#why is wuthering heights fanfic so SAD

[thatscarletflycatcher]

I'm interested in Jane Eyre (cool gifsets help, ngl) but what I know of the plot keeps putting me off. I'm not looking for fiction to be some version of moral superiority and I don't mind plots where Bad And Terrible Things Happen. I think the bits I know of this book maybe just hit the squicky spot for me? But, like, everyone's read it and if it's worth pushing through with, I guess...I'd like to know what you think makes it worth reading.

Hi, anon, and sorry for the delay.

I think Jane Eyre is a fascinating book.

It is, of all the Brontë sisters books I have read (with Wuthering Heights and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall) the most fantastic and sweeping one*. That's why I usually call it "pulpy": it indulges in the emotions, its prose is beautiful, the plot goes from Dickensian misery to stern didactics to silliness to bonkers drama to psychological horror and a mystical reunion and happily ever after. And the most fascinating part is that, while Charlotte Brontë was known for her careful almost obsessive care in her choice of words, and some of the contrasts and foils are evident, a lot of the time I'm not sure all that one can read in the text is intentional. I'm half persuaded that a lot of its silliness was written in deep serious earnest. Intentionally or not, there's a lot to be read into the text, from several different angles, because the point of view from which it is written is very strong.

Another reason to read it is because it has inspired and keeps inspiring so much of what is written in romance and romance fanfic (I joke that about 70% of all P&P fanfic is some vague variation on Jane Eyre), and yet the tropes and characterizations derived from it are heavily distorted (the principled heroine becomes the stubborn stupid heroine, the conflicted idiot hero is turned into an asshole with a sad backstory, love not being enough to fix the hero becomes the hero is fixed by the love of the heroine... the list goes on).

Not knowing what your specific squicks are, it's difficult to tell how much worth the effort it is or not to you. In any case, it is a book in the public domain so you can get it in places like Project Gutenberg or Wikisource for free, give it a try, and see how far you can go.

I have two tips that might help: while romance is very important in this novel, it is by its own definition, an autobiography. It is the life journey of Jane Eyre and what she learns in the way as she grows and interacts with other people. I believe it is at its core message a story about breaking cycles of abuse through mercy and forgiveness, about the cruelty of mankind and the love of Divine Providence that writes straight on crooked lines. That's usually my problem with the "but, girl, he had a wife in the attic!!" brand of criticism. We know. It's a major plot point in the novel. It's a very significant thing that happens and all that is misguided and bad in it has serious consequences. "But in real life...!" this is a novel where the resolution hinges on two people having a ¿telepatic communication? ¿mystical selective amplification? while being many many miles apart. I don't think "realism" is much the thing with it. And in any case, "go away from the guy that lied to you until you become rich and he's smitten by God and you hear his telepatic call in the wind" is not the kind of example or advice that could do harm in real life (I'm half joking, I know what they mean. Still. It's fantastical).

*this does not mean it is the best one; just that the other two are far far more grounded stories, with less of the fairytale and the fantastic in them.

#Jane Eyre #ask #anonymous

[reds-revenge]

I’m back! Turns out grad school is slower than I thought it would be, and I got super into writing a fanfic, so doing that and not being on here felt weird honestly.

it’s been long enough that I thought I might do a short get to know me post? I always want to have a little guide to people I know so it only seems fair that I make one for people who know me.

I go by Kira (she/her), but you can call me Red if you want to. It’s my IRL nickname. I don’t get too specific online, but I’m in my twenties. My family is batshit crazy and I love them.

I’m from the Pacific Northwest and I really, really love it, weird hot dogs and everything. I also love science, hiking, dead languages, art, indie music, classical literature, and weird animals. I’m in grad school for science and weird animals, but sadly not the rest of it.

I write fanfic for Wuthering Heights (currently in a sad state of neglect) and, recently, Star Wars. I kind of just drop a fanfic with no tags on it and then try to forget about it, which is like the opposite of what you’re supposed to do I’m pretty sure.

Fair warning, I tend to be a little dark when I’m talking about fiction because I use it to work through what I think about dark things, especially ones relevant to my life, which is often slightly out of control in a slightly bizarre way. I don’t know why; I just seem to be a weirdness magnet. I kinda like it though.

I think that’s it! It’s great to be back!

#a reds revenge original #about me

[dobranocka]

writer questions: 14, 25, 28, 32 <3

14. Do you lend your books to people? Are people scared to borrow books from you? Do you know exactly where all your “lost” books are and which specific friend from school you haven’t seen in twelve years still possesses them? Will you ever get them back?

...asks a person I joke with about having a shared library. But yes, absolutely, to the point I shove my favourite books at everyone. My sister still has one of my favourite poem books I gave her like seven years ago. My friend from work I quitted in 2019 is hanging on my Voices from Chernobyl. Marron - a person asking this - borrowed my Three Kingdoms and I don't think she will give it back. I am big fan of "books are meant to be shared". The downside is - I am terrible at giving people books back. As Marron knows :*

25. What is a weird, hyper-specific detail you know about one of your characters that is completely irrelevant to the story?

I don't think I do know that - I feel like for me, everything about the character is somehow related to a story I am trying currently to tell. I feel like this is one of the things that stems from how I am much more likely to think of themes, and narratives, and symbolism of the stories that I think of individual traits of characters (which is a little sad, I suppose, in that I don't think of my characters as real individual people - but, well, they aren't).

But if you want to take it into more "cracky headcanon" territory - I totally think Shen Wei spends majority of his money on clothing. He's secretly a fashionista.

28. Who is the most delightful character you’ve ever written? Why?

For the fanfic characters - I feel like that would be Da Qing, hands down. I feel like he is so much fun to write, and I love writing the banter between him and Zhao Yunlan. Peak younger sibling energy.

To give an example:

32. What is a line from a poem/novel/fanfic etc that you return to from time and time again? How did you find it? What does it mean to you?

WELL THANK YOU I AM GLAD YOU ASKED

“He's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.”

and

"You said I killed you--haunt me then. The murdered do haunt their murderers. I believe--I know that ghosts have wandered the earth. Be with me always--take any form--drive me mad. Only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you!"

Both from Wuthering Heights, of course. Why am I so obsessed with this book? Idk, why is it so perfect???

Thank you for asking those questions!

Ask me weird questions about writing

#asks #ask game #writer questions #my writing #marron #thank you dear #my revenge will be swift

[deathvsthemaiden]

3 4 6 11 13 17 & 23 !!! 🤠🌻

AAAAA ty Annie! 😳💌📖💕💕

3. top 5 books this year?

If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin, The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson*, By Light We Knew Our Names by Anne Valente, and Bound by Evelyn DaSilva! And this is cheating but I read way less than usual this year and it’s hard to compile a top 5 because of it, so: I read the short story collections The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen and How Long ‘til Black Future Month? by N.K. Jemisin and my faves from each respectively were I’d Love You To Want Me and The Elevator Dancer.

I’m gonna cheat again and list one manga (Spy x Family, unbelievablyyy satisfying and fun) and some of my favorite works by mutuals also. This year Eve @pinkafropuffs published plenty of fanfics in addition to Bound, but if I had to choose one recent favorite I’d say: May Flowers Bloom Wherever You Wander. Such a spectacular, magical end to a delightful series, everything fell together so so wonderfully 💞🌸 highly recommended reading her fanworks even if you’re not familiar with the fandoms!! Ari @haldimilks published Burnish, Burn, a Heathcliff centric Wuthering Heights story that I think about and revisit often<33 You also don’t necessarily have to read Wuthering Heights before reading it and the website it’s on classifies it as a 10 min read so! you have nothing to lose 👀🔥 Ilika @sheherazade wrote and it went unsaid. a Queen’s Thief one shot that blew me away! Her love for this series is contagious and she perfectly nailed the complicated feelings and sincerity between Gen and Irene imo 👑📚

*It came out this year but I only read the preview chapters, so like barely a fraction of this brick of a book, but like.... it’s the fourth book in the series and I know in my bones I’ll love it and I deliberately didn’t screen myself from 60% of spoilers because I’m so impatient and I’m so so EXCITED to finish it next year uff 🤒🤒 and hopefully do the same with the same author’s new novella, Dawnshard, also.

4. Any new authors you love?

Grady Hendrix (my kind of horror/supernatural thriller! love his ideas and he executes them very well too), Toni Morrison (I could read her prose forever. was legit sad for a bit when I reached the end of TBE)

6. anything you meant to read but never got to?

GQISJWJ so many books.... SO many it’s not even funny! I have this thing about reading a landmark number of books every year because anything else makes my brain itch uncomfortably so I was gonna read 5-10 more books than I did last year (125) and had to bite the bullet and chop it down to 75 books last month...the universe’s way of gently knocking me down a peg and reminding me the one thing I can never be is consistent 😌 (I’m kidding) anyway I complied a list of books I DEFINITELY plan to tackle come 2021 and a lot of it is compromised of books I had planned to read and/or started this year! Like The Count Of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, The House at Baker Street by Michelle Birkby, Bending the Willow: Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes by David Stuart Davies, The Book of Collateral Damage by Sinan Antoon, Thorn by Intisar Khanani, The Professor and Vilette by Charlotte Brontë, and The Bear and The Nightingale by Katherine Arden. (So mostly a bunch of Sherlock Holmes adjacent stuff and fairytale retellings.... mecore as hell 🤭)

11. favorite not newly published book?

If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin hands down but also most of Sherlock Holmes in general. Some of my top favorites of what I’ve read so far are: A Study in Scarlet, A Scandal in Bohemia, The Beryl Coronet, The Speckled Band, The Norwood Builder, A Case of Identity, The Adventure of the Copper Beeches, and The Adventure of the Gloria Scott.

13. least favorite books of the year?

Mexican Gothic by Silvia-Moreno Garcia (I was SO excited for this one! it just felt unpolished in terms of plot direction and I questioned a lot of the writing choices... it’s title is basically just a concept and that’s what the book felt like and it unfortunately wasn’t satisfying), The Door in the Hedge by Robin McKinley (short story collection and McKinley’s works in general are hit or miss for me and this was a collection of misses 🤕 too much description and not enough plot or substance in these particular retellings that were played too straight, like no twists or changes leapt out at or hooked me), And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie (I went into it knowing the original title and more about Christie in general than I wished to, but even without that... I just did not feel for any of the characters and was relieved every time one of them finally bit the dust), A Woman is no Man by Etaf Rum (don’t get me started.... I’ll just say I’m unfortunately aware of why non-Muslims ate this one up and I don’t like it. Tragedy p*rn and not even of the author’s own experiences. Reinforces too many stereotypes and is not a story about Muslims I think American/Western/whatever readers need to be exposed to rn.)

17. surprised by how good they were:

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante (that end!! Very excited to see how the main characters’ lines progress in the next few books), The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix (this was SUPPOSED to be a popcorn read but I got SO invested it was magical), Pachinko by Min Jin Lee (one of those meandering books that follows generation after generation, dull at times but ultimately I liked the level of detail every other character got like? The author clearly knew what she was talking about and I enjoyed the overall picture she painted of the time periods the book takes place in. The duller parts were necessary and worth it), When The Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka (I just loved the prose of this one and how quick a read it was. None of the main characters had names either which intrigued me a ton and worked in the story’s favor)

23. fastest time it took to read a book?

Mm. The audiobook to The Yellow Wallpaper was like 45(?) min long GWHSHWH I also read Dostoyevsky’s short story A Novel in Nine Letters, which was short and snappy, and I’m also in the middle of reading An Honest Thief and Other Stories, also by him, which I probs won’t finish till next year but the first story was also easy breezy. I’ve mostly read short stories in 1-2 sittings this year, to keep me sane in between homework and freaking out, so I could go on but those stick out to me!

#asks #IF I tagged you in this and want to be removed lmk! #anything I mentioned or linked in that first answer I earnestly feel anyone reading this should check out! #im not purposefully ignoring messages or tags or anything rn I’m just took a break to answer this and have to dissapear again soon but I’ll #get back to ppl on here soon god willing