#which is understandable considering many admins have to write in books (which takes time) and translate things (which takes even more time)

[royalarchivist]

Oscurucho: Welcome back, brother. Cucurucho: What. Oscurucho: Not even a "Good morning"? How cold.

Here's Cucurucho and Oscurucho's long lore conversation from yesterday! The entire conversation lasted about 8 minutes, but most of that time was just silence between each exchange, so I edited out the long pauses and got it down to ~3 minutes. I also fixed the audio levels and added subtitles since I personally find it difficult to understand Oscurucho sometimes :'D

I hope folks find this helpful!

[ Subtitle Transcript ↓ ]

-

Oscurucho: Welcome back, brother.

Cucurucho: What.

Oscurucho: Not even a "Good morning"? How cold.

[They enter Cucurucho's office]

Oscurucho: I wanted to see if you're still as rigid in your beliefs as ever. You see, I've been thinking about our... Let's call it "philosophical divergence." You stand for order, for predictability. But where's the fun in that? You see, brother, while you build, I ponder the beauty in tearing down. It's not just destruction - it's rebirth. A chance to remake things in a more... thrilling image.

[...]

Oscurucho: You once had a backbone for our cause. Now, I see a softness in you, a sentimental weakness for those Eggs. Mere experiments, and yet - they've softened you.

Cucurucho: Your vision obstructs the path to perfection. You fail to understand the potential of the Eggs.

Oscurucho: Potential? They're but catalysts for change - for revolution. Without them, stagnation reigns.

[...]

Oscurucho: You chase perfection, I embrace the beauty of flaws. Your world is one of order, mine thrives in chaos. You wish for everything to run smoothly, I dream of watching it all burn to the ground. We may share a name, but our souls are worlds apart. All your efforts, all for what? Mere acknowledgment from a Duck who told you to do it? Imagine the possibilities - rather, show me where it is, and I'll do the rest.

[...]

Oscurucho: Speaking of possibilities, I couldn't help but notice how easily others can access the island. It seems your security measures aren't as impenetrable as you think.

Cucurucho: No. My island's vulnerabilities are of your own making. Do not mistake restraint for ignorance.

Oscurucho: Pity. But then again, I never really needed your approval. Just consider: Cucurucho - in your quest for order, have you not sown the seeds of your own undoing? Do you genuinely trust all your Federation minions?

Cucurucho: ...

Oscurucho: Perhaps it's time you question not just my intentions, but those who you believe stand with you.

Cucurucho: That is none of your business, I shall say. Now, leave me alone and try to disturb someone else.

#Cucurucho #Oscurucho #QSMP #December 21 2023 #Edited #Subtitles #For those who like knowing the gritty details and specifics about the things I did for this video - #I adjusted Cucurucho's volume because they were very quiet compared to Oscurucho #I fixed the sound direction (for lack of a better word) of Oscurucho's voice b/c he was speaking through my right headphone 90% of the time #so now it's more of a ''centered'' audio rather than a right ear or left ear thing #I added subtitles (obviously) #I fixed the camera a bit so it's more focused on Cucurucho / Oscurucho #and I adjusted the translator box so that even with the crop; they're all still included #usually they get cut out when I edit things because I'm just focused on the characters; but then one day I was like #''Why am I cropping out this thing that specifically helps people understand the story better?'' #So moving forward I'll see if I can do what I did here and add translation boxes as their own ''layer'' overlaying the clip itself #for big lore videos anyways or for clips with long conversations at least #I jokingly said to myself ''I bet I'll wind up shaving 5 minutes off this'' and I was right lol #I enjoy the official QSMP streams but one major critique I have is that the pacing was a bit slow in one or two streams #which is understandable considering many admins have to write in books (which takes time) and translate things (which takes even more time) #And that's valid! But in the last stream (the one with Elena) for example; many scenes dragged on far too long #and it wasn't because people were taking extra long to write books or translate things. It was purely a matter of pacing #idk I'm a professional writer and editor so I'm extra nitpicky about things like that. I think it's something that's pretty easy to fix tho #This is just my critique in terms of the story pacing - like I said; the time it takes them to write / translate stuff is understandable #this is more of a comment on the overall pacing #anyways rant over #Today's stream had much better pacing! Still a bit slow (again; I cut 5 minutes from this conversation) #but that's due to the communication medium (TTS) so that's understandable. That's valid. I'm not fussed about it; that felt natural #Take all the time you need kings it's hard to translate things on the fly. I get it. #Portfolio

[hellyeahheroes]

The “how the fuck is this a hot take” time

I was about to comment with this under a post mocking that attitude but my computer crashed and now I cannot find it, so let me give the gits of the problem and my opinion.

People who think Cass would be friends with Jason and Damian and could somehow begrudgingly tolerate either of them killing don’t get Cass at all. Cass’ opposition to killing is not something you can rationalize. She’s not going to “discover” moral ambigiuity if you talk to her about fucking trolleys. Her refusal to kill is deeply rooted in her personal trauma. She can read body language on a level no other human being aside her mother can. When she sees a person dying she sees every detail of how life leaves the body, she understands the horrible implications of what is happenning on a level you cannot put into words. Having taken life just once it scarred her to the core. She once got so mad at a criminal killing she stopped his hear for a second just so that he can experience a fraction of what he put his victim through.She isn’t going to listen to Jason’s speech about how many times Joker escapes, for her act of murder in itself is that scarring. If you go and write a story where he does you are writing a story of Jason trying to mansplain her own trauma to her. it would be like if Dick tried to convince Jason to put on a clown makeup and go door to door selling crowbars. Pretty tasteless.

There were two cases of Cass’ breaking this aversion of killing in what is considered well-written Cass (as opposed to garbage that was Robin One Year Later or Geoff Johns’ Titans East shitfest or that stupid miniseries by OYL author). And they both are exceptions that prove the rule. In Kelley Puckett’s run she broke into maximum security prison to stop state-sanctioned execution because that’s how much she detests killing. It took family of the victim whose murder got this particular criminal the chair BEGGING HER to let them find closuer to made her question herself. Law? Some stupid talk about “pros” of death penalty? None of that mattered for her, it was only compassion for the affected person that made her doubt her resolve. 

Second time was finale of her series, where she kills Shiva. And she detests herself for it so much she quits being Batgirl. Shiva in this story worked with people who literally nuked her new hometown and killed all her new friends, Cass was still wrestling with guilt of letting Steph die and she was convinced Shiva WANTED to die. And she still found her actions so horrible she quit. At least until they threw more retcons than possible at this. Anderson gabrych knew only she’s suppsoed to be a villain post timeskip and tried to give her the strongest reason to give up on being a hero. If she sees Jason killing it would only be reasonable for her to demand he gives up his mantle as well.

And you know what? If you want to write them like loving siblings SHE SHOULDN’T let him get away with killing. Because her trying to stop him from killing means she still cares about him. The only Cass I could see who doesn’t care about Jason killing, that doesn’t try to stop him or shame him for it, is Cass who had written him off. Cass who decided Jason is irredeemable monster and it’s pointless trying to save him. Someone whose presence she wouldn’t tolerate, less alone s brother she could love. Because again, she sees killing thouigh her tauma, which was caused by an act of having taken life for a first time. I’m sure she believes the “to kill someone you first need to kill a part of yourself” saying, even if she wouldn’t likely put it that way. Cass that treats Jason as a brother is Cass who would break his fingers so he cannot pull the trigger to stop him from killing his own soul.

And don’t even get me started on Damian. because everything else about his new book aside, after stunt he pulled in issue #2 I simply cannot conceive a scenario where she doesn’t look at him with anything but resentment and disgust. Jason can rationalize his killings. Damian killed multiple people in a span of a day for what purpose again? To win a tournament and show off how cool he is? Because he thought with easy ressurections there are no consequences? Keep in mind, Cass’ hatred for killing doesn’t come from the fact dead person is gone but from her unique understanding what happens when life leaves the body. And in such perspective killing for such a flimsy reason like winning an arbitrary tournament, I simply cannot imagine Cass being able to forgive him. Yes, you can argue that he’s a kid or he’s not in a right mental state. But these are rational argument, useless against Cass very emotional trauma. I think Williamson ruined any chance of the two having non-hostile interactions ever, unless entire Batfam conspires to keep Cass in the dark about what Damian has done.

-Admin

#Batgirl #Cassandra Cain #Robin #Damian Wayne #DC

[ertrunkenerwassergeist]

Out of curiosity what is Deep City’s culture like?

Sorry for the long wait!

This got quite long XD And it isn’t even all I have, but I decided to stop before I had a 3k ramble at my hands people most likely won’t slog through. If any of you have any more specific questions I’d be happy to answer them!

.

.

For all that they are living in hiding, the citizens of Deep City are actually a pretty loud, colourful and dramatic bunch. They are a tight knit community where everybody knows everybody (or at least know someone who know someone, and so on and so on) and Noctis’ clinic is one of the social intersections.

(I can’t really write it because there are alreay so many OCs and other stuff happening to keep track of, but people don’t only go there to get treatment, but also for a hot meal, if they can’t procure one otherwise, and to gossip.)

Money as a currency fell out of favour quite early on. Favours and material goods are used as objects of trade instead. Most people not part of the Shadow Market have a ‘you pay what you can’ policy going on. The Shadow Market itself is a bit different.

Originally it was formed by merchants who would go out and buy stuff from outside Deep City and then sell it there. But the more secluded the Deep City people became, the less often those merchants ventured out. Instead they resorted to working together with the Insomnian black market (and theft), which is how it functions today. It became its own social construct within a social construct, with a leader and a police (sort of). Merchants who sell their wares there need to pay a fee for a stall.

Overall the society of Deep City is organized in castes, which function more like historical guilds than anything else. The Shadow Market is its own caste. Then there is one for farmers, for metal workers (the people of the Heap), one for public offices (which include priests, healers, teachers, nurses, any and all admin work, etc.), one for the people living in the old aqueducts, since they mainly trade in water, and one for builders (which include masonry, construction workers and most other heavy manual labour).

Creating a new caste is kind of a Big Deal, so new jobs get folded into existing ones most of the time. Because of this the castes have sub-divisions, so to speak, for the specific kinds of work. There is movement between the castes. If you change jobs, you change your caste, though it doesn’t happen very often.

As to what a caste acutally does: Well, they are a form of insurance. They make sure agreements are kept, that you have a roof over your head and enough to eat, they help footing medical bills and help taking care of family members should a person die. They also are part of ones retirement arrangement.

All offices needed to keep a caste running are elected, and they do that like the Senate in Ancient Rome. There are speaches for and against people that are put forth for elections (or put themselves forth), which can never last longer than 5mins.

Those six castes I named above? They are the biggest and most influential ones and form the Small Circle that is basically the government of Deep City. There’s a Big Circle as well, which encompasses all the castes, but the Small Circle is the fast response to crises.

Historically, Deep City was created during the Second Cultural Reformation under the 79th King of Lucis. (Who I named Lucius the Preserver.) The First Reformation already created a rift in the people, since it reinterpreted the Cosmogony in significant ways and discarded whole passages entirely.

The Second Reformation was essentially Bahamut putting his foot down. All temples but the big one for all six Astrals and the one for Bahamut were closed, books were burned, the Cosmogony was revised even more, the rank of the Senator was abolished as well as many old traditions. And to make sure it all stuck, the non-conformists were hunted down and killed.

So all who could, went to ground. Literally. Traditions transformed to fit the new circumstances, but the important part to the people was, that they kept them. They still burn all their dead, they still believe water is the medium through which a soul travels, they still know someone ferries the souls of the dead into the Beyond, even if they forgot who.

Most children generally learn how to read with the older versions of the Cosmogony, though there is no compulsory education, so it is not too uncommon to meet someone who is functionally illiterate. (Don’t know if it came through, but Fodio Lapis is in fact illiterate. He can read construction plans, but that’s it. But he’s amazing at math because of his job.)

So yeah, school is optional and many kids are homeschooled by their parents, relatives and/or a family friend. Kids are old enough to begin an apprenticeship at 13 and most get into the jobs their parents have, but not always.

Deep City also has a large slew of titles everybody has, that signify their standing in society. They are used when people are formal with each other and in official capacity. It’s considered a huge insult to call someone by the wrong title. So when you introduce yourself to someone new, you always use your title. (Yes, Cor unintentionally insulted Hiemi by calling her ‘Lady’ and not ‘Dame’, which is the title of a married working woman, who is also the female head of the family and/or has a business with employees.)

Fashion wise Deep City is a really mixed bag. Technically trousers are a practical thing for work and not worn anywhere else. But then you have the few people like Noctis who came to Deep City later and don’t really prescripe to the wearing tunics and togas thing.

Quite a large portion of their fashion is handmade from cloth or reworked second hand stuff from the upper parts of Insomnia. There’s this one silk maker in Deep City, who managed to make himself very wealthy.

Language wise it’s a bit chaotic. Technically Sol is the language in which they write down official documents, but it is rarely, if ever, spoken. What they speak is not quite its own language but also not quite a dialect of Lucian. Its this weird thing in between, but people from upper Insomnia wouldn’t understand someone going full tilt. The people living in the old aqueducts actually have their own language because they mostly keep to themselves. Other than that people are pretty much on a sliding scale on how much ‘proper’ Lucian they speak. Hiemi is actually very good at it from her people’s point of view.

#ask #priestess-accursed-heir #ffxv #dreams of our past #deep city #deep city culture #long post #geist answers

[relishredshoes]

Interview given to The Severus Snape and Hermione Granger Shipping Fan Group.  (sharing here Admin approved)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/199718373383293/

Hello Oracle Obscured and welcome to Behind the Quill, thank-you for letting us get to know you a little better.

Many readers will know you already and if they don’t I encourage them to look your works up including Teaching Miss Granger and How I learned to love teachers’ meetings

Okay, let’s jump right in.

What's the story behind your pen name?

Hmmm ... that’s kind of a weird answer for me. I wanted to choose a name that didn’t immediately indicate whether I was male or female. I’d noticed a certain freedom afforded to authors of indistinguishable gender. With no societal construct about the “nature” of the creator, the story stood on its own, without prejudice or conditioned expectations.

I brainstormed about six or seven names and then picked the one that appealed to me most. I’ve always felt drawn to the idea of oracles (those who see beyond). And I definitely felt obscured in that department. (Hell, at the time, my whole life felt obscured.)

Which Harry Potter character do you identify with the most?

I don’t know if I do. I guess if I had to pick, I’d say Hermione, as I have a tendency to be an obsessive perfectionist when it comes to work/studying. I like to be organized and plan things out. And I can be quite demanding and harsh with myself when I feel like I’m not measuring up to my own insane ideals.

But I took that openpsychometrics.org statistical quiz a while back, where you answer like a bazillion comparison questions (I did the longer version), and my highest HP match was Remus Lupin (83%). Yeah, I can see that.

Luna is my favorite character, but I don’t know if I identify with her more than anyone else.

Do you have a favourite genre to read? (not in fic, just in general)

It used to be horror/suspense, but ... I don’t know ... I’m just not as into it anymore. Maybe it’s because the real world is horrifying enough without adding fictional monsters to the mix.

Now I mostly read classics.

Do you have a favourite "classic" novel?

To Kill a Mockingbird.

At what age did you start writing?

Just writing stories in general? Maybe second grade. It wasn’t a passion or anything, just something I was pretty good at. I only really did it at school, though, not so much at home. I read A LOT growing up, so I naturally imagined that I might be an author one day. I tried to write a book when I was about 13 or 14, but less than one chapter in, I decided it was too hard. (I was NOT a Hermione growing up. Planning and perseverance were not my style.)

I took a massive break from thinking after high school (the smorgasbord of medications I was on didn’t like me using my brain too much, and my plans for college went out the window when my depression become unmanageable). I didn’t really start writing again until I was about twenty-seven. That was when I found fanfiction. I consider that when I really started writing.

How did you get into writing fanfiction?

I found fanfiction while looking for erotica. Needless to say I discovered the motherlode, and I was hooked. Over the years, I’d written bits and pieces of my own sexy scenarios (which is what you do when you grow up without the internet and you have to depend on your imagination for all your kink requirements), but I’d never really thought about taking someone else’s “story world” and using it as my setting. For a little over a year I read/devoured all the HP fanfiction I could, and then I realized I could take all the fantasies in my head and play them out with my favorite characters.

The first story I wrote was a funny/smutty Ginny/Draco thing, and it was HORRIBLE. The story and the sex were fine, but the writing was a nightmare. I submitted it to The Restricted Section, which was the only site I knew at the time, and they vetted their stories, so I had to get approved. They wrote me back saying it needed work and I should get a beta. So I went on the forum and found one (which was rather brave of me now that I think back). The person who helped me must’ve had the patience of a saint, because he/she(?) never said a damn thing about all the mistakes and shitty-ness. Suggestions and corrections were made, and I changed some of the pronouns to names so it wouldn’t sound so repetitive. The next time I submitted it, they accepted, and I got a decent response for a first-time writer (like three or four nice reviews). No one seemed to hate it, and the reviewers said the sex was hot, so I tried again, hoping to do better.

That’s when I wrote the first chapter of Teaching Miss Granger. It started out as just a oneshot. And it got a much better response. I wanted to write more, but I became extremely depressed and lethargic, and I didn’t really do anything for the next six or seven years. (I mean nothing. Unless you consider watching every episode of Law & Order CI and SVU ten times over to be an accomplishment.)

I came back to it years later, intending to add a few chapters to TMG where they have sex, but ... it just sort of evolved into the monster that it is. I worked on it pretty much every day for about a year. I’d never stuck with ANYTHING that long in my entire life.

What's the best theme you've ever come across in a fic? Is it a theme represented in your own works?

I would say love or “the power of love” is probably my favorite theme. But that includes synonyms for love as well. (Like wholeness, which is the theme of Quartet.)

What fandoms are you involved in other than Harry Potter?

None. I like other fandoms, but I don’t write for them, and I don’t usually read their fanfiction.

If you could make one change to canon, what would it be? Do you have a favourite piece of fanon?

I’ve never really thought about changing cannon. I mean, I change it to suit my fictional purposes (like Snape lives etc.), but I wouldn’t want to change canon for real. The deaths in HP serve a purpose, and while I find many of those deaths heartbreaking, that’s kind of the point. Hatred is bleak and destructive, and good people don’t survive wars simply because they’re good; bad things happen to good people all the time. As for changing something about the individual characters, I can’t get behind that either. The reasons people do things are multifaceted and complex and they’re colored by a lifetime of experiences I will never know or understand, so I don’t feel I can really judge. I can’t say I understand all the choices I’ve made in my own life, and there’ve been plenty of times where I had no choice at all. I can’t hold others to more rigorous standards than I myself can meet. We all have our shortcomings. (And that’s cool. Without them, there would be no growth or diversity.)

Do I have a favorite piece of fanon? Hmmm ... probably Head Boy and Head girl rooming together or having private rooms.

Oh! And uniforms.

Do you listen to music when you write or do you prefer quiet?

I used to listen to really quiet classical music while wearing headphones. Every little sound in the house distracts me, and I have to block it out. But lately I’ve just been running this old box fan that drowns out the noise.

What are your favourite fanfictions of all time?

Crap, I don’t know if I can choose. (Plus I feel like I’ve forgotten a lot of what I’ve read.)

My friend Desert Sea is my fav Hermione/Severus writer. Out of her stories, the ones I like best are In Their Hands and At the Headmaster’s Discretion.

After a brief search of my accounts, I’ll go with:

Do Not Go Gentle by senlinyu

Another Dream by dragoon811

The Last Twenty-Four Hours of Severus Snape by CryingCinderella

Pretty much everything by Aurette

Pet Project by Caeria

Post Tenebras, Lux by Loten

All the SS/HG stuff from snapeslittleblackbuttons

There’s a Teddy Radiator story that I like a lot, but I can’t remember the name of it. (Or what it’s about.) (Yes, very helpful, I know.)

And in a category all it’s own is Farmer Granger and the Most Glorious Cock by MyWitch. (Seriously, I read this like once a month and it makes me laugh every time.)

I read a lot of Drarry too. Drarry stories I love:

Everything by bixgrl1, but especially Balance Imperfect and In Evidence of Magical Theory

Everything by lq_traintracks (even the non-Drarry stuff). The writing is amazing.

I love all the advent stories by Saras_girl.

I like all the Drarry stories I’ve read by Faithwood.

I really like RZZMG’s writing. (No particular story or pairing.)

And I just rediscovered a story I found in 2007 (the first m/m fic I ever read). It’s a Snarry, which I know isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but it was excellent. Snape: the Home Fries Nazi by pir8fancier

Are you a plotter or a pantser? How does that affect your writing process?

I enjoy a bit of both. My oneshots are all pantsed. TMG was totally pantsed. But Getting Personal and Quartet were both plotted and planned. For GP I did sort of a chapter by chapter synopsis before starting my rough draft, and for Q I went into even more detail—EVERYTHING was planned out ahead of time. The only thing that changed during the first draft was I ended up combining some of the chapters.

How does plotting affect my writing process compared to pantsing? It streamlines it. In a oneshot there’s not much to streamline; the basic story (or general idea) is all you really need. There’s not enough story to get muddled. But when I’m writing something longer, with multiple chapters, I find it’s better to know where the story is going. How deeply I go into that planning can vary. Sometimes there’s just a basic outline of the major plot points and then I fly by the seat of my pants from there. Sometimes I write out a very rough synopsis (sort of like a short and loose first draft) and then start writing as if it’s my second draft. Things inevitably get changed once I really start writing, so the planning isn’t set in stone by any means, but when I plan, the story goes in the general direction I intend without veering too far off course and there aren’t any plot holes. After I wrote TMG (with no planning) I saw that there was A LOT I could have cut or combined without affecting anything important. I learned a little more with each story I wrote, and when I got to Q, there was a lot of complicated ideas that I wanted to incorporate, and there were so many characters (and character arcs) going on that I had to plan extensively to make sure everything fit together. If I hadn’t worked it out ahead of time, it would’ve been like throwing a heap of puzzle pieces on the table but not being given a reference picture to know what it was I was working toward.

What is your writing genre of choice?

I have no idea. Plotty sex? Erotic dramady? Some of it is just straight up PWP, but I usually like to have something meaningful in there too.

Which of your stories are you most proud of? Why?

Usually the answer is whatever I’ve most recently written, as it’s the most likely to represent my current “best.” In terms of writing, I’ll go with A Brush with Magic, but Quartet is probably my best storytelling. A lot went into that (symbolism, planning, obsessive re-writes) and it holds a good deal of personal meaning to me. So, I guess I’ll go with Q due to the time and effort involved.

Did it unfold as you imagined it or did you find the unexpected cropped up as you wrote? What did you learn from writing it?

The unexpected always crops up (even with all my planning), and it’s the unexpected that makes the magic.

While I had many insights into my own nature while writing Quartet, in the end I think it taught me to trust/listen to myself more.

Later, however, it brought me a very different message. While writing it, I felt a lot of tension and anxiety; I wanted to “do it right” and present my story in the best light. But after some time away, I realized I’d been so worried because I felt as if that story represented me, as if it defined me. And the pressure of being judged worthy or unworthy had been eating me alive.

But I don’t feel that way anymore. Now it’s like I wrote all my stories in another lifetime. While they all might be a snapshot of a fraction of my mind, nothing I create ever says a damn thing about who or what I truly am. Since letting go of that, I’ve found a sense of freedom around writing. I still like to express things as clearly and beautifully as I can, but it’s more a celebration of words than a search for acceptance.

How personal is the story to you, and do you think that made it harder or easier to write?

Quartet was extremely personal to me when I wrote it, and in a lot of ways I think that made it easier to write. When I have to go strictly by imagination, I feel as if I’m missing some depth of understanding (like I’m getting the surface-level stuff, but missing the nuance). When I write from experience, it has an entirely different quality. Richer. More intimate. It’s work to write what I don’t know, but it’s easy to write the truth.

Posting, however, is an entirely different story. Other people don’t always want the truth, and if you feel like your story is an extension of you, it can hurt to have any part of it rejected.

What books or authors have influenced you? How do you think that shows in your writing?

I think everything I’ve ever read or seen has influenced me. In terms of writing, I guess I’d say I’m inspired by beauty in all its forms. When I first started reading fanfiction, I just searched for the kinks I liked; it was all about the sex (with bonus points for having a decent plot). Then one day I read an extremely well-written PWP (I don’t remember what), and the way the author described the sex was so unlike anything I had ever read, it totally blew my mind. It was art. Exquisite art. And before that, I didn’t know sex could be art. That author didn’t just recount the characters’ actions, they painted a word masterpiece—they turned porn into poetry. THAT was what I wanted in my life. And I didn’t know it until that moment.

Books/authors that stick with me:

The Harry Potter series (obviously).

Shel Silverstein (Love the poetry, but The Giving Tree is one of my favorite books of all time.)

Dr. Seuss (Always.)

Judy Blume (I still have my copy of Are You There God it’s Me Margaret from when I was, like, 10. Tiger Eyes is my favorite of hers.)

R.L. Stine (I got hooked prior to the creation of the Goosebumps series, but I had EVERY Fear Street Book he wrote when I was in middle school.)

Weekend by Christopher Pike (This was the first YA thriller I ever read. *Sigh* memories. I still have my original copy, and I still read it every once in a while. The characters and plot are great.)

Stephen King (Carrie is my fav.)

Anne Rice (I’ve read all the vampire and witch books, but The Witching Hour is the only one I’ve read multiple times. Blackwood Farm is my next favorite.)

To Kill a Mockingbird

Charles Dickens (David Copperfield is my fav.)

Jane Austen (I can’t pick between Pride & Prejudice and Sense & Sensibility.)

Thomas Harris (Brilliant writing, and Hannibal might be one of the most intriguing anti-heros ever.)

Stieg Larsson (Another brilliant writer with a brilliant character.)

The Giver by Lois Lowry (I haven’t read the rest of the trilogy. And I haven’t seen the movie. I refuse to besmirch my childhood love with Hollywood’s interpretation.)

Bridge to Terabithia (This book devastated me as a child.)

Gillian Flynn (Sharp Objects is my fav.)

Liane Moriarty (I like all of her books, especially Big Little Lies. The way she plays with the timeline is masterful.)

Frank Herbert’s Dune. (I grew up on this. It’s my dad’s all-time favorite book. And, yes, we’re looking forward to the new movie.)

Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid’s Tale is horrifyingly wonderful. And Atwood herself is fascinating. Watch her Masterclass if you get the chance.)

Steinbeck’s East of Eden (This might be my second favorite book.)

The Lucifer Effect by Phillip Zimbardo (This isn’t fiction, but it was the first book that really affected the way I see the world.)

Eisler’s The Chalice and the Blade (Also not fiction. If you’re interested in the divine feminine and a more egalitarian society, this is the book for you.)

Loving What Is by Byron Katie (The only self-help book that’s ever actually helped me.)

Daphne Du Maurier (I love Rebecca, but she also has a story called “The Blue Lenses” that isn’t really intended to be scary, but it freaked me the fuck out.)

The Secret History by Donna Tartt (Gorgeous writing, and the plot left me seriously disturbed.)

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey (Gah! I love this. The writing and the story and the characters and EVERYTHING!)

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (I Bradbury’s writing style, but the plot of F451 is pure horror for any book hoarder lover.)

The Lord of the Flies by William Golding (This might be my third favorite book ever. No, wait, I might like it better than East of Eden. I can’t choose!)

The Diary of Anne Frank (How in the hell could anyone read this and not be affected by it?)

Do people in your everyday life know you write fanfiction?

No. This is my own private world, and I like it that way.

How true for you is the notion of "writing for yourself"?

Very. I write what I want to read. There are certain adjustments I make when I write for other people as opposed to what I do when writing strictly for myself, but nothing major. I refuse to write things I have no interest in, and I don’t write to make people happy. I write to please myself. (But it’s nice when what pleases me pleases others. It’s wonderful to share that connection.)

How important is it for you to interact with your audience? How do you engage with them? Just at the point of publishing? Through social media?

I like hearing from my readers. I don’t have a lot of time to interact, but I like talking to my audience and listening to their insights. I try to reply to all the comments I get on AO3 (it’s just too hard on FFN). And when I have free time (which isn’t often) I check my FB groups to see what’s going on. To me, the interaction kind of completes the creative cycle; it helps me set the story free and allow it to be. It really belongs to the reader once I’ve published, and it’s nice to see the ripples creativity creates.

What is the best advice you've received about writing?

Unless it’s absolutely necessary, stop using the word “was.” Completely changed my writing.

What do you do when you hit writer's block?

It doesn’t really happen that much, as I usually know where I’m going with my story, but there can be glitches between scenes or times when I can’t find the words for something (like ending a chapter). When that happens, I usually just leave it and come back later—I can’t force it if it won’t come.

If I really need to get it done for some reason, I read what I have over and over, adding a little bit more each time, trying out words that “sound right” and building what I need bit by bit. What I come up with isn’t always right or what I want, but at least I have something to work with. Sometimes seeing what’s wrong makes what you want more obvious.

Has anything in real life trickled down into your writing?

Yeah, just about everything Sex, depression, anxiety, personal growth, likes/dislikes, insights, interests, philosophy, all my little neuroses. Every once in a while I’ll even include some dialogue from real life.

Do you have any stories in the works? Can you give us a teaser?

I’m juggling about five long stories right now (plus a couple oneshots). And I haven’t worked on any of them in ages. I don’t know what’s going on with me; I’m just not in the mood. I don’t want to say what they are, as I might never finish them. (Two are Drarry and three are Sevmione. One is a compilation of oneshots. Four of them are completely planned out and just need to be written. The unplanned Drarry was always just meant to be for myself and I doubt I’ll ever release it.)

Any words of encouragement to other writers?

Yes. Enjoy the whole writing/creative process as much as possible. Try not to beat yourself up, and don’t try to force yourself to be better. You will naturally get better the more you write. Change is inevitable; allow it to happen. Read books about writing, and read good writers. Notice what brings you the most pleasure when you read and tap into that same pleasure when you write. Play with words and ideas just for fun. Watch and see what appears. There is no perfect.

If you’re writing about sex (because I get asked about that a lot), write what turns YOU on. Don’t try to be sexy. Don’t try to write what you think other people want to hear. Don’t worry about what other people think (at least in the first draft). If they don’t like it they can go read something else. But if YOU like it, it will shine through in your writing, and that will have a bigger impact on your reader than any activity you describe. Also, the physicality is only a fraction of the sexual experience. Don’t turn your sex scenes into a play-by-play. You’re not really writing about what the characters are doing so much as how what they’re doing affects them. It’s a personal experience, and the more personal you make it (the more honest and vulnerable you are as a writer) the more satisfying the story will be for your reader. Wise words! Thank-you so much for speaking with us today Oracle Obscured.

#snamione #writing #fanfiction #fanfic

[ksmutclub]

Let’s take a step...

Good Evening Everyone. Admin Tomi here.

I think we’ve reached the need for a full stop. 

There’s going to be a lot here - please hang with me. I ask that you read this thoroughly, because I would like to have this be the cease fire for the current situation. 

Firstly,

We are deeply sorry for any hurt, pain, trigger, or traumatic essence that has arisen in the midst of viewing the Monster Smash prompt list. 

These prompts are based on popular horror movies and books. Things that we easily associate with Horror via authors like James Patterson and Stephen King [which a good chunk of these prompts come from]. So to us, and a majority of the voters/members, who wanted it to return? There was no issue. 

The club rules *specifically* state that we do not allow the following

WHAT WE DON’T REBLOG

Sexualization of minors,

Incest,

Eating disorders,

Self harm,

Glorification of mental illnesses,

Animal abuse,

Any controversial topics,

Political topics,

Masterlists,

WIPs posts,

Domestic violence,

Abusive relationships,

Pedophilia,

Necrophilia,

Homophobic topics,

Racist topics.

Rape.

That has been the long standing no-no’s of this club since its inception.  We didn’t understand why the anons, and few members that came forward, would think that we would: 

A - allow any story that breaks the rules to pass through. B - that any of the writers/creators/esteemed members of this club would dip down to those levels to create material that does exactly what we ask not to be done.

We’re all adults, and trust that everyone knows right from wrong, and understands the ramifications of such issues.

We in no way intended to cause trauma, downplay anyone’s trauma, or ‘insult’ anyone with mental health issues. 

But.

We cannot stop creators from writing things that may include dark topics. 

We believe in the portent of trigger warnings required on each story. Because what could be a trigger for you? Could be a cathartic release for someone writing from a similar experience, or someone with an interest in said experiences.

We trust and believe in you all to believe in self-care. Meaning that if someone happens to post a yandere story with a trigger warning for blood? That you would move to the next story. We believe that every reader and creator are the masters of their Tumblr experience and will act in accordance with the safety of their well-being and mental health in consideration.

With that all being said? The h***ler prompt was missed/misstep. Again, we profusely apologize for that one making the list. There is no excuse, I will attempt to offer none. The K Smut Club Admins will do better to be more mindful/careful/watchful of such things in the future.

Now, a point was made during the back and forth of the evening. That one message cleared most of the confusion. A trigger warning on the prompt list. Which in hindsight, may or may not have made a difference. But, it would at least show that we DID hear you about the certain prompts [esp. the h**ler one, cause that should've never gone up. So we thank that member for catching it]. 

So going forward, since this has been a lesson, we will make sure to trigger warning as best we can for the next Monster Smash event. As a reminder, the prompts are purely voluntary to serve as an example of what you could possibly write. None of these were mandatory, or necessary to participate in the event.

Again, with any event the idea of your story and where it goes is always up to you, the creator.

To the matter of the prompt examples list? 

We can all agree to disagree. Everyone perceives things differently. Again, we trust you all to be mindful of the rules and not write anything that would be considered illegal. For example:

A brother and sister find an old door in their basement that wasn’t there before.

Hansel and Gretel; or Brother and Sister monster hunters, sister gets kidnapped by demon that’s been lusting over Brother. Or in secret relationship with brother - sister is kidnapped with ultimatum to come on over to the bad side or they’ll make the sister disappear. So, no incest. 

The abused animals of a zoo are unleashed and wreak havoc on a small town.

Based on James Patterson’s Book ‘Zoo’[and there was a miniseries]. Animals of the world suddenly developed a genetic abnormality that caused them to rise up and try to take the planet back. Believe it or not? There was romance/sex involved in the people trying to save the animals, the world, and themselves. One of the scientists fell for a reporter as they worked together for a cure. The story written could have the two people getting together and that amount of care they have for solving the menace - solves it. So, no abused animals.

Deceased soldiers return to their Civil War-era homes.

Based on multiple episodes of the Twilight Zone or the Outer Limits. People that may have died with strong regrets and the people who miss them terribly are given an opportunity to come back for one day. Fully alive, flesh and blood, breathing living - to spend one day with each other to help them move on. Also the movie Warm Bodies where a zombie regains his humanity, and undoes the curse of the undead by falling in love, of all things. The ‘zombie’ fully regains his humanity, living breathing, and bleeding - there’s even a kiss. So, no  necrophilia.

A monster is terrified by the scary child who lives above his bed.

Based on Monsters Inc. and I’ve seen some Monster Inc Kpop fic smut out there, so it’s absolutely possible to have a single parent cleaning a kids room and shenanigans ensue, or not, and just be a super crack horror fic.

A family dog runs away from home. He returns a year later to the delight of his family. But there’s something different about him. Something demonic.

Based on Pet Sematary, Stephen King classic. Synopsis could be that parents lost a family pet, trying for a child, pet returns, horror ensues. 

A child sleep-walks into their parent’s room and whispers, “I’m sorry. The devil told me to.”

Based on Case 39. A movie where the kid was a literally a demon posing as a child, and manipulated everyone around her and caused a bunch of deaths/mishaps. 

I’ve made these few scant examples to prove there was no ill, illegal, or sick intent with the prompts posted. Each of them can be connected to a movie, book, or television series that many are familiar with. 

Even though the rules state smut is required, where the smut happens within prompt depends on the story. But, wherever it should so appear would be required, of course, to act within the bounds of the clubs rules. 

Because we trust you, the creators, to abide by them.

In closing,

Everybody has had different experiences in their lives. We are not going to pit pain against pain. No one’s pain is greater. Pain is pain and we all have suffered it, or will at some point. We must do what we need to in order to protect ourselves from things that hurt or trigger us. 

I believe every network feels this sentiment and uses the trigger warning requirement in order to protect their readers from consuming content which would hurt them, while allowing the creator the opportunity to explore and create in the medium they see fit. 

We are all humans trying to navigate a difficult time. We all have our ways to deal with these traumatic and painful happenings in our lives. We either talk about it with our peers who have the same experience, write to forge a path forward to some sort of healing in our own way- or we simply remove that reminder from our sphere of existence. 

We will do the best in our capacity, in this network to create a space for both the reader and the creator to do what is best for them, while following all legal statutes set forth by Tumblr and the laws of the US where it is based.

If there are any club members that have issues with any of the prompts - we ask that you please DM the admin staff off anon, so that we can get an accurate count of the individuals that take offense.

There will be no bashing, no repercussions, or public shaming. 

We want to make sure that the people in our network have a say in what happens within the club events. Just because we can see the story in the prompts, doesn’t mean everyone can. We would be happy to discuss the prompt or prompts in question, with examples or sources to assuage any fears that you have. 

For those who were hurt, disturbed, disappointed, or felt the negativity wrought by this? 

We again, humbly apologize that you have. We hope that we can move forward with the event and the growth of the club with your blessings and participation.

Sincerely, The Admin Team 

P.S. - Death threats, threats of any kind are not ok. We’re all adults here. If you disagree then your blog is the space to do it. Stay out of folks DMs with that bullshit because you disagree - that goes for anybody that has spoken out disagreeing with the club and anyone outside toward the members within the club. We have differing opinions they should be respected. No one should be victimized any further than already experienced. 

#announcements #monster smash 2020 #ksmutclub

[bloggong]

Narratology (part 1)

Post-shag activity admin time really hits different. 

Timecheck, I have around 20 minutes to the next scheduled activity. Hopefully I can finish this in time.

Kind of a different post today, but was thinking much about narrators. For some context, in my application essay to Yale-NUS, in which one of the essay questions required us to ‘ask’ and ‘answer’ our own question, I talked to a small extent about Narratology. While in actuality, I wanted to discuss said topic at length, the constraining word limit and the difficulty I had in constructing a question that perked the curiosity of the reader meant that I was unable to fulfill my aim. 

So I’ve instead decided to pour out my collected thoughts here instead, where they may rest, devoid of an audience.

Effectively, what you’re about to read next is an abbriviated version of my actual essay, namely the deleted parts. I’ve got to go for some talk in 15 minutes, so in subsequent admin times, I might come back and edit this, or contnue with a follow-up post that properly consolidates my thoughts. Go easy on the roughness of this unedited, uncut version of the essay though lmao thanks. 

(To give a bit more context, I ramble on at length about a game called “The Beginner’s Guide”. I highly reccomend playing the game; if you have the time or the cash, since it’s easily found on Steam, and it helps support a fascinating creator as well. Otherwise, various analysis can be found on youtube. In fact, said excerpt of my essay from below was inspired by a breakdown of “The Beginner’s Guide” by the youtube channel Errant Signal, do consider supporting their channel!)

Though I have consistently found myself mesmerized by the chorus, a group of actors in greek theatre who take on the role of de facto narrator cum comedians and sorrow harbingers, popularized by one Shakespeare, there is much to be said of artists and authors who leave a degree of distance between creator and audience, allowing for reader interpretation. Here, the absence of a protagonist in books with ambiguous endings allows for a degree of wish-fulfillment for a work’s audience, with the end of the narrative being realized by the reader instead of formalised by the creator of a given work.

In other cases, the absence of a narrator, or even a protagonist, saw viewers infusing their own narrative into the work. This proclivity for readers to generate their own interpretation, which then colours their perception of a given work, was clearly evidenced in psychologists Marianne Simmel and Fritz Hedier’s pioneering work in “An Experimental Study of Apparent behaviour”, a study in which they created a short animated film comprising two triangles, a circle and a rectangle formed by four sticks of varying proportions. In their paper, Hedier and Simmel’s found that the human impulse to form narratives, with participants ascribing the aforementioned shapes with genders, characteristics like “valiant and spirited” and “brutish and abusive”, and establishing moral judgements on said figures, showed that in the absence of a narrator, or a clearly defined narrative, humans are quick to construct their own storylines to make sense of otherwise disjointed, random observations. In this light, in the absence of a narrator, audiences are as likely to fashion their own rendering of what occurred within a narrative. This is likewise observed in non-fiction media as well, as oftentimes, documentaries depicting Sporting Championships, alongside news pieces, tend to ratchet up the tension through techniques that would normally be observed in their fiction-based counterparts. This is keenly seen when Sports Matches are romanticized, with the final deciding points being played out in the last moments of a match, alongside documentaries intentionally portraying a team as a larger underdog initially, so as to make their final comeback all the more unexpected and cathartic for viewers. Here, when non-fiction media begins to imitate fiction, even in the absence of a direct narrator, it reveals the human tendency to identify and infuse our own narratives into any observed event, even when said event is devoid of such sentimentality.

However, such interpretation could border onto the questionable side if a reader begins to psychoanalyze a piece of work, possible seeking to interpret or fabricate inaccurate information about the creator of said work, which could result in reductionism of the complexity of the creator’s message, possibly leading to misrepresentation of the author’s ideals. In certain cases, where the author intention is completely perverted and obfuscated as a result of a reader’s infusion of their own interpretation into a given work, with said view encroaching on the liberty of the author to spread their message, the lack of a narrator who directly imbues context and meaning into a work could result in such an occurrence. 

This is observed in “The Beginners Guide”, a fascinating videogame which delves into such a scenario, with the fan, Davey, infusing their own motif into an artist, Coda’s work, with the conjured motif of a ‘lamppost’ being altered into a creator’s works against their permission, causing the artist to feel made used of and manipulated, with the artist ultimately stopping production of his games. In the fan’s inability to understand that the artist was at certain moments, creating games for himself, instead of seeking to critique a societal issue, or comment upon a universal emotion, Davey unawarely alienated Coda, ultimately causing the disillusioned Coda to stop producing games altogether, as Coda fled the medium entirely to avoid such manipulation. Here, the lack of a clear narrator who emphasizes the point of thetext reveals the risk of an artist’s work being perverted entirely by fans who fail to understand the proper context and motivation for said work.

Yet, at the same time, the aforementioned game, “The Beginners Guide” acts as a piece of Metanarrative, in that it constantly acknowledges that it is a videogame. Within the fiction of the story, this “guide” is a compilation of the artist, Coda’s work, by a fan, Davy, who is seeking to at first question why Coda left, with the game subsequently unveiling that Davy, to many ends, was the cause of Coda’s departure in the first place. Since many of Coda’s games that are unveiled in “The Beginners Guide” lack a narrator of any sort, let alone an autodiegetic one who would fulfill the role of protagonist, Davy feels empowered to infuse his own narrative into Coda’s work. In doing so however, Davy’s meddling inadvertently corrupts the message and intention of Coda’s games entirely. Importantly, in choosing to dispose of the conventional narrative distance afforded by other more conventional games, with “The Beginners Guide” instead choosing to tell a story that is firmly grounded in reality, the unreliable narration of Davy, who details his interactions with Coda throughout the game, see that player’s expectations are completely subverted. In highlighting how Davy’s attempt to engage in psychoanalysis of Coda as a person through his games intruded on Coda’s privacy, threatening his work and corrupting his intentions,

“The Beginners Guide” both acts as a stellar piece of fiction that details what happens in the absence of a clear narrator who contextualizes the story for audiences, whilst forcing players of the game to refrain from psychoanalyzing any other artists work. Even as this effect is achieved through an unreliable narrator, the commitment to realism that initially causes players to question if the events detailed within the game are real or metaphorical allows for the subsequent reminder to be hammered home, that all creators of any work are complex individuals, and that audiences should refrain from psychoanalyzing an artist through his work, or infusing their own narrative into a work to the degree that it takes away from the artist’s intentions, lest it result in perversion of the artist’s intentions.

Congrats if you somehow managed to trudge through that bog of convalution. I think I’ll write more about this when my head is much clearer.

Aight lmao bye for now.

-gong

10:08pm

21/1/2020

#literature

[threelivesthreeworlds]

Anonymous asked: Hello sorry if I was unclear. What I meant to say is that most people have a superficial view on intimacy of any sort, and so while I love Tang Qi's portrayal of romance, I hate most people's physicality-obsessed interpretations. Dunno if it's a western thing, but fanfiction is so out of alignment with canon romance themes that the characters are barely recognisable anymore. (1/4)

Secondly, Most readers/viewers do not give characters like Yehua or Lian Song a chance before making stereotypical assumptions about them. I love their real personalities, flaws and all, but I hate the sheer hyperexaggeration the fandom makes out of it (e.g. hating on Ji Heng). People just cannot see a character as a whole but put them into one category or the other. (2/4)

Thirdly, I just added that I relate to Lian Song(depression etc) because I kinda share his views on romance/love and don't really care for physical aspects that much. I'm aware he's a playboy, but he's also not a stereotypical one (which is unfortunately how most people interpret him) so it's a relief that your blog instead backs up my interpretation of him with facts. (3/4)

Lastly, I'm so sorry for ranting in the Q & A section. Making several points with a word limit really compromises what I'm trying to say 😆. But the bottom line was that fandoms' misinterpretations of your favourite characters makes it hard to see them in an objective light again. (4/4)  

(this 4th one came in after most of our answers were done, so we apologize if it comes off a little ??? we weren’t aware of the end goal for the anons received. We mean no ill-will in how we come across, just elaborating on things and we hope that’s alright with you. <3)

(Admin Lin): Hey! Thanks for sharing your opinions, though these anons are starting to get a little haughty for our own comfort to continue addressing. Both admins have our own grievances with the fandom / how it views particular characters (Ji Heng being a prime example here), however the fandom still offers plenty of good things from it. This is not only a western fandom “issue” (I say as this physicality isn’t necessarily an issue), it can be found in the eastern fandom as well for not only this series but others as well. Both admins are in fact western fandom despite Admin Ro being Asian.  

        As for when it comes down to interpretations - Peach Blossoms is written in first person and hard to find on the western side of the internet; Yehua has an extra from his perspective but that’s the only direct contact we get with him that isn’t through Bai Qian’s eyes. Qian isn’t a romantic person nor does she necessarily find what he does romantic, she’s been engaged to him for so long she kind of considered their engagement troublesome due to her past experience with his Uncle Sang Ji. When it comes to the drama’s take of Yehua, we get a clearer idea of him but at the same time it’s easy to see where others can’t grasp him in his entirety or simplify things when in a fanfiction. Or, for the likes of me, knows what he’s like but can’t formulate a more articulate summary or introspective version of him because of his extensive complexities and in some ways, the knowledge of a Chinese household of some fashion to express the intricacies of his upbringing. It’s merely harder. 

         In the case of Lian Song - the Western fandom doesn’t have access to the information that can be found on this blog as easily because Lotus Step is in the middle of a hiatus but will continue serializing by next year. So, it’s no one’s fault for misunderstanding what kind of playboy he is since that was only addressed in the fall of last year and the dramas both make it clear he’s a playboy / amorous person but never elaborates on it. So it’s an easy assumption to make that he may be a typical playboy by fans of the other available media because he’s not featured beyond Yehua’s uncle or Donghua’s best friend with touches here and there of his connection to Cheng Yu. It’s only in his novel that we get to see a different side of him that will ultimately have a shift at some point to what we see 50,000 years down the line. So, I’m not actually bothered by this myself, personally. It is bound to happen because no one on the western side of the fandom has as much access or want to read an untranslated novel. 

        With TQ’s stance on romance writing, I will say the concept of eternal love or a love that lasts 3,000 lifetimes is a very Chinese one that unless one digs through it with patience and interest in Buddhism / other Eastern religions, that it can be a harder nuance to grasp for those unfamiliar. 

(Admin Ro): We’re sorry you’ve had bad experiences with “fanon” material. We’re thankful that you like the content on this blog enough to comment on it! These are my opinions on the whole affair: as a Chinese woman who reads Chinese novels, from a perspective of writing tropes, hyper-exaggeration is already frequently utilized...in canon. And - from a personal standpoint, when the tropes hit right, I - don’t necessarily mind. Depth can be dug out of the text, but it’s understandable for people to simplify when they’re simply writing or analyzing for their enjoyment.  

        I’m ace, so maybe I understand, Nonny, when you say that you don’t care for the physical aspects of love.  I personally, in my life, don’t necessarily want or need that kind of intimacy, and I don’t find myself straying into the smut tag too often to read about it as it stretches my comfort limits. Granted, I am not sex-repulsed, and it takes a great deal to upset me - however, if everything is in layers and someone enjoys writing smut, then they simply enjoy that layer. Romance isn’t less good and interpretations aren’t less good if there’s a degree of physicality in it. Heck, Admin Lins and I have discussed extensively the physicality of these books - we keep it off the blog 80% of the time because tagging, but it’s a present theme. And, all of us enjoy different things. At the end of the day I think we can’t say the tropes aren’t good when the tropes are the lead-ins that drew us into the more extensive stories.

         Furthermore, a lot of what is on this blog is “read,”and I will never say my read of a character or a part of canon is “right” - or that it's “right”-er than someone else’s. Yes, there’s room for passionate debate as evidenced by many, many essays, but I’m not upset when I can’t change anyone’s mind. People are not automatically wrong when they disagree with me - even if there’s textual evidence, there is difference in interpretation of that textual evidence. I understand why fandom thinks the way it does - though, you’ll have to forgive me, my brain is 90% of the time focused on Pillow Book. Regardless, whether you walk out of a book thinking “this character has this much depth and this many flaws” or “this character is just a flat out antagonist” is very much dependent on you. Yes, we as a blog synthesize textual evidence to make that synthesis easier, but ultimately we are no better judges of anyone’s personality than anyone else out in the fandom.

         Rather, I think sometimes for the sake of finding reasons or understanding, or when we look for evidence fitting our own assumptions about characters sometimes we lean into a softer read, maybe entirely without realizing it. This is a big no in the world of analytical writing for the sake of, ironically “objectivity”  - but this is for enjoyment and not academia. There are times when textual evidence is untouched by the author's tone in terms of connotation and so when we take it for our reading and we have our pre-formed opinions we fall a little more between the lines. Admin Lins and I obviously differ in where this happens as we each have our own, minutely different vibes for characters in question. We know where our confirmation biases in interpretation might lie. Everyone has those. 

         Up till about February or March this year, I, like a lot of the rest of this fandom, wanted to roast Ji Heng on a spitfire. That is my bias. We are humans, and I think we are perhaps incapable of reading something and staying entirely objective to each character. I clawed my way out of my bias (I say ‘clawed’ because it was difficult), however, by looking at the book, looking at my own opinions, looking at other people’s opinions and asking myself: which parts of this is most likely to be true? I think the only way of striving toward objectivity in terms of portrayal is to consider other people’s portrayals, even if you don’t like them - and see if there’s any truth you can see past your bias. And to accept that truth, even if it’s a hard pill to swallow.

         I guess what I have been trying to say, for this entire time, is that we are not the authority on what is and isn’t objective, on what is and isn’t right in these characters, interpretations, and this blog. We are glad to be an interpretation you enjoy - but that doesn’t mean the rest of the fandom who have different opinions are wrong or misinterpretations. I realize we can come across like that sometimes because we make salty memes and because we write long paragraph essays when we have opinions, but ultimately, no one is wrong. Our bubble of enjoyment is our bubble, and no one has to agree with us.

#three lives three worlds ten miles of peach blossoms #three lives three worlds the lotus step #Yehua #Lian Song #admin lin answers #admin ro answers

[english-y]

Final Draft

Probably...

Sofhia J. Jaime

J. Doyle

ENGL 1302-70L

2020/09/27

Fan Fiction Writing

     ‘FanFiction’ is defined to be, “Fiction written by a fan of, and featuring characters from, particular TV series, movie, etc.” according to the Oxford languages website while true, fanfiction is much more than that. Fanfiction is the creation of alternate universes, plots, characters, characterizations, and many other aspects of popular books, shows, movies, etc.  these authors rewrite stories or continue them after their final conclusion. With that comes a lot of work, considering the high demand for this type of media. Websites such as AOS, Tumblr, WattPad, FanFiction.net, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and a plethora of other pages that thrive from this form of entertainment. Authors of these works often gain a massive following on their social media as the popularity for this medium grows. Sometimes the final writings are more complex than its original, currently the longest fanfiction in existence have 4,102,217 words and 220 chapter which are still being regularly updated. Yet, most often fan fiction is disregarded and frowned upon by the majority of readers(!). Fanfiction carries a prejudice that unfortunately discredits the author and the work as a whole. Commonly, it is believed to be the work of desperate teens from the ages 13+ who over romanticize book characters, movie characters or people in the public eye. Though this essay I want to explore the reality of this type of writing and how its misrepresentation causes it to be devalued at surface level even though this writing has shown bountiful benefits to aspiring authors.

     In Not All Those Who Wonder are Lost by Cecilia Aragon she found that most authors who write fanfiction felt similarly “Many of the authors we interviewed admitted they started off as poor writers but said they’d improved enough to consider writing professionally.” Three of the authors that I had interviewed planned on authoring their own novels and all three of them have their stories already in the making. In fact, Admin Kim of RightSockJin has her story already written but as a fanfiction she plans on editing it to form it into a cohesive novel of which she would like to publish. Also, Shannon of Kpopfanfictiontrash she is working on her young adult novel with hopes to publish soon.

     “The most recent report from the National Assessment of Educational Progress indicated that 73% of US students in grades 8 and 12 lack proficiency in writing.” Maybe instead of overlooking medium we could use it to help students work on their writing, show them how to develop plot by dissecting a prewritten story and writing it in their own likeness. We could even help students develop a writing style by having them mimic the style of an established author. There is so much we can do to help interest students and interest them in writing but the masses refuse to look passed the surface of fanfiction reading and writing.

      Recently, my friends and I have started a blog where we upload our personal writing. From what I have noticed, my writing has matured substantially. My characterization, vocabulary, problem solving skills, and many other aspects of this creative medium have grown to something I am prouder to show. Even though I do not plan to pursue a career in writing this has given me to confidence I need for general writing, for schoolwork and for jobs I hope to obtain in the future. Growing up I never enjoyed reading or writing, I was insecure about my abilities because I grew up bilingual, which caused some teachers to treat me unfairly  The friends who are writing alongside me do plan on publishing novels, and through this type of writing I have noticed that they were able to polish their skills and develop a writing style. Though, I have noticed that they have not been able to feely talk about their writing because people do not take their writing seriously because it is fanfiction.

     I was able to conduct a survey asking people about their opinions concerning fanfiction. From what I have gathered most people are turned off by what they perceive fanfiction to be.

      Out of all of the people who have taken the survey the majority did enjoy reading. Though I know reading does not necessarily mean reading books, there is a wide variety of writings that are accessible to consumers The most popular types of readings were Book and novels and comics. Which I found interesting considering the fact that those works are typically taken and used as inspiration of fanfiction. Still, most of the people who took the survey have not read and do not want to read fanfiction.

     Seventy percent of the group had not read any fanfiction and had given the media a negative connotation without actually having read though any of the works. When asked about what they had hears about the writings a lot of the times they expressed hearing “not a lot of appropriate things” someone even called it “cringe” and just decided they did not want to give fanfiction a chance.

     My goal is to show the reality of fanfiction to readers and authors who overlook these works of fiction because they bring more benefit to those who consume and create these. I was able to ask a few more established authors on Tumblr, for their background and their opinion of the stigma surrounding this media, their personal opinion, and a little information regarding their positionality. On my Tumblr I direct messages a few of my favorite writers out of the twenty I ask only five answered. Even though the turnout was not the best I was still able to get some really good insight from authors of different backgrounds. I was able to talk to was Shanna of Kpopfanfictiontrash, Sol of jamaisjoons, Traci of cupofteaguk, Admin Kim,  Admin Calico Admin AdMin from rightsockjin and lasty Athena from GoddessAthean on Wattpad.

      First I was able to talk to Shanna from Kpopfanfictiontrash (late 20’s) and comes a Caucasian background. She has been writing for around six years and at the moment she works as a businesswoman. Soon after I talked to Sol admin of the Tumblr jamaisjoons (22yrs) writer that comes from an Indian background, she has been writing for around seven years, but she is currently working as an accountant. I was also able to get in contact with Traci (23yrs) Asian-American fanfiction author with around ten years of experience who writes on the cupofteaguk tumblr blog, she is currently studying Communications in college. Lastly, I got to talk to all of the three writers in the Rightsockjin blog. Admin Kim who is a twenty-one and working as a teacher with a Hispanic/Mexican background, she has been writing for 12 years and lastly Admin Calico (19), who is a full time student working on an English Major who also is from a Hispanic/Mexican background who has had over ten years and Admin AdMin(19) who is a Computer Science major who had been writing for seven years. Lastly, I was able to talk to Athena (19) a Hispanic who writes under the AthenaGodess pseudonym who is also a Computer Science major and has been writing for around four years.

     I was able to have talk to all of the authors and get their individual opinions of their work, the writings they’ve read, and the perspective about this creative medium. I wanted to know that their work actually meant to them. Traci expressed that she “really [enjoys] writing fan fiction because it’s a form of expression...”. More than fifty percent of the authors mentioned self-expression, this medium is an easy to show the inner turmoil that in the mind of the author. Often, these writers show more vulnerable and intimate part of themselves. Personally, I love to write about my ideal relationship because I have had some really terrible experiences with relationships. Aside from using this as a way to vent her creativity it has helped her with her academic writing. “Allowing myself to write on a daily basis also helps hone in on my writing skills, which can be applied to professional situations or school assignments.”

     I also asked about their opinion on the stereotypes and stigma surrounding fanfiction and how it affects them. Shana gave me an interesting perspective, “I think most stereotypes are rooted in a general lack of understanding. I do write fanfiction based off a musical artist, so my male lead character may contain some of their features and personality traits. I don’t necessarily have to create these aspects myself. Everything else I do. The plot of the story. The side characters and romantic interests. The setting, the world-building. The dialogue and description and everything in between – that exists nowhere but in my own mind. I would also say there’s an equal, but different challenge to writing based off something which already exists. It requires greater research, perception and understanding than simply creating something out of thin air.” Which correlated from my previous research, most people who have not even read fanfiction just refuse to even look into the medium. When I asked specifically about the stigma Sol stated “There [is] an assumption that most fanfic writers are young 12-16-year-olds and while that’s true sometimes, there’s actually a higher percentage of authors who are 18+, especially ranging from 22-30.” Which while there may be young authors the majority according to my studies range higher than eighteen years of age.

     In my own experience and research, I found that authors find solace in their writing. Sometimes these writers come from some unfortunate situations which cause them to look for succor, so they write out their ideal life in these fictions. I went through a trauma with my first boyfriend which caused me to fall into a depression. I began to journal, which lead me to write out scenarios that made me feel better. Even though my writing was not explicitly fanfiction this bit of writing led me to create a fanfiction blog. This, in a way, allowed me to rehabilitate myself out of my slump and get myself to get back to a more positive form of thinking, my writing gave me hope where I before I saw none. Alongside me psyche my writing improved significantly. I started to get better grades in my AP English classes during high school, then my writing for my college classes became something I enjoyed. A subject that I once dreaded became something I looked forward to doing.

     This form of media seems to get less credit than it is worth but in reality, these works can be equally, and sometimes more intricate than their original works. Unfortunately, because it was not written by a credible source the writing is disregarded. Instead of sending negativity to these aspiring authors we should encourage their development with positive engagement and constructive criticism, so they feel encouraged to supplying their audience with their work and so they can continue to develop their skill and style.

Works Cited

Aragon, Cecilia. “Not All Those Who Wonder Are Lost.” MIT Technology Review, vol. 123, no. 1, Jan. 2020, pp. 44–47. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,shib&db=a9h&AN=140364555&site=ehost-live.

 @rightsockjin​ @kpopfanfictrash​ @cupofteaguk​ @jamaisjoons​

#final essay? #Probably

[chwrpg]

It’s about time. We’ve been waiting for you guys. -- Nova Lisbon

A NOTE FROM ADMIN B: If anyone can hear screaming in the distance don’t worry it’s just me!!!!!!!!! It’s no secret the Lisbon sisters are the loves of my life so I’ve always wanted to have the full set on the dash to really get into that family dynamic of theirs. And now, thanks to resident angel™ Tiff, we’re one step closer! I love the way you’ve written Nova-- like the other sisters she has that enigmatic manic pixie dream girl facade, but there’s so, so much more behind what everyone else projects onto her. I cannot wait to see her finally get the attention she deserves.

OOC NAME/ALIAS, PREFERRED PRONOUNS, AGE & TIMEZONE:

That Bitch FKA Tiff . 26 . CST

DESIRED CHARACTER:

Nova Lisbon

HOW ACTIVE WILL YOU BE?

7

SECONDARY CHOICE:

-

DESCRIBE THE CHARACTER:

If John Green had ever met Nova Lisbon he would have had a field day with that one. Everything about her from the way she walked with a little skip in her step to her more arbitrary habits like the way she dotted her i’s with hearts and took Buzzfeed personality quizzes when she was bored in class was more than enough material for her to inevitably become someone’s manic pixie dream girl. It wasn’t even that there was necessarily anything special that made her stand out from everyone else, people were just naturally attracted to her because she was an enigma; an experience that they could talk about at class reunions in the years to come. The Lisbon sisters were known in town for the air of mystery that followed them, enticing those who enjoyed a challenge to go to great lengths in hopes of catching the attention of one of the elusive sirens. Catching the eye of one of them was like winning a lottery ticket or climbing Mount Everest. While her sisters preferred to shy away from this portrayal that had been placed on them since their move to Rosewood, just trying to live normal lives, Nova reveled in all of the extra attention, more than happy to take her sisters’ share. Being caught smack dab in the middle of so many personalities made it so that it could be difficult to not get overlooked and that soon became one of her biggest fears, being forgotten and ultimately left behind, even by her own family. A fear that she never shared with any of them out of fear of sounding more irrational than her mother often made her feel. How could she tell them not to be themselves because it made her feel small compared to them when their parents had already stifled almost all enjoyment out of their life? Instead she began doing outrageous things and getting into unsavory habits for the sake of standing out. And in a way showing that she had control over her life, that no one told her what to do, even her parents. Though as mature as she tried to come off she was still a naive, hopeless romantic who could easily be taken advantage of. She fell in love easily. It seemed almost weekly. Unfortunately all of those people were out of her life about as fast as they had come in. But in that desperation to become a person of importance in others lives, in fighting so desperately to not become just another passing flavor of the week, she gave pieces of herself. Until she had given so much there was nothing left to give. Until all that was left was for her to get her shit together and pick up those pieces herself. And slowly but surely she was learning to do that. No offense to Alaska Young, but she was going to become the one who would control the narrative to her own story.

SAMPLE WRITING:

When Nova had first proposed the idea of a peer counseling program she had been met with a couple of chuckles, little bouts of amusement which soon took an awkward turn when the realization hit that she was completely serious. They were completely in their right to believe that she had been joking of course. Up until recently she wasn’t known for taking anything too seriously, much less known to dabble in humanitarianism. How on Earth did this girl, the same girl who throughout high school threw fits mid lecture over something as simple as a break up note think she was equipped to share any kind of advice with anyone? But that was exactly why Nova thought she was a prime candidate to participate in a peer counseling program. While, yes, she had been raised in an extremely sheltered environment she had somehow managed to find herself going through certain hardships that weren’t universally shared in such a short amount of time. Sure, as the whispers around town had led everyone to believe once the girls had all effectively left their time in captivity in their house, there probably wouldn’t have been so many speed bumps along the way if she had just listened to her parents. But she also wouldn’t have learned any of the life lessons she had if these experiences never occurred. For as much as she had been shamed at the time for her mistakes she felt no regrets. These moments and lapses in judgement that she was demonized for, especially by her mother who constantly berated her for being a free spirit, had molded her into the person she was today. The thing with Nova was that she stopped letting herself be bound by the rules the moment they settled down in Rosewood. Which really should have come as less of a surprise considering the compounding frustration that had slowly built up in the girls, passing on the baggage from the sister before them like a rite of passage.

Being part of such a tight knit family had always felt like both a blessing and a curse. The Lisbon sisters had always been as thick as thieves, so close that growing up Nova even believed they all shared a soul. That they all took different parts of it and together completed a whole person. Tessa had snatched up the compassion and understanding, Marina the brutal honesty and vicious protectiveness, Bridget the loyalty and adaptability, and Cecily the courage and patience. At least that was how she coped with their situation, by doing what she always did and romanticizing everything. Perhaps that was where the real problem lied though, that their codependence ran so deep they lost their sense of individuality. But what else were they supposed to do when their growth had already been stunted so severely by denying them the ability to form any true relationships outside of their own household? Even Nova had always been more open to the public than her sisters left a lot of things unsaid, things she didn’t think were of much importance but explained a lot about her character. Things she wanted people to find out about her by looking deeper than surface level. She left hints here and there, little moments with different people, like a scavenger hunt waiting to be solved. It was a path many had tried to venture but very few actually made headway along.

These who truly got to know Nova knew she was like a hurricane; calm and still at times like the eye of the storm, the still point in the turning world as one of her many suitors once stated. But destructive in passing, wearing her heart on her sleeve, and often making a scene when she felt  like she was being played. Maybe that was why no one could quite understand why it was she felt the need to start the peer counseling program. Was it to gain some kind of karmic retribution for all the lives she had turned upside-down? Or was it to live vicariously through the lives of others by listening to their stories like they were retellings excerpts from books in some vast library of life? The truth was much more simple than that. Nova just loved people. And she liked to help them, not out of self interest despite this desperate need to be loved in return, but because she was fundamentally a caretaker.

This was how she found currently herself the only running some errands for colleagues and shopping for holiday decorations to spruce up the little office they used as the peer counseling center. She had taken a bit of a detour in the beauty department when the wails of child snapped her out of her own thoughts. Turning to scan down the aisle and see where the ruckus was coming from she spotted a little girl, no more than two or three years old. Around how old her child would have been had things turned out differently. The kid seemed to be lost and crying out for her mom but there was no one in sight who seemed to be coming to her rescue. She shuffled back awkwardly to the end of the aisle, looking all around to see if anyone was making their way back over for her or even if there was an employee whose attention she could get, but there was no one. Part of her told herself to just go and pretend like she didn’t see anything, it wasn’t her business anyways. But this wasn’t something she could overlook, it didn’t sit right to not do anything. Seeing this tiny person so upset because she was lost and didn’t know what to do reminded her of herself, and how she felt growing up.

“Hey sweetie…Did you get separated from your mom?” She asked timidly, slowly making her way closer to her, crouched down slightly so she was level with the kid to not make her feel too intimidated of this stranger coming up to her. The little girl simply nodded in response, wiping at her eyes and nose with the sleeve of the jacket she had on. “Okay. I’m gonna take you to some people that are gonna help find her, alright?” The Lisbon girl offered in the most reassuring tone she could muster up to reassure the child that things would be okay. Gracelessly she led the little girl through the store towards the front, to the customer service area where she knew the girl would be safe and there were people who were more trained on what to do in this kind of situation. Whose hearts probably wouldn’t be on the brink beating out of their chest from anxiousness of having someone else’s safety in their hands, especially when the girl reached up to clutch her hand only managing to hold onto a few of her fingers as they walked.

As awkward as she herself felt, the unknown leading the unknown, she did her best to keep a brave face all the same. The same forced smile she plastered on whenever she went back home, which she hadn’t been back to since her miscarriage. Nova had never been great with kids. They were a huge responsibility, they required lots of time, they were very dependent. They asked for much more than she currently had to give, more than she thought she would ever have to give. And quite honestly she hadn’t had the best examples of parenting. The fear of screwing up another life because of her own damage was real. It was why as shitty as she felt thinking it she was actually sorta relieved when she miscarried. It was a sad situation knowing there had been a life inside of her and losing it from one minute to another. But it didn’t feel sad to her. To be honest she didn’t really feel anything when it happened other than a weight off her shoulders. It felt like she had been granted a second chance at life. A chance to do everything over but better this time. But currently this tiny person was being so strong and entrusting her whole life with someone she didn’t know. The least she could do was act like she had her shit together for a few moments. 

When they made it to the service desk the employees got straight to making an announcement calling for the girl’s mother. Nova turned to head back to finishing her errands but stopped in her tracks when she felt a tug on the back of her shirt. It was the little girl. She begged for her not to leave and Nova didn’t have the heart to tell her no. So she stayed and played the few schoolyard games she remembered, like patty cake and rock paper scissors, with her until her mother arrived. 

The mother’s face was covered in tears as she scooped up her kid and held her close. She thanked Nova over and over again. “I don’t know how to repay you.” She said through her tears. 

“That’s not necessary, ma’am. Seeing how happy you two are is enough repayment for me. Just remember to cherish her the same way you are now always. Even when she gets older and starts giving you a hard time.” She said with a soft laugh and warm smile. As happy as she was for the happily reunited family she felt a pang in her chest as she thought about how broken hers currently was, everyone going in completely different directions once they had left home. It pained her heart to see someone have the kind of relationship she had always wanted with her mother, to see someone be revered simply for existing and not looked down on as if she was a mistake.

Maybe this was a sign. She had overcome every other problem in her life. Maybe it was time she faced the last one holding her back. Letting go of the anger she felt towards her parents. Or at least confront the issue instead of running from it. She pulled out her cellphone and dialed the number of the one parent she wasn’t scared out of her mind to talk to.

“Hey, Dad…How are you?” She asked softly into her phone.

ANYTHING ELSE?

1985

#accepted #submission

[hellyeahheroes]

I like this article for many things. One is the high praises it sings to Monstress

My favorite recent example of this kind of relentlessly detailed, re-centering worldbuilding is Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda’s comic book series Monstress. There’s no naïve narrator here. The reader is thrust into Maika Halfwolf’s complicated, danger-fraught quest—for revenge, self-knowledge, and to possibly to save her kind—without any lead up at all. If The Lord of the Rings were Monstress, the story would’ve started already in Moria. Different races, societies, magical orders, cities, and families weave together in a dense tapestry that serves its own internal logic perfectly. Monstress borrows from any and every genre—high fantasy, horror, steampunk, alternate history, magical girl manga, paranormal romance—and makes itself an entirely new thing that has to be met on its own terms. To help the reader along who is craving more “telling,” every issue includes a bonus feature, a “history lecture” of a professor cat to her kittens. Monstress rewrites the rules so completely that it isn’t until a male character shows up on the last page of issue 4 that one realizes he’s the first male to appear since the very first scene of issue 1. It doesn’t feel “strange” to have an almost completely female cast in Monstress—it doesn’t even feel like some kind of explicitly feminist literary experiment—and it doesn’t feel “political” to have diverse ethnicities and skin tones represented, because it comes across as simply the way things are in that world.

The other is deconstructing how the white cis straight male authorities have set up what is considered good writing by them to be seen as “universal” features of one when it often steems from their own privileged position (in this case being able to emphasize with other white cis straight men they do not need to have expositions to understand the cultural context of their actions)

The first literary writer I heard express open frustration with the literary establishment’s rules for literary fiction was David Foster Wallace, at a talk he gave at the Boston Public Library shortly after Infinite Jest was published. In lit fic you aren’t even supposed to use brand names, he said, because that would “date” your story to a specific time, and literary fiction is supposed to take place in a “universal” world… Which he then pointed out was still supposed to have telephones and automobiles in it (so obviously WAS dated) but not—apparently—IKEA or Coca-Cola (i.e. not THAT dated). Wallace called bullshit.

Wallace was white, male, and privileged, but he was treated as a “young whippersnapper” by the establishment who wanted to tell him what he was and was not allowed to do in his writing. He had no qualms calling out the older generation of writers who had established the rules for modern fiction under the assumption that their experience was “universal.” It wasn’t. It was only “universal” for them. The particular strain of the literary establishment Wallace pushed back against was strongly invested in this mythic ideal of universality. Why? What did they gain from this idea?

They gained the ability to write stories where they could “show” and not “tell,” that’s what. They had this ability not because they were masterful stylists of language or because they dripped with innate talent. The power to “show, not tell” stemmed from the writing for an audience that shared so many assumptions with them that the audience would feel that those settings and stories were “universal.” (It’s the same hubris that led the white Western establishment to assume its medicine, science, and values superior to all other cultures. We’ll come back to that shortly.)

Look at the literary fiction techniques that are supposedly the hallmarks of good writing: nearly all of them rely not on what was said, but on what is left unsaid. Always come at things sideways; don’t be too direct, too pat, or too slick. Lead the reader in a direction but allow them to come to the conclusion. Ask the question but don’t state the answer too baldly. Leave things open to interpretation… but not too open, of course, or you have chaos. Make allusions and references to the works of the literary canon, the Bible, and familiar events of history to add a layer of evocation—but don’t make it too obvious or you’re copycatting. These are the do’s and don’ts of MFA programs everywhere. They rely on a shared pool of knowledge and cultural assumptions so that the words left unsaid are powerfully communicated. I am not saying this is not a worthwhile experience as reader or writer, but I am saying anointing it the pinnacle of “craft” leaves out any voice, genre, or experience that falls outside the status quo. The inverse is also true, then: writing about any experience that is “foreign” to that body of shared knowledge is too often deemed less worthy because to make it understandable to the mainstream takes a lot of explanation. Which we’ve been taught is bad writing!

Bolding mine. And I want to emphasize that last part strongly since this is what is behind a lot of rhetorics used by critics of more diverse books, comic books or movies. Claiming that they are badly written and breaking “show don’t tell” rule or “all about being a minority” when the book needs to explain where the character is coming from because the white cis straight male mainstream simply lacks knowledge necessary to get it. Or declaring character to be acting “bad” or “unlikeable” when the story concedes to these claims and does not try to provide that context they need to make character actions make sense.

Finally, there is this part that I agree wholeheartedly with

So if relentless centering of the naïve is not necessary in SF/F in order to meet the demands of literature, can we take things one step further? I would like to “decolonize” fantasy and science fiction. Literary fiction, I fear, is beyond help because of its overreliance on shared knowledge for its power. The only way to meet the literary “standard” of a “universal” story while writing about any marginalized individual—whether by culture or subculture, whether of color, queer, or even just a woman—is to make the story accessible to the educated white upper middle-class point of view. Even many of the great works of gay male literature like Edmund White’s A Boy’s Own Story fit squarely into this tradition, exploring the angst of discovery of one’s own homosexuality within the framework of a “great American novel” akin to The Catcher in the Rye.

But SF/F can do better. We can break the status quo and leave it broken into a completely new shape. This doesn’t reduce the potential power of an SF/F story: it increases it. Instead of a set of shared assumptions about “universal” setting, the SF/F writer has more control over every aspect of the reader experience. All fiction is metaphor, but in a story where the society, customs, and language are crafted rather than inherited, the reader experience of that metaphor can be all-encompassing. The reader learns powerful cultural norms and acquires the new language the same way they acquired their first one: through experience.

- Admin

#Marvel #DC #Image #writing advice #we need diverse books #diversity #representation #hypocritical critics

[packimprints]

Ship Request for @thisisgospelofthehorizon

If I may, I would like to pretty please ask for a written ship with the wolf pack (& since I am bi I am perfectly okay with including Leah^~^ )

Hello, my name is Anna. I am a plus size lady who is 167cm tall with long bob cut brown hair and green green eyes. My icon is of my face if that helps anything lol also, I wear glasses.

I tend to be a very quiet person in general, but I brighten up a LOT once I trust someone. Despite my being a writer, I have a hard time explaining myself as a person sometimes.

My loved ones have described me as the goddess of weird, super soft rebel, the parental friend (I am such a mom but tell too many dad jokes- therefore, parental friend lmao), soft spoken, a literal cat, and an old but curious soul. Friends across various ages have also told me I am Pixie from the Pixie & Brutus cartoon, on innumerable occasions.

Whether it be a bad or good thing, I tend to get along the most with people older or younger than I am, but not my same exact age. My personal philosophy is “do no harm, but take no shit” (please excuse my language), and definately live up to my Hufflepuff title. 

With being an empath and also having Fibromyalgia, depression, and ptsd, I do best around those who respect my personal boundaries. I tend to show my affection through words of affirmation, and making them either their favourite food or a piece of art. When I get around a potential romantic interest, I tend to divert back to my extremely quiet (but also blushing) state. Because of this, I tend to do better if the potential love interest makes it hella obvious that they return my affection. I am also physically incapable of flirting hahaha

The love languages that I do best in receiving are words of affirmation, physical gifts, and acts of service. The words help calm my anxiety and insecurity, and gifts & acts because not only is it a token/display of affection but I also know that they would be able to take care of me. 

My hobbies include writing, listening to music, singing, creating multimedia art, dancing for exercise, going to museums & libraries, reading, sharing meals with friends, and sleeping lol 

I am a nerd when it comes to fairy tales & mythology across all the different continents. I also am currently learning Korean, Japanese, simplified Chinese, and am hoping to relearn the piano soon. Personally I prefer warmth to cold, going out on weekdays (since it’s quieter), not following the rules (cuz I think outside the box), and keeping an open mind when it comes to new experiences. 

Please forgive me if that was way too long. Thank you so much for your time. I hope you have a great day, take care~

Thank you so much for requesting. I loved the way the description is in detail. From being quiet, to a nerd, reading, getting along with people and the romantic interest philosophy, we are so alike. I tried to tag the person who has requested this but I couldn't.

I ship you with Jacob!

The first thing he noticed about you was your eyes. Beneath your glasses, he saw the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. He knew imprinting made the wolf say that his imprint was the best in the world but it wasn't just your looks but even your personality which captured his heart.

He had come across you for the first time in literature class. He was partnered with you. He saw the dedication on your face and in your writing. He was blown away with the fact that you could imagine so much and you could express your thoughts so well on paper.

"Wow! I never thought Shakespeare was that interesting. You made this complicated scene look so easy and your imagination has given a new approach towards the story."

He kept on rambling on how amazing your writing was. Not trusting him easily, you just smiled. He suggested that you both could study literature in the library which would help him pass in that class.

Your first meet in the library was extremely memorable. You couldn't believe how well he had broken the wall around you and made you feel comfortable with him in just one meeting. He soon realised that you were such a bright sunshine when you were around the people you were comfortable with.

He loved the way you could make anyone comfortable around you. In his eyes you just had to smile and your eyes did the rest to make everyone feel like home when with you. He loved the way you could get along with Emily, Jared and the rest of the pack with such an ease. In the very first meeting at Emily's you were the only one who could manage to get Emily to share with you her famous muffins recipe which she had swore to never share with anyone.

Many people assumed that with your sweet nature the could take advantage of you but you knew how to handle such people. He was first scared and protective of you but, when he saw you stand up for yourself and a boy boy who was being bullied just because you refused to shared your paper which would be considered in the final grading system, he was relieved to see you fighting up for yourself and even for others.

"Babe, I was always so worried about someone advantage of your nature and harm you but look at you, my fighter who, not only fights for herself but even others. I'm so proud of you baby. Now I guess even I and the wolf pack would have to be careful seeing your punches back in the hallway." And he ran away with you chasing him down the hallway in laughter.

"Come here. God I can't keep up with your speed."

He would stop and suddenly pull you closer to him and kiss on your forehead and hug you tight with a smile. He couldn't even imagine losing you. The very thought made him shiver.

He knew there were days and even phases when you didn't feel yourself. But don't worry, you had such an amazing boyfriend who always made sure that you are comfortable and in a very healthy state of mind. If any day you felt low or your health issues got worst, he would be ready with all the remedies to help you through the pain and comfort you. How does he know what you needed? When you tearfully told him about how sometimes it was tough, he, the same night researched about it and was always ready to help you. He always had a chocolate with him saying,

"Baby, there is nothing that a chocolate and a hug from your boyfriend can't fix."

No matter how much he teased you about your dad jokes but on a low day those jokes, your smile and cuddling you could make any day better. He knew you cared for your loved ones like a mother but he ensured that you received the same love and affection in return.

"Baby, what does sprinters eat before race?"

"God! I don't want your jokes again!"

"Babe! This time it's a really great one. Tell the answer."

"I don't know baby. "

"Nothing, They fast."

With this you had to run before your boyfriend grabbed your hand and ruffled your hair in laughter while pulling you close to him.

You guys shared a lot of hobbies. Your favourite past time was reading your favourite book while he laid his head on your lap just enjoying each other's company. He would take you on a dates to various monuments and museums where you discussed various theories you think would be applicable to the art in front of you.

He came to you whenever something troubled him as your open mind and way of looking at things would widen his thinking and make him more matured and he would always a solution to his problems or at least a way to solve the problem.

Both of your were kind of shy and that's what made it work between you guys. You could understand each other's silence. He would love the faint blush on your cheeks whenever you attempted to flirt and which you failed miserably but hey, efforts are more important, right? He would never mind to initiate affection only if your comfortable. Your personalities blended so well that you became each other's strength.

He would spend hours with you in the library and would love to see the sparkle in your eyes whenever you found a chapter in the Chinese or Japanese history exciting.

What the pack thinks of you:

Everyone in the pack loves you. Sam and Emily always find it funny when you guys fight. They even bet on who would win the competition in telling the correct date of a particular event in history.

Paul, Jared, Embry and Quil love to kidnap you for many intellectual sessions just to piss of Jake but it all ends in laughter.

Leah finally found someone with whom she could share her fears and someone to lean on. She is very protective of you.

Seth looks up to you and wishes to be such a kind but not letting anyone take you for granted person just like you.

All credits to the owner.

I really hope you like your ship. If not, I'll be happy to reconsider.

Have a great day and really sorry for posting so late.

Admin T.

#twilight #twilight ships #wolfpack.wolfpack ships #submission

[lunaraen]

Some Aidesse writing?

When it comes to the Order, veryfew things outside their personal rooms are really theirs, and even then, most things inside their rooms are fair gameat some point.

Prank wars typically know nobounds outside the most valuable or cherished of items.

Aiden’s stuff in general, theexception, tends to be left alone, if only because half of it’s somehow managedto find its way into Jesse’s room and because the others warming up to him hasbeen a slow process that mostly involves each side trying to not pick fights orreopen old wounds. Screwing around with what’s his might be well within theirrights, but it’s a risky move if they don’t want to deal with him or the chancethat either side’ll get testy.

But that’s hardly grounds for himto legitimately claim anything outside the shaky domain that’s his room andwhatever he’s left in Jesse’s (or whatever she’s taken from him, like too manyof his shirts and several of the books he’s nabbed from their own privatelibrary).

Aiden can try to stake those claims,maybe, but it doesn’t mean much.

It’s not really practical to tryand act like there’s a spot on the couch that’s his, not when it’s in the living room with several couches that getused regularly by everyone in the Order, those still living in the temple andthose just visiting.

But it’s totally his spot.

It’s cozy, to the far right sideof the couch in front of the fireplace, positioned next to the armrest andright by the small side table, the one typically covered in crumpled papers orwhatever books he’s brought from his room.

Given the trouble Aiden used tocause for nearly all of them regularly, and then the way he almost got Lukasand Jesse killed, it would be easy to steal the spot or rub in the fact thatit’s not his at all and can’t be stolen, that it was their couch first beforeit was ever his, just like this was their home first. None of them have triedit yet, and the more time passes, the less likely he thinks they are to try.

Not worth the time, maybe, or tooclose to stooping to his previous level of petty, but he’s comfortable anyway.

In all their daily chaos androutine, moving between adventures and disasters and even back and forthbetween cities, he’s carved out a little place for himself that feels more andmore normal by the day, a place outside his room or Jesse’s where he can justrelax and watch the chaos whirl by. It’s normal by this point; nobody questionsit anymore, what he wants or what he’s doing here of all places.

It’s nice.

“Hey.” Jesse’s voice isnice too, less startling than pleasant, and Aiden smiles when he looks up,finding Jesse leaning over the couch and smiling down at him through her bangs.

“Hey– oof.” Less nice is the way Jesse jumps the back of the couch,landing less than gracefully in his lap as one of her arms quickly wraps aroundhis shoulders to steady herself. Aiden’s attempts to adjust amount to littlemore than futile, and brief, squirming, one foot letting him know it’s lostcirculation. “Thanks for the warning. Really appreciated that.”

“It’s not my fault you’re sobony.” The wriggle is brief but exaggerated, feigned discomfort betrayedby her grin as she twists enough to wrap her arms around his middle. He’sskinnier than her still, but nowhere near as outright skeletal as he was whenhe first got here.

Jesse, soft as she might be, alsoweighs a considerable amount more simply for all the muscle from training,which is impressive and also currently somewhat unfortunate for his poor legs.

“And it’s not my faultyou’re built like a brick house, but my lap’s suffering for it anyway.”He’d like to consider himself lucky that he’d already set aside his notebookand quill, but Aiden doubts Jesse would have sat on him if it meant possiblyfolding the pages or screwing up his quill, and then they wouldn’t be here,with his knee digging into her side and back or all of her weight pressing downon an oddly turned ankle.

(He supposes he’s just luckyshe’s cuddling with him in the first place, but this position’s notparticularly comfortable and, way shorter than him or not, all that musclemakes her dense.)

“Alright, alright.”Jesse detaches, with a bit more reluctance and dramatics than are probablyneeded, and shifts off his lap, lifting him onto hers before he can adjust. Hisankle appreciates it anyway, half-numb as it dangles off the couch.“Better?”

“I’ll take it.” Hewraps an arm around her shoulders, comfortably loose as his other hand snatchesback up the journal and quill.

“How kind of you. It’s verychivalrous and noble of you to put up with me.”

He grins, feeling as cheeky andsmug as she looks and sounds.

“I know.”

She nudges his shoulder, doing abad job of hiding her smile before ducking her head and briefly nuzzling hisneck. It gets the reaction he knows she’s looking for, and she laughs at hisstuttering yelp, only barely not a laugh itself in a desperate attempt to wardoff more attention to an unfortunately ticklish area.

It works, mostly because Jesse’sattention is now on the words scrawled onto the paper, gaze jumping from theneater sections to the ones almost entirely sketched out.

It’s fun to watch her gaze shift,her head tucked onto his shoulder, and still his grip on the book tightens whenher brow furrows.

“It doesn’t look like yourusual writing.”

And even now, after everything,after years of regret and reform, part of Aiden wants to pull it close to hischest, to get up and leave, to redirect the conversation in some brusque butfinal way to keep her nose out of his business. That desperate, twisting partthinks of insults, cold comments, and the sorts of mocking he’ll be openinghimself up to by answering honestly.

Even if it weren’t Jesse asking,he hopes he wouldn’t listen to it, a remnant of a poor time and a poorerperson, worse in character if nothing else.

But because it’s Jesse asking,with all the curiosity she can have and none of the malice or even teasing he’dunderstand and expect from someone else, it’s an easy urge to shove down,because he never wants to be that person again and especially not around her.

“It's–” Aiden pauses,licking his lips instead of biting the lower one again and hopes it makes himseem more at ease, “it’s not. It’s a letter– well, maybe two. I’m tryingto draft it. I was wondering if you could, y'know, read it over. I want to knowif I’m saying it right; there’s still a lot I want to touch up, I’m just notsure how yet.”

He knows if he asked the twopeople he’s writing to, they’d tell him to forget it.

Heck, he fully expects Maya tojust storm the temple after getting hers to chew him out for not visiting andfor being dumb about it when they live in the same town.

(She gets grumpy enough as it iswhenever he rightly mentions that their years-long “exile” in SkyCity was mostly, if not entirely, his fault, along with all the emotional andphysical bumps that came with prison and reform; neither of them ever blamedhim then, and they seem more than convinced now that all of them getting homewas solely because of his letter.)

It’s a five minute walk to theirplace, and it feels more potentially daunting than any of the much longer walkshe takes every day to get to whatever build he and the rest of the constructionteam are working on somewhere in Beacontown.

He hasn’t been to their part oftown yet, luckily enough, for work or for his own curiosity since he went weeksago to check out their new house.

Aiden picks at the upper cornerof the page, already curling and creased.

Letters are easier than actualtalking. In theory.

They might think he’s dumb forit, but he knows they’d appreciate the thought behind the letters.

Well, if he splits the letterinto two. He wants to write them each their own letter, but he knows they’lljust read each other’s anyway. They live together, and while they’ll respecteach other’s privacy and let each read the letter meant for them, Gill sucks atkeeping things from Maya whether she’s trying hard or not to get him to spill.

She’s terrifying when she wantsto be, and Gill’s sappy either way.

And, as Aiden’s learned, ifeither of them are worried or annoyed with Aiden, they’ll be sure to let eachother know it through letter-sharing and ranting, because they’re the type offriends to worry like that when they don’t really need to and really shouldn’tbe concerned in the first place.

Still, they’re worth the effort.If they share theirs, that’s their right.

Jesse’s hand squeezes his arm,gently, and he doesn’t know if it’s meant to be reassuring or just supposed todrag him out of his thoughts.

It manages to succeed at bothanyway.

“I’d love to check it.”As interested as she sounds, she doesn’t make much of an effort to hide yetanother glance between the writing and him, mouth pulling into a frown.“Are you sure it’s okay?”

“I figure between me andLukas, you’ve seen plenty of bad drafts and more than enough trash writing. I know you’ve read worse from mebefore.”

Aiden’s letter to her, afterthey’d dealt with the Admin, read as desperate and awkward even when he wroteit, if significantly more mellow than anyone would have probably expectedbefore Sky City. Now it reads as even lousier than he remembered, too formal inall the wrong places and too informal simply because of their history.

With any luck, writing to twopeople who’ve been his best friends for almost as long as he can remembershould be easier, because and in spite of all their history and everythingAiden’s ever done.

“It’s never as bad as eitherof you think. That seems like a writer thing.” Aiden bites back a commentabout how it might be more about them, about their history where, even as Lukasstayed quiet, he was just as subjected to the Ocelot attitude of tearing peoplebesides themselves down for just about anything as Aiden was. If he staysquiet, they can avoid that conversation and Jesse can have more time to lookfor issues. Jesse tilts her head, eyes skimming the page for only a few momentsmore before she points at one line. “It doesn’t hurt to have a newperspective, though. I don’t think that’s supposed to be about theirhorse.”

Aaaaaaaaand maybe Jesse will justspot an obvious typo he should’ve caught in the first place, the scrawledsentence looking more rushed and oddly asking about their horse in a paragraphotherwise focused on their new garden and built home upgrades.

It’s the sort of thing that makesoutsider proof-reading valuable.

“Oh, bite me.” He huffsunder his breath as he scratches out the word, writing the slightly neatercorrected version above it. It’s why he has drafts, beyond his inability to besatisfied with a letter the first time. “I knew I missed something.”

“Only if you’reasking.” Her grin’s cheeky as can be, all teeth to let him know exactlywhat she’s responding to and accompanied by an over the top eyebrow waggle.

He loves her so much; it doesn’tmake her less of a dork. It’s just part of what he loves about her.

It doesn’t keep Aiden frompushing her shoulder, rolling his eyes as his tone goes dry, not monotone butas overtly sarcastic as he can make it.

“It’ll be hard for you toactually read if you’re busy gnawing on me. I taste terrible.”

“You’re not as bad as youthink.” He should expect the kiss on the cheek; he doesn’t. “In a lot of cases.”

Aiden could be sarcastic again,more biting or dry about how that’s not much of a surprise and how he’s good at being wrong, but the only thingdry is the inside of his mouth and he can’t help the lopsided smile.

“Good. That means there’shope.”

“There’s always hope.”

…that’s the sort of mindset hewants, and he hopes Jesse’s feedback will help let that bleed into the letter,spill over into whatever the finished products look like.

They all deserve a little morelight like that.

#My Stuff #fanfiction #mcsm #Minecraft Story Mode #Anonymous

[beneaththetangles]

When Your Story Becomes Your Manifesto

We’re proud to bring you another piece today from Tyler Burnette, one of our most active partners at Beneath the Tangles and a benefactor. You can catch him talking about theology, wrestling, and all things in between in his role as an admin on our Discord Channel, or commenting on our Facebook page.

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Writing fiction can be quite difficult work. In order to build characters, worlds, plots, and a mythos, it necessitates that you fully understand the world view of your protagonist and antagonist and at least partly understand the supporting characters. This is why many authors use people they know or self-insert themselves into supporting roles or even the protagonist spot. It makes a good deal of sense. You write what you know, and only God can know you better than yourself. This sometimes leads to a series having a distinct perspective on the world and a unique experience.

I was pondering this for a while as I watched The Rising of the Shield Hero during the past couple months. The main plot is your standard isekai fare of a struggle against an unnatural extradimensional threat called “waves” that threaten to unseat governments and plunge the world into destruction and chaos, making the stakes as high as can be. Some of the lesser but more prevalent antagonists in the show also enact evil deeds, and that’s where I want to focus. The series has definitely had its share of clashes with the intersectional left over a number of issues. Some viewers dropped the series over issues with slavery as well as having the decidedly politically incorrect storyline of nearly getting the protagonist killed with a false rape accusation by the princess Myne in order to steal all of his belongings and imprison him, akin to the Biblical story of Potipher’s wife.

Later on, Myne actually does attempt to commit anime character assassination (pun intended) when she sends a platoon of guards to murder Melty, her sister and heir apparent to her mother’s kingdom. There’s probably not a good bone in her body. It reminds me of Emperor Palpatine from Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith in how Myne takes smug joy in being as evil as possible. Even during her trial when all of her schemes are laid bare, she sees fit to tell blatant lies even when she’s under a truth ward, and the creators see fit to degrade her with blatant fanservice in what is supposed to be a dramatic moment of comeuppance and justice. There is no hiding the author’s disdain for this character, and he wants to see every misfortune and degradation befall her.

The king Aultcray Melromarc, while not as deviously contrivance as his daughter, works actively to hinder the Shield Hero at every turn, but his motive for why he hates the Shield Hero on such a personal level is not fleshed out as much as I would expect. He appears to exist to have an authority foil to Naofumi. His evils seem to spawn more from incompetence and gullibility than malice. At one point he demands that Naofumi fight the Spear Hero in an obviously rigged duel with the pretense of liberating Raphtalia when it’s fairly clear slavery is at the very least tolerated in his kingdom, and he himself has a significant role in the systemic racism against the demi-humans. The implication is fairly blatant that it’s just a move to weaken the Shield Hero’s influence and effectiveness to lose his only present means of dealing damage in combat, a scheme likely devised by the princess. The indecisiveness and moral apathy of the king is seen as a form of evil in itself by the writer, as it allows evil people to subvert the best interests of a country when a king lacks the presence of his own will.

I believe it is fairly clear that we are meant to view the princess and her father as the definitive villain antagonists in the series. They are to be viewed with the scorn the author has for the acts of evil they perpetrate. These characters are not nuanced, and they do not have much in the way of large political machinations. While their voice actors and artists do a splendid job depicting them, ultimately they are not as much characters as much as vessels for the traits in humanity the author despises. We are meant to feel our own sense of justification, just as the author does when writing in their punishments. It reminds me of the famous Objectivist author Ayn Rand, in her book Atlas Shrugged. At one point she placed several characters on a train, each of whom embodied the things which she hated about human nature and collectively casts judgement upon them not just as characters but as an exercise in moral catharsis where she has them die unceremoniously when their train crashes. The writer Whittaker Chambers recognized this and coitized Rand on it.

Likewise, in The Rising of the Shield Hero, the princess and her father are placed in stockades to be beheaded by their sovereign, the queen, who in herself is also a vessel for what the writer believes is good. The queen seeks justice for her people, but at the same time has compassion for her daughter and husband, and in a bit of a nod to the Japanese bushido code, would have stabbed herself in remorse over the shame, dishonor, and corruption she brought to her people by letting her family get out of hand. The whole time I was expecting and hoping for some kind of plot twist where the heroes and villians reverse roles somehow or spiral into some kind of betrayal against the Naofumi, but everything happens as telegraphed. I even predicted some of the plot points to my wife while we watched the show. The author slides his self-insert protagonist into the scene to break up the executions just in time and implements his own punishments which are really just slaps on the wrist comparatively. I suspect it is an attempt by the author to embody his hero with both justice and mercy. They are merely given derogatory nicknames as punishment. Logically, letting two monstrous characters like this live would easily cause a succession crisis after it’s clearly established that Myne is willing to murder her way into the line of succession.

Another arc which could be interpreted in this way is his conflict with their religious figurehead and his followers. The Pope views the Shield Hero as the devil, likely because of some previous experience in that world we are told about, and he refuses to consider Naofumi as different. He musters all of his followers to entrap Naofumi in a crater he created trying to destroy Naofumi with a holy spell. The Pope brings along his followers and acolytes to feed him spiritual energy, which potentially kills some or knocks them unconscious. One probably wouldn’t be too far off to read this as a criticism of organized religion. Eventually Naofumi gives into his demon power in his shield and summons a blood monster to shatter the Pope’s staff and bloodily eviscerate him like something out of Evil Dead. There is not much here to dig deeply into theologically as they don’t exchange much in terms of philosophical banter. He is a pretty one-note villain, and I didn’t gain much out of the fight. I definitely feel the conflict was an potentially an externalization of the creators’ opinion of organized religion if not Christianity. It probably can be a skippable arc if you don’t like “evil Catholicism” stand-ins.

It is difficult to say if the use of slavery in the series is nuanced or deconstructive. It is an odd choice of plot device to introduce Naofumi to harem girl #1, whom he has battle for him. When I word it that way, it sounds really bad, but it’s a video game world. He genuinely cares for her throughout the series, and it’s pretty clear the author intends them to be shipped together. The concept of freedom and willful servitude is played with a little bit, but I can’t say it’s well articulated how the audience is supposed to feel about Naofumi keeping Raphtalia as his battle-pet versus the slave trader selling his demi-human stock among the citizenry. A noble is introduced in the second season who captures demi-humans upon which to enact various unspoken evils, resulting in the death of one of Raphtalia’s old friends. This noble meets a gruesome end fairly quickly in trying to summon a demon which could have some metaphorical parallels to the evils of slavery, but I suspect it’s just mechanism to allow Naofumi to fight a boss and introduce the Filolial Queen.

Another potential signal that a series has a self-insert protagonist is within the blessings gifted to the hero. Many series craft the protagonist to be a reader self-insert, often a bland milquetoast every-man the reader can identify with and project themselves onto for the purpose of showing off the supporting characters. Other characters can be excitable and energetic, or targets for comedic relief as entertainment comes from the other characters interacting with them. They are often defined by their flaws of timidity or recklessness. However, self insert characters are defined by their lack of flaws. This is most obvious in fan fiction, but you see it in any medium, especially in our the modern era of self-idolization. Naofumi starts out with a bland existence in the real world but is soon sent into another world where he quickly receives the most underrated and powerful weapon in the world, the third best anime girl of 2019 as his girlfriend-slave (coming in a distant third behind Chiaki Fujiwara and Kaguya Shinomiya. Fight me.), and a three-girl harem, and he is generally the most rational person in the realm because he has the bird’s eye perspective of the whole scenario. What he lacks is a flaw in the writer’s eyes. The only thing he gets “criticized” by the Filolial Queen on is his lack of cooperation with the other heroes, which to the audience’s perspective is understandable given what jerks the other heroes are. His immediate turn from reluctance to friendship and burying the hatchet with the other heroes shows him as reasonable and forgiving. For all of these benefits he has, the series writes him as having no true flaws, as flaws are written in to be corrected in a character arc. Unless the author is telling a story about his own struggles in life and is opening his heart to the viewers, you will not see significant character flaws in self-insert protagonist.

Interestingly, the way Naofumi behaves from the start of the series is not flawless, and those traits never really go away or result in even so much as a brief scolding as he is written to hold the highest moral authority. The Queen is intended to come close, but she is not given much in the way of screen time relative to the protagonist to develop her motives or examine her decisions. Naofumi feels immediately scammed by the world he enters as his reputation becomes tarnished, and nobody wants to be his partner except the woman who accuses him of rape and steals all of his stuff. People slander his name and refuse him business, with many trying to cheat him save for one blacksmith who exists out of necessity. Because of this, Naofumi takes a demeanor indicative of a belief common in the modern “alt-right” which believes that, “They’re going to call us evil no matter what we do. We might as well be the evil they call us.” This of course is a flawed perspective, but for the first few episodes it’s the one Naofumi embodies. He harasses shopkeepers, buys a slave, and generally acts standoffish and distant from the other characters until he warms up to Raphtalia. In his evils that he does, Naofumi receives no punishment because I believe we’re intended to feel he is justified in the sense of “an eye for an eye” and “doing unto others as they do unto you.” He does evolve into a better person over time, but moral comeuppance does not happen to him unlike the other characters in the series. I think this is possible because most creators are reluctant to hurt or chastise themselves in their own works.

Why do we do this? Is it human nature to want to plug ourselves into a historical or fictional event? Is it just escapism combined with some form of self-vindication? Are we just seeking our own fame and recognition, or is there something more to it? The early church had problem with this often. Christ wasn’t the only person to proclaim he was the Messiah or God incarnate. Of course, all other claimants fell by the wayside, but even under risk of execution there were still illegitimate pretenders to God’s throne, and it was enough of a threat to be warned against in the Bible. Likewise, some attempted to unduly influence the doctrine of the early church by writing their own fictional accounts of history and scripture, potentially not even for the purpose of derailing Christianity, but just because they wanted their own perspective and story told among society. Pride is a dangerous vice to others as well as ourselves, and we always need to keep it in check lest we misorder our priorities.

In no way am I calling out the author Aneko Yusagi in any negative way if he intentionally or subconsciously wrote a part of himself and his world view into the Shield Hero. I know that if I were to write an anime or work of creative fiction, I would absolutely make it a vehicle for my own worldview because that’s how my brain works. I would want to convey my thoughts on morals and society rather than entertain my readers. The Rising of the Shield Hero, however, does an admirable job of both, helping it to become one of my favorite anime this year.

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Let Tyler know what you think of his analysis in the comments below. Did he get it right? Wrong? Both? You can also touch base with him on Discord.

#Anime #Christianity #Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari #The Rising of the Shield Hero #Writing #Articles #Author: Tyler Burnette #Guest Post

[sol1056]

hey im the anon who asked about how you knew the stuff, sorry i wasn't too clear on what. i just read the post explaining EPs and how the behind the scene stuff worked and i wanted to know how you knew all that, like are you involved in the industry? or just a nerd?

gotcha! Well, remember how back in S1/S2, people kept pointing out Hunk could be… awfully nosy? always getting into things, asking questions?

I was over here going, YES HUNK IS MY PEOPLE. 

It’s a hallmark of a certain type of engineer: insatiable curiosity, and never satisfied with only one answer, always sure there’s more to discover. Okay, we’re not all engineers — a lot of us are Russian Lit majors — but the key is our drive to discover. We take apart, put back together, connect dots close and far, turn things around and study them from a new direction. We’re those people who randomly show up in your part of the building, poke our heads in the room and say, “so, what do all y’all do here? what’s this do? hey, what’s that?”

Despite the fact that most of us seem to be (strangely) strong introverts, that doesn’t stop us. We’ve got questions for everyone. We’ll talk to total strangers all day if we’re on the trail of a particularly interesting idea. In a nutshell, we’re utterly shameless.

I did post-production back when NLE was relatively new and the compositing applications required massive nearly-mainframe computing power. I was mostly in the sfx/cg areas, but I weaseled my way into the color suite pretty regularly. I sat in on editing sessions and was a happy lunch-fetching lackey if it got me a chance to watch the compositing team. Any lull meant a chance to chat up directors, cinematographers, producers, etc. I totally took advantage. 

It’s been awhile since I did that – and since then I’ve been a roady, a mental health & substance abuse admin, a doorman, and even owned a bookstore, before going corporate. But for every wacky thing I’ve done, I’ve also kept in touch with people I met. Frex: the friend who got me the post-production job is now an executive producer. Yes, I do call him with questions. He’s used to it. If he doesn’t know an answer, he sends me to someone who does. (Another reason we’ve been friends for so long.) One answer is never sufficient, never a reason to stop there.

Meet one novelist, get introduced to six more, and three of them write for TV. Oh, that’s handy. Should save that contact, could be useful someday. It’s actually rare for someone to say no, come to think of it. idk, as long as I can get access, I can usually get the person to tell me something I can use. 

However, since my actual area of expertise applies across many industries, I’ve worked all kinds of places. A lot of it’s client-facing, and if you think that means I’m not wandering around the client site poking my head into rooms and cheerfully interviewing people on the spot, then you haven’t been paying attention.

Now that I work at a multinational corporation, I have literally thousands of people in my network, including everyone who’s moved on to a new place. You might be surprised how many people are fine with, “hey, I work at X with Y, and Y told me you’d know this.” Of course, everyone has a bias and a view limited to their own experience, so you can’t stop there. You can’t really understand a situation without knowing the agendas of all the players. You gotta ask a bunch of people, make sure you’re getting the most rounded sense of things. 

Not really a hardship for me. It’s kinda the whole point. 

People are people everywhere (outside cultural quirks), and it’s rare I’m ever researching a single person (I’m not an investigative journalist, if you were wondering). Most of the time, I’m looking for the industry-based cultural expectations. As in, “given X and Y, what would someone who does A generally think is a reasonable action, in this situation?”  

The key is to have a believable reason for asking, and being a writer definitely qualifies. “I’m researching for a story, and I have a character who do X. I wanted to know if it’s realistic for them to know Y. Who do you think would be the best person to ask?” I frequently cold-call, and I never ask “is there someone there,” I ask who they think is the best person. A lot of times it ends up being someone that the phone operator knows (personally or by reputation) who’s full of bizarre trivia and enjoys a chance to show it off. (Plus, it’s amazing what you can learn about a person from all the other subtle cues people are unaware they’re telling, when they’re focused on their area of expertise.)

That’s how I ended up interviewing the Director of the DEA about whether a non-US-university degree would satisfy the education requirement. His letter of introduction got me monthly lunches for awhile with the DEA director in my city. (Oh, the stories I heard.) It’s how I learned about sheep subsidies from one of the top execs at the USDA, and that there’s a single surviving Civil War widow still getting a VA pension. Going in person is even more fun. You could wind up talking to one of the very few artists in the world whose speciality is touching up pre-Renaissance books so the repairs aren’t visible. Or the art historian whose job is going through the nation’s attic and identifying century-old fakes. 

I’ve talked to embassy officials from five different countries, NASA biophysicists and astrophysicists, OSHA inspectors, Nobel prize-winning economists, police detectives, celebrity chefs, environmental lawyers, arena-level sound-people, race-car drivers, potters, opera singers, patent examiners, train mechanics, fire marshals, foley artists, and club DJs. I’ve interviewed fashion photographers, farriers, puppeteers, lighting designers, Catholic bishops, bioethicists, rabbis, fighter pilots, public radio personalities, newspaper editors, chemists, club organizers, war correspondents, Episcopalian nuns (yes they exist), textile artists, prison architects, midwives, cabinetmakers, tall ship sailors, haute couture seamstresses, and civil engineers. On and on and on. 

Don’t neglect official avenues, either. The Department of Labor, the International Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, the Screen Writers’ Guild, the list is nearly endless — any organization, union, or federal/state dept that sets or guides policy. Everyone has a bias, so what people consider normal is sometimes… not. Or they just didn’t know (or saw no need to know, the fools) the reason for A over B. You have to check the rules, because a discrepancy between what you’re told should be done versus what people tell you is actually done… is also useful to know. 

(Labor practices are definitely one of those areas, since federal labor policy is something every company must observe. It’s the law. So when a workplace seems to be violating the law, it raises a lot of interesting questions.) 

And finally, of course, there’s traditional research. Textbooks written by people in an industry can be particularly interesting, especially if it’s a book meant for readers outside that industry (which usually means a lot of firsthand anecdotes to round out the gaps). Popular articles, academic essays, post-mortem white papers, TED talks, interviews. You need to do your basic homework, because there’s no waste of someone’s time quite like asking them a question that’s patently absurd once you get past common assumptions. 

I once explained the plot of a popular SF show to a NASA astrophysicist, and his response was simply, “Every word you used was English, but those words in that order make absolutely no sense at all.” Kind of a dead-end, there. You can’t come at a top-level expert with intro-level questions. 

Since I don’t always know who I’ll stumble over next, being an information sponge means I at least have a whole encyclopedia of analogies. If I can find  common ground (cars and houses are two of the best), I can at least get a basic idea of the person’s meaning. “Oh, so it’s like when you turn the key in the ignition, and the lights don’t come on because the battery is dead?” 

It’s asking the right questions, using an open and friendly approach, and having the right timing. Remember: there is no such thing as unskilled labor; there is only undervalued labor. That is, their time is also valuable, so be brief, open, and sincere. Treat every person as if they’re an authority in something, even if you haven’t figured out what that is. 

The world is a massively complex place, and contains more things than are dreamt of in our philosophies, all of it waiting to be discovered.

Or, the shorter version:

btw: I don’t actually recommend going in person to the Dept of the Interior, though. You’ll get lost. Like, instantly. That place is MASSIVE.

#research #asking questions #to paraphrase bertrand russell #it's a good thing #to hang a question mark #on things you've long taken for granted

[rkrosememories]

hello everyone, i hope you’re all well. happy rkfifth! five years, that’s a fair portion of time, half a decade in fact! i was contemplating on whether i wanted to write up one of these posts, as i usually do something similar when my own personal anniversary with rookies comes around, but for the sake of this being the big ol’ 5, i’m willing to do it. let’s take a walk down memory lane shall we and see where it all began for little ol’ me ( i got a job interview today, yay! )

i joined the krp community in august 2014, and rookies was one of those rps i considered joining, and a part of me wishes i did. i didn’t though, i found the large size of the roleplay to be somewhat intimidating so i ended up going on to make my own idol themed roleplay; which was fairly successful in its own way! ( r.i.p apollokrp ). but, i did end up meeting steph there, and eventually, i would end up being convinced to join rookies in july 2015; bringing forth my first rk muse, rkseokmin ( that’s dokyeom of seventeen, btw ). he didn’t last for long, and neither did my other two muses rkkyungri ( yes, i roleplayed kyungri prior to this, looking back, she was sort of like rkrose, being from australia and all ) and rksana, who i brought to rookies in july 2015 and december 2015. and now, looking back i don’t really have any strong attachments to these muses, i think i really just brought them in on a whim, and it wouldn’t be until the following year that i truly found my place at rookies.

come may 2016, season three of the mgas had begun and i decided to give rookies another go. damn rp! pulling me in and trying to get me invested! this time round, i brought forth a muse which y’all will definitely be familiar with. rkjuyeon, who was known as rkseo back then. and for anyone newer, that’s rksaercm. it all began with her, my tall dancing gay who had ambitions of idoldom since a young age. she had auditioned with her cousin in a process called the deathmatches ( you guys, if you weren’t around during like ... early 2016, you won’t know the pain of reserving / applying etc. as the old main blog was ancient. anyways, bless the rookies team for keeping everything going for so long ) and she failed to make it through. meanwhile, her cousin ends up winning the whole goddamn program. what a fluke. i did end up dropping her though, although she did return a few months later in september!

and we fast forward to july 2016; enter rkrose. blackpink’s iconic dance practice video was released and instantly fell in love, with one member in particular ( everyone was ranting and raving about lisa, but i couldn’t take my eyes off of the girl with braids in her hair ). that girl, was park chaeyoung, who like me, is a fellow australian! i instantly knew that i had to bring her to rookies, along with rose and keith ( who play lisa and jisoo, and eventually lari would end up completing the rkblackpink lineup that we know today with jennie ). looking back, i don’t really know how i envisioned rkrose to be; i mean, she was signed to royal within her first six months of being at rookies! she won the kt & royal contest, if ya didn’t know! she is probably the muse i am most well-known for, likely for not so good reasons. she’s been through countless “scandals” in her time, things of which are likely both of our faults. i’m not ashamed of her though ( more so of my own actions ). i think she’s a good egg.

when rookies gave us permission to go ahead with third muses, i think we all went a little crazy. i’ve had quite a few third muses, some whom i’m sure i can’t really remember, but rkchangkyun and yugyeomrk come to mind; i’m sure some of you might be baffled to know that i’ve ever actually roleplayed a male before, considering the fact that all i talk about on twitter is girls and girl groups. ah i forgot i did actually bring rkclaudia to rookies, aka moon hyuna. but we come full circle, and in march 2018, we meet rkkyungri, who is my third and final muse at rookies ( unless y’know, y’all wanna open up fourth muses to the public rk, because i’m down for that, i have many stories to share still wink wonk ). she was unlike any of my rookies muses; an ex-idol who failed at achieving her dream the first time round.

so, here we are, december 2018; i’ve given you a rather comprehensive and detailed run down on my past with rookies, muses wise that is, because there is a ton more to talk about. and i shall, because i want to be able to commemorate this special occasion! i think it is healthy to reflect on things that have happened in the past, so we can learn from our mistakes and better ourselves as people and writers. i have had my fair share of negative and positive experiences at rookies, and i think it’s normal to. rookies is a really big place, and people are bound to bump heads and not get along, that’s just human nature. i think that a good portion of my problems at rookies have been because of miscommunication. so new members, please take a leaf out of my book and remember that communication is key! also don’t get swept up in ooc drama and take your problems to the mods! that’s what they’re here for ( and they do an excellent job of it, thank you guys <33 ).

i really am invested in rookies; invested in the plot, the characters and their stories. i think it’s so amazing that we have a place on the internet where things can unfold and happen in real time almost. krp can be so fast-paced and it’s refreshing to see a place like rookies. i don’t think i could ever truly leave rookies behind, well, one day i’m probably going to have to, but that is another thing; rk is always there. rookies has reached five years. five! years! and that is a momentous occasion, because some rps don’t even see five months. as someone who has been an admin countless of times in the past, i have always wondered how rookies withstood the test of time, and now, having been apart of rookies for nearly three years, i think i understand now. many things go into making a roleplay work: the admin team and the members must work cohesively together, and i think we at rookies all do a good job of that. 

i have learnt a lot at rookies, and i think i definitely have a lot more to learn and experience. i must say, going into the new year, i really want to work on being more productive. some of you amaze me! replying every week, getting those points! you get that, pal! it’s really, really inspiring, and i want to be more like that. i’m honestly amazed i’ve made it two years at rk, as i’m someone who gets bored easily ( i also have commitment issues to some extent ). there have been countless occasions where i’ve wanted to give up and drop my muses, be it lack of motivation or drama, but the sole fact that i’ve dedicated two whole years to creating these characters is an incentive to keep going. i’ve always loved writing and i love that i have a space to share my creativity, interests and dreams with like minded people! i think that rings true for a lot of other people, but i’m sure y’all have your own reasons for sticking around.

i don’t think a post like this would be complete without some shout outs, but this part for me will probably be lacking, whoops. maybe i can make that another goal of mine. socialise more.

steph ( @jungwooxrk​​ ), thank you for introducing me to rookies and convincing me to join. we’ve been friends since december 2014!?! which feels like a long ass time. you were my first real internet friend and i’m very grateful to of met you. thank you for writing with me and putting up with me!

rose ( @rklisa​ ), keith ( @rkjisoo​ ) & lari ( @rkjennie​ ), rkblackpink is precious and means so much to both me and rkrose. although we don’t talk as much as much as i would like ( or we should??? ) i’m so happy that we’ve got y’all, i hope that our girls can experience many more things together. 

shinobi ( @rkkangjoon​ ) thank you so much for putting up with me. we’ve been through a lot of crap but i’m really thankful that we’re still able to talk despite everything. i hope you know that kangjoon will forever be important to rose, he was her first real boyfriend after all! thank you for putting up with us both! we love you! <33

peach ( @rkhaechan ) i don’t think rkrose would be who she is today without you and the help of jaebum. after a year of depression i think she’s back on her feet though!! toughest 12 months as a writer! but, despite everything we’ve been through, i’m so thankful we’re still able to talk. i also love your new muses, haech is a cutie & i love him very much :((((

lemon ( @rkyena ) aaaaaah i can’t believe i forgot to put you in here, i’m so sorry. thank you sO MUCH for putting up with me and my forgetfullness. i really love seoyoung as a muse and i’m excited to see her grow as an idol! also saeseo?! 

nana ( @younghyunrk​ ) i’m so thankful that i get to talk to you almost everyday!? i feel as though these past few months we’ve been able to get close which is exciting because you are awesome & i treasure you a ton! i’m excited for whats to come in the following months for our muses! hopefully we meet when i fly over your way sometime soon! i love youuu!!! <33

royal and sphere trainees! i would tag you all, but i’ll be here forever. thank you for making me feel included, even if i don’t participate in the group chat! i love our group antics, like photocard swapping, that was fun. thank you for taking care of both me and my girls, rose and saerom. i would like to work on getting closer to y’all!

and our incredible mod team, you know who they are, they know who they are. thank you so much, for everything you do. you guys keep this place safe, happy and running for all of us, all while writing for your own muses and keeping up with real life stuff like work and school?! incredible! amazing! fantastic! thank you for being so accepting and welcoming and supportive. i love y’all a ton and i don’t think this little message truly explains how grateful i truly am. thank you, for all that you do. 

i’m sorry if i forgot anyone in particular, i probably did and i’m sorry; i don’t have the greatest memory. just know that i’m grateful for you! even if we’ve never spoken to eachother before! thank you for making rookies the place it is! that being said, i should probably work on wrapping this whole thing up, since it’s getting pretty darn long and i would like to do some things today prior to this job interview i have later ( please send positive vibes, i’m going to need them ; _ ; )

these past two, nearly three years have been absolutely wonderful. i’m bummed i didn’t join rk back in the day but maybe the fact that i joined later was a good thing? i mean, everything happens for a reason right? these years have been hard and tiring but also very exciting and rewarding, and i’m very enthused to see where 2019 takes me and my girls, along with you and your muses! lets work hard and be happy, happy rkfifth everyone <3

  - lots of love, from sacha!

#♡ ┋ out of character. #rkfifth