#and i'm not butchering my books for better images

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Daisy Chaining; Or, Connecting the TBR!

Does anybody besides me like to find Connections between Seemingly/Largely Unrelated Books and use those connections to plot a route through the old TBR?? I don't know about you, but I have a LOT of books I want to read, and sometimes I get Whelmed™ by my choices. So I'll either pick a small stack and make that a particular month's micro-TBR (good if I have specific Goals!), OR I'll start with something I really want to read, and I'll daisy chain from there.

For example: I'd been waiting for TRANSLATION STATE to release in paperback since the hardback was announced (because Translators, my beloveds). So I annihilated that in a couple days (it was very good, all right??), and then I had to figure out where to go next despite cruising on the Translators High.

Because the Translators' fucked up body horror (which I mean mostly affectionately, but I'm side eyeing the matching pretty hard) was at times....goopy...I thought a book about a shapeshifter whose default form is an amorphous lump would be good next, which got me to SOMEONE YOU CAN BUILD A NEST IN (which I also enjoyed!! shout-out to @asexualbookbird for gifting it to meee!!).

Since NEST is Monsters in a Fantasy Forest with a side of Politics and Power, my next read is THE BUTCHER OF THE FOREST (because it's also...wait for it...Monsters in a Fantasy Forest with a side of Politics and Power). And after that, I'll come OUT of the forest with AT THE EDGE OF THE WOODS, which promises to be weird and vaguely monstrous but with a literary bent (I put it on one of my writing TBR lists, and my general "read this by the end of 2024" list).

So, yeah! That's how you daisy chain to get from SF to fantasy/horror to fantasy to weird Lit Fic in the span of four (4) books, while maintaining something like a continuity. By the end of the year, my Books Read shelf looks a little chaotic, but there generally really is a rhyme AND a reason about it!

(Please click on the photo for better image quality! I edited it weirdly compared to usual and it looks good on my screen but ah. Less So, in tungledlandia.,.,)

[melrosing]

Ok speaking of changes GOT made… is there any changes you like? I struggle to find big moments, but there are small additions I love. Like Ned praying before he dies, Robb hitting the tree when he finds out, the chemistry that Kit Harrington and Rose Leslie have…. But there are very few structural changes I think improve the story.

hmmm so I can't lie there is a LOT I just don't remember anymore about the show, so wringing my mind a little to come up with something.....

I won't mention things that I think were adapted well (like Ned's execution) as those aren't adaptational changes. and I also won't mention things that I like the idea of (e.g. Jaime's dyslexia) but not the execution (they made out it was part of the longrunning 'stupidest Lannister' joke).

and like.... well I'm stuck already lmao?? I'm not even trying to shit on the show I just feel like it was a consistent exercise in either understating GRRM's work or butchering it entirely. so I can think of only a few things:

I can't find the link to where I talked about this at length but the scene in which Jaime and Ned duel in the streets of KL was a good one imo. I think it was more in character for Jaime to just recklessly fight Ned himself, and a neat parallel to what I suspect will happen between Ned, Arthur and Howland - in that when Ned is attacked from behind by one of Jaime's men in the midst of their fight, Jaime angrily ends the duel bc his man has essentially dishonoured it. I think Ned's fight with Arthur will end as it did in the show (with Howland stabbing Arthur from behind and Ned finishing the job, bc he needs to reach Lyanna), and this is like a parallel to show Jaime and Ned have the same principles, yet each have broken them in times of desperation. My personal theory is that this was a change GRRM recommended - the parallel seems notable to me, and not one that would've even occurred to D&D, esp. given they never gave any particular shit about Jaime's story. And this may sound spurious but I recall that GRRM remembers in an interview, saying the weather was different in the show version of the scene than in the books.... which makes me think he was maybe onset for this one, possibly because of the rewrite??

I'm v much in favour of ageing up the youngest characters. My ideal starting ages for the youngest characters in AGOT would've been Jon/Robb/Dany - 18, Joffrey/Sansa - 14, Arya - 12, Bran - 10. To me they all feel much too young for the roles they play in the story, and it occasionally kills my suspension of disbelief

I way prefer the book’s version of the Red Wedding but I do feel like Catelyn's single cry of despair works better than the book's manic laughter. maybe the laughter was a more vivid image for the books idk

I do actually like how we see Robb's grief onscreen it's very movingly played by Richard Madden. I also love Catelyn's expressions as Robb rides back from the Whispering Wood, like both these scenes are great reminders of their mother/son relationship in a setting where they aren't really allowed to be just that. and like just Michelle Fairley tbh I really like her work as Catelyn even though I don't like how the character was adapted more generally

Breaking the 'concept but not execution' rule just to say I think it was definitely a good idea to explore the High Sparrow as this weirdly charismatic figure so we can see how others might be taken in by him, even whilst we see the extremes of his faith. but that subplot was not executed well at all so fuck it

Yeah I agree that Jon and Ygritte having a slightly more charged romance also works. In the books Ygritte comes and goes quite quickly and I think there is something to be said for lending a bit more gravity to that relationship. I don't think they necessarily had to be the grand romance that the show makes them out to be but I didn't hate it

I might be forgetting other things that worked because some seasons I haven't seen since like 2015, but honestly it just doesn't work for me as an adaptation. things I liked in the show before reading the books feel completely naff in hindsight, knowing how they were supposed to play out, so..... eh

[1864-66readingproject]

I really enjoyed the first part of The Doctor's Wife, which uses three chapters to introduce three characters through Braddon's signature style: gentle ribbing.

Chapter 1 - 'A Young Man From the Country'

Introduces us to George Gilbert, a 22-year-old country doctor - presumably the doctor whose wife is in the title? So presumably he will marry at some point?

"he was only a common-place lad"

Reads historical action-adventures and skips over the first chapters to get to the action quicker

"He had those homely, healthy good looks which the novelist or poet in search of a hero would recoil from with actual horror, and which the practical mind involuntarily associates with tenant-farming in a small way, or the sale of butcher's meat."

Oblivious to young women who fancy him

Goes to London, immediately gets lost

Overall he seems like a nice, simple young man. My guess is that his simplicity and/or his traditional values will be challenged by the end of the novel?

Chapter 2 - 'A Sensation Author'

Sam Sigismund Smith, fiction writer for penny magazines and school friend of George's who he is intending to stay with for a few days

Ink-smudged young man

Sigismund is supposed to be studying to become a lawyer (the "supposed to be" reminds me very much of Braddon's earlier character, my beloved Robert Audley. The big difference between Sigismund and Robert being their energy; Sigismund may not be a studying the law as intended, but he is pursuing a career...)

"He found literature a great deal more profitable and a great deal easier [...] and he abandoned himself entirely" to writing

"He was a very mild young man. He could not have hit any one if he had tried ever so; and if you had hit him, I don't think he would have minded—much."

Meanwhile, writes very passionate and melodramatic fiction

(Also like Robert Audley in liking marmalade and getting laughed at for it. Neither of them performing masculinity sufficiently, apparently.)

He also seems very lovely. I'm not sure if he will be a main character, or if he gets a chapter of his own just as a necessary link between the characters of chapter 1 and chapter 3... I hope he will stay a prominent character, because I really like him! If he does, I think perhaps he'll end up getting passionate about something in real life for once.

Chapter 3 - Isabel

The daughter/step-daughter/half-sister of the family Sigismund lives with

Spends "the best part of her idle, useless life" reading

Most of the time her eyes look black, but in some lights - yellow? orange? For the sake of my own mental image, I'm going assume that means she has brown eyes...

"She knew a little Italian, enough French to serve for the reading of novels that she might have better left unread"

"She played the piano a little, and sang a little, and painted wishy-washy-looking flowers on Bristol-board from nature, but not at all like nature"

"She wanted her life to be like her books; she wanted to be a heroine,—unhappy perhaps, and dying early"

I have a horrible feeling she's going to regret that wish by the end of the book... Or, indeed, may already be regretting it by the end of chapter 3.

I sort of assume (as George seems to fancy Isabel) that she will become the titular Doctor's Wife, but with the ending of chapter 3, it's a bit difficult to see how at the moment... timeskip? Didn't go so far as America after all? ¯\(°_o)/¯ I'm looking forward to finding out...

[findpandaman]

Find Pandaman!

Solution under the cut: 

[kanthypantsalltheway]

Can you analyse how Book!bridgerton siblings and show!bridgerton siblings are different?

Thank you so much!:)

Ooooh alright! So I have lots of thoughts about this because we can all agree that book!characters and show!characters are quite different despite the actors putting their best efforts. Afterall they can only do so much when the scripts persist on creating another image altogether. Let's get into it.

Anthony Bridgerton- phewww, the way they butchered him, im- Alright so, first things first, Anthony Bridgerton NEVER neglected his family. He is always portrayed to be obedient despite his life being in tatters and his fear of death hovering over him. I know, I know, it was for character development, but they could have taken a better approach. He was lost, depressed, dripping with sadness and fear, true, but he never talked back to his mother (and violet was never a bitch), never thought about anything else other than his siblings's wishes. He would have NEVER forced Daphne to marry to someone like Nigel. He would have been worried, a bit stern even but never so cruel as to ignoring her wishes. Also, he was never 'attached' to one lady before Kate. Again it might have been for his character arc, but it was a bad attempt at the end because people started romanticizing his and Sienna's toxic relationship. He would never have been jealous of her mingling and seducing other man, because frankly, he is a rake ever since he sneaked out of Oxford for a quick shag. He knew his duties since he was eighteen, and he sure as hell knew who to stay away from. Besides, it doesn't take much time for one to know that even he KNEW how frustrated and hopeless their arrangment was. Book!Anthony was always logical. But thank god for Johnny, he literally made me want to kill show! Anthony and want to comfort him all the same.

Benedict Bridgerton- Book!Benedict wasnt such a bad boy, but hey, I'm not complaining. Luke Thompson didn't have THAT much screentime, but he slayed his fifteen minutes there. I do think his character, although a bit different is quite similar to book! Benedict. A bit shy, in the shadows at time, but sensible when required. A voice of intelligence when Anthony's concern overtakes his sanity. I know the book didn't show much about his feeling towards the working class, but show!Benedict seems to be aware of the society outside of upper-class, which is a relief and a good gradual progress of the show hinting towards at Sophie too.

Colin Bridgerton- Colin has always been humourous and a foodie. How could they butcher my boy and NOT include those qualities???? I mean that's peak Colin right there. Always sneaking food, always talking even when he has one of hands holding food to his mouth, and the other on his belly. He has the most amazing sense of humour and would lighten the situation, NOT MAKE IT WORSE BY MARRYING A WOMAN OUT OF NOWHERE. He was the closest to Daphne. He always was her favourite brother and they had a good chance to focus on that instead of torturing Marina and making Colin look like a fool. Also, he never proposed to any woman other than Penelope. It's crazy how they ruined so many things in one season. Let's hope for the best going forward. Luke Newton could have brilliantly done Colin being the cheeky part, because he just plays it wonderfully. What a missed opportunity.

Daphne Bridgerton- The main reason she wasn't attracting suitors was she was too friendly towards the men of the ton, that they could only portray her as a friend and not as a suitor. She wasn't a Diamond of the first water, she was never even shown having a friendly relation with the men of the ton. She also had a good sense of humour as compared to show!Daphne. She remarked how men were idiots when she saw her brother and Simon fight, she shared how much she loved Colin. Despite Daphne being a bit plain as was her charcter and also being problematic, (which again the writers and showrunners had ample chance of removing the rape scene altogether) she was portrayed beautifully by Phoebe.

Eloise Bridgerton- the show butchered Eloise the same way they did Anthony. Book!Eloise was yes, always bold, sure she was going to be a spinster, but she was never a feminist. I mean, show!Eloise isn't a feminist either, she has a long way to go for it. But the show tried to portray Eloise as this insufferable woman who was always against marriage where other woman were concerned, when she was infact not. Book!Eloise didn't hate Daphne, she didn't mind at all that Daphne was getting married. She and Benedict weren't that close, but again, i am not complaining that they are in the show. She considered herself more so as a spinster than anything else, but she never criticised others for marrying. Although, Book!Eloise was quite ignorant at times. They did portray the difference between the marriage prospects of Eloise and Penelope quite well. How, Eloise WAS a pretty Bridgerton, she had money, prospects and her family support. While Penelope, as shown, her family was suffering from a debt, no prospects for her, and her family couldn't care less about her. Book!Eloise didn't want to unravel Lady Whistledown's identity, she was curious, as was her nature and wanted to have fun. It wasn't her motive. It was Colin's motive. But either way, Claudia saved Eloise's ass, made show!Eloise look like this talkative and curious person, which she is.

Francesca- GIVE MY GIRL FRANCESCA MORE SCREENTIME. But also, isn't it marvellous how Ruby Stokes, with her two minutes of screentime caught Francesca's personality so perfectly? Maybe it is because her screentime was short for the showrunners and script writers to ruin her character in the show, but I'm immensely grateful how much similarities both the book and show Francesca have! Whimsical, introvert, sweet and a keen eye. Perfect. Now bring her back from aunt Winnie's, but don't ruin her character.

Gregory and Hyacinth- ah my babieeeesssss, they are too young to be portrayed as their individual books!character but the small tidbits that we saw in other books of young Gregory and Hyacinth really did match with that of show!Gregory and Hyacinth! Both insufferably cute and cheeky. But what made me sad was how they missed the opportunity to show little Gregory who was so excited that he slipped in the water of Thames and Hyacinth who literally flirted with Simon! Either way, I love Will Tilson and Florence Hunt, they are like real life Gregory and Hyacinth!

Honestly, so much good would have served if they stayed true to the book and it's humour rather than its problematic scenes.

[queenxxxsupreme]

Hello!! I'm kinda embarrassed but could you do an uno reverse with the chubby Arthur fanfic but its with a chubby reader instead?? (your choice to make Arthur also chubby or not) Thank you!!

A/N: Don’t be embarassed (I spelled that wrong but autocorrect won’t work right now and I’m too dumb to know how to spell it off the top of my head lol) I absolutely love to write for Arthur! I feel like he doesn’t get enough attention anymore. Thank you for the ask!! I hope you like this! The ending got a little messy and not great cause I didn’t know how to end it but I hope you like it!

Warnings: mentions of poor body image and Micah being a fucking douche, but there’s fluff! Arthur makes things better

***

“Y/N!” Mary-Beth called your name. 

You turned your head to look at her. Karen and Tilly stood with her by the wagon. John was hitching up a couple horses to the wagon with Lenny’s help.

“Hi, ladies.” You greeted them as you approached the tent. 

“We’re gonna go into town. You wanna come with us?” 

“What are you plannin’ on doing in town?” 

“Oh you know, just the usual.” Mary-Beth answered with a little wave of her hand. “Seein’ what the folk around here are like.”

“And maybe robbin’ them.” Tilly giggled. 

“But we aren’t gettin’ into too much trouble.” Karen added. “John won’t let us, will you John?”

“I hope not.” He sighed, buckling a strap on the horse. 

“So what do you say, Y/N?” Tilly asked you.

Arthur watched from across camp as you declined the ladies’ offer to join them on their trip into town. His eyes stayed on you while you watched them leave in the back of the wagon John and Lenny were driving. 

You began to pick at your nails, the furrow between your brows becoming more prominent. The picking at your nails was a bad habit of yours, one you only did when something was clouding your mind. 

“Are ya even listening to me, Arthur?” Uncle asked him.

Arthur took the cigarette out of his mouth and tossed it into the fire as he stood up. You were going to your tent so that’s were he planned on going. 

“Stopped listenin’ a while ago, Uncle. Thought you would’ve noticed.”

Uncle began to complain about Arthur’s inattentiveness but the outlaw was already leaving the table, making his way across camp to check on you.

Arthur ducked inside the tent he shared with you, taking his hat off. 

“Hey, pumpkin.” He greeted you.

You turned to face him, offering him a little smile. 

“Hi, Arthur.”

“What’re you up to?” He asked. Maybe you were too busy to go into town. 

“Gonna go read out by the cliffside for a bit.” You picked up your book from the end table. “Do you want to come with me? Or are you busy?”

“I’m never too busy for you, pumpkin.” He flashed you a little smile as you moved towards him. He was expecting you to stop, even if only for a moment, to give him a kiss on the cheek or to brush your hand along his chest like you always did when you passed him by. But you simply walked by him without even looking at him.

Something was definitely wrong. This confirmed his worries. 

“How was meetin’ up with Mary?”

“Went about as pleasant as you’d think. Wanted me to get her brother back from that religious group, the Chelonia.”

“That sounds like fun.”

“Depends on your definition of fun.” Arthur muttered.

You were thankful that no one was down by the edge of the cliff. You wanted to have some peace and quiet away from everyone. 

You decided to sit beneath a tree, placing your book in your lap. Arthur grunted rather dramatically as he got down next to you.

“M’too old for this kinda shit.” He sat facing you. One of his legs was loosely crossed while the other was spread to cross over yours, though he didn’t put any weight on your legs. 

“You don’t gotta follow me around, you know.” You giggled softly.

“I know. Just like spendin’ time with ya.” He took his hat off and put it in the grass beside him. “I, uh, I heard the girls were askin’ you to go to town with them.”

You nodded your head, opening the book in your lap so that you didn’t have to look at him. 

“Why didn’t you go? Thought you were tellin’ me just last night you had some errands to run in town.”

“I can do them another time, Arthur. It wasn’t anything important.”

Arthur rubbed the back of his neck, unsure of what to say next.

“Mary-Beth sounded a little eager to have you go with them, don’t you think?”

“I guess you could say that.”

“She was just bein’ friendly though, wasn’t she? She’s a good kid.”

“Arthur, what are you getting at?” You looked up from your book, meeting his gaze.

“I don’t know.” He sighed heavily. He ran a hand over his face. “I-I saw that look on your face when you were watchin’ them go, pumpkin. You looked upset about somethin.’” He paused to gauge your reaction. “Did something happen with one of the girls?”

“No, Arthur.” You dropped your attention back to the book.

“Karen’s not bad unless you get her drunk.” Arthur thought out loud. “And Tilly’s a nice girl, least from what I’ve seen. Mary-Beth too. Abigail can be.... something else. Did she do something?”

“Arthur, please.” You closed the book firmly. “Just stop.”

“Pumpkin, I’m just concerned is all.” Arthur reached over to place his hand on yours. “I don’t like that look I saw on your face. It don’t belong there.”

“The girls didn’t do anything to me, Arthur.” You murmured quietly, feeling a scratchy sensation begin in the back of your throat. “It’s all okay, I promise.”

“You say that, but I don’t see it in your eyes.” He shook his head. Cerulean blue eyes gazed at you with such a softness that you could’ve melted right there, but the torment you felt in your chest and in your head were too much. It pushed that softness he was able to make you feel away and brought in a dark feeling. 

“It doesn’t matter, Arthur.” You stood up, brushing off your skirt, and began to move back towards camp.

However you didn’t get very far. Arthur’s hand found your arm, bringing you to a stop. 

You turned your head to look away from him, taking a steady deep breath through your nose in an attempt to make the tears go away. If you could calm yourself down, they would go away. 

Arthur’s hand slid down from your bicep to your hand and his thumb began to trace small circles on the back of your hand. You turned your hand over so that you could lace your fingers together. 

“You don’t gotta tell me, pumpkin, but I just hate to see you so upset and so quiet about it.” He stepped closer and leaned down to kiss the top of your head. 

“I just…. I can’t stand some of these people, Arthur.” You tilted your head down, unable to look up at him. You focused your eyes on his boots. “Just can’t fucking stand them. They’re just….” You couldn’t find the words to accurately describe what you wanted to say. 

“Who was it?” Arthur had a very short list of who would put you on the verge of tears. Possibilities and scenarios began to race through his mind. 

“Micah just…. He was just being a bastard.” Your voice cracked. “He said you were going into town to see Mary Linton. I knew that’s where you had been earlier today. But he just…. He started saying that you were going to…. That you and her…. Because she’s-she’s thin and pretty and I’m as big as one of the pigs Pearson butchers.”

“He what?” Arthur had to pull his hand away from you as to not cause you any harm. His fingers automatically curled into tight fists and he felt the need to seek out Micah Bell to cause him serious damage. 

His eyes left yours and he tilted his head up to search the camp behind you. Micah was sitting at a table with Bill, sharpening his knife. 

“It doesn’t matter, Arthur.” You sniffled, looking down at the buttons on his shirt. “He wasn’t wrong. No use in sugar coatin’ it.”

Arthur stared at you for a few moments, his brain still trying to process the anger he felt. Then he took a breath and ran a hand over his face. 

“Micah Bell is a miserable son of a bitch, Y/N. He ain’t right about nothin’. Not a damn thing.”

“But Arthur, I don’t-I don’t look like other girls, like Mary or like Karen.” You whispered, tears trailing down your cheeks. You crossed your arms over yourself, suddenly feel extremely self-conscious. “I-I didn’t go into town with them because every time we go into town, people stare at me.”

“Pumpkin, they stare at me too. They’re just a bunch of judgemental pricks.”

“That’s different, Arthur.” You shook your head. It was sweet of him to try to make you feel better, but they stared at him for different reasons than they stared at you. “It’s-It’s just not the same. You.... You’re a normal size. You just come across as intimidatin’ and sometimes folk don’t know how to take that. But me.... They see me and all they see is a pig in a dress.”

“Don’t you say that, Y/N.” He reached up to cup your face, calloused thumbs brushing away your tears. “You don’t look nothin’ like a pig.”

“Mary, she’s just…. She’s so different from me, Arthur.”

“Course she is, pumpkin.” Arthur leaned forward to kiss your forehead, then he placed his hands on your hips and pulled you in for a proper hug. His slipped around you, providing you with a sense of protection. “I don’t see nothin’ wrong with that. And I definitely don’t see nothin’ wrong with you. You’re absolutely gorgeous in my eyes, pumpkin. Wouldn’t change a damn thing about you.”

“But Arthur, I look like a cow.”

“Stop comparin’ yourself to farm animals, Y/N.” He kissed the side of your head. “It’s breakin’ my heart.”

You frowned, leaning your head against his shoulder. Arthur pressed his lips against your head. 

“I know you’ve never had the best thoughts about yourself.” He murmured into your hair. “But I got plenty of good thoughts about you for the both of us. I’ll make sure to share them with you until you start thinkin’ about yourself differently. I need you to know that it don’t matter that you’re different from Mary or Karen or anyone else. Ain’t nothin’ wrong with that. It’s who you are.”

“Thank you, Arthur.” You sniffled. “You’re too sweet to me.”

“Only ‘cause I love ya, pumpkin.” 

***

Hosea caught sight of Arthur as the burly outlaw made his way across camp, a dark look in his eyes.

“Arthur-,”

“Not now, Hosea.” Arthur waved him off. His eyes were set on Micah who wasn’t even looking at him. His back was to Arthur. He sat at a table with Dutch talking about something Arthur didn’t care to listen to. 

Arthur grabbed the back of Micah’s chair and tipped it back, knocking Micah out of his seat and on to the ground. In the same heartbeat, Arthur drew the revolver from his hip and cocked the hammer with his thumb. 

He put his foot on Micah’s shoulder and aimed the gun at Micah’s chest, glaring down at the man. 

“Whoa, cowpoke!”

“Arthur!” Dutch shouted. “Put that gun away!”

Arthur ignored Dutch. The anger bubbling and festering in his veins made him focus solely on Micah.

“It’d be in your best interests to leave Miss Y/L/N alone.” He spoke lowly.

“I was just havin’ a conversation with her while you were out with your old fling-,”

“What I do ain’t none of your goddamned business.” Arthur cut him off. “If I find out you’ve said anything out of line to Y/N again, Micah Bell, I’ll be puttin’ a hole through your goddamn chest.”

Micah said nothing, locking his jaw as he glared up at Arthur. Arthur lowered his gun and then removed his foot from Micah’s shoulder. 

Hosea watched as Arthur moved towards his tent, holstering his weapon. 

“You’re a funny guy, Arthur Morgan!” Micah stood up, angrily brushing off his clothes. 

“And you’re a dumb bastard.” Hosea muttered, shaking his head as he walked away. “Surprised it’s taken this long.”

Taglists:  @winterwolf @doggone-cowgirl @lauramb7 @caraqas @bluscryn @nonodino @krenee1drful @thefirelordm @sargeantsea @sokkasdarling @zodiacaldust @gabstaroc @cal-lifornication

If your name is in italics, it wouldn’t let me tag you :(

[abysscronica]

Hi!

It has been a while since I read your books, but I really loved them. When I started writing fanfictions, I remember I only started with x readers because I went back to see how you wrote your books. I don't think I would have got into making my stories if I haven't read yours before, and writing brought a lot of joy since that day. So thank you, honestly! ❤ I want to ask a few questions if I can, since you're the most experienced writer I follow

How do you deal with criticism? I feel like there's always someone who has problems with a story. I never know how to react well. I loved the ending of Captive and how far it was from every cliche.

Also, do you read others' fanfictions of Kid, for example? I always feel like if I read about a character, the image of how I imagined and wrote them will change. At the same time, I miss a lot stories that are surely better than mine, lmao. Maybe your opinion can help to decide

Thank you for your work,

A grateful reader

Hi! THANK YOU SO MUCH for all the extremely beautiful words you spent for my stories, it truly means a lot! You're a writer, so you know how important and supportive these comments are for the morale and motivation, and reading that I inspired you to write and it made you happy is one of the biggest compliment I could receive. Thank you. ❤️

About the criticism, I have to admit I was incredibly lucky so far and I can't recall anything major. A couple of readers were put off by the fact I use an unusual punctuation, especially when writing dialogue. And I do, in fact, because I basically kept the Italian style - a questionable choice, I understand, and probably I will change it at some point, but for now I like it this way.

Some other readers point out when I misspell or misuse a word, although nowadays it happens a lot less. At the beginning I definitely butchered the English language quite a bit (sometimes I still do, unwillingly ofc), I'm honestly surprised people stuck to my stories. But I feel this is a necessary phase for most writers who are not native English speakers.

A few times there were also readers commenting things like "this sentence would have been better this way" and something along those lines.

So, as you can see, nothing major, mostly nitpicking. I never had a problem with these things, you can't please everyone (although I did block people who were rude or aggressive in my books).

I view criticism as a tool: you can take away what you wish from it and leave the rest. It can be helpful if you don't let it destroy your motivation. Also, if the majority of the comments is positive, that speaks the most about your story.

I think writing is a very personal thing, and you should be the first person enjoying your own content. So do it as you like it. Criticism can be useful if you wish to get better, if you want to know why your story does not appeal to (many) readers, and things like that. But if you're content with what you're doing and criticism damages your confidence and motivation, I would say just ignore it for now.

The people who criticize you are not editors/publishers and you're not a professional author seeking payment (at least I don't think). This is a passion, a hobby, so remember that you can write your stories however you like it!

As for me reading other fanfictions, I only read stuff from the authors I follow on Wattpad and I don't actively seek Kid x reader stories. Exactly because of the reason you state: I'm sure there are GREAT stories out there, but I'm too afraid of being influenced by them and subconsciously ending up including stuff from others in my own writing.

I hope this answer your questions! Good luck with your stories!

[grumpyoldsnake]

Tagged by: @ausp-ice​ here

Rules: Tag however many people you want to know better/catch up with and then answer these questions

Tagging: @zodiac-mage, @beefstatic, @spectralan0maly, @throughoutthestars, @quothreblogs, @novamoth, plus anyone tagged below. As ever, only if you feel like it; no pressure!

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THREE SHIPS

Uhhhh I'm going to be honest, I don't ship things much. xD It's usually more a case of enjoying something in a particular work than a case of general "I want to see them together"-ness.

That said!

@it-refused sold me on Sans/Grillby with her Fired Up and Bone Weary series, years ago.

Garak/Bashir comes to mind mostly because I watched this video the other day, ahah.

I'm not sure if it counts when it's my own darned characters, but I am really enjoying writing Space/Ventro in the Abime Spire fic that I'm working on. xD It's just. Giant space monster cuddles are nice, ok.

[Image description: A messy digital illustration of a crab-bat monster and a dinosaur-centaur monster cuddling. End description.]

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LAST SONGS LISTENED TO

It's not my normal fare, but I've been slowly putting together a playlist that's supposed to catch the general feel of what Diamond might like to listen to when he's working! So listening to it has been part of the process. 

(...It's thoroughly limited by what songs I myself am familiar with. xD)

(Disclaimer: I also wouldn't really describe all the songs in the list as 'easy listening,' hah.)

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CURRENTLY WATCHING

Ummmm shoot what have I been watching. Uh.

I've been giving a few episodes of the Ductales reboot a try this week.

I was also watching Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts -- got through the first two seasons a few months ago, still need to watch the third. I've been watching The Mandalorian some, when my parents have it playing. And I've been meaning to finish The Good Place some time, but it's been a year since I last picked it up. :'D

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CURRENTLY READING

Ahahaha, lots of things! Pretty sure I've read more new stuff in the last 8 months than I had in the preceding 8 years, heh... I keep meaning to ramble about it. For now:

I just finished N.K. Jemisen's The Broken Earth trilogy, and I liked it a heck of a lot! It's definitely my favorite of the new stuff I've read recently. (I mean. Needless to say the subject matter is dark, but... goodness are they beautiful books.) (Also: geology magic! :D)

Some other things that I'm still in the process of reading:

Robin Hobb's Realm of the Elderlings series

The Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner

The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher

The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

I've been rereading bits of the Vorkosigan Saga here and there! Mostly just following along with @psqqa​'s own read-through. :)

And, lastly, there's always fanfic. xD

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HOW’S IT GOING?

Eh. Well enough, I suppose! I'm coming out of a few weeks of anxiety & low mood, but I think I'm starting to get my feet under myself again. Certainly feeling better, even if my motivation is still low. Just gotta... fix the sleep schedule yet again, hah.

Drawing is going well, though! I've been trying to do daily concept thumbnails the past several days, and it's been a fun exercise. And I've been doing more active video calls with friends, which has been nice. :)

[inquisitor-julia]

Hi! Could you tell us about your three lavellans in your header image? apologies if you've talked about them already I'm new to your blog. Love your blog title btw!

Thank you!! I can most definitely talk about my Lavellan babies!!

Luca Lavellan

Too clever for his own good

Notice I said clever and not wise because there's a difference between having knowledge and having wisdom

Does not like the "herald of andraste" thing

Does like being the center of attention though

Has twin little sisters and is a wonderful older brother to them even though they are a handful (he has two scars on his face and both are from accidents involving his sisters being...a lot)

Helps teach the young children in clan lavellan

Lives for knowledge, just wants to know everything

Not as emotionally or socially intelligent as he is book smart. Has a tendency to be blunt or come across as rude unintentionally (or intentionally, he's not above speaking his mind). This improves a bit over the years of being inquisitor

His name is actually Uvun'lean but he goes by Luca in the Inquisition so that his name doesn't get butchered

Was probably drinking from the Well of Sorrows before morrigan could even say her piece about being the best candidate....I mean come on...it's a pool of knowledge and the boy is all about knowledge. The consequences actually coming into play and being real had him like *surprised Pikachu face*

"I'll redeem you Solas." *Processing* "wait...what??" He's very shocked to find that he wants to redeem Solas bc they butted heads so much but it was never on anything too monumental and their debates actually meant they spent time together and became friends (to the shock and dismay of both of them I imagine)

Wren Lavellan

My special snowflake oc

Yes she is albino

Extremely sensitive skin, has to wear layers when she's out in direct sunlight. For less intense sun she has a kind of Dalish-made sunscreen

Good with herbalism but terrible at keeping plants alive

Can make you the best cup of tea though

Loves heights, the more precarious the better. Can often be found reading in places she by all accounts shouldn't have been able to reach

Very interested in stars because of a game her father used to play with her where they'd make up their own constellations and "star stories". She's made star charts and read all about the constellations (of course she also recorded the ones she and her father made up)

Has an older sister who is also a mage but who gave up using her magic so that Wren could stay with clan Lavellan. Her sister was afraid that another clan wouldn't be able to properly take care of her with her light sensitivity and generally sensitive skin. Her sister was never given vallaslin because this was deemed childish.

Defensive magic or spells that boost the abilities of others are almost exclusively what she uses in battle. She was a healer in her clan and that doesn't change when she's Inquisitor. She can use offensive spells of course she just prefers not to.

LOVES sweets

Animals do not like her much to her disappointment

She's small, frail, and weak but she HATES being protected. She wants to protect others.

Least likely to be Inquisitor under normal circumstances

Rosemary Lavellan

Family is her motivation

Has an 8 y/o son named Mithren

Previously married (or dalish equivalent) but her husband died of disease six years before the events of Inquisition

Her mother was a city elf who fled to clan Lavellan while pregnant with Rosemary. That's why Rosemary's name isn't very dalish...

Rosemary was raised with both andrastian beliefs and tales of the creators though she's not inclined to be religious either way (if pressed she'd probably say she was more andrastian). That being said she views her vallaslin as marks of honor for herself more than marks for honoring the gods.

Was not looking for any kind of relationships in the Inquisition but found friendship and love anyway. Her main concern through everything is to keep her clan and son safe though.

Still working on finishing her playthrough so I'll hopefully have more to say about her later! :)

Thanks so much for asking!! ❤

[motleybirdbones]

PART 2!!!!!

IT IS DONE. THE LAST ART PROJECT. FOR SCHOOL. GONE.

And I should probably mention: I made the entire book myself from scratch with Butchers paper (just some old lookin paper i found) and glued all the painted pages in after I had stitched the signatures together and then I fitted it with a cover made of two layers of cardboard and then wrapped it all up in a fabric covering to give it that Spellbook Appeal (I didn't have the time or patience for leather or anything of the sort so I just had to make do) . It took two school afternoons to assemble it, but I am glad its done. The little Fox bookmark was a loose end from one of the strings I used to sew the signatures together, and I kinda wanted to include a ribbon/bookmark of some sort so I plated it together with some left over string and BOOM :) the fox bead I thought was a nice touch, along with a Duck feather (it changes colours with the light!)

The project itself took roughly a month to complete from start to finish and ended up being 14 pages long (it was presumed that no one would go over 10, and most of the other kids in my class only made 5 and stuck to Paper covers). If I could change anything, I kinda wish most of the pages weren't so messy/rushed (LOOKING AT YOU PAGE TWO) But overall I am happy, and this is probably the closest thing to a physically tangible, published novel my Old Story will ever get to. And I'm ok with that.

As always, click for better image quality and PART ONE is over here.

Edit: I got an A+!!! My teacher loves it so much and she couldn't believe how well it turned out!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She especially liked the last page (she hadn't seen that one in the drafts I was working on!)

[gothprentiss]

okay so like, i think the problem that every crime procedural that tries to do a Truly Evil Serial Killer must inevitably face is that like, our mental image of the Truly Evil Serial Killer is no longer that of any actual killer, but of hannibal lecter, at this point. like blah blah that's obvious, it's formative, etc., but it's interesting that sotl is very, VERY obviously thomas harris trying to think through ed gein, whereas lector was explicitly based on a prison doctor-- the latter being, like, a far more limited and mundane butcher, evil in a sort of distant and cruel way, and also evil in a way which is like, kind of incompatible with any sort of reality effect, since most serial killers are not incredible geniuses but just incredibly lucky (in a whole variety of ways). and also, sorry, most people writing procedurals are not particularly brilliant. the reason hannibal lecter works so well in silence of the lambs is because he isn't a whole person who is acting but rather a particularly informed and insightful gaze on clarice starling; what happens when you try to write a super genius in the wild is hannibal, which is (notably) significantly better as a book than a movie, but absolutely untenable in either case.

criminal minds has the unfortunate problem of having to regularly feature spencer reid, who is supposed to be a genius but is not written by people who even bother with research, and thus Genius on cm is not a matter of, like, actual content but of delivery. we see this in how, like, establishing the smarts or know-how of one character becomes increasingly about outsourcing their intelligence to someone else's deficit; so the scenes are often, like, it's not that reid knows more than other characters, but rather that they know less than him, which sounds like 2 ways of saying the same thing but is in fact a critical distinction.

anyway this is all to say that i'm not MUCH of a pedant but the way that frank is just, categorically, a hannibal lecter figure for gideon, but not in a like meaningful or interesting way, is so tiresome. it actually maps really well onto adaptations b/w the book and the movie-- in the book, lecter is just like throwing out arts n culture references right left and center, he collects church collapses, etc., he's just very much a sinister little nerd who lives and breathes this particular echelon of culture. it works, because he is, ultimately, a soft-handed layabout whose evil works in that way. and then in the movie he's just really fucking into ciphers and acronyms, because, you know, at some point the surest way to show genius was solving a rubiks cube really fast or whatever. and then frank is really into name etymologies, and poorly, like some baby names dot com shit, because, again, a sort of like gaudy collector's eye for little factoids became shorthand for genius. i've gone on. it's not really interesting or relevant. my point is just kind of that the genius killer is such a trap and it's a trap because it's got nowhere to go except a model of character (sotl -> hannibal) which shows that it's self-defeating, and also it's written by people who fundamentally are not capable of or willing to put in the work to be as knowledgeable as the character they're writing, and it's just like.... so embarrassing to watch. so silly. like if i can fact check you off the dome you should go back to the drawing board

i'm rewatching cm season 2 for the f*c i'm writing and i'm like... this show is SO funny. procedurals are so funny. what even are we doing

[came0dust]

Here's that reblog! I get very long-winded so I'm really, really hoping this readmore actually works this time.

I'm gonna try to split this up cleanly into categories rather than just sorta rambling blindly and I'm also going to be using more or less proper grammar and punctuation because I feel like consistently lowercase formatting with no punctuation will make this harder to read when I get long-winded like I just did.

SO.

Pre-ramble

I have a lot of bias toward some Fever-era characters and designs and Lemres is definitely one of the bigger examples of this. For somewhat personal reasons, even if he might not be a character I talk about very often, Lemres is a character I hold very close to my heart. This isn't necessarily that relevant to the design but I mean... Lemres good. Fair warning, though: I'm not actually proofreading any of this very closely because I have some books to read and another painting thingy I'm working on with what I've learned here so it's pretty likely that this might not really be that coherent.

Design

While I did diverge from his official designs more than I did with Arle (who's basically just Puyo 20th and Fever mixed together and that's just kinda it), I still took mostly from his Fever 2/15th/7 design. I'm a sucker for capes and I prefer his broom over his wand, so I gave it back to him. I also tried to split his outfit up into distinct pieces, since my idea with these redesigns is more or less just making my own versions of these characters that are easy for me to work with and remember the designs of without much reference. I mostly aim to make these characters look nice and be fun to draw for me (since I draw for fun anyway in the first place) and that's how this Lemres ended up with much looser-fitting pants. I just couldn't get the "tight-everywhere-except-the-ankles" look to look good to me and found that I liked them baggier after messing around a bit, so that's how I think I'll work with them for a bit.

Moving on to everything but his pantshoes, I gave him an orange turtleneck because he seems to be wearing them in his regular designs (but Puyo characters seem relatively neckless so it's kinda hard for me to tell), followed by a hoodie, since he also seems to have consistently worn them in his regular designs, and then the cape, which is a separate object from it rather than being a cloak like how Puyo Puyo Tetris handled it. I always thought that having both a hood and that hat was a bit redundant, but then I had a revelation:

Lemres has cats all named after sweets and he does this with them (hc courtesy of Shou). The cape is kinda asymmetrical in the front, but honestly I'm probably gonna change it a bit after doing some actual studies of capes. The hat stayed because I already really like the shape. potato chip. I yoinked the belt from Tetris but in all honesty I'm thinking I might actually leave it out.

Process

Initially the plan was to just do the same thing I did with Arle, which was "sketch -> lineart -> flat colors -> duplicate layer to shade (because I'd rather not have to manually recolor everything if I happen to mess up) -> adjust", but between the time that I did my first sketch and the other two (about two weeks because I did that Puyotale painting and also some non-art-related things as well starting some other sketches that I'm unlikely to continue), I watched some videos about digital painting and I went "huh, that's neat" and you can even see some traces of this in the later sketches, where I blocked some things in instead of drawing them. It might not be very clear because I'm only realizing now how much Tumblr can butcher image quality, but I used a harder-edged brush for the entirety of the painting section than I did for the Snowdin painting or the shading and lineart on Arle, which I think made things look a lot cleaner, discounting the fact that Tumblr likes to crunch things up. Seriously, it might even look better on Twitter than it does here so that's a bit disappointing because I love blending colors a lot when I shade and I think a lot of that gets lost when you can hardly see it.

Anyways, I've been doing a lot of experimenting with my art this summer. Before I used to live by that sorta process I described earlier but now I'm trying out a lot of things outside of how I normally do them. I also learned a lot of things about digital painting, namely the immensely helpful role of layers. I merged all of my different flat color layers into one once I finished them and that was a big mistake because it made it really cumbersome to work on one specific part without accidentally blending from another or fix parts that I suddenly realized were a bit off without having to rework them. Now I'm using a lot of layers and keeping them distinctly separate and it's definitely a lot less annoying. There are times where I actually would like to blend a bit, but the utility of being able to erase freely is much better to me. I have other things to do, so I'm just gonna cut this here, but I've actually been trying out painting without sketching like I did with those Puyos. Maybe I'll try doing a stream while doing something like that? School's starting up soon so I can't say exactly when I'd be doing it, but ideally I'd be able to do one before the year ends.

so, like i did for arle, i decided to try making a design for lemres. this time, i did a lot more experimenting, both with the design and with my process. you also now get to see my sloppy handwriting in HD!!! to be completely honest, as much as i learned during this (which i’ll be explaining in a reblog later, along with my process here and my thoughts overall), i just kinda got tired of working on it, which you can probably see in how only the right lemres really got shaded and even then, i didn’t finish him.