#anti smen

[the-avaricious-meddler]

I think I've reached a point of disliking SMEN where it being suggested for a character kinda makes me roll my eyes

Like, yeah sure it's depressing and tragic, but not in... A fun way. It's just an overexaggerated, drawn-out misery-fest with an unsatisfying "gotcha, bet you didn't see that coming" ending. And that's coming from someone who likes tragedies.

[house-of-mirrors]

 I know this is kind of a weird ask to get, rest assured I would not be sending it to you if I had found it another way but even after the Smending information ban was lifted, I still cannot find this information, and I saw that you completed seeking so I figured I would ask you.

What is traveler returning? Or more specifically, what does it mean, what is it about? I have deciphered the other endings frustratingly ambiguous writing style, but I still cannot understand traveler returning. What does it mean? 

Let me tell you a secret, my friend: I don't think anyone, myself included, has a flying clue wtf the "who is salt" ending of smen MEANS. It has very little connection to going East in ssea or with Irem in FL. It's its own thing (derogatory).

I remember reading a blogpost where AK said he didn't think anyone would actually pick that ending and so threw that together and I guess that's why it's drivel? What did I call it again? Making fridge magnet poetry behind your back in the dark? Yeah

I've seen one interpretation that it's meant to break the fourth wall and imply the player has secretly been Salt all along. And honestly? I personally like that less than it being nonsense (no hate if u like that theory). I don't like meta reveals like that when there's no foreshadowing. Feels like a cop out. And also... why does the player have to be an otherworldly being to be special? Who is Salt? Well it certainly isn't me!

That theory aside, doing a strict reading of the text and ignoring meta stuff, interpreting its meaning as precisely what it says... it means all of nothing.

I did the Hate ending and thought that was the most interesting of the 3. Grieve, sure, fine. Who is Salt? [long fax machine noises]

(I gotta tell you I laughed SO HARD getting this because I'm always joking with my friend about "who is salt" being incomprehensible XD)

Disclaimer this is just my opinion etc, but as someone pursuing an MFA in writing with a good bit of experience in editing: this would NOT fly if it came across my desk. Even if your story is meant to be punishing and has "no good things at the end," I feel like you still have an obligation to have a narratively satisfying conclusion.

In summary: you can't figure it out because there's nothing to figure out, pat yourself on the back and treat yourself to your favorite snack and/or beverage

Ignoring the ending and going off lore, "Traveller Returning" means... (major spoilers for sunless sea under the cut)

Traveller Returning is an epithet for one of the zee-gods, Salt. Salt, god of farewells, of travellers, of the Uttermost East. The Hungry Monarch. There's a hidden ambition revolving around it in Sunless Sea. In summary, Salt was an emissary sent by the White to the Neath to find out what sort of Shames and various crimes the Sun was keeping hidden. Salt has not yet returned with its report, instead disappearing into the East. Now, the Sunless Sea quest actually follows a narrative of the player becoming an avatar for Salt and this makes a lot more sense in its execution than the smending. The Eastern horizon is called the "Deconstruction," a sort of endless horizon in Green and Gold where the laws of space and time get really weird. Imagine a function undefined at a single point, or a tangent line that goes to infinity. I'm not sure how to explain it beyond here because I don't have a firm grasp on it myself; there's not a lot of solid info.

We still know painfully little about Salt and I really, really hope the lore declassification means we'll get more material soon. Well-written material. What's up with Salt, what about the White, what about the Woods in Winter, what is the nature of the Old Man in Vienna, etc.

[thedeafprophet]

My evening be so fine and then someone brings up smen connected stuff in my notifications

[thedeafprophet]

LOOK i was never saying Plenty isn't iconic! She's a beautiful women and we Stan a career running girl boss

But regardless of anything else, she's associated with SMEN and by the matter it means I can never, ever, ever vote for her. She can't recover from that

A Moment’s Peace? We’ll See About That

[the-avaricious-meddler]

Admittedly, I also heavily dislike smen, I only like the vague ideas of what it could have been... If it was. Yknow. Completely different in almost every way and not written by a shitty racist predator.

[thedeafprophet]

Quickly turns off reblogs on the post to avoid any risk of smen related conversations on my posts

[house-of-mirrors]

I am, at long last, home from my residency, and my brain is stuck in grad school mode, so I have been decompressing by writing a critique of SMEN as if it was submitted to a workshop I was in:

You have a strong hook to grab your reader, and splitting things into shorter sections holds their attention for longer. You also have fascinating worldbuilding and I look forward to seeing how you develop it! Very creative. That being said, it feels like this falls into the trap that many fantasy writers struggle with of having strong worldbuilding but a weak plot. It felt like all the action happened in the flashback scenes. What reason do the readers have to care about what’s happening in the present? Your characters’ goals are vague, and I’m not sure what the main conflict was supposed to be or who the antagonist was. If the reader can’t tell why the characters care about the story, they won’t care about the story. I also noticed a lot of purple prose, and you don’t want to lose your ideas beneath flowery words the reader can’t understand. Precise language. Consider also the Chekhov's gun device: if detail isn't necessary to move the story forward, it can distract your reader.

Finally, I have to make a note on diversity and inclusion. The “tragic backstory” you've selected for your main character perpetuates a sexist stereotype. You also want to be very careful when depicting an indigenous culture in your work. I noted some spots in the text where the descriptions fell into colonialist stereotypes that are incredibly harmful and you absolutely do not want to include. I'd suggest either cutting those parts out entirely or at the very least doing a lot of research to revise them.

Overall, great worldbuilding and great hook, you can really lean into that to capture your readers’ attention and keep them guessing! I'd suggest strengthening your plot, trimming the purple prose, and assessing your work for biases. Ask yourself what parts of this may not be your story to tell and consider removing them.

[thedeafprophet]

Ajsjdkfkgkghkh I swear, I have like 10 different words used to filter smen (including just. The word seeker. Yes i hate hearing about it that much) in the filtered tags and words sections, and the post still end up unfiltered

Note for general filtering: put things in both filtered tags and filtered words because people often won't tag things

[thedeafprophet]

That's cool but I'd die before I'd play anything related to seeking ajdjfkgkh

if i knew any programs to use to make interactive stories i think it'd be fun to make one where u could go on a short heist with Alex lmao

[thedeafprophet]

wow i cant believe Candles was actually another masters kid this whole time, totally adds to the whole situation (joking) ( mocking candles) (i could make way worse jokes dont tempt me)

[house-of-mirrors]

This was sent to my main blog because that was the url credited with the meme, but I’m answering it here since this is my Fallen London blog.

Yeah lmao I intentionally left SMEN out because I didn’t like it. To say the canon material is dubiously written is an understatement, and there’s All of That with AK

[house-of-mirrors]

It sure is a story that lots of people have strong opinions about!

everytime @house-of-mirrors posts the topic i make an exception

[house-of-mirrors]

Warning: bad things happen here. Looking into the mirrors is the prerogative of the foolish.

Contrary to the description from the game, nothing bad happens here, unless you count Bad Post Sunday. You can call me R. they/them guy. I’m in my 20s, I’m disabled, I’m queer, and I live in the United States. Currently in grad school for an MFA.

Editing Commissions:

I'm happy to provide grammar editing and/or content editing for fic or original writing! Please DM me if you're interested. We will negotiate a price based on the length and detail of the project.

My writing:

Find me on AO3 (snow_and_moon), where I post for both FL and sskies with things about the Masters, revolutionaries, and ocs, with more focus on the subjects of Mr Wines, Mr Fires, dreams/nightmares, and the Liberation

My OCs:

Please send calling cards to the 4! Their profiles are their first and last names as listed here.

Compilation of reference images

The Preoccupied Professor, Orsinio Elderwood, and the story of his journey through Nemesis

The Laconic Captain, Samuel Weatherbee, and his connections to the East

The Tenacious Doctor, Lucretia Doherty

The Avid Apprentice, Miles Darlington. Rumor has it that Miles used to go by the name Lovelace before vanishing into the North. Don’t pay that much mind. All shall be well.

The Intractable Storyteller, Captain Min, my sunless skies OC (this is an old post and needs updating)

Moodboards for my OCs and my ocs in historical picrew

Also, look at this compilation of art of my OCs by @thedeafprophet (find more on their blog)! And this piece by @vonlipvig. I appreciate all of you who draw for me <3 (I need to add more to this section, WIP)

Highlights of Lore Discussion:

A retrospective on Seeking Mr Eaten’s Name

A retrospective on Ambition: Nemesis

Headcanons about Mr Wines my favorite evil bat whom I love to torment

Not a theory about the Discordance

Some fanmade futures and destinies after the launch of Irem

Picrews I made of the Judgements

If you ever tag me in something and I don't respond, please let me know because tumblr does not notify me for mentions. Webbed site!

You can also find me on pixel cat's end as acetimetraveler.

Tag list below the cut:

Currently tagging: #firmament spoilers

Ask box is open, and if you need a specific trigger tagged, just ask me.

I try to tag: fl spoilers, es spoilers, hd spoilers, lf spoilers, bal spoilers, hd spoilers, railway spoilers, nemesis spoilers, smen spoilers, irem spoilers, city in silver spoilers. But be aware I can’t catch everything and this is not a spoiler free blog. I post mature content from time to time, typically tagged with #suggestive.

I tag #sskies playthrough for my liveblogging of the game and #lore discussion for deeper analysis of the games.

For the periodic negative rambling, I also tag #fl crit, #fl negative, #anti smen, #motr response, #motr crit if you want to filter those.

More random/personal things are tagged as: #from the desk of R or #disability tag. Stuff made in cahoots with Prophet is tagged with #two of them and/or #my step blorbos. Check #meme archive or #bad post sunday for funny times.

A little more about me:

I started playing Fallen London in December of 2020 after being recommended to it by a friend, and since that day it has consumed my waking thoughts. I’ve done more or less everything in the game to this point: Railway, Discordance, SMEN, Paramount, Irem. I have played all the ambitions except Light Fingers, but I don’t intend to do that one, though I have friends who told me the whole story minus the triggering parts lol. I’ve finished all four ambitions in Sunless Skies. Don't intend to play Sunless Sea. Still working my way through Mask of the Rose... I wasn't a huge fan of it lol.

I love the Calendar Council/Revolutionaries and I play Black on the chessboard. At the same time, I love the Masters because I love villains and I love bats. The Masters are scary powerful, the Masters are cartoonishly evil, the Masters are fluffye, the Masters are comically incompetent clowns, etc etc. In addition to Fallen London, I love math, literature, and history. Looking at social issues in fiction is important and interesting to me. I'm so very gay for space.

Here’s my first OC introduction post for the archives, although it’s quite outdated at this point.

A final note:

By nature, this blog is an inclusive space. No sort of bigotry or harassment is tolerated here, nor is any sort of “fandom discourse.” I’m too tired for that. It isn’t anyone’s business what fiction someone consumes in their personal time, and it’s your responsibility to avoid content you don’t want to see, and that’s the end of the argument.

[house-of-mirrors]

Smen spoilers with no context

from Hannah FBG’s latest newsletter, I went to look at the linked wikipedia page of the supposed book ‘ regarded as one of the worst books ever written ‘ and I-