#writer notes

[petermorwood]

More on pre-electricity lighting.

Interesting to see this one pop up again after nearly two years - courtesy of @dduane, too! :->

*****

After experiencing a couple more storm-related power cuts since my original post, as well as a couple of after-dark garden BBQs, I've come to the conclusion that C.J. Cherryh puts far too much emphasis on "how dark things were pre-electric light".

For one thing eyes adjust, dilating in dim light to gather whatever illumination is available. Okay, if there's none, there's none - but if there's some, human eyes can make use of it, some better or just faster than others. They're the ones with "good night vision".

Think, for instance, of how little you can see of your unlit bedroom just after you've turned off the lights, and how much more of it you can see if you wake up a couple of hours later.

There's also that business of feeling your way around, risking breaking your neck etc. People get used to their surroundings and, after a while, can feel their way around a familiar location even in total darkness with a fair amount of confidence.

Problems arise when Things Aren't Where They Should Be (or when New Things Arrive) and is when most trips, stumbles, hacked shins and stubbed toes happen, but usually - Lego bricks and upturned UK plugs aside - non-light domestic navigation is incident-free.

*****

Here are a couple of pics from one of those BBQs: one candle and a firepit early on, then the candle, firepit and an oil lamp much later, all much more obvious than DD's iPad screen.

Though I remain surprised at how well my phonecam was handling this low light, my own unassisted eyes were doing far better. For instance, that area between the table and the firepit wasn't such an impenetrable pool of darkness as it appears in the photo.

I see (hah!) no reason why those same Accustomed Eyes would have any more difficulty with candles or oil lamps as interior lighting, even without the mirrors or reflectors in my previous post.

With those, and with white interior walls, things would be even brighter. There's a reason why so many reconstructed period buildings in Folk Museums etc. are (authentically) whitewashed not just outside but inside as well. It was cheap, had disinfectant qualities, and was a reflective surface. Win, win and win.

*****

All right, there were no switches to turn on a light. But there was no need for what C.J. describes as stumbling about to reach the fire, because there were tinderboxes and, for many centuries before them, flint and steel. Since "firesteels" have been heraldic charges since the 1100s, the actual tool must have been in use for even longer.

Tinderboxes were fire-starter sets with flint, steel and "tinder" all packed into (surprise!) a box. The tinder was easily lit ignition material, often "charcloth", fabric baked in an airtight jar or tin which would now start to glow just from a spark.

They're mentioned in both "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings". Oddly enough, "Hobbit" mentions matches in a couple of places, but I suspect that's a carry-over from when it was just a children's story, not part of the main Legendarium.

Tinderboxes could be simple, just a basic flint-and-steel kit with some tinder for the sparks to fall on...

...or elaborate like this one, with a fancy striker, charcloth, kindling material and even wooden "spills" (long splinters) to transfer flame to a candle or the kindling...

This tinderbox even doubles as a candlestick, complete with a snuffer which would have been inside along with everything else.

Here's a close-up of the striker box with its inner and outer lids open:

What looks like a short pencil with an eraser is actually the striker. A bit of tinder or charcloth would have been pulled through that small hole in the outer lid, which was then closed.

There was a rough steel surface on the lid, and the striker was scraped along it, like so:

This was done for a TV show or film, so the tinder was probably made more flammable with, possibly, lighter fuel. That would be thoroughly appropriate, since a Zippo or similar lighter works on exactly the same principle.

A real-life version of any tinderbox would usually just produce glowing embers needing blown on to make a flame, which is shown sometimes in movies - especially as a will-it-light-or-won't-it? tension build - but is usually a bit slow and non-visual for screen work.

*****

There were even flintlock tinderboxes which worked with the same mechanism as those on firearms. Here's a pocket version:

Here are a couple of bedside versions, once again complete with a candlestick:

And here are three (for home defence?) with a spotlight candle lantern on one side and a double-trigger pistol on the other.

Pull one trigger to light the candle, pull the other trigger to fire the gun.

What could possibly go wrong? :-P

*****

Those pistol lanterns, magnified by lenses, weren't just to let their owner see what they were shooting at: they would also have dazzled whatever miscreant was sneaking around in the dark, irises dilated to make best use of available glimmer.

Swordsmen both good and bad knew this trick too, and various fight manuals taught how to manage a thumb-shuttered lamp encountered suddenly in a dark alley.

There's a sword-and-lantern combat in the 1973 "Three Musketeers" between Michael York (D'Artagnan) and Christopher Lee (Rochefort), which was a great idea.

Unfortunately it failed in execution because the "Hollywood Darkness" which let viewers see the action, wasn't dark enough to emphasise the hazards / advantages of snapping the lamps open and shut.

This TV screencap (can't get a better one, the DVD won't run in a computer drive) shows what I mean.

In fact, like the photos of the BBQ, this image - and entire fight - looks even brighter through "real eyes" than with the phonecam. Just as there can be too much dark in a night scene, there can also be too much light.

*****

One last thing I found when assembling pics for the post were Folding Candle-lanterns.

They were used from about the mid-1700s to the later 20th century (Swiss Army ca. 1978) as travel accessories and emergency equipment, and IMO - I've Made A Note - they'd fit right into a fantasy world whose tech level was able to make them.

The first and last are reproductions: this one is real, from about 1830.

The clear part was mica - a transparent mineral which can be split into thin flexible sheets - while others use horn / parchment, though both of these are translucent rather than transparent. Regardless, all were far less likely to break than glass.

One or two inner surfaces were usually tin, giving the lantern its own built-in reflector, and tech-level-wise, tin as a shiny or decorative finish has been used since Roman times.

I'm pretty sure that top-of-the-line models could also have been finished with their own matching, maybe even built-in, tinderboxes.

And if real ones didn't, fictional ones certainly could. :->

*****

Yet more period lighting stuff here, including flintlock alarm clocks (!)

#period lighting #tinderbox #too light too dark #social history #writer notes #research #period tech #sword vs lantern #c. j. cherryh

[lavendarneverlands]

ELAIN ARCHERON IS A MIDDLE CHILD

#elain archeron #archeron sisters #acotar #acomaf #acowar #acofas #acosf #sarah j maas #maasverse #high fae #seer #spring court #night court #autumn court #ezriel #elucien #middle child #writer notes #reread #fanon #canon

[xexiar]

I’m still trying to figure out what type of activity would lead to Class 1A into playing chicken, and like Bakugo is on Deku’s shoulders. Like Deku giving the comment “shut up you delicate flower. I lifted pillows heavier than you.”

I just want smack down sass. Like full on princess treatment Kacchan with Deku vomits out backhanded compliments that makes Kacchan blush like a mad man

Just something trash talking each other is so romantic. But Deku and Kacchan would nerd it up while trying to one up each other. It’s super cute.

#bkdk #writer rambles #writer notes #fanfic notes

[kiku91]

Thank you

I took this screenshot earlier today, but I realized today my AO3 account hit 4K hits.

It’s been a little over a year since I first started writing fanfiction again, after an 8 year break from writing in general, so to have this much traction is still unbelievable.

I know I sometimes Iament about not having consistent engagement, (and doubting myself in general) however I’m still grateful for everyone that gave my writing a chance.

I’m still chuffing away at art and writing when I can, but I still wanted to take a moment and say

Thank you!

Also thank you for those following on tumblr (mutuals and esteemed guests) I know 21 is a humble number, but it still means a lot.

#writer notes #AO3 #ao3 writer #fanfiction #viewer appreciation #kiku91

[thatrandomblogsays]

I’m so happy for them

[Image Description: Castiel from Supernatural is saying I love you, underneath is an image of Dean Winchester with the caption: “After four months of striking the WGA has a reached a tentative agreement & finalizing the contract. If all goes well writers will get to return to work with better pay and protections. They did it. Go unions”]

(Source)

#wga solidarity #wga strong #after months of watching union busting and anti union tactics #wga is coming out strong #hopefully sag is next! #writers strike #support unions #wga strike #sag strike #supernatural meme #destiel #destiel meme #workers rights #fuck the amptp #destiel news #mine #we’ve hit the note amount where people start fighting in the notes #stop fighting kids #but also the strike was absolutely necessary #withholding labor is how unions negotiate for better rights #the CEOs are multimillionaires who refused to pay proper wages #they needed to receive heavy losses so they’d actually come to the table listen to union demands

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

the fact that shakespeare was a playwright is sometimes so funny to me. just the concept of the "greatest writer of the English language" being a random 450-year-old entertainer, a 16th cent pop cultural sensation (thanks in large part to puns & dirty jokes & verbiage & a long-running appeal to commoners). and his work was made to be watched not read, but in the classroom teachers just hand us his scripts and say "that's literature"

just...imagine it's 2450 A.D. and English Lit students are regularly going into 100k debt writing postdoc theses on The Simpsons screenplays. the original animation hasn't even been preserved, it's literally just scripts and the occasional SDH subtitles.txt. they've been republished more times than the Bible

#due to the Great Data Decay academics write viciously argumentative articles on which episodes aired in what order #at conferences professors have known to engage in physically violent altercations whilst debating the air date number of household viewers #90% of the couch gags have been lost and there is a billion dollar trade in counterfeit “lost copies” #serious note: i'll be honest i always assumed it was english imperialism that made shakespeare so inescapable in the 19th/20th cent #like his writing should have become obscure at the same level of his contemporaries #but british imperialists needed an ENGLISH LANGUAGE (and BRITISH) writer to venerate #and shakespeare wrote so many damn things that there was a humongous body of work just sitting there waiting to be culturally exploited... #i know it didn't happen like this but i imagine a English Parliament House Committee Member For The Education Of The Masses or something #cartoonishly stumbling over a dusty cobwebbed crate labelled the Complete Works of Shakespeare #and going 'Eureka! this shall make excellent propoganda for fabricating a national identity in a time of great social unrest. #it will be a cornerstone of our elitist educational institutions for centuries to come! long live our decaying empire!' #'what good fortune that this used to be accessible and entertaining to mainstream illiterate audience members... #..but now we can strip that away and make it a difficult & alienating foundation of a Classical Education! just like the latin language :)' #anyway maybe there's no such thing as the 'greatest writer of x language' in ANY language? #maybe there are just different styles and yes levels of expertise and skill but also a high degree of subjectivity #and variance in the way that we as individuals and members of different cultures/time periods experience any work of media #and that's okay! and should be acknowledged!!! and allow us to give ourselves permission to broaden our horizons #and explore the stories of marginalized/underappreciated creators #instead of worshiping the List of Top 10 Best (aka Most Famous) Whatevers Of All Time/A Certain Time Period #anyways things are famous for a reason and that reason has little to do with innate “value” #and much more to do with how it plays into the interests of powerful institutions motivated to influence our shared cultural narratives #so i'm not saying 'stop teaching shakespeare'. but like...maybe classrooms should stop using it as busy work that (by accident or designs) #happens to alienate a large number of students who could otherwise be engaging critically with works that feel more relevant to their world #(by merit of not being 4 centuries old or lacking necessary historical context or requiring untaught translation skills) #and yeah...MAYBE our educational institutions could spend less time/money on shakespeare critical analysis and more on... #...any of thousands of underfunded areas of literary research i literally (pun!) don't know where to begin #oh and p.s. the modern publishing world is in shambles and it would be neat if schoolwork could include modern works? #beautiful complicated socially relevant works of literature are published every year. it's not just the 'classics' that have value #and actually modern publications are probably an easier way for students to learn the basics. since lesson plans don't have to include the #important historical/cultural context many teens need for 20+ year old media (which is older than their entire lived experience fyi)

[etz-ashashiyot]

No see results, we die like artisans

#please also note #I didn't include writing prose fiction because lbr half this site are writers lol

[porcupine-girl]

#wga strike #destiel #destiel meme #writers strike #notes

[vavandeveresfan]

Me about 100 times a day.

Later, when I read my notes.

#writblr #writers on tumblr #writing community #writers of tumblr #writing notes #writing process #writer #writers #writing memes #writing meme #writing humor #queue

[zwoelffarben]

Edit: A writer's strike has not started. The Guild's membership has just authorized one in the cause that Guild reps and studio executives cannot come to an agreement on the contract.

Don't pull out the spirit holloween banners yet, is all I'm saying.

Edit 2, circa May 1, 2023: The studios have refused to negociate with the writers' guild in good faith, leaving the guild no choice but to strike.

A WGA STRIKE HAS BEGUN.

#for the sake of most recent information being circulated‚ this post will be locked with a link to the most recent news #thank you everyone for my first 20K notes post #destiel news #writers' guild of america #strike #wga #writing #hollywood

[randomnotebookthoughts]

Aren’t you tired of the space between us?

#random notes #random thoughts #randomnotebookthoughts #female writers #writers and poets #writers on tumblr #thinking out loud #obsessive daydreaming #love poetry #love #spilled ink #words #quotes #icona pop #spotify #text post #feelings #poets on tumblr #poets corner

[xexiar]

Can’t help stop thinking about why Masaru’s quirk, and the fact he could have gone the hero route. I’m attempting to drive into to my own head canon on the many reasons he chose design instead.

Like what other reasons did he decide design of all things, besides being a passion. What happened in his past that deterred him from going the hero route?

Based on how we’re introduced to how villains and heroes can destroy their surroundings. Like, all the destruction that comes with that line of work. It’s very similar how war effects daily lives of civilians. Some of us go numb to it when it doesn’t affect us. But those who are affected it’s like questioning if you’ll live to see tomorrow.

I recently drafted a chapter where I tried to address one of the reasons Masaru probably chose the “quiet” life. War is painful. Especially when you’re constantly surrounded by it.

Even people who’s line of work is putting their life in danger everyday is painful for the people they love. Never knowing if the next fire will be your last. Never knowing if you’ll be shot when dealing with a criminal. Never knowing if you’ll reach the hospital or you’ll be the one who needs an ambulance.

Then to add people who has abilities that can cause natural disasters any time. A constant struggle to survive and make it to the next day. Even why you don’t think you’ll be affected until it happens to you.

#bakugo katsuki #fanfic #mha #bakugo masaru #writer thoughts #writer notes #war #deep thoughts #fanfic notes #obsessive thoughts #random observations #observation thoughts

[meerealsssss]

if this gets 3.35k notes then i'll try to work some more on editing my book, i'll befriend the trans student teacher, i'll practice more art, and i'll try to find out who i am.

no one is gonna see this and i doubt this will reach 3k

not tagging anyone because people are scary

deadline: march first (@cannedworma's birthday :3)

edit: okay guys we got to the number

#notes #tumblr notes #writers on tumblr

[kotaface]

My favorite thing about fanfic is watching a writer go through all 5 stages of grief as their fluffy one-shot inexplicably becomes a 100k-word novel.

#this is a self callout btw #authors notes are the best part no I’m not accepting criticism #fanfic #fanfiction #fanfic writers #writing is hard

[writeouswriter]

Broke: Acknowledging that a character who is an objectively terrible person is also a complex and intentionally well thought out individual with different levels of nuance you can empathize with in some ways while not in others is immediately “woobifying” or “poor little meow meowifying” them.

Woke: “This character is a bad person” and “this character is still a person” are two statements that can, should and do coexist and admitting that they exhibit nuance and depth and are more than just their bad actions doesn’t immediately excuse or condone their bad actions or mean that you’re ignoring or trying to soften the canonical version of the character.

Bespoke: That’s the whole point, that’s always been the point, to be made to empathize with horrible people so you can understand that they can be anyone, that bad people can be likeable, can be interesting, can be human, are human, and it’s scary to think about all the ways they’re just like you and all the ways they’re just like everything you hate, forcing the use of critical skills in media analysis, forcing a confrontation of the duality of man.

Whatever Level is Above Bespoke: But sometimes, yeah, sure, maybe they are a poor little meow meow, what are you gonna do, get a lawyer

#oh you would absolutely hate who sparked this post would absolutely hate it #and i am absolutely never going to tag who it is #writing #writeblr #books #media #movies #tv shows #poor little meow meow #media analysis #character analysis #literature #oh my god oh my god i shan't say it but i looked at the urban dictionary for something and oh my god #listen I’m not forgiving them I’m just observing the writers purposefully wrote more to them like they are the worst but hey #lying in wait like a spider to see if anyone tags this as the character that initially sparked this no one has yet #Upon last check 12400 notes someone has mentioned will not say when or who 👍

[kirvia]

🐻 BEARY THE HATCHET 🪓

It's Halloween 199X, and you killed someone during your morning shift! Unfortunately, a true crime fan has stumbled upon it.

A game about hiding things.

🔪 ITCH.IO (PLAY IT NOW!)

☆ Black comedy Visual Novel/RPG with 3 endings, 10+ bad ends and 30+ unique cgs

☆ 1-1.5 hours to complete

☆ Available for Windows and Mac

☆ Developed in RPGMaker MV for #SpooktoberVNJam

☆ Collaborative project with @mokadevs and Team Cetacity

#spooktobervnjam #indie games #rpgmaker #art tag #beary the hatchet #a note here: im the head artist! i co-created this with the writer mokadevs and other artists!! this is a team effort not solo :)