#lazuli talks

[lazuliquetzal]

I keep on telling people you're the only one who knows how to plot. Can you teach all of us how to plot, please? I love you.

I AM SUMMONED? PLOT BRAIN SUMMONED?

I love plotting. It's my favorite part of the writing process. Plot is "things that happen" and the best part of writing is imagining things that happen. I'm going to assume that whoever may be reading this knows how to imagine The Happenings, so I'm gonna be talking more about structure, but in like, a kinda abstract sense.

A good plot is a little bit more than a string of events. Plot is like music: there's variation in rhythm and sound and melody, but ultimately there's cohesion, because it's all one song. You can have a bunch of wild things happening, but no matter how strange, there should be something that links them all together, because you're telling one story.

Plot structures are patterns in stories. I'm pretty sure most of them were developed as analysis tools (as in, story already exists > look! it follows this pattern) rather than as writing tools, but people use them as writing tools because it's a neat little way to organize the chaos that is "shit happens." Stories follow patterns for the same reasons music follows patterns: we enjoy the certainty of hitting certain beats. But we also like being surprised. A good pop song doesn't sound like a random collection of sounds, but it also doesn't sound like the middle slider of other songs.

There is this shared concept in both music and writing: the idea of tension and release. Basically, you're playing with reader expectation: there's an imbalance in the experience (tension), and we want to see that imbalance resolved (release). All the common plot structures deal with this basic pattern:

You set an expectation

There are complications to the expectation

You meet the expectation

And this rhythm is happening on multiple levels in writing. Scenes follow this structure (we're gonna get past that door, we're gonna find the murder weapon, we're gonna collaborate and come up with a plan) and all those scenes feed into the overarching expectation (we're gonna solve this murder!). I usually think of chapters as their own mini-story, part of the larger whole. And I think of scenes as their own mini-story, part of the larger chapter. I have engineer brain. I see the gears spinning in the clock. That's why all my chapters have at least One Important Thing happening, because that's that particular chapter's Step #3.

And One Last Important Thing:

In music, a delayed resolution is almost always more interesting than the standard resolution. In writing, that means you wanna drag out Step #2 for as long as you can. That's where the bulk of the story is happening, that's how you build tension, that's how you get people to turn the page.

So when you write a fake dating fic, those bitches better not get together until the very end. I came here for fake dating, not for real dating, damn it. If you resolve that expectation early on, you better replace it with a different expectation that's just as engaging.

But also don't drag it out for too long. Sorry. The hard part of writing is learning the difference between too short and too long. Writing is unfortunately a nuanced skill which is why my advice is like "do this but not too much teehee." But tension and resolution is just rhythm, you can build a sense for it if you engage with enough stories.

#asks #yellowocaballero #writing #writing advice #THANKS FOR ASKING ME THIS MEG I LOVE PLOT I WILL TALK ABOUT HER ALL DAY AND I LOVE YOU TOO #i haven't read a fake dating fic in a long time i just brought it up because it was the first Trope Thing that came to mind #i didn't go into different plot structures because i was trying to boil them all down into the very basic building block of question-answer #but if anyone's curious i usually favor a circular plot structure #the ending reflects the beginning. the song loops: the same beats but with new perspective. cycles. #and by that i mean 'story starts with dink being mean to time' and 'story ends with dink being mean to time (but now it's affectionate) #lazuli talks

[maverique-n00b-witch]

Someone in a witchy fb group posted asking others to comment a picture that shows the energy they're bringing into 2023, and I posted this soup I made the other night. Literally the heartiest and most protein rich and nutrient dense soup I have EVER made. A ham bone, two boxes of chicken bone broth, onion, potatoes, pinto beans(which I had cooked from dry before adding to the soup), and lots of dark leafy greens were involved in the making of this soup. It's so comforting and nourishing that I can feel something in my soul actively healing as I eat it. That's the energy I'm bringing into 2023 with me. Nourishment for the body and soul, healing, and pride in my work.

Check reblogs for recipe if you're interested in making it yourself!

#lazuli talks #witchcraft #witchblr #baby witch #kitchen witch

[momentary-moss]

We don't talk about the moon

#houseki no kuni #land of the lustrous #hnk #hnk lapis lazuli #lapis x cairngorm #lapis x ghost quartz #ghost quartz hnk #cairngorm hnk #thinking about lapis taking a little advantage of ghost/cairns memory loss #i also imagine talking about wanting to go to the moon is kind of a no-go topic for the gems #given how suspicious everyone was of moon phos #+ without knowing u can come back from the moon it probably seems like talking about suicide #i think lapis is the sort to throw their life away for sating curiousity #and i think people tell cairn their secrets because they very much underestimate her #ok thanks for coming

[chorus-the-mutate]

Annette is literally nicer than most of the characters in Steven Universe and you think she's mean. Lmao, you've never been bullied if you think her being rightfully upset about her time as a slave and being a bit snippy is the same as being mean.

#castlevania nocturne #castlevania nocturne spoilers #annette #she literally hauled her ass to france with her bestie Edouard to save the world from the vampire antichrist #and still kept helping Richter Maria and Tera even after Edouard died #and you guys are mad that she was snippy to Tera and Maria or that she made an offhanded comment about Richter #they're not even mad at her so why are you guys #also I've seen Steven Universe so I know Garnet Amethyst Pearl and Steven's sins #hell the way people talk about Annette you'd think that they were talking about Lapis Lazuli #ash speaks

[mrfroag]

HEY HOWDY I heard it was gemsona time point right point left

#froag art #gemcyt #u h uh like three people are going to actually see this lmao BUT uh #here they are my silly peridot guy 😌 #I don’t have too much to talk about I kind of designed them on a whim bUT #I did take a lot of inspiration from peridot and lapis lazuli designs because #they are beloved to me #I’m a simple creachure incapable of change

[nerosdayinanime]

su au lets fucking goooooo

edit: TUMBLR ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS. WHY THE FUCK DO YOU SCRAMBLE SHIT WHEN I USE A READ MORE YOURE A FUCKING CUNT GOOD LORD

edit2: it added the edit but not the fucking read more. im tired

i had the brush set too small at first & didnt realize until i was already too far along- full body diamond authority is ok w the shaded fit & wings but the headshot is just. eh. kinda dislike it. im fucking obsessed with the other headshot tho

giyuu's a lapis along w tsutako, normal lapis terraforming job but some shit went down, tsutako got shattered, giyuu was left to fend for herself until she ran into a lost kunzite fresh out the ground (she had a slight imperfection, showed up as a spot along her cheek (corner of mouth to center base of ear) that looks like raw kunzite/ yk when a helmet or somethn gets shaved down sliding against a road? that)

they tough it out in the wilds for a while, they got attacked and accidentally fused to defend themselves, kept fusing when they were in trouble after that- yadda yadda meet makomo (also a gem) & sakonji and learn how to be their own person, getting their own names (giyuu got Giyuu, the kunzite got Sabito) and meeting a group of other rogue gems & making human friends

sabito got particularly interested in the concept of human masculinity & highly respected the closest man she knew, sakonji- transed his gender & chose to dedicate himself to protecting those he cares about. giyuu is very close to him and also changed pronouns & vibes bc sabito loved it so much, though he doesnt really care about human perceptions of gender (hes a pretty rock made of light, the fuck does he need a gender for? (sabito doesnt see it that way, he never got indoctrinated/had a formal gem education or whatever, so hes just vibin))

something something giyuu found a way to precisely control water, and what is ice if not Structured Water. sabito never got whatever his job as a kunzite was, but he has a similar ability as Pearl where hes able to summon a blade from his gem (rectangular cut, back of his left hand). when theyre fused they become Hawk's Eye (also know as blue tiger's eye), able to both control water(& subsequently ice) and form blades along his arms and feet; the blades on his feet allow him to ice skate, the blades on his arms are attached at two points on the forearm and is curved over the hand- the blade's allowed to spin around the arm, tip of the blade is at the point of rotation so itll be in the same spot above the hand no matter what side of the arm its on

#tomioka giyuu #giyuu #sabito #hes like Talked about. makomo & sakonji are only mentioned tho so no tag #loserboy giyuu posting #neros art tag #kny su au #lapis lazuli #also very obvious excuse to draw giyuu in a dress #the actual focus of it originally was the sbgy fusion but i was having trouble drawing #i also have. not a fucking clue for sabito's design #at least he never has to have a diamond authority fit. wild bby kunzite & transed gener kunzite #w Hawk's Eye i actually really like the makeup i gave him but i dont like the color palette. i raw dogged it and it looks alright solely #bc dark blue & gold look so fucking good together. the pink hair & light blue 'skin' tone fuck it up imo #i was thinking of sabito being dark + lighter hair so maybe Hawk's Eye can be dark + darker hair. only problem #is i REEEAALLY wanna have the fuckin dark fingerless sleeve gloves w light blue fingers/palm. #maybe light blue hand-black sleeves-lighter blue maybe purple/tealish shirt-medium blue 'skin'-dark blue & gold hair? #i probably need to saturate the pink to be the same as the gold & thatll help it be a bit more cohesive. idk shit abt color theory man #this au's focus is less on Lore and very much more on fun designs #if only i had a fuckin design- #anyway its been a while since ive drawn #i think like a week and a half? havent posted much either. i think i forgor to post the sabigyu getting stoned bit

[yeehawfolk]

Jesus, nearly a decade since the show aired and so much of the SU fandom still can't understand that Jasper wasn't an antagonist simply because she was the most evil Gem in existence, but rather she was ALSO victimized by the Authority and traumatized by the "death" of her Diamond. Like you can't tell me her whole thing when Steven offers to help her when she is corrupting and she says he comes to people after they've failed, because doing so makes them feel like less of a failure wasn't directly inspired by Diamond leadership, lmao. White even says something similar to Steven in Change Your Mind. "You like surrounding yourself with inferior lifeforms so that you can be the best of the worst."

Yes, Lapis and Jasper were in a toxic relationship in the form of Malachite. No, Lapis was not UNIQUELY victimized by this and Jasper is pure evil. It's been said many times by Rebecca Sugar that Lapis and Jasper had a mutual toxic relationship going on with Malachite, and that this was equally bad for both of them; this doesn't make Lapis completely innocent, nor does it make Jasper completely innocent. It's two abuse victims going at it with one another because its the only coping mechanism they can afford at the moment. It's messy, its ugly, and so many people only want to talk about how horrible Lapis had it because she's a more palatable character than Jasper.

I'm not saying what Jasper did wasn't awful. It was. But you also have to look at her character and realize that a lot of it came from being under the Diamonds. Jasper is also a victim of the Diamond Authority, but because we don't see her resolution with it all on screen like Lapis, lots of fans gloss over the fact that she's also a victim, and isn't uniquely evil.

Like. Can y'all please use nuance when talking about Malachite, Lapis, and Jasper instead of jumping to "OOOOOHHHHHHHHHH LAPIS WAS JUST AN INNOCENT UWU BABY ABUSE VICTIM AND JASPER IS THE MEAN EVIL TOXIC ABUSER" because that's absolutely not accurate and even Rebecca Sugar has said this isn't an accurate portrayal of what happened with Malachite. Rebecca Sugar herself said that they were in a mutually toxic relationship, and that that was by design on the part of the crew.

Jasper isn't uniquely evil and people defending her aren't abuse apologists, or trying to frame it as JASPER is the innocent person in the equation. Most people defending her are instead saying "Yeah, she's a shithead, but she also had her own issues that caused a lot of it, like Lapis."

And before anyone tries to come for me in the comments/reblogs: I'm also a victim of abuse. I know at least a little bit about what I'm talking about. You don't have to like Jasper, just don't show your ass when someone defends her or says they like her, or get rude about abuse apologism when someone points out that they were, in fact, in a mutually toxic relationship.

#cas talks #su #steven universe #jasper #lapis lazuli #jasper su #lapis su #saw some comments in another post and it was like fucking mustard gas in there #you should be banned by the geneva convention if you want to yell at people who like fictional characters #or refuse to acknowledge the characterization of victims then scream about abuse in the next breath

[dootznbootz]

With how I'm planning my fics, since Menelaus and Agamemnon spend some years at Tyndarius' palace, I kind of have them all be childhood friends in a way before Agamemnon and Menelaus take back their kingdom (Aga is around 19, Menelaus 15 when they leave. 5-6 years later they get married.) With how their marriages work out when talking about "Old times", Odysseus is the "odd one out" as he was the only one who didn't grow up alongside them. The poor guy is left out.

Odysseus: "Wait, why is everyone laughing? What does that mean? I don't get it." Penelope: "Well you see-" Goes on about a silly story but the inside joke is dumb. "...You probably would've had to have been there to get it" Odysseus:

#I'm so excited for how Ima have the dynamics in my fics >:D #Is this all silly? YEah :D Is it probably unlikely? YEAH. Do I care too much? No. :D you can't tell me they stayed at Tyndarius and NOT mak #them childhood friends to lovers (Agamemnon and Clytemnestra is a different situation but no spoilers lskdfj ) #Odysseus is Menelaus' wingman (at first just going to sightsee and try and win the favors of others) but as soon as Odysseus falls #HARD for Penelope and starts getting a little desperate on how to “woo” her. Menelaus becomes a wingman for him as well #“I know her favorite jewel is Lapis Lazuli but she hates bracelets. She messes with them too much and then they break. don't give those” #Odysseus is frantically writing everything down #I love making these silly people even more silly. I hope that's okay haha #They don't have much time in the Iliad but I love Menelaus' and Odysseus' friendship (based on how Menelaus talks about him in the #odyssey.) And Helen already knows she wants Menelaus but I'll get into that later >:D #If anyone has seen the movie “Up”. Young Carl is young Menelaus and Young Ellie is...Kind of like Helen?? more the “shy boy gets looped #into crazy shenanigans with a sassy girl who thinks he's neat". #“You don't talk very much...I like you!” and Menelaus is just standing there. big eyed and confused but happy. :D #my headcanons #shot by odysseus #Mad rambles

[queencaramilflinda]

The Caramelinda video essay script I’m working on may never actually be finished or see the light of day but it has proven just how not normal I am about Caramelinda. I am writing this off the cuff and just citing full quotes and scenes from the top of my head bc I’ve just seen it so many times and am obsessed.

#me quoting ‘you not telling me that makes sense […] but Lazuli not telling me… that hurts #because lazuli I loved with my whole heart. and this is just politics.’ #or #all the crowns on all the heads of all the leaders of the world don’t know what they’re doing don’t know what’s going to happen next and #don’t know how to stop it #’ #or ‘did I ever stop you or your father or anyone from doing what they were going to do? or have I spent my whole life crowing for nothing?’ #cienna talks #acoc #I think about her (Caramelinda) all the fucking time

[heyitslapis]

Ough

#its her! #the gem of all time! #everyone talks aboht chad steven but no one mentions chad lapis in those last two images #lapis lazuli #lapis su #lapis #lapis lazuli su #steven universe #steven universe the movie #im so OBSESSED with this blue raspberry bicth #emma rambles

[lazuliquetzal]

Comedy Is A Lie: I’m Going To Explain The Joke And It’s Going To Make Everything Worse

A buddy asked me why I cut a good joke from one of my fics and my immediate answer was “it killed the tension,” which, upon reflection, is a pathetic answer that is mostly inaccurate and does not even come CLOSE to how much thought I put into comedy in my writing. So I guess I’m going to write this out and excise the demon of over-explanation. 

Part The First: What Is Funny

The biggest thing I try and keep in mind when writing editing comedy (and anything, really, but especially for comedy) is rhythm. Lots of parts to rhythm! Most obvious is the word-to-word/sentence-to-sentence flow. Timing is a really important aspect of verbal comedy, which is why performance is a good medium to use. You get to control the delivery of every sentence and the spaces in between. But when you’re writing, you have significantly less control over how a reader will interpret the rhythm: all you can do is word your sentences as best as you can and give them rhythm cues via punctuation. (This is why I use so many em dashes and commas… I'm working on that…)

The other part to rhythm is on a more macro scale. There are jokes that will roll along with the flow of a story. For me, these are jokes that don't deviate from the context of the scene too much. They connect one subject to the next, or they build off of each other (a ‘yes, and’ sequence, for example). Alternatively, the joke is delivered in a really understated way. Like passing off something objectively batshit as status quo. Either way, they flow!

Then there are jokes that will halt a scene in its tracks. These are jokes that recontextualize a situation, or make a particularly large leap from the current topic. Or, you've been setting up for this punchline for a while and this joke is payoff. Or the joke is just really, really funny. These are the kind of jokes where you need to give the characters (or the reader) a beat to process them. Sometimes. We’ll get back to that.

Part the Second: How Is Funny

So the point of all that rhythm stuff is that comedy has a flow! If every line is a witty one-liner, none of the lines are witty one-liners! If every joke is a one-hit-KO, you have left your reader unconscious. Basically, if you are constantly being #Funny, you become repetitive and predictable, and that is the death of tension (and humor is a tension-driven element). 

One way to think of comedic pacing is setup (AKA building tension) and punchline (AKA payoff). It’s a balancing act: the more you build up tension, the more satisfying the payoff is going to be, but if you spend too long building up, you start dragging. You want the reader to think, “I can’t wait for the punchline!” and not, “oh my god, PLEASE get to the punchline already.” 

Fun way to make the tension last longer is to put all those flow-y connector jokes along the way. The reader’s anticipating the Joke, so by giving them little jokes, it meets their expectations in little ways so that they don’t get too antsy.

Hey, what’s tension, you ask?

Part The Third: Why Is Funny

When I read a book, there are two emotions that get me to turn the page:

I don’t know what’s going to happen next, and I’m curious!

I know X is going to happen, and I’m anticipating it!

That’s tension. (Something something semantics—I’ve never taken a creative writing class, I don’t have a vocabulary) 

You can have the calmest, low-stakes fluffiest fic in the world but as long as your readers are experiencing either curiosity or anticipation, Congrats! You have tension! I, however, like putting readers on fast-paced rollercoasters, so that’s the lens through which I’m tackling this section, which is: how do I use jokes in a story structure context? What purpose does a clown serve?

I mentioned earlier that some jokes are bricks to the face: they demand to be processed. Most of the time, I put high-impact jokes in places where I need the story to “reset” in a way: force a beat so the reader can process both the joke and the plot. That’s using humor to release tension. Literally. Laughter relieves stress.

But! You can also use those jokes to make the tension even worse! If you drop a bomb and immediately press forward, no processing allowed, you get stressful comedy. You want to laugh, but also a bunch of other stuff is happening and it feels kind of rude to laugh, so you get stressed. Sometimes humor can undermine a climactic moment, but if you use the right joke in the right spot you create shrimp emotions. If you’ve read DotF ch8 you know what I’m talking about.

Jokes also just make for good plot points? A lot of jokes are built on recontextualization. Everybody loves a good twist/reversal/surprise in a plot. Just make a joke and re-frame it, and bam! You’ve plotted! (Everything I’ve ever written started off as a joke.)

Wait, What Was The Question?

Why did I cut the joke? It was a waste of a brick to the face. It was too referential, it required the audience to know/agree with something completely unrelated to the story, it didn’t build upon what I already established. It ruined the rhythm.

I need to emphasize that, despite all my Thoughts on this, the way I appraise my jokes is 80% vibe-based. I probably could have kept the joke, and it would have been totally fine. But I would know. I would know that my intended rhythm is broken… it would haunt me until the end of time…

#this isn't even getting onto building a Comedic Cast or nailing down a Comedic Characterization or Comedy-As-Action or Varying Your Humor #I'M JUST SAYING #my writing tends toward stupid crack comedy but i take my crack comedy extremely seriously #the short rule is that if it's funny it's valid #the long rule is that the more effort you put into something the funnier it becomes #it's about PURPOSE #writing #lazuli writes #comedy #lazuli talks

[lapiscallout]

What’s your shirt

#lapis is holding the funny fish btw from the funny fish meme I am sure everybody absolutely knows what I am talking about yes #doodled peridot with my finger in an air Canada hoodie I found on Pinterest while I was waiting for the lab computer to load #evolved from there #I’ll put lapis and peridots outfits on here #if I remember #i love characters in outfits #need an art tag #uhh #calloutart #??? #lapis lazuli #peridot #lapidot #if u will idk they’re just standing next to each other #everyone knows tho #SU #lapis #myart #worst people ever

[pixpirs]

#drew this while listening to someone talk about how bad a book series is #thinking about how lapis would kill it as a book youtuber / booktok person #houseki no kuni #lapis lazuli hnk #land of the lustrous #my art part 2

[wikipediadogdotnet]

sketch of laptop and prion

#steven universe #peridot #lapis lazuli #btw i didn’t wanna draw lapis’ canon sandals so i gave her my own . that’s why the sole is gray❤️it’s duct tape❤️ #NOT LOOKING AT THIS ANYMORE.ITS DONE IM FINISHED‼️‼️‼️ #talking tag #my art tag

[harp-bo-barp]

Steven Universe ask.

How do you think Lapis and Peridot would get together?

well. I have a very strong opinion that they SHOULD have had some sort of romantic interaction when lapis came back from hiding out on the moon from the diamonds. Cause peridot was so excited to see her and missed her so much the whole time she was gone. like literally was at such a rock bottom that she was listening to country music like cmon now /h and same for lapis. She missed them and peridot so much as well that she spied on them from the moon and pretended to be there with them. there was so much emotion there that they should have had some sort of meaningful interaction when lapis came back besides the super short and pretty much nonexistent one that they did have in that episode 😭

i don't know exactly how they would get together, but I think that episode should have been the start of something romantic between them, and I think it would be cool for a lapidot relationship to have been left on a cliffhanger until steven universe: future came out and then it's confirmed that they are a couple in like the first episode or something.

#I FEEL SO STRONGLY ABOUT THEMMM #peridot steven universe #lapis lazuli #lapidot #harper talks 🌅 #asks

[puppygirldanhowell]

Hand. the. headcanons. over. NOWWWWW.

AAAAA AKSBWKBDEK🫡🫡🫡

pearl is the second person lapis has ever fallen in love with (the first being peridot), and the first person to ever have an even half healthy mutual relationship with (can go into more detail on the issues of her and peri w in the universe in my head but this isnt the ask for that JSBSJS)

lapis would be the first person that pearl falls in love with that is completely unrelated to rose (ie doesnt remind pearl of her)

i dont think they would ever fuse tbh unless it was some kind of dire emergency. lapis didnt have to worry abt that w peridot since peri was avidely against that for herself, but tried to make herself for pearl. it did not go over well

pearl absolutely infodumps to lapis all the time. pearls the talker lapis is the listener (not always ofc, but)

lapis would have sm fun w the ungodly amount of water that makes up pearls room

they cuddle and nap together sometimes<3 pearl doesnt as often as lapis, but will whenever lapis has an especially hard day and needs the closeness + escape

they absolutely lose track of time talking abt how much they love steven JSBSKS

they have plant children together absolutely. huge plant mom(s) energy

to be honest i do not see either of them as the jealous type, and i think theyd absolutely use eachother as therapist/free ears to talk about all the fucked shit theyve gone through

they get together after lapis comes back from the moon, i personally hc that she briefly lives at steven's house between the barn being destroyed and little homeworld being built

pearl LOVES to keep her hands on the small of lapis' back. or just wrap her hands around her at all (she loves all the exposed skin from lapis' outfit lmaoo)

pearl is sooo the gift giving type w how she can keep and treasure things in her gem, she totally gets lapis copies of camp pining hearts and they watch them together to bond<3 (i think this would be early in their relationship, when theyre still learning to be friends and pearl is trying to make up for the mirror thing)

lapis's love language is physical affection (smth that gets supressed pretty heavily from all the trauma), so when she's comfortable enough she is ALL OVER pearl sldbslnw

honestly i think they would be in a sort of semi open relationship. i think that would be good for both of them to have like. casual mates and such since they both (pearl especially, obviously) dedicate themselves so entirely to one person (this might be projection for lapis so correct me if im wrong there LMAO)

going off the last one i dont think theyd ever rlly call themselves like gfs or anything. theyre just in love<3

#HIIII I HOPE THIS SUFFICES ANS I LOVE YOU FOR LETTING ME TALK ABT THEM AKDBDLBWKE #anon #asks!!! #ash is mentally ill #steven universe #su posting #lapearl #pearlapis #lapis lazuli #pearl #pearl su #lapis #lapis su #lapis lazuli su #su