driftershunt

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i feel like i've seen you mention this somewhere in one of your posts? but i was curious what you meant by ao3 house style, if you could describe it etc. i feel like i kind of know what you mean but i'm not sure

well, its a bit hard to describe, is the thing, but if you've been in any major slash fandom, you've definitely encountered it. from my own past fic, i think there are multiple examples that are standout examples of "ao3 house style" - this fic, for example, and this one. (for more of the angst(ier) front, there's this and this). lots of present tense, lots of "the thing is" or "here is the thing", a lot of these trite declarative statements that stand in for depth, interiority without interiority, too many self-deprecatory and wry asides, all the characters sound uniformly the same.

the sex is usually written in a very formulaic present tense register that's meant to capture the consciousness of being turned on, which reads better than "x did y and then z", but ultimately becomes very samey after a while. or else there's too much consciousness and emotions in the sex, but very little grounding in the bodily.

in the "angstier" or more "serious" fics, you get attempted symbolism or motifs but the interpretation of these has a faux-depth to them and the only possible reading is very shallow (there was this one padma & parvati patil fic where bangles was a recurring motif and it was like reading someone having successfully emulated a chitra banerjee devakaruni story but somehow with even less depth in the "indian" motifs present); a lot of characters trying to elide what they mean but in a way that makes the conversation artificial rather than striking a realist note; repetition of phrases that are thought to be serious/profound/heavyweight to the point of excess.

basically a lot of rudimentary use of literary technique - but its a bit surface level and can feel intrusive because of how often it draws attention to itself (e.g. the repetition technique, or these symbols & motifs that don't quite go anywhere because their presence is largely confined to a very surface level meaning/interpretation, or an attempt to capture stream of consciousness while actually avoiding the way that consciousness often sprawls, an attempt to use present tense to foster immediacy).

i mean also, some of this varies from fandom to fandom. some of it is to the point where like, you can pick up a novel without having the first idea about its author and immediately your sixth sense tells you that this person was in x fandom once upon a time (e.g. reading in memoriam and wondering who was meant to be which HP character, till a mutual informed me the author was ex-drarry and a lot of things made sense about it; reading RWRB and immediately knowing the author was definitely in one of the big 2009-2011 slash fandoms - the styles are totally dissimilar, but both of them come from strains of writing style that are distinct to LJ/ao3-based fandom).

its not necessarily a bad thing. it just can be frustrating when its the only thing you get and also when people begin emulating these styles because they think its the right or only way to write fanfic - or even worse, pass around as "writing advice" something that would essentially get people writing in purely ao3 house style (there was a post i saw abt a week ago about how to write sex scenes that essentially would have pushed authors from attempting anything interesting or unique to their voice/thinking/story into a formulaic "you set the tone for the act, then you get into the psychological depths, and you stay there and come out only when people are coming" kind of sex scene). its also frustrating when people treat this as a super elevated and superior style to other kinds of writing. its not lmao.

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21. Chains.

Big fella with big feelings

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Homeland: Iraq Year Zero (Abbas Fahdel, 2015)

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@maybemaehill

David Lynch and Isabella Rossellini, 1988

shot by Helmut Newton

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alan grant once said...

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Sketch of Coelophysis bauri, everyone’s favorite Triassic star from WWD; female at the bottom and male at the top

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just remembered i had a friend in salt lake who worked in a hotel where they hung up pictures of the tin man to discourage people from having sex

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Michaela, Eloise, Francesca and John enjoying some morning tea.

Well...Francesca is trying too but Eloise seems especially fired up today

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You all know what day it is!

Happy Death to Dictators Day!

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Wolfen (1981) dir. Michael Wadleigh

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Magnolia (1999) Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.

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70 horrible questions ... Fuck it

01: Do you have a good relationship with your parents? 02: Who did you last say “I love you” to? 03: Do you regret anything? 04: Are you insecure? 05: What is your relationship status? 06: How do you want to die? 07: What did you last eat? 08: Played any sports? 09: Do you bite your nails? 10: When was your last physical fight? 11: Do you like someone? 12: Have you ever stayed up 48 hours? 13: Do you hate anyone at the moment? 14: Do you miss someone? 15: Have any pets? 16: How exactly are you feeling at the moment? 17: Ever made out in the bathroom? 18: Are you scared of spiders? 19: Would you go back in time if you were given the chance? 20: Where was the last place you snogged someone? 21: What are your plans for this weekend? 22: Do you want to have kids? How many? 23: Do you have piercings? How many? 24: What is/are/were your best subject(s)? 25: Do you miss anyone from your past? 26: What are you craving right now? 27: Have you ever broken someone’s heart? 28: Have you ever been cheated on? 29: Have you made a boyfriend/girlfriend cry? 30: What’s irritating you right now? 31: Does somebody love you? 32: What is your favourite color? 33: Do you have trust issues? 34: Who/what was your last dream about? 35: Who was the last person you cried in front of? 36: Do you give out second chances too easily? 37: Is it easier to forgive or forget? 38: Is this year the best year of your life? 39: How old were you when you had your first kiss? 40: Have you ever walked outside completely naked? 51: Favourite food? 52: Do you believe everything happens for a reason? 53: What is the last thing you did before you went to bed last night? 54: Is cheating ever okay? 55: Are you mean? 56: How many people have you fist fought? 57: Do you believe in true love? 58: Favourite weather? 59: Do you like the snow? 60: Do you wanna get married? 61: Is it cute when a boy/girl calls you baby? 62: What makes you happy? 63: Would you change your name? 64: Would it be hard to kiss the last person you kissed? 65: Your best friend of the opposite sex likes you, what do you do? 66: Do you have a friend of the opposite sex who you can act your complete self around? 67: Who was the last person of the opposite sex you talked to? 68: Who’s the last person you had a deep conversation with? 69: Do you believe in soulmates? 70: Is there anyone you would die for?

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As the release for Delectatio Morosa: A Conclave Visual Novel approaches, take some time to cleanse your soul in preparation.

Step into the confessional, draw/edit yourself (or your favorite characters) and #ConfessWithLawrence!

On March 14th the dev team will make a collage and highlight our favorites! Any and every character is welcome (bonus points if it’s a character from Conclave)!

Happy Drawing!

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You’re married to your phone background/lockscreen how fucked are you