#The Sun Always Rises

[tameila]

Happy anniversary (belated) to TSAR! Are there things you might have done differently if you had written it now? From little things like turns of phrase to big things (plot points, character development milestones, etc.), do you think some things might have been different?

Thank you so much for your message, and I apologize immensely that it has taken me so long to answer! The new job's great, but my free time is WIPED 💀

but, to answer your question, I would have written the first arc of the story more mindfully. like, believe me, when I wrote the author's note of the first chapter and said that it was going to be a fluffy feel-good story, I honest-to-god thought it was going to be!! 😂 Now, with the foresight of where the story ended up going, I would polish the prose of those first chapters.

Along a similar vein, I would want to emphasis the weight and history between Pike and Scanlan more in the first arc. These are two people who have known each other for over a decade and have spent about 2/3rds of that time on the precipice of almost being something. They have flirted. They have almost hooked up. Pike is fully aware that she's attracted to Scanlan, but Scanlan's always run away when she's gotten too close. Pike in TSAR isn't completely oblivious to Scanlan's feelings; she's just had it reinforced by all their previous interactions that he isn't serious. I would want to really emphasis that dynamic and reading of their relationship more. I've been told that it came across, but I've never quite believed it myself. Mostly because, writing those first chapters, that was not really the dynamic I had in mind; it's just the one that naturally grew as I wrote.

There were also a lot of scenes that I cut in the name of getting the chapter out sooner, but, y'know me, I love to meander and I am always happy to write more.

Some bits that were cut from drafts / in the notes but never fully added include:

in chapter 14, after Scanlan drops Pike off at home, there was a scene where she goes into the kitchen and talks with Grog. it was supposed to explore, a bit more fully, the fallout of Pike's depression and its effects on the Trickfoot household dynamics. Those changes were weaved in over the next chapters, but I still think it would have been great to show them in the immediate aftermath in all their still-raw glory.

chapter 15 was, in part, meant to be a road trip chapter in earnest and explore the still-lingering tension in Pikelan's relationship and how, in cramped motel rooms and car front seats, they learned to smooth their edges and find each other. I do think, in the end, chapter 15 turned out perfectly fine without it, but...Why write less, when you can write more? That's what I always say! Here's a snippet from something that actually did get written from the scrapped road trip montage:

The next morning, Pike pulls out her road map to doublecheck their route for the day. Already, the reliability of their phones is sketchy at best. The further they go into the mountains, the worse the connection will become. She’s only thinking ahead, but Scanlan gasps, as if he’s never seen a map before, and calls it ‘quaint’. He insists that she lay it out across the hood of his car and has her pose for a picture -- or twenty. He complains for the first twenty minutes of their morning drive that he can’t get it to post to Instagram.

I have a completely written out scene from chapter 15 that I cut where Pike actually runs into Allura on the university campus but I cut it for hating it at the time lol...I would put it back in!

totally blanking on which chapter this was supposed to be in (potentially chapter 16?? because I think there was also a cut scene of the girls at a farmer's market just for the friendship vibes) but this was also in my notes:

Keyleth and her in the temple garden, Keyleth suddenly feels prompted to admit the truth: Grog and her are dating and have been for a while (since that rainy week in April when Scanlan was gone). Pike is not that surprised ("Keyleth, you made me watch that movie where the main character falls in love with her best friend's brother and then proceeded to ramble about it an excessive amount. I knew.") and is incredibly supportive.

[classy-thief]

🌻 Late nights

something I used to do when I was younger 💤

[folglore13]

On your Pinterest, save the first celebrity, quote, outfit and aesthetic pictures you see.

Thank you @whitedahlia13 for tagging me 🌸 I loved yours and I love mine too 💕

I don't know if Matthew Macfadyen as Darcy in a BTS counts as a celebrity but I guess he does to me 😍

[lil-lemon-snails]

don't let him hear you say that!

[crustycrackhead]

Gideon always liked the way Kremy looked when he smoked, but like in an ironic way, of course. Noticed how the burning embers perfectly reflecting in his golden eyes, Gideon Nathaniel Coal, was never a man of flowery poetry… but for Kremy, his buddy ol’ pal, he can’t help but think he’s as beautiful as a sunset in autumn.

Kremy and Gideon make me miserable and sad and I cry at nights for them— I don’t need them to have sex, I need them to be like… okay 😭, like damn, bitches can never win, I hate them, I hate them (I love them but they make me suffer)

Also this drawing started because I was inspired by this one author on AO3: Never_Eat_Sour_Wheat, @pedal-mail , I love their writing sm! They inspired me to draw this lil Drabble lol 🚶🚶🚶

[petrichara]

And it passes, it passes, it passes. Time is neither friend nor foe. Time falls into step; time does not berate. Time is a neutral observer. It’s okay to take a break, set down the heaviness for a moment or two. The clouds are still moving. There’s no race to be won, and no other path the same. You can stop to smell the roses, every breath has meaning. It is a wondrous thing to be alive

[mechacringekitty]

shoutout to people who didn't always know actually. shoutout to those that didn't have dysphoria since childhood or know something was different about them or act different or be noticeably queer. i can't be the only one and i love you

i love you <3

[phopollo]

Hey what if--

I cant be the only one who noticed them, can I?

[legokingfisher]

Cannot even Imagine how empty it felt for Sora to hold that medal

[laurapetrie]

Kiss me just once more before we get there.

Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises (1926)

[tameila]

Okay, I lied, I also want to know about both A-side and B-side please!

I talked a bit about B-Side in this post, so I'll chat a little more about A-Side here!

In A-Side, we get Scanlan's POV as he learns about his daughter, navigates co-parenting and reevaluates his priorities, struggles to juggle those priorities as they occasionally pull him in differing directions, and tries to still plan a wedding!

I'm planning for A-Side (& B-Side) to be about 6-7 chapters, so the story's timeline is not going to be as closely constrained as The Sun Always Rises. which is to say, we'll get bigger jumps in time between chapters, because if I let myself write every little moment that I wanted, these sequels would definitely never get done!

here's a snippet from the rough skeleton of chapter 3:

“Let’s not fight,” she whispers. “I just – I just wish you’d believe in yourself even half as much as I do. I’m worried that you’re getting too caught up in performing what you think Sybil wants to see and losing sight of what actually matters.”

“Proving that I’m not the man I was.”

“Showing her the man you are. Scanlan, I’ve spent the last two weeks listening to you consider every permutation of the future to ensure maximum time with Kaylie. Just yesterday, you went on a tangent about setting her up with connections for college and making time to visit her. She isn’t even in high school yet!”

“Well, all I’m saying is that, if she chooses to go to Chicago or New York to pursue the arts, I know some people, and – ”

“Scanlan.” Pike grabs him by the face and turns him look at her. “Listen to me. You’ve spent these past two weeks showing me just how ready you are to step up and be her dad. All you have to do is show that to Sybil.”

“What if she says ‘no’, Pike? What if it isn’t enough, and she says that I can never see Kaylie again.”

“She won’t.”

“But – ”

“Scanlan, listen to me, she won’t.”

Scanlan finally relents. He hates pulling Pike into all of this mess. He tries to remember that relationships cannot always be equal – sometimes one of them will need more support, but he doesn’t want it to be him. He’d wear himself to the bone, walk through Hell until the soles of his shoes burned through to his bare soles for Pike. But, he supposes that that’s the problem: He still can’t quite grasp that she probably thinks just the same about him.

“No matter what happens today, let’s do something special tonight. Just you and me, okay?”

[restinthewest]

Hallow needed her walk. So I got up and took her. We’re having a major snowstorm and she was so happy. Her joy is a gift. I’m glad we got out.

[sapphoherselz]

we should all kill ourselves

[basilhusband]

thinking about her on this fine morning (this picture is about to make me cry)

[heycallmeplease]

[kaleochu]

【 THE SUN 】 FOX

This card symbolizes the ultimate truth. The haze has been lifted, and one can see clearly what is in front of them. Clarity of mind, body, and spirit is obtained; it is the complete liberation from darkness and all vexing issues. Forgiveness is in order and happiness is now within one’s grasp.

Life will not hold back those who lie underneath the sun’s purifying rays. Life is now being experienced in its truest form.

🎨 - @ ixkouu on twt 📽️ - @ ketkatto on twt / bsky 🎵 - The Sun Rises - Okami