#Realism is also a great source of learning for me

[bluehexagone]

Realism is fun till it isn’t and I realize I’ve already committed too far and can’t just scrap it but I know it will take me too long so here are some sacrifices you may see finished later on

[chocolatepot]

Hi! Can you elaborate on "Fuck GRRM's committment to 'historical realism' without knowing anything about medieval social history"? I would love to know about what GRRM gets wrong about medieval gender roles, specifically.

So Cersei learns at an early age that she has no agency, her only value is producing heirs and is barred from traditional routes of power so she has to use underhanded methods such as influencing men with sex or using underhanded magical means. I would love an explanation on why this doesn't reflect medieval queen consorts and noble women irl.

Sure! The basic summary is: GRRM "knows" the things that everyone "knows" about the middle ages, which are broad stereotypes often reflective of a) primary sources that deserve a critical reading rather than being taken at face value and b) the judgements of later periods making themselves look better at the medieval period's expense.

As Shiloh Carroll argues, building on the work of Helen Young, “readers are caught in a ‘feedback loop’ in which Martin’s work helps to create a neomedieval idea of the Middle Ages, which then becomes their idea of what the Middle Ages ‘really’ looked like, which is then used to defend Martin’s work as ‘realistic’ because it matches their idea of the real Middle Ages.”

Since you're mainly interested in Cersei here, I'd strongly recommend a book: Queenship and the Women of Westeros: Female Agency and Advice in Game of Thrones and A Song of Ice and Fire, edited by Zita Eva Rohr and Lisa Benz. It's an excellent read and speaks to exactly what you're asking about. The tone of the book is very positive and non-judgemental when it comes to GRRM and his depictions of women on the whole, but I think some of this is rhetorical positioning to not seem like "mean angry academics jumping on fiction for not being accurate," as the actual content turns the reader to thinking about how much agency and power medieval queens had in different European societies and how little of that worked its way into GRRM's worldbuilding.

It's true that women typically didn't inherit titles and thrones in their own right, and that they were usually given in marriage for political/dynastic reasons. However, they weren't seen as brood mares whose only duty was to pop out sons: both queens and noblewomen had roles to play as household managers, counselors, and lieutenants, actively participating in the ruling of their domains and in local and international diplomacy (women in political alliances were not just pawns sent to a powerful man's bed, but were to act as ambassadors for their families and to pass information back and forth), and they had to be raised with an understanding of this so that they could learn to do it. Motherhood was very important, don't get me wrong, but it's a mistake to assume as pop culture does that a wife's foremost duty being to provide heirs for her family meant that she was ONLY seen as a mother/potential mother.

Catelyn is a great example of what was expected of women in these positions. But in the books, Catelyn is basically the only woman who inhabits this role, and the impression given is that she's exceptional, that she's just in charge of the household because she's so great at it that Ned allows her to be his partner, and that he listens to her advice because she happens to be a wise person in his orbit - and also that Ned is exceptional for giving so much power to a woman, because in the world of ASOIAF, it takes an especially good man to do this. In GRRM's view of the medieval world, realpolitik and the accumulation of power are the most important things, so men in Westeros are extremely unlikely to give up any authority to their wives, even though this is historically inaccurate.

Cersei, on the other hand, is supposed to be a more realistic depiction of what would happen to an ambitious medieval woman. There's a chapter titled "Queen of Sad Mischance: Medievalism, “Realism,” and the Case of Cersei Lannister" in the book I've rec'd, and it deals with why this is problematic extremely well. (This is the source of the quote at the top of this post.) In it, Kavita Mudan Finn argues that Cersei embodies pretty much every medieval trope for the illegitimate wielding of power by a woman. She underhandedly gets people killed for opposing her, she seduces men into doing her bidding, she advances her family's interests and her own at the expense of the realm. She's made sympathetic through fannish interpretation and Lena Headey's performance, but in the text she's an evil woman doing evil things. Even when she gets to be regent for her son - a completely legitimate historical position that allowed women to handle the levers of power almost exactly like a king - she continues to do shitty things and not be taken seriously because she's just not good at ruling.

But even before then, from a medieval perspective she had access to completely legitimate power that she didn't use: she'd have had estates giving her a large personal income, religious establishments to patronize (giving her a good reputation as a pious woman and people she'd put in high positions being personally loyal to her), artists and writers to patronize as well, power over her household, men around her listening to her counsel. That she doesn't have that is a reflection of GRRM either deciding these things don't really exist in Westeros in order to make it a worse world than medieval Europe and justify Cersei feeling she had to use underhanded means of power, or not knowing that they were ordinary and unexceptional because he has a good working knowledge of the politics of the Wars of the Roses but little to no knowledge of social history beyond pop culture osmosis, and, imo, little to no interest in actual power dynamics.

There are a lot of books I'd recommend on this subject. There's a series from Palgrave Macmillan called "Queenship and Power" and nearly all the books in it are THE BEST. Theresa Earenfight's Queenship in Medieval Europe is a very readable introduction to the situations of queens in European societies across the continent. She also has a book, Women and Wealth in Late Medieval Europe, that also addresses non-royal women's power. I'm also a huge fan of English Aristocratic Women, 1450-1550: Marriage and Family, Property and Careers, by Barbara Harris, which really emphasizes the "career" aspect of women's lives as administrators and diplomats.

[bigcowboydyke]

about your disability pride month post: is there anything important/significant you think people should take notes on when writing a character with an upper arm prosthetic? (like starting from the elbow if i phrased correctly)?

Yeah! I think the biggest is that you ought to consider first, esp if its an OC, your reasoning for making the character disabled- you wanna make sure you're not fetishizing or exploiting their disability to prop up abled characters. I've got a list of questions for authors to ask themselves along those lines that I can post or dm

Secondly, you have to consider what level of realism you wanna go with. If you have a character where, in universe, the prosthesis functions in exactly the way an arm does, you could just go with that if you want - it's the path of least resistance, right? BUT you ought to consider that most prostheses in media exist in that way AT THE EXPENSE of good representation of disability. Erasing disability or "curing" it with magical prostheses IS a form of ableism that is so pervasive it just goes unnoticed by most. I believe personally that disabled bodies are worth portraying well even when the creators of the source material did not do that. SO if you want to go with real well thought our representation, here are some common things I think authors and artists often miss (specifically as it pertains to upper limb prostheses):

1) I already said this, but seriously, I cannot emphasize enough that upper limb prosthetics ain't cheap and are usually uncomfortable. Your character, if they are poor, or even like middle class, won't have access to multiple high tech popular mechanics cover story type robo arms. Even if they did ...

2) Not all limb different folks use prosthetics! I personally have used multiple and I disliked them. I tried very hard to learn, but there are multiple requirements to be able to use each model and sometimes, a lot of times actually, limb different people - especially people without a hand or an arm function Better without prosthetics. Be aware in your art that limb different people are Whole. How you ask can somebody without an arm, say, do all that stuff?

3) Consider the idea of adaptation in your writing and art instead of relying only on magicking disability away with prosthetics. Disabled People live in a world full of barriers and tend to be Very creative about navigating it, adapting to our environment through just being a little clever about how we do things is the biggest way i see other people with upper limb differences interact with the world. There are three main ways that we go about this without prosthetics: Using adaptive equipment, Finding an alternate method, or as a last resort, asking for help.

Example 1: I have like 1.5 arms ok so obviously only 1 hand, and I need to clip my fingernails every once in a while. The obvious solution to me, while it may seem gross, is just to bite them off. Bad habit, but efficient. I could use those horrible little nail clippers, with my remaining stump and a little finagling but it takes forever. I could also get some adaptive nail clippers - they make great big handled ones for ppl that can't grab the little ones. Or, I could ask my partner to trim them, but I'm usually too proud to do that. Let disabled people have their flaws too lol!

Example 2: I love to rock climb. This is where adaptive equipment comes in. I could slip off a rock climbing wall pretty easily right? So bouldering (rock climbing without harnesses) is totally inaccessible to me. But if I go to a gym that has harnesses, then that's fine - they catch me if I fall and that's adaptive for me.

Adaptive equipment comes in many shapes and sizes and can be regular items repurposed.

3. If after all that you Must create art or write about an OC or preexisting character that uses upper limb prosthetics, consider that in general, limb different people's prosthetics are not equivalent to having two arms. Prosthetics are only practical for limb different people if they enhance your life or are useful in some way, however, getting one high tech enough to do that is unlikely because they are expensive. There are different groups, clinics, and charities that make lower cost options but they tend to be much lower tech than is depicted (and often are clunky). My first prosthetic was a long flat piece of metal, similar to a doctors tongue depressor, attached to a plaster cuff velcroed around my stump. The idea was that since I had a little bit of stump poking out, I could pin objects against the metal and it would work like a crab's pincers. It was okay, but I did accidentally smack many. Many. Things with it, including my own face and since it was metal, that was unpleasant. Obviously hindered more than helped. Also it did not look even remotely like a hand.

4. Which prosthetics you can get generally depend on what you got on you. Literally. Bodily. With upper limb prostheses, If you don't have an elbow or wrist, your options are almost exclusively limited to the pricier electric options that are both super futuristic, unavailable to many, and also like new car priced. Many of the manual, non-electric models depend on the ability to flex a wrist or elbow, so if you have those things are a little more accessible overall. It also matters whether you are born limb different like me, or if you are an amputee. Amputees are more likely to be candidates for prostheses than people like me because they have all those preexisting muscles and nerves for prosthetics that are higher tech and require surgical attachment Also prosthetics might be an easier learning curve, and more useful for somebody who has been abled bodied than it would be for somebody who never had that limb in the first place.

5. This is a little thing and ... Not to get too medical with it ( and neither should yall) but limb different people often have physical changes associated with lack of or loss of limb. If you do not have a limb, you are not going to be developing the muscles that are surrounding it in the way an a nondisabled person would. Again for example I have 1.5ish arms which means I've got plenty of stump on my "affected" limb. Even when I did Varsity sports and everything, I was never able to get beefy on that side. It is a pet peeve of mine that many people do not seem to get this - Most art I see of vash the stampede has him with two super beefy shoulders and like yeah i get it that's hot, but if hes got roughly the same amount of stump as me, he probably shouldn'tlook like that. Another thing in this vein is chronic pain is associated with limb loss and limb difference- I have it and its reasonable that any prosthetic user or nonprosthetic using limb different person is more likely to have it. Again these are little things but if you're looking to do good representation you need to consider that limb difference is not just a cool little stylistic choice to make a character look tough or what have you - limb loss and limb difference mean that that character will not only think differently than abled bodied people, but move differently, pose differently, have different routines and preferences than are ever represented in most media. Disability is not a style, and it's not a diagnosis, it's an identity. It's important above all to be respectful of that by letting go of centering able-bodied expectations and aesthetic in your art and writing. Hard to do but i believe in y'all!

Hope that helps! I've also got a bunch of links to go along with these points, if you want them lmk! I'm always happy to take asks about this stuff!

Tl;dr please consider making characters that don't use prosthetics, or don't use them excessively because it's more realistic, better representation, and makes me, a disabled dyke on the internet, really happy.

Lastly if y'all liked my advice and appreciate my time you are always welcome to tip me for it - my c*sh*pp is $neptunedrive

[shapelytimber]

Hiii! Obsessed with ur art style and ur character design skills

Do you have any tips or tricks for depicting different body types and also specifically drawing wrinkles bc it never turns out for me (sad) and I need to draw hot older women

Omg thank you sm ! <3 And if you want some tips, I can give you a lot jfifkd I went to art school for way to long and I'm not one for gatekeeping

For different body types, just practice figure drawing (and learn simplified anatomy) ! Here are some great resources to do it online (because finding real life models when your not in school is hard)

Figure drawing :

Timed figure poses (nude) on ytb / line of action / sketch daily

You can also look at the books "Morpho", tho it's not free

Artistic anatomy :

You can look at books from Paul Richier (tho he was a doctor not an artist so a lot of it is way too detailed, but you can find some very useful drawings) -> general stuff (p53 for a full man, the rest is more specific but you can find some zoom on specific muscles in movement) (also oops sorry all in french), specifically woman's anatomy p65 (tho it's practically the same thing but this ones more wordy so less fun to look at)

Anatomy for sculptors (great 3d models)

And now old people ! Wrinkles can happen in a lot of different circumstances : when showing emotion, depending on the angles of the face, on fatigue, on weight, if your skull is more or less visible...ect...

But if you want to learn how to draw specifically wrinkles that appear with age, there is multiple things to know :

(Very long talk about lines on faces below, I'm sparing you all not interested to have to scrolls through all that fjdkdk)

-wrinkles show in the areas of the face where there is repeated movement that create a fold that, with time, makes a permanent mark.

-when drawing, you should more or less mark them depending on their deepness. For the deeper ones draw with a black line, less deep a colored one and very subtle just using shading (at least that's how I do it in my style). Also ! They are certain lines that are normal to see on faces of every age, but tend to make them appear wayyy older in stylized drawing (especially with lines). For example, I have pretty defined lines going from my nose to the corner of my mouth because I have defined cheekbones. But if I where to draw them as marked as they look irl, I would appear way *way* older than I am. So unless you want to go for realism, go a bit lighter on the ones going from nose to mouth or the crow's feet (unless laughing) for someone under the age of ~50

- Not everyone get the same wrinkles, faces can tell a story ! For example if you choose to accentuate more the ones at the edge of the eyes and corner of the lips, that could mean your character spent a lot of his life smiling and laughing. In contrary, if you accentuate the ones between the eyebrows and around the nose, that means he sneered and scowled often.

And tips specially for senior citizens (after like 60)

- The quality of skin in older people is different ! The skin is thinner and drooping down (interesting detail, that you prob won't use in 2d art but, around 80yo the skin becomes once again a bit more taut and smooth (this is very subtle) before once again degrading further ! Source : my old sculpture teacher- he used to teach in med school, but I can't find a source online so take this with a grain of salt).

So learning the zones of the face where fat accumulates, then making them shift downwards can be a way to show age. They are some people who have very peculiar faces or don't have much fat there (ex Peter Cushing), but in *most* people it's the case, even if it's subtle.

- You can also make the skull more visible : sunken eyes, hollow cheeks... Even if your character isn't particularly thin, it will make them appear older. But obviously the more fat there is, the more subtle it is.

But really the best tips of all : look at old people :) in pictures or irl

Oops this is very long fjfknfk

[parisoonic]

I have always drawn in a near realistic style, so the art of simplification in animation is simply incomprehensible to me. I mean.. You look at this medic and think "God, it looks so nice", while the proportions of his face are very different from the real ones, but this does not cause rejection. When I was trying to master the cartoon style, I realized that I was subconsciously trying to make faces "more correct", I was afraid of hyperbolization, on which cartoons are built. So I just want to express my admiration for your skill to simplify and detail when needed XD Great style, I have a lot to learn.

thank you so much for the thoughtful and detailed comment!

sometimes...replicating art styles like tf2 which are already so stylised is difficult. the base layer is always realism, then you layer the sources stylisation and then you layer your interpretation on top of that...it can end up like a huge tall wedding cake. more knowledge of realism will never be a bad thing though as a cartoon style is always trying to simplfy the realistic form...it's hard to simplfy when you don't actually know how something looks! one tip i find with images like this is to highly focus on one element, medium-focus on another and then low-focus on another (aka half-arse this element). this will give the image a 'flow' or 'rhythm'. Here the hair was my high-focus (it's the element with the most detail and brush strokes), the face itself was medium focus (very complex around the eye and eyebrows) and the clothes and eye itself were low focus (the contrast of medium focus around the eye vs the low-focus of the eye itself makes the viewer look there). if you give elements in an image this varying levels of focus (or effort) it also makes it quicker and easier for you to draw! :D its funny you mention his proportions though - i was looking back at this recently and really wanted to tweak a few things. there's something squiffy about the neck and the 'depth' of the head is something i struggle so much with (and eye placement). he's also too young and handsome LOL oh well - i'll try and apply to future drawings 🙏

[miirshroom]

Elden Ring and Bloodborne - What do we Learn from the Dead

I have been thinking through a dilemma regarding Elden Ring interpretation. And it occurred to me that Bloodborne addresses and engages with similar concerns.

There is a scene in Bloodborne where the player approaches Lady Maria sitting still and unresponsive in front of a clock face. The player reaches out to touch her and instead she blocks them saying "a corpse should be left well alone". In Elden Ring the player stands in a palace of blood in front of a corpse next to a woman who if she were not wearing a helmet would have a certain amount of resemblance to Lady Maria. This time Leda says "touch the withered arm", inviting you to meddle with a corpse. And I find that an interesting symmetry.

I. Dissection

Two things to note about Bloodborne: 1) Lady Maria's advice to leave corpses alone is implied to come from her experience of finding a corpse and being cursed by the knowledge that came from that incident, 2) It's very late in the game to be receiving this advice considering how many corpses the player has already tampered with. The Chalice Dungeons are for grave-robbing and the different subregions are grouped by tombstones - memorializing corpses. In fact there is a very compelling set of videos by Charred Thermos about the medical metaphor of Bloodborne, including the role of dissection.

I would go a step further and say that Bloodborne weaves together the concepts of both physical and psychological dissection.

In Bloodborne the consumable item to gain material for levelling is called "coldblood", presumably because is much older than the fresh "warm blood" obtained from killing enemies. The highest tier of this is "Great One Coldblood". But "coldblood" can also have the association of murders done pre-meditated and dispassionately "in cold blood".

There is a book called "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote. I have read "In Cold Blood" for a book report a long time ago and I looked up some reviews to refresh my memory. It's a "whydunnit" story - the killers have already been caught and confessed. The point of the book is to interview them and to try and make sense of the why and how. It is also an example of how difficult it is to give an objective and unbiased account of motive. As this one review puts it (by Eden Gray on Google):

"I would not recommend this book to anyone. Capote claims that this book is non-fiction, however, he has changed so many facts throughout and knew one of the prisoners personally. He also had influence on the end of the book as he did have enough money and influence to prevent or prolong the hanging of the two killers, but he chooses not to as he needed them to hang in order for him to finish and publish his book. His bias comes through clearly with his anti-death beliefs and his favouritism towards Perry is blatant because Capote related to Perry. Capote manipulated his audience to feel sympathetic towards Perry even though he brutally killed the Clutters. His manipulation and deception, verisimilitude to the core, left me thinking what is true and what is false throughout the whole book, further making me disinterested as why read a book that claims to be non-fiction when it is clearly filled with false information."

I think this is the Catch-22 of non-fiction. Digging into the lives of real people is more true to life than simply inventing characters and their psychologies from old stock tropes in fiction. But if you want to tell the non-fiction story of these people then you need to be objective and factual all the way through or else this will strictly limit the ability to work in creative themes or a thesis. But that just becomes boring lists of facts. Especially if you are trying to do a story set in a historical time period with fragmentary primary sources - realism is not possible and there will be a subjective filter on everything.

As Charred Thermos describes it in this video, there is evidence that many characters in Bloodborne are inspired by prominent medical practitioners of the Victorian Era...but Bloodborne doesn't market itself as a true crime story, or even a historical fiction. They are framing themselves as "murdering" the Great Ones - the great people of the past - in cold blood and dissecting their life's work for narrative and thematic components, but they obfuscate this under layers of eldritch aesthetic.

If I had to give an example it's like this: it is known that Alan Moore's "In Hell" is a fictionalized version of the 'Jack the Ripper' murders, because he uses the names and faces of real people (which I know about from this Arcane Workshop video that explores the comic's themes alongside the game Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs). This version propagates the conspiracy theory that a specific Crown physician committed the murders - hearsay speculation that arose 80 years after the man's death when there was no-one left alive to dispute it. Nobody talks about the specific ways that parts of Bloodborne take inspiration from the wild theories surrounding the Jack the Ripper murders. Because the game only takes hints and fragments of names and the theme of committing violence against women by men who may-or-may not have some level of anatomical knowledge. Doesn't rely on the name recognition to tell the story that they want to be telling about the darker sides of humanity in the Victorian Era.

II. Discovery

How should a person feel if they are confronted with the knowledge that the character who they idealized was created from story of a single, specific human being with the identifying name scrubbed off?

The character of Lady Maria toys with this idea - the doll was made in her image, but by what is shown of their personalities they are nothing alike. How did people in the Bloodborne fandom react to this? Seriously, how should this be treated? Is it believed that the doll was made by Gherman to have Lady Maria's looks but none of her personality? Is it believed that Lady Maria has a gentle and pious side when she is not in combat? Does it change your impression of Gherman that he gives you permission to "use the doll" after knowing that this is a simulacrum of a single specific person?

I know real person fiction fans exist, but for the rest of us I feel like it would seem weird and exploitative to learn such knowledge retroactively about a beloved character. On the one hand, if a person wanted to flesh out their fanon they could go read the biography of the original. On the other hand, if new characters are being made as fictional reincarnations of the people of the past then their stories carry all of the baggage from that past. Digging through a minefield of old prejudices and heroic fantasies that aren't compatible with navigating the complex global interdependencies and ethical dilemmas of the present day.

Elden Ring pulls back from the aesthetic of physical dissection and expands massively in the realm of psychological dissection. As I've said before, it's a "whydunnit" story - the stuff about becoming an Elden Lord is a red herring (perhaps even a "red HAIRing" looking at Radagon and Radahn for example). The purpose of the Tarnished is to understand why Marika shattered the Elden Ring. To understand and accept her decision as part of the process of mourning. This dissection is not done for the benefit of the dead but is for the living to learn from the mistakes of the past and do better in the future.

Marika-as-Leda invites you to the dissection of the corpse in the cocoon. This is a secret past that they were trying to leave well alone. It is generally dark and unpleasant and surreal because these are the inner fears and obsessions of a mind that struggles to tell the difference between fact and fiction. Stuck in the nightmares of a superstitious past. Recreating cycles of painful and nonsensical rituals supporting a mythology of individual exceptionalism born out of a fear of trusting that people can work together. Messmer "the Impaler" having connotations of being a vampire because an egotistical person in a leadership role is incapable of self-reflection (vampires traditionally cannot see their reflections in mirror of polished silver), and may conclude that their solution is always best despite evidence to the contrary until suddenly everything is on fire.

In Elden Ring and the Shadowlands you can find references to the real and mythological people who served as inspiration for Marika. She's Marie Antoinette. Anne Bonny. Bloody Mary. Anna, sister of Arthur Pendragon (mother of Mordred). Mary Shelley. Marina "La Malinche". Virgin Mary, Mother of Christ. She's all of them and none of them and probably a few more that I've missed. Some of these may even have been the inspiration for Bloodborne's Lady Maria herself due to the way FromSoftware tells stories across a multiverse. But above all she is Lady Maria OF the Astral Clocktower. If you can understand the Clocktower and the FromSoftware meta-narrative, then you can understand Lady Maria far beyond what is available by the item descriptions alone. At least, now with the context of Elden Ring it's possible to understand it. Don't know if it could have been done back in 2015.

A lot of people were not ready for the revelations of Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree. Not sure they'd be pleased to learn that there is a way to demystify the method below the madness of Bloodborne.

III. A Confession

So, it wasn't random chance that I connected the concept of "coldblood" to Capote's "In Cold Blood". Sometimes I do a "this day in history search" for each the dates that FromSoftware releases games and sometimes this yields interesting results. September 30 was the release date of Dark Souls 2 DLC: The Crown of the Ivory King. September 30 was also the birthday of Truman Capote. This isn't the first time an author birthday has popped up in a way that I find meaningful. Regarding themes of Elden Ring and Armored Core 6, respectively, there was John Wyndham - author of the Midwich Cuckoo, The Day of the Triffids, and the Chrysalids - on July 10, release day of Armored Core (1997). And Walter Michael Miller Jr. - author of "A Canticle for Leibowitz" - on January 23, 1923 which matches the release day of a game called "Thousand Land" (2003).

And September 30 wasn't a date that I selected randomly to scrutinize next. More than ever before the Shadowland area of Elden Ring gives me the impression of a rotting old theatre where literally "the curtains have fallen" on previous eras. There's a progressive rock band for that: Dream Theatre. Combing through Dream Theatre's discography not only are there several motifs that I can see echoed in Elden Ring, but several album release dates line up with FromSoftware's previous games including "Chaos in Motion", the live video album that was released September 30, 2007 - same calendar date as the Crown of the Ivory King DLC in 2014. This is an interesting alignment because in classic writing by Virgil the Gate of Ivory is the one through which false dreams pass through.

What I'm taking away from is this: FromSoftware will not "show their work" and explain in interviews or supplementary footnotes the full scope of media and real life influences on their games. Because boasting about all of the research they did would be morally wrong - a false dream. They are in the business of making fictional characters, not exploiting the dead and putting words in their mouths for sensational name recognition. They may take inspiration from scientific concepts such as medical and psychology but they won't pretend to be an authority on these things. If the player wants to fully comprehend the story then, yes, grasping at the hints of references to real world phenomena and doing your own research into those topics is a way to get there with greater accuracy.

IV. Witnesses

And how can a person know if they are correct about identifying any given influence? You can't "know", but you can build a case for it. Like how the broad strokes of complexity theory are described in this video about the 5 layers of depth in 2016 game The Witness. When understanding the logic of the game universe you want to be collecting "Witnesses" of what the narrative does and does not support. I like this idea of calling witnesses as an extension of the dissection/murder mystery metaphor - after all murder trials make use of both eye-witnesses and expert witnesses.

If I can collect 25 items containing a helix or spiral pattern and sort them according to number of twists and this vaguely follows the agreed upon timeline of history from other sources, then that tells me that the game history supports being sorted into discrete units of time and this is reflected in the art direction. If 5 of those 25 give unexpected results, then either I didn't understand the rules of the helices as well as I thought, or there is a misinformation in the commonly believed timeline. If I can collect 20 instances of suspiciously meaningfully anagrams, then that's 20 Witnesses that the game supports anagram wordplay in certain situations. If I can look to the band "Rush" and collect 7 album release date matches in FromSoft's back catalogue + 13 sets of visuals or wording similarities to specific songs then that also would seem to be 20 Witnesses that these are intentional references rather than the random noise of the universe. Maybe there is grounds to think that FromSoftware saw something inspirational in the creative or intellectual philosophy of that specific group of musicians - drawing from contemporary sources rather than solely on an outdated catalogue of classical poetry.

Based on collecting Witnesses, there is evidence that Elden Ring contains an elaborate reference to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, which is itself well known for making global musical pop culture references. In Bloodborne the Great Ones convey their messages through sound.

V. Verdict

Altogether I'm feeling more confident about the relevance of the 3 additional backlogged posts that I've been working on that delve into the musical scavenger hunt of Elden Ring. But the dilemma was about whether it is right to clinically dissect and present evidence that a video game has made characters out of sensitive topics as they relate to the personal histories of specific people who are living or have living family. I guess it depends on presentation - is due respect given to the topic? Are there cases where it would be better to recommend an auto-biography or other primary source than to paraphrase? Is there something of value to be learned, or is it all just entertainment?

[ofoceansandtombsanew]

What are your thoughts on Frederick and Nichole?

Short Answer: I like them. I think the depth they will provide to Tamarack's story will be fascinating and I look forward to seeing them both grow as characters and begin rebuilding that relationship as parents as well as apologizing for being such lackluster ones.

Long Answer:

The Baumann family drama makes me unwell. It really is providing something we haven't really seen in the OL universe. We have family drama, don't get me wrong. We have Cliff and Kyra's divorce and co-parenting, and if you get the DLC for Step 3, you even learn about the full details of that divorce and the terrible foundations their relationship had.

We never get to see Baxter's parents but we know from his own words that they're not the best people. He also admits that if weren't their son, he would never be on the receiving end of the grace they've extended to him.

But we've never had something like Tamarack's family dynamic. We've got parents and grandparents in the picture! As a couple, Frederick and Nichole are solid. They chose one another, they just also less-than-intelligently chose to have a child before wrapping up their academic careers.

And I think some of the reason Frederick and Nichole are so divisive as characters is because of how realistic it seems. Dorothea shoving all the blame onto Nichole, Frederick finding his parents and keeping up with them a chore, Ernst's passivity all but co-signing his wife's views on their daughter-in-law and Nichole mixing up her priorities in her pursuit to prove herself to herself and the rest of the world. Then you have Tamarack wrapped in all of that when she never asked to be.

The independent but lonely wild child. The wild child that grows into someone with none of the confidence she had as a 10 year old. And who truthfully feels like no one really cares about her, especially not when she actually needs them (that is unless the player becomes a source of comfort for her).

It's one big mess that needs to be solved.

Frederick and Nichole interest me because of the way their minds work. They wanted Tamarack and wanted to have a family they felt would be better than the ones they came from. I think there's a lot of realism to be found in that. Plenty of people have kids whether planned or otherwise and go 'I'll never be like my parents!' only to end up exactly like their parents or maybe even worse in some ways.

But since this OL, we all know things are going to work out. Every other character with a bit of family drama gets a happy conclusion.

Cliff and Kyra are great co-parents.

Baxter is low-to-no contact with his family.

So I think we can all rest assured that the Baumanns are going to reach their own happy conclusion. It might not be perfect and realistically those who dislike each probably won't just start kicking it and being all kumbaya with one another. However comma, the end result will be something a lot better than what it was.

Tamarack's obviously never going to go back to living with her parents because the game is taking place squarely in Golden Grove but her relationship with her parents' will get better. Everyone in the Baumann family is going to grow in their own way and as a collective and I look forward to seeing that.

If everyone had super great families in the game, don't get me wrong we could still have compelling and moving characters but having varying familial dynamics makes the game more interesting and less static. Everyone's got their own thing

Aside from Tamarack having a gorgeous design, her family's dynamic is probably a huge part of why I can never give the girl a run where I'm mean. The most I do is click on a mean option to see what her reaction will be before rewinding to the option I actually want.

Like I said, I'm physically incapable of being mean to Tamarack, it's a curse.

Meme Answer: They're both hot. And complicated.

[writing-with-sophia]

I usually find myself using the same range of ages in my stories (young adults, teens), and just plotting a crime story, I realized how unrealistic it was to have almost every single character in early stages of adulthood, especially the team researching the case. Of course I have in mind a lack of experience in certain things for them and stuff but it's pretty hard for me to do older or much younger characters idk why ���� what would u recommend? Is it somehow bad not to have a variety of ages or making it less realistic? It makes me feel like I'm doing a teen novel, sry for my english and uh ty <3

How to include a broader spectrum of ages in stories

Well, in fact, it's not necessarily bad to focus on a specific age range in your stories, as long as it serves the narrative and the themes you want to explore. If you find it difficult to write for a wide range of ages, you can certainly focus on teenagers. A story about young detectives can also be engaging and exciting, right? But if you want to incorporate a variety of ages to add depth and richness to your story, here are a few suggestions to help you:

Tip 1: Develop characters

Create well-rounded characters of different ages, each with their own distinct personalities, perspectives, and life experiences. Develop their backstories, motivations, and goals in a way that reflects the impact of their age on their thoughts and actions.

Then, explore how age can influence characters' motivations, goals, and challenges. Older characters may bring wisdom, life experiences, and a different perspective, while younger characters may have a sense of idealism, curiosity, and growth potential. By considering age-related motivations, you can create more dynamic and believable characters.

Tip 2: Build relationships for characters

At different ages, people develop various types of relationships. For example, a 16-year-old girl may have relationships with peers, teachers, and family members, while an adult man may have relationships with family, coworkers, and friends in social settings.

Relationships between older mentors and younger proteges, or clashes between generations, can add depth and conflict to your story. These interactions can also provide opportunities for growth and learning for your characters.

Tip 3: Pay attention to characters' dialogue and language

The vocabulary, tone, and communication styles of characters from different age groups are different. Younger characters may use contemporary slang or have a more informal way of speaking, while older characters may have a more formal or seasoned approach. You can observe closely how the elders around you communicate and make notes in a notebook.

Tip 4: Research

If you find it challenging to write characters of different ages, consider conducting research or seeking firsthand experiences from people of those age groups. As mentioned above, you can make a small notebook to record the words, actions and behaviors of people around you in certain situations. Reality is always a great source of information if you know how to take advantage of it.

Tip 5: Beta and feedback

You can share your work with beta readers or writing groups that include individuals from various age groups. Their feedback can offer valuable insights and help you refine the portrayal of different age groups in your story.

Remember, storytelling is an art, and there are no set rules. Ultimately, it's about finding a balance that aligns with your creative vision while ensuring your story resonates with a diverse audience. Embracing a variety of ages can add depth and realism to your stories, expanding the scope of your narratives and making them more relatable to readers of different backgrounds and experiences.

[welcometololaland]

hello love, R for the alphabet writer asks pretty please? 💖

rae 💜

using this ask to apologise in advance to everyone and anyone but i really felt like doing an ask game so here i am, on your dash.

R: Which writers (fanfic or otherwise) do you consider the biggest influence on you and your writing?

typically, my sources of inspiration include: things i overhear on the train in the morning, internet memes and rogue things that happen to me that i swear would ONLY happen to me. but although i take inspiration from many sources, influence is a different question?

when i started writing fic again, i was deep in the 2021 rwrb obsession and i think my writing was heavily influenced by the work i was literally INHALING at that time.

i think first and foremost i took so much inspiration from @clottedcreamfudge. I mean we all know CCF has depth, but the slightly ridiculous edge to some of her fics felt so on brand for me, and i think reading a lot of the CCF archive taught me to lean into that. the witty dialogue, the pacing, the clever use of side characters to build the story - nailing that is my writing dream.

i feel very inspired when i read any @indomitable-love work because the amount of care and precision written into basically every line of siobhan's fic is incredible. reading ATG was a masterclass in how to take characterisation to another level, and how to build an emotional arc that is hard hitting and makes sense. i had so many 'oh, that really ticked all the emotional boxes for me' moments in that fic. it is truly a treasure.

as we know, i didn't write smut pre-2021. i truly didn't even READ smut. who knows why? anyway i was so convinced i could never write it, UNTIL i read the great works of our lord and saviour aka. you aka. Ms. Rae Rmd-writes Railmedaddy. The ficspiration of the neighbours fic took me out and made me realise like hey...there is actually a lot of skill to this and maybe i could? learn it? and i'm still on that learning journey but i think the think about your E rated scenes is that you weave so much emotion into them - there's a purpose to every smut scene, even if it's a PWP it's driving characterisation in some way. which makes it all very intentional. i find that very inspiring.

i also have to credit @everwitch-magiks for inspiring me every day to be more intentional with my word choice and edit better and WRITE LESS because the amount of stuff evie can pack into a 3k fic is honestly out of this world. but long before i became a ridiculous overwriter, i have been inspired by evie's characterisation (her alex always sounds so perfect to me, in particular) AND her creativity. there are canon fics and then she goes and writes a space AU and also a figure skating AU and magical realism and hashtag soulmates aka. the most beautifully meta thing ever, and a whole fic based around AITA? she has breadth and it makes me kind of mad.

ANYWAY. there are many more but i've already gone on for too long! thank you to everyone who creates stuff for me to read, i know i'm picking up things all the time, and it wouldn't happen if people weren't so damn talented 💜

Fic Writer Ask Game

[justforbooks]

The Hotel by Daisy Johnson

There are shades of The Shining and Shirley Jackson in these atmospheric short stories set around a haunted hotel in the Fens

From the tricksy, unstable terrain of Fen, her debut collection, through the Booker-shortlisted Everything Under, to the darkly gothic drama of her 2020 novel Sisters, Daisy Johnson’s fiction has long bumped up against the edges of horror. She has deployed the tropes and played with the imagery, but always left the reader with a way out – the option to interpret her work as magical realism, or psychological drama. The Hotel is different. In this new book of short stories, she fully, deliciously commits to the genre, via a series of brief, chilling tales of ghosts and witches, monsters and manifestations; rooms that change shape and “footsteps close behind you but no one there when you turn”.

The connective tissue is The Hotel of the title: nameless throughout, but always capitalised; looming over every sentence in which it appears. The stories take us back through The Hotel’s history: its ill-starred construction; the people who are drawn to and undone by it; the semi-sentience that roils and twitches within its walls. In Johnson’s work, landscapes have always set the tone and powered the action, and The Hotel is no exception: the flat, wet land of the Fens dampens its walls and sucks at its foundations, refusing readers firm footing. The building itself, with its “long chimneys, narrow windows … stained glass which dims the light”, has shouldered its way up from the site of a farm in which, many years earlier, a woman lived and died. We learn in the opening story that the woman was guilty of the dual sins of childlessness and second sight, which led her neighbours to drown her in the farm’s pond. Her ghost goes on to haunt The Hotel – most clearly via the eerie repetition of the phrase “I WILL SEE YOU SOON”, which she scratches on her door in the minutes before her murder, and which resurfaces throughout the collection on walls and mirrors and in notepads and emails – but she is not the source of its curse. Rather, it is the land itself that is haunted. “What is in this land is some possessive quality, some unquietness,” says the woman. “It is clear to me that there are places which have as much personality as any person or animal and this is one of them.”

After her drowning, the farm is burned down and the land sits, sodden and empty, until a construction crew arrives at the “slick, miserable place” to wrestle it into submission. Gradually, grudgingly, the land loosens its grip and The Hotel takes shape, and for some people, in some lights, that shape seems good: there are “big fires in the bar and the rooms are warm, dressing gowns hang from the backs of the bathroom doors”. But for other people, The Hotel acts like a hurtful magnet, dragging them ineluctably towards itself – and once it has them in its orbit, it is reluctant to let them go. The Hotel, we learn, is “an unclear archive, a great collector”; those it touches once are haunted by it, compelled to return. A girl falls into a queasy friendship with the child of another guest, and does something so terrible to her that, when she reappears as a grown woman in a later story, she rationalises it as a dream. But “when [a] job came up at The Hotel I found myself applying without really meaning to … it feels right to be back here in a way I cannot quite explain”. In an earlier tale, the women who clean The Hotel leave at the end of their shifts, but wake from sleep to find themselves “stood outside of The Hotel, waiting”.

Johnson’s Hotel is a palimpsest: layers of earth and history, and the intersecting lives of its victims, have piled up together to form it. As we move through the collection, we come to understand that it is a palimpsest of previous tales, too. The echoes of other giants of the genre – Stephen King’s The Shining, most obviously, but also Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Bluebeard, The Blair Witch Project, Lars von Trier’s The Kingdom and even Hansel and Gretel – resonate throughout, deepening and complicating it. In The Hotel, Johnson has given us a deftly constructed new version of a horror collection, with stories that slip in like mist under the door, just right for Halloween. But like all the best horror stories, they have deep roots. Like The Hotel itself, they are haunted.

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[johnslittlespoon]

It just makes so much sense that you were writing in 2013, you have the unhinged vibe that the golden fics from that era had.

I'm just here to compliment you really lol, mostly because I am giving a try to write a lil something for the first time and god I can only dream of ever being able to write as good as you. I've been writing poems and music for years now but i find writing actual coherent storys with characters and dialogue so so hard.

I was wondering if you have any tips, or like little rules you follow when you write.

all the love, xxx

🌷

I'M GONNA CRYYYY this was the sweetest thing in the world to wake up to wtf wtf <333 thank you SO much, i really appreciate this wahh my heart :'))) but also you are SILLY. don't compare yourself to others!! if we all did that constantly we'd never get anything written!! there are SO many authors i adore on here that will always have me chasing the "i wish i could write like that" feeling and it's a great motivator but alsooo at the end of the day. you gotta fall in love with your own words and characters and stories <33

and i feel that so much!! we are twinsss, i also started out writing poems and music and then realized i had stories i wanted to tell that wouldn't fit in shorter form, then discovered fanfic in middle school in the early '10s and it was all downhill from there LOL. truly such a golden era tho oh my god. growing up reading the hat fic and borderline illegible wattpad stories was certainly... formative!

yapping ahead vv (i don't have much advice bc i'm still just learning as i go but hopefully some stuff i picked up on can be a bit helpful!)

i have zero method to the madness when writing so it's a relief to know it doesn't come off that way LOL but i do have a few little things that i follow and i always look for them when beta–ing as well! they're pretty small technical things and they're generally up to personal preference, but some of them come from authors i admire and i think they can really take anyone's writing up a notch <3

i don't feel qualified to give advice because i'm just raw–dogging everything lmao i've never taken classes or anything, so take all this yapping with a grain of salt bc it's just what's worked for me!

– i try to use descriptors like "the man" or "the blond" or "his friend" etc sparingly. i wish i could remember the source, but i read a great piece about why it's better to just go with the character's name 99% of the time, and then i went through so many of my works to edit them and i felt so much more confident in my writing afterwards– it made a big difference in readability (imo).

ofc there are exceptions, like if the name of a character is unknown, or if there are too many names being thrown around in one sentence and a "the man" or "the soldier" etc just sits nicer. i definitely still use them occasionally! but it does sometimes put some distance between the reader and the story when those descriptors are used too often instead of names, so it's a good thing to keep an eye out for when it comes to flow. sometimes less or more or whateva ??

– sorta on the topic of less is more, i love challenging myself to show vs tell when i can! whether it's by keeping dialogue short and letting actions speak instead (can add to intimacy/realism– we communicate so much through body language yk), through metaphors (literally how my whole '#john egan is dog coded' fic was born LOL), or describing feelings rather than spelling them out (his heart ached vs he was sad, his pulse raced vs he was scared, you get the gist). you said you've been writing poems so i feel like stuff like that would already probably come easily to you tho! <3

– this guide on ao3 is great for smut writers! whether someone's a beginner or just looking for ways to elevate the filth, i found it really helpful, it's a fun read as well lol. it calls out stereotypes/cliches and teaches you how to reword them, gives lists of slang and reactionary words, do's and don't's, etc. i don't follow everything in it but that's the beauty of writing; we all have things that work for us and things that don't and that's so okay. :-)

– in the same way that artists use references to practice and find their style, you can do that with writing too! i know a lot of writers have a doc or note where they jot down stylistic things they find while reading that they'd like to emanate, or words they want to use, specific phrases, descriptors, etc. if i'm reading a fic and find an auditory descriptor i like, i might take note of it, stuff like that. sorta like a text document version of a pinterest board!

– thesaurus.com is my best friend truly. often going with the 'simplest' version of a word makes for smoothest reading so someone isn't taken out of the story being like wtf does that word mean lol but sometimes things can feel repetitive, or like there just needs to be a little bit more spice; i probs go back and forth btwn my doc and thesaurus a dozen times an hour tbh.

that's all i can think of rn and ik those are pretty basic so i'm sorry about that!! i really do just kinda write what evokes emotions in myself, and then i hit post and hope it translates over to whoever is reading too :') drawing from your own experiences if you can/really sitting with what the characters would be feeling in whatever scenario you're writing is probably the most powerful way to present what you see in your mind.

i have a hard time writing about emotions/things i haven't personally experienced, so i usually stray away from it out of fear of not getting across what i want to, but some people are great at winging it and putting themselves in unfamiliar shoes so!! it's again just personal preference really.

and alsooo be kind to yourself! i'm an anxious wreck every time i post any of my writing, i am very much not confident when posting new fics and i agonize over my docs so much and trash a lot of works, but i know at the end of the day i can't grow or learn if i don't get the words down, and i can't get feedback or gain confidence if i don't post. becoming your own hype man and giving yourself the opportunity to improve is essential <33

sooo much love and best of luck!!! lmk if you end up writing smth, i'd love to read it (◠‿◠✿)

[countessofbiscuit]

hello! i was wondering if you had any recommendations or advice on how to improve on writing milwank in my fic? you're really good at it and i am in awe. any recommended reading etc would be so appreciated!! hope you have a nice day :)

That’s very kind of you, thank you for reading my stories and telling me what you like about them! I’ll try to distill 15+ years of personal interest, family involvement, and academic study into some broad channels to check out (with the caveat that I've never been in the military or lived anywhere near a combat zone):

Nothing beats first-hand accounts, for starters. I read nonfiction, autobiographies, and memoirs, from a variety of veteran nationalities. But it doesn’t matter the war or the conflict or the branch: military experience shapes not only perspective and thinking, but also—particularly important for writing—the words one uses and how one uses them. Read or listen to enough veterans and it becomes clear which phrases and jargon are actually common currency and which are the stuff of Hollywood and bad listicles on the internet. 

Speaking of Hollywood, a really approachable and digestible resource are those “experts react” videos on YouTube that poured forth during COVID. Channels found ex-service people to watch clips from movies, TV shows, and video games and rate their realism. Gamology has some of my favorite reactors. Some are better at explaining their reasoning than others, or just more engaging. Regardless, watch enough of these and you’ll feel like you have someone sitting on your shoulder as you write, guarding you against creating scenarios that are too far-fetched or just fundamentally wrong. 

Another thing first-hand accounts do is prove that truth is stranger than fiction. Sometimes the unbelievable does actually happen—but it helps to know where things went wrong or sideways, so you can use similar bend and flex convincingly in your own stories. 

r/militarystories on reddit is also a fantastic resource for short-read narratives that highlight military attitudes, experiences, and tribulations—as well as, yeah, wild one-of-a-kind, no-shit-there-I-was stories. The sub encourages spelling out acronyms and explaining concepts in a way that civilians can understand, so you don’t have to spend a lot of time googling things. Some of the regular contributors are published authors. It’s also well moderated and the comments on each story are usually equally rich in good jargon and humor. Great for learning more about military culture(s).

On top of this, there is so much open-source doctrinal information, depending on your stomach for dryness. I am fascinated by “admin”, so I enjoy leafing through memoranda, monographs, white papers, and manuals. Understanding certain principals, objectives, and definitions gives you a stronger understanding of what the military thinks military people are actually supposed to be doing—e.g. route clearance, infil and exfil operations, fire support—and how different military elements are integrated to achieve a goal. This really helps when building out fictional units and trying to understand what their day-to-day looks like. Learn how to give a unit's elevator pitch.

If your eyes tire, return to YouTube or Spotify. Put all those male podcasters to good use. Every ex-SEAL has their own platform now where they interview other ex-service people, and their casual dialogue is often as illuminating as their monologues about specific events. Some of these podcasts have five hour episodes. I stick ‘em on when sewing or painting, absorbing a lot of words while I work with my hands. (All my algorithms think I am a specific black gun, black coffee type of male, which is one downside of this type of media consumption.)

I also enjoy reading books by mil-adjacent folks: ex-CIA employees, UN doctors and aide workers, theatre reporters, etc. Their informed perspective and view of the impact of military operations on civil life is informative and thought-provoking. 

Hope this helps, and thanks for your patience as I’ve been away for a month.

[manuscripts-dontburn]

The Silence Factory

Author: Bridget Collins

First published: 2024

Rating: ★★★☆☆

What a stunning cover! While The Silence Factory is not AS good and enchanting as Collins´ previous two books, it is still a pretty solid Gothic historical fiction. It is not, though, a magical realism book, which I imagine lets some people down, because it was advertised as one. I also admit I expected the story to be a little more twisty and bendy because it is quite straightforward and the atmosphere and the plot had strength to hold...well...more.

Franklin's Flying Bookshop

Author: Jen Campbell

First published: 2017

Rating:  ★★★★☆

I was happy to find this book at a school fair and immediately snatched it for a baby girl in our family. Of course, first, I had to read it myself! It is a sweet, short story about the love of stories and books and how that love can bring people closer. I read the Czech translation and I imagine some of the verses were smoother in English. The illustrations are extremely cute, generously large and colourful.

Company of Liars

Author: Karen Maitland

First published: 2008

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Not great, not terrible. Or rather: it kept me entertained well enough throughout the whole thing and sometimes that is all you need from a book.

The Lights of Prague

Author: Nicole Jarvis

First published: 2021

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

I reached for this book mostly because I am always curious about how foreigners present my country. As a debut, this is not bad. You can really tell there is talent in the use of language, creating the atmosphere. Where it limps quite badly is the depth of the characters, their gradual development and especially the relationships. Some of the names and words chosen (never ever have I heard anyone call a vampire "pijavice" - literally a leech) sounded strange to a Czech, but I have seen and read so much worse before that I waved this away. The plot was very straightforward and the ending bored me, unfortunately.

My Salty Mary

Author: Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows

First published: 2024

Rating: ★★★★☆

After the last instalment that was really just "mid", My Salty Mary returns with the easy wit, fluffy characters and some really funny (really well-timed) jokes. Perfect if you want to clear your head.

Gaza: An Inquest into Its Martyrdom

Author: Norman Finkelstein

First published: 2018

Rating: ★★★★★

An extremely important book, now more than ever. Norman Finkelstein simply slaps you in the face with fact after fact, there is nothing sentimental or pleading here, just bare and naked reality, meticulously backed by sources. Finkelstein focuses on the Israeli violence against the people of Gaza between the years 2002 and 2014, and you can see that everything that is being used by Israeli (And US) propaganda has already been used multiple times and, just like today, with no evidence to back it up. Most importantly it is clear now that every operation undertaken in the past twenty years has only been a dress rehearsal for the currently ongoing genocide of the Palestinians AND the attacks against Lebanon. Every page of this book made me feel sheer fury. Mostly because when you read it now you already know that the worst is yet to come for the Palestinian people.

The Lady and the Unicorn

Author: Tracy Chevalier

First published: 2004

Rating: ★★★★☆

Though at first I disliked pretty much all of the characters and did not understand the point of the story, it eventually grew on me to the point where I was looking forward to spending time within the pages of this book. You get to see the souls of the characters and love at least one (Ailienor, though I may have spelled that wrong), you learn something about the making of tapestries (which was surprisingly interesting) and see how our lives resemble tapestries with many threads that get pulled, with parts that need to be re-done and the fact that when we are gone, our meanings and intentions may not be clearly interpreted by the future. If the future should ever notice us at all. That all probably sounds terribly complicated, but that is the feeling I am leaving with.

The Shape of Darkness

Author: Laura Purcell

First published: 2021

Rating:  ★★★★★

The book has a slow start but when it grabs you, it is really difficult to put it down. Laura Purcell is brilliant in walking the tight rope between the supernatural and the real. Just when you think you have it all figured out, she is able to throw something at you that again makes you doubt your conclusions. She is also very skilful in creating a dark, Gothic atmosphere. Last but not least I appreciate her ability to tell the background story in pieces and insinuations rather than laying it all out for you at once. So yeah, this was good.

Eighteen: A History of Britain in 18 Young Lives

Author: Alice Loxton

First published: 2024

Rating: ★★★★☆

A wonderful non-fiction book for a young reader. By creating short and very readable cameos of actual historical figures, Alice Loxton had offered an entertaining yet educational and even inspirational album of fascinating live stories. And thought focused on the young, it can be enjoyed by the old as well :D

Songbirds

Author: Christy Lefteri

First published: 2021

Rating: ★★★★☆

I really, really like Christy Lefteri´s writing style. Much like her previous book, Songbirds is more of an exploration of souls and relationships than a thrilling adventure. Indeed the plot is very simple: a domestic worker goes missing and those around her are left to both try to look for her as well as to realize who exactly the woman was and what are their own lives without her presence in it. There are also musings on motherhood and what we are willing to do to better our existence, as well as commentary on social hierarchy and prevalent racism many migrants keep experiencing. I wished for a little more mystery when it came to Nisha´s disappearance, but perhaps the sad banality of it was necessary as a reminder of reality.

Wild: Tales from Early Medieval Britain

Author: Amy Jeffs

First published: 2022

Rating:  ★★★★★

This was such a curious book. Part mythology/legend retelling, part memoir and non-fiction to explain context and details, and if you listen to it on audio, also quite a banging folk music album. Gorgeously written, no matter which kind of genre it chooses to be at a given moment, I was surprised by how rich it felt, considering this is quite a thin volume.

A Dowry of Blood

Author: S.T. Gibson

First published: 2021

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

I´m not mad about this book, just kind of... disappointed. Great idea with some pretty good writing, but I felt that the characters never evolved, staying the same no matter how many centuries they have gone through. They also never seemed to be doing anything interesting besides a bisexual woohoo a few times. And I felt that the possibility of showing the immortals reacting to the ever-changing world around them was not explored at all, though that is one of my favourite things about vampires. Furthermore, these vampires felt altogether too human.

Garlic and the Vampire

Author: Bree Paulsen

First published: 2021

Rating: ★★★★★

I needed something soft and sweet and uncomplicated to close off October. This was a perfect pick for me. Also, I always knew celery was the lesser vegetable.

[jetwhenitsmidnight]

Death's Country by R. M. Romero

Publisher: Peachtree Teen

Source: NetGalley ARC

Release date: 7 May 2024

Genre: young adult magical realism

If you like:

Modern day retellings (Orpheus and Eurydice)

MFF romance

Novels written in verse

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐/5

Synopsis

Andres Santos of São Paulo was all swinging fists and firecracker fury, a foot soldier in the war between his parents. Until he drowned in the Tietê River… and made a bargain with Death for a new life. A year later, his parents have relocated the family to Miami, but their promises of a fresh start quickly dissolve in the summer heat. 

Instead of fists, Andres now uses music to escape his parents’ battles. While wandering Miami Beach, he meets two girls, photographer Renee, a blaze of fire, and dancer Liora, a ray of sunshine. The three become a polyamorous triad, happy, despite how no one understands their relationship. But when a car accident leaves Liora in a coma, Andres and Renee are shattered. 

Then Renee proposes a radical solution: She and Andres must go into the underworld to retrieve their girlfriend’s spirit and reunite it with her body—before it’s too late. Their search takes them to the City of the dead, where painters bleed color, songs grow flowers, and regretful souls will do anything to forget their lives on earth. But finding Liora’s spirit is only the first step in returning to the living world. Because when Andres drowned, he left a part of himself in the underworld—a part he’s in no hurry to meet again. But it is eager to be reunited with him...

Content warnings

Death

Emotional abuse

Car accident

References to eating disorders

Past self-harm

Medical content

References to war

Review

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review! ☠️🎸

Going into this, I hadn't expected this to be written in verse, which is on me; I didn't read the synopsis properly.

That being said, I was rather pleasantly surprised! I am not one to read novels written in verse, as I find that the pacing or the style in general reads strangely. However, in Death's Country, the author does a great job, in that the story flows well, regardless, or perhaps because, of the writing style. There was so much story fit into this book, considering the fact that there are less words than typically would be in a full-length novel. The writing was excellent, every word was fully utilised such that I felt every moment of the characters' emotional journey.

The way each character's arc was handled, alongside their growing relationship was sooo good, the author gives each character their own screentime to develop, and also twines it together with their love story. I think teens would find this cast of characters relatable, especially with all the obstacles and uncertainty they face, which are real and prevalent issues today. I also liked how the book doesn't just provide a clean solution to everything, but the characters grow and learn how to manage things in a way that feels more realistic.

I find that this novel also provides a rather age-appropriate exploration of the concept of death, and how different people deal with it, as well as the different perspectives our main cast has about it. This could be an interesting discussion to have with youths about concepts of mortality and the afterlife.

All in all, an excellent read, one that is quite short in terms of word count, but makes a big impact <3

[sometimes-love-is-enough]

Fanfic asks: 1, 2, 3 (does it help you to share ideas?), 34, 43, 50, 76, 78, 79 and 80 (How do you deal with writer’s block?)

I’ve been kinda feeling…creatively constipated, is as best as I can describe it. Ideas and worlds in my head but they stay locked up without a key to free them. So I guess I wanted to pick someone’s brain, writer to writer, see if there’s anything I can try to get myself inspired again. I hope that’s not weird.

1. Do you daydream a lot before you write, or go for it as soon as the ideas strike?

For the most part, I force myself to daydream a lot before I sit down to start writing, because otherwise there's the very real chance I'll sit down and get 3k into it and realize, 'oh. there's not very much meat on this one at all. I don't want to finish it anymore.' There's something to be said for the concept of 'Writing For The Sake Of Writing', but a lot of the time getting a decent length into something and just, not having the ideas or drive to finish it.. it kind of sucks.

2. Where do you get your fic ideas?

All sorts of places, although I tend to draw a lot from real-life experiences and things I'm currently learning about/interested in (e.g. philosophy chapters of Pick A Side, chessboxing), as well as various types of mythologies and lore (Eucat, Melliferous).

3. Do you share your fic ideas, or do you keep them to yourself?

I'm the sort of person who hoards the fine details of my WIPs very close to my chest until I'm absolutely sure that I'm going to stick to writing the whole damn thing. I'm not great at sharing. But also I really enjoy sharing out of context little bits and pieces as I go, and constantly want to talk about the things I write - I'm a contradiction of a person.

34. How much of your personal life/experience do you include in your fics?

Well, when I was 17, I died, went to bee hell, and had to wait for the combined-yet-separate fractals of my personality to come bail me out I don't include an overwhelming amount, I don't think, but sometimes real life is the best source for an interesting story. It gives it a bit of spice and depth. For example, the thing in Syzygy with Thomas blaming his creaky apartment on an 'apartment ghost' and constantly talking to it because he's lonely is something that I do in fact do in real life.

43. Is there a trope or idea that you’d really like to write but haven’t yet?

Yeah, I want to do a thorough deconstruction of a soulmate AU. And/or the hanahaki trope, because neither of those are something that I'm entirely fond of. I'm not sure if this is the right fandom to do it in or not, but I have a feeling I'll end up writing it eventually.

50. How would you describe your writing style?

Absurdist realism and/or magical surrealism.

76. How do you deal with writing pressure, whether internal or external?

Internal pressure is a sign I need to take a break and do something else for a bit, or stop taking myself so seriously. External pressure is a sign that I either need to block a rude commenter, or gently remind people that I'm a human being and I do this for fun.

78. What motivates you during the writing process?

Knowing that at the end of it all, I'll have a finished product that a) I will be proud of in some respect b) that other people will enjoy and c) (hopefully) scream at me in fury about. Getting to that end point where I can actually hit the post button and see something that I made show up in the tags is just the best feeling in the world.

79. Do you have any writing advice you want to share?

Be joyful with it. Writing is a game you're playing with yourself, so play. I recognize that this isn't the most helpful and specific of advice, but I can't stress enough how much you should experiment with stylisms and point-of-view and unreliable narrators and all the rest of it! Pastiche someone else's style! Write in reverse chronological order! Give yourself restrictions and take away your pre-existing restrictions, and BREAK THE RULES.

80. How do you deal with writer’s block?

Writer's block (for me, at least) is my brain telling me that it doesn't want to work anymore. It's had enough. It doesn't want me to work! Which is the point where I close the document, and go do something else that my brain does want to do. Sometimes that's going for a walk or making myself a fancy drink or snack, sometimes it's lying in bed and watching Youtube for ages, and sometimes my brain is just screaming and sobbing and kicking and doesn't want to do anything at all, in which case I just have to gently sit with it and wait for it all to be over. Either way, I'll get back to writing when I get back to it - either whatever WIP I was working on at the time, or something new that I'll enjoy writing. Forcing myself to write when I'm not on an actual deadline or timecrunch never works out well for me, so I try to be very gentle about it.

And I hope you get past that brainblock eventually. I've been there too, and it's the worst place to be in. Hopefully you find that idea or project that makes your brain start singing again soon! I wish you luck, and hope this helps.

[libraryofcirclaria]

09 November 1299

Library of Circlaria

Third Level Society: First Version

Story Nine: Sophie Qalmers

As I anticipated my upcoming trial this coming Wednesday, I have decided to dedicate today on reflecting upon the past.

Thirty years ago this year, I was born in the town of North Kempton. I was raised there on certain social manners there. I went to school there, from kindergarten through high school. Not much of that turned out to be significant to me until I met Cray Fenton in the fall of 1286. Up to that point, I had thought of life as drab and awful. Cray Fenton was a source of enlightenment for me. I had heard of him through the older brother of a friend of mine.

And that friend, believe it or not, was Brythar Foren.

That was in early high school. So I was not old enough to take part in Cray Fenton's Circle Project, but I was allowed to sit in and observe. They apparently had effectively reconstructed North Kempton, its history up to that point, the province of Nintel and its details, the entire nation of Retun, and even started building details of Locin and the Great North. It was an almost exact replica without the nuances and alterations present in the Arturian Realm. Its realism, initially, was what lured me. I mean I was fascinated with the Arturian Realm when I came to that later on. But the exact model of Remikran Society, and Cray Fenton's ability to craft the many social dynamics involved was something that blew my imagination. I begged and begged to be given permission to take part in his Project despite the age limit that every Member had to be at least 18 years old.

I finally got my wish in the fall of 1286. It was my final year of high school. And the previous school year, I signed the official paperwork finalizing the assignment choice of my senior project: an internship as a co-administrator for the Nintel Sector of Cray Fenton's dymensional plane.

I put forth my effort. I got good marks and graduated. And I contributed a lot to Cray Fenton's work. It was something I was proud of.

The issue with Cray Fenton was, believe it or not, his stance on the Darkfire Community. Early on, I had learned about the plight with Ceri Mains. I was inspired by her story, but I was also outraged by how much I had been lied to about the Darkfire Community itself. I was taught in my childhood that darkfire conjurers were morally corrupt individuals who had ulterior motives and sought to achieve their agendas via mind control and also conjuration of the dead. As the years went on, I realized that the dead-conjuration part was a completely false myth. Later on, I learned not only that the mind-control notion was a false myth as well, but that most of that type of propaganda...and propaganda I do appropriately call it...was spread by Reonard Chaney, who I have come to realize was quite the notorious, and even misogynist, radio host.

Cray Fenton, when I first met him, seemed very much in the same league as myself on this, as he also believed, and still believes to this day, that Reonard Chaney was wrong and that darkfire is not the morally corrupt art that the media is cracking it up to be.

But that was his limit. The more closely I worked with him during my senior project, the more I began to realize that Cray Fenton viewed darkfire conjuration as dangerous, regardless of morality. He did not outright believe that darkfire enabled mind control but believed that its influence on the emotions of a person was to such a degree that those with Involuntary Darkfire Conjuration Syndrome could not be trusted to interact freely with the rest of Remikran society.

This came to be when I was shown the part of Nintel that is actually under Finzi's regime in the Mount Carris Perimeter. Like in the real world, the Mount Carris Perimeter was enclosed in 100-foot-thick and 100-foot-tall concrete walls and a network of barbed wire fences. It gave a holistic picture of the great divide in our society that not only marginalizes the Darkfire Community but also cuts it off from the outside world. So I proposed an idea to Cray Fenton to knock down those walls and allow the Darkfire Community to integrate with the rest of Society.

Cray Fenton said that he would not even consider the idea.

I was shocked at first. I thought that Cray Fenton was out of his mind to do that. I went to my closest friend, Brythar Foren, and tried talking with him to maybe gang up on Cray to show that Cray does not quite yet understand what he believes in.

But that was when Brythar and I fell out. At first, he was still my friend but told me to leave my idea in the past. In other words, he insisted that Cray Fenton was the one with common sense and I was the one without it.

I had no other close friends in the Circle other than Cray and Brythar. But nonetheless, I determined to show them wrong. So I joined with a few of the Gallestons and their friends and set to work on a secret agenda to cast sophisticated spellwork in order to make the concrete of the walls brittle and the barbed wired fences dissolve into dust. The idea was to do this while Cray was gone, so that those avatars of the Darkfire Community would be given a chance to integrate into modern society. This, of course, was within Cray Fenton's dymensional plane, not the real world.

We kept this secret. We kept this steady. And we noted that Cray Fenton was going to be leaving with a friend named Tom Pero in early February of that year. So we chose the perfect date to launch our plan: February 6, 1287. I made a lot of good friends in the process, especially the Gallestons. I went from feeling frustrated to feeling at a very high point in my life. I felt proud against the misunderstandings of Cray and Brythar. And yes, I saw them as misunderstandings; and I was going to set them right with this, and have an impact on Cray's organization.

Of course, our plan was interrupted on February 6, 1287, when all the events happened, and all the panic spread. It shook us up. We obviously did not carry out the plan that day. And so we were left scrambled. After a few days, though, we regrouped and discovered that due to the national border closures, Cray Fenton was stuck in the Great North and would be for awhile. So we pulled ourselves together and decided to launch our plan on February 15.

During that week, rumor came that someone tried to hack our phone system. That of course caused concern among the Galleston leaders and Brythar, those who I deemed "old-timers." But we saw this as a perfect distraction, morally controversial is that would seem. And so on February 15, we launched our plan.

And it worked beautifully. The walls came down, the barbed wire dissolved. And all the darkfire avatars came out and integrated into Fenton's dymensional plane Remikra and did so gracefully.

I figured that this would be enough to change the minds of both Cray and Brythar. But then Brythar, upon seeing what happened, turned hostile on me. He had his avatar create mass numbers of daemons who rounded up all the darkfire daemons and destroyed them. He then rebuilt the Mount Carris Perimeter, and respawned the daemons inside. In other words, he had everything reset to the way it was before. To say I felt disappointed and let down on this was an understatement. But then Cray Fenton returned the following week, following the re-opening of the borders, and had me demoted to serving as a simple phone secretary role in the in-built reception office of the Galleston Farmhouse.

In other words, I was no longer working directly with the dymensional plane.

I had a little negotiation with Cray, with the hope that crowd pressure from the friends I had made during the great plan would back me up. But Brythar had stricken fear into them, convincing too many of them that I was actually crafting darkfire in order to sway them. Nonetheless, I did convince Cray to let me back into his dymensional plane, albeit with me reporting to a Third Level Society outcast named Carol Owen.

But therein at my low point, I ran into a source of inspiration: Jeo Brock. I had heard about him and his avatar-card invention at Cabotton University, but never met him while he was in North Kempton, even though we had gone to the same high school. About a month after the Lykian attacks, though, he had called me. Well, he called to Cray Fenton's project, and I happened to pick up the phone.

Jeo asked me a simple question: Where was Cray Fenton?

So I told him how Cray Fenton had been in the Great North, and how he was temporarily back in North Kempton again before heading off to Ebony Town. But I did not tell him the part about how during his stopover, Cray had demoted me. That was because this was right after I received the letter stating that I was accepted into Cabotton University. And by that point, I was inspired to finally leave North Kempton and join the ranks of Jeo at Cabotton University and the Third Level Society. So I asked him a lot of questions about his card agenda. He said that it was a hard battle, to which I told him that I knew how it felt.

And then I remembered, just before I had launched my darkfire plan, how some avatar named Rendo, accompanied by Rosane, and approached my avatar, named Sophie, and asked her the whereabouts of Cray.

It was from that point forward that I became hell-bent on leaving North Kempton and starting anew at Cabotton. Despite my shortcomings with Cray and his dymensional plane, I got good marks on my senior project and graduated high school. That fall, I moved into my residence at Cabotton University, where ultimately, I was to major in the real version of the pseudo-craft I used during my internship with Cray. The craft in question was lightfire.

I will try not to brag when I say this, but I will admit that I was strong in the academic knowledge part of the Lightfire Curriculum, and I got good marks in the music performance aspect of it, as required. I was a piano player, I remember. And I also did well in the rudimentary spellfire caster training courses, receiving my Spellcaster License by the end of October of that year. It was just that I could not do lightfire crafting, no matter how hard I tried. Looking back, I now know that lightfire crafting is not for everyone. And I was definitely one of the ones not naturally inclined to excel.

This was not helped by Josh Marquin, at the time, who was originally my study partner, but then became inspired by me for some reason, showing, shall I say, a little too much admiration for me. He was not aggressive, but was that one annoying person after all who would not leave me alone. Whether or not his approach was romantic is still unclear to me to this day. But nonetheless, his presence was a contributor toward my consideration to actually move on from Cabotton.

I did my best in the lightfire crafting core classes. I got passing grades. But my performance there was not terribly great. Everyone else knew that I would leave after the first semester. And West Horizon? Not even in my wildest dreams.

Most of my pride, though, came from the Third Level Society. I created my avatar, Lowen, that semester. Lowen was originally going to be female, but I decided to leave the avatar non-gendered so as to create as many questing opportunities as possible for them. I did, after all, notice some avatar-gender bias in the Arturian Realm. So I developed Lowen through numerous quests and experiences. But then I got busy with the mounting schoolwork. And then late in the month of October, I decided that my first semester at Cabotton would be my last. By that point, the schoolwork ebbed a little, ideally leaving time for lightfire students to begin networking with lightfire professionals. Instead of doing that, however, I indulged more with the development of Lowen, at the end of which period Lowen became pretty good at casting concealment for groups of avatars. Lowen, in fact, had grown a bit popular, helped not in the least by the fact that Lowen had a really good custom-built starship.

I was sad to leave that behind, I will admit. But unfortunately, I just could not continue to study at Cabotton University. And there were no other viable career options in the spellcrafter small business market of Cabotton proper. My life took me, ultimately, back to North Kempton, where I sought to completely avoid Cray Fenton by working a job in the back section of the North Kempton Library.

During my time at the Library, I became fascinated with the art of writing. And a little while later, I submitted a written work to the Royal College of Terredon in the Great North, who, to my surprise, accepted me as their student. Four years later, in 1292, I obtained my degree in Journalism, and shortly thereafter, landed my current position with the Three Points, the newspaper for the town of Three Points, Ereautea.

I started there as an editor, aspiring to become one of their Field Journalists. When the opportunity arose, I was passed over by Tom Kearney with the vague excuse of being that he "had more desirable experience." However, I am suspicious that there may be another reason.

In any case, the years and years of disappointment are what led me to this point. When Josh Marquin approached me with the idea of myself reporting on an independent article on everything currently happening with the Third Level Society, I felt that I had to take it. Being stuck as an editor was not my idea of fun when it came to my chaotic career path. So this would have to do.

Only now, I may be on the cusp of yet a large disappointment, the largest in my life.

Perhaps, though, perhaps I need to have a little hope. If this does not turn out to be a disappointment, it will be a major accomplishment, something to give me confidence in the years to come.

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