Firepaw how to predict where an enemy will be so he can aim accordingly.

And this results in Tigerclaw teaching Firepaw the infamous attack that, in another world, Scourge would use to Kill Tigerstar nine times over.

I found this very interesting and exciting to notice.

Tigerclaw specifically said to aim for the throat and belly, and showed how a smaller cat could knock him down from mid-pounce.

I’m sitting here screaming, just screaming inside.

((A few comment Rusty made in super early chapters about where he lived before the house next to Smudge - is it a spoiler to ask if his dad is still meant to be Jake? Was he born in a regular house and they just had different food? Or is that super early foreshadowing about rusty/tiny being brothers and BloodClan I spotted? - the vague comment was rusty mentioning to himself his previous house has different food that smelled or tasted different, and I think at one point something in the forest reminded him of the smell, which had me wondering if he was given prey

ORRRR and I’m just realizing this literary as I type, it could be him remembering milk scent, and I’m looking way too deep, lol ))

You’ve done you’re job as author I’m feeling emotions and thinking things and wanting to know more!!

What a delight to return home to, god damn. Thank you for this!

I wish I could say that the Lizardtail thing was deliberately thought out and planned, but the honest truth is that he just started doing his own thing as I wrote him. A lot of characters did! I can only hope that the directions they go are ones people like reading about.

As for the Tigerclaw attack thing... did you know that yarrow is used in cheesemaking to curdle the milk faster and add flavor?

To make up for the lack of an answer before: Jake (now named Sparks) is still Fireheart's father, yes! Also a kittypet like his son, just a wandering one that went all over the place in search of adventure.

#ask #anonymous #a kindling ask #i speak #kind words

[the-modern-typewriter]

As someone who has semi-recently decided to seriously improve my writing craft, I've started to realize (with the attempted reading of The Night Film, actually) that now that I see how stories work and how they don't work, there is no UNseeing it. So I've been rereading books from my Highschool days that I remember loving, but I've been discovering more and more that most of them have glaring flaws that immediately take me out of the story 1/2

2/2 Take Heart-shaped Box by Joe Hill, for example. I remember thinking that story was phenomenal, unique, etc, so I eagerly picked up N0S4A2 by him expecting the same amazing experience--and I found the dialogue was completely trash (not to mention badly mis-repetitive plot-points) took me out of the book immediately. And Joe Hill is supposed to be a 'good' author. And now with this recent Night Film bust, it makes me nervous for the future books I pick up. Do you deal with this?

1 - Yes, I deal with this. The more you know about writing craft, the more you notice craft happening. I can often guess the ends of movies or books because of this. However, I don't view it as a bad thing, because it actually adds to my enjoyment when I then come across a beautifully crafted story or plot or character etc. Foreshadowing, for example, is supposed to hint what happens. It's about the journey. It's still satisfying, and I still cry every time a story gets to the Dark Night of the Soul. It's not like your tolerance for bad stories magically changes when you learn more about writing, it is just that you can better articulate flaws that were already there and you are more used to considering why something in a story works and why it doesn't.

2 - You also need to account for tastes changing, and for books being written for different age categories. Of course a book you read as a teenager isn't going to hit the same way reading it is an adult. Your emotions and the way your brain works is different, and most likely you have different things that you want out of what you read!

There is a reason we have age-categories for things like YA and middle grade. The style of writing for books specifically written for younger readers is genuinely different then, say, an adult literary novel or even an adult book in the same genre. (E.g. YA fantasy and Adult fantasy read different, and it's not just the age of the protag, it's writing style. YA is pacy and immediate. It is designed for shorter attention spans. It often leans way more heavy on intense emotion, because being a teenager is having intense emotions, compared to being an adult).

This doesn't make the novel good or bad. It doesn't make the style inherently better or worse either.

It's not even necessarily to do with understanding story telling craft. It just means that not all books are meant for every year of our life, and that's completely fine and doesn't remove any of the love you had reading that piece of work before. Different parts of a story resonate with us at different points in our life.

As you find things you don't like and learn more, you will also find new things you love! And that's super exciting!

[minamorsart]

How S3EP1 foreshadowed Rinharu's conclusion in The Final Stroke part 2

This iconic scene between Haru and Rin in season 3 has always intrigued me. As a huge Star Wars fan, I personally like to refer to it as the Force Bond moment. Kyoani stop reading my diary lol.

Long read under the cut!

Without trying to look too much through the lens of my own shipping goggles, I'd like to get into what is so important about this Force Bond moment and how it pertains to one of the plot points in FS2. Ever since I watched season 3 for the first time last December, I'd been wondering what the significance of this scene was, its purpose. Indeed, it shows the unique connection that Rin and Haru have always had ― the idea that no matter where they are in the world, they are able to feel the other's presence in the water, thus it serves as a reminder to them the reason they are swimming and what to aim for.

But what else does it have to do with the two of them and swimming? It is not only that they are starting and finishing at the same time in this scene, but in my opinion it is that they are swimming freestyle specifically that is important. And now that The Final Stroke part 2 has come out, I finally understand.

"When I swim for real, it's always free."

Because this entire sequence intentionally parallels Haru and Rin as they swim, I'd like to think that even though Haru is the one who says this line, Rin shares the same sentiment.

I love that Rin specializes in two different strokes. Butterfly is the most difficult one, yet Rin chooses to swim both butterfly and freestyle. It demonstrates his strength, his dedication, and his perseverance. It's just another thing to add to the list of why I love Rin so much. It demonstrates his competitiveness, but also his selfishness. But just as I love Rin for all of his good qualities, I also love him for his flaws. He's not perfect; that's the point. That makes him relatable and someone worth rooting for.

Rin wants everything ― to excel in both strokes, to compete at the world level, to win a gold medal, to stand on the same stage as Haru, etc. He's elated when he wins and he's crushed when he loses, yet he picks himself back up and keeps trying, and part of that is thanks to Haru and vice versa.

So after watching FS1, the idea of Rin permanently dropping free was a legitimate fear that I had. Sure, if Rin stuck with butterfly, he and Haru could still do relays together, and relays have always been an important aspect of Free!, but it just wouldn't be the same if they didn't race each other in freestyle anymore. Freestyle is just one part of their friendship, their rivalry, their dynamic which is always so much fun to watch. It's something that the franchise has demonstrated over and over again, how they continue to push each other and guide each other. Racing freestyle is their thing.

FS2 erased all of my fears, but if I had only paid attention to all of the signs, then the answer would have been clear to see long before. Their race in S3EP1 is one of those signs, a seed planted, evidence that Rin and Haru are not only meant to swim together, but also evidence of one very crucial thing which can be found in this conversation/interview that the two of them have, referring to that very moment:

Rin: Haru, how’s university life for you? Have you gotten used to your team?

Haruka: I told you last time. Not much has changed. What about you?

Rin: What’s with that. You’re so cold. You never tell me anything.

Haruka: I tell you a bit. So, how are you?

Rin: ……!!!! Well, it’s moving along. Because of Mikhail’s training schedule, I’m able to keep my speed up at the end of races. But I still feel like I did my best swimming on the day I first trained with Mikhail.

Haruka: I see. Speaking of, I think the first time I swam with the Hidaka swimming club was the time I swam the most natural with the water. University pools have a different feel than high school ones.

Haru and Rin swim their best when they are swimming together. This is the message. They are better together. And it's funny because they go on to say that them swimming so well that time is probably due to the fact that swimming pools at universities have better equipment than those at high schools, but I don't think that's all of it! It is obvious that individually, Rin and Haru were aware that they felt the other's presence in the water, but I don't think they had any idea that the feeling was mutual. And of course they don't talk about it. There are a lot of things that they don't talk about, which leads to so many misunderstandings between them. Those silly fools haha. I love them dearly.

We as the audience can infer that Rin and Haru are better together from what the show has provided us, but the fact that it is explicitly stated in this conversation between the two of them, even if they were not aware of it at the time, is really, really exciting! FS2 once again reaffirms this in the night pool scene, when Haru is able to enjoy swimming again when he swims with Rin. And not only that, but two staff members who witness their race make a comment that they may have set a world record. You can read a fantastic summary of FS2 here.

FS1 set up that fear of Rin dropping free, which was cruel XD but I understand now that it had to happen. Not only for the sake of drama, but because it was one last hurdle for Rin and Haru to overcome. They needed that conflict so that they could finally be on the same page and take the next step forward into their relationship. However one may view said relationship, whether platonically or romantically, there is no doubt that them swimming together was one of the critical issues addressed in part 2, and that they really are better together.

Since I have not seen part 2 yet and all of my knowledge comes from reading the graciously provided spoilers on the internet, there may be more to Rin and Haru's relationship that the movie touched on that I am not aware of. I didn't really get into Rin and Haru's characters and the nuances and complexities they have as individuals, but those are very important as well. And there are plenty of seeds scattered throughout the franchise hinting at their true potential together that I haven't mentioned either! But the Force Bond moment is one that really hits home for me. I don't know if something like that will ever happen again, but it still amazes me that it actually exists. It still amazes me that FS2 exists in all honesty!

Whatever the future holds for the Free! franchise, whether or not we will get to witness Haru and Rin pursue their dream in the world together, I still would love to see how their relationship will play out going forward. I want to see them cheer each other on and fire each other up. I want to see them have their fun banter and tease each other. I want to see them have their silly competitions where suddenly nothing else matters and it's just the two of them in their own little world, while their friends watch in exasperation lol.

But most of all, if there are any more hurdles that come their way, I want to see them overcome them together. I think at this point it's safe to say that they are on their way to being fully committed to each other, if they aren't already. It doesn't mean that there aren't going to be any hardships, that it's always going to be sunshine and rainbows, and that's okay. Relationships take work and they take compromise, but that's what I love about Rin and Haru. Their love and hate, push and pull, on and off again relationship, the amount of time they go without seeing each other, the long distance between them, is so compelling because it's so realistic. And I especially love that even though they 100% fit the trope of opposites attract, that's not all that defines them. They are so much more. They are wonderful people on their own, but they are also better together.

Rin and Haru have a really unique bond that has had me hooked ever since the beginning. I genuinely think they are soulmates, for soulmates come in all forms, whether it's your close friend, family member, or romantic partner. And it seriously feels SO good for a pairing I love to be explicitly validated in canon. Not a single one of my other favorite pairings have been validated to the extent that these two have. I'll love Rin and Haru forever ❤️💙

P.S. "Pretty" by Astrid S & Dagny is such a rinharu song. It fits them so perfectly I can't believe it ;_;

#rin matsuoka #haruka nanase #rinharu #harurin #sharkbait #free! #free! dive to the future #free! the final stroke #free! the final stroke spoilers #free! fs #free! fs spoilers #spoilers #writing #meta

[hiemaldesirae]

please. I'm begging you for more crumbs about VADD!Shen Jiu and also that Roxana AU you have from that art post you did of the two.

As a VADD AND SVSSS fan, especially as a fan of the original villains— please. I AM FROTHING AT THE MOUTH FOR MORE. I'm actually in the process of outlining a crossover with the original goods of both.

God, the Roxana one as well— please, PLEASE TELL ME SJ IS ROXIE HE'S SO ROXANA-CODED SOMEHOW. GIVE HIM BUTTERFLIES AND POISON AND— *gets knocked out*

by the way, LOVE your artstyle. scratches an itch i did not know existed in my brain. your chibis as well. they're so cute!!

oh you have no idea how long ive waited to talk about them. this mayyy get a bit long so ill leave it under the readmore.

disclaimer: i intend on finishing these fics so what im going to be talking about is inspirations and unfinished / abandoned ideas and other ideas i have for the works instead of anything relating to the plots themselves

for svadd, sj is a lot more complicated than he appears to be on the surface. im not so sure if what i have written currently is what i /want/ exactly because i know i want his character to go a certain way. the relationships between him and his modern-day friends is one meant to parallel the in-game "shen qingqiu" sj compares himself to and in much the same way, mirror the way that sy contrasts himself with sqq in canon: but instead of being condescending and viewing sqq as a one dimensional character, sj is able to appreciate his nuance while still being rightfully angry over his actions

to me, sj is supposed to be an unreliable narrator who constantly enforces his own thoughts. he tells himself over and over that he misses his home and that he wants to go back, that he absolutely needs to- but then, he turns the other way and finds himself being sucked even deeper into this different one.

i also really wanted to explore how sjs dynamic with a lot of the characters would be affected knowing that they were "based off" his real friends, but again im not very confident with how it came off lol

there was a lot of points in the story where i attempted to add in foreshadowing for the ending i want the story to take... in any case, it definitely wont go the same way as vadd, though i did toy with the idea of a "version" of sy being the main villain haha

(it might still happen for shits and giggles)

as for the roxanna au there are a lot of things ive wanted to do with this au and its good that i havent posted because it means i can keep revising til i come up with something good lol

its a liujiu au with some bingyuan / cumplane thrown into the mix (the cumplane is overwhelmingly toxic btw bingyuan is the healthy one out of the two here 😭) where yes sj is xana !!! he really just makes such a good manhwa villainess haha

i had been puzzling over what i wanted his motif to be-- after all, sj is typically associated with the simplicity and calming bamboo so the glittering butterflies wouldnt work with him- but after some deliberation i decided with using moths for him :3c still subject to change ofc but i think im happy with this as is

the story is somewhat similar to how roxanna goes but surprise sj isnt the transmigrator here! (and honestly, roxanna wouldve been sm better if xana hadnt been a transmigrator... or maybe i just think that because it was only used as a convenient plot point for her to know crucial info. sigh.)

my outline of how the roxanna au goes is basically this:

lqg fucks around and finds out

sj who has been seeing dreams of the "book" sy read knows what will happen to his family if lqg dies

etc

at the same time: sy, transmigrator, attempts to make sure his only surviving older brother lives to a long happy life and the only way he can secure this is by fucking up that hack author

also i killed off qi-ge and idk if i want him to come back. he'll be like the stereotypical dead anime mother for this au lmao

hmm and i think thats all i have to say for these aus... thanks for giving me a chance to ramble on haha ~ much appreciated !! and thank you for the compliment, im flattered!! 🥹🥹💕

#ran rambles #quite literally #shen jiu #original shen qingqiu #svadd #sv x roxanna #svsss #svsss au

[bonesandthebees]

So who do I think is behind this conspiracy? Aka what pieces of evidence can I find for each character? If I’m honest, I think it’s a case of a secret meeting Wilbur wasn’t a part off. It feels like a Schlatt thing and I’m not sure how involved Quackity and Niki are.

What makes this interesting is that, based on the war room exercise, this is a perfect blend between Niki’s ruthlessness and Quackity’s preference towards bargaining. There’s evidence that both of them know about it. But as you said, neither of them would risk Wilbur’s life having known him for so long. They are probably still convinced he’s on their side (and if we’re honest, Wilbur hasn’t really picked a side yet, but this will change that).

So I think that if they are behind this, they didn’t know Wilbur would be there too, not initially at least, because Quackity does warn him. There’s a big difference between choosing to have someone kill Tomys and his tutor (and yes that is what the bandits first assume Wilbur to be) and killing Tomys and their friend Wilbur (whom both of them trust and want as their consul).

Anyway, let’s get to my evidence. First up, Niki! We know our girl is very good at hiding her emotions, thoughts and feeling at all times. We see it in the garden conversation with Tomys. She acts pleasant towards him, but she hates his guts. We see her face darken when Sam smiles at him because Tomys ‘won’ the war room exercise. (Foreshadowing? Possibly)

We also get the flashback of the night before. [Niki froze, her fingers pushing into the soft skin of her cheeks. She blinked at her reflection for a long moment before her hands began to resume smoothing the oil onto her face again.] this girl did not know Wilbur was going. While this does not incriminate her, this does add to the idea that she did it without knowing Wilbur would be at risk, which makes her more likely to have a hand in it.

She also starts avoiding eye contact with him after he tells her. [“I don’t understand why you’re going with him though.”] Wilbur’s not meant to be there, he should have been safe, but somehow he’s going. [“And you accepted?” Niki pushed, still focusing on the mirror instead of him.] this one just feels accusatory, could have been about Wilbur’s general lack of spine regarding his father (I think Niki has a pinions about that regardless of any possible involvement with this plot).

Once it’s confirmed that Wilbur is going, Niki moves to sit next to him. She fidgets with his rings aka her nervous tell. If she didn’t know, she has no reason to be nervous about this. At the same time, she follows it by asking if Phil is made at her. (And I love that this entire thing is layered so it can be read 2 ways). But she does imply that Wilbur better come back. Could be friendly banter, could be genuine worry.

And for the people thinking Niki would tell him if he was in danger. She knows Wilbur can’t really tell his father no, she checks. So if she told him, he would still have to go or has no proper excuse. They don’t want this to get back to Phil. And what if he goes and then comes back and knows it’s her. Their friendship could be ruined. Idk, it doesn’t feel like something she would tell him. Or something she would know how to tell him. But there’s a possibility she’s quietly panicking about it.

(3/?)

-🌲

hmmm these are all very interesting points. as always I cannot say anything, but I love seeing these theories :)

#ask #spruce anon #rose ch 6

[victoriadallonfan]

Parahumans Theory #1: The Giant Betrayal

Part 1 in a series of posts about theories I have regarding parahumans. Some obvious, some not, but I want to put it in words to better explain!

And this one is what I call "The Giant Betrayal".

Setup:

It's arc 20 of Ward. Ziz is attacking the Teacher/Warden HQ. Breakthrough, Malfunctions, and Deathchester arrive with other heroes as rescue.

Within the HQ, the Giant Mama Mathers has been placed to serve as a mental shield against Ziz and as a place to allow Ziz victims to recover. Chris makes this comment:

Breakthrough and company fight through Ziz victims, and briefly scuffle with Ziz before half of them head to the medical bay to recover. While there, Victoria guides Riley and Chris into making the Dream Death Plague.

Then this scene occurs:

Vic goes out there, finds Mathers Giant colluding with Ziz and fights them both. She uses the syringe to knock out the Mathers Giant and kicks Ziz in the face. From there she returns, finds out that Chris didn't make the plague like asked, she defeats him, and he escapes as a normal teenage boy to try and lie about the Dream Death Plague.

Seems simple enough, right? Ziz mucked with Mathers Giant and that meant Chris had no one lucid enough to watch him.

Except… what if something else happened? Something very similar, but different?

What if Chris sabotaged the Mathers Giant to try and help Ziz win?

The Evidence:

Ziz herself believes she had Chris in her grasp:

We know that Chris had devices within Mathers Giant to "monitor and track" her condition, but would he really just leave it at that? Of course not, because he mentions all the way back in arc 19 (coincidentally when he has Sveta inject Mathers Giant with a syringe to add more instructions for her) that he has a "kill switch" that means she'll complete a series of orders that will make her compliant and give everyone hallucinations. Victoria is aghast at the fact that he could basically master everyone if he so desired (foreshadowing??)

Flashbang explains to Victoria that the Giants are partly controlled by pheromones, and lo and behold, the Mathers Giant only begins to "go dark" once Chris enters the building.

Furthermore, prior to this chapter, Chris fights the Ziz with his Goddess Giant. She is remarkably effective, her telekinesis overpowering Ziz and her Precognition blinding Ziz in such a way that she couldn't really hurt the Giant, especially with other capes getting in the way. And yet, Chris leaves the Goddess Giant behind, for seemingly no reason (and everyone is too distracted to question that choice).

The Problems:

Why did Chris give Victoria a syringe to calm Mathers Giant at all? Well, that could be Chris's latent desire to be a friend to Breakthrough, but it's a strong point against the theory. Then again, he seemed to think Ziz won no matter what would happen, so perhaps he genuinely didn't think it would hurt Ziz's chances (ironic; he really did end up helping save the world by giving Vic that syringe).

Why not use Goddess to Master everyone for Ziz instead? Like Ziz herself says Chris would only make the decision to let Ziz win once they actually arrived at HQ. Perhaps her precognition was slightly off-base due to several blindspots and he actually turned cloak before they left for the HQ.

Why did he tell Vic that the Mathers Giant was acting up at all? Perhaps a combination of him still wanting to help his friends and also that he needed Vic out of the room in order to sabotage the plan (Riley couldn't see what was going on after all).

What do you all think? Am I completely off base?

Any other theories you'd like to see brought up?

In any case, this was a fun little thought experiment!

#BUT THAT'S JUST A THEORY #A CAAAAPE THEORY #parahumans #wildbow #ward #victoria dallon #simurgh #chris elman #lab rat #cryptid #ziz #endbringer #Mathers Giant #antares

[not-rude-ginger]

you’re like one of my favorite writers of all time, you and your works are like such an inspiration to me!! and i was just wondering do you have any advice on how to start writing more longer stories and fics? because for me currently i’m still stuck in the hell of only being able to produce oneshots and i have a lot of ideas for longer stories but its really daunting and intimidating even thinking about sitting down and planning one out

Well, this was a lovely and thought provoking way to start my morning the other day! 🥰

I've been thinking about this a bit because I have a few answers, and I wanted to put them in some sort of structure, so let's see how we do.

This got very long so hiding it under a read more:

You said that you struggle to write longer stories. In many ways I have the opposite problem, I try to keep a story small and then it grows out of my control. But I have written short stuff, so I was trying to think about what the difference is for me.

I think for me, most of the time, a short story is about a moment or event, a kind of space in between a wider story, where you take a breath to sit with whatever is happening in that event.

With a longer story there's usually a starting point, a middle and an end in my head, and I might have a vague gossamer thread connecting them, with a few scenes I really like in amongst that. And that's usually all I have when I start writing.

If it's daunting to sit down and plan it all out, don't.

I tried that once and it murdered my interest in the story, so I never wrote it and moved on to other stuff.

You've probably heard of Plotters and Pansters, and it's useful but I think a better break down of writer types is this video:

Basically she breaks it down between plotting, pantsing, intuition and methodology and how everyone falls somewhere between all 4 points.

I think I'm mostly an intuitive panster, but I do usually have some plotting elements, but they come as I write, I kinda realise I need something to foreshadow or prepare for something I know I've got coming, so I'll add it. The more the story unfolds before me, getting closer to whatever I see in the distance, I can start to see the things that need to be added.

To give an example from a recent work, part of why For What, For All But Myself grew so much was because as I worked on the story I realised I needed certain things to be a certain way.

I needed to put off the revelation that the pregnancy was a pregnancy until it was well into the 3rd trimester because if JC learned otherwise too early it would cause the latter half of the pregnancy drag out too much for the story to carry.

This meant I needed to have a reason they couldn't tell it was a baby. (in the first draft they weren't sure, going back and forth on what it was, which meant JC couldn't make a decision on anything and that ground the pace to a halt)

This meant that there was no reason JC wouldn't immediately try to get rid of it, so there I added the abortion attempt.

However, I had to have a reason it wouldn't work, so I had to decided on that.

That then had to tie back into why they couldn't see what it was.

And all of that had to be tied into why a surgery was put off for so long, so I needed to find a reason why it would be too risky when cultivators are canonically able to withstand a lot.

Then there was the Cult and the Cloud:

I knew I wanted the sect leaders to find out about JC's condition, so something needed to drive them to Lotus Pier.

So I added a disaster, but then I had to think what was behind that.

At first it was Demonic Cultivators just out to destroy the cultivation world, but it was still too sudden, it came out of nowhere, and there was no connection between it and the pregnancy storyline so I went back again.

Eventually I decided that it had to be creeping up on JC the whole time, so it had to become way more personal.

So I think I first had his people disappearing, and then I thought of the Cult and his history with it.

But that still wasn't sufficient, it felt too tacked on, it didn't feel strong enough. So I had to decide other sects were being hit too, just not as much - and then decide why they weren't coming to JC with their concerns.

So someone had to be undermining JC quietly, isolating him from the rest, which would only heighten his paranoia.

I think XY was always a part of the attack, from the earliest version, but he also got a bit more expanding - the fight between him and JC was so ridiculously short in the first draft - but honestly I wish I'd been able to do more with him and JC.

It wasn't necessarily as direct step by step as this, but I hope you can see the logic progression of how each thing you add needs to be followed to the next logical step. You also need to look at what is done to and by your characters and how it affects them.

With each revision the pressure I put on JC intensified, not exactly deliberately, but as a conscious understanding that if I wanted the pieces I liked in there, I had to deal with the effects and reactions of each thing.

There is also the fact that initially, the entire story was going to be from JL's POV. His opening part of the story, Part 2, was the first chapter, but writing it that way required so much back fill, and so much exposition, that I ended up moving the start of the story all the way back to make JC the POV we start with, and then JL and WWX shared, and then again back to JC. It also became uncomfortable for me that JC was denied his own voice when this awful thing happened to him, but I only realised that after I started adding it.

If you want to write a longer story, you can think about the core story you want to tell. I wanted to tell a story where JL discovered his Jiujiu was pregnant and it was killing him, and when I came up with that I started thinking 'Oooh, what about this? And this?'

I wanted to show Lotus Pier being functional, and I couldn't fathom the idea that it was working well if JC didn't have some decent relationships with the people around him, so the OCs came out as needed, and then had to be reused because one appearance would be weird. The Vipers were a very late addition which honestly made things harder for me, because there were scenes I needed JC alone that he likely wouldn't be alone for because of his constant guard, but it made sense in the world that he had some sort of attendants like them.

Then I remembered Mianmian and since she seemed to live in Yunmeng, I decided to have her and JC have some interaction, as a way of tying her to JL, because it seemed odd that she would have just left JZX completely when she left LLJ and if they were such good friends surely there would be some connection to JL. But since I didn't just want her appearing randomly with no connection to the plot, I had her turn up when JC was investigating the old cult base. A scene which I added initially because I felt JC needed to be seen going out and doing the work, not just stuck in his study all day.

This has gotten a bit long, but I hope it helps show that if you have a core idea and follow the threads in it to logical places, the story can unfold for you. It doesn't always come easy, I'm still not completely satisfied with how the two main plots fit together, and I know I was on very thin ice with how the C-section was dangerous, but once you have something written down, you can add to it, and adjust it. It's always easier to write more when you've already written something. So just start with what you have in your mind now, and try not to get too bogged down with small inconsistencies until its time to go back. You can make notes of things that need fleshing out as you go, and sometimes you'll need to start the whole story somewhere completely different.

If you find the prospect of planning the whole thing daunting, that's normal, that's more common than planning everything from the start, because as you write, you have new ideas, new twists, or you realise a plot point just isn't going to work, so you need to adapt. Stories are kinda living things, the best ones move and bend like rivers, and you should follow it because your gut instincts will lead you well, especially as you get more comfortable with it all.

Good luck and feel free to ask me more questions!

#writing stuff #how i write #for what for all but myself #anon ask #asked and answered

[lemonhemlock]

Even if it's some rumours although I doubt it , i still think Alysanne being Maegor's daughter, and Jaehaerea survive the dance and marrying Egg 3 are better for the themes of the story and it brings some sort of irony here. Like all it's left from the bloody civil war (DOD) and from the glorious Targaryen house are broken children, who have the burden of continue their house legacy despite being so traumatized. Killing Jaehaerea off and replaced her with a younger non-targaryrn girl who is all sunshine and trauma-free is lazy writing IMO. Also didn't Daenerys say in one of her chapters in AGOT that she is the blood of Aegon the conqueror, and The blood of *Maegor the cruel* and old Valeryia before them? . Why would she said that unless Visenya's line was meant to continue on before grrm decided to change it?

Even if it's some rumours although I doubt it , i still think Alysanne being Maegor's daughter, and Jaehaerea survive the dance and marrying Egg 3 are better for the themes of the story and it brings some sort of irony here.

Killing Jaehaerea off and replaced her with a younger non-targaryrn girl who is all sunshine and trauma-free is lazy writing IMO.

Honestly, I feel the same. I just keep wondering whether he has something up his sleeve we don't know about and FB II is somehow going to prove the missing piece.

Also, Alyssane escaping the destabilizing tyranny of Maegor only to be confined to the nice-guy coercion of Jaehaerys adds meat to her arc in a v unexpected way.

The blood of *Maegor the cruel* and old Valeryia before them? . Why would she said that unless Visenya's line was meant to continue on before grrm decided to change it?

She lifted her head. "And I am Daenerys Stormborn, Daenerys of House Targaryen, of the blood of Aegon the Conqueror and Maegor the Cruel and old Valyria before them. I am the dragon's daughter, and I swear to you, these men will die screaming. Now bring me to Khal Drogo."

She did, indeed, say that, although you could argue she didn't explicitly say "descendant". Theoretically she does share blood with Maegor, as well, since Aegon, Rhaenys and Visenya all had the same parents.

It is interesting that, even in AGOT, she chose to characterize herself as similar to Maegor the CRUEL, of all Targaryen kings. Now, I don't have any proof on hand if GRRM really intended Visenya's line to continue when he was writing AGOT nearly 30 years ago* or changed his mind later. OR whether he was just foreshadowing Dark!Dany ever since the first book.

*I mean, we all know his initial draft for the story looked wildly different than what he settled on, what with the Jon-Arya-Tyrion romance + Jaime killing Joffrey, blaming Tyrion for it and becoming king (???). Imagine if we lived in that alternate reality.

#ask #anon #hightower erasure theory #the shifting asoiaf canon conundrum