#and it would make them stand out to be fictional historical figures vs all the proven figures weve met

[sloppilyeatinggrapes]

oh my god wait. We are still not at medieval times with the amelia project. And arthur has been arthur all along... he isn't. King. arthur. right?

[wonder-worker]

Any judgement on (Richard III)’s reign has to be seen as provisional. The critic of the reign only has to consider how the Tudors would now be regarded if Henry VII lost at Stoke, to realize the dangers of too many assumptions about the intractability of Richard’s problems. But it would be equally unrealistic to ignore Richard’s unpopularity altogether. The fact that he generated opposition among men with little material reason for dissent, and that the disaffection then continued to spread among his own associates, says something about what contemporaries regarded as the acceptable parameters of political behaviour. There is no doubt that Richard’s deposition of his nephews was profoundly shocking. To anyone who did not accept the pre-contract story, which was probably the majority of observers, the usurpation was an act of disloyalty. Gloucester, both as uncle and protector, was bound to uphold his nephew’s interests and his failure to do so was dishonourable. Of all medieval depositions, it was the only one which, with whatever justification, could most easily be seen as an act of naked self-aggrandizement.

It was also the first pre-emptive deposition in English history. This raised enormous problems. Deposition was always a last resort, even when it could be justified by the manifest failings of a corrupt or ineffective regime. How could one sanction its use as a first resort, to remove a king who had not only not done [nothing] wrong but had not yet done anything at all?

-Rosemary Horrox, Richard III: A Study of Service

[lemonhemlock]

The posts you reblogged about the fantasy elements of ASOIAF and it's comparisons with other fantasy books is so timely because I've been meaning to send you an ask about this very topic. I think a lot of the disconnect between people who unironically stan house targ and see them as the heroes, saviors, having this magical bloodline that makes them better lol vs. the rest of the fandom that clearly....does not is because of the series itself and how it is viewed within the genre.

So, I do believe that this is obviously a fantasy series and has been marketed as such, but what Martin ended up actually producing in the five books he published is basically a grimdark, edgy historical fiction series with some magical/low fantasy elements. I fundamentally see ASOIAF as a historical fiction work in the realm of The Accursed Kings, or even Phillippa Gregory if we want to get low brow lol, just WAY more gritty and with fantasy/magical elements thrown in as plot devices to spice the story up and to also prop up the greater socio-political and human family drama that is the true center of the story.

I know people say that the magical elements i.e. Bran's importance, the fight against the others, prophecy, etc. will be ramped up and gain more importance in the last two books....but Martin hasn't written them? So I'm not gonna judge this series based on unwritten material and the fandom's headcanons as to how or why this magic will be supposedly important. Martin's most magical figure, Bran, has some of the least chapters and hasn't had a chapter in two decades lmao. Fire and Blood, outside of dragon riding and some witchy characters, is pretty much historical fiction as well with very few and sparse magic to speak of.

I don't mind this at all, because I find the historical fiction and human drama vastly more interesting and have always been neutral at best re fantasy as a genre. But anyway, I think this is why there is such a gap between the subsections of the fandom because some are purely analyzing this as a magical series where it's really historical fiction with low magic/fantasy elements.

I kind of agree with some of your points, but I tend to look at it a little differently. I do agree about it generally being low fantasy, with plans to pump up the fantastical elements in the last two books. And, honestly, I sympathize with your take on just having five books published and being unable to judge a series based on plans that haven't seen the light of day yet. I think that's a reason for these heated debates, namely that we've been left in a pretty awkward point in the plot - the magical elements are ramping up, but still haven't been placed at the very fore, the majority of the Westerosi population either don't believe magic exists (anymore) or that it's pretty irrelevant to their daily lives etc,

...which in turn makes the political machinations stand out, more than they do in many other fantasy works.

On the whole, though, I would argue against calling it historical fiction, as the narrative takes place in a realm that doesn't exist, with a climate that would be impossible on planet Earth, with unexplainably stagnant technology.

I also don't really interpret ASOIAF as grimdark. Again, it's a tempting assessment to make based on the awkward point we are in the narrative now, but I don't think the progression of the series is going to be Nolan's-Batman-gritty. I think that we're fully in deconstruction mode right now, but that the ultimate goal is to pick the pieces back up together and build something better and more hopeful, get to the core of what makes these tropes so transcendent and appealing in the storytelling canon. What does a good king actually mean anyway? Why do we yearn for chivalry and courtly romance? Why do we keep coming back to these kinds of stories, why are we so attracted to the medieval aesthetic that makes all of this possible? What does it truly mean to be a hero? How can we genuinely help our fellow man? How does hope prevail when we are faced with the horrors of this world and the otherworld? Essentially, what does it mean to be human, which is the best and highest theme one can explore through the medium of writing.

[writingwithcolor]

Including diversity where there may be little

Including diversity where there may be little: Black Radium Girls as example

post-scriptvm asked: [ask clipped for length]

I have an interest in the ‘Radium Girls’, groups of women who worked at studios in America from the late 1910s onwards painting radium onto clock faces, and later took their companies to court for the horrible impacts the radium had on their body. 

I want to make a musical, just for fun. I’ve decided to use a fictionalized version of events, with composite characters based on multiple different women, rather than one of the real-life groups and the actual women from them. It will be mostly set in New Jersey, in the roaring 20s. 

Neither of the two real-life groups I know of had any Black women in them, and I can’t see any Black women in any of the big group photos of the dial factories’ employees. But I know there’s a lot of Black history and culture in that time and place bc of the great migration and stuff, so I feel like if I’m not going to use the real life ladies, I should probably take the opportunity to also make some of them Black, bc making a whole cast of white ladies in the name of potentially wrong ‘historical accuracy’ seems like a bad thing.

My question is, should I? [ask clipped for length]

I wouldn’t be surprised if there were African American radium girls. Speculating People of Color/Women of Color’s involvement is far more realistic than portraying everyone as white. Go for it! 

Perhaps look into what other races were predominantly in the New Jersey area for inspiration, too.

Hidden History

This section features just a few examples of PoC in lesser known historical settings.

The histories of People of Color are highly and actively erased. Women of Color especially get their stories left to footnotes in the textbooks. You hear about certain amazing women again and again, but there’s so many others that don’t get their time of day.

Hidden Figures (book and movie) is a prime example of that erasure and lesser known history. To summarize: It’s “the powerful story of four African-American female mathematicians at NASA who helped achieve some of the greatest moments in our space program.”

Here’s another example:

Photo of female firefights on Pearl Harbor, 1941. Identities unknown

It would be nice to know more about these women, and i’ve seen inquiries from people requesting info from anyone who may know. This struggle to find details is a prime example of that erasure in itself.

Enemies in Love: A German POW, a Black Nurse, and an Unlikely Romance by Alexis Clark

The book pictured above is the true story of a Black nurse and German Prisoner of War who fall in love during World War II. They face many hardships (disowning from his family, racism, and shunning from towns) but stay together for their whole lives, marry, and have children (One of their sons highly informed the writing of the book!)

This book discusses the discrimination the Black soldiers and nurses faced. They struggled to even be allowed to serve their country, and were treated worse than POWs.

Video: The Unlikely Romance of a Black Nurse & German P.O.W. in WW II 

Research

Research “[RACE] + Firsts” and find many more examples of little unknown bits of history where they’ve been involved. 

First doesn’t mean it came without limitations, discrimination or hardships. But they happened, and many sooner than you’d think.

Explore beyond what you know about whitewashed history and learn the true stories of People of Color.

Making it “realistic”

People will question how “realistic” it is to feature a Black women in this position for the time period, unfortunately. It doesn’t hurt to provide an explanation until we get to a place where diversity isn’t interrogated when it shows up.

Giving her backstory. 

You can briefly explain the journey to the job, such as shortages due to a war. Take a look at those real world firsts for inspiration. 

Especially take a look at the specific region of the story. What firsts were there? Any government power influences? How did PoC break barriers to make the strides they did?

Use the web, but also go beyond. Seek books, historians, artwork. Search those “footnotes” for that one sentence mention. (That’s actually how the writer of Enemies in Love found their story. Just a quick sentence and a search for the story began. It helped that she was a journalist!)

Relationships with Peers: 

“I will cut off this right arm of mine before I will ever work or demand the ballot for the Negro and not the woman.” - Susan B. Anthony

White women weren’t, historically, welcoming to Black women. For example, white sufferists insisted Black women march in the back of the protests for, allegedly, both their rights.  You’ll need to decide how your Black woman is treated in this situation. 

You might face the following from peers, superiors, or others:

Hesitation to work or interact with her

Curiosity and intrigue (The “Other”

Unsure of how to approach or be friends with her  

Microaggressions

Blatant racism 

Your musical doesn’t seem like it is meant to focus too heavily on the hardships. It begs a mention, but just how much is up to you.

Call the Midwife, period racism example

Call the Midwife (BBC) is set in East End London, Late 1950s, early 1960s. The show features a Black midwife named Lucille Anderson. There’s a shortage on nurses so Caribbean nurses were being called in to support the growing population. 

Call the Midwife is from a midwife, Jennifer Worth’s, memoir, so it’s based on history.

Check out this short clip: Nurse Lucille Anderson - Call the Midwife 

Lucille on Call the Midwife (Take notes!)

The show handles racism and microaggressions very well. It’s not overdone.

Lucille is accepted by her peers and is especially close to one of the girls.

There’s an episode where she actively faces blame and discrimination during a case. It’s a major story line of the episode. 

She does face occasional micro-aggressions where she is othered, but it is not every single time she is on screen and not every episode. 

Her peers talk to her about her experiences and in the case where she had an aggressive family member to deal with, they tried to protect her by reassigning her from the family. Lucille asks to handle it her way and they respect her decision.

Lucille can mostly perform her job and have peace, and is treated kindly by patients.

She has a personality, a romantic life, family & friendships.

It’s about 90% allowing her to exist, 10% navigating racism/microaggressions. That’s a comfortable, realist balance for such a story and setting. 

If you want to check out how they handled these issues for yourself, the show is on Netflix as of this post (2020). She’s introduced in Season 7. (I highly recommend watching this show from the beginning. I cry like every episode, and the diversity of several ethnic backgrounds picks up a lot mid season!)

I’ll kick you three scenarios for your Black radium girl:

Peer Acceptance, Initial Hesitation 

awkward friendliness & initial hesitation, perhaps more fear of the unknown vs. hostility

Upon having interactions and talking to her, they become comfortable and accept her. It could take just one simple conversation. Perhaps they’re more used to listening to Black music or have Black staff who work for them, but haven’t had an equal one-on-one experience with WoC without a power dynamic or service involved. Now, with a Black fellow radium girl thrown in a similar situation as them, they could develop kinship.

This might not describe every one of the woman at all. Others might be just fine with her with no awkwardness.

Types of racism experienced: 

some micro-aggressions (likely ignorance from peers)

no major racism experienced

Most Peer Acceptance, Racism From Some Peers

Most peers have no problem with her, even if they have their initial awkwardness. 1-2 more aggressive racists who don’t want her there. 

Sometimes everyone else gets along, but there’s that 1 bully and their minion, and they feed off each other. If the BS isn’t tolerated by the other girls, it could shut them up to make peace or at least behave themselves. It’s likely someone like this would remain hatefully stubborn, but would grimace from the corner if outnumbered.

In the case you create a situation where someone is hostile to the Black girl but learns better: real apologies and efforts should be made if this occurs. It also doesn’t excuse their past behavior. Read our posts on redemption arcs for more info. We’re not fans, personally.

In an intense racial situation, it would be nice if the girls (with sense) protected and defended her instead of standing idly by. They’re strong enough to rise up against the agencies who poisoned them, so they can fight for their fellow radium sisters if one’s being targeted. 

Types of racism experienced: 

several micro-aggressions

maybe 1 major incident 

Peer Acceptance, Racism from Other People

Radium girl acceptance within, but experiences racism from others she interacts with on/off the job. 

The Call the Midwife example fits this one. Lucille’s peers are comfortable with her. It’s some of the ladies she care for and/or their families that may have negative things to say or show hesitance. 

I’ll repeat what I said above: it’d be nice if the girls protected and defended her and didn’t stand by idly. Solidarity is important for establishing kinship and trust when it comes to white - woc friendships. 

Types of racism experienced: 

could vary from some to several micro-aggressions 

maybe 1 major incident

Balancing race issues in the musical 

Give the intersections of your Black girl’s situation proper attention. You can achieve this without overdoing it or making her whole arc about facing racism.

Perhaps the Black radium girl(s) has a song to express major woes, like segregation and poor treatment, or experiencing dismay over even less of a fighting chance in this fight for their rights.

If anyone does know anything but radium girls of color, please share! 

–Mod Colette

[sageukfilms]

historical context pt 2: on yi bang won’s brothers (and sisters), seon-ho and his father, women’s rights in joseon vs goryeo

a bit more focus on yi bang won’s family this time, since he’s always fascinated me as a real historical figure. he did a lot of good, but he committed a lot of terrible things in order to achieve the good and he’s always been a pretty polarizing figure to Korean historians. (the majority of them like him because he’s the father of Kim Sejong aka the King who invented the Hangul/Korean alphabet while the others are like ‘damn why this dude so murderous’)

yi seong-gye had six sons from his first wife and two sons from his second wife, but why are only like three of them mentioned in the drama?

- mostly because they don’t have any major relevance to the plot, tbh. yi bang won IS arguably yi seong-gye’s most talented/qualified son in a lot of ways. he really was the only son who passed the civil examination in that entire family.

Eldest Son Yi Bang-U

- yi seong-gye mentions him in the drama when discussing who should be named crown prince and dismisses him bc he’s an alcoholic. which was true, yi bang-won’s oldest brother WAS an alcoholic, but he only became so after Yi Seong-Gye seized the throne. he was so distraught by the rebellion that he literally retreated to the mountains and retired. imagine serving your dad and your country and then seeing him betray the very country you both spilled blood for your whole life?? he was granted a princely title, but otherwise stayed away from politics and the military until his death

Second Son Yi Bang-Gwa

- this is the dude who is currently king that appears in episode 14. the one who’s in the throne room while bang-won and bang-gan yell at each other lol.  basically he was just put on the throne bc he’s the second son (and the eldest was like don’t even contact me about this shit) and later in history he renounces the throne so yi bang-won can take it. he also had NO legitimate sons from his first wife (though he had many from his concubines, but they were all illegitimate and couldn’t become princes). meaning he was the safest choice to be bang-won’s puppet ruler. all in all he was supremely lucky in that he got to live in peace and avoid getting murdered by anyone

Third Son Yi Bang-Ui

- while he was on yi bang-won’s side during the first coup, he’s never mentioned in dramas/television because apparently he’s not all that interesting. he’s been described as someone who had a loving relationship with ALL of his brothers, which imo COULD have been interesting to see but what do i know

Fourth Son Yi Bang-Gan aka the One That’s Weirdly Comedic and Also Murderous and Has Like that Weird Sword Boner For Hwi

- bang-gan did in fact try to murder bang-won and seize the throne, but he was urged on to do so by a historical figure called park po who was bitter that all his efforts during the first coup were not recognized by bang-won. the most hilarious thing is that bang-gan is like “damn this is a great idea, im gonna do it” and sets an official date for murdering, and NEVER TELLS park po the day he’s gonna murder bang-won so park po is just hanging around in ignorance until bang-won arrests him and then has him executed

- bang-gan actually tells his father yi seong-gye and his second bother yi bang-gwa of his intentions and they BOTH tell him that he’s stupid as fck. at this point, the historical yi seong-gye is SICK of the fighting between his sons and tells bang-gan to stop (unlike in the drama when he purposefully eggs him on). 

- bang-gan obvs doesn’t stop though, but his attempts are foiled bc bang-won knew of his coup beforehand. bang-gan is not executed and is instead sent away in exile. the fault of the coup instead lands on park po who again has no idea what’s occurring until he’s arrested. (damn it would suck to be park po, though inb4 seon-ho becomes the park po of this sageuk)

The Ill-fated Crown Prince Yi Bang-Seok and his brother Yi Bang-Beon

- in history, Yi Bang-Won forces his father to remove Bang-seok from the crown prince position during the coup, which Yi Seong-Gye IMMEDIATELY does in order to save bang-seok’s life (bang-seok is still alive at this point in time). unfortunately, bang-won then murders bang-seok anyway. (fulfilling the queen’s prediction that no matter what he would have murdered her sons)

- there are two versions of the crown prince’s death: the first is what we saw in ep 12 when he was assassinated right after stepping out in the palace. (this is the official record. his final recorded words are “my brother promised to spare my life, do not worry.”). there’s another version that yi bang-won went into the palace and threw his brother into a well to kill him. which is... not recorded, but yi bang-won’s side framed everything in the records to make him and his people look good. (because they were the winners!!! winners in history get to frame themselves however they want)

- so what about yi bang-beon? aka the queen’s other son that never gets mentioned? he gets murdered too of course!!! though bang-won is content with just exiling him, his brother bang-gan murders bang-beon (of course in the show, we see bang-won approving of the assassination). (Bang-beon also suffers from the unfortunate position of having a.) envied his younger brother for being crown prince and therefore did NOT alert him or his father about the upcoming coup and b.) trying to maintain a neutral position that ultimately got him killed

- btw, yi seong-gye was absolutely in the palace during the Strife. He never left to go to a Temple. he was dragged from his throne and forced to abdicate during the coup after stripping Bang-seok of his position as Crown Prince in order to save him.

The Sixth Brother

 - died at a relatively early age, sadly.

Sisters?!

- yes, Yi Seong-Gye had daughters!!! Two from his first wife and one from his second and two more from his concubines (yah he had concubines). sadly, nothing else is known about them. Queen Sindeok’s daughter aka Bang-seok and Bang-beon’s younger sister outlived both of her older brothers, and died maybe nine years later. (somewhat comforting, but ultimately sad.)

- Bang-won’s sisters lived a little longer, but ultimately they had little historical relevance (or they did and the records refused to record them bc they were just Women). mostly, they were just married off to build political alliances

more on seon-ho

- there’s a scene in ep 5 where bang-won makes fun of seon-ho’s bastard status and compares him to Sambong and i just want to say that imo this is very realistic of bang-won. Sambong is an incredibly important and vital figure in history -- he served as yi seong-gye’s aide and was actually the mastermind behind ALL of yi bang-won’s social/political reforms. unfortunately, yi bang-won murdered him because.... uh.... he wanted to carry out those reforms HIMSELF, essentially. (no one else gets to do it but ME!!) he disliked sambong strongly, and there were rumors that sambong was descended from bastards/had slave blood in his family, so Bang-won sneering at Seon-ho for essentially having the same background would be legit. the line where he mentions that “in his country, bastards will never gain status” is so sad... and also true, even though he introduced the new Slave Law (that law was immediately repealed later)

- in other words, illegitimate children from nobleman + slaves were still eventually barred from taking the government exam and owning property in joseon. seon-ho’s fate would have more or less remained the same.

Seon-ho’s father Nam Jeon

- is a fictional figure, but his status as Yi Seong-Gye’s aide in the show cooouullld place him as the stand-in for the actual Nam Eun who was one of Yi Seong-Gye’s trusted aides and who was also killed by Yi Bang-Won

- the difference here is that Yi Bang-Won regrets murdering Nam Eun after and gives government positions to Nam Eun’s friends as like a way of apology lmfao

women’s rights in goryeo vs joseon

- just wanted to talk about this because hee-jae is such a kickass figure, but the long and short of it is that women lose all the rights (what little they had) in joseon vs in goryeo. they’re forbidden to step outside their homes after marriage, are NOT allowed to mingle with the other sex, they lose their rights as land-owners and property-inheritors, and Confucianism gains a huge foothold in a country that already treats women as second-class citizens. they weren’t allowed to re-marry if widowed, and were encouraged to kill themselves if they were assaulted or harassed so like....... life continues to suck for bastard children and ladies

fun fact for that (1) Legitimate Child that Yi Bang-Won Allowed to Live

- in my last post I mentioned that Yi Bang-Won killed the children of the “traitors” who conspired to prevent his coup except for Sambong’s eldest son, who was demoted (name: Jung Jin). Fortunately, this son managed to rise through the ranks of the government again and became the Minister of Justice under Yi Bang-Won’s reign. 

[tlbodine]

The Wendigo is Not What You Think

There’s been a recent flurry of discussion surrounding the Wendigo -- what it is, how it appears in fiction, and whether non-Native creators should even be using it in their stories. This post is dedicated to @halfbloodlycan​, who brought the discourse to my attention. 

Once you begin teasing apart the modern depictions of this controversial monster, an interesting pattern emerges -- namely, that what pop culture generally thinks of as the “wendigo” is a figure and aesthetic that has almost nothing in common with its Native American roots...but a whole lot in common with European Folklore. 

What Is A Wendigo? 

The Algonquian Peoples, a cluster of tribes indigenous to the region of the Great Lakes and Eastern Seaboard of Canada and the northern U.S., are the origin of Wendigo mythology. For them, the Wendigo (also "windigo" or "Witigo" and similar variations) is a malevolent spirit. It is connected to winter by way of cold, desolation, and selfishness. It is a spirit of destruction and environmental decay. It is pure evil, and the kind of thing that people in the culture don't like to talk about openly for fear of inviting its attention.

Individual people can turn into the Wendigo (or be possessed by one, depending on the flavor of the story), sometimes through dreams or curses but most commonly through engaging in cannibalism. Considering the long, harsh winters in the region, it makes sense that the cultural mythology would address the cannibalism taboo.

For some, the possession of the Wendigo spirit is a very real thing, not just a story told around the campfire. So-called "wendigo psychosis" has been described as a "culture-bound" mental illness where an individual is overcome with a desire to eat people and the certainty that he or she has been possessed by a Wendigo or is turning into a Wendigo. Obviously, it was white people encountering the phenomenon who thought to call it "psychosis," and there's some debate surrounding the whole concept from a psychological, historical, and anthropological standpoint which I won't get into here -- but the important point here is that the Algonquian people take this very seriously. (1) (2)

(If you're interested in this angle, you might want to read about the history of Zhauwuno-geezhigo-gaubow (or Jack Fiddler), a shaman who was known as something of a Wendigo hunter. I'd also recommend the novel Bone White by Ronald Malfi as a pretty good example of how these themes can be explored without being too culturally appropriative or disrespectful.) 

Wendigo Depictions in Pop Culture

Show of hands: How many of you reading this right now first heard of the Wendigo in the Alvin Schwartz Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark book?

That certainly was my first encounter with the tale. It was one of my favorite stories in the book as a little kid. It tells about a rich man who goes hunting deep in the wilderness, where people rarely go. He finds a guide who desperately needs the money and agrees to go, but the guide is nervous throughout the night as the wind howls outside until he at last bursts outside and takes off running. His tracks can be found in the snow, farther and farther apart as though running at great speed before abruptly ending. The idea being that he was being dragged along by a wind-borne spirit that eventually picked him up and swept him away.

Schwartz references the story as a summer camp tale well-known in the Northeastern U.S., collected from a professor who heard it in the 1930s. He also credits Algernon Blackwood with writing a literary treatment of the tale -- and indeed, Blackwood's 1910 novella "The Wendigo" has been highly influential in the modern concept of the story.(3)  His Wendigo would even go on to find a place in Cthulhu Mythos thanks to August Derleth.

Never mind, of course, that no part of Blackwood's story has anything in common with the traditional Wendigo myth. It seems pretty obvious to me that he likely heard reference of a Northern monster called a "windigo," made a mental association with "wind," and came up with the monster for his story.

And so would begin a long history of white people re-imagining the sacred (and deeply frightening) folklore of Native people into...well, something else.

Through the intervening decades, adaptations show up in multiple places. Stephen King's Pet Sematary uses it as a possible explanation for the dark magic of the cemetery's resurrectionist powers. A yeti-like version appears as a monster in Marvel Comics to serve as a villain against the Hulk. Versions show up in popular TV shows like Supernatural and Hannibal. There's even, inexplicably, a Christmas episode of Duck Tales featuring a watered-down Wendigo.

Where Did The Antlered Zombie-Deer-Man Come From? 

In its native mythology, the Wendigo is sometimes described as a giant with a heart of ice. It is sometimes skeletal and emaciated, and sometimes deformed. It may be missing its lips and toes (like frostbite). (4)

So why, when most contemporary (white) people think of Wendigo, is the first image that comes to mind something like this?

Well...perhaps we can thank a filmmaker named Larry Fessenden, who appears to be the first person to popularize an antlered Wendigo monster. (5) His 2001 film (titled, creatively enough, Wendigo) very briefly features a sort of skeletal deer-monster. He’d re-visit the design concept in his 2006 film, The Last Winter. Reportedly, Fessenden was inspired by a story he’d heard in his childhood involving deer-monsters in the frozen north, which he connected in his mind to the Algernon Blackwood story. 

A very similar design would show up in the tabletop game Pathfinder, where the “zombie deer-man” aesthetic was fully developed and would go on to spawn all sorts of fan-art and imitation. (6) The Pathfinder variant does draw on actual Wendigo mythology -- tying it back to themes of privation, greed, and cannibalism -- but the design itself is completely removed from Native folklore. 

Interestingly, there are creatures in Native folklore that take the shape of deer-people -- the  ijiraq or tariaksuq, shape-shifting spirits that sometimes take on the shape of caribou and sometimes appear in Inuit art in the form of man-caribou hybrids (7). Frustratingly, the ijiraq are also part of Pathfinder, which can make it a bit hard to find authentic representations vs pop culture reimaginings. But it’s very possible that someone hearing vague stories of northern Native American tribes encountering evil deer-spirits could get attached to the Wendigo, despite the tribes in question being culturally distinct and living on opposite sides of the continent. 

That “wendigo” is such an easy word to say in English probably has a whole lot to do with why it gets appropriated so much, and why so many unrelated things get smashed in with it. 

I Love the Aesthetic But Don’t Want to Be Disrespectful, What Do I Do? 

Plundering folklore for creature design is a tried-and-true part of how art develops, and mythology has been re-interpreted and adapted countless times into new stories -- that’s how the whole mythology thing works. 

But when it comes to Native American mythology, it’s a good idea to apply a light touch. As I’ve talked about before, Native representation in modern media is severely lacking. Modern Native people are the survivors of centuries of literal and cultural genocide, and a good chunk of their heritage, language, and stories have been lost to history because white people forcibly indoctrinated Native children into assimilating. So when those stories get taken, poorly adapted, and sent back out into the public consciousness as make-believe movie monsters, it really is an act of erasure and violence, no matter the intentions of the person doing it. (8) 

So, like...maybe don’t do that? 

I won’t say that non-Native people can’t be interested in Wendigo stories or tell stories inspired by the myth. But if you’re going to do it, either do it respectfully and with a great deal of research to get it accurate...or use the inspiration to tell a different type of story that doesn’t directly appropriate or over-write the mythology (see above: my recommendation for Bone White). 

But if your real interest is in the “wendigocore” aesthetic -- an ancient and powerful forest protector, malevolent but fiercely protective of nature, imagery of deer and death and decay -- I have some good news: None of those things are really tied uniquely to Native American mythology, nor do they have anything in common with the real Wendigo. 

Where they do have a longstanding mythic framework? Europe.

Europeans have had a long-standing fascination with deer, goats, and horned/antlered forest figures. Mythology of white stags and wild hunts, deer as fairy cattle, Pan, Baphomet, Cernunnos, Herne the Hunter, Black Phillip and depictions of Satan -- the imagery shows up again and again throughout Greek, Roman, and British myth. (9)

Of course, some of these images and figures are themselves the product of cultural appropriation, ancient religions and deities stolen, plundered, demonized and erased by Christian influences. But their collective existence has been a part of “white” culture for centuries, and is probably a big part of the reason why the idea of a mysterious antlered forest-god has stuck so swiftly and firmly in our minds, going so far as to latch on to a very different myth. (Something similar has happened to modern Jersey Devil design interpretations. Deer skulls with their tangle of magnificent antlers are just too striking of a visual to resist). 

Seriously. There are so, so many deer-related myths throughout the world’s history -- if aesthetic is what you’re after, why limit yourself to an (inaccurate) Wendigo interpretation? (10) 

So here’s my action plan for you, fellow white person: 

Stop referring to anything with antlers as a Wendigo, especially when it’s very clearly meant to be its own thing (the Beast in Over the Garden Wall, Ainsworth in Magus Bride)

Stop “reimagining” the mythology of people whose culture has already been targeted by a systematic erasure and genocide

Come up with a new, easy-to-say, awesome name for “rotting deer man, spirit of the forest” and develop a mythology for it that doesn’t center on cannibalism 

We can handle that, right? 

This deep dive is supported by Ko-Fi donations. If you’d like to see more content, please drop a tip in my tip jar.  Ko-fi.com/A57355UN

NOTES: 

1 - https://io9.gizmodo.com/wendigo-psychosis-the-probably-fake-disease-that-turns-5946814

2 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendigo#Wendigo_psychosis

3 - https://www.gutenberg.org/files/10897/10897-h/10897-h.htm

4 - https://www.legendsofamerica.com/mn-wendigo/

5- https://www.reddit.com/r/Cryptozoology/comments/8wu2nq/wendigo_brief_history_of_the_modern_antlers_and/

6 - https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Wendigo

7 - https://www.mythicalcreaturescatalogue.com/single-post/2017/12/06/Ijiraq

8 - https://www.backstoryradio.org/blog/the-mythology-and-misrepresentation-of-the-windigo/

9 - https://www.terriwindling.com/blog/2014/12/the-folklore-of-goats.html

10 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deer_in_mythology

[thisisasideblogforbooks]

bi books for twenty-biteen!

so in honor of pride month in our blessed year of twenty-biteen, i wanted to recommend some books that feature prominent bisexual characters! most of these are already very well-known books and series, but i thought it’d be fun to honor my fellow bisexuals out there with a list! also, there is a shocking lack of bi females included on this list, and i am currently on the hunt for more if anyone wants to rec me some!

with that aside, lets get into the list!

i’m gonna start with series:

1. the six of crows duology by leigh bardugo: this action-packed duology contains two bi main characters, one of which is female and one who is male. they both own my heart, as well as the rest of the characters in this series. highly recommend!

2. the raven cycle by maggie stiefvater: this series revolves around a tight-knit group of friends (that you’ll wish you were a part of) searching for a dead welsh king. one of the main characters is bi, but what i like about this series is that its not a big deal. as important as stories of self-discovery are, it’s refreshing to see a character who is just bi, and no one cares at all.

3. shades of magic trilogy by v.e. schwab: this trilogy contains two bisexual guys, as well as some awesome world-building and a super cool take on magic! this is the most recently read series on my list, and i really enjoyed it!

4. openly straight and honestly ben by bill konigsberg: these books def have their flaws, but i’m putting them on this list because they were really important to me when i was figuring out my sexuality. the way the bi character in this series talks about his sexuality really spoke to me at a very important time in my life. warning for slight biphobia that i don’t think was handled amazingly, but still fun books! (NOTE: someone has added to this post that ben does not identify as bi. it’s been several years since i read the books, and i forgot that this is the case. i will leave this here, but just be aware that while he is in relationships with girls and a boy, he does not identify as bi and chooses not to use labels!!!)

5. i also want to mention the trials of apollo by rick riordan! it is far from my favorite series by rick, but the main character makes several references to his past relationships with both men and women, which i feel is super important to see in a middle grade series! (if you want a laugh, look at the one-star reviews on amazon. 99% are mad homophobic/biphobic parents)

and now onto stand-alones:

1. the gentleman’s guide to vice and virtue by mackenzi lee: the physical embodiment of disaster bi. the protagonist is a mess and i love him for it. this is also historical fiction with some magic! honestly what more could you ask for? (there’s also a sequel that i am planning to read as soon as i get my hands on it that centers around his ace younger sister!)

2. grasshopper jungle by andrew smith: next on the list is another disaster bi! let me tell you, this book is a TRIP. i couldn’t stop thinking about it for weeks after i read it. the main character is bi and also in love with both his girlfriend and best friend (see what i mean by disaster?). is he an asshole? absolutely. but an undeniably entertaining one.

3. little and lion by brandy colbert: this book is so underrated, i swear. the main character is a black jewish bisexual girl and i related to her on SO many levels. this book focuses on her coming to terms with her sexuality, but also on the importance of family and it’s so good please pick it up!

4. autoboyography by christina lauren: this book centers around a bi teenage boy living in a very conservative mormon community. i’m not gonna lie, it’s definitely got its flaws, but i’m a sucker for romance what can i say? it’s no doubt a fun summer read.

5. running with lions by julian winters: like autoboyography, there were some things that irked me with the plot (one of these being the treatment of the only prominent female character). that being said, the book centers around a super accepting soccer team with kids of all sorts of sexualities, including our bisexual protagonist! there’s a refreshing lack of toxic masculinity that i am so here for. it’s a cute read!

6. leah on the offbeat by becky albertalli: the sequel to simon vs. the homo sapiens agenda, this book centers on the relationship between simon’s two bi female friends. although leah is not the most likable protagonist in my opinion, there were definitely moments i found myself relating to her. becky really said bi rights with this book.

7. carry on by rainbow rowell: this follows the story of the “chosen one” who has no idea wtf he’s doing. it’s got enemies to friends to lovers and magic, which are two of my favorite things. although he never states that he is bi in the book, i included carry on here because he has a relationship with both a girl and a boy and he appears to be attracted to both of them. (p.s. this won’t be a stand-alone for long as a sequel will be released later this year!)

8. radio silence by alice oseman: this novel features a bisexual, half-ethiopian female protagonist and focuses on the pressure of school and the importance of friendship. also, there’s a podcast. the friendship between the two main characters was the sweetest thing and i loved this novel. (also want to give a shout-out to alice oseman’s webcomic heartstopper, which focuses on the relationship between nick and charlie, who are bi and gay respectively. these characters can also be found in her novel solitaire.)

9. ramona blue by julie murphy: this book centers around a girl who is convinced she only likes girls until she starts to fall for a boy. it is a sort of self-discovery that is not often found in literature, but i know several of my friends that went through a very similar path and this book means a lot to them. i loved seeing ramona’s journey, and enjoyed this book a lot!

10. red, white, and royal blue by casey mcquiston: this is the newest book on this list, and let me just tell you, the rep in this book is phenomenal. the main character is the bisexual, half-mexican first son of the first female president of the united states, and it tells this story of his relationship with the prince of england. honestly need i say more? cause i will. his best friend is also bi and i’m in love with her. this book has literally so many of my favorite things: royalty, enemies to friends to lovers, fake relationship (kind of), strong female characters, and so much more. definitely a quick, fun summer read to get in the spirit of pride month!

please add to this list with more books with bisexual rep that i missed! i would love to get more book recs :)

happy pride everyone!

[nihilnovisubsole]

My fashion queen, incredibly important question: How would one go about figuring out fashion *style* for characters? I've noticed your OCs always have a Look(TM), and I've gathered from your blog (and fics) that you've got an eye for aestethics - please, could you give me advice at least where to *start*. I'm completely unaware of fashion and, frankly, completely overwhelmed at the prospect of just starting..

Ah! Previous Anon again - forgot to add a more specific question about fashion (I’m squeezing in 2 quesiton in one xD). Do you have fashion advice for sleek/distant female character’s clothing that doesn’t hinge on formal dresses? (as is discernable, I have literally NO idea what a Grown Ass, Self Respecting Woman would wear)

wow. that’s high praise. when i got this yesterday morning, i knew i wanted to give it the answer it deserved. this is over 1500 words long, so apologies to anyone on mobile, but i wasn’t letting go until i’d really sunk my teeth into it.

unfortunately, since you’re anon, i don’t know enough about your character to suggest anything specific. instead, i want to take a step back and see if we can solve the root of the problem - “where do i start?”

when i was a teenager, an english teacher told me this: “the biggest constraint in writing is no constraint at all.” when you have the whole spectrum of something - in this case, clothes - to pick from, it is overwhelming. the natural human instinct is to freeze up. so while it may sound strange, if you’re just starting out, you might feel better if you have some constraints to work within.

with that in mind, you can treat finding a ‘signature look’ for your character like solving a murder mystery. you eliminate all the suspects that don’t fit until you know enough to narrow it down to the one that does. that’s going to involve something else you’ll recognize from murder mysteries: you’re going to have to interrogate the character. open them up and get to know them - their background, their likes and dislikes, their quirks, the role they play in the world around them. every answer will give you clues and weed other things out, and eventually, you’ll get a box small enough that you feel comfortable working in it.

now, i love fashion, and i love using clothes to send messages about a character’s personality. so as someone who’s had that interest for my whole life, i work from the other end. the constraints happen, in large part, without me thinking about them. i tend to zoom right to a certain aesthetic or item of clothing, say, “okay, what outfit can i build with this,” and go from there. but since you’ve said you’re “unaware” of fashion and it’s intimidating to you, i’ll try to ease you in through a different route and see whether that helps.

so, if we’re going to pick your character apart, let’s think about some practical questions first:

what setting does your character live in?

if you’ve narrowed your setting down to a historical decade, you’ll find most of the style questions already - firmly! - answered for you. for example, a victorian woman would, by default, wear skirts. if the character is contemporary, you’ve got a lot more wiggle room. if you want to mess with historical fashion rules for symbolic or story purposes, awesome, but i think that’s probably more advanced than you’re looking for right now.

if the setting is fantasy or sci-fi, what’s its dominant aesthetic? is it cyberpunk? sleek ~apple~ sci-fi? or is it more like star wars? is it medieval fantasy? woodsy faerie fantasy? JRPG-style fantasy? you get the idea.

what does your character do?

speaks for itself. what’s their job?

what is your character like, just in general?

this is where everything you know about their personality goes. if they’re a fussy courtier who’s worried about their reputation and appearance, they’re probably not going to be comfortable in plain, casual clothes.

what can your character afford to wear?

again, speaks for itself. do they buy designer brands? are they trying their best with what they have? or are they super strapped for cash and just have to get the job done?

does their social scene have an easily-identifiable aesthetic that you could work with?

does your character wear urban/street fashion or preppy rich-kid clothes? are they part of a subculture that dresses in a certain way, like teddy boys? do they have the desire or freedom to go all-in with that style, or do they have to play it down, like being corporate goth?

do they need to wear something they could travel, do hard work, or fight in?

goes with the job question above. do they need some kind of outerwear or accessory where they can hide weapons? do they always need to be ready, or is it situational?

basically, where does the character’s aesthetic need to sit on a chart of form vs. function?

what do other characters who are similar to your character wear?

look at your favorite movies, games, and TV shows and see what professional designers are doing with characters like yours. what colors and cuts are they using? what other elements do they choose? do you like them? if you don’t like them, what would you change? sometimes you can learn more from what you hate than what you love.

hopefully, you’ve already culled a huge swath of fashion ideas that you Know You’re Not Going To Do. you may still not know what you do want to do, either! that’s fine. let’s move onto some more artsy questions:

are there any colors your character would prefer or avoid?

it sounds silly. it’s not. a limited color palette will go a long way toward making a character’s outfits look unified and purposeful. obviously, in real life, most people don’t restrict themselves as much as fictional characters do. but if you were a costume designer, you’d want to have some guideposts to work with.

are there any motifs you associate with your character?

animals, elements, religious or cultural symbols, plants - you can sneak all these into their clothes’ details. maybe their dress has beading in the shape of a peacock, or rose earrings, or icy sparkles, or a bear pelt for a cloak.

have fun with meanings! moon motifs for mysteriousness, poisonous flowers, etc. let your inner lit major out.

do you want your character to have a certain silhouette?

this may seem odd if you’re just going to be writing your character and not drawing them, but think about it anyway. do you want to emphasize that your character is tall? is everything they wear skintight? do they have a large, unique hat?

a great example of this is maleficent. not only does she have a horn-shaped headdress, her huge, flowing robe tells us there’s a much bigger power in her than her body would suggest.

is there a certain ethos you want their clothes to project? what, in their world, would do that? what in our world would do that?

let’s say you want your character to look very powerful, to the point where people would find their looks alone intimidating. should they wear sharp, simple, severe clothes, maybe in dark colors? or should they wear very embellished clothes, like royalty? what are your setting’s ideas about beauty? modesty? does your character play by the rules, or do you want them to stand out?

what colors, shapes, and styles appeal to you personally?

for all the time i’ve spent talking about restrictions and guidelines, it’s important not to lose the fun of it, either. use your favorite color! give them clothes you’d want to wear in real life! character style is a playground where you can let wish fulfillment run wild.

at any time, feel free to turn to google or wikipedia if you’re not sure how to answer one of these questions. if you see an interesting idea, pick it up and follow it - what you’re doing here is training your eye, and that’s how you’ll learn. that said, if you’re already intimidated, i wouldn’t dive too deep into couture/aesthetic blogs until i had a more solid grip on how i wanted the character to look. it comes back to what i said earlier - there is such a thing as too much to choose from, especially when you’re not sure what you should be looking for yet.

there’s one other thing i want to mention that can help bring a character’s wardrobe together: repetition. if you’re planning several outfits for a character instead of just one, echo some of the motifs, shapes, or colors from one to the next. they don’t all have to be identical takes on the same thing, but if they have certain traits in common, they’ll feel less like separate outfits and more like a matched set. they could all be in members of the same color family or have similar patterns on them. maybe your character has a certain accessory that they wear with everything. you get the idea.

while i may not be able to plan your character’s wardrobe outright, i hope this makes the whole process seem more straightforward. or that it gives you some ideas to work with, or any other kind of help you might take away from it. this post is getting unfathomably long, so i’ll wrap it up, but i’d be happy to put any of my own characters through a “question test” like this one if you’d like to see how it works in practice.

finally, if you can find an interview with an artist or costume designer who worked on something you like, those things are worth their weight in gold. i read an interview with colleen atwood when i was in middle school, and it revolutionized the way i thought about fashion and storytelling. and when i say “revolutionized,” i mean “i owe basically everything i just told you to that article.” dig into them and see how they think and talk about their art! they’re more qualified to teach you than i ever will be.

[serenewrites]

Tips on Character Development

(AKA the convoluted way I do things)

Ok, so, wow. This ended up being like super ridiculously long. Sorry about that. I just got done adding "a thing or two" and it ended up being longer than what I originally wrote.

So, a while ago I responded to a post on Reddit asking for help developing a character. My comment seemed to help a few people, so I figured I'd add a thing or two and post it for anyone else who may find it helpful!

TL;DR: I think Personality tests —Myers Briggs and Enneagram — used in tandem make a pretty complete, rounded character. Add in some Pinterest Character Inspiration boards to that and you've got some preeettyyy developed characters. Also, OneNote rocks my world.

If you wanna read my entire process, keep reading. If not, just read the first few paragraphs and you'll get the idea. If you don’t care, ignore me and scroll on, friend.

The Personality Tests

When I started getting my MCs together, I took a Myers Briggs personality test for each of them! 16 Personalities is a really great resource because you just answer how your character would and it gives you so much information on what type of person they'd be. If you go to that second link, it goes deeper into their theory and what each aspect of the test results actually mean. If you're looking for that, scroll down to the Five Personality Aspects part of the second link. I think the entire thing is neat, so I recommend the read. Anyways, I've done this for my protagonists, as well as my main BBEGs, and some minor characters that I was kind of struggling with.

From there, I also looked up what Enneagram types they'd line up with according to their Myers Briggs type. That site talks a lot about what the Enneagram personality stuff is all about. It's worth a read. The whole concept is pretty neat. Your personality type is similar to the personality types that are near you, but also reflects to the types across from you. Or something... I'm explaining this poorly, I know haha.

There are a few ways I went about relating the two personality tests. I didn't want to take two different tests. I really like the Myers Briggs because it's all about decisions, but I like that the Enneagram talks a lot about how they interact with each other and the world. It kind of gave me a more rounded vision of who they are. Instead of taking two tests, I used this site to find a correlation between the Myers Briggs type and the Enneagram type.

There are 9 Enneagram types. Russell Rowe (not Crowe, I know, I thought it too) does an AWESOME job of breaking them down... into 15-20 page PDFs.

Enneagram Type 1

Enneagram Type 2

Enneagram Type 3

Enneagram Type 4

Enneagram Type 5

Enneagram Type 6

Enneagram Type 7

Enneagram Type 8

Enneagram Type 9

You can easily find any of those by Googling "Enneagram Type x Russell Rowe" and it'll pop up as literally the first thing. But I linked each of them to the above list. I have each of those PDFs saved into my OneNote folder for each major character, good or evil. I highlighted things that really stuck out to me for each character.

After reading through all those, I was able to figure out if that was truly who I wanted my character to be. Is that personality type and Enneagram type truly who I envisioned my character? If yes, move forward. If not, retake the tests. I retook my one MC's Myers Briggs test 3 times, I think, and once I rounded it out with the Enneagram type, I really got her how I wanted her, so don't get discouraged if you read the results and don't feel like it fits your characters!

This is the point where I kind of venture off into more of how I do things, so I won't feel bad if you don't want to read my word vomit from here on out. I kind of just talk about the benefits of questionnaires vs the personality test method, how I use OneNote to keep track of my character development, and visual inspiration using Pinterest.

If you decide to keep reading, thanks! Also, buckle up, because it's a lot...

Personality Tests vs Character Questionnaires

So, I use Scrivener, but I also have used Bibisco (free!) in the past. Bibisco has a really, really detailed questionnaire that asks questions I hadn't even thought about. How does this character eat? What are they usually dressed like? What's their favorite type of music? Are they a pessimist or an optimist? A realist? Are they book smart or street smart? There's like... literally HUNDREDS of questions on there. It also asks about family members, relationships, sexuality (I think, but it's worth adding), past events that occurred before the book.

While I am a perfectionist, I started with the Bibisco stuff and then ended up falling off the wagon with it because it took so excruciatingly long to complete one for each character. I already had a pretty good idea of how each of them would act and I didn't really want to put myself in a box creatively. Sometimes my characters just grow organically as I write and I make discoveries about them that way!

The Bibisco questions, and questionnaires overall, are so helpful, but again, they can be so so time consuming. If you have the time (and that's your jam) I totes recommend it. Bibisco so in-depth and has so many questions that I honestly hadn't even thought about. But I have 4 main characters, and 2 major minor characters, and 1 BBEG in my first book alone. I just could not handle like hundreds of questions per person. And tbh, the Myers Briggs and Enneagram was enough for me!

All of that to say, the way Bibisco breaks down their information and some questions it asks are really cool and helpful. While I don't answer each question it has, I do like to think of just in general, how does Kein act? How does she carry herself, talk, laugh, cry? Does she belly laugh or is it more of a quiet giggle. When she cries, does she try to hide it and push everyone away (spoiler alert, yes), or does she cry openly and ask for help?

OneNote is your super organized best friend forever

I compile all of this information into OneNote, which... is honestly a post in and of itself (something I would be more than happy to do if people were interested). OneNote is just the most amazing way to keep track of everything in my world (venturing past char dev here, for a tiny second).

I first discovered how useful it was when I started my homebrew campaign for dnd and it has been so invaluable ever since. Especially for the worldbuilding I am currently doing for my fictional world. I'm also pretty sure anyone who has Windows and the Microsoft Office Suite, has it for free. So if you do have Microsoft Office, I HIGHLY recommend checking out OneNote for book/character organization.

In OneNote, I have different collections set up for worldbuilding, chapter notes, a to-do list, a timeline, and most importantly (or relevantly) for characters. I have a section for the protagonists, the villains, the good guys, bad guys, and then misc neutral people. Though, usually, people in my book fall into the good or bad sections. I have neutral people for things that have happened historically, but that's neither here nor there.

Within each section, say, the Heroes, I have a "page" for each of my main characters. Their title page is just a bunch of random notes that I hastily added on the go, but the subpages are where it's at. Each subpage is based off the Bibisco (see above) sections. Personal Data, Physical Features, Behaviors/Attitude, Psych, Ideas/Passions, Interpersonal, Life Before the Story, Conflict, Evolution, and Visual Inspiration.

The psych section of Bibisco is a very in depth 64 questions on their psychological profile. In my OneNote, this is more or less where I put my personality test results and I highlight important information. Instead of answering 64 questions that answer whether or not Kein is outgoing or shy, the personality profiles answer those for you, quite easily.

For example, Kein tested as ISTP-T. She is an Introvert, Observant, Thinking, Prospecting, and Turbulent. Even just looking at that last sentence, it tells me more about my character than any 64 questions about how hardworking, free-spirited, or vain (all Bibisco questions) she is.

I really like how Bibisco broke down the information, but how it goes about char dev doesn't work for me personally. So I modified it to work for me! Instead of answering all those questions, I read through the questions and the personality profiles I have in the Psych section. In the other sections, I just type a blurb or two about how Kein behaves, her passions, and her interpersonal skills (or lack thereof). Instead of reading through a numbered list of questions and answers, I can just read the blurb or highlighted sections in the personality section and be reminded of her overall personality instead of how she acts in one rigid sense.

I think that's why I like the personality tests the most— they give you a more generalized sense of your character instead of how they act in a linear or flat scenario. How do they walk, for instance, is one of the questions, but that really hinges on a lot, right? What's the scenario?

Is Kein coming home from a successful scavenging mission, standing tall and proud, but letting someone else take the spotlight of success? (Introvert vs Extrovert). Or is she folding into herself, thinking about all the things she could have done differently, while she’s being scolded? (Thinking vs Feeling).

How a character, walks, talks, laughs, and generally holds themselves really depends on... you guessed it! Their personalities! Which is why I really like the personality test route.

One extra bit, OneNote lets you do 3 tiers of folders, so I can have Kein>Physical Features and then one more set of subpages under Physical Features. I find this useful for character development that happens over the course of your writing. For example, my MCs fight a pack of wolves at one point (this first book of mine is very Man v Nature). They all walk away with injuries. Under my Physical Features page, I have a subpage for Developments. I either just have notes there, or a table set up by chapter. It'll say, Ch# in the left column, and then it'll have a set of bullet points for things that changed in that chapter.

Ch# - Kein attacked by a wolf - sustained a bite to shoulder and claw slash across her stomach. (A note: for wounds, I'll sometimes add pics, but as long as you can visualize it, it's whatevs).

It goes for other aspects of character development too though! If a romance is blossoming, I'll add notes chapter by chapter using the table system I noted above. If an injury causes someone to move/walk differently I make a note of it. Especially for injuries that I need to remember like, ok, she has fractured ribs. She ain't climbing that cliff side— they're going to have to find a different way or they're going to have to figure out how to get her up it.

Side note for the injury and time keeping — I made an entire post about how I do this, so check that out if you’re interested.

A small bit on visual inspiration

When coming up with a visual of my characters, I turn to Pinterest. Pinterest is the bee's knees for visual character inspiration. If you have a general idea of what you want your character to look like, just search "character inspiration" and then adding any descriptors. Sometimes I don't find what I'm looking for, so instead I'll search "model" and then the descriptors. My MC has red hair and freckles. I searched "character inspiration red hair female" and "model freckles female" and tons of pics popped up.

I created a board named "Character Inspo_NAME" on Pinterest for each main character. A nice spring board for visualizing my characters. It ranges from boots and ripped jeans, to faces of models/people, hairstyles and accessories.

I mass pin things and then I comb through and look for stuff that really resonates with a character— a few pics of models, some outfits, particular accessories or items, shoes, clothes, hair styles!! With those few, more narrowed down pics, I place them into my Visual Inspiration folder in OneNote. I can reference it if I need to remember what someone is wearing or what a particular item someone has looks like. Or just in general if I need a bit of a boost, it helps to write a character's description if I'm looking at the character inspiration.

I’m certainly not, like, the best person to go to for visual inspo stuff. There are so many other people out there who do these amazing aesthetic and mood boards and all kinds’a stuff like that and it’s so so so amazing. So, don’t take my word for it in this area, because I’m certainly not the authority here. I’m just givin yinz an idea of how I do things.

I hope this helps! Maybe I should have added memes or something.

Anyways, that’s all folks. Good luck! Feel free to ask me any questions if you have them! Also, I'd love to hear comments on my process, or how anyone else does their character development!

i also feel like this entire post is a mess so thanks for reading if you made it to the end. also let me know if any links don’t work or anything like that.

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Fate/Zero 1 - 25 (FINAL)

Most of these notes stayed intact during Fate/Stay Winter posts, but I’m releasing them in an unedited version here (aside from the dotpoints and read more, of course).

Fate/Zero 1

For some reason, I have it recorded that I’ve watched F/Z ep. 1, but I don’t remember it!  I only remember Saber fighting someone…that’s why I have notes for this ep too.

Ewwwwwww…what’s that in the Macedonian box…?

Oh! Heaven’s Feel is the name of one of the movies that came out this year or last.

LOL, the grandparents of Waver literally refer to him as “Waver”. I thought it was a title. Is it really his name???

I’m very good at making connections between seemingly disconnected things using only the things I know. I predict Kariya’s in for a verrrrrrrry bad time and will probably die in this Grail War, if not go bananas. I already know Rin, Ilya (the Einzbern child) and Sakura are already part of the Fate/ canon, so they’re probably going to fight in a Grail War as well.

Ahhhhhhh! B*stard Archer (that is, Gilgamesh)! He’s hereeeeeeeee!

What’s that counter on the ep title card…? Is it the time until the Grail War…?

Fate/Zero 2

I’ve seen enough spoilers being bandied about that I already know Rider is Alexander the Great.

Like, seriously, why do we call the dude “Waver Velvet”? What’s his real name?

Kiritsugu acts as Ilya’s dad, but…I’m pretty sure he isn’t her dad. Kiritsugu’s surname is Emiya, right? He’s Shirou’s dad, as far as I know. Then again, I only know what I know from being around Fate/ fans for so long.

LOL, there are far too many dragons in this name – Ryuunosuke Uryuu.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh! Is this Giant B*stard Archer???? Is this Giant B*stard Archer??? (i.e. Gilgamesh) Oooooooooh! No wonder people like Gilgamesh, even though they call him a giant loveable b*stard.

Fate/Zero 3

Thy don’t call Rider that for nothin’, eh?

I wonder how Saber managed to get a passport…? She’d need one, eh?

Oh…CGI car…it’s burning my eyesssssssss! (although I do believe Troyca didn’t do any better with El-Melloi’s Case Files)

“Hotel in Fuyuki” – They couldn’t be any more explicit with this stuff, could they…?

“…Highness.” – I can see why Saber is so popular with the Fate/ fans now.

Huh? I seem to remember the battle that comes next! Damn *bleep* <- (censored name of anime club manager responsible for the anime marathon that caused me to go from the beginning of F/Z in the first place)! I definitely remember Saber fighting Lancer.

Fate/Zero 4

(sorry, seen this one! That’s where the confusion was! So no notes here!)

Fate/Zero 5

Berserker looks like Goblin Slayer covered in smoke…LOL.

…Well, they don’t call that guy Berserker for nothin’ either.

Rider would make a great Santa Claus, LOL.

Fate/Zero 6

Isn’t there a Joan of Arc in the Netflix Fate/ (Apocrypha)?

Dang, that Kayneth is an evil b*stard, alright!

Kirei is basically Wolverine…?

No wonder you never hear about Caster when people talk about Fate/…he’s neither hot nor a waifu…so nobody gives a s*** about him.

Fate/Zero 7

Is that a Gantz?

Wait, y’mean Rider is motivated…by pants? *spits* Hahahaha…

You can see Ufotable’s much-praised CGI at work here, too.

I can definitely see why Ufotable was chosen for Katsugeki and why they chose Izuminokami for their protag.

Had to google Jeanne to remember what she looks like in this universe, but yeah…she does look like Saber.

For some reason, I had a fleeting thought that Lancer would be the one to be on the mountain alongside Saber…I was right.

So basically, the entire Fate/ series is this: who would win? A mage or an assassin? (Or something like this.)

Fate/Zero 8

I still think Kirei is basically Wolverine.

Kiritsugu = “to cut and tie”.Update: It’s “to tie” and “to inherit”, apparently.

F/Z 9

I wonder…just what is Lancer’s motivation for the Grail? Surely, Servants have their own motives…

I literally covered my eyes when Sola-Ui bent Kayneth’s finger back…it was almost as bad as seeing Nozomi get tortured (Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka)…*gulp*

“Not well” is an understatement, Sola-Ui.

I had to google how old Waver was in this Grail War���he’s 19, apparently, so right in my strike zone right here, so to speak~.

Beleaguered Waver is what you cool kids would call the 2020 Mood…and yes, I’m watching this on the 1st of January, 2020 (but you’re reading this after I put it up later in the month), so I’m keeping the comment.

“What kind of moron would go busting in?” – *facepalm* It seems Rider would.

What the heck is Rider riding his chariot over on the floor, anyway? What’s up with these sewer creatures ? They’ve got tentacles…!

F/Z 10

Rin reminds me of Asuka (NGE)…*gulp* That can only mean bad things for her.

Zenjo? I’ll make a note of that name.

That one glowing sign says “Fuyuki Station”.

Rin no Bouken = Rin’s Adventure. I don’t see why the subbers included “Big” in there, tbh.

F/Z 11

Uh-oh. Why do I get the feeling Saber’s going to get very, very drunk…?

Gee whiz, the great b*stard is a narcissist…

Well, sometimes I forget I had “Archer = Gilgamesh” spoilt for me ages ago…probably because he’s all over Babylonia, not to mention he seems to be one of the more popular characters precisely because he is the great b*stard.

“I wish for my homeland’s salvation.” – An interesting thing to say, considering Brexit.

What the f*** is a Gordius…oh, okay. So that’s Rider’s chariot.

How many Assassins are there??? I thought there was just the one, but there were 4 last time.

This discussion is interesting…no wonder Saber got mistaken for Joan of Arc back in the day.

Welp, Assassins gotta assassinate…*shrugs*

Eyyyyyy…there’s this one guy who looks basically like an older Waver Velvet! That explains a few things, I think.

F/Z 12

“Ramasonic” (sic).

I still think Gil-I mean, Archer’s snakeskin pants are hilarious.

I feel like last episode was a lot better in regards to how good Fate/ could be. This episode is just Ufotable animating talking Gilgamesh and Kirei heads.

Why do I get a bad feeling something bad’s going to happen to Maiya…again?

Kirei trying to look bada*s while leaning against a wall…it looks sort of funny, to be honest with you…because he bends his neck at a funny angle.

F/Z 13

This is the end of the 1st cour, apparently…according to AniList, at least.

“…5 billion people.” – I think the number is 7 billion now, but okay.

Never leave your Servant unsupervised, amirite?

I saw one of the bookstore’s shelves has science fiction on it…hmm, in a show with magic, that seems ironic…or was that non-fiction? Also somewhat ironic.

Oh, this “Don’t you want to do anything fun?” from Rider to Waver is an interesting parallel to Kirei’s episode (the previous one).

Dragon guy’s off his rocker…seriously.

Paraphrasing here, but “…if you want to use the Grail to make yourself taller…” – then stick to milk and other calcium products, Waver…LOL. I mean, other anime characters do.

Even Saber Naruto runs! There are no aliens here…but that car does have gull-wing doors (<-had to google what the doors were called), so…is it a DeLorean or something? Then someone could time travel instead.

I thought one of the previous commands from the overseers was to defeat Caster…?

Fate/Zero has become a kaiju movie, LOL.

Scared Waver is also a 2020 Mood…LOL.

F/Z 14

What’s this “Giant of Light” business…?

Geesh…If Ufotable did a Godzilla movie, I would watch that…(now that this monster makes me think of that possibility.)

This is a small quibble, but is it “Diabolo” or “Diablo”?

Somehow it didn’t even hit me until the fight was halfway over…but does Gilgamesh control a flying airship as part of his Noble Phantasm?!

Pretty scenery or not, talking people standing still are just that…not very entertaining, for sure. It’s basically the only flaw of this series, aside from the fact it hasn’t plumbed the depths of its themes yet.

Ufotable’s clouds look kind of like Gainax’s in Houkago no Pleiades, huh?

Tokiomi seems to blame Kariya for the whole sister vs. sister thing. Hmm, it really just shows how demented the guy is.

F/Z 15

Berserker is only ever in CGI, huh? No wonder Ufotable was given the job.

“That’s…from King Arthur’s legend…” – Can I please interrupt with the Excalibur song? (I’m annoying like that and want to ruin your level of immersion, that’s why.)

Hey, who knew? We get to see Joan in this anime, too. Thank you, Ufotable and Type Moon for saving me a Netflix subscription.

F/Z 16

“Things have been rather hectic this evening.” – Well, you don’t say…

*Saber and Lancer start their fight * - I detect signs there may have been people shipping Saber and Lancer at this point in time, what with their mutual ideas of honour and such.

Kayneth is kind childish, LOL – he’s like a kid peeping at his parents while they complain to each other about a hard day’s work or something.

Uh, this curse from Lancer here is definitely gonna be relevant later, right…?

I was muttering, “Oh goodness” (<- I’m self-censoring here, but you get the point) a few times over when Kiritsugu and Maiya finally got around to killing Kayneth, Lancer and Kayneth’s fiancee. By the way, were those two ever married…? Also, this makes me wonder…what would happen if you got a completely useless Servant? Like “King of Fools” or something. It would sound like the Familiar of Zero, sure, but it would be an interesting exercise in making a compelling narrative.

F/Z 17

Dangit, B*stard Archer. Disappearing just after you provoked Kirei…

Oh! I found the Avalon scene confusing at first, but now that they explain it, it makes a lot more sense.

“As I live and breathe, Kirei!” – Sounds mighty ironic for a meant-to-be-dead historical figure to say that.

F/Z 18

We jump to someone else’s story…or do we?

For some reason, I think this beach place is based on Okinawa. (It seems like the best match.)

“This isn’t a game.” – Seems highly ironic, given his current situation.

I know Kiritsugu is probably looking into Shirley’s eyes, but all they show is the boobs downwards, so I imagine it to be fanservice.

That shaking was just to disguise the bad animation, wasn’t it…?

…and suddenly, zombies!

Well, that’s great, Kiritsugu. You ended up burning down a village by association. Good job…

“Vampires.” – Well, that wasn’t the word I was expecting…

For some reason, I think this new arrival is a woman, but now that I get a proper look at their face, they kinda look like the Great B*stard (Gilgamesh). Update: It looks like they have cleavage, but then they also kinda resemble Samatoki (Hyp Mic)…so, uh…I dunno. Update 2: Okay, she’s a woman…Natalia, to be precise.

The houses on fire look a lot like the ones in Katsugeki, come to think of it.

F/Z 19

Wait, what’s a Mystic Code again…?

Oh, I didn’t think this show would do it, but there’s a good few seconds of recap. I know, because I had to skip it.

Oh, the reason Kiritsugu doesn’t seem to ally with the Association or the Church is because Natalia wasn’t part of either. Right…I’m so dumb.

Am I just reading into Kiritsugu’s pose here too much, or does he look like Christ the Redeemer a bit…?

There’s something oddly pretty about Vorzak. Then again…it’s too bad he’s designated to be dead.

I could tell Kiritsugu was CGI for a second…but he was in fog. Dangit, Ufotable. You know how to disguise your CGI well.

…Okay, those bees were very CGI. Scrap what I just said.

Bees on a plane. What a way to die.

I’ve noticed Kiritsugu’s eyes don’t have any pupils in them. They’re always kind of dead, but not in th same way En’s (<- from Boueibu) are.

What happened to Kiritsugu’s mother…?

The extended flashback seems to be the best way to my heart, assuming you can pull it off properly.

What’s with that “sometime, somewhere”?

F/Z 20

There hasn’t been a proper OP since 3 episodes ago.

Was Maiya ever interested in Kiritsugu as a woman? This vague pseudo-harem sorta annoys me, which is why I need answers.

The crows in this show aren’t very fluffy. Not that I have a problem with that…it’s just a bit random (and I’m saying that as I operate without much sleep and will have a huge period of getting up early in my near future, so you’re probably going to see even more randomness coming from my brain).

Modanyaki. Never thought I’d be googling a Japanese concept for this anime.

This sleeping bag Waver reminds me of Aizawa, but this is at least 4 years too early for that.

That cloud in the top left is shaped funny…like a knight, maybe? (There’s a triangular bit that looks lik a helmet.)

I believe the bird is a bush warbler (uguisu), based on the colour.

So this is where you learn what the f*** a Gordius Wheel is…right.(sounds a bit pissed)

Seeing Kariya squirm…it makes me thank my lucky stars I had the sound off. My imagination makes the scene worse, though.

So fakers beget fakers and killers beget killers, huh? Not surprising.

“I’ve always told him he was doing the right thing.” – Because you didn’t know any better, huh, Iri?

F/Z 21

“Knight on Two Wheels” – What would that knight be riding, a bike…? (somewhat sarcastic)

…A motorbike. Close enough. (not sarcastic anymore)

The motorbike’s plate says “Fuyuki - Te” – instead of a licence plate combo, Japan has a single hiragana.

Well, at least now I know why you never hear of Kariya outside Fate/Zero much…those worms don’t give him long to live.

Isn’t Tokiomi dead though…?

Holy s***, Kariya, you just got framed! *yells in the tone of voice as if Kariya got owned…which he did, in a sense*

*brow furrowed* What’s up with the framing of Aoi’s killing that makes this seem like attempted rape…?

Kirei looks all dead inside. (LOL) I know it’s the animators’ fault that they didn’t bother with him in that scene, but…he has the eyes of a dead fish there, y’know? I can’t help but laugh.

F/Z 22

Never in my life have I seen a grandpa want to talk on the roof.

The grandpa reminds me of Rider…that’s probably where part of their relationship comes from.

You can see the lack of sleep is getting to Kiritsugu right now…his face looks a little sunken…

…Fate/ is apparently pretty infamous for treating its women badly from a feminist persepctive and I think I get why now…(referring to the death of Aoi and now Kirei’s treatment of Iri)

I think the scariest part of F/Z is watching th emotionless guy learn how to feel…kinda like Equilibrium, y’know?

Hmm? I wonder how this show will choose to end, since it’s signalling its end from 3 episodes out?

I predicted Rider would say something along the lines of “…befitting of the Rider class” and lo and behold! He did!

So Rider can summon a single horse as well as the entire chariot? *Saitama face* Okay then.

Number of Times Waver Appears: 1, Number of Times Waver Cries: 1, Number of Times Waver Blushes: 2

Come to think of it, even though I had that weird “Ohhhhhh! Great B*stard Archer!” reaction at first, Gilgamesh has shown up in most of the worst scenes of this show so far (basically, most of the “talking heads” scenes where he talks shop with Kirei). Then again, my change in feelings probably because I’ve had to keep a special eye out for Waver and knew Saber was the poster girl for the entire series.

The counter appears to be “time until the Holy Grail War”…well, that or its final conflict.

F/Z 23

I like how Waver’s joining in with Rider’s yelling.

I have the sound off, so now I’m just mentally narrating Sakura with this creepy child voice and it’s spooking me out…the Urobutcher could really go toe-to-toe with Stephen King if it weren’t my imagination…(LOL…?)

I feel sorry for that car’s owner…the car wasn’t meant to be wrecked…

I fully expect Berserker to be Lancelot or some other guy in King Arthur’s canon, judging by Saber’s reactio-hey, who’s Arondight…? Update: Oh, f***. It really is Lancelot. Turns out Arondight is the name of Lancelot’s sword. How did I know? There’s that upcoming Camelot adaption, isn’t there? Connect the dots.

Oh, f*** me – I feel conflicted. On the one hand, Lancelot’s hella handsome (and his dark hair is exactly my kinda thing), on the other hand…doesn’t he look like he came out of Castlevania or Vampire Hunter D or something??? F***in’ vampires!

Oh, f*** again, I stand corrected. Lancelot was handsome, before he became a Caster-looking…thing.

*bursts into spontaneous laughter* The new Lancelot looks kinda like Tsukasa from Dr Stone, LOL.

Number of Times Waver Cries: 2

Wait, isn’t Bucephalus Greek??? Update: No, he wasn’t. He was Alexander the Great’s horse. That explains why he’s Rider.

I was wondering how Waver managed to live long enough to be El-Melloi II when he was stuck in a battle to the death. Welp, that’s how he did it, folks! *points at screen*

Number of Times Waver Cries: 3…but…anti-climax, much, f***in’ Gilgamesh???

Uh, what’s up with Psalm 23:4? (I had to google that snippet of the Bible to find out its citation.)

LOL, Kirei and Kiritsugu have very similar faces. Didn’t realise that until now.

F/Z 24

It’s weird seeing Kirei full of fighting spirit…He’s still frickin’ Wolverine, though.

Is this taking cues from the Matrix? I bought it from the charity store the other day because I haven’t seen it yet, but I know Bullet Time from TV Tropes.

Now Kirei is channeling Bruce Lee, LOL.

Ouch…the bullet to the hand reminds me of the nail gun scene in The Island (which still freaks me out to this day). (…and now I’ve gone and done it – every time I think of that movie, I get the song The Island – part 1, at least - in my head as well.)

I can almost see Sakaido (from ID: Invaded) in some of these scenes instead of Kiritsugu…trust Ei Aoki and associates to do that.

I went to dump a screenshot in Paint and one of my Fate/ backgrounds from one of the previous posts was set to my background! (I have my backgrounds set to rotate every 12 hours and I have over 600 pictures for that purpose.) *sighs happily and incredulously* Well, whaddaya know…sometimes the stars do align.

I almost expected Shirley to appear, but it turns out it was Iri instead.

Kiritsugu still has his Command Seals so he’s still connected to the Grail War somehow…hmm…

C’mon, I predicted Gilgamesh would compliment Saber when she was down and bleeding.

F/Z 25 (FINAL)

Who’s Lord Justeaze?

Sakura has the same eyes as Kiritsugu. Dead, lifeless eyes.

Did Kariya just throw himself to the worms???

The Great Naked B*stard Gilgamesh.

A priest is a zombie, huh? How ironic.

Isn’t Gilgamesh annoyed by his lack of clothes…? Update: Never mind. He gets a cloth soon enough.

Wait, if Saber destroyed the Grail, who won…?

Huh? The timer ran out.

Aw, even Waver’s growing up.

One of the books says 零戦 (reisen) which apparently means “Zero Fighter [Plane]”. One of the sets of books says “William Shakespeare”, who I know is a Servant somewhere in the Fateverse.

The Bible verse is Job 19:25.

Lancelot’s head doesn’t disappear when the rest of him fades away…It’s pretty poignant.

Jubstacheit is the head of the Einzberns. Update: Think I had to google that.

“Becoming a hero has an expiration date.” – As much as I know that in my creative heart to not be true, my adult heart says yes, it’s true.

Welp, that’s the end of one series. Time for another.

[bookenders]

11/11/11 Tag Game: Rounds 24, 25, 26, and 27

Tagged by the wonderful @corsairesque, the lovely @azawrites, the stellar @sunlight-and-starskies, and the incomparable @inexorableblob - thanks!

And @inexorableblob, thank you for letting me rewrite the end of The Great Gatsby. It was very cathartic.

Rules: Answer 11 questions, write 11 questions, tag 11 people!

Bilbo Taggins: @aurumni-writes @quilloftheclouds @aslanwrites @starlitesymphony @writingonesdreams @waterfallwritings @cataclysmic-writer @ren-c-leyn @timefirewrites @minusfractions @ink-flavored - and if you like the questions and aren’t tagged, feel free to answer them! And tag me so I can see! 

My Questions:

How many licks would it take for your OCs to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?

What are your favorite smells?

What’s the book you’ve read most recently? What did you think of it? What impressed you? What would you have done differently?

What are your thoughts on mugs?

If your OCs had a comic book series/graphic novel about them, what would it be called? What would be on the cover? What would the art style be?

Can you draw a bear?

Do you do any other kinds of art? Are you ever influenced by other kinds of art? What about other areas like science or mathematics/other disciplines?

Have you read any craft books or writing advice books? If yes, how have the helped or hindered you? Which would you recommend? If no, would you ever consider reading them?

What are your favorite kinds of narratives? What narrative structures do you prefer to write and what do you prefer to read?

What’s your favorite recipe?

What are some signs that make you consider setting a project aside vs continuing with it?

As always, answers under the cut!

@corsairesque‘s Questions:

1. Do you create playlists for your stories or characters?

I do! 

Here’s a detailed post about how I make them.

This is Mel’s from H2H.

This is Gemma’s from H2H.

This is one for the story I recently posted.

And I have one for each WIP on my WIP page! (Mostly, I’m still working on Fish Food’s.)

I actually have folders in Spotify for my characters and stories. Each one gets a playlist.

2. What is your stance on endings that don’t end with some hope?

Sometimes a story needs to have a certain ending to have an emotionally satisfying conclusion. I don’t think hope is absolutely required for an ending. I’ve ended stories without hope because that’s how the story ends. If I wrote it to conclude with an upturn, it would’ve been disloyal to the narrative. Like life, not everything ends happily, or with a positive outlook.

If you want it from a more technical perspective, there are three sorts of endings: positive, negative, and neutral. They can mix and match, but these are the three base ones. I tend toward neutral or positive-neutral endings. The best story I’ve written so far has a negative-leaning neutral ending because it concludes with a loss that does not promise hope. Positive endings are not necessary for a narrative, or for a conclusion. 

Sometimes you need to write a hopeful ending. Sometimes you need to read a hopeful ending. And sometimes you need to read or write something that ends on a down-note. I know I have. 

So, TL;DR, there is no ending hierarchy. It all depends on the reader and the writer, what they need, and what the story demands.

3. What author would you love to hear feedback from on your WIP?

Of literally anyone? Dead or alive? I mean. I’d love to hear what Flannery O’Connor would have to say about my short stories. I try to do a remix-version of her moments of grace in each of them.

4. What is the genre of your WIP(s)?

I mention these on my WIP page!

Most of my short stories are literary and contemporary fiction. My longer projects tend toward low fantasy.

5. How do you come up with new ideas for your WIP(s)?

I don’t have a method or anything for idea generation. My brain works in the background while I’m doing other things, so I’ll be washing dishes, or brushing my teeth, or writing something else, and an idea goes HI HELLO WHAT ABOUT THIS HUH? and I scramble to write it down.

Most of the time, my story ideas come from cool sentences I think of while observing. That sounds super weird and nerdy, but it’s true! When I’m bored or need to occupy my brain or just sorta feel like creating something spontaneous, I’ll look around and figure out how I’d write about a certain thing in the vicinity. 

Some examples of this from my phone notes:

“Laughter echoing through a cave, bouncing off the walls, the gift of hearing it over and over until it fades like gentle waking”

“Cheeks baked pink from the flush of her modesty”

“The last remnants of home, the dirt hidden beneath their fingernails”

“Headlights flicker between the gaps in the barrier like a slipstream of stars”

Ya know, stuff like that.

Sometimes, if I’m stuck while writing and need a thought, I look at the plot and think up complications for my characters to face. That’s how I figured out how to make Lithium 100% more plot relevant. I thought, okay, so she has this role right now, what can I add to make her stand in the way of X plan while also being an asset to Y? And boom, idea generated and problem solved.

6. What do you use to keep all your writing on? (Scrivener, Google Docs, good old pen and paper…)

I use Scrivener for all my main writing. I have a ton of phone memo notes for ideas on the go. I have a notebook full of random stuff for when I’m blocked and need to hand write something.

I also answered this further down!

7. What gave you initial inspiration for your WIP(s)?

H2H: There was a publisher who had a call for shapeshifter stories, and then I missed the deadline so I decided to try for a zine instead, then I got rejected, so I made it into my own thing.

AOPC: I needed to flesh out a piece of my homebrew DnD world, so I started worldbuilding, then it was my turn to turn in a story to be workshopped in my writing class, so I wrote a thing set in the village about the tribe and it all spiraled out from there.

FF: I had an errant thought about the script that hero and villain stories follow and wrote a thing about what would happen if one of them decided to deviate from it and BOOM the plot hit me like a semi truck.

Almost all of my short stories start with a sentence I think sounds really cool, a tone I want to try to capture (ex. the feeling of standing inside an old cathedral), or the ending moment of a character arc (I tend to work backwards).

8. How long have you been working on your WIP(s)?

I’ve been working with Heart to Heart since November 2018. I started thinking about Fish Food like 3 months ago I think? And I got the idea for All Our Painted Colors 3ish years ago, but it started as a short story that I thought about expanding about 8 months ago.

My writing process starts with a long period of thought percolation before I write anything definitive down.

9. What was the first thing you came up with for your WIP(s)?

H2H: The fact that the main character is an apothecary who uses recipes from historical documents to brew things and lives in a small town, and that their love interest changes shapes in some way.

AOPC: That the tribe is a society based around body paint, art, preserving their personal history, and stories. But mostly paint. 

FF: The hero danging over a pit of hungry piranhas and asking the villain a question that throws off the whole “death threat” vibe.

10. Have you considered Hogwarts houses for your characters? If so, what are they?

Answered this for the H2H cast here.

As for the Fish Food cast:

Iron Will - Hufflepuff

Overseer - Ravenclaw

Nightmare - A Hufflepuff who asked to be in Slytherin and the hat said “yeah okay”

Lithium - Gryffindor

Babylon - Slytherin

Sparkplug - Gryffindor

11. What do you find easiest to write? (Description, dialogue, etc.)

Interiority! Free indirect discourse! Unvoiced character brain thoughts! Which I guess means description? 

Writing dialogue sucks old car tires!

@azawrites‘ Questions:

what’s the best part about your writing style? I like how I build up to emotional punches. It’s like walking up a ramp, but in a literary way. And at the top of the ramp you either get a gut punch of feels or an ice cream cone.

do you write on the computer or on paper? I do most of my writing on my laptop because my hands can’t write fast enough to keep up with my brain. My typing is way faster. If I’m having trouble getting an idea down, or the tone of the writing lends itself to being handwritten (idk how to describe this, but sometimes words just gotta be scribbled, ya know?), I’ll hand write it in pen. I don’t use pencils anymore because I wasn’t allowed to in college and it kinda stuck.

what are your favourite books and why? Oh, no, there are too many. So I’ll just say my top book: The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien because of how it deals with stories and grief and remembering, the fact that it’s a story cycle (which is very cool), and the way he writes - it’s beautiful and sad and messed up and poignant. I love it.

why did you start writing? I’ve answered this before, but there was never really starting point for me. It’s just something I’ve always done. 

why did you continue writing? Because I had too much fun to stop! I also get creatively constipated, I guess is how I would phrase it, and need to have some sort of narrative outlet or my brain gets really mad at me.

where do you usually write? Pretty much anywhere, but most often at my desk. I think I need a taller chair, though...

can you describe your favourite piece (written by you) in one sentence? Let’s get authory with this one: The teacher hands out the tests, multiple choice this time, but when the stapled packet slides across your desk, there’s something odd about it, something that brings the war to life inside your head, a long-forgotten voice that speaks the souls of the soldiers and tells their stories from the annals of history. Or: A multiple choice test about WWII that tells the story of 4 men from Company B from enlistment to the end of their campaign.

what’s one cliche/trope you overuse, but still like anyway? It’s a trope when it comes to my own writing, actually. Person Sits Alone in the Dark and Contemplates. I love it, I abuse the hell out of it, and I will never stop.

what music do you listen to when working on a WIP? Depends. I have a go-to Writing Flow State song, playlists to help me get in the right head space when writing certain characters, and playlists that help guide the tone of a story. I can never listen to movie or video game scores because the association of song and cinematic moment is too strong for me.

have you ever dreamed of a fictional character? Uh, I have the occasional nightmare about Kokopelli? Does that count? 

what’s one thing that makes you automatically dislike a book? Overly pretentious first person POV prose (and I don’t mean purple. I mean a character who - honestly and without a hint of satire - thinks like a writer from the 1920s who just discovered what “paid by the word” means and believes they’re the wisest human being in the universe and everyone who doesn’t agree with them is the basest of idiots - barf). Gratuitous female violence. The use of the word “loins” outside of an animal context. Everything about The Beginners by Rebecca Wolff. 

@inexorableblob‘s Questions:

Which of your characters could you write as twice their current age? Oh, man, I think writing Iron Will in his forties or fifties would be really cool. It’d certainly give the story a new commentary twist.

Which of your characters could you write as half their current age? (I’m not gonna cheat and say Mel, I promise.) I think writing a 30yo Treena would be very cool. However, writing a 13 or 14yo Lithium who is just learning how to use her super powers would be WILD. 

What big city would your characters do best in?  London?  New York? Tokyo?  Mexico City?  Rio? The Fish Food characters would all do best in New York or London, since they’re very close to Conover. Lithium would prefer Rio, though, and Babylon would lobby for everyone to move to Tokyo.  The H2H characters would do best in Mexico City or London, depending on who decides to take charge and teach everyone the local customs. 

What would your characters do if they were in a small rural community that was attacked by underground worms? This is giving me too many ideas for H2H. Gemma would be a little bit furious, since she hates having to get rid of animals, especially when they’re invasive. If the worms just minded their own gosh dang business then everyone could live in peace.  If we’re talkin’ normal sized worms, like worm-sized worms, then Gemma would develop a pesticide that wouldn’t kill them, but force them to the surface where they would then be stunned by whatever weird solution Mel comes up with. Then the town would have a Worm-Off, where the person who collects the most worms wins free pie for a year, courtesy of Harry’s.  If we’re talkin’ DnD-style Purple Worms, like Beetlejuice worms, then Mel would take over. She’d help organize an evacuation and steal Oz’s gun, just in case. Then she’d do some spoilery things with Gemma assisting.

What is the worst place where you’ve ever wanted to write? Probably while I was taking the math section of the SATs. Kinda inconvenient, brain, thanks for that. Other terrible places: mid job interview, in the middle of an empty street at midnight, anywhere I’m sitting where I have terrible posture, watching a slam poetry event in a very crowded bar, etc.

What’s the most uncomfortable subject you’ve ever written about? I’ve written a little bit about hate crimes and loathed every second. I’ve written a character actively contemplating suicide (he was a WWII soldier) and that was not fun at all. I mean, I also wrote a paper about sexy (somewhat graphic) wlw poetry for my Sexuality class, which a lot of people would be uncomfortable with, but I thought it was a very good collection. Go read Marilyn Hacker’s stuff, it’s good.

If you had to change the ending of any famous novel, which would you pick? The Great Gatsby. We don’t end with the green light, screw the green light.  Gatsby wills all of his possessions and wealth to Nick and Nick becomes the next James Gatz. But this time around, he pines for the man who was killed in the pool just below his balcony while pretending to love Jordan, who finds out and amicably marries him because 1920s. She then uses Nick/Gatsby’s money to purchase an automobile manufacturing company and makes cars in every color but yellow. (Gotta maintain that color symbolism for F. Scott, I guess.) Nick discovers Gatz’ old bootlegging and illegal activities buddies and starts up a criminal empire. He and Jordan become the biggest, queerest, most spiteful and angsty crime bosses in New York. Nick makes it his life’s mission to take down false accusers, vigilante style. The car manufacturing company is what they use to launder money. Daisy divorces Tom because they’re both terrible people. Daisy takes her daughter and moves to California. Jordan sends Daisy’s daughter money secretly, about a hundred dollars a month. The last line is something about how Gatz was always reaching out and chasing green, but because of him, Nick is steeped in dark, bloody red. I would then write a sequel about Nick and Jordan and their crime empire that spans the East Coast. God, I hate this book.

If you had to change your life, what would you change without regret? Start therapy way earlier, 100%. That would have saved me a lot of nonsense.

If the end of the world where scheduled a week from tomorrow, what would you do?  Would you tell anybody? Everybody?  Keep it a secret? Assuming this was legit and the end of the world was actually happening, I’d probably try to tell some big-shot geologist or something, hoping they spread the word. Other than that, since debt won’t be a thing, I’d take the people I love on a killer trip around the world.

What would you do if a wizard offered to cast one spell for you, but your worst enemy got the same spell? Hmmm. I’d ask them to cast the Self-Realization spell, so they would instantly become aware of the effect their actions have on others and know exactly how terrible they’ve been to other people their whole life. Maybe then they can be a better person. My anxiety makes this spell ineffective on me, since it’s already there! Thanks, brain! 

Which would you choose, never eating in the same place, always eating the same meal, always eating with the same people, or never eating with the same people? I’d choose always eating with the same people. I like frequenting restaurants I like and eating different things. I don’t think I could deal with only eating the same thing/off the same menu forever. And I have bad social anxiety, so constantly eating with new people would probably short-circuit my brain eventually.  A good meal in good company is pretty great, though. 

@sunlight-and-starskies‘ Questions:

What is your favorite genre of music? I’ll always be a rock fan at heart. Right now, I really like folk rock and any kind of music that sounds like it has history behind it.

What are your favorite words? Illustrious, shimmer, soliloquy, incarnate, bound, and many more. Also most Yiddish curses.

Describe your ideal vacation. Somewhere cozy where I can explore and chill at my leisure. A week of artsy events in the city. Exploring landscapes in the country.

If you could have any fictional creature for a pet, what would it be? Why? Pegasus! I can ride and they can fly. We’d make an excellent team, and where we’d go, we wouldn’t need roads.

Which fictional universe would you live in if you had to live there for the rest of your life? Logic dictates the Star Trek universe, since I’d probably be an average civilian. Post-scarcity society? Sign me the hell up. My heart, however, is screaming ROHAN.

Favorite childhood toy? Uh... I honestly can’t remember. 

What is your aesthetic? Good smelling old books with doodles and notes in the margins, a pile of unfolded clean clothes on a chair, a stack of handwritten papers perched on the corner of a desk, the smell of breakfast cooking when you wake up, the immediate “woops” shock the moment you trip over something you should’ve moved earlier.

Tell me a random fact about your current project or you. About me: I have a birthmark that kinda sorta looks like an elephant. About Fish Food: The Coalition knows what happened to Hydrophase. So does Sparkplug.

Are you an early bird or a night owl? Night owl, all the way. I like the idea of being a morning person, though. 

What is your favorite food? Pasta! Or any kind of Asian food. 

What is your happiest memory? Oh, geez. Ummm. When I was little, I would curl up in my grandpa’s armchair and eat Burger King breakfast sandwiches on Saturday mornings. 

[scriptstructure]

My setting is historical and there is going to be a lot of “wrong” that is going to be  considered by most characters and society as a whole as normal. How exactly should I portray “wrong” things as right in my character’s minds, but make it clear that as the author, that it is absolutely wrong. I know there is so much historical fiction, but I’m still confused about the approach to such situations.

I’ve been thinking on this question for a long time, because it’s a pretty complex element of worldbuilding that you’re grappling with. 

I say worldbuilding, because the moral structures that your characters adhere to, and the conceptualisation of right and wrong and morality itself is a big part of developing the cultural context that your characters emerge from. Figuring out the generalities of how your characters understand right and wrong, good and evil, etc, is figuring out how they believe the world works.

Now, you’ve not specified any particular ‘wrong’ things in your ask, and to be honest, I struggle to think of anything that has happened historically, that isn’t happening in some form, in the present day. Slavery doesn’t exist in the way it used to, but it still exists, sexual violence still occurs, interpersonal violence, war, murder, religious persecution, persecution for sexual orientation, for gender identity, misogynist violence, keeping people from education or opportunity due to their gender or class or disability, eugenics, genocide ... name a bad thing that has been done historically, and I guarantee that you’ll be able to find that same thing happening in the modern day.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

That said, let’s think about what it is that allows us to recognise that something is wrong or immoral. In a very broad generalisation, we recognise very nearly instinctually, that things that hurt us, or that we see hurt other people, are bad. If we see someone get hit, we will cringe with sympathetic pain, we can empathise with others and understand how what they experience would feel bad or painful, even if we haven’t necessarily experienced that exact same thing ourselves.

There are a lot of philosophies which reflect this, from many different cultures, and it’s often referred to as ‘the golden rule’, that is a series of maxims which illustrate the logic of basic morality-as-empathy.

The golden rule can be summed up in three maxims, the positive, negative, and responsive forms.

[Positive] Treat other people the way that you would like to be treated.

[Negative] Do not do to other people things that you would not like done to you.

[Responsive/ empathetic] What you wish upon others you wish upon yourself.

The positive maxim is probably the most well known, there are versions of it passed around pop philosophy everywhere, and the negative one also seems pretty straightforward, but the responsive/ empathetic one may be a little more difficult to conceptualise: Essentially, wishing for something to happen to another person, acknowledges that that something is possible within the framework of society or the world as it exists, and simultaneously, if it is possible to happen to someone else, it is possible to happen to us, the thinker, the wisher.

If I were to think “I hope my neighbours yard floods and their garden is ruined,” then I must also recognise that inherent in that wish is the possibility that that could happen to me. Wishing ill on others is, in a way, setting up the threshhold at which it would be right for that bad thing to happen to me. ‘my neighbour was rude to me, i hope their garden is ruined’ turns into ‘i was rude to my neighbour, i deserve to have my garden ruined’

The inverse of this, is to wish well for others, to think ‘i hope things are going well for my neighbour,’ even in the case that the neighbour has perhaps been rude, etc, we recognise that ill-wishing on top of a situation that is already negative, only produces more bad in the world. By well-wishing, we attempt to produce goodness, not only for the neighbour, but for ourselves.

Lao Tzu put it this way:

Treat those who are good with goodness, and also treat those who are not good with goodness. Thus goodness is attained.

The way that we treat others is reflected as the way that we believe we ourselves ought to be treated. The way that we are treated, is reflected into the way that we treat others. In this way, cycles form, of increasing in the treatment that we accept from others, or do unto others.

The cyclical nature of this is easily illustrated by the concept of the ‘cycle of violence’ where as a person experiences violent treatment, which is not questioned or challenged by those around them, they go on to internalise that violence as ‘deserved’ and in future interactions, perpetuate that violence.

Eg: a child tries to take an extra sweet from the platter, and has their hand slapped away, later, when another child tries to take that child’s toy at school, the child slaps the second child. 

Violence is learned as the ‘proper’ response to interactions that could be handled in more peaceful ways. Imagine, if instead of being slapped when reaching for the sweet, that child was gently told that it’s impolite to take things that aren’t yours. In the playground, the child then tells the second child that it’s rude to take things that aren’t yours.

This is a very simplistic example, and in real life these things are much more complex and nuanced, but you see the concept, right?

‘Mason,’ I hear you saying, ‘that’s all well and good, but what the hell does it have to do with the question at hand???’

there is going to be a lot of “wrong” that is going to be  considered by most characters and society as a whole as normal. How exactly should I portray “wrong” things as right in my character’s minds

I think that part of the difficulty of this question stems from conflation of concepts. “Bad things happen that many people in this society see as normal,” vs “People see bad things as good things.” Things that happen don’t have to be thought of as ‘good’ to be thought of as ‘normal’--consider how often we hear bad things dismissed with ‘well that’s just how things are’ or ‘life isn’t fair.’ 

Thinking about this in light of the responsive maxim we’ve discussed above, this is essentially people internalising the inevitability of bad things happening, perhaps on some level believing that if a bad thing has happened to someone else, then they have done something to deserve it, and that if the wisher/ thinker did the same thing, then they would also deserve the something bad.

So, relating back to the top, where I said this is a question of worldbuilding, think about what has happened, and what is happening, historically and currently, within the society where your characters exist, which informs their views on what kinds of bad things are acceptable to happen to whom, at what point.

Is there some kind of central authority that will tell them when it is alright that bad things happen to people? Say, a religious organisation, or a social hierarchy (King, Emperor, etc)?

Has the society been embroiled in war or other widespread violence which means that people are more likely to use violence as a first response to a given problem?

Is there an economic system in place where certain groups have a vested interest in the exploitation and violence against other people? (Slavery! Capitalism!)

And so on ...

Now, on a broad, societal level, it’s simple enough to see how this large-scale influencing factor (factors, of course, as every society has many many layers of influence stretching through their history) will generate certain trends within the society of how they delineate certain ‘acceptable’ or ‘normal’ levels of Bad Things Happening.

But how do we understand it on a personal level? How do we justify standing by and doing nothing when Bad Things Happen to other people? Or even doing Bad Things ourselves?

There are a few different mechanisms by which people are able to distance themselves from the moral culpability of being responsible for the harm to or suffering of another. As the society is formed by history, the individual is shaped by society, but of course, individuals vary wildly, and may do anything from adhering to their society’s mores rigidly, to rejecting their entire received worldview and endeavouring to create their own moral framework, or choosing outside influences to abide by.

By compartmentalising experiences, people can justify to themselves, and each other, why doing a bad thing was, perhaps, actually, okay, in this case, for these reasons:

I did a bad thing to someone, but that person was not really a person like we are people, and therefore it is fine (the essence of colonialism, believing that your society is so superior to every other society that it is your moral right to take whatever they have and they ought to thank you for it 🤮 [puke emoji])

I did a bad thing to someone, but that person did something bad to deserve it, and therefore it is fine (he stole my thing, so I cut off his hand, this is justice, apparently)

I did a bad thing to someone, but bad thing happens to everyone eventually, so it is fine (an appeal to inevitability)

I did a bad thing to someone, but if I hadn’t, then worse thing would have happened eventually (As with the above example of slapping the child for taking an extra sweet, the intent was to teach manners, the result is to teach violence as the proper response do any difficulty)

And many more ...

Essentially, people can find ways to tell themselves that while what they are doing is a Bad Thing, it is either not as bad as other things, and therefore acceptable, or some form of Bad Thing is inevitable or even necessary, and therefore while doing Bad Things isn’t nice, it’s something that Must Be Done.

(This, by the way, is kinda unhealthy, and makes for a lot of fantastic internal conflict in characters, ie: good for story!!)

Now, we can clarify the second part of the question.

How exactly should I portray “wrong” things as right in my character’s minds, but make it clear that as the author, that it is absolutely wrong. 

Bad Things may be thought of as ‘normal’ by the characters, even while being recognised as harmful, bad, rude, mean, cruel, etc. By compartmentalising and justifying their own actions, characters can minimise the badness of their own actions, and attempt to ignore the moral dilemma in what they are doing. The conflict that this generates makes for interesting story, as it involves a great deal of consideration for how this mental gymnastics can be performed, and to what degree the character feels the need to excuse their actions, or can accept the wrongness of what they’ve done.

As the author, no one knows or cares what your moral position on all of this is. For the sake of this blog, the author is dead (not in a Bad Things kind of dead, in the Barthes Things kind of dead! Which means alive, just not relevant to this question!!) The author’s morality is irrelevant because it does not exist inside the text. The author’s morality may be expressed through the text, but ... that’s not the kind of thing that this blog deals with!

So, how do you write Bad Things happening, in a situation where a character may think of bad things as normal, or where they may be justifying their own bad actions?

By showing that Bad Things have Consequences.

Now, I want to be explicitly clear that I don’t mean that every evil deed must be punished. I mean that Evil Deeds can often be a punishment in themselves, and even if the character doesn’t realise that, it can be shown through the events of the story.

I think that a really excellent resource to look at here is @scripttorture, who has many posts detailing the ways in which not only being a victim to violence, but perpetrating violence, can have serious effects on the health and wellbeing of the people involved.

Remember above where we talked about the empathetic element of morality? When we hurt someone, even if we justify hurting them, we also hurt ourselves in the part of ourselves where we recognise the likeness between ourselves and others.

In committing violence against another, we commit it against ourselves, against our own shared humanity. How people react to this kind of trauma is so varied I can’t get into it here, but I think that Scripttorture is a great place to start. 

Importantly, a lot of the time, while someone wants to continue to justify their own wrongdoing, they will deny any harm it is doing them, or else they will minimise their own suffering as being a willing sacrifice for their vision of the ‘greater good.’

This is a big big post, so here’s a bit of a summary:

To portray a system of social mores, it is necessary to understand the historical pressures which have formed the society.

To portray an individual operating within the assumptions of a system of social mores, it is necessary to understand the way in which individuals relate to society.

To portray immoral acts within the framework of a society, it is necessary to understand how human psychology and society interact, and the mechanisms which allow people to operate at less-than-ideal levels of moral observance.

To portray immoral acts as wrong, even while characters justify the act in question, it is necessary to portray the accompanying consequences of performing the immoral action, the ‘moral splash-back.’

I feel the need to clarify: there are a lot of schools of thought on what constitutes moral and immoral behaviour (if you’ve not heard of them, there are these things called philosophy and religion that you could check out if you’ve got an hour or two spare), but for the purposes of this post, I’m talking about a basic rubric dealing with actions that result in people being harmed.

Hurting someone=immoral

Not hurting someone=neutral

Helping someone=moral

This is about as basic as I can make this concept for the purpose of explanation, and I hope that it is clear, understandable, and helpful

I know this is a big post, but honestly, it’s a big question, and I feel like it is more helpful to understand the way that these things function in a story, than to just give a prescriptive approach to writing difficult topics.

If you wish to ask something further, or if I have been unclear, please ask again and I’ll do my best to help!

[sivilityy]

SNAKE EYES

Tagged by @xadyt​

Rules: 1. Post the rules 2. Answer the questions given to you by the tagger 3. Write 11 questions of your own 4. Tag 11 people.  

1. Favorite Shakespearean play or sonnet? I absolutely love Kenneth Brannagh’s Hamlet, but I also have a soft spot for Macbeth because reading Lady Macbeth’s “out, damned spot” monologue aloud in class was one of my favorite memories of high school. I also might have gotten to see Sir Patrick Stewart perform Macbeth and aaaaa. There’s a story there that would require me to record myself telling it aloud in order to do it justice. But his performance, at least, was stellar.

2. First fictional character you had a crush on? I can’t remember which one I actually “picked” first, but definitely one of the boys from Final Fantasy 8. Probably Zell, I liked him so much I put a cool holographic eyeball sticker on his character page in the players’ guide. That was Important obviously, because stickers were not to be squandered. Later on my crush shifted to Squall, then to Seifer. But Irvine’s pretty easy on the eyes too and okay let’s move on--

3. Do you have an irrational fear of something? If so, what? The first thing that comes to mind is bugs, particularly flying bugs. Roaches and moths are a big issue, along with house centipedes. But i’m not sure that’s necessarily a fear so much as a “get it away from me aaaaa”. So maybe i’d say, narrow tunnels, like crawlspaces or caves or airvents. cuz there’s no telling if you’d be able to turn around and come back ono;;;

4. If you could reanimate any historical figure, who would it be? My first thought was in regards to politics, but tbh i don’t think any one person could fix what a royally fucked up situation we’re in right now. so maybe a writer, screw it, why not. it’s kind of tempting to say Shakespeare just to see if he appreciates all the memes, but the goth middle schooler in me tells me Edgar Allan Poe.

5. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you choose? If the obstacles in doing so were removed, definitely Japan. I’ve only been in the Tokyo area, but i absolutely loved Chiba. the stores, the train system, the food, the etiquette, it’s all just lovely.

6. What’s your guilty pleasure game of choice? Plants vs. Zombies! The first one. I have an absolute beast system down in that game, and playing it is like second nature to me. So it’s very therapeutic in its familiarity, and very satisfying in how much i can stomp it. :3

7. If you were the head of a gaming studio and you could choose to remake or make a sequel to any one pre-existing game/series, what would it be? *clutches chest* remake FF8 for the love of Hyne. give me all the glorious HD content and VOICE ACTING and maybe possibly a script that kinda makes some sense?? (why are we going to the moon, guys) UGH it’d be so beautiful.

8. What is a food you absolutely would not eat even if it was the last form of sustenance on the planet? I’m sure there’s something i hate worse, but all that i can think of at the moment is rare beef. i can manage to stomach certain cuts provided they’re at least medium, but... *shudders*

9. Favorite song to sing in the car/shower? “The Stand (Man or Machine)” by The Protomen, for sure. it’s in my vocal range, full of emotion, and features my boi ♥

10. What do you want written on your tombstone when you die? gosh, i... don’t know. something about the legacy that i’ve left behind--my aunt’s says “Tell me a funny story” and we’re still trying to do her stories justice to this day. ;u; but, as for what my legacy is... i guess i’d have to leave that to the ones writing it. i just hope i’ve been kind and helpful.

11. You are given the power to grant one person’s wish - any person except for yourself, and you can only give them the single one. Who would you give it to? now THIS one might be able to unfuck our situation :’) with her wisdom and her writing skills, i think @thedemonsurfer could come up with a comprehensive and detailed enough wish that we could probably fix at least a majority of what’s wrong in the world.

Tagged: totally optional! @bigbad31​, @zesimi​, @sissyhiyah​, @protobro​, @theletterwsarseflap​, @errorcritical​, anyone else who’d like to! ^^

My questions for you: 1. Physical books or electronic? 2. What’s your ideal day? Weather, company, activities, food, anything! 3. If you have one, what’s your favorite musical? Why? 4. Do you speak multiple languages? What languages do you speak, and what language would you like to learn? 5. Sweet or savory flavors? 6. If you could choose one story (book, game, movie, etc) to change something in, what would you choose and what would you change? 7. What’s your favorite way to relax/destress? 8. What’s a song that will absolutely get you pumped to Do The Thing? 9. Do you have an idea for a novel in your head right now? 10. Outdoors or indoors? 11. Do you have a character “type” that you find yourself consistently drawn to?

[50books50movies]

Shin Godzilla (2016)

Trailer

It’s funny that I approached two seminal deconstructive works - Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons, and John Higgins’s Watchmen and Hideaki Anno’s Neon Genesis Evangelion - before I had experienced the media and the works that they were respectively deconstructing. I read Watchmen in high school, at a time when I was mostly reading Marvel Comics’s output. I didn’t have the frame of reference to understand how Moore, Gibbons, and Higgins were taking apart the idea of the lone vigilante motivated by a traumatic childhood or the godlike superman. I only realized the commentary Watchmen provided after the fact, and reading the commentary alongside the original text became a sport of its own. 

Similarly, when I watched Neon Genesis Evangelion for the first time in college, I had not seen the mecha anime that Evangelion was examining. Just as Watchmen took apart the specific tropes and character archetypes of comic books through parallel characters (Dr. Manhattan is Superman, Nite Owl and Rorshach are Batman, the Comedian is Captain America, Silk Spectre is Black Canary), so was Evangelion dissecting the archetypes found in the mecha anime genre. (Shinji Ikari is the ace teenage pilot, like Amuro Ray from Mobile Suit Gundam, Rei Ayanami is the shy, mysterious love interest who is obedient to the protagonist, Asuka Langley Soryu is the rival, hot tempered love interest and ace pilot.) 

It’s striking that both deconstructive works found their analytical powers in presenting “real world” consequences of their genre’s respective and specific tropes through mental illness. Only someone suffering from severe mental health issues could attempt to wage a one-man war on crime by putting on a mask and fighting in the streets. A more realistic version of Batman, Moore, Gibbons, and Higgins, posited, would have to look more like Rorshach. Similarly, a scientist who is able to build giant robots that defend mankind would be even more cynical and monstrous than Astro Boy’s Dr. Tenma; he would look more like Gendo Ikari, who is incapable of maintaining any human relationships and treats everyone around him like dirt. 

I revisit Evangelion more often than I revisit Watchmen, though Moore and Anno have made it difficult to follow their creative output. Moore’s return to the independent comics publishers to pursue more explicitly sexual, violent, and sexually violent works like Lost Girls, Neonomicon, The Courtyard, and Providence, while Anno’s attempt to retell Evangelion in a new context through the Rebuild of Evangelion movies has stalled with increasingly long delays. Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone was released in Japan in 2007, while Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance was released in 2009. Evangelion 3.0: You Can (Not) Redo was released in 2012, while production on the final Rebuild of Evangelion film has only barely begun. 

Part of the delay in the Rebuild of Evangelion project was Anno’s and Shinji Higuchi’s involvement in Shin Godzilla, which is also known as Godzilla: Resurgence. Anno was contacted to direct Shin Godzilla after falling into depression after completing Evangelion 3.0. Principal photography for Shin Godzilla began in 2015, and the film was released in 2016. It re-positioned Godzilla as a creepy, scary monster, a force of man-made disaster that would serve as allegory for the Japanese triple disaster of the Tohoku earthquake and the subsequent tsunami and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster of March 2011. (American films will allude to traumatic events in fiction, but more often than not American films will outright try to recreate the traumatic events. You might see Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, for example, reference the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, but you’re more likely to see movies that try to recreate that historical event, thereby compressing and distorting history. There’s actually more intellectual honesty in allegorical approach than trying to make a film based on a true story.)

vs. 

Furthermore, while Anno and Higuchi criticized the Japanese government’s slow response to the disasters of March 2011 through the way actions to counteract Godzilla’s advance would have to flow from the theatre of action up to sub-commanders to deputy ministers to cabinet ministers to the prime minister, who would make a decision that would have to then travel down the same of communication chain before it was communicated, Anno and Higuchi showed great optimism and faith in Japanese infrastructure. Politicians who could be interpreted as weak or concerned about preserving their reputation could be reinterpreted as figures who are willing to give up power so the country could have a fresh start in the aftermath of Godzilla’s cataclysmic visit, figures who are willing to sacrifice their honor for the country’s sake, or figures who are willing to sacrifice their reputations so they could give citizens the best information they had at the time. There’s a lot of moving from one conference room to another that might seem unnecessary to the impatient viewer, but the conversations in those conference rooms are what lead to solutions. 

It helps that Anno and Higuchi find sharp angles to film what could have been devastatingly dull conversations in these conference rooms. 

Finding these new angles to show men and women working together to solve the Godzilla problem places the emphasis on their humanity and professionalism. Godzilla will not be defeated by sheer force of Japanese or American arms. While Anno and Higuchi uses gorgeous compositions to show the futile attacks on Godzilla by the Japanese Self-Defense Force, they also show the futility of these attacks in widescreen, captivating shots that also emphasize Godzilla’s magnitude.

Instead, Godzilla can only be defeated when Japanese industrial acumen, business connections, and American arms are combined to form a strategy that requires self-sacrifice and precise timing, hallmarks of Japanese industrial culture. The hope for Japan won’t be found outside the country. Conventional arms cannot defeat Godzilla. Outlandish non-conventional weapons, like MASER cannons or Mechagodzillas, aren’t feasible. Instead, the hope for survival and the future can be found in Japanese systems like its trains and its industries. It’s subtly nationalist in a way that matches  resurgent Japanese nationalism under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s regime.

Of course, none of this would have been possible if a team of Japanese scientists and officials who do not conform to their institutions had not been grouped together to find a solution. There’s a power to the bureaucracy, the film argues, in coordinating responses among different agencies and in bringing together the outsiders and non-conformists, and there is a role for the “lone-wolves, nerds, troublemakers, outcasts, academic heretics, and general pains in the bureaucracy” in any organization. 

The film is similarly conflicted about Japan’s relationship with the United States. American officials are almost always depicted as faceless voices that demand from afar, sending a half-Japanese liaison, Satomi Ishihara’s Kayoko Ann Patterson, to connect with the Japanese crisis team. Ultimately, Patterson sides with the Japanese government at her own risk at a critical moment, prompting the idea that even those who are of Japanese descent living outside Japan are crucial to Japan’s future. Japanese officials are frustrated by American interference in their affairs; the American government goes so far as to propose using a thermonuclear weapon on Godzilla, which horrifies every Japanese official and even Patterson. In the end, the film taps into the renewed sense of Japanese nationalism by showing that Japanese officials can only move forward to solve the Godzilla problem by going their own way, defying the American attempt to take charge, and solving their problem their way. 

(There’s probably an essay to be written about how the film treats its three principal female characters: Kayoko Ann Patterson, Mikako Ichikawa’s Deputy Director of Nature Conservation Bureau Hiromi Ogashira, and Kimiko Yo’s Defense Minister Reiko Hanamori. Hiromi and Patterson are probably around the same age, and they’re equally outsiders. Patterson is the American half-Japanese liaison, while Hiromi is outspoken and somewhat socially awkward. Patterson is much more conscious about her physical appearance, while Hiromi wears no make-up at all. Reiko stands apart from them both; older than both other women, Reiko is a senior official in the Japanese cabinet and the military’s voice for the Prime Minister.)

Anno, Higuchi, and composer Shiro Sagisu also layer in plenty of homages for Evangelion fans. Based on my impressions, I’ve found these callbacks:

The use of the track “Decisive Battle” from the Evangelion soundtrack to spice up scenes of men and women working in conference rooms 

The way the film places a visual emphasis on Japanese trains 

The way Anno and Higuchi framed their shots of tanks, aircraft, and artillery pieces bombarded Godzilla in the same ways that they attacked Angels throughout Evangelion 

The way they focused on Godzilla’s eyes to show its monstrosity in the same way they focused on Eva-01′s eyes to show its near-humanity 

The way the final shot echoed the Failures of Infinity in the Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 teaser trailer at the end of Evangelion 3.33 

The way the lights turned out in the underground shelter echoed the way the lights went out during an Angel attack

The way Godzilla attacked all around him echoed the way Ramiel defended itself in Evangelion 2.0

The way Godzilla’s blood plopped to the ground echoed the way various Angels’ blood would fall after they were killed

The way military officials were framed when they released their attacks on Godzilla/the Angels were ineffective

The Japanese Twitter user named “bakashinji” who had an Asuka avatar.

While the film is dialogue heavy, it never feels slow. And it’s a surprisingly funny film, from Godzilla’s googly eyes in its first appearances to the way that an official’s title becomes a visual gag in subtitles because it takes up almost half the screen.

 It was everything that I had hoped for from a film by Anno and Higuchi: satirical, strangely hopeful, dynamically shot, wonderfully scored. In other words,

[minervacasterly]

Revenge of the Mary Sue (s)! Female Protagonists in Historical Dramas: “… women can hardly be blamed for not being feminists in advance of the concept, for not stepping outside their time frame or not possessing an anachronistic sense of their own worth.” ~Red Roses: Blanche of Gaunt to Margaret Beaufort by Amy Licence ^This is something that should be taken into account by every history buff and especially feminist history fans who are easy to jump on the bandwagon of the endless Mary-Suefication of countless historical dramas where women are showing unusual behavior from what was expected of them (according to their station). This is a common trend in Hollywood. We have it in science fiction, fantasy, drama as well. Producers think they are doing us (women) a favor but in reality they are downplaying on the other women who might not have shared these ‘larger-than-life’ qualities. Take the White Queen for example. It was a good production. I enjoyed it, same as I enjoyed all of Philippa Greggory’s books, but was it accurate? Of course not. Elizabeth Woodville was presented as a quasi-feminist Mary Sue character and her second husband, Edward IV, was the Gary Stu of all Gary Stus. They were perfect, magical, loving. Sure, they had their problems, but even when the audience was tempted to sympathize with their rivals, they still felt more sympathetic towards the Yorkist couple because why not? She was fierce, loud and was not afraid to “be a match for any man.” These words are taken from secondary sources which reputedly came from Elizabeth’s contemporaries who believed she did say these things when Edward IV tried to take advantage of her. Some of you might take this as ‘proof’ that Elizabeth was a strong woman and not the typical submissive girl the Neville women were, but was she? Or is that what the White Queen really gave us? Because I just don’t see it. Let met break it down to you: Women DID wield power over their husband’s subjects and their tenants. But this power was ultimately dependent on their personality. As Amy Licence stresses out in the next paragraph, using Joan, second wife of Henry IV of England as an example: “There had been times in Joan’s life when she was able to exert her will, to shape her destiny, when the letters she wrote to Henry IV before their marriage briefly forced the female narrative to the fore, and her actions helped direct the course of national history. Nevertheless, she was powerless to speak in her own defence as an imprisoned widow, pointing towards the conclusion that any power exercised by women was something of an illusion, which they enjoyed because their men gave them permission to do so.” She also adds that whenever women acted out of the ordinary they were demonized. Those that weren’t was because they cited precedent or biblical law. Astoundingly, there are many heroines in the bible that women could take as their role models to justify their ‘rebellious’ behavior. Deborah was used as a tool of Elizabethan propaganda in the sixteenth century. The last Tudor monarch was often painted next to female saints, classical and biblical figures whose acts validated Elizabeth I’s claim and her uniqueness as an unwed female monarch. Elizabeth Woodville’s actions, if she really did say all of those things, must be viewed in the same context. She didn’t stand up to Edward IV because she thought ‘I am going to set an example to all male rogues who think of taking advantage of defenseless women’. No! She thought of her gender in the same terms as her peers did. Those words to Edward were her faith talking, nothing else. Formerly, the Earl of March, the eldest surviving son of the slain Richard Plantagenet Duke of York and Cecily Neville, had a reputation as a lady’s man. As such, Elizabeth Woodville would have been careful with how she carried herself with him. After all, she was a widow and she was dependent on the new regime’s mercy if she wanted to keep her children’s fortunes intact. After her first husband, John Grey of Grosby died, she was almost penniless. When she became untouchable -and thus, desirable- to Edward IV, she saw an opportunity to turn the tables around, back in her family’s favor. Her behavior was typical of any fifteenth century courtier, especially a widow who previously belonged to the losing party. Ironically though, the same behavior that many fans championed Elizabeth for having is condemned as her rivals. This is not strange. The White Queen acts as a Victorian retelling of the wars of the roses or as it is now popularly called “the cousins’ war”. It is a story where Elizabeth and her mother are magical women who capture the attention of a dashing royal rogue called Edward IV who deposed an evil dynasty who was corrupt and crazy (to paraphrase Margaret Beaufort’s second husband in the series). As such, every other woman who is not part of the Woodville clan, has to be by definition ‘ugly’, ‘greedy’ or simply ‘less than’. But is it fair? In entertainment you can say it is fair. It is fiction and they can do whatever they want in the name of ratings; but when it comes to history it becomes a problem. These women were not saints, neither were they power-hungry villains. They were raised to be the perfect consorts, to do anything that was in the best interest of their families. Nothing more, nothing less. They often switched sides for that same purpose and whenever they broke conventional norms, they justified by citing religious or historical precedence. And let's not get started over the Hollywood Mary Sue-fication of other historical figures like Elizabeth I of England and Mary, Queen of Scots. People love their larger-than-life characters. It gives us something to aspire to, something to look forward to. If they could do it, then so can we, right? But after you read about their true stories, you realize that their lives were anything but pleasant. Elizabeth I navigated through murky waters to keep her throne. Even when she defeated all of her enemies, she wasn't happy. This page, Tudor Brasil: Dinastia Tudor, Renascimento e Outros Períodos da História, The Anne Boleyn Files,Queen to History, Tudor Nerds with Glasses,Tudors: Fact vs Fiction, and many other historical pages have done many articles on how complicated her reign was. Even when she saw herself as an exception to the rule of 'women can't be good rulers' that Protestant John Knox about, she still believed that women were inferior to men because that is how she was raised to think. If she were to spouse any view that challenged this notion, she would have been deposed in her first year as Queen. This isn't to say she wasn't exceptional. She was, but not for the reasons that feminists and Hollywood portray her as. When she delivered her famous speech at Tilbury in 1588, she didn't wear full armor -as depicted in the sequel to Kapur's Elizabeth, Elizabeth: The Golden Age. She wore simple breastplate and female dress. Some historians like John Guy in his latest biography on Elizabeth, doubt the veracity of her words, citing that Elizabeth's speeches were often written by her councilors and sometimes they put words to her mouth to make her seem as greater than she actually was. Reign's take on Mary, Queen of Scots is probably one of the best examples of Mary-Suefication with Mary, Queen of Scots being depicted as ahead of her times, self-righteous and a victim as opposed to her mother-in-law and cousin-from-hell, Catherine Medici and Elizabeth I of England respectively. And last but not least, we have Isabel in the Spanish series Isabel. And I know what you are going to say 'the series did her justice'. It did in some ways, but it also fell into the same trap that other historical dramas with a female protagonist fell into. The series gave us a nuance portrayal of the Catholic Kings, but it also gave us instances where Isabel was too perfect, showing she was ahead of her times in her line of thinking. Once again, she wasn't. Even when she did spouse progressive ideas in regards to women, she still held the same beliefs regarding gender as her husband and the rest of her peers. Even the women who took up arms against their spouses or went to court suing them (and there are various cases on the latter), still held the same convictions that they did when they were young and taught that women were inferior to men, or in some cases, a deformed version of man. For more info on this subject, I recommend the following books: 1. Elizabeth: The Forgotten Years by John Guy 2. Elizabeth: The Struggle for the throne by David Starkey 3. Tudor by Leanda de Lisle 4. Tudors vs Stewarts by Linda Porter 5. Anne Boleyn Collection by Claire Ridgway 6. Red Roses: Blanche of Gaunt to Margaret Beaufort by Amy Licence/ In Bed With the Tudors & Six Wives and the Many Mistresses of Henry VIII by Amy Licence 7. Jezebel by Kyra Cornelius Kramer 8. Isabella: Warrior Queen by Kirstin Downey 9. Isabel La Catolica by Cristina Hernando 10. Mary, Queen of Scots by Antonia Fraser 11. The Woodvilles by Susan Higginbotham

[wakingwriter]

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I didn’t think of myself as a writer until I swept the awards at San Francisco State University. I was denied admission into the MFA Program before this unprecedented achievement, with the majority of tenured professors voting against me. So, I waltzed into the Creative Writing office and knocked on the Chair’s door, who happened to be Frances Mayes (Under the Tuscan Sun). I told Frances I had an appointment with SFSU’s president to discuss me being denied, and she suddenly said I was worthy of being admitted. That’s when I realized how much of getting ahead as a writer was political and that the majority of professors didn’t know their butt from a hole in the ground.

Why did you choose to write in your particular field or genre?

I think creative nonfiction is an interesting crossroads between fiction and nonfiction, one in which my narrative voice helps shape a historical setting with a focal character in the middle. I usually stick to third person but will be exploring first person in my next book. Creative nonfiction is an excellent way of documenting the lives of family members who have made a difference in your life. Now I don’t mean writing down sugar-coated commercials about relatives for posterity. That’s boring. I mean, who wants to read a brag book? I challenge myself to capture the psychological underpinnings of character by exploring the deep dark interior world of a particular relative, then attempt to gaze out at the world through his or her eyes. Try it. If you can see their parents and siblings through their unique vision, you’re on to something important.

Are you a full-time or part-time writer and how does that affect your writing?

I write full time but have to work part-time as an accountant to pay the bills. There have been times when opportunities opened up overseas. I lectured with the poet Gary Snyder at the Hong Kong International Writers Conference and they paid me the equivalent of what a Hong Kong bank VP makes. My latest journey was to Finland as an Artist-in-Residence, where I explored Helsinki, Stockholm, and the Finnish Archipelago.

What are some day jobs you have held?

In Hawaii, I built lagoon walls, planted coconut trees, and did pick-and-shovel construction in Waikiki. Yes, I wore a hard hat. My work background in San Diego includes car sales at Team Nissan in Encinitas and Rancho Olds on Clairemont Mesa Boulevard. I was also the PR Director for the Carlsbad Inn, where I ran the Great Mercedes Benz Giveaway as a promotion. I am a Current Writer at the San Diego Reader. I’m best known for my gonzo journalism, particularly my take on the First Day of the Del Mar Races. Occasionally I do freelance work and have been paid for pieces in Writer’s Digest, Green Magazine, and Southword Journal out of Ireland.

What have you written so far?

I have written thirteen books to date in various genres, including flash (micro stories), poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. I have been published in over three-hundred university literary journals, including Harpur Palate, 580 Split, Reed Magazine, Blue Mesa Review, Artful Dodge, Moon City Review, Hawai’i Review, Honolulu Weekly, Hawai’i Pacific Review, and SDSU’s Pacific Review. I also write plays and screenplays. I won the 2018 Las Vegas Screenplay Contest and a stage play set in the Deep South took Third Place at the 2018 Caanes Screenplay Contest. Sometimes I harvest material from my stories when crafting plays such as HOUDINI, which was performed at the Actors Alliance Festival in San Diego. Cross-pollination is a great way to get a lot of material out there fast. My first book of poetry took First Place at the San Diego Book Awards. My most recent play is As Big as a Dallas Cowboy, which opens in downtown Honolulu on April 13th, 2019. The play’s opening coincides with my Honolulu book tour for The Queen of Moloka’i.

How do you feel about indie/alternative vs. conventional publishing?

I’m supportive of writers and poets who go the indie route because of the difficulty landing a publishing contract and/or finding an agent. It’s brutal out there for literary writers because the big publishing houses are mostly interested in making money, not promoting literature. There are exceptions to the rule of course, but generally the big publishers evaluate a manuscript by first considering its monetary value as a mass-marketed commodity. It sucks. I think the editors in New York who work for those houses should be ashamed of themselves. And to top it off, the biggies have many of the top newspaper reviewers in their pockets and can get them to say almost anything about a book they want promoted. Some publishers even go as far as contacting Hollywood celebrities to obtain one-line blurbs. I doubt those stars seldom read even two pages of books they’re touting. Very sad. I fear greed is destroying good literature by discouraging deserving writers and poets.

Is there any marketing technique you used that had an immediate impact on your sales figures?

Getting author interviews is terrific. It’s a way to share your interior world with people interested in you work, which is something most readers are interested in. And if you have an affinity for a writer you’re going to want to buy his or her book right? Another technique that works is to contact libraries directly and ask them to buy the book. Since I am a regional writer of the South Pacific, I focus on the libraries in the islands. It’s also not a bad idea to get on your local TV talk shows, particularly the weekday morning news. I noticed an increased turnout at my signings after my appearance on Fox News in Honolulu.

What advice would you give to aspiring authors?

Read other writers but develop your own voice. Always remember the term “Best Seller” doesn’t necessarily mean the book possesses any literary value. I checked out some of the most popular books on The New York Times Best Seller List and they were filled with horror and gore because the big publishers think that sells. Sad. Those books may be popular now, but they will not stand the test of time. Did you know that The Great Gatsby sold less that 5,000 copies after it was released? Look at it now.

Submit your work to university literary reviews and journals. Get rejected? Submit again and again. Submit multiple times to increase your chances of publication. Take rejection with a grain of salt. Say out loud, “It’s their loss.” If you must choose between online and hard copy publication, I’d go with online because more people will read it. Edit like crazy. Take the advice of editors and keep revising until you have polished jewels. Don’t try to be the next Hemingway, Plath, or Fitzgerald. Just be yourself. Bring your own unique vision into this world by sharing it on paper.

Five chapters from The Queen of Moloka’i manuscript were published online during the writing process. These acceptances gave me momentum. I have found that, by submitting chapters as stand-alone stories, you soon find out if your chapters are worthwhile. My advice to any wannabe writer is to get his or her work in the pages of respected magazines. Yes, it’s great to strive for The New Yorker like Salinger, but there are many other important publications as well. Once my chapters were online, I hunkered down and re-edited them to make them even stronger. I also think it’s important for people to get down the stories of their elders before they pass. Just remember to get down both sides of the coin—the good with the bad.

Can you share with readers a little bit about your latest book?

We are on the verge of the Roaring Twenties in Honolulu. Julia Wright and Sue, her big sister, have met a pair of dashing English brothers sent to Hawaii by a wealthy father to avoid the draft in their home country. Sue strikes gold, receiving a marriage proposal from her overseas beau. Sixteen-year-old Julia has a passionate affair with the younger brother but must fend for herself after he leaves her pregnant. Julia’s rebound affair with a Portuguese sea merchant gets her pregnant again and she now has two infant sons to raise. Luckily, her mother allows her to live at the family home and they raise the half-brothers as best as they can. Then local boy Chipper Gilman returns a hero from the Great War. He’s seven years Julia’s senior and has admired her since her girlhood days. He secures a job at a ranch on the island of Moloka’i and invites Julia to join him, but without her sons. He says they will get married and she can send for her boys if she adapts to the rural lifestyle. Julia leaves her sons behind for her mother to take care of, convinced she can become a country girl. She’s tested every step of the way on the rural island and begins doubting Chipper ever intended to marry her at all.

What made you decide to sit down and actually start writing this book?

Remembering my grandmother and deciding her life should be recorded. Julia Wright was one of six children that grew up in Palolo Valley. Julia was a party girl in Waikiki. She made big mistakes in love, especially after meeting a blond Englishman at the Moana Hotel. He left her hapai (pregnant) after promising he’d send for her once he got settled in San Francisco. Julia never heard from the Englishman again and gave birth to my father the first day of world peace. Then she met a Portuguese sea merchant at the Young Hotel downtown and soon she was hapai again. Julia was forced to raise both sons in her mother’s tiny rental in Kaimuki. Her third love interest was Chipper, a decorated war vet. Chipper asked her to accompany him to the Molokai Ranch, where he’d secured a job as a paniolo (cowboy). Julia said she would. Chipper told her she couldn’t bring her sons along until she proved she could handle the rural lifestyle. She was caught between the fear of becoming an old maid raising two half-brothers or the possibility of marrying her teenage crush.

If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?

I believe that honor would be shared by Ernest Hemingway and James Joyce. Both writers were extremely influential in my growth as a writer because their coming of age stories resonated with me. In Our Time tracks the maturation process of Nick Adams, particularly his changing relationship with his doctor father and with Marjorie. I love that zone between childhood and adulthood because I feel that’s where the person you become is formed, and both Hemingway and Joyce are masters at revealing the psychological undercurrents of their boy characters. In his story “Araby,” Joyce examines an Irish boy’s crush on Mangan’s sister and his journey to a distant carnival to bring her back the Holy Grail as a sign of his undying devotion.

Want to know more about Kirby?

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  Kirby Michael Wright, author of The Queen of Moloka'i @kibs33 When did you first consider yourself a writer? I didn’t think of myself as a writer until I swept the awards at San Francisco State University.