#imo she ends up with mirror pronouns

[starlooove]

My batfam gender sexuality hcs 🥰🥰🥰🥰:

Bruce: cishet he/him

Dick: cishet he/him

Jason: cishet he/him

Tim: cishet he/him

Steph: butch lesbian to ME! She/her but she’s trying out she/they and doesn’t know how to feel. Might fuck with neos but she’s not ready to take that step yet.

Cass: think early on in accepting that she’s a human being she’d psychoanalyze the fuck outta herself to see where she fits in and be super super super pressed about the entire thing to a detrimental point but as she progresses she’ll be fine. Lesbian, and she’s pretty sure she’s a girl most of the time sure 😄.

Duke: I think he knew he was not straight since he was young (moonlight opened his eyes and broke his heart) but he never really questioned his sexuality at all. The problem is that he doesn’t question it because the idea of gender roles (girls do this. Boys do that.) is so engrained in his mind that it’s not even something he thinks can be changed, if that makes sense? Anyways I don’t think he’s the type to get dysphoria he moreso experiences euphoria when exploring his gender identity. I think he would realize he has different views on his own gender when he sees other people expressing their own differently. Like genuinely he goes to school and sees another boy wearing lipstick and his brain blows up. As of this very moment he’s “exploring” but he’s actually a lil scared to genuinely confront himself about this and uses “there’s bigger problems in the world” to get out of it. End goal is non-binary but for now he’s at the veeeeeeery tail end of questioning.

Damian: I think at the moment Damian’s just not thinking about any of that but it’s in the opposite of duke; he knows he’s probably some kind of queer, both in sexuality and gender, but it’s just. Not top priority for him at the moment. I wanna bring up clothes rq bc, extra hc time, in MY mind Damian does express himself a lot through his clothing and getting to the manor made him a bit shy when it came to skirts and dresses. Seeing the way boys, and especially black and brown boys, who explore their femininity are treated, he just doesn’t mention it at all and the scenario never comes up. He gets more comfortable as time goes on though and later on gets bold enough to wear a dress to an event. He’s stonefaced but slightly regretting it till some younger kid sees him and is awe stricken, like stars in his eyes and asking if he can do that too. Damian feels better about it and resolves to wear whatever he wants more often. I don’t think he ever comes out in big big way (he’d tell the people closest to him but everyone else can just figure it out) but he genuinely doesn’t feel the need to label himself at all.

#the way y’all do Duke and Damián in these hc posts…. #Steph I wanted more for you truly but sorry ur unfortunately white #u get more than the boys but today ain’t about you 💔 #I WILL say buzzcut steph true #and she’s black in MY mind so in MY mind stud steph true #Cass I have a lot of thoughts about #like for me early on in her lil suicidal era I think she’d find the whole labelling thing complicated and stupid #but surface level deep inside she likes that idea of community but she doesn’t think she deserves it and it burns her #post trying to kill herself with Bruce’s full support #she throws herself into the idea of this community but she kinda like. wants a good grade in being queer as opposed to truly exploring- #-herself. comes to head when she just breaks like crying screaming throwing up and Steph is like ‘why do you even wanna do ts anyways’ #and cass doesn’t have an answer #she starts looking inwards and kinda. sets it up as a yes/no question tree for herself and lands with knowing she’s a lesbian but nothing #really concrete about her gender and she’s actually ok with that #imo she ends up with mirror pronouns #as in whatever you call yourself you can call her #I want it to be that earlier she was suffocating herself for others approval but now she’s allowing for vulnerability in a way that serves #her and her alone. this is in the tags and not the post bc y’all are actually pretty ok when it comes to cass in them hcs. #and I wanted the main focus to be on the black and brown boys since y’all always do them dirty 🙃 #and just to be mean #Bruce wayne #tim Drake #dick Grayson #Jason Todd #Duke Thomas #damian wayne #cassandra cain #Stephanie brown #btw bringing back my Joey soft adopting damian agenda: damian absolutely made sure Damian knew he could do whatever he wants. Damian’s not- #-used to feeling hesitant about this kinda thing but he’s double embarrassed and joey says he’ll wear the damn thing with him. he does

[grollow]

For the ask meme White and Gray 2,4 and 11

2. The ending sequence of Love Is For Those Who Put Their Trust In It, specifically the dialogue shared at the very end. It was either THK or tiny PV's line, the one they mirror. I can't remember whose was first. I think it was tiny PV's?? I'm like 99% sure it was tiny PV's.

4. That fic has so little actual dialogue considering the narrator doesn't speak out loud and almost never actually speaks to begin with but uh, probably this one, which isn't even posted yet:

“‘Tis a terrible thing, grief,” she continued. “No? For all creatures, it tangles us into knots. It makes us break in delicate ways. The little pieces, small and fragile, hard to pick up and harder yet still to put back into place. ‘Che believes we lose part of our heart every time we grieve. What happens, hm? When there is no more heart left to give.”

11. This is also hard to answer because W&G is my favorite thing I've ever written and is, imo, my best work by a pretty huge margin. I think if I had to pick something concrete, though, it would be the character development the protag goes through. The transition from chapter 9 to chapter 10 in pronouns is probably the thing that made me most happy and almost no one comments on it. I probably could have made it more obvious by bouncing between them, which was my original intent for the first few chapters after that scene, but ended up deciding that it would be too jarring to read if I did that, and I figured hard swapping got the point across just fine. ;;

#fanfic writers ask meme #calowlmitygoddess #thank you for the ask i can talk for two hundred years about w&g #asking me about w&g is activating my trap card #welcome to my maelstrom of bullshit

[yorkscoffee]

played fae farm during the trial week on switch ... the npcs are made of cardboard and there r some weird bugs and quirks in the game but i had a good time. may or may not have gone a lil insane and completed the whole story and made it to almost the end of summer year 2

gonna write out some thoughts

one of the weird quirks is that u can't name ur character. they will just simply be named after like ur steam or switch or whatever profile. unless u make a phoenix labs account then u can change ur name that way, but if u go offline at all it switches back to the profile name until u log in again (pause > multiplayer > login button; u don't have to actually do multiplayer just log in). very annoying when i do not like to play as myself in these games & also just a strange decision in general imo

character creator is decent but i would recommend going to the voice selection and hitting "silent" before actually getting into it LOL the noises the character makes get so annoying after a bit... the pronoun selection is nice (he she or they) & u can go back into the character creator using a craftable mirror so u can switch all that stuff up whenever u want

the storyline was cute; not exactly deep but the artwork was neat. i liked all the rhymes and the storybook-y feel. the sprites have nice designs. wisp mother should be a romance candidate but she is not

gameplay felt nice; i liked the auto tool switching and the double jump a lot, & having spells and potions that helped with farming was cool. very light on tutorials but if ur experienced with the genre its not too hard to figure out (idk how it is w/o experience bc i cannot un-experience things). having year-round plants that u use magic fertilizer on to change them into seasonal varieties was funky

animals are pretty quirky and a lil buggy. sometimes i would try to water a plant or something and a chicken would teleport to me from across the farm and get pet. or they would just wander away from the Sign That Is Supposed To Keep Animals Near It and get in the way. fences cannot stop them they will simply walk thru it. also in my experience my cows and sheep would stop giving milk and wool if i didnt enter the barn the day before, even if they had food? weird lil quirk there but once i figured it out it was fine

u can pretty much ignore the animals and their affection will still go up & theyll still produce things as long as u feed them, and also the only punishment for not feeding them is they don't produce things. very forgiving. something i thought was really interesting tho that they dont actually point out in game is that petting ur animals gives u some regen on ur stamina and magic and probably hp, which is Super handy and a neat mechanic that got me to continue paying attention to my animals anyway

decorating ur house with specific furniture gives u a "cozy home" bonus; basically this is how u increase ur hp/mp/stamina, which i think is also a pretty neat lil mechanic

also flower breeding is a mechanic. 6 types of flowers, 6 different genes, 12 unique colors. works pretty much like acnh but also u can breed 2 different types of flowers (so like a rose and a tulip) and u'll have a 50/50 shot at getting one or the other. i got almost every color and i will be haunted by the white zinnia until i have an actual copy of the game. also the genes are actually displayed in a lil tooltip when the cursor is over the flower which is really really cool and good and i love that feature so so much it makes everything so much easier and less frustrating

the game doesnt tell u this iirc but crops and flowers can be moved if u go into the uhhhh build mode. like u can just pick up a whole plant and move it wherever. very handy for both flower breeding and just organizing things in general. u can just pick up and move almost anything, & if u can't u can tear it down and get all materials back. u cannot do either thing to a crafting station that has items in it though u have to get the items out first if u want to break it down or move it

flowers r very important if u like customization also. u unlock 2 color palettes (a grand total of 6 colors) automatically and u have to buy the rest. most of them cost like 30 of a particular flower + some other item + money. u can recolor furniture and outfits with ur unlocked color palettes which is nice

combat was fine, bonus points for the potion of i just want to mine please don't perceive me. also bonus points because there is actually a storyline reason for the monsters to be there; always hate it when a game is like "videogame... have combat. videogame Must have combat. i put monsters in cave. now this is a real video game :)" like nah tell me where those slimes came from. in this case the monsters are objects animated by wild magic and they have cute designs and goofy lil names like cannot (a cannon) and skello (a cello)

there are 3 dungeons in the game & the latter two have funky lil puzzle mechanics. if u aint like that then theres things u can make to skip most of em. i thought they were neat & being able to remove them pretty easily meant they didnt overstay their welcome. they also require specific potions so u don't like "die" (get teleported out of the dungeon, which is also what happens if u lose all ur hp) which would probably be cooler if pausing the game would pause the timers on the potions. i assume that sort of thing is because the game was made with multiplayer in mind; this is presumably also the reason why having anything pause time at all in singleplayer was added in an update after launch

(pausing also does not pause monsters. they will murderize u with the pause screen up. on switch u can just go to the home menu 4 a proper pause at least)

the npcs are as mentioned largely made of cardboard; most of the ones u can't befriend (most of the merchants) have the same pool of lines, and the ones u can have a few personal lines and a bunch of lines referencing things uve done in the game even if its been like 10 years since u did it (common in the genre). there are no events with the non-romance npcs or interactions between any npcs except for like some animations; every conversation witnessed is an npc talking to protagonist. the only events are the dates with the romance characters, which are just them and protagonist sitting around and talking with absolutely nothing happening. the dialogue is cute at least

romance npcs' statuses will sometimes get stuck for some reason (this happened to 2 of them when i played) but that i think should be fixable with the "reset relationship" button, which is a pretty cool feature (tho my understanding is it's also a bit buggy sometimes so ymmv)

festivals are just decorations in town and a shop in town hall (including the fae festival, which one would expect to happen in the fae realm). characters have a few unique lines referencing the festival. sometimes they reference... the Wrong festival. goofy lil oversight i think. birthdays are on the calendar but have no impact in-game

marriage is also very nothing; u get a cute wedding scene and then ur spouse just vibes around the farm sometimes. there is no dialogue about this. also other romance npcs' relationship status change to "past sweetheart" or something like that and u cant progress with them at all since ur not allowed to be friends with them

gift giving is also only for romance npcs and each one has a random item that is the only thing u can possibly give them that day. but like talking to them gives good enough points regardless

job quests (questlines related to each skill u have, given by npcs related to that skill) are neat lil "challenges" but u can only pick up one at a time for some reason. weird design choice imo. they give u a hat for doing all the quests and an outfit if u do all the quests And some 100% requirement (like getting every crop at least once for the farming quests, making one of each polished gem variety for mining, etc) which i think is pretty neat

overall i think i would compare it to story of seasons: pioneers of olive town (particularly in its initial state) in that the npcs are very nothing but the gameplay loop is very good and fun; between the two i would say fae farm has the better story tho lol

[sakkac]

re: fumetsu no anata e as of chapter 139.2

this started as a response to @bestbonnist​‘s post on chapter 139.2 but now i’m just dissecting differences and similarities between tonari, mizuha, and kahak like im writing an essay for a uni class. i interchangeably use he/they pronouns for fushi and my writing may be clumsy (bc im not actually writing for uni ❤️).

mizuha is a broken mirror to tonari (and kahak a foil to the two aforementioned) in this modern-day arc, especially in their expressions of love for fushi. tonari’s love for fushi is aged over hundreds of years and mizuha’s, at first glance, is an infatuation just based on how long they’ve known each other. im the biggest kahak stan ever, but even i understand kahak’s love started as an infatuation for parona’s form. though, i’d consider the word infatuation compromised when it comes to defining mizuha’s love, bc u cant be sure if her love for fushi is entirely her own, seeing as it had been passed from generation to generation of guardians.

(chapter 134, read right to left)

tonari and mizuha aren’t that different once you look deeply into the both of them. mizuha’s personality and actions are factors in tonari’s dislike of her, but what ultimately repels tonari from mizuha is that she knows they’re similar, and that manifests most clearly in how she reacts to fushi being with mizuha. i.e. resenting fushi for using her friends’ vessels to help their “love life” in chapter 135.5. she can’t stand mizuha bc mizuha is able to express her love for fushi and fushi does not reject (or accept) it; tonari still hasn’t fully admitted to herself that she likes fushi romantically (perhaps because she can’t separate it from the devotion that led her to harden her body to poisons and to promise her corpse to rest at fushi’s feet), so seeing mizuha appear to progress further than she has irritates her. as for kahak, tonari only has the biases of the other pseudo-immortals and her own of past hayase reincarnations to rely on. (this is not as plot-related, but these two also both like books. kahak read tonari’s fushi book, so i wish they actually met, but in a world where tonari didnt hate hayase beyond death.)

tonari as a child seemed like she thought herself superior to others, perhaps a natural result of her upbringing. she was raised on a prison island, but she herself never committed any crime; banding together w other kids like her, writing about her life in her book (which keeps her separate from or above others in a way). but this thinking ceases at her relationship w fushi. however, i believe this started before they even met. tonari’s childhood dream at seven years old was to write a book her father would be impressed by. she also used to believe in god, while her family was still whole. she even prayed to god when he decided to participate in the tournament in chapter 35. however, she stops referring to god by the time her father had shown tarnish. coincidentally, she meets fushi, who would “upend everything... jeannanda and [her] fate.” she ends up, instead of writing for her father, writing a book to allow a peaceful existence for fushi for whenever they decided to come back. this act shows that the adult tonari has written fushi to a level above her, out of her reach. 

(chapter 35)

here i’ll quote ray’s words about kahak and tonari: “she also has a surprising amount in common with Kahaku, too, with the ‘I want to protect you even if you disagree.’” the way tonari had waited and honed her body for fushi resembles kahak’s attachment; she had finished living for herself, so now she was only allowing herself to live to further create an ideal vessel for fushi (which also brings up one of hayase’s goals). the difference is that kahak lived for fushi because, as raikkousaki said, fushi was the only thing he was “ALLOWED to live for.” however, while tonari is unquestionably devoted to fushi now, what pulled her to him was black hood’s coercion. as a result of black hood’s words to her, she manipulated fushi into helping her solve her problems, to save her from the island. this first “meeting” also revealed that she was attracted to their white hair; she later admits that she admires their fair skin, contributing to the idea that she could view fushi as the equivalent of a god or at the least, a vision of purity (which is :/ imo, bc of her dark skin). we should also keep in mind that, this, technically her first impression of fushi, and his later display of violent immortality in the arena would further his image as a “legend.” 

mizuha was exposed to fushi’s immortality and reveres him like tonari and kahak respectively do and did. instead of the specific word “legend,” it’s “immortal monster.” her first formal exposure to fushi’s fabled power was not unlike tonari’s, since mizuha had went into her grandfather’s library and read on fushi in chapter 124.1. after this, she manipulates fushi to save her, again paralleling the beginning of tonari’s relationship with fushi, but it’s from her overbearing mother and herself. both tonari and mizuha forced their problems onto fushi, but mizuha doesn’t have black hood stepping in front of her saying “you must lead him.” instead, she may have been influenced by the left hand, but i believe mizuha’s thoughts are majorly her own (left hand lies in wait within mizuha’s consciousness like a predator), and what they appear to say is that she’s leading fushi until he decides to follow her willingly. as for kahak, we only have a few pages on his childhood and what we can make of it and of his actions as an adult is that he was willing to follow fushi wherever they went, until left hand betrayed them both.

mizuha’s superiority complex comes from a different place than young tonari’s; she was a prestigious child from young, in addition to her fear of her uniqueness fading as she aged. this caused her to feel separate from other children. when she meets fushi, she sees how different he is from everyone else and uses subtle ways to keep him with her, while never directly admitting she wants him to stay with her, except for ch 125′s “i’m scared. stay with me tonight,” after her mother’s sudden murder. she usually uses excuses instead, like cutely demanding fushi to walk with her after school and go on dates with her.

(chapter 36 vs. chapter 128.2)

as fushi was introduced to the people around tonari and mizuha, they received similar reactions, i.e. “your hair is so pretty!” and “woah, his hair is white!” in the pages following these, the similarities continue into tonari and mizuha gaining ownership over fushi: in ch 36 oopa declares “tonari found him. so he belongs to tonari,” while the islanders try to get on fushi’s good side, and in ch 128 fushi goes out of their way to ask which club mizuha belongs to when asked to join a club (vocalizing her claim on them so she doesn’t have to directly do so).

(chapters 38, 106, and 139)

when the opening comes for mizuha to actually admit her feelings in chapter 139, she tries, but demands instead, “so... love me.” this recalls kahak’s confession to kai in 105.3, that he wants to “protect fushi’s humanity.” kahak and mizuha were both covered in blood when they spoke, but the atmospheres and characters are different; mizuha is clever w her words, but still too immature to let go of her pride, whereas kahak was the exact opposite. he rid of himself of his pride for fushi when he was a child, but said a lot of the wrong things to fushi when it came down to it. additionally, mizuha, when she wants something, she’ll phrase her words so that it seems like there’s only one choice: to follow her. this has been the case for others including fushi (chapters 120.2′s testing of hanna with “if i died, would you cry for me?” and 132.1′s “i’ll teach you about love” and the following guilt-trip). tonari is more direct with her words and meaning than either mizuha or kahak, bc of her personality. she directly confronts fushi when she realizes he had felt betrayed by her in chapter 38, because she still needed him for his plans. but mizuha is more direct with her actions; in chapter 129.1, she latches herself onto fushi, while trying to get information out of him. after the failed marriage proposal, rather than physically attaching himself to fushi like mizuha, kahak used acts of domesticity and protection to subtly appeal to and maintain his space next to them.

(chapter 38 vs chapter 139)

tonari’s “there are people in this world who are better off dead” above isn’t far from the knockers’ reasoning behind “wishing for death is paramount to being dead” and the reason for mizuha’s mother’s death: left hand decided to “eliminate the cause of [mizuha’s breaking point’s] stress.” what this shows is that tonari can also justify murder, though granted, this is from a hundred chapters ago. however, this black and white thinking comes back in the modern era where tonari holds prejudice against mizuha because of her relation to hayase. tonari knows her dislike of mizuha is unfair, she can’t get around it. tonari is still as prideful as she was when she lived on jeannanda; it’s just that she is able to use fushi to justify her opinions now. i also want to bring up mizuha’s reaction to her mother’s death and funa’s knocker’s “purging and guidance.” mizuha seems comfortable with the sight of death, despite having a more normal childhood than tonari, because her actual main concern overwhelms it; she is always thinking on how she can appeal to fushi (almost like kahak), or in other words, how to salvage her pride. so instead of being concerned over being the actual murderer, she is concerned with appearing as a murderer to fushi.

so to actually answer ray’s question, objectively, tonari’s love is as excessive as kahak and mizuha’s. but personally, i think tonari’s love for fushi right now is also unhealthy, though it comes out of good will. kahak’s love also ended in fushi’s benefit, but it was undoubtedly unhealthy. and ofc, mizuha’s love is also unhealthy; she reaches for fushi for perfection, tonari reaches for fushi for humility.

#fumetsu no anata e #kahak #fnae spoilers #🔖 #long

[hardlyfatal]

gary’s writing workshop: lesson 5: point of view, part 1

Defining Points of View

Points of view, which I’ll refer to henceforth as POVs, is the narrator’s position in describing the events unfolding in a story. POV filters everything in a story, so if you get it wrong, the entire thing is compromised. There are four types: first, second, third limited, and third omniscient.

First, let’s go over why they’re named as they are. Linguistically, grammatical person is the distinction between who is participating in an event. If a person is by themselves, to whom would they speak? Themselves. They are alone, there’s just one of them, so they are the first person. 

If they are speaking directly to someone else, instead of one person, there are two. The other person is the second person.

More than that, by default, is three or more, so if the individual narrating isn’t first or second, all that’s left is the third person, of which there are two kinds1.

Note: This explanation is solely to explain how the terms came to be called this. It does not mean that scenes with one person must be done in first, with two people in second, and 3+ people in third.

So what does all of this have to do with us? What does it mean to us as writers of fiction?

Narrative Modes/Voices

POVs are also known as narrative modes or narrative voices. I’m still going to call them POVs to make it easier for us, though.

1. First person: 

 When the story is told by the narrator, filtered through the protagonist as if they’re telling it themselves. “I” tells the story. The character relates the story directly, using the pronoun “I” but also sometimes “we” if the narrator is part of a group. “We” should only be used very sparingly.

Pros: It mirrors real life, as we experience our lives only from our own POVs and think of ourselves in terms of “I” and “we”. It creates a clear and direct connection with the reader, and thus also sense of immediacy and intimacy. Excellent for getting the protagonist’s opinion of their own appearance – you get a front-row seat to how they sees themselves, through the filter of their own experiences and conditionings. Their looks could cause them pain… or pleasure, if they think they’re hot stuff.

Cons: Like all limited POVs, you’re pretty much restricted only to scenes showing what the protagonist experiences. Using “I” all the damned time can quickly become redundant and repetitive, and there’s no effective way to make substitutions for it. It’s harder to establish who, exactly, “I” is so you have to take care to pinpoint the protagonist’s identity at the start of the story, and it can feel awkward2.

There’s also a risk of too much introspection, to the point of claustrophobia since we lack exposure to any other POVs besides the primary. The character has to be particularly strong and compelling to sustain interest throughout the story. There’s a danger of the author inserting too much of themselves because it’s easy to slip into that when you’re writing a lot of “I” statements.

Examples: The Hunger Games series, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Jane Eyre, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Great Gatsby, Moby Dick, and Rebecca.

2. Second person: 

When the story is told to “you”, where “you” are one of the characters. It’s pretty rare to see this in published fiction, usually just when someone’s trying to be artsy, but more frequently in fanfiction, where it’s used in “you are the OFC paired with (Favorite Hot Dude) stories that don’t even try to be anything but blatant self-inserts. Gotta give them points for honesty, at least.

It works best, IMO, in an epistolary story, such as Part Two of my None But You series, where the characters were writing letters to each other. The letters were written in second person, with the assumption that the letters’ authors were directly addressing the recipients. Dracula by Bram Stoker is primarily an epistolary novel and much of it is written in this way as well.

Pros: It creates a feeling of closeness and intimacy between the narrator and reader; it’s as if the former is speaking directly to the latter. It makes the writer less likely to yammer on about backstory or engage in overlong or unnecessary flashbacks. 

If your aim is to render the narrator oblivious to or disrespectful of boundaries, or to describe a dynamic between two people that is intense and encompassing, this is an excellent way to create that ambiance and hammer home the point without having to use the narrative itself; the POV does a lot of the heavy lifting in this regard.

Cons: That closeness and intimacy is kind of intrusive and can feel uncomfortable and downright unpleasant to the reader. It can seem like an assault, relentless and exhausting, since you’re dictating what the reader is supposed to be experiencing, thinking, and feeling. It’s harder to develop secondary characters, and subplots featuring them, because the focus is inherently on the narrator-and-reader duo. It’s weird and uncommon and can be distracting and hard to get through.

Examples: Bright Lights, Big City and various shorter stories by Margaret Atwood, Nathaniel Hawthorne, William Faulkner, and Leo Tolstoy. 

3. Third person: 

When the story is told about one or more characters: “he” or “she” or, more rarely, “they”. The two main kinds consist of: 

a) Third omniscient: This POV has been extensively used in some of the most famous fictional works of all time. The story is presented by a narrator with an overarching, all-knowing POV that sees, hears, and knows everything that is happening at all times, including the thoughts and emotions of each character.

The narrator may not be a character in the story, even, merely acting as an observer from a distance who’s recounting events as they progress. Think of it as someone describing a movie they watched; they weren’t in it, but they know everything that happened, regardless of whether various characters were present in a scene or not.

Pros: It can feel ‘traditional’ in the manner of great works of literature. It gives the author freedom to explore multiple characters in a way that sees the ‘bigger picture’ instead of only what each character would be able to perceive; a forest-instead-of-the-trees perspective. Your voice as the author will end up coming through more strongly than that of the characters; if your intent is to give a sense of godliness, that the story is being relayed by a superior figure who sees it all, this would work well.

The author, and therefore the narrator, is not restricted only to what the character would be able to know because there is no filtering3 through a character to begin with. It can create an ‘epic’ format of storytelling because it grants the author the ability to dart back in time for a flashback, or ahead in time to hint at or fully reveal the repercussions of current events in the story, thus contributing to the forest-not-the-trees big picture feel.

It creates a lot of distance between narrator and reader, thus permitting a more effective and easier-to-write description of events since you don’t get bogged down with as much need for showing instead of telling. If your aim is to create a more remote dynamic between characters and reader, this is the best way to go about it.

Cons: The same distance that makes it easier to describe events can weaken the sense of intimacy and how personal the story feels to the reader, and since third person omniscient is already pretty distant feeling, that can make identification with the characters take a big hit.

Can lead to info-dumping; feels a lot like ‘telling’ instead of ‘showing’ because, as an omniscient narrator, they might know everything that’s happening, but they’re not really feeling as the characters feel, as they act and react to events. Thus it can significantly reduce the visceral feel of the story, and whatever connection the reader makes with it.

If you do try to ‘zoom into’ a character’s feelings, you then have to ‘zoom out’ again so you can either return to omniscient narration or zoom into another character, and all that back-and-forth can create not only a sense of literary vertigo but also make the story feel uneven and disorganized. That same strength of voice, with the author being stronger than the characters, can become a problem if it feels like the story is more about you than them.

Examples: The Da Vinci Code, Little Women, Pride and Prejudice, Brokeback Mountain, the Discworld series, the Lord of the Rings series, and The Scarlet Letter. 

b) Third limited: The story is restricted to narration by only the main character(s). In mainstream literature, it’s usually just the single, main protagonist, but in popular fiction, including many romance novels, there are two or more characters who narrate from their POV4. The huge majority of stories are written in third limited.

Pros: This is the best of all worlds; you get the ‘bigger picture’ benefit of distance that first and second persons lack, but also have access to the thoughts and feelings of the characters in an effective, less distant way. Since the majority of fiction is written in this way, it feels effortless and doesn’t force the reader to stretch to comprehend what’s happening. Since the scope of narration is smaller, and the characters only know whatever is filtered through them, the author can write them in ways that make it easier for the reader to identify and connect – enhances intimacy between character and reader.

Cons: Likewise, with the smaller scope, narration loses that all-encompassing sense of time from past through present to future, and of space from events unfolding in a number of places – you’re limited to only what the narrating character perceives in their particular time and space until and unless you switch to someone else.

Examples: the Harry Potter series, the Song of Ice and Fire series, 1984, Cloud Atlas, Ender’s Game, Fahrenheit 451, The Old Man and the Sea, Alice in Wonderland, and The Cask of Amontillado.

Homework

Your homework is that, if you have any questions or are confused about any of it on the first read-through, write out your thoughts to help organize them, and then try to answer them on your own through in-depth scrutiny of the lesson’s contents – see if you can figure it out for yourself, without explanation from me or anyone else.

I’m hoping you’ll have epiphanies because if you can catch on without assistance it will have more meaning and you’ll get a deeper comprehension of the issue. It’s so important, I really want to you get it as well as possible.

Endnotes

1 There are actually more than two but they fit under the umbrellas of either omniscient or limited and only literary analysts actually care and none of us are here to write a dissertation about this shit so let’s just narrow it down to the main two.

2 Many a Mary Sue and Gary Stu is born because a less-than-deft author favorably describes their protagonist in a way that irritates the reader. Plus, how to go about it? Many fall into the trap of the ol’ “looking in a mirror” scene, which ends up seeming narcissistic more than not. It’s been done and done and done a zillion times since the invention of fiction a few thousand years ago – it’s gone beyond trope to cliché and now is universally considered by good authors to be lazy, shitty writing.

3 We’ll be going over filter words in more depth in a later lesson but for our purposes here: they are words that aren’t strictly necessary and act as a layer, or filter, through which the reader must pass to get to the story’s meaning. This meaning as well as urgency and intimacy can create distance between the character and the reader. Words like “saw”, “thought”, “wondered”, “felt”, etc. are filters.

4 Having numerous POVs in a single story is very difficult to keep organized and maintain, and I advise against it until you have mastered just doing two of them, as in a romance novel. I took on five POVs for Desperado, and don’t think I don’t regret that choice every damned time I have to write another chapter.

© 2019 to me

#gary's writing workshop #writing #writing tips #writing resources #writing references

[iamchikara]

Results for both stages of the YLC doubleheader under the cut.

FIRST STAGE Match #1: YLC Elimination Four-Way #1 Boomer Hatfield vs. Lee Moriarty vs. Jay Sorbet vs. Bla...uh... Blanche was recently injured and had to withdraw from this match, necessitating the drawing of names to replace. Human Tornado (that’s a name I haven’t heard in a while) was #1, of course he wasn’t in the building. Neither were Hurricane Helms (#2) or Roman Reigns (#4). #3 was Sonny DeFarge, but of course he had a match later. The fifth draw turned out to be the lucky one, as Lady Frost (who has been making the indie rounds lately and has some of the nicest ring gear I’ve seen in recent times) got the nod as the replacement. So let’s try this again! Match #1: YLC Elimination Four-Way #1 Boomer Hatfield vs. Lee Moriarty vs. Jay Sorbet vs. Lady Frost Jay Sorbet apparently sings “That’s a-Sorbet” before dropping an elbow. He’ll fit in just fine, I think. Moriarty, who wasn’t s’posed to be in this either (he replaced the previously announced Jaden Való) had quite the showcase, as he eliminated Sorbet and Frost within seconds of each other. Unfortunately, he wasn’t quite able to get the job done, and Boomer utilized the Heidicanrana to win the match. Post-match, Scott Holladay tried to interview Boomer and ask about his recent family issues, leading to Dasher Hatfield crashing the interview and scolding Scott for not focusing on Boomer’s win. Boomer himself never got to say a word. WINNER: Boomer Hatfield Match #2: Trios Contest The Regime vs. Arm Wringer Amir, Enzuigiri Evan, and Headbutt Hari Juan Francisco de Coronado’s bad karma has been catching up to him lately. Last month, he was booted from Ecuador due to tax evasion, and this month, well... Apparently dude hasn’t been paying the Closers for their services too well, as, instead of following his instructions to maul the three new debuting masked guys, they decided to inform him of his delinquent payment status. They wanted their payment in full. Of course, it wasn’t provided, so they ordered their opponents out of the ring and proceeded to completely destroy JFDC instead. Always remember to pay your hired goons, people. NO CONTEST Match #3: YLC Elimination Four-Way #2 Frantik vs. Thief Ant vs. Air Wolf vs. Jaden Newman A sneaky pin by Thief surprised rival Frantik, sending him out of the match first. However, it was Newman who made his mark on the match, eliminating first tournament favorite Air Wolf and then Thief with a knockout elbow referred to as “First to Last” to punch his ticket to the semis. WINNER: Jaden Newman Match #4: Singles Contest Missile Assault Man (1 point) vs. Rory Gulak I’m told Missile didn’t have too much trouble with Rory and was able to secure his second point. WINNER: Missile Assault Man (2 points) INTERMISSION Match #5: Singles Match, Unsanctioned Chain Match Lucas Calhoun vs. Volgar As this has been deemed an unsanctioned match, unless I’m informed otherwise after this has been written/posted, Calhoun’s points are not on the line. Accordingly, there was no referee and no commentary, with those in attendance providing a ten count to answer to. (I really don’t think that last part is how a chain match actually works, but hey.) As expected, it was a big brawl, with Calhoun getting the win via the super Samoan drop after smashing a bottle over Volgar’s head. WINNER: Lucas Calhoun Match #6: YLC Elimination Four-Way #3 DL Hurst vs. Davienne vs. Cam Carter vs. Still Life Davienne was out first, tapping out to a submission from Hurst. Carter, another huge favorite in the tournament, eliminated Hurst next, but missed a 450 splash on Still Life and was rolled up for the shock elimination. Scott Holladay caught up to Still Life post-match, but they (Still Life uses they/them pronouns, guess art doesn’t have any kind of gender?) refused to answer Holladay’s question regarding BLANK having a new muse (alluding to BLANK’s recent obsession with Penelope Ford). WINNER: Still Life Match #7: YLC Elimination Four-Way #4 Allie Kat vs. Brayden Lee vs. Ricky South vs. Green Ant Green refused to give Kat belly scratches, but did scratch her behind the ear. South was more than willing to give belly scratches, though he gave Lee them instead. Kat, another big favorite, was eliminated first by Green, prompting the crowd to boo him pretty heavily. South impressed during the match, at one point hitting a double northern lights suplex on Lee and Green. It was Lee who pulled out the shock elimination midway through, sending Green out of the tournament after a sequence that saw him hit a modified Michinoku driver on Green, hurricanrana South off the top down onto him, then finish him off with a shooting star press. That sounds nuts, IMO. Unfortunately for Lee, he couldn’t keep that momentum going, and South finished him with a super piledriver. WINNER: Ricky South Match #8: MAIN EVENT Singles Contest Mark Angelosetti (1 point) vs. Chris Dickinson (1 point) These two came in hot and quickly threw down. Dickinson made a point of targeting Touchdown’s leg, and nearly got himself DQ’d for bullying Bryce Remsburg. (Yes, he’s been an utter idiot as DoF, but you just don’t bully referees.) Touchdown was able to hit the Flea Flicker to end it. WINNER: Mark Angelosetti (2 points), Chris Dickinson is out of the standings Post-match, Dasher and Boomer hit the ring, as Dasher had a third opponent “from the Dugout” already lined up for Touchdown on the second half. Bryce tried to mediate the mess he helped cause, but was figuratively steamrolled by Dasher and Touchdown agreed to the match anyway. SECOND STAGE Match #1: YLC Semifinal #1 Boomer Hatfield vs. Jaden Newman Utilizing the Heidicanrana once again, Boomer punched his ticket to the finals at Newman’s expense. WINNER: Boomer Hatfield Match #2: YLC Semifinal #2 Still Life vs. Ricky South South attempted to hit the super piledriver that got him to the semis, but Still Life reversed that in midair and turned it into a jackknife pin to end the match. WINNER: Still Life Match #3: Singles Contest, MAGIC MOVE (450 Splash) Cam Carter vs. Air Wolf While Carter pulled out the 450 again and thus scored the crowd something that was hopefully nice, Wolf was able to win the match with an arm capture brainbuster. Man, Carter just couldn’t catch a break. WINNER: Air Wolf (1 point) Match #4: Trios Contest The Colony (Fire, Worker, and Thief Ant) vs. the Creatures of the Deep (Hermit Crab, Cajun Crawdad, and Merlok) This was originally advertised as a tag contest. Guess the Queen thought the crustaceans would have issues and sent the big fish. At one point, Crawdad hung from the ceiling before launching himself down onto everyone, which sounds pretty nuts. Fire secured the win for his team, pinning Crawdad after the Beach Break. WINNERS: The Colony Match #5: Tag Contest Cornelius Crummels and Sonny DeFarge vs. F.I.S.T. (Travis Huckabee and Tony Deppen) (2 points) Deppen wanted to jump Crummels and DeFarge before the match even started, but Huckabee prevented him from doing so. Everyone shook hands and immediately doublecrossed each other, leading to something of a mirror match for a bit as both teams evidently read the same rudo playbook. As this match was rudo/rudo, the crowd ended up kicking up a “Let’s Go No One” chant instead of picking a side. Utilizing a double stomp/stretch muffler combination, F.I.S.T. picked up the win and their third point. WINNERS: Travis Huckabee and Tony Deppen (3 points) Match #6: Grand Championship Defense #5 Dasher Hatfield vs. Solo Darling Both competitors brought their best, both dishing it out and taking it. Solo even kicked out of a jackhammer after a double stomp...at 1. If that doesn’t prove she’s tough as all getout, I don’t think anything will. Dasher was finally able to put her down with an Oklahoma Stampede. WINNER: Dasher Hatfield Match #7: YLC Finals Still Life vs. Boomer Hatfield Boomer injured his knee early on, hampering his ability to get the job done. Still Life took full advantage of that, as well they should, and was able to get the victory and the cup via the Venus Fly Trap figure four. Post-match, Scott Holladay once again attempted to speak to Still Life, only for BLANK to appear. He addressed Penelope Ford, saying that she ruined his masterpiece last month, and he couldn’t unsee that no matter what he did. He then leaves. (I am not sure where this one’s going...) WINNER and YLC XV HOLDER: Still Life This year’s King of Trios is announced! It’s going to be on October 4-6 (good on them for moving it so that it didn’t clash with BOLA) and in Reading, PA. Tickets went on sale today. Match #8: MAIN EVENT Singles Contest Mark Angelosetti (2 points) vs... As Dasher said he had someone lined up “from the Dugout”, there’s only one person this could be, and it is indeed Icarus, who is going into the match with one point. Touchdown and Dasher’s hitman threw down, with Ick trying to get the killshot early with the Blu-Ray, only for Touchdown to kick out. The way this match sounded, it’s a wonder Touchdown wasn’t injured again during it. Unfortunately, Ick couldn’t finish the rightful Grand Champion off, and Touchdown punched his ticket to a showdown via an Oklahoma roll. Post-match, Ick went to pick up Touchdown, only for Dasher to intervene...and inform him that he had one job and he failed, before letting Ick pick up Touchdown and hit the Blu-Ray again. “Mark, earning three points does NOT make you a champ.” DoF Remsburg attempted to intervene as well and take back the title, but was again shut down. Touchdown attempted to plead with Dasher, only to be laid out with the title. “I worked too hard. It’s mine and I’m keeping it.” At this point, Bryce finally decided to try to curtail the mess he helped cause and give us what should’ve been done from the getgo: a proper match between Dasher and Touchdown, making a ladder match for April 5th to decide the undisputed Grand Champion. He also announced that as his final act as DoF, marking an end to his much-criticized tenure in the position. WINNER: Mark Angelosetti (3 points), Icarus is out of the standings

#CHIKARA #YLC XV #YLC '19 #Results

[ao3feedsamifer]

A Lesson in Pain, Agony, and Suffering

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2rtVjD8

by 48eyesand32teeth1sharptongue

They may always end up stuck together, but Sam is going to beat the Devil no matter what it takes. Sam loses a lot of battles, but he always wins the war.

Lucifer thinks Sam belongs to him and will do anything to keep it that way. However, he knows Sam's track record for beating him, and he's not taking "No," for an answer.

(Starts off sometime in the future, then kicks off after S13E21 and the timeline jumps around.)

Words: 17365, Chapters: 8/60, Language: English

Fandoms: Supernatural

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con

Categories: F/F, F/M, M/M

Characters: Sam Winchester, Lucifer (Supernatural), Jack Kline, Dean Winchester, Castiel (Supernatural), Kelly Kline, Other characters will be around

Relationships: Lucifer/Sam Winchester, Lucifer & Sam Winchester, Sam/Happiness and Sam/Curbstomping Lucifer and Punching him in the Face OTP, Very One-sided Lucifer/Sam, Lucifer/His Ego, Kelly Kline & Justice, Other endgame OTP is Sam/Freedom, Sam/Walking Out of Hell and Being Whole, It's mostly Sam/Lucifer for the majority you have been warned and disclaimed, Past Sam/Ruby but that was awful for Sam too, Sam/Jess but with a twist, past Samifer, but it was never happy because Lucifer is coercive, Kinda current Samifer, but Sam really is not happy about it at all, Side-pairing Dean/Castiel, but that is not the main focus

Additional Tags: Jack Kline & Sam Winchester Friendship, Sam endgame pairing is happiness but boy is it gonna be a long time to get there, Major Abuse, Rape, non-con, mind-rape, Torture, Psychological Torture, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Eventual Hurt Comfort Fic, mostly horror, Cage Trauma, Sam is not about this life, Sam deserves happiness but life is like nope, In Honor of S13E21, Major Canonical Changes, Semi-Canon Compliant except for the stuff I forget or deliberately change, Flashbacks, bi sam winchester, Gender-changing Lucifer, Lucifer is also Jess, Lucifer is Also Nick, Stalking and Pain, Also making Dean less abusive and toxic than canon or at least acknowledging it, Assumed Abusive John Winchester past references, Sam is Jack's biological parent in this, No technical Mpreg because it squicks me out, I don't know what else to tag this other than the title is a lot of what you get in this fic, A lot of torture in a lot of different forms, Mostly a horror fic with alternate endings and some fix it tacked on after the suffering, Sam was in the cage longer than he's lived and boy does that trauma show, Enochian, Conditioning, Horrible family dynamics, Lucifer chooses to be a horrible person and wants to use Sam anyway, Lucifer thinks he's in love but doesn't know or care about actually not being abusive, Toxic Jack and Lucifer relationship because Lucifer sucks, Kelly Kline & Sam, The power of friendship, Sam is a survivor, Maybe some Prince of Hell and White Eyed Demon resurrections if not related to time travel, Multiple Endings, Also Sam/Ruby mentions, Probably not explicit sex scenes or they will be implied but sparse because I'm bad at writing them, if this changes you'll know, When Sam is male presenting in the show he's using male pronouns, If Sam is female presenting going to change pronouns when convenient, OH ALSO Demon Blood Addiction, Angel Blood Addiction, AND A METRIC TON OF MANIPULATION, Lucifer wants Sam to love him and feels something, Gender changing Sam, Chuck can fight me, Probably time travel, Probably some reversed character deaths, Surrogacy, because nephilim birth body counts, Sam Winchester Has Powers, S13 Spoilers!, sam is just done, and barely holding on to reality, Lucifer pays lip service to the idea of redemption, but is too self-absorbed to actually change, Lucifer tries to be a Dad but has awful role models, nevermind his actual personality, Casifer, Lucifer is an awesome antagonist, I just wanted to write something extra painful, Sam working with Lucifer to fight Michael, even though he'd rather not, Non-Linear Narrative, Hallucifer probably will be mentioned somehow, Implied Sexual Content, Dubious Consent, some of their earlier S5 interactions will be different and less antagonistic, sort of, Lucifer's Cage, Sam Centric Narration mostly, But I might add Lucifer's perspective in there too, I can't believe I forgot, Stockholm Syndrome, yay, Sarcasm, also Kelly is Jack's surrogate mom, she still dies but might come back, also more s5 type lucifer, then character development, let's just say Lucifer is pissed his OTP seems in denial, and that they are defending humanity because lucifer, so that's gonna change canon a bit, but only slightly because stuff still seems to play out the same, watch me justify all my canon changes badly, Lucifer is like why don't you love me?, Sam is like have you seen yourself? Do you need an itemized list?, destroying parts of canon with fire through sheer laziness, Lucifer believes in Sam but doesn't want to, Lucifer takes the abandonment from God and latches on to dear life, to the person he thinks can't abandon him even if he tries because Fate, It would almost be tragic if Lucifer didn't treat Sam so bad, which negates all potential sympathy imo, Dysphoria, sort of ftm sam, but I'm not sure how solid gender is in this fic, because Lucifer is a genderless entity who just chooses to present as whatever is convenient, and Sam only has issues with the gender change when its magic, and inflicted against his will, because Lucifer thinks pregnancy will force Sam to be even more tied to him, and because he likes making Sam uncomfortable, because revenge for perceived wrongs, and disappointment, torture and murder and awfulness are not answers to life's problems, but Lucifer sure as heck is gonna try to make them, these tags could be a fic of their own at this point., also this is listed f/f because Lucifer and Sam switch genders in this fic, sam doesn't really care about gender too much, but the devil generally mirrors sam's gender unless there's an ulterior motive, because possessiveness and possession, honestly though Lucifer was going the Labyrinth Goblin King route in this, until Sam beat him and he had a tantrum, Possession, also Lucifer's MO is basically, everyone else: Lucifer no, and lucifer, canonically from every point ever: Lucifer yes, Majorly diverts from canon after I deal with S13 and the flashbacks, Sam trying to beat the Devil at his own game, Pseudo-redemption (except it fails for obvious reasons), Sam's level of hate and fear for Lucifer is canonical or even more, Plus past feelings, and past betrayal, Also Jack is a beautiful ray of sunshine, who also only deserves happiness, so him and Cas and Dean are gonna be trying to make things right, and maybe give a break from all the pain and suffering all the time, Trauma, All aboard the MAXIMUM ANGST TRAIN, Lucifer is like an Ex that won't accept you've broken up, Angels are also basically eldritch monsters, which is basically canon, Suicide Attempts, but we all know that doesn't work, also everything is this fic is completely out of order, until I finish it, because I can't write linearly at all

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2rtVjD8

#fanfic #ao3feed samifer #samifer #supernatural

[existentialkysis]

RULES: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 92 truths about you. at the end choose 25 people to be tagged

tagged by @ro-se-ate

Last:

drink: woter

phone call: gran

text message: friend about video games

song you listened to: idk

time you cried: idk sometime last week maybe

HAVE YOU EVER:

dated someone twice: yes

been cheated on: yep

kissed someone and regretted it: nope

lost someone special: yes

been depressed: Always been depressed? Lol

been drunk and thrown up: nope

IN THE PAST YEAR HAVE YOU:

made a new friend: yea

fallen out of love: yea

met someone who changed you: maybe

laughed until you cried: i dont think so?

found out who your true friends are: yeah nobody apparently lol

found out someone was talking about you: idk probably??

GENERAL:

how many people on tumblr do you know in real life: one

do you have any pets?

One doggo

do you want to change your name?

kinda

what time did you wake up this morning:

like 12

what were you doing last night: idk sleeping

name something you cannot wait for:

things to get better

have you ever talked to a person named tom?:

Probably ??

what’s getting on your nerves right now?

life and the fact that i have no gf

blood type- i have no fucking clue dude

nickname: kyla

relationship status: desperately single

zodiac sign: pisces

pronouns: She

favorite show: Black mirror & Bob’s Burgers + more

College: dont really wanna go but I should so I guess

hair color: brown / black

do you have a crush on someone: not really, I’m tired of one sided feelings

what do you like about yourself: I think I’m pretty funny, I love that I’m a double pisces, my eyes r pretty imo, and uhhh I’m a sweet lil gumdrop (am i good enough for u pls lov me)

FIRST:

first surgery: none ?

first piercing: ears

first sport you joined: hahahah what are sports

first vacation: none

First pair of sneakers: bitch u rlly think i can remember my first pair of shoes i can remember what i did last week

RIGHT NOW:

eating: nothing

drinking: nothing

i’m about to: go to bed

listening to: nothing

want kids: yes

get married: to a woman specifically yes, if I had to marry a man I’d kms

career: teacher maybe

Which is better

lips or eyes: both?? But if I had 2 choose I guess lips

hugs or kisses: kisses

shorter or taller: taller

troublemaker or hesitant: hesitant

older or younger: older

romantic or spontaneous: romantic

sensitive or loud: sensitive

hookup or relationship: relationship

HAVE YOU EVER:

kissed a stranger: no

drank hard liqor: i dont think so

lost contacts/glasses: no bc i dont wear them

sex on first date: never been on a date

been arrested: no

turned someone down: yes

fell for a friend: countless times

DO YOU BELIEVE:

In yourself: eh

In miracles: eh

in love at first sight: nah fam, i believe in like attraction, interest, or lust? At first sight but love is not something to jump the gun on so i don’t recommend it

So im supposed to tag people but 1. Im lazy and 2. They’re gonna ignore it anyway so

#thanks for tagging me ! #ive never been tagged in anything before?? #well maybe once #eh #anyway #yeah #tag meme? #txt #kyla talks?

[venenix]

i was tagged in this very very long thing by @aftgonice (thank, bby <3)

Last--

Drink: water

Phone call: i think it was my boss

Text message: my girlfriend

Song you listened to: the rapture // pieces of the people we love

Time you cried: maybe two days ago?

Have you--

Dated someone twice: not that i remember

Kissed someone and regretted it: yes

Been cheated on: i hope not

Lost someone special: yes

Been depressed: luckily no

Gotten drunk and thrown up: yes 1/10 would not recommend, last time i ended up drunk i seriously thought i was going to die (fucking tamango)

Made new friends: yes

Fallen out of love: yes

Laughed until you cried: yes

Found out someone was talking about you: the bitch kept posting passive aggressive status on facebook because she didn’t have the courage to face me, so it wasn’t actually finding out: she was just stupid and a coward

Met someone who changed you: yes

Found out who your friends are: don’t know what it means

Kissed someone from your Facebook list: yes

Kissed a stranger: kinda gross

Drank hard liquor: yes

Lost glasses/contact lenses: yess

Turned someone down: yes

Sex on the first date: no

Broken someone’s heart: they heavily broke mine so it was actually fair

Had your heart broken: like i said

Been arrested: no

Cried when someone died: yes

Fallen for a friend: no

Kissed on the first date: yes

General

List 3 favorite colors: violet, red, orange

How many Facebook friends do you know in real life: 70% of them, i think

Do you have any pets: no, but i used to have a dog, Iago

Do you want to change your name: no

What time did you wake up: 7.30am

What were you watching at midnight last night: my phone screen

Name something you can’t wait for: when i’ll stand outside my university with my middle finger raised high in the sky

When was the last time you saw your mom: something like 1h ago

What is one thing you wish you could change in your life: there’s a list, it’s alphabetized

What are you listening to right now: shawn lee’s ping pong orchestra // kiss the sky

Have you ever talked to a person named Tom: no

Something that is getting on your nerves right now: the pace of the book i’m reading now

Most visited website: goodreads, tumblr and twitter

Mole/s: yeah, a few. one on my arm and another on my right shoulder

Mark/s: few stretchmarks on my hips and breasts

Childhood dream: when i was a child i dreamt of being a vet. when i reached high school, i eventually changed my mind

Do you have a crush on someone: i have a constant crush on my girlfriend

What do you like about yourself: well, there’s a small mole on my right shoulder that is pretty cute imo

Piercings: no

Blood type: AB+

Nickname: everyone calls me maki (and i like being called that on here too)

Relationship status: in a relationship

Zodiac: cancer

Pronouns: she/her

Favorite TV show: i refuse to say just one, so bear with me because i have a list: sense8, marco polo, galavant, this is us, black mirror, victoria, parks and rec, the crown, brooklyn nine nine, community, blue blaze, yuri on ice, gravity falls, over the garden wall

Tattoos: none. yet. soon there will be one on my left wrist

Right or left hand: right

Surgery: just the adenoids when i was a child

Hair dyed in different color: a couple of highlights almost one year ago

Sport: i used to do tennis, skiing, swimming, ballet and hip hop during my childhood and adolescence, but right now i’m just going to the gym. i hope to do kickboxing tho

Vacation: maybe on september i’ll visit prague for the first time

Pair of trainers: superga?

Current and all-time best friend name: sssh

Eye color: green

Favorite movie: cloud atlas

Which is better?

Hugs or kisses: hugs

Lips or eyes: eyes

Shorter or taller: taller

Nice arms or stomach: ????

Sensitive or loud: sensitive

Hook up or relationship: relationship

Troublemaker or hesitant: hesitant

Do you bellieve in--

Yourself: on the good days

Miracles: it depends what kind of miracles. is the miracle going to make me pass the exam that next week i’ll repeat for the tenth time? sure, i’ll believe

Love at first sight: meh

Santa Claus: stopped around ten, i think

kind of random tag because i’m lazy and tired af guys, love you: @lovelytitania @blameotayuri @otayurl @altin-s @faeyuri @extranikiforov

#personal

[isagrimorie]

[anime] Kara No Kyoukai - Garden of Sinners

I’ve been trying to find a way to write about this series for a couple of days now and I don’t know where to start.

I guess we start with the basics first Kara No Kyoukai was written by Kinoko Nasu of the Fate/ series fame (or infamy?) -- this is the first Nasu has written and from where the Nasuverse’s magic systems and worldbuilding started from. 

Some of the philosophies and concepts don’t match up to the larger Nasuverse so KNK is considered a parallel universe to the larger Nasuverse. IMO KNK-verse is the Ur-verse of the Nasuverse. 

Out of all of the Nasuverse I’ve managed to see KNK is a series I really enjoyed and love.

I credit this to, as one fan in a forum wrote:

I am largely of the opinion that Kara no Kyoukai is the best of the "big three" things by Nasu.

I attribute this in large part to it not being burdened by the requirements of being an eroge (erotic game). KnK, for all that there are things worth criticizing, is in many ways remarkably mature, and not just in the "blood and grim and darkness" way, but in actually considering serious themes seriously.

Honestly, I didn’t plan to dive into more of Nasu’s works but dammit the power of UFOtable compelled me. Also, saying Kara no Kyoukai just rolls off the tongue and after invoking the name like saying bloody mary in front of a mirror I found myself mainlining the series. 

KNK is a 7 movie series with 2 OVAs revolving around Shiki Ryougi and the world she inhabits. The movie is told out of order deliberately -- so the first movie is actually 5th in the series so we begin in media res and then the movie bobs and weaves in and out of the timeline. 

I watched it in release order and now I’m rewatching in chronological order. Honestly, I’m not married to any order of consumption but the first movie is confusing because it simply drops you right into the middle of everything. 

It’s a pretty confusing series as a whole even when the movies answer some questions. 

But the reason I love this series is because of the characters.

And, in particular: Shiki Ryougi 

(Also I’ve realized I have a fictional character type: Brunette and murderous). 

This is not a claim I take lightly but of all of the Nasuverse heroines, Shiki Ryougi stands as my favorite of all even above Arturia Pendragon and Rin, both characters I really love. 

And one of the reasons is that Shiki is unequivocally the protagonist and the hero of her story. She is not a main character standing with the protagonist -- Shiki isn’t there as a support to the hero.  She is the protagonist of the story. 

Before Shiki even awakens to her powers she already has an interesting story: Her family were Demon Hunters who have retired and currently operate like a Yakuza organization except that part of the story is hardly elaborated on even though she was chosen as the heir of the Ryougi clan above her brother. Because the Ryougi clan have a peculiar way of choosing the head of the family- they must have a dual personality. 

Shiki has dual complimentary personalities inside her: Shiki and SHIKI. Shiki is her normal self and SHIKI is her male identified personality. 

And, well, the Ryougi clan breeds for the perfect killer in one personality while the other personality is supposedly the normal one. SHIKI is murderous of the two personalities and yet bizarrely the friendlies while Shiki (the female identified personality) is more withdrawn. 

Shiki Ryougi has also one other peculiarity and that’s preferring to wear a kimono in any occasion. Even when fighting. 

Shiki gets into an accident that leaves her in a coma for two years and after the coma she awakens with a new ability: The Mystic Eyes of Death Perception.

The Mystic Eyes of Death Perception is an ability where Shiki can see the death lines of anything she perceives as living and then ‘cut’/’stab’ the lines to kill them.

There is another series Nasu created called Tsukihime where the protagonist, a boy called Shiki (yes he loves that name it seems) Tohno with a similar ability -- except it's an ability Shiki Tohno can’t turn off, whereas Shiki can turn it off and on at will. 

It’s been stated and implied that Shiki Ryougi’s MEoDP is magnitudes above Shiki Tohno’s. (There can’t be more than one MEoDP user in one universe this is why both Ryougi and Tohno don’t exist at the same time). 

And while Shiki gained this ability she also lost something very important to her too-- And this goes into spoiler territory so warning:

SPOILER Here

SHIKI, Shiki’s male personality died. And this is the first time I’ve seen a story treat the loss of a second personality so seriously because one of the reasons that Shiki can stand to be alone was because she always had SHIKI. 

She deals with the loss through the movies in ways that I found really poignant-- Shiki adapts SHIKI’s way of speaking (speaking in male pronouns), being a bit rougher, anything to remember SHIKI by. Except Shiki doesn’t really get SHIKI’s vibrancy and joie de vivre. 

Shiki does realize (or knew all along?) though that the blood lust and murderous impulses is not just SHIKI’s but her own too. 

After Shiki recovers from a coma she starts working for a small private detective agency dealing with the bizarre and supernatural.

Together with:

Mikiya Kokutou

Mikiya is a boy Shiki met in high school and just okay.... I can’t talk about Mikiya with Shiki without mentioning how much I love Shiki/Mikiya together. I love them. 

He is the wellspring of normality in her whole crazy life. 

Mikiya is steadfast, loyal, and unshakable. 

He never ever pushes Shiki than more than she’s able and spent 2 years at her bedside waiting for and the next year being there for her as she mourned SHIKI. 

Also, canonically Mikiya stated that it doesn’t matter to him if Shiki was a man or a woman he’d love Shiki all the same. And, you know what? That’s the truth because in high school he went out on dates with SHIKI, Shiki’s male identified personality.

That’s SHIKI - you can tell by the bright yellow kimono. Shiki prefers more of a blue color while SHIKI preferred more vibrant colors. 

And, even though practically every woman Mikiya meets falls in love with him it doesn’t even register to him and even if they did he is more likely to be cruel to be kind. (i.e. turn them down firmly). Therefore saving me from another stupid harem anime situation. 

Mikiya’s romantic feelings are firmly locked to Shiki... in all Shiki’s personalities. 

Mikiya is also a very good detective but his doggedness and optimism has led him in dire situations and it sometimes clashes with Shiki’s combat pragmatism. 

But in the end they get through it all and Earn Their Happy Ending. 

Aozaki Touko 

Shiki and Mikiya’s chain smoking mage of a boss. She likes to throw a lot of pseudo-philosophy around but she is badass and awesome. She is also a puppet master extraordinaire and can replace any body part with her ‘doll’ parts. 

(this gets more important as the movies progress!). 

Touko also has two modes: with glasses very nice and gentle, without she’s rude and speaks in a deeper voice. 

Together these three make up the Garan no Dou detective agency. TBH leaving all the supernatural things aside and the awesome too cool fight scenes I can just keep watching these three people interact.

KNK also has an awesome soundtrack by Yuka Kajiura

Also, it’s UFOTABLE! So it’s gorgeous on the get go!

And the sound design is amazing. 

Like seriously I think Kyoto Animation and UFOTABLE are now my two favorite anime studios around. 

On the whole though... would I recommend it?

I’d love to say yes, boy do I want too but the thing is KNK can get pretty confusing and it loves to do a lot of pseudo-philosophy. Plus this is the Nasuverse and it can get pretty gritty it explores issues of suicide and rape. So it might not be for everyone. 

But it is a really beautiful series with a really compelling protagonist and if I could I would recommend it to everyone just so I can talk to people about it more!

#anime: kara no kyoukai #kara no kyoukai #shiki ryougi #mikiya kokutou #aozaki touko #otp: shiki and mikiya